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todoscript · 4 years ago

Text

Work of Art

pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader genre: smut. word count: 3.6k+ warnings: 18+. shibari. bondage. submissive bakugou. dominant reader. begging. praising. bakugou being a little bit of a brat?

anonymous requested: okay but what abt.. submissive bakugo👉👈 him being all bratty and shuts up when you deny him—

author’s note: ohhh boyyyy... submissive bakugou really got me writing more than 3k’s worth of filth haha, but i hope you enjoy! shoutout to my gals, rosie ( @shoutogepi ) & val ( @shoutodoki ) for indulging with me during our talks about sub bnha boys

“Hmm, I don’t see why you’re so against this,” your voice sounds out, and Bakugou immediately perceives the saccharine dripping upon every word, a lilt of a smile dancing on your colored lips, painted in a vivid rosy red pigment that only enhances your seduction. Despite how sweet you sound, he knows that underneath that layer of sugar lies a venom waiting to intoxicate him—ensnare his reasoning and leave him utterly vulnerable to your mischief. As in this moment, you embody every characteristic akin to a vixen, enveloped in the lacy fabric of your black lingerie.

Bakugou sits before you bound to a chair with an intricate network of cordage twined across his naked skin. The patterns and shapes knotted together contrast stunningly against his expanse of hard muscle—reminiscent of paint on canvas. And you tonight are the artist.

“You look so pretty, like a beautiful piece of art…” you say languidly. Each syllable uttered is drawn out in alluring breaths that somehow makes him feel hazy. He grits his teeth at how much that extra flair in your voice affects him, eyebrows narrowing tightly as he fidgets in his seat. His arms and wrists ache from just a simple wriggle, your meticulous work granting him no chance to get free.

“Ah-ah, you’re not gonna get out of this one,” you tease. Right as he opens his mouth for a snappy retort, the words are swooped from under him when your hands begin to trace his naked skin—starting from his thigh, up to his abs, and then landing to his chest, where you make a point to taunt him by dancing your fingertips there before bending down to meet his eyes. Your ruby red lips curve impishly at what you reduced him to. “You can try as much as you like, but I’ve tied the ropes this way so you can’t get free~ Don’t want you to spoil the fun after all,” you sing. Fully aware of your boyfriend’s strength built upon many years of arduous hero training alongside that powerful quirk of his, you made sure Pro Hero Ground Zero would not turn the tables on you in his haste for pleasure tonight.

Thus, his usual brash exterior dwindles in the face of your ministrations when you play with the rope a bit more. When he notices your eyes descend to his angry red cock that stands firm amid the knotwork surrounding it, his impatience builds. Bakugou wets his lips, finally ushering some words out from his dry throat.

“Fuck… Stop stalling already…” he tells you, voice borderline on a plea, but his remaining pride pushes the inflection back in hopes it resembles even a lick of his regular gruff tone. Your hums in reply don’t entail much, other than the fact you’re still prolonging his needs.

“Stalling? Who said I was stalling?” You feign ignorance before deciding to take a seat on him, straddling his thighs. “I just want to admire my work of art a bit more… I did a pretty good job—” your hand suddenly comes to his cock, fingers coaxing its hardness that makes his breath hitch, “don’t you think?”

For once, Bakugou’s scrounging for words at the sudden contact. He’s not used to being so speechless when it comes to passion in the bedroom with you. If anything—moaning and yelling aside—he regards himself the more vocal one between the two of you, his dirty talk and crude language a routine he always enacted to get you hot, bothered, and oh so ready for him. However, the shibari ropes braided across his body press a button that spurs him to be so… submissive.

God, him and “submissive” do not belong in the same sentence.

He thinks this, and yet the aesthetic arrangement on his skin emphasizes his sensuality and vulnerability, and it somehow makes arousal wholly envelop his cock.

“Well?” You bring him back to the situation at hand by thumbing over the slit of his length, slick with his pre-cum. The touch causes a groan to slip past his lips. “I asked you a question, Katsuki.” You stroke his length up and down for every word, stopping right at the end and leaving his cock weeping for more of your touch, strained by the rope.

“Ah, f-fuck—” He internally curses himself for the stutter. Glancing at you, he heeds the smirk that still hangs proudly on your red lips.

Boy, does he itch to wipe it off your face with bruising kisses and have wanton moans singing from them when he pounds you into the bed. To his dismay, however, that itch remains unreachable thanks to your painstakingly elaborate composition. As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, this shibari shit you performed on him was executed with great attention to detail for him to be left so aroused and unable to break free in this damn chair. But would he ever say this to you out loud? Hell no. So he settles for defiance instead.

Bakugou looks you straight in the eye with a smug expression plastered on his face. “Hah, is this supposed to impress me? Seems like a bunch of amateur work to me, babe,” he scoffs boldly, earning a raised brow from you at his attitude despite the position he’s in. Perhaps he needs a reminder that no matter how much he squirms, he isn’t getting a sliver of authority tonight.

“Is that so?” You jab, finger looping around the cordage tied across his collarbones to pull him forward in his chair. His face is so close to yours; he can feel your breath on his lips and smell the enticing fragrance of your perfume. It’s an off-beat mix of rose and jasmine that gets his blood pumping from just a whiff. “I don’t think you truly understand the position you’re in right now, Suki,” you muse sensually, lips tugging back into a smirk that has him second-guessing his actions, “I just need to remind you then.”

At that, your hand immediately falls to his cock, stout and weepy with pre-cum, capturing Bakugou’s attention. He groans wantonly while you stroke it. Dropping to your knees, you watch as your ministrations evoke bliss into his cock from below. You can tell without even glancing at him that he’s biting his tongue to suppress his obscene noises. However, the increasing volume in his voice betrays him.

“Agh, fucking goddd—” he drawls beneath his breath when you decide to pick up the pace with your hand, applying the right amount of pressure that had his walls slowly cracking in front of you. The strain on his body from the ropes heightens his lust. Bakugou tugs on the restraints in the fit of pleasure building inside him.

“Hm well look at that. You were so bold before, but now look at you—” Your other hand goes to fondle his balls, the extra sensation making him buck in his seat, “a hard, aching mess at my touch, isn’t that right?”

“Ugh, if you—fuck—think I’m going to give in— Haaahhh...” His words are a jumbled mess. Bakugou leans against his seat, tossing his head back while involuntarily rocking his hips into your hand.

“What was that? Couldn’t hear you over your moaning and groaning,” you mock, watching his brows knit together at the lust consuming his being. His panting comes out ragged while he gasps for air, thighs flexing at the fire coursing through his body that teeters on a tightrope. However, before he can reach his high, the sensations are ripped away when you quickly remove your digits from him, recognizing his imminent release.

Bakugou shoots his eyes open. A sharp shift in his seat has the chair’s legs scraping against the floor. “What the hell?!” he growls, practically snarling the words out. There’s a wave of anger heard in his tone that you don’t take a liking to. You wag your finger.

“That’s no way to talk, Katsuki.”

“I don’t give a fuck! I was so damn close to cumming! Why the hell did you stop?!” Bakugou yells vehemently with a pierce in his red eyes. You run your hands on his thighs as you lean up to return the look.

“Y’know if you’re going to act like this—act like a brat—I might as well just leave you here and not let you cum at all tonight, hm?” you threaten, and the notion brings his temper to an immediate silence. The idea of you keeping him bound to this chair while his cock cries for release is enough to diminish his poise. He sinks in his seat submissively when you inch closer, eyeing the bright red of your painted lips that curls salaciously with each word you utter to him.

“But if you behave, sit here obediently, and continue looking all pretty for me, I might let you cum. How’s that sound?” you offer.

He bites his lip. It’s like he’s making a deal with a succubus right now, that damn voice of yours coaxing him.

“F-Fine…” he manages to answer. You smile at his compliance before placing a kiss on his cheek. You’re granted a glimpse of the faint, red imprint left on his skin thanks to your lipstick when you detach from him. Almost as if you’ve marked him as yours.

“Good boy.” The praise sends a shiver down his spine as you whisper it into his ear. He watches you descend onto your knees again, gazing at his cock like you’re about to pounce. And god, does he wish you would just do it already, but instead, you choose to prolong him some more and glance at him.

“Now… what do you want me to do to you?”

Really? Did you have to ask this? Bakugou furrows his brows at how you play cloy. “Argh, you already know—”

“I want to hear it from you though,” you interject, leaning forward and running a finger along a prominent vein on the side. His pretty cock twitches at your touch. “Use your words and tell me all the things you want me to do to you, ’Suki.”

Before he can bite his tongue, his mind is already one step ahead of him, blurting out his thoughts shamelessly. “God, I want to be in your mouth. I want you to suck my dick and let me cum in your throat. And then I want you to get up here, ride me to oblivion, and let me paint your pussy so fucking white. Please please please—” He adds in his pleas for good measure, the desire to climax overpowering his pride in the heat of the moment that feeds your ego.

The word “please” has never sounded so dulcet coming out of that usually vulgar mouth of his. Who knew Bakugou Katsuki was capable of begging so well? It’d be an absolute shame not to reward him for his good behavior.

You lick your lips. “There, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” Then you begin acting on his wishes, your tongue making contact with his hard cock, gradually running up the side until you reach the head. Swirling against the tip causes a growl to bellow from his throat, jerking forward when you wrap your lips around the entire head. He watches with lidded eyes as your lipstick begins smearing across his dick, sucking him in like that.

His moans sound frenzied the more his cock inches into your warm cavern. The sounds encourage you to eagerly bob your head up and down his length with your spit collecting in the back of your throat. You adore the way his cock feels in your mouth, so heavy and thick, and especially love the fact that your controlled pace has your man reeling with pleasure, finally letting his unabashed whimpers out. You savor every little sound like it’s your favorite song on repeat, which it might as well be from how slick gathers at your cunt listening to them.

“Shit! Baby, please don’t fucking stop!” he begs, head tossed behind him as you moan your response into his dick, picking up speed. Your hand pumps his shaft a few more times until you bring it down to your panties to move the material aside and rub your clit. The contact sends a tingle through your body that urges you to bottom his cock into your mouth. Feeling your wetness enveloping his cock gratifies every nerve in his body until it ultimately leaves him undone.

”Agh! Sh-Shit—!” he curses, his climax peaking as his white cum spurts inside your throat. You make sure to swallow every last drop, tasting his delicious cream on your tongue as you detach from him with a lewd pop.

Bakugou is still catching his breath by the time you happily wipe your mouth of your excess spit and any lingering drops of his delectable seed, his chest heaving in and out with the red rope flexing at his every movement. A haze clouds his vision from the intensity of his orgasm, but he’s at least able to see you standing before him—lipstick now messy but that mischief in your eyes persisting.

“Sukiiii~ You’re absolutely gorgeous like this—tied up, sweaty, and gasping for air just because of me,” you praise.

“B-Baby…” Bakugou’s tone somehow rings higher than usual. Your eyebrows perk up, the wetness at your core saturating through your panties hearing the shameless little whine.

“Kiss me… please…”

Well, since you asked so nicely…

You straddle his thighs and bring your lips to his own, letting him taste the bittersweetness of his cum from your tongues fervently melding against each other. Soon the makeout session comes to a halt with a quick peck on his lips. He peers into your glimmering expression with an insatiable need, struggling in his bonds as his cock hardens once more at your proximity—skin so warm against him. But your lingerie still obscures him from your real treasures. He wants to rip it off you already.

“Can I get out this damn thing yet?” he asks, quiet yet impatient. You shake your head.

“’Fraid not, Katsuki, I still need to ‘ride you to oblivion,’ remember?” you quote him.

Crap. He does. And surprisingly, there are no objections when you remind him. His silence amid your established authority doesn’t go unnoticed by you as you grin devilishly at how pliant he’s become throughout the night.

As if you’ve read his mind, your hand finds the clasp fastened on your back. “Since you’ve been such a good boy for me—” a simple flick of your wrist undoes the grip holding your bra together, “I’ll reward you for the rest of the night.” On cue, the skimpy garment glides down your shoulders.

Tossing the bra into the void of the bedroom, you can’t help the giggle that bubbles from your lips at Bakugou’s widened eyes aimed at your tits bared before him. He absentmindedly shifts in a vain attempt to lift his hands and grab your mounds, forgetting the rope bound on his arms behind his back prevents him from touching your soft, naked skin.

“Aw, you want to touch my tits?” you chide. Bakugou grunts in response, and you’re amused by the way he turns his head bashfully as if you miss the subtle blush dusting his cheeks. Such a cute little act.

Cupping your hand under his jaw brings his attention back to you. You nudge him so he faces you again, not allowing his eyes to gander anywhere else but on your own.

“I’ll let you do a little bit more than touch…” Your thumb lightly brushes his lower lip, pulling it down ever so slightly, and he realizes what you want him to do.

And boy, is he eager to abide by your desires.

Opening his mouth, he doesn’t hesitate to latch onto your right nipple immediately, tongue poking out around the bud. You hum in content at how passionately he licks and sucks, petting the back of his head and brushing your fingers through his soft blonde hair to encourage him along.

“Ooooh… That’s it Suki… You’re doing so well, sucking on my nipple like that,” you moan as Bakugou moves over to your left breast, giving its twin the same amount of attention. He groans between licks, flattening his tongue and drawing out the sound erotically against your skin. It spurs you to grind your clothed pussy on his erection, earning you his hisses between tugging your nub into his mouth.

In the meantime, your other hand, not caressing his locks, stumbles upon your wetness seeping past your intimates, practically soaking through onto his dick. A few strokes of your fingertips beneath your panties gathers your gossamer-like slick that interlaces your digits together in a web. You tear Bakugou off your bud to hover your glossy fingers in front of him. Right away, he begins diligently licking away at the slippery sheen, moans lewdly vibrating deep in his throat with each swipe of his tongue.

“How do I taste?”

“So fucking good. Shit, I want more,” he says. You grin, flattered by his enthusiasm to devour more of your essence. However, you’d have to put that on hold for another time.

“Hm, not tonight, I’m afraid. I need you inside me right this second.” Your words have pure anticipation sparking through his body. He stares attentively as you lift yourself over the head of his cock, aligning his length into your soaked hole, panties pushed to the side.

