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onf-headcanons · 3 years

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Another OFFICE AU aka CEO AU

A/n : Alas its not draft clearing but a brand new work for 2021 (but i still have some drafts as well)XD Hello, did any of you remember an idea dump I dropped for last year Christmas? you could easily guess which was it by tallying the mood board with the idea lists (*winks)

Setting :

1. OFFICE AU 2 , it is a brand new one where ONF member is a young CEO while you are his secretary. So I will name this one as CEO AU

Of course it does not hurt should you wanna imagine it as the already exist office au, using the idea dump posted for 2020 Christmas.

2. ONF MEMBER that I will integrate would be Hyojin and Seungjun as mentioned during the Christmas post, but I wont stop you for imagining other members, thats why in headcanons I will use ONF MEMBER instead their names. (For member X reader scenario)

3. In this headcanon, reader is slightly older than ONF member, maybe 2 or 3 years older. Same age is plausible, then it would be ONF member continued their studies further so they started working late.

ok lets go, beware its long and sorry if it is messy I tried my best to control 2 way storyline, I had fun writing but I know I am lacking much much more than I could notice. total 6k word count (dies)

1-1

• You work as assistant/secretary for the head of department/CEO in company before the young successor joins and his predecessor retires. • Because you tend to separate work life and private life, you established personality to look like ice queen on the outside (reality) but actually passionate carer on the inside (virtually). None of your colleagues knew, only your close friends • You have been using a chat app (not tinder type) for since you started intern, • 1. That app's specialty was anonymous. • 2. Its like a hideout spot where you can share and post whatever you love. (Because there are some co-workers added your FB or Insta and you felt it is a hassle to create another fake account exclusively to add people) • 3. Even though you tried and failed at 1 or 2 virtual relationships with other users, you never despise the thought of online dating. But you do know it’s not realistic so you never take it too seriously (it is also self-protection) • You would post some photos but mostly are just lunch pics, occasionally an outdoor view from your office floor, also some cute stationaries or accessories found on the way back home. (Just adding this trivia for fun linking the universe, maybe you pass by Minkyun’s flower shop as well?) • (It will be funny if your contents was more on sharing random idol pics that you follow, passionately promoting it hence creating a more impact contrast later when revealing) • One day you came across a post asking about what kind of cologne to buy for a predecessor who will be retiring. Being a good Samaritan, you leave a few suggestions under the post and did not really take it to heart, you forgot about it once you see the original author replied "Thanks" • Not knowing that 1 interaction would change your life forever.

1-2 • The next day, your superior announced his retirement and mentioned a young successor will join the company next month. And ONF member being the young successor does make rumors flying around the company, making people questioning his ability as he is related to company board of directors. The department you are in is under top 5 sales/profit bringing, so with a young successor would be inexperienced which might lead to drop of department reputation of course people are going to worry and gossip. • First impression with ONF member is actually ok. Well dressed, good looking and nice manners. The moment he followed his predecessor walks into the office floor, girls starts to make all sorts of gasping noises (lol) • Your superior mentioned that he bought a retirement gift for your superior deep down you approved at the selection of the cologne brand. • You might goes, this guy got sense, not bad. • One night after several days ONF member joined the department/company, you received a PM from a user, thanking you for the cologne recommendation. It took you a while to remember who it was. You politely replied him “You are welcome.” • The user also nonchalantly asked about how you can make such suggestion that pinpoints because by the glance at your profile, first impression could be very much misleading. • You just replied that you happened to know someone at that age who likes that type of scent hence the list of suggestions, what you did was just you taking the liberty to do a lucky guess. • Out of curiosity, you tap at the stranger’s avatar to get a glimpse of his profile, but out of your disappointment, there were no picture of his to know what he looks like. But there are pictures of scenery from places he travelled. • You also noticed that their “joined the app” days are way lesser than you are, quite a new user. • You found a few pictures of places you went before/ places that you want to go. Delighted, you started the conversation asking if he likes travelling and his next travel plans. • The other party replied briefly his plans and his experience during travels, from his words you know that he won’t be travelling overseas for the next 2 years as he had a new job and responsibility to learn. Instead he will be focusing on doing domestic travels. • His words made you reminisce your rookie days and you responded him that you understand him with empathy. You did not pry further but you do give him some encouragement, telling him that things will get better and once he got the hang of it, he will have more time on his own. (Yup at the moment you are thinking he is a freshman or newbie joining new company) • You timidly ask your new chat friend why they decided to join and use the app. He replied, “I don’t really play social media apps and I don’t want anyone to find me online, the anonymous system this app provides mental security for me.” • The reply was so different from those who are playing the app just for flirting and finding a quick date, you replied him, “Same as you.” • The conversation ends by the other party mentions he will need to be early for work and politely wishes you good night. The next morning you found the stranger has added you as friend, without any thoughts you tap on your screen and now you have a new mutual.

1-3 • Back to office, as ONF member is still new towards his scope of work, you would sometimes giving him advise and guides by sharing “What would his predecessor does.” or “What he can do by not violating company policy”. He takes advises well and would always inquire for your suggestion before making any critical decision. • Once he started to get the hang of it, you passed the torch of freedom to him because you are only a secretary/assistant. But he will still come to you, which you felt he was being dependent. (I feel if it is Minkyun, he will be more dependent should the scope of work is totally unfamiliar to him. Tendency of dependent to independent would be Seungjun, Hyojin, Yuto same par as Jaeyoung, Changyoon then Minkyun.) • (Of course sometimes there are some doubt raised regarding to policies and because he sees things in another perspective, you know he meant no harm but sometimes you wish he would just shut up and just follow the policy just for convenience sake+lessen damage. That’s because should any dissatisfaction of decision happens, colleagues will firstly come to interrogate you, hoping you to twist his decision or questioning your ability to lessen the damage done towards merit they/the department holds. AND YOU HATE PLAYING THOSE POWER MIND GAMES, even though the image you impose looked like you are skilled player.) • So there is some sense that being strict is you are trying hard to protect him and protecting yourself. • BTW ONF member, your new superior has a bright personality unlike his predecessor (huge reason is due to the age factor), even though inexperienced in work, he has good be friending skills. So people in the department felt it was less stressful working under him because he would do small talk with his underlings. (This hc is not suitable for Changyoon and Yuto during the beginning, due to their personality they would try but not suddenly initiating small talks on the first week joining.) • IT WILL BE FUNNY IF SOME FEMALE COLLEAGUE TOOK PITY ON HIM BY MENTIONING/GOSSIPING THAT YOU ARE TOO STRICT AGAINST HIM • Its not that you hate him or he does not have the ability to do his work, it’s just when he is standing on the opposing side against company policy it troubles you. • Every time when things like this happens, you would low-key complains by posting status on the chat app, mentioning you don’t hope for an understanding but you would hope those who are not in your shoes would shut up. Your mutuals mostly are office workers as well so resonates with your words. • Your new friend leaves a comment underneath the post you asking if you are doing alright, and hope you do not stress yourself too much. You thanked him for the mental support. • He will even PM you asking if you are doing alright, most of the time you don’t want to lose your cool plus you don’t think it is wise to abruptly rant towards a stranger as if they are emotional sandbag, so you will politely thank him and say that you are alright now. • Since you and your new friend work on the day, you two chat during the night and weekend, getting to know each other in a very casual pace. A bit of child hood and you both also shared your majors in studies. He told you that he used to study at overseas and he picked up hobby of travelling around a bit during those days. • You never turn on the app during lunch (to avoid people finding out) but your new friend does send you some messages during lunchtime. • As you and the new friend get to know each other, there has a few things in common, you two like talking about travels and you two read works by the same author • By the way the new friend is a he. You two are using ID names the whole time during chatting, because you have told him that you are not comfortable giving and knowing each other’s real name. He understands and respects that. • And you confirmed that he is slightly younger than you. Which you replied to him, “Oh my superior is same age as you.” • This new friend gives you a calm and mature vibe even though he is same age as your new superior. You could not help yourself but comparing. • The other party goes: “Wow, he must be a very successfully accomplished youngster.” • You go: “Nah, other than his outgoing personality that brings freshness to the department, he still got lots to learn.” • Your new friend then continues, “Your new superior is a lucky one, I can confidently say that because I have an excellent senior who would always look out for me.” • You respond, “Then you better treat them well.” • And he goes “Of course.”

1-4

• Work is as usual, possible you unintentionally eavesdropping and caught ONF member saying towards you (even better backing you up when some junior colleagues are reverse gossiping about you) : You know, Y/N might look cold and stern sometimes but actually a kind and gentle person. Y/N would always give out advice for the sake of the department/ company. • Cues you would fluster a bit by those words. • A few days later you are done briefing your superior their schedule. And ONF member suddenly ask if you are free for dinner. It’s already his 4th month in the company and wanted to properly thank you for guiding him with patience and prudence. • At first you wanted to decline him because you don’t want to deal with work related stuff after office hours, ALSO you don’t want anyone to start weird gossips. • Another reason is you don’t want to talk about yourself too much in front of your superior. Heck you even avoid your colleague’s invitations for dinner because you value your “me time” very much. • But looking at his anticipating face, you got soft and agreed that a coffee would suffice. ONF member smiles at you suggest both of you to have coffee right now at Starbucks next to your company building. You are free to choose whatever drink you like. • Before both of you leave the room. And then you heard a familiar notification sound, you thought your heart is going to stop, that is the notification sound from the chat app you are using. You did not have your phone with you so it was obvious the sound comes from ONF member’s phone. • And that was a notification alert of the system has found someone nearby and presented to the user. It got you curious and worried at the same time. • At Starbucks, ONF member had to answer a call, so you ordered his drink as well. • Later you see him start replying messages while waiting for orders to be done. You wanted to have a peek at his user name but you are a few steps away and your instinct told you better don’t do that. What if it is already someone you already know? • “Curiosity killed the cat, remember?” You tell yourself. • Once you are at your desk, you took some deep breath to calm yourself and try to remember if you recalled wrongly but truth is you are accurate. You hurriedly checked you phone, there were no new messages and you are sure you have turned off location visibility. Lucky for you it was never turned on to begin with. • You also kind of worried if your superior actually has a “fun” lifestyle after office hours. But, it’s hard to relate him to a playboy image when he looked like a friendly good boy. You shake your head and deny yourself. • “If (ONF member name) uses that app then I will need to be more careful.” you thought while sipping the frappe. So back at home, you started to alter all posts’ visibility to “Visible for mutuals only”. Took you nearly a whole night but better safe than sorry.

1-5 • More weeks pass by peacefully but one day a conflict happened between you and ONF member and some colleagues/minor members of the board. He went ahead to announce that he decides (had a thought) to run a campaign/new rule (maybe a budget cut). The moment he finished his sentences, you know the seniors will not be happy with it. • Later after meeting, you politely confront with ONF member that he should discuss with you before announcing it on meeting. Plus, announcing without any advance preparation will put him and you in an awkward position as verbal announcement are not persuasive enough. Of course you are also worried that people might use this issue to tackle and exploit the cons of both of you being inexperience and young. • “With all due my respect, Mr.(ONF member name), it will be nice if you could discuss with me before dropping that bomb at the meeting.” you try not to sound fierce but your tone clearly does not sound you are cool with his actions at all. • “And later having you lecture me and stop me? You do know it was for the good of the company too right?” He retorts like usual • “Yes but no.” you try to fight back. “ It’s not that easy, there are people need to be dealt with and I don’t think you--” • Before you could finish, ONF member says with an eyebrow raised, “You don’t think I can handle it, because I am still unexperienced.” • You unconsciously frown and thinking, why is he suddenly trying to pick a fight deliberately today? Why is he suddenly trying to piss off seniors in the department/company? • ONF member then with firm tone, gives you suggestion, “Should you have anyone come to you and complain, tell them that you knew nothing at all and request them to talk to me directly instead.” • “I am the CEO, not you.” He adds. • You could not help but sigh, knowing there is not point arguing because he is not going to back down. And deep down you do know the new rule/budget cut will do more merit than harm. (Your focus is more on how deal with seniors employees not him for now because seniors are more pain in the ass compared to him) • But still there are people come to you and bug you while you are working and you can’t tell them to leave you alone hence it stresses you out. • You escape to the bathroom taking your phone with you and vents out at the app by posting a status mentioning you are just trying to do your job and wants a peaceful work days. • You also come across seeing your new friend posting a status prior your meeting time, it’s a photo of frappe you recommended him to try it out. He is thanking you for recommending it. • You could not help but feeling a bit jealous, should your title and work scopes are different/ should you are just normal employee rather than a CEO’s secretary, you might not need to face these kind of stress. • “Guess you have to bear what you signed up for huh?” you thought to yourself after 15 minutes cooling yourself down. • You switched your mind set and step out from bathroom. Returning to your place with your usual ice cold face. You are trying hard not to show that you are weak against stress. You are too immersed at people coming at you asking you questions, without knowing ONF member actually observing you with concerned gaze from his room. • That night, you receive a PM from your new friend asking if you are doing ok, as you never sound that upset before. He said he can lent an ear so you can tell him what happened. You spare him all the intricate details and tell him briefly that your superior made a mess and you need to clean it up also back his plan no matter you like it or not. • The whole progress he did not interrupt you nor tried to tell you what you should do, he let you type all the way until you finished. Once you are done, you asked, “I don’t know what might be up in his sleeves that it’s inconvenient for me to know beforehand but... Isn’t he a jerk, putting me into an awkward situation?” • Your friend backs you up and agrees with you that matters should be discussed, and critiques your superior actually could trust you more. • You thanked your friend for letting you to rant and mentioned you have accepted the fate because of the title and responsibility you hold in the company. That’s being professional and mature in office. • The other party replied that even if that is the case, he hope you don’t stresses yourself too much as it seems your new superior still needs your guidance and support. • You playfully replies, “Well I am not his babysitter XD, he will need to face a lot of issues by his own someday.” • “Why is that?” • “Well I can’t always be by his side though? I might get married and resign.” you reveal your future plans to your new friend, “Moreover, even I don’t resign, I might take pregnancy leave though?” • The other party comments, “I never thought you had that planned out.” • And he continues, “Your profile gives out the ‘I love my job so much.’ vibe” • You then back up your point by saying you do want that plan to work but too bad you are single now, so of course you are going to focus on your job more. Plus, you do not plan to find a partner in work place anyways. • The new friend leaves more supportive words and hoping it will cheer you up. By the end of the conversation, he also offers that you can come to him and rant should you need an ear. • You grin at his words and felt warm towards his actions. Rarely any of your mutual actually PM to check up on you. “Maybe he was just being nice.” you thought before you wish him good night.

