#disarray! knit (error)

[isame-allen]

oohhh what about @levenxa’s dstd au too?!

Got ya back 💪

[levenxa]

Error (Knit)

Gender: Cis-Woman

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Omnisexual

Height: 5’9

Age: 25

Likes: She likes to knit, Jumping, Hanging out with Blue, Making fun of Cross, Being very silly

Dislikes: Coffee, Lack of communication, Ink

Phobias: Autophobia (Fear of Abandonment)

Weapons/Powers: Strings

Backstory: She had a pretty average life in terms of financial stuff. She has still gone through Error’s entire charade of horrific events, stopping at her love with Blue (she only sees him via performances) She ends up finding a random partner who treats her like shit, who eventually leaves after more horrific toxicity & gives her abandonment issues. She believes that her lover leaving her and every other bad thing that has happened to her are the worst possible things that could ever happen. Nothing else could be worse, so in return, she acts really happy and upbeat. In an almost unnerving way. She thinks her life is perfect now, and that nothing could taint it. Not anymore. She’s a huge fan of Blue and often watches his ice skating performances, she also visits his mansion often (she can pick locks). She thinks he is the coolest person ever, a bit irritable, but very exciting to be around. Having met Cross only a few times, her attachment to him grows rather quickly, so she offers up a shared apartment. He takes it, a dysfunctional relationship happens, he moves out to give her some time, in which she does better herself. After she becomes a bit more stable, she and Cross end up becoming friends. The news about Dream and Nightmare wreaking havoc in multiple worlds spreads across the multiverse and then the quest to stop them begins. She’s there for fun, excitement, and to fight for her teammates.

Relationships: She meets Blue first, but as a fan through his ice skating performances. He is so cool, to her at least. Then there’s Cross. She likes to make fun of him, and they often have their moments of bickering. It isn’t easy to see, but she does make an effort to care about him, and he also does so with her. She doesn’t like Ink very much, despite having similar personalities. There can only be one type shit. She’s relatively chill with Nightmare, but he’s constantly annoyed with her constant banter. Dream refuses to make connections. She is not exempt from that.

[mrspasser]

3. Free

RK900 wakes up at CyberLife Tower in a less than ideal way. He is no longer a machine and that doesn't make him happy. Connor is there to help him, though it must be said: Sumo is an even bigger help.

Cover made with fanart by @donlemefo​

RK900’s first memory of being free wasn’t a pretty one. He rarely pulled the file back up; the memory had affected so many other memories, so many parts of his code, he didn’t need to relive the moment to know how he felt.

How he felt back when feeling was still a foreign thing. RK900 had his missions, had his objectives. And when he carried them out into succession, he was rewarded with processing power being freed up from the missions and objectives being completed. Looking back, one might call it satisfaction. Yet machines don’t feel satisfaction, they don’t feel .

RK900 felt a lot when he woke up in the lab, his body suspended in the air by the robot arms. Confusion. Anger. Worry. Fear.

His vision was flooded with alerts, one after the other red and blinking, asking for his immediate attention. So many software instabilities. Urgent alerts told him three of his limbs were missing. Other alerts told him the missing limbs were in close proximity. Various prompts were almost hidden by all the red alerts, suggesting different ways of getting his limbs back. Most of those suggestions needed the involvement of the three figures in the room with him.

He couldn’t scan them before pushing back the alerts about his missing legs and right arm, dismissing the premature prompts and closing the numerous error messages concerning his software.

Three androids. Two of his own series, a 200 and a 800 model. There was a WR400 standing in the back of the room, a ‘Traci’ model. Besides their model designations, all three of them had a name: Markus, Connor and North. His software provided him with other information too, though most of it was scrambled and riddled with errors. He got the gist of it though. They’re deviants. Important figures of the android revolution. And he was supposed to neutralize them. Prompts came up again, suggesting different methods, most of them violent. The prompts glitched and trembled in his vision before disappearing, leaving a bunch of errors behind.

The one called Markus addressed him first. “Can you hear me?”

All auditory functions were in working condition. RK900 slowly moved his head to look straight at the android. He was dressed in dark jeans and a dark blue knitted sweater.

“Do you know where you are?”

Another question that RK900 didn’t deem with an answer. He knew perfectly well that he was in the CyberLife Tower, in one of the labs on the underground floors. A more important question was how he got here. More specifically, how he got here in this state of disarray. A search of his memories only provided him with error messages and glitching recordings of his entry through the main doors of the facility. He came here of his own volition, with his body intact. The objective of neutralizing was attached to the memories, giving him a sufficient idea of why he came here.

“RK900, do you know why you are here?” It was the RK800 model that spoke this time, Connor. He had a more gentle voice than the RK200, less authoritative. Connor’s tone told him he had nothing to fear, that they just wanted to ask him some questions, that everything would be okay, as long as he cooperated. It was all laced beneath the words of that single question. A negotiator indeed.

The female android in the back scoffed. “At least he’s upfront about it.”

A quick test told him his speech software and the required hardware were all working properly. It wouldn’t malfunction if he spoke.

“To kill you.”

Connor ignored her, taking a step closer towards RK900. “Are you sure about that?”

What an odd question. RK900 had his missions, his objectives. There was no question of not following them. He followed orders. That was how he was designed. Not following orders would mean he malfunctioned, that was not possible for him. He was the best of the best, CyberLife’s top of the line android. The perfect machine. RK900 had the liberty to choose his own path towards the desired outcome, making it possible to adapt to the circumstances he encountered on his missions. Depending on the phrasing of his orders he was more or less able to take his own route, yet there was no doubt that he would follow his orders.

Then why was he experiencing so many software instabilities from RK800’s question? In his efforts to dismiss or close the alerts, RK900 even blinked a couple of times. As if closing his eyelids would help get rid of the blinding alerts. His left hand jerked, triggered into motion by a useless prompt that wanted him to shield his eyes. He couldn’t, because the arm was pinned in place by a clamp. He shouldn’t, because the movement would be purely to benefit his onlookers, showing his distress and making him appear more human.

As if he could imitate a human in this state: held up by a machine, missing three of his limbs and his artificial skin deactivated. A thick cable was attached to the port in his neck, hooking him up to the CyberLife network and exposing his programming to other parties. RK900 didn’t doubt that they were responsible for the root of his software instabilities.

“RK900, I’m going to ask you this again, because it is an important question.” The android named Connor called for his attention again, in an almost apologizing matter. “You said you are here to kill me. Are you sure about that?”

“Good.” Connor nodded in satisfaction. “That means we are making progress.”

Another jerk in his left arm. Five blinks in rapid succession. And an involuntary stutter in his thirium pump.

“No.”

Progress was slow.

Two days after waking up ‘free’ - as Markus continued calling it - they reattached his legs. Another day later he got his right arm back. The return of his limbs reduced the number of alerts he was plagued with, though he was still suspended by the robot arms and had no freedom of movement. His artificial skin was back and when he came out of a short involuntary stasis someone had given him a black boxershort to wear. It was an unnecessary action, as a machine he did not have to worry about things like shame or modesty. Still, he couldn’t help but feel naked and vulnerable and the small piece of black cloth was not nearly enough to compensate for that.

RK900 managed to pack all warnings of threats and possible compromising situations into one bold alert that painted his vision with red letters that spelled ‘danger’. It was unsettling - another one of those undesirable feelings - yet it was more practical than being flooded with new alerts every time his systems detected something that was a possible threat.

It was another four days after the return of his limbs that they took the cable out of his neck and let him down. He needed to calibrate his equilibrium after being suspended for so long in alert condition.

“Thank you.” RK900 quickly dressed himself in the new clothes, finding himself relieved to be covered up. It was the first positive feeling he had since he was aware he even had feelings. Recognizing and naming the feelings that overtook him still took a disappointing amount of processing power. That million dollar processor CyberLife designed for him was certainly not equipped to deal with RK900 being hijacked by emotions.

Connor was there and brought clothes for him. Charcoal grey slacks, a black turtleneck, grey socks and black leather shoes. And a clean pair of underwear, however unnecessary.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I brought something neutral. If you want to wear more colourful clothing you can decide that for yourself later.”

The PL600 android that RK900 had gotten to know as Simon was waiting for him, to show him to his new room. The blond android walked by his side, unaware of all the prompts that popped up in RK900’s vision, providing him with all the ways he could eliminate the domestic model. The fastest one only took 1.7 seconds, on the condition that Connor didn’t intervene. Taking out Connor took significantly longer, as calculated by his predictive software. There were only two or three prompts regarding his predecessor, a result of labeling Connor as ‘friendly’. The presence of Simon, who was still in the stage of ‘unknown’, summoned over forty prompts. Dismissing them all was a tiresome task, mainly because of all the software instabilities it triggered.

The decision to ask Connor if he could provide him with a roof over his head wasn’t taken lightly. However, after a week of dealing with actively not killing every android in CyberLife tower, RK900 was desperate for a less triggering environment. His predecessor had been the most stable factor in his life since awakening to this crude form of self-awareness - RK900 didn’t call it deviancy, he didn’t think he was truly deviant, not like Markus or Connor. He did have many talks with Connor about deviancy and the RK800 always spoke fondly of the human who helped him find his footing.

Living in a home with a police lieutenant and a large dog maybe wasn’t exactly what RK900 had envisioned for himself - he had never envisioned anything for himself, really - but it would be nice to be around people that didn’t give him software instabilities all the time.

He discovered that walking the dog was a great way to realign his parameters and simultaneously patch up the countless tiny bits of software that were left in disorder after Markus and his troupe had found a way to install ra9 in his system. Sure, they had helped him take care of the large parts, yet RK900 thought it better to do the rest himself.

Hank Anderson’s home wasn’t that large. It had two bedrooms: one for Hank and one for Connor. The large Saint Bernard, Sumo, had the couch in the living room, so RK900 took the armchair. The dog was pleasant to be around, if one didn’t mind their trouser legs being covered in slobber after an enthusiastic greeting. RK900 didn’t particularly care for that, yet he was willing to overlook it because the animal was a soothing companion.

The lieutenant took some getting used to, although RK900 found the man largely to be as Connor had described him. Besides, lieutenant Anderson (RK900 only called him Hank to his face, and only because the lieutenant insisted on it) and Connor were at work most of the time, so most days it was just RK900 and Sumo.

He learned a lot of things about himself too. The effect he had on people for instance. Where the gentle giant that was Sumo called for fond looks, those looks most often disappeared when people saw who was holding the leash. This was mostly the case with humans, androids regarded him warily for a different reason.

“Why are you still wearing the oppressor's clothes?” a female android asked heatedly one day, making her male partner stop by putting a hand on his arm.

She was referring to the stark white jacket with the high collar he was wearing, a garment issued by CyberLife. It showed his model number and the blue triangle that made him recognisable as an android.

