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drconstellation · 11 months

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All The Colours of the GO Rainbow

Updated 11 Nov 2023

Edit note: I've done quite a big update on Red, Green and Blue, so if you read this before 11 Nov 2023 it might be worth reading it again.

I'm writing this meta about colours in the Good Omens AU in preparation for some future metas I'm planning, where colour will be important. And yes, I'm going to use "colour" as the spelling, as I'm an Australian and I use the UK English as my usual go-to version of English (that is what I was taught at school,) even though I am finding myself flicking between US and UK English here on Tumblr, leaving out u's here and there and putting in z's where I would normally put s's.

I also think its worth having another discussion about it as there are some colours I've have seen discussed here and there, but not at length, and some not at all that I think are important, and I just want to bring them all to one place.

I'm also going to be referring to @cobragardens excellent meta The Colors of Crowley quite a bit in this meta at various points, so you might want to pause and go read that first, then come back.

BLACK

Most people's initial reaction would be to class black as a colour of Hell. Crowley wears a lot of black, and usually a hidden accent of red (aaand something else. I'll discuss that at the end.) But the other demons are actually quite colourful when you get them into the light. They may tend towards the darker shades but there is quite a range of colours seen. Dagon, for example, is a very dark blue, as their avatar is a marine fish. Normally blue is associated with Heaven in GO. But this fits better if we think of black as being the colour of shadow, where the light does not reach, and the place of hidden things, of mystery

And it's worth noting that Aziraphale wears some black when he is trying to perform a magic show. He also wears white and gold at the same time but normally he does not wear these colours, unless he is performing human magic (see S1E1, Warlock's 11th birthday party, and the 1941 minisode S2E4) This should be striking enough for you to sit up and take note. You could say when Aziraphale dons black it is an expression of his act of "mysteriosity."

RED

Again, red is not necessarily a demonic colour, although we tend to associate it with demons, as Lord Beelzebub and Lord Dagon both wear red sashes as a mark of their rank in Hell. Think of it more as the colour of passion and romance in GO. Ooh, got you there! Makes you wonder what Shax is really up to (I know some of you have.) Perhaps they are just passionate about doing their job, or climbing their way to the top of the demonic ranking ladder?

Edit: After writing up a couple of other metas and some more reading maybe a better description is "devotional passion." Shax is devoted to climbing the power ladder in Hell (her red is usually a darker shade of red than Crowley's,) and the Red Team in the paintball fight at Tadfield Manor in S1E2 is devoted to following the rules of Management. Crowley is devoted to Aziraphale, of course.

In Christianity red has an association with the left-hand side, or the sinister side. In GO we tend to call this the "demon side" as there is a lot of shot blocking for shoulder-angels and shoulder-demons. Crowley is typically on Aziraphale's LHS because of this, so when he isn't, we take note. Actually you should take note of all the shot-blocking in GO because who is on the shoulder-right and who is on the shoulder-left of shot tells you so much about their moral stance in that scene! Anyway, in religious iconography it will often be Michael robed in red, with a sword, on the left of Jesus, representing the eccentric, the strange, the excessive, fire - and goats. (Hey, goats are a whole other meta, we are here to talk colour!)

Special mention to the 1941 minisode in S2E4 that is just soaked in red, everywhere you turn: in the sparks flying off the burning buildings as the sparks of love begin to fly, the inside of the book shop where Crowley encourages Aziraphale to think like a professional, the magic shop where danger and chaos lurks in every corner but magic is Aziraphale's personal passion, and the Windmill Theater where he finally gets to perform his magic passion on the stage. Several ops see this as a special memory of Aziraphale's so he colours it with the red of romance. We've got big hopes of seeing a third part to 1941 in S3. Some of this red is also used as a metaphor for flames and fire (there always seems to be something burning after a gun is fired) - we are fanning the flames of passion again!

GOLD

Gold is one the colours of Heaven. Nearly all the angels have some form of gold on them at some point. A gold ring, gold embroidery on their clothes, a golden brooch, gold on their face, Aziraphale's gold watch fob (he has a ring, too). We also see multiple golden lions in various places, which appear to have a connection to Heaven and Jesus. (I'm still planning to write a meta on the lions in the future, but I've got to find them all first! They keep turning up in surprising places...) The lions have a royal connection, one of two royal mentions in this meta, in that they represent the connection Jesus has to the Royal house of Judah, and are a symbol of his return in the Second Coming.

YELLOW

Yellow in GO is probably the hardest colour to interpret. We see a lot of it, because Aziraphale is so fond of it, being the colour of Crowley's eyes. The walls of the book shop are painted yellow, he gives Jimbriel a yellow feather duster to use and he turns the Bentley yellow on the trip up to Edinburgh, much to Crowley's disgust. (To be fair, Crowley's Mayfair flat in S1 was colour-coded to Aziraphale's eyes in return, in greys and subtle blues, but that's another discussion.)

But I think the important thing to emphasis here is that yellow is NOT the same as gold, and we shouldn't blend the two colours together.

While some point out that yellow can be seen as an imperial or royal colour, as it is the colour of the Sun, when you put this colour in context in the GO AU, it more clearly points to being the colour of fear, as Cobragarden's explains in The Colours of Crowley. I would expand on their words, and say that is why Crowley doesn't wear his sunglasses in front of Jimbriel when looking after him in the book shop - its a measure of how afraid he is that the the real Gabriel might reappear at any moment. And back in S1 when Crowley is trying to work out how to escape the burning Odegra sigil he inadvertently created Hastur appears in the front seat of the Bentley in pursuit of him and reaches out to remove his sunglasses. The shock on Crowley's face in the moment is palpable, because he realises he's in the shit unless he thinks quickly - which he bravely does!

GREEN

Green is the colour of chaos.

Originally I wrote that Green was Hell, but on after writing this and going on to write further metas (I think I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, and this is an evolving meta) and a brief discussion in the Notes at the bottom with noneorother, I decided I would re-write this for a better fit.

It still fits Hell, however, as Hell is chaos compared to Heaven. It’s overcrowded, its clogged with bundled paperwork that hasn’t been filed, there is old furniture everywhere. It’s still the overgrown suffocating swamp of decay, with the leaking pipes and the light struggling to find its way down through the mess. It’s still Furfur, with plans to unexpectedly disrupt our hero’s magic act. It’s still the colour of the fog outside the bookshop during the Eldritch Ball, signalling that things are not going to plan. Demons love chaos, its their purpose. It’s the opposite to Heaven, which is rigid and structured.

A recent post from @noneorother highlights that the intense green used for Hell in S2 is influenced by the the Powell & Pressburger movie The Tales of Hoffmann. They say:

Whenever something evil happens in "The automaton ball" sequence, the light changes to this sickly green. Colour is THE important symbolism in Hoffmann, so now we know green is evil.

But they wanted to add that evil is not necessarily Hell. And we would have to agree. Because Aziraphale also has a lot of green associated with him, and he has nothing to do with Hell - he's more an agent of chaos, if anything. He's unpredictable. Let us address this in it's own section below.

Veridian/Teal/Aquamarine

This is a special section to discuss the blue-green hues that Aziraphale wears. Heaven mixed with Hell. Lawful mixed with Chaos. He is one unique angel. The first sight of these colours is in 1601, when we find out that the Arrangement first proposed by Crowley in 537 is now in full swing, where he has some teal strips in his Elizabethan costume.

While I'm told its traditional to have a darker colour on the back panel of waistcoats, it's notable that the back of Aziraphale's waistcoat is a distinctly dark viridian green. Why not dark blue? Or a shade of brown to go with the other shades of brown and beige the angels tend to wear? But what's the meta-writer's motto in GO? There are no accidents...

He also wears a pale aquamarine shirt in the present day. (wearecrowley has posted a nice set of GIFs that highlight it here) No white for him since 1941 at least, although his 1821 shirt also looks green to me, but its hard to tell in the dim candlelight of night time Edinburgh (unless he is performing magic, then he is in white, gold, and mysterious black or being discorporated, then he is colourless white - back to his "native" state, like Muriel in her Earthly Inspector uniform.) The cape he wears in the 1941 minisode is also a fascinating colour. I am having trouble pinning down exactly what it would be called - Teal? A darker aquamarine? Perhaps turquoise. It's certainly part of his colour palette, and still indicating a lawful-chaos mix. A "dark horse" indeed!

[Edit: So i saw someone describe Heaven and Hell as Lawfulness and Chaos, and I thought that was a perfect fit for Aziraphale here with his blue-greens. Remember Crowley described him as "unpredictable" to Nina? Yeah...]

[Edit 2: I've made some changes above because I re-wrote the section on Green. This is an evolving meta!]

BLUE

Blue is a signal of Heaven, the colour of the sky, and a colour traditionally associated with the archangels Gabriel and Michael. We see it in a number of places, in both S1 and S2, where it is used with deliberate care.

Usually a primary shade of blue, this represents the rigid lawfulness and rules of Heaven, as compared to the chaos associated with Hell. In Christian iconography blue is what Gabriel wears as the right-hand-side shoulder angel to Jesus. It represents the Law, mercy, protection, water, sheep(!) and foundation. The "good" shoulder angel is always on the right shoulder in shot-blocking in the show.

Below are some examples of where we see it:

The blue paint on the back of Aziraphale's coat when he gets hit by a paintball at Tadfield Manor in S1E2.

The colour of Newt's car, Dick Turpin (which actually presents an interesting juxtaposition, as Newt is a Crowley parallel.)

The colour of the external walls of the coffee shop in S2, and some of the inside, which is also the same as the take-away cups, such as the one the Metatron offers to Aziraphale.

The colour of the gecko Jemima asks to be turned into in the Job minisode.

The colour of the suit Jimbriel wears at the eldritch ball, and the glorious ostrich feather jacket he dons when he exits the book shop to give himself up to the demons.

PURPLE

Purple has long been the colour of royalty, since ancient days. This was for good reason - there was only one natural source of the rich purple dye. That came from a small marine snail that was found on the coast of modern day Lebanon, near Tyre, and they held the monopoly on this trade for centuries. Only kings and emperor's could afford to have cloth dyed in this colour, known as Tyrian purple. It wasn't until the first synthetic purple dye was created in 1856 that the common man could afford to wear it as well.

In Good Omens we see Gabriel, the Prince of Heaven, wearing this colour in his ties, and also showing it in his irises in both S1 and S2. But only when he is Gabriel, not as Jim.

[Edit: So I only just found out that the colour he wears is lilac and is modeled after Elizabeth Taylor's famous eyes. But hey, she was a queen of the screen - movie royalty! And you still need to explain all the other purple below. Also, she was only born around 100 years ago and Gabriel has theoretically been around for...a lot longer, so I'd say Gabriel came first.]

There are a couple of other places we see it used. One is when angel Crowley starts up his nebula. The plume of miracle energy emanating from the book shop after the 25 lazurii miracle is also this colour.

Archangel Saraqael's chair is purple when she is on Earth. And Saraqael and Muriel both have purple in their tartan when in Heaven.

WHITE

White is the colour of the angels. It is the colour of Aziraphale's wings and the colour of his robes during ancient times from the Beginning up to Rome. Once the Arrangement starts, the white starts to be replaced with other colours, and the shades of teal and other blue-greens start to appear.

By the present day he has virtually lost all trace of white, except for his hair. He then only appears in all white when discorporated.

Muriel turns up in a conspicuously bright white police uniform on Earth, and the other angels all have some form of white on them.

Crowley sometimes has small accents of white as well. They can be easily missed, such as the white shirt cuff protruding from his sleek black Elizabethan costume in 1601. Remember they are discussing the Arrangement here - so they are both showing signs of taking on each other's colours at this point. On the other hand, I know quite a few people have commented on the white in his 1941 garb, on his tie, and his pocket handkerchief (and remember, he wears a grey shirt, not black, because he doesn't want to be mistaken for a black-shirted fascist during the war years.)

SILVER/GRAY

There are two colours I keep seeing that I'm going to group together as one, and that is silver and gray.

The senior archangels are notably dressed in what I've seen described as dove-gray, but an article on the costumes calls it pearl-gray, and it was meant to look a bit shimmery. I sometimes refer to this group of angels as the Archangels with the capital A, or the seraphim, the closest angels to God. This includes Gabriel, our current Prince of Heaven, Michael, Uriel. And I'm going to include Crowley in his trademark Tactical Turtleneck master spy disguise when he infiltrated Heaven with Muriel in S2E6. Hey, he could have worn white!

So where does this colour come from?

I've spent a bit of time banging on in the past about "traditional colours" of the archangels, in particular Gabriel and Michael's being blue, and the missing Raphael's being green. Part of the problem is, though, if you go looking online for who's colour is whose, you get a big variation in answers. Michael nearly always comes out with being associated with blue, and Raphael with green, so no problem there, but all the other traditionally named seraphim seem to get other colours put against them. For Gabriel, though, a commonly associated colour does appear to be white or silver.

Now my guess would be that sparkly silver would be too naff a look for the angels. I mean, look at what Crowley manifests as a blending-in "bees" disguise, a slightly shiny grayish suit, which kind of mocks the other Archangels (and you're overdoing the gold hints there a bit, Crowley) but it is curiously the same style as Saraqael's garb, and they did supposedly work together on the Horsehead Nebula. Hmmm. The Archangel's pearl-gray suits look very corporate and business-like, echoing a large soul-crushing business entity.

