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oitommothetease · 3 years

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Invisible String (4/?)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female reader (Modern AU)

Description: James Buchanan Barnes, the owner of the most expensive-looking club in town and your new apartment. He was a dick and you hated him. What could possibly go wrong when you, the new girl in town, start bartending at his club to pursue your dreams?

Word Count: 2.6k words

Warning: 18+ (discussion of assault, nervous breakdown, anxiety attack, just don’t read this whole series if you are a kid)

You woke up to a night of dreamless sleep like you always did, but then the events of the previous night hit you. You wished it was a dream, but one look in the mirror and a bruise running along your cheek was enough to confirm. Not only that, but you remembered asking your boss to stay over, but you didn't expect him to. The blanket on your living room’s couch and the bowl of fruits and a glass of juice situated out for you on the kitchen counter proved that he did stay.

And then the reality sunk in, you have a decision to make. You can either go to the cops or let that guy get away. The latter sounded not so great, but you knew going to the cops isn't going to be great either. You've seen enough detective shows to know that. You've had enough, and you just wanted to forget it.

What did Mr. Barnes mean when he said you were going to talk about this? Are you supposed to visit him before work? Is he going to come to your place?

You decided to work on your book but ended up not being able to concentrate, so you started watching a show and fell asleep while watching it. Maybe some Chinese take-out could make you feel better. It didn't. Nothing made you feel better. You wished you had some friends in this new town because you didn't want to burden your work friends.

After a horrible day of trying to cope, when you finally made your way to the club, you noticed the security was increased. Usually, security guards weren't present inside the club, but today it was different. Everyone was so vigilant and you felt a little safer. If you didn't know any better, you'd think Mr. Barnes did it for you, but again he would have done the same thing for any other employee.

"Boss wants to see you," Pietro told you. You were about to head for Clint's office when the blond twin spoke again and pointed his finger towards the stairs." The boss."

Okay, well maybe playing naïve couldn't avoid this meeting, so you slowly walked upstairs. How bad could this go, it's not like he saw you in your most vulnerable state? Oh, wait, he did.

You knocked on his office door, wanting to rip the band-aid and get over with it.

"Hey," you said, faking a smile. "Thanks for getting me home last night and for breakfast today. I didn't even know I had fruits and juice at home because let's be honest, I'm a toast and coffee kinda gal."

Mr. Barnes didn't say anything, he just looked at you as if you were a confusing puzzle that he couldn't solve. He raised a hand towards the seat in front of him and you took it, nervously fiddling with your fingers under the table.

“You do that a lot, you know?” he asked, it wasn't a question, it was merely an observation.

“What?”

“Deflecting a serious issue by using a joke.” Mr. Barnes observed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What are you? My therapist?”

He arched an eyebrow, indicating that you were literally doing the thing he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, it's called having a healthy coping mechanism. You should try getting one, brooding is only gonna help you this far."

"It's not healthy if you're not dealing with it," Mr. Barnes pointed out.

You scoffed in incredulity and you felt very, very attacked.

What is it? Attacking y/n day?, you thought.

"Anyway, I think I want to press charges," You changed the subject to a more serious conversation to avoid him calling you out on your bullshit.

"Okay, I understand.”

“You do?” You asked, bewilderment clearly written all over your face. “I mean, letting an employee go to the cops is not gonna be great for your club's reputation and yours too. And, you know, considering the shady business, you do-”

"What exactly do you think we do?" He asked.

And that's when it hit you, you didn't know what he did or mob bosses do in general. All your knowledge about it came from movies and Wattpad, both of them are not a great place to gain knowledge.

“What exactly do you do?” you pondered.

He obviously wasn't expecting you to directly ask him, nobody has directly asked him or even made it known that they are aware of his work. It was kind of like a silent pact that everybody signed for, everybody except you, apparently.

“Um, you know, I've been working for almost 2 weeks here now, and I haven't seen any drugs around here, so it's obviously not drugs. You don't look like the sex trafficking types-”

"Jesus, woman!" He exclaimed, offended by your assumptions.

"Then just tell me what you do."

You expected him to tell you something, but he just kept looking at you with a face void of emotions.

"Fine, don't tell me," you mumbled, raising your hands dramatically in defeat.

“So you don't mind me ruining your reputation by going to the cops?”

“I told you I don't care. Your safety is my utmost priority,” your face might have given away the surprise you felt because he quickly backpedaled. ”I mean, the safety of my employees.”

“The safety of my employees is my utmost priority,” he told you, providing an extra emphasis on the word employees. “Anyway, one of my people would take you to the police station near-"

You cut him off immediately.

