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writer-k-pop · 4 years ago

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The Artist (x.m.h.) - Waning Crescent Hotel

Please read this (W.C.Hotel) if you this is the first post of this series that you see. Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of death Genre: Angst, Hotel Del Luna AU, Choose your own adventure, SVT x Fem! Reader Staff: Yong (Spirit General Manager) / Jiwoo (Human General Manager) / Soon Bok (Room Manager) / Mun Hee (Front Desk Receptionist) / Shin (Grim Reaper assigned to Waning Crescent) Word Count: Ending A - 3.3k / Ending B - 3.4k

W.C.Hotel | Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists

"I can't believe you dated him!" Mun Hee says excitedly as we stroll through the hotel.

"You don't even know the man I loved." I tell him like he's lost his mind.

Mun Hee shakes his head, "I looked at his palm. He had 16 lives!" He exclaims, throwing his hands up in amazement. "That's one of the biggest amounts I've ever seen!"

I fight the smile that forces its way onto my face. Mun Hee's constant amazement whenever someone comes in with more than the average amount of lives amuses me. "I once heard of a woman with over 30 lives." I tell him.

"They go up that high?" Mun Hee's eyes grow to the size of tea cups.

"Apparently." I say, "How did he look?" I ask, crossing my arms.

Mun Hee shrugs, "Fine. I don't know how long it's been since he passed but his clothes were pretty wrinkled and he looked a bit thin."

I purse my lips in concern but remind myself that he'll change into the Minghao I remember. The first life Minghao.

"Vroom! Vroom!" A child vocalizes and accidentally barrels into my legs.

Instinctively, I reach down to steady him.

"Seok Jin!" A woman comes walking up to me with an apologetic look on her face, "I am so sorry."

I look from the child to the mother then to the father who walks up behind them. A family. In my hotel. With a child.

I force a smile to cover the nausea spinning in my stomach. What if the child is only one its first life? How could the Gods send such a child to me?

"I told you not to run in the lobby." The mother kneels in front of her son and scolds him, "Apologize right now, Seok Jin."

The child twists his hands together, knowing he's done something wrong. "I'm sorry." He says quietly.

I squat down to be level with him and meet his eyes. "That's okay. I forgive you." I tell him and pick up the toy car he dropped when he hit me, "Just don't do it again and be very careful where you walk." I remind him and hand over the toy.

The boy takes the toy and holds it close to his chest while nodding.

Satisfied, I stand back up and continue walking with Mun Hee.

"How many?" I ask when we're far enough away.

"The parents both had three." Mun Hee tells me, "The boy had 12."

I nod, "He'll leave with the parents?" I ask.

Mun Hee nods.

It happens rarely but if a child under the age of 13 arrives at our hotel, the hotel's life replay doesn't occur for them because they are too young to understand it. If the child arrives alone, we usually arrange a transfer for them right away. But if they arrive with parents or siblings, we send them away at the same time as their parents or siblings.

Knowing that the boy had lived 12 lives quiets the nausea I had felt earlier. For a second, I had worried that it was his first life and felt sick that the Gods were pulling him away.

"Room?" I ask Mun Hee as we turn down another passage.

"711." Mun Hee answers.

"You said 16 days?" I question.

Mun Hee nods, "16 days."

I breath out, "Let the waiting begin."

~The Sixteenth Day~

"What's that?" Mun Hee asks from behind me, scaring me half to death, and nearly making me drop the precious painting in my hands.

"Do not sneak up on me." I warn him then turn to show him the artwork. "It's a piece of Minghao's."

"You kept it?" He gingerly takes it from my hands and gazes over it.

"It was a gift. Of course I kept it." I tell him, "I just kept it hidden."

"Why?" Mun Hee asks like that was the dumbest decision I have ever made, "I mean look at the colors! And the emotions. You can really tell he put his whole heart into this."

"Exactly." I sigh. Taking the painting back from him, I place it back in its hiding spot. "He put his entire heart into it."

"Ah." Mun Hee realizes and then moves his hands to shake the thoughts away. "Anyway, he's there already. He had asked to get there earlier."

I abruptly turn to him, "What do you mean he wanted to get there 'early'?"

Mun Hee shrugs, "I'm guessing he wanted to do some art in your garden cause he also asked for paper and a pencil."

I scrunch my face up, wondering why he would want to draw anything in that dead garden. Wanting to see for myself, I turn and walk out of my office with Mun Hee shutting the doors behind me.

"Did you know that he was a professional swimmer in 14th life?" Mun Hee questions with excitement. When I stay silent, he continues, "Yeah, a couple days ago, he spent the entire day in the pool, just swimming laps."

I nod, silently, not exactly caring about any of his lives besides the first.

"And, and in his fifth life, he ran an orphanage with his wife and, oh my goodness, the stories he told were just heartbreaking." Mun Hee continues.

I roll my eyes and wonder when he will shut up.

"Did he like wine when he lived his first live?" Mun Hee asks me.

I give him a confused look as we exit the elevator.

"He drank at least like a bottle a day." He informs me. "And apparently, in one of his lives, he told me which, I just can't remember which one, but he was a wine maker person. Really fascinating."

"Mun Hee." I stop and turn towards him.

"Yes?" Mun Hee asks with innocence.

"Don't you have a front desk to watch over?" I question, hinting that he should leave.

He doesn't understand the hint but does realize he left the front desk unattended so he quickly rushes off and I am finally left to my own thoughts.

Thankful that I wore flats today, I quietly approach the garden with the sound of pencil graphite sliding against paper guiding me.

Instead of sitting on the bench, Minghao sits at the little table off to the side. A bottle of champagne sits between two tall glasses, one of which has been filled. Minghao has his back to me and he is constantly looking between the paper in his hand and the bare tree that sits in the middle of the garden.

I move closer but my shadow elongates and crosses Minghao's line of vision.

"You weren't thinking of sneaking up on me, were you, (y/n)?" He asks, glancing back at me with a lazy smile.

"I'm just naturally quiet." I say and slide into the unoccupied chair next to him. Leaning over, I peek at the drawing he's working on. He's captured only the tree and none of the chrysanthemums.

"What do you think?" Minghao asks, tilting the paper to give me a better view.

"You gave it way more life than it actually has." I tell him my honest opinion.

"But the real tree isn't dead which means it has some life left." Minghao counters, setting the paper on the table. He picks up his filled glass and inspects the liquid.

"I'm pretty sure it's been dead since the beginning of time." I mutter.

"You never told me you liked champagne so much." Minhao comments, ignoring my mumbling.

I grab the bottle and pour myself a glass, "I do, but you were a wine lover and I liked the wines you picked. So I had no complaints." I explain and take a sip.

"And you hid the best stuff from me." Minghao places a hand over his heart before sipping from his glass.

"You know, Mun Hee's probably going to remember you for a long time." I comment, taking in his features. His long hair, his gentle eyes, his round cheeks, and his sharp lips.

"The attendant?" Minghao wonders and I nod. "He was entertaining. Had a lot of questions. Reminded me of an old friend in one of my lives. You know the kind that is like a little kid, constantly wondering why and laughing at everything you say?"

I nod, agreeing with his perfect description of Mun Hee. "He has his moments."

Minghao leans back and looks up at the glass ceiling. "So, this is where you've been hiding."

"It is." I answer his statement question. "Surprised?"

He frowns and shakes his head, "Not at all. It actually makes a lot of sense now." He looks at me, "How you said you grew poor, made it rich, but actually hated all the riches you had obtained. It all makes sense."

I rest my chin in my hand and just gaze at Minghao. Just taking in his presence and the calm that he always gave me.

"Remember the one painting we did together?" Minghao asks.

My back straightens remembering the piece very well. "The one we danced on?" I want to clarify incase I'm remembering the wrong one.

But Minghao nods, confirming my thoughts. "It never sold." He smirks. "But I had always secretly hoped it wouldn't so it was a win for me."

"It was a really big piece." I chuckle, "Did anyone have room for that?"

He giggles, "It was kind ambitious but it was my favorite."

"You were always a sucker for the abstracts." I tell him with a smile.

"Remember how we did it?" He quizzes me, rising to his feet, and holding out a hand.

I tilt my head at him curiously. Minghao bounces his hand at me, telling me to take it. Cautiously, I place my hand in his and within two seconds, I'm pulled to my feet and away from the table. Minghao effortlessly twirls me so I'm facing him with one hand on my waist and the other outstretched with mine still in his grasp.

"Remember?" He repeats his question and begins to move back.

Without having to think much, my body follows his as we dance before the tree that keeps me tied here. I smile as the memory returns with the feeling of the cold, wet paint squishing between my toes still attached. With a song playing only in our minds, we move together like no time has passed between us. Even though it has been so long, my eyes don't linger on my feet. Instead they stay locked on Minghao's eyes which are locked onto mine. A lifetime of unspoken stories swim just under the surface and with every physical step I take, I take one more step into that sea.

With one last twirl, our movements cease but we stay locked together. Our foot prints created a map of our dance in the dirt around us. A map that will soon be gone.

"(y/n), you do remember." Minghao says happily, releasing me.

I quickly grab his hand again, "Who said you could let go?" I question.

He chuckles, "I'm not going to run away. " Minghao nods towards the table, "Plus I want to finish drawing your dead-yet-still-alive tree."

"It's dead." I correct him quietly.

"Says the one who is alive but also not alive." He smirks and leads me back to the table. Sitting back down, he picks up the paper and pencil while I scoot my chair closer and rest my chin on his shoulder to watch his process.

"Did you ever marry?" I wonder and his pencil falters against the paper.

"Do you really want to know?" He responds with a question.

I nod, "I do. I didn't stick around to find out what kind of life you had and I want to know."

Minghao sighs, "I did marry in that life." He answers.

"Did you love her?" I side glance at him.

His eyes lift from the paper and land on the chrysanthemums at the base of the tree. "I did. And I loved the three children we raised together."

My lips form a small smile in content. "Three children is less than what you had always hoped for." I point out, thinking back to our late night conversations. The ones where we'd be tangled in the sheets and in each other and just talking about our future dreams.

"I lowered the number after you left." He tells me, resuming his drawing.

"Why?" I ask, pulling away and resting my head on my fist.

"Because I was so sure that we'd have a family together. So when you left, it was like one of those desired children also left with you and I couldn't see myself happy if I had the four with another woman." Minghao explains, "It just didn't seem right."

"Did your wife want four?" I wonder, hoping I didn't take away another woman's dream.

Minghao shakes his head, "No, she always wanted just three so it worked out."

"What were their names?" I ask, curious about his life.

"Maria was our first born. Then we had Jackson. And our youngest was Renjun." Minghao recites their names as I sip from one of the champagne glasses, not caring who's it is.

"Thank you." I say, relieved when I don't hear my name among his children.

"For what?" Minghao looks at me.

"For not naming any of your children after someone like me, someone cursed." I explain.

Minghao nods in understanding, "I thought about it." He says, returning to his drawing, "But that name was saved for the fourth child."

"Even then, I wouldn't have let you name a child after me." I tell him. "My name is one that should disappear when I do. It doesn't need to be around any longer."

"Finished." Minghao holds up the drawing after placing the pencil behind his ear.

The tree that sits on the paper is a good replica of the one we're sat in front of. Leaning in closer, I let my eyes travel up and down the drawn tree.

"You even copied its cracks." I notice the shadowed divots in the trunk.

"Every little piece counts." Minghao simply states.

"I still think it has too much life in it." I sit back in my chair.

Minghao turns in his chair to fully face me, "Even after all these years, you still don't think it's alive?"

I sigh and let my eyes wander over to the tree. "That tree isn't alive. It just stands there. Day in and day out." I meet his gaze again, "If it were removed from this garden, it wouldn't exist."

He picks up his glass then does a double take. "Did you drink from my glass again?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

I laugh at his reference to me always, purposefully or accidentally, drinking from his glass. "Maybe. I wasn't paying attention."

Minghao smiles and finishes off his glass.

For the following hours, and through another bottle of champagne, Minghao tells me about his life. The places he got to travel to because his art was being featured. How Maria followed him and studied the arts. How Jackson was always getting into trouble. How Renjun was so quiet and such a daddy's boy that his wife began to joke that he definitely wasn't hers. The stories of the grandchildren he got to see.

When the stories and champagne subsided, Minghao gazed out the window with a pensive look on his face. I hold onto his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze.

"Can I ask for one last favor?" He says, looking down at our hands.

"What is it?" I ask, worried I might have to turn him down. Some things I can do, but most are out of my control.

Minghao raises his head and meets my gaze. "Dance with me one more time?" He asks.

I smile, "Of course." I tell him and we both rise our feet.

As we dance, I get lost in him. Lost in the way his body feels against mine. Lost in the way we breath together. Lost in the way everything disappears when we step in time together. I don't know how long we dance for. But it is long enough for the orange glow to dim and for a cool breeze to remind me of what comes next.

"Do I leave from here?" Minghao asks, leaning his forehead against mine.

"No." I whisper, "There's a car waiting for you out back."

"And you can't come with me cause I wasn't the first?" He wonders.

I shake my head, "I can't go with you." I repeat.

Minghao wraps his arms around my back and pulls me in close, "Whoever the guy is, he's one damn lucky man."

I smile, thinking of the first who is still to come. "We should get going before Shin sends his minions searching for you."

"He doesn't really have minions, does he?" Minghao asks, resting an arm around my shoulders.

"I don't really know. He's always threatening me with them but I've never actually seen them." I answer as we walk away from the garden, the two champagne bottles and two glasses sitting next to the abandoned drawing.

"What will you do while you wait?" Minghao asks, matching his pace with mine.

I shrug, "Probably the same thing I do everyday."

"Run a hotel and drink?" Minghao guesses with a laugh.

"Something like that." I agree knowing he's hit the nail on the head.

"You should start packing up your things, shouldn't you?" Minghao worries.

I shake my head, "I don't need to take anything with me when I leave. Much like you. I'll just go as I am."

"I guess that makes things a little easier." He declares, not having thought of that fact.

As we exit the back doors, Minghao takes in a large breath. We walk towards the idling car while Shin stands and simply watches us approach.

"Is he always that serious?" Minghao leans down and whispers to me.

"Unfortunately." I whisper back.

A few feet from the car, Minghao stops and faces me. I copy his movements, wondering why the sudden movement.

"Do you still have it?" He asks. "The painting I gave you for your birthday?"

I nod, "I have it stored away." I tell him.

"Hang it up." Minghao instructs me.

"Why?" I ask, scrunching my eyebrows together.

"I'm leaving this world for good." Minghao explains, "And I want you to proudly show off the painting to everyone."

"But it'll make me miss you." I counter with a frown.

Minghao smiles, "Missing me is okay cause it means you'll remember me."

My face settles into sadness when I realize what he's saying.

"I know I won't remember you when I cross over so you have to remember me? Alright?" He asks, cupping my cheek and strokes his thumb against my skin.

I nod, "I'll hang it up." I tell him though I'm unsure of where I would hang it. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He says then leans down and places a light kiss to my lips. Even though it's light, it's heavy with emotions. When he pulls away, my eyes shed a few tears while his stay dry. Though he was never a big crier.

"I'll tell the Gods to hurry up with the others so you don't wait too long." Minghao tells me before walking towards the car where Shin has opened the door for him.

I watch in silence as Minghao gives me a last wave before sliding into the car. Once the door is shut, the car begins to drive away.

I sniffle and hold back a flood of tears as the car disappears into the fog. But even through my attempts, a couple tears manage to escape and make trails down my cheeks much like the ones our feet made in the paint. Long after the car has disappeared, I pull back my heavy shoulders and turn back towards the hotel to wait for the others.

In the garden, a single chrysanthemum has withered away and only two glasses and two champagne bottles remain on the table. The drawing having disappeared along with Minghao.

Return to the Navigation Page (Waning Crescent Hotel) to choose the next guest.

"Now it's your turn." Minghao states with a smile while I lock my hands together behind his neck.

"Finally, I've waited long enough." I joke.

"Well, your waiting is over." He says before giving me a kiss.

"Let's go before Shin comes hunting for me." I mumble against his lips.

Minghao chuckles but pulls away. As we leave the garden, Minghao confidently grabs my hand and swings it back and forth.

We walk hand in hand to the lobby where Yong, Mun Hee, Soon Bok, and Jiwoo stand solemnly.

"So this is it?" Mun Hee asks with tears in his eyes. "This is the day you leave us?"

I wrap him up in a hug, only a tiny bit annoyed that he's being so sappy. "Maybe I'll get punished again and be back here by the end of the year." I try to joke but Mun Hee abruptly pushes back from me.

"Don't you dare say that. You better not return here." He says angrily through his tears.

I chuckle, "I won't come back. I promise." Then I remember the painting of Minghao's that he admired. "Mun Hee, that painting in my office?"

He nods.

"It's yours now. Take it and hang it up wherever you like." I tell him and surprise widens his eyes.

"Seriously?" He asks me before looking behind me at Minghao, "Seriously?"

Minghao smiles, "It's hers to give away."

Mun Hee wraps me in a hug, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." I tell him.

Turning to Soon Bok, I thank her for her service and her amazing work. Something I never did and should've done more.

Next onto Jiwoo. I also thank him for his and his entire family's service then I unclip the bracelet that has held him to this place.

"When you leave today, you won't be able to find this place again." I inform him, "I hope that you'll be able to go and live your life happily."

Jiwoo nods, "Thank you for letting me work with you. I won't ever forget you."

I smile sadly, "You will. But thank you."

Finally I reach Yong who is sniffling and trying so very hard not cry.

"You'd think after all these years of waiting that I'd be prepared for this day." She says through sniffles.

"Thank you, Yong." I rests my hands on her shoulders, "For everything. Thank you."

With lips pursed together, she leans forward and wraps me in an unexpected hug. But I soon wrap my arms around her and squeeze her tightly.

We pull apart after a couple seconds and I wipe the few tears that have escaped from her eyes.

"Keep this hotel running beautifully." I tell her before Minghao grabs my hand again.

With final waves of goodbye, Minghao and I walk out to the foggy forest that will take us to our resting place.

At the edge of the forest, Shin stands next to an idling car, a somber look on his face.

"(y/n)." He says when we reach him, "It has been an honor working with you. I wish you both a peaceful rest." Shin bows his head and I pat his arm.

"The honor was mine." I tell him with a smile. Now the tears start to line my eyes as the realization fully sets in.

I'm free. I served my years of punishment and now I'm free to let my soul rest.

I turn back towards the hotel and look up to the top where the rooftop patio is outlined with bright string lights. Then to the mid floors where random room lights are turned on, some guests staying in while others opted to experience the hotel's many services. Then to grand base where guests would be milling around, waiting their turns to leave this world.

"(y/n)?" Minghao softly asks pulling my attention to where he sits just inside the car, "Are you ready?"

I take one last quick look at the hotel before turning away from it. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."

I lower myself into the car and Shin securely closes the door after I am completely inside. As the car begins to drive forward, Minghao securely grabs my hand and I let his warmth guide me towards our final destination.

In the garden, the final chrysanthemum withers and dies so that no more stand at the base of the bare tree.

#kpop imagine #seventeen #seventeen imagine #seventeen the8 #seventeen the8 imagine #the8 imagine #the9 #seventeen minghao #seventeen minghao imagine #minghao imagine #xu minghao #xu minghao imagine #minghao #waning crescent hotel #writer-k-pop

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magpiejay1234 · 3 years ago

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Defeated the main storyline with Zeromus, now I got stuck at Lunar Ruins because I missed the save point. Oh well. Further thoughts on FF4 GBA

*Cave of Trials is definitely a later addition, not because it literally is an addiiton for this version of the game, but it is also antithetical to the Sakaguchi approach. Not the bosses for the ultimate-ish weapons of the additional player characters. Specifically, there are 7 levels of this dungeon. In all other dungeons in the original version of the game, you only have 5-6 at the very worst, except for the Lunar dungeons.

Nonetheless, it was very enjoyable, and I managed to grind better here than on Lunar surface, which was quite harsh. I still used the “canonical” party of Edge, Kain, Rydia, Cecil and Rosa because the IGN walkthrough recommeded it as such, though.

*Of all of the ultimate-ish weapons, the one that surprised me most was Triton’s Dagger. I didn’t know Palom could use daggers, though considering both FFI Ninjas and Edge can use Black Magic, it makes sense.

The Triton part of the dagger is also interesting since Palom cannot use water magic, but it is meant to reference his final scene with an unnamed girl (Leonora, according to the After Years). Of course the After Years made them a couple essentially, of course.

*It feels weird to see King Giott and Luca in both the Mysidia Tower and the final celebration for Cecil’s wedding. Other NPCs, particularly those in Troia don’t show up. Granted, Luca will eventually become an actual playable character in The After Years, but it is interesting to see how SE decided to squeeze the ending for more creating more content. Again, very anti-Sakaguchi, but also very Pokémon/Digimon/Yu-Gi-Oh!.

*And Zemus, as many people pointed out, you either believe he is a Diablus ex Machina, or a moral anvil to hammer in the “Fascism is bad” theme. Granted, for a JRPG series, FF’s anti-fascistic streak is actually unique, since most other Japanese media tends to be very pro-fash (you can look around Tumblr to see why, or just read early AoT criticism).

I’m more weirded out by his design. He doesn’t have legs, and according to the Yoshitaka Amano artwork of Fusoya, neither does he. But in the DS version, Kluya clearly does. From what I can understand, the Lunarians in the original game were meant to be more like a mixture of Asian dragons and comets, and both Fusoya and Zemus fit the bill. But Kluya is just a dude with animé blue hair.

Speaking of Kluya, the original translation seems to imply Kluya has been on earth for at least a few centuries, and having many progeny. But in the DS version, it is implied he had a traditional marriage with Cecilia, and only two kids, after centuries of wandering. I’m not sure if I like this later reinterpretation, because it makes me feel Kluya only found value in humanity after finding a chick who looks like a Lunarian. IDK.

*Going with the crystal retcon in The After Years, the Lunar crystals have not only kept Zemus at bay for so long, but they also actively help your party. So yeah, I don’t think the retcon works as well as I previously thought it did.

*The game obviously has a lot of Judeo-Christian symbolism in addition to the Star Wars references. Some of these are clearly deliberate. Others are NGE-levels of visual and textual flair. I planned to do a deep dive ages ago, but there might be a lot missing stuff from the later versions I might miss. So if I do a post like that, it will be less of a compendium and more of an overview.

*For the endings of each character:

**Tellah surprisingly shows up at the final battle, which wasn’t something I expected. The final battle overall obviously inspired the final battle against Giygas with all characters praying for your success and recovering your party.

*Edward actually lives up to being a good king after his father’s death. Edge doesn’t, because he is very horny.

*Yang being the King of Fabul after the king’s abdication feels weird, because I don’t think it was set up really well.

*Cid is still stuck at Baron. I thought he would be a bridge between Dwarves and regular people, but I guess the dwarves already have the village of Agart. I didn’t notice that he was the best man in Rosa and Cecil’s wedding, which is cute.

