#yeah kind of a lazy post but life’s been… eventful

[madbard]

I wonder if Odysseus will feel uncomfortable about Athena and Telemachus’ friendship at first. Imagine getting home after decades of hardship, only to discover that your son has befriended the person who abandoned you.

After everything they went through together, and everything they went through after parting, would he be glad that Telemachus had some level of guidance? Or would he hate the idea of that cold-blooded goddess of war, the one who abandoned him to misery for choosing not to kill, having any influence over the life of his son?

[voxisdaddy]

Do Better

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Pairing: Vox x Reader

Type: Headcanons + Drabble | ANGST

Featuring: Velvette

C/TW: swearing, suggested one night stands but barely, use of (Y/N), use of the word “gown” but reader written as GN. Kinda cheesy (sorry). Also not good (again, sorry).

In which Vox thinks he could do better and dumps you.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Vox was an insecure person at heart. He hid it with his egotistical asshole self but most people who knew him on some personal level knew that his ego was fragile and his insecurities were a seemingly endless list.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ One thing he had remained secure on though was you. The diamond of his eye, the light in the dark, the one thing that kept him in line even at his most vulnerable and defensive.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Of course, that security started to crack the more his power and influence grew. He kept you by his side a lot as his plus one to any event that himself and other overlords were often attending too. Product launches, gala’s, balls, big business parties, ect ect.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ However private or public your relationship was before you started being escorted around on him arm at these events, you certainly had the publics attention now.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ At first, Vox tried to keep anything negative said about you and your relationship offline as much as possible—even enlisting the help of Velvette at some point. He didn’t need or want any low life sinners and hellborns disrespecting his s/o and relationship.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ But again, his ego is fragile which makes getting to his insecurities all the more easy to access. As he deleted as much negative opinions on you and your relationship as he could, he found his mind wondering back to the comments. To the threads people made, to the posts, memes, ect

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ He’s a big, successful hotshot. He’s one of the most wealthiest and influential people in the Pride ring. You however? Yeah, safe to say Vox is out of your league. You both knew this but never seriously acknowledged it. When it was acknowledged, it was Vox comforting you and promising and that no matter what you’d always be equals—regardless of who’s bringing home the dough.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ You noticed that began to change however. It was decently subtle at first. Vox wanting you to wear more glamorous clothing at high profile events. Okay that’s fine… it is appropriate to look high class in these social events. But then he wanted to change your at home comfy wardrobe to bring more…fashionably rich? Like you’re some basketball spouse who’s always gonna be on camera and needs to look the absolute best, wealthiest, and professionally put together person—even on a lazy Friday evening!

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Then their was how he wanted you talk, how he wanted you to walk, how he wanted you to act, ect ect

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ This of course upset you but what really ticked you off was when you’d find out about his use of his hypnotic eye. He’s always promised to never use it on you. And you always believed him. But things were different now. Too different and it wasn’t a good kind. At least for your relationship.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ When the subject was approached however, instead of talking it out like adults and listening to each other, a bigger rift was formed.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ He dumped you.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ You couldn’t even question if you were good enough because you both knew the answer; you weren’t good enough.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ You refused to cry as you packed up your things from your shared bedroom. As much as you wanted to, you knew what kind of man Vox was to people who weren’t his beloved—of which you no longer held that title. He’s likely smirking as he watches you pack up, every monitor in his office showcasing a live video feed of his room. You tried to avoid showing your face to the visible cameras but Vox has always been a sneaky bastard—he probably has a couple hidden about.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ In truth he was smirking behind the cameras. How could he not? Look at you… looking all sad. It makes him chuckle.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ You didn’t think this would last eternity, did you? He’s Vox; CEO, celebrity status, and one of the most fearsome overlords in all of Pride. He’s all about ditching the old and embracing the new. It’s time for a change.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ That’s what he’d tell himself to hype himself up some days.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ He’s a great manipulator, so much so that he manipulated himself into thinking he’s just fine without you. You made no difference whether you were there or not. VoxTek is thriving as usual, all their creative and business endeavours are working out, he’s at the top of his game, everyone either wants to be him or fuck him—lives great. And he’s single now too!

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ He put that to good use.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Only no matter how much tail he got, how good it may feel to not be so alone in bed all the time, how much it fed some part of his ego…it didn’t feel like he was living the life.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Well of course he is! He’s rich, famous, respected, feared, and attractive. What more can anyone ask for?

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Sometimes he stalks your new home with his cameras. You know, to see if you’re coming home safe at night.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Your new place is small. It’s definitely a downgrade from the penthouse you used to live in with Vox.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Vox tries to use that fact as a reason to smirk and chuckle at how you’ve fallen—but it feels so forced and empty. So a laugh kind of comes out pathetically as he looks over the screens with a distant and sad look in his eyes.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Are those the groceries you’re able to afford? That’s…not as much. Though it could be because you’re single and just eating for one, right?

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ …right?

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ As your door locks, and the lights turn off, and Vox—through your phone—checks you’ve gone to bed, he powers off in his chair.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒ Please…don’t be in love with someone else.

Velvette huffs as she turns off her phone. Stupid marketing team—making her look like an idiot sometimes. She shakes her head before stepping off the elevator pad.

She glances at the comedically large monitor set up and rolls her eyes. Seems he’s fallen asleep here yet again.

“Always making me clean up your mess.” The doll grumbles, throwing the empty takeout containers into a trash can. Vox by this point is already powered off to sleep for the night though, but she knows him enough that he’s likely recording everything that’s happening so she holds back on berating him as he sleeps. She does not want to deal with a prissy Vox in the morning.

Velvette turns his large chair around, intending to grab him and return him to his room, but stops. On his screen is a video feed. Well, not exactly a video feed. Is this…?

“No fucking way.” The fashionista gasps to herself quietly.

She’s heard that sometimes Vox’s dreams will play on his screen but has never actually seen for herself. She’s had to lug Vox to his bed a handful of times since he dumped you but all those times the screens always just been turned off. Vox doesn’t dream much, he just powers off and sleeps until he boots up. But it does happen apparently.

The pinkette stares at Vox’s screen, curious to know what this threatening overlord dreams of. More money? More ways to hurt to people? Defeating and killing Alastor? To Velvette’s surprise though, a familiar face pops up.

It’s them.

(Y/n), was it?

Velvette didn’t really interact with you much. She had her own empire to run and Vox was weirdly protective of you. She knew of your relationship and the break up but never cared to really get into it. As much as she lives for the drama, anything involving her fellow Vee’s was just a headache so she didn’t usually bother.

She knew he was hung up on you. It wasn’t hard to tell no matter how much Vox tried to make it seem like everything’s fine. Locking yourself in your office and being too afraid to go into your penthouse because “(Y/n)’s not there”—a drunk confession he grumbled during a drunk night out with the Vee’s—is not subtle,Vox.

“Hey—that looks like a gown I designed.” Velvette muses to herself.

For on the screen, the very dream Vox is happily lost in right now, is the very person he dumped 3 months ago, wearing a beautiful wedding gown.

They’re wrapped up in Vox’s arms and he does not seem like he wants to ever let them ago.

If only Vox never let you go.

TMI—so I’m like a depressed person and it’s hard to write angst when all I feel at my lowest is literally nothing. Sorry. Tried my best lol

[ganondoodle]

not sure if i have talked about this before but i also really hate how gorons are treated in totk

they are one of my fav and i know they are unpopular and were always kinda slot into the "big fat stupid rock people" role, but i do think totk is one of or the worst case yet; all regions get some life threatening event (ignoring how stupid it is to put the issues you need to solve in the exact same spots as in botw with most changes being also reversible so the actual changes to the environment of the map are largely some small rocks sprinkled about) and they get .. drugs (haha)

like i dont wanna downplay anything but their problem being that they are obsessed with eating (>_>) some drugged rock that makes them mean and lazy (even if the reason is fine ... if i remember right and didnt make up that they had to dig elsewhere for food bc of death mountain losing its lava flow, the execution is my problem -like the vast majority of this game is a ok to great idea with passable to horrible execution of it) and arent even a danger to you (which i thought at first when you approach goronia the normal path and two gorons start to walk towards you if you come near saying creepy shit- i thought they are gonna attack me or lure me into a trap but again .. only to find them wanting me to pay to be let through (i think??) and all other drugged ones are largely just ... eating or lying around ........

like it would have been cool if that drugged rock stuff made them actually agressive, like the friendly easy going rock people being turned into something akin to a starved animal after eating poison bc they were at risk of starving sounds alot more .. impactful and scary (even if it would still be about food, which idk about you but the only kind of fatter npcs, even if non human, being made all about food is .. hm, aside from other possibly bad implications from this, but im trying to roll with the idea of it)

and then poor yuno being put in a stupid (stereotypical?) wrestler outfit and hes LITERALLY being mindcontrolled is so ...... ugh (again, idea is ok but- you get it) and then him being told by two CHILDREN that that obviously not zelda might not be zelda and it not only being the only time that idea is openly said until its "revealed" that hhhwhat?? it was a fake one?? in the mid battle of the "story" and he doesnt even believe it (both bc haha hes stupid and cant understand such a thing and also link not being able to tell anyone ... even his friends ....... ) is just so disrespectful, its ok not to be the smartest guy in the room (tho in totk pretty much anyone is made so much dumber for no reason...) but it being so clearly the gorons that get treated like this just annoys me so much, you know no one of the other races would be treated like that

(not to reach a little but it also plays into how koga is portrayed, like i love him to death and there are things that largely the gameplay only implies of him not being that incompetent, but hes clearly meant to be laughing material, the boss of the band of 'evil' assassins being lazy, incompetent and 'childish' is funny right?? and although i hc that the either super thin or super beefed up appearance of yiga members are just an appearance like their disguises of normal people to seem more unified and less indentifyable- that is still only a hc and then koga being the only character that is visibly fatter (aside from ... the gorons and .. king dorephan??) it puts a pebble more onto the pile of pebbles of little annoyances)

also yuno saying, post mid "story" battle, that no one actually knows anything about ganondorf aside from him being evil and it going complete ingored and never mentioned again feels like the type of thing a games does when they are critized for soemthing and instead of changing it they put a line in the game essentially saying "yeah we know but we are not gonna do aynthing about it lol" (like thinking of the line ashe from league of legends, whos design has been critized alot bc shes running around in a stupid tiny dress in the snow lands of their world, got when her dialog was updated that made her say sth like "yes im wearing a little dress in the forever winter land, deal with it lol" which perhaps was supposed to be a joke but it just feels like a "lol we know, fuck you")

[darkdrin6]

The thirst to write some crap prevailed over laziness, hooray! Or it was spring that breathed a thirst for life into us, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that some time ago we came across a very controversial post from @evilbihan. The post.

We agreed with other posts by this author regarding MK1, but here we still want to object on a number of points. It is inconvenient to write all your notes in the comments, but there is something to say, which is exactly why we are writing this.

!Attention!: This is not an attack on the author, not a belittling of his dignity, not some kind of hatred and dislike. We want to note the controversial points in his statement and that's it. And if we've sorted it out, then let's go.

For convenience, we will split the post into the same blocks. We do not disagree with the whole post, but we will note these blocks too.

One more important warning: here we will only talk about the MK9-11. MK1 sucks cock like the latest harbor whore.

"Kuai Liang has always stood on the shoulders of others" and "Tundra as a character does not exist."

(Screenshot, so as not to be unfounded)

Considering that we are talking about the version of Kuai Liang from MK9-11 from here on, we will only touch on this version. But let's mention that the statement "Kuai stands on the shoulders of others" became legitimate only with the release of MK1, when he was given the role of Scorpion. More precisely, not even a role, but just a name that no longer stands for anything.

In other versions, adopting the name Sub-Zero made sense. And it was a plot event that was important to the character. It's like saying that Hanzo has never been able to protect his family and that makes him a bad character. No, this is the event that shapes the character. This is an important plot point for the personality and for the further path of life, a defining event, if you want to call it that.

In addition, it is confusing to mention that the character is supposedly less active because someone else saved him. In MK, characters often save each other. Yes, in the context of the post it makes sense, but in the context of the story itself, this is a completely logical development. No one broke out of the Cyber Initiative's control on their own, so it makes sense that Kuai was saved by someone. The very fact of the rescue says little about the character. Only that he was dear enough to someone to convince others to help. Besides, let's remember that he was immediately sent to spy, so it wasn't just kindness that played a role here.

"Tundra has never been relevant in Mortal Kombat until he took the mantle of Sub-Zero."

Well… yeah? Because that was the point of it. We had never seen Kuai before he became Sub-Zero, assuming the title after his late brother. This is literally his plot function, the point of entry into the plot. An event that also defined him as a character. This is analogous to the death of the Hanzo family for Hanzo himself (an important plot event) and his enslavement to Kuan Chi.

This statement is equivalent to saying that Hanzo, as a character, did not exist before being reborn into a ghost, and Johnny did not exist as a character before entering the tournament. It's just that the original source didn't bother to tell at least something more about Kuai (they just apparently didn't come up with this). As players, we simply don't have the "before" materials, because the creators didn't create them. In the plane of the foreseeable plot, the Tundra did not exist, but here we are trying to evaluate the characters as living people, and living people do not appear out of thin air. In the plane of lore, Kuai had years of life before becoming a Sub-Zero, but we just don't know anything about them, so this is a very controversial statement. Because it is based on some undescribed events about which we have little idea.

"The best proof of that is the fact that Raiden never even considered him for his team of Earthrealm's champions."

Raiden did not consider anyone from Lin Kuei as champions at all (he took Tomas to the team in MK9 because he was in the right place at the right time). And the reason for this is not that Kuai is an empty character, but that Lin Kuei are murderers, secretive and cruel, who indirectly collaborated with Quan Chi (their Grandmaster for sure, he took a contract from a sorcerer in Mythology). At the same time, Raiden does not express distrust of Kuai. So to say that Raiden ignored him because Kuai is not capable enough or not diligent enough is wrong. Because Raiden definitely didn't do it. In addition, it is with the adoption of the title of Sub-Zero that Kuai essentially comes to Raiden's attention.

Here, with all due respect, the stretching of the owl on the globe begins. From here on out.

Speaking of earning the mantle, a little clarification. "Scorpion" is just Hanzo Hasashi's call sign, which means nothing without Hanzo himself. This is not some kind of mantle/title in lore MK and never has been. You may have other information, but we've never heard of it. At the same time, as "Sub-Zero" it is not just a title, but a ancestral title that is obviously passed down in one family. Bi Han inherited it after his father's death, when he was very young. It is logical that after Bi Han, his offspring or his brother would have received the title. Because to be a Sub-Zero, you have to be a cryomancer, and cryomancers are now represented by one bloodline (not counting Frost). This is supported by the fact that cryomancers are descended from people from Edenia (which was confirmed not only in MK11). Their abilities are innate (genetic) in nature and cannot be transferred to someone else. Perhaps earlier, when there were more cryomancers, the title really had to be earned, but there are no more cryomancers (the reasons for their disappearance are probably degeneration, natural extinction of abilities, as well as violent deaths, since cryomancers belonged to Lin Kuei and moreover, they founded Lin Kuei).

In addition, this title gives nothing but a target on his back (metaphorically, of course), because even as a venerable warrior bearing such a title, Bi Han directly said that he could be killed for violating orders or failing. Outside the clan, the title of Sub-Zero is more of a minus than a plus. And within the clan, it is also a rather difficult burden. So Kuai didn't win anything by getting this title. Moreover, he got it legally, so the word "stole" does not fit here at all.

