#part 4: marble sculpture

[mishervellous]

@shamelesscreatorsnetwork

side characters | Sandy Milkovich (3/4)

[reasonsforhope]

"Amsterdam’s roofs have just been converted into a giant sponge that will make the city more climate resilient.

The Dutch have always been famous for their ability to control water, born out of the necessity of their homeland, much of which is below sea level.

Now, their expert water management skills are transforming the city skyline in the capital city of Amsterdam from one of terracotta tile, concrete, and shingles into green grass and brown earth.

It’s part of a new climate-resiliency trend in architecture and civic planning known as the ‘sponge city concept,’ in which a garden of water-loving plants, mosses, and soil absorbs excess rainwater before feeding it into the building for use in flushing toilets or watering plants on the ground.

If heavy rains are predicted, a smart valve system empties the stored rainwater into the municipal storm drains and sewers in advance of the weather, allowing the roof to soak up water and reduce flooding in the city.

In this way, the rooftops of buildings can be wrung out and filled up just like a sponge.

In Amsterdam, 45,000 square meters, or 11 acres of flat metropolitan rooftops have already been fitted with these systems, and the contracting firms behind the technology say they make sense in dry climates like Spain just as much as in wet climates like Amsterdam...

A 4-year project of different firms and organizations called Resilio, the resilient network for smart climate adaptive rooftops, rolled out thousands of square meters of sponge city technology into new buildings. As with many climate technologies, the costs are high upfront but tend to result in savings from several expenditures like water utilities and water damage, over a long-enough time horizon...

All together, Amsterdam’s sponge capacity is over 120,000 gallons.

“We think the concept is applicable to many urban areas around the world,” Kasper Spaan from Waternet, Amsterdam’s public water management organization, told Wired Magazine. “In the south of Europe–Italy and Spain–where there are really drought-stressed areas, there’s new attention for rainwater catchment.”

Indeed the sponge city concept comes into a different shade when installed in drought-prone regions. Waters absorbed by rooftops during heavy rains can be used for municipal purposes to reduce pressure on underground aquifers or rivers, or be sweated out under the Sun’s rays which cools the interior of the building naturally.

Additionally, if solar panels were added on top of the rooftop garden, the evaporation would keep the panels cooler, which has been shown in other projects to improve their energy generation.

“Our philosophy in the end is not that on every roof, everything is possible,” says Spaan, “but that on every roof, something is possible.”

Matt Simon, reporting on the Resilio project for Wired, said succinctly that perhaps science fiction authors have missed the mark when it came to envisioning the city of the future, and that rather than being a glittering metropolis of glass, metal, and marble as smooth as a pannacotta, it will look an awful lot more like an enormous sculpture garden."

-via Good News Network, May 15, 2024

[snailspng]

Random PNGs, part 157.

(1. Cell cluster, 2. Sculpture by Jessica Stoller, 3. "Fleshy Intestine Tent" by Andrea Hasler, 4. Wax anatomical model of thorax, 5. Eye glass marble, 6. "visual temperature - sofa no.2" by Cao Hui, 7. Finger lime, 8. Painting by Fábio Magalhães, 9. Rhodotus Palmatus mushroom)

[asidian]

Set breakdown time! Next up: Niko's room.

As before, I've circled the points of interest and numbered them to make them easier to talk about. Cool? Cool. Let's do this!

1: Niko's mom's name! This part is her and Niko's surname. The kanji are 佐々木.

佐 – sa, meaning help or aid

々 – an iteration mark. When you see this, basically it means "exactly what the last one said, one more time." So another sa meaning help or aid

木 – ki, meaning tree

It's really neat that they picked a last name for her that doubles down on her role in the narrative. Just like Niko is there to support and help other characters in whatever way they seem to need, her surname hammers it home by including 佐 not once but twice.

2: Riza (リザ) Niko's mother's given name. Somewhat odd here is that it's written in katakana and not kanji. Without getting sidetracked too much (you can pop over here to read more if you're interested) most Japanese people write their names in kanji.

Katakana seems like a bit of a strange choice here, unless a) Niko for some reason doesn't know the kanji for her own mother's name (weird, given that she's in high school) b) her mother is a foreigner (a possibility; foreigners usually write their names in katakana) c) the set designer/whoever prepped the letters didn't know the appropriate kanji for "Riza" (seems unlikely, given how accurate all the rest of this is) or d) some sort of personal habit. An interesting side note is that her letter to Niko also puts Niko's name in katakana.

3: Cutesy stationery, used for marking your place in a document or book

4: A cute blue purse!

5: Watermelon! Judging by the shiny material and placement near the other bag, I'm going to guess this is another purse

6: Niko's clothes :>

7: Pink luggage

8: Lots of instant noodles

9: A rice cooker

10: Rice vinegar

11: This girl LOVES her some plants

12: Probably food items…? The one on the right looks like it might be a five-pound bag of rice, but I don't recognize the brand

13: Lots of unwashed dishes

14: A toaster oven

15: Chopsticks

16: A cute octopus pillow. I think I saw someone mention that it's from Ikea :>

17: She often leaves dirty dishes sitting on the bedside table

18: A painting of what seems to be a skyscape

19: Brightly colored pillows

20: Metal art in the shape of a moon

21: A decorative window hanging

22: More plants :)

23: Candles

24: Her tv

25: Cute pens with pompoms on the end

26: Regular tape

27: A cute cat statue

28: Marble Pop Ramune, strawberry flavor. Ramune is a type of soda that's a popular festival drink in Japan. It's sealed with a  glass marble and you have to pop the marble down into the little catch basin before you can drink it.

29: Anime wall décor

30: Fruit jelly cups. In Japan, small gelatin based snacks like this are popular. They're tiny, about an inch tall, and you eat them in just one or two bites.

31: Niko's laptop. She has stickers on it

32: Washi tape! It's decorative Japanese tape, often with bright colors and patterns, used for crafting.

33: A lot of cute magnets, including the bunny one, which serves double-duty as a kitchen timer

34: Niko's grocery list. The only thing on here that's here because she wants it is strawberry ice cream. The rest of the items, licorice tea, manuka honey, and Epsom salts, are all natural remedies. She's been trouble-shooting how to get rid of the effects of the sprites. She knows she's sick, but not why

35: Cutesy craft supplies! Sequins, glitter, and pompoms

36: More washi tape!

37: Niko's manga collection. She is that particular brand of organizational mess that does not put her numbered volumes in order. She has made an exception for the series that makes a complete picture when you line them up, though

38: More plants :)

39: Manga posters! Issho is one of the series that she has on her shelf

40: A decorative jar

41: Little metal bird sculptures

42: What seems to be the only framed picture in her room. The angle is wrong to see what the photo is, but it's interesting that they added just one in here. Maybe it's her family…?

[yona049]

𝕻𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖔𝖒 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕺𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖆 𝖝 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗

Part 2

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Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○

Disclaimer!

This is a story following the events after the Phantom of the Opera (2004) and only follows the movie and not any other adaptations!

This has evolved into its own story, if its not something you're interested in, feel free to skip this one and check out some other fics on my page! °v°

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

Morning came swift and fast. Y/n woke up on the bed with a heavy headache and a growling stomach.

She slowly looked around noticing their very small room they had only one night to stay in. Old cardboard like curtains and molding wooden floor boards.

A very large difference from what Y/n knew. The Opera house had wooden platforms, but the outer walls were made of white stone and elegant sculptures of gold or marble. Rooms shared with other dancers, but still adequate for a living environment.

She looked around realizing Erik was no where to be seen. She couldn't remember what happened after her exhausted breakdown the night before.

