#just cause i like the idea of how alien this kind of god is to me also they dnt need a for or shape u know

[marvacu]

Infant God

[somerandomdudelmao]

so I often think about the concept of good and evil, and how it’s so human. How it fits the majority’s mentality and morality. And I just think it fits so well with Ecliptica and the other aliens on their ship (forgive me I forgot what their alien name). Cause the thing is, they aren’t human. They’re aliens from another planet. For all we know they might have different organs and stuff too. Who’s to say their morals are the same as ours? I feel like Oscar kind of figured this out in his own weird way, kind of just a quick “uh oh” moment for him. But the concept of good and evil is a human construct. Not alien. It’s obvious and shows just beautifully in your comic. the lack of empathy towards other races, the toying with their prey and feeling just because they can? They don’t see that as a problem. They don’t see that as bad. They see that as another day on the ship, they see that as having a fun hunting trip. They see that as a regular boring day where they do what they usually do. They don’t think they’re the bad guys and it shows. They are creatures with a big ego, deciding they are a superior race, and they think that’s all a good thing. And god it’s so cool. in fact, I bet they have their own versions of good and bad, which is actually so cool because what is their society really like?? What are common things they do? How many planets have they devistated without a single care?

anyway your comic is literally so cool and uh. Sorry for the rant lol

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love this ask. Thank you mcnfjfj. I have a little separate plot planned about the Marmor culture and their idea of right and wrong, evil and good. A little episode about their home planet and society.

[apenitentialprayer]

i know that as a catholic you just have to believe with what the church says but i really dont like the belief of the original sin, i feel like its such a horrible thing to believe about yourself and about other human beings too

There are actually ways of legitimately dissenting from less essential Church teachings in a way that leaves you in good standing with the Church; I'm not sure if Original Sin is one of those things, though, to be honest.

But, anon, I'm going to offer another perspective here, starting from a quote (perhaps ironically?) from my favorite heretic. One of the things that James Carroll believes is that Original Sin has been given a bad wrap. In Constantine's Sword, he says:

I referred to Augustine’s assertion of the idea that the human condition implies a perennial state of finitude, weakness, and sin, all of which will be overcome, even for the Church, only with the end of time. [...] Augustine is thus regarded as the father of a severe, flesh-hating, sin-obsessed theology, but that dark characterization misses the point of his insight. His honest admission of the universality of human woundedness is a precondition for both self-acceptance and the forgiveness of the other, which for Augustine always involved the operation of God’s grace, God’s gift. Only humans capable of confronting the moral tragedy of existence, matched to God’s offer of repairing grace, are capable of community, and community is the antidote to human woundedness. Augustine sensed that relationship as being at the heart of God, and he saw it as being at the heart of human hope, too. This is a profoundly humane vision.

I wish I had understood the spirit of this quote when I was in high school. I remember learning in my World History class that Islam teaches that all children are born good, and then the world makes them evil. And I remember my teacher asking how that compares with Christianity, and I raised my hand and said that Christianity teaches that all of us are born evil. Because I believed that at the time. And, really, the whole framing of that question was wrong and gave really simplistic representations of what Islam and Christianity teaches, but I don't think we're alone in having internalized that understanding, anon. And that's a shame.

I thin it's important to remember the worldview that the doctrine of Original Sin is actively defending us against; there was an idea, that gets called "Pelagianism" (the poor guy it got named after may not even have believed it), that said that humans were capable of being saved on their own, by their own power. Someone on this site recently asked what people's thoughts on Pelagianism were, so you can read my thoughts here. But to keep it short and sweet, I think Original Sin is an important doctrine because it saves you from the need to be perfect.

There are ways to treat Original Sin that I think are certainly unhealthy, and I think the doctrine can be a source of anxiety and fear. But I also think, very deeply, that Original Sin should be a reason why we treat ourselves and especially our neighbor with kindness and understanding. I can look at myself and say "What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. […] For I do not do the good that I want, but I do the evil I do not want" (Romans 7:15, 19). And I can say that because I know I am ontologically wounded; that all of us have our weaknesses. That while we may still be in the moral wrong for committing a morally wrong action, our wills are compromised in a way that causes us to incline towards the comfortable and the easy rather than the good.

I wish I could go back in time and tell that class that Christianity does not teach that people are born evil. I wish I could go back and tell them that it teaches that we are born in a state of dis-integration, that we are wounded beings yearning for wholeness; alienated beings seeking everlasting belonging; beings lost in darkness, seeking the light. But I can say it now: the doctrine of Original Sin doesn't have to be an occasion to think you're depraved and without value, but it can be an invitation to come to terms with your own woundedness, because doing that (to use the words of Lutheran theologian Nancy Eiesland) "opens a space for the inflowing of grace and acceptance."

[laromlab]

My biggest complaint is that Season 4 of Umbrella Academy just tries to copy the same formula of the other seasons but doesn't have the world building to back it up.

We need Jean and Gene because we need wacky minor villains for comic relief ala the Commission, and ofc Hazel and Cha-Cha. Unfortunately no character in TUA will ever be as good as Hazel.

We need Klaus to struggle with addiction again and have a wacky side plot where he's away from his family (that no-one questions) even if the arc is never paid off or meaningful in any way. God Klaus and Claire were so interesting together I wish we had more time with Alison's whole family situation especially with what happened to Ray but anyway

We need a big dramatic world ending apocalypse because of course we do. Fucking hell. Do something different please I beg. If Five is sick of the apocalypses then the audience sure as hell is.

We need Reginald to just copy what he did with Klaus' training arc where he heals a character's trauma that they got from another Reginald. Because we have truly ran out of ideas. This idea is even more wasted in this season than it was the first time! In fact, Reginald is the most wasted character in the entire show, he's so one dimensional and just fucking weird, like I get he's an alien and the whole point is you never know if he's telling the truth or lying but come on man. Give me something. Plus that ending scene where the story tries to forgive him... Yikes.

Infact, Abigail is also kind of wasted in this season. She infiltrates the Keepers, takes over the entire operation, and then... supports their cause? And ends the world anyway? What was the point then? The Umbrellas would have lost against the cleanse anyway, so what the fuck was she doing 😭😭

The Big Complaint for this season of course is Five and Lila, and literally it could have been solved if Five had found a human version of Delores or something, with Lila trying to get home to her family. I did like how Lila acted when she got home though, being super grateful to see everyone. That was a sweet moment. And the whole timeline subway station was such a cool idea, I wish it was in a better show

I could carry on, but alas I think I should stop yapping. Overall, it sucks to see a really good show get a little spoiled by the finale. My biggest suggestion to fix Season Four would have been to just start over 😭 The cleanse was a stupid idea tbh and the whole Jennifer arc should have been something different. I also wish Ben was less of a dick, given his whole character arc in season 3 was around him becoming less of a dick. 😐

Let me know your thoughts

[cry4mina]

Supernatural

(Dahyun x gn!reader)

Word count: 1k

Fluff!

TW: Kinda suggestive?

A/N: Hello everyone! I’ve decided I’m going to start putting out shorter stories as well! Just a little something to keep putting out content and keep my brain going while I write the longer one shots/series fics I have planned! :) I hope you enjoy! 🖤

As always, DMs and Feedback are always welcome and appreciated! Have a great day/night!

—

The skies are clear, stars shining brightly down on you through the light breeze. It’s perfect sweater weather, leaves are browning and threatening to fall on the trees around you. Crickets play their symphonies in the distance to the tune of the calmness around you.

Sitting with the driver's seat leaned all the way back and your legs stretched out, you glance over at your crush who’s in a similar position but with her hands underneath the back of her head. Seat belts off, top down on the convertible that’s parked in a secluded area up on a mountain side.

Dahyun is just…everything. Hair so sleek and perfect, eyes always reflecting purity. A smile that could knock the wind out of anyone who got the chance to be graced by it, and a personality that would make even the blandest person fall in love with her.

The butterflies in your stomach never cease when she’s near. Even without many words shared between you two in the last hour, she had such a way of making you feel so comfortable. You could tell her anything without fear.

“Do you think aliens do the same thing?” Dahyun breaks the silence with a strange question.

“What?” giggling at her random inquiry.

“Well, we are laying here” she looks over at you with those eyes…god, her eyes just make you want to protect her from everything.

“And I’m just thinking…do you think that life forms on another planet do this too? Stare into the sky and think about life…or whatever it is they think about?”

A tight lipped smile on your face slowly creeps into a smile as bright as the moon, chuckling softly and turning on your side to face her.

“What parts of life are you thinking about?” curiosity getting a hold of you.

She halfway crosses her arms, not ready to share her thoughts. She’s always been private about certain things and you never pushed her to speak before she wanted to. Noticing the shift, you change the subject.

“You know, I think they might…what type of tv shows do you think they watch?” playfully lobbed back at her.

Dahyun mirrors your position in her own seat now, making eye contact, causing the stir in your stomach to swell rapidly. Even if she never says it, she’s always so grateful for your patience.

“I’d love to watch an alien sitcom some day!” joyfully expressed with more enthusiasm than you expected.

“Or maybe like one of those competition shows…like Survivor or something? Wouldn’t it be so cool to see what the atmosphere looks like?” eye wide with excitement and wonder.

“How many moons do you think they have?” enjoying her responses too much to let it fall back into comfortable silence while also keeping her mind off whatever it was that made her uneasy.

“Well if they have more than one moon, wouldn’t it be hard to see the stars?…the moon and the stars need each other…” she’s toying with her fingers but keeping her soft eyes on you, watching your movements.

“Kind of like…how I need you…” biting her lip in nervousness, unsure of how you’ll reply to what she’s just said.

Truthfully, you’re completely shocked. You knew your chemistry was immaculate, the friendship you had made was one people only write stories about…you had no idea the emotions you felt for her were reciprocated. Especially with a heavy word, like need.

Without hesitation, you reach your hand over and intertwine your fingers. Even in the chilled air, the gesture radiates warmth. Her grip tightens, almost out of pure disbelief. Her eyes match her body language in that same regard.

“That was corny as hell…but” pulling her hand lightly, faces now mere centimeters apart.

Dahyun’s breath hitches, processing how close you are to each other. Your hand slips underneath her hair and lays on the back of her neck, guiding her through the last bit of space right onto your lips.

Sparks fly from the contact, both of you slowly familiarizing yourself with each other's lips. Fingers interlocking, the soft sound of sweet small pecks that slowly turn into long, more passionate kisses.

You rest your forehead on hers and try to catch your breath, it seems that sentiment is shared between the two of you.

“So, do you want to get dinner sometime?” Sitting up, keeping hold of her hand as you sit more comfortably.

“Like…like a date?” Dahyun is completely overwhelmed with happiness, it’s refracting off her cheeks in a way that was contagious.

“Yes…absolutely a date.” confidently stated.

All she can do is smile at you.

“Sooooo…can I have more of those?” smirking as she asked to be close to you again.

“More of…these?” Laying your lips lovingly across her knuckles.

“Yes, but…uhm, maybe a little higher?” flustered by your lips on her skin, in any regard.

Laying your lips further up her arms, just to get a laugh before leaning over and passionately kissing her. She maneuvers you so your back is against the door, practically climbing into your lap.

The windows could’ve steamed up in the intensity. Dahyun reaches for the hem of the shirt you were wearing and pulls it up a little, dragging her finger up your stomach in the process.

“Wait, wait, wait” you say between your lips meeting over and over again.

“Let’s not rush” cupping her cheeks, both almost breathless as she lets go of your shirt.

Dahyun just nods her head at you, unable to speak but absolutely happy about what was transpiring and the proximity of your faces.

“Let’s start with that date…and see where it all goes.”

“You know, there is a cafe down the street that might still be open…if you wanted a late dinner…” suggested coyly, crawling back to the passenger seat and plopping down in it.

“Someone’s impatient…put your seatbelt on” leaning to kiss the tip of her nose.

You adjust your seat back into a comfortable position for driving, start the car and look over, Dahyun is lost in you. Memorizing every part of you.

“Everything okay?” grabbing her hand again and giving a little squeeze.

“Yes. Very much so. I’ve just…never been able to take you in without it being a secret.” winking at you as she readies her GPS to that cafe.

“Ready for our first date?” Dahyun asks, excited was an understatement.

“And ready for every date after.”

[carionto]

Give them fetch quests

Humans love to be active. Or perhaps a better way to put it - their brains demand stimulation. Hence all of the thing they keep doing in the galaxy - unending exploration, setting up businesses for everything, inventing new (and deadly) leisure activities, and they just can't sit idle (yes each of those is a different little story).

Their ingenuity knows no bounds, though we wish it did at times. Like when they figured out how to kidnap moons. And apparently they've lost track of some of them! The sheer level of frustration is- unmentionable. *ahem*

Their seemingly hard-wired need to problem solve mixed with tenacity and disregard for established methods does provide a unique resource to the rest of the galaxy.

It is unwise to request other governing bodies of their respective species to act for our own interest, as the incurred debt may be quite steep, and official channels sometimes provide quite mundane and well-and-tested solutions.

However, there is nothing against coaxing or simply openly suggesting in a casual way that individual Humans do something for them, and no sane body would take full responsibility for the actions of a singular 'rogue' actor. This opens up the opportunity to give these Humans little activities they can do alongside whatever nonsense they were going to do anyway.

_______________________________

Bartholomew Reginaldo Hvarjarhstehd is on a mission from God to save a planet! [aka a gelatinous blob of an alien named '''Hl''k't'''' (and no, I have no idea how you're supposed to pronounce all those apostrophes, our vocal cords aren't made for that) was tasked by its local government to get a Human scientist to help with their pest problem (which unbeknownst to them was caused by another Human accidentally spacing their trash in the wrong spot) and Barthlolomew, high as a kite on space drugs, heeded the call]

Upon arrival, Balthrolomeow quickly activated his magic wand [grill lighter] and summoned the wraths of Hell [fired up the grill]. Disturbed by the sudden source of intense heat, but thankful it was contained, the local aliens decided to hunker down in their homes and watch with terrified curiosity at what this Human was going to do.

Thinking very, very.... slowly. And. uhh, not, actually. He just thinks he's thinking. But Bratholmowow was acting. With mighty leaps and thundering falls, the courageous Bathbormbalow was still managing to catch one mutated snake-wasp after another, tying their bodies in a knot, and throwing them on the grill!

It was a long and traumatizing night for the local aliens. For hours, Bambilorthabow chewed the charred husks of his failed grilling skills, cursing and spitting inedible chunks around the makeshift hunting grounds, the enzymes and organic fluids of the horrid pests that endured the cooking process further tampering with his addled mind.

Soon, the sun rose upon Bradfildermows snoring body, as he lay in the moss. He was taken back to his ship, and the kind autopilot AI informed them that the lighter fluid contains a chemical that is instantly poisonous to said pests and that they could synthesize a safe variant for their own use with minimal tweaking.

At the end of his adventure, Bamboreithrow had eradicated 0.04% of the pest population by his own means and gained a six week visit to the hospital for detoxification and radiation sickness as he forgot to wear his space suit on a planet with a notably higher solar exposure level than Humans can tolerate.

But on that planet, Brithmalkoniwi will forever be remembered as that weird Human who almost burned down a forest, ate a lot of snake-wasps, and almost died on the front law of the towns expert masseuse.

