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todorokibois · 4 years ago

Text

{1} - Spring Day

Reincarnation AU - Part of the Spring Day Series

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Possible Smut (In later chapters)

Pairing: Itadori Yuuji X Reader X Ryomen Sukuna

Words: 5,059

A/n: I just recently got into Jujutsu Kaisen but I love it so much already! Ever since I watched episode four and five this little idea has been running around in my mind, and I've seen a few others do an au like this so I decided I'd give it a shot. I’m still learning all the rules and stuff of the world, so please bear with me. Some of the characters may be ooc for the time being, as well as for plot purposes. I hope you enjoy what I have planned, and please do let me know what you think of this. Feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Summary: Being Yuuji’s best friend? Piece of cake. However, you never expected to be the reincarnation of Sukuna’s former lover. - You promised each other forever, but forever came.

Note: The characters are all aged up for this fic, so now they will be in university.

You can still remember the first day you met Itadori Yuuji like it was yesterday. Nothing really eventful happened on that day, but you know that it’s one you’ll never forget, for he’s your best friend and you are his. In fact, having just entered middle school at the time, he was one of the first friends you ever made at your new school.

He seemed impressed by how unafraid you were of the supernatural, the two of you spouting ghost stories to one another during lunch every day. Each day was a competition to see who could freak the other one out the most with an even gorier horror story every lunch period. So far, your record is thirty to twenty-nine in your favour, with more ties than you can count.

Soon enough, middle school came and went, and then the two of you found out that you were to go to the same high school. Both of you were excited that you would know at least one person, not to mention that that person is your best friend. At least you wouldn’t have to give up your daily routine with him. Needless to say, it came as quite a shock to Yuuji when you stopped coming to school about halfway through your first year.

Even though the two of you continued to text every day since your transfer, things never felt the same to either of you. Every time Yuuji asked what school you transferred to, you’d brush off the question, or give him a fake school name. He knows they’re fake since the one time he wanted to surprise you after school one day by visiting you, but when he went inside and checked the registry, your name wasn’t even close to being listed there.

That was a small rough patch in your relationship. Yuuji was hurt that you would lie to him like that, and it took about a week before you could cheer him up again. He just had to see you in person, that was the only way he would stop moping about. That, and he jokingly said it would be the only way he’d forgive you.

Again, as the two of you were walking around the shopping district, he asked you which high school you transferred to. Well, you couldn’t exactly tell him you transferred to a school that teaches you how to become a jujutsu sorcerer, now could you? So, you gave a vague description of the place, stating that you honestly always forget the name, but it’s hidden somewhere in the mountains surrounding Tokyo. Regardless, he made you promise that he could come visit at some point.

Every day, you miss him, just as he misses you, and every day you wish you could see more of him. Despite the amount of trips you plan together, nothing can replace no longer seeing each other every day. Oh well, at least you still keep in touch.

Yuuji never told you, but it was pure agony for him when you left without a clue as to where you’d gone. The fact that you couldn’t answer him for a few days made him go crazy. When he finally got an answer, it felt as if the world had finally started moving again, because to him, you are his entire world.

He doesn’t exactly know when his platonic feelings towards you turned more romantic, but he knows that they’ve never gone away, no matter how many years have passed. Perhaps it was that time in your second year of middle school when you tricked him into playing shogi with you, a game you had convinced him he could beat you at, only to be severely disappointed. How was he to know you were the best in the year when you had never mentioned it before that day? Or perhaps it was that one day during the summer break before the start of high school when the two of you were running through the park, laughing at each other as the sunlight reflected off of your hair, lighting up your eyes in a way he’d never seen before. Either way, he knows he’s been in love with you for a long time now, and he’d never do anything to jeopardize your friendship. He just hopes that someday, his feelings are returned.

Unfortunately for you, you didn’t get to spend as much time with Yuuji over the break as you wanted to, what with your duties and all. However, you’re hoping you’ll be able to soon. You wanted to see him one last time before he started university, but unfortunately you couldn’t. Weeks passed, and you finally made plans to visit him a few months into the semester, but you had to cancel due to a last minute mission you got thrown on. Little did you know what would happen that night.

Earlier that evening, you had gotten a voicemail from Yuuji, informing you that his grandfather had died. You managed to take a detour long enough to call him back, making sure that he’s okay and letting him know that you’re sorry for his loss. His grandfather was the closest family he had left, so you know that as soon as you’re done with this mission, you’re going to see him. He told you he was fine, but you want to make sure. After all, you know how he can get.

Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you focus in on the task at hand. Clearing this abandoned building will be easy for you, nothing you haven’t done before. All there are are two level two curses to take care of, piece of cake. You only wish it was located closer to where Yuuji is, that way you could get to him sooner.

It took a few years, but you managed to quickly work your way up to a grade one sorcerer. You’re a very quick learner, and the fact that you already had strong reflexes thanks to always competing with Yuuji helped a great deal. You’re only surprised your mother kept her family secret for so long. However, you’re grateful for how long she kept it secret, because if she had revealed it sooner, you might not have met Yuuji, and you don’t know where you’d be today without him in your life.

With a sigh, you enter the building. Shifting your gaze around, you begin to hunt the curses currently within the vicinity. It doesn’t take you long to find the first one, quickly disposing of it before it even has the chance to retaliate. Locating the second takes a little bit longer than anticipated, but eventually you find it, preparing yourself to take this one down just as you did the first.

“Man, you really are one ugly thing, aren’t you?” You tut, shaking your head.

The curse in question did not seem to like your words, letting out a screech and lunging for you in the next moment. Quickly dodging, you parry the curse’s attack, managing to sever one of its many limbs before jumping back and keeping a bit of distance between the two of you. You’re just about to jump in for another attack when you falter, a sudden wave of specialized curse energy pulsing throughout your entire body.

Taking advantage of your momentary loss of composure, the curse lunges at you. You just manage to block the blunt of the attack, still getting a small scrape on your cheek in the process. You curse.

Another two minutes pass by and you’re finally able to dispose of the second level two. Immediately, the air in the building seems lighter, and you know you’ve cleared all the required curses and purified the space. Breathing a sigh of relief you head towards the exit, ready to be clear of this building once and for all.

As soon as you step outside, you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket, signalling that you’re getting a call. Thinking it to be Yuuji, you don’t even bother checking the caller id before answering right away.

“Hello?” You say, just as you hear the door fall shut behind you.

“(Y/n)! So glad you answered on the first ring,” the voice of your personal teacher and trainer, Gojo Satoru answers in a chipper voice. “Listen, I have some news for you.”

“Listen, teach, if you’re just gonna tell me about the mochi you bought today-“

“Ryomen Sukuna has been released,” he cuts you off, and you can only freeze in your tracks as your breath hitches in your throat. “We currently have control of his vessel.”

“What happened?” You ask, steadying yourself with your back against the side of the building you’ve just exited.

“Ah, nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about,” Gojo assures you. “We had it under control.”

“We?” Your brow quirks slightly even though he can’t see it.

“Yeah, Fushiguro and I,” he replies. “Well, it was mainly me, but who’s keeping score?” You can faintly hear grumbling in the background and then a chuckle from Gojo. “Anyways, best return to campus as soon as possible.”

“I can’t,” comes your immediate response.

There’s silence for a moment until, “and why’s that?”

“I have to go visit Yuuji,” you bring a hand up to rub at your temples. This conversation is giving you a headache.

“You mentioned he lives near Sendai, correct?” Gojo inquires.

“That’s correct,” you confirm, “why?”

“The incident was near there, so you can’t come, it’s not safe for you,” he explains.

You scoff, “since when have you ever been concerned for my safety?”

“I’m offended,” he feigns hurt. “As your teacher, I’m always concerned for your safety.”

“Bullshit,” you huff, rolling your eyes. “Anyways, that’s all the more reason I should go and see him. Now I have two reasons to make sure he’s okay.”

You hear a deep sigh on the other end before Gojo is speaking once more, “listen, (Y/n), you know I’m not usually one to be a stickler for rules and such, and I hate enforcing things, but I’m going to need you to get back to campus and wait in your dorm until I come get you.”

“But-“

“That’s an order,” his voice is firm, and you know that there’s no arguing with him once he’s made up his mind.

“Fine,” you sigh, pushing yourself off of the wall in order to head to the train station. “Will you at least tell me the name of Sukuna’s vessel?”

“All in due time,” he says, sounding too cheerful for the current events which have just taken place this evening. “See you back at the academy!”

Without another word, the line goes dead and you know he’s ended the call to avoid answering any more of your questions.

Letting out another sigh, you tuck your phone away in your pocket. You sent a quick text to Yuuji beforehand, just explaining that something came up and you’re still thinking of him during this time. You hope you can see him soon.

The ride back to campus is spent thinking about the effects of Sukuna now being released. You know the elders will probably fight to execute whoever the poor idiot is that ingested his finger. Knowing Gojo, he’d fight against whatever the elders decide to do. You’re just hoping that whoever the idiot is that turned out to be Sukuna’s vessel is strong enough to both contain and control him.

Making it back to campus, you immediately head to your room, just as Gojo had instructed you to do. Figuring you have enough time before he comes calling, you take a quick shower, washing off the dirt and grime from the events of this evening. Once done, you change into some comfortable clothes and lay down on your bed, scrolling through your phone as you wait for Gojo to appear.

It’s not until noon the next day when Gojo finally shows up at your door.

“Took you long enough, I’m starving,” you grumble, noticing he’s carrying what looks like two prepackaged lunches in his hands.

“You could have gone out for food, you know,” he chuckles, already moving to sit down in your desk chair.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was told to ‘wait in my room and await further instructions,’” you cross your arms, allowing your door to fall shut as you return to sitting on your bed.

“Details, details,” he waves you off as you grab one of the lunches he hands you. “Anyways, I came to update my favourite student about what’s going on.”

You simply quirk a brow at him as you open your lunch, waiting for him to continue.

“Well, for starters I’ve delayed the inevitable,” he begins, to which you only give him a look. He goes on to explain that the vessel will most likely be joining the other first years in training to become a sorcerer until the proper time comes. “I’ve basically convinced the elders to allow the vessel to consume all of Sukuna’s fingers before being executed.”

“Okay, and?” You stare at him expectantly.

“Please, do hold your applause,” he grins, expression only faltering slightly when you continue to remain silent after a few moments. “Geez, tough crowd. Anyways, I thought you’d be more happy about this.”

“I only feel bad for the poor idiot who got involved in all of this,” you sigh, continuing to place food in your mouth while chewing thoughtfully.

“Oh, he’s an idiot alright,” Gojo chuckles.

“And who exactly is he?” You tilt your head slightly, looking at him expectantly.

Gojo lets out a deliberate yawn while standing up, stretching his arms above his head, “would you look at that? I’m late for a meeting with the principle. Toodles!”

Without another word, he vanishes from your room, only leaving you just as frustrated with him as you were before, with many more unanswered questions building in your mind. It’s just like him to do this to you, too. Always keeping information this important from you until you’re thrust upon a situation where you’re forced to confront the facts of the matter. You just hope that this is another one of his stupid training exercises and not him purposely avoiding telling you straight up who the vessel is. You also hope whoever the vessel is, is someone you don’t know since it’ll probably make it easier when the time comes. Still, knowing Gojo, he probably will come up with a plan to save the poor soul set for execution even after everything is said and done. If the poor boy even lives that long.

Finishing up your lunch, you decide to head towards the principle’s office. You are technically considered a first year in the university courses, so maybe you’ll have a chance to sneak a look at the vessel if you’re lucky. Besides, Gojo did mention something about Fushiguro and you meeting up with the other new first year tomorrow, so you want intel on what’s happening in regards to that.

Just as you raise your hand to knock on the principle’s door Gojo opens it as if he was expecting you. You attempt to sneak a glance past him but to no avail, only causing him to chuckle as he steps into the hallway and shuts the door behind him.

“How can I help you, my dear student?” He smiles, leaning against the now closed door.

“When are we meeting the new girl, and is the vessel accompanying us?” Your questions are direct and straight to the point.

“Ah, yes, Nobara,” Gojo nods. “Unfortunately, you won’t be accompanying us guys to meet up with her tomorrow, you have another mission to attend to.”

“Since when?” You scoff.

“Since now,” he singsongs. “Level one curse spotted at an old primary school. I would take care of it myself, but as you know, I care deeply about every single one of my students so I must be there to meet Nobara on her first day! Besides, you’re the only one I trust to do this assignment right now.”

Any protests you had soon die in your throat at his last statement. Though still ticked off you won’t get to go with them, you understand why he’s chosen you. Besides, this is your job, and you know it will help with your training.

“Fine,” you grumble, “but I still want to meet the new kids.”

“All in due time,” he waves you off with the same words he told you last night. “Now you better get planning before that curse gets too out of hand! I’ll text you the details!”

“Yeah, yeah,” this time it’s your turn to wave him off as you turn around and start walking back to your dorm to grab your stuff, muttering under your breath, “you old croon.”

The offended gasp you hear behind you is enough to drown out the sound of the principle’s door opening once more, two people stepping out to join Gojo in the hallway.

“Who’s that?” Itadori asks Gojo as they watch your retreating form disappear behind a corner.

“One of my best students,” Gojo hums proudly in response.

“Funny, she looks just like my best friend-“

“C’mon, I’ll show you to your dorm!” Gojo cuts him off before he can finish his sentence, leading him down the hallway in the opposite direction to which you disappeared in, Itadori not being able to do much else but follow close behind.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later Gojo sends you a text with all the details you’ll need to exercise the curse tomorrow at the primary school. You plan to leave early in the morning since it’ll take you at least an hour or two to get to the location, and then another hour or two to get back. You also want to see if you can catch the guys before they leave, see if you can introduce yourself to one of the two newbies at least.

Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t seem like the luck of coincidence is on your side in the morning as you prepare to leave campus. Letting out a small sigh, you make your way to the train station, ready to begin your mission for the day and get it over with as soon as you can. Perhaps you can time things just right so that you get back to campus around the same time that they do. After all, this task should be a walk in the park.

Oh, how wrong you are.

Not only did it take you three hours to arrive to the primary school, but the curse, which was supposed to be one level one turned out to be two level one curses sharing the vicinity. They cornered you and you ended up getting thrown harshly against the wall, causing your whole body to ache all over once you finally managed to exercise the curses. You’re pretty sure you pulled a few muscles in the process, too, and the amount of scrapes and bruises you acquired since the other day has tripled. Damn Gojo.

Limping back to the train station, you check your phone. Speaking of your personal trainer, he’s been keeping you up to date with the newbies all throughout the day, though he keeps referring to the boy as ‘the vessel’. Furrowing your brow, you find it strange how he hasn’t told you the boy’s name yet, only making you believe that it probably is someone you know. There’s still a tiny sliver of you that’s hoping Gojo is just testing your deduction skills, but at this point, that’s probably not the case.

Sitting down in the first free seat you find, you text him back. Almost immediately you get a response, letting you know that the two newbies have just passed their first test and that you should be proud of your fellow students. You play along with his enthusiasm for the time being, being obviously sarcastic in your responses, but Gojo doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, it seems as if he’s amused by your reactions, only serving to irritate you further.

By the time you get back to campus, you’re drained. All you want to do is take a nice, warm shower, curl up in a ball on your bed and sleep. You don’t even care if you miss meeting the new students. That’s how your day is going so far. Besides, it’s getting late and they don’t seem to be back yet. There’s always tomorrow.

Except, you don’t get to meet them the next day, nor the day after that. It takes a full week before you even cross paths with Nobara, and even still, the meeting seems rushed. Luckily, you manage to properly introduce yourself to her the day after that one, but for some reason, Sukuna’s vessel just keeps eluding you. That, or someone is purposely keeping the two of you apart. It’s not until two weeks after that fateful day has passed that you finally get your answer.

The three first years have been tasked with handling a few curses at a juvenile detention centre while you accompany Gojo on one of his missions at the same time. You’re getting real tired of his antics, every time you ask him about the boy who’s Sukuna’s vessel he answers you either cryptically, or changes the subject. The worst is when he ignores your inquiries all together. You’re hoping to get some information out of him this evening though, otherwise you might just sneak over to ‘see’ Megumi one day and actually go to see his neighbour who just so happens to be the vessel.

Another reason why you’re in a bit of a grumpy mood recently is that Yuuji seems to be distancing himself from you. Your conversations are very dry as of late, and he doesn’t seem to want to tell you what’s going on in his life. There’s even been a few day where you’ve tried to sneak away to go visit him, but each time, Gojo has stopped you in some way or other. You’re convinced he’s hiding something, but you don’t want to accept the reality he’s been presenting to you as of late.

“(Y/n), I need you to focus,” Gojo snaps his fingers in front of your face, successfully startling you back to reality.

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” you blink a few times to clear your head, needing to focus since this is a serious task for the both of you.

“Everything okay?” He asks, the two of you now continuing to move through the labyrinth laid out before you, having yet to stumble upon any one of the four special grade curses you’re supposed to be exercising.

“Just fine,” you sigh before muttering out, “it’s not like I’m going to get answers anyways.”

“Now, now, you don’t know that for sure,” he grins, hands in his pockets as he walks beside you nonchalantly.

“Considering every time I bring up the new guy you avoid the topic, I’d say, yeah,” you peek around the corner before confirming the hallway is clear, turning back to face Gojo who already seems to be looking at you amusedly, “I do know.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet,” he hums.

“There’s not much to go on,” you reply.

“Oh, I believe there’s plenty,”

“Yeah, well, that’s cause you already know everything there is to know about this subject,” you huff.

“Oh, you flatter me so,” he chuckles, only causing you to roll your eyes at him in exasperation.

“Well, I suppose there is one question I have for you, teach,” you start to say, until you finally come across one of the special grade curses.

The two of you quickly press your backs against the wall, preparing to attack. Gojo gives you the go ahead to attack first, and you do, using his quick distraction of walking out and gaining the curse’s attention to sneak up on it and destroy it. No more than two minutes pass and you’ve succeeded.

“What’s the question?” Gojo calls your attention back to him as you both continue on through the hallway.

“On the day he was released, I felt a sudden wave of specialized curse energy ripple through me, almost as if there had been a part of it dormant that had suddenly been awoken,” you say, turning to look at his face in order to gage his reaction. “Is that normal, considering how far I was from the main site?”

“Hmm,” he brings a hand up to cup his chin in his fingers, contemplating the new information you’ve provided him. He only wishes you would have told him sooner. “Considering the distance and Sukuna’s total power, it’s not that surprising.” You let out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding. “However, since at the time it was only one-twentieth of his power over that great of a distance, that is very odd. Considering that you know our reputation with strangeness in this trade, this makes it even stranger. Has it happened at any other point in time after that?”

Your brow furrows as you contemplate his question. “Actually, yeah, now that I think about it. I think it was a day or two after the initial release.”

“Huh, interesting,” he hums once more, a slight frown pulling at his lips as he considers what this means. Looks like his original hunch was correct as both these surges you’ve felt correspond with Itadori ingesting one of Sukuna’s fingers.

“What, exactly, is interesting?” You stare at him expectantly.

“Nothing you need to worry yourself with for the time being,” he assures you, just as another one of the special grade curses jumps out at the two of you. In an instant, Gojo has eliminated the threat, neither of you faltering in your steps down the hall.

“You know, sometimes I swear you take the phrase ‘having blind faith’ too seriously,” you let out a long breath.

He laughs at this, “what makes you say that?”

You just raise a brow at him in response, the look on your face enough to convey your thoughts. He laughs once more.

“Nothing wrong with having a little faith in me, you know,” he jokes as you two near the centre of the building where you can feel major curse energy pouring out.

You say nothing, opting to shake your head at him in response as you ready yourselves to enter the main room. Slowly opening the doors, you walk in, the two of you scanning the room for either of the final two curses that have still yet to show themselves.

All is silent for a few moments until you feel a pang reverberate through you, the familiar feeling of specialized curse energy flowing throughout your whole being. Your eyes widen as this one far exceeded the power of the first two.

“Hey, uh, teach?” Gojo pauses mid-step as he observes you, hearing the uncertainty in your voice. “It just happened again.”

As soon as those words leave your lips, the final two curses you’ve been hunting for pop out of nowhere and attack the both of you. The one closest to you manages to knock you into Gojo, him steadying you as the two curses near the both of you to attack.

“(Y/n), I’m sending you to where the first years are, I have a bad feeling something terrible has happened,” he says lowly in your ear.

“What? Right now?” You don’t even have time to look at him incredulously as you both jump in opposite directions to avoid the attacks of the curses.

“Right now,” he confirms. “Don’t worry about me, I can handle these two clowns.”

The curses growl at him as he says those words, with him managing to split one of them in half in the next moment.

“I wasn’t,” you reply, unamused.

“Well, best hurry, wouldn’t want Sukuna wrecking havoc,” he grins at you and something clicks in your mind.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you growl. “At least tell me the name of his vessel!”

“You already know it,” is the last thing you hear before your vision shifts, you now standing on a path outside in an unfamiliar area.

You mentally curse him as you collect your bearings, noticing Megumi standing across from you, facing towards you as another man stands between the two of you with his back turned to you. You’d recognize that back anywhere, not to mention the hair. Now you’re really mentally cursing your teacher.

You remain still, noticing how Megumi darts his gaze over to you as if to tell you not to move. Assessing the situation, you begin to plot your best course of action as you see drops of blood dripping onto the ground near Sukuna’s feet. A quick scope of the area has your eyes widening slightly, telling yourself to remain calm as you see a heart laying in the grass as if it was tossed carelessly off to the side.

Of course, Sukuna felt your presence before even bothering to turn to look at you. At the moment, he’s more focused on talking to Megumi, then he can deal with this newer secondary presence, no matter how familiar it seems. He can feel the eyes trailing over his back before he even sees them, but your voice has him halting his actions momentarily.

“Damn, Yuuji, I leave you alone for two weeks and you decide to get tattoos?” Your voice is light, playful even, despite the grim situation you know that you’ve been thrust into.

Megumi shoots you a cautious look as you both notice Sukuna tense slightly between the two of you, before standing up straighter and rolling his shoulders once. A chuckle escapes him, causing you and Megumi to share another concerned look between you both before his movements catch your eyes.

Sukuna would recognize that voice anywhere. Oh, how cruel fate can be.

Turning deliberately slow, he faces towards you, eyes roaming over your figure and nearly sending a shiver down your spine until they come to lock with yours. With a smirk on his features, he licks his lips, “(Y/n).”

246 notes · View notes

ateezmakemeweep · 5 years ago

Photo

you’re the one that i want (part 6)

word count: 5k

angst, fluff

(part 5) (series masterlist)

tag list: @chogiout ; @seonghwaslut ; @psshwa ; @yeocult ; @seongghwaa ; @atinyarmyx1 ; @8teenee ; @nczenniez ; @mingtopiaa ; @chubsluda ; @myjiminmychimchim ; @mochibabycakes ; @jisungity ; @skz-on-my-mind ; @nlost21 ; @myonlyaurora ; @closer-stars ; @kuaenam3g ; @byungaji ; @floweryjh ; @joeycheungg ; @lostscenarios ; @atinyxtopia ; @sanism ; @cherryeonii ; @chaoticbanqtan ;

it was a week later, all healthy and really improving with your surfing skills, when seonghwa asked you on a date. it had been completely unexpected and you truthfully thought you misunderstood him at first.

