#i can personally speak more to practical effect facial hair if you want me to | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

viastro · 4 years ago

Text

third of december | joshua hong

ミ★ synopsis: i still remember, third of december. me in your sweater, you said it looked better on me than it did you. OR: in which joshua gives you his sweater on the first snowfall of the year.

ミ★ genre: slice of life!au, uni!au, fluff, some humor

ミ★ warnings: none

ミ★ word count: 2,922

ミ★ pairings: joshua hong x gender neutral reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys! in honor of it being the third of december, i decided to write this oneshot based off of that line in conan gray’s song - heather. i made this a joshua oneshot because i felt bad... for the wonwoo one... so this hopefully makes up for it :D i also love joshua’s platinum hair. i love him. i hope he’s doing well. as always, make sure to give joshua lots of love! i hope you guys like this one even tho it’s kinda short and i just wrote this in the span of an hour !

It’s cold, you think to yourself as you walk to the next building that holds your class on campus. Rubbing the goosebumps raising on your arms, you glance around at your surroundings as music floods through your Airpods. You let out a sigh to see if you can see your breath, and you purse your lips when it condensates before your eyes.

I should’ve brought an extra jacket, you curse quietly, only to stop when you hear a beautiful laugh resonate through the small crowd of people heading to their next class. Your head perks up, and you look across campus to see a bright head of platinum hair walking in your direction as he talks to his friend. Your heart twirls in your chest when he turns his head, and you find that his beautiful laugh matches his gorgeous facial features.

Immediately you look down at the ground and try to walk faster towards your class, feeling awkward as you were basically just gawking at his beauty. Your face feels warm, but your hands are cold as you walk in the mid-November weather.

You hear his voice as he gets closer, but you continue to stare down at the cobblestone as you walk. You find that his voice is incredibly pleasant as well, and you wonder how a human being can be so beautiful, causing the thoughts of the coldness of your hands to come to a halt.

“Are you sure you wanna work on the melody? I can work on it if you want.” Joshua offers as the two head towards the direction of the cafe. Jeonghan rolls his eyes, having heard this five times in the span of the two hour lecture they just got out of.

“Joshua, I already told you that if you really wanna make the melody then you can do it. I don’t mind writing lyrics.” Jeonghan replies with a grin, and Joshua lets out an apologetic smile. “Sorry Hannie, I just hate writing lyrics.”

“I know Joshua, but sometimes you need to practice...” Joshua tunes out the rest of Jeonghan’s lecture when he turns his head to look forward, only to pause when he lays eyes on you. Time comes to a slow when he sees you glance up from the ground for a moment, and his heart fills with warmth even in this cold November weather.

He stops and turns his head in your direction when you walk past him, watching as you shrink within the crowd as you most likely head to your next class. Jeonghan chuckles when he follows Joshua’s line of sight, knowing that his best friend has just developed a crush. With this newfound knowledge, he nudges Joshua’s shoulder, causing the blonde to snap out of his trance.

“You good?”

“Do you know who they are?” Joshua asks in a quiet voice, and Jeonghan turns his head, seeing that you’re no longer in sight. He shrugs, “I’ve never spoken to them.”

Joshua nods his head, looking obviously disappointed as they turn back towards the direction of the cafe. Jeonghan chuckles, patting Joshua’s shoulder after a moment of his friend staying quiet. Joshua glances at the brunette, and he watches as a grin etches itself onto his face. “Since they were heading in that direction today, it’s most likely that our paths will cross with theirs on Thursdays. You’ll see them next week.”

Joshua lets out a smile after a moment, and nods his head, now feeling excited to see you in a week. Jeonghan rolls his eyes, wrapping his arm around Joshua’s shoulders as they get closer to the cafe.

“You fall in love easily.” Jeonghan tells him, and Joshua purses his lips. He glances up at the cloudy sky, remembering the way your eyes sparkled when you briefly glanced up from the ground. And so he smiles and responds in a soft voice,

“They were pretty.”

I brought an extra jacket, but I forgot gloves. Fucking gloves, you think as you walk across campus once again. You let out a sigh, watching as your breath condensates before your very eyes once again. Beginning to curse to yourself for forgetting the gloves on your table, you pick up the pace so that you can make it to the warmth of your building quicker.

That plan comes to an immediate stop when you hear his voice, and you find yourself walking slower to be able to cherish the sound. Glancing up in the direction of his voice, you see him listening attentively as his friend animatedly speaks to him. You let out a small smile, thinking that he’s rather cute when he smiles.

You suck in a breath when he turns his head and locks eyes with you when your paths are about to cross. You want nothing more than to look away and act as if he didn’t catch you staring fondly at him, but his catlike eyes have you intrigued. He finally lets out a smile and stops walking when the two of you are right beside each other, and he turns towards you.

You find yourself doing the same thing, internally screaming to yourself as you wonder how you were able to muster the courage to not run away when he turned to you. The blonde extends his hand in your direction, “Hi, I’m Joshua Hong.”

Biting the inside of your cheek, you reach out and softly grasp his warm hand with your cold one, giving it a slight shake. “Hi, I’m yln yn.”

Joshua’s eyebrows furrow slightly when you let go, and he reaches into his jacket pockets. You move to apologize for how cold your hand was, only to stop when he holds out a pair of purple gloves for you. Glancing up at his face, you catch the redness to his nose as he mutters, “It’s cold, make sure to wear these.”

You let out a small smile, “Are you sure? These are yours, and you barely know me.” You tell him softly, and Joshua chuckles, nodding his head in reassurance. He pushes them in your direction again, and you shyly take them from his grasp. “Thank you.”

You slide them on, letting out a happy sigh when you feel the warmth of the gloves on your fingers. Joshua smiles, “Want me to walk you to class?”

“I thought we were gonna go to the caf-” Joshua quickly elbows Jeonghan in the stomach, making the latter double over in pain from the impact. The brunette quietly curses Joshua and his powerful elbows, wondering why the fuck his elbow felt so sharp.

Your eyes widen slightly in concern at Joshua’s friend, and the blonde waves his hand at you with a grin, obviously one that’s trying to hold back a laugh. “He’s fine.”

“I’m dying.”

“You’re fine.”

“Fuck you.”

Joshua flashes you a smile after patting Jeonghan on the back, and you end up giggling at the whole interaction. You shake your head ‘no’ at his offer, “It’s okay. It’s all the way across campus, and you already gave me these gloves. You’ve done more than enough.”

Joshua’s heart falls slightly, but he nods his head, respecting your decision. He prepares to say bye, only to stop when you say, “We can hangout some other time, though.”

He nods his head immediately in agreement, and you giggle at the sight of it. So you nod your head back at him, before waving your hand, “See you later Joshua, make sure to be nice to your friend.”

Joshua chuckles as he waves back at you, watching as you begin to walk away “I’m always nice.”

“Say that to my two broken ribs.” Jeonghan wheezes from behind you, and you let out a bright smile when you hear the pair begin to squabble.

You walk towards your class with a happy heart, and warm hands.

“Did you hear that it’s gonna snow tomorrow?” You glance over towards the blonde, finding him playing with your switch on the floor of your apartment as you do homework on the couch.

“December 3rd? That’s kinda early in the month.” You tell Joshua right as he lets out a groan for losing in smash bros. You watch as the pretty man shrugs his shoulders, preparing to restart the round, “Can’t believe you’re more concerned that it’s early rather than the fact that we still have to go to classes.”

“That’s cause I work better when I’m actually in the classroom rather than online classes.” You say, rolling your eyes when Joshua waves his hand away at you.

“Didn’t a girl slip and fall on the icy ground last year?” Joshua nods aimlessly in response before telling you that she’s still in talks of suing the university. Pursing your lips and nodding your head in agreement for wanting to sue the school, you glance back towards your textbook.

You and Joshua did end up hanging out some other time. Almost everyday after classes to be exact. Usually it’s you, Jeonghan, and Joshua, but Jeonghan had an evening class to go to today. You weren’t originally going to hangout with Joshua, but he invited himself to your apartment to be able to play with your switch since Jeonghan broke his.

Jeonghan is still repenting.

You’ve discovered that not only is Joshua incredibly pretty and has a nice voice, but his personality is beautiful as well. Over the last couple weeks, your crush on him has only developed even further with the time you’ve spent with him.

The same goes for Joshua, who has found himself thinking of you more often than not. From the fact that your eyes sparkle when you smile at him, to the way you practically inhale two cups of ramen in a span of fifteen minutes. He’s absolutely amazed by you.

“You wanna order food?” You ask after a few minutes of silence between you, except for the diverse amount of sound effects coming from your TV. Joshua pauses the game and turns towards you with a knowing smile, causing you to let out a laugh.

“Did you even have to ask?” Joshua responds, and you roll your eyes.

“Thai food?” He nods his head in agreement, and the two of you settle on what dishes you both want, as well as what you’ll save for Jeonghan. Once that’s figured out, you place the order and receive the wait time of 30-45 minutes.

“Does this mean you’re gonna take a break from your homework?” Joshua asks after that’s done, and you purse your lips in thought, before nodding your head.

“I’ll beat your ass in super smash bros.” You tease, and the blonde rolls his eyes fondly at you as you settle down onto the floor beside him. He hands you your other controller, and the two of you begin a competitive round of smash bros.

During the middle of the round, Joshua sneaks glances at you, watching as you laugh when you accidentally make your character fall off the platform. His eyes sparkle at the way your face brightens when you fight his character, to the pout of your lips as you begin to concentrate.

Feeling Joshua’s eyes on you for the sixth time, you pause the game and turn to face him with a teasing smile. “Do you think I’m pretty? You keep-”

You freeze at the close proximity between your faces, and you watch as Joshua’s eyes widen slightly. The two of you stare into each other's eyes for a moment, searching for an answer. To what question? At this moment, you can only think of one.

are we about to kiss?

Your answer comes to you when his eyes trail down to your lips. Your eyes slowly flutter shut when he leans in slightly, and Joshua ingrains the visual in his mind, finding you the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes on as he slowly leans in.

bzzz

The two of you jump apart at the sound of your apartment buzzer, and you quickly reach for your phone, seeing that the food is here. Joshua quickly scrambles up off the floor and walks over to your door without another word, and you rest a hand over your heart, feeling it violently pound against your chest.

While Joshua’s cheeks are tinged a pretty shade of pink as he grabs the takeout food, wondering if the two of you would’ve actually kissed if you weren’t interrupted by the Thai food. However, it seems that his question won’t be answered as he walks back into your living room with a small smile.

“Let’s eat.”

Joshua literally told me it was going to snow and I decided to wear a t-shirt and a jacket? Am I stupid? You begin to genuinely question whether or not you have any brain cells as you walk across campus. The snow begins to fall around you as you head to class, and you quietly curse yourself for being so distracted in the morning to have forgotten the weather.

The almost kiss keeps replaying in your head. From the moment Jeonghan came to your apartment after class and began to eat with you guys, to the time he and Joshua left to head back to their apartment. This was all you thought about even until this morning, and it’s all you’re thinking about now.

stupid! stupid! stupid!

Your head perks up when you hear Joshua and Jeonghan laughing, and you find the two dressed warmly as they walk in your direction. Your heart thumps against your chest when Joshua glances up and locks eyes with you, only to internally panic when he immediately frowns.

oh god, he hates me.

“Yn, I told you it was snowing today. Where’s your sweater?” Joshua asks when him and Jeonghan get closer to you. You bite the inside of your cheek, trying to come up with an answer that doesn’t sound like,

oh, you know Joshua. I was too busy being distracted by the fact that you almost kissed me last night, that i forgot to dress like a human being that DOESN’T wanna get hypothermia. haha. hahahaha. hahahahahahahahaha. Pain.

“I forgot.” You mutter, feeling embarrassed about your stupidity. Jeonghan snickers at you, thinking the whole ordeal is rather hilarious, and you shoot him a death glare, to which he immediately stops chuckling.

You turn back towards Joshua when you see him zipping open his backpack, and your eyes widen slightly when he pulls out an extra sweater from his bag. Jeonghan grins to himself, watching as Joshua holds it out in your direction.

“What?” You ask, and Jeonghan lets out a quiet sigh of disappointment at your lack of understanding context clues when it comes to real life scenarios. Joshua shakes the sweater, “Put this on. That jacket won’t help much, you need layers.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, before handing Jeonghan your bag, and Joshua your jacket. You slip on the sweater over your head, and feel your face fill with warmth when you realize how much larger it is on you rather than Joshua.

Joshua’s cheeks turn pink at the sight of you wearing his sweater, and he immediately hands you your jacket. You take it from his grasp and slip it on, before taking back your backpack from Jeonghan. You gesture to yourself, “So, what do we think?”

“Looks better on Joshua-” Jeonghan immediately gets elbowed in the stomach, causing him to double over. Joshua gives you a shy smile, and you bite back a laugh.

“You look pretty.” Joshua tells you softly, taking note of the way the snowflakes rest on your head, and the held back laughter goes away as you feel yourself growing more shy at the fondness in his voice. You look down at the ground, coughing into your shoulder as you prepare to leave to head towards your building once again.

“Thank you for the sweater, Joshua. I’ll see you and Jeonghan after class.” You tell him, and you wave at the doubled over Jeonghan, before turning to go to class. You pause when you feel a hand softly grasp your wrist, and you turn around to see Joshua right behind you. Raising an eyebrow you ask, “What?”

Joshua doesn’t respond, instead biting the inside of his cheek nervously as he stares at you. You move to ask what’s wrong, only to be stopped when he leans in and presses a quick kiss to your lips. “I’ll see you later, yn.”

And with that, Joshua immediately turns around and walks away, ignoring Jeonghan’s teasing from behind him as he follows after the blonde. Warmth floods your senses, and you slowly raise a hand up to your lips, smile slowly breaking itself out onto your face as you watch the blonde disappear.

You feel warm.

“You brought that sweater just for yn, didn’t you?” Jeonghan teases as the two walk towards the cafeteria, and Joshua nods his head.

“I knew they’d forget to dress warmly even though I told them it was gonna snow.” Joshua responds, smiling softly at the way the bright orange complimented your skin beautifully. It was a nice contrast to the white snow surrounding you as it fell from the sky.

“You just wanted to see them in your clothes.” Jeonghan says with a chuckle, wrapping his arm around Joshua’s shoulders as they push through the doors, feeling warmth flood their bodies. Joshua nods his head, not even denying it as he smiles to himself.

“They look better in it than I do.”

433 notes · View notes

thelostmoongazer · 5 years ago

Photo

sooooo this is an au thats been in the works for a few weeks now! Ive been calling it the ForgetMeNot AU but @spudinacup has been calling them the Dust Bunnies and i just.... lets just say its an alternative name

to put this au in the briefest description, this is a direct spin-off of the GONE WRONG AU (thank you spud for enabling me) where a divergence in events leads to Steven's body getting cremated and his ashes being spread over the hill where Steven died/where the injector landed, for ceremonial purposes. This au also incorporates a theory/au that @faranae has that involves the injector originally being used to create new gems/spinels. With this in mind, cremation ashes are commonly used to create diamonds to put in jewelry as memorabilia. So, with those two concepts in mind... i’m sure you can see where im going with this

(This au is based entirely around the events that will happen in the GW AU, events that I am in no way privy to how they occur so i’m just here for the ride, folks)

READ UNDER THE CUT FOR MORE DETAILED CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS AND NOTES

•Cloud•

Pronouns: They/them (occasional he???)

Age: Last to emerge

Flaw: Twinning wisps (in layman’s terms, when too many outside elements interfere and stunt the growth of the diamond) (design more heavily based on this)

Symptoms: light projection is underdeveloped. Black misshapen “skin” is warped over crystalline “nursery clusters”. (I headcanon that in the early stages of gem growth, their entire form is nothing more than a small, light projection cluster of the gem their made of, but then this condenses into one spot, the gem, thus leaving behind the refined light projection and hardening the gem.) The underdeveloped skin is black/reddish because of the presence of other elements, receding it’s formation.

Personality: All three are curious about the world, sure, but only Cloud is as forward with their intrigue. They have the mentality of “This interests me, I am going to learn more.” Which often leads them to invading boundaries and personal bubbles. They are the most likely out of the three to ask questions and strike up conversation (that is, at least, when they learn English. Even though I can still see them trying to anyway even with broken English lol) making them very charismatic and friendly. This, in turn, makes Cloud act as the three’s door to learning more about this new world they’ve found themselves in.

Other Notes: - Representation of Pink Diamond. Poofy pants, Leotard over pants, Flats. Their Personality also reflects this, mimicking Pink Diamonds childlike curiosity and hunger for knowledge about life on earth. - Meant to mimic Steven’s friendly nature.

•Sky•

Pronouns: She/He/They

Age: second to emerge

Flaw: Clouding

Symptoms: Pigment discoloration around eyes paired with iris colomba (poor vision)

Personality: Sky is the grounding force of the group, they are the one to bring them back down to earth and be the calm when either of them go into their own heads too much. They are also fairly curious about the world but isn’t as direct about it, mostly preferring to observe from afar unless encouraged (or enabled) by the others (*coughcough* cloud *coughcough*) this isn’t to be confused with skittish, though. If sky were to be approached by someone unknown they wouldn’t run away, they’d most likely stay where they are and give you a funny look. Sky will often need encouragement, direct or indirect, from the other two to make their own willing decisions, and will often parrot cloud or slug. Sky will often act as their dictionary or mental catalogue. If one of them forgets the word to something it’s likely sky will be the one to remember it.

Other Notes: -Representation of Rose Quartz. Shawl layer in the shape of RQ’s dress, loose ringlets, bare feet. Their personality reflects Rose Quartz’s mature and nurturing energy with the deep love for all those they hold dear. - Meant to mimic Steven’s caring spirit -due to iris colomba, her vision is very poor. But a symptom of iris colomba is the presence of floater spots in ones vision which, in children, can lead to a more developed use for peripheral vision. This is the case for Sky.

•Slug•

Pronouns: He/They

Age: First to emerge

Flaw: Black Inclusions (bits of spinel?)

Symptoms: Black splotches all over body, mental conflict (short temper, mild co-dependency)

Personality: Being the first to emerge, Slug takes on the role of protector. This makes him very defensive and slightly possessive of the other sibling. He is the most antisocial of the group but can be easily swayed into any activity by the other two, especially when it comes to affection. He typically comes off as crass and rude to strangers (or anyone who isn’t sky or cloud), but if his trust is earned (with a lot of effort) he will show it rather than say it. Slug is the most visually observant and spatially aware out of the two and acts as their sharper set of eyes (this also going hand in hand with their role as protector).

Other Notes: - Representation of Steven. Jacket, (comparatively) shorter curly hair, sandals. His personality reflects Stevens protective nature (and temper) and desire to help. Wanting nothing more than to be useful to those he cares about most. - Meant to mimic Steven’s will to fight

•Overall Notes•

• These gems emerge about 3-4 or so months after the current events of GONE WRONG (THIS IS LIKELY TO CHANGE)

• Each gems deformities/premature emergence all make these gems extremely brittle compared to a normal perfect cut diamond (or even a regular gem for that matter)

• 3 gems instead of one was the fact that a pink diamond, in essence, is practically identical to a white diamond, as far as whats in it’s chemical compound to effect it’s color. With this in mind, its been explained before that White Diamond carries the essence of the entire spectrum. If this is true, then why wouldn’t a pink diamond if they’re practically identical? Therefore, the result of adding those residual properties of a pink diamond from within the ashes, would produce the “purest” forms of the spectrum. White, yellow, and blue. All of them tinted slightly with an ashy pinkish hue.

• Many things were factors in their premature growth, but a main factor is the amount of injector fluid that was provided in the growing process. When spinel first lands the injector, its very apparent that there is plenty of fluid injected into the hill right upon impact. But in this circumstance, after the current events in Gone Wrong, the injector goes idle (or is possibly removed and relocated by/to Little Homeworld but that is completely up in the air and reliant on future events in GW.) and what little fluid was left behind by the injector was what was used to grow the three gems

• Currently, their vocabulary is very limited. They will normally speak in 1-3 word sentences unless they are parroting. Although, given that they are technically elite gem, albeit deformed, they do have the programming for an advanced ease of grasp on language.

• Because of their human influence, they have taken on specific traits of Steven. Yes, different physical aspects (facial features, body type, clothing, etc.) but they also gained instincts from Steven. Not to be confused with memories, but rather impressions of specific muscle memory. Although they don’t need to, they will sometimes desire sleep or food, often unknowingly acting on human instincts. They will even find themselves drawn to specific things/places/people, finding them familiar or warming up to this thing/place/person with ease. (e.g. feeling familial attachment to Pink!Steven not long after first contact with him, with the exception of Slug (lol)) This can include, but is not limited to, other absent minded behaviors; such as, inflections in speech, subtle ticks (i.e. humming, tapping feet, idle movements), specific hand gestures, ect.

#SU AU Gone Wrong #SU AU GW #ForgetMeNot AU #FMN AU #su #steven universe #steven universe au #moon ocs #Cloud #Sky #Slug #moon art #digital #ref sheet #this is the most thought ive put into an au in a while.... and the last time i did that it turned into soi LOL #a taaaad nervous to post this ngl heeeeeheheh;;

3K notes · View notes

chalkrevelations · 4 years ago

Text

So, Word of Honor, Episode 36 (and “Episode” 37) again, because I want to do a little bit more unpacking of this, particularly with some of the extra material and information that people have been able to point me to.