1-6 • The next day, you are being summoned by your superior the first thing in the morning. He passes you a pile of documents and requests you to go through it. It a proposal regarding to the budget cut/new rule and he hope you can be his ally. His gaze is not as firm as yesterday, but it’s more of seeking approval and acknowledgement from you. • You let out a sigh and mutters, “You know, should you have hand this to me beforehand the situation won’t be that ugly.” And then you start to flip the pages. • “Sorry.” He apologizes. “But I really want to make it work. It’s also a handover work by my predecessor.” • “You look up upon him too much, ONF member, he is a sly fox just like the other seniors.” You do not mean to back stab but you are telling the truth. “Has it never come to your mind why he did not initiate the plan when he is here and requested you to initiate it when he is gone?” • “I know. But this move is going to benefit the company; I am willing to bear responsibility.” ONF member adds • You stop reading and look at your superior in the eye, “You better hope this work though, I don’t want my 5 months effort of guiding you goes to waste. And I hate the idea that I need to re- adjust my pace with a new superior.” • ONF member gets your intentions behind your words; he swiftly stands up from his chair and thanked you. “I owe you big one, Y/N. Another cup of coffee to thank you for reals?” • “No thanks, I will be busy. Next time.” You feel uncomfortable because the social distance between you two seems shortened, so you politely decline. • Luckily the whole budget cut/new rule policy worked out fine and by year end, benefits shows. You and ONF member can finally relax a bit knowing that you both have won the fight.

1-7 • Meanwhile, you did not stop interacting with your recent favourite friend. As you two got to know each other even more, both of you chat almost every day during the night. He never bores you and he can understand most of the topic you bring up. You are amazed that how can someone has so many things in common? • It spikes your curiosity and you ask him if a wonderful person like him has a partner in real life. He answers you that he is single, just like you are. • (You thought he is lying because he is such a nice guy, but of course you do tell yourself not to 100 percent trust everyone online) • Then he asks your opinion about online virtual dating. You honestly told him about your experience. But you added that even though you failed twice/thrice, you are not against it. • And that moment, you don’t know what has gotten into you, you playfully type, “You are asking my opinion on that as if you are preparing yourself” • “Prepare for what?” he asks • “To get yourself an online girlfriend.” You reply. • His respond reads, “Yes I am.” • “That’s wonderful. That girl you will be confessing is a lucky one.” • “Yea, indeed you are.” • You pause for a moment when you saw the message. • “Wait, you serious? ME??” you quickly send him the message because you thought should you hesitate longer, the mood will turn awkward. • He replies you by sending you a heart emoji. • You give a quick thought, well it is interesting chatting with him and he does seem nice. Plus, it’s online anyway, you could call it off should he becomes toxic and annoying like your previous experiences. • “I wasn’t sure if you are ok with someone like me. “He continues. “I am fine if you want to call it off should you found someone in real life later on.” • “Don’t be silly, that should be my line.” You retort him. • And then you have it, another secret. You have an online boyfriend now. You both even declared each other as a pair of soulmate publicly on the app. But you two did not exchange selfies, keeping the relationship virtual and anonymous. • However you two always share interesting stuffs happen on daily. New book, new cd, a random shot of a puppy or cat you met on the street. • Also before year end, you overheard girl colleagues gossiping about your superior has a girlfriend now; you are not interested at his private life so you just let it slide. • But you did briefly mention it to your boyfriend. Not in a gossip tone, more of a life update share. • Of course there are some girl colleagues that are ok with you comes to you, hoping you leak some information about ONF member’s rumoured girlfriend. But of course you know nothing at all, leaving them with disappointed answer. • Fast forward to the week before Valentine’s Day. It is also 10th month since ONF member joins the company. • Out of the sudden, your online boyfriend suggests you two to meet up. You are not against it, and it’s not like you never met anyone you know from the app. Thinking why not knowing a new friend in real life, you agreed his offer. (Also because you are curious what he looks like so that you can understand why he was single before dating you) • You even inquired his preference in chocolate and promise bringing him some on official first date. • Your boyfriend thanks you and suggests a place for dinner. You knew that place, it’s expensive and you could not help but wondering if he is trying hard to match you. (You still thinks he is just a normal employee in a company) • But, your boyfriend only replies: “Don’t worry, it is the perfect spot, I could not think of others that are suitable to our taste.” • You can only acknowledge it because you don’t want to have an argument to blow up but deep down you could not help yourself to start doubting again. • “It’s going to be Ok, right?” you question your decision, but it’s too late.

1-8 • On Valentine’s Day, younger female colleagues in your office give out chocolate treats to younger male colleagues as friendship presents, some of course using the occasion to confess. • You don’t have the habit of presenting chocolate treats as a token of friendship appreciation at the office. But you are giving your date chocolate treat later; you hid yours in your bag carefully scared of being teased should anyone saw it. • ONF member gets some too. One female colleague even teases him if he is going to get chocolate from his girlfriend. And ONF member replies that he might get it later that night. • Of course ONF member will asks you for chocolate treat with an innocent face, you just bluntly tell him that you don’t have the habit to give out chocolate treats, he only pouts after listening to your respond. • By the way today you unintentionally changed your makeup (lipstick or eyeshadow). No one dared to make any comments but not your superior, ONF member. • He goes: “Y/N ah? Did something good happen on you? Are you going to a date tonight?” • You are typing quick report and his words caught you off guard. You flinched at his words. Hoping ONF member did not notice, you quickly lied by telling him simply ran out of your usual makeup colour. • But your superior teases you a bit, “Aww, I was hoping I could attend your wedding in near future. “ • You have gotten used to his socializing pattern, so you counter him by asking if he is going to bring his girlfriend to have a nice dinner at a grand restaurant. • And to your surprise, he revealed the place he will be having dinner with his partner. It’s the same place where you are heading to later. He had a special room booked exclusively for tonight’s date. • “Oh, Oh… Have fun and enjoy your dinner.” You force yourself to break a smile. • ONF member only smirks at you and gives you a few pats on your shoulders and says he will have an unforgettable night before returning to his room. Leaving you questioning the meaning of his actions that are unpredictable but also definitely intentional. • Of course you had a quick thought asking your boyfriend if it is possible to change location, you could not bring yourself to ask as you are worried you might sound rude/arrogant trying to change plans on the last minute. You deduced that since ONF member will be having dinner in a room, you might not going to bump into him. You and your boyfriend can just finish dinner quickly. • You could not have that bother you too much time because you need to finish your report so that you can leave on time. Once it reaches the end of office hours, the others started to leave. You made up a plan to leave after ONF member leaves the office. You keep raising your gaze to have a slight peek towards your superior’s room. • Seeing him finally standing up from his chair and adjusting his suit. You can tell he is finally leaving. He passes through your desk and asks, “Y/N ah, please don’t tell me you are planning to work overtime during this special day?” • You only smiles and tell him you are going to finish soon, “Don’t you have a dinner to attend?” you remind him without looking at him, acting as if you are typing the remaining contents of your report. • “Yea I do. See ya.” ONF member waves you goodbye. • You leave the office after 10 minutes. (As for method of transport to the restaurant, I will leave it to your choice.)

1-9 • You reach the building of the restaurant. You let out a sigh, hesitating to step in nonchalantly knowing ONF member is inside there as well. The least thing you definitely do not want to happen is ONF member finding you having a dinner date tonight. It’s embarrassing and it will break the balance of your work and private life. • While you are pacing in front of the building with hesitation, you receive a chat notification from the app. You open it and it was your boyfriend, notifying you that he has arrived, and he reminds you the restaurant located at 38th floor. • You nervously bite your lower lip knowing it’s too late and it is rude of you to cancel the date on last minute. He was a decent person to chat with and you don’t want to lose a good friend. You are blaming yourself for agreeing to attend this date too casually. And you also find yourself way too wary of your virtual boyfriend’s thoughts towards you should you now called him to cancel the date. • Then you heard a familiar voice called out your name and you turn your head towards the voice unconsciously. It’s ONF member, walking out from the building. You flustered and panicked by just imagining scenarios of him asking why you are here and other many more questions. • “OMG…. Shit shit shit….!” You cursed in your head, regretting your life decisions. Recalling the entire chat context between you two, this might be the worst thing ever to happen in your life. • He is grinning while reaching out to grasp your hand. You unintentionally try to back away from him but he was faster. You tried to pull your hand away but he pulls you toward him instead. You nearly bumped towards his chest. • “Y/N ah, I told you its 38th floor; you did not get my message?” ONF member asks as his smirks widens. • As he finished his words, you only look at the young guy in front of you with disbelief, processing his words. Seeing you froze due to the big plot twist, ONF member taps you on your forehead hoping to unfreeze you. • “It can’t be…You are (ONF member’s ID in the app)?! “You exclaim. • “Yeap.” He responds. • “Impossible…How?” you ask. “How did you know it was me?” • “At first I had my doubt when I first saw an old post of yours. You shot a sunset pic from our office floor by the window near the lift right?” he returns with another question. And man he is good at remembering details. • “Then I confirmed that it was you by the time I announced budget cut/new rules for the company/department. ” he explains • “I…” You could not bring yourself to say anything, but you are not an idiot, “(ONF member name), did you risked your reputation in the company just to find out a stranger’s real identity?” • “No, I did not, I swear. I initiated the plan to suddenly announce the budget cut because I want to find out which board seniors will make a move to cover up themselves, as requested from my predecessor.” He knows you well to sense that you are angry, and he quickly denied. “I only know it was you when I checked up on you. Since then I have been dropping so many hints for you to realize, but it seems like you are the dense one here.” • You can tell he is telling the truth. • “This is absurd…” you mutter while placing your hand on your forehead. • ONF member let out a sigh and he shifts behind you, places his hands on your shoulders then pushes you forward. “Come on, I am starving we can talk about it later, you did not had a decent meal during lunch as well right?” • He is right, you only had a mini croissant during lunchtime.

• You follow him without a word to the entrance of the building and enter the lift to 38th floor. ONF member has booked a nice room that both of you can enjoy the city’s night view.

1-10 • It was a luxurious dinner but you are not in the mood enjoying it. In fact you are so stressed that you could not even taste your food. You did not touch your dessert at all. • You only quietly trace the shape of wine glass in front of you while looking at the night view, hoping the night to pass quickly. • “You are not happy with me being your date, Y/N?” he suddenly asks. • You jolted and you finally look at him in the eye for the first time tonight. • “You startled me, I am still trying to grasp the situation here.” You reply him with a low voice, trying to act calm by casually bring your drink closer to you and hydrates your throat. • “Hey Y/N-ah, I know you mentioned before that you don’t like the idea of dating someone from the office, but…” his eyes are fixed on you. “I like you. Not just the virtual you, but also the real you.” • “I called you a jerk.” You know you should not bring it up, but you still did. • “Which I did act like one so, no hard feelings.” He accepted. “I am truly sorry about that, I was trying to prove myself way too hard.” • Now it got awkward since he apologized without any complaints. You don’t know what to say and avert your gaze again. • “You know, Y/N ah, when you are stressed, you tend to avoid other people’s eye contact. “he breaks the silence. “And you are doing that ever since you reached here.” • Upon hearing his words, you flinched and exchange eye contact with the young man sitting in front of you. • “And oh, and you flinch as well.” He adds, “Which is very adorable in my opinion.” • “(ONF member’s name), I …” you try to explain yourself but he cuts you off. • “It alright, you don’t have to push yourself, I have made you stressed out way too much today.” ONF member smiles at you while saying based on what he observed. • He finally stands up and offers to send you home. You could not decline him because you felt terribly sorry for ruining such as nice date. • “I am sorry, should it is another girl, it will be a terrific night for you.” You apologized before leaving his car. • “Don’t worry; it is an unforgettable night for me.” He responds with his usual smile. • Back at your place, you are frustrated that the night ended up in an awkward and weird way. You only noticed that you did not get to hand him the chocolate treats as promised. • You cannot sleep that night, gazing at the chocolate treats as you holding the package in your hands. You cannot tell if you messed up or you are lucky that he happened to like you. • You wanted to consult a random mutual of yours but you hesitated. Because at this point you are not sure if you actually have the full grasp on the situation. And you don’t want a biased reply. • “It’s just this boyfriend of yours happened to be him, I guess?” you murmur to yourself. But that did not clear up your mind enough for you to make any decision towards the situation. • Several days passed, ONF member did not send any message to you in the chat app. He acted like usual back in office, but it does not look like he has any intention to talk about what happen between you two either. • (The problem is you cannot look at him in the eye) • You are troubled if you should initiate the first move. It’s not like you hate him, you never did in the first place, it’s just he annoys you sometimes. • Then you overheard ONF member having small talk with colleagues, and they ask about his Valentine’s Day. He only replies it was an unforgettable night and he is glad that he is able to meet his girlfriend, it was better than never meeting her at all.