"No, you can't tell anyone else. I don't want everyone hopping on the pity train. I'm already ashamed that you know about it," you pleaded but your voice was firm, telling him that this was not up for a discussion.

At this, his eyes and features softened. Bucky didn't want you to feel guilty or ashamed for somebody else's actions, but clearly, you did.

"Okay, then I can take you. You just had to explain to the officer last night’s events, and they'll ask you to recognize Rumlow and then we can-"

Mr. Barnes’s voice faded into the background when it finally hit you.

"You know what, I changed my mind. It's too much. I don't want to press charges anymore. I didn't think this through," you backtracked. You did think this through, but now all the factors were adding up in your brain. You'd have to explain the details to a cop who is probably going to be another man and a stranger, and then they'd ask you to identify the guy. You didn't think you had it in you to face him. At least not now.

He interpreted your thought process and promptly changed the topic. "Okay, we can work with whatever you want, and at least let Peter escort you home after work."

"What? No!” You quickly declined.

“It's for your own safety,” Bucky tried to reason. He wasn't letting you get off this easily.

“I'm a strong, independent woman and I'm not scared of anything.”

That was a lie. You were scared of many things like heights, dark, spiders, confrontation and the list goes on and on.

You remembered all the lectures your mom gave you telling you that women should be scared because men are monsters, and you'd lose your honor if you are reckless and some other patriarchal crap that you didn't pay attention to. But you weren't scared, you were just always careful. You'd always put the keys between your knuckles when you went home alone. In your previous job, you used to laugh it off whenever your coworkers made a sexist joke. You'd ignore the subtle shoulder touch that your previous boss did. You told yourself that this is what it takes to make it. If you were to run away every time someone eyed you in a wrong way, then you'd spend your whole life running.

Women usually shrug this behavior off as it is what is, but the truth is it shouldn't be like this.

“Please, I insist.”

“I'm very capable of taking care of myself. Just because one bad incident happened doesn't mean I'll fucking break!” You stated, your voice louder than your regular voice to get across your point.

That was also a lie. You were walking on a thin line and you were ignoring your emotions. You were one outburst away from a breakdown, and you just couldn't bring yourself to feel anything.

Mr. Barnes tried to call your name, but you were already bolting out of his office.

You needed a drink. No, fuck that. You needed multiple drinks. It wasn't exactly wise to get drunk during work, but it couldn't get any shittier than this, right?, you thought.

Right?

Wrong. It could get way shittier than this. Now it was almost midnight, you were kind of tipsy, and you could see two Mr. Stark, your regular customer, in front of you.

Did he have a twin? Is he and his twin brother one of those identical twins that dress up the same? Because that's what it looked like.

“Earth to y/n," Mr. Stark said, or was it his twin? It was getting hard to keep track anymore.

And that's when you noticed.

“Holy, Shit. You're triplets, Mr. Stark," you announced.

"Okay, kid, close my tab.”

“Hey, y/n. Are you okay?” Peter asked, noticing the concerned look Mr. Stark gave him before leaving.

“Yes, I'm fine. Absolutely fine.”

***

Turns out you were not fine. You've been pretty much hammered for the past week, and you could barely get a sentence out without giggling or slurring. Your colleagues took notice of your state and whenever someone pointed it out, you'd just shrug it off as a bad day or a bad week. There was no concept of time in your drunk state.

You couldn't concentrate on your book, you could barely look at someone without squinting, and you've been eating takeout and leftovers for the past few days.

James would have fired if someone working under him was this irresponsible, but he knew your reasons. He knew you clearly weren't coping with the trauma well. Your work ethics were shoved down the trash that even Clint asked why you weren't fired yet.

Bucky didn't want to talk to you, he thought that maybe giving you some space would do you good, but clearly it wasn't working. Usually, the mob boss didn't interfere in the affairs of his employees, it was Clint's job, but when you smashed a bottle on the head of a customer, he had to interject.

“I TOLD THIS FUCKER NO!” you yelled, Peter’s hand around your middle from behind. Another empty beer bottle was in your hand, ready to be smashed across the face of the drunk dude in front of you.

Pietro and Wanda were enjoying the show. Peter, being the peace lover he is, held you back when you smashed a bottle across a drunk customer's face. Even though Peter was younger than you, he was stronger, and he was not only holding you back but also himself. He didn't want to cause a scene and that is why he was mulling comforting words in your ear like, he's not worth it, you're gonna kill this guy.

Damn right I am, you thought.

It was ironic because everyone in that club had killed someone except you.

