#izna edits

[kpop-locks]

꒰ ˀˀ ↷ izna ; random ”♡ᵎ ꒱

like/reblog | @snghaobin

don’t repost our work or claim it as yours

[generation24]

윤지윤❀ Yoon Jiyoon

© generation24

[sailorjisunq]

이즈나

[hwangalleryy]

MATCHMAKERS!

mai, jiyoon & jungeun. status: indisponível.

[iznastuff]

nav

hello !! welcome to iznastuff.

here you're gonna find some of my edits, be free to request anything.

jungeun

jeemin

jiyoon

koko

sarang

mai

saebi

layouts

[iz-now]

𐙚 NAYA VERSION

IZNA N/A concept photos 131124

debut release date 25 / 11 / 24

i decided to edit their naya concept photos a little bit! I hope you like it ^^

[livelymutterings-blog]

Thoughts on Izna and their MAMA 2024 performance that slayed

I recently decided to watch I-Land 2, since I knew Izna have been gearing up for their debut and it's always more fun to experience a debut when you know more about a group.

I had watched the original I-Land season that created Enhypen, and while I didn't keep up with the show after the first part, I payed attention to their debut (I was so surpised that Heesung wasn't the leader!!!! I still am!!!).

I am pretty happy with Izna's lineup, especially after their MAMA 2024 performance, I can see that they work well together. I still am quite sad about Fuko not making it, especially since she ranked so well throughout the season. When her and Jungeun started ranking a bit lower in part 2, I didn't have much concern since I thought they were both locked in.

I did peek a bit at the lineup right before part 2, and I was excited to see Sarang, who I saw as an underdog as she didn't stand out too much in the show as somebody who was for sure going to get in the lineup. This gave me hope for the other participants I thought were similar to Sarang in terms of their position on the show, and I became really hopeful for Yuju and Yeeun, two people who I thought would go well with the participants who I expected to make it.

The bottom line for me is that Izna did super well in MAMA 2024 and their self-titled song Izna fits them very well and I'm excited for them to debut!

-----------

Since I always have more thoughts and I'm going to use this tumblr blog to document them, why limit myself? Here is what I think of the members, and Fuko-

Jungeun- Is this the first time a participant of a competition show started and ended at rank 1? I know sitting in the rank 1 chair in the Produce shows is not the best thing to do during the beginning of the show. She's a very consistent person with her vocal and her dancing. Also she reminds me of Karina.

Jeemin- Slay. She showed up and showed off and I think we're all glad she's in Izna and not Illit. I think she would make a great leader! She low key reminds me a bit of Sullyoon. They have some facial similarities that I cannot put my finger on.

Jiyoon- In the first couple episodes, I had some pretty strong, negative feelings towards her. We all saw her not get her way, sulk, and drag down her team with her. I was surprised she was on the older end of the participants because I saw her reactionary behavior as quite immature. Boy I am glad I continued to watch the show because she ended up being one of my favorite participants! She really proved herself with her abilities and it was heartwarming to see her push to keep up when she was slow to take in the choreography for Drip. I think she's gorgeous with a gorgeous voice and I loved her look for the MAMA performance! The dress for the Vocal Unit Battle (ep 4-5) was hideous and absolutely did not fit her.

Koko- She was always within the top 7 ranks but for some reason I never saw her as a for sure part of the lineup until the 1st save vote. In part 2 I could tell with her editing that she was going to debut, and while she wasn't one of my favs, there is no doubting that she fills an important spot in Izna's talent pool with her powerful dancing and her voice really suits the rap parts in their songs. Side note about her styling in the MAMA performance; I did not like it. You would think this far into the industry that stylists would take into consideration each person's proportions, and not exaggerate them if it's not the concept, but honestly Koko's styling here and Illit's Yunah's styling in general leaves much to be desired. I am not saying that certain body types are less flattering and should be styled to minimize their differences, I just think these stylings stand out just as much as when one member wearing white while all the other members wearing black, and the whole point of a group is to show some individuality while still remaining a cohesive whole.

