#how am I supposed to identify unknown unknowns?

[thepenultimateword]

Skin Crawl

CW: Bugs, Bug horror, bullying

Hero scrubbed uselessly at the permanent marker, but even with the rubbing alcohol stinging their nose and their shoulders sore from vigor, an outline of obscenities stubbornly marred the top corner of the desk.

Hero sighed, leaning back on their heels. How did they even get roped into this? They’d only pointed out the spattering of language to their teacher so that they could punish those responsible. They hadn’t been volunteering to clean up the mess themselves. But the teacher had seemed so pleased with their willingness to help…how could they have refused?

They glanced to the back of the classroom where their dark haired classmate leaned way back in their seat, feet kicked up on their desk, book held open directly overhead.

“Are you…going to help?”

“Sure,” they waved without looking away from their page. “You can go if you want. I’ll do the rest.”

Hero straightened their aching back. “Will you?”

It came out a little snarkier than they’d intended, but Villain wasn’t exactly known for their work ethic. They were always coming to school late, staring off, or ignoring assignments. Unlike Hero, they hadn’t volunteered for classroom cleanup.

Villain cocked their head to the side, raising one dark brow. “How many times have you cleaned this classroom?”

“Well, just this once—“

“How many times have I cleaned this classroom?”

“How am I supposed to know? I don’t count all the times you mess around—“

“Oh yes, you do. You have that cute little book with all the tallies.”

Hero’s face burned.

But for some reason, Villain didn’t sound angry, just…making a point.

"Go on, open up to my page. Tell me how much experience I have staying after school."

Hero shouldered their backpack with a huff. "Ok, I get it. Just...make sure you drop the classroom key at the office when you're done. I don't want to lose the staff's trust because of you."

"Yes, master," Villain said and went back to their book.

Hero hesitated. Part of them still didn't trust their classmate to continue where they'd left off. Could this be a ruse to get them in trouble? Or maybe they just wanted Hero out of their hair and didn't care about the consequences.

Or maybe you need more faith in people.

Ugh. That was hard when everyone in this school had proven untrustworthy. Even the friends they'd made from the 'good crowd' hadn't lasted past the first month of the school year. None of them had what it took to stand up against immorality. They'd rather turn a blind eye and cut ties with anyone who might stir up the hornet's nest.

Whatever.

They grabbed their notebook off their desk and whisked out of the room. Now, what misdeeds had they borne witness to today? They flipped open to the middle of the boo; they might as well report these to the office before heading home.

11:45am--Caleb stuck gum on the inside of his desk sticking together the pages of the math textbook

11:50--Kayla texted in class for half an hour straight and did not complete any of her schoolwork.

12:30--An unknown underclassman with red hair shoved a smaller boy at lunch and took his place in line (please identify).

12:45--Taylor C. was making out with her boyfriend in front of the east stairs between classes, blocking off the way for anyone needing to use them. She also used some choice language against a well-meaning student who asked her to refrain until they left the grounds.

12:48--Victor verbally harassed an underclassman girl in the hallway despite her repeated refusals for acquaintanceship; he did not respond well to outside interven--

Hero's notebook hit the floor with a loud smack.

For a moment all they could do was stare at their empty hands in shock, then they lifted their gaze to the sneering, chiseled face in front of them.

"How many times did it make it into Book Golden Rule now?"

"Only once today, Victor," Hero said, bending for the book. Victor snatched it just before their fingers could brush the spine. At about the same moment, someone kicked them behind their right knee. Hard.

Hero gasped, collapsing onto the sneaker-smudged tile.

Victor flicked casually through the pages, stopping at his own tally sheet near the front. "Wow, my infraction rap is growing. You must be obsessed with me or something. Kinda gross but I guess you can't help it."

A chorus of laughter sounded over Hero's shoulder, and suddenly they were surrounded on all sides. They defiantly looked into the perpetrator's faces, memorizing identities: Caleb, Rick, Renna.

"Just give it back," Hero said dryly. "You're only making this worse on yourself."

Victor laughed now. "Really now? Your self-righteous ego is so big you still think you've got the upper hand here?"

"Not physically obviously, but anything you do to me, I'm just going to add it to my report."

Victor stared Hero dead in the eyes and slowly tore the notebook in half.

"I'm going to beat you so soundly, you won't even look at me without peeing yourself. You're going to look away from everything I do because all you'll remember is the pain of this moment.

"I'd never turn a blind eye for my own personal--"

The words scattered as Victor's fist met their mouth. Before they could recover he hit them again. And again. And again. A cleated food hit them from behind, sending a stab of electric agony up their spine. Dangerous. This wasn't just a scuffle. They wanted to seriously hurt them!

The next punch threw Hero on their back. They'd never been one for envy, but suddenly they wished they had one of those combat powers, super strength, invincible skin, knife fingers, anything actually useful for defeating evil!

Army boots smashed over their fingers.

Hero screamed.

"Shut them up!" Victor snarled.

Caleb's shaved head bent over them, and something knit and strongly scented of sweat was forced between their teeth and far enough in to make them gag. They spasmed but movement only made Caleb lean in harder. They couldn't breathe!

Where was the principal? Where were the teachers? Someone had to be hearing this? Someone here had to care?

The boots hit their ribs and tears gathered in their eyes.

"Aww, the wittle baby is cwying," Renna said. She balanced one foot on the center of Hero's chest and slowly leaned in her weight. "How does it feel when someone steps on you?"

Hero wanted to say that exposing someone for cheating wasn't crushing anything deserved, but there was too much sweater down their windpipe.

"Hey."

The group jolted and some of the wight lifted. Hero's vision was blurred, but between Victor and Rick's shoulders, they made out unkempt midnight hair and lanky limbs. Villain.

"If it isn't Psycho," Victor practically purred. "You want to get a few blows in too? Go nuts."

Hero's screaming insides twisted. They cared more about facts than rumors but they'd also never been this helpless in front of their dark classmate, as alone and outcast as they were but for totally different reasons. Villain supposedly had a penchant for macabre experimentation. Students said they had a devil in them. That they ate the raw innards of animals to feed it and placed curses on anyone who messed with them. There was even a rumor that they dissected a kid who made fun of them in class. Hero always found that one ridiculous, the student probably just moved away. But now, pinned and gagged and Villain getting closer they were having doubts.

Villain stopped directly in front of them. "Let the angel go."

Victor gaped for a moment. "Are you kidding? They write you up almost as much as me. You think all those after-school detentions come from thin air?"

Villain only slow blinked. "I'm giving you 5 seconds to get out of here before I do go psycho. Unlike angel, my problem-solving is more physical."

"Get out of here," Victor said waving Villlain away before back toward Hero, though the rest of his crew looked a little more nervous.

Villain shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Their mouth opened wide, cavernous. The inside might have actually been black for all Hero could see. Though something almost seemed...to move.

The first centipede dropped on Renna's boot.

"What the..." She kicked it off, lip curled in disgust. "Did you just throw--" As she turned back, she let out a splitting scream. Everyone whirled. Caleb lost his grip on the sweater gag, and Hero finally managed to roll to the side, coughing and spitting. When they raised their head again a mass of black centipedes scurried across the floor, swarming the group's shoes and wriggling up their legs. The great arthropods dropped in heavy droves from Villain's lips, some crawling down the sides of his face and neck in rapid desperation to get to the floor. Through it all Villain was still and unflinching though their eyes danced with dark amusement.

"You freak!" Victor shrieked slapping off bugs--all four perpetrators were already littered with angry bites. "You're possessed! You're--"

He cut off as a low buzz gathered in the back of Villain's throat, this time the bugs emerged as a cloud, a swarm of wasps, as black and large as the centipedes.

"Forget this!" Rick cried, taking off at top speed Renna and Caleb were close behind. Victor looked like he wanted to curse them out but all he managed was a rude hand gesture before taking off after his posse.

The centipedes followed in a dark wave, cutting a path on either side of Hero. Villain let them go, though a deep inhale sucked the wasp swarm, and a few stragglers on their shirt, back down.

Hero stared. Villain stared back. Hard black eyes evaluating. Hero's breath caught in their chest, which was probably for the best. It hurt to breathe right now.

“You know it’s being an insufferable goody two shoes that keeps getting you in trouble," Villain finally said.

Hero rose achily to their feet, brusquely wiping their face with a stifled sniffle. "Yeah, well...no one asked you." Tears threatened to spill full force over their lashes, so they began quickly gathering up the pages of their shredded notebook. "I'm going to have to add a tally for physical violence in school. I can't be biased."

Villain barked an incredulous laugh. "You're really something else, you know that?"

"And you have centipedes living in your stomach."

"Not sure if they actually live there, more like they materialize there when I want them."

"And how'd you figure that out?"

Villain smiled. "You mean you don't commonly dream of centipedes?"

Not really an answer but Hero snorted, catching themself with a wince on the wall as they did.

Slender fingers gripped their shoulders. "You should sit down."

Hero obeyed without argument. They probably looked completely pathetic right now. Tear stained, bruised, shaking. They'd always sworn it didn't matter how many people disliked them as long as they had their dignity. So much for that.

Hero ducked their head between their knees.

"Why'd you help me? Victor's right. I get you in trouble almost daily."

Villain slid down on the floor next to them. "Yeah. But being a massive pain in the butt doesn't mean you deserve to get beaten up. Besides, some of the things they do need to be exposed. And...it's impressive that you're not scared to do it."

Hero didn't fully know how to respond. That someone needed to care? That obviously when five students screaming at the top of their lungs didn't even crack a door there was a problem? Yes, they'd realized early on that putting things on paper was the best way to get results, but it wasn't like they were completely without ulterior motives either. Did choosing to confront the bad for self-serving motives make them any better than those who turned away? Villain had called them angel. But they were far from it.

"Is it a power?" Hero said, shoving away the thoughts and pointing at their mouth instead.

Villain nodded.

“Cool.” They couldn’t help the note of awe.

“Really?”

Hero looked them head on. “Yeah. I guess it’s unconventional, but you took on four people and won without moving an inch. That’s a real power.”

"You don't think it's disgusting?” For the first time Villain looked something close to vulnerable. Like Hero’s reply had thrown them off so much they’d forgotten their nonchalance. “It doesn’t make your skin crawl?"

"Not really." Hero looked up and down the vacant hallway. They wet their lips, took a deep breath, and shed their skin. They’d done it in the mirror enough times to know it was disturbing. It wasn’t the sort of shapeshifting that happened in glamorized movies. It was messy. Sometimes bloody if they went too fast. They looked at Villain with a mirror of their face. “That make your skin crawl?"

Villain grinned. "Not really."

A beat.

“So that’s how you get the dirt on so many people.”

Hero flushed and shed back into their own skin.“Most of the time yeah. They usually cover things up if they see me.”

Villain’s eyes roved them up down, hard and cutting and dark, like black diamonds. “Amazing.”

Hero shrugged, trying to pretend that gaze was not cutting them to the core. “It’s not a useful power. I connive against evil. I don’t beat it. After graduation I want to try for Allegiance Academy but…well you saw. What hero team would want someone who can’t even fight? Even with combat classes I’d never compare to the big powerhouses.”

Villain didn’t respond.

Great. Hero opened up to much. They’d gotten whiny with a practical stranger. They’d gotten Hero out is tight spot, not asked for their life’s dreams and woes

“Don’t hero teams need reconnaisance?” Villain said

Hero blinked. “I guess so.”

They’d never really thought about it before. That wasn’t the sort of role that showed up on the news. It wasn’t the thing that got peace prizes or admirers. But…maybe that was fine. They’d always craved power for the sake of being accepted into the academy and eventually chosen for a team, not for the sake of attention. Besides they were used to being alone; they were fine with it.

"Well, I better finish that cleaning," Villain said, pushing to their feet. "I wouldn't dare risk another infraction."

"Villain," Hero said before they got too far.

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For the help. You're...good."

Villain crooked a smile. "Never been called that before. Probably won't again. But I appreciate it."

With that, they were gone.

Perhaps Hero didn't need to be alone after all.

8 years later…

Hero straightened their silk tie in the rearview mirror, a silvery ribboned thing they normally wouldn't have gone for but couldn't say they disliked. Though maybe that was because it suited this face. Round, prim, pink-lipped, nothing like their own drab, haggard countenance. They swore each time they returned to their true skin it looked worse.

They quickly double-checked their current contours with the photo in their glove box. "So, this is our target's lover?"

"Remy Navarro," their earpiece crackled. "They've been together six months, and they are very involved in this villain's inside plans. We're thinking 24 hours tops before you come across something big."

Hero stepped out of the car and began weaving their way through the menagerie of fine-dressed gala members. "Ok, well you rushed me into this, anything else I should know before I find this criminal overlord?"

Their teammate hesitated at the other end of the line. "Just don't act surprised about the legs."

"Legs?" Hero said. "As in, they look weird?"