“did you see that!” you squealed, running in from surfing a wave.

it was still a fairly small accomplishment opposed to what you’ve seen him and his friends do over the past few days, watching shyly from your spot with your aunt and simply waving at them when they pass by.

but you’re just excited that you’re no longer plummeting into the water with an embarrassing splash; and apparently so is seonghwa, watching you with an amused smirk.

“i did,” he chuckles out, watching you sit atop the board to meet his gaze.

he had come over twice within the past week, bringing you soup again before you decided to make him cookies as a thank you. the conversation was still light and casual but it was the small things you were noticing.

how your arms had grazed and bumped clumsily, your shy smile and his knowing smirk as you met each other’s gaze, the way you again fell asleep outside and woke up in your bed. and even with all of that, your heart still goes into overload when he smiles at you like the way he is now.

“you might be better than jongho,” he says, placing his hands on the board and swaying it in the water. you giggle at the movement, grasping onto it gently as your eyes narrow at him playfully.

“you’re lying.”

“you’re right,” he says, chuckling when you stick your hand in the water and splash some up at him. “but you really are getting better.”

“thanks,” you say sweetly, the shy smile on your face with a turn of your head causing his smile to widen.

you were only faintly aware of his wet hands grazing the inside of your leg before a wave crashes down and wobbles the board beneath you. his hand wraps around the top of your knee, squeezing your skin slightly as you squeal. your hand reaches out to grasp his broad tanned shoulder and he smirks seeing your position, knowing a blush on your face will promptly appear.

and when it does he can only chuckle, shaking his head at you with a knowing look. “forget sunscreen again?”

you only narrow your eyes at his teasing, sliding off the board before your feet hit the ocean floor.

“no,” you grumble. he bites his lip to hide his smile, looking over your blushing figure standing in front of him.

and it could be because of how pretty you look, with the sun shining behind you and your body glistening with salt water, or because of how much he wants to spend more time with you that he asks what you’re doing tonight.

“nothing,” you tell him with a shrug. “i was gonna finish that series maybe. i only have two episodes left.” he smirks hearing you talk about the show you started when you were sick, remembering the way you’d tiredly ramble on and on about each episode from your spots on the balcony.

“do you wanna do something tonight instead?”

you raised your eyebrows as you look at him, your fingers nervously dipping into the water. “like what? another bonfire?” but then he shakes his head, not wanting to deal with sneaking away after you or dealing with his friends. he wants something more...private.

just for the two of you.

“nah, maybe getting food or something,” he says and he has to stop himself from closing his eyes in humiliation. get food or something? what an idiot he sounds like. but he supposes he’s never really asked a girl on a date before.

“oh. um. okay, yeah, we can do that,” you say quietly, your heart and mind racing at the image of you and him sitting across a table together. looking like a couple on a-

oh my god, a date. is this a date? is he asking you on a date? there’s no way. you’ve never been on a date before and there’s no way your first is gonna be with a man of his caliber.

he can only smirk at your stuttering, raising an eyebrow as he looks questioningly at you. “you sure? only if you want to.”

“i do,” you blurt out embarrassingly fast, a flustered smile and chuckle leaving you. “i just...is it like...are your friends coming, too?” he turns his head to the side, his tongue coming out to lick at his lips as his hand comes up to fix a strand of your wet hair.

“why would they come on a date?”

and little to the knowledge of both of you, a trio of boy’s watched the whole thing unfold.

“does this fuck not realize we come to the beach, too?” hongjoong asks, board under his arm as he watches you both smile at one another.

“remember when he was like ‘no i don’t like her, i don’t even know her,’” jongho impersonates poorly, yunho smirking as hongjoong asks how he even remembers that in his drunken stupor.

“fuck you,” the younger boy snaps, looking at you guys again and watching seonghwa cup his hands with water and throw it over your head.

it’s a known thing that seonghwa doesn’t smile often, his lips always barely quirked into a smirk or blank expression. but yet there he was, smiling and teasing like a boy who finally learned how to show any sort of emotion; it’s a weird but nice thing for his friends to see.

“why do you think he doesn’t want us to know?” jongho innocently asked. and yunho and hongjoong can only raise an eyebrow at the boy, shaking their heads as they hypothesize that perhaps it’s because they all harass the shit out of each other.

but regardless, they decide to leave you two be, sneak away from the rest of the group and act surprised when seonghwa tells them that night that he’ll be staying in.

“you’re going on a date, aren’t you?”

your eyes widen the second you hear those words leave your aunt’s mouth, your cheeks flushing and mouth dropping like she accused you of something awful.

“wh-what?” you stutter, pulling at your white dress as you stare down at your sandals. did you try too hard? do you look ridiculous? is that how she was able to tell?

“aw you are!” she squeals, placing her glass of wine down so she can clap excitedly. “is it with that handsome boy who’s been visiting on the balcony?”

a look of guilt and horror crosses your face that immediately causes her to giggle, a wide smirk on her lips.

“oh, c’mon, you didn’t think i don’t hear you guys?”

“i’m sorry,” you immediately babble out, embarassment and shame immediately flooding through you. “i didn’t mean to be-”

she immediately waves her hand dismissively, shaking her head adamantly because she knows where that was going. “don’t you dare apologize, have that boy over every damn day. i’ve never heard you laugh like that.”

your cheeks flush and you let out an awkward chuckle, looking down at your feet to wiggle your toes nervously. “how did you know,” you find yourself mumbling before you can stop, “is it too much?”

“oh, y/n,” she sighs, shaking her head as she throws back her glass of wine. “you look beautiful, don’t start that shit.” you chuckle quietly at her words, your phone vibrating in your hand showing a text from seonghwa.

“oh god, he’s here,” you mutter, looking at your aunt with panicked eyes. “maybe tell him i’m sick again. that i’m not fully better and shouldn’t-”

“don’t even try it,” she demands, placing her glass down before skipping over to you. she runs her fingers through your hair before smiling happily, throwing her thumb up before guiding you over to the door.

“relax and smile, y/n. just have fun, okay? he asked you for a reason.”

and while those words settle you slightly, it does nothing to help you once you walk out the door and see him. his car is black with no doors, seeing clearly into the clean car as he leans back in his seat.

he looks over and smiles when he sees you standing there, the sun low in the sky as your white dress makes you look even more pure than usual; it tugs at something in his chest, something he knows he shouldn’t feel and has been trying to resist.

because he wants to ruin you in the best way. make the blush spread across your cheeks for a reason with the knowledge that he’s the only one able to do that.

“hi,” you say softly, plopping down in the hot leather seat and ripping him from his impure thoughts.

“hey,” he hums, looking over you before his eyes finally meet yours. the look in them eyes makes your heart flutter, biting your lip as you smile at him.

“hi.”

he lets out a chuckle, waiting until you’re buckled in to take off down the street. you squeal at the unfamiliar rush of wind that surrounds your body, sticking your arm out of the exposed door to feel the air on your skin.

“this is cool,” you tell him with a smile. he smirks watching your arm whip through the air, his deep voice mumbling “careful,” when a car in the other lane speeds past.

“i didn’t know you drove. i only ever saw you with your surfboard,” you tease with a smile, giggling when he rolls his eyes and looks at you.

“that’s interesting since someone’s taken it over these days,” he says, chuckling when you reach out and smack his arm lightly.

you had insisted a few times during your lessons that you were gonna buy your own, that you felt bad about using his and making it ‘weathered.’ but he only shook his head and assured you that wasn’t necessary; he also so kindly put that a new board style and size might backtrack all of your improvement.

“you’re the one who said i shouldn’t get one,” you whined, the pout on your face catching his eye and making him realm in the beast inside of him. because while he knows he’s been attracted to you since the first time he saw you and touched you, it seems to be really hitting him in this moment.

something about the wind in your hair and the setting sun, how you’re so happily content just because the car has no doors and you’re surrounded by the salty air. he also noticed within these past few days of you guys hanging out, you’ve gotten a little bit more comfortable around him.

you’re still shy and carry a nervous energy but you’re smiling more, not so hesitant to tease him or smack him lightly. and he hopes that tonight, he’s able to keep you smiling. because if there’s a few things he’s also noticed within these past few weeks, it’s that he likes being the reason behind it.

but of course, because he’s troubled himself and carries darkness anywhere he goes, that quickly goes to shit.

you guys arrive at the restaurant on the outskirts of town, the turquoise building set just a few feet away from the entrance of a smaller beach. he figured this was a suitable place for you (and him), quiet and cute without the lingering stares of people who will see you both at bonfires this summer.

but before you guys can even see sit down, seonghwa guiding you into the restaurant by the small of your back, the dirty blonde is pushed and nearly barrels into you. he grabs you so you don’t fall into the concrete wall, holding you tightly before he turns around to see who even had the balls to do that.

he recognizes them immediately, the three boys who ushered him over and asked if he’d start selling again; he told them he’d let them know later in the night but then ended up swimming with you; and when he’d gone back, they had already left.

so he’s wanting to know what they think they’re doing pushing him.

“what the fuck, soobin?”

the growl in seonghwa’s voice immediately causes you to tense, looking back at the tall boys you remember from the bonfire two weeks ago. you had thought then that they were scary, tall and intimidating and attractive which seems to be the common theme with boys in this beach town.

but right now it was different. and right now, you didn’t recognize seonghwa. he had just been smiling in the car and touching you gently and now he looks about ready to rip someone’s head off.

“where’d you go the other night?”

seonghwa clenches his jaw, not feeling inclined to answer these assholes but also not wanting them to say something in front of you.

“i was around. you were the ones who left.”

a boy with yellow hair looks over your body, seonghwa’s arm still wrapped around your waist that causes the boy to smirk at you; you can only smile politely, hoping that he’ll pity you two and ask his friend to leave seonghwa only.

“we were waiting for your answer.”

seonghwa’s body stiffens and you furrow your eyebrows together, a knot in the pit of your stomach at the way he disconnects his arm from you and turns to meet your gaze.

“how ‘bout you go get us a table? i’ll be right in.”

and even though he phrased it as a question, you know it’s a demand. you know with the look his dark eyes are giving you that you’re not about to deny him. but you hold his stare for a few seconds, like you’re trying to calm him with just a soft, hopeful look, before you open your mouth to speak.

but it gets cut off by another voice.

“how ‘bout we all eat together?” the boy with yellow hair suggests, causing seonghwa to look back at him. “we can talk over your....opportunity and you let us know tonight.”

“no,” he growls out simply, turning his head back to you and nodding toward the restaurant. “go. i’ll be in in a second.”

you swallow nervously at his harsher tone and nod your head, your eyes meeting the three boys behind seonghwa before sending a small, parting smile there way. “okay,” you tell him, voice squeaker than before and sending a pang of guilt through seonghwa.

you’re about to take a step toward the restaurant when someone grabs your arm a bit too roughly, pulling you back to the group and sending a surprise squeal through the air. seonghwa immediately breaks the harsh grip off you, shielding you with his body before pushing at the boy.

“don’t fucking touch her,” seonghwa growls, stepping toward him as he narrows his eyes threateningly. and you think it’s probably a mix of the animalistic way in which he said it and the nerves running through you at being grabbed, so harshly and so familiarly, that’s causing your stomach to be in knots.

“what, does your newest bitch of the week not know you’re a-”

“yeonjun,” the tallest boy growls, pushing seonghwa back slightly as he reprimands his friend.

“c’mon, soobin, she’s too pretty not to tell,” he says and the words make your stomach twist in disgust. you don’t like the way he’s looking at you, roaming over your figure and smirking when he looks at your slightly fearful face; you’d think you’d be used to violence but this only serves to make you more upset.

“what’s your name, babe?”

another annoyed growl leaves seonghwa as he tries to go after the boy again, you hand reaching out to grab his before you can even think twice. you pull him back with a small shake of your head, dragging him next to you before looking at him.

“let’s just go, seonghwa,” you say quietly. because something tells you these boys won’t stop, that they’ll keep poking at him until they’re all sporting black eyes and busted face; but you just want him away from them.

“he can’t do that, baby girl,” yeonjun says, looking at you with a conniving pout. “first, he owes us a few favors.”

“no i don’t,” the boy next to you grunts lowly, the tension and anger radiating off of him making you more and more uneasy.

but he knew when he first started to sell for soobin a few summers ago that it was gonna go wrong. it was obvious in the way yunho and hongjoong tore into him, told him what degenerates him and his friends were and that they’re not a good crowd to be around.

he was young and desperate though, and frankly just tired of being ignored by everyone in his life. so he figured if he was gonna be alone, he might as well be alone with money and respect. but then the sales got bigger, the drugs got harder and the risk of getting caught just started to become too much.

so he left last summer swearing to himself he would’t be doing it anymore.

“you can’t just not do it anymore,” soobin says, a lot more subtle and ‘professional’ than his other loud-mouthed friend; seonghwa never liked him and now he sees why his dislike was immediate.

“who are you to tell me that?” seonghwa growls, your hand tightening on his when he tries to move forward again. “you stupid fucks were the ones who asked me and now i don’t have a choice?”

“exactly,” yeonjun says, the snide smirk on his face that makes even you narrow your eyes at him now. and the yellow-haired boy notices because he only meets your gaze, his tongue peeking out to lick his chapped lips.

“unless you wanna make a trade,” he continues lowly, taking a step closer to you that makes you move slightly behind seonghwa. “we’ll drop it and you give us this pretty little-”

seonghwa rips his hand from yours, sensing your discomfort along with his own anger, and immediately lands on a punch on the boy’s face; a gasp leaves your mouth as the two boys work to push him away, yeonjun letting out a manic laugh like he’d been waiting for that moment.

“that was really fuckin’ stupid, seonghwa,” soobin growls at the boy, pushing yeonjun to the boy in the back and telling them to go to the car. “you knew when you started dealing that we were gonna-”

“i’m not talking about this with you right now,” seonghwa growls from beside, his eyes narrowing as he pushes the boy back.

“then you shouldn’t have been a pussy and-”

“seonghwa, please.”

and it’s like when he hears your soft voice, he remembers you’re even here, immediately turning to see you looking at him with panic and pleading in your wide eyes. he feels dread pool in his stomach almost right after, remembering that this was supposed to be a date and now he’s just punched someone in the face and is ready to do it again.

he immediately takes your hand in his, eyes roaming your face with anger and tension so evident it makes you pout. this would usually be the time that you’d be on the verge of an anxiety attack, breathing labored and face pale at the idea of conflict and fighting and being in the way.

but right now, you only wanna take him away from all of that.

so it’s why, even though he doesn’t deserve it, you give soobin a polite, dismissive smile before tightening your hold on seonghwa’s hand and walking the opposite way. you’re surprised by how easily seonghwa follows, waiting until you’re about a block away to stop the both of you.

“y/n, i’m sorry,” his deep voice mumbles, unsure of what to make of your silence. he wouldn’t be surprised if you tell him what a piece of shit he is, if you yell at him for wasting your time or demand to be taken home or accuse him of being a degenerate like yeonjun and soobin.

because he asked you on a date and you were expecting something normal like dinner; but with all of his bullshit, he couldn’t even do that.

“it’s okay,” you say quietly, smiling up at him as you watch the storm in his brown eyes. he can only chuckle humorlessly, shaking his head at how softly and honestly you’re looking at him.

“it’s not,” he says lowly, the tone in his voice one you haven’t heard from him yet.

because while it stills holds annoyance, he also sounds... disappointed in a way. maybe because now you’ve seen some of the anger and rage you knew he had in there. how his cold demeanor isn’t just something he puts up and how maybe there’s a little bit more to how indifferent he seems everyday.

but you’ve also seen softer sides of him. how he helped you at the beach and brought you food and for once in your life has made you feel like someone besides your aunt has been there for you - all while only knowing him for a month.

so while that’s a little concerning to you, you can’t find it in yourself to care. you just want him to smile and laugh and perhaps even tease you tonight, turn your date into something that won’t leave you both upset or tense.

“it is,” you squeak again, smiling up at him and the sight alone causes his chest to ache. why are you smiling at him like that? he doesn’t deserve it and it shouldn’t be making him feel like this.

“how do you figure?” he asks lowly, bringing his hand to your face to tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ear. “i fucked up this date.” he’s shocked when you roll your eyes and shake your head, tightening your hold on his hand before telling him to follow you.

“what?” he asks in surprise. but you only turn around and cock your head to the side.

“we’re still on a date,” you say quietly because even though you’re feeling bold and adamant about making him feel better, you’re still shy in these attempts. “and i saw something that might be fun.”

his eyebrow raises, a smile quirking at his lips at the way you’re looking at him and trying to be ‘in charge.’ but it’s also one of the cutest things he’s ever seen in his life, so who is he not to go along with it?

“look at the nemo’s! oh, my gosh and the dory’s!”

seonghwa has watched you squeal and run around the aquarium for about an hour now, dragging him by the hand from exhibit to exhibit. the colorful fish and exotic animals had held his attention for all of ten minutes before your excited giggles and bright eyes had him all too distracted.

it only made him more inclined to smile at you, taking your hand in his and interlacing your fingers. and just because he knew it would make you completely perturbed, he’s still going with his current story that he has no idea who nemo and dory are.

“dory’s the clownfish, right?”

you snap your head to the side and stare at him with wide eyes, in disbelief the boy beside you really has no idea what you’re talking about. “you really have never seen that movie?”

he smiles softly at the pout on your face, resisting the urge to laugh as he nods his head. “afraid i haven’t,” he hums lowly, the look he’s giving you far too intimate for a public space; luckily, the establishment was mostly empty given that it’s only open for another hour.

“well we’re gonna have to watch it one day,” you say casually, looking at the tank and tracing your finger lightly over it. a small smile makes its way on your face as a small fish daringly swims over, following your finger that’s rubbing in small circles.

“already planning the second date, huh?” he hums, leaning his head against the glass. your finger stops and cheeks flush, looking at him with a shy, flustered look. you have no one to blame but yourself, though, you’re the one who wanted him to be happy and teasing tonight.

but still, it doesn’t make you any less of a bumbling idiot.

“i-i mean, well, i just...it’s a classic and-”

his chuckle is deep and low and sends butterflies through your stomach, his hand reaching out to smooth down your hair. his touch is soft and gentle and you don’t even realize your instinct to flinch away isn’t anywhere to be found.

“alright, a second date then. given how this one started, i think i’m pretty lucky.”

“it wasn’t that bad,” you mumble, a smirk pulling at your lips because even you can admit watching your date punch someone in the face is a pretty bizarre way to start. and you’re also not ignorant of the fact that you heard some...concerning things.

but they’ll be time to discuss that later tonight, maybe. not while he’s smiling at you the way he is and accepting your atrocious, accidental request for a second date.

“thought i told you not to lie,” he says lowly, his voice dropping as his hand snakes down to your lips. you don’t even breathe as he traces them gently, watching closely as your breath becomes strangled and your cheeks flame.

“i-i’m not,” you squeak out, relaxing slightly when his finger drops from your mouth and moves to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. “i’m still having fun. so... how bad could it have been, really?”

and the shy way in which you say it leaves his heart soft again, biting at his lip so he doesn’t immediately beam down at you.

“you’re cute, you know that?” he mumbles.

you can’t tell if you swallow nervously at the compliment itself or the way he looks at you so softly. but you know your gaze automatically drops to your feet so he doesn’t see your shy smile, giggling inappropriately and causing him to narrow his eyes teasingly.

“why are you laughing?” he asks softly, the smallest hint of a smirk on his face as amusement laces into his voice.

“because you make me nervous,” you admit, looking up at him. “more than usual.”

a breathy chuckle leaves his mouth as he moves his hand away from you and puts it on the glass, watching that same clownfish that was swirling around your finger move to his.

“dory’s not scared of me,” he says lowly, not even needing to see your face to know you look outraged and annoyed. “so you don’t have to be.”

his words tug at your heart and make you feel warm, knowing that later tonight they’re gonna ring in your head over and over again. but if you dwell on them now, you think you’ll probably end up bursting into tears and clinging on to him.

so you can only whine “that’s not dory,” as you poke him in the back gently.

he looks up and smiles at you, shrugging his shoulders before intertwining your fingers. his eyes catch the exhibit for sea turtles and he’s quick to guide you over, excited to see just how happy you’ll get when you see crush.

and even though he’s obviously seen finding nemo before, he listens as you tell him all about the plot, the characters, the utter tragicness of the classic disney movie. and the topic only carries on into dinner, you guys walking back to the car hand-in-hand before driving back to town.

he got a chocolate shake that you took a sip from and he stole half of your fries which ended with him getting a spitball to the face; he said it was deserved since you were getting stuck with diner food at the end of your date.

except it wasn’t quite the end yet because you guys walked down to the beach afterward, past the rocks you’ve talked on twice and the ocean that you frolick in every day.

“you wanna go night swimming?” you tease, his serious side eye causing you to giggle.

your arms bump as you pad down the beach, sandals in one hand that you’re twirling nervously. you had so much fun tonight and you know it’s ending but you don’t want it to.

you wanna stay with him for the rest of the night and get to know more about him. you wanna know not only what those boys were asking him about earlier but more about him as a person. why he sometimes seems like two different people, someone sweet and soft and caring but then hard and cold and rough.

he intrigues you as much as he scares you and you think for someone like you, damaged and vulnerable and prone to abuse, that that’s a very bad thing. everyone in your life hurts you so why would he be different? you’re sure it’s only a matter of time before he does and you’re not sure if you’ll be able to-

“what are you thinking about?”

you don’t even realize you two have stopped walking until you hear his voice, your feet still under the sand and the moon casted down on him. it should be a sin to be as handsome as he is, his hair slicked back with perfect features and sun-kissed skin.

“nothing,” you tell him softly. because as much as you wanna know about the beginning of this date, you’d never ask him tonight. your heart is too full and excited and you don’t wanna risk ruining the mood and making him upset.

his eyebrow quirks up because he knows you’re lying, but he’s not gonna push you tonight. because he knows you have questions and he’s a coward and can’t bring himself to answer them yet. he can’t risk you wanting to stop hanging out, especially after how great tonight was, despite everything, and especially after he hasn’t kissed you at least once.

so you two just stand there, thoughts swarming in your heads about the other, but mostly overwhelmed by how thick the air feels between you. how he steps closer and your eyes widen slightly but not daring to make a move.

“thank you for coming tonight,” he suddenly says. “or thank you for staying, is what i should be saying.”

“thank you for asking me,” you say back sweetly, rocking on your feet as you smile at him. “i...i had fun. a lot of fun.” he smiles at your words and tone, watching as the wind blows a strand of hair across your face before he reaches out and moves it away.