The two androids in front of him were barely recognisable to the naked eye. They both had their LED’s removed and had customized their appearance severely.

The woman looked like she was going to give him a piece of her mind, but her husband pulled her with him. “Leave it, honey. Other people are allowed to have poor taste in fashion.”

RK900 regarded them silently. He would have shrugged, but emulating frivolous human behaviour was hard for him. Lieutenant Anderson had repeatedly told him to “lighten up” or “mellow out”, whatever that meant. “Having a stick up his ass” apparently also was one of RK900 characteristics.

“I like my jacket,” he told the couple.

The strange encounter left RK900 feeling distraught and Sumo out of breath. The dog collapsed on the carpet when they got home - in less time than they usually needed - and he didn’t even wake up when Hank and Connor got home.

“What’s up with that dog?” the lieutenant asked, sitting down in the armchair to remove his shoes.

RK900 joined Connor in the kitchen, where his predecessor was making dinner for one. “Could you fix me a glass of thirium, please?” Connor asked. “I’m a little low.”

Instead of asking what happened, RK900 read the report Connor sent him of today’s incident. It was heavily redacted of course, RK900 was no police officer, but he liked reading those reports. Sometimes Connor shared information with him, using his successors superior processing powers to help speed up a case or gain new insights. He doubted it was completely legal, but Connor liked to stretch the rules every now and then.

“I have a request,” RK900 said.

“Shoot,” Connor answered pleasantly. The lieutenant’s influence was clear in his manner of speaking.

“I would like to make myself useful -”

“You are useful, big guy,” Hank interrupted. He walked into the kitchen, taking a seat at the small kitchen table. “Sumo never had this much exercise in his life!”

Connor chuckled. “I think RK900 was a bit too expensive to spend his days as a dog walker.”

“Ha, yes! That’s why he also cleans the house!” The lieutenants hearty laugh filled the kitchen. By now RK900 had learned to recognise these kind of remarks as jests. Connor had helped him a lot with this, still did. That’s how he knew he could ignore the remark without being insolent. Not that he had a problem with being rude, he would just prefer to not offend the man that had opened his home to him.

“I would like to assist the DPD,” RK900 stated clearly. He had given it a lot of thought, not just today, and he thought the job of detective would fit him well. After all, Connor liked his job and he often told him how rewarding it was.

The silence that followed his words was pleasing to RK900. It told him that his words were taken seriously, that his friends were thinking about his request.

<< 3/10 >>

Lieutenant Anderson was the first to open his mouth, though RK900 knew Connor had been waiting for his partner to speak up.

“I’ll talk to Jeffrey. The captain has the last word in this.”

DBH Partners masterpost

[sugakoni]

"it's all you."

(a/n): this was requested by @oyasumimosura! i had a blast writing this for the last couple of days, i am so sorry for the delayed response but life has been hectic. i hope this is good!!!

warnings: lots of swearing, some angst, mentions of death and karl being a full fledge simp.

pairing: karl heisenberg x fem!reader

word count: 9935

synopsis: you are the CEO of a very well known company in the United States. you decided to go on a week long vacation to some Eastern Mountain Range in Europe, and you went paragliding with your group. little did you know, this would be the start of something supernatural and unbeknownst to you. (THIS IS AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE BASED STORY. LOTS OF THIS STUFF KIND OF WONT MAKE SENSE TO CANONVERSE.)

story under the cut.

(note; this is unedited and i will probably not notice any errors in my writing for a bit. please do not make fun of me. i just wanted to get this out there ASAP.)

Tree branches snapped underneath the group's feet as they walked up the mountain, soft breaths leaving everyone as they continued their ascent. The frigid temperatures weren’t a bother to them, since they have done this before in even colder weather.

You were in the back, as you always were. You planned a one off trip for yourself to get away from the hectic life you had back in the city, your CEO position getting to your mind too much. This was the vacation you needed, and the group of people you paired yourself with decided to go paragliding off of a mountain that they had been eyeing for what felt like weeks to them. You joined, and knew your daredevil heart would feel content.

Soon enough, you reached the top of the mountain, the hiking trip taking longer than you would’ve liked to admit. Everyone began to gear up themselves, and you followed suit as you listened to everyone speaking amongst each other. You looked off the cliff, seeing a castle in the distance. You raised an eyebrow, letting out a soft sigh as one of the group members patted your back.

“Let’s get this show on the road!”

-------

The pain in your head was seering, cool ground felt below you. You could barely remember how you got yourself into this mess, but soon the memories came flooding back.

You were paragliding, alongside everyone else. The whole thing seemed surreal, everything looked dull and eerie, but a certain beautifulness lingered in the view. That was until you heard a scream and a screech of some animal, glancing back behind you to see two people from your group being attacked by… bat human hybrids? Your confusion struck, but soon fear bubbled into you when you looked in front of you and saw even more.

You couldn’t care less what was below you, but you knew you had to make a crash landing somewhere to get away from these beasts. Before you knew it, you were crashing hard into snow covered ground, adrenaline pumping through you at an alarming rate before you closed your eyes.

Confusion still lingered as you looked around the room you were in. Shelves filled with random crates and scrap, a wall riddled in pictures of people who were unrecognizable. You squinted, trying to read the words from the spot you were in before you heard something loud in a hole beside you. A scream caught in your throat as you moved away from it, standing up and feeling light headed. You grasped onto a wall, breathing heavily as you tried to think.

“Shit,” you whispered to yourself. You started to walk slowly, but the pain was just too much. You whined out, moving to rest your back on the wall before slowly sliding down.

A door opened and closed, and fear started pumping through you again. Would there be something horrible here? You knew you had a gut feeling, you shouldn’t have gone with a random group of people to a mountain range no one knew, you knew you should’ve believed the things you read on this-

“Hey, hey, hey! You’re finally awake,” the man who stood in front of you spoke. You furrowed your eyebrows, rubbing your head.

“W-who are you?”

“That’s somethin’ we can worry about later… Here,” the unknown man moved towards you and handed you a tray. A cup filled with water and a plate with bread and some fruit was now in your lap. You felt your stomach lightly rumble at the sight, not caring before you began to eat.

If he wanted to kill you, he already would’ve.

A soft hum left your lips as you ate everything on the plate, moving to drink the water. You knew you probably looked a mess, but the man just stood there with his hands on his hips.

You looked up, moving to place the tray down on the floor beside you. The cup of water being held between your hands, and you took small sips of it. Silence filled the room, which caused you to go a bit uneasy.

“How did you even get here?”

You took another sip of water before putting it down on the tray, biting against your lip.

“Me and a group of people were paragliding off of a mountain around here… thought it was a good idea until some… weird bat things attacked… I guess I landed somewhere around here,” you whispered, your headache slowly going away. The man let out a hum.

“Sure as hell did, you landed in probably the worst spot you could’ve, the lycans were going crazy,” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head before going to grab a chair to sit in.

Lycans?

What the fuck is a lycan?

Your eyebrows knitted in newfound confusion, the man in front of you playing with a pocket knife he had in his hand. You didn’t feel nervous, though you should’ve. But he radiated something in him that just made you know he was someone you could trust.

“Lycans… are uh… werewolves,” he spoke before clearing his throat.

“My name is Karl Heisenberg, sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier,” he added, and you were thankful you could put a name to his face.

“Well.. thank you for taking me in, Karl… I’m Y/n.” you hummed, headache now somewhat gone. You stood up, looking around before stretching your arms over your head. You didn’t know how you were going to get home, let alone in this state. It seemed like you would be stuck here for a while. You had no wallet, no keys, nothing. You let out a soft sigh in thought.

Karl stood up, moving over towards you. “I should’ve made you sleep in my room, Y/n… sorry about that,” he muttered.

Something seemed off about him that you couldn’t really put your finger on, but it seemed like he was… flustered. You shrugged, starting to follow him after he motioned you to. You looked around the area, seeing how it was completely different than anything you had seen before.

A factory?

You crossed your arms, feeling cold. Your jacket was wrapped around you tightly, and you still had your jeans and boots on, but you had no idea why the chill nipped at you harshly. Karl pushed open a door on his left side, and you saw a bed, a small desk, and a few pieces of scrap metal on the floor in disarray.

“You’ll sleep here.”

“What about you?” You asked, scrunching your nose. It smelled of man and cigarettes in here, which you shouldn’t have been surprised since it seemed this man lived alone in this… factory.

“Oh honey, I don’t sleep,” Karl hummed, moving to grab some papers off of his desk.

You shrugged your jacket off, moving to place it on the back of the chair in the room. You thought for a moment, seeing the dirt and grime that riddled your skin. A soft sigh left your lips.

“Do you have a shower?”

Karl looked back at you, dumbfounded that you would even ask that.

“Yeah I have a shower. What do you take me for, some wild animal?”

Damn, I pushed a button.

“Just jokin’. It’s in that room over there,” he replied, still looking at papers on his desk.

You looked over to where he pointed, seeing the door on the farther end of the room. You made your way towards the door, opening it and going inside. You shut the door behind you, not bothering to lock it as you quickly took your clothes off. You felt disgusting, utterly filthy as your cheeks were smeared with some dirt, hair slightly matted in your ponytail. You looked at yourself in the mirror after turning the shower on, feeling the steam fill the room.

The shower water felt nice on your exposed skin, the water at your feet growing a murky brown as you washed the dirt from your body and hair.

You groaned, starting to wash your body, before you heard the door open. You peaked your head from around the corner, wet hair stuck to your forehead as you were met with Karl holding a shirt.

You gave a small smile, which caused his own heart to flutter. He kept his composure as you moved to go back behind the curtain, the sound of a bottle opening soon afterwards.

“Thank you, Karl,” you sang as you started to wash your hair. A soft hum left your lips, which caused Karl’s mind to go haywire. He placed the shirt against the counter, sighing to himself.

“Not a problem,” he said and moved to get out of the room.

The tension lingered, and you could feel it. You bit at your lip in thought, rinsing the soap out of your hair before putting conditioner in it. Karl was pretty attractive in your eyes, but he looked like he had some issues he needed to fix himself. He was very kind to you, though he could’ve killed you at any chance he got, he was taking care of you and making sure you were okay.

This is odd.

You finished your shower, getting out and wrapping a towel around your body, finding another towel thrown into the cabinet beside the sink and wrapping it around your hair. You shivered as you put clothes on your body, the shirt being slightly too big but you didn’t mind. You walked out of the bathroom, and Karl was nowhere to be found.

Knowing that this place was somewhat of a labyrinth by the few halls you had seen, you knew it was best to just stay put in his bedroom. You felt a bit weird wanting to go into his bed, but the need for sleep was calling for you. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, you wrung your hair out of water against your towel before throwing it into a nearby clothes bin.