“Arghhh…” Bakugou hisses between gritted teeth when the first inch enters, fists clenched around nothing at how tightly you’re squeezing him. Your whimpers accompany him as you adjust to his well-endowed size, a pleasant burn seizing you. Heat sprouts in your abdomen the more you descend on Bakugou’s firm, aching cock, eventually bottoming out with a long sigh.

“Fucking hell, you’re so damn fucking tight—”

If your mouth feels good, then your pussy is practically heaven, inducing him in hot, tight bliss when you start bouncing up and down.

“Ah, Suki, your cock is so big… so hard…Mmph, I love how it fills me up!” you sing, arms wound around his neck, tits pressing against his chest. Having to sit back with nothing to leverage him amid your silky walls pressing around his cock, bursts of mini-explosions crackle in his palms. A musky scent of burnt caramel suddenly invades your senses, making your cunt clench tighter. Bakugou curses at how you hug his length.

“Fuck! Baby, I want you to ride my cock faster! Make me cum so damn hard that I feel it for weeks!”

Even when taking on a submissive role, Bakugou’s dirty talk never ceases to rile you up. You nod in reply, thighs flexed while your tempo on his cock increases to the point where it ensnares both of you in the throes of pleasure. Unable to do much except allow you to work yourself on and off him, he settles for leaning in and capturing your lips, which you respond to earnestly by parting your mouth to let your tongues dance again. A few particular hard drops later cause him to detach himself from you to groan out loudly.

The echo of your skins making firm contact against each other fogs his thoughts. His eyes are half-lidded when they gaze at you. You giggle at his expression—shrouded in pure bliss from his blanketed red eyes to his tongue peeking out of his lips. Caressing his jawline, you tilt his head up.

“Whose good boy are you?” you ask. It takes a second for him to answer.

“Y-Yours…”

You pry on, not letting up for even a second in your bouncing, “Who made you a pretty work of art tonight?”

“You! Fuck, you did!” he cries out, head tossed to the side that grants you access to the beautiful expanse of his neck. Your mouth finds his skin, kisses ascending until you reach the junction below his cut jawline as he continues reeling at the sensations building inside him.

“That’s right, Suki. So good, so obedient. I think it’s time I let you cum, yeah? Let you fill my little hole up with all your creamy white goodness…”

Your pace escalates quickly, not granting a relief of pause until you both begin arriving on the cusp of release.

“Fuckfuckfuck!! C-Cumming—!” Bakugou yells out, your grappling walls milking his twitching cock that surges into his climax. As promised, his cum coats your insides wholly white, stuffing you to the brim that has the heat inside you lurching. It’s right after the apex of his pleasure that your pussy spasms around him, body trembling, and toes curled as you peak into your high. He licks at your nipple arched in front of his face while your cries fill the space of the room.

By the time the two of you settle down in the aftermath of your euphorias, you’re both sweaty, panting messes. Bakugou more so as his head rests against your shoulder, allowing you to pet his hair between your fingers and comfort the tremors still racking through him.

“You did so so well, Katsuki. I’m very proud of you.” You lay a sweet kiss on his temple. Your praises manage to elicit a content hum from his lips while he nuzzles into the crook of your neck. Before you can get up and remove the tight ropes still lining his upper body, Bakugou suddenly lifts his head and meets your eyes, a tired yet devious expression painted on his face.

“Next time, we should tie you up in these things.”

#bnha x reader #bnha smut #bakugou x reader #bakugou smut #bakugou katsuki x reader #bnha imagine #bakugou imagine #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo smut #bakugou katsuki smut

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meruz · 4 years ago

Note

Hey I can't find this in your FAQ so sorry if it's been asked before! Your traditional art is so stunning and vibrant, would you happen to have any brand recommendations for people trying to get into painting? Maybe specific gouche paint, brushes, papers etc. Thank you so much and have a nice day!

no one has ever asked me this before because this is like the first time ive started putting traditional art on my blog! LOL umm to be honest I’m very far from pro on this front, most of my knowledge comes from a handful of classes I didn’t pay a lot of attention to and lots of youtube videos but here’s my recommendations:

Paint

A lot of my paints are winsor newton designer’s gouache because this is what my teachers made me buy when I was a freshman at art school LOL. it’s definitely kind of pricey, I think it’s like $10.99 for a tube which I was NOT a fan of as a college student and is still not my favorite thing now. But they’re overall worth the price if you really want solid, high quality opaque paints. Though I’ve heard their student grade winton paints are decent as well?

I’ve heard less good things about brands like reeves and artist loft... but I think turner is alright? m.graham is supposedly great.

I also bought a set of holbein acryla gouache when it was discounted on amazon a while ago and have found it very solid. One thing you have to know about acryla gouache is that it uses a binder more like acrylic paint (hence the name acryla). Paints are made out of pigment + binder and most gouache is essentially watercolor but with extra pigment/chalk to make it opaque - the binder is water soluble so these paints can be reactivated with water. Acryla gouache is NOT water soluble when dry and it dries pretty fast so it’s overall less flexible. But other than that you can pretty much treat it like any other gouache and I find they keep a little better too, less likely to get gunky or stiff.

All paint brands have a handful of starter packs which are slightly discounted but if you want to build your own starting palette I’d say get a warm and cool tint of all the primaries, get a lot of white (working with gouache somehow involves a lot of mixing with white lol), and get a brown, maybe like burnt sienna or raw umber for underpaintings. No need to get a black, mixing darks builds character, looks better, and having one out of the tube can become a crutch. If you find a white watercolor paint tube that’s cheaper you can buy that instead of a gouache white. Again, they have pretty much the same make-up. And white paints are generally opaque enough that the composition between gouache/watercolor shouldn’t matter too much.

I’ve never used a block tray of gouache. Like those paints that come in little blocks in a tray? I know there's a bunch out there but I’ve never used them and I don’t know anyone else who does so I have no opinion on them.

Brushes

I’ve been kind of exploring this myself. I recently bought a cheap set of flat brushes off amazon LOL and I like them a lot?

Theyre probably not The Best or anything but I found flat brushes suit gouache plein air painting really well because its suits the kind of color blocking shapes I want to make. Also these had the right handle length to fit in my painting bag. That’s like the main reason I chose them tbh.

Honestly a lot of my art supplies philosophy is “give it a whirl with whatever you have lying around and when it feels like you're missing something specific keep an eye out for when that stuff goes on sale”

Paper

GOTTA BE HONEST I’m using cheapo paper. Because I’m making these paintings half for study and half to give my parents something to hang in the living room.

You can actually see some of them curling in on themselves here lol. If you’ve seen the sketchbook I’m holding in any of my pics of paintings it’s one of the canson mixed media books.

and its FINE... I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it lol.. I like that the texture is very fine but it doesn’t hold a lot of water and definitely distorts. Also I keep ripping off the surface with painters tape but that might just be on me. Oh buy artist tape. Just because its so satisfying to have clean edges.

I’m using painters tape instead of artist tape because I found it in the basement but if youre buying supplies buy artist tape because it’ll be kinder to your paper.

SPEAKING OF PAPER.

I guess anything heavyweight for watercolor/mixed media will be fine? some people like a lot of texture but if you’re painting small you might want to avoid it and pick hot press over cold press. Honestly I feel like a lot of this is going to depend on what your specific needs are.. how big do you want the paper to be.. do you want a sketchbook or would you rather carry around loose paper... etc. Maybe go to an art store and touch all their paper. I feel like its easier to understand sizes and texture when you’re seeing it physically.

When I go on a trip, I normally bring a softcover heavyweight stillman & birn sketchbook because I tend to obliterate metal spiral books in my bag LOL. Also I don’t rip any pages out of my travel sketchbooks so I don’t need perforation or anything. Also they go on sale a lot in the art store I go to haha. I havent used gouache extensively in it but it takes inkwash/maker pretty well.

On the higher end, I personally haven’t used it that much but my friends who do traditional illustration professionally swear by arches watercolor paper. It comes in lots of different sizes.

Whatever you use, if you really want it to lie flat you’re gonna want to soak and stretch it on a board but I don’t bother with that because I am lazy.

Palette

You didn’t ask about palette but I’m taking the opportunity to be a shill because I personally use a sta-wet palette and I LOVE it.

One of the biggest frustrations about gouache for me was how quickly it dries after it leaves the tube. And even if you can reawaken it with water its not quite the same? and consistency is SO important when it comes to applying gouache so I don’t want to be over-watering my paint.. ugh. Anyways, I don’t have to worry about that with the sta-wet palette and really its been a game changer for me. sta-wet is a brand name but there are a bunch of other wet palettes not by masterson that I’m sure are just as good. I mean, it’s just a box with a sponge basically, that can’t be hard to replicate.

The only thing - and I personally have not had this issue but I have friends who have - is that if you leave it wet for too long it could grow mold? or a mouldy smell? Just wash your palette with soap and don’t leave it for weeks on end and it should be fine.

If you’re not feeling a palette that’s always moist, the best palette I used in school was a simple glass palette. you can buy one I guess but it’s so easy to DIY, I think the way we did it in school is getting a piece of glass and mdf from the hardware store cut the same size and then duct taped them together on the sides so it wouldn’t be sharp.

costs like nothing.

what else...get a palette knife if you like to mix paints? and like to save paints... mixing with the brush means you lose paint in your brush in the mixing process so a knife is a good way to maximize that process. I don’t use it much but sometime if I have to mix a lot of one color I’ll pull it out of my bag.

I don’t know anything about easels, I sit on the dirty ground like a gremlin when I paint.

Ok yeah that’s all the supplies tips I have. hope some of it was helpful! always try to save money with art supplies, I think. Especially if you’re just starting out - it’s less stressful to use cheap supplies too lol. Good luck! Happy painting!

#Anonymous #traditional art #gouache #one day ill work out a proper way to tag this

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hyunsracha · 5 years ago

Text

even a fool knows — lee minho

word count: 2.6k

summary: if you go further away, i might fall apart by myself.

“No.”

Han Jisung whines beside you, “Please? He said he doesn’t feel comfortable doing it with anybody else.”

You send the boy a quick glare before shutting your locker, “He should’ve thought about that before taking the role. If he doesn’t feel comfortable, why doesn’t he give it to Hyunjin or Jeongin?”

“Because Hyunjin is the cameraman and Jeongin doesn’t have the same charisma as I do,” Speak of the devil, Lee Minho slides up next to you and wraps his arm around your shoulders, sporting his signature cocky grin. You roll your eyes and you shift your lyric books around in your arms.

Minho most definitely wasn’t your best friend. You had been acquainted with him since the beginning of high school, but you were never the closest. Your closest friend was Jisung, as you two had been together since you were in diapers. You only became friends with Chan, Changbin, and Minho through Jisung.

You sigh through your nose, pushing his arm away, “I’m no actor, Lee. Why can’t you just do it with Yeji or Jeno?”

He pouts, “Because I wanna do it with you! You’d be a great love interest.”

You roll your eyes again, trying to ignore the heat rising to your face. Minho is always like this; flirty towards you for no reason, and at this point you try to tune it out.

“Please, Y/N.” Jisung speaks up again, trying to shove a carton of banana milk towards you. Banana milk was your favorite, and Jisung always bought it for you when he wanted something from you. You click your tongue and take it from him, dramatically stabbing the straw in.

“Fine. I’m in. But I demand lots of banana milk.” You sip from the straw, looking at Minho from the corner of your eye. He looks down at the ground, a soft smile growing on his face.

“Finally! Okay, after school…” Jisung breathes a sigh of relief, pulling a notebook out of his backpack and flipping to a page he had previously dog-eared. He starts rambling about where to meet after school, what your costume is going to be, and who is going to give you the script. You’re not listening, though. You’re too distracting watching Minho transform into someone less cocky and more shy.

The bell rings, and you bid the boys goodbye before heading to your first class: composition. You go to an art school, and while most of your friends want to be in the limelight, you are more reserved. You want to make music for other singers; you don’t want to be on the stage. You hate being in the spotlight, to be honest. Jisung, Chan, and Changbin are in a rap trio together, and they perform at a lot of the local clubs. Minho is a dancer, and he’s been in a few music videos for idols.

Changbin is in your composition class. When you walk into the classroom, his forehead is pressed against the desk, a blank sheet of staff paper next to him.

“It’s not 1970, why are we still using paper to write?” He groans.

You chuckle, setting your backpack next to your seat, “I like it. Looking at screens for too long makes my head hurt.” You sip on your milk, taking a sheet of staff paper out of your binder. You get to work pretty quickly, as you always have some sort of a melody stuck in your head, “By the way, Jisung and Minho convinced me to be in your short film.”

Changbin drops his pencil, a short gasp escaping his lips, “Really? You know you have to...be on camera for that?”

“God, don’t remind me. Minho kept saying he wouldn’t be comfortable doing it with anyone else. He’s so weird…” You’re talking to yourself more than anything, but of course, Changbin hears you.

“That’s because he likes you, Y/N.” He’s coloring in a quarter note, saying something that holds so much weight like it was nothing. It’s like he just told you there’s pizza in the cafeteria today.

“What? No he doesn’t, we’re just friends.” You chuckle awkwardly.

“Nah...I bet he’s got a crush on you. You’re definitely his type.”

“Great. All I’ve ever wanted to be was Lee Minho’s type.” You don’t look up from your paper as you speak with a monotone voice. You don’t even know what your type is, why would you know Minho’s? The thought sticks in your mind as you write. Does he like the quiet type? People who say all they need to in just a few words, leaving room for him to say everything on his mind? Or does he like the creative type; those who are like him, who can bond with him over their passion? You shake your head. It doesn’t matter; you don’t like Minho.

After school, you make your way to the courtyard behind the school where Jisung told you to meet. Everyone else who is working on the project is there: Jisung, Minho, Changbin, Chan, and some people you aren’t friends with. You recognize them though, as these guys are some of the most popular on campus: Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin, Yang Jeongin, and Hwang Hyunjin.

“Finally!” Jisung cries out, rushing towards you with a stack of papers and school uniform that definitely doesn’t belong to your school, “Go get changed and hurry back. We’re doing a table read today.”

Table read just meant you all sat around and read the script together, either in incredibly monotone voices or in funny accents.

“Jeongin, your Australian accent makes me want to rip my own ears off.”

“IT’S GOOD, MATE.”

“NO, NO IT’S NOT.”

You had never hung out with half of these guys before, but you’re having fun. They make you feel a little less nervous about being on camera. Of course, you get a lot more attention than you would like, being the love interest to Minho’s main character and all. You two and Jeongin are the only actors, with Jeongin playing the comic relief side character. That would explain the voices.

