#I hated Kepler THAT much

[clonerightsagenda]

I should probably listen to Descendants sometime but I'm still hung up on going 'oh wow Janus Descend.ing is an incisive exploration of internalized prejudice and how Peter's misogynoir devours him from within' and then finding out that the creator did not intend any of that. Also it's not his fault but Zach Libresco's voice stresses me out.

[sleepy-spaceman]

maxwell and jacobi seltzer water haters vs. kepler canon seltzer water consumer.

[st-peculiar]

I Imagine that during the time of Jacobi’s recovery, he and Kepler go on a road trip together down the coast. They take Genevieve’s (remember the partially blind woman who owns the bar that Kepler works at? Yeah I’ve named her. Genevieve! She’s great.) ancient pick up truck that Kepler fixed up. It’s the type of truck that when it starts, it shakes the entire frame for a good few second. The radio has shitty connection, but the cassette player is in near perfect shape. (Kepler has a shoe box full of mostly country and classic rock cassettes that sits under the passenger seat. He got them from one of the reoccurring patrons in the bar who was cleaning out a storage unit downtown.)

Jacobi doesn’t want to go at first. His prosthetic still feels foreign against what’s left of his leg, his movements are jerky and stilted, so he chooses to use a crutch most days. He’s tired most days than not, too. Kepler keeps pestering him, saying that to get used to the prosthetic, he has to actually use it. Knowing that Kepler wouldn’t back down, he accepts, although grudgingly.

They spend a little under two weeks traveling, stopping every other night in a new town, staying in cheap two-bed motels that smell slightly of the sea, tinged with settled dust. Jacobi tells Kepler that it reminds him of when he went traveling across America in the few months that he really wanted to be anywhere and everywhere. Kepler doesn’t tell him about his own wanderings. The running. He knows now that, yes, it really was running.

But this time, he wasn’t trying to escape. No, it was for leisure, this trip. It was for Jacobi.

The next time Teller and Bob visit Midland when he’s back in New York, they can tell he’s happier than they’ve ever seen him. They don’t ask much about the trip, but they know.

@slateblueflowers

[emp-t-man]

if we were to get another 1-2 hour bonus episode of backstory (like change of mind/volte face), what character/s do you think would be most interesting to hear about?

oooooo i like this one thank you for indulging me—

honestly, something i would’ve loved to see more of is hermes crew content— we got maybe three minutes of them and their chemistry and characters were impeccable for those three minutes and i was so sad to just lose them after that. i don’t think it’d be necessary to have a volte face length episode of them because they don’t do too much to drive the plot, but a lil mini episode would’ve been cute and would’ve done much more to have the listeners understand the gravity of their situation—

as for answering the actual question— miranda. one hundred percent. i absolutely adored the backstory about her given at the beginning of the finale, but i think it could’ve been so much cooler and more effective as a bonus episode right before it. we know how she grew up and the basics of how she got involved with goddard, but i really wanna know the full extent of her and cutter’s relationship, how young he really found her before taking her under his wing, what he could have told her to have her view humanity the way she does, why she treats artificial intelligences with such little respect when she herself is half machine— i just want to take her under a microscope and study everything that’s ever happened to her

as a bonus runner-up— as much as i despise kepler, he’s the only person where it isn’t revealed how he started working for goddard in the first place. in his mini episode, the one that reveals it for every other character, he’s already a major under cutter’s command. there isn’t much of a difference between the person he is in that episode and the one he is in the present, and while i understand and respect why gabriel chose to do that (the static nature of his own character helps magnify how dynamic the other characters become, i could write a whole thing about that too), it’d make his sacrifice and his death a lot more meaningful if we were. y’know. given a reason to like him in the first place. it would be interesting to know the person he claims to have killed in order to be who he is during the events of the show.

[iamdognow]

If I think abt that weird transgender middle aged man enough maybe I won’t cause a scene at the family gathering even though the entire time I will be being ridiculed for existing

[yanankim]

[delaneytalks-tostatues]

Agent Blanc asking if Cullen wants to fuck Sophie makes me want to launch my phone across the room

[emp-t-man]

GOD. YES. YOU GET IT. i dont even have anything profound to add this just. sums it up entirely. he didn’t care about either of them at all. even the whole “no complaints” fireworks outing could be described as a manipulation tactic that was meant to make jacobi feel like someone finally cared, something he had been wanting for YEARS. he’s just. god. this.

My thoughts on the SI-5

For as much as a lot of fandom romanticizes the SI-5 as a friend group, Kepler really did Jacobi and Maxwell so dirty. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he got it in the end, and the character himself is hilarious. But I need to talk about this. This man is insane and needs to be held accountable.