As soon as you did that, Karl walked in. He seemed furious about something, going to his desk and opening a bunch of drawers. You stood, playing with your fingers in front of you as you watched him. He was cursing to himself.

“Where is it, where is it, where is it,” he kept repeating, every drawer he opened that didn’t have it in it, he would groan.

You sighed a bit to yourself, and began to realize this man was somewhat like you. He seemed devoted to his work.

A workaholic.

“Karl… you shouldn’t stress yourself out like this,” you spoke out, which caused him to halt.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“I said I’m fine!” He barked.

You didn’t budge, standing still as his chest heaved a bit. He slammed all the drawers shut with one fluid motion of his hand, which caused you to raise an eyebrow. Karl kept his eyes on you before looking in front of him and slamming his hands on the desk, his head hung low.

“Go to bed,” he sighed out, taking his hat off and placing it down. You crossed your arms.

“Not until you go to bed with me.” You huffed, going to the bed and pulling the covers back. You motioned to it, and Karl shook his head.

“I’m not gonna sleep, it’s a lost cause,” He muttered.

“Well then, I am not going to sleep.”

Karl rolled his eyes at your reply, looking over at you and letting out a soft tch. He moved over to the bed, kicking his shoes off before laying down. You smiled in content, going over to the other side of the bed and getting in. He laid on his back, looking up at the ceiling as you shifted onto your side.

You felt content laid in bed again, but you missed the warmth of your jacket. It seemed as if this comforter was doing nothing for you, shivering violently. Karl noticed this, swallowing his pride as he shifted closer to you.

The slight warmth radiating off of his body was enough to make you crave more, so you scooted closer to him until your back was touching his arm. He tensed, trying not to move wrong. You laughed, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.

“You can get more comfortable, you know?” You let out in between giggles. The way Karl’s heart was thumping in his chest was mere agonizing to him; never having felt this way before towards someone. He sighed out, turning to his side and wrapping his arms around you. He pulled you close.

You could feel how timid he was in his grip, and you decided not to move more against him as you closed your eyes.

You are crazy.

How could you trust someone you just met?

These thoughts lingered on in the back of your head, but the ultimate answer to this feeling was

Love.

------

The sound of birds outside the small window Karl had in his room stirred you awake. You felt cold, looking to your side and seeing an empty spot on the bed where he had been the night prior. You let out a hum, sitting up and stretching before getting out of bed. Your exposed feet pressed against the cool floor, sending shivers up your spine as you walked into the bathroom.

A soft giggle left your lips at how your hair was in disarray, shaking your head. You usually don’t see yourself so messed up, since work calls for you to be dressed up and your presence in the media orders you to look at least somewhat decent. It was nice to finally be a real human for once.

Once you took care of your hair situation, a loud creak of a door was heard before it thudded shut. You walked out of the bathroom, being met with Karl who had a fabric tote in his hand. You raised an eyebrow, taking in the outfit he was wearing. Long trench coat, a button up shirt, sunglasses and a leather hat. Pants tucked into a pair of boots.

“Good mornin’, sleepy head,” Karl teased, which caused you to roll your eyes. He lifted the tote up, letting you take it from his hands as you looked in it. You pulled out some garments, seeing that they were completely different than what you wore normally.

“Stopped by the village when I woke up… had to get you some clothes,” he shrugged. You thanked him softly, going towards the bathroom to change.

The dress was black, with a matching black corset. You blinked a bit as you tightened it, kind of gasping out as you tried to tie it up.

“Fuck,” you muttered, realizing that this was a two person job. You put on the flats he had gotten for you, confused as to how they fit… perfectly. You pulled your hair up in a tight bun before going out of the room, being met with Karl who was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading something on a paper he got.

“Can you help me?” You asked, shyness ringing in your tone. He looked up, seeing that the corset you were wearing was barely tied. He stood up, not saying a word as he tightened it some more and tied it.

Karl took this moment to his advantage, glancing down at the curves that he knew you had. He held back a grunt, eyes immediately going back up as you turned around.

“Thank you,” you said with a soft smile, moving to pull out some baby hairs from your bun. They framed your face, and you felt content. Karl closed his eyes for a moment before grabbing a cigar that he had in his pocket, lighting in as it was placed in between his lips.

“Don’t mention it,” he mumbled through the cigar, taking an inhale as a small smirk was on his lips when you coughed.

You moved away from him, looking around the room. There was really nothing in here, and you hoped he would show you around, at least let you go out of the factory. He could tell you were getting antsy.

“Hey, let me give you a tour,” Karl spoke out, going towards the door and opening it. You smiled, going towards the door and walking out, him following suit. You tied a small apron thing around your waist, something that came with the garments he gave.

You two walked silently, following behind him as he showed you around. You bit at your lip, trying to take in everything that he said. You knew it would be easy to get lost here.

Karl, however, knew why he wanted to give you a tour. He made a way out for you in case something were to ever happen with Mother, since she seemed to be a royal bitch to anything he loved and cared about. He had the feeling that something might happen to him, especially with his sister. He groaned at the thought, beginning to feel stressed out.

“You okay?” You asked him, and he glanced back at you.

“I’m fine.”

You decided not to push his buttons, continuing to walk. It was soon halted when a half man half dog thing jumped out at you, causing you to scream. You grabbed onto Karl’s arm tightly as he looked at the lycan straight on.

“Shut the fuck up! Go mess with someone else, idiot!” Karl yelled out, which caused the beast to slowly sulk away. You blinked, looking at the man who was breathing heavily out of his nose.

He glanced back at you, immediately calming down.

“You okay?” he repeated your question from earlier, which caused you to blush slightly as he looked down at you.

“I’m fine,” you whispered, your hands still tightly gripping at his jacket. He smirked a bit before walking again, letting you keep your hands there. Soon enough, though, you let go and kept your hands in front of you and arms to your side. He missed the contact, but didn’t want to admit it.

“Here is an escape route,” he started, pointing out what to do on a small map he had. You were currently standing in the entrance of it. You listened to everything he had said, tilting your head to the side as you glanced from the map to his face periodically.

“-and here you will take a left turn and soon enough you are out of this hell of a place… any questions?”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Karl asked, confusion lingering in his voice. You chuckled a bit.

“Why do you have this?”

He swore his cheeks heated up at your question, shaking his head a bit. You smiled, still looking at him and waiting for an answer. A deep huff left his lips.

“In case Mother Miranda comes out to get me. I am a Lord here, a disciple to a Goddess who does jack shit for this village and my brother and sisters. If any of them, and I mean any of them became aware of you, I would be fucked and you would be killed.”

As he told you this, your eyebrows furrowed. You thought for a moment, shaking your head.

“But what if I want to stay-”

“You can’t, if they know. That’s why I got you these clothes, that’s why I am showing you this. I don’t want you here if that happens,” Karl slightly huffed out, and you were taken aback by this sudden emotion that he had. The tension grew between you, and it was heavy in the air. You don’t know why you felt this way, but it was different than being scared for your life in a place you didn’t know.

Karl soon enough told you to head back to the room, finished showing you around as he sauntered off. You were confused and slightly hurt by his immediate shove of emotions, but you understood where he was coming from. You walked towards the room, going inside and sitting down on the chair at the desk. Boredom hit you hard, so you decided to snoop…

If you didn’t touch anything too serious, maybe he won’t know.

In the first drawer, you found a journal. You blinked a bit, curiosity now filling you as you grabbed the leather back book and opened it. Pages upon pages of messy writing and drawings filled the vintage pages, and you started to read. Learning more about Karl and his work, and how he felt about life in general…

He is hurting.

He lost his dignity.

Your eyebrows furrowed at the word “monster” scribbled onto the page. You bit at your lip, slowly learning that Karl had these abilities that Miranda had cursed him with as a young child. It pulled at your heart, making you a bit teary eyed as you thought about how much this man had lost. You continued to look in the journal, seeing the date on the top of one of the pages was dated for the day prior.

A girl landed in the courtyard of the factory. She had some sort of parachute-like thing on her, and I got her before the lycans did, thank god.

She is stunning, to say the least. I have never seen someone who looks like her, and that says a lot about me. I don’t know why I have this overwhelming sense of… emotion, being in her presence. She is currently sleeping in my bed, and I got up as soon as I knew she wouldn’t wake up from me moving.

I don’t know why… but I want to hold her… I want to protect her from every bit of terror that riddles this village, I don’t want Miranda to find her. Fuck. Why am I feeling like this over someone who I barely know?

I don’t even know what she does for a living, her age, where she resides, hell what if she is already married? She looks to be a wealthy woman, and knows her place with men, especially men like me. Shit, Karl… What are you fucking doing?

Why are you talking about Y/n like this?

Fuck…

Fuck…

FU-

The door swinging open caused you to slam the journal shut, but you placed it in your lap. Karl was standing there, some sort of hammer in hand. He looked at you, then down at the journal, and then back at you.

“What the fuck?” He asked, and you stayed quiet. He placed his hammer down and walked over to you, snatching the journal out of your lap.

“This isn’t something you can just snoop in, lady,” Karl seethed, throwing the book back into the drawer that was still opened. You pressed your lips together, crossing your arms.

“You love me, Karl.”

Karl raised an eyebrow, trying to hold back every ounce of embarrassment he had at this moment. You did just read about him ranting about his emotions, a soft blush on your cheeks as you thought.

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

“No, but it seems like you are,” You teased, standing up in front of him. Karl shook his head, putting his hands up in defense for a moment as if you had caught him in an act. You chuckled a bit. You moved to wrap your arms around his neck, hugging him close as he just stood there.

Soon enough, he moved to wrap his arms around your waist and dug his head into the crook of your neck. You stood there like this for a moment, holding each other. It had been forever since you had felt any sort of physical intimacy like this, and it had been the first time he did. He felt the mutual feeling radiate off of you through the hug, which calmed his nerves.

You pulled away, looking up at him.

“Don’t ever be afraid of these feelings,” you started, moving to caress his cheek. “And remember that you are still human, regardless of how much you feel your dignity has been snatched from you… you are more than what she says,” you whispered. Karl leaned his head into your hand, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he thought. He didn’t want to cry to you, but the tears that stung in his eyes, hidden by his sunglasses, were threatening to spill at the words.

“I have something for you,” Karl muttered, moving to pull something out of his pocket. You moved your hands, watching him rummage before pulling out two rings. You looked confused, seeing the contrast in his hand.

One of the rings was bigger than the others, which caused you to realize that it was probably for him. You glanced at the smaller one, seeing it was embedded in small multicolored crystals. The metal bent around smoothly.

“I made these after I wrote that entry,” he broke the silence. You looked up at him through your eyelashes, before tilting your head up fully. Your heart was beating hard against your chest.