It is also worth adding here that Kuai really wanted to avenge his brother, since Bi Han's death turned out to be a heavy loss for him. From Kuai MK9's biography, we know that they are the only ones who were stolen at an early age (all other members of the clan, based on their biographies, were recruited in various ways at a more mature age), so it is logical to assume that surrounded by adults, Bi Han and Kuai were very strongly connected with each other. If you think we're wrong, then let's just remember Kuai's behavior in MK9. Smoke warns him that adopting the name Sub-Zero will attract unwanted attention, but Kuai says it's a way to honor Bi Han's memory (he doesn't even consider it a common title, which should have belonged to him anyway). He is definitely not without empathy, but in an attempt to catch up with his brother's killer, he leaves Sonya with a wounded Jax in her arms. He openly demands that Shao Kahn arrange a fight with Scorpion for him, although he must understand perfectly well that Shao Kahn is a powerful ruler, and the colosseum is located in the very heart of his empire. And it is very dangerous to make demands on the emperor of the Outside World in such conditions. And he doesn't care about that. His goal is revenge for his brother. If Kuai's motivation is false, then to whom and what does he want to prove? Who does he want to fool with this? Why would he pretend? Logically, he is blinded by grief, too young and reckless, and it seems to him that killing Scorpion will at least calm his grief and pain a little. It can be said that he really loved Bi Han (as much as it was possible in the conditions of their growing up, of course), because people take revenge for those they love.

Kuai Liang's biography in MK9. What is in the original, what is in our localization says the same thing - abducted, unlike other members of the clan. (we don't want to waste time installing MK9 right now to take one screenshot, so a photo from the screen may well be suitable).

Summarizing this block and responding to the last paragraph, which talks about people who considered Kuai MK9-11 to be kind and forgiving, we can only say that the fans really greatly distort Kuai's character, excessively whitewashing and softening his character. But Kuai is really not that kind of person - his personality has both positive and negative traits. He was not forgiving. The only time he showed strange mercy was when he let Frost, who knew the location of Lin Kuei Temple, leave. The scriptwriters could fix this by saying that Frost escaped on her own, and was not expelled.

But on the other hand, the statement that MK1 made Kuai a completely different character is also true. And then we will try to explain why.

Next @evilbihan provides an analysis of the dialogues of Kuai and other characters in MKX and MK11. And before we start talking about this, the most important clarification is that not all dialogues are canon. Usually people understand this, but we'll explain why just in case. Not all of them occur in canonical events (almost all of them occur in non-canonical events, to be honest). It can be assumed that the characters met off-screen before or after the events of the game. But, for example, in the MKX, the Revenant variations open up unique dialogues for a number of characters. Jax the Revenant has a unique intro with Takeda and Cassie, although he was healed before Cage was born (and probably Takeda too). Not to mention guest characters, characters who died in or before the plot, or mirror matches. That is, the characters could not meet, these dialogues could not happen, which means that there is a precedent for non-canonical dialogue. This in turn means that the canonicity of all dialogues is not absolute and it is completely wrong to believe them. The dialogues, which are strange and simply contradict the logic of the plot and just logic, can not be considered canonical completely. Nevertheless, this scheme mainly works for MKX and MK11, but MK1 claims to be more canonical intro. However, we will not yet claim that everything intro in MK1 is canon, because there are precedents for non-canonical events (the multiplicity of the canon is a separate topic, and we hate MK1 for its laziness and mediocrity).

About Scarlett: Kuai calls her a "perversion" because Scarlett is an artificial creation of Shao Kahn. Even if a different version of Scarlett is presented to us in MK11, for Kuai Liang she is still the same person that Shao created from blood. In MK9, she is a golem, in the MKX comic, she tells Mileena the phrase "I am the same "daughter" of Shao Kahn as you, half-breed", confirming her artificial birth. This is also confirmed by her ability to absorb blood through her skin (D'vorah says that she is aware of her abilities, so this cannot be attributed to learning blood magic from Reiko). In MK11, she says that Shao found her an orphan, but was it really? Or does she remember what Shao wanted her to remember? No one but her confirms this version. Scarlett in MK11 is obsessed with blood and longs to marry her "father", as she says in a dialogue with Sindel. She even has an equipment called "Shao Kahn's Seed". So Kuai is right in his judgment: She's a perversion.

About Jacqui's improvements: Kuai has undergone a violent transformation into a cyborg. This in itself is a cruel blow to the psyche (just read how people in reality react to trauma or a traumatic change in their body or appearance), not to mention that his mind and free will were suppressed. Kuai bluntly says that because of the CyberInitiative, he does not trust technology. He is a technophobe for quite logical reasons. At the same time, he does not call Jackie weak and does not belittle his talent, he only pays attention to the fact that she uses improvements, but there are no negative connotations in his statement.

Kuai does evaluate opponents, but from a purely practical point of view. He does not give a value judgment as a rule, but simply notes a fact or interprets a fact.

First, D'vorah is literally threatening Kuai. She is the first to say that this is their first and last meeting, making it clear that she is going to kill Kuai. What should he say to that? Be happy? This phrase has nothing to do with Kuai's words in MK1 about lower species, there is literally nothing in common here. Secondly, it is partly xenophobia. And you may be unhappy with this fact, but in the MK setting, xenophobia is justified, because there people are forced to deal with creatures that are mentally and biologically different from human beings and literally pose a danger. MK has never been smart enough to suggest a method of resolving differences between the races of humans and, for example, Tarkatans, let alone everyone else. Thirdly, the two above phrases are in no way similar to Bi Han's words about tarkatans. What kind of "elitist" worldview are you talking about if Bi Han literally expresses an adequate point of view regarding Tarkatans? They are dangerous. They are sick, they turn into bloodthirsty creatures who cannot control themselves. They're still eating other living things. There is no effective medicine yet, only something that relieves the symptoms. And it is available only to Mileena, who in the plot just showed that tarkata affects not only physically, but also mentally. Yes, these are living beings, and Bi Han's point of view is radical, but tarkata is like a mixture of schizophrenia and anthrax (or plague, if you like). It's not "elitist" thinking, it's damn common sense. And this cannot be tied in any way to Kuai MK1's words about "lower species" or to a response to a direct threat.

Tarkata is one of the cancerous tumors of this plot (ironically), and there are many problems and understatements associated with it. But we will talk about this in more detail in some other post. And now let's be brief.

NRS tried to show an allusion to AIDS, but in the end they created a really difficult topic that would not be discussed properly in the plot. It's easier to pretend that Tarkatans are just sick people who can integrate into society. But they can't. Bi Han expresses a radical point of view, but it is not without meaning. Yes, it would be more merciful to provide them with comfortable isolation and allow them to depart from the other world humanely (they die from tarkata, as we know from the plot). The creation of some kind of closed hospices would be an option, but Edenia does not have it. It turns out to be interesting. Bi Han, with his rather sane approach, is considered a cruel bastard because of this phrase, but the merciful Sindel, who simply exiled sick subjects to the wilderness, where they had to die of disease and starvation, who took care of creating a cure only when her daughter became infected, is kind in this plot.

No, it literally proves nothing, because it's not even some kind of specific formulation in a specific situation. And they literally talk about different things. Here, friend, you keep stretching the owl around the globe.

The use of the same words in different situations (and approximately the same ones too) does not mean similarity of views. Because, you know, dictionaries tend to be limited.

(By the way, here Kuai literally shows that he is not very good at the history of his native world, because in the history of the Earthrealm there were at least Mongols - a nomadic people who built a fairly large state. That's a strange remark. MK11 dialogues seem like a neural network was writing, to be honest.)

As we said above, no one but Scarlett herself confirms this version. For Kuai, she is still considered a golem, as in MK9 and the MKX comic. Besides, Scarlett is his enemy. They are literally on opposite sides of the barricades. Scarlett faithfully serves the one who longs to enslave the Earthrealm, and who has already made attempts before, which led to the fall of Lin Kuei, to the cybernization of Kuai, to the invasion of the Earthrealm and many victims. Scarlett is an enemy of the Earthrealm, and Kuai does not care about her marital status. Why should he care at all? Moreover, why should he be polite or sympathetic to a crazy lady who is asking to join his clan, even though he didn't even invite her? It is not quite correct to compare it with MK1 and Tomas. But Bi Han does not reproach him for being an orphan, he only says that Tomas is not Lin Kuei by blood. That's all. He's actually right, Tomas is adopted.

Just what is the logic of this claim anyway? Scarlett and Kuai interact only within the framework of an open confrontation, they have no other points of contact. Scarlett is one hundred percent the enemy for the Earthrealm and for Kuai. And Kuai protects his world, he's like a soldier on duty. He shouldn't be interested in the life of some random blood witch and sympathize with her. It's like blaming all the characters for not wanting to understand Shao Kahn or anyone else. And don't pretend that Scarlett is better. She literally tortured Jade in the plot and did it with pleasure, she is not some unfortunate hero worthy of sympathy.

Correction: Frost joined the clan when Shirai Ryu was considered to have been re-exterminated by the hands of Havik (who possessed Fox). Frost joined the clan when the clan was just trying to start existing again. Frankly speaking, it is completely unclear where she got so much respect for the traditions of the clan, which she did not know before, and for Bi Han, whom she had never met. We are not going to say for sure, but it is much more likely that Frost was influenced by someone from the old Lin Kuei staff (because they could have survived and escaped from the CyberInitiative). Because Kuai has definitely been making the decision to reconcile with Shirai Ryu for a while. And yes, Frost hasn't really established herself as a decent character. Throughout its history, it has desired power and strength that it could not handle. Besides, if we turn to dialogues here, then in one of them Kuai asks if he was a bad mentor, to which Frost says that he was a hindrance. That is, she had plans to take Kuai's place during her studies, BEFORE alliance with Shirai Ryu (because after her escapade, she was expelled). The only complaint against Kuai Liang here is that he did not kill Frost. He let go of a man who is clearly unkind and who knows about the secret location of the Lin Kuei Temple. This could be solved with one correction from the screenwriters - the phrase that Frost ran away on her own.

Maybe (just maybe!) our localization is a little different, but Fujin is not saying that Kuai wants to kill his brother. He's asking about it.

Oh, yes. He also asks a question in the original.

The lie here is to claim that Kuai did not want his brother to be reborn. Bi Han is reborn like the rest of the revenants and probably cannot be healed without Quan Chi's presence (by the way, later in the post you refer to the need for Quan Chi's presence and the fact that his death essentially put an end to the return of enslaved champions). Kuai was lucky that Raiden's magic worked at a specific moment in a specific way. How lucky both Hanzo and Jax are. It was further stated that Quan Chi must be alive to save the Revenants. And Bi Han is a revenant.

Besides, Kuai has no reason to hold on to the title of Sub-Zero, because it gives nothing but danger. He is not useful, he is not honorable (five generations of Sub-Zero before him were murderers and made enemies). He does this because there is no one to transfer the title to. He wears it like as bloody chevrons, as a sign of his service to the Earthrealm.

We will not argue about the rest of the dialogues that relate to Bi Han (with Cetrion or others), or with Bi Han himself. The game acts very strangely and seems to be trying with all its might to put Kuai and Bi Han against each other as enemies. We have already written about this here and do not want to repeat it.

Since the block with rhetoric and analysis of dialogues is over, we will summarize. Kuai Liang in MKX and MK11 is a man who has been through a lot. He was kidnapped in early childhood, deprived of his family and normal growing up (we still remember about his biography MK9, which says that ONLY he and Bi Han were stolen, the rest joined voluntarily in adulthood), his brother was killed, his clan was turned into soulless iron, he himself was turned into soulless iron, he was murdered Sindel (by the way, who was resurrected by order of Shao Kahn and sent by him to massacre the champions; that is, Shao is indirectly responsible for Kuai's death, which means that his henchwoman Scarlett has even less chance of gaining any sympathy from Kuai Liang, even if she were an orphan three times). Kuai was enslaved first by the CyberInitiative, then by Quan Chi. Against his will, he participated in the invasion of the Earthrealm, and the memory of the horrors that he had committed consumed him with guilt. In the comic (which is still canon in many ways), Kuai literally talks about wanting to die. After that, he entered the service of Raiden and began to look for a Kamidogu for him, which is why he was cursed and again fell under someone else's control. Which again led to casualties. What did he say to Bo Rai Cho? "I have to do hara-kiri." The topic that Kuai is broken by these events and wants to die has been raised twice. He decided to revive the clan with the light hand of Raiden (it was Raiden who sent applicants to join Lin Kuei). In the new clan, Kuai finally finds solace, but in the end his own student, whom either out of mercy or stupidity he did not kill, breaks into the temple and kidnaps his people. Kuai has gone through a lot of traumatic events, just turning into a revenant is worth it. It took Jax years and years to suppress his PTSD, and he didn't fully recover. Kuai wants to protect his home, his homeworld. He makes claims to Ryden for not coping with his role as a defender. This is not very fair in the big picture, but Kuai saw with his own eyes the two invasions and the arrival of Shinnok. Will you say that Kuai does not want to defend the Earthrealm? Well, for some reason, it was he who led his clan to defend the Sky Temple and faced the legions of Kotal. It was Lin Kuei who took the hit and gave Cassie and her team time. Not the glorious Shirai Ryu, who just got into a fight with the special forces, messed up with their grandmaster and just disappeared without participating in the defense of the Earthly Kingdom.

There is no point in comparing Kuai MK9-11 and Kuai MK1, because the life of the second one is literally sugar. He did not survive a fraction of what Kuai Liang experienced in the previous chronology. Comparing them is like comparing a veteran and a loud cadet. Kuai in MK11 has every right to be grumpy, demanding of others and himself, suspicious of enemies and even allies. The events of his life encourage such thinking. From the height of his experience - both life and combat - he can be somewhat arrogant and proud of his skill. Because Kuai MK9-11 has a moral right to do so. Kuai-Scorpion does not have this right, he is just a loud brat who jerks off at his father and traditions (if we were Bi Han, we would evict him from the temple and issue a restraining order) Like a fucking fanatic. He doesn't have the same qualities, experience. Nothing. Even biology failed, depriving him of cryomancy. In fact, the personality of Kuai in MK1 is formed in a completely different way than that of Kuai in MK9-11. Because both the events of life (the social factor) and the biological basis are different. This is literally not the Kuai Liang we knew. This is another person who happens to have the same name.

Also completely overlooked is the fact that Kuai, in his dialogues, not only criticizes everyone and everything, but shows respect to other characters (with whom he is not in confrontation). So he suggests that Jade join Lin Kuei (probably because they have lost a significant part of their personnel and need new personnel). He recognizes Sonya's fighting spirit. He literally thanks Raiden for saving his life (although he remembers that Raiden has a dark and light state). He pays tribute to Liu Kang when he speaks about Kuai's own discipline.

Most of his statements are neutral or caustic (depending on the dialogue), Kuai shows hostility to those characters who are in confrontation with his side (the Outworlders or the Black Dragon), but nothing more.

And since we've dealt with this, we'll move on.