“yeah?” he hums lowly, his eyes roaming over your face as he runs his hand down your arm.

“yeah,” you say with a smile, ignoring the way his touch causes you to shiver and blaming it on the second gust of wind that comes. but you’re both aware of why it happens.

like how you’re aware of the way you’re both moving closer and closer, his eyes falling to your mouth and your lips parting as shallow breaths escape them. his warm body is radiating heat against your cold one and you’re welcoming every sensation coursing through you, excitement and warmth but also so much nervousness and embarrassment.

because when he starts leaning closer, although you also start, you blurt out, “this was my first date.”

he stops leaning but doesn’t pull away, only raises his eyebrow as he looks at you. you swallow at the way he’s staring deep into you, your eyes falling to his lips before back to his dark, brown eyes.

“so i, uh...” you stutter, swallowing again when he smirks and leans a little closer; almost like he’s teasing you. “so i’ve never done this before.”

he hears the way nerves and embarrassment seep into your voice, looking at him wide-eyed with pink cheeks and now he’s really never wanted to kiss someone more in his life.

it’s why he takes your face in his hands, his palms cupping your cheeks and causing a breathy exhale to leave your mouth. “good,” he says, his thumbs stroking your face as he leans down and presses a feather light kiss to your lips.

it feels almost like nothing but still shocks you, not even having the time to close your eyes before you’re looking at him again; because that was one thing you knew, you knew you weren’t supposed to kiss someone with your eyes open.

“g-good?” you squeak after a few seconds, not even sound enough to feel embarrassed by the shake and waver in your voice.

“good,” he confirms and if the look on his face and smirk on his lips didn’t make you weak enough, his next words absolutely do.

“i wanna be your first.” and then he covers your mouth with his again.

(part 7)

#seonghwa #seonghwa angst #seonghwa fluff #seonghwa series #ateez #ateez series #seonghwa x reader #seonghwa imagines #ateez imagines #ateez x reader #ateez angst #ateez fluff

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reachexceedinggrasp · 4 years ago

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So the majority of the shows I’ve seen lately can be charitably described as ‘light entertainment’, including the ones with dark elements or more weighty, ponderous plots. They might be entertaining or interesting, they just... don’t stand up to scrutiny. Turn your brain off because this isn’t that carefully or skilfully made and you’ll only be annoyed if you start thinking about it as a whole. Including the last couple 'tragic’ historical dramas I’ve watched, which were not effective tragedy for that very reason. If you’re going to kill off the main cast, you have to earn it, and overwhelmingly writers don’t. Anyway, I’ve been getting despondent about whether stories which actually hang together and form a coherent narrative unit with consistent themes are the exception rather than the rule.

(And I feel like that should be a pretty low standard to meet, it’s sort of Step 1 of ‘being a story’: be about something! Communicate something, no matter how basic it is. Dead simple stories with rock basic messages can be revelatory! Just do it well!)

I’ve seen very little genuinely focussed or meaningful storytelling in my ventures for what feels like a long time. Basically, I can kind of count on one hand the number of films or dramas or whathaveyou I’ve seen from the last few years where it felt like the filmmakers were in complete control of their story and everything in it was purposeful and intentional. Most things have felt slapdash or shallow or fleeting. Story elements and character choices come out of nowhere just to derail already concluded arcs and fill screen time with empty repetitious drama, not to serve a meaningful narrative purpose. I would be watching with zero confidence anything in particular was going anywhere or that the writers knew where that should be. It’s just throwing shit at the wall, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type writing all the time and it fucking shows.

But then I watched Money Flower.

Money Flower is different. Money Flower is towering head and shoulders above every modern drama I’ve ever seen. Titanically good writing which rises above its genre and makes conventions seem radically new and fresh not by reinventing them or deconstructing them, but by playing them straight, taking them seriously, and committing 1000%. This is all your familiar rich family tropes but with masterpiece execution, infused with consequence and meaning because they’re all driven by the psychology of complex three-dimensional characters. So many moving pieces and none of them are random or unmotivated. Just... GOOD WRITING. And I want to make the point that it is this wherein art lives. The difference between a rank Lifetime movie and Romeo and Juliet is not novelty or tropes or plot twists- it’s execution.

This show is such a perfect example that it is not ‘mere events’ (aka plot) or novelty or shock value or cool ideas which separates something brilliant and timeless from forgettable schlock; it is solely and entirely execution. It’s writing itself, if you know what I mean. You can describe many of Shakespeare’s tragedies and history plays as soap opera plots. What makes Macbeth a deathless masterwork and Death Wish Hollywood wank isn’t a fundamental difference in subject or genre. It’s Shakespeare’s characterisation and purposeful storytelling. It’s the poetry of the dialogue. It’s the craft of writing. Most of Shakespeare’s plots are based on existing stories or on historical events and that has never mattered because novelty is not an inherent good or of any inherent artistic value.

Like, this is the problem with storytelling right now blah blah GOT, shitty endings everywhere etc. because power over the audience (can’t let anyone guess the plot, looking ‘clever’ with meaningless callbacks) and novelty are valued over narrative structure or things making sense or emotional verisimilitude. We have so many writers thinking being ‘shocking’ is all it takes to be a genius. It’s easy to be shocking if your story makes no goddamn sense because things that don’t make sense are literally unpredictable. Not in a good way, though. A great twist or sudden swerve needs to be unexpected but inevitable in hindsight or it does not work. I should be able to rewatch your thing and think ‘oh, of course! you can see it was [x] all along!’

We have so many popular writers now who are so shallow they don’t think anything needs to make sense on a character or emotional level. They don’t think their story has to be about anything. Substance is irrelevant as long as the surface is flashy enough. That has no staying power, you can only watch it once and you will forget about it quickly.

However, if you have ever wanted to experience the constant heightened stakes and High Drama of a soap opera without being annoyed at how ridiculous it all is and while actually giving a shit about the characters because they feel like real human beings, if you’ve wanted to feel repercussions when characters make choices, and get the emotional payoff that is the entire point of drama- now you can. Watch Money Flower. And let me tell you, it is fucking riveting. This show is mostly made up of people sitting in rooms talking and yet it is heart-pounding excitement nearly every episode. It is profoundly traditional and by the book while being totally fresh. It’s the most engrossing and satisfying artistic experience I’ve had in a long time.

Like, THE TENSION, THE DRAMA, THE REVEALS!!! You can, in fact, spend most of 24+ hours on the edge of your seat about family problems and business mergers. It seems unlikely, but that is the power of this series, it creates insanely high stakes and mesmerising suspense out of the most commonplace ingredients. Familiar plot elements become brand new and surprising under the deftness and tightness of this narrative. The plot itself is certainly 100% melodrama but it never feels like a soap opera and is never ever soapy in in a pejorative sense because it handles its classic tropes with such maturity and nuance that it's like you've never seen them before. The writing is incredible.

It is on an entirely different level than the vast majority of dramas, with a total self-assurance that keeps the pacing relentless yet unhurried- taking its time to let the impact of events be felt, the narrative always knowing exactly where it’s going and how to get there. The characters are all multi-faceted and unpredictable without ever being incoherent, their motives and goals always being gradually uncovered in more detail that only makes the storytelling and characterisation even tighter, even richer. The twists and cliffhangers are always mind-blowing but always earned, never cheap or nonsensical, and I can't remember ever thinking that about another show. (There’s literally one exception towards the very end where something a bit random happens for reasons of pure symbolism- it’s a misstep imo but it’s minor in the scheme of things)

Every time I started to doubt the writing, started to think ‘oh no, they’re going off the rails’, they showed me I was wrong and they were in total control. The only 'problem' with the show is that the drama is also profoundly painful to watch unfold, particularly in the beginning, because it's a story where everyone makes terrible life choices and moral corruption is everywhere. It's hypnotic though, like a car crash. If you can handle something dark, insidious, cerebral, and character-driven there is nothing I've seen in the same vein that can approach its brilliance. It’s like The Magnificent Ambersons as a slick modern revenge drama. There is also (PRECIOUSLY!!) a core of stunning romanticism around which all the horrors revolve and that saves it from becoming hideous or cynical. There is a chance for redemption and a new beginning after all, in spite of all appearances.

The ending has apparently been controversial, and it is definitely not quite as climatic as you would have expected given how powerfully climatic almost every regular episode is, but it's a good ending. There isn't full closure, they don't provide final resolution in a bow, but to me it's an ending about hope. It suggests optimism for our characters and I was satisfied with that. It's extremely rare for a 'revenge story’ to allow this kind of room for healing and it can do that because, imo, we discover in the end that it wasn't ultimately vengeance in Pil Joo’s heart. He has not become a tragic hero who will be consumed by the cannibalistic darkness of revenge, his quest was for justice. He teeters on the edge of the abyss but he avoided falling in; he didn't sell his soul, at least not irrevocably.

He is nonetheless a very tragic figure and an anti-hero, but despite having dedicated his life to bringing down the Jang cabal, it’s not that he’ll stop at nothing. He will make any personal sacrifice no matter how desolate, he lives as a mere husk of a man, and he facilitates enormous emotional harm to others in service of his goals, but he has ethical hard lines he never considers crossing. His sense of decency and compassion is never extinguished; he does care about the collateral damage he is causing even when making justifications for it. It’s important to him to give people as much agency as possible in their choices, to mitigate the damage done by his schemes as much as he can. To try to prevent harm coming to undeserving bystanders. Not that this makes it okay that he uses people, which he does, but the point is he never completely surrenders his moral compass to avarice. He’s never okay with burning down the world or ruining innocent lives just to get to his target.

Pil Joo is less a vigilante and more an avenging angel, he wants justice more than retribution. He wants fairness and a better, safer world where what has happened to his family won’t happen again. The reason this story never becomes Sweeney Todd (aka: a full on tragedy where we see the inevitable outcome of lust for revenge) and the reason he can survive twenty years spent pursuing someone’s downfall is exactly that principle. Searching for retribution would have destroyed him, he would have become the very thing he hated, but instead he goes as far as necessary to publicly expose the Jangs for what they are and then willingly submits to penance for his complicity in their crimes and tries to atone with the people he hurt along the way. Purged, he’s symbolically reborn and takes back his real name to maybe finally have a chance at the life he should have had. He moves on, content, a positive force. He’s capable of healing from the ordeal because he realises he doesn’t need retaliation, just seeing them stopped and facing consequences for their actions is enough.

The love story is a superbly poignant part of this. Their love is the ‘victim’ of his revenge and it will forever be impacted by it, but it’s not something that can be killed, so there’s still hope. Mo Hyeon’s bookending rescues of Pil Joo from death mean first that he has a purpose he must fulfil and then the second time that he has freedom to finally live as himself, for himself. There’s a future. And maybe they can be together there. I’m emo about it.

Anyway, if there was the slightest doubt about me becoming a long-term Jang Hyuk fangirl, it’s been put to rest. This performance is easily one of the best I’ve ever seen, period. No contest it’s the best I’ve seen in a tv drama. It’s also the most subtle and masterful turn he's delivered in his whole career. He's so restrained, but he is giving absolutely everything; he has total control over every microexpression, every gesture, every molecule in his body. There is so much simmering under his surface, so much going on in his eyes; the layers and depths are endless. The intensity and sharp intellectual focus he brings to the character is breathtaking. Everyone else is doing amazing work too, but he is almost constantly on screen and has this spectacular command of such a sprawling story, such a complex character, and he makes it look effortless. All artifice has melted away. The fact that being so tightly contained is in stark contrast to the bombastic element in many of his other roles renders its delicate precision even more startlingly impressive. I thought he was a great actor before, but I didn’t fully appreciate what he was capable of until Pil Joo.

#money flower #kdrama #writing #jang hyuk #long post #I've written a bit before about revenge and how it will inevitably lead to tragedy #so I wouldn't without explanation even call MF a 'revenge drama' because it turns out it's a complicated yet beautiful 'hope' drama lmao #it's actually a 'romance' in the Shakespearean sense #like the Winter's Tale #I guess we just call that 'tragicomedy' now but I don't find that word very helpful or descriptive #I don't think anyone actually know what you mean when you say that #anyway the first writing that is every bit as good as the production/acting side I've seen in what feels like forever #I just feel like everything is great characters in a mess of a story or brilliant performances elevating a bad script or good start-bad end #like no one knows what they're doing any more or why #but this show is incredible #it's only not perfect because the last four episodes are not up to what you'd expect for the rest but they are still really good #just not perfect #the last episode has problems but they're not with the concept of the ending at all- the concept IS perfect #and apparently I'm the only one who thinks that lol #apparently a lot of people did not understand what was happening and some misread it as a dream sequence #(this is an insane take to me- it's really not confusing or ambiguous at all)#(bc God forbid the main character not die and have a chance to heal after his absolutely miserable life?)#but yeah it's the only time anything feels rushed or not quite smooth #and one major character's fate isn't as satisfying as it could be #but I felt like I was never going to see something as engrossing as this again for a while there #anyway anyway NEW OTP #I didn't even get into it because no one cares about my giant rant here but it's SO traditional while being VERY different idk #the romanticism was so unexpected in a show that seems like it's going to be intensely cynical- it's handled with such gravitas #romance with gravitas is PRICELESS to me #the best swerve ever is for a show to NOT be cynical when it seemed so dark- that's a plot twist I can get behind

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dadsbongos · 5 years ago

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Hargreeves Kids in Order of Their Problems (and do i have a problem?)

No secret that the Hargreeves children are all fucked up, but as I was re-watching I was like damn - what if we ranked them? So here we go, I’m ranking all the Hargreeves’ spawn by their pain; taking into account their trauma with and without Reginald (mostly for Five/Klaus) and how bad it messed them up. I’ll be sticking mostly to the first season because that’s where a lot of the meat is, but I might include a tiny peek into season two.

Also, I will be directly addressing the frequent question I ask myself “Am I attracted to trauma when it comes to characters?” by looking at my favorites and if they’re all deeply scarred.

S Tier Pain - Five Hargreeves:

Not only was he forced to endure Reginald’s abusive training regime (at least until the haha moment), but he also got stuck in the future after a miscalculated time jump. You’d think that’d be bad enough, what with no longer being able to see your family, but no. Well, technically he did see them when he found their dead bodies but that’s just more to Five’s suffering. He also got jammed into a post-Apocalyptic life where he was the sole survivor and had to live all on his own (though he had Dolores, which is a whole can of sad, loneliness worms we don’t have time for). Then to make matters worse he was taken into the Commission where he was turned into as assassin for years, to which he quit early to save his family from the Apocalypse. After the first one - yes, the first - and arriving in the 60s, Five got to see a glimpse of his siblings dying to the second one. All he ever does is for his family’s survival, even if it means his misery. In season one (and two) he makes a deal with the Handler, who he can’t stand, just to

maybe

ensure she’ll protect his loved ones from the end of the world. He willingly works with a woman he hates and likely doesn’t trust so his family would be safe. And who could forget that redheaded lady in the bowling alley, like gosh, she really ruined his life by assuming his age like that... poor guy.

A Tier Pain - Klaus Hargreeves:

Unlike Five, he got to stick around for the entirety of Reggie’s cuck ways of abusing his kids physically/emotionally/mentally. From a young age (if that episode two lunch scene is anything), Klaus has been using drugs as a way to cope with his family life and his power. His addiction has led to a rather sad life, as evident from the first episode and some of his own dialogue - he’s not used to staying in one place, if anything his visits to rehab centers are the longest homes he really has. He’s not expected to stay sober long by the counter employee, indicating he’s been there before multiple times. When talking to Five outside of the prosthetic department, he outright admits he hasn’t been with someone for longer than about two weeks. He’s never shown to even hold down a job unless you count supplying local pawn shops - or, you know, the army. He served in war, straight up war, he likely has PTSD and to make things better, note the sarcasm, he lost his boyfriend in that war. Dave, the one person he’s described as loving more than he does himself. Klaus is constantly brushed under the rug as this crazy, attention-seeking junkie for most of season one by his family, but he’s more likely just calling for the help he clearly needs. Speaking of his family, I just wanna throw in that Klaus was kidnapped and tortured and not one person seemed to notice or even care.

B Tier Pain - Vanya Hargreeves:

Neglected by her adoptive father and siblings her entire life, Vanya was left out of the loop of even her own powers until she discovered them fucking decades later. She wrote a book trying to air out her father’s awful deeds and rather than finding solidarity with their shared agony at least a little, her siblings pushed her even further away. Quick mention, during the argument on whether or not to turn off Grace, she was immediately shut down on an opinion until she was shown to agree with Diego. Her vote didn’t matter until she sided with another sibling. Vanya grew up so starved for attention and love that when she got into her first relationship with Leonard (that bitchy murderer) she mistook it for a real love. Stayed with an abusive, gaslighting killer against all her sister’s warnings. She was betrayed by her own brother (fuck Luther, me and the homies hate Luther) after coming home, sobbing and pleading forgiveness, just wanting to help into being locked back in that vault Reginald used to keep her in. Vanya snapped, felt there was no other outlet and truly there possibly wasn’t for her, and ended the world. She was in so much pain, so angry with her life and how it was ruined by her own family that she blew up the moon. And honestly? I’m not even mad at her for it.

C Tier Pain - Diego Hargreeves:

Dude found his ex-girlfriend’s - and probably his potential love interest’s - corpse. He’s aching inside at least a bit. His spot as Number Two fueled a deep need to prove himself, whether he admits it or not, it’s why he’s a vigilante. Diego functions off of stopping crime and it’s only different from his childhood because he does it alone. He feels the need to validate what he went through, as if his suffering needs to be explained in some way. Speaking of childhoods, who gives them to us? Moms. Grace is his robo-Mom with no real sentience (well, before Cha-Cha and Hazel raided the place anyway, reboot Grace has some weird independence complex going on). She read to him, put him to bed, and fed his Mama’s Boy fixation - even going as far as to help Diego with his stutter. He put her down, in the robot sense. Diego was the first person to speak against shutting Grace down and yet he did so himself - knowing it’s what had to happen.

D Tier Pain - Ben Hargreeves:

He’s dead, so I’m not sure what he’s gone through other than having “The Horror” in his stomach and Reginald as a dad. So there’s not much to say about his trauma other than having to sit through watching people die horribly by his power’s hand. But again, he’s dead, and dying is one of the most traumatic things I can think of. That’s why he’s higher than the others but still lower than the previous four Hargreeves’ kids.

E Tier Pain - Allison Hargreeves:

She’s known as a “Daddy’s Girl” how that’s possible with Reginald, I’m not sure, but she is. Not to excuse any of the torment she got as a child or give the abuse a pass, at all. It’s just an inference that as Number Three and someone who easily got what she wanted with her power, she probably didn’t feel out-casted like Vanya. Nor was she left to survive on her own and then kill to live like Five. Allison, in all fairness, was viciously attacked by her sister after revealing she “Rumored” her memory away. Unlike Ben, she survived and went on to be the peaceful one of the family and her power didn’t directly kill, especially in ways that “The Horror” did. So I must rank her pain lower with a sad bob in my throat, nervous that all the Allison lovers will scream at/cancel me for putting her at E.

F Tier Pain - Luther Hargreeves:

Fuck Luther, me and the homies hate Luther. This little fuck found something out of proving himself to his father. So far up his dad’s ass that he was cool with being a monkey space boy for years until he realized Reginald didn’t give a shit about him. And honestly? Same. No but really, he did become a monkey man purely out of Reginald’s need for a hero to do what he said - and Luther couldn’t fill that if he was dead. I do recognize that his life was essentially wasted by his years spent on the moon, blindly following Dad’s orders but to be honest, he’s too in the background. He had nothing other than his father and therefore lost nothing other than his family, it’s hard to feel bad when you know he had no intention of doing anything other than be by Reginald. No plans unlike Klaus who had his life decimated by his drugs dependency or fuck, Five! Five had absolutely no life other than living through the Apocalypse for decades. Overall, I hate Luther but even though I can’t stand his gorilla guts, I do recognize that he has trauma.

~~~Do I Have A Problem?~~~ Considering that Five and Klaus are my favorite characters and they are the most traumatized? Yes, I am unnecessarily in love with characters in pain. I didn’t want to be a mannequin before I knew about Five, and now I crave to morph into Dolores (or at least combine with her like a Power Ranger)

#the umbrella academy #tua #number five #five hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #diego hargreeves #ben hargreeves #allison hargreeves #luther hargreeves #five the umbrella academy #klaus the umbrella academy #vanya the umbrella academy #diego the umbrella academy #ben the umbrella academy #allison the umbrella academy #anti luther hargreeves #fuck monky space boy

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fingaudioart · 4 years ago

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Hill House, and Audio Horror vs Film Horror

I got to thinking about this when an audio producer on Twitter asked what people thought the scariest parts of Haunting of Hill House, other than the jump scares. What struck me while reading the responses were almost all things that depended on the visuals, and would be very hard to move into the realm of audio.

I feel like many/most people think of horror movies as a template to build off of for horror audio fiction...which is fair, because for many of us, horror audio fiction wasn’t a thing we could find to listen to until recently (myself included). And it’s not uncommon to hear a successful, talent audio producer say something along the lines of “An audio drama is like a movie, without needing a million dollar budget.”

I agree with the thought, generally: audio fiction does have many similarities to film, but if you stretch it too far, it can be a dangerous approach. And it can be especially dangerous for Horror.

Let’s think about how we could move the Bent Neck Lady into audio (spoilers ahead). Except for one scream, she is silent and unmoving. To move it into audio, we’d either need a narrator (or someone to tell us what’s happening), or to make Bent Neck Lady move around. The first option would keep the nature of the ghost intact, but we would be robbed of having it happen in front of us. The second option would change the nature of the ghost entirely. This is before we even talk about the twist, that hinges on Bent Neck Lady largely being a silhouette, which obscures information without feeling like anything.

Horror is a genre that is especially dependent on craftsmanship, regardless of the medium. It’s a genre where--and you’re going to murder me for saying this--you don’t need a good story to be scary. You need a scary situation/scene, told with skill, but even if the scenes/plot/characters around it are terrible, you can still make the audience feel afraid (Looking at you, Argento).

That’s not to say the story doesn’t matter. In fact, a large part of what makes Haunting of Hill House so good is that it’s part horror, but also part family melodrama (and it actually spends more time on the melodrama than the horror), blended together so the ghosts have meaning. Bent Neck Lady is disturbing the first time you see it, but it’s the story behind it that makes her stay with you long after you’ve finished the show.

But if we set aside the story, and focus on the scary moments...they are pure filmmaking. Every aspect is working to create fear: the sets and art direction, the creature design, the pacing, the blocking, the editing, the sound design.

The same way a horror movie uses every weapon of filmmaking, a horror audio drama should use every weapon of audio to create dread/fear/suspense. But the flip side is, just as Haunting of Hill House isn’t using the tools of horror literature, your audio drama shouldn’t try to be a movie.

But I think we also need to own up to something: many of us (most of us?) have more experience watching horror movies than listening to horror audio dramas. So let’s get analytical here. What are films strengths? Audio’s strengths? Weakness? And how do these work in service of horror? Any tips for the audio drama producer?

Filmmaking’s Unique Gifts

Before I get into the list, I want to be very clear: I’m not to saying you can’t do versions of this in an audio drama. In fact, when these are successfully used in audio, they can be outright amazing. But they take a lot more work, either by carefully setting up signature sounds*, or by having narration, or some other creative way no one has done yet. The point of this list is that film does these things easily.

There are some obvious things, like, ya know, visuals. I don't think there's any amount of words or sounds that would allow me to imagine Giger’s Xenomorph. Some things just need to be seen.

One of film's special talents is it gives the audience an understanding of a location without even trying. I don’t mean the layout of a house (that can be confusing), but present an audience with one shot of a bedroom, and they’ll instantly understand where the bed is, the window, the door, the closet, the bedside tables. Films communicate small spaces so easily, they don't even need to stop to do it…a character walks in the room doing whatever, and as long as the space is seen by the camera, the audience gets it.

In horror, this is vital when the fear you're trying to create is that of a physical threat. Where is the killer? Behind the bookcase? Walking towards you from across the lawn?

Related to this idea of a physical space, films also have the ability to makes things appear--and disappear--quickly and unexpectedly. This is moments like Mike Meyers appearing in the closet in Halloween, or later, when Dr. Loomis looks over the edge of the Balcony, and Michael Meyers has vanished.

Perhaps film’s most famous strength is the montage. You can easily cut between different scenes and settings, without the audience ever getting confused.

There is one tool of film that I am very frustrated won’t work in audio: the Title Card. I don’t mean the title of the show, I mean those cards that say things like “Burbank, CA” or “CIA Headquarters” or “3:23pm.” Text on screen is a painless way to give the audience information without tripping up the storytelling.

Finally, let’s talk about one of film’s most powerful tricks...patience.

A film can stretch moments out, sometimes with slomo, but often with editing between close-ups. You can also have moments where nothing happens, you just linger in the mood/ambience/characters reactions.

A great example is the “Spielberg-Face”, those shots when the characters are reacting to something the audience hasn’t seen yet. In Jurassic Park, we spend a full 30 seconds watching jaws drop before we see the first dinosaur. This is pretty nuts, when you think about it. The true stars of the movie aren’t introduced with a speech, or a title card, or a curtain pulling back, but by the characters just staring in the distance for half a page.

Pausing the action, or even just stretching it out, is one of the fundamental tools of horror movies. It’s a way to create the mood: Show the spooky location, play the spooky ambience. It’s a way to create suspense in a scene, think of the long POV shot scanning the room for that noise. End the moment with something suddenly appearing, and you have the basic recipe for a jump scare. Even if you decide to be an artsy horror story, like Haunting of Hill House, silently drawing out the action is your primary weapon. Done well, the audience will be rapt, knowing that something could be about to happen any moment, even though as far as the plot goes, we haven’t moved much at all.

I’ll be honest, if I could go back in time and tell the younger version of me who hadn’t made an audio drama yet that you can’t draw out a moment the way you do in film, I probably would not have believed me. In my work as a TV Editor, it’s been one of the tricks that has really elevated my pieces...it feels like magic. But I’ll never forget editing my first audio piece, having a character fumble with a doorknob while trying to escape someone who was chasing them. They grunted at the door as the footsteps got closer and closer, and it was lousy. It felt like the manipulation it was.

Audio’s Unique Gifts

The thing that audio does better than any other media--and this is controversial--a narrator feels like they are talking directly to you, the listener (a narrator in a film feels more like they are talking to an auditorium). Now, here are people who find that narration is jarring and takes them out of the story. They aren’t wrong--you can’t argue someone’s experience--but that’s certainly not what happens to me. If you are one of these poor souls, I hope you take some time to listen to some narration and reprogram your brain, because you’re missing out on some magic.

The other great thing about sound is it activates the imagination. Films can also do this, of course, but audio does it be default.

Sound is also very good at evoking a sense of touch. Texture. Clothing. Almost anything you can feel in your hand.

While sounds is great at telling us about what’s very close, it also tells us about the world in the distance, i.e. ambiences. The sound of a forest transports us to a forest that exists in all directions. Distant traffic can tell us if the city is awake or asleep.

Audio also does an amazing plot twist that I’m gonna call the “Pull Back to Reveal” twist (yeah, that’s a film term). This is when, deep into a scene, something is revealed to the audience that the characters understood was there the whole time. While a movie can usually only sustain this for a minute or two, audio dramas can push this for a really long time. The Truth’s classic “The Dark End of the Mall” is a great example, as is the episode “Have You Seen My Mom?” It’s use in horror is more limited though...suspense works the best when the audience knows as much or more about the situation than characters (a.k.a. Audience Superior), and this is a twist that is Audience Inferior.

And, not for nothing: It’s way cheaper than a film. That’s not say the money doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t matter in the same way.

Film’s Failings

The hardest part of film is the flip side of its strengths: it’s so easily grounded in reality, it’s very hard to step out of it. That’s more of a problem than you think.

Take the sentence, “Andy called his sister-in-law.” While it takes just four words to write in a book, in a movie, you are going to be contorting dialog or some other clever trick, to get the audience to understand “that’s his wife’s sister.” (Non-narrated audio dramas also have this problem with exposition.)

Same goes for backstory. In the middle of a scene, a book can say things like “She’d been working on this for ten hours now, and was ready to scream.” One sentence. A film would have to lay out exposition, or clues for the audience to put it together.

Film also has a hard time conveying senses other than sound or sight. During scenes where a character walks into a place and says “Ugh, what’s that smell!”, I never really imagine the smell, I just see an actor pretending to smell something.

Visuals can be too intense. Gore or nudity are the first things that come to mind in this category, and are often alluded to in a film for exactly that reason. But even if they are merely hinted at, the film audience may spend a scene wondering “Are they going to actually show it?”, which knocks you out the movie a little.

Films are complicated to make, at every level. Casting is tougher---the actor needs to both sound and look the part. There’s the expense of sets and lighting, the effort of just getting a crew to a location can be monumental. And once it’s all shot, film editing is more complicated and time intensive than audio editing, and not just because it involves audio editing.

Audio's Weakness

The biggest: There's a big Blindspot right in front of the audience. Without some careful context, raw audio recording from real life is disorienting at best, intelligible at worst. Most sounds that come from the blank spot are descriptive, they generally tell us if someone’s shoes are wet, but they won’t tell who is walking around the room in wet shoes.

This blind spot can be especially dangerous to a producer, because in real life, our brain attaches sounds to the objects it sees, and when you understand what a sound is, it’s easy to place it. Because a producer knows what sound they are placing in the piece, it’s easy to think your sound design is intelligible. Sounds we don’t understand are also hard to place in the space. I personally find that while stereo and ambisonics can help make the sounds be more distinct from each other, they don’t really locate them precisely.

Another weakness of audio, characters are hard to tell apart. This can especially affect women's voices, who don't tend to have as much variation. This isn’t as true if the audience has seen the face of the actor talking, something about that seems to lock in our understanding of a voice (video though, not just a headshot). But without a face, it’s tough. EDIT: So I wasn’t very clear with that last point. To be clear, it’s not that you CAN’T cast people who sound different, or that you can’t direct people with similar voices to give different performances. It’s that you need to make a point of doing so. And while I have personally found that women’s voices are more likely to sound alike, that’s not the main idea. We remember face’s very easily, and names relatively easily (unless you’re me, I’m terrible at names). Voices without faces are easily confused.

This character confusion especially applies to large casts...I have a hard time imagining an audio only version of OCEAN’S ELEVEN, for example. Put twelve characters in a room for an audio drama, and it’s gets confusing for the listener really quickly.

If you aren't using a narrator, making time pass can be hard. A Rocky montage needs to be carefully setup. "Cut To: Five Minutes Later" is damn near impossible without narration.

Sound Effects need to be more meticulous. THE AVENGERS can sweeten a superhero punch so it hardly sounds like a punch at all, and the visuals on screen will lock it into place. Without a picture to give a sound context, they need to be much more realistic for them to be understood correctly.

So let’s put this all together.

Lets turn it into an “approach,” and design some scenes that work easily in the medium.

Ambiences are a strength, so we’ll pick a setting that has an interesting one, and avoid things like quiet rooms. We’ll have a small number of characters, let’s say four or less, and to make it easier for audience to remember who is who, we’ll cast actors with clearly different voices, and we can help on the script level by making sure they all have different motivations/goals/emotional states. To get that intimacy of the voice, we’ll have at least some of the characters close to each other (and the mics), and not shouting across the room.

The physical setup of the room will be straight forward, and our characters’ movements though the space will be clearly motivated and direct (“Does this key unlock this door?”), if a character has busy work that moves them through the space, the details won’t matter (like they are doing dishes). We’ll also want to have some moments that play on that sense of touch. Perhaps most importantly, we’ll want to paint some clear visuals for the listener to imagine.

For a horror scene, you really want to work your ambiences to make them add to the tension, vs just adding realism. We first want the monsters in the distance, say on the other side of a door or outside the house, or somewhere in the woods. Make our scared characters really close to the listener, play the sounds that you only hear when you are right next to them, like their breathing, swallows, adjusting the clothes or their make-shift weapon.

When the monster enters the room, have it spend as little time as possible in the blindspot, so avoid things like fist fights and fast-paced footchases. Instead get the monster right inside our character's personal bubble. If you’re aiming for a startle, instead of having it leap out in front of the hero like in a movie, you’d want to skip the blindspot, and have the monster pounce onto the hero--using those touch sounds that are so intense.

To me, that sounds like a scary scene.

It’s Not a Formula, and All of This is Nonsense

In fact, you probably wouldn’t want every scene in your piece to follow this, because a) it’ll get repetitive, and b) when you go against the medium, you’re more likely to make some magic (if you pull it off). But I do think it’s important to realize when the big moment of your piece is resting on some of the weaknesses. When this happens, you may want to make sure you’re leaning on something really strong to carry the weight. Other times, you may want to toss around some other ideas, make sure that it’s actually working, and to see if it could be improved.

Also, even though I’ve written a lot of words here, I fully expect someone has already proven every one of these rules wrong. But I also think it’s a good exercise to go through this and figure out why I’m wrong.

The medium matters. And I hate writing conclusions, so I’m ending it here.

*Signature Sound: A sound that the audience understands to mean something specific, such as a doorbell or a gunshot.

#audiodrama #horror #hill house

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coleisunderrated · 5 years ago

Text

Cooking with Cole

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m actually not one for this holiday but if it’s an excuse to indulge in some glaciershipping, I’d say bring it! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

It’s the morning of Valentine’s Day and Cole was already panicking on this day of love. He was sure Zane already made him a cake because that’s how it’s been every year. A well-known fact to everyone in Ninjago was the buff guy’s love for cake and anything sweet. The even sweeter son of the famed inventor Dr. Julien was all too aware of this and whenever they got together, he would make a cake as gorgeous as it was delicious. Any cakes he make would put even the top patissiers to shame. Zane had done so much for Cole and what did he ever do in return?

A flashback of all the romantic moments he and Zane shared popped up. He loved seeing the way the wintry beauty smiled, how graceful he was when they danced together, and that voice. That velvety smooth voice that could put even the most talented singers to shame when they share a duet together. Zane did nothing but give yet Cole never really gave anything back.

Looking back on all this, Cole felt like a horrible boyfriend.

Maybe Zane deserves better than him...

‘No! I’ll make myself better! Someone he truly deserves!’ Cole couldn’t bear the thought of breaking up with his snow angel. Not only will he never find someone as amazing but Zane has done nothing to deserve the pain of heartbreak.

Then he realized the solution was in front of him the whole time. He looked back on all the cakes and other treats Zane made for him. He now wanted to return the favor and this was the perfect opportunity.

“That’s it! I’m gonna make a cake for Zane!” Cole’s declaration echoed in the otherwise empty house. With his father out of town, he had all the time in the world to brush up his culinary skills.

As if the timing wasn’t impeccable enough, he got a text message from Zane himself.

‘Cole, if it’s alright with you, I’m coming over to your house in the evening. I’m making something special for you and I hope you’ll like it.’

The muscular youth almost couldn’t handle how adorable his lover can get. He really wanted to surprise him and all he could text back was a simple ‘okay’ before prepping himself for the arduous task set before him. This was going to be a Valentine’s Day they’ll never forget...

...

Cole pretty much hit a brick wall the moment he entered the kitchen. He had a terrible track record when it comes to cooking. He can even turn the simple task of making toast into a bloodbath. He immediately worried and fretted over the terrible scenarios that could happen. He can see it now. The cake is a complete fail and Zane staring at it with sheer disgust then at him with pure hatred. And then his pale lips curl into a malicious smirk.

“Is that all you have to give?” The young man’s voice was as cruel as he was beautiful, “I don’t see why I should be stuck with someone as lowly as yourself. Because of that, I’m breaking up with you. I should be with someone who really treats me right and gives me nice things.”

“No! Zane! Don’t leave me!” Cole futilely begged.

But it was too late.

Zane already had his arms wrapped around Morro, who shot a cocky triumphant smirk at Cole. The muscular young man cried out to his traitorous lover but the couple already walked out of earshot.

“NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Cole found himself back at his house, relieved that Zane leaving him for Morro was nothing more than an elaborate fantasy. There’s no way he’s giving him up to some pretentious edgelord. He’s gonna bake the greatest cake ever and it’s all just for Zane.

...

Cole stared at the directions of a basic chocolate genoise recipe. Some of these phrases were confusing. How do eggs get white and fluffy? The recipe did recommend using a mixer and he luckily had one lying around in the kitchen. First, he had to get the eggs into the bowl. One would think having immense strength such as his would make it easy but maybe it was a little too much. By the time he had three eggs in the bowl, he already destroyed twice as many. He crushed most of the eggs in his hands and bits of shells mingled with the broken egg yolks in the bowl and egg whites ran down the sides from where he cracked them with too much force. It was surprisingly difficult to get the shell fragments out of the bowl with his large hands but in the end, he got them out for the most part. He added the sugar as the recipe said, and maybe a bit more so it can be just as sweet as Zane, and now it’s mixing time.

With the mixer plugged in, Cole looked at the dial, wondering if he should go on low or high. He wanted to get things done fast so might as well put it on high. The loud noise almost startled him but he watched and waited to see the eggs get ‘white and fluffy’. The eggs got paler and have thickened but Cole wasn’t sure if they can be considered as such. After watching the mixer go at it for what felt like forever, he gave up and decided to continue with what he got.

‘Dammit! I forgot to sift the dry ingredients whatever that means!’ Cole noticed he didn’t prepare the flour and cocoa powder beforehand, ‘But it’s not gonna change much. I can just dump them in right now.’ The dark-skinned novice chef added them in and put the mixer on high again. Flour and cocoa powder went everywhere. The flour-covered Cole had to switch the power to low and to his dismay, he could see lumps in the batter. He turned off the mixer and tried to fix it by hand. He stirred and stirred with a whisk but the lumps were still there. ‘Oh well. They’re really tiny. No harm in that.’

After that, he melted the butter and the directions said to mix a little bit of batter into it before adding it. It’s already gonna go into the cake so what’s the point in that? Cole shrugged and dumped it all in and whisked the batter. Now all that’s left is to actually bake the cake. Much to his dismay he also forgot to preheat the oven. The cake itself wasn’t even baked and it already felt like nothing was going right for him.

‘No! I’m not giving up! This is all for Zane!’ Cole already put so much effort into this cake and he won’t let it go to waste. He turned on the oven but while he was waiting, he made a disturbing discovery. The batter had separated for some reason.

‘Shit! Shit! Shit!’ Cole had no idea what he did wrong. He did just as the recipe said. Why is this happening? He tried stirring it and it seemed to do the trick. The oven finally reached the right temperature and after one final stir, Cole quickly poured the batter into the pan and left it in the oven to bake.

The cake was done once the latest episode of Hunted came to an end. Cole took the cake out of the oven and... was disappointed. The cake didn’t rise as much as it should have and was uneven. After it cooled, the strong guy had a hard time getting it out of the pan. In hindsight, he should’ve covered it with some parchment paper or greased it with cooking spray. The cake was stuck and he ran a knife along the sides and tried pulling it out by hand. It finally came out except chunks of the cake was still stuck to the pan. The cake looked really bad. Hopefully the ganache to frost the cake will hide its imperfections. All he had to do was melt the chocolate and cream together. Simple, right?

This is Cole who’s cooking. Of course it’s not gonna be as simple.

Cole wasn’t sure if the amount of cream the recipe called for will be enough. It seemed like so little compared to all the chocolate. ‘Some more wouldn’t hurt.’ Cole doubled the amount of cream and turned on the stove. He watched the cream warm up but it sure was taking its sweet time coming to a simmer, at least that’s what the recipe calls it.

‘Probably won’t hurt to check on my phone for a bit.’ Cole looked at his device to discover a new text from Kai.

The egomaniac bragged about all the things he’s doing with his boyfriend Jay and even posting a plethora of selfies. Cole felt a tinge of jealousy seeing how happy they were. He already had many happy moments with Zane but he felt like he was being left behind and when Kai’s sister Nya joined in with her two girlfriends Pixal and Skylor, it got even worse. He was almost jealous of Lloyd, who spends every Valentine’s Day buying a chocolate bar and eating it by himself. The green-eyed blonde seems to certainly enjoy being single. Cole was tempted to send some sort of reply but he didn’t want them to blab to Zane. The cake is supposed to be a surprise and nothing will stop him, not even the loud sizzling sounds and stench of something burning.

Burning...?

The cream was burning! Cole rushed in and almost got scalded by the bubbling liquid that almost touched his hand when he turned off the stove. After the bubbles died down, the burnt smell remained and the cream had almost evaporated. Luckily, he had more and just poured it in and the cold liquid made a scorching sound when it touched the pot. The intense heat could probably heat it up in an instant and he could save himself the work. He added it into the chocolate and then noticed the layer of burnt cream stuck to the bottom and cream in the bowl still carried a foul stench. Cole dismissed it as just the smell and the flavor won’t be affected.

Just as Cole feared, the hot cream alone wasn’t enough to melt the chocolate, even with twice the amount as the recipe said. No matter how much he stirred, there were still a bunch of lumps. He tried to fix it by heating it up in the microwave but nothing seems to be working out for him. He could hear something almost like an explosion go off in the microwave. With a speed that could match Jay’s, he took out the ganache (and almost burning himself again) and much to his horror, it was just as screwed as the cake. The recipe said the ganache was supposed to be smooth and shiny but the results of his attempt was dull, gritty, and sad. The chocolate kept separating and leaving ugly streaks in the mixture. Cole didn’t have enough ingredients to make another batch so he resigned himself to work with what he got.

Cole struggled to cut the cake in half but it was already so uneven. He couldn’t keep the knife straight and the cake kept crumbling. After getting two very sloppy layers, he finally noticed all the air pockets hidden within the cake. He grabbed some cake chunks that fell off and filled in the holes and tried spreading the ganache on the first layer. Something weird was going on with the chocolate. Thin liquid seeped from the grainy frosting and there was nothing he could do to remedy it. All he can do now is hope it won’t affect the cake too much and placed the next layer on top. Frosting a cake was clearly harder than it looks. He watched videos of cakes being frosted and he wished he had a turntable or an offset spatula. All he had was a plain kitchen knife and he struggled to frost all the sides and top.

Cole hoped frosting the cake will salvage it but somehow, it looked even worse. He looked through the recipe, hoping it could give him some hints to save it. All that was left was the final direction: decorate it however one likes. “Some help that turned out to be.” The buff man scoffed and looked at his sorry excuse for a cake, “I guess some decorations will make it a bit easier to look at...” Because the cake was for Zane, Cole wondered what kind of decorations Zane likes and what would suit him. The image of pure icy blue eyes stuck in his mind and he, more often than not, wore light colors. The first thing on his mind were something pastel-y. He looked through the cabinet for some pastel sprinkles or anything that says ‘Zane’. Unfortunately, the only kind of decorations he had was a pack of Halloween-themed sprinkles from a couple of years ago.

‘Should I even bother?’ Cole stared at the outdated sprinkles with dismay, ‘These stupid sprinkles don’t even match and the cake is too far gone...’ He looked at the disastrous confection again as if the pile of botched cake and ganache could provide any sort of answer to his dilemma. He wanted to quit while he still has some dignity left yet he his heart was telling him not to give up. He thought of the gifts he got in previous Valentine’s Days. He thought about Zane. He still feared his normally kind and patient boyfriend will dump him for Morro. He needed to make this cake look as good as it can possibly get. Without a second thought, he dumped the whole container of sprinkles onto the cake...

“Ah... The perfect cake for my Valentine...” Cole gazed at the beautiful finished cake...

...picture from the cookbook.

“Why doesn’t mine look like that!?” The dark-haired young man put down the book to gape at his hideous disaster of a homemade cake. The ganache was sloppy and separating and the sprinkles melted into the chocolate, creating a gross tie-dye effect and then there’s the messed up cake underneath it all. Cole wanted to do nothing more except cry over his failed efforts. He’ll surely lose Zane forever all because he wanted to return the love he had given him.

It’s too late to start over again. The sun was already starting to set and he could see a certain someone approaching the house from the window.

‘Crap!’ Cole didn’t even have time to wrap the cake or even put it in a box. He left it there and went to get changed. He scoured through his wardrobe to find the right outfit to impress Zane. He picked out yet another sleeveless shirt with a band logo and black pants. It wasn’t really formal but he was never one for those kind of clothes. He just wanted to wear something he really liked to make up for his awful time in the kitchen. The cheesy doorbell rang, notifying him that Zane was here. After a quick brush of his thick black locks, Cole went straight for the door. Taking a deep breath, Cole put on a debonair face and opened the door to welcome his lover.

Zane wore a simple yet elegant white shirt, khaki jeans, light blue vest and was holding something behind his back and Cole was pretty sure what it was. No matter what he wore or the circumstances, he always looked so breathtaking.

“Uh... Oh wow...” Cole was left tongue-tied at the sight of his beautiful boyfriend alone.

“I can tell you’re quite thrilled to see me.” Zane giggled at his lover’s flustered reaction. He couldn’t wait to show him what he made for this occasion.