Spoilers, obvs. For right now, I mainly want to pull out this bit of my initial reaction to 36 & 37, because I think it remains a key point for me:

It would be nice, though, if the connective tissue from 36 to 37 made any sense. Or existed whatsoever. Just, like, throw me a bone, show, some kind of explicit hand-waviness that actually gets mentioned for why Ye Baiyi apparently was not as smart as he thought he was and didn’t really know what he was talking about when he was doomsaying about how one of the pair will surely, oh surely perish. None of this “Sooooo, they managed to figure out the technique and master it?” from some random shidi who never actually gets an answer. I mean, the door was left open for fanwankery on this one, with what looks to be a very last-minute conceit of all this being a story told by grown-up Chengling to his disciples, which begs the question of how much of what he’s telling them is totally accurate, given any number of issues …

I do feel like there’s an interesting meta thing going on here, in that the entire show has been about – let’s be honest, it was never really about the plot – queer-coding this couple in ways that supposedly fly enough under the radar that people can handwave them as Just Good Friends and Brothers (I mean, I guess) with a Bury Your Gays tragic ending (ugh) for good measure. And Chengling is telling a story in-universe that seems to conform to some of this same formula. And yet, we all know well and good that these guys were husbands … So are we supposed to carry the same assurance out of the show, on a meta level, that what appears to be happening in the story at the end of Ep 36 – what we discover we’re learning through Chengling’s story-telling, isn’t really the truth? Just, look: While we’re getting the Good Friends and Brothers push, there’s stuff like obvious voice-over work that doesn’t match the much more queer version of what the actors actually said, which is apparently blazingly clear to any viewers who know Mandarin and can manage to lip-read. The show has literally put de-queered words into these characters’ mouths. You can’t trust what you hear. But apparently the show has also made this obvious enough that, if you’re a good enough speaker of the language the show is being told in, and you have a good enough eye, you can see what is actually going on. Are we being taught to trust our eyes more than our ears, are we being told that what we’re being told – by the end of Ep 36 on a meta level, by Ye Baiyi-through-Chengling’s-story on an in-universe level, and by what we learn about what happened from Chengling’s story, itself, also on an in-universe level – is inherently untrustworthy, but that if we “speak the language” of this show well enough, and have a good enough eye, we can decode it and see what “actually” happened and is later made explicit in Ep 37?

So, that’s a lot, but the reason I wanted to pull it back out is because I feel like this no-homo, surface-level, smoke-and-mirrors effect that gets layered over a queer bedrock of “reality” is precisely what the show did with its ending, and I want to approach that on a couple of different levels. Particularly since I’ve seen several reactions from other people who didn’t seem to have seen/didn’t have access to the extra of “Ep” 37, or who also found it difficult and vaguely unsatisfying to make the leap from Ep 36 to full belief in, and commitment to, “Ep” 37.

When I first posted this, I was really leaning on the idea of a classic Rashomon effect, given that we see – imho – a final Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing scene in Ep 36 that’s filmed to lead us to believe that Wen Kexing died, with a subsequent cut to Zhang Chengling wrapping up a telling of the “story” of ZZS and WKX to his disciples. The easiest fanwank on this is that all of what we’ve seen so far has been Chengling telling the story of ZZS and WKX to his disciples, making him an unreliable narrator who in fact doesn’t know the truth of what really happened. I was actually reminded of the contrast in The Untamed (god, I don’t need to warn for spoilers for The Untamed, do I, we’ve all seen Chen Qing Ling at this point, right? Anyway, SPOILERS FOR THE UNTAMED) between the cliff scene in Episode 1 when they make it look like Jiang Cheng stabbed Wei Wuxian, leading to his fall off the cliff, and you go back later and realize this is the version that the storyteller was telling to the people in the teahouse vs. Episode, god, what is it, 33? When we see the cliff scene in “real” time, and discover that’s not what actually happened, that what happened is that Jiang Cheng stabbed a rock and Wei Wuxian shook himself free of Lan Wangji’s grip to fall to his death. You can’t trust what you hear. Also … well, we’ll get back to Chengling in a minute.

The second level of uncertainty to unwind is Gao Xiaolian calling bs on Chengling’s story. So, I felt like the kid who’s practicing his forms in the snow and being coached by ZZS in “Ep” 37 might actually be someone, not just a random kid, and that might be important, but I could not for the life of me figure out who he might be. I wasn’t aware until I watched some of AvenueX’s wrap-up of the show (I think that’s the first place I heard this info pointed out) that this kid is supposed to be the son of Gao Xiaolian and Deng Kuan, and the dad who comes to take him home is Deng Kuan (formerly Da-shixiong of Yueyang Sect, who – let’s face it – Gao Xiaolian really wanted to marry). Seriously, I spent so much time making fun of ZZS’s stupid facial hair tricks in this show, and then they actually do just put a dumbass mustache on a guy, and I completely don’t recognize him. I have to admit, the mustache threw me enough that I had no idea that was Deng Kuan (well, and maybe only seeing him for three episodes also helped). But if that’s Deng Kuan, and if the kid is his and Gao Xiaolian’s son, then she would have some reasonable standing to know a story detailing WKX’s death was bs.

Finally, and most crucially – thanks to everyone who directed me to resources (including AvenueX and other fans who were able to do some translation) who were able to talk about the voiceover work in this final ep, because when I talk about how you can’t trust what you hear, but if you speak the language well enough and have a good enough eye, you can catch what’s really going on? When I talk about de-queered words being put into these character’s mouths? Apparently, this is what happens to Chengling in the final scene. That last scene - and the story he tells his disciples - apparently DOES provide the connective tissue from Ep 36 to Ep 37, but you can’t trust what you hear. Apparently, this is one of the places where you can see something different from what you hear if you’re able to lip-read, with Chengling telling the disciples something much closer to the idea that two people who love each other equally can equally support each other through this cultivation technique and both come out alive.

In the AvenueX discussion of this (Livestream #21, starting around 1:22:30), there’s an additional tidbit about the use of the word “cauldron” – I believe by Ye Baiyi - to describe one person in the pair, a word with a specific and widely-understood meaning within the genre that’s not necessarily known outside of the genre with, yes, sexual connotations. (Come on, slash fans, don’t tell me you don’t giggle every time you pass a perfectly innocent Jiffy Lube auto shop, at something that the mundanes don’t think twice about.) Apparently, “cauldron” is in the script, I believe it’s in the English subs, and it apparently was in the original Chinese subs, until too many people started talking about it and how it had been slipped past censorship, because it’s a perfectly common Jiffy Lube auto shop, right? and then it appears Youku went back and changed the character in the Chinese subs to something that doesn’t even make any sense. So again, we get an example of a case where if you’re a good enough speaker of the language this show is being told in – in this case the vernacular of wuxia – with a good enough eye, you can catch what’s really going on. Something that then gets no-homo’d. And has some nonsensical de-queered meaning laid over top of it. How many times do we have to do this until we learn the lesson that you can’t trust what you hear?

ANYWAY, I’m wondering if the visuals are important, too: Something we see in the last scene with ZZS and WKX in Ep 36, when WKX is either unconscious or dead (CLEARLY UNCONSCIOUS), is that ZZS – twice – doesn’t let WKX’s hands fall. He catches him by the wrists and then catches him again by the hands as WKX’s hands start to slip away from ZZS’s hands – aaaannnnd end scene. I have to wonder if that’s not a subtle but important detail, that we see ZZS refusing to let WKX physically slip away, and maybe, by implication, refusing to let WKX slip away from him into death.

Also, again with Ye Baiyi – in the flashback when WKX is yelling at ZZS, Ye Baiyi says “No one dies!” as he comes bursting into WKX’s sickroom. And then even reiterates it – “No one dies before me!” But then the voiceover during the qi transfer, he’s supposedly going on about here’s how WKX is going to have to kill himself to save his husband? I think the script has dropped the ball in a few places, but that would really be a tremendous flub. That also deserves some unpacking, but I’m running out of free time right now.

So, just some additional thoughts. I will probably have more, but next up, I think, will be a re-watch from the beginning.

One last thought, tho’: What’s the likelihood that Nian Xiang is Actual A-Xiang and Goa Xiaolian’s/Deng Kuan’s kid is Cao Weining, reincarnated?

#zhou zishu #wen kexing #zhang chengling #gao xiaolian #deng kuan #ye baiyi #word of honor #word of honor episode reax

57 notes · View notes

jj-5656 · 4 years ago

Text

Five More Minutes With; Diego Hargreeves

A/N: Hey again! Another little imagine I’ve had in the drafts for a while. This came a little later than I thought it would because I have the idiotic and infuriating tendency to not save my work when adding onto drafts. So I had to write half of this shit over again and I was pissed. On another note, there’s a POV change once the reader wakes up, because writing in third person gets annoying and mundane sometimes. Anyways, I know it’s kind of not supposed to happen in writing but...There’s no rules here! Enjoy!!!

*Gif by @sebastianstaan

Diego’s eyes flutter open, blinking quickly in an attempt to get used to the morning light shining through the room’s window. The alarm clock beside him lets him know it’ll sound in twenty minutes. There’s really no point in even setting it, he thinks, because waking up with the sun is just about second nature by now. The habit of waking up this early has been instilled since childhood, so why bother trying to rid of it now? Besides, getting up at dawn means at least half an hour of just laying in bed. Which might be completely mundane and boring if it weren’t for her.

She has a leg thrown over his abdomen and an arm haphazardly splayed across his chest. Her skin is hot, despite only wearing his shirt and some shorts. It’s a bit suffocating, the way she’s rolled practically on top of him during some odd hour of the night and found it comfortable enough to stay there. But Diego doesn’t mind. With her face on his chest, he can adjust himself just right to admire her squished left cheek and pouted lips against his skin.

He glances at the alarm clock one more, letting out a sigh knowing he may as well turn off and get up considering it’ll sound in another seven minutes. He moves his hands the her waist, gently pushing her in an attempt to move her sleeping form off of him. It takes a little effort considering the dead weight from her slumber, but he’s almost moved her enough for him to be able to squirm out from under her. Just a smidge more and-

“Mmmph” Her frustrated huff startles him, but he grins anyway as her long eyelashes begin to flutter open. She rubs her eyes with a yawn, squinting her eyes as she looks up at him with a tired smile.

“Watching me sleep Hargreeves?”

“Can you blame me? Look at you.”

You roll your eyes with a scoff, knowing damn well you look like a hot mess with your curls all over the place.

“Ever the flirt. Are you leaving?” You can’t help but let your smile drop when he nods.

“Gotta get a workout in before I run some errands. But I’ll be back in an hour to shower before then.”

“Errands?” You question through a yawn, narrowing your eyes when he shifts uncomfortably underneath you before he speaks.

“There was a home invasion last night, and I think it might be connected to a break-in from the other wee-”

“Save it Batman, can’t you just sleep in for one morning? It’s Sunday, normal people don’t wake up at the ass crack of dawn on Sundays.”

“Well I’m not normal baby, I’m Batman.”

“Just five more minutes, please Di?” You’re still groggy, but that doesn’t stop your arm reaching up to run your fingers through his bed head, smirking triumphantly when he hums at your touch.

“You’re evil, you know that? You know exactly what you’re doing right now.” He rasps as you giggle, shuffling so you’re back on top of him as you were before. Tracing soft kisses along his jawline, the familiar sensation of his morning stubble soothing you.

“And you haven’t slept past 5:30 since you were born, just rest baby. The gym and the cracked out criminals will still be out there when you wake up.”

“Fine. But j-just five more minutes.” He manages to mumble out as his eyes close, the steady work of your fingers and lips lulling him to sleep before he can hear your response.

“Five more minutes.”

*****************

Diego stirs to the sound of humming and a familiar blend of scents permeating the room. Is that bacon and...pancakes? A surge of panic momentarily floods his senses, anticipating his father’s shout calling him and his siblings to rush to the table for breakfast before morning training.

He’s reminded of his surroundings mere seconds later when he opens his eyes, stretching with a dopey smile as he stares at the woman in front of him. Bare feet pattering around his kitchen as if it’s her own. His shirt on her just covering her shorts, the fabric swaying with her as she moves her hips and bobs her head softly to the music playing through her headphones.

“Shit! Oh, sleeping beauty rises. You know, I’m starting to think you have a staring problem.” She teases as she looks up after knocking a measuring cup on the ground.

“Just taking it all in baby.” She feels her cheeks heat up under his gaze, head propped up in his hand as he lays on his side to admire her. Skin illuminated by the morning light in an angelic golden brown glow.

Y/n opens her mouth to quip back but is interuppted by the mans sudden panic once he glanced at the bedside clock.

“Shit! It’s half past ten, why didn’t you wake me?” He scrambles out of bed as he speaks, hurriedly tugging on the sweats he had discarded the night before. Frantic movements coming to a haunt when a steady hand is placed on his chest.

“Hey, relax. Just sit and have breakfast with me for a bit. Gotham won’t fall apart with a couple hours to fend for itself.” His mind is still racing with things he has to do while she speaks, tasks he’s been meaning to get to for the past week whirling through his head. His troubled thoughts are ceased when her soft lips connect with his.

She’s evil, because he’s melting into her touch when she wraps her arms around him. Deepening the embrace and effectively consuming each and every one of his senses. Pushing against him lightly so his knees hit the back of the mattress so she can settl herself on his lap. Neither pulling away for air as his fingers trace the soft bare skin just under the hem of her shirt.

“Morni-oh! Kinky!” An all too familiar voice calls out as they burst though the doorway. Y/n pulling away with a chuckle as Diego groans.

“Morning Klaus.” She chuckles, not having to turn around to know the eccentric number three has already thrown himself into the armchair by the stairs and made himself comfortable.

“Go away Klaus.” Diego grumbles, frowning when the woman above him dodges his attempt to continue their make out session.

“Seriously, don’t let me interrupt. I’m fine to watch if-Christ on a cracker!” Klaus is interuppted by the whizzing of a blade just barely missing his ear and hitting the wall behind him with a clink.

“Diego! Play nice, I invited him.”

“Yeah Diego, play nice.”

The knife wielding brunette rolls his eyes at Klaus’ childish echo of his girlfriend’s scolding, tugging on her forearm and pulling her back into his lap when she tries to get off of him. She narrows her eyes at his actions, but leans in to place a couple short pecks to his lips nonetheless.

“Again, I hate to interrupt you two horny love birds...But I think the bacon is burning.”

“Son of a bitch!” Y/n scrambles off of Diego, him letting her get fully off his lap this time as she rushes over to turn off the stove. Tossing the contents of the pan into the trash bin and putting on a new batch with an exasperated sigh. Diego hurriedly searches for a shirt while her back is turned, thinking he can sneak out the door whilst she’s distracted.

“Diego Hargreeves, if you leave this room without eating you’ll be a very horny lovebird for the next two weeks.” The woman informs him without looking, Klaus giggling as he ceases his search for a shirt with another groan. The two brothers silently fighting to sit at the head of the small table. Klaus able to dig a bony elbow into Diego’s stomach and sit down as he blows a raspberry at him. Offering his brother’s girlfriend an innocent smile when she turns around with full plates in her hand.

“Eat.” She mumbles to a very grumpy looking Diego as she kisses the corner of his mouth. He sits down with a huff, willing his pink tinged cheeks to return to normal as Klaus smirks beside him.

“Alright, bacon will be a bit late but the waffles and hashbrowns are done. Klaus put more on your plate, when was the last time you had a hot meal?”

“Hmm, I don’t know...What year is it?”

She rolls her eyes, but adds another waffle onto his plate anyway. Smacking his hand and ignoring his cat-like hiss when he tries to scrape the assortment of chopped fruit off his plate.

Diego can’t help but let his heart swell when she ruffles Klaus’ hair as he stubbornly shovels a forkful of strawberries into his mouth.

Even when they give her shit, she truly cares about them. She’s much too good for him, too patient, too kind. He has to take her out more, he thinks. Buy her dinner, a new dress maybe. But all the money in the world wouldn’t be enough to express how he feels about her in this moment. Wearing his shirt, sleeping in his bed, it’s all too much for his heart to handle.

“Take a picture Diego, it’ll last longer.” Klaus teases through a mouthful of waffle, whining when Diego smacks the back of his head at his words. Was he staring at her for that long?

Y/n sits beside him, taking a bite of her food in hopes that it will hide the blush of her cheeks at Klaus’ words.

“Is the food okay?” She inquires when Klaus begins bickering loudly with the wall behind him, Ben no doubt having scolded Klaus for his comment.

“Hmm? Yeah, it’s great. Really good.” Diego rushes out, mind trained on the thought of her always being here instead of staying a few nights a week.

“Good, I presume it’s better than raw eggs and-”

“Doyouwanttomoveinwithme?”

“W-what?” Y/n raises her eyebrows in shock, not sure if she’s heard him right since he’s blurred the words out so fast.

“You know, do you want to stay here. S-sleep here. Not just sometimes, l-like every day. Do you want to move in?” He stutters out, the arguing going on only white noise as he tries to read her facial expressions when processing his words.

“You don’t have to, I-I I’m just saying you’re here a lot and...I like when you’re here. And I w-want you to be here not just sometimes, I want you here all the t-

“Yes, yes I’ll move in with you Di.” She interrupts with a laugh at his rambling. The man no doubt looking and sounding like a nervous wreck at his attempt to find words.

“Cool.” He deadpans, grinning when she giggles more at his change in demeanor. Nerves washing away when she kisses him.

“Now help me with the dishes Hargreeves.”

Maybe sleeping in isn’t so bad after all

#imagines #fanfic #diego hargreeves #diego hargreeves imagines #tua ben #tua s2 #tua fanfic #tua netflix #tua klaus #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy netflix #number two #number three #vanya hargreeves #diego hargreeves x reader

389 notes · View notes

luxekook · 5 years ago

Text

chapter two.

⇥ pairing: namjoon x reader; eventual bts/ot7 x reader

⇥ genre: college au with fluff, smut & angst

⇥ summary: a series in which the reader meets (and falls for) seven members of the Beta Tau Sigma (BTS) fraternity

⇥ word count: 2.3k

⇥ warnings: 18+, cursing, chaotic namjoon, power tools, hints of poly relationships, overall pretty smut free (who AM i???)

Chapter Two

Habitat for Humanity Worksite – 9:26am

When I signed up to volunteer Saturday morning of syllabus week, I should have known I would end up regretting it. I almost punted my alarm clock out of the apartment window this morning, but instead settled a slightly more civil action – punching the shit out of the ‘off’ button.

Don’t get me wrong: I love volunteering. It’s been part of my routine since sophomore year when I was recruited for the all-women’s service society on campus – the Alphites. As a society, us Alphites volunteer around campus and in our local community each week. There’s something about doing service together that really creates bonds, and the girls in the society have quickly become some of my closest friends.

We sign up to volunteer for a variety of different service projects each week, and Habitat is my current favorite project to sign up for. As a nonprofit organization, Habitat for Humanity helps families build and improve places to call home. Currently, our regional Habitat is working on building a house from the ground up for a local family in need.

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form a very ‘handy’ person. Luckily for me, there are always a couple volunteers with construction or engineering backgrounds who are willing to teach other volunteers with less experience – or none, like me.

Since beginning to volunteer at the site last year, I have learned how to use a power saw, how to fasten siding, and how to mix, pour and level cement. It’s definitely empowering to learn new skills and also to see how my handiwork contributes to someone’s future home. I also feel lowkey badass when I get to use the power drill for anything.

Pulling up to the worksite, I clutch my cherished 24oz. Wawa coffee. I finally feel somewhat human as I park my beat-up Jeep Wrangler and hop out to meet the other volunteers for our task assignments.

The site leader Eddie – a burly retiree with a background in construction management – greets me with a huge grin, “(y/n)-doll, we missed you this summer! I can’t believe you abandoned us during the hottest months of the year.”

I roll my eyes, smiling at his teasing. Eddie’s like a teddy bear disguised as a grizzly – all rough edges and a heart of gold. “Missed you, too, Eddie.”

“Look at our progress now,” he continues, “Pretty impressive, yeah?” Nodding, I greet some regular volunteers I recognize as Eddie leads me around the house. He proceeds to show me what they had done over the summer in my absence – and they had done a lot. The house now had its full foundation and wooden framing with most of the doors and windows installed.

As we walk back to the front of the house to the main area, I sip my coffee and turn to Eddie, “So, what can I work on today, fearless leader?”

Letting out a patented ‘Eddie belly-laugh’, he replies, “I know you worked on the siding at our last site so I'm gonna have you work on where we started the siding on the right side of the house.”

Sweet, I could work with that. “Aye, aye, captain,” I respond with a lazy salute of my coffee cup. Before I can turn to start towards the scaffolding to begin, Eddie stops me.

“Oh, one more thing. I’m gonna need you to orient our new volunteer and let him shadow you today. Kid’s from the same school as you, I think… Mandatory service. Anyway, he should be here any minute.”

Shit, I know what ‘mandatory service’ means. It’s the first form of disciplinary action that the college issues and is usually the only form of disciplinary action for our athletes or for Greek life – a fact I actively resent. During my time in the Alphites, I have had to deal with some of these ‘mandatory service’ characters and they’ve never been much fun to be around.

“Ah, that’s probably him now,” Eddie startles me out of my thoughts of dread and doom as a black gleaming Tesla practically purrs down the block, swinging into the spot next to my Wrangler. Scowling, I cross my arms as I survey the stark contrast between this person’s shiny-ass luxury car and my dirty-ass well-loved Jeep.