"As in. there are extras."

"Excuse me? I'm really beginning to think I didn't get a proper debrief."

"It was an unexpected opening. We had to take it. Anyways you're good at improvising."

Hero dodged around a cocktail tray. "I appreciate your faith in me, but I'm better at improvising when I've had a week to carefully study my subject's personality and mannerisms. I mean what is my personality? Are they an affectionate couple?"

Silence and then finally, "You'll be fine."

"Are you kidding me? Other Hero! Other Hero?"

They'd dropped the line, hadn't they? Hero sighed, stuffing the earpiece into their pocket. Sure, they'd do better without distractions, but this was verging on insanity. Other Hero had better gather more info on their new identity before tomorrow.

They stopped in front of an intricately carved set of double doors at the tops of the stairs. The private quarters of the newest villainous boss their team had begun tracking. The assignment was a rush job so all they had was a blueprint layout and the supposition that tonight's gala was prepared as a cover for something big.

They rapped quietly on the wood before immediately easing the door open. Lovers would be comfortable enough to do that, right?

A tall figure turned as they entered. Long midnight hair fell over dark-clad shoulders. Dark, hard eyes stared out of an even harder face. And yes, there were extra legs, though not the kind Hero had been expecting: they were black, rigid, clawed things sticking out from their sides, almost like those of an insect. Meanwhile, a pair of pitch-colored moth wings folded on their back, the tails gliding on the floor like drapery.

"Took you long enough," the villain said. A black centipede crawled down their cheek and settled like a parrot on the villain's shoulder.

Hero froze on the threshold, desperately trying to connect their dropped jaw back to their brain so they could snap it shut.

It had been years since they'd seen this dark figure; their jaw seemed even sharper, their lankiness had turned to elegant slenderness, and the bug parts were new, but Hero recognized them immediately.

Villain.

Master Taglist:

@moss-tombstone @crazytwentythrees-deactivated @just-1-lonely-person @the-vagabond-nun @willow-trees-are-beautiful @cocoasprite @insanedreamer7905 @valiantlytransparentwhispers @whovian378 @watercolorfreckles @thebluepolarbear @yulanlavender @kitsunesakii @deflated-bouncingball @lem-hhn @office-plant-in-a-trenchcoat @ghostfacepepper @pigeonwhumps @demonictumble @inkbirdie @vuvulia @bouncyartist @lunatic-moss-studio @breilobrealdi @freefallingup13 @i-am-a-story-goblin @ryunniez @rainy-knights-of-villany @distractedlydistracted @saspas-corner @echoednonny @perilous-dreamer @blood-enthusiast @randomfixation @alexkolax @pksnowie @blessupblessup @wolfeyedwitch @thedeepvoidinmyheart @cornflower-cowboy @bestblob @a-chaotic-gremlin @espresso-depresso-system @prompt-fills-and-writing-spills @paleassprince @takingawildbreath @yindo @psychiclibrariesquotestoad @harpycartoons @pickleking8 @urmyhopeeee @goldenflame2516 @tobeornottobeateacher @talesofurbania1 @sweetsigyn

#hero x villain #hero x villain sidekick #heroes and villains #creative writing #heroes and villains community #writing snippet #writblr #villain #shapeshifter #writing community #fiction #childhood friends

[claireelle18]

Let Me - Vince Dunn

Thank you for all the love on my Gem post! Another idea came to me for him…I hope you enjoy this one just as much!

It wasn’t a purposeful keeping the marriage unknown. All records are open to the public. She had her last name changed as well. Neither her nor Vince just announced the marriage. It was only three weeks since eloping. A beautiful day, some stunning scenery out in Toronto. Just the two of them, their photographer, and the officiant. The ring glittering under the arena lights. She was surprised she still showed up to the arena that night after the wicked nasty fight that occurred right before he was supposed to be at the arena for pregame. She had asked him about just continuing to keep their new status a little more private, but he said he was wanting to tell the guys on the team before playoffs started. They all knew her, but no one knew of the change in status for the couple. That was the reason they fought this afternoon.

She groaned, “Vince, did you even think about that this could take away the focus on the playoff games?”

He scoffed. “No, I figured it would let them know another reason why I am so determined to bring home the Stanley Cup.”

If she was being honest, she was more worried about him being spotted with his ring on and fans speculating. Most fans were so sweet to her, but she did get the rude remarks and glares. He had always told her it didn’t matter what they said because he was her’s, but she still struggled dealing with that while he was on the ice. “Think about it Vin! People catch you with the ring and they will want to know so much more about that than how the game goes!”

“It’s been a few weeks already and no one has caught on! I think we will be fine!”

“I’m not sure if I’m ready to let more people know about our marriage! Do you not respect that wish of mine?” Some of the girls had not been very kind in the past to her after Vince once slipped up about their relationship. Vile to her about how she loved him for his money. Vile with comments about how he liked to flirt with other girls and cheat on her.

“What do you mean? Of course I do! No one will catch the fact I wear a ring.” He looks at the clock. “I better go before I am late. Will I see you there?” He asks, looking at her. He can see the tears rimming her eyes, threatening to pour down her face. It doesn’t sit well with him that they just fought before the playoff game, darkening his already anxious mood.

Game time rolls around, and every little chance he has to berate the opposing team’s players, he does. Before long, he keeps landing himself in the penalty box, every chance he gets too. His mind clouded with how she looked before her left for the arena. How she looked a little cracked, how she seemed so small for herself. After this next round in the penalty box, she hears the announcers comment. “I don’t know what is up with Vince Dunn tonight, but for someone who’s loud through the regular season, he sure has it out tonight to be in that penalty box more than on the ice.”

“You’re right there. If I didn’t know better, I may say that coach will be looking to remove him for the playoff roster.” Her heart plummeted into her feet. Removing him from the playoff roster? He played such an intricate part of the core defense that removing him could be an awful outcome. She yanked her phone out, dialing that contact she’s never used before. “Who is this?” The man’s voice questioned across the line. She explained to him that she just needs to see Vince immediately. “I’m sorry but this isn’t a way to see him. You have a better chance at going to the games or one of their open practices.”

“I’m not a fan. I need to see Vince Dunn now. You have to get me down to the locker room before the start of the next period.”

He laughed. “Why would I get you in to see him?” “Because I’m his wife.” She identified herself to him.

Commotion happening across the phone line. “Meet me next to the shop. I’ll see you in three minutes.”

She followed the man down the back halls to get towards the locker room. The sound spilling out of the locker room could be heard down the hallway. His manager talking with the defense coach. Coach motioned some number at her, she could care less how much time, she just needed the time, then let her slip past into the room. A defeated Vince sat in his gear cubby, eyes casted towards the floor. “You’re going to burn a hole into the floor, mister,” she teased as she crouched down in from of him. The whispers could be heard of ‘why is she down here’ and a few ‘who is she’ sprinkled in.

She knelt between his knees, putting her hand on his cheek. “Vin…Vin…Vince…,” she cooed. He broke out of his trance. “Breathe babe. It will be okay. You know fights happen, but do not get your ass kicked off this roster. Do not throw this chance for a second Cup for you out because you’re upset.” He melted into her her hand, taking a few breaths. “I’m sorry we fought. I just felt caught off guard. I get where you came from, wanting to share the news with the team.”

“Time is up Mrs. Dunn,” Coach called out. She went to stand, and Vince pulled her into a quick kiss. The room cheered, noise dying down as they made their way back to the bench.

After the game, she was brought back into the locker room to announce their marriage officially to the team, together.

#imagine #vince dunn #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #nhl hockey #seattle kraken #kraken hockey

[gatheringbones]

[“If I were growing up now, I might consider myself trans too,” says my friend Kate. She grew up in the Texas Panhandle during the 1950s and gravitated toward feminism in the 1970s like many of her peers. She adds ruefully: “I’m glad I didn’t have that option.”

Nadia has absorbed those fears, and she wonders whether her friends will see her top surgery as an act of betrayal. Before they left for Florida, Nadia implored her girlfriend, Flora, not to tell lesbian friends of theirs that she’s “getting rid of [her] boobs,” joking that she’d “be out of the club.” Flora says she feared losing access to her lover’s body. Never having undergone surgery before, she was afraid of the unknown. “Will it really solve her problems?” she wondered. Why put yourself through that? And why go to a doctor who specializes in transmale top surgery if you’re not trans yourself?

Nadia has stayed in touch with some of the lesbian-identified people she met online who told her they were having top surgery. A few have since “decided to go on T and now identify as male,” she says. It led Nadia to question her own motivations: “Will I begin to identify as trans? Is removing my breasts some sort of internalized misogyny? Am I betraying the lesbian community?”

The fact that transitioning is now an option for women who identify as male means that Nadia must consider how she wishes to identify herself. Flora reassured her: “Having tissue removed from your body is not going to make you a man.” Several months after she had undergone top surgery, Nadia still sees herself as a woman—albeit a woman without boobs. She has a new job and a new girlfriend—someone she used to work with at the employment counseling nonprofit, who worked with her in her union. Her involvement in the union has energized her in new ways, renewing her commitment to social justice organizing. When we speak, she seems happier and more at ease with her life. Top surgery hasn’t changed her life radically, though it has helped her intimate relationships, she says, and has made her less self-conscious about her body. She goes to the beach or to the Y locker room topless now and no one bats their eyes. “I now look how I’m supposed to look,” she says.

Recently, when she was at a union conference in Las Vegas, Nadia spotted another person at the hotel pool who also had the familiar scars of someone who had had top surgery, who was also there with a girlfriend. Though they didn’t say anything to each other, they looked at each other and shared a glint of recognition. Her story suggests that after being estranged from one another, younger butches and trans men are finding one another and making common cause, welcoming gender-crossers into the Lesbian Nation.

In an effort to blur the boundaries between butch lesbians and transgender men, some have suggested the label “transbutch.” When I ask Nadia whether that label is meaningful to her, she seems unconvinced. “It seems too ‘second wave,’ ” she says. Nadia sees herself as part of feminism’s “third wave,” which is more aware of queer issues and racial diversity, and which refuses to “put people in categories.” Unlike her second-wave feminist foremothers, who, in their enthusiasm for remaking the world, seemed at times pretty prescriptive, she’d prefer to “let them decide for themselves how they identify,” she says. So for now, she’s calling herself “butch and queer.” Or “whatever.”]

arlene stein, from unbound: transgender men and the remaking of identity, 2018

#arlene stein #lesbian literature #gender stuff #currently reading #Joan nestle saying what a young woman from another generation chose to call herself would never threaten me

[rhube]

Controversial opinion: I don't mind this casting.

I am saying this as a non-binary person.

Should you try to cast non-binary people in non-binary roles? Yes, of course!

Is Alexander Skarsgard non-binary?

I have no idea and neither do you.

Listen: I have known people who have had to out themselves because they were criticised for working on LGBTQ+ things when people assumed they were cis and het.

I've also had the unpleasant experience of being possibly the only out non-binary person in a business, meaning that the business refused to report on salary equality for non-binary people because the sample sizes were so small that it would be possible to identify the people involved from the comparison. Given that it was me who forced HR to have non-binary as an option, I am fairly sure I was the first non-binary person to be recorded. I also knew several non-binary or questioning people on staff who were definitely not out and certainly hadn't talked to HR about it.

There are faaaaar more non-binary people than you think, and my experience has been than most of us aren't out.

To my knowledge, Alexander Skasgard publically presents as a cis man*. But he works in an industry where that works massively to his advantage - especially because it means he gets to be a leading man. There's no Oscars category for best NB actor.

Sure, he has strong paradigmatically male biological characteristics - he's very tall, broad-shouldered, and square-jawed - and I'm sure a lot of people were hoping for a more androgynous look. But I am agender and I could not possibly have more paradigmatically female biological characteristics. It does not mean I am feminine. It just means I'm short, have huge boobs, an hour-glass figure, small shoulders, a vadge, and a soft face.

If you only ever have androgynous-looking actors play non-binary characters on TV, it means I'll never be represented.

True, Murderbot is described as being 'generic human' in appearance, not clearly gendered in any way, but it's also a fighting machine and personally I imagine it being fairly tall.

I recently saw a Mastodon poll asking people if they imagined Murderbot's voice as 'male' or 'female', and it made me so angry! Voices AREN'T male or female. They are high or low or middling. There was no option for middling. You could even phrase it as baritone, tenor, alto, or soprano, but they didn't.

I have a high soprano voice, by the way. Several times I have been in choirs where I had to sing alone because I was the only one who could reach the notes.

Still agender.

Would it be great for Murderbot to be played by an out non-binary actor? Sure! Name one! No Googling!

[This is rhetorical, please don't reblog this post with names; I know they exist, the point is about numbers and general visibility.]

And yeah, there are almost certainly great non-binary actors out there - I used to act! I was in the National Youth Theatre! I think I was pretty good.