1-11 • From his words, you gain a bit of courage and decided to make your first move. • The next day you arrived at the office earlier than usual, you take out something from you bag and places small gift box on ONF member’s desk. The small box has a memo attached to it. • You hurried back to your desk, acted as if nothing happened while the office starts have more and more colleagues coming in. ONF member arrives later on and he greets you before heading in his room. • You take some quick glances, making sure ONF member notices your belated Valentine’s day gift. • He did noticed and read the memo you attached, then he made a confused look but he adjusts his facial expression immediately as he sees you stood up from your place. • You head to his office room to brief his morning schedule. Like usual, you step into his room, closes the door and starts the briefing. ONF member stares at you with a puzzled expression while sitting on his chair. • Once you done your part and you ask him if he has any schedules to add into the list, he places the gift box into your view and pushes it towards you. • “What do you mean by this?” he inquires. • “I promised you chocolate for Valentine’s day, sorry I was late.” You purposely answer him the wrong information. “ Don’t worry I made a brand new ones.” • “You know I meant this.” He pulls out the memo has his eyes fixed on you. • The memo wrote, “(ONF member’s ID), Let’s call it off --- (Your ID)” • “That’s how it is.” You tried not to break into a smile, you are getting your revenge and this is fun. “You are the one who said you are fine to call it off if either one of us found someone in real life right?” • ONF member pauses for a moment, his eyes wandering then he admits he did say that. • “Well you found someone in real life, so there is not point for us to continue virtual dating on the app anymore right?” you slightly let out a victorious smirk as you ask him. • ONF member finally gets what you mean and he let out a smile. He puts down the memo and pushes himself up from his chair and walks towards you. • Thankfully the design of his room is made up of walls, once the wooden door is closed; no one knows what happens inside. • “So, you are fine with us dating in real life then?” You can feel his breath as he is only one step away from you. This time you are not going to back away and you look at him straight in the eyes. • “I will need to adjust a bit. You have a problem with me being your girlfriend?” you reply with him with another question. • ONF member unconsciously let out another smile, he quickly hides it with his hand, “No, not at all…” and those were the words you can hear coming out from him • “That settles it then.” You widen your grin towards him before turning around ready to leave his office. • But you are being pulled back by a pair of arms. Your back come contact to his chest area. He is hugging you from behind you. • “Seriously, I don’t get you.” He low key complains. “I thought you are going to hate me for real this time.” • “I was going to, you did not texted me and you acting like nothing happened after that night.” You pout as you explain to him. “I thought I have ended my career the moment you told me who you are. And who would have thought a decent CEO would date someone randomly they met in a online chatting app?” • “I am sorry; I thought leaving you unbothered for some time so that you don’t get stressed out.” You could tell from his tone he does feel apologetic. He never sounds like that before during work.

• "But I am dead serious on trying to start a proper relationship with you that’s why I suggested for us to meet up.” he continues. “Glad you felt the same.”

• You freed yourself from his hug and turn to him. • “Now listen, (ONF member’s name), as we are professionals, I do hope you understand that there is a clear line between work and private life.” You remind him. “Just because we are dating now, does not mean that I am going to let you off easily if you messed up during work, ok?.” • “Man, I don’t think I will ever win you huh?” ONF member only look at you affectionately and continues, “As you wish, my beloved assistant/secretary.”

A/N : the concludes for this oneshot headcanon fic should there are more ideas I might write a continuation about this pair for a part 2. Also thinking of linking the universe with MInkyun Florist AU, just a maybe.

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soliavenne · 3 years

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Ok here we go, ◇ anon here, let’s talk about this mess of a novel (good and bad). Unfortunately I don’t see an option to add the “read more” break in the submission editor - if you find a way feel fee because this will be quite long.

[warning: spoilers of Gaara Hidden from this point on also please read the original post first, this is just a response to the author of this blog]

Link to the post for reference! https://soliavenne.tumblr.com/post/637596997003722752/thoughts-on-gaara-hiden

1. I agree so hard with this one. While I don’t feel like he liked Hakuto in a romantic sense (I mean there was simply no time for that) - it was just heartbreaking that he compares getting an arranged marriage to dying - just the idea that he can’t even have a say in that part of his life is so sad … Then how he becomes hopeful it might be tolerable just because she is not immediately repulsed by him - tragic. 2. yes, just yes. I hate the thought that Kankuro is just like “nah my brother, who until now never showed interest in romantic relationships, should probably be forced to marry a random girl so I don’t have to” and Temari is just ok with it. I mean it’s true that this might be the only real option sometimes, especially when your marriage is a political affair - however, I would at least expect his siblings to get upset that their little brother is made to endure yet another thing because of the elders. I completely agree that it would seem more like Kankuro to consider taking that burden himself. He clearly has already taken on at least some responsibilities for Gaara’s sake (like helping him to support his leadership from the sidelines). Also - maybe it’s because Gaara is a male character - but I have a feeling if he had been a girl the writer might have put more focus on how cruel it is to force someone into a marriage. There was a lot of effort put into making him seem cool and calm in every situation - not so much on his emotional side. Gaara was never emotionless, far from it - he always had some scenes where he acted rather shy/flustered and it’s been shown that, while he is usually protected from physical injuries, the words and actions of others have the capacity to hurt him severely. To me, he feels like the one person you would not want to force in an intimate relationship with a stranger because there is just no way he wouldn’t take it very seriously and try his best no matter how the other person treats him.

3. agree completely. It didn’t feel like the Gaara we saw in the manga and anime up until that point. Although the novel was obviously approved by Kishimoto, I would say there are a lot of people here on tumblr who have a better grasp of Gaara’s character than the author of the novel - keeping in mind that writing a book takes more than fully understanding your main character. The focus was to make him appear cool and always on top of things - not to depict his emotional conflicts and more awkward side. 4. again yes - The point about his mother just feels like a plothole. I also don’t enjoy the thought that Gaara NEEDS a love interest. He has always been written very vaguely about this sort of thing, why not keep it like that? To me it didn’t feel like he was interested in her in that way, he met someone he admired but it really didn’t go anywhere. That space in the book could have been better spent on exploring relationships with existing characters or to add interesting parts about Suna’s culture and politics.

5. and 6. YES Now for the better parts:

1.I like this bit of added background - another part that feels like Suna is a mix of japanese and middle eastern cultures, same with the tea scene.

2. I feel like this line especially is a big reason why people feel like he is asexual or demi. It’s just interesting to see that he can read this type of thing and feel absolutely nothing from it. This supports the idea that he needs a strong emotional connection with people first and foremost. (And it makes him a character to relate to for people who are also on that spectrum. Even if it was never outwardly stated, for me this line hints severely at the fact that he is at least leaning towards the ace-spectrum, yet doesn’t exclude the possibility that he might find a partner one day.)

3. like stated in 1. I like that scene a lot - it’s a cute idea that Gaara would do little charms/rituals here and there because they might help in his daily life. Even he sometimes leans into things that would be superstition for others.

4. I remember telling you that part made me cry - it’s just such an emotional line. 5. This was so cute. I’m a firm believer that the book should have contained more of that and remove at least one of the new characters that ended up being insignificant. 6. For me this fits his character so well. gaara-obsession-blog has been referring to things like that in their analyses quite a bit - It makes sense for Gaara to abstain from things that could take away some of the control he fought for for so many years… 7. Adding to that - I found it interesting that they stated Gaara is very resistant to genjusu because he had to fight for his consciousness with shukaku for so many years. It fits the canon AND it fits his character - definitely one of the bits I appreciate. 8. I knew you would appreciate that line^^ I like the suggestion you made for an alternative plot. Another interesting part for me were the lines of Gaara addressing why he has never had a love interest. He talks about the fact that he believes the girls in the village who admire him, do so more because of the persona they imagine for him - he feels like they don’t truly like him. The line “and because of Temari’s stealthy handiwork in getting rid of unwanted admirers” still makes me think. I wouldn’t think Temari would actually hurt anyone wanting to get to know her brother. The games have a scene where she asks naruto to guard Gaara’s office while she has to leave for a short time. You are basically asked to send everyone away - if I remember correctly this includes people who are disguised as kankuro, a child who wants help with their cat, someone who just wants to see the kazekage in person and - most relevant here - one of the fangirls who wants to get close to gaara. To me, this means that Temari probably did her best to keep all the people away who were fascinated by Gaara because of his reputation - not, that she would actually go after a person who gets too close to him, who has genuine feelings and doesn’t bother Gaara. But this quote definitely made me consider its meaning for quite some time - I mean, if Temari truly wanted to keep someone away from Gaara at all cost - I’m sure it wouldn’t end well for them. I only hope Gaara became better at rejecting people’s requests - otherwise it must have been hell after she left and there was no one to guard his office– I’m sorry this turned out rather long - there is just so much in this book that either bothers me or makes me think if this fits the characters or not. I’m glad to talk about it with someone.◇

---

As expected as always, ◇. You took the words out of my mouth hands down. I also really appreciate the fact that you brought up a trivia from the games (I haven't played them yet AAAA) so it's a whole new interesting information that I wouldn't be able to learn if you didn't mention it! To be honest, the whole "Temari's stealthy work" didn't sit quite well with me at first as well, so I'm really happy that you cleared that up for me! That'd been such a huge help!

You have nothing to apologize for, ◇! If anything I honestly love receiving your asks/submissions! They're very interesting and I could clearly see the efforts you invest in discussing your points in such a detailed way. You're also able to back it up effectively! It's honestly such a treat to read through. I enjoy them so much.

Thank you soo so much for having me as usual! The feeling is mutual, I'm glad I was able to talk about Gaara Hiden like this with you, ◇. :) <3

#gaara hiden #◇#submission

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cinnalock · 4 years

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TWST Mond Twin Headcanons

((A masterlist of all the random facts and trivia bits for the Mond twins. I may create separate posts of new things in the future, but those new bits will always be added/archived in this post! As with some of my other character lists/profiles, a “last edited” date will be posted to inform when the last addition was.

Diamond Crown Academy, Katherine’s school, is created by @phoenix-manga.

Last Edited: 5-15-2020, added DCA Festival headcanons, corrected an old headcanon, newly added headcanons are in bold font.))

GENERAL HEADCANONS: headcanons that don't necessarily fit into a specific category, mainly little general snippets about the twins.

The Mond twins are a...peculiar set of siblings. They're friendly enough at their own schools, but get them together and you'll likely never see one without the other. They're very attached and seem to only trust each other. Despite how nice they seem, there always seems to be the aura that you talking to them feels like you're intruding in their space and better play by their rules because of it.

There's a rumor that the twins aren't entirely human, if they're human at all. Some believe they're fae or fairy. The twins have never addressed these rumors themselves and, if confronted with them, tend to give vague answers that neither confirm nor deny. Some believe that in of itself confirms the rumors, but the Monds have been known to be mischievous and may simply get entertainment out of confusing their classmates.

Despite their cunning, secretive behavior, the twins aren't bad or evil. They're mainly mischievous and distrustful of others. They're neutral at their worst, just wanting to protect each other above all else. They might relish in the chaos of something like a prank, but destruction and devastation doesn't sit well with them. They're not above schmoozing and sweet-talking to get something like an extension on homework or the last tart in the lunch line, but they wouldn't betray a friend to serve themselves. Ultimately, it's better to be on their good side, but being on their bad side isn't much of an inconvenience, unless the situation is very, VERY bad.

In regards to the above headcanon, the twins mostly represent characters that appear to be on the villain’s side before ultimately abandoning or straight-up betraying them, or characters that you’re absolutely sure are the main villains before the actual villain’s plot comes to light and you realize they were working against the evil.

"Canonically" for TWST Katherine might not be part of NRC due to the "all-boys school" angle, but at the very least she'd visit a lot; if she was part of a NRC dorm, it would be Ignihyde like her brother despite everyone and their grandmother expecting her to be sorted into Pomefiore. In Ignihyde, she'd specialize in web design, but she'd also have a knack for engineering; seeing various pieces like a giant puzzle to put together to make things work. Many classmates would come to her for help with building their own PCs.

Thomas and Katherine share a bank account, but have their own cards attached to it. Both earn relatively the same amount of money in their side jobs. Thomas' payments might be more substantial in the moment, but Katherine is commissioned much more frequently, either through bulk orders of products made by her own hand or companies paying substantial amounts for the rights to various recipes they pay her to concoct.