Sarang- She's nice and undoubtably earned her spot but honestly, I can't get over how short she is! One thing companies definitely consider when creating groups is how the group looks next to each other, and that often means you don't have extreme variations in height. Think Mamamoo, Itzy, and to a lesser extent, Blackpink and Aespa. In my opinion, competition show groups end up with a pretty large range in height. Some great examples are IZ*ONE, I.O.I., and Twice. What is interesting is that I've noticed secondary competition groups seem to also have this height range, like Weki Meki and IVE. What I thought was interesting was that Katseye totally is the exception to the rule here. They are all such similar height. I think this is because the company had a larger part in the final lineup, because it seems that Ezrela (quite shorter than the current members) would have made the final lineup if the results were more based on viewer voting. I thought Sarang's MAMA styling was great and I loved her bangs!

Mai- I was quite surprised that she ended up ranking in the debut line up. Especially when you compare her rankings with Fuko's she really dipped in part 2, whereas Fuko was out of the top 7 only 2 (once when she went to the Ground, and then at the very end when she ended with rank 8). I didn't really see the reason why Mai got so many votes, especially since in part 2 she didn't seem like a strong contender the way they were making out Koko, Jeemin, and Saebi to be.

Saebi- Saebi, another giant maknae! Through the show we got to see her sweet personality. She isn't the most talented member and definitely stood out because of her looks, but she is absolutely not a hole in Izna's talent pool, which should never be taken for granted.

🩷 Fuko- Girlypie I feel so bad for her. She has the talent and skills, but somewhere towards the end that didn't get her enough votes. When Jiyoon and Jungeun made up I started really looking forward to seeing the trio of her, Jungeun, and Jiyoon in a group. I saw somebody comment somewhere that she is basically all trained up and any company she ends up in could debut her almost immediately, so I'm holding out hope! Unfortunately, the kpop industry has really shifted towards debuting young groups, which means Fuko, who I'm older than by 12 days, is somehow an 'old' trainee. If you use the definition of minor from korea (int. age 19), there truly aren't that many groups who have debuted with all adults. Babymonster, IVE, New Jeans, and Enhypen all would be missing a large chunk of members if minors could not debut.

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My thoughts on Izna's music and concept:

Oh my god! I loved the song Izna!!!!! It was fresh but also on the more girl crush side of things but still classy. Classy crush! The song did a wonderful job at expressing Izna's concept and I really hope their creative direction doesn't showcase to a cute concept until they're an established group. I thought the song wasn't just satisfactory, I thought it was an actual quality song with unique musical elements. The choreography hit, especially for the beginning of the song. Teddy's songs are notorious for having empty choruses, but with the vocalizations during the chorus, I thought he got away with it. I LOVED the unexpected ending to the prechorus part that Koko and Jiyoon both did. I also loved how Jiyoon's iteration was unique with the variation in the high note. It gave me a glimpse into a more ethereal/girl crush concept, which I loved!

I cannot wait for more Izna performances from Izna! I might make a post when the song comes out and move all this song review stuff to that but we shall see! Thanks for reading if you made it this far, I am pretty damn impressed if you read the whole thing so if you have anything to respond to, I'd love to hear it!

[yerimbrit]

an's flufftober!

31 days of fluff from yours truly :-)

prompts will feature various girl groups and also pairings from my past works (eg. lovergirl!danielle and yn)

each fic won't be very long (at max ~1k) and will hopefully be uploaded on each day of october

100% guarantee no tricks, just treats. (all fluff, no angst)

prompt list!

1. leaf you later | kim minji

2. your sweatshirt | yoon seoyeon

3. haunted house | jang wonyoung

4. costume party | naoi rei

5. scary campfire stories | ot5 le sserafim

6. pumpkin pie baking contest gone wrong | hanni pham (🎂!)

7. slam poetry night | cat parents

8. pumpkin patch | huh yunjin (🎂!)

9. scavenger hunt midnight forest edition | ot5 newjeans

10. ghost photoshoot | bang jeemin

11. murder mystery dinner | wwib

12. shady cemetery cleaning gig | yoon jiyoon

13. full moon | park sohyun & kim nakyoung (🎂!)

14. gaming session | miyawaki sakura

15. horror movie marathon | kim chaeyeon

16. bloody mary | shim hyewon (belle)

17. carnival | enchanted (or not)

18. fall for you | nakamura kazuha

19. monster under the bed! | danielle marsh

20. gingerbread man | kim minjeong

21. black cat | han julie

22. ouija boards | ot4 aespa

23. tarot card readings | ning yizhuo (🎂!)