*Porom is the one that instigates people in Mysidia to pray for Cecil and the gang, which is interesting. I guess Sakaguchi and Takashi Togita (co-writer of the game) really liked the character.

Palom, as mentioned above, becomes a chad at the age of 5 somehow (Leonora at the point of this game is apparently 7, even though her sprite is clearly shorter. Again, Palom is a chad.) With him, I always think of him as a Bumblebee-type character, a character designed for the younger children in the audience to relate to. Games after FFIV would keep this tradition, but it feels weird to see here since Palom would become an edgelord like Edge in The After Years (despite technically following on Tellah’s footsteps.)

*Rydia remains with her new adoptive family. But I feel weirded out by Leviathan’s comments regarding Rydia’s beauty. This wouldn’t pass by censors in this day and age.

*Of course, Cecil and Theodor’s(aka. Golbez) closures are meant to parallel Kluya and Fusoya. Theodor ultimately decides to go into cryogonic sleep with his uncle (The After Years would put a kibosh on that, though), and Cecil takes on his biological father’s morals while taking his adoptive father’s role as the King of Baron. Symbolism aside, I really like this. Cecil was a character in need of a cause, and Theodor was a character in need of a connection with his past.

Not to mention, if he decides to return after the all the shit he done under Zemus’s influence, he will be crucified by at least 50 people. So there’s that as well.

*I’m still stuck at Lunar Ruins, but I really like the face on the moon joke. Speaking of the moon, I wonder if the humanoid enemies in the Lunar Subterrane inspired the Maenad in the After Years. Anyway, that’s for another time.

#ffiv #ff #ty plays ff4 gba

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holycatsandrabbits · 5 years ago

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“It’s okay, angel,” Mr. Crowley said softly.

Rylee was standing among the bookshelves in Mr. Fell’s bookshop, looking for something to give her administrative assistant for his birthday, when she heard what sounded like someone softly crying. She peeked around a shelf to find that it was Mr. Fell.

“I’m sorry, my dear,” Mr. Fell was saying to his husband, wiping a tear off of his cheek. “I just had a bit of a feeling that something would happen today, something bad, and I—”

Mr. Crowley pulled him close. “You had a panic attack. It’s all right, angel.”

Rylee decided that the best thing to do would be to give them their privacy, so she started to leave. Toward the exit, she caught up with Audrey and Lloyd, a couple of high schoolers who were bookshop regulars.

“They came for me here once—” Mr. Fell’s voice came from the back.

“They won’t be back, we made sure of that. Remember? Us and Adam. Took us a while, but it’s all worked out now. Come on, now, you need to rest. Curl up with me, grab a book. That’ssss it. Maybe you’ll even fall assssleep,” Mr. Crowley said, in a strange sort of hissing voice.

“I don’t sleep,” Mr. Fell protested.

“You can sleep, angel, you just don’t like to. Don’t worry about it. I’m here, and I’ll keep you sssafe.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”

Mr. Crowley’s voice grew darker. “Azzzzziraphale, I don’t want you to ever apologize for what they did to you.”

There was silence for a few minutes, and then Audrey said, “We should probably just go.” Her friend nodded. But rather than leave, they grinned at each other and sneaked back into the stacks.

“I don’t think—” Rylee started, following them as well, until she nearly ran into the back of Lloyd’s legs as he stopped. “What in the name of all creation is that?” Rylee gasped.

*YOU GUYS the amazing @pidgydraws gave me permission to write this Mr. Fell’s Bookshop ficlet based on this glorious artwork of theirs, and was also kind enough to allow me to repost it here.*

*Art by pidgydraws -- used with permission*

“Uh—pet snake,” offered Lloyd, in a whisper.

“Pet snake, yeah,” Audrey confirmed, just as quiet. The two of them had delighted looks on their faces.

Rylee didn’t quite feel that way. “No,” she said, attempting to keep her voice down as well, as neither Mr. Fell or that thing appeared to be awake. “That’s not a pet. That’s like an escaped zoo animal. That’s the biggest snake I’ve ever seen.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “That can’t be legal, owning an animal like that.”

“Oh I don’t know that he owns him,” Audrey whispered. “They’re probably just...friends?”

“It’s going to eat him!” Rylee exclaimed.

Both teens shushed her.

“No, of course it won’t,” Audrey said. “See, look at Mr. Fell. He’s so happy. Let’s just go.”

Whatever it was, it wasn’t actually her problem, Rylee decided. Mr. Fell did look awfully peaceful even while wrapped securely in the coils of a huge black snake, and given he’d had a panic attack (something with which Rylee was unfortunately familiar herself), she hesitated to disrupt his sleep.

It wasn’t like Mr. Fell’s Bookshop was not a weird place to begin with.

“Fine,” Rylee whispered, and they all moved back toward the entrance.

But just around the corner, a man in a ski mask was blocking their way. “You work here?” he demanded.

All three of them immediately shushed him.

The man pulled a knife out of a pocket. “There’s nothing in the register. Where does he keep the money?”

The first thing that Rylee did was to step in front of the teenagers. Because she was the adult. Not because she had any idea of what to do. It immediately became apparent that none of the four of them seemed to have any idea of what to do. For a moment, they all stared at each other, and then Audrey spoke up from behind Rylee. “Let’s just go ask Mr. Fell.”

Not wanting to turn their backs on the knife, the three of them took a few awkward steps backwards and the man took a few steps forward, until he caught a glimpse of the scene on the couch.

He gave a little cry and they all shushed him again.

“I wouldn’t wake him up,” Rylee warned.

“Yeah, that thing will eat you,” Lloyd whispered. “Like, it will totally eat you.”

“I heard it ate a guy last week,” Audrey said.

“I heard it was two guys.”

Rylee caught the thief’s attention. “Look, just get out of here, man.” When he hesitated, she said, “If you don’t, I’ll scream.”

With one last look at the snake, the man turned and dashed out the front door.

The other three were about to follow him, when Mr. Fell stirred. Immediately, the snake slithered along the couch, curling its black body around Mr. Fell’s feet and lifting them off of the floor, settling him carefully in its coils. Mr. Fell’s book slipped from his grasp and somehow landed neatly on the floor with a bookmark inside of it. One of the massive serpent’s yellow eyes opened for a second, but Rylee wasn’t sure if it really saw them or not before it closed again.

What she was sure of was that the snake said, “Back to ssssleep, angel,” before resting its head on Mr. Fell’s stomach.

The three of them were sure to lock the bookshop door behind them as they left. As they stood on the street, Rylee said, “That snake just said something.”

“It’s...well trained,” Audrey offered.

Rylee crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s Mr. Crowley.”

“Ah, poss—prob—ah, I imagine so, yes,” Lloyd said.

Rylee gave the shop a look. “You don’t think he really eats people, do you?”

“Well,” Audrey answered, “I mean, I wouldn’t try to rob the place.”

********

Thank you so much to @pidgydraws for letting me use this glorious artwork!! <3

This ficlet was going to be completely different but the more I looked at this picture the more I realized I couldn't bear to wake Aziraphale up, so here we are.

The time that Heaven came for Aziraphale at the bookshop is shown in Ficlet #1 (Are you an angel, too?). It’s been a few years since then.

Mr. Fell’s Bookshop Ficlets master post

New ficlet every Friday! There will be 12 in the series. This is # 8

Subscribe to the series on Ao3

#Dannye writes #Good omens #Mr. Fell's bookshop ficlets #fanart #snake Crowley #protective Crowley #sleepy Aziraphale

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justanotherwitchygirl · 5 years ago

Text

Let’s Talk... Tarot!

Chapter One: Finding Your Deck

Hello everyone! Welcome to part one of our lets talk series here! Today’s topic is going to be Tarot! Today we are going to be talking about finding a tarot deck that is just right for you.

So in this I will be talking about the two most common ways of obtaining your deck which are: Buying your Deck and Making your Deck. Let’s get right into this!

Making Your Deck

So this honestly deserves a post all to itself which is on the way, but for now I will touch on some of the basics!

I personally recommend for your first deck that you purchase it. I don’t want to knock making your own deck because it is a fun and very spiritual experience, but it is also very time consuming. You don’t want to put lots of time and money into making a deck just to find out that you really don’t like reading tarot and then have no use for the deck, right? That’s the primary reason, but trust me when I say making your own deck has it’s perks. Let’s begin!

First you need to gather your supplies. You’re going to need whatever medium you’re going to use for art if you’re going to use art and if you’re not going to use art then whatever writing utensils needed. Next get the paper you will be using. I suggest using card stock. If you need another type of paper for your art (ex: watercolor paper, lined paper, copy paper) then use that and glue it onto the card stock. Then you will also need some type of finishing product that you can use on paper to make the cards slick. I suggest Modge Podge for this as it seems to be the best one I’ve found.

Once you have all your materials then you can begin making your cards. Make sure that you are looking into not just the name of the card but are also looking into the meaning of the cards to pick your design. You can reference other pictures or cards or whatever inspires you the most for your cards.

Pay attention to what you’re looking at or what you’re making. Pay close attention to the art you’re using. Why are you choosing that? Why are you using those colors? What did you feel when making that card? I also suggest making a journal for your cards (more on this later) and make a section specifically for the making of the cards. Write down anything you’re thinking or feeling about the cards. Make sure that you keep this with the deck later and you will find out why!

After you’re done with the cards and have put some sort of finishing product on them then you are done! You can now look through the “What Now?” section for what to do next down below!

Buying Your Deck

This can be just as spiritual and fun as making your own deck so don’t fret or think that this is any different.

To purchase your deck I will advise of you to not just go into the closest store that sells them or go to the cheapest store online and buy just any deck. Make this a process! I can not stress that enough. Do your research and look at different decks. Look online. Look at local stores. Look in thrift shops. Make sure you take the time to see what you can find.

Look at the decks that draw you to them. What do you like about them? What about their art or style do you like? Are you looking at decks that are similar in look or different? Make yourself a tarot journal that will be specific to these cards. Make a special section that it just for the purpose of writing down all these things. Talk about your favorite decks. What is sticking out to you? What decks are your favorite and why? Just start answering questions like this in that journal. Note what you are feeling when looking at the cards. What do different decks make you feel? Why do you think that you feel that way about the deck?

Once you find the deck that you like most and that calls to you the most then purchase it. Whatever the ultimate reason is just make sure that the deck is special to you. Make sure that you are buying the deck that you like the most and not the deck that you think you should get or anything like that. Trust your gut. In the craft it’s your best friend.

Once you have your deck in your possession then you can go to the next step in this process which is the “What Now?” section of this post.

What Now?

So now you have your tarot deck, so what do you do now? Well I can assure you that you should not just go right into readings. You should cleanse your new deck. How? I’ve got you!

I’m going to walk you through just a couple basic, easy techniques for cleansing your deck. Even though these are basic and easy I can assure you that they are just as effective as any other method! Here are just some of my favorites:

Smoke: Any cleansing bundle most common is sage (what I prefer for convenience) just light it and then hold the deck above where the smoke is and allow the negative energy to flow out of the deck and into the air (remember to cleanse the area you’re doing this in if it is indoors afterwards) and allow the deck to be cleansed thoroughly.

Crystals: You can use any cleansing crystals to cleanse the deck. Some common ones are Tourmaline, Labradorite, Black Obsidian, Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Moon Stone, and Selenite. You can place these on the deck and leave them overnight or meditate with the crystals and the deck (remember to cleanse your crystals when you are done).

Music: You can always play cleansing music and either meditate with the deck and music or just let the music play near the deck and leave the music playing with them while you do whatever for a little while. I use this a lot when I’m meditating or doing dishes or something mundane.

Pulling: I use this technique and I’ve seen it called a lot of things, but I call it “pulling”. This is where you meditate with the cards and pull the negative energy from the deck into your body and then expelling it from your own body through the meditation you’re doing. This can take some time to get the hang of or get used to, so be weary when using this technique, but I like to use this when cleansing my deck after readings to know what kind of negative energy my deck has been picking up.

Cleanse your deck thoroughly and then you are done. I’m sure you’re ready to do some readings, so let’s talk about the first kinds of readings you should be doing is.

Initial Readings

Now I know that from here you want to go into taking your own and maybe even other’s tarot readings, but you should not just jump into this. You need to take some time to get to know your deck. You read that right you need to get to know your deck... now what does that mean?

Something you should know is that every deck is different. Each deck will have their own “personalities” and tone. Take time and sit with your deck and practice your readings by learning your deck (this will also help you to learn the cards meanings more on that in the next part). You should ask your deck questions like the following:

What is your favorite card?

What card best represents you as a deck?

What is your least favorite card?

Which card do you like best for the artwork?

Which card are you excited to use/ show me?

What card represents the tone you wish to portray?

Which card are you least excited to show me/ use?

Also remember to jot these down in that notebook we talked about earlier! This will give you reference about your deck and why it’s going to do what it will in time to come. You should always keep this around for reference with your deck.

Pay attention to the type of cards your deck shows (earth, fire, air, and water) and make note of that as well. Pay attention to the specifics of every card that your deck shows you. Pay attention to the artwork. Pay attention to the meaning. Pay attention to everything.

Remember not to overload the deck either. Even though you may be excited I will encourage you to only ask a few questions at a time. Remember to cleanse after every reading. Yes, I said EVERY reading. All this combined will help you to be able to keep your readings clear and concise in it’s readings.

I really hope that this brings you some basic information about tarot cards and finding your first or maybe your next deck! Next we will cover some helpful tips about learning your cards meanings and just a bit more about the different things that could also be coming from your cards in the reading!

ALSO! Sorry for the late post apparently I had some issues and think I have everything fixed now and running as usual!

#letslearn...tarotpart1 #tarotreading #tarot deck #tarot cards #tarotcommunity #tarot witch #tarot #witchcraft #witches #witch #witchblr

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bsawinart · 5 years ago

Photo

You Are My Cup Of Tea (Chip) 12″ x 12″ Metallic Acrylic on Canvas To purchase Artwork, please visit BSSart.com/ordering LINK Chip, the teacup from Disneys Beauty and the Beast was used for this version of the Teacup series. Most of the image is metallic, reflective paint, but there is alot of matte colors to offset as well. All black is flat to define the image at all angles.

Chip Potts is a supporting character who was featured in Disney's 1991 animated film, Beauty and the Beast. He is the son of Mrs. Potts. As a human, Chip is a young boy who works with his mother in the castle kitchens. Like the other inhabitants of the castle, Chip was cursed by the Enchantress. When his mother was turned into a teapot, Chip was likewise turned into a teacup. At the end of the film, once Belle and the Beast fell in love, Chip was magically restored to his human form

Chip is adventurous and constantly curious about the world around him. Chip is a cheerful and active young boy and (like his mother and friends) is shown to have a great fear of the Beast's temper. He is also shown to be very brave and heroic shown in the first film, where he saved Belle and her father Maurice in order for them to rescue Beast from Gaston and the angry mob. He loves Belle very much and views her as his big sister and best friend. As is typical of curious boys his age, he apparently has an overactive imagination; when he comes rushing in to inform his mother that there is a girl (Belle) in the castle, she scolds him for making up such tall tales. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 15 facts about Beauty and the Beast

1. WALT DISNEY CONSIDERED REMAKING THE FAIRY TALE AS FAR BACK AS THE 1930S.Walt Disney liked to take his time mulling things over, and while he was pondering Beauty and the Beast, a live-action version of the movie was released by French filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Perhaps not wanting to release an animated version of a movie that had just been released, Disney tabled the idea

.2. A NON-MUSICAL VERSION WAS COMMISSIONED IN THE LATE

1980S.In the late '80s, Disney hired British animator Roger Purdum to direct a non-musical version of Beauty and the Beast, with Linda Woolverton writing the script. But the company wasn't happy with the result of 10 weeks of storyboarding (which you can see here)—the story was too dark and depressing."In the middle of our process, The Little Mermaid premiered, and that changed everything," Woolverton told the Los Angeles Times. "[T]he concept of the musical, the Broadway musical brought to animation by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. So I was flown to Disney in Florida to meet with Howard. Howard and I just clicked. ... In a hotel room in Fishkill, New York, Howard and I pretty much conjured up this version of Beauty and the Beast. Howard and I never clashed. I was his student. He taught me everything I know about musicals."

3. JACKIE CHAN CONTRIBUTED TO AN INTERNATIONAL VERSION.Jackie Chan dubbed the Beast’s voice for the Chinese translation of the movie—including the singing. Here he is performing the title track in Mandarin with Sarah Chen:

4. "HUMAN AGAIN" WAS CUT FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIE.

The song “Human Again” was cut from the original movie, in part because it added 11 minutes to the film, and partially because it created a problem with the passage of time. "[W]e kept asking, 'Well what? Is Maurice wondering around in the woods all this time? Is Gaston just sitting around in a tavern drinking beer after beer growing a long white beard?,'" co-director Kirk Wise said. "We couldn't quite figure out what to do with the other characters during this time that Belle's at the castle and keep the motor of the story running." In recent years, the whole sequence has been included on DVD and Blu-ray extras. In case you don’t have either of those sitting around your house, check out part of it here:

5. THREE OF ITS TUNES EARNED "BEST ORIGINAL SONG" OSCAR NOMINATIONS.

Many people remember that the title song from Beauty and the Beast took home the “Best Original Song” Oscar in 1992, but it was just one of three songs nominated from the movie. But “Belle,” the opening song, and “Be Our Guest” were also up for an Oscar. Must have been rough to be the writers of the other two songs in that category: “When You’re Alone” from Hook and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

.6. THE CO-DIRECTOR STARTED HIS CAREER DRAWING CARICATURES.

Co-director Kirk Wise started his career drawing caricatures for tourists—but not Disney tourists. While attending art school, Wise made extra money by working at Universal Studios

.7. THE BEAST IS A MASH-UP OF VARIOUS ANIMALS.

He’s got the mane of a lion, the beard and head of a buffalo, the brow of a gorilla, the eyes of a human, the tusks of a wild boar, the body of a bear, and the legs and tail of a wolf ... and a little something extra. Animator Glen Keane claims that “Beast actually has a rainbow bum, but nobody knows that but Belle.”

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

8. ONE ANIMATOR WISHED THAT THE BEAST STAYED A BEAST.

Keane wished that the Beast had stayed a Beast instead of transforming into his princely human form. To help bridge the gap, he penned a funny line for Belle to say at the end: “I had them record Belle saying, ‘Do you think you could grow a beard?’ It was a good idea. It’s not in the movie. We should have put it in there.”

9. ANGELA LANSBURY SAID THE DEMO MUSIC WAS A LITTLE TOO ROCK 'N' ROLL.

When Angela Lansbury heard the demo of "Beauty and the Beast," it was "kind of a rock song," she told The Huffington Post. "I told them, 'This is a sweet message, but this really isn't my style. Are you sure you want me to do this?' They told me to sing the song the way I envisioned it, so that's what I did. I created it the way a little English teapot would sing the song." Producer Don Hahn said that Lansbury "went into the booth and sang 'Beauty and the Beast' from beginning to end and just nailed it. We picked up a couple of lines here and there, but essentially that one take is what we used for the movie."

10. THERE'S A SLY REFERENCE TO DISNEYLAND

.You have to squint to see it, but when Maurice gets lost in the woods toward the beginning of the movie, one of the road signs he finds points the way toward Anaheim—which is home to Disneyland.Walt Disney Studio

s11. THE POSTER WAS DESIGNED BY A MASTER OF THE ART.

John Alvin, the artist who created Beauty and the Beast's iconic movie poster, also designed the posters for some other films you might be familiar with, including E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Gremlins, The Lion King, The Color Purple, and Blazing Saddles.

12. BELLE MADE A CAMEO IN THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME.

Fittingly, she has her nose in a book. You can also see brief appearances by Pumbaa from The Lion King and Magic Carpet from Aladdin. It’s hard to spot Pumbaa—and tragic, as he appears to have been slaughtered—but both directors have confirmed all three cameos.

13. BELLE ISN’T THE ONLY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST CHARACTER THAT POPS UP IN OTHER MOVIES.The Beast can momentarily be seen in Aladdin as one of the animal stacking toys the Sultan plays with

.14. THERE'S A NON-MUSICAL VERSION.

An earlier version of the movie contained no music. It also gave Belle a little sister named Clarice and a cat named Charley.

15. AUDIENCES WERE SUPPOSED TO SEE THE SEQUENCE WHERE THE YOUNG PRINCE IS TURNED INTO THE BEAST.

The sorceress would chase the prince through the castle hurling magic at him, hitting servants and accidentally turning them into objects instead. Eventually, she hits her target and turns him into an animalistic creature. She leaves, and we see the young Beast looking out from the castle windows, screaming for her to come back and fix him. Wise nixed the sequence. He later said, “The only thing that I could see in my head was this Eddie Munster kid in a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit.”

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chromium7sky · 6 years ago

Text

Damirae week day 3 : Drunk|(You all) that I want.

A/n: Continue from I'm a sucker series lol. Enjoy

Raven keeping her low profile as she reached the bar called Jackal's Sanctuary. Another forecast she felt this time she seen the venue and the time on digital clock which shows 11.11pm.

As she leaning to the lamp post nearby, she pulled out her handphone and look at the time and it seems the digital clock shows. 8.11 pm, another four hours to go.

As she put on her wireless headphone and starting to scroll some of her playlist on spotify, she felt like someone is watching her.

Keep her cool face as she attentively listen to the latest Jonas Brothers song, she's been in the same situation before and who she call? Damian.

Speaking of Damian, he sould be arrive right now judging from the time they set up to meet. She sighed as she shoved her phone into her pocket. Still the feeling of her being watch still lingering and she felt it from the alley a few block behind her.

It took her alot of courage to take a look over her shoulder at it seems it was just a kitten who licking itself after having their meal. Is that a can of tuna?

She just shrug off the feeling.

"Sorry for kept you waiting."

Raven jolted then she turn around. It was him. The guy who shared her forecast with. She crossed her arm and arched her brow, "I thought you couldn't make it."

"There's some business that I can't simply avoid." he sighed as he adjusting his brown sweatshirt sleeves.

"By the way, i did try to recall what time when that incident will happen." Raven put down her headphone as she talk to him. "11.11pm." she added.

"Want to grab something to eat before we come back to this place?" Damian looked at his screen phone as he suggest.

"Why not?"

"There's a restaurant nearby and, where are you going?" Damian sees Raven went to the opposite street.

"There's a kebab stall over there!" raven shouted as she reached the other pavement.

Damian silent for a while then walk to where the stall is.

As soon as that young lad joined Raven, she ordered herself a chicken honey. Damian took his time and ordered Chicken tikka.

--------------

"Did you see it?" Dick whispered in their intercom as he's on the roof of the building nearby.

"Found the love birds!" Steph exclaimed as she and Cass appear at the building a bit nearer with Raven and Damian.

"Tim! Have you taken the picture?!" Jason who is now at the alley where the kitten raven saw earlier.

" I was trying to get a good shot, be patience!' Tim huffed as he concentrated on his camera lens.

"Do you have to drag me along , Dick?" Duke appeared beside Dick as he using enhanced binocular spying on his little brother.

