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araviera · 3 years ago

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Mermaid AU

"My parents are coming tomorrow and how am I going to explain to my mom that there's a merman in my bathroom?"

"You can hadle it. I know this, Wisegirl."

Annabeth helped Percy get to the bottom of the beach to free him. After he managed to fend for himself, the merman looked at her and said something that Annabeth could not hear thanks to the earplugs she wore. Considering the time they spent together in the bathroom and the endless conversations, she took off the earplugs, trusting him, and smiled.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty," she joked.

Percy smiled back, and Annabeth soon regretted taking off the protector. She saw, through his eyes, lines of evil that told mermaids stories. He started to sing.

Annabeth struggled, fought, but failed to overcome the spell. Percy sang and called her deeper, further out to sea. He said that everything would be fine, that it wouldn't hurt, and she knew it was a lie. Annabeth's body obeyed without reluctance. Her mind watched everything without doing anything. Annabeth, the real one, panicked. It was sinking deeper and deeper. She felt algae and corals at her feet. The rising tide was pulling it harder and harder. She was no longer able to touch the floor when she took Percy's hand.

Annabeth cursed him with every possible name in her mind. She had been careful at all times, she hadn't trusted him right away, and yet she had failed. She had been foolish to think that even though she knew a little about him, he would not betray her.

Soon, the ground disappeared. Her body was no longer able to stay above water. Percy pulled her down from time to time.

Annabeth submerged.

The pressure and suffocation of the water brought her down. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to avoid the salt water. Automatically, she held her breath, before the merman speak with her.

"Open your eyes, Chase. Look at me."

His melodious, sweet voice made her obey him. Annabeth exhaled and looked at him. Percy was beautiful, there was no way to disagree. His skin shone under the moonlight under the water. Her hair floated like black algae. The blue interior of his eyes, which in humans are red, shone brightly.

Annabeth was beginning to despair. "He's going to kill me. I'm going to die. I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry, dad. Forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Percy came over, ready to bite her, but she saw him hesitate. He looked at her, and before she lost consciousness, he looked away.

He would never be able to say what exactly went through his head to give up the idea of killing her. Of course, in addition to liking her, since they had spent a few days together and she had been a true friend (something he never had), Percy had the impression that there was something wrong.

But it was already too late.

Annabeth was dying, he knew. He had done this many times before. Her face was losing color, water was entering her lungs freely. There was not much to do for her. For a human.

Percy couldn't kill her, couldn't let her die after the last few days - he decided. He leaned over and pulled the blonde's head hard towards him and kissed her.

He had never done that before, but his studies at the Palace provided knowledge like that - which, honestly, Percy thought that all hybrids should know.

The girl's limp body shone brightly and stretched. Percy felt her skin turn into scales, sprout fins and thin her waist. He felt the girl's clothes disappear in his embrace, with nothing he could do.

When the metamorphosis passed, Annabeth was breathing weakly.

Percy lost his breath when he saw her.

"Gray?" He thought aloud.

Lines of magic, created by the brightness of the moon, descend from the eyes to the body. Her tail was encrusted with shiny stones.

Percy hoped she would turn into a random mermaid, but gray... Gray was an extremely rare color, and that was worrisome.

Annabeth could sum up that week as a nightmare. The last thing she remembered was being under the spell of Percy's Singing. She was drowning and, then, darkness. Only darkness. Annabeth woke up with a tingle throughout her body. She looked everywhere, but didn't recognize where she was.

Then, she saw Percy.

Percy was standing on the end of the bed, watching her. He wore a robe that covered part of his body, as well as an alternative crown on his head.

At first she thought she was dreaming. Then, started to scream.

"Annabeth! Annabeth! Calm down!" he tried.

"Calm me down?! Get away from me! Monster! Treacherous! Traitor! I trusted you!" she screamed, but her voice was affected, and only then she realized that she was under water, that she was breathing, and that she was undressed.

She screamed even more.

"What did you do ?! Percy! What did you do?" Annabeth felt her throat tighten when she looked down.

Her legs weren't there. A tail stirred back and forth unconsciously.

"Annabeth, listen" he tried again. "I'm sorry-"

"NO, DON'T FEEL" she fumbled for the nightstand looking for something she could use for defense.

"-but I needed to do this. You were going to die" Percy approached.

"No!" she hid her fork behind her and asked for distance between them. "Don't talk to me! If you hadn't betrayed me, I wouldn't nearly have died!"

His shoulders withered.

"Wisegirl, I ..."

Then Annabeth decided that hitting the prince of the kingdom would be a good deal.

After that - Percy almost dying with a hit in his heart, the royal family locking her in her room, discovering she would never see her family again, crying, breaking furniture and other tantrums - Annabeth felt more alone than before. Percy, whenever he could, went to visit her, but she never let him in or talked about it. She was devastated.

Her mother must have been in tears thinking that her daughter had died.

She would never be able to see her family again...

Later, Percy appeared at her door and threatened her.

"Annabeth, I don't want to have to do this, but today there is dinner at the Herbal Garden and you will be my mate," he said. "A maid will leave your clothes here, and I will come and get you. If you aren't, you will be thrown to the sharks."

And left her alone, terrified at the thought of being killed.

Annabeth didn't trust him or his family, but she had to trust her enough not to fall.

And that was what she was doing at that party.

"You see? I can swim on my back"

"Pff, look behind you, Percy"

And, thats it. Mermay finally ends :"(. It was so cool do a Percabeth au underwater. But maybe i should explain some points:

1- Percy is immortal bc he is Poseidon' son (duh) and he is the prince and heir of Throne (Sally is a mermaid too).

2- Percy has few friends, and, usually, Poseidon doesnt give him permission to hang out with them. There is all the pression at him, so Percy never can be himself.

3- Zeus was a merman from an important royal family, and Athena too (cause she is his daughter, duh/2), but they decided living on mortal realm and left all behind. Athena never told this to Annabeth, but she alwals said to her to stay away from sea.

4- Poseidon, Sally and Percy, first, didnt know who was she, but they "addopted" her because she was from an important family.

5- Annabeth finally talked with her mother. Athena said how worried she was, how happy she was to Ann was alive and how sad she was about Annabeth transfomation.

6- After this, Annabeth and Percy became friends. They hang out together and Poseidon let them hang out with Percy's friends.

7- Annabeth met Rachel and Grover, and she loved them.

8- Annabeth became known as Prince's Wife and as Princess before they know they like each other. The gray tail became famous in the "City that never sleeps"

#percabeth #annabeth fanart #annabeth chase #percy fanart #percy jackson #percy and annabeth #mermay 2021 #mermay #mermaid #pjo headcanon

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smarti-at-smogwarts · 4 years ago

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Theo Abbott Profile

Identity

Name: Theodosia -Theo- Jane Abott

Gender: ....-throws peruvian powder bomb- gender neutral tho she doesn't have the label for it.

*She goes by she/her pronouns though

Age: varies depending on when I’m writing her.

Birth Date: January 11th XXXX

Species: Human

Blood Status: Half-Blood.

Sexuality: Queer af. Bisexual. Arospec.

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Ethnicity: Mixed.

Nationality: English

Residence: Godrics Hollow. Abbott home.

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ENFP-T [ Turbulent Campaigner ]

The Mage

Wand: Ebony. Dragon heartstring. 13 inches. Quite Flexible.

This jet-black wand wood has an impressive appearance and reputation, being highly suited to all manner of combative magic, and to Transfiguration. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider, ebony wand owners have been found both among the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix and among the Death Eaters. In my experience the ebony wand’s perfect match is one who will hold fast to his or her beliefs, no matter what the external pressure, and will not be swayed lightly from their purpose.

As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner.The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.

Animagus: Pine Marten

Misc Magical Abilities: Unknown undecided magical ability. ( will be edited when I figure what i want her hphl ability to be) Animagus.

Boggart Form: Theo is terrified of being forced to be something she’s not or being trapped. This shows itself by a square room with no windows popping up in front of her. The walls the start closing in on her.

Riddikulus Form: The walls collapse like the sides of a carboard box.

Amortentia ( what she smells like) : Parchment and ink. Crisp night air. Cinnamon cloves Pine trees.

Amortentia ( what she smells) : Misc smells that represent different people from the Taghd Lynch Defense Squad/her closest friends. Firewood burning. Lemon cakes. Fresh cut grass ( from the quidtich pitch)

Patronus Memory: She’s at the Hogwarts common room goofing around with her housemates and friends. Basically her realizing she’s found a place to be herself and accepted as she is.

Mirror of Erised: Her happy and content and herself in her own home with her writing and her cat and her friends and the fuck away from Godric’s Hollow.

Specialized/Favourite Spells:

At Hogwarts_ Anything you can use on a prank. Some defensive spells as while Hogwarts was fairly accepting of her she did get a bit hassled ( there’s always that one occasional asshole) about both being a girl in the quidditch team and how she chooses to dress out of uniform. Some offensive spells from when she got into fights/duels in the halls along Taghd and Teddy. Her best spells are the ones used to sneak around her mother and grandmother.

Out Of Hogwarts_ While not a spell, apparition becomes her most used magical feat as she likes to visit her friends as they all settle into her adult lives. She also learns a bit of healing spells from either Adelia or Teddy ( and at both their insistence that if she’s going to be getting into trouble out there she should be able to patch herself up a bit. )

*In the Taghd Dies Verse where she becomes an auror she adds a lot of offensive spells to her arsenal “best defense is a good offense right?” Theo no.

Appearance

Faceclaim: Saoirce Ronan

Game Appearance: N/A

Height: 5′6′’ by year 7.

Weight: Average weight for her height.

Physique: On the thin side. Somewhere between rectangle and hourglass boy shape wise. Has muscle on her due to Quiditch. Strong facial features.

Eye Colour: Light blue

Hair Colour: Dirty Blonde as a child. Darkens with age. Often untidy from running or flying and held up/back.

Skin Tone: Fair

Body Modifications: None

Scarring: Has a set of diagonal scars on her leg from when she tried to play with a splintered bat during a quidditch match. A few random scars from scrapes from school that got a little too rough before being broken up.

Inventory: parchment. Quill. Ink. A Claddagh ring from Taghd. Random and assorted books. Notes from her friends. Her wand. Hair pins. ( she keep forgetting she has them there so she just stuffs more in her bag. No one knows how many she has in there by now, not even her)

Fashion: https://www.pinterest.com/xhowling/theo-jane-abbott/#fashion

*Theo tends to prefer Hogwarts robes and wizard fashion in general more as they’re more gender neutral. ( as in both genders wear robes though they differ in style and in Hogwarts case they do not differ at all from one gender to the other) so she wears them more.

When it comes to muggle clothing she’s most comfortable on cable knit sweaters and plaid ( though she favors the former a lot more) because she used to steal Taghd’s though if she has to “dress up” she’ll wear more masc fashion. She’s influenced by Teddy’s fashion sense a bit for that. She also wears her Gryffindor tie even after leaving Hogwarts but with dress robes/a shirt and vest instead.

She tends to prefer more muted colors with like accents of one color or one point of color (i know nothing about fashion please bear with me. Hopefully the pinterest helps)

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor.

Ilvermorny House: N/A

Affiliations/Organizations: Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Taghd Lynch Protection Squad. Gryffindor house.

Professions: Student. Writer/Anthologist. Becomes an auror in the Taghd Dies Verse.

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆☆

Charms: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆☆

DADA: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆

Flying: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Herbology: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆☆☆

History of Magic: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆

Potions: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Transfiguration: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆☆

Electives:

Apparition

Muggle Studies

Study of Ancient Runes

Quidditch: Plays as Chaser and Beater reserve.

Extra Curricular: Does writing count?

Favourite Professors: I think she’d like both Atticus Irwin Grimsley ( @cursebreakerfarrier ) and Toby Moore ( @unfortunate-arrow )

*Will probably add teachers as more details of the games are release

Least Favourite Professors: Pretty much any teachers that have issues with how she dresses or are of the snobby pureblood category are a safe bet.

*Will probably add teachers as more details of the games are release

Relationships

Misc Siblings: None. Theo is an only child.

Father: Unknown atm. All Theo knows is he was a muggleborn wizard.

Mother: Emily Abbott

Love Interest: N/A

*arospec but might have fwb/flings as she figures things out and possibly a platonic life partner/partners in the future. Most likely will end up living with friends as family either way. ( the friends she lives with may even have spouses of their own just...a bunch of friends living in a house as family)

Best Friends: Taghd Lynch ( @unfortunate-arrow ) Lu Morrison ( @rosievixen ) Arthur -Teddy- Elllsion ( @cursebreakerfarrier ) Adelia Selwyn ( @that-ravenpuff-witch)

Rival: She hates Cillian Lynch ( @unfortunate-arrow) and Ernest Ellson ( @cursebreakerfarrier) bc they are unkind to her boys/two of her closest friends. I can imagine they do not like her that much ( seeing as Theo’s about as secretive and sublte about not liking people as a wrecking ball through the wall)

Enemy: tbd

Dormmates: Lu Morrison ( @rosievixen) 3rd and 4rth room mates unknown atm.

Pets: Theo adopts a niffler in the future once she’s out of Hogwarts. Her family has very strict rules about owning pets though at some point in Hogwarts she adopts a stray cat and somehow manages to keep it a secret even when/if she has to go back home for Holidays.

Closest Canon Friends: tbd

Closest MC Friends: Taghd Lynch ( @unfortunate-arrow ) Lu Morrison ( @rosievixen ) Arthur -Teddy- Elllsion ( @cursebreakerfarrier ) Adelia Selwyn ( @that-ravenpuff-witch ) Fred Morrigan ( @ljthebard1) Gabriel Sapieha ( @lizzieparkerhphm ) Danny Gibbson ( @catohphm )

Background/History

Pre Hogwarts: Theo was an “indiscretion” born to Emily Abott and an unknown ( to most) muggleborn wizard. The family kept her, fed her, made sure she knew the proper way for an Abott to act, but there was no affection to this and Theo sometimes wondered if it wasn’t only out of duty that her family did all this. After it becomes obvious that Theo who dresses in boy’s clothes, never keeps a comment inside her mind, and buckles against the propriety forced upon her more and more as the years pass is not going to be changing to fit what her family thinks she should be; it’s decided to send her to Hogwarts where she’ll at least be kept out of sight.

4th Year: Was sent to Hogwarts by her family to be kept out of sight and hopefully shape up ( with the added sentiment that if she does not, at the very least she’ll be out of sight) Met Taghd Lynch, Lu Morrison, Teddy Ellison and Adelia Selwyn.

5th Year: tba

6th Year: tba

7th Year: tba. Graduates with her friends. Though she undoubtedly has to leave some behind as I can see her befriending underclassmen.

Out of school: At some point she moves back closer to Teddy either because she received the news that Taghd died or that Taghd almost died. ( depending on the “canon” or “Taghd Lives AU”)

At some point she might adopt a daughter who is as chaotic as she was and then some ( though much more open and less angry/defensive because Theo’s a better parent than her mother )

In the Universe where Tagdh dies she becomes an Auror alongside Teddy.

At some point she cuts her parents off Completely ( no letters, no firecalls, nothing absolutely nothing) whether this happens because they did something that just got to her too much or it was more a case of her getting away and going “wooow they’re actually horrible to me” remains to be seen but she’ll come to rely on her friends for moral support and also to figure out how to live on her own without their monetary support.

Spoils her friends’ kids so so much ohmygosh she loves them.

Old Age & Death: tbd

Personality

Temperamental and impulsive ‘’jump now, think later’’/’’it looked like a good idea at the time’’ sort of person. Disaster Bisexual. Gets angry quick but it fades just as quickly. Frank, warm, empathetic. Honest-sometimes too honest- The one in a friend group to try to make people laugh. Will encourage you to hex someone who hurts you ‘’hell I’ll help you/cover for you’’ (That Friend) the opposite of the common sense friend. ( ‘’sounds illegal, I’m in.’’ )

Theo’s general status is defensive which to her can often be loud and assertive ( and a bit abrasive though she’s usually sorry about that last one when it happens) due to insecurities that took root during her time with her mother and her family To wit, she believes she needs to defend the way she is subconsciously since it was often the case at home and this leaks into her personality. When she met all her friends her first setting was “im like this and Deal with it” expecting resistance but when she met none ( as her friends all accepted her for who she is) she became a lot less so. ( shes still loud and chaotic as that's also part of who she is but she’s a lot less defensive afterwards.)

Has a really loud laugh. When she’s goofing with her friends or talking to them and laughing with them you can hear it echo through the halls.

Is sort of...a loud person in general.

Theo’s a passionate individual and incredibly stubborn when she sets her mind to something.

Skips the sad/crying phase and goes straight to angry. Might or might not have “/don’t cry/show weakness” complex. Her other emotions however are expressed be they annoyance, happiness ( her laughter Echoes through the corridors when she’s happy about something) excitement ect ect ad infinitum.

Her poker face is shit though. She couldn’t keep her opinions through herself if she tried. Her face will say them for her.

She’s fiercely fiercely protective of her friends and found family. ( see: “would happily hit Teddy’s dad with a blugger if she finds out about him being abusive ‘’curses out ppl who say mean things to Adelia or Lu and half the time will wind up throwing down for it” and of course “I’m actually going to Kill Cillian” circa Taghd’s duel in the Taghd lives AU as examples)

Misc:

Theo’s animagus form is a Pine Marten. She learned it specifically so she could get out of the house which she often found overbearing due to her mother, grandmother, and aunts attitudes towards her.

While her family kept her, fed her and clothed her it was done out of combination of duty and not wanting to waste magical blood. They might have love for her but it’s very clearly overridden by ( if not outright contingent on) their need forTheo being the kind of child they think she ought to be which she is very much not and only grows to stray more and more from it as she grows up)

Theo sometimes does suspect they did it more out of duty than any love but tries not to think about it deeply or think about them at all if she can help it ( and with an entire castle to explore with friends and mischief to manage with those same friends it becomes quite easy)

She has a fascination for the muggle world because it was her father’s world and the part of her her family shuns and kept her from knowing about.

She’s often in trouble with either Taghd or Teddy ( or both) or Lu ( or all three) and the teachers might or might not have a running tally of which combination causes the most chaos.

Theo learns Gaelic from Taghd-they start with the swear words and then she just really wants to learn the language.

Whereas Taghd tends to complain about getting dragged into fights by Teddy and her but does it Theo’s more like you feel the air shift next to you and...yup. Yup she’s there.

If her friends are in a fight nine out ten times she’s there too. That one of ten times she’s not there, she’s going to be soon.

Theo’s a night owl and can often be found the last in the common room reading or writing or talking to Taghd or Teddy or Lu. Sometimes she’ll sneak out to fly. ( specially on really clear nights)

She’s perfected the art of wolfing down breakfast in the last minutes before going to class or even just grabbing a piece of bread and running off to class because of this. As it'll lead to her oversleeping.

Adelia’s her mom friend and possibly one of the few people that can tell her what to do without her going ‘how bout i do anyways.png’

She writes a lot and can be seen talking animatedly about it mostly to fellow writer friend Teddy Ellison.

She’s bit Taghd’s brother Cillian in her animagus form at least once. It was the subject of laughter in the Gryffindor table for a good week after. Theo, ( who keeps her animagus form a secret aside from her closest friends because its a way she has to get away from people or hide or cause trouble when she wants to) becomes very interested in whatever’s in front of her and trying not to laugh when it gets brought up.

She gets really attached to Teddy’s mom ( and is a bit jealous of how nice a mother her friend has) as she both from her experience and what she gathers from Tagdh and other friends of hers she didn’t...think parents could be nice? Like empirical evidence just overall does not seem to be in their favor tbh (specially mothers) and she’s mystified by her and overall thinks she’s wonderful.

This also means she dislikes Teddy’s dad that much more ( though she keeps it to herself around Teddy’s mother ) because as far as she’s concerned he doesn’t deserve her or Teddy with what some of his actions are.

Tends to be physical with her close friends ( bumping shoulders, linking arms as they walk hand on shoulder) though on different levels depending on the different dynamics and how comfortable they themselves are with it.

She hates all the propriety she was brought up with ( one of the bonding things she Taghd had was their shared lack of decorum) but one of the things she enjoyed to learn back in Godric Hollow was calligraphy. She stills practices it as a hobby, keeping multiple colors of ink in her room at Hogwarts and later in life. She likes making calligraphy for her friends and also when they’re adults makes calligraphy for each of their children with their favorite stories.

Finally did a proper profile for Theo.

I’m hoping to get back to doing more content ( including other profiles for mcs I’ve mentioned and going back to my hphm kiddo Marti and writing out gameplay now that I have more spoons. Figured this was a good place to start.