When Bucky walked into the room, the drunk guy turned towards him and pointed at you. ”You are hiring crazy bitches now? Just called her baby girl and she went psycho!!!”

Bucky didn't understand what was happening. He told the security guards to take that man outside his club and he walked towards you. He firmly yet gently took a hold of your left arm, signaling Peter to let go of you. Without a word, he started walking in the direction of his office, dragging you along with him.

Once near his office, he lightly yanked your hand and shoved you inside, making you stand in front of him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he inquired, having had enough of your incompetence.

You were seething with rage. "Wrong with me? I told him no, but he didn't listen."

Bucky stepped forward, his anger dissipating into sympathy. " I know, he mumbled, "and I'm so-"

"No, you don't know!" you yelled, body trembling and tears welling up in your eyes. "I told him no multiple times, I even tried to push him off me, but he just kept coming back."

Bucky's eyes furrowed in confusion. He didn't understand your words, the drunk customer didn't touch you. And that's when he realized, you weren't talking about the drunk customer. He cognized that the drunk guy purely triggered something that you've been suppressing for days now. Bucky was aware that you needed to get it out of your system to cope healthily.

“I told him no, you know? But he just wouldn't listen,” you stated, trying to convince yourself that you didn't lead him on. ”And he was so…. so strong and… and then he hit me and everything just went blur, I couldn't see but... but I could still feel him with me.”

Not realizing that you were not in that place anymore, you wrapped your hand around yourself to seek some sort of protection and comfort, bottom lip quivering, the welled up traitorous tears were streaming down your face and all you could think about was that night.

“I… I can't get his touch out,” you stammered. ” I shower, multiple times a day, but I still can't get his touch out.”

With that, you broke down completely and shattered on the floor, sobbing ferociously. Your knees ached because of the position you were situated in, but the emotional pain was enough to overshadow the physical one.

For once in his lifetime, Bucky did not know what to do. Cautiously, he made his way towards you and knelt down in front of you. He did not know what to say or do to make you feel better.

You launched your body towards him, snaking your arms around his shoulder to settle on his neck as if he was the only thing grounding you. You lurched onto him like he was your anchor, and maybe he was. It took a minute for Bucky to register your actions, and when he did, he wrapped his arms around your middle and closed the minuscule distance separating you.

He surprised himself with the way one of his hands automatically reached for your hair and whispered words of comfort in your ear. He caught you as you crumpled physically and emotionally.

”You're going to be okay, doll,” he whispered and kissed your temple with sincerity. ”I will make sure of that.”

The second part was barely audible, it wasn't meant for you, it was a promise he made to himself.

Bucky held you tightly yet gently while you sobbed on his shoulder.

He didn't know how long he held you, it felt like an eternity to him with the way he could feel the guilt and rage inside him. When you passed out in his arms, he gently placed you on one of the comfortable couches in his office and draped a blanket around you that he had for when he would work late at night.

An office chair might not be the most ideal place to spend the night in, but it didn't matter to Bucky. All that mattered was you.

TAGS: @bananapipedreams @akkinda10 @rivers-rambles21 @emmabarnes@goodcleanfunsis @valsworldofcreativity

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benjiwyatt · 3 years

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do you have any ben/leslie headcanons! i love your posts abt them so much it's great to see someone get as emotional abt them as i am asjdkajhjd

i got this message and i was like "god, i dont really know if i have any headcanons" and then i opened my notes app and started typing and didn't stop for over an hour

i'm literally putting this under a break and organizing it into categories bc it's absurdly long

here it is

A COLLECTION OF BEN AND LESLIE HEADCANONS

PRE-RELATIONSHIP/S3

basically canon but leslie definitely had a crush on a young benji wyatt and followed the story religiously for the first couple months before she started college

ben is only slightly jealous leslie had ann go out with chris to try and get more money for the parks budget rather than leslie asking him out with the same goal. he knows it’s insane, unethical, and illogical but he’s still excited that he gets to spend the night with her on a date plus two other people even if it is to accuse her of bribery.

ann realizes early on that leslie was attracted to ben and teases her mercilessly about it. she thinks it’s absolutely hilarious that leslie wants to make out with "mean ben.” after april and andy’s wedding, she realizes it's more than just attraction and she lays off.

before ben can even think rationally about what he’s doing, he’s in line at bed, bath, and beyond with a crock pot in his arms, calling stephanie to ask her to send him their family’s chicken soup recipe

ann knew ben liked her from the beginning and was totally positive when she ran into him in the hospital asking for leslie’s room number while holding jj’s waffles and a tub of homemade soup.