"Damian went out with a girl is a rare occasion!" Babs using her grappling gun as she reached the rooftops. "Its an oppoturnity that won't be missed!" as she clasped her hand together. ----------

Something makes Damian annoyed and he looked at the rooftop building. Seems like nothing.

"What's the matter?" Raven asked after she bite her kebab.

"I felt someone watching us." as he stared the the building opposite to them then he stare real hard at that area.

"And i thought I was the only one." Raven mumbled as she bite down her food.

--------------

"Guys, I think he knows we're here." as Duke looked at them through Dick's binocular. As he refocused on the couple. He saw Damian who makes beheaded gesture while looking straight to him as if he saw them.Quickly Duke pass the device to Dick abruptly.

"What did you see?" Dick ask as soon as he had the binocular.

"He's gonna kill us." Duke muttered.

"Awwwww...."

"What do you mean awwww...."

"Little D is harmless , don't worry." Dick give his best smile.

"You didn't know how he almost kill the criminal in his closed case before?! He practically put them in trauma unit and there one guy end up like broken record!" Duke shivers.

"Well, he DIDN'T kill the guy, that's an improvement."

"Oh that guy deserve it, he turn the kidnap children into a living puppet. A puppet!" as Barbara took the binocular as she spy on the couple.

"Oh, Duke. He was frustrated at that time because he cant save children that has been modify but he manage to save a dozen of kids in the cage. You should seen him that time. "

"Still..."

"That doesn't change my perspective about him." Tim voice on intercom.

"Perspective?" Duke curious about the brilliant Detective Tim Drake opinion.

"A haughty brat who push me down the stairs."

"Come on, Tim. He was 10 at that time, it was 10 years ago."

"No, Nu-uh. The last time I try to be reasonable with him, he destroy my coffee machine! That was my elixir!"

"Timbo, you're becoming coffee zombie, talk about you went into coffee deprived coma." Steph's turn to talk.

"Seriously I can't even smoke in peace with that brat."

"You know he respect Alfred by doing his favor , Jason." Dick trying to defend his little brother.

"So, that was the reason why all of you guys into this 'Suicide mission'?" as Duke heard their reason.

"Yep." all of them answered it.

"What did he did to you, Cass?" Duke wonder about the assassin girl who speak less.

"He is happy."

"Look! Even Cass could tell he's happy with her!" Babs giggled.

" We didn't know anything about the girl's background." Duke shaking his head.

"This is a job for Spoiler to spill the bean." Steph let out her hearty laugh as she sharing the files in the Soaring bird database.

"Raven Roth, an art college student." Duke read her biodata.

"Wow! Check out the recognition she get! From Paris?" Babs look at Raven's photograph with her artwork called Librarian where she use text to form a potrait.

"An orphan." Cass speaks as she stared that Raven's mother section who is deceased.

"Still haven't found her father information though." Steph added.

"Poor girl." as Dick studied her profile picture.

-------------

"Uh, Damian. What's with that gesture?" Raven stared at him as he made the obvious gesture.

"A threat. Just to make sure that they'll stop following us." Damian answered with deep tone.

"I...hope it worked." Raven swallow her worriness.

"Hi, haven't seen you around before." a cheerful voice greets them.

As Raven looked at the person, Damian making hiss sound. Wait, he did that?

"Tt, Dick..." Damian grumbled.

"Uh, Sorry about my friend. He's kinda...." Raven tried to cover Damian's "curse".

"No, no, no. He's right."

"What?" Raven now puzzled.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dick. Damian's elder brother." Dick held his hand towards her.

'Are you kidding me.' Raven completely dumbfound.

"Adoptive brother and how did you find us here?" Damian arched his brow. Just as he suspected, Jason had told them about it. Looks like the mission are getting more difficult but it seems there's only D....

"Mind if we're join in???!" a shrill voice were heard behind them.

Damian face palm, frustrating. Sounds like the whole Bat and Co. are coming.

"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Steph! This is Cass and Babs." Steph immediately introduce herself and two other girls.

"Oh, Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm..."

"You must be Raven, right?" As Jason , Tim and Duke appear behind Dick.

"You voice sounds familiar, are you Mr.Wayne?" Raven asked politely.

Jason chuckled as soon as he heard it. "My apologise, Miss. I was playing on you to see your reaction. I'm Jason, this is Duke and Nerd Timbo over there." Tim let out annoying grunt as he looking on his tablet for his report.

"Oh." Raven speechless, now there's a swamp of Damian's sibling meeting her. This awkward situation.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Damian growling beside the blue hair girl.

"It's a coincidence to find you here." Dick gives out his best smile. Duke hid behind Jason trying to cover his nervousness.

"As if I would believe that!" The green eyed man spit out. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked again.

"Kebab!" The Bat and Co turn to Duke. The atmosphere went silent for a while following with Damian's simple question.

"What?"

"We're here for the Kebab." Duke pointing at the Kebab stall.

"I told you this Kebab stall are famous." Raven whispers to Damian. Damian rolled his eyes in respond.

"Whatever you say." as Damian glanced at his watch. It stated 10.30pm.

"So, you two have plans right?" Babs asked the 'fake' couple.

"Uh..." Raven unsured what to answer.

"Don't mind us. Continue your dates." said Steph after she ordered her food from that stall.

Damian kept his suspicious face then pull Raven's arm as they crossed to the otherside of the street as they about to investigate Raven's forecast happening at the small bar called Jackal's Santuary.

The Bat and Co saw both of them entering the premise as they eat their food.

"Aren't they look cute..." Dick with gleaming eyes.

" Pfftt. "Jason finished his mutton honey kebab and took a couple of sip from his malt drink which he bought from the same stall."Seriously Dick, you had me when you're trying to be CUPID and drag all of us."

+++++++++++

As they enter the bar, it was noisy with polka theme song and apparently it's filled Russian culture.

"Here I thought the bar more like generic pub but this is something else." Damian commented.

"They are more friendly?" says Raven who actually never been into clubs.

"No. More like a place for 'the big name' to meet." The big name what Damian actually meant are Criminal Lords who is untouchable by police department and authority. Probably they sack them enough to pardon all their DEEDs.

As they settle down at the table nearby the exit, a waitress came up to them which made Raven almost jolted and Damian saw her reaction.

"Welcome to Jackal's Sanctuary. can I take ya orda?" a thick accent blonde woman greets them as well as held her tablet by her hands.

"Can you get me a beer?"

"Beer for the lad, how about the lady?"

"Uh, water please." Raven timidly say.

The waitress stared her then make a shrug. "Water fer lady then. Enjoy ya day." She smiled and went to the bartender.

"What's the matter, Raven? Why are you look surprised?"

"That's her. I've seen her in the Forecast."

"I guess we better kept an eye on her and the perp." Damian muttered as he crossed arm while he observed surrounding. Who knows, he might find some mob boss that made trouble back at Gotham city before that he could put it away. Talk about those Cobblepot and Nygma gang that causing some damage in some part of the city where the people went jobless due to accident happen causing the factory to explode. Damian sighed and shake his head as he recall the incident.

"What's the matter?" Raven were concerned as she could felt his tense.

"Nothing, just thought about a case when I see these mafia-like meeting."

"A huge one?" as Raven put her hand together on the table.

"Old and huge case."

Raven pressed her lip. As far as they were having 'fake' relationship, she never question his career seriously, when Damian said about the case, she might thought him as detective or undercover detective, like in the movies.

"I've been wondering, it's been 2 months we've known each other..." her words trailed off.

"And?" she got his attention.

"I've been wondering about what career are you in." she clasped her hand on the table.

There were silence between them.

"Let's just say, I consult the police."

"You seems to be serious about it." she chuckled.

"Of course or else they'll end up being useless department in my city." Damian put his chin on his hand as he stared at the entrance.

Then he saw a guy with suspicious character comes in.

As Damian eyeing on him, that guy spoke a few words to the bartender and went to the toilet, this is the cue where the interview starts.

"Blend in, Raven. I found someone that i need to TALK." Damian got up and went to the men's room.

"Alright then." she shrugged.

A few minutes later, the waitress come with their drinks. "Here's beer for the lad and water for the lady." she served a beer bottle and a shot glass to Raven.

Raven looked at the glass then at the waitress. "Really? In small glass?"

"This one is original from russia and its on the house." the waitress smiled and explained the drink.

"On house? That's lovely." Raven drink it one go and boy, she felt the burn run through her throat. She slammed the cup on the table and exhaled.

"Are you okay, lady?"

"This is the most unusual drink i have. Can i have another one?" Raven's loud voice causing the guys who seat near the bartender who witness it, shouted AY in merry way. Perhaps they are excited to watch a girl who appreciate the russian signature drink.

"Coming right up!" the lady giggled and went back to the bartender.

Each of the glass slammed on the table as she exhaled from drinking the 'water', they shouted AY and patted behind her. She is making history, in the club. Quite absurd but its true.

"What's happening here?" Damian come in as he saw the table being surrounded by the old guys russian as if Raven does drinking contest.

"Ow, Damian! This nice gentlemens giving me some water!" Raven laughed as her cheek burn red.

"Water?"

"Yeah, in small cup, maybe its special from Russia. I love it!" she held the glass and about to drink. Damian quickly snatch the cup from her and smelled it.

"Oh My God, this is Vodka." Damian put it at the side of the table that is unreachable for her.

"Wait, why are taking my water?" Raven whines as she tried to get it.

"Because you had enough of it." Damian glared at them and the crowd slowly disperse to their own table.

"Raven, look at the time." Damian shows at clock that shows 11.11pm but all she could see the clock arm spin faster.

"Make the clock stop, Damian."

Damian look at her as she try to focus on the clock. Oh no.

"How many water you're having?" Damian asked her as he crossed his arm.

"Uh..." Raven counting by fingers on both of her hands. " 3?" Damian look at the table, there's 6 glasses, he sighed. He shouldn't left her alone.

"It seems nothing happen by the way, we should go." He quickly get up and left a couple of bills on the table.

"Hey, lady. Why not stay a little longer? We have more stuff for you to see." an old russian who is one of the men that witness her drinking earlier.

"Oh! Damian, can't we stay abit longer, this nice gentlemen said wanna show me some of Russian roulette drink."

"You are my girlfriend and you are coming with me, now." Damian getting tensed.

"But..."

"I tell you what you want to know if you're coming with me." he sighed hoping she could follow him back.

"Oh! Okay then! Sorry, Mister. My boyfriend has something to tell me. Bye!" she waved like a kid and quickly follow the young lad out.

**********

"Pssttt....I just remember...aren't we fake boyfriend and fake girlfriend?" Raven whispered to Damian as he accompany her due to her drunken state.

"...It's our agreement."

"Are you the fake girlfriend then?"

"What?" that question really had him as he looked at her.

"If we're fake, I had to be fake boyfriend and you are the fake girlfriend." she giggled." Because I'm a girl and your friend, so I'm not your fake girlfriend."

He chuckled with her train of thoughts and pun attempted words. "That's not how it meant."

"So you are a fake boyfriend?" she looked at him from head to toes. " Does that means you are a fake boy? Or a fake friend?" Oh she got him speechless. "Which on is it?" as she poke his ribs.

"I think its the best way we go my apartment." as they reached at the high security gate. He couldn't afford to let this vulnerable Raven to sleep at her apartment especially after what happen to her roomie a few months ago. Damian use his card to enter, Raven were astonished and try to do the beep beep sound as if she goes into space ship. Before she attract more attention, Damian quickly grab her inside and went to the highest floor.

"What a huge room you got." as she walked in as soon as Damian open the door. He sighed. A bad decision to bring her to the club place.

Raven walk in happy tunes towards the huge window. "Amg, you have the best view!" She exclaimed.

He sighed and settle down her coat at the hanger and her purse on the table.

"Hey Damian!"

"What?"

"You still haven't answer."

"Answer what?" he tries to recall.

"That are you a fake boy or a fake friend?" Raven skidaddle towards him as she wanted to hear his answer.

"You really are drunk, Raven." he frowned.

"You are avoiding the answer! Are you a girl?! Oh we could have girls dates! go shopping together! Do sleepover, paint our nails!"

Never in their meeting Damian would seen Raven that's so cheerful, Raven that he usually met is sad and serious.

"I am a guy and a friend." at last he answer her.

"Hmmm...Good, I don't think I'm into girls like in sexual way, you made me confuse if you told me you're a girl." she giggled.

"What..." Damian blushes as he heard the words coming from her mouth. People say drunk people are honest to their words.

"Maybe I could paint your nails? I have that awesome nail polish green colour that match with you eyes." Raven grab his hand as she studied his finger nails, large and neat cut.

"Wait, Go back, You attracted to me?" Damian is confused state.

"Don't be silly. I like you." Raven shows her grin.

"Like...like like? Or just like?" he still uncertain with thing he heard from her mouth.

"You're funny. Like, like like!" she laughed and that made his face blushes.

"I'm quite certain that I'm not a fake girl." as she pull her collar blouse, look inside, at her torso.

"Raven."

"See?" she pull up her blouse and shows to Damian her upper body.

"STOP." Damian pull down her clothes as he looked away. She will kill him someday.

"You're not a fake girl either." as Raven tries to feel his chest but before she does, he grab both of her hands.

"I get it, we are not fake." he tried his best to keep his shit together.

"Good, you would make me question my sexuality if you were a girl and I like you as a boy." she smiled.

Raven has successfully made Damian Wayne flustered and blushed. Never in his life would meet a girl who had mess up his emotion like this moment.

"I never had girls party or sleepover before." she muttered as she remember her childhood. "Is this my first sleepover?"

"I...I don't know." Damian still find his words after being hitted by Raven's honest flirty words.

"It's my first sleepover yay!" she cheered. She's happy pacing as she bought him by pulling his hands along to the sofa. "So, what are we gonna do?" as both of them sit down.

"What?"

"This sleepover! Are we gonna have pillow fight?"

"Adult sleepover with boyfriends means something else." Damian tried to kept his cool.

"What does it means?" Raven tilt her heard in curiousity.

"Sleep. Just Sleep." He didn't tell the actual thing.

"That's no fun at all. You must have 'boring' sleepover. Oh!! Maybe you never had any, just like me!!" she giggled.

'Does this girl knows what she's talking about?' his mind irritated with the statement.

"I don't sleep at other people's house or invite them to my apartment." Damian kept his serious face.

"Am I the first one to sleepover here?" she grab both of his hand. "I promise I'll make this sleepover fun!"

"Fun?" Damian arched his brow.

"Fun!" Raven with her gleaming eyes stared at him like a little girl.

"Do you have any extra clothes to wear? Mine is kinda smelly for this sleepover." she smelled her clothes and it reeks with sweat and smokes from the club before.

"Stay here. I'll go get some." Damian got up and when to his wardrobe.

********

"Here, use this." Damian gives her his shirt and shorts.

"Oh." as Raven received it , she about to pull out her blouse.

"Not here, Damn it!" Damian once again pull down her blouse, grab her and the clothes the walk to the bathroom.

"Change your clothes in here." Damian shade of red grew to his ears as he put the clean clothes on the dry sink then he close the door.

"This shirt is so comfy!" as soon as she come out from the batroom.

"....you should wear some pants." as he seen her twiddling around as if she's wearing a dress.

" I don't need pants, it has cover my butt and you can't see it." as she pull the shirt that reached her thighs. Damian gulped as his eyes trailed on it.

"Alright , miss energetic. You better get some sleep or you'll end up with a headache." he walk to his bedroom which is huge and roomy. Neat with exquisite and modern furniture and the bed is a king size.

"Ohhh...this is comfy!" as she landed on the bed then rolled over to the edge of the bed. Damian just stood there unsure how to reach when she just casually rolled on his bed.

"You must be having fun before sleep." as she jumped on it.

"The bed is for sleeping, Raven."

"And PILLOW FIGHT!!" a pillow hit his face, bullseye.

"I win!" she held both of her hands high."I win i win i win!" she cheers as she jump on the bed.

"You can't win if I didn't forfeit." Damian grab the pillow that has been send by her.

"Or maybe you're just a sore lo-" Damian cut her words by smack her face with pillow he had.

"I win."

Raven fell on her bed and start to throw her tantrum. "It's not fair!"

"There is no rules in pillow fight."

"Oh, yeah?" Raven smack his face with two pillow causing him to fell on his bed.

Damian tried to get but Raven now on top of him, and held her pillow high.

"I win!" she exclaimed.

Damian were stunned with position he's in and hell, he try not to lose it. A girl in his shirt, on top of him in his bed. Consider it his lucky strike.

Shaking his head as he denied desire that stirred in his body. "Get off of me." he hissed.

Raven still on top of him hugging the pillow."No."

Damian groaned as his head hit the soft mattress beneath him. He felt her movement as she lean towards him. "What are you doing?" he scowled.

"You have very pretty eyes." Raven cup both of his cheek as her eyes studied his. Those eyes has blue and a bits of golden mixture that made them look like precious auric malachite gems. Raven slowly leaned towards him until both of their nose touch each other.

"Raven." Damian whispers then Raven plant a kis on his lips. Soft and chaste.

Damian can't help it as he closed his eyes feeling the soft of her lips, soft and lavender fragrance of her hair. His hands touch her arms, then her back moving down to her waist. He can hear her heart same pace as his. Faster.

Raven withdrawn as she take the air amused him. "Why are you laughing?"

"Why are you gasping?"

"I thought we hold our breath while we kissing?"

"Pfft. Let me show you."

He put his hand at the back of her back an pulled towards him. He crushed both their lips and savour it.

Raven felt like euphorial as they kissed in sensual way. As soon as they withdrawn, both of them panting, sucking oxygen filling their lungs.

"Wow."

"Wow?"

"I've never kiss anyone before."

"But you kissed me." Damian furrowed his brows.

"You're the first." She giggled then she landed her head on his chest.

"Raven?"

"Wake me up when September end , Damian." she whispered.

"Wait, What? After that kiss you just-" then he heard small snores came from her. Damian sighed, pull the pillow and landed his head on it.

"It's not even September." He sighed. "She wear MY clothes, rolling and jumping on MY bed, kissed ME and now sleep on TOP of ME" He mumbled under his breath as he stroke her hair. "This girl is unbelievable."

Using remote, he turn the lights into night lamp mode and closed his eyes as he's ready to enter slumberland.

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aphelyons · 6 years ago

Text

My Creative Year in Review 2018

stolen from but also requested by inspired by @drstrangewillseeyounow

Preface: This will be a bit of a mashup of two things; art and writing. But I’ll be clear. This is also a long post, I’m very sorry. Apparently I don’t shut up.

Total number of creations? (Or a rough guess!)

Art - Finished; 221 (not all published) Art - WIPS; 25 Writing - Published; 4 Writing - WIPS; 9 ?

Was there a project that you didn’t get around to?

In terms of starting or finishing? Lol. I didn’t get around to publishing the first chapter of the MU fic, which I desperately still want to before S2 starts. Because I keep writing all the middle bits instead. Nor did I get around to start writing the “winter fic” beyond plot points and a few little scenes.

There’s a looooooooooooooot of art I didn’t get around to either starting properly or finishing. Lol. I have a L’Rell piece I really want to do, as well as [another] mirror Stamets piece I want to do.

What was the creation you had the most fun making?

Art: Oh that’s hard. A lot of things for a lot of different reasons. I enjoyed the Holiday artworks because they were….really out of my depth and fun. Mostly I loved sending them out on cards to friends.

More recently I had a lot of fun doing the Patroclus and Achilles piece. Loved using golden hues.

Also have a lot of fun with Not Safe for Work-Viewing pieces, but those will never be published here. :D Sorry.

Writing: I had a surprising amount of fun writing the Vampire AU fic [Just a Taste] for Halloween. Which I never expected to write anything vampiric, ever, and also it came together really quickly. Building the world in that short fic was a lot of fun.

Any surprises? (E.g. a character or ship you never thought you’d create for or a project that came out of nowhere?)

Well honestly this whole revival to art and writing came as a surprise, I hadn’t done either in many years. I was also never a Star Trek fan prior to Disco, nor have I ever been a part of a fandom before. This is my first! So that was surprising, also surprising was how massively obsessed I became and how important it became to me. But the best surprise out of all of that is the connections to people I’ve made and the friendships that have come from that. ily. <3 Also not going to lie, pretty surprised that suddenly my art has become mega-fuckin-colourful. Where did this love of neon come from??? Wtf

What was the hardest creation to make?

Writing; MU fic - hands down. I have pages and pages and pages of resources. Not only is it going to be a long story (I endeavour and hope) but also from the amount of which I am pulling from and want to align to canon as as best I can as well. Being a new fan to Trek also... it’s been pretty overwhelming to get these details right. But at the same time, really trying to flesh out a character we never met or saw in the show, and have them interact with the established canon and have that all make sense… That and have the science in it make as much sense as possible, I’ve based a few new things on scientific principles and things that exist and just trying to elevate them to a cosmic scale… and hope I can pull that off too. It’s pretty intimidating. Not going into it, but the way the story weaves and intersects with a few different genres.. I just want to have it make sense in it’s self contained body of work.

Yeah it’s hard. Lol. Biggest thing I’ve ever tried to do. But, I love it, truly. I think about this whole project an inhumane amount of times every day, and I love that.

It’s also hard because I’d love to be a linear writer, but I am not. At all. I’m constantly writing ahead, well and truly ahead, but then coming back, adding to and editing earlier bits and rewriting and rewriting….rewriting… ugh

The subjects and themes are also a little heavy, and it’s cathartic to write about, sure, but also wanting to do those moments justice and with respect and integrity - because that’s important to me too.

The whole thing is just a lot of fuckin work, lol. But I really love it. Already - and it’s nowhere near done.

Art; Probably the one where Paul is laying down [crying] in the spore chamber. It was my first return to trying to paint semi-realism, and... it didn’t work out. I’m not happy with it anymore, but also proud that I pulled it off. That pose? Hair? HAND? UGH those took me too long to get right. But, overall it certainly taught me a lot to use on future more realism-ish pieces such as the Cosmic/Celestial pics of Hugh and Paul [which I love.]

What inspired you the most this year?

Oh, easy. Discovery. Hugh and Paul, hands down both of those things. But also to the endlessly talented people who I’ve come to know and also enjoy the works of - be it written, art, or otherwise. Creativity inspires creativity.

What are you most proud of? (A creation, something you learned, etc)

Art: The Cosmic/Celestial pieces. Very proud of those. (So much so I made metal prints of them and they sit on my bookshelf between a salt lamp.) I really love how they came out, and really the original (Cosmic Paul) was kind of an accident, a happy accident if you will.

Also the piece of Anthony I did for Anthony’s birthday. That was a lot of fun constructing something visually representative of a person.

Any goals/plans/ideas for next year?

Fucking get some headway on my MU fic so I can stop being so annoying by just talking about it, and fucking start publishing it already - for then it then it would EXIST in the word. LOL. Ugh. That’s the only big plan, that’s all I want to do. Whatever art I will do - I will just find inspiration in the moment to do. No plans, other than the L’Rell piece and a couple other WIPs - maybe.

Honestly just that and trying to keep improving, both in writing and in drawing. I feel like I’ve improved over this past year, so would love to just continue on that trajectory.

