#hope the sweepers didn't get to him!!

[aihaloos]

Oh noooo

This-- this is troublesome---

1 is probably the most logically sound option here, since Gregor is one of the nicer and more normal sinners, and you get to block him from Hermann. But I personally don't want to smell him smoking. Still, it's the best option, considering the other seats.

2 is also pretty nice. You get to be further from the smoke, but I personally would dislike sitting next to Dongrang while having to hear Sonya and Rodya talk.

3 is honestly kind of the worst, but I would do it if it meant blocking Kromer from viewing Sinclair and vice-versa. Double check for prosthetics tho.

4... 4 is... fine. But if that is Erlking Heathcliff I am NOT going there.

5 is also fine, but it's a middle seat. Between the 2 sinners known to have some... "beef". with each other. I mean it's fine if you like both I guess. But I hate middle seats so I don't think I will pick it.

6 is probably one of the nicest seats. It's an aisle seat. But only if you can handle Outis. (And Dongrang from across (Can you tell I wanna punch that guy?))

7 is actually one of my top choices since I like Don! I would listen to her ramble about fixers! It would be really interesting, really! Well atleast to me... but I'll rethink simply because Ryoshu is smoking behind.

8. No. Just no. Too much smoke. I see Sinclair see Kromer. No. Abso-fucking-lutely not.

Goal: make the worst seating chart possible - Acheived

[firestorm09890]

there's a part of canto vi I've been thinking about since it came out, and it doesn't actually have anything to do with Heathcliff.

this

She is bitter as fuck and as time goes on she's getting worse at keeping it down. Sinclair's the one who started it, by talking about how sad it is that they'd never get to see color, and Rodya starts to get a little irritated over it (yeah, sure, pity the Backstreets folk and their poor miserable little lives, privileged nest boy), but she's obviously trying not to straight up call Sinclair a privileged nest boy because she doesn't want to. But then Yi Sang and Ishmael join in on talking about how sad this place is with no color and she just can't keep her opinion down.

But that makes the atmosphere tense, and she hates a tense atmosphere, so she changes the subject and her tone, not giving a damn about how obvious it is. also, haha, ice and cold references.

And actually, this doesn't really have much evidence to support it, but I wonder if she holds a higher level of resentment for Sinclair in particular.

Canto II had some discussion about how Rodya wishes she was special (and while I think what Sonya said about her killing the tax collector just to feel special is absolute bullshit, I do also think there is some truth to her wanting to feel special), and introduced us to the concept of The Sign in a way that was vague and more like foreshadowing than actually introducing it. Then Canto III was all about The Sign, and how special Sinclair is, and since then we've had people talking about signs and stars and a new birth of the world and it's all stuff Rodya doesn't get to be part of.

I don't think she wants to hold resentment for Sinclair, and she especially never wants him to know, but going back after all this time and rereading this one interaction with him in Canto II felt pretty jarring.

the more important part of this is the way it feels like she's making a joke at Heathcliff's expense, for being poor, like even though she's also from the Backstreets she feels she's "above" it.

She absolutely does not feel this way.

On my way to find the first passage, I reread some other interesting stuff:

Once again, there's the harsh juxtaposition between casual, fun-loving Rodya, and tired, poor man's advocate Rodya. Almost everyone on the team speaks through the lens of a Nest dweller (I have to wonder if learning that Heathcliff was apparently raised in a mansion made her even more bitter), and the way she's so short with her mention of the Sweepers makes me think she's thinking about how painfully obvious it would have been to any other Backstreets dweller. And then, right after, dropping back into her casual voice, and Sinclair revealing that Rodya used the fucked up Backstreets creature to tease him...

Other obvious moments of Rodya being bitter as hell about rich people include this part of S.E.A.

and this part of her observation logs on Spiral of Contempt (actually, nearly everything in that log that isn't about the physical abnormality has to do with how much she hates how rich people look down upon the poor)

Hong Lu's canto comes after Don's, and then after his is Ryōshū's, who, based on her source material, probably served one of the most awful, contemptuous rich people the sinners have access to, and I really hope at some point here Rodya gets to snap in a big way

...hey so I wrote this entire post at 1 in the morning and then saved it to drafts because I didn't want to post something at 1 in the morning. the Timekilling Time trailer came out about two hours later, featuring both Rodya... and the long-awaited return of the Yurodiviye. so now it's past 3 in the morning for me but I'm posting it now anyway because ohohoho seeing the Yurodiviye again has given me SO much energy

I have a feeling all this is going to be very relevant extremely soon

[satrs]

Can you do a blue lock scenario where the reader(preferably she but is fine with gn) is in the kitchen cabinet and is reaching for mug. The blue lock boy is watching her from the corner of his eye but isn’t helping her. The reader is on her tippy toes reaching for the mug and she almost has it and then the mug falls on her head.

Bllk Boys:Isagi, Reo, Rin, Sae, Nagi, and any other boy lock boys you want/can write for

ᥲ/ᥒ ꜝꜝ ✎ hihi yams! thx for the request such a cute idea! Hope you like ittt^^

Oᥙᥴh!

ꜰᴇᴀᴛᴜʀɪɴɢ; ISAGI YOICHI. REO MIKAGE. ITOSHI RIN. ITOSHI SAE. NAGI SEISHIRO x fem!reader.

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ; 1.2k

TAGS; fluff. crack. swearing. some mean boysss. slice of life.

ALL CHARACTERS ARE 18+ (pro players)!

ISAGI YOICHI

Yoichi didn't think much of it when he saw you on your tippy-toes, hand mere touches away from getting a hold of the mug. His attention went back to the TV until he heard a 'thumb' noise, followed by your cry of pain.

Almost in an instant he was by your side, worry and confusion tinting his face soon disappearing once he saw you - hand rubbing your head in pain with your face twisted in agony and mug shattered on the ground.

He was quick to help you up and lead you away from the dangerous splinters, seating yourself on the couch you fight with tears, head booming in pain.

He looked at you, brows furrowing in worry. "Is it bad?", he asked, your mute answer and scrunched-up face already answer enough for him. "I'm sorry."

You shook your head before turning to the side to hide your tears from him, waving him off. "Could you sweep the mess for me?" Your cracked voice caused the man to carefully examine you, hand turning your head to meet his face. "Wait, are you crying?"

Your lips trembled in his hold, taking your last strength to tell him off, sniffling in the process.

"Just - get rid of that damned mug."

REO MIKAGE

He was in a hurry, an urgent meeting calling for him as he rushed past the kitchen, taking a quick glance at your figure, a stance like a giraffe, determined to reach for something up in the cabinet-supposedly a mug.

He bid you a quick goodbye, not thinking much of it as he headed off to the door, foot soon halting once his ears caught you cursing out in pain. "For fuck's sake!"

It didn't take him long to hurry into the kitchen, finding you leaning against the kitchen counter, hand rubbing your head and face scrunched up in pain and irritation.

"My clumsy baby got hurt?", he said in a teasing manner, taking your head in both of his hands to place a big smooch on your forehead. "There, there. It's going to be alright."

You clicked your tongue in annoyance, freeing from his grasp as you stomped to get a sweeper, pushing it to his chest.

Confusion was written on his face as his gaze switched between you and the floor sweeper. "But baby, I gotta go-" You let out a pity laugh, getting yourself a cold pack from the fridge to ease your booming head. "If you got time for teasing, then you got time to sweep up the mess."

His complaints fell on deaf ears as you made your way to the sink, cleaning a used mug to use it instead, making yourself your morning coffee while the purple-haired man cleaned up the shatters with a pout adoring his handsome features.

He began to speed up his movements as he noticed the time on the clock, tensing up once your firm gaze landed on him. "You better do it properly."

ITOSHI RIN

"Sure you don't want my help?" He inquired from his position on the counter, head resting in his palm as he observed you. "Shut up.I almost got it." You huffed out a breath as you stood up as far as you could, desperately reaching for the mug on the top shelf, curses falling past your lips while your fingers faintly touch the porcelain.

Not moments later you lost your balance, falling victim to gravity with the mug coming right after you. It happend to fast for Rin to do more that stand up in shock as you harshly plopped to the ground, your 'ouch' soon followed by a louder one once the mug fell onto your head.

"Oh my god." Rin sprinted around the counter to get to your aid, mug laying next to your injured form. "Are you alright?" You slapped his helping hand away as you stood up, flashing him an irritated expression. "No, I'm not. Get me a cold pack from the fridge", you grumbled, reaching down for the mug.

Rin did as told, rushing to the fridge in search of a cold pack to ease your pain, rushing back to your side once he noticed the blue-gooey package. "At least the mug is alright."

In a fit of anger, you snatched the cold pack from his hand to place it onto your head right after, slamming the mug down onto the counter, only to shatter it seconds later.

"Well, you should've let me-"

"Don't you say another word, Rin, I dare you."

ITOSHI SAE

"Y/n, could you make me tea?" You swiftly looked at the pro athlete, answering with a quick nod as you abandoned the sink, drying up your hands to open the cabinet, hand lifting up to reach for a mug.

You huffed out a breath as you noticed how far up it was, raising to your tippy-toes. Sae lifted his gaze from his phone at you, eyebrows raising in amusement as he observed you.

Your tongue darted out in concentration, slightly jumping to get the mug into your hold. But your triumphant smile that adored your features once you grasped the mug soon disappeared as you lost your balance, knocking the mug off, it falling to your head.

You still managed to catch it before it would shatter on the floor, placing it onto the counter, silence clouding the air in a thick fog. Sae's snickering laugh managed to ring through the room, your head snapping into his direction.

"I said a 'tea', not put on a show," he sneered. You looked at him in disbelief, eyes wide while Sae was barely able to contain his laughter. "So that's it? Not 'Do you need help?' or 'Are you hurt'?"

He paused for a moment, biting back his smile. "You look alright. A bulge on your head would suit your pretty self too." He was already by your side, petting your head in a teasing manner, before heading off to do his tea himself.

"You're unbelievable."

NAGI SEISHIRO

"Nagi, why do you always have to put the mugs so far up? I'm not as tall as you, you know." His gaze swiftly moved to you as you huffed out an exhausted breath of air, fingertips spreading far up in the air, trying to reach for a mug.

"Dunno what you mean", he mumbled, not sparing your struggling form another glance as his attention went back to his phone, fingers tapping away on it and sounds of gaming music filling your ears.

You looked back at him and sighed, turning back to the obstacle before you. "C'monnn", you say to yourself, fingers frantically waving around to take hold of it.

The frantic movement of your hand reached the mug not soon after, causing it to fall over the edge and hit your head. The sound of the impact with the ground caused the snow-white mess of hair to lift, tired eyes inspecting the situation.

"Huh?" His dense form caused you to click your tongue in annoyance, kneeling down to get a hold of the mug while grumbling. "How many times do I have to tell you, mugs at the bottom and plates at the top? Look at this now, all of it is your fault. Always on that damn phone."

He couldn't help but let a small smirk creep up his lips at your scolding, phone long forgotten as he walked up to you, taking the mug out of your hand to place it at the coffee machine. "Alright, Mom."

©︎𝐊-𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐒. all rights reserved. Do NOT plagiarize, copy, modify, republish, or translate my work in any way!

[thewertsearch]

GC: YOU W3R3 STRUTT1NG 4ROUND 1N YOUR D3L1C1OUS K1W1 31GHT B4LL SU1T 4ND RUNN1NG YOUR FR3SH MOUTH 4S USU4L GC: durp yo terezi sup sup gotta beat john gotta beat john GC: hes got a long hood and he does wind, how can i get powers too? [....] GC: [...] 1M L1K3 D4V3 TH4TS GO1NG TO 1NVOLV3 F4C1NG YOUR OWN D34TH GC: 4ND 1M SORRY TO BR34K 1T TO YOU BUT 1 DONT TH1NK YOUR3 R34DY FOR TH4T

Well, at least she gave him fair warning.