Kuai Liang's motives for revenge and forgiveness are actually as clear as possible when you remember that more than 20 years have passed. Why do you overlook this fact? 25 years have passed between the events of MK9 and MKX (the main plot) (Jax mentions this). Shinnok's invasion ended 25 years ago. And the reconciliation of the two clans took place five years before the events of MKX (this is stated in the plot). Kuai initially rushed to take revenge because he was blinded by grief, his pain was fresh. But then the events of MK9 happened, and now he is a former revenant, crushed by life, with the realization that he did terrible things. With a years, the thirst for revenge subsides, but the moral obligation suffocates. After all, your dear man died, how can you just let go of his death? Here we will allow ourselves to say that the motives of revenge are close to us because of personal experience. That's why we know what we're talking about. To come to terms with loss is, among other things, to let go of the thirst for revenge, to get rid of a destructive moral obligation. Kuai has had at least 20 years to think about it. Scorpion's death will not bring his brother back to him, will not soothe his pain. He believed that Bi Han was lost forever. He must continue to live, which means that he needed to put an end to a long-standing and senseless feud, especially considering that the real culprit is Quan Chi. It is he who must be punished.

To claim that Kuai was indirectly involved in the deaths of other Revenants is a clear misconception. Because, first of all, Kuai needed to give himself the moral right to end the senseless clan feud. Secondly, to protect your clan from a new conflict with Shirai Ryu. And third, damn it, this conversation (in which Hanzo found out the truth) took place five years before Quan Chi was captured. Five years! It's a long time. The fact that Hanzo has not thought with his own head in these five years is only Hanzo's problem. Should Kuai have foreseen this years in advance? He has enough headaches of his own, and at that moment he didn't know Hanzo well enough to anticipate his actions. Hanzo Hasashi is the only one to blame for what happened. It was he who decided to attack the special forces, not listen to anyone and cut off the sorcerer's head. No one pushed him to do this except himself, although literally everyone around told him to wait. Hanzo has shown himself to be a stubborn ass who doesn't know how to listen.

The scene of the conversation and the conclusion of peace between Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu (chapter 9 "Scorpion").

Quan Chi has not been seen since the invasion was stopped. Sonya and Jax talk about it here (Chapter 8 "Jackson Briggs")

The same thing is in the Sony chapter (chapter 5 "Sonya Blade")

The claims that Kuai reorganized the clan just to elevate himself are simply taken out of thin air. Because although Kuai Liang is deservedly proud of his skills, there is not a single objective sign that would indicate that your statements about him are true. Where did this statement about him being narcissistic come from? Selfish? Kuai literally has no other life, he has put all his remaining years to protect the Earthrealm and hunt the scum within it (as he tells Kano). What is the selfishness here? What does he get besides constant pressure?

Perhaps there is reason to believe that Kuai wanted to put an end to Lin Kuei's dark legacy, but then again-who wouldn't? He talks a lot about honor, because he saw with his own eyes how dishonor and betrayal (the actions of the last Grand Master of the clan) led to the downfall of not only Lin Kuei, but also to larger tragic consequences. This is not selfishness, not a desire to "giving themselves a pet on the back." This is common sense and awareness of mistakes and their consequences.

Where did you get this from? The intros above do not suggest this in any way. Friend, it seems that you believed in what you came up with about the character. Kuai Liang strives for iron discipline, because he is well aware of how much damage has been done to him by the events of his life. And if he lets himself get weak, he'll just break down. And if he breaks down, who will stand at the head of Lin Kuei? Who will join the ranks of the defenders of the Earthrealm? As a responsible soldier, Kuai cannot hang a weapon on the wall because he is tired. And we have already cited above what confirms our thought (his sad experience, his desire to avoid repetition, the moral test that Kuai went through, etc.).

In addition, Kuai's envy of his brother (which is in no way confirmed by the game itself and other media) can only be said that many people would envy Bi Han, since he was really talented. It is said about him that he mastered in his youth what other cryomancers before him mastered only in old age. But again, this does not indicate Kuai's envy of his brother. There is not a single confirmation of this statement.

The whole subsequent text to the end of the block seems completely insane. To claim that Kuai was the only one who constantly survived, not because the writers wanted it, but because… for some other reason. The only reason is the desire of the screenwriters. Or perhaps an outright misunderstanding of what to do with the characters of Hanzo and Kuai (and many others). Where should they be placed? They look more like a reference in MK11 and MKX than full-fledged characters. Okay, Hanzo has more plot weight because he's the creator's favorite. But everything else is just a weak plot, not the character's fault or intention. There is literally no place to analyze him as a living person, because Kuai appears only functionally in the plot. Well, maybe the studio hates him because so much shit has fallen on this particular character. He was enslaved three times, his family and friends are almost completely dead. It is wrong to say that he did nothing to bring Smoke back, because, as we remember, Quan Chi is needed to revive the revenant, there is no proven scheme, Quan Chi himself has been hiding for twenty-five years, and collectively the chances of revival are negligible. Personal aspirations are on one side of the scale, on the other is a job that will provide the homeworld with another faction of defenders. Kuai, who has gone through the horrors of two invasions, obviously will not choose personal aspirations. In addition, Smoke does not appear in the final chapters of MKX (only in flashbacks from the time of Shinnok's invasion), and it is unknown where he is. With Quan Chi's death, he can be considered completely lost (the rest of the Revenants are considered lost for the same reason, and there is no problem with that). And the fact that Bi Han survived in Soulnado was not known at all before the events of MK11. He was believed to be dead. Who should Kuai be trying to bring back? Ghostly shadows of long-gone loved ones? Prefer the dead to the living?

We can agree that Kuai's behavior in the intro and his ending are collectively confusing because they somehow contradict each other. But here you can find a dubious, but time-bound explanation. Considering that in all intros the Kronika is mentioned as still alive and active, it can be concluded that these fights and dialogues, respectively, take place in parallel with the plot of MK11. Which lasts… How much? A couple of days? In this light, it can be assumed that all of Kuai's strange reactions in the dialogues are either a defensive reaction, or simply the result of AI work (seriously, sometimes one part of these dialogues is not connected to another).

Oh, right, rhetoric again.

These dialogues are not connected in any way at all. There are only two identical words here that don't apply in the same context. This is not a common lexicon in this case and not the same specific reaction to the situation. These are literally different dialogues. And here you are really engaged in unfair interpretation.

We have already written about this above and we will not repeat it.

A fair comparison, however, the different circumstances that lead to this phrase. Bi Han in MK1 encourages Kitana to be more independent. Kuai in MK11 wants to get a valuable fighter into the ranks of his clan to protect his world. They use similar words, but in different situations and for different purposes.

Here we can agree on the similarity by about half (due to the difference in circumstances, and therefore the messages themselves).

We repeat that Kuai Liang in MK9-11 literally caught two invasions and the return of Shinnok. The latter happened because Raiden's Shinnok amulet, which he was supposed to protect, was stolen. That is, Raiden actually failed at his job. Yes, in the end, all three events ended well, but Kuai, as a man who laid down his life to protect his world and serve its interests, has reason to be angry at Raiden for his mistakes.

In MK1, Bi Han denies Liu Kang's authority for reasons that are still unclear. Bi Han wants more, but what does this have to do with Liu Kang? We, as players, know what Liu's mistakes are, but Bi Han doesn't know that. At the same time, we do not know why Bi Han is so fiercely against Liu's authority (he literally tells Kenshi, "give him time and you will understand," hinting that his dislike has some deeper reasons, but we do not know about them yet). It is also incorrect to compare these dialogues. We think there is no need to explain the reasons. Their context is strikingly different.

How is Kuai Liang considered the "good brother" when they both use the same vocabulary and share the same views?

The fact that they use similar words, but in different contexts, can only mean that they speak the same language, and not that their views are somehow close to each other.

Making such a statement is like saying that if a conditional user uses the words "cosmopolitan", "economy", "corridor" and "carte blanche" in his speech, then this makes his views close to one notorious Austrian artist who used the same words in his speech in 1939.

This is absurd and meaningless.

Yes, people say that because Bi Han literally demonstrates the character traits and biographies of Frost and Sector. He's not the best version of Kuai, he's not even a pale version of himself. He is a lazily written man who, in modern works, must be evil simply because. Bi Han in the old chronology was really interesting for his tragedy. He never wanted to be a part of the clan, he had no choice in this matter, in the original MK1 (literally in the very first game) in his ending, he leaves the clan because he doesn't need it all. His life was taken away cruelly and unfairly, he was just a man in thrall to circumstances, he was not shy about being sharp-tongued. After all, Bi Han from the past chronology, with his tragedy both during his lifetime and after his death, is many times more interesting than the piece of evil cardboard that Bi Han was turned into in MK1.

We will not stop at the fact that the decision to make Kuai a Scorpion is disgusting. We will not argue with this, because it is pointless to argue with the truth. Is he the best Sub-Zero? At least he was interesting, one of the few who really developed and changed as a character. As a result, his entire progression, motivation, and personality foundations were rewritten. Kuai Liang, whom we respected, although in some places we condemned, simply ceased to be. We hope that the NRS will choke on their money and never touch this story again.

And now to the comments that were posted. They are too small, so we want to answer in more detail here.

We literally took apart your entire post from beginning to end, not touching only what concerned Kuai MK1, because we want he burns in hell. And we still say that you are trying to substitute concepts. Their vocabulary is in no way similar (for the reasons we mentioned above). And as we have already noted, Kuai Liang MK9-11 grew up in different conditions than Bi Han MK1.

Lin Kuei himself is obviously different in different versions. If in MK1 we understand that this is closer to the traditional clan, which is connected by blood (both parents were in the clan, there is an opportunity to form a family, Bi Han refers to Lin Kuei's blood), then the early versions of Lin Kuei are more like the cult of assassins, who are united by the desire for influence - political, material and td. What kind of parenting with the idea of superiority are you talking about in the framework of MK9-11, if we have already found out that Kuai and Bi Han were abducted as children, and all the other members of the clan joined him. The biography of the Sector in MK9 literally says that there was no doubt that the Sector, being the son of a Grandmaster, would join the clan. Cyrex joined the clan as an adult, and previously he was from among the Tswana and trained among the warriors of his people. Tomas is from Prague and was also recruited at a fairly conscious age, because he attracted attention with his abilities. His exact age has not been named, but it is said that he does not remember his childhood, which means that he was hardly a child at the time of recruitment. Based on this, Bi Han and Kuai Liang are the only children who were raised in the clan. This means that there was no general idealogical system for education (we don't know much about Lin Kuei at all, but the Grandmaster decided to make everyone cyborgs for absolute submission, so we can assume that there were precedents for disobedience). The clan system in MK1, although it requires following orders, does not threaten death. But in MK9-11 (for which Mythology is still canonical), the mistake is inexcusable. Bi Han bluntly says that his failure or disobedience would mean his death at the hands of his own clan. Lin Kuei's in old chronology is a violent militarized cult, not a family. Yes, it is possible that one bloodline is present there, but it is needed only because of the special abilities (cryomancy) that give the clan an advantage.

See the difference? This already denies the possibility for Kuai MK9-11 and Bi Han MK1 to grow in the same conditions. Hell, even Bi Han MK9-11 and Bi Han MK1 are different people because of their different upbringing and different life experiences. We think that it makes no sense to explain that a personality is formed on the basis of a biological basis (psychophysiological features) and social impact, life experience. With a difference in life experience, different personalities are formed. It is for this reason that we consider the ending of the Scorpion invasion to be simply insulting and sad. The very concept of multiple timelines essentially contradicts the concept of personality. But this is such a truism that it makes no sense to explain it. In MK1, people have the same names and partially similar biography elements. And this already means, in fact, that Mileena, Kitana, Raiden, Lao, Bi Han and all the others are not the same ones we saw in previous games. These are literally other people.

[captain-pheonix]

Hallo !! Saw that your requests were open so I was wonderin if you could do some headcanons for Heavy and Sniper with an s/o who acts like Scout but more humble and chill? If that makes sense? If this isn't sorta your cup of tea or you just have no idea how to write this, feel free to ignore! No pressure!:]

A/N: hallo! I like this one!! Here you are! P.S: here’s a goofy picture because I’m too lazy and amused by it to find a normal one 😂

Heavy & Sniper with a more chill Scout-like S/O

Heavy:

- As a family guy who’s been taking care of his sisters and mother his whole life, he would definitely appreciate it if you were more of a responsible and caring type

- He would probably adore it when your funny and rambunctious side comes out every now and then, your jokes and antics making him belly laugh

- Whenever you’re tuckered out, he would totally offer you some bear cuddles

- All the mercs would likely tell Scout about how you could be a role model for him (much to scout’s chagrin, of course)

- On the battlefield he would 100% like it when he can trust someone more nimble to do things like get the intel or make a distraction

Sniper:

-Right off the bat, he might think you’re really cool (get noobed, scout)

- He would appreciate the chill type, someone who could match his energy and is easier to talk to

- likely you would be his public speaker if was ever feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed by social situations

- Considering he’s used to being on his own and speaking very little to the rest of his teammates off the battlefield, he’d need you to step in occasionally

- He might teach you some target practice if you ask nicely enough

- Absolute camper cuddle supreme because he needs some calm company

- Cold day? Cuddle. Bad day? Cuddle. Stupid social event? Cuddle.

- Another thing with social events is that you would offer to stay behind with him whenever he didn’t want to go somewhere like the bar

- Sniper would probably love taking you on camping trips with him, just to be mundane and relaxed for a few days in the wilderness (camping cuddles? Yeah.)

-If you ran as fast as Scout did, he would definitely teach to track fast moving animals he couldn’t keep up with as much

- Your jokes would definitely make him laugh because knowing Scout, they would probably be really terrible (the good kind of terrible)

- In battle, knowing he’s at risk because he doesn’t have a medic with him 24/7, he would really like it if you grabbed medpacks and ammo packs for him so he could man his post

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I ended up writing way more for Sniper…oopsies 😳 anyway tysm for reading!!

[bluegekk0]

If anything I think you should speak more, because I love everything you write (and draw.) You've been one of my biggest inspirations to go back and give all of my ocs actual stories instead of just designs.

In fact, ever since you mentioned having non-fpk family ocs before, I have been incredibly curious.