“And I see you’ve got something for me.”

“Yes. I have made something special as promised to you.”

Zane took out the thing he hid behind his back and Cole was blown away just from the beautiful packaging. The heart-shaped container covered in pink wrapping with pretty heart patterns and a little Valentine card attached to it sat amidst a bed of white crinkle paper with a slight sheen in a clear plastic box that was tied up with a delicate red ribbon.

“Zane... I... Thank you...” Cole said out loud while he felt like he didn’t deserve such a lovely present and felt bad for even holding it. Then again, it’s been like this every year. He can keep his sorry attempt at baking a secret and things will go on as usual.

“I smell something coming from the kitchen...” Zane caught a whiff of a strange scent. His instincts to protect Cole went into overdrive and he sought to investigate.

‘Shit!’ Cole realized he completely forgot about the cake. There’s no way he’ll let Zane be a witness of something so unholy.

“Uh... n-no need to go in there! Hehe...” He blocked the entrance, slightly thankful for his musclebound build.

“Cole, is something wrong? You normally have no issue with me entering your kitchen.” Zane was still curious tried peeking over Cole’s shoulder.

“Nothing to see here! Why don’t we just go into the living room and watch some movies?” Cole still tried to distract him. As sweet as he is, Zane can be extremely persistent and unfortunately, now was one of those times.

“What is that?” Much to the larger man’s horror, his snow angel caught a glimpse of Ninjago’s cruelest mistake sitting on the kitchen table.

Cole saw the shocked and confused expression on his lover’s fair face. At that very second, the dam holding back the ugly truth broke down.

“Okay, fine! You want the truth?! I can’t cook!” Cole finally broke down, “I tried baking you a cake but no matter how hard I tried, it’s a disaster! If you’re gonna dump me right here and now, go ahead! Go out with Morro or whoever the hell you want! You deserve better!”

“What are you talking about...?” Zane didn’t expect his lover to react this way, especially not on this day dedicated to love.

Cole couldn’t bear to even look at Zane and curled up on the floor, hoping it would open up and swallow him whole. He truly wanted Zane to be happy and be with someone who can give treat him the way he should. Too bad that someone isn’t him.

“Cole, what happened? Please tell me.” Zane crouched down to his level. Again, he was being persistent. It would do him no good to argue back.

“You see... you’ve always made cakes and all kinds of good food for me and... I wanted to return the favor...” Cole sighed in defeat, still refusing to look at Zane.

“You made this... for me...?”

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re now wondering why you have to be stuck with a moron who can’t even bake a freakin’ cake. I won’t blame you if you break up with me. I’m just... I’m sorry I can’t be the person you deserve.”

“Cole...”

The buff man flinched when he felt a cool hand graze his cheek.

“Cole, look at me.” Zane’s voice was as smooth and calm as ever. Cole kept his earthy green eyes squeezed shut in fear of the disappointed look that is undoubtedly on his lover’s beautiful face. He jerked his head away but Zane caressed his chin. As scared as he was, Cole could never deny his lover whatever he wanted, even if it could put their relationship in jeopardy.

It was a struggle to open quivering eyelids and Cole was reward with not a scowl of disgust but a gentle serene face. Relief still hadn’t come to him and he had doubts it was genuine.

“Zane...?” A slight gasp escaped from Cole’s lips.

“I’m so grateful you wanted to do something special for me.” The slender beauty embraced his muscular boyfriend.

“Really? I mean, I... You don’t -”

“But...”

Cole should’ve known there was a catch. Even someone as kind and forgiving as Zane has his limits...

“Please don’t push yourself for my sake. You alone are the perfect gift.” Zane nuzzled the crook of his neck.

“Do you really mean that?”

“Yes. You are the one person who makes me feel like I can be me and allow me to experience feelings I’ve never felt with anyone else before. Being with you makes me feel... complete.”

“You... took the words right out of my mouth... because I feel the same with you. Even now, with you here, I don’t want to let you go. Zane, I love you.” Cole’s strong arms instinctively wrapped around Zane’s lithe frame despite his earlier fears.

“And I love you too. Nothing will ever change that.”

“Not even the cake?”

“Of course not.”

“So... wanna try it?”

“I think I’d prefer to live many more years with you.”

Cole let out a chuckle at one of the few instances his boyfriend’s sense of humor was on point.

“Would you like to see what I made for you?” Zane offered.

“Definitely. Now let’s go to the living so I can love you.” It was Zane’s turn to giggle at how affectionate the big guy can get and that’s what he loves about him.

No sooner had they sat on the couch did Cole carefully unwrap Zane’s gift. He was pleasantly surprised by a big chocolate heart decorated with cream, icing, and sprinkles with such detail and intricacy he wouldn’t be surprised if Zane took the time placing each little sprinkle onto the chocolate and with the icing, he even wrote ‘For My Love’ in fancy handwriting. Half of him wanted to dig right in while the other half didn’t want to mar such a lovely work of art.

“Go ahead. Please eat up.” Zane encouraged his first half that wanted to try it.

Cole didn’t hesitate to take a big bite out of the chocolate and was pleasantly surprised by what’s inside. The chocolate was filled with a mixture of soft chocolate cake and frosting like one giant cake pop and sandwiched in between was a layer of rich and smooth ganache that melted in his mouth. Even better was all the love and thought Zane put into it just like every other year. He almost gobbled up the whole thing had he not noticed Zane gazing at him the whole time with those mesmerizing crystalline eyes.

“Uh... why don’t you try some?” Cole offered what remained of his latest culinary masterpiece, “You made it yourself and as they say, you reap what you sow.”

“That’s quite alright. I made it just for you to enjoy. I’m simply happy that you like it.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to make something for you in return?”

“After seeing the... results of your efforts... simply buying something will be nice. Like I said, I wouldn’t want you to push yourself. I love you too much to allow you to do that.”

“Oh, so now it’s become a contest on who loves who more?” Cole jested.

“If you think you love me more, prove it.” Zane teased back, motioning with his finger for Cole to come closer.

“With pleasure!” Cole swooped down and pressed his lips against Zane’s, who was just as eager to return the favor and kissed back.

The chocolate was already very sweet but sharing a kiss with Zane will always be a million times sweeter.

#ninjago #glaciershipping #my writing #plasmashipping #polyponytails #kinda blizzardshipping #lloyd is me on v day

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out-of-this-dimension · 5 years ago

Note

Embrace - Andrew/Ava :3c

For those unaware, Ava’liah “Ava” sol Bennu is an OC of mine that’s supposed to feature in future fic stuff. Here’s a... bit of a sneak peek into a future fic of mine.---7 ALW; PALACE DE BENNU, FORTUNA--

All of her life, she had been told that she was the embodiment of the Goddess. She would act with poise and grace in every moment of her life. When she came of age, she would wed a man of grand noble birth. Through him, she would continue her clan’s divine regime over their dominion. As her mother had done. As her grandmother had done. As every woman in her lineage up until her-- Ava’liah sol Bennu.

She was of the lineage of phoenixes-- that was what her mother had told her long ago, when she was but a hatchling. Their supposed immortal blood hadn’t stopped her father from dying when she was barely old enough to remember him. Or her brothers and sisters from perishing from disease. Or her mother, eventually, from dying of health complications. If life had taught her anything, it was to get all of your emotions and desires out before your loved ones had to put your cold corpse into the ground. Better to live life with no regrets, right?

Perhaps that was why she had been given “the Firebrand Empress” as a moniker.

When her mother had passed, Ava’liah had been content with the idea of never marrying. She had spent a few years in the throne, learning to become savage when she needed to be and learning when to temper her fiery personality when the time called for it. She had fun being the leader of her kingdom, which sat in an area of Fortuna untainted by Cornerian control. If she could have done so, she would have frozen time-- lavishing in her palace, plucking cherries from bowls held by her attendants, and ordering about her guards to squash any invaders that dared defy their divine borders.

Perhaps that was why when Andrew Oikonny had come to her seeking an alliance to combat the encroaching Cornerian threat, she had been… taken off guard. She had wanted to maintain the status quo. But Andrew changed everything.

Ava’liah was of course a creature of extremes. Despite this, not one of her attendants had thought she would have proposed a union of marriage to Andrew. It took her council by surprise. They had hoped Andrew would have said no.

But when he said yes? The Fortunan courts went berserk. They told her she could not marry an outsider. She told her that her lineage had to stay pure. They told her so many things… and she had the loud enough dissenters locked into the jail until they sang her tune.

That sunny day, her attendants had dressed her in red silken robes. A headdress of gold and thick red plumage adorned her head. A golden necklace and bangles adorned her body. Her sandals were threaded up to her knees. She walked with the grace her mother had taught her. Her sapphire eyes burned with her father’s warrior spirit. The accents of red in her snowy white plumage matched the tone of her outfit and she was living for it. Let the naysayers speak up in the presence of a goddess.

Andrew waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. He was in a nice light blue jacket with a white dress shirt underneath-- a modest but nice enough display of Cornerian fashion. She knew the people that hated her decision would riot at this but she did not care-- there was more room in the prison for them to sit and think about what they had done. He looked up at her and Goddess preserve, the way his golden eyes shone just about melted her heart. The simian gaped at her for a moment, as if seeing her for the first time in his life. She cherished the way his fangs poked out when he looked surprised.

Her left hand glided over the rail as she descended the stairs, her dress trailing after her. She smiled-- she knew she looked good and she knew he was positively stunned.

“I… uh… hm,” Andrew awkwardly fumbled and Ava’liah gave a small laugh. He was delightful when he did not know what to say.

“I know. I look beautiful,” Ava teased him.

Andrew scratched the back of his neck, clearly flustered. The pink of his face seemed positively aglow in embarrassment. She laughed again, wrapping her arm around his. They began down the hall, stepping from the shelter of the palace interior. There was a delightful blue-glass ceiling that hung over an outdoor corridor. The stone path was lined with pillars, each one decorated with vines and an array of flowers.

After a few steps down the path, Ava guided Andrew from the shade of the stone and glass canopy. They stepped, together, into the light of the sun. She marveled for a few moments at the way her fiance’s amber eyes seemed to shine in the light. He caught her look and smiled-- bashful once more. She wondered if he would ever grow out of that.

The morning air felt like a dream. She always found the gardens to be breathtaking, despite spending all of her years within the palace walls. Clusters of trees and flowers made up the heart of the palace. A grand statue of the Monarch Dodora sat in the midst of it all, presiding over a crystalline fountain with gemstones littering its bottom. The light of the sun reflected off of their surfaces, giving a rainbow hue to the pool’s depths.

“This base of yours that is under construction to the north,” Ava said to him as they walked the gardens. “You have not had any issues with the local fauna, have you?”

“Not particularly,” Andrew said. He seemed more at ease when talking about business and so she would indulge him. “I’m just hoping we’re able to establish everything before the Cornerians figure out what we’re doing.”

“Venom and Fortuna rising together. My council thinks this is insanity incarnate. But they forget the horrors the Cornerians have wrought upon our land,” Ava said.

She broke away from him for a moment. Each of her steps was light as a feather, like a swaying, gorgeous dance. She wandered over to a nearby tree, cradling one of the violet blossoms in her palm. When Ava plucked it, she did so with precision and presented it to her husband-to-be with a smile. The simian looked taken aback and she tucked it behind one of his pointed ears.

“My mother was a strong advocate against the Cornerians, you know. She did everything in her power to make sure our people stayed free. Not so different from your uncle, in that regard,” Ava’liah said to Andrew.

“She… sounds like she was a great person,” Andrew replied. He gingerly touched the flower tucked behind his ear, making sure it was secure. “What made you want to accept my alliance offer? I know when my uncle came here… he… he didn’t exactly ask permission to build a base before…”

“Worried that we Fortunans still hold a grudge over that?” Ava asked, raising her brow. “While it’s true that Venom coming to Fortuna did result in our planet becoming a battlefield… that wasn’t your choice.”

Overhead, a few patrol cruisers flashed by. Ava glanced up at them. Ever since those dark days, her clan had made sure to keep their borders and cities well-guarded. One never knew when war would come knocking on their doorstep once more. And the show of power certainly did not hurt in the slightest.

“These are tumultuous times we live in. We cannot afford to cling to every grudge or we’ll be left in a world surrounded by enemies,” Ava continued, returning to him. “I chose to ally with Venom because I can see no good future in Corneria doing whatever it pleases. I wish for Fortuna to be left well enough alone but that… can never happen in this world. So I chose to embrace the future.”

Without realizing it, she had drawn close to him. Her arms wrapped around him and Andrew reciprocated the motion, pulling her closer. She smiled-- he was getting better at this, less awkward than the day she had proposed to him. They hugged each other. She felt his warmth, her fingers trailing through the thick white fur of his nape. He pressed his cheek into her forehead.

“And I got you in the process, didn’t I?” she whispered. “So it cannot have been that bad of a decision.”

“Your council doesn’t seem to agree,” Andrew replied.

“They can bugger off,” Ava smiled and the two shared a small laugh.

“Do you think… we can win?” Andrew asked quietly when their laughter had subsided. “No one has won against the Cornerians…”

“I don’t think we can win,” Ava replied. “I know we can. And when we do, Fortuna and Venom will be free. And we can spend all of our days here. I can have the servants feed us cherries as we watch those TV shows you love so much.”

“A-anime?” Andrew asked, eyes widening. He chuckled. “You know, not many people would think that’s very Emperor-like…”

“Oh, who cares,” Ava waved his concern off. “I am only sad I had not seen some of those shows sooner. I must admit… I am a bit eager to see the next episode of Birdboy Bebop.”

“You… like that one, huh?” Andrew smiled. “I used to have a poster of the main character in my room when I worked on the Star Wolf team.”

“Oh really?” Ava laughed. “You don’t talk about your Star Wolf days much. I’d like to hear more. Perhaps with some tea?”

“Sure,” Andrew said, a distant but warm look in his amber eyes. There was a flicker of a smile on his lips. “I guess I have a few good stories from those days.”

#andrew oikonny #star fox #starfox #star fox oc #fanfiction #star fox fanfiction #littlebluewraith

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isaackuo · 5 years ago

Text

About Lapis and Spinel, but mostly Lapis

I haven't been following SU tags, so I don't know if people have already been making Lapis/Spinel comparisons. Anyway, here are some of my own rambling thoughts.

Well first off - Lapis is the only other Gem who was abandoned for 6000 years in a conscious (not bubbled) state. I mean ... Bismuth was bubbled. For her, only an instant passed between when Rose bubbled her and Steven appeared before her. But Lapis was trapped inside Pearl for thousands of years, conscious the whole time like Spinel was conscious the whole time.

And naturally, Lapis grew to hate the Crystal Gems ... but not Steven. That line from the movie actually annoys me ... "I'm still on the fence."

I mean, seriously? Lapis is "on the fence" about Steven? The same Steven who she clung to the only person who showed her any kindness in thousands of years? The same Steven who she risked her life to send a message to, when Homeworld turned out to be no home for her? The same Steven who she sacrificed her freedom for, trapping Jasper with pure rage and infinite determination?

But no, actually Lapis is "on the fence"? Ha ha, what a funny joke... but seriously WHAT? Even when Lapis hated the Crystal Gems the most, she would have still given up everything for Steven.

Okay, let's just forget about that line and pretend it never happened.

So. Lapis has been brewing in her own loneliness and growing rage for 6000 years, and then latches onto Steven as her only friend. Sounds like Spinel, right?

But the difference is that Lapis doesn't cling to Steven. Lapis seems to naturally be a loner, so she would have been okay just hanging out in the middle of nature if she hadn't gotten with Peridot. I feel like Spinel's story explores what could have been explored with Lapis - but wasn't.

I mean ... for the longest time Lapis's only friend is Steven. At least, that's the way she sees it. Steven's naturally friendly to everyone, but ... you know. With someone like Spinel it's way too much and too clingy and not respectful of Steven's boundaries. Lapis decided to express her out-sized devotion in ways that didn't involve demanding Steven's time or attention, but ...

Well, it still was disturbing. Obviously, Steven felt bad about not being able to go back to rescue Lapis from her prison cell like he promised. But rather than being resentful, Lapis still is ultimately devoted to Steven. Lapis still decides to save him (along with his Crystal Gem friends who she still justifiably hates) by dragging Jasper down to the bottom of the ocean for ... forever? So even though Steven can go on with his life and deal with other issues (like Connie problems) ... he doesn't just forget Lapis like she's nothing. It's this elephant in the room vaguely haunting SU in the background the whole time for many episodes to come.

And when we finally do "see" Lapis again, it's in this chilling horror nightmare vision. Turns out all the worst fan speculations were right - Lapis has been straining in agony with Jasper this whole time.

So basically - the degree to which Lapis took her friendship with Steven was an unreasonably extreme level - just in a different angle than the way Spinel took things. I mean, Steven didn't ask Lapis for that - he tried to talk Lapis out of it even. It might not have directly harmed Steven the way Spinel's toxic clinginess did, but it was still ... extremely unhealthy, to say the least.

Of course, Lapis eventually chills out and learns to just have random fun with Peridot. That's not such a stretch, since Lapis also seems to be okay with just hanging out by herself doing nothing at all, for once.

With Spinel, one questions whether or not things will really go okay with her and the Diamonds. But since this is a short movie rather than a bunch of TV episodes ... well, I'll give them a pass.

Still, it might have been interesting seeing how this sort of storyline would have played out in an extended form. Like, if Lapis had clung to Steven as her savior and only friend, that might have been an interesting direction to have taken her story.

Anyone else with similar thoughts, or other thoughts relating to Lapis vs Spinel? I feel stupid asking this, seeing as I haven't searched through the SU tags for it. But I honestly am curious even if the SU tags are a bit much for me to read through.

Thanks!

#steven universe #su theory #lapis lazuli #spinel #thoughts

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thruheavenandhighwater · 6 years ago

Text

Oh.

Pairing: Calum Hood/ Reader

Requested By: N/A (kinda by Sham, I think she mentioned this like 58 months ago.)

Word Count: 8,277

Summary: Tattoo!Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with a tattoo of the first word their soulmate will say to them when they meet. But what happens when you don’t know that they’re your soulmate and you lose them?

Oh.

That’s all it said, was Oh.

Everyone in the world is born with a tattoo of the first word that their soulmate will say to them when they finally meet. Some people had fun words, like pizza or unicorn. You’d even known a boy in middle school whose tattoo said trapezoid. You had a cousin whose tattoo said Cancer, which everyone hoped meant that she would end up with someone born in June or July, but nobody could really be sure.

More often than not, these tattoos were greetings of some kind. Hello, hi, and excuse me made appearances most frequently. Your father’s tattoo had said Sir, while your mother’s had said Yes. They met while she was waiting tables in college and the rest, as they say, was history.

But yours? Yours just said Oh. It infuriated you beyond belief, if you were being honest. It was just a basic word, one that you yourself said multiple times a day. There was nothing exciting about it. No context to it at all. You found yourself looking down at your wrist any time a stranger would say the word to you for any reason at all. But every single time you looked, it was still there. The drill was that once the right person said this magic word, the tattoo would disappear. Once the tattoo disappeared, you’d found your soulmate. At that point, you were supposed to kiss, fall in love, live happily ever after. The End.

But here you were, alone in your tiny, one bedroom apartment with your cat and no soulmate. No idea whatsoever about who your soulmate could even be. The only thing you had to go on was the tattoo. That stupid word you’d grown to hate seeing every day, anytime you washed your hands or touched your face. Oh.

When you were younger, you and your friends would often sit together and compare tattoos. You would spend hours outside, or in one of your bedrooms, even in Mallory’s treehouse sometimes when her grandma was home to watch you. Just holding your fists out to each other to show off the black ink on your wrists and come up with elaborate and extravagant stories about how you would meet your soulmates. You’d never forget the time that Christine found out that Aaron, the boy she had a crush on, had a tattoo that said And. She spent days coming up with what you all thought was a clever plan for her to have a reason to say it to him. The day came, she said her lines perfectly, but to her horror- both of their tattoos remained. She’d cried for hours after school, claiming that the tattoo system was broken. But then, two summers ago she met Erin and decided that the tattoo system was working just fine, thank you very much.

Today was Saturday, your weekly lazy day. The one day you allowed yourself to not care about the dishes piling in the sink or the laundry you swore you were going to do three days ago. No, Saturdays, as far as you were concerned, were created to sit on the couch in your pajamas and binge watch the best and worst things that Netflix had to offer. And that is exactly what you were doing. You were three episodes into a Gilmore Girls marathon when suddenly you felt your stomach rumble, accompanied by a loud groan that you were definitely sure your downstairs neighbors had to have heard.

You slipped into a pair of boots and grabbed your jacket and keys as you walked out the door in search of food. You stopped at a diner just down the street, where all the wait staff and cooks knew you by name. After placing your usual order, a turkey club and an extra side of fries, you took to a booth to wait. Donna, the waitress who was always extra nice to you and never charged you for the extra fries, came around the counter holding a white paper bag containing your order.

“Why the long face, honey?” She asked you as she set your food in front of you.

You sighed as you stood from the table and picked up the bag. “Chris and Erin’s wedding is in a few months. I love them and I’m excited for them, but being the only bridesmaid that still has my soulmate tattoo is starting to get to me.”

Donna scoffed and rolled her eyes at you. “You know I didn’t meet my husband until I was 39?” She said. “I had my soulmate tattoo for 39 years. You’re young, you’re sweet, and you’re cute. You’ll be fine.” She said, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Who knows, maybe you’ll meet them at the wedding.”

“I do appreciate your never ending belief in me, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.” You told her with a laugh.

“You never know. People meet their soulmates all types of places.”

“I suppose.” You sighed, shrugging your shoulders. You took a few steps backwards, toward the door. “Thanks for the food, Donna. You know you’re my favorite.”

She laughed and walked back behind the counter. “Uh huh. Get out of here, trouble.” You winked at her quickly before turning and finally walking out the door.

Outside, the temperature had dropped slightly while you were inside the warmth of the cozy diner. You decided that if you were going to survive the four block walk back to your apartment, you absolutely had to have coffee to keep you warm. So, you crossed the street and walked a few doors down to a small cafe. When you opened the door you were met with a packed house. Clearly, you were not the only one who needed some warming up. You got in line and passed the time on your phone, occasionally switching your food from hand to hand when it got too heavy.

When it was finally your turn, you placed your order and walked to the other end of the counter to wait for your grande caramel macchiato. When the barista called out your drink, you thanked her with a smile. You made your way to the front door, finally ready to get home as quickly as possible with your food and coffee when it hit you. Like, literally hit you. The front door of the coffee shop swung open and whoever was on the other side walked directly into you.

You ended up smushing your hot coffee between your chest and his, successfully drenching both you and him in the process. The burn made you drop your bag, which thankfully stayed closed but you were sure that your sandwich would be a toppled mess when you got home.

“Oh, shit.” The guy said, putting his hands on your shoulders to steady you. You wished he hadn’t because the hot coffee seeping through your jacket and dripping from your hand had you wanting to smack him. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

You looked at him. Well, you looked at his coffee stained chest before your eyes trailed up to his face. If you weren’t so pissed about your wasted coffee, you might even think he was kind of handsome. Tan skin, a few moles across one cheek. Black hair that was combed back, styled in a way that could only be described as a special kind of perfect. Then he smiled at you. Even though it was cold and the sun wasn’t technically out, you were completely sure that you saw the sun shine out of his smile.

You bent down to retrieve your dropped food. “It’s fine.” You told him. “Nothing a run through a washing machine won’t get out.”

“Are you sure?” He asked you, pulling his hands from your shoulders.

“Yeah. Sorry about your shirt.” You told him as you stepped around him and through the door.

“At least let me buy you a new coffee.”

“It’s fine.” You repeated. “This is hot and I just want to get it off as quickly as possible. Thank you, though.” You saw him open his mouth to speak again, but you turned away and started heading for home before he had the chance.

As you walked you couldn’t help but to think that he had some sort of nerve. Being that handsome after making you spill hot coffee all over yourself. Well, he was probably that handsome before that, but that wasn’t the point. You angry walked home, your feet carrying you faster than they had since you were forced to run the mile in high school. When you finally reached your front door, you unlocked it and set your now cold and likely ruined food in the kitchen before moving to the bathroom.

You unzipped your jacket, setting it on the counter while you finished undressing. You ran yourself a shower and let the warm water wash away the sticky coffee residue that was left on your chest and stomach. When you finished your shower, you changed back into a pair of fresh pajamas before throwing your damp clothes into the wash. So much for a lazy day.

As you fished your food from the paper bag on your kitchen table, you discovered that you were right. The fries were okay, no longer neatly contained in the styrofoam box that you’d gotten them in, but fine. Your sandwich hadn’t fared so well. It was still edible, yes, but you had to reconstruct it.

You finished dinner, put your clothes in the dryer and decided it was time for bed before anything else would have the chance to go wrong. You slid beneath your comforter and your cat curled up on the foot of your bed just like he did every night. You plugged your phone in to the charger next to your bed and began to scroll through Facebook. Erin had posted some of her and Christine’s engagement photos a few hours prior. Even in your slightly cynical state, you had to admit that they were a beautiful couple. You sighed as you looked over to your wrist at your stupid tattoo.

Instead of being met by the single word that had tormented you for as long as you could remember, all you saw was bare skin. Pure, unmarked skin. No tattoo. It was gone. You sat bolt upright in bed and rubbed your hand over your wrist. How could it be gone? It was impossible. When? Where? Who? Every question you could think of was flooding your mind at once as you stood from the bed and started to pace around your room, trying to remember every person you’d met today. You were definitely sure that it had been there this morning. But after that? You tried to look at it as little as possible, so it could have disappeared at any point between your shower this morning and getting coffee.

Fuck. Coffee boy.

Shit shit shit shit shit. You ran a hand through your hair as you continued to pace around your room. Eventually, you got tired of the confines of your bedroom, so you moved into the living room, then the kitchen and even the bathroom. You had to keep your feet moving to keep your mind from eating itself alive for letting you walk away from him. You didn’t even get his name. All you knew about him was that he was tall and didn’t pay attention to where he was going. Not a lot to go on.

You checked the time on the clock over the stove. 8:04 pm. Fuck. The coffee shop just closed. You couldn’t even go back and try to find him. What the hell were you supposed to do now? All you had was a basic description of a random guy you’d seen in a public place for a few minutes at an undetermined time this evening. What kind of missed connections ad would that be? You went back to your bedroom and called the only person you knew that might be able to help you. Your mother.

The phone rang a few times while you bit at your fingernails nervously. When she finally answered, you realized that you had no idea where to even begin. So, you just started with what you thought was the most important part.

“Mom.” You started with a sigh, bringing your hand to cover your eyes. “I uh… Well, my tattoo is gone.”

“Oh, my god!” She squealed into the phone. You pulled your phone from your ear and held it at arm's length until she was done getting excited over nothing. “So, tell me! Who is it? What’s their name? What do they look like? How old are they?” She had what seemed like a million and one questions. And you didn’t have an answer to a single one of them.