She sat up with hair standing in every possible direction, a telling of their troubles from the previous day.

She lifted the covers from her body but stopped just before she got up. Erik had tucked her in, keeping her warm from the Inn's little to no thermal mass.

Her ears perk when she hears a gentle singing float through the hallways of the shabby Inn coming ever closer.

The door handle rattles and Y/n smiles knowing it was Erik coming in, she stood up to welcome him.

Just as she sprung to her feet, her legs give way too the night before, when she was in too much of a rush to stretch or do the needed warm-ups.

She braced to fall into the wooden floor with every muscle in her arms and neck tensing up.

She's pleasantly greeted with warm arms and a strong chest. Erik grabs her biceps with stable hands and lifts her to her feet again. He wore the same cloth mask on his face that Y/n had created for him and was fully dressed for an outing.

"Y/n, I would suggest you keep to the bed for today."

Y/n smiled at their sudden greeting, and quickly it turned to a giggle which spread to Erik who gave a small chuckle.

When Y/n was sat back on the bed Erik put a bag of Bread in her lap, then took off his coat and tossed it onto the bed.

"Where did you get this?" Y/n said surprised before breaking a bit off the loaf and giving in to her hunger.

"I spotted one of the ogling, basterd, patrons who was in the tavern last night, walking out of the bakery."

Erik rubs his fist in thought while looking out of the window.

"He clearly didn't need the food as much as we did."

Y/n stopped chewing and only stared at Erik in shock with bread filled cheeks.

Erik looks at her unfazed before taking the other half of breath from her hands, giving her a small pat on the head.

Y/n knew it wasn't the right thing to do at all, however she was well aware of their predicament.

Finishing a small breakfast Y/n dusted off her hands and tried to stand again only for Erik to glare at her until she sat back down.

Y/n plopped back onto the bed with her cheap dress catching the air and puffing up.

"Well I can't just sit and do nothing all day! I need to do more to help our situation!" she wined making Erik smirk again.

"Y/n my darling, you've done enough." he said sitting at the foot of the bed.

In a moment of silence Y/n suddenly was reminded of all the ugly men that watched her dance, touching her, whispering hideous things that they'd do to her.

She pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face from Erik.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. You must regret comforting me last night." she whispers feeling her breakfast want to comeback up, out of the disgust she felt for herself.

Another second of silence passes until Y/n felt Eric lift her hand and place a delicate kiss on her dry knuckles.

"The only thing I regret, my dear, is not having the strength to strangle every drunken, gibfaced, blunderbussed, Fool who dared look at you."

He moves a hand to cup Y/n's face and lightly stroke her cheek.

"Seeing you be belittled to a mere piece of meat, instead of the brilliant dancer you are, made me angry, too angry."

His teeth clench and his jaw turns into a sneer.

"What I did to the ogling basterd was well deserved."

Y/n felt her eyes widen. A comforting message may have turned into a bloody confession.

Her eyes travel to Erik's clothes, how she didn't see the very small splatter of blood on his shirt made her wonder if she'd missed anything similar in the past.

Before she could fully register what she'd just heard, Erik stood up quickly and took a coat from where he'd tossed it.

"I suggest you rest your legs and body, It's my turn to help our situation."

He turns back to a still stunned Y/n. Only offering a smile before he opened the door.

"I will return soon. Ignorant fool's will never lay eyes on you again. No longer will this barkeep share in your triumph."

With those words he closed the door.

Y/n spent the day deep in thought. Massaging her legs as she was taught to do if her legs cramped and pained.

She felt a warmth in her chest and a smile pulled at her cheeks when she thought of Erik's words, to keep her from basterds eyes.

Then she thinks of the blood splatter and the warmth is quickly frozen over when the chills run up her spine.

Would Erik hurt her if she stepped out of line? Would he teach her to behave as her father did when her dancing wasn't done to perfection.

Anxiety caused her to chew on her thumb nail, a habit she'd thought she'd grown out of. She quickly tried to keep her hands busy to avoid the habit resurfacing.

She closed her eyes and once again tried to get some rest before she fell into deep sleep.

Y/n woke up later that day when the sun was just setting with a heavy banging on the door.

Without warning, spare keys unlock the door and Y/n shoots up straight with the blanket held to her chest.

The inn keeper still wearing a apron with beer stains and a thick cigar in his mouth, walks in.

"Your rent is up! And customers are waiting for the pretty girl to dance again!"

He grabs Y/n by the wrist and drags her towards the door.

Y/n growls and uses her fist to hit his hand that held her.

"Let GO! You have no right to demand this!"

The inn keeper snorts not even looking at her until he's dragged her towards the door. His body spins back to her and he yanks her close.

"Listen girl! You will dance again tonight!"

Y/n shuts her eyes tight and she looks away from the owners disgusting breath and smoked cigar that was in her face.

"She will do no such thing!"

Y/n suddenly smiles hearing Erik's voice and looks back to see Erik had yanked the mans fingers off her wrist and swung him against the wall and onto the floor.

Erik didn't waste a moment in cupping Y/n's face, looking her up and down. He lifts her wrist up delicately and places a kiss on the bruise the Inn keeper had left.

"We're leaving." he said sternly.

Y/n agrees and grabs hold of all their belongings before the keeper could recover off the floor.

They walked down the stairs past the patrons who whistled as soon as they spotted Y/n, but one growl from Erik caused a sudden silence.

That wasn't enough for one gentlemen who managed to sneak up behind Y/n and pull her into a drunken hug.

"Hello, love!" he slurred as he lifted Y/n off her feet.

Still connected by hand, Erik punches the Drunkerd square in the nose and into the wall.

Chaos spreads across the Bar and everyone objects to the actions made. Tho before things got too out of hand the Inn keepers voice spreads through the bar, sending everyone once again into silence.

"That's ENOUGH!"

Erik had pushed Y/n against the wall behind him, shielding her. Her hand still held his and the other on his chest.

The Bar keeper looks Erik dead in the eyes and walks straight past him outside and motioned him to follow.

Once again out in the cold in the street, the Bar keeper pushes his cigar into the snow on the windowsill of the inn.

Erik and Y/n now out in the open ready to run as soon as its needed stood infront of him still on guard.

Finally the inn keeper states his business.

"Look, We both have something the other needs. I need the little lady to keep patrons coming in, and you need a living area, yeah?"

Erik glares him down.

"I will not stand for men touching her-"

The keeper interrupts.

"Let me finish! If she keeps dancing, I'll hire you to watch her. I'll include a living space and coins if you guard the bar and break up bar fights too. You're a strong lad. And you've got a scary look to ya!"

Y/n was deep in thought considering all the possibilities, then she quickly mentions.

"Add three meals a day and you've got a deal!"

Erik's hand squeezes hers as an objection but let's her finish.

"One meal!" the keeper argues.

"Two and I'll dance in the mornings too!"

The keep thinks for a moment before looking at Erik's scary face and deciding it might not be a bad trade.

He nods and extends his hand. Before Y/n took it she pulled Erik aside when he immediately objects.

"This is foolish, Y/n"

"It's a living Erik. It's a good trade, we won't get another chance like this. Just for now, just until I know we can live without worry."

He looks down still feeling unsure. Y/n delicately cups his cheek and rubs it with her thumb.

"Let's do it together, I know you'll watch over me."

Erik sighs heavily and nods in agreement.

Y/n smiles and kisses Erik's cheek then shakes the keepers hand.

The keeper smiles and turns back to the inn.

"C'mon! I owe ya a meal. The names Boris!"

Y/n Finally let's go of Erik's hand and Follows Boris into the inn once more.

