#I wonder if we’re getting a full territory switch again that would be actually crazy

[cloverrallover]

finished the elders questtttt

[jet-playin-around]

When You Know

Potter was up to something. Sure, that sounds rich coming from me, but I knew it. And I was right you know, so you can just stop laughing at me. He took to sneaking out of his own blasted house every blasted night, then acted like nothing happened the next day. 

Okay, no, I didn't actually have the right to complain. I was a guest in his house; it's not like we're anything more than friends - and even that would have been pushing it. But it irked me.

He doesn't trust me, after all this time. After working together for years. 

Of course, knowing Potter, I thought to myself ‘he's probably just feeding homeless puppies or nursing sick children.’ Orphans, I mean… Unless random people let him into their homes to- 

Fuck me, they probably do. Bloody saint.

Or, you know, maybe he was fucking someone. I didn't like to think about it, but it was a definite possibility. He's a man, after all… A virile... fit man. And there I was, cramping his style. Encroaching on his territory. It could have been something he did on a regular basis, for all I knew. But then, why not tell me?

Whatever. It's fine. It's not like I wanted anything from him. Potter offered to let me stay with him while my flat was being renovated. I certainly wasn't hoping to use the opportunity to get an eyeful of Potter in his natural habitat. It's not like I'm so bloody frustrated with how dense he is that I've taken to wanking in the loo during my lunch break after he looks at me for too long, with his intense green eyes and his long, dark lashes. That darkening of his cheeks, implying that he knows just what he's doing to my skin, to my cock. 

No, I did not break my plumbing just for such an opportunity. I don't want my flat to smell like the toilet at a skeezy club, thank you. 

But any thoughts I could have entertained about taking full advantage of the opportunity I wasn't looking for flew right out the window when he fucking disappeared that first night. It's been two weeks now, and he's still doing it every other night or so. He waits till he thinks I'm asleep, then leaves. Through the front door, like some Muggle. Yesterday, I watched him walk down Grimmauld Place like he didn't know how to Apparate or Floo… It makes no sense. 

Tonight, though, I was ready. I found Potter’s Invisibility Cloak last night and stashed it in the bedroom he lent me. All I had to do was follow him. Assuming he wouldn’t Apparate from farther away - which would be ridiculous, frankly - finding out what was going on should have been a piece of cake. 

He didn’t Apparate, the wanker. He kept walking. Fucking prat. I am not in shape for something like that, even with Auror training and frequent casework. We don't go gallivanting through Muggle London, for fuck’s sake. We Apparate to the necessary sites and back. We throw spells and curses, not punches. The most active we get is dodging enemy fire, and that generally consists of a handy Pprotego or two. 

After at least a mile, maybe two, we entered a shopping district, houses and gardens giving way to shops with little flats above them - all closed by now. And Potter kept walking. I was thankful for the Invisibility Cloak at that point. I'm sure I looked positively frightful, never mind that the Ccloak likely didn’t help matters. I shudder to think of the state of my hair under that thing… 

We passed a Tesco, then a darkened petrol station, and a plethora of other shops before Potter slowed, finally stopping outside of a brightly lit picture window. Inside, a group of equally bright patrons were laughing heartily, shoving at each other and tossing their heads back with it. A small smile spread on Potter’s face and widened when one of the group caught sight of him and waved him into what appeared to be an all night café. 

“What took you so long, Potter?” the waver demanded when we approached the table, standing to embrace him. 

It took me a moment to realise that I had no idea whether this was a man or a woman… They wore a loose, sleeveless shirt and sagging jeansdenims, showing off lightly muscled arms as well as numerous tattoos and the worn waistband of faded boxers. Their hair was cut short on the sides but a bit longer on top, and a streak of blue trailed from the center of their cowlick to a flourish in the front, just above their brow. 

Around the table, the others were rising to greet Potter with varying degrees of warmth and excitement, but all seemed genuinely pleased to see him. When he sat, a slim man with long sleeves that seemed to be unattached to anything promptly dropped himself into Potter’s lap, winding long arms around his neck, and tossed his head as if to remove an annoying strand of hair from his face - which was absurd since every single sandy lock he had was plastered to his scalp - and then laid his head on Potter’s shoulder and simpered. 

“I was beginning to think you wouldn't come,” he whinged. 

“Why wouldn't I come?” Potter laughed, bringing a hand up to rub at the man's back, and I cringed. “It's Thursday, isn't it? I always come on Thursday.”

“Unless you're out of town…” the man pouted. 

“Unless I'm out of town,” Potter conceded. 

Was that the kind of man he wanted? Someone who jumped up when he entered the room? Who curled into him like a puppy? Who cared if he was gone and catered to his ego? Well, I would never be that man. Could never be that man. I've given myself up before and I'll never do it again. 

Not that I even want to, of course. I don't want to keep Potter; I just want to fuck him. Stifling a groan of abject disgust, I began to round the table, looking closely at each member of this odd little group. They all looked like some kind of exotic bird or animal, with bright coloured clothes and hair, synthetic jewelry and makeup. Was anything about them real? 

“So, Harry,” a woman with feathers hanging from the thick cords of her hair and what appeared to be a bed sheet wrapped around her chest began, leaning closer and setting an oversized coffee mug on the table. “How's the flatmate situation going?” 

I froze halfway around the table, pausing in my examination of a dark man with bright red hair. Shit. My eyes flew to Potter, whose face was screwed up in frustration. 

“It's still shit,” he complained, and the man in his lap tightened his hold. “He's just… He's always there, you know? And I can't do anything about it.”

“You could make him go away,” the man pouted. 

“Quiet Marcus,” red hair admonished in a startling baritone. I’m not ashamed to admit I jumped a little. “Harry, why don't you just talk to him?”

“No! No, I- I really don't think that's a good idea.” Potter looked nervous, his arms coming up to encircle ‘Marcus,’ much to the man's obvious delight. Potter didn’t seem to notice though, and snorted. “We have a history, I’ve told you. He’d sooner he-er hit me than- just… no.”

Hit him? That was a bit harsh. I mean, does Potter think we’re still in Hogwarts? Clearly, I’d hex him, right? Right?

Oh…

Fucking hell! He’s confiding in Muggles about how he wants to have me out? Well, shit. Merlin, he wants to bring his little boyfriend home after all, doesn’t he? Fine. Fine! If he wants me gone, I’m gone.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish packing.

-

I cringed when the café door crashed closed and my friends looked around nervously. 

“What was that?” Marcus demanded, clearly spooked. 

“Just the wind,” Trevor scoffed in that sultry tone of his, red curls glinting in the bright lights of the café. 

“There's not been any wind all night,” Sarah countered. Marcus climbed out of my lap - no, I wasn't dating him. Draco's an arse, Marcus wasn't remotely my type - and settled himself at her side. Sarah and Marcus, though, they were like a pair of children; easily spooked and liable to feed off each other in situations like that. I always wondered what they'd do if they knew vampires and werewolves and ghosts were real? 

But that wasn't what slammed the door, nor was it the wind. Just a nosy wizard with a hot temper and my bloody Invisibility Cloak. The conversation waiting for me at home would not be a pleasant one. I could get a head start, go back before Draco had a chance to work himself into a right strop, but… well, he’d followed me into Muggle London, hadn’t he? I could let him stew for a while.

So I turned back to my friends and settled into a night of gossip and philosophy, same as usual - I went to that café as often as I could when I wasn’t away on a mission. And it was a lovely evening, as they usually were. Still, when it was over and everyone had given me a hug or an air kiss, I slipped into a nearby alley and Apparated home rather than taking my customary walk. I’m not heartless.

And you know what he did? He switched on every bleeding light in the house! I had to search into every room leading up to his bedroom. And where else would he be? It wasn't as if he spent his time at Grimmauld Place anywhere else. Although, finding him on the floor in a pile of his own clothing and bedding while shouting at the fireplace was a bit of a surprise. As was the face watching him nervously from within the flickering emerald flames. 

“-him, you wretch! You know as well as I that he-” 

“Everything okay, Hermione?” I interrupted as calmly as I could manage. It didn't matter how crazy I was about the prickly bastard, no one talks to Hermione that way. 

“Oh, Harry!” Heaving a relieved sigh, Hermione’s face cleared even as Draco's shoulders stiffened. “The alarm on your secondary wards sounded and Draco was the only one here. He said nothing happened, but-” 

“Sod off, Granger,” Draco ordered, sulking in his makeshift nest in front of the fire. 

“But,” she said again, louder, and crossed her arms over her paisley dressing gown. “He's clearly upset.”

Now, that took me off guard. I glanced back to Draco, who still hadn't turned to face me, taking in his drawn shoulders and trembling edges. One real thought settled in my mind in that moment: Well fuck. 

I cleared my throat and turned back to the fire. “Thank you, Hermione. I'll take care of it.”

“Yes, well,” she sniffed, her gaze sliding back to Draco for a moment, concern in her shadowy eyes. “See that you do.”

When she was gone, though, I still stood there, unsure what to do next. Silence stretched for long minutes before Draco finally drew a ragged breath and turned where he sat. He didn't look at me so much as he looked at a spot just to my side, but he spoke and the words sent the air whooshing from my lungs. I don't know where it went, I didn't leave my mouth or nose, there was no sound, but I felt like I was drowning. 

“I'm just sorting my things. I'll be gone by tomorrow, noon.” His voice carried that posh drawl I hated so much in school, the one that was endlessly distracting when he used it at the Ministry but, used now, said he was drawing a distinct line between us before he even left. 

Of course, I was being ridiculous. All I had of him was a hope, he wasn't mine. He could leave if he wanted to. So I swallowed once, twice to clear my throat, then nodded. 

“Okay. You- you've found somewhere else to stay until your flat is-” 

“I'll go to the Manor,” he interrupted, turning back to the pile around him. “I don't want to burden you any further.”

“He's clearly upset.” Hermione’s words echoed in my head. 

Without giving myself time to think, I stepped further into the room. “You aren't a burden. Listen, Draco- you don't have to go, can't we talk about this?” 

“I think you've said enough tonight,” Draco sniffed.

“What?” 

“Is that what you do?” His head snapped back, his raging storm clouds swirling around the dark centre as he glared at me, waiting for an answer I didn't have. 

“What are you talking about, Draco?” 

“When you disappear every night! You sneak away to complain about me to your Muggle fanclub? You didn't have to bring me here! I could have gone to the Manor and -” 

“This is about my friends?” Somehow, Draco was standing and I think I was shouting. “Draco, I've gone out to visit them for years, it has nothing to do with you!” 

“That's not how it sounded. ‘He's always there!’” he mimicked, whinging to exaggerate the annoyance I never used. “But it's okay, Potter. You can make me go away. See? I'm going!”

My mind was reeling, I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open, and all I could do was stare while he flicked his wand to send his clothes soaring into the open trunk at the foot of his bed. 

“Not to worry. You'll have your home free to bring your little boy toy round again before you know it.”

That was the final straw. With my clenching fist, his trunk snapped closed, startling Draco into silence. He spun around to face me again, challenge still shining in his eyes. 

“You think Marcus is what I want? A pathetic, clinging child?” My voice was low and my strides even as I crossed the room to stand before Draco, glowering. “I'd be bored senseless within a week, you git.”

Draco swallowed, nervous even as he lifted his chin defiantly, the brightness in his eyes dimming to confusion. And I reveled in it. 

“You thought I was complaining because I don't want you here? Come now, Draco. You're smarter than that.” Ducking my head, I trailed my lips down the long line of his neck, hoping against hope he wouldn't push me away. 

But he sighed, dropping his head back as his hands scrambled to find purchase in the waist of my jumper. I closed my teeth over his pulse point briefly, dragging the across the skin as it vibrated with his groan. 

“I was complaining because you're so bloody close and I couldn't touch you,” I growled, tracing the shell of his ear with my tongue, my hands growing stiff at my sides from keeping them to myself. “Don't go, Draco. Stay. Let me touch you…”

“Fuck,” he sighed, draping one long arm over my shoulders. “Fuck, yes. Touch me.”

-

“Harry?” 

Jolting, Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts before turning back to the precocious ten-year-old opposite him in the basement kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. “Sorry, where was I?” 

“Draco said you were complaining about him to your friends. Were you?” Teddy watched him expectantly, his teal hair wild about his face and jam sticking to his top lip.

“Sort of,” Harry chuckled. “I had a bit of a crush on him and it was difficult, living with him without telling him about it. Anyway, I told him he'd misunderstood and that he was the bloke I fancied, not Marcus, and the rest is history.”

The gentle sway of his body suggested Teddy was swinging his slipper-clad feet beneath the table as he munched thoughtfully on his toast. Harry sipped his coffee, waiting for the verdict. 

