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jungkookschin · 2 months

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demigod trials: achilles’ heel | four

synopsis: you’re a roman, he’s a greek. his father is poseidon, your mom is minerva.

taehyung rules the waters, is friends with sea nymphs, hippocampi, and mermaids- but you? you're deathly afraid of water; consider it your achilles' heel.

he’s annoying, disrespectful, and rude but you need his help especially when the oracle sends you on a quest to the sea

word count: 9.5k

pairings: son of poseidon!taehyung x daugher of minerva!reader

genre: ENEMIES TO LOVERSS, slowburn, bantering, SMUT (non explicit bc idk)

warnings: death, sacrifices, swordfighting, smut (non explicit), broken friendships, obvious use of ai to rewrite entences LOL

author's note: i dont think this could be read as a stand alone. maybe it could, but u would probably need to read the other chapters for context. also yes this is a whole new OC, and this one is kinda spicy. not crazy explicit, but it's spicy. the more i elaborate on it the spicier itll get idk. thank

demigod trials masterlist

When you were five years old, your mother, the Roman goddess Minerva, bestowed you with a dream you are still unable to interpret.

In the dream, you were on the Santa Monica beach, frantically chasing after an owl, your little feet clumsily trekking across the sand.

The blue sky stretches endlessly, a serene canvas painted with the vibrant hues of tranquility.

Silhouetted against the brilliant blue sky, the owl gracefully soars, its wings outstretched, as the sun casts a warm glow through its feathers.

As the owl glides above the ocean, you ineptly run into the ocean, unaware of your impending plunge into the waves, frustration permeating your system as the majestic bird leads you farther into the water.

Panic grips you as the weight of realization sinks in—unable to catch the elusive owl, you find yourself engulfed by the ocean's depths, struggling against the water.

Desperation takes hold as you thrash against the water, limbs flailing in a frantic attempt to resurface.

Overwhelmed by the relentless embrace of the ocean, you succumb to its depths, your desperate gasps for air silenced by the water's cold grip.

From the unseen shadows, a boy with blue hair dives into the water, pulling you from the drowning abyss.

The boy with blue hair swims elegantly to the shore, his little arms exerting strength to conquer the ocean’s unforgiving waves before he lays you on the shore and dives back into the sea.

Minerva, the Roman goddess and counterpart of Athena, embodies the essence of wisdom, strategic prowess, and artistic patronage, symbolized by the owl and the tools of war and craftsmanship.

Minerva, as a virgin goddess, signifies a commitment to celibacy and purity; she didn't undergo a conventional pregnancy.

Instead, she formed a connection with a man, your father, valuing his intellect, and she bestowed you as a unique gift, birthing you from her mind.

Yup, you were literally birthed from her mind and your little fetus self physically emerged from her forehead.

You don’t know what it looks like- to birth someone from a forehead- and quite frankly you don’t want to visualize that image.

Embracing your heritage as a daughter of Minerva, the Roman counterpart to Athena, you took on the position of Tribunus Laticlavius.

In your role as Tribunus Laticlavius of the Roman Legion, you hold the position of second-in-command to the Praetors, Mina and Mingyu.

You embodied the wisdom and strategic prowess associated with your mother, guiding the legion with a keen intellect and maintaining discipline among the ranks.

You, Mina, and Mingyu share a strong bond that originated from your upbringing in New Rome.

New Rome is a hidden city founded by demigods (children of gods and mortals) who sought a safe haven from monsters and the challenges faced by demigods in the mortal world.

Modeled after ancient Rome, it serves as a sanctuary for those with divine heritage.

Playing hopscotch besides the Panthenon, indulging in the Roman-esque public baths, and leaving sacrifices in your parents’ respective temples, your connections have endured over time and have played a significant role in shaping your leadership roles within the Roman Legion.

It’s all thanks to your mother. The intellect and wisdom inherited from your mother is what has garnered you success- but right now, you’re not sure what to do because these days, you’re starting to question Mina’s sanity.

You can tell by the way she angrily paces around the room, and you can’t do anything but exchange concerned glances with Mingyu.

Mina, the daughter of Venus, and one of your best friends has often struggled with how she is perceived as Praetor of the Roman Legion.

Praetors, as the highest-ranking members of the Legion, command fearlessly and are to be taken seriously.

Being the first female Praetor, Mina has had a tough time getting soldiers- especially men- to take her seriously. Her authority is often challenged- and people often question if she is strong-minded enough to assume the role.

Furthermore, Mina is also the first child of Venus, the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite, to assume the role of Praetor.

Love, beauty, sex?

Everything associated with Venus directly contradicts the traits of a Praetor. And some assholes within the legion even coined the nickname the Gilded Dove- directly insinuating she is as weak as a dove and as superficial as gilding.

“Mina, there could have been another way,” Mingyu urges, leaning against the wall of Mina’s office in the Praetorium.

The Praetorium is the official residence or headquarters of a Praetor, including living quarters and spaces for administrative and official duties.

You nod your head in concurrence with Mingyu. “When the son of Ares and the daughter of Hephaestus return tonight, we can reconvene and plan for something else. We need to collaborate with the Greeks to defeat Tartarus,” you urge, desperation clouding your eyes as you stare into the soul of your best friend.

Mina shakes her head, landing in her office chair, elbows planted to the desk as she shoves her face into her palms. “Are you not making these suggestions because they’re our friends?” she asks between gritted teeth.

“Think about the people in danger,” she continues, “If Tartarus ascends through Camp Jupiter, we’ll all die. Kids will die. Elderly will die. Innocent people will be dead. The very foundations of our camp will be over- done.”

Mingyu sighs, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter that they’re our friends. It matters because they’re people,” he steps forward. “Think about the message it sends: the Praetors willingly sacrificing innocent people to an evil god means that the Romans are tyrants-”

Mina slams her first on the table. “I don’t care what people think of us. I care that people are safe! The sacrifice of two is worth the lives of millions!”

Now, you’re sure you and Mina can really get into the moral and philosophical implications of sacrificing two innocent demigods in exchange for the safety of New Rome, but you keep silent.

In the silence that follows, Mingyu groans and flicks his head against the wall, creating a thud.

Mina inhales, “Proceeding the sacrificial ceremony, we will reconvene with the high ranking officers to devise a plan to defeat Tartarus. Hopefully the sacrifice will appease him for the time being. We don’t need Camp Half-Blood’s assistance.”

“Mina,” you reason, voice becoming soft to placate the tense atmosphere, “We need the Greeks to defeat him. The Greeks will refuse to collaborate with us if we even attempt to sacrifice their best demigods.”

Mina rubs her temples, features morphing into frustration. “As long as my people, the Romans, are safe, that is fine.”

She swivels her office chair around, gazing at the landscape of New Rome. You know Mina. You’re sure she’s becoming emotional gazing at the architectural intricacies of New Rome: the temples, the public baths, the Colloseum, the Senate House- all of it embodies Rome.

All of it embodies home.

Neither you nor Mingyu say a word.

“You are now dismissed,” Mina simmers, pure exhaustion imbued in her words.

You exhale, acquiescing as you and Mingyu exit the office.

If Mingyu were still the highest ranking Praetor, this entire situation could have been avoided.

A year ago, he royally fucked up when he used the chariot (reserved solely for wars) for pizza deliveries, paving the way for Mina to take his place.

The thought is so idiotic that you have to stop yourself from strangling him.

It's becoming clearer to you why some criticize Mina. Perhaps she isn’t strong minded enough to the Praetor, especially considering her inclination towards the most drastic decision.

But as frustrated with her as you are, you know you can’t disobey the highest ranking Praetor. You have no right to challenge her.

You and Mingyu stride across the hallways until he enters his office.

You almost flinch when Mingyu slams his head against the wall. “Gods, everything is going to shit!” he seethes, leaning his forearms against the wall.

You bite your lip. “It’ll be okay.”

Your voice is calm, and all you can do is offer him a sweet, comforting smile. “Mina does have one point,” you reason, “We need to keep everybody here safe. If anyone leaves the camp, the monsters will most likely get to them.”

And it’s true. Romans reside in Camp Jupiter for a reason- for its magical borders shielding demigods and descendants of demigods from monsters.

You step forward, placing a reassuring hand on Mingyu's shoulder.

Mingyu turns his head to look at you, and his eyes soften. “You’re right Y/N,” He sighs, flopping onto the plush loveseat in his office. He puts a hand on his chin, gathering his thoughts before he expresses what’s on his mind.

“It’s just- the son of Ares and the daughter of Hephaestus- they’re my best friends. I mean- you remember Jungkook, right?” He asks, eyebrows creasing as he nervously plucks at the threads of the loveseat.

Of course you remember Jungkook. Having spent an entire year at Camp Jupiter as Assistant Commander to the Roman Legion, he left an impression with his cold, hardworking, and rigidly serious demeanor—so much so that one might mistake him for a Roman instead of a soft Graecus.

Once, a harpy attacked the camp grounds, and Jungkook swiftly eliminated the threat with a single, decisive slice.

You did not want to make an enemy out of him.

But here you are, willingly sacrificing him to Tartarus.

The daughter of Hephaestus wasn’t someone you were familiar with. All you knew about her was that she fell into Tartarus with Jungkook, and that she died before coming back to life with the Physician’s Cure.

“The daughter of Hephaestus and the son of Ares,” you begin… trailing off slightly, “Mingyu, I think they’ll survive. They’ve been in Tartarus once; they can certainly do it again.”

Mingyu’s eyes turn serious as he nods. “I hope so. They’re tough. Jungkook is…” Mingyu pauses to collect his thoughts, “Jungkook is probably the strongest demigod alive right now.”

At that, you scoff amusedly. “So you’re willingly admitting he’s stronger than you?”

A smile graces his lips and he shrugs. “Just don’t tell anyone I said that.”

You laugh, plopping down on the loveseat and leaning your head against his shoulder. “I’m just happy you’re still the same you. I’m worried about Mina,” you express to which Mingyu nods and throws an arm around you.

“I know,” he agrees, “But it’s our job to follow her and protect her. If she isn’t going to budge on this then we must ensure everything else proceeds smoothly.”

You meet his eyes, trying to read between the lines. You narrow your eyes before you verbally express what you think he may be thinking.

“There’s nothing stopping us from helping them survive Tartarus… right? Maybe we can gift them resources.”

A smile grows on his lips and Mingyu snaps his fingers. “Bingo. Let’s head to the Limenarium.”

The Limenarium is the designated underground storage for all the top secret weapons and supplies of Camp Jupiter.

Access to the Limenarium is restricted to high-ranking officers, and the only way to get there is by taking a secret elevator beneath the ground, whirling through an underground tunnel.

After thirty minutes of travel, you arrive at the entrance of the Limenarium, coming across a very exhausted Yoongi.

Yoongi, the son of Pluto, the Roman counterpart of Hades, yawns while holding a golden staff. He stands guard in front of the Limenarium.

There’s really nothing to stand guard for because the Limenarium is hidden for the public, but it’s within protocol to assign a guard in front of the warehouse at all times.

He nods in acknowledgement when he sees you two approach. “Sup, guys. Where’s Mina?”

You and Mingyu are great at concealing any signs of trouble.

Even if you find her decisions perplexing, maintaining a façade of unwavering respect and honor for Mina in public is essential for the sake of the Roman Legion.

Mingyu shrugs, “She’s in a meeting with the Centurion- sent us down here to test some prototypes out.”

Yoongi shrugs. He doesn’t have a reason to question the Praetor so he doesn’t, pressing in a code to grant you and Mingyu entrance.

On one side, weapons are systematically arranged, ranging from traditional Roman weaponry like gladii and pila to more advanced armaments. Each item is cataloged and labeled for easy retrieval.

Adjacent to the weapons, designated zones contain carefully stacked supplies—armor, shields, medical provisions, and other essentials.

At the heart of the Limenarium is a central command area, featuring a console with intricate displays monitoring the inventory. High-ranking officers like you and Mingyu can access detailed information about the stored assets from this central hub.

You and Mingyu survey the interior of the command area until Mingyu finally pulls out what he’s looking for.

“Here it is,” Mingyu announces, pulling out the emblem of the golden eagle.

The emblem of the golden eagle represents the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, a powerful Roman demigod military unit in New Rome. This legion is closely associated with Jupiter, the Roman counterpart of Zeus, and Mingyu’s father.

The golden eagle serves as a symbol of divine protection and the legion’s connection to the gods.

The emblem embodies the strength, authority, and divine favor that the legion believes it possesses.

If wielded properly, tendrils of lightning will surge from the eagle’s beak and electrocute the wielder’s enemies to death in a single instance.

“You’re giving it to Jungkook?” you question, to which Mingyu nods.

“Anything to salvage our relationship,” he shrugs.

You stand in front of the podium, fully armored and steadily observing the Greeks who walk into the Senate House. They stroll along the golden carpet, flanked by Roman Legion soldiers securing its every edge.

You quickly notice Rose, a childhood friend, and lately, it seems she identifies more with the Greeks at Camp Half-Blood than with the Romans, often spending more time there than with you.

You see Taehyung son of Poseidon, Namjoon son of Athena, and the sacrifices for Tartarus: Jungkook son of Ares and (OC) daughter of Hephaestus.

The tension becomes palpable, the air charged with electricity, as you instinctively glance around to see if Mingyu is subtly demonstrating his son of Jupiter abilities.

The Greeks are a direct juxtaposition to the Romans. The Legion is equipped with full body armor while the Greeks are comfortably dressed in Camp Half-Blood T-Shirts.

Your eyes narrow in on Taehyung, a son of Poseidon who is adorned in an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, sweatshorts, and sandals.

Had you not been sacrificing his friends you would have reprimanded him wearing such sleazy attire.

The Greeks leisurely traverse the expanse of the golden carpet, their steps echoing in the grand hall, until they finally arrive at the imposing podium.

Positioned steadfastly by the podium, you assume your post, with the Praetors standing in a composed formation behind you, forming a united front to address the impending proceedings.

Taehyung approaches, shielding his friends, and his face becomes dangerously close to yours. His face exudes cockiness, a smug smirk gracing his lips as he tilts his head, rummaging in his pockets for a pen.

He holds it up, almost taunting you as he arrogantly bites his lips.

Riptide or Anaklusmos- the name of his sword.

You are fully cognizant of the pen's true nature. By pressing its base, the pen undergoes a transformation, morphing into a Celestial Bronze sword.

You narrow your eyes at him. “Put the weapon away.”

Taehyung amusedly scoffs. “So you guys are allowed to be dressed up in full body armor, but we can’t pull up with weapons for self defense?” he mocks, “And you guys are the ones sacrificing our people too. The Romans are heartless,” he muses, placing a faux hand over his heart.

You sigh.

“Troops! Fall back!” you yell, acquiescing to Taehyung’s very valid point.

He tilts his head provocatively, pressing on the end of the pen to unveil his blade. “You know what they say, when in Rome…” His eyes glaze over his blade, admiring its beauty before he redirects his gaze towards your face.

It looks bad- a Greek unsheathing his sword directly in front of the Tribunus Laticlavius was a clear sign of a threat. The soldiers around you assume offensive stances and you put your hand up, ordering them to fall back.

“Taehyung- we don’t want to do this. If you don’t put the weapon away, we’re going to have to kick you out,” you reason, pulling off your helmet. Perhaps showing him your face would allow him to sense your humanity- your sincerity.

You know that Taehyung has every right to be upset, and you’re trying to show him the right amount of respect without offending the Roman Legion.