24. farmers market | danielle marsh

25. pumpkin carving | ot7 izna

26. potion making | insufferable

27. escape room | kim yooyeon

28. sleepover | 10 hour flight

29. irl twilight | park sohyun & zhou xinyu

30. practice room ghost caught live | narai koko

31. trick or treat! | i saw a ghost! with MC kkura

a/n : a very happy birthday to all who celebrate in october! i arranged the list so that an idol's fic will be posted on their birthday, sorry for the inconvenience, if any :)

[strangeobsessed]

ABOUT ME !

*photos are edited by me, pls dont steal!! thank you

-- short introduction !

gwyneth. indonesian. she/her. infp-t. scorpio. i like to dance, listen to music, watch movies/shows & edit. i only read and blog because i can't write even if my life depends on it. i do recommend fics though (sometimes). masterlist ☆♡ ! my current obsession: aespa, cillian murphy.

-- my fandoms !

marvel: doctor strange & scarlet witch (fav characters) kpop: nmixx, aespa & newjeans (top groups) swf2: bebe & jam republic (fav groups) others: my demon, benedict cumberbatch, elizabeth olsen, cillian murphy, tom cruise, sherlock + enola holmes, john wick & more...

-- music !

kpop ☆ - nmixx: lily & kyujin (ult group) - aespa: karina & ningning (ult bias) - newjeans: minji - other groups: le sserafim, aespa, stray kids, ive, izna & a lot more + soloists.. others ☆ - olivia rodrigo, michael jackson, niki zefanya, the weeknd, ariana grande, sabrina carpenter, don toliver & more.. current fav songs ☆ - timebomb - izna - bored! - ningning solo - aespa - i luv this shit - august aslina, trindad james - we can't be friends (wait for your love) - ariana grande - m a k e i t t o t h e m o r n i n g - partynextdoor

[mashihope]

《 About me 》

• Basic info You can call me Luna (or Yoshi, whatever you prefer); I'm 22, INFP-T, pisces and spanish. I go by she/her, but I don't really mind if you accidentally use something else. One of my self-given nicknames is Ghost, because I usually disappear quite a lot (keep that in mind if you don't see any updates after a while!). I'm shy; (to mention a few things) I have social anxiety and low self-esteem issues, I may have ADHD and autism, I overthink a lot (these are my excuses for my non-existent socializing skills + lack of interaction + questionable things I say about myself, I'm so sorry!)

Listen to my favorite song! ♡

(This mini moodboard is made by me; I don’t own any of the pics.)

What does Luna like?

Listen to music (pop, kpop, rock...)

Drawing

Read / Manga / Webtoon

Writing

Sleeping

Plushies / Dolls

Daydreaming

Anime / Kdrama

Cosplay

Videogames

Rain

Mushrooms (but not as food)

White chocolate, croissants

Fantasy / Mythology

Stars / Galaxy themes / Moon related stuff (astronomy/astrology you could say??)

Animals / Bunnies (my favorite animal!)

Blue (my favorite color!)

Autumn (my favorite season!)

Cherry Blossom (my favorite flower/tree!)

Sanrio

Animal Crossing, The Sims, Stardew Valley, Palia

CookieRun

Monster High / Ever After High

Percy Jackson (Cabin 6)

What does Luna dislike?

Bugs

Thunderstorms

Darkness

Loud noises

Crowded places

Being alone

Bullying

Lies

People

P*rn bots

Violence

Nightmares

Myself

Kpop • Groups/soloists I stan:

A.C.E (Donghun, Yuchan) ◦ ARTMS ◦ Ateez (Yunho) ◦ &TEAM ◦ Chuu ◦ CIX (Seunghun, Hyunsuk) ◦ Cravity (Wonjin, Seongmin) ◦ DKB (OT8) ◦ Dreamcatcher (OT7) ◦ E'Last ◦ Enhypen (Sunoo) ◦ (G)I-dle (Yuqi) ◦ Ghost9 ◦ Golden Child ◦ Kingdom (Mujin) ◦ Loosemble (Hyeju) ◦ Mamamoo (Moonbyul) ◦ Monsta X (Kihyun, Hyungwon) ◦ NINE.i (OT9) ◦ ONEUS (Keonhee) ◦ ONF (MK) ◦ ONEWE (Dongmyeong) ◦ P1Harmony (Theo, Intak) ◦ Park Jihoon ◦ Pentagon ◦ Seventeen (OT13) ◦ Stray Kids ◦ The Boyz (Sunwoo, New, Q, Hyunjae) ◦ Tomorrow by Together (Beomgyu) ◦ WEi ◦ Woodz ◦ Xodiac (Beomsoo, Wain) ◦ Xdinary Heroes (Gaon) ◦ Yves ◦ ZEROBASEONE (Matthew, Taerae) 《 Ult group/bias 》