As proud as Thomas is of his sister's accomplishments, Katherine sends him a hysterical amount of perfumed goods of her own creation, asking for critiques. He does what he can, but to reduce them overwhelming his dorm room, he usually does his initial "testing" with them once before leaving them in a box on Pomefiore's doorstep.

Katherine's animal companion at DCA is an orchid mantis named Lamarie; while normally only the companion's owners can hear them speak, Thomas can hear Lamarie talk as well.

Lamarie is a very conceited, boastful little bug to the point where Vil would describe her as "full of herself" if he could hear her speak. Despite her selfish attitude, she cares about Katherine dearly and will go to great lengths to protect her, even if the effort isn't always necessary.

The Monds use a similar fragrance mainly comprising of cloves and fresh rosemary. Thomas' cologne also contains hints spearmint and bergamot. Katherine's perfume also contains hints of lavender and patchouli. Their respective scents are present in various products made by Katherine, and they regularly bathe with the pure oil mixtures stirred into their bath water. This leaves their smells being particularly persistent (almost overwhelming) and while Katherine says there's no magic additives, non- or weak-magicked beings tend to find themselves being slowly entranced or even "hypnotized" by the smell after a certain period, weakening their resolve and rationality.

While their favorite food is chestnuts, both of the twins' favorite dish is chicken curry, though Katherine likes Indian-style curry while Thomas likes Japanese-style curry. While both enjoy a certain level of spiciness, they tend to exaggerate their ability to tolerate it, leading to some...interesting scenarios when the host/cook takes their word on such.

While curry is their favorite food, Katherine enjoys caviar tasting, though Thomas finds caviar gross. However, Thomas enjoys artisan cheeses while Katherine loathes it.

Both twins love boba drinks, particularly ones with lots of fancy toppings. Thomas eats the toppings out of the whip cream with a spoon before drinking, Katherine likes to drink the toppings through her straw as they sink into the drink.

The twins are relatively neutral when it comes to sweets, though once in a blue moon they get plagued by a ravenous sweet tooth. They prefer baked goods over candy when it comes to satisfying their sugar cravings. Thomas is a straightforward cake-lover, especially chocolate (god tier: chocolate lava cake); Katherine will say her favorite dessert is French macarons because of the aesthetic, but she'll sneak out at the crack of dawn to get donuts for the aforementioned sugar craving above.

Thomas is naturally gifted in herbology and plant-based magic. Katherine grew into it in her teens with lots of training and practice, but she had the terrible luck of frequently killing plants when she was a child. When Thomas discovered his affinity, he'd often revive the plants to keep Katherine from crying. Katherine's prized possession is a lamb's tail succulent Thomas gave her when they were kids that he guided her into keeping alive. Thomas doesn't have a passion for herbology, but he keeps a small potted lilac tree in his dorm, as Katherine gave it to him as the first plant she was able to successfully grow during her first year at DCA.

On the flip side, Thomas could burn cereal as a child. Like how he helped Katherine with gardening, Katherine has tried to help his cooking skills. He learned well enough, but without a dedicated cooking class at NRC (chemistry being the closest thing, which HAS surprisingly helped), his learning process has been slow. He's an okay cook now, and what he does make is at least edible if not enjoyable, but it's definitely not pretty. (Thomas: *standing casually in front of a collapsed cake* "Started making it. Had a breakdown. Bon appetite.")

While Thomas is in the board game club, if the club is cancelled or on the days it doesn't meet, he sometimes sits in on magical shift or track and field clubs to help get regular exercise in; he also helps in tutoring/instructing junior students in the clubs.

If the gardening research club doesn't meet, Katherine might show up to the greenhouse/club room to watch and fuss over the plants, even if she doesn't actually interfere with them because she wants to be a good gardener. Sometimes other clubs, usually the volleyball club, will drag her to their meetings to keep her from worrying.

Thomas is usually on the magical shift team for Ignihyde during the tournament, but he's willing to yield his position on the team if there's 7 players stronger than he is.

BACKSTORY HEADCANONS: headcanons relating to their backstory or explanations of how their origins affect other aspects of their life.

The twins were taught how to read, write, and most basic skills by Mim, including how to use magic. This was to her advantage so they could be independent enough to follow her orders (and not bother her when she had no tasks for them).

However, King Arthur adapted magic into his being over his long life, both by being tutored by Merlin for so long and then over the course of his main journeys and triumphs. Spending so much time with the twins as kits, he imbued them with a little of this magic and is the main reason they remember him so well despite how young they were.

In short, the twins had an adaptation to both good and black magic when they were young.

The twins can change between being human and being squirrels. They themselves have wondered if they could transform midway into a hybrid form, but they’re worried about getting “stuck” and haven’t tried. They also don’t want to try because being born as squirrels is a secret they’ve kept from their classmates (they believe it’s a secret to the teachers and staff as well, but both Crowley and Citrouille are well aware of this, despite not knowing full details of the twins’ origins).

Since Mim is an incredibly powerful sorcerer, the twins adapted a human lifespan once they were transformed by her. They were only a few months old as young squirrels when she transformed them and they had become children as humans, but they also started to age as humans as time went on.

The twins adore mainstream human cuisine, but they still have the tendency to snack on nuts and berries they pluck straight off the plant. They have to be careful of this habit because while they can digest certain things like fresh acorns, they have to be mindful that someone might notice them eating raw foods that would normally be poisonous to humans, such as uncooked acorns.

Naturally, the twins excel at Animal Linguistics. They have to be particularly careful about this because animals on campus risk revealing the twins’ secret to other students proficient in Animal Linguistics if they’re spotted transforming. They have to feign natural excellency at the subject as humans, but also not be found out when transforming into squirrels to use their natural forms to their advantage.

The twins don’t remember Merlin very well from the short time he was looking after them. While he seemed kind enough in wanting to save them from Mim, they’re not interested in reuniting with him because they don’t know his true intentions.

What they don’t know is that Merlin had managed to locate them when they started school, but has decided to leave them alone for the most part. His original agreement with Arthur’s son was to make sure they were released safely into the wild and he sees their current situation as a way to interpret it. He’s normally away, but sometimes he checks in, guiding them as a disembodied voice or animating objects to lead them in the right direction. The twins write this off as normal absurdity in their magic-filled schools and don’t realize it’s him.

The twins weren't sorted into Savanaclaw or Sagamore despite being animal-humans partially because they're not clear hybrids. Another, bigger reason is that their memories from being in nature are not pleasant ones (first being orphaned as kits and then living under Mim's hand) and they want to distance themselves from nature and their "origins" as much as possible.

They put a lot of effort into learning as much as they could about the modern world in such a short amount of time. Their knowledge is certainly passable, but they still slip up here and there. They prioritized learning alchemy for potions that could help them stay awake to study longer or help retain information a bit better. The same came with learning how to use computers as they noticed it was important in the current society. It was difficult for them when they were in hiding before they enrolled, but their fear possibly being enslaved by another witch encourage them to study hard and get stronger in both knowledge and resolve.

Lamarie knows they’re origins and the twins know she knows, but she keeps their secret to respect their wishes and protect Katherine, worried that the witch from their past might be trying to find them.

Lilia and Malleus are also highly aware that the twins aren't human, but they keep it to themselves.

One reason the twins use such strong fragrances in their products is because when they were still hiding at NRC, one persistent Savannaclaw student could pick up on their scent in rooms they were previously in during the night. Even if they were in human form in that room, the student specifically mentioned picking up on the scent of "squirrel" so it lead the twins to believe that even as humans their natural scent/musk smells animalistic. They threw the student off their literal scent before he could find them out by slipping a potion into his drinks and food to give him horrible allergies for the rest of his time at NRC, making him unable to smell clearly until he graduated.

IN-GAME HEADCANONS: headcanons regarding how the twins would work as canon characters in the actual game.

Thomas' unique magic is called "Found Your Weak Spot". He zeroes in on an opponent's weakness, whether it's physical, emotional, or magical and identifies how to exploit it; his attacks become critical.

Katherine's unique magic is called "Take a Deep Breath". A pleasant, but abundant fragrance overtakes her opponents, confusing their minds and slowing their movements, making their attacks much easier to dodge.

If they were in the game, they'd have an overblot boss battle as a special event. During the event, a side story would unfold where the player finds out about their past. The event would reward the player for participating by giving them rare cards where the twins unlock a human-squirrel hybrid form (similar to Savanaclaw students). The cards would depict stories of the twins trying to come to terms with being more open about their origins with their classmates, as well as trying to adjust to their hybrid forms.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS: headcanons explaining how the twins, either separately or together, interact with canon or other OC characters.

During holidays where students can visit home, the twins stay at NRC, normally spending it having huge gaming marathons with Idia. While it took years of getting to know Thomas for Idia to open up to the idea, he enjoys how they're much more willing to venture out to restock on snacks and other supplies in his place. Ortho, unsurprisingly, has to be the voice of reason and makes sure the trio doesn't die from their diet of pizza and chocolate pretzels during this time.

Going back to how the twins have relatively normal diets, they will eat the most decadent, indulgent food concoctions (think burgers with jelly donuts as buns or hotdogs with s’more toppings) in front of Vil just to horrify him. Vil’s motions to have them banned from Pomefiore dorm and a restraining order from him personally have gone unapproved.

While not particularly kid-oriented, the twins are very good at interacting with Ortho. Thomas tries to look after him when Idia isn't around, particularly performing small maintenance on Ortho's suit (such as replacing worn wires or tightening bolts) when it wears a little from extensive use in the middle of the school day. Katherine has had less interaction with Ortho, but gives him little trinkets and souvenirs from DCA when she visits Thomas.

Cheka doesn't know the twins all that well, but he likes their long hair worn in braids (or, as he calls them, their "head-tails").

HOLIDAY HEADCANONS: headcanons specifically centered around how the twins celebrate the holidays.

During their first Christmas at NRC when they were hiding, they'd sneak into dorms and watch holiday movies any students were watching. They were enamored by gingerbread houses and managed to get a boxed kit each year to decorate, but now that they're older, they decide on a design and Katherine will bake the pieces herself when she visits NRC during the holiday break. Ortho typically joins them and has fun helping decorate the structure; he tries to get Idia to join, but the older Shroud tends to hyper fixate on one area to decorate and over-obsesses on how to make it "perfect" to not ruin the overall look of the gingerbread house. They're all glad Idia joins them, but they worry about whether or not he's actually having fun with it.

DCA FESTIVAL HEADCANONS: headcanons regarding the festival held by Diamond Crown Academy.

Katherine gives her bath products to be sold at the perfume booths by the alchemy students. She checks in occasionally to see if they need more of her products (and sometimes to man a stall for awhile so someone else can take a break), but she's normally involved in the more physically active attractions.

Katherine's duties for the festival rotates throughout the course of it. Since one of her strongest subjects is Obstacle Run (see: squirrel), she spends a good amount of time at the obstacle course being a potential challenger for the visiting students to race against.

Katherine is part of an idol group, but with rotating performances from different groups, she doesn't have to spend a lot of time on stage.

Despite not being a dorm leader, a lot of DCA students recognize Thomas as Katherine's brother (either as a formal acquaintance or just "hey, he looks exactly like the girl from Chateau Beastiale") so the native students are more open to approaching him out of familiarity. Some students even "drag" him to a certain booth or attraction to get his opinion on their hard work.

The first few years, Thomas was content to just wander around on his own. He tried hanging out with Rook during the festival for a bit, but the attention Rook tends to get got a little boring for Thomas to put up with. Now he just trades off who he hangs out with, if he hangs out with anyone at all while Katherine's busy.

Thomas doesn't realize it, but he has a bit of a "prince charming" reputation himself. This is because of his long hair and charming demeanor, but DCA students fawned over him at a distance one time while he was helping Katherine fix her hair before one of her performances, people swooning over his caring "older brother" instinct.

Aside from watching Katherine's group, Thomas tries to distance himself from the idol performances. Whether it comes from wanting to tease their colleague's brother or just wanting Thomas' attention, some groups will drag him on stage after their initial performance and encourage him to try and dance along to one of their songs. He goes along despite being embarrassed because he'd find it more embarrassing to "run away" or cause some sort of scene at Katherine's school by protesting.

Thomas usually spends his time trying out different foods, but he'll also find himself in the art gallery, trying to see if there's any pieces inspired by King Arthur or the twins' original home world. If there is, he purchases it immediately if he artist lets him, but given the unlimited points of inspiration in the world, he almost never sees any pieces.

He also spends a surprising amount of time at the Futterwacken dorm because the sentient tea sets stir a strange feeling of nostalgia in him. While he doesn't interact with Riddle too often, them both enjoying the tea parties at the festival allows them to catch up and have fun in familiar company, even if they don't usually hang out at NRC.

It's through the above that Thomas came into a possession of a very strange sugar bowl. The dish's enthusiasm humored him a great deal and when he asked about it, it brought attention to how nobody at DCA actually knew where that particular sugar bowl had come from and, with the staff's permission, they allowed Thomas to buy it and take it back to his dorm. The little bowl's antics still continue to amuse him, but he can't seem to make it understand that he doesn't want sugar in anything other than coffee or tea. He doesn't drink energy drinks or do his alchemy homework in his room anymore...