Your hair falls back against your armor, and you attempt to offer him a tight-lipped smile to build some sort of camaraderie during this extremely difficult situation.

Taehyung narrows his eyes at you before tapping on the sword to turn it back into a pen. He turns back to his friends. “Nothing to worry about here! It’s just a kid of Minerva!” he announces- loudly, before returning to his friends.

Your eye twitches, but you refuse to fall in your composure.

Typical of a son of Poseidon, you sneer in your mind.

Your mother’s Greek counterpart Athena and Poseidon were known to have hated each other for centuries. Athena and Poseidon's rivalry stems from a competition over patronage of the city of Athens, with Athena's practical and beneficial gift of the olive tree winning over Poseidon's more destructive and less useful gift of a salty spring.

Poseidon was a sore loser. He was salty that his niece beat him in a competition over the patronage of Athens and has held a grudge since. Since then, family reunions have been painfully awkward- with passive aggressive comments and strained silences filling the air.

Men. They’re the worst. Talk about a sleazy uncle! Apparently, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree! Nonetheless, you digress.

Taehyung walks up the stairs of the Senate House to directly address the Praetors Mina and Mingyu.

“We’re giving you guys one last chance to reconsider- and look- we’ll sacrifice (OC) and Jungkook to prevent war with Camp Jupiter but afterwards we request that you leave us alone. Camp Half-Blood wants nothing to do with Camp Jupiter.”

You remain rigid, staring at the wall in front of you instead of directly looking at Taehyung.

Mingyu sighs, “Dude, don’t do this. You know we’re just trying to protect the camp,” he reasons.

Taehyung creases his brows, “You’re killing innocent people. Jungkook and (OC) did nothing wrong, and you know that,” he seethes. “I mean- what happened to us? I thought we were friends? Mina’s not gonna fuck you if you follow her every order like a dog.”

Scandalous gasps echo throughout the room before a looming silence lulls over the Senate House. The silence is so oppressive that you could hear a pin drop.

You wince, anticipating Mina’s response before Mingyu cuts her off.

“Alright, fair,” Mingyu relents, “You can talk your shit so long as you comply with the Legion’s orders.”

A smirk decorates Taehyung’s lips. “Oh I will talk my shit. The Romans are pathetic. You guys are scared shitless of Tartarus but us Greeks are gladly willing to plummet straight into his domain.”

Mina clears her throat, “And we applaud you for your courage. This sacrifice will not be undermined by the Roman Legion. We will do anything to keep our sacred city safe. If you wish to cut ties with Camp Jupiter, so be it.”

Her words are decisive and you can’t fathom Taehyung coming up with another snarky response - but he does.

His eyes become rigidly serious, and with a commanding gesture, he manipulates his palms. Silence falls over the onlookers as Taehyung effortlessly conures tendrils of water into the Senate House, the liquid dancing within Taehyung’s predetermined boundaries.

The water coils around Mingyu’s neck and torso, ensnaring him like ethereal ropes. You realize that the water is from the Little Tiber, a river miles away from the Senate HOuse.

You can’t even imagine the extent to which Taehyung can manipulate water.

“Let it be known,” Taehyung seethes, tightening his fists to further suffocate Mingyu within his tendrils of water, “that the Greeks are doing this out of their own free will,” he declares.

“You did not force us to do anything, and we are doing this for the sake of peace. Understand?”

Mingyu’s face turns an ungodly shade of red and Taehyung narrows his eyes at his former friend, tightening his fist even further.

Nobody is intervening, and you reckon that you ought to stop Taehyung from suffocating Mingyu so you momentarily consider stepping in- until Rose places a hand on his bicep.

He lets go of his fist, and the tendrils of water splash onto the ground of the Senate House.

Mingyu remains stoic, inhaling heavily. Despite near suffocation, he remains his composure, standing mightily like a Roman statue.

You shift uncomfortably, and Mina makes an announcement. “The Legion is dismissed! Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter will reconvene in the Praetorium in thirty minutes!”

With a swish of her cape, she marches away, with Mingyu following in her stead.

You remain in class, saluting the Praetors whilst you wait for the Senate House to clear out.

Once the Legion has cleared from the Senate House, you clear your throat and immediately shed yourself of your armor.

You approach the Greeks. “I need you guys to follow me,” you implore.

Camp Half-Blood (and Rose) slowly turn their heads towards you.

Taehyung blinks. “Why would we do that?”

You sigh, though you already anticipated pushback, and redirect your attention to Rose. “Look. Mingyu and I tried to talk Mina out of it but you know we can’t do anything against the highest ranking Praetor.”

Rose’s expression softens, “Gods Mina has lost her shit! You can’t just sacrifice innocent people to Tartarus!”

You nod in concurrence- politically savvy enough not to explicitly express any opinion.

“I get why you’re mad,” you continue, “the very least I can do is offer help,” you whisper, to which everybody’s expressions become enveloped in curiosity.

You clear your throat. “Mingyu wants to give you the Golden Eagle of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata,” you explain, to which Rose’s eyes widen.

“Seriously? That was gifted to the Legion by Jupiter himself,” she elicits.

You nod. “I know what Camp Jupiter is doing is awful- but at the very least I can tell you that I personally am not your enemy.”

You redirect your attention to Jungkook and (OC). “You guys survived Tartarus once, and you can do it again,” you encourage, “I’ll be doing everything above ground to eliminate the threat and ensure that you remain safe.”

Taehyung snaps his fingers in your face. “Hey, no addressing the sacrifices directly. You gotta talk to me. I’m the spokesperson here.”

You fight the urge to roll your eyes. “Okay,” you comply. “So do you want the eagle or not?”

Namjoon and Taehyung exchange glances.

“Yea, we’re in.”

You take Camp Half-Blood directly to the Limenarium- moving underground to stay out of sight to the other Roman citizens.

Skirting underground, Taehyung addresses you. “Don’t you think your military system is impractical?” he questions, probably with genuine intent but his tone is condescending, “If you can’t stop Mina from doing stupid shit then you might as well consider Rome a tyranny.”

“Yes,” you respond, somewhat irritated, “But Mina has the backing of the emperor. If the emperor is in on it, then there’s nothing we can do. They had to conspire to murder Caesar for a reason.”

Taehyung’s features envelop in distaste. “Don’t you feel belittled? You’re a high ranking officer but you have no freedom.”

You don’t give him a response.

A teasing smile graces his lips, “Did I hit a nerve, princess?”

You blink at him irritatedly.

You’d happily oblige to discuss the impracticalities of the Roman military system, but Taehyung is simply insufferable.

You decide that it’d be wise to keep quiet.

As you skirt through the underground tunnels of the Limenarium, you’re suddenly stopped by a ginormous basin of water. It’s so deep that when you peer over the ledge, you aren’t able to perceive the bottom.

All eyes flicker towards you.

“Since when did Camp Jupiter have an underground pool?” Rose asks.

You shrug. “I-I don’t know. I’ve never seen this before.”

Namjoon shrugs. “Taehyung can carry us over on a wave or we can swim.”

At that, you tense, and you meet eyes with Rose. Rose, another one of your childhood friends, is ineptly aware of your biggest and only fear: water.

Taehyung nonchalantly shrugs, effortlessly lifting his shirt with a casual demeanor - after all, why would he be phased? As a son of Poseidon, water poses no threat. "Meh. I don't feel like exerting any energy right now."

A sudden confession escapes your lips, breaking the silence of the tunnels. "Wait- I can't swim."

The stillness that follows feels almost tangible, and you can't help but blush, baring your own vulnerability.

Taehyung blinks, his gaze fixed on you. "Wait, you're the head of the Roman Legion, but you can't swim?"

Namjoon elbows Taehyung, prompting him to clear his throat. "No, it's not a bad thing. I was a little taken aback," he explains. "I can carry you over if you're comfortable with that."

Your cheeks flush deeper as you rub your biceps nervously. "Y-yeah. If that's alright."

With a confident yet gentle motion, Taehyung lifts you effortlessly, and you instinctively wrap your legs around his waist. Your eyes meet his, and you awkwardly clear your throat before looking away.

He does the same, gaze uncomfortably flickering around the underground tunnel.

A subtle but undeniable tension lingers in the air. The closeness and the rhythmic beating of your heart mix with the soft echoes of the underground tunnels.

“Hold on tight, wise girl,” Taehyung instructs.

“I know-”

A sudden wave rushes forward, freezing in place as if offering Taehyung a seat on his throne.

He leisurely steps onto the wave and allows it to gently carry you towards the other side. He doesn’t appear to be smug as he usually is- walking on water is a normal thing for this son of Poseidon.

As the wave approaches the other side of the basin, a rumble echoes through the tavern.

“What the-”

The wave crashes, and with a splash, you and Taehyung tumble into the water below. The serene water basin transforms into tumultuous currents, hurling you against its surface as you cry for air.

Panicked, you thrash about in the water, desperately trying to stay afloat.

You hate water. If you were Greek, you'd have no doubt that water would be your Achilles' heel. Arguably, you were good at everything else- having a keen sense of strategy, arguably great sword fighting skills- but water is just something you could never conquer.

Physically, your lungs burn as they strain for oxygen. Your limbs are heavy and sluggish as you struggle against the water’s resistance and every movement becomes a battle against the suffocating pressure.

“Taehyung!” you scream, thrashing against the water as you strain for air.

"It's okay, I've got you," he reassures, his voice calm yet firm above the sound of rushing water. "Just hold onto me."

He appears beside you and you cling onto him as he uses his mind to calm the currents, gently treading to the other side. You hyperventilate intensely, squeezing your eyes shut while you hold onto him- convincing yourself that everything would be okay.

He makes it to the other side of the basin, willing the water to lift you onto the ground before he jumps on the surface.

You sit on the gravel- clothes wet, body trembling as you catch your breath and attempt to calm yourself from drowning.

Rose sits beside you and places a comforting hand on your shoulder, before she full on embraces you. “Gods Y/N, are you alright?” She turns towards Taehyung, “Tae- what the fuck was that? Did you do that on purpose?”

You look up, and Taehyung’s expression looks rigidly serious. “That hasn’t happened to me in like ten years,” he mumbles. He looks around the tunnel apprehensively, “I have no clue.”

Another thing you note is that Taehyung is completely dry. After being submerged under waves and currents, he appears like he’s ready to go for a leisure stroll in the park.

Namjoon finishes his swim from the other side and climbs onto the ground. “Maybe you got nervous,” he shrugs, ringing the water from his socks.

“Nervous from what?” Taehyung retorts, “Nervous because of the Tribunal Prostate-us?,” he mocks, pointing at you with his thumb, “Yea, definitely not.”

“Taehyung!” Rose scolds.

You gawk- there was no absolute no way he just referred to you as a prostate. “I’m the Tribunus Laticlavus,” you clarify through gritted teeth.

“Well, princess- that doesn’t sound any cooler,” Taehyung retorts. “A thank you for saving your life would suffice. Thank you very much.”

You’re fuming from your ears. “Your father is the literal god of the Sea and you couldn’t control a ten foot wave across still waters. It would have been your fault if anything happened to me!”

“I said I don’t know what happened! You Romans probably did something to manipulate the water!”

“I didn’t even know that we had a random swimming pool in here! How would I do that?” you reason.

“Then don’t expect me to know everything either,” Taehyung responds with a roll of his eyes, “Now lead the way princess. We need that eagle.” And with that he dramatically marches past- he might as well have flipped his hair in your face.

Rose gives you an empathetic look, mouthing Sorry Y/N.

After supplying the Greeks with weapons necessary to survive a plummet in Tartarus, you reconvene with Mina and Mingyu at the Praetorium.

Mina scans her finger before the ten of you enter the elevator, and the elevator descends swiftly to a secret underground location that you’ve only frequented once before.

Mina guides your group to a secret underground pit- a pit that leads straight to Tartarus.

Jungkook and (OC) stand at the edge of the pit, their expressions resolute despite the gravity of the situation. The darkness of Tartarus yawns below them, an abyss that seems to swallow all light and hope.

(OC) takes a deep breath, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She casts a fleeting glance at Jungkook, her eyes filled with determination. "We can do this," she murmurs, her voice steady despite the tremor in her heart

Jungkook nods in agreement, his jaw set with determination. "Together," he affirms, his voice carrying a note of reassurance.

With a shared nod, they step forward, their bodies silhouetted against the inky darkness below. For a moment, they stand on the precipice, their resolve steeling them against the fear that threatens to consume them.

And then, without hesitation, they leap into the void, their figures disappearing into the blackness of Tartarus.

You exhale shakily- and you can’t help but wonder if you just played a part in sending two innocent people to their doom.

As they vanish from sight, a heavy silence descends upon the onlookers, the weight of their sacrifice hanging in the air like a shroud.

For a long moment, no one speaks, each lost in their own thoughts and emotions.

Then, Mingyu breaks the silence, his voice low but firm. "They've made their sacrifice," he says, his words echoing in the stillness of the underground chamber. "Now it's up to us to honor it."

With a solemn nod, Mina steps forward, her gaze unwavering. "Agreed," she says, her voice carrying the weight of command. "Let us return to Camp Jupiter and prepare for what lies ahead. Tartarus may have claimed its toll, but we will not falter in our duty to protect our home."

Taehyung fights the urge to roll his eyes, “How heroic,” he unemotionally states, gesticulating mockingly. “You just banished your two friends to Tartarus- how does that make you feel?” he challenges, glaring spathas into Mina and Mingyu.

“Bro,” Mingyu starts, switching his Praetor off and his Mingyu mode on.

“Don’t bro me,” Taehyung retorts, before redirecting his attention towards Mina.

“When you went to Korea three years ago,” he begins, “Who took you out to Michelin meals? Who rented out a place for you to stay? Jungkook did. And (OC)- (OC) is your friend. I still don’t get how you could just sacrifice them in good faith.”

Mina shifts uncomfortably. “Look. The decision wasn’t easy to make. If you care so much, why don’t you jump in after them?”

The silence that follows is oppressive.

“You bitch!” Rose seethes, tackling Mina towards the edge of the cliff before she holds up her spatha in Mina’s face.

Mina doesn’t resist, her features morphing into insanity, as if imploring Rose to do it.

Rose pushes Mina’s body closer to the edge of the pit, to the point where Mina’s head hangs above the pit. “Do it! Push me in! See where it gets Camp Half-Blood!” she growls.

You almost fall to your knees. You deplore Mina’s words. Rose holds her spatha closer to Mina’s cheek, almost drawing blood from her face.

The structure of the underground room begins to crumble, and debris of gravel begins to rain down on you.

As your eyes fall upon Mina, a wave of unease washes over you. The woman standing before you bears little resemblance to the Mina you once knew. Her features are now twisted with a manic intensity that sends a shiver down your spine.

The light in her eyes, once a steady foundation of Roman principles, burns with an unsettling hue, almost as if they are fueled by a fire of madness.

It's as if a shadow has fallen over her soul, casting her in a dark and unfamiliar light. The Mina you know would never be so cruel, so callous in her actions. She was always fair, always just, guided by the principles of honor and duty that define the Roman Legion.

But now, her words cut like knives, her actions driven by a ruthless determination that borders on fanaticism. She seems blind to reason, deaf to the voices of those who would counsel restraint and compassion. This isn't the direction the Roman Legion should take, you realize. This isn't what the gods want for Rome.

You glance an apologetic look towards Mingyu before you run to Rose and tug on her arm, urging her to stand. You intertwine your fingers and run to Namjoon and Taehyung.