[alicanta77]

pairing: alien!jisung x human!reader themes: fluff, angst, alien au warnings: abduction, experimentation, imprisonment, execution (sort of?) words: 16k synopsis: waking up from the deepest sleep of your life to find out that you had actually been abducted by aliens and were on their ship was not how you had thought your tuesday morning way going to go. but when a shy alien bursts through the door asking for your help you find yourself saying yes. however, as the two of you get closer to each other, you find yourselves uncovering a twisted web of lies that threaten everything the two of you have ever known.​​​

i. good morning sunshine

Your eyes fluttered slightly, the hold that sleep had on you felt much deeper than you were used to. Normally you weren’t a seriously heavy sleeper, but somehow you felt absolutely knocked out. You rolled over onto your side, reaching for your duvet to pull it over your head and drown out the sound of your alarm. However, your hand grabbed at empty air instead of your warm covers, causing you to squeeze your eyes further shut in confusion. You must have kicked your duvet off during the night. Annoying, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened. You rolled over and buried your face into your pillow, groaning in the usual frustration that came with waking up.

You made no attempt to get up, already tired at the idea of going off to lessons. It was only then, in those seconds you weren’t moving, that you took in the silence around you. There was no high pitched repetitive beeping of your alarm, alerting you that it was time to wake up. You couldn’t hear your mother downstairs, banging pots and pans around as she made breakfast. There was no shouting from your father as he tried to reason with his business partners over the phone. Nothing. No, your room was completely silent. There was no sign of life anywhere.

Your eyes slowly peeled open, hoping to check the time on your phone by your bed. You flung an arm out, a small yelp leaving you when it hit nothing and instead the momentum of your movement caused you to roll rather ungracefully off your bed.

You landed on the hard ground, confusion and sleep clouding your mind. You must have been lying on the very edge of your bed. But you hadn’t fallen out of bed since you were a kid. Also, since when was your bed that small? And your floor somehow didn’t feel like carpet anymore?

You pushed yourself up into a sitting position slowly, rubbing the part of your forehead that still dully ached from you not so gently landing on the floor. As your eyes gradually adjusted to the light, you took in your surroundings. 

The walls and floor were a matching light grey colour. In fact, the entire room was varying shades of grey. You jumped up, practically throwing yourself to your feet, but your body felt like jelly and you stumbled backwards into your bed. You closed your eyes tight, trying to get rid of the black dots slightly clouding your vision. Your control over your body began to come back to you, just as you came to a terrifying realisation.

You had no idea where you were.

Your breath began to shorten as you tried with everything you could to keep yourself calm.

Had you been kidnapped? What kind of place is this? Are they holding you for ransom? Why did they want you? Who on earth could “they” be? How long have you been asleep? How much danger are you in?

Just as these worries began to completely consume you, you heard the door begin to click, signalling what you assumed was a lock. Your eyes shot around the room, looking for anything that could pass as a weapon if you needed. However, the room was minimalist, basically empty, and there was nothing that you would be able to pick up and defend yourself with if you needed. Your heart was pounding so hard you wondered if it would be heard by whoever was trying to get into this room. Whoever had taken you.

Dear god you hoped not.

The door suddenly opened at speed, and a tall figure burst in before shutting it again behind them just as quickly. They turned around as you finally got a look at their face.

It was a boy. He was tall and slim, and staring down at you with his eyes wide with panic. His hair lay messily on his face and you couldn’t quite tell if it was a very dark blue, black or purple. It was as if each colour changed with the movement his head made. He kept looking over his shoulder, checking behind him for something before turning back to you. When he spoke his voice was deeper than you were prepared for, the husk in it surprising you. But nothing surprised you as much as the words he spoke.

“You have no idea how many rules I’m breaking here but my human studies final is coming up and I really need help because I’m going to fail it.”

Your mouth hung open, the words that left the boy’s lips making zero sense to you. You tried to form a sentence, no words making their way out of your mouth. You wanted to ask him so much, what he meant by ‘human studies’, who he was, where you were, yet all you could get out was:

“You’re long.”

Long... not even tall. Long. Wow, well described y/n.

You shook your head, looking around you again, taking in the grey walls. Your gaze eventually came back to rest on the, according to you, long boy who stood, now with a perplexed expression on his face. He looked down at himself, as if trying to understand what you meant.

“Umm,” You muttered, brushing your hands off on your pyjama bottoms, feeling the hard material move under your fingers.

Wait... your pyjamas weren’t hard. Your head shot down, finally taking in the grey jumpsuit you were in that was definitely not what you had gone to sleep in. A scream built up in your throat, one that you tried with all your might to stifle, leaving just a squeak to get through.

“Ahhh.” The boy muttered and your panicked eyes looked up at him. “Yeah, the materials you humans use to make clothes don’t really work here, so that’s the best I could do.” He looked down, biting his lip nervously at your reaction.

You stared at your clothes again, your mouth opening and closing without any words coming out of it. The amount of questions that were swimming around your mind were suffocating you and, even though he had tried to give you an answer of some kind, all it had done was made you even more confused.

“Are- are you okay?” He stuttered, his deep voice wavering slightly.

“No.” You answered blatantly. “Of course I’m not okay! I went to sleep at home, in my own bed and now I’ve woken up in this strange grey room, in clothes that aren’t mine, and you’ve appeared telling me that you need help for a human studies final? I have no idea what the hell is going on.”

The boy swallows, his expression changing to one of guilt and sympathy.

“I’m sorry.” He mutters. “I really need to pass this exam and I panicked. I promise you can go straight home afterwards.”

“Afterwards? After what?” You asked, wanting nothing more than to get off this ship and go home now.

“Well, you’ve been asleep for longer than I expected so we moved off and we won’t be coming back to this place for a little while...” He revealed.

The realisation hit you and you stepped backwards, your legs hitting the hard bed you had been lying on. You let them give out, sitting down on the grey material, breathing out a shaky breath. You couldn’t go home. And, whatever this place was, you had no idea how long you’d be stuck here for.

You looked back up at the tall boy, tilting your head at him, and watching as he did the same thing back. The seemingly innocent action might have brought a small smile to your face if it weren’t for the dire situation you were in.

“I’m stuck here?” You whispered and he nodded in response. Your heart sank and a new kind of fear set in. “For how long?”

“I’m not sure. Time doesn’t move the same way for us as it does in your world.” He explained, yet his explanation, once again, made no sense.

“My world? What do you mean by my world? And what did you mean when you said ‘you humans’?” The way he was speaking was starting to scare you, as if he was something strange that wasn’t from Earth. He looked human, but he seemed to believe he wasn’t.

“I guess I’m what you would call an alien?” He revealed and you raised your eyebrows at him. “Really I am!” He insisted, his voice whining a bit when he realised that you didn’t believe him. 

“So what... are you like E.T. or something?” You scoffed slightly, getting a little offended that he expected you to believe something like that

“My name is Jisung and I’ve never left this ship. My planet was destroyed before I was born and we’ve been travelling around in this ship trying to find a new place to settle.”

You frowned at him disbelievingly. This has got to be some kind of prank right?

“So, you’re telling me that I’ve been abducted by an alien and I’m currently on your UFO because you need help passing a human studies exam?” You summed up, almost laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation sounded.

But Jisung just shrugged mutter a soft:

“Pretty much.”

You shook your head, looking down at the grey floor again.

“Can I just go home please?” You asked, your voice much firmer this time as you knew none of this could be real. You stood up, pacing around the room as you spoke. “Or can you at least wake me up? Oh my god, I’m dreaming! Of course I’m dreaming. Oh this is fun I’ve never had a lucid dream before, I wonder what I can do.”

“Listen!” Jisung grabbed you by the shoulders, forcing you to look at him. “You’re not dreaming, look out that window.”

You followed where Jisung was pointing, approaching the six-sided window that sheltered the view from you by a thin cover. You pulled on it, letting the cover fly up and reveal all that you had been missing.

“Wow.” You gasped, staring out at what you saw in front of you.

Jisung came up behind you, looking out of the same window. “Does that look like something you can see in a dream?”

“Kind of.” You answered honestly. “But not one of mine.”

The sky was black, stretching out for miles beyond where the eye could see. Small bright dots that you recognised at stars decorated the view. But closer, closer than that was a planet. Bright purple with white and yellow swirled through it like paint. It had a moon next to it too, the tell tale white colour with craters carved out of it.

You still couldn’t understand how people thought the moon was made of cheese.

You lifted a hand and placed it on the glass, unable to find the words to describe how you were feeling. The colours seemed to move as you went shooting through time and space. Watching the planets move away from you only reminded you of the fact that with every second that passed you were being taken further and further away from your home.

Your hand slid down, falling limply by your side. You let out a deep breath, your gaze falling down to the grey floor at your feet.

Jisung watched you from behind, a harsh guilt flooding his system at the sight of you. He truly hadn’t realised that you would be stuck here and now all he could focus on was how selfish he had been. He opened his mouth to ask if you were alright when he was stopped by the sound of you clearing your throat.

“So... um...” You started, blinking away the few tears that threatened to form on your waterline and turning around to face him. “How come everything is grey here? Is this the same for all of your rooms?”

“Oh, no,” Jisung replied. “The walls aren’t actually grey but because you’re human you wouldn’t be able to look at the colours we have.”

“Why? Would I go blind?” You joked, cracking a small smile.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Your smile dropped as fast as it had formed, that familiar sense of fear bubbling up again as you swallowed it down. “Cool.”

You walked a bit around the bare room, running your fingers along the walls as you did.

“How far away is your exam?”

Jisung blinked a few times. “Exam?”

“Yeah? The exam you need help with?” You reminded him, holding back a smile as the realisation formed on his face.

“Oh! Yeah, well, it’s hard to explain. Time moves differently in space compared to Earth. It will feel as though it passes the same, but it’s moving at a completely different speed. One that you aren’t able to measure. Earth time is almost standing still at the moment, so when you do go home no time will have passed at all there.”

“At least my family won’t worry about me.” You sighed. Now that was one issue out of your mind. But you now really had no idea how long you would be here. How else were you going to pass the time?

“I guess... what do you need to know?”

ii. space school... about earth... but in space... sure

“Okay, what do you want to work on today?” You swung your legs off the edge of the desk you were sitting on. Jisung had adjusted some type of colour setting in your room and helped add some “human” colour to your previously grey surroundings. As well as that, in order to help you both easily identify who was talking about which species, you’d agreed amongst yourselves to refer to them as “humans” and “aliens”. Even though Jisung had pouted and insisted it was a large generalisation, he agreed eventually and promised to never call you an Earthling - not that you understood why. But you assumed it wasn’t a compliment from aliens.

Jisung opened his large folder, a load of papers falling out as he did and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

You chuckled at him. His clumsiness was a rather endearing quality of his, and one that you had grown to like first. In truth, his overall personality was very endearing, from his clumsiness, to his initially shy nature to how now that he was comfortable around you it was hard to get the boy to stop talking. He seemed to want to do anything other than focus.

You were starting to see how he was failing.

“How about... biology? Or education?” Jisung suggested, trying to find the relevant papers.

You jumped off the edge of the desk, reaching out and grabbing a paper that you saw had fallen further from the pile. You brought it up to read it, studying the information there that Jisung had yet to learn.

“Biology.” You decided. “We did education recently so there’s no point in going over it already.”

Jisung groaned, flopping face down on the bed, allowing his arms and legs to hang off the edge.

“I hate biology. Plus your education is so difficult to understand I think I need to go over it again.”

“No you don’t.” You laughed at him. “Plus we have so much to get through in so little time, your exam is getting closer everyday.”

“But we’ve started Biology!”

“So tell me what you’ve learnt! Talk to me about how to differentiate humans from aliens.” You shot back, grinning at him.

He sighed, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

“There were multiple things we’ve covered but the biggest thing, that’s also the weirdest by the way, is that you have different reactions than we do. While our emotions can come out in changing our hair colour, yours can come out in your cheeks, through... blushing?” He repeated, his face splitting into a grin as you nodded. “Can’t believe your face turns red, how weird is that...”

“Well, not everyone. It depends on skin colour and stuff. Basically the level of pigmentation in the skin depends on how visible blushing is.” You corrected him, flipping through his textbook for your next subject.

“That’s cool.” Jisung mused. “I wonder what I’d look like if I blushed... Would it show up on me?”

You looked over at him chuckling. “Well you’re on the lighter side of skin tones, so yes, I think I’d assume it would. I can’t believe this book didn’t mention anything about blushing...”

You turned another page in the book, searching for some paragraph about it but frowning as you read what was written instead.

Jisung noticed your expression, asking a quick “What’s wrong?”

‘It’s just... the information in this book... When did it come out?”

“Last year. Why?”

You shook your head. “That doesn’t make sense. It says here that aliens and humans have a long history together. And it goes into saying how, when it comes down to it, we have a very similar history. Like, we basically come from the same place.”

You looked over at Jisung who was looking back at you, looking a little lost as to what you were saying. “I don’t follow. How is this important?” He asked.

“If we started so close together, how did we drift so far apart? And what is it that actually separates you from me? What is it that makes us so different? Because it’s not from the fundamentals.”

“Oh...” Jisung murmured, shifting closer to you on the bed. “Do you think that’s why some of the books are inaccurate?”

“Possibly.” You mused. A while back, you had been flicking through the biology textbook and some of it had made you quite confused. There were details in there that you knew were wrong and inaccurate and you couldn’t figure out why. “Maybe they think that we’re still the same? And that’s why it’s wrong because they assume we work the same way as you!”

“But we don’t work like that.” Jisung shut down your idea. “Aliens don’t have to shed their skin each month either.”

You looked back at the book, flipping towards the page that held those details and began to read out loud.

“Humans have skin that covers their entire bodies. It is this skin that provides a defensive layer over them and keeps their bodies in its proper shape. To ensure the quality of their skin layer, they undergo a ‘shed’ each month, which consists of using force to lose the recent skin layer. They have tools that may help them with this, of which these tools have harsh jagged edges to encourage the shed to commence.”

You sighed to yourself at the paragraph. You couldn’t wrap your head around how it was so outlandish and wrong. 

“Technically people do exfoliate, which is where they remove dead skin off their bodies. But not like this, this is bizarre.”

“Are you sure? There’s no way these things could have gotten confused?” Jisung asked, and while you were sure he was searching for a solution, you knew that this wasn’t it.

“Absolutely not. Exfoliating is something people do in the shower to keep their skin smooth. This is an exorcism.” You giggled to yourself slightly at your own joke, but sadly it seemed to go straight over Jisung’s head. You shook it off realising he probably had no idea what an exorcism was and moved on.

“Right, well where in Biology are you least confident?”

Jisung groaned. “All of it! Especially since you say that half of it isn’t even true. What do I do then? Do I write about what you say or do I write about what’s in the book?”

“Well, I would write about what’s in the book I guess. After all, that’s what you’re being taught.” You answered.

“Can we please take a break?” He pleaded, bringing out his puppy dog eyes.

“We’ve barely started-” You began to protest but he cut you off.

“Then let’s learn but why don’t you ask me questions? What do you want to know about how I live?” He swiftly changed the topic but you completely fell for it, invested in the secrecy around who he was, even if you hadn’t said so.

You shrugged, playing it off. “Okay then. I guess, what happens if we don’t get back to Earth before you take your test? What happens to me then?”

“I’ll keep you hidden until we do.” Jisung replied as if it was that simple.

“So you’re not going to turn me in? Allow them to perform experiments on me, figure out how I work so they can update their textbooks?” You joked. And even though you were joking there was a part of you, a rather large part of you, that was terrified that that might actually happen.

Jisung just stared at you in complete confusion.

“No.” He answered slowly. “Why on earth would I do that? And why do you think we would perform experiments on you? We’re aliens not barbarians.”

You blinked a few times, confused at yourself for your reasoning.

“I- I don’t know, I just assumed that’s what aliens would do if they captured a human.”