• Other groups/soloists I support:

BAE173 ◦ Bang Yedam ◦ BTS (Suga, J-hope) ◦ EVNNE ◦ H1-KEY (Hwiseo) ◦ izna (Jiyoon) ◦ JUSTB ◦ ONE PACT ◦ Pixy ◦ Purple Kiss (Yuki) ◦ SF9 ◦ Tempest (Hanbin) ◦ Treasure (Junkyu) ◦ TIOT ◦ VANNER (Hyesung) ◦ Verivery (Hoyoung) ◦ Xikers ◦ 8TURN 《 Some groups (that I currently have some kind of attachment to) may not appear due to less interest (compared to the ones shown here) 》

Anime • I've watched:

͏͏Angels of Death ◦ Ascendance of a Bookworm ◦ ͏͏ Assassination Classroom ◦ Bungō Stray Dogs ◦ Cells at Work! ◦ ͏͏Danganronpa ◦ Death Note ◦ Demon Slayer ◦ Haikyū!! ◦ ͏͏Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun ◦ Jujutsu Kaisen ◦ ͏͏Little Witch Academia ◦ Mirai Nikki ◦ My Hero Academia ◦  Sailor Moon ◦ Shadows House ◦ The Promised Neverland ◦ ͏͏Tokyo Ghoul ◦ Yuri!!! on Ice ◦ Zombie Land Saga 《 Fav 》

Kdrama (and movies) • I've watched:

͏͏The Mysterious Class ◦ True Beauty ◦ My ID is Gangnam Beauty ◦ Hotel del Luna ◦ Phantom School ◦ Witch's Love ◦ The Labyrinth ◦ The Sound of Magic ◦ Weak Hero Class ◦ Sell your haunted house ◦ Imitation ◦ Vincenzo ◦ Delivery Man ◦ Zombie Detective ◦ The witch store ◦ The Witch store reopens ◦ Mimicus ◦ User not found ◦ Nightmare Teacher ◦ Ms Ma, Nemesis ◦ Extraordinary Attorney Woo ◦ Itaewon Class ◦ Night has Come ◦ Twinkling Watermelon ◦ At a Distance, Spring is Green ◦ Begins ≠ Youth ◦ Pyramid Game ◦ Snowdrop ◦ Radio Romance ◦ V.I.P ◦ Bring It On, Ghost

@strawberry-chuuice ⬅ click the name to go back to my side blog. @cookierunwitch ⬅ click the name to go to my Cookie Run blog. @thatweirdwitch ⬅ click the name to go to my Monster High blog.

Things will be added if needed. Created on 18/05/2022 - 15:45 ; Edited on 22/10/2024 16:17

[hansama]

You can find the finished drawing here

BHC Nox - @bonelyheartsclub Expression meme used - magicalpouch on twitter  

✦ This recording is around an hour and 15 minutes.

✦ Music used: 05. izna - Rug Lags | UNDERVEIL THE SEQUEL  (UNDERVEIL THE SEQUEL website)

✦ Programs used: Drawing: Paint tool Sai Editing(not shown): Photoshop Recording the video: Camstasia Studio

[generation24]

마이 ❀ Mai

冨岡茉衣 ❀ Tomioka Mai 

© generation24

[etherealvoidechoes]

Hollowed Defiance - Chapter 14 - Downtime -  XCOM Fic

Some downtime on the Avenger for once.

Also should draw out a particular scene from this chapter but depends on how i feel.

Ao3 LINK || Fic Wiki Hub

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

The nightly visit soon became routine for the two. Bradford didn’t mind. 

Whenever she called, he was there. There to listen. There to talk. There to comfort. In a way, he somewhat moved in, taking up residence on the couch. It was slightly better than his bed. Doing that didn’t help with the usual rumors. And Corvo was of no help when he caught wind of it. The dating and girlfriend jokes only grew from his friend. Even Corvo’s wife, Shay, couldn’t make him stop.