Trust.

“I didn’t think you were the romantic type , Karl,” you chuckled, letting him put the ring onto your left ring finger. “But, you sure do know how to make a woman’s heart flutter.”

Karl let out a small laugh at that, putting the ring he made for himself onto his own finger. He felt content in his feelings, especially because you felt the same.

“I have my ways, Y/n,” he hummed. You grabbed his hand, intertwining your fingers with his as you both stood in the middle of his room. Karl had a faint bit of pink brush against his cheeks, and so did you.

“Thank you,” you whispered softly.

“Don’t mention it.”

-----

It had been a few days since you crashed at Karl’s factory, and it had been going well. You have developed a relationship with the lycans that had hung around it, and now you were able to go out a bit further closer to the village. At around the one week mark, you were sitting outside on a rock, watching the lycans converse as you wrote in your journal. The cold air didn’t seem to phase you, but you did have Karl’s jacket on, which helped.

Your head peaked up when you heard a rustle on the far end of the entrance, eyebrow raising. You shut your book slowly, hopping off of the rock as you began to look around. Knowing the area around here, it could’ve been an animal, but your curiosity was rubbed. You glanced around, before making eye contact with a man.

Your eyes widened, and you began to walk quickly towards Karl’s factory. The lycans were snarling towards the direction of the man, but you could care less as you opened the door, being met with a flabbergasted man.

“Someone saw me-”

“You gotta go, now,” Karl spoke, moving to take his jacket off of you, giving you the one you landed here with. You bit your lip, knowing that this was the only way you would be safe.

Running.

Karl was looking around, throwing some things into the tote that came with your clothing. You watched him, silently freaking out in your own mind. He handed you the paper that had the map of the escape route on it, as well as the bag.

You looked up at him, tears filling your eyes. Karl had a small frown on his lips, his hands on your shoulders as he slowly rubbed them up and down. You leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

“I will see you again, buttercup… I promise,” Karl whispered after pulling away from the kiss. You gave a nod, thanking him again for what he did for you before fleeing the factory. Tears stained your cheeks as you ran and ran, making sure you took the right turns to get out of here. Soon enough, you were met with a large hole and sunlight, sighing heavily once you realized you were towards the end.

You walked out, beginning your trek towards whatever you could go to. It seemed Karl mapped out a certain route with yellow tape and paint, and you were grateful for that. You soon enough found a road, a soft hum leaving your lips.

Following the road, you finally made it into a small town. You glanced around at the older buildings, seeing that there was a pub that was somewhat busy. You moved to go in, immediately booking it to the bathroom and changing in one of the stalls.

Everything had happened so fast, that you needed time to think. Your hands were cold, cheeks flushed and your heart was breaking at every breath you took. You didn’t know if you would ever see Karl again, but the love you felt for him was bursting through you every moment you were away from him, even if it had been a couple of hours.

You walked out of the bathroom, in your clothes that you had initially landed in, and made your way towards the bar. You sat down, knowing you weren’t going to be able to order anything, but the bartender was very sweet and gave you a free plate of food and some whiskey. She gave you a smile, to which you gave back.

“Heartbreak, sweetie. It’s a bitch.”

Meanwhile, at the factory, Mother Miranda was looking around everywhere for a maiden that a devoted villager had told her about. She was silent the whole time, Karl following her around. He let out a huff here and there, feeling like a teen who was caught doing something crazy.

“Where is she?” Miranda asked, and Karl rolled his eyes.

“I told you, I don’t know who you are talking about, Mother,” Karl replied, taking an inhale of the cigar in between his lips. But, the thought of you still lingered in his mind, your lips on his own. He sighed out to himself as he followed his “mother” around, and she ultimately gave in to defeat.

“How dare they waste my time, I am sorry for the intrusion, Heisenberg,” Miranda said after a while, standing at the exit of his factory. Karl shrugged, trying to keep the shit eating grin he so wanted to give back.

“It’s fine, go give ‘em hell or whatever you do when they do this shit,” Karl replied. Mother nodded, leaving the factory in a huff. Karl chuckled to himself, shutting the door behind her and moving towards his room. He sat at the edge of his bed, trying not to think about how anxious he was about how Miranda probably could’ve snooped around enough to find the escape route.

As evening hit, Karl was summoned to a meeting in the church. He was making his way there, opening the door and immediately going to his pew. His sisters and brother were sitting there already, Mother Miranda not being anywhere to be seen. Alcina glared at the engineer, which caused him to smirk.

“What is it?”

“You are the reason for this… random meeting,” Alcina spoke, rolling her eyes afterwards.

Karl raised an eyebrow, leaning back on the pew and crossing his legs, letting his arms drape over the back. He glanced around, seeing Angie struggling in Donna’s lap, and Moreau cowering in the corner as per usual. He tched.

“Little ol’ me? How so?” Karl asked, sarcasm lacing his voice.

Alcina shook her head, turning it towards the door that now opened. There stood Mother Miranda with an unlucky man, who was one of the villagers known to be fully devoted to her. She had him by a death grip on his wrist, his begging and pleads boomed against the old church walls.

Mother threw him down onto the ground, moving towards her chair and sitting down. The man was shaking, crying and sitting on his knees.

“Mother Miranda! Dear Mother Miranda, please! All I have done my whole life is devote myself to you, please don’t kill me!”

“Silence!” She yelled, the tone of her voice ringing throughout everyone’s ears. Karl sat there, unphased as he looked at the man in front of them all. He bit at his tongue, guessing this was the man who saw you walk into his factory.

“How dare you embarrass me and accuse one of the Lords of hiding something from me? How dare you say you are fully devoted to me when you sent me on a wild goose chase?” Miranda seethed, which caused the man to whimper.

How pathetic.

The man cried, trying to compose himself.

“Please Mother, I promise I didn’t mean to. I am embarrassed by my actions, but I swear I will make it better-”

“How so?” Karl asked, raising an eyebrow. The man looked over at him, a small smirk on his face as he pointed a finger to him.

“You… your little lady is very popular in America! Found her immediately… I will kill her! And satisfy Mother Miranda!” He yelled out. Karl was slightly taken aback, letting out a chuckle.

“Good luck finding someone who doesn’t exist,” Karl said with a shrug, leaning back again into his pew. Mother Miranda looked at the two as they spoke, shaking her head. She thought for a moment, before opening her mouth to speak again.

“If you can find her, and bring her to me alive, I will forgive you for what you have caused me,” She replied. Karl’s eyes widened beneath his sunglasses, but he kept his composure the same.

Fuck.

The meeting was dismissed, and Karl was immediately the first one out, not without gripping the man by the shirt and dragging him out like Mother told him to. He pinned him against a wall, away from the view of anyone, and the man laughed.

“You of all people should know how much Mother hates lying!” The man laughed maniacally, which caused Karl to shove him harshly against the wall. The man winced, and Karl’s eyes were filled with fury, the yellow from his cadou fully eloping his irises.

“You are some sorry old man, fucker. If you lay a fucking hand on her, I swear you will never see the light of day, got it?” Karl asked before throwing him to the ground.

The man kept laughing, never giving him a reply. Karl huffed, grabbing his hammer and beginning to walk back home. He knew he had to protect you, especially from this maniac of a man, but he needed time to do his own research to figure out where the hell you even could be.

----

Days had passed since you made it back home, and you were now onto doing the things you oh so dearly missed. You stood at the giant window in your office, taking a sip of your coffee and looking down at the commuters below. A soft sigh left your lips as you moved to fiddle a bit with your ring, turning around and putting your coffee down on your desk.

You sat down, finally, and brushed off your skirt, unbuttoning the jacket you were wearing. You opened up your computer, starting to do your work that accumulated while you were on vacation. Though, your mind still lingered to the engineer who took care of you.

The door in front of you opened, and soon walked in your secretary. Her bubbly personality contrasted to your currently brooding state, but that wasn’t normal for you. She noticed this, cautiously putting papers onto your desk. You looked up at her, blinking.

“Miss… you have been pretty on edge the past few days, is something going on?” She asked, concern in her tone.

You gave a nod, moving to grab the papers that she had placed down. You looked through them, breathing in sharply through your nose before placing them down, elbows on your desk and hands clasped together. A small smile was on your lips.

“Alright, just wanted to make sure, miss. Your private car should be here in 30 minutes,” She hummed before walking out. You sighed.

Time really does go by fast here.

You looked down at your watch, seeing that it was indeed 30 minutes until your office closed. You stood up, starting to put everything you needed into your work bag, your diamond bracelet jingling a bit. The ring that Karl had made you contrasted heavily with the fine jewelry you wore, but you never wanted to take it off.

Soon enough it was now time to leave, and you made your way down to the private car. You hummed a soft tune to yourself, thinking about Karl as you did. Your driver started to drive you to your house, going through the gates of the community, then going through the gates of your house. You ended up dozing off at some point during the ride, jumping awake when the car halted.

“Sorry about that,” you mumbled to your driver. He laughed and shook it off, not caring that his boss had fallen asleep in the car.

“Have a good night, miss.”

“You too, Javi,” you yawned, pulling your bag out before shutting the door. You walked up to your front door, going inside your lavish house, looking around at everything that seemed foreign but familiar.

You missed the lively feeling of the factory, it felt like someone genuinely lived there. Here, your home has a polished, smooth, rich feeling. It caused you to shudder in thought. You were essentially living a life that you didn’t want, but you built yourself up to. You walked towards your kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine out of your wine rack before grabbing a glass.

You moved to open your phone, connecting it to the bluetooth stereo in your house and turning on some soft music. You poured your wine, taking the glass and slowly sipping at it. A soft breath left your nose as you thought, placing the glass down and biting at your lip.

You missed his touch and how it warmed you, you missed the laughs he let out when you would ask something stupid. You missed how protective he was over you, and it felt like the time you had together was cut prematurely by your own dumb curiousity. Tears filled your eyes as you grabbed your glass and slammed the wine down, going up to your room to change into a pair of sweats and a tank top. Putting on a light jacket and some slides, deciding to go towards the community park the gated neighborhood you lived in had.

Keys in hand, you began the small walk towards it. Your pepper spray dangled beside you, which was the only way you felt safe. You finally made it to the park, sitting on a bench and breathing in as the silence of the night, followed by the soft buzzes and noises of bugs around, was taken all around you. You moved to open your phone, looking through some apps.

Sighing heavily, phone now turned off, you slumped back into your seat. Your leg was bouncing up and down, arms crossed. It was such a pain in the ass, craving someone you knew you weren’t going to be able to see again. A shaky breath left you as you felt tears stain your cheeks, looking up and seeing a familiar silhouette in the darkness.

“Karl?” You called out quietly, before the light above finally shined against him. A small smile was on his face, and you immediately wiped your tears from your skin.