“Okay.” Jisung pointed a finger at you, as if you were under some kind of inspection. “I haven’t abducted or captured you, just... borrowed for a short period of time. And second of all, have you ever thought that, maybe the reason you think aliens would experiment on humans is because that’s what humans would do if they discovered we exist?”

The normally shy alien raised an eyebrow at you challengingly, his eyes never left your face and you had to force yourself to look away under his intense gaze. You felt guilty at what you said as he continued to talk.

“We know that’s what you would do. And that’s why we keep ourselves so hidden. And why we don’t... borrow... humans.”

“So, why did you ‘borrow’ me?” You asked him, adding some air quotes around the word “borrow” as you did.

“I was desperate. You really don’t want to fail classes here, it decides what job you have after you graduate and I am not going to be stuck in something I hate. And, I guess I trust you now that you’re not going to say anything about me.”

You smiled to yourself slightly, looking down at your hands at his words. For some unknown reason you found it rather difficult to meet his eyes at this moment. A warm feeling spread throughout your chest as you looked back at him.

“Understood, my presence here can never be discovered from either side. So what about Area 51?” 

Jisung groaned at that, falling backwards on the bed as he did. 

“What?” You whined. “Stop doing that, you said you’d answer my questions!”

“Area 51? Really” Jisung complained. “Do you think I’d be going through all this trouble to hide you and make sure you keep our existence a secret if you had this base filled with aliens back on Earth? It’s just humans being bored, dramatic and wanting to believe there’s something more to this world than what they were told.”

“But there is.” You said softly, smiling down at him as that warm feeling spread through your chest again. He looked over at you. “There’s you.”

A shy smile broke out across his face at your words. And if you didn’t know better, you could have sworn you saw him blush.

iii. quarantine deja vu

Jisung had been right when he said that time worked differently here. You had no idea how much time had passed, you couldn’t even begin to guess really. But one thing you knew for certain, was that warm fuzzy feeling that you got whenever you were around him was not going away. In fact it was getting worse.

You weren’t sure what it was about him, but somehow almost everything he did made your stomach flip. But no matter what, you knew it wasn’t love. There was no way that you had fallen for an alien.

No matter how many textbooks told you otherwise...

But none of that mattered. You would be leaving soon apparently. Jisung’s exam was coming up and they would be close enough to Earth to drop you back home the night before.

And you would never see him again.

“Y/n?” Jisung’s voice cut through your thoughts. “Are you okay?”

Jisung had been looking out for you a lot recently, and part of it was because he felt guilty about bringing you here to help him. He knew he had turned your whole world upside down and you hadn’t ever faltered at helping him.

Jisung had always been shy. It was part of the reason he struggled so much in school. It takes him ages to open up and trust new people, but somehow you had just appeared and walked through all of those nerves without trying. There was something about you that made Jisung be his complete open and honest self. And that scared him slightly. No one had ever had that effect on him. 

And on top of that, you were human. He couldn’t afford to get this attached to you. Not when he had to send you home.

But then you looked at him, with that smile on your face that Jisung was sure made his hair turn colour and exposed him and he knew.

God he was dreading the day he had to let you go.

“Yes, of course, sorry. Your exams are nearly here, how are you feeling?”

“I think I’m okay!” Jisung grinned at you, something he’d noticed himself doing more and more these days. “Without your help I really would have failed.”

“What would happen if you failed the exam? I mean, it must be pretty bad for you to have gone so far as to bring me here to teach you.” You mused, your hand reaching up to the paper plane necklace that hung around your neck. You fiddled with the pendant, dragging it up and down the chain.

Jisung watched your movements. He’d noticed that chain from the moment you arrived. It must have been important to you if you’d slept in it, which he realised when you noticed it was missing and almost cried. He couldn’t have snuck you onto the ship in your human clothes, so he found something else for you. Luckily, since then you’d found a way for you to wear outfits that weren’t a grey jumpsuit so you were happy with that. But finding your necklace was the most important thing to you.

“If I’d failed the exam I would have been kept back a year.” Jisung said, and you nodded at that.

“That doesn’t seem like the end of the world.” You said. “I’m just wondering why it was so desperate that you needed to bring me here to help. Would your parents have gotten mad or something?”

“I don’t really know.” Jisung replied. “Our system doesn’t work that way. Parents have a very little impact on and relationship with their children. They are with them when they’re babies but after that we all just go through school.”

You were silent, not sure how to respond. You couldn’t imagine having your teachers as parental figures for your entire life.

“That sounds lonely...” You murmured, feeling sorry for the alien boy in front of you.

“It’s not when it’s the only thing you’ve ever known though.” Jisung shrugged. “I don’t know what it’s like to live in a home with parents doing whatever it is that they do for you. That seems weird to me. Instead we go through each year and when we pass the exam we move onto the next. That way, everyone is at the same level and once you finish school you get assigned a position based on your result. The faster you go through school and the better grades you get, the better position you have.”

You began to understand. “So that’s why you said it would affect your job.” You realised and Jisung nodded, smiling as he saw you grasp the concept.

“Yep. If I get held back a year, it basically rules out a bunch of good jobs and I don’t want that to happen. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a job you hate for the rest of your life. Also each level has a higher pay so... yeah I really didn’t want to be held back.”

You lay backwards, your back resting on the hard floor, looking up at the ceiling. You wondered how many stars were out there, and how many more civilisations there were.

“What’s that around your neck?” Jisung’s voice cut through your daydream.

You hummed at him while sitting up.

“On your necklace. What is it?”

Your hand instinctively came up to grab at the silver pendant. “It’s a paper plane.” You answered.

Jisung shook his head at you, signalling that he had no idea what you were on about. Your jaw dropped slightly.

“Origami!”

“Origami?” He repeated, his face a picture of confusion.

“It’s called origami.” You explained. “It’s where you take a piece of paper and fold it to make different shapes.”

Jisung tilted his head, looking intensely at your necklace. “And people can do that?”

“I can teach you.” You offered, and he nodded at you.

You stood up, walking over to the desk he was sitting at. You rummaged through some of the papers until you found a blank sheet.

“Okay, so the first thing is to fold in lengthways...” You gave him the instructions, demonstrating as you did, so that he could watch what you were doing. “And then bring in these corners... flip the paper over and fold again...”

Jisung was watching you intently. His eyes never left your hands until you held up the newly made paper plane. His eyes widened at the finished product reaching up to grab it to look it over, but he stopped before he reached it, looking up at you as if for permission. You nodded eagerly, holding it out to him to encourage him to take it.

The paper plane rested in his big hands and he turned it over multiple times, trying to make sense of what you had created. He looked at it as if you had created it out of thin air using magic.

“Throw it.” You instructed.

His head shot around, his face a picture of confusion and slight offence.

“Not out. Don’t throw it out, just throw it in the air. Use the tip as a guide and throw it in a straight line.”

Jisung looked at you questionably, but still complied. He lifted the plane up and gently threw it. The paper plane soared, travelling to the other side of the room. his jaw dropped and he spun around to look back at you with a huge smile on his face. You grinned back at him, unable to stop the surge of happiness you felt every time you saw that gummy smile appear.

“It’s streamlined. The sharp point and triangular shape allow it to easily cut through the air.” You explained, walking over to pick it back up.

Jisung looked at you in admiration and awe. He couldn’t believe that he’d got so lucky as to get to know you. You brought so much light into his life that he had no idea that he had been missing.

“Streamlined...” He repeated the unfamiliar word to himself quietly, a habit he had gotten into recently. 

In between your study sessions you and Jisung had been talking about alien and human life, where they overlapped and where they differed. Such as, how you had after-school clubs and Jisung was horrified at the idea of voluntarily staying in the school longer than you had to every week. In his words it was ‘torture disguised as a fun activity’.

He had a tendency to be a tad dramatic sometimes.

Slang had become Jisung’s favourite thing. The fact that humans had become so lazy that they didn’t even say full words anymore was hilarious to him. His current favourite word to say was lol, but he had been enjoying the use of sarcasm and was developing a big habit of saying ‘same’ anytime something goes remotely wrong.

He also had a habit of singing to himself. You’d noticed it during an intense study session early on, you had been falling asleep with a textbook over your face to block out the light when you heard him mumbling. You didn’t move, just listening to his voice, shocked at how beautiful it was. He had a deep voice with a soft tone that put you at ease anytime you heard it. Jisung was far too shy to actively sing in front of you so you had to settle for listening in when he sang to himself.

If only you had your phone you would have taken a voice recording of it. God, you wanted some piece of him to take back to Earth with you. You hated the idea that you’d have to just pretend like this whole experience never happened, like Jisung never existed. The thought made your stomach tighten.

“Do you ever wonder where aliens and humans come from?” Your thoughts were interrupted by Jisung’s question.

Honestly, you had, multiple times. But no matter how many textbooks you read, or how long you thought about it, you couldn’t seem to figure it out. All of their books seemed to say different things.

“Yeah, it’s confusing. There’s something so similar about us yet so different.” You mused, watching Jisung continually turn the paper plane over in his hands again. It was something he’d started doing often recently. He’d have something to hold onto that he could flip between his fingers, as if he had too much energy that he always needed to be doing something.

In reality, Jisung just needed something else to look at otherwise he would spend all his time staring at you.

“Maybe we’re the same. Not similar like that book said, but actually the same.” Jisung grinned, finally allowing himself to meet your eyes, and feeling that grin grow the second he did. “Maybe we’re like two descendants of the same species that have evolved in different ways.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense, you know.” You laughed, sitting yourself down in the chair that Jisung had abandoned to play with the paper plane. “Our anatomy is identical and it’s only certain things that put us apart from each other.”

“Like hair colour and blushing.” Pride was in Jisung’s voice, happy that he was bringing in his Biology studies without being prompted. “But there’s one really big one as well.”

“Oh yeah?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yep. You can’t survive in space. We can. Our lungs can adjust to different atmospheres so we can live anywhere in the universe.” Your jaw dropped at his words.

“Really? How have you never told me this? That’s so cool!” You exclaimed excitedly. You loved when Jisung spoke about alien life, it was fascinating.

Jisung shrugged, chuckling at your reaction. “Never came up I guess. We have a setting in each room of what atmosphere we’d like to breathe in. This one is set to Earth so that you can breathe.”

You looked around for what Jisung was talking about. You weren’t too sure what exactly you were looking for but this had intrigued you.

“It’s over here.” Jisung answered the question that you hadn’t been able to ask yet, gesturing to a small white panel that hung on the wall next to the door.

You wandered over to it, analysing the object that could quite possibly kill you if it malfunctioned. Then you realised that you probably didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole of how easily you could die here and that your life was literally in Jisung’s hands, so you closed that door up and left the panel alone.

As you turned to face Jisung, you saw him already looking at you. There was a soft smile on his face, such gentleness in his gaze that you felt the urge to curl up in his arms and hug him until time ran out. You had nothing to be scared of when Jisung was around.

Jisung would never hurt you.

iv. it wasn’t fair

The paper plane necklace that usually hung heavily around your neck was on his desk, hidden inside his Biology folder. You wanted Jisung to have something to remember you by.

The unspoken sadness in the room was evident. Jisung’s exam was in two days and you were hovering over Earth at that very moment, meaning... you had run out of time. You had to go home. And you had to say goodbye.

Jisung had been especially quiet. That had been your first clue that something was wrong. He hadn’t come bounding into your room like an excited puppy, instead he’d opened the door slowly, unable to meet your eyes and you felt your stomach drop at the sight of him.

“We’re over Earth, but it’s our only day here because we’re moving fast so we have to get you home tonight.” His voice was wavering as he spoke, and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat but it was too difficult. It was taking everything in Jisung not to break down and cry and beg for you to stay, but that wasn’t fair and he knew it.

In fact, as far as Jisung was aware, none of this was fair.

It wasn’t fair that he’d had to get your help. It wasn’t fair that you had agreed. It wasn’t fair that you had become possibly the closest friend he’d ever had in his entire life. It wasn’t fair that he’d fallen for you. It wasn’t fair that he had to send you home. It wasn’t fair that he had no idea how he was going to continue his life without you in it. It wasn’t fair.

Maybe in another universe, there was somewhere that the two of you could have been together. And Jisung would have spent his life searching for that place if he could. But he couldn’t.

And it wasn’t fair.

You walked up to him, slowly lifting his face to look at you in the eyes and smiled sadly. You could feel the tears forming so you quickly hugged him. You wound your arms around his waist as he grabbed you pulling you closer before wrapping his around you as well. His cheek was pressed against the top of your head, with one hand stroking your hair and the other around your shoulders. You breathed in the scent of him, trying to memorise everything that you could.

This was the first time you’d ever hugged Jisung. All this time together and yet, this was your first hug.

Jisung couldn’t believe he’d never done this. You fit so perfectly in his arms it was as if he had been built for this purpose. He didn’t want to let you go. Why did your first hug have to be your last?

It wasn’t fair.

Jisung knew that he hated fair. He would scream and curse out fairness for the rest of his days if he had to. Fair took you away from him. Nothing about this is fair.

“Grant me one last favour? Can you... shut your eyes?” Jisung whispered, hoping that you couldn’t feel his tears falling onto your head as they made their way down his cheeks.

You nodded. You put your head fully into Jisung’s shoulder and cried, finally allowing the emotions to overcome you.

Then you closed your eyes.

v. sometimes things break

It had been two weeks. Well, by human time at least. You had no idea how much time had passed for Jisung. But for you, it had been two weeks since you had left Jisung.

That night you had hugged him goodbye, you had closed your eyes and when you opened them, it was to the sound of your alarm clock waking you up for school. God, you really didn’t want to go to school that day.

But you had to. You’d gotten up, gone to school, done your work, come home and lived your life as you were supposed to. But it all felt so much more empty now. Now you knew that there was so much more out there, everything felt so incomplete. And without Jisung, it was all so boring.

Your friends didn’t seem to understand you like you remembered, and none of them got you the way Jisung did. You didn’t feel as relaxed around them as you did around him, you didn’t feel as at home.

How did you feel more at home when you were in space?

Of course you knew all of this was because you loved him. That tall alien boy with the gummy smile had a hold on your heart you couldn’t break. And you were grieving him in silence as nobody else even knew he existed.

You took a sip of the glass of water you were holding. Sleep had gotten more difficult each night you had been back to the point where you had almost given up now. You had one hand resting on the sink as the other held the glass, hoping that the water would be able to settle you slightly.

You sighed, absentmindedly reaching up to your empty neck where the silver paper plane once sat.

You wondered if Jisung had found it yet. Or if he maybe wore it. And you wondered if he was thinking about you the same way you were thinking about him.

You sighed again, before refilling your now empty glass and taking it back to your room with you. You walked through your house, your feet making soft noises on the carpeted hallways as you went and you quietly shut your door behind you, knowing that your parents had long gone to sleep.

You moved towards your bedside table, going to place the glass down next to your bed. As you walked closer, you stopped to take another sip, letting out another huge sigh. It felt as though that was all you did these days.

The glass was placed on the coaster on top of your oak bedside table. Without the coaster your mum would have lost her mind at there being a water ring on the wood. You turned around, a slight flash catching your eye as you did.

That’s weird. As far as you were aware there wasn’t anything reflective on your bedside table. You turned back slowly, approaching the surface and looking down at it. You moved your glass off for a better look and gasped at what was lying there.

The glass had slipped out of your hand in shock, hitting the floor and splashing the water everywhere. But you didn’t care. You reached forward, picking up the object that you thought you would never see again.

And there, hanging from your fingers, was your silver paper plane necklace. The one you had left with Jisung before you’d left him.

You whirled around, looking for some sign of him. There was no other way that this could have come back to you. But you could see him. Your room was completely empty.