The first week is mostly prepping. Figuring out sets and lighting situations and learning your lines. You spend most of your time with Minho and Jeongin.

Minho practically has to feed you your lines, “Can you at least try and sound like you’re into me?”

“Um...okay. I...I like...ugh. I hate scenes like these-”

“Y/N!! Is it that hard to say you like me?” He pouts, “Here.”

Minho cups your cheeks, twisting your head to face him, “I like you.”

You flush, trying to pull away from him, but he’s got you trapped. After a few moments of silence, he giggles, “See! It’s not that hard.”

The next week marks the start of the shoot, and on the first day, you feel like you’re going to be sick. So sick, in fact, you asked to be excused after three takes.

You sit in the hallway of the school building, your knees pulled up to your chest as you take deep breaths.

“Hey.” You look up, half expecting to see Minho. But you were wrong.

Hwang Hyunjin takes a seat next to you, sending you a soft grin that’s bright enough to make you feel dizzy.

“H-Hey…”

“I know this stuff can be hard. And the lights get really hot after a while. But I think you’re gonna do great!” His voice is gentle, and you have to hold your breath to hear every syllable.

You chuckle, “Sure. Just make sure you get my good side, alright, Mr. Cameraman?”

Hyunjin stands and reaches out, giving you a hand to hold onto, “Every side is your good side.”

And so your infatuation with Hwang Hyunjin begins.

You so desperately want to avoid him, but that’s hard when he’s shoving a camera in your face for hours a day, and then taking you and Minho into the editing room to watch the progress.

The videos embarrass you. Is that really what you look like on camera? Bright red cheeks and bumbling footsteps?

When you voice these concerns, Minho cooes, “But you look so cute! You look like you have a big, fat crush on me.”

You shove his hand away from rustling your hair, “As if!”

Going back to watching the footage, you miss the way Minho’s face falls ever so slightly.

“I don’t want anybody else. It’s always been you.” He reaches out for your hand, lacing your fingers together and squeezing.

You look up at him, disbelief written all over your face, “You don’t mean that.”

“Oh, but I do,” He steps closer to you, his other hand coming up to hold your face. He leans in, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheekbones. His nose brushes against yours, and you feel his breath against your lips and-

“Cut!” Hyunjin calls out.

Minho backs away, giggling at you and pinching your cheeks before walking away.

You thought that things with Minho would be weird, with filming all of the love scenes and all. But he seems to love it. You don’t understand how he can look at you so intensely while he delivers his lines, and then giggle at you after the scene is over.

You sigh and shake your head, wandering over to Hyunjin, who’s staring intently at his laptop.

“Hey,” You start.

“Oh! Hey, Y/N. That scene you guys just did was perfect; hardly any editing needs to be done. Sit down, come look at this!”

You think you’re obsessed with the way Hyunjin speaks. When he gets excited, he stumbles over his words, and he’s always excited when it comes to the short film. He thinks in 8000 words per minute, but his mouth just can’t keep up. He’s gotten over apologizing for it, as every day you tell him that it’s fine and you understand him. Now, he just keeps going, and you rest your chin in your palm as you listen. You hardly watch the footage on the screen, as you’re still embarrassed. You only look when he points at it, wanting you to see a frame that was particularly beautiful to him or a line that was delivered well.

After shooting is over, you all still agree to meet in the courtyard every day after school, just to hang out and talk about the film. One of these days, Hyunjin calls you into the editing room.

“Now listen. I’m not supposed to tell anybody this, but I’ll tell you because you’re my favorite.” You try to ignore the way your heart flutters at his words and nod.

“This short film was just supposed to be for my film production class, right? Well! I pulled some strings, and they’re going to show it to the whole school! And post it online! So many people in the industry are going to see it and know who made it!”

You’re glued to your seat, lost in thought. On one hand, you’re so happy that your friends are going to get the recognition they deserve. They’ve worked so hard on this. But on the other hand, your face is going to be plastered on screens all over the school.

When you don’t reply, Hyunjin starts to get nervous, “Y/N? Are you okay?”

You shake your head, pushing any negative thoughts away. You’re excited for your friends. They deserve this. Hyunjin deserves this. You jump up from your seat, “So many people are going to know who you are, Hyunjin! I bet at least one person is going to want to work with you!” You grab his arm excitedly as you speak. The boy squeals, pulling you into his arms. Your heart thuds against your ribcage as you realize that Hyunjin is hugging you. You hold onto him tighter as he starts to spin around with you in his grip. You’re so busy yelling for Hyunjin to stop in between your bouts of laughter, you don’t even see Minho standing outside the door, watching it all happen.

The next day, you’re sitting in the courtyard, at the table you and the other have spent lots of time at. You’re studying for a finance test, fingers rubbing at your temple as you feel a headache forming, when a carton of banana milk is slammed on the table in front of you. You look up slowly, making eye contact with Minho, who’s breathing heavily.

“Why did it have to be him?” He yells, and you flinch at the sudden volume.

“Minho…” You sigh after a moment, but he cuts you off.

“No! Don’t say my name like that. Like you care about me. You never cared about me. It’s always been him.”

“Of course I care about you, Minho. We’ve been friends for years-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. And you know it.”

His words silence you, and you find yourself unable to keep eye contact.

“This was supposed to be my chance. He was finally behind the camera. No one was looking at him for once. Except for you. Even when I was right there, right in front of you. Did those scenes mean nothing to you? You didn’t feel anything when I held your hand? Anything?”

“We were acting, Minho, it was a movie.” Your eyes are locked on your notes, and you feel a lump forming in your throat.

“Not to me! I was never acting. That was all Minho out there. And you still felt...nothing.” He sniffles, and you can hear his voice crack when he speaks again, “Did you wish it was him?”

“It doesn’t matter-”

“It matters to me! It matters because I like you and I’ve done everything I can to get you to notice me. And even when I’m the person holding you, you’re thinking about Hyunjin!”

You swallow your tears, slamming your notebook shut and standing from your seat, “Just leave me alone, Minho.” You push past the boy, not missing the lone tear streaking down the boy’s face. You hurry into the school building, finding an empty practice room and locking yourself in. You slide down the door with your eyes shut tight. You feel so, so guilty, but you never meant for this to happen. You didn’t even want to be in the film in the first place.

You wipe your eyes. Minho will come around, you tell yourself. He’ll come around and the two of you will be friends again and everything will be okay.

Your phone dings from your bag, and you pull it out to reveal a text from Hyunjin.

[ hyunjin ]: hey!! minho just came up to me and gave me some banana milk?? and said that it’s for you?? i didn’t even know you like banana milk lol … anyway where are you? i’ll bring it to you!!

You sigh and send Hyunjin your location, feeling too down to even be excited that your crush was coming to see you. When he comes, you sadly sip on your milk and listen to him talk about the premiere of your short film. You’re supposed to be excited, but the thought of seeing you and Minho on screen together, looking like you’re in love, makes you feel sick.

“I think Minho likes you,” Hyunjin teases when you throw the carton away.

“He does.”

Hyunjin gasps, “And do you like him back? I thought you guys were a couple when you first came on set, he was so excited to see you.”

You sit next to Hyunjin on the piano bench, your fingers dancing over the keys.

“No. I wish I did though. That would be a lot easier.”

“Why?”

“Because if I liked Minho, he wouldn’t hate me right now.”

“What? Why does Minho hate you?”

You turn to look at Hyunjin, faces only inches apart on the small bench. You admire his features for a second. He was so pretty, and you wish you could blame him for all of this, but you can’t.

“Because I like you.”

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kithtaehyung · 3 years ago

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I WANT TO PLAY!!! ✨

YES, KRIS, WELCOME TO THE GAME. finally, i have the best excuse to say all the things i've been wanting to say about your sets and you can't stop me LOL

UPDATE: YEAH SO I HAVE MANY TABS OPEN. lmfao i keep scrolling through your gif tag and i'm like "welp, this one." "oh crap, wait.." "oh no, damn it!" klsdjfksdl your stuff is such high quality and your captions are golden!!

1) okay......... so i guess i will let my jinkook heart pick this set of the butter "A" for me first but! for good reason. it's... perfect. like, the coloring, the smoothing, the captions. everything. ERG, you really do make the colors so pretty here.

2) next is the vogue model final boss jimin set because not only is this colored and defined to perfection (like, even the background?? how did you do this) but the caption actually made me laugh skdljf it's so TRUE!! i just imagine him standing in his power pose and the cut scene leading up to the battle would be exactly like this.

3) LMAOO okay so i'm laughing because of the caption and the subtitles you put on this black swan behind set of jikook. moon embracing the sun PLEASE!! but also, holy hell, you colored that so well. the beginning composition is hard to work with in general but you made it so aesthetically pleasing!

4) ummmm okay so, this set of kookie orbiting around jiminie is so well put together! the way your brain works.. i would like to kiss it, please. :')) like, not only did you find all of these very specific moments, but then you colored them to go together, added all the captions and the extra graphics to add context! it looks like it took so much work and i'm in awe. you feed us so well wtf.

5) lastly, i haven't seen this set of jikook backpack mode yet so i squealed when i saw it! omfg i didn't even notice they do it so often.. how did you find all of these? and how did you make them all seamless and complimenting? i literally have no other words for this one other than it's one of my favorites from you now.

in conclusion: ...kris, you are an angel. ugh, it looks like all of your sets take time. the amount of love and effort you pour into your creations is totally felt! thank you for providing us all the warm and comforting jikook content. ilysm :'(((

#UGH I LOVE YOU #please..#kris!#send me a ✨ and i'll comment on five creations!#sweet moots #ask games #mailbox💌

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quarterette · 4 years ago

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mushoku tensei hot takes with only 1 ep left for the cour

mixed feelings rant after the cut

ok so i read the wikipedia general synopsis for the rest of the unadapted novels and i can see why people call it the grandfather of isekais - or to borrow tvtropes language, it's a trope codifier for the modern isekai

the screenplay is charming. after coming from ascendance of a bookworm it was just pleasant to feel how much more life was put into the animation, backgrounds, and compositing. i heard rumors that studio bind was founded with the intent to adapt MT and i can buy that. the water is gorgeous, the fight sequences are gorgeous, and while some of the ambitious shots are a bit rough, you can feel the ambition. color palette is kicking me in the butt for that 2000s muted color nostalgia. have no complaints on the visual end

but god everytime i remember the pervy MC is mentally 34 years old and i just. ugh

like. ngl the fanservice so far actually is, for better or for worse, within my anime-bullshit meter's tolerance range. it's the context that he's mentally an adult that is perving on actual underage kids that is . eugh. and the fact that he's not going to have the underage-hands-off rule forever. or rather, that rule might be the only thing holding him back?

(as to why my brain can deal with the haha-perverted-child-funny trope: thank magi and early seasons of detective conan during my formative years for that. ngl the way this trope is used feels like i've been thrown back 10 years. at least. it's awful but also it's weirdly nostalgic. still bad tho)

The actual collection part hasn't kicked in yet, but when it does... that will probably be the make-or-break factor for me with this show.

and wiki says that for plot reasons (in future arcs) he ends up with a poly relationship which, idk which to be more frustrated about. the fact that the book/author bends its back to give justifications for it or that I'm so used to waifu collector shows that i just. am like yep that's anime for ya. because i'm pretty sure there isn't wlw attraction between the other gals and it's purely all towards MC

(I heard something about an impotence arc? can appreciate having the MC be not confident about his sexual performance given his blend of traumas but depending on how it goes it might just feel like a pity party meant to boost MC's ego)

for now at least, will be binging the summer season when it finishes too. i don't think i can handle this on a weekly basis. need to be in the mood to calibrate my anime-bullshit meter for it.

P.S. the sad fact is that this isn't the show with the worst treatment of women this season. *sighs*

#mushoku tensei #yet another rant about MC's creepy perviness #cause of course there aren't enough of those #what's capitalization? don't know em #have fun with only punctuation

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xavestory · 4 years ago

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XAVE XAVE XAVE!!!! i hope i’m not too late for those art asks 😋👉👈 can i ask for 5, 10, and 19 if you answered them yet??? ilysm!!! 😚❤️

HIII mar, of course you’re not too late. There’s no ‘too late’ in my dictionary ok. Thank you for coming by and sending me these numbers<33 anyway you really pick difficult questions huh HAHAHA I had to contemplate first ok. Here we go then:

5. What colour do you use the most?

I honestly have no idea HAHAHA I’m still figuring things out myself, trying to explore the endless pit that is choosing colors</3 but maybe you can say that I always try to use complementary color sets, haven’t really dive deep into using split complementary, triads or quads for now.

10. Who are your favourite artists?

I have too many to count aksjdhakjsdhakjsh expecially in the Haikyuu fandom, but the ones that quickly came to mind are these people:

KIM JUNG GI - HE’S MY DRAWING GOD I BASICALLY WORSHIP THIS MAN OK

Raiikencomic - THE BADDEST BITCH</3 crisp and strong and detailed and their character designs are top notch aaa superb!

Ross Draws - UGH YES PLS we are both Photoshop’s color dodge whores, and he’s just too skilled for his own good. I love how bright and otherworldly, yet soothing his color choices are.

Mohammed Aghbadi - WE BOTH LOVE GRADIENT TOOL TO THE BONE BECAUSE IT'S CRISP AND SEXC. He's such a great art teacher too! I learn a lot about gradient render from this guy, we have no choice but to stan🙏 His art is so clean and crisp, sooo good at using multi colored lights!

Littleskirb - because our approach are quite alike, especially in negative spaces & composition, but she’s just way way better. I love how her arts always manage to evoke feelings, like it shakes you to the core, aaaaa I’m a simp!

sajohnnyapple, songrnim, drag_me_to_work - the holy trinity of haikyuu fan artist. I can go on a whole essay on why I love these three. They’re just, killing the game okay:’) pretty self explanatory if you check them out!

itsmieille, a_zebra_was_here, rkgknno - ANOTHER HOLY TRINITY HEHE. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH IT’S KILLING ME. Their colors, COLORS OK, damn. Sooo pleasing and easy to the eye, what an inspiration<3

_seitens & seansketches - The smoothest of the bunch! I learn a lot about value from Sean especially<3 I just vibe with these two’s art soooo well.

hk_smith_man and annabanana because AAAAA their sakusa is just top notch<333 I love their consistencies + crumbs of sakuatsu and ushisaku asjdhkjashdakjsdhk pls forgive me.