But this is not the only time Crowley wears this upper echelon colour; he has quite a habit of wearing it, particularly once the Arrangement kicks in.

The problem is, he nearly always wears near-solid black (unless he is trying not to get killed, like in 1793 Paris - Cobragarden's meta on the context why here - or 1941 London - see above,) so it stands out. I find this a far more interesting than the red accents, and should note that we don't always see it on him; its not there in 1967, for example.

One colour that is noticeably missing in the full GO rainbow is orange. We don't get it handed to us on a plate as much as the other colours do. Perhaps one exception is the sign for The Resurrectionist pub in Edinburgh, where Jesus is wearing an orange robe under a blue cloth. [Edit: It must be my screen colour, its been mentioned to me that the under-robe is actually crimson red.]

So now we have run through all the colours, it can be interesting to look at them in combination.

Bonus points for noticing the white mugs for the S2 coffee shop (six-shots of espresso,) to go with the blue take-away cups. The shop is blue-white-gold themed. Truly meant to be a place where Heaven is obtainable on Earth! It also kind of reminds me of the sky - blue sky overhead, white clouds, and a golden Sun shining down (from the brass lamps.) [Edit: There is a paler green inside the coffee shop - its easy to miss, we are too busy watching the characters!]

The book shop also has a combination of colours - predominately red and yellow. Yellow for fear, and red for passion and romance. Ouch, what a combination!

Aziraphales's white, gold and black combination for performing magic also has me intrigued. It's not just the black, but so much golden colour in the form of a golden vest. And we get it both times in both 1941 and 2019. An angel from Heaven trying to hide what he really is.

I've added an extra section below as part of a reblog on the angel off-whites and shades of brown that also appear, as I realised I missed them, and do a character analysis of the Metatron, so make sure you read that as well.

If you are interested in my analysis on the tartan in GO I've one here at: What the Tartan Tells Us

For further meta reading on colour in GO try the following:

If you haven't read it yet, do go and read Cobragardens The Colours of Crowley, Red and Yellow can hurt a fellow: Colour Symbolism in 1941 Part 1 and Part 2 as it makes the colours more character specific, whereas I've tried to give the colours a more over-arching theme here.

And for the importance of the yellow colour Vavavoom! which is used on the book shop walls, (and matches Crowley's eyes) see Vidavalors post on The Vavoom: Or, when the show's hinting Crowley & Aziraphale first kissed

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remusjohnslupin · 6 months

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15 QUESTIONS FOR FRIENDS

I was tagged by @rivnedell, thank you so much !! ✨(I'm sorry it took so long darling, I am terrible at keeping track of my Mentions.)

Are you named after someone? Nah. My mother just liked the names.

When was the last time you cried? Girl, I am pregnant right now, so... two minutes ago? I don't even remember.

do you have kids? Yep, two. The third one is on the way.

What sports do you play/have played? Volleyball through middle school and high school. I am also an excellent swimmer, if I say so myself.

Do you use sarcasm? May I just say how happy I am to be answering this incredibly interesting and insightful question? I mean, the depth of this question is just wow. (... yes, the answer is yes.)

What the first thing you notice about people? Their height. I know it's shallow as hell, but when I was in my high school's volleyball team, I was the shortest (even though I'm above average for a woman) so it gave me a complex I guess? Idk.

What's your eye colour? Hazel.

Scary movies or happy endings? Scary movies.

Any talents? I have a passable talent when it comes to sketching.

Where were you born? The Big Smoke.

What are your hobbies? Watching horror films, reading, making gifs, cooking.

Do you have any pet? Nope.

How tall are you? 172cm

Favourite subject in school? History

Dream job? Tolkien scholar.

Tagging @tastethesetears, @eomer, @villainthirst, @cosmic-lullaby, @persephoneed, @lotrlorien, @wincestation, @frodo-baggins, @anotherbluesunday, @lordoftheelves, @kvtnisseverdeen, @therulerofallpotatos & anyone else who wants to do this ✨

#about me #QUEUE.

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raziraphale · 7 months

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I've learned not to trust my memory, so I wanted to make a note for myself of some things I enjoyed from the Neptune production of RAGAD before it all leaks out my ears. It's mostly for me but thought I'd post it here in case it's interesting to anyone else.

Note for people that aren't me: this is the only production of RAGAD I've seen live. I've seen the movie and the 2017 NTL recording as of writing this, for reference. So, forgive me if I gush about elements/choices that are common to RAGAD productions and not unique to this one lol. Also I was an English major but not a theatre guy outside some Shakespeare, so also bear with me if I'm lacking some specific terms.

Performances:

I feel like this almost goes without saying but Boyd and Monaghan are excellent as Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. Their chemistry is great. There was an excellent rhythm to their dialogue together that was really fast-paced without feeling artificial (imo there is a certain point where performers talk so fast it can only feel fake. They were all believable enthusiam).

I particularly liked Monaghan's Rosencrantz! like there was just something so earnest about him. He had this character tic of chewing on his finger most of the time out of anxiety or inattention and that stuck out for me for some reason. It was endearing. Also the line "I wanted to make you happy" made the whole theatre let out a wounded animal noise.

Also Boyd's Guildenstern really did a good job of projecting an aura of "person trying really hard to appear in control but may also snap any moment". Control freak recognizing control freak o7

The Player (Michael Blake) was amazing. He had such huge stage presence that you really believed the character was a seasoned performer. I fully believe this man could successfully sell me snake oil with the power of his presence alone.

Personal note but I was jazzed to see Drew Douris-O'Hara as Alfred. I'm not a regular Neptune patron so I don't know how often he appears in their productions, but I have seen many a Shakespeare By The Sea show in my time so he's a very familiar face. Always a really fun presence.

I also feel like I have to mention Ophelia (Helen Belay) even though she obviously doesn't get much to do here. The actress really sold every small appearance though like my heart broke a little every time I saw her in anticipation for her off-stage fate. Less important but have you ever seen a woman so beautiful you started crying?

Costumes:

I really liked Ros and Guil's tattered suits. They looked like they were dragged behind a horse. These are the clothes of two guys that have been trapped in a play for like 50 years, truly.

They also had an inverted colour scheme (Ros had a blue suit with a green waistcoat, Guil had a green suit with blue waistcoat) that really emphasized the two-sides-of-the-same-coin/ yin & yang vibe. Also the colours weren't really shared by the rest of the cast much (they tended to be a bit more muted) so it made them stand out as separate from the rest of what was happening.

Also personal note but I was enchanted by Monaghan's slightly stupid-looking grown-out fauxhawk. He basically had a lesbian mullet haircut. That combined with his single dangly earring was a Look.

The Player's coat was gorgeous. It felt grand but also appropriately dated/worn. It wasn't fully a feather jacket, but it had a smattering of large feathers that got more dense as it went down. It kind of reminded me of a vulture, honestly, which I think is fitting, with him being an opportunist that loves some corpses.

Script:

Misc. Stage Stuff:

Unless I'm really mistaken, I think they cut/modified the few lines with some outdated racial terms (I have two specifically in mind, referring to Chinese and Inuit people). So unless I just somehow missed hearing those, that's nice.

Just a note to say that the line about who the English King is will depend on when they get to England got a huge laugh. Thank you to King Charles' cancer for making everything funnier

The lighting !!! It really did a lot to separate the scenes from Hamlet from the rest of it. The stage was dark for most of it, with cool lighting (like a blue darkness). For the Hamlet portions, though, the lights were suddenly bright and warm yellow. That combined with the differences in the performances gave a strong impression that the curtain had just suddenly risen on a more traditional production of Hamlet right in the middle of Ros and Guil just doing whatever.

I really liked how they used the two risers on wheels they had (not sure if that's the right word -- they were those three-tiered platforms I remember from doing choir in school. Kind of like bleachers). They looked like they belonged on an empty stage and also gave the actors something interesting to climb on. They were able to reposition them pretty easily with the wheels, which really worked for the portions on the boat tbh. They just pushed them together so that the lower tiers touched to create a half-pipe-shaped skeletal "boat". They could climb "above deck", or even go below while still being fully visible from whatever angle. The whole thing was spun around a lot during the pirate attack, which was fun.

The risers also separated the stage really well in the first two acts. For most of it, there was one on the left side facing the audience, for characters to sit on, and one on the right facing backwards and partially obscured by the curtain they had covering that side of the stage. The curtain was backlit, so you could see the silhouettes of anything behind it. At some points, you could actually see shadows of events in Hamlet happening in the background while Ros and Guil were doing their thing in the foreground. Unfortunately I didn't get the best look at them, bc I was sitting at far right of my row, so the far right of the stage was partially out of my sight line. Still a really cool effect!

They did turn the risers fully around to face the back during the players' performance of The Murder of Gonzago, with the curtain pulled across. You saw the shadow of the king standing up and storming out.

For the final scene, they did the expected thing, where Ros and Guil are alone in the dark, illuminated by a single narrow spotlight each. The spotlight goes out when each of them die and they disappear from view. The detail that made me insane though is that each time a spotlight went out, they played the sound of a flipped coin hitting the stage and the audience was so quiet it felt like a gunshot both times.

After all the deaths they had Rosencrantz and Guildenstern start from the opening scene again tossing coins for a bit before the final curtain. They did not escape the narrative 😔

Will add more if anything else comes to mind?

#this felt good to write out #cementing the details in my brain #since alas I cannot follow the show to toronto #and it doesn't look like it's going to get filmed #which is a travesty #beyond lucky to be able to see it at all #things like this never come out my way it's nice lol #reilly.txt #rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead

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umseb · 8 months

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VETTEL DRIVES THE LAFERRARI APERTA

Let’s be honest, I didn’t exactly jump for joy when they told me I’d have to stay on an extra day in Montmeló to shoot a video for the new car Ferrari was launching at the Paris Motor Show. I know, I know, some of you will wonder exactly what I had to complain about. And you’d be right. But, in my defence, we’d had the Italian Grand Prix the previous weekend, which is always a big deal for Ferrari. I’d also been tyre-testing on the track at Barcelona, and then I was scheduled to leave for the Ferrari Racing Days at Hockenheim. After that, I’d be flying out to Singapore with the rest of the team for the 15th grand prix in the Formula One World Championship. Basically, I had a string of commitments that involved a lot of travel and very little rest.

However, that all changed when I got to the track and saw the car in the flesh. This was the first time I’d got up close to the new LaFerrari Aperta. I’d driven the LaFerrari several times, of course. In fact, just after I first arrived at Maranello, I was lucky enough to drive the extraordinary FXX K around Fiorano [TOFM, issue 28].

Some of you may even remember that I was so blown away when I’d finished, all I could say was ‘Mamma Mia!’ But I’d only seen photographs of the Aperta, so seeing it right there in front of me, I felt a thrill. Plus it was red, which I like because I prefer classic colours and configurations when it comes to Ferraris. To begin with, however, I really had to hold myself back. And I really had to hold the car back too.

In the first phase of the shoot, the Ferrari’s exterior was covered in video cameras, which were only held in place by suckers, so the technicians had to keep reminding me not to exceed 100km/h or they could fly off. That was tough. Put yourself in my shoes: being out on the track means speed to me. There’s no point in being out there if you’re not really opening it up. So this was torture. I had to lift my foot off the accelerator every time I saw the speedometer getting to 120-130km/h. I finally got to floor it in the second part of the shoot when the video cameras were removed and I just had a vehicle with a camera on a Russian arm [a purpose-built piece of hardware mounted on the back of an SUV for high-speed tracking shots] driving beside me. That’s when I really got to let rip. Driving that fast in an open car is just incredible! The sound of that big 12-cylinder engine was music to my ears. The regular car is sensational enough, but with the roof panel removed it’s an even more intense and emotional experience. Like the coupé version, the Aperta has all the power of an F1 car, but the electronic differential makes it much easier to control the oversteer. It’s a spectacular supercar with incredible acceleration and excellent handling.

In a car with this much power you need to have total confidence in the chassis, to be in perfect tune with its responses. The LaFerrari Aperta uses all the latest technology to do that, but I found the steering to be precise and the car perfectly balanced. Initially I put it in Race mode but it wasn’t long before I deactivated the stability control using the Manettino and unleashed all 963 horses! It was fantastic, a true driver’s car. To use one of the first Italian expressions I ever learnt: Che figata! [So cool!] It’s not very poetic but it gets the message across. I suppose you want to know how fast I went, but I swore I wouldn’t say. However, just pull a nice big number out of the air and add a bit on top, then you’ll have an idea. So that’s the story of a very special day for me. I got to do a job I’m not used to – acting – but I also got to do what I do best and love most: driving on a circuit. And all in the LaFerrari Aperta, an absolutely fantastic car. I’m a lucky guy.

#sebastian vettel #f1 #formula 1 #flashback fic ref #flashback fic ref 2016 #not a race #2016 not a race #between italy and singapore 2016 #testing #testing 2016 #barcelona #barcelona 2016 #spain

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nobodycares-filmblog · 2 months

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A Few Good Men (1992)

Ok so I finally understand the whole Tom Cruise thing, I get it. He's a very attractive man actually. I appreciate the fact that him and Demi Moore's character never slept together, apparently someone said to Sorkin, the writer, that is Demi Moore's character and Tom Cruise's don't fuck then whats the point of her character being a woman in the narrative and allegedly Sorkin replied by saying that women didn't exist to fuck Tom Cruise- an interesting anecdote indeed. Also Demi Moore's character was inspired by Sorkin's sister who had the same job or something. Interesting.