Next to your bedside table were your curtains. You rushed towards them, throwing them open and staring out into the garden, desperately looking for some sign of him between the trees and your mother’s prized rose bushes.

Where was he? He had to be here...

That was when you saw something. A flash of a shadow of something. You couldn’t tell if it was him, or a bird, or a fox, or just your eyes playing tricks on you but you didn’t care. You had to find out. 

You ran. You ran out of your bedroom, flying down the stairs and sprinting through the kitchen until you reached the back door. You grabbed the handle, but it wouldn’t turn. Your father must have locked it for the night.

Luckily, the keys were hung up next to it. So you grabbed them, fumbling to find the right one before unlocking the door and throwing yourself outside to try to find him.

You ran out into the garden, the grass soft under your bare feet.

“Oh come on.” You pleaded to yourself. “Please please please be here.”

You kept turning, your hair flicking around you as you tried to spot him. The word ‘please’ kept leaving your lips, a quiet prayer that you would get to see him again.

You ran further, going outside of the back gate and onto the fields of the local park. Then your feet came to a sudden stop.

Normally, when you came out here, you would see people walking their dogs, or sunbathing, or having a picnic with their loved ones, but none of those sights were better than seeing Jisung standing in front of you.

“You’re here.” You whispered, the words escaping you in disbelief.

Nothing could have stopped you. You ran forwards, and once you got close enough you grabbed onto him, holding him in one of the tightest hugs of your life.

Jisung had reacted instantly, his arms wrapping around your waist as soon as you were within distance. He dropped his head, burying it as close to your neck as he could get. He held onto you as if you two were the last people on the Earth. It was like the rest of the world faded away.

You couldn’t believe it. He had some back to you.

You tried to pull back, to see his face and ask him why he was here, but Jisung wouldn’t let go of you. And that was when you heard him.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry y/n. I’m so so sorry.” 

Jisung was crying. He couldn’t seem to stop apologising, the same words leaving his mouth over and over again. With each time he spoke you felt your nerves rising.

“Jisung, what’s wrong?” You asked fearfully, not knowing what could have happened to get him so upset.

Out of nowhere, a huge harsh light shone down on the two of you. It took a second for your eyes to adjust again, and when they did you finally took the time to pull yourself properly out of Jisung’s arms.

He didn’t want to let you go, still trying to grip onto you, he didn’t want to face you, he couldn’t. But you got away, stepping backwards slightly and looking at him, the constant apologies finally starting to make sense.

He looked up, meeting your eyes for the first time since he had arrived again, and the sight nearly broke him all over again.

“What have you done?” The words fell out of your mouth, each one laced with hurt, and that was all it took.

The tears streamed uncontrollably down Jisung’s face, and he saw the hurt in your face morph into the realisation that he never wanted you to have.

Jisung had betrayed you.

“Jisung?” You said in disbelief as you finally understood. “No... Jisung.”

You felt yourself beginning to lift off the ground, the sensation sending you into panic. You had no control, and you couldn’t get back down. You began to speed up, rising upwards and towards a large dark shape that you could just make out above you. 

You twisted in mid air, looking out for Jisung again. And when you saw him, he had his head down, his hands covering his eyes and you could see his body shaking as he cried. Then someone came out of the darkness. All you could tell was that they were older by quite a bit.

The last thing you saw was them putting a hand on Jisung’s shoulder and walking him into the centre of the light.

vi. i didn’t sign up for this

Jisung walked down the corridor, trapped in between two guards who stalked down either side of him. Since he’d been caught he wasn’t allowed anywhere unaccompanied. He had been living in hell since being discovered and punished. Every day had been awful, and since you had been taken, his life had dissolved into hell.

He didn’t understand why they had to take you, all of this had been his fault but they hadn’t understood that. Or if they had, they hadn’t listened. But no one had wanted to hear his side of the story. No one had been willing to listen to him talk about you, and convince them that you should be left out of what was going to happen.

But they had wanted you as well as him. And they had made him go to get you.

That might have been the worst part. Seeing you look at him with so much hurt, it was as if Jisung could see your heart breaking and it tore him to pieces. He didn’t know what part of him was left to break because having to hurt you had shattered him into so many pieces he didn’t think he could ever put himself back together again.

Then he had reached it, the cell you were being held in. Alien ships don’t have “prisons” exactly, but there is a glass solitary confinement unit, and that was where you were being held.

And there you were, sitting against the wall facing your bed, the glass wall Jisung was standing across from you so that he was looking at your side profile. Your food tray sat half touched, as if you had picked at what you could and Jisung could see the dried tear marks down your cheeks.

And another part of him broke.

“Y/n?” Jisung approached the bars, sinking to his knees to be level with you and lifting a hand to place it on the glass. “Y/n please... Please just look at me.” His voice was breaking, but he could help it. You hadn’t looked at him since that night where he betrayed you.

And Jisung didn’t blame you. He had lured you outside for his people to kidnap you, Jisung wouldn’t blame you if you never looked at him again. It was what he deserved.

“Y/n... I just- I didn’t- I...” Jisung didn’t know how to put into words what had happened after he took his exam, and how quickly everything had fallen apart. 

Instead he just leant his head against the glass, allowing the tears to fall down his cheeks. It felt as though all he did was cry nowadays, but there was nothing else for him to do. It was hopeless. All he could do was cry and beg for your forgiveness. 

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, closing his eyes and feeling the cool glass underneath his forehead as he imagined that if glass didn’t exist, he could wrap you up in his arms and apologise that way. But he had to settle for a glass wall and broken words filled with tears.

And you sat there, still staring down at the floor, crying silently over the boy you lost and found again, and how he broke your heart.

vii. please don’t

A loud beep woke you up, startling you into a sitting position. If you thought you had no sense of time when you were last on this ship, you had a whole new definition of that now. At least with Jisung there was some element of time passing, with his exam getting closer. But here, you didn’t know what was morning and what was night. You didn’t know whether you’d been here for days, or weeks. You were completely blind to what was going on in the world around you.

With the harsh beeping noise, two guards burst into your cell. They grabbed you under one arm each and hauled you to your feet, quickly snapping on some kind of handcuffs as they did. You scrambled to get your footing, wanting to walk to wherever they were going to take you rather than be dragged.

Part of you was expecting to see Jisung with them. Whether he would be trying to stop them or walking silently next to them... well you’d rather not find out.

You were walked through the corridors, and as you went you couldn’t help but look at the surroundings. When they’d brought you here, you had been crying so much you couldn’t even see what was around you, not until you were put into your cell. The walls were the same grey as the previous room was, but, of course you’ll never know if that’s their actual colour because, if what Jisung told you was correct, you couldn’t see their colour spectrum. Flashes of light passed every few seconds, and after a while it was so intense that you were forced to look away.

Instead of watching the walls, or looking around for Jisung, you watched the floor. Seeing your hands held together by the strange glass-like material. There wasn’t a chain connecting them, instead they seemed to be held together like magnets, making it impossible for you to move your hands away from each other.

You thought about Jisung a lot. In fact, Jisung was practically all you thought about these days. But every time you thought about him, that hurt feeling spreads throughout your chest and takes up your being.

It was impossible to think of Jisung without feeling your heart break all over again.

You couldn’t understand why he had done it. Why had he sold you out? Did he get something in return for it? Maybe he’d been found and had no other choice? Maybe they had threatened his future? Maybe they’d known about you first then discovered about Jisung?

All these questions and many more had been circling around your head for ages. But the thing that really hurt you, was that Jisung had been the bait. He must have known what was going to happen to you, because he was apologising over and over again when you found him. Someone only apologises when they know they’ve done wrong.

No matter what you were threatened with, you would never have tricked Jisung the way he tricked you.

And now, you had no idea what was going to happen to you. You didn’t know if they were going to let you go, or if they were going to force you to stay with the alien community, or if you were going back to Earth, or if you were just some pawn in Jisung’s punishment.

There were so many unanswered questions you felt as though your head was about to explode.

When going over all of this, you hadn’t noticed how far you’d been taken. You only came back to reality when you were pulled to a stop. You were standing in front of these huge doors, with massive bolts going across them.

The bolts began to unlock and you were taken through. This was when your heart started to pound and the fear began to kick in. You really had no idea what was going to happen to you.

It was quite a large room, and looked a bit like a theatre, only it was all grey and incredibly foreboding. The second those doors opened goosebumps grew all the way down your arms. You were taken towards what looked like just beyond the back half of the room and placed on a small circular platform facing the front which held a semi circle of raised seating, in which were countless aliens. Of course, they looked just like humans, if not for their ever changing hair colour.

It slightly resembled an amphitheatre staging set up. Except it felt as though you were on trial more than putting on a show.

At the middle, and halfway up the seating, there was a panel of five aliens who you assumed would be the ones judging you as everyone else was sitting in the “audience”.

“We are the governing body of this community and we are brought here today to discuss the crimes committed against us by y/n l/n. Y/n, you stand here on trial for treason. We will discuss the evidence to the court then we will decide on a suitable punishment for your crime.”

The alien in the middle said all of this, and the more he spoke the more panicked you began to get. What was the point in giving you a trial when they clearly had already decided on your guilt?

“Here is the first piece of evidence of y/n’s presence on this ship.” The alien in the middle, who you now assumed to be the head of all of this, stood up. And there, dangling from his fingers, was your paper plane necklace. “This is a human piece of jewellery, found around the neck of one of our own. The alien who took her here, and hid her. Park Jisung.”

Hushed murmurs echoed around the room and heads turned in sync, all of them looking for Jisung. It was at this moment that the doors opened again, and Jisung was brought in. He wasn’t wearing the same constraints that you were, but he was held by two guards, one on each arm and was standing at the corner of the room, near the only door.

The alien continued.

“Jisung hid y/n here, unknown to all of us for quite some time and also managed to sneak her out. And if it weren’t for this necklace and Jisung’s exam, we may never have known about this crime.”

The alien to his left passed some papers to him and the head flipped through them.

“Question 4 section C of Jisung’s human biology exam. Describe one biological difference between aliens and humans. And Jisung answered saying ‘A main difference is blushing. This is where blood rushes to the human’s cheeks when struck by certain emotions, or after heavy exercise. However, it is important to note that not all humans blush depending on the pigmentation of the skin.’ We do not teach this here. It is not in any text book or database and there is no way for Jisung to have come across this information without human help.”

At this, he threw the papers back down on the desk with a loud smack. You flinched at the sound, your entire body alight with nerves. Your eyes flickered back to Jisung and you found him already looking at you.

This was the first time you had looked at Jisung since being brought back here, and the sight of your eyes nearly made his knees go out from under him. He was already terrified, worried to death about what may happen to you. He was exhausted from being so constantly scared for you. But you had to know that he was here for you and he would fight for you no matter what happened or what that meant for him.

“On top of this-” The head’s voice cut through the room like a chainsaw, destroying everything in its path. “Aliens can’t blush. Yet, Jisung somehow seems to have this ability. And his hair, it hasn’t changed colour in a long while.”

Shocked gasps rippled around the room, and your jaw dropped at that revelation. You thought you had seen it but as far as you were aware, it couldn’t have been possible.

Yells of ‘How is that possible?’ and ‘I won’t believe it until I see it!’ were heard everywhere, each shout bouncing off the walls. The head lifted up his hand for silence, and it fell immediately. He then gestured to the back wall and something began to play.

You turned around to see what it was and saw a video there, and it seemed to be of Jisung. It looked like he was on trial just like you are, the cuffs were around his wrists and people were shouting all around him. It looked like he went through hell.

Then you heard what the video said.

“She has done something to one of our own, and as a result must be punished.” You recognised the head alien’s voice.

Jisung’s head shot up at this, his eyes wide and pleading.

“No! You can’t, just leave her out of this, it was my fault. I brought her here, and I’ve changed because of it, just punish me, not her. Leave her out of this.” 

“You, Jisung, will go back down with us to bring her back. If she cares for you as much as you seem to for her, then seeing you will be an easy way to bring her out. Then we will put her on trial ourselves.”

You watched as Jisung’s eyes filled with tears on the video and he started struggling, pleading with them not to do this.

“Don’t take her, please! Do whatever you want, whatever you need to do to me, not her! You can break my soul, take my life away, beat me, hurt me, kill me even! But for the love of god, please don’t touch her.” He begged, the tears falling down his face at this point.

The video faded to black, leaving the arguments to start all over again at the evidence.

You couldn’t believe it though, all this time, they had made it seem like Jisung had betrayed you, yet he had tried as hard as he could to protect you. You turned around, searching for him, wanting to find some way to communicate to him that you trusted him and you were sorry for ever doubting him.

His eyes found yours easily, as if they were the only thing he was searching for. Even with tears clouding your vision, you could still see him as clear as day. He just sent you a sad smile, as if he was apologising, but you didn’t want him to do that.

“Y/n has infected one of our own!” The head’s voice cut through your moment once again, causing your head to snap back towards him. “She is nothing more than a parasite. Y/n L/n has turned Jisung human! And as a result she must be charged with treason. And since she is in our land, she will face the same punishment one of us would.”

The room erupted into shouts, and it seemed as though half the room agreed with it but the other half didn’t.

Jisung couldn’t believe what he just heard. At those words he felt as though everything went underwater. Treason... That was a horrible punishment even if you were an alien, but for a human like you... There was no way you would survive it.

“Take her to the ejection capsule!”

The guards moved on that final instruction from the head, grabbing you again and they started to drag you away. Even though you had been sentenced, you still had no idea what was about to happen to you, and you were terrified.

When Jisung saw them moving you, his entire body burst into action. He couldn’t let them do this. Not to the person he loved. He began to struggle, trying to break free of the guards holding him captive.

“No!” He screamed. “Y/n! No!”

But no matter how hard he found against them he couldn’t overpower them. And he was helpless as he got dragged down the ship after you. He kicked and screamed the entire way, trying to reach out for you, but to no avail. He saw you trying to do the same thing, attempting to wrestle out of their grip but it wasn’t working

They reached the ejection capsule slower than due to Jisung struggling, but once they got there, more guards helped to hold him down and before he knew it, he was pinned up against a wall, unable to do anything but watch as you faced your fate.

You were brought up to a much smaller glass door that shot open to reveal a space big enough for one person. You knew now, was that you were on the edge of the ship, and the name “ejection capsule” was starting to make a lot more sense.

They were going to send you out into space.

Jisung was still screaming for you, trying to break free to grab you, but you could see the number of people holding him back and you knew, there was no way he was going to be able to save you from this.

This was it. You were going to die. You couldn’t survive in space.

The head governor approached Jisung and grabbed his face to force it towards you.

“You will watch this.” He growled, his grip tight as iron. He held Jisung’s head towards you, and gave a nod to one of the guards.

Jisung cried out for you again, and you looked back at him.

“It’s okay.” You whispered, praying that he would understand.

Inside your stomach was turning at a million miles an hour and adrenaline was pumping through your body and you were trying with everything you had not to cry, but you couldn’t let Jisung feel guilty about this. He had tried so hard to keep you safe and it wasn’t his fault.

The guard turned back to the capsule, and pulled the level next to it. The door behind you opened and you shot out into the atmosphere.

The guards holding Jisung released him as he screamed and sank to the floor. He was on his hands and knees, crying and screaming out for you as you drifted further away from him into space.

Being weightless was a strange feeling, it was like floating on top of the water, but effortlessly. You had the urge to move your hand around, when the realisation hit you like a truck.

You were alive. And as well as that, you were breathing. You were breathing in space. But that isn’t possible, you couldn’t understand it. All you knew is that somehow, you were floating untethered in space and you were alive.