Pick your favourite creations! (Post links and tell us why you love them!)

The Cosmic and Celestial Series I just love how these turned out, especially because it was such a surprise how it turned out originally. But being able portray this cosmic divinity of which I uphold them both to be in my mind was really awesome to pull off. The colours, and dramatic light, this whole thing was so fucking fun. The whole painting with colours as highlights / shadows / dual light source was a huge experiment for me and it taught me a huge amount, so I really love it for many reasons.

The Song of Achilles I started sketching this while I was listening to the audio book and while I fell in love with these two. Please, again, do go read this book. But the detailing on the spear, the auras and Achilles hair were my favourite bits. Oh and the gold blood. Of course, lol. Loved doing the symbolic imagery

Anthony Rapp’s Birthday Portrait Because this man means a whole lot to me, and it was nice really nice for a change of pace to try and depict him and things that are important to him. Also really proud of that shoe, ngl. & And MU Stamets and his Mycelium Sun

Huge experiment in terms of colour and lighting for me, and I love love love how it turned out. Even if it’s a little rough. This one was so much fun, and I also printed this out on metal actually lol. Looks pretty cool. & First MU Culmets Work Still in my heart, even though it’s a earlier work, because it was the first exploitation of this duo for me, and how they might be together. Also where I came up with the HC for his facial scar, which I always will include in any MU Hugh depiction of mine. But I still really like how their characterisation translates in this one.

Writing

Nomenclature.

The archaeology AU story I wrote for 30MinuteLoop. Also well, this is the only one that’s safe for viewing that’s published, lol, but I am genuinely really proud of this and seeing it through to completion.

But also the MU story is a fave, but this is the only published section so far:

MU Snippet (These next couple of questions are directly from @drstrangewillseeyounow sorry I’ll be so literal in their structure, lmao)

How you decide on which style to use for individual pieces?

Unless it’s something very specific in mind (like the holiday pieces) I just kind of let it take a life of its own. See what it evolves into. I might have one idea to where I want it to go before I export it to PS, but once in PS it might take a whole new life (prime example if the original Cosmic/Celestial Paul. The original was very flat, and pretty boring lol but really became something else in PS. Actually it was supposed to be originally a visual piece to accompany my Vampire fic - and Vampire Hugh picture. But that changed entirely once I got it into PS.)

(It’s hard to see but there’s a bite mark on the original side.)

I'd also know more about your literal process, as in: what's your hardware set-up, what software do you use?

I have a weird all over the place set up. Lol.

So I do the majority of the work on my iPad, up until a stage where I don’t think I can go any further with it (or need more than 6 layers at my disposal) and then export it to my PC (either work or home) and then work on it further in Photoshop. Of which it then gains infinite amount of layers, lmao. Oh god.

As for the file on the iPad, when I’m working on that I can only have 6 layers. So usually will do sketch/line-work on one (or two, if I have to work a problematic bit but then merge it with the rest) and same with the colour/painting. That’s always on one layer, which I’ve grown to really like working like that. I might do skin on one, then clothes on another, but eventually will merge them. If it’s a full paint (or even half paint maybe), the colour and line layer will eventually be merged as I erase the lines I no longer need as I go and blend that layer more seamlessly into the painted layer. It just ending up a purely painted file without the original lines. Another layer may be added for more delicate details such as eyelashes and eyebrows, things like that.

Everything I do once exported to Photoshop is just with a mouse, I have a Wacom tablet… But I don’t use it, because I haven’t been bothered calibrating it with my dual monitor setup, and am happy doing most of the work on the iPad anyway as it kinda acts like a Cintiq in that regard. But localised. (Plus I can take it anywhere with me, interstate, overseas, to work, to the park, etc. I love that mobility.) Depending if I need a certain element that’s vector based, I’ll make it in Corel Draw or Illustrator, too. I also have Corel painter....buuuuuuuuut still haven’t used it. That’s a goal for 2019 for sure, lmao. Very occasionally I will physically sketch out the idea (like the holiday pieces) scan, and rework, redraw, line it, or whatever in the iPad then go forth with all of the above processes.

How long does it usually take you from start to finish?

Art: How long a piece takes really varies lol. Sketches can be between 1 - 4 hours on average, sometimes more. Flat colours will be a couple hours more. Half paints usually 4-8 more hours. Full paints and more realism stuff like the Cosmic/Celestial is total of 18hours+ but those times are just a rough idea, sometimes something just works out a lot quicker. Sometimes longer.

Writing: FOR FUYCKING EVER. I’m the slowest writer ever.

Do you have art WIPs and what do you think keeps you from finishing them?

I have a lot of art WIPs lol I think just losing drive or inspiration to finish them is what mainly kills them, or me getting frustrated that it isn’t working out like I wanted. Sometimes I just forget they exist.

Probably same goes for writing, too. Lol. Also it could be that I’ll dream up the entire (or mostly) of the story, but then getting it onto the page is hard. I want to work at getting better at that.

Do you do any non-fanart, too?

Sure. Although not often anymore, I’m honestly just inhumanly obsessed with Hugh and Paul.. Even when I start a project that isn’t centric to either or both of them… Often it will kind of morph into them. oops.

I want to say yes to fic too...but That’s a project I haven’t worked on in fucking years and years, so I doubt that really counts anymore.

//end

Wow I am so sorry that was me just rambling on. Anyway, cool. Hi to anyone who made it this far. I’ll also parrot the line of: Everyone who created/posted art, fic, gif-sets, vids, cosplay, etc., consider yourself tagged if you’d like to be. I’m curious! (I’m fucking serious, P L E A S E D O.)

#long post #Asks #Q&A #my art #my writing #about me

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jungcock · 7 years ago

Text

fatal attraction│01 (m.)

→ pairing: reader x jungkook (feat. taehyung)

→ genre: serial killer au, angst

→ word count: 14k

Your dangerous ex-boyfriend comes back to haunt you in more ways than one.

→ warnings: mentions of smut, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, light gore, death and murder. This will be a series with a lot of twists and turns… I’ve been working on this for a while and I’m excited to finally post so I hope you all like it.

↳ series m.list | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | on going

You were at Hoseok’s palace of a home. You were at Hoseok’s palace of a home every Saturday night. Every weekend his parents flew off to the Caribbean, leaving an empty house for him to have all of you over. Apparently dealing with their unemployed 24 year old son proved too stressful. You, Hoseok, Yoongi, Jimin, Taehyung and a hundred odd people occupied the Jung mansion in his parent’s absence. These parties were notorious from what you heard. Only a handful of times you had experienced them first hand, despite being in the same place every weekend. Instead, you’d lock yourselves upstairs and let the party goers enjoy the raging vibes below.

Surprisingly, Hoseok never minded these strangers soiling his million dollar home. Whenever someone would break a vase or knock over an expensive artwork his reaction was far from frightening. His eyes would widen and he’d mutter an ‘oh shit’ before erupting into laughter. He was so carefree and that’s what you loved most about him - despite the trait most likely stemmed from growing up so privileged.

Hoseok was heir to an empire. You all were and you were lucky you all clicked so well when your parent forced you all to form a little group. Sure you fought every now and then, but there were two things that always kept the dynamic in check, two things you would always have in common. One, none of you wanted to take over your families’ businesses and two, all of you loved to drink.

You were sitting at the dining table scattered with all types of contraband and playing cards. You had the worst poker face, so your goodies were at the other end of the table with Taehyung. You sent him a death glare as he snorted a line of your cocaine before puckering his lips at you.

“Asshole!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you’re shit,” he retorted.

“Fuck you!”

You chucked your cards at him and he cackled when they landed nowhere near him.

“Let’s just play something else,” Jimin suggested, hoping to simmer down the situation before you exploded.

“No!” Taehyung argued, “Just because princess pathetic can’t handle losing her stimulants doesn’t mean everyone’s fun has to be ruined.”

Taehyung was known for joking around, especially with you. For some reason beyond your knowledge, you were his favourite to tease. It was a thrill for him to get a rise out of you, you could see it in his eyes. Every time, his chocolate orbs would ignite with satisfaction at your reaction. It was like he got off from it, his dark stare taking a snapshot of your face to save for later. Although he irked you endlessly, you didn’t entirely mind. He ensured there was never a dull day. He ensured embarrassing moments never went unnoticed and were stored away for future laughs. He was your friend and you knew he loved you, despite the harassment. But that comment did hurt.

“Hey!” Yoongi snapped.

Taehyung eyes widened and he hung his head. Whenever Yoongi spoke up, you all knew, as well as Taehyung, that he had gone too far. Now at an awkward standstill as to what to play next, Hoseok got up to go downstairs. He’d make an appearance every hour, more so to please his guests as opposed to checking if his home was still intact. After two years of witnessing these parties you had come to the conclusion that Hoseok used them to punish his parents for neglecting him. They weren’t for his pleasure and they weren’t for his boys or yours. The parties were only a background noise. It was a weird dynamic when you actually thought about it but it worked. The guests knew never to come upstairs and as long as they obeyed that rule, they could drink and party to their hearts’ content. However, Hoseok wasn’t completely reckless, if anyone broke his very few, lax rules they were banned for good. His status alone kept trespassing nonexistent. It was organised chaos.

“I’m off to do the rounds! If you haven’t come up with a game by the time I come back, we’re all joining the party,” Hoseok threatened and earned a groan from all the boys as he left.

“Ok fine! Since princess-” Taehyung began with a snarky tone.

“Careful,” Yoongi warned.

He sighed before adjusting his tone to something close to endearing.

“Since princess has lost her assets, how about we bet on clothes?”

“If you give me my coke back I’ll strip for you right now,” you deadpanned, fed up with his extra sass.

“Really?!” He exclaimed, his face lighting up with shock, which you hated because he looked so damn cute.

“Just have mine ____,” Jimin offered kindly, trying to save your dignity.

“No offence baby but my coke is better,” you sassed, drunk and coming down from the weak drugs.

Jimin dropped his cards in defeat. He was always such an angel to you, you knew you’d feel bad tomorrow but right now your stubborn self just didn’t care.

“____ just text Jin and get more,” Yoongi suggested clearly trying to protect your dignity as well.

“I can’t,” you replied in a small voice.

“Why?” Taehyung challenged with a smirk.

“Because if I ask him for drugs again he’s gonna tell mum and dad,” you admitted unable to make eye contact with anyone.

Sure your brother was a part time drug dealer, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t still your brother. He was overprotective and controlling and he hated you hanging out with the boys. If it wasn’t for the fact your friendships benefited the family business, he would have narked on you all years ago.

Taehyung’s cackle filled the room. “Are you serious?!”

“Why are you being extra dickish today?”

Taehyung shrugged his shoulders before pushing his chair back and dangling your little white bag spitefully. In blind determination you marched over to him, peeling the tight shirt off your back. Jimin and Yoongi yelled in half-hearted disgust and turned away while Taehyung hollered.

“C'mon guys don’t pretend you haven’t wanted see this for years!”

You ignored his comment, knowing if you acknowledged it your face might have turned beet red. You attempted to snatch your drugs dangling between his fingers but he palmed the bag.

“Jeans as well, baby.”

You rolled your eyes and began to unzip. You should have felt disgusted and repelled by his sleazy behaviour but you couldn’t. As you looked down into his eyes that were filled with curiosity and anticipation, you could only see your little Tae. Taehyung who never failed to make you smile by the sight of his face alone, his constant expression of absence and his big bambi eyes. The urge to pinch his cheeks was a daily struggle and that image was impossible to tarnish. And in a weird way, it made you feel ok with what was going on. You trusted Taehyung, you trusted all the boys and you were comfortable. Honestly you were surprised they hadn’t seen you naked already.

“Stop!” Yoongi yelled before you could push your jeans past your ass.

“Why?!” Tae whined in dramatic pain.

“Jin’s on his way.”

“What?!” You screeched in panic.

“Chill! I texted him asking to score and he said he was in the area. Put your shirt back on, your high end coke is on its way,” Yoongi explained.

“Thank you.”

You did what you were told and poked your tongue at Taehyung before returning to your seat. He kicked at Yoongi’s chair and mouthed a 'what the fuck man?!’ at him when he thought you weren’t watching.

“We’ve got a good thing going here!” Yoongi bellowed, disregarding Tae’s attempt to be discreet. “I’m not going to let you make it weird and awkward for the only girl that likes us because you’re high and horny!”

Now, girls liked them. Girls liked them a lot. However you were the only one who didn’t beg them for anything remotely romantic. Now don’t get it wrong, it was difficult in the beginning. The four of them screamed anime fantasy, with their impeccable fashion sense and coloured hair. Their demeanours radiated sex appeal without effort, disinterested and completely unaware of how alluring it was. They were just too cool it hurt. It took a good couple of months of getting used to and resisting that urge to throw yourself at any of them was probably the best thing you had ever done. It was strange to think your feelings for them weren’t always platonic.

And even more strange to think it was Taehyung that caught your eye first.

He was slouched against the wall at the bottom of Hoseok’s grand staircase. His hair was red at the time and he was sporting leather trousers and a white bomber. Drunken strangers flooded the distance between you two and obscured your view occasionally but it was still impossible not to spot him. He looked and was, fucked and he completely owned it. His mouth was in a permanent smirk, his tongue making an appearance every few seconds. He was looking everywhere and nowhere in particular. It had you yearning for his thoughts. Daze so intense, he hadn’t even noticed you blatantly staring at him for the last half an hour.

Half an hour you had been there, dragged out of bed by your brother because he needed to deal and you couldn’t be left alone. You truly had no interest in attending one of Hoseok’s parties but now, discovering this gorgeous boy had you kicking yourself for not making an appearance sooner. Once you had enough of the torture, in a second of blind courage, you found your legs moving towards him. You didn’t even have anything to say. Honestly, you were shamelessly contemplating just shoving your tongue down his throat because you didn’t have anything to say. But you weren’t the only one with him in your radar. You stopped in your tracks when suddenly this gorgeous blonde popped out of nowhere and latched onto him. You cursed. If only you had made your move sooner. But no, you had spent the whole time just staring like an absolute creep…

But before you could completely bask in regret, he was waving her off.

It was bizarre.

She had the looks of a model, throwing herself at him and grabbing his manhood. He only chuckled and shook his head, letting her make a fool of herself. Just within earshot, you could make out her annoying whines.

“C'mon Tae, take me upstairs and we can fool around abit.”

Tae.

Tae chuckled and covered his face as if she had just said the most absurd thing imaginable. Leaning his head back against the wall, he stared at her through his lashes and once again, shook his head. She stomped like a child, disappointment shrouded her flawless face. In one final attempt to get in this boy’s pants, she leaned into his ear and whispered so seductively it gave you goosebumps.

“I really want to suck your cock baby.”

No reaction whatsoever, instead his smirk returned and his eyes found yours. You must have looked like a deer in headlights, unable to move or play off like you hadn’t been eavesdropping the entire time. His stare was inquisitive, curious and he refused to break it as he finally opened his mouth.

“No,” he growled into the blonde’s ear before winking at you.

Your heart stopped and you ran off in a panic. No no no no, hell no. There was no way you could face him now. On a mission to find your brother, you were praying he was far from the stairwell so you could make a proper escape. Tae’s raspy voice echoed in your brain as you moved through the crowd at an agonisingly slow pace. To your dismay, you didn’t get very far before Jin found you.

“____! I told you not to wander off! Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Jin yelled at you over all the commotion.

You had felt your phone go off but ignored it. You couldn’t risk tearing your eyes from Tae at the time. You were scared he’d get lost in the crowd even if you looked away for a second. But now that you had been discovered, you had to be as far away as possible. You nervously turned back to check the distance you made between yourself and said boy. It wasn’t a lot and he was still watching you, amused and the blonde had disappeared.

“I’m sorry, let’s just go home,” you gushed trying your best to usher him towards the door.

But he stopped.

“Oh! It’s Taehyung,” he said, waving at the boy you had been trying to run away from.

“You know him?!” You squealed.

“Yeah, he’s dad’s potential business partner’s son.”

Your eyes widened. “How do you know this?”

“We’re going to be taking over the family business eventually, ____, pay attention.”

“You’re taking over the family business Jin. So no, I won’t pay attention.”

He shook his head and chuckled.

“I’ll introduce you.”

“NO!”

Before your body could react, Jin was already approaching him. He grabbed your hand and pulled you along like he did when you two were kids. You tugged at his bicep in protest and whispered in his ear in desperation. You felt like you could mentally combust if forced to confront Taehyung now. Jin ignored your pleas, like always. Your heart was racing as Taehyung spotted Jin and stood up straight, recognition in his expression. It was the most alert you’d seen him.

“Oh, Jin!” He greeted.

“Taehyung!”

Then they did this bro handshake you’d never understand.

“Hey, do you have anymore of those pink tabs?” Taehyung asked your brother, eyes wide and hopeful. It was the cutest thing you’d ever seen in your life.

“So that’s how you know him?” You called him out, as if he listened to shit concerning the family business. “I was under the impression you met through our respected law-abiding families?”

Jin shot you menacing eyes. “I did meet him through dad, you brat,” he hissed in your ear.

Taehyung chuckled. “Who is this?” He asked your brother and then turned to you, “And why’d you run away from me?”

“This is my little sister ____,” he introduced you before you had a chance to. “I have to babysit her even though she’s 19 years old because she can’t stay out of trouble. And why did you run away from him ____?”

You stuttered. The fucking nerve of him. You wanted to murder him. Taehyung’s laughter filled the air and you felt your face burning up. You twisted around to punch Jin in the gut but he predicted it and blocked it. The urge to scream in his face was so strong but Taehyung’s intense gaze forced you to behave.

"You’re not doing a very good job keeping her away from it.”

The three of you turned to the voice walking down the stairs. Your jaw dropped. The boy was just as ethereal as Taehyung. He had similar style, however a leather jacket hung off his shoulders instead of the white bomber that swallowed Taehyung. He caught your eye and smiled brightly, his eyes crescent moons. If you hadn’t died already, you died then.

“You’re no better,” Taehyung pointed at the other boy, eyes wide and accusing.

“What? I’m an angel,” the boy sung, running his fingers through his silvery white hair.

The other boys cringed and Taehyung shoved him as he took the spot next to him against the wall.

“I’m Jimin.”

“Hi,” you squeaked.

Jin looked at you, looked at his friends and then looked at the way you were looking at his friends. He could always sense the trouble before you ever could. It was the glint in your eye, the undeniable tension that radiated off of you whenever you were drawn to something, drawn to… trouble, essentially. And somehow it was Jin’s job to prevent it, to intervene before you delved face first.

“Ok I’m going to take my baby sister home now,” he declared, emphasising 'baby’.

“No, stay!” Jimin protested sweetly.

“Yoongi hates it when you leave so soon,” Taehyung added.

You had heard that name before, Jin was always mentioning him when he was not already with him. Although your brother never used the phrase best friend, you knew that was what Yoongi was. You had been dying to meet him. And you’d be lying if you said the two boys you had just met didn’t have anything to do with your change of mind.

“Let’s stay-” You began.

“Next time boys,” Jin interrupted, pulling your arm.

“Wait!” Taehyung hollered and closed the distance Jin attempted to make. “I wanna see you again.”

The smirk on him radiated utter confidence and bravado. You hadn’t made the best first impression, with the help of Jin, so you were quite surprised. Nevertheless, you bit your lip and pulled your phone out of your pocket. But it was quickly intervened.

"No,” your brother deadpanned.

The boys with coloured hair laughed.

“C'mon dude, we’re not that bad,” Jimin defended the both of them.

“Maybe you,” Jin said pointing at Jimin. “But not him.”

Taehyung gasped dramatically.

“Ok, how about I get her number then,” Jimin mediated.

Jin rolled his eyes but didn’t protest. He turned around as if saying to quickly do it while he wasn’t looking. You grabbed Jimin’s phone, typing your number and saving it. Taehyung’s eyes grew at the sight of Jimin’s phone, now with your number in it, as you handed it back. He was about to lunge for it but you grabbed his phone before he could and dialed your number quickly.

Jin turned around as your phone rang.

“Um no!”

“I’ll see you around,” You said with a wink, dragging your brother away.

Jimin and Taehyung told you a year later what they thought of you in that very moment. It started with, “you were sexy as hell” and ended with “but then you became one of us”. You had pondered that conversation and first interaction over and over, trying your best to analyse how they saw what they had explained. First of all, you looked a mess that night so for them to find you attractive enough to want to see you again, had you baffled. Jin gave you no time to change, so you were still in your satin nightgown and ended up chucking on boots that were laying at the front door. Your hair probably looked like a nest and all you did was stand there being patronised by your brother.

For a while you theorised it was because Taehyung thought anything in little dress was sexy as hell. He loved women with an alternative look and he was all about the chase so it was easy to assume. Jimin spoiled that theory eventually, with a raised eyebrow and an accusation that you weren’t giving yourself enough credit for how beautiful you were. And soon, to your embarrassment, whether it was a compliment or expressed as a burden, none of the boys would let you forget how beautiful you were.

As you walked back to the car with your brother that night, you had to bite your lip to keep from smiling. From the beginning, you could feel that you were on the same wavelength and that both parties had voids they knew the other could fill. It was in the way Jimin smiled at you. It was in the way Taehyung looked at you differently to the way he looked at that blonde girl. There was a connection you hadn’t felt since your ex-boyfriend and you had missed the excitement that coincided. The promise of new relationships - friendly and romantic alike.

However, Jin was quick catch on, being the protective brother was.

“You are never to go to one of those parties ever again,” he ordered before speeding down the driveway.

Like Jin could ever control you.

You found yourself being drawn to them. Every Saturday, without fail, you would sneak out your bedroom window to meet Taehyung waiting further down your street with the motor running. Before you’d end up at Hoseok’s, he’d drive you to a make out spot that overlooked a view of the lit up city at night. It was breathtakingly gorgeous despite the muffled moans from neighbouring cars. The first time he took you there you could tell a hook up was on his brain and sweaty palms aside, you were more than obliging. But instead, you got talking and that’s all you ended up doing. You told each other things you had never told anyone. You laughed until you cried. There was more than just attraction and that was the last time you ever got the sense he was coming on to you. And after that, surprisingly, the awe of him wore off. As you spent more weekends with him, he became less of an angelic being and more of a boy your age. The dazzle and charm of him developed into pure platonic fondness. As it did with Jimin. And then Hoseok and Yoongi when you met them.

You liked them for them and not for their looks, and Yoongi cherished that greatly. As corny as it sounded, it made you feel secure and warm and wanted. Just knowing for a fact, Yoongi wouldn’t let anything jeopardise your place in the group did wonders for your emotional stability.

“You could never scare me away,” you reassured him, in the cutest voice you could muster.

“Stop.”

You giggled at his reaction, as much as he pretended it disgusted him you knew he loved it. It was the glimmer of admiration in his face before he would twist it into a grimace. Jimin’s giggle filled the air and it was contagious.

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it,” Jimin teased.

Yoongi shoved his chair back and shot out of his seat, ignoring Jimin’s comment.

“Fuck it.”

“Where are you going?!” Taehyung questioned, containing his laughter.