First of all, he meets them at the very lowest points of their life. Maxwell is isolated from her family and support systems, and it’s implied her career is heading for the toilet due to her fight with the ethics board. Jacobi’s career is totally over after he was blacklisted from his work, and it’s implied he doesn’t have strong support systems either. Kepler knows that and uses it to manipulate both of them into working for him. They both, especially Jacobi, have such a strong loyalty to him because they saw him as their only way out of their situations, and Kepler does not match that loyalty at all.

How do I know this? Because he was totally cool with Maxwell dying. Didn’t shed a tear. And when Jacobi called him out for that and threatened HIS life? Kepler was like “well okay. Guess we have to shoot Jacobi then.” I was reviewing my episode reactions, and I totally forgot he told Minkowski that. Like he didn’t hesitate or even try apologizing to Jacobi or admitting he was wrong first, he jumped right to “kill Jacobi instead.” He also had the audacity to say “how could he (Jacobi) do this? After all we’ve been through? 🥺” and then what they’ve “been through” is Kepler buying Jacobi fireworks (1) time, admitting to stalking Jacobi and Maxwell for years before he hired them (creepy), harassing and threatening them if they fail to comply with his orders, telling Jacobi and Maxwell they’re worth about as much as a glass of whisky and he wouldn’t miss them (which is verified by his reaction to Maxwell’s death and brief willingness to kill Jacobi to save his own skin when Jacobi tries to get revenge), lying to Jacobi and Maxwell and keeping secrets from both of them, and being an arrogant jerk of a boss who treats them more like his patronized pets than his friends. It’s actually funny how Kepler is shocked that wouldn’t be enough to keep Jacobi’s loyalty after gambling with the life of his best friend. He’s so blinded by his own ego it’s hilarious. Like buddy, it’s a miracle of desperate circumstance that either of them were loyal to you in the first place, you pompous whisky-worshipping buffoon.

You even see it in the little details. Kepler talking to Cutter about Jacobi and Maxwell behind their backs on that one call, the way Jacobi calls Maxwell “Alana” but Jacobi and Kepler use their formal names for each other until the very end when Kepler calls Jacobi “Daniel” and acts legitimately terrified to discover what Cutter and Pryce’s true plans are. Which again, love the way the redemption arc was done and those little details show you proof that Kepler rethought his views and isn’t doing this on a whim and that Jacobi and Maxwell’s friendship, as compared to their relationships with Kepler, was a stronger and more real and genuine friendship. I mean, headcanon what you want, write the SI-5 how you want. But a lot of people seem to either love or hate the whole SI-5 group (I admit this was me for a long while, though I do love post-redemption duck and whisky boys) so it’s easy to gloss over these internal dynamics within the SI-5, but if Kepler survived, I would personally need him to acknowledge just how much of a jerk he really was because yikes.

[flwoie]

FLASH FORWARD — YOON JEONGHAN

"Dancing isn't a sport," Jeonghan once said, which has made you hate his guts since that day. Everyone knows there isn't a day where Freesia's track athlete and dance team member are planning each other's downfall. Somehow your English teacher manages to silence the both of you when she pairs you up for an assignment, and like Jeonghan, he asks you to text him to remind him to finish it by the end of the week. However, that doesn't go according to plan when you accidentally text him on your stalking account, used to keep tabs on Seokmin, his friend. When you deny words about the account, he's smart enough to connect the dots as he strikes up a deal: he'll keep your secret if he can help you get with his friend.

STARRING ▸ athlete! jeonghan x f! dancer! reader (support cast : svt, twice's nayeon, kepler's yujin, loossemble's hyunjin, some of my moots as the dance team)

GENRE ▸ romcom, smau, highschool au, rivals to lovers

CONTAINS ▸ profanities, super mean jokes, kms/kys jokes, sex jokes, the jokes in here are not wholesome 😭, im not a dancer or an athlete so i dont know much sorry !!

ON HOLD | 03/20/24 - tbd

TAGLIST IS OPEN 🏅 SEND AN ASK OR COMMENT ♡

🗯️ when u go to the winner competition but your opponent ate chicken for dinner

PLEASE DO NOT SPAM LIKE ! PLEASE SUPPORT BY REBLOGGING !

❝ WHAT'S THE PLAN? ❞

ONE ▸ destroyer of worlds

TWO ▸ Look at my lawyer Dawgggggg

THREE ▸ delete this before i pull ur dingdong

FOUR ▸ shein_918273645

FIVE ▸ wtv u say freakydeak

SIX ▸ Tickle my brain

SEVEN ▸ just wing it and bring it 🤑

EIGHT ▸ show the bald spot

to be added !

seventeen masterlist

[socksenjoyer]

how i think wolf 359 characters would dress in their normal lives because nobody asked (no spoilers just characters you won't have heard of):

Doug Eiffel: self-explanatory. worst fashion sense ever. has to be coerced into not wearing a graphic tee to weddings. i think he'd love hair clips and bracelets and stuff tho

Renée Minkowski: Butch bi. INVENTED the jumpsuit-vest combo

Alexander Hilbert: Resents needing to pick his own clothes. I cannot imagine this man without a lab coat on. Thinks two identical shirts is enough to own

Isabelle Lovelace: I think she'd like quite light but practical clothes. I can very easily imagine her with a hawaiian shirt, and i think she'd enjoy fun patterns. She would love maya kern skirts with the massive pockets.