“That’s uh… Shit.” You stopped yourself, not entirely sure how you were supposed to continue.

“Y/N?” You mother asked, her voice laced in concern as the excitement quickly faded away. “Y/N, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“Okay, well.” You started again. You decided to bite the bullet and just tell her. “So, the thing is… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

“What don’t you know?”

“Anything.” You said with a laugh. How were you laughing right now? Nothing about this was funny. Maybe it was the nerves, or the fact that if you didn’t laugh you might end up crying. Either way you continued to giggle lightly as you detailed your encounter with your soulmate to your mother over the phone.

“Oh, wow.” She said when you finished your story. “That’s… Well, that’s quite the predicament, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. And I don’t know what to do now. How am I supposed to find him again?” You asked her, praying that she would have all the answers.

“Baby, I don’t know.” She answered, sounding as defeated as you felt. Your shoulders slumped. If she can’t help you, then who the hell could?

“Okay.” You sighed, rubbing your eyes. “Well, thank you for listening to me ramble. I’m gonna try to sleep and figure this thing out tomorrow.” You and your mom said your goodnights to each other before hanging up. You had every intention of going to sleep and figuring this out tomorrow, just like you’d told her. But how were you supposed to sleep at a time like this?

You ended up scouring the internet all night, trying to find ways to get in touch with him. Most sites suggested that you make a post on every social media platform you could find. Give their description, where you’d seen them and at what time, and what their tattoo would have said, all the basic info. You tried your damnedest but all you could remember about him was that he was tall and tan. You couldn’t even remember what you’d said to him, so including what his tattoo would have said was completely out of the question.

You finally closed your laptop with a defeated groan just before 5 am. When you read the bight green numbers above the stove, you realized that the coffee shop would be opening soon. You ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower to wash the night of fruitless research from your body. You quickly got dressed and all but ran to the coffee shop. The same barista from yesterday greeted you as you pulled the door open and stepped inside.

“Good morning!” She called all too cheerily. “What can I get ya?”

“Actually, I was here yesterday.” You told her, slightly out of breath.

“Oh? Was there something wrong?”

“No, no.” You assured her. “But, right after I left there was a guy in here. Tall, black hair, a little bit handsome?”

She pursed her lips as she thought back to the night before. It took a few minutes but when you saw a smile came to her glossed lips you knew that she remembered him. “A little bit handsome?” She asked with a laugh. “He was more than a little bit handsome.”

“So you remember him?”

“Yeah, black house blend, I think. Why?”

“Have you seen him before? Is he a regular?” You asked, almost begging her to say that yes, he comes in every day at the same time and orders the same thing so that you could have a sliver of a chance of finding him again.

“I’m sorry,” She started, taking a step back from the counter with a worried look on her face. “I don’t really think I should tell-”

“He’s my soulmate.”

“Woah. Lucky you.” She giggled.

“No,” You sighed. You brought a hand up to your hair as you closed your eyes. “Not lucky me. He bumped into me and spilled my coffee and I was mad and I didn’t know that he was my soulmate so I left. I lost him and I’m really hoping that you can help me out here.”

“That sucks.” She said, raising her eyebrows. Yeah, no shit, Katie. “I’m sorry, but that was the first time I’ve ever seen him. Do you want me to ask the others?”

“Yeah. Yes, please.”

She turned her head and called for the rest of the staff that was on duty to come to the register. She quickly explained the situation to them and asked them if they’d ever seen your unidentified soulmate before last night. They all looked disappointed as they went down the line and told you that, no, they’d never seen him before.

Shit. This was bad.

You thanked them and denied Katie's offer for a replacement coffee. You were too upset to even think about caffeinating yourself right now. You walked home, your feet dragging beneath you as they lead you back to your front door. Your cat greeted you the same as he always did, but you ignored him as you sulked to your bedroom and flopped down on top of your comforter. Your eyelids were heavy, and you were far too emotionally and physically drained to even try to keep them open. Instead, you let yourself fall asleep in your jeans, hoping that you’d have a solution when you woke up.

It was nearly two in the afternoon when you finally woke up. You blinked your eyes a few times as you started to remember the night before. With a groan, you pushed yourself from your bed and made your way to the bathroom. Of course, you still had no idea what you were going to do. Eventually, you decided that maybe posting ads on social media was your only option.

You brewed a pot of coffee, opening your laptop at your kitchen table while you waited for it. Once it was done brewing you quickly poured yourself a cup and got to work. You included everything you could remember from the night before- The time and place, what little you could recall about his looks, and what your own tattoo had said. You found yourself hating that stupid tattoo more now than you ever had before. Oh. Such a basic word that millions of people say every single day without realizing. How the hell was this mystery guy supposed to remember that he had said it to you?

After typing and retyping the ad a few dozen times you finally decided that it was as good as it was gonna get and posted it to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Your posts got a few shares and retweets from your friends and family but none of them gained any ground. In the post you included your email address and asked whoever thought they might be it to email you a photo of themselves so you could be sure. The first few days you got fifty or so emails a day. None of them were him. After that, you got less and less until eventually you were lucky if you got one a day.

Days passed. Then weeks. Then months. Christine and Erin’s wedding was in two weeks and you couldn’t stop yourself from being bitter. You found yourself thinking that maybe Christine had been right, all those years ago while she sobbed on the floor of your bedroom. Maybe the soulmate tattoo system was broken. You hated yourself for letting him slip right through your coffee covered fingers that day. Day after day you continued to check your email and scour the internet, hoping and praying that somehow you would find him. And then one day, you did.

You were in line at the grocery store, a cart full of groceries and a head full of thoughts that refused to leave or even let up so you could get some damn sleep. You glanced over the magazine display casually. You felt your breath catch in your throat and your mouth go dry when you saw it. Saw him. Saw the headline.

5 Seconds Of Summer cancels upcoming world tour, citing “personal struggles” for bassist Calum Hood.

Was that you? Was this Calum Hood guy your soulmate? He was definitely one of the four boys on the cover, but you had no idea if he was the right one. The line moved and suddenly it was your turn. You quickly checked out and left the store, sure that the poor checkout boy had thought you were rude by the way you didn’t make small talk and all but forced him to scan quicker. But you didn’t care, you’d apologize to him later. After you found the person you’d been looking for for months.

You drove home, loudly cursing every red light that you caught as you went. You ran into your apartment, throwing the door open and hitting the wall so hard that the crash scared your cat who was sleeping on the couch.

“Sorry, bub.” You called out to him as he ran into your bedroom.

Opening your laptop you pulled up Google and typed in the name of the band that you’d seen on the cover of the magazine. You scrolled down to where the band members were listed and sure enough, Calum Hood was the man that had covered you in hot coffee and then disappeared.

You clicked on a link to his Twitter account. He wasn’t too active, you noticed. But the last few tweets that he had posted were definitely more than a little melancholy. Apparently, he had been looking for you for as long as you’d been looking for him. You found yourself laughing alone in your bedroom as you scrolled further down his Twitter feed. He was funny, that much was clear by the way he interacted with his fans.

But how? How could this even be happening? How could your soulmate be a world famous, honest to god, rockstar? It didn’t make sense. The more you went over it in your head, you all but convinced yourself that you had made it up. You were remembering it wrong. You had to be. You called up Christine and told her about what had happened.

“So you’re going to DM him, right?”

“Chris, have you listened to anything I just told you? This can’t be right.”

Christine laughed, a real genuine belly laugh. “I thought I was straight before I met Erin.” She told you. “The tattoos don’t lie, even if it doesn’t make sense.” She was right. She had been just as surprised as the rest of you when she met her soulmate, only to find out that she was a woman. “Listen, I’m not your mom so I’m not going to tell you what to do. All I’m saying is that if you don’t do it, you’ll probably spend the rest of your life wishing that you had.”

“Do you know how much I hate it when you’re right?” You asked her.

“I do.” She answered with a laugh. “Sucks for you that I’m always right, huh?”

“Shut up.” You told her before saying your goodbyes and hanging up. You sat back down in front of your laptop and opened his Twitter page again before remembering that he didn’t follow you, so you couldn’t message him. Just as you started to freak out, a text from Christine came though.

Stalked a little. Seems like he’s more active on Instagram. Try him there. And if it is him, he’s invited to the wedding.

You smiled to yourself and silently thanked the universe for giving you a best friend like Christine. As you opened the Instagram app and typed in his username, all of your nerves that you’d thought had gone away over the last two months suddenly came back in full force. Your hands shook as you looked through his pictures. Lots of pictures of his dog, which you loved but hoped that didn’t mean that he would have a problem with your cat. Soulmate or not, you and your cat were a package deal.

Just like when you’d written out the useless ad to try to find him, you typed and retyped your message to him. Eventually you settled for just the facts.

Hi, my name is Y/N. I think we might be looking for each other.

You hit send and waited. And waited some more. And then even more. After three hours had passed with him not even opening the message you decided that you had been wrong and that this had been a terrible mistake. You knew that it couldn’t be true. Why had you let Christine talk you in to sending that damn message? You made a mental note to call her and rip her a new one in the morning. But for now, it was time for you to retire to your bed and hide under your blanket until the end of time.

Days passed without a response from the man that you had thought was your soulmate. You were back at square one. You pushed all thoughts of Calum and soulmates from your mind as you helped Christine with the last minute things she needed for the wedding.

“So he never even opened it?” She asked you as you were helping her to make the centerpieces for the reception.

“Not the last time I checked.”

“When was that?”

“A few days ago, I think.”

“Well, check it again. He could be reading it right now.”

You rolled your eyes as you pulled your phone from your pocket and opened the Instagram app. Just like you had expected, he still hadn’t read your message. Every time you checked it, you felt more and more stupid for sending it in the first place. “I told you it wasn’t him anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Y/N.” She said flatly. “He’s your literal fucking soulmate. Don’t be stupid. Of course it’s meant to be. It might take a little time, but it’s definitely meant to be.”

Days continued to pass until it was finally the day before your best friend’s wedding. Your whole life you had hoped that you’d be able to attend the event with your soulmate on your arm, but as you checked that damn message again it was clear that that wasn’t going to happen. You busied yourself the entire day with getting every single possible last minute detail taken care of. You made sure that the decorations were up and ready at the reception venue, double checked with each of the other bridesmaids that they had everything they needed, even called the woman who would be performing the ceremony to double check that she knew the right time and place for tomorrow.

When you realized that there was nothing left for you to do, it was just after 5 pm. You went home, ready to take a long, hot shower and relax for tomorrow. But as you stepped through the door of your apartment, your phone dinged. You quickly pulled it from your pocket and dropped it to the floor when you saw the notification that had come through.

Instagram: calumhood sent you a message!

Shit shit shit. This was it. He’d finally opened the message and was being nice enough to let you know that you were wrong, rather than ignoring you. That was it. It had to be. You bent over and picked your phone up from the floor cautiously opening the notification.

Holy shit.

You're “It's.”

I’ve been looking for you for months.

You felt faint as you read the messages over and over again. Three messages. Eleven words. One heart in your stomach as you tried to think of what you could possibly say to him.

It's?

It may have been a stupid message, but you had to know what the hell he meant when he called you It's.

That's what my tattoo said. After I bumped you, I apologized and you said “It's fine.” Which, btw, I'm still totally sorry about.

Before you could even type anything out, he sent another message.

What are you doing? I can fly you to LA tonight and we can finally properly meet. Maybe I can even buy you that coffee I owe you.

Your smile grew as you read his message and typed back your own reply.

I would, but I’m in my best friend’s wedding tomorrow ): rain check?

I can come there. I don’t have to go to the wedding, but I can’t wait any longer to see you again.

She actually said that if she was right about this, that you were invited.

Awesome. Then I’ll pack my dancing shoes and see you tomorrow. What’s the closest airport to you?

You quickly Googled airports near you and sent him the name of the the one that was closest.

Great. Just bought my ticket. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, soulmate.

You spent the rest of the night texting Calum, telling each other stories from your lives and gently making fun of yourselves for taking so long to find each other. You glanced at the clock and knew that if you were going to be of any use at the wedding, you had to go to sleep now. You said goodnight to Calum before rolling over and closing your eyes. Just as you were about to fall asleep, one last text from him came through.

Goodnight. I can’t wait to see you in the morning. I’m so glad we finally found each other.

The next morning you woke up to a few texts from Christine and one from Calum, wishing you a good morning and letting you know what time he would be getting dropped off at your apartment. You checked the time saw that you had about an hour and a half to get yourself ready and do whatever you could to make your apartment presentable before he arrived. You also noticed that he’d be getting there with only a few minutes to spare before you had to leave to be at the church on time.

You went about your normal morning routine- shower, brush teeth, makeup, hair, feed the cat- before slipping your bridesmaids dress on and making your way into the living room. You glanced at the clock over your stove as you passed it. Less than half an hour until Calum would be here. You mentally cursed at yourself for taking so long to get ready as you made a mad dash around your apartment. You picked up dirty laundry and shoved it all into the hamper in the bathroom, rinsed the dishes that were in the sink so they would at least appear clean even if they weren’t, and cleaned the cats litter box just before you heard a soft knock on your front door.

You froze, your hand stopping over the trashcan as you were about to throw something away. Just like that day in line at the grocery store, you felt your mouth go dry and your entire body suddenly felt warm. There was another knock, this one slightly louder, before you suddenly regained the ability to move. You walked to the door and took a few deep breaths as you smoothed the fabric of your dress with your hands.

When you finally turned the knob and opened the door, you almost swore you heard an actual chorus of angels. Calum stood in front of you in a black suit with no tie, his hair done up in the same way that it had been that day at the coffee shop, and a bouquet of roses in one hand. His suitcase sat at his feet, which were decked out in matte black boots. He looked incredible.

The two of you stood there for probably way too long, just looking at each other. He wore the same smile he had the day you’d first met him, the one that made it seem like the sun was shining even indoors. You finally took a step back and invited him in, your voice betraying your nerves as you did.

He giggled, and wow- his giggle was the most wonderful noise you’d ever heard in your life. “These uh… They’re for you. My sister helped me pick them. Said that girls like roses.” He rambled as he gestured the bouquet toward you. You took them from him with a smile before leading him into the kitchen to put them in water.

“Hope you don’t mind that we kind of have to leave, like right now.” You told him as you turned off the water. “I have to be at the venue soon.”

“Oh, yeah.” He stammered. “That’s fine. Where should I put my bag?” He asked, lifting the bag that you hadn’t even realized that he was holding.

“Just set it in there.” You told him, pointing behind him to your living room. “We can figure it out tonight.”

He did as you told him and followed you out the door and to your car. The drive to the venue was silent other than the songs that played quietly from the radio. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but it definitely wasn’t a comfortable one either. It was some sort of weird middle ground that you’d never experienced before. When you pulled up to the venue, you parked your car and turned to him.

“So, uh… Ready?” You asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” He answered, rubbing his palms over the knees of his pants.

You stood from the car and lead him to the door of the venue. Checking the time on your phone you saw that you were fifteen minutes late, thanks to some unforeseen traffic during your drive. Christine was waiting by the door, impatiently tapping her foot when you walked in.

“I swear I have half a mind to-” She stopped in her tracks when she saw Calum walk in behind you.

“Half a mind to what?” You asked with a smirk as she gawked at him.

“Half a mind to ask you to introduce me to your friend here.” She answered sweetly.

“Christine, this is Calum. Calum, Christine.” You said to both of them in turn.

“The Calum?” She asked him.

He laughed and you saw a rosy tint come to his cheeks. “I think so.” He answered, turning his smile to you.

“Yes.” You told her, returning his smile. “The Calum. You said he could come.”

“I did say that. We’ll have to add a seat, but you can sit with the rest of our friends if you want.”

“Whatever works for you. I don’t want to be intrusive.”

Christine scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Please. You're my best friend’s soulmate. You’re not being intrusive.”

You felt your body get warm again. Neither of you had said the word out loud to each other yet. But when you finally looked up at him and saw the widest grin you’d seen from him yet, all of those nerves melted away instantly.

Soulmate.

Calum Hood, the beautiful man standing next to you, was your soulmate. You could definitely get used to saying that. Out loud or just to yourself, you didn’t care.

“I’ll have one of the guys pull out another chair. They’re right up there at front.” Christine told him, pointing in the direction of your friends. “You can head that way if you want, but I need to steal Y/N in a few minutes.” She finished, hurrying away toward your friends. You watched her walk up to them and within twenty seconds all of their heads snapped from her to you.

“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag.” You told him with a laugh.

“I don’t think Binx would appreciate being put in a bag in the first place.”

“I told you his name?”

“No, but he’s all over your Instagram.” He answered with another giggle. He placed one hand on your wrist and leaned down to kiss your cheek. “I’ll see you up there?”

“Yeah. Meet back at my car after?”

“Okay.” He grinned at you again before taking a few steps away, toward your group of friends who were all excitedly waiting for him.

The wedding was lovely, as you knew it would be. Both Christine and Erin looked beautiful beyond words in their dresses. Their vows were wonderfully written and heartfelt. You dabbed your eyes a few times through the ceremony. You didn’t know if you were emotional because you were happy for your best friend, or because you were happy that you’d finally found your own soulmate. Either way, you were grateful for Erin’s mom, who stood from her seat to hand you a tissue halfway through the ceremony.

When the ceremony finished, you met with Calum at your car just like you’d agreed and drove across town to the reception venue. You lead Calum through the doors and to the table that you’d been assigned to. Once again, an extra chair had to be added for him, but nobody complained. Everyone knew who he was and why he was here and had no problem at all making room for him.

The two of you ate, drank, and were merry all night long. Even though you’d only met hours before, it was like you’d been the best of friends for years. As Calum stood to clear your plates, Forever by The Beach Boys started playing from the large speakers set up near the dancefloor. “Oh, wow.” You sighed, your eyes falling closed as you put a hand over your chest. “I love this song. Haven’t heard it in ages.” You heard Calum set the plates back down on the table. You opened your eyes to find him still standing, one hand extended toward you.

“Care to dance?” He asked. You took his hand and allowed him to lead you to the dancefloor. He wrapped his free hand around your waist while you wrapped yours around his neck. You brought your intertwined hands up between your chests as you started to move in slow circles around the dancefloor. Calum began to softly sing the lyrics to you when you rested your head on his shoulder. Even if you hadn’t already loved the song, this moment would have been enough to make it your favorite of all time.

“Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?” He asked during a musical break. You lifted your head from his shoulder to look into his deep brown eyes. Before you could even come up with a witty response, Calum was slowly moving his face closer to yours. Your eyes shut as he closed the space between your mouths.

Sparks.

Fireworks.

Electricity.

Lightning.

Butterflies.

Every single cliche thing you could ever possibly imagine. All at once, and all breathtaking. You’d kissed other people before, sure. But this kiss? You were completely sure that kissing Calum was what you were meant to have been doing your entire life.

The kiss was short, but damn if it wasn’t powerful. You both wore matching grins when he pulled away, breaking the kiss.

“Woah.” You breathed.

“Yeah.” He agreed, a giggle falling from his smiling lips as he leaned in again.

This kiss was longer, and somehow even better than the first. You had no idea that kissing someone could make you feel like this. Like your entire world was suddenly brighter with his lips on yours. You smiled into the kiss as he took his hand away from yours, moving it to your cheek while the other stayed wrapped around your waist. Your own hand stayed resting flat against his chest as he pulled you closer to him.

You weren’t sure how long you stayed in his arms on the dancefloor after the song ended. At some point, he moved his hand from your cheek to join his other that was behind your back, linking his fingers over your waist. Your mind was completely wrapped up in the way his hands felt as he held you close to him. The way that his lips fit so perfectly into yours was some kind of magic. One of you had broken the first kiss, and now you were shuffling together, exchanging grins and quick kisses. Nobody in the world that was not the two of you mattered.

“Hey!” You faintly heard someone calling beside you. “Y/N!” You turned away from Calum to see Erin with a disposable camera in hand. She held it up and gestured vaguely to you and Calum. “Want a picture?” You leaned your head into Calum’s chest, your cheek resting on your own hand as you grinned at her. She smiled back to you as she took the picture, the flash a little brighter than you had expected.

“Make me a copy when you print those?” You asked as she put the camera down.

“Of course,” She smiled at you again. “Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”

When she walked away, snapping off more pictures as she went, you turned your attention back to Calum. He looked tired. Happy, giddy, a little goofy with the grin that was plastered on his face. But still very tired. You remembered that he had been awake for hours before you, and had a flight first thing in the morning so it wasn’t surprising at all that he would be tired by now.

“Wanna take off?” You asked him quietly.

“Nah,” He answered, shaking his head. “We’re havin’ fun. And it’s your best friend’s wedding. We can stay all night.”

“You’re sweet.” You told him, causing another crimson blush to crawl over his cheeks. “But you look like you’re about to collapse. I just have to say goodbye to Chris and we can leave.”

“Ya sure?”

“I’m sure.” You told him, reluctantly pulling yourself away from him. You took his hand in yours, linking your fingers with his as you lead him to wear you saw Christine and Erin on the other side of the reception venue. They both smiled at you as you got closer. Christine had been drinking wine all night and was slightly tipsy as she threw her arms around your shoulders.

“My best friend!” She slurred into your ear as she hugged you.

“You good?” You asked with a laugh as you pulled away from her.

“I’m great!” She cried. “I got fuckin’ married today!”

“Yeah, I was there.” You told her, laughing even more.

“You were! You were there for me for all of it. And I’m gonna be there when you get married, too.” Christine told you, suddenly getting very serious as placed an unsteady hand on your shoulder.

“Thank you, Chris. But I think we’re going to leave soon. We’re kind of tired.” Christine seemed sad, but hugged both of you nonetheless before allowing you to leave, with the promise that you would call her the next day.

As you drove back to your apartment, the same silence enveloped the two of you. This time was different, though. Just like earlier, neither of you spoke as you listened to the songs on the radio. When you were just about halfway home, Calum’s phone started ringing. He had plugged it in in your car during the reception and completely forgot about.

“Ah, shit.” He sighed as he picked it up to answer it. “Hey, Ash.” You could only hear one side of the conversation, but whoever was on the other end seemed to be upset if Calum’s expression was anything to go off of.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just-” He started before being cut off again. He smiled to himself as whoever it was spoke to him. “I know, I know, I know. But there wasn’t-” You found yourself smiling with him as you listened to his fractured responses.

“I’m fine!” He called out suddenly. “I’ll text ya tomorrow, mate. I promise.” He laughed. “I’m not dead and I’ll come home soon… Okay, yeah, bye.” He was smiling, shaking his head slightly as he hung up.

“What was that all about?” You asked as you turned into the parking lot of your apartment complex.

He laughed again and looked up from his phone to look at you. “I might have forgotten to tell people that I was leaving.”

“Calum!”

“I didn’t think about it.” He said as you parked your car. He opened his door and got out, stretching his arms over his head as he stood up straight. “My roommate is with my dog, and that was all I cared about. I just wanted to get here and see you again.”

You got out of the car and he met you in front of it. He wrapped his arms around your waist and you rested your hands on his arms. “I wanted to see you again, too.” You told him with a smile. “But I do not need your friends thinking that I kidnapped you.”

He smiled back down to you before placing a kiss to your hair. “I’ll call tomorrow and fill ‘em in. But for now, I think I need some sleep.”

You stepped away from him and took his hand in yours as you lead him into your apartment building. As you got to your front door, you couldn’t help but to smile as you unlocked the door and walked inside. Calum’s suitcase was still sat next to your couch in the living room.

“I’m gonna go get changed, if ya wanna get comfortable.” You told him as you started down the hallway to your bedroom.

“Yeah, should I just set up out here?”

“You can if you want, but my bed is definitely more comfortable.”

“Is that so?” He asked as he picked up his suitcase and started to follow you.

You nodded as you opened your bedroom door, flipping on the light as Calum and Binx followed you inside. “Oh, yes.” You told him. “Like sleeping on a cloud.”

Calum giggled and set his suitcase down by the wall next to your bedroom door. “I think I’ll be the judge of that.” You pulled some pajamas from your dresser while Calum kneeled in front of his suitcase to retrieve his own.

“I’ll be back.” You said as you walked to the door. He stood up straight, a pair of black sweatpants in hand.

He put his hand around your waist and pulled you into him. “Hurry back, love.”

You could have melted on the spot. You leaned into him and kissed him, putting your hand on his cheek as you smiled into the kiss. When you pulled away, he was grinning again before he kissed your forehead softly.

You went into the bathroom across the hall and got undressed, changing into your pajamas quickly. After your makeup was off and your hair was brushed, you walked back into your bedroom and were met by the cutest sight you think you’d ever seen.

Calum was lying on his side on the far side of the bed, facing toward the door while he played on his phone. Your cat was curled up next to him. He was purring loudly as he snuggled into Calum’s bare stomach.

“I think he likes you.” You laughed as you lifted your comforter to join them in bed.

“Well, I think that I like you.” Calum said, wiggling his eyebrows as you moved closer to him.

“That’s good, since you’re my soulmate and all.”

“And I’m so fuckin’ lucky that I am.” He was careful not to disturb Binx as he wrapped his arm around your waist under the blanket. You moved toward him and caught his full lips with yours. The kiss was soft, sweet, unrushed in a way that made you forget everything that wasn’t Calum.

“We should sleep.” You sighed after pulling away from him.

“We should.” He agreed, moving in to kiss you again.

“I can’t sleep if you keep kissing me.” You said with a laugh.

“Don’t wanna stop.” He said, a slight whine in his sleepy voice.

You don’t know how long you stayed up that night, but by the time you did finally fall asleep, the sun was starting to peek in through your curtains. You talked and laughed, occasionally stealing kisses in the dark until neither of you could keep your eyes open any longer. Both of you had bright, albeit sleepy, smiles on your faces as you finally allowed yourselves to be pulled into the most comfortable sleep you’d had in years. Just before you fell asleep, you thought to yourself that you could definitely get used to falling asleep in Calum’s arms, with Binx curled up between the two of you.