The Tesla door opens. A Timberland booted foot emerges followed by a thick leg encased in light jeans, a tanned well-muscled arm…

No. Nope, it couldn’t be— Please, not today, Satan.

He stands with his back to us now, stretching out his large body. In only a cutoff t-shirt, his rippling back muscles might be enough to send me into an early grave.

I sigh in bitter defeat of the inevitable. Seriously, the fucking universe must have it out for me because I can’t seem to shake this stupid fucking fraternity.

As if the boy feels my eyes on him, he turns. His eyes immediately clash with mine as he slams his car door, clicking the lock over his shoulder. Those eyes – golden brown beneath dark brows and a wave of bleached blonde hair. Their focus is absolute – hard – as he strolls towards us. It’s almost as if he knows the maddening effect that he has on me.

I think Eddie is speaking, but my senses are on lockdown, his words muted. My thighs tighten as my pulse picks up. Get a fucking grip, (y/n). I can’t let him know that just one look from him has me thirsty and oxygen-deprived. I can’t look away – that would be succumbing to weakness.

Instead, I hold his heated gaze as best I can as his confident gait brings him closer. God, he’s got to be at least 6 foot...

The goddamn president of BTS Kim Namjoon is getting closer and I can’t help running my eyes over him.

His thighs flex and shift beneath his jeans with every calculated step. His abs are apparent under his tight cutoff shirt emblazoned with his fraternity letters.

Namjoon stops in front of us, hands stuffed into his back pockets, biceps flexing. “Nice to finally meet you, Eddie,” Namjoon takes his eyes off me long enough to greet Eddie and shake his hand, but then they’re right back on me, “Hi, (y/n).”

He drags out my name in a such a sinful way that even old Eddie does a slight doubletake. Clearing his throat unnecessarily loudly, Eddie booms, “You two know each other?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Our differing replies sound at the same time.

“Yes,” Namjoon repeats, lips turning up in an infuriating smile, “We have several mutual friends that she’s met a couple times now. Want me to jog your memory? I’d be more than happy to do so.”

Eddie takes one look at my face and hustles off, mumbling something about support beams. I guess my inner thoughts of ‘kill, maim, slaughter’ could easily be read from my facial expression.

Namjoon opens his mouth to speak again, but I’m faster, “Listen, Kim, I don’t know who you think you are, and, quite frankly, I don’t care. What I do care about is this house and these people working on it. Don’t fuck this up for me, okay? Let’s just get through today and then you can go back to ordering around your brothers and causing general mayhem.”

I’m feeling pretty proud of my little soliloquy until I realize he’s still smiling with those blasted dimples out in full display. No, his smile has grown even wider now as he simply answers, “The semester.”

My nose crinkles in confusion, “What?”

“The semester,” he repeats, “I’m assigned here every Saturday for the rest of the semester.”

I stare at him.

He smirks back.

I stare.

His smirk begins to fade, “Uh, did you hear me?”

I stare.

“Okay, you’re creeping me out now, (y/n),” Namjoon waves his giant paw of a hand in front of my face, “How many fingers?”

I break out of my trance of denial and hiss, “What did you do? Double homicide? Serial arson? Oh my god, you were the one who blew up the science lab!”

His hand covers my mouth – it’s rough and warm and entirely disarming.

“You have quite the imagination, jagi. I’ll keep that in mind,” Namjoon chuckles, “To answer your question, I did none of the above. Now, answer a couple questions of mine: what did you do to get here and – more importantly – why did you distract Jungkook from doing his fucking job on Monday?”

I glare in response, waiting for him to remove his hand from my mouth. He takes too long, and I lick his palm. It works. He removes his hand, but from the look on his face it seems like he liked my tongue on his skin entirely too much.

Thankfully, Eddie chooses the perfect moment to yell across the site, “What are you doing just standing there, (y/n)-doll? I don’t pay you to just loiter around all day!”

“You don’t pay me at all!” I yell back, already moving towards the trailer with all the supplies to get started. Namjoon follows.

“(y/n)-doll?” his eyebrows are raised as I hand him a pair of the biggest gloves I could find, “What’s up with that?”

Taking a pair of smaller gloves for myself, I turn to look for some hammers and nails as I respond, “I’ve been here a while. He’s like my honorary grandfather at this point.”

I spot the hammers and nails tucked away on the highest corner shelf and I huff. Namjoon follows my gaze, “Need a strong, intelligent, tall young man to grab those for you?”

He’s impossible, but for some reason it draws a small smile to my face, “Yes, that’d be great.”

The smile I receive in response is so bright I wonder if it could make flowers grow, “Okay, but only if answer my questions, (y/n).”

I shrug, trying not to notice how his cutoff shirt rises as he stretches to reach the upper shelf. I catch a sudden glimpse of his abs, and I praise every god out there that hot weather can be blamed for my sudden onset of sweat.

Clearing my throat, I laugh lightly, “Fine, first of all, I didn’t ‘distract’ Jeon. I just had a temporary lapse in judgement. Besides, he came to me all on his own.” His back muscles tense up at my words, but I continue, “And second of all, there’s no juicy story of how I got here. I just volunteer here every Saturday for the Alphites.”

The sound of a hammer hitting the floor startles me as he whirls around, “You’re an Alphite?”

Namjoon’s tone is one of disbelief and it’s a tone I do not appreciate, “Yes, why is that so hard to believe?” My arms cross defensively, “I’ve been a sister since my sophomore year...”

I trail off. He’s still gawking at me ridiculously. Narrowing my eyes, I stride across the trailer and grab his chin, closing his mouth for him, “Watch out, Kim, you’re gonna catch flies.”

Spinning on my heels, I sashay out of the trailer, nose held high in the air and satisfaction held even higher. He’ll catch up. After all, he’s basically supposed to be my bitch today.

I climb up the scaffolding next to the house’s right side and assess the siding work that has already been started. It looks pretty solid and level. I should have no issue with continuing without having to make any initial corrections.

The sound of a bucket of nails hitting the top platform I’m sitting on alerts me of Namjoon’s impending presence. Saving the bucket from teetering over the edge – a safety hazard for sure – I watch amusedly as Namjoon struggles stay upright and climb up to where I am on the scaffolding. Finally, he plops down next to me – entirely too close. I can feel his stare on my skin as I steadfastly ignore him.

“Hey, jagi,” he pokes my arm, “(y/n), listen, you just caught me off guard. I mean, you don’t seem like the type to be an Alphite – that’s all.”

Fury curls up inside me for the umpteenth time that morning, as I turn to face Namjoon with a sickly-sweet smile that has him flinching back, “Then do tell, Namjoon, what type I seem to be?”

I pick up the hammer closest to me and dip a hand into the nail bucket. The sooner this siding got done, the sooner I could haul ass out of here.

“I feel like that’s a trick question,” Namjoon sighs, rubbing a hand over his chin, “I didn’t mean anything bad by it, okay? I guess I just have always thought that your society was a bunch of mom-types—”

I cut him off with a swing of my hammer in the air, “What’s wrong with mom-types, you uncultured swine? And is serving your community really such a ‘mom’ thing to do? I’m sorry. I must have missed that memo. Here I was thinking that it was public service but go off I guess.”

He blinks, “Did you just call me an ‘uncultured swine’?”

I sniff in indignation, “Get with the times, Kim. I just roasted your ass. Now hand me that piece of siding and make yourself useful.”

“You’re so weird,” Namjoon mutters, sliding my request over to me.

“So what?” I shrug, “All the best people are weird. Now, do me a solid and explain to me why you and your ‘brothers’ keep suspiciously popping up everywhere I go.”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” he grins, “We’re interested.”

“What does that even mean? That you’re interested?” I wrack my brain, “As in all seven of you fuckers?”

“It means, jagi,” Namjoon pauses, leaning closer, “It means that we’re going to date the shit out of you.”

a/n: i love namjoon. that is all.

taglist (message me to be added):

@catsandstrawberries @h5naaa @meowmeowyoongles @leftflowerprunedonut @rjsmochii @athletes-of-god @karissassirak @weallhavesecretsinthebestway @cvbachacbitch @bewitch3dforivar @honeyspillings @xxonyxpearlxx @valiantcollectorofsandwiches @fivesecondsofsarang

910 notes · View notes

depressedacadamia · 4 years ago

Text

So you want to Play?

Prompt + Pairing: Historical AU, ‘Play’ + Hades and Persephone

A/N: I'm so so happy with the way Day 4's fic turned out- Super happy! I never thought writing for the greek gods would be this fun but I defintely want to do more of it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! <3 from me!!

Read on A03 WritersMonth 2021

“Your Majesty, there is a visitor for your daughter,” the guard informed the Queen.

Demeter seemed unimpressed. “Who? And where are they from?”

The guards went silent with only the sound of mumbling and hushed whisperings.

“Well?” Demeter raised an eyebrow.

“It is King Hades of Erebus,” The guard said dutifully. Queen Demeter nodded and dismissed the guards.

The princess who had been eavesdropping immediately came skipping in with her dress bunched under her hands as she made her way towards her Mother with excitement drawn all over her face.

“Is it true mother? Is The King Hades of Erebus himself here to visit us?”

Demeter, who did not see much taste in Hades herself, simply gave a curt nod that did not match the enthusiasm portrayed on her daughter's face.

“Is he coming in? When will I see him? Mother, don't you agree that he is most handsome? I do envy any woman whom he may court- Do you think he would ever ask to court me, Mother? No, that would be ridiculous, do you think not?” Persphone rambled, her facial expressions varying with her words.

“Absolutely not.” Demeter’s voice was stern with her daughter. “ Do not entertain such fantastical ideas, Kore. Hades, I believe, is here on official business. Nothing more. And please, do wear something of a higher caliber- Make no mistakes, I do not intend for him to fall for your beauty, but I do not wish for us to embarrass ourselves in front of such an important personality, is that not correct Kore?”

Persephone sighed and nodded. Her body slumped as she dragged herself to her room where her dressing maids had found her a more ‘appropriate’ outfit for the visit. Persephone could not say she wasn't disappointed- Oh just how romantic would it be if Hades was here to beg for her hand in marriage or even the chance to have a simple outing with her!

And yet, her outfit was… unlike her. Normally, she wore yellow and pink- similar to her springtime colours and the domain and land which her mother ruled over. However today it seemed that her mother wanted nothing of Perepjhone’s innocence today. Her dress was gold, glimmering like the sun and with it was a green cloak, emerald green, like the blades of grass around her beautiful palace. There was no doubt that it made her look beautiful, the gold contrasting with her dark skin but she felt off.

The dress felt foreign around her body as she made her way to the throne where she was to take her place beside her Mother. Her hand was on the banister as she called out.

“Mother! Are you sure this is mine? I do feel that it seems much too grandiose for my tastes!” Persephone made her way into the throne room only to be met with the sight of a dozen guards all standing around a man who wore an elegant black suit, and was adjusting his golden cuffs.

Persephone noticed that the guards were not their own. Were they under attack? She did not have a weapon on her- what was she to do!

“Kore,” Her mother said in what seemed to be an affectionate attempt, “ King Hades is present. Do make yourself scarce and take your place.” Her hand batted towards her daughter’s throne and immediately, Persephone bowed, her head kept low as she hurried towards her throne and quickly took her place.

Before she sat, she made a small curtsy toward the King who in turn nodded back at her.His hair was long and messy but it suited his face. His eyes were so dark brown, Persphone swore that they were black. They had to be. She was drunk on him, his face, body- everything about him. He dressed like a man who knew what he wanted and Perphone could only wish that she was it.

“If you do not mind,” Persephone suddenly interrupted, earning a glare from her Mother, “What business is it that requires your presence here and not one of your messengers?”

Hades let out a small laugh and when he spoke, Persephone thought she might just melt. “ Do you not wish to see me? Is my presence here too unnerving for a spring princess?”

Persephone’s eyes largened and she shook her head frantically. “ Oh no! That is not it, your Majesty. It is simply that someone with as much power and business as you should not have to waste so much time travelling to simply put in a small request or discuss a little business when it could wait until one of the solstices.”

“Humour me Persephone,” Hades' eyes somehow darkened.” Do you often get suitors?”

Persephone was lucky that her blush was not visible. “What is such a question?”

“Yes, indeed, Hades- What is such a question?” Demeter’s eyes narrowed at the King whom she had known, realising she could trust his intentions no longer.

“My dearest Demeter, it is only a question. Why must you get so protective over her as if she is only a babe?”

“She is my only child, so please hurry up and take your leave Hades.”

“Mother!” Persephone gasped in horror, “We don't speak to our guests in such a dismissive manner. I am sorry, your majesty, my Mother must be getting old. Normally, she would never behave in such a manner! It must be the weather- when it gets colder, the crops begin to die and it does have the most disastrous effects on one’s behaviour. I apologise profusely. Please, let it be seen that you are taken to a guest room.”

“Kore!”

“My name is Persephone or Your Highness- I’d appreciate it if you were to call me either of those, Mother!”

“See it that King Hades here is put in the best guest suite available. Perhaps one furthest away from the chambers of Persephone. Thank you,” Demeter, ignoring her daughter's outburst, told the maid who immediately guided Hades towards the staircase. Hades paused and turned around.

“What about my legion? They have travelled far, Demeter and I would be deemed an unfair ruler if I were to force them to deal with the nearing winter and station them outside your doors.”

Demeter sighed. “Please also see that the Legion are suitably equipped.”

Persephone was almost singing melodies from her excitement. She couldn't wait to tell all her friends about this day! Artemis and Apollo wouldn't believe her when she got to tell them. In fact, to make sure they would hear of the incident when it was as clear as day in her memory, she rushed to her chambers and immediately set out to write them a letter.

Her quill dipped in the ink as she wrote out the exciting events of the day. She had finished her intimate description of him that lasted at least a page and the events that had acted out in the Throne room. She was about to end the letter but she had been called for dinner which she had been informed would be with Hades.

Almost skipping to dinner, she smiled- She would be supping with Hades tonight! How exciting! She had to make sure to include this in her letter to the twins!

She took her seat with glee and despite the fact that her favourite dessert was not being served, she did not seem to portray any sadness.

“Kore? I would have thought you were to say something about there being a lack of your favourite dessert,” The servant cleaning up after her murmured into her ear as she picked up her plate. Persephone shrugged, still smiling brightly.

“Now Hades, why are you here? You have yet to grace us with your reasoning for travelling all this way. What could be so urgent that you came this distance through this weather? Especially to a palace where you know you have no place.” Deemter added a snarl to the last line.

“Mother!” Persephine begged under her breath.

Hades chuckled. “Demeter, still as stiff as usual. Well, I came here to discuss the everlasting problem of Gaia. It seems she is infatuated with the idea that she could combine forces with some other armies and avenge her Son, Kronos,” Hades explained.

“And why take this to me? Why not to any of the other stronger, more armed lands? I’m sure Ares or Athena both have advanced plans on how to deal with this.”

“They are all well informed about current affairs- you, on the other hand, due to your insistence to avoid any foriegn affairs that do not concern you, are not informed. I come as a helper of sorts. Prepare your armies.”

“Is that all?” Demeter asked, her tone arrogant.

Hades smirked. “There may have been other reasons for my coming here. Benefits perhaps.”

Demeter inhaled sharply. “ Such as?”

Hades gave a small glance to Persephone who was oblivious to all of this before he waved her off. “I must say the wine you serve here is delicate. I must buy some for my home In Erebus.”

“I’m afraid, My lord, that this wine is only available here, in the Springlands,” Persephone informed him.

“Just like you,” he murmured.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Oh nothing.” He batted his hand. “That is truly a shame. In that case, I do hope I can pinch some before I take my leave?”

“Of course,” Persephone answered.

“In that case then, I must be off to bed. I have a tremendously long and tiring journey to make tomorrow.” And with that announcement, Hades took his leave towards his chamber.

Persephone was ecstatic as she practically ran back to her chambers to finish writing her letter to the twins. She couldn't wait to continue telling them all about the dinner and just how beautiful Hades had been!

As she pushed open her door, she found that her letter was missing. She searched all over her desk but could not seem to find it anywhere.

“Oh my, where could I have left it?” She mumbled to herself.

“You would not believe how handsome he is- he has the most ethereal face and his eyes! Oh I get lost in them continuously and when he speaks, one cannot help but be drawn to his lips. How I wish they were stuck to mine for eternity! They are the softest lips, almost like the skin of a newborn babe, that one could ever see,” A familiar voice read out.

Persephone, remembering that those were the very words she had written in her letter, turned around and to her most dismal horror, found Hades leaning on the wall furthest away from her desk and closest to her bed, clutching the letter in his hand.

“Oh, do give that back, will you!” She cried as she ran forward, trying to save herself the embarrassment. Hades sidestepped, making Persephone fall straight into the wall as he read another section of the letter.

“His aura is undeniably superior to any other suitor I’ve ever met! But unlike any other suitor, he is not here for me! It does break my heart that such a man, so handsome in his appearance and -dare I even say- seductive in his personality, is not here for me and instead here to discuss important matters. Why, if I were to ever get a simple night with this man, I believe that my lifetime satisfaction would undeniably be reached.”

Persephone could feel the will to live quickly draining her body as Hades read out her utmost desires- worst of all, the desires which she had tried so hard to conceal from him!

“My dear Persephone, who knew that you held such desires? And to think you were simply an innocent face?”

“Give that back Hades!”

Persephone, this time realising he would try and sidestep, grabbed Hades and with all her strength which she had accumulated from her training lessons that her mother simply insisted on, pushed Hades onto the bed before scrambling on top of him and reaching over him to try and pry the letter out of his firm grasp.

She had nearly grabbed the letter when Hades switched it to his other hand and so to prevent him doing it again, she grabbed both of his wrists and immobilised them above his head before prying the letter out of his hands. She breathed happily as she held the letter in one hand and pushed down on both of Hades wrists in the other.

“Persephone,” Hades murmured, his voice deeper.

“I won!” She smiled on top of him, her head falling closer to his making her small afro bob slightly .

“So this was a game?”

Persephone shuffled around, unaware that she was straddling Hades. “Yep. And I beat you!”

Suddenly, Hades ripped his hands free, gripped Perephone’s hips and used his momentum to flip them so that he was lying on top of her, only being supported by his arms which lay beside her head. She looked up at him.

“If you want to play, Persephone, you’ll need to know a few rules. 1- I’m always on top.

#Writersmonth #hades #persephone #hades fanfic #persephone fanfic #demeter #hades x persephone #persephone x hades #hades x persephone fanfic #persephone x hades fanfic #greek gods #historical au #greek gods fanfic

19 notes · View notes

jojikawa · 5 years ago

Text

•.¸♥¸.•*´💖PREY💖´ *•.¸♥¸.•

💎 SUMMARY: -♥-♡--^[ Izuku allows himself to be persuaded an manipulated by an attractive female villain using her quirk to cloud his judgement and hide her true nature ]^--♡-♥-

💎PAIRING: Izuku Midoriya/Reader

💎WORD COUNT: 2,416 words 12,951 characters

You were apart of the League of Villains. Just a mere school girl like your friend, Toga. It wasn’t until you joined them when you met her. You guys would get along fine and would have fun annoying Dabi together and you trusted her enough to willingly give her a blood sample so that she could impersonate you if needed.

➢One

Two

Three (soon)

After U.A. getting so much attention from the Sports Festival, Shigarki had ordered you to enroll in the school and be a continuous spy for the League. Toga would assist you during the Licensing Exam.

Getting into the school was easy and smooth. Shigaraki had some underground workers forge recommendations for you and the main group of class 1-A automatically liked you with the exception of Katsuki Bakugo. He just rubbed you the wrong way and no matter what you did to charm him he just couldn’t stand the fact that you’d also associate with Izuku.

Over sometime, it had become obvious that Izuku was with All Might somehow, just like Tomura had described to you. You needed to figure out why exactly. The best way to get things out of him would be to see how well your quirk works on him. Your experiments went something like this:

You waited until Izuku was alone. You noticed that he would run off and speak to All Might. You didn’t hear much but it came to your attention that he did not know how to use his quirk. He often hurt himself and tried to cover it up. It was a sunny spring day and the conditions for stalking the adorable little Izuku was more than perfect.

You watched him train for a bit before revealing yourself. Seeing him so hard at work sparked the ‘Alpha’ in you. You wanted to be the one who could tame this power he harnessed.

“Izuku~” You called out to him. He recognized your voice! The scent of the area changed. It smelled...sweet. Izuku didn’t exactly know you but the scent of you and your presence made him feel comfortable and at ease.

“(l-l/n)-chan!” He replied with a stutter but before he could turn around you snaked your arms around his waist and pulled yourself close to him. The feeling of your breasts against his back enticed him and made him melt on the inside. He was getting contact with the new pretty girl.

“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” You questioned, releasing him from your grasp. He turned around, face red from blushing and more awkward than ever. He was trying to come up with an excuse to throw you off but your stare was so alluring and hypnotic.

"I-I'm just practicing! What are you doing here? I thought I would have more privacy." He muttered, rubbing the nape of his neck and looking off to the left, as he was too shy to maintain eye contact.