19. Do you prefer drawing fan art or original art more?

I actually used to love drawing original art more (especially OCs). It’s more comfortable to do because you know exactly what you want to draw like you know the back of your hand. But then SnK and Haikyuu came to my life and changes everything HAHAHA. When I draw something, tbh, I still struggle with consistency, be it on how good the finished drawing, or on certain characteristics I have to maintain in order to make a character recognizable. And Mar, that’s exactly what I’m struggling with in drawing fanart! For example, one day I can draw Mattsun like A, and then when i tried to doodle him again I can’t really create him the exact same way as my last attempt and he would look like B asjdhkasjhdkasjhd. That means I need to exercise far more than I already have, but Haikyuu boys just make me enjoy things ok. You know their magic 🤲✨ So for now, fan art it is!

#xaveplays #askxave #ma moots

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skzhabibi · 5 years ago

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Vibe // Bang Chan ; Part One

Genre: Smut with plot, online dating, emotionally unavailable reader

Summary: You match with a dude on Bumble and things get a bit heated in the studio. You ghost him when he catches feelings, but he comes back into your life in an unexpected way.

—

It was a Sunday night.

Instead of working on studying for my history test or working on the paper I had due in English (of which I’d only managed to write the introductory paragraph for), I found myself in my underwear at 10pm swiping through Bumble.

If we’re being honest, I was touch starved, attention starved, starved starved... I was a college student, after all. This was my life now. I was trying to come to terms with that.

After about 30 minutes, I came across a profile I found particularly interesting due to the particularly interesting Pretty Boy™ it was advertising. “I have an artist’s soul,” read the first line. I rolled my eyes. One of those. But I kept reading nonetheless. If the dick is bomb, we can look past these things. “Appreciative of nature and nice people. I’m athletic, but I like to spend some quiet time to write lyrics and hang out just as well. Looking for like-minded people to spend these times with.”

Well, at least he knows proper grammar. That already puts him above the bar. I only skimmed through the rest. It was typical stuff in the tabs.

Height? 5’7” (171 cm)

Work out? Often.

Star sign? Libra. Ugh.

Smoke? No.

Want kids? Someday.

Religion? Spiritual. Spiritual, huh? I snort.

It was nothing too remarkable, but I figured I’d give it a shot. It didn’t have to go anywhere anyway. But it did when I swiped and immediately matched, fueling my ego a bit.

“What kind of lyrics do you write?” I ask. I was ready to close the app, because sometimes it takes a while for them to reply; however, he wrote back pretty quickly.

“Rap/alternative. I like to call it fuckshit music.” That warrants a chuckle.

“Sounds poetic,” I play along. “I call mine sadbitch mix.” It was true that I wrote some stuff here and there, as I once had the dream of a career in music. I didn’t think it’d ever go anywhere, though; my fear of failure was too pervasive.

“I’ll have to hear it sometime. Sounds like a vibe.”

I was kinda curious about him at this point, so I decided to entice him a bit. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“I’m down for that (:” He writes back almost instantly. This prospect was looking more and more promising.

“When and where, baby boy?” I jive.

Chris is typing...

—

Flash forward and this kid, Chris, and I had been in contact off and on for about a week. The day we decided on meeting up had come. Turns out he was true to his word about the lyrics thing; he was a music composition major with a focus on lyricism. He worked until late and had an assignment due soon, so he was cooped up in a studio. I was gonna meet him there to “give my opinions”. So here I was, standing outside of a rather large and new-looking building, modern in architecture and radioactive in pomposity.

A decorated veteran in the way of fuckboy conquering, of course I came prepared. My face? Beat. Legs? Baby smooth. Dress? Tight. Bag? Filled with spare condoms of varying size and thickness. Let’s get this bread.

I walked in and found the room with relative ease. Not gonna lie; I was a bit nervous, just as I always was meeting someone for the first time like this. I wasn’t immune to insecurity by any means. Lingering over my head was a lengthy list of doubts.

What if he thinks I’m boring?

What if I did myself too many favors on Facetune?

What if I trip over my own feet and eat shit?

What if the condoms don’t fit and he didn’t bring any?

But alas, sometimes you just gotta suck it up and tell yourself, “I’m a bad bitch.”

So that’s what I did.

Upon opening the door, I was more than pleased to see the boy of 22 was true to his photos; in fact, I might’ve even gone so far as to say he looked even better. His hair, an ash blond color, was messily curled and slightly frizzy. And his full, heart-shaped lips were parted, looking soft as silk. He had pretty normal attire on, just a black hoodie and jeans, making me feel a bit overdressed. But those anxieties were relieved a bit when his downturned eyes, wide and innocent after being taken slightly off guard, turned to crescents above the tired bags underneath. He had an effortless attractiveness and warmth to him that I envied.

“Hey,” he said, getting out of his swivel chair to come greet me. “Y/N, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” I cleared my throat as if that’d make it less obvious that I’d just been staring at him for the past few seconds, totally mesmerized. “Sorry, guess I should’ve knocked first,” I laughed nervously.

“No worries,” he reciprocated my awkward sort-of-laugh. We stared at each other for a second before he coughed. “Well, um...” he held his arms out, signaling that he was going for a hug. Though I’ve never been a hugger, I let him, putting my arms around his broad shoulders as he closed the distance between us.

His arms felt strong, and he was as warm as he looked. His hair smelled really good, too.

Is it weird that I’m smelling him?

No, it wafted into my nose. His fault.

He let go sooner than I would’ve liked, actually. But his hand caught mine. “How was the ride over?” His words and demeanor were casual, but his eyes told me he had a mischievous streak to him as he guided me to a spare chair.

“It was alright,” I shrugged, taking my hand back so I could sit. “Less traffic for sure.”

“Yeah, sorry about making you come out so late,” he scratched his neck.

“Don’t sweat it,” I laughed, shaking my head. “I wanted to hear the fuckshit music.”

#kpop #bang chan #stray kids #stray kids smut #bang chan smut #college au #chris bang #skz smut #skz au #skz blurbs #skz fluff #skz chan #jyp entertainment #jyp

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realstraykids · 4 years ago

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hey idk if you're still doing these but if not please just ignore this ghfkjd just thought it'd be fun to do! ( ✨ + /tagged/g:%20mine )

omg haru all your gifs are so nice it was so hard to choose 😭😭

one. i LOVE the sparkly gif trend i think it’s my fav trend ever and this was such a good performance to use it on omg u really made a fancam look like it came from a ts file......gorgeous

two. ok i picked this one bc 1) hyunjin wants me dead and also 2) THE SUBTLE SPARKLES ARE SOOOO PRETTY oof and the coloring!!!!!! highlighting the reds and teals... i love it so much

three. i really like this coloring and the vampy look it gives jisung ugh and these are SO clean (just like all your gifs)

four. your coloring these gifs is amazing!! especially the way the reds are brought out...chan’s gif literally gives me shivers bc u can see the red in his eyes dklsfjaf

five. your gfx style is so unique??? i really like it!! the moments you chose to include and the way you composited everything together,, *chef’s kiss*

#creator asks #cute mutuals #juyeons #replies

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rqs902 · 4 years ago

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my beautiful boys in the same screeeenn ill just ignore the clothes lol man look at jin fan’s side profile

aw they look so happy lol how did dxy become kc

lol when volunteer li hao on his CELL PHONE is a better video editor than the entire youku paid staff

oof the video was so funny and highlighted a bunch of the kids qualities like lin mua and csp’s cuteness and it was touching.... lol ycw “I DONT HAVE SLEEVES LEND ME YOUR SLEEVE” to wipe his tears loll

LOL im amused cto were some of zlj’s first friends and they guilt trip him into joining their groupppp HAHHAHA

pretty sure that was xue en telling zlj to be careful and put safety first :’)

im literally crying at this suitcase

but also still wished they gave more screen time to everyone not-zlj LOL but i guess at least we saw some more lin ran and yzx. but zlj did do a great job!! i really appreciate his skill and im glad the non-cto kids said such nice things about cto aw but really their age difference is not that big??? LOLLLL making cto seem so old??? but xue en is only 1 year older than lin ran and 3 years older than cxh and ycw LOL plus 1998 is xikan’s age too lol.....

omg xo crew being all these creatives including li chenxu ayy thats cool, i feel like we havent gotten to know much about him so this puts him in a new perspective for me

is akey supposed to be in the group? LOL zhan yu is going wild for him tho LOL

im happy akey is making more rap friends!!! i feel like hes been working on that since qcyn

cjh has always seemed so real, i respect that

LOL hwx looks so awkward standing on stage in the middle. jin fan’s vooooiceeee and huang junrong yessss HAHAHAHA THE AKEY STANDEE IM CRYING HAHAHHA man jin fan has gotten to live up to his vocal name in this show, i hope that makes him happy. he still !! has not !! shown off !! his bboy !! dancing skills !! :(

LOL lin mo being so amused that akey had no idea about the standee. hes a dork. so were they not allowed to do 3 stages? bc i feel like akey wouldnt have needed that much extra prep time to do all 3 of his stages just sayinggg hahahha but ay extra tyger screen time ill take it! i can see why he picked the creatives group though, that performance definitely better fits his musical and stylistic interests.

AYYY CSP DANCING but lol qby calling him cui duopeng aw

omg so sparkly!! LOL syh looks so scandalized by their confetti ribbons HAHAHAHHA but yay for mxy really owning this stage!

LOL the way lin mo’s face scrunches up when su er points out he’s “momo” and then he just nods and tells hwx “momo is supporting you from behind” awww

oh rip this luo jie gaokao segment, was this the last time they saw him?

lol ycw is always the one with the doggo but i appreciate xzx for not abandoning him like everyone else so he could still do 100 ways and fulfill his dreams

LOL THE FACT THAT THEY USED THE 100 WAYS GROUP’S AUDIO LOL

aw good for them being able to make a fun and entertaining stage and do well and bring everyone amusement. lol ycw throwing random flower petals everywhere so casual

LOL rip renyu hes just sitting there minding his own business and then gets personally attacked HAHAH TWICE hHHAHAHAHA

LOLLL SBR YESS and sbh hahahhaha csp being all scared of why theyre watching him and sbr is just like oh nothing~

lolll xikan curling into a little ball when everyone else is laughing and csp’s “why did i lose again?” LOOL

oh rip bye yan an

ouch syh..... going back to singapore to do adult things gosh i appreciate him going after mhw after it seemed like he had given up

man ycw cries a lot

kinda sad they cut the tyger perf BUT they did perform my favorite song (always thankful for akey’s composition skills!!!) AND at least they showed off zhan yu’s high notes and listed akey as a composer and gave lin mo some screen time to talk i guess its okay bc i appreciate the performances that they have shown fully so far, and i get that they cant show everyones in full. and it looks like all the kids liked the perf so thats fun

OOF A JUNRONG FEATURE THIS IS WHAT WE ALL NEEDED YESSS man i didnt realize he had so many show experiences already man.... ooo dxy vocal time!!

OH GOSH THEY BROUGHT UP FAN YUUUUUUUU man the way renyu smiles watching fan yu play piano im softtt oof renyu’s voice is so nice even when hes like on the verge of crying

ahhh xu zhaohao’s song has me crying... i really like his voice too.

wow im surprised so many of them took footage of themselves on their way to snzm? lol wait did they cut out li chenxu’s part on stage?

HAHHAHAHHA LI HAO OMGG xu shengen wow this is amazing li hao is gonna be like a great director one day i can FEEL it. THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE ONLY PART OF THE ENTIRE EPISODE THATS SUBBED HAHAHHAHA look at li hao, making better videos than youku since 2020. li hao’s story man.... he and shengen and chenxu must be close

i see why people were like whoa theres actually tygers in the next ep preview! what a unusual experience!! but ay there was huang enyu too! ahh he looks like hes desperate oh gosh but everyones crying it looks like :c ill keep my hopes up that lin mo’s is happy tears but its still rough to see

aw su er...... oof the fact that they put in clips of some kids on other shows (i even saw super idol omg) and him putting lin mua at the end, they must really have grown to like that haha i saw someone posted about li hao saying he liked the lin mua too and appreciated that it was something lin mo promised to his fans. im glad they dont make fun of him for it in a mean spirited way.

im grateful for this “extra” episode outside of the actual competition. they did seem to get to do performances that they wanted to be in. im guessing some kids’ perfs didnt get aired? so im hoping they get released elsewhere so we can still watch them. again i will say that having only half the number of trainees compared to other shows and having them for 3 stages rather than the usual 1 has allowed me to feel like ive gotten to know most (if not all?) of these kids, similar to how i felt about ip, which is nice. like i at least know their names and faces. at least it wasnt like qcyn where kids got eliminated before they even had 1 stage ugh. grateful and excited to see yixing again too next ep! hopefully this means we wont get some nonsense judging like last time... also excited to see momo with his pink hair! and in the same perf as zhan yu and akey (what happened to jin fan lol) everyone having colorful hair will be exciting!

#rants

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #271

“some of those who work forces are the same that burn crosses.”