I think cinematically my favourite part was the montage, the use of sound bridges was excellent.

Also that recurring statue, the one with the army men piled on top of each other and the American flag, that was nice visually. The change in the sky behind from dark to a new dawn was cool.

I liked the trio they seemed cool. Kevin Bacon was in it which was nice. The fall setting with the leaves constantly falling was aesthetically pleasing.

Originally I didn't like the two officers accused because of our introduction to them. They were shown brutalising an innocent officer. My opinion of them swayed with the film, almost as if Tom Cruise was defending their character to myself which is an interesting idea.

Tom Cruise is an interesting man all on his own, seeing as at fourteen he was actually in preisthood school or whatever it is and was devoutly religious. He dropped out a year later to persue acting. His debut role was in 1981 as a side character in 'Endless Love' and by 1985 he was starring as a main character in numerous films and was a household name.

This film's dedication to Mise-en-Scene and aesthetic choices is appreciated. The courtroom they spend the majority of the film in is not something a military trial would usually take place in. They found out that military trials usually take place in plain offices and instead decided to host it in an empty courtroom they found. The colour scheme of the dark brown wood and such is consistent with Autumn.

This may be a stretch but maybe the film has motifs of transitional periods? It seems to be set in Autumn, a transitional season, and The Marine Corps War Memorial aka the Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington, Virginia is shown at dawn, a transitional moment of the day.

Any way I enjoyed the film and had some thoughts about it- thought it might be fun to keep my film student muscles stretched throughout the summer and such.

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wisesublimepuppy · 11 months

Text

Meet the Steve Jobs of the replica bags Industry

I guess All people has long been there, that moment of standing before a window display, gawking at a beautiful replica bag in the store window… It is really Nearly hypnotic-like point out, at times I’m not able to pull myself from it! I signify, duplicate luggage positive are stunning, and also the significant-high-quality types more so…It is why this subject’s often a favourite when close friends And that i sit down to get a chat.

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phony baggage

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#fake bags

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almoststedytimetravel · 11 months

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6, 7, 17, 26, 29 for the ask game :)

Hi Ann!

6) My favourite Lord is Lyn! She, for what ever reason was incredibly cracked in my first ever play through of fe7. Almost all of my Lyn mode units were absolutely excellent and her prologue, while it is a slog in terms of game play, really endeared me to her. Of the three fe7 lords Lyn is the one who really felt like she was my friend, both Eliwood and Hector feel more like their Mark's employer, but Lyn? She's my homie.

7) Favourite character... Can I cop out and say I don't have a favourite? There's no one character that truly stands above the rest. However Soleil is the character I have as my icon so I think I'll say she's may favourite character.

17) I first played fire emblem three houses in 2020ish. It was maybe the second or third game I bought for my switch but, honestly, I didn't really like it. So I wouldn't say it's what go me into fire emblem. That honour goes to the one and only Fire Emblem Engage! I don't know what it was about engage that rotted out the hole where my brain used to be but I really loved it! To start I really loved the art style so seeing people trash it made me like it even more. I think I just really missed the colourful and bright art direction this game had! All the voice acting was amazing and after it first came out I replayed it like four, maybe five times in row just so I could use all the units. Defiantly one of my favourite full casts out of any fe game, or even any cast of any game I've played! Also I ask myself the real questions, "If the story is mid why am I ugly crying?" 3H was the first game I played but engage made mw want to play more fire emblem.

26) My pitch for a new game? Personally I'd like a game that is similar Awakening in that it takes place in the far future of one of the worlds from previous games, either Magvel or Fate's unnamed continent would be what I'd want. Give Kana or Myrrh the Tiki treatment and show them as adults? You could also do Elibe or Tellius but I wouldn't want Jugdral or Achenea/Valentia.

29) Avatars? It depends honestly. Most games with an Avatar give us one solid character who we stick with, so they at least provide narrative stability which is especially helpful in games with branching paths. I like certain Avatar characters more then others and I think the main thing that separates Avatars I like (Shez, Robin, Corrin, and Alear) from those I don't like very much (Byleth, and Kris) is that the first four feel like the character I play as, with their own past, motivations, and agency where as Three Houses Byleth and Kris don't really feel like their own characters. I like the stability that having an avatar provides but in the case of Robin and Kris I do wish they were less customisable. Like giving Robin only a handful of reclass options comparable with the other characters. Also because this is the Byleth hate hours, you can not convince me that they are, one, a good teacher or even a passable teacher, two, that their decision on what class to teach would have any actual impact on the story. They don't show any genuine investment in their students, even in supports and prior to Jeralt's death they didn't show any emotion. You can not convince me they are any good at their job, certainly not as good as the game wants you to think. Corrin's choice having an actual effect on the narrative is believable Byleth, not so much.

#Ask game #stedyanswers

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declanowo · 11 months

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31 Days of Horror - Day 14 - Pet Sematary

14/10/23

In my life, I have only had one pet before. He was a hamster, his fur draped in soot, he had a tendency to refuse eating most of his meals, instead opting to persuade my mum and I for more treats as he picked out only his favourite colour of food. Eventually, as all pets do, he passed away, it was harrowing for me. The whole day was drawn out, filled with surprises as he kept falling asleep and making us believe he had died far earlier than he truly had. All of this is to say, the emotions that Pet Sematary is attempting to capture are so visceral to everyone - the desire to bring your loved ones back from the cold soil of death is maybe the most human impulse there is.

Back during lockdown, I watched the 2019 remake of Pet Sematary, which I hope to watch again someday soon. All I can remember from that was enjoying Church and the masks the children wear - I have vivid memories of finishing the film and drawing several pieces with those masks in, and honestly, I still think about them a lot when designing animal masks now. Yet, the rest of the film has entirely left me, and I feel like that may not be the fault of my memory, but the film itself, however I will have to wait to see if my suspicions are correct on that one. In any case, watching the original version made for a fun experience, as although I knew the general plot beats - cat dies, cat comes back to life, kid dies, kid comes back to life and tries to murder family - there is so much more than that resting within this film!

I want to start by discussing what may be my favourite part of this film - Church. The character of Church is so fun, being the family's cat, and I found myself falling in love with him instantly. Despite being named after Winston Churchill, the cat is captivating, and I could feel myself feeling a deep sense of dread while waiting for his death. Before then, watching his antics are so fun, as he curls up in Ellie’s bed, runs around excitedly, and just kind of sits there. After his death, the zombified Church is maybe even more fun, although I was dismayed how little we get to see him after the death of Gage, which makes sense sure, but was a bit disappointing. I enjoyed the hissing and clawing of the evil Church, who I found out was played by nine different cats! I just love him! More horror films should have cats.

Now I’ve discussed the most important character, the others are fine too! They all have little things that make them stand out, and gives them their own stories, which I do appreciate! To start with, maybe my least favourite of the characters is Louis Creed, largely because I’m not the biggest fan of his performance, although sometimes he hits marks that really make me enjoy his character! I also found myself most aligned with him throughout the film, which is an obvious byproduct of him being the protagonist. Rachel is a fun character because of her story with her sister, in which the practical effects are gorgeous, although I wish we had more time to focus on that during the film as it has some really interesting ideas that I wanted to see more of, but as it is, I enjoyed her a lot! Both the children, Ellie and Gage are also interesting characters, with Ellie’s powers that felt like they came out of nowhere but I don’t mind the magical realism, and Gage as the child who dies, and who becomes incredibly interesting after death - the zombie acting is great. Finally, of course, there is Jud Crandall, who is probably my favourite character, second to Church, just because of how interesting he is, the time we spend with this well acted person is so very enjoyable, and everything surrounding his backstory is so interesting!

Onto the deaths themselves! Of the nine kills in this film, several are done in an effective and shocking manner - with death being the films central theme, I feel like it does an excellent job at differentiating them and ensuring we don’t become desensitised to its depiction of death. For example, Church’s death is the first in the family; the offscreen death is built up through a phone call that instils a sense of dread in the audience, awaiting the reveal of whether or not Church was killed, with the evidence of it being difficult to watch as the cat is peeled from Jud’s lawn. Truly, this death is dark and harrowing, and it works so much better because we don’t watch it, the reaction is delayed as we are forced to be filled with dread. In contrast, Gage’s death is shown more, we watch in frightened anticipation as the truck trampled through the windy road - we know what is coming, and instantly after he is hit the family have to deal with the effects of it. Although we don’t see the accident itself - thankfully the camera cuts away just before - the close up of Gage’s bloodied shoe is haunting, and cements the reality of the situation. As the film grows, we see more murders as opposed to the accidents of Church and Gage’s deaths, which work amazingly too as a result of the really good practical effects!

The biggest problem I had with this film, was a large amount of themes and storylines didn’t feel fully realised; I touched earlier on how I wanted more time focused on Rachel’s story, but beyond that, more time spent on the effects of bringing back Church, or more emphasis on Ellie’s dreams rather than them feeling more like plot points that are loose, and while they have relevance, they never really go anywhere! For all these faults, I have been very drawn to reading the book, which I will probably go and buy soon!

As I work on wrapping this up nicely, I think that the film has an interesting story and world, although the Indian Burial Ground trope is definitely one that is used in pretty poor taste, that I don’t know enough about to comment on in any detail but felt like I should mention it and the negative way it is often used.

Through all this film’s problems, I found myself having a great time watching this with my boyfriend, and I am very excited to look at the sequels for this film, alongside looking into the book! I love so many adaptations of King’s work - I'm actually going to watch Christine in the cinema in a few days - yet I haven’t read any of his books yet! I hope one day to bury this and dig through a pile of his books, because I just know I’ll love them!

7/10

#pet sematary #pet semetery #stephen king #halloween #horror #horror movies #creative writing #literature #reviews #review #horror movie #horror film

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touyasdoll · 3 years

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Early Established Relationship Shouta & Reader, but they haven’t talked about having kids yet and Reader just found out she’s pregnant. She’s worked herself up in anxiety over how Shouta will take it. This is not helped by him coming home from teaching, having had a hellish day and grumbling about “problem children” and thankful that he only has to deal with kids for a few hours.

Hearing that, Reader just… hides everything. There’s ice in her chest as she tidies up the bathroom, takes out the trash, washes up to start on dinner just. Mind blank, but her usual smile on her face (well honed practice from years of mistreatment due to having an ‘unacceptable’ quirk) as she tells him to go clean up. She’ll make a fast dinner so he can sleep and then wake him later for patrol. He’s too tired to notice anything off, thanks her with a loving smile, the soft ones only she gets, as he goes and showers, changes for a meal and a nap with his favourite girl.

And that’s how it goes. Day in, day out, feeling sick is just a bug, just extreme reaction to allergies, just bad food, etc. She kind of disassociates a lot, mind unable to process as somewhere in there she’s coming up with a plan. Obviously he won’t want to be with her, right? She should cherish these days before she starts to show. So she does.

For about two days, no matter what he says about kids he’s run into or his class — though a small voice tries to remind her that Shouta is excellent with kids, even the ones that act out and he doesn’t hate them no matter what he acts like, she knows this, but it’s drowned out by the words she’s heard him say while tired and grumpy — she cherishes the fuck out of spending more time with him. A little needy, maybe a lot, but she loves him with everything she has to give. Everything but what she keeps held back for their her child.

And then one morning Reader wakes up, showers and notices a slight bump that she knows won’t be going down. There’s ice in her chest again, but she can’t have the same reaction as last time. It won’t be good for the baby, especially if she disassociates. So she plans out her week carefully; makes a grocery list so she can make all of his favourites, makes a list of what she needs to stock up on for herself, what she can pack quickly and sensibly, looks up apartment listings so Shouta won’t feel caged or that he has to leave because it’s his apartment after all, budgets her upcoming checks and what she has in her accounts.

But she gets careless, tires out far too early, doesn’t even make it to lunch, and leaves an apartment listing ad and pregnancy clinic check-up assessment on the table as she unintentionally drifts off on the couch. (Her iron levels are a little on the low side.) On the school’s half-day, where Shouta only needed to go in for meetings and would be back by lunch. Her stealthy as fuck boyfriend, who she never hears come in, but certainly sees her wearing one of his shirts and having fallen asleep in the middle of…..something. It doesn’t look like one of the analysis notebooks she uses for her freelance job as an analyst. Huh.

He’s curious, nosy maybe, but that’s a hero trait. You would’ve made good hero, if everyone hadn’t made it nigh impossible for you before you broke away from your past and headfirst into analysis. You aren’t bitter, but he can be so enough for both of you. You deserve the best, in his eyes, but he’s selfish so he’s going to keep you for himself. Now if he just steps closer to get a look at what’s on the table…..

Hey so I made myself go full on fucking ugly crying and decided to share for anyone’s thoughts or added writing contributions. :D

All I can think of to add is that:

Shouta is not letting Reader get away from him, from this misunderstanding no matter how he has to do it. (He’ll probably start by shredding that apartment add with his bare hands, though.)

Shouta feels like the biggest fucking idiot for missing all the signs and not taking better care of you like you deserved, kid or no kid behind it all. (TBH you’ve been carrying their family — not that either of you have said it but that’s what you have — since you moved in. If it was left up to him the entire building would’ve somehow collapsed.)