You wouldn't cast me as Murderbot, though. Regrettably, no one is ever gonna mistake me for a killing machine.

So, what is the pool of actors you have to draw on if you limit yourself to casting from out non-binary people? Even supposing you're open to complete unknowns.

It's pretty small.

Probably equivalent to the percentage of people who were willing to tell HR they were non-binary at my work.

And almost all of them probably put down a gender on forms for agents and casting directors because that is how you get work as an actor - there is Far More Pressure for that in acting than almost any other field I can think of.

I don't know how they did the casting call and it may be that they could have done it better than they did (or they may have tried very hard to find an NB actor who was right and failed - I don't know!). But that doesn't mean Alexander Skasgard is wrong for the role.

It definitely doesn't mean he should be hounded about it, so do not fucking do that, OK?

There is a very high chance that you know a lot of people who are non-binary that you don't know are non-binary. Especially among people in their 30s and 40s who are therefore old enough to have had an established acting career. As I've mentioned many, many times, most people in my age group were deliberately barred from knowing non-binary was an option until they were already adults and reasonably settled in how they'd decided to handle the gender nonsense that was the background radiation of their lives.

I'm happy Murderbot is getting a TV series. Alexander Skasgard is a great actor that I can see being pretty well-suited to the role in terms of acting range.

I have no reason to think he is secretly non-binary, but I also have no reason to think that he isn't. Always question what illicit gender stereotypes you're drawing on when you assume you can 'tell'.

Point is: this 'shame people until only those who are out as having that exact identity can have those roles' game is a dangerous one that hurts real people.

And also I don't want people shaming ME for thinking it's cool an actor I admire will be portraying my identity.

WE DON'T HAVE TO BE A BUMMER ABOUT FINALLY GETTING SOME PROMINENT NB REPRESENTATION.

See also: non-binary people are not where binary trans people are in terms of representation. We're more like where trans women were in the 80s and 90s. You know, back when getting a big male star to play a trans woman was actually a big risk and a show of support for the actor. Thankfully, there are now quite a few prominent trans women actors. It's still not easy, but if you wanted a big actor who was also an out trans woman, you would have far more options than you do for out non-binary actors.

Also, I don't think there is an exact equivalent to Murderbot's gender identity out there in the human world. I reckon agender is pretty close, being a complete lack of gender, but I do not have the same feels about the relationship between my body and my lack of gender that Murderbot does. My body was not manufactured and it has (as mentioned) pretty clear sexual characteristics that Murderbot lacks.

You will not find anyone who can authentically present Murderbot's experience as their own. And as a non-binary person the equation of my identity with non-humans and robots is pretty uncomfortable anyway.

I sure do hope they have SOME non-binary actors among the human cast, though. Given quite how many human non-binary people there are in the books, there is a broad opportunity to at least try to do acting calls that are open to non-binary people. Characters who are sketched much more loosely in the books than Murderbot.

Like, maybe it will turn out to be a complete cluster fuck, but we don't know enough about the production to say that it will be yet. I want to feel happy about this. I don't want to feel shamed because I think 'actually, I think he could be pretty good'.

And above all, the culture of shaming people until they prove their LGBTQ+ creds has to stop.

*And we should respect that. This post should NOT be read as speculating on his gender identity. Entirely the reverse!

#murderbot #non-binary #agender #alexsander skasgard

[codename-adler]

In honour of this Pride, here’s a stupid little lesson I’ve come to learn on my own, that might help anyone of you out there struggling with questioning your sexuality or gender like me, and perhaps shaking some sense into some of y’all questioning the legitimacy of some letters in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

If a certain sexuality baffles you, as in you understand what it’s suppose to mean but you just don’t get how someone could experience attraction that way…

…it just means it’s not your sexuality. That’s it.

It enrages, appalls, dumbfounds you that someone might feel this or that way sexually because you just can’t fathom it? Not your sexuality. Therefore not your problem. Let it go, bud. Read the label and put it back on the shelf. It’s that easy. If you cannot comprehend and accept that someone might exist like this, then how is your opinion of any relevance? Newsflash, it’s not. We’re not asking you to love it, to live that way, to fight for us. We’re just telling you to get out of the way. And it’s nobody’s job to make themself palatable to you. It’s no one’s duty to justify their validity to you. It’s not a philosophy class. It’s not a math problem. It’s somebody’s existence. It is non-negotiable.

Now.

For those of you for which sexuality boggles you, like me, in a way that has nothing to do with hate and discrimination, let me elaborate with an example.

I, 24F, cis, have come a long way on my journey to understand myself. Sexually, I’ve been consciously questioning myself since I was 14. Subconsciously? Who knows how long. I’ve made peace with certain aspects, am at war with others. Lots of clarity has been reached in the recent years. The journey is still not over in that regard. Here is what I’ve come to understand in the process.

I could never get how someone identifying as pansexual could experience attraction for anyone regardless of gender. It just didn’t seem possible. Because gender matters to me when it comes to how I experience attraction. Because I was not, therefore, pansexual. So I can cross that off my list. That’s all it means.

I could never get how someone, identifying like I do gender-wise, could experience attraction only for men, and not women. It just seemed impossible. Because I could never experience attraction only for men, and never not experience attraction for women. Because I was not, therefore, heterosexual. That’s it. Cross it off the list.

I could never get how one-night-stands work for some people. How some people could genuinely find someone sexually attractive and feel horny for them without knowing them. It sounded so fake, like a lie, like something out of a movie. Because I do not work that way. Because I was not, therefore, allosexual. Cross it off, cross it off, cross it off.

If you don’t get it, you’re probably not it. That is all it means, all it should mean. And there is nothing wrong with you. If the label makes no sense to you, put it down and try another until you feel some sort of enlightenment. Something that settles in your skin just right, something that feels like a home that’s been waiting for you. I promise it exists. The search is a mess, it is confusing af, there are more trials and errors than wins. But just because those labels feel alien doesn’t mean they can’t help you. You have just begun scratching the surface. Give yourself time, and tools. Engage. Talk. Read. The same goes for your gender identity.

If something feels too foreign in a way that doesn’t sit right within you, don’t cling to it and try to make yourself less comfortable for it. Thank it, put it back out there, and move on. Don’t be sad and ashamed to let go of an old label when it doesn’t fit you anymore. Don’t be scared and closed-off if a new label seems to call for you. Don’t feel weird and wrong if labels are not something that help you. Don’t feel weird and wrong if labels are something you need. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Look it in the eye and see it for what it is: progress.

I speak from my own experience, because it is something I wish I could have known so much earlier, especially in terms of asexuality and its spectrum. There were and always will be waves of knowledge that come and go, and I guess I just wanted to put my little piece of mind out there, in case it helps someone avoid the confusion and hurt I went through. This might be very obvious and stupid to many. It wasn’t to me. Maybe this is only for me, to evaluate my progress and see my journey in its whole. Hope it helps, though.

Happy pride everybody and take care.

#happy pride #pride month #asexuality #aspec #demisexuality #2slgbtqia+ #june 2023 #pride 2023 #lgbtq rights #lgbtq community #lgbtq positivity #sexuality and representation #sexuality and gender #gender positivity #gay rights #gay #lesbian #bisexual #pansexual #asexual #demisexual #aromatic #aroace #transgender #nonbinary #trans #lgbtq

[skarlette1]

Pearl Girls: Where I Belong

--The final chapter of the Pearl Girls series.

Can it really be a single semester since I was given a pearl necklace that turned me into an unwilling sex worker? It seemed like the ordeal had gone on for years. But it was finally over. Finally.

That seductive necklace had turned me from Alexis Ames, PhD, adjunct professor at Skarlette City University (and secretly the superheroine Argent) into “Professor Pearl Girl”. As a mind-controlled tool of Club Absinthe, I had spent the last few months as little more than a sex toy at the beck and call of the Club’s pearl-level members. I hadn’t conceived of any way to avoid that fate until three days ago.

The last seventy-two hours since Yvonne Yates had broken my necklace and set me free had been a whirlwind of activity. As Professor Alexis Ames, I’d helped the police to liberate of all the Pearl Girls of the Chloros Neriada Sorority. Although most of the girls had tried to destroy their necklaces before they could be removed, we’d managed to recover a few pieces. Some would be used as evidence in the prosecution of the pearl-level members of Club Absinthe that had benefited from the Pearl Girls’ services. I’d also delivered several necklaces, well-sealed in reinforced titanium cases, to Libido League Tower. Platinum Panther and Sammie Sims would study their circuitry so they could protect us from threats like this in the future.

I’d given hours of testimony to the police and district attorneys about the inner workings of the Pearl Girl network and its infiltration of the highest levels of Skarlette City University. Dean Dickinson had already resigned in disgrace and it seemed likely that most of the trustees would do the same within the week.

I’d also told the authorities about the theft of antiquities that Lyta Leasch was supposed to be delivering to the museum, although I couldn’t quite bring myself to speak her name. The police were easily able to identify Lyta as the archaeologist in question. Unfortunately, she’d already withdrawn her life savings and left town for parts unknown. Even her husband, Grant Kerry, had no idea where she might be—at least none he was willing to share with the police. I’d considered approaching him as a colleague to encourage him to help with the investigation. But, after all that I’d done to him under the influence of the pearls, I was certain that I was the last person he would want to see.

Even though Treasure Tartarus looked likely to escape justice for her part at the center of all of it, I’d wracked my brain for ways to make her pay for her crimes. But the thought just kept sliding out of my head. It was mainly because I was so very tired, but to be honest, some of it was because of how much I still wanted to kiss her.

By the time the authorities had asked me all their questions, even my superheroic stamina was flagging. It was the middle of the night and there was nothing left for me to do but head back to my penthouse, collapse on my bed still dressed, and sleep. My dreams were twisted visions of glinting pearls, ruby lips, and smoking-hot sex—proof that all those months as a Pearl Girl couldn’t be wiped away as easily as crushing a necklace.

I awoke with the sun already high in the sky, my muscles stiff, and my crotch sticky. The mists of my dreams melted in the morning sun like the memory of how passionately I had been desired as “Professor Pearl Girl.” I dragged myself into the shower and let the streaming water wash away the physical residue of my ordeal, cleansing my body from scalp to toes. The emotional fallout would be much harder to scrub away. I let the water flow over me for a long, long time. Its soothing hiss and warm caress slowly helped to center me in the here and now: The first day of my post-Pearl Girl life.

Looking at myself in the mirror, the difference from four months ago was striking. Argent’s short, no-nonsense, honey-blond hair had become long, platinum tresses that reached nearly to my waist. Alexis Ames’s thickly arched eyebrows that enhanced her look of intelligence had been plucked down to thin lines that made my whole face look weak. Tentative. Needy.

Worst of all was the lost confidence in my eyes. As a professor, I knew my subject area, inside and out. As a superheroine, I knew my powers and how to use them to help people. But I didn’t see any of that in my eyes—only a woman filled with regret at her past failings, and profound doubt that she had the strength to avoid them in the future. Now that I was free, I had no idea what I wanted, other than stopping those who had taken advantage of me. Did I want to return to the classroom, where so many of my transgressions had taken place? Did I want to return to active duty with the Libido League, where I would constantly worry that my fantastic powers would fall into the service of a supervillain due to my weak will? Did I want to try some other path altogether?

My stomach growled. I guess at least one part of me knew what it wanted. I wrapped a silk robe around me and headed toward the kitchen. The Italian tile was cool on my bare feet. Halfway down the hall, I was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee. I had barely been here during my time as a Pearl Girl so I couldn’t believe that the coffee maker was still functional.

I walked into the kitchen and found Crystal Creese—my personal shopper and sometime domme—standing at my stove. Wearing a stylish burgundy sweater, black leather skirt, and crimson leather boots, she was … cooking. “According to the news, Alexis, you’ve been through one hell of a semester. Exceptional circumstances call for exceptions to my rules, especially about how I treat you going forward. In addition to your closet, I’ve stocked your pantry. Pour some coffee and fetch the plates. The frittata will be ready in a minute. I’m sure you need some protein. Then you can tell me all about it.”

I stood with my lips parted, unsure of what to say. I wasn’t surprised that she’d gotten into the penthouse, I had given her a passcode for the private elevator weeks ago. I was slightly surprised that she was cooking—she didn’t seem the type. I definitely was surprised that despite whatever she’d heard about me on the news, she still came over to help, or even wanted to associate with me at all!

“Snap to it, Alexis!” Crystal said. “Recovery from brainwashing means I cook you food, it doesn’t mean I set the table.”

“S-sorry, Crystal.” I hurried to prepare the breakfast nook and pour the coffee. Crystal brought over the frying pan and plated the frittata. I forced myself to take a bite. My mouth was awash in sensation. “My god, Crystal. This is the best thing I’ve tasted in months!”

“Don’t act surprised that I know my way around the kitchen.”