Do you cook on the stove at all, or just microwave? I just use the microwave. I'm scared of the stove lmao. Do you ever debate religion with your friends? Bruuuh no. I am so disinterested in debating about something that to me ultimately doesn't matter yet humanity has made so serious. Whatever happens after we die, happens, there's that. Just be a decent human being and go out knowing you did your best to make the world better than when you entered it. Do you keep your shampoo in the shower or someplace else? In the shower. Something your mother said or did that shocked you: Like... recently? Or in my entire life? I dunno about recently, but I guess the most shocking to me was when she vehemently called my sister something I won't repeat. Did your mom go to college? She was before the cancer. Ready to graduate, too, but that didn't go as planned thanks to, y'know, cancer. Which food do you think you have the most cans of in your cupboard? Good question, no clue. I don't really pay attention to the canned foods. Maybe fruits? Do you save fortunes from fortune cookies? No. Are you offended when Christmas is spelled Xmas? Nah. Where do you put your keys when you come home? In my purse. Describe your favorite mug or glass to drink from? I don't have one. That I use, anyway. Sara gave me a Markiplier quote one that's a Holy Item on my shelf and instead of holding a beverage holds All My Love. Your bad habit that you love the most: UGH I hate how much I love soda. Invent a pop tart flavor: STORY TIME!!!! As a kid, there was this contest to design a type and you won like... a fucking huge supply of the newest flavor, which was at the time that wild berry whatever thing. My sister and I made one that I think I recall being pink with heart sprinkles and strawberry flavored, and we won. Guess who fucking hates the wild berry flavor now lmao. Okay but anyway if I was to invent one now... is there a BLUE raspberry flavor? Cuz a bitch loves blue raspberry flavored everything. Do you name your pets after tv/movie/book characters: Sometimes. I don't currently have a pet that is, though. Are you proud of yourself for what you've accomplished? The few things I actually have, sure? I'm more ashamed of what I haven't. Do you own any sexy lingerie? Nooooo no one would want to see me in that, least of all myself lmao. Have you ever caught a bouquet of flowers at a wedding before? No. Has a horse ever neighed at you before? Uhhh I don't think so? Do you prefer ice cream or sorbet? Ice cream. Have you gotten your pets spayed? My cat is. That's like... the only pet we ever have fixed, sadly. My parents/Mom (depending on time period) could just never afford it. The only real reason we managed to get Roman neutered was because our sister directed us to a cheap on-the-go business where it was like... only $45, and Roman was marking the house badly so it was pretty urgent. Would you ever take in a stray animal? HA, that is the STORY of my family with cats. At this current time, most likely not. We don't need another pet right now, nevermind one of a mysterious background with my mom being sick. When is payday? N/A Have you ever walked on a runway before? No. How long is your workday? N/A Is there a walkway or a pathway to your front door? No. What is your favorite color? What is your least favorite color? Pink is superior to all colors. I'm really not a puke-green fan, but I mean... is anyone? What color dominates your wardrobe? Everything is B L A C K. What color are your eyes? Grayish blue. Are you colorblind, or do you know anyone who is? I'm not, but Jason's brother is colorblind to I think red and blue? Do you prefer color photos or black-and white? It greatly depends on the composition and subject matter of the photograph. I find great beauty in both. If I had to pick though, color usually appeals to me more. Are you one of those people who can taste, feel, or smell colors? No. Have you ever seen a double rainbow before? Yes. Do you enjoy coloring? It tends to be my least-favorite part of the art process because that's where I always fuck shit up. Do you know anyone who is racist? Oh my, PLENTY. Welcome to the South. Are your nails painted any color(s) right now? They never are. Can you lift more than 100lbs? I probably CAN, but it would be very hard. What's your opinion on incest? It's fucking repulsive. Morally and negative from a scientific standpoint, anyway. Do you have a favorite color for cats? Orange. What video games did you play when you were younger? I was a massive gamer as a kid, teenager too, so I could put a hell of a lot here. But, I'll just imagine you're referring to when I was quite young. The Spyro games (save for Skylanders) were my LIFE, I loved Nintendogs, the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, lots of games that were based on movies (like Madagascar and Finding Nemo are two I really enjoyed), uhhh... OH! And absolutely weird, but I loved hunting games. Like, I had a whooole lot, despite hating real life hunting even as a child. I think it was because I got to see wild animals, plus it could be calming to wander and scary, too, when things like wolves found you. Oh, and then there were fishing games, too. LOOK I just love(d) games. Would you ever get a tramp stamp? I hate that nickname. Having a tattoo literally anywhere does not equate you to a stereotype. Yes, because I want to be heavily tattooed anyway. Did you cry when Michael Jackson died? No. Not that I didn't care at all, I just wasn't a giant fan. What's the ugliest species of animal? Lmao how mean. The blobfish immediately comes to mind, though. Looks like a ball of mucus shaped into an old man's face. Are you embarrassed about any songs on your iPod? I used to be, now it's just like whatever. I like what I like. What do you use to listen to music on the computer? YouTube. Do people know a lot about you? Places on the Internet sure do lmao. I try to be much more private now online to a degree, depending on where. Irl, no. I'm too easily embarrassed/afraid of being judged for what makes me, me. Who was the last person you slept beside? Sara. Do you like Metallica? They're one of my all-time favorites and I trust NOBODY who claims to hate them. What's your favorite kind of soup? I'm not a fan of soup. What’s your best friend's favorite band? Her all-time favorite is Pink Floyd. Who was the last person you took a picture with? Ummm idr. Do you play Guitar Hero? Not really anymore, but I fuckin slayed that shit back in the day. Whose house did you last visit? My older sister's. Who was the last person to come to your house? My younger sister. What time do you usually eat dinner? Anywhere between 5:30 to like... 7:00 or so. Have you ever searched your own house on Google Earth? Not this current one, no. Does it bother you when people have a loose grip on hugs? No? Some people don't like hugs. Are you looking forward to next year? I don't know. Is covid gonna be history by then? It depends on a lot of things. What have you done so far this summer? *blink blink blink* What's your favorite punk band? Honestly, I don't even really separate bands by genres now because I don't know. There's so so many, plenty overlap, etc. etc, and people - especially those who enjoy rock/metal stuff, I've found - get all snobbish and "WELL ACTUALLY" when you "misgenre" or whatever. Which is better: cold or hot weather? COLD. FUCK hot weather. Anything above ~75*F is disgusting. Is photography something you enjoy? I'm an aspiring photographer so like- What’s the best flavor snow cone? I haven't had a legit snow cone in years... but we have a place called Pelican's Snowballs, which is really just like... snow cones in a cup? They are A M A Z I N G and strawberry is to die for. When driving, are you a speed demon or do you drive like your grandmother? I don't drive because I'm terrified to. Have you ever met someone who just had you at hello? No. Bet you were expecting "Jason," but no, I was weirded out that a stranger just comes up to me in the hall on the way to class and starts talking to me. Have you ever written poetry? Yeah. Do you have any addictions? Technology, ugh. And soda, rip. When was the last time you just laid and looked at the stars? Laid, many years ago one summer when Jason and I were just lying on the trampoline while my dad was grilling. What song reminds you of an ex? A lot. What color eyeliner do you prefer? Black. What was the last thing that you made with your own two hands? Like, made from scratch? Hell if I know. What’s the deepest water you will wade into? Like, shoulder-deep in the ocean. How many blades does your razor have? Three, I think? Highest grade of education you’ve completed? Just one semester of college. Lowest grade you’ve received on a test? Yikes, Fs in college math. He taught in such an abstract way that I failed like... every test, or nearly did. I was too afraid to ask questions continuously. Do you enjoy sitting in the sun or the shade more? There is NO situation where I would rather be in the sun. Do you enjoy going to arcades? Hell yeah. What parades do you like to go to? None. When’s the last time you went on a tirade? I ranted to Mom about the fucking ridiculous anti-maskers that are a big reason this motherfucking pandemic is worsening in America. With my mom being immunocompromised, it is something I take VERY goddamn seriously. It's not a difference in opinion - it's a difference in morality. Do you like to play charades? I loved to as a kid. Now it'd feel weird. Would you ever lead a crusade? I wouldn't want to lead anything. Have your parents ever forbade you from doing something? Aha, so as a kid, I had a game demo disc that showed the preview to Parasite Eve, and my sisters and I would secretly watch it despite it scaring us to where Mom did forbid us to click on it. And all these years later, I've played it and love it... ha ha. Otherwise, my parents have always been pretty open to letting us do stuff, save for things the usual parent doesn't like, like swearing. When’s the last time someone said something degrading to you? A few days back when I got into an argument on Facebook about some asshole teasing their newly-hatched cobra to where it kept striking at the tongs, hood flared and all. Apparently I had no idea what I was talking about, pointing out the snake was clearly stressed out. What’s the last homemade dish you’ve made? I legit haven't cooked a thing since Sara was here and I made her eggs for breakfast. Which was like, a year ago. Do you like lemonade? What flavor(s)? Broooo YES. Pink lemonade is better, but I enjoy just the classic kind, too. Has anyone ever serenaded you before? Fuck this question. Would you like to visit the Everglades? Lemme see them motherfuckin GATORS. Have you ever attended a masquerade ball before? No. Would be dope, though. Have you lost anyone to AIDS? No, thank god. Have you ever been paid for sex? Hell no. Have you ever had a maid in your home before? HUNNY we are too poor for that shit. Do you know how to do different types of braids in hair? No. When’s the last time you wore a Band-aid? Where and why? I have no clue. When was the last time you were afraid? Of what? A family friend was over here a couple days ago and she had this weirdest muscle cramp in her leg that brought her to the floor gasping for like over a minute. I was super scared, and Mom was too, as we had no idea what to do. I almost had to call 911. Crazy woman hasn't gone to the doctor about it, to my knowledge. Would you ever consider growing your hair out to your waist, or longer? NOOOO NO NO. I am probably having short hair for the rest of my life. Is there anywhere in your house that you're scared to be alone in? No. What is your favorite shoe brand? I don't have one. What weird things did you do as a small child? I was just a weird kid in general. I did a lotta stuff that would make people raise a brow. Who puts the most pressure on you in your life? My goddamn self. Do you laugh off embarrassing moments? Hell no, I turn red as a cherry and probably cry once I'm in private. Do you have a favourite actor/actress? If so, who? No. Do you like little kids, or do they annoy you? I feel uncomfortable around them. They're too brutally honest, I feel like every move I make is wrong, and I just generally feel incapable of handling them properly. Do you want a small or a large family when you get older? Well, I don't want any kids, so... Are you a good dancer? If not, do you enjoy dancing anyways? No and no. I'd be embarrassed. Have you ever lied to avoid getting into trouble? Yeah. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital for a long period of time? I'd say two weeks is pretty long, and I was supposed to stay an entire month. I only got out of that by going to court. Do you take a lot of pictures of yourself, or are you camera shy? I HATE being in front of the camera. What are your choice of toppings on a hamburger? And do you prefer gas or charcoal grilling? I just like ketchup, mustard, and pickles, really. A bit of diced onion is fine, too. I prefer gas; I hate the charcoal-y taste. You are chosen to have lunch with the president. the condition is you only get to ask one question. What do you ask? Fuck that, I'd decline going to begin with. What is your concession stand must-have at the movies? Popcorn, of course. Which do you dislike most: pop-up ads or spam email? Pop-up ads. How long was it from ‘the first date’ until the proposal of marriage? How long until the wedding? N/A What topic can put you to sleep quicker than any other? Probably like, wrestling. Golf. Sports in general. How many times did it take you to pass your drivers test? I haven't tried it yet. If you had to have the same topping on your vanilla ice cream for the rest of your life, what topping would you choose? I always just use chocolate syrup. Would you rather be trapped in an elevator, or stuck in traffic? CHRIST, TRAFFIC. Elevators kinda scare me and I'm very scared of being stuck in one. What are you sitting on right now? My bed. Are you listening to anything? Halocene's cover of "Killing In The Name." Have you parents ever hated one of your boyfriends/girlfriends? No. Who was the last person to give you money? I have no idea. Have you ever dreamed of someone you barely know? Actually yeah. Weird as hell. When was the most recent time, if ever, that you felt “impostor syndrome,” or that you felt unqualified to be somewhere? Hm. I suppose when I went to the doctor by myself for my foot. I'd never done an appointment without Mom at all, and I was veeery clueless to a lot of steps, questions, etc. What are some ways that pop culture has helped you learn historic or scientific facts? Some TV shows, I guess. Or games, even. Have you ever had a job in which you felt that you had nothing to do? What was the protocol in that situation (e.g., surfing the web, taking on the job of co-workers, or pretending to work)? If you have not, do you think it would be lucky or unlucky to have such a job? No. I was expected to always be doing something. I'd consider that to be pretty unlucky, as it sounds boring and pointless. Have you ever intimidated or made another person feel legitimately threatened? If not, do you think that you could ever be seen as scary? I don't know. Mom has admitted me yelling has scared her before, though. I can yell pretty fucking loudly. But she herself never felt threatened. And do I think I could be seen as scary? Yes. Especially given my chronic fucking nightmares that almost always involve confrontation. In what ways do you or would you need to be validated by a partner? (For example, liking your posts/talking about you on social media, or perhaps by doting on you with gifts.) I am VERY much a "words of affirmation" person. I NEED reassurance that I'm adequate and sincerely loved. When you are having a hard time emotionally, what are some of the telltale ways that you act out or that your personality reflects your struggles? I become very snappy and more reclusive than usual. I cry really easily. Do you tend to succeed by weaning yourself off of something or by quitting cold turkey? It depends on what it is, but I've generally needed to wean myself off of things when necessary. Is there a specific type of pet breed/size/etc. that you don’t want? Why not? I am very turned off by animal breeds/types that are subject to serious health issues, such as pugs, dachsunds, Persians, spider ball pythons... Just don't fucking breed them. Ironically, some of these are the cutest, but I care far more about the health of the animal. Have you ever lived in a notoriously dangerous area? If not, would it bother you to do so? Yes and yes. Has a friend’s significant other ever interfered with or damaged your friendship? What about a significant other of yours damaging a friendship? I don't believe so, no. What, if anything, is something that you put pressure on yourself about? What do you imagine would happen if you did not live up to this expectation? Getting a job, for Heaven's sake, and actually managing to keep it. I've proven inept in this area so far, so, I've already failed that. :^) If you have been in a serious relationship, have you and your partner ever discussed lifetime plans that clashed? Did you reconcile them or did you break up? If you have not been in a relationship, what are some issues that would be deal-breakers? Jason and I kinda casually talked about kids early in our relationship, at which time I didn't see myself wanting them at all and he did at some point. It didn't really bother either of us, though; it was something we'd figure out if we actually got anywhere. Then he became the only person I could ever imagine myself having kids with. Life's funny.

#survey #quiz #questions

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gallusrostromegalus · 6 years ago

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Quotes and Memes form Botanical Illustration Class, Part 2

(Part 1 here)

Threatening phototropic plants that WON’T HOLD FUCKING STILL.

“Ugh, the tea is terrible today.” “Cynthia that’s your paint water.” “... I’m 80, I’ll die a long time bfore the cadmium will get to me.”

Bloody Stump Tour Survivor 2K18 t-shirts

“You sure like to use all your colors, Don’t you [Gallus]?” 1. This is actually a compliment 2. At the same time, I’ve got 14 pencils in one hand, three more in my mouth and am attempting a ballsy tetrachromatic composition. “I grew up with Lisa Frank and never got better.” “My Condolences, You’re managing your condition well.”