Thanks to Vriska, John was able to achieve the god tiers without confronting his mortality. He didn't have to grapple with any of this, and it's possible that he was robbed of some character growth as a result.

That said, I still think Vriska did him a solid. It's just ironic that she thinks she's helping him develop as a hero, when she might be doing the exact opposite.

GC: BUT ONLY 1F YOU PROM1S3 TO TH3 3X4CT T3RMS OF MY 4RR4NG3M3NT, 1N ORD3R TO PROT3CT TH3 1NT3GR1TY OF TH3 T1M3L1N3 >:] TG: the arrangement being the coin flip thing TG: thank god we did that otherwise wed be screwed TG: i probably would have gone back in time and killed my own grandfather oh wait i never had one

lmao

I do wonder if Bro had an adopted family. We know Nanna and Grandpa's background, and Mom was probably the child that Skaianet were apparently raising in their laboratory. (Remember when I thought there was a secret clone of Rose down there?)

Bro, however, is an enigma, even among the Guardians. He has no known relationship with any of the other parents, but was definitely getting foreknowledge of Sburb from somewhere. I'm not even sure I want to know what sort of childhood produces Bro Strider.

GC: 1 TOLD YOU 1 W4S GO1NG TO FL1P 4 CO1N GC: 4ND B3FOR3 1 D1D, YOU H4D TO P1CK 4 S1D3 W1THOUT T3LL1NG M3 GC: GOOD H34DS OR B4D H34DS

Really, the coin is just a rhetorical device. Terezi doesn't need to flip a coin, or even have a coin, because the real flip is happening in Dave's head. His Mind, if you will.

This does raise a lot of questions, though. I hope there isn't a timeline for every conceivable decision you could make. We've sort of discussed the idea before, but I don't think I've really talked about the subtle horror of a multiverse that works that way.

I mean, if there's a timeline for every possible decision - if everyone is capable of making any choice, at any time - then John will randomly kill his friends, for no reason. There are millions of offshoots where he does this. WV will become a monarchist. Dave will take off his shades.

It goes deeper, too. You can't even meaningfully ask why Dave wears shades, because he doesn't. He's constantly taking them off, because it is possible for him to do so. And if there's a timeline where he never takes them off, it's only because that's a decision he could potentially make.

If timelines branch at every decision, with no restrictions, then every single person in the multiverse is constantly doing things that contradict the core of who they are. In fact, there is no core. Everyone is an indistinguishable robot, constantly making every possible decision, simply because they can.

Homestuck could work like this, but I prefer the Discworld interpretation - I think it's more consistent with the comic's themes of choice. In Night Watch, protagonist Vimes is confronted with this exact question, and we get this exchange:

“But sometimes you can’t help wondering: what would have happened if I’d done something different–” “Like when you killed your wife?” Sweeper was impressed at Vimes’s lack of reaction. “This is a test, right?” “You’re a quick study, Mister Vimes.” “But in some other universe, believe me, I hauled off and punched you one.” Again, Sweeper smiled the annoying little smile that suggested he didn’t believe him. “You haven’t killed your wife,” he said. “Anywhere. There is nowhere, however huge the multiverse is, where Sam Vimes as he is now has murdered Lady Sybil. But the theory is quite clear. It says that if anything could happen without breaking any physical laws, it must happen. But it hasn’t. And yet the “many universe” theory works. Without it, no one would ever be able to make a decision at all.” “So?” “So what people do matters!” said Sweeper. “People invent other laws. What they do is important!

In short, there are some things you would never do, physical laws be damned. It is inconceivable that Vimes would murder his wife, because his current personality is incompatible with that decision. It simply cannot be made to make sense, so it can't spawn a timeline.

Note that this is only true for Vimes 'as he is now'. His moral code doesn't necessarily apply to his alt-selves - or even his younger self, whose code hasn't solidified. Hell, half the book is about making sure Young Vimes develops that code in the first place. There could be an evil John Egbert, but our John can't just arbitrarily turn evil.

So that's how I think it works. There's a timeline for every decision that you'd choose to make, and that subset of decisions will change as you grow. Your development as a person shapes the multiverse, in a very literal way.

[talesofsonicasura]

I'm Still Me

Sorry for not responding to this blog for awhile! Life has been nuts and I been getting asks on my main blog so there's that. Currently suffering writer's block hence the lack of stories or character scenarios too.

Doesn't mean AUs and worldbuilding headcanons are affected. I got a new one from an series that has finally gotten some attention, Kaiju No 8. You can tell it was about time we gotten a Shonen which doesn't follow the standard rules. And this AU involves are lovely 32 year old himbo main character Kafka so please enjoy!

The premise of Kaiju No 8 is when a cleaner with a dream to standby his best friend gains the power to become the very monster said companion faces: a Kaiju. Now in canon, Kafka becomes human again after his first fight and has to maintain a double identity. What if he didn't change back?

Kafka is now forced to navigate life stuck in the body of a Kaiju. Trying to understand his new physiology, instincts and abilities with the (slim) hope he can become human again. Luckily Kafka isn't alone in this new struggle.

He has Reno and his fellow Monster Sweepers to help him. The latter group find out the truth after Kafka doesn't show up to work for multiple shifts. All of them were obviously shocked to see their long time friend/coworker had become a kaiju but still have his back. (The himbo absolutely cried from the support.)

Reno shoulders Kafka's dream on his back as the group knows the Defense Force might never accept a Kaiju into their ranks. To him, it wasn't fair for his friend to be denied this last chance by fate and the young man will do something about it. Luckily Kafka is willing to help train Reno whenever possible.

He tries to get his life back together while his younger friend aims for the Defense Force. The Monster Sweepers help Kafka acquire new clothes and necessities needed to live with a kaiju body. Looking for ways that can allow their friend to still be apart of society without jeopardizing his life.

It doesn't mean the human turned monster was safe from the events to come. A certain Kaiju interfering with the Defense Force leads Kafka no choice but to get involved as his friends are caught in the crossfire. The man soon becomes a target for both sides.

Defense Force who wishes to learn the truth about Kaiju No 8's mysterious nature and the Kaiju that want to tear apart the traitor against their kind. Meanwhile Kafka struggles to hold onto his identity as he tries to understand his new powers. They call him Kaiju No 8. He knows he is Kafka Hibino.

Yet is the man really either? Is he still human? Has Kafka really become a kaiju? Or is he something completely different? It is up to Kafka to decide that he is still himself. Hopefully the conclusion leads the human turned kaiju one step closer to the humanity he once had.

[fluffypotatey]

*wakes up in cold sweat* <-- did not sleep at all. OMG FLUFFY CRAZY IDEA TO CHUCK INTO THE RING BUT I was thinking, I was rlly hoping for a confirmation on what went down but they basically gave us nothing, the same vague animation clip 😭 but then I was like...ayo, Mac impersonated Wukong, potentially, didn't he? We thought our boy would be sobbing after getting his fuzz butt used as a dust sweeper on the ground, but he's out here mad cackling 💀 it's SO different from Mac's bias view of an uncaring Wukong as he flies down with his fist of doom, BUT HEY YOU KNOW WHAT. It's that EXACT SCENE where Wukong says "don't make me do this!" like, it does not match that image. clearly they both have bias views of what went down, but why does Wukong see himself over those words? I almost want to guess if that was Macaque going for the attack since he was cackling so much 🤔 but that doesn't make sense lol. but it's so weird why Wukong views himself in the same cold light Mac did bc it contrasts SO harshly against his words and I get maybe he didn't like what he did bc it was cold! so he does see it that way! but going for the punch while saying those words is CRAZY you'd think Wukong was the one on the ground pleading for the above figure not to do anything further. what if someone out there impersonated BOTH of them and they were in two different fights?? Lol.

hmmm now that is a thought 🧐 (<-only had 3 hours of sleep) we have no guarantee that lmk will follow the jttw canon completely (bc they have already diverged with other characters and histories) so it is possible

but maybe it’s the fact that i have constellations on the brain, but i think i’m liking more and more of Wukong actually killing Macky

through the chaos of their fight and caxaphiny of laughter and pleads, Wukong swings a punch too hard and pays for it :3

like look at swk right after Macky frees him

dude is shaken. absolutely out of it and barely hanging on (WHAT DID YOU SEEEEE 👀👀👀👀👀TELL ME) like. bro

he is not okay

[karionice]

The Only Hong

Pairing: ceo!Joshua Hong x secretary!female reader

This is connected to my villain DK one-shot which was lots of fun but much, much shorter. If you'd like, strap in for some world-building.

Word Count: ~ 9.7k

Genres/Warnings: eventual romance and fluff, sci-fi au, kinda dense, tech empire au, non-idol au, robots, mentions of other svt members, skz reference from my drafts, reference to death, joshua is gentle sexy as always, reader and Joshua are about the same age, joshua is an orphan, true neutral, reader probs has anxiety, "refuge cafes" = "Plaza system", first kiss, shua's shtick with water here too

Ceo world taglist: @fabulaee, @laaylaazyy

What a lonely man he must be, you thought to yourself. Everything about Joshua Hong's home was solemn and quiet, yet also very much alive. 

In every direction there was some sort of robot - little ones floating about wiping windows, larger ones scooting about sweeping the floors, little screens on each door blinking at you as you walked by...There was even a slinkier robot swinging about the ceiling rafters dusting surfaces and changing lights. One of the sweepers gave you a little wave as you kept walking until you reached a large, open doorway of polished dark wood.

You stood there in the middle of the open doors and took in the gilded, floor length windows on the other side of a large study. It was a beautiful room within an already beautiful place, but you specifically observed the motionless silhouette of a tall and slim young man. He had his back turned to you with his hands clasped behind him, gazing out the window at the glowing city outside.

You didn't know whether to make a sound or not so you stayed standing in the doorway, fighting the urge to fidget. After a couple more quiet seconds, the man looked over his shoulder and gave you a small smile. He beckoned you to come over before turning to walk over to a large desk.

With each step you felt yourself tensing up so you got yourself to breathe as you watched Mr. Hong sit down in his very comfortable looking chair. Once you'd gotten close enough in front of his desk, you bowed and greeted him plainly.

"Good to see you again, Y/N L/N.” Mr. Hong regarded you, eyes astute. “From today forward, you will be my at-home secretary. Thank you again for accepting the position."

You simply nodded and bowed again, making Mr. Hong chuckle. "No need to be nervous, I only hope to make your time working for me both comfortable and manageable." He then stood and beckoned to you again.

"Welcome to my study,” Mr. Hong exclaimed, making a wide gesture with his arm. “That desk over there will be where you will spend most of your time working."

You followed him over and he proceeded to explain some of the more unfamiliar gadgets on your desk, all of which he'd invented himself. He made note of the subtle uptick in brightness in your expression when he showed you the task managing device he'd designed for you.

"And finally, that quaint little area on the other side of the room is the refreshments corner. All of the cabinets are labeled and the refrigerator is self-cleaning - a best-seller of mine, if you didn’t know. Who knew people enjoy saving time from looking for the source of distracting odors?”

Even though you could tell that he was trying to get you to crack a smile, you still felt too timid to really do so and simply nodded at him, not meeting his eyes. At that, he cocked his head and regarded you with another small smile.

“A few of my delivery rovers have already transported your things to your living quarters, which are a little ways past the main hallway. Allow me to show you the way.”