At long last, Teddy shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Harry asked hesitantly. 

“You can marry him. Can I see the ring?” 

Grinning, Harry dug the small velvet box from his pocket and gestured for Teddy to come around the table. “Have to be quick, he'll be up any minute.”

[sopewriters]

La Vie En Rose

Pairing: Kim Jongdae | Chen x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, and a dash of Humor (I tried!); Soumate!AU where, upon meeting your soulmate, you can only see the world in shades of pink

Wordcount: 5.5K

Summary: It was a chaotic morning, and you were running late, and everything that could possibly have gone wrong did go wrong, and then... you found him. If only you hadn’t lost him just as quick.

Notes: It took me a billion years to write this for the @kwritersworld​ Spring Fic Exchange, not that I’m surprised (I mean, it’s me). Still, I was kinda scratching my head over my keyword: La Vie En Rose and figured I might as well write a soulmate!AU. AKA “I took my keyword very literally”. But, in any case, I hope you enjoy reading this, @roseyjongdae!

Unoriginal title is unoriginal!

As the cold, icy season has come to melt, Perhaps spring will come.

- Kim Jongdae, April, and a Flower

You’ve always contemplated it in bouts of lonely, wishful thinking. You like to imagine the feel of a soft palm sliding against yours. The fingers tangling in yours, snug and firm and there, saying it’s okay and I’m here. The reassurance that comes along with the presence of the One, the one you’ve been waiting for this whole time.

The one who’ll wash every last bit of pain away, the one who’ll wash the world in pretty shades of pink, of that color you’ve been aching to see your whole life. The one who’ll be by your side for better or worse. That one.

Your Soulmate.

You’ve heard people talking about their soulmates since you were young. Most of them were bright-cheeked, beaming, eyes crinkled and cheeks full as they gushed on and on about how they never could’ve imagined their lives without each other. Losing the colors was worth it, they say, but that’s the one thing you don’t understand. Why complain about switching color palettes? From what you’ve seen, pink is a gorgeous color anyway. It can’t possibly something anyone would regret.

Or, well, that’s what you think, until the day comes where you experience it for yourself.

As it happens, you might be running a little late. Now, while most people you know seem quite adamant that you suffer from Chronic Lateness, you beg to differ; you really don’t know where they get their (wrong) ideas from. They make no sense. Really. You’re always on time and they’re just jealous of the fact that they can’t be as timely as you, and that’s final.

But anyways, you really are late today. And it seems strangely fitting that it’s on your first day of work and, of course, in true cliché fashion, it’s raining.

Yep. Raining.

And spring rains, while admittedly beautiful, are the very last thing you need right now.

You struggle with your umbrella as you try and shield yourself from the onslaught, pushing through crowds of people simultaneously. You’re half-running, half-jogging really, trying your best to not to accidentally run someone over, but it’s too hard, isn’t okay if there’s a little collateral damage? Convinced by your wicked thoughts, your eyes fully squeeze shut and you push through the loitering humans using your umbrella as a literal shield. You hear some affronted noises, but they’re lost over the sound of the rain, and god, your dress, no!

You drop your umbrella just in time to keep your dress from being splashed by a zooming bicyclist.

So many regrets, and the day’s only just begun.

“Excuse me!” You push through again, and you’re almost there, yes – and that’s when you tumble forward, tripping over your heels as you fall into a firm chest. Blindly pushing yourself away, you suck in a breath when your fingers brush over warm skin, only shouting a quick, “sorry!” before ducking away. You hear someone call for you, but you really don’t have time to deal with an offended person right now – not when yoU’RE LATE!!!

When you finally break free of the crowd and make it to the front of your building, you let yourself take a breather, one hand braced against your knee while the other continues to hold your umbrella over your head. Desperately drawing in air, you finally let your eyes drift open once again, sighing softly as you watch pink rain puddle at your feet. Ah, you’ve made it. Your eyes drift shut once more.

Then, they snap open.

Wait a minute. Pink rain? Pink puddles?

You chance a glance around, heart thumping painfully quickly in your chest – and let out a gasp of horror when you see the world bathed in shades of pink. The cars zooming past you? Pink. The people walking around you? Pink. You chance a glance at your hands.

Pink.

“No.” You murmur to yourself, hands beginning to shake as realization slowly dawns. “No, no, no, no! No way!”

Some passersby stare weirdly at you, no doubt thinking you somewhat crazy, but you can’t bring yourself to care right now. Not when the world is crumbling away beneath your feet. Not when all your dreams, your hopes, have been decimated in one clean hit.

Oh god no. You’ve found your soulmate. Or, more accurately, you did. But they’re long gone now, lost in the crowd. That warm skin, the decidedly male voice calling out to you… that must’ve been them, right? God, if you’d just – if you’d just waited or listened to them and stopped, then you would’ve been able to speak to your soulmate. You – you would’ve…

You tremble as your eyes sting, and suck in a sharp breath when you remember.

As much as you’d love to dissolve into tears, you’re going to need to get yourself together until you’re done with work. Once you’re back home, alone, and preferably swaddled in a blanket… then you can have your inevitable breakdown.

For now, you take in a deep breath and push back your shoulders. You’re going to do your job today and do it well. So what if everything you look at is going to remind you of an opportunity missed? So what if you’ll probably never see both colors and your soulmate again?

So… so what?

You shudder, choking back a sob, and walk inside, greeting the receptionist with a tiny grin. It’s all you can manage right now, really.

“Hi, I’m supposed to meet Mr. Kang at nine?”

The man working behind the counter looks up, visibly startled. Then, a slow smile spreads over his lips, transforming his face into something less stressed and much, much more youthful.

“Oh!” He beams at you. “You must be the new intern!”

You smile a little easier this time, though it’s still dampened by the fact that his hair, his eyes and his skin still look very pink to you. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Alright, let’s get you set up really quick.” He clacks quickly at his laptop. “You don’t need to be so nervous, by the way! Brian’s a big ol’ softie.”

Brian? Is that your Boss’ name?

“Here we go.” He presses a couple more buttons on his keyboard, before looking up at you expectantly, the light glinting off his glasses. Huh, it’s funny that even that’s pink. God, any more pink and you might actually throw up. “Could I have your phone number and an ID please?”

As you rattle it off, you let yourself observe how different everything looks, now that you can’t see normal colors anymore. The thought sends a pang through you, so you stop looking pretty quick.

And ah, right, you’re supposed to give him your ID. You slide your hand into your pocket, groping around for the old school ID you kept in there specifically for this purpose, though you come up blank. With a sigh of frustration, you pull out your wallet and find, thankfully, that you actually do have your license, which must be a blessing sent from the heavens.

The only blessing today, as it so happens.

The man grins cheerfully at you, quickly checking your identification before handing the card back to you, and you make sure to slide it back inside your wallet. You don’t need to deal with forgetting another ID – and a super relevant one too, this time.

“Okay, I’ll show you up then!” He stands up suddenly, and wow, he’s tall. “I’m Jae, by the way! Nice to meet you, intern!”

“Nice to meet you too.” You manage as you follow him, wondering whether he’s just allowed to leave his station unmanned like that. Well, it’ll help you out, so you suppose it shouldn’t matter. “Um, so is there anything else I should know about Mr. Kwon?”

You know, apart from ‘Brian’ being a softie?

“Hm…” Jae purses his lips in thought, lighting up. “Well, don’t call him Brian and you should be fine! He hates being called that at work, haha!”

Yeah. He even pronounced the ha-ha.

You stare at him in slight disbelief. If anything, this ridiculous guy serves as a great distraction from, well, everything else. Uncharted territory that should remain uncharted for as long as you say so: forever.

So, realistically speaking, not a long time. Once you’re done talking to this Brian guy, you just need to find the nearest bathroom stall to lock yourself in so you can drown in your tears. Yep. Sounds like a plan.

Jae suddenly stops short and it’s only because you looked up at just that moment that you don’t go crashing into him. “We’re here!” he announces helpfully. “Hey Brian!”

You only now look past him, finding a man sitting at a desk, clearly focused on something in his laptop. At Jae’s obnoxious shout, his head shoots up and he groans.

“Who’s Brian?” He grouses, and Jae just laughs cheerfully.

“Good question! Anyway, this is the intern you were telling me to keep an eye out for.” He sweeps his hand over you in a grand gesture, making you wince. “You’ll probably want to take it from here.”

“Yeah man, I got it. Thanks.” Brian – no, Mr. Kwon – waves Jae away and, with one last cheerful grin, the taller man’s gone. You’re all alone with your Boss now and—

God, this is nerve-wracking.

“So, there are some basic things you’ll need to do.” Brian stands, carrying some files with him. The dull awareness from before is gone now, and you snap to attention, automatically receiving the papers into your outstretched hands. “Since you’re just interning, and this is your first day, you’re not going to be doing anything particularly hands-on just yet.”

“Got it.” You nod, though you can’t help the tiny well of disappointment in your chest.

Brian notices, and smiles softly at you. “Hey. You’ll get there, don’t worry.”

“Yeah.” You grin, then heft your arms with the files still in them. “So, uh, what do I need to do with these?”

“Just go through them, fix up general issues like typos and grammar errors, if any.” Brian shrugs, before his face folds in thought. “And, what else… ah, right. The Boss isn’t in right now, but you’ll meet him later.”

Wait, what?

“Oh, alright!” You try and mask your surprise, though Brian clearly notices.

The smile on his face is wry. “You thought I was the Boss, didn’t you? I keep telling Jae to stop selling me like that, but he never listens.”

“Well.” You laugh, a little very harried at being read so easily. “You seem really capable.”

This time, the smile is a little more genuine. “Thanks. Your desk’s over there, so let me know if you need any help or if something seems unclear. If you ever need to go to the general workplace area – with all the other employees – that’d be one floor down.”

“Alright, thank you.” You quickly make your way to your (your!!) desk, setting the files down, followed by your bag and, finally your umbrella. The troublesome thing’s wet, you only now notice with dismay, but, luckily, you’ve kept a plastic bag on hand for this very purpose. Sometimes, being prepared can take you a long way.

Having work to do is actually a blessing in disguise. Sure, working sucks sometimes, but this is what you’re here to do – and it helps distract you somewhat. It’s still pretty difficult for you to completely forget, especially when the pink still encompasses your vision, making certain graphs difficult to read – but you notice how it already begins to fade, natural color slowly returning to your field of vision.

Maybe it’s a temporary thing, then? The pink goes away after some time if you haven’t met your soulmate?

…you don’t know if that makes you feel better or worse. Why not the best of both?

“How’s it coming along?” Time must have flown by pretty quickly because, by the time Brian calls out to you, it’s already past noon. “You should probably take a break soon.”

“Yeah, I’m almost done going through this report.” You hold up a page, like it’ll actually tell him anything of relevance. “Thanks for letting me know, Mr. Kwon!”

He hides a pleased smile, no doubt because you didn’t call him Brian, unlike Jae. “No problem. Ah, right, the Boss isn’t coming in today after all – he texted me a while ago, so. You don’t need to be on super-high alert today.”

Oh. You’re a little disappointed, but the relief at not having to make a fool of yourself just yet is far more overpowering. Thanking him, you set up wrapping up your report so you can get lunch.

If this is all you’re going to need to do while you’re here, then this is going to be a more uneventful internship than you previously thought.

The next couple of days pass the same way. Your Boss still hasn’t come to the office which, according to Brian, is pretty unusual.

“He’s probably just having an off week.” He shrugs. “He doesn’t usually miss any days, so it’s really alright, I think.”

An off-week, huh? You can empathize very much on that front. Though, really, calling your week ‘off’ would be an understatement; your week has literally gone to hell, and it’s never coming back. You managed to both find and lose your soulmate in a matter of minutes at the beginning of the week, and god, just thinking about it is enough to make you tear up again.

Why isn’t life ever fair?

The pink that used to encroach in your vision has all but disappeared, and it’s only the lightest shade of rose that dusts everything you see, almost none of those pretty lies left. Is it weird for you to miss it now that it’s gone?

“What’s got you so deep in thought?”

You startle when a voice slices in, curious. Swiveling around quickly, you breathe a sigh of relief when you realize it’s only Jae.

You didn’t need to sneak up on me, you want to say, but you bite back the words. Instead, you just sigh, “nothing, really. I was just zoning out.”

Which, you know, isn’t technically a lie.

“At work? Oh my.” Jae gasps softly, lifting a hand to his mouth in mock affront - like he hasn’t done the same thing over multiple instances. He seems a little too easy going but you tell yourself that, once your boss comes in, he’ll probably shut up a little.