“Mom!” you scream into the atmosphere, “Mom, if you hear me, take us to Camp Half-Blood! Mom! Please! I never ask for anything! Please!”

The room begins to tremble even further, like an earthquake shaking the foundation of the rooms. The Romanesque pillars begin to tremble and you hear Mina scream “Y/N! If you leave, I will revoke your position in the Roman Legion!”

You look around at yours and the Greek’s arms, and realize that you’re all turning translucent.

Your mom heard your wish.

"I resign!" you exclaim, and with a sudden burst of energy, you, Rose, Namjoon, and Taehyung are transported into the heart of Camp Half-Blood.

As you glance around, you find yourself amidst the cluster of cabins, with a warm hearth the only light illuminating the pitch black sky. The cabins of Athena, Apollo, Ares, and Hephaestus stand tall around you, each emanating a unique aura.

You fall to your knees.

“Holy shit,” Taehyung begins, “What just happened?

The Big House in Camp Half-Blood, with its grand columns and welcoming interior, serves as the central hub for meetings and discussions among the camp's staff and campers, and that is exactly where you meet with Taehyung, Namjoon, Rose, and Chiron the Camp Activities Director.

Chiron is a centaur, meaning that he’s a horse from the waist down and a human from the waist up.

After explaining the situation at hand, Chiron’s expression becomes clouded with empathy.

“That was a very brave thing you did, Y/N,” he expresses. He redirects his attention towards Taehyung, Rose, and Namjoon.

“Kids,” he begins, though the lot can hardly be considered children, “I think Y/N deserves to know. Why don’t you tell her?”

You sharply turn your gaze towards the trio, only to find them whistling nonchalantly as if feigning ignorance. Rose idly twirls a strand of her hair, while Taehyung casually tucks his hands into his pockets.

Namjoon sighs. “That wasn’t Jungkook or (OC) who jumped into Tartarus. It was other demigods that Rose disguised with the Mist.”

“What?” you express shakily.

“The Mist, Y/N,” Rose explains, “Remember how we snuck into the Emperor’s chambers by disguising ourselves as servants with magic? The Greeks call it the Mist, so I disguised Jungkook and (OC’s) little siblings as the Mist to evade capture.”

Taehyung frowns. “Wait, why’d you guys sneak into the Emperor’s chambers-”

You sigh. You aren’t even surprised. The Greeks would never willingly sacrifice their strongest demigods so easily. “So is that why they weren’t saying anything… why you were the ‘spokesperson’?” you ask Taehyung to which he flashes you with a wink.

His mood seems as unpredictable as the shifting waves of the ocean.

But it doesn’t make sense.

“The other demigods you disguised,” you begin, “Wouldn’t they be in equal danger? Jungkook and (OC) have the best chances of surviving Tartarus, so didn’t you just send the others to their doom?”

Namjoon tsks, “Don’t underestimate the Greeks. The kids we sent are just as capable.”

“Kids?” you repeat, before shoving your face into your hands.

What have you done? You should have challenged Mina more aggressively. You might have just condemned two innocent kids to their doom.

“Mina,” you begin, “I think- I think she’s possessed,” you finally elicit, backtracking from the original topic because you can’t fathom what you just witnessed.

“Possessed?” Chiron asks, brows furrowing in pure concern.

“Possessed,” you confirm, “The way she was acting- it just wasn’t her. I have no idea who was in that room with us but it wasn’t her.”

Rose’s expression morphs into one of empathy. “Y/N,” she begins, “Mina isn’t the same girl we grew up with. She’s changed. She’s not possessed, she’s just grown into a bitch. A bitch who somehow has the power of the entire Roman Legion at her fingertips.”

Taehyung bites his lip in contemplation. “She did look a little… insane,” he acknowledges.

“That’s because she is insane!” Rose retorts, “Ever since (OC) came back to life with the Physician’s Cure, she’s turned into a power-hungry, batshit psycho!”

Namjoon exhales, “Look, we can definitely consider that as a possibility, but for now let’s get some rest.”He shoots you an empathetic look, “I’m sure Y/N is tired. We can all reconvene tomorrow morning with Jungkook and (OC).”

You shake your head, though it’s apparent you’re fighting back a yawn. “It’s fine. We have a lot of things we need to figure out. I can still go at it if you guys can.”

“Oh don’t act all tough. You did have a long day, Ex Tribunal Prostate-us,” Taehyung starts.

You shoot him a deadly glare.

“You can stay in the Poseidon cabin with me. There’s no one in there besides me so we have plenty of space,” Taehyung offers, shrugging. “We’ve got a huge pool on the roof. I can even teach you how to swim, y’know, help you overcome your fear of water.”

“Wait,” Namjoon intervenes, “Why would she stay in the Poseidon cabin?”

“Why not?” Taehyung responds, eliciting a suspicious glance from Rose.

“Y/N is technically my sister,” Namjoon reasons, furrowing his brows at Taehyung, “She should stay with me.”

“Oh,” is all Taehyung can conjure.

And Namjoon has a point. Why in Mount Olympus would you ever stay in the Poseidon cabin? You never really considered Namjoon a blood relative, but he is the son of your mother’s Greek form Athena, so technically he is your brother.

“Though it would be most appropriate for Y/N to stay in the Athena cabin,” Chiron instructs, “She is an adult and can decide to stay where she pleases.”

“You could stay with me too,” Rose offers, “But I’m not about to gladiator-fight for a chance to spend the night with you like this one is,” she teases, tilting her head at Taehyung.

Taehyung seems very offended at that, expression morphing into disgust as he crosses his arms in indignation. He scoffs. “Gods forbid I show hospitality to a guest,”

A teasing smile graces Namjoon’s lips. “Why’re you getting so offended? You were just at her throat hours ago,” Namjoon points out to which Rose nods. “Yea, you were being an ass, Taehyung.”

Taehyung’s jaw clenches, and he directs his attention towards you. “Do you want to stay with me or not?”

You blink at him before meeting eyes with Rose.

“Yea, why not?”

On your way to the Poseidon cabin, Rose runs towards you and squeals, almost knocking you over. “Y/N, are you going to fuck him?”

What is it with this girl and assuming her friends are going to fuck everyone?

“What is wrong with you?” you retort, nudging her with your shoulder,

Rose rolls her eyes, “Yea, sure. Don’t think I can’t sense the sexual tension between you two,” she elicits.

“What in Minerva’s name are you on about?” you counter.

“Y/N, he literally wants you so bad! I’ve never seen anybody act like this before- why else would he insist for you to spend the night with him?”

“Maybe because he pities me so much that he feels the need to interject himself into my life to teach me how to swim?”

Rose's eyes narrow, disbelief evident in her expression as she listens to your response. She lets out an exasperated sigh, shaking her head in frustration.

"Y/N, come on," she urges, her voice tinged with incredulity. "You really think it's just about swimming? Taehyung is practically throwing himself at you."

You scoff, feeling a flush of irritation rising within you. "Oh please, Rose. That's absurd. We're just… acquaintances. Besides, Taehyung is..." You pause, searching for the right words. "Well, he's Taehyung."

Rose raises an eyebrow, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. "Exactly. He's Taehyung. And trust me, I know the signs. The way he looks at you, the things he says, it's all there."

You shake your head, “Even if those are his intentions- they’re not mine. I think Taehyung was sent by my mother- as a way to help me overcome my fear of water,” you explain, “I’ve never told anyone but when I was younger I had a dream. I had a dream where I was drowning and some boy saved me. I never understood why my mom sent me that dream but I think he’s the key- the key to helping me overcome my Achilles’ Heel.”

Rose pauses, toying with her lip in contemplation. “Look, I was gonna say something funny like you’re just trying to sleep with him, but I’m happy for you. If you really feel like your mom is calling you to do this, then you should do it.”

With that, she embraces you, and you soften in her embrace. “Maybe also because he’s cute.”

A scandalous gasp leaves her lips, “Y/N!”

On cue, Taehyung appears from behind. “Poseidon cabin’s the opposite direction from the Apollo cabin,” he explains, tilting his head in the direction of his cabin. “Follow me this way.”

Without even asking, he takes the guest backpack Chiron gifted you, containing toiletries and clothing, before he strides up the hill, leaving you to follow in his stead.

You give Rose one last fleeting look who mouths Use Protection!1!

The Poseidon cabin stands as a marvel of innovation (courtesy to the Hephaestus cabin) and aquatic wonder within Camp Half-Blood.

The door frame is fashioned entirely from polished seashells arranged in intricate patterns. Stepping through the doorway, you are greeted by a spacious interior that echoes the vastness of the ocean itself.

In the living room of the Poseidon cabin, a large flat-screen TV stands against one wall, surrounded by plush seating and adorned with nautical-themed decor. There’s a stuffed hippocampus on the blue couch and the walls are painted in soothing shades of blue and green.

“We have lots of rooms. You can choose one out of the ten,” Taehyung shoots you a hospitable smile and you can’t help but laugh.

The hallway in the Poseidon cabin is calm and decorated with ocean themes and soft lights shine on the polished wooden floors.

Pictures of the sea and mythical creatures decorate the walls. There’s a selfie of a few hippocampi with Taehyung’s face in the corner throwing up a peace sign. THere’s another with Taehyung sitting on a rock with like ten mermaids laid around him, and there’s another with Taehyung in swim shorts with who you assume to be a Nereid or Sea Nymph in a bikini.

Each door is marked with a unique symbol representing the occupant's connection to the sea, whether it be a trident, a seashell, or a cresting wave. Perhaps the symbols are chosen randomly, as Taehyung is the only resident in the cabin.

But Taehyung’s symbol- his symbol scares you somewhat. The symbol on his door is a roaring kraken. Krakens are legendary sea monsters, often described as a giant cephalopod resembling a giant octopus or squid.

He throws open all the doors, allowing you to peek around to choose your room of residence for the night.

He grins at you, “You think this is nice? You should see the Hephaestus cabin. There’s like ten stories in there.”

“I like it here,” you offer sweetly, “I’ll take the seashell room.”

“All yours,” Taehyung shrugs, “I’ll take you to the pool in like ten minutes once you’ve gotten settled in.” With that, he sends you one last smile before sauntering off to your room.

You exhale deeply as you take a seat on the bed. With your palms on your thighs, you rewind everything that happened today like a broken record.

All your years of working your way up the ranks of the Roman Legion- it was all for nothing. With Mina’s control over the Legion, you’re sure you’ll be trespassed if you ever decided to step back into Camp Jupiter.

You shake your head at the thought, opening the guest bag Chiron gave you.

There’s three fresh Camp Half-Blood T-shirts, a fresh pack of underwear, three pairs of jeans, and a bag of toiletries.

No bra.

“Taehyung, do you guys have a washing machine?” you call out, and when he appears in the doorway with a toothbrush in his mouth, all he does is shake his head.

“But I can wash whatever you want for you,” he offers with a froth of toothpaste around his mouth.

“Okay give me a second,” you say.

He nods and closes the door, allowing you to do your thing. You step out of your clothes and throw on the Camp Half-Blood T-Shirt, underwear, and shorts. All are a little oversized on you, but it works.

You walk to the door and open it, handing Taehyung a pile of clothes. He looks fresh. No more toothbrush in his mouth and his face is freshly washed. He walks over to the bathroom and places your clothes in the sink. “Watch this.”

With precision, he manipulates the water into a swirling vortex, effectively creating a makeshift washing machine.

“Put your clothes in there,” he directs. You tiptoe around him, plucking up your clothes and throwing it into the vortex, careful to not directly touch the water.

“Okay now pour some detergent in here,” he says, “It’s in the cabinet under the sink.”

You crouch under the vortex, opening the cabinet doors. “Okay, don’t get me wet.”

“I’ll try,” he responds.

Suddenly, Rose’s patronizing face appears in your mind, and you pause, stifling back a laugh.

“Hurry up, princess. We don’t have all day.”

You fight the urge to roll your eyes and pour the detergent into the swirling vortex.

With a deft flick of his wrist, Taehyung adjusts the flow of water within the vortex, ensuring the detergent mixes thoroughly with the clothes.

Once satisfied with the washing process, Taehyung gradually slows the vortex, allowing the soapy water to drain away while leaving the clothes damp but not dripping wet.

With another subtle gesture, he manipulates the surrounding air currents, generating a gentle breeze that wafts through the room, aiding in the drying process.

As the clothes hang suspended in mid-air, supported by invisible currents, Taehyung watches attentively, adjusting the airflow as needed to ensure even drying.

With a satisfied nod, Taehyung releases his hold on the air currents, allowing the clothes to settle onto a nearby drying rack. He turns to you with a grin, his aquamarine eyes sparkling with amusement.

"There you go, all done," he declares, gesturing towards the freshly washed and dried clothes. "See, who needs a washing machine when you've got a son of Poseidon?"

You smile with tight lips. “Thank you, Tae.”

He shrugs. “No problem. Wanna go for a swim now? You look cute in that shirt.”

You don’t know how an innocent swim lesson turned into a hot makeout session in the rooftop pool, but somehow it did.

Your legs are wrapped around his waist, and he whispers into your lips, “Hmmm.. didn’t know a high ranking officer of the Roman Legion could loosen up like this.”

You playfully roll your eyes and draw your lips back to his like a magnetic pull. His tongue explores your mouth, groaning into your lips as his hands sneakily move down to your ass, shamelessly grabbing a handful of your butt past the oversized Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.

He flutters his eyes open, watching your every expression as you moan and grind against his abs.

Gods, are you so undeniably gorgeous. Taehyung never thought he would become so enamored with a daughter of Minerva, and a Roman at that, but he so obsessively asked you to stay at his under the guise of teaching you how to swim.

Yea, right.

You clearly didn’t give a fuck about swimming and who cares if he’ll be there to save you from drowning anyways?

Your orange T-shirt is sopping wet, and Taehyung lifts its bottom hem, meeting eyes with you for permission.

You remove your arms from around his neck, ensuring that your fingertips trace over his abs in the process, and he lifts the wet shirt off your body and throws it onto the gravel poolside.

He gulps with your body fully exposed to him. Your bare chest perks up against the cold atmosphere, and Taehyung has to restrain himself from taking you fully right then and there. Your hair is wet, falling against your back, and his eyes look at you with such clarity.

He thinks it’s particularly special that he has you in his own domain: water. Energy surges through his veins, and he feels especially strong and eager with the water splashing against his body.

You look so beautiful under the moonlight, like a celestial goddess descended from the heavens above. Every shimmering reflection in the water only adds to your ethereal glow, and in this moment, he can't help but feel like the luckiest person alive to have you here with him.

Gods, he thought you were such a pretentious princess when he first met you. A pretty, pretentious, princess- at that. But it only took a matter of hours for him to realize that you’re so much more. You're not just a princess; you're a warrior, a survivor, and a force to be reckoned with.

Before you know it, your lips meet in a heated kiss, fueled by a potent mixture of desire and longing. The rush of adrenaline courses through your veins as you lose yourself in the intoxicating sensation of Taehyung's lips moving against yours, each touch igniting a fiery passion within you.

You pull back. “‘m cold,” you cutely mumble against his neck as you suck a kiss against his skin.

You’re cold? Taehyung thinks he would burn the whole world just to warm you up.

“Sorry about that,” Taehyung grins, carrying you to the poolside before allowing you to sit on the ledge.

You shiver uncontrollably as the cool night air kisses your bare skin, sending goosebumps cascading down your arms and spine.

Sensing your discomfort, Taehyung leaps gracefully from the pool, his movements fluid and agile, and swiftly retrieves a plush towel to cocoon you in its warmth.