ben realizes he’s falling in love with leslie when he is at city hall with her until 3am one night trying to budget for the amount of cotton candy machines she wants for the harvest festival. in his exhaustion, he naively believes her when she tells him she’ll go home in a bit so he leaves. he never gets a text from saying she made it home so he stops at jj’s the next morning and brings a takeout container of waffles and a coffee complete with an outlandish amount of whipped cream and sugar to the parks department. he finds her asleep in the conference room. he starts trying to convince sweetums to donate more cotton candy machines that afternoon.

chris had to have known ben liked leslie. he’s not an idiot. in the deleted scene from their wedding, they read out emails from their “tumultuous first week in pawnee” and chris writes to ben saying, “why are you so focused on leslie knope?” ben replies saying, “i’m not. whatever. shut up.” there’s no way chris is this oblivious. ben takes her out for a beer. ben pays out of pocket for a children’s performer to help her out. ben shows up on chris and ann’s date just because he thinks leslie might be there. chris can’t be this dumb. but when they take the city manager jobs in pawnee, he knows it can’t happen so he cuts ben off when he starts to ask about dating someone in city hall. he cracks down on the rule in front of leslie after the tom incident to hammer it in. he starts setting ben up on a bunch of dates to try and head it off. he sends them to indianapolis for the little league pitch because, realistically, he knows they’re the best bet for success but makes sure to interrupt their dinner and invites them to his apartment to continue to run interference the rest of the night. after their fights in 4.06-4.08, he hopes he won’t have to worry anymore. the next work day, they come into his office looking nervous and happy and he knows he’s about to lose the partner and best friend that’s been by his side for the past decade.

april and andy knew they were secretly dating. it went unspoken aside from a few implicit teasing remarks from april and a few suggestive attempted high fives from andy but leslie assured ben they wouldn’t tell anyone despite their ostensible behavior.

BREAK UP

ben had commissioned the li’l sebastian plush for leslie after he had died but the toy shop didn’t finish it until after they broke up. he felt bad not going to pick it up so he did despite not being able to give it to her. he kept it for all those months and sometimes thought about getting rid of it but could never bring himself to do it.

when leslie made personalized copies her books for her friends with individualized annotations and notes in the bylines, she had two copies for ben. there was one that she gave him during their breakup that was very simplified and watered down where the note basically just said “i’m really glad you decided to stay in pawnee.” then there was a second copy that she kept while they were split up that was totally covered in notes and random thoughts she couldn’t say during their time apart. she gives him that copy when they get back together and it may or may not be the best gift he’s ever received.

april was much less abrasive with them during the break up because she’s a sweetheart and wants her friends to be happy.

the first time leslie admitted she was in love with him was during a long night of drinking and crying at ann’s house

ben craved the taste of sugar during their breakup because he got used to tasting the sweetness when he kissed her

ben found himself unable to sleep at night without the sound of leslie talking in her sleep to comfort him

april texted leslie the night of the halloween party to let her know that ben and andy were at the hospital after a fight and everything was fine and she didn’t need to worry. leslie was mad at andy for a few days after and he couldn’t figure out why.

the only photo in ben’s bedroom was of himself, leslie, and li’l sebastian at the harvest festival. if he got caught staring at it and crying, he would just say he missed li’l sebastian so much.

april and andy started having star wars and star trek movie nights to try and cheer ben up

DOMESTIC

ben and leslie got in the habit of having weekly game nights with april and andy during the campaign since they were all basically living together. it became a tradition that kept going as often as they could make it happen, even after the kids were born. they try to have game night at least once a month. april pretends to hate it.

one of my absolute favorite ideas about them is that she sleeps much better when he’s around to keep her grounded. after they get together for good, she starts getting closer to 5 hours of sleep a night.

another favorite involving leslie’s sleeping: ben is typically accustomed to tuning out incoherent nonsense that she babbles in her sleep but she also has some of her best ideas when she’s not busy trying to focus on a million different things. when he hears her coming up with legitimately good ideas or making speeches or having solid debate arguments, he takes out the notebook he keeps in his nightstand to record her thoughts and quotes. he revisits and revises the notes to strengthen her statements and make them more professional and less rambling but makes sure to keep her distinct voice apparent in them.

ben prefers pancakes to waffles but he will go to the grave with that secret

this isn’t a headcanon because nbc posted it but one of ben’s holidays on leslie’s calendar is watch synchronization day which is the day they celebrate syncing their watches to, as leslie puts it, “always be in harmony, like our hearts” which is just one of the sweetest fucking things in the world

leslie makes ben read and watch all the harry potters because he didn’t get into them when he first tried. ben is much more of a success than ann. she buys him a ravenclaw scarf for christmas.