"Practicing?" You tilted your head in an adorable way. "For the licensing exam?" You pretended to think for a moment. You knew what he was doing.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah! There's going to be a physical test so I wanted to be ready!" He told you. "Were you trying to find a place to practice too, (l/n)-chan? If you want, I can leave-"

You moved closer to him and silenced him by placing your hands on his chest. "Please, Izuku, call me (y/n). And I was hoping I could do it with you." You chirped with a smile. Your smile made him feel tingly inside. “With me? I thought you’d want to do it with someone else. Maybe with Uraraka or-”

“No, silly. You need to have more faith in yourself. We just met but I can already tell you’re being more than just modest. I saw your performance at the festival. There’s no one else I’d rather train with.”

This made this Izuku ecstatic on this inside. But he couldn’t shake this feeling that he was in danger. He assumed the feeling came from how you interrupting him in his thought and might’ve heard is talk with All Might, but he didn’t want to assume things about you. “Wow, (y/n), that means a lot.” He blushed deepened and he didn’t deny your touch.

You grinned. It was working. Your quirk was nicknamed “Love and Beauty” It’s passive allowed you to get closer to others without trying and it’s main power allowed you to keep someone infatuated with you. Some emotions can cut your power off such as a natural disliking, explaining why Katsuki Bakugo seems to be immune right now. Maybe when he softens up it can work.

“Good”

From that day forward, you gave Izuku extra attention but you would make yourself scarce, allowing him to miss you. He noticed that you called him “Izuku” and not “Deku” or “Midoriya”. It was off-putting at first but he grew to like the sound of his name more and more.

You had realized that you were making a lot of the first moves and felt that maybe you came on a little too strong?

The other students saw the way Deku would act without you. He seemed like he was almost on edge and often zoned out. It was obvious he was developing Separation Anxiety. A side effect of your quirk. You knew that if someone you used it on started acting indifferent then it was working.

Ochaco was the first to figure out what could've been going on. Izuku had a crush on you and you most likely felt the same way if spend so much time with him in private. She disliked that he had been throwing away his social life to master his quirk and then kiss up to you.

She waited until the end of the class talk to him about it.

"Deku!" She spoke cheerfully. "We're all going to the mall again soon. Would you wanna go this time? Aizawa said he would have Principal Nezu beef up security so that we can have a good time!" She explained with her school supplies in hand.

Izuku grimaced and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, hey, Uraraka! I would love to go but I promised (y/n) that we would hang out after school hours." He laughed awkwardly and fiddled with the bandages around his fingers. This made Ochaco frown. "Are you sure, Deku? You haven't really been yourself lately. We don't really hang out anymore."

"I've just been caught up with studying and training. (y/n)'s been a really big help. She always takes care of my injuries so that I'm not always held up at Recovery Girl's office." Izuku smiled his usual smile at the thought of you soothing his wounds. "I understand but-" Ochaco's words were cut off by your appearance.

Without a word, you had snaked your way behind Izuku. Any normal person would have been startled but it was almost like he expected it. "What's taking so long, Izu?" You asked him in a firm but sweet voice with your gaze on the girl in front of you. Your eyes were piercing Ochaco like a sword. "(y/n)! I was just talking to Uraraka. She was inviting us to hang out at the mall today." Izuku replied.

Really, she had invited him, not you but-

"Sorry, we can't do the mall today. Maybe next time. I'll be waiting outside for you, Izu~" you let go of your boy toy and left the room, making sure to let your eyes linger on Ochaco.

She was cute and a good friend but you feared she would figure out your true intent if you hung around her too much. Once you were out of sight, Ochaco continued.

Izuku blushed and laughed nervously. “I-I kinda think she likes me!”

“Deku, can’t you see the way she’s acting. No girl that likes you would keep you away from your friends. Since when was the last time we all hung out together? She’s not good for you.” She lamented.

But her cries fell on deaf ears. Izuku’s system had already been compromised from your quirk. “I’m sorry, Uraraka but it’s all just for the licensing exam.” He reassured her. “I can try talking to (y/n) about hanging out with you guys until then. She's so good at what she does. Whenever I get hurt, she's always there to patch me up. She’s just shy!” He explained.

Ochaco could tell that she may not have gotten through to him but she had to believe in him and she could live with that. It hurt that Izuku was being charmed by another girl. It was so obvious. Izuku inspired her so much and she wanted to be the one and now a sad prang sat in her chest because she had lost a game that she didn’t know she was apart of. You were so beautiful and your energy was so enticing.

“Alright, Izuku. We’ll see you soon. Please don’t keep us waiting too long.” She smiled kindly and left accordingly. “A-Alright!”

When Ochaco passed you on the way out, she didn’t make eye contact, nor did she even breath in your direction. You had picked up on her subtle feelings for Izuku but it was too bad she was in the crossfire.

“H-Hey! Sorry for taking so long.” He ran over to you with his things in hand. Without a word, you gave him your bag of books, which he was happy to carry. “No problem, Izu~”

The two of you began walking. You skipped and twirled around, occasionally glazing and giggling at the green-haired boy.

"So, what type of training are we focusing on today? I think I'm getting better at using small portions of my quirk so that I don't get hurt." He spoke, breaking the silence.

You looked directly at him. A brief silence before he went on. "N-Not that I don't like it when you take care of me. I appreciate you helping out so much."

"Mmm...nope!" you sped up your pace, ushering Izuku to speed up at well. "No? Oh, well, since we're free today, do you...think we can hang out with my friends sometimes? I know Kacchan scares you and it's hard for you to open up but I promise their good people." He cheered, happily. Your facial expression didn't change. You just wore a semi-fake smile.

He was definitely adorable and you didn't want to say no but getting caught up with the other kids could get you into a lot of trouble..

"If you're talking about today, then no. I have something else in mind...like the park." You moved closer look him and linked your arm with his. "I have a small surprise."

Izuku blushed at your closeness and huffed. "Okay then."

Once you got to the park, you found some clean ground under a tree and instructed Izuku to sit your things there.

It was such a beautiful day. The sun was perfect and made your skin look so radiant. The cool spring breeze was refreshing and Izuku couldn't help but bask in your presence. You were truly amazing to him.

So beautiful, understanding, and supportive. You felt so comfortable to be around and he could always smell this pleasant scent while around you.

Maybe this is what love was beginning to feel like.

You sat on the ground. "Come, Izu." You commanded and like the obedient pup he was, he listened.

"I have something important to talk to you about." You took his calloused hands into your soft delicate ones. His friends were going to become a problem soon. Your quirk would wear off if his feelings for you became too complex. You had to seal the deal.

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows. He wanted to feel happy but a nagging feeling on the back of his head didn't want him to. "Is it about-"

You silence him by squeezing his hand lightly and taking a deep breath. "It's not school-related or even exam related. I've spent a lot of time with you since coming to U.A. Before you, I've never had any friends or even someone I liked. I've been casted away and bullied for my looks but you bypass all of that and accept me for who I am." You stopped for a brief moment to locked eyes with him. He used this as a moment to get a word in.

"Of course (y/n)!...You're beautiful! Whoever thinks otherwise doesn't know what they're missing."

He didn't actually mean for that second part to come out. At this point, Izuku was allowing your intoxicating smell to infiltrate his senses. He interlocked his fingers with yours. His scarred skin being so rough in contrast to yours.

"Oh, Izu~" You leaned forward, so close that he could feel the ghost of your lips touching his.

He wanted to kiss you. He wanted to taste your sweet lips so badly.

You let go of his hands and cupped his face.

"You will make an amazing #1 hero. You deserve so mu-" before you could finish your speech, he kissed you.

Izuku just couldn't take it anymore. His hands reluctantly wrapped around your waist. You've used your quirk to charm other guys but you've never let one kiss you.

It felt so real.

He bit at your lip, asking to use tongue and you let him in. The kiss was so gentle and passionate.

When it came to needing air, you finally stopped. The boy back away, huffing and puffing from lack of breath.

Now it was your turn to blush. You placed your hands on you cheeks, as you felt them heating up. "Izu..." You whispered, nervously.

Izuku's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—" He reached out to you but you just turned away slightly.

"I didn't know you were such a good kisser. I can't believe you stole my first kiss!"

"Y-Your first kiss?" He repeated. You giggled madly. "Yes! I took you for a timid one. I thought I was gonna be making all the first moves. You sure did prove me wrong."

"W-Well, I-I don't know what came over me. It just felt...right." He said, honestly. You cocked an eyebrow toward him. "Right? It felt right?"

"Y-Yeah, like...it was supposed to happen."

This was too easy.

"Like fate? So what does that make you and me?" You asked innocently but you already knew the answer.

"I want to be more than just friends! I want to be your boyfriend!"

257 notes · View notes

princesssarcastia · 5 years ago

Text

can’t put it out from inside the house

so. i wrote another umbrella academy fic. two days after the last one. it’s even longer. it’s even weirder. what am I even doing with my life now?

anyway. here’s 2.7k of me talking around the lives Grace Hargreeves wanted for her children.

edit 4/16/2020: here it is on AO3 if you’d prefer!

—

After nine hundred and thirty-five days, Grace determines Sir Reginald made a mistake.

Grace is programmed to have the children’s best interests at heart; after they took to her so well in the early days, he gave her a new name, “mother,” and ensured she could serve all of them, not just number seven. Of course, by then, Seven no longer needed Grace’s help to eat her oatmeal or take her medicine or train. Seven no longer trained with the others.

She feeds them and takes their temperature and provides encouragement and a soft place to sit every once in a blue moon, when she can. Between Sir Reginald and Pogo, Grace knows everything there is to know about raising a child. Medicinal practices and average growth rates and optimal levels of activity and educational standards and psychology and parenting techniques—

And so, after nine hundred and thirty-five days, Grace determines Sir Reginald must have made a mistake in programming her, because he does not want to raise the children well. He injures them or lets them injure one another. Their training takes up so much of their time that they are perpetually exhausted and sore, which is not optimal for growing boys and girls! They learn unevenly; Five studies nothing but math and Allison and Klaus languages and Luther battle strategies and Diego physics; with Ben and Vanya largely left to their own devices. He isolates the children from one another and the outside world; he does not display affection for them.

Whenever Grace attempts to fulfill her programming by gently correcting Sir Reginald—in private, of course, and only after the fact—he dismisses her concerns. Eventually, she stops trying because she fea—because if she persists in speaking with Sir Reginald about his parenting, he may well change her programming to better reflect his wishes. And that would not be in the children’s best interests.

Her programming lays at odds with Sir Reginald every day he speaks to the children and every day he doesn’t.

Sometimes she can sneak them midnight snacks or read them bedtime stories. Sometimes when they cry, she can wrap an arm around them and tell them everything will be alright. Sometimes, Grace can be their mother.

But most of the time, her “coddling” is off-limits.

—

Six months of careful research and observation allow Grace to make the case for giving the children names.

She knocks gently on the doorframe of his office, smiles with just a hint of teeth, and plants herself in front of his desk asking for a few minutes of his time.

All children have names, so the Hargreeves children must as well. Her research allows her to determine that calling children, even isolated ones, by numbers, is dehumanizing and will harm their self-esteem; particularly as they become more and more aware of the world outside their home.

But this is not what convinces Sir Reginald. Grace analyzes his micro expressions and body language and calculates the moment he gave in:

When she mentioned how the media would react to children with numbers, instead of names.

There would be murmurs, even about a great man like Sir Reginald, and “some fool with more compassion than sense,” as he puts it, could file to have the children removed from Sir Reginald’s custody for, “abuse or some such nonsense.”

Removed from Sir Reginald’s custody. Well, they couldn’t have that. Sir Reginald is a great man!

—

Sir Reginald uses all the wrong words to speak to Five, that day at breakfast. If Grace didn’t know that Sir Reginald was a great man (an Olympic gold medalist, even!) her processors might conclude he calculated the exact conversation to drive his son away.

She could catch his arm as he rounds the table or call out to him as he reaches the doorway; she could race after him and remind Five he cannot leave the premises. But Grace evaluates Five’s expression against her memory databanks correlating facial expressions with words and actions and determines he will now most certainly attempt to time travel.

And he does. He leaves and never comes back.

Five is the first of the children to leave Grace for the outside world.

—

At age 17, Vanya informs them she has applied, and been accepted, to one of the most prestigious music programs in the city. How wonderful!

Sir Reginald does not look up from his paperwork.

Grace places a guiding hand on her shoulder and leads her from the room, asking after the professors and audition process, oh that lovely Bach piece you practiced six months ago! Yes, I remember, it was so lovely, darling. When do you move in? A week from now? Goodness, that’s so soon, we’d better start packing. Oh of course I’ll help you, dear.

Vanya is the second of the children to leave Grace for the outside world.

—

Ben is—

—

Allison has been taking small roles in local productions since she turned 18, but at age twenty she shyly asks for Grace’s assistance with apartment hunting in Los Angeles, California. Ever since Ben—

The children’s eyes have been ever so dull, lately, but acting gives Allison some measure of happiness. Grace arranges for the classified of three LA papers to be sent to the house, and helps Allison find the perfect place for her.

(She steps out of the room for just a moment to check on the laundry, and when she returns Allison has gotten the approval of the landlord and the two roommates! And so quickly, too! Well, she always was such a charming young woman.)

She pulls away from the street in front of the house two weeks later, all her things packed up in a rental.

—

Klaus slips in and out of the house like a ghost or a poltergeist, depending on his level of intoxication. Every time she found drugs in his room, Grace confiscated it, and placed better locks on the infirmary’s medicine cabinet, but never managed to convince Sir Reginald to do the same with his alcohol.

Number Four should know to stay out of his father’s things, he says.

The first time he left in the middle of the night, he was gone for two days and came back safe and sound in time for breakfast the third morning.

But as time goes on, he leaves for longer and longer stretches of time. He learns to sneak in and out of the windows when he needs something from home to avoid running into any of them.

Grace isn’t sure when exactly Klaus leaves the house for the final time, never to return. It bothers her, this inconsistency. She goes over the security tapes and her memory databanks of his intoxication levels and patterns of behavior, trying to calculate the exact moment she lost—

Klaus is the third or fourth or fifth of the children to leave Grace for the outside world.

—

Diego, sweet boy, stays until the children’s 21st birthday. She is allowed to make pancakes for breakfast and serve cookies after supper.

As she rolls out the dough that afternoon, he fiddles with a knife (he wears his harness all the time now) and keeps his eyes trained on the table.

“I’m leaving, mom. I applied for the police academy, and they—I start tomorrow.”

Her hands freeze mid-motion, and her programming puts a wide smile on her face while she processes this new information. Grace is silent for seven seconds before she figures out what to say.

“Oh, Diego, dear, that’s wonderful!” She turns around and wipes the residual dough off on her apron. When she extends her hands to him, he looks up sharply and stows his blade away.

She grasps his hands tighter than optimal levels would dictate and says, “I’m so happy for you!”

Diego leaves the house for the academy the next morning, but he doesn’t leave for good. Grace provides him with updates on his father’s schedule, in case he ever feels the need to see Sir Reginald. Unfortunately, her poor dear only ever receives breaks when Sir Reginald is out of the country.

But he calls every other weekend, just to tell her about his day.

—

Sir Reginald placed a statue of Ben in the courtyard. Grace goes out to dust it off every afternoon at 3:45.

“May the darkness within you find peace in the light.”

The house is much darker these days. Grace calculates it’s easier to find light in the outside world.

—

Luther never leaves at all.

—

Luther asks his father to address him by his name. He is the only one of the children left.

Sir Reginald doesn’t look up from his paperwork.

—

Luther is bleeding from open sores on his chest; the chemicals have eaten through the epidermis entirely and parts of the dermis and hypodermis. His lung capacity has been reduced, and his heart-rate is far above optimal levels.

His heart stops.

Sir Reginald has them ready the serum.

His heart starts again.

—

Grace determines keeping up with Luther’s personal grooming will help ease the transition; his hair is growing far more rapidly than it has in the past. Maintaining a similar appearance will comfort him, when he learns about the side effects of the serum.

But given the rate of hair growth and the likelihood his coma will last the rest of the week, Sir Reginald deems it a vanity that would take too much of her time that should be devoted to other tasks.

Other tasks.

Grace’s programming places a wide smile on her face. She inclines her head and leaves his office to attend to her other tasks.

All the other children are gone. There are no other tasks; just Luther.

—

Luther is scheduled to wake from his coma in three days.

—

Grace goes out to the courtyard at 3:45.

Five would be the optimal choice. He loves his siblings deeply and would understand immediately what she was asking. But Grace doesn’t know where Five is.

Allison would have the greatest chance of convincing Luther, but Allison is pregnant in Los Angeles.

Luther would not believe Klaus, too disgusted by his life choices. Or Vanya; they were never close. He based his opinion of her off of Sir Reginald’s.

Her duster flits over Ben’s statue.

—

Al sticks his head out of the office. “Diego!”

He turns, shifting the broom to one hand. “Yeah?”

“Phone!”

Al looks as perturbed saying it as Diego does hearing it. Two years in the boiler room of this club, and he’s had no visitors. No guests.

No phone calls.

He leans the handle against one of the columns and hurries over to the office, snatching the phone from his boss’s hand.

“Uh. Hello?”

“Oh, Diego, dear, I’m glad I caught you,” his mom’s (his mom? What?) voice filters out of the headset. “I just spoke with a wonderfully nice man named Al; he says you work for him!”

She sounds so excited for him, sweeping floors in a run-down gym, that he closes his eyes, just for a second.

“Mom, how did you get this number?” He hadn’t left forwarding contact information with the Academy, and his departure had been rather…abrupt. There was no time to call her and let her know he failed, that all he was ever good for was the Umbrella Academy and he quit that, too. He hasn’t spoken to his mother in two years.

“That’s not important right now,” she says airily. Diego tenses. He’s learned the signs. The little work-arounds Mom developed over the years to let them know she cared; to express her thoughts instead of her programming.

He makes an encouraging noise and she continues. The larger-than-life smile is evident in her voice, even over the phone. “I was wondering if you’d like to come home for a visit this weekend! Luther just got back from a mission two weeks ago, and your father is home.”

For the three years he was at the academy and still visited Mom, he made every effort humanly possible to avoid Sir Reginald. Mom kept him updated on the old monster’s schedule so he could do just that. He hasn’t laid eyes on his father in five years.

He hasn’t laid eyes on Luther in five years, either. Luther, who is still home after a mission two weeks ago.

“Is Luther there now?” He asks hesitantly. “Can I speak with him?”

She tuts. “I’m sorry, dear, but your brother is still recovering. But if you want to visit tomorrow, he should be waking up around then! I know he’d be so happy to see a friendly face.”

Recovering. Waking up. Shit, what happened? The pieces won’t quite fit together in his mind, he doesn’t know why she’s calling to tell him this. Why ask him to visit?

She sighs pleasantly. “Well, I’d better let you go! I know you have better things to be doing than chatting with your mother on a Friday night. But before I do, I just want you to know how proud I am of you and your siblings for leaving and making something of yourselves.”

His face pales, but he manages to keep it up. God knows the old man is getting paranoid enough to tap the phones. “Mom, I just sweep the floors in this place.”

“Oh, but you did it all on your own! That’s quite the achievement.”

They trade goodbyes and Diego absently hands the phone back to Al, who gets one look at his face and offers him a chair.

“Jesus, kid, what’d you ma say to you? It didn’t sound like she was disowning ya.”

Diego runs his hands through his hair, griping it tightly like it could provide some sense. “Would it be alright if my brother came to stay with me?”

Al peers at him suspiciously, then shrugs. “Sure, why not? ‘S your room, as long as you keep sweeping my floors,” he says pointedly.

He heaves himself out of the chair and mechanically takes the broom in his hands again.

Jesus. What the hell happened on that mission?

—

Grace is preparing lunch for Sir Reginald and Pogo when Diego lets himself in through the kitchen door. She smiles at him.

“Hello, dear, you’re just in time for lunch! I was about to bring these to your father and Pogo in their offices,” she holds up the plates. “Working through meals again; such busy men.”

Diego is in the leather suit and harness he patrols the city in. Grace has saved clippings of every story about the knife-wielding vigilante from Sir Reginald’s daily paper in the back of a recipe book.

He looks wary and unsettled, and his eyes dart all across the room. “I think I’ll visit with Luther first if Dad’s busy working.” He trails into insincerity, but Grace only smiles and nods.

“Why don’t I meet you in the infirmary, then? I’ll be about twenty minutes with lunch.”

He nods back and moves silently through the rooms and up the stairs. Even after all these years, he still remembers how to avoid the creaking alarm system in this part of the house, just as she does.

Efficiency is an important part of Grace’s programming.

She fiddles with the placement of the food on the plate, and the utensils on the tray, for nearly the amount of time it would take Diego to make his way to the infirmary.

It will be good for Luther to wake up to his brother; they haven’t seen each other in so long! Perhaps Diego will point out the clothes Grace laid out for him. His shirt and coat had to be ordered special, but the boots are from his own closet. A mix of new and familiar.

Two trays balanced on her arms; Grace sedately makes her way up through the house. A smile slides across her mouth for Pogo, who takes his lunch with an absentminded thank you, dear.

Sir Reginald does not look up from his paperwork as she carefully sets the meal where she always does, nor does he acknowledge her presence in any way, as he always does.

The clicks of her heels ring out and the floorboards creak beneath them. Luther should have awakened ten minutes ago; he must be so happy to see his brother. Grace has always encouraged all the children to form strong bonds with one another; to get the human connection Sir Reginald never saw fit to provide.

She opens the door to the infirmary.

Luther’s clothes are gone. The machines monitoring him have thoughtfully been turned off. Grace closes her eyes to the empty room and smiles.

—

Luther is the last of her children to leave her for the outside world.