“Hey, buttercup,” he sighed out, exhaustion hitting him like a train. You ran over to him, immediately wrapping your arms around his neck. Karl held you close, taking in every bit of physical intimacy that he lacked for what felt like eternity since you had left him. Choked sobs left you as you broke down, and he tried to soothe you by rubbing your back.

Safe.

You pulled away from him, sniffing and hiccuping a bit as you did. Karl stayed quiet, not wanting to startle you by why he was here, so he kept it to himself. He moved to look at your left hand, seeing the ring was still around your finger, a small hum leaving him.

“Missed me that much, huh?” he joked, chuckling afterwards. You nodded.

This moment was something you had been longing for since you escaped, and it felt surreal that he was in front of you again. You moved to intertwine your fingers together, starting to lead him to your house. Karl looked around, seeing how wealthy these homes looked, eyebrow raising a bit.

“I didn’t know you were this rich,” Karl spoke, and you looked back at him. You made it to the gate of your home, putting in the pin, letting it open.

“I made my way around. I built a name for myself pretty early, and now I am the CEO of a multimillion dollar company,” you replied. Karl’s eyes widened.

“Multimillion?”

You giggled a bit, opening your front door and letting him inside. He was honestly shocked, looking around at the polished stone and marble that riddled the floors and pillars in your house.

“I know… I never really talk about it, but it is kinda hard to hide when your house is like… this,” you shrugged, motioning to the house. Karl gave a nod, mumbling a wow.

You showed him around your humble abode, the same way he gave you a tour of his factory when you finally woke up. It felt odd, showing a man like him a place like this, but you didn’t care. You knew he didn’t care either. Soon, you made it to your room and you showed it to him. He looked at everything.

The modesty and modern feel of your whole entire house was even shown in your room. Though, your desk was filled with water bottles and crumpled paper, laptop open to a random tab. Your bed sheets and comforter were still messy from the nights sleep you got before. You let yourself have your own chaotic space, and instead of it being your whole house, it was your room.

You glanced back at him, seeing him look at the books on the shelves that were beside your door. Taking this as a chance, you wrapped your hands around him from behind and rested your head against his back. Karl didn’t tense up at the feeling of your hands, but more so leaned into the warmth he desperately craved.

“Why are you here?” You asked quietly against his jacket. He bit at his lip.

“Just missed you, that’s all…”

“So you looked me up?” You asked teasingly, a giggle leaving your lips as he turned around. He rolled his eyes.

“Had to make sure you weren’t a serial killer or somethin’.”

“You are literally… nevermind,” you laughed. Karl chuckled, before caressing your check with one of his hands. He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to your lips. You immediately melted into the feeling, and it started to become feverish fast.

Karl began to kiss you deeply, which you accepted. Your hands knocked his hat off, gripping at his hair as his hands went from your hips to your ass, gripping at it harshly as you let out a soft moan against his lips. The moment was hot and heavy, and you enjoyed every bit of it as you pressed your hips against his. His tongue immediately went into your mouth, rubbing against your own before his hands gripped at your shirt.

The moment lingered on, the make out session becoming more heavy before he finally pulled away. Both of you had spit covered lips, slightly rosey cheeks and your clothes were a bit of a tugged on mess. A giggle left you as Karl smirked, moving to take off his clothes, leaving his boxers on. You took your sweat pants off, not being a fan of sleeping in them before you moved to lay down in bed, motioning for him to lay beside you.

Karl laid down, facing the ceiling as you turned on your side to face him. You laid your head down against his exposed chest, hand against his skin. He moved a hand down to play with your hair, thinking as you two laid there.

“Tell me more about your life, Y/n,” he whispered. You sighed, not really liking the topic.

“When I was in college, I had an internship at my father’s office. I worked, did school, and life was going great. I built myself up such a huge name at both my college and his work… he owned it, and I was just known as his daughter… I wanted to be something more…

“Then… he got put into the hospital for this rare genetic disease that ran in our family… the BSAA took him, and I am assuming he died… They made me the new CEO, since that was what he wrote in his will,” you explained to him. Karl listened, still playing with your hair as you spoke.

“That sounds like a lot…” Karl muttered. You already knew his story, so it was nothing compared to his. But, it still meant a lot that he sympathized with you. He seemed to lock himself up for a long time, but he was open with you.

After a while of talking about random memories and childhood, though it was mostly you talking, the two of you fell asleep. It seemed to be the best sleep you had gotten in the days you had been home, and you knew it was because Karl was here to keep you safe.

-----

Your alarm went off, which caused you to groan, moving to turn it off on your phone. You felt Karl’s presence against your back, but he was also stirred awake by the sound of your alarm. You sat up, looking down at him, your hair sticking all over the place. He held back a laugh.

A small pout was prominent on your face at his laugh, moving over to the vanity in your room and looking at your hair. You sighed, going to brush it and grab an outfit from your closet. A nice white blouse and a floral skirt was your pick for today, along with some white heels. Karl watched your every movement as you got ready, sitting up against the headboard with a cigar in between his lips.

The smoke filled your room, which you didn’t mind. You finished applying your makeup, swiping lipstick against your lips before grabbing your work bag. You walked over towards the bed, sitting down on the edge beside Karl.

You took the cigar from his lips, placing a kiss against his before putting it back. Karl chuckled.

“Make yourself at home… if you need me,” you pulled out an extra phone you had from a bedside table, “call me.”

Karl raised an eyebrow.

“Alright… I’ll keep that in mind… please be careful,” Karl replied. You gave a nod.

“I always am, love. See you later,” You pressed a kiss to his forehead, moving to leave your house. Your private car was in your driveway, seeing Javi and giving a wave. You sat in the back as per usual.

Javi began his drive towards the office building, before taking a wrong turn. You raised an eyebrow, looking up from your phone. Confusion rose in you, causing you to feel a bit uneasy before you looked in the rear view mirror and saw a random man behind you. You let out a scream before he covered your mouth, Javi stopping the car and looking back at you with a wide grin.

You recognized the man who had his hand against your mouth as the villager from Karl’s village who saw you, but you didn’t know why Javi was acting so strange. Soon enough, it wasn’t Javi, but it was a random woman. Your eyes widened and your screams were muffled against the man's hand before he placed a rag against your mouth, you tried not to breathe in but your eyes slowly shut and you were out.

--------

“-Why are you doing this to me?! To her?!” You heard a familiar voice yell out. Your eyes fluttered open, and you were on the floor of a worn down church. You sat up a bit, looking around and seeing Karl up in front of some woman in black. The villager who saw you was sitting beside her, a girl in a veil on the other side. A big woman with… a large hat was sitting in a big chair, and some… freak was sitting in the corner.

“She’s awake!” The lady in black called out. Your head seared in pain, and Karl moved over to you before he was pushed back by the big lady who got up out of her chair. You bit at your lip, uneasiness rising in you. Your arms were bound in front of you, and you so desperately wanted to get out of this situation.

“Who gets to keep the girl who was mistakenly put into Heisenberg’s possession, hm?” The woman said, looking back at who you now presumed was Mother Miranda. Karl looked back at her, then at his sister, and then at you. He looked hurt, lost, and he was seemingly giving up. You swallowed the lump in your throat.

I will get you out.

He mouthed. You gave a nod, trusting him fully. Mother Miranda moved forward, looking down at you before looking at her son. You shook in your spot, trying to think. She knelt down, unbinding you from your cuffs and you immediately moved back once they were off.

“Alcina… I was figuring she would be the best fit as a daughter for you… but I am thinking I want her to go with Donna, until I figure out when to inject her with the cadou.”

At the hearing of his Mother’s plans, Karl immediately put a hand out, hammer in hand. She turned around.

“Remember from whence you came, boy!” She yelled. Karl was done with this, metal beginning to float around him as he looked at his mother.

“I come from the Heisenberg family, bitch. We have been nothing but little vessels for you to take dignity from to bring back your dead daughter,” He seethed. You stood up, pressing your back against the wall as the lady you guessed was Alcina came over to you. She turned around, back to you but seemingly protecting you from… something.

“How dare you speak to your mother like that?!” Miranda replied, her six wings behind her as Karl felt anger continue to bubble in him. He lifted his hammer, hitting the ground in front of her, a decently sized hole was now in the ground. You jumped at the sound, and Alcina put a hand slightly behind her to keep you a bit covered.

There was a piece of paper in her hand, and you grabbed it slowly.

Go to my castle. There should be a man named The Duke that is sitting outside of a gate. He will help you find your way. My daughters will be there to keep you safe.

You looked up at her, seeing her motion her head to the side. You silently slipped out of the room, the sounds of yelling and thuds and other things heard on your way out. You made your way outside, going towards the gate that was slightly drawn out on the back of the paper. A soft huff left your lips, before a man rolled out of a carriage. You jumped at the sudden boom in his voice.

“Ah. The infamous Miss Y/n L/n. Alcina told me to expect you,” the man, who you presumed was The Duke, said. You gave a nod.

“Here is the entrance to the castle. Bela should be waiting for you by the front door,” he added, giving you a map which pointed out where you needed to go. You thanked him, and he told you there was no need, that he was just “doing his job”.

You made your way up into the castle, the door immediately opening for you. You walked in cautiously, before being met by a girl who you presumed to be Bela. She had dried blood coating her porcelain skin, which caused you to feel a bit squeamish.

“Mother told us that you would be here soon! Are you okay, little one?” She asked. You looked up at her, blinking for a moment before giving a nod. Your head still hurts, and Bela could tell.

“Usually, she isn’t very keen on what Heisenberg does… but she saw how much he adored you. I don’t think she has ever hurt for him before,” Bela added, starting to show you to a place you could go to just… relax for a while. You met the other two sisters, and they brought you up some water and snacks… They really did try their best.

You sat against the bed in the room they let you stay in, kind of upset that your life was now not normal. You held your knees against your body, looking outside of the window before being met with a scene you didn’t think you would have to see. Four giant monsters were now fighting outside, and the door opened to your room to reveal the woman in the black veil from earlier. She held her doll close as Alcina’s daughters floated behind her.

“What’s happening?” You asked her, furrowing your eyebrows. She sighed, lifting her veil from her face.

“They’re fighting… I think Karl has finally had enough with Mother’s antics…” She replied, moving to sit down beside you on the window sill. You blinked, giving a nod before looking out at the scene below.

“I think he is going to win. Then we will finally be free of this curse… I’m Donna,” she added.

“Y/n.”

“I know,” she said with a soft smile, placing the doll in between the two of you. “This is Angie.”

You waved to Angie, and when she waved back your eyes grew wide. Donna laughed, as well as the sisters. You blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed before the whole castle shook with a roar. You bit at your lip. You wished dearly that you weren’t the cause for this mess, but it seemed like this was something Karl wanted to do for a long time.