Jynn would continue to tell him about her nightmares, more sickening details of ADVENT raids, and faint memories of experimentations that stubbornly clung to her mind. But he would always stop her from going too far whenever she started shaking like a leaf. He always felt like that was a good stopping point to keep her from over stressing herself. Also, just hearing of what the Elders did to her made his stomach churn. What monsters.

 But all the talking was having a positive effect on her. The nightmares were becoming less frequent. And she was finally getting a full night’s rest. That eased his mind and helped quiet some of his own nightmares.

It surprised Bradford when she told him she would take a step back for once, less time on the Bridge and more time in her quarters. She begrudgingly admitted she had been pushing her too fast and too hard and was just hurting herself. However, she still wanted to be kept in the loop and facilitate some video meetings. He could agree to that.

There was still a long way for her to go, but it wasn’t an impossible task.

———————————

May 26, 2035

122lbs / 5’11” / Restricted / Nothing. Taking a break.

Been a while since I’ve picked this journal back up. Been a while since I’ve been able to think clearly.

Glad I finally talked to John that night. A lot is off my shoulders, but there’s still more for me to tell him. Oh, so much more. But slowly. Don’t need to stress him out with details from some of these nightmares. 

Going to take a break from most of my duties until I’m better. Especially mentally. I have to learn how to block out Their calls. They’ve been a little more quiet after talking to John, but They are still there. Some days are louder than the others and it’s distracting.

I wish one of the mind shields, would work but this connection just seems to be too deep to block.

And need to have the doctors check my DNA for all edits. Don’t think they went deep enough… May need to wait until we build the new facility Tygan has requested due to whatever is in the vial from the Blacksite is also too much for our current equipment. There’s always something, huh?

I think tomorrow I’ll do some socializing with the crew; I hear some of the soldiers play some card games. Wonder if I can get in on that?

———————————

“We’ll take a look into that for you Viiiickers…. Shouldn’t be too much work.” Bradford let out a long yawn, barely covering it with his hand. There were heavy bags under his eyes.

The nerve center of the ship was humming as usual. For once they had some downtown, as the past month had been extremely busy. Some time to catch up on maintenance and time for everyone to destress. Minus Bradford, as he had been fielding several calls since early morning, and his late-night talks with Jynn wasn’t exactly helping him.

“Seems like someone izna’ gettin’ some shuteye.” Vickers seemed to always have a smirk on his face. 

Bradford closed his eyes, letting out a gruff sigh. He could kill for some coffee right now. Where was Dimitri?

“Wat’s got yew burnin’ the candle at both ends?”

“The usual. Obligations.”

“Short with me now, eh?” How the Scottish man liked to needle people. 

“Perhaps.” 

Vikers let out a boisterous laugh. Bradford only shook his head in response.

“No serious’ly, yew look like shite.” Vikers’ tone changed to a more serious one. “And where the hell iz Ginny? Haven’ seen her in a while.”

Bradford tightly closed his eyes when he asked that question. Should I tell him or no? The thoughts raced through his mind.

“Don’ tell me she don’ something stupid?”

“Well…” It did border on stupid.  

Just as he was about to answer, a sweet aroma tickled his nose. Coffee.

“Sorry, it took so long, Bradford.” Dimitri’s voice was like music to his ears. Even more so as she handed him his mug. His savior.

“Thank you.”

“Got yew black gold now?” Vickers chuckled.

Ignoring him, Bradford took a moment to take in a strong whiff of the coffee. Slightly burnt, but that earthy aroma was heavenly and a pleasant jolt to his exhausted system. He took in a nice long sip, letting out a satisfied exhale once the mug was lowered. 

“Noggin’ working now?”

“Things are a bit clearer.” He nodded.

“Good. Now about my question.”

Bradford grimaced. “Well…” He was still torn. Unsure if he should tell him or not. He had a feeling Jynn would prefer her uncle didn’t know about her episodes. She probably didn’t want the old coot worrying about her.

“Come on! Spit it out!” Vikers was growing impatient.

Bradford took a moment to look around the Bridge. There was a bit of a lull in activity so there weren’t as many operators as usual. All seemed to be out of earshot. He looked over to Dimitri, not too surprised to see her busying herself to give the two privacy. He mulled it over for a moment. It couldn’t hurt for him to know some of the truth.