“It’s not that. I just realized that I’ve barely been tasting my food for months. Whatever else that Pearl Girl necklace was doing to me, it must have been focusing so much of my attention on sexual pleasures that my other senses were dulled. It’s like every single experience of the past few months was twisted by those glimmering, white pearls.”

Once I started talking, I couldn’t seem to stop. As we finished the frittata and sipped the coffee, I told Crystal nearly everything about my life as a Pearl Girl. From the way I was first tricked into donning the pearls, to my earliest services to pearl-level members, to the way I used Grant Kerry’s feelings against him, my arrangements with Dean Dickinson and the other trustees, and how I’d nearly brainwashed my lover Yvonne into sexual slavery. I even confessed that I’d only started a relationship with Crystal because I had mistakenly believed she was a pearl-level member (she got a hearty laugh out of that). The only things I held back were my secret identity as a superheroine (for obvious reasons), any mention of Lyta Leasch (I’m not sure why), and how much my desire to kiss Treasure Tartarus had shaped all of it (I was still ashamed of how much I still burned for the touch of her lips).

The afternoon shadows had grown long by the time I finished my tale. Crystal’s attention never wavered. She had never struck me as the warm and understanding type, but her presence made me feel seen in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Losing the pearls hadn’t just changed me, its effects were even rippling through those around me, even through someone as strong and unyielding as Crystal Creese.

When I couldn’t say another thing about the last few months, I looked to Crystal—Crystal who had every reason to leave me a distant memory, but was still sitting across the table from me. “So, what do you think?”

“I’ve got a hell of a vocabulary, Alexis, but I can’t find the words to describe how wretched your ordeal was. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”

“What do you mean, Crystal?”

“I mean that I’m breaking my own rules. I have clients who are just clients. I have clients that become friends. I have clients, like you, who sub for me. Never the twain shall meet. While I might be friendly with my subs, and my friends might think I’m a bitch sometimes, it doesn’t change the fact that my subs are never my friends. But when I heard what happened to you, I realized that today of all days, you needed a friend.”

“Thank you, Crystal. It means more than you know. I don’t know how I’m going to get past this.”

She leaned forward. “You’re going to get past it by putting it in the past, Alexis. You’re going look at what this experience has given you that you can use, and fucking use it. Forget the rest.”

“What did being a Pearl Girl give me that I can use?”

“Me, for one thing.” I let out a small laugh, but Crystal cut me off. “Seriously, those little pearls thrust you into all sorts of situations you never would have tried on your own. Some of them you hated, sure. But some of them you didn’t. Be honest with yourself. Some of the things the pearls made you do were some of the most intense experiences of your life. You know who you are so much better than you did before the pearls, Alexis. Build on that and move forward.”

“It’s not that simple, Crystal.”

“Make it that simple. You’re free of the pearls, so act like it. Choose for yourself what you want to do, and do it. Decide who you want to be, and be it. Become that version of Alexis, right now. Don’t worry about the repercussions. Let the past die. Let tomorrow take care of itself.” Her eyes flashed with that intense passion for life I had seen so often in the bedroom.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It’s as easy as dressing for the life you want to live, Alexis. In fact, you should go get dressed right now. I’ve filled your closet with beautiful clothes. I can’t wait to see what you choose—what version of Alexis I get to meet. Go in there and put on the first outfit of the rest of your life.”

I opened my mouth to answer but realized she was right—about getting dressed, at least. Crystal looked amazing and I was wearing nothing but a silk robe, my knees pulled up to my chest with my bare feet resting on the seat of the chair. With a little nod, I rose and padded down the hall to my bedroom.

My closet has been completely reorganized. There were stylish but serious suits for academic wear; slinky dresses to go clubbing; a leather catsuit (obviously for the bedroom but that wouldn’t look out of place fighting crime); and lingerie that was more ribbon than silk. Which outfit was right for the first day of my post-Pearl Girl life? Which version of Alexis Ames would I be? The professor for my students? The heroine for the city? The loving domme and mentor for Yvonne?

What could I be for Crystal? Sub? Lover?

Friend?

Today was nice. I’d never had many friends. But it would take more than a stylish sweater to prepare me for Crystal’s “friend” category. Is that even what I wanted? Her rule was that friends were never lovers. Could I bear to never have sex with her again? To never see that hunger flash in her eyes as she gazed over my body?

I studied the gorgeous clothes for a long time, trapped in indecision. Then, a single question bubbled up in my mind:

Why do I need to choose? If Crystal can keep her subs separate from her friends, why can’t I have an outfit for every mood? A persona for every relationship? Of course I could. I already had one secret identity as a superheroine; what did a few more matter?

But who would I be with Crystal?

Time for the first decision of the rest of my life. “Crystal? Could you come here?”

The heels of her boots click-clacked their way down the hall. “Have you made your decision, Alexis?”

“Yes ...” I turned to face her, my head hung low. “... and no. I’ve decided not to decide. You have far better taste than I do. You selected all these beautiful clothes. How do you want to see me tonight ...” I drew circles in the carpet with my big toe. It was now or never. “... Mistress Crystal?”

Crystal gasped. “I was hoping you’d know a good thing when you had it, Alexis.” She sauntered over to face me. I could see how much she wanted me just by the way she rolled her hips with each step. “This is a lovely robe, but it’s last year’s fashion. Take it off.”

“Yes, Mistress.” I unknotted the belt and let the robe hang open a moment. I loved the smile that played across her face as Crystal’s eyes drank in the strip of flesh peeking between the lapels. Inch by inch, I shrugged the silk off my shoulders until it slid down my back with a whisper.

Crystal let out a soft moan. “You’re like a work of art, Alexis. A work of art I love to kiss.”

“Yes, Mistress.” I leaned over, my lips parted—even barefoot, I was a bit taller than Crystal in boots. Her lips were just as warm as I remembered.

Her hand made its way up my neck. Grabbing a fistful of my long hair, Crystal pulled me deeper into the kiss. Her other hand glided across my breasts, teasing my sensitive nipples to stiff peaks. She took her time, coaxing the passion from my body. I was moaning in her mouth by the time her hands trailed lower, claiming every inch of me along the way.

Pushing me back against the floor-to-ceiling windows, Crystal broke the kiss. Her brilliant eyes flashed, pinning me to the glass like a butterfly under her passionate inspection. Her fingers explored the folds of my sex, playing my body like a virtuoso. A high-pitch whimper escaped my throat.

“There you are, Alexis. I see you. Cum for me.”

I came, shamelessly riding her hand. Like an all-seeing goddess, Mistress Crystal bore witness to my passion.

When my legs grew too rubbery to support me, Crystal guided me to my knees. I shuddered against her thighs as she stroked my hair and told me what a good girl I was.

After months of being forced to give myself to anyone who wanted me, my first choice as a free woman was to give myself to one woman in particular. Before the pearls, I would have sworn I didn’t have a submissive bone in my body. But as Mistress Crystal petted my hair and whispered her praise, I couldn’t deny there was only place I wanted to be:

On my knees before her.

--The End (for now)

--It’s been quite a ride since the first chapter of “Pearl Girls” in July 2021. I hope you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

---

Like what you read? Will you buy me a coffee and request something rich to sink my teeth into? Or peek into the depths of my longer fiction?

#skarletteone #mind control #flash fiction #superhero

[3am-starry-night-sky]

Kaeys was obviously lying to look more naive and ignorant regarding his past to Dainsleif, even Dainsleif doesn’t 100% buy it, it contradicts with his ingame story and how he he dealt with the Abyss Order before.

I am pretty sure what remained of Khaenri'ah converted to the Abyss Order

Once again I myself am yet to play the quest. But since I don't care for the spoilers, I've seen the clips and am aware of the contents of the quest, though mostly regarding Kaeya. And I am going to read all the wikis regarding the Albrich Clan. Laying this info out just so I can say "But maybe I'm just missing something"

(NB! This kinda ended up longer than I wanted and sort of wheeled off to other directions and became a full-blown theory post, but but please stay with me, I think I might have cracked the code)

Anyway, I have been thinking about something similar!!!

The quest played out in a way that it implies Kaeya to be in the dark about his linage and the history of his descent. The way he handled the convo, how he was surprised, and how he let out some info and yet didn't know about some other things. It seems almost as if all Kaeya had been told was that he was a khaenri'ahn and the rest of info he has learned and explored himself.

That seems awfully weird and wrong for someone who's supposed to be "The Last Hope of Khaenri'ah". Like, you're telling me your "last hope" is a child who doesn't know about his lineage and barely knows suff about Khaenri'ah. Yet knows (implied in-game) hillichurlian and how to identify a pure-blooded Khaenri'ahn (there's probably more). Idk, seems like sending a spy on a mission without telling them the info/giving them the evidence regarding the mission.

The biggest red flag in his situation is I think – If Kaeya knows this little about Khaenri'ah and overall has little connection to the place, THEN WHY WOULD HE CARE SO MUCH.

Why would he be so torn between Monstadt and Khaenri'ah?

Why would he be so scared of a war between the two sides?

Why would he care about a nation that, A doesn't exist anymore, and B a nation he simply has some blood ties to.

If he wasn't aware of something big and deep, why does he have such a hard time letting go off his Khaenri'ahn past?

To explain potentially why, I've come up with some possible explanations:

As you've said. Kaeya bluffed it all. As usual, he played with the truth. He's actually aware of the baggage clinging to his surname. He was acting unaware, to push aside and cover up the possibly huge role he's been given. "I'm an Albrich...Oh, I don't know anything about my lineage and their plans, how could I possibly be of any threat :)"

And while this is highly possible and I think to a certain extent Kaeya was holding back some info definitely and acting unaware. I've stumbled upon some info that has guided me to form a wider and more extensive theory.

Kaeya truly or at least partially wasn't aware of the full extent of the info regarding his lineage. Because Kaeya's father was the first to bend the truth and cherry-picked what he told his son. So Kaeya's reaction was sort of genuine but he also left out all the stuff he does know. Basically the truth from his side. The truth of who his lineal and direct ancestor is!

Back in the hidden strife event, we learn that Kaeya's dad told Kaeya that the Albrich Clan took up as the regents for King Irmin when he couldn't keep ruling.

Reading the Albrich Clans wiki, I've discovered that in Sumeru, while exploring the abandoned Golems, we as the players learn of the Schwanenrotters, who were led by Knight Marshal Anfortas, WHO ALSO declared himself the Marshal REGENT Anfortas after King Irmin became "indisposed."

Anfortas led his army in the Cataclysm and fought heavily against the dark beasts. Yet it's said that Anfortas fate remains unknown after the bigger events.

I think it's safe to assume Kaeya's dad is referencing the same person, which connects Anfortas to the Albrich lineage and basically makes him the ancestor mentioned in Kaeya's letters.

Anfortas and Clothar both existed at the same time during the Cataclysm, meaning they could not be descendants of each other unless they were in a parental-child relationship. So they were brothers or cousins at best. At this moment I'd add that Clothar, while being of noble class was not close to the king, while Anfortas was (he basically replaced the king). And due to Clothars relationship with a Monstadt commoner, which his family and the Clan weren't too fond of, Clothar was pretty much cast out from the Clan/Family.

Based on all these connections and the fact that Kaeya's dad mentions Anfortas of all the ancestors. I believe that while Clothar is one of the ancestors, but probably a collateral one. It's Anfortas, from whom Kaeya's dad and Kaeya are lineal descendants. And the reason why Kaeya wasn't aware of Clothars exitance or more so his fate, was because the Albrich Clan basically cast him out due to Clothar having a relationship with a commoner Monstadter. So Clothar could potentially be like the weird uncle who your family doesn't speak about.

So Kaeya's dad didn't tell Kaeya about one of their ancestors Clothar being the founder of the Abyss Order, because:

a.) Kaeya's dad genuinely didn't know about Clothar's existence or fate

b.) Kaeya's dad was aware of Clothars existence and fate, but didn't feel it to be of such importance to tell his son. Since their not direct descendants of him. Or he didn't want to spoil the mood with such heavy baggage.

c.) Kaeya's dad was aware of Clothars existence and fate, but due to the Clan having cast Clothar out, their Clan is forbidden to talk about him.

BUT LET'S KEEP GOING FURTHER!! :D

Theoretically, Anfortas could also possibly be Kaeya's Grandfather.

Because going back to way beginning. In Kaeya's story quest, we kind of learn about Kaeya's grandfather. The ever-popular

"Look at my eye patch! I inherited it from my grandfather and this is solid proof that we are related by blood!"

line becomes pretty meaningful in a newer context. This means Kaeya's grandpa had an eyepatch which possibly implies an injured eye.

Well well, Anfortas also had an injured eye, more specifically he injured it during the cataclysm while fighting with Hadura, one of the Schwanenritter. And over all Kaeya's heroic description of his grandpa matches with Anfortas heroic actions as a Regent and a Marshal. Also also, Kaeya says in his story quest "Yesterday I was glancing through the notes my grandfather left...". Could those notes have been from the secret letters Kaeya saved from being burnt, that describe the Albrich lineage, more specifically Anfortas.