The fight seemed to go on forever, and a small chunk of the castle was blown into. You moved away from the window, not wanting to see it, but Donna stayed seated. She wanted to see what the outcome would be between her brothers and sister against their false mother, and she secretly hoped that Karl would finally finish her.

Moreau was cowering a bit, not wanting to hurt his mother, while Alcina and Karl were fighting against her. Karl was screaming curse words at her, calling her every single hurtful thing he could, before it all stopped. Everything was quiet after a loud scream from Mother Miranda was heard, and time seemed to stop.

Karl started to get out of his form, the skeleton of it disintegrating. He walked over to the crystalized body of his “Mother”, immediately kicking it while Moreau was calling out to him to stop. Alcina watched her little brother, breathing heavily in and out. Exhaustion was flowing through all three of the,.

“Shut the fuck up you moronic freak! Don’t you see what she did to us? To everyone in this village? To a girl she didn’t even know?! Are you that dense?!” Karl yelled towards Moreau. Alcina shook her head.

“He still loved her Karl, no matter how much damage she did… at least she is gone now, for good,” She sighed, looking up towards the castle she resided in.

“C’mon.. My daughters and your… lady friend are waiting, as well as Donna,” Alcina added, moving to walk behind her brothers who walked towards the castle. Karl was quick on his feet, and as soon as you heard Donna say he was making his way, you started running down towards the entrance. The door opened and you were immediately in Karl’s arms, being held tightly.

“Buttercup, I am so sorry… I am so sorry I put you through this,” Karl whispered into your hair. You cried in his arms, holding close to him. You didn’t want him to let go.

“It isn’t your fault, you saved me, how did we know it would come to this?” You asked him, and he gave a small shrug. You pulled back, looking up at him to see that his cheeks were stained with tears.

“I killed the bitch… so we could live a normal life, together…” he sniffled.

“I love you.”

-------

Years had passed since the incident in an Eastern European Mountain Range, and life had been somewhat normal. The BSAA continued to come to check on Karl and you monthly, making sure Mother Miranda didn’t have anything else up her sleeve.

You were currently outside in your backyard, your husband sitting beside you with a beer in his hand. You had a mimosa, taking sips of it as your twin girls played in the pool, your youngest son sitting in your lap, grabbing at your necklaces.

“Do you ever still think about it?” You asked Karl, not looking over towards him. You took another sip of your drink, Karl letting out a sigh.

“Every damn day. That bitch is still running my mind it seems,” Karl muttered. You covered your son’s ears after placing your mimosa down.

“Karl! Language, he is starting to repeat stuff,” you whispered sternly, and Karl laughed. You rolled your eyes, rubbing your son’s head.

“He seems to not understand how babies work, Niko.” You hummed, pressing a kiss to his head. Niko giggled, grasping hard against your necklace, to which you had to untangle his hand from. Soft giggles left your lips as you watched your baby, bouncing your leg up and down, playing with him.

“Venus! Don’t be pushing your sister in like that, god damn!” Karl barked out at one of your twin daughters. She immediately began to pout.

“Sorry daddy!” She yelled over to him, and the other daughter swam up, giggling her head off. Kendra seemed to not care, swimming around while Venus jumped in and out of the pool. You sighed in content, loving how life became for you. Though that sense of normalcy had yet to hit you, the fact you now had a family with the man you loved negated that.

A soft breeze started to blow, storm clouds hovering overhead. Karl told your daughters to get out of the pool before the storm ultimately started, to which they whined and protested but eventually went inside with their towels wrapped around them. You walked into the house with Niko on your hip, going towards the kitchen. You opened the fridge, grabbing a puree of fruits that you made for him to eat for a snack.

Karl went and helped the girls get dressed, and soon came back with both of them in both of his arms. They were giggling and playing with his long hair, before he put them down to run a muck in the house. He walked over to you, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead before placing his own on yours.

“I love you.”

[blackswaneuroparedux]

“Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew    Someone had blundered.    Theirs not to make reply,    Theirs not to reason why,    Theirs but to do and die.    Into the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred.

- Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854)

The Crimean War does not figure large in modern history books. Most people would be hard-pressed to name its dates (1853–1856) or its combatants (the Ottoman Empire, England, and France vs. Russia). Although largely eclipsed by more momentous events, this conflict left an interesting linguistic legacy.

Already called the sick man of Europe as early as 1621, the powerful Ottoman Empire was in disarray by the mid-19th century. It had lost Hungary and Greece, and was beset by internal troubles. In 1853 Tsar Nicholas I of Russia said, “We have on our hands a sick man - a very sick man,” and he hinted that it was time for the British to partition the empire. Within months, a dispute arose between Russia and France concerning control over the holy places in Palestine, and it soon escalated into a major dispute with the empire. Russia sent troops to occupy the Turkish states of Moldavia and Wallachia, whereupon Constantinople declared war on Russia. England and France soon joined the Ottomans.

The most memorable battle of the war was at Balaclava, on October 25, 1854, and it gave rise to two British legends, one highlighting honour, the other incompetence. According to one eyewitness account, a large Russian force had advanced on the Allies at the entrance of Balaclava (a Black Sea port now part of Ukraine). Heavy artillery fire prepared the way for Russian cavalry, and the Ottomans retreated rapidly, fleeing for the port.

This left 550 men of the 93rd Highlanders to stand between the Russian army and Balaclava. The Scots were face-down in a line two men deep on the far slope of the hillside. To the Russians, the hill appeared unoccupied as they advanced. Suddenly the Scots in their red coats sprang up. They had been told there was no possibility of retreat and so they held their ground. As the cavalry halted, the thin red line loosed a volley of deadly musket fire. The Russians wavered, and after two more Scottish volleys, they withdrew. The Highlanders’ victory was commemorated in their regimental magazine, later called the Thin Red Line.

Another engagement that same day had a quite different outcome. Owing to an alleged error in orders, a light cavalry brigade of 670 commanded by James Thomas Brudenell, seventh Earl of Cardigan, was ordered to charge a Russian position protected by 15,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 10 cannons. To reach them, the Light Brigade had to ride down a ravine between two hills, each guarded by another 10 guns. The brigade descended, only to find that the cavalry’s Heavy Brigade had not followed in support, and worse yet, the British were cut off in the rear.

The cost was immense, with two-thirds of the British killed or wounded. Although Cardigan had long been considered an incompetent officer, the event was immortalized by poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who in “The Charge of the Light Brigade” emphasised the troops’ gallantry: “Theirs not to make reply, / Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die: / Into the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.”

The names of two items of clothing came from that battle and remain in use. Ill equipped for the harsh winter climate, the troops adopted all sorts of clothing to keep warm. One was the ‘balaclava’, a knitted wool cap that covers the head and neck, leaving an opening only for the face. For a time the name also referred to a full beard such as worn by Crimean troops, but that usage did not survive.

The other item is the ‘cardigan‘, a collarless sweater that buttons down the front. It was favored and popularized by the same Earl of Cardigan responsible for the ill-fated Light Brigade charge. Soldiers wore it under their tunics for additional warmth, and Queen Victoria allegedly praised it.

Another Crimean officer whose name became attached to a clothing style was Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, first Baron of Raglan (1788–1855). He had served under Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and lost an arm at Waterloo. He also distinguished himself during the Crimean War, before he died of cholera. Because of his handicap, Raglan favoured a capelike overcoat with sleeves extending to the neck (rather than the shoulder), and it came to be called ‘raglan’. The coat itself is no longer in fashion, but the sleeve style, called ‘raglan sleeve’ is still used for coats, sweaters, and dresses.

**Photo taken at the Crimea war, English and french soldiers. By Roger Fenton, 1855.

[wiremagazine]

SPOTLIGHT FILMS: 22 OF THE BEST FILMS AT  THE 2019 OUTSHINE FILM FESTIVAL FORT LAUDERDALE EDITION

Photos and film synopses provided by OUTshine Film Festival

ADAM (U.S., 2019) Director: Rhys Ernst In English

It's 2006 and awkward, self-conscious Adam Freeman has just finished his junior year of high school. His cool older sister Casey (Margaret Qualley) suggests he visit her in New York for the summer. Casey has enthusiastically embraced life amidst Brooklyn's young LGBTQ+ community and invites Adam to tag along with her to queer bars, marriage equality rallies and other happenings. When Adam falls at first sight for Gillian, a smart, beautiful young woman in this new crowd, she mistakenly assumes he is trans. Flummoxed and enamored, he haplessly goes along with her assumption, resulting in an increasingly complex comedy – and tragedy – of errors he's ill-equipped to navigate.

AND THEN WE DANCED (Georgia, Sweden, France, 2019) Director: Levan Akin In Georgian, with English subtitles

Merab is a talented dancer. His burgeoning romance with stage partner Mary is thrown into disarray by the arrival of the magnetic Irakli, leading to a forbidden sexual attraction that recalls those in Moonlight and God's Own Country. Georgia is a country that only celebrated its first LGBTQ+ pride event seven years ago and its society remains conservative. Because of this, And Then We Danced has stirred controversy and many involved remain anonymous out of fear. Amid the potential for socially explosive fireworks, Swedish director of Georgian heritage Levan Akin has captured something uniquely tender and personal.

BENJAMIN (UK, 2019) Director: Simon Amstell In English

In Simon Amstell's affecting, bittersweet comedy, a rising young filmmaker is thrown into emotional turmoil by a burgeoning romance and the upcoming premiere of his second feature. It's perhaps no surprise that the imminent release of Benjamin's sophomore feature plunges him into an existential crisis. In this heightened state of insecurity, even meeting his potential dream match, young French musician Noah, doesn't soothe Benjamin's fears and self-loathing. And that's before he has to screen his film to the merciless film festival audiences. Benjamin is a low-key, intimate film, exposing the contradictions of a creative culture while perfectly balancing drama and comedy.

DEFIANT SOULS (Cuba, Switzerland, 2018) Director: Fernando Pérez and Laura Cazador In Spanish, with English subtitles

Defiant Souls is based on the true story of a woman who, disguised as a man, became the first female surgeon in Latin America. In the early 19th century, Swiss doctor Enrique Faber (Sylvie Testud at her best) travels to Cuba to search for his son, who is said to have been killed in a slave uprising. The local population is jealous of Faber's success as a surgeon and his marriage to Juana, an attractive outsider. Before long, rumors spread regarding his high-pitched voice and his gentle features, and a drama of epic proportions unfolds around one of the most scandalous cases in Cuban colonial history.