“I’m going to need you to keep your voice down.” He started.

“‘Xactly why?”

“It’s a bit private and personal for Jynn.”

A worried expression crossed his Vikers’ face. “The ‘ell is wrong with my niece!?”

“Shh!” He hushed him. He looked around once more. Seemed no one noticed. “It’s her health. She had an episode a few weeks ago, fairly bad, but is doing better now.”

“Episode?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain. Kind of a mental break.” He did not want to mention the Elders.

“Yew guys aren’t workn’ her like a dog now?”

“She does that to herself without our input.” He shook his head. “She’s on bedrest now.”

“Geez, lassie…” Vickers shook his head. “How iz she now?”

“Better, but she still has some rough nights.”

“Nightmares?”

Bradford just nodded.

“Geez.” Vikers ran his fingers through his hair, speechless at the news. 

“So she’s taking a bit of time away from more strenuous tasks.” Bradford finished.

“Well, that’s… good.” Vikers rubbed his chin. “Good, good.” His mind was still processing the news. “She’s always been the ‘ort that can’t sit still for too long.”

Bradford chuckled. “I believe that’s an understatement. An enormous understatement.”

Vikers let out a loud laugh. “Lassie’s been ‘verly stubborn?”

“Stubborn like hell.”

“That’s my Gin.” He laughed again. “Like her pa and maw. ‘Specially maw. Phew, Mali was worse than Johannes ‘en it came to being stubborn.”

Bradford shook his head and chuckled. He had never really experienced too many stubborn moments with Jynn’s mother compared to her father. However, he did remember certain incidents involving cooking and her woodworking hobby and how things had to be very specific or it threw her off and there would be hell to pay.

“Vikers!” A female voice from off-screen called for him. “Need you NOW!”

“Eh?” Vikers turned his head. “Wonder what’s goin’ on…” He rubbed his beard. “Well, looks like I gotta cut this talk short.”

“Alright. We’ll make sure to take a look into those ‘smokey sniper’ sightings for you guys.” Bradford said.

“Thanks, and keep a close eye on Ginny now. Don’ wanna lose he–”

“Say no more.” He cut him off. He did not need his own mind to start wandering there.

Vickers chuckled. “‘New I liked yew when we first met. Protective sort.” He smirked. “And tell dear ‘ol niece-y she can call me!”

He shook his head and chuckled. “I’ll tell her that.”

“Al’righty. Vikers out.” Vikers gave a quick gesture and dropped the call.

“I still refuse to believe that Commander Reeves is related to that guy.” Dimitri came back over once the transmission was cut.

“You’re partially correct about that. There’s no blood relation.” Bradford let out a yawn. “One of those ‘close friends of the family and kids just call you uncle’ sort of case.”

“Oh, like you and the kids at the New Everglades haven?”

“Yeah, something like that.” He nodded. “Speaking of them, need to give that Haven a call. It’s been some years.” 

“Since we’re already working on getting connected with the Americas, want me to try to get a contact set up with them?”

“Yes, I’d like that. Hope they’re still… doing fine.” 

“I’ll put that on my list.” She smiled.

Bradford let out another yawn and rubbed his eyes. Seemed like he needed more than coffee.

“Sounds like somebody needs a nap.” Dimitri commented.

“Maybe in a bit. Still have a few things to do.” He rose from his chair. He looked at his watch. “10:34. Should go check on the Commander.” He cast his eyes up to her quarters.

“She’s up and awake.”

He was surprised to hear that. “She’s been out of her room?” 

“Yep, ran into her in the Mess Hall.” She explained. “She’s been talking with the crew and really socializing with the soldiers. I think she’s in the barracks now. Anthello roped her into a card game or sort.”

“Leo?” His brow twitched.

“Yeah, the Cockney guy.”

“That has me worried… He’s always scheming up something.”

“Trish was in the group, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“Trish can only keep his cantankerous side in check for so long.” He shook his head. “May need to go check on that game…” He mumbled.

She rolled her eyes. “You worry too much.” She chuckled when she got a glare in return.

Bradford let out a grumble before taking another sip of his coffee, except he quickly found it was all gone. Looked like he needed another cup. “See you in an hour, Dimitri.” He left.

“Uh huh.” She shook her head. “Loverboy.” She said to herself with a giggle.