Your shoulders relaxed a little at the prospect of rest as Mr. Hong turned on his heel and gestured for you to follow. Rather than through the large doorway, he seemed to be leading you to a smaller double door on the side within a wall of bookshelves.

As you passed the refreshments corner, the coffee machine, also a robot, waved at you.

You paused in your tracks and blinked, causing Mr. Hong to turn around to see what was happening. When he saw you giving the coffee-bot a wave back, Mr. Hong laughed. You looked back at him wide-eyed and embarrassed, only for your eyes to grow wider as Mr. Hong walked up to the robot and gave it a pat on the head. 

Did that robot just giggle? You noted the shine of curly embellished letters on the back of it that spelled Shubot.

“Come now,” Mr. Hong said, breaking you from your perplexion. “There will be plenty of time to become acquainted with the rest of my creations inhabiting this home later on.”

As the two of you continued to walk, you eventually came to be walking next to him rather than behind. You looked around, taking in the elegant mix of all things high-tech and what had clearly been there for generations.

"Hong Corporations has had many rebrandings and changes in development throughout the decades, but the fact that the oldest furniture and designs in this home are from two centuries ago doesn’t change. My ancestors wanted to build things that would last for a long time, but my grandfather was the one who decided to begin a legacy of creating to adapt to an ever-expanding world. Therefore our original property is far outside of the city. My grandfather relocated the business itself to the west side of here, Sector 17, and built it from the ground up, eventually raising my father here. And now for a very important question,” Mr. Hong stopped walking and raised his head.

The screen on the beautiful door you had stopped in front of displayed a waterfall effect to reveal letters - letters that spelled your name.

“Coffee or tea?” Mr. Hong smiled, looking at you.

You swore you could feel yourself blush as you said quietly, “I usually prefer neither.”

Mr. Hong’s smile grew wider as he snapped his fingers. Before you had the chance to soak in how perfectly straight his pearly teeth are, a delivery rover approached rapidly and prompted the door to open.

As you walked into your room, you watched as the rover extended its compartments to plop a robot you hadn’t seen before onto a small table in between the bathroom and what looked to be a vanity. You then jumped as Mr. Hong snapped his fingers again and the new robot whirred itself to life.

“This is Voira, a prototype for a new model of my water filtration and dispensing line. She can set the time when she will refill herself in a sink, or you can have her do it herself whenever empty, and she has a variety of options for the quality and temperature of drinking water. She will also retrieve one of your complimentary mugs from wherever it may be herself, unless you switch that feature off too. Currently I am still working on flavor fusion options, but hopefully with the data produced from you having her, it will be completed soon.”

You had to unhinge your jaw before looking up at Mr. Hong with shy gratitude. “Thank you so much, sir.”

“Oh please my dear, no need to be so formal. Call me Joshua.” At that, you simply bowed and turned away to hide your even deeper blush.

Joshua checked his Shu-watch and tapped the screen a few times before putting his hands behind his back and turning to exit. “I shall see you for dinner in two hours, which will be followed by your first set of tasks to complete for me. Please, however, get yourself accustomed at your own pace. If you need any assistance organizing your possessions or adjusting the settings of anything in your room, there is a companion Shubot on your desk that will gladly speak with you.”

After he left, closing the door behind him, you flopped down into a large cushioned chair by the vanity and took a good look around. 

Your room was a sleek yet cozy little space, or at least little in comparison to what you’d seen so far. There were floor length windows here as well, with digital, remote-controlled blinds that you recognized as those of Hong Co.’s that could turn into a television screen. Your bed was a large loft over a simple glass desk, at which you noticed several charging stations for a variety of devices. Mirroring the bathroom, next to your bed was the entrance to a walk-in closet, where all of your things had been left in a neat pile by the rover-bots. 

How on earth am I going to get myself together in two hours and still have energy to work tonight? You thought to yourself. You took a deep breath and got yourself up to settle in.

To start, you decided to ask Voira to bring you a cup of lukewarm water. You then started unpacking your clothing in the closet, only to be surprised by the clothes hangers- they unraveled themselves from the shape of hangers into robotic arms similar to the swinging cleaner bot you saw earlier and began hanging your clothes for you; pants, skirts, dresses, blouses, even belts and scarves. When you placed your shoes on the shelves labeled for them, the platforms above sprayed them with a sort of odor-eliminating disinfectant. 

“...get yourself accustomed at your own pace,” you remembered Joshua’s voice in your head. 

After getting over the shock of it all, you decided to do a little experiment. You noticed drawers that read “socks.” You took out an armful of your socks from a baggage and tossed them all into one. To your amazement, there were digital shifting platforms that paired up and organized your socks for you by length.

At this rate, I will be done unpacking in no time. It’s no wonder how the big CEOs who can afford to have their homes like this are able to be so productive, despite being humans.

“Now,” you thought aloud. “What’s the internet password?”

“Not to worry, Miss!” You heard a voice say from outside of the closet. You rushed out and saw the companion Shubot on your desk waving at you cheerfully. “Just place all of your electronics into the appropriate charging slots and I will get them connected to the internet right away!”

Your hands covered your mouth in silent glee as you hurried to follow the robot’s instructions. Once most everything had been put away, you noted how less than thirty minutes had passed. You got iced water from Voira and sat down at your desk again, you wanted to greet your desk companion properly.

“Hello, Miss! What can I do for you?”

You giggled at the thing and asked, “I just wanted to know, what should I call you?”

“You may call me whatever you’d like, Miss!”

“Please, call me Y/N. And er, may I call you…let’s see…” The little bot swayed in place patiently as you thought about what to possibly name it.

“Ani. May I call you Ani?”

“Of course!” You laughed as Ani gave a little spin. “Nice to meet you, Y/N! I’m excited to take care of ya!”

“Ani, I have some questions, if that’s okay?”

“Absolutely, ask away!”

“Why does Joshua only live with robots?”

Ani’s head quirked to the side. “I assume you don’t know the story of his parents?”

You shook your head. “I know about Joshua being an orphan but does he really not have anyone else?”

Ani shrugged, something you never thought you’d see a stiff little robot do. “I don’t contain any data on the topic of the Hong family outside of their names and important dates. There are other AIs here who do. But I am programmed to keep anything you tell me confidential, so don’t worry! I may not have much to say but you can talk to me anytime!”

You had never thought it possible to experience awkward silence with a robot but there you sat. “Well…I suppose I just don’t know where to start around here. I’m sort of hoping I'll wake up one day and realize things have picked up and I can just work. If, uhm, that makes any sense.”

Ani nodded. “Mhm! If it helps, one of your first tasks after dinner will be to organize your schedule for tomorrow! Joshua will send me a list and then you get to add whatever you want to in my hourly calendar!”

Checking the currently blank calendar, you weren’t surprised that you could add anything you wanted down to the minute, though you did wonder how much of it Joshua would see. “Ani, I have one more thing - Should I dress up for dinner?”

“Oh! The master has specifically requested you wear this��”

“...Ah.”

The uniform wasn’t tacky by any means, you just weren’t sure if it suited you. At least it was comfortable, and you liked that the skirt wasn’t too tight and left plenty of possibilities for layering.

When you arrived where Ani had indicated dinner would be, you stopped in your tracks in shock. Even though you knew that Joshua lived alone, you were expecting something more like a large or lavish dining room, maybe even with a chandelier. Instead you were greeted with a simple kitchen and living space, separated by a counter with tall seats. 

Behind the seats was a small glass table and simple chairs with tied-on cushions, almost like what a grandmother long ago would have in their home. Even larger of a surprise, Joshua was in the process of taking off an apron.

When he turned around to give it to a nearby robot to put away, he saw where you were standing and smiled.

“Come, have a seat at the table. My Cara-bots will bring out dinner momentarily.”

As you sat down gingerly, a robot similar to Voira but with a retractable tray for a body hovered over and poured wine into Joshua’s glass. He then looked at you, lifting his glass in question.

“Oh! I don’t really drink…”

Without anything said, the Shubot hovered over to you and poured something amber colored into your glass. You looked up at Joshua, puzzled.

“Try it, Y/N.”

You took a tentative sip and was immediately wowed. It’s like the robot had read your mind - you’d been craving something at this consistency, and the taste…it seemed to be diluted fig syrup, strained of seeds.

A Shubot similar to the delivery rovers but smaller set out plates, chopsticks, and soy sauce. Another one followed with a tray of kimbap.

“My mother’s recipe,” Joshua said, a tad softly. “It’s one of the few dishes I always make myself.”

The two of you ate in silence for a bit. It’s not that you didn’t want to talk and the food was really delicious, you just felt a bit…awkward. Joshua, being considerate of your shrinking posture, didn’t try to make any small talk like he had earlier. You were hyper-aware of it, especially since the situation was too reminiscent of how the two of you had met. 

You had just been let off of your last job in the upper-east side of the city, where some places were filing for bankruptcy due to a recent falling through in DK Tower, that part of Sector 17’s keystone, something about a security breach causing a leak of investment funds. 

You ended up in one of the city’s “refuge cafes”, which are large plazas scattered across the south side of Sector 17 that offer temporary housing for people willing to work until they find security, usually from business owners that set up there, then after workers can find more permanent options.

Unlike where you used to work, all of the businesses in the refuge cafes used Shubots for everything. The whole system is owned by the south of the city’s keystone, who’s even more secretive than Joshua.

Joshua noticed you at the business you were taking refuge in while he was in the midst of a meeting one day. A rare occurance since it's said he usually never leaves home. He’d invited you to meet with him after your shift and in the midst of the awkward silence of that encounter, you were given a new job which was currently proving to be just as daunting but luxurious.

What finally broke the ice in the present moment was one of the helper robots; a Cara came floating over with another robot that looked similar to Ani on her tray.

“Hello Sunday,” Joshua smiled at the bot as it hopped off of the tray onto the table. “Is something the matter?”

The robot spoke in a much stuffier voice than Ani’s cheerful one. “The atmosphere within a 3-meter diameter of you is rather ‘chilly’. Would you like me to play fireplace sounds over a decibel of white noise?”

The five seconds of silence that followed was deafening until it was broken by an unbidden snort from you. You quickly brought your napkin up to hide your face as Joshua’s head snapped towards the sound. Another second after, Joshua broke into loud and enthusiastic laughter.

Seeing this, you felt your face finally break into the smile Joshua had been looking for all day as you joined in.

What made you laugh even more was how you saw that Sunday was still just standing there, patiently awaiting input. It seemed the suddenly happy atmosphere was affecting him though, as the robot’s face smiled a little more while swaying in place.

“It’s okay Sunday,” Joshua finally said, still wheezing slightly. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you. Let the other Caras know that it’s almost time to bring out dessert.”

Joshua turned back to you as you drank more of your fig drink, and upon seeing that your glass was past halfway gone, he waved his hand and a robot came swinging from the kitchen to refill it.

“Thank you,” you spoke less softly than before, still smiling. “I’m sorry I haven’t said much.”

“Oh my dear, you have done nothing wrong. Besides I should apologize, I forgot to let Sunday know not to have his 'automatic ambience' setting on earlier.”

“All of your creations have so much personality…how have you made that possible?”

“This city is as transparent as it is crowded,” Joshua spoke in a more professional voice, perking your interest. “All it took was programming a Bitty bot to fly around it and gather data on human interactions, giving me everything I needed.” He looked away, wiping his face with his napkin.

“Do any of your robots continue to collect data even after being purchased?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow at you. “Of course not, but I have no control over anyone who uses my devices for surveillance after it’s out of my hands. Only if, say, a separate company volunteers to gather data for me might I entertain the idea, but even so I am still capable of getting that information myself.”

“So if I said you couldn’t use data from how I use Voira to do anything, you wouldn’t?” You were trying so hard not to find your own comment funny.