Hera: (Not sure if she can actually change her clothes but if she could) Has a lot of fun with it. None of it seems to match but it always works. If she could, she'd be the kind of person to put keyrings on EVERYTHING. Just so many accessories. If she ever found out about decora i think she'd explode with joy

Jacobi: pretty regular fashion, but i think he'd mend his clothes in very visible ways. some of his clothes are more mend than fabric. It looks sick as hell. I want to draw this now

Maxwell: Goth. Most of her outfits are pretty lowkey apart from the occasional elaborate tradgoth look. I refuse to explain myself. Also stop drawing her with glasses just because she's smart

Kepler: Not quite sure as I'm not a massive kepler fan. Start drawing this guy with glasses tho. i imagine him a little bit like Nash from street fighter before all the cool science experiment frankenstein shit and also less buff so make of that what you will

As for all the goddard management...idk. i don't know them well enough and frankly i hate them so much. Cutter has never worn anything less formal than a suit in his life tho he sleeps like that. And lovelace's crew...i love them but i don't know shit about them 😔 sorry guys. I'll get back to you about them

[clonerightsagenda]

Since I'm w359posting this week apparently, I wanted to share something neat I learned from the AMAs about how the writers designed the characters.

Apparently, the original four crewmembers were plotted on two axes - human vs inhuman and order vs chaos. Eiffel and Minkowski were the chaos human and order human, and Hera and Hilbert were the chaos inhuman and order (metaphorical) inhuman. Lovelace upon her introduction was plotted at the dead center of both axes.

To really amp up everyone reflecting each other, when they started designing the SI5 characters, they took the original three humans' personalities and job titles and rotated them. So, they set up a commander, scientist, and technician, but gave the commander Hilbert's traits, the scientist Eiffel's traits, and the technician Minkowski's traits.

Obviously that was only a starting point, and all three characters grew into their own people very different from where they began. However, you can see traces of these influences. Least so with Jacobi, imo, but in the Rashomon episode where each person's account reflects their priorities and anxieties, he's striving to portray himself as a dedicated, safety-conscious professional frustrated that no one else takes his work seriously, which is something Minkowski can relate to. He's also Kepler's administrative officer, even if we don't see him doing paperwork very often.

Maxwell is clearer. She's the most friendly and social of her team and strikes up the closest connection with Hera. Also, as soon as she's gone, the rest of her team implodes, much as in "Pan Pan" the remaining crew is at each other's throats.

Finally, Kepler's alignment with Hilbert is obvious to me at least - they both are people with theoretically noble goals who are willing to do terrible things to achieve them, and Goddard takes advantage of that to get them to do terrible things full stop. Hilbert is just further along on the Goddard employee lifecycle of getting chewed up and discarded (he's had more of his legs eaten, to use the pig story's metaphor). They hate each other so much because they recognize each other.

... I am only thinking this now as I type it out, but I always wondered why Eiffel disliked Maxwell after only knowing her for a couple days, most of which he'd spent convalescing. I figured she was probably asking invasive questions about Hera, but if I'm suggesting Hilbert and Kepler hate each other because they recognize each other as card carrying members of the face-eating leopards party.... maybe Eiffel dislikes Maxwell because he sees something of himself in her.

[ash5monster01]

I Can See You

Pairing: Charlie Dalton x FemReader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of smut, language, lust, mentions of heart break

Summary: Based on Taylor Swift’s Speak Now vault track I Can See You. In layman’s terms, you can’t deny your attraction towards Charlie despite your best attempts not to and you can’t seem to stop yourself from imagining the two of you together.

word count: 2,506

Masterlist

Welton had a strict rule against relations between male and female students. Ever since Welton had become co-ed there was absolutely no tolerance for any funny business between the students or the school will no longer allow the different genders intermingle. Yet that never stopped Charlie Dalton. He still did his best attempt at flirting with each and every female student in his age range. It was Gods gift when they allowed female students his freshman year. Nothing like being at the butt end of puberty and having a sea of females to choose from.

You had been the first to catch his eye, he liked how you had long hair that swayed across your entire back despite Nolan having a rule of three inches past the shoulder and nothing more. The long hair a clear sign of disobeying rules and he adored you for that. Even more when you went without pantyhose and Mr. Mcallister had to give you detention. As much as you hated to admit it you liked Charlie Dalton too. You had become friends after telling yourself to avoid him at all costs.