Profile skeleton by @hogwartsmysterystory

#my mc #my profiles #hphl #Theo Abbott

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tlblah · 4 years ago

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Question: Is there an overall timeline the Comission controls or are they affected by the time travel as well??

I was rewatching season 2 and a couple of things grabbed my attention that made me wonder if it’s a plot point or a mistake.

The main two points that really got me thinking about the Commission and the timeline is the whole scene with Diego and Herb in the Infitite Switchboard

First point: When Diego mentions Hazel, Herb says “Who?”

- That answer sent me mind spinning with questions. We would assume everyone knew who Hazel and ChaCha were since they were from the commission sent to kill Number Five. You would think that because they failed to kill Number Five, and Hazel shot the Handler, he would be known to most. But Herb doesn’t know him, which leads me to think either

1. Only the case worker in charge of the apocalypse would know about Hazel and Chacha (which is doubtful bc Herb seemed to a close coworker, with only Number 5 separating them so they may have discussed what was happening over lunch. That seems like Herb)

2. Maybe no one knows Hazel shot the Handler (which is also doubtful bc the handler doesn’t seem to be the kind to keep her mouth shut when it came to name her attacker) but I mean they didn’t really fail in their task. Though Hazel did fail to kill Number Five, their main goal was to maintain the apocalypse, which did occur so technically 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. Does time travel really mean jumping from one universe to the other? I will expand on this by focusing on the next point

Second Point: Herb doesn’t remember that JFK was shot

Continuing from Herb not knowing who Hazel was, he doesn’t seem to know the JFK was shot and killed in 1963. Which is confusing considering they’re meant to keep the main timeline from diverging which means

1. The timeline has changed. Which I mean we knew, BUT with Herb not knowing about JFK does that mean that everything the Umbrella Academy does, it actively changes the main timeline as well?

2. I was under the impression that there was a main timeline that the commission knew and sought to keep under control. One that even if the Umbrella Academy fucked up they would act to correct and put back to normal. But with Herb thinking the correct timeline was Vanya going off, does that mean even the correct timeline can change without either party knowing?

3. And if that is true, how can the commission know the Umbrella Academy fucked shit up. Obviously the Handler knows the Umbrella Academy was the cause of her downfall but does she know that their original timeline had JFK shot and the current time had the explosion? And if that’s the case how can they be after the Umbrella academy if they don’t know what it was supposed to be if the main timeline is changed. This is so fucking confusing.

I guess what I need answer to are:

1. Is their a main time line the comission aims to control?

2. Can that timeline adapt without them knowing?

3. Is there a certain management level that realizes that the timeline has changed versus lower level employees like Herb previously was, that knows that there has been a change versus those that don’t even realize the timeline has changed?

4. Is every time jump that Number 5 does, a jump to another universe?

I had assumed that since assassins also time traveled to keep the timeline according to plan, it didn’t affect the time line but maybe it’s only Number 5s time jumps that really change the timeline. I had always assumed his first time jump didn’t count as a change in the timeline because jumping forward in time only affected him, but now that I think about it, him jumping forward changed everything in the past. Because every action he would have taken in the past was henceforth erased from the timeline. He jumped into another timeline where Vanya was the bomb. Bc remember he was the closest to Vanya. She would set out sandwiches for him every night, which means he might have been able to make her feel less isolated even if just by a little bit.

Number Five’s second jump was not sanctioned by the Commison and was not made by the briefcase as he stated that his formula was wrong (ie teen body/old soul). He jumped forward in his personal timeline but back into his siblings timeline, creating another branch of a universe. One where he was actively trying to stop the apocalypse but simultaneously pushing it forward. He changed the 2nd universe/timeline he’d created when he’d jumped forward, so this is the 3rd timeline/universe

His brief work at the comission created a small pocket of the 3rd timeline/universe. I.e the day that never was. Before he popped back into the 2nd universe but this time properly with a time briefcase which I’ve decided henceforth is the only way to safely time jump.

And yet up to this point it’s been assumed that the Apocalypse was always meant to happen as stated by the Commission. So nothing has technically changed, though we don’t know what the original timeline was meant to be (we aren’t even going to begin to mention Reggies timeline bc that goes off into another divergent. You can read my thoughts on that here.)

Then we go to his third jump, which is now backwards in time. I don’t think he was thinking of an actual place and time bc he botched up the jump and scattered them through time. But the stress level was high so we can’t blame him. Anyways that causes a new timeline, with a new apocalypse.

Now this is where we have another divergent. This is where Herb doesn’t remember that JFK was shot and who Hazel is. This is only proof that when Five jumps, the whole timeline changes. Unless it was a mistake which is why I need answers.

So we have the new timeline with a new apocalypse but Hazel comes in at the last minute and goes back in time with Five, using a proper time travel briefcase BUT not a sanctioned time jump, which causes another timeline branch. One where the past has been affect by the Hargreeves, Ben is able to diffuse Vanya, JFK gets shot (as per the previous timelines and all the Hargreeves know about said assassination) the kid now has powers and Lila has been MIA since finding out the truth and running off with a time briefcase. (we aren’t even going to begin to wonder what hell she has created)

Either way, the Hargreeves have now time jumped forward to a 2019, but a new 2019 with a Reginald that knows about them and chose not to repeat the past. Now since they did have a sanctioned jump I think they are in the same timeline. The didn’t have any further impact on this current universe/timeline than what they did from 1960-1963, but their jump didn’t send then into yet another timeline despite what they might think. I’m not sure they could ever make it back to the original timeline/universe. At least I’m not sure until we get more answers about the main universe/timeline and what the Comission really is.

And because of said question, could it be that since Herb didn’t know about the original timeline (where JFK was originally shot and the Hargreeves caused the apocalypse) he didn’t send them to the right 2019 universe/timeline. He sent them forward to the current 2019 timeline of this, what 6th (?) Universe/timeline branch?

(Let’s map it out real quick bc I’m lost)

1. Original timeline

2. Five jumps forward in time, Vanya is the bomb. He find the eye

3. Five jumps back, arrives after his father dies but before the apocalypse

4. The day that never was, is short lived, before Five jumps back to #3

5. The Umbrella Academy jumps back to the early 60’s. Vanya is the bomb

6. Hazel time jumps Five backwards a couple days and Ben deactivates Vanya, JFK gets shot, but also the past has been changed regardless.

7. Mini time branch, all the siblings are killed, along with Lila, and the handler until five jumps back a couple seconds. Similar to the 4th time branch in that it’s a pocket of a universe that disappears with a time jump)

(Yes, my brain hurts from trying to keep everything in order. I just want answers 😭)

Me trying to figure out this fucking timeline

*******Edit********

I just thought about the Handler and her deal with Number Five. Honestly, we all knew she was gonna stab him in the back even if she did get him and his family back to the future. BUT what future was she going to send them to? Would she have sent them back the OG 2019 timeline? Or was it always going to be the new/current timeline and a new 2019? Questions to think about 🤔

#the umbrella academy #herb #tua #tua season 2 #number five #diego #diego and herb #infinite switchboard #the comission #time travel #questions #timeline #tua spoilers #tua timeline

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zashamalkin · 4 years ago

Text

Translation of Anna Kasterova’s live interview on 5/29/20.

Thanks to my amazing Gino Anon, the entire interview is translated below the cut. Final word count, btw, is 2405 so like, send big thanks their way. Holy shit!

youtube

Anna got sick few days before the interview. Not covid, just a cold, that later turned into otitis. It was very painful, but now she’s feeling way better, though she still has some trouble hearing with her left ear. They talk a bit about the weather in Miami (it’s been raining there for a few days, but it’s still pretty hot). Igor asks if they’re allowed to swim during the quarantine. Anna says that the 1/

beaches were recently open, but there are obviously rules about keeping the safe distance. “Is Zhenya a good swimmer?” “Yeah, he’s great. He’s spending a lot of time with Nikita, teaching him how to swim. More in the pool though, than in the ocean.” “How do you and Zhenya feel about the latest news in NHL?” “I think, the idea is pretty good. Everyone has been waiting on some news about this season. I asked Zhenya if he preferred for the season to be cancelled. He said, he wanted to finish it 2/

properly. This season has been great for him, he’s in a great shape. And even though he hasn’t been skating for 2 months, he’s still been training pretty hard, running, roller skating and he didn’t lose his shape.” She thinks everything is turning pretty good so far and it’s great that the teams will have a time for training camps and a chance to go to playoffs.“In your opinion, were the players mentally prepared to continue the season?” “I think, those, who genuinely want to go to playoffs, 3/

have been working very hard to be ready, when the time comes. But, for sure, there are some players, who spent more time relaxing, rather than training. A lot of teams are asking their players to come back and start training on the ice and not all of the players follow their instructions.” “What are the rules about practice right now? Are they allowed to train in groups or…?” “There are no details about it yet. It haven’t even been decided yet, what cities will be chosen as Hub cities. So far 4/

the coaches are asking players to stay in shape. They have video calls together, where they go through different footage every time. But, as far as I understand, the organization and the coaching staff are ready for the players to come back.” “How do the players feel about the new rules for playoffs this season?” “No negative feelings. They’ve been under a lot of mental pressure, not knowing anything about the season and the playoffs. Everything seems pretty logical and they’re very happy to 5/

get back on ice and to have a chance to fight for SC.” “Is there any inside information about what cities will be chosen as Hubs?” “No one knows anything for sure. But I know that they’re very carefully considering epidemiological situation in the cities and will choose the safest options. ” *I SUCK at translating hockey terminology from Russian to English, so I’m sorry if anything is incorrect.* “Do you think it would’ve been fairer to include the numbers of “play-in” (I have no idea what he 6/

means by “play-in”) as well as the Robin Rounds into the statistics of regular season? Because it would give the players, like Ovechkin and Panarin, and Malkin to gain more points.” “It’s a very difficult question. But I’m sure NHL and NHLPA have gone over all the possible scenarios and have chosen the best one.” “How has Geno been handling the quarantine?” “He’s been very calm and collected. He’s been doing great mentally, smiling and cracking jokes, and keeping us safe and happy.” “Why did 7/

your family (meaning Geno, Anna and Nikita) decide to do a covid testing in early April?” “I had a pneumonia in November and wanted to find out for myself, if it was covid-induced, if I had any antibodies for the virus. But all the testing came back negative. None of us had it.” “What books did you and Zhenya read during the quarantine?” “Zhenya likes to read fantasy books. He’s been reading “Quantum Warrior: The Future of the Mind” by John Kehoe.” “Does he read in English?” “No, in English 8/

he’s mostly watching TV shows.” “I was very impressed by the story, that after his 1st season in NHL, Zhenya hired Russian language and literature teacher.” “He’s had a lot of free time these past 2 months and he’s hired 2 tutors: English language tutor to work on his grammar and Russian language tutor. (*Sorry, I don’t know if I need to explain this, but Geno obviously knows how to speak Russian. What I think Anna means here, is that the pronunciation of the words in Russian changes depending9/

on where the person is from. Every region has its own accent. I think, what Geno is trying to do, is lose his Magnitogorsk accent and start to speak clearer Russian, like ppl in Moscow of St. Petersburg do.*) He has classes with his tutors Monday to Friday. I’m very happy for him.” One of Geno’s friends in Russia has been robbed recently. Igor is asking Anna, if they ever considered buying a gun, since it’s allowed in US. Anna says no, they feel safe and they live a good neighborhood. She 10/

doesn’t think it necessary or appropriate. They talk a bit about Ovi’s second child being born recently and if Geno and Anna are planning on having a second child any time soon. “Of course, we wouldn’t mind having another child. If it happens, we’ll be very happy. I would like to have a girl, though.” “What’s the best way to describe Zhenya’s and Ovechkin’s relationships today? Are they friends or rivals” “Both. And healthy rivalry is very important in order to reach their personal goals.” 11/

“When Caps and Pens play each other, is it possible for them to go have dinner after.” “No.” “What can you say about the relationships between Zhenya and Sidney Crosby? When we talked with Zhenya last year, he said very nice and kind things about him. Even though Zhenya is in Sid’s shadow a lot of the time.” “I can talk about it for hours. They push each other and make each other stronger. But they also can step in and do more than anyone, when the other is hurt and not playing. Off the ice, 12/

they are very good friends and they support each other. Have I ever thought about what his life would be like, if he was the only star player in a team? I think, he’d be the best player in the whole NHL. He’s very intelligent in terms of building a game, always plans 2-3 steps ahead. He’s very fearless in his game, very talented and vey multilateral player. He’s very unique. They won together THREE STANLEY CUPS! No one's saying Crosby is less talented. He’s an incredible player, he works very13/

hard every day. They are 2 number 1 players in this team. If Zhenya ever asked me if I’d like him to play in New York, f/e, I’d say, no. Pittsburgh is his city, his home. And management and coaching staff are also a very important part of team success. The relationship inside the team is very important. And Pens are the best in that, imo.” “You two watched Super Bowl at Sid’s place. What’s it like there?” “It’s a tradition. Every year Sid invites the team with their wifes/gfs/kids to watch 14/

Super Bowl. His gf Kathy does all the cooking. She’s a very geart person, very hospitable. *omg, this is the first time I hear any1 talking about Sid’s gf 😀, aww* Everyone on the team is very open, very kind, they are great guys. It’s the best thing about Pens. So we’re always happy to accept Sid’s invitation and we always have a great time.” “Do you want Nikita to become a hockey player?” “We’re not gonna push him to it. If it’s something he wants, sure. But I have big plans for his 15/

education. I’d like him to know 2 languages, (English) and Russian, especially grammar, not just being able to speak it freely. I’m studying with him and for an almost 4 yo he already knows quite a lot. And it’s always very hard for a child of a parent, who has achieved so much, to surpass that kind of success. And I don’t want my son to have this kind of pressure on him. I don’t want him to be known solely as “Malkin’s son”. For me it’s very important for him to get a good education and to 16/

choose his path in life.” “Talking about the tv series about Michael Jordan, would you like a bio series to be shot about Zhenya?” “I know he wants to act, in a tv series or in a movie. He talked about it many times. As for a biopic, of course I would like that. He has a huge success story. A man from a simple, working class family. It’s very expensive to play hockey. And he was so talented even in a young age, that his coaches would sometimes bring him a puck, or a stick, or a uniform, for 17/

free. Add to that a story about him finally getting to NHL.” “Zhenya said once in an interview, that you fight sometimes about him not being open enough w/ you, not sharing his problems etc. Has it changed during the quarantine?” “Everything’s been great during quarantine. During the season, he’s under a lot of pressure and always takes it hard if the team loses or if he doesn’t score. Right now he’s very calm and happy, and everything is great.” A question about a conflict around Geno having18/

a USA passport (a lot of people in Russia, his celebrity friends especially, weren’t happy with that, and judged him for that). What does Anna think about it? “He’s a patriot. He loves his country and his city. We were in a hopeless situation, when I needed to get all the documents ready ASAP, and we needed to get married, and him having a US passport would speed that up. You could say, he did it for me. On the other hand, America is his 2nd home. He spends here more time than in Russia. He’s19/

been working here for years. Why is that such a big problem? It’s not like he turned his back on Russia or anything.” Then she talked about Geno’s donation to families in Magnitogorsk, who suffered bc of explosion that happened there in December 2018, and how much he gives to his community in Russia, that ppl don’t know about, bc he prefers not to advertise it. Then Igor keeps asking political questions and Anna is getting more and more irritated by them. Geno publicly supported Putin’s 20/

reelection whenever that was, and interviewer is asking whether him having an American passport is appropriate, considering that he’s a part of Putin team? “Why is it inappropriate? America and Russia are not enemies. Yes, there are some unresolved political issues. They are 2 huge countries, of course they will always feel threatened by each other. But I don’t see any serious political confrontation. Maybe bc we’re in US right now. But Zhenya has a great respect for his president. *bleh, I 21/

don’t like Putin. I know, she has to say nice things about him, bc as long as Geno is a part of Team Russia and wants to have a life in Russia, they can’t be openly against him. But both Geno and Anna don’t strike me as ppl, who will support Putin’s ideals. Sorry for me butting in w/ my opinion*” Question about Geno’s new diet after 18-19 season. “He never drinks alcohol during season. He doesn’t eat potatoes anymore. It’s very hard to cook him a soup w/o any potatoes in it. No sweet things,22/

no gluten. Now before games, he eats gluten-free pasta.” “Is he very superstitious? Do you try to wean him off some of them?” “No, if it makes him feel comfortable, why would I do that?” She declined to name any of them, bc it’s a personal thing for Geno. “Do you put in any work in Zhenya’s image and style?” “I think so, a bit. His sense of style has become better, his taste in literature.” “Zhenya’s favorite music?” “Russian pop-music mostly.” Question about Geno’s gaming habits. Anna 23/

doesn’t try to control him or tell him not to play, bc for him these computer games are a way to relax. She doesn’t mind. It’s his personal time. He doesn’t have his computer in Miami, so he found another way to spend time – studying with his tutors. Question about Olympics. “Yes, he’d like to win a gold medal with Team Russia, when the time comes.” He doesn’t feel jealous about Datsyuk or Kovalchuk, who have an Olympic gold. “Do you think, Zhenya’s last hockey season before retirement will 24/

be in Magnitogorsk?” “Sure, I don’t see why not. He’s very grateful for everything Metallurg gave him and it would seem logical for him to come back there before retiring.” “What is Zhenya’s biggest motivation right now?” “He’s very self-critical (she means Geno’s words about his skills in 18-19 season). He always has a high bar for himself and je always tries to reach it.” Question about Geno reaching 1000 pts. “It was a very big moment for us and a big win for him. He was very inspired 25/

by it and it gave him a lot of self-confidence.” ‘Was Zhenya mad about not making NHL’s 100 players list?” “I was. I was very angry. But he knows his value and what he’s achieved as a player. But it was very strange for me.” “Who do you think Zhenya wil be after his career ends? And how will your life together change? Will you spend more time in Russia or in US?” “It’s a tough question. I imagine a house by the lake, in Russia, with kids and, later, grandkids. With a big fireplace. I think, 26/

after finishing his career, we’d like to travel a bit. But I don’t know. It’s something you should ask him.”

#Anna Kasterova #Evgeni Malkin #Gino Anon #You're a freaking saint omg #This thing is massive

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babyspacebatclone · 3 years ago

Text

I am not making any of this up, only altering minor details as necessary that may be too identifiable.

It is long, so for sanity, full dets under the cut.

TL;DR: Whoever’s writing this crap (aka my life) is a hack, and needs to stop relying on the “medical emergency” trope for preventing my job from having a functioning level of staff.

Context: I work at a daycare center in the Midwest of the USA. It is not a chain; however, the owners own multiple centers in the area. Combined we would count as a large business, so of course that’s not how it is on the books (means they can work us longer before overtime, etc).

At the beginning of our story, there were three open centers. AC, the “flagship” center, with a director who is part of the owner’s family. BC North and BC South were purchased next, and, how can I nicely say it…. Half a step up from Ghetto? I am not joking, when I was working at BCN and my mom visited, she said she wanted to pull me out of there. BCN functions, barely; BCS is a few blocks away, and despite the owner’s insistence should never be reopened in my terrified opinion - never has had staff the 5 years it’s been under them, fortunately. CC has been open for 40 years, and purchased by the owners when the previous owner retired three years ago. I work at CC now, and hands down the best place just because we have a functioning director, which enables us to keep functioning staff (half of which were under the previous owner).

At the beginning of the year 2021, none of the three open centers had enough staff. We advertise openings like crazy, but it’s hard underpaid work. So what does my brilliant *cough* owner do?

Buy two buildings in two different nearby cities to convert into new centers. Because he thinks he can get more staff if he’s hunting in new cities??? idk

Not buy two new centers like he’s done previously, with existing enrolled children and staff - two non-daycare buildings to convert.

Note: I talk about “older” and “younger” rooms in this. By licensing, children are in a specific age group based on chronological age, with some overlap to allow for development (e.g. At 16 months, an infant can be a toddler, but you can also delay until 18 months without paperwork). My center has enough physical rooms we further separate infants and preschoolers by development/sanity; toddlers are in one single room. Also, “Lead” teachers are the ones in charge and have extra paperwork; assistant level teachers (like me) can also run a room but are more likely to go crazy if left unsupported (like me). Aides are considered unskilled enough that they can’t be alone with kids, unless there’s a pandemic going on and we’re just trying to have any warm body in a room….

So, that’s the context of this insanity before March 2021, when the lead teacher who was on maternity leave returned to my center and I assumed we could settle down into a stable pattern for a second.

I am a naïve idiot.