Erik pauses immediately when he hears an echo down the street, a familiar voice. His eyes travel around until he finally sees another large opera house not far from the old Palais Garnier.

"Christine.."

He mumbles feeling an ache in his chest, he pulls out a ring from his pocket, the ring Christine gave him right after their final meeting.

His lips twist into a clenched growl and he takes a step forward towards the Opera house.

"Erik?"

Another voice stops him, not Christine, But Y/n from inside the Inn. Erik glances back to Christine before shaking his head and pushing the ring back into his pocket.

[michael-svetbird]

HEAD OF A GODDESS STATUE | Probably Aphrodite: The Roman period marble copy of a gold-and-ivory statue of the Classical period [5-4 BC] 2 AD "The colour that has leaked below her eyes is a product of the oxidation of the statue's bronze eyelashes." [Txt ©AM ] Found in 1857 in the Odeion of Herodes Atticus [the south slope of the Acropolis]

Acropolis Museum, Athens | AM [Floor 1, Roman Gallery]

Web : https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en

FB : https://www.facebook.com/theacropolismuseum

IG : @ theacropolismuseum

YT : https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAcropolisMuseum

AM | Michael Svetbird phs©msp | 13|08|24 6500X4300 600 [I.] The photographed object is collection item of AM [Non-commercial fair use | No AI | Author rights apply | Sorry for the watermarks]

📸 Part of the "HEADS.Sculpture" MSP Online Photo-gallery:

👉 D-ART: https://www.deviantart.com/svetbird1234/gallery/78520831/heads-sculpture

👉 FB Album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1400262423675664&type=3

.

[liminalmemories21]

omg the pillow fort prompt was the cutest thing I’m obsessed 🥰🥰🥰 If you’re still taking prompts:

“Shut up, that was one time”

Belated, I know. And, also counting this as WIP Wednesdsay because I'm pretty sure some version of this is ending up in Knave-4.

(tagged by @three-drink-amy, @strandnreyes, @carlos-in-glasses, @paperstorm, @carlos-tk, @chicgeekgirl89, @freneticfloetry, @sanjuwrites, @jesuisici33, and @iboatedhere - thank you!)

TK is loose and easy tonight, relaxed now that his final papers have been turned in and he's stuffed full of two slices of Liz's lasagna and the cheesecake Carlos had made last night.  He can't stop looking at him, and he's being obvious and he doesn't care.  There's nobody at this table who doesn't know how in love he is with TK.

He's not really paying attention to the conversation, idly twisting his wine glass with the last few sips still left in it, but his attention is caught when TK sits up, protesting, laughing.  "One time.  One time, Liz.  And how do you even know about it?  Doesn't the university administration have better things to do with their time than gossip about the love lives of the students?"

She's sitting up and laughing, and Matt quirks an eyebrow at her.  "Share with the class?"

"TK played Cyrano for one of the kids in his class."

TK kicks her under the table.  "Saying I played Cyrano implies I ended up with the girl."

Carlos hides a smile behind his glass of wine.  "Was the girl in question a nice 15th C marble sculpture?  Or, ooh, one of those art deco tables held up by like a wood nymph?"

TK throws his napkin at him.  "I mean, I wouldn't say no to one of those."  He grins at Carlos and lets their fingers tangle.  'You keep saying we need a new coffee table."  Carlos leans back and enjoys the warmth of the wine and the teasing and the easy intimacy of touch.

Matt clears his throat.  "Cyrano?"

TK drags his attention back to Matt.  "Right.  Two kids in my study group.  Classic boy likes girl.  Girl likes boy.  Neither one of them can string a sentence together when they're in the same place at the same time.  I helped them out."  He shakes his head.  "What are they teaching kids these days if they don't know how to flirt."

Matt gives him a dry look.  "The kids these days?  You're 28."

TK points a finger at him. "Exactly."

Carlos tugs on his hand.  "So, are you implying that you got taught how to flirt?  Was that part of the liberal New York sex ed curriculum we keep hearing about?"

[bby-namjoon]

OldFriend!Mafia!Taehyung: First Love

(AU: where Tae was your bestfriend in high school and one day he vanished, but you meet again 10 years later and he has some secrets to hide)

{Part 1} {Part 2} {Part 3} {Part 4}:

———————————————————————

“I’m excited!”

“Why?” He laughed, turning onto his street.

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen your house yet and I just wanna see how you live! I think it’ll be nice to just see what you call home”

“Well, we’re here”

You turned your attention back out of the front windscreen and gasped, “this is your house? No way”

He’d turned through a pair of black steel gates before proceeding slowly up his driveway and stopping short of his large garage door. From first glance you could tell that his house was atleast twice the size of yours and far more modern. It’s high hedges made the lavish property feel safe and secluded, like this plot of land was its own sanctuary away from the outside world, but when you thought the exterior was beautiful, your jaw practically dropped as you stepped inside.

The first thing you noticed was the marble floors that stretched the entire expanse of the property, everything was large and beautifully designed, his love of art and music showing through the sculptures and paintings littered around the house, brightening up the neutral monochromatic themes that recurred throughout most of his rooms, just enough to add some character to them. Even his bathrooms were beautiful, both of them holding sleek granite sinks and chrome furnishings, the only thing differing between them was that one had a large roll top bath stood in the corner whilst the other had an enclosed glass shower. You continued to follow him around his home, watching as he pointed out the empty guest rooms and his office, telling you how most of his business gets taken care of at home and that his closest team often come over to work alongside him, coming and going throughout the week as needed.

The final room on the tour was his bedroom. As soon as you stepped inside you could smell his cologne, the last spray of it obviously still circulating around the room from where he’d gotten ready before your rooftop date earlier in the evening. He’d used his connections to set up a romantic sunset picnic for you both, where he used the slight breeze as an excuse to have you sit between his legs and hold you close as you fed eachother strawberries, feeling as though you were a million miles away from the bustling city of Seoul that continued it’s course beneath you.

If Taehyung knew how to do anything, he knew how to centre piece a room. Much like the grand piano in his living room, or the granite island in his kitchen, his king size bed sat proudly against the wall where it was boxed in by a bedside table on either side, it’s white sheets looking pristine and freshly made, making you have to resist the sudden urge to throw yourself onto it, burying yourself beneath his feather down duvet. He let you peek into his well organised wardrobes and drawers before finally pushing back his curtains and opening up a set of french doors that took up much of the wall on the far side of his room, his hand finding yours as he led you outside with him. The doors had brought you out onto a balcony that looked over his dimly lit, flower lined garden and across the distant tree tops to the city skyline, and you couldn’t describe how taken aback you were. Everything about this house from its architecture to the surrounding views was just amazing.

He pulled you over to sit on his outdoor chairs, a smile on his face. “You’re so cute, the whole time you were just like” he paused to pull a face of awe and you laughed, leaning back in your chair.

“I can’t believe you live like this, it’s crazy. I mean, I knew you lived in a nice house growing up, but this? This is just next level.”

“Thank you, I put a lot of my money into this house because I spend most of my time here, but I dunno, I still don’t feel as at home as I do when I come to yours.”

“Really? Why?”

“I guess because this house is so big and it’s just me, it just feels empty you know? I just have all this space with nobody to fill it, but your house is cosy and warm and I like that. 1st world problems amirite?”

“Wanna swap?”

“I’ll move in tomorrow,” he chuckled. “What would you have done if I lived in a horrible area or in a really tiny goshiwon?” (a small one bedroom apartment in Korea that usually consists of a bed and a desk and you share a kitchen/bathroom with others on your floor).

