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helenazbmrskai · 3 years

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title ‹ Christmas bribery ›

pairing ‹ soldier!seokjin x oc ›

genre ‹ Christmas/holiday au, strangers to lovers, fluff, angst but barely there ›

summary ‹ This is the first time you can’t go home and celebrate Christmas with your family so your mom makes sure you don’t spend the holidays alone happy to learn that Seokjin, your mother’s best friend’s son is taking his annual leave near the 22nd of December from Military services. This story is about the biggest Christmas bribery of the century. ›

warnings ‹ swear words here and there, bad puns? ›

word count ‹ 6.2k ›

notes. I’m here to deliver a light read to set the mood for the holidays and I hope all of you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the process of writing it. In this Christmas collab, I had the chance to meet with these amazing people so I’m sharing this story as a gift and as a thank you!

this is part of the Christmas fic collab that was suggested by @kooala please check out the masterpost and enjoy every story we share!

”You did what?!” I feel dizzy due to the sudden movement of my body jerking up in a sitting position, crisscrossing my legs under me as my hand holds up the phone to my right ear a little bit more pressingly after hearing the breaking news. That she tells me with a singing tone sounding so excited but I can’t seem to share her sentiments as the bewilderment decorating my voice is in sharp contrast with the silence that settled on the cosy apartment like a thick feather-filled duvet. Nibbling on my thin lips I locate the single gingerbread scented candle on my desk still illuminating the interior of my messy bedroom the flames licking up the walls and disappearing near the ceiling, creating pretty shapes and lights over the dull paint, it helps me regain my composure before I realise that mom is not yet finished talking.

”Well he needed a place to stay and busses won’t go out because of the upcoming storm his apartment is in Daegu and I’m sure he’ll be tired from the flight.” Flicking on the lights I take in the sight, clothes piled up on the chair’s armrest whilst dirty plates littering every usable surface, fuck, if my room looks like a pigsty I don’t want to imagine how the other rooms are looking right now.

I was so immersed in doing great on my finals that I don’t think I cleaned the space up for a while.

I should start doing my laundry so I have something to wear as I already look to be out of clean t-shirts inspecting the pile of unwashed jeans and other garments, momentarily embarrassed to see I’m also out of room to place new dirty clothes on top of all these.

”What are you implying mother?” Pursing my lips, I honestly start to lose her train of thoughts as her rant goes on and my eyes wander over the state my apartment is in after stressful weeks but knowing her ways she’ll start with building on my conscience until she realises that I’m no longer an unsuspecting five-year-old girl and she’ll pull out the big guns and dust off her bribing skills.

Whatever her plan is, she always makes me go accordingly no matter how much I try to resist or protest and I feel a knot form in my throat at that. If this is about my non-existent dating life again that she called me to discuss in the dread of the night, I swear I’m gonna flip a table or something.

”You remember Sunha’s eldest son?” Answering back with a question as she often likes to do, doesn’t throw me off balance as it used to.

I’m long ago accustomed to getting her ways to twist the conversation to her favour so I’m ready to fire back my reply in the same form matching her up. ”How is your best friend’s son has to do with any of this?” Utterly confused by the mention, that must lace my tone since she lets a lightsome laugh bubble up in her chest I can picture her dimples are showing in full display because of it.

”Did you even pay attention to a word I said?” She sounds more amused than accusing, letting me know that she actually doesn’t mind how my head gets airy sometimes, her playfulness earns a groan from my side of the line, it’s getting pretty late and I have not enough brain cells left for her mind games.

”Spit it out, mom. You know I love you but I had a rough week so spare me of your wicked schemes.” I breathe out the words orbs closing involuntarily as I rest my head against the door frame. Where was I going anyway?

Maybe I should go for a hot chocolate before bed.

It’ll be weird not seeing my family for the holidays but I don’t want my mom to worry about me so I made sure to be extra cheerful all the time when she called only ignored her attempts of reaching me like one or two times as I had to study for two last exams and now that I can finally relax the exhaustion seems to catch up to me. I’m fine being on my own, making food and seasonal sweets while I watch tv without any interruptions, sounds like an excellent plan for Christmas, not caring how loud my music is or how bad my singing voice is under the shower.

No family means sweet alone time awaits, no one will tell me to go to sleep and I didn’t need to worry what kind of a present I should purchase at least for a little while.

”Do you remember Seokjin or not Y/N? This conversation will last longer if you don’t cooperate with me.” I can practically see her eye roll directed at me in front of my eyes despite she’s twenty miles away from here, wishful thinking on my part that she’ll let this conversation go if I ask her to stop beating around the bush.

”I don’t know. Maybe?” A fragment of my memory is triggered by hearing his name, and a scenario appears out of nowhere that was a few years ago in Sunha’s second marriage ceremony as I stand in a pastel lavender dress.

Mother was otherworldly happy for Sunha that day she dragged me with her as she chatted away mixing with the guests until we settled down to our table - when the cake cutting took place - that consisted of the bride and groom themselves and close family members like Sunha’s sons and his significant other’s daughter and, of course, my mother and I was present too.

I remember sitting down and just looking ahead aimlessly when I locked gazes with a handsome man his posture was immaculate and he seemed happy for his mother but couldn’t hide how restlessly he fidgetted in his seat, his eyes couldn’t settle watching only one thing, he even looked skittish as he jumped in his seat when the girl sitting on his left tried to catch his attention. Our eye contact lasted less than five seconds and his presence remained for thirty minutes at most as he apologised to her mother and everyone at the table since he had some urgent affairs to attend to.

I probably looked shocked for the reason that mom whispered the words into my ear when he left so suddenly to make sense of things. ”That’s Jin, her eldest son he serves in the army he probably couldn’t get a full day off because of his duties.” After humming in an understanding gesture I fixed my gaze onto the cake slice in front of me.

I remember that man clearly but with purpose, I don’t elaborate further than that, so she doesn’t have the compromitting piece of information to latch onto and make it a bigger issue. She would be elated to know I do remember Kim Seokjin, well, he’s hard to forget in the first place, he smiled only once as his mother hugged him at the table and even if it lasted for less than a second the expression was captivating. Howbeit if she tells me that she organised a date with him I’m going to slam my head to the closest hard surface I can tell. He’s so out of league and dating someone with such a dangerous profession at that, it’s not going to work, doesn’t matter how much I find him attractive and charming.

”It doesn’t matter I guess. You two could get to know each other eventually as he’ll stay at your apartment.” She drops the bomb before disconnecting the call, she doesn’t even wait for my protests this time around. A groan leaves my lips while I look around the house promptly throwing my phone to land on my bed in the means of letting out some of my frustration. I need to get going and make this house presentable again, that hot chocolate needs to wait I guess.

from: unknown number

[7.22 AM] Hi it’s Seokjin. My plane will take off at 9ish can you send me your address?

Grabbing my phone from the kitchen counter I open the message from the unknown number the device almost slips through my fingertips as I rake my eyes over the content hesitant about how to reply I turn to my friend who so generously offered her help to tidy up my living space a little before my unrequested guest arrives. With a broom in her hand, she looks back at my weird facial expression.

”What is it? It’s him?” Gaun asks abandoning her cleaning tools to read the message as well peaking over my shoulder in order to do that. ”He sounds so uptight even in text. Brr.” She shakes her shoulders in simple displeasure that earns an eye roll from me, it’s not that he’ll send hearts when our encounter was years ago for like five seconds. Honestly, I’m surprised that mom and Sunha were able to talk him into this in the first place.

”He’s a soldier Gaun and on the contrary, we don’t know each other he has no reason to be friendly.” Gnawing on my lower lip I click on the message to reply, typing a few lines before I deleted it and rewrote it before hitting send.

[7.34 AM] Hey of course. Call me if you don’t find your way.

[7.34 AM] *google map link attached*

from: Seokjin

[7.35 AM] I will thank you

”Let’s hurry up we don’t have that much time.” I place the phone back on the counter resuming my cleaning and Gaun starts to swipe the floor where she left off all the while I can hear the washing machine work in the distance.

I could feel my heartbeat in the pit of my stomach when the doorbell finally rang and at the other side of the door, there’s Kim Seokjin in all of his glory, that handsome soldier I got a sneak peek at his mother’s wedding wearing a formal suit and tie combo that he pulled of so nicely. I wipe my hands with a towel leaving the leftover plates in the sink as I rush to open the door for him.

”Hi.” I greet him with a friendly smile plastered on my face, I have to tilt my chin upwards to meet his eyes, he’s even taller than I remembered and he’s wearing his military uniform. My hold on the doorknob tightens how unfairly handsome he is with his hair parted in both sides leaving his forehead uncovered his uniform is well fitted and compliments the curves of his waist and thighs the cherry on top is his platform jet black boots that matches with the colour of his hair that I love so much.

A well trained German Sheppard sits near his foot with his tongue out as soon as I crouch down to pet him so focused on the animal that I almost don’t catch Seokjin’s timid ’hello’ in return, the dog’s tail starts to wag furiously seeing my face at his eye level he throws me off balance as he marches forward for more pets.

”I’m sorry he’s not normally like this.” The handsome boy offers a hand to help me up with a sheepish look, I accept the extended hand with a faint blush ignoring the pain that shoots up to my ass because of the impact with the floor. His hand is bigger than mine as it gets fully enveloped in his warm ones.