(Alright, so you don’t exactly mind that he comes over constantly, but you feel like you should, you know?)

“Yes, yes.” You let yourself smile a little, dropping your cheek into your palm as you side-eye him. “Is there anything you need, or…?”

Jae smiles sheepishly at you. “Yeah, actually. Brian wanted me to go on a coffee run, but…”

Oh god. You barely manage to suppress a groan – you’ve actually been really happy that you haven’t had to do that just yet, but it looks like luck just isn’t on your side. Ugh.

“I’ll do it.” You offer in defeat – though is it really an offer when you’re aware you have no choice? Huh. “How many people is it for?”

“Six, not including you.” Jae beams happily at you. “You just need to get them up here, and I can take them to the guys downstairs no problem! And – ah, right – here’s a list so you don’t forget.”

He slides a paper onto your desk, grin turning sleazy for all of two seconds. “Thanks for the favor.”

“You owe me.” You feel brave enough to say, making Jae laugh in agreement.

Gathering the slip of paper in your palm, you get up, pulling on your coat once more. It isn’t raining, thank god, but it looks like it might, and it’s definitely cold right now. “I’ll see the both of you soon!”

Brian waves half-heartedly, and Jae sends you another thankful grin that you return wanly before you ride down to the first floor again. At least it’s Friday, you think optimistically in a bid to make yourself feel better. You can go home and just crash for the whole weekend, provided you don’t have any more work to do.

You mentally touch wood. You are not jinxing yourself, not today.

Making your way out of the building, you pause, blinking up at the cloudy sky with a sigh, before walking in the direction of the nearest coffee shop. You’ve got its location down by now, since, well. Coffee.

The shop looks a little busy, you realize as you duck inside, trying to avoid bumping into people who’re reveling in their own cups of coffee. Still, it’s alright. You can deal with this kind of crowd – it’s not as bad as it could have been.

When you finally, finally get to the front of the line, you manage to rattle off your orders without making a fool of yourself, so you count it as a win; the girl at the counter, however, looks confused so you end up giving her the slip of paper with everyone’s orders on it so she can ring you up.

Alright, so. It’s not a complete win, but as far as some things go, you think this is pretty damn good. It is. Especially given Jae’s completely ridiculous order.

You’re a little bored, though, when you stand off to the side in wait. You already know you’re going to be standing a long time, given how large your order is, but should you sit down…?

As you furiously debate over this (very, very important) subject in your head, you’re startled when someone clears their throat from behind you.

“Sorry!” You yelp, immediately shuffling to the side. “I didn’t mean to get in your way!”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that!” It’s a man’s voice, you realize, turning around to actually face said man. “I mean…”

You appraise him quickly, eyes immediately catching on the jut of his cheekbones that accentuate his jaw and small mouth. His hair looks soft, curling lightly at the ends, and his eyes seem warm, homey. Is it weird that that’s your immediate thought? It’s probably weird.

“Can I… uh, help you?” You ask cautiously, hoping you haven’t caught the attention of some creep. Your heart pounds a little nervously in your chest. You’ve never dealt with these things before! What if – what if he really is a creep? Or a stalker? What if he looks pretty but isn’t really, on the inside? What if he chats you up and kills you when you least suspect it? What if—

“I was wondering if this belongs to you?”

…what?

Narrowing your eyes, you take a look at what he’s holding in between the fingers of his outstretched hand. A glossy card, of sorts…

You lean over a little more, squinting hard at it – and then your eyes fly wide open.

That’s your old ID.

Your school ID, with the hideous picture printed out so clearly on the tin. Your old ID, which you’re pretty sure you lost for good. Your old ID…which you lost on That day.

The sudden rush of sadness that sweeps through you nearly sends you into a full-bodied shudder, but you thankfully manage to stop yourself from doing just that. Your mouth, though, still quirks downwards of its own volition and it’s only the knowledge that the man’s still patiently holding out the card for you that keeps you from your impending breakdown.

“So… is that a yes?” He tries hopefully, smiling awkwardly at you. God, he’s got such a pretty smile.

You mentally smack yourself. Back at it again with the weird thoughts, huh brain?

“Um, yeah, it is.” You carefully take your card back, wincing at the grainy picture of your freshman self. Yep, it’s just as ugly as you remembered. “Thanks! How… did you find this?”

There’s something odd about the way he looks at you, and it has your breath stuttering, hands beginning to clam up. “Well, someone bumped into me when I was on my way to work, and nearly bowled me over, when I saw your ID on the ground. I don’t think you noticed, since you seemed like you were in a rush.”

Oh. Oh god.

“How embarrassing.” You groan, unable to help the raging flush that begins to work its way over your face. “God, I’m so sorry – thanks for holding onto it for so long! It’s been – what, four or five days since then?”

The man laughs and, you know you’re being weird, but you stare anyway. He looks weirdly right, laughing like this. Like this is what he’s meant to be doing. And he has a really funny laugh – and a really loud one too, gosh, is everyone staring at the both of you now?

I DON’T KNOW THIS MAN. You try to telepathically project, but you don’t think it works. People continue to give the two of you an odd look, every now and then.

Well, it was worth a shot, even if it didn’t work. But now, you need to find a way to politely excuse yourself from this conversation and yeet out of here.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I don’t know why I’ve held onto it for so long either – I should’ve probably gone to a police station instead? I don’t really know how all of those things work.” The man rambles on, waving his hands rather expressively. “But man, you were really in a rush that day! I called out to you and everything, but you still didn’t notice – which is pretty impressive, people tell me my voice can be really loud when I want it to be.”

Whoever told you that isn’t wrong, you think wryly to yourself, before you pause and rewind. Wait. Hold up. He said he called out for you that day?

Could he be…?

Then, you chance a glance at him as he continues to steamroller through the rest of his monologue, mentally shaking your head. Nah. There’s no way your soulmate could be this kind of dork.

“—and quite frankly, I wasn’t really having the best day either, since I somehow managed to find my soulmate and lose them simultaneously within a minute.” He shakes his head ruefully, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. “So I guess I wasn’t thinking all too clearly—”

“Wait, you said you missed your soulmate?” You blurt out, deciding it would be appropriate to interrupt him. Your heart’s beating painfully loudly in your ears, threatening to wash out the rest of the world entirely, save for the weird dude who’s looking so quizzically at you.

“Sorry, I’m probably overstepping, aren’t I—?”

“Could you touch me?” You blurt out.

And then —

You freeze.

He freezes.

The both of you freeze.

You briefly wonder if you can dig a hole for yourself with a straw. Sure, it seems impossible, but so did the idea that you’d be able to make a bigger fool of yourself than usual. Never say never, right?

“E-Excuse me?” His ears begin to turn red and he smiles a little hysterically at you.

You probably look a little hysterical too, you figure, so you can forgive him that. You certainly feel that way.

“Th-that’s not what I meant!” You rush to explain, hating yourself for tripping over your words like this. “It’s just – I just wanted you to hold my hand?”

Yeah, because that sounds so much better.

He stares at you, smile dropping. Clearly, he’s regretting ever approaching you.

“I promise I’m not a creep, I just – need to know something.” You cast your eyes down, embarrassment overtaking your features. “I—”

“Got it.” He chuckles lightly, holding out a hand; and there’s something strange in his eyes now, almost like hope. His smile’s back, unwavering, and you might stare at it a little dopily for a while before you finally see his outstretched palm. “You can touch, if you’d like.”

“Yeah.” You breathe out, slowly reaching out your hand, fingers almost brushing against his palm—

“Order for __________!” You startle at the sound of your name, fingers jerking back. You meet his eyes apologetically, quickly turning to grab your coffees, balancing the holders precariously in your hands.

“Sorry about that.” You say downcast. Hands now occupied, there’s absolutely no way you’re going to be able to touch him.

“It’s alright.” He shakes his head with a softer curve to his mouth, before steadily flushing. “Do you – could I maybe touch you? Maybe?”

Ignoring the fact that he’s just used ‘maybe’ twice in a row, you feel your throat tighten. Unable to verbalize a response, you just nod, heart flying up to your throat.

Slowly, he reaches out a hand, carefully brushing his fingers over the bare skin of your shoulder, and then—

The world dims, falling away. All you can see – all you can feel – is his hand, the warmth of his slender fingers as they press gently against your skin.

“It really is you.” His voice swims over the roaring in your ears and everything’s perfect, you actually found him and then—

There’s a splash, and searing heat along the hem of your trousers.

You gasp as he yelps, staring in mortification at the toppled cups of coffee, with most of the drink having splashed over your pants.

Of course. Of course. Of course!!!

Your hands just couldn’t hold on for two seconds, could they?

“Are you okay?” His voice sounds out hurriedly as he rushes to get you some napkins. Quickly making his way back, he dabs at your arm, making you blink dazedly. You didn’t realize some splashed on your arm, too. “Oh my god, I wasn’t thinking when I just went and touched you like that.”

You don’t move, don’t say anything, eyes entirely fixated on the soft curls of his rosy hair, tracking over the pinking flesh of his sloped neck.

“You’re pink.” You finally manage to say dumbly. “You – you’re pink.”

“I guess I am.” He agrees with a little laugh, crouching down to the floor to continue to press his napkins to your clothes – and it’s only then that your body propels into motion. You drop down beside him quickly, refuting when he protests, saying you can do it yourself. It’s your mistake, after all.

And, while mortification eats at you, you can hardly even notice it over your elation.

You’ve found him. You’ve found him. You’ve finally found him.

“I can’t believe it.” You say quietly, ignoring the fact that the two of you should probably move aside to someplace more private instead of hindering the rest of the customers. You’re far too exalted, caught up in your head from the waves of pink that layer everything you lay your eyes on – except, this time, there’s someone who’s seeing this with you.

And that makes something bright and beautiful just bloom in your chest.

The smile he gives you only makes it unfurl; sweet and gentle, just like him.

“Neither can I.” He pats your shoulder, a tiny laugh erupting from his throat – but it rings around your mind, full and rich. “Let’s take this outside, alright?”

“Right.” You nod quickly, clambering to your feet with an apologetic smile at one of the baristas who’s waiting patiently to mop up the mess. “Sorry about that.”

He frowns at the remains of your coffee, taking a quick sip from his own cup – when did he even get that? – and seeming to arrive at some kind of decision.

“I’ll re-order for you.” He nods decisively, making you turn to him, flustered.

“You don’t have to do that!”

“I want to.” He shrugs. “It was half my fault this happened anyway, so it’s on me.”

“There’s a lot of orders.” You say warningly.

He shrugs again, like it’s habitual. “I have a lot of money.”

Oh wow. From anyone else, those words would sound cocky, but he says it matter-of-factly because that’s exactly what it is. A fact.

Is it weird you find that attractive?

“If you say so.” You murmur, ducking your head down as you hand the slip of paper to him. “Thanks.”

“Aw, are you shy?” He teases, making your head shoot up. “That’s alright, I—”

He pauses, brows furrowing when he reads the slip. You uncertainly reach out a hand to take it back, figuring he’s probably changed his mind, but he just shakes his head.

“Do you…” He shifts, clearly uncomfortable. “Are you currently working at someplace nearby?”

“Oh, yeah, at Kim Entertainment.” You say happily, not minding parting with this information since he’s – y’know – your soulmate. Oh god, you’ve actually done it, you’ve found your soulmate. “I just started interning there at the beginning of the week. It’s actually why I was in such a rush when we first met!”

“Oh. Huh.” He mutters something else under his breath that you can’t quite catch, and still has that strange look on his face. “I see.”

You bite your lip. “Is something wrong?”

He looks up quickly, evidently startled. “What? No, of course not! I was just surprised, that’s all – let’s get those coffees, yeah?”

“Sounds good.” You beam at him, before your smile drops. “Wait, I don’t know your name!”

“Ah.” His eyes grow wide, before he grins. “It’s Jongdae. Nice to meet you, _________.”

“How do you know my name?” You gasp in surprise as the two of you slip back into the line. “Are you – are you a stalker?”

“What? No! It was on the ID you dropped!”

When the two of you finally return to the company building, you smile at him.

“I’m glad I found you.” You say shyly. “I was – I was pretty sad because I thought I lost you.”

“I was pretty much the same way, yeah. Even took a whole week off because I couldn’t even walk the same route without remembering.” Jongdae’s smile slips a little, but he quickly shakes it off. “It’s nice to know you longed so desperately for me, though.”

“Like you weren’t the same!” You protest hotly, cheeks burning as the two of you file into the elevator. “You literally just said you were the same way!”