First we lose two experienced full-time positions, a preschool lead teacher and the kitchen/support staff, who are both leaving to move closer to their (different) families because personal reasons. Understandable. We have a new teacher-level staff we can have work the younger preschool kids with our returned (excellent) older preschool lead. Our director will just - do the kitchen work until we can find a new kitchen worker…. I guess? 🤷‍♀️ We’re also training staff to work the ancient dishwasher to help…

At this point CC officially implements a “no new children” policy. We will still accept the children we already promised a position before (mostly infants), and older preschool has a lot of kids leaving for kindergarten throughout the summer (as some parents stop day care during their own summer vacations). We can… Manage.

And our best part-time assistant teacher graduates and moves, but ok.

And then our second-best assistant teacher get a job in her field… ok…

And then the pregnant Toddler assistant teacher is put on bedrest for a month we are praying for her…

Ok two new hires, one an Aide but with experience excellent…

. What. No seriously what.

So, the director of AC is - long term sick. I won’t share details. This leaves us with two directors for three centers (Ideally, we would have four; one’s supposed to be Executive Director…). Here, logic is (strangely) applied and BCN is closed down and the children that chose to stay with the owners are moved to AC. Considering they had, I think, three total staff (one for each age group) not counting the Executive Director that had been covering that insanity…..

(We are also under the impression that the owner is stalling construction on those other two centers-to-be, but with our owner who knows….)

Anyway, the three staff will be helping at the other centers - specifically, the Toddler staff will work some days at AC and some days with is at CC, which is awesome because the Toddlers are drop dead insane right now.

Not joking. We have a biter in remission, an older girl with an attitude and her younger sister that had to move up with her when 16 months because the mobile infant room is packed but my young infant room had movers that had to change rooms, there’s a pack of three boys who just egg each other on, the leader of that pack was visiting preschool but started using the N word at relevant children (obviously, we have zero tolerance for that…), and the two youngest just-moved toddlers are screamers (they got better in the mobile room… they’ve regressed…).

And it’s 16 Toddlers (depending on the day) crammed into one area (that can be divided into two play areas, fortunately), at a 7 to 1 staff ratio.

So what happens last week? That Toddler teacher gets sick. Then goes to the hospital. Then, I am not joking wtf, leaves a vague text message to my director about a surgery I can’t even…

I just. What.

The Mobile Infant Room has a casual biter. Like, there is no provocation, this kid (who is giant and all muscle) just crawls up to kids and bites. The other 10 babies in there are generally ok-ish, but I don’t know how they are surviving.

Both preschools are…. Well, better than the Toddler room now that the one child is taking the summer before Kindergarten off praise whatever deity you worship hallelujah. Still have kids that need breaks in the director’s office but not as often.

My room, which is now 6 infants ages 3 to 6 months, is my default the easiest to manage.

And 4 of these 6 babies come in between 7:45 and 8:15 (the other two earlier), all want a bottle between 8:30 and 9:00 (we have two staff and policy is one bottle per staff…) and some of these kids take 20-30 minutes for a bottle (do the math)…..

But by about 10am we’re settled and we generally have them ready to wait for the next round of bottles staggered…

And the projectile spitter-upper is improving! They’re only spitting up about 1.5 oz a day, instead of multiple 2 oz random attacks!! 😊

………. My brain is mush send help.

#tales from the day care #i just #i can’t #what even is this

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marlmckitten · 4 years ago

Text

Mr & Mrs Kitty (An Introduction)

A new Blackinnon series by MarlMcKitten and PadsMcfoot

As so many of you know I have trouble letting go of past plots. And I spent three years working on a beautiful Blackinnon one with a friend. Unfortunately that story has come to a close but to keep it alive I want to share it with all of you. But since I also have commitment issues with writing an entire story at once. This is going to be written differently. It is going to be a number of short or long snippets of their lives in no particular order. This first ‘chapter’ is going to be a short, point form introduction to the version of Blackinnon that I will be sharing with you and all the important side characters that come with it. (Mainly bc my new Blackinnon is sooo different and all my plots are gonna shift a little now.) Thank you!

Marlene McKinnon:

your 70′s bombshell

loud, outspoken, unpredictable, wild

she fell in love with Sirius the day he arrived at Hogwarts on a motorcycle, grown out hair, new tattoos and a brand new family (The Potters)

she didn’t admit it for a while though

eventually they fell in love

she didn’t die with her family

but she was devastated

and pregnant

Bellatrix used occlemency to make her believe that it was Sirius who was killing her family

that was what made Sirius go to Azkaban

Marlene ran away, she made her way because she had to, she was pregnant and that was now the last living member of her family and the McKinnon line

she worked in shops, she kept a low profile and she did not tell anyone who she was

she gave birth to a beautiful young boy and named him Lynx McKinnon

the boy looked so much like his father

she would cry watching over him, her mind so conflicted on how Sirius would do that for her when her heart knew he wouldn’t

it was years before she saw Sirius again, but one day she just had to talk to him so she went to Azkaban to visit him

he believed she was dead and she asked him how the hell he could do that to her and her family in her emotional rant she let it slip that she had his son

this prompted Sirius to break out of Azkaban, finding out that he had a child and that Marlene was raising him all alone

Eventually they met up again, and Marlene ended up believing him. She always knew in her heart it couldn’t be true.

This Marlene was so much more grown up, (being a single mother wil ldo that)

They went into hiding again, now at Grimmauld Place. Lynx was terrified of his dad. It broke Marlene’s heart and she did not know what to do.

Years later, the war ended, her family was back together. Sirius never died and she wanted to add to her family.

They had two more children. Halo and Aurora Black.

All Marlene ever wants is for her whole family to get along.

Sirius Black:

such a rebel

but he has a weakness

blondes named Marlene McKinnon

he’s infatuated

you think James is bad? You should see Sirius around Marlene.

he never thought he deserved a happy ending but he got it with her.

Well- for a while. Before she died and he was framed for the murder of her and her entire family.

What was the point of living after that?

He didn’t see one.

Years passed. Nothing mattered and then one day ... “Hey split ends.”

He has a son.

He would not be the same shit parent that his were to him. He has to get out.

And he does and he finds them. It doesn’t take much convincing. His Marlene always trusted him.

But Grimmauld Place and all those childhood nightmares are back. He cannot be a father or anything to Marlene.

So instead he drinks.

A lot.

Too much.

He feels Marlene getting distance. He can tell Lynx hates him but he can’t stop himself. And he hates himself for it.

He dies. Through the veil .

But miraculously he finds his way out. Just in time to save his Marlene and his son during the war.

Him and Marlene lead all the Slytherin children out of the castle, away safely. (Even Pansy Parkinson.)

Marlene never forgives McGonagall for locking her son in the dungeouns during a war, but Sirius knows she was doing her best.

Him and Lynx never get a great relationship.

They’re always rocky. But he gets another chance with Halo.

This pushes Lynx away even more but Sirius can’t help it.

He tries to make peace with it and then Aurora comes.

And oh Merlin how he loves Aurora.

They have a very special bond.

Sirius is a great father to Halo and to Aurora and he tries to be for Lynx too.

It takes so much time.

But he has his wife, his kids and Sirius gets the life he never knew he deserved.

Lynx McKinnon

Sirius lookalike

he hates it

he hates his father

but his mom is everything to him

She works a lot when he is a kid, so he tries to help her out.

One day he pleads her to go to the fair with him. It’s the last day, all the other kids have gone and she promised. He is only 7 at the time.

He meets a lonely little girl named Juliet.

They become instant best friends and for the rest of his life no one will ever matter to him quite like his Ma and Juliet do.

Then he is sent to Grimmauld Place, away from Juliet. And he is so scared.

His father terrifies him. The house terrifies him. He sleeps with his mom most night.

Hogwarts comes and he goes there, an escape. And there he finds Juliet also. She’s a muggle born witch and the world is restored!

He protects her when he is sorted into Slytherin and she is a Hufflepuff.

But he misses his mom dearly.

He befriends an ambitious and beautiful young girl named Valencia Mae.

They also become close. The three of them are happy with just each other.

One day he realizes that he is in love with Valencia and he asks her out.

She says yes.

She comes from a very rich family so he tries his hardest to impress her.

Lucky for him, she has some daddy issues.

He learns that he is a very talented artist.

When he decides to persue his dreams as an artist Valencia dumps him.

He is left devastated.

Lynx drops out of school, he leaves everything behind. He leaves his home.

He’s a little dramatic. (Don’t tell him that he gets that from his father.

But years, and years later, he is reunited with Valencia.

They’ll get a chance at their own happy ending.

Halo Black

such a mama’s boy

but so protective over his baby sister

loves his dad too

really a family guy

from a young age he wants to have his own family one day

he’s a little spoiled but doesn’t know it

doesn’t like Lynx much, doesn’t get why his brother doesn’t love his dad like he does

Lynx tries to tell him that growing up with a single mom then going through a war is much harder than growing up in a mansion with two happy parents and the Black family fortune

Halo doesn’t see it.

He has a lot of back problems.

He’s awkward and so clumsy it could put Tonks to shame

he looooves his (very much alive) Uncle Remus

He wears cardigans and he is a hopeless romantic, after a girl in his year who he idolizes in his head

they are doomed to always be in love but not have anything ever go their way

truly tragic but the love story Halo always wanted

Aurora Black

if Halo is too much of a mama’s boy he’s got nothing on how much of a daddys girl Aurora is

she can’t function without her father

and her brother

oh boy is she spoiled

and optimistic

naive

honestly just not that smart

but has the purest heart and the best intentions

she is always trying to get along with Lynx even though she doesn’t even meet him until she’s about 6 years old

she loves Lynx’s art

she messages him all the time, and never gets a response

she is bullied a lot for being air headed.

And it gets bad.

Some girls play a nasty trick on her.

She is turned into a werewolf.

It breaks Sirius’ heart the most.

She would have been killed if Halo hadn’t have saved her life.

She then keeps to herself more, believing that she is ugly and a monster.

Remus helps and Tonks helps but she thinks she will forever be alone.

After all Remus was until his late 30′s.

But she still manages to keep a smile on her face.

She really loves animas.

Her life ambition is to open a bakery with her father.

She never wants to leave her family

She can even melt Lynx’s heart when she really wants to

but man is she s t u b b o r n

and as sweet as she is she can piss anyone off with her stubbornness to always get her way and not see anyone else’s

Juliet Buchannan:

Lynx’s best friend

not the brightest, but very honest

she keeps Lynx from going too hard, he keeps her grounded

but they both really like getting high together

and talking about aliens

Lynx around Juliet is very different than regular Lynx

she happens to love Sirius, calls him Mr McKinnon and he loves it

Calls Lynx Kitty.

Calls Marlene Mrs Kitty.

She goes wherever the wind takes her

Carefree.

Despite her very lonely childhood.

Her father was abusive and neglectful.

She spent more of her time with Lynx and Marlene

They are her family.

Works in Disneyland when she is older as a face character.

She literally just wants to see everyone happy all the time.

But she makes a lot of bad decisions and always has the wildest travel stories

Valencia Mae:

the love of Lynx’s life

BDE

she gets what she wants

her family exploits muggles to make their fortune

hardcore business woman

loves fashion

never goes anywhere without her Louboutins

she really isn’t that into the wizarding world and hates Hogwarts

but still gets good grades

ambitious AF

dont mess with her

seriously don’t

she will also stand up for Juliet once she is forced to take her in

dating Lynx means dating Juliet as well

really not the jealous type though so she doesn’t care

just a bad bitch in fancy heels

wine

Lyra

the girl Halo is way too in love with

she is not easy to love

she is so troubles Halo just wants to fix her

they are on again, off again faster than anyone can keep track

she has a small thing for Lynx and also one for Sirius

she has serious abandonment issues

the bottom line is she just wants to be loved and accepted but doesn’t know how to be

she does not have a strong sense of self-identity

Sirius really takes a liking to her, and is kind to her, she misjudges that and develops her tiny crush

but it is always Halo she loves

she just doesn’t know how to

she’s there to create the drama without meaning to

Lynx hates her, but she’s good at art so he helps her with that

Valencia and her would kill each other if given the chance

Aurora adores Lyra

Marlene hates seeing a girl break her baby’s heart

Just so lonely.

#blackinnon #sirius black #marlene mckinnon #au #everybody lives #let's see how this goes #fanfiction #in progress

28 notes · View notes

laughing-with-god · 5 years ago

Note

QQ has me shaking in my boots ✊🏻👏🏻 but I’ve had a lingering question for the last few days; if the rest of the BTS members were in QQ, what districts would they be from? Love your work 🥺❤️

oh my god, okay here me out; an alternative Quarter Quell Fic were all past victors must play again and all the bts members are victors who come to play the quell but they somehow all become yandere over Y/n.....Lemme know if that’s something ya’ll would like to read. Anyway, here ya go;

(Btw I’m gonna base these profiles on the crackhead idea I stated up above, except I’m not going to do Jungkook and Tae bc they’re already in my Quarter Quell Fic and their games are being played right now so I don’t feel right doing profiles for them...it’ll deadass confuse me.)

BTS as Victors (Hunger Games AU)

Kim Seokjin- District One (Luxury)

Jin originates from district one, most would say that he figuratively hit the birth lottery by being from this district.

The first district is essentially the crown jewel of the capitol, it’s by far the most favored. The main job of district one is to provide the capitol with all luxury items, so most people make their money by creating jewelry and makeup. (Both of which are in extremely high demand in the capitol, so 1 is by far the most economically flourishing district.)

Jin never had to suffer food outages or abuse by peacekeepers because of 1′s good status with the capitol. To further his prosperity, Jin’s father was actually the mayor of district one.

Which makes Jins’ reaping all the more scandalous.

There was a rumor that Jin’s father expressed sympathy towards the damaged and less favored districts (11 and 12).So when Jin’s name was reaped, people suspected that the system was rigged and Jin’s name was going to get called out either way. Because after all, how would the capitol keep a loud-mouth mayor in check? By putting his son in the games, of course.

No one volunteered in fear of interfering with the capitol’s plans and getting in trouble.

However Seokjin fancied himself an actor and practically skipped to the stage with a big grin on his face, announcing his name proudly and even stating that it would be an honor to compete on behalf of his district.

His strategy was to get on the good side of both the audience and the gamemakers. Unlike other tributes who sometimes couldn’t help the look of terror they had, Jin made sure to constantly look happy and would even compliment the gamemakers in his interview by saying things like, “This game is going to be the best one in years, I could already tell.” “I caught a glimpse at the makers during my assessment and let me tell you...they’re not playing around this year.”

Because of this Jin wasn’t the target of any foul play or natural disasters bc the makers held no ill will towards him, if anything a lot of them actually wanted him to win.

He earned himself many fans and thus sponsors, mainly due to his good looks and partly due to his surprisingly goofy nature.

Jin was always sure to keep his attitude light. He constantly made jokes and did impressions in the arena, showcasting his humor bc the last thing he needed was to be painted as the bad guy. His number one rule was to always keep his fans satisfied. That kept him alive.

He stuck to the career alliance; teaming up with his district counterpart, two and the girl from four. He stuck with them because he knew he would need the numbers and the supplies. But a bit more than halfway through the games, when the careers took down all the main threats, Jin zipped up all the tents that his sleeping allies were in, took a good amount of supplies and set the camp on fire; effectively killing the career pact.

For two days after that he wandered alone but was having trouble with basic survival skills. Unlike more than half the tributes, Jin grew up in a city with no true sense of nature. He was struggling.

That’s when he came across a boy from 11 and a girl from 7. They both were rather weak and Jin offered them protection in exchange that they let him stay in their hideout with them. But when 11 and 7 were under attack, Jin fled and let them be killed.

Jin eventually had to go against the last tribute standing; a girl from 6. She was also frail and only lasted that long because of her hiding skills. Jin overpowered her and threw her off a mountain. Thus, he became victor.

He still is to this day one of the most popular victors and a really good mentor (although he mainly just advocates for having allies, using them, then killing them before they can kill you.)

because of his good looks, he is often sold off to elite women and men for a night with a handsome victor. Jin has no choice, it’s the only way he was able to make the president forgive his father. (Think of Finnick Odair).

Choice of weapon; spear, betrayal (all his allies will eventually end up killed by him)

Arena

Min Yoongi- District Six (Transportation)

District Six is responsible for all methods of transportation the capitol has. The hovercrafts, the high-speed trains and advanced cargo ships are all products of 6.

Citizens from six are heavily oppressed by the peacekeepers. Although not as poor as 11 or 12, they are one of the more rebellious districts. It’s also the largest district and the most unstable, lots of the population suffer from a morphling addiction which is party responsible for the citizen’s disobedience.

Yoongi came from a lower middle class background, raised by a single working mom who fell victim to the morphling epidemic. Needless to say she was very absent from his life.

Life at six is so bleak, when Yoongi’s name was reaped his first thought was ‘well, at least I won’t die in this shit hole.’

He was very numb due to shock so he appeared very aloof when he went up to the stage; a total contrast to his counterpart who was bawling her eyes out.

He managed to keep this stoic act up for the entirety of his time in the capitol, his thought process was that he never wanted to give the capitol the satisfaction of seeing him break.

He mainly enjoyed all the food and luxuries the capitol had to offer, thinking that he had no chance of winning and might as well enjoy his last days.

It wasn’t until his interview where even the host forgot his name that he realized that he might have a secret weapon under his belt; no one knew who he was, he was forgettable, someone who other tributes overlooked and even underestimated.

He went to his mentor with this revelation and was told to go the ‘Joanna Mason route’.

Ie; play weak and stupid until there’s only a few tributes left, then release your inner crazy and kill them all before they ever even saw you coming.

Yoongi figured it was better than nothing and decided this as his strategy.

Yoongi had no help of sponsors or allies, all he had was himself. But that’s the way he wanted it.

He hid for more than half the game, his small stature making it easy for him to hide into small nooks and crannies. He survived mainly on small plants, insects and any rainfall he was able to get.

It wasn’t until he witnessed someone die near one of his hideouts that he allowed his murderous side to snap.

It was a fight between a girl from 5 and a boy from 9. The girl had knives while the boy had an ax, the girl managed to get him in the throat and he fell over dead. After the girl searched his pockets for supplies, she turned around to stalk off, unaware Yoongi was only yards away.

Yoongi silently got out of his hideout, took the ax and ran up behind her before chopping her head off.

There was only four tributes left and Yoongi hunted them all down, tired with how long this game was taking and desperate to get home.

he managed to kill them all, the tributes being caught off guard bc of his excellent hiding skills

He became one of the youngest victors of all time, he was only 14.

As a mentor, he’s actually pretty absent.

Yoongi doesn’t like to get too close to the tributes because it becomes too emotionally crushing to eventually witness them die.

His general advice for them is to lay low and never draw any attention towards you, the factor of surprise is the ultimate weapon for those with patience.

Yoongi has never been the same since the games, he isn’t proud of it but he’s also become dependent on morphling; it’s the only thing that keeps his nightmares and depression away. (Like Haymitch, except Haymitch was dependent on alcohol and Yoongi is dependent on drugs)

He despises the capitol even more now, hating the fact that they made him a murderer and he was forced to play into the very game he promised to never have a part of.

He lives with that guilt everyday and doesn’t think he’s any better than the ruthless career kids he sees every year

He’s quite belligerent too. He is almost never given mentor interviews or screentime because he’s blown up one too many times that the hosts know to avoid him. (Think Joanna Mason and the one catching fire scene where she flips shit on national tv).

Weapons; hiding, ax

Arena

Kim Namjoon- District Three (Technology)

District three has some of the smartest tributes, and Namjoon was no different.

District Three is responsible for all the high-end technology the capitol has; the people may not be as strong as two or as flashy as one, but their intellect alone runs the capitol.

Kids from three are good at creating functional tools, codes, wires, ect. But sadly, these traits don’t translate well into the games given the clear advantage towards physical superiority over intellectual superiority.

Namjoon was determined to show the capitol how far a smart kid can go.

Like most tributes, Namjoon went into a little bit of a shock when his name was reaped.

He walked up, void of any emotion and avoided any eye contact with the district representative or the female counterpart.

When he was escorted into the room to say his goodbyes to his family is when he finally broke.

But his mother made him promise to do anything to get back home, she didn’t care how dirty he had to get she just wanted her boy to live

This encouragement/promise was enough to motivate him to become the last one standing, he didn’t care how gory he would have to get.

He utilized his mentor heavily, talking their ear off and asking countless questions. Soaking up any information/advice he could get, knowing it could very well be the difference between life and death.

His mentor advised him to choose the Beetee Latier strategy, telling Namjoon that if he just got his hands on some tools and put his mind to it he could be the most dangerous tribute in that arena.

During his training days Namjoon spent all his time in the rope stations, net stations and hook stations, knowing that his future plans would require him to be good with these skills.

During his interview, he hinted to the audience that he was very smart. He was careful to not make it obvious enough to make him a target of the careers but enough to raise the interests of the sponsors.

His personal score was also good, making the act of getting sponsors a little bit easier.