———————————

Before heading to the Barracks, Bradford headed to the Mess Hall and Kitchen to quickly refill his mug and grab a bite to eat.

“Wonder what card game they are playing.” He mumbled to himself as he took bites out of some toast. “I bet there’s betting knowing Leo. He always likes to spice up a game with betting.” 

He continued to muse and mutter to himself as he walked. In a few minutes, he was just outside the soldier’s quarters when a cacophony of laughs erupted, followed by several thumps on the floor and a few cards flying. Bradford could have sworn he saw a sock or two fly by. 

“Fuck me!” Sounded like someone wasn’t having a good time.

Hearing that exclamation only piqued Bradford’s curiosity and worry. As he came closer, he wasn’t quite ready for the sight. Why were there clothes scattered about?

Everyone was gathered around the center table playing what looked to be poker but were all in various states of undress. One particular dark-skinned fellow was down to their tidy-whities and was none too pleased about it as they had their face on the table, covering their head with their hands. Bradford recognized him. It was Leo.

“Strip poker…” Bradford muttered. He closed his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. Maybe he was hallucinating. No way Jynn could be in on this mess.

“Hey, Bradford! Want to join in?” One of the female soldiers called his name.

Nope. He wasn’t dreaming. He let out a grumble as he opened his eyes. It was a game of strip poker. No way Jynn joined in on this.

“Why don’t you join in?”

He bristled. That was Jynn’s voice.

Taking the slightest of peeks, he hesitantly searched for her in the mess of people and was surprised by the sight.

“I think you need a break for a bit.” Sitting opposite of Leo was the Commander. Fully clothed and wearing what looked to be Leo’s prized shades and his pants on her head. She had a wide smile plastered on her face. There was a small mound of credits, candy, and some other things in front of her. 

“Uh…” He was speechless.

“A-a-afraid you’ll get your b-b-butt *snort* k-kicked like Leo? Ha, ha, ha!” Trish was trying her best to stifle a laugh.

“Fuck off!” Leo showed his disdain by giving her the finger.

“Hey, I’m not the one who thought they could beat the Commander!” She kept on laughing.

“Uh…” Bradford was still speechless, but he finally came over.

“Joining in?” Asked Yukino, one of the Specialists. She was shuffling the deck. She was down to her bra, but still had her pants on.

“Thinking about it. Start a round without me.” He wasn’t interested. “Just trying to process such a sight, especially for you!” He gave Leo a hearty smack on the back.

“Ack!” Leo shot up in a jolt. “Fucking ‘ey!” Leo swatted at him.

Bradford quickly moved away and chuckled. He made his way over to Jynn.

“Yeah, she’s knocked him down several pegs.” Blake, better known by his callsign Errol, kicked his feet up on the table. He still had most of his clothes. “She cleaned him out real fast.”

“She’s real good at reading people.” Asher, one of the Rangers added. “Real good.”

“What, she’s only lost like two rounds and been coming out on top with the rest?” Blake said.

“Huh.” Bradford nodded.

Soon, another round started up.

 “More surprised you of all people agreed to this.” Bradford whispered to Jynn,

“Well, I thought it would be fun. Some bonding time and whatnot. And me out of my quarters for a bit.” She replied, not even attempting to whisper back. “Obviously, we modified some rules for me. Only stripping down to my undershirt and leggings.” 

“I made sure we modified the rules.” Trish spoke up. “Had to pull Leo’s teeth a bit, but the idea of not having to wash dishes for a month sounded sweet to him.”

“Just a bit of teeth pulling.” Jynn chuckled.

“Huh.” Bradford was surprised by that. He wasn’t sure what to think.

“Well, pull up a chair and watch if you’re not going to join in.” She moved, making some space for him. “Take a rest and watch the peanut gallery.” Everyone, minus Leo, laughed at that.

He thought for a moment and shrugged. Maybe he would watch. He fetched a chair.

The next round of betting started up, a mixture of rations, credits, IOUs, and some other things. And the game began. 

It didn’t take long for the smack talk to start up again and another cacophony of laughs to erupt. The game was something to behold for Bradford’s tired eyes. Doing his best not to peek at the Jynn’s cards so he didn’t give her away, he found it surprising how good of a poker face she had. She talked smack like the rest of them, but never gave away whether she had a good hand or a bad hand. Sometimes she had an atrocious selection of cards, but by a mixture of that poker face, bluffing, and betting, she managed to make everyone else fold a few times. He noticed a few times she had the best hand out of the group, but purposefully lost. He figured she wanted to toss them a bone, especially Leo. Leo was having the worst of luck.