Charlie wasn’t ever really a friend though, and everyone knew it. You’d study in the library, knees touching even though you had an entire table of space. Nolan may of had a rule of no relations and you had followed it, truly, but if anyone saw the way you two looked at each other they all knew not a thought behind those eyes went along with that rule. So you had to settle for soft glances, quick brushes, and all the words you wanted to say wrapped up into a single look, and pray to God that the other knew exactly what you were saying when your eyes met.

It was like this for a while, that’s was until Molly Kepler. You were on your way to study with Charlie, excited to pass him a pencil so your hands could touch, yet you were met with an empty table. So you dropped your things and began to search the stacks for the boy when you saw a flash of the short blonde curls, and manicured hand wrapped possessively around your Charlie’s neck. A small gasp met your mouth and both heads snapped towards you, tears filled your eyes but you knew it was no use letting them fall. After all he was never really yours because it was against the rules. So you ran away, grabbed your things, and never studied with Charlie Dalton again.

It hurt that Charlie never tried to speak to you. It felt as if he had given up completely because he found someone willing to go against the rule despite mucking it up for everyone if they got caught. The boys never said anything either, you figured they knew he would mess it up at some point. So you went back to the way life was before him. You tried to get over him, really, but no other boy in the school had yet to cast your attention. So when he passed in the hall, eyes locking with yours, your heart would clench every time, even though it had happened Freshman year. Going into Junior year you told yourself it wouldn’t be that way, you wouldn’t allow him to have that affect

Then you saw him, but his eyes never met yours, they ignored you completely, and suddenly his shoulder was brushing past you, an electric touch igniting you and seemingly doing nothing to him. You figured he thought you couldn’t see him. Turning you watched as he walked away, immersed into a conversation with Knox, and even though everything between you had been unspoken you could still see him. You still knew exactly who he was, and longed for the things you wished the two of you could share. You wondered what he would do if you tried to touch him now, wondered what he would do if you could guarantee they’d never catch you, what he would do if you both never made a sound?

The students in the hallway cleared out, moving into classrooms, hustling to avoid demerits, but Charlie and Knox had stopped, their conversation flowing freely as Charlie leisurely leaned against the wall, a demerit not even on the forefront of his mind. Before you could stop it an image of you two pressed up against that exact wall, his fingers curled through your own, hot breaths fanning across each other, quickly you closed your eyes and moved into a classroom, missing how Charlie glanced down the hall and noticed your departure. He wondered what you would do if you knew he could see you too.

You had tried to keep thing’s professional between you two. You really did, that’s why you never made a move freshman year. Now you were older, the attraction clearer and more desperate. You worried you couldn’t fight it any longer. Something had changed and you liked it, which made it so much harder to avoid. Thing was you were never really good about following rules. Now Charlie was in your head, consuming you completely, and you weren’t sure you could pass the semester like this. It had already been a month, him ignoring you every time you passed, and it was all you had thought about, schoolwork not even a concern.

So you went for a walk, trying to clear your head, while the other students studied together or in the library. The quiet halls once a safe haven before you had an image of you and Charlie pressed against the wall to taint it. As if you summoned him he appeared in your sight, about to brush past, and avoid eye contact at all costs. Yet as if you weren’t in control at all your hand gripped his wrist, stopping him in place. Maybe it was just because you were alone, or you were crazy, or maybe you just needed a reason to get him out of your head, but you stopped him anyway.

You both stood there for a moment, facing directions of where you should just walk away, play it safe. Yet the part of you that lusted after him made you turn your head and for the first time this year you locked eyes, heart thumping quickly. As you searched each others eyes you both saw it, the longing for one another. You could still tell exactly what he was saying with just one look. You figured you were about to get an answer to the question of what would he do if you touched him now?

“Are you sure?” his raspy voice asked, deeper than it was freshman year and hungry with need for you.

“It's best that we move fast and keep quiet” was your only response and he nodded, tucking his bottom lip in as you tugged him down the hall. You knew the teachers kept a watchful eye over you but it was possible. There was the 5% chance you could sneak away into a room without getting caught.

“I thought you didn’t want to risk getting caught?” Charlie always assumed despite your feelings you’d never do anything with him, you needed to stay at the school more than you needed him. He was wrong.

“I thought you weren’t worth the risk but now I know I was wrong. I can’t stop seeing us together, you won't believe half the things I see inside my head” you earnestly told him as you tugged him into the coat room. Luckily the weather was still warm enough in Vermont, the chills of October bound to come by the end of the week, but still warm enough to not need a jacket.