Leaning close, he offers you a reassuring smile, his eyes filled with genuine concern as he guides you out of the pool area and down the stairs, each step feeling like a small victory against the biting cold.

Once you reach the hallways, the towel drops, and you end the night in the room with the emblem of a kraken on its door.

The next morning, you wake up and are met with a sleepy Taehyung dozing off beside you.

You inhale, immediately running into the seashell room before you quickly change into an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and jeans.

You sneak out of the Poseidon cabin and run to the Big House, where you’re met with Rose and Namjoon who are ready to discuss plans.

Rose hands you an orange and you accept it willingly, starting to peel it with your fingertips.

“Where’s Taehyung?” Namjoon asks, to which you just shrug.

“No clue. We went our separate ways after showing me to my room,” you respond, eyes flickering towards Rose who scrutinizes you with an intense look of suspicion. She approaches you and leans over your shoulder. “You should hide the hickey, girl.”

You whip around, feigning ignorance. “What hickey? Huh?”

Rose facepalms. “Just- just- nothing.”

On cue Taehyung walks into the Big House, taking a seat by you and wrapping his arms around your waist as he leans into your shoulder. “Hey, why didn’t you wake me up?” he whispers into your neck, to which you dramatically jerk away.

Taehyung eyes you with a confused look before inching closer.

You look at Rose and Namjoon, who are looking at you weirdly and you can’t help but shoot up, dragging him outside.

“What are you doing?” you whisper yell at him.

“What?” Taehyung releases, “I just thought, y’know, after last night that we…” He rubs the nape of his neck sheepishly.

“No,” you immediately clarify, your voice as stern as ever. “No. That was a one time thing- a stress reliever, a one night stand- whatever you want to call it. We have more important things to worry about now- like how Tartarus wants to kill us all, so get your shit together!”

With that, you leave a dumbfounded Taehyung outside and stomp back into the Big House.

Rose and Namjoon don’t need to ask anything- they might have even heard your conversation from inside but nothing needs to be said.

You hooked up with him, and that was nice, But now, as you come back to your senses, you realize that it was just that - a moment.

It was nice, perhaps even enjoyable, but it doesn't change the reality of your situation. You're not looking for anything serious- there are bigger things to worry about.

Taehyung walks back in, extremely irritable as he takes the seat farthest away from you.

“Oh gods,” Namjoon mumbles.

In a sudden and unexpected moment, the atmosphere shifts, and before you can fully comprehend what's happening, the air crackles with energy. Like a bolt of lightning illuminating the darkness, the oracle materializes before you, its presence both awe-inspiring and chilling.

With eyes glowing an intense shade of green, the oracle's ethereal form seems to pulse with otherworldly power. You feel a sense of unease creeping over you as its voice resonates through the air, echoing with a mystical resonance that sends shivers down your spine.

“In the tumult of tides, destinies entwine,

One born of sea, one of the wise divine.

Amidst the depths where fears reside,

Unity sought, their fears defied.

In the clash of Greeks and Romans, a call resounds,

Together they stand, where unity abounds.

Through waters deep, their fears they'll tame,

In shared resolve, they'll forge their claim”

Oh gods.

#taehyung scenarios #taehyung fanfic #taehyung x reader #demigod!taehyung #demigod!bts #demigod!jungkook

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card-queen · 11 months

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Story Craft: Worldbuilding Basics

First off: know when to delve deeper and when to keep it simple.

There are many times in a story, but especially around worldbuilding when someone will just go too far with curiosity and it crosses over into some kind of pedantic interrogation. Try and see if the complaints are valid or aren't relevant. You might not know immediately, we writers can tend to get a bit defensive and protective about the integrity of our work, but have a moment and think: "Would this take me out of the story?"

People can really lack imagination when it comes to new worlds or concepts, especially ones that don't have scientific backing (not that it would satisfy many of the complaints), so you really just have to be sure of your own judgement. And for God's sake, don't let someone else's lack of imagination stifle your own creative vision. Sometimes islands just float, sometimes rivers turn to ice mid-stream, sometimes mushrooms make you hiccup bubbles -- don't let the dour nitpickers ruin your creativity. Be imaginative.

Okay, now let's get down to the nitty-gritty...

Worldbuilding is more than just places, magic and history. Worldbuilding in a very technical sense is: the rules of this world, with regional variants for each race, county or culture. The setting in stories often gets the short end of the stick. It's something that MUST be in the background and you can't go into too much detail or that's INFODUMPING... and that is true and fair... to a degree. The truth of the matter is that you have to disguise your worldbuilding exposition, for that is what it is. I'll get into that more in a bit.

Why?

One of the first questions you want to figure out is why? Why create or invent a whole new setting? The obvious answers are: >To be an outlet for creativity and imagination, full of what-if's and wonder. >To use the world as another player in my story, creating all new opportunities for horror, wonder, invention, mystery, etc. >To shed light or tackle real-world issues in a new, unfamiliar setting to encourage a different look or fresh eyes on the problem. >To embody elements of your story's theme in a subtle, background manner. ... and other reasons too. One or more of those usually does the trick for me, but you might have other reasons and that's excellent really!

Now what?

So, you know that you want to create a new world for your story. It could be a completely new world, like many sci-fi & fantasy, or it could be something lighter like an urban fantasy or alternate universe story. While all of this can and probably does seem overwhelming at times, all you really have to do is go back to one question: "How can I use my world to enhance the story I want to tell"

That helpful line comes from the Brandon Sanderson lectures on storytelling. I must've watched these lectures 3 or 4 times now. If you've got time to kill or want something in the background to listen to, I couldn't recommend them highly enough:

It's good to keep coming back to your main story, character and themes, but to really effectively get the most bang from your buck... you need to know the tools you're working with...

The Tools

Much like the worldbuilding part of the lectures, I'm going to divide our tools into two categories: Physical & Cultural.

Physical means things like the land, terrain, weather, climate, wildlife, vegetation, magic, species, races, etc.

Cultural means things like religion, governments, laws, economics, languages, social norms, taboos, fashion, cuisine, arts, history, societal roles, hierarchies, etc.

A lot of these elements have knock-on effects for other elements too. If your world is set on floating islands with airships, then this will affect the terrain, wildlife, vegetation, possibly weather, possibly climate, laws, economics, possibly cuisine, etc.

Nothing really exists in a vacuum, everything has a kind of cause and effect, even if it's a small change. Look over each of the elements (and please, add your own to the mix) and think... how can I use this to get more juice out of my story? Let's say you have a fantasy war story... How can you twist the land to get more from your story? Does the land shift and change, as if on sand, making border disputes almost impossible to solve? Is the land almost nothing and the world is mostly in the air or sea? Is the land poisonous in some way but vital to survival? Is the land dying or transforming in some way, making the war more about survival than conquest?

It can be really easy to start brainstorming like crazy. Either with purpose or just for fun! Once you have a solid idea of what you're working with, you know the rules of your world.

The Rules

Each element you choose to work with for your worldbuilding comes with its own pitfalls and advantages.

Whatever you introduce will do a job but it may create problems, or as I like to call them: opportunities. Chances are, whatever you create to do a job in your world is gonna step on the toes of something else that exists in our world or invents new issues that need to be taken care of. This is where you can get really, really interesting.

Let's say that your world is one where magic is as common as language, that it's something that people can study and master. If magic is commonplace and mage is a life path one can take, then ... >Could water magic be used to make crops grow? Could magic be used to eliminate famine and bad harvest? If yes, is there a catch? Is this a refined magic skill or does it become a mundane job for the poor and feeble? If no, why not? Does magic also do something else to the crops? >Is magic viewed as an academic pursuit worthy or respect? A frivolous and old-fashioned pursuit compared to other things like technology? A conflict pursuit akin to acting or music, that anyone can do but only the top tier make it, leaving everyone else to do menial work or teach.

These kinds of scenarios are born from you teasing out the "problems" of your world and dreaming up possibilities, solutions and societal issues that you can use to your story's advantage. If a problem gets you excited to find possible solutions, you know you're onto a winner!

Exposition Protection

Right, so let's get to the point where you've been working forever and a day on your world and it sparkles! You're so proud of the world you've done and you can't wait to show it off--you can't.

I'm really sorry, but people just aren't interested in hearing the magical farming techniques you've come up with and how they've evolved over the ages. Some people are and you should compile a little notebook (with doodles if you can manage) for a kind of behind-the-scenes handbook. People go crazy for supplementary material like that. I know this because that person is me.

But onto how you deal with this issue of exposition in-story. I have two angles, but there are probably more, but these ones work for me!

Method One: The Representative Method

People tend to relate to people more than concepts. So, sometimes I find it better to assign a character to represent a part of my world. The obvious examples are of religious characters. You can share or show off the beliefs, rules, laws and understanding of a religion but have a character be devout. This can apply to many other aspects of the world though: characters can have jobs intrinsically tied to aspects of the world: sky-fishing, water farmer, sand reader, etc. They could have issues that cause problems in their day-to-day life caused by aspects of the world: sky-fish poaching, magic regulations, new laws about sky travel, a newly formed fungus as the result of magical exposure, etc. This doesn't mean that every character should become a talking point for aspects of your world. Please use this method with care and remember that no amount of exposition should come at the expense of a character.

Method Two: The Conundrum Method

Sometimes I wrap my exposition in the form of a problem. The characters can discuss the issue at hand and drop in dialogue that signals to the reader that this is the norm. If you present the audience with a mystery, then they tend to look at the situation and try and figure out how things get uses. By carefully slipping in aspects of the world and how they weren't used or were used ineffectively, the audience can pick up on aspects of your world whilst being engaged in the events of the story.

For example, if your characters are dealing with a murder, they could be looking over the body. One could not that the dead man has his Soulstone with him but no one got his call, concluding that he must have known his attacker. (The audience can infer that this Soulstone can send out some kind of distress signal, possibly other messages). The main character can touch the Soulstone and declare it's cold, meaning the dead man probably didn't even have a chance to use it (while the audience picks up that these things get hot when used, maybe they're powered by magic or some other kind of energy).

In conclusion

You can get a lot of your world shown off by wrapping them in something else that we, the audience, care about; be it a character we love seeing, a mystery we're getting invested in, brilliant battlefield tactics or something else entirely.

It's a lot of work but can be really, really fun to get invested in!

Happy creating!

Want more writing advice? Check out this post!

#story talk #world building #writing #setting talk #it's tricky to get started #almost impossible to stop #and a whole lot of fun once you get going #I never thought I'd enjoy worldbuilding and lore #But here we are

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777rare · 1 year

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Hi, how are you? I was reading your Astro notes and I wanted to know if it’s a bad thing to have sirene square Pluto. My sirene is in Pisces and Pluto in Sagittarius.

Hello!❤ thankyou for asking me this question💓☀️

nopee, absolutely not...let's go with the placements step by step. According to me hard aspects and placements don't necessarily always have a bad effect in one's life. It's just deeper impacting life lessons and journeys that result in deeper growth of one person mentally, physically,etc.

SIRENE IN PISCES - you have such a mysterious, mesmerizing, alluring beauty to you. People often feel so attracted to your beauty and admire how naturally alluring and fantasizing your beauty is. You have this beauty that people often gets so lost into. They dont even realize how deep they've fallen, it's like that. It's comes off so naturally in you. You might not even notice how many eyes are focused on you. I can tell you got a lot of eyes on you, people watch you on the low and sometimes a few of them even give up thinking, a fantasy like you is too hard for them to win cuz you are like a trophy in the eyes of people. I feel like people debate about dating you or confessing their feelings for you but in the end they often feel like you're a trophy that's hard to win. A trophy that a person would need to travel the whole universe to win. You might /might not be surprised by me saying this but a lot of people wish you were theirs. They love your sensitive alluring aura that just grabs their attention.

PLUTO IN SAGITTARIUS- being in the sign ruled by jupiter, you got a lot of vibes that scream firey charmer. You might have had a lot of transformations, I mean lots in your life. It can be spiritual, physical, mental, etc. You also have this superior kind of intimidating energy to you, especially in your college environment. You get these fired up, sudden transformations in your life.

Now, let's go with the sirene square pluto...pluto is known to intensify asteroids and anything that touches it when it conjuncts. I feel like conjunct and square have a very very tiny similarity, I mean the harshness and the impact. Since sirene is in square with pluto you got this serious stunning, sexual energy that often acts as a magnet to the eyes of the public. You attract a lot of the opposite gender and seriously imma tell you, You got this intense energy that can come of as intimidating and dangerous to other people. If it's in square, you might find it hard to channel all that energy smoothly. I suggest you start affirming things like " I'm sexy, I'm the hottest in the room, I've got the best charming aura ever, I'm so charming and stunning, I love my dark sensual beauty so so much, I look so hot in this dress right now(even if you're wearing a pajama haha) etc. You'll see after that how damn smooth the energy flows into your very aura. Right now this energy acts like a road that isn't doesnt have a proper flat surface, it's like bumps here and there. So yeah, affirmations are so so perfect to make yourself embody the strength an intensity of this aspect. Beileve me, you'll feel the strength of that energy after you channel it properly. If you want, I can make a list of affirmations for you to say to urself. You can even write this down on a paper and stick it in the bottle you drink water from. It's like you're drinking those affirmations and those affirmations then flow in your body resulting in the effect.

Here are some affirmations to use:

My presence speaks alluring

My presence projects sensual magnetism

My very existence screams stunning beauty

My beauty only favors me in the best ways

I am the most charming queen I've ever seen

I am so damn beautiful

I always love how sexy I am

I love the beauty my aura emits

I am born stunning and beautiful

I am destined to feel magnetic

Why am I so damn beautiful?

Why am I so stunning?

Why does the earth rotate around me?

Why am I so lucky?

Why am I born so beautiful?

My beauty is of the rarest kind!

Asking yourself questions that you want to manifest has so much impact in your life too

Hope this helped and hope you enjoyed reading!💓🫂☀️

#spiritual knowledge #spiritual community #spiritual enlightenment #spiritual awareness #spiritualgrowth #spiritualawakening #spiritualhealing #spirituality #spiritualism #astrology notes #astrology ask #astrology posts #astrology thoughts #astro community #astro notes #astrology services #astrology observations #natal chart

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laciere · 8 months

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Bo Ruberg: What about games like Become a Great Artist in Just 10 seconds? It's non-narrative and has no characters, but is there still some element of your trans experience that is reflected in the game? Andi McClure: Generally, no. Part of what I am drawn to abstraction is that it's like an escape from my identity. As a trans person, my identity means, to some extent, that there are things about my physical, external self that i don't like. It's complicated to talk about whether the trans experience has been good or bad for me, but it's definitely been really hard, and a lot of that has to do with struggling with the physical world. My body doesn't necessarily feel like a great place to me. The period when I was most prolific in games was when I was either just pre-transition or during transition and things were especially not working right. In a sense, video games or abstract art are a place where you don't have to have a body. In most of my games, you're not embodied. To me, there's something that feels really good about just floating in those abstractions. it feels natural. To the extent that I identify as something, I identify as an artist. I worry about that, because if you're an artist and that's the whole of your identity, what are you bringing to the work? That's one of the reasons why I'm more inclinded to make things that are about experience rather than things that are about me personally. At the same time, I think of my games as being very personal, because they are personal thoughts and feelings I have had, even though there aren't usually people in my games. Even if I'm not present in my games as a person, my emotions are still there. One thing that makes exploring identity in my games difficult is that i struggle with characters and narrative. There's exactly one game in my history that explicitly portrays a relationship. It's called He never showed up (2013). It simulates a date in which your date literally never shows up. The game was my attempt to process my feelings about this dude I was going out with, but who wasn't sure if he was bisexual or what dating a trans person meant for his sexuality. In the game, he doesn't show up for the date because in real life he never showed up emotionally. Ruberg: On your website, you describe some of your early work as "anti-games." What do you mean by that? Is that still a concept that is important to your art? McClure: A few years ago, when I was making those games, I was spending way too much time on video game message boards, and there were all tehse people complaining about things that weren't "really games." Around this time, the Nintendo Wii was challenging conventional ideas about what gameplay meant. People who were invested in traditional forms of gameplay got upset. For a brief period when the Wii was succeeding, they felt threatened. They thought that video games as they knew them just wouldn't exist anymore, and this new paradigm would supplant them. Someone on NeoGaf used the term "waggle-tastic fagatronics" to describe Wii games. I was like, "Holy shit! That sounds like everything I want to be part of." Personally I'm not interested in games themselves. I'm interested in the space of what is possible whn you have these mechanical systems encoded in software. Along with a bunch of other indie folks, I was making stuff that rejected what a game was supposed to be. Why does it matter if it's a game? I decided to frame the games I was making as a reaction against games themselves--as a way to say, "No, I'm not just failing to meet the rules of video games. I'm rejecting the rules fo video games." Traditional gamers thought indie games would destroy the medium, which didn't happen obviously--but for this brief period, I was like, "I can destroy something? great, I have this awesome destructive power! I'm going to be your supervillain. I'm going to make something so avant garde it will actually destroy the medium and there will be nothing left."