“Touché.” He remarks, which makes absolutely no sense, but you figure you can let this one go since he’s your soulmate and all. You admire the pretty pink patterns running along the carpeted floor as the both of you step out into the hallway.

“Right.” You snort.

He only turns to stick his tongue out teasingly before he rushes up ahead – you squawk in protest and bolt after him, giggles erupting from your lips as you let yourself enjoy the moment.

Then you hear his voice.

“I’m baaack~!” He sings, loudly and perfectly in tune. “Did you guys miss me?”

“No!” That’s Brian’s – Mr. Kang’s – voice, you realize. And then stop short.

Hold on.

You never even questioned why Jongdae strutted into the building like he owned the place, too caught up in your conversation and the elation at finally finding your soulmate. Now, though, as you listen to them squabble, you’re struck with slow-forming realization.

It can’t be…

“________! Where are you?” That’s Jongdae’s voice and you realize, slowly, that he knew. So that’s why he was so stumped by your coffee order – it’s because he’s clearly seen it before.

“Right here.” You say dryly, shooting your amused soulmate a deadened look. “I’ll be at my desk if you need me.”

“Hey, none of that!” The shy, cute stranger is now gone, replaced by this smirking little tease. Oh god, you can’t believe you fell for his cutesy act, you could hit yourself.

“You two know each other, Boss?” Brian asks curiously from his desk, eyes flitting between the two of you. Jae blinks, not moving from his perch on Brian’s desk.

Jongdae grins broadly, teeth showing, and you already know he’s going to say something like—

“’Course we do! She’s my soulmate!”

And there’s so much the two of you need to talk about, so much you still need to discuss now that you know he’s your Boss and soulmate, but... that’s alright, you figure. Maybe it’s the soft rose that shades his profile, casting a soft glow over everything you see – or maybe the way your colleagues’ jaws drop – but, you think to yourself, this soulmate thing might be a whole lot better than you thought it would.

Jongdae turns to grin at you, clearly proud of himself – and the sight of it makes butterflies erupt in your stomach, giddiness overtaking you at how soft the world seems to be, now that you’ve found him. You never thought you’d get your second chance, but now that you have…

It’s all so worth it.

As the cold, icy season has come to melt, The spring days I awaited bloom once again.

- Kim Jongdae, April and a Flower

Written By: Midnight!

[mgrgfan]

Past of the future, future of the past...

Chapter 3: A hard day.

"Well, those three months were quite something," Anthony said, when the Space Shuttle finally stopped on the runway. "I mean, actual first contact situation, even if with humans!" "Falkis, shut it for now," Sarah mumbled. "We'll have to explain this all over again to our superiors, when we return to the Mossdeep." "Okay, whatever, miss Born-with-camera-in-hands." Several seconds after it, the hatch in the side of the vehicle opened, the astronauts were safely removed from their seats with Psychic of the service Alakazam and put into the wheelchairs on the ground. "Don't worry, guys'n'girls, it's just a precaution," sounded voice of professor Takao Cozmo, making Sarah and Samuel slightly cringe. Of course, this man was a genius, especially for someone, who just turned 20, but at times, he was just impossible to be around. "We know," all four astronauts, along with the rest of Shuttle's crew, replied in unison. Of course, they wondered, why this mission only took astronauts down and didn't bring fresh crew... ---- "Can you secure this thing now?" "Wait… yeah, I'm securing it." Captain Vasilyev hovered near the console, monitoring feeds from the helmet cameras of cosmonauts, along with their talks, and wondered, why exactly did it have to be yesterday for the station's backup power source, the nuclear fission reactor, to get stricken with some kind of space debris and get a total coolant leak. Of course, since the reactor wasn't activated for the entire duration of its staying in the station, there wasn't any imminent radiation hazard, but they still had to return it back to Zemlino Space Center for the inspection and repairs. Right now, Lozhkin, Migulya and Panasenko were removing the reactor and loading it into the opened payload bay of the Lenticular Return Vehicle. There was some sort of a strange irony - today, the cosmonauts from both space stations were returning back to Earth. "Comrade captain, the reactor was safely removed and is now secured in the payload bay of the LRV" sounded the proud voice of Migulya in the comm. "I think we're done here. Let us all pack up and go back home!" "As a commander of this station, I give this proposal my complete approval!" announced Vasilyev to everyone. "Since we are all packed up already, I propose to fulfill it as soon as possible. To EVA team - go to station's primary airlock on the "Drum" module. I know, the LRV's backup airlock seems very nice, but we need to leave the MMUs and suits here for the next crew." "Aye-aye, comrade captain!" reported the EVA team, firing up their MMUs and flying back to the first module of this great station. Since the airlock wasn't exactly spacious, they'll have to enter one by one - mostly because the MMUs were pretty huge. Of course, was it not for the advanced materials from Imperial Science Facility 9, which allowed creation of the normobaric EVA suits - the entire crew would've had to stay on the station for a few more hours. Thankfully, when the EVA team finally got back into station and re-dressed, everyone else was ready. "So, comrades, I want to congratulate you with the successful end of the 10th expedition to the Space Lab 2, which also served as a cornerstone for our relationship with… "Nationals", I think. So, anyway, we all served very well. Glory and long live to the Empire!" "Glory and long live to the Empire!" "Since the rest of our crew returned to Earth in pods already - thank the Emperor for launching that propellant tanker! - we can now return home at leisure pace. All hands - board the LRV and prepare for return." "Aye-aye, comrade captain!" ---- "Goodbye, Space Lab 2. We will miss you and try to return soon. Just wait for us," the pilot said, looking in the return vehicle’s main window. The space station, jewel in crown of the Empire’s space program, was left by its crew and switched to full-auto mode, waiting for the next bunch of people to take the residence in it for performing even more science operations and making even more discoveries. "Proceeding as normal, four hours until touchdown." "Acknowledged," replied the captain, recollecting the events of past three months - the craziest months in his live so far. Contacts with cosmonauts from other regions of the world after the event, which was later named "The Shift"; nearly inviting them onboard the Space Lab 2 one time and only not doing this because of medic's advice; having to constantly help in writing reports to linguists back on the ground; making sure, that the space station works properly, especially before the propellant tanker gave them some more freedom in maneuvering… those months were most definitely crazy. "Comrade captain, I have a small question - why aren't the replacement crew already there?" asked him Grigoriy, who served as a biologist and medic aboard the station. "I don't know. Zemlino told me, that there were some hiccups with their launch vehicle, and their LRV is an experimental one, with fuel cells instead of nuclear reactor... they've decided not to rush it. Station can wait, after all, but losing cosmonauts is not an option. They were launched a few hours ago and will dock to the station tomorrow." ---- "Hello there, darling," said man in plain clothes, entering the room. If not for the reaction of the Empress, not many would've thought, that this man was, in fact, the Emperor Ivan the Second himself. "How's your bad?" "Like ****," replied Empress Svetlana in tired voice. "Trying to make negotiations through these crude translators, when we are no longer the most advanced country on the planet…" "We still kinda are, in some branches." "In some, mind it. So, trying to negotiate with what's, apparently, called "Pokemon Nation", process all the data, prevent instabilities within the Empire and so on and so on… It's so tiring. And you?" "Not much better," said Ivan, starting to undress. "Since our main advantages are more advanced arcane science, nuclear physics and space technology…" "You mean, you want to make orbital weapon platform," finished his wife. "I don't approve this idea. We aren't on exactly good terms with the Nation now and making them even worse isn't going to take us anywhere." "Not quite, my dear, not quite. Do you remember the Project Tin Can?" "Yes, and what?" "Do you remember, what is it?" "I don't. Honestly, Vanya, with so much work, I can't keep track of all of your projects." "This project, my dear, is a nuclear pulse spaceship, whose wet mass measures 4000 tons. It uses small nuclear explosion devices, constructed to create a directed wave of superhot plasma upon detonation, for propulsion." "And?" "We've finished assembling the propulsion bus of this ship today. Pusher plate, shock absorbers, plasma deflection cone, gas gun for drive bombs, magazines and so on - this was quite a challenge! Now, we only need to construct the payload part…" "Wait, actual nuclear explosion launch?! Dear, let me check your temperature…" "No no no, don't be afraid! This thing will be boosted by the NUCLEUS superheavy chemical rocket and will only engage the bomb drive at high enough altitude!" "Still, using demolition devices for propulsion… I think it's pretty crazy." "Crazy or not, it should work. By the way, some time ago, Knyazev showed me a project of turning the "Red Explorer"..." "The what?" "The nuclear pulse ship - we've named it "Red Explorer", since it's designed to explore the Fourth Planet. So, he showed me project of turning the "Red Explorer" into warship, with retro-missiles for planetary bombardment, electromagnetic rail mass accelerators, point defence and so on…" "Retro-missiles?" "Okay, let me explain this for you. Retro-missile is a type of hypothetical space-to-surface weapon, which is launched against the orbital vector and uses its engines to decelerate to slower-than-orbital velocity and fall into gravity well of targeted planet/moon, later correcting direction of fall with smaller maneuvering engines to ensure, that it'll hit the intended target area." "And what would be the true purpose of this monster? Considering, that all-out war is the latest thing we want?" "I don't know. Knyazev is an already a strange one, always seeking to turn any project into the weapon…" ---- "So, why exactly the next expedition wasn't launched?" Donnager asked in not-quite-slightly angry voice. "I'm not supposed to tell it to you… but the reason for it is Rayquaza," half-whispered Cozmo "Rayquaza? Isn't it the legend of Draconids?" "I wish it was, but, as it recently turned out, it's a completely real Sky High Pokemon, and a very territorial one at that!" "So…" "Yes, the space stations will get destroyed any moment now. The road to space is now closed by the ruler of skies." "..." Samuel clenched his fists in anger. He hoped, that the astronauts from the other station have also returned home. ---- "... Nose gear touchdown!" the pilot of the LRV happily commented. "Deploying the drag chute…" The pretty big machine, measuring 12 meters in diameter and looking somewhat like the flying saucer, deployed small fabric cupola behind itself, along with moving all control surfaces into positions for aerobraking, in order to lower the current velocity and prevent rolling off the runway. Roughly twenty-five seconds later, the chute got detached and the machine soon ground to halt. "Welcome back!" sounded from comm. "Guys - hang in there for a few more…" "Zemlino, you're not clear, repeat, you're not clear!" said the pilot, trying to find the reason for the sudden cut-out in the words of flight control officer. "... Guys, you don't even know, how lucky you were," finally replied the officer in flat and shaky voice. "Right now, the Space Lab 2 was destroyed by the Pokemon of Legendary power, known by hoennians as "Rayquaza", along with LRV-03. Second space station was also destroyed. The 11th expedition to the Space Lab 2… is no more." "..." all cosmonauts froze. If not for this lucky early return, mostly forced by the need to return the reactor to Earth - they all would've been dead now. And their comrades weren't so lucky... ---- "Dear, what's with you?" asked her husband the Empress. The Emperor, indeed, did not look good - he was pale in face, shaking and still staring at the screen of his portable computer. "... Nothing too bad. Wait a second," said he, getting the portable telephone out of his case and calling someone. "Knyazev? I know you knew this, you bastard! Does not matter right now. Consult the medics, I guess, Psychics with ability to predict the future aren't abundant. Anyway, your altered version of the Project Tin Can has just got my total and complete approval. Consult the ISF 5 and 9 for required equipment. Yes. Does not matter, but make sure, that it'll be able to withstand hits with Hyper Beam without getting holes - at least not at the first hit." Empress thought, that, whatever has happened, if it was enough to instantly convince her husband to turn the exploration ship, about which he dreamed for a very long time (at least as long as he was together with her), into the machine of war - it must be really bad… and yes, she saw the notification on her own computer - the notification, that the Rayquaza has just destroyed the LRV with the new expedition, measuring 12 cosmonauts total, and the Space Lab 2 along with the space station of the Pokemon Nation. Thankfully, all nuclear-powered satellites executed their contingency protocols flawlessly and moved onto graveyard orbits before this Pokemon would be able to destroy them and spill the nuclear fuel from their reactors. "... Yes. No. Of course. Yes. Goodbye," Emperor ended his phone call and turned back to his wife. "Sorry, dear…" "I know already. You know… I approve of it too. It'll help me rally the people of Soris together and lower the level of internal instabilities, as well as allow our people up here to protect themselves from attacks of this monster. So, you say, that this ship needs lots of nuclear materials?" "Yes. At first, they were needed just for the drive bombs and reactor, but now, they'll also be needed for the weapons - shells for railguns, missiles and so on. We can remake some of our already-existing demolition devices into weapons, but that won't be enough." "I understand. I think I can tailor this campaign as a sort of posthumous reverence for our cosmonauts. It'll really help us in keeping the Empire stable." "Do it, if you want to do so. But we need to get this son-of-a-Red Spirit flying, lest the road to space be closed forever for us all." "... Wait, nearly forgot - what about the political effect? Because, you know, getting something like this in orbit would be even worse, than actual weapon platforms!" "I don't know. I'm sure you can deal with this, my dear." Emperor smiled gently after saying those words. Empress hated it, because she could never resist this smile. "Besides, once everything settles down, we can use this ship as it was originally intended - for exploring the Fourth Planet! The amounts of drive bombs and supplies should be sufficient for this and replacing the landers won't be a problem at all…" Notes: ISF - Imperial Science Facility. Worldbuilding mini-note #1: Red Spirit - mystical being in the sorisian mythology, not directly linked to any of Legendaries. It's a somewhat malevolent entity, which, however, patrons those, who fight to avenge their comrades. Some sorisian warriors pray to the Red Spirit before battle to help them in the quest for revenge and, if they fall - make sure that their comrades will avenge their deaths. Worldbuilding mini-note #2: Emperor Ivan Yevgeniyevich Bazarenko the Second is a very shitty ruler (hence why his wife rules the Soris Empire - he gave his throne to her as soon as he was able to), but is an awesome constructor of pretty much anything that flies. Because of that, he spends most of his time in the Imperial Aeronautics Institute, returning to the palace only on special occasions. Worldbuilding mini-note #3: The Project Tin Can is based on the real Project Orion. Worldbuilding mini-note #4: The Rayquaza's aggression and territorial tendencies are based on its depiction in the anime. The Shift may also have something to do with it. Author's note: those three months will, eventually, get expanded upon in the small series of drabbles. Also, the next chapter will have much more action.

