#my freshman roommate was constant on a call until midnight or later every night and it made me insane

[good-night-space-kid]

I was just sooo brave and asked my roommate to either move to the common space or wrap things up after she was on an audio call with all of the lights on at 10:30 when prior to moving in she said she was fine with lights off no noise after 10pm. I really hope the rest of the summer isn’t like this because truly I will be so miserable and I don’t know if I can do that again 😭

[starjeno]

destined | l.mh | 1

genre: fluff, very little angst (?) | soulmate!au, genderswap!au pairing: student!mark x female!reader warnings: mentions of divorce word count: 1192 summary: it’s a fact of life that soulmates swap bodies. when mark wakes up in a bed that isn’t his, he’s delighted. you, on the other hand, absolutely despise it. a/n: i noticed a lot of people haven’t written genderbend/genderswap scenarios with nct, and then i was binging soulmate fics when i was like, whoa let’s combine the two! every chapter, the warnings will change.

mark watches the stars gleaming in the indigo sky. he’s always like this around the end of summer, fixated on the expanse above him filled with wispy clouds and celestial bodies. his tan elbows are propped on the windowsill and although the room is chilly, the black-haired boy makes no effort to grab any source of insulation.

“it’s late,” a voice calls from the kitchen and mark is startled from his trance. he turns to face his roommate, meeting his warm gaze, “i always stay up, yuta.”

“and you always have classes in the morning,” the japanese man hums back, voice lilted. mark simply rolls his eyes and reaffixes his gaze back onto the night sky, his own pupils mirroring the glittering stars. he isn’t sure why he gets so spacey at this time of night, why his mind seems crowded with too many thoughts yet quiet and barren. it’s not like he’s preoccupied with anything in particular.

“winwin’s going to visit next week, is it okay if he stays with us?” yuta asks softly as he arranges the dishwasher. the soft clink of the porcelain makes mark tense — his shoulders straighten and his stomach clenches. he pauses before mumbling a quiet affirmative, remembering yuta’s boyfriend. his soulmate.

mark doesn’t consider himself a romantic, but he thinks about soulmates a lot. he remembers his mom telling him about the fateful system when he was young: at some point in their lifetime, two people whose destinies align switch bodies for a week. it seemed too good to be true — being paired with your other perfect half, meant specifically for you. he didn’t believe it until it happened to his best friend in the second grade, replacing the notorious prankster with the sweet-voiced girl from the classroom down the hall mid-lesson. 

when yuta suddenly started speaking chinese and forgot the passcode to his phone in freshman year, he immediately recognized what was happening. 

mark likes to fantasize about that moment. it’s the reason why he revolutionized his wardrobe and vigorously cleans his room every week — whenever the switch finally happens, he wants to make sure they have a good first impression of him. whenever he listens to yuta talk about winwin, about how when he looked in the mirror the first time and nearly screamed with delight at the handsome reflection, it makes mark feel adamant to impress his soulmate in the same way.

mark watches the night sky darken into a midnight blue, lingering on the fading stars. his completion is out there, somewhere on the same planet as him. breathing the same air as him. under the same sky as him. the words come out of him before he even realizes it.

“you really like your soulmate, huh.”

your dad laughs on the other side of the phone at your words. it’s comforting to hear his deep voice in your ear, especially since you’ve been experiencing bouts of homesickness lately. his chuckles die down and you press your phone even closer to your cheek.

“i mean, i’m sad that your mom and i didn’t work out. but we’re both much happier now, you know?” he explains and you agree, remembering the last time you saw your family. it seems like no matter how much you don’t want to participate in the weird process, it’s inevitable. even your parents tried to fight the system and ended up part of it.

you hear your dad’s soft sighs on the line and decide it’s getting late, “um, i should sleep. i’ll call you later, okay? i’m glad you’re finally engaged, though.”