”Mom didn’t tell me you have a dog,” I chuckle lightly as I pet the dog’s head one last time unsure what to do with my hand that he no longer holds. ”I mean, she didn’t tell me much just told me you’ll come today.” His unique laugh sounded nice ringing in my ears, it made me smile up at him as he playfully shook his head. It’s weird how relaxed I feel around his presence when I was shaking with nerves just moments prior, and I’m still not entirely comfortable with him but his whole aura has a calming effect on my body. I don’t think I’ve ever met with someone that makes me feel so at ease when it’s basically our first meeting.

”Yeah, well, I think we both got played by our mothers.” I have to agree on that one with him. Realising that we’re still standing in front of my entrance I beckon him to come inside stepping out of the way so he could easily slide his luggage beside him his dog’s paws leave imprints on the clean floor but I don’t mind it as he looks so excited about everything inside sniffing and exploring while Jin tries to make him behave scratching his neck when his dog doesn’t seem to listen to a single word.

”Sorry he’s making a mess.” Seokjin apologises seeing the muddy paw marks after connecting our eyes for a few seconds he follows the steps into the kitchen. ”No Cookie that’s not food for you.” The young soldier immediately runs after his companion when he tries to steal the cinnamon rolls from the kitchen counter and I can’t help but laugh at the sight as he scolds the dog.

This is going to be an interesting holiday season I can already tell.

”I can’t believe this fucking jar.” I contemplate to smash it against the counter after spouting several curse words when a hand landed on mine directly on the jar’s lid, I feel Cookie’s fur brush against my exposed leg having enough evidence to know who’s this arm belongs to and I turn around in a moment of weakness. Jin’s hair rests on the top of his head in a messy style sweat dampening the ends.

”Need some help?” His eyes hold a childlike glow in them as he brushes his fingers against mine replacing my digits with his and the lid pops easily in his hands.

I can’t say this display of physical strength doesn’t make him even more attractive in my eyes I barely pay attention to the fact that he stands so close I can feel his chest meet mine as we breathe handing back the opened strawberry jam.

”Thanks.” I hastily turn to avoid his gaze even though that doesn’t offer much advantage as he leans closer pushing his chest against the line of my back watching as my hands spread the jam over the walnut biscuits.

”Want a taste?” Feeling bolder than usual I face him again holding up a finished treat to his mouth, Jin makes a surprised sound in the back of his throat but parts his lips obediently letting me slip the food between his teeth.

”I’ll leave as a stuffed chicken if you keep feeding me these delicious treats.” Despite the indication, he doesn’t seem against the food I offer as he tries to steal one more from the plate but I pull his hand away curling my fingers around his wrist.

”Let me finish before you devour my hard work you pig.” I roll my eyes watching his childlike antics, he seems to take pleasure in riling me up from time to time. It’s been two days since he and his companion Cookie arrived and things just worked out smoothly Jin is a nice person with horrendous jokes but he does help out a lot around the apartment he even fixed my broken ladder so we can decorate the Christmas tree that he insisted we need to purchase when I told him I was not going to go all out and celebrate this year. After all, I was supposed to be here on my own.

He’s so used to training at headquarters that he leaves every morning to run for an hour before he comes back all sweaty and satisfied finding me eating my breakfast or drinking my coffee it doesn’t matter what’s in my hands he always needs to get the last bites from it. He’s really not good for my heart.

”Since you’re doing the sweets how about I make us lunch today?” Jin asks excitedly resting his head on top of mine gently careful not to put too much weight on me, my heart speeds up at the sweet gesture not trusting my words so I nod instead. One of these days I can’t wrap my head around his intentions, he looks so nonchalant as he does things like resting his head on me or patting my knee when we watch tv together with Cookie curled around us on the couch.

”I can’t work like this.” I use the excuse to separate our bodies, is it just me or the kitchen is getting hotter by every passing second, or it’s just my cheeks heating up due to his body moulding perfectly with mine. It doesn’t help either that I remember he’s sweaty under his shirt after his daily exercise smelling nice when he probably shouldn’t have. I busy my hands to glue the biscuits together with the jam moving slightly to the side a little further from Jin’s warm body, he doesn’t say anything else as he decides to leave the kitchen Cookie stays for the sake of finishing his meal before going on a quest to find his owner leaving me behind with my thoughts.

I wrap things up quickly after that, placing the treats in the middle so Cookie can’t reach it and clean up the jam stains before retreating to my room.

It’s a pleasant surprise to check my phone and see that my mom tried to reach me an hour ago, she’s up uncharacteristically early. Too curious to find out what she wants I dial her number without a second thought, it’s been three days that she called and that time she told me Jin will stay at my place until he has to go back to the army. Whenever I think about that a frown seems to climb its way up to my expression I got used to seeing him around the house that I tend to forget he won’t be around when the new year comes and it’s scary to think about how attached I feel to him or rather how lonely I’ll feel once this is all over. He’s a busy man in general and serving under the Military’s name means he can’t be here when I need him, it would be as painful in the long run as a long-distance relationship would be. Not that I assume he’s interested in me that way.

”Hey mom sorry I didn’t hear your call. Is everything alright?” I press my phone to my left ear, closing the door behind with the help of my foot before sitting down at the edge of my bed. Seokjin’s low hum and the sound of pots and pans indicate that he started soon after I left the kitchen, it’s early to start lunch already but Jin is always restless like that.

He needs to find things to do or fix because he gets bored easily, he told me that when I picked up on his punctuality that he always has to move like a clockwork at the base he developed a habit of making use of himself and he needs to constantly do things to keep his restless energy at bay so he can sleep well at night.

He wakes up exactly at six in the morning every day even without setting up his alarm. I think it’s endearing when he thumps his foot absentmindedly even if he’s watching a movie he’s interested in, legs spread wide in a comfortable position on the sofa, his body just never relaxes completely.

”Yes dear I called early to say Merry Christmas to my baby!” I giggle in response hearing her excitement conveyed through her voice. ”I hope you enjoy your Christmas present.” Her tone turned suggestive and my laughter died down, heat rose to my cheeks and my thoughts spiralled to Seokjin’s direction.

”What’s that supposed to mean?” I glance at the door listening for the noises to make sure Jin can’t hear my flustered tone, he’s still in the kitchen and that helps me relax a little until my mom’s knowing hum filled the silence in the conversation.

”Are you getting on well with Jin right? He’s a real sweetheart so treat him nice ok?” Can’t help but all the more agree with her, he’s very considerate and funny, I think he’s the one who’s treating me nice even though I supposed to be the host, he helps out a lot and good company to be around. He sometimes misplaces my things like moving plates to a higher shelf when he knows I can’t reach it there without his help and he cracks terrible jokes that I secretly like very much and Cookie is the apple of my eye already, I think he listens to me more than he listens to Jin at this point (there might be a tiny connection that I often give him special treats during his owner's absence) and I found it hilarious as he sulks on the couch calling his dog a ’traitor’ when he decides to rest his head on my lap instead of Seokjin’s.

Little things like that make me like Seokjin more and more with each passing day.

”I’m treating him just fine mom he said he gained weight since his arrival blaming it on me, don’t worry and enjoy the holidays with dad, after all, it’s the first time that you two could celebrate with just him after so long.”

”Will do darling. I hope you’ll have a wonderful time as well I know that finals were stressing you out so I hope that you are able to relax now.” We deemed the conversation finished after wishing each other happy holidays again and for once I feel like I can mean my words as I feel relaxed around a certain someone.

”Want to place the star on top?” Jin shoved the decoration piece in front of my face whilst I placed food on the coffee table to feast upon as we watch classic Christmas movies until we can’t keep our eyes open since it’s the first day of Christmas.

”I’m not stepping on that ladder you fixed, it looks like a death trap.” Eyeing all the nails and patches on the poor thing.

”If it can hold my weight so can yours.” Jin states the facts, placing the star into my opened palm with a mischievous grin. ”I’ll hold you so don’t be a baby and decorate with me, it’s not as fun doing it alone.” That pout, dangerous and he knows that I can’t possibly say no to that when he asks me so nicely with that adorable full lips of his.

”If I fall I’m dragging you with me, just saying.” I keep our eye contact to get my point across with a meaningless glare, the corners of my lips twitch to morph into a smile hearing his happy chuckles using that moment to turn to the ladder taking the first step up the stair the scent of Jin’s aftershave hit my sensitive nose feeling his hands curve around my hip squeezing my sides to reassure me he’s here to catch me. I can blame my wobbly legs because of the shaky ladder or on my fear of high places but I can’t fool myself that the delicate shake that overpowers my body is because of the excitement I feel as I daydream about his hands on different parts of my body. It feels nice to be held by him.

”Hold on for deer life then.” A fond smile appears on my face hearing him laugh on the pun he just told me, forget my inner turmoil in the meantime placing the star to add the last piece before we declare it’s complete.

I almost can’t mask the look of disappointment I feel when he lets me go once my feet are planted on the ground the star placed on top.

”Told you it’s safe. I’m here to keep you in one piece, sugar.” His hand landing on the top of my head, caressing my hair for the time length of two outdrawn strokes before he lets his fingers fall beside his body to prop around his hips observing the tree with so much excitement that he failed to see my blush due to the pet name that probably just slipped out without any meaning behind it.

”No Cookie it’s not yours love.” I catch him before he can bite a big chunk out of our late night dinner as we’re not paying attention, it created an opportunity for him that he would’ve been foolish to disregard.

”Cheeky pretty thing just like his owner, huh?” It slips out as I pet Cookie’s head kneading the soft short furs around his ears that he knocks our heads together in beaming excitement because of the affection.