You managed to turn back to face the ship, and that’s when they saw you.

They all stared at you, none of them able to move from shock.

Jisung was the first one to react, and it gave him a chance. He ran to the door, and pulled on the level to open the glass doors. From there he could just about reach you.

Your hand drifted out, tiredness pulling at you as you tried to reach him too. God you were exhausted.

“Come on y/n, reach me.” Jisung pleaded, stretching out further. 

Eventually, he grabbed onto the ship tightly with one hand and jumped out of it to reach you. This gave him the final distance he needed to grab your hand and pull you in.

You floated towards him and he held onto your waist tight as you got back into the ship and the door closed behind you, causing gravity to take hold on you once again.

You collapsed in Jisung’s arms, and he fell to his knees holding you. Your vision went black as the world around you faded away.

Jisung frantically checked you over, but there was nothing to show you were in any distress. Even your pulse seemed strong. You were passed out in his lap, but there were a lot of unanswered questions.

Sadly, there was no time to discuss them as the guards wasted no time in grabbing you both again.

But the truth hung over everyone’s heads that day.

Not only was Jisung not alien anymore, you weren’t human.

viii. what are we?

You felt as if you were in a dream, completely dazed as you finally came to. Your memory was fuzzy, the details were a bit muddled and you couldn’t quite remember what had actually happened or what you had dreamt.

“Y/n?” You heard a muffled voice and as you struggled to force your eyes open, you saw a blurry figure above you.

Were you dead? Was this it?

“Y/n!” The voice was clearer now, and you recognised it as Jisung’s.

You tried to say something back but all that came out of you was a pained groan. You brought your arms behind you, in an attempt to pull yourself into a sitting position, but your whole body ached and they gave out immediately.

You would have smacked your head on the floor if Jisung hadn’t noticed what was happening and caught it last minute. He got his arms underneath you and pulled you up, resting you against a wall as he went to get you water.

Jisung handed you the cup, and you took a few gulps, feeling your strength come back to you as you did.

“Better?” He asked, his brow furrowing with worry and you nodded in response.

“What happened?” You croaked out, hoping that he may have some answers.

He let out a sigh, sliding down on the wall next to you, his feet planted on the floor and his knees up, close enough that your legs were touching.

“How much do you remember?” He asked quietly, and you thought for a second.

“I remember the trial, then getting pushed into this small room when...” You looked up at him with wide eyes as the memory came rushing back to you. “They pushed me out into space! I was left out there and I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t. How is that possible?”

“The same way it’s possible that I can blush and my hair doesn’t change colour anymore. We’ve changed. Somehow I’m not just an alien anymore and you’re not human.”

You weren’t sure how to react to what Jisung said.

“What does that mean ‘not human’?” You asked, but Jisung just shrugged sadly.

“I don’t know.” He turned to face you, his eyes watering. “I’m so sorry y/n. This is all my fault, if I had just let you be then none of this would have happened.”

“Hey...” You whispered comfortingly, bringing a hand up to cup the side of his face. “You have nothing to apologise for, you couldn’t have known that any of this was going to happen. This isn’t your fault, it’s theirs. I saw how you tried to protect me.”

“But I couldn’t.” He choked out, a tear tracing its way down his cheek and you shook your head.

“But you tried. That’s what mattered. I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out, I thought- well I don’t know what I thought. But I’m sorry that I blamed you.”

Jisung leaned his head forward at your apology, resting his forehead on yours. He let his eyes flutter shut, breathing out a sigh of relief. His entire world was crashing down around him and the only thing that he cared about was that you were alive. 

“I guess you were right all along. They are going to abduct us for experiments.” He joked dejectedly, and you let out a sad smile.

“I’m always right, you should know that by now.” You teased. You leaned back on the wall, Jisung watching your movements with a heavy heart. “Is there anything we can do?” You asked, and he could hear the fear in your voice no matter how much you tried to hide it.

But he shook his head. “It’s hopeless. They’ve made up their minds and even if we broke out of here, there’s nowhere to go, we’d end up wandering the stars for eternity.”

“What do they think we are?” 

“They told me some things while you were unconscious. I don’t know why exactly but I guess it was about time we got some answers.” Jisung answered you, explaining as much as he could remember from the conversation. “Apparently, aliens and humans are like two branches of the same species. For example, like how doves and penguins are both birds even though they look different and work in different ways. We share almost exactly the same make up, but it’s our brain that’s different. Now it’s been so many generations that aliens don’t associate with humans as they don’t remember how we used to be alike.”

“So you were right in the end. But, why did we both change after spending time together?” You wondered.

“They seem to think that the more aliens learn about humans, the more human they become.” He said.

“That’s why the book was so inaccurate.” You realised, and Jisung nodded. “But, that still doesn’t explain me.”

“That’s where the experiments are going to come in...” He revealed, his voice trailing off at the end.

You looked up at the ceiling, the realisation of what your life is going to become, finally dawning on you.

“This is horrible.” You whispered. “They’re going to experiment until they figure out what parts of us are human and what are alien.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “And, I know it sounds completely insane but, if I was going to be stuck in a cell for the rest of my life, I’m happy it’s you.”

“Me too.” You agreed, smiling at Jisung’s words. “You’re the only person I want by my side here.”

Jisung tilted his head to the side, watching you as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

“I love you y/n.”

His confession made you snap your head towards him, checking to see if you heard correctly. But he was calm. For once in his life, Jisung wasn’t scared, he wasn’t shy, he wasn’t overthinking every possible outcome, he just loved you. And if he was going to die tomorrow, he wanted you to know that.

You two were sitting so close now that your noses were almost touching. Jisung was done being scared, he brought his hand up to the side of your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb as he leant in for a tender kiss.

Finally, after all this time, all the waiting, the longing, the pining, the secret whispers, the hidden feeling, you finally kissed. The rest of the world faded away as he kissed you. It was as if nothing could touch you and for a second there it felt as though time actually stopped.

“I love you too Jisung.” You whispered to him, so quiet that not even the stars heard your confession.

Jisung wasn’t sure if he believed in soulmates but he definitely did now. There was no denying it. You were made for him and him for you. 

In that moment you both knew that no matter what happens next, you would be okay. Because you had each other.

ix. all the stories are true

“You’ve got three days. Then we begin.”

The words were still ringing in your head, even more so now that you knew you were on the final day. Tomorrow, the experiments would begin. The guards weren’t watching you 24/7 anymore, instead stationed outside in the hallway. They’d dropped off a few books each day, providing a small amount of entertainment, and your new selection had just arrived.

Selection was a generous word considering they gave you three books between the two of you, and Jisung knew them all already. Apparently, they’re recommended reading books during their school years.

‘So what’s this one?” You asked, holding up a large black book with white writing on it.

“That is a full detail of our history. It tells how our planet got destroyed and how we’ve adapted to living in ships and flying through the stars instead of settling.” Jisung explained and you flipped the book over, looking at the cover.

“Sounds interesting, I’d love to know more about your history.” You said. “Though they’re probably doing this to make me as ‘alien’ as possible before they start testing us.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jisung muttered. “Though I doubt they’re even looking at what they’re giving us. They’re probably grabbing from a pile and chucking them in here.”

The two of you both tried cracking small jokes, attempting to lighten or challenge the situation with humour, but the atmosphere was so heavy that it was almost impossible.

You grabbed the next one you saw, and held it up for Jisung. “This one?”

“Biography of our previous head of government. And probably the most boring thing I’ve ever read.” Jisung groaned at the sight of it.

You chuckled, throwing it back down into the small pile that had accumulated over the past three days. You crouched down, grabbing the final one. It was a smaller book, with a dark green leather cover on it and gold writing on the front that was partially rubbed off with age. The title read “The Forgotten Land.” You opened it, the smell of the old book gently surrounding you as the aged pages stared back at you. You handled it with care, knowing that too much force might damage it.

“What’s this?” You asked, gently closing the book and showing it to Jisung.

He looked up, but brushed off the answer with a simple “That’s just an old legend.”

You looked back at the book, your fingers tracing out the delicate lettering on the front when you heard Jisung saying something to himself.

“Wait a second... That’s- Wait a second!”

Before you knew it Jisung was looking over your shoulder, staring down at the book. You held it up, looking at him quizzically.

“Do you want to read it?”

He took your offer, taking the book and flipping through the pages, skim-reading it as he went. He finally stopped on a certain page, his finger tracing under the sentence he was reading before slamming it shut with a triumphant shout.

“Are you okay?” The question slipped out of your lips at Jisung’s erratic behaviour. 

He spun around to look at you, his face alight with excitement. Jisung’s mind was running at a million miles an hour, because if he was right about this, he might have just saved you. And for once, he wouldn’t have failed at protecting you.

“This legend, we used to read it when we were children. They would read it to us in school, and every alien child knows this story. But, I don’t think this is just a story. Because a myth is more than just a tale. It often hides the essence of a true story. This story talks about how our true form is a halfway point between alien and human, and how these will be brought out of us to help us achieve who we are truly meant to be. This isn’t just a legend. It’s the legend we’re currently living.”

You gasped at this, jogging towards him and taking the book from his out-stretched hand. You opened it, reading through as fast as you could. You came to stop on a certain page.

“This says that each of us has a fated soulmate... And only that person brings out the hidden side to us.” You looked up at Jisung, only to find him already looking at you. “Would that mean...” You trailed off, unable to finish your sentence from the way Jisung was looking at you.

It was as if you could see the love he had for you in his eyes. 

“We don’t know how much of the book is true but...” Jisung’s voice faded away as he abandoned the end of his sentence.

Enough was said from the way the two of you were looking at each other, you didn’t need to say it out loud. If this part of you the book was true, you and Jisung had been destined to find each other.

It made sense to him now, how he hadn’t been able to explain why he chose you to help him, and why he’d found himself more able to be himself around you in such a short amount of time than he had with people he’d known his entire life.

Things were adding up for you as well. You understood how it was so easy for you to say yes to staying with him, and how you’d felt so far away from home when you came back to Earth. 

You and Jisung were destined to find each other.

“So what happens now?” You asked tentatively. “I mean, this is incredible but we don’t even know if it is real, and on top of that, there’s no way to find this and we have a day until we’re taken from here.”

“I know.” Jisung said. “But I think we should try to find it.”

Now that got your attention.

“What? Did you not hear what I said? It might not be real. And where would we even start?” Question after question was thrown at him, but still a grin grew on Jisung’s lips.

“I’m not staying here for them to experiment on us. Not a chance. I’ve found the one person who I need in my life, and I’m not letting them choose what happens to us. I would rather get lost in the stars trying to find a better place for us than give up and let them take us.” Jisung had never been so sure of anything. He wouldn’t give up on this. He wouldn’t give up on you.

It wasn’t fair that these were your choices. But Jisung was done with fair, he was done with choosing between options that sucked, he wanted to take back some control, for once he wanted to be able to protect you.

“Jisung...” You breathed.��“I’ll follow you anywhere. But how do we get off here? There are guards in the hallways and, I know we can survive in space but I don’t think us floating around is really a stealthy getaway.”

Jisung simply grinned even wider. “I’ve got a plan.”

x. run until we’re lost

“I don’t like this plan.” You muttered, pacing back and forth. “I really don’t like this plan.”

“I know. But it’s the only one we’ve got. Besides, we have nothing to lose.” Jisung shrugged.

If he was being honest, he had very little faith in his flimsy plan as well, but he wasn’t about to tell you that. It would take a miracle for the two of you to get off this ship with your lives, but, hey a miracle brought you into his life so he had to believe in them.

“Ready?” He asked and you nodded, sending up a silent prayer knowing it was now or never.

Jisung nodded back at you, sending you a comforting look before he suddenly collapsed to the floor. You repeatedly whacked your hands against the wall dramatically, screaming for help.

The guards came running, sluggishly stumbling into the cells. You pointed down at Jisung still yelling incoherently.

“What happened?” One of the guards asked.

“I don’t know.” You cried. The tears began to fall easily down your face from how scared you were of the whole situation. “He just collapsed and he’s not waking up and I don’t know what to do!”

“We need to get someone.” The second guard said but the first one shook his head rapidly.

“We were meant to be watching them! How will we explain that we fell asleep!” The first one snapped back, before suddenly looking back at you. “Move aside.”

You did, still hyperventilating and crying as they walked towards Jisung. You waited until they had both walked past you before shoving the smaller guard as hard as you could in the back, sending his stumbling over Jisung’s legs. Without wasting a second you deftly delivered a hard kick to the back of the left knee of the other guard.

He went flying as well, still drowsy from sleep and completely taken by surprise at your attack.

Jisung sprung up at the commotion, not hesitating a second before grabbing you and sprinting for the door. He got you there before turning around and pressing random buttons on the control panel.

“Come on.” You urged and Jisung desperately hit them trying to find the right one. He eventually opened up a new menu, clicking on the blue hexagonal shape just as the guards picked themselves up.

A beep sounded and the doors slammed shut, locking with a resounding click and the two of you looked at each other in amazement, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s phase one.” Jisung said excitedly. Maybe this plan would actually work. “But we won’t have long before those two gain attention so we need to run.”

You nodded and the two of you took off down the hallways. This whole process was going faster than you thought it would. Jisung had told you that you needed to head to the navigation room to get the maps and then the escape pods. According to him there were smaller ships that you could take and escape in.

You ran down the halls, your heart beating faster than your feet were moving. The adrenaline was coursing through your veins as Jisung led you through the maze of corridors.

“Okay.” He said, skidding to a stop so suddenly that you almost ran into the back of him. “We need to cause a distraction to evacuate the navigation room.”

“Like pulling a fire alarm or something?” You asked.

“Kind of.” Jisung said. “But something that is going to keep them busy for longer... like cutting the lights. The electrical room is right next to it.”

“And we can use the vents to go to the next room.” You couldn’t help but let out a little giggle at your own joke.

“Yes we could!” Jisung grabbed your hand and took off again.

You were taken completely by surprise. Apparently Among Us was more accurate than you thought.

Jisung turned a sharp corner and burst through a door that led you into the electrical room. He pointed out a vent on the floor, telling you that if you went through there it should take you to navigation.

“How do we cut the power?” You wondered, completely overwhelmed by the huge number of wires in front of you.

“I don’t actually know.” Jisung mumbled.

“Maybe just pull the main switch.” You offered, only to be responded to with a confused look. “There. It’s like a giant switch that should shut off power to the whole place.”

“That will draw attention.” Jisung mentioned and you nodded.

“Probably. But so will the guards shouting for help in our cell. At least it may make running through the ship easier as we’d be harder to recognise in the dark.” You proposed.

Jisung went up to the switch, grabbing it with his right hand. “It’s our only option.” And with that he pulled it.

For a second nothing happened. Your heart began to beat faster again, a feeling you had become all to familiar with.

Then, everything went black.

“Wow. That’s darker than I was expecting.” He said. Jisung rubbed his eyes, trying to get them used to the new light enough for him to see you.

Once he saw an outline of your body he reached for your hand, slipping his gently into it. You jumped slightly when he made contact but the feeling of him rubbing his thumb on the back of your interlocked hands provoked a rush of calmness through your chest.

He tugged on your hand slightly. “Let’s go.”

You let Jisung lead you through the room, hearing the vent be pulled open. He climbed in first, offering you a helping hand. The vent was bigger than you were expecting, so big you could stand if you bent over slightly. 

As a second thought, you reached up and pulled it shut after you. Then you followed him down the tunnel. You tried to run as quietly as possible, but the metal clanged underneath your feet and all you could do was pray that it wasn’t heard from anywhere else.

It wasn’t long before Jisung pushed open another vent and you poured out into a small room.