~~~

I know it’s a long one, and I’m sorry but this is without a doubt my favorite fic that I’ve ever written. I hope you all agree that it was worth the 8,000+ words. Also, considering making this into a series at some point. Let me know if that’s something you’d be into. Cannot wait to hear what y’all think of this one! Also, super duper sad that Calum month is ending next month! But I have great things coming in February!

If you have any requests, or would like to be tagged in future 5sos fics please let me know!

Tag List: @crownedbyluke @24kcalum @blue-skies-are-alright @lmao5sosimagines @therainydays4 @rosecth @thesoundsyoumake @kinglyhemmings @a-little-international @harryandthelesbians @lukescherrypie @ashotofblues @youngblood199456 @rexorangecouny @cashton-queen @tothemoonwithclifford @babylon-uncrowned @asht0ns-world @abitloudforanaccousticset @gettingjillywithit @itjustkindahappenedreally @dancingonanemptywallet @lustingforwunder @mysticalhood

#calum hood fanfiction #calum hood fluff #calum hood soulmate au #5 seconds of summer fanfiction #5 seconds of summer fluff #5 seconds of summer soulmate au #5sos fanfiction #5sos fluff #5sos soulmate au #tattoo soulmate au #soulmate au #my words #this is long but i love it sm #this fic is my lil bb #ugh

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0poole · 5 years ago

Text

Some Retrospective Thoughts on Gen 7

Galar’s making me go nuts. You already know. Let’s look back on Alola because why not. I feel like I have stuff to say about it. Also, I just watched the last episode of the Alolan Anime, so there’s that.

Whenever I first think back to Gen 7, I think “Eh, it was alright. Nothing special, I guess.” The Pokemon were decent, apart from being almost universally slow, apart from like 3 speed demons, the starters weren’t much, the story was alright, the location was alright, etc. etc.

Then, I ACTUALLY think back, and I realize… I have no idea why I was thinking that. This generation was actually amazing.

First of all, they finally put the motif of the Sun and Moon into game types. It’s definitely a breath of fresh air after they tried to use the fucking dimensions in 3D space for titles in Gen 6 (Loved that gen too, but seriously “Life” and “Death” would both be more fitting and not as strange. Maybe they don’t want “Death” as a title tho). Really fits in with how naturally themed everything is too, which is obviously for the best, since this is the most “natural” game to date. Even though we technically already had an America-based region in Unova, Hawai’i is so unique in its own right it definitely fits for a region. I’m usually the type who doesn’t like super overt themes in things, and kind of just wants a very generalized experience, but it’s probably for the good of everyone that they don’t actually follow through with that idea.

Probably the biggest thing to come out of this generation is the new habit of them posting short little videos on Youtube revealing new Pokemon/features/etc. Obviously they were super trigger happy with them then, but now it seems they’ve taken a step back a little. I do love this idea, though, because it actually hypes me up more than anything else ever could. I remember before, even though I was kinda-sorta trying to follow the updates on Gens 4-6, I never really felt like I could, and even though I was going to get the games no matter what, now I realize I really want to know what I’m getting into.

I remember exactly where I was for some of the major announcements. For the starters, I was in my high school geometry class, where I watched and re-watched that video dozens of times just so I could keep looking at them. I started off on Rowlet’s side of course, but once I realized he was getting all the attention and ol Popplio was getting basically none, I changed my allegiance and stayed there to this day. Ignoring the fact that I don’t really like any of the final evolutions enough to actually use them in game, I LOVE Popplio himself. It’s seriously a shame that he didn’t become some clown seal like everyone was speculating. Unlike how it seems, I really, really like “normal” clown characters (as in, not “horror” clowns), so he could’ve easily become one of my favorites in that case. Decidueye is definitely my favorite of the final forms, and Incineroar I think is still underrated. Sure, whatever, he’s bipedal, and it’s weirder than it otherwise would be, but for some reason I love how his mouth was an actual modeled mouth and not just an image slapped on there like most Pokemon. It really made him more expressive than the average Pokemon. Plus, the animation for Darkest Lariat is really cool, with his hands flashing against a flat back background for a second before actually doing the move. Even better, it’s great meme potential when hacked onto other Pokemon, like Wailord.

I don’t remember if Solgaleo and Lunala were introduced in that first trailer too, but either way I love both of them. I was a bit more drawn to Solgaleo at first, but Lunala has since grown to be one of my favorite legendaries of all. The starry wings, golden rims, and white skeleton-y body are such a great combo. And yeah, sure, Solgaleo would’ve been more fitting as a fire type or whatever, but since stars form the heavy metals that make it onto planets it’s fine. I won’t accept that Lunala should’ve been a dark type, though. The Moon is a major embodiment of light in the night sky, so if anything it shouldn’t be related to darkness. As for Necrozma, I love his base form a lot. It’s such a strange look, especially how the back of his head is transparent. It’s the perfect “evil prism” pokemon. I really just wish Ultra Necrozma had more detail to him, though. He looks so flat for such a major figure in the games… At least he had a good battle and an even BETTER theme song, hot damn

Guess that’s a good transition to talk about the music, and I guess tangentially about Team Skull, since they were probably the best possible departure from the usual “Evil Team” formula. Them just being random hooligans causing trouble instead of a formal organization trying for world domination is a good change of pace, as pretty much everyone agrees… It wouldn’t have been so great if they didn’t at least try to incorporate rap/trap music into their themes. They’re probably the most music-oriented Team canonically speaking, so they’d have to have a great theme. Also, the idea that they feel left behind by the traditions of the Trials really makes sense, since something so important in their culture would definitely make someone feel left out if they couldn’t get through it.

Other themes for the more calm situations, like Hau’oli City’s night theme, are also extremely good. I didn’t even realize how much I loved that track until I heard Insaneintherain’s cover of it. It almost sounds like something out of Steven Universe, for how pleasant it is (apart from the piano). Lillie’s theme still gives me the warm fuzzies every time I hear it, too. I don’t think a single game before this has ever done the credits so well, too. Apart from the fun artwork, the last shot of Lillie and the game’s legendary actually just kills me every time. She’s such an adorable, pure soul, it’s crazy to think that when she was first revealed, we thought she was the secret supervillain of the game, just because she looked kinda peeved in her official art. We weren’t far off, though, with the Aether Foundation and all. I love both the calm theme of the Paradise itself AND their evil battle theme. Even though one is obviously an evil theme, it does feel like it came from the same source. Same goes for Lusamine’s theme. I really love the Aether Foundation as a whole too, where we can now have “Good” Foundation archetypes to counter the Evil Team archetype. Plus, their designs all involve white with gold accents, which is basically my brand. I tried to design my own Aether outfit the instant I saw them, since I love their look so much.

As for battle themes, I love how jazzy Galdion’s battle theme ended up. It made him so much more interesting than just a generic edgelord. The Elite Four’s battle theme might actually be the scariest theme to date for some reason, and yet all I can picture when listening to it is Acerola bobbing joyfully back and forth… Basically the same way, the Tapu battle theme is also pretty crazy, with tribal chants in the back of it. The Tapus are probably the coolest group of legendaries in the game, considering how unique they are, with their oddly wooden shells that represent animals. It really makes them feel like spirits brought about by the people of Alola themselves, instead of just some being that came out of nowhere. Probably the one theme that is the most nostalgic (yes, I know it was only 3 years ago, you can still feel nostalgia damnit) for me is the Kahuna battle theme. It was probably just some random comment on Youtube, but somewhere someone said that it was the perfect theme because it starts off intimidating, but quickly switches into a super fun melody, because ultimately, the Island Challenge is for fun. I just love that. I’m always looking for “Fun” stuff in pretty much everything, so I like a theme that represents that. Also, it’s just super catchy, and even expanded upon in Pokemon Masters. Let it be known that Hapu is the best Kahuna by the way. She cute. Also, watching her become the Kahuna is the best world building you could possibly muster up for this kind of setting.

Of course, I’m intentionally leaving out a certain group…

You know what I think of when I think of Hawai’i? Pearly white sand beaches… Palm trees… Fruity drinks… oh, and let’s not forget fucking interdimensional aliens.

The Ultra Beasts are the exact type of thing I’d want to insert into the Pokemon world, and that’s why I love them. They’re so weird in the best ways possible. When they were introduced in a trailer, I had the same reaction as I did with Type: Null. They put him up on the screen for a bit and was like “Haha here’s ‘Type: Null,’ okay next” like EXCUSE ME? YOU CAN’T JUST SHOW ME A POKEMON CALLED “Type: Null” AND NOT EXPLAIN WHAT’S GOING ON. Of course, that’s kind of what the games were for, but it was seriously a shock to the system to see Pokemon with code names instead of actual names. You also can’t convince me that Pheromosa wasn’t designed after Lusamine, and to a lesser extent that Xurkitree wasn’t designed after Guzma. I think it’s canon that Lusamine styled Lillie after Nihilego in her crazed state, but the uncanny likeness between those other two is pretty darn notable. I think from the first batch, Celesteela was my favorite of them all, being like a rusted copper rocket ship or something, who can even smack you with her two giant rockets. Also, Pokemon directly based on folktales are always welcome, no matter what. Meanwhile, with the Ultra games being the first sequels to introduce brand-new Pokemon, Blacephalon easily took top spot. I did say I liked clowns, didn’t I? Plus, the biggest evidence that he’s best boi is that in the anime when he appeared, he didn’t even try to attack anything. He just wanted to show off (specifically, believe it or not, by moonwalking… Whoever’s idea that was needs a raise). I also love detachable heads, which is a great idea to mix with clowns, and I guess also fireworks in this case… I just love him. I really hope that there will be future instances of Ultra Beasts, since it’s apparently super easy to just make them however the hell you want them, and since you’re not limited to a region’s natural environment. Lord knows whoever designed Buzzwole didn’t have any limitations. Exploring his, and really all of their worlds in USUM was extremely fun. It’s a damn shame Blacephalon and Stakataka (again, what a name) didn’t get the same privilege.

As for the Pokemon as a whole, like I mentioned, off the top of my head I don’t feel super crazy about many of them, even though that’s a total lie. Shiinotic appealed to my inner mushroom-character-lover so much that I basically designed a character that looked identical to him. He’s easily the best mushroom Pokemon to date, where he looks pretty cute while also being just slightly creepy enough, with those souless eyes. The concept for Araquanid is amazing, where he’s a reverse Diving Bell spider. I might’ve designed him a bit differently, but he still looks super cool. The ideas behind Oranguru and Passimian are also cool, since we haven’t delved much into intelligent ape Pokemon enough. Wishiwashi is another great concept, and probably the best fish Pokemon in my opinion because of it. Lurantis and Minior are total cuties, the latter being one of those Pokemon that isn’t always in the forefront of my mind, but the instant it is it reclaims its place as one of my all-time favorites. Golisopod and Kommo-o are two of the coolest Pokemon designs to me, the latter being my all-time favorite Pseudo-Legendary. Vikavolt looks awesome, despite being deceptively slow. Dhelmise looks weird until you realize it’s actually insanely large (like, Wailord large). Mudsdale is just an all-around good-looking horse. Oricorio also looks really cool, especially in her fiery form. Tsareena is, well… Tsareena… That’s not even including the adorable Magearna and Marshadow, who are in generational limbo… Also, I think Mimikyu might be the overall best addition to the franchise ever. No Pika-clone could ever compare.

I mean, specifically as far as a single Pokemon goes, Mimikyu is definitely the best addition to the franchise. Meanwhile, as far as concepts go, the absolutely HUGE idea of Regional Variants is the best addition. Again, I remember where I was when I heard the announcement: it was some sort of weird fantasy house, with a ton of cool details in it to make it look like a setting in some movie or something. It was awesome there, even if we were staying for only a night or so I think. Either way, the concept of different Pokemon adapting to different conditions in the region is the most perfect way to bring attention back to older Pokemon, and I’m so glad they seem to want to keep the idea for all future generations too. It’s especially fitting for Alola, since it’s a super remote island. I love how goofy Alolan Exeggutor is, especially because everyone else seems to love his goofiness too. Same sort of goes for Dugtrio, since his hair is actually based on a real thing… Marowak becoming a spiritual fire dancer is definitely the best possible iteration for him. My favorite might be the colorful Alolan Muk, though, even if Alolan Vulpix is infinitely cuter and better than fiery Vulpix in every way. I cannot be convinced otherwise.

Also, she’s a perfect fit for Lillie, so I guess I’ll use that as my transition into talking about the characters/anime. I’m just gonna be real with you. I’m not going to hold back. Alola has some of the cutest girls in the entire franchise. But first of all, let’s divert that train and instead lust after a man who is easily the hottest professor in the games yet, Kukui. What self-respecting researcher wouldn’t wear his professor-mandated lab coat without any undershirt? He needs his bulging abs as target practice for his Pokemon’s moves, people. He needs to let them breathe. Also, I was kind of enamoured with Sycamore before him, but you can’t deny the tinted skin gets to you a little. Burnet’s a lucky gal, let’s just say.

Okay, now that we’ve established that my pants don’t discriminate, we have to talk about Wicke. So now that that’s covered, can I just say I love Mina? I’d say she deserves more attention, but she was the only Alolan to make it into Lets Go for some reason, so I guess she’s well off? First of all, I love hippie-esque girls (idealized hippies, at least), so that’s a major plus… I mean, I should probably stop using the word “cute” altogether because it applies to every girl in the game, but yeah. Lana’s highly deserved spotlight in the anime made me love her too, where she was a perfect combination of extroverted while still more soft-spoken. I don’t know if that kind of characters’ an anime trope, but lord knows it’s not in western media, so I love how unique her personality is. Her interacting with Mallow and Lillie in cute, girly ways felt so wholesome. If the anime’s anything, it’s wholesome.

One sec, though. I have to mention that I really like Hau. He’s obviously the one pinned as “Boo, he’s not a giga-asshole! That means he’s bad!” because I guess the fandom’s hive mind has collectively agreed that the only good rivals are assholes now. Like I said before, this stuff’s more about fun now. Hau’s a fun friend to fight, to the point where you beat him as the Champion you kinda feel bad for knocking him down so much. You feel bad because you like him, you know. Also, I forgot to mention this earlier but even though he isn’t entirely difficult himself, the trials in these games are actually both a difficult and interesting challenge. A 2v1 where you’re at the disadvantage is a great boss battle idea, especially with the strategies set out by a Pokemon’s different abilities and moves. Probably the best was Totem Lurantis, who of course summoned a Sunny Day-based Castform to activate her Chlorophyll and buff her Solar Blade, while adding a diverse fire type into play. It was really difficult, to be honest. Those who say it wasn’t either got lucky or have insane standards that cannot be met because they’re Pokemon Veterans who know every little thing about everything. I’m pretty much in that camp, and I still had to actually plan during the fight. Same goes for Totem Araquanid in USUM. I literally had to poison (not toxic, base poison) stall that guy because I couldn’t do anything to him otherwise. He was pretty much one-shotting everything I sent out, anyway, so I had to stall however I could. You can’t argue that that means it was “easy” because I knew how to beat him. It’s only “easy” if you can just send out pretty much whatever and do whatever and still win. Then there’s the Rainbow Rocket episode in USUM, which is just crazy… There’s not much to say that isn’t obvious there. It was fun seeing the villains that were victorious in a different dimension.

Anyways, for the anime, I also have a similar stance. It really seemed like the only people who started off hating it were anime nerds who had no concept of an in-between frame. I will say that it was a step down from XY/XYZ though, but those seasons’ quality was unusually high. Compared to the animation quality of every other season, it was so much better. First of all, I really don’t even like “anime style” that much, so a slightly more western style was very welcome. Like pretty much every show ever, the animation quality is seriously high where it counts, so there’s not much to be said about that, but I’d say the overall animation quality is a step up in general. The more simplified style only really looked weird in Ash because we’re so used to his more pointy style. Every other character looked totally fine, in my opinion.