“Well, if you lived somewhere dangerous and you were at risk or you felt unsafe then I’d ask you if you wanted to come and live with me instead, and if you lived in a goshiwon I wouldn’t care because we’re always in eachothers personal space anyway,”

“That is true,” he smiled, “but aren’t you cute.”

“Were you checking if I’d still hang around if things go downhill and you lose all your money?”

“Pfft, no”

“Well just to be clear I wouldn’t care if you were rich or poor, Kim Taehyung. You’re still a good man at heart and that’s all that really matters to me,”

Your words made his heart squeeze because he didn’t agree, he didn’t think he was a good man. He’d told himself that if by the third date he was certain you both wanted to be together, then he would tell you everything, but until then he had to continue to swallow his guilt as if there was nothing to hide.

“Do you wanna stay the night?”

“I haven’t got anything with me,”

“You can wear my clothes, and I have a spare toothbrush you can use”

“Alright then,”

When you got ready for bed he let you look through his T-shirt drawer to pick out what you wanted to sleep in, your hands automatically gravitating towards a white T-shirt with a big design on the front.

“I like that shirt, I have it in black too, I think”

“You should wear the black one! Where is it?”

“Are we really gonna be wearing matching couple shirts before we’re even a couple?”

“Don’t act like you don’t love it, I know you,”

He smiled, reaching into his drawer and pulling out the darker version of your chosen top along with some comfy bed trousers, leaving you to skip off to the bathroom and get changed. When you returned you were bare faced with your hair tied up in a bun, your body clad in nothing but a pair of knickers and his oversized shirt which stopped at your mid thigh, and when you saw him in his matching shirt you couldn’t help but squeal.

“We’re so cringe, I love it” you giggled, and you saw the smile creep onto his face as he failed to conceal how much he was enjoying this moment, no matter how clichè it was. He pulled you closer to him so he could have a proper look at you, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his smile as his eyes wandered down your body, taking in how good you looked in his clothes as a familiar feeling of arousal started to rise within him, causing him to quickly try and cloud his brain with any other thoughts, something that was easier said than done as you pulled him over to the mirror to take a picture together, your bodys now pressed against eachother as he put his arms around you, smiling for the camera.

“These are so cute! Look!”

They really were cute.

“Send me those,”

“I expect to see them printed onto giant posters and stuck up around the house” you smiled as you sent the photos to him.

“As if I’d put them up and let other people see how good you look right now,”

You were surprised at his reply but you laughed, “I’m stood here with messy hair and no makeup on, people would probably think someone had a gun to your head to take these pictures with me”

He laughed, “well I think you look sexy in my clothes, you look way better than I would for sure”

“Shut uppp” you smiled, “and stop looking at me like that!” You reached up to cover his eyes and he caught hold of your wrists, peeking over your palms.

“Look at you like what?”

“You know how!”

“I don’t, enlighten me”

“Your eyes go all soft and you just look at me with a little smirk on your face! Stop!”

“Why? Does it get to you, Y/N?” He cocked an eyebrow and the smirk came back, making you exclaim out of frustration as you pulled your hands away from his and ran over to the bed, hiding yourself under the covers.

He laughed, following after you and hugging the mound your body made through the duvet, “you’re so annoying,”

“And you love it,”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes you do,”

“Shut up.”

He chuckled as you moved around underneath him, finally re-emerging into the open air. You were a little surprised at how close his face was to yours but you didn’t react, just closing your eyes to let him brush some stray strands of hair from your forehead. You felt his lips follow soon after, pressing a kiss just above the space between your eyebrows.

“I do wanna kiss you on the lips but I know we’re supposed to be behaving ourselves,” he spoke lowly, his voice making you open your eyes again to look up at him.

You tried to hold back your smile, playing it cool. “Well, it could technically be a goodnight kiss? We did just go on a date after all”

“Hmm, that’s true” he hummed, his gaze moving slowly from your eyes to your mouth as he edged a little closer. “Behaving is no fun anyway, right?”

“Someone’s not feeling shy anymore,”

“What can I say? Seeing you in nothing but my shirt has that effect on me” he smiled, closing the gap between you both as he manouvered around the duvet, careful not to break the kiss as he joined you under the covers. A shiver was sent up your spine as goose bumps broke out across your skin, your warm body obviously too sensitive to handle the touch of his icy fingertips. “Sorry, baby” he mumbled against your lips as he hooked an arm around you, making sure he was as close to you as possible to warm you up again, but his free hand was unable to hold back from wandering, carefully tracing itself up your leg before stopping at the thigh, giving it a squeeze, thoughts of him kissing and nipping and trailing his tongue up the soft skin now flashing through his mind, making him realise how desperate he was to have you writhing and moaning under his mouth, just the thought of it was intoxicating.

That was the first night you’d ever shared a bed together, all the other cuddles and erasure of eachothers personal space was usually not able to get this far as he’d tell you he had to go cause he has work early the next day, when in fact he was just heading out on his nightly shift of dealing, leaving you to sleep alone, none the wiser. Still, you took the moment in, your mind wandering back to the way he’d gripped and traced your thighs, fingers teasing the waistband of your underwear before tearing himself away and hiding his face in your neck, his lips still pressing kisses but softer this time, mumbling how much you mean to him as he gingerly tip-toed around the 3 words he knew he felt but wasn’t quite ready to speak into existence, his aura changing from needing release to needing affection, almost giving you whiplash as he did so.

He was mysterious to you, you wanted to keep searching his soul until you worked out what the missing puzzle piece was but you didn’t know where to start. Instead, you just enjoyed the moment, appreciating the way the sunlight that had broken through the crack in the curtains graced his face, illuminating how pretty he was.

You wished you could stay like this forever, wrapped up in his arms as even in his sleep he held you closely, never wanting you to leave his embrace because it brought him comfort. Comfort to know that you were here, with him, happy and safe and content. It’s all he wanted.

Sadly though, all good things must come to an end.

—————————-

Tae spat onto the rain covered pavement, leaving a small puddle of red to spread out on the grey tarmac, blood trickling down from his nose and onto his white dress shirt, mimicking the pattern of the raindrops that had now soaked through his clothes. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go.

He got back to his car, bloody knuckles scraping against the inside of his trouser pockets, sending a familiar yet out-dated pain to course through his nerves as he pulled out his phone, sending a message to his boys about the event that had just taken place.

It was supposed to be a quick job, a quick job that if completed would mean that he could spend the whole night with you tomorrow, but instead, it was a dirty trap. The deal had gone wrong and Taehyung was jumped by 3 men, all of them trying their best to overpower him and drag him to the floor, expecting to get away with the money and the drugs, but Tae wasn’t the weak fool they expected him to be. Despite the odds not being in his favour, he walked away with all the goods he arrived with, leaving the men with nothing but bullet wounds and broken bones.

He slumped back into the drivers seat, a dull ache pulsating through his right eye after sustaining multiple hits to the side of the face, his split lip throbbing mercilessly, yet he didn’t react. It had been a while since something like this had happened, but he’d been through far worse during his time in the industry, the scars literred across his body were proof of that.

To him, the bigger problem was that he knew he had to avoid you for a week or two, he needed enough time for his face to heal before seeing you again. Sure, he could lie and say he was mugged, or a crazy person attacked him in th street, but his pride was far too great for that. He’d never admit a false defeat.

The first lie of a business trip in Busan lasted a few days, believable enough for him to avoid having to see you, but he made sure to call and text as much as he could, wanting to make it clear that he wasn’t just avoiding you altogether.

“Boss, I caught wind that Yongguk isn’t happy about what happened that night you fought his men. He thinks you dishonoured him and he wants payback.”