-"Andi McClure: Algorithms, Accidents and the Queerness of Abstraction" from in The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers are Reimagining The Medium of Video Games (2020, Duke University Press)

#the queer games avant garde #andi mcclure #bo ruberg #video games #reading log

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sinhaco · 9 months

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For more info :-

Calcutta High Court

Kolkata arbitration

#Calcutta High Court

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holdontwstistakingovermymind · 2 years

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General Yandere!Dorms with Polyam!MC PT 1

I might go more in depth is asked but for now I'm just covering the very basics of how the dorms interact with each other and yandere Mc. Please send in requests if you would like specific yandere reactions! This was very, very long, so I decided to split it in two.

ALSO! THIS IS YANDERE! NOT LOVE!

Heartslabyul

Very controlling, but not incredibly restricting.

There's this understanding amongst the dorm that despite how they may feel, they aren't going to catch your heart by being incredibly possessive.

(^If that worked Diasomnia and Savanaclaw would surely be the only two in the running)

Instead, they recognize they have to get your guard to drop a bit. To make you feel comfortable, and slowly introduce you into what will eventually be your life.

The only problem is no one in Heartslabyul ever stays to script, thus giving you plenty opportunity to see the red flags waving in the air.

However, if you don't catch on quick enough, you're bound to experience plenty of exclusive Heartslabyul traits.

To start off, Ace and Deuce are constantly trying to paint themselves as your innocent first year friends that really have nothing to do with Riddle, Trey, and Cater's weird behavior.

Cater acts like a creep online, and would definitely ally with other dorms if he knew it would guarantee himself access to you.

Trey and Riddle are (thankfully) able to stop the three from destroying all the progress they've made towards being the dorm you call home, but Riddle slips up a lot with you, thus often looking like a hypocrite to the others.

^It's not so much that he feels entitled to you, he just has standards for how you should behave. One may even call them rules but Riddle would most likely be appalled at the subtle accusation.

Tbh Trey is the only thing holding this dorm together half the time.

He's such a good manipulator. Honestly if Azul knew of this before hand, he might have recruited him.

(^^something about being a caring older brother gives him the appearance of someone who wants the best for you and knows how to get that. Only one of these things are true)

They hardly ever work together.

But whenever they do, it's usually out of spite, and that's something to be afraid of.

At least when you give them your full attention, they act normal.

Movie nights actually feel like you aren't being held captive by five magical men!

Trey usually makes you eat all your meals under watch before handing you off to someone else. He's incredibly worried you're going to starve if you don't eat one meal.

Sometimes Riddle embodies the essence of his mother when handling you. It's perhaps one of the more terrifying aspects of being tied to the group, but thankfully has no real physical impact. Just a mental one.

Thankfully nothing ever gets too out of hand. It's just scary as hell. Especially when you can see the blot building in his eyes.

Savanaclaw

Not easy to escape from, but very easy to trick.

You simply just have to embrace the idea that they expect you to act like prey.

Yes, it's rather demeaning. Especially considering the fact that Leona often insists on calling you that when he wants to be particularly hurtful.

Ignore him for as long as you possibly can. Eventually he'll piss of Jack and those two will distract each other long enough for you to do something that doesn't involve the three beastmen.

Of course, if you don't use these times to plan an escape that takes advantage of the three's more base instincts, you're basically setting yourself up for a nightmare

(It doesn't last forever. Don't be too down... or too excited. Unfortunately there's a few other dorm's that are seeking out your company and aren't really willing to negotiate. Not yet at least)

Ruggie is perhaps the least harmful. He follows more then he leads, which means when you're alone you can pretty much get him to do almost anything for your affection.

Jack is similar in a sense, but he tends to have much more boundaries and plenty of them are exclusive to his authority as well. Leona won't really care about your eating habits or physical fitness like Jack will. The lion just expects you to keep up, whilst the wolf will more then likely ride your ass if you don't take every measure possible to be healthy.

Ruggie does his best to help you out either way.

Dumbasses don't let you rest when they want to do their athlete thing. You either must be playing or cheering them on. Otherwise everyone is going to be pissed and then you're never going to hear the end of it.

Leona does like a challenge though so remember that every time you put up a fight or disobey house rules.

Bruises are common in this dorm due to all the rough housing and general lack of care. Jack is appalled whenever you get anything larger than a dime and has threatened to take you to another dorm before.

That did not end well.

Probably the dorm that has to deal with the most shit from other dorms.

(^Diasomnia are harsh to mostly everyone, but are specifically unforgiving of Savanaclaw. On top of this, many others tend to have a problem with Leona's often neglectful attitude.)

The trio is usually able to tell before something happens though. Ruggie especially is extra sensitive to foreign magic.

This probably has something to do with his signature spell, but who knows. It's a useful skill to have, especially when you're the current keeper of the prize.

Octavinelle

It's complicated.

Nothing with these three is ever easy though, right?

More than likely they're able to get their hands on you in the most pleasant way possible. Perhaps via a contract, perhaps not.

Either way they get you to come to them.

Floyd doesn't like it. Not really. He likes rushing at problems head on, his version of the perfect romance being more akin to Kalim's ideals then Azul's.

He goes along with it despite what he wants, because even if he'd rather just pick you up and run, everyone knows that does not work out well.

Besides, Azul's plan is (somewhat) competent.

All they have to do is make themselves the best option. Then you'll have nowhere else to go, but honestly, why would you want to go anywhere else to begin with?

Yeah, Floyd is a little rambunctious, Jade sometimes gets a bit too rough, and Azul has his own list of issues, but at least you're allowed to leave, right?

It's just strongly discouraged. Afterall, they can't protect you out there.

Jade is the best at using your worries against you.

Due to Azul's past as a well-known manipulator and Floyd's over-eager nature, Jade is usually the only one with a clean enough record to have any sort of leverage, and boy does he use it.

Reminds you all the time of the good things you have in their dorm. All the privileges, and freedom. Sure, you aren't allowed in the lounge, but that's because they are trying to avoid lawsuits. And yeah, Jade doesn't like you interacting with other students in the dorm, but they could be working for someone else anyways. It's be stupid to talk to them.

Don't worry if you make a mistake with the latter, Jade and Floyd will make sure it doesn't happen again. They won't hurt you of course! It's much easier to just squash the problem at its core.

Thankfully you won't know anything about that. They'll make sure you're too busy with other frivolous things to really get into trouble.

Azul absolutely encourages you to take up hobbies/continue school work. Not only does he love the thought of helping you improve, but he also thinks that a busy mind stops a wandering mind.

Floyd and occasionally Jade still like to annoy you despite the dorm leader's beliefs. It's playful, of course, but nothing is more infuriating than getting focused on something and having the tweels rip you away from it.

If anything was ever going to happen with all the dorms coming together in some sort of an agreement, Octavinelle will most likely be at the center of everything. Surprisingly they're very fair to the other dorms. This is mostly because they recognize what the others can bring to the table, and by that point they've most likely already secured themselves as your safe haven. No real competition left when you always strive for the best.

Scarabia

These two have incredibly different methods of managing a darling.

Kalim is incredibly delusional. Perhaps one of the most delusional out of the long list of males enrolled at the school.

(But Malleus might take the cake there. With that being said, he's got three other people supporting his beliefs. If he was alone, or paired with someone like Jamil, his view of your romance wouldn't be all storybook. Kalim isn't like that.)

Jamil is completely self-aware. It's actually scary how he seems to recognize just how bad things are, and doesn't care.

He tends to shield this all from Kalim though. It's better if he remains as unaware of your true feelings as possible. Jamil would rather not deal with the mes that will follow if he does.

Despite this flaw, you should be incredibly thankful for Jamil. If not for him, Kalim might have accidentally killed you.

He gets over excited, and tends to ignore the more dangerous aspects of things, often underestimating the possible dangers to follow.

(Bad things happen but they don't happen to you, apparently. Not until they do and Kalim is crying a threats from other dorms are being thrown around)

Kalim doesn't put any restrictions on your coming and going. He believes you're there willingly, but Jamil knows better. Those pretty golden anklets Kalim gave you are now physically keeping you from leaving the dorm. He's absolutely ecstatic that you wear them, but he's unaware that you can't take them off.

At least there's good food and plenty of things to keep you entertained. Just don't get too attached to one thing. Kalim gets bored easy.

Probably one of the few dorms to share a room with you and not give you your own. Most likely because there is only two of them.

(Then again, Idia gave you your own room, so perhaps it really depends on the person.)

Jamil and Kalim do butt heads a little from time to time. It's always a great time to rest because they're being too passive aggressive to really care what you do.

Take the opportunity to sleep. Kalim will need your attention and Jamil will desire your affection soon enough.

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genshin-impact-updates · 3 years

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Developer Insight #4: Character Stories (I) - "Vigilant Yaksha" Xiao (Part I)

Greetings, Travelers!

It's been almost five whole months since Genshin Impact went live, and the time seems to have flown by! We do hope you're all enjoying a smooth journey through Teyvat. Since the game's release, we have received a great deal of feedback and suggestions from Travelers and we've systematically recorded each one for the developers. We deeply appreciate all the time, energy, and passion everyone puts in to these suggestions.

In the midst of this, many of you have expressed an interest in learning more about how some of Genshin Impact's characters are created. As it happens, one character who has received an especially high amount of attention is Xiao, who has now entered the live game with the release of Version 1.3, "All That Glitters." So, for this issue, we've invited colleagues from the Creative Concept & Writing, Concept Art, and Animation departments to explain a bit about the thought process behind everyone's favorite Vigilant Yaksha.

1. The Vigilant Yaksha Is Born: A Character Woven From Cultural Symbolism

Hello everyone, my name is Zhongyuan from the Creative Concept & Writing department of miHoYo.

The first part of the process when designing characters for Genshin Impact is to pin down who the character is at their core. In this step, we need to establish the features that set this character apart from other characters. Besides ensuring that this character will make a strong impression on people, these features are used to evaluate what this character's position in the world of Genshin Impact will be. Characters are not just lumps of rock that we can place anywhere we want in the environment; they are autonomous individuals, each one with a complex set of past, present, and future interactions with the world of Teyvat. Their core features, then, represent their initial points of contact with the world. They are the guiding principles behind all the character's actions and how they live their life.

Xiao was one of the first Liyue characters we came up with. He began with our colleague CiCi's proposal for a young warrior character, which everyone involved in the character evaluation process approved of. The Art team envisaged him as a young man of great beauty, while colleagues in Creative Concept & Writing hoped to position him as a beautiful adeptus. Both sides were on the same page, and thus Xiao became our very first character planned with the identity of "mighty and illuminated adeptus."

Although this is somewhat tangential, I'd like to take a moment here to give a little more detail on the adepti in the Genshin Impact universe, given that so many players have expressed an interest in this topic. The adepti are based on the idea of demigod-like "immortals" (仙人 xianren) in Daoism, and are referred to by the honorific title "sanyan wuxian" (三眼五显), literally "three eyes and five manifestations" (but localized in English as "mighty and illuminated"). The adepti are classed as non-human, based on the notion that "All who have nine orifices can achieve immortality through self-discipline," a line uttered by the "Monkey King" Sun Wukong in the Ming-dynasty novel Journey to the West. This means that animals are also capable of achieving adeptus status. However, humans have a higher purpose than adepti in the world of Teyvat, so for this reason, only those of non-human status can be referred to as "adepti" in Liyue. The "three eyes" part of the adepti's title refers to the "third eye" possessed by those with the ability to manipulate elemental energy, which for humans takes the form of a Vision. For adepti such as Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper, the human understanding is that they must have an "inner eye" that serves the same purpose as a Vision. Xiao, however, typically appears in a human form, so he dutifully wears a Vision to comply with the expected norm.

After the character's fundamentals are established, the next step is to design their Constellation and refine their cultural background.

Outside of Genshin Impact, the term "sanyan wuxian" can be traced back to ancient Chinese texts and also appears in supernatural fiction from the Late Imperial period (c. 1368–1911 CE). In both cases, it typically describes the Daoist deity Huaguang Tianwang (华光天王, "Heavenly King of Radiant Light"), also known as Ma Lingguan (马灵官, "Numinous Official Ma"). Huaguang Tianwang is a well-known guardian deity, who appears in the Ming-dynasty novel Journey to the South, in which he has an altercation with Sun Wukong. Research into folk culture also shows there is precedent to connect deities known as Wuxian (五显, "Five manifestations" or "Five Named Xian") with a group of malevolent deities known as Wutong (五通, "Five Powers" or "Five Named Tong"), which includes the one-legged, people-eating, mountain-dwelling demons known as Shanxiao (山魈, "mountain demon").

So, at the most hidden but fundamental level of this character's core, we decided on the name Xiao (魈) and the identity of a guardian-adeptus. The name Xiao is used to hide his past, but also embodies this character at the innermost part of his soul. It is the starting point for all further character development and cultural embellishments.

Another dimension of Xiao's design was that he wields an Anemo Vision and has a fleet-footed and agile combat style that includes the unique ability to propel himself through the air. To stay true to this, we decided to design his Constellation and skills around the idea of the yaksha in Buddhism. This meant we were conflating ideas from different sources; nevertheless, the yaksha had become a well-established figure in Chinese folk legends by at least the end of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). The yaksha element ended up being a crucial part of Xiao's design that really helped us flesh him out in terms of his image.

The two archetypal stories of "guardian yaksha" and "numinous official's redemption" both involve a malevolent spirit on a path towards goodness, which was consistent with the general direction of Xiao's character core. Furthermore, his physical agility matched very well with another term for yaksha in Chinese, "Swift and nimble spirit" (捷疾鬼 jieji gui). Through further development of the yaksha concept, we arrived at the decision that the other fundamental aspect of Xiao's identity would be his role as a guardian yaksha in service of a monarch, or in this case, an archon.