“Haha! Sorry dear, but the matter of liabilities isn’t there yet. However if you really insisted, I could have Voira be tested elsewhere, but she's a prototype and still under my ownership.”

“There isn’t anything else in this place gathering data from my presence, is there?” You asked, for no reason in particular at this point.

“Just my eyes, of course,” Joshua winked at you. That sure made you quiet. As if to save you from how flustered you felt, the Cara-bot from before brought dessert. A welcome distraction.

Your first day of work was well-paced and quiet. So much in the house was already done by Shubots that most of your tasks were completed at your desk in the study, mainly brief correspondences through an earpiece that matched one Joshua wore, and filtering through messages. Pretty much anything Joshua preferred a human do, which was what you’d expected well before coming. 

Joshua was good about making sure everything was doable along with efficient breaks and meals, all while keeping a pristine friendly attitude. You quickly felt your initial fear vanish.

Your second day was more or less the same, and you concluded it by having Ani help you with finding a television program to wind down with. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt so…safe. Just being alive.

Your third day began with a very perplexing addition to your schedule. Joshua had the words “Field Trip, dress normally” written in the slot after breakfast, which was to be eaten with him. 

You picked a comfortable dress you owned with a cute collar and layered with stockings, plus a pretty jacket. Wanting to maintain some professionalism, you detached your name tag from your uniform and fixed it to your jacket.

“Good morning, Y/N.” Joshua greeted you when you arrived. “I’m glad to see you growing accustomed to the place.”

You gave him a smile and bow. “Thank you for breakfast, Joshua.”

Before you sat down, Joshua walked up to you while reaching into his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a small object to show you.

It was a brooch, beautifully polished with a vintage crest decorated with opal. You noticed embossed words before Joshua read them aloud to you.

“Purposeful, Practical, and Peculiar. That has been my family motto since the very beginning. It’s why the company used to be named ‘Pianissimo’ before it was out with the old, but the rather silly motto still stands. You asked me how my robots are so expressive and I told you how but not why. The basis for such an intent has been passed down for generations, I wasn’t about to let it end with me.”

Joshua leaned in closer to you so suddenly you almost tripped, but he stopped just short so he could fasten the brooch in between the lapels of your collar. 

“You look lovely today, Y/N. So I hope you don’t mind my ‘finishing touch.’ Please keep it, as a token of my gratitude.”

It was Joshua’s turn to blush as your face broke into the widest smile he’s seen from you yet.

He almost didn’t hear you thank him, the glow of your happy face made the lights illuminating it seem less bright in comparison making him step back in admiration. Joshua nodded in an attempt to hide his sheepish face as you both sat down to eat.

“So,” you began. “What is this ‘field trip’ that Ani told me about?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow at you as he took a sip of coffee. “You named your companion bot Annie?”

“Ah, yeah…I just thought he sounded like an ‘Ani’ to me,” you said, owning it softly.

“That’s really cute. Well, today I will be showing you the ‘Practical’ side of Hong Co. and give you a better idea of how my business is actually run. I know you have some degree of experience from your time at the Woozi Plaza but you will find that tech headquarters are a bit different.”

“Is it true that Hong Co. is just you and this tower?” You asked before taking another bite of your food.

“How could it not be true is the real question?”

You cocked your head at Joshua in confusion. He looked almost stunned. “My my, you must be the first person I’ve met who doesn’t know.”

“Well I always heard people talking in the plaza but I didn’t really…ingest much of it. I’m sorry…”

“There’s really no need to apologize, I promise to take my time telling you.”

He then placed his hand up to his earpiece, silent before nodding. “Mhm, thanks Sunday. And please have that package brought to the upper loft and unpacked.” Joshua looked back at you. “We’ll depart as soon as you’re finished eating.”

The center of Hong Tower was one long and sleek elevator, surrounded by a steel staircase to follow city safety regulations. Otherwise, as Joshua joked to you once you both stepped in, he wouldn’t even bother with the waste of material. You noted that this central elevator defaulted to being accessed by a biometric scan.

“My home is on the second floor through the sixth floor of this tower. My grandfather began with that and kept building up as the business grew. He had hopes that for generations to come, this building would continue to blossom from the roots he laid down. Our original estate would be a retirement place for each scion’s father to rest when we inherited the tower and well…” Joshua didn’t finish the thought as the elevator reached your destination.

When the doors opened, the most complex symphony of so many sounds hit you, and not one sounded human. When you stepped out onto a platform, you gasped at the hundreds of different kinds of robots performing so many tasks below where you were standing.

It was so fascinating how there weren’t any assembly lines or cuticles, it was just a lot of machines and holographic screens and the constant movement of work surfaces and…oh, a couple of them waved up at you. You and Joshua waved back at the same time. Then you looked at each other, causing you to giggle a bit.

“Every floor serves a general and unique purpose in the many aspects of how I have shaped the company. This is where stock is managed and maintained, receiving materials from above and below. Sunday is in charge of these factory floors, sending me any quirks for me to fix from the study. That used to be a more frequent process when I was still developing Sunday's AI,” Joshua chuckled. “But it has streamlined exponentially since I gave him the ability to control physical forms.”

Joshua led you back to the elevator where he showed you the next floors, “the flight lofts” as he called them. They were where everything from hoverbots to drones to transport pods were developed, managed by Joshua’s other AI program, Wednesday. Clever, you thought, that they were the floors that began to surpass the height of most other buildings in the city.

Since the tower was meant to always be built up, Joshua showed you that the second flight loft was the only place he had ever built sideways so that there could be hovercraft landing pads somewhere.

Your final destination for today’s little trip was a lounge floor almost completely surrounded in Joshua’s signature floor-length windows.

“This is the floor right above the last current factory floor, the upper loft. In his later years, my grandfather found that having a break location to end up in on maintenance check days was necessary. It would constantly change and rise since there could never be a penthouse, so my father inherited the idea as a tradition. It is currently of my own design.”

Joshua brought you to the other side of the lounge where instead of long couches, there were two armchairs. As you sat down in one, Joshua clapped his hands together, summoning a rover bot that placed down a round coffee table between you. A lone Cara-bot floated over with a ceramic tea set.

“I ordered the table yesterday, it’s what was in the package I had Sunday send up.”

You barely heard Joshua say that; you were too busy in awe of the view of the city.

Never in your life had you ever seen it from so high up - And goodness had you also never in your life smelled tea so good before.

Joshua laughed aloud at the face you made when you turned your head towards the teapot. “I like to keep my nicest tea leaves up here. I suppose I’ve always been waiting to share it. Let me pour you a cup.”

“Thank you, Joshua.” Your smile made Joshua blush a little again, and this time you shyly took notice. “I will be sure to savor it.”

You sat there for a bit in silence that was decorated by the sound of an electric fireplace nearby and the raindrops outside catching the neon glow of everything in Sector 17.

Despite the city always being rather dark, during the middle of the day like this it was just bright enough where you could see the towers of the other keystones. You could even see DK Tower in the far, far east, though the drizzle made it appear blurry.

“A great view, isn’t it? The City of Perpetual Dusk…” Joshua murmured, and you turned to look at him.

The look on his face was hard to read. You had a feeling that this was the most he ever truly lets himself relax, which was unnerving. His face when speaking to you was usually wise and cheerful, with rather watchful eyes.

At this moment, his whole form was none of those things, and it made him look a lot younger and smaller than you always picture him.

You watched him turn to look at you back and it wasn’t the motion that startled you, but the subtle diffusion of the glint in his eyes. In the time it took you to think of something to say, you wondered how exactly he saw you.

“If you’re always expanding up, what happens to the order of the floors below?”

“This company is constantly recycling itself,” Joshua answered simply, turning back. “We have a few floors of storage above and below ground, but I try not to have material come in too often. The average lifespan of a Shubot purchased in the city is rather short, so a certain percentage of them end up back here to be repurposed in one of the stock floors. Material left over from renovations and expansion goes back down to be repurposed.”

Practical indeed, you thought, sipping your tea.

You reached out to the Cara-bot still floating next to you and tried petting it the same way Joshua petted the coffee machine the other day, evoking a purr from the robot and a melodic chuckle from Joshua.

Two weeks later came a day where you were tasked with helping Joshua out with gadget orders that required more…personal attention than what was taken care of in the floors above.

You were in awe of how many big names appeared in the list Sunday gave you, a couple of whom you’d seen before at the refuge cafe. Though one unfamiliar name did catch your attention among the rest.

With a quirk of your eyebrow, you looked up at Joshua.

“A large order from one…Arthur Pendragon.”

To your surprise, Joshua cracked the most playful smirk as he chuckled. It caught you very much off guard, so much so in fact, that you felt your face warm up immediately, which only made his smirk wider.

“Ah, Seokmin…still ordering under a fake name after all these years. Well, what would he like this time?”

“Did you just say Seokmin? As in Lee-”

“Mhm, the city ‘bad boy’ as I’m sure even he calls himself.” Joshua interrupted gently, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t worry, he may abundantly misbehave but in reality, he can’t do anything outside of a certain perimeter. And while I’m not unfriendly with him, I always stay on my far side of the city.”

“Why do you do business with him then, anyways?” You asked as you showed Joshua your screen.

“Are you judging, dear?” Joshua raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t fazed at all.

“Not really," you shrugged. "I just haven’t seen anything here that could be deemed, uhm, shady yet.”

Joshua didn’t answer at first, he glanced through the order before chuckling. “I never cease to be amazed at how funny Seokmin’s taste is. It’s like he doesn’t even notice that I know it’s him. No, it’s not truly shady. Reputation aside, he’s still one of the Sector’s keystones and I have worked too hard to be the only one without a single broken bridge to sour that now.”

Before he could continue, Sunday's bot hopped into view to relay a message. You just barely heard it say “Subject line ‘urgent’, from ‘Lee Jihoon.’ Would you like me to read it for you?” 

Joshua’s face turned stony in an instant. “Send it to my watch, Sunday. I’ll return shortly.”

He turned to you with the complete opposite expression, startling you. “Apologies, Y/N. Process more orders to your best ability and we will continue our conversation over lunch.”

You nodded quickly as Joshua rose from his chair and left the study swiftly, holding his watch up to his mouth speaking in a hushed voice. A rover bot arrived to pick up Sunday and left too. Trying not to think on it too much, you returned to your desk and went back to your tasks.

About twenty minutes later, you looked at the time. There was still a bit until lunch, so you gave yourself a moment to breathe.

Where is this weird..feeling coming from…?

“Sunday?” You called out tentatively. You didn’t even know if it would work.

“Yes Miss Y/N, I’m here.”

You looked down at your custom task device. A wavy, holographic sphere that resembled a rising sun had emitted from the corner of your screen. This must be Sunday in program form.

“Oh wow, so I can talk to you?”

“But of course Miss, did the master not tell you?”

You decided not to answer that and hoped that said master wasn’t listening. “Sunday, I’m curious, how long has it been since another human has worked here?”

Sunday pulled up a simple visual with a series of dates. “Since the worker lifts were recycled, Miss. The building became fully automated then.”

But that’s after Joshua’s father passed… you thought to yourself.

“If you don’t have any more questions Miss, I have a reminder from the master to begin heading to the kitchen for lunch.”

“Thank you Sunday, let Joshua know what I’ve been able to wrap up.”

“Joshua,” you spoke, the moment the man in question came into view. He had just sat down and looked at you, eyebrows raised. “Will I be punished for using Sunday without permission?”

Joshua blinked hard. “‘Punished?’ My dear you haven’t been misbehaving, have you?”

It took you a second to realize he was making fun of you and you weren’t sure if you were amused or mortified. Joshua gave you another smirk, leaning you more towards mortified. 