When the game began, he ran off from the blood bath but not too far. He stayed close enough to watch who left and with what supplies. With this knowledge, he began to track the people who had the tools he would need to play out his plan.

He would track these people very slyly, waiting until their guard was down to swipe their supplies.

With these supplies he would build traps and set them up for tributes to unknowingly walk into. His favorites were bear traps, snatching nets and digging up 8 ft deep holes then covering them up with debri for tributes to stumble into.

He managed to kill a decent amount of tributes before killing off what was left of the career pact.

However, Namjoon wasn’t able to avoid hand-to-hand combat forever.

When it came to the end, it was between a male tribute from 5, a girl from 2 and Namjoon himself. Both tributes had weapons while Namjoon didn’t.

He fought with them and got stabbed and sliced a good amount, but even with his fatal blood loss and fading consciousness, his brilliant mind came up with a plan.

He staggered over to one of his traps, making the tributes think he was just trying to run away when the truth was he was trying to lure them to their deaths.

They took the bait, got strung up into a net before being electrocuted to death.

The last words Namjoon heard before he blacked out was the head gamemaker announcing him victor.

Namjoon is now one of the greatest mentors of all time. Whenever it’s his turn to overlook the tributes of his home district the chances of 3 winning goes up 50%

He is very good at strategy and has even helped the gamemakers create certain arenas for future games.

namjoon teaches his students the importance of staying calm and sticking to a plan. “When kids are scared, starving and fighting for their lives they’re very easy to pick off. Utilize that.”

Weapons; stalking, traps

Arena

Jung Hoseok- District Eight (Textiles)

Hoseok was a victim of the reaping gamble. (The process in which kids will enter their names in the reaping bowl more times than required in exchange for food)

Hoseok is the oldest of four children, his mother died with the birth of the youngest child and his dad died years later due to poor health via the unlawful work conditions in the factories. (District Eight is responsible for all the clothes the capitol has, this means the vast majority of citizens work in factories. Eight is also very oppressed so peacekeepers beat citizens and hand out punishments often.)

Hoseok dropped out of school in order to help provide for his brothers and sister. He is the only one working and he refuses to let the second to oldest child drop out of school to help him. He just wants his siblings to get their education so hopefully they can end up with manager positions at the factories and wouldn’t have to suffer the awful conditions/abuse average factory workers go through.

Hoseok is used to putting his name in more times than needed. Of course it means his panic is through the roof when reaping comes but when the names are called and he’s not one of them, he walks away with a relieved heart and bags full of food for his siblings.

Hoseok depends on that food, because it saves him up to three weeks of salary and he can use that money to get his siblings some new clothes that they had to wait all year for. Along with some small gifts in order to make up for the birthday’s Hoseok wasn’t able to afford.

Since this was his last year of being eligible for the reaping, Hoseok made sure to add his name more than usual, hoping to get more food so he could spread out the money for even longer.

So in a way, when his name was called, he wasn’t completely surprised.

But he was heartbroken, realizing that in his effort to provide for his siblings he may have robbed them of yet another caretaker.

When it was time to say goodbye, he tried his hardest to be strong and promised them he’d come back.

On the train ride over to the capitol he was completely inconsolable, unable to sleep at the prospect of his siblings having to watch him die on national tv.

He went through the motions of the first days at the capitol, but it wasn’t until the training days begun that he was approached.

it was a girl from 10 and she was only 13 years old. She asked him if he had an ally and if he would be interested in working with her. Hoseok was about to say no when he fell silent, the girl reminded him so much of his younger sister that he couldn’t help but want to protect her.

They made an alliance.

And it was working rather well. Turned out the girl from 10 was very handy and knew how to keep her and Hoseok alive. The arena was a freezing arctic and she skinned polar bears in order to keep her and Hoseok warm, later cooking the meat for them to eat.

Most tributes that year died via freezing to death, very little fighting was done.

Not the career pact though.

They found Hoseok and the girl from 10, holding him down and forcing him to watch as they tortured her.

Eventually she died but he would never forget her screams for help.

This was enough to make Hoseok snap.

So he did.

Hoseok became a monster, broke free and killed the pact. There was only three (two boys, one girl), he stabbed one in the throat, strangled the other and tracked the fleeing girl down before holding her head under the freezing water till she drowned.

Hoseok won.

In a way he’s glad because now him and his family live on victor’s row and no longer have to worry about their next meal.

But his sanity will never be the same....

He is the kindest mentor, mainly because he knows that the majority of them won’t be coming back so he’s sure to be very nice and always offers to look out for their family when they eventually die.

Arena

Park Jimin- District Four (Fishing)

Jimin volunteered for the games, an act that was surprising to everyone and anyone in four.

It’s not that Jimin wasn’t strong, it was just that he didn’t seem like the type to hurt people and he was mainly just known as a really sweet local fisher boy.

People wondered how such an angel could even think of volunteering, much less actually win the games...

(Rumors even spread that he must’ve been suicidal or in serious debt, why else would he volunteer?)

But he strutted up confidently and announced his name, holding a certain benevolence that made him seem self-assured in his own ability.

Jimin was already acting like he won the games before he even got to the capitol.

He never really showed any anxiety or distress, he talked to the escort and mentors very casually....as if they were all old friends.

He also was extremely close to his designers/stylists, he allowed himself to get spoiled by the pampering and new clothes/makeup. (This also could’ve been part of his strategy. Most tributes could care less about their team but by Jimin becoming close to them, they most likely were more motivated to get him the best clothes, jewelry, makeup and overall helped him get more fans.)

Needless to say he became popular very quickly, he was by far the most attractive tribute and his laid back/flirty personality was infectious. For the first time ever a tribute’s concept was sex appeal, something that was unheard of for tributes to do because of their young age.

During his interview when asked about his strategy, Jimin just shrugged cutely and said “I’m a very lucky person, I doubt this will be all that hard.”

he buttered up the careers very nicely, they all basically just saw him as eye candy with lots of sponsors, not an actual threat.

Little did anyone know, Jimin was actually playing a very intelligent game that requires lots of manipulation.

His main objective was to stick with the careers until more than half the tributes were gone, then he would turn the careers against each other.

It would start off really slow and deliberate; going to one career and saying “This isn’t any of my business, but I heard (blank) talking in their sleep about offing you.” Or going to another and saying, “Don’t you think it’s weird how (blank) is acting? Maybe they’re thinking about killing us and winning this thing for themselves.”

He creates chaos and distrust and watches as they slowly turn against each other.

Eventually the careers would begin to kill each other, the alliance crumbling all thanks to Jimin.

Jimin would wait until only him and another career remained. At this point the career would realize that it was Jimin who destroyed the alliance...but it would be too late.

It was a girl career and although she was strong, she was no match for Jimin who dragged her to the swamp and held her head under water until the cannon sounded.

He would then kill the remaining two tributes, a piece of cake since he only kept the careers around to off the bigger threats, only weak kids remained.

Wins the game and becomes one of the most popular victors of all time. (Although it’s still a mystery as to why he volunteered, a lingering question Jimin has always refused to answer.)

Because of him a new strategy in the games was born; The Jimin game (ie; get in an alliance, use the alliance for supplies/food/protection, then when all the big tributes are gone plant a seed of deception into the allies so they all turn against each other)

Also because of him tributes began selling a more sexier side of themselves. (Esp tributes from four bc Jimin mentors them into it so that they can get more sponsors)

Jimin also frequents the capitol often, being an A-list celebrity and receiving special treatment whenever he comes around. Unlike Yoongi, Jimin fully embraced his role and is always ready to give out interviews or guest on shows.

he also sells himself to elite capitol women, not because he was forced to but because he enjoys the sex and gifts that come with it (sugar baby)

Although there is one catch to sleeping with the infamous Park Jimin.....you have to tell him a secret worth his while.

What he’s planning to do with these secrets....no one knows.

Arena

#bts

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viterbofangirl · 4 years ago

Text

first line meme!

@fallynleaf said in her post to consider myself tagged, so I’m happily indulging in this lil’ ego boost! Thanks for the opportunity, m’dear! ^_~

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

NB- These are all unfinished and unposted WIPs. It behooves me to note that some of these are not at all recent. However, they ARE fics that have “first lines” at all, which is not necessarily a given as my Creative Muse is obnoxiously nonlinear in her inspirations.

~~~~~

1- The Gray Ghost had suffered some engine trouble somewhere on Interstate 65, so Mom and Dad hadn’t managed to make it to Chuck’s wedding. (Early Edition: ”Belly Up to the Bar”, a canon-compliant continuation of the episode “Occasionally Amber”, Gary/Toni except kinda not really because she’s totally pissed)

2- Oracle, Texas. 1878. A gnarled husk of a town still trying to deny that its glory days are past. (”Gunslinger”, my serious treatment/retelling of the Roger Corman western)

3- The gate clanged shut behind him, and Meng Yao took a deep, steadying breath. (MDZS: ”Leverage”, an Untamed AU based on inspired by pretty much continuing @littlesmartart‘s brilliant setup and concept)

4- Many, many nights would Jiang Cheng lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling and pondering the razor’s edge of chance he’d toed. (MDZS: an Untamed chengqing fic set post-canon, current working title is “Second Chances” but I don’t like it)

5- Napoleon Solo flipped though an outdated magazine with little real interest as he lounged in one of the chairs lining the lobby of the car rental establishment. (TMFU (2015): ”Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, a fic set in my “Eight Strapping Daughters” universe where it is currently 1987 and Gaby and Illya have had eight daughters, any of whom are capable of taking over the world... and all of whom are about to spend the day at a shopping mall)

6- He felt the phone vibrating in his pocket. (Sailor Moon: ”Moon Revenge”, a Minako/Kunzite bodyguard AU)

7- The Moon was visiting Earth. (Sailor Moon: ”No Miracle for the Likes of Us”- another working title- which is Venus/Kunzite-centric exploration of the end of the Silver Millenium)

8- Chibi-Usa hasn’t stayed very long after Helios departed. (Sailor Moon: ”Rebirth AU”- you guessed it... working title- a Minako/Kunzite-heavy-but-not-exclusive AU that deviates from the manga/SM Crystal canon after the end of the Dead Moon Circus arc where the Shitennou are revived and the events of Star never occur)

9- Monday, 7:00 AM: Alarm goes off.

Monday, 7:00:08 AM: Alarm thrown across room. (Sailor Moon: “Codename: Teen Idol ‘Dite”, a side arc set in the above AU where, lacking any catastrophic galactic conflicts to fight against, Minako is going out of her mind with boredom and takes an undercover job as an idol as part of a police/Interpol sting operation)

10- Normally, Salazar Slytherin took great pride in his self-control. (Harry Potter: ”Release”, a short Hogwarts founders one-shot involving a maddening magical construction project and a sudden bout of swearing)

11- It was the first truly warm day since winter had broken, and Salazar Slytherin wandered the grounds with no purpose or destination in mind, simply basking in the sunlight until he began to feel the chill of the dungeons recede from his bones. (Harry Potter: ”And Treat Them All the Same”, a Hogwarts founders story about Helga Hufflepuff’s background and why she feels very strongly about equal treatment)

12- Salazar Slytherin stared at the wardrobe for another minute before finally deciding to throw another fur over his fur-lined cloak, leather jerkin, and wool tunic. (Harry Potter: another one-shot Hogwarts founders fic with a teeny bit of Helgazar where the very cold-blooded Slytherin has to deal with a snowball fight, currently but not definitively titled “Snow Day”)

13- As the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, Brooklyn burst through the thin stone crust encasing him, his awakening roar shifting into a yawn as he stared blearily at the skyline and tried to remember what century he was in. (Gargoyles: ”Return of the Time Dancer”, Brooklyn’s return to New York- family in tow- after his Phoenix Gate adventures)

14- The couple breaking their fast that morning were strikingly handsome, if perhaps past the most fashionable age. (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Pride and Prejudice: “Scarlet Impressions”, a crossover fic that pretty much unfolded itself when I a) crunched numbers regarding the dates and years of respective storylines and b) realized that while Lizzy and Marguerite would get on like a house on fire, Darcy’s only possible reaction to Sir Percy would be unmitigated horror poorly repressed due to the latter’s much higher social standing)

15- Paris really was lovely this time of year. (MCU: “Threads and Patches: Part One”, first part of a three-part Clintasha AU set after the events of Civil War and most emphatically *not* farm-family friendly)

16- The briny air filled her lungs to bursting, but she continued to draw in breath until it hurt. (Highlander the Series: “The Mad Viking Saga”... because, frankly, EVERYONE should have an Immortal™ self-insert character and I refuse to apologize or feel ashamed of mine)

17- “Your Highness? The oracle is here.” (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: “Sinbad and the Garden of the Hesperides” a sequel to the animated movie that actually should be titled “Proteus and the etc., etc.” bc it’s mostly about him and giving him the ending I think he deserves, a.k.a. an OC love interest and a chance for adventure while on a quest to save his city from a plague)

18- Bare feet pounded on the hot, rough pavement as Sinbad dashed around another tight corner. (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: “Fast Friends”, an eight-chapter prequel telling the story of how Sinbad and Proteus met and grew up together, wherein each chapter progresses with each year they know each other from when they meet to when Sinbad leaves)

19- Reed was well-known as your stereotypical absent-minded professor. (Fantastic Four: “Shut Up and Dance With Me”, a Reed/Sue fluffy one shot where Reed is adorable because fight me)

20- The spaceport on Aruus Minor reeked of fuel, welding torches, and sweaty coveralls, but it was a welcome change from the recycled air of the Lambda shuttle. (Star Wars Legends Expanded Universe (BITE ME DISNEY): “Everything Unsaid”, a Luke/Mara chance encounter set during the we-share-an-unbearable-degree-of-compatibility-to-say-nothing-of-the-overwhelming-sexual-tension-but-both-of-our-lives-are-kind-of-a-mess-and-neither-of-us-feels-ready-to-deal-with-our-feelings-for-each-other-so-we’ve-individually-decided-to-just-ignore-said-feelings-while-simultaneously-being-drawn-to-each-other-whenever-we’re-so-much-as-in-the-same-fucking-hemisphere years)

~~~~~

WHEW! Well, it sure was fun to tease all my followers with a taste of fics that will neverrr be finished! As far as patterns go, seems I tend to prefer either set-up paragraphs or punchy one-to-three-liners intended to trick intrigue people into reading further. My favorite is definitely #9. It’s a diary/log of Minako’s day, and her POV is hilarious and sooooo much fun to write like that!

Anyone who wishes to participate should consider themselves tagged, and PLEASE TAG ME IF YOU DECIDE TO PARTICIPATE!

#fanfic #WIPs #mod's stuff #viterbofangirl thinks she can write #asks #my stuff

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sondepoch · 5 years ago

Text

Day 2

10 Days (Jumin Han x Reader)

You didn't expect to find yourself locked in an engagement to Chairman Han, but with your own mother forcing you into it, you have no way of denying her. But as time continues and things change, you begin to develop affections for your fiance's son: Jumin Han. But the sad truth is that there's nothing either of you can do to stop the marriage, and you only have these 10 days before your future becomes reality. 10 days with Jumin Han.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | ✔

MASTERLIST

By the time dinner is concluded and you're finally at Jumin's penthouse, it's well past midnight.

Still a child used to her normal daily routine, it takes all your effort to keep your eyes open, with your body relaxed from the wine and your mind tired from trying not to further aggravate Jumin.

"I'll show you the guest room in a moment," Jumin says stiffly. "Just wait on the couch for a moment while I make sure that it's been properly set up."

With that, he leaves.

You waste no time in flopping onto his couch, not caring about your dress wrinkling. I'll just lie down for a moment until Jumin comes back, you tell yourself, kicking your heels onto the floor and resting your head on the armrest.

For the next thirty seconds, you really do attempt everything in your power to stay awake. You try to think about the engagement, your mother, even Jumin himself, but for some reason, you can't bring yourself to care about anything when the pull of Hypnos grows stronger.

Vaguely, you recognize the sound of someone saying your name. Is that Chairman Han? You wonder, before realizing that this man's voice has a slightly different cadence to it: softer, deeper, and gentler.

But even that thought takes too much energy and you fall asleep to the feeling of a soft blanket being wrapped around you, utterly unaware of the sighing man watching you.

Sleep is surprisingly blissful on that couch.

When you wake up, half of you is still in the dreamworld, and the morning drowsiness hits you harder than usual.

It takes you a minute to remember where you are, why you fell asleep on a couch, and whose apartment you're in. Right, you think with a grimace. I'm with Jumin.

It barely takes a single glance around the apartment for you to now realize what your mind had been too exhausted to register yesterday: this entire penthouse is suspiciously familiar. You pull yourself off the couch, wondering why, and it's only when you see the full-glass wall to the left of you that you remember.

After all, how could you ever forget such a view?

You stand up from the couch, wrapping your blanket further around your body as you walk over to the windowed wall. From such a high distance, the people walking around in Seoul are nothing more than colored spots, the cars they're driving just ants carrying them here and there.

You saw this very same view nearly a decade ago, when you'd visited the home of a classmate for a group project. Jumin must have purchased this within the past few years.

A soft smile blooms on your lips at the memory of your past.

Back then you'd been so innocent and carefree, never realizing that one day your mother would marry you off to a man older than even your adoptive father.

But this is the life I've been given, so there's no point in brooding about it, eh? You tell yourself, resolving to be strong.

You force yourself away from the window. There's no point in reminiscing over the past. The fact that you're even in Jumin Han's penthouse is a testimony to your need to prepare yourself for the future.

You make your way to the guest bathroom, sliding the door open. Relief floods you when you find that Jumin has left you everything you could possibly need: a fresh change of clothes, toiletries, and what looks like a professional-grade makeup kit.

You look at the various foundations suspiciously before deciding not to use any of them, uncomfortable with using a brand of makeup your skin isn't used to. Besides, you think while gazing at your skin in the mirror. It's not like I need to impress Jumin.

You shower and change into the clothes you'd been left, pleasantly finding that they were just loose enough to make you look comfortable but still cute. Alright, you think, smiling at your reflection. Let's get some breakfast.

But by the time you've maneuvered your way to the kitchen, you're shocked to find that Jumin is already there.

"What's this?" You muse out loud, grabbing his attention. "Jumin Han making breakfast? Never did I think I'd see the day."

The man in front of you averts his eyes, going back to frying the omelet in his pan. "The chef called in sick. His usual replacement is apparently on vacation."

You let out a light chuckle before taking the cooking spatula from Jumin's hand. "You have to use oil if you want the egg to cook properly."

He doesn't respond while you turn the electric stove off, and you can't suppress your laughter at the executive director's inability to do something simple as cooking eggs. "You really haven't changed, have you?"

"I haven't, but you certainly have." Jumin looks away, not meeting your eyes, killing your mirth in an instant.

"Jumin...I'm marrying your father because I love him. There's no ulterior motive, nothing else to it." You try to get Jumin to look you in the eyes, but his gaze is locked on the ruined eggs.

"My father might love you, but you don't love him," Jumin mutters, glaring. "I haven't figured out what your angle is, but I won't be fooled. Go, your phone is ringing."

You turn around and, sure enough, your phone's screen is lit up with the bright contact picture of Chairman Han. You pick up the phone and turn your body away from Jumin so that he can't see the grimace on your face as you speak to your fiancé.

"Hi dear," You say with fake excitement. "How are you?"

"Horrible, (Y/N)," Chairman Han says from the other line. "The Director of International Communications was right...this whole situation is too high-level for me to discuss over the phone. But C&R will be in huge trouble if I don't stay here and sort this out. I'm sorry, my love, but you'll need to stay with Jumin for a few more nights."

"I see," You say, tone flat. You don't know whether you should be excited at the prospect of a few more days without Chairman Han's presence or terrified of how Jumin will behave with you.

As if he were hearing your internal thoughts, though, Chairman Han asks, "Is my son treating you well?"

You swallow nervously, well-aware that you can only say one thing. "Of course. Jumin's been very good to me."

Chairman Han sighs. "Good. I'm sorry, sweetling, but I have to go now. I'll call you tomorrow, alright? Until then, goodbye."

The man pauses, before adding: "I love you, (Y/N)."

You swallow. There's only one thing for you to say. "I love you, too."

From behind you, Jumin scoffs.

When you've hung up, you turn to him once more. "Looks like I'll be staying with you a couple more nights."

But if Jumin heard you, he makes no indication of such. "I'm going to work."

"It's Sunday."

"I'd rather be at an empty C&R building than with a liar like you. Deceive my father you might, but I won't fall for your tricks."

"Jumin..." You trail off, trying not to be insulted by his words.

But before you can say anything more, he's grabbed an umbrella and is out the door, leaving only you in his lonely, lonely apartment.