”Cookie really likes you Y/N.” The affectionate gaze he looks at me with knocks the air out of my lungs, it sounded like for a split second that he means he likes me too. Wishful thinking I remind myself before looking away clearing my throat to get things started plopping down onto the couch with a big huff leaving my lips.

”I’m starving, get your fat ass over here so we can watch Grinch.” I beam at him acting like his previous comment doesn’t hit hard as I pull my plate closer taking a bite out of the grilled chicken.

”How rude-olf of you!” He fakes his crocodile tears but as his ass hits the fluffy blanket nearly ripping my hot cocoa out of my hands it doesn’t seem like he’s feeling an ounce of hurt over my words. It’s silent for a while as we bash under the Christmas lights our faces illuminated by the tv munching on our food and sweets laid out before us Cookie resting on the rug near our feet.

”It’s been a while since I had such a nice Christmas.” Jin sighs burrowing his face onto my shoulder I can feel his breath fan over my skin the movie is long forgotten as I let his words sink in. Tired to fight the urge I tilt my head to rest it against his the moment appears to be too intimate for strangers let alone friends. ”You smell nice too.” I feel his nose around my neckline turning further into me as he inhales the scent of my hair, maybe it’s because it’s getting late but I let the feelings wash over me.

”Did you drink from my mother’s ’secret Santa’ labelled punch or something? I told you she’s a witch when it comes to alcoholic beverages.” I laugh lightheartedly and Jin follows suit hitting my left thigh when his laugh makes me laugh harder that results in my stomach twisting in pain from all the giggling even so as he starts to tickle me to take his revenge. He manhandles me with ease as he pins my wrists with one hand over my head ticking my torso with the other straddling my hip so he can restrict my squirming under him.

”You’re stronger! That’s not fair Jin.” I whine under his crushing weight, cheeks flushed from the exercise and his close proximity an innocent smile lits up his entire face as he regards me under his form, the Christmas lights are illuminated in his dark orbs creating a pretty image of him. Hair sticking to every questionable direction full lips stretched to house his angelic smile warm radiating from his body so close to mine.

I wish this moment could last forever.

”What are you thinking about?” Tilting his head in question he looks into my eyes with a fierce expression, I gulp not knowing to say the truth or come up with something on the spot. I decided it’s time for the truth.

”That I..” My sentence gets interrupted by Cookie’s barking I haven’t realised that he around the time we were occupied left his spot and watched us with curious eyes. He licked both of our faces as soon as he had the attention and Jin got up from the couch to pet him as Cookie nudged him with his nose to show him his empty bowl.

Maybe it’s a sign that I shouldn’t. Right. What was I thinking? Seokjin is never home he serves the country all the time, married to his work to the extent that he has no time left for himself, he doesn’t have the capacity to form a serious relationship with me and he’s probably not looking for love either.

It’s for the best that we separate after the new year.

I formed a plan after almost confessing my love for him to avoid any other scenarios like this in the future, to be honest, I hated it but there’s no other way for me to get over him quickly even if my heart told me I should enjoy my little time left with him I choose to ignore his attempts at spending quality time with me.

If he asked for a movie night I told him I was busy or tired I took my meals to my room telling him that I need to pick up my studying schedule for the next semester, I had the most ridiculous reasons and I’m sure he figured me out after the second time I dismissed our plans and I can’t say seeing him hurt over my words and futile attempts at lying doesn’t felt like I was stabbed with a dozen knives into my heart.

I should have stopped myself before I got too deep because now I’m hurting both of us even if he’s only mourning for a lost friend.

A scratching noise interrupted the flow of my thoughts I tiptoe all the way to the door looking around before my eyes land on a restless Cookie. He reminds me so much of his owner but he normally stays with Jin I wonder what is he doing here scratching on my door. Is he out perhaps?

”What’s wrong? You seem sad.” I crouch to his level so I can caress his fur and his tail begin to wag instantly when I pull back Cookie grabs my sleeve with his teeth careful not to hurt me before he pulls me out of my room. I try to regain my footing but he pulls me harder until my door shuts behind my back.

”Cookie. What’s up with you suddenly?” I ask him even if I know there’s no reply to wait for I observe his body language before realisation lit up in my round orbs. ”You want me to follow you somewhere sweetheart?” Hearing that he let go suddenly making me lose my balance and collide with the floor cushioning the hit with my butt just like the first time I met him when he nearly run me over with excitement. He tumps his foot as he walks away hardly leaving enough time to catch up to him. He sits down in front of Seokjin’s door, or precisely the guest room he occupies for a short period I remind myself. My eyes soften after noticing it’s his way of showing that he doesn’t want us to part in bad terms. He’s smart.

I take in a deep breath mulling over if I should talk to Jin but looking at Cookie’s hopeful eyes I can’t possibly turn around and ignore this anymore. Jin deserves a better explanation than just accepting the fact one day I ghosted him.

I raise my hand to knock on his door when I hear his voice, he’s talking to someone over the phone since I didn’t hear the front door opening or closing that would mean we have a guest and I don’t think he would invite someone here without discussing it with me, no matter if we are in speaking terms or not.

”I don’t know what happened. I thought we are good but then the next day she didn’t want to do anything with me. I’m confused.” Is he talking about me? To whom? I know eavesdropping is bad but I can’t make my body pull away from the door as I listen intently. I don’t hear what the person from the other side says only Jin’s answers that I’m able to make out as I press my ear to the smooth surface.

”Of course I tried talking to her mom! What if I said or did something that made her hate me? I don’t want to leave like this, we had so much fun. I don’t want it to end this way.” Jin groaned frustratedly while listening to his mom, hearing his voice so worried and tense talking to his loved one about me that knows me very well, I feel ten times worse for ignoring him without giving him an honest explanation.

”I like her mom, but maybe it’s already too late.”

Retreating to my room in sheer panic when he cuts the line to afraid to be caught to rationalise the words I overheard. He likes me too.

All this time I thought that my feelings are not reciprocated whilst in reality I’m just a big coward, I hid behind the fabricated words that his profession is something that doesn’t sit well with me and he has no time to have a girlfriend, but I never tried asking what he wanted. If he wanted to give us a chance or not.

These thoughts plagued my mind until I fall asleep that night, however, tomorrow will be something different.

”Good morning.” I greet Seokjin as he walks out with only his sweatpants on eyes puffy from sleep, he’s so startled by my voice that he jumps at least five centimetres above the ground and the chuckle I let out witnessing his fright confuses him more.

”Uh, good morning.” He replies, at last, passing my form to pull out a mug probably for his morning coffee but I have his fill in my hand while mine is placed on the counter next to my hip. ”The ghost of Christmas visited you last night or something?” Jin watches my form suspiciously but accepting the steaming cup of coffee with a soft ’thanks’ rolling off of his tongue.

”Something like that. Can we talk?” I meet his gaze shyly picking up on my nervous habit as I nibble on my lower lip his eyes soften up.

”Yeah, let’s sit.” He prompts and I nod following his figure to the dining table where we sit on the opposite sides of it. We drink our beverages in peace for a few minutes before I lick my lips nervously opening my mouth to talk.

”I like having you here Jin. This Christmas with you was wonderful even your bad puns are surprisingly funny.” The man in front of me giggles at that, hearing that I had fun with him dismissed some of his insecurities and he looks more relaxed sitting before me sipping on his drink occasionally, waiting.

”I’m sorry for ignoring you it was very childish of me and you deserve an explanation. If I’m being honest you scare me.” His eyebrows shoot up at the mention and I’m eager to make things clear. I don’t want him to take my words literally. ”Or maybe it’s me. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I like you a lot. It scares me because you’re a soldier and you’re never home and I would be so worried wondering about if you are safe.”

”Even if I say all of that I couldn’t make myself to unlike you because you’re funny bad pun or not, caring and affectionate and too good for this world...I just really like you.”

Shying away from his intense stare I choose to observe the rim of my mug watching the dark liquid swirl in my cup when a finger tapped on my chin to look up. The brightest smile adorned Jin’s face that is so close our noses almost touch.

”I normally hate to say that our moms were right all along but right now I’m just glad that they made us spend this Christmas together.” Seokjin’s forehead knocks against mine as we laugh, nodding subtly to avoid more damage as my smile spreads wider I notice how Jin’s eye keeps looking between my eyes and lips and I can’t wait for him to finally reduce the short distance closing my eyes to fully appreciate his finger caressing my jaw, cupping my face letting our breaths entangle for a short second before I get to taste the coffee on his lips.

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poppys-writing · 4 years

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Box Babe - Survive (Part 1)

Break: Part 1 // Box Babe Masterlist

A/N: hello and welcome to the second timeline in my Box Babe series! This occurs a few weeks after Katie’s training ends, so she’s being transferred to her Master. @fairybean101’s OC, Tara, will be featured in this timeline as well!! Anyways, let the whump begin!

“Six weeks on a fuckin’ boat,” Katie grumbled, her voice low and croaky after the rough sleep she had just woken from. “Six weeks going around, watching other girls get fuckin’ dumped off to disgusting pervs, waiting for our turn to get our death wish. Six weeks in this freakin’ shipping container, barely getting any food so we stay skinny. How - and why - the fuck are we still alive?”