SPICY HEADCANONS: a link to general headcanons regarding NSFW headcanons about the twins. This set of headcanons will always linked at the bottom of the post. These headcanons will typically contain explict, sexual details so please do not read if you are not comfortable with such. (no link exists at this time)

#mond twins

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lynseymoon · 5 years

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my videoranch experience

ok, hi. hello. so, now that holiday “excitement” has died down, and tumblr’s new bs nipplegate has caused a mass exodus of users, i feel like it’s an appropriate time for me to talk about this.

for those of you who aren’t aware; hi, it’s me, lynsey moon. in case you don’t feel like reading a big long mess, i will preface this by saying that this is going to be about my videoranch experience. if that’s something you don’t really care about, feel free to skip on by. ok, on we go--

so, as a lot of you have probably heard, i was fired very unceremoniously from videoranch this past september, after working there for 10 years. up until now, i haven’t really felt like i had a safe platform to vent this information on. i think i was still holding onto a little thread of hope that maybe things would go back to the way they were. unfortunately, that hope has passed, but on the bright side, i’m feeling a whole lot better about the situation. i am going to do my best to tell my complete story, while remaining as impartial as possible. there are other stories that connect to mine, but i don’t feel it is my place to speak for those people, so i am not really going to discuss anything other than my own experience. anyway, let’s get into the details--

context/backstory:

before my firing, i had worked for videoranch as their social media manager for maybe about 7 years, and had been a dj in vr3d for about 10. without getting into the long ass story of how, i was hand selected by nez. we became pretty friendly, and would exchange emails and chat on skype fairly often. even when there were long stretches where we didn’t talk, he would still occasionally shoot me a one-liner or two. after i had been djing regularly for a few years, his wife vic announced she was leaving. she was the one who pretty much kept vr running (the woman behind the curtain, so to speak), and she asked if i would take over running the vr fb page, which was virtually unused at the time. i agreed, and started making regular posts about the music, and events in vr3d. some years later, i set up the tumblr, twitter, and (more recently,) the instagram accounts for vr. i enjoyed the work i did. i really liked interacting with the fans, and getting them excited about nez news/vr happenings. over the years, i single-handedly grew their online audience to be in the thousands. so all those social media pages for vr you see, with the exception of the youtube page? yeah; those were all me.

new employee #1:

maybe 2-3 years ago, nez’s assistant tells me that they’re temporarily hiring this well-known person in the monkees community, to help promote a t-shirt sale. we were told that this person would just be on board for the sale, and then they’d be departing. nez’s assistant asks me to give them social media privileges. keep in mind, i have been the ONLY person posting on our pages up to this point. so, of course, i give this person privileges, so they can post about the sale. the sale ends, and nez’s assistant tells me that this person is going to stay on as sort of a “sales” person, to help them move some merchandise. this person keeps their page privileges, and is told to only post things related to sales, which they do, but they also post all kinds of other trivia and photos, which is essentially what i am also doing. already, things are starting to feel a bit crowded, but i go along with things and try to be amiable, because i like my job and i don’t want there to be any animosity.

new employee #2:

about a year ago, we are told that nez’s assistant (of many, MANY years) is leaving, and that a new person is taking their place. this person had previously been in charge of the (now defunct) “vr forums”, where fans were free to discuss nez’s work. i am not going to get into this person’s reputation among the fans, because that is a whole other situation that would take way too long to get into. suffice it to say, this person is well-known.

this person immediately takes the reins from nez’s previous assistant, and sends us information on what kind of posts they’d like to see on social media. they set up an official vr youtube page. they instruct me to post one photo and one video per day. i suggest that posting that often might lead to oversaturation, and therefore not get us as much visibility through the fb algorithm. i also point out that there are only so many videos/photos available online, and i will probably run out and have to start reposting things before too long. they insist. i comply. one video and one photo per day. i start scheduling posts per their request, to meet these quotas. they also instruct me to use the tumblr page more. i try to explain that tumblr is largely a younger audience, and the posts there don’t get much traction. they insist. i comply. they also ask that i give them fb privileges, so that they can begin posting things, in addition to my posts, and the posts by new employee #1. they ask that i stop asking questions in my posts. i try to say that questions engage the fans. they disagree. i stop asking questions. our pages start to become oversaturated with multiple posts by multiple people, and i try not to make much of a fuss, because again; i like my job, and i do not want to make waves.

at this point, with the amount of posts going out on a daily basis, i quietly reduce my posts to 3-4 times a week. i try to alternate between photos and videos, to keep things from going stale. i am hoping that the new assistant does not notice, because it seems to be helping our posts get more engagements. they notice, and instruct me to again; post one photo and video a day. i try to continue with these posts as requested, and soon begin running out of photos. i ask for help in finding more, as i know this person is a known nez expert, and must have plenty. they tell me that this is my job, and i should be the one researching these things. bear in mind, before this person came along, my job was to post about the events in vr3d, and occasionally throw up a nez photo or fun fact. not to be a historian. i didn’t bother trying to explain this to the new assistant because again; i. liked. my. job. i tried to do my best to comply, just to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

the firing:

early september 9th, i was sitting around, thinking of a post to make. as i pick up my phone, i see an email saying i’ve been removed as an admin on the fb page. immediately, i start freaking out, and fearing for the worst. if you remember, at this point, nez was on tour with the fnb, and currently in texas. frantically, i text nez’s other assistant (who mostly just deals with nez himself, and does not work with the social media side of things). i tell her what happened, and she is confused. she assumes (like me), that it had to be a mistake, and says she will check with nez and the other people in texas to see what they know. in the meantime, i message new employee #1, to see if they know anything. as i suspected, they do not, and are just as confused as i am. i start trying to convince myself that maybe it WAS just a simple mistake, but deep down i feel that it isn’t.

nez’s other assistant (i’ll just say noa) gets back to me, and says that everyone is in the dark about this. they ask me if i’ve emailed new employee #2 about it, and i confess i haven’t. i have been avoiding it, hoping i could get things corrected before having to talk to the one person i feel is responsible for this. in between all of this, i am attempting to log into all the other social media accounts, only to find that they have all had their passwords changed. instagram locks me out, because there has been an attempt to log in from texas. i am panicking, but try to appear calm as i compose an email to the assistant. i state simply that it looks like the passwords have all been changed, and inquire if maybe we’d been hacked.

a dreadfully long hour later, i receive my reply. i have it saved, but i still hate having to re-read it. the first line was the only thing close to an explanation i received:

"The operations of our company require us to remove your position as a social media content creator. You are welcome to continue DJing in VR3D, but we can no longer pay you for these sessions."

that is a direct quote, by the way. the email went on to say that the comped tickets i had already secured through noa were now null and void, and if i wanted to attend the show, i would have to pay my own way. reader, i was absolutely gutted. i was devastated. i sobbed-- SOBBED-- for an hour. i was full of confusion, loss, and hurt feelings. the lack of explanation was what killed it for me the most. that, and the fact that i was being fired by someone who had been there for a tenth of the time that i had. i was being indirectly let go by someone who i once considered my friend. i started to wonder if he even knew what had transpired, or how. also within the email was a complaint about a post i had made, about the anniversary of the newspaper ad for the monkees. i was told it was “inappropriate” to be posting monkees-related things while nez was on a fnb tour. mind you, i don’t think it was that act that got me fired, but i wasn’t even made aware that this was a problem until after the fact. it was like i was supposed to already know this, and i obviously did not.

aftermath:

i was an absolute wreck about this for about a month. i kept going over the events in my mind, trying to make sense of it all. the offer to continue djing felt like a cold slap in my face; as though i would take joy in continuing to share music in a place that i was no longer welcome in. it felt like being broken up with. after it was confirmed, noa sent me a text that just said “i’m so sorry”. even nez’s former assistant, who had always been very kind to me, called and left me a very sweet voicemail wishing me well, and expressing her disappointment in what happened. other friends of mine in the band also expressed their shock and sadness to me. even new employee #1 claimed to be surprised, though i am now second-guessing that, as that person remains to be on the staff, while i am not. it seemed like everybody wanted me to stay, except for this new assistant. it also seemed like nobody even knew why i was fired. maybe even the assistant didn’t know, and they just wanted me gone, and had the means to make it happen. the whole thing was one big drawn out gut punch.

i agonized for a long time about whether or not i wanted to go to the show. eventually, i found a friend of a friend with two tickets, and i took that as kismet, and decided to attend. i told myself it would be my last one. before the show, i got to meet up with circe and christian, and without going into too many details (for their sake), i felt a little better after talking to them. i also saw noa there, who gave me a very sweet card and wished me well. it felt somewhat cathartic to feel that i was appreciated by (almost) everyone. the show, of course, was impeccable, though it wasn’t as enjoyable as the other nez shows i’ve attended, but i expected that to be the case. afterwards, i hung around for a bit and chatted with friends. i saw noa leading nez over to the meet and greet, and i believe she guided him past us on purpose. he gave me a sad little wave and said “hello” before being rushed off. i convinced myself that i was never going to get any real closure for the whole situation, so i called that my closure, and left.

in conclusion:

based on the way things seem to be running now, and how they were when i left, i feel a little less sad about having to leave. again, i am going to try to remain as impartial as possible here, but it almost seemed like that chapter of my life was meant to close when it did. when it first happened, in addition to the pain i felt, i also felt incredibly anxious about the extra money i was going to lose from this. i had literally JUST moved into a new, more costly apartment just a week prior, and was distraught about how i was going to afford it. luckily, things have been working out, and i’ve been getting by just fine. initially, i had hoped that everything was just a big mistake, and that nez (or someone) was going to contact me and tell me to come back, but the more time passes, the more unconvinced of that i become. at this point, it’s in my best interest to just try to move on, and take pride in all the things i accomplished while i was at videoranch. it was a huge part of my life for so long, and now then suddenly it wasn’t, so of course it was a pretty big adjustment to make. slowly but surely, i am making peace with everything.

lastly, i have seen some rumors floating around that i want to dispel:

my firing was not a “financial decision”-- some people have been spreading this around, and it is simply not true. i got confirmation on this from c&c, noa, and others. nez has enough money to hire a private jet to shuttle him from show to show. he is not hurting for money.

this probably goes without saying after everything i’ve written, but i was fired. i did not leave voluntarily, nor did i have plans to. this decision was made entirely without me.

i was getting paid for the work i was doing, and was a contract worker for vr. i was not a volunteer.

i always tried to follow instructions and requests from my superiors to the best of my ability. even though i would sometimes question the reasoning behind things, i would always try my best to be polite and maintain a productive work environment. i never once refused to do anything that was asked of me.

so there you have it; now you finally know what really happened to lynsey moon. if you have any questions about this, feel free to drop me an ask, and i will try my best to answer. thanks for listening, especially if you made it this far. i appreciate all the support i’ve received. ❤

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superbeitmenotyou · 4 years

Photo

administrator Mike Flanagan is no stranger to adapting Stephen king’s extra complex works. in spite of everything, his adaptation of “Gerald’s online game,” a narrative lengthy considered to be unfilmable, became positively received in.

however adapting baron’s account “doctor beddy-bye” in a means that did justice to each the writer’s novel “The shiny” and Stanley Kubrick’s basic movie adjustment — which significantly modified some key narrative facets — turned into a completely different beast. “It became painfully clear to me that I am not Stanley Kubrick and certainly not should be,” spoke of Flanagan ahead of the film’s Nov. eight huge unencumber. “What fabricated me able to beddy-bye at night turned into, as an alternative of considering it as a sequel, what if this was a descendant of the film? What if it had the DNA of its parents but nonetheless has to stand on its own two ft and locate away on the earth? That fabricated it sort of feasible.”

“doctor sleep” follows a grownup Dan Torrance Ewan McGregor, who has approved to coffin his disturbing boyhood event on the fail to spot in in a haze of booze and intercourse. but the previous catches as much as him back he stumbles upon a band dubbed the genuine bond, led via the ambitious Rose the Hat Rebecca Ferguson, who augment off the aspect of individuals with special capabilities, like Dan’s “colourful.” getting the approval and discussing affairs for the movie with the king become “completely surreal,” Flanagan talked about. “the first time I talked to him I couldn’t talk. I believe I simply fabricated noises or I’d repeat words he noted lower back with ascendancy.”

despite the fact king become amenable to the theory, Flanagan becomes involved about how the author would acquire the film as soon as it becomes accomplished.

“once he speaks of yes, he intentionally backs off,” Flanagan spoke of. “His whole element is, ‘The booklet is the ebook, I want this film to be yours. I don’t want to interfere with it.’ Which is such a good looking abandon? except for it ability, he’s going to monitor it. And as Kubrick found out, if he doesn’t like what you probably did, he is usually not shy. So even though he’s no longer there, you can form of at all times hear his voice for your ear.”

In an account with the Paris overview, king referred to as Kubrick’s movie “too bloodless” and referred to it had “no experience of affecting funding within the family unit in any way.” He also called Shelley Duvall’s performance as Wendy Torrance “in fact a scream computer” and noted he both hated and was dissatisfied by way of the movie normal. fortunately for Flanagan, the king spoke back enthusiastically to an aboriginal cut of his movie.

“I loved the thought of Mike authoritative the e-book into a film as a result of he’s a good cheat,” king advised The times by the use of email. “The epic clarity of his work is what impresses me. and of course, he receives what’s horrifying. The fabric that serves as a sequel to Kubrick’s movie suits my fable cuff-tight and Mike’s love for the characters shines via, pun meant. That offers this movie a warmness that’s missing in Kubrick’s film.”