One detail is particularly worth mentioning here. There is a well-known group of guardian yakshas in some Buddhist denominations known as the Twelve Heavenly Generals. All but one of them correspond to different animals in the Chinese zodiac, while Mekhila, who would otherwise correspond to the rooster, is instead associated with a bird deity, the golden-winged Garuda, a figure from various Indian religions. The story goes that this golden-winged bird deity was a fearsome predator who ate only evil dragons, until one day the dragon poison he had consumed became too much for him to bear, and he burned to death, leaving only a crystal heart behind. This story seemed to resonate with aspects of Xiao's character. Furthermore, the Chinese name Jinchi Peng Wang Niao (金翅鹏王鸟, "Golden Winged Great Peng") embodies a history of evolution — it represents a convergence between Garuda and the Peng, a Chinese mythological bird, showing that some adaptation occurred in the process of his adoption into Chinese religion. After much consideration, we decided to use the Golden Winged Great Peng as the basis for Xiao's Constellation. In English, Xiao's Constellation has been localized as "Alatus Nemeseos," in reference to the bird deity and Xiao's role as the nemesis of evil.

Finally, we conducted an overall review of Xiao's character profile. During this process, we noticed that Xiao's origins were very complex: Some aspects of his identity were based on folk legends while others drew on religious stories. From mountain demon, to Daoist deity, to guardian yaksha, to mythological bird, this was a uniquely rich character formed from the convergence and refashioning of many ideas in one place. More importantly, all these elements were consistent with each other at the narrative layer, creating a strong and cohesive impression of who this character is and adding clear, nuanced substance to his story. This degree of complexity gave Xiao just the depth and appeal that we were hoping for with this character: we hoped to create something entirely new through the convergence and fusion of various cultural elements, and we hope that the end result, Xiao, possesses the power, aesthetic value, and maturity to become a true cultural icon.

The next step was shaping the character's personality and behavior.

After close consultation with Concept Art colleagues, Creative Concept & Writing further fine-tuned the details of this character's content. To pick one example, we all felt that the distinctive image of a young warrior was an important one that we wanted to keep. This begged the question: if Xiao is a warrior, who or what is he waging war against? We quickly got to thinking about a war between the gods. (See section 2 of this article for how Concept Art developed the mask design based on this idea.) One of the basic rules of the Genshin Impact world is that gods cannot be completely destroyed — even if a god's physical form is destroyed, its will and power live on. The remnants and the wrath of the defeated god will remain in the world, waiting for opportunities to cause chaos. To keep Liyue safe from this threat, somebody has to go and keep them at bay.

The decision to release Xiao at Lantern Rite was to tie in with the Chinese custom of driving away evil spirits at the new year, since Xiao's role in Liyue is that of a protector in precisely this capacity.

During festivals, people offer up incense and pray to the adepti for their protection.

But they do not pray to Xiao.

For Xiao is no lucky star that promises fame and fortune — he is a demon-hunting yaksha.

After the lantern lights of Liyue have faded, the thankless battle to protect the city goes on unseen. It is an endless battle, and there can be no victor.

The Traveler's first impression of Xiao is most likely to be of a silent and brooding individual, a courageous and competent fighter, and someone who harbors great suffering. This suffering comes from within Xiao himself. One aspect is that the years of intense, never-ending battle against the remnants of defeated gods have led to him resigning himself to the fact that fighting is all he is good at. The other aspect is that the remnants have a negative effect on him, while the constant killing places a karmic burden on him, causing him mental and spiritual anguish.

This inner suffering is present in the design of his skills: when Xiao uses "Bane of All Evil," he dons his mask, which continually enhances his combat abilities but also continually drains his health. This demonstrates the great suffering he must endure as a consequence of using this power.

After the Traveler has spent some time with Xiao, perhaps they can sense that deep down, Xiao has a gentler side. Xiao is by no means a cruel and callous individual, he is simply reticent to show his emotions to others.

Xiao always keeps his distance from the hustle and bustle of human society. This is not because he doesn't care about humanity, but is due to his role as a protector. He must wage war against dark forces out of sight of humans, and endure a suffering that is incomprehensible to them. Despite this, he does not despise humanity. Humans are the foundation of his millennia-old contract with Rex Lapis, and the reason he silently fights to protect every living soul in Liyue.

The player's first offer to Xiao is to go to the Lantern Rite together to experience the atmosphere. Xiao instinctively refuses requests of this nature— not because he dislikes the idea, but out of avoidance. For Xiao, who has lived for millennia, the human world is a brilliant but fleeting flash of light; a wisp of cloud floating by; a firework on the horizon. And as the one tasked with defending this flurry of activity, he is like a caged beast circling the fire of a stove: fearful, but also full of curiosity. Having watched from a distance for so long, he would not know how to join in with the crowd even if he tried.

The lanterns rise up into the night sky, as if to shine along with the stars. Xiao watches this beautiful sight alone from a mountaintop, and just like anyone else, he senses the sentiment behind them, and he understands that the reason people craft these beautiful things is to remember those who fought alongside him in the past. As one who lived through the events of the past and remembers it all, he is, of course, able to appreciate the well-wishes that the lanterns represent. He understands kindness and gratitude, but doesn't know how to interact with ordinary people, nor does he know what his place is among all the excitement and noise. This lonely state of existence is the source of his melancholy. It has caused time to stand still, leading to him still having a very young mentality even to this day.

During the main Liyue questline, Xiao came to the Traveler's rescue in their moment of peril. In Version 1.3 "All That Glitters," we invite Travelers once again to experience a story that provides a glimpse into Xiao's seldom-shown gentle nature, as well as the trust, hidden deep within his heart, that he places in you.

2. A Young Adeptus: Detail-Based Design

Hello everyone, this is D and SS from the Genshin Impact Art team. We worked on the concept art for Xiao.

After the initial brief, we produced a first draft of Xiao's design based on the young warrior concept. As you can see, Xiao's expression in this version is far from the stern one he wears today. He has a gentler temperament and he is smiling. In this sense, he captures a more traditional notion of what a Daoist immortal (or in Genshin Impact terms, an adeptus) might look like. After more discussion with Creative Concept & Writing colleagues and taking more of his back story into account, we decided on the green version.

Xiao is an adeptus who protects Liyue, and in the course of his long battle against the remnants of defeated gods all over Liyue, he has become poisoned by their nefarious energy. Based on this background, Xiao's upper body uses white and green, which represent the adepti and correlate to his Anemo Vision. For his lower body, we used darker colors to represent the dark, malevolent power that exists inside him.

Based on these same principles, we gave him dark hair with highlights, and also created some interplay between light and dark in his attack animations. The darkness represents the destructive power of fierce battle, while the fragments and orbs of light that he gives off come from the fact that he is an adeptus.

Xiao may have the appearance of a young man, but his true age is something over two thousand years.

Fortunately, people do not tend to underestimate him on the basis of his appearance — one only needs to spend a short time with Xiao to recognize that he is not someone to be trifled with.

Xiao is a man of few words. He is highly dangerous, and has the most piercing gaze you've ever seen.

Given Xiao's true age and his identity as an adeptus, we decided to give him some jade jewelry to bring a sense of longevity and mystery. Accordingly, his legs, wrists, and shoulders feature decorative jade as well as various other objects bearing simple motifs. Meanwhile, to match his young appearance with striking good looks, we tailored his clothing (especially on the upper body) using a more modern design, displaying his vibrancy and agility.

On the one hand, Xiao is an immortal adeptus, while on the other hand, he is a young warrior. This is a great variance in image, and it posed a significant challenge for us from an art perspective. Traditionally, an immortal is imagined as a scholarly figure dressed in long, flowing robes with wide sleeves, who is fairly reserved in the movements of their hands and feet. But Xiao, as a master of the dance-like art of polearm combat and a fleet-footed yaksha, required clothing that offers both protection and freedom of movement. Furthermore, we also knew that there were strict limits on any flowing parts of his outfit due to the risk of clipping they would create after 3D modeling.

So we made Xiao's garments close-fitting and short-sleeved, put some light gauntlets on his wrists, and added some religious paraphernalia such as a censer and a vajra. Meanwhile, his streamers and the breechcloths around his waist are decorated with a cloud motif to add a sense of antiquity. In this way, we achieved a union between practicality and ethereality.

"Bane of All Evil" — the four words that sum up what Xiao has experienced over the past millennia, according to Liyue's rulers who know the truth about him.

In the design of Xiao's mask, we referenced aspects of the masks traditionally used in exorcism rituals as part of Nuo (傩) folk religion.

The main colors used in these masks are black, blue, and gold, the eyes are bright but not flamboyant, and in general the masks look solemn but also mysterious. The sinister-looking bulging eyes, fangs, and horns instill fear in the viewer. The eye in the center of the forehead represents omniscience and the flame motifs make it all the more imposing, the intent being to cause all onlookers to cower in fear.

Xiao's release coincides with the ancient festival of Lantern Rite. We would like to use this historic occasion as a chance to send our best wishes to everyone — here's to deliverance from the ills that plague the real world as well as those that face us in the world of Teyvat. To fans of Xiao reading this, we hope you feel that learning a little about the design ethos gave you the chance to better understand and connect with this character.

(Continued in Part 2)

#genshin impact #official #genshin impact updates #genshin xiao #xiao #xiao simps rejoice!#part 2 is gonna take a while‚ i got class in 15 minutes #but anyway this was super interesting to see :o #developer insight

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krisingtons · 3 years

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Happy Birthday Toshinori Yagi / All Might!

To celebrate the Symbol of Peace's birthday, here is my take on Toshinori's potential astrology natal chart, complete with explanations and reasoning. Buckle up for the highly specific, mashing up two niche interests post that literally no one asked for.

For BNHA Fans:

I will do my absolute best to explain the chart below step-by-step. If there's anything you want to know more about, feel free to ask or consult an online resource with the terms I used.

All the placements I've chosen are based on what we know in canon. Any new information we receive in canon may change this post.

The only official astrology information we have in canon is Toshinori's Sun sign, which is Gemini based on his June 10th birthday. (I'll get into this.)

After looking at some of the Sun signs Horikoshi gave to different characters, I'm convinced the man knows at least a little bit about astrology because they're very on point for everyone.

For Astrologers:

I only focused on the seven personal planets, even though I believe the generational planets have a big impact on the BNHA universe. It was just more than I could focus on.

I did not bother with the decans other than to vaguely have a sense of it, especially for the angles. I messed a few up slightly.

I also did not bother with retrogrades, even though I suspect Toshinori has one or two (I suspect Mars in particular).

I use Whole Sign Houses. To calculate houses, start with the AC, then move one sign counter-clockwise for each house. (Here, Leo is the 1st, Virgo is the 2nd, etc.)

For the moment of truth...

Toshinori Yagi's Astrology Natal Chart

(Yes, I drew it by hand. I'll zoom in for specific parts)

Sun, Moon, Rising

Since the only piece of information we have to work with from canon is Toshinori's Sun sign, let's start there.

The bigger circle surrounding the smaller circle represents Toshinori's Sun. Born on June 10th, this makes him a Gemini Sun. The Sun represents the ego, how the outer world sees us, and Geminis are very talkative, sociable, playful, and charming, but can be reluctant to engage with deeper feelings and are often restless for activity. As far as an astrological starting point goes, well done, Horikoshi. These themes clearly show up in Toshinori/All Might's external identity, and as I'll share, it plays a big part in his career, too, since I put it in the 11th house of community and serving others. (Note that conjunct MC, astrologers.) Next, let's talk about Toshinori's Moon.

This is the symbol for the moon. I feel pretty strongly that Toshinori has an Aquarius Moon. The moon represents our emotions, our inner life, and sometimes our mother. Aquarius is all about society, community, an unconventional way of doing things, and an idealism for what could be. Aquarius' often feel a push and pull between needing independence and needing to connect with others emotionally and intellectually. Not only does this seem to cover Toshinori's inner life well, but his mother figure served those ideals, too. Let's move on to the Rising Sign, also known as the AC. The Rising Sign indicates what sign was on the horizon at the time someone was born.

I placed his Rising Sign in Leo for two reasons. First, Leo is ruled by the Sun, and since Toshinori clearly embodies many of the traits of his Sun sign, it made sense to double down on that. Second, Leo Rising perfectly places his Sun in the 11th house of friendship, community, hopes and wishes, and social goals.

Mercury and Venus

Moving on to Mercury and Venus, these two planets go well together because they have rules about their distance from the Sun. Mercury can never be more than one sign away from the Sun, while Venus can never be more than two signs away due to their physical proximity to the Sun from our viewpoint on Earth.

First, Mercury.

Mercury is the symbol next to the Sun that (ironically) looks like it has bunny ears. Mercury indicates how we communicate things and how we learn. It is at home in Gemini, and people with a Gemini Mercury are often witty and knowledgeable. With it so close to the Sun and the Midheaven (which we'll get to later), it indicates how much his words were a part of his "brand" in his career, both through catchphrases and through frequent media appearances.

Now, Venus.

This was probably the toughest one to place for me (and for the astrologers paying close attention, I probably placed the degree too far from the Sun, my bad). I decided to put it in Aries in the 9th house for a couple of reasons.

First, Venus rules Toshinori's 10th house of career, and the 9th house represents, among other things, international travel and higher education. All Might's career was largely based on his time studying abroad and branding himself with symbolism from a country other than his own. Venus also represents things we love and our creative energy, and All Might clearly has a love of all things American.

Then, I placed Venus in Aries because Aries is ruled by Mars. It's a sign and planet of action, demonstrating Toshinori's drive in his career. However, Mars is also a planet that is considered violent, symbolizing war and things that literally cut. This pairs well with where I've placed Mars as shown below.

Mars

Alright, Mars is important canon-wise. As I just mentioned from Venus, Mars is a planet that cuts, which indicates war. And I've placed it in Cancer, which is Toshinori's 12th house. The 12th house, among other things, indicates service, sacrifice, mental health, and enemies. Toshinori literally sacrificed himself, his body, his life, by fighting a long-time enemy, an enemy he trained years to fight (hello again, 9th house Venus). Cancer is ruled by the Moon, which pairs well with his sense of service, too, since it's in Aquarius.

Jupiter and Saturn

Here's where we get into the meat of canon.

Jupiter first.

Jupiter is at home in Pisces, a sign that's all about dreams, saving the world, charitable giving, but also elusiveness. Jupiter, meanwhile is one of the best planets in Toshinori's chart, not only because it's in Pisces, but because Jupiter is all about good fortune, blessings, and opportunities. I've put it in the 8th house, which, among other things, signifies things that are inherited. That's right, my take on Toshinori's astrology indicates him getting One for All.

Planets in the 8th house can also indicate how someone handles a crisis, and Jupiter gives Toshinori the strength and positive attitude to handle a crisis well.

Finally, Saturn.

Saturn is like the Dad of the sky, indicating structure, discipline, and order. I've put it in Sagittarius, which is Toshinori's 5th house. Jupiter also rules Sagittarius, doubling down on the power of Jupiter in his chart. More importantly, the 5th house represents children and other ways we leave our legacy in the world. Saturn in the 5th house often indicates people who raise children that are not their own. This can be through adoption, step-parenting, or... mentorships. Hello, Izuku!

People with Saturn in the 5th house also are not inclined to relax, choosing to work more in lieu of leisure time.

What about all those lines?

Alright, I admittedly don't want to get too much into the aspect lines (the red and blue ones) because that goes more in-depth than I wanted, but they are purposeful. If you're interested in aspects, I encourage you to look up Squares, Trines, and Oppositions in particular.

I will mention the Midheaven, though. The Midheaven (MC) is the highest point in the sky, but not an actual physical body.