Please feed me all of the information like a bird feeding its young, except its letters going into my eyes instead of food going into my mouth

you have no idea how much that warms my heart, i'm really flattered that you see me as an inspiration. it's all i could really ask for

i do have some ocs, yeah. though i will say, the fpk au characters are definitely outliers when it comes to the amount of personality and lore they have. most of my ocs have very basic backstories, and many of them only do because i used to roleplay as them with my friends. a lot of my original designs that i'm attached to don't even have names, let alone personalities

since i'll be posting a lot of pictures, i'll throw this under a read more so it's not too long

i guess i'll start with my oldest oc, a lion king character who used to be my "fursona" (well not exactly, since i've never considered myself a furry. but persona wouldn't fit here) years ago, back in 2012 i believe. she went through a lot of changes over the years, but i've settled on a design that i really like

her name is swahibu (used to be swahili, i wasn't particularly creative, and i changed it recently since it was a bit awkward for her to be named after the entire language hahaha), and she has a little brother named kobe. their lore isn't anything too elaborate, they're essentially scar's grandchildren who used to be outlanders, but after the events of the second movie joined the pridelands. swahibu is bitter and a bit mean, but cares very much about her little brother. she got her scars in a fight with rogue lions which unfortunately ended with their mother's death, so they're now on their own. kobe is a smart cub, and brings a bit of joy and innocence to his big sister's life. as they both resemble their grandfather more than they'd like, they're often the object of nasty comments from those who lived under his tyrannical rule, though they do eventually earn the pridelanders' respect. not much else to say about them, except that i like to hc swahibu as gay. also, they have a very simple family tree that i made to show what their parents looked like, here (might not work if you don't have a deviantart account, but i'm not sure)

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next up, there's a character i've considered my persona for quite some time, and one i used to put in many funny scenarios with my friends' ocs. he also changed the most out of all of them throughout the years, and recently i gave him a more furry like design as i hate drawing human faces haha

his name is rick, and he's a hybrid of all kinds of different animals. he's very laid back and lazy, though the fact that he's a hybrid gives him some animal-like traits and behaviors. he used to have a backstory but it's kind of stupid so i'm considering changing it, but he was basically created in a lab and then released after it was shut down. now he lives on his own with his cat, jon. he's one of those characters who are very flexible, so if i wanted to, i could modify him to fit into any scenario (for example, he used to have an assassins creed universe version which i used for roleplay years ago hahaha). not much else to say since i'm still in the (slow) process of changing him

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i also have a lot of dragon characters, most of them were made for the purpose of a larger roleplay story with my friends. in general i take 'dragon' as a very vague term, since to me a dragon can look however you want and all those classification rules are kinda stupid. but you'll still a bit of, idk, i guess a paleoart like direction for their designs, since i like speculative biology and such. also, some of these originated as heavily based on some of my favorite characters at the time, you'll see that with the first one especially

his name is stark and he's probably the dragon that has the most lore behind him. i won't go into too many details regarding the backstory since it's long and very connected to the roleplay (you know, bit of a "you just had to be there" moment haha). but tl;dr he was taken in by a village and raised from hatchling, so he's very docile and a little bit confused. the village was attacked and he was able to survive, but one of his legs was scarred pretty badly, so he noticeably limps while walking. he's a semi-aquatic dragon, so he's an excellent swimmer. funnily enough, he went through a complete "reboot" a few years ago. in the original rp, he was a massive asshole, he'd hurt others for his own amusement and was generally very aggressive and not pleasant to be around. also, he had a prosthetic leg, though i scrapped that as it was far too advanced for the setting i envisioned him in. i much prefer this direction, i love my giant himbo gator-dragon. and i wonder how many of you can guess what character was the inspiration for his appearance (it used to be a lot more obvious in his first design iterations)

(and no, his wing isn't missing. this is just to show his back haha)

these next three don't really have too much backstory to them. well, except for the first one, his name is ithaar, and he was one of my first ocs ever. he went through a massive redesign quite recently, so he has close to nothing in common with his first iterations. the other two characters, eurus and ash, were made for rp purposes quite recently, and so don't have too much lore behind them

ith is a bit of a coward, he struggles with his self-confidence and believes everyone sees him as insignificant due to his small size and inability to fly. he can camouflage, though, so he's a lot cooler than he thinks. also, he moves by hopping around like a little kangaroo. his design is very dromaeosaur-like, with short stubby arms and yi-qi inspired wings

eurus is very pterosaur-like, though much larger than even the largest azhdarchids. he doesn't like the company of others, he's a bit of a loner (with trauma!). he may seem mean on the surface, but his past experiences make him unable to walk past someone who's in need. not quite a gentle giant, though. i think it's easy to see which pterosaurs in particular were the inspiration for his design, though his crests are very dilophosaurus-like

the last one is ash, and she's the newest addition to the roster. her rp session was very short and didn't really add much to her lore, but she's generally a huge jerk who likes annoying others and stealing from them. but of course, it wouldn't be an oc of mine if there wasn't some trauma involved, and she's no exception. she believes she doesn't fit anywhere, she felt rejected by her own kind for her unnatural abilities (she can move things with her mind), and so she copes with it by being a prick. her design was inspired by junker queen from overwatch haha

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i also have four night fury characters i made during my httyd phase, and i redesigned them about a year ago to be a lot more "natural" in their appearance. they used to be quite a bit more colorful back in the day, and not in the good way haha

their names are vel'ri, sherok, atis and marivo. no real backstory, just vibes. the first one used to be my "main" character during the httyd phase. vel'ri and atis are female, sherok and marivo are male

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and lastly, some non-dragon characters. these don't really have any backstory that i think is worth sharing, but i still love them very much

this one is named rugat and they're a genderless, shapeshifting magma alien thing. i don't know what they are. i just really like their design. they're aggressive, but they have a soft spot for small, weak creatures. god knows what their reasoning is, but i thought it was a cute personality trait

and these two are named lox and bagel. they're a ragarox, an original species i made years ago when it was cool and hip to have a closed species. they're eyeless cave dwelling lizard things. very chubby. these two guys are not related but they hang out all the time. 🏳️‍🌈 perhaps?

lox, on the left, is the more active and territorial of the two. but he's also super affectionate towards bagel

bagel, on the other hand, is the couch potato. very round and chubby, 10/10

as a fun fact i like to think their long tongues have very distinct smells. lox's smells like lime, while bagel's smells a bit like blueberry

--

and lastly, here are two unnamed characters. i like their designs but i haven't had the chance or inspiration to think of any details about them

the first one is an okapi-like thing. with a kitty face. the second is like a weird mix between a ceratopsid and some kind of mammal

oh and, here's some redesigns of old dragon characters that i forgot to mention earlier. they used to be very different (all but one were inspired by other characters, but you can't see it on their current designs), and i don't have any backstories for them yet. their names are also going to be changed, so consider them nameless for now

(fun fact: the top left one was one of the first iterations of eurus' design, but i decided to turn it into a different character cause i still like it)

[etirabys]

I've been experimenting with "identifying as stupid and lazy" and it's going pretty well. This month I went to a Javascript meetup with the explicit goal of being slightly stupid there, got into an AI conversation, said a few coherent things, and then mentioned I just didn't want to put in the work into understanding e.g. transformers. Also I said as a simplification that I'd flunked out of linear algebra in college which isn't true (I got an A in linalg but flunked out of the ML course where linalg was heavily in use) but felt. WEIRDLY. pleasurable to say.

When I talked about this on Discord, one of them brought up Stupidism, which is from a good post @mark-gently made. But there's something about my wanton dignity-discarding that goes several steps further from Stupidism and feels very liberating.

Last year I read a weird... pagan?... book, Existential Kink, that invites you to notice how much of your life is shaped to bring about outcomes you supposedly hate, and how you secretly take joy in those outcomes. This seems false for the majority of things one tries to avoid, but leaning into it sure is interesting to try out! And I'm finding it is surprisingly true for "coming off as stupid".

There's something absurdly joyful/thrilling about deciding to go to a meetup and presenting as a moron. Some years ago I would have gone NOOO at the thought, and now I feel like an adrenaline junkie being invited to a new type of gambling event or weird sex thing.

I fully expect to tire of "identifying/presenting as stupid and lazy", but when I move on from it I expect to be more integrated or whatever. Less afraid of being stupid and lazy because I've just gone and done it openly.

One of the stupid things I said at the Javascript meetup was that I hate using libraries in almost full generality. I'm too lazy to read docs or troubleshoot my calls to other people's code. Someone recced me a different meetup for people who roll their own tooling, but warned me it was all male, because he knew I'd found all-male programming contexts stressful in the past.

In college I tended to not even really notice if a lab or a team was all male, because I was a top-half student and just felt totally secure about being in class. But I became phobic of it in jobs because I'm usually the worst dev in any remotely selective workplace, and being the worst dev AND the only woman sucks. I was ashamed of being bad at my job, obviously, but I was mortified at being the entity that diversity posters and mandatory trainings point at to say "if you think women are like that you are a terrible person and causing problems in society". But... I am like that. I guess for society's good I need to hide this as hard as possible?

(I solved this by going to a much less selective workplace and almost explicitly saying "I will be kind of a bad programmer, but I come cheap". I am pretty happy now.)

So, given that I got twisted up by that employment record, current me is delighted at the thought of being openly dumb at an all-male CS meetup. This wouldn't be good for the men (some of whom Want To Unlearn Sexism, etc) nor for Women In Tech, but it would be good for ME. Time to abandon class consciousness and defect on women for my own gain.

It is, well, yeah, existentially kinky to imagine going to this meetup and cheerfully asking dumb questions & occasionally responding with "I don't think I'm ever going to understand that, sorry, you should stop explaining that because I don't want to waste your time".

[futurecorps3]

hello darling!

many congratulations on the 800 followers milestone, im so so proud of you for getting so far; it's entirely well deserved and for you to put in the time and effort to organise an evident with so much thought is incredibly considerate of you, thank you so much for doing so (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc)

on that note, i'd love to participate in your celebration if that's alright with you, my love

i'd like to request a 🩸 Kir Royale please for the Harry Potter Fandom, Marauders era, if you can, but im not opposed to Lightening Era either

and just some info on me :

i love men <3 ; i am open to listening to all sorts of music genres so long as it fits the mood, however, i tend to lean more towards R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop, Indie and Alternative Lo-fi, my favourite movies are all studio ghibli or animated movies, my top love languages are acts of service, quality and physical touch. i love deep conversations and listening to people tell me their story - getting to know more about other people is one of my favourite things to do. i want to be a mother one day, im a hopeless romantic who is very much into self-care and self-pampering, i also love baking, especially cookies and apple pie. i love art but enjoy paper crafting and watercolours the best and my aesthetic would be soft girl/light academia. i love my friends and family and value them above anyone else to the point where, if they were threatened/hurt in anyway, i would get incredibly angry and overprotective, which is rare for me to be.

some bad traits now... TT^TT time to expose myself - i can get pretty lazy, i tend to get into planning my life a little too much, i have perfectionist tendencies, im horrible at replying to people and can't resist chocolate and donuts or dairy products even though im lactose intolerant...i also tend to ramble sometimes for example, this paragraph XD

p.s thank you so so much for the kind mention in your celebration event post, you really didn't have to since you did most of the work, nevertheless, that was still so incredibly kind of you so thank you c⌒っ╹v╹ )っ huggies for my lovie!

Honey this means the world! Thank you so much mwah mwah kisses

James! Like I can totally see him baking with you (while eating the ingredients as you do so hehe), spoiling you with art supplies under the condition you paint something for him, and that whole protectiveness of friends and family screams Prongs!! He also dreams of being a dad one day so yeah <333 I actually headcanon him being lactose intolerant too so dw, he’ll eat the things you shouldn’t with you shamelessly. ❤️

p.s Thats the least I can do to reciprocate how sweet and kind you’ve been! Huggies all the way back for u

[fereldanwench]

Totally agree with you on that. I'm just barely a millennial, being born at the end of the 80s, but I much more identify with gen X than I do my fellow millennials. There was a point when I got sick of people referring to me as a millennial, but now gen Z'ers and alphas call me a boomer and I honestly don't know which annoys me more lol.

I find a lot of the generational bickering, especially online, to be absolutely obnoxious, tbh. 😅 So much of it is cyclical--There have been and probably always will be old people whining about The Youth and vice versa. Anyone middle-aged or older is out of touch and regressive; anyone under 30 is self-absorbed and lazy. It's all the same shit, just repackaged with new lingo and new things to be pissy about.

And then any actual valid concerns, like the detrimental influence of social media on young minds or how younger people are continually losing access to the same resources/support systems as previous generations, get pushed to the side in favor of petty squabbling. It's exhausting.

Plus the generation cutoffs are so nebulous in some areas that the divides can get really confusing, not to mention for a while it seemed like the general public discourse acted like there were only two generations: Boomers and Millennials. A lot of the stereotypes directed at Boomers and Millennials would be more "accurately" directed at Gen Xers and Zoomers as well.

But with my experiences specifically: I'm a late-80s baby who was born to two working-class/lower middle-class Boomer-Gen Xer cuspers who were very pop culture savvy during the 70s-90s and not particularly quick to embrace the technology of the early 00s and onwards.

I grew up with a lot of 70s-80s media, didn't have access to cable until I was 10, didn't have access to a home computer until I was 13, was always at least one generation behind in the video game console wars, didn't have a cell phone until college, was a latchkey kid starting in elementary school--My childhood actually looks a lot more like my husband's, who was born in the early 80s and sits in the Millennial/Gen Xer cusp, than it does a lot of other people my age. (At least amongst my peers where I live and work--Like I remember all my friends in high school having a cell phone, and my parents were always like what do you need a fucking cell phone for, you have a phone at home, lmao.)

But I do very much feel like an average Millennial in how every major milestone in my life seems to coincide with some kind of major catastrophe that is making it incredibly difficult for me to have a comfortable fucking life. Like graduating college in the middle of the recession in 2009 or being ready to advance/shift my career right as the pandemic started.

And of course, the thing about trying to shoehorn people into little categories to neatly describe how their major life experiences coincide with major events is that it's not gotta fit for most people. Everyone's life is full of unique circumstances, and I feel like things like family wealth, for instance, will also play a huge role in whether or not someone experiences certain generational markers. I certainly had a very different childhood from Millennials who grew up where money wasn't a regular family stressor.

Anyway, lmao. 😅 This kind of turned into a rambling rant, but yeah. Generation discourse always gets me a little heated, I guess. We now resumed your regularly scheduled fangirling posts, haha.

[clandestineobserver]

First Blog wow

Holy shit this is my first post I guess. Thought to start a blog as a New Year's resolution. Might be fun, might not be, who knows. My style may change as I inevitably gain notoriety for being such a mysterious enigma, dishing out wisdom to internet strangers that feed on my every word, like a suckling infant on the teat of knowledge (my thoughts and opinions being the aforementioned teat).

I used to have a Tumblr account many moons ago, like when I was 12 or so. From my memory of my feed back in the day, it's weird to think that I was this close (*index finger and thumb and inch apart*) to becoming a goth edgy edge lord. Even weirder, and kind of regretful, that my type could in fact have been a big tiddy goth girl. But that's how life goes I guess, and thank fuck it has gone in the direction it has. Because how else would the epic Clandestine Observer blog have started. Word is in the street that this is _the_ best blog in all of the intranets. I didn't want to believe it at first, but I ran it by the CIA, and yeah, it checks out. So, you know it's not coming from me.

Anyway, enough of the insufferable chit chat, and quite frankly, poor attempt at banter (if you were entertained by this so far, I am sorry to say, your brain follicles have been expertly tricked and manipulated). I probably should get onto the serious topics: what this blog is going to be about and why.

I feel like I had a hell of a lot more introspection about life in my childhood. I hate to admit it, and it scares me to admit it quite frankly, but childhood me was a lot more wise than present day me, and generally had their shit together. That guy had their life on track, or at least had a vision. Present me? Meh not so much. I used to only write with fountain pens in my childhood. If I had written down a pathway, a sense of identity and personhood, and had given a detailed description of what I wanted to achieve in life, with this fountain pen as a child, it is as if somehow, without realising it, while growing up, I spilled water all over this document and now I am left with wet paper with splodges of ink and bleeding lines that vaguely resemble my sense of identity. I don't know, I feel like I know who I am but barely. Maybe it's due to growth though.

So I thought that if I started an introspective blog on what I'm thinking about every now and then, maybe discuss some interesting topics or something, I could get some of that back.

Now here is a list I have compiled on topics that interest me and therefore, all the cool and quirky things that I will talk about in such a way that makes me come across as a mysterious and aloof individual. I will now not be known as a person, I am a phenomenon. An effect. Scientists would be gagging (yes gagging) for a bit of knowledge on how this brain of mine works.