You all watched Yoongi’s back as he stormed up to the locked door.

“What else are we gonna do huh?! It took you idiots hours to decide on this game.”

It was not hours, drama queen.

The other boys grumbled. They hated joining the party. As obnoxious as it sounded, it was because they were sick and tired of being continuously hit on. Every time they took a step out that door, girls would squeal and then a brave one would come up and try her luck. Now, any guy would be in heaven but these boys were different. Jimin was shy and even though the attention was flattering, he didn’t want it and never knew how turn it down. Taehyung loved the attention, but he also loved the chase, nothing screamed boring more than a girl that was easy. Yoongi was too into his music, he couldn’t care for anything else. And Hoseok, was Hoseok. He was too all over the place for a girl to try to tie him down, even if only for a hook up.

To the boys discomfort and displeasure, you loved to see it all unfold.

“Let’s do it!” You cheered, joining Yoongi.

They moaned again, Jimin throwing his head back to be extra dramatic before dragging himself out of his seat.

“Only if me and ____ play boyfriend girlfriend!” Taehyung declared sickeningly cute before Jimin had a chance to.

“What are we? 10 years old?” You snapped.

Jimin narrowed his eyes before shoving his fist out. He played paper. Taehyung played scissors. Jimin declared defeat, kicking his chair in frustration.Taehyung shook his fists in victory before approaching you with open arms.

“I didn’t agree to this, you brat!” You protested, fending his arms away. “I was Jimin’s girlfriend last time, now people are going to think I’m fucking you all!”

Taehyung immediately morphed into your little Tae. Doe eyes and all. “But I won paper, scissors, rock,” he mumbled sadly.

You groaned, unable to deny him. And honestly, why should you care what those drunk people downstairs thought of you.

“Fine.”

He joined your foreheads together, half headbutting you in his excitement. “Thank you ____,” he said before squishing your cheek against his own and squeezing the life out of you. You acted a dead weight until he was done.

“Ready?” Yoongi asked, hand on the doorknob.

You nodded, the other two meekly doing the same. It was a thrill actually attending these parties. It was never the same music or people and never the same dramas. As evil as it sounded, you were excited to see the dilemmas the boys would inevitably find themselves in this time. First stop, the kitchen, because you needed popcorn.

On cue, a few girls squealed and muttered to each other very loudly as you all descended. Taehyung had his arm draped around your shoulders in the most nonchalant way possible. You barely recognised it there before he’d occasionally yank on your neck to whisper in your ear. The looks you were given, you could only imagine criminals being looked at the same. It was beyond pathetic and absolutely hilarious. You could see the jealousy and frustration behind their eyes; that expression of realisation that they couldn’t have everything despite their parents enforcing they could. And being the bitch you were, you smiled at them and batted your lashes before shoving a hand down Taehyung’s back pocket. The gasps echoed through the room, it was iconic.

Jimin stuck himself strategically between yourself and Yoongi, who was leading the way. Before you all could make it even halfway into the living room, Jimin had ignored and ran away from his name whined thrice. The fourth time was gradually closer and he flinched like the soft baby he was, before picking up his speed. You didn’t mean to laugh at him but you did. He just looked so cute and small and scared, sticking to Yoongi like glue. His eyes almost popped out its sockets as this tall brunette came strutting up them, flipping her hair and winking. Now you felt bad, knowing Jimin would be petrified to tell this girl he wasn’t interested. To his relief, Yoongi had it sussed. With a flick of a wrist, he shooed her away, denying her the time of day. Jimin mumbled an apology at the girl’s baffled expression, before scurrying back to his friend’s side.

“Jiminie you’re so cute when you’re scared,” you teased him as you all finally made it to the kitchen.

He gave you a fake smile before flipping you off accordingly.

“Even his middle finger is cute,” Taehyung cooed, leaping over to him and grabbing his hand. “Look at his little hands!”

Seeing red, Jimin grabbed a loaf of bread, probably left on the counter by a drunken party goer trying to sober up and hurled it at Taehyung as he ran away.

“Ah!” Taehyung bellowed. “Violence is never the answer,” he joked, laughing like a madman.

The cocaine was definitely kicking in.

Just before Jimin could fire back, Yoongi was ordering for someone to text Hoseok. You volunteered, pulling out your phone as Taehyung draped an arm around your shoulder again and tried to feed you bread. You were beginning to regret agreeing to come downstairs with faded Tae. Drugs and crowds didn’t mesh well with him. He’d either be swinging from the chandelier or passed out in a closet and you were not in the mood for that sort of babysitting. You needed Hoseok, he always knew what to do these situations. They were his parties after all. You texted him your whereabouts. The kitchen was the most quiet room in the house on a saturday so it was always the meet up spot.

“I texted him,” you told Yoongi.

Yoongi nodded, too busy frowning at his lit up screen to answer. “Jin’s here.”

“That’s my cue!” You declared, ducking out of Taehyung’s embrace.

“Where are you going?” Taehyung asked in a panic.

“Where my brother isn’t. Can’t exactly let him think the coke is for me now can we?”

“But it is for you?” Taehyung questioned, scratching his head in confusion.

You sighed, patting his cheek pitifully.

“I’ll text you when he’s gone,” Yoongi said and you peered around Taehyung to nod at him.

You were praying that Jin either hadn’t entered the house yet or wandered off into the crowds. In order for you to sneak back upstairs, you had to actually get to the stairs and they were exactly opposite the front door. You were extremely cautious on your journey so far, zipping and weaving with your head down. Salvation was in sight. But just your luck, a voice hollered - your brother’s voice. You froze, contemplating just pretending you didn’t hear him but you knew that would be even more suspicious. You took a deep breath and turned around.

Jin hadn’t seen you. He wasn’t calling you. The person he was talking to hid from your view with the help of a few people at least a foot taller than you. Whoever it was had Jin’s full attention so it wasn’t a deal and it had you beyond curious. Jin didn’t have a lot of friends and the few he did have did not match the silhouette of the boy he was now talking to. You craned your neck for a better look, dying to know who it was.

Then Jin spotted you. Then said person turned around.

Your blood ran cold when your eyes locked. Time slowed down. Your heart was pounding in your chest, it felt strong but delayed. Your vision went blurry, everyone around you moved in slow motion. You didn’t even notice Jin shaking you and yelling, because your complete capacity to comprehend was fixated on him. What the fuck was he doing here? He smirked at you like he could read your mind. He emitted villainy with his long coat and black hair, looking like he was here to collect your soul. It was frightening, he was frightening. The aura that ran in his bloodline.

“What are you doing down here?” Jin had been questioning for the last ten seconds, although your ears only just begun to clarify his words.

“What is he doing here?” You croaked in panic and betrayal. “Why are you talking to him?!”

“Jin!” Hoseok bellowed with a chuckle, walking into an absolute shit storm without even realising. “I didn’t know you were making an appearance tonight!”

God, you loved Hoseok. His constant radiance and cheer never failed to make you happy… until now. And it made you want to cry to think even your precious Hobi couldn’t make this all ok.

“Why is she down here?” Jin interrogated him. “And why is she alone?!”

Hoseok was taken aback and let out a nervous chuckle. “Ah, sorry. She was with the others when I left.”

Then Hoseok spotted him and with a smile, went to greet him.

“Hello!” He greeted cheerfully before shaking his hand, “I’m Hoseok, please make yourself at home!”

You were cringing. He didn’t deserve your Hobi’s hospitality.

“Yeah, I know,” his deep voice replied. “I’ve been here before.”

“Oh!” Hoseok’s exclaimed, still serving his warm welcoming. “I’m sorry this is the first time we’ve met. I didn’t catch your name?”

“Namjoon.”

Hoseok just grinned like the ray of sunshine he was, completely unaware of who exactly was standing in front of him. And that was your fault. You hadn’t told the boys about Namjoon and a certain someone he was related to. Instead you just prayed this day would never come, that you would never have to be in his presence and face your past again. You should have told them. You should have told them. Hoseok was a networker and here he was, attempting to establish a connection and bond with Namjoon without knowing who he really was. Without knowing who his family was and who his family was to you. You had to save him.

“Go upstairs,” Jin ordered you one final time.

You were about to protest. There was no way you could leave without Hoseok, without telling him what was going on before it came from someone else’s mouth.

“I’d rather she didn’t,” Namjoon interrupted. “We need to catch up! It’s been awhile.”

“I have nothing to say to you!” You spat, nowhere near as confidently as you would have liked.

The chuckle that escaped his lips was dark and taunting. “Not even a ‘how are you? How is your family after I ran their reputation into the ground?!’”

You flinched away from him, shaking your head as if he was a hallucination and you could will him away.

“That wasn’t ____, that was your brother,” Jin defended you, stepping in front of him to shield you.

“Step aside,” Namjoon threatened so calmly it was scary.

“No.”

“I just need to talk to her.”

“No.”

Namjoon smirked. “Still fighting her battles huh?”

“Until the day I die.”

The tension was undeniable. You wanted to disappear as strangers quietened to watch the drama unfold. You must have looked as distressed as you felt because soon Hoseok was in front of you, your cheeks in his palms. He did this to prevent your panic attacks, sensing them before you could hit the ground, wailing.

“They’re all staring Hobi please.”

With a nod, he announced the party was over. Groans emitted everywhere, however everyone was quick to disperse. Within a few minutes the music was off and the foyer was empty.

“What’s going on-”

Taehyung, Jimin and Yoongi waltzed in, confusion plastered on their faces.

“Nothing! I’ll meet you guys upstairs.”

You forced a smile and it only made the three of them more uneasy. They each took a step forward, planting themselves within the situation. They were there to stay. You were dreading what they would think of you after this was over. You couldn’t bear it. This wasn’t happening.

Taehyung seemed to have sobered up, all staunch with a look of concern. “What’s going on?” He repeated.

“Nothing!” Namjoon chuckled. “I’m just checking up on my lil bro’s girl, that’s all.”

“What?” Jimin uttered, eyes bulging at you.

“She’s not his girl anymore,” Jin corrected, looking over his shoulder at your friends.

“She didn’t tell him that,” Namjoon argued. “Actually, she didn’t tell him anything at all because she’s the reason he’s where he is now and she probably still hates herself for it. What kind of person does that to the love of their life?”

“Wait, who?” Yoongi questioned, as far the boys knew you had never had a boyfriend.

The rage was building inside of you, your panic attack long forgotten.

“Ah! Of course you didn’t tell him. Little ____, always running away from her problems,” he continued to patronise and insult you. “Always running away from the consequences.”

That was it. You were charging, shoving Jin and Hoseok out of the way.

“You don’t know shit about me!” You yelled at him.

“Yeah not anymore,” he scoffed, looking down at you with discontempt, “but I did once. Who are you now?”

“This is me,” you huffed, “when I’m not in love with him.”

“Ah,” he sighed while scratching the back of his head nervously. “He’s not going to like that.”

“So that’s why you’re here? To relay him closure?” You sassed, unable to stop yourself. “You can tell that fucker that we were over from the moment he-”

“You can tell him yourself,” Namjoon interrupted with a sly smile.

“Now why would I go see him?” You bellowed, incredulously. “I never want to see his face again!”

Namjoon narrowed his eyes at your crazed ones.

“Ok, I guess I’ll have to tell him then. He’s not going to be very forgiving hearing it from me.”

You grimaced, completely unimpressed. “Do I look like I give a shit?”

“No,’ he deadpanned, “and you’re gonna regret it.”

“I doubt it.”

“I’m not buying it,” he taunted.

“How?!”

“A love, like what you two had, doesn’t just go away,” he stated, “no matter how much of a bitch you’ve become or pretend to be.”

As soon as the word bitch came out of Namjoon’s mouth, Hoseok stepped in. “Ok time for you to leave, asshole.”

Namjoon cackled. “I’m not the asshole here,” he said, staring you down.

Trying to avoid his gaze, you stole quick glances at the boys. They we all silent, speechless. The looks on their faces were of utter disbelief as the gears began to gradually turn. You weren’t as perfect as they thought you were, as you portray yourself to be. And you could see it, that question in their eyes as they stared at you - who are you? This was not how you wanted them to find out. It made you absolutely livid, even more so now that this image of your former self was being painted by someone else. And that this someone else was playing coy enough for them to fill in the blanks with the worst they could imagine.

Why the fuck did we come downstairs?

“Why are you here, Namjoon?” You asked him one last time, through gritted teeth.

“To remind you ____!” He yelled and his deep voice boomed and echoed through the high ceilings. “You were family once, you know, and you can’t escape family.”

Namjoon spun on his heel and made his leave. You wanted to yell after him and demand what he meant but as he walked further and further away, your heart rate and breathing began to settle. The nightmare was almost over, he was almost gone. Suddenly, to your dismay, he stopped at the front door and you tensed noticeably.

“I’ll see you around. Sleep well,” he said with a wink before slamming the door closed behind him.

You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Taehyung attempt to engage with you, confused as ever. But before he had a chance to bombard you with questions, Jin held an arm against his chest.

“Take her upstairs and don’t let her out of your sight,” Jin ordered Taehyung coldly and then glanced at the rest of them. “Don’t let her come home for a couple of days, just while I sort this out.”

You scoffed, anger still coursing through you. You gave your brother a harsh look to express your disdain at his actions, at his emotionless attempt to protect you while disregarding your feelings and existence. Although his words were somewhat sweet - he couldn’t even give you a hug or check if you were ok? He could be so cold and clueless and inconsiderate sometimes, just like your father. It truly sickened you. You couldn’t face him any longer.

As soon as you ran upstairs, Taehyung stopped Jin for answers.

“Wait-”

“She’ll explain everything and try your best to be understanding when she does.”

“What about you?” Jimin chimed in.

“I’ll be fine,” Jin reassured them. “Just please, keep her safe.”

Jin looked at Yoongi especially and he nodded.

“Of course.”

And with that, Jin chucked his best friend your cocaine and made his leave.

You had hopped into Hoseok’s bed. By the time you felt four weights sink into the mattress around you, your anger had subsided into humiliation and dread. It was Jimin that convinced you to poke your head out from under the covers and the view was beautiful. Your four boys surrounded you, faces full of concern and love. Hoseok was lying next to you, Jimin sitting on your other side and Taehyung and Yoongi on the foot of the bed. All of them, ready and waiting for your explanation.

“We just want you to know,” Yoongi began, “no matter how bad it was, what you did, who you fucked - we don’t care. We still love you, ____.”

And as you sat up, you were in tears.

“I don’t even know where to start!”

“How about the beginning?” Hoseok suggested with a warm smile.

He always made things sound so easy. You snivelled, wiping your tears with Jimin’s help.

“It was about four years ago,” you began with a deep breath. “I was young and stupid and I thought I was in love. And you know, that kind of love can be really blinding.”

Having to actually talk about this, talk about him, brought horrible feelings of shame and regret that you thought you’d never have to experience again. And you couldn’t keep the tears from falling.

“Fuck, I really hate seeing her cry,” Taehyung murmured, unable to look at you.

“You don’t have to tell us if it’s too hard ____,” Jimin informed you sweetly.

“No,” you protested, “I can’t keep this a secret from you guys anymore. You deserve to know.”

“Ok, just take it slow,” Yoongi soothed you.

And so you did.

You met in high school. He was a bad boy, the bad boy that every guy was afraid of and every girl wanted to be tainted by. He drove this old mustang that roared through the school parking lot, half an hour after classes began and during recess. He smoked cigarettes and never wore colour. Everyone knew him but no one was friends with him, including you. You never took any interest in him or sought him out because embarrassingly, your world revolved around your girlfriends and the next social event. Occasionally, you’d see him at a party. He’d be hiding in the shadows, until he’d find his prey. It was always the most conservative girl, the one who’d look like she didn’t belong there. And then on Monday, she’d walk into class with a scarf around her neck, wincing while she’d lower herself onto her seat. The boys in class would snigger and one would slap him on the back. It made you livid. So many times you’d want to turn around and shout how disgusting he was but you never did, not wanting the inconvenience that would follow a proper interaction.

You were polar opposites and while that repelled you, it intrigued him. He’d always stare at you shamelessly in calculus. He’d always sit behind you and fiddle with your hair with his pencil in history. Despite this unwanted attention from him, it wasn’t too bothersome and frankly you were too scared to do anything substantial about it. He wasn’t charming. He didn’t send you winks or blow you kisses when your eyes met and he didn’t smirk or chuckle when you turned around to slap his pencil out of his hand. He’d only stare, challenging you to confront him properly. Challenging you to strut up to him after school where he always was, leaning against the hood of his car with a cigarette between his fingers and tell him to leave you the fuck alone. And for a good three years, you didn’t. You ignored his existence and never spoke a word to him. He was only an insignificant stereotype in your adolescent life. An irrelevant convention in your coming of age story.

“What changed?” Jimin questioned, knowing where the story was going.

You sighed.

“Dad made me heir to half of the business.”

You never wanted to inherit anything from your parents. You saw what the politics and money did to their relationships and your family. Reputation was all they cared about and what a better way to ruin that for them but to have a disgrace of a daughter. You thought, surely, if you did something so scandalous you would be written off and deemed an unworthy successor.

But, you were pristine from birth. You gravitated towards people with good grades and clothes and makeup pastel in colour. You really needed to leap out of your comfort zone for your plan to work. So, in a mindset of spite and determination, you strutted up to the boy leaning against the hood of his car with a cigarette between his fingers.

His eyes widened when you stopped in front of him. He was dressed in his signature skin tight ripped jeans with a black tee tucked in. The contrast between you two was immense and you couldn’t help thinking how it looked to the other students roaming around.

"Are you lost?” He asked you through a chuckle.

“No,” you snapped, readjusting the three textbooks in your arms.

He raised an eyebrow before walking around his car to slam down the hood. His car was known for breaking down and it wasn’t surprising considering the way he drove it. However it did wonders for his game, the girls at your school swooned for a grease monkey and admittedly, he pulled the look off tenfold. He tapped the hood twice for his brother to pump the gas.

“You wanna go out sometime?” You yelled at him over his loud engine.

“What?” He yelled back.

You rolled your eyes. “I said, do you wanna go out sometime?!”

He shook his head and pointed to his ear, insinuating he still couldn’t hear you. At this point, you were beginning to regret it. It was like the heavens were giving you a chance to escape from this idiotic idea. You almost turned to leave. You wish you did. God, you wish you did.

“DO YOU WANNA GO OUT SOMETIME?”

While fighting your inner turmoil as to whether you should have backed out or not, he had signalled to his brother to cut the engine. Everyone stopped and stared as your proposal seemed to have echoed through the parking lot. He chuckled, half rubbing his eye, half covering his face in second hand embarrassment. It was the first time you had ever seen him smile. His teeth, perfectly white and straight, were on full display. He looked like a little bunny boy, misplaced in leather with a cigarette. And surprisingly, it was really cute and your heart fluttered a bit.

“Hey! We don’t need to hear how much you were throbbing for this guy ok?” Taehyung cried.

Yoongi slapped the back of his head.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Look, if I’m going to tell this story, I’m telling all of it.”

They all nodded, signalling for you to continue.

“So she finally came around huh?” His brother chuckled, hopping out of the driver’s seat and slamming the door.

He refused to acknowledge him, staring holes into you. You started shuffling your feet, your nerves getting the better of you, worrying you just embarrassed yourself for nothing.

“You better give her an answer lil bro, she’s getting anxious,” he teased.

“You can go now Joon,” he disregarded him.

“‘Wow, thanks so much for helping me fix my car Namjoon, best brother ever!’” Namjoon jested.

He shot Namjoon a death glare and Namjoon raised his hands in surrender. “Ok, I’ll see you at home. Nice to meet you-”

“____,” you introduced as he jumped into his Range Rover and sped off just like his brother did everyday since you’d known of him.

Must run in the family, you thought.

“So?” You began.

“Why?”

You gulped, eyes doubling in size.

“Because, I want to?” You expressed in the most convincing tone you could muster.

“Are you sure about that?” He questioned again teasingly.

You scoffed, “Well, now, not really!”

He chuckled again at your irritability, something he wouldn’t quit from that moment on.

“Miss pristine wouldn’t just ask someone like me out,” he theorised.

“And why not?” You bit back, getting fed up with his hesitation.

You were not used to actually working for things instead of them being handed to you on a silver platter.

“Because look at you!” He pointed at you with his cigarette. “And I’ve been sussing you for years and you didn’t even have the time of day to tell me to fuck off.”

“What if I didn’t want you to?”

“HA! Bullshit. Go run back to the football field with your little cheerleader friends and Doug the buff doofus yeah?“

“Ugh please!” You whined, “Just go out with me ok?”

“She’s begging me now.”

“If you wanna put it that way, fine! Yes I am.”

“But why?” He probed once more.

This guy was not an idiot, to your dismay. It was easy to be convinced otherwise because he was hardly in class and when he was, his attention with fixated on you three quarters of the time. This was supposed to be easy. First, you had no attachment to him whatsoever and you weren’t attracted to him or his look. And second, he had been obsessing over you for the last three years, he should have jumped at the opportunity. But instead he was intuitive, perceptive, so you decided to be honest.

“Look, I just want to piss off my parents.”

He grinned.

“Ok,” he said before flicking his cigarette and walking to the driver’s door.

“Ok? Ok what?” You questioned, unable to play cool or bad or anything to attract this boy.

“I’ll pick you up at 8,“ he bellowed at you as he hopped into his car.

“Oh! Like in your car?” You asked, bending down to speak to him through his passenger side window.

“Well what else, my scooter?“ He chuckled.

“You have a scooter?!” You asked.

“Do I look like I own a scooter?“

You ignored that comment with a frown and he chuckled again. He turned his car on and attacked his gearshift.

"Wait! You don’t know my address? And where are we going?”

“Yes I do princess, and just wear that little white skirt you always wear on Wednesdays,” he smirked and then sped off.

“So this guy is basically a more stalkerish Taehyung?” Yoongi interrupted.

“Hey! So she has a type, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Taehyung defended himself.

“No that’s not the point-” you began.

“____, falling for the bad guy isn’t something to be ashamed of,” Hoseok added with a smile, “don’t beat yourself up.”

“Guys would you let her finish? She’s obviously telling us this for reason.”

You gave Jimin a look of gratitude.

“Exactly, you guys need to hear the normalcy to understand how it ended up the way it did,” you explained, “you need to understand he was just a guy, like all of you. Because otherwise you won’t by the time I’m finished.”

That shut them up, but you knew it was only temporarily.

You wished you took a picture of your parents’ faces when he pulled into your driveway. Instead of coming inside like a gentleman, he slammed on his horn. Nice touch, you thought as you ran downstairs while your parents’ bombarded you with questions. He honked the horn again and wolf whistled at you when you emerged from out the front door. Once he saw your parents in tow, he flicked his headlights off. Through the windscreen he looked like a parents’ nightmare with his leather jacket, cigarette and gaze that screamed trouble. And to top it all off, he smacked your ass when you ran past the driver’s side window.

“____ ______! I’m giving you three seconds to get your ass back inside,” your dad growled.

You ignored him, hopping into the passenger’s side.