Going a bit further because I can't help but notice the parallels between Anfortas and Kaeya. Both have injured their eye in a fight stemming from betrayal. Anfortas was betrayed by one of his comrades. While Kaeya and Diluc betrayed each other's trust during the fight. But the difference was that Kaeya's injured eye is the right one and Anfortas' was the left.

But what would this mean:

Well, there's the whole question of how far related Anfortas and Kaeya would be and if Kaeya is pure blood or a half-blood. And how is Kaeya so human then, seemingly unaffected by the curse. And right now I don't have answers for those.

But regarding Kaeya's position on the chess board. Kaeya, or more so his father's plan is not connected with the Abyss. It's quite possible Anfortas Albrich's lineage is following a 3rd plan which imposes both the Fatui and the Abyss. I think Kaeya's dad's plan is to stop something from happening. The reason for leaving Kaeya in Monstadt and giving him the heavy mission of being "The Last Hope" was because he's hiding his son from something until it's time for their action.

That is pretty much all I have to say right now. This search opened up a new bag of theory worms regarding Anfortas. And I've gotten a pretty new perspective on the whole Albrich Clan matter and Kaeya's descent.

#genshin #kaeya #abyss order #khaenri'ah #analysis #Clothar #Genshin 3.5 #dainsleif #Albrich Clan #theory #And I ooop made a theory uncounsiously #Anfortas

[musical-chick-13]

Oh my god, oh my god, Mamao x Suirei!!!!

YEAH

Obligatory "I have not read the light novels, so some of these questions probably get answered," but. Every single thing about this dynamic makes me to the real life equivalent of the eyes emoji. Why does Suirei give Maomao a warning when she wanders into a forbidden area of the court? She didn't have to. Given the other court ladies' reactions to Maomao, that might have even been a risk. Suirei's very complicated assassination plan has been in the making for a while, and letting anything about it slip is definitely a risk. Why give Maomao any hint of the "resurrection drug" and test her in the first place? Is she looking for an ally? Is she just happy that someone might be able to keep up with her medicinal knowledge? Does she have any sort of sympathy for Maomao because of this? Why does Maomao think she's capable of identifying whether Suirei would be the type of person to kill herself when she barely knows her? Maomao has met other intelligent people (who she did not ever think were going to kill her with a scythe), why are her respect for and excitation over Suirei so intense?

Suirei was able to catch onto Maomao's interest in medicine almost immediately, just from seeing her go somewhere she wasn't supposed to. Maomao takes note of what she smells like. And when she's complaining about not having Suirei's drugs, the memory we see onscreen isn't of the hill or of Suirei gathering herbs or of the coffin, it's just...Suirei standing up, looking into the distance and specifically mentioning morning glories--it wasn't of her specifically mentioning the Resurrection Drug, it was of her saying the comment that was specifically meant as a test for Maomao (okay, yes, I know this is a stretch, let me live).

And a lot of this is wrapped up in the fact that finally someone in Maomao's orbit also possesses medicinal skills and is good at making use of them. But given how committed we've seen Maomao be in regard to making sure harmful behavior gets acknowledged as harmful (such as her intimidating defense of Lishu's food allergies, absolutely losing it over the poisonous face powder, turning Fengming in, actively putting herself at risk of violence to stop the ceremony that was meant to assassinate Jinshi, even her refusal to refer to her parents as her parents and have a relationship with Lakan), for her reaction to Suirei trying to destabilize the entire political atmosphere to be not only a lack of condemnation but active enthusiasm for her intelligence is...that is a HUGE deal.

We haven't really seen Maomao get this feral over anyone on a personal level. And Suirei has no logical reason (that we know of) to take an interest in Maomao (who is a complete unknown and possible roadblock to Suirei's plans) at all. I am very much looking forward to seeing more of them when season 2 happens (and in the light novels if I get around to reading them), and I hope this ship gains more traction because THEY GREATLY COMPEL ME.

#tw: suicide mention #multi t(ASK)ing #maomao x suirei #the apothecary diaries #maomao #suirei #mel on anime lockdown #I WILL put this one in the show/character tags because there are like. actual Thoughts™ here and not just me screaming lmao #save me underrated femslash ship. underrated femslash ship. underrated femslash ship save m--

[khaliseasworld]

Lost & found

Who are you? Asks the caterpillar to the girl. Are you looking for someone or have you been found?

The little girl looked up at the caterpillar upon his perch with a puzzling look. “What do you mean have I been found?! I’m lost, so incredibly lost!”

Oh my darling, you don’t come down my path if you’re lost. Not all who wander are lost. Now, who are you? He asked again.

The girl looked up, wiping tears from her eyes and stuttered “I…I don’t know. I thought I did, but ever since I’ve been wandering, I felt so lost.”

“Why did you feel lost? Who are you!”

The girl jerked from being startled.

She stayed in silence, peering up at the caterpillar who was now puffing on his hookah, cheeks red with frustration.

“I…I don’t know who I am. I believe I’m lost because I don’t know how to answer you.”

The caterpillar peeked over his hose, full of curiosity and compassion.

“Darling, only you can make that choice of who you are.”

“Well,” the girl began, “I’ve been called many things in my life and I suppose…a wildflower is what I identify the closest with. What does that even mean tho?”

“What do you believe it means?” The caterpillar questioned.

The girl pondered for a moment. “I suppose, it’s helpful for the pollinators. And every flower I’ve ever met is just so beautiful.”

“Do you believe you are beautiful?”

“Why yes! I do actually.” The girl beamed up at him, gaining confidence in their interactions.

“Good. Now, who are you?”

“I’m not afraid, but I’m uncertain.”

“That’s okay, for now. Continue forward with your journey and return to me when you are certain of who you are.” The caterpillar detailed.

The girl wandered for what felt like centuries, conquering her fears of the dark & heights, falling in love with her quirks and oddities, allowing herself to enjoy what she wants and who she is. She explored different parts of her world and mind, captivating by the quests she endured. She learned of what darkness she held inside of her, giving herself the space and time to process, accept, and live with the growth from the knowledge she obtained. She became one with the universe and gravitated toward light. She flew, balanced, created and destroyed everything she had to offer and was able to make a difference in her own world. She wandered until she returned.

“Who are you now?” The caterpillar asks the girl, who is now a woman. I am everything I ever dreamed about and I am the most beautiful woman I have ever known, she confidently explained.

The caterpillar smiles,bellowing smoke out of his mouth, encapsulating her. The smoke swirls and beams of colors and an unknown light, opening the door for her eyes to see the world around her. She saw a bright light and for what felt like the first time, she began to see the sun.

The sky was clear with the stars shining in her face, her eyes glowing with the light that was coming down from above her. The sun rose from the ground and she felt her body moving slowly toward the horizon, as if it were the only thing that had ever been seen before. She looked at the moon and smiled as she was about halfway through the day before she had a moment of relief in the darkness. She felt the warmth of the sky ask her to come back and see the stars again.

Through her journey amongst the stars, she found herself with the most powerful voice she had ever known. Her heart was full of love for the world and she knew it would never leave her alone again.

#spilled ink #my writing #fantasy #writing #self love #acceptance #nature photopragpy #photography #nikon #sunrizing

[shonenkun309]

A/N : HALT!! When was the last time I updated a chapter?! *ᵃᵖʳⁱˡ ²²* Yikes...two months...Damn Character.Ai it's all your fault- Ahem ahem!! Hello my sweet sweet sweet sweet potatoes, Who missed this incomprehensible and vague series, the very series that who knows when it's gonna finish? Anyhow!! After simping over Koga as I usually do, I was also busy with real life related things *ᵐᵒˢᵗˡʸ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳ'ᵃⁱ ⁱˢ ᵗᵒ ᵇˡᵃᵐᵉ* but here I am and I'm back and promise you...two months of absence will never happen again...😚🌹

𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒖𝒏 ~𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒏~ words : 11169

Chapters : 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14, 15, 16

Tags : @just-somehuman @the-bird-and-the-flute @kogasimp1 @callmeklair @colourless-hydrangeas @randomf2p @blackmond11

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTᗴᖇ 17

Aoi : "Are you sure about this?"

Futaba: "Like I said, I was running after someone in my dream, only to stumble and find myself in front of my house door . It's like I had no control over my dream. Even though I knew I was supposed to stay up all night, my body seemed to force me to sleep..."

Aoi: "Got it. So, it sounds like you were forced to sleep, had this dream where you ran after an unknown entity, but at the same time, your physical body was also running. And your feet refused to obey your mind and instead, ran towards the entity."

The silence in the room was deafening, as both Aoi and Futaba tried to make sense of the strange occurrence. Futaba added that she had never sleepwalked before, and this was her first time ever experiencing something like that.

Aoi : "Does your father know about this?"

Futaba : "I didn't dare tell him; I was afraid of making him worried, especially after our conversation yesterday. I want to solve this puzzle without involving my father in it in anyway."

Futaba let out a tired sigh, and then the shop bell rang, and Oji entered through it, carrying his groceries.

Oji : "Oh, bright eyes is here today? How's it going?

Futaba : "Hello, Oji.

Oji : "Still upset?"

Futaba : "Actually..."

Futaba decided to tell Oji about her eccentric dream last night, causing Oji's expressions to become serious.

Oji : "Are all of this was a result for your desire to go after the entity or...?"

Futaba : "to tell you the truth, I had some curiosity, but my curiosity didn't led me to know the identity of that entity, although, I found myself going after it... automatically."

Silent prevailed once again, but suddenly Futaba had a moment of realization.

Futaba : "Could it be..."

Aoi : "That so-called-Tsuchi is behind this?"

Futaba : "But, are Tsuchi able to mess with dreams as well? That's insane!"

Oji: "I'm still not sure how your dream ties into what's been happening, but after hearing Yura's account of that night, it got me thinking.."

Futaba's memories of that fateful day returned to her thoughts, and she remembered how they had faced off with the sand men and how one of them had tried to take her away to an unknown destination, which ultimately resulted in...

Futaba : "No way. Kuya took it down, I witnessed it with my own eyes. Or are you suggesting that it continued to pursue me in my dreams or something?"

Oji : "We cannot rule that out."

With a serious tone emanating from Oji, Futaba remained silent.

Oji : "We know very little about this mysterious ayakashi, so it's important to consider all possible powers it might have, even if they seem impossible or made up."

*Jingle jingle* The sound of bells ringing in the shop breaks their focus, and the three individuals turn around to identify the new arrival.

Futaba : "Kuya?"

Kuya : "Old man, I'm starving."

Kuya, typical of him, exclaims his hunger without even looking around after entering the place.

Oji: "Oh Kuya, it's been a long time..."

Aoi: "Any updates?"

Kuya: "No...nothing yet."

Futaba sighed after hearing what he said and placed her hand on her cheek as if she was thinking deeply.

Kuya: "Where's that little girl todya?"

Futaba: "Hmm? You mean Fukajiro? I didn't spot her on the way here, why?"

Kuya is struck momentarily silent and fixates his gaze upon Futaba after she provides the response. As Futaba stares back, she feels as if Kuya is trying to convey something to her, yet Kuya simply continues to stare.

Kuya: "Hmm, is that so?"

Futaba: "Um..."

Futaba feels a bit confused regarding the recent occurrence, as if Kuya was trying to communicate something essential to her, but she was unable to comprehend it. Additionally, considering her understanding of Kuya, it was challenging for her to forecast his actions and words. She pondered on this for a long time, even after Kuya occupied his designated space and commenced devouring his meal.

...

Later, Futaba takes her leave from Racord with Aoi.

Futaba: "Thanks for tagging along, Aoi."

Aoi: "It's not a big deal. I was thinking of checking up on Koga after everything that happened too."

Futaba lets out a sighs at the mention of Koga's name.

Aoi: "L- listen...Don't let it bother you, we promised Koga to look out for you if anything happened to him, because we're all in this together as comrades."

Futaba understands the true intention of Aoi's words, and the warmth of this realization allows her to smile.

Futaba: "Thank you Aoi, it really means a lot to me that you're still by my side throughout all of this. I feel like my problems are a burden to you."

Aoi: "Don't worry about it, we're in this together. Exactly, like Ginnojo says, our aims are one and the same. However... promise me you'll come to me if you ever get into any trouble—I don't mean you shouldn't rely on others, it's just-"

Futaba: "Haha, I get what you're saying Aoi, and I'm counting on you and everyone. Thanks again for everything."