Anyway, here it is:

Introspection about life and life events

Short essays (or essay plans for when I am too lazy) about any topics that interest me, may that be a movie or show that I have recently watched or about deep philosophical ideas that would trigger you to reconsider you whole entire life

Books

Domestic politics, international relations and global events

Social issues that I am thinking about (probably will be about my single hood. Until I find a partner that is, after which point, I will refer to you, dear audience, as pathetic virgins

Physics and philosophy - my baes

And a whole lot more I am sure

So, ladies and gents, people and non-peoples, strap in for an exilleraing series of posts that will hopefully make it worth your while reading it. And hopefully make you coming back for more. Clandestinely of course, because it will be a guilty pleasure. You'll try to kick the habit, but before you even realise it, you'd want to read more posts, more blogs, more analysis on life. Your body will depend on it. Every quickly little quip is a tiny hit of dopamine that your brain will slurp on, giving you just enough of a kick to keep on going, but not quite enough to satiate your innate desire to read more. You'll be embarrassed to admit to your weakness of keeping up to date with this hilarious blog, keep it a hidden secret from your family and friends (but please don't, share or something idk).

Anyway, that's all. You'll hear from me soon hopefully, unless I've decided to take this post down because I couldn't bare the cringe of having it up. BYE

P.S. when the fuck did you have to label posts as mature on Tumblr? What the fuck, what has happened to this glorious bit of software. I faintly remember the whole SFW transition controversy of Tumblr but I thought that was nudity and shit. Is swearing for mature audiences now?

[panchams]

long time, no see

happy 2024! the website layout on here has changed so dramatically that i can barely recognize it. i hate to admit that it took me a couple of minutes to find my followers...

anyways, hey! it's been a while. i jumped ship off of here... god... who knows how long that was? i genuinely feel like it was a permanent move circa 2015. but that's not what im here to talk about.

after the loss of twitter circles, i've struggled finding a place to put my thoughts. don't worry, this blog definitely won't be it but i thought it would be fun to put a little reflection on here as my final post (probably forever?) on this funny blogging website that i decided to use back in 2009 (I'm pretty sure my archives go that far back.... which is certainly something i cherish to see how much I've changed)

so many of you either have known me as eddie, edward, mukuro, bajime, hajime..... lord knows this list goes on. im eddie! or if you want to use my online user, i go by haunter now. a lot has changed since i stopped using this platform regularly! i think i hard quit tumblr maybe around 2016? you can see on my profile that i came back and reblogged some things, but i think it was around the time of my twitter bot's birth (@nintendoqt) when i really stopped using it permanently.

i'm writing this as a reflection of where i've been and where i came from when i first started using this funny website. im officially a couple of months away from graduating college with a bachelors in computer science! that means I'll be a real deal certified software engineer this coming may.

but don't you worry! i got some real time experience as a software engineer last year, right before my senior year began. i worked as a software engineer for the military/government! yeah, that's right... tumblr user Panchams was a military scientist (intern, but it counts). crazy right? and in just a couple of months i'll be hitting the biggest milestone of my life so far which is college graduation.

back when i began this blog, it was towards the end of 2009 and my myspace girlfriend at the time karina recommended i join because the community from our beloved myspace was jumping ship. i jumped in and well, the rest is history.

2009 eddie was a fidgity, undiagnosed autistic relentless kid. it's kind of crazy looking back on that era because i'm so proud of kid me going out of my way to socialize by going to conventions at every possible event he could go to. i would even wear cosplay and force myself out of my comfort zone to talk and take pictures with complete strangers.

to summarize my academic journey to save some space here, i really sucked at math. my math classes were so horrible, i actually got placed senior year in high school in the lowest math possible for seniors (something like college math help course or something, while the other kids were doing calc 1 or 2). but look at me now, baby! i went from pre-algebra all the way to calculus 2 in college, as well as discrete mathematics (possibly the hardest math class anyone outside of a math degree could ever take). i passed them all! it wasn't easy. i failed calculus 1 on my first try. my community college professor even told our entire class in a very vague way that we should commit suicide via bullet if we didn't pass it cuz we would never pass if we couldn't pass his class lol.

caught myself yapping there for a second. anyways, i really just wanted to say that i was a fidgety autistic child with such huge dreams and wonders. you can see throughout my entire blog's lifecycle that i've felt a special connection to characters like pokemon's red, sasuke from naruto, mukuro from katekyo, cloud from final fantasy 7 et etc.... you get it!

i think my life could've easily been one of complacency and laziness. after all, i am the only one in my immediate family to have attended college or even be in STEM whatsoever. my father was a horse trainer and my mom did random odd jobs/cleaning jobs as a kid. i could've easily been stuck forever in poverty and never aspired to do anything with my life. outlets like tumblr, gaia, twitter, youtube, the list goes on but these shaped me in ways that i am beyond thankful for.

as well as pokemon and the other games i mentioned, they gave me a lifeline. those characters i hooked onto as a kid which basically shaped how my personality is... i genuinely wouldn't have it any other way.

what is blud yapping about!!!! i end this weird ramble yapping session to update where my life is and where im headed. I've mentioned graduation (LETS FUCKING GOOO!) but i am beyond excited to be a big boy software engineer (no intern in the title!)

i'm pining for the bay area after graduation. i know, i sound like a lunatic going straight to san francisco as a new grad but.... you only live once! how cliche right, a new software dev moving to san francisco... the story writes itself.

don't worry, i have backup plans! if i can't make enough I'll be sure to live amongst the cows in arkansas (maybe oregon?! who knows.) big things are coming into my life, an entire chapter of my life finishing (the college years? academy saga?) and i'm just happy that i kept pushing. i'm glad i kept trucking on and will have some form of a tangible life that i will create with my own two hands.

happy new years! i don't think anyone will read this but... thank you! thanks tumblr for everything. maybe one day I'll go through and read my #priv or whatever i used to signify as my private posts here eventually. that day won't be today, but maybe when im in my SF apartment?!

have a great year, a great life, and so on. i don't think I'll ever update this blog again. thanks for everything and much love from me!

linktr.ee/haunterz

[yihrae]

It's their first time living life too

I once saw a post talking about how you shouldn't be too hard on your parents because it's their first living life too. The post was implying our parents aren't impervious to all difficulties and they aren't flawless either. They're just humans.

Sometimes when I talk to my parents I may get a tiny bit unhappy because I may feel that I'm not being understood or they might have said something not very nice. But then I remind myself it's important to keep in mind they aren't omnipotent - they can't read my mind, they don't know how I feel at all times, and sometimes they may say things they don't even know have negative connotations. I love my parents and they are the most wonderful pair of parents I could ask for. Correspondingly, to become the greatest son they could ask for, I should be understanding of the fact they are just humans. I feel a lot of people expect a lot from their parents, as if their parents don't have feelings or that they have the perfect approach towards resolving difficulties. A relationship with your parents is like any other. There needs to be communication and reciprocation. Sometimes they might be trying their best but if they aren't told how their what's working and what isn't then it'll be futile. So! My conclusion is simply to encourage everyone to appreciate their parents more. Yes, maybe some parents aren't very kind or perhaps they really have been neglectful, but I believe a large number are simply just living for the first time.

This is pretty applicable to other figures in life too. A lot of teachers are humans too. Sometimes we callously say that this teacher is bad and this teacher is better etc. but it makes me wonder how the teacher who is "bad" would feel if they knew their students talked about them like that. Of course, some teachers are inexcusable, they may simply be lazy or unsuitable to teach. But sometimes people might be going through extraneous circumstances that we don't know about. Or sometimes they just need some feedback - at least in a constructive way. Although truthfully it's really hard to build a platform/chance for teachers and students to communicate like that with each other.

The other day, professor Giovanni got everyone pizza for our last class. At night at a CIS event, I asked him if he liked Focaccia. he said he did. I asked him how he liked it. He told me he liked it with rosemary. So on Tuesday morning, I woke up earlier to bake Focaccia. I realised before putting it in the oven that I forgot the rosemary, so I hurriedly scootered to Cold Storage to purchase it and came back. Later that day I delivered it to him. He ate it on the spot! He inspected and was like "You even included the rosemary???" and I was like "YEAH" HAHAHA. He told me it made his day and said "Bravo Alexander" :'')

So! The conclusion of this story is not to brag about how altruistic I am, but rather that I think it would be nice to appreciate teachers sometimes too. It really was very nice of him to get all of us pizza. I also feel very happy when I make others happy so it's a win-win for me !!

I should have gotten a picture with him sigh

[certified-anakinfucker]

🍕, 🍔, 🍻, 🍩, 🍋, 🍉 and 🍒 for any of your ocs, please?

I apologize for so many questions but I'm really curious!

HELLO LEIA HI HI HELLO HI ILY gonna use you as an excuse to go darrashposting on main

will be under the cut bc i know it's gonna get soooooo long

(i keep forgetting but, this is the ask!)

(and also i am so sorry this took so long, i started on this the day you sent it and then it got pushed in my drafts SJFHDSJHFSJD THANK YOU FOR ASKING THESE)

🍕: How does an OC spend a lazy day?

Darrash likes to sleep. It's something he never gets enough of, or when he does sleep it's very fitful and interrupted by night terrors.

The war doesn't present many lazy days to him regardless. Sleeping, sightseeing-for-a-purely-recreational-reason, sitting around and chatting with his team members or locals (for purely recreational reasons), trying out the food in the region if he's never been there, or just.. doing nothing.

🍔: Are there any recent trends you think your OC would hate? Or love?

Dear God he would be a t*kt*oker. But for very good reason. Exploiting algorithms and pushing to see what he can surface before people start questioning shit.

For a modern AU, he would post some pseudo-psychological shit, mostly as a means of spreading tips on mutual manipulation (yourself and others and possibly events at large), or he'll be the top account in thrifting or life-hacking. Anything to stretch one resource to the absolute maximum for as long as possible, he's your guy. He had to grow up crafty and resourceful so why not pass it along?

I also think he'd end up as some kind of doomsday meme, showing up at inaurguations and staring/glaring menacingly at the newly-elected leader from some back corner. Like "Where's Waldo?" type shit.

(more under the cut!)

🍻: What's your OC's favourite comfort ritual? How do they calm themselves down after a rough day?

Ough, that's a hard question - mostly because he has quite a few.

The first that comes to mind is very simple: physical touch. Though he never had much of it, one of the few good things that came out of his tenure in the Imperial Academy is that he was seldom ever punched or otherwise hit; there wasn't much of anything to sour his perception of physical touch, so he still rather enjoys it. (Not counting the year or so on Nar Shaddaa he worked as an escort / dancer, but even then he was rarely touched.)

This one hasn't changed since he was a kid on Nal Hutta, surrounded by his friends: he very very very much loves to sing. He mostly sings to himself as a self-soothing habit, but if he's in good company then he doesn't mind openly sharing his voice.

9-13 ATC became a constant slew of rough days in the theater of warfare so he's picked up recreational target practice, ignoring one (1) of his colleagues while chatting with everyone else, and most important of all he learned how to piss off his handlers for fun. Mostly just Keeper (who becomes the Minister of Intelligence later. Watcher Two/Keeper isn't as fun to annoy because she's oblivious.)

🍩: What's a crime your OC is most likely to commit? What's a crime they're most likely to get arrested for?

Well. Darrash is an extension of a fascist police surveillance state, top of the game in espionage + seduction + assassination + general disguise + infiltration, plainly acting as a force to be reckoned with and virtually untouchable. The (other) Grim Reaper himself. If you see a Cipher coming..... yeah you're already dead.

He's got so much blood on his hands and is responsible for bringing down damn near every planet he's been set up against, all without leaving so much a trace besides either the trail of destruction or deliberate footnotes. And a looooot of war crimes, definitely. Dude did what he had to do at all costs necessary.

Anyway - so Darrash also got his start as a kid skilled in the petty theft of supply crates and food out of markets, and general other thievery activities to grab supplies or otherwise quick credits. He knows very little about how to say "please" for anything he needs; he'd much rather just fuckin' take it.

He'd be arrested for theft, war crimes, insubordination, assassination, subverting entire terrorist cells, umm. You name it.

🍋: What is your OC's most painful memory?

Losing his adoptive family. Gurr'os'olo, Ixan'ia, Aker'al, and three Evocii as well - it was the loss one by one that just. Broke him. These were the closest things he held to siblings. His older half brother Johkel had been kidnapped by Imperial Intelligence when he was very young and he didn't really know his younger sister Marrav, so that left the ragtag bunch he fell in with.

Gurr'os'olo had been kidnapped by pirates on Hutta, and that's the last that Darrash heard of him. Aker'al and his family were cornered by Sith - they killed his parents, burned his home, and disappeared with Aker'al. He never knew what happened to Ixan'ia.

Then he spent so long trying to pretend he was over them, just to end up finding Roso in the Republic militia on Taris, and finding Ixan'ia as an established smuggler, and Aker'al nearly killing him before forcefully taking him as an Apprentice for a couple of years. None of that felt great.

🍉: Does your OC have a particular piece of jewellery that they always wear or refuse to part with?

He did, for about a year. It was an Alderaanian headband that was given to him by the Revanite chapter on Dromund Kaas once he'd completed their trials and protected them from the Dark Council. His time spent in the cell was undoubtedly traumatizing beyond his will to compare, especially the fact that he was "reminded" of his own sensitivity to the Force that was pretty much drilled out of him by Intelligence. It's not that they took it away from him, but they trained him well enough to never rely on it that he did truly forget.

Ironically, he did choose to part with it on one condition: it was given to his would-be husband, Vector Hyllus, sometime before they were assigned to Taris together. When he presented Vector with a proper Intelligence-grade uniform with rank to match, he placed the headpiece on his head under the excuse of "it's Alderaanian, I thought you might like it" rather than the truth. Vector figured it out from Kaliyo, who was still angry that she had to sit through it with him.

🍒: Has Your OC had their first kiss yet? If so, with who?

This one I was on the fence about, but I will say yes.

He was kissed a few times when he served as an escort on Nar Shaddaa in a niche little club scene. He doesn't count those.

His official first kiss was with Vector on Voss, shortly before he was to marry Yana-Ton. It was unexpected on Darrash's part, but extremely welcomed. He almost fucked up the marriage vows because he was still reeling. Yana-Ton thought it was cute.

[cherrykindness]

let's make babies |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: you and harry are doing a live on instagram, you've drunk a lot of wine and now the world knows that the future Mrs. Styles is ready to make babies.

warnings: mostly cute, but the title tells you what you need to know 🤪

"What is your favorite song from the Fine Line album?" Y/N read aloud, twirling in her right hand the second glass of wine of the evening, the one already halfway through. "Adore You and Watermelon Sugar, of course."

Harry giggled, rolling his eyes upon hearing his fiancée's statement.

"Y/N will always choose Adore You because it was obviously written for her." He accused. "She wouldn't give that answer under different circumstances."

The comments climbed up the screen continuously, most fans gushing about how cute Harry Styles and YN/LN could be while the other part was concerned with wringing even more information out of the slightly inebriated couple who had decided to do a surprise live one early Sunday morning.

As expected after being away for some time to begin filming Don't Worry, Darling in Southern California, Harry enjoyed a lazy weekend in the house he shared with his fiancée and her pets. The days were filled with late naps and relentless Netflix marathons, sublime and ethereal evenings, marked mostly by unexpected declarations and rounds of sex that used to last until the beams of light were shyly coming through the linen curtains. They were not a monotonous couple, so this order could easily be changed.

"Watermelon Sugar is nothing more than about my love for watermelons, don't get too creative." Harry replied to a fan while sporting a corner smile, the message standing out among the rest for its dozens of emojis and large print, questioning the singer about erotic content behind the lyrics of his latest hit. "I really don't know what you guys are talking about."