He’s gonna add some more bitterness to the “my girlfriend could’ve been a heroine but people are assholes” fund because she managed to hide a whole ass pregnancy from him completely for who knows how long while other Pros can’t even hide their favourite colours. (Most can’t even hide their lack of genuine civilian safety oriented tactical knowledge, which is just sad, in his opinion. Then again, he is very judgmental of other heroes abilities.)

He may or may not quickly realize why Reader hid the news. And may or may not feel even worse. Because having a kid with you? That’s a dream he didn’t want to let himself have, not yet. Not until after he proposed and settled into his teaching job more, at least. (Better find a ring soon. Even if it’s a Studio Ghibli’s Catbus themed one — it’ll do.)

💜

Oh God. Oh God, wait. Option 2 though, right? My brain wants more angst, go figure.

Ahahah this gets a little sad, sorry. But my contribution is under the cut ❤️‍🩹

Warnings: panic attack, mental breakdown, pregnancy, medical

What if his initial reaction is to be angry? Like he’s reading it just as you’re waking up and you gasp, trying to explain, but he’s already raising his voice, demanding to know how you could have kept something like this from him for so long?

He’s not even upset with you. He’s really just upset that he didn’t even notice. Like you said, he feels like a fucking idiot. He wanted to be there for you through all of this. He wanted all the cute cheesy pregnancy bliss that other couple go through. The first appointment. First sonogram. Telling your friends and family together.

And you’re looking for another apartment? For all of you? No, the place is already plenty big enough. Were you going to leave? He’s beating himself bloody inside, cursing himself for not being more attentive to you. You could have slipped right through his fingers. You and that little miracle inside of you that he already feels so attached to.

And he’s just so disappointed with himself that he misplaces those intense emotions and lashes out at you. He’s never once raised his voice to you, but he can’t control himself in his state and he does. He starts barking about why you never told him, demanding to know why you didn’t come to him, pressing you about how long and why and where you were going to go and he just gets so worked up that he doesn’t even know what he’s saying, he’s just screaming and there’s hot tears and he can’t breathe anymore. He’s having a panic attack for the first time in who knows how many years and he just keeps kicking himself, because now after all that, you’re looking at him with concern and tending to his needs once again, instead of him having the strength to be there for you in what is obviously your time of need. He feels selfish and stupid and starts wondering if maybe why you didn’t say anything is because you were really going to leave, because you know that he can’t even properly take care of you, let alone a child.

#oof I’m so sorry I love angst tho #like ahhh the potential for this story #just mootin’ it up 💕#grae💕#graemoon #Aizawa angst #Aizawa x reader #tw pregnancy #tw medical #Aizawa #tw panic attack #tw mental breakdown

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sankyeom · 4 years

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the c in ceo stands for cute | k.yh

pairings: kim younghoon x reader genre: ceo au, secretary!reader x ceo!younghoon, strangers to lovers summary: in which your handsome boss is often mistaken as cold due to his good looks and forward personality, but is actually the sweetest introvert you’ve ever met word count: 7.2k series: sankyeom’s 2k followers celebration

masterlist

“It’s been such a pleasure working for you, Mr Kim,” you told the CEO of the company you worked for, genuinely meaning every word.

Mr Kim beamed at you, eyes bright behind the large frames of his glasses. “The pleasure was all mine, Y/n,” he assured you. “You’re a marvellous help. My son is going to love you,” he was sure.

The heir of the Kim corporation, Kim Younghoon, was returning from getting his Masters degree from Harvard Business School just in time to take over after his father retired. He was a little young to be the CEO of such a large corporation, but Mr Kim had a lot of faith in his son, and spoke very highly of him.

“I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” you smiled, even though you were lying through your teeth.

There had been enough rumours about Kim Younghoon going around for you to know what to expect. His schoolmates said that he was often cold to them, giving blunt answers instead of mingling with his peers, and having an air of superiority around him. You asked some of your older coworkers if they knew much about him, since you had only been Mr Kim’s secretary for a little over two years, and they feared him too much to have ever really approached him.

Of course you knew that it was unfair to judge a person by the rumours surrounding them, especially if you never even had the chance to meet this person, but there seemed to be no positive stories about Kim Younghoon at all. Sure, his face was plastered across billboards for being an excellent businessman and for having great instincts when it came to the stock market, but he never smiled in any pictures; not even the ones on his social media (which had millions of followers).

Mr Kim seemed to know you well, giving you an intentional smile. “He’s not what people expect him to be. You’ll see when he arrives,” he promised. You decided to take Mr Kim’s word for it and give the new CEO a proper chance, despite the fact that Mr Kim was very biased in this situation.

“I think it’s time for me to get home,” Mr Kim admitted, handing you his almost-full champagne flute.

The Seoul division of the corporation’s office had held a farewell party for Mr Kim, celebrating his many years of building up the company and all the people whose lives he impacted while he was CEO. “So soon?” you asked, helping him up from his chair. “You’ve only had one slice of cake.”

Mr Kim laughed. “I’ll take a good night’s sleep over a second slice of cake,” he assured you, taking your arm and letting you walk him to the elevator. “You know that I like you a lot, don’t you Y/n?” he asked you.

You couldn’t help but smile back at the man who was almost like a second father figure, and your most influential mentor. “Yes I do, Mr Kim. It’s been a pleasure.”

“I consider myself quite lucky,” he replied, saying his farewells to you before letting his chauffeur walk him to his car.

You waved as the elevator doors closed and sighed to yourself when Mr Kim was gone, looking around to see what was left of the office party.

You knew you were good at your job. Throughout high school and college, you found it difficult to figure out what you wanted to do with your life. All you knew was that you had good organisational and people skills, and you wanted to do something creative and exciting. At first, the idea of being someone’s secretary sounded dreadfully boring and time-consuming. But as you started to learn more about the profession, you liked the idea of being able to be apart of different projects as well as organising someone’s time.

“Hey, Y/n,” your coworker Kevin called over to you. He was someone you worked with a lot because he was a part of the design department, and no design ever went out without Mr Kim’s direct approval. “Where did Mr Kim go?” he asked.

You smiled, making your way over to him and the group of people he stood with. “Home,” you informed him. “I think he appreciated the party, but when he said he wanted to retire, he really meant it.”

Kevin laughed, raising his champagne flute in the air as a toast. “Fair enough,” he allowed. “Did he give you any details about the new boss?” he wondered, quirking an eyebrow in inquisitiveness.

“Not really,” you admitted. “He said that he thinks we’ll get along, and that he’s not what people expect him to be. But aside from that, he didn’t give me much.”

“Damn,” Kevin sighed. “I just want to know if he’s as scary as people make him out to be. I mean, attending a prestigious business school overseas and not making any friends? That seems kind of weird.”

“A little,” you agreed, accepting the champagne he offered you and sipping it. “I don’t know. I guess if you already have a decent set of friends at home, and your priority is to finish school as quickly as possible, then I can see why he might come across as unfriendly.”

Kevin hummed. “I suppose,” he agreed, downing his champagne. “Now c’mon. We need to dance and actually have fun at the party that you spent weeks planning,” he insisted, letting you finish your drink before dragging you over to where you had pushed chairs and tables away to make room for dancing. “Tomorrow, the new boss arrives. And if he’s half as bad as people say he is, you’re going to wish you had partied.”

You arrived at the office the next day an hour earlier than you usually did. You weren’t sure what time the new boss would be arriving at, so you just decided to be early. Fidgeting with your clothes, you smoothed them down as best as you could as you waited in front of the CEO’s office for Younghoon to arrive. You had already printed out a plan of things Mr Kim had left him to finish up for the next three months, but you didn’t have any more specific plans after that.

After half an hour of waiting around, hushed whispers rang around the office area. Taking this as a sign that Younghoon was on his way, you stood up tall with all of your papers, planner, and clipboard, and took a deep breath in to calm down. Not long after, Younghoon’s familiar face – which you recognised both from billboards, magazines and articles, as well as Mr Kim’s framed pictures in his office – appeared in front of you with two men trailing after him.

He was handsome in a chic way, with deep set eyes and high brow bones. His cupid’s bow was slightly pointed, and his lips in general were turned down into a sort of passive frown, as if he had a mild case of resting bitch face. All in all, he was intimidating. Tall, handsome, and rich. You dealt with men like this every day, but none of them looked at you as indifferently as Kim Younghoon was.

You put on your best smile. “Good morning Mr Kim,” you greeted. “My name is Y/n. I’m here to assist you with whatever you need. I’d like to go over your schedule for the next few months based on what your father already had planned, if now is a good time,” you told him, wanting to get that over and done with.

“Now is perfect,” Younghoon replied, allowing you to open the door for him before he let himself into his new office. You breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when he was inside, recovering quickly to smile at the two men he came with.

“Nice to meet you both, I’m Y/n. I’ll be Mr Kim’s secretary,” you introduced yourself again.

Both men returned your cheery expressions. “Nice to meet you, Y/n,” the one with the dark brown hair greeted. “My name is Sangyeon. I’m the head of Younghoon’s security, but I’m mostly just an old friend,” he admitted. “This is Juyeon,” the man with the black undercut smiled, which made his otherwise angular face seem soft and cute. “He’s Younghoon’s chauffeur but he’s another old friend.”

“We’ll see each other a lot so I hope we get along,” Juyeon chimed in.

“I’m sure we will,” you promised, already feeling comfortable around them. The two men exuded positive energy and a carefree attitude, which helped to calm your nerves just a little bit. Following them into Younghoon’s office, you motioned for them to sit in the two seats in front of Younghoon’s desk, where he was already sat in his office chair.

“We can talk about redecorating the office after we discuss your schedule, if you’d like,” you suggested to Younghoon, noticing the way his eyes were darting around the office. It was left the same way that Mr Kim had wanted it, only most of the belongings that he cherished had been moved into his personal office at home.

“Don’t bother,” Younghoon replied in a quiet voice, leaving you to smile awkwardly at his friends. “You said something about my father having plans for me?” he added.

“Right,” you nodded, taking out Younghoon’s agenda and placing it down in front of him. “Your father had already agreed to a few things before he retired,” you explained. “As the new CEO, you’re expected to carry out these events. I’ve colour coordinated everything that you have set, as well as given you the time and location of every event,” you pointed to the different coloured sticky tabs. “Since we’re going into the last quarter of the financial year, it’s not as busy as the rest of the year but there are more charity-related events than at the start of the year.”

Younghoon held your gaze, taking in your worried eyes and your shaking hands. “How kind of you,” he decided, sending you a half-smile before thumbing through the rest of his journal.

You thanked him quietly, feeling even more deflated now than when you were waiting for him. “Just so you know, I’m going to be arriving the same time everyday as I did today. You don’t need to arrive before me, we can arrive at the same time. And please don’t call me Mr Kim. Mr Kim is my father, you may call me Younghoon,” he said in his calm drawl, done looking through his schedule and glancing up at you. “Can I keep this?” Younghoon motioned to the planner.

“It’s yours,” you assured him.

“Then that’ll be all for now,” Younghoon gave you another half-smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll be familiarising myself with my father’s previous system of organisation and then I’ll meet the main teams this afternoon after lunch. Send the word out that I expect an update on what they’re working on right now, but I don’t want any presentations. Just an informal chat.”

“Of course,” you nodded, placing the stack of papers you were holding on his desk. “These are from legal, they need you to sign off on some patents by Thursday. I figured I’d give you some time to read through them and I can collect them from you Thursday morning,” you informed him. “My schedule for the day is always on this,” you tapped his desktop screen. “We have access to each others’ electronic calendars. It has everything that I put in your planner so far in it already. You can add whatever else onto it so I’m up-to-date. You can see my calendar so you know where I am if you ever need something and I’m not around. I’ll call the team managers right away and schedule your meetings with them.”

“Thank you, Y/n,” Younghoon said.

“Can I get you anything to drink or eat?” you offered, extending your words to Sangyeon and Juyeon as well.

“We’re good,” they assured you, Younghoon nodding in agreement.

“If you need lunch reservations, just let me know,” you smiled, exiting the room and almost collapsing onto your chair. After a moment to catch your breath, you picked up your phone and began to dial the number for Kevin’s cubicle.

“What’s he like?” Kevin exclaimed instead of answering.

You rolled your eyes. “Mr Kim wants a meeting with all the main teams. I’m having the design team go first so. How does 1 o’clock sound?”

“Fine,” he agreed, so you opened your laptop and updated Younghoon’s digital calendar. “Seriously, though. What’s he like? Apparently he didn’t smile when he came into the building at all.”

“Sound accurate,” you mumbled quietly. “I don’t know, Kev. I’ve only met him once. He seems like he’s focused and willing to do the job, so there’s not much I can say.”

“Yeah, okay. But is he a jerk? Unsociable?”

“Well, he’s no fairy princess,” you allowed. “That’s all I’ll say. Like I said, I’ve only met him once. And he’s the CEO of a huge corporation. We’ll have to see.”

“I guess so,” Kevin sighed. “Oh my god. He wants a meeting with all the main teams? I don’t have enough time to make a presentation, what am I supposed to do?”

“I think he wants to be caught up on the current projects and put some faces to the names, is all. Don’t worry too much. You’ll do great,” you motivated your friend. “Now I have to make some other calls, so don’t freak out, okay? Bye.”