Tara stirred beside her, waking from her slumped seat to lazily look over to Katie. “So you’re grumpier than usual today. Been a while since I’ve heard you cuss so much...I think the last time I heard that many was-”

“In training, with freakin’ Fabio,” Katie finished for her, shaking her head at the dismal memory. “I...sorry for waking up grumpy. You’re probably sick and tired of me,” she leaned up against the bars of her cage, looping her hands through to reach for Avery’s.

Ava’s delicate fingers locked on to hers, giving a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay, really. You know that I’ve been there before too,” she looked around with a playful grin, then lowered her voice. “Besides, I wouldn’t trade waking up to your ferocious ass every morning for any of these other gals,” Tara commented, “We’ve all lost a lot of fight in us at this point, everyone except you.”

Now that made Katie smile, but Tara always makes Katie smile. If they could be together throughout this ordeal, then Katie could totally handle this whole Box Babe thing. With Tara, she could smile, laugh, cry, yell - just feel normal (well, as normal as two Box Babe girls could feel). However, Katie knew they didn't have a lot of time left. They’re six weeks into an eight week shipment, and only a quarter of the original population of girls remains. It’s about time for one of them to go too.

“Thank you...for everything. Really. You’ve changed my life,” Katie’s smile softened, her lip turning up on one side. Her eyes remained locked with Tara’s, taking in the way the sunlight illuminated her honey brown eyes.

“Don’t go thanking me like that,” Tara quickly cut Katie off, pulling away abruptly. “We have time, stop acting like we don’t.”

Here we go again, Katie internally grumbled, but nonetheless she reached for Tara’s hand again - but Tara grumpily pushed up against the opposite wall. “We have no idea what’s going to happen to us. It’s time to start accepting that. We could end up halfway across the world from each other, we could end up at the same place. Neither of us have a clue.”

If Katie squinted hard enough in the dim lightning, she would’ve been able to see Tara’s bottom lip tremble slightly - the closest she’s ever come to crying since they’ve known each other. “Stop, okay? Just stop. We’re going to be fine, so just...stop it.”

“Tara, just listen to me!” Katie began, but the familiar clank of the shopping container door opening shut her up right quick.

They only check in three times a day, thirty minutes each. It’s easy to act pathetic for such a short period of time, to bend to their wills in order to get food and water and avoid punishment. All it takes is stifling dignity and pride, but all the girls lost that quite a long time ago.

It’s that man again - the one with the dark suit, the dark eyes, the dark hair. He only comes in when it’s time to transfer a girl to the Master. Please, not me or Tara, Katie pleaded to whatever god might be out there, sink the boat, let us escape! Just not us!

“Goooood morning, Box Babes!” The man exclaimed, surveying the dismal and depleted population that remained. Their eyes cast down, all focused on some invisible point on the floor. Making eye contact earned a hit, talking back a beating, and fighting it all...well, no one has done that on the ship yet.

“I’m sure you’re all eager to get sent your Masters,” the strange man continued, and all the girls nodded their heads with fake eagerness. “The lucky winner today is...461837!”

Katie’s head snapped up as her heart dropped in her chest. No, no, no. This has got to be a dream. Or some kind of universal joke, right? Katie backed up against the wall of her cell, her breathing becoming rapid as her pumping heart thudded in her eyes.

She drew attention to herself. The strange man’s head snapped to her, their eyes locking for a brief moment before she tore her head away to look to Tara. Tara had moved to press herself against the cell wall between them - Katie hadn’t even heard her move there - and her hand slipped through the bars again. In a hurry, Katie scurried over and looped her fingers with Tara’s.

“Wait!” The strange man interrupted, the excitement in his voice sending chills down Katie’s spine. “Just kidding, we have two winners! The other is...” Katie exhaled in relief. It’s Tara. Her and Tara are going together. Thank god.

The knowledge that her and Tara would stay together made this a whole lot easier. She let herself be pulled away away by the guards, hardly even fighting. She was so, so, so tired - for weeks, she’s been stressing about this moment. Now that it’s finally here, and it’s exactly how she wanted it to go, it felt silly fighting it. Is that a bad policy to have? Probably.

Katie kept her eyes down as they hurried to start the packing process. They really didn’t have to drag her out of the shipping container and across the deck so rough, since she literally was playing along to make it easier, but it’s water under the bridge. After six and a half weeks on a ship, you get pretty grizzly pretty fast - so she got a brief moment of privacy to shower herself, though a stuffy looking stylist ended the privacy fairly quickly.

Is it bad that she didn’t want to feel much of anything? Is it bad that she just let it happen, just this once, to give herself a break from all the fighting? She’s just so exhausted, and it’s not like the stylist was punishing her or putting her through something painful. He dried her hair, put some product in it, did some other stuff to her face and body - pretty relaxing actually. The grand finale was changing - Katie gladly accepted the suitcase, scurrying off for privacy so that she could shed the grimy rags she’d been sporting.

An abundance of neatly folded, clean, lavender-smelling clothes were packed tight inside. The stylist poked his head around the corner, mumbling something like “just take the dress on top, the others aren’t for you,” but Katie kinda ignored him. She set the dress on top to the side, then rummaged around. They were all different styles - plain sun dresses, elaborate gowns, mini dresses, even getups that looked like they barely covered anything. I thought that men just wanted us as personal hookers, but it looks like they’ve all got different reasons to purchase a fucking human being. Somehow that made things worse. Before the stylist could return and actually get angry with her, Katie threw everything back in and brought her attention back to her designated dress. It was modern and minimalistic, something she’d never wear before (she hardly ever wore dresses anyways). The yellow fabric was soft against her skin, but the larger sheath layer on top of the midi dress restricted her movement. There are worse options, Katie reminded herself, looking back at the suitcase.

The stylist came back in a hurry, two guards by his side. “You were definitely my most difficult cleanup so far, but wow am I impressed with my hard work!” he quipped the back-handed insult. Hold your tongue, Katie scolded herself - seems that she’s getting her personality back again. Just at the right time, too! She knows the look in the guard’s eyes, the childlike giddy as they fumble around with their stupid clicker. As per usual, she braces herself for the splitting electric shock, and as per usual it doesn’t help her at all. The shock stuns up her spine, sending her in a spasm to the floor. It’s stronger this time than the last, but Katie doesn’t really notice that (she’s too busy writhing on the floor, in pain).

She doesn’t really notice the blackness filling her vision. All she can think about is the pain searing her body, and naturally Tara. I hope Tara isn't in pain. I hope Tara wasn’t difficult. She’s always difficult. She’s so stubborn. I hope I see Tara soon.

The muscles In her body went limp and she was out like a light. A shipping box was rolled out, Katie carefully placed inside by the guards. Unlike the others, they carried her with gentle hands, either because they didn’t want to damage the merchandise or they had an ounce of sympathy left in them. Darkness swallowed Katie in the box when the lid was secured back on, all except for the glass pane over her face. She looked serene, peaceful, made-to-order, plastic. If only that were true.

#box boy #box babe #lady whump #emotional whump #pet whump #captivity whump #box boy universe #my oc #box babe katie #sorry if the writing is rough #I had to change some things around and lost my groove in the process #collab #box babe tara

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elenajohansenauthor · 5 years

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Fictober18, Day 27: “Remember, you have to remember.”

OCs: Shannon, Noah, Orlando, and Ursula

Project: Untitled paranormal romance for Fictober18/NaNoWriMo, now tagged #spookyromancenovel on my blog

Potential Triggers: graveyards?

Word Count: 1,594

About: Lots of magic talk, with a dash of necromancy. You know, because.

The room was a stone box, perhaps eight feet square. There was hardly room for the four of us to stand without stepping on each other, because we were all avoiding the runic circle inscribed on the floor. At the center of the circle stood a single chair made of heavy, dark wood and fitted with thick leather straps on the arms and front legs.

No question what this room was for.

When Ursula stepped within the circle and nothing happened, I felt confident to do the same. I inspected the chair for any more markings and found nothing. When I probed it magically, all I got were some basic strengthening and anti-aging spells—though the spells themselves felt old, worn-in. The craftsmanship was solid, though, and they were no where near expended.

I tested the circle next and was surprised to find it empty of magic. I looked to Ursula. “The whole floor is a vessel?”

She nodded. “You can set any kind of field, barrier, or trap into it, then wipe it clean when you're done. I couldn't tell you precisely how Grandmother managed to set it up, but the actual working of it is fairly straightforward.”

The walls were made from the same stone as the floor, windowless, but with flat metal panels set at about eye level. “Reflectors?” I asked.

“Or amplifiers.” Ursula shrugged. “This room was designed to be as multi-purpose as possible.”

“For a prison.”

She laughed. “Usually, yes, but there have been plenty of times no one was actually strapped into the chair. Mind control is a tricky business, and it's best to proceed carefully even when the subject volunteers.”

Noah had tucked himself into a corner, leaning against the wall, to give us more space. “Who volunteers for that?”

Orlando leveled a flat look at him. “You'd be surprised.” He turned to me. “So, since you're the closest thing we have to a security expert, what's your opinion? What can you do to this space to make it vampire proof?”

I gave it some thought, running down the list of enchantments I'd performed on the shop personally, rather than gotten friends from the magical community to do. “I can put a ward of undead binding on the floor. Once you bring a vampire into it, it will activate, and they won't be able to leave the circle until it's canceled. But it won't prevent them from moving or speaking, only from escaping. So you'll still need to bind them physically as well.” I shrugged. “Pretty standard.”

Orlando smiled. “It's more than I can do.”