“There’s normally only one or two of us in here, so I’m not surprised it’s empty.” He explained. “Grab as many maps as you can.

You wasted no time, placing multiple pieces of paper on top of each other and folding them over and over again to hold them together. You knew you didn’t have long. 

But when you reached for the last map you could see, something fell off it and onto the floor. You crouched down, grabbing the small object and held it up. You couldn’t quite make out what it was, but gradually you recognised the feeling of it. 

It was your necklace. Your eyes had adjusted a lot better by now and you could see the chain lightly hitting your hand as the paper plane sat between your fingers. You couldn’t believe it.

You looked back at the map and your jaw dropped again. It was your city. This must have been when they were trying to find you. You traced your fingers over where your home was, thinking of what your life used to be. You hoped everyone would be okay. And you wondered if you would ever make it back.

At least time moved slowly there in comparison to up here. It had probably barely been a minute since you had been taken.

After thinking about it for a second, you grabbed that map as well. You never knew when you might need it.

“Ready?” You looked up, seeing Jisung looking down at a particular map as well. You walked over to him. “Jisung?”

Jisung swallowed. This map had hit him like a sucker punch to the gut.

“This is our planet. Where I came from. I thought it was destroyed and that’s why we are travelling around but this is dated as two years ago.” He didn’t know what this meant. Was his home still intact? He was told it was hit by an asteroid and became uninhabitable due to the atmospheric changes that were caused but this map was making him question everything he ever thought he knew.

“Jisung, bring it with you. Fold it up but we have to move.” You shook him gently, trying to get through to him.

Jisung nodded, messily folding the paper and pushing it into the small pile he was holding. He grabbed your free hand with his and began to run again.

You ran through the hallways, trying not to get spotted by anyone but people were running everywhere. They were trying to reach the electrical room but there seemed to be some kind of commotion outside it.

“I blocked the door from the inside.” Jisung leaned down to you and whispered in your ear. “That should buy us some time.”

You nodded, squeezing his hand as a signal to go. If they knew the problem was in the electrical room then it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out you two were behind it.

“How far?” You asked between breaths.

“Down this hall and to the left, then down the stairs.” Jisung explained.

Thankfully, the left turn came up fast and the two of you thundered down the stairs, jumping down the last three.

Jisung let go of your hand and handed you his pile of maps as he set to work organising an escape pod.

“Thank god I actually listened in engineering class.” He muttered to himself, thankful that his teacher had found a way to get through to him. It was the only subject that he had enjoyed and the one that he had hoped to go into once graduating.

He fiddled with the controls, overriding one of the ships and instructing you to go inside. 

Just as he did that the lights came back on, blinding the two of you as they shone in your eyes

“They’ve escaped!” A voice echoed down the hallway and you and Jisung looked at each other in fear.

“Go!” He whisper-yelled at you, pushing you into the ship.

You climbed in the hatch, going down the ladder and landing on the floor. Jisung closed the hatch behind him, locking it with a twist and took off down the hallway again.

You followed him. While this ship was easily miles smaller than the previous one, it was still big for the two of you and took a solid minute of running to get to the front.

Jisung opened a door and you burst into what you assumed to be the front of the ship. There were two seats facing a large window and a maze of buttons on the control desk. Lucking Jisung seemed to know what he was doing.

“They have to know that we’re going for one of these.” Jisung said, pressing the buttons to start the ship as fast as he could. You put the maps down on the seat that Jisung wasn’t stood next to before stepping back to get out of his way. The buttons lit up in front of you and the ship hummed to life. “We’re ready.” He whispered as if he couldn’t quite believe it himself.

“Jisung!” You suddenly said and he spun back in a panic, thinking you had been caught. “Are you sure? I just want to make sure you’re one hundred percent sure you want to do this.”

“I am.” He said with such confidence that it was almost hard for you to believe it was the same awkwardly shy alien you met all that time ago. “If you’re sure as well?”

You nodded in response and he stepped forward and stroked your hair.

“There’s no going back y/n.”

“I know. You’ve gotten braver since we first met.” You told him, resting your hands on his sides.

“I’ve got something to be brave for.” He confided, leaning down to kiss you sweetly.

You didn’t think you could ever get tired of Jisung kissing you.

“As long as I’m with you, I’ll travel the stars forever.” The words came from your heart, and Jisung said the two words you’d heard multiple times today from him, but this time they caused excitement to run through you instead of fear.

“Let’s go.”

You were done being afraid.

Down you sat in the seat, staring out at the vast, never-ending space in front of you. You didn’t know what you were anymore. You were too human for outer space, but too alien for Earth. And you were going to spend your days walking through two worlds but belonging to neither.

Just as the legend intended.

Jisung pushed a level forward and the ship dropped down before taking off. He turned it to the side and you saw the huge spaceship you had been held captive in to your right. The two of you watched it for a second, but you didn’t want to stay so, once again, Jisung pushed forward and you shot off into the stars.

“We’re going to get lost.” You said breathlessly, as he nodded in agreement.

“Yep. But you have to be lost to find a place that can’t be found.”

His words brought a smile to your face, and you looked over at him to find him grinning into the sky as well. You found a notch in the ceiling and reached up to hang your necklace from it. It had meant so much to the both of you that it only made sense to have it close.

“Hey.” You called for his attention, and he looked over at you. “I love you.”

His grin grew even more into the huge gummy smile that you adored.

“I love you too.”

Together, the two of you shot off into the stars, searching for the forgotten land you were destined to find. With nothing but a few maps, and the paper plane hanging from the ceiling guiding your way.

[jpeg-dot-jpeg]

😈

5 and... jaytimkon??? (For the drabble prompts)

Jpeg fr the things I would do for a jaytimkon from you akfjslajdlaja

-@bi-bats

I haven't drabbled much into jaytimkon territory, but i'll do it for you, beloved <];)

"So how long have you two been married?"

It comes out of Jason's mouth as a joke. Or, at least, he means it as a joke. He expects a scoff or an eyeroll or maybe a besotted smile. He isn't quite sure what to do with the startled look Kon gives him.

"What?" the guy asks, stupidly thick lashes fluttering in abashment. His cheeks go pink and Jason gets the sense he's resisting the urge to fan his face like a scandalized genteel woman.

Jason nods his head towards the door that Tim had just left through after walking in, saying, "Do you-" and promptly getting handed exactly what he needed from Kon without having to specify what it was. It isn't the first time it's happened since the two of them have set up shop at the little basement coffee station - separate, of course, from Tim's regular coffee station up in his living area - waiting for Tim to work his genius.

It's kind of magical the way they operate on the same wavelength - finishing each other's sentences, knowing what the other needs, vollying inside jokes back and forth too fast for Jason to even pretend to keep up. It makes some kind of longing crawl up in his throat. So he teases instead of saying Can I get in on that? Instead of saying Stop doing that before I start uncontrollably sobbing. Instead of saying Who do I have to kill to get me a bitch like that?

Kon stutters out, "We're not- that's- why would you-"

"Oh my god, breathe," Jason orders, taking pity on him. "I was messing with you. I just meant that you two practically share a brain. It's kinda freaky. But also...kinda cool."

Kon looked down and shrugged. "Just known each other a long time. Lotta missions, lotta near-death experiences. Watching Santa get blown up together probably had something to do with it."

"You- what?"

"It's whatever." Kon waves a dismissive hand through the air. "We're close, but - I dunno. You bats have something else entirely going on. I'm sure you understand him better than I do."

"Oh, come on," he can't help but protest. "Just 'cause we're both bats doesn't mean we have some kinda psychic connection. If we could communicate the way the two of you do, we'd all beat each other up a lot less."

"No, seriously," Kon insists, face open and imploring in a way that makes Jason want to cover him with a blanket so no one else can catch him like that. "Sometimes I think he's the alien, but then I hear how he talks about you, the way all of you guys work together, and it's- it's a little cult-y, but it's also really cool? Like you guys have a secret language. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he's been obsessed with you for, like, ever, so there's kind of that hero worship thing going on, and you're actually smart enough to keep up with the stuff he talks about and-"

There's something in Kon's voice that tickles the back of his brain, something between He talks about me? and 'Batclan Cult Allegations.' It sounds stretched thin and bittersweet and tense. The pieces fall together faster than he can relegate them.

"Wait a minute," he interupts. "Are you jealous? Of me?"

The idea is bizarre, absurd, unthinkable. It makes a little bird flutter around in his stomach, but he isn't sure whether that has more to do with the lovely, mysterious creature in the next room over or the goregous, good-natured creature in front of him.

Kon shrugs again, refusing to meet Jason's gaze. "Who wouldn't be?"

A warmth surges in his gut, rushing to his palms in a way that makes him want to reach out and share the heat. He puts several years of laborious therapy to use and decides to take a chance.

"And here I was, all green with envy over watching the two of you together."

And once those ethereal blue eyes lock onto his, Jason can't look away.

"Maybe if we put our heads together," he continues, hoping Kon can hear all the things he isn't saying as well, "We can parse out what the hell Tim is talking about all the time, 'cause I don't have a fuckin' clue."

The laughter that earns him sounds like bells. And when Tim walks in and asks, "What's so funny?" the two of them share a knowing look, something just between them.

[xf-cases-solved]

S1E14: Gender Bender

Case: In what is arguably one of the most "why did you write this??" plots so far, our dynamic duo (per Mulder's request, I might add) investigate the deaths of five victims who appear to have, like... been fucked to death? Or something?

Actually I have to interrupt my own summary here, bc I just looked up the Wikipedia page (yes, bc I was trying to remember the state, shut up), and Glen Morgan is apparently quoted as saying he wanted "an episode with more of a sexy edge." How that ended up being this particular episode, I cannot say. That is an X-File in and of itself.

But I digress. People are dying of mb really high levels of pheromones caused by super mind-blowing sex. Sure. Also no one is sure if this killer is male or female. (They somehow manage to not even entertain the idea that any of the victims might have been gay, which I thought was an impressive feat of elephant avoidance.)

ANYWAY. Their investigation leads them to Massachusetts, where a bunch of sci-fi not-Amish people are chilling out doing not-Amish people things. Stuff kind of just snowballs from there. Mulder jumps down into the not-Amish people's ritual cellar with no backup and then proceeds to reprimand Scully for being reckless; Scully (for the first, but unfortunately not last time) almost bangs someone bc she is being manipulated due to some supernatural phenomenon; I laugh A LOT alone in my work office bc I had forgotten the stupid twist ending; and Nicholas Lea is a starving artist who has to take the roles he's offered if he ever wants to be bumped up to recurring character status. Sigh. Hustling the club scene used to be so simple...

Does someone die in the cold open: Yes. He is fucked to death. Or something.

Does Mulder present a slideshow: Yes! Of dead people! Who were fucked to death! Or something!

Does the evidence survive the investigation: The evidence doesn't even stay on this planet.

Whodunit: A horny alien cosplaying as a gender fluid Amish person. No, seriously.

Convictions: Zip.

Did they solve it: No. This is my very first explicit no with no qualifiers. They 1. did not figure out the cause of death definitively, 2. did not apprehend the suspect, 3. lost literally all of their evidence, and 4. the government wasn't even hiding anything this time, they just got outsmarted by some horny aliens and were left with nothing. In fact, I bet they actually know less now than when they started. Failure from top to bottom, guys, good work.

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Anxiously clenching your butthole while crossing your fingers and praying that your faves don't say anything TOO problematic. Are you educated in the systematic inequalities facing minorities in the world? Are you aware of how socially accepted language and behaviors have evolved over time to become more inclusive and less prejudiced? Do you also happen to be watching a show that was made pre-21st century, and "oh god, are they doing an episode that revolves around *gender*? Oh Christ. Oh no. Oh God"? Never fear! Anxiously clenching your butthole while crossing your fingers and praying that your faves don't say anything TOO problematic is here!

*This product is versatile, and can also be used in a variety of situations, including, but not limited to: Seeing your favorite celebrity's name trending online and not being sure why; introducing your trans friend to your socially conservative grandma; or being forced to listen to your boss's opinions on "woke culture" after your coworker casually mentioned seeing a black person in a new TV show.

Get clenchin'!

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 6 (streak ended. brutally)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, it's me" phone calls: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 5

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 4 (upped it another half point, bc i don't thiiiink the guy coercing her intended to put her life in danger. he just ("just") wanted to sexually assault her, but also apparently fucking those guys kills you, so. another toss up)

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 8 (for an episode that was meant to have a "sexy edge," it was deeply unhorny all around, even between our good good coworkers. they should have brought back that horny fire expert from episode 12 to bring up the heat, pun not intended)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 1

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 5

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2 (when i made that stat, part of me was like "mb i am misremembering how often that happens, and it won't even come up that much," and then it happened in the very next episode)

Total Number of Nosebleeds: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 2 (don't touch and sniff the weird alien goo wall??? i know for a FACT you keep rubber gloves in your pocket)

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 1

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 2

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 2

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 1

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: still 0, but like, uh... definitely the closest we've come so far

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 4 ½ (yeah i couldn't even pretend that i paid attention)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 2 (i didn't need to, but i did read the wikipedia page anyway just out of pure curiosity, bc why did they write that episode? i mean like, i was entertained, which ig makes it a win, but also just... why?)

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

patricia anthony fanart i made while expressing my love for her over on my twitter -- cause each chapter of Brother Termite makes me really swoony with the author; patricia anthony hasn:t written prose that strikes out at me as being super beautiful, and even her imagination with plots seems a little pale compared to {the parts of stephen king that i love}, but there:s this very strange cold love in brother termite that (combined with interviews i:ve read with her and some retrospective reviews of her body of work, mostly juxtaposing her late novel Flanders that broke from her preceding body of sci-fi genre works) just seems to me like the author expressing her own depressions and unlikelinesses with her and humanity; the little termite bruder so fascinated with humanity and a real sentimental love felt for the species that he:s pied-pipering into birth-rate-0 euthanasia, like him and his kind were these little wood louses that burrow themselves into the good wills of other species and then start to sneakily spit-and-chew out the ovums and testes and leaving just shitty little piles of dust and sand behind, cause that:s how the little bruder termite knows to love and knows to exist; it seems like an alien washington invasion story, but really: it:s Catcher in the Rye with an alien that realizes it can only violate consent;

--then reading the brief synopses of her other works like Gods Fires and Flanders and Happy Policeman, it--the cold depressed love--all seems like an ECHO of an idea (or some malignancy of her own character) that stuck with her, first expressed through little grey bruder termite alien men, and extra-extra-terrestrials, and then sombered down into a honed little realist muscle with Flanders: struck down from space, Patricia Anthony's career dead, and mired in the mud of World War I to critical acclaim and commercial disaster;

from chapter 13:

" The worst part of the waste will peak inside another fifty years. At that point we can retire the few workers left, give them lake cabins and motorboats, and allow them to enjoy the remainder of their lives.”

“Yes. That sounds perfect.” Reen had always pictured himself as the benevolent caretaker of the last of humanity.

“I see no point in wasting resources,” Tali said. “I suggest we begin the process of euthanasia.”

[annoyingenthusiastperfection]

Summary : headcanon version¡ Miles (42! & 1610!) Hobie brown , Pavtir Prabhakar , and gwen stacy. Finding out your Mlp collection.

Miles Morales

●It all started with u beeing good at drawing horses. Miles was impressed and asked how you draw so good.

"LIKE HOW??? ARE YOU SO GOOD AT DRAWING HORSES???

"Its cause I drew them alot"

●Miles was amazed on how knowledgeable about real facts on horses and the mythologyical one too. Unicorns? Alicorns? Pegasus? Please you can draw them blinded.