EVERYBODY CHANGES (Panama, 2019) Director: Arturo Montenegro In Spanish, with English subtitles

The Ponce Family is the perfect family. They live in the quiet, close-knit mountain town of Bambito, where everyone knows everyone and, unfortunately, everyone knows everyone's business. Frederico is the successful father, Carol the loving mother, and they have three wonderful boys. Despite appearances, perfect might not be the best way to describe the family as Frederico and Carol share a secret: Lizzie, the woman that Frederico has always wanted - no, needed - to be.

FROM ZERO TO I LOVE YOU (U.S., 2019) Director: Doug Spearman In English

Pete Logsdon is just a guy in Philadelphia whose fear of intimacy creates his history of getting involved with married men. His father and his soon-to-be step-mother are on him to settle down and find someone who's actually available. Instead, he finds a man named Jack who is fifteen years into a perfect marriage, has two beautiful children and an enviable wife, and is firmly inside the closet. Could this be the one? Featuring strong chemistry between the leads, director Doug Spearman (Noah's Arc) creates authentic characters in this highly engaging, obstacle-filled romantic comedy.

HAM: A MUSICAL MEMOIR (U.S., 2019) Director: Andrew Putschoegl In English

In this dazzlingly filmed live performance of Sam Harris' award-winning one-man musical, Harris belts out original songs and beloved ballads while playing 11 different roles to tell his own life story - from growing up gay in Oklahoma's Bible Belt to his escape for Los Angeles, where his rendition of "Over the Rainbow" on Star Search led to fame, Broadway, television, platinum records and Carnegie Hall. But after the highs and lows of a life in show business, Sam ultimately learns to ask: when is enough finally enough?

LEONARD SOLOWAY'S BROADWAY (U.S., 2019) Director: Jeff Wolk In English

Through verité documentary footage, humorous storytelling, interviews and archival film material, Leonard Soloway's Broadway captures a Broadway few ever see as told through the eyes of a legendary Broadway producer you've probably never heard of. He lives an unconventional life on his own terms and, over a 70-year span, staged over 100 shows (and counting) which generated history making headlines, over 40 Tony Awards, 62 Tony Nominations, 21 Drama Desk Awards, 29 Drama Desk nominations and 3 Pulitzer Prizes, in addition to launching the careers of famous stars known the world over.

SELL BY (U.S., 2019) Director: Mike Doyle In English

Does every relationship have an expiration date? Adam and Marklin are about to find out. Their 5-year relationship has gone from a passionate flame to a medium burn, forcing them to reconcile with each other's shortcomings all while watching their support network crumble around them. But in this mess, hope springs eternal as they all muddle their way through to try and make life work. Featuring Scott Evans, Augustus Prew, Kate Walsh, and Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson, Sell By asks the timeless questions… how do you know who's right for you and how do you know when to let go?

SONG LANG (Vietnam, 2018) Director: Leon Le In Vietnamese, with English subtitles

An unlikely bond develops between hunky, brooding and tough debt collector Dung and Linh Phung, a charismatic young opera singer from a struggling Cai-luong troupe (traditional Vietnamese opera). The two meet when Dung comes to forcefully collect a debt from the opera troupe, but when their paths cross again, a friendship – and then more – develops, awakening surprising, tender feelings in both men. Their story, too, soon scales operatic heights. Director Leon Le has delivered a rich drama, a smoldering relationship between two apparent opposites set against the backdrop of a gorgeous, fading art form. Set in 1980s Saigon, Song Lang is a gritty underworld noir hiding a tender, romantic heart.

STRAIGHT UP (U.S., 2019) Director: James Sweeney In English

The path to relationship bliss is often filled with self-doubt, second guessing and other methods of self-sabotage, but Todd takes this to a whole new level. After all, he is questioning his sexuality… not a good start when forging a new relationship. Todd might be gay. Rory might not care. The result is a neat, romantic-comedy drama with a twist; this is a love story without the thrill of copulation. With wit, humor and poignant moments, coupled with some of the best rapid-fire one-liners in a movie, Straight Up is a feature film about intellectual soul mates.

THE PRINCE (Chile, Argentina, Belgium, 2019) Director: Sebastián Muñoz In Spanish, with English subtitles

Chile, 1970. During a night of heavy drinking, Jaime, a lonely 20-year-old young man, stabs his best friend in what seems a crime of passion. Sentenced to prison, he meets The Stallion, an older and respected man in whom he finds protection and from whom he learns about love and loyalty. Behind bars, Jaime becomes known as The Prince. But as their relationship grows stronger, The Stallion faces the violent power struggles within the prison. The Prince is brutal, raw and cold, yet also beautiful, sincere and honest.

THE SHINY SHRIMPS (France, 2019) Director: Maxime Govare and Cédric Le Gallo In French, with English subtitles

Matthias, an Olympic swimming champion at the end of his career, makes a homophobic statement on TV. His punishment: coach the Shiny Shrimps, a very flamboyant, very bad and very LGBTQ water polo team. They have only one thing in mind: to qualify for the Gay Games in Croatia where the hottest international LGBTQ athletes will compete. It's the start of a bumpy and joyful ride. If the Bad News Bears were a water polo team, and LGBTQ, they would be The Shiny Shrimps. Faster, higher, stronger… and fabulous.

UNSETTLED: SEEKING REFUGE IN AMERICA (U.S., 2019) Director: Tom Shepard In English

A remarkable look at the untold stories of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers who have fled intense persecution from their home countries and who are resettling in the U.S. The film follows four new arrivals, each of whom have escaped potential peril in their native countries for being different. They've landed in the purported "gay mecca" of San Francisco, yet even there, building a new life in an adopted nation is a precarious undertaking. As new leadership in America continues to restrict immigrants and drastically cuts the flow of refugees and asylum seekers, Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America humanizes a group about which few people know.

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE (U.S., 2018) Director: Anthony Meindl In English, French, with English subtitles

In Binghamton, an ESL teacher dealing with domestic abuse finds even greater violence at her school. In Orlando, two lovers drifting apart may be separated by the hate of another. In Paris, friends on an introspective night out are caught up in a brutal madness. Three acts of terror disrupt the lives of ordinary people. Will love win out over violence? With gripping performances and storylines all too familiar and frightening, Where We Go From Here is not an easy film to digest nor is it a question easily answered, but both are ultimately worth the effort.

MEN'S SHORTS

Black Hat  Director: Sarah Smith, U.S., 15 minutes

Softer Director: Lovell Holder, U.S., 10 minutes

The Proposal Director: Gerlando Infuso, France, 15 minutes

Thrive Director: JamieDi Spirito, UK, 17 minutes

Touchscreen Director: Arthur Halpern, U.S., 15 minutes

Vacaciones Director: Juan Olivares, Spain, 21 minutes

Wonder Director: Javier Molina, U.S., 16 minutes

This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 20.2019

[jeniferdlanceau]

Six standout collections from Parsons 2017 graduate fashion show

US editor Dan Howarth's pick of graduate collections from this year's Parsons catwalk presentation includes wearable gardens, Memphis-influenced garments and etched plexiglass panels.

A selection of graduates from the Parsons School of Design BFA programme 2017 showcased their final collections at Pier 60 in New York earlier this week.

The designers showed both menswear and womenswear, although many pieces were not designed for a specific gender – a common theme in fashion of late.

Here's six of our favourite collections from the show:

Jiwon Choi

After noticing a surplus of clothing in her own wardrobe and many others, Jiwon Choi decided to design garments that could be worn in different ways to cut down this excess.

"I wanted to highlight the waste and overconsumption in our modern society with graphic symbolism and construction, and offer a solution with multifunctional clothing that would reduce the need for more items in our closets," he told Dezeen.

The result is a series of colourful garments vaguely reminiscent of Samurai armour, which feature stripes that can be pulled and tightened to alter the silhouettes.

"I started each garment with a stripe, and I built upon that one stripe repeatedly to represent overconsumption in our society," Choi said.

Jacob Olmedo

Wheat grass grows from the neutral-toned organic material that Jacob Olmedo has turned into clothing, creating a trio of wearable gardens.

"I engineered a hydroponic growing textile: a textile that supports and promotes plant life," he told Dezeen. "I see these as three conceptual pieces that act as environmental armour."

The material he developed combines layers of beeswax for waterproofing, a blend of fibres that holds moisture, then wood pulp that holds the seeds and stores the nutrients needed for the plants to flourish.

"I use a material that I engineered through months of research and technical trial and error," the designer said. "I ended up growing wheat grass, but I can also grow micro greens and I would ultimately one day like to grow flowers."

Alexa Chia Wan Yu

A model for Alexa Wan Yu Chia wore a laser-cut plexiglass panel etched with the suggestion of a denim jacket, based on digital scans of garments, strung around his neck.

The designer's other materials included translucent vinyls and polyurethanes that were similarly patterned and layered to create a sense of progression and change.

"My focus was on this idea of preservation and sacredness of the physical form," she said.

"I wanted the attention to be kept on the materiality, without the distraction of colour, for these textiles to be viewed in their purest form."

Min Kyung Kim

Influences for Min Kyung Kim's collection came from the 1980s Memphis design movement that has recently seen a resurgence in popularity, as well as the vivid imaginations of children.

"I created my own Memphis design by deconstruction garments combining colours and mood of my childhood visualisations and finding a new system of designing," Kim said.

The bold abstract shapes, graphic patterns and bright colours found in Memphis furniture were translated into large sculptural panels that formed waistcoat tails, giant collars and A-line skirts.

"Just like how little children obscurely wear clothes, I designed my garments in the same manner, such as by putting your head through the armhole, taking out your hands from the collar and wearing the sleeve as you would wear a pant," she said.

Sijia Wu

Linen, cotton and wool were among the natural fabrics used by Sijia Wu to create a series of floaty, earth-toned pieces with frayed elements trailing across.

"Fraying techniques created a raw, falling and fading away illusion for the delicately connected broken suit," the designer told Dezeen.

Wu also created a series of paintings to accompany the collection, as well as ceramic vessels that were carried by models during the show.

"The colour palette is inspired by the process of making ceramics," she said. "From neutral, raw and clean colours of the clay, getting gradually darker during making, and the experience of the firing process."

Myung Eun Cha

The chaos of a disorganised room with clothes all over the floor influenced Myung Eun Cha to combine different materials and silhouettes into her garments.

"[My] Alluring Disarray collection definitely shows my habit, my personalities, my room, and my aesthetics," Cha told Dezeen. "This is for myself and other women to get over shyness and embarrassment not to show my and their personal space due to disorganised belongings."

Standout pieces include a padded white sweater with one giant arm, as well as the accompanying geometric metal-framed eyewear.

"I tried to combine architectural shapes with natural fluidity, by mixing hard materials with soft ones or by attaching interfacing a couple of times in order to make an angular shape with soft material such as knit fabric."

Related story

Six designers to watch from Westminster's graduate fashion show

Photography is by JP Yim.