Y/N laughed, shaking her head before leaning it against her fiancé's chest, propped up on the soft white pillows that were spread practically all over the bed. The air conditioner was on at a minimal temperature and a light rain whipped on the panes of glass camouflaged by the cream-colored curtain, that being the projection of Y/N's favorite nights.

"You can tell them, I'm not shy." She joked, nudging her fiancé's waist.

"You know what it was written about and who it was written for." Harry replied, raising one of his eyebrows. "That's what matters."

It went without saying that much of Harry's newest album, as well as some of his earlier work, had been done in exclusive dedication to his future wife. Y/N had been the muse for a vast repertoire of romantic songs, and even though the singer preferred to keep the story behind his more explicit compositions a "secret", the relationship the two had shared for more than three years was already solid and known enough for the media and fans to distinguish hidden messages in small details.

"It's a song about what usually comes before the act of making babies." Y/N laughed as he pointed at the display. "Honestly, you guys are impossible."

"No, we make babies every day." Harry joked, making a funny motion with his eyebrows. "I would spend my entire career writing just about that."

"Harry!" The actress exclaimed incredulously, slapping her fiancé weakly on the chest. "Children might be watching this."

"You don't want to have babies with me?" He asked falsely offended, accepting the cup that Y/N offered him. "Because I want some babies with you."

Y/N laughed, rolling her eyes as she watched the internet freak out at the dialogue that had suddenly emerged. Since the beginning of the quarantine, it was kind of inevitable that the couple of artists would not become the darlings of all social media; they were fervently active with photos, videos, and lives that depicted step by step daily life in isolation, gaining more and more followers and making the media more and more fascinated by the relationship they both shared.

The wedding was scheduled for the summer of next year and it was perhaps the most anticipated event in the tabloids. Bets about what the model of Y/N's dress would be and lists presuming who would be selected for the short list of guests stood out among countless news stories about the famous people influencing pop culture today.

The possible arrival of a Styles baby was an inevitable topic in interviews. Harry and Niall were the only members of the ex-boyband that had not become fathers yet, and because they had maintained a solid relationship and were seen as one of the most enviable couples during the last four years, Y/N and Harry had gotten used to all this openly asked questions. They didn't mind, they even had fun with the montages and all the anxiety that dominated the whole internet, often mentioning the fandoms' efforts to represent them as such "cool" parents in perfectly edited pictures.

"No, guys, I'm not pregnant." Y/N amusingly clarified the doubt of dozens of new comments. "Please don't believe so many controversial news stories that appear out there. I was on twitter last week and saw several people theorizing about a possible pregnancy, most of the arguments based on a website that used photos from the set of How to Get Away with Murder in the season where I was actually playing a pregnant woman as Laurel." She laughed. "It's so funny! I know you guys love to guess these things, but we won't hide something so special when it actually happen, I promise."

"Especially because Y/N can hide absolutely nothing from anyone." Harry accused, leaving his drink on the corner table before settling into a comfortable position for the two of them. "Anyone who's a Marvel fan knows that. That's one of her most characteristic quirks."

"They gave me a fake script for the last two movies." Y/N agreed, shaking his head. "For me and Tom."

"We agreed to keep the engagement a secret for a while. The plan was to travel to Holmes Chapel to break the news to my family in person, but guess who got a call at ten o'clock at night from an angry Anne because she learned of her son's engagement from an interview Y/N gave the next day?"

Y/N gave a guilty smile, winking gracefully at the camera. "It was all James' fault! I'm sure he already suspected something, those questions were very suspicious."

"Of course the questions were suspicious, babe. You literally said you had a secret that involved both of us but that you couldn't tell because it was important that our families knew first."

"I thought he would think about a pregnancy or something!" The actress defended herself, feeling very convincing in her intonation bordering on obviousness. "That's a mania I can't get rid of, it's in my genes."

"Did you all hear that? Further proof that you guys don't have to worry about guessing when Y/N's pregnancy will be, I'm sure our baby will make sure to tell you everything while still in the womb, mom's genes will make sure of that."

"You are so funny, Harry Styles." Y/N sarcastically stated, holding back a giggle as countless messages with laughing emojis were frantically up. "Yeah, I know I talk a lot and all, but you have annoying quirks too."

It was obvious that live would be news the next day. Although they were completely open about matters concerning their relationship, nothing seemed better than receiving so much exclusive information from a Harry and S/N drunk on expensive wine.

"You wake up in a bad mood and you're dangerously sexy, that should be illegal."

Harry laughed, holding his fiancée's waist a little tighter as he felt her tumble a little further to the side, getting closer and closer to the edge of the bed. Y/N was dangerously weak for drinks, and the singer knew that the actress' body was already near its limit.

"You're the only sexy person here, love." He declared with a corner smile, evidently finding the whole situation funny. "Do you want to go to sleep now?"

"No." Y/N shook her head. "Can we watch some movie? Can we watch Sweet Home?"

"Of course, love." He murmured, giving the woman a quick kiss on the forehead.

Even though Harry knew that his fiancée was unlikely to make it past the five-minute mark of the episode, he made sure to restart the korean series at exactly the scene where she had stopped, the first chapter still halfway through after Y/N realized that it would be impossible to watch such a macabre work without a drop of alcohol in her blood.

She had been so excited by the taste of Argentinian wine and the idea of updating her fans after a few weeks away, that she had forgotten the main purpose of the live. Harry and Y/N had been apart for a few days due to the new movie the Brit was shooting in North America, all happening in an unrestrictedly careful manner due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic.

He was slowly migrating towards acting and the future Mrs. Styles couldn't be prouder. Y/N had felt on cloud nine when Harry had given her the news of his upcoming job, but her only pronouncement on the subject had been a succinct post on instagram. Just a photo of the couple on a trip to Germany with a simple heart emoji didn't seem enough for the actress' exhibitionist soul, and coming to that conclusion was the main reason she decided to invite him, already relatively changed, for a live appearance. Y/N wanted to go on and on about how much she loved that man and work on that whole honeyed speech that would bring her (once again) the title of "cutest bride of all time," but of course Harry had to come home from his trip with his favorite red wine and poison her with those sweet caresses that took her out of orbit, turning the degree of alcohol content into the least of her problems.

"You're going to kiss Florence." Y/N exclaimed suddenly, as if only now realizing that her fiancé would share the screen with Florence Pugh, one of her closest friends in that industry. "Kiss on the mouth."

The MacBook was still open and hundreds of new comments were going up every second, but Harry didn't bother one bit to warn her about the possibility of her becoming a meme the next day. He was having too much fun with the situation to worry.

"Are you jealous?"

"Yes." She stated with a pout. "I am jealous, I just don't know if I'm more jealous of her or of you."

"But you kiss me every day, babe." Harry laughed. "And you've been kissing other people's men for almost ten years." He joked.

"But I only think about you, I already told you that."

Harry shook his head negatively at the camera, knowing he was sharing with the fans the funniest side of his fiancée.

"I know that, honey." He assured, lightly stroking the actress' back. "I think we'd better turn off the TV and go to sleep now, I'm sure you'll have a terrible headache tomorrow."

The brit planned to bid his audience goodbye and put an end to that recording, but Y/N was drunk and her sense of right and wrong had already gone to space. Harry should have been quicker, however, because his fiancée's speech would be cause for new tags and the only subject for the interviewers for at least the next few months.

"I don't want to sleep, how about we make babies?"

That's what Watermelon Sugar was all about, after all.

[scorchrend]

Hello there please infodump about your blorbos to me, I am willing to know about your blorbos as they sound very fun(I wanna rotate them like the stuff you put in a microwave)

Hi!!!!!!! I'm running to you at full speed. Ok. Ok. Let me introduce. My Blorbo #1.

Euden Dragalia Lost!!

I don't know where to start because I do like being asked specific questions. But. I am skilled. At rambling with no aim. Here we go

euden is my friend he likes cute dragons and he plays the piano and hes been practicing string instruments over the course of the game. his base form tells us he "sounds like hes strangling a cat" but now in his latest alt he says hes gotten really good and wants to put on a concert at some point. he enjoys parties what with the events every two months. hes a normal guy. hes very accepting and when there is a problem, rather than moving to change the person he tries to be accepting of them. he has the fucking weight of the world on his shoulders but hes still so kind. someone get this man a sense of self-preservation. he has a sort of deadpan sassy humor. hes a fucking idiot. hes smart. hes everything. hes nothing. i cant list it all here he is just so important to me.

below readmore is kind of like a dragalia plot synopsis i just kept on typing 💀💀💀 writing this after i finished that i think ive been writing for 2 hours

(written after the readmore: yeah im all talked out for this post but if you have questions i will answer. i want to answer, especially specific questions. it doesnt have to be about euden you can ask me about my other blorbos! )

Euden is the 7th child of Aurelius, the king of Sol Alberia. He is 17 at the beginning of story (about 20 by now since the game's new year events are canonical), and he has a twin sister named Zethia. He is just a regular kind guy. Yknow standard protagonist stuff. This is likely due to him being the self-insert character, what with his name being the player's username. But more on that later.

The Alberian Royalty have dragonblood, meaning they can form pacts with dragons in order to shapeshift into them. You can't succeed the throne if you can't get a pact and shapeshift.

Now Euden over here, he has no interest in the throne. He just wants to enjoy life with his twin sibling and their faerie friend Notte, who they met at childhood. In fact, he's been actively avoiding the Dragon Choosing, so that he wouldn't be in line for the throne and create conflict between him and his siblings.

But unfortunately some shit goes down and the sacred shard (they keep fiends away) in Sol Alberia is weakening, so Euden is tasked to go and get the one from the Mistholt (an old castle in rovetelle forest that was used as the base of the founder king Alberius). You need a dragon to do this. So he goes out, along with Zethia, Notte, and a few friends he picks up on the way, and forms a pact with Midgardsormr, the windwyrm.

This is just turning into a fucking plot synopsis oh my god.

ok whatever. as they exit the mistholt suddenly his dad appears in front of them and hes like "wtf dad didnt u say you were going to the binding ruins" but then something is Very Wrong. Aurelius starts shooting black mana at them and theyre like oh fuck hes been possessed by The Other. The fiend sealed in the binding ruins. lol. uhhhh. long story short the gang loses and oddly the other wants zethia so she goes with him and is warped away and now euden has to go and get her.

i'm skipping over the parts where they chase after zethia and the other but like along this way euden finds out he can have multiple pacts just like the founder king alberius. ok. one of the dragons tried to make euden and his brother emile (6th in line) kill each other but thats a story for emile and not really for euden

Also they met a second zethia some time earlier im too lazy to insert this above but like shes been nudging the party on which way to go

anyways. they make it to the binding ruins and aurelius and zethia are there. theyre fighting!! so euden goes to shield zethia but then aurelius goes like "no!!! wtf are you doing!!!!!!" then theres a cg and BOOM zethia has red eyes shes been possessed by the other. he gets attacked but aurelius shields euden and he fucking dies. (his mana is transferred to his old dragon zodiark :) ) i forgot what was after this. uhhh the second zethia is a projection of mana from another universe and she disappears if she uses too much. but they have to escape so she warps them out then she disappears.

then zethia became the empress and renamed sol alberia into dyrenell because it was the name of the tyrannical empire in the past wow

now euden has no idea wtf to do. then he runs in with valyx (4th) then they fight then he makes his own kingdom from the mistholt— New Alberia.

in between this per chapter there are run ins with eudens other siblings, phares (2nd), leonidas (1st), and chelle (3rd). here comes chapter 10!!!

also its about 1st anniversary! euden is now 18.

anyways they get visions of alberius's fight with the other and apparently he sealed the soul of the other in the royal bloodline with a technique called the blood casket. also the others real name is morsayati. anyways thats why morsayati can body hop. i think they need to be willing but i dont remember

then stuff goes down here and all eudens siblings side with empress zethia so now the story shifts to having to fight all of the siblings.

oh boy. chapter 11 beyond. this is where the writing picks up. it felt like there was a clear change of direction (there WAS a change of direction, literally. the former director stepped down and was replaced by yuji okada from blazegames shoutouts to yuji okada my man) this was very good for euden

anyways in chapter 12 he has a fight with leonidas i know this was important but i fucking forgor

chapter 13. Oh boy. so theres this kid. they help him. he says his name is ed. ok cool. but then the kid starts spouting words. "what if your life was flipped all of a sudden" "what if you werent a royal what would you be"

then it turns out ed is actually the 5th child that none of the siblings ever met. his name is beren.

chapter 14 oh THIS IS MEATY ok theyre finally storming dyrenell. they reach the throne room and. since euden does want his sister first and foremost and is not really in the right headspace he agrees to let morsayati possess him. dude u have a whole kingdom to look after 😭😭😭 whatever. it would be very bad if morsayati possessed him because morsayati would gain access to all of his pactbound dragons. but in comes beren (he can suck black mana for his own power) and mid transfer he just fucking EATS UP morsayati. you had to be there it was hilarious. zethia still on the floor unconscious. they get intercapted by volk one of the agito and uhh idr how this goes but the agito get zethia and go towards north grastaea (alberia is in south) towards grams the holy city. euden and co chase after. (this leaves a power vacuum in dyrenell. the throne ends up with emile)

2nd zethia reappears because the morsayati worldhopping firewall is gone and she joins them. she gets a new name— Zena

CHAPTER 15 this one made me insane. chapter 14 made euden on my blorbo list but this one fucking killed me.

on the path zena gets in close calls but euden goes like "zethia ill protect u" but then zena deals with it just fine and hes like fucking hell euden thats not zethia. she doesnt need you to protect her.

ok so basically the leader of the agito appears. his name is Nedrick (💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 FUCKING NEDRICK 🤣🤣🤣🤣) and hes like ill take zethia. and theyre going to get the dawnshard for themselves (big power) and he claims that he is the REAL 7th scion. He shows them a document with the royal seal on it and it says euden, the 7th scion, died a month after birth, and after some thing with a some person named Finlorda, a new euden replaced the child.

then nedrick shows that the document lights up in the hands of a real royal. he hands it to zethia and valyx to show. nedrick holds it. and it glows. he hands it to euden

euden is like no way i can turn into dragons. multiple even. i have dragonblood! so he takes it. then it stops glowing. then we get. This

(this was in the files for a while but this was the first time it was used. oh my god euden im so sorry but there will be many more times where this will happen.)

then he gets really fucking mad and they fight and nedrick sweeps euden and they have to warp back to the halidom. the mistholts castle. but zethia doesnt go with them. she says she will stay (she has plans but they are not evident at this point) and eudens like Fuck. I failed her again. when they get back he snaps at his friends (this is the first time hes snapped) but apologizes and goes to his room. he stays there the entire day until zena comes in and smacks some therapy in his face and it works. for now. then he apologizes to his friends and asks them if theyd still follow him, even if he wasnt really royalty. they all go like yeaaah

the rest. i am.... not fucking writing that much but

ch 16 rumor gets out that euden is possessed by the other. he gets turned on by his citizens until leonidas shows up after their fight in ch12 and a character development and fixes everything and gives rations and shit and he handles the castle while euden goes to north alberia to find the truth about himself and meet finlorda who turns out to be the faerie king

ch 18 theres like. mirage and distortion snowy mountains. and euden has visions of his friends abandoning him and his citizens turning on him. he has to be snapped out of it by his sylvan (rabbit ear people) friend Luca and luca goes like "this is the first time ive seen you want anything for yourself. and i want to see you get the truth of yourself. so lean on me more" good shit

ch19 hes revealed to be made from the body of morsayati and dragonblood. then a perfect copy of the dead euden's (now nedrick) soul. this fucks him up good but he deals with it normally now. he goes out into the woods and like. processes it. also mascula and laxi reassure him at the end of the chapter (androids they met in ch11, they share laxi's body)

i have run out of energy but now euden has come to terms with the fact that he isnt the original euden and embraces it to some extent. uhh. and in the newest event where they face off against true bahamut the creator of the world he has this powered up form thats literally made from friendship. its the cheesiest shit ever but dragalia makes it so cool not joking i love it so much. im skimming over that because the event is still on

[svchengss]

king of hearts | d.sc

PAIRING. dong sicheng x reader

GENRE. high school!au, fluff, slight angst, kind of e2l

WARNINGS. none (lmk if i missed any!)