Walking around the gardens pointing out potential subjects for Susan’s “ONE BIG LEAF” class/challenge.

Selecting your ONE BIG LEAF and immediately being crushed by your own hubris.

Doing it anyway.

“Why are your tomatoes Violet?” “They’re feral.”

Getting mistaken for a docent becuase you won’t stop talking about the Amorphophallus titanum to anyone in your gneral vicinity becuase having him bloom again in just two yeARS IS VERY EXCITING WE’RE JUST VERY PROUD OF OUR BOY.

Pointedly calling it Amorphopallus titanum and not any of its mosre sfw names.

“How do you get such nice scumble?” “I have Parkinson’s.” “I’m so sorry!” “Nonsense! Look at my scumble!”

Getting Firm-But-Polite-To-The-Point-Of-Not-Being-Polite emails form Jenna about how show pieces cannot excede 16x20 inches and MUST be matted, even it it’s a half-inch thick, becuase she refuses to get bigger frames and gets pissy about the scratches on the cheap glass.

Drawing something at 50x38 inches just to fucking spite her.

Suck it Jenna.

“I was tired of my prismacolors breaking, so I extracted the lead, melted it down, added better binders and extruded it into new, heavier leads that I’m using in a repurpoused compass so I can draw without the lead snapping every other stroke.” “...” “I may have gone too far.” “Actually I was about to ask which Binder I’m considering doing it myself.”

Duck Mafia

“Meredith, what is this?” “It’s a full-size rendering fo a Narwhal tusk.” “This is not a plant Meridith.” “I know but it’s very pretty and it fit the strip of matboard I had lefotver after cutting mats for the last show.” “We can’t put it in the show Meredith.” “What if I changled the label to Bristlcone?” “NO MEREDITH.”

Asking if anyone has a knife and having a dozen ladies pull out a small armory’s worth of bladed weapons ebcuase we’re all filthy specimen poachers.

“Stop telling us about Corn [Gallus].”

#botanical illustration

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emperorsfoot · 5 years ago

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In this chapter, the colonizers think unseasoned chicken has too much flavor.

...and some other stuff happens.

...

The office walls were bare. Lord Hode could say what he wanted about other species and hanging useless pictures on their walls. But Zero-Zero-Three preferred to work without the distraction, and since Lord Hode had abandoned him on this Host forsaken rock, the recently demoted Captain felt he was entitled to ignore his Lord's opinion on the matter. So, the abstract paintings came down. The blood-soaked carpet was ripped up and replaced with dull gray floor-panels.

Zero-Zero-Three took over rule, as he was commanded. Set his forces to rooting out and destroying the last remnants of the native's rebellion, and re-solidifying Imperial Horde control of not just the planet but the system.

The short lived native revolution and subsequent Imperial backlash and takeover had left a large percentage of the population's young parentless. Unlike Horde clones, these naturally hatched creatures (or naturally born, in all honesty Zero-Zero-Three was unclear on how non-cloned beings did things) did not possess either the physical ability or the mental capacity to care for themselves. Some could not even walk on their own or feed themselves yet. Apparently, those were things that came with time out of the –uh, egg. Without adults to care for them, the care for these orphans –orphans being a new word Zero-Zero-Three learned, meaning an offspring without living parents- the care for these orphans fell to the ruling body. Fell on the Empire. Fell on Zero-Zero-Three as the Imperial Territory Captain ruling the planet in Horde Prime's name.

Massaging the side of his head, Zero-Zero-Three suppressed the urge to groan. Why couldn't all beings just hatch from tanks? Artificially grown. At a physical age resembling adulthood. With the knowledge and understanding they would need to be self-sufficient already programed into them. Why did other beings have to be so… primitive?

No clone trooper could be expected to care for these orphans. But without care they would most certainly succumb and expire. That would not do, since the Empire relied on the populations of conquered worlds for labor to support their clone armies. The job of child care would have to be delegated to their own people. But to prevent another generation of rebels to be raised, Zero-Zero-Three had to offer incentives to those who remained loyal to the Horde Empire.

All the property of the rebels was seized by the Empire. Dwellings of appropriate size were repurposed to house hatchlings orphaned by the battle –or just orphaned in general. Why limit it only to the offspring of dead rebels. All hatchlings had the potential to grow up into useful adult units that could support the Empire. Adult natives who worked to care for these parentless hatchlings were given room and board in the dwelling with them, plus double rations. If they already had homes of their own, or families of their own and still took care of the Empire's orphans, then their whole family was given double rations.

Since Lord Hode had said that their culture placed importance on children and the family unit, Zero-Zero-Three felt it necessary to make a show of offering relief to those with offspring and families.

Hode often liked to repeat that if one understood a species, one could control a species. Zero-Zero-Three wasn't sure if he believed that entirely. But, he did have to admit that local aliens –across multiple worlds, over average- were less discontent, and less likely to revolt when the occupying Territory Captain made concessions in favor of local interests. Here, local interests were children and families. So, Zero-Zero-Three implemented policies that would ease the hardships of children and families.

He must have been doing something right. Because by the time the planet completed a single rotation around its sun, the previous uprising was a thing of the past. If it was spoken of, it was along the lines of 'hey, remember that thing that happened?' 'Yeah… but it's better now.' With no mention of recent decent.

Zero-Zero-Three walked down the main street that lead out from the capitol building. The same street that, one planetary year ago, had run green with native blood, was now clean and almost sparkling. Paved with a composite stone made from local aggregate minerals. It was overall a muted and neutral gray color. But when the sun hit it just so, tiny flecks of the aggregate in it reflected the light and shone with multiple colors. Like the facets of a prism, or ombre tones of a pearl. It was actually quite pretty. (Not that Zero-Zero-Three would ever admit out loud that he found the literal ground beneath his feet pretty.) Hode would have liked it. He would have made some comment about the aliens choosing to use a sparkly mineral for utilitarian purposes like paving was 'whimsical' –whatever that meant.

It wasn't just the literal street itself that was brighter.

The buildings that lined the way –most of which were businesses- were open, full, and thriving. Nearest the capital building were stores for convince. Which sold an eclectic collection of bottled water, speeder fuel, domestic coolant, adhesive bandages, poor quality chargers for mobile communicators, lighters, and any manner of other items one might need in a pinch. Then there were the eateries. Local restaurants and cafes that served local foods. Overall, the Horde did not eat local foods no matter what planet they were on. Overall, most clones preferred the bland and flavorless ration bars that were provided for them. Alien cuisine held too much flavor and was overpowering to the clone pallet.

"Captain, hey, Captain, you gotta try this!" But every now and again, one clone trooper would diverge from his brothers and develop a taste for local fair.

Looking across the plaza, Zero-Zero-Three saw the brother that was trying to flag him down. Sitting in the outdoor seating area of a café was a clone trooper like himself. Identical in face and pigmentation. But wearing the zero-suit of a wing-pilot. Ugh. Wing-pilots. Zero-Zero-Three would be lying if he did not admit that he was not fond of them. Those that piloted the batwing-class fighters did not comport themselves with dignity and restraint as befitted the clones of the Emperor of the Known Universe. Wing-pilots, were energetic, flippant, liberal, and impulsive. It was rumored that they got different programming and conditioning in the tanks, and that was why their behavior was so… abrasive to other more conventional clones.

Suppressing the urge to groan, Zero-Zero-Three crossed the street to silence the brother that was trying so animatedly to make a scene.

"Be silent!" He snarled. "And behave yourself as if you were made from the most perfect being in the universe."

"Right." Nodded the wing-pilot as if he'd merely forgotten that he was supposed to be a tall scary soldier within a military engine for Imperial colonization and control. He cleared his throat, then in a more controlled tone began again. "Captain Zero-Zero-Three, the locals of this café have made a dish especially for us. You must try it. It's very good! They call it 'unseasoned fowl'."

Zero-Zero-Three peered down at the all white-meat cut of bird on his brother's plate. Unprocessed meats did not appeal to him. He turned his eyes back to his brother. "Eating local cooking is the fastest way to get yourself poisoned." He informed the clone. "See that your batwing is serviced and your bunk is in order before you die."

Zero-Zero-Three continued walking.

After the restaurants and the cafes, were the most useless of businesses: the curios and keepsake shops. Places that sold tiny statuettes, and globes filled with fluid with flecks of glitter that swirled around when you shook them, unnecessary clothing articles, or accessories, highly edited photos. Junk. Stores that sold junk. Clutter.

But then Zero-Zero-Three paused in front of the window of one shot that proudly claimed to sell 'classic art', as opposed to 'contemporary art' –the distinction was something Hode went out of his way to explain to Zero-Zero-Three. 'Contemporary art' was relevant to the time in which it was made. 'Contemporary art' for this planet, in this time, usually featured muted colors, simplified lines, and the winged emblem of the occupying Horde Empire somewhere within the piece. But 'classic art' for this planet was brighter, more vibrant. Featuring almost all the colors of the spectrum and depicting subjects of whimsy and frivolity. One in particular caught Zero-Zero-Three's attention.

In the shop window was displayed a painting of one of the alien natives, sitting in a sunny meadow, with some kind of string instrument laying across their four legs. Zero-Zero-Three did not care for the image as a whole. Not really. He had no love for the cultural clutter that was art. But the string instrument featured in the image reminded him of his Lord. Since Hode had chosen to reminisce about their first meeting before he left Zero-Zero-Three on this world, the younger clone had often recalled that same meeting often since his Lord left.

A mission briefing. The first mission briefing Zero-Zero-Three attended since being promoted to a sub-Commander, and an unorthodox briefing as far as he could tell.

Lord Hode gathered all his Force Captains and their sub-Commanders into the Gallery Deck of the Vinyl Hood, and after explaining that their targets were Randor and his brother –who's name escaped Zero-Zero-Three now- they were deposed princes from an already conquered world, and had turned rebel leaders. Hode insisted on playing a song from that very same already conquered world. That was when Zero-Zero-Three asked the relevance, the question that drew him to his Lord's attention. No other clone would have ever dared question a cabinet Lord, no matter how irrelevant they thought his eccentricities were.

'An insight into the enemy mind.' Hode had answered simply. Even back then, he tried to encourage those who served under him to study and understand the races they conquered and ruled. 'If you understand a species, you can control them.'

Zero-Zero-Three had no idea where Hode learned to play an instrument. He found it hard to imagine some terrified native of some conquered world calming down enough to teach a cabinet Lord to pluck the strings in any order that might produce a tune.

The Host knew the Horde did not have musical instruments! The Horde did not compose music, or sing songs. The Horde had no need for such things.

Looking at the painting in the window and remembering that unorthodox mission briefing, Zero-Zero-Three could even almost recall the lyrics to that strange alien song. '…Wielding blades of steel and light, the purest spirit, sealed inside…'

Acting on impulse and surprising himself as much as the shop owner, Zero-Zero-Three pushed the door open and stepped inside. A tiny little bell over the door tinkling to announce him. The poor shop owner looked like they might faint when they saw it was a Horde officer that had just entered. They probably thought they were about to be raided.

"That. In the window." Zero-Zero-Three pointed at the canvas stretched over a wooden frame before the alien could speak.

The shop owner blinked their ocular organs at him, waiting for the Territory Captain to finish his statement. When he didn't, the alien –speaking in heavily accented and broken Imperial Basic- offered, "Would Sir like the painting?"

Then Zero-Zero-Three realized he wasn't actually sure what he wanted. He certainly didn't want it for himself. He had no use for 'art'.

"I could make it a gift for Sir." The alien clarified that they had no illusions about charging a payment from a Horde soldier.

A gift, yes. Not for himself, he had no use for the art. But for Lord Hode. Zero-Zero-Three would never be so weak as to beg his Lord to come back and take him away from this place. To take him back into space. By his Lord's side. Where he belonged. But a gift of art –which Lord Hode was fond of- would at least remind the older clone that Zero-Zero-Three still existed. That he did as ordered. That he did not complain. That he was a good servant. Then, maybe, after being reminded of that, Hode might return to this world, collect Zero-Zero-Three, and take him away from this place.

"Yes." Nodded Zero-Zero-Three, arms folding behind his back in a rest. "I will take it."

…

But Zero-Zero-Three did not hear back from Hode after he sent the gift to his Lord. Not even a short message wave over the extranet to thank Zero-Zero-Three for the gift. Of course, cabinet Lords did not need to thank those beneath them for paying tribute. But Hode usually tended to make an effort to acknowledge the efforts of those below him. He said he received a high quality performance from subordinates that felt recognized. So it was odd to Zero-Zero-Three that he never even received a message from his Lord confirming that he even got it.

Such an occurrence was so out of character for the older clone, that Zero-Zero-Three hunted down his logistics officer to make sure it was even sent in the first place.

The logistics officer looked downright insulted that his Territory Captain thought he was so incompetent as to march down to his office and demand a follow-up report. "Yes, Captain, I sent the package to Lord Hode aboard the Vinyl Hood." He insisted. "I can't presume to know why the Lord hasn't responded to you yet. I'm sure he's very busy. He is a Lord after all."

Maybe you're just not as important to him as you thought you were.

"Where is the Vinyl Hood now?" Zero-Zero-Three asked instead. Maybe with the ship were within a hundred lightyears or less, he could just call Lord Hode directly over the com-set and ask if he received the painting and if he liked it.

The logistics officer huffed. Actually huffed. As if following the order of his Territory Captain and commanding officer were a great inconvenience for him. As if Zero-Zero-Three were being absurd and the logistics officer was only humoring him because he was the other clone's commanding officer.

He punched the request into his terminal, then paused. Confused by what it told him. "Huh. That's odd."

"What is? What's odd?" Demanded Zero-Zero-Three.

"It says here the Vinyl Hood's been decommissioned." He explained.

"That can't be right." Zero-Zero-Three insisted. "The Vinyl Hood is the flagship of a cabinet Lord. They don't just decommission those out of the black on a whim."

The only time in his own living memory that Zero-Zero-Three could recall a cabinet Lord's flagship being decommissioned was after that cabinet Lord had died.

Remembering that, a horrifying thought occurred to Zero-Zero-Three. Lord Hode was very old. The oldest clone he knew of. He had never known a Horde clone to die of 'old age' before. Almost all clones were killed. 'Natural causes' was not a thing within the Horde military machine. But if anyone was going to die of 'natural causes' it would be the oldest one.