“No, you’re not in trouble. Even if it was violating a protocol, I never explicitly said you could or couldn’t talk to Sunday. If you ever do something protocol-violating around him or Wednesday, however, I would know immediately.” He regarded you with the same teasing look in his eyes as you sat down, clearly relishing in how it made you pout a bit.

“In truth Y/N, I had hoped in time I could tell you more and more, but I didn’t want to limit your parameters of interaction in the house. Though to see you can be such a daredevil, well, I’m honestly tempted to keep even more secrets.” You scoffed at the way he shone his teeth at you while putting an elbow on the table, chin up and in one hand.

“So I’m not your prisoner who will be buried with what I do end up being told?” Even with your sarcastic side-smile, you sounded just a tad more serious than you intended.

“My my Y/N, do rope in that imagination. I don’t dispose of people like lil’ Seokmin on the other side of town, nor do I encase anyone like his older brother. You’re free to come and leave however you like, we discussed as much in your contract.”

You were thankful for the food being laid out as Joshua spoke, offering you an excuse to not talk for a little.

You’d interacted with Joshua enough by now to know when he's purposely leaving out other implications to situations.

Some bites in, you finally began the expected topic at hand, letting the atmosphere grow serious.

“I was about fourteen when ‘the incident’ happened. Everyone around me talked about it for years. I was still in a District 9 facility at the time though, so most of what I know, I learned when I was sent here. I was first told that keystones are where what we need comes from, not really the CEOs yourselves. When I spent those two years at a refuge cafe though, I heard about how the huge Lee Family broke apart, all of the rumors surrounding your family, what District 9 really is…”

You had to pause for a minute there. Joshua, not taking his eyes off of you, waved for a bot to bring iced water. He nodded at you kindly when you looked up at him, as you swallowed heavily.

“There were so many people of varying levels of importance, talking in those bars every night as I worked. I heard about a lot of things that seem like they’d be underground, so I admit I’m rather afraid of what isn’t spoken about in broad daylight. But when you offered me this job, I decided that I would go in not assuming a thing. I’ve seen how it can destroy a person.”

Joshua was a good listener, his gaze was calm and revealed nothing of what he was thinking as you spoke about your life. When you were done, he finished his food before he decided to talk.

“Hong Co. is and has always been a family business. Even from the beginning it seemed that family businesses are always doomed to fail, and yet we were able to stay together through the decades. Er, mostly by trying not to have too many children. The Lees are a modern example of the third-generation curse that only grew worse over time. I grew up with the Lee brothers of Sector 17, though, so I don’t believe things would have turned out how they did if it wasn’t for, well,” Joshua didn’t need to finish that sentence.

“Know that you are not obligated to believe everything I say, though you are only hearing everything from me. When our parents were killed, Lee Jihoon and I had barely turned sixteen. Lee Seokmin came out of ‘the incident’ a completely different person, making any reparation plans they had impossible. He ran off to fulfill his own desires, which left Jihoon to take care of their youngest brother, Chan, who is now the regime’s most valued keystone. Jihoon designed the Plaza system not only to give Chan a larger and connected space to grow up in, but also to gather intel in the same way you've heard things; surface level. He particularly likes my Bitty bots for that. Many of the Lee cousins disappeared during ‘the incident’ so Jihoon has always tried to find them again.”

“Has he found any?” You asked through your hands, which had been covering your mouth for a while.

Joshua shook his head. “Every time Jihoon gets close to finding one, he gets sabotaged by Seok. I really couldn’t tell you why but it is the only thing I haven’t been able to help with. Seokmin may buy my home appliances but I have no way of hacking his own tech. He mastered stealth the best out of all of us.”

Your eyes widened at this. “Has he tried to infiltrate here before?”

“His ego is too big. Even if he did though, I mastered security the best. So I focus on keeping Jihoon from going completely insane, for now he hasn't gone farther than paranoid. His business serves as protection for the city, he sends most of the info he gathers to Chan’s side of the city where plans are made and executed. Chan was always the best with combat.”

At that moment, Joshua received a message on his watch. He let out a huff. “My apologies, Y/N, there’s been a change of schedule. I have to leave for a bit and won’t be able to have dinner with you. Continue with your afternoon tasks and I will see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Joshua, see you tomorrow.”

For the rest of the day, you got to experience what Joshua’s home must have felt like for the past decade before you came.

It really was lonesome, even with AI to talk to. Well, more like especially with only the Shubots. No wonder they’d been programmed to be so...peculiar.

That night, dinner was brought to your bedroom with a note that said you would be allowed to sleep in tomorrow if you wanted, and to tell “Annie” when you wanted breakfast. Instead of thinking about how that meant you had no clue what Joshua was up to, you laughed at how funny it was that despite being the most organized human being to exist, he was actually not the best with names.

You thought about writing a letter to your old employer, but you weren’t sure what you could possibly send, to anyone really. Had she forgotten about you by now? All you really did back then was wait tables.

Then again, Joshua of all people had noticed you. Other than awkward, what was it like for him when you two first met? You didn’t even realize who he was until he offered you work for a place to stay.

What was frustrating you the most was that you also couldn’t think of why you were only wondering about it all now. Does it matter why now that you’re already here and know half of his life story?

After you had gotten ready for bed, you took out a keepsake box you hid in among your socks and opened it. Inside were your most precious possessions, many of which held little monetary value but they held the details of your past. The most recent addition was the Pianissimo brooch.

As you ran your fingers along the polished opal designs, you felt a small tear escape your left eye as you tried to ignore the unfamiliar sensation of what felt like a pinch in your heart.

The process of you and Joshua learning more about each other spread across the weeks. The distance between you had long become friendly and Joshua eventually programmed Sunday not to interrupt conversations with you for anything other than emergencies.

Years of only having robots and depressed business people to talk to must have piled on Joshua over time because now that he had another human around, you came to learn that Joshua wasn’t just strange but a rather silly person, too. He could be charming and watching him work was fascinating, as he constantly sketched ideas and swiped at so many holographic screens.

He was not only efficient but afforded the luxury to mess with you a bit too, in extremely high spirits. But still at the same time of maintaining an organized work environment. You pretending to feel offended by his antics only seemed to spur him on more.

Then when you asked him why none of his robots were human sized, he chuckled and said “That would be so creepy, I’d never sleep. Besides, it’s bad for business. A handful of people would splurge on something like that in one place, rather than a bunch returning every so often to buy something smaller.”

When you asked why he only ever wore suits, he said he was only choosing the “hottest attire” from a fashion company sponsor.

And when you asked Joshua why Voira was named that, he said “I think the touch of French can make even a water dispenser sound more appealing, don’t you?” and winked at you the same way he does whenever he catches you staring from across the study.

His casual flirting was what actually drove you crazy. It was almost like he wanted to keep you on your toes all of the time after you grew used to his surprisingly playful nature.

Afternoon tea time in the upper loft only happened on occasion, and it was the only time Joshua was anything but playful.

He looked somber, calculating, and a tiny bit tired as he surveyed the city outside of the windows. Only once did he allow himself to tell you of the burden he felt at times.

“Growing up, I was always the one Hong. In a world of Lees, I stand as the common ground.” And now just about everyone, good or villainous, rich or teeming; Shubots of all kinds are used by them in all walks of life. 

For you, those days served as a reminder of the large world outside of everything you knew within Hong Co. You seldom left the tower to do anything, even though you knew how to take care of yourself in the crowded city due to your own background.

As you got to explore your new home, you came to realize just how much the estate was designed with the intention of housing a small family. You had no idea why the thought always came to you with a little flush to your face.

It was also during tea time that the little pinch in your chest would invade your heart more bit by bit as you got to know each of Joshua’s sides. It was hard for you to show more of yourself at times, so you appreciated the quiet days just as much as the ones with glee.

Before you knew it, you were watching light snow begin to fall outside as you sipped your tea.

Colder months meant new heating designs for Joshua to make, and according to Sunday, less conflicts between the Lee brothers to worry about.

“We basically hibernate until either Seok or Chan randomly gets up to something in Spring,” Joshua joked. “Even though I already stay out of the public eye as it is.”

“Was it always this way?” You asked, aiming to sound broad. Perhaps a month ago, Joshua wouldn’t have answered. But he spoke freely. 

“My father was the least social of all of the men in my family. After my grandfather passed, he no longer had a reason to keep up appearances or go out at all, and then I and the other scions of the city were training up north. I never liked attending conferences with my father anyway, but then suddenly he was gone. I felt terrible letting all of the people he’d hired go, but they served as the foundation for Jihoon’s refuge cafes. And suddenly I had all of the space in the world to build back what I’d been left with. No one watching from the outside or the inside.”

“But no one at all except you,” You didn’t mean to say it out loud, but the look in Joshua’s eyes showed that it was something he always wanted someone to say but there never was anyone else.

“It was the only way I was able to continue my family’s work without sacrificing myself, but that didn’t make me hate it any less. I was never going to be ready to have people around again, though at some point I knew I would have to try. Avoiding how others have failed doesn’t delay your own failure.” When he said that aloud, you could tell that he’d mentally hit a wall. That was probably it for him today, or maybe a while.

You took a deep breath. “I’m glad you were able to try something new, Joshua. For the company, and for yourself.” You put your teacup down and smiled at him, allowing your arm to stretch out to him tentatively.

Maybe it was because he genuinely had no idea what else to say but his hand slowly reached yours. You could tell from Joshua’s flush that warmth was flooding through him, too.

It wasn’t just the first time the two of you touched, it was likely the first time he had touched anyone in a very long time.

Just as his fingers were beginning to wrap around yours, Sunday’s hologram suddenly appeared from Joshua’s watch in between you two, making you jump apart.

“What’s the emergency, Sunday?” Joshua smiled, though you noticed the watchfulness return to his eyes.

“Your heart rate has increased beyond 120 bpm in the past minute, would you like me to send for-”

“No, it's all fine!” Joshua interrupted a bit loudly, completely embarrassed. You doubled over laughing, only making Joshua grow redder.

“Your AI are great,” You said, wiping your eyes. “Maybe I should get a watch, too.”

Joshua scratched the back of his neck in relief that you weren’t judging. “That can be tended to now, let’s head back to the study.”

The next time the two of you touched was when Joshua was showing you how to put on a Shu-watch, since you’d never had anything like it before. He specifically touched one up so that Wednesday would primarily care for you, connected to Ani in your room.

“Now Wednesday can embarrass you too whenever she or Sunday wants,” Joshua said cheekily as he showed you some of the regular features.

The next time would be at dinner the next day, when Joshua would get a little more adventurous by pushing a lock of your hair behind your ear. Even though your legs were about to turn to jelly, you decided you couldn’t let him have all the fun.

“Wow some gentleman you are, boss,” you teased, bringing your hand up to your ears to poke his.

He caught on quickly though. “Oh forgive me, my lady,” Joshua gently took your hand before you could react. He bowed his head down to kiss it. “I was fatefully distracted.”

Forcing yourself not to faint, you met his eyes, hoping he couldn’t see right through you in that moment. “Well I suppose that makes sense since you haven’t wiped the crumbs from your face.”

Before Joshua could grab his napkin, you took your own and got up to wipe his mouth yourself. 

The cocky grin on his face when you stepped back was what made you think that at this rate, you were going to physically fall for him before anything else.

The day you did faint wasn’t from a tussle with Joshua, but from dehydration.

The feeling that had built up within you was a source of stress you couldn’t stand after a while. You had finally acknowledged to yourself by then that you didn't want to leave at some point, as was agreed, even if you'd be sent off with everything you could ever need.