WORD COUNT. 6.7k

SUMMARY. sicheng’s subtle flirts are not working effectively but it only motivates him to try and woo you more. the devil sure works hard but dong sicheng works harder.

PLAYLIST. king of hearts

TAGLIST. @floraljae @clovdless @mashiihearts @ndr1271 @kunrengui (shoutout to mashi for being a major help in the process of writing this <3)

// just to let you guys know, reblogs and feedbacks are appreciated !! thank you for reading :D

music was blaring through the multiple loudspeakers scattered around the school grounds, booths of various interests that were set-up by the clubs being swarmed by visitors and ecstatic oohs and aahs from the ones playing games can be heard intermittently. the annual school festival of redlands high, an event that is looked forward to by every single student there. or maybe not, you’re quite unsure of the self-made data.

you immediately made a beeline to the dance club booth which is managed by yangyang, the president also holding the title of your best friend. a cartoonish grin crept up on his face when he spots you walking towards him.

“so, what do you think? looks legit, huh?” he crossed his arms together, observing the design of the booth with a proud smile. the set-up is definitely eye-catching, not much decorations going on, adding to the simplicity of the white theme with gold touch-ups. you browsed through the plastered posters on the board, inviting people to sign up for their upcoming audition. looking up to the signboard hanging outside, you showed a thumbs up towards him, muttering a quick ‘perfect’.

“so what exactly is your booth doing? there’s not much… activity going on?” you scratched the non-existent itch on your left eyebrow. the boy in front of you gave you an eye roll before explaining that there will be mini dance games - or just dance as he worded. an amused sound left your lips as you bent down, dropping your signature in the guestbook on the wooden table.

“are you coming to the stage shows tonight? i heard there’s a new band performing,” your ears perked up instinctively upon hearing the words. after your sister graduated high school, nobody paid any attention to keep the band going. the zikas, a trio that made the music club strive back then. either the newer batches were too lazy to make an effort or too scared if they weren’t up to the already high standards of the school.

“i’m going if you’re going,” you simply stated, which made yangyang flash you the same grin from before. you said your simple goodbyes when people started lining up to try the just dance game at his booth. after he reminded you to wait for him by the statue, you went off to check out the food sales, eager to fill your growling stomach since this morning.

you can do this, sicheng. you can do this.

he made sure to double check the tuning of his guitar for one last time before joining the rest of his bandmates on the stage. his tall and slim physique surely left an impact, seeing that some of the audience suddenly became more invested in the performance compared to the others. he’s wearing some band’s shirt - probably green day since it’s quite similar to your sister’s posters in her room, black leather jacket and his black hair middle parted. not to miss the silver pendant necklace on his neck, sparkling under the spotlight.

the moment he struck the pick through the strings of his electric guitar, the drummer and bassist followed after, producing a melody that is pleasing to your ears. he held the microphone closer to his mouth, singing the lyrics as you bobbed your head up and down to the covers they sang - american idiot and helena are the ones you recognized since you’ve heard the songs so often. yangyang on the other hand kept on sipping the chocolate milkshake in his hand, vibing with the music as well.

the next song was a sentimental one which you assumed is a self-composed one, since you’ve never heard this song before. before you know it, the performance is over and the audience have started packing up their belongings to hang out somewhere else or go home.

“good job everyone, we did well,” yuta, who played the bass earlier, high-fived the rest of the band with a sly grin on his face. guanheng chugged the mineral water down his throat before stashing his drumsticks into the bag while sicheng was lost in his thoughts. he doesn’t know why but you stood out from the crowd, only able to see you just now. he wouldn’t say it’s a crush, not knowing anything about you but it definitely made him feel something. a trigger in his heart, not knowing where it leads to. but what he does know is that you caught his attention.

“and you know what he said? i’ll come back crawling to him just like his other exes. what the heck is even that?” you took out the binders from your locker while listening to ningning rant about her love life. since you haven’t had any relationships before, you’re not really a professional in this aspect of life so you just kept your mouth shut to avoid giving useless advice.

“that sounds so rude, he’s such a jerk,” you commented, taking the first bite of your sandwich afterwards. the tea-spilling session eventually came to an end when she reached her class first and you kept walking to mrs. walker’s, english being your first period. nothing exciting really happened in that class except someone got their phone confiscated for texting in class - just the usual things. classes later, it’s finally recess when you met up with ningning and yangyang in the cafeteria.

“first of all, cut him off. block him. everywhere,” yangyang emphasized the last word, knowing how much of an idiot the guy can be. you just scrolled through your socials, double tapping on certain posts that caught your eye. owning a cat looks fun, you made a mental note to bring the idea to your parents later. the bell rang which signals that classes are starting back soon and the same cycle of events continues before it’s time to go home.

you observed yangyang’s sharp moves, following to the beat of the song echoing in the dance room. it’s currently half past seven and he’s still here, beads of sweat running through his hair. and why would he stay in school so late, you may ask? obviously, he’s here for a reason and it being an upcoming dance tournament is the most accurate one. while you’re here, sitting on the floor, back against the mirror and legs straightened out with your phone in your hand. it amazes you how the goofy boy transforms 360°, being all serious when he’s in his element.

“let’s go home, i’m tired already,” he panted out breathlessly, using a cloth nearby to wipe his sweaty forehead. you wait for him by the glass door as he packs up his things when the lights in the music studio also switched off. you wondered it must be the band guys so you paid no attention whatsoever. of course, your predictions were right when you saw two lads stepping out.

since yangyang is taking too much time tidying up the dance studio and the music studio seems unoccupied, you decided to check it out for a bit. it’s been a long time since you last entered the room, always accompanying your sister for her extra practice when you were younger. not much has changed, except some additions of instruments can be seen. not seeing anything in the dark condition as the room is only illuminated by the faint lights from the hallway, you pushed the switches down only to be met by a gasp.

“what are you doing here?” the tall boy approached you, a stern look visible on his fine features. your eyes scrambled around the room in an attempt to find any logical excuses for your ‘break-in’ but to no avail. your tongue was dry, not a sound escaping your throat when you heard yangyang’s voice, signalling your cue to exit the room and escape from the tension building between you and the boy. he just shook his head, the black hair bouncing left to right as he finally caught on.

it’s you, you’re the girl from the crowd. and your name is y/n.

the walk home was filled with one-sided conversations where yangyang kept on babbling about how he should improve the choreography he created earlier while you only added small comments. your mind is filled with embarrassment, too much that you feel slightly mad at yourself. why didn’t you say anything earlier? now, you look like a complete idiot with communication issues in front of that boy.

“yeah, and remember that pasta? we should definitely try it again, it’s like, so good,” yangyang said, earning a nod from you when you saw the boy from last night’s music studio tragedy approaching your table. you tried to look away but it was too late.

“dude, just wanna let you know that mr. park is seeing us after school,” your grip on your fork loosens up when you realized he wasn’t talking to you. maybe he forgot about the incident? you really hope so.

“yeah, totally. thanks sicheng,” yangyang playfully winked at the latter, earning a disgusted look from him who started walking away. he glanced back at you with a smug smile on his plump lips, making you freeze up again.

he didn’t.

“are you okay, y/n? feeling sick?” ningning furrowed her eyebrows upon seeing your sudden change of demeanor. you shrugged her off and continued to consume the macaroni placed on the tray in front of you, mentally cursing at yourself for the poor life choice you’d made. well, at least you know that his name is sicheng, right?

oh boy, you’re in for a long ride.

you can’t wait to go home and snuggle under the covers, today has been a long and tiring one for you. you had three pop quizzes as if all the three teachers intended so, your class had to run multiple laps during p.e. and so on. you’re already planning your routine in your head, trudging your way to the lockers when you saw him leaning against yours, scrolling down his phone.

“crap,” you muttered under your breath.

there it is, the smirk on his face returns when he spots your figure approaching. oh, how you wish you could wipe it off his face. he moved a couple steps backwards to give you some space to arrange your things before locking it, turning your head towards him.

“i’m sorry, why are you here again? and if it’s because of last night, then i’m sorry if it bothered you or anything,” you huffed out.

“what? i didn’t really care, it’s not like you were stealing anything, right?” he squinted his eyes, eyeing you up and down suspiciously, laughing shortly after seeing you get riled up.

“damn, you really need to learn how to take a joke. y/n, right? i’m sicheng, nice to meet you.”

“why exactly are we having this meet-and-greet or whatever this introduction is?” you crossed your arms, waiting for his response. but he didn’t, immediately turning on his heels and making his way towards the stairs, probably going to the studio.

“jerk,” you cursed under your breath, walking out the school building.

“what? you got accepted? seriously?” ningning’s voice echoed against the cafeteria walls, earning surprised and annoyed glances from other students who were either satisfying their grumbling stomach or simply having conversations. yangyang softly nudged her elbows using his, asking her to lower her voice down before telling you to go on. you were quite surprised as well, the acceptance email was not what you expected to receive. when you filled in the application form, it was just a mere shoot-your-shot agenda to see if you’d make the cut. although this is just a camp, you’re still unsure of what lies ahead.

“yeah, it starts next week. but i’m so nervous though,” you sipped the iced coffee in your hands. you’ve only watched videos of people producing their own music from scratch which you start to take an interest in. however, you’ve never done it hands-on before, only having basic music theory knowledge thanks to the piano lessons your parents signed you up for when you were young.

“you’ll do awesome, i promise,” yangyang gave you a reassuring smile, making you release some tension from the overthinking you’ve had since you received the email last night.

“thanks yang.”

now, here you are on the first day of attending the internship camp. you stood in front of the tall mirror hanging on the wall, straightening your cardigan and applying some makeup onto your face as touch-ups. it’s currently 7:40 in the morning, the earliest time you’ve ever woken up on a saturday. your siblings are still swallowed in their states of sleep. you double-checked the contents in your tote bag, making sure that no important things are left behind. you totally don’t intend on leaving a bad first impression on your first day.

after bidding a swift goodbye to your parents who just woke up, you drove your mother’s old honda to the completely new destination - mbyte studios. the tall building with light grey and blue painted walls definitely made it stand out, a futuristic look catching the eyes of the passersby. taking a deep breath, you entered the main lobby before being escorted to a room on the second floor. you assume it’s a waiting room for all participants of the camp, scanning that majority of the occupiers might be college students. you thanked god that the camp takes place on weekends so your high school senior life won’t be interrupted that much.

DAY 1

your eyes widened when you spot sicheng with the same white and blue tag you’re wearing, seated on the sofa. what the hell is he doing here? you avoided acknowledging his presence, trying to make yourself as unnoticed as possible heading over to occupy the seat farthest from his. after quite some time staring at the paintings hanging on the wall, a middle-aged lady with a petite figure entered the room, making you sit up straight.

“welcome to mbyte studios! i’m the assistant director, mrs. hwang. first and foremost, congratulations on being accepted. it’ a pleasure to witness the start of your musical journey embarking here. i believe that we should know each other first?” she gestured for any volunteers. sicheng stood up from his seat, charisma evident in his stance which left quite an impression on the others. the strong confidence in the way he speaks made the woman smile amusingly.

some names later, it was your turn to introduce yourself. the moment you stood up, he immediately recognized you and you were sure you caught him making some faces. the ice-breaking session went well thankfully, mrs. hwang elaborating on the social rules and the itinerary throughout the whole six days. one that caught your attention was assisting the producers on making a track from scratch, just like you had dreamed of.

when it was finally time for lunch break, you shot up from your seat to get away from sicheng as fast as possible but to your dismay, he beat you to it, jogging up towards your standing position.

“i didn’t know you were into music, what’s the sudden occasion?”

“it’s none of your business actually,” you sneered back, obviously not favouring his attention.

“woah, relax. you’ve got quite a temper, don’t you? by the way, we’re having lunch together,” he placed his phone onto a nearby table, pulling a chair for you.

“just eat on your own, i don’t have the appetite,” you flash a sarcastic grin before disappearing into the women’s restroom. he just laughed bitterly at your response before walking towards the food counter, joining his newly made friend, jaehyun. being the same age, they’re easy to click.

DAY 2

“today, we’ll be focusing on the recording process. you’ll be assigned into groups that will have a tour of the whole department. our staff will facilitate each group,” the manager said loud and clear. you remembered his name was johnny. the tattoo on his shoulder really stands out, considering the fact that he’s always wearing a sleeveless shirt.

but what are the odds when your groupmate is none other than the guy himself, sicheng. it’s like the universe truly resented you for having to be associated with him at any event. your group was escorted to the farthest recording studio on the floor. to say that this was a great experience is truly an understatement, making you observe the gears used in astonishment. you hate to admit it but sicheng has a handful of knowledge on this particular topic, always correctly answering the questions directed by the staff. maybe it wasn’t quite surprising upon knowing that his career choice is a singer, not that you care anyways.

again, nothing out of the ordinary happened today, except that you and sicheng had lunch on the same table. of course, it’s not that you accepted his offer but he welcomed himself to the spot. being the quickly favoured participant among the rest, obviously they welcomed him with open hands. he placed himself among the two guys sitting at the right corner, eyeing you whose eyes are still not leaving the article you were skimming through. with the last spoon of food shoved into your mouth, you quietly excused yourself from the group. sicheng just watched your movements in subtle signs of annoyance.

with the final task of doing microphone check-ups, day two of the camp ended with a breeze. you can’t wait to go home, get into a warm bath and spend the night watching netflix. it was a tiring one indeed but you’re not one to complain. pushing the car keys into the ignition slot, the sound of the engine starting is still nowhere to be heard even after a couple of retries. you rested your forehead onto the steering wheel, cursing silently in your head, having to get a taxi and call your mother about this incident. you’re sure to be receiving a handful from her, not to mention her soft but stingful remarks.

“hey, are you okay?” a deep voice interrupts your stressful state of mind. looking up, it’s sicheng with a concerned look on display. you hesitantly shared your problem, making him press his lips together probably thinking of a solution.

“you know, i don’t really know how to fix your broken engine or whatever but i know someone who can. let me just ring him for a sec. and you’re coming home with me.”

and that’s how you ended up in the front passenger seat, sicheng steering with one hand and the other rested on the windowsill. the faint music from the radio can be heard, probably a song by jon vinyl. you’d steal quick glances to see his other hand dancing in the air, enjoying the rhythm of the song playing. besides that, it was silent as both of you are preoccupied with your own things - sicheng on the road while you on your phone. he tried to make small talk but you would say it’s unrequited, only replying with short sentences. after a good ten minutes drive, the sight of your brown painted gate becomes a sign for him to stop the moving car.

“your car is safe with my friend so you shouldn’t worry about it or anything. also, what’s your number? it’ll be easier for, you know the car business of course,” he reached over to unbuckle your seatbelt, handing over his phone to you after. the close proximity made your breath hitch, the dewy scent of his perfume diffusing into your nose. not too strong, he has a good taste.