Taehyung scoffed, “he wants payback? What is wrong with that guy? He’s the one that ordered for the deal to go bad, it’s not my fault his men aren’t trained well enough to take on one man”

“I know, but we’ve always known that he’s fucked up. Apparently two out of the three men he sent to you died, so he wants to even the playing field, I’m not sure if that means to come and kill you or any of us but he’s got a plan brewing.”

“Well I’m not gonna let him or anyone else hurt you guys, they can come for me all they want, but you’re not getting harmed, I can tell you that much.”

“No, we will stand alongside you. What’s the plan?”

“Well we’ll have to find out some more info first so go with Hoseok and Jungkook and try to find out as much as you can. We’ll gather here tonight at about 10 to talk it over.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Thank you.”

With a bow of his head Jimin left Tae’s office, leaving him alone to think about everything that was suddenly coming his way.

His phone started to ring, snapping him out of his thoughts. Y/N flashing up in bold across his screen.

“Hey Tae,”

“You alright, babe?”

“Yeah, I just miss you..you’ve been so m.i.a lately”

“I’m sorry, I just- after the Busan trip I felt a little unwell..I think I’ve come down with something and didn’t want to get you sick too, but believe me I miss you aswell”

“Oh no, what’s wrong?”

“Uhm I’m not sure really, I keep getting headaches and feeling sick”

“Oh no, rest lots and make sure you eat enough, do you need anything?”

“No thanks baby, I’m good. I’ll be sure to look after myself so I can see you again soon, I promise I’ll spoil you to make up for lost time” he frowned, feeling guilty for all the lies he’s told over the past week.

“You don’t need to, just seeing you again will be enough,”

“Aren’t you cute,”

“The cutest,” he could hear your smile through the phone and it made him feel warm, “now get some rest, I want you to be better as soon as possible! No excuses!”

“Yes ma’am! I’ll try my best and I’ll see you soon, thank you for calling me, I don’t deserve you”

You laughed a little, “shut up, there’s no need to thank me! I’ll see you soon, Tae” you smiled, and even though he couldn’t see you he smiled too,

“See you, y/n”

When you hung up he sighed, putting his head in his hands. He couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

—————————————

That evening tae invited his boys over for them to relay any information they found so they could devise a plan of action against Yixing and whatever he was plotting.

“We need to take him out, Tae. The longer he’s around, the more shit he’s gonna cause. He’s insane.” Yoongi spoke up, shaking his head at the information Jimin told to the group.

“I know, but it’s not as simple as that. We need to be tactical. If we know he’s planning to ransack us at our next shipment pick up, we’ll be on high alert. We’ll change our formation. It’ll only be the start so we need to keep two steps ahead, but the fact we have the information means we’re heading in the right direction.”

“We could set up a decoy shipment? We could reroute and pick up from a different dock? That’ll buy us some time?”

“Good idea, let’s work this out”

The boys continued to brainstorm their ideas for the next few hours, but little did Taehyung know that you were on your way over to surprise him with some dinner, expecting him to be in bed unwell.

When you arrived you knocked on the door just as Yoongi was coming out of the kitchen, a bottle of beer in hand. He looked through the spyhole, seeing you stood holding a bag of food. “I got it!” Yoongi called out, thinking you were the delivery girl for the dinner they’d ordered.

He opened the door and you were confused, “is Taehyung here?”

“Uh yeah, but I can just take it, thank you, have a good night”

He took the bag from you and you you furrowed your eyebrows, stopping the door with your hand as he went to close it.

“Wait-I’m confused, who are you?”

“Why does it matter? Taehyung is here, we ordered this on his account, but he’s busy so I answered the door”

“I’m not a delivery person?”

“Then who are you? Why do you wanna see Taehyung so badly? Oh god, did he hook up with you? I-“

“What? No?” You felt a weird sensation in your stomach, had he been hooking up with other girls? All of this was making you feel uneasy. Something was going on. “Can you just get him? He’s my friend and I was bringing him dinner because I thought he was sick.”

The man in front of you looked confused, he hadn’t seen or heard of you before. “What’s going on? Is the order wrong?”

Perfect timing.

When Tae appeared beside Yoongi you gasped at the bruises on his face, his bottom lip still swollen and scabbed from being split. You saw his eyes grow wide and he felt his heart fall into his stomach. He didn’t expect you to be here.

“This girl said she’s your friend and she made you dinner cause you’re sick?”

“Yeah Tae, I thought you were sick. Not battered and bruised, what’s going on? What happened to you?” You were dying to cup his face and kiss his bruises better but you knew he was keeping something from you, so you stood your ground.

Yoongi looked between you and Tae before backing up, sensing the tension in the air. “I’ll just go put this in the kitchen..”

Taehyungs heart was beating out of his chest, he almost wished Yoongi hadn’t left you two alone, he didn’t want to get into a fight with you. He didn’t want things to go like this.

“Are you gonna answer me or what?” you crossed your arms, looking up at him, waiting for him to give you an explanation.

He stepped out the house and closed the door behind him, blocking out the sound of the other male voices that were flooding towards you from the living room.

“I uhm..I don’t really know what to say..”

“What do you mean you don’t know what to say? You seemed to have a lot to say before when you were making up lies about being sick”

His head was spinning as he tried to think of a response, so instead he just bit his bottom lip, looking at the floor. He didn’t have the confidence to look you in the eyes.

“Are you just not interested in me anymore? Is that it? That guy asked me if I was one of your hookups, is that what you’ve been doing this whole time? Am I just one of your throw away girls?”

“What? No! I’m not hooking up with anybody! I only want to be with you, nobody else! There’s never been anyone else!”

You felt your chest tighten at his words. “How can I believe you when I know you’re still keeping something from me?”

“I just don’t want things to change, I know as soon as I tell you the truth you’re gonna see me differently and I’m scared of that..I-I don’t want to lose you again.”

You suddenly felt scared, maybe you didn’t want to know the truth.

“I’m scared now too, but just tell me. I want to know.”

He took a deep breath, thinking it all through. He realised that there was no way out of this now, and that he had to finally tell you the truth. The jig was up.

“Okay, fine..but can we talk about this in my car? I don’t want anyone listening.”

You nodded, “yeah, fine.”

He disappeared back into the house for a moment to retrieve his keys, trying his best to psych himself up for what was about to happen. He wasn’t sure how you were going to react, the enclosed space of his car possibly becoming the worst place to talk if you end up shouting, but it was too late to go back on himself now. He’d wasted enough time.

Once you both sat down in the front seats you turned to face him while he focused on the steering wheel, still too afraid to make eye contact.

You looked at his swollen, busted lip and the shadows of bruises that took over the side of his face. Had he been mugged? Who would do something like this to him? Why wouldn’t he just tell you?

You suddenly felt a swirl of anxiety in the pit of your stomach and you just wanted to know the truth. Whatever it was, you just had to make sure he wasn’t in danger.

“Tae, please just tell me, I’m worried about you.”

“Please promise me you won’t hate me,”

“What?”

He looked at you for the first time this evening, his eyes panicked. “If I tell you, please don’t hate me. I’ve been scared to tell you this whole time because I’m scared you’ll hate me and you won’t want me in your life anymore. I mean, I wouldn’t blame you, but I don’t want to lose you, not again.”

The anxious swirl returned, this time in the form of a tsunami as it moved to engulfed your chest, your eyes still on his bruised ones as he pleaded to you.

“I-I can’t promise that because I don’t know what you’ve done, Tae. You know me, I will try my best to understand you because I don’t want to lose you either, but we can’t work through something unless I know what it is.”

He took a deep breath, seeming defeated, but he knew you were right. He couldn’t expect you to promise that when he knew the kind of person he was.