You realized that it wasn't what you wanted, and even if you could stay forever, your feelings for Joshua would be there too. For that you couldn't even look at Joshua, even though it wasn't truly his fault you were feeling this way about him.

Quite literally you couldn't stand it; as a distraction, you kept finding reasons to exit the study and poured yourself into tasks, ignoring alerts from your watch about your health. You knew it was wrong not taking the time to figure yourself out but whenever you tried, the feeling in your chest evolved further into a thorough ache.

When you started to feel dizzy one day, you tried to get up from your desk again for the nth time, only to stumble. Joshua noticed from his side of the study, but you shuffled away fast.

Wednesday showed at that moment that Shu-watches are (cleverly) programmed with certain overrides and beeped at you to either rest, or drink some water.

“That’s what I’m on my way to do,” you grumbled, trying to dismiss her.

“Miss Y/N, the nearest beverage machine is in the study, please pause your activity and-”

You hit the floor and vaguely registered the sound of Wednesday sending a message to Joshua about it.

When you were finally at a better state of consciousness, you found yourself in your bed with Voira next to you, holding out a cup of water. Sitting up, you saw Joshua sitting at your desk below.

He looked up at you, looking relieved that you were feeling better again.

“Wednesday, how are Y/N's vitals?” Joshua spoke into his watch.

“Back to normal,” You heard from your own watch. Joshua smiled and got up. To your slight horror, he climbed up halfway to your bed.

“How are you feeling otherwise?” Joshua asked you, his gorgeous face full of concern.

You looked away, still upset with yourself. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been taking care of myself lately.” 

With a thoughtful “Hmm,” Joshua climbed all of the way up and sat right next to you, making you shrink away more.

“Are you afraid of me, Y/N?” That sure was one way to get you to look at him. Joshua's face was passive, but his eyes were filled with worry over what you might say. 

“I...know that you’ve been avoiding me for a bit but I didn’t expect that you would ignore your watch. Poor Wednesday,” he added light-heartedly. Joshua waited patiently for your answer, fighting his own urge to physically reach out.

You let out a dispirited laugh at that. It was hard for you to find words, but you realized that this conversation was going to happen at some point, one way or another.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of you, Joshua…just of...the way I’ve been feeling lately. I am really grateful for everything you’ve done for me and you are a wonderful person to be around, but, well, I…”

You involuntarily reached for Joshua’s hand, and your back straightened at the feeling of his hand accepting yours. You suddenly felt so small but, for the first time, you were safe to say so.

“I’m afraid that I’ve been selfish,” you let out, mellow. “In all of this time I’ve spent around you I keep thinking about everything that makes me different and...unimportant...” You didn’t let him interrupt you there when you felt him shift. 

“And I just…who am I to say that I…that…”

You felt him give your hand a little squeeze. Screw it.

“That I like you a lot? I really do care so much about you…you’re so kind to me and you intrigue me very much. I know that doesn’t mean I should feel this way at all, especially since the contract I’m under is temporary. I’m here to work, to help you, and that’s it. So I tried really hard not to think about it…”

You regretted it the moment you said it all, but it was only for a moment.

Because then Joshua used his other hand to cup your face, making you look at him, giving you a kiss on the forehead.

“Y/N, I am the one who should be saying sorry to you. I think I’ve waited too long to tell you that I want you to extend your stay here. From the moment we met I knew that I would like you, so much that I couldn’t bear to watch you leave. I originally designed a new master bedroom just for you, but then I realized that I don’t just want you to stay, I want you by my side.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You were so stunned, Joshua looked away in fear that this time he had overstepped instead. So you leaned up to kiss his cheek, but given the height difference, it caused you to lose balance and Joshua turned quickly to catch you, and your faces were closer to each other than they ever have been, which at this point said a lot. Joshua swallowed nervously.

“Well, Y/N? Would you like to change your contract to one of marriage someday?”

You were sure at that moment most would have swooned or initiated a makeout session, but you instead laughed, giving Joshua the smile he himself had fallen for.

You had no idea where the confidence was coming from but you’d be lying if you said didn’t it come from Joshua, and just like him, you loved it. “Joshua Hong, you may be one of the most powerful people in the whole world but there really is so very much you do not know about women.”

Joshua blushed immediately, but he held his ground just as hard as he was holding onto you. “As long as it’s you, I will do whatever I can to learn. I want you here, Y/N, truly. You're family now.” 

Family. Something both of you had lived so long without.

“Well call me old-fashioned but aren’t you supposed to date me first?” you both laughed and Joshua poked your nose, making you gasp incredulously.

“Darling, I’m the old-fashioned one here who was planning to take this slow, but then you fell face first before the ‘talking phase’ could even turn into seeing movies~”

The two of you kept the banter and jostling up until you breathlessly grew quiet again.

“That’s why,” Joshua spoke out of the blue.

“What?” You looked at him, and he brought his hand up to your face again.

“Talking with you, laughing with you, seeing you prove that I really am here, with you." Joshua stroked your face so lovingly you could cry.

"For so long I was alone...It was a harsh reality I never wanted to face, but no matter which way I turned it was the truth. Bringing you into my life was the most frightening thing I have ever done, but it remains the one decision I am most sure of. You make me feel like I am worth everything, and now I rest every night knowing I will see your beautiful face the next day. If you accept my offer of making permanence of this, I promise I will always be here for you, too.”

Well indeed right there you did cry. You were so choked up as he wiped your face, trying not to cry himself, that the only way you could respond to him sincerely was by closing the final bit of physical distance between you two.

You could faintly hear the sound of hundreds of the tower's Shubots in a 30 meter radius clapping and cheering as Joshua returned the kiss with passion, holding you close with both arms, your hearts pounding.

Sharing your first ever kiss only marked a pivotal point in the feelings you had begun sharing long before, which would only continue on to fill every desolate corner that could ever appear in this limitless home of yours, and everything you would continue to work for together.

a/n: "And that, kids, is how I met your mother"

Time for a trip to my dentist because my stars writing that might’ve made a hole in my sweet tooth awwwww 💕;w; At a point in this fic I realized I was expanding the world a little too much so I left out the details of “the incident” the reader and Joshua mentions to try and close a love story nicely.  For you all that have reached the end of this amalgamation of my late-night writing, a year in the making, thank you so much and I do hope you’ve enjoyed this fic as much as I had writing it!

[sonicasura]

Mag Man: Placation

You can thank @discoknack for the new name suggestion. Here we are with the alternate route for MAG!Kafka species swap, the Mina Route or what I call Placation. There will be some similarities from the main particularly the start. Other than that, let's get started!

Mina Ashiro first major assignment as Captain of the 3rd Division didn't fully involve Kaiju. People have been mysteriously disappearing for the past few years, specifically Defense Force examinees and dropouts. At first these rumors were ignored by the higher ups until a recent report came in.

Someone was posing as an applicator for a Defense Force program with the aim to train failures into proper officers. An organization who has deep connections to the kaiju side of the black market. The latest victim however is what really got Mina to take this case. Kafka Hibino, her childhood friend and someone who drifted away from her over time.

The mission was painfully simple. Apprehend all of those responsible and rescue any alive captives. Permission to use lethal force was authorized as these people could be more dangerous than a simple kaiju. It would take some time before her division was allowed to move out.

A little too late for the scene they will stumble upon was a sheer bloodbath. Every member of the shadow organization laid dead on the ground. Their bodies flattened or viciously tore apart by something.

Any captives her officers found been dead for a while, some showing minor mutations eeriely reminiscent to Kaiju. Yet Mina found no sign of Kafka or whatever caused this carnage. That is until she noticed movements in a nearby alley.

What Mina would find broke her heart within seconds. Curled up in a blood soaked ball was what could only be Kafka. A 15'6 giant adorned in a torn black jumpsuit barely holding onto his large body, dark grey scales that covered his arms/legs/sides/cheeks, a massive maw of sharp teeth which split his face than overtake his lips, a thick black reptilian tail curled down from is lower back, and long white horns.

Mina's hope however remained alive when Kafka's now blood red slits eyes looked at her with sad familiarity. He was still in there despite being the victim of a nightmare soon to be known as Project MAGNUS. An experiment meant to create giant supersoldiers programmed for loyalty through kaiju DNA.

Mina immediately places Kafka under her division's protection and do all she could to help him. Keeping the MAG calm even if a nightmare or PTSD attack was lethal. Help him feel normal by getting custom made clothes and the closest he can have to a normal bedroom.

Kafka would slowly begin to act more like himself than a nervous withdrawn wreck. Although there are some bad days spent curled around Mina or some of the few people in the 3rd Division who earned his trust(Okonogi/Soshiro.) That doesn't fully stop Kafka from trying to help with their fight against the Kaiju.

It took time for protocols to be set in motion. Some of these include either Mina or Soshiro being present to reign him in should his aggression risk evolving into a rampage. Kafka lived mostly content with the 3rd Division although things were guaranteed to change the day he saves a certain young Monster Sweeper from a Yoju.

There have been rumors that had spread throughout the public about the 'Mag Man'. An unclassified humanoid Kaiju known to haunt the 3rd Division's operations. It wasn't uncommon for people to try and stake out their hunts only to end in failure.

Reno is the first to meet Kafka so he gets put in a private Defense Force hospital as Mina gives him the rundown. The 3rd Division do plan to make the MAG known to the public hence this particular transfer. However a wrench is thrown in their plans when a certain small Kaiju infiltrates Kafka's den.

Mina having front row seats to his more monstrous transformation. Kafka did his absolute best to not lash out from the pain in fear of hurting her. A difficult task since growing two smaller arms, red torn membrane obsidian bat wings, fanged mouth extending halfway down the neck, two extra kaiju horns while his own pair alongside body spikes becomes more jagged and red tipped. Nevermind the room shrinking due to a harsh growth spurt making him 23'4.

The problem only escalates when officers run in upon picking up a 9.8 fortitude on base. Mina didn't even get a chance to tell Kafka to stop before he flees like a bat out of hell. You can say it was a long night for the 3rd Division when it came to locating the runaway MAG.

They almost didn't find him until the Spider Yoju appears to attack the small family. Neither Captain expected to see Kafka being soothed by a little girl while her (healed)mother watches. Or for him to shrink to almost human form.

Keyword being 'Almost' as other than his height of 6'8, some inhuman features would remain like small horns, faded scale patterns on his skin, short tail, fangs and claws. Tests would be run(after reassuring the family they aren't gonna hurt Mister Kaiju.) Whatever the unclassified Kaiju did, it somehow fixed some of the issues in Kafka's mutation.

His form shifts depending on his current emotional state with contentment being the most humanoid. This discovery however led Kafka to become fully known to the public as Kaiju No.8. It was time for him to truly prove that he isn't a monster.

Luckily the 3rd Division has been preparing for this day to come. Mina was gonna make sure nothing bad will happen to Kafka again. And maybe the kaiju who caused this new mutation could help him get his humanity.

Only time will tell. Something that might become limited as threats towards the MAG shall come for him. Both human and Kaiju.