Aoi's cheeks quickly flushed a deep red at the realization of his own embarrassment, and as the two of them attempted to steer the conversation to another topic, their attention was drawn to a different sight. In the distance, they spotted a group of children playing and giggling blissfully as usual. Masanobu was among them, having the time of his life. While Futaba was accustomed to these kinds of sights, Aoi directed her to shift her perspective, and she grew shocked when she widened her vision at this request. At a distance far from the children, Futaba and Aoi noticed Fukajiro standing. Her emerald eyes were fixed on the youthful players, but the look on her face was one of either sadness or coldness, and this observation took Futaba and Aoi by surprise. She seemed to be hiding behind a pillar, observing the carefree children from afar. As Futaba and Aoi drew closer, they were abruptly called out to by a familiar voice. "Saotome." A deep and commanding voice echoed through the air, prompting them to turn their attention to the source.

Futaba : "Major Aizen?"

Aizen proceeded to make his way towards them, now clad in casual attire and no longer in the white uniform of his Major position, which made it evident that he was on leave.

Aizen: "You seem to be in top condition today, Saotome."

Futaba: "Looks like you're taking a break, Major Aizen?"

Aizen: "That's correct. I had planned to take the day off, but I was notified a few minutes ago that I needed to return to Headquarter for a pressing matter."

Aoi: "Did something happened?"

Aizen: "I lack that informations as of now, but if updates regarding the ongoing matter are acquired, I will inform you promptly."

Hearing this, Futaba and Aoi exchanged concerned glance as the underlying tension and uncertainty of the current calm still lingered. The tense lull was then interrupted by Aizen's inquiry.

Aizen: "How is Kitamikado doing?"

Futaba stood stunned by Aizen's sudden question, and Aoi seemed equally taken aback but managed to maintain a stoic demeanor.

Futaba: "I can't say for sure... I don't know what he's going through right now, but all I can say is he the same...like a lifeless body."

The gravity of the last part of Futaba's statement weighed heavily on her, as if the life was slowly fading out of him, and she felt powerless to do anything about it.

Aizen: "If that's the case, it's similar to the condition of those affected by the phenomenon. They all share one commonality, which is that their state is closer to a coma or even closer to death, perhaps..."

The additional information increased Futaba's uneasiness about Kuga's trajectory and what would happen if all of this didn't stop soon. Later, Aizen shifted his glance towards Aoi.

Aizen: "I've always been curious, Satori. How did you know Kitamikado was still alive? Did you use your powers to probe into his heart?”

Aoi: "I did. But as I delved deeper into his mind, it felt like there was another entity inside him, obstructing my progress. Something just seems off about it all..."

A moment of silence filled the conversation, as the three thought about the implications of the phenomenon and the uncertainty that still remains.

Futaba: "There's a lot we need to talk to you about, Major Aizen."

Aizen: "And when the time comes, I'll summon you, Saotome. I only hope that things don't get worse than they already are. Now, allow me to take my leave, Saotome. I will see you again soon."

As Aizen bid his farewell and departed, Futaba and Aoi were left feeling uncertain about the current situation. Suddenly, silence was broken by the sound of a "Tadaa!!". The startled duo sprang into action, and Fukajiro stood before them, laughing heartily.

Futaba: "You've certainly adopted a new style of greeting."

Futaba's sarcastic words were not without a hint of amusement, and Fukajiro was quick to take note of her smile.

Fukajiro: "I had to change things up a bit to see a new side of you both, Futaba. And Aoi, it's been a while since we last met."

Aoi's tone was stoic, but the slight change of expression in his eyes betrayed the fondness he had for Fukajiro.

Aoi: "Do not startle us like that again."

Fukajiro: "Hehe, I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises."

The conversation progressed, and the two were able to catch up with Fukajiro. The tension from earlier had dissipated, and the three were left chatting like old friends.

Futaba: "How long have you been standing there, Fukajiro?"

Fukajiro : "Oh, I caught a glimpse of the two of you talking to someone and decided to wait to say hello until that someone left. Who was the guy anyway?"

Futaba: "He's just an acquaintance, don't worry about it."

Just as Fukajiro was about to ask another question, she suddenly stopped, her eyes falling on something, or someone else. Aoi and Futaba followed Fukajiro's gaze, and they saw Kuya standing there, his golden eyes staring coldly at the little girl and her innocent emerald eyes. The situation seemed tense, with the golden eyes against the emerald ones. Aoi and Futaba felt curiosity growing inside them, as they remembered that Kuya had asked about Fukjiro before, and now, they were seeing this. Fukajiro kept looking into Kuya's golden eyes, a small, innocent and curious smile spreading across her face, waiting to know why he was staring like that.

Kuya: "You...where have you been?"

Kuya's tone was cold as he spoke, his golden eyes resting on Fukajiro in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. As if sensing the tension in the air, Fukajiro tilted her head to the side, indicating that she did not understand the question.

Fukajiro: "Um...me? I'm here..."

Her confusion was apparent on her features as she tried to make sense of Kuya's words.

Kuya: "I don't mean that, I mean that night. Where did you disappear to?"

At this moment of confusion, Futaba's gaze darted back and forth between the two with a mixture of surprise and anxiety. But before any of them could say more...

"Oh, Fukajiro sweetie, would you help me here?"

The words came from the shopkeeper at the store that Fukajiro worked at, and at the sound of his voice, Fukajiro's focus shifted from the confusing conversation she had just had to her work.

Fukajiro : "I'm on my way!"

But before leaving, she threw one last glance at the three standing in front of her, giving Kuya a particularly hard stare as if to say 'What just happened?' . Without waiting for a response, she turned her back and said goodbye to her friends, disappearing from their line of sight. Aoi and Futaba's eyes were full of question as they turned to Kuya, hoping to get some answers.

Futaba: "Kuya, why did you ask Fukajiro that question? It was so unexpected."

Kuya: "What are you talking about? She disappeared that one day. Why wouldn't I ask her?"

Futaba: "Well, yeah, but..."

Aoi: "Why did you ask her like that?"

Kuya was not satisfied with simply giving an answer, and remained silent, forcing Aoi to continue.

Aoi: "Look, I know how upset you are about Koga's current situation, but you cannot blame a little girl for it."

Kuya: "That's what you think…”

Aoi and Futaba exchanged astonished looks at Kuya's words, unable to believe what they just heard.

Kuya: "I'm done talking here. I'm going home."

Kuya's words indicated a clear end to the conversation, and he began to walk away. But before he could go too far, he stopped to look at Aoi and Futaba from the corner of his eyes, waiting for them to understand the meaning of his pause before following him. As the sun set and Futaba returned home from another visit to Koga, she told Nachi, and the twins about her dream. She explained the details, hoping one of them might have some insight into its meaning. But to her disappointment, nothing changed, and the situation remained the same.

**Flashback**

Yura : "Prithee, I doth behold. It seems to be a form of dream manipulation."

Gaku: "Doesn't this sound like what 'Yume no seirei' does?"

Yura : "Methinks not, for this type of ayakashi doth bring nightmares."

Futaba: "But what I saw wasn't a nightmare. Nothing scary or bad happened. I just chased after some entity."

Kuya: "That doesn't explain why you were outside your house when you fell asleep in your room, though..."

Aoi: "This is just getting more confusing the more we talk about it.

Nachi : "But does the Tzuchi really have anything to do with...whatever you saw in your sleep?"

Futaba: "I have no idea anymore. People think it's all over, but I have a bad feeling that it's not. And I don't think it's going to end well."

**Flashback Ends**

Futaba let out a deep sigh as she headed inside, feeling exhausted from today's discussion. But her tiredness was interrupted when she noticed something strange near the veranda, specifically near the flower garden. As she got closer, she discovered that the yellow rose was still fresh, but the camellia flower...its petals had fallen off and scattered. Curious, Futaba picked up a petal.

Futaba: "Instead of wilting, its petals fell of...But that's strange. It was given to me yesterday. How can a flower die so quickly?"

Before she could ponder the situation further, she sensed something near her, only to see Major Aizen's dove heading towards her. This meant only one thing – there was a development in the phenomenon, and Futaba must come to the headquarters immediately. She knew time was of the essence and she had to leave immediately...

𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅 >>>>

#ayakashi romance reborn #ayakashi koi meguri #ayakoi #ayakashi fanfic #ayakashi oc

[badwithten]

PAIRING Seungmin x fem!reader

GENRE horror + angst

WORD COUNT 4.5k

WARNINGS death, stalker behaviour 

FEATURING Stalker!han

SYNOPSIS The first Christmas on your own wasn't going to be easy after the death of your husband last year. While rummaging through the attic for Christmas decorations you come across a box of his old things that you had never seen before. You hope to find some closure within but after reading his journal, more questions are asked then answered. Was his death an accident after all?

MASTERLIST

A/N this story is lowkey rushed as fuck, its such a cool concept i might explore in another story but this is all we doing for now lol

Your name is being called out from an unknown source, coming from every direction and nowhere at the same time. Your head spins trying to identify who is speaking to you. Although deep down you know, you know what his voice sounds like. It is burned into your brain, the voice of your very own guardian angel. Kim Seungmin. 

His voice was home. That warm breath in your own bed after spending the night away. The distinct taste of your coffee that only you could make right. The layout of your shower making sense, the order correct of products in relation to how you clean yourself. All these things make sense. All these things you found in Kim Seungmin.

Despite his voice being so close and so familiar, you knew this couldn't be real. As soon as you recognised the voice to be his, you stopped hoping that someone cared. It was only a dream. Kim Seungmin died last year, a fire at his workplace caused by faulty wiring. Five others lost their lives alongside him.  

Your heart almost leaps out of your chest, sending you flying up and awake. The alarm clock next to you reads 2:20 AM. You look over to his side of the bed, still empty. You're no longer dreaming. The nightmares have been getting worse lately and you have a suspicion it's due to the upcoming holiday. 

Christmas was a special event for you and Seungmin. Your families were small but having each other was enough. An entire day dedicated to each other. Your future lives together were encapsulated on this day. The children you may or may not have, personalised gifts that immortalised your love and the extra care put around your home. But this year, your home will be empty. You'd call your parents, put on some festive music and maybe pull out some old decorations. With a week til Christmas, you knew the last task had a time restraint.

The pain you felt around losing Seungmin was just as raw as the day you lost him as it is now. Nothing changed, you just got better at hiding it. You become good at masking your feelings, acting as if the unfortunate actions of the world around you didn't eat you up and rot you from the inside out. You suppose part of this masking would be decorating the house, allowing any neighbours to look over and think you’ve healed. 

Being the weekend you had all the time in the world to lounge around, starting your morning off slow with coffee and a shower before you tackled some housework. You avoided the task of going to the attic for the decorations like the plague, knowing his stuff was stored up there. But eventually, you'd done all the cleaning you could think of and no more cups of coffee could be drunk as an excuse. Dragging the dining chair down the hall to reach the attic felt like walking toward your own death sentence.

And that's exactly what this was, as soon as you crawled into the small space a box labelled “KIM SEUNGMIN'' caught your attention. All of this stuff was long forgotten, packed away in a manic state in an attempt to calm your anxiety. Although later you'd come back up to receive a few essential items you’d accidentally packed away, such as your house keys or lip balm. This box was still untouched. Your eyes travelled back and forth between the tangled mess of tinsel and lights back to the mysterious box. Curiosity got the better of you and you took the cardboard box back down to the land of the living where you placed it on the dining table. 

It was another half hour before you bought yourself to open it. You had a general idea of the contents of this box, as it was all stuff from your own home that you packed away. But the reliving of your husband's life was always something you needed to prepare for. This box contained contents from his office, his laptop, stationary, and a beanie that would've been left laying around. You give it a sniff before holding it to your chest. You still use this shampoo, it's a smell you experience every time you shower, but something about smelling it on him was different. You pull the beanie over your head before you continue. It's everyday things mostly, things you wouldn't connect to Seungmin unless you knew it was from this box. Finally, after piling officewear over your coffee table, you reach the bottom where a lonesome journal sits. 

It only takes a quick glimpse to see the notebook is only ¾ filled, the pages warped and used up to a certain point before they sit flat and clean. You open to the last page, scanning the paper and seeing the date. “28/12/2021”. The day it happened, the fire. You quickly shut it. That same fire builds up in you, you can’t bring yourself to read any more of the journal without being burnt. A rush of panic washes over you as you stash away all the things back into the box, pulling the beanie off of your head and shoving it away. Messily, nothing fits nicely as it once did. But everything needs to be out of your site and fast. Something falls but you don't look back, shoving the box back into the attic and closing it up. Your heartbeat calms slowly, bringing you into a dreamless sleep.

6 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

A day had passed since you ventured into the attic and found the box. You had since seen the journal you thought you packed away laying on the wooden floor in your lounge. First, you ignored it, leaving it on a nearby shelf to collect dust. But it constantly caught your eye, screaming for your attention. It didn't take long for your walls to crumble and for you to give in.

1/1/2021

The start of 2021! First-year started as a married man and it feels good. I’m so lucky to start this year with her by my side. This year also marks my one year with the new company, which puts me up for a promotion. My hopes are high that I will be the one getting this promotion. It’s still early morning but I am happy and grateful to be here in the new year.