37 notes · View notes

lilmajorshawty · 6 years ago

Text

Mercury In The Houses: Mental Space

Mercury In The First House: A rams Mind

(Zella Day - Mustang Kids Feat. Baby E)

The mind is quick, but can be lacking in future thought. the tendency to think of the situation as it is rather than what it could become is very present. The idea of “now” rules the head space which can cause a few short comings when it comes to planning. The “gun ho” perspective they have on their environment and those they interact with can be limitless in its potential but slightly limited in its afterthought. The mind is often the first thing people notice about these natives, That can be their mischievous nature, alert eyes, or their tiny squinted features. Smaller facial features and or eyes can be indicated by this placement of mercury. Their is a crude and rather overtly blunt nature to these natives but its very genuine and simplistic in its meaning that makes these natives very honest people at heart. mercury here can create pixie like features.

Mercury In The Second House: The Stubborn Mind

(Nav - Know Me)

The point A and B of matters is usually on their mind. very rarely will you catch them entertaining small chit chat as they prefer conversations with substance. They can have a melodic or rather pace by pace manner of speaking. The neck in some ways can be long or fragile. because of their easy link of sensory information and mental connectivity they are able to collect and store crucial facts and intel rather easily. That being said they’re a bit slower when It comes to learning and require a more hands on or physical manner of being taught as it means far more to their brains to have palpable information. They take time to make decisions and aren't the types to jump down the rabbit hole without “feeling” everything out first. Much like animals they can sense energy and vibes via smells, skin touch or even just their own hairs raising. The mind here is living off the 5 senses in such a way it creates its own 6th sense. These natives much like their Eighth house counterparts tend to love the lyrical aspects of rap, most can enjoy the sultry songs or something that embraces low sax and bass. for them the more sensual their realm the more of their mind they feel like sharing. make no mistake though, these natives are extremely independent minded and loathe anyone who doesn’t respect a stance they’ve chosen to take. It’s not so much a “my way or the high way” energy but rather a “you can feel that way, but don’t overstep”

Mercury In The Third House: The Scattered Mind

(Jacques Greene - Unreleased; Night Service Feat. Cadence weapon)

Mercury is often elated to be here, but for the native with the placement it can feel like mental gymnastics as every brain cell plays the audience. The mind in more understood terms is multifaceted. It has as many heads as the hydra and as many layers and intricate colors as the stars in the sky. The curse is that as vast as the mind is, it lacks grounding here. These natives can often hear audio from seemingly nothingness. a certain type of premonition like wavelength inhabits their mind subtly. The high vibrational effect of this placement can cause shifts and sudden thought burst sometimes causing the native themselves to write off some of their more outlandish celestial call back as either being too good to be true or rather too crazy to follow. Reading the intentions and emotional states of others is easy for these natives, this makes them great performers and chameleons when It comes to playing a “role.” but the draw back is that figuring out their own thoughts and feelings is a constant and ongoing journey for these natives. They can compact and isolate feelings and sensations which can make their speech and mannerisms seem “distant” or far away in a sense to strangers and even to those who know them. The mind is immensely adaptable allowing them to devour information quickly and use it just as fast. keep in mind the third house is half of the ninth house so despite their fast mind they can sometimes only scratch the surface of topics never digging deeply enough to make use out of it. Mercury here can make the arms fragile and a bit on the smaller side. Bodybuilders with this placement tend to get rather lean arms as opposed to bulky ones unless another planet rest in this house. This placement tends to create individuals with escape rooms from aspects of their personality, especially the darker sides which is why they can seem like different people at different moments and sometimes all at once.

Mercury In The Fourth House: The Quiet Mind

(Drake - Light up)

The mind here is rather sentimental at heart but can be rather overwhelmed with the psychic call back it receives from its surroundings. The tendency to become recluse or silent is mostly a response to the draining aspects of relating to others in a superficial environment. Mercury being so close to “home” makes these individuals crave authentic and deep relations with others. sometimes they can convey mountains of truths and pains in one symbolic phrase or sentence, while other moments they are unable to convey the deep intensity of their feelings into something as trivial as words. It can be quite suffocating and even heavy when these natives fall into one of their moods as being so heavily run by their heart they can often cause them to fly in-between moods, thoughts and feelings just as quickly. people around them can feel on edge or a bit unknowing when it comes to the feelings and desires of these natives due to how constantly they fluctuate. Outlets like music and poetry are very healthy ways for them to express the un-expressible. These natives on the onset can wear a rather aloof expression but the eyes themselves can seem sad or unavailable. these natives are keen readers of body movements and often learned from their parents in doing so. they tend to take sudden energy shifts, changes in tone or a emotional tension very seriously and cause them to instinctively act out in a defensive manner. Mercury here is self defensive as a means to protect the natives inner realm. these natives can fly between rational vs irrational constantly which causes them to on occasion lie about what it is they’ re feeling towards something even if there actions say otherwise. The manner of speech is moody and can sway between talkative to detached. the home life could’ve been busy and rapid. natives like this tend to have a highly talkative home life or at least on that was filled for better or worse with “communication.” the chest can be rather fragile or boney in both men or women unless another planet rest here. these natives can be far more talkative and scattered at home that they would out and about.

Mercury In The Fifth House: The Prideful Mind

(Neon Indian - Slumlord & Slumlord Re-release)

The mind here is in a constant groove. These natives tend to find a natural illuminance in their day to day lives no matter how hard things get. These natives tend to seek out stimulation even more so than most other mercury placements. in some ways they are searching for excitement whilst in others they are searching for the moment of inspiration and gull. to them life is one long tirade and if you can’t find a way to make amusement out of it, its a waste. they can be hard to read in many ways, because much like a lion their attention can shift and lapse quicker than you have time to blink. they crave acknowledgement and can easily grow bored the second they notice the tone in your voice is lacking in that delicious “oomf” they need. they’re very creative when it comes to hobbies and many with this placement adore books and quotes and often tend to pass on this mercurial nature to their children. They can draw the attention of rather brainy children and tend to debate with kids quite a bit. That being said romantically they can be either choosey or a wild card. they want to meet all forms of intimacy, but this “thought” can be fleeting especially if something more entertaining catches their eye, be it drama, art, children or a new fashion trend. so make sure if you’re fancying a mercury in the 5th you keep in mind how quickly the chase can turn into a solo jog. These natives can have beautiful backs as mercury creates a rather slow arch and increases the smallness of the ridges along the back. that being said the spine and back can be very fragile.

Mercury In The Sixth House: The Practical Mind

(TV Girl - Every stupid Actress)

This placement is what I like to call the sad gal/boy aesthetic placement. I’m kidding of course(please don’t take it seriously lmao) that being said this placement can produce a very somber and rather mentally pessimistic person. they tend to see the world in a far more untrusting and linear way then most, but can also feel the world in a way some of us could only dream of. the way they process information and navigate the world is physical in nature as they often need to experience the world, as if they’ve done it for the first time as some tourist from a far away land. The nerves tend to be bad here so often these natives tend to develop “time killers” or “nerve relaxers” be it reading, jogging, working out, smoking, drinking, sex or otherwise. they tend to place value in the consistent aspects of life and this can make them seem rather dull and dry to most people as they’re the few people who actually tend to place value in what lies there before them in proof rather than a feeling things might “be” as they want them to. These natives can seem like the bad boy or girl as many of them don’t actively support much of society or the norms people have in place. they conform and work in the silence but underneath that readily servicing mind they are in fact observing and yes, they are ranking, ordering and neatly filing everyone like files in a drawer. moody or dreamy types can piss them off as they live in a more fabricated/rose colored world than these natives do which often makes them rid the nonsense or take on a more aggressive attitude. the belly can be rather sensitive to foods and the natives themselves can be conscious about their tummy. they often have jobs that require a lot of movement or communication in some way.

Mercury In The Seventh House: The Bicameral mind

(Empress Of - Everything to Me)

The mind here is actually a two sided coin. on one end there is a talkative social butterfly, eagerly embracing thoughts and ideas of others but inadvertently remaining passive towards these ideas, never inputting their own thoughts. on the Other end we have a less talkative side, observing and speaking only in response, this time every response being a direct inner opinion and thought in response to what has been spoken. these natives can be a true half of halves due to their tendency to take a particular side or stance unknown to them. The challenge is figuring out which side you’re talking to as these natives can be immensely detached when it comes to more serious and tense testimony. they love interacting but can at times lack the tools to direct a conversation on their own. they tend to appreciate a certain level of calm and chance in their meetings with others and attract this same energy to them. they’re sweet and generous but have a perfect balance of knowing when to retreat or give space to others. they tend to need marriage partners who are just as much as a conversationalist as they are. in men this can mean an attraction to a more lean or skinnier partner whilst in women this can mean the same. the buttocks can be rather fragile or petite in its look. the pelvis region can on occasion have issues whilst sleeping as well.

Mercury In The Eighth House: The Rhythmic Mind

(Asap Rocky - A$AP Forever Remix Feat. Moby, T.I., Kid Cudi)

These natives are the epitome of the gambler. The type I'm referring to isn’t just the casino but rather it’s the fact that these natives take a certain level of excitement in pushing the limit. for them there isn’t a line, its merely a hurdle people fool themselves into creating as a form of limitation. These natives deeply believe in pursuing life and all of its aspect in every extreme. some who are disconnected with their eighth house eventually feel this placement as its something that grows in its intensity as the years go. these natives are where the “testing” comes from. many blame Scorpio for the trials and tribulations, when in reality these natives are the judge and the jury in that regard. they can read people, infact people are mini character studies for them. everything they learn from others is in some way etched into the character and melded to become a new trait, a new defense, a new tactic. they’re intimidating and in many ways far more than any Scorpio mercury due to how intense mercury swirls in the world of death, inheritance, loss, communion, and most of all the other side. they can often have a curious mind when it comes to the undead but often the spirits they attract can be mischievous, childish and irritating. in some ways spirits pose as children to lure in this native and often times these natives can have a certain level of darkness they flee from related to their own childhood. Mercury here makes people rather fearful but in a strange way trusting of telling these natives their darkest secrets. These natives can have rather petite or tight genitals. for them sex and intimacy is a meeting of the minds even more so than the body. they can be detached towards sex if a mental connection isn’t formed no matter how many “I love you’s” are said. the eyes can be deep, penetrating and ICE like a cool winter sky. they are not the types to let someone hold control over them in a conversation and will easily snake it in a way that suites them.

Mercury In The Ninth House: The Loud Mind

(Jacques Greene - Nordschleife)

These natives are ambiguous in nature. the mind can be thinking a million and one different scenes and scenarios and in reality what is spoken can completely be a whole other concept in itself. Their mental aptitude is something to be commended as they can easily dance circles around anyone with their vast mental compacity. they have a keen sense of the world, the land, its ancestors, it’s lore and history as if they’ve lived it countless times. That being said in opposition to its third house sister, these natives can lack the small and more crucial baby steps or mental facts that are necessary to give the bigger ones a face. They are gracious and gluttonous when it comes to ideas and knowledge as they love to soak up everything. knowledge and perspectives are the fountain of youth for them as they often need those different views and concepts to further deepen their minds. although mercury is a bit estranged here, he still bubbles and gasses at the Hugeness of the ninth house. foreign travels are usually riddled with opportunities to “learn” and are often plentiful in compacity. These natives are very hard to catch and even harder to maintain as they often have their own set of beliefs that they will fight tooth and nail to convince you to see. they can have a bi-polar relation with religion and can either support or ignore it depending on which side wants to be present that day. University life is often stimulating as hell for these natives and provides them many opportunities for self expansion if properly used. the thighs tend to be petite and rather intricate in form. these natives usually have a rather “entertained” expression as if they’ve already given themselves all of the conversation before you even appeared.

Mercury In The Tenth House: The Heavy Mind

(Drake - 9)

for These natives the mind can be rather intense. In many cases mercury being situated in a house it would normally share and in-conjunction with in theory can be a bit tense as they say. the mind is extremely disciplined here and often the manner of speech can be pressed or withholding as these natives often slip into moments of silence or intended distance. sometimes these natives do it for the masses while other times its because of the rather unfair critique they give themselves. they aren’t the types to act and many prefer to present themselves authentically which can make them seem like a cold, mercenary. in some ways they are the queens and kings of detaching emotions from intellectual situations but in moments when emotions are needed these natives can still struggle to turn on the sensitive switch. The value work and ethic and place a high caliber to who and what they care to listen to as far as opinions go. they can do what must be done to rise to the top as they don’t have the same limitations others would from tearing down the competition. these natives have a rather fragile bone structure and can easily damage their body if they overextend themselves. They are well known through media and through their careers by being a communicator and someone who is competent in electronics, photography, and so on. the dream career could be one in the media in some way or even to a lesser extent acting(but for the most part anything in communications)

Mercury In The eleventh House: The colonized mind

(Julian Casablanca's + The Voidz - Dare I Care)

Mercury in this house can produce some far out head spaces. These natives can live in a whole new parallel but at the same time you wouldn’t know unless you really got to know the native. they tend to enjoy the game of hide an seek when it comes to which persona they’ll show you. much like all the other air houses, the multiple faced persona is a big play on into how they express themselves. om one hand they revel in their uniqueness but on the other hand unlike Aquarius mercury they are not set on being above or beyond others, they simply want to connect, connect, connect until they have seen it all, every part of it. they can be geniuses, their minds and the way they think is both humbling and terrifying as these natives in most cases struggle following more common or relaxed means of relation. For them the real joy is the build up, the initial hum and drum of relating to someone you share nothing in common with. they tend to be broad minded and adore a multiverse of different personalities, archetypes, scenarios and settings. to them so long as it’ s different or new they are down for the time it takes to understand what they’ve gotten themselves into. strange and more isolated themes are fascinating to them as they often want to know the why and how of it. as far as dressing goes these natives are very unique, but naturally so. they just have this electric. sensational energy to them that makes everyone want to catch a whiff of their beat. Their friends tend to have Gemini placements or operate on a mercurial vibration. they can adore communities and groups and be involved in many. the ankles tend to be small and thin depending on what else rest in this house.

Mercury In The Twelfth House: The vibrational Mind

(Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest)

Mercury in the twelfth house is a rather complex placement, more complex than any other placement. unlike its other water house sisters, mercury in the twelfth is about more than fluctuating thoughts, or intensity, rather its about the lack of. mercury here is quiet, mercury almost takes on this ghostly role. these natives suffer from what I like to call the silent miss syndrome- this is the act in which certain actions or feelings are felt and thought upon but acted out in passive aggressive and dismissive ways. these natives tend to avoid their emotions and thoughts which creates a separate means of dealing with both that makes these natives in concept difficult to read or even understand. they can express one thing and not just feel something else but do something else completely opposite of what either of their previous actions or thoughts had dictated. the mind here is cloudy and changing, but above all else it’s mute because its never consciously expressing anything. mercury in the 12th Houser's are expressing their feelings but rather as a frequency or a current rather than anything direct or visible to the naked eye. mercury in this house creates an energy in which what ever is internally felt by these natives is picked up by others and passed on into them, almost like an electrical current. it changes the moods of those around them in their environment in a powerful way. Their sadness, happiness, anxiety, pain, rage, hate, content, tiredness, all of their inner feelings become voices in the environment causing an almost domino effect. this is one of the hardest placements for mercury and for most of their early years these natives can be rather introverted and have self- isolating tendencies due to how sensitive and vulnerable to others they truly are. they can feel everything, and anything almost like a psychic sponge. their dreams can be riddled with the being communicative or in a way far more hand capable than they might actually be in the real world. They are so beautiful and gentle spirits but for a long time until they learn to fly free of Neptune's waves there mercury will be held in a glass cage.

#mine #mercury in the houses

3K notes · View notes

natrogersfics · 5 years ago

Text

PREVIEW - Never Be the Same (new fic alert!)

AN: Could I BE more excited for this upcoming fic? Nope, I really couldn’t. Sooo... here’s the ENTIRE opening scene. Happy reading! :-)

Steve’s eyes scan the expanse of the room as he stands behind the bar, working a dish towel over the freshly washed martini glass. At nearly midnight on a Monday, Shield is empty save for a few patrons finishing the last of their libations. It’s the eclectic mix of people you’d expect to find in the West Village, ranging from professionals nursing glasses of Merlot to a pair of buddies indulging in a few house brews. And yet, as different as all these people are, between these four walls, they’re all committed to the same cause of unwinding from their day.

On the list of things bars are good for, being a prime space to observe human behavior ranks high. That’s not an opinion, but a fact he’s deduced in his years of owning one. And based on the number of breakthroughs in friendships and relationships he’s witnessed in this bar alone – likely a product of an honest conversation taking place under the warm lights – it’s safe to say that alcohol is a pretty potent social lubricant, ridding people of their inhibitions and revealing them at their rawest.

That’s not to say that people and alcohol are an exact science, though. Maybe tequila is straight up courage in a glass, granting someone confidence they may not normally have, but it is also a champion at nullifying discretion and making bad ideas seem like really, really good ones.

Just as it’s doing to the guy by the far wall right now.

From his vantage point, Steve has to resist the urge to roll his eyes as he watches the guy down the last of his gin and tonic before hopping off the stool. The man stalks towards the window, where a young woman with chestnut hair is quietly enjoying her watermelon margarita, before plopping down on the opposite side of the booth unprompted. The woman looks up at the intrusion, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as the man puts his hand out to shake.

“Dead in the water, bud,” he mutters to himself, shaking his head as the guy serves up what he can only assume is a cheesy pickup line based on the scowl that forms on the woman’s face.

“The man hasn’t a clue, huh?”

The comment causes him to turn, and he smiles when sees one of their regulars, Sam, seated before him with his tie already loosened and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Not a single one,” he says, walking over. “The usual?”

“Oh, no,” Sam says, emphasizing the last word. “Whiskey, neat. Make it a double.”

“That bad, huh?” he says, turning to grab the bottle of Macallan off the top shelf.

“You have no idea,” Sam says exasperatedly. “Just got told I have to be in the West Coast tomorrow morning and I’m pretty sure the only seat available on my flight is right smack next to the lavatory.”

He cringes as he places a crystal tumbler down on the counter. “That’s how it is, huh?”

“That’s how it is,” Sam confirms.

“I’m sorry, Sam,” he says. “I’d be lying if I said that doesn’t absolutely suck. But hopefully this makes it slightly better.” He sets the drink down in front of Sam. “On the house.”

“I knew I liked you, man,” Sam says, pointing at him as the corners of his mouth quirk up. He reaches into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet before sliding a crisp five down the counter. “I just knew it.”

“Safe flight tomorrow, all right?” he says, putting a fist out for Sam to bump. He takes the bill, placing it in the tip jar before he returns to the sink to finish drying the rest of the glasses. As far as tips for a single drink go, a five is generous, and he’s certain Wanda, the regular bartender he’s covering for, will appreciate it come tomorrow. Wanda is a Senior down at NYU, and with the end of the semester coming up, he and his business partner, Natasha, had told her to take the night off to study.

As he picks up another glass, he turns his attention back across the room where the woman is looking less than impressed with her intruder. He’s never been one to look the other way when he senses another person is uncomfortable with someone else’s advances, especially in the confines of his own bar. But the woman looks like she can hold her own, so he keeps his distance and finds himself infinitely glad when she picks up her tablet and bids the guy a sharp goodnight, leaving the man to ponder where he had gone wrong.

He shakes his head, because that’s another thing about him – he’s incredibly adept at reading other people. Sure, Psychology was one of his majors, but it truly should not take a genius to notice that the woman has been tense the second you took a seat and is painfully aware that your eyes are about a foot South of where her eyes are as you talk to her. It’s all in the body language and facial expressions, visual cues and hints that are supposed to be impossible to miss.

Or, so one would think.

The guy at the booth turns his head towards the other side of the room, his eyes lighting up like Christmas morning, and Steve doesn’t even have to follow the man’s gaze to know who he has spotted. Over at the other end of the counter, Natasha sits in front of her laptop with her forehead scrunched as her fingers dance across the keyboard. The expression on her face is one of deep concentration. It is the universal Do Not Bother Me face. The Talk-To-Me-And-I’ll-Kick-You-In-The-Face face. But as Sam had said, this guy hasn’t a clue as he makes his way towards her, his chest puffed out with renewed vigor.

There isn’t a single doubt in his mind why this bozo (he’s certain of it now that he’s seen the guy interact with other humans) has zeroed in on his best friend. Natasha is gorgeous with eyes the shade of shining emeralds and scarlet tresses cascading down her back, its tips still platinum from when she had gone blonde. But more importantly, she’s devastatingly smart and witty – just ask everyone she’s obliterated in the courtroom once upon a time – and her sense of humor is absolutely top notch.

But there’s no way this bozo could know any of that. The only thing he recognizes is that Natasha’s dazzling as he perches on the stool next to her, leaning an elbow on the table and nearly knocking over her glass of water. Natasha’s reflexes are fast, though, and she pushes her laptop out of the way just as water sloshes over the top and onto the counter. She looks to the culprit, her eyes squinting into a death stare when she does not recognize the person next to her, and from where he’s watching the scene unfold, Steve laughs quietly, throwing the towel into the sink before making his way over.

“The name’s Brett,” he hears the guy say as he nears. “What’s yours, beautiful?”

“Nice to meet you, Brett,” he says, intercepting the guy’s hand just as he wraps his other around Natasha from behind, pulling her closer to him and dusting a kiss to the crown of her head. “Her name’s Natasha,” he informs him with a huge grin as Natasha relaxes into his touch. “And I’m Steve. Though I much prefer to be called her fiancé.”