Or at least, that's what you thought half an hour ago, before you met his adorable cat.

She now lies curled in your lap, licking her paw daintily while you try not to squeal from how precious she is. Your fiancé had ranted half a hundred times to you about how his son obsessed over his cat: Elizabeth the Third. (Or is it the Fourth? You can't remember.) When you first heard about it, you'd scoffed and dismissed the notion of any animal being so mesmerizing, but now that Elizabeth is actually in your lap, it's hard not to fall in love with her.

Stroking her head delicately, you can't help but sigh. "Why won't Jumin accept me as easily as you, Elizabeth?"

A part of you almost waits for the cat to respond, before you realize what you're doing. Sighing, you turn to your phone and check your texts. No messages from Mother, nothing from Chairman Han, and...who else would text you? Jumin doesn't even have your number.

You groan, hating how he stormed out. But curse as you might, you know that there's nothing you can do about his prejudice against you.

Objectively speaking, he's in the wrong. You gain nothing from this marriage with Chairman Han. BC-Sonic is on a steady rise, and will soon be as large as C&R; your family is wealthy enough that a divorce settlement would be useless; and Chairman Han can't give you anything you don't already have.

But then, when one considers the more delicate nuances behind the marriage, it feels like Jumin has the truth of it.

You don't love Chairman Han, though you've managed to get the older man to fall in love with you.

But maybe that's okay.

Because Chairman Han will be happy with you by his side. You're a good actor, you'll live the rest of your life pretending to reciprocate his affections...and you'll give him true happiness. You've spent your whole life trying to be the perfect daughter, and now all your efforts will turn to being the perfect wife.

So Jumin has no reason for complaint.

If anything, his father benefits most from this marriage, by wedding a youthful and beautiful woman who's long captured the heart of the media.

I should be the one protesting this, You tell yourself, before remembering why you hadn't. It's not like I have a choice, you remember, thinking of your mother. In a roundabout way, this marriage would also bring you happiness. It'll free me of Mother.

You massage your thigh, images of growing up flashing through your mind, before you shake your head.

It's not good to dwell on the past. As soon as your marriage with Chairman Han is complete, you'll leave those memories in the past.

Forever.

You stare at your phone once more, hesitating before typing in C&R's name into the search engine. Part of you hoped that there would be some word of the 'huge trouble' Chairman Han had said his company was in, but somehow the media has yet to catch wind of the situation.

That's a good thing, though. If C&R's stock drops, then Chairman Han will want to advance the wedding date to connect our companies as quickly as possible.

You tap the search bar again, and this time enter: Jumin Han. Your idea was strange, and a little unrealistic, but it might give you some information as to where Jumin went. Surely he didn't actually go to C&R.

The page loads and sure enough, a low-credited media outlet has already released an article about Jumin Han: Shopping Adventure?!?! as of thirty minutes ago. At the top of the page, there's a picture of him holding a bag from some store you vaguely recognize, and he's in the same suit and umbrella as when he left the house. Never doubt the media, you tell yourself, mildly amused at how they managed to make a full article about something as mundane as a rich man shopping.

On the bright side, though, you at least know that Jumin is safe and accounted for. You make a mental reminder to ask for his phone number when he returns. Next time, you doubt there'll be an article online detailing his whereabouts.

But as minutes stretch into hours, and morning turns into evening, you realize, with fear, that Jumin might not be coming back. After cleaning the dish you had used to give Elizabeth dinner, you glance at the door hesitantly, as if staring longer will make Jumin walk through the door.

Sadly, it doesn't work.

You glance at your phone once more, now worried. You could call Chairman Han and ask him for his son's phone number...but no, you don't want any reason to talk with him now. You've already been sentenced to spend the rest of your life with the man, you'll enjoy this brief freedom from him as much as you can.

So who should you call...?

You have few acquaintances in this strange city of Seoul, never having been here for any purpose except business. There was always that one man...but you don't even know where he lives, much less if he's still at his old number.

Still, it's worth a shot.

You dial in the number you'd saved to your contacts so many years ago, wondering this was a lost cause. To your surprise, the man on the other line picks up instantly. "(F/N) (L/N)?" The man asks. "I've been waiting for you to call for the past four years! Are you here to chat, or are you finally going to cash in on one of those favors?"

"We can chat another time, Seven." You say, only knowing him by the hacker name he'd used when he first breached BC-Sonic's security system. "But right now, I have someone I need you to track down."

"Hm, I can do that. But I'll need you to narrow my search range down to at least the continent if you want an answer within the next twelve hours."

"How about if I tell you what city the person I'm looking for is in?"

On the other line, Seven laughs. "Sounds like you already know where they are, then. But yes, if you give me the city I can probably send you their exact address within the next ten minutes or so."

"That works."

"Good. Now, what's the name of the unfortunate soul that (F/N) (L/N) is hunting down?"

You sigh, frustrated that you're wasting a favor from one of the best hackers in the world to track down Jumin, but it can't be avoided.

"Jumin Han."

On the other line, the constant sound of typing from Seven's keyboard stops, and you can feel him shift all his attention to you. "(Y/N)..." He trails off, before continuing. "I'm sorry. He is one of the few people I cannot disclose private information on."

"Cannot or will not?" You ask, scowling. "Seven, you owe my company big-time for what you pulled when you breached our users' privacy. We've already suffered the backlash from the leak, but I did you a favor by not revealing your name to the public and you still attacked us two more times! You and I both know that all it takes is a public statement from me for your entire world to come crashing down, so save us both the trouble and find me Jumin Han!"

You bite your lip, hating that you had to resort to threatening the hacker, but it's nearing midnight and you need to know that Jumin is safe. It doesn't matter where he is, be it in a bar or a friend's home or even a strip club—you just need to know that he's safe.

On the other line, Seven sighs. "(Y/N), you and I both know that you're too good of a person to leak my information like that. We both know what would happen, and I doubt you want my blood on your hands. Besides, it would only bring back bad memories for BC-Sonic and the media would be reminded of the breach. Your company's stock would drop."

"And I'd bring it back up again," You respond, but you both know that your threat was meanignless as it was pathetic. "Alright, fine. Maybe I won't tell the media anything, but at least check that Jumin Han is safe, wherever he is. If you won't reveal his location to me, you must have some kind of allegiance to him, and he might be in danger right now."

"Why? Did he receive any threats?" Seven asks, voice serious.

Your cheeks flush in embarrassment when you realize that your concern for Jumin is baseless, only supported by the fact that it's late and he has yet to come home...but the worry in your stomach is too strong for you to ignore. "I just..He left without saying anything. I thought I saw an article that said he was going shopping, but if that were the case he should have returned hours ago. I'm just worried because...because..."

Seven finishes your sentence for you.

"...Because he's going to be family?"

You swallow.

The one condition your parents had desired for your marriage with Chairman Han was that the media would receive no word of the engagement until the entire process was complete. It was to be completely secret until everything was finalized. But if Seven knows...

"D-Did the media find out?" You ask, terrified for the truth. You fear for yourself, remembering your mother's dark warning against any failure.

"Not quite..." Seven trails off. "Jumin sort of...told me."

You swallow.

What?!

And that is the precise moment that Jumin walks in through the door, leading the way for eight hired helpers who each carry two armfuls of shopping bags.

"I'll call you back," You tell Seven, before angrily turning to Jumin. "Where were you?!"

"Out," Is all he says, loosening his tie and pulling a wine glass from the cabinet while the rest of the helpers leave the room, leaving only you and the man of the hour himself.

"A call to the penthouse would have been appreciated," You mumble. "I was worried sick. And so was Elizabeth."

As soon as you mention the cat's name, she comes running into the room, purring as she nuzzles against your leg. Jumin looks down at her in surprise, before picking her up and placing her onto the table where he strokes her fur.

"I shouldn't need to inform you where I am. Remember, in this house, you're an intruder. You are welcome here because my father directly requested this of me, but you will never be welcome in this family."

Jumin looks like he was planning on saying more, but his phone begins buzzing from his pocket and he excuses himself to take the call. While he answers, you pour yourself a cup of wine and look at Elizabeth. She's already accepted you into the family, why does Jumin have to be so difficult?

"You called Luciel?" Jumin fumes at you when he returns. "You were going to have a hacker trace my whereabouts?"

You blink, not recognizing the name Luciel until you piece together that it must be Seven's real name. A strange name, you think, And probably another fake one, but it's information nonetheless.

"You had me worried, Jumin" You respond, voice low. You take another sip of wine, suddenly wishing that it were something stronger to give you the liquid courage you need to berate Jumin for his rudeness. "I was scared." That second part comes out in a whisper.

In front of you, the male seems taken aback by your sudden dejectedness. "I see," He says, though you can tell he wants to add more.

"We should exchange numbers, no?" You suggest, offering your phone to him so that he can enter his contact information. He doesn't repeat the gesture for you, but you don't think it matters, so long as you have his number.

A long silence follows, briefly interrupted only by Elizabeth's occasional purrs as Jumin rubs her head on the spot between her ears while you stroke her body. It's strange, but it's as if she's connecting the two of you, and healing all the seemingly unforgivable insults Jumin has labeled you with over the past two days.

"I'm tired," You tell him.

It's true, but you're not sure that he understands the full meaning behind the words.

There had been a day when you were excited about marrying Chairman Han, eager that the final piece in the puzzle of your life was going to be set in place. But then, you'd learned of his womanizing habits, his callous behavior, and his utterly banal taste.

You're tired.

You're tired of this engagement, but given that you have no choice in the matter and the fact that this engagement is your future, the truth is that you're tired of life. Tired of the life you've yet to even begin leading.

Still, it seems that Jumin picked up on some semblance of your meaning, and he sets down his wine glass. "I'd like to apologize, (Y/N)." He pauses, as if he were considering leaving it just at that, but finally continues. "I may have treated you...less fairly than you deserve."

An amused smile flits across your face. It wasn't an outright apology, still heavy with the implication that Jumin doesn't trust you, but it's progress.

"And how fairly do you think I deserve to be treated?" You ask, unable to hold the question back.

"I..." Jumin trails off. "I spoke with my father on the phone today. He...told me that your happiness was his happiness. I'm not foolish enough to believe that you love him, (Y/N), but if I mistreat you it will bring him pain. That's the only thing I wish to avoid."

You offer Jumin a light smile. "Jumin, if there's one thing I can promise you, it's that he will be happy with me. No matter what, he will feel loved."

"He will feel loved by you, but will he be loved by you?"

Your smile turns sour, and you think about the sad truth of life. "Is there truly a difference? He's happy regardless."

Jumin pauses, considering your words. Another moment of silence follows, and you almost stand up to go to bed, but the man finally speaks. "The difference is your happiness, (Y/N). Even if you're skilled enough to deceive my father into a false sense of happiness, what kind of life would you be leading?"

You swallow, trying your hardest to pretend as if you hadn't asked yourself the very same question this morning. Without any way to answer, you decide to use business tactics to respond. If you can't respond in a way that benefits the company, don't answer the question at all, your mother had once told you.

The same logic applies.

"We are in agreement that your father will be happy in this marriage. That is all that matters." To convey that this discussion is over, you stand up and announce that you'll be going to bed. It's not quite as late as it was when you'd arrived in Jumin's penthouse yesterday, but it's still well-past when you'd have liked to be asleep.

You don't look back when you leave the room, not even when you hear Elizabeth meow and attempt to follow you, for fear that Jumin will see your face and your tears.

For fear that Jumin will realize that thinking about the life you'll be leading brings you more pain than you've ever felt before.

For fear that Jumin will realize that you don't want this marriage any more than he does.

MASTERLIST

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | ✔

Word count: 3.9k

Notes: Aghhh I'm so sleepy but I still have to work out >.> i kind of want to take a nap just to recharge but I know that if I do that I won't be able to get up UGH T^T plus i had ice cream today so if I skip ill feel guilty aghhhhhh woe is me

Comment & Like

Next Update: 4/11/20

I do not own the rights to Mystic Messenger or any of the characters within it.

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ripley95 · 4 years ago

Text

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 4

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 4.6K

Story Tags: friends to lovers, mini slow burn, angst

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Kaidan and Shepard make their way to his family home on the orchard. Shepard finally meets Kaidan’s family.

Link to Chapter 4 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Shepard was looking out the window, admiring the view from Kaidan’s rental skycar. They were well on their way to the orchard. The sky was relatively empty heading towards the Okanagan, not much traffic getting in the way of the scenery. They passed beautiful mountainscapes still covered in snow. The whole journey into the interior was more scenic than she was expecting. BC offered a lot of Earth’s beauty, and she figured she’d try to enjoy what she could from this trip. ‘Try’ was the operative word there, still thinking this plan was a mistake. She bounced her uninjured leg nervously, contemplating how difficult this week was about to be. Something Kaidan seemed to be picking up on the closer they got to the orchard.

“You alright there, Shepard? You look like you’re getting a little restless.”

“You could say that,” she said, looking over at him with a smirk. “If you’ll recall, you forced me to drink two whole bottles of water before we left, not to mention my coffee. I think I’m ready for a pit stop.” It was the truth, but she’d be lying if that was the whole reason behind her lively leg. She was getting more and more nervous, the closer they got to their destination.

Kaidan smirked at her. “Sorry about that. Maybe I should have let you pace the water a bit, but I still think you’ll end up thanking me for it later. Think you can hold it, though? The orchard’s only a couple minutes away.”

“Already?”

“Yup. Just over that hill up there,” he said, pointing ahead of them.

“Well, in that case, I’m pretty sure I can hold it.” Her leg continued to bounce impatiently, despite what she said.

They rode in silence the rest of the way. It really wasn’t far off at this point, and the thought of it only put her more on edge. Any minute now, she’d be meeting Kaidan’s family. Yet another thing that reeked of intimacy. This was something that people who were romantically involved did, and yet again, she felt as though she was stealing someone else’s place that should have been here instead of her. Kaidan wasn’t fazed at all as she glanced back towards him. He was just steering the car with a wistful smile.

No matter how he might have felt about their relationship, he was still here for a celebration and to get to be here for his sister on her special day. He would be welcoming someone new into his family. It at least made her happy that he was getting the chance to experience this. She knew this was going to be a stressful week for herself, but seeing the look on his face made her feel better about it.

Just like that, they were already making their descent. Kaidan was right, the ride was short. They made a soft landing on a patch of grass in front of the house. She practically bounced out of the car with her nervous energy. Kaidan went to the trunk to grab the bags. As Shepard reached for hers, he quickly intercepted it, and she looked at him questioningly.

“You know I can carry my own bag, right? I’m not that debilitated.”

“Maybe not, but after what I saw this morning, I don’t want you to be adding any unnecessary weight on that leg,” he said, taking the bag and putting the strap over his shoulder.

Shepard chuckled at that. Always the caretaker. She just wasn’t used to relying on anyone else to make things easier for her. “I guess I can’t argue with that. After you,” she finally agreed as she directed her hand towards the house, still fidgeting a bit thanks to her need to go to the bathroom.

He made his way up the steps and waited for Shepard to follow after him. “Well, I hope you’re ready to meet my family. I’m warning you now, they can be a bit much,” he said with a laugh, his hand hovering over the doorbell.

“I’m sure they’re fine. Even if I wasn’t ready, though, I’m about to pee my pants if this waits any longer.”

“Right,” he said with a smirk as he rang the bell.

As they waited, Shepard examined their surroundings. This was where Kaidan was raised. His childhood home. She never had anything like that, always changing ships, or being dropped off at boarding school while her mother was on active duty. She could see the appeal of having a place to always call home, not to mention being raised close to nature. It must have been nice, not that she begrudged her own upbringing by any means. It was just different. The house was very classic looking, made out of real wood, layered in soft hues of paint with a large porch on the front of the house that they were currently standing on. The property was stunning and bigger than she expected. Well kept, too, barely any signs of the war leftover. She didn’t really know what to expect when she agreed to come out here, but she was pleasantly surprised that they already managed to have it looking so good after the end of the war.

One of the windows must have been open, because they heard some shuffling from inside, followed by someone yelling.

“Kaidan’s here!!” they heard before there was a large commotion of thumping.

That made Shepard look at Kaidan, surprised. She wasn’t expecting such a reaction from an Alenko. She had envisioned them to be reserved and quiet. Then again, her only example to go off of was him, so that wasn’t necessarily a fair assessment.

“That was Maisie. She can be… enthusiastic. Acts like a teenager, even though she’s well into her twenties already. Like I said, they can be a bit much.”

“Ah,” Shepard said with a nod, still a little surprised from the complete contrast to Kaidan.

“I’ve already got it, Maisie. Calm down,” they heard someone shout back before the door opened.

Shepard got the briefest glimpse of the woman opening the door, before a blur of colour shot right past her. Said blur of colour jumped onto Kaidan, hugging him with what looked like the force of a death-grip. Kaidan promptly dropped the bags in his hands as he staggered backwards, nearly falling down the steps.

The woman that opened the door walked outside onto the porch, looking like she was trying to greet her brother as well. She had strikingly similar features to Kaidan, the same dark hair and eyes. There wasn’t any denying that they were related, likely Raiya, the oldest, if Shepard had to guess. There was something about her serious disposition that screamed maturity. She made eye contact with Shepard, and she stopped dead in her tracks. There was an expression of shock at seeing who Kaidan brought with him as his plus one. Shepard waved awkwardly as Kaidan’s younger sister was still dramatically hugging her brother.

“Aaah, I missed you so much. You’re the only cool sibling, you know that?!”

“I’m standing right here, Maisie,” the older sister said, finally moving her attention away from Shepard.

“Oh yeah. Forget I said that,” Maisie said, finally lowering herself from the hug, not even noticing the awkward silence filling the air behind her.

“The only reason you say that is because I’m the one gone long enough for you to miss me, you know,” Kaidan said as he smiled at her. It was one of warmth that looked like he was happy to be home, seeing his family again. Shepard couldn’t help but notice how good it looked on him.

Suddenly, the sound of a dish dropping came from one of the rooms in the house, prompting everyone to turn towards the noise. Shepard had a perfect view, noticing two other women in what looked to be a dining room just past the main foyer. Both of them stood there, staring. That must have been Kaidan’s mother and Libby. All of the Alenkos shared similar features, no denying their relation. Libby was acting flustered for having just dropped the dish as she bent to pick it up. Luckily it didn’t actually break, and they were examining if anything could be salvaged. Shepard couldn’t help but think she seemed a little perturbed, too. That was terrific. She was already making a horrible first impression, causing people to drop dishes.

With the commotion drawing everyone’s attention, Maisie was the last one to finally see Shepard standing there. “Holy shit,” she muttered out. She also had that trademark Alenko black hair, but hers had streaks of bright blue and pink running through it. From what little Shepard knew of her, she could already tell it matched her colourful personality.

All eyes were on Jane now, as she stood there awkwardly, immediately prompting her to look towards Kaidan. “I guess you forgot to tell them I was coming?” she said with a nervous laugh. She was usually the picture of confidence, able to keep her cool, yet somehow having the attention of all of the Alenko women on her was enough to make her anxious.

“Uh,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I told everyone I was using my plus one last night.”

“Yeah, sure, but none of us believed you!” Maisie said, hitting Kaidan in the abdomen with the back of her hand playfully.

“You also left out who it was that you were bringing,” Raiya cut in, sounding much less enthused than her lively sister.

“I didn’t think I had to,” Kaidan said, sounding a bit confused about everyone’s reaction.

“You didn’t think we’d be interested in knowing you were dating Commander Shepard?!” Maisie cut in sharply.

That made both Kaidan and Shepard go wide-eyed at each other, their mouths agape.

“That’s not- I never-” Kaidan said, stumbling over his words.

He was interrupted by the sound of Libby sniffling, and Kaidan’s mother comforting her and bringing her back into the kitchen.

Shepard stared at Kaidan in a way that was begging for help. Somehow, everything that could have gone wrong was going wrong and then some. She had no idea what to do in this situation, and she still had to go to the bathroom.

“Uh, right, Shepard has to use the bathroom,” he said, picking up their bags, and guiding her through the doorway and down the hall, his hand resting on her lower back.

“Aww, how cute! He calls her Shepard,” Maisie squeaked from behind them.

Kaidan dropped the bags by the bathroom door and gently grasped her shoulder to get her attention.

“I am so sorry, Shepard. I have no idea what that was or how they came to that conclusion. All I said is that I was using my plus one, I swear. I’ll go clear this up.”

“It’s okay,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she was trying to reassure Kaidan or herself at that point. It was a simple misunderstanding, but it wouldn’t help her own situation and how she was already feeling about Kaidan.

Kaidan gave her a quick nod before trying to go and smooth things over with his family.

She closed the door behind her. It was made out of thin plywood. The kind that was hollow in the middle, so as she closed it, she could still hear everything that was going on.