[dalamjisung]

piece of heaven, part two ❃ seo changbin

genre: angst, slight fluff at the end, 

word count: 3078

pairing: reader x seo changbing

description: four years is a lot of time for things to happen. Will your relationship handle it all?

(inspired on the song CIGARETTE by OFFONOFF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AamatUtxev4) 

tag: @backtonormalthings 

You worked pretty much all of the time you weren’t in school. But this time, you worked with a smile on your face. You had set working hours, so after 6PM you could go out with your boyfriend and get proper sleep. You were in college now, almost done with the process of ‘growing up’ and ‘finding your true self’ in those systematic educational institutes, and already started on the professional world that awaited for you so patiently.

After that one night in the boys studio, it was so clear to you; what you wanted to do with the rest of your free time, and who you wanted right by your side as you ventured this unknown territory. Cigarette ended up not being used as a song in the debut album, as the boys predicted it would, but actually sold to another artist, and that was your first step into adulthood. Once the song hit the charts, Changbin’s company recruited you to be a producer trainee. For two years–your two first years of college– you worked hard, meeting demands and deadlines, producing one song after the other, and although you excelled at that, there was nothing you loved more than sitting down around that one familiar glass table, in a tiny room, with three of your favorite boys; Changbin, Chan, and Felix. Just like you were now. 

“Y/N,” Chan whined. “I’m tired.”

“That’s cause you don’t sleep,” You chuckle. “But go ahead to the dorms and I’ll finish up here.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Changbin said smiling. 

In four years, a lot happened. Firs you were recruited. Then, after the company president deemed your skills perfect, you were officially hired as a worker. While all of that happened, your relationship with the boys bloomed. Chan and Woojin became older brothers to you; always worried and ready to listen, those two made sure that you were staying healthy and well rested. Minho, Seungmin, and Felix were your best friends; you guys laughed together, and caused trouble together. Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Jisung turned out to be your adored dongsaengs; you’d protect them from any harm, and you were sure they’d return the favor. And finally Changbin… well, Changbin was now your boyfriend of four years. 

After that night at the studio, it all happened in a flash, and soon you were both sitting facing his manager, asking permission to date. The condition was that, because the boys signed the dating ban contract, they couldn’t date for one year after their debut, but after that, you two were free to publicly announce your relationship. The boys were so close to the debut at that time that you made sure to work double just so you could speed up the process. The faster they debut, you thought. The faster the one year goes by. And you weren’t wrong. With you training at the company, and him promoting his album, one year went by as if it was one month. Now, it’s three years after that. Three years of happiness, and misunderstandings, and fights, and make up dinners at the balcony of his dorm.

You smiled, remembering all of those good times– the bad ones, too– and reach forward for his hand. He is in the middle of writing a verse when you grab his other hand.

“What?” He mumbles with a hint of smile. 

“I love you.” You say and watch as your favorite thing happens: he blushes. 

“I love you too,” He says and puts the pen down. “Now where is this coming from?”

You shrug. “Just wanted to let you know.”

“Oh, I know,” He chuckles walking towards you. Leaning down, he gives you a kiss. “I know, love.”

“Good.” You whisper. 

“What’s going on in that head of your, Y/N?” Changbin asks crouching down in front of your chair, holding your hands. “You have this one look one your face…”

“We’re growing up, Binnie.” You say. “And that worries me a lot. I’m almost done with college, you’re winning prizes already… what will be of us in a few years?”

This thought had been haunting you for a while now. You saw each other a lot because of work, but you knew that soon he’d have to go on tour again, and that you’d be assigned a new group to work with while they are away. You’d grow to different directions. And there was also the question of your grandparents. Your grandfather hasn’t been well as of lately and you worried about him constantly. You weren’t ready to grow like that; not yet. 

“Y/N,” He sighs. “We’ll be fine. Remember? We made a promise; I will be your light. I will shine you bright. We’re here for each other, good or bad, yeah?”

And you nod, hugging your boyfriend, because this is how you wanted to stay. 

———————————

The months pass like they mean nothing; and soon you are graduating. Everyone is there, which causes a big ruckus of selfies and autographs, for both your boyfriend and the boys and your grandfather. You guys go out for dinner and drinks and celebrate your initiation into the full-time job life. 

Another month passes by and you and Changbin have a huge fight. As you finally had the time to fully dedicate yourself to your job, your name grew quite big in the music industry, resulting on unwanted attention from the media. The fight is about a rumor of you switching companies to work with another boy group. It’s stupid but both of you are hurt and Chan has to intervene; he tells you to go home and sleep it off, and promises to make Changbin call the next day. He doesn’t call for three days and you feel like that was the end. It wasn’t and you both are incredibly proud of the way you overcame that together. 

Time goes by just like that; with things happening and things happening over those other things, and you wonder if growing up is just like that; a bunch of things happening all at once and you have to chose which one you will pay attention to. 

It’s winter now, and Changbin and the boys are touring. You miss him while you snuggle in the bed, holding his pillow. The boys always asked you to take care of the dorm while they are away, which meant you slept in Changbin’s bed for about three months a year. It was heart shattering to have him gone, but you were so proud and happy for him that the hurt was barely felt. 

You are in the middle of a season finally when the FaceTime window pops. You quickly fix your hair, pushes your glasses up your nose bridge, and smile. 

“Hey,” You say, hugging the blanket closer to you.

“Hey,” He says back, teary eyes. He is smiling, but as his eyes whine with unshed tears, you can’t help but sigh. 

“Changbin…,” You mumble, hand touching his face on the screen. “Are you okay?”

“I miss you.” He laughs. “I miss you so fucking much, Y/N. It’s crazy.”

“I miss you too, my love,” You smile a sad smile. “But it’s just for two more weeks, yeah?” 

“It’s still too much,” He whispers. “Too much.”

“It is,” You agree. “But we got this. We got this, Binnie. I’m waiting for you with hugs and kisses, and when you get back we’ll both get off days to just cuddle and sleep, yeah?”

“I can’t wait for that,” He smiles, tears gone and a hopeful glint shines on his eyes. “You’ll wait for me, right?”

“If I didn’t then I’d just be stupid.” You snort, making his laugh. This is all I want, you think, relieved. Him laughing and happy.

You listen to him as he tells you about the concert they just played. The venue, the crowd, the vibe; but your attention is stollen as your phone starts vibrating. You ask your boyfriend for a second and picks it up, thinking that if someone is calling you this late, it must be important. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Y/G/N guardian?” The voice asks on the other side and your blood goes cold. 

“Yes, who is this?” You ask, feeling as if you could throw up at any moment now. 

“I’m a nurse at the Center Hospital, can I ask your relation to the patient?” 

“Patient?!” You gasp, eyes widening. “I’m his granddaughter. Is he okay?”

“Ma’am, your grandfather just suffered from a cardiac arrest but we’ve managed to get to him in time and now he is resting. Would it be possible for you to come down here? We have somethings we want to discuss with you.”

Forgetting all about Changbin on the other side of the screen, you shut the laptop and run to the door with only one thought in mind.

Please let him be okay. 

He was not okay. You cried as you held your grandfather’s hand. His face was pale and there were tubes everywhere; you’ve never seen his this fragile before, and it broke your heart to know he had been in pain. Your grandmother was in the waiting room, allowing you to have some privacy.

“Grandpa,” You whispered, trying to control yourself. “You can’t leave me yet. I’m not ready to be on my own, and neither is Grandma. It won’t be the same without you…”

“Don’t say that, Y/N,” You hear your grandpa’s hoarse voice. You look at him, raising your head from where it laid next to your joined hands, and saw him frowning. “You’re not alone.”

“I know,” You say feeling guilty. “Grandma is still here.”

“I’m not talking about your grandmother, dear,” He smiles. “Your boy, Seo Changbin. He will take care of you after we’re gone. He promised me he would.”

This was news to you; you never knew they talked about this before.

“What do you mean?” 

“I’ve gave him my blessing,” Your grandpa says, smiling. “I gave him my piece of heaven, Y/N. And he promised to take care of it forever.”

At this point, you were crying nonstop. To hear him talking like this was killing you; he talked as if he would be gone at any moment now, and you had to admit, he was old, and time was not a friend, but you weren’t ready. You wanted him to see you get married, and you wanted him to meet your kids. There was so much more that he had to be a part of, that you don’t know what you’d do if he was gone. 

“Grandpa, please,” You beg. “Please.”

“You’re my piece of heaven, Y/N.” He repeats, bringing you close and kissing your forehead. “Don’t forget that.”

“You always say that,” You sniff.

“And it’ll alway be true,” He chuckles, and then coughs. “Even when I can’t say it anymore.”

The next week was a blank of mixed days and lost memories; you were always at the hospital so you didn’t really remember anything besides that. Changbin made sure to call you three times– or more– a day, worried about your dark bags and large clothes. You looked like you’d lost so much weight, and honestly, you probably did; your stomach couldn’t hold anything down, except your grandmother’s soup. Work was a mess and it took about three days for your boss to notice what was happening, and then he gave you a couple of weeks of to stay with your family. 

My family, you thought, suddenly so angry. It’s not fair. This is not fair at all. 

Your phone gets you out of the toxic mindset your were getting trapped, and you sigh in relief. Changbin.

“Hey,” You mumble, looking at his worried face on the the screen.

“Hey, love,” He said softly. Changbin was making sure to be extra soft and careful with you, allowing you to feel safe enough so that you could talk to him easily. “How is it today?”

“He’s not getting better,” You mumble. “The doctors told us to prepare ourselves… they said it could be any day, now.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” He sighed. “I’m sorry I’m not there.”

“No, Changbin,” You smile, and this was the first one of the whole week. “You are touring. It’s not your fault. Focus on you, yeah? Grandma and I will get through this.”

He nods and tells you about the concert they had, trying to cheer you up with good news. Some of the boys pop in to say hi and send their support, but you don’t really feel like joking around. You guys say goodbye, and you go back to your grandfather, who is talking to your grandmother. As you watch them from the door, you try to smile, and you take a picture. A last memory together, you think and walk in. 

He passes away that night. 

———————————

You feel like you are not living anymore, just functioning. You drown yourself in work; writing song after song, but they were all too sad. Your boss, worried about your mental state, gives you another week, so you could stay home with your boyfriend, and grieve without worrying about having to hand in an assignment; but you weren’t really sure about that, because if you didn’t focus on work, you’d focus on him and you weren’t sure that was the best choice. There was no choice, though, and your boss and the CEO all forced you to go home. 

I get home tonight, Changbin texted you. Hang on just a little longer. 

You were only hanging on because of him; because you knew that he’d soon be with you, and that you could simply give up, and he would still help you get back on your feet. That’s how Changbin and you worked; you weren’t co-dependent, there was no real need for each other, but rather a want. You didn’t need his help, you wanted it. You wanted him in your life because you knew that then you wouldn’t be alone through anything– he’d always be by your side. And you by his. But sometimes, when you were too busy or when he was away, it was hard to keep thinking like that. It was hard to be positive and to keep your chin up, because although he will always be by your side, his physical presence is gone. He can’t hold your hand or caress your hair; there is no hugs and kisses and whispered promises. There is just a cold side of the bed where he’d usually lay, and limited phone calls. You missed him.