He looked back at the logistics officer. "Does it give a reason?"

"No, Captain." The other answered. "I don't have the appropriate clearance for that. And it's not pertinent to my duties."

"Let me see." Zero-Zero-Three pushed the other officer out of the way and keyed his own clearance and access codes into the terminal. Apparently, as a Territory Captain and former-Force Captain working under the direct command of a cabinet Lord, he still did not have the appropriate clearance either. Zero-Zero-Three growled in the back of his throat, baring his teeth at the screen. How dare it deny him.

Next to him, the logistics officer seemed unconcerned. He sipped a mug of caff –an alien beverage from another world that was strong and unpleasant in flavor, but high in caffeine. "Are you done, Captain? Because I would very much like to get back to work now."

Zero-Zero-Three snarled at him too, but said nothing. Storming away, he returned to his own duties as ruling Imperial agent of the system. He had other things to concern him besides what may or may not have happened to the Lord who abandoned him here –even if his Lord's fate was very concerning.

As he watched the Territory Captain stomp away, the logistics officer just continued to sip his caff.

…

Responsibilities as a Territory Captain kept Zero-Zero-Three busy. While the decommissioning of the Vinyl Hood did concern him greatly, he could not afford spend too much time thinking on it. He didn't have the appropriate clearance to inquire about it, so there was no point in trying. All he'd succeed in doing would be to irritate his Lord –assuming Hode was even still alive to annoy. Zero-Zero-Three didn't know, and that was also a concern he tried not to spend too much time thinking on.

Then a memo crossed his desk informing the Territory Captain –him- that the Velvet Glove, the Emperor's flagship was enroute to the system and due to arrive at the planet within the week.

Zero-Zero-Three almost fainted when he read that –and it had nothing to do with his defects.

The Velvet Glove! The Emperor's flagship! Was Horde Prime coming? He rarely entrusted his personal ship and pride of the Horde space fleet to anyone else. Horde Prime, the Emperor of the Known Universe was coming to his system, to his planet.

In a bit of a panic, Zero-Zero-Three opened up a conference call between all the pertinent departments. Himself, his chief security officer, the wing squadron leader, communications secretary, and the asshat from logistics (whom slurped at a mug of caff loudly through out the whole video conference).

'Within the week' meant 'less than a week'. Horde Prime did not give them much time to prepare, arrange accommodations appropriate for the Emperor of the Known Universe, organize a suitable welcoming with all the necessary displays of loyalty and reverence. As Lord Hode taught him all those years ago, that's all it was. A show. A show of loyalty. A show of power. Zero-Zero-Three didn't need to be shown how powerful his Big Brother was. But he desperately wanted his Brother to know how much he revered and adored his Emperor and genetic template.

All Horde clones revered Horde Prime. He was their creator. The Horde did not have gods, but Horde Prime was definitely 'god-like' to them.

Standing on the covered platform of the spacedock, Zero-Zero-Three felt a lump of nervousness form in his throat.

The last report, from when the ships came out of hyperspace, was that it was not just the Velvet Glove and its escorts. It was the Velvet Glove, the Linen Cloak, the Lycra Pant, and the Leather Vest. Three of the four cabinet Lords' flagships. All but the Vinyl Hood, which Zero-Zero-Three already knew was decommissioned.

Why would the Emperor and his whole cabinet –minus Hode- come to this little world he'd been marooned on? This little world who's only trait of value was that it was an almost equal distance between Capitol Core and Old Revenan.

Zero-Zero-Three stood nervously at parade rest. He was all the more aware of how tight the high collar of his uniform was. He wanted to reach up a talon to unclasp one of the fasteners and allow himself some breathing room, but he the highest ranking officer on the planet, it was his duty to greet the Emperor's party. He was about to meet the Emperor of the Known Universe, actually meet him, not just glimpse a triangle of fabric from his cape from across the room. Zero-Zero-Three was going to see him. He did not want to look disheveled in the presence of his Emperor. His Brother. The Brother of all.

The capitol ships remained in orbit over the planet. Horde Prime and his cabinet came down in shuttles. Three shuttles and one batwing painted a non-standard shade of red –that one would be Lord Hordwing, it was said he was a Wing Captain before being elevated to cabinet Lord and refused to let other brothers pilot for him.

Lord Red Hord's shuttle landed first.

But the hatch did not even open until Emperor Prime landed and exited his.

Only then did Lord Red Hord and Lord Hordren disembark from their own crafts and join their Emperor on the platform.

Sinking down to one knee, eyes on the floor, the flat palm of his right hand going over his heart, Zero-Zero-Three executed the bow he spent less than a week practicing. Every clone was programed with knowledge of the correct etiquette for meeting their Emperor and Brother. But none of them ever felt the need to practice said etiquette. There was over three billion of them, and only one Horde Prime. Most clones went their whole lives and never met their Brother.

Zero-Zero-Three kept his eyes focused on the ground between them, waiting for the order to rise. Just within the peripheral of his vision were the steel-toes of Prime's boots, and the faintest whispering of the hem of a green cape. It was about as much of the Emperor as the clone got to see back in the Grand Throne Room aboard the Velvet Glove so many years ago.

"You are the Territory Captain in charge of this world." Prime announced. It was not a question. Horde Prime probably had legions of aids to brief him on what Captains were in charge of what planets or troops. The Emperor knew his rank, his serial number, who assigned him his post, and how long he'd been installed on this world.

"Captain Zero-Zero-Three, Your Grace." He answered without lifting his eyes.

"A First Row." Prime commented.

A clone hatched from one of the tanks in the first row of a hundred. There were fifty crèches in total on Capital Core, each crèche held nine-hundred tanks, all divided into nine long rows of one hundred each. The clones in the first one hundred tanks were the first to be hatched in any crèche. There was also a saying about First Rows. 'First out of the tank, first to die'. There was no formally compiled evidence to show whether this was true or not. All clone troopers had high mortality rates. Soldiers tended to die frequently. That was why the cloning factory produced so many. To keep up with turn-over.

The planet he was stationed on had completed one of its local years. However, planetary years were based on planetary rotations around their local sun(s). Standard Imperial Years were measured off a different system and tended to be longer than the average planetary year. Zero-Zero-Three answered in Imperial Years.

"I am eleven SIY." He still kept his eyes down. The Emperor had no given him leave to rise yet.

"A long lifespan." Did Prime sound impressed? Zero-Zero-Three hoped his Emperor was Impressed. Most clones did not make it past their eight SIY.

"That's what I've been told, Your Grace." Zero-Zero-Three didn't know what else he was supposed to say to a statement like that. When he learned of his condition and the handicaps that came with it, he didn't expect to live much longer beyond that. Now, here he was, meeting the Emperor.

Did Hode know this would happen? 'Preform your duties here well, and you just might find yourself elevated above a Force Captain.' Was that what was happening here? Lord Hode was gone and Prime needed a new clone to fill his cabinet. But… if that were true, then Lord Hode was…

Zero-Zero-Three felt his heart hammer against his ribcage, and it had nothing to do with his defects.

"Rise, Little Brother." Commanded Prime.

He called him 'Little Brother'. Zero-Zero-Three was not prepared to the fuzzy, light-headed feeling when the Emperor of the Know Universe –whom was Brother to all- called him 'Little Brother'. He was almost… giddy? Was giddiness a feeling Horde clones could experience? If so, that's what Zero-Zero-Three felt. Horde Prime called him 'Little Brother'!

He kept his eyes down as he rose from his bow. Trailing up the Emperor's body. Steel-toed boots that melted seamlessly into metal greaves. Utilitarian combat tights, nothing fancy or pretentious Horde Prime was a warrior first and a ruler second. One arm hung casually at his side, the other hand rested casually on his hip. Both covered in light plate armor going all the way down to the tips of his talons. It gave the illusion that his arms and hands were made of steel and not flesh. A chest that was lightly armored, the breastplate emblazoned with the red-winged emblem of the Horde Empire. A cape of bright green falling from the armor of his shoulders. Hesitantly, Zero-Zero-Three raised his eyes up to look at the Emperor's face.

He was expecting to see his own face looking back at him. After all, he had the same face as all his other brothers. They were all clones of the same man. This man. Their face was his face.

Prime was taller than Zero-Zero-Three. Taller than all his clones. They were all the same height. But Prime stood almost a head above Zero-Zero-Three. His face was older than he expected too. As old as Hode looked, in fact. With more lines under his eyes, and coming down from his bottom lip, creases on his forehead and over his ears. And scars! Zero-Zero-Three never imagined his genetic template having scars. He never thought anything in the universe could harm his Brother. He was a perfect being! How could he have been injured to have scars?

One long diagonal gash starting from just above his ear on the left side, and cutting down across his face to end at his chin on the right. The scar looked old. Rough skin knitted together unevenly, and darkened with age.

Zero-Zero-Three didn't realize he was staring until Prime spoke again.

"Show me this planet you've been holding for me." He commanded.

"Yes, Your Grace." Zero-Zero-Three preformed an overly theatrical about-face and was about to lead his Emperor off of the spacedock platform.

But before he could take even one step, Red Hord mentioned, "Hordwing is still flying around."

Freezing in his step, Zero-Zero-Three experienced a brief moment of panic. Did he just offend his Emperor and the cabinet by forgetting and excluding Lord Hordwing? Turning his head, the clone looked past the Emperor and Lords to see if Hordwing's red-painted batwing was coming in to dock.

Hordwing appeared to be doing loops and barrel-rolls over the city.

Horde Prime did not even look back to see what his third cabinet Lord was doing in his personal, one-man, fighter. "Leave him be. He will tire himself out, and be presentable by dinner." To Zero-Zero-Three he said, "Lead the way, Captain."

In a bit of a daze, the clone turned back around and began leading the Imperial party without actually knowing where they were going or what he should show them. Zero-Zero-Three wasn't expecting to have to make any decisions during this visit. He was expecting the Emperor or the cabinet to give him his orders. They were his superiors. What did he know about what they wanted?

He decided to begin by showing them the space port. It was the only redeeming thing about this planet.

Trade.

It was equal distances between Capital Core and Old Revenan. Right in the center of the Empire. Center of the Empire, and center of trade. Everything passed through here. Synthetic embryotic fluid for cloning, coaxium, taydenite, and spice. Raw materials like iron, carbon, the steel that was made from them, copper, silver, gold. Clean water. Unprocessed food resources like wheat, barley, rice, quinoa, corn, and the ration bars that were made from them. Also textiles like silks, wool, linen, velvet, vinyl, leather, and lycra. Tiles, and bricks, and glass. Cement, plasters, industrial space adhesives, epoxies.

The spaceport was booming with activity.

Hundreds of different ship designs, crewed by thousands of different kinds of aliens. Loading, unloading, haggling with yet other aliens. A busy center of commerce, teeming with activity.

Prime's expression remained impassive as Zero-Zero-Three pointed out the security check points he added. He was a little reluctant to point out the other non-military changes he'd made, such as a care center specifically for the offspring of those that worked at the docks. Since the native culture placed a high importance on their offspring, they could work for the Empire, and work calmly and more efficiently knowing their children were nearby. Also scheduling breaks and mealtimes, as well as setting caps for how long work shifts could be. Lord Hode tried to teach him that not all races had the stamina that was engineered into Horde clones. Other races needed to pace themselves. Other races needed breaks. Other races needed to stop and sleep after so much activity. (It was a lesson Zero-Zero-Three was beginning to understand himself, as his defects required him to rest more often and consume more calories than his brothers to keep up his energy.)

But then Prime directly asked Zero-Zero-Three how he managed to, not only recover after the revolt, but actually improve on the numbers from the previous Territory Captain prior to said revolt. So, Zero-Zero-Three told him. Showed his the child-care center, the breakroom, the workers only lounge, the barracks for those that did not have pre-existing homes to go back to after shifts. All the while, Prime's face remained an impassive mask. Impossible to read. Not even the curtesy of ear movements to clue the nervous Captain in on his Emperor's thoughts.

From behind Prime, Lord Hordren asked how Zero-Zero-Three could trust the natives to work the shipping yards with so many freedoms so soon after a rebellion had just been squelched. All the changes he implemented looked an awful lot like privileges given to worlds and peoples that remained loyal. What had these creatures done to earn such difference?

Zero-Zero-Three paused, feeling nervous again with all three pairs of eyes on him now. Not just Lord Hordren, but Lord Red Hord and the Emperor himself. A cabinet Lord had asked him a question. He shouldn't hesitate too long in answering.

"Incentive." He blurted out. Then quickly scrambled to give a more eloquent and detailed explanation. "I was not originally a Territory Captain. Before this, I was a Force Captain. I commanded Your Grace's military and kept peace in the Empire. I have put down more rebellions than I can count-" Zero-Zero-Three knew the exact number of rebellions he'd put down since becoming a Force Captain "-and one consistent theme between them all seemed to be that the rebels felt they had more incentive to resist than to accept Imperial rule. Giving them more incentive to remain obedient reduces the chances of rebellion."

Red Hord tapped his chin in thought. He used to be a Force Captain before he was a cabinet Lord. Zero-Zero-Three knew that because he knew Red Hord before he was 'Lord Red Hord'. Back when the other clone was just Captain Four-Zero-Eight. He wondered what opinion another Force Captain might have.

But then Red Hord glanced to Prime, looking to the Emperor for the final word. Hordren was also looking to Prime, and Zero-Zero-Three wondered if they knew something of their Brother's thoughts already. They were cabinet Lords. They were closest to the Emperor. If anyone could guess what Prime was thinking, it would be them.

Zero-Zero-Three felt his ears droop when it occurred to him that Prime might disapprove of how lenient he was with this world. Should he have been stricter? Impose an earlier curfew. Have more frequent sweeps of the city. More surveillance and security at the ports and docks. Did Prime think Zero-Zero-Three was irresponsible and negligent. Or worse, lazy. A failure. Useless.

Zero-Zero-Three did not know how to hold a planet.

There was an uncomfortably long pause in which no one said anything and everyone was looking at Prime.

Finally, the Emperor turned, almost as if he'd lost interest in the space port and the shipping docks. "Be carful, Captain, a being might not have the 'incentive' to remain obedient to you if they get the chance to experience something… else."

Red Hord and Hordren looked momentarily tense.