“Commander Shepard?! Kaidan, are you kidding me?” It was said with a scolding anger that Shepard wasn’t expecting.

“Libby,” he said, already sounding exasperated. “I told you I was bringing someone.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say it was Commander Shepard! The whole point of a wedding is to celebrate the people getting married. No one’s going to care about Derek and me with her here!”

Well, that explained the anger then. This was an issue that she hadn’t even considered. When she joined the Alliance, gaining celebrity status wasn’t exactly on the agenda, but she had gained it all the same. It was even one of the reasons she had opted to come with Kaidan instead of staying in one of the refugee camps. Libby’s concerns were warranted, considering how much of a problem her fame had become even before the end of the war. She couldn’t land on the Citadel without being stopped by a reporter or people wanting to talk to her. It was even a bit of a problem at the hospital where she was staying in London, but they at least had security. How could she have not thought of this complication when agreeing to go to a wedding of all things? The last thing she wanted to do was steal Libby’s thunder during her own wedding. This sure had turned into a colossal mess much faster than she expected. That didn’t change the fact that she was already here, though, stuck in this situation for better or worse.

Shepard heard more muffled conversation through the door, so she put her ear flush up against it to hear better.

“Libby, you are so missing the point. When has Kaidan ever brought anyone home? That means they’re serious. How could you not have told me?”

That was definitely Maisie.

“Guys, I think everyone’s gotten the wrong ide-” Kaidan tried to cut in.

“Yeah, the Savior of the Galaxy, Kaidan? I don’t think any of us were expecting that.” It was Raiya this time.

“Hey, would you be quiet, please? She doesn’t like being called that. I didn’t bring her here to be paraded around. She’s still a real person underneath all of that, you know. It would be nice if you could all treat her like one.”

“Oooh, look at that, already coming to her defense. Kaidan’s got it bad. So just how serious are you two? Is there going to be another Alenko wedding in our future?”

“Guys, you’re all reading way too m-” He said, getting cut off yet again. He certainly came from a family of strong women, all fighting to be heard.

“All right! That’s enough. I swear, the moment all of you get into the same room together, it’s like you all revert back into being a bunch of wild children again,” Kaidan’s mother cut in. “Where have your manners gone? You’re almost all in your thirties for goodness sake. Whether you like it or not, Commander Shepard is a guest in our house, and we will treat her as such,” she scolded. It sounded like it did the trick if the following silence meant anything. “Kaidan, she seems lovely. I look forward to getting to know her better, but now, will everyone help me set the table. Please.” Shepard heard her huff out in exasperation.

That lecture wasn’t effective enough to completely stop the snarky behaviour, but everyone was speaking more quietly. It was harder to hear them through the door now. Shepard took that as reason enough to stop eavesdropping and finally went to relieve herself.

As soon as she was done and washed her hands, she exited the bathroom. She was almost startled by Kaidan pacing right in front of the door.

“Shepard, I think we have a problem.”

“So I heard,” she said, not being able to contain a smile. As much as this had become a stressful situation, the sheer absurdity of it was enough to make her want to laugh.

“Well, I’m glad you find it funny,” he said, her own smile bringing one out in him. “I’m really sorry. I can’t get a word in edgewise. I tried to tell them that we’re not - you know.”

“I heard. I know,” she assured him. She wanted him to know she didn’t harbour any ill will towards him over the confusion. “It was a simple misunderstanding. I’m sure we can smooth things over when they calm down.”

“If they ever calm down,” Kaidan huffed out seriously, as his gaze drifted off in frustration. “I haven’t seen them so determined to believe something before in my life.”

That didn’t bode well.

“I guess the most we can do is just keep emphasising that we’re not actually together,” he said. The words stung more than she expected. “Hopefully, they’ll get the picture eventually.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shepard said, not sounding very enthusiastic about it, but it was all they had.

“I’m really sorry about the confusion. I really didn’t even think to mention it was you I was bringing. I guess to them, you’re still larger than life. To me, you’re my friend, which is who I said I was bringing. They somehow made up their own narrative about it. I didn’t think it needed to be explained more at the time. In hindsight, I can definitely see where I went wrong,” he said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

“It’s okay, Kaidan. I know you wouldn’t have done something like this on purpose. Don’t worry about it. We stick to the truth enough, I’m sure they’ll follow suit eventually.”

Kaidan nodded, still upset for having caused such a misunderstanding. “Okay,” he said, not sounding entirely convinced with the idea. “I guess we should get back to them. The table’s set, and they’re waiting for us.”

Shepard nodded in agreement, so Kaidan turned to lead them towards the dining room.

When they finally got there, Libby was still scathing. Definitely off on the wrong foot with her, it would seem. Shepard figured she’d have to try extra hard to get on her good side now, already tarnishing something that was supposed to be a special time for her. Kaidan’s mother and Maisie at least greeted her with a friendly smile that helped her feel welcome. Raiya was harder to grasp, not giving up any outward judgments through appearance alone. This was going to be one hell of a week. The silence was so awkward, Shepard just offered a smile to everyone for a moment, before glancing back to Kaidan for help.

“Uh, right. Well, is everyone ready to eat, then?” he asked, looking around the room. “Mom and Libby have been working on a big meal all morning.”

“Oh,” Shepard said, finally looking at the table setting. There was a big roast prepared and plenty of fresh vegetables and potatoes. It looked like quite the feast. “Everything looks amazing. I haven’t had a good, fresh meal in a long time.”

“Oh, well, in that case, let’s dig in, shall we?” Kaidan’s mother said with a big smile, proud of her accomplishments, and happy to see that her hard work would be appreciated by someone. She was the first to sit, taking the head of the table. “No need for manners now, just grab whatever you want,” she said, pointing to the chairs to prompt everyone to follow suit.

Jane looked at Kaidan to follow his direction. She wanted to make sure she wasn’t stealing anyone’s spot or stepping on even more toes. He quickly took notice that she was waiting for his lead, and went to pull out a chair for her.

“Oooh, look at that, Kaidan’s being such a gentleman,” Maisie said as she sat at the foot of the table.

“Yeah, about that,” Kaidan spoke up. “Shepard and I are not together,” he finally managed to get out without being interrupted. It was a relief to both of them.

“Oh come on,” Maisie said with a laugh as she started dishing some food onto her plate. “With the way you’ve been acting? There’s no way that’s true. If you’re just trying to downplay whatever’s going on between the two of you to avoid breaking the regs or something, you should know that your secret’s safe with us.”

Kaidan let out a sigh, and rubbed his forehead, hardly able to believe that this was happening.

“All right. That’s enough, Maisie. Leave them alone.”

Maisie finally listened to that well enough, but something about the whole situation didn’t seem very finalized.

Kaidan quickly acted as though everything was normal and plated some pot roast before passing it on to Shepard, which is when he broke into the conversation again. “We didn’t get to do any actual introductions, so--”

“Wait, no. I think I have a pretty good idea of who everyone must be,” Shepard said as she took a piece of the pot roast before passing the plate. She figured maybe showing a genuine interest in them might put her back on their good side.

“You have to be Maisie. Awesome hair, by the way,” she said with a genuine smile.

“Thank you,” Maisie said with a smile, glancing over to her sisters with an impressed look on her face.

Continuing around the table, “You must be Libby, and uh, I just wanted to say congratulations. This must be such an exciting time for you,” she said, trying to be extra nice.

Libby said a quiet ‘thanks’ as reciprocation, clearly not happy still, but at least trying to maintain pleasantries. Shepard just nodded at that, knowing that things weren’t going to be smoothed over for her unless she was assured that her wedding day could go off smoothly. That was an issue for another time, though.

“Raiya,” she said with a smile. Raiya just nodded, smiling back. Shepard still wasn’t exactly sure how to read her yet, but she supposed it was better than Libby. Shepard glanced at Kaidan for confirmation after that. The look he gave her was even more surprised than when he learned that she remembered all of their names. It was almost as though he hadn’t expected her to pay attention all those times he discussed his family with her. Especially not to have enough detail to have determined who everyone was on her own. She gave him a warm smile as she tried to move on to the last woman in the room.

“Not together, my ass,” Maisie mumbled under her breath in a way that was still audible to everyone else in the room, and Kaidan rolled his eyes.

Shepard wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so after a bit of an awkward pause, she continued. “And that leaves you, Mrs. Alenko. I’m sorry, but I never actually got your first name.”

“That was impressive. We’re a big group to have gotten everyone right. You can call me Ada.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet all of you,” Shepard said.

Maisie just stared at Shepard blankly before looking around the table. “Oh, come on! Seriously? They’re clearly together.”

Shepard and Kaidan shared a bit of a concerned look between the two of them. Apparently, her plan to get on everyone’s good side was just making this other issue of theirs worse, and now she regretted it.

“Just ignore her,” Ada interrupted. “What about you, though. Surely the great Commander Shepard must have a first name. It’s surprisingly well hidden from the public. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard it.”

Shepard had to laugh at that. It was somehow surprisingly well-hidden. Not only from the public, but even from people she was close to in her real life. Everyone had always called her Shepard ever since she was young. Likely a side effect of growing up in the military. Come to think of it, the only people that ever really called her Jane was her own mother, and Kaidan. Kaidan had only ever used that name briefly when they were together, though, and quickly reverted back to Shepard ever since.

“I do have one. Shocking, I know. It’s Jane.”

Ada gave her a genuine smile at that. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Jane.”

Shepard smiled back at the sincerity of it. She figured it must be strange to meet ‘Commander Shepard’ given her service record and media coverage. Maybe ‘Jane’ would be a little easier to see the person underneath all of that. This was supposed to be shore leave after all—a personal trip with a friend on top of that. If ever there was a time to put her rank aside and be Jane, it was now.

“The feeling is mutual. Kaidan’s told me so much about all of you. It’s nice to finally put faces to the names,” Shepard said.

Ada smiled at that, and everyone took a moment to eat. It took Maisie a second longer than everyone else to start eating as she sat there looking like she was about to burst. She clearly wanted to say more but didn’t want to be yelled at by her mother.

“Well, I hope you’re okay with waiting a bit before you can settle in. Kaidan only told us last night that he’d be bringing someone.”

“Sorry about that,” Shepard cut in. “You can blame that one on me. I was actually only just released from the hospital, so it was on short notice for everyone.”

“Oh no, I didn’t realise you were still recovering. Your injuries must have been quite serious.”

“You could say that,” Shepard said, warily, not really wanting to relive the worst of it right now. “I guess the important part is that I’m doing much better now,” she said, as she glanced over to Kaidan momentarily. She was almost surprised to see a look of genuine gratitude at the statement before she looked back to Ada. “I still need to be doing the exercises they’ve been teaching me in physical therapy, but I’ve been feeling much more like myself over the last month.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re doing better,” she said with a warm smile. “Anyway, I hope you don’t mind sharing a room. With all of the kids back at the house again, we’re at capacity.”

Being a soldier, sleeping in close quarters with someone was hardly an issue. Her only problem with it was remembering what it felt like to wake up in the same room as him earlier that day back in Vancouver. It did nothing but make her feel worse about her current situation and constantly being reminded of her feelings for him. Then again, it was better than being temporarily homeless.

“No, that’s fine. Don’t even worry about it. I’m just thankful for the hospitality.”

Maisie flung her arms out in frustration, before crossing them indignantly, clearly wanting to say something again. Shepard mentally chastised herself for continuously shoving her foot deeper in her mouth.

“If I have anything to say about it, you’re always welcome here, Jane,” Ada said with a cheerful smile, completely ignoring her youngest child. “I’ll have your room ready in a few hours after I get a chance to wash the sheets and everything.”

“Oh, mom, that’s okay. You don’t have to go out of your way or anything. We can set up the room,” Kaidan cut in.

“No, no, don’t be silly. Your time here is so limited, and Jane’s a guest. You should take her around the property after lunch. There’s a lot to see. The apples aren’t quite ready to bloom yet, but the leaves have all come back and are such nice shades of green. The orchard looks so pretty. You should go enjoy yourselves.”

“Are you sure?” Kaidan asked. It almost looked like it pained him to think that he had inconvenienced his mom. Shepard wouldn’t put it past him. The man never liked to feel like he was a burden.

“Of course I’m sure, now quit asking.”

Kaidan nodded at that reluctantly, accepting that his mother wasn’t going to budge on the issue.

Everyone continued with their lunch, having a passing conversation. Ada’s warm disposition was already making her feel incredibly welcome, so she figured that was at least one good thing out of this whole situation. As for everyone else, it seemed like she’d be keeping herself plenty busy trying to smooth things over.

#my fic on tumblr #f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard x Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #mass effect #fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #friends to lovers #angst #mini slow burn #my writing

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yexirong · 5 years ago

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Conflicts between Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan ----Writing inspired by the movie “Here” (Part 2 of 2)

Research of movie HERE, translated by me. Posted with the writer’s permission.

Conflicts between Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan

----Writing inspired by the movie “Here” (Part 2 of 2)

----Blog 1 in the “one morning, one sentence” series

亚美尼亚，卡拉巴赫，和阿塞拜疆的地域冲突

----电影《爱在这里》细节衍生（下部）

----一句英语耗掉一个清晨系列之一（下部）

In the first half of this blog (http://sagopalm.lofter.com/post/1e422858_be0688e), I briefly introduced the Gandzasar Monastery shown in the 2011 movie “Here”, together with the cross-stones in this monastery. Like I mentioned at the end of the first half, a major portion of the monastery survived bombing by Azerbaijan. However, this leaves the question: why did the bombing occur?

在这个连载的第一部分（详见：http://sagopalm.lofter.com/post/1e422858_be0688e），我短暂的介绍了在2011年的电影《爱在这里》中出现的甘扎萨尔修道院，同时也介绍了一下修道院中的十字碑。就像我在第一部分的文末提到的，修道院的主要部分在阿萨拜疆的轰炸中幸存了下来。然而，这也引出了一个问题：这场轰炸为何爆发？

In this post, I will continue the topic and cover two things. First, topic 4 (a boring history topic – consider yourself warned), the recent regional tension between Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh (Karabakh), Azerbaijan, and the driving forces behind this. Second, topic 5, how this political instability influenced the area and the people, just as was referenced in the movie.

在这部分连载中，我将继续这个话题并涵盖两件事：首先，话题4（一个非常无聊的话题——来自作者的警告），近期亚美尼亚，纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫（即卡拉巴赫）以及阿塞拜疆之间紧张的局势，以及造成此种局势的背景。第二，也就是话题5，就像电影里提到的，这样的政治不稳定的情况是如何影响了这个地区及其人民的。

4. Regional Tension: Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan

4.紧张的区域形势：亚美尼亚，卡拉巴赫和阿塞拜疆

Let me first quickly summarize what has happened to Armenians in the last 2000 years, between its historical height of 95 to 65 BC, and the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918. [1]

首先让我简单的介绍一下在过去的2000年里亚美尼亚都发生了些什么：历史上它的顶峰时期，公元前95年到公元前65年，以及1918年亚美尼亚第一共和国的建立。

Simply, they have not done well.

坦白来讲，他们并没有干得很出色。

Okay, that was not completely accurate, but even the famous Armenian-American author William Saroyan would agree, describing a “…small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost…” In fact, throughout the last 2000 years, one can rarely find anything that happened to the Armenia kingdoms besides being invaded. In order, they were invaded by: Assyrians, Medes, Achaemenid Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Sassanid Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans, Iranian Safavids, Afsharids, Qajars,and Russians. [1]

好八，这并不是非常精确的说法，但是就算是著名的《美国中的亚美尼亚人》的作者William Saroyan同样同意这一点，他在文中说“（亚美尼亚人是）一小群不受重视的人，他们百战百败”事实上，在过去2000年的历史中，任何人都难以再亚美尼亚王国过去2000年的历史中找到除了被入侵之外的事情。他们曾经被如下顺序的国家入侵过：亚述人，米堤亚人，阿契美尼德王朝的波斯人，希腊人，帕提亚人，罗马人，萨珊王朝的波斯人，拜占庭人，阿拉伯人，塞尔柱王朝的蒙古人，奥斯曼人，伊朗的奥斯曼帝国，阿夫沙尔王朝，卡札尔人和俄罗斯帝国。

One thing I need to emphasize is that Armenia has never given up its cultural signatures or religious beliefs. In most cases, Armenia was still autonomous, even with some empire overseeing its political system. This is definitely impressive. In my opinion, this could be credited to its special geographical position, basically locked inside the Causasus Mountains [1]. Every powerful king near Armenia would likely appreciate it as a natural boundary against neighboring enemies, would not want to bother too much to manage it. In addition, Armenians have a very long and strong religious tradition, which prevented foreigners from having complete control over national belief.

还有一件我需要强调的事，那就是亚美尼亚人从来没有放弃他们的文化特色和宗教信仰。大部分情况下，即使其他国家监控着它的政治体系，亚美尼亚仍然是一个自主国家。这是令人十分钦佩的一点。在我看来，这归功于这个国家大部分都位于高加索山脉的独特地理位置。亚美尼亚附近的任何一个强大的国王都应该感激它以自然为边境而不是临近敌国，不用格外费心管理边境。除此之外，亚美尼亚有着很长而且很强大的宗教传统，这阻止了外国人完全掌控他们的国民信仰。

Returning to the conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan, they actually share some culture and have often been invaded together. However, during an invasion from the Arabian Empire around the Seventh century, most of the Azerbaijani people converted to Islam, while most Armenians stayed Christian. (The exact situation was much more complicated, but I will not cover it here.) Since then, conflicts in beliefs have made them potential enemies, but they never really got the chance to confront each other as independent countries until 1918. In 1918, they both proclaimed independence on a same day (May 28th), and disputed certain territories that had been part of either country at various points in history. Karabakh was one of those territories. From 1918 to 1920, the dispute resulted in the so-called Armenian–Azerbaijani War [2], until they were both “invaded” (or maybe “swallowed up”) by the Soviet Union (SU) and the conflict was suppressed.

回到亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆的冲突上来，事实上他们享有一些共同的文化，而且也经常一起被入侵。然而，在17世纪阿拉伯帝国的整个入侵过程中，大部分阿塞拜疆人转信了伊斯兰教，而大部分的亚美尼亚人仍旧信仰着基督教。（具体情况要复杂得多，但是在这里我不详细说明了。）从那之后，信仰冲突使他们成为了潜在的敌人，但是知道1918年之前，他们从来没有真的像其他的独立过一样面对面的较量过。1918年，他们都宣布在同一天（5月28日）成为独立国家，并且就历史上曾经在不同的时期都成为过两个国家的领土的几个区域展开了争夺。卡拉巴赫就是这样的几个地区。从1918年到1920年，这一争论导致了我们称为“亚美尼亚-阿塞拜疆战争”的战争，直到他们一起被苏维埃联合国入侵（或者说“被吞并”），这一冲突被镇压了下去。

Although control of Karabakh has shifted about throughout history, the majority of its population is Armenian [3]. When different forces was trying to take control of Karabakh between 1920 and 1921, the residents there were fighting hard for either independence or unification with Armenia. Therefore, when the SU simply put Karabakh under Azerbaijan’s control in 1921, with a purposes of balancing local Communist lines and placating Turkey, this understandably laid the foundation for future conflict. In fact, many people also believe that the SU was basically pursuing a plan of “divide and rule” [3]. Figure 1 shows the relative location of Karabakh to Armenia and Azerbaijan at that time.

尽管在卡拉巴赫的整个历史上，掌控权是不断在转换的，但是他的主要人种却一直都是亚美尼亚人[3]。在1920到1921年之间，不同的军事力量都在想办法控制卡拉巴赫地区。但当地的人民都在为了国家的独立性和统一而不断抗争。因此，当苏联为了平衡当地共产党的战线以及安抚土耳其，在1921年简单地将卡拉巴赫置于阿塞拜疆的控制之下的时候，就为未来的冲突奠定了基础。实际上，很多人相信，苏联基本上是为了追求“分而治之”的移民计划[3]。图1展示了当时卡拉巴赫和亚美尼亚以及阿塞拜疆之间的相对地理位置关系。

Figure 1. The location and region of Karabakh in the 90s. [4]

图1. 卡拉巴赫在90年代时的位置及面积。[4]

With the SU being powerful, no substantial national level warfare occurred between Armenia and Azerbaijan for more than half a century. Starting with the economic and political reforms led by Gorbachov (he is still alive by the way) in 1985, democratic thought started to expand in the SU. Since then, the SU’s censorship control of its member countries dramatically decreased. As a result, in 1988, the long-existing problems from the Armenian–Azerbaijani War started to attract military violence to the region again, and this time with one major focus: Karabakh. In 1990 Armenia declared independence, while in 1991, Azerbaijan declared independence a few days before the SU officially ceased to exit. [1]-[3] The regional tension worsened. The bombing of the Gandzasar Monastery occurred in the autumn of 1991, as mentioned in the movie “Here” and my last blog [5].