You missed him so much, that it was only natural you’s start thinking he didn’t miss you as much as you did, even though he has shown and told you repeatedly that this was a two way street– what you felt would always be reciprocated. As you sat on your couch, holding all tears in, looking through albums and albums of pictures, you started getting angry. Maybe if your parents didn’t leave, you grandfather wouldn’t have died. Maybe if they stayed, they would’ve taken the stress of taking care of you off of his shoulders. You were the type of person that when in doubt of which emotion you were feeling, it would be redirected to anger. Your first reaction was always anger. And then guilt. And only in the end, it would be sadness. You were still in transition from the second to the third when you heard the door opening, the cold winter air rushing in with your boyfriend; his desperate eyes looking for you, examining you, taking you in. You nod– a ‘hello,’ a ‘I’m fine,’ a ‘come here I could really use a hug.’ 

“Oh Y/N,” He sighs and drops his bag on the ground, walking towards you with arms wide open. You run to him, slotting yourself in this familiar body that felt so strange. “I’m here. It’ll okay. You’ll be okay.”

And you cry. You cry like you haven’t cried in two weeks; words falling out of your mouth, snot running down your nose, and wails of pain echoing in the dorm. You notice that the rest of the boys aren’t there, probably giving you two some privacy, and you are thankful. He holds you tight, not saying a damn thing, allowing you to simply put it all out, let it all go. Your fists were tight against his chest, sometimes hitting him softly, sometimes holding his sweater, sometimes just feeling his heartbeat; a reassurance that he was really there. A couple of hours after, when you have been reduced to a pile of sniffs and apologies, he kisses you, whipping out his phone. 

“I’ll tell the boys to come home,” He whispers, kissing your forehead. 

“Okay,” Your voice is raspy from the crying and you are embarrassed. You are embarrassed to have been this desperate for Changbin’s presence, embarrassed for being angry at him, embarrassed for thinking he didn’t love you as much as you did him. “I’m sorry…”

“For what?” He asks still typing. 

“For everything.” You say and hugs him again.

“Well now you’ve got me even more worried,” He chuckles. “What happened?”

“I had some thoughts,” You say, hiding in his neck. “That you didn’t love me; miss me. I was angry, Binnie, so angry… I hated thinking like that but I just– I just missed you.”

“Hey,” He smiles, grabbing you head and making you look at him. “I missed you too. I get angry too. I feel that way two. It’s so normal, babe, and you don’t have to apologize for feeling. It’s normal to feel needy and angry when your loved one is away, okay?”

“Okay.” 

“Don’t you remember?” He asks, smiling a nostalgic smile, and you know exactly what he is talking about. 

I wish I be your last

I could be there for you

I could be the one to

I'd be your cigarette

“I do.” You say smiling too. Only him, to make you smile in the midst of your pain. 

“I want to hear that again soon, Y/N.” His eyes bore into yours and your heart is racing. “I really, really want to hear that again.”

“I’ll say it how many times you want, love.” You say, arms around him, smell of his perfume on you, warmth of his body on yours. He’s home. I’m home. “We have time.”

[sunnyupsidedown]

Thoughts On: The Raven Cycle

(Or more appropriately named, Me screaming about my feelings into the void known as the Internet.)

Note: I never actually finished writing this out and editing it so it would be readable. It’s been in my drafts for years and I’m spring cleaning. Here’s me uncensored and with no direction.

Let’s get this out of the way. So if you haven’t read The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater, this is the part where I tell you to put aside all your misgivings and just read it. That is, if you’re like me and the summary didn’t do it for you. If you’re like me and thought that it’s going to be four books about Blue and her harem of boys crying about the fact that she can’t kiss any of them. Let me tell you, you’re wrong. You’re so far from right, you’re in a different galaxy. The summary does the books zero justice. I tried to summarize it better to my roommate and I couldn’t. These books are books you just have to read.

That aside, the rest is below the cut because it’s basically me ranting about anything and everything from the series because I have a lot of feelings.

Spoilers Below

Individual Books - Romance - Characters - Miscellaneous 

The Raven Boys

This book here was basically me asking myself why I didn't read the series sooner. Like the prologue was eh, but the moment Blue implied that she was an amp, I was in. I love shit like that. And then there was chapter two with Gansey being Gansey and then finding out Adam and Ronan do dumb shit together. Yeah. Well. I was doomed. Yes yes the usual, plot was a little slow paced. I kept wondering "man, when are Gansey and Blue gonna meet?" Or "when are they gonna go King hunting?" When they finally did stuff it was great! But I think it was great because the characters are so well established. But I'll rant on that later.

Anyway, actually yeah, getting to know the characters in this book was wow. God damn it's not a fucking competition on who has the worst backstory. My heart cannot take it. I really want to read a prequel about how they all came together. I need details. Everything is so vague (like mentioned in offhand lines) (i.e. Ronan hating Adam at first or how Adam helped Gansey's car (which is pretty solid but give me more conversation)).

Speaking of vague...NOAH! God. Let me be smug for a bit. I figured out the mystery as soon as Barry mentioned being in his mid-20s.

Hints:

"I've been dead for 7 years."

Noah having a first name when everyone calls each other by their last. 

Barry's friend only having a last name.

Boom yeah. Anyway. Noah, my boy. The true mvp, but that rant will come later. "Don't throw this away.” Gosh. End me.

Again speaking of vague. I love and hate Ms. Maggie's style. I love how pretty it is.

Favorite character in this book kept switching between Gansey, Blue, and Adam. Me while reading was basically, Who’s Ronan?

The Dream Thieves

I love that Ronan’s POV was included in this. I stereotype book characters all the time. It’s natural since it helps establish a certain character without having to spell out every single detail. So yeah. I stereotyped Ronan as a punk (true) that was crude (true), rough (half true), and didn’t care about anything (not true). Getting to know Ronan more in this book killed me.

Kavinski was meh. He was a cool kid. Idk why ppl love him so much? Like he was def a cool character. Maybe I read the books too fast to really appreciate him.

Bragging again, I figured out Ronan’s mom was a dream thing from the prologue (though it wasn’t that hard? idk. Matthew was a surprise).

Adam was winning the favorite character battle but now Ronan’s a strong contestant.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

RONAN HAS WON. HE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. Why? The EpiPens! That sealed it. Nothing will be able to trump that. I seriously had to stop reading at that part. It was too much.

I really don’t know what happened in this book. That’s one of the things about the writing (or maybe it was just me reading things too fast) but it was kinda hard to keep track of time. Things that I though happened weeks apart happened on the same day, or things that I thought happened on the same day actually happened weeks away. So it was kinda hard to keep track of events.

TRC & Romance

Before we get to the last book, I just want to put this rant that I started about two chapters into the 4th book because I just love this series so much and I was wondering why.

So typically I’m like “Fuck Romance! Get out of my books and tv shows!” (well, unless I’m specifically looking for it…) but the romance (or relationships in general) in the raven cycle is SO. GOOD.

And here I was wondering why and why and why and I figured it out.

The thing about Romance in YA novels (I say YA because I mainly read YA), is that it feel like it’s a prize for the Main Character to achieve at the end of the book. Like, you battled a bunch of crazy zombies alongside this hot babe you met maybe a week ago, now make out and live happily ever after! Like the Love Interest is only there for the MC to end up dating in the end. Sure they can be important to the plot too but there’s always a focus on “These two will be together in the end. Period.” And I hate it. I guess it’s because I love slow burns and I find it so unrealistic because Love typically doesn’t happen like that.

Like typically, a guy or girl will not walk up to someone and say “You’re hot go out with me.” Well, not unless they want maybe a drink dumped on them. I don’t like how when the MC meets their LI, they stop knowing how to communicate with other human beings. Like haven’t they ever had a normal conversation with another human? Don’t they have friends.

And that’s where I figured it out. Gansey & Blue and Ronan & Adam, they were FRIENDS first.

Well, Adam did ask Blue out kinda…. I’ll get to that later.

But they became friends! It wasn’t all about mantic pixie dream girls/boys. Or the most popular girl/boy in school. Or some rival from an enemy territory. It was a just a bunch of kids looking for a king together.

(Adam and Blue something about including her with the boys, how when the began to know each other it doesn’t work out. and that’s normal. But they still end up friends because they do like each other. And it’s not all suddenly, we’re dating so we now have no other friends/I can no longer think rationally [cough Graceling cough]) Gansey eyeing their hand holding less because “Omg im in love with this chick” and more like “who is this girl invading our group.”

The way the small love triangle between Blue, Adam, and Gansey was so well handled. Like the friendship between Gansey and Adam didn’t suffer (too much…) because they weren’t gonna let something like that ruin it because it was strong.

And then Gansey’s all like “I gotta think of something clever to tell Blue later” and it’s so fucking dumb and sweet and that’s kinda what I do to my friends and they don’t really like like each other but it slowly grows with the night calls and the driving to nowhere and they still fight with each other and it’s all so normal and real that it hurts and I actually look forward to their interactions, not necessarily romantically, but just hanging out. Like I could read chapters of all of them just playing cards or something, doing mundane shit.

Ronan and Adam. Idk because I haven’t gotten that far but apparently in the beginning god sai- in the beginning Ronan hated Adam because Ronan loved Gansey and not really in the romantic way but in the we are friends and I will now DIE FOR YOU, type of love and he was fucking jealous. But now they’re cool and they go do random shit together (like framing a crazy dude). And it’s not all, I like you and now you will magically start liking me back. There was build up to this, like Ronan going back for Adam from his dad, and Ronan paying for Adam’s rent secretly, like Adam actually saying thank you.

Even Blue and Ronan. Like how he doesn’t even think about saving her from falling down a hole. How he cries on here shoulder because he can do it and not be judged. Because they are friends. Even if they do not interact often.

And then there’s Maura and the Gray Man. idk where this one is going.

tl;dr: The complex relationships and romance between the characters in the Raven Cycle are hella good.

The Raven King

Oh my god. I am dead. My soul has been carved from my body. Gansey. My boy. Fucking Noah. God damn.

Let me just say that Adam’s analogy(? metaphor?) of the summer storm and the kiss was so fucking good. I will remember that forever. Like that is probs my favorite passage from the book.

Ronan is so sweet and pure and needs lots of love.

Writing in General

Weird how it skips around. Like there’s a little view in the scene and then suddenly it jumps to a vague conclusion. I like knowing what happens between. I like the clean up shit. But then again if it happened the pacing of the book would have been very weird.

Characters

Gansey: it’s like watching someone slowly learn negative emotions. He started out all innocent and full of ideals and happiness, he just wanted to find his King, and then he learns fear and anger and worry and death. Real life. He’s definitely very grounding. How he steps back occasionally and thinks “God this is so fucked up. This is not okay. I want everybody to be safe.”

Ronan: God. Ronan. This boy. I like how you don’t really think of him as I guess nice. But he’s probably the most human of all. Like his outward appearance is some tough boy who’ll fuck you up, but he’s actually really soft? His words are crude but his actions are caring.

Adam: 😫

Blue: I love her. She’s so fierce and strong and human. How she just rolls with it. Kinda.

[citruspeel]

to gold be the gory

How Golden Kamuy Outshines Competition

A Review

-

“GORUDEEEEEEN KAMUUUUUUY!”

That’s how I first heard of Golden Kamuy – a male voice screaming its title in around 2-minute intervals. I was busy slurping ramen in the communal eating tent in Odori Park when it blared in my ear. All through the day, they played its trailer on the tent TVs over and over again. It seemed interesting, and it was quite apt to see it being promoted there - after all, we were surrounded by snow, in Hokkaido, where the story was set. I kept seeing it in bookstores and its artwas eye-catching. But as soon as I was back on home soil, my interest was gone.

Life caught right back up with me, so I forgot about Golden Kamuy completely. Not until I saw some artists I follow post amazing fan art of it on Twitter. They were all singing it praises and the official art was beautiful, so I thought, ‘aw heck, why not?’

Let me tell you: there are no reasons not to.  

SUGIMOTO, THIS ISN’T SHOUNEN ANYMORE

I’m what you call a…sporadic manga reader. I’m not up to speed with manga trends and it can take me a while to catch up. I read stuff that get my attention and when they’re recommended by my friends (I still haven’t touched Boku no Hero Academia or Shokugeki no Soma, though). I also don’t limit myself to just one genre. There are months that I devour shoujo/josei manga, like Hana Nochi Hare and Dame na Watashi ni Koi wo Kudasai. Then I’d switch over to read through volumes upon volumes of shounen manga (hi, Gintama, Haikyuu). Then there are periods wherein I just don’t read at all, devoting my time to other activities instead.  