●But no matter what your explanation may be Miles just has a little suspicion that its not just cause your born to draw horses. He caught u doodling a purple oddly familiar alicorn.

"Hey what's that?" Miles pointed at your doodles as you closed your sketch book in emberassment. "nothing!"

●It was a normal day you and Miles on your dorm room studying suddenly beeing called by your roomates outside for some help. Miles was left in your dorm he was kicking his foot til he hit a box to hard making it fall down to reveal....

Ponies???

●You walked in to your dorm Miles brushing celestia's hair. You froze. Your soul leaving your body. Miles turned to you in a innocent smile.

"So you like my little pony? I still remember you drawing the purple one! What's her name? Sprakle Sprinkle?"

"IT'S TWILIGHT SPARKLE"

●It was funny when Miles deliberately or unintentionally mistakes the ponies name and you always corrected him. He once called chrysalis the alien pony. He called Cozy glow a crazy bitch when you forced him to watch all 9 seasons of the show including movies and mlpstopmotion videos.

●Loves the apple family and pinkie pie.

"I cant believe you watched this as a kid. I can understand how your so good at drawing horses now"

Gwen Stacy

●Gwen and you werent too close in the beginning .It was just you two were seatmates so she notice on your "subtle" referance to the show. Be it the elements of harmony colored gems sticker on your notebook. Your twilight sparkle cutiemark earings. Or just you doodling the treehouse of harmony.

"I like your earings"

"T-thank you"

●It was kind of normal of your friends picking or joking on your mlp obsession. It sometimes makes you left out since you couldnt for the life of God relate to alot of they're series of the month. It was hard for you to not cringe at Live action. You were used to animation. The live action just felt stiff compared to animation. Gwen never understood your friends she thought it was cool how you memorize ponies name cutie marks even backround ones.

●It was lunch time and Gwen went to her classroom early and theyre she saw you watching the wedding of shinning armor and cadence. Face full of food as you watch intently.

●Gwen smiled sitting next to you. "Mind if I sit next to you?" You jolted and fell of your chair luckily Gwen caught you. Eversince that day you watched mlp episodes with Gwen everylunch.

●She loved doing theories. Like why theyre never been a baby alicorn born till flurry heart. The connections of equestria magic and the human worls. Loves the idea of Discord beeing the last draconequus and finding solice in invading worlds to feel not alone.

●Loves the seaponies.

"God I love applejack love her honestyand loyalty to her family! And the cutie mark crusaders are adorable! Sweetie Pie is the cutest!"

Hobie Brown

●He didnt meet you as Hobie brown but as spider-punk. It was an accident when beating up some corrupt cops near by he saw you full pinkie pie cosplay. You wearing a pink wig with a blue , pink , and yellow cupcake dress. It caught him off guard of your ballon accecories. He got kicked in the face becuase he was distracted watching you.

●Eversince he saw you he tried seeing you again but god hates him. He couldnt find for the life of himself. He tried going to cons wandering around finding any familar cosplay. He called it a night at 3rd day going till.

"I am sorry-"

●It was you with the same pink wig , ballon clips , pink , blue and yellow cupcake dress.

"You look dench in that."

"Thank you! I worked really hard on the dress"

●Eversince that day Hobie offered to ask you about the cosplay finding out your suppose to cosplay pinkie pie from mlp. He was a little confuse at first but after watching 4 seasons he gets it. It took him a while to catch up but he thinks the show is enjoyable at the least.

●You convinced him to cosplay twilight as you cosplayed spike. Imagine him with purple glitter extensions , a pony ears and horn with wings. It was funny but he didnt mind. He was Qreally into you wearing loads of spikes on your outfit since you were cosplaying a dragon.

●When he showed up like that on a meeting with Miguel he didnt give a single crap only reapeting.

"I look awesome and you aint doing nothing about it"

●He loves discord and pinkie pie but has a soft spot for thorax.

"The changelings look cool before and after. You can't CHANGE my mind"

Pavtir Prabhakar

●200% already knew about the show. Was actually obsessed as a kid but nobody like to talk about it with him well except for you.

●You two rant about the better element and pony almost every week.

"RAINBOW DASH ISNT A SELF CENTERED FASHINISTA!"

"How dare you ..."

"I am sorry-"

"You say that to Rarity" *caressing Rarity plushie backpack*

●He honestly jsut took potery just to make mlp statues why? To flex on you thats why.

●Will and have bought every single main six plushies but you have the cards of the mainsix and princesses. Even his favourite. Big Mac. This man has begged and pleqded for that card but he held it ONCE.

●How can you hate him so much? It was all for the tease and who got the best merch.

●Loves loves spike and starlight.

"C'mon trade with meeeeee"

Miles G.

●You hid your mlp intrest from him to the point he never even visited your apartment. Not once.

"Hey can we hang out your place?"

"Sorry I have a rat infestation"

●He didnt push it any further and so everytime he asked theyre was a new excuse. The bathroom sink broke. My AC isnt working well. The place is a Mess. A fire recently happend. I almost got robbed so its unsafe. Excuses and Excuses.

●But this time you can't escape. It was you having you having a fever so he had to go your apartment. Nothing out of the ordinary it wasn't to big or to small but when he entered your room.

●Your bed was surrounded with mlp plushies from the main six , to the princesses , to the ponies of pony vill and more. Rapped in a twilight cutie mark pattern blabket sick out of your mind you stood up looking at Miles in you fluttershy pajamas.

"So this is why you dont want me to come here?"

"Ughhhh ... Shut up your lucky I am sick"

●Since you getting sick it became a habit of Miles just watching an Mlp episode or two to cool off. One time Uncle Aaron walked pass him watching the mlp movie and he was flabergasted to the brim.

"The hell are you watching?"

"Something good got a problem?"

●He likes to see your collection of mlp castles his favorite the crysatl empire the little flurry heart jusg warms his heart.

●He loves fluttershy but relates to applejack about family and uses Raindbow dashed motto.

"I GIVE AM 120% AWESOME STFU"

[paragonrobits]

on a whim i looked up the Templin Institute (a worldbuilding-focused youtube channel I dropped because I was horrified at a video they made where they claimed that the Men of Tolkien's Legendarium aren't REALLY human because they're not vicious enough, cruel enough, or obsessed with war) and I was miffed to see that apparently since I dropped them they made a video arguing that everyone in the MCU should be living in constant fear and that it would be better to live in the universe of The Boys (because the super serum is qunaitifable) and Warhammer 40k (since in that one, everyone is a zealot who believes that the God-Emperor protects them and thinks that all aliens are inherently evil)

and it sort of illustrates a thing that... I don't think sci fi fandom or writing IN GENERAL is like, but it is enough of a common element to bother me, and its when people treat cruelty, systemic brutality or man's capacity for evil as an inherently positive aspect.

This ties into the video that caused me to drop them; the channel made the claim that the Rohirrim would have been doing better if they had been genocidal and brutally attacked anything different enough from them (in the sense of "maybe if they had killed all orcs on sight for being nonhuman, Rohan would be doing better"). and its like... why?

I honestly can't fathom why anyone would consider that a good thing, or even think that it SHOULD be expected to hate and fear anything different from you, and to got to the extreme that NOT being xenophobic by default is some kind of failing, or imply that not wanting to kill all other forms of life makes you different from humans, or that being more bloodthirsty or willing to hurt others is an advantage.

What, I can't help but wonder, is the appeal in lionizing the worst parts of ourselves?

You see a lot of this in sci fi, and i think its because a lot of those look at the factions involved as characters in their own right, so they don't really feel much when stuff like 'by performign x social policy, the Human Dominion allowed 42 percent of its people to starve to death on purpose' is considered a fairly neutral detail.

Mindless fanaticism is often prized in these settings, to the point where the most common fandom memes is numbing stuff like 'FOR THE EMPEROR' and 'PURGE THE XENOS'. quite literally stuff all about turning your brain off and being happy about being a murderous garbage-animal that acts like a walking personification of the 'maybe the people who say all humans are inherently evil animals and that it will be a blessing when we all die and no longer poison the universe with our cancerous capacity for evil' idea.

i find it really, REALLY fucking creepy when this stuff gets popular, and more to the point, when the idea of 'humans are naturally warriors/soldiers' becomes so prevalent that you have people hating the idea of some universe where we don't automatically try to kill things for not being like us. its just exhausting, and tedious and...

I don't know, but it doesn't really sound right with archaelogical evidence for us.

I'm thinking about how ancient graves from our own ancestors and our neanderthal cousins both have many signs of caring for the ill, the elderly and infirm. the remains of children with severe Down's syndrome who survived until at least five years old, well cared for by others. Lots and lots of bodies with healed fractures and broken legs, which means someone took care of them; a running animal, and a hunter, with a broken leg is a dead animal. A healed leg is someone who was taken care of.

I think about how on the island of Cyprus, they found an truly ancient burial. In it, they found the body of a long-dead human, and beside them, the body of a cat, laid to rest with ceremony and by all signs, love.

The burial is around 9,500 years old; almost ten thousand years ago.

This predates the first confirmed use of writing by at least 3000 years or so. 3000 years before the epic of gilgamesh became one of our first stories (a story, I note, about a king who grieves the death of a friend and desperately tries to find the secret to immortality, and in time makes peace with the inevitability of death, and becoming a story we still know today).

War goes back a long way; there's no mistake about that. But I think about how friendships and love for animals that loved us too, and long-dead people still showing the signs that people cared enough about them to keep them alive as long as possible, is probably much more integral to the concept of being human, or perhaps what it means to be a thinking entity at all, more than our capacity to hurt each other.

[bumblekastclips]

KYLE CROUSE: ‘Bring back the Freedom fighters’ asks, “Okay, Ian. Sonic/Aliens crossover. What happens, who gets face-hugged, chest-busted, and whose powers do the Xenomorphs get from host? And who goes Super to save the day?”

IAN FLYNN: This is hard, ‘cause I don’t really want to wish the xenomorph upon anybody. That’s a bad way to go…  KYLE: [chuckles] Uh-huh. IAN: Which stage of the xenomorph? All of them! KYLE: Any and all, yeah. IAN: Although… I now have this mental image of Amy scooping up Cream into her arms, wielding the hammer, and staring down the Queen, saying, “Get away from her, you bitch!”  KYLE: I was thinking the exact same thing! [laughs] Oh man! IAN: No! I hate to rob the moment from Amy, but it should go to Blaze, ‘cause she is the flamethrower!  KYLE: Oh! Oh, oh, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah! Oh… I do— Yeah, I agree with you there. Okay. IAN: Eh, it’s the— it’s both of them. They’re both rescuing— they’re both rescuing her. KYLE: It could be— it could be either way. It can go either way, but oh, man, that’s such a good one. IAN: Yo, maybe that’s it! We get away from folks being face-hugged, ‘cause the little crawlers get into, like, a Chao garden and they infect the eggs themselves. So you have, like, Perfect Chaos-esque xenomorphs. KYLE: [excited laughter] Ohhh, no! Oh! [inhales] Eggman— Eggmanland-Utani. No! IAN: [cackling laughter]  KYLE: No! How could you do that? [laughing] Oh, man! [reading chat] Face-huggers to face-hug Starline? Augh! [laughs]  IAN: Eh… [unintelligible]   KYLE: It’s a little obvious, but… IAN: You- you worry for Big for a half-second ‘cause it does get up there and latch onto his face, but then he just kinda slurps it down and crunches it like crab. KYLE: [horrified laughter]  IAN: [as Big] “That’s a little spicy…” [as other character] “It’s full of acid, Big!” [as Big] “Yeah, my tummy feels rumbly…” KYLE: [laughing, reading chat] “Alien VS Predator & Knuckles.” IAN: [cackles, then as other character] “What do you think, Knuckles?” [as Knuckles] “If it bleeds… we can kill it.” KYLE: Yeah! [laughing]  IAN: Ugh, this would totally be stealing a scene from Superman VS Aliens, but Shadow gets face-hugged, and he just spits the xenomorph out. KYLE: I don’t know if I realized that was a thing. [chuckling]  IAN: It’s actually— it’s been a long time. KYLE: Superman VS Aliens, wow. IAN: It’s been a long time since I read it, but it’s a really solid read from what I remember, and yeah, Supes gets face-hugged at one point, and the xenomorph starts to form in him, and he manages to just spit it out in the void of space. KYLE: Yeah. IAN: Like, dude, that is hardcore! KYLE: Wow. Wow. Shadow’s just taken to shooting ‘em, obviously. Just constantly. That’s kind of— IAN: Well, that too, yeah, sure. KYLE: Shadow’s kind of— kind of used to shooting aliens. IAN: [as Shadow] “Come on, Omega, we’re going on a bug hunt.” KYLE: [laughs] IAN: [as Omega, robotically] “Game over, man! Game over!” KYLE: [laughing] It’s just Shadow the Hedgehog 2, it’s true! IAN: There you go! KYLE:[sighs] Oh, man… oh man!

--- TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Please remember that nothing that is said on BumbleKast is canon! It's just some guys and their opinions occasionally spitballing ideas. If you don't like an answer, you don't have to take it as Word of God or anything like that. It's all just for fun!

[ruthlesslistener]

do you have any headcanons for anything you've been holding onto, but haven't had a good chance to post about? I love your fics and I wanna peer into your mind palace

Shhdhchs EXCELLENT bc ive had a lot of thoughts but this quarter + anxiety in general has been killin me

-Okay so I'm still hyperfixated on Destiny 2 bc of a DnDestiny game I'm in, but since Hollow Knight is a special interest and I read a couple of frankly stunning crossover fics (one with the Inheritance Cycle, one with Transformers, both are outstanding and I will recc them wholeheartedly if you ask- the TF one especially blew my tits clean off which is saying something bc I have zero TF knowledge, also its 500k words but I'm rambling), my brain has been essentially locked into the concept of a crossover AU where a couple of my D2 OCs get slingshot into the HK world via a fucked-up warpgate through wish-dragon magic, and it's now got me kind of obsessed with the idea of the world of Hollow Knight taking place on an alien planet that had some convergent evolution re: general insect body plans, but went off the fuckin' rails with everything else. So here's some worldbuilding thoughts on that:

-Their planet would be far from Earth and the origin place of the Ahamkara and precursor race to the Worm Gods, who are distant relatives to each other that took to the stars to opportunistically feed off of rifts in reality. They are in turn sister taxa to the Wyrms and Higher Beings from Hollow Knight, who also feed off of the wants, desires, and gulf between what-is-desired-and-what-is-true, but unlike the worms and wish-dragons, the Higher Beings are essentially 'settled' species. They're the farming civilization to the hunter-gatherers of their Destiny-based kindred, and yes, both branches of the family tree fucking despise each other and look down scornfully on the other's lifestyle. The Higher Beings view the Worms and Ahamkara as little more than scavengers, while the Worms and Ahamkara see the Higher Beings as glorified slavedrivers with sticks up their asses- though it should be noted that since the Ahamkara's whole deal so far has been malignant trickery as a hunting style, this doesn't neccessarily carry the same negative connotations that it would in our society. I also don't know enough about the proto-Worms to say how their race would react, but the Worm Gods as they are now certainly are something that Wyrms would look down on

-(Yes that means I have thought extensively about the Pale King's ghost bristling aggressively at a baby ahamkara barely a few hours old. In my defense, it's funny, and also I almost never remember to write him as the cold, prickly, arrogant ass that he is bc his kids make him Big Sad)

-The planet would likely be smaller than Earth with lighter gravity, though how much smaller I can't say because I'm not a fuckin' physicist. I just want an excuse for making fuckoff-huge animals a thing even beyond the inherent space magic thing going on