随着苏联的不断强大，在超过半个世纪的时间里都没有过大量的国家级的战争出现在亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆之间。在1985年戈尔巴乔夫（顺说，此人现在还活着）领导的政治及经济的改革，苏联内部的民主党开始扩张。从那以后，苏联的对于其成员国的审查控制开始戏剧性的下降。而且结果就是在1988年时，亚美尼亚-阿塞拜疆战争所长期遗留下来的问题开始再一次在此地区引发军事暴动，而这一次他们的聚焦点是卡拉巴赫。在1990年亚美尼亚公开宣布独立，直到1991年，阿塞拜疆在苏联正式宣告解体之前的几天宣布了独立。[1]-[3]地区之间的紧张的局势开始恶化。针对甘扎萨尔修道院的的轰炸发生在1991年的秋天，就像我的上篇介绍说过，在电影《爱着这里》中有所提及。

In 1992, clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan turned into a full-scale war (known as the Nagorno-Karabahk War). The war ended with Armenia controlling a large portion of Karabakh in 1994, but the situation was far from any real peace. Small regional clashes have occurred frequently ever since. Therefore, it is not hard to understand, why Will (Ben Foster’s role) has such a difficult time entering Karabahk and the topic of spies keeps coming up.

在1992年，亚美尼亚与阿塞拜疆之间的冲突演化成了全面战争（即纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫战争）。这一战争在1994年以亚美尼亚掌控了卡拉巴赫的大部分地区为结尾，但是其结果远不止表面的和平。自那之后局部区域的矛盾冲突不断出现。因此也不难理解为什么Will（Ben Foster饰演）在卡拉巴赫地区受到了重重阻碍而且关于间谍的话题也在不断出现了。

The most recent of the clashes (known as the Four Day War) actually happened earlier this year [6]. Here is a figure showing the new location and border of the three countries.

最近的一次冲突（即四日战争）就出现在今年的上半年[6]。这里有一张图片展示了这三个国家最新的位置及边界。

Figure 2. The location and region of Karabakh today. [7] NKR stands for Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which is referred as Karabakh here. The light colored area is controlled by Karabakh and Armenia, and the orange labeled area is controlled by Azerbaijan but claimed by Karabakh [7].

图2.现如今拉卡巴赫的位置及范围。[7]NKE为纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫共和国，也就是我们所说的卡拉巴赫。亮色区域归卡拉巴赫和亚美尼亚管理，而卡拉巴赫声称由橙色标记的区域由阿塞拜疆管理。

5. The people

5.人民

People in Armenia have suffered.

亚美尼亚人民仍在受难。

Armenia has a long history of massacres, mass exiles, and religious strife. [2]. However, I will stay away from these depressing details. Rather, let us first focus on a town named Jermuk. At 38min 27s of the movie, Will and Gadarine (the female lead) enter Jermuk (Figure 3), where Gadarine’s parents live. Gadarine says “in Soviet time, this was a big spry”.

亚美尼亚有着很长的屠杀，大规模流放和宗教争执史。[2] 然而我会避过不谈这些让人压抑的细节。反之，让我们先来看一下一个叫做杰尔穆克的小镇。在电影的第38分27秒，Will和Gadarine（女主角）进入了杰尔穆克（如图3），也就是Gadarine的父母居住的地方，Gadarine说“在苏维埃时期，这里曾经是一个充满生气的地方。”

Figure 3. Still frame from the movie “Here”. [5] They are entering a city named "Jermuk", as shown on the sign near the road.

图3. 同样来自于电影《爱在这里》的截图。[5]他们正在进图一个叫做杰尔穆克的城市，名字写在路旁的路标上。

Jermuk is located very close to the border between Armenia and Karabakh (Figure 4). It is known for its mineral springs. The families of kings started to build pools there about one thousand years ago [8]. In Figure 5, you can see the beautiful forest and spring in Jermuk.

杰尔穆克非常临近亚美尼亚和卡拉巴赫的边境（如图4.）。因它的矿泉出名。大概1000年前，国王家族开始在这里建造池塘。在图5中，你可以看到杰尔穆克非常漂亮的森林和泉水。

Figure 4. Location of Jermuk. The border to the east of Jermuk separates Karabakh from Armenia. [8]

图4. 杰尔穆克的位置。杰尔穆克东部的边境将卡拉巴赫和亚美尼亚分割开来。[8]

Figure 5. Nice land views of Jermuk [9]. From the top left: skyline view of Jermuk skyline, Arpa River, Spa resorts, Jermuk Forest Sanctuary.

图5. 杰尔穆克美丽的风景[9]. 从左上起：杰尔穆克的地平线景观，阿尔帕河，温泉疗养度假村，杰尔穆克森林保护区。

During the 1940s, the development programs of the SU decided to turn Jermuk into a modern resort tour spot for all Soviet nationals [8]. The order was implemented effectively. Roads, bridges and resorts were constructed and soon put into frequent usage. In the movie, we saw them driving on a bridge with a clear view of a tall building (Figure 6). The bridge is right above Arpa River (Figure 5 upper right) and it was completed in 1972. Figure 7 shows a full view of the bridge. The building is Gladzor Spa Resort, which was also built during the SU, and seems to still have on-going business.

在整个20世纪40年代，苏联曾决定将杰尔穆克打造成一个面向所有苏维埃侨民的现代度假胜地[8]。这一指令很快就实施了。道路，桥梁和度假村很快就建立了起来并投入了使用。在电影当中，我们看到他们在桥上开着车，可以很清楚的看到高高的建筑物（如图6）。这座桥就位于阿尔帕河之上（如图5右上角），建成于1972年。图7展示了这座桥的全貌。这个建筑是格拉索温泉疗养度假村，同样是苏联时期建成，而且看起来它仍在营业。

Figure 6. Still frame from “Here”. [5]

图6. 截自电影《爱在这里》。[5]

Figure 7. Bridge on the Arpa River. It is the same bridge Will and Gadarine drive on, as shown in Figure 6. [10]

图7. 阿帕尔河上的桥，就是Will和Gadarine开过的那座桥，如图6所示。[10]

Tourism is a difficult thing to have. It requires peace and a reliable economy, both of which Armenia soon lost. Together with the collapse of the SU and the start of endless clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, economic crisis took place in Armenia during the 1990s. As a result, within less than a decade, the population in Jermuk dropped from 10000 to 7000 [9].

旅游业是一��难以发展的产业。它要求地区和平而且有可靠地经济做支撑，而这两项都是亚美尼亚很快就失去了的。随着苏联的倒台和亚美尼亚及阿塞拜疆之间无止境的纷争的开始，20世纪90年代，亚美尼亚出现了经济危机。而其导致的结果就是在不到十年的时间里，杰尔穆克的人口从10000人下降到了7000人[9]。

In contrast to the resort businesses going downhill after the collapse of the SU, was the rapid growth of the casino business. The SU banned gambling and lottery for almost the whole middle of the 20th century [11], but in the last few years of SU times, the government leaders gave in, unable to refuse the huge revenue made possible by gambling as simple as slot machines [12]. Soon, with the SU’s laws out of the game in 1991, the casino business in Eastern Europe exploded [13]. People of all types, poor or rich, at war or in peace, are willing to try their luck (and, statistically speaking, fail afterwards). I could not find evidence showing the casino business was influenced much by various wars in Armenia. If you see any related information, please let me know. Figure 8 shows one casino advertisement in the movie.

与随着苏联解体而导致的旅游度假产业的不断倒退形成对比的是赌博行业的飞速发展。在几乎整个20世纪中期，苏联都禁止赌博和彩票行业，但是在苏联的最后几年中，政府领导让步了，无法拒绝类似于简单地老虎机[12]就能带来的庞大税收。很快，随着苏联在1991年开放了赌博游戏的法律，赌场开始在东欧地区蓬勃发展[13]。各种人们，穷人或者有钱人，处在战争中的或出于和平的，都愿意来碰碰运气（而且，统计学表明，他们最后都输了）。我找不到赌场行业受到亚美尼亚多次战争的影响的证据。如果你看到了任何相关信息，请分享给我。图8是电影当中赌场的广告。

Figure 8. Still frame from “Here” for the Senator Casino. [5] This casino is real and popular.

图8. 截取自电影《爱在这里》，塞纳托尔赌场的广告。[5]这个赌场是真的而且还很受欢迎。

Now back to Jermuk. Starting 2000, the Armenia government decided to further develop Jermuk for its spa businesses, but not all families have benefited equivalently from this decision [9]. In the movie, we saw Gadarine’s family was not necessarily in a great shape. Her brother even complained that “father had to be thankful for a job cleaning up after the children of those people”, and that “they treated him like a dog at the school you went to!” [5]

现在回到杰尔穆克。从2000年期，亚美尼亚政府决定进一步发展杰尔穆克的温泉行业，但是并不是所有的家族都能平等地从这个决定中获利[9]。在电影中，我们看到Gadarine的家族并没有从中得到好处。他的哥哥甚至哭诉“爸爸甚至要为得到一份为那些人的孩子们做清洁的工作而心存感激”，以及“在你原来上学的学校，他们像对待狗一样的对待他！”[5]

The father is a hotel owner, but why is life still difficult for them? Lack of visitors to the region because of local tension is definitely one reason. Another reason I could find deals with the corruption issues of Armenia government. This reason actually would explain why the brother accused “the children of those people”. You can even find a Wikipedia paged named “Corruption in Armenia”, so it is quite an issue there [14]. For example, “eminent domain” can put the basic rights of business owners at a big risk. These are only guesses, and I don’t have a definite explanation for the situation shown in the movie.

这位父亲是一个旅馆的老板，但是为什么生活对于他们来说仍旧如此艰辛呢？因局势紧张而缺乏来此地区的游客绝对是一个原因。另一个我能找到的原因与亚美尼亚政府的贪污现象有关。这个愿意实际上也解释了为什么女主的哥哥控诉“那些人的孩子们”。你甚至可以在维基百科中找到专门的一项“亚美尼亚的贪污”，可以看出这是当地的一大问题[14]。举个栗子，“徒弟征用权”可以将商人们的基本权利置于极大的风险之中。这里只是猜测，我并没有任何确切的解释来解释电影当中所展现出来的这一现象。

That was about all details inspired by this movie that I could dig out, so here I end the first Blog of this series. I hope we all learned something from it See you in the next blog.

这就是我所能从电影中所挖掘出来的所有的细节啦，到此为止也就是这个系列的第一篇文章的完结。我希望我们都能从中学到点东西。下次文章见啦。

Of note：

小注：

The full name of the Soviet Union is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with official abbreviation USSR. The term “SU” used in this blog was only for my own

苏维埃联合国的全称是苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟，官方缩写是USSR。文章中所用的缩写是我为行文方便自创的。

Many thanks to the members of the translation group for Ben Foster [14], especially to those who contributed to the translation of “Here”. Sincere thanks to 格兰芬多某学生’s translation of my writing, and thanks to my husband for proof reading.

小记：

非常感谢Ben Foster字幕组的成员们，尤其是那些参与《爱在这里》翻译的成员。真诚的感谢格兰芬多某学生对我的写作的翻译，同样也非常感谢我丈夫的校对。

Reference:

1. Accessed 08/08/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia

2. Accessed 08/08/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia%E2%80%93Azerbaijan_relations

3. Accessed 08/08/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_War

4. Accessed 08/08/2016, VPN needed. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%BA%B3%E6%88%88%E5%B0%94%E8%AF%BA-%E5%8D%A1%E6%8B%89%E5%B7%B4%E8%B5%AB%E6%88%98%E4%BA%89

5. Accessed 08/09/2016, http://www.bilibili.com/video/av5370641/

6. Accessed 08/08/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Armenian%E2%80%93Azerbaijani_clashes

7. Accessed 08/08/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Armenian%E2%80%93Azerbaijani_clashes

8. http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Jermuk

9. Accessed 08/10/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jermuk

10. http://mostotrest.ru/en/press-centre/photoarchive/29/326/

11. Accessed 08/10/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_Russia

12. http://www.moneyslots.net/slots-articles/gambling-in-russia-ussr-1970-1991/

13. http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/easteurope-casinos.asp

14. Accessed 08/10/2016, VPN needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Armenia

Want to learn more about this series? Please refer to:

http://sagopalm.lofter.com/post/1e422858_bcbc7fa

想了解本系列更多信息？请点击我。

All rights are reserved, and if you would like to repost any of my writing in this series, please at least include a link to the particular post, unless you are using the default reposting option in Lofter.

08/10/16

2016年8月10日

English by Notamage (Or simply: Mage)

英文来自：后悔没练过法师号（或者简称：法师号）

Chinese by 格兰芬多某学生.

中文翻译来自：格兰芬多某学生

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bloojayoolie · 5 years ago

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Animals, Cats, and Children: COOPERC 64691 5 years old, 50 lbs at manhattan acc hoping for a 2nd Chance Good looking, compact, anxious and unsure at the shelter but tail waggy too, smart, follows some commands During assessment he was social & soft bodied TO BE KILLED - 6/15/2019 How does a young fella stand out in a crowd?? Charm the pants off them, that's exactly what Cooper demonstrates. This super friendly, attention seeking, soft bodied and social greeter knows a thing or ten about winning people over. His big brown eyes, supersized smile, and lush, downy coat are just the beginning. Cooper knows the competition is Ruff, so he will drop and roll, stand up to greet, and showed his willingness to cooperate for a medical exam while wearing a muzzle. Pretty impressive! This youngster has lots of happy energy, super playful, treat motivated, and assumes all people are friends. He's mid sized and full of vibrancy. It's easy to love him! He recently arrived at the shelter, sadly he was no sooner listed to be destroyed. If you are interested in saving this cheerful baby boy through fostering or adopting, please reach out to this page. COOPER@MANHATTAN ACC Hello, my name is Cooper My animal id is #64691 I am a male brown brindle dog at the Manhattan Animal Care Center The shelter thinks I am about 5 years old, 50 lbs Came into shelter as a agency June 2, 2019 Cooper is at risk for medical and behavioral reasons. Cooper was diagnosed with canine infectious respiratory disease complex which is contagious to other animals and will require in home care. Behaviorally, Cooper has shown dog reactivity and has become difficult to manage at the care center, and will need behavior modification and reward based training. My medical notes are... Weight: 50.8 lbs Vet Notes 4/06/2019 [DVM Intake] DVM Intake Exam Estimated age:3-5y Microchip noted on Intake?n Microchip Number (If Applicable): History :stray Subjective: Observed Behavior - wags tail, food motivated, alert. will hard stare sometimes. became very hyper when he heard cats meowing. allowed muzzled exam Evidence of Cruelty seen -n Evidence of Trauma seen -n Objective T = P =80 R =wnl BCS 5/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam:front teeth clean PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G:2 testes MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Assessment: healthy Prognosis:good Plan:neuter SURGERY: Okay for surgery 13/06/2019 SO BAR in kennel. EN -- coughing, serous nasal discharge A CIRDC P enrofloxacin 1 1/4 tablet PO q24h x 10 days cerenia 60mg tablet -- give 1 tablet PO q24h x 4 days Details on my behavior are... Behavior Condition: 2. Blue Behavior History Behavior Assessment Cooper allowed for all handling during the intake process. Cooper allowed the counselor to collar him as well as pet him on the head and his back. Date of Intake: 6/2/2019 Basic Information:: Cooper is a male adult large mixed breed dog. He came into the shelter as a stray. Previously lived with:: Unknown How is this dog around strangers?: Cooper seems very excitable and friendly around strangers. This is shown by a very loose body and a wagging tail when greeting the intake counselors. How is this dog around children?: This was not observed as Cooper came in as a stray. How is this dog around other dogs?: This was not observed as Cooper came in as a stray; however, in the shelter, he seems to be dog reactive as he will bark and lounge at other dogs in passing. How is this dog around cats?: This was not observed as Cooper came in as a stray. Resource guarding:: This was not observed as Cooper came in as a stray. Bite history:: No known bite history Housetrained:: Unknown Energy level/descriptors:: very high Medical Notes: Medical history is unknown as Cooper came in as a stray. For a New Family to Know: Cooper seems like a very friendly and excitable dog. He seems to have a lot of energy especially when meeting new people. When given treats, he seems to know how to sit as he will sit when the treats are taken out. ==================== Date of intake:: 6/2/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: No Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Stray Date of assessment:: 6/3/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: Hard Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: Extreme Leash walking comments: Lunges towards them, hard barks. Also barks on the walk not directing the barking towards anything. Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): High;y social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: Body soft Handling Soft handling: Seeks contact Exuberant handling: Seeks contact Comments: Body soft, leans into pets, rolls on back Arousal Jog: Engages in play (exuberant) Arousal comments: Jumps up Knock: Approaches (exuberant) Knock Comments: Jumps up Toy: No response Toy comments: None Summary:: Due to high levels of concerning behavior toward dogs (lunging, growling, snapping toward), a single dog home is recommended for Cooper. He should be kept out of dog park environments or areas of high dog traffic. A muzzle is recommended for outdoor walks. 6/3: When introduced to the helper dog through the gate, Brady lunges, growls, and snaps. He continues to remain fixated and growl until the helper dog is moved out of close proximity. 6/4: Cooper is introduced to a realistic prop dog walked on leash. From a distance, he begins to growl, rushes over, and bites. ENERGY LEVEL:: We have no history on Cooper so we cannot be certain of his behavior in a home environment. However, he is a young, enthusiastic, social dog who will need daily mental and physical activity to keep him engaged and exercised. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct his energy and enthusiasm. IN SHELTER OBSERVATIONS:: Cooper has shown reactivity towards dogs throughout his time at the care center. Cooper will attempt to cage fight when being walked into and out of the room, and will also bark at and pull towards dogs he sees on leash. Once he has started to react, he cannot be distracted with treats or calling. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: Level 3 Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No young children (under 5),Single-pet home,Recommend no dog parks Recommendations comments:: No young children: Due to the high level of jumping up seen at the care center, we recommend a home without young children. Older children who are comfortable around large, jumpy dogs should have an in-depth interaction prior to adoption. Single pet home/no dog parks: See DOG-DOG. Potential challenges: : Basic manners/poor impulse control,On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration Potential challenges comments:: Basic manners/poor impulse control: Cooper jumps up on people in a social manner. Please see handout on Basic Manners. On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration: Cooper is very reactive on leash, lunging and hard barking at dogs and other things he passes. Please see handout on On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration. *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: http://bit.ly/2ynocEZ Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications. Shelter contact information Phone number (212) 788-4000 Email [email protected] Shelter Addresses: Brooklyn Shelter: 2336 Linden Boulevard Brooklyn, NY 11208 Manhattan Shelter: 326 East 110 St. New York, NY 10029 Staten Island Shelter: 3139 Veterans Road West Staten Island, NY 10309 * NEW NYC ACC RATING SYSTEM * Level 1 Dogs with Level 1 determinations are suitable for the majority of homes. These dogs are not displaying concerning behaviors in shelter, and the owner surrender profile (where available) is positive. Level 2 Dogs with Level 2 determinations will be suitable for adopters with some previous dog experience. They will have displayed behavior in the shelter (or have owner reported behavior) that requires some training, or is simply not suitable for an adopter with minimal experience. Level 3 Dogs with Level 3 determinations will need to go to homes with experienced adopters, and the ACC strongly suggest that the adopter have prior experience with the challenges described and/or an understanding of the challenge and how to manage it safely in a home environment. In many cases, a trainer will be needed to manage and work on the behaviors safely in a home environment. PLEASE ADOPT. DON'T SHOP. FOSTERS ROCK TOO. :)

#funny #lol #humor #memes #meme #memehumor #dank memes #funny pics #rolf #lmao #Animals #Cats #and Ch

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linos-teeth · 6 years ago

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i got tagged

in the 50 questions and the about me tag by @chngbok ty browse!! these are a lot of questions and idk who i want to bother with them (unless you wanna be bothered then consider yourself tagged) but in case you wanna know some random stuff abt me there’s a lot of that under the cut!

what takes too much of your time?

currently, fic writing for sure

what makes your day better?

uhhh ideas, music, skz (except lino bc he literally just makes me cry)

what is the best thing that happened to you today?

lino in the victory song dance practice? (wow there's a theme already)

what fictional place would you like to go to?

hmmmmm the arbor wilds, the crossroads, the forge, h-047c, watford

are you good at giving advice?

nah

do you have any mental illness?

uhhhh not theoretically (as in not diagnosed oops)

have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

luckily not

what musician inspired you the most?

boy i rly can't say, usually it's writers or games that inspire me and music not so much?

have you fallen in love?

most likely yeah

what’s your dream date?

idk man surprise me like...going out exploring and doing things i haven't done before that don't include any drugs or stuff also movies are good

what do others notice about you?

my hair (it's long)

what is an annoying habit that you have?

biting my uh...the skin next to my nails? and my lips? i guess?

do you still talk to your first love?

ha nah

how many ex’s do you have?

zero

how many songs are in your playlist?

i have 685 deezer faves

what instruments do you play?

piano, idk if recorder counts, used to play the oboe but...not any more

who do you have the most pictures of?

myself XD, my da/me chars, also random idol pictures for reaction memes

where would you like to go before you die?

uhhhhh a lot of places like...there's a lot of cities in europe i still wanna see and i wanna go back to paris and london and i also would love to visit like 294503 national parks in the us also maybe a desert (bc stars) and somewhere far north (for northern lights)

what’s your zodiac?

scorpio

do you relate to it?

nope

what is happiness to you?

just like...a content feeling? like...idk words for it but when you just stop and go like fuck this is rly good i'm rly comfy rn and not sad??? like just being good in your own skin?

are you going through anything right now?

not more than usual

what’s the worst decision you’ve ever made?

i made a few sucky time management decision throughout my uni time and still am so i guess that

what’s your favorite store?

what's a store

what’s your opinion on abortion?

i don't rly think i get to say much abt it while i'm not in a position where i can talk yknow? you should be allowed to but i imagine it's tough as shit too

do you keep a bucket list?

nah

do you have a favorite album?