Golden Kamuy, brainchild of artist Noda Satoru, is probably my first real foray into the seinen manga territory. The art, the storyline, the comedy, the stakes – every page told me that I wasn’t reading shounen anymore. Dick jokes weren’t dealt with caution. Gore was done with no shame. Raw Japanese scans didn’t have the hiragana reading aids. Strangely enough, it brought me back to all the titles I used to read when I was young. It made me realize all the stuff I was reading back then were very edgelord-esque and middle-school-syndrome-ish - the stuff of nightmares. Body horror, violence, gore, debauchery – CLAMP and Kaori Yuuki had primed my teenage self for all of them.

But at least, now, the edginess was dealt with a more mature hand.  

Hence it was no surprise that Kamuy ignited a sense of familiarity. I had mellowed down when I grew up (it saddens me that I really am quite a grown-up now) and, in turn, settled for fun, cheerful, romantic manga (to keep the dreariness of everyday life away, I guess haha). I got used to leisurely pacing and lighthearted comedy. Reading Golden Kamuy felt like I skydived into the unforgiving arena I had left – an arena that had been made fresher, better.  

SO FRESH, YOU’RE EATING IT RAW

What makes Kamuy an instant hit is its interesting combination of rarely-used elements. Post-War, Meiji-Era historical, early 1900s, hunting, Hokkaido, Ainu culture: can you really find another title that uses said mix? It’s no wonder people are attracted to the series.  

It also helps that the art is just spectacular. Noda’s artistic skill shines through every page, chapter, and volume cover. His poses are dynamic, his coloring brave. Sometimes the color combinations he uses just scream modern, serving as nice contrasts to the story’s historical, traditional setting. His character designs are unique and fresh – more so their personalities. Sugimoto’s facial scars are refreshing to the eye; Tsurumi’s half-corrupted face paired with a metal plate is a design I’ve never seen before. His art style brings out his designs to life in a way only he can – we’ve all seen cross-dressing men and shaved-bald convicts before, but still he was able to make Ienaga and Shiraishi look striking.

The research that he has done to make the story believable is commendable. He even has his own Ainu and Russian language consultants. Each detail he adds in shows that every page is a product of hard work. He even features real buildings in Hokkaido and Otaru (I’ve also been to Otaru and it was nice to see it in the manga!). The information we learn from Noda’s usage of the Ainu culture, hunting practices, and military details – all of this, weaved in with an intricate, explosive plot, give us a series that feels…whole. Complete.

Kamuy also spreads word about the Ainu culture in a fun and entertaining way. I haven’t heard a lot about them in the series I’ve encountered – I’ve only heard of them through Rurouni Kenshin. Nothing since then. To see them in the spotlight is a breath of fresh air. Even the Ainu themselves feel the same way – apparently they told Noda that they didn’t want to be portrayed as discriminated anymore. They wanted strong Ainu characters, and boy, did Noda deliver.

NO-PARDON PLOTTING

Because of its seinen status, you can tell that Noda has no qualms about plotting and story structure. We’re given heavy-hitting story elements right off the bat: war vet undertakes a legendary treasure hunt to help the (stolen-by-his-friend) love of his life, requiring him to track down 24 of the most dangerous insane criminals to have ever walked Japan. It’s throwing punches right from the get-go. Kamuy doesn’t baby anyone (except for bear cubs). With its pacing, convoluted plot and bevy of interesting characters, it challenges the reader to not just enjoy, but to keep up. It’s unapologetic in everything that it does – character, story, and art.  

CHARACTERS

Immortal War Vet, Morality Pet Minority Action Girl, Escape Sweet-tooth King, and so forth. They somehow fulfill stereotypes but at the same time, Noda manages to twist things to a whole new light. His milieu, too, aids in solidifying the characters he writes – the setting itself makes them unforgettable.  

It is also in his cast that we see how unapologetic Noda is. Considering that Sugimoto is to track 24 of the most dangerous criminals in the country, Noda doesn’t shy away from showcasing every kind of evil that can exist within humans. We tackle lust, greed, wrath, and avarice with a dash more reality compared to the caricatures we often see in shounen manga. Those faint of heart and innocent countenance will have a hard time stomaching Noda’s cast as it unfolds. The more I read, the more I believe Noda probably has a subscription to the Crime Investigation channel (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). Truth be told, humans are very much capable of evil, and I’m not surprised that some of his villains are actually modeled after real-life criminals.

Notable characters:

IENAGA  - a cross between Erszebet Bathory (a countess who was known to kill virgins and bathed in their blood to remain beautiful) and of H.H. Holmes, a real-life owner of an actual murder hotel in the US during the 19th century. Ienaga’s first dungeon appearance made me flashback to some of mangaka Kaori Yuki’s ornate gorefests such as Count Cain, Angel Sanctuary, and Ludwig Revolution. Noda felt no shame when he drew each and every one of Ienaga’s murderscapes. 

HENMI KAZUO – this one really made me blink when I was reading it. Serial killer Henmi Kazuo is an exploration of the depths of human depravity. Imagine, being stimulated by gore and the act of clinging to life the same way his brother did when a bear ate him. Damn, writing that sentence made me realize Noda just straight up doesn’t baby his audience. This is the stuff Netflix series Mindhunter would kill to have. This also would really need some real guts (pardon the pun) to execute.

SHITON – he also made me stop in my tracks. Shiton, a full-on bestiality-practicing scientist, was something I’ve never read about in any other manga at all. I’ve read about murderers and criminals and incestuous personalities (Kaori Yuki and George RR Martin weren’t shy about it at all), but this character was just sick. He’s a special type of crazy (although to be perfectly honest I am sure that somewhere in the world some sick human is partaking in stuff like this), and for Noda to actually use him in his manga just takes courage. He just has the balls to make you think twice, but hey, when you’re in seinen territory, everything seems to be a free-for-all. And let’s be real frank here – there’s just another level of human debauchery in real life that most people won’t even be able to stomach hearing about.  

TSURUMI – Tsurumi is the stuff of legend. He reminds me the most of Col. Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, but with his insanity turned up into eleven. He also has shades of Leonardo’s character in Django Unchained, as well as other manic-type ‘villains’ that we’ve seen in other series. But his impulsiveness and flamboyant nature places him a cut above the rest. Noda also draws him so dynamically (seriously!) that whenever he appears, your eyes are just drawn to him.  

Plus, I have to say that I’m really impressed with the level of real-world research that Noda uses in developing his characters. Tsurumi says that he has lost a part of his frontal lobe, which in turn affects his temper and his violent tendencies. This is actually true in real life, and has been seen in a high-profile murder case involving a famous football player in the United States. Because of the repetitive head injuries that the player received playing the sport, his own personality/temper had changed, and resulted him in killing his girlfriend in cold blood.

Of course we have the holy trinity of Sugimoto (classic lovable romantic badass war vet protagonist), Asirpa (butt-kicking girl-child) and Shiraishi (adorable slinky/comic relief), all gems in their own right. Noda has endeared them to us with the heartwarming dynamic between Sugimoto + Asirpa, plus Shiraishi’s antics. Character-wise, they seem to follow a specific trio formula that works in almost anything. Harry-Hermione-Ron, Gintoki-Kagura-Shinpachi, Naruto-Sakura-Sasuke. While his main character trio wins people over, his supporting cast can also shine bright on their own. Some great examples that come to mind are Ogata, Tanigaki, and Monkey-Scream Guy Otonoshin (even Tsukishima is memorable! He even has the Voldemort nose, doesn't he?).

Noda’s principle of mixing reality with caricature is also evident in his character designs. With every cast member we meet, it’s clear that Noda is far from being a sufferer of the six-faces-only syndrome. His designs do sometimes border on the impossible (Monkey-Scream guy’s eyebrows, really?), but it’s not a bad thing. If anything, it makes the visual experience of reading the comic even more worthwhile.  

THE ART

Noda is a great manga artist. Let’s start with that.  

Just look at these covers!

This coloring + color schemes!

This character design!!

I’ve been raving about his character designs for a few paragraphs now but it’s just really that good. I love his eye for composition and his impeccable framing for action and comedy. I’ve always thought that framing comics need special planning – especially action + comedy ones. You have to ensure that the first thing the reader sees in the next panel will make the action/joke understandable and clear. It takes great skill to decide what the reader sees and doesn’t see. Through Golden Kamuy’s 158 chapters, he makes use of this skill to make us laugh whenever Asirpa’s badgering them to make citatap, or when there’s a new animal part to eat, or when Tanigaki’s out showing nudes of himself to people. If the pages weren’t framed well, the jokes would’ve fallen flat. Let’s also not forget his adeptness in drawing facial expressions. This manga just does faces so well.  

(Just look at Asirpa! collage c/o the Golden Kamuy reddit)

His fight scenes are also top-notch. You just know that Noda, as a mangaka, isn’t knocking about. The flow of action in every page is just downright superb. It also shows his mastery of human anatomy – and his courage when it comes to gore. His use of crisp blacks and whites, solid lineart, thick, expressive color give us pages that are fresh and clean...I’d be a fool to dismiss his technique, because his (and his studio’s, I guess?) skill just shines through every page.

He’s also not shy when it comes to details – which is admirable. After all, it takes some great dedication for someone to give his main character distinct facial scars that will require repeated drawings in almost every single page (and give his heroine a detailed headband). It makes me wonder just how he does it with a weekly schedule. His color pages look like they were done digitally, but I still have doubts whether or not he does his chapters by hand.  

THE HEART

It took me just a few days to wolf down Kamuy. It was a romp right from the start – nail-biting, stomach-clutching, hair-raising. A truly entertaining piece, if you will. But if there’s one thing I’ve noticed with Kamuy, it’s that it somehow lacks heart.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s great! I love it. It’s superbly crafted, beautifully drawn, amazingly detailed. It’s one of the rare titles that I’m actually thinking of collecting. But it’s also a title that seems to drip technique. Like the author made it for the sake of drawing an intense, gripping title, but somehow solely for that purpose. It’s a career-conscious showcase of ability, a manufactured adventure in the truest sense. I couldn’t see the earnestness I found in Sorachi Hideaki’s Gintama, or the relatability of Nakahara Aya’s  Dame na Watashi wo Koishite Kudasai. Full Metal Alchemist showed Arakawa Hiromu’s passion for muscled men, her interest in alchemy, and views on family, while Haruichi Furudate’s love for volleyball, sportsmanship and camaraderie is undeniable in Haikyuu!!. While I do like the backstory that Sugimoto is somehow based on his real-life war-vet grandfather, I find it a bit sad that it seems to lack that personal touch I’ve always liked seeing in other manga.

But it doesn’t mean that it’s not great. I will still recommend it to everyone I know. Awesome story, great art, refreshing comedy. By all means, read it! (Not sure about the anime, but I keep hearing reviews that we’re better off with the manga). Golden Kamuy is a title of both style and substance – whether it’s about the gore or the gold, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.  

Then let me know if you agree with my upcoming post, an analysis of Sugimoto and Asirpa.

Photos c/o reddit + our lovely scanlators + Satoru Noda

[god-hunter]

Secret Empire #4

Alright guys!  This is where things actually turned around for me in this event, believe it or not. [For now].

So... If you can’t tell who that is on the cover with Iron Man and Steve, it’s Ultron toting a very familiar Hank Pym half-face.  It’s interesting and different, but why is he there?  And where has he been all this time?

The answer amazed me, and I actually found this issue to be brilliant.

This issue is more expositional and conversational than anything, but the dialogue was so juicy and enthralling that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are some major developments that occurred too.  You get to see Black Widow teach her Red Room camp kids a lesson, and the overall deal is the great cosmic cube fragment hunt.

So without further adieu, let’s dive into this.

[SPOILERS]

We start with Mysterious Rogers still wandering in the woods.  He gets triple teamed by a few random villains in masks that I don’t recognize.  But then he finds help in two strangers.  A grown black and white man that are reminiscent of Sam Wilson and Bucky.

[But wait...  How is that...?  This is yet to be explained.]

Similar to Steve, they don’t really know why they’re there, but they were more than happy to help him.

Steve decides to join them in setting up a camp when the reminiscent Sam tells him that they could all use friends.

Then, in Baltimore we get a follow up on The Punisher.  Kraken visited him and tried to chew him out for not reporting back with any intel on what he found.  [Perhaps, that’s a good thing?]