As you hung up, Juyeon stepped out of Younghoon’s office. Automatically, you stood up to give him a smile. “Do you need anything?” you offered, earning a grateful smile from him.

“No, no, I’m just on my way to do some errands for Younghoon,” Juyeon waved off your concern. “Thank you, though.” You nodded, sitting back down and going back to organising the team meetings. “You seem like you’re good at your job,” Juyeon complimented. “Very organised. Colour-coded, even,” he added.

“That’s me,” you laughed. “Was it too much?” you wondered. “I mostly did it to kill time waiting for him to come into the office.”

“You’re all good,” Juyeon assured you.

“What errands are you running?” you inquired. “If Younghoon needs anything, I can do it for him. It is my job, after all.”

“Just picking up some stuff for his office,” Juyeon said vaguely, giving you a sheepish smile. Recalling the way that Younghoon disregarded your offer to help him redecorate his office, you felt the nervous feeling in your stomach rise up again.

“He doesn’t like me very much, does he?” you said gloomily.

“He doesn’t know you,” Juyeon retorts. “And you’re great, really. If you were my secretary I’d be jumping for joy,” he promises. “You just… need to get to know him. He takes time to get comfortable with people.”

“Okay,” you smiled sadly. “Well, let me know if I can help with your errands. You can call the lobby and ask for me, they’ll forward your call.” Juyeon waved goodbye and you watched him walk out, slightly upset that Younghoon wanted his chauffeur to do your job, even if they were old friends.

“He’s scary,” Kevin told you when you came to check on him after his meeting with Younghoon. “The new Mr Kim is nothing like the old Mr Kim,” he added.

“What happened?” you asked, wondering what wound Kevin up so much. You knew that Kevin often overthought social interactions, as most socially awkward people do, but you had never seen him so jittery at work before.

“All he did was stare at us and take notes,” Kevin revealed. “He didn’t make any comments or expressions or anything. He just sat there, listened, then dismissed us like we’re school children.”

You winced. “That must have been tough,” you sympathised. “But I mean, it’s only the first meeting,” you tried to find a way to defend Younghoon, giving him the benefit of doubt.

“Sure, but first impressions are kind of important,” Kevin argued. “It’s not like I need to be his best friend the second we meet, but a little communication would have been nice.”

“I’m sorry, Kev,” you sighed. Just as you were about to offer to grab him some coffee, knowing how much he adored the bitter concoction, your phone rang. “Mr Kim,” you answered, seeing that it was forwarded from from your office.

“Younghoon,” he corrected.

You grimace. “Yes, Younghoon. I’m sorry, sir, force of habit,” you said, making Kevin cringe when he realised who you were talking to.

“Where are you?” Younghoon asked, his tone even.

“I’m taking my break,” you explained. “It’s on my schedule.”

“Yes, I see,” Younghoon hummed. “I’m looking at it right now. It doesn’t say where you are, though. I thought it was supposed to say that.”

You cursed silently. “You’re absolutely right, sir. I’m sorry. I can come back immediately,” you offered.

“Please do,” Younghoon said before hanging up the phone without saying goodbye.

“It is Mr Sunshine?” Kevin said sarcastically. “What’s up with you calling him by his first name?”

“He asked me to,” you shrug, putting your phone back in your pocket. “I gotta run. I’ll see you later?” Kevin waved and off you went back to your desk. “Mr- Younghoon,” you corrected yourself, finding Younghoon leaning against your desk waiting for you. “I’m sorry. What did you need me for?”

“You didn’t have lunch,” Younghoon said, tapping your laptop, which was open with your schedule on it.

“Pardon?” you asked.

“You didn’t take your lunch break, which means you haven’t eaten lunch,” your boss elaborated. “Let’s go. I’ll take you to lunch.”

Startled by his offer, you started shaking your head. “That’s alright, sir, I’ll just make a reservation for you.”

“I insist,” Younghoon retorted, taking his phone out of the pocket of his slacks. “Do you feel like eating anything in particular?”

“I’m not picky,” you said quietly, realising that you wouldn’t be able to get out of this.

“I’ll order in,” Younghoon decided, handing you his phone. “Pick whatever you want, it’s on me.”

“That’s really not necessary,” you attempted to argue, but Younghoon insisted.

Half an hour later, you were sat in the plush chair in front of Younghoon’s desk in his office, eating your noodles slowly as you observed your new boss. You weren’t sure if you were just misunderstanding him, or if he really was as blunt and cold as people said he was. However, you respected his father too much to make assumptions based on the first day of meeting him.

“My father speaks very highly of you,” Younghoon broke the silence in between bites of food. “He says that you’re the best secretary he’s ever had. And that you’re one of his favourite people he’s ever worked with.”

“Wow, that’s very high praise,” you said, stunned that Mr Kim even shared his compliments to you with his son. “I’m sure you and I will get along once we get to know each other better, too,” you offered.

Younghoon nodded. “People often misunderstand me,” he began. “I know that people think I’m cold and antisocial. Some people even think I’m arrogant,” a smile graced his face, one that was full and genuine. It lit up his sharp features and softened his entire face, causing him to practically glow. “The truth if that I’m just not very good at what I do yet. A lot of people have expectations of me and I want to meet them. But I’ve always been more reserved and introverted, so expressing that is hard for me.”

Pleased that he was opening up to you, you gave him an encouraging smile. “I understand,” you assured him. “I found this job really scary and hard when I first started. Mr Kim helped me a lot, and he made the office a warm environment where I felt comfortable.”

“I want to do that too,” Younghoon said. “But I also want people to take me seriously. I know I’m taking over much earlier than everyone expected me to, myself included, and I want to make a good impression.”

“You will make a good impression,” you told him. “It will just take some time.”

Younghoon nodded. “I think I scared the design team this afternoon,” he mumbled.

“You did,” you confessed, having just heard Kevin’s experience. Younghoon’s eyes filled with worry, brows furrowing together slightly. “But I think they would’ve been scared no matter what you were like.”

“I have a lot of positive things to say about them,” Younghoon told you, taking out his tablet and handing it to you. You took it, scrolling through the notes he took during the meeting. It was filled with compliments and suggestions to better the project.

“Kevin would love this,” you exclaimed. “These notes are very conceptual and visual, that’s exactly what helps him.” Handing his tablet back, you had to ask. “Why didn’t you say anything? Apparently, that’s what made the meeting the most daunting.”

“I didn’t want them to think that I thought I knew how to do their jobs better than them,” Younghoon confessed. “Because I don’t. That’s why they’re here.” The realisation that Younghoon was truly misunderstood hit you hard, and somehow it made you feel quite relieved. “I must have scared you this morning, too, then.” You nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,” you said easily. “Everything is still very new. Anytime you need help with this kind of thing, or if you’re unsure about anything, just talk to me. That’s what I’m here for, after all.”

Younghoon smiled again, and you observed how his handsome face could actually look quite cute. “Thank you, Y/n. Now eat your noodles before they get too cold.”

“Yes, boss,” you agreed, grinning before digging back into your lunch.

You first heard the news that the cost of company shares had plummeted from one of your friends in the finance department. Chanhee was good friends with you and Kevin, and he practically ran to your desk when he first saw the numbers going down.

“What happened?” you wondered, confused as to why the shares were going down in value all of a sudden. “Our most recent project was incredibly successful. Our shares should be going up in value more than anything.”

Chanhee bit his bottom lip, eyes flitting to the large oak door that led to Younghoon’s office. “He’s at a lunch meeting with a prominent fashion designer,” you explained, causing Chanhee to nod in relief.

“It’s Mr Kim,” Chanhee admitted, lowering his voice.

“Mr Kim?” you echoed. “Did he do something before Younghoon took over?”

Chanhee rolled his eyes. “No, I mean the new Mr Kim,” he corrected. “He only lets you call him by his first name,” he added, something that you hadn’t known. “When the news broke that he’s taking over, people started selling their shares at low prices. So, the value went down.”

“Oh,” you breathed out, confused. “But, he hasn’t even been here for a month yet? How can the public make such quick decisions on how he’ll impact the company?”

“Reputation is just as important as skills,” Chanhee reminded you. “You know that well. Mr Kim’s reputation is… Well, you work with him. I’ve been in meetings with him. He seems a little…”

“Cold?” you offered, sighing at the predicament at hand. Chanhee merely smiled, lifting one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “Okay. We can fix this. I can talk to Younghoon when he returns from his meeting and-“

“Talk to me about what?” Younghoon called, stepping into the room with Sangyeon and Juyeon in toll.

Juyeon waved. “Hi, Y/n,” he greeted you, Sangyeon nodding in acknowledgement.

“Hi Juyeon, Sangyeon,” you replied, standing up from your chair as Chanhee trembled. “Younghoon, I was just talking to Chanhee about the company’s finances,” you said vaguely, giving Chanhee the chance to bow and duck out of the room.

“I’m assuming you mean the share and stock values,” Younghoon nodded, motioning for you to follow him into his office. “I saw it before heading into my lunch meeting. I don’t think it should be a big deal,” he decided, taking a seat at his desk as you closed the door behind you. “I can just have a meeting with the investors to explain my situation and get things straight. Once they know I’m reliable and competent, the matter will surely be resolved.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” you confessed, causing Younghoon to pause in his action of opening his planner. “It’s just that reputation is very important here. Especially in large companies such as yours,” you added. “I think it would be best if we focused on stimulating your image more. So far, people only have rumours about you from your business school peers, as well as magazine and newspaper interviews to go off of. You’re still a mystery to the public.”

“I like my privacy,” Younghoon explained, a small pout forming on his mouth.

You averted your eyes from his lips. “But image is still important. Your father had the image of a friendly family-oriented man who raised money to build homes for the underprivileged population,” you recalled. “We could have some events to stimulate your own image. Parties, charity events…”

“You really think this will help?” Younghoon asked, eyes resembling those of a scared puppy.

The fact that he had terrified you so much upon your first meeting felt like a hundred years ago to you. Now that you had been working together for almost a month, you had seen how nervous Younghoon was. And how cute he could act. Seeing him around Sangyeon and Juyeon also helped. The pair was hilarious and they always brought out a happier, more relaxed side of Younghoon that you were pleased to see.

You knew that Younghoon just wanted to do well and make his father proud. He was less confident in his abilities than you thought he should be.

You nodded. “What should we do?” Younghoon wondered.

“I think we should find something that you enjoy and promote it,” you began. “What do you like to do, other than work?”

“I don’t have time for much else,” Younghoon thought. Whenever he was deep in thought, his head tilted to the side and and his eyes looked up at the ceiling as he mumbled under his breath. It was a truly cute sight.

“He likes music! He’s actually a pretty decent singer,” Sangyeon supplied for his friend, giving him an encouraging smile when Younghoon stammered a denial,

“That’s great,” you exclaimed. “We could talk to our charity department and look into funding music programs at schools. Arts are always underfunded and could use our help,” you suggested. “And I think that meeting with the investors is a good idea. But instead of talking about your qualifications and experience, you could talk about the direction you want to take the company in. Focus on the fact that you took over from Mr Kim the second he needed you.”

“Does that makes me sound soft and emotional?” Younghoon asked. “I don’t want to look weak in front of the investors.”

You smiled. “The investors are here because they trusted your father’s vision for the company, and they trusted that he was a family man who wanted to do good with the assets his company had.” You recalled the many meetings you sat in on with Mr Kim, and how much everyone adored him. “You take after your father. The fact that you finished business school early to help him with the company, and that you want to do well will please the investors.”

Juyeon laughed. “Your secretary knows this company better than you do,” he teased his friend.

Younghoon managed a smile, meeting your eyes amongst his giggling friends. “That’s why I need her,” he reminded Juyeon, a comment which made you beam.

“Y/n!” Sunwoo from advertising called out to you as you walked down the hall. He came rushing in your direction, despite the fact that you stood still to wait for him, holding a stack of papers in his hand. “Could you get these to Mr Kim for me?” he asked you, passing the papers on. “They’re the final proposals for the advertising of his charity event,” Sunwoo explained.

Younghoon’s meeting with the investors had gone really well, and he had definitely won their favours and respect. He mentioned wanting to invest in art and music programs because of his own passion for music, and had many ideas for a charity event to promote their program. The investors, always happy to go to a party and excited for the direction Younghoon wanted to take the company in, were overjoyed with his suggestion.

“Um, sure,” you agreed with furrowed brows. “Why don’t you just bring them to him, though? Your office is on the same floor.”

“Oh,” Sunwoo stared at you with large, round eyes. “Can’t,” he stammered. “Meeting. Gotta go. Thanks, Y/n!” he called, waving at you as he darted away in the direction of the elevator.

Ignoring his odd behaviour, you flipped through the pages to make sure everything was there before making your way back to your desk. When you arrived, you sorted out the notes you had photocopied for Younghoon from Sunwoo’s proposals, just as you heard another person call you name.

“Would you be able to give these to Mr Kim?” Changmin from human resources asked, showing you a thick stack of papers, stapled together in the top left corner. “They’re the human resources policies for the next financial year. He wanted to see them before the end of the week so he could sign off on them.”

“I can,” you agreed. “But his office is right there. Why don’t you just go in and give them to him? I’m sure he’d be happy to see you since he’s cooped up in his office all day.”

Changmin gave you a nervous smile, dimples appearing in his cheeks. “I would, but I actually have someone on hold at my desk,” he admitted.