Zero-Zero-Three blinked, confused. Prime placed so much weight on 'someone else', he wondered if there was another meaning in that statement that he was just too ignorant or too much of a 'slow learner' to understand. His ears drooped just a fraction before he caught the action and consciously forced the muscles in his ears to stand up.

"We'll have to wait to see the long-term results of these policies of yours." Emerald green cape swirling around his ankles, Prime moved to the corridors that would eventually take them out of the shipping dock complex. "I am board of menial laborers. Show me your administrative bases."

So, Zero-Zero-Three took the Imperial party to the capitol building. He drove the landspeeder (that was adapted for urban use) himself.

Hordwing's custom red batwing dove low and zoomed over the streets and between buildings multiple times as they drove. The first couple of times this happened it startled Zero-Zero-Three enough that he thought he might have to take evasive action to protect the Emperor.

But Prime and the rest of the cabinet seemed unaffected. After the third time –when Zero-Zero-Three was just starting to acclimate to the distraction- Red Hord slouched in his seat, massaging the side of his head, and muttered, "By the Host, 'Wing, haven't you calmed down yet?"

For half a moment, Zero-Zero-Three was about to ask what it was that Lord Hordwing might need to calm down from. But reminded himself that Hordwing was a cabinet Lord and it was not any of his business. Then he remembered that the Lord used to be a Wing Captain before he was elevated to the cabinet. Wing-pilots were just… that way.

For the rest of the drive, Zero-Zero-Three tried to ignore the bright red batwing that seemed determined to panic every single being within the city –native, visiting alien, and clone trooper alike.

Overall, Zero-Zero-Three's administrative and clerical practices were not all that different from any other Territory Captain's. All clones were programmed the same in the tank. They all thought, more-or-less, the same, and all organized things more-or-less the same. Horde Prime lost interest in touring the capitol building even quicker than he grew board of the spaceport and shipping docks.

There was one gratifying moment, however, as the party was passing the work station of that asshat logistics officer who slurped his caff loudly. He was sucking on his mug of caff, making those obnoxiously loud sipping sounds, when he noticed the Emperor just walked by him and he spilled his mug of –hot- caff all over his lap. Hearing him holler in pain made Zero-Zero-Three the happiest he'd been all week.

Prime's unreadable stone expression did not change. By the end of the tour, Zero-Zero-Three didn't know if he'd done well in his position, or disappointed his Emperor in all categories.

"I see you've kept the government up to standards." Was all the Emperor said, and the clone decided to take that as a complement. At least, he did not disappoint. He was 'up to standards'. "You may show me to what passes for comfortable quarters on this world then return to your duties. But I expect you to join us for dinner, Captain."

"Your Grace?" Zero-Zero-Three had to make sure he heard that right. Horde Prime, the Emperor of the Known Universe, and Brother to all, had invited him to share a meal? He felt slightly light headed again and had no idea if it was from his defects or not.

"Do not make me repeat myself, Captain, I am not an indulgent man." Prime informed him.

"No, of course not, Your Grace!" Zero-Zero-Three quickly shut up and showed Prime to the rooms he'd had furnished as private living quarters for the Emperor.

The communique only said the Emperor was coming. It did not mention that three of four cabinet Lords would all be in attendance, and so Zero-Zero-Three hadn't prepared anything for them. Once Prime was settled, enjoying the privacy of his rooms, the clone rushed to get three other rooms cleaned, furnished, and ready for Hordren, Hordwing, and Red Hord.

It was a whirlwind of barking orders, motion, carted furniture, flying linens, and many varied alien expletives that Zero-Zero-Three had never heard before. He warned each and every being that used such vulgar language –both alien and clone trooper alike- that such profanity would not be tolerated while the Emperor was in residence. This was the only warning. Make sure everyone else knew to comport themselves with dignity and respect. If he had to repeat himself, there would be no other warnings, Zero-Zero-Three would start taking tongues.

Everything was finally ready by the time Hordwing's batwing finally landed in the courtyard outside the capitol building. One pronged wing of the fighter almost decapitating the fountain statue that Lord Hode had made Zero-Zero-Three study when he first arrived on this world.

He rushed down to greet the cabinet Lord properly.

Red Hord was already down there by the time Zero-Zero-Three came running up.

He stopped short. It looked like the two were talking and Zero-Zero-Three did not want to interrupt what might be an important –if informal- discussion between two cabinet members.

Still snippets of the conversation couldn't help but drift to his ears. All Horde clones had excellent hearing. The pointed shape and long length of their ears didn't miss much.

"…I do my best thinking in a cockpit." Lord Hordwing seemed to be explaining. "I was thinking about what the Old Ghoul was saying before-"

He cut himself off abruptly, noticing Zero-Zero-Three there.

"Do you have something to do, trooper?" Hordwing snapped.

Coming up to the pair properly, Zero-Zero-Three gave the two Lords the exact same bow he always gave to his own Lord. Bending at the waist to the appropriate depth. Holding it for the appropriate length. Then straitening. "Lord, Hordwing, I am Captain Zero-Zero-Three, the Territory Captain in charge of this world."

"Hode's favorite." Hordwing looked him up and down.

Zero-Zero-Three felt a little shock run through him as being called Hode's 'favorite'. That couldn't have been true. If he really was his Lord's favorite, why had he left him here? Why hadn't he kept his by his side? And where was Lord Hode anyway? No one had yet offered an explanation for his absence. Which left Zero-Zero-Three's mind to wander, and his mind could wander to some bleak places.

Whatever Hordwing saw from his once-over examination, he did not seem impressed. "This is the one? He doesn't look dangerous."

Resisting the urge to fidget like a newly hatched clone, Zero-Zero-Three felt insulted. He was a soldier made from the template of the most powerful being in the universe. Trained in combat and military craft since before he could form conscious thought. He was a machine for conquest through violence. He was dangerous. He was exactly as dangerous as any of his brothers. Exactly as dangerous as Hordwing was.

Hordwing offered him a second glance. "You're thinner than the average trooper. Did you used to be a pilot before the Old Ghoul banished you here?"

Over average, batwing pilots tended to be a bit leaner and less muscular than the average clone trooper. Their gods did not make the same demands on their bodies, and so they received different physical training. Now Zero-Zero-Three looked Hordwing over.

He was wearing the zero-suit of a pilot, all black with the winged emblem of the Horde emblazoned on the chest. But, like all officers of consequence, he had augmented the look to suit his own tastes. The red wind raising up to the shoulders and turning into stripes that traveled all the way down the arms to the tips of the fingers of his gloves. Hordwing was slight of build compared to Red Hord. He kept up his pilot's physique even as a cabinet Lord. But he was still thicker and more muscles than Zero-Zero-Three.

Perhaps Hode was right. Perhaps he should alter his uniform and armor to conceal his falling body mass.

"I am unaccustomed to the duties of a Territory Captain." He answered honestly. He did not know how to hold a planet. "I find that I sometimes forget my standard ration intake while trying to complete them."

"So, you're thoughtless and irresponsible." Concluded the Lord.

This time Zero-Zero-Three definitely, definitely was insulted.

Hordwing grabbed Red Hord by the arm and brushed past the other clone. "Prime will be expecting up for dinner and he'll want me showered and dressed."

Glancing back at Zero-Zero-Three, Red Hord offered him an almost sympathetic smile. "Our Brother does not eat ration bars. You might want to prepare your stomach for unprocessed foods."

…

Zero-Zero-Three was glad for the warning.

He had no idea how one 'prepared their stomach' to eat food it was unaccustomed to, but at least he wasn't surprised when an alien server –not one of his own, a servant from the Velvet Glove- placed a cut of unseasoned poultry and steamed green vegetables in front of him.

Looking up at those seated around the table, Zero-Zero-Three felt so out of place. The Emperor of the Known Universe seated at the head of the table. Lord Hordren, administrator of the Fourth Division seated at his right hand. Next to Hordren was Hordwing, administrator of the First Division. Then Red Hord, administrator of the Second Division. The most powerful beings in the universe (minus Hode, whom no one had yet said why he was absent) seated at one table together. What was a humble Captain like Zero-Zero-Three doing here?

No one started eating until Horde Prime took his first bite, and it was noted that Prime's meat was dripping with sauce and seasoned with herbs. He, it seemed, was not overpowered by flavor in his food. But then, he was a perfect being. Perhaps perfect beings were just unbothered in general.

The cabinet Lords all nibbled at their own plates and –to spite the lack of seasoning- did not appear to be enjoying their meals as much as Prime was enjoying his.

Was Prime enjoying his? His expression remained neutral. Unreadable. Passive. Almost apathetic. As if he didn't even care that his kitchen staff that he brought with him off his ship went out of their way to tailor the plates of the Emperor and each of his Lords, and his guest to their pallets.

Cutting himself a conservatively sized bite, Zero-Zero-Three brought the meat to his mouth and chewed on it slowly. The texture was not unpleasant. The flesh was tender, but juicy. Cooked enough to be done all the way through, but not overcooked so as to be dry. It was very well prepared. That was not the problem. The problem was the flavor. Too much flavor. Even unseasoned, the meat of the bird had a taste all its own that was much, much stronger than what Zero-Zero-Three was used to. Than the negative-flavor of the ration bars issued by the Horde military commissary. Zero-Zero-Three was not used to it, and he quickly decided that he did not like it. He wondered if it would insult Prime if he didn't eat the rest of it. One bite was more than enough for him.

"How does it compare?" Asked Prime from over his own plate.

"It is not what I'm used to." Zero-Zero-Three answered honestly.

The Emperor seemed unsurprised. The vast majority of his clones preferred the processed rations he manufactured for them over real cooking made from fresh ingredients.

"And being a Territory Captain instead of a Force Captain, how does that compare?" Prime continued.

Zero-Zero-Three frowned, not sure what kind of answer his Emperor wanted. "It is very different." He finally decided was both true, but also a neutral enough answer to not offend anyone at the table. "Half as active and half as exciting than being a Force Captain, but somehow twice as stressful."

There was a beat of silence.

Then Prime's mouth cracked into a facsimile of a smile. Not quite a true-smile, but something adjacent to one. It was the first actual expression he'd seen the Emperor make. Setting his form down, he rapped his steel-tipped talons on the tablecloth. "That's a clever way to describe it. I did not know you were clever, Captain."

Zero-Zero-Three flushed. Ears darkening a deeper shade of blue, face feeling warm. The Emperor of the Known Universe, his genetic template, his Brother thought he was clever.

"What you have done on this world and with the shipping docks was also quite clever." Prime continued. "Appealing to local values to keep them in line. It's something Hode would have done." It was the first time anyone had mentioned Lord Hode by name since the party arrived, and Zero-Zero-Three couldn't help but notice that it was said in past tense. "I wonder, are you actually clever, or are you just copying his strategies?"

"Your Grace?" He asked, unsure how to answer that question.

"I remember you." Horde Prime informed him. "You jumped to defend Hode at Horrin's trial. You insulted your Lord in front of his Emperor by presuming he needed defending. Yet, Hode still favored you for many years. Why?"

"Well, I-" Zero-Zero-Three had no idea. He had no idea why Hode seemed to show a special interest in him over his other Force Captains, and he had no idea when Prime wanted from this line of questions. It was almost like her were… looking for something. But Zero-Zero-Three couldn't imagine what. He was just a clone, as unremarkable as any of his brothers. Unless… unless Prime somehow had heard about his defects and had come to investigate the flaw himself. To keep the cloning factory and crèches from repeating the same mistake. Zero-Zero-Three swallowed a lump of nerves. "I always thought it was because I was good at my job."

"No other reason?" Prime pressed.

The three cabinet Lords all sat, straight backed in their chairs. Almost tense. Nervous.

Prime was definitely fishing for something.

"I don't know!" Zero-Zero-Three blurted out. All of his insecurities and resentment of being left behind on this world bubbling to the surface and trembling out as a quiver in his voice. "I don't know why Hode left me here. I was a good soldier, and I was a good officer. I took my orders, I fulfilled my missions, I brought back victory. I served the Empire. I was ready to die for the Empire. But then he left me here. Dumped me far away from him without an explanation."

Leaning back in his chair, Prime steepled his fingers and regarded Zero-zero-Three from across the table. "Hode did not confide in you."

Blinking, the clone realized how ridiculous he must have sounded. Lord Hode was a member of the Emperor's cabinet. Why would he share the inner workings of his mind, his deeper thoughts, or motivations with a Force Captain that could die on any mission. Or worse, he captured and interrogated.

Lowering his eyes, Zero-Zero-Three muttered, "Lord Hode kept his own mind, Your Grace."

"You don't know about Hode." Continued Prime.

With his eyes down, Zero-Zero-Three couldn't see it, but the three cabinet Lords all exchanged glances.

"No, Your Grace, I guess I don't." Admitted Zero-Zero-Three. "I don't even know why he's not here with you right now, when the other Lords are."

This time, Zero-Zero-Three was looking up and did see the glances the three Lords gave each other. But he had no idea what they might mean. Just something significant.

"Lord Hode is dead." Emperor Prime informed flatly, without fanfare. Not an announcement, just a statement of fact. "He was the oldest clone to live on record and he expired from age. His cabinet seat is empty, and I am without someone to oversee the Third Division."

Mouth hanging open, staring at Horde Prime, Zero-Zero-Three just gaped.

"Zero-Zero-Three, Force Captain and Territory Captain, will you serve me as faithfully and diligently as you served your Lord?"

It was all Zero-Zero-Three could do to stammer out gibberish. The moment was so surreal. In the space of a heart beat he'd learned that Lord Hode was dead, then was being offered his late Lord's seat on the cabinet. This had to be a dream. This could not be real. Between his cloning defects and the dangerous life of a Horde soldier, Zero-Zero-Three never believed he might live long enough to even fantasize about a cabinet seat.

"Do not make me repeat the question." Prime warned. "Perhaps you are not as clever as I originally thought."

"Yes!" He finally got out. "I mean. I will serve you even more diligently, Your Grace." He offered a salute. "It would be my privilege."

As he said it, Zero-Zero-Three couldn't help but remember what Hode told him at their parting. 'Preform your duties here well, and you just might find yourself elevated above a Force Captain.' The only rank above Force Captain was cabinet Lord. He knew. Somehow, and Zero-Zero-Three had no idea how, but Hode knew this would happen.

#hordak #Horde Prime #ocs #hordwing #red hord #the evil horde #horde empire #spop #she-ra #fan fiction #hordak's past

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