“What about the chair itself? Can you improve it in any way?” Ursula folded her arms and came just short of glaring at me. If I had to guess, it irked her to rely on me for this—a case of professional jealousy, perhaps.

“The spells already on it are firm, they'll hold for years yet. The most I could do would be to bless the straps and the frame, but I'm hesitant to suggest anything that might cause the vampires pain, in case that interferes with the work you'll be doing to them. The undead don't care much for Healing magic.”

Ursula looked suspicious—or maybe just irritated—but Orlando was nodding. “That could make things difficult.”

“But I could use the wall panels to make a failsafe.” Ursula took a step closer, dropping her guarded posture, so I went on. “If I charge them with sunlight. They'll look normal unless you turn them on—I can tie it to a command word—and then, if something goes wrong, like if the circle doesn't hold or the vampire gets a grip on somebody, say the word, and they'll get blasted from all four sides with sun. Fried vampire.”

“I didn't even know you could infuse sunlight into something,” Ursula murmured. “Does it only work on metal? What is the spell commonly used for?”

I launched into a brief explanation, keeping in mind that Noah had no reason to be here and was probably getting bored with this. Of course, I knew there was no way he'd leave me alone with someone he'd just met and didn't seem to trust—not that I blamed him, because Ursula without her librarian persona was a much darker, sharper woman than I'd expected. But even if shop talk made Ursula warm to me, now wasn't the time to indulge in too much.

Orlando might have felt the same way, because he smoothly broke in to our discussion just as I was about to list the components. “Are any of them prohibitively expensive? Because this isn't, strictly speaking, a job we're hiring you to do. It's to benefit all of us. But no one expects you to beggar yourself in the process.”

I shook my head. “It's all pretty common stuff. The hardest part might actually be gathering the sunshine—it's been a rainy season.”

“Can you have the room completed within the next two weeks?” Ursula asked.

I did a little mental math before nodding. “Unless the weather is truly uncooperative, yes.” I swallowed a sudden feeling of dread. “Any significance to the time limit?”

She waved a languid hand. “The full moon. My surveillance spells require it, so I can't have them ready before then. But I'd like to be ready to move on this as soon as possible, so if the room is complete by then...”

I nodded. “I can do that.” I pulled out my phone, opened the note app, and started a list of everything I'd need.

“I think we're done, then.” Orlando opened the door for us, and we filed out, with me relying on Noah to guide me while I kept putting items on the list. Instead of returning to the room we'd come into through the spirit void, Ursula led us through a maze of drab, poorly-lit hallways—the servants' section, I'd bet. Because of course the manor was big enough to have a shabby part just for them.

We came to a door near the biggest kitchen I'd ever seen. A few uniformed women were moving about it quietly, but they didn't look up from their work as we passed. Noah had pulled his hood up already, in case the house wasn't as deserted as Ursula claimed; I didn't know if she thought the staff didn't matter, or if she had obscured our presence somehow, perhaps casting a charm to make others look away, similar to my amulet. Whatever the reason, we left Orlando and Ursula behind without raising any alarms.

We found ourselves on a small concrete apron separating the house from the grounds. It wasn't elaborate enough to be called a porch, because nothing about the area seemed welcoming or leisurely. There was a small woodpile stacked against the wall, a broom leaning beside it. The only illumination was a single, weak light above the door, and by it I could only see a few feet of damp grass beyond the concrete.

Noah was going to have to get me home safely, and I had no idea how far from my apartment we were.

“That was weird,” I said softly, not ready yet to leave the small circle of light.

“This whole thing is weird, and I hate being here.” He took my hand and led me out into the dark.

I couldn't see well, with the moon only one day from new. We seemed to be passing through a formal garden, though something gnawed at the edges of my magic, something that didn't belong. “Noah, stop for a second.”

I let my eyes fall into the scrying gaze, which fortunately worked as well in total darkness as it did any other time. I didn't need light to sense magic, and something here was calling out to me. I spun in place, feeling the source nearby, but somehow not seeing it.

Not until I looked down. The ground below me pulsed with power.

I dropped to my knees, provoking a sharp sound of surprise from Noah. “What are you doing?”

As soon as I put my hands on the ground, pushing the manicured grass aside until my skin found the dirt, I heard a murmuring voice in my head. I built this place with my blood, I strengthened it with my bones. Remember, you have to remember. We will stand forever on the power of death.

“Noah?” I said weakly. “I was going to wait until we were home to ask why you recognized this manor's name and what you know about the family. But, by any chance, are they necromancers?”

“Someone I was bunking with a year or so back pointed out one of the Osbourne men to me, when we saw him skulking around the Heritage Hill Cemetery. I couldn't tell you whether it was one of Ursula's brothers, or her father or an uncle or something, but he was graverobbing. So it's a good bet.”

“What were you doing there?”

“Shannon,” he said in exasperation.

“Oh!” I was such an idiot sometimes. “Right.”

“Do I want to know why you're asking?”

“I'll explain later.”

“We should go, then.”

“Wait a second!” I scraped some of the dirt up and dumped it into a tiny plastic bag—I always had them on me for collecting specimens.

“What are you doing?”

“Grave dirt,” I said shortly.

“Well, I guess you don't need to explain, then. You done? Let's get out of here.”

#writeblr #fictober18 #nanowrimo #nano 2018 #spookyromancenovel #original fiction #spookyromancenovel excerpt

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the-aquilanian-noise · 7 years

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Greg’s Universes- Chapter 1

(NOTE: This story is an AU, set before the events of the recent Stevenbomb. Also, Tom references @plainolddope‘s OC, Greg’s twin brother. It is his fault that this story exists in the first place so go blame him ;p )

4,403 words

‘Well this just isn’t fair…’ Greg muttered, as he stood alone on the ‘It’s A Wash!’ tarmac. It had been quiet recently. Far too quiet for his taste. He didn’t NEED to wash cars anymore, his royalty cheque had seen to that, but it gave him something to do. Structure to a life that was otherwise… ‘Boring’ Greg said out loud, walking over slowly to his favourite deck chair. It had been a slow morning, followed by a slow afternoon. The lazy sunset made it clear that it was transitioning into a slow evening. Hardly anyone had been by, and Greg had been left with only his thoughts for company. And their focus on Rose made them poor companions.

What was worse, Steven hadn’t been around for a while, livening up the place with his laughter alone. (‘Probably yet another mission…’ thought Greg, before suppressing the thought of WHAT the mission could be…) Even if it wasn’t for very long at a time, his son’s presence made things a lot better. He was afraid to admit it, but he was… lonely. As much as he loved the other residents of Beach City, they all had their own lives and loved ones. But for him… all of that felt very distant now. And any time he had alone just reminded him of that fact.

With a sigh, lowering himself down into the deckchair, he thought about going to sleep. At least in his dreams his thoughts fled away, didn’t remind him of the quiet. Yes, that would work. Give him some way to pass the early evening, before returning to his van to pass the rest. Greg raised his large hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn, as he relaxed himself a little. If he was lucky, maybe when he next opened his eyes Steven would be there too. That made the yawn move into a smile, as he imagined showing Steven the right frets to strum on the guitar, his eyes closing on that peaceful thought…

BANG

Greg sprung awake, his hair almost standing on end. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, though the sun had dipped far enough that the shadows were stretching far back, as if they were dark fingers clawing at the walls of the car wash. And it was from there the banging noise originated, Greg realised. Nervously, Greg got himself up, hoping beyond hope that he was hearing things.

BANG

There it was again! He couldn’t shrug that one off, as much as he wanted to. Someone was moving around the Car Wash office, and making a mess of it by the sounds of it. Trying to keep his breath modulated, Greg picked up the closest thing on hand he could use as a weapon... which was a length of unplugged hose. For a second Greg could only sigh. He lived a life surrounded by aliens with their high tech Gem weaponry, and all he had to fall back on was a hose pipe. Then the noises started again, and Greg held it close. Any port in a storm, after all…

Greg approached the Car Wash door, opening it and looking in. It was dark, reflecting the gradual approach of dusk. He could just about make out that some things had been knocked over- invoices, bottles of soda (‘Wait, knocked over or drunk?’) and even a few chairs. As he peered through the glass door observing this, the door at the back of the office swing shut. His heart skipped a beat. ‘Come out! I have a… hose head?’ Greg said, a clear quavering in his tone. ‘Heavy hose head!’ He quickly added. Silence answered him. ‘Calm down Mr Universe… You don’t want to lose any of what remains of your hair through stress. Probably just a cat’ He heard the tinkling sound of a lot of cutlery falling to the floor. ‘A… large cat? Lion?’ Greg whispered, almost inaudibly. No response came, other than another few muffled crashes. Someone was in the break room.

Greg crept reluctantly forward into the building, holding the hose out as the closest thing he had to a weapon, for all the good it would do him. As delicately as he could manage with his large frame, he edged his way through the room, avoiding the pitfalls that its recent occupant had already tripped through. He knew he should phone the police, but how long would they take? And if his wash invader was Onion, he didn’t want ANOTHER charge of breaking and entry put on the kids’ permanent record… God knew that Vidalia didn’t need that right now. So, with trepidation, he slowly edged the door to the break room open, pressing the handle in just the right way to prevent it creaking. Then had to stop himself gasping.