The MC represents a person's calling or vocation. If the Midheaven is not in the 10th house of career, it imports the themes of the house its placed in into someone's career. I've placed it again in Toshinori's 11th house of community since that's obviously a big part of his career. I also did that because the MC is always countered by the IC, which indicates someone's home and family life. Tumblr won't let me add another image, but if you go back up to Saturn, you can see the IC is also in Toshinori's 5th house, doubling down on the idea that mentor/mentee relationships play a big part in his sense of family.

As one final note, some of you may have noticed that I did place the north and south node in Toshinori's chart in the 5th and 11th house respectively. I won't get into detail here, but I wanted to give you the term in case you wanted to look it up. It's actually pretty significant this year, though, because the nodes indicate which signs eclipses happen in for that year, and it just so happens that there is a Solar Eclipse in Gemini today!

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed my wildly specific birthday post for Toshinori Yagi, better known as All Might. I'm wishing the happiest of birthdays to our favorite sunflower!

#toshinori yagi #yagi toshinori #all might #dadmight #happy birthday all might #natal chart #astrology natal chart #zodiac signs #bnha #mha #astrology #birth chart

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echo-occultism-blog · 6 years

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Pluto - God of Death and Rebirth

Pluto Correspondences

Colours:

Black and Red combined (preferably deep, blood or wine reds)

Weekday:

Tuesday

Element:

Water

Stones and Metals:

Pluto is the Master of the Underworld and everything that is hidden beneath the surface, Metals and Gemstones that are covered with earth and stone are seen as Pluto's gift to humanity, so all ores, metals and gemstones found in nature correspond to Pluto

Zodiac Sign:

Scorpio

Currently in the Sign of:

Capricorn

Astrological:

Suffering, psychological transformation, beginnings and endings of life stages and historical eras and events...

Magical:

Power, malediction, (psychological) transformation, letting go, (spiritual) death and rebirth...

In this article I'm not going to focus on the Roman god Pluto or his Greek counterpart Hades as well as on more scientific detail, since the internet is already full with information about these topics.

Pluto in Astrology

In the case of Pluto he spends different amounts of time in different signs due to its elliptical orbit.

In the moment (meaning from 2008 to 2024) Pluto is in the sign of Capricorn.

These era made the discussion about privilege big and tries to hold up a mirror up to everyone in society aiming to stop oppression.

Pluto is a generational planet, meaning that he spends long periods of time in one sign resulting in ruling over the fate of an entire generation.

Pluto is the planet of hidden motivations, of things that drive us without most of us knowing why.

Societal issues are a thing Capricorn does not understand on a fundamental level and needs to be made aware of rather than a thing Capricorn does make people aware of.

But we must keep in mind that all Pluto in Capricorns are still very very young and therefore couldn't make themselves noticeable yet, so we will only see in the future what changes the Capricorn generation as people will bring with them.

On the other hand we have the two generations that made themselves more than just noticeable:

the loudest in our society today are the Scorpios (1983-1995) also known as millenials and the Sagittariuses (1995-2008) who brought a new era of transperant knowledge with them.

The loudest doesn't mean that they are the ones who hold the most power at the moment but they hold the future so they kinda do.

They shifted the collective consciousness dramatically and will continue to do so.

(Photography can be seen above)

The same book tells us this about Pluto in Capricorn:

(Photography can be seen above)

Which pretty much the opposite happend concerning the end of war and the stability of confederations of states.

But personally I think that either this time period or the Capricorn people themselves will bring a big reality check to the world. It is a Capricorn trait I appreciate and something that everyone needs from time to time, especially applies to the former two Pluto generations.

Scorpio is smart when it comes to resources, but this resourcefulness can easily reach dimensions of "just give some water and bread and I will stay in my room and live in my mind ", Sagittarius is very practical in nature, but can be extremely delusional when it comes to certain things.

No matter in what sign Pluto stands, it always brings huge historical events and of course destruction and downfall of old eras as well as the beginning of new ones, that correspond to the particular sign.

Now let's talk about Pluto in your birthchart, since all of the same age as you share the same Pluto sign, you all share some sort of spirit but the house in which your Pluto stands in plays an important role then it comes to how this spirit plays out and is a far more personal approach.

Most astrology books will tell you that Pluto will bring a great transformation into your live so that you will rise from the ashes and become greater than you were beforehand.

Well the transformation is true and stuff but where do you think the ashes come from?

Like Mars, Pluto is malefic in nature, he won't take your hand and lead you down the path of glory.

Just look at the sign Pluto is ruling:

Scorpio

-the sign of suffering if you will.

It is the sign that can go through the biggest transformations but also the one that oftentimes doesn't live up.to it's potential.

Scorpios (more precisely Scorpios who are more immature) easily go through many cycles of death and resurrection and they are a new person after every of those spiritual 'deaths',

an new person with the same fundamental problems as the person before.

Scorpios can easily play reaper and kill everything that is already dead to them but they are masters in holding on to their suffering, getting caught in a phase of dying that goes low but never hit the lowest point.

Scorpions like to hide beneath rocks, Scorpio people like to hide beneath suffering.

Some Scorpios will deal with the exact same problems, that may have been caused by outside circumstances at one point but long only exists within themselves, for their entire live, "living" like a silent martyr and secretly getting off from their painful holiness. It's a Jesus complex. They like to play this role, dying for the world, constantly carrying it's weight on their shoulders causing a deep emptiness within them. They like it but they never ever will get anywhere near being fulfilled if they continue to play it.

Scorpios need to learn to let go and not only let go but to also move on and act on the physical plane and not only in their minds, they need to kill their old ego completely in order to truly live .

In whatever house Pluto is he will cause trouble.

The transformation part does not mean that you will start out hating everything that house stands for and later on become the perfect embodiment of the house.

Most likely you will grow up with various problems in that areas of your life resulting in traumas you will have to solve later on, on yourself.

Again Pluto is malefic he won't lead you to transformation he will limit you.

A position that is considered standard and easy to achieve for you might be covered with barbed wire and laced with landmines, you might be drawn to that situation because it's so easy to get there or be forced to be in it for some time.

That limitation can make you free later on because you know that the easy path is just pain for you so have to go down your own.

It's up to you to leave the easy way behind and rise above the suffering so you can pursue whatever greatness you're up to.

Pluto in Magic

The existence of the planet was first proven in 1930, so for obvious reasons he isn't mentioned in old works about planetary magic, but nevertheless the motives of death and resurrection always played a big role in former day magic as they still do today.

Nowadays a lot of practitioners chose to work with Pluto's energy. But that all tends to be more personal in the approach since there isn't much knowledge out there so far, so there is a lot left to discover.

His properties are very versatile even though they are often times reduced to the death/rebirth aspect.

Apart from the ones I mentioned at the very beginning for instance he is also good for establishing obsessions as well as getting rid of obsessions....

He also shares a lot of aspects with the planets Mars (especially his warrior energy) and Saturn and can be used instead of those , it just puts another tone on the energy.

When you wanna include something like candles in your workings it's best to combine both colours black for death and red for life.

But keep in mind that Pluto is only used for big workings never for small petty shit, it isn't worth it.

Where Pluto works a massive change takes place.

It's no force you would like to work with everyday.

Again Pluto is everything but benevolent.

And nevertheless the planet of actual physical death.

If you ask Pluto to throw a small jinx at your boss, it will be your luck if he doesn't care and does nothing or he let's the situation end up to be a fatal car accident.

Even without seeking Pluto out actively, his energy is always present when you (need to) go through a massive transformation or shift in consciousness, when you realise that you can go with the flow or in this case the under water current and therefore manifest things more easily into physical reality.

Pluto's Death Philosophy

-The Phoenix Death

Earlier I was speaking about immature and mature Scorpios, Scorpio in fact is the only sign that has seven symbols to it which are:

The spider, the scorpion, the lizard, the serpent, the wolf, the eagle

and THE PHOENIX

in that order, each of them represents a maturity level

The Pluto death is the death of the Phoenix, a being that is oftentimes depicted as bird that can burn itself anytime it wants and rises from its ashes to grow to the same it was before which would rather be the behavior of immature Scorpios.Myths of the Phoenix exist in almost every culture around the globe and their significance never died, however they can get misinterpreted.The Phoenix only burns itself at the end of a lifetime, when there is nothing left for it. He leaves his life behind, everything it was it can be never again, it won't be the same.The bird itself is immortal but its ego dies. It goes up in flames and produces ashes that will be its nurturing ground as it hatches out of its egg again, starting out with nothing.When most people find themselves in a situation there they think a transformation is necessary, they already know what bridge they have to take. They stand at the brick of it knowing what they would leave behind, knowing that they have to leave it behind to get what they want, to become who they want. It's also quite handy to know what you want to become in the first place.But they are scared to walk over the bridge.If you ask Pluto to help you evolve he will do that in his way. He will set everything on fire, including everything behind you and the bridge, but also the side you're wanna get to so you aren't blinded by false expectations.You have to get other the burning bridge and it's your thing to survive, Pluto doesn't care if you live or die he did his job he'll wait for you on the other side once you're done with yours.Spiritual rebirth in real life isn't done with a quick meditation it's process, you have to work for it, you have to get rid of everything you used to be at least for a little while, to start a new life.If you're a Phoenix (I'm referring to everyone not only Scorpios ) you can just stand behind a waterfall safe and sound and watch how your ego struggles and goes up in flames, enjoying its death, but for most people this isn't the case.For most it's a painful journey and no matter what way you go, you will burn.And once you made to the other side of bridge you'll have nothing but ashes.Ash is the purest thing there is.It is a new beginning.Pluto already planted his seeds deep down in the ground, you earned his respect, and if you look closely you can see how they are breaking through the surface.If you nurture them Pluto will help you to grow whatever trees you want.

#planetary magick #magick #planets #dwarf planet #pluto #god #death #philosophy #rebirth #resuraction #phoenix #occultist #occultism #occult #witchcraft #witch #witchblr #witches #left hand path

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svubloods · 7 years

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Imagine Rafael figuring out that you're his daughter (TPELB PART THREE)

(A/N: Sorry this is going up later than usual! It took me a while to finish. I hope you enjoy this new installment! I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying it so far)

Masterlist with all the Parts HERE

Imagine Rafael figuring out that you're his daughter

“Are you okay?” Will asked, eyeing you up after sipping up some of his drink heartily as you had barely touched your own.

You let go of the glass and pushed to the side, you had been playing with the straw and making circles in your milkshake instead of you know actually drinking it.

“Hmm?” He prompted, a concerned look on his face but the waitress came up to check on the two of you.

You watched him as he dismissed her with his awarding winning smile, a quick nod and a brief ‘thank you’.

“Y/N,” He persisted, narrowing his eyes at you, he probably knew by now that you weren’t saying anything on purpose, “What’s going on in that genius little head of yours?”

“Physics mostly,” You sighed, finally speaking.

“Hey!” He protested playfully, “I thought we agreed on no shop talk at dinner!”

“Says the man who spent the past fifteen minutes telling me about the inmate he got released on a technicality,” You pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’m the adult,” He offered poorly, as a defense, “So I can change the rules,”

“You’re really lucky that technician forgot to wear gloves,” You said, shaking your head in disappointment.

“That wasn’t very nice,” He countered.

“I was only being truthful, you are lucky. You told me about all the evidence you had before you found that out or should I say lack thereof,” You shrugged.

“Sometimes being truthful can be hurtful,” He offered, trying to be insightful.

“But wouldn’t it hurt more if I lied to you and then you later found out that I lied to you. It’s more beneficial for you and for me,” You defied.

“How so?” He asked skeptically.

“It’s better to keep our consciences clear,” You grinned.

“You know for someone who preaches about honesty so much you sure do lie a lot,” He commented, before taking another dramatic sip for emphasis, eyeing you up triumphantly.

“When have I lied?” You demanded, narrowing your eyes at him and crinkling your nose, annoyed.

“Well, you lied when you said that physics on your mind and when you said you were okay,” He retold.

“I never said I was okay,” You reminded.

“Which is an admission of guilt,” He stated adamantly, pointing his finger at you.

“So I am okay?” You asked, confused.

“No, you’re not okay,” He corrected for you.

“I’m pretty sure that I know that I would know if I was okay or not,” You speculated, unconvinced.

“Not always, you’re extremely intelligent but not always that emotionally intelligent,” He pointed out.

“So, I’m not okay?” You inquired.

“No, you’re not,” He stated.

“Okay,” You accepted reluctantly.

“So what’s wrong?” He asked once again.

“I don’t know I thought I was okay,” You shrugged, playing dumb.

“Y/N,” He repeated sternly.

“Okay.Okay,” You gave in with a sigh, “Maybe I was lying about thinking about physics,”

“I knew it. You had your confused face and you never look like that when you’re thinking about physics. You don’t even need to think about it. It’s like its second nature to you,” He began to rave triumphantly.

“Are you done?” You questioned, unamused.

“Yeah,” He nodded quickly, before instructing lightly, “Now your thing. Tell me what’s up,”

You took a deep breath. You locked eyes with your Mom’s old partner. He had a genuinely concerned look on his face as he stared back at you. You couldn’t help but cave plus you knew that he was the only person you could ask this question to and have them be completely honest in their response. Which is why you liked meeting up with him every week.

You’ve known Will your entire life. He was basically a part of your family. He had been your mom’s old partner for years before you were born and was up until she died. He left the force after that, understandably, and went back into law and started working and still does at some prestigious city law firm that handles business contracts. Though he occasionally does pro bono work for a charity that helps with suspected miscarriages of justice. Will had taken an active part in your life since before you could remember. Your mom was a single mother through her pregnancy and the first three years of life and though she had a lot of support from you family he was there for her as her best friend and partner. He loved her and you a lot before anything happened. And after she died he continued to be in your life.

When you were little he’d take you out for a day every couple of weeks. But once you grew up a bit, you started seeing each other every week. You went out to eat and then you alternated from going to the movies or to his place to watch TV. You loved TV shows and he loved movies which is why you alternated so you both could do what you wanted. You didn’t a get a lot of time to do it during the week so you always looked forward to it. It was your escape you didn’t have to think while doing it. He dropped you off back at your Grandpas after spending a couple of hours together which was your Grandpa’s only condition as thought it was good for you to spend time together. he understood why you liked spending time with Will.

Your family tries hard to tell you as much about your mother as possible, so you feel as if you know her but the problem is when you love someone and when they have passed away, people especially those who loved them often presented a more idealized picture of them. You know that there must have days where every single one of your family members didn’t like your mom too much but that doesn’t take away from how much they loved her. But of course, they don’t dwell on that part because they miss her so much. Which you completely understand and don’t blame them for but it’s just that when you wonder about your Mother all you have is this version of her and you know it’s not what she was always like.

Will, even though he loved her so much, always speaks about her as if she was still alive and if she was sitting beside him which means that sometimes he talks about the bad experiences as well as the good ones. That was the sort of relationship they had, they teased and messed with each other constantly. He loved her, probably more than you know you suspect. He just loves doing it because it helps him remember and you, of course, love hearing about it because it does make you feel more connected to her. The real her, the one that everyone loved so much and still do.

Will spoke openly about everything involving her, including the cases, they solved together. He had a really good memory so he always remembered and talked about the little things about her. Things that other things didn’t. He saw Like how she crinkled her nose when she was annoyed or cracked her fingers when she was nervous. Stuff that made her an actual person and not just a memory. He loved it when you asked questions about her or what she would think about thinks because he got to talk about all the things he knew about her.