Mike Flanagan directed “doctor sleep,” an adjustment of Stephen baron’s complies with-up to “The incandescent.”

Al Seib l. a. instances while baron’s accession to the film weighed closely on his intellect, the administrator’s decision to use Kubrick’s edition of “The intellectual” because the foundation for “medical professional sleep” became established presently upon reading the radical.

“I affective the e-book as soon because it becomes posted and cherished actuality with Dan Torrance once more, but all the pictures in my mind were Kubrick,” Flanagan observed. “I wanted to be certain that Kubrick’s film becomes assize. I didn’t believe we could trade anything, however, I wished to protect as much as viable of the arc of Danny Torrance as baron had described it, certainly within the aboriginal bisected of the publication.”

“The force to stand within the caliginosity of Kubrick and baron become really on Mike’s and my mind day by day,” talked about Trevor Macy, Flanagan’s longtime bearing associate. “We had been consistently involved and agonizing about doing the best thing by way of each of them.

“We approved to make use of some element of Kubrick’s accurate language to inform king’s tale,” he delivered. “many of the movies take place backyard the fail to see the resort, however you nonetheless must make it a visually adamant account. And so we attempt it in .eighty five-element ratio, which turned into Kubrick’s option that we may no longer accept fabricated otherwise. We weren’t attempting to do an actual knockoff, but we desired it to feel find it irresistible’s generic.” despite his contempt for Kubrick’s film, the king changed into receptive to the way “doctor beddy-bye” attenuated his atypical and Kubrick’s film whereas still blockage true to Dan’s epic.

“Mike serves both of us in an exquisite, artistic means,” he wrote. “Dick Hallorann remains animate in my ebook however dead in Kubrick’s version. Kubrick’s movie ends with the fail to see arctic while my e-book concluded with its activity up in flames. as soon as I saw he meant to provide the actual bond with their full due, I was on board. I just on no account expected Rebecca Ferguson to be so astounding.”

notwithstanding it doesn’t develop into a prime region unless the film’s third act, re-developing the fail to see resort turned into appropriately probably the most alarming and appetizing project of the total production.

“I wanted to get everything as close as humanly feasible in the fail to notice,” Flanagan stated. “To are trying to be certain that each allotment of visible accuracy become finished as shut as possible while retaining the humanism and optimism it is at the coronary heart of the king’s story.”

“It became a video game of inches and it turned into each day,” Macy talked about. “You go on set with an iPad like, ‘is this the appropriate colour? is this photograph in the appropriate vicinity? Is that chandelier the correct bore? What colour is the typewriter?’ These questions are really difficult to reply and so we spent loads of time wrestling with the trivia of that.”

“What I am hoping lovers of ‘The incandescent’ film lift out of it is that here s clearly made via a fan and supposed to be a abounding-absolute celebration of the adulation that so many people accept for that film,” Flanagan mentioned. “however at the same time certainly not making an attempt to be that film.”

Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance in “medical professional beddy-bye.” Jessica Miglio Warner Bros. Flanagan turned into added to baron’s work at the soft age of back he stumbled across a replica of “It.”

“I used to be approach too young,” he said. “I didn’t recognize what I had gotten myself into.”

still, he powered via it, decided to discover the fate of the Losers membership.

“It turned into this huge ability in my young lifestyles, making it to the conclusion of that e-book,” he observed. “I had a hard time sound asleep for a very long time after, but I believed, ‘well, this e-book kind of taught me how to be brave in these tiny little bursts. Let me keep hunting for that feeling.’”

The director, whose movie credit include ’s “Oculus” and ’s “Ouija: the beginning of injurious,” in addition to each episode of Netflix’s “The haunting of acropolis apartment,” cites king as his biggest effect on.

“What I like about what he does is that even his best absurd ideas are built-in out of issues which are very relatable,” Flanagan talked about. “‘The sparkling’ works as an excellent scary sage a few apparitions within the bathtub, but it surely works alike better as an exploration of the anxiety that Jack felt about how his alcoholism destroyed his family.”

“horror is fun,” he introduced. “It’s a superb manner for us to soundly discover dark ideas; it’s a stupendous manner for us to observe actuality brave however more than anything else, it best in reality capability whatever if it’s dealing with some affecting truth. anything that we will all relate to about the darker or brighter side of our attributes.”

“I suppose style is most excellent acclimated back it’s a lens for human drama,” Macy noted. “The classic conception a couple of horror movie is you are taking someone in an existence transition and exhaust an abnormal force as a proxy for something that might be disturbing or transformative in a person’s lifestyles. ‘The knowing’ is the head of that for instance.”

whereas he has a d division of “The addictive” anthology on tap for Netflix this time known as “The addictive of Bly manor” and inspired by using Henry James’ “The Turn of the spiral”, Flanagan can tackle a different baron adaptation. “I’ve been talking with him for the reason that this was entirely about deciding on what’s next,” he referred to. “We’re still identifying what might be the next one, but I am hoping there could be the next one as a result of I will be able to stop. I am hoping it’s less difficult, notwithstanding.”

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rallamajoop · 6 years

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The Sad Sinking of the Submarine Moskva (and what little is actually known about Lieutenant Kuryakin’s naval career)

If you’ve been in UNCLE fandom on tumblr a while, you might have seen a post or two going around quoting wikipedia, quoting an “MGM press release” about Illya Kuryakin having served on the ‘submarine Moskva’.

The bad news: it look like that press release never existed.

(Well, the bit about the igloo is legit, but it doesn’t come from a press release, and... let’s start at the beginning.)

I’d have loved for there to be a legit press release out there about Illya’s naval career, so I took the quote to The Man from UNCLE Inner Circle group over on Facebook (a great source, since a lot of members there are fans going back to the original run of the show, some of whom own huge collections of documents and memorabilia) to check if anyone there had ever seen it. Lots of interesting discussion, but the short answer was a ‘no’.

One member did suggest looking back through the wiki edit history for whoever had originally added that line, which led me to the discovery that the ‘original’ citation for that edit was, in fact, a fanfic known as “Lieutenant Kuryakin's claim to fame” by MLaw -- which never actually claims the Submarine Moskva was canon in any way.

Clearly, someone had made a mistake.

Fig 1: Illya Kuryakin in full naval uniform. You’re welcome.

This may be a good point to step back and provide a little context. See, even if the Submarine Moskva is fan-invention, the idea of Illya having a naval background comes from canon. We famously see him in naval uniform in The Neptune Affair -- which may have simply been borrowed as a disguise for that mission -- but there’s also a line in the first season movie The Spy With My Face where he claims to have been “the first lieutenant in the Russian navy to set fire to an igloo.” Again, it’s possible the story was something Illya invented on the spot to entertain his companion, and little else about that movie can easily be reconciled with TV canon, but the evidence for some sort of naval career is starting to stack up.

The Shark Affair throws a bit of a spanner in the works, since that episode shows Illya complaining that the sea is "too big, too wet, too salty," and apparently getting quite seasick. Fans, ever determined to make sense out of a muddy canon, have sometimes bandied about the idea Illya’s naval career might have taken place on a Russian submarine, where sea sickness might be less of a problem (a quick google search suggests to me this is far from a perfect solution to sea sickness, but the fanon theory took hold nonetheless). Various shots of David McCallum on board a submarine while shooting Around the World Under the Sea in 1965 probably didn’t hurt the popularity of the theory either.

Fig 2: David McCallum in a submarine that is not the Moskva, or in any other way related to his role on UNCLE, but rather a scene from an otherwise forgettable 1966 film called Around the World Under the Sea. Sorry.

Which brings us to “Lieutenant Kuryakin's claim to fame”, an otherwise perfectly innocent little fic written to provide some backstory to that igloo incident mentioned in The Spy With My Face. Unfortunately, it seems one of MLaw’s readers misunderstood which parts of that story were actually inspired by canon, perhaps assuming that the name of the submarine must have come from some press release or other, since it certainly never appeared in the show. (FWIW, I’ve now exchanged several messages with MLaw, who is quite baffled to find themselves quoted on wikipedia, since as far as they know, the whole submarine thing was pure fanon.)

Really, it was an easy mistake to make.

I’d love to be wrong about all this, but unless anyone does manage to turn up that mythical press release somewhere, I’d suggest not editing anything about a submarine back into that wiki page, kthx.

If there’s a moral to this story, it’s presumably that one should never trust anything on wikipedia that doesn’t cite a primary source that you can actually check for veracity (and this goes double for more or less anything you hear on tumblr). Or maybe it’s that I, personally, am an absolute sucker for this sort of meaningless trivia -- I’ll leave that up to you.

I don’t especially have a conclusion, so I’ll leave you with a video I once saw linked as a very amusing alternate explanation for how one might reconcile Illya’s apparent antipathy to ocean travel with his alleged naval career.

youtube

We joined the navy to see the world And what did we see? We saw the sea

We never get seasick sailing the ocean We don't object to feeling the motion We're never seasick but we are awful sick of sea

#the man from uncle #the man from u.n.c.l.e.#illya kuryakin #david mccallum #the spy with my face #the neptune affair #the shark affair #muncle trivia #fanon vs canon

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 5 years

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We need to stop romanticizing the 'extremely offline' life

Remember the people who used to brag about not having cable or, better yet, not owning a television?

You know the ones (if you were alive back in the early 2000s). They were the kind of friend who showed up to trivia claiming to "know nothing about pop culture." They always thought the book was better than the movie, even when it wasn't. They bragged about not owning a television even though you saw them binge a dozen Netflix DVDs at a time.

Fast forward a dozen or so years and this figure has re-emerged, just in a slightly different form. Instead of bragging about throwing out their television, they're posting about how quitting [fill-in-the-blank] social platform has immeasurably improved their lives. While the rest of the world is rotting their brains online, they've done the impossible. They've gone offline.

And they can't wait to tell you about it.

"Being offline" is trendy in a way “being online” once was. Gross.

I know the "offline humblebragger," because I have been this person. I have been the coworker who goes on vacation, deletes Twitter from their phone for a week, and brags to the office about how much better they feel. Never mind that I immediately re-downloaded it upon landing and consumed as much poisonous viral Michael Avenatti-related content as my brain could handle before imploding. That's because I accomplished what I set out to accomplish: I earned compliments.

There are plenty of others just like me.

"I am also that person," Brian W. direct messaged Mashable, adding that deleting Twitter had still improved his mental health.

"Deleting Twitter from my phone has definitely been a good thing for my brain," Alison B. also confided to Mashable in a direct message. "And I lerv to talk about it."

Lately, it seems that there's a whole content industry dedicated to helping online people (people who spend a disproportionate amount of their lives on the internet) who dream of becoming offline people (people who spend more time "in the real world").

If you're an "online" person, you're likely to come across a story like this at least once a day: “Why quitting social media is the best decision I ever made in my life,” or “How quitting social media changed my life for good, forever,” or “Why Facebook is destroying all of your relationships,” or maybe even “100 reasons you should delete Twitter/Facebook/Instagram RIGHT NOW.”

Heck, Mashable has even written their fair share of digital detox stories (though I’d like to think we do so with far less absolutism and a heavier dose of humility).

The stories follow a relatively familiar formula: The subject expresses some sort of addiction to/unhealthy obsession with a social platform. They decide, on a whim, to quit a platform. Delete everything. Remove their digital footprint. Then, like magic, their life transforms. Their relationships improve. They suddenly enjoy the world around them. They see flowers. They feel so free.

They belong to a different world — the offline community. Us online people — well, we're just lost.

Listen, it's reasonable to fantasize about living off the digital grid. Internet addiction is a real thing. Negative social media interactions can severely impact mood. In a 2017 study, researchers found that people who used seven or more social media platforms experienced higher levels of anxiety. No wonder people romanticize the offline life.

SEE ALSO: March Mindfulness 2019: Gamers take a swing at competitive meditation

It’s the absolutism and the occasional accompanying snobbery that’s the issue. There’s been considerable amounts of research pointing to the opposite effect: Some people do experience improved mood as a result of using platforms like Twitter. Not all of us can afford to go offline, and not all of us want to, either.

We all don't want to move to your fantastical offline utopia.

Here's how one Redditor on r/OfflineDay, a new subreddit dedicated to getting people offline, describes the phenomenon:

"So I've found a sub of people bragging online about spending time offline?” user the Harmacist writes. "Am I the only [one] that feels like I'm missing something here? Wouldn't it make more sense for you guys to not have an entire subreddit if you're planning on being offline? Like mostly based on the fact that if you guys are offline, then your sub will be dead, and if you're on the sub posting and commenting, you're ruining your own aim??"

Harmacist raises a good question, but it's not even going offline that's the real problem. It's the formula this technological bildungsroman always has to follow.

Going "offline" may not give you spiritual peace

Read any of the digital detoxification narratives published in the past 24 hours, and you'll find the same plot points. Life before detox before was hell, life post-detox is Eden.

Here are just a few of the benefits one writer experienced after quitting social media, in a piece confidently entitled, "14 Remarkable Ways My Life Changed When I Quit Social Media:"

The writer has become a good listener

The writer can live a life without distractions

They don't procrastinate

They found a job

They found their life's purpose

The writer has found inner peace

Listen, I'm not about to shit on this person’s "I've found inner peace" parade. Quitting or pulling back from social media does have a measurable therapeutic effect for some folks.