“Sorry pops, her ass is mine tonight,” he yelled back through his window.

You could just make out your mum threatening to call the police as he sped out your driveway. You hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time.

“That was amazing!” You shrieked in delight, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but, I’ve never felt so… alive.”

He chuckled before slamming his foot down on the gas, going at least 80 kilometres per hour. You squealed.

“You better get used to it princess, we’re just getting started.”

Every friday for a month he took you to his brother’s parties, got you drunk and dropped you home at four in the morning. And then did the same the next night. Namjoon’s parties on a Saturday night were always more packed than on a Friday.

You never knew anyone there apart from him, so you were shameless. He found you quite entertaining. Instead of lurking around in silence like you’d witnessed him do at every party, he was engaging. He never left your side, fending away guys and laughing at your lame jokes and ramblings. He was so different to what you had expected. He was nice and somewhat chivalrous. To your surprise, you had spent midnight with him eight times and it came and went without him making a single move.

“You’re not how I’d thought you would be,” you admitted on the fourth weekend, once he dragged you outside so he could have a cigarette.

He raised an eyebrow at you and ashed. “How so?”

“You haven’t tried anything,” you gushed blatantly. “Am I not conservative or innocent enough for you?”

He threw his head back and cackled.

“Baby, you’re perfect,” he confessed without hesitation, “but you’re not ready for me.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and cannot handle!”

He chuckled again. “Don’t overthink it. Let’s just enjoy the night, yeah?”

“You might as well just tell me not to breathe,” you retorted.

He grinned at you before pulling you against him.

"I thought I was only a means to piss off your parents,” he whispered in your ear.

The grip he had on your waist was rough. You could tell it was an act of lust alone and that’s not you wanted. It wasn’t what you were asking for. You could understand why he’d assume you’d want it this way as you’d never insinuated you wanted anything remotely affectionate from him when sober. You had to set the record straight.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t like you too,” you mumbled shyly.

He jerked back to look into your eyes suspiciously. His arms around you tensed. You were delving in dangerous waters called feelings. It was not what you signed up for and he knew it too.

“I call bullshit.“

"Why’d you think I stayed away from you all these years?! Because I knew if I had a taste of you I’d be screwed,” you blurted, now with nothing to lose.

He smirked, shaking his head as if you had gone crazy.

“It’s been a month, don’t pretend you don’t feel the same as I do,” you said softly.

He didn’t answer that, instead his eyes went dark and narrow. You took half a step back. Your little white skirt suddenly became very interesting as you fiddled with it anxiously. You could feel his eyes on you and his second hand smoke fanning your face. He flicked the butt away before grabbing your face and squishing your cheeks in one hand aggressively.

“Don’t you fucking dare assume our feelings are mutual,” he growled, “you don’t want anything to do with me! You never did!”

He stormed off, shoving you aside. You knew why he was angry. Understandably, he thought you were fucking him around, taking advantage of the soft spot he held for you. As far as he was concerned, you weren’t interested. During the week you’d go back to pretending he didn’t exist, too scared of what people thought. But what he didn’t know was that you were falling for him, hard.

He was different with you. Throughout your weekends together he revealed a side of himself hardly anyone had the privilege of seeing. He was caring and reliable and loyal in his own fantastically unique way. And boy, was he a good time. Traits, you couldn’t experience with your friends and their lack of depth. He was real and it was so refreshing in your existence of superficiality. He changed your life and view on everything. And now you were mad that you couldn’t just swallow your pride and protect his heart.

You eventually followed him outside and found him on the couch with his brother and his friends. They were laughing and it seemed he’d just forgotten all about you. He was the epitome of hot and cold.

“Take me home,” you demanded, interrupting their conversation.

He looked up at you, his grin dropping into a grimace. He sighed and got up while his boys booed and threw their empty beer cans at him. He motioned for you to take the lead while he bid his friends farewell, slapping a few hands.

The car ride was silent apart from his rock anthems mixtape still playing from the car ride to. It was weird not screaming out the lyrics with him. It was just weird full stop. Despite him speeding past intersections and red lights, it felt like the trip was in slow motion.

When you got to your house, you found the gates closed. They normally were and he’d give you boost so you could climb over. Tonight was no different. You got out of the car before him, wanting to get away from the enclosed tension as quick as possible. You refused to acknowledge him as you heard his car door slam. The shuffling of his feet got louder and soon his hands were on your waist, ready to lift you.

“Wait,” you spoke to him for the first time since you’d left the party, shoving his hands off of you.

He scoffed.

“You know what? I’m done!”

He was irritated and when he got in these moods, it was difficult for him to escape them. He was about to storm off but he paused and turned to rasp at you.

“Don’t ask me for anything ever again-”

You don’t know what came over you but before you could stop yourself your hands were in his hair and you were kissing him, hard. He caught your weight effortlessly as you practically threw your body at him. You could sense the relief by the way his shoulders just completely relaxed, as if this kiss cured all the anguish in his heart. As if this kiss proved he hadn’t just wasted three years of his life pining after a girl that he would never have.

You were getting carried away, especially when you pushed your tongue into his mouth. He growled, lifting you off your feet and adjusting your thighs around his waist as if you weighed nothing. He had to stretch his neck up to keep his lips against yours as he took a few steps towards his car and delicately laid you down on the bonnet. You were starting to get wanton with him leaning over you, his body engulfing your smaller frame entirely. You were surrounded, suffocated and you indulged. He felt like a drug, and you were an amateur, extra susceptible to the addiction. When he started pulling your hair back roughly and biting your lip when you’d separate, it had you begging for more. Your legs wrapped around him. You couldn’t help letting the little moans escape your lips. It was the danger that coincided with him, the taboo nature of it all. He was bad for you. It was wrong for you to get involved with him. You knew it from the start but the attraction to him and the idea of him was too strong. You made your bed, now you were lying in it.

Before he could slip a hand under your skirt, your porch light lit up and the automatic front gate opened. Your dad screaming for you to get inside, forced you two apart. He let you go with a smirk and then turned to bellow a smartass remark at your dad, who then told him to fuck off.

“Don’t you ever try to break up with me again,” you warned him, walking backwards towards your summoner.

His hair was a mess and his lipstick stained mouth stretched into a boyish grin. His whole demeanour had transformed back into the boy who dazzled you with his cold kindness and genuineness. And as ridiculous as it sounded, you knew, just then, that you were in love with him. It didn’t need to be spoken or labelled or justified. He had you as much as you had a hold on him. From that moment on, you were his.

The looks on the boys faces screamed they were relayed too much information. Taehyung’s was morphed the most.

“I’m gonna barf,” he groaned with a grimace.

Yoongi rolled his eyes at him. “Do you want to hear the story or not?!”

“I’m not too sure anymore,” he admitted with distaste.

“Just because it wasn’t you between her thighs,” Jimin provoked him.

Taehyung jaw clenched and he almost pounced at his friend. Yoongi held him down.

“Ignore them, ____,” Hoseok reassured you, squeezing your hand he’d been holding this entire time.

“Fine, I’m jealous! Who is this guy?!” Taehyung exasperated, fed up with the mystery and ego hurt by an unidentified character.

They all fell into silence. Taehyung was always the one to speak what the others thought. You knew they were dying to know who he was, but this was the only way you were able to share this story. You took a deep breath, deciding to be kind and give them his first name, common and a far link from his notoriety.

“His name was Jungkook.”

Your parents didn’t know his name. They didn’t care to know. To them his name was dropkick, druggie, lowlife and any other related pet names. Frankly, you didn’t care what they thought anymore. When they offered to let you out of your inheritance, you declined because it was under the condition you break with him. Every offer they gave you was under the condition you break up with him. Needless to say, you refused every time. Nothing could make you happier than Jungkook did.

For the rest of your last year of high school, you and Jungkook were inseparable. On the monday after that first kiss, Jungkook picked you up and drove you to school. Every head turned as you hopped out of his car and slid under his arm. You two were the talk of the school and eventually it pushed your friends away. You were the most popular pristine girl in school gone wayward. And you didn’t give a fuck. Jungkook was the only thing that matter to you, your world revolved around him now.

After few months, you changed. The influence of him was too dominant to resist. Gone were the pink fluffy sweaters and pony tails, replaced with one of his many leather jackets and wild hair. It was a classic Sandra-dee transformation. And despite Jungkook’s weakness for little innocent girly girls, he loved it. You were his good girl gone bad, he’d tease.

“Fuck, I would die for you, ____,” he groaned through a kiss.

You were in his lap, his lap in the driver’s seat. He had parked outside a diner you’d go for late night milkshakes. His gear shift dug into your side and your head banged against the roof, but there was no place you’d rather be.

“Uh huh,” you replied, refusing to leave his lips for longer than a second.

“I’m serious, I would die and kill for you.”

You pulled away, leaning against the steering wheel. He’d never use the word love. Instead he would use intense alternatives, he adored you, he never felt anything remotely the same as he felt for you, you were the only one, he never wanted anything as much as he wanted you. It was like he had this unwavering insecurity you’d leave him, that he’d scare you away with the word ‘love’. As contradicting as that sounded by the things he’d say instead.

“Let’s hope you’ll never have to,” you murmured, running a hand through his hair in comfort.

“But I would,” he reiterated softly.

There was such intensity in his eyes it made you shiver. And you believed him. You believed he loved you that much. And shamefully, the thought went straight to your core.

“Take me home.”

Jungkook looked bewildered then his eyes drifted away from you in disappointment, his jaw clenched. He patted your thigh to signal for you to hop back into your seat. You refused, grabbing his face and grinding into his growing bulge.

“Take me home.”

His dark eyes lit up with pure desire. He cocked an eyebrow before smirking and attacking your face one last time. You threw yourself back into your seat with a giggle. Jungkook drove like a madman, but the way he reversed and sped down the road that night truly topped the cake.

Sparing the details, you fucked that night and to this day, Jungkook was the best you ever had. He was rough as fuck and forced your orgasms but at the same time, he appreciated your body. He listened to it and soothed it after doing all the kinky shit he was into. It was fair to say you were ruined, a complete sap for him, as much as he was for you. You never thought you would have such a high sex drive. You never thought you would ever be as needy for anything as much as you were for his cock. But that’s what you turned into - what Jungkook did to you. You always had to be around him, always with him, always touching him.

It was a month before graduation and you had flunked. Whenever he would ditch, you would too. Thankfully both your parents were rich and could buy your grades. They made it too easy for you both. You both had no desire to do anything, except each other.

It was a week before graduation, before you’d be sent to university overseas and him, forced into the family business as his father’s precious protégée. They were separating you. Your worlds were ending. You both weren’t ready for the responsibility or the heartbreak.

It was a few days before graduation and you were on your Friday night cruise, screaming the lyrics to rock ballads as Jungkook drove a hundred kilometres per hour. Every now and then, he’d grab and suck your face hotly, eyes off the road for seconds too long. The thrill was almost unbearable, as if you’d be close to losing not only your life but your sanity.

He parked in a secluded reserve overlooking a lake, the stars shimmering in the water. You drifted into quiet, savouring the moment, knowing they were limited. The soft guitar riffs from the car stereo set this serene, longing mood. Jungkook’s hand slid between your thighs, a plea for you to come over and straddle him, so you did. You wriggled yourself comfortable without the familiar feeling of rock pushing into your inner thigh, which confused you because he was usually a goner as soon as your clothed core would simply brush against him. He trapped your head between his calloused palms, always slightly tinged black from grease. His eyes held that intensity that made you weak and they glazed over at the sight of you. You could faintly make out your silhouette in his dilated pupils and it gave you an overwhelming need to stay there, in his eyes forever. You ignored that deep darkness behind them that you always had sensed was there. You wanted to believe he was perfect, because he damn felt like it.

“Listen,” he began, clearly something important on his mind.

“Runaway with me,” you breathed, connecting foreheads.

His eye widened, his skepticism emerging and he retracted.

“Don’t,” you whimpered. “I love you Jungkook and I can’t bare the thought of not being with you for even a second please.”

He searched your face for any hint of hesitation, but there was none.

“She’s begging me now,” he chuffed with a satisfied smirk.

"I love you Jungkook,” you repeated, now unsure if he heard you the first time.

You both fell into a silence that lasted way longer than you would have liked. You hated when he did this to you, leaving you in suspense. However as much as you hated it, it also intrigued you. It was the mystery of him that had you hooked. You thought he would wail at your confession and suffocate you with his lips but instead, he stared. He was unpredictable and wavering and it tortured you. But like the masochist you were, you loved it because it was undeniably him and you were in love with him.

“Ok,” he finally said, before turning the key in the ignition.

His engine roared to life and you flopped into your seat.

“Where are we going?”

“There’s something you need to see,” he admitted.

You only nodded when he took his eyes off the road for a second to look at you. You could tell it was serious by the way his knuckles protruded clutched to the steering wheel and the way his jaw clenched and sharpened. Jungkook was intense about a lot of things, but you had never seen him before in the way he was then. His vibe wasn’t awkward or brooding or anything identifiable as Jungkook. It was like you were in the car with someone else entirely.

When Jungkook pulled up to the front of the dive bar ‘Hunt’, you were beginning to get uneasy. You knew this bar and it’s red neon sign and it’s grotty exterior. It was notorious. Your little sheltered self began to panic.

“Jungkook-”

“Do you trust me?” He interrupted, forcing eye contact.

Instantly, your racing heart calmed. Your breathing steadied. The power he had over you, unfaltered.

“With my life.”

“Good,” he kissed your forehead and smiled, “I won’t be long, stay.”

And you did. He slammed the door behind him and searched for something in his back pocket. A man sat outside the bar and Jungkook seemed to be heading straight for him. He stopped after discovering his pockets empty, his boots scraped the wet concrete as he turned and sent a wink your way. You narrowed your eyes and scoffed at his cheap attempt to be charming. As you watched Jungkook backtrack towards you through the windshield, you spotted his cigarette packet on the dashboard.You weren’t a big smoker then. Jungkook never offered and you were always too shy to ask. However it did make him smile when you’d pinch one from his packet or pull his hand towards your face for a drag of his already lit.

You helped yourself, wincing as the smoke burned your throat. You were too busy coughing and manually winding the window down to notice Jungkook slamming his boot closed. You eyes were watering a bit too much for you to see what he dragged across concrete as he walked back towards the man outside the bar. Even without these setbacks, nothing would be able to prepare or warn you for what happened next…

The man stood up once he recognised Jungkook.

“Jeon, what the fuck man you’re early?” You heard him bellow. “Suk isn’t here yet and you know he’ll run if he sees you.”

“Suk isn’t the job anymore,” Jungkook replied coolly.

Jungkook stopped directly under the neon sign. The fluorescent light shone down upon him tinting his black silhouette the colour of blood. He was shorter than the other man however his presence was stronger, more menacing, almost demonic with the red hue highlighting his frame. His back was facing you but you could just sense the stare he was giving this man. It was his infamous stare down his perfect nose, jawline protruding, with that borderline frightening smirk. You knew the look at too well. But this was different, his body language was different and you were struggling to put your finger on how. And the fear of this unknown side of Jungkook had your mind reeling.

What the fuck was going on?

“What?” the man exclaimed, “What do you mean?”

“He’s not the job anymore,” Jungkook reiterated.

His tone was so foreign to you, it made you shift uncomfortably in your seat. It was like the voice coming out of your boyfriend’s mouth wasn’t your boyfriend’s at all. It was cold and dark but not the cold and dark you’d normally associate with him. No, this tone was twisted, monotone but mocking.

“So? No job?” The man questioned apprehensively.

Jungkook chuckled. “Oh, there’s still a job.”

You were too immersed in the conversation and trying to figure out who this mystery man was. So much so, you didn’t see what Jungkook was holding. Your eyes followed his toned arms that you’d relish within when he held you, all the way down to the hands and palms you’d kiss lovingly, all the way down to the bat his hand held. A baseball bat with nails sticking out like a fucking medieval mace. Your whole body went numb.

“You.”

Before you had a chance to scream, Jungkook had swung his bat and lodged it into the man’s skull. The most sadistic noise you had ever heard left his mouth, it was like a satisfied grunt and then a manic howl. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t function or process. You just sat there and watched as the life left a man’s eyes… by your boyfriend’s hand.

As he ripped his weapon free, the man’s blood and brains sprayed everywhere, Quentin Tarantino style. If you had to vomit you swallowed it as Jungkook took another swing. The guy was dead but he took two extra blows to his chest, cackling. He was enjoying it. The blood, the gore, the violence, he seemed to indulge in his work, his sick artistry. And that’s what truly made you terrified and disgusted to the very core.

You were frozen. Every fibre of your being was screaming at you to run, but you couldn’t as if the shock and adrenaline stunted your movements. All you could do was sit there and watch as Jungkook continued to maim a dead body, hitting it over and over, blood and flesh flying everywhere. If you could speak you would scream for him to stop, despite the fact he probably wouldn’t in his crazed trance. A few more blows to the stomach and he stopped, hovering over the human he just mutilated. His chest was heaving as he wiped his forehead with the back of his bloody hand, smearing his face red.

To say you were beyond horrified was an understatement. You found your hand itching the door handle, sensing your fight or flight mode kicking in. You only had a few seconds, you calculated. Assessing your surroundings, you figured your best shot was to run down the alleyway onto the main road screaming bloody murder, literally. You almost followed through, almost, until you realised there was no way you’d be able to outrun him. He was the star batter of the baseball team until he got kicked out of the team for starting a fight with the pitcher. He would catch you within seconds and there would be no way you’d be able to get away. He was the star wrestler until he got kicked out of the wrestling team for breaking a kid’s arm during a match. You started to panic, the only thought running through your mind being that the love of your life was about to kill you.

Your few seconds were up. As he turned to you in a snap and stormed closer, you had accepted your fate. Jungkook attempted to open your locked door and you refused to look out your window to see the disappointed look on his face. You heard him sigh and then rummage for the car keys. You winced as he slowly jiggled the key into the lock and opened the door. You still couldn’t look at him, not until his hands were on you and you were pressed up against the car door. It took every fibre of your being not to breakdown under his crazed gaze. He was even more terrifying up close, especially because he was suddenly so damn calm, as if he could snap at any moment. You willed yourself not to shake in his grasp.

“Say it again,” he mumbled.

“W-w-wha-”

“SAY IT AGAIN!”

And there it was. You would have jumped out of his grasp if he wasn’t holding you so tightly. He then grabbed a handful of your hair and cupped your face with the other hand. The blood was everywhere, all over you, the stench of copper too strong to deny was real. You really couldn’t hold it in any longer. So, you cried.

“Tell me again baby. Just- ah FUCK,” Jungkook bellowed before wiping your tears with bloody fingers. “Tell me again, those three little words. I need to hear them again.”

“I love you,” you croaked.

He smiled, that toothy grin you had fallen in love with. You choked on a sob, seeing that same smile on a blood smeared face, completely tainted. He stroked your face and cheeks affectionately, as if he wasn’t painting your face red. You naturally squirmed but tried your best to keep those reflexes at bay and unnoticed. However, surely, you could have spat in his face and he wouldn’t pay any mind to it. He was completely delirious, high off adrenaline from just taking a life and drunk in his love for you.

“I love you too.”

And then his lips were on yours, his tongue in your mouth. You reluctantly followed his lead in the kiss, overwhelmed with the smell and taste of metal, digging your nails into his biceps to stop the tears from falling. He broke away eventually and knocked his wet forehead against yours to rest. The feeling of overwhelming heartbreak was the last thing you had expected after hearing those three little words.

The four boys stared at you in silence for a good minute. You were pretty sure you heard Yoongi mutter a ‘fuck’ under his breath but you all ignored it. You really needed them to say something soon or you were sure a panic attack would be due. However, what could you expect them to say after you just told your best friends of two years that you dated a murderer?

“Wait. Did you say Jeon?!” Yoongi questioned.

You nodded.

“As in Jeon Jungkook?” Yoongi questioned further.

You nodded again.

"Jeon Jungkook? The heir to the most infamous drug cartel in the world? That Jeon Jungkook?” Yoongi questioned for a third time.

You nodded for a third time.

“Holy shit ____!” Taehyung chimed in, in an almost disappointed tone.

“Look, I sent him to prison!”

“How?!” Jimin asked, wide eyed.

You sighed, that bit of information was why Jungkook had been a secret for so long. Everyone knew he was in prison but no one knew why or how and that was because, if people knew, it was your ass and your life on the line. But, you had come this far and they deserved the whole truth.

“I told him we should run away the next day, as soon as we could but he told me he had some business he needed to take care of first and we would leave after said business, which, now I knew what that was exactly. So, I ran to my parents and got them to send an anonymous tip on my behalf, so there was no way it could be traced back to me,” you explained.

You glanced at Taehyung, ready for the ‘princess running to mummy and daddy’ dig, but it never came. So you continued.

“At first it was a drug bust, he got done for possession with intent to supply class A drugs but once they searched his car they found enough evidence to link him to at least four murders.”

In that moment you turned to Hoseok and you wished you didn’t. He had the most shocked expression on his face and you had no idea why you had expected any different. So, you turned your attention back to Yoongi who managed to hold a disinterested expression the whole time.

“Jesus,” he mumbled.

Despite those few little remarks intended to go unnoticed.

“You did the right thing, ____,” Jimin attempted to comfort you, placing a hand on your knee.

You were grateful for the reassurance however it didn’t help the fact you had to uncomfortably live your wretched past. You thought you’d feel better being honest with your friends but instead it made you feel disgusted. You guessed that you never truly mourned the loss of Jungkook. You were just forced to forget him and pretend he never existed. And that never allowed you to come to terms with the fact that the man who you thought was the love of your life was not who you thought he was entirely.

“Ok so, what did this whole story have to do with the guy from before?” Taehyung asked.

“That was Jungkook’s brother, you idiot. Weren’t you listening?” Jimin reprimanded.

Taehyung was about to rebut but you interrupted this time.

“It turns out the secret’s out and he’s off to tell Jungkook.”

“We’ll keep you as safe as we can ____,” Yoongi pledged to you.

“Of course,” Taehyung chimed in. “But, he’s in jail? What can he do?”

Yoongi shot him a look of annoyance. “You really weren’t listening to the story, were you?”

“His family are powerful Tae, more powerful than all of ours combined,” Jimin connected the dots for him. “If they know ____ was the reason their precious heir is rotting in jail, she’s in a lot of danger-”

“I’m not,” you interrupted.

All the boys looked at you like you were out of your mind.

“The Jeon brothers keep their affairs to themselves,” you explained. “They hardly ever get their family involved, they’re too proud to run to mum and dad.” Unlike me, you almost added.

“Let’s hope so,” Yoongi sighed.

“And with Jungkook in prison, Jin can handle Namjoon,” you stated, staring at Yoongi who knew that statement about your brother to be true and he nodded.

There was a brief silence until Hoseok jumped up with a huff.

“Although you are safe, here, with us. I better check all the doors are locked and there aren’t any stranglers,” he said with a small smile.

You returned it and reluctantly let him slip his hand free from yours. “Ok Hobi.”

“I’ll come help you,” Yoongi offered, knowing Hoseok’s home was too big to cover alone.