A FEW there's wildness by snow patrol and mania by fob and wild world by bastille and miroh (that's currently tho that shit changes a lot)

what do you want for your birthday?

my birthday isn't happening for a while and what i want i kinda need before so xD for my birthday i wish i could be with my family but i won't be able to :/

what are most people’s first impression of you?

uhhhhh awk i guess which is right, also rly smart and like...organised which is wrong

what age to you seem according to most people?

apparently like 16, i always get asked when i finish school

where do you keep your phone while sleeping?

on my bed next to my pillow, stuffed under some plushies

what word do you say the most?

idk honestly i don't talk much probably some expletive

what’s the oldest age would you date?

idk man i'm not rly attracted to ppl much older than me never have been if it ever happened they'd prolly be like 2 years younger oops that's like the norm with crushes

what’s the youngest age would you date?

oh uh see above i guess like...currently i'm 23 so like? not younger than 20?

what job/career do most people say sould suit you?

they don't rly say anything abt that xD

what’s your favorite music genre?

uhhh rock? alt stuff? i love some folk and some pop too and i'm a slut for lofi

if you would live in any country in the world, where would it be?

here tbh

what’s your current favorite song?

u h h probably still chronosaurus! doesn't look like it's leaving that spot any time soon oops

how long have you have this blog for?

a bit over a month now?

what are you excited for?

how pathetic is it if i say my summer course? idk just...smth new i guess i'm looking forward to it (not to being away from games and photoshop)

are you a better talker or a listener?

listener

what is the last productive thing you did?

i finished vacuuming the house today

what do you want for Christmas?

s h r u g

what classes do you get the best grades in?

language stuff, music

on a scale of 1-10 how are you feeling right now?

a 4? maybe?

what can you see yourself doing in 10 years?

idk man i wanna go into speech therapy so?? that? or research even? but i gotta get into the masters first rip

when did you first get your heartbreak?

oh dear. probably like...in kindergarten when my crush was an absolute ass (so far, 80% of them have been there's a theme) i was pathetic

at what age do you want to get married?

idk man i guess in like 100 years when someone finally decides they rly want to put up with this mess

what career did you want to have as a child?

florist, author, actress

what do you crave right now?

hugs? and drawing skill

1. How tall are you?

i'm jisung-sized

2. What color are your eyes?

hazel

3. What color and style is your hair?

uhhhh dark blonde would be the accurate desc prolly? it's like...blondebrowngoldish and too long and i usually braid it and i have a super messy fringe

4. Do you wear glasses?

5. Do you have braces?

luckily not!

6. What’s your fashion sense?

casual and basic with a dash of experimental and sometimes a bit cutesy

7. Full name?

8. When were you born?

long, long ago, too long ago

9. Where are you from and where do you live

germany!

10. What school(s) do you go to?

no more school for me, i'm going to university

11. What kind of student are you?

the one that kinda gets by far too well for procrastinating so badly (all i have to say in my defense is that i'm anxious as shit abt everything)

12. Do you like school?

i used to!! like...the last 3 and first 3 years were chill

13. Fav subject?

music, history, english, latin

14. Fav TV shows?

i rly only watch b99 but i would be careful calling it my favorite since like...3 eps ago

15. Fav books?

my current fave is less by andrew sean greer (aka it was my fave last autumn and i've read like 3 since and they weren't super great)

16. Fav pastimes?

uhhh writing gaming music and lately, giffing too!

17. Do you have any regrets?

a couple

18. Dream job?

i mean i do still wish i could just like...do smth artsy like be an author or an illustrator but i'm bad at writing and literally cannot draw at all so

19. Would you ever like to be married?

yes absolutely

20. Would you like to have children?

kinda yeah?

21. If so, how many?

22. Do you like shopping?

only for a limited amount of time

23. What countries have you visited?

denmark, norway, france, the uk, spain, italy, austria, slovakia, we also drove through switzerland like twice

24. Scariest nightmare you’ve ever had?

uhhhhhh basically all of the end of the world/war scenario dreams i've had?

25. Any enemies?

does myself count

26. Do you have a significant other?

nah

27. Do you get along with your family?

yeah? we're not super close but we don't hate each other

28. Do you believe in miracles?

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES WHERE YA FROM YOU SEXY THING no but rly i do

29. How are you?

not terrible

#wow i sound so rude rip that rly wasnt intended #tag things

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lunebinnie · 6 years ago

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(1/14)I am so sorry for taking so long! (I also had to spend a lot of time studying this week bc I had my first exam for my Anatomy Lab on Wednesday... And then we had our first exam for *Lecture* Thursday (which also was the day I had a bunch of powerpoints due for my very intimidating adviser...) and then I had to substitute teach all day Friday (and then I meant to respond sooner but I got so busy 😭) so yeah I completely understand about school getting in the way no worries abt it!)

And also sleeping in on a day off when you’ve been busy studying lately is completely valid hon 👌 I hope that your midterms go well and that you’re able to stay healthy and take care of yourself in the midst of preparing! (not that you wouldn’t, I just have a bad habit of neglecting things like healthy sleeping and eating habits when I get caught up studying, so hopefully you’re not like me in that way) And yeah me too! I mean on the one hand I understand *why* they have that limit

3)If u could just send as many as u want there would be so much more spam and ppl would definitely abuse that. But also?? Um? I have a chronic condition called ‘Can'tShuttheFuckUp-itis’? 🤷 This policy is so discriminatory towards people like me who suffer from this crippling condition! I feel oppressed honestly 🙄 tumblr rlly has something against ppl just trying to get to know each other huh? Lol, but at least now we know why it eats them I’ll be sure to try to prevent that in the future

4)And oh my gosh that’s so cool! I’m super jealous!! 😮 lol. I wish they hosted kpop nights at my local bar! 😭😭 But no, I’m here at my little state college in a little 2 mi2 town just under pop 5500 (and idek if that’s before or after counting college students) in the middle of the 'farm zone’ of my state. All we get is country night @Riley’s 😩 RIP. But ya I wish I had more ppl around me who were into kpop! So far I’ve only met 3 ppl who listen to it. One was that roommate I told you about

5)One is just a casual listener who isn’t really into 3rd gen groups and mostly just listens to Girl’s Generation but that’s valid, and one isn’t even rlly a fan of any groups in particular, she just puts the kpop station on when she studies bc she says she needs music but if it’s in English she gets distracted, lol And omg that is insane! $500?? And 5 copies of the same album? 😲 (Says the girl who’s been a Monbebe for a hot 2 months and has already bought three (3??) Monsta X T-shirts… 😂

6)in my defense tho one of them was only $10 bc it was Black Friday? And u can’t blame me, Hot Topic is my krypotonite lmao) but yeah I already feel guilty about spending 30+ dollars on one copy of an album (thx international shipping) That’s so wild. And yeah I don’t get why ppl feel the need go out of their way just to insult other ppl’s music taste. I’m also pretty self conscious abt sharing my music taste and obviously the way everyone around me talks abt kpop has made me even moreso now 🙃

7) I haven’t gotten into too many groups yet bc I’m trying to go slowly and focus on getting into one group at a time but I do have a long list of groups I plan on getting into eventually! NU'EST is one that I’ve heard some of their songs on my Spotify based on my listening history and they’re on the list haha 😂 And omg I feel really similarly about Got7! I tried to get into them after I got into Monsta X and right before I got into Astro and although I did really like some of their songs

8)I haven’t really been able to get into their music as much as MX and Astro’s yet. I do think they seem like a really fun group in terms of personality though. As for the comeback I know right?? I mean I know a lot of ppl were freaking out abt the comeback being a 'sexy’ and how it wasn’t gonna be the same cute Astro we all love anymore. But they filled the MV with flowers and glitter and still managed to make it sexy as fuck! This album has a very different vibe but it still felt like them

9) They managed to pull off a more mature and sexy concept while still staying true to themselves and I’m so here for it! I don’t know if I could really pick a favorite era because I love them all! I mean Spring Up was an excellent era and every era since then has been great. They really don’t know how to have any bad concepts or make any bad songs huh? Lol. Since I’m still pretty new I really love the title tracks since I’ve heard them the most. (I have listened to their full discography

10)But I haven’t listened to their Bsides enough to pick out my favorites from those) I also really love Again though! The first time I saw the dance practice I was super into it and then I looked up the lyrics and was like 'this is supposed to be sad/regretful song it has no reason to be this much of a BOP?!’ 😂 I have such a hard time picking favorites though. Since All Light is new though I actually have listened to it enough times to pick some 'non-title song favorites’ from there haha

11) Other than All Night (which is great, obvi) I also really like Starry Sky, Moonwalk and Role Play 😂 and Bloom is so pretty oh my god! 😭😭 the album is great and has no bad songs but those are the ones I particularly like. I feel u about the dances honestly. I think that’s actually what drew me to kpop initially. I mean I like listening to the songs ofc but it wasn’t until after I actually watched an MV/saw the choreography that I actually was like… Oh shit I’m gonna have to be a fan now

12) It was the visual aspect that really made me want to be a kpop fan bc I haven’t really seen that level of performance with any western music. Which isn’t to say I think all western music is bad but I think it’s really impressive to watch kpop groups singing and also doing really impressive choreography and performing at the same time. Plus that’s the part I can show my family and say 'even if you don’t like the music because of the language barrier you have to admit they’re talented dancers’

13)And yes! With Astro especially I think the dance practices rlly succinctly capture the reason why I love them so much. They are *super* talented but they also have such great chemistry and u can rlly tell that they just love each other and have so much fun together! I love a family of six hardworking dorks! 🤧💗 lol. And yeah it’s too bad that neither of are able to see them this cb ☹️ (I also did the 'hypothetically…’ research but it wouldn’t have worked out 😒) I hope you’re right though!

14)Hopefully the success of this comeback is the catalyst to Astro getting more of the attention they deserve and there will be many more opportunities to see them in the future! (Although it is too bad we won’t be able to see live performances from this cb, since it’s so pretty 😭 tho with their track record I’m sure future cb’s will be just as good lol) But what about you? Do you have any favorite songs from this cb in particular? Talk again soon! (I’ll try 2 b better @ responding 😭) -AHA

FUCKKK okay so after like a million years of midterms + 2 days straight of sleeping ya girl is BACK to answer these asks after getting through the hurdle of copying and pasting and italicizing 14 asks onto one response on my phone. Did I perhaps fail at least 3 of my midterms? Quite probably. Do I have the energy to care atm? No. Did I need to get away from everything and fly to Boston to visit my friend for reading week? Yes.

How did all your exams go? That sounds crazy though! I hope you got through everything ok!

Tbh I have the same unhealthy habits too, I essentially became nocturnal and lived on like one meal a day + snacks and coffee 😭 fr, I would be writing my midterm from 11:30-1:30, go home to eat, sleep from 4-7pm, then wake up to study all night for the next one, and repeat,,,,, I’m like an actual mess tbh

Honestly as much as I’ve enjoyed the Aroha secret admirer thing (it was sooo nice getting to meet new people) rn I’m just so glad that post-reveal we don’t have to deal with tumblr ask limits and writing entire essay responses all in one go.

Honestly 3 shirts isn’t even THAT bad especially if they weren’t all like ordered from overseas so they wouldn’t have been that expensive. When I went to the Myeongdong underground shopping centre I went craaaazy with Kpop merch despite stanning (at that point, pretty much only) BTS for a whole 3 weeks, so I ended up coming back with 2 albums, a bunch of stickers, a photocard pack (also bonus: got an Astro one too) and like a BUNCH of bt21 stuff. Speaking of, my All Light album finally came in!! I ended up getting a Moonbin, MJ, Jinjin, and Sanha photocard plus the a Rocky lyric booklet and ik I basically got THE best set for someone who loves all of them w my whole heart 😩✊ but I’m still sad I didn’t get any Eunwoo cards since he was my first Astro bias 😭 it’s soooooo pretty I love it sm and like lowkey I’ll probably end up buying more of their albums anyway oopsss

Speaking of Monsta X btw, I heard their new song and I thought it was really good! What did you think of it?

Regarding favourite songs, I swear my moods change so much, so it’s pretty common for me to not love a song at first and sort of rediscover it months later, and tbh that’s kind of what happened with Innocent Love, Baby, and Again. In this album though, I’d say my favourite Bsides are probably be Bloom, 1 in a Million, and Heart Brew Love.

And I toootally agree with the performance aspect of kpop being the thing to attract me it, even before I got really into it I’d sometime like to watch dance practices (and lowkey even learned a bunch of choreos a with my friend last term just bc we had access to a frequently empty dance studio). It’s just super impressive to see people singing and dancing at the same time mostly live, and for the same reasons I’m also super into musicals as well, which isn’t so say I think like lip syncing or just dancing/singing is bad, it’s just refreshing to see it done all at once, you know?

Also side story it turns out that I actually DO know another Astro fan irl!! Her older sister (who I’m closer to bc we’re closer in age) is the one who bought the million got7 albums. Even though she’s been a fan of Astro since before debut, her sister doesn’t even know she listens to kpop since she was afraid of getting roasted at first, but now she’s in too deep to say anything. I’d mentioned liking Astro to her before, but she didn’t say anything bc she didn’t want to expose herself in front of her sister but on Friday I saw her while her sister was out and she was like “oh btw here’s a secret I went to the Toronto fanmeet last year but my sister doesn’t know” I was SHOOK but tbh I’m just super glad now to have someone to talk about it and go to concerts with (I’m banking on the fact that they’re coming back)

Anyway, THANK YOU SO MUCH for waiting 2747287482 million years for my response, and it was so great to finally (officially) meet you Kjersten!

@kaptain-k-pop

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dammitjameskirk · 6 years ago

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well its holiday time!! that means so many families will have more free time and theyll think going to the movies is a great time had by all!! this might be true for anybody actually going, but its definitely not true for anybody WORKING THERE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

so here are a couple notes from somebody who works in the theatre business and i am so gotdamn exhausted by the hundreds of thousands of families i see walk through the doors of my building

THE END OF YEAR HOLIDAYS FROM NOVEMBER TO EARLY JANUARY ARE THE BUSIEST TIME OF YEAR FOR ANY MOVIE THEATRE, HANDS DOWN. EVERYONE HAS TIME OFF AND COMES TO THE MOVIES, YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS ARE GOING TO THE MOVIES JUST LIKE YOU. REMEMBER THIS WHEN YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE LATE OR BUY YOUR TICKETS AT THE DOOR INSTEAD OF AHEAD OF TIME.

everyone makes minimum wage or less (minors dont have to be paid minimum wage, PLUS theres no such thing as overtime or holiday pay in the movie business); youre yelling at literal children almost 100% of the time and quite frankly they have no control over any of it and you throwing a hissy fit will help literally no one, not even yourself

the movies cost mega money if you dont come prepared; eat beforehand if you dont want to spend anything extra. tell your children no if you have to, theres no reason to spend 5$ on m+ms if you cant spare the money. we understand and feel just as badly when we have to tell you the total

if you bring your own snacks, none of us care as long as we dont see it. take it in undetected and you better throw it out afterward as well; if youre not buying any of our concessions then youre not paying for us to clean up after you

(yeah, the concessions cost so much bc thats what pays our paychecks. the theatres do not get any money from ticket sales, save for MAYBE 10%, depends on how long the movie’s been out but most of the time the max amount of money made from ticket sales is about 50 cents. concessions pay for employee paychecks and the building running costs)

BRING YOUR ID IF YOU ARE SEEING AN R-RATED FILM. ALL R-RATED FILM TICKET PURCHASES ARE LIKELY TO BE ID’D AND IF YOU DON’T HAVE IT THEN YOU’RE SHIT OUTTA LUCK. policy for most theatres: you have to be at least 17+ to see an r-rated film WITH A VALID ID (school ids do NOT count), OR be 21+ WITH A VALID ID to take in any more people without an id themselves. no exceptions. this is a firable offense, on the spot, if the cashier or ticket taker is caught allowing underage kids into r-rated films. take this into consideration the next time you want to go see a movie bc there are no exceptions!! fuck you if you dont bring your id but then get mad bc we wont let you in to see the movie!! its your own fault!!!!

understand that there are physically not enough people working in the building to keep the place spotless as hordes of people run around and make a shitty mess everywhere. like, im sorry, but the movie theatre business SUCKS and theres nothing we can do about it other than try and sweep up the popcorn as fast as we can. you complaining to management will not suddenly materialise a new person to come out of the employee breakroom, ready to sweep up whatever it is youre complaining about. patience is KEY bc we quite simply do not have the staff or the staff allowance to provide a perfect atmosphere. it wont happen no matter how much you squall. like, im sorry it sucks, i know it does, im trying to make it run as smoothly as possible but theres just not enough employees allowed for us to do any better. bring your own trash bag and your own napkins if youre that concerned, i promise we wont look at you sideways

ENUNCIATE YOUR ORDER AT THE CONCESSION STAND. the more communicative you are the faster you can be served, i promise, thats EXACTLY how it works and its not taking too long bc the employee is bad its bc youre not speaking up or youre not actually defining what you want. be better, get done faster

try to be more on time when it comes to getting to the theatre. doing everything late makes you angrier and it means we dont have as much time to fix whatever problems you may be having. we cant fix what you need if theres no time because you didnt think youd have to show up to your movie until 20 minutes after it started!!

be mindful of when the locations you visit actually close; we’re not a 24/7 business, and concessions and ticketing sales usually close before midnight, depending on the time of the last show and that building’s policies. at that point, the only thing youre doing is renting space on our premises. take care of everything you need, money-wise, before that time passes or else youre out of luck, just like any other business

dont.... dont bring babies to the movies please. this is more personal than like, actual tips or tricks about the movies or like backalley knowledge or whatever, this is like, this is from a health and courtesy standpoint. movies are LOUD. movies are SCARY. babies shouldnt... be going through that experience. i cant stand whenever i see newborns being carried around as if their ears arent so sensitive and that theyre likely to cry and be generally uncomfortable bc a movie theatre is NOT A PLACE FOR BABIES. find a sitter, or stay home. thats what you sign up for when you become a parent, taking care of your child to the best of your ability. and if that includes taking them with you to the movies... youre a bad parent and theres nothing you can do to convince me otherwise. (also 6 and under cant see r-rated films past a certain time and i rly dont understand why so many folks dont understand that or think its a new rule?? its not a new rule, every movie chain i have been to has had that rule its not new and not specific to just one place cmon now get out of here)

also if you leave garbage in the theatre under the impression that Somebody Gets Paid To Do That, just know that we know and we also hate you passionately bc youre the worst type of person. if you have family like this, correct them. we get paid very little to do much more than you could possibly expect

happy holidays!!! dont take this as a Dont Come To The Movies post, take this as a Come To The Movies Prepared post instead. just dont be a dick, its the holidays, and these are mostly children youre upset with. like, youre yelling at 15 + 16 yr olds. just be nice. if you have a problem with the business itself, take it to corporate, thats the only way youll get anything changed.

#litter box #work tag #im tired and its barely december #none of my crew has had busy weekends and stuff bc the weeks leading up to thanksgiving were all shit movies #this thanksgiving weekend was the first busy weekend many of them experienced and it was rough #one of the busiest thanksgiving weekends the theatres have seen in quite a while #akin to when frozen came out i think is what one report said #but like. Damn. be better to the ppl u interact with outside of your own home!!#why leave the house in a bad mood??? cmon now

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