It was a man, rooting around in his fridge! Greg couldn’t see much- the blinds were down, and the only real illumination was the fridge’s own backlight, which only served to make the man appear even broader. And indeed, he appeared to be quite chubby, with long hair braided into some kind of ponytail. The figure was hopping up and down a little… Maybe he had stubbed himself on the chairs he had knocked over? Then Greg realised- the man’s feet were bare. Worse than that, so were his legs! With a start, Greg processed that his would-be thief was dressed in a white loincloth and a dark blue waistcoat. Whoever had broken into the Car Wash had taken his clothes from the Human Zoo! (‘Hadn’t I burned them?’ he thought to himself ‘I mean I thought I had… maybe I got too distracted by my new jean shorts…’) And, annoyingly Greg had to admit, the intruder looked good in them; the fabric of the loincloth seemed to fit really well around the curves of his thighs, flowing in a way he was sure it never had on him. He shook his head out of this reverie- there was a stranger raiding his fridge!

‘Hey, stop that right now!’ Greg said, in his sternest voice possible, throwing open the break room door. The man froze, even ceasing his hopping as he crouched a little. ‘This… this is private property you know! I’ll call the police, if you don’t stop what you’re doing, and uh… leave!’

A pause. Greg tried to remain calm, as he brandished the hose in the closest to a threatening manner he could manage. Nothing happened for a heartbeat, as Greg and the mysterious man held still in silence. Then, with exaggerated care, the man turned around, his long, braided ponytail swinging loose as he did so. For a moment, Greg couldn’t see anything due to the glare of the neon fridge lighting. And then, suddenly, they were face to face. And not just any face. It was Greg’s own face staring back at him!

‘ARRRRGGGGH!’ Greg yelled.

‘EEEEEEEEKKKK!’ the other Greg squealed, dropping a plate containing leftover pizza.

The two stared at one another. Greg tilted his head. The other Greg’s eyes widened in fear. (‘Ok, not a mirror monster… that’s something?’ Greg thought) His… blue eyes. Identical to Greg’s own. Same bald patch. Same beard. Same farmer’s tan. Even the same slight bulge in the nose, from when it got broke as he left home as a teenager. It was as if he was facing his twin again, but a twin who had lived his life.

‘Uhhhh… I’m… not going to hurt you… me?’ Greg said, in as calm a tone he could manage. ‘Oh boy…’ He put down the hose he was almost brandishing. ‘See? Everything’s going to be a-ok…’

‘… Wait, this is a dream right?’ the other Greg said, shaking his head nervously. ‘But why would I be dreaming about myself? The food I understood, but another me…’ Suddenly the other Greg reached out and poked Greg in the stomach, giving it a quick wobble

‘Hey!’ Greg said indignantly, but the other Greg was already back to talking.

‘You feel real, though wait, would I be able to tell the difference in a dream? But if this isn’t a dream, where am I? A new part of the Zoo? Wait, why would they add a new part to the Zoo? Unless it is some kind of new habitat study… But then why are you here? Are you my clone? I mean, they got enough DNA I guess… Or are you a gem that is in disguise as me? Are you replacing me? Don’t replace me! But that wouldn’t make sense… Unless you aren’t meant to be here… Wait, are you trying to CHOOSEN me? Approaching looking like me to make me feel more comfortable? Because you finally figured out my past??’

‘Wait… what?’ Greg said, disorientated by the shotgun barrage of questions and statements that had come at him in his own voice. ‘I’m lost?’

‘I mean, you seem really nice… I mean I seem really nice… But I’m not interested right now!’ the other Greg said, then paused. ‘Well, I might be, but I mean it’s very sudden, and I don’t know why you would disguise yourself as me, but I’m flattered? But not so flattered as to do things right now unless I was told…’

And the other Greg stopped. Reached out his hand to his ear, cupping the purple earring that had gone unnoticed by Greg up until this point. And immediately cried out again. ‘The little voice! The little voice is gone!’ The change was instantaneous. He collapsed, clutching his ear as he curled into a ball, making a slight whimpering sound as he rocked back and forth.

‘Hey, c’mon buddy’ Greg said, trying to understand what was happening as he talked. ‘What voice?’ he asked, already half guessing the answer.

‘The little voice… The routine… It’s… gone.’ The other Greg continued to rock even faster, clearly panicking.

‘Hey, hey, it’s ok…’ Greg said, reaching out and stroking the soft shoulder of the other man. He had a theory now. Either it was a very elaborate practical joke played by Tom, or this person was really someone from the Human Zoo- who happened to look exactly like him. Who had been brought to him. But what that meant, he wasn’t entirely sure…

It was then Greg heard another noise, the sound of sandals slapping against the tarmac. He swung around, looked the other Greg directly in the face, trying to fix his gaze as it wandered in panic. ‘Right, me! Well, you! Stay here!’ The other Greg nodded quickly, evidently a little happier now he was finally being told what to do again. But Greg didn’t have enough time to double check. Because he knew what that sound meant, as he dashed through the empty Reception, and threw the Car Wash door open.

‘Heeeeeeey Schtuball’ Greg called out, smiling widely.

And there was Steven running towards him, the cry of ‘Daaaaaaaaaaaaad!’ carrying in the still night air. Suddenly he was right with Greg, throwing himself into his father’s arms. ‘Oooof, careful kiddo- you’ll take my back out one of these days you know!’ Greg said, not entirely joking.

Steven continued talking without missing a beat, ‘Dad, Dad, you won’t BELIEVE it! We fought this giant –uh- giant gem thing, and Garnet was all ‘Gems, we musn’t let it split us up!’, but Amethyst had already fallen down a hole, and Pearl had been splattered by goo from its babies, so she wasn’t moving, so I had to…’ Greg let the story fade into the background, absorbing every word, as he just enjoyed being there. With Steven. Being alongside his son. Perhaps seeing the Zoo clothes had made him sentimental, remembering how close he had been to never seeing Steven again… That, however, brought the memories of the strangely dressed man back into his head; how was he meant to explain that to Steven?

‘Dad?’ Greg was startled, looked up. Steven had stopped talking, and was instead looking up at him with confusion. He had obviously let the emotions play across his face (‘Stupid, stupid’) ‘Are… you all right Dad?’ Steven said, concern obvious in his expression.

‘Of course, kiddo… I mean, why wouldn’t I be?’ Greg said, wishing for a moment his t-shirt had a proper collar he could fidget with.

‘You look… scared?’ Steven said. Greg froze. He didn’t want Steven to think he was afraid of him, God knew that the kid didn’t need that adding to his plate. But for the same reasons he couldn’t exactly tell him about his… clone? (‘Better than any other explanation I can think of right now…’ he thought). Steven would blame himself, Greg just knew it. And he didn’t want to hurt his son like that. Didn’t want to hurt their relationship any more.

The tinkle of shattering glass came from behind Greg. The moment was broken. Like a shot, Steven was looking past Greg towards the Car Wash, hand moving toward his Gem.

‘Get behind me Dad!’ Steven said, as if by reflex, advancing purposefully towards the perceived threat.

‘Wait, uh…’ Greg mouthed. Unless he thought of something fast, Steven would run in there, and meet… whoever that was… and who knew what would happen! If he couldn’t just think of something, anything…

‘Guitar lessons! I’m giving guitar lessons!’ Greg said, with a start.

Steven stopped moving forward, turning with confusion towards his Dad, the inherited bushy eyebrows drawn together in a dark frown. But at least he wasn’t moving forward anymore

‘Yeah, sorry I didn’t say anything Steven, I was just so surprised to see you back from your mission, so I wanted to say hi, you know.’ Greg said, feeling himself babbling.

Steven wasn’t convinced ‘But, it’s late? And why would your student be wandering around the car wash breaking things?’

‘Uh… They work in the day! And believe me, at this point I am just as confused about the breaking things as you are…’ Greg’s expression darkened, then shifted into a smile as he realised Steven was watching him intently. ‘But that’s students for you!’

Steven looked confused for a second. Paused. (‘Is he buying it?’) Then suddenly smiled knowingly, his face an echo of Rose’s for a moment. (Not long enough…)

‘Ahhhh, I see what is going on here.’ Steven said, grin plastered across his face.

‘You, uh… do huh?’ Greg replied, trying his hardest not to blush as his son scrutinised his face. ‘And uh… what is that?’

Steven just paced back and forwards, shaking his head ‘Yoooooouuu have a secret.’ Greg gulped. ‘Outside of usual hours… You don’t have your guitar on you… You’re sweating…’

‘Yeah… From the hard work of… guitar lessons. The theory of Guitar lessons.’ Greg said, watching the lie become more transparent with every repetition.

‘Daaaaaaad, don’t keep playing games, I know what’s happening here… You’ve got a date!’

‘That’s right Ste… Wait whaaaaat?’ Greg began shame-faced, before choking on his words.

‘I get it Dad, you don’t want me to meet them yet- I mean I didn’t introduce you to Connie at first either.’ Steven said, with an infectious kind of joy in his voice. ‘But I’m proud of you! What are they like?’

‘Steven! Your old man isn’t back on the dating scene, and this is just a… uh… student!’ Greg said, blushing heavily.

Steven laughed. ‘It’s ok Dad, I get it. You deserve to meet someone.’ (‘When did he get old enough to start giving me relationship advice?’ Greg wondered) ‘And speaking of that… someone… I should let you get back to it!’

‘Wait, what?’ was all Greg could get out in response.

‘Bye Dad! Have fun with your ‘student’!’ Steven winked, and then bounced away, even more of a spring in his step than usual.