“thanks, ____. don’t tell your sister, though. i’m breaking the news,” he laughs again and you wish you could save the comforting sound, play it on repeat. your university is far from your hometown and you weren’t looking forward to the rise of a new semester. after wishing him a good night, you flop back onto your mattress.

it’s nice when your roommate is out late. the dorm is quieter, more peaceful, and it gives you room to organize your thoughts, especially after a long day. your mind wanders to your childhood, filled with bandaged knees and the constant pain of your sparkly scooter thwacking your bruised ankles every five seconds. the day when your mom woke up confused is fresh in your memory, frightened to be in the same bed as your dad, and when a strange man in pajamas appeared at your doorstep, chanting apologies to your family. 

you remember your mom telling you to stay quiet when she left the house at late hours, guiltiness shrouding her soft features. you remember your parents’ yells from the living room while you bit the corner of your covers.

you don’t like the concept of soulmates. in fact, to you, it’s one of the more distasteful realities of life. it doesn’t make sense why people had to have one. the fact that it occurs at a random point in your lifetime, that you don’t even get a warning beforehand, that people live in constant wariness until they find their other half — you feel angry just thinking about it. the bed dips more when you turn onto your side, twisting your legs upward. perhaps you’re biased — after all, the soulmate system is the reason why your parents divorced — but just not being able to fall in love naturally and having your future controlled by fate, like puppets on a string, it felt so wrong.

the door to your room squeaks softly and you watch your roommate’s head pop out, glancing around the room with caution. the girl gives you a soft smile once she sees your watchful gaze, “____, you’re still awake?”

“i just got off a call with my dad. um,” you explain, pausing as you think of what to say next, “did … did you have fun with kun?”

“i wish i did,” she sighs, running a hand through her thick hair before walking in, setting her purse on the nightstand, “we saw someone switch at the club today. can you believe it? he was getting it on on the floor and then suddenly, he just starts cursing and freaking out!”

you laugh a little bit, imagining the feeling his soulmate must’ve had when they found themselves surrounded by a congested circle of ass and hands around their new body. your roommate huffs in amusement at the memory as well, before fixating her eyes on the ground, “it just … makes me a bit sad since i know i can’t be with kun forever. like, i really enjoy his company, you know? he’s so kind and loving and perfect!”

her eyes are filled with impossible wishes when they meet your stare, and you nod with empathy. it’s people like her that make you hate soulmates even more, “i know. i wish it were different.”

“soulmates suck,” she says in disgust as she flings herself onto the bed beside you, wrapping her arms around your torso. you couldn’t have said it better yourself. hopefully, you won’t have to deal with it for a while.

next | masterlist

[ladyofdecember]

Rusty Venture’s Timeline (SPOILERS!)

This is an updated list of Rusty’s life and timeline up to the beginning point of the show starting. The new dates we’ve been given from Season 7 and the new art book are added here but some dates are conflicting with others due to the nature of the information we’ve been given. Beware of spoilers, obviously, if you haven’t watched recent episodes or read the book yet!

Rusty is born (Probably 1964)

Jonas Sr. at some point sleeps with Mz. Quymn and she has a daughter, Tara Quymn.

As a child, Rusty was kidnapped a lot for ransom and Jonas Sr. and Team Venture have to come and save him. So much so that Jonas Venture Sr puts a tracking device in one of his molars, unbeknownst to Rusty. We know that he did not start accompanying his father and Team Venture on adventures until he was 3 years old (1967) (Now Museum Now You Don’t, Past Tense)

Jonas Sr. at some point sleeps with The Blue Morpho's wife who is The Monarch's mother. (1967) (Arrears In Science)

The Monarch is born (1967) (Arrears In Science)

Rusty is shipwrecked on an island and went to Spanakopita for the first time (Spanakopita!) Set sometime during Jackie Onassis’ wedding, around Oct 20, 1968. Age 4

At some point Rusty meets Hector Molina and they become good friends. Hector even comes to live with them for a bit(?) (Self Medication)

At some point, The Monarch and Rusty meet each other as children (S.P.H.I.N.X. Rising) We know this occurs after the statue was built and placed on the compound’s front lawn and prior to The Monarch’s father and mother dying in a plane crash since they were present at the time. This puts their rough ages as Rusty at probably 7 and The Monarch at 4. 