“Wait 'til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet” Charlie said, shrugging his uniform Jacket on the floor. Your head tipped back against the wall, you tried to calm your heart rate because you had imagined what that looked like and now it was happening right in front of you.

What would you do if I went to touch you now?

What would you do if they never found us out?

What would you do if we never made a sound?

“I’m interested in what you saw in your head?” Charlie asked, sauntered towards you until he pressed flush against you. You let out a soft hum, trying not to let your thoughts run wild as he asked you this question.

“I saw you waitin' down the hall from me and I could see you up against the wall with me. I could see you throw your jacket on the floor. I could see you make me want you even more. I could only see you” at your admittance a sly smile crossed the lips of the boy, his hands curling up behind your head as his pelvis leaned his full weight against you on the wall.

“I can see you too” then suddenly his mouth was on yours, a sharp inhale between the two of you, breathing in the others air like it was the only way you could properly breathe. Your hands tugged him by his tie closer as his own ran through your hair. His lips were softer than you expected, brushing across yours light as feathers but their touch heavy with pleasure. You took a moment to experience each sensation, the soft press of his hands on the back of your head, the small hums of contentment that left his mouth, how his uniformed shirt scratched against your own. You should’ve broken the rules sooner.

You had imagined kissing Charlie hundreds of times. Back when you were just two innocent kids in the library to now. If you asked Freshman you she’d never guess it happened hidden away in the coat room with tension you could cut with a knife. As Charlie’s tongue dipped inside your mouth a small squeak left your lips and he promised he’d memorize it, because you were the only girl really worth kissing around here. The only girl he ever really planned on kissing. He wished every day he could tell you that Molly Kepler had come into him, that he was looking for a book Neil told him you might like. That what you saw gave you the wrong idea, but how could he when he wasn’t really sure if you two were ever a thing.

“I never thought this would happen” Charlie muttered, pulling back, his lips trailing down your throat. You gave him a small slap as he nipped a bit to hard, you were nervous he’d leave marks. He only chuckled at the action, enjoying it a bit too much.

“Me either” you finally told him, your hand leaving his neck tie to run through his champagne brown locks.

“What made you change your mind?” Charlie asked, pecking small kisses on your face, finishing at the tip of your nose.

“You ignore me in the hall. You used to look at me but now you just brush past as if I was nothing. I don’t like how that feels” you told him, his hands leaving your hair to hold you by your waist.

“I don’t look because it hurts too much. I hate myself for still missing you after all this time. I told myself that if I stopped longing after you I could start to move on” each word wrapped tightly around your heart, squeezing it in a hug, warming your bloodstream.

“They’re watching us, so keep quiet, don’t get caught, and keep your hands off other girls” you told him after the words finally settled and you seared them permanently into your heart.

“Are you claiming me as your own?” the boy teased, face moving towards yours.

“You always were Charlie” you grinned at him and at that he had all the more reason to kiss you again, loving how you tasted like strawberries but smelled like roses. His forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and he was going to do anything he could to keep you.

Suddenly the bell rang and quickly you unlocked your lips from his, eyes wide. Charlie admired how your lips were swollen pink, eyes slightly glossy, and hair a bit frazzled. He wished he could take a picture and keep it forever. Then you were rushing out his arms and towards the door. “Wait”

“Charlie the bell rang, we’ll get caught” you whispered and he groaned, hand holding your wrist.

“Please, one more minute?” he pouted like a child but you shook your head, removing his grip from your hand.

“We’ll be caught, until next time” you quickly pecked his lips, hands straightening your hair and uniform, and slipping out the door before he could protest anymore.

Finding alone time without getting caught was deemed impossible. At least you had started to study together again, your knees brushing having to hold you over. You weren’t as daring as Molly Kepler to make out in the stacks. So you had to settle for even the shortest of moments, a small peck when everyone’s head was turned. Then Friday rolled around and as Charlie walked into the classroom, handsome as ever in his uniformed suit and tie, a note slipped onto your desk. You looked up to see a devious grin as he continued to his seat as if he did nothing at all.

‘Meet me tonight

coatroom

-Charlie’

Your heart sped up, nerves prickling at your skin, but excitement bellowing in your stomach. You hadn’t expected that reaction. The risk of getting caught giving you an adrenaline rush. It made you regret not doing this sooner. The excitement surrounding sneaking around was more fun than you had read in your books. So you kept the note on you all day, anxiously waiting for lights out so you could make your way to the coat room. You worried how Charlie would sneak out considering the boys had to get past the watch dog. Yet he still appeared, quiet as a mouse in the darkness of the coat room.

“You made it” you whispered, a smile covering your face. Charlie smiled right back, hands curling around your own.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world” then he was kissing you and he knew you would never tell, a secret pair of lovers.