@renard-dartigue @drmarune

[officialinuyasha]

Yashahime Manga Volume 2 - Bonus Interview with Rumiko Takahashi and Takashi Shiina

The long-awaited interview with Rumiko Takahashi, legendary creator of Inuyasha, and Takashi Shiina, who pens Yashahime, continues! How was it reading Takahashi's manga for the first time? Shiina: I read Urusei Yatsura in middle school when it was first serialized, and I thought, "This is the start of something big!" It was set in a fantasy manga world, but the characters were modeled after real people. I was surprised that they seemed like they were really there. I thought, "If you can make these characters seem real, imagine the potential for other manga!" That's how Takahashi's work became the catalyst for me to enter the manga world. That's how great an impact she made on me. What do you mean, "it seemed like they were really there"? Shiina: The characters in manga up till then would express themselves directly and pretty much mean what they said. That was the norm, especially with kids' manga. But when Takahashi came onto the scene, her characters' speech had subtext. Previously, characters lacked dimension and nuance. Her portrayal of multi- dimensional characters was a leap forward. Plus, her stories were slapstick comedies. Those two elements in one manga really surprised me. Takahashi, were you conscious of this innovation when drawing your manga? Takahashi: I didn't think about it at all. I've always just wanted to have fun drawing manga and hoped that my audience would laugh along. I love shonen manga, and I was reading a lot of that at the time. What Shiina is describing is something I learned from a variety of sources. I think when I began working professionally, I'd been stockpiling inspiration from manga and novels. Those were the elements I wanted to put into my work, and I guess everything just clicked into place.

^ Lum and Ataru from Urusei Yatsura, the manga that inspired Shiina. Takahashi, what was the first manga by Shiina that you read? Takahashi: I read his four-panel joke manga Shiina Department Store. When the series began in Sunday, I thought to myself, "It looks so effortless. How can it be so good when he isn't a veteran manga artist?" I wondered what he had worked on before to get to that level. When Ghost Sweeper Mikami began, I really enjoyed its momentum. Shiiina's work still has that energy. I can tell he puts a lot of thought into his characters. His manga are such a pleasure to read. Those were my first impressions of him.

^ From the short story "Pocket Knight," included in Shiina Department Store, one of Shiina's first works.

Do you think it was the near-professional quality of his work that led you to believe that his first series was effortless? Takahashi: That's right. It just appeared one day in Sunday without any fanfare. I remember reading it uncritically. He was so young yet so professional. Shiina: (LOL). Takahashi herself appeared in Ghost Sweeper Mikami. How did that happen? Shiina: Well, I asked her if I could put her in the manga. (LOL) I wanted to have a 1970s vibe when I flashed back to Mikami's boss's younger days-like a time-travel story. At that time, Narita International Airport was still being built, and the Shinjuku skyscrapers didn't exist. But those details alone would have been boring, so I wanted to add in some of Sunday's history. I told Takahashi that I wanted to include a scene about the moment Urusei Yatsura was born. I asked her permission, and then I went ahead with it. She got mad at me afterwards though. (LOL) Takahashi: He asked me for permission, and I said, "Sure." I let him take care of the rest. (LOL). I think it's another interesting feature of Shiina's storytelling style.

^ Rumiko Takahashi appears from Ghost Sweeper Mikami vol. 37 on. It's totally her!

[lbova]

Rodney x Cappy Fanfiction

This is my first time writing a fanfic, so sorry if it's bad. There isn't enough Rodney x Cappy fanfic, so I'm writing my own gosh darn it. I love this ship so much. Characters belong to Blue Sky Studios Robots 2005. Hope you enjoy!

When you've become the CEO of your dream job, life couldn't be better. Two years ago, Rodney Copperbottom first arrived in Robot City to meet his idol Bigweld. However, he came to the city just to find out Bigweld had been forced into retirement thanks to his no good past CEO bot named Phineas T. Ratchet. When Ratchet took charge of Bigweld Industries, he outmoded millions of bots and sent Sweepers to collect them and take them to his mother's (Madame Gasket) Chop Shop, where they were melted into upgrades. Rodney knew he had to find Bigweld and save the city. Good luck was on his side, and he was able to find Bigweld, convinced him out of hiding, and defeated Ratchet and his cruel mother once and for all. Madame Gasket was thrown into the fire, and Ratchet was stuck on the ceiling. The Robot City Police took Ratchet to jail two days after. Rodney was seen as a hero, and was named the new CEO of Bigweld Industries.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if Rodney hadn't met Cappy. He first met Cappy when he crashed through the window of Bigweld's office and landed right in front of her. It was love at first sight for Rodney. He had never seen such a beautiful robot in his life. He met Cappy again when he snuck past the gates to get into the Bigweld Ball in an attempt to find Bigweld. Cappy saved Rodney from Ratchet's security bots, and flew him to Bigweld's workshop. Eventually, Cappy began to fall in love with Rodney. He was determined and confident, and he was kind and cared about others. After Ratchet's defeat and Rodney became CEO, Rodney and Cappy started dating. Rodney moved in with Cappy in her apartment a week after they started dating.

And now, two years later, they we still together. Although, being CEO of a very huge business wasn't easy. Rodney had been very busy the past two years, helping Bigweld come up with new projects and inventions to help bots' lives improve. Rodney would always come home late, always exhausted and tired. He would always feel bad whenever he came home late, knowing that he had kept his girlfriend Cappy waiting for him. He didn't want her to stay up for him, he wanted her to get a good night's sleep. He sometimes wondered why Cappy would still be with him despite him always coming home late. Some days, Rodney would wonder if he's even good enough to be her boyfriend. He's always late, he spends more time inventing and less time with Cappy. So why would she stay with him?

It was currently 12:39 a.m., and Rodney was finishing up one of his projects in his office. As he wrapped up his last adjustments to his project, he wiped his forehead and sighed. He was finally done for the night. Now he can go home, and have the weekend off. Rodney was so relieved that he had this weekend off. He normally worked on the weekends to further help out Bigweld. But Bigweld told him that he should take this weekend off, maybe spend some time with Cappy. Rodney offered Bigweld to call him in case he needed help, but Bigweld told him not to worry. Rodney put his tools back into his desk, turned the lights in the room off, locked up his office, and took a taxi home.

When Rodney arrived at their apartment, he took his keys out and unlocked the door to enter. He opened the door and entered the apartment, shutting the door behind him and locked it once he was in. He looked around the living room to see if anyone was home, but he didn't see anyone. He only saw his Wonderbot as they slept on a little cat condo peacefully. He guessed that Cappy was probably in the bedroom.

"Cappy, I'm home!", Rodney shouted not too loudly as to not startle Wonderbot awake.

He heard a voice cry out, "I'm in the bedroom!" He knew that the beautiful voice belonged to his lovely girlfriend Cappy.

He set his bag down and walked to the bedroom. When we entered, he saw Cappy sitting on the bed, reading a book. Cappy looked up from her book to smile at her handsome boyfriend.

"Hi sweetie. Welcome home.", Cappy said sweetly, as she set her book down on the bedstand beside her and got up to greet Rodney. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. Rodney also wrapped his arms around her to hug her back. He closed his eyes as he did, and smiled tiredly. He loves holding her close after a long day at work.

"Sorry I got back so late again", Rodney said softly, as he pulled away from Cappy to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "This project is taking so much longer than I intended", He continued.

Cappy smiled at him softly. Rodney loved her smile so much. He loved everything about her. "It's alright hon. I know your job can be long and stressful," Cappy said. "You can say that again", Rodney chuckled tiredly. "I am so ready for this weekend. I don't have to get up early and I don't have to work late."

Cappy couldn't help but giggle a little. "Me too. I can't wait to spend the whole weekend with you", she said. Rodney smiled at her brightly. He then let out a big yawn, stretching his arms out a little. Cappy could see her lover was tired, obviously. She can almost read Rodney like a book. And he was her favorite book. "Well then, maybe it's time for us to sleep, hm?", Cappy grabbed Rodney 's arm and gently tugged it, trying to pull him towards the bed. Rodney let her guide him to the bed, and they both laid down onto the soft mattress. Rodney let out a deep sigh, it felt good to finally lay down. Cappy snuggled closer to Rodney, putting her head on his shoulder.

Rodney rested his head on hers, smiling. "Hey Caps?", he slightly whispered, "Thanks for always being patient with me. I probably don't deserve it, but thank you for being sweet to me no matter what the day brings or how it ends." He wrapped one of his arms around her waist and said, "I love you."

Cappy shifted her head slightly to look up at Rodney. She smiled at him and said, "I love you too." They gave each other a good night kiss on the lips and drifted off to sleep. They had each other at the end of the day, and that was all they needed.

....................................................

OMG I finished it yes! Now I have my own fanfiction to read hehe. Anyway, hope you guys liked it! Let me know if you want more Rodney x Cappy stories, I'll be happy to write them!

[bowokshop]

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon. All Charlie wants is to be smart and have friends, but the treatment turns him into a genius.

Then Algernon begins to fade. What will become of Charlie?"

This book actually changed me. The writing style, in diary entries, was such a beautiful way of documenting the character development (and degradation) of Charlie - especially by including the entries he didn't show the lab. The shift in grammar and language used after Charlie gets the surgery provides a completely new perspective on his character and made me feel totally connected to who he was as a person.

The detachment he felt from his past self as he gained intelligence - even his 'friends', his family, and the academics at the university - provides such a unique view on the true value of brain power, and more so the impact of love and empathy. His connection to Algernon held more depth than any human relationship he held - and his death, in a way, signified the ending of his new life.

And even though I knew it was coming, watching his degradation in the last few pages completely shattered my heart - in both a good and a bad way. I may have cried for a while on the train 😭😭

[chronussy-bc]

Annon-Guy: On that note, how do you feel about Eve wanting to be a Sweeper (Bounty Hunter) in spite of her age (11-13 in the manga/7 in the anime)?

It was even brought up at two points when Sven didn't want Eve coming with them after she was hurt badly by Durham in the manga or once the fight with Creed ended in the anime as he wanted her to life a peaceful life and go to a private school. Both times with Anette calling Sven out.

In both cases, Eve didn't like it as she wanted to live freely like Train, to stay with both him and Sven and use her powers as a Sweeper to atone for the murders she caused under Torneo's thumb.

I know Kid Heroes are an interesting subject matter, but I wanted to hear your thoughts in regards to Eve.

Pretty logical, I think. Her dream of becoming a sweeper is kinda like kids’ dream of becoming hero irl; however, she is actually able to live out that dream at that age because of her power and the setting of the Black Cat world. Sven and Train rescuing her from Torneo’s hands definitely have aspired her, and the influence only strengthened when Sven was the first person to show her the joy of being a normal child. Subsequently, of course she would want to do what they do, with the hope of helping as many as she can the way they have helped her.

Eve is not a purely innocent girl since her past is quite complex. However, she is still young, there are many things she is yet to know/understand. Her perspective on life atp is not so simple as her peers’ but also not more matured than an actual adult. Sven’s vision is for a further future. There are many aspects he might have considered which Eve is oblivious about. She gets it that he wishes for her a safe, normal life but because she cannot fully comprehend the pros and cons of that and the sweeper life she now experiencing, she is naturally going to be against the idea. Her primary desire is to stay close to Sven, and for many reasons she also enjoys being a bounty hunter. She is not going to give up something so amazing to her for a foreign experience that, besides not as cool as what she is having, possibly would separate her from her dearest person.

Nonetheless, I think she would be more open to the idea of an ordinary life when she is older. Eve is a curious, intelligent child and she likes learning, so school probably would not sound so bad once she is more emotionally independent from Sven. Given the chance to find out more about other professions and how they can also benefit others, she can change her mind about doing bounty hunter for the rest of her life. With Tearju in the picture now, Eve will have better access to the academic path, which certainly gonna affect her decision on what she wants to do in the future.

In short, she has a lot of potential. Whether it be the always traveling sweeper or being a genius scientist like Tearju to invent helpful stuff, the choice would suit her well. I don’t think there’s any ethical problems here, since she is a special case and her consent is always considered. In addition to that, both Train and Sven are doing well as her guardians, providing her with everything she needs, though they might not be the most resourceful people.

[rainbowdelicsunshine]

What are the most important relationship events for you? Drop a timeline! wiiiith whomever has the braincell!