15/2/2021

My workload has increased to the promotion position but no pay rise has been mentioned. I want to speak up but know that it got Han fired for the very same reason. If what he claims is true, either way, the further away he is from me the better. If it was just me I would speak up and take the risk of being fired, but Y/N is dependent on me now. We are both dependent on each other. I don't know what to do. I think she can tell something is wrong as she has started talking about picking up a second job to help pay for the bills. I’d hate for it to come down to that.

3/3/2021

I got sunburnt today. I dread coming home or back to work. Just want to disappear into the ocean forever. 

His entries are random and sporadic, with some long detailed descriptions of his days that last the week. Other small one-liners that are only updated every few weeks. Pages are taken up by photos and drawings he has captured. His writing about Han threw you off. Han had a complicated relationship with the two of you. On one hand, he was your childhood friend who supported and was happy for you when you started seeing Seungmin. On the other hand, he had a burning hate for Seungmin, angry when he supposedly stole you from Han. You hadn’t even realised Seungmin had been working with him all that time and putting up with him. You saw nothing in Han apart from a friend. When he couldn't accept that he distanced himself from you. But it seemed he only got closer to Seungmin.

The last entry was upsetting to you. He didn’t want to come home? You didn't realise the internal turmoil Seungmin was living with for the last year of his life. He kept you away from his life and his feelings. You couldn’t decide if he had done this as to not upset you or if he had done this as a way to push you out of his life. Had he fallen out of love?

You settle on the first option, and you beg and scream that it is the first option. Your Seungmin, your best friend and your soulmate. You'd refuse to believe that there was any other option as to why he kept you out. You leave the journal next to your bed falling back into a deep sleep.

“Y/N?” The voice is back, still coming from somewhere unidentifiable but this time it's a lot closer.

And once again you recognise it immediately, knowing this is a dream you crouch down and hide yourself in your arms. “Go away”

“What?” The hurt in his voice sounds so genuine and as his footsteps come closer you question whether you really are dreaming or not. “Y/N please listen to me”

Looking up you see him standing over you, even a glimpse of his face is all you need to spring up and wrap yourself around him. Holding him tight for a few moments before pulling away. His face sits in your hands as you hold him still to examine him. Nothing seemed to have changed from a year ago. His hair loose and framing his face. His dark eyes filled with so much love and care. His mouth sits partly open wanting to speak but waiting for you to finish. Your thumb passes his lips, red in comparison to the snow-white touch of his skin. His large hands capture yours, holding them in between your chest and his.

“You need to listen to me” You nod encapsulated by his beauty. “You can’t read the journal anymore. OK? You need to promise me you won't read it any further”

“What do you mean?” This journal is filling you in on parts of his life you would have never known otherwise. And you miss him so bad. It causes you physical pain anytime you think about the fact you never get to hug or hold him again. Although these dreams soothe the pain, it's only for a moment before you wake up more alone and hurt than ever. 

“It’s not going to help you. It's only gonna hurt this fantasy of yours. It’s all a delusion Y/N.” 

“I’m not delusional” You frown at the accusation. “I know this is only a dream”

“That’s not what I’m talking about Y/N” A beeping in the distance brings you away from his speech. By the time you find him again, he's away. Out of reach. You cry out to him. Needing more, but he’s gone. And soon you wake up, looking over to his side of the bed out of habit.

Empty and alone. 

5 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

Work drags on as it usually does. Most days your mind is focused on the work you need to complete before the 5 PM deadline. Today your mind is focused on the reading you’ll be doing once you're at home. The dream you had last night had your mind racing for answers. And you had a feeling the only way to achieve these were to read further despite the red flags going off in your brain. You don’t bother getting changed or starting dinner for tonight, instead, you grab yourself a glass of water and get comfortable on the couch, journal in hand.

13/5/2021

It's over. Everything I worked towards building my image to is gone! Today I got called into the office where I received an anonymous complaint about my work. Apparently, it was not up to company standards nor was it my own genuine work. I laughed at first thinking Park Jin-young would see past this considering he has been monitoring my work for my entire career and never had a problem with it. But instead, he is cutting down my hours and having my work more closely monitored. My desk has been moved closer to our general manager's office where the light flickers and gives me a headache. I can't stand it. I can’t tell Y/N. I don’t know what to do!

15/5/2021

My mind is still racing from the other day. I just can't understand it. If Park Jin-young had a problem with my work from the beginning, why didn't he say something earlier? Why keep this hidden for so long? I also don't understand who would’ve sent the anonymous tip? Was one of our contractors not happy with the work we were producing? Was it an excuse to get me fired? I will be spending more hours in my car. I can't tell Y/N.

4 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

The journal had found its way into your work bag. There was more content contained inside than you had realised and you were determined to finish it. You pulled it out on your break, it sat on the table for a long while. Something you hadn't considered was the unknown words inside. Were they going to be as upsetting as the words read from the other day? Before you get a chance to open it up and read anything, more workmates join you in the break room. Minho chose to join you at your empty table, which surprised you. People avoided you like the plague after your husband's passing. Being labelled as a widow made people think any interaction with you would bring up the dead husband talk. Something most hated.

“Is that your diary?” Minho speaks in a monotone voice but you know he's only teasing. You smile.

“It’s Seungmins” You know what's gonna come next, the regret in his eyes and apologies spilling from his mouth. For once you wished he could be spoken about as if he wasn't a bad thing. As if he was a real person. Today was not that day.

“My apologies, I didn't mean to-”

“It's ok” You cut him off, holding the smile on your face as you sip the coffee you held in front of your face. “I’ve just been reading it now and again”

You can see his eyes searching for another conversation, but as you know, the dead husband really dampens the mood. You excuse yourself from the table, taking your things to the bathroom with you. 

27/8/12

I don't think Y/N has noticed my shorter hours. I spend most of my free time in my car filling in this stupid journal. All the things I wish I dared to speak. I have to take out my savings to pay my part of the bills. Seeing the number go down instead of up is upsetting but unless I stop being a coward, there's not much I can do about that. 

28/8/12

The same red Chevrolet Monte Carlo is parked across the road from our house. The driver is unidentifiable due to his hoodie and cap. It freaks me out but I know I’m jumping to the worst-case scenario. This could be another husband hiding his unemployment from his wife. 

5/9/12

It was our 1 year marriage anniversary today. I can't even feel good about that. I can't afford to treat Y/N the way she deserves. She needs better, I need to do better for her. 

28/9/12

It’s been a month and every day without fail the red car is parked near our house. I want to believe it's a neighbour I have not yet met but I never see the driver enter or leave the car. Whoever it is has nothing better to do. But then again, neither do I. 

3 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

Ever since reading his last few entries, you keep an eye out for the famous red car. Although you don't know what the make or model he mentioned actually means. A red car outside your house would be enough to scare you. But every time you part the blinds to look or check the mailbox, there's no car.

It's a sense of relief that doesn’t last for long as your phone starts ringing. Your mum's contact photo flashes on the screen. You weren’t close to your family in the way most people your age were. But you didn't hate them, there wasn’t any trauma or arguments that kept you apart. But you had just distanced yourself from the world after you had lost him. Unfortunately, this included your closest family. 

“Hey mum” You try your best to sound happy about this call, but the smile drops from your face when you hear the voices from other family members in the background.

“Hi my darling, how have you been?” 

“Good thanks. Look mum I’m kinda busy right now. Can I call you back?” You only feel slightly bad about lying. You will call her back, eventually. Just whenever you can guarantee it's just her and dad. 

“Now hold on a second, I haven't heard from you all month. Can’t you spare five minutes for me?” She doesn’t give you a chance to reply before she continues with her lecture. “We are all so worried about you. Ever since you know who died you haven't been the same darling. I don't think its a good idea for you to be alone this Christ-”

“His name is Seungmin mum” The line rings in silence, her inability to help or support you speaks volumes through her empty reply. “I’ll call you later”

2 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS

17/11/2021

I finally did it! I confronted Park Jin-young about my hours! It didn't take much convincing considering how low-staffed we are but he agreed that my work had improved in quality. Maybe the lessening of hours was just a scare tactic. There's definitely something off about it but I can’t put my finger on it. At least I will be able to treat Y/N this Christmas. 

Your hand reaches for the silver necklace he got you last Christmas, something you hadn't taken off since. It wasn't anything super expensive from your knowledge, but it was priceless to you. The chain often got tangled, but you'd put in the work to keep it neat. For him.

You had errands to run today, it would be a rush but you needed to get them done before shops closed for Christmas eve. But as you make your way outside to your car, you see it. Your heart stops. The dreaded red car Seungmin has mentioned so frequently. Now, this could be any red car, but the driver is wearing a hoodie and glasses, the same way Seungmin saw him. You can't tell where this mystery man is looking thanks to the tinted glass covering his eyes, but you think it's fair to say he was looking at you. As soon as your eyes caught him, he looked away, starting his car and driving off in a rush. 

You're frozen in place. Who was this man and what did he want with you?

1 DAY TO CHRISTMAS

25/12/2021

This morning was the happiest I’ve felt in a long time. I’m at peace. I struggle to talk about how I’m feeling, even with Y/N. Things build up but this morning I was able to let everything go without blowing up. I feel so lucky to be able to experience such bliss. I wish every day was like this. But I return to work soon and so does Y/N. We made breakfast together and opened gifts in our bed. I don’t want to let go of this feeling.

27/12/2021

I got to spend another day with Y/N yesterday and as nice as that was I’m back to work and so is she. To be honest with you I am scared for what this day holds for me. The red car is outside the building and I can see the driver is Han. Which means he's back at work. But why was he at our house? I will confront him when I see him leave his car but to be honest I don't want to. I don't want to tell Y/N either. I need to but I can’t. I am still a coward and not even half the man she deserves. 

A hole is opened up in your chest that allows all the worries of the outside world to consume you. You're so lightheaded yet weighed down by anxiety all at once. A feeling of fear you truly never wish to experience again. Han Jisung worked with your husband. Han Jisung sat outside your house for months last year. Han Jisung was outside of your house yesterday. 

Discarding the journal, your shaking hands pick up the phone and dial 112. The phone rings for a long while, you struggle to even hear the line being picked up over your loud and fast breathing.

“112 what's your emergency?” The lady on the other side has heard enough horror stories for her lifetime, any piece of joy has left her which is reflected in her dull voice.

“My ex- Well he’s not my ex, this guy has been stalking me and my husband for over a year and I think he-” Your voice is erratic and out of pace, speaking faster than you can keep up with. 

“Slow down mam, is your husband there?”

“No, he's dead! It's unrelated but now this guy is after me!” Your back is pressed against your bedroom door, there's no lock so using your own strength is all you've got. “Please help me”

“Is he currently at your property?”

“No, but he will be, I just know it” Your sobbing echoes in the empty room, words barely escaping the crumbled mess that you are. 

“I’m sorry to inform you mam but without any urgent danger, I can’t help you. Contact your local police station and they should be able to send an officer to help you ok?” Dread fills your stomach, this isn't real. If she doesn’t believe you then who will? “Are you there mam?”

You press the big red button on your screen, letting your phone fall to the floor. Dragging your shaky legs up and onto your bed is a struggle. But soon you are hidden under the soft protection of your blankets. You curl up, another sob ripping through your body, this is where you lie. Waiting for death or sleep, whatever comes first. 

CHRISTMAS DAY

You wake up out of breath and aching. Your neck crumbled from the position you slept in. As you awaken your memory of last night comes to light and you rush to the front door. Making sure to secure it shut. Calming down you take a breath, your head is covered in fog and your eyes are swollen. The tears you shed last night are not forgotten this morning. Without your initial panic, you're able to do as you should've last night and call your town's police station.

“Reminder that this is not an emergency line, for an emergency please dial 112” You let the automated voice speak before it continues ringing to a real person.

“Seulgi speaking, how can I help?” She sounds young, which makes you feel guilty that she has to spend Christmas away from her family and deal with people like you. 

“Sorry to call on Christmas, but I believe I have a stalker and I have recently seen him outside of my house” Your words are a lot clearer than last night.

“Ok, am I able to get an address for that one?” You repeat back your address to her, feeling relief that someone is listening. “And do you have the name of this man?”

“Han Jisung”

Can you elaborate on your relationship with Han?”

“He had a crush on me,” The words sound childish coming out of your mouth, especially with the seriousness of the situation. “But I’m married, I turned him down. I recently found out from my husband he used to sit outside our house and watch us and I saw him watching me the other day“

“Why did you not alert the police last year? Or the other day?” Her tone is not condescending. It’s flat. She needs to know because it's her job but you don’t know how to explain your situation. She picks up on your unwillingness to answer. “I’ll send a patrol car now”

“Thank you”

“Have a good Christmas mam”

It was a waiting game now. Anytime now there was going to be a knock on the door and this would all be over. The anticipation and fear that was built up inside you would soon be split out onto someone who could protect you. In the meantime, you had one more page to read and you couldn't help yourself. You want to know what happened the day you lost your husband. It was notable enough for him to record. 