Your eyes widened. “Why did you bring me this while waiting for someone? Go, go! It could be important,” you shooed him away, earning a loud thank you from him before he rushed to get back to his desk.

Sighing, you stacked his papers on top of the ones you were organising and made your way into Younghoon’s office, knocking on the door to let him know you were coming. “Woah,” Younghoon stared at the large pile of papers in your arms as you entered, leaving the door open behind you. “That’s a lot of photocopied notes from your meeting with Mr Park,” he observed.

You laughed at his comment, spreading the papers out in three neat piles in front of him. “I also have Sunwoo from advertising’s final proposal for the charity event ads, and I have Changmin from human resource’s policies for the next financial year.”

At your revelation, Younghoon groaned and buried his face in his hands. “They hate me,” he whined, looking at you from in between his fingers. “They don’t even want to come into my office. I always wonder if people are meeting their deadlines, since nobody ever comes to see me. But they just like you better than me.”

“They don’t like me better than you,” you deny, causing Younghoon to laugh ironically, removing his hands from his face so his pout was visible. “They just know me better than you! You’re still their new, cool, super educated boss. They haven’t gotten to know you yet.”

“You’re probably right,” he mumbled, flipping through your notes. “How do I get them to know me better?”

“Well, it might help if you don’t just stay in your office all day,” you suggested unsurely. “You don’t seem very… accessible to them.”

“But I like being in my office,” Younghoon told you. “It means you’re just a single door away. I like when you’re close by. It makes my day better.”

Your eyes widened at his unexpected compliment, causing Younghoon’s expression to follow suit. He laughed awkwardly, pink dusting his cheeks in embarrassment. “Was that inappropriate? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he apologised quickly, clasping his hands together and leaning slightly away from you.

“No, it’s okay,” you reassured him. “I’m glad that you’re comfortable around me.”

“I’m more than comfortable with you,” Younghoon corrected, standing up from his chair to be at eye-level with you. His tall presence used to want to make you cower away, but now that you knew Younghoon personally, you felt secure enough to meet his eyes and lean into him. “I’m… safe. Happy, even.”

The admission made you grin, not minding the way you could feel his breath against your cheek or the fact that you could hear your heart pounding in your ears. “I make you happy?” you whispered teasingly, relishing in the way that Younghoon’s cheeks darkened even further, a nervous laugh leaving his lips.

“Blissful,” Younghoon corrected, his eyes shining with warmth.

“This is cute,” a voice called behind you. You startled, turning to see Juyeon and Sangyeon standing in the doorway of Younghoon’s office, smirking at the two of you. Sangyeon had spoken, looking like he was ready to burst into giggles at any moment. “Do you guys always make fond eyes at each other when we leave you alone?” he teased.

Ignoring his comment, you greeted the two with a smile and excused yourself from Younghoon’s office to go cool off; you could feel your face heating up with embarrassment and wanted a moment to catch your breath.

In the time that Younghoon had taken over as CEO, you had gotten to see many sides of him. On the first day, he was open with you after making a bad first impression on you and you had decided that you would give him a chance. You hadn’t realised how shy and cute Younghoon could be. Of course, he could be loud and carefree around old friends like Sangyeon and Juyeon as well, and he was slowly starting to make jokes with you as well. Now, he was saying that he felt downright blissful when you were around.

The change made you really happy.

On the night of Younghoon’s charity event, you had arrived early to make sure everything was in order. Dressed to the nines, you had to admit that you were pleased with how you looked that evening, putting in a lot of effort since you knew that the event meant a lot to Younghoon.

After discussing how the dishes should go out with the catering company, you allowed yourself to take in the large ballroom now that it was empty and before it would be overcrowded with rich investors, businessmen, and press. Just as you were going over the schedule for the evening with the event planner, you heard a sharp intake of air behind you.

“Wow,” you turned around, revealing Younghoon standing there breathlessly.

He wore an elegant black suit and tie, topped off by perfectly styled hair and his usual silver watch that his father had given him for getting into Harvard Business School. Younghoon always looked handsome, but in this moment, he was absolutely radiant. He looked like he belonged at this event, like he was the CEO of the Kim corporation.

You smiled. “I could say the same,” you complimented, motioning to Younghoon with your hands. “You clean up pretty nicely.”

“Ah, well, my secretary did get my suit perfectly tailored to fit me,” Younghoon said, smoothing down lapels of his suit jacket with a beam.

“Your secretary must be smart,” you replied, stepping towards Younghoon and adjusting his tie properly. “Because you look great. Dignified, sophisticated-”

“Handsome?” Younghoon asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“You know you’re handsome,” you retorted with an eye roll.

“Maybe,” Younghoon shrugged, placing a hand on top of yours on his chest. You froze at his action, glancing up at him through your lashes. “But I want to hear what you think.”

“You look very handsome,” you allowed, trying to speak as smoothly as possible without indicating how fast your heart was beating in your chest.

“If I look half as good as you, I’ll be happy,” Younghoon replied, gently releasing your hand and clearing his throat. “You did a really great job arranging this event. It’s exactly what I wanted.”

“Well the event planner organised it, I just told her what you wanted,” you said humbly, denying the large part you had in the event.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Younghoon told you. “If I know you at all, then you were constantly jotting down details that I mentioned vaguely and made sure that the event planner fixed everything to my preference,” he paused. “And I’d like to think that I know you quite well.”

“Believe me, you do,” you answered. “And thank you. For seeing the work I put in.”

“It’s you,” Younghoon shrugged. “I always see you.”

As the event began and more guests started coming, you were delighted to see Mr Kim enter with Younghoon’s mother on his arm, beaming at all the familiar faces he saw. “Mr Kim!” You called out to him, not having seen your old boss since his farewell party.

“Y/n,” Mr Kim replied, accepting a hug from you and releasing you so you could greet his wife. “It’s wonderful to see you again.”

“I’ve missed you, Mr Kim,” you admitted. Of course you loved working for Younghoon too, but you hadn’t seen Mr Kim in far too long.

“I’ve missed you too, Y/n,” Mr Kim promised. “Although, I’ve heard a lot about you from Younghoon any time we meet. It seems that you’re all he has to talk about, more so than his company,” Mr Kim narrowed his eyes at you playfully, a knowing glint in his eyes. “He seems quite taken with you.”

Taken with you. You could feel the butterflies start to wake up in your stomach as your heart beat a little faster at Mr Kim’s implication. “He’s wonderful to work with,” you told him, brushing off the way Mr and Mrs Kim were both giggling at you. “You’ve raised an amazing man.”

“Well, he certainly make us proud,” Mr Kim allowed. “You look nervous. You should be relaxing, Y/n. You planned a very successful charity event.”

“I’m more nervous about Younghoon behind nervous,” you admitted. “I just want him to know that he’s doing well. He always thinks he’s not doing good enough even though he’s gone above and beyond.”

“He might relax if he sees you have some fun,” Mr Kim said, stopping a passing waiter to get champagne for himself, Mrs Kim, and you. “A toast to Y/n and Younghoon’s partnership,” he proposed, causing the three of you to clink glasses and sip the bubbly beverage.

“Mum, Dad,” Younghoon appeared at your side, greeting his father and then his mother with hugs. “I didn’t know if you two would make it tonight.”

“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Mr Kim assured his son, causing Younghoon’s lips to spread into a wide smile.

“You did great today, Younghoonie. You and Y/n have a lot to be proud of,” Mrs Kim added.

“Thank you, Dad, Mum,” Younghoon was ecstatic to hear praise from his father. “I couldn’t have done it without Y/n, though. I’m grateful that you hired her.”

“I bet you are,” Mr Kim hummed, winking at his son before facing Mrs Kim. “How about a dance?” he offered, excusing themselves and making their way to the dance area.

When you turned to face Younghoon, his face seemed to have reddened. “What did my dad tell you?” he wondered.

You raised an eyebrow. “Um, just that you talk about me to him a lot. And that you’re quite taken with me,” you recalled, realising how romantic Mr Kim’s descriptions were.

Younghoon whined embarrassedly, shutting his eyes as if it would make him disappear. “I told him not to talk to you about any of that, I wanted to tell you all that myself…” he muttered, opening his eyes to see your curious expression.

“All what?” you asked dumbly, hoping that you weren’t just getting your hopes up at Mr Kim’s implications.

“The way I feel about you,” Younghoon explained nervously. “I wanted to tell you… Tell you that I’ve loved working with you these past few months. That you make me nervous and excited and happy whenever I’m around you. How hearing your voice makes my day and how I can barely contain a blush any time we’re alone. That I’m falling in love with you more and more every single day…” he trailed off, gently taking your hands in his. His touch was familiar now. “I didn’t want my declaration to be in such a public place, though,” Younghoon’s eyes flitted around he crowded ballroom.

You laughed, tears blurring your vision just slightly. “It’s fine,” you promised him, lacing your fingers through his. “I don’t care where you tell me, as long as I know.”

Younghoon nodded, taking your comment as permission to pull you closer to him. “This is the part where you tell me that you feel the same,” he whispered, close enough in proximity for you to hear his murmur above the noise in the ballroom.

“You seem confident that I return your feelings,” you mentioned, trailing your hands from his up his arms, across his shoulders and eventually to rest on the back of his neck. “What happened to the sweet, introverted Younghoon that couldn’t even smile at me when we met?”

“Precisely that: I met you,” Younghoon told you. “Now, if you’re not going to tell me that you feel the same, you should at least kiss me,” he added as an afterthought. “It would only be fair.”

“Well, in the name of fairness…” you trailed off, lifting onto the balls of your feet to lean up and press your lips to Younghoon’s.

The pounding in your heart only intensified, encouraged by the way Younghoon smile against your lips before returning your kiss. In that moment, it didn’t matter that you were in public at all. All you could focus on was the way Younghoon’s lips felt on yours and how he pulled you impossibly closer to him with each bruising kiss.

“Disgusting,” you heard a voice mutter, easily recognising it as Juyeon’s after months of seeing him almost every day. Reluctantly, you pulled away from Younghoon, glancing sideways to where Sangyeon and Juyeon were sipping on champagne to hide their excited smiles.

“You guys know that you’re in public, right?” Sangyeon added.

“It’s my event,” Younghoon shrugged. “If I want to kiss my secretary then I will.”

“I hope you don’t go around kissing all of your secretaries,” you retorted with a laugh.

“Just the one I’m in love with,” he replied, sending you a wink that made your heart flutter.

note: this was a long one but i hope you still enjoyed it!

#the boyz #the boyz imagines #younghoon imagines #younghoon x reader #the boyz x reader #the boyz scenarios #kim younghoon #the boyz fanfic #tbznetwork #2k celebration #the boyz drabbles #fic: the c in ceo stands for cute #deobiwritersnet

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stargazer-sims · 2 years

Text

45 - Kaji’s New Friend (part two)

Zira is amazed at the change she notices in Kaji since the last time she'd seen him.

It'd been a little less than two weeks ago when she'd examined him at her office. That day, she'd witnessed a frail, traumatized boy who seemed terrified of almost everything and everyone. While she acknowledges that being in a doctor's office may have played some role in his anxiety, there was no denying that the state he'd been in had a far more complex cause than that.

Today, the boy she sees is no less thin, but his skin has taken on a more healthy tone and his eyes are bright and alert. He looks more relaxed and confident than before, and she thinks she can make out the slightest green glow surrounding him.

She’d suggested to Félix that he, Davian and Kaji should come to the clinic early, perhaps twenty minutes ahead of the scheduled time for the peer support group meeting. Her intention had been to minimize any distractions or anything that might be upsetting for Kaji. She knows he’s had brief contact with all the couples in the group, and that he’s spent some time with Emma and Artie Greene, but she feels that he’ll do better without having to navigate multiple encounters. She wants this to be as low-stress as possible for him.

He's holding the hands of the two Earth males who'd rescued him, but as they move down the hallway he breaks free and runs toward her.

"Hello, Dr. Zira! Guess what?" he says excitedly. "I got dressed all by myself today, and I chose this outfit by myself too. Oh! And guess what else?"

Behind him, Félix is laughing. "Give her a chance to say hello, Kaji."

"Oh," says Kaji. "Sorry. But... guess what?"

"Hello, Kaji," Zira says. "You're looking very well, and you did an excellent job of choosing your clothes and getting dressed all by yourself. I don't think I can guess what else, so perhaps you can tell me?"

"I'm getting my own room! We already painted it. Well... Félix did most of it, but Davian and I helped, and then I had to take a bath because I accidentally got paint on my head!"

"What colour did you paint your room?" she asks.

"Yellow and blue. Yellow is my favourite. I have a yellow chair for my desk and yellow blankets for my new bed, too."

"That's wonderful," Zira says. "It sounds like things are going well for you."

"Yes!" Kaji agrees.

"How have you been feeling since the last time we saw each other?"

"A lot of different ways," he says. "Sometimes I'm scared and sometimes I'm sad, but mostly I’m happy. And hungry. I eat a lot. Maybe more than Félix, and he says he’s eating for two. Today I'm feeling happy because Félix said I'm going to meet a new friend. I'm a little bit scared about it, but I still want to."

"I'm glad you want to. Sri is looking forward to meeting you, although I think he might be a little scared about it, too."