“I could see you being my addiction” you whispered, eyes still closed from the perfect kiss. “It’s like I’m your secret mission”

“As long as we hide away I will start behaving” Charlie told you, taking a step towards the door. “Do you trust me?”

“I always have” and then he was pulling you out the door, into the hall, smiles and silent laughs shared between you both as you ran outside. Heading in the direction of the Indian cave you smiled because you were so thankful you could see him.

Thankful that he knew you could see him, because you knew that what he would do was claim you as his own.

[imnameimswrld]

╰┈➤ ❝ [𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 || 𝗠𝗝 ꒱꒱

━━ ❪ prince!jun x duchess!reader || part one ❫

━━ ❪ . . . description : with the war long over, your home borders on bankruptcy that only the higher kingdom can provide aid in, but aid requires a marriage. however, you're suprised when it is the oldest of the seven, that chooses you ; ❫

━━ ❪ . . . royalty au, marriage of convenience ❫

━━ ❪ . . . disclaimers : this features ricky of zb1, renjun, chenle and kun of nct, and the8 of seventeen, and most of them are asses in this au ! also featuring as your siblings is xiaojun of nct, xiaoting of kepler, and handong of dreamcatcher ! ❫

━━ ❪ . . . warnings : none ❫

( next part ) coming soon !

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A snarl pulls at your upper lip as as grimace at your reflection.

"I assume you have words, my lady ?" your handmaid inquires from your side, hands clasped respectfully behind her back.

You grunt once as I raise a single finger to point at my perked up, suffocating, breats.

"Is this necessary ? It leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination and," my sharp gaze cuts to the handmaid, and instantly her haze drops to the ground. "Last time I checked, I was to be a princess, not a whore."

There's a stiffle of laughter from the doorway, and you watch as your oldest sister gestures for the handmaid to leave. As if she couldn't leave fast enough, she all but scurries away with the kind of haste she could've used earlier with bringing your tea.

"You're very mean to her, you know." Dong chirps, sauntering in with poised grace. Unlike yourself, she, was made for this life of ballgowns and pleasantries.

You were made for a sword and armor.

"It's not like she likes me all that much anyway, sister," you glare at the low neckline of your dress one more time before turning your full attention to her. "Or have you forgotten the many times she's purposely dropped my food and drinks on me."

A knowing smile pulls at lips, and she nods slowly, but says nothing further on the topic. Dong comes to stand before me, placing her gentle hands on your tense shoulders.

"The war is over, sister. We've won, thanks to you who led our men. Now, it is time to lay down your sword, and place that crown on your head that you so rightfully deserve." Her gaze is soft, but her tone fierce.

"It was not meant to be me-"

"But it is you, sister."

A cloak of silence settles over the two of you, your mind not able to find the words to explain how wrong this whole situation is. One of your sisters should be the  ones to marry first, they're fit for royalty. You, are not.

A knock at your open door echoes painfully loud through my room, and my gaze shifts to see the rest of my siblings standing in waiting.

"Are you ready, sister ?" Xiaojun inquires, swallowing hard as he stares at you. He's the only one who hates this idea as much as you do, because it means no longer sharing a home with his twin, his best friend.

You make to deny, but Dong doesn't allow it. "She is."

Your gaze flits back to her intense ones, and you let out a breath.

"Because you are Han Y/N, Duke Han's fierce and mighty last born. You, are ready for anything."

You take a staggering breath, willing your knees to quite their shaking as if meeting seven men is more frightening than going into battle with thousands of them at your command.

With one arm through your brother's, you other hand clasping your older sister's, Xiaoting's, tightly, you lift chin and straighten your posture.

Just like Dong told you, because you are the woman who led men into battle, and if anyone should be afraid, it's the seven that are waiting for you in the next room.

Nodding once, the guards pull open the double doors to one of the many ballrooms that sit in your home. Eyes forward, you do your best to not meet any one of their scrutinizing gazes as you walk, opting to just state at a family painting that hangs on the opposite wall, standing at seven tall.

As you stand, you can feel all their gazes inspecting, noting down my every feature, flaw. You make sure to settle a minuscule glare in your eyes, because if they think they can treat anything less than a noble lady, they'll be very sorry.

This process should be anything but slow, and yet, with how closet they analyze me, it feels as if an eternity passes until their steward speaks.

"The princes will now make their choices." the older man speaks, his silver hair glinting in the sunlight that hits through the floor to ceiling windows.

Yippee.

The youngest steps forward, his white hair styled to perfection with a few lose strands left out for the purpose of adding to his beauty – because although younger than you, he is beautiful, and you cannot deny that.

But Quanrui is as arrogant as he is stunning.

"Your beauty is not to the standard I expected, Lady Y/N," you feel Xiaojun stiffen beside you, and you have to dig your nails into his sleeve before he lunges and gets you all into major trouble.