The post Six standout collections from Parsons 2017 graduate fashion show appeared first on Dezeen.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217598 https://www.dezeen.com/2017/05/27/standout-collections-parsons-school-design-graduate-fashion-show/

[juliandmouton30]

Six standout collections from Parsons 2017 graduate fashion show

US editor Dan Howarth's pick of graduate collections from this year's Parsons catwalk presentation includes wearable gardens, Memphis-influenced garments and etched plexiglass panels.

A selection of graduates from the Parsons School of Design BFA programme 2017 showcased their final collections at Pier 60 in New York earlier this week.

The designers showed both menswear and womenswear, although many pieces were not designed for a specific gender – a common theme in fashion of late.

Here's six of our favourite collections from the show:

Jiwon Choi

After noticing a surplus of clothing in her own wardrobe and many others, Jiwon Choi decided to design garments that could be worn in different ways to cut down this excess.

"I wanted to highlight the waste and overconsumption in our modern society with graphic symbolism and construction, and offer a solution with multifunctional clothing that would reduce the need for more items in our closets," he told Dezeen.

The result is a series of colourful garments vaguely reminiscent of Samurai armour, which feature stripes that can be pulled and tightened to alter the silhouettes.

"I started each garment with a stripe, and I built upon that one stripe repeatedly to represent overconsumption in our society," Choi said.

Jacob Olmedo

Wheat grass grows from the neutral-toned organic material that Jacob Olmedo has turned into clothing, creating a trio of wearable gardens.

"I engineered a hydroponic growing textile: a textile that supports and promotes plant life," he told Dezeen. "I see these as three conceptual pieces that act as environmental armour."

The material he developed combines layers of beeswax for waterproofing, a blend of fibres that holds moisture, then wood pulp that holds the seeds and stores the nutrients needed for the plants to flourish.

"I use a material that I engineered through months of research and technical trial and error," the designer said. "I ended up growing wheat grass, but I can also grow micro greens and I would ultimately one day like to grow flowers."

Alexa Chia Wan Yu

A model for Alexa Wan Yu Chia wore a laser-cut plexiglass panel etched with the suggestion of a denim jacket, based on digital scans of garments, strung around his neck.

The designer's other materials included translucent vinyls and polyurethanes that were similarly patterned and layered to create a sense of progression and change.

"My focus was on this idea of preservation and sacredness of the physical form," she said.

"I wanted the attention to be kept on the materiality, without the distraction of colour, for these textiles to be viewed in their purest form."

Min Kyung Kim

Influences for Min Kyung Kim's collection came from the 1980s Memphis design movement that has recently seen a resurgence in popularity, as well as the vivid imaginations of children.

"I created my own Memphis design by deconstruction garments combining colours and mood of my childhood visualisations and finding a new system of designing," Kim said.

The bold abstract shapes, graphic patterns and bright colours found in Memphis furniture were translated into large sculptural panels that formed waistcoat tails, giant collars and A-line skirts.

"Just like how little children obscurely wear clothes, I designed my garments in the same manner, such as by putting your head through the armhole, taking out your hands from the collar and wearing the sleeve as you would wear a pant," she said.

Sijia Wu

Linen, cotton and wool were among the natural fabrics used by Sijia Wu to create a series of floaty, earth-toned pieces with frayed elements trailing across.

"Fraying techniques created a raw, falling and fading away illusion for the delicately connected broken suit," the designer told Dezeen.

Wu also created a series of paintings to accompany the collection, as well as ceramic vessels that were carried by models during the show.

"The colour palette is inspired by the process of making ceramics," she said. "From neutral, raw and clean colours of the clay, getting gradually darker during making, and the experience of the firing process."

Myung Eun Cha

The chaos of a disorganised room with clothes all over the floor influenced Myung Eun Cha to combine different materials and silhouettes into her garments.

"[My] Alluring Disarray collection definitely shows my habit, my personalities, my room, and my aesthetics," Cha told Dezeen. "This is for myself and other women to get over shyness and embarrassment not to show my and their personal space due to disorganised belongings."

Standout pieces include a padded white sweater with one giant arm, as well as the accompanying geometric metal-framed eyewear.

"I tried to combine architectural shapes with natural fluidity, by mixing hard materials with soft ones or by attaching interfacing a couple of times in order to make an angular shape with soft material such as knit fabric."

Related story

Six designers to watch from Westminster's graduate fashion show

Photography is by JP Yim.

The post Six standout collections from Parsons 2017 graduate fashion show appeared first on Dezeen.

from ifttt-furniture https://www.dezeen.com/2017/05/27/standout-collections-parsons-school-design-graduate-fashion-show/

[levenxa]

Here’s an Official Pinned Post // FAQ // Reference Master-list!

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN :D (i am so motivated 🤌)

All this information may be updated from time to time, so have fun getting to know me more :D —>

Preferred Name:

- Levenxa (Lev)

Pronouns:

- They/Them

What do you use to draw?

- I mainly use my fake apple pen and iPad for drawing now, but occasionally my beloved finger is put to use :)

What art program do you use?

- IbisPaintX weee

Can I repost/use your art?

- No you may NOT repost any of my art. But you may use my art for Matching PFPs, Regular PFPs, WP Bookcovers, etc. With credit.

(Permission is always appreciated :D)

May I draw one of your concepts/AUs?

- Is that even a question? YESS >:DD Be sure to tag me so I can see it :D

Fandoms?

#Dreamswap, #Danganronpa (preferably V3), #UTMV, #Dreamtale Multiverses (DTMV/AUs), #IBVS (Issac Beamer Versus The Supernatural)

(some I make content on, others I don’t :)

Special Hashtags:

#levenxa draws (for art) // #lev answers (for asks) // #levenxa says (for txt. posts) // #levenxa reblogs (for reblogs) // #lev is cursed (cursed stuff) #levenxa writes (for fics/writing shiz)

Link to Character Template?:

- Here you go!

Some things to address:

- I will not dislike you if you tag me a whole lot, just make sure it’s relevant to me :,)

- Please do not give me unsolicited critique, it’s just so obnoxious, so just do not do it.

- Only correct me if we’re close—in terms of text. It just really upsets me for some reason. Please respect that.

- Please tell me if I haven’t tagged enough tw/cw’s on one of my posts, I want this to be a safe space for everyone <3

- Art Request Guidelines

My Current Works: (mainly AU’s // Multiverses)

DS! Storytwist

// Dreamswap x Storyspin…? All the characters are mangled and mixed up in terms of their role in the original ongoing story.

References:

- Aura & Trust

- Era & Alidia

- Xris & Savv

- Alexis

Tag: #ds! storytwist #dsst

Creation Date: Nov. 8, 2021 (3)

—

Orphicverse

// My own UTMV multiverse that I made, about Balance and stuff

References:

- The Celestial Beings (Empyrean, Jinx & Hiraeth)

- The Electrospectums (UV, Infrared, & Gamma)

- Human Versions!! (might redesign them)

Tag: #orphicverse // #opv

Creation Date: Nov. 22, 2021 (2)

—

ds-deranged.exe

// Nightmare makes a grave mistake and almost kills his childhood friend Dream, who eats the apples in order to survive; and turns on him. Dream while wishing for payback gains his cool organization, and Nightmare ends up gaining a friend that doesn’t last very long. They both get their respective allies, while Blue hides away from everyone because of an unknown reason. Dream gets a change of heart, and is now afraid that this whole argument may have gone too far.

References:

- Dioxxi

- Ezzra

- Bell

- Ribo (Ribbon)

- Pierce (unofficial ref)

- Iddriss

- Annika

- Eva

- Vessel

- Brooks

- Realm

Tag: #ds-deranged.exe // ds! deranged.exe

GOOD ENDING

NEUTRAL ENDING

BAD ENDING

Creation Date: Nov. 18, 2021 (3)

—

Ciphershift

// a utmv HEAVILY based off of the former ‘Codeswitch: by Zooliwrites’ look i just missed it okay 😞)

References:

- i need to make updated names for them (i might keep some tbh)

Creation Date: Nov 18, 2024

—

Swapped Alignment

// An AU where the neutral utmv “sanses” replace/swap with the classic “Bad Guys” and “Star Sanses.” Plus one funky neutral :)

References:

- Lust

- Stella (Outer)

- Color

- Dance

- Ruby (Fellswap)

- Wiki

- Exlunar (DT Fusion)

- Gen

Tag: #swapped alignment #swapped alignment au

Creation Date: Mar. 6, 2022 (2)

—

Undermedical

// an old utmv au I made, might change the crap name 😭

References??:

Tag: #undermedical #utmvundermedical

Creation Date: Dec 3rd, 2019 (6)

—

DS: The DISARRAY

// a dreamswap mirror world where everything is opposite :) [collab au /w @whatdoievensay ]

References:

- Blue (Hail)

- Error (Knit)

- Cross (Sevver)

- Ink (Dex)

- Nightmare (Null)

- Dream (Moritz)

Tag: #ds: the disarray #dstd au

Creation Date: April 25, 2022 (2)

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DS! Draeastasy

// ds fantasy au (on hold, I want to improve my art a bit more before diving into this one.)

References:

- Ark

- Meerif

- Ezmae

- Collette & Vale

- Lyca & Adieu

- Forrest

Tag: #ds! draeastasy

Creation Date: Feb. 15, 2022 (2)

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DS! Royals (awesome name fr)

// Royal AU my beloved :) You could say that this is a placeholder for Draeastasy, I came up with both of these during the same time period. Open ended AU, art practice mwah :) nicknames & storyline coming soon hehe

References:

- Dream (The ‘King’)

- Nightmare (Ex-Prince)

- Ink (Grand Duchess)

- Cross (Bandit)

- Blue (Duke)

- Error (Lady in Waiting)

- Finch (Knight)

Tag: #dsroyals #dreamswaproyalsau

Creation Date: Feb 13, 2022?

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Blue’s Desire for Benevolence (BDFB)

// An IBVS inspired concept where the character cast is just a bunch of Underswap alternates (turned into ocs kinda) that travel across many worlds after gaining cool powers :) (writing practice ig)

References:

- Shiloh Philips (US)

- Royal Lawson (EV)

- Blanche Sawyer (ET)

- Sam/Samuel Kaz (DS)

- Bluu Fisher (Fanon)

- Klein Zeller (CS)

- Yves Collins (Yan-Blue)

- Taylor Allore (OSC)

- Kristin’s Gang: Josh, Noah, Riley, Jest, Will

- The Council of Dreams: Embriel, Odessa, Solstice, Revv, Delire, Penelope

- The Night Club

Tag: #bdfb // #blue’s desire for benevolence

Creation Date: Dec. 22, 2021 (2)

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Dreamswpahafsb (or ds! keyboardsmash)

// The worst Dreamswap AU. it’s just there :)