In fact, she's positive Sri is more than a little nervous. He's self-conscious about his appearance and he's worried about making a poor first impression, and the fact that he's physically uncomfortable and hasn't been feeling well for the past few days isn't helping. He's been having more frequent and intense false labour pains, and Zira is certain the real thing is imminent, perhaps even within the next week or two. She actually would've preferred that he stay home and rest, but nevertheless, he'd insisted this morning that he was determined to stick to the arrangement to meet Kaji. She hardly ever refuses him, so here they are.

Kaji tilts his head curiously. "Adults get scared?"

"All the time, about a lot of things," says Félix, who has finally caught up to Kaji and stops beside him. "But, it's all right. It's perfectly natural to be scared when we don't know what's going to happen, or when there's something we don't understand."

"Yeah," says Davian. "Sometimes it's hard to do stuff you've never done before because you don't know how it'll turn out, but you just have to be brave."

Kaji nods. "I can do that."

"We know you can," Davian says. "Every day, you keep showing us how brave you are, so we know you've got this."

"We're really proud of you," Félix adds.

Zira smiles at the little family. "If you don't mind my saying so, I'm proud of all three of you," she says. "Kaji doesn't seem like the same boy I saw in my office."

"Thank you," says Félix. "Kaji's been putting a lot of effort in. He dresses himself now, and he's getting to be quite the expert at eating with a spoon. He can bathe and shower on his own too, although one of us still has to be in the room with him."

"In case I forget what to do," Kaji interjects.

Davian grins at him. "In case you have some sudden random thought that you can't wait to share with somebody, and you go running soaking wet and naked through the house, you mean," he says. "You're way too smart to forget what to do."

Kaji beams. He leans toward Zira and says confidentially. "They tell me I'm smart all the time."

"Because you are," says Félix.

Zira is beyond pleased. She has to admit that she was not fond of the idea of Earth people caring for a Sixamish child, and could not imagine it going particularly well. She’d been astute enough to realize the situation was out of her control, however, and had done her best to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude about it. Being wrong usually isn’t something she enjoys, but in this case, she can acknowledge without embarrassment that she’s glad her worries were misplaced.

“I must say, I’m impressed by his progress,” she says to Félix. “The change is remarkable. It's obvious he's thriving with you, and I feel I really should apologize for sharing my misgivings."

"It's fine," says Félix. "I'm glad you were honest about your concerns. It's one of the reasons I agreed to talk to Kaji about it when you called and asked if he'd be willing to meet your husband. You were right. There are things we can't teach him." He glances at Kaji. "We were talking about that on the way here, weren't we, Kaji?"

"Yes," Kaji says. "I still project, and I know I shouldn't, but Félix and Davian don't know how to teach me to stop doing it."

"I see," says Zira. "Yes, you will need an adult of our kind to teach you that. Someone should have taught you a long time ago, but it isn't too late for you to learn."

"Can Sri teach me?"

"I think that's a question you can ask him yourself," Zira says. "Are you ready to be introduced? We've got a nice room for you to visit in. Sri and the twins are waiting there for you."

Zira holds out her hand to him. Kaji stares at her for a moment, then drops his gaze to her hand. He backs away from her until he collides with Davian, who rests a palm on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Kaji," Davian says.

“He doesn’t like most people touching him,” Félix explains, and adds awkwardly, “He bit my sister for touching him without permission.”

“Because she squeezed me and I didn’t like it,” Kaji says. “I wasn’t trying to hurt her. I got scared and I just wanted her to stop hugging me like that.”

“To be fair, we did warn her,” says Davian.

"I only want people to touch me when I want them to, not whenever they feel like it,” Kaji says. “And not any way they feel like doing. Félix says I have… personal autonomy. That means I get to choose who touches me and who doesn’t, and even if they ask nicely, I’m still allowed to say no. Right, Félix?”

“Right,” Félix says.

“You’re teaching him about consent,” says Zira.

“I am,” says Félix. “I think it’s important for him to know he has the power to say no to things he’s not comfortable with. He didn’t know he had the right to choose before, and it made him a victim.”

“Now, I’m a survivor,” Kaji says. “That means I’m not weak any more.”

“You were never weak,” says Félix. “As far as I can tell, you’re very brave and strong. You only needed a little help to see it for yourself.”

Kaji appears to consider this. After a moment, he steps away from Davian and tentatively reaches out to Zira. “Do you still want me to hold your hand, Dr. Zira?”

“Would you like to do that?” she asks.

“Yes, but don’t hold it too tight, please.”

“I promise I won’t,” she assures him.

“Okay.”

Kaji takes her hand, and then Zira leads him and his Earth parents a short distance down the hall to a small room that's typically used as a waiting room for families, and occasionally for private counselling. It's a bright, inviting little space. Zira likes to think of it as cozy, with its comfortable chairs, plenty of toys and books, and cheerful décor.

As she opens the door, she sees that Sri is in exactly the same place he’d been when she’d gone out to wait for Kaji and his family. He’s seated on one of the wide chairs, eyes half closed, slowly massaging his belly. The twins are playing at the table, babbling to each other in a way that only they understand.

Kadan is the first to notice Kaji and the others. He lets out a little squeal of delight, and drops the toy he’d been playing with.

Zira thinks she could’ve predicted exactly how Kadan would behave. He loves people and is nearly always ready to socialize, and has absolutely no fear of strangers. They have to watch him constantly when they're out in public because if he likes the look of someone, he has no hesitation whatsoever about going up to them and saying hello.

This morning, Zira had explained to him and Kia that they were going to meet a new friend today. Kadan obviously hasn’t forgotten. Moments after putting down his toy, he’s toddling toward Kaji with his arms outstretched, chirping excitedly, “Hello, new friend!”

Zira expects Kaji to be startled or to react with anxiety or fear but, to her surprise, he makes a high-pitched squeak almost identical to Kadan’s. He releases her hand, hurries forward and bends down to scoop Kadan into his arms.

“Hello, cute baby!” he says. “What’s your name?”

“Kadan,” Kadan says. “What your name?”

“I’m Kaji.”

Kadan happily pats Kaji’s cheek. “Pretty Kaji. Wanna play?”

“Okay,” Kaji says. “But, I have to say hello to everyone first. We have to be polite.”

Satisfied that Kaji is all right for the moment, Zira crosses the room to help Sri up from his chair. He offers her a grateful little smile, and allows her to lead him over to the newcomers. She makes introductions, and Sri shakes hands with Félix and Davian.

Then, he turns his attention to Kaji. Zira can tell from his expression that he's instantly intrigued and perhaps a little bit entranced by the younger male. He smiles warmly and says, "You must be Kaji. I'm Sri. I've heard a lot about you."

"You have?" Now Kaji looks intrigued as well.

"It's all been good. Don't worry," Sri says. "I've wanted to meet you ever since Zira told me about you."

"Why?" Kaji asks.

"Because I think you’re extraordinary,” Sri tells him. “Because you’ve got a chance to live an independent life and to do whatever you think is important, and I would like to help you succeed.”

#ts4 #sims 4 #eagames #newcrest #kaj’izaran #Félix Blanchet #Davian St-Jean #stargazersims #aucieletoile #aucieletoile1

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chromalogue · 3 years

Text

Today I got accepted for a job I applied for.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me, where I did it in the way I understood to be how jobs happen, sent in a CV and did an interview and actually got accepted. I’ve had jobs before, lots of them, but they’ve all been things handed to me: I got them by going to a temp agency, or they were part of my funding package, or the university was contractually obligated to give them to me.

It’s not a paying thing, but it’s in a sector where a lot of unpaid work is required in order to get to the paid stuff, and the people who recognize this as a problem are not the ones with the resources to correct it. And this is something that looks good on a CV, in a way that may eventually get me paid someday, in the field that I actually want to go into professionally. Even if it never gets me that elusive paid job, it’s important work that I hope will do good in the world.

Even though this is kinda sorta my fourth year of unemployment, and I am slowly growing comfortable with the possibility that my days of paid work may well be behind me, it feels like five of the six or so part-time gigs I’ve had going are successful on their own terms.

I got accepted to two international conferences this year, one of which I will attend online, and I’m applying for a domestic conference that I always get accepted to.

A bunch of people have left the housing committee, and now I’m the chair.

A very kind and excellent person has been drawing fanart of my fic! And despite a months-long round of editor’s block, the new thing is shaping up.

The thing that has been consuming my life for the past two weeks is a winter carnival/Valentine’s Day bake sale. See, a thrift store opened up in town last fall, and the owner approached me about having cookies and truffles in the store--first at Christmas, but I’d burned myself out already, and then for this. I was a little concerned about the legality, but they’ve relaxed public health regulations about home-baked goods during the pandemic, and a public health person assured me that as long as I’m following the protocols to the best of my abilities, and not selling anything that needs immediate refrigeration, I should be okay.

So yeah, I am currently recovering after two intense weeks of making these:

[Image descriptions: six photographs. The first two are of petits fours with pink icing, some light with coloured edible ball bearings, and some darker pink with gold and silver edible ball bearings. The third is a collection of individually packaged shortbread hearts with blue and white flow icing. The final three are of gingersnaps decorated with hearts and flowers and vaguely Valentiney designs.]

People keep telling me I should make it into an actual business business, but even if I wanted to (I emphatically don't) it wouldn't work. These sales pay for materials plus around eighty bucks, and for them to be profitable in a traditional business model sense, I would have to use cheaper ingredients and spend less time on each cookie, say goodbye to all my other pursuits, and probably still hike up the price so that no one in this town could afford them anyway.

I have, of course, also been applying for paying jobs. One of them looks good, but I am afraid to jinx it by saying anything.

But even if it never happens, most of the time I think I could live like this. My needs are met, and for the moment I have access to a lot of stuff that even paid jobs don't normally guarantee (even though they really should). I acknowledge that I'm operating with a lot of privilege in a very messed-up system, and thereby contributing to its messed-up-itude, but this stuff brings me joy, and I don't think stopping will make things better. This way at least I get to provide people with the best analysis I can do and the best fiction I can write and the best cookies I can bake, and don't have to worry about my next meal, and if that is what success looks like, I'll take it.

#long post #I know the edible ball bearings have another name but I can't easily do accents on this keyboard #also #my spacebar quit working partway through

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mademoiselle-swan · 3 years

Text

Daydream

The Constellation

Necchan saunters towards Compress just in time for a gorgeous black rose to flash into existence in the man’s free hand.

His aunt rolls her eyes fondly and accepts the flower goodheartedly, tucking it behind her ear with a slight smile.

Izuku mentally rubs his hands together.

Oh, this is good. He's never seen his aunt be genuinely interested in someone.

“My, my, what a treat we have here tonight. You look as ravishing as ever, Compress.” Purred Necchan. “What brings you here tonight, handsome?”

The man moves to lean against a pillar, his free hand moving deftly as it does impressive tricks with a marble.

“I happened to be in the area and thought I could drop by to offer my help to the sweetest dream I’ve ever had the fortune to meet.”

“You just happen to be here? Really, Compress? Do you really think I’m the type to fall for that?”

Compress’ act immediately crumbles and he gives a flourished bow in apology, holding his hat against his chest. Now free from the confines of his hat, the man’s dark hair is a curly mess almost as bad as Izuku’s own.

“My apologies, my sweet Daydream. You caught me in the act! I managed to get Giran drunk and he let it slip that you were planning a heist on this place tonight. I couldn’t resist the ultimate temptation to drop by and lay may eyes on such a beautiful sight as you.”

Huh. Well colour him impressed. Convincing Giran to drink is not an easy feat.

“I don’t see why I should refuse your help. Your quirk would certainly be helpful in this situation. We’ll discuss your share later?”

“Excellent!” Cheers the man before striding over to the display case they’re still working on. Moments later it disappears, leaving behind a turquoise marble that Compress deftly pockets.

Izuku can’t help but stare for a second. Huh. That’s useful. He barely remembers to activate his voice canceller before allowing himself to start a mutter storm about the quirk.

Compress’ quirk would make Necchan and Mi-nee’s job easier, not that they really need the help, they’re great on their own, but transport is always a part of the process that can go wrong and it would allow them to steal more things at once. Not to mention that if Compress’ quirk works on humans, it would allow the man to get them out of a sticky situation quickly, especially if his theatrical persona translates into good acting skills. The man seems to have a lot of experience in the business, considering he managed to infiltrate the museum without alerting him or Scale, who’s been keeping a close eye on the cameras since the beginning of this operation. Maybe he can use his quirk on himself and that’s how he managed it? By becoming a marble and travelling in the vents? If he can actually move while being a marble then that would work. And his cane, does he have some kind of weapon hidden in it? A sword maybe? With the man referring to himself as a magician, it wouldn’t surprise him.

All in all, Compress would be a wonderful addition to their group.

Slowly a plan forms in his head and he smirks wickedly. Perfect.

Turning off his canceller, he speaks up for the first time since Compress’ arrival. “Hey, Compress? Have you ever thought of joining us? We could use someone of your expertise.”

The man looks over his shoulder and he bears the scrutiny Compress puts him through with practiced ease. Though it does make him wonder how the man can see through his mask.

“My, it’s not everyday I get to meet an upcoming thief. Who would you be, kid?”

“Ah, I’m afraid thievery is not my area of expertise. I’m much better at gathering information.” He strides over and gives the man a respectful bow. “I go by the name Mindheist. Nice to meet you, Mr. Compress.”