"Therefore, I decline you, Lady Y/N of Duke Han."

Thank God, he's too young and is better off marrying his own goddamn reflection.

Quanrui steps back, his incredibly sharp eyes giving you one last once over before refocusing on Xiaoting beside you. Ha, good luck with that one kid.

The fourth borns step forward simultaneously, twins, but their features couldn't be more different. Chenle you don't know all that well, but one thing is for sure, he has absolutely no desire in what you have to offer.

He'd much prefer someone with a...yeah.

But that is not your secret to tell.

Hence why it's no suprise when he steps back after reciting Quanrui's last words. Renjun seems to have a bored expression on his face.

"A place beside me is not fit for a warrior such as yourself, Lady Y/N. Nor is our home truly," he sighs, clearly uninterested in this whole situation. "But alas, my father disagrees. However, I decline you, Lady Y/N of Duke Han."

He steps back, and you fight back a scoff. As if he could handle a woman like you anyway.

Your gaze flicks to the much taller prince, his body lean and shoulders broad. His gaze is anything but full of distaste. You're taken aback most of all by him. Minghao is silent as he simply steps back, not even showing a hint of respect towards you.

This time you're unable to fight back a glare, and Minghao meets yours with a dark one of his own.

Although the line is coming to an end, the worry practically radiates off of Dong as she stands beside Xiaoting. You understand why, because logically Minghao was your last chance. The next two brothers are older, and would have no interest in a younger woman like yourself – and even though you couldn't care less if you return with no betrothed, you know your father would be disappointed, and Dong fears the limit his patience will continue for you.

You realise in this moment how being declined by all the sons of the High Kingdom could effect your family. You'd be left with a disappointed father, possible bankruptcy because the Duke grows old and there's only so much burdens Dong can carry as the eldest. This house can and will crumble if it doesn't recieve aid from the richest. You've been chosen as the offering, and as degrading as it may feel, your peoples lives depend on being chosen.

With that knowledge, you raise your chin once more, standing just a little taller than before.

One can hope.

"I decline you, Lady Y/N of Duke Han."

But that hope cracks with Kun's words as he steps back, joining his younger brothers. He's the only one to grant you a respectful nod, and for that, you offer him one in return.

Lastly is...

Your gaze travels from the gleaming tips of his boots, up his towering stature, his chest broad and shoulders seeming ever so mighty. The eldest son carries himself with the kind of natural confidence every man dreams of possessing, and in your eyes, it is his beauty, that is unmatched.

But Junhui won't choose you, it's highly unlikely. He's the most quiet, barely ever seen roaming outside of castle walls, and has never, ever been spotted with a woman on his arm. Some say he's a cold man incapable of love. Others say there's just no one worthy enough of being at his side.

However, you are not a woman of stories, but one of reality.

His eyes are unreadable as they stare into yours, not daring to violate your figure as his younger brothers had done. In fact, if you recall correctly, he's not looked anywhere but your eyes this whole time. Does that mean he's interested ? Or is he just being polite ?

For Christs sake, put me out of my misery already and say you decline-

"I accept you, Lady Y/N of Duke Han," Jun strides over with more grace than your whole entire being holds.

Your breath catches in pure shock, an unfamiliar spark jolting in the hand he takes into his own, traveling like wildfire up your arm, before raking down your spine. His touch is gentle, soft, but nothing could compare to the tenderness of his lips that kiss the back of your hand; and the whole time, his gaze never leaves yours.

"I make my choice, and it is you, Lady Y/N."

[officer-achilles]

I'm thinking about Dr. Hilbert yet again and how he was like a mirror to Kepler and Kepler probably hated that about him. Dr. Hilbert being just middle management for Goddard and acknowledging this with apathetic acceptance versus Kepler always trying to seem like he knew the whole plan and was like twenty steps ahead and was always more in control than he was.

I wish we could have seen them play chess against each other. I truly think it would have been fascinating.

Kepler outright mocking Hilbert while Hilbert silently moves turn after turn. Kepler rapidly oscillates between 'going easy' on Hilbert and then checking him while Hilbert continues on, probably mumbling about how Kepler is far too obsessed with the showmanship of it all.

"Kepler, you care too much about appearing in charge. You do not pay attention to things right under your nose. Underestimating the opponent is the worst thing you can do. Trust me. I have learned the hard way."

"You didn't 'learn the hard way' Hilbert, you were simply outsmarted by an idiot. A testament to your uselessness in the face of real danger. Now stop talking and make your move."

"Ah yes, my move. Clearly you were not paying close enough attention. I made my move. See? Check. Mate."