As for the story, I will say I would’ve wanted the scope of the plot to be much larger, like how with the other seasons Ash was going on an adventure, whereas here it was very contained, and centered around the Pokemon School. But, still, like I mentioned, I did enjoy the casual wholesomeness of it all. Not only do I just like mindless fun, but it made the crazy shit feel even crazier. The episode where Faba was trying to catch Nebby is a perfect example. It begins with a nice fun game of all the Pokemon and people jumping rope and having a good time, with some slapstick humor with Faba failing to capture Nebby. Then he does, and shit goes down. First of all, he’s torturing the little thing. Then, ASH (not his Pokemon, Ash himself) tackles Faba. Tell me, what other season had humans fighting other humans? I honestly can’t think of a single time when fighting was done with fists and not Pokemon (although surely I’m forgetting something, there’s gotta be at least one other example, right?) Then, Lillie re-experiences her past trauma of almost being abducted by Nihilego, except now her mom gets abducted in her place… Like, what happened? It was so cute a second ago. That’s always the selling point for any cartoon, for me. Stay casual for a decent amount, then break it with some uncharacteristically high tension. The same goes for the segment where Ash goes into Guzzlord’s post apocalyptic dimension. As for mega-feels, It’s great that they made Litten/Torracat an actual character instead of just some random Pokemon, with Stoutland and whatnot. The episode where they go into Tapu Fini’s mist and Mallow meets her mother, and Torracat meets Stoutland just destroyed me. It was strategically remedied by Lillie and Gladion not seeing their father, suggesting he’s still alive. There were some really great episodes in the season, for sure.

So, yeah… Alola was a good time. Don’t deny it. Galar’s gonna be great too. No game’s ever going to be perfect, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun.

#pokemon #rant #rambling #gen 7 #alola #thoughts #opinions #ultra beasts #aether foundation #team skull #poole

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connorssock · 6 years ago

Note

If youre comfortable can we get some ace!Gavin?

I’m such a dumbass, when Ifirst read this I thought you meant if I’m physically comfortable as I am XD Somy initial thought was, it’s very sweet of you to consider that but here I amin slummy home clothes, under 4 blankets on the sofa with a dog by my side. Ithink I’m pretty cosy so should be able to write. And then it hit me. Yes. I amthat thick. But to answer your actual (equally sweet) concern, this isabsolutely a-okay so have some ace!Gavin!

If The Shoe Fits

Reputations were a serious thing. Gavin wasknown as a bit of a workaholic, a foul mouthed asshole, a brat. What he wasn’tknown for though, was being a ladies’ man. Or rather, in his case, a gentlemen’sman. There weren’t even whispers of his conquests, even after a night ofhitting bars and nobody could remember what really went on. Rumoursoccasionally cropped up that he was seen in some bar or other with someone, butnot once had Gavin ever outright answered a question about whether he wasdating anyone or had a casual fling. Gradually, people just accepted that maybethere were a few areas of his life that Gavin much preferred to keep private.

It didn’t escape the attention of the eagle eyesgossips at the DPD that over time, Nines and Gavin had grown close. Very close.They spent most of their lunchtimes together, sat side by side. On occasion,Nines would dip his finger into whatever Gavin was munching on and pop it intohis mouth for analysis. Usually, he’d hum in approval but on some days he’dsend Gavin a withering look and declare his lunch unfit for even a pig.Expectation and experience dictated that Gavin would blow up in Nines’ face atthe insult. Instead, he tipped his head back and laughed while Nines crammedfood into him to shut him up.

“You two make a cute couple,” Tina grinned asshe watched Nines try to throw jellybeans into Gavin’s waiting mouth across thebreakroom.

The jellybean sailed through the air just asGavin’s mouth snapped shut and stared at her in horror. It bounced off hischeek and Nines clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“We’re not,” Gavin stumbled over his words. “Imean, we aren’t. It’s not like.”

“Just tell me this much, is sex with an androidreally all that much better than with a human?” Tina snickered at his growingflush.

“Gavin wouldn’t know that,” Nines butted in. “Atleast not with me because I’m not equipped with human genitalia.”

“Ohhhhh,” Tina looked between them. “Is that whyyou guys aren’t official yet?”

“No!” Gavin snapped and grumpily slammed a mugunder the coffee machine.

He completely missed the look Nines shot him,one full of assessing contemplation.

The days went on, nobody brought up the thingbetween Gavin and Nines again, just let them get on with things as before.Lunches were still spent together, messing around and laughing with each other.Cases and reports were much the same too. Nines still went home with Gavin inthe evenings and they came in together too. Whispers were quickly shut downthough, warnings that it was a touchy topic for Gavin spread and for once,people respected his need for privacy until his relationship with Nines wasclarified.

“Gavin,” Nines stood by the closed front door tohis apartment and for the first time in his life looked nervous. “I haveprocured the necessary upgrades to maintain a physical relationship with you.My apologies I didn’t obtain it sooner, I did not realise this lack was whathas made you reticent about declaring our relationship.”

He expected many things but not for Gavin toheavily sit down on the couch and hang his head while muttering a tired “shit”.

“If I have misread the situation then pleaseaccept my apologies. I did not mean to presume.” Nines stood stock still, everybit the awkward android he felt himself to be.

“It’s not that. Fuck, Nines. I don’t know how tosay this,” Gavin rubbed a hand over his face. “The whole sex thing. It, I’venever, not really. Urgh. It’s just not my scene.”

Silence stretched between them as Nines tried tomake sense of it all.

“I want to be with you, I really do,” Gavincontinued, desperate to have anything but the quiet, or the shouting and namecalling that usually followed this conversation.

“You’re asexual,” Nines nodded to himself as heput the pieces together.

Gavin nodded sadly and pushed away from thesofa.

“I still wish to be with you too,” Nines foundhimself reflecting Gavin’s words.

“But you’re not ace, and those upgrades cost apretty penny,” Gavin approached him with none of his usual bluster. “We canstill make use of it; I can make you feel good if you want.”

His hands went for Nines’ belt but there was noexcitement in his voice, his face was slack, eyes distant with worry. It waseasy to wrap fingers around his wrists to stop him.

“We don’t have to,” Nines tried to catch Gavin’seyes but it was proving impossible.

“That shit’s expensive; I don’t want you to havewasted all that money on something you won’t get to use. Or if you want, youcan find someone else who can give you more, someone who is better. Someone whois norm-”

“I want you,” Nines cut in. “You’re perfect asyou are. This upgrade was for you only because I thought it was what youwanted. I had foolishly assumed you weren’t keen to declare our relationshipbecause we hadn’t engaged in coitus. Now I know better and realise you wereworried I would demand more than you were willing to give.”

Cheeks aflame, Gavin nodded and mumbled a soft “yeah”.

“You forget, I’m an android. Sexualgratification isn’t central, or even all that desired in my kind. We havedifferent needs. Sex is a human construct that we can indulge in but do notgain the same pleasure from it. So I can keep this upgrade purely for aestheticreasons because I do like the way my slacks fall. Or I can remove it if youfeel its presence is a pressure on you.”

He pulled Gavin into his arms for a hug and wassurprised at how little resistance he was met with. It was all too easy to tuckGavin’s head into the crook of his neck, to let him snuggle in and re-centrehimself.

“Now,” Nines began with a soft smile when Gavinfinally pulled away, “I do believe you promised me two episodes rather than theusual one tonight.”

They settled on the sofa like almost every othernight, Gavin’s feet in Nines’ lap and immersed themselves in the show they’dbeen watching for the last couple of months.

The next day they walked into the precinct,heads held high, fingers linked and Tina whistled at the sight.

#reed900 #dbh: gavin #dbh: rk900 #ace!Gavin #get together #asexual character #prompt fill

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illnessandinjury · 5 years ago

Text

I’m just gonna vent a little down below. feel free to ignore; TW for panic attacks, PTSD, slight self harm and suicide mention, etc.

so in november of 2018, the scariest thing in my life happened too me. i won’t go into much detail, as i’ve talked about it here before. i had a psychosis episode and hallucinated the scariest shit. told the paramedic to kill me, told him to call the cops to kill me. went to the ER, came down from the episode, was fine for a while.

i still had nightmares, but PTSD can be funny. it took till october of 2019 for the real illness to take it’s form. it’s diagnosed, btw, i’m not just saying i have PTSD because i think i do; it’s actually in my records. not self-diagnose shaming or anything, but it’s not the case for me.

in october i stopped functioning all together. i had panic attacks all the time. i was constantly dissociating. i couldn’t even normally visit with my mother when she came up from florida. i was so out of my mind with fear and dissociation. i ended up going to the ER, because i wasn’t eating, i kept calling off work, i. could. not. function.

the doctor prescribed me xanax... and everything stopped. the panic attacks, the dissociation, the fear, the flashbacks. it wasn’t even a high dose, but it got me through. i ate again. i worked again.

my psychiatrist took me off of it though. prescribed me vistiril of all things; aka, an antihistamine. AN ANTIHISTAMINE. BASICALLY BENEDRYL FOR PANIC ATTACKS WITH PSYCHOSIS SYMPTOMS. WHAT.

so i did things my own way. i found a dealer. i bought xanax illegally; i’m still on the same small dose i was on when i first got prescribed. i didn’t have any withdrawal when i was taken off of it or anything, but it all came back. the sleepless nights, the panic attacks, the disassociation. i lost 15 pounds in two weeks.

i said i would wait until my other meds kicked in - my zoloft and seroquel. don’t get me wrong - they work amazingly, but not for what i need. my zoloft helps my depression amazingly, and my seroquel helps even out my moods and puts me to sleep at night. but it doesn’t even TOUCH my anxiety. maybe takes the edge off, but i feel that all too sickeningly and familiar feeling of my consciousness floating away from my body; and suddenly my hands aren’t my own. they’re too big and they’re not mine. they don’t feel like mine. i feel like i’m looking at myself from above, like i’m not even in my body. it’s called depersonalization; it’s a form of dissociation.

so i continued my xanax. still at the same small dose. only take it when i feel myself start to panic, or if i feel myself floating off. with the mix of all three drugs; i’ve never felt better in my life. i got a new job; went from working 20 hours a week to 40+. i’m on my way to buying a house. i’ve never been this stable.

but the thing is; my dealer won’t have xanax forever. i have enough for a while though, probably another two or three months. i’m fine for now. but i know when i run out, and can’t buy anymore, and if i don’t get a prescription - i know im going back to the psych ward. i know i will.

don’t get me wrong - i know the dangers of benzos. i know they can be addicting, i know they can be fatal in the situation of an overdose or when mixed with alcohol. again, i take a tiny dose compared to most people prescribed, and i never EVER drink on it. i’m careful. i know addiction can sneak up, but i don’t know how i can become addicted to something i know i need. hell, you can withdrawal from anything; although i know benzo withdrawal is awful and can be hell.

i just don’t know what i can tell my psychiatrist. no matter how many times i tell her that i’m living in hell every day, that i have to call off of work just so i don’t have a panic attack right there on the floor, how i can’t even bring myself to eat when it gets real bad. i’ve told her everything. what else can i say? that if things go on i’ll resort back to self harm? or that i’ll kill myself? because honestly if i have to go without them, and deal with the everyday panic attacks and dissociating - i fucking might. i just don’t know what else to tell her. i’ve tried everything she’s given me. i’ve followed the steps from my therapist. but i’m sorry - breathing exercises aren’t going to help me when i start hallucinating. talking about what happened to me isn’t going to take away the fear of the fact that i literally thought i was dying. an ANTIHISTAMINE isn’t going to help me forget the way my husband’s face melted into one of pure horror when i screamed in his face that i was going to die and leave him behind in that moment. it’s not going to take away the fact that i hit my head into the wall as hard as i could over and over and over again because i thought it would make the hallucinations go away.

it replayed in my head all the time. the flashbacks. it’s awful. his fucking face, his yelling at me, him trying to comfort me as i thought about jumping from the fucking window.

i don’t want to go back to how i felt. i want to continue feeling like this. normal, and put together. last night i forgot to take my dose and it came back. i had a nightmare and when i woke up, i wasn’t in my body again. time started to slow and i felt the black edged come into my vision to make way for the hallucinations again. i was so fucking scared.

i can’t just keep going on trying different meds that don’t work when i already have the meds that DO work. i’m not popping them for fucking fun. i don’t feel high when i’m on them or anything. i just feel.... normal. i’m not scared.

i just don’t know what the fuck to do. i see my therapist and psychiatrist soon but i don’t know what to tell them. it’s like they never take me seriously. they hear what i say. i don’t know if they think i’m playing it up for laughs or what - but in actuality if anything, i’m down playing it. do i have to lower my walls and just break down in their office?? like i want to? like i keep myself from doing every time? what. am. i. supposed. to. do.

#delete later #tw

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axther · 5 years ago

Text

Distortion

In which war touches all.

Episode One

@multifandomgirl37

Death was a cruel master.

Kaleo knew all too well, with scars littering her skin from all the times that it tried to take her. She felt like they were coming to life, making her bleed again, as though the alcohol in her veins were waking them up again.

She fingered the whiskey glass, before drinking the last. It burned her throat and woke her up from whatever delirium she was having.

“Another,” she called, waving a hand and a coin. Her thick Buanaí accent had no place in the Gealach tavern, and some turned in confusion and distaste.

They had lost the Deireadh War. There was nothing more to be said.

The Buanaí were the servants of Bás, Death, and longtime enemies of the Gealach peoples. The Buanaí were considered to be brutal, taking the souls of any Gealach that died, and the Gealach were considered stingy and sensitive. They bore with each other for thousands of years; after all, the average lifespan of both races was 800 years.

All it took was a Buanaí to spit an insult at a Gealach politician.

The war was quick, to most standards. It lasted about 3 years before both races called a stop. They had killed themselves out, leaving themselves as an endangered species. Imagine, two of the only sentient races in the world, wiping each other out to the point that one last battle would put them all to rest.

But everyone was still holding their breath.

Technically, the Gealach won. But to the Buanaí, they were cowards that saw them dying as weakness. The Buanaí were more than willing to go down if it was in a blaze of glory with the Gealach being dragged under. But the Gealach weren’t fighting, and what was the fun in that?

Kaleo grit her jaw. She, at least, was willing to burn for the Buanaí and for Bás. She knew that her best friend, her dead squadmates, and two trillion Buanaí were willing to burn, and they did.

They really did.

The Dóigh Mountains were closed in on each other, creating a forested valley in the middle that was both dangerous and important.

And this demanded some attention from the Buanaí.

Kaleo started at the forest line from her squad’s camp, a black battle axe clutched in her hands. It was dark. This was good.

That was one of the ways that the Buanaí were distinguished from the Gealach. The Buanaí always wore black trench coats and had dark hair and eyes. Their skin was never on the pale side; at lightest, it was tan. And wherever they went, there was darkness in front of them and darkness behind them.

The Gealach, on the other hand, were pastier than snow, and always had lanterns and white all around them. You could see them coming miles away because they would have a light cloud surrounding them. But it wasn’t like the Buanaí were much better off. It was only at night, could they be sneaky under the cover of a darkness thicker than lard.

“Kaleo,” a voice behind her said. “There’s some mild movement to the south. They’re functioning under the moonlight.”

Kaleo looked up and spat at the moon before turning, seeing her squadmate, Nyx. She was tall, with a soft and kind face that did not belong in a war. She was too sweet, often looking out for other members and trying to avoid murder as much as possible.

“Understood. Bring the others to my position, after packing up.”

Nyx raised a confused eyebrow, before nodding and disappearing into the thick trees.

Kaleo turned back to the trees, knowing that Gealach soldiers tried to stay under the moonlight as much as possible. Their patron was Gealach Mhuire, after all.

The Lady of The Moon.

Kaleo began walking back to the camp, ducking low branches and watching three other Buanaí rush to pack everything up. Truthfully, there wasn’t a whole lot, but enough that it could lead to some time being wasted.

She heard them before she saw them.

There was a clattering noise to her left, and Kaleo turned with a furrowed brow.

“Buanaí, at atten-!” Kaleo’s call was cut short when a pearly arrow went right into the middle of her chest. She could feel that it had narrowly missed her lungs, heart, and major veins, but it was still an arrow in her chest. The battle-axe fell from her fingers, as all blood flow went to the gaping wound next to her heart. Another arrow came down, hitting her in the kidney. Kaleo let out a yelp at the second shot, abruptly aware of what had happened.

They were under attack.

“Kaleo!” Another squad member, Azazel, rushed forward, only for a brilliant streak of light to come out of the woods and slit her throat. Kaleo felt delirious; there was no way that the Gaelach had snuck up on them in woods that were darker than the shadows the Buanaí carried with them.

Kaleo began to feel the blood seep out, despite the arrow still there. She was wondering why she was still standing. She could hear her dying heartbeat.

Nyx let out a scream of pure terror and darted like a doe. The last Buanaí standing was Dante, and he pulled out a greatsword.

“Neamh Críost,” he swore. “Come at me, you cowards!”

“Tá leathcheann ort.” She spat out miserably at Dante, her knees finally buckling. “Go! Warn others!”

“No!” Dante began swinging at the Gealach, doing his very best. Kaleo pitied him, for what he was doing would only postpone the inevitable.

Everyone’s death.

Gealach fell, slowly, and Kaleo wondered for a moment if she was wrong.

Then Dante took an arrow to the throat.

He collapsed, sputtering last curses and grasping at the head. Kaleo watched him fall from her knees, not having the energy to cry.

Two more Gealach came out, charging at Kaleo. She gripped her axe, standing up and shaking. One was beheaded, and the other was viscerally stabbed. No others came out, and Kaleo dropped her axe. She stumbled to a tree, falling with little grace as the adrenaline began to fade.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kaleo saw light.

“Come on and just kill me! Or are you scared?” She glanced at her axe and turning towards the light. It shifted a little, before walking out of the woods. They were tall, wearing a helmet. An arrow was drawn, pointed at her. They approached until the arrow was lightly tapping her forehead. Kaleo smirked.

“Scared of a dead woman, huh?” She sneered, wrinkling her nose. “Of course you’d not take any chances. Go on. Finish the job.”

The Gealach wavered for a moment, almost dropping the arrow, before steeling up their resolve.

But a flash of black hurtled at them, toppling them over. Kaleo’s eyes seemed to pop out of her head, watching Nyx materialise with a broad blade. She was on top of the soldier, blade pressed against their neck.

“Nyx!” Kaleo cried. “Do it!”

Nyx had tears in her eyes, bubbling and landing on the soldier’s visor. There were short hiccups from her, and she raised her sword up.

She was too slow.

The soldier took an arrow from their quiver and thrust it into Nyx’s heart, pushing it in further when she let out a cry of pain. Kaleo watched in horror was Nyx fell to the ground, twitching for a moment before going painfully still. The soldier stood up, retrieving the arrow before turning to Kaleo. They picked up Kaleo’s axe, preparing to hit Kaleo on the head with it.

“You’ll be the messenger,” they muttered.

Then all Kaleo saw was blissful darkness.

Kaleo blinked out of her reverie when someone pulled a chair beside her. She felt tears stinging her eyes, and the last thing she wanted was to be crying in public. She chugged her fresh whiskey glass in one go, hoping that the burn would make her forget it.

“Long day, huh?” The person beside her said, before telling the bartender to get him the same Firebrand whiskey. Kaleo looked at him, popping her jaw.

It was a Gealach, about her age, with some obvious scars on him. He was freakishly pale, even for a Gealach, with gold streaks in his white hair and silver eyes.

Kaleo wasn’t sure what she was expecting. But it wasn’t an albino that probably tried to kill her kin 100 years ago.

She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, sure.” She turned back to her drink, which had been refilled. The Gealach nodded, trying to make conversation. “Did you serve in the war? Well, I mean, you look old enough to have served...not that I’m saying you’re old. Sorry,” the Gealach began to mutter, panicked. Kaleo raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I did. Why?”

The Gealach bit his lip. “The only Buanaí that are alive are the veterans or the kids. No offence meant.”

“None taken.” Kaleo took another sip. “From the looks of it, you did, too.”

The Gealach nodded. “Yeah! I was in the 165th Regiment! Were you with the rebels?”

Kaleo nearly spit out her drink. Of course one of the few civil Gealach assumed she was with the rebels that revoked Bás and tried to kill their own race alongside the Gealach. The degenerates.

“No. No, I was most definitely not.” Kaleo began pulling out more coin to pay for the alcohol, wanting out of the dive bar. The Gealach paled.

“Oh. Oh, oh. I am so, so sorry. I didn’t want to...oh. You were on the other side…” He began to hastily leave his chair when Kaleo began to get up. “I am really, really, really sorry. Uh, for, you know, everything.”

Kaleo stopped. “What?”

The Gealach stopped, relieved she wasn’t running. “Sorry.”

Kaleo raised an eyebrow. “No, I mean...you’re apologetic?”

“Yeah,” the Gealach nodded. “After all, we are kinda responsible for making the Buanaí, um…” he trailed off, looking nervous. “Ya’ know, almost extinct.”

Kaleo sat back on her seat. She tried to ignore the fact that some of the bar were listening in. The Gealach looked ecstatic.

“Sweet! Thanks! My name is Alain!”

Kaleo watched him sit down again and order tea. “Kaleo.”

“Well, Kaleo! I don’t suppose we could exchange war stories or something?” Alain looked excited.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I have a question.”

“Shoot.” Alain was bouncing in his seat.

“Your weapons and armour. Were they mass-produced?” She looked up from swirling her whiskey.

“Not really.” Alain shook his head. “There wasn’t enough time for that. We kinda just...took what we had and left.”

Kaleo nodded, then reached into her boot and pulled out two white arrows. Alain flinched, and his eyes widened.

“Do you know who’s these are? I was shot with them, and they massacred my squad.”

Alain looked up, slowly, before shaking his head. “No. But, I, ah, could have some of my old friends to see if they could track them.” He placed his hand on one. “Is it okay if I take it for now?”

Kaleo nodded. “Thanks.”

They both stowed away the arrows, and Alain turned to the clock.

“I have to go. Maybe we could meet here again?” Alain looked suddenly anxious, and Kaleo gave a small smile.

“Sure. Just be sure not to break that.”

Alain nodded, before taking his leave.

Alain collapsed onto his bed in his apartment, trying to calm himself down. There was no way she knew, otherwise he wouldn’t be panting in the middle of his room, staring at his ceiling. The only way she could recognise him was by voice, and she had barely heard him.

Alain sighed.

He held the arrow before him, sitting up and squinting at it. He then looked at the back of his closet, where a glowing white bow and quiver hung. Inside were beautiful, pearly arrows, almost calling to the one in his hand.

It was their sibling, after all.

Alain walked the perimeter of the woods, in the middle of the Dóigh Mountains, his bow and arrow at the ready. The new armour that they received was able to dim the Lady’s Blessing, keeping them undercover for small amounts of time.

Alain watched as a Buanaí came into view. She was alone, with a battle axe on her shoulder. She was watching the treeline, and the other Gealach stood as still as possible. Another Buanaí talked to her, before both walked through a small trail. Alain looked at the other Gealach and nodded.

The unfortunate Buanaí had led them right to their camp, and Alain smiled. There were only four, and it was all easy kills.

Who he presumed to be the squad captain had just arrived, and he drew back his arrow.

And without a moment of hesitation, he let go.

#distortion #original work

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