He wasn’t sure what possessed him, and where he got a sudden rush of energy from, but he eventually joined in for some rounds. Perhaps it was some nudging from the Jynn that got him, but he was actually having some fun. He wasn’t too bad, only getting stripped to his pants and having to fulfill a few IOUs, but he managed to win a few rounds.

The game continued for another two hours before they finally wrapped up. The soldiers had a blast. Commander Reeves was more down to earth than they had thought. And the fact she managed to get Bradford of all people to join in? They had to invite her to more games in the future.

———————————

“See ya guys and sorry Leo!” Jynn waved to the group as she and Bradford started her leave.

“Yeah, whatever.” He was still fairly upset and soon got into a bit of an argument with Trish who was playfully teasing him.

“Well, that was… interesting.” Bradford was readjusting his shirt as the two left.

“It was pretty fun.” She playfully nudged him. “You have to admit that.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Nice change of paaaace.” He yawned.

“Though sounds like you need a nap.”

“Maybe.” He yawned once more.

“More like a yes.” She chuckled. “Also, you’ve got to tell me how you got some of those scars. Especially that nasty-looking burn.”

“Tch.” He shook his head. He rolled his right shoulder. That area started to ache just from him thinking about it. “One of these days.”

“Maybe when you feel like telling some of your old war stories.” She nudged him. “Like more of that Chryssalid one with that radio DJ guy, Middle Officer Stanford.”

He bristled at that. That story from the Resistance Radio DJ. He still couldn’t believe he thought that was a good substitute for his name. “I still feel like throttling him for being that dumb.” 

She couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. “Well, I think you put some fear into him because the next time I listened, he apologized and retracted most of the story.”

He shook his head. “He’s probably going to do it again knowing him.”

“Definitely can’t wait to hear how you two met and how you did not kill him.”

“I came pretty close to it a few times. Decked him at least twice. Stupid collections and records he wanted to find…” He admitted. “Raven and Yuri can attest to that.”

“Now I really can’t wait.” She chuckled.

The two headed up to the Bridge and Bradford filled her in on things she missed.

“Smokey Sniper?” Jynn cocked her head with a puzzled look. “Did he really say that?”

“That’s what Vikers said everyone was telling him.” He shrugged. “Their people and some others have been reporting sniper fire, and it’s definitely not the Hunter’s MO. They say some sort of unnatural smoke or haze shows up in the area before shots are fired.”

“Hm.. Wonder what it could be. Maybe it’s the same one that shot at our guys when we got the part for the ship?” She mumbled.

“Also, Fayruz says ADVENT is ramping up some attacks in her territory. They got a new vicious war=hound leading the raids. Those who survive call him the Ghost Butcher.” 

“Ghost Butcher?” 

“Supposedly, he can come back from a killing blow.” He brought up some descriptions for her to read. “Some had said they’ve seen his head blow clean off his shoulders and a few minutes later he’s back up and tearing people apart. It takes concentrated fire to really put him out for the count and force him to retreat.” 

She looked at the descriptions. A grimace formed. “Oh great, another Chosen?” Jynn shook her head.

“Sounds like it.” He shrugged. “There’s always something.”

“Great, just great.” She shook her head.  

Another yawn caught her attention. She gently nudged him. “Why don’t you go take a nap?”

He rubbed his face, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”

“The bags under your eyes say otherwise.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Besides,” she leaned over and whispered, “you’ve been up all night because of me. Sorry.”

He shook his head. “I’m fine, and you don’t have to apologize.” He whispered back.

“Hey.” Her tone shifted like she was issuing out commands. “Don’t be stubborn like me. Go get some rest. Need you firing on all cylinders.”

He shook his head and mumbled. “Fine. You’ve got a point.” He took a moment to stretch. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Good. Turn that brain off for a while.” A playful little jest.

“I’ll try, Jynn.” He shook his head, but couldn’t help but chuckle.

After a bit more nudging, Bradford headed to his quarters for a nap. His body was a little too excited to see his bed. As soon as he hit it, he was out like a light.

[hwangalleryy]

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