‘No! It isn’t that! There just… uh… lessons!’ Greg said in vain to the quickly retreating figure. Then sighed, before falling backwards onto the deck chair, running his hand over his forehead. ‘This one’s gonna be a fun one to explain…’ It took him a moment to recover, and remember the reason that this had even come up at all; the sound of breaking glass. He hoped the man hadn’t stepped on anything; he was already starting to feel responsible, and that hospital trip was one he really didn’t need. He turned back to look at the reception, and almost fell out of his chair. The other Greg was there, his face and hands pressed against the glass, stock still.

With a start, Greg pulled himself up, ran towards the car wash, panicking already. As he got closer, he realised the man’s posture was not as unmoving as he thought, his shoulders shaking and reaching hands trembling. The other Greg was… crying? And crying hard.

Greg rushed into the Car wash, pulling the other Greg back with him into the darkened room. ‘What are you doing? You could have been SEEN! I asked you to stay there.’ Greg said, pointing clearly at the break room door which had been left swung open. Then stopped. He couldn’t bring himself to shout at someone who looked so devastated. Greg never realised he could cry so much, or so loudly. ‘Look, I’m sorry.’ Greg said. ‘But we need to talk about this… And why are you crying?’

It was a while before there were any noises out of his reflection that weren’t sobs. At length, amongst the sniffles, Greg could just make out the other Greg saying ‘That… that’s Steven. I… never thought I’d see… him… my son… again!’

‘Wait… your son?’ Greg said, backing away slightly.

Then, that shift again. The other Greg had planted himself firmly on the floor, raising his head slowly ‘Why would you do this to me, you gem MONSTER? I thought you didn’t like it when we felt pain? Or is this some kind of experiment? See how much pain a human can feel until we break? Well go ahead take your notes! This is the pain a father feels, kept from his son!’

His anger was so intense, Greg felt like he had been punched. Probably would have been, if the man hadn’t been crying so hard. All the softness had drained from this other Greg, and all that was left was concentrated hurt. Like his skin had been ripped back, nerves exposed to the winds and elements. The other Greg was in pain. Deep pain.

‘I don’t understand…’ Greg said. And he wasn’t lying. He had presumed from the way the other Greg had talked he was some sort of clone, brought up in the Zoo with only stories of Earth. But, he knew Steven… or at least acted like he did…

‘Oh, I’m SURE you don’t. You wouldn’t understand. CAN’T understand. THAT’S AN IMAGE OF MY SON YOU JUST DANGLED IN FRONT OF ME.’ The other Greg was shouting now. ‘The son YOUR Diamond took me away from! And now you think you can just… GO OUT and talk to a version of him with MY FACE?’ He paused. ‘Why would you do that?’ The words hung in the air, biting worse than any cold could.

‘I’m sorry’ Greg said, softly. ‘I’m sorry that I don’t know what has happened to you. And I’m sorry that I can’t fix this.’ He reached out to try and touch his counterpart.

‘Like I can believe that.’ The other Greg said, almost spitting the words, flinching away. ‘Like I can believe a Gem who is taunting me with my son.’

‘You’re right.’ Greg said. ‘You shouldn’t just believe it.’ With a calmness he didn’t feel, Greg walked further into the car wash, looking around until he saw the glass the other Greg broke. Bent down, picked it up.

The other Greg froze, his sunburnt skin going pale, even for this dark light. But he stifled his tears, and glared. ‘Yeah, I broke it. I get it, I’m not graceful like the other Zoomans. But I don’t care. I LIKE me. And I bet you DON’T like you.’ Greg flinched a little at that. ‘Having to steal other people’s forms, and taunt them. I don’t care if you’ve decided I’m no longer worthwhile as an experiment. Do your worst!’

Greg turned, holding a shard of glass purposefully in his right hand. The other Greg held still, teeth gritted against his plump lip. He wouldn’t give a gem clone the satisfaction of seeing him cry any more, or flinch away, in his last moments… Greg raised his arm. The other Greg screwed his eyes tight. Then nothing. Another beat of nothing. Gingerly, the other Greg opened his left eye… then threw them open. ‘You hurt yourself!’ He said, in shock.

Standing before him, Greg had clearly given himself a long cut, down the length of his left arm, blood dripping slowly from the surface wound onto the reception floor. The other Greg looked horrified. Blood was foreign to him, after so long in the padded grounds of the Zoo. And facing him was another him… But bleeding.

‘Gems don’t bleed. They don’t get hurt like humans. They’re not fragile like us.’ Greg gestured down at his wound. ‘Don’t feel like we do.’ And Greg looked up, hopeful. Hopeful he had been understood.

The other Greg wrenched his eyes from the blood, confusion painted across his features. ‘Wait, you said… we… Why… why would you just trust me? After the nasty things I said! All the things I blamed you for?’

‘I don’t understand why. But, I feel your pain. That worry you’ll never see your son again. Because I remember it. I felt it too.’ Greg said, talking slowly, spelling it out in his own head. ‘I think… You’re me from the past.’

The other Greg looked at him with confusion, eyes still wide. ‘What do you mean, the past? This isn’t some sort of Gem experiment in the Zoo?’

Greg shook his head. ‘It isn’t the Zoo, buddy… this is Earth. The real Earth. And I know that you’ve been to the Zoo because I was trapped there, once. Just like you were. And unless somehow you’re a clone with all my memories, the only thing that makes sense is that.’

Both Gregs looked at each other, staring, watching the other turn it over in their head. There was silence, broken only by the sounds of the sea in the distance.

‘I’m home?’ The other Greg spoke first, tentatively spelling out his conclusion. ‘I’m… I’m home! Beach city, car wash, takeaway pizza home!’ His voice became sung, happiness obvious. ‘And… and you’re me from the future? But, how? How do we do it? How do we get back?’

Now it was Greg’s turn to smile, as he replayed the memory in his mind. ‘Steven. Steven saved me… Well, saves us I guess.’

‘So, you mean… Steven comes for me? He comes for me!’ And suddenly the other Greg started weeping again, but this time with a huge grin on his face.

Greg raised an eyebrow. ‘See, it’s not so bad, you don’t have to…’ Suddenly, the other Greg grabbed him in a bear hug, lifting Greg off the ground slightly, an impressive feat. ‘Woah there buddy!’ Greg said, a little alarmed. It felt… weird being hugged by himself. Pleasant even, despite how crushing it was. The other Greg smelt of flowers and nature; synthetic flowers, definitely, but still a lovely scent. He hadn’t realised how soft his belly was, until it was pressed against him by another him, even if he could still feel the bulk beneath it. ‘Now I know how Pearl felt… Maybe I should do a few sit ups… Although I have been given worse hugs…’ He blushed a little- this was NOT the time to be thinking about things like this… about himself!

Eventually, Greg’s wiggling convinced the laughing past Greg to let him go, though the dopey grin wasn’t going any time soon. ‘I’m sorry, I’m just so happy… Steven comes for me… My little buddy comes for me.’

‘He does’ Greg said, with a smile, tearing up a little himself. A smile which froze. ‘I mean, he will… If we can get you… well me back…’ They looked out the front windows, up at the darkened sky in unison. Greg shivered slightly. Usually it felt good to think about how far away the Zoo was. But now… ‘Get you back so we can both be saved…’

***

‘Well that went about as well as to be expected… WHICH WAS APPALLINGLY’ the shrill voice carried annoyingly well in the cramped cave, echoing around the machines that were whirring gently in comparison.

The only figure in the cave shook his head, and spoke in a gravelly tone. ‘We moved one of them to the Focal point. At my age, you take what you can get.’

‘You were MEANT to move six of them, nimrod!’ came the voice again, from a triangular blue glow that was fixed onto one of the panels.

‘And you were the one who said that it was experimental gem technology’ he said, calmly ‘And the fact that it might work at all was hoping for a miracle, specifically considering that it was my “imbecilic human brain” that attempted to put it together from the blueprints.’

‘Well… MAYBE’ was all that came in response.

The man looked around the cave, thinking to himself. Loathe as he was to admit it, she wasn’t wrong. It could have gone better. A lot better. His calculations were that the force the machine generated should have pulled all of the test subjects together. Not just the one from the Human Zoo line. He sighed. It was a long, drawn out and weary one, pulling him deeper into the dark thoughts. The ones that threatened to pull him down, draw him into the huddled up ball on the floor again, like he had been after it first happened. When everything changed…

‘So, what ARE you planning now?’ The feminine voice cut through the silence, causing the man to snap back to the present. ‘The first testing was… less than successful. To be precise. Surely you aren’t thinking…’

The man interrupted. ‘We keep going. We get them all. That’s the only way this works…’ He choked a little. Almost stopping. But never quite. ‘The only way I get him back’

END OF CHAPTER 1

#greg universe #steven universe #fanfiction #there are hints to the future of the story I hope #if people want to learn more lol :D #thank you plainolddope though seriously :)#our terrible multi Greg AU will slowly come into a story existence

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davidegbert · 7 years

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Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC Review

When we see a new generation in a company's numbering scheme, we expect that there's at least some justification behind it, but that isn't always the case. There are many reasons for companies to just slap a new label on an old product and ship it out - the publicity that surrounds a new launch, the illusion that buyers are getting something bigger or better, and the chance to steal a competitor's thunder at an opportune time.

It hasn't even been a full year since we reviewed the Radeon RX 480 GPU, as well as the RX 470 and RX 460 which followed it, but they have now been replaced by the Radeon RX 500 series. It shouldn't surprise us then that the new Radeon RX 500 series is just a mild refresh of the RX 400 series. It seems that AMD felt it was time to move up a generation - in terms of marketing, if not the actual underlying technology.