[commsroom]

how would the characters do working in a public service job, such as retail? I'm particularly curious about hilbert, kepler, and minkowski.

you know, you can really tell that nobody in wolf 359 other than eiffel has ever worked retail. it explains a lot about them.

it's impossible to imagine hilbert working retail in any context that isn't just. a joke for how out of place he would be. everything hilbert does is for his research, and he considers anything else a pointless distraction. he thinks that "bedside manner is like anesthetic: it just gets in the way of what needs to be done." honestly, i wish i could make hilbert work customer service. it would be torture for him, and he would say the kinds of things to customers that most people can only fantasize about. if you put him in a retail job, somehow, he would still just disappear into a dark storage room to do god knows what. i think hilbert would let people shoplift. he doesn't care.

kepler... could thrive in retail, actually. that's really scary. not that he would like it, but that he's got that kind of personality type and work ethic. the version of kepler who hollowed himself to become the manager of a dick's sporting goods might be worse than regular kepler, for the limited power it would offer him. but stagnation would drive him crazy. kepler really values progress - always working harder, doing more. he doesn't mind being a cog in the corporate machine, but that would be a much less. complex machine, compared to his real ambitions. he would still tell the exact same stories.

minkowski would be very, very frustrated by a job like that, but she would take it very seriously. she would enforce every nonsensical, nit-picky little policy to the letter. she would want to run that place like the navy, for sure, but people wouldn't be scared of her the way they'd be scared of someone like kepler. she's a tryhard people pleaser, and she tries to come across as strict and no-nonsense, but i think minkowski really takes people at their word and it wouldn't be hard for both customers & her employees to walk all over her once they figured out how she operates, and which of her threats are empty. that's what eiffel did. if she wasn't in a management position, it would be even worse for her. she would grit her teeth, and try very, very hard, and she would hate every moment of it.

characters you didn't ask about, but i have to talk about anyway:

i think lovelace would be a relatively cool manager who would take your side if a customer was a jerk to you, and she wouldn't really care about the rules as long as things got done. but it would be difficult for her to hold a lower-level position, unless she had a cool manager.

eiffel is the only one of them who's canonically worked food service (and a whole assortment of dead-end jobs he got fired from within a few months) and he approaches his current job pretty much the same as i imagine he approached his job at pizza hut. he complains about his boss, zones out, maybe even falls asleep. if he could wander outside and smoke, he would. eiffel and hera are really the only two people here who don't have career ambitions. almost everyone else wants something more, in their own ways, but eiffel just wants to clock out, go home, and relax. doesn't really matter what the job is, he just doesn't want to be at work. respectable.

and hera is already doing the equivalent of putting on a customer service voice, seething with contempt, and then going to cry in the bathroom, like, every day of her life. so...

[same-pic-of-polaris-everyday]

Hello! I heard some chatter and thought I might join in! Hello!

Any pronouns, maybe she/they, but any

Open for pretty much anything, just excited to be here!

Main: @severusskywalker

(Let me know if I should put more, still fairly new to this…)

List below cut, let me know if I’ve missed anyone!

@same-pic-of-venus-everyday

@same-pic-of-pluto-everyday

@same-pic-of-neptune-everyday

@same-pic-of-saturn-everyday

@same-pic-of-the-sun-everyday

@hateful-daystar

@same-pic-of-the-moon-everyday

@same-pic-of-the-earth-everyday

@the-real-earth

@steve-not-anon

@metal-frisbee

@court-artist-under-the-stars

@book-nonsie-not-anon

@same-pic-of-andromeda-everyday

@same-pic-of-titan-every-day

@same-pic-of-eris-everyday

@same-pic-of-halleys-comet

@same-pic-of-kepler-186f-everyday

@same-pic-of-haumea-everyday

@same-pic-of-callisto-everyday

@same-pic-of-uranus-everyday

@the-real-uranus

@same-pic-of-mars-everyday

@same-pic-of-mercury-everyday

@same-pic-of-a-dictionary-daily

@same-pic-of-juno-everyday

@tomblrmartian

@same-pic-of-a-blackhole-everyday

@same-pic-of-the-stars-everyday

@alpha-centauri-everyday

@samepicofproximacentaurieveryday

@rose-nebula-always

@same-cosmic-cliffs-pic-every-day

@same-pic-of-makemake-everyday

@same-picture-of-europa

@same-pic-of-makemake-everyday

@earth-fan

@earth-hater

@observable-universe-every-day

@same-pic-of-the-lagoon-nebula

@astrononymouss

@same-pic-of-ceres-everyday

@same-pic-of-wolftopia-everyda

@same-pic-of-wolftopia-everyday

@jupiter-fan

@earth-fan3

@same-pic-of-passus-everyday

@same-pic-of-triton-everyday

@same-pic-of-the-blood-moon

@same-pic-of-the-blue-moon

@same-pic-of-eclipse-everyday