But of course, that wasn’t the only reason you spent time with Will. You actually loved spending time with him. He was funny and made sure that the time you had together wasn’t about work or life in general. Also, he cared about you and love spending time with you as much as you did him. It may sound weird thirteen-year-old being best friends with a thirty something but you needed each other. You helped each other heal. You knew your Mom’s death affected him in many ways and not just career-wise and being around you helped. And vice versa.

“Do you think my mom would have liked me?” You finally let out.

“Ooh okay,” He nodded, thinking deeply, “That’s a pretty heavy question for this early in the evening,”

“That’s why I didn’t want to say anything,” You reminded, playing it off slightly, “You asked for this,”

“I know,” He chuckled lightly, “I’m learning my lesson, right now,”

“You don’t have to answer,” You offered sympathetically, knowing that it was a heavy question.

“No, I want to.” He insisted, “I’m just trying to think of the right words,”

“Don’t,” You said.

“Do you want an honest answer?” He asked.

“Of course,” You stated.

“Well,” He began, “First things first, she loved and would love if she were still here, you more than anything else. I don’t think I can ever describe how much she loved you and it wasn’t just because you were a kid or anything. It was because she spent her whole life taking care of other people, making sure they were happy before she was. She was a lot like your Uncle Danny. She would do anything for a person who she loved or needed help. Which meant sometimes that short temper of hers made her bend the rules for it but fundamentally she was a good person and is quite sensitive like your Uncle Danny, right?”

“Yeah,” You agreed, with a small smile, thinking about your Uncle Danny.

“What I’m trying to say is that because of how much she gave,” He continued, “that she didn’t always treat herself that well because she had this mentality if the people she loved were okay then so was she even if she wasn’t. But joining the force as the first Reagan female and you were the only things that she truly did for herself. There is no denying that when she first found out she was going to have you that she considered a lot of options because the fact was that she was alone in all this. And you know a lot of people told her that she couldn’t do it and there was nothing more that she loved, a lot like you really was proving people wrong. She had you because she wanted to no matter what anyone else wanted. I’m not saying that she didn’t have support because she did. But you are the embodiment of her strength and the resilience of her spirit. Remember that okay! She loved you so much, you were her whole world, from the second you were born. I wish I could describe her face when she first saw you. That was just pure love and happiness. The three years that she got to spend with you were best she ever had, you don’ know how much she wanted to see you grow up and be with you. You will remember, won’t you? Promise me that…”

“I promise,” You complied, taking his hand.

“But to answer your question, would she have you liked you. If I’m being honest, I think she would struggle. She would love you unconditionally but I do think she would struggle because you are so smart and you are so different from her. In every way, besides you know the face. You have the same ticks and the same face but you are nothing alike. I think she would find you weird. Like really weird. She just wouldn’t get you but she would try hard to. Like I can just imagine her trying to help you were homework and being utterly useless. She would like you but she just wouldn’t get you no matter how hard she tried. She’d probably spend most her time trying to distract you so you could do something that she would think was fun. Like some sort of sport.” He finished.

“Really?” You giggled.

“Oh yeah,” He chuckled before putting on a sneaky women’s voice, “She’d be like Y/N. Stop with the Quantum Physics! Let’s go running and then play football and then eat ice cream until our stomachs hurt,”

“Pretty sure all of me would hurt after jogging and playing football consecutively,” You grinned before whispering, “Thank you,”

“Hey,” He whispered back, leaning over the table a little bit, “You don’t have to thank me, ever. Come here,”

You slipped out of your seat across from his and hugged him tightly.

“Next time try and save the heavy questions for when I’ve had a couple of beers,” He joked.

“You don’t drink,” You reminded still engulfed in the hug.

“Exactly,” He continued to joke, “I love you Y/N,”

“I love you too,” You replied kissing his cheek before he hugged you tighter.

And as you hugged the man you had for a long time wished was your Dad, your real Dad was still in his office. He had thought about you and the past a lot.

He knew that he knew your Mother before and that they had been together around the time you were conceived. You suppose he was still in shock about it all. It had been while since he had last thought about that girl he met in the bar. He just couldn’t believe it all, it was hard for him to process. He couldn’t help but mull over all the possibilities that could explain it all expect for the truth. At that point, he was avoiding the obvious because it just seemed so unlikely to him. He didn’t believe in fate and the thought of it bringing him and you the daughter of that girl he couldn’t ever stop thinking about. Seemed like beyond the scope of coincidence.

He wouldn’t accept the obvious and take the action that he thought was right until he was confronted will the cold hard truth. And while you were Will, talking and reminiscing about your mother he was figuring out the truth.

He had decided to stay late that Friday evening, finishing up the work he had. Trying to keep the thoughts at bay by distracting himself. And in by doing so, he finished everything quite quickly, clearly, it had taken a lot to distract him. He was packing up to leave when he got a call from your Aunt Erin, who was also staying late and was also working in her office. He walked down the hall to her office, where she was sitting at her desk and looking intently at the screen.

“You’re here late,” Your Aunt Erin commented as the door shut not even looking up at the man who walked into her office.

“So are you,” He countered, walking over to the seats in front of her desk.

“I’ve got like five current cases,” He sighed.

“Try managing 40,” She quipped jokingly.

They engaged in general work talk, settling on one case to focus on as they were both involved. They were informing each over of their mutual suspects. There came a point when your Aunt Erin, instructed him to look at a witness statement that was on her monitor. He circled the desk and she moved well out the way so he could read it comfortably.

As his lines traveled line from line, as your Aunt Erin continued to talk to him. His gaze fell off the monitor screen and landed on a nearby picture. Your Aunt Erin’s desk and her whole office were littered with photo frames filled with pictures of her family. Including your mother. She kept a picture of you as a baby and your mother close and predominately on her desk, second only to a picture of your cousin Nicky.

You were around one in the picture. You and your mother were standing on a porch at your Grandpa’s house. You assume your Uncle Jamie was taking the photo as he was an avid photographer, not so much anymore. Your Mom was smiling at the camera, cuddling you close, while you were looking up at her, your arm reaching up to her face. Your new green eyes wide as you looked up in awe at the women you had the privilege of calling your mother. It was a beautiful, poignant photo but you had seen it so many time that it had lost its spark with you but you understood why your Aunt Erin kept it so close. Your mom looked so happy in that picture and that’s how she wanted to remember her. Happy.

It was in that moment when Mr. Barba looked at that picture that it all made sense to him. He couldn’t deny it anymore. He had what he knew and he knew it all equated to a high possibility that he was your father. You don’t know what about this picture made him accept it all or it to finally click and neither did he. Perhaps it was large green eyes that were exactly like his. Or maybe it was just your Mother’s face, bright and happy. Or maybe even that even then you looked so much like her, it was uncanny. He couldn’t deny that he once knew her anymore. He couldn’t deny or convince himself against any of this anymore. He was your Father and deep down, he knew it.

“Rafael!” Your Aunt Erin snapped, bringing him back to reality, “Where’d you go?”

“Sorry, it’s late and it’s been a long day,” He played off expertly, composing himself.

“I understand,” She sympathized, “Why don’t you head home and we can look at this on Monday, right?”

“Yeah,” He nodded, “That sounds good,”

“Good,” She smiled.

There was a brief pause between them.

“That’s Y/N, right?” He asked, casually, gesturing to the picture that had entranced him so.

“Yeah,” Your Aunt Erin nodded.

“And that’s your sister?” He inquired softly.

“She was beautiful, right?” She smiled sadly, picking up the picture, “Just like Y/N,”

“She was,” He agreed, “I’m sorry. I just noticed the picture. It was just so you know…”

“I understand and you don’t need to apologize. It’s natural to be curious,” She nodded sympathetically, “It’s why I keep it so close. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to being with her again. ”

“I’m going to go,” He announced, “Have a good night Erin,”

“You too,” She waved off.

He shut the door and headed back to the office, only to grab his bag and phone. Shutting and locking his office, he began walking down the hall, scrolling through his phone. Looking for one particular number. He tapped it quickly once he found it and put it immediately to his ear waiting for it to be answered.

“Hey,” He sighed in relief once a voice crackled over the phone, “I know it’s late but I really need your help…”

“Y/N,” Your Uncle Danny singsonged, waving a file around as he practically skipped into the living room.

It was a couple of days later, early Sunday afternoon. Family lunch was being prepared and you your cousins were sitting in your Grandpa’s living room waiting for it all to be done so you could eat. Sean and Jack were playing video games while Nicky was making you listen to an album in an attempt to convince you to attend a concert of said artist because apparently if it’s only her and her mom going it would be nothing less of a disaster.

“Sorry, Uncle Danny,” Nicky responded, keeping the headphones on your head after you struggled to take them off at the faint sound of someone calling your name, “Y/N is busy at the moment,”

“Doing what?” He questioned skeptically, leaning on the back of the couch and staring at the two of you who were sitting on the rug by the coffee table.

“Listening,” She insisted, turning up the volume so you couldn’t hear anything anymore.

You gave Nicky a look, trying to indicate that your eardrums were seconds from rupturing. She quickly turned down the volume and once she looked away you took the opportunity to remove the headphones.

“Y/N!” She scolded as soon as she saw but caving, “What did you think?”

“It was thought-provoking,” You offered.

“But did you like it?” She persisted.

“Enough,” You shrugged.

“Enough to listen to it for three hours?” She continued to inquire.

“Maybe, I’ll listen to again. Like I did with the first album and hopefully, I’ll understand better. Get me the ticket.” You suggested hopefully, to make her feel better.

You knew that you were going to go regardless of what you thought of the music but you couldn’t say that outright as Nicky would only want you to come if she knew that you would enjoy yourself as much as she will.

“Thank you so so much,” She smiled, hugging you tightly, “You’re the best and saving me from so much lecturing,”

“I live to help,” You joked, before looking over her shoulder at your Uncle Danny who was watching with a confused expression.

“Are you done?” He asked.

“Yeah,” You nodded.

“Good,” He grinned, before jumping over the couch childishly, “I need you to take a look at this,”   “What is it,” You standing up and taking a seat on the couch beside where he had filed.

“It’s a case,” He whispered, looking around to see if anyone one else was around.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to show Y/N any more cases,” Nicky piped up and reminded.

“This one is important,” He stated.

“You said that last time,” Your Uncle Jamie chimed in, coming from nowhere, taking a seat in the armchair, a beer in his hand.

“Oh look it’s the morality police,” Your Uncle Danny defied tactfully, “And no the last time was the first time and that time. Y/N accidentally saw my file after I accidentally left it on the counter. Who am I to stop curious minds?”,”

“Well that’s is not what’s happening here. And I’m just curious why you are showing a thirteen-year-old a case file for a double homicide?” Your Uncle Jamie persisted.

“Because I solved the last case he showed me in five minutes even though he had been was working on for weeks,” You informed.

“Danny, do you even care about the effects that it could have on Y/N, showing her all this stuff?” Jamie demanded.

“She’s fine,” Uncle Danny insisted, “Right?”

You nodded, “I’ve seen much worse,”

“Where?” Uncle Danny asked

“Uncle Jamie showed Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” You added.

“But I’m the bad influence,” Your Uncle Danny said dramatically.

“In my defense, it isn’t as bad as an actual dead body. That could do some serious damage. Haven’t you learned your lesson by now?” Jamie defended.

“Yeah Uncle Danny,” Nicky added.

“I told you to stay in the car,” He reminded Nicky.

“You shouldn’t have taken her in the first place,” Your Aunt Erin suddenly added from the doorway.

“Is everyone getting involved now?” Danny sighed, “I wasn’t even going to show her the pictures.”

“She’s still a kid,” She continued to insist.

“She’s not really a kid though,” He argued.

“Why, is she technically a teenager?” She questioned, unamused and still disapproving.

“I was going to say genius,” He corrected.

“Thanks,” You said.

“No problem,” He smiled at you, “Instead of listening to these guys. I’ll just ask you what you want to do, do you want to take a look or not?”

You nodded, “I find it fascinating,”

“Are you sure?” Your Aunt Erin asked.

“He makes a point not to show me any of the really bad stuff and it truly is just the factual information. It’s like reading a true crime novel. It’s like a puzzle,” You reassured and defending, “Plus it's really good bonding experience,”

“You see. Looks like I’m not that bad after all,” Your Uncle Danny said triumphantly, “You always were my favorite Niece,”

“Hey!” Nicky protested.

“Under fifteen,” He quickly amended.

“And it’s great to solve things Danny can’t in under ten minutes,” You added, giving your Uncle Jamie and Aunt Erin a wink.

“Hey!” Your Uncle Danny protested.

“Don’t worry,” You comforted, “Uncle Joe and Sonny ask me to do it sometimes.”

“I knew it!” He said.

“Knew what?” Your Uncle Joe added, popping his head around the door, “And food’s ready,”

“After lunch?” Your Uncle Danny asked.

“After lunch,” You confirmed.

After everything was said and done and everyone was going home. You tagged along with your Aunt Erin and Nicky, to go shopping in the city. Apparently, you were in dire need of new clothes, a fact that you were unaware of. Particularly as you were usually stuck in your uniform most of the time. On the way, your Aunt Erin had to stop at her office to get some stuff that couldn’t wait until tomorrow. You took the opportunity to hunt for your missing headphones that you had lost a couple of days earlier.

You couldn’t find them in her office so you assumed they would be in Mr. Barba’s. You went to take a look despite your Aunt Erin’s warnings that it was most likely locked as he wasn’t in. But as you approached, you saw that the door was ajar and that there were lights coming from inside.

“Mr. Barba?” You questioned as you stepped in, you watched him turn around in surprise and spot you.

“Y/N?” He questioned confused, “What are you doing here?”   “My Aunt Erin was getting something from her office and I was looking for my headphones,” You explained, confused and cowering slightly at his intense gaze.

He was staring intently at you.

“You mean these?” He asked, picking them off from the shelf and walking over to hand them to you.

“Yeah, thanks,” You said as you took them with a smile, “So what are you doing here?”

“Just getting some work done and I have a meeting with someone,” He informed quickly.

“On a Sunday afternoon?” You questioned, skeptically.

“It’s urgent,” He offered.

“Oh, I see,” You nodded, taking that as the reason as why he was acting so strange.

He still hadn’t taken his eyes off you as if he was studying you.

“Is it about a case?” You inquired.

“Yeah,” He replied but he titled his head as if he were lying, “She should be here at any minute.”

“I should leave then,” You said, turning.

“It was nice to see you Y/N,” He called after you, causing you to stop a couple of feet away from the door.

“You too…” You smiled, understanding that he was clearly doing something important, you were about to say something but you were interrupted.

“Rafael?” You heard a women say from behind.

Causing you to turn around and look at her.

“Hi,” You smiled, catching sight of the pretty women that stepped into Mr. Barba’s office.

“Hi,” She returned, looking at you intently, just like he was.

“I was just leaving,” You said awkwardly, with a wave, before slipping out of that suspiciously increasingly intense situation, “Bye,”

But you shook off the thought, running back down the corridor back to your Aunt Erin and cousin Nicky. Unaware of what was going on in the office that she just left.

“Are you sure about all of this?” The woman inquired as soon as you were out the door.

“Even more so now after all of this,” Mr. Barba confirmed, tossing a brown envelope on his desk which he retrieved from the draw of his desk.

“Was that her?” The woman asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of Mr. Barba’s desk.

“Yes,” He nodded, from his seat behind the desk, looking at the door that you had just closed before turning to look at her, “That was my daughter,”

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