Since none of my self inserts are really super geniuses by any means, so I'm just gonna choose Kogimaru and his S/Os Kakimaru and Keshimaru to base this answer on since Kogimaru is pretty smart!

(Will be listing three events for ease's sake)

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

1. The first date Kogimaru, Kakimaru, and Keshimaru had in the human world (of sorts) was when the three of them snuck into Mrs. Fukurokōji's wine cellar and gave themselves a sip of her rose wine for the very first time!

All three of them were so drunk from consuming so much alcohol that they barely managed to come back home at 3 in the morning (after almost passing out in the cellar) and all drunkenly passed out on Yumi's bedroom swing

After that night, Mrs. Fukurokōji's wine cellar became their regular date night spot (when her and Kunimitsu were gone that is)

2. When Kogimaru, Kakimaru, and Keshimaru first met and got together in their home world, The Flower World!

In the Flower World, Kogimaru was the owner and tea maker of a small but popular tea house called The Purple Petal, Kakimaru was a painter who owned an art gallery where she would sell her work, and Keshimaru was a street sweeper (and really enjoyed it surprisingly)

The three of them met all at the same time when Kakimaru had accidentally tripped over Keshimaru's broom while he was sweeping the sidewalk in front of The Purple Petal (Kogimaru's Tea House). She was in such a rush trying to get to her art gallery at the time she didn't even see him

Keshimaru was startled at first by the accident, but he kindly lifted Kakimaru to her feet and offered her lunch in the Purple Petal to ease her nerves, she happily accepted and once they walked into the tea house, they also met Kogimaru as well while he was serving guests

Since all three of them loved each other's company, they all exchanged contact information and started hanging out regularly, eventually becoming friends, and then eventually a trouple!

3. The day they came back to Yumi 5 years later after the events of the show when Yumi had just turned 16!

(FYI: they came back to give Yumi her powers back so she could help humans and their problems and to be able to join The Majokko Club, the magical girl team she is a part of along with Creamy Mami/Yuu, Persia, Magical Emi/Mai, and Fancy Lala/Miho)

At that time, Yumi was living in the woods outside of the town she lived in with her grandpa Dankichi due to her parents divorcing and going their separate ways a year after the show ended

This also causing Yumi's mother to delve further into her alcoholism and with time, Yumi had lost touch and contact with her and hasn't heard from her mom since she was 13 (though she's still likes her dad, they barely talk except for when Yumi comes back to the flower shop to help him)

When Kakimaru, Keshimaru, and Kogimaru have heard of all these events when they came back to her, since they were able to be more fully out and about due to the Flower World problem already being solved, they decided to adopt Yumi as their daughter and with the help of her grandpa, Kenta, and Kyohei, Yumi was able to move into a cabin of her very own thats about 10 feet away from where her grandpa Dankichi lives

Now Yumi runs her own flower shop in the back of her cabin in a greenhouse she has set up there with all the flowers you can think of and lives happily with her adopted parents and companions Kakimaru, Keshimaru, and Kogimaru!

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

This is the last ask that you have sent me as far as I know, so I really really hope this counts as a good finale for you my friend!

Please enjoy and have a wonderful time!!

[noblehcart]

@emberglowed SC. gleb v.

"its a cup of tea. nothing more. you have my word."

because while spring had begun to make its way into their world the bit of winter reminded them it wasn't over just yet. because he saw her rub her hands in thin gloves against the wind. because he wanted to talk to her. to see her again. was that so bad? she wasn't anastasia and after that talk in his office he felt sure she knew better than to attempt the role. something in those blue eyes shook him to his core and he knew one thing only thus far- anya wasn't an imposter. he struggled at times with making assumptions of people's character wtih their many facets, but anya wasn't a liar- an imposter. she was just a street sweeper.

and he didn't want to see her cold.

"i'm asking as a friend. the deputy commissioner is off duty- i even left the hat at work." he laughed awkwardly hoping to break the tension. "we're both cold and tired from work. let me get you that cup of tea for once."

[eimearkuopio]

This reminds me of a very sad story about people I miss a lot. Sorry for vagueblogging. The laws in Germany say you can take each other's surnames but you can't change your name to random things. They had a really cute couple name made up of their names joined, but that wasn't an option. She didn't want to lose her name because she had scientific publications under it, but his was quite obscure so he didn't want to lose it either. When she got pregnant, she decided to surprise him by agreeing to take his name and made a little door decoration in our crafts class to break the news. Depressing shit goes behind the cut.

When their daughter was about 9 months she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She didn't quite make it to their daughter's second birthday.

Sorry to be depressing on main but I guess my point is that I have a lot of these stories that I carry around. A statistically improbably number of these painful stories of loss. That's why I'm so fucked up, in a nutshell. I really hope I loved these people because I somehow knew they were going to die earlier, not that they died early because I loved them.

@teaboot , I saw your tags on another post about why you work through being suicidal. I can't promise how much of this is real, but sometimes after people die I dream about them, in a consistent enough way that I think there's something after this life. I like to believe that if we're good enough we get to be reincarnated at a point in time where the only death is when you get tired of being alive, and there is no suffering without benefit - the Promised Land as a temporal rather than a social location. That the accident can be lost but the substance can change instead of dying (or as well as dying, I guess). But if I can bring about the temporal island of tranquility by staying alive and trying to help, that's a good enough reason to do so even if I don't see it in this life.

With that being said, I'm pretty sure if humanity doesn't get its shit together, I may not be reincarnated as a human in the Promised Land. Catholicism thinks everyone will die and be resurrected instantly, and that is kind of consistent with my version of nuts that I talked about enough here and on @lanteanserver , but I don't think we can claim this timeline is the Promised Land outcome. At least it's after 3rd October? That seemed to matter to other people online. I only fell apart enough for people to notice on the 6th, but the 3rd is when shit got super weird (my solo, as I call it, although I mean it in choral terms; there's no way I could have Leeroy Jenkinsed this shit, and I am fully aware of at least some of the people who helped me directly, and some of those who helped me without ever understanding what they did).

Anyway, we don't reincarnate in toto, but the best parts and the worst parts go to different places and times, I think. Because soul is substance but memories are accident. And even the substance of the soul can be different. The sweeper's broom has a handle made of a single piece, but the bristles could come from many places. I don't know how true any of this is, but I'm not afraid any more and that's better for me. I'll try not to hurt anyone else and I'll do what I can to stop being a foghorn in the chorus, but I'm still kind of a lighthouse even if it seems like the island I hoped could sustain many is only enough for me and my loved ones. We'll see how things go in the future.

I love you all. Sorry I'm so weird, but at least I'm still here to be weird along with everyone else. 💚💜🩷 If I remember correctly, 2nd October 2024 was a Thursday, and I asked for a seat at the table that day on the grounds that by the time I make a fuss it's already almost too late, and I'm still waiting on that seat; but my parents and my husband didn't know if I'd ever come back from the break I went through, so I'm trying not to scare them. They don't understand that I've been like this my whole life. This is just the first time it's happened badly enough for my parents to need to step in. It's the first time my husband has seen me hit rock bottom.

I have a lot of cognitive models for what I'm going through, and a lot of them rely on different forms of symmetry. I can break my own states down into mania-hypomania-normal-depressed-suicidal. Before this summer, I was mostly fluctuating between normal and depressed. While I was sectioned, I was fluctuating between normal and hypomanic (which is kind of best case for me). Now I'm home, and I'm fluctuating between the middle three options. Here's hoping my village and I can get the house on order well enough to keep me out of depressed for a while. I still love you all. I think I'm starting to love myself, but it's still hard. I'll keep trying. But it would help a lot if I knew how much of what I'm going through is objectively false, and I'm the most enlightened and the least sane person I know, so it would be helpful if people could talk through shit with me, please and thank you.

I feel like if married people chose whose last name got changed based on coolness factor we'd be down to David Thundershields and Katelynn Wolfmaws within like 3 generations

[sonicasura]

I decided expand more on the Hatching Second Chances idea. This will include stuff for not only Kaiju Tamer but also Dual Vigilantes. Any version specific stuff will be tagged either KT or DV. Let's get started!

Psaro become friends with Ami a year before the family gets attacked by the Spider Yoju. It was a chance encounter during a grocery trip at a brand new store. The little girl had gotten separated from her mother but luckily bumped into Kafka and Psaro. Ami is reunited with her mother while Futaba offers her phone number for potential playdates.

Even young giant monsters get the zoomies. Or another reason why Kafka moved to the mountains is so Psaro has extra space to run about. A smart move that spared more than just furniture and local city life's heart rates.

Kafka starts a Kaiju Medal collection after discovering his Scouting ability. Collection is as follows: 1 Spider Honju, 1 Small(cat sized) Squirrel Honju, 1 Wyvern Kaiju, 1 Mushroom Yoju, and three Small(Saint Bernard Dog sized) Raccoon Honju. All Kaiju Kafka tames become mellow in nature and listen to him.

There are four monster villages have been founded within Japan: New Dragglenook, Pierreston, Seabreeze Bay(by @foolmariofest), and Hopeful Honeyton. Pierburg consisting of residents from the Middle Caprice Echelon/Lower Fortitude, Seabreeze Bay bearing aquatic residents from Terrestria/Lower Caprice while the latter is home to refugees from Lower Conquest/Lower Indulgence Echelons. These territories are carefully watched over to prevent panic from the unaware human public.

Monster Sweepers find their work made easier by two ways. One is Psaro often using his abilities to help with the more hellish tasks. The other is that Kafka realized kaiju meat could help with the monster's food shortage.

(DV) Hibino family accidentally end up in Seaspray Bay when trying to avoid the Defense Force during a patrol. Kafka learns there is more to his son than he thought and to seek one of the generals in the other villages for answers.

(KT) If Bakko is missing then look for Psaro. The two have a habit of napping together since the child always seems to find the best spots. Although be ready for an accidental scare because Psaro sometimes naps in his monster form. (You'll find Bakko atop his head.)

Cooking with kaiju meat is guaranteed when it involves our himbo. (A staple food source for Psaro after he outgrew the company van.) It took quite some tries before Kafka found a way to make the stuff edible for human consumption. He still uses kaiju products because his kid likes the taste.

Kafka and young Psaro visit Rosehill's "popular" gravestones with their own respects. The former making a promise that nothing bad would happen to the youth under his care. Meanwhile the younger Psaro apologizes for the two never fully finding their happiness, how they didn't deserve this fate and hopes they are now at peace. A pair of beautiful roses(1 white/1 pink) would later grow on the graves much to the groundskeeper's confusion.

The Hero, Solo, becomes aware about the monsters' strange behavior and is concerned (his)Psaro might be back. He prepared himself for the potential world ending threat but hesitation might stay his blade at the sight of the scared child he finds instead. (Kafka is about to wring the Zenith Dragon's neck.)

(KT) Nothing starts a friendly rivalry between two different races than joint training exercises. Or Monsterkind might prefer these stranger and rowdier humans. They definitely make breaks between exercises more fun.

(DV) When your past life's half elven brother decides to third wheel himself into the family's vigilante lifestyle. Or Ludo becomes very curious about the human willing to raise and protect his reincarnated brother. Psaro ready to chalk him down in 'About to be adopted' as he knows Kafka.

Dolph is freed from Aamon's magical imprisonment in the Upper Echelon of Betrayal. He's absolutely pissed to learn that not only his runt brother is alive again but a HUMAN has taken the throne. Although Dolph isn't ready for the biggest fight of his life by a certain himbo.

Kafka has a tendency to enact his more primal maternal instincts around Psaro. All of him sees the youth as his whelp, which includes Ai and Tiny. Or a certain awful older brother is the first to experience Riot No.8's wrath than a certain old man.

That's all I have for the moment.