When Rusty was 8 years old, the Action Man played a prank on him by throwing a fake grenade at him. When his dog, Scamp 3, ran over to it, Rusty panicked and threw himself on top of it to save his dog’s life, and in turn became injured by it piercing his kidney. He had at this point, lost two previous pet “Scamps”, which he chose to continue to name the same way each time. The original Scamp was sent into space by Jonas years before. 1972

Jonas Sr. begins having multiple “key” parties at the compound and Rusty and Tara spend a lot of time together when he is age 10 (1974) before something separates them for more than 20 years. (Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman)

Unknown date - Rusty spends many nights awakened by the Action Man holding an empty gun to his head.

When Rusty was ten years old, he wrote a letter to The Herculoids, calling them hippies for not fighting in Vietnam. (Twenty Years To Midnight) 1974

Also sometime around the age of 10, Jonas is building Gargantua I and Rusty is seen in filmstrips helping him. (Careers In Science) 1974

The Monarch’s father, The Blue Morpho, died in a plane crash when he was 8 years old (1976) just a few months out from his September birthday, when he would turn 9 (Arrears In Science)

Jonas rescues The Blue Morpho from the plane crash site and turns him into Venturion (September 30th, 1976) (Arrears In Science)

June 23, 1977 (at age 11) Rusty is attacked by the Bicentennial Man/Venturion, the robot Jonas has been working on as a product of Venture Industries, who tries to kill him by choking him to death. Rusty begins having many recurring nightmares about this event. Venturion is destroyed by Kano, then later stolen by Dr. Z. He then went off the grid for a year, and returned as Vendata later on in 1977. (Bot Seeks Bot, Arrears In Science)

Rusty has a prom at the Venture Compound, graduates from his learning bed and then goes to college all at age 17. (1982) He remained at college for an unknown number of years until learning of the news that Jonas Sr died on Gargantua I on April 9th, 1987. (Now Museum Now You Don’t, Past Tense, Arrears In Science)

The day that his father, Jonas Sr., dies Rusty immediately leaves college (drops out) and heads back to Spanakopita for the first time since he was a kid (about 20 years later). Jonas dies on Gargantua I on April 9th, 1987 so Rusty dropped out of college in 1987. (Arrears In Science) Rusty goes back to Spanakopita every year around the same time and brags he hasn’t missed a Spanakopita in “20 years”. (Past Tense, Spanakopita!) Rusty is complaining that his roommate is a freshman so he has to be at least a year above freshman year. Rusty says that he went to State University “in the 80′s”, (Pomp and Circuitry) Rusty says he had been friends with Mike for more than a year. He also mentions Mike was obsessed with Coco from Fame the year before, meaning that they can’t have attended college prior to 1980. Rusty is most likely referring to the T.V. show and not the movie Fame so this places them in their freshman year between 1982 to 1983. We also know that Rusty was < 24 in college due to his statement indicating that he didn’t have sex in college, until after he left college. (Past Tense)

The Monarch, having attended college at the same time as Rusty and Brock, most likely begins his life long arching due to some incident happening in college which Rusty does not or can not remember. He tries to blow Rusty up with a bomb while he is in the science lab but ends up only succeeding in blowing off his lab partner Underbeit’s jaw. Underbeit still blames Rusty to this day due to the fact that Rusty had skipped class that day due to his father’s death and his leaving college. April 9th, 1987 (The Invisible Hand of Fate, Arrears In Science)

Rusty then takes over Venture Industries as the sole heir 1987. He inherited his father’s fortune and went to Little Italy in New York to purchase a very expensive speedsuit, “THE AMBASCIATORE”, from Ezio. He never went back for it once it was completed, until after he inherited J.J.’s fortune about 20 years later. (Hostile Makeover) This is most likely due to his having to return to State University once flush with his inheritance and pay for the damages to the science wing. Finding that he has run out of most of the money already, he therefore couldn’t return to pay for and pick up the speedsuit from Ezio, instead returning home to try to be a super scientist and make money.