But how often do we hear people — either in the stories we see published or the conversations we have on the regular — express ambivalence about their time away from social media?

When was the last time you saw a "I quit social media and I regret it" story published? How often do you hear someone say, "I deleted Facebook and frankly I'm very neutral about it," or "I have ambivalent feelings about digital detoxification."

SEE ALSO: 8 people confess why they finally deleted social media

By insisting that "online living" is a kind of viral illness and going offline its absolute cure, we set ourselves up for failure. For one, people who need to stay online – whether for work, family, or personal reasons — are made to feel guilty about it.

"I hate Facebook and am a very inactive user," A.V. told Mashable over direct message. "But it's the only easy way to keep in touch with my very large and global family."

"Some people have been hurt, confused, and annoyed by my constant ‘I'm back/I'm leaving’ activity where Facebook is concerned," Maria M. told Mashable over email. "That bothers me, because I don't want anyone to be affected negatively by my struggles with social media."

We need to have reasonable expectations about offline life. I've taken breaks from social media before and my experiences were largely "meh to above meh." I missed sharing my corny vacation highlights with my friends on Instagram. I wanted to hear every single update about the byzantine Mueller investigation. Reading a shitty book was not much better than reading a shitty article I found on Twitter. My relationships didn't markedly improve after I quit social media, and though I got more sleep, it wasn't a dramatic increase.

I even missed Gritty.

But because I felt pressure to complete the “I’m quitting social media for good” cultural narrative, I hyped up the success of my detox in conversations with my friends. “Taking a break from social media was the best decision I ever made,” I told them, even though I desperately missed every dumb meme while I was away.

Privately, I felt bad about falling short. I didn’t really want to delete every platform. I couldn’t. I love Facebook rants too much. I love Otter Twitter. I had failed at what should have been the easiest job of them all: quitting.

It doesn't have to be this way for me or for others. We can have a better digital balance.

Please. Being "extremely offline" isn't any better than being "extremely online."

There was a point in time when "extremely online" people were culturally in vogue. Now we've reached a historical moment when "extremely offline" people are trending.

What we need to do is to admit a core truth: Neither group of people is inherently cool.

Who cares where you spend your time? Online people: You're not in any way smarter or funnier for dunking on Eric Garland on Twitter. No one cares that you think Gritty is an anarchist-syndicalist. Similarly, just because you're an offline person who reads books instead of articles on Twitter doesn't make you any more educated. Neither world has the moral authority. Everyone is equally dumb. We all need to stop dreaming of greener digital pastures.

Now excuse me while I go tweet about this.

WATCH: If you're tired of oversized smartphones, try this teeny one on for size

#_author:Heather Dockray #_uuid:4a8403f2-e339-3d70-9d22-4a6591b18a76 #_category:yct:001000002 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_revsp:news.mashable

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argaliaofficial · 7 years

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@sangwoosers alright here is that general overview of jace post i promised u!!

i didnt intend to get this long but i wanted to write a backstory rundown again because each time i keep adding new insights that really helps me flesh out my characts i hope its not too daunting--

i also included more simple trivia bits at the bottom too

alright so jace, birthname jacques viorel eden, was originally a member of nobility, and also a fandom oc (for tales of vesperia lol) however recently i’ve been thinking of working out my own original universe to squish him into (hence the lack of proper names for places/people in this draft cuz im still in the world building process lol)

thankfully, his backstory pretty much works for the setting i am thinking about. he was born the youngest of 7, to a mother who wanted nothing to do with him because he wasn’t a cute girl she could project her lost dreams onto, and a father, who while a nice man, was always so busy with work he hardly had time for his children. his siblings too were less than nice as well, and that is mostly due to his eldest brother, gabriel. gabe was nothing but a vicious bully to whoever his younger siblings were, and by the time jacques came along, he pretty much had the other brothers tormenting jacques for their own amusement.

he had two older sisters, as well, but only one of them, annabelle, ever paid attention to him. she was a kind sister, always watching after him and making sure he was alright due to the fact that jacques had a weak immune system and got sick often.

he was very very young (bought 5 years old) when his father was accused of conspiring against the monarchy. jacques, of course, had no clue what was happening; he had woken up extremely early in morning to a very serious anna telling him to gather a few valuables and get dressed. due to their relation with their father, the council (currently the powerhead due to the lack of an emperor/empress at the time) saw fit to punish the entire family, and any generation that came after them.

the scorn from the citizens, and the burning of the brand on his hand made the walk though town to the edge of the city borders terrifying. and then the trek through the wilderness?

his father didn’t survive. being the older man he was, he was the one to fall behind when a pack of vicious wolves attacked the family

from there, it seemed as if everything continued to grow worse. jacques’s mother fell into a deep state of depression, and with no access to their vast wealth before, food and housing was scarce- especially for a family that had just been branded public enemy #1

they eventually managed to skip over to a new continent as refugees, and from there, they were given a very basic, tiny home to live in. his mother’s depression only grew worse, and soon, she was having a series of flings with a married man

of course, when he found out she was knocked up, he wanted nothing to do with her. for 9 months she carried the child, only to give birth to another boy. this was the final nail in the coffin, and a few weeks later, jacques found her dead, having committed suicide.

The father of his step son took the baby in, but left the other children to their own devices. from there. everyone just went their own way.

anna took care of jacques the best she could, managing to save up some money to get him a bow and cloak for one of his birthdays. it was also around here where he started trying to learn about medicine and healing magic in hopes of being able to get a job in the field to help out

anna, in the meantime while jacques studied, eventually married a man in hopes of getting them some sort of financial stability and a roof over their head. he was by all means a monster, however, abusing both her and jacques in more than one way.

one day, when he was about 14 years old, he tried to stand up to anna’s husband. this went over about as well as could be expected, jacques was so severely beaten he was bed bound for a week. because of this, he eventually ran off, terrified to stay, and terrified to return. eventually, he managed to crawl into a new town, on the brink of dehydration and starving. from there, he bounced around, trying to make something of himself. he continued studying healing artes on his downtime, and continued practicing archery. he also took up offensive magic after he got fairly proficient at healing, thinking having multiple skills would be useful, and that if he got strong enough he could return to his sister and get her out of that hellish home. it wasn’t easy, having grown up frail and sickly, but he persevered. he was going to make up for abandoning his sister, he would make his step brother pay for the shit he had put them through

those plans unraveled when he stumbled upon a secret base for a notorious assassin’s guild. there’s something terrifying about being dragged to the dungeons to be interrogated by the leader of the guild. something terrifying about your life on the line, as the guild could not risk outsiders revealing the location. jacques didn’t want to die. he still had to return to his sister- his last family member. quickly, he tried to sell his skills. a guild of assassins could surely use a healer, and he was a fairly competent one. he could also use a bow and arrow, and was a fast learner. he could pick up any other trade they needed him to.

it took a few days, but he was accepted under strict surveillance until he could be proven trust worthy. from then on, he would need to create an alias and discard his past. there was no room for that as a newfound assassin.

in a sense, jacques eden had died, and jace had taken his place. jace was supposed to be nothing like jacques. jace was supposed to be cold, calculating, detached.

he couldn’t help but feel bitter, though. his entire life had been in shambles since he was a small child, and now he had to throw away his family name for good.

one day, a new kid was brought into the guild. he called himself zelvene, or zelv, for short. he was a kid more damaged and fucked up than jace was himself. and jace had been partnered with him.

the two did not get along at all. zelv was a rambunctious nut, and jace was mr. killjoy. it was like that for the longest time before a mutual sort of stolckholm syndrome kicked in, and they became sorta friends- to the point where they are weirdly protective of each other, but still banter like they hate each other.

zelv eventually became privy to jace’s past, and jace became privy to zelv’s. it helped them understand each other, and in turn, helped them to care for each other. it was strange for both of them- having someone care. jace had known it with anna, but it had been so long since he had seen her that he had almost forgotten what it was like.

the two, being the damaged insomniacs that they were, would spend late nights talking about getting revenge. zelv said he’d already gotten his when he killed his parents and burnt the house down, and he told jace he’d help him carry out whatever plan he could come up with to get his vengeance.

and one day, it appeared that the perfect opportunity would present itself. a client came in one night, asking for a hit to be put on a man named faris clemens- a rising knight in the very city jace had been unjustly exiled from. the details about why they wanted faris dead were uncertain, but it didnt matter. an excuse to go back and deal a heavy blow to that shit hole of a capital... maybe get to ruin a few other things while he was there-

he jumped on the job immediately, and zelv was fine with it himself. if all went well, they would be able to do satisfying damage to the city.

he sadly could never return to anna anymore. not with how mightily he had fallen down a dark path, but if he could do this, and then kill his brother-in-law, and leave anna a fair sum of money to get herself a stable home while she found a job to support herself...

well, maybe that would make him feel a bit better with himself.

and there ya go. backstory rundown lol. now for the easier to get thru trivia shit lol

by the start of the story he is 23 years old

his astrological sign is gemini and his birthday is march 14

he really really likes coffee

he clung to studying nobility customs and aesthetics, wanting to cling onto what bit of family tradition he could remember

he’s a moody piece of shit and extremely sentimental

he lowkey loves cuddles and affection and could snuggle for hours if given the chance

he’s highkey paranoid tho and that interferes with a lot of personal shit like that

if you wanna ask anything else about him feel free! i hope you enjoyed reading this :)

#av talks #text #jace eden #oc invasion

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paradox-oflife · 4 years

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massive q and a post part 5 ignore this pls

(unless ur interested)

1. Do you have a favourite mug? Not really. I had one that was literally so cute it was like a neko atsume art style and it was a cat going uwu

2. Do you know any self defense or martial arts? Yes, actually. My mom was pretty supportive for it because the women’s side on our family is all under 5′2″. I did Aikido and Muay Thai throughout from the beginning of high school to the end. I don’t have as much time in college anymore though, but I’m looking forwards to starting it again. I’ve had to use it one time in my life. Hey Angelica, if you’re reading this you should ask me about it. That’s a story for later though.

3. Who's your favourite movie action hero? uuuuuh Thor? idk

4. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle? Haha in Taiwan that’s the main form of transportation. It’s an electric scooter.

5. Do you collect anything? I wear retainers when I sleep so I have an ongoing collection of retainer cases.

6. Is there anything you wished would come back into fashion? i was never really one for fashion haha

7. Do you stick to conventional fashions or like to try and be original? bro i literally wear like a sweater, tshirt, and black jeans.

8. Have you ever given someone a handmade present? I did a woodburning painting of kermit the frog for my friend’s bday

9. Are you introvert or extrovert? I used to be an extrovert, then I turned into an ambivert. High school made me more introverted. So on the spectrum, I’m in the middle but more towards introvert now.

10. If you could have any feature from an animal what would you want? Hmmm. I’m not sure actually. Wings? But that’s kind of inconvenient when I want to sleep.

11. Whats your prefered swimming stroke? Freestyle all the way

12. Have you ever been scuba diving? No

13. Have you ever had a disasterous interview? So far, no, but an interviewer once said I seemed very nervous lol.

14. What makes you nervous? A lot of things really. Too many.

15. Which of the 5 senses would you say is your strongest? Not eyesight because I’m slightly colorblind. Not hearing because I was born with tinnitus. Maybe smell? Or touch? But how do you compare that to taste? Idk

16. What colour are your eyes? Your average asian dark brown

17. Have you ever been to an Art gallery? Yeah. It’s pretty nice, but it’s hard to enjoy it when your impatient brother thinks it’s boring and wants to move on

18. Do you shout out the answers at the TV whilst watching quiz shows? All the time man. Granted that I actually know what the answer is

19. Are you a valuable asset on a Pub Quiz team? (equivalent to trivia quizzes) To a certain extent I suppose

20. Have you ever won any kind of quiz yourself? Yeah, name the countries. My geography isn’t too bad

21. Do you get over-involved with TV or movie plots at times? Um yes haha

22. Do you own any inflatable furniture? No, but I’d totally get one if it looked sick

23. Whats the highest hill or mountain you've ever climbed? Yosemite’s “Oh my Gosh Point”. The hike up there is so freaking hard because it’s like a 2 hour uphill climb. But the view is so worth it. It literally took my breath away.

24. Do you have a piggy bank? Nope

25. Whats the fastest you've ever travelled in a car? Not that fast. Like idk, maybe in an empty highway.

26. Could you ever hand milk a cow? I mean... if I had to

27. Do you have popcorn with a movie? Yeah, if I’m hungry. But otherwise I stay off movie snacks because it’s hella expensive.

28. Whats the futhest you've ever got a paper airplane to fly? 20 feet.

29. Have you ever built an igloo? Nope

30. Can you play the harmonica? It doesn’t sound good but yeah

31. Have you ever made a ball of twine or rubberbands? One time, it took forever to make though. My brother and I were being a bit too careless and it somehow exploded.

32. If given the option of having sprinkles in your ice cream do you always take it? Nah. Some ice cream is so good without any added sugar.

33. Could you ever be a living organ donor? Uuuuh, maybe. God my answer sounds so pretentious but if I was a dead body, yeah, sure go for it! Do whatever.