As soon as the oldest boys left, Taehyung crawled up to where Hoseok was lying and tucked himself in. Jimin tapped your thigh, signalling for you to move over so he could do the same on the other side of you. You got yourself comfortable. Sandwiched between your two best friends, gave you the strongest sense of security and relief that you hadn’t felt in a while.

“You are an amazing brave girl and we’re gonna make sure that that monster- or any other monster like him won’t touch you ever again,” Jimin whispered to you before resting his head on your back. You looked at Taehyung and he nodded in agreement.

Goddamn, you loved them. You wished you could spend forever coddled by them, you wished you could believe them. But, you couldn’t shake the feeling that, this time, you couldn’t just shove the memory of Jungkook aside. And that his chapter in your life was far from over.

next chapter

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gumnut-logic · 6 years ago

Text

Love and Sacrifice (Prologue & Part One)

Sorry, Tumblr peeps, but you’ve probably read most of this already, but I felt bad posting it to FF.net and Ao3 without sharing it with you in order. so here be the Prologue and Part One.

Title: Love and Sacrifice

Prologue: Made for Heavy Lifting

Warm Rain Series

Author: Gumnut

3 Oct – Nov 2018

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: When she is worth everything.

Word count: 2285

Spoilers & warnings: Virgil/Kayo

Timeline: After ‘Sharing the Scenery’ and the events of ‘Road Rash’.

Author’s note: And here is finally the story of the scar Virgil has on his back mentioned in the first fic of this series and so uproarishly demanded by you wonderful people. I hope it meets expectations. Also, pieces of this fic have been posted all over the place in the last couple of months as I have been slowly piecing it all together, so apologies if you have read some of it before or it seems familiar as I’ve re-written sections. Also, the prologue is one of the Warm Rain shorts, so you will have read that, but please bear with me.

Author’s note: Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Prologue: Made for Heavy Lifting

Author’s note: This was a single fic once, asked for by @diamondinshadow in response to some lovely artwork by @photowizard17 - My muse being what it is, wandered off a little weirdly, and at 3am, no less, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway :D Thank you all for your kind and wonderful support of my scribblings ::hugs::

Virgil Tracy was made for heavy lifting.

He had been known to say it on occasion and he had certainly proved it on many others. Hell, she’d heard Gordon say his brother was built like a ‘brick shithouse’, but that was Gordon, and Gordon had issues.

Regardless of external opinion, Virgil was the physical powerhouse of International Rescue, both physically and mentally. It was a known fact.

But it had never been displayed so blatantly to Kayo until this moment.

She was dressed in loose sweats, standing in the doorway of the gym. Virgil was at the weights on the far side of the room and literally pounding through his routine.

Now this was nothing new. The man hadn’t gained his physique from painting or playing the piano. There was a certain amount of training that needed to be maintained to keep his muscular tone for when it was needed out in the field.

But he didn’t usually leave his shirt off.

Pumping his standard barbel, feet spread firmly, earphones in, a thin sheen of sweat…

Kayo blinked. She was being ridiculous. He was obviously shirtless because of the healing injury on his back. But…

“Enjoying the scenery?”

Kayo startled. Grandma Tracy was standing right next to her – illustrating exactly how distracted she was.

Surprise immediately turned to mortification.

“Grandma?” Was her voice a little higher than usual?

A hand landed on her shoulder. “Honey, any hot-blooded woman walking past would be distracted by that.” She waved a hand in the direction of her grandson.

Kayo simply stared at her grandmother.

“What? I was a girl once, too, you know. The grey hairs are only for the respect.”

Grandma looked up at her, catching her eyes and holding them for a moment. Quietly. “So, have you worked it out yet?”

A frown. “I’m sorry?”

Grandma smiled just slightly before drawing her away from the door and out of the sight of Virgil, should he look up. “Kayo, honey, you’ve been staring at him for weeks now. Virgil is a good man. You couldn’t do better.” She leant in. “Ask him.”

“Ask him what?” She played it innocent, but there was a voice in the back of her mind laughing at her.

“Really?” She arched an eyebrow. “You want to play it that way?”

Kayo sighed, admitting defeat, her shoulders slumped just that fraction. “He’s my brother, Grandma.”

“Not really.” A hand on her arm. “He’s worth the risk, honey.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Grandma kissed her on the cheek and patted her on the arm. “Think about it. He’ll still love you either way.” A sparkle in her eye. “And I’m here if you need me. Us girls need to stick together on this island.”

That brought a smile to Kayo’s face. Quietly. “Yes, we do.”

“Now go in there and kick his ass off those weights. The man is obsessed with getting back into the air and he’s going to break himself if we’re not careful.”

An alarmed frown. “How long has he been at it this time?”

“Oh, since about 9am.”

It was nearly lunchtime.

“Excuse me, Grandma.” She was going to kick his ass alright. How many times did she have to tell him. Why were men such blockheads when it came to recovery?

She stormed into the gym. “Virgil!”

The barbel hit the floor with a resounding thud.

-o-o-o-

Sally held back a laugh. Kayo’s voice was bouncing all over the gym, her ire at him risking his recovery only matched by his stumbling and guilty replies.

Virgil didn’t have a hope with that girl.

Shaking her head, she made her way back into the main part of the house. Entering the comms room, she wasn’t surprised to find her eldest grandson sitting at his father’s desk working through reports.

Kayo’s angry voice suddenly echoed across the building, followed by Virgil emitting a not-quite-squawk.

Scott winced. “She caught him, huh?”

Sally smirked. “Let’s just say, I set aim and fired.”

“If he doesn’t stop this, I’m going to have to threaten to ground him for even longer.”

“Hon, leave it to Kayo.” Another smirk. “I doubt he will be doing that again.”

Scott winced. “You are a cruel and evil woman, Grandma.”

A shrug. “Well, he wouldn’t listen to me. He wouldn’t listen to you. Time for the big guns.” She studied her eldest for a moment. “Fifty bucks says she asks him out before he does.”

She held back another smile as Scott startled. “Grandma?!”

Really? Were all men blind or did they prefer to live in denial?

“I know it. You know it. Those two have been eyeing each other for weeks now.” An arched eyebrow. “Your thoughts?”

He eyed her, his lips thinning, but curling into a smirk. Blue sparkled. “I think, Grandma, that you are on.”

-o-o-o-

Part One.

“Virgil!”

That voice, that sharp, crap, what the hell had he done?

He dropped the barbel, narrowly missing his feet.

It wasn’t out of guilt. No, it wasn’t.

Yes, it was.

Kayo was charging towards him across the gym. The glare on her face was enough to strip off a layer of skin.

Shirtless, goose-pimples radiated out across his chest, sweat cooling now he had stopped moving. His diaphragm was still heaving from his exertions, the exercise setting his blood running high

“What the hell do you think you are doing?!”

Momentarily stuck on the decision of whether speaking or not speaking would be the less death-causing option, he didn’t respond fast enough and defaulted to the latter.

“Do you have any idea what it was like to watch you tumble from that train?”

His eyes widened. Again his speech function failed to boot. God, her eyes were gorgeous.

“You were lucky you weren’t killed! Your brother and I had to pick you off the road. I thought…” She swallowed. “Why are you pushing so hard? Do you want to relapse? Do you want to put us through more worry and pain?”

“Uh.”

She stalked up into his personal space and shoved a finger into the middle of his chest. “Virgil Tracy, you do not have the right!” Her fingernail was sharp and he yelped, staggering backwards.

“Kayo-“

“Do you have any idea what you put me through? Do you?”

Virgil froze. Kayo didn’t…

She glared up at him and he was shocked to see her eyes glistening in the overhead fluorescents. God.

“I’m-“

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” It came from deep in her throat. The passion in her eyes screamed at him.

She was so close. So angry.

So beautiful.

He leant in and captured her lips with his own. The moment froze as she startled, her hands flying up to his shoulders.

But she didn’t push him away.

Their kiss deepened. Her tongue brushed against his lips, parting them.

And she was in his arms. God, so beautiful.

Time hung. And then it restarted again as she gently pulled away.

Staring up at him.

He found his voice, tight and throaty. “Kayo?”

Quietly. “Virgil. Stop overdoing it.” And she stepped back, her eyes trailing up and down his perspiring body. She swallowed, her stance more uncertain than he had ever seen her. Her eyes caught his once more.

And she turned and left, stalking around the gym equipment, bee-lining for the door.

The room fell quiet.

Sweat dried on his skin and he shivered.

-o-o-o-

He didn’t see her after that.

He was left wondering if he had permanently damaged their relationship, if he had ruined what little chance he had.

Part of him desperately wanted to see her, to touch her again. The rest of him was terrified what would happen if he did.

Caught in limbo.

And she left.

Without saying goodbye.

He discovered it by accident, walking through the comms room. Scott had been talking to Gordon about a possible rescue in the Philippines. He mentioned Kayo would be unavailable.

Virgil froze.

“What did you say?”

“Huh?” Scott looked tired and worried.

“About Kayo.”

“Oh, she was called out on a mission by the GDF. Left this morning.”

“Where?” He could be curious, couldn’t he?

“Indonesia. Apparently, some terrorists have holed up on one of the smaller islands. Colonel Casey thought Kayo had some expertise that could help.”

“Oh.”

Scott frowned. “Virg, you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

His brother’s frown didn’t fade. “How’s the back?”

“Fine.”

“The knee?”

“Fine.”

Scott’s lips thinned and Gordon snorted. “Way to go on the info sharing there, bro.”

Virgil sighed. “I am fine. Quit bugging me.” And he left the room.

-o-o-o-

Scott stared after his brother. Virgil’s mood had been fragile since Kayo had cornered him two days ago. He wondered exactly what had happened between the two of them. It was very unlike Virgil to be so unpredictable in reaction. Usually calm and steadfast, his brother was now snappy and keeping to himself more often than not.

But Virgil, being Virgil, it would surface at some point. Scott just needed to make sure he was at the right place at the right time to be there for his brother.

So, he let it go.

Two more days passed and his brother kept quiet, only sniping when prodded. Alan was avoiding Virgil like he always did on the rare occasion the bigger man went bear. Gordon being Gordon manifested his concern by poking that bear, trying to find out what was wrong. This usually resulted in said bear snarling and leaving the room.

John was safe 23,000 kilometres away and knew it.

And that left Scott, scrambling for strategies to corner his brother and find out why he was hurting.

After all a snarling Virgil was a rarity and it usually meant something was seriously wrong.

But he didn’t get the chance. Halfway through the third day, he found Virgil sitting in the comms room with his sketch pad. It was clear the man was having little success in his endeavours, as screwed up paper lay everywhere. Scott approached his brother, but was interrupted by John flaring into existence in the middle of the room.

“Guys, we have a situation.”

Scott sighed. “Go ahead, Thunderbird Five.”

“I have intercepted a transmission to the GDF. It appears to be a combination of a threat and a ransom demand.”

“What?”

John looked almost frightened, an expression so unfamiliar on his calm brother’s face to be terrifying. “It’s Kayo. She’s been captured.”

There was the clatter of a sketchbook falling to the floor.

Scott’s throat was suddenly tight. “Explain, Thunderbird Five.” Keep it professional.

The space monitor’s eyes were darting between those of his eldest brothers. “Sorry, guys, this isn’t pleasant.” And the display switched to the recording.

It was Kayo, out of uniform, bound to a chair, her face sporting bruises. A male voice was spouting demands in another language. A translation was appearing at the bottom of the display, no doubt John at work, something about money, freedom and the threat from the GDF.

Scott only had eyes for the anger in his sister’s. Their green, despite one of them being almost swollen shut, screamed fury and vengeance.

The recording waffled on some more about the evil of the GDF. Then a fist flew into the view and hit his sister.

Scott flinched. There was a muffled something to his right, and the recording was yelling. Kayo spat blood at the camera, a drop or two landing on the lens. The holographic spatter hovered in the air in front of them.

“Deliver or she dies.”

And it cut off.

The room was suddenly silent.

A sharp retort echoed as a pencil snapped in two.

Scott flinched.

As John reappeared, Scott wanted answers. “Do you have her location?”

His brother was troubled. “Not yet, but I will. Eos is trawling the network. Thunderbird Shadow is still at the base in Jakarta. She must have taken alternative transport. She is not wearing her uniform so I have no signal from that. The fact that I cannot locate her wrist comm or her locator has me concerned. I suspect her captors know more than they are letting on. I will let you know more as we find out.” John hesitated, his eyes once again bouncing between both of his older brothers. “I’m sorry.”

And he cut transmission.

Scott swallowed his fury. The harsh breathing to his right told him that this time, he had to be the calm one.

A breath and he turned to face Virgil.

His brother was pale and his body was almost vibrating with the fear and the anger in his eyes. The broken pencil lay discarded at his feet.

“Virg?”

The younger man flinched, his eyes going wide for just a moment before the more familiar calm settled over his features. It settled cold, control hiding the emotions no doubt roiling below the surface. It was almost chilling to watch.

Brown eyes, usually warm with affection, turned on him as cold as tundra. A rasp. “What are we going to do?”

Scott’s lips thinned. “We need further information. We need to give John and Eos the time to locate her.”

“Time.” It was a snarl. “They’re hurting her, Scott.”

Quietly, with his hands held up as if to calm a storm. “I know. John is doing his best. The GDF-“

“The GDF! You have got to be kidding!”

“Virgil-“

His brother threw up his hands. “I can’t...” And he was shaking his head. “Just...” Emotion boiled and Virgil turned away. “I’ll be in the hanger. Keep me apprised.”

Heavy boots hurried from the room, and Scott was left staring at where his brother had been.

The broken pencil screamed at him.

-o-o-o-

Part Two

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbird fanfiction #virgil tracy #kayo kyrano #virgil/kayo #warm rain

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lilyginnyblackv2 · 6 years ago

Text

Buffy Season 12 - Issue #1 - Thought Post/Review

SPOILERS AND LONG, IMAGE HEAVY POST UNDER THE READ MORE!

- Awful artwork. [EDIT: Sorry, I’m going to be harsh about Georges Jeanty’s artwork throughout this whole post. I just can’t help it. I don’t like his art style at all and some of this art is just really, truly bad. The paneling was fine though.]

- Character development? What character development? Xander literally sounds like he is back in high school, UGH!

- I like that Xander and Spike are still friends. I like that Xander seems to have specifically invited Spike. I also like that Spike showed up with wine. Wine always seems to come off as being more “refined” than beer, which comes off as more “lower class” and such in media. In Season 6, for Buffy’s birthday, Spike showed up with a six pack of beer, now he is showing up with a bottle of wine. It’s a small thing, but I like what this subtlety says about Spike’s character and growth over the years.

- Suddenly Spike is eating human food again?

I was actually fine with the way that got approached in Seasons 10 and 11, but okay, whatever. Consistent vampire mythos was never a true forte of this series anyway.

- I do like that the breakup was at least mutual and that both Buffy and Spike hug.

- The “Out. For. A. Walk. Bitch.” call back was weird, unnecessary, and just awkward (though, it was probably meant to be awkward - the characters both look a bit awkward with the situation). Honestly, it was painful to read... I do wonder how recent the breakup was though.

- Giles...doesn’t have glasses (is he wearing contacts?) and just doesn’t even look like Giles at all (I honestly thought he was Ethan for like a half second there).

- Also, I actually liked young!Giles. I didn’t like how his story was handled in the Season 11 mini, but I liked how his character was handled in Season 10 of the comics. Also, once again getting back to that Character Development? What Character Development? thing...Giles was shown to be less useful, powerful, and happy as an adult in Season 10′s Freaky Giles Day. So I feel like aging Giles up just totally ignored that and was done for fanservice... This is another one of those things that we needed to see happen on screen. : / I mean, the only spell that Willow found to age him up in Season 10 was a one time deal thing and was supposed to negatively impact his potential life span overall so...this “we just found a spell, lol” thing just reeks of lazy and bad writing.

- This version of Xander needs to just not talk.

I know he is talking more about guys in general...but, just the way he is wording his stuff, it feels like Xander’s character has reverted in age...What happened to Doctor Mike?

- I like that Willow started up a blog though. That’s cool.

- I like how Riley has Willow’s back.

- Buffy and Spike breaking up makes zero sense. Buffy went from saying this:

- To saying this:

- Ok. But I don’t buy it. Buffy said that it would take more than just a few weeks apart to break them up. Apparently a quiet year was what did them in. But that doesn’t work for me. Especially because we didn’t actually see it. What exactly was the issue, why did they not work right as a couple when nothing was going wrong? Did they not have enough common interests? Or was it something more/else? This vague answer doesn’t work for me when a ton of seasons and a ton of years went into building up this relationship. I need more than this. - The conversation that Buffy has with Willow here:

Is the same one that she had with Dawn at the start of Season 11:

Buffy’s answer to both were different but ultimately the same. It isn’t the relationship (it isn’t Spike) - it’s me. But, I mean...

- At the end of Season 11, from Buffy accepting her powers again:

To Buffy’s “I love you too,” kiss, and cuddle with Spike:

Was all meant to show that Buffy was done being cookie dough and was now cookies. So once again I find myself asking Character Devleopment? What Character Development? ...Like has Whedon even actually read Seasons 10 and 11? Because from the way some of the characters are acting (specifically Xander and Buffy, who had some of the biggest amounts of character growth in the past two seasons) I would say not.

- I do like that Buffy is 30 though. I called that ages ago on Reddit and am glad that I was getting her age right throughout the comic run. That also means that Dawn is currently around 25 (since they are five years apart - according to Buffy in S8 when she was talking to Fray’s sister). Good to know.

- Ugh. I honestly thought we left this whole “being a normal person” stuff like ages ago. Buffy got over this already, ffs!

Whedon needs to learn how to write about new and different stuff. Rehashing the same issues over and over again gets boring and honestly comes off as meaningless after a while.

- “It’s a gray area, and gray is not my color.” ...It was your color all throughout Season 11. For example:

Really, this is getting ridiculous. Whedon clearly hasn’t read the recent seasons... (And you may be wondering why I keep placing all the writing blame on Whedon instead of Gage, but the answer to that is 1. all of Whedon’s usual writing ticks are present. 2. I haven’t had much issues with Gage’s writing in the past, but whenever Whedon is involved with the comic writing, I see the quality drop. And 3. Whedon is still the one that has to OK everything.) - Buffy talks about her relationship stuff complicating things, but earlier she said that the issue wasn’t her and Spike, and we also saw zero relationship issues in Season 11 (in the sense of them getting in the way of her and her self discovery). They had internal issues that they worked through in Season 10 and external issues in Season 11 that they worked through together. They were really great and communicative in Season 11 (and even through most of Season 10). They had rough spots, but they worked through them. But suddenly her relationship stuff is complicating things. Ok. I’d believe that if I actually saw that. But we got none of that, so I don’t buy it at all. :/ Instead we saw Buffy and Spike work through an almost breakup, which now almost seems like a completely pointless scene. As does the moment they have when they decide to continue their relationship in Season 10. Why didn’t the writers just end it there? It would have made more sense at least. All of this just comes off as lazy drama and it feels like Joss doesn’t know how to write happy characters and drama together. It’s a thing. You can have characters be happy and/or be in happy, healthy relationships and still have drama. Sense8 is a fabulous example of this. (Seriously though, I really recommend this series to everyone reading this - it’s wonderful! <3)

- I do like the running joke in this issue about the sign on the door though. It reminded me of the joke about how Giles always left his door unlocked.

- Buffy and Spike are clearly not fine with their breakup. -ugh-

They keep saying they are, which means they aren’t. Plus, the body language and eye contact all imply that they aren’t. In pure, unadulterated fangirl mode, I would be happy if Buffy and Spike got back together. But from a writing perspective and from a critical standpoint I would just find it to be a weak and watered down revival of their relationship. Seasons 10 and 11 were powerful and strong, you really felt the emotions. If Buffy were to end up with any of the characters this season, it would just end up feeling rushed and shallow.

- UGH. Whatever, Angel.

(Yes, I’m going to be salty here. Yes, my bias is showing. But I don’t particularly care. At least he only whispered it to Illyria, though, kudos for that.)

- LMAO! XD This was good though.

That definitely made me actually, legit laugh out loud.

-The rest of this whole dialogue though is coming off so choppy and clunky. They are trying to fit way too much information into one issue. I feel the same about the earlier scenes too. The pacing just feels rushed and if this were a show or live action or something it would just feel like everyone was just running lines to get through them as quickly as possible. There is no time to let the characters or plot really breathe. I feel like this could have been avoided if the character development from Seasons 10 and 11 were actually left in place and some of the characters (especially Buffy) didn’t suddenly hit a reset button.

- This artwork is killing me!

I miss Rebekah Isaacs so much! T-T

- I didn’t like Xander asking/telling Dawn to stay at home with the baby. He says it isn’t for sexist reasons...but then he lists a couple reasons that are sexist when being used in this particular way: Only she can feed the baby!? Hello, baby formula exists. It won’t kill a baby to drink formula every once in a while, especially in an emergency, and mother’s pump milk too so... Only she ‘can sing the Sleepy Song the way [Joyce] likes’!? You can sing too Xander! Baby Joyce may not 100% love the way you sing it, but you can still do those two things that you mentioned. I would have preferred it if Dawn had specifically stated that she would stay with the baby. At least Dawn looks annoyed by this, so hopefully this will be a plot point that will get discussed or resolved at some point in the next three issues. (EDIT: Read my notes towards the end).

- A lot of fighting that I personally don’t care about. Fight scenes bore me. I also don’t care about Angel, Illyria, Harth, or Fray. I’m honestly just here to see how things wrap up for Buffy and her friends. Faith showed up, which is cool, I guess. I don’t care much for Faith, but I liked her well enough in her brief appearances in Seasons 10 and 11.

- Unpopular Opinion Time: I hate season 3 of Buffy and I hate The Mayor. He is one of my least favorite Big Bads. I thought he was written terribly and so, of course, he has to show up in this issue.

Ugh. Just my luck, lol.

- At least how he still exists makes sense (far more so than The Master’s reappearance in Season 8). I personally don’t care much about Faith or her story, but it’s good for her character development. And it seems like they are going to drag this plot point out a bit, which I’m okay with. I’d prefer that over a rushed character moment.

- Seriously! What is up with these creepy, white dead looking eyes!?

- “I’m texting as fast as I can! I have fat fingers!” - Lol, I feel you on this one, Xander.

- A part of me feels like they just aged up Giles for this bit:

Also, where is Giles even looking? Is he talking directly to us, the readers?

Because he isn’t looking in Buffy’s direction at all.

- I do always like and appreciate when Dawn uses her Key powers! <3

- Though, back on the artwork...I really miss the cute outfits that Rebekah Isaacs and Megan Levens used to give the characters.

I feel like, especially with Dawn, they just went “She is a mother now, so she has to wear boring clothes.” : /

- “Xander, this time you stay with the baby. I pumped, there’s milk in the fridge.” - Yes, thank you, Dawn. I’m sensing that this might be an ongoing issue throughout the next three issues though, which I’m actually pretty all right with. It would be good to see more of Xander and Dawn’s relationship, since we didn’t get much of it in Season 11.