their first fight as a couple was a historical debate gone awry

since ben clearly has some affinity for custom stuffed animals, he has some made for the triplets.

they’re both dog people but they adopt a cat because sonia and stephen beg for one and it does fit their busy lifestyle much better. they love the cat. they get a dog when the kids are older and life is slightly less hectic.

they both love striped shirts and sweaters so much that they have to make a conscious effort to avoid wearing them on the same day and matching

leslie makes sweets and bakes desserts while ben typically handles cooking the actual meals

BASED ON EPISODES, QUOTES, AND THROWAWAY LINES

i always loved the ann/ben dynamic in bus tour because there’s been such an obvious shift in ann’s attitude towards him in this episode. maybe it’s because she and tom just broke up and she just turned chris down again and she’s frustrated with relationships but i think it’s her realizing ben isn’t going anywhere. since the campaign is winding down, she realizes that things aren’t gonna go back to the way they were because ben is now part of this and he’s clearly in it for the long haul. ann’s definitely jealous that ben is just as important to leslie as she is and she now knows she’s never gonna get that full attention back. ann sits ben down to have a real “don’t you dare hurt her” speech after this ep and before win, lose, or draw. this is when he tells ann he wants to marry her.

they discover they both adore the princess bride after ben says “as you wish” to her one night and after that it becomes their movie.

the wildflower mural becomes a thing between them when ben says he considered that to be their first date, prompting leslie to tell him what the mural means to her.

ben puts banjo boogie bonanza on one of the mix cds he gives leslie at the beginning of their relationship

harrison ford movie nights start after they both reveal they had a crush on him as a kid. ben was obsessed with han solo and leslie was into indiana jones’ whole history teacher vibe.

they basically hate each other’s taste in music and stop exchanging mix cds once that becomes apparent that they aren’t gonna find much common ground. they both love tom petty, al green, and etta james and music in that vein though.

ben makes leslie watch game of thrones just to try to explain why he’s called her khaleesi. she gets into it, not so much because of the show itself, but because of how passionate her boyfriend is about it.

they start learning basic french during the s4 campaign because they think it will be useful to have a basic multilingual vocabulary for their political careers and because leslie confesses she has always dreamed of seeing paris. they study spanish next.

ben makes leslie watch the star wars prequels just so he can complain to her during them. he doesn’t think she’s paying attention and then he reads about midichlorians in the paper.

ann is also in on ben’s plan to sneak vegetables into leslie’s waffles.

they will sometimes jokingly refer to themselves as the “dream team” or “dynamic duo” because, despite chris’s absurdity, it’s true

i’m open to literally any origin of this because no matter what it’s perfect but i like to think that “i love you and i like you” started at some point in season 4 when, at some point, leslie went “i like you” and ben replied “you like me?” “mhm” “hm just like me?” “yes i like you. i love you and i like you. both.” “mmm i love you and i like you too”

i barely even register some of these things as headcanons since they just live so solidly in my brain

this might be my favorite ask ever thank you for loving benslie enough to ask me this and be genuinely interested

if anyone read all of this, i love you

#most of me loves you for sending this ask but i just procrastinated so much work while writing this #ben x leslie #otp: deeply ridiculously #cherubsona #mail #this is truly absurdly long no one is gonna read this

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #397

“you’re my religion, you’re my reason to live / you are the heaven in my hell”