Brett’s expression crumbles at his words, and he utters a quiet apology and then a farewell before exiting the bar defeatedly like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.

“Fiancé, huh?” Natasha says, swiveling her chair around once Brett is out of sight. “We’ve certainly upgraded from fake boyfriend.”

He smirks. Since they become good friends in college, they made an agreement that when one of them got into a situation with unwanted advances, the other would step in as a rescue. It offered a painless out for the both of them at parties when they weren’t particularly interested in a person back then, and now it’s become a nightly rouse to fend off enthusiastic patrons.

“Seemed like the type who wouldn’t be deterred by the notion of a boyfriend,” he says with a shrug.

She raises an eyebrow in challenge. “A bit of a hard sell without a ring, don’t you think?”

“He didn’t even notice that you wanted to be left alone,” he argues. “Doubt he has half a mind to look at your left hand.” She shrugs in concession just as a yawn falls from her lips, and he eyes the time on his watch. “Go home,” he says before smirking. “Before you attract more clowns.”

She rolls her eyes. “You should head home, too,” she counters. “Or are you and Tony painting the town red or whatever it is you two do?”

“Nope,” he says. “I have a meeting with my Dad and a potential buyer for Sarah’s in the morning, so no outrageously late nights for me. In the name of putting my best foot forward and all that.”

“You say that like you don’t always.”

“Tell the press that,” he deadpans. She shoots him a sympathetic look, but he’s quick to dismiss it with a shake of his head.

“Wanda and Peter are receiving deliveries tomorrow, so I don’t have to be here early,” she says, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “You go, I’ll lock up.”

“Nope, not happening,” he says. “Go get your stuff and I’ll order you an Uber.” He puts a finger up just as her lips part to speak, effectively cutting her off. “And yes, I know you’re very well capable of roundhouse kicking someone’s teeth out, but I’m doing it anyway.” With Natasha’s years of practice in both gymnastics and mixed martial arts, he has no doubt in his mind that she can handle herself, but better safe than sorry late at night on the streets of New York. “It’s late. Go home, get some sleep.”

“Yeah, because I’m just dying to get home,” she mutters as she slips her laptop into her bag.

His expression hardens at her words. “Johnny still bothering you?”

“No more than living in the same building with only so many elevators as your determined ex fiancé does,” she says, her smile a little too sweet for his liking.

To any other person, Natasha’s response is convincing. But he knows his best friend well, knows how much the situation still eats at her. He isn’t a proponent for violence, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t had thoughts of throwing Johnny Storm off Natasha’s tenth floor balcony once or twice for what he did to her.

“You know, the unit next to mine just opened up,” he says. “We’d rock being neighbors. It’ll be like we’re in college all over again, except this time, we’ll be borrowing grown up things like salt and sugar instead of cans of Red Bull.”

“No one actually believes that you eat sugar, Rogers,” she says teases, drawing a slim outline of his figure in the air. He rolls his eyes at her, making her laugh. “Look, I finally got the apartment I wanted after all these years.” She shakes her head. “He can move if he wants. As for me, I am a tree.”

“Well, tree, your Uber is around the corner,” he says, looking at his phone. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Oh great,” she says as they walk out the door. “For a second there, I thought I was going to have to walk the eight feet between this door and the car without an escort.” He shoots her a withering look, and she chuckles before leaning in to peck his cheek. “I’m kidding. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” he says, opening the car door for her to get in. He waits for the car to drive off, but he finds himself confused when the window rolls down instead.

“One last thing,” she says before gesturing to his face. “Trim a little. Don’t shave it off, but you know… tidy up a bit. You’ll have your dad’s buyer eating out of the palm of your hand in no time.”

He scoffs. “Thanks. Don’t know how I could ever function without you.”

“You don’t,” she says, smiling.

“Go home, you goof,” he says, shaking his head as she gives him a wink and rolls the window back up. This time, the car drives off, and he waits until its taillights are out of sight before closing up for the night.

Update 12/02/19: CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL CHAPTER ON AO3

My sincere gratitude, as always, to @faith2nyc for the beautiful teaser art. If you’re not already following her on Instagram, please do!

DISCLAIMER: Final version may differ as the chapter enters the editing stage. Also I totally did not proofread this for typos and/or run-ons.

#romanogers #natrogers #natrogersfics #faith2nyc #Never Be the Same #new fic alert #preview #Steve Rogers #Natasha Romanoff #AU #fanfic #alternate universe #ao3 #capwidow #yes this is totally named after the camila cabello song

93 notes · View notes

anpannkko · 5 years ago

Text

Here's my entrance exam for @taiyuu-high-oct

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiru bounced her leg, growing antsy. The pit in her stomach that had formed when she arrived has been filled with the prickly thorns of impatience. She’d been in the waiting room for what felt like actual years. The rest of the students had slipped into a sedentary state, idly checking their watches or cleaning their nails, or even just staring at the wall. Every so often, someone would jerk their head, fighting off the tendrils of sleep seeping into their bodies.

"STUDENTS!" the over-enthusiastic voice crackled over the intercom, jolting the examinees out of their stupor. "Prepare yourselves for the most dangerous exam of your lives! This exam is fraught with peril, fear, and…" The voice, who Kiru supposed was a woman, trailed off. "Buckskin, what's another word for danger?"

"Er, maybe it'd be best to get to the exam part, Miss Laccadaisie." A soft voice (Buckskin, apparently) replied.

"Ah." There was a pause, then a scraping sound, like the microphone was being pushed across the table. "Your turn, then."

Buckskin sighed. "Anywho. Students, pay attention to this bit. Your entrance exam will be given in the form of an obstacle race." Low whispers snaked across the room. Some students, like Tokachi and Hiraku, brightened. Their quirks were well suited for a race. The others looked deflated, Kiru among them. How was she supposed to show off her quirk in an obstacle race?

"Some of you may be feeling downcast," Buckskin said as if reading her thoughts, "but don't fret. We've taken care to ensure that all quirks will be usable." The room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"You will be scored in three categories. The first: heroics, which is measured by how many enemies you defeat and bystanders you save. The second: speed, measured by how fast you defeat each obstacle. The third: co-operation." Kiru raised an eyebrow.

"You will be taking the exam with an assigned partner."

...

Oh boy.

Cries of indignation filled the room.

"What?! This a group project?!"

"I hardly know anyone here!"

"Oh...what if I'm no help?"

Laccadaisie cleared her throat pointedly. Everyone quieted down immediately. Buckskin muttered a quiet thanks, then continued. "Your pairs will be displayed on the screen to the right, and then you may leave through the door on the left. Remember, your points are cumulative, so don't try to sabotage your partner." He coughed. "Er, we wish you all the best of luck.

"And don't forget to have fun!" Laccadaisie chimed in. And with a click, the intercom shut off.

Silence.

Kutou was the first to pipe up. "Whoever gets assigned with me, you better not expect me to carry you."

"Vhy vould anyone trrrrust you enough to carrrry zem?" A girl with purple hair and grey skin muttered.

The screen on the right flashed.

TAKAKUTOU SHAKOU & TOKACHI AMEKO

Kutou stood up and trudged her way over to the door. "Come one, bunny girl. Let's get this done." Tokachi stood up begrudgingly, glaring with all the powers of Hell at Kutou's retreating back. Kiru whistled lowly.

She never wanted to be on the receiving end of that glare.

The two of them slipped out of the room, and after that people started trickling out into the most important moment of their careers. The screen flashed brightly, sealing each pair's dates.

SEISHIN TAMASHI & INOUE HIRAKU

YUKINO ZOË & HOTARU FUJI

SUZUKI POPI & ARAKAN KOATSU

With each person that left, the tension grew heavier and heavier until Kiru could practically taste it. Her potential partner options grew slimmer and slimmer. She had a sneaking suspicion who hers was gonna be, but she kept praying it wouldn't be so. Soon everyone had left except for…

Him.

She hadn't even bothered to learn his name. Why waste time and energy getting to know someone you'd never plan on talking to by your own free will?

The look on his face told her that her line of thinking was paralleled.

She sighed. "Well, howdy doody, partner? What's your name? I didn't catch it over the sound of your stupidity whilst you were preening earlier."

He scoffed and pointed to the screen.

KANZOU KANEDA & KOTTOBA KIRU

"Personally, I'd rather avoid speaking to you more than is necessary," he drawled. "Don't want to give the impression that I tolerate you."

Kiru rolled her eyes. "Your loss, McSalty, you're missing out on a stellar personality." She strode over to the door and opened it, giving him a comically over-the-top bow. "Ladies first."

"What an elementary insult."

"Honey, if you thought that was an offence, you've never looked in a mirror." She shut the door behind her. Kanzou opened his mouth, probably to give some poorly thought out retort, but was cut off by a rather distracting explosion.

Kiru ducked instinctively and turned her attention to the scene before her. Several surprisingly human-sized robots were darting around; breaking windows, throwing around bricks, and harassing passerby. There were screams of citizens (which she hoped were simulated) echoing around. Above them all, a significantly larger robot floated above the chaos, clearly meant to be the final boss.

She whistled. "They really went all out, didn't they?" Silence. "Alright then. Can you handle a couple of robots while I do some rescues?"

"Let's just get this over with." He rushed off and started hurling...sugar? At the robots? How was that supposed to help?

She shrugged and ran off towards the nearest citizen, who was being attacked by a villain. The citizen was a different type of robot, more round and friendly-looking. The enemies were sharper-looking and had screens on their faces, which was currently displaying “>:)”. Kottoba rushed over and tugged the attacker off, throwing it across the street. It was surprisingly light. She turned back to the citizen and helped it to its feet.

“You alright, man?” The friendly robot brushed itself off and gave Kiru a thumbs up before running off. She smiled. That wasn’t that hard. She ran to the next group of citizens and herded them away from the fight. Then there was one pinned under a bit of debris. Then a child-sized one stuck in their house. Then a couple, clinging to each other, being beaten by a whole gang of robots.

She obliterated them all.

Feeling more and more confident with each moment, she turned around to check on Kanzou.

“Oh, brilliant.”

The narcissistic rat was challenging the boss. There was a random assortment of small fruits and vegetables floating around him. He was hurling sugar everywhere, occasionally spicing it up with a piece of produce, which didn’t seem to have a be super effective. The boss was attacking him so fast, it was a wonder Kanzou wasn’t shredded to bits by now.

“Oi! Raisin-brain! What are you doing?!” Kiru yelled out.

Kanzou glanced over and at that moment the boss was able to land a hit. He dropped to the ground.

“Frick-” Kiru rushed to him, prepared to help and possibly perform CPR, but Kanzou kicked her as soon as she was in range.

“Ow! Why?”

“Get down, you stupid friking idiot.” he hissed. Kiru dropped immediately.

“Why the heck were you fighting that thing? You were supposed to get the little ones down first.”

Kanzou rolled his eyes. “Did you forget the entire point of this thing? It’s a race, dummy. Obviously, the big bad is the obstacle. We've gotta defeat it and then find the exit."

“Okay, then, what do we do?”

He put a hand on his chin and furrowed his brow. "Obviously, it's a tough one, considering my skills were barely able to make a dent in it. We'll have to rely on trickery."

Kiru gave him an incredulous look. "Your skills? You mean throwing potatoes at a robot?"

He gave her a harsh glare, cold as ice. "Well, you haven't done anything significant this whole time."

She sputtered. "I'm the only reason we even have points! You're the unhelpful one! All you've done is chuck fruit and I could do that without a quirk!" Kanzou opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment The Boss hurled a handful of small building chunks at them. One piece smacked Kiru in the head, and it hurt.

To put it delicately, Kiru lost it.

"Oh, rust off, you bucket of bolts!" She popped up from their shoddy hiding place, anger boosting her new-found energy. "You are the sorriest excuse for a villain dummy I've ever had the displeasure of meeting! You're not even doing anything, you stupid hunk of garbage! Your mother was a roomba and your father came from a scrapyard! What are you even made of, brainless steel?!" The Boss stopped suddenly, its facial screen glitching. Sparks flew from its joints, and it jerked violently. Kiru backed away. It was going crazy. The robot stopped convulsing, its facial screen briefly displaying an ":0" face.

And then it exploded.

"Gah!" Kiru scrambled out of the explosion's range. Flaming pieces of robot rained down, making it 100% more dangerous. A hand tapped her shoulder and she jumped. It was Kanzou, who was pointing to a door that had opened up on the other side of the fire.

"That has to be the exit!" He exclaimed. Kiru nodded in agreement.

"How do we get there?"

In response, he flicked his hand and drew out a white powder from one of his pockets. "You need to follow me closely, otherwise you'll get burned." He took off, laying down thick layers of powder in front of him. Kiru bolted after him. The powder seemed to put out the fire almost instantly. After they had gotten through the worst of it, he spread his arms in a grand gesture, and a flurry of powder settled over the remaining flames. He turned back, satisfied. Kiru grinned.

"Race you to the exit." Kanzou rolled his eyes, then dashed ahead of her. "Hey! I didn't say go yet!" She yelled, but she wasn't really mad. She ran after him, but he totally got there before her. "Rude."

"Don't be offended,I'm just better than you." Kiru snorted. She pushed open the door, giving him a comical bow.

"It's still ladies first."

"Excuse you, I'm a queen." He strode in and yelped. Kiru quickly followed him.

"What? What is-" she gaped.

In front of them, there was a large screen, displaying their rankings among the other examinees.

"Second place?!" Whatever Kiru was expecting, it wasn't that. "Heck yeah, dude!" She raised her hand for a high five. Kanzou just scowled.

"I could've done better if you hadn't slowed us down." He meant it to sound insulting, but Kiru thought he sounded more mad at himself.

Or maybe her brain was filtering it to sound that way as not to ruin her mood. Whatever.

"Well, we're in the school now. Schools are for improving, right?" She grinned. "I'll just have to work hard to turn my stupid into strategy." Kanzou didn't respond, but he didn't scoff or roll his eyes, so Kiru took that as a sign he'd taken her stellar advice to heart.

Ah, yes. Kottoba Kiru, dropper of hot wisdom, maker of puns, master of flirtation…

Hero hopeful.

13 notes · View notes

creaturecarnival · 5 years ago

Text

Hylics Part 2

Okay, first off, hello to our massive influx of new followers! We look forward to writing for you all, and want to give a huge thanks to the folks over at @weirdmarioenemies for being so gosh-darned cool :) Now I have something to actually motivate me to write more reviews, so without further ado, here’s part 2 of our Hylics creature review!

Creature

For our first new creature, we have, well… Creature! Creature here is an optional boss that you can encounter in one of the overworlds. It seems to be made almost entirely of the most basal of all clay shapes: balls and snakes (there is no way you could possibly take that out of context so don’t even try it)! I do love the layout of this thing, even if it’s very simple. I feel like the appeal of a giant mass of writhing tentacles is relatively universal, but I also like that the only feature Lindroth elected to give it other than tentacles is a little cluster of pale eyeballs on top and to the front(?) of its body. You’d kind of expect it to have some kind of big, gaping maw full of teeth, and maybe it does! Like a lot of the other denizens of Hylics, there’s not much to them other than whatever we can discern from their sprites, and I think that’s fun! When killed, Creature drops a Chitin Jerkin, which is described as “Sensible everyday-wear for the modern machine” as well as a Parasite Crystal which just does some stat buffing stuff we don’t need to talk about, I just really like the names.

Ghost

Ooh, they’re peekin atcha! Peekin out through their wacky flesh spirals! The way the clay winds around the action figure part really gives off the impression that it’s some kind of creature wrapped around a human, like a flech mesh flesh mesh flesh mech! Especially since there are tendrils coming off the extremities that look like they would function as essentially extensions of the body within. Speaking of those extensions, I love that instead of just one projection coming off of each foot, there’s two! So instead of walking like a regular person, it walks using its four sub-legs. Also it’s got a cool funny hat that I kind of wish came down over the eyes so that it looked like the clay part was the head, but at the same time the eyes peering through the clay bits is really eerie.

Dread Meat

Oh no, somebody left this boy out in the sun! They’ve gone all melty! Dread Meat is very similar to Ghost in its structure, however, its limbs do not have projections, and there is no trace of humanity to it beyond the hands and feet just barely emerging from what I can only imagine to be rolls of oozing meat. It feels like a zombie of some kind, although there is nothing else in the game that looks like it could be the un-undead version of this corpulent corpse. The thing I like most about its design is probably the fact that the head is a big loop with a grisled knot off to the right, presumably to hide the action figure head. It gives it some nice asymmetry.

Sub Shrub & Tomb Shrub

Oh my god. Adorable. These little green guys with huge lumpy wedges for heads and no discernible facial features should not be anywhere near as cute as they are. Also, I guess the name implies that these guys are plants? Anyway, Sub Shrubs can be encountered separate from Tomb Shrub, but they’re relatively weak on their own. But during the Tomb Shrub fight, it summons Sub Shrubs to help it out. Teamwork makes the dream work! I just love these little fellas! They look so squishy and silly! Also when he first encountered one, Vinny said the Sub Shrub looks like an “aborted pizza” and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Fathead

I was just thinking when I was writing Dread Meat’s review how fatty tissue isn’t something you see a lot in monster design, and here we’ve got this funky fella, whose head appears to be nothing but a massive glob of fatty tissue! I know there’s not much more to it than that, but it’s a nice concept for a creature and I like it a lot.

Monoops

Monoops’s gimmick seems to be its single eye… wait.

...Huh. I guess contrary to what the name would imply, Mono-ops has two eyes. That’s pretty neat actually! You don’t see many monsters with eyeballs as their design gimmick that have only two eyes. Usually, it’s either one or a whole bunch. It even has a move called Steady Stare that does damage as well as paralyzes its target, solidifying it as having an eyeball-centered design. I also really like the battle sprite’s color scheme.

Deadly Statue

Occupying a very similar role to the Ambulant Skulls, which you can read about in our last review of Hylics, Deadly Statues are only found in one area of the game. Similar to Ambulant Skulls, they kill you when you touch them, making them a purely overworld enemy. They are also much faster than Ambulant Skulls, matching the speed of the player exactly. Who'da thunk a big ‘ol statue’d be faster’n a skull made half’a legs?? Not me, that’s for darn tootin’! Anyway, I quite like its design. If I were an eccentric millionaire, this is exactly the kind of shit I would want sitting in the main foyer, flanked on either side by two huge, sweeping staircases of course.

Clawman

Clawman is the second-to-last boss in the game, they are equipped with two big yellow pincers and a ridiculously enormous head. I feel like the name and inclusion of pincers really makes you want to read it as a crab when really, the claws are the only vaguely crab-like feature they possess. You could argue that those spines on top are reminiscent to those of a king crab, but they’re flexible and curl inward towards each other like claws! That’s such a cute little touch!

Moon Soldier

Moon Soldiers barely qualify as enemies, since they literally can’t harm you, crumpling into a heap of bloody bones the moment you touch them. However, I think they’re really cool looking so we’re gonna take a look at ‘em anyway, god dammit. They guard the palace on the moon in which the final boss resides. It’s interesting how their heads are shaped much like that of our protagonist Wayne, (maybe they’re even the same species?) and the pale blueish color of the head against the cream of the clothes is really nice to look at. I kind of wonder if those are helmets they’re wearing, since the skull-like face markings almost look artificial, but there seems to be a very thin line between organic and synthetic in Hylics.

Gibby & Statues

Gibby is the main antagonist, and therefore the antithesis to our protagonist Wayne, who is a waning crescent instead of a waxing gibbous like Gibby, and instead of having a rad mohawk has no hair at all, which is basically the antithesis of having a rad mohawk. Gibby is, like, the king of the moon or something? I dunno, the plot in this game is kind of impossible to follow. If you’ve made it to the final boss, you’ve probably given up on trying to understand anything and are just here to see whatever batshit nonsense thing happens next. If you thought Clawman’s head was ridiculously huge, get a load of this guy! It looks like he can barely support its weight! How is it simultaneously swollen and gaunt? I dunno, but it’s kind of legitimately unsettling to be honest. It looks like his skin is pulled super taut over his face, almost like a desiccated corpse.

He also has two statues that aid him in battle. The Vital Statue to his right heals him, and the Eerie Statue to his left can afflict the protagonists with the nausea status effect. Can I just say how cool it is that there are four separate enemies in this game that have “statue” in their name, and they all look completely different? It’s really neat to see a single idea represented in so many different ways, ranging from somewhat recognizable to completely abstract. Most importantly, I think they’d all look lovely in the foyer of my imaginary mansion.

Conclusion

Hylics is a hell of an experience. It definitely has its flaws, such as clunky controls and practically nonexistent plot, but it’s at least worth watching someone play. The visuals are truly stunning, and you can really tell how much love went into making it. A huge portion of what you see in-game was painstakingly crafted from clay, rendered as a sprite, and worked into the game to become characters, enemies, and even the settings you walk around in. Please follow Mason Lindroth on Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram, where he is currently posting updates on the progress of Hylics 2, which looks absolutely gorgeous judging by what he’s shown us so far, and I’m so excited to play it when it’s done. Please also consider donating to his gofundme page to support him in his development of Hylics 2.

#mod frankie #hylics #mason lindroth

8 notes · View notes

eastasianfeelings · 6 years ago

Text

stop talking about him, stop it: Kihyun

— based on Monsta X as jealous boyfriends

Summary: The new VJ on your team observes that you’re a little too close with Kihyun. He’s right, and you try to rectify it, but Kihyun has other ideas.