“Okay..I’ll tell you.”

And with that, he turned back to the steering wheel, his gaze on his lap, and he told you everything. He told you about the real business his family had been involved in growing up, the trading of arms and drugs and any other illegal substance you could think off. All of which became his after his father had died. All of which became his and that’s why he disappeared.

He told you about his men, one of which you’d met at the door, and how without them he’d never have made it this far, because even though he was their boss, they were a team and together they ran the underground scene.

He told you about the things he’s done and the things he’s seen in order to to get to where he is today and you couldn’t even talk. You were in shock. You watched as he gripped the steering wheel, his eyes closed as he thought back on his career and the life he leads.

Finally he told you about his face and why he’d been avoiding you. He was too scared to let you know about the real him. The real him that laundered and blackmailed and fought in back alleys in the middle of the night after a deal’s gone bad. The real him that killed people. Albeit to stay alive, but he still killed.

He looked in pain as he wrapped up his explanation, his eyes threatening to brim over with tears. He really was a terrible person. He was selfish to expect you to stay. He was wrong to even bring you into all of this, lulling you into a false sense of comfort. He was disgusting and he hated himself.

“I just-I just didn’t want you to know me as this person, I didn’t want you to get wrapped up in my life and the shiftiness that comes along with it. I wanted you to see me as a better person, someone that reminded you of teenage me, of the good memories we had together, but-but I realise now that that’s not fair. You deserve better than this, better than me. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

You saw the brimming tears finally roll down his cheeks and he wiped them away. The silence in the car becoming deafening.

You couldn’t process anything he had just said. Being a gangster was one thing, selling drugs and buying guns, but murder? He was a murderer.

You felt your body shake with agitation, you felt sick.

How could he be capable of that? With his own bare hands? The same hands that held yours. The same hands that pulled you close to him and wrapped you in a hug. The same hands that ran through your hair and held your face as he kissed you.

“Please say something..” he sniffed as he turned to you, trying to find some kind of emotion on your face.

“I uhm..I think I need to go. I-I’m sorry but I’ve gotta go.”

Your gaze flashed up to his before gathering yourself and getting out, keeping your head down as you rushed back across his front garden and down his drive, almost reaching the front gate when you heard him call after you.

“Y/N, please! Wait! What does this mean?” You knew he wasn’t asking about your almost relationship, but more so whether or not you’d ever speak to him again.

You stopped in your tracks, turning back to him, you wished you hadn’t after seeing his face. He looked like a kicked puppy. You felt a twang in your chest as you fought between your head and your heart, but in the end you decided to stay neutral.

“I need some time to think, Tae. I’ve gotta go, I’m sorry.”

You tore yourself away from him and hurried out the gate, almost bumping into the real delivery boy on your way out.

You practically ran back to your car, locking the door behind you as you rested your head against the steering wheel, closing your eyes.

You couldn’t believe it.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

THE ASK ABT JOBS SUGURU WOULD HAVE ,,,,,, i love thinking abt it thats my favorite subject EVA !!!! [thats a lie suguru as a whole is my favorite subject teehee :3]

ur SOOO right abt him being in law 2 help ppl ,,,,,, SO right w the idea of him walking around w a briefcase + slicked back ponytail + coffee GOHDDDD ok . okay . jobs I THINK suguru would have LETS GO !!

CERAMICIST - hed make these insane pots + sculptures n have showcases that r BOOKED like ,,, hes just so ,,,, pottery person 2 me,,,, n i feel like hed have a focus on using old pottery methods n keeping them alive in the modern day ,, like hes got some crazy intricate jomon pots, porcelain bowls + other kitchenware, n probs some bizen pots that he made dotted around his garden ,,,,, WAUGHHH I LOEV ART HISTORY

TATTOO ARTIST - ok . popular hc BUT STILL . hes worked his way up from being an apprentice in a huge shop -> owning his own lil studio pretty fast n hes GOOD . like hes got a rlly nice set of flashes that r colorful n playful but on himself hes probably got these super serious grayscale marbles and mythology plastered all over him [except for a family portrait mimiko + nanako made when they were like . 6 that he thought was so cute he got it tattooed on him] also i dont think hed b SUUPER in2 tattooing ppls names on other ppl or on himself, but maybe once u two have been dating for a LONGG while or r even almost a solid decade into marriage hed consider getting your name tatted somewhere hidden-but-not-really-hidden [womb tattoo, around the back of his ear, inner thigh]

MARINE BIOLOGIST - oHH MY GOHD OH MY GOHD OHHHHH MY GOHD i get super excited abt this cuz i wanna b a marine biologist SO BADDDDDD . its coming . TRUST !!!! anyway, he probably does some type of conservation bcuz . cmon . look at him . so he dives pretty often, like a weekly typa thing, BUT IMAGINE HIM IN THE SCUBA OUTFIT . he comes out sopping wet n hes probably rlly hot 4 a solid minute b4 the Stench hits u since ur both in an enclosed space and he smells like the underside of a dock.

CLASSICAL MUSICIAN - u know how i was talking abt how suguru would b a cellist ? yeah hed b a DAMN GOOD cellist like that man is principal cellist and hes so nice abt it 2 ,,, like he doesn't flaunt it and whenever someone in his section needs help w bowings or smthn else he gladly helps them !! he probably solos a ton on the tuba 2 ,,, like hes just SO GOOD at everything he picks up its insane

CONDUCTOR - same vein as the classical musician thing, he would b such a fine ass conductor ,,,,, like his facial expressions when the music gets intense and then it softens and hes swaying with the orchestra, hands gliding through the air ,,, also hed just b rlly good at keeping ppl in time and figuring out what each section was doing wrong.

oki thats my 2 cents on the whole thing ill get off my soapbox now dhhdhd :3

ASHLEY i’m finally getting to this…… these are all so bigbrained it’s crazy . AND I’M SO GLAD YOU SEE THE LAWYER!SUGU VISION <3333 he means the world 2 me….. silly little guy……

BUT WAHHH. CERAMIST SUGU THE LOML????? there’s this one stsg fic i rlly like where he’s a ceramics instructor and it …. changed me. as a person. AND I AGREE COMPLETELY the part abt him wanting to keep old art alive….. showcases constantly booked bc he’s just so skilled….. 😵‍💫 yeah. sugu as any kind of artist makes me insane. and him being good at pottery is just so…. weirdly attractive to me???? LIKE . him just having the most steady gentle hands…… teaching you how to mold the clay properly……… your back against his chest as he guides your hands . i need him so bad

AND . TATTOO ARTIST. yes it’s popular but it’s popular for a REASON (reason being: he is hot). HIM OWNING HIS OWN STUDIO and being so skilled….. the mythological tattoos + family portrait 🥺🥺 wahhh . he’s so sweet ashley…. i need him so bad…….. AND THE NAME THING …… i agree btw i feel like he would see tattoos as very . very very special. so getting your name inked into his skin so permanently might feel just as serious as a proposal to him 😭😭 i could see him doing it eventually tho ….. i agree w all the placements bUT. a part of me feels like . he’d get it tattooed somewhere on his chest … close to his heart….. :’3 sniffle. i could also see him getting a tiny heart you doodled onto his palm tattooed w/o you knowing and you’re just like ???? SUGURU??????? and he’s just. “i thought it was cute :)”…… sick sick man (affectionate) 😔😔

AND MARINE BIOLOGIST!SUGU ??? YOUR BRAINNNNN i remember you mentioning that in the sashisu college au too :33 him scuba diving!!!!! being constantly drenched and smelling of seasalt….. i’m of the firm belief that he was obsessed w marine biology as a kid so it just makes sense. I TRUST YOU BTWWW you’ll become a marine biologist for sure 🫡🫡🫡 pls let me pet the sharks once it happens . i would like to see them.