34. Which was your favourite science? Biology, Physics or Chemistry? Bio and Chem were hard but I’m taking it rn so it’s fine. Physics was lowkey boring but it was easy due to being math based.

35. Would you ever go out with someone just cause they're rich? Nope.

36. Have you ever contemplated sueing someone? haha no

37. Are you pretty devious? Only when it comes to fun games. If it’s a legitimate match in Martial Arts, or some type of thing like that I don’t cheat.

38. Have you ever had a surprise party? (that was an actual surprise) No, the parties I ever go to are just small get togethers.

39. Are you any good at giving massages? No, I kinda feel awkward when I do it.

40. Whats been your worst date ever? Haha imagine having a relationship ;w;

41. Have you ever slapped someone in public? My brother, but it was in a playful manner

42. Have you ever drawn on a sleeping or inebriated person? Yes. Good thing they’re pretty chill. Me and my friend were wheezing.

43. Have you ever warn clothing with the labels/tags still attached? Yeah, and I didn’t even notice until my friend pointed it out.

44. Have you ever slipped on a banana skin? No, but I have seen someone do it before.

45. Are you scared of the dark? Nah.

46. Do you have a lawyer? Nope

47. Have you ever been wolf whistled in public? Uuuh my friend did it out loud in public to me before and I punched her so hard.

48. Whats the worst pickup line you've heard? Something to do with chickens and impeccable?? Can’t remember exactly what it was but I remember cringing.

49. Have you ever been water skiing? Nope

50. Have you ever hopelessly failed a test? Omg yeah in Alg 2/Trig I bombed the HELL out of my first trig test.

51. If you had a year off, what would you want to do? Um, I guess there’s not much I can do because I’m not that rich.

52. How many sms/txt messages do you recieve on average a day? From my discord group chat, a lot. But actual direct text, maybe like 3.

53. How long did you last phone call last? 5 minutes.

54. Do you go to flea markets? Sometimes, if I have time.

55. If you saw someone drop a $10 note, would you claim it for your own or try to return it to them? Return it to them.

56. Have you ever helped someone across the road? No, haven’t stumbled upon that situation yet.

57. Have you ever been horseriding? Nope

58. Have you ever walked a tightrope? Nope x100

59. Have you ever demolished a wall or building? Yeah, it was a thin wall and I used a hammer.

60. If you and a friend both wanted the same thing would you let the friend get it first? Of course, they’re my friend and they deserve the world :)

61. Have you ever argued over who should pay for something? um YES have you ever been to an Asian dinner with other asian families??? The fight to pay the bill for your mates is a war.

62. Do you have any family heirlooms? Nah

63. Are you related or distantly related to anyone famous? No, but it’d be kind of cool.

64. Whats your favourite ocean? The pacific I guess? Idk there’s only seven to choose from

65. Do you correct peoples mistakes? Nah, unless it’s a super important one.

66. Have you ever helped out an injured animal? Yes it was a hummingbird that crashed into my window

67. Do you throw bread for the ducks? I did in New Zealand, but I found out that it was bad so...

68. Do you think babies are little bundles of joy or smelly noisey things? Both

69. Do you give money to street performers? Nah

70. Have you ever tossed your own pancake? Yup

71. Are you any good at egg and spoon races? Bruh i’ve never actually done it before but I’d probably be bad lol

72. Are you allergic to anything? High dosage of cortisone cream

73. Are you ticklish? If you taser me and squeeze my thighs

74. Do you prefer tea,coffee or cocoa? Tea all the way baby

75. Do you like Turkish Delight? If I’m thinking of the right thing, I think they’re alright

76. Do you buy people presents to bring back when you go on holiday? Only for those that ask me

77. Are you tired of answering questions yet? Not yet Angelica!! Keep ‘em coming

78. Have you ever been wheelbarrow racing? No

79. Do you ever forward or reply to chain mails? Never

80. Do you often have a tune in your head you can't name? YEAH it’s classical music so i can’t search up lyrics

81. Has anyone ever approached you thinking you were someone else? Yes. Their excuse was all asians look the same (?!)

82. Have you ever been approached by someone who knew you but you couldn't remember them for the life of you? Yes it was so awkward I kept calling them “dude” until they went away

83. What do you do to keep fit? All I really do is jumprope, some pushups, planks, that sort of thing

84. Are you the sort to step in and try to break up a fight? Depends on who’s in the fight. Sometimes if you try to get involved, they’ll start attacking you

85. Have you ever been in a fight? Yes, ask me about it

86. Have you ever started a rumour? Nah, ya girl aint like that

87. Have you ever heard any outstanding rumours about yourself? YES. Some boy said I got into a car crash. Then one day after school some of my acquaintances asked me if I was okay and I was like ???? what?? Weirdest rumor ever

88. Have you ever been in or had a food fight? Nope

89. When its your birthday do you always wear an age badge? I think this is another UK thing because i’ve literally never heard of anyone doing this before

90. Have you ever starred in an amateur or professional video? Nope. I mean, depends what you mean by amateur. I’ve been in a couple of school projects.

91. If you were comfortably rich would you work hard for more or rest on your laurels? Work, but in a laidback job. Like a flowershop keeper or something.

92. Have you ever been in a position of authority? Yeah, one time in elementary school when the teacher left for the bathroom, she put me in charge B)

93. Have you ever been caught in a compromising position? even despite a valid explanation? uuuh no

94. Have you ever tried to make your own alcohol? Nah because I’m underage

95. If you were ruler of your own country what would you call it? No idea

96. And what title would you give yourself? I’d be the founder, but leave the government stuff to other people. Like I’d be in textbooks, people will be like “Oh yeah, that’s esther she’s pretty cool, she founded this country.” But I wouldn’t do anything.

97. Have you ever had a dream you chased only to be let down when you achived it? Mm it’s comparable to buying an outfit and thinking it’d look nice on you but when you put it on you look bad.

98. Is there anything about the opposite sex you just don't understand or comprehend? How oblivious they can be sometimes. like learn to read between the lines man..

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buytabletsonline · 6 years

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LAS VEGAS—When we weren’t pounding the pavement at last week’s overloaded CES trade show, we at Ars Technica took whatever opportunity we could to nerd out in uniquely Vegas style. That didn’t mean dumping our spare quarters into a Lord of the Rings-themed slot machine; it meant hitching a ride to the Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame.

This collection of roughly 260 working pinball, electromechanical, and video games has been open to the public for over a decade, with its 2006 opening followed by a size-boosting relocation in 2009 to a venue two miles down Tropicana Avenue. It arguably includes the most varied and valuable open-every-day collection of pinball and pinball-like games in the United States, if not the world—but you’d never know it by simply passing the building.

Inside this concrete slab hides the biggest collection of the rarest pinball and electromechanical games ever made.

Sam Machkovech

This was taken by standing on a chair in one corner of the venue. You can get a sense of the machine variety here: mostly pinball and electromechanical, with about one-fifth of the space dedicated to video games.

Sam Machkovech

This is probably the best representation of the dim lighting in the room.

Sam Machkovech

Follow the rules.

Sam Machkovech

The rarest machine in the house by far, Midway’s Pinball Circus. Only two were ever made.

Sam Machkovech

We chose not to reproduce most of the information cards so you would have more to read should you visit the venue. But we had to post a few. This one’s crucial.

The VPHoF’s oldest pinball machine is from the 1920s. “These things used to be outlawed!” our guide reminded us.

That old machine sits next to arguably the collection’s highest-tech virtual pinball machine.

An average dive into an older machine. Start with the full, beautifully restored machine.

Then look closer at the Atlantis pin’s general body and layout.

Then zoom in on its information card. You’ll possibly need to squint.

Nearly one third of the room is dedicated to this ’50s and ’60s era of pins.

A few Elton John-based machines were in the house.

We did the best we could with the room’s weird lighting, in terms of imbalances thanks to inlaid lights in the machines.

Abra-ca-dabra! It sure was a different era when Gottlieb made so many pins.

Imagine if this game’s designers pulled off a mechanical way to arrange dominoes like shown in the art. Even so, it’s a striking design as drawn.

Rockin’.

I’m still floored by how the bouncy balls inside that Hi-Score Pool pin worked in action.

A closer look.

The collection’s more modern machines flank the wall near the entrance.

It’s impossible to get a photo that makes Black Hole look as good as it does in real life. Its black-on-black-on-black style has an incredible glow and effect.

More of Gottlieb’s best era.

A collection so bustling, Creature Of The Black Lagoon gets crowded out.

Not to be confused with Peppy the Clown, who appears in the second gallery.

KISS returned with a modern pin via Stern; this is not that version.

Street Fighter II: The Video Game: The Pinball Game.

This probably cost less to produce than the related film.

No shortage of sci-fi-themed pins at the VPHOF.

Not every day you run into the phrase Goldeneye 007 flanked by a big Sega logo. This came before Nintendo and Rare’s N64 classic.

I can think of two Elvira-themed pinball games from the 1980s, including this one.

One row had a space theme.

Another angle of those two pins, with ST:TNG flanking.

Continuing the space-license theme.

A zoom on that Spider-man machine.

This rare Q-bert machine is a treat.

Great ramps and action.

Not many of these exist.

And even fewer of its Goin’ Nuts spinoff exist. Like, only 10.

It’s hard to tell from the photo, but this Flintstones cab is gargantuan. About as big as a typical arcade-hall basketball game.

Giant flippers.

More Flintstones info.

Vegas, baby.

In case the full pinball table didn’t make it clear, this is a pinball game. Hold that pinball, Freddy.

Nightmare’s game board.

For a short spell, a few games capitalized on the popularity of Caddyshack by including old white dudes, golf, and pesky gophers. None of them officially mentioned Caddyshack.

The warehouse’s nondescript exterior only stands out thanks to a shopping-center marker and a single yellow sign above its front door. Walk in, and you may very well wonder if it’s technically open, considering the full room is unlit and there’s nobody acting as a greeter, taking a cover charge, or explaining how the venue works.

But what this room lacks in glitz or presentation, it makes up for in sheer pinball fandom. Every machine includes an index card covered in misspelled, chicken-scratch handwriting, with all kinds of details about a particular game’s general-interest trivia and minutia about the VPHoF’s edition in particular. (A few information cards appear in the above and below galleries.) The venue’s staff, meanwhile, keeps busy. Rather than work the door, they typically manage ongoing machine repairs and game swaps, as the venue frequently swaps its roughly 260 playable games out from a nearby warehouse with another 800-plus machines. Newer pinball games, along with the VPHoF’s rarest and most popular classics, are the inventory-swap exceptions, enjoying near-permanent status in the playable collection.

Let’s start this “electromechanical” gallery—meaning, games outside the pinball realm—with the delightful and weird Skid Row.

Sam Machkovech

An explainer. The HOF also had an Ice Cold Beer machine, which is similar in style but quite different in mechanics.

Need some two-player pinball in your life? The incredible and rare Challenger has you covered. Roughly 100 were produced. The table tilts depending on how well your side does.

Chicago Coin’s Slap Shot is also a fine two-player game, but it cannot be mistaken for pinball. This is straight-up versus hockey.

I appreciate this placement of the colorful, oddball clown machine next to the sex tester. Get a double dose of scary stuff, kids.

The collection includes quite a few gun games.

Plenty of bowling-launcher games, too.

Though, really, none of the bowling-styled games top this beast.

Another angle.

And you better believe the HOF has its share of baseball-like games.

Batter up!

The wind-up, and the pitch.

Baseball, arm wrestling, basketball.

In the center is Bally’s Target-Roll, a sort of roulette- and craps-like target-shooting game.

If this were working, you’d aim the rotation and angle of this ship as it spins around, trying to contact the other metal rods nearby.

This isn’t straight-up pinball; you’re actually managing the movement of cars around a track while playing, and you’re going for laps, not score.

Shoot-‘n-race. We had to wait for the video game era before someone combined these concepts.

“Shoot this rifle!” “No, shoot this rifle!”

Goalee is essentially a one-on-one hockey game. “One can play,” but it’s really like playing Pong against yourself.

We spent less time cataloging the video games on site, but we had to make room for this sit-down Star Trek cab.

Same can be said for this rarely-seen Nintendo duo of versus light-gun games.

We actually didn’t notice that the display was upside down until reviewing these photos. How odd.

“As machines go off to that big arcade in heaven, they lose their value,” a staffer told us while showing us around the collection. This is only made more complicated by the lack of new replacement parts existing for a lot of machines, the staffer added. “If the tech dies, the [game in question] either winds up in the Smithsonian or our backyard.”

VPHoF prices its games individually at 25 or 50 cents a play—hence, why it houses so many change-making machines, including a block of four side-by-side. That’s it for cost; visitors don’t have to pay a cover fee on top. These coin-catch mechanisms are specifically used, instead of being set to free-to-play, as part of the preservation process, in fact. “If the games aren’t played, they will say, ‘fuck you,’ because they dry out, and they get corroded,” the staffer told Ars. “They need to be played.”

Thus, while VPHoF, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, will gladly accept donations to maintain operation and repair costs, the owners and operators say they’re actually more interested in visitors coming to the place and going hands-on with the collection. If the above galleries (split into pinball, first, and electromechanical, second) aren’t hint enough, please accept our assurance that the venue is absolutely worth the detour during a Vegas trip, roughly eight minutes’ drive from McCarran Airport.

Listing image by Sam Machkovech

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