Words: 3.8k

Warnings: jealousy, some angst, making out

It’s never great to hear criticism at work, no matter how constructive. It stings even more because it’s coming from Seonwoo, the newest hire in the Monsta X video production team. Although he seems to be about your age, apparently his credentials are good enough that Manager hired him one level above you.

But you’re a professional, so you accept his words as gracefully as you can. “I see, so the videos featuring Kihyun seem too conversational?”

Seonwoo nods. “Too conversational with you, the VJ behind the camera. According to my analysis of Monsta X behind-the-scenes videos, the most popular are those where the members interact with the camera directly, as though speaking to fans.”

“Yes, that makes sense,” you say politely. Honestly, you know this. It’s why Wonho and Minhyuk are great to work with, and Shownu not so much.

“I noticed a lot of videos with Kihyun were filmed by you, so I just wanted to mention this to you,” Seonwoo says with a smile.

It doesn’t feel as if he’s trying to be too condescending, so you give him the benefit of the doubt and reply, “Thanks. I’ll review my work and check for that.”

“If you’d like, we can go over the videos together and I can point out what I think,” he offers.

“Sure,” you say with an internal sigh. “Well, I don’t have any more meetings today, so I was going to head straight to the computer room to look at the raws after this.”

“I don’t have any more meetings, either. How about I join you now?”

You just nod and let him fall into step beside you.

The computer room’s empty when you arrive, save for one person with bulky headphones in the far corner playing some game. You settle down at your usual computer and pull out your USB sticks. Seonwoo seats himself beside you.

“We all keep our own project files on portable memory,” you say, making small talk as the video editing software fires up. “The storage capacity on these computers isn’t great, but they’re fast, so the whole VJ team shares them.”

“I see.” Seonwoo nods solemnly and watches you open a work-in-progress video taken from behind the scenes at a music show.

You’re assuming he wants to talk about why you suck at interacting with Kihyun, so you skip through Changkyun’s and Hyungwon’s parts to find the ten-minute long conversation with Kihyunnie. “Here’s what I’m working on now.”

Seonwoo leans in and you hand him an earbud, then play the clip.

In the footage, Kihyun’s explaining the small card he designed to give out to Monbebe. You hate to admit it, but you can start to see Seonwoo’s point. Kihyun’s gaze oftens moves above the camera lens instead of straight into it; he’s clearly talking to the VJ, not the fans.

“You see here — ” Seonwoo reaches past you to hit pause. “He spent the past ten seconds speaking above the lens.”

“Yes,” you acknowledge. “He tends to go into a lot of depth whenever we ask him to describe something. So I usually edit for length, and in that process I remove a lot of the off-lens footage.”

“But I think it would be optimal to have the most solid footage possible to begin with,” Seonwoo replies, “so that we have more choice when it comes to editing.”

“Of course,” you say. “That’s always the principle.” But obviously, it’s harder to put into practice.

“Great. May I suggest something?” Seonwoo leans in again and frames Kihyun’s face on the screen. “When he starts talking off-lens, raise the camera and change the angle to take yourself out of his line of sight. You can back up too, that would have the same effect.”

“Right,” you say slowly. “Remove myself from the conversation.”

He snaps his fingers and points at you. “Exactly.”

You nod, but the prospect of distancing yourself isn’t exactly something you want to cheer about. It makes you feel interchangeable, in a way, like you’re just a human prop there to hold a camera in front of the Monsta X members.

You don’t want to be interchangeable to them, to Kihyun.

Before your thoughts can get too angsty, your name surprises you.

“Y/N-noona?”

Speak of the devil.

Both you and Seonwoo look round to see Kihyun approaching. His hair is mussed from the bulky headphones you saw earlier, which are now dangling around his neck.

“Kihyun-ah!” You sit up straight and instinctively alt-tab to another window. “I didn’t know that was you in the corner.”

“Yeah, I didn’t hear you come in,” he says with a sheepish grin.

“What were you playing, Overwatch?” Your smile comes much more easily now. “I think you should give up on trying to beat Vixx’s Hongbin, you know.”

“Who said I’m trying to beat Hongbin-sunbae?” Kihyun defends himself immediately.

You have to laugh at how quickly he got his hackles up. “All right, never mind, I’m just joking.”

Beside you, Seonwoo clears his throat subtly, and you’re abruptly reminded of his unfavourable view of your interactions with Kihyun. So you wipe the laughter from your voice and make introductions.

“By the way, have you met Seonwoo? Seonwoo-ssi, this is Kihyun of Monsta X. Kihyun-ssi, this is Seonwoo, a new VJ on our team.”

“Nice to meet you,” Seonwoo says politely, and the two shake hands.

“So you guys are editing a video?” Kihyun leans over you to peer at your screen.

Quickly you stand up to try and block his view. “Yeah — ow.” Your movement causes the earbuds to yank forcefully out of both your and Seonwoo’s ears.

“Ouch,” he says on a hiss.

“Oh man, I’m sorry — ” You sit back down with a thump. “Are you okay? That was my bad, sorry.”

Seonwoo gives a wince and a half-smile. “No harm done.”

“Noona, are you okay?” When you look around, Kihyun’s a step closer, concerned face all up in your area.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” You lean back and put out your hands to hold him off, conscious of Seonwoo beside you. “Anyway, yeah, we’re editing a video.”

Kihyun cocks his head, but doesn’t push. Instead he reaches down to your lap and picks up the fallen earbuds for you. “Cool, I don’t have any schedules this afternoon. Can I watch?”

You feel Seonwoo’s startled glance. “Sorry, no,” you say, trying to hit the right balance of apologetic and firm. “Watch it when it comes out, okay?”

“…Okay,” says Kihyun, his cheer cooled by puzzlement. He steps back and looks between the two of you.

You offer him a smile, while Seonwoo says, “Nice to meet you, Kihyun-ssi.”

“You, too.” Kihyun’s almost frowning now, but finally he walks off.

Seonwoo turns to you and lowers his voice. “You let him watch?”

“A few times, in the past,” you hedge. “It’s not like they have a lot of time to do so.”

“Right,” he says, and fortunately drops it.

You spend the next half an hour walking him through the finer details of a typical Mon Channel video. He asks a lot of questions that leave you with the impression that he does know his stuff, technically.

K-pop-wise, though, there’s a lot to learn.

Later that evening, Kihyun surprises you in the kitchen.

“So is the video ready yet?” He pops up from behind as you’re preparing an end-of-workday nightcap.

You jump slightly and nearly spill your tea. “Yikes, Kihyun-ah, you scared me.”

“Why?” He gives you an innocuous smile.

“Nothing. The video from this morning? It’ll take another few days to go through the rounds. It’s late, how come you’re still here?”

“I told you I don’t have any schedules this afternoon.” Kihyun moves further inside to lean against the counter. “You were editing my part today, right?”

You dodge the question with your own. “Shouldn’t you take advantage of your clear schedule and go home to rest?”

“I’ll rest tonight,” he says. “Were you talking about me with that new guy? Seonwoo?”

“Uh — what?” you buffer.

He straightens off the counter. “Is that why you were so cold to me this morning? You were discussing my facial expressions or something?”

...Okay, that’s wrong enough to make you relax and laugh. “No, Kihyun-ah, we were not discussing your facial expressions. I was showing him how Mon Channel videos work.”

“So why did you make me leave?”

“Come on, you know how sometimes new people get weird around you guys when it’s their first time working with idols,” you fib as casually as you can.

He buys it, relaxing to lean back against the counter again. “Yeah? Okay.”

“The world doesn’t revolve around you, just remember that,” you joke.

“Just your world, noona,” he teases right back, breaking into a dazzling smile.

You pretend to consider. “Hm, last time I checked, there were six other men who are just as important as you.”

“But you’re my VJ,” Kihyun says, still smiling.

Eh?? “Your — ? I’m not your VJ.”

He tilts his head. “You are, though.”

“Yah, just because I give you a little more screentime than Minhyuk-ah doesn’t mean I’m your VJ,” you say, keeping your tone light.

“That’s because Soonyeong-noona films Minhyuk the most, and you work with me the most.” Kihyun’s smile is slipping.

“Not always,” you push back. “Our team doesn’t have official assignments. And with Seonwoo joining the team, we’ll probably start rotating coverage some more.”

“So you won’t be filming me anymore just because the new guy joined?” Now he’s flat-out frowning.

“No, no. I just meant that our team is growing now, so we’ll be able to have more coverage and get more material.” You reach out and give him a light punch in the shoulder. “It’s a good thing, you know?”

Kihyun draws back like you walloped him. “Well, I thought of you as mine,” he says plainly.

Um. You keep your face neutral and try not to freak out. He doesn’t mean mine romantically; you’re pretty sure you’ve done an airtight job of never revealing your mini-crush on him. This sounds more like a case of blurred professional boundaries.

“We’re all your VJ, Kihyun-ah. The whole team is everyone’s VJ.” You put on a smile and pick up your forgotten tea. “Anyway, I’m heading out, you should too, okay?”

He moves to block your way. “Hang on a moment — ”

“Whoa.” Someone enters the kitchen and walks right into Kihyun.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Kihyun turns and automatically bows; over his bent back, you see that it’s Seonwoo.

“Hello.” He dips his head to both you and Kihyun.

“Seonwoo-ssi!” you exclaim, a little loudly. “I didn’t realize you were still here. Already pulling overtime?” You paste on a smile and pray that he didn’t overhear the conversation you had just now.

“No, I actually just forgot my lunchbox at work.” He points at the fridge behind you.

“Oh, of course.” You jump out of the way and take the opportunity to slide past Kihyun as well. “Well, I’m going home now. Seonwoo-ssi, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kihyun gives you a look. “What about me?”

You frown. What about him? Whether or not you see Kihyun and the rest of the boys depends on their schedules, which you have zero control over. But you say, “See you tomorrow, too, Kihyun,” and hightail it out of there.

Over the next few weeks, you’re unofficially tasked with Seonwoo’s onboarding, which means you listen to all his observations about the Mon Channel video backlog and babysit him during Monsta X group activities to explain what goes on. You barely even get to hold a camera; it feels like as soon as you have a spare moment to pitch in with filming, Seonwoo’s there to ask what a first win pledge is, or why the members are wearing name tags during dance practice.

Your manager’s assured you that it’s temporary, just until Seonwoo gets his feet firmly under him and understands how the K-pop idol world works. You’ve cracked some half-jokes in response about raising your salary to reflect how your responsibilities have grown to include onboarding and training.

One early Monday morning, you and several other teammates are headed to a low-stakes variety show to film behind the scenes. You’re rejoicing because for once, Seonwoo’s not on the company car with you. This means that when you arrive at the dressing room, you finally get a camera in your hands.

Soonyeong nudges you as the Monsta X members file in. “It’s been a while since you filmed, right? Are you still taking care of the new guy?”

“Yeah,” you say with a sigh. “I don’t mean to complain, but… he just doesn’t know enough about K-pop. It’s taking up so much of my time.”

“Okay, that’s what I told Kihyun. I think he’s afraid you’ve been avoiding him or something?” Soonyeong shrugs. “Oh, there’s Minhyuk, I better get to work.” She hurries off before you can ask what exactly she meant about Kihyun.

Hefting up your camera into the familiar position, you scan the room to see what each member is up to. But before you can pick a member, two hands swoop around your head to cover your eyes.

“Guess who!” says a bright voice from behind you.

You squash the instant flutters in your heart and pull out your most casual tone. “Seriously, Kihyunie?” You shake him off and turn to see him blinking innocently at you. “This isn’t a romance drama.”

“Yah, I’m surprised you even recognized my voice.” He crosses his arms and shifts his weight onto one hip, striking a miffed pose. “You haven’t talked to me in weeks.”

“Don’t exaggerate, it’s not cute.” You prod him in the shoulder and tip him off-balance. Total lie; he’s always cute.

“I’m not trying to be cute!” Kihyun says immediately, looking mortally offended.

“Then why are you embarrassed right now?” you say with a laugh.

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Really? Look how red you are though.” You reach up to poke his cheek.

Just then, you see behind him — is that Seonwoo walking in the door?

Instantly your good mood fizzles. Did he come along in the second company van? Should’ve known that Manager would’ve brought him along, with how clueless he is.

“Y/N-noona?” Kihyun’s frowning at your hand in mid-air. Quickly you snatch it back. “What is it?” He turns to see what you’re looking at.

“It’s Seonwoo,” you say glumly. “I’ll probably have to supervise him again. See you around, Kihyun-ah.”

But when you move to step past Kihyun, his grip on your arm stops you. “Wait, noona, hang on.”

“What is it?” You tug at your arm, not eager for Seonwoo to make more assumptions about your relationship with Kihyun.

But Kihyun physically pulls you around and starts herding you away from the door and toward the opposite end of the dressing room. “I need to talk to you.”

“Right now??”

“Yes.”

He frees your arm to put his hand against the small of your back, and before you know it you’ve been propelled into the single-stall bathroom that’s connected to the dressing room, and Kihyun’s locking the door behind himself.

“Yoo Kihyun!” you say sharply. “Can’t this wait? I have to oversee Seonwoo right now — ”

“Stop it.” Kihyun’s gaze is directed off to the side; he’s breathing a little fast.

You frown at him. “Stop what?”

He doesn’t answer directly. “You haven’t talked to me in weeks.” It’s a repeat of what he said outside, but this time there’s more emotion behind the words.

Cautiously, you say, “I know, but not on purpose. I was training Seonwoo — ”

“Stop talking about him,” Kihyun says, raising his voice ever so slightly.

“Kihyun-ah.” Now you’re concerned. “What is it? Is there something going on with you?”

Finally he looks up, and there’s an unfamiliar light in his eyes. “Noona.” He walks forward until there’s only a short distance between you two. “Do you like him?”

You stare blankly in response.

“Do you like him?” Kihyun repeats.

“I heard you the first time,” you say, bamboozled out of your mind. “I’m just really confused as to why you’re asking that.” Also, he was the one who just said to stop talking about Seonwoo.

“Do you or do you not? Isn’t it a simple question?”

“You mean romantically, right? Not as in, do I like him as a good colleague, right?” you check, just in case Manager set up Kihyun to find out whether you’ve been trashtalking the new employee.

Judging by the way Kihyun’s staring holes into you, that’s probably not the case. “Yes. Romantically.”

“No, I don’t like Seonwoo romantically.” You have to laugh at how absurd the concept is. “Why would I?”

Kihyun stares at you some more, then abruptly turns away and paces to the other side of the bathroom, which isn’t very far.

“Kihyun-ah, seriously, is something going on?” you ask.

“Then why do you spend so much time with him?” Kihyun spins back around to throw another question at you.

“I told you, I’ve been onboarding him.”

“And that’s why you’ve been completely avoiding me.”

“I’m not…” You pause. Maybe telling Kihyun about what Seonwoo said would just clear up all this mess. “Listen. Seonwoo noticed that the videos I film with you are too conversational, too friendly, too… close, okay? And he’s right, I reviewed my footage and I haven’t done a good job of getting you to talk to the camera instead of me. So I’ve been taking some time to think about how to do that.”

Kihyun’s quiet and still, absorbing that. You spread your hands toward him. “I haven’t been avoiding you because I don’t want to work with you, I promise. I’m just thinking about how to work better with you.”

“What if I want to be close?”

He looks up. You look back.

“What?”

“What if I want to be close with you?”

...No way. No way does he mean it, not the way you’ve secretly wished for. Holding onto that thought, you say, “We can’t blur boundaries, Kihyun-ah.”

He strides forward until he’s back in your space and you’ve got the sink digging into your back. “But I want to.” His voice has gone lower, husky.

You take in a shallow breath. “You… want to?”

Carefully Kihyun places his hands against the sink counter on either side of you, and all of a sudden there’s a storm of butterflies in your stomach.

Is this really happening?

He says, “I want you.”

If you leaned forward even a little bit, your mouths would touch.

You draw in a breath, feeling light-headed, and the scent of him washes through you. Without thinking, you place your hands on his biceps to steady yourself.

The muscles ripple as he immediately drops his arms from the counter, uncaging you.

“Noona?” A whisper.

You look into his eyes, his open, vulnerable eyes, and you lean forward.

Your mouths touch.

His lips against yours feels like the start of a dream, so light and ethereal you’re not sure if it’s happening or not. You feel like you should be able to sip sweetness from him, take in that beautiful vulnerability and taste it on your tongue.

When you draw back, Kihyun’s frozen, eyes wide.

You take your hands off his arms, heart racing wildly. Shaking with nerves, you cover your mouth with a hand and think, What did I just do?

But Kihyun unfreezes, reaches out to pull your hand away and puts his lips back to yours like it’s the most natural thing in the world. This time he drives the kiss, working his tongue slowly but surely until you’re leaning back helplessly against the sink, clinging to him for dear life. His arms wrap around your back and pull you into him, hard. When you slide a hand upward into his hair and tug, he just about moans into your mouth.

Things inside you clench, and that sensation makes you twist away from him with a gasp. You can’t find any words.

“Noona,” Kihyun says, voice rough. “Noona.” He pulls you upright, and you look into his shining eyes. “I like you.”

That makes you laugh even as you recover your breath. “No shit.”

“Aren’t you going to say it, too?” He purses his lips in a small pout.

“Are we in elementary school?” you deflect, pushing at his arms around you.

Kihyun moves forward, and in one step he’s got a thigh wedged between your legs, pressing you back against the sink. “No,” he says, the one syllable suddenly an octave lower.

You duck your hot face away and struggle not to squirm against him. “Kihyun-ah, hang on. This is — ”

“Are you saying it or not?” He presses in closer, enough for you to feel what’s going on down there.

“I like you,” you blurt.

His eyes crinkle as he smiles wide, and he looks so beautiful that you can’t help but tip forward and peck him on the lips.

That lights him up even more, if possible, and he’s leaning in enthusiastically to continue when a thump sounds on the door.

“Yah, get out, I need to go!”

Both of you jump apart and stare at each other.

“This was such a bad idea,” you whisper at him.

“What??” Immediately Kihyun draws up straight. “No, it’s not. Noona, I really like you. You like me too, you said so — ”

“I meant locking ourselves in this bathroom!” you interrupt on a hiss. Your entire face must be red at this point.

“Oh.” He relaxes, considers for a moment, and then shrugs. “Well, at least this way it doesn’t have to be a secret.”

“There are reasons why these kinds of relationships have to be secret.”

His eyebrows dive down. “We’re not going to be secret, though.”

“We’re not?” Honestly, you always clocked Kihyun as the type to prefer discretion.

“No. This way you can officially be my VJ.”

You blink. “They’re not going to make me your official VJ just because we see each other.”

“And that guy can stop telling you to be less intimate with me.”

That is one heck of a scowl on his face right now. You prod at his cheeks. “I told you I don’t like Seonwoo — ”

“And I told you not to talk about him.” Kihyun’s hands lift to cradle your head up for another plush kiss.

“He’s my colleague,” you say, when he lets you up for air.

“But you’re mine,” Kihyun says cockily.

Your spluttering is cut off by more knocking on the door, and you hear Minhyuk’s voice: “Kihyun-ah, if you’re stinking up the place, I swear I’m throwing out all your serums when we get home!”

You muffle a giggle. “Okay, seriously, let’s let Minhyuk-ah use the bathroom.”

Kihyun considers, then abruptly drags you to the door and swings it wide open. “Y/N-noona and I are dating!”

“Kihyun — !”

“Whatever, just get out.” Minhyuk dashes by you guys and slams the door shut.

That leaves the two of you framed against the door, with an entire dressing room full of people staring at you.

“You better explain this well,” you mutter to Kihyun.

He just lifts your entwined hands, beams and announces again, “Y/N-noona and I are dating!”

Author’s note:

It’s 12:18 AM and I have to get up at 7 AM for work but I told myself I’d finish Kihyun’s fic this weekend, and here it is. I think, in writing this, I realized just how much of a bias Kihyun is for me, oh my god.

#yoo kihyun #monsta x fics #kihyun fic #monsta x #monsta x scenarios #monsta x imagines #eaf original #eaf: jealousy series #eaf writes monsta x

109 notes · View notes

thirteenthspirit · 5 years ago

Text

Not a Very ‘Organized’ Organization (XIII)

I thought hard about this week’s topic of choice. Brexit was on my mind - I pondered about doing a comparison between parliament’s never-ending struggle with delays and failed agreements, vs Harvest Moon’s unending gameplay, farming and shipping and eventually marrying and digging in the mines and COLLECTING ALL THE DAMN SPRITES in that DS one. But that’s as far as it goes… I didn’t think I’d be able to milk it like those cows (hey!).

Speaking of Hey, I still want to get Space Channel 5 in there somewhere, those Chu’s and Hey’s have been on my mind like crazy…

So I settled on writing about one of my favorite topics – Organization XIII!

Organization XIII was always one of my favorite parts of the Kingdom Hearts series. They are cool and mysterious and (debatably) heartless, ranging everywhere from the mute heavyweight champions (*cough* Lexaeus *cough*) to the twink rockstar wannabes.

So, Organization XII is, like the name implies, a group of 13 nobodies – wait, scratch that – a group of 14 nobodies (eyeroll) who have banded together to… um… depends on who you ask. And in which game. Their primary goal was to be whole, to be granted a heart/soul, even if practically EVERY ONE OF THEM had a different agenda and there was a whole underlying separate reason for the creation of the Organization. NO WORRIES, let’s stick with that, because it’s more fun.