and finally ….. classical musician and conductor. CONDUCTOR!SUGU HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD BTW?? he would look so graceful and commanding and and and 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 just . him. swaying w the orchestra!!!!! he’s like a beautiful swan….. and ofc i love the idea of him being a musician too :3 it just makes sense. AND . HIM BEING A CELLIST. WHAT IF I CRYYYY he’d look so good playing it……

ashley your brain is actually so insanely big did you know that …… tysm for the food as always 🙏🙏 i am nomming him 2 death

[ghoulfriendfangs]

•─ Midsummer ☾ Masquerade ─•

Day 4: Group Sex with Iliad and Lilac

{wc: ~400} {top/dom!mc, top/dom!Lilac, bottom/sub!Iliad, double teaming, intended for femme readers but I can’t stop anyone from reading lol}

Iliad wants to push herself to new limits

This fic is a part of @the-midsummer-masquerade

    "The Meeting Room" is a popular spot at the masquerade. Couples and singles alike go here to find new playmates. It's a wonderful way to meet new people, as well as spice things up for once.

     You wander the room, occasionally chatting with prospective dates, but none ignite that special spark.

     Until you find Iliad and Lilac.

     Iliad, the taller of the two, lets the sweet looking Lilac handle most of the talking. Iliad has deep blue hair like the ocean, and looks at you like you're a marble sculpture. She's not too shabby herself, with large muscles and scars from battle. But it's covered by a dress made with beautiful enchanted flowers. The same flowers that mask her face. Lilac has soft, purple hair in a bob, and her dress makes her look like a little dove. The mask gives her her beak.

     "You two are beautiful."

     Lilac giggles in response, "I know." Even Iliad smiles at that.

     "What are you two looking for?"

     "Oh, well, Iliad's always wanted to try taking two at once, and I think she'd look adorable being double teamed!"

     Iliad blushes, but nods along. "It would be a test of my abilities to try to please two partners at once. I will not rest until you and my lover are satisfied."

     Iliad did not undress, she merely gathered the material of her dress to expose her ass. Lilac stared at it. For_ quite a while. "Mmm. Pretty."

     "Uh, Lilac?"

     "Oh, sorry_" she resumes preparing her strap, rubbing lube over the shaft. It's purple, like her hair. Must be her favorite color.

     "Lilac, is purple your favorite color?"

     "No. It's red."

  …..

      Iliad begins by tracing her tongue over your own length, before kissing the tip and taking it in her mouth. She works slow. Expertly. Confident that she can please you.

     "Could you go faster?"

     She looks at you a bit irritated. "Please, let me set the pace. I have a practiced technique, you won't regret it."

     Gods, you don't. The way she runs her tongue over your head, teasing the slit before taking your length. It's hot.

     Lilac wraps her arms around her lover, kissing her back as she begins to insert herself into Iliad. Iliad pulls off you just long enough so lilac can hear her moans, before returning to your pleasure. 

     You suspect that this little test of Iliad's will be easy for her. You already feel as if you're indulging in the nectar of the gods, a pleasure unfit for mortals.

[likeadevils]

rank the four versions of TTPD? based on apperances?

1. the manuscript: i love this. i don’t even have words for why, its just intuitively very satisfying. i’ve been calling that her next era was going to be white from the summer, and i was so excited when i saw the border. also, this is a part of all the covers, but i need to mention how much i love the font. it just perfectly conveys that timeless corporate letterhead experience, its really good.

2. the black dog: i think the pure picture is my favorite— she looks like a sculpture. she specifically reminds me of michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures, called the prisoners or the slaves because they look like human bodies trapped in marble. it only gets second because i feel like the border is kinda awkward? like the reason there’s a border on this is because all of the other pictures come with borders, not because the picture looks good with a border on its own

3. the bolter: it’s good! like just a solid picture. i’m gonna say some critical stuff, but don’t get it twisted, i still love this cover, like even if this was the main cover ttpd would still rank in the top five of her album covers. it gets this low because the album name gets lost a bit in the mess, in a way that works thematically but if it was the main cover i would find mildly annoying. i also think the border works less than the manuscript, but still better than the bolter. and the image is worse than the other two. so down here it goes

4. the albatross: it’s serviceable. the large white shirt and ocean background really convey albatross vibes, but i don’t think they work together? like intuitively, i can tell that she wasn’t standing in front of the ocean, she was edited in front of one. also, i don’t like how the other ones are beige -> brown, and this one’s grey.

[mermaidenmystic]

The Princess Hwangok Mermaid of Doengbaek ~ photos by Laura Raymond

"A bronze mermaid statue of Princess Hwangok was installed here in 1974, but was badly damaged by Typhoon Thelma in 1987. The upper part of the body from this original statue is kept in the Busan Museum, and a replica sculpture was created and installed in the original location in 1989.

The statue is a fantastic 4-ton 8 ft high bronze sculpture of Princess Hwangok seated on a rock and holding a magical marble sphere in her right hand.

The legend which inspired the sculpture, and the sculpture's history, is told on two nearby signs.  Here is the official version:

"Once upon a time, in the country of mermaids known as the Narandaguk Kingdom, Princess Hwangok ("Yellow Jade") married King Eunhye of the Mugung Kingdom of Dongbaekseom Island, who had been crowned king with Heaven's blessing. The royal couple lived a happy life together, but Princess Hwangok missed her home terribly. Then, one day, the Turtle that used to serve the princess in her homeland came to see her and said, "Your Highness's Grandmother Great Dowager Queen of the Sujeongguk Kingdom gave me this piece of marble to deliver to Your Highness. Please hold it up to the moonlight on the night of the full moon." And so, when the Princess held the marble up to the light of the moon, the image of her beloved Narandaguk Kingdom appeared shining and resplendent on its surface. At that moment, the princess's legs turned into fins and she was able to swim freely under the sea. Ever since, there has been a legend that a mermaid lived in the waters around Dongbaek Island." ~ Written by Yim Dong-rak, Professor at Dong-a University source: Mermaids of Earth

[fromthedust]

LOSIN' IT COOL

7"x 3"x 4"

I have always loved to play with parts and pieces of things, recombining them in different ways for a new perspective. I particularly remember a somewhat smudged and naked (sexless) troll doll (popular in the early 60s) with its head removed and a grasping hand (from another toy) fitted into the stub of the neck holding a purple feather like a totem - or a spear. See "recombination art" — not genetics.

— — — — — — — — — — memory image — — — — — — — — —

Fast forward a few years . . .

After I had repaired a quarter life-size 19th century Carrara marble sculpture of Diana (a broken arm if I remember correctly), I took her head and cast it (sans hair) in plaster. I added some surface texture — because the face was too smooth — and then took some half-set plaster and dribbled/oozed it onto the top of her truncated head. After the plaster was completely set and dried-out (a week or so) I gold-leafed her. After sealing the leaf I gave her a wash of light gray to tone down the brightness of the gold and mounted her on a core column of Brazilian white marble.

A little re-combinate icon to set on the mantle as a reminder of pasts that never were.

[sussusamogus47]

here's a clip from something I may realistically never finish :p

bc I may never finish it, I'll detail more below in case anyone is interested

o/ Hiya there! ig I'd better get to typing huh lol

SO! My original idea (that I had way back when Genloss first premiered actually > - >) was to essentially make a full on intro, about 1.5 minutes long, rendered in Blender. Which is uh, kind of insane considering my ability to use Blender is mediocre on a good day.