Do you think that you’ll always love who you love now? Even if we're never together again romantically, I will ALWAYS love her at least as a best friend. Have you ever made out with a random person? Yeah, no. If you could do your first kiss over, would you? No. I'm lucky that my first kiss was honestly cute as hell. Do you like your country’s president or prime minister? Well I voted for him, so I obviously can't hate him. He seems to be doing fine so far, though take that with a grain of salt seeing as I don't keep up with politics. Even before voting for him, I just did a small bit of researching on his values. What color is your house? Yellow with white accents. Do you listen to Christmas music during the holiday season? No, I don't enjoy it. Man, Jason's mom sure did, though... I loved how in the spirit she'd get and always played Christmas music in the car during that time of year. I miss that woman and I sure as hell hope she rests easy now. Do you like ginger ale? Solely if I have a stomach bug, and I can only ever sip it. What are you listening to? "Electric Sugar Pop" by Jeffree Star. What’s the last thing you watched on TV? The TMS office has the TV on, and the woman who overlooks it (I have zero idea what her position is called) tends to have it either on a cooking channel or a home improvement one. Today was a cooking one. Is your favorite author the author of your favorite book? I don't have a favorite author. Describe someone you find really attractive: M-Mark Fischbach. *___* If you HAD to look like someone else, but could choose who, who would you choose? Hm... maybe my friend Alon. I've mentioned I feel like a million times that she is like, ethereal with how gorgeous she is. Have you ever seen someone get a tattoo done? If so, what was it? Did they cry or were they in a lot of pain? Yeah; it was a watercolor feather with "ohana" written below it. She didn't cry at all, but she grit her teeth a few times. Do you have anything you couldn’t go a day without? Some form of technology. Have you ever gotten caught doing something illegal? No. What’s your favorite flavor of Vitamin Water? I don't even think I've ever tried it. Is there someone you wanna date right now? Yeah. What first attracted you to the last person you kissed? If we're talking the very first, our vast similar interests. How many brothers does your father have? None. Does your best friend have any tattoos? No. Do you like Ben + Jerry’s? Yep. Man, I want their Phish Food ice cream now. Would you ever wish to be the opposite sex? Nah. Do you think you’re attractive? Nope. What is your favorite card game to play? Magic: The Gathering. I really miss my PS3 where I had Duel of the Planeswalkers installed on it, it was really fun. Do you own a globe? I don't think we still do. What is your favorite wild cat? Perhaps clouded leopards. If your bedroom had three portals to anywhere, where would they lead? South Africa, Sara's place, and maybe a nice little cabin in the mountains for when I'm feeling a peaceful getaway. You can ask any author one question about their story. What do you ask? I have zero idea. What’s a place you have a strong emotional connection to? The pond behind the local community college. Jason and I took our first prom pictures there. Do you take yoga classes? No, but I'm actually considering it since they offer those at the YMCA Mom and I now go to. What is a decision you’ve made that changed your entire life? To let Jason go. It's pretty great, my PTSD has been less of a bother lately! Have you ever made any money from a side-hustle? Could you consider being paid to take pictures once in a blue moon a "side hustle" when I don't even have a main job? Do you ever wonder what kind of person you’d have turned out to be if a certain event never happened to you? Ugh... it's incredibly painful to wonder how life would be if Jason never left. If you could have anyone’s singing voice, whose would you choose? Adele's or Amy Lee's, probs. What are your top 3 favorite genres of music? Metal, hard rock, alternative. Do you think Mars will be colonized in your lifetime? No. Have you ever been homeless? If so, what led to your homelessness? Technically, yes, because Mom couldn't afford the rent. She, my little sister (who still lived with us at the time), and I each were accepted into the homes of willing, kind people, though. Have you ever been on a ship? No. Who was Van Halen’s better singer - David Lee Roth, or Sammy Hagar? David. Which fictional character has the most memorable quotes? Heath Ledger's Joker is quoted all the time, so probably him. What do you think of the "Healthy At Every Size" movement/philosophy? Before I answer this, I want you to keep in mind that this is coming from someone who is obese, so I would positively love to agree with that for my own self-confidence, but I don't. I believe it's a very dangerous mentality. I think you should cherish your body unconditionally, like it's an amazing machine, but I firmly believe you should have an active interest in becoming what is physically healthy. You couldn't pay me millions to convince me that, say, a 300 lb. person is healthy. What was the name of the first person you ever had a crush on? Why did you like them? I think my first *real* crush was this guy Sebastian my freshman year of high school. I thought he was very sweet, funny, caring, and attractiveness was a bonus. What food will you absolutely not, under any circumstances, eat? Sashimi, caviar, raw eggs... Which famous person would you like to be BFFs with? Bindi Irwin, for one. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. Have you ever been bitten so hard that there teeth marks were there after? I mean I've had hickeys before if that's what you're asking. Ever gave one? Oh, I guess you were. Yeah. Do you think its weird if guys wear make-up like eyeliner? Not at all. Would you ever date a disabled person? (Be honest) Yes. Would you rather adopt or have your own child? IF I wanted kids, I'd rather have one myself because I'm well aware I personally need that special connection. Stepkids count, too, because they'd be my partner's and therefore very important for me too. What is the most personal question you have ever been asked? Probably TMI, so here's your fair warning, but I've been asked before if I "touch" myself and I was absolutely repulsed that someone would ask me that. Were you abused by your parents? No. If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? Sara. Were you one of the smartest in your class? Up to finishing high school, modestly, I was. Where did you meet your first crush? Art class my freshman year of high school. Do you ever go places with wet hair? Yeah, idc. Who is your favorite little girl? My niece Aubree. She's such a wonderful girl. Does your best friend have kids? No. If you were pregnant, would you want a boy or a girl? Hypothetically, a girl. What place outside of your own home do you spend the most time at? Um, maybe my older sister's house? Have you ever participated in a medical study? No. Do you have any family members who are cancer survivors? Yes, including my mother. Twice. Are you allergic to any medications? None that I've tried. Do you have any licenses other than your driver's license? I don't even have that. If you’re atheist, would you raise you kids believing in God or not? No; I wouldn't intervene with their own spiritual (or lack thereof) journey. They'd learn what they'd learn and decide themselves what they believe. Do you like reading self-help books? No, I just can't get invested in those. What is your opinion on sex change? If you're unhappy with your body, you're more than free to surgically change that with no judgment from me. Do you have any goals for this summer? If so, what are they? Yes, to lose weight. Can you get a strike at bowling? I have before. There was one occasion where my first go was a strike RIGHT after saying I sucked at bowling, hahaha. Do you ever take pictures of negative moments? Well, I photograph roadkill, and that's one hell of a sad moment. I actually wouldn't mind broadening my horizons of photographing negative moments (with permission of course), because I actually find these very impactful and even builds empathy. I will never, ever forget this one picture I saw sometime of an emaciated boy huddled in the dirt with a vulture close by watching him... like fuck, it made me want to sob. No one should ever have to live like that, especially a child. Would you ever post a picture of yourself crying on social media? No. I know that sounds contradictory to what I just said, I just wouldn't be able to do it myself. Have you ever held a newborn baby? Once, when my last niece was born. I'm terrified of holding them because they're just so fragile. Do you know anyone who has twins? My friend just had triplets. What is your favorite country in Europe? Germany. Are you thriving in your life right now? BOY HOWDY- Do you remember to water plants? I don't keep plants. Name three YouTubers you aspire to be like. 1.) Markiplier in a vast plethora of ways; 2.) Jeffree Star for his incredible work ethic; and 3.) Shane Dawson for his incredible compassion. Yes. I know the controversy, but regardless, he cares a lot about people. Who is your favorite character from Harry Potter? I wouldn't know, given I haven't read the books or seen the movies. Do you watch PewDiePie? Not anymore; his content doesn't interest me anymore. I watched him religiously back in the day when he was a serious let's player, though. Do you have a Steam account? Yes. Have you ever played Five Nights at Freddy’s? No, not personally. I like watching LPs of it and I find the story fascinating, but it's not the kind of game I'd enjoy playing. Have you ever tried Akinator? Yes. I don't think I ever beat it, except maybe once. Are you wearing socks right now? No; unless I'm wearing closed-toe shoes like sneakers, I never do. I hate the feeling of them. Can you twerk? Haven't tried, don't wanna. Do you like dabbing? No, it looks stupid. Do you like fishing? I honestly do think it's fun with all the anticipation and thrill of seeing how big the fish is, however I don't support it anymore unless, like hunting, you genuinely need it for food. The only case where I'd go again was if my dad asked me, because that's always been our bonding experience. Do you have a Spotify account? Yes. Have you heard of Blizzard Entertainment? Well, they're the company behind World of Warcraft, so obviously. Do you like bananas? Yes, but only for a VERY short window of time. I am beyond picky with the ripeness of bananas. Are you addicted to anything? Caffeine and technology. Do you know your phone number? I actually don't. Do you swear in front of children? No.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''here for you'' by ozzy osbourne