28/12/21

Han Jisung got his job back. Sort of. He started back at his old position but I’ve seen him working on maintenance around the building. I don't think he is qualified to but I am keeping my distance. I couldn't confront him yesterday but I am convinced he is here to mess with me and Y/N. I am writing this from my car, I can see him sitting in his. I am going to talk to him now. If he doesn't stop his behaviour I will be contacting the authorities. I need to do something about his behaviour, for Y/N. 

Sparks in your brain go off and things start to fall into place. Was Han the one at fault for Seungmin's death? From your knowledge, Han was very uninterested in any work that involved his hands. He enjoyed music and cooking, writing and coffee making. Even if he had gone through the necessary training, he had only been training for less than a year. He had no place working in a building that size. He had no place near Seungmin. He put his life in danger. It was Han Jisung who ended Kim Seungmin's life.

As your blood begins to boil, a knock on the door interrupts you. You wipe away the tears you didn't notice falling and head towards the front door. It all ends here, with the help of the officer behind this door you will put an end to the suffering Han Jisung put you through for the last year, unknown to you. 

You pull open the door and your eye immediately goes to the bright red car parked outside your house. Your heart drops as you make eye contact with the man in front of you. His gummy smile and charming eyes. Han Jisung is standing at your door. His hands conceal something behind his back. And although he's got his usual smirk on his face, his eyes hide something much more sinister.

“Merry Christmas Y/N”

#k-labels #stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids x y/n #skz #skz x reader #skz x y/n #seungmin #kim seungmin #seungmin x reader #seungmin x y/n

[ruksahiroku]

A little about Ruksa, my OC for Obey Me!

I was looking for good charts to use for my Obey Me! MC Ruksa, in case anyone wanted to know about my MC. I found one during unrelated browsing on @lorkai 's page, and then followed their link to @fandom-scatteredthoughtsonpaper 's page. They created this amazing template, so to them, thank you soooo much! (Sorry for tagging you without permission, I'll remove it if you prefer.)

And to you reading this, Thanks for taking an interest!

Personal - Basics

[Name] Ruksa Hiroku

[Race/Species]

Demon [] Angel [] Human [X] Other: []

[Age] 23

[Birthday] April 5

[Height] 68 inches / 5'8” /173cm

[Fingernail Polish Color(s)] None. VERY occasionally brown or grey.

[Hair color/description] Magenta hair, darker than Mephistopheles'. Waist length, usually in a high ponytail.

[Identifying Features] Scar that runs through the right eye. A small explosion caused shrapnel to fly everywhere, and a piece of the tank got embedded in my eye. I am 90% blind in that eye, but I heard people dig scars... (;

Personal - In-depth

[Gender | Pronoun(s)] Female, she/her

[Sexual/Romantic Orientation] Bisexual, leans toward straight.

[Occupation Before Devildom Life] Mechanic.

[Favorite Color(s)] Brown, Red, Grey, and Black

[Personality]

MBTI: ESTJ-A (Calm and collected instead of emotional responses.)

Zodiac: Aries

Personal - Other

[Likes] Cooking, Drinking, Hiking, Travel, fixing things, delicate work (think painting miniatures or making circuit boards).

[Dislikes] Her human family, Bland food, Hangovers, Children and Fighting.

[Positive Traits] Will help someone out if they need it, comforting friends/family, Taking the lead in groups.

[Negative Traits] Taking the lead in groups (you know some people hate it), Stubborn independence, Turning into a rage tornado when someone pisses her off or messes with her work (So mad Satan is Proud. Hence why shes hates fighting. Not because she dislikes Satan, just that she gets so angry).

Relationships

• Fears | Dislikes | Acquaintances | Friends | Close Friends | Crush | Loves | Indifferent | Tolerates | Respects | Suspicious

[With Demons]

Lucifer – Friends / Respects.

Mammon – Close Friends / Tolerates.(Sometimes he can be a bit much).

Leviathan – Friends / Tolerates.(just because I pass out on you doesn't mean you have to SCREAM about it. My ears, Levi.).

Satan – Close Friends.

Asmodeus – Dislikes / Tolerates.[Sometimes I want to punch his pretty-boy face].

Beelzebub – Close Friends / Respects He always gives honest feedback on my food. It's improved a lot since I first came to the Devildom, but he still eats too much...

Belphegor – Acquaintances / Suspicious. He DID try to kill me... He does feel bad... But I'm not ready to forgive him yet. I'm still bitter.

Diavolo – Acquaintances / Respects. I suppose I wouldn't mind becoming friends, but his immature plans are almost worse than the brothers'. He's the future king, and he's getting on the right path by tying to make peace with the realms, even if that meant disappearing suddenly.

Barbatos – Loves / Respects / Secret Observer. Yeah, I watch him in class. I still pay attention and get good grades, so I'm allowed to indulge. I wouldn't want to make his life and his work harder though, so I'll just watch.

[With Angels]

Simeon – Acquaintances / Suspicious. He's hiding something. He is probably the evil angel of the Celestial Realm, or something. He hides things and is cunning and suave. He's good, but I'll be there when he slips up.

Luke – Dislikes/ Tolerates. I don't like kids. I put up with him because he is an angel, and occasionally does profound things... I don't like children.

Michael – Unknown. He's a shiny voice I think I heard once..

[With Humans]

Solomon – Dislikes / Respects / Suspicious. He's powerful and stuff, sure, and can be fun to hang around with in small doses, but he's also shady and hides things. If I had one guess as to how he nearly died and became immortal, it was that a reaper took pity on his dumb ass for the “food” he “cooked”, but cursed him to only like the food that killed him. Eventually his brain cells rotted and he forgotit killed him...

Favorite Things About the Devildom

[Favorite Job(s)] Ristorante Six & The Royal Library

[Favorite Place(s) to Hang at] Mammon's Car – I barely have anywhere to even LOOK at cars, let alone touch them! Demon Lord's Castle – There are just so many rooms to explore, and I do love coming for tea..

[Favorite Food(s)] Lava Fruit pie, and Pasta with Shadow Hog meat.

[Favorite Class Subject(s)] Potions & Poisons (Learned a food poisoning antidote, it's a life-saver!!), Devildom Food & Drink, and Math.

[Favorite Devildom Version of Something from the Human World] The Devildom Symphony Orchestra, those Blue Crystal flowers (Forget what they're called, sure I have the demonet [internet?], but, I don't wanna look it up).

Least Favorite Things About the Devildom

[Least Favorite Job(s)] The Fall & Akuzon Delivery Center

[Least Favorite Places to Go] None that I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe that snowy mountain? Reminds me too much of home, I suppose..

[Least Favorite Foods] Solomon's cooking, but I think that's a given..? Any of the three Realm's instant noodles... Oh, and Bufo Egg Milk Tea. I know it's just bubble tea, but when they throw that it's a creature's eggs into the mix.. No.

[Disliked Class Subject(s)] Human History. It's just history of what demons did to influence our history... Devildom Law (Yawn), and Drama.

[Stuff that Can be Considered a Negative About the Devildom] They don't accept my driver's license here! I have to start from scratch, and it's a two year program! I'm furious! ...Ugh, I'll just work on engines to cool off..

Personality Chart

Thanks again! I'll be adding some art I made myself, as well as some Picrew avatars I liked.

This might be for a fic that is totally self-serving if I ever get around to posting it.

#obey me one master to rule them all #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me ocs #obey me mc #ruksa's creations

[n-amelessart]

[AUDIO RECORDING ATTACHED TO REPORT SUBMTED BY MATRON GATE COMMUNICATIONS TOWER]

RECEIVED BY: Matron Gate

SENT BY: UNKNOWN

DATE: 143/73 NC

TIME: Ert- 3:17AM UTC

[START TRANSCRIPTION]

> Sender (S): *Static* -work? *Static* Light? But - *Prolonged static*

> Operator 1 (O1): Hey, someone’s on your channel. Pick it up, the static drives me nuts.

> Operator 2 (O2): Who could possibly be trying to reach us right now? *Chair squeaks and machine clicks* This is Matron Gate under the authority of the EUC, identify yourself.

> S: *Static* All it does is -*Static* 

> O2: I repeat, this is Matron Gate. Under the authority of the EUC, identify yourself.

> S: *Static* -it? Oh. There we go. Uh - hello! This is - um. [distant:] Hey! What am I supposed to say?... “Anything” doesn’t help! [clear:] Well whatever, here we go. Hello, this is an audio diary. The jackass over there said keeping records is important, so we will be chronicling whatever needs... chronicling. Though I’m not -

> O2: Hello? Can you hear me? This is an official channel. Disconnect from -

> S: - sure what would be worthwhile. Uh, lets see... we are currently in a room. And it is dark. I’m doing this wrong, aren’t I?

> O2: - this channel immediately. I repeat  this is an -

> S: Mmm... I guess you aren’t wrong. Wait no - was that recorded? No no no how do you delete? *Metal hitting metal*

> O2: -official channel, switch - Hey? Hello? Can you hear me? Boss, I need a little help here. I don’t think these guys can hear me.

> S: *metal hitting metal continues, indistinct shouting in the background.*

> O1:  Just close the channel, it isn’t even that important.

> O2:  You sure? I’m not going to take responsibility for that.

> O1: What? It’s your channel, of course it’s your responsibility.

> O2: Nope. No way. There’s no way I am telling the Chief that I turned off an official channel.

> S: *Arguing gets clearer* I will not have the first words of this journal be, “you’re right!”

> O1: She isn’t that scary kid. Put on your holster and tell it to her straight.

> O2: She definitely is that scary. Tell her yourself. You put on your holster.

> S: *Arguing and hitting stops* From the top. This is a record of a couple of morons in the Drifting City. 

> O1: Fine, keep it open. Turn the volume down and run a trace on them, file a report it after you get a location.

>O2: Alright, I’ll do that. Starting trace.

> S: We found this recording device in a storage room near the bridge, where we currently are. The bridge that is. Jackass over here is acting like a smartass now, saying there’s probably important stuff here but all we’ve found is broken, unidentifiable or both. It’s not like we’re engineers. Hmmm... what else? What’s even worth talking about? My shoes suck. Worn through the soles ages ago, I think I’m going to wear through my feet next. Walking around with nubs like one of those V-Models. Jackass hasn’t had shoes for a while now. Oh right. My left arm is busted, so that is something we’re looking out for though there isn’t going to a fix anywhere around here. There’s gotta be a place that could help but it’s not like we know where we’re going. Of course there’s the chance that place is busted up too. We can worry about that later, it’s not - 

> O2: How far out are they? The trace hasn’t come back with anything yet.

> O1: They said they’re at the Drifting City. Maybe that’s an orbiter? Or one of those caravan groups?

> S: a problem really. It’s been years so I’ve basically adapted. Having two arms might actually throw me off. [Distant voice] That doesn’t mean we’re gonna stop looking! Jackass is heartless by the way. All he cares about are ships. He was a pilot once or something. Next time he want’s to tell that story I’m just gonna hand over the recorder, if I hear it one more time I’ll have to remove my own ears. Sorry, but you guys are the suckers that’ll deal with it. And well... I suppose that’s it for now. I don’t have much to say at the moment so I guess I’ll make another recording when something interesting happens. Uhhhmmm... yeah. The end. [Sender leaves the channel]

> O1: Whelp, there they go, did the trace finish? ... Hello? Did you find out where they are?

> O2: Boss...

> O1: You’re freaking me out, kid.

> O2: ...They aren’t anywhere in the Belt.

> O1: What?

> O2: They are further out than... any settlement I know of.

> O1: Maybe they’re at some kind of outpost? There are a couple small ones as far out as Titan. Or what about some kind of jammer hiding their location?

> O2: ... I don’t know. Jammers can hide their location but it’s pretty obvious when one is being used and I am not getting any signs of that here.

> O1: An outpost then?

> O2: It would have to be, but why would their contact be here and not a closer orbiter or city or something?

> O1: What do you think it is then?

> O2: ... I’m going to report this, someone from the Expedition Department might be more familiar with long range communications.

> O1: Eh, suit yourself. Don’t forget to take the room recording with you.

> O2: Right, will do... wait, the entire room recording? Even when we we talking about the Chief?

> O1: You can cut out those parts, that isn’t necessary for a report.

[END TRANSCRIPTION]

[REMINDER: All recordings submitted with a report and/or with a request must be unedited for the report and/or request to be considered valid.]

#story #write #writer #writing #writer on tumblr #fiction #scifi #sci fi #science fiction #mystery #dialogue #character dialogue #comedic dialogue #funny dialogue #transcription #audio transcription #audio log #funny characters