The idea was that each of the major characters would be made into a marble sculpture type of thing, an idea best demonstrated in the intro for 1899.

On top of that, there'd be other objects too; For instance, a game of mousetrap where the cage was coming down onto a few of the Maul of America pieces.

(For context, see this post I made about the board games)

I had a few other objects in mind, too, though I've forgotten most of them since I first came up with the idea >.> I know one of them was the TV from the first episode, and another might have been Jerma's gun? Again it's been awhile, so things are a bit fuzzy unfortunately

The actual title card is what you've just seen -- albeit a slightly watered down version bc of my poor Blender abilities.

It would all be backed by a custom hack-n-slashed version of Puppet Loosely Strung by The Correspondents, which I've actually managed to do. It was actually kinda hard to keep it at just 1.5 minutes considering the song is like, 4 minutes long, but hey I managed it!! Honestly even having listened to the full song a lot (it goes hard, would recommend) I can kind of barely tell it's been rearranged lol.

(When I get the chance I'll see if I can't upload it somewhere)

Anyway, I think that's mostly everything I had for this. If I can remember anything else I'll add it.

I doubt I'll ever actually get the chance to actually pull through on this idea, unfortunately :( But hey, if you got inspired by any part of this, don't hesitate to make something!!! And if you post it, feel free to tag me in it too, I wanna see :O

Anyway, that's it from me. See ya around, and stay fresh :)

[michael-svetbird]

APHRODITE Statue[tte]: From [modern] Artashat, Armenia 2 - 1 BC Marble H. appx 40cm [Produced in Greece-?]

History Museum of Armenia, Yerevan | HMoA 1st Floor, "Armenia 4 BC - 3 AD". • Web : https://historymuseum.am/en • FB : https://www.facebook.com/HistoryMuseumofArmenia • IG : @historymuseumofarmenia_ • LiN : https://www.linkedin.com/in/history-museum-of-armenia-79405912b

HMoA | Michael Svetbird phs©msp | 01|24 6300X4200 600 [I.] The photographed object is collection item of HMoA, photos are subject to copyright. [non commercial use | sorry for the watermarks]

📸 Part of the "Small Format Sculpture and Miniature Artefacts" MSP Online Photo-gallery:

👉 D-ART: https://www.deviantart.com/svetbird1234/gallery/69450077/small-format-sculpture-and-miniature-artifacts

👉 FB Album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.859777984390780&type=3

.

[autistic-sidestep]

Soooooo 20, 15, 3, and 34 for Sura? 👀

under a cut again

3 - what is their villain name? why did they choose it? argos panoptes (all-seeing argos), after the Greek mythological figure. sura was taught about classical literature as part of their cuckoo training, including ovid's metamorphoses, and i think that would stick. it's also why sura named their puppet juno! i've co-opted this bit in the lupin route cos it fits so well.

        …You weren't made for the arts, sure, you were taught names and dates, but that was just to fit into the high-class surroundings you sometimes found yourself in. They never intended for you to appreciate it.         And yet, you remember standing in front of a sculpture back in…was it Boston? That feeling in your chest, the tightening, the shortness of breath…was that your first intense emotion? Something they had not programmed, but you felt like you had never felt anything before. Kinship perhaps, to that cold, white, marble face, yet containing more emotion than the people that surrounded you, sculpted skin as plastic as their hearts.         That statue felt more real and genuine than them. And that meant you could be as well. There was more to being human than being born from a womb; there was a direct line of communication between the long-dead sculptor and you. An understanding. A shared experience.

i hc that the statue was depicting juno, which, fun fact, there is a juno statue in brookline irl that's been there from at least the 1800s, the largest classical marble statue in north america.

1) peacocks are associated with juno/hera. looking at the statue was the first time they felt a connection to humanity. if sura has to be a bird, why not a peacock instead of a cuckoo? and the tail of a peacock having eyes to intimidate predators + their association with evil eyes/nazars, like an apotropaion (Something that wards off evil; an amulet or magic charm) - cos it works as a warning sign when it's cracked (and yknow how sidestep is associated with broken mirrors/glass/shards). there's a double edged superstition of whether they're good luck, or a bad omen, which i think is fitting. AND the additional pun cos… -paion is almost like paon, french for peacock. IT'S ABOUT THE EYES. 🤌

2) something about paranoia of being seen/stared at and the epithet Panoptes (all-seeing) inverting that; in the suit, it’s her looking back at the people who hurt them (there's a little bit of a justice motive slant to this that carried over from original/2019!sura), and this persona is meant to be seen.

3) peacocks are sometimes associated w/ phoenixes --> rebirth, etc. there's a good few lines in the fate motivation flavour text that echo this that i think fit well, esp the theatrical motifs that it tends to play into: 

      It's so liberating to realize that you have no choice. You are falling now, and you have no idea when you will hit the bottom. Or what will happen when you do. Will you rise again like a phoenix? Will you lie there, a broken remnant of yourself? You don't know, but you will arm yourself to the best of your capacity.

  Maybe it's wrong, but you have stopped caring about that. All you need right now is for this purgatory to end, and for your real self to finally emerge like a butterfly from its cocoon. No…not a butterfly.     A phoenix.  Your hands will end up bloody, but at this point that will almost feel like a relief.

The more time passes, the more you realize that you never had any choice in the matter. Every action leads to a reaction, and you are only acting out the script you have been handed. How else can you explain how everything falls in place around you? It's like walking in a dream where you know what will happen but are helpless to prevent it. You've opened that door a hundred times, the result is always the same. Death. Rebirth. Revenge. Anger. Love.

4) peacocks are showy! sura wanted to have the spotlight like ortega does, but it was never something he could do as Sidestep. Argos can! this manifests as VERY high infamy and arrogance. i think if sura ever openly realized they were subconsciously emulating/borrowing ortega's charisma it'd be furious with itself lol. the whole point was to prove they're not in ortega's shadow anymore. sura's very good at chameleoning in the sense he steals/picks up traits and cues and how to behave from other people; that's what cuckoos are trained to do anyway.

15 - what is their greatest flaw? cynicism and pushing people away. also being prone to fatalism lol. i think the mob team helps slowly dethaw them tho

20 - how do they feel about death? complicated! they had the suicidal tag from heartbreak (which morphed into outsider - which. if you've already read my writeups abt the outsider scar being Very reminiscent of autistic trauma), so it fluctuates between they should be dead, or actually she might actually be dead and just an echo of whatever sura that wore sidestep suit was.

who am i? am i real? are questions sura asks themselves pretty often. argos is their way of trying to feel real. maybe by destroying enough sidestep used to stand for, he'll finally replace him, and everything will finally feel real again. including itself. or if that doesn't work, at least the self-destruction is by their own hands. sura did choose to destroy the exhibit but the explosions were also aimed for max damage lol (see the 'phoenix' line).

i'm making the blaze window exit and subsequent RK save canon for them, even though that's specific to the prepare_them/anarchist track, cos yeah, even with plans, there's a certain relief to having things out of his hands and just surrendering to fate. at least it means the farm can't get them.

killing other people…. surprisingly hasn't done that (yet?). even during the gala debut where they were being pretty reckless, there weren't any fatalities, but that was probably dumb luck. sura's a bit more careful about civilians now (saving the occasional bystander as long as it isn't too inconveniencing) that consequences are starting to feel more tangible what with reconnecting with the rangers (*cough* chen. i'm also just. too much of a weenie to do an earnest high villainy kill route lol). so far there hasn't been any plans where killing has been advantageous over just landing people in the hospital so. we'll see. if anything, it'll be agentkill only.

34 - are they nostalgic for their sidestep days or eager to move on?

answered here!