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notchesandbullets · 3 years

Text

Halloween Special: Caramel Apples and Tricksters [Oneshot] Modern AU (Part 1/2)

Part 1

Words: 4k

(OC from my fanfic: “The Varied Path”)

They had finally fully settled into their new home, and the girls went a little crazy with the decorating, as Halloween was just around the corner. Hand-painted jack-o-lanterns stood guard at the front door, and colorful lights were hung at the front of their mansion.

Inside, every single surface was draped in marigold tablecloths and cinnamon candles burned brightly, the spice wafting through every inch of the house. Garlands were draped over the railings in an artful arrangement of autumn leaves and cranberries. The usual white towels in the bathrooms and the kitchen were replaced with seasonal ones and Zeno added a bit of spooky touches all over the place.

Plastic bats hanging from the ceiling upstairs, a ghost at the foot of the basement stairs, and several well-placed traps so that whenever someone opened up a cupboard, they got a face full of goo launched at their head.

But in a house full of trained agents and spies, it was more fun than anything else to try and dodge the sticky substance.

The leaves had changed shades, indicating the much beloved season transformation by the one and only Calista.

She loved how the forest green gradually transformed into ruby reds and lavish golds, leaves spiraling gently to the ground as the autumn breeze whispered by. It was the season of pumpkin spice, fresh air, apple pie, and warmth that came from sitting by the fireplace with a mug of hot cocoa and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Hak and Jae-ha had undertaken some projects for the new house when they first moved in during the summer, installing top of the line appliances for the giant kitchen. A huge fridge for Yoon to stock with all sorts of food to feed the hungry bunch of eight, and a state of the art oven complete with a industry standard stovetop.

They had also turned the unfinished, extremely creepy basement into an automated training space. They all used it for shooting practice, hand to hand combat and wrestling.

Kija had repainted nearly all of the rooms in the house, with a little help from Yona and Zeno. While they were doing that, Shin-ah and Calista were busy helping the movers bring all of their stuff inside under the direction of a pretty boy genius barking out commands at the front door.

"You!! Bring that into the kitchen, but watch out for the paint and the tools lying around."

"Don't forget to grab the rugs, those need to go in first before we can put any of this away."

"No— No!! I need this first before you bring in that!!"

"BE CAREFUL WITH THAT, IT'S GLASS YOU IDIOT!!!!!"

Calista chuckled to herself as she carefully maneuvered around the sharp corner from the hallway that led from the foyer. Panting with exertion, she helped Shin-ah move the plush sofa into the living room. They set it down heavily, but luckily Yoon was too far away and too consumed with drilling the movers to hear that they may have scratched his hardwood floors.

Wiping the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand, she grinned at the blue-haired man who was scanning around for any boxes that needed unloading in their vicinity. She pushed herself up onto her feet, punching his shoulder good-naturedly when she passed him.

"C'mon, I'll race ya!!"

She broke into a sprint, and he chased after her. Their friends, in various places of the house cracked smiles and shared jokes as they heard the laughter coming from downstairs, knowing that the two must be up to their shenanigans again.

It had been months since then, and everyone had pretty much settled into a rhythm comfortable enough for Calista to hit the stores with Yona long enough without the boys destroying the place.

Hopefully.

The girls picked out just about anything that caught their interest, bringing along Tae-yeon and Hani last minute with Mundok's and Gi-gan's permission. They were the children's respective guardians but it wasn't much of an issue seeing as how they were all family.

Calista had been in the store less than a minute before there was a loud commotion behind her.

Internally wincing, she turned around to see what trouble the children had gotten themselves into this time. But her eyes widened in surprise as she saw five familiar figures, Hani frozen from where she faceplanted into Nier's legs. Tae-yeon was staring up at Tae-jun with big, innocent eyes and Yona smiled sheepishly at Heuk-chi, apologizing to both of them for the collision while the children righted themselves.

The guardian brushed it off, his unofficial bodyguard going along with him. If she didn't know any better, Calista would say that the tall man was blushing badly in the presence of the sweet redhead. But she chose not to comment on it as Hani and Tae-yeon ran back to her, wanting to spare her friend any embarrassment.

"We weren't expecting to see you guys until later tonight." Calista pitched in, ruffling the children's hair as she directed her attention past the triplets. "We're getting some stuff for later on, want to come with?"

With an eager, mutual agreement to join forces, the huge and rambunctious group of nine browsed the aisles of the store, buying way more than they should have with the children throwing things in the cart more than would've been allowed if any real adults were present.

Tae-jun didn't count, he caved every time Opal turned his watery eyes on him and Calista cursed her spinelessness, giving in just as bad when it came to her youngest brother and the golden-haired, little girl.

Squeals echoed off of the shelves and she whipped around as the triplets and the younger two pulled a huge cake out from the bakery section.

"Oh no, absolutely not." Calista held up her hand, averting her gaze from their puppy eyes. "Yoon will throw a fit if he sees this."

"But Notch~" Opal whined. "Please!!"

His brothers chorused their persuasion and while she had to admit it was sort of endearing seeing the fifteen-year-old boys beg for permission to buy a ridiculously humongous treat, she redirected their efforts towards a panicking Tae-jun beside her.

There wasn't any way she would be able to hold up against all five of them if they continued, she barely had enough strength to resist Hani's puppy dog eyes.

But once she turned her gaze on her youngest brother and saw how Tae-yeon's lower lip trembled dangerously, she sped to his side, dropping down on her knees, ignoring how harshly she landed on them in her haste.

"Tae-yeon," Her soft voice broke as desperation seeped through, gripping his shoulders gently in an effort to convey how bad of an idea this was. "Gramps is gonna kill me."

He beamed up at her, tears suddenly vanishing. "No, he loves you, remember?"

Calista's eyes rounded pathetically at that and she coughed to cover it up.

"Alright, fine." She finally surrendered, throwing up her hands.

Their shrieks of