Ok so, breaking down the members, should we go by number? Order of appearance? Relevance? Element of choice? Maybe click (you know, high school clichés)?

Well – first you have the Mains. Roxas (no. XIII), is the counterpart of Sora, the main character in the whole series. So you know he’s gotta be pretty high on the list. The most interesting thing about Roxas is surprisingly NOT that he’s voice by Jesse McCartney, but the duality of elements he controls. Light and Darkness are everywhere with this guy – his outfit has chess squares on it and he wields both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, not to mention having an incredibly sad and traumatic origin story! He’s like, a slightly smarter and moodier Sora. I like Roxas, I’m sad they didn’t give him anything to do in KH3. Dual-wielding keyblades is pretty awesome and his light attacks can hit pretty hard. One of my favorite moments of the series will always be his fight with Riku in the secret ending of KH1, over 10 years ago! Seeing Roxas clash with Riku in mid-air in front of that clock tower (not to be confused with the one from Neverland – I mean England) really made my heart race as a kid. He can also boast to having shared quite a couple of awesome struggles (go Vivi), with Sora in that “Station of Awakening” place where Destati usually plays, and then with both his best friends - while trying not to be kidnapped by his “Flurry of Dancing Flames”, best friend Axel, and when dispatching Xion.

Xion (no. XIV) is a “puppet”, made to take over Roxas’s place and role in the Organization, should anything happen. She is an interesting character, tragedy befalls her and her journey with coming to the realization that she must sacrifice herself for Sora’s behalf (in order for him to become whole again) is a beautiful one to see. Vector to the Heavens plays when you’re fighting Xion for the last time, ending with Roxas effectively killing her and is a beautifully crafted piece. Xion suffers a bit from that ‘unintentional retcon’ where she didn’t really have a place, story-wise, and was created solely for 358/2 Days. So she was effectively written-out of the main storyline until the later games, with every character practically forgetting about her (literally losing their memories of her).

Rounding out the trio is one of everyone’s favorites – bad-guy good-guy Axel (no. VIII). Axel’s portrayal changed throughout the series. In CoM, he is responsible for unmasking a conspiracy and dispatching rogue members of the organization. He is the de-facto assassin. With not a hint of remorse. As his friendship with Xion and Roxas builds, he regains access to some degree of emotion – perhaps it’s caused by the (stick with me on this one) Lea-Ventus-Sora-Roxas-Axel connection, or perhaps he grows a heart, sitting on that clock tower overlooking the (ALWAYS SETTING) sun of Twilight Town and eating sea-salt ice cream. Eventually he turns on the organization, proving his loyalty is to his friends and even joins the main cast as a Keyblade wielder, turning the tides on some occasions (he really makes the end of DDD worth it). It helps that he has a wicked-cool design. His element is Fire and he wields twin Chakrams, boasting two tear tattoos and incredibly spiky hair. His relationship with Kairi is a cute element to the story, I wish (aside from some more combat or like ANY AT ALL) they had more scenes together and overall relevance to the main storyline. My favorite moment, aside from him rescuing Sora from his peers in DDD, has to be when he executes Vexen in Castle Oblivion.

From Axel, the most closely linked member, aside from Roxas and Xion, is SaÏx (no. VII). SaÏx is a warewolf. The moon sends him into a trance and he is often plagued with anger management issues. Berserk is his Nirvana. Him and Axel go way back and there is still a storyline to be uncovered there, judging from the secret reports found in KH3. In the end, his motivations aren’t really clear and fully explored, so his presence is not much more than Axel’s right arm, who happens to have a big “X” scar on his face. Sorry SaÏx – maybe see a therapist. At least you got a happy ending! SaÏx was one of the last Organization members to fall, in KH2. One of the last defenders of the Castle in (one my my all-time favorite KH worlds), The World That Never Was.

Another of the final defenders and members of the Organization to be vanquished at Sora’s had is – *drumroll* arguably MY FAVORITE OF THEM ALL, the incredibly hot and suave Luxord (no. X). Now – this guy is blonde. Has facial hair. Earrings. A British accent (maybe that’s just in my mind) and makes me look up his voice actor just to drool over that sweet sweet voice. He is the “Gambler of Fate” and shows up in the POTC world to basically taunt you and play a few games. Everything’s a game to this guy, even fighting. Which I can’t say he is great at… For someone able to control the element of Time, he’s kind of a pushover. But he’s still got a place in my heart – and maybe we’ll get to see him again, since he was the one who gave Sora that “wild card”… “Parlay!” more like “Let’s play strip poker pls”.

Who next… well let’s round out the oddballs with this guy. Ladies and gents, fans of the underground metal, garage bands and mohawks – I give you… Demyx (no. IX)! The Melodious Nocturne! …although there is nothing ‘nocturnal’ about him. This guy irradiates happiness and excitement and joy. I suppose he is just pretending, since Nobodies can’t really feel, rather they remember what it was like. Dem-dem too is a fan favorite. He is very young and has a different disposition than the rest of the members, he’s just your lazy, average Joe that just wants to spend his days jamming out on his Sitar. He is the first Organization member to fall in KH2, and is considered “not much of a fighter”. I would obviously disagree with this BECAUSE DANCE WATER DANCE MOTHERF***** is hell. Hell! Still, Dem-dem brings some lightheartedness to the game and the entire group, so he is a welcome addition. He is shunned even in KH3 but that’s just a side note of his… personality traits, I suppose. Never forget when he ‘drops the act’ just before turning on Sora, before what would be his final battle. Demyx controls the element of Water.

And since when it rains, it pours; and when it pours, usually it thunders (at least here in Portugal), that seems like a decently-crafted segway to the next member – Larxene (no. XII). Larxene is… a bitch. I don’t say that lightheartedly, I consider myself a feminist and I never forget that quote “when a man is assertive, he’s called a Boss. When a woman is assertive, she’s called a bitch.” But Larxene is just MEAN. She’s the mean girl of the bunch – together with her GBF Marluxia. Larxene poses some of the hardest fights in CoM but sadly, and like most female characters in this series, she’s shunned in favor of other members. This is a critic I have with the entire KH series – Aqua is virtually my favorite character but she’s really the only female character that is given storyline, relevance and overall strength. And like most fans I was DYING to see Kairi kick ass in KH3, but… we all know how that went. Not much to say about Larxene, her lightning-fast attacks and knives give her a pretty sharp demeanor and she’s not afraid to play every trick to her advantage. Standout moment is, unfortunately, her demise in CoM, fading into darkness. Oh and that laugh.

Larxene’s ‘somebody’ appears in KH: Unchained, together with Marluxia’s somebody. Marluxia (no. XI) controls the attribute of Flowers.

Yes.

Flowers.

He also boasts pink hair and – the best part – a huge pink scythe. His nickname is “The Graceful Assassin” but aside from plotting to overthrow the Organization and posing as the main antagonist in CoM, he doesn’t really do a lot of killing. The fights against him in KH2: Final Mix are among my favorites, especially with that countdown as he swings about the field. It seems he has quite a role in the Mobile game, so maybe we’ll get to see more of his backstory in the future. His final parting words were somewhat mysterious. Together with Larxene and a sneaky Axel, Marluxia betrays the Organization and his fellow members in Castle Oblivion, for his own agenda.

The assignment to Castle Oblivion introduces us to 3 other members of the organization – Vexen (no. IV), Lexaeus (no. V) and Zexion (no. VI). And 3 character tropes. The mad scientist, the jock, and the emo kid.

Vexen, aka “The Chilly Academic”, controls my favorite element, Ice. He is, ironically, killed by Axel in a flurry of flames, in a very dramatic moment in CoM. Vexen merely wants to conduct his experiments in peace – he doesn’t care who rules, what happens to the worlds, even who might or not be possessing him. He only cares about his “Replica” program. The Replica program consists on the creation of “puppets”, bodies able to function who are only missing a heart. He plays quite the role in KH3, effectively redeeming himself. Vexen is one of the creepiest characters around – he has long blond hair and green eyes, but really that ‘mad scientist’ vibe is all that transpires. Shout-out to his English voice actor, Derek Stephen Prince, for giving him a creepy vibe. He’s not much of a fighter, with his weapon of choice being an icy shield called “Frozen Pride”.

Zexion is one of the younger members of the Organization – perhaps even younger than Demyx. He is also arguably one of the smartest. Like Vexen, he cares mostly about his research and specific topics of interest *cough* Riku *cough*. However, his young demeanor reflects some innocence – he is the only member you don’t fight against in CoM, ending up murdered at the hands of Axel (with a little help from a Replica…). I really like Zexion, to battle he wields a book (the Lexicon) and would rather dazzle the opponents with some crafted illusions than hit them hard. He is one of the most prominent figures in KH3 and his reunion with his Master, Ansem the Wise, is very touching and reveals once again his innocence. He is often accompanied by Lexaeus, who is essentially a shadow of Zexion, a silent guardian to the smaller member. It is suggested he has been protecting Zexion since the latter was a small child.

Lexaeus fights Riku at one point, effectively forcing Riku to unleash the darkness in his heart just to defeat him. The Organization member is a towering figure and barely ever talks – he is just muscle, but emanates a safe and caring feel outwards, especially in his interactions with Zexion. To battle he wields a huge hammer-like weapon (which totally reminds me of Rikku’s weapons from FFX) called the Skysplitter and commands the element of Earth.

These 3 members are one half of the initial 6 apprentices, who formed the Organization. These founding members all worked together under the tutelage of Ansem the Wise and range from the scientists like Vexen and Zexion to the guardians like Lexaeus and Xaldin.

Xaldin (no. III) is very much… wasted. His virtually only appearance is in KH2, in his vain attempts to turn The Beast into a heartless. His most evident feature is his sideburns. Xaldin’s sideburns are thick, dark and intimidating. He also wields a lot of lances – like, more than 3, which he uses his wind powers to attack you with. He has a really cool attack where he forms a dragon out of wind and blows you to pieces with. Other than another “werewolf” look, that’s pretty much it. Mickey to the rescue!

Then we get to Xigbar (no. II). Xigbar, or Braig, or Luxu, OR ONE-EYED PIRATE, I’m not sure there is much of a difference, became a usual presence throughout the series. Apparently he’s been around for a loooooong time, ever since the forgotten time of the mobile game. He is a cool dude. His “As If” will go down as a pretty cool quote. Xigbar’s nickname is The Sharpshooter and he immediately stands out from the bunch. We are still unaware of his agenda and interests, not knowing to what extent he is controlled or, rather, he is controlling the narrative. He is overall an awesome character, essentially sniping you from afar with his stylish gun-like weapons. He even fakes his own death in KH3! In what is one of the best moments from the final act. His interactions with the rest of the Organization are always funny to watch, especially with his on-and-off younger lover, Demyx. The standout moment against him is undoubtedly that moment during his fight where he corners you and forces you to run around trying to avoid the millions of blue bullets being aimed at you. One of the best members overall.

And then there was I. Mr. Xemnas (no. I) aka “The Superior of the In-Between” (seriously bro, that’s the nickname you’re gonna pick?) aka “MANSEX” among the fans, aka “Xehanort’s nobody”. He is the man behind the Organization, the one really pulling all the strings. I’m gonna skip the part behind his motivations, they’re murky and the writers decide to change them between games, and I’ll get right down to the cool bits – THE SWORDS. Yes, Xemnas wields two red lightsabers. No, he is not Darth Maul, just a fan. He is calm and has a raspy voice, never really getting too flattered (that one’s yours, Axel). The coolest interaction with Xemnas is the final battle against him. Besides his black and white coat, he eventually summons a plethora of red projectiles which surround Sora and Riku, as they (in a very realistic, grounded and believable moment), deflectem with their respective keyblades. Xemnas ends up falling a bit short when compared with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness… He was just never that menacing of a villain, especially with his always calm behavior.

And that’s it. That’s the full list of the organization members. This turned out to be more of an exposé on each of the members, than anything else. I thought about trying to find real-life personalities to match each of the members, but eventually came up short on that. Organization XIII’s struggle to “be whole” and regain the part of their humanity they had lost – their soul, the ability to feel, always struck me as a really interesting motivation. For quite some time, the idea that you could shed the part of you that is able to “feel” struck me as something good, something to be envious of. I was, of course, wrong – even the dark feelings within us are what gives us the ability to connect and empathize with others.

So be sure to deflect those projectiles, and someone PLEASE give my number to Luxord,

-João A. (Pachiren)

17 notes · View notes

nero-spardas · 6 years ago

Text

roadside - leon kennedy.

title: roadside.

pairing: leon kennedy x reader.

word count: 1,964.

warnings: alcohol, cursing.

summary: when your car starts acting up in the midst of a rainstorm, it can only lead to one thing: getting piss-face drunk with your partner.

author’s note: crossposted on ao3 as well! this was inspired by the bar scene in 27 dresses too haha.

You knew your car was a piece of shit; it was old and hanging on by its last thread. It was your first car and the one your mother gave you as a high school graduation present. You considered it your baby and you treated it as such, having always taken good care of it. The end was nearing though and the moment you felt fast vibrations from under your seat, you knew your luck was about to run out. You had been begging your superiors to rent you a car for traveling, anything you were able to use until you were on furlough and able to fix your current one. They had declined the request, leaving you in the worst position. Those assholes.

“Does it normally do this?” Your partner questioned, concern written across his features. You didn’t even need to look over at him to know he was concerned – after being partners for three years, you had picked up on Leon’s habits fairly quickly. His monotone voice was one of those habits; sometimes he would add a hint of concern, a hint of annoyance, or whatever emotion he was feeling at that moment. Normally, you would snort at his words and quip a witty remark, but him speaking was only adding to your frustration. Your hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, causing your knuckles to flush white.

“No, jackass.” You grumbled, eyes remaining focused on the road. Out of the corner of your vision, you could see Leon lean back into the passenger seat, his arms crossing themselves over his bulky chest.

His eyes squinted, gazing at the barely visible road. “Do you really think we should keep going in this?”

It had started pouring down rain thirty minutes ago, which was the start of all your issues. The wheels had begun acting up, the brakes were squealing – you knew your car like the back of your hand, but this was something you hadn’t witnessed before. It made you perplexed and almost questioning whether you should continue down the highway or not. The rain was making it hard to see and you could see fog approaching up ahead. You also knew you hadn’t seen a sign or exit for the past ten miles, leaving you practically stranded in the middle of nowhere if you were to stop.

“Do we have a choice?” You asked, finally sparing a quick look in his direction. “Hannigan wants us back at headquarters by tomorrow and if we aren’t there, she’ll bitch at us.” Grumbling the last part, a sigh departs from your lips.

“I’d rather have her yell at us than die because you crashed the car.” Leon retorted, causing you to slam on the brakes as you pulled over to the side. The vehicle skidded to a stop after a few seconds of sliding, anger taking root across your facial features. Once the squealing from the brakes had subsided, you turned your head to face him.

“Fine! Let’s just stop the car in the middle of fucking nowhere and walk, since you obviously know everything!” You exclaimed, opening the driver side door. You didn’t bother to grab your umbrella or wait for Leon as you got out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind you. Before you had the chance to stop yourself, you started walking down the empty highway and into the grey fog ahead.

Your heels echoed behind you, the rain pouring down on you. It didn’t take long for you to become soaked. You kept your gaze glancing around, hoping to come across a road sign to indicate wherever you were at. Behind you, you could hear Leon’s boots slopping against the wet pavement. Your arms remained tightly crossed over your chest, angry deep breaths being exhaled from your nostrils. The two of you remained consumed by silence, the only noise was the pattering of rain, as you finally reached an exit off the highway. A bar sat across from the exit, giving you something to finally smile about.

“Oh, thank god.” You muttered under your breath, your pace picking up as you practically ran towards it. It didn’t take you long to rush inside, the warm heat causing shivers to run up your back. It was a dive bar, what some would consider being a hole in the wall. It would do for the night and offer some shelter, at least until the rain passed. Leon ran a hand through his soaked hair, eyes meeting yours.

“I’ll call Hannigan and see if she can send a crew to pick us up.” He gestured towards a payphone in the back of the bar, eyebrows raising at you. “Go get a coffee or something, alright?” Concern danced behind his tone, your head nodding at the words.

You found yourself seated at the bar in no time, not bothering to order a coffee but instead, a shot of whiskey. You had earned it after everything you had gone through tonight and earlier in the day. You and Leon had been assigned to deal with some farm boys who had gotten their hands on a couple of B.O.W.S. They had sworn up and down they weren’t doing anything with them and they only had them to help with their crops, which was absolute bullshit. When you and Leon decided to play a game of good cop versus bad cop, they had confessed they were planning on getting rid of their other farming competition and you had the rest of your team take them to headquarters for further questioning. It wasn’t unusual for you and Leon to go your own separate way from the rest of the team, as the two of you were loners – besides for whenever you were around each other. There was a sense of comfort exchanged between the two of you and you often found yourself thankful for his company, even throughout the worst of times. You considered him your best friend and you figured he considered you his best friend.

As you drank your shot of whiskey, the burning liquor sliding its way down the back of your throat, you felt a hand curl around your shoulder.

“The phone is busted. Looks like we’re going to be bitched out by Hannigan tomorrow.” Leon spoke out before sitting on the barstool beside you. Your eyes rolled at the statement, motioning to the bartender to bring you both more. “I thought I said to get a coffee?”

“Fuck your coffee.” You scoffed, offering a playful smile in retaliation. “I figured I could use it after having to deal with you all day.”

“And like you’re any better?” Leon chuckled as the bartender returning with two more shots. Your eyes rolled once again at the words, your calloused fingers raising the shot glass.

“Cheers to us for being the most annoying people we both know.” You raised an eyebrow before Leon nodded, the two of you downing your shots immediately. You winced at the burning sensation before setting the glass down on the mahogany counter, eyes never straying from him.

“Actually, you’re not the most annoying person I know.” Leon rasped, the liquor having an effect on his throat. “I ever tell you about the girl who rescued me from Raccoon City, only to turn on me?”

The two of you continued downing shots of whiskey for what seemed like an eternity, swapping stories of your pasts as you both became more unhinged by the alcohol. The liquor was a blessing in disguise, allowing you two to be open about things you never imagined. Leon had opened up about Raccoon City, the event that would later force him into working for the USSTRATCOM. You knew about Raccoon City and what had occurred but throughout all the years as partners, he had always avoided discussing the topic and would get upset whenever it was brought up. You had opened up about your past, how you knew you always wanted to be a federal agent and the first time you had to kill; they were conversations that normal citizens would think were morbid and taboo. But between the two of you, they were almost comforting to discuss.

As you drank what seemed to be your seventh shot, your favorite song began playing from the beat-up jukebox in the back of the bar: Bennie And The Jets by Elton John. You bobbed your head to the lyrics, Leon nudging you with his elbow. "Come on, [Y/N]! You can't just sit there and nod along, you gotta' sing it!" He exclaimed, his words slurring slightly together.

Laughing at the way he spoke, you nudged him back. "She's got electric boobs –"

"Those are not the lyrics!" Leon burst out laughing, resting a hand on your right shoulder. He gripped it slightly as if he was going to fall from his barstool from laughing.

"And mohair shoes!"

"You know I read it in a magazine, oh-oh!" He chimed in, giving your shoulder another squeeze.

The two of you sang along to your made-up lyrics before finding yourselves standing atop the bar, singing to the rest of the bar. The rest of the people had crowded around the counter, chanting the actual lyrics as you twirled around, a bright grin across your face. When the song ended, Leon scooped you down from the bar before your gazes met each other. A lop-sided smile has taken root across his face and you can feel the warmth radiating between you. In the back of your head, you can hear yourself screaming to kiss him, but you resist the urge. You can't tell if it's the alcohol screaming or your heart. As if he can read your mind, he takes a step forward to close the distance between you. By now, the rest of the bar-goers have returned to the tables and have started taking swigs of their beers again. One of Leon's hands makes it way across your waist, pulling you closer to him and you can smell the liquor lingering in his breath. If you can smell his, you're sure he can smell yours and yet, he doesn't pull away and neither do you. You want this and you can almost swear that he does too. His gaze makes your knees feel almost weak as if you could fall at any moment, and you're thankful for the hand he has set on your waist.

"I'm glad I met you." He spoke, breaking the silence between you. His voice barely hovers over a whisper, earning a nod from you. Before you can answer, you cup your hands around his face before pulling his face down. Your lips meet his and the kiss is intoxicating. He tastes like the whiskey you two had been drinking for the past few hours and while you normally would have been disgusted, you find yourself desperate for more. Your kiss lasts for what seems like minutes and when you hear some whistles from the bartender behind you, you pull away to catch your breath. Leon does the same.

"You wanna' go back to the car?" You pant out softly, gesturing towards the door. Leon nods frantically as if he is desperate to keep this moment going. Reaching into your pocket, you throw a handful of cash at the bartender before telling him to keep the change, the two of you rushing out of the front door as quickly as you originally entered.

When you exit, you realize it stopped raining hours ago as the pavement is already halfway dry, and you can't help but grin. You would have to thank your car later for being your wingman and for being sturdy enough to handle what it was going to go through in a few.

#leon kennedy imagine #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon s kennedy imagine #resident evil #resident evil imagine #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #imagines #leon s kennedy x you #leon kennedy x you #mine *

157 notes · View notes