“Likewise. Now what was that about me joining you? Why should I? I’m doing pretty well on my own if I do say so myself.”

Izuku grins wickedly behind his mask. “Well, it would allow you to work with Nightmare a lot more, for one.”

Compress lets out a surprised laugh.

“You have your way with words, don’t you Mindheist? Very well, I will consider your offer seriously, you have my word.”

Izuku nodded with a satisfied smile. “That’s all I ask. Now, we should wrap this heist up.”

@felicityroth

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onesunofagun · 3 years

Text

Undeath in the Era of the Hero of Time : 1

aka Seeing the Hero’s Shade in this TP replay shook up all my feelings of agony again and now I’m working backwards from there because I like to hurt myself.

Part One: An Overview of How Fucked Things Are ™

aka The Blood Soaked Hyrule of OoT’s time

Take it as you will, in the Zeldaverse, the colour green has an overwhelming association with undeath.

Sure, sure, life too, I hear you. Farore came down and produced all the living beings that would uphold the law, apparently (specifically not claiming monsters and demons, but that’s another thing). On the surface, that make sense. Forests, lush green fields, prosperity, all of those good things. Green the colour of the most common rupee, green the colour of the Hero’s tunic. Green the colour of magic, and potions that revitalise the body and spirit.

The thing is, revitalising the body and spirit is a flexible idea. To imbue something with new life and vitality can have a lot of implications, especially when you stop talking about the strictly living.

I feel vitality is certainly the best word, not only because of it’s association with life and potency ala the Goddess origin stories, but in the ways that the game uses green itself, such as a measure of both magic and stamina. Green is the colour chosen to represent the unlocked potential within young Heroes.

Vitality specifically refers to a state of being strong and active, and it also refers to the continuance of something to exist. That’s a great thing for plants, or economies, or a potion taken by a young Link who’s swung their sword around or fired off a spell one too many times and feels a little low.

But the dead, though?

As it happens, Hyrule is absolutely littered with human remains, in no small part due to the very recently ended civil wars.

The Civil War, if you need the reminder, is described as a time when the many races of Hyrule were divided and each focused on establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm (because Triforce). I touched on this in my last meta post, but basically, its no holds barred to stop that from happening because if the wrong person gets into the Sacred Realm and makes a wish, it immediately malfunctions.

The criteria for getting into the Sacred Realm and touching the Triforce without royally fucking everything, is basically impossible for anybody not chosen by Hylia.

If you are neither of Hylia’s Bloodline (The Hyrulean Royal Family) or one of her Chosen Avatars (The current incarnation of the Hero), you are not supposed to touch the Triforce. Ever. You WILL be found wanting, it WILL shatter, the Sacred Realm WILL be corrupted by your selfish desires, it WILL unleash and onslaught of mystical influence (reflecting your heart) onto the country.

Now, if it’s Zelda or Link who touches it, that’s fine. Good vibes will pour out. An age of prosperity will ensue. The Sacred Realm is in its default state, a blank and neutral wellspring of magical force.

The game has been rigged from the get go because Hylia still had a job to do. She had to get creative because Demise almost captured the flag, so to speak, leading to the snafu of the Cycle and all that because she cheated at the game, but ultimately Hylia’s task was to guard the Triforce. And that still remains true, for the most part. The Hyrulian Royal Family (and the Shiekah by extension) had to stop at absolutely nothing to win the wars and unify the country, and retain the stasis of the Realm and Triforce, because that’s what their divine orders are.

That’s what they’re supposed to do, ‘the very reason that they’re born’, to lend a quote from King Daphnes. With Hylia on their side by default, they’re willing to do a lot of fucked up things to make sure that happens, ‘for the greater good’.

These dark times are a result of our deeds... -- TP Zelda

In OoT The Sheikah are known as the Shadow Folk. They are heavily associated with death, whether that is caring for the dead’s rest in the graveyard, or working as spies and assassins on behalf of the Royals, or dabbling in various forms of necromancy. Red eyes are an established trait of their people. I will note that, at least from a Japanese point of view, red is often used with the intention of intimidating evil spirits. But it is also a color identified with power and vitality.

So, one could suppose, the Sheikah red eye also symbolises power/control over evil and darkness (spiritually).

That’s a little something that plays nicely with things like the OoT Manga’s explanation of the tear on the eye (and the previous betrayal of the Royal family) and the high probability of a Shiekah faction defaulting during the wars and being banished with other traitors to become the Twili. I know the manga isn’t canon and also SS Impa has a tear, but if you squint, that might be because of her own feelings of personal failure to the Goddess after Hylia’s shedding of her Divinity. You could headcanon that. The existence of the Yiga later in BoTW as a similar happening of division and betrayal lend some more weight to things.

Also, Sheikah who defaulted during the civil war might have even been the ones who actually utilised the Shadow Temple.

Headline: Necromancer ninjas in the process of torturing enough info out of the enemies of the Royal family, who were reportedly seeking the Sacred Realm, decide ‘hey fuck it, let’s take it ourselves’.

That certainly fits into the description of, ‘interloper skilled with dark magic started to appear, seeking dominion of the Sacred Realm’, for me.

Anyway, to the point.

In ostensibly one of the most haunted areas of the game, Kakariko village, we’re treated to the Graveyard and the Royal Family’s Tomb, the Shadow Temple, and the Bottom of the Well. All of these showcase the obvious death and torture that went on, as well as the creepy byproducts of places so saturated with blood, pain, regret, and hatred.

There are skulls in little alcoves on the walls of the catacombs, literally built of bones, who deliver messages to Link. The ones that whisper these messages are all marked by the glowing green eye sockets. Here, the green is used to make the presence of a ghostly sentience inhabiting the skull.

Unsettling. Musty. 4/10 heebie-jeebies.

The Deadhand, giver of childhood trauma that it is, really does its job to hammer home the fact that there has been so many deaths, so much anguish and horror, that those remains can seemingly form into entirely new monstrosities. An amalgamate of undead flesh and nightmare fuel, made up of the body parts of torture victims and the grudges of lingering spirits, seeking to consume the living vitality of whatever comes near-- Link wearing green around the thing might as well be red to a bull.

When defeated in game, it typically drops a small green pot that refuels Link’s magic.

This is a common theme with undead enemies, specifically the ones that are of the zombie flavour. Redeads, Gibdos, Deadhands. All of them generally give up, effectively, distilled magic as a drop item.

Terrifying. Probably smells even worse. 11/10 heebie-jeebies.

Literal torture device. So many people died here, the room has a green tinge to it. It is soaked in the spiritual imprint of the pain and anguish that took place here. Blood sits here looking freshly spilled, despite the civil war ending many years prior and the Shiekah having ‘died out’, save Impa.

Elsewhere in the temple and under the well, blood splatters are darker red and at least have the decency to pretend to be old. This means one of two things:

Impa still has to make sacrifices to the Seal that contains Bongo Bongo, or feeds people to the undead creatures who lurk down in the dark so they don’t wander up. (Cue the gasp of ‘so that’s why she let the Hylians into Kakariko! Every so often one of them goes missing!’)

Which is a fun dark headcanon to play with, but probably not the case.

Or more likely, the residual spiritual energy that the green haze suggests manifests fresh blood in a manner typical of extreme hauntings. For the victims, their hatred and pain persists so strongly, that their blood seeps up from the cracks no matter how long it has been.

Poltergeist shit. Slip hazard. 8/10 heebie-jeebies.

Then there is this. Some people say its just another torture thing, it could have been intended to convey some sort of acid dip. If not torture, maybe bodily disposal. And sure, that’s a reasonable guess.

But it is at the very bottom most cavern of the Well of Three Features, and if it were acid-- for how long the bodies have just been marinating in it-- you can assume nothing would be left of them to stick out. And the fact that all the bodies are neatly spaced, with the arms oddly preserved. They’re presumably like that from lowering bodies in from the wooden beams, the victims may have been tied up with their arms straight upwards.

But, given the Redeads wandering around nearby, I’m pretty sure that’s what this thing does. Make Redeads.

The liquid itself hurts Link, but Link is also alive, and this pool seems to be lacking much of a glow. It’s green, sure, but it’s not exactly teeming with energy. And I think that might be part of its designated purpose-- extracting that green vital energy from living prisoners, draining them until they’re dead. I’m talking juicing people and scooping out the good stuff like the pulp from a really disturbing OJ.

But still steeped in the juice as a corpse, you’re basically pickled in magic brine, so then those gross husks crawl out as Redeads. (Hey, you know what’s handy in wartime? Scaring the shit out of enemy forces by sending some zombies at them. And if they kill them, you’ve lost nothing. If the Sheikah could actually control them? Undead soldiers. Excellent stuff.)

But all the pulpy good stuff is gone, and has been for a while, so most of the bodies in there haven’t pickled in enough magic to reanimate, I suppose.

Human juicer that churns out zombies. Out of juice currently. 6/10 heebie-jeebies.

Now, THIS is active zombie juice, if I’ve ever seen it.

This is the Royal Family’s Tomb, by the way. Note the skeletons, picked clean, missing a lot of bones. And that’s a choice they made, because there are also full skeletons around to find.

There are plenty of Redeads down there, for good measure, so I’m going to assume the skeletons are potential graverobbers who were eaten. If Sheikah can presumably command the dead, then the Redeads down there might actually be a counter measure against thieves. If a thief freaks out in the dark when he realises there’s undead down there trying to eat their face, there is also a good likelihood they’ll trip and splash into this green death. A few seconds of exposure is probably enough to kill the average person, and then if their corpse stews for a bit, you have another Redead.

Their living energy revitalises the goop. Their body becomes bolstered security measures. It’s a self sustaining system.

Horrific but effective. 5/10 heebie-jeebies.

Also, there’s a chance that a couple of the skeletons or one or two Redeads down there are the remains of the Composer Brothers. But they will get their own special part in this series, covering Poes in particular.

But for the moment, let it be noted: their eyes are also that ghostly green.

Poes are spirits that are unable to move on and who have the unfortunate fate, if left unattended, of turning into phantom monsters who forget their human selves and prey on the living. They tend to pop up the most in two places. One, the Kakariko Graveyard, is obvious and somewhat expected. Dead people, lots of lingering spirits, most of them probably Sheikah and Knights of renown who died in the line of duty. Understandable.

So when you apply the same thought to the fact that Hyrule field is the second most common place to find them, you may as well be concluding that it’s an enormous mass grave of war casualties.

We have established that mass quantities of concentrated death, especially earth that is saturated by the spilled blood of strong soldiers and highly skilled warriors (full of life and magic, as it were), can result in creepy shit made from human remains reanimating over time.

Poes share their haunting of the field with these bumpkins:

These hauntings are not the result of Ganondorf, or the corruption of the Sacred realm. They are not a particular curse placed by anybody.

The Poes and Stalfolk are present in the game from the very beginning, and quite normal fare for Hyrulean life. Lon Lon ranch and castle town are walled off for good reason, and the drawbridge raises at night specifically in response to the literal skeleton monsters who roam around at night.

Stalchildren, specifically, seem akin to the Deadhand in that they are not a direct reanimation of any one particular set of remains. Rather, they seem to be mutated amalgamations of various parts. In the case of the Stalchildren, they rise up under the dark of night, a not-quite-human formation of bone and magic. They seem to possess an aimless drive to attack, perhaps possessed still by the orders of the soldiers who died there.

Interestingly, in a somewhat similar fashion to BotW’s blood moon reanimating the fallen monsters (due to the potency of Malice in the land peaking at those times), Stalchildren only seem to be active under the moonlight. They disintegrate when the sunlight touches them, which promotes the idea that they are the bones of the fallen possessed by the ghostly memory of the war.

They also appear to wear raggy leather kilts, which is a feature they share with the related monster, the Stalfos, who are often acting out the part of a soldier as well. Even better, those bastards are actually WEARING GREEN, to boot, which given the history of Hyrulean Knights prior and their uniforms (SS and Minish cap) is pretty self evident.

Stalfos, however, are also confirmed as humans who have died under certain unique circumstance (such as the magical influences of the Lost Woods) and reanimated as a consequence of what I assume is basically magic poisoning.

It could be a bit like an overdose, succumbing under the intense mystical forces at play within proximity to the Deku Tree (which the strong of spirit can resist). It could be a draining effect, maybe even just a gaseous version of what’s happening when people come into contact with the green goo, except extracted by the forest spirits and plants (also possible that the strong of spirit might resist). That could go either way.

The forest absolutely does eat people’s spiritual energy, though. RIP to Grog and Link’s mother. They’re Stalfos now.

"Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. Everybody will become a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos."

Upon killing both kind of Stal, however, the bones rapidly deteriorate into flames.

You guessed it: green.

I’ve already pointed out a BoTW reference already, but to add more context back into this thing about the tie between green and things in Hyrule that refuse to die properly:

That last one is cheap of me I’m sorry but we’ll get to him too

So we have established that green has an overwhelming association with not only life, but states of undeath.

The overview is, things were already pretty fucked in OoT Era before Ganondorf got the Triforce.

On to part 2!

#tloz #legend of zelda ocarina #Ocarina of time #link #zelda lore #zelda meta #zelda theory #zelda theories #zelda discussion #death tw #blood tw #shadow temple #shiekah #stalfos #poes #undead tw #long post #hero of time #hyrulean history

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