- The last panel is actually pretty nice looking. I don’t have much feelings or thoughts on this bit yet. That’ll likely be more of a discussion/talking point for me in the next issue. I do like the fact that Coke still exists in the Fray future though (there is a sign for コカ・コーラ behind Fray, it’s written in blue text and the sign is yellow - it’s Japanese). - I really didn’t like this issue much at all. So much forgotten/reset character development. Xander felt particularly dated with a lot of his lines and the issues with Buffy are things that she had supposedly already worked through in previous seasons - her personal issues aren’t all that interesting to me because it is just rehashing and feels like her character did the whole “one step forward, two steps back” thing. The artwork was not good. And there was a bunch of other smaller things that bugged me, which I talked about above.

That being said, there were some little things here and there that I did like and I’ll read the next issue. This wasn’t nearly as bad as the Giles Mini was, but it wasn’t that good either. Regardless of all that though, I still want to see how things end for Buffy and the Scoobies. I do know that I likely will not be buying the physical copies of this season though. Image Credits to: Georges Jeanty (Season 12 Images) and Rebekah Isaacs (Season 11 Images).

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #spuffy #Buffy comics #Buffy Season 12 #Buffy comics spoilers #spoilers #thought post #review #long post #Joss Whedon #Christos Gage #Georges Jeanty

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tamamatango · 6 years ago

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Keroro Gunso News Compendium - Oct. 2018

I said I was gonna do something like this so here goes. Some of these bits and pieces have already been posted around on tumblr back when they were first revealed but I figured I’d put stuff in one place. Manga News:

Last month’s chapter from Shonen Ace, #277 “Kururu + Mutsumi,” is now available on ComicWalker. It will be available until November 25th in United States time.

This month’s chapter (available on ComicWalker in November) continues the duos arc and features Alisa and Nebula. (Source)

Merchandise News (Non-UC Related):

The next set of items in the Animega merch line, this month featuring Tamama and Momoka, was released today. The next set, yet to be revealed, is still slated for a November release.

Some Keroro-themed New Year’s cards were also unveiled this month.

This isn’t exactly merchandise, but I’ll count it anyway...another Keroro pachinko machine was released this month, and the game features some gorgeous new artwork...and what I believe is new animated footage in the old anime’s style! You can watch some gameplay here (there’s a few other YouTube videos showing footage as well).

Collab News:

This month saw the release of some really nice tribute art featuring a crossover between Keroro’s 20th anniversary and Street Fighter’s 30th drawn by Yoshizaki himself. Yoshizaki has drawn art for Street Fighter in the past, plus parodied it in the Keroro manga occasionally. Is this hinting that Giroro is going to be leaked for Smash Bros?

The “World Manga Senbatsu” contest hosted by Manga Kingdom Tosa is collaborating with Keroro to release cute little 4komas every month until the contest’s end, the first of which has gone up already.

And finally, the big bombshell of the month...

Keroro Spirits: Kerororobo UC News:

This week, at the Tamashii Nations event for showcasing figures by Bandai, that Kerororobo merchandise line that’s been teased since late last year was finally fully unveiled. You can view the introduction video, which is officially subbed in English, here. The figures are set to go up for preorder in January and release in May.

This link here compiles virtually all information released at the event, including the VOD of the 45-minute panel that aired yesterday (more on that below. The link has collected various pictures from the event revealing the Tamama, Giroro, and Garuru , mechs and shows a chart detailing the mechs’ three modes (Normal, Ultra Cool, and Dangerous) along with the Flying Saucer that can come detached from the mech.

The 45-minute special panel from last night (which is embedded in the above link, though there is no English transcript so it is not much worth your time unless you know Japanese) unfortunately did not contain any new information that is not already present on that page, though they did spend some time discussing moments in Keroro history such as Kumiko Watanabe’s audition for the role of Keroro and the production of the old Keropla series of figures. At the very end it was hinted at (again) that there would be more of something coming next year, the “true” (my word, not theirs :P) 20th anniversary of Keroro (as 1999 was the beginning of the manga’s serialization) and the 15th anniversary of the anime, which means it’s also the 5th anniversary of the Flash anime (not that they mentioned that one). Whew, that’s a lot of anniversaries. So it looks like no animated project this year, but I’m still holding on for next year...

Also, the brand-new spinoff manga “Super Keroro Gunso UC (Ultra Cool)’s Fierce Fight! The Great Kerororobo Operation!” began serialization this month in Shonen Ace. Unfortunately we probably won’t see anything of it outside of the one or two pages that were previewed in those couple of videos until it (hopefully) goes up next month on ComicWalker, but the large diorama displayed in the event apparently depicts a scenario from it, and a few story details were revealed in the panel (such as the fact that the battle eventually extends from Antarctica into space).

#keroro gunso #sgt frog #kerororobo uc #tamashii nations #hoooo that was a lot #obviously i am mostly happy that i finally got my stupid goddamn brotp chapter #and it sure was ridiculous #just the way i like it

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hypeathon · 6 years ago

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RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 9 Production Analysis

Previous Volume 6 Production Analysis Posts:

Chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, seven & eight

With the holiday break behind the CRWBY and the show’s fan base, it is easier to look back at how things have been steadily maintained in volume 6, minus a couple of small bumps in production and presentation. So let us now see what chapter 9 provides.

Since the first scene centers with the two characters that originally were seen to help make Cinder look more intimidating, Emerald and Mercury, this is a convenient time to highlight some notes from the February, 2018 CRWBY Ask Me Anything event over on the RWBY sub-reddit. A few things were hinted at as to what they planned on covering in volume 6′s narrative, some of which have more or less already been shown prior to this episode. Director and co-writer, Kerry Shawcross answered that beyond Jaune being at the younger end, we would find out more about where he places compared to his sisters. He also addressed the matter of having to push a character out of volume 5 and reserve him/her for volume 6 which may have been likely Maria Calavera. He even casually mentioned Salem’s backstory as being the one to look most forward to in the future. Then there’s the matter of why Mercury decided to work for Cinder, to which Kerry vaguely replied that it’s “not simple”. There were other questions answered that directly tie to this chapter, but for now, there’s one more thing regarding Mercury’s character that was touched on by Gen:Lock director, Gray Haddock, along with Miles Luna and Kerry via the volume 3 directors audio commentary:

Miles: "More uh, more subtle hints at family life! Apparently Mercury's Dad smells like Qrow after a long day."

Kerry: "Yeah."

Miles: "Daaark co-me-dy!"

Kerry: "Yeah uh, we're not gonna get into it right now probably. But uh, yeah, Mercury's had a life."

Miles: "Yeah, we didn't get as far into Mercury's backstory as we were going to mainly because we were like, "why reveal all that right now", and uh, looking forward to more of that."

Gray: "But a lot of fans are already starting to clue in the real differences between him and Em and uh, which one you might actually be more sympathetic in the end despite kinda how you thought that dynamic was work going to work out after volume 2".

This insight is basically to further reinforce that despite Monty Oum not being around anymore, there was always a forward momentum with what to tell with many characters and aspects the show and Mercury was among them. There was another answer from that AMA that plays into this episode specifically, but let’s save that for later in this analysis. For now, let’s shift focus into the set design, which is nothing short of breathtaking. There were no mentions from anyone in the art department via Twitter about the set, but there were a few notes from a screenshot of the artwork shown during the ending credit (courtesy of Changyuraptor). One to the far left says, “windows on opposite side filled in w/ stone”, while three on the bottom say, “book wall”, “ignore floor texture”, and “use texture from the old circular training room but as square tile.” The last three notes can’t be fully seen from the above picture (at least not without adding the end credits text being there), but let’s examine what these mean. With the last note, by “old circular training room”, this is probably referring to the one in chapter 11 of volume 4 which was likely used as a reference while at the same time straying away from the design to make it be more of Emerald and Mercury’s scene. The added tatami mat designs were probably also there to further indicate that the setting was more of a sparring room compared to the one Cinder was in.

However, the one note that was especially intriguing was the one about windows on the opposite end being filled in with stone. This was a deliberate choice to make the lighting from the stained windows be one-sided and I believe the reason has to do with providing visual subtext to the story behind the scene. Both Emerald and Mercury deeply wanted something before meeting Cinder for different reasons and while both take the fact Cinder is not around to guide them very differently, they do feel currently muddled and express that in their own ways. One could even interpret the lighting through stained glass can serve as a Christian metaphor for wanting to seek salvation and the shot composition supports this. In one shot, Emerald sulks in the light, explicitly stating she doesn’t know what to do next while Mercury actively trains right outside of it, as if he’s fine. Then cut towards the end of the scene and both of them are seen in the light after talking with Tyrian. Speaking of which, both he and Watts are first shown from utter darkness and the former playfully goes right back in. It’s also worth adding that the colors of the stained glass themselves are the same as Salem’s palace, helping further indicate that despite wanting better, both won’t easily find it through Salem.

I’ve gone on record on how much the cinematography has been utterly incredible this volume, which is saying a lot considering how previous volumes had already been praised. There have been excellent uses of staging and framing through objects like windows, doors, and stair banisters, as well as the usage of height to display conflict and power struggle. But rarely has lighting played a key factor in volume 6, so to see it done so effectively here makes a great way to mix things up. Of course, the animation helps compliment things which I suspect Hannah Novotny may have done the first half before Tyrian arrived. The the types of facial expressions being emoted by Emerald and Mercury are a bit of a giveaway, what with the snarl-like mouth movements and shrunken pupils to help sell the tension between them. Finally, there’s Tyrian’s new tail which had a few notes, including the stinger having a retracting ability.

With that out of the way, next is the Argus scene which the work-in-progress version emitted a bit of controversy a few weeks prior. The matter had already been addressed in detail through a previous post, so not much more will be touched on here. But to put simply, the one shot of this scene simply did not go yet through the compositing and final rendering stage where lighting, effects, and characters could be properly layered to avoid the phasing through aspect. The animation was already done if you compare the shots in the video side-by-side.

What’s much less controversial to talk about and more intriguing is the Argus setting in general. To say a great quantity of thought was put into this setting would be an understatement and in the eighth episode of CRWBY - Behind the Episode, a lot of insight is shared with screencaps provided once again from Changyuraptor. First, there’s the matter of it being a combination of San Francisco in terms of the landscape and trolleys (which most fans recognized) and Greco-Roman architecture. Second, there some notes about the structure of buildings for both residential homes and shops in order to distinguish them from each other, right down to the latter having “flatter fronts” than the former. There were also designs and notes about the plants and trees and lamp posts which altogether, just make for a very pleasing-looking setting that no doubt took a lot of time, planning, and crafting to make. The scenes in this episode especially help sell the bustling, yet peaceful and vibrant feel. RWBY has done nighttime city settings, most of which were in Beacon during the earlier volumes. But the differences are just night and day (pun not intended) and while it’s definitely a coincidence, as a fan of the Tales Japanese role-playing games series, I got strong Flanoir vibes from Tales of Symphonia.

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The next scene to follow is of course the one fans could not help but get deeply emotional over. Though to sidestep from talking about how gut-punching the scene was for a moment, let’s break down certain aspects of it. Based on how her design the concept art for the courtyard matches that of concept designs by Ein Lee, I imagine that the statue was based on Pyrrha’s exact model in volumes 1-3 which would be rather fitting. Moving on to the character animation, there were very strong moments on Jaune’s part. The way his shoulders lowered as his clothing and hair were briefly blown by the wind to express shock and bewilderment when he first saw the statue and how in another shot, he wanted to say something but hesitated to and attempted to pardon himself as if he didn’t deserve to say anything all concisely present how he felt without a word being uttered. There was also a cute and endearing moment of him gently rubbing the red cloth besides him as he talked to the red-haired woman. Even his expression when he learned the woman already knew who he was only made his guilt seem more explicit which followed with him initially puzzled by what the woman meant by Pyrrha already standing there.

As stated, the character acting told so much and maintained great nuance, which is why I was especially surprised to find out that at least part of the scene may have not been animated by Asha Bishi, but rather by Alyssa Lisiecki. I’ve gone on record on how much the former’s character animation can feel snappy yet abundant and lively. So I really did believe at first it was Asha was the one who animated the sequence between Jaune and the Red-haired woman. But this isn’t the first time I’ve been tripped over between a sequence either her or Alyssa animated. In chapter 6, Alyssa confirmed to have animated, “Qrow being angsty”, which I responded through the production analysis for that episode by expressing uncertainty that she did the part where Qrow stormed back inside the house to drink and thought that was Asha instead. This was honestly due to not having a clear grasp on how Alyssa animates in general. While it’s still a bit unclear how she animates, it’s possible she conveys similar approaches in character movement that Asha does. Then again, it’s also possible that be it between the both of them or whoever else animated the courtyard scene, they were asked by Kerry to make the animation feel seamless. It wouldn’t be the first time that would happen as a noteworthy example of this was Jaune and Pyrrha’s scene at the Beacon Academy courtyard as mentioned again in the volume 3 blu-ray directors audio commentary:

Kerry: “This was a tough scene, this was uh, again, just the new style of animation, some of the rig challenges that we had this year just with having so many different characters built at so many different times. All of our new rigs are great! Some of the older ones are starting to show their age a bit.

Uh, this is the first scene that four different animators animated this scene. Kim (Newman), Paula (Decanini), Melanie (Stern) and Millie (Gonzalez), I believe, and ya can’t tell! I don’t think there’s a single scene where you can actually see the shift and I thought they did a phenomenal job working with each other and uh...

Koen Wooten (lead producer): “A lot of that, ya know, some of that goes to the leads as well. The animators did an amazing job, I don’t want to take away from that. But the leads also, they go around with you Kerry and they look at every single shot to give your opinions and everything else. there’s a lot of work from day-to-day that goes into that to kind of make it seamless.

Kerry: “Yeah, there’s a lot of, “hey, Melanie, you’re working on this shot right now. Millie was just doing the shot right before this, you should go look. let’s get the continuity right”, and there’s some things they had to go back and fix. But again, they wanted to fix it and they wanted to make it right because they realized that between Paula and Kim, the hand shifted.

At the end of the day, having to second-guess these things to such a degree makes things more perplexing, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as it encourages examining some scenes between different animators more closely. The last part of this scene to cover of course is the visual direction. It’s simple, but the statue is focus of every shot composition. When Jaune meets the Red-haired woman, at first, it’s shots of just their own expressions with the only shot of the both of them together being the statue framed to stand between them. It’s not until the woman acknowledges Jaune as someone close to Pyrrha that we see a shot of both of them. Once she turns to face Jaune directly and openly expresses what she believed Pyrrha’s last actions meant. By the next long shot, Jaune turns to face her in a way that the statue doesn’t feel like it’s keeping them separate but is instead bringing them together. This is supported by the following shot of Jaune openly talking to the woman with the latter also being in the shot. Slightly later on, when Ren and Nora run into Jaune, we get the same kind of long shot of the three of them gazing at Pyrrha’s statue and then when Jaune attempts to apologize, the camera pans to Ren and Nora who try to be closer as well. By the end of the scene, Jaune looks up at Pyrrha’s statue one last time as a plane aptly flies by to probably hint at Jaune eventually coming up with a plan.

Intimacy is the theme of the storyboards in this sequence. It’s similar to Yang and Blake’s scene in the Brunswick farms shed, but with a nice, slight variation. Now some may notice the persistence on referring the the character Jaune spoke to as simply “Red-Haired woman” as displayed in the ending credits and not whoever various fans think she really is. While I and others have our respective guesses, I'd rather keep the speculation out of this analysis. All there is to go on is that according to the voice of the character, Jen Brown, there is a particular identity behind the character. Beyond that, she has no idea when or even if he identity will be properly revealed and that apparently, a lot of fans have theorized wrong. As frustrating as that may be to some, the lack of confirmation shouldn’t be seen as hindering how the role of the character was crafted into the scene in all the ways it was.

Moving on to the next scene, there’s one more thing to talk about regarding environment designs, that being the Cotta-Arc home. Rooster Teeth’s twitter account released the set designs themselves and with it, came a few interesting notes. One of which stated, “the Arc house is slightly wider than main modular buildings. This is to account the interior floor plan.” One educated guess to make is that since Saphron and Terra’s living room would be a setting for the main cast, making their house a bit wider would help make things more believable to viewers. Then there’s the note that says, “metal Atlas tech shutters and heating”, which help indicate to what Atlas contributes to Argus right down to an individual home. Honestly, given the whole, “Atlas and Mistral”, collaboration, it wouldn’t be wrong to compare the cultural-fusion design philosophy to Republic City from Avatar: The Legend of Korra. A couple of other notes aside, there is finally the note of the choice of flowers sitting in front of the windows. Apparently, Terra has blue rose flowers while Saphron has yellow pansies/primroses. What these choice of flowers are suppose to say about the two characters beyond their relationship is something I won’t go into here since it may invoke endless speculation (even the matter of what the flowers the Red-Haired woman carried were suppose to represents varies from one fan to another).

With that said, now is the time to address the elephant in the room: Oscar’s scene. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that every fan who took issue with it, did so for the same reason. Whether everyone agrees on the sense of scale regarding the conflict of Oscar’s agency, the fact he is bound to carry on a seemingly hopeless burden all of his previous incarnations were tasked with had definitely made him anxious. When he got accused by Jaune in the previous episode, the end of that scene combined with the cliffhanger implied more would be centered on Oscar’s concerns before moving on to the next phase of the story. So to have that conflict that would otherwise be addressed and resolved, be instead glossed over in a manner comparable to how Weiss got over the fact Blake was once a White Fang member by not caring, it would definitely rub a lot of viewers the wrong way.

Back on October 10th,2018, Miles Luna posted a Tweet expressing how he had to commit a “darling massacre.” This amusingly led to a misunderstanding of what he meant, but basically, there was an idea for a story he worked on that ultimately had to be cut out of the script. This is far from the first time a narrative beat had to be either pushed out of the current scripts or be cut entirely, as trimming a script is a necessary process for various reasons Miles spoke of before like allowing time for home video authoring for a scheduled release. It could be argued that maybe Oscar originally had a scene written where he managed to transition his state of mind more positively but that had to be cut. The only problem is that it would be inconsistent with what was said about where Miles and Kerry were up to with the script for volume 6 back during one of the RWBY panels at RTX Austin 2018. Now it’s possible that he was really referring to having to cut something for the next installment of say, Camp Camp and not RWBY. But assuming another scene dedicated to Oscar was cut, maybe it was something that got to the storyboard stage but had to be cut then due to whatever the circumstances were. This wouldn’t be the first instance of something having to be cut altogether as oppose to be reserved for a later volume. To summarize an extensive anecdote from the volume 3 director’s commentary, there was supposed to be a comedic fight between Sun, Neptune, Pyrrha and Nora during the double rounds of the Vytal Festival tournament that had swamp and anti-grav biomes. While the former two characters would lose, Neptune was given an opportunity to overcome his insecurities after being made fun of by Weiss and then the whole audience for showing off his “water wings” to help out Sun. had storyboards and even an animatic, but it had to be cut to avoid putting a strain in volume 3′s scheduling and production.

So that could’ve happened or maybe something else occurred behind the scenes. Either way, the execution behind Oscar’s resolution definitely felt a bit clumsily handled and maybe in a more ideal situation, what may have been cut could’ve been kept as is. Then again, something may not have cut at all. Without more concrete information, all there really is to do for now is speculate. One thing that doesn’t need to be speculated though is who did the animation for the cast hilariously dog-piling on Oscar, which was Vince Cappelutti. His name has been mentioned before, having been credited for doing part of the Adam Character Short and doing the first scene and the tunnel chase scene with fellow animator, Nicole LaCroix in chapter 6 of this volume. But this is the first time he confirmed to have done something by himself. As a result, there’s not much to comment on regarding his style, but if nothing else, it’s likely that his sequence extends to Weiss, Ruby and Nora asking questions towards Oscar since the quirky animation is carried through, albeit presented differently. Moving on to another sequence is Jaune telling Qrow his plan, which was confirmed to be animated by Hannah McCravy. Her name has been credited in the show since chapter 2 of this volume, so she is among the newer recruits. Regardless, she nails the right reactions out of each character, including when Adrian giggles. Though beyond that cut, it’s unclear if she animated anything afterward. My best guess is that when comparing to the timing of the animations of the scene between the main cast and the Nubuck guards, Nicole LaCroix animated Jaune explaining how he didn’t think of the details to the plan yet before Qrow shut his idea down. But that part is once again, left to speculation.

One last thing to go over in the scene is Ruby’s character. As mentioned earlier, there was something from the CRWBY Reddit AMA that directly connects to this episode that Miles Luna answered. Among the things he and Kerry believed they could improve on was “ More attention and meaningful conflicts for Ruby.” Seeing the titular character be given the kind of focus she has been is definitely considered welcoming to many fans of the show. But to give Miles and Kerry some credit, they have been conscious about giving Ruby a sense of conflict before. There are a couple of interesting quotes from the volume 4 blu-ray directors commentary that demonstrate this.

Chapter 6:

Miles: “Oh, this is another fun little moment too where we really are kind of pointing out the fact that Ruby... she’s very idealistic and optimistic, but not always super practical and really, he’s (Tyrian) putting her on the spot like, “y-you really don’t know what you’re doing out here kid, do you?”

Chapter 7 (when Ruby stepped in to fight Tyrian):

Miles: “Ruby you’re optimism is gonna... really bite you in the butt here, girl. There are things at work that you do not know about.”

Chapter 8:

Kerry: “So this is um, another good example of what happened a second ago (when she asked Qrow “what should we do”) and what’s coming up in a second (when she asked Qrow about not trusting her) about Ruby’s... ya know, like, her naive nature being both a good and a bad thing. She’s hearing all this stuff, she’s starting to learn what she’s wrapped up in and the consequences of everything and she’s still like “alright, what’s next?” Ruby, like... Tyrian just wrecked y’all. You shouldn’t, like she shouldn’t want to be badly into this, but she is and it’s just a really important thing to her character.”

Similar to Mercury’s character, there is a forward momentum with Ruby’s character and it seems that in her case, it has a lot to do with exploring when her decision making can be a benefit or a detriment and why. Volume 6 can be seen as a juxtaposition of her character in volume 4 where she criticized by Maria for not giving herself enough credit. Speaking of Maria, if the character/sub-plot that was taken out of volume 5′s script was actually her, then given what role her character played into volume 6 so far, it’s possible that more focus to Ruby’s character was planned at the time but ultimately had to be reduced.

That marks the end of a rather lengthier production analysis this time around. This was the episode where some major story ideas expressed via audio commentaries or Q & A’s in hindsight are being presented explicitly here and more attention to design notes for the settings in this episode helps provide insight as to what kind of thought goes into helping make scenes have a bit more going on than just be aesthetically pleasing. With the main party having a plan to go on, it’s safe to say that volume 6 is entering its third and final act in the story which will doubt result in potential action sequences and hopefully more interesting analyses to touch on.

#rwby #rwby6 #rwby spoilers #rwby analysis #crwby #production analysis #production #analysis #kerry shawcross #kerry #shawcross #monty oum #monty #oum

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