Rusty gets a bodyguard assigned to him by the O.S.I., Myra. This may be simply due to The Monarch’s constant threats and attacks. (The Invisible Hand of Fate, Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny, I Know Why The Caged Bird Kills) 

The Monarch begins routinely attacking Rusty now that they are out of college but this appears to be a solo act of his and his alone. His hostility seems to have only grown since college since whatever happened between them happened in college. Myra is always there however thwarting his attacks. (The Invisible Hand Of Fate)

Rusty loses his virginity at age 24 presumably with the boy’s true mother (not Myra) as Rusty uses condoms when he has sex but not back then. (Past Tense, Powerless In The Face Of Death) Probably in 1988

The boys are born sometime afterward by some unnamed mother, who is not Myra.

Rusty later has sex with his bodyguard, Myra (I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings)

Myra gets arrested eventually when the boys are only about a year old and still in diapers and she gets taken away by the O.S.I. Brock becomes their bodyguard, assigned as a punishment by the O.S.I. (The Invisible Hand of Fate) Rusty meets Billy Quizboy Whalen when he is 16 years old. (1989)This is the first time, having been introduced by Pete White, his former college friend. Billy goes on to know him for the next 20+ years, maintaining a close friendship. (Are You There God? It’s Me Dean)

Brock becomes Rusty and the boys’ bodyguard in the late 80's. (The Invisible Hand of Fate, Go Team Venture Art Book)

Unknown - Rusty shows Brock the clones that he has made of his sons (Perchance To Dean, Go Team Venture Art Book). They are still babies at this point and alive and well as Rusty tells him it takes pressure off of Brock having to bodyguard them. He shows him because, as Rusty tells him, he is going to be his new bodyguard so we can assume it was probably the day Brock started. Their hairstyles and clothing indicate late 1980′s

About a year(?) later Rusty either dates or just sleeps with Nikki Fictel and she has Dermott (Everybody Comes to Hank’s) so we know the boys are older than Dermott technically if not for all their deaths and rebirths and that Brock was already the Venture’s bodyguard during the time that Rusty is sleeping with Nikki (Perchance to Dean). Dermott is now however the exact same age as Hank and Dean (due to their constant dying and rebirths). We learn from the special that Dermott is seventeen, the same age as Hank and Dean (From The Ladle To The Grave).

Sheila tells The Monarch that they have been arching Rusty since “Marky Mark had a funky bunch”, so for a very long time. This would mean they started arching together around 1991. The Monarch had already been arching Rusty alone secretly for a long time.

Gary tells Sergeant Hatred that he has been storming the Venture Compound since the 90′s. If Gary was kidnapped by The Monarch and his henchmen when he was 15 (Home Insecurity) we can assume that The Monarch along with Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and their various henchmen have been arching Rusty at the compound since 1991. (Operation P.R.O.M.)

Unknown - Rusty develops an addiction to using amphetamines/”diet pills” on a routine basis which quickly becomes a problem leading Brock to be the one to watch the boys/be the responsible one more often than not.

Then a lot of time passes and the boys die a lot through various circumstances, the boys die at least 13 times (Powerless in the Face of Death). Brock mentions that Myra had hurt the boys at one point in the past so it is possible that she was responsible for their initial deaths. (I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings)

We then we open with the pilot episode of The Venture Bros (The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay)

I’ve completed this with a bit of speculation on my part for the times plus info pulled from this handy dandy timeline from The Venture Bros Wiki. A lot of info has been pulled from the wonderful @21derful who has been instrumental in nailing down years and dates for this ever present work in progress.

Any comments, suggestions, edits to the dates or other info is welcome! Please help to add on!