“thanks and um, i’ll buy you a drink later. just for today.”

“are you asking me on a date?” there it is, the significant tug on the side of his lips making its presence once again.

“stop being so narcissistic and move along please,” you rolled your eyes before giving him a small wave, stepping into your property. sicheng stared at the numerals on his phone screen, a small, proud grin etched on before driving off the lane.

“how was the camp? met any cute boys?” the first thing you hear in the hue of the blue monday morning is ningning’s chirpy voice. sometimes you wonder how she gets all boosted up at this hour of the day. yangyang is the polar opposite, his appearance as if he just got out of bed, the hood of his denim jacket resting on top of his auburn hair.

“it was good and no, no cute boys. but sicheng was there,” you replied nonchalantly, a mischievous grin crept onto her lips. you can almost predict the words that are going to spill out of her mouth.

“what’s up with her?” yangyang yawned, his eyes lazily gaze at you. you just lifted your shoulders, having no idea whatsoever. a ping sound was heard from your phone, notifying that a new message is received.

unknown: hey sicheng here

unknown: ur car may be ready tmr. want me to drive u there?

listening to your heart, you were about to type ‘no’ but remembering the fact that your parents will be busy the whole day tomorrow and yangyang is coming home late once again, you have no choice but to accept the lad’s help.

now you’re back in his vehicle, the same spot as before. you’ve only noticed now that a musical note charm is hung on the rearview mirror, a semiquaver to be exact. you’d say that it looks authentic, gold specks shining when sun rays hit the surface. observing the interior of his car, there are quite a number of small decorations.

“can we get coffee first? my treat for the car and the ride,” you suggested, looking at him whose eyes are focused onto the road. the traffic is quite pleasing today, nobody honking mindlessly at the other drivers and flipping each other off with the famous middle finger gesture. his side profile does look charming, some type of earrings dangling from his ears. if you’re going to be honest, his appearance does seem to be your type. you’re not one to say about his persona though, always managing to bother you at any time of the day.

“sure, wanna go to the new cafe? i heard it’s good,”. you just nodded while he skillfully steered the steering wheel, moving the car to the new destination. you turned your eyes to look outside from the car window, seeing the one hundred and one manners of the citizens. a mother struggling to take her child who’s having a tantrum out of the toy shop, a young couple having their romantic meal in the french cafe. the motion of the car stopping awakened you who was being distracted by your clouded mind.

from the moment you stepped into the place, the interior caught your attention. the light brown painted walls with black furniture complementing each other perfectly, making a retro-like appearance. the funky song playing faintly in the background surely is a mood-setter, just how you like it. even the barista serving you is being friendly, making a couple of small talk in the midst of operating the machines.

you would say that it was a pleasureful day for you. the exquisite taste of latte washing down your dry throat, getting your car back without too much babbling from your dear mother and the gap between you and sicheng closing in for a little.

the last sentence baffled you for a second.

DAY 3

sicheng’s eyes shot open from the short slumber he was trying to get - failing miserably even, upon spotting you enter through the door. he pulled the chair beside him in hopes for you to get his message and take the seat. a frown made its way onto his face when you just waved at him, making your way to another spot a few chairs to the front. he scoffed, head tilting slightly before approaching you instead. you shot him a puzzled look, roughly translating to ask him what he’s doing here.

“i just want to be close to you. now focus,” he redirected his eyes onto the muscular man who just entered the room. he’s a songwriter - the best one in this company to be exact. you were focused on each point he explained, making small notes on your laptop. it’s not always that you’ll get a chance to be guided by a four-time award winning songwriter, might as well gain some benefits from it.

“another tip i have is to use all types of chords. remember, do not stick to the same ones, you’ll lack creativity. for instance, use major, minor, dominant, diminished, and augmented. i promise you, more ideas will be flowing and better quality songs will be produced. you got me?” the questioned, earning buzzing sounds of positive responses from the hall.

DAY 4

another day of group work, you’re given the task to create a melody according to the themes given - for your group, it’s love. looking at sicheng, he’s already on his electric guitar, strumming mindlessly to find the perfect note to start on. the rest of you are now juicing out some thoughts on this particular sense of human nature.

“love gives us thrill, the feeling of excitement, the feeling when you’re uncertain about something but when you have that special someone with you, you’re sure to wing it all,” jaehyun suggests, earning nods of approval from the rest of your groupmates.

“you’re a pro at this, mr. romantic,” you teased him, earning a soft chuckle. a dimpled smile is etched onto his features, rosy cheeks and his eye smile making you fawn. prince-like visual and a sense of humour? a two in one package, totally.

“not really. i guess i’m a sucker for romance movies,” he rubbed the back of his neck. your small conversation came to a halt when you heard a crooked, loud sound coming from the rough strum on the guitar strings. you turned around to see sicheng gazing directly towards the both of you, a sharp one even. jaehyun just blinked his eyes before catching onto the situation unfolding in front of him while you’re still being completely oblivious. you tilted your head in confusion, unsure of what’s gotten into him.

it’s the day that yangyang has been looking forward to since the past few weeks, his dance tournament. you’re seated with ningning on the bleachers, music from the loudspeakers echoing through the walls. with the cheers of the bewatchers whenever someone captivated them with a trick or dance move, usually the risky ones, it truly is a loud atmosphere.

“now, welcoming contestant number 43 to take the stage,” the host announced, you and ningning clapped with all your might, shouting words of encouragement as well. yangyang took a deep breath before lifting his right hand up, cueing for the music to start playing. just then, there’s the sound of someone plopping down on the hard surface next to you - sicheng. he’s looking casual today, a light yellow hoodie replacing his usual dark clothings.

“what are you doing here?” you shout whispered while ningning raised her eyebrows at you.

“didn’t yangyang tell you? i’m here to watch him dance,” he countered your question before darting his eyes back to the boy who’s busy popping on the dance floor, tinashe’s song playing in the background. he ended his routine with a moonwalk, making his way to the end of the stage. you’re confident that he’s going to win the competition, looking at how precise and clean his moves were. all the late night practices he had eventually paid off when he’s announced as the second placer. nonetheless, he’s still proud of himself, not to mention you and ningning who have been with him throughout his whole journey.

“you did well,” sicheng welcomed him with a fist bump which he reciprocated back. you didn’t know that they were this good of friends.

“i’m starving,” he rubbed his hand onto his stomach, making you remember that your stomach has been rumbling since you only ate a cereal bar that morning. you were about to catch up to yangyang and ningning who were walking fast ahead when you felt a tug on your shirt, looking down to see sicheng crouching down to tie your loose shoelaces.

“you might fall,” he placed his hands into the pockets of his hoodies, waiting for you to come along.

“um, thanks,” you muttered out before catching the glances given by your friends, later teasing you about the scene.

roars of students can be heard coherently, filling the basketball court. the basketball captain, a tall one with black charcoal hair is shooting a three-pointer. the players are then called over to their respective sides for whatever strategy their coaches will be implementing in the third-quarter. the home team is currently leading by five points, knowing that the players wearing the significant red and black jersey have been training their asses off for a while now.

but why exactly did you come to the game tonight? besides from the main event happening in the moment, the other reason is now standing in his position, strumming his electric guitar producing a funky sound that vibrates through the walls - a cue for the start of another buzzing stage. sicheng has been bugging you about watching him perform tonight and after quite some time evaluating, why not? when he finally caught you among the crowd, he flashed you a flirtatious wink. right before the band bowed as gratitude to the audience, he gave you a gesture to wait for him at the back of the gym.

“you came! but seriously, thank you,” he rested the sparkly white guitar against the wall, enveloping you into a hug. this is new, you tried to hide the flustered state of yours as you reciprocated his movement. from the corner of your eyes, you can see a black-haired guy approaching the two of you, followed by one with long, white hair and a bandana nicely keeping the fluffy strands in tact.

“ooh, who’s this?” the first one wiggled his eyebrows, later introducing himself as guanheng, the latter named yuta. to your surprise, the bond between you and them are quick to form with guanheng piloting the conversation. not to mention his subtle jokes making you giggle at times.

“well y/n, your little boyfriend here is getting jealous so we’ll excuse ourselves for now. see you whenever,” guanheng banging his drumsticks into the air while yuta gave you a quick wave before disappearing into the store room of the gymnasium. the nickname they gave sicheng surely made you a bit shy.

boyfriend?

DAY 5

you’re seated in front of the computer screen, your chin resting on the palm of your hands and the tabs of different colours left untouched. you redirected your gaze onto the projector screen, the words ‘arrange, mix, edit and master like a pro’ on it. a long sigh leaving your lips, you try to remember what the producer said earlier.

don’t make the song sound too repetitive

a good buildup promises a good melody

you can have a certain instrument playing only on one part for cinematic impact

DAY 6

“i’m hyo and you’re,” she moved the wheels of her chair to the back a bit to take another look at the clipboard resting on the desk, “sicheng, y/n and jaehyun, right?” the three of you nodded in harmony, anticipating for the next order that will be given.

“okay cool, we’ll be brainstorming first,” and she proceeded to explain what the requirements for this project are. you mouthed out the important points she gave, soft rock, heartbreak and drums. you’re on a roll today, contributing your countless ideas during the first few minutes of the discussion. sicheng just looked at you discussing with hyo, your lips pursed slightly. his gaze seems full of adoration, even jaehyun said so.

“any objections?” hyo looked over to the rest.

“i think she made some great ones. i’m sure this project will come out fresh,” jaehyun voiced out his opinions, sicheng nodding after. he went straight to handling the instruments , you and jaehyun collaborating for the mixing process. hyo eventually chimed in on some times, giving small advice whenever you seem stuck in the brain. with the hours ticking by, you’re feeling more satisfied than ever with your earphones in, listening to the final product created.

all of the participants are then assembled in the hall again, waiting for a final speech by the director which formalizes the end of the camp. sure, you’ve earned worthy knowledge throughout the six days. but if you’re being brutally true to the sound of your heart, it would be how you came to learn sicheng’s true antics. he might be the cocky guy who thinks they have the power to do anything but in truth, he’s just some guy with an honest heart, honest intentions to know you better.

summer break, your most anticipated event for the past few weeks. the moment the last bell rang, that scene in high school musical 2 kept replaying in the back of your head, the students doing a parade in front of the lockers picturing how your little heart is doing backflips in your chest right now. all the beach trips ningning planned is making you feel dizzy. you turned around to a voice calling out your name from the end of the hallway, your eyes catching the sight of sicheng jogging towards your spot. he stopped in front of you, hands on his knees catching his breath.

“are you free tomorrow night? there’s a party at guanheng’s and you know, it would be really cool if you join,” his fingers tracing onto each other, waiting patiently for your response.

you didn’t even have the time to process his invitation when ningning crashed her body against yours, yangyang following suit.

“a party? y/n would totally love to come, right?” ningning nudged your arms softly while yangyang tried to stifle a giggle. you were about to mouth out a ‘what?’ before sicheng cut you off.

“cool, you guys should come too. tomorrow at 10,” he and yangyang exchanged finger guns gestures before leaving the three of you. you just stood there in disbelief, eyeing them up and down before ningning dragged you to the parking lot. a stringful of grumbles escaped your lips, making the guy laugh obnoxiously.

“i can’t believe you guys did that,” you extended the seat belt, buckling it to the slot beside you.

“please. but you do want it, right?” you can’t deny, what she said was true. plus, you should have some fun and distress before having to go back to the usual dull routine of yours.

“how do i look?” you turn around, revealing the baby pink crop top and flare pants on your legs. it’s not your best outfit but giving the cliche excuse - you have nothing to wear, the two articles totally complements each other

“you look hot, that’s all i gotta say. right, yang?” ningning lifted her head from the headboard, glancing over at yangyang who’s going over his messages.

“yeah totally,” he lifted his hands, giving you a thumbs up. you threw a jacket onto your shoulders and grabbed the black purse on your dresser, glancing at the wall mirror one last time.

from the moment you stepped into the venue - guanheng’s place, smells of alcohol lingered around your nose, a group of people cheering ever so loudly over a game of beer pong, some already passed out on the couch. not to mention a brownish stain on the carpet - probably from someone throwing up. the mess would take a whole day to get rid off, you note to yourself. your friends are no longer to be found, both of them getting affiliated with god knows what. your eyes scanned the living room for sicheng but his presence is still nowhere to be found.

you decided to step towards the kitchen bar, pouring a drink for yourself. the mixed sweet and sour taste of it remained on your tongue for a couple of seconds. looking over at the snacks served, you grabbed a strawberry flavoured lollipop from the clear bowl. the crowd is cheering loudly for some type of incident happening at the back of the room, the music has been turned up to be a little louder than the volume before and you’re suddenly getting a little bit overwhelmed. you grabbed your purse and stepped out, inhaling some fresh air and looking up to the starry night sky.

“y/n? where have you been?” sicheng approached you from behind, making you a bit startled.

“sorry, hanging out outside can calm me. where did you go?” you popped the lollipop into your mouth.

“some jerk decided to throw up in front of me,” you pinched your nose with a disgusted expression, making him roll his eyes.

“do you want me to accompany you out here?” he offered. you just nod your head, placing yourself on the patio with him following suit. the sweetening flavour empowering your senses. it’s definitely much more calm out here, allowing you to clear up your mind. it’s not that you hate the atmosphere in the house right now, you’re just not in the mood.

“you know, you look pretty,” you turned around to meet his face. his brown eyes brimming with unconfessed love.

“shut up, stop with the jokes,” you lightly land a smack on his arms.

“what if i say i’m not joking?” he looked straight into your eyes, trying to find any emotion inside you. the sudden seriousness is making you feel much more awkward so you forced out a laugh, turning your attention right back upwards. the stars are shining brightly tonight, you can almost spot a constellation.

“i know what you’re doing, dong sicheng. just stop it already, it’s not working on me.” denial, that’s what you’re experiencing in the hot minute.

a gentle tug can be felt on your wrist, his eyes still not leaving yours.

“didn’t anyone tell you before? you’re really pretty. like, i can’t even describe it to you. you’re just,” he leaned over to caress your cheeks, “pretty,”.

what jaehyun said on the other day is true, after all.

love gives us thrill, the feeling of excitement, the feeling when you’re uncertain about something but when you have that special someone with you, you’re sure to wing it all.

your heart is beating so fast, it could fall out of your chest at any moment now. even the faint music blasting through the speakers inside the house can’t flush down the sound of your heartbeat. you’re not used to this, the sudden need of the significant skin to skin contact that symbolizes love between two individuals.

“can i?” his face in a very near proximity from yours, whispering into your right ear with his honey-like voice. you pulled the candy away from your mouth and nod, giving him the approval he needed before he dived in. heat rose from your stomach to your chest. you could only focus on how soft his crimson lips felt on yours, invading your privacy by all senses. you felt the kiss expand beyond your bodies, whirling you round, swirling you into the stars. he pulled away with a soft smile, you thought you could melt right then and there.

“wow,” that was the only word escaping your throat. your jumping heart still hasn’t settled down yet, your very first kiss still feeling surreal. you could see that sicheng is very much mirroring your emotions, his slender fingers grazing over his lips - the one that has come in contact with yours.

“the strawberry lollipop is sweet,” he commented, making the both of you laugh.

a ping from your phone awakened you from the gushy eye contact with him, unlocking it only to find yangyang’s text message. the second part of it made you fluster.

yang: yo r u coming in or what? and congrats for the kiss, we thought we’d have to wait longer for this