-Oh, and most life is underground because the atmosphere is thinner than Earth and so the upper surface gets bombarded with deadly amounts of radiation, which causes the mind-wiping effects of the Wastes (where the angle towards their sun is the greatest and thus the strongest). Ngl I did briefly think about potential magnetic field fluxes also being the cause of that effect but like, I cannot overstate how little I know of things outside biology

-HK being set on an alien planet lets me do wack shit with the species there too bc I'm no longer bound by comparing them to Earthbound species. For example, I can make Quirrel an isopod with cricket legs. Who's going to stop me, God? He doesn't exist here

-That also means I can stop being bothered by Herrah's dubious leg placement bc it would kill me forever otherwise

-Also, them being on an alien planet gives me even more of an excuse to never put traditional vertebrate species in there, which is great. I've said it before, but putting Earth vertebrates in the HK setting totally ruins all the fun for me because I love the concept of all the species diversity being made up of invertebrates, and that the 'advanced' bugs we see have filled the niche that vertebrates would have otherwise taken over. Like the carboniferous period but on steroids

General HK thoughts too:

-been toying with the idea of wyrms having a set of evertable inner jaws like polychaete worms, which would be used for keeping dirt out of the mouth and biting off chunks to eat, while the outer jaws (the ones we see) are used for killing, digging, and sparring with other wyrms. The idea is that the outer ring of mandibles bites big circular chunks out of the substrate, which then breaks off into tiny pieces they filter out in between gaps in their mandibles and pack down into tunnel walls as they move forward

-I've also been toying with the idea of them secreting some kind of mucus as they dig that's almost a calcifying substance, but now that I think about it, I can probs just put those glands in their frontal mouth so if they need to reinforce a tunnel (like, say, one burrowed in sand instead of rock), they can mix their saliva in with the substrate to chemically solidify the tunnel walls

-Which btw is a major thing for ecosystems bc the tunnels are used for lots of different things by lots of different species. Wyrms are terraformers baybee!! Kinda the same way wildfires are, but still

-I've also been thinking about maybe making it so that the row of plates I like to draw on their backs act as a secondary pair of belly scutes, which means that wyrms can slither just as easily upside down as they can on their undersides, which helps underground. It's not as efficient as the super-smooth scales on a blind snake, but that's the tradeoff they get for needing to be so heavily armoured

-I'm also leaning towards making marine/freshwater variants that are just straight-up bobbit worms on even more steroids, but since I already have fuckoff huge marine alien bobbit worms in a scifi setting of mine, I'd need to figure out a way to make them unique

-I learned that there's internalized folds of exoskeleton for muscle attatchment in my invertebrate biology course and got really excited about that being a potential basis for the formation of skeletal elements in the world of Hollow Knight- like, maybe bug bones started off as those lil folds (i forgot their technical name which is embaressing bc i literally just took the final this night) becoming stronger and deeper-set into the body to better support the weight of larger and larger bugs, and then it spiraled into a skeleton analogue from there. Being derived from the exoskeleton probably means that it would be less strong than our bones, but it would likely also be lighter

Misc:

-God I really need to write Hornet in Silksong so bad. Fuck. I need need need to write this mildly autistic unsocialized princess running amok in a civilization that isn't ready for her. Also my interpretation of Lace is basically an oc at this point but I don't want to do anything with her just yet bc that shits a lot of work, I just need to write everything down for her so far (and tbh Lurien probs also counts at this point but thats more filling a niche that TC left unfufilled)

-I've also got gijinka thoughts in that I'm leaning towards making Lurien a trans guy who didn't have any gender-affirming surgeries bc a.) I love love love making a variety of trans characters and b.) Hallownest isn't a society where the concept of being transgender is an issue, so there's no need to do it to pass, only to prioritize your own comfort. And since Lurien never expected to be seen in anything but his formalware, he never saw the point of bothering

-(The aformentioned point also applies to normal bug Lurien but this is more of a personal thing here)

-Need to focus more on how the latent magic of the god of a realm changes your eye colour, with the more intense the shade = the more involved you are with their magic. Using Lurien as an example again: his eyes were brown naturally, but after he became Watcher, they slowly shifted to shades of paler and paler blue. I also like the idea of Quirrel's eyes getting more blue the more memories of Hallownest he unlocks, until they're the same shade as the Blue Lake in his final scene

-This can also happen in reverse; for example, my Lace gijinka starts off with gold eyes to signify the church of Pharloom's hold over her, but then slowly revert back to brown as Hornet gives her more and more hope that the institution can be toppled, until they're eventually their natural deep brown with just the faintest flecks of silver in them (signifying Hornet's importance in her life)

-It just occurred to me the other day when I was at work that Striga and Morgana from Castlevania S3 are almost exactly how I imagined my Vespa and Herrah gijinkas to be and now I can't stop thinking about it. The main difference is that my Herrah is a fat spider-orc with tats and Vespa is a fae queen with bee features shimmering through her human veil, but still. Its uncanny

[virusinfected-memes]

TUMBLR TEXT POST SENTENCE STARTERS, PT. 2 ;

75 starters. CW: blood mention, cussing, death. Starters come from various text posts floating around Tumblr. The only thing changed for this post was adding capitalization and punctuation. Feel free to change words and pronouns as needed! [PART 1]

“Academia is cool and sexy until I’m expected to work.”

“An anime with more than a hundred episodes is a bigger commitment than marriage.”

“Anyone who believes all water tastes the same is no acquaintance of mine.”

“Anyway, that’s every reported eyewitness account of Mothman through ‘68, and that’s just in West Virginia! Haha, but enough about me. Let’s hear about your top five cryptids!”

“Aside from being the worst person alive, I am literally perfect.”

“At the end of the day, I’m just a girl who loves her bed.”

“Being equally obsessed with each other sounds hot to me.”

“Being good doesn’t get you anything.”

“Be the worst you can be.”

“But do aliens believe in me?”

“Don’t let anyone dehumanize you. Dehumanize yourself. Be the creeping eldritch horror you’ve always longed to be. Rain furious vengeance down upon those who would unmake you.”

“Do something today that would’ve gotten you burnt at the stake four hundred years ago.”

“Do you ever just want someone to come over and sit on the floor with you for a few hours?”

“Do you ever wanna listen to music, but every song is just not the right song?

“Feeling safe around someone’s energy is a different kind of intimacy.”

“Flirting is childish. We’re grown. Just tell the person you like that you see God in their eyes.”

“Friendly reminder that the age of technology is coming to an end and a new age of blood magic and dark rituals will take its place.”

“Friendship is temporary. Blood pacts are forever.”

“Girls don’t want boys. Girls want to live in a Victorian estate and be the most feared widow in the village.”

“Half of me is a hopeless romantic and the other half of me is, well, an asshole.”

“Having a body causes me so much agony. I wish I was just a floating entity with no physical form.”

“How do I overthink so much and still make the wrong decision?”

““I can fix him!” You can’t even fix your sleep schedule, bestie.”

“I don’t care if your body is a temple. Call me when it’s been closed down and taken over by Spirit Halloween.”

“I don’t know about soulmates, but those people who eat parts of the food or candy that you don’t like and you do the same for them... We’ve lived a hundred lifetimes together, probably.”

“I don’t think we can romanticize our way out of this one, boys.”

“If you see me in the streets, just know that my mind is in the void. I’m physically alive, but mentally checked out.”

“I guess we all learned a valuable lesson. Except for me. I wasn’t paying attention and was asleep for most of the time.”

“I hate when people ask what I would do in their situation because nine times out of ten, I would literally never be in that situation in the first place.”

“I hope manners is the next cool trend.”

“I just love sleep so much. Like, you just close your eyes and you’re gone, bitch. Brain logged the fuck off. Powerful.”

“I just realized there’s, like, a hundred new Pokémon coming this year, give or take, and I have to decide what personal memories and details about friends to forget in order to make room for them all.”

“I like my women like I like my woods. Haunted and could kill me at any moment.”

“I like to fuck around and waste time at least six to ten hours a day, and let me tell you, that puts some pressure on your schedule. You have no idea how busy I am.”

“I love to learn. Unfortunately, my brain doesn’t like to remember.”

“I love when I ‘make a mental note’ of something. It’s gone within twenty seconds.”

“I’m not a religious person, but I do sometimes think God made you for me.”

“I’m not playing hard to get. I genuinely don’t know how to talk.”

“I’m wearing dark glasses today because I’m seeing the future, and the future is looking very bright.”

“I think it’s so neat that everyone develops their own unique handwriting even though we’re all taught to write our letters the same way. Really, it’s so cute.”

“I think making sense is optional. Sometimes I just be talking.”

“I think the meaning of life is eating good food in the company of people you love.”

“It’s because I’m pretty, that’s why I have problems.”

“It’s crazy how I’m just some person.”

"It seems you are in love with your computer.”

“It’s not rude to interrupt someone to point out a dog. It’s actually more polite because then they don’t miss out on the dog.”

“I will never elaborate because I have no idea what I just said.”

“Live, laugh, love? Nah. Languish, lament, lay down.”

“Michael Myers taught me a valuable life lesson. Don’t worry about how fast everyone around you is moving. If you’re determined, just move at your own pace and you’ll kill shit every time. Thanks, Mike.”

“Moving to the forest to eat leaves and lie in the dirt. Insurance companies can’t deny me this.”

“Okay, bored of being alone now. Ready to get married.”

“Okay, hear me out... What if—now bear with me—we held hands? Maybe even kiss a little? Hugs would be nice—”

“People keep posting ‘what’s REALLY in your food’ articles like I’m gonna stop eating whatever it’s about. Listen, death is coming. Death is coming. Pass me a hot dog.”

“People who fall asleep right away freak me out. Don’t you bitches have thoughts?”

“Really starting to understand old people these days. I love letters. Love packages. Terrified of my email inbox.”

“Someone take me out. Either in the assassination way or in the date way.”

“Sorry for being so sexy and having the best taste in literature. As if I asked for it.”

“Sorry I called you a fucking idiot. I was trying to flirt.”

“So what if I love you? Shut up.”

“The fact that I have to be in the ‘right headspace’ to do even the simplest tasks is absolutely humiliating.”

“The only difference between me and a medieval peasant is that I can make a Spotify playlist to express my feelings.”

“The only reason I haven’t gone insane is because I romanticize everything.”

“There should be a dating app where you talk to people who borrowed the same books from the library.”

“There’s something inherently holy about kitchens.”

“Tired of being a person. Would much rather be an unidentifiable and nebulous entity that lives in the woods and may or may not be an omen of misfortune to come.”

“Wanna haunt the neighborhood with me tonight?”

“Well, I used to be attracted to people, but now I’m exclusively attracted to abstract art and the concept of death.”

“What is the logic behind naps leaving you with a weird taste in your mouth? I wasn’t eating, I was sleeping. It’s the spiders, isn’t it?”

“Winnie the Pooh didn’t rock crop tops our whole childhood to watch us become unconfident about our bodies.”

“Yes, I’m dramatic! What did you expect? I read classic literature for fun.”

“You’d look prettier under six feet of dirt.”

“You don’t always need to talk. Like, it’s good to shut the fuck up sometimes. I love not talking.”

“You gotta walk into rooms like God sent you.”

“You’re beautiful, but you’re empty. No one could die for you.”

“You wanna know what’s annoying me right now? It’s me. I am annoying the goddamn shit out of myself.”

[fluffle-writes]

As I don’t know much about “weird core” what thought process do you tend to imply when designing the characters? You talked a bit about Epel’s wings being stone and Pomfoire being angelic cause of the strict rules, but what else do you tend to think? (Let me pick apart your brain! Your designs are so cool and I wanna know the ideas!)

Weirdcore AU Masterlist Here!

Ehehe, okay so! From what I understand about the concept, Weirdcore is an aesthetic that's reminiscent of things being uncanny, almost like in a dream where things are familiar but different - in a way that may feel unnatural! Shadows may fall strangely, or beings encountered may not be 'constructed' in a way that makes logical sense!

Because of this, I try to make my edits a little uncanny! Ace's flower has a wide, staring eye in the centre of it and no discernable mouth. Cater has a false face and four eyes that seem more cold and calculating. Vil is large and imposing, and Rook has no discernable human face - just a shadow. All these features can make the edits feel more uncanny or not quite right, which is what I feel captures the essence of Weirdcore!

(I'll put the info for each of the dorms under the cut here since it got really long haha)

As for the way I decide how to design the characters - I'm trying to keep each dorm on a theme! Heartslabyul, for example, will all have plants or flowers for heads, and a number of eyes that match their card number (I'm torn between giving Riddle no eyes - to represent his bling rage - or many eyes - to make it look like he's always watching/observing) the flowers I'm choosing will also have either references to flowers that may be associated with the characters in game (such as a rose for Riddle or a Violet/Clover for Trey) whereas others will be focused more on flower language or colours that suit them well - like Riddle and Cater.

Savannaclaw will have the heads of their respective animals - similar to what I did for Crewel - but I think I'm going to add skeletal designs to them like the spine/teeth I gave Ruggie! That way it can be a reference to how, under Scar's reign, the animals in the Lion king went through a drought and famine. I may go for a cooler colour scheme for Jack though, to make him seem somewhat separated from the other two in a reference to how he felt alienated by their plans in book 2, as well as using it as a way to reference how he grew up in a colder climate.

I'm less sure about Octavinelle - but I definitely want to include heart imagery for Jade and Floyd due to their UMs, and maybe a brain for Azul to have them all match. Perhaps it could be a joke that their hearts are visible when, in reality, they're not the types to 'have their heart on their sleeve' as the saying goes! I'll also likely use scale patterns and give Azul a few tentacles, but I'm not planning on giving them the heads of their respective merform species so they can feel more different to Savannaclaw.

Scarabia will have themes around precious materials and gems - I want to give Jamil Viper-like qualities, but I'll probably use overlays to give golden patterning to the scales to match Kalim. His details will be much less pronounced and more hidden though, to reference how he hides his true potential in order to avoid outshining Kalim. I feel like adding more eyes, either closed or open I'm not sure yet, could reference his observant behaviour as well as his UM since it works with eye contact.

Pomefiore, as you already know, has an angel theme. This is partially because of the restrictions that may be associated with angels - for example, some beliefs suggest that angels do not have free will so that they can fulfill the will of their god without error. However, I also chose angels because they're often described as being beautiful or otherworldly - something that cannot be truly perceived but is still believed to be pure and beautiful. This kind of references how I feel about Vil as a character - he's seen as beautiful on the outside, but many people fail to notice how caring he is and how much effort he puts into helping his peers become the best they can be.

Ignihyde, as you could probably guess, will be themed after technology. I'm gonna give Idia a CRT monitor for a head because I think they're cool - plus I can do fun things with his expressions using the screen! The tech thing is self-explanatory but the CRT thing could call back to how Idia holds onto his past and his Grief. Also CRT monitors may be more clumsy or awkward, which could work well alongside his awkwardness in social situations. I'm not too certain about Ortho though... I may make him slightly based on a doll - perhaps with a broken screen...

Diasomnia is one I'm having a little more trouble with - but I think I'll go for a theme of light/fire for them. Lilia has a lit candle for a head to represent how his life is burning down and may be snuffed out soon, Sebek will have something lightning-themed, and I feel like Silver could have a different appearance altogether, but I'm not entirely sure what I'll do for him yet... As for Malleus, I'm also struggling a little with him too, but I'll probably place a flame between his horns and add more Weirdcore elements to the rest of his design. I'll get there when I get there haha.

I hope this was coherent lol! Feel free to ask for clarification on anything I may have accidentally missed!