“I don’t answer to you, Kraken.”

“What about me, then?”  A hologram of Cap gets in the room.

Frank instantly salutes and fesses up.  “...I came close in Newark, brought home solid intel.  We’ll have her in our sights soon.”

[So I guess that means that Boomerang hid Maria Hill long enough for her to escape or something...]

Then we cut to Black Widow who is fucking up a random Hydra goon tied to a chair.  The kids can’t take it.  They feel for the lackey.  He isn’t much older than them.  And it seems that he clearly doesn’t have the information that she’s looking for.  But she is insistent.  She tells them there is no other way.  

Nadia Pym insists that she stop hard enough for the goon to reveal that he just worked in the mess hall.

This made Black Widow even more vindicated.  “Yes, Nadia-- The Mess Hall at the Southern Virginia Hydra Installation...  The same one whose staff has been charged with catering the Rebuilding Ceremony at the Capitol.  He was given a tour of the site--logistics were discussed...”

The long-short of it is that Riri steps in with a plan of her own to let him go and use a quick memory wipe thing so that he could forget about this traumatic event.

He thanks her, and Widow actually entertains this for 3 seconds.

Then once his foot is untied, he immediately goes for his dagger and comes after her.  “HAIL HYDRA!”

He is shot without warning.

The kids are Shocked!  That could’ve been it.

“Wonderful. Now we have to switch Motels.”  Black Widow says as she walks away from her pack.

[What’s important about this scene is that her kids are naive.  They’re children.  And Spencer is really giving them firsthand experience that this Super Hero gig has some hard calls to make sometimes.  Do they have it in them to take on this War...?]

Cap continues his conversation with The Punisher as we see Nat and her pack get in a van.  He basically needs Frank to trail Nat, just in case things get rough.

But then we dive into the focus of our issue.  This is where things really wake up for me.

Our Underground team of Tony, Sam, Hercules, Ant Man, Quicksilver and Bobbi fly to Alaska.  Which is established by Tony A.I that this is Ultron Territory.

“They’re calling them the Ultronic Territories... Basically, not long before the Planetary Defense Shield went up, Ultron returned from the stars.  But instead of trying to destroy the World... he set up shop in a remote bit of Alaska and started building cities... full of more Ultrons.”

[Ooooh man.  Something way bigger is going on here!  This I could get behind.]

For the next set of panels, we get to see Tony A.I and Steve plan the same thing.  They’re both aiming to go to the same place at the same time for the same reason.  They want that Cosmic Cube Fragment and they need it now.

Then we get to see Ultron, who is wearing half of Hank’s face get to excited that they’re all coming to visit him.  He talks to Jarvis about it who tells them that they’ve arrived.

He gets really excited about this and exclaims that, “...Hank Pym is going to save the Avengers!”

[Whoa.  That’s interesting.  What happened to Ultron here?  Did he actually fuse with Hank Pym??]

When our Underground Team lands, Sam stays in the ship.  Bobbi runs in, Iron Man flies, Quicksilver stands by with Hercules and Ant Man is the first to encounter ‘Avenger’ Black Ant.

[This is where I really got excited.]

A little fight breaks out with them, just as Bobbi is encountered by Task Master. [Yes!]

“Danger’s afoot. Thank the Gods,” Hercules says.  My sentiments exactly.  I love see an Avenger x Dark Avenger brawl.  [Even if they’re not calling them that.]

Quicksilver finds Wanda and this is the first glimpse that we get of why she’s evil at all.  Her eyes are completely blacked out.  It looks like this is a curse.  [Which actually is hopeful.  It means that it’s possible that she could break out of this and come to her senses.  Vision too, for that manner.]

Speaking of.  Vision catches Sam in the ship and bashes his head right against the dashboard.  [I actually have a bad feeling about this, but I’ll explain later.]

We also get an awesome pairing of Hercules vs. Odinson.

Iron Man sighs that this was supposed to be a Stealth Mission.  We get sweet panels of fighting between our teams.

Tony A.I meets Steve and they are just about to battle, before Ultron-Pym intervenes.

“No, no, no--This won’t do--”

He uses some sort of massive beam to knock all of them out.  It seems to have come from the ceiling or something.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way... but please know I have missed you all so dearly-- And it’s so good to welcome you home again.”

They all black out and wake up with their hands bound by some sort of hexagonal tech.  The surroundings are familiar.  They’re all sitting at a table in a room that looks a lot like Avengers Mansion.

At this point, both teams are forced into a conversation with Ultron-Pym who really puts it on that they’re here for dinner.  He’s got an apron and everything that reads “Kiss the Overlord.”  That’s a bit campy, but it’s fun.

So anyway.  This conversation commences and they all talk about everything that went wrong.  With everyone.  Tony A.I points out the obvious problem with Steve’s team.  “He’s had his reality rewritten by a Cosmic Cube, she’s possessed by a demon, he’s infected by some A.I Virus--and this one just wants his hammer back, I think.”

Ultron Pym brings up his side of the table and asks what happened to Tony. [Not once referring to his A.I state.]

Steve mocks that Tony A.I is too drunk to pilot his newer models.

[...I’m sorry, but how does that work...  Because last I checked his A.I was just a light form with basically All Human Qualities and understanding, except for the actual physical ability to actually be on this plain.  Now..  Spencer has gotten away with giving him a glove to interact with things, or even toting his old armor...  but you mean to tell me that he can’t rock the new armor because there’s some sort of A.I joy juice out there that he’s drinking??]

Hercules brings up brief beef with Thor, Quicksilver interjects that he doesn’t care about any of this, he just cares about his sister.

Then Ultron Pym berates them for always bickering so much.  Then he reveals why Ultron built this city.  He speaks in the third person here, which is very important.  And this is where I was floored with astonishment.

“It’s because he didn’t have to [come after you again].  It’s because he looked at you and your war, Tony, and... your scheming, Steve--and he realized he wouldn’t have to destroy anything.  Because you were already doing it for him.”

[Whoa!]

So that explains why, if Ultron was here the whole time, why he never came out and attacked, and instead focused on building his own corner of the World and making it his own.  Eventually he would branch out after his problem sorted itself out.

When our brainwashed Cap brings up that Hydra is going to change all of the corruption and fix everything, I loved Ultron’s reaction.

“Oh, of course it will, Steve... Just like Tony’s grand plans for Superhuman Registration made everything so much better.  Or perhaps you mean like when Wanda here tried to fix everything-- That got a bit messy as I recall...”

He drives a point home, here.  “You always have such big ideas for solving all the World’s problems. Funny, then, how you just keep making everything worse.”

Cap diverts the conversation to the cube.  A little more bickering ensues, between when Sam Wilson shouts at Steve to not talk to him.  Especially like they’re friends.

Ultron-Pym loses his patience with them and yells about how he’s trying to help them.  He brings up how Steve can say “Assemble” and everyone will dive into a fire head first, and how when Tony has a crazy idea, half of the Hero Community will be down with it.  Then he gets all upset and says, “What about me?!  I’m a Founding Avenger!  I deserve some Respect! I deserve to be taken seriously!”

At this point, Tony’s A.I cracks up.  He says that’s “The most Hank Pym thing I have ever heard anyone say.”

He continues to belittle and instigate Ultron-Pym further, and at this point we’re a little unsure if it really is Hank or not.  But either way, even Cap in his Hydra state is sounding like his old self, warning Tony not to push too far.

Sam Wilson starts to agree with Steve on this.

[It’s all so brilliant.  Ultron-Pym, in this very moment is actually unifying them, by giving them all something to hate.  Or at least to worry about.]

...It goes on.  I’m at the point where I can’t give EVERY detail.  But believe me.  The conversation is GOOD.

Maybe Tony A.I believes that this is really Pym after all.  And he brings up where it actually went wrong.  Why it’s not a Happy Family any more with all of their dinners and pool parties.

“It’s because they got to be too awkward.  Too uncomfortable. It was hard for people to act like everything was still okay... after what you did to Jan.”

“HOW DARE YOU?!”

Ultron-Pym enlarges and grabs Tony A.I read to crush him.  The table is destroyed and, Hank explains his huge mistake for seemingly the thousandth time.

“Every day I live with this, and I save the World a hundred times over! But I made one mistake-- ONE MISTAKE!!!  Years ago!  And it’s all any of you will ever remember me for...”

He loses it and is about to kill Tony A.I claiming that it will give everyone something Else to remember him for.

This is where Scott Lang has a ‘be cool’ moment and manages to diffuse the entire situation, by completely relating to his situation and stating that he was an inspiration to him.  That’s why he became the 2nd Ant Man.

He ends up asking, “What would Janet...do” and almost like the flip of a switch, Pym just decides to let everyone go.

All of their bonds are released and Ant Man gets a cube fragment on his plate.

Immediately they bolt the fuck Out of there man.  While, Pym nearly manically yells, “FAREWELL! SAFE TRAVELS!  Enjoy the cube fragment, Scott!  I’ll make sure you’re heading in the opposite direction from you-know-who...”

He also bears some foreshadowing predictions about Tony’s A.I.  “...a conflict like this...can have a cleansing effect.  ...Help you face your demons.  Say hello to all your ghosts for me, Tony!”  He bids him farewell, in this almost taunting fashion.

That’s when Steve stands by Pym confused.   “We had a deal, Ultron”

Ultron Pym states that their deal is still on.  “I won’t be invading your little country.  But the cube fragment is its own issue.”

So... just to move on from this.   Both teams leave the premises.

We cut to six hours later, when we see our Underground Team celebrating their victory a bit.  But then there is news about Amor arriving in D.C. to deliver an important announcement.

Sam tells them to turn that up.

Steve is already back home, in full General Hydra garb...  [Something makes me wonder if that encounter made him want to hang up his stars and stripes for good.  Probably not though.]

Anyway, Namor is there to not only shake hands with Steve, but also to give him his very own cube fragment, as a sign of their newfound alliance.

Namor is clearly doing this for the survival of his kingdom.  Against the will of his people, it would seem.

And now our guys are upset.  Because they went through all that emotional toil for one fragment.  Meanwhile, Steve just got one handed to him a quarter of a day later “without even lifting a damn finger”, as Sam would say.

At D.C General Steve stands by Baron Zero and talks about how their draw doesn’t matter.  Soon they’ll get the fragment that the Underground Team has too...  “After all--we have someone on the inside.”

-To Be Continued!-

Aw COME ON!!!!

This issue was great, but now that last bit of news worries me.

I don’t know why, but my first instinct is that it’s Bobbi Morse.

I feel like she, out of all of them is the most that would have it in her.  She’s S.H.I.E.L.D., they’re known to do Double-Agent/Triple-Agent stuff...  It would just suit her.  I wouldn’t be surprised.

Although... Quicksilver did outwardly state that he doesn’t care WHO wins.  He just wants his sister to be okay.  And Bobbi did comment on his questionable motivation for the cause.

But then there’s that little thing that worried me, regarding The Vision knocking out Sam in the ship, just like that.

Taking it back to the very beginning of this issue, Mysterious Rogers bumps into a reminiscent Sam & Bucky. [As I’m referring them]

Well, if Mysterious Rogers is indeed real...  Does that mean I’m right about the other two, or are they just very capable strangers that resemble his closest friends?

...Beyond that.  It’s almost Mystery Novel formula, that the one you least expect.. the one who wants NOTHING to do with anything, is the killer.  In this case, the mole.

...it could be possible.  He was taken out of the fight immediately, by Vision.  Blind-sided.

Then, he wound up at the table.  Those reactions to Steve were genuine though.  They didn’t seem put on.

...and the layers might be complex.  They might be actual genuine disgust, but he might have his own personal reasons for staying out of it.  Buried guilt and hope for Steve to snap out of it and all that.

[There’s also even a clue from that Underground #1 tie-in I reviewed the other day.  Sam mentioned to Scott, or Hercules I think, that he wasn’t sure if everyone on this team was trustworthy.  Or.. who they said they were...]

In that light.  He’s either genuinely getting a hunch about one of them, or he’s planting the seeds of mistrust himself, because He’s gonna surprise us.

Ah man.  I dunno.

And I haven’t read Secret Empire #5 yet!  So I’m very much looking forward to doing so.  I wonder who it’s going to be.  But I’m also very interested in seeing what happens to Nat & the others.  Will Frank Castle end up finding them and if so, how will an encounter like that really go?  Would they come to blows, or find a middle ground and trade information?

And then there’s the rest of the Underground camp.  The cover of that issue.  Clint looks like he’s getting meeeesssed up.  So I’m very curious about what happens next.

Can’t wait to read Secret Empire #5!!!!!