The Radeon RX 400 series was important for AMD because it was the first to debut a significantly new architecture, called Polaris, which was long overdue after a string of minor refreshes of old products. In the face of multiple successful Nvidia GPUs, AMD had only been able to release the lukewarm Radeon RX 300 models that were just rebadged 200s, many of which themselves weren't much different from the previous Radeon HD 7xxx series. Now, it seems that the company has gone back to old habits.

We have with us Asus' ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC, which sells for Rs. 25,500. We're eager to see how the Radeon RX 580 GPU stacks up against last year's Radeon RX 480, and what exactly Asus's implementation adds to the mix.

The Radeon RX 580 GPU

We've established that there isn't anything different about the GPU's underlying architecture, but there have been some improvements to the manufacturing process over time that allow AMD to extract slightly more performance per chip than when the RX 480 first went into production. The company simply calls this its "latest generation" 14nm process.

There are still 2,304 programmable cores that AMD calls "stream processors" organised into 36 clusters for a total of 5.7 billion transistors. AMD has set a base frequency of 1257MHz and a boost ceiling of 1340MHz, up from 1120MHz and 1266MHz respectively on the RX 480. Of course, board partners such as Asus are free to tweak those speeds if they can compensate with adequate cooling.

The memory bus is also still 256 bits wide but the memory speed has gone up to 8Gbps for an effective bandwidth of 256GBps. Radeon RX 580 cards will be available with either 4GB or 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. What is very interesting is that the GPU's power draw has increased from 150W to 185W - a considerable amount, which doesn't really mesh with AMD's claim that improved power efficiency is the reason for the higher clock speeds.

Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC

There is no RX 580 reference design like there was for the RX 480. AMD's partners are only selling cards with their own custom-designed coolers. Asus of course has a variety of models out, and the most elaborate of them is the ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC. As its name suggests, this card has 8GB of RAM and higher clock speeds - a base of 1360MHz, with a miniscule bump up to 1380MHz in "OC mode".

This card is absolutely massive. It's much taller, wider and thicker than it needs to be, and the main reason for that seems to be that some people just like hardware that they can show off. Flagship-class graphics cards are almost always 10.5 inches long and occupy two motherboard slots, but this card is nearly 12 inches long and thick enough to block three. You'll need to make sure that your PC case can handle such a beast.

Asus justifies the card's size and premium pricing by saying that there's 40 percent more heatsink surface area than usual, resulting in better cooling. It has also used premium components all around, including the power regulators and a super-smooth precision-machined contact point that apparently helps pull heat away from the GPU.

Asus has gone with a grey colour for the fan shroud, with lots of sharply angled surfaces and claw-like cutouts for RGB LEDs. We've seen this design before, and it does look rather imposing. The LEDs light up in red by default though you can change this using Asus's Aura software, and sync patterns with an Asus Aura motherboard and peripherals. There's an illuminated "Republic of Gamers" label on the top of the shroud as well as an ROG logo on the backplate just in case another reminder was needed.

Three fans is probably overkill, but clearly Asus wasn't going for subtlety here. According to the company, the patented fan blade design delivers lower noise, better airflow, and increased lifespan. The fans don't spin unless they need to. Asus also provides headers so that you can have additional case fans triggered when the GPU temperature rises.

On the rear of the card, you'll find one DVI-D port, two DisplayPorts, and two HDMI 2.0 outputs. This arrangement was chosen specifically so that you can use a VR headset and an HDMI monitor at the same time without adapters or having to swap plugs. Despite this card's heavy-duty appearance, only one 8-pin PCIe power connector is required.

Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC setup and performance

Installing the card in our open-air test bench was no trouble, but you might struggle if you have a normal-sized ATX PC cabinet. There's a plastic sheet over the backplate that needs to be removed before installation, but no obvious warning label or instructions. Asus provides plastic dust blockers for all ports, which we always appreciate. There are no display or power adapters in the box, but you aren't likely to need any. Asus does throw in two Velcro cable ties, which could come in handy.

It became clear fairly quickly that Asus's claims that this card runs nearly silent aren't exactly accurate. You might not have to deal with the thrum of fans or blasts of air being pushed out through a narrow vent, but the card pretty much constantly made an audible high-pitched electronic whine. Whenever activity picked up and the fans started spinning, it started making buzzing, grating noises and the occasional loud chirp. Of course, this might have been a quirk of our review unit, and future firmware updates might help, but our early impressions of the card weren't that great.

If this issue has to do with the components used or the overall design of the Strix cooler rather than a one-off defect with our one unit, your level of annoyance will depend on the type and positioning of your PC cabinet. On the bright side, our card didn't get too hot at any point, and even ran for quite a long time before the fans needed to spin up.

The Aura lighting app worked just as expected, allowing us to choose a static colour or breathing, strobing and colour cycling effects. You don't get multiple zones, but you can set the lights to pulse to your music or change with the card's temperature.

ComponentCPUAMD Ryzen 7 1800XMotherboardMSI X370 Xpower Gaming TitaniumRAM2x8 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000SSDKingston HyperX Savage 240GBCPU coolerNoctua NH-U12S SE -AM4PSUCorsair RM650MonitorAsus PB287QOSWindows 10

We started testing the ROG Strix Radeon RX580's performance with 3DMark, and got scores of 11,823, 5,884 and 3,132 in the Fire Strike Standard, Extreme, and Unlimited tests. For the sake of comparison, we redid the same tests with an older XFX Radeon R9 380X DD BLK OC 4GB card on the same rig, and got scores of 8,438, 4,176, and 2,221 respectively. The newer 3DMark Time Spy test returned 4,492 and 3,092 points respectively. You can check out test results for the Radeon RX 480 as well as Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060 GPUs here, though they were tested with a different set of components.

Unigine Valley gave us 53.9fps running at 1920x1080 using the Ultra preset, while Star Swarm gave us 40.22fps with the Radeon RX 580 versus 35.7fps and 53.9fps respectively with the Radeon R9 380X. We ran Metro: Last Light Redux's built-in benchmark at 2560x1440 with the High quality preset and got 76.38fps with the Radeon RX 580 and 54.31fps with the Radeon R9 380X.

Ashes of the Singularity uses the newer DirectX 12 API. We tested it at 2560x1440 using the Standard, High, and Extreme quality presets. Scores for the Radeon RX 580 were 61.9fps, 57.4fps, and 44.2fps respectively. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided gave us 28.9fps running at 2560x1440 using its High preset. Then, we moved on to real-world gameplay in a variety of games.

DOOM ran beautifully, as expected. Using the Ultra quality preset and Vulkan renderer, we played through the Foundry level and saw around 90-110fps on average at 2560x1440. We tried pushing the resolution up to 4K and saw that the average framerate dropped to 45-60. That isn't too bad, but the experience is smoother at the lower resolution which means that this GPU really shouldn't be pushed too hard in the latest games.

We ran through a bit of Rise of the Tomb Raider at 2560x1440 using the High preset. Frame rates stayed very consistent, with an average of 54fps and frame times averaging 18.6ms. We weren't bothered by any tearing or skipping. This is a pretty comfortable combination of resolution and quality for the RX 580 to stay at. 4K is not really possible without compromising the frame times, which is about right considering AMD's positioning.

Next up, we ran through some forests and got into a few scuffles in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The resolution was set to 2560x1440, and both graphics and postprocessing were using their High presets. We did see a few glitches, but they were very slight. The 47fps average framerate doesn't show smoothness, but a look at the frame time graph illustrates that there were quite a few erratic frames. Quality stayed above 30fps for the most part, but there were few noticeable tears. Most people should be fine with this level of performance considering how demanding this game is.

Far Cry 4 also ran fairly well at 2560x1440 using its Very High preset. We got a fairly high average of 75fps, and the frame time graph shows that quite a lot of the action held steady at over 60fps. However, the game did stutter in places. We were tempted to push the resolution up to 4K, but found that 1440p was better overall in terms of smoothness.

Verdict

To cut a long story short, there is absolutely no reason for you to buy a new graphics card based on a Radeon RX 580 GPU if you're already using a top-end model bought within the past two years, but it should be a worthy upgrade if you're using an RX 200 series card or something from lower down the product stack. It's more than enough for high-quality 1080p gaming, and does reasonably well at 1440p too. If you are determined to buy a high-end Radeon right now, make sure you're getting an RX 580 and not the RX 480, since street prices are hovering at around the same level.

AMD should unveil its next-generation Vega architecture soon, but GPUs based on it will target much higher performance, and graphics cards will consequently be much more expensive. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060 is also still a very strong competitor, and while it won't beat an RX 580 comprehensively like it beat the RX 480 last year, lower street prices give the green team an advantage.

As for the Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC in particular, it's clear that this card isn't the most sensible option for mainstream users. It costs more than most other RX 580 8GB cards, and isn't likely to deliver that much of a marginal performance improvement over a more conventional dual-fan cooler. We're also wary of the electrical whine. If you need a graphics card to show off and aren't willing to spend on a flagship-class GPU, the Strix Radeon RX 580 will satisfy you. If it's going to stay hidden away in a windowless cabinet, save a bit of money and go with a less flashy model.

Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 8GB OC Price: Rs. 25,500

Pros Looks like a more expensive graphics card Good performance at 1080p and 1440p RGB LED lighting effects

Cons Oversized Constant whine

Ratings (Out of 5) Performance: 4 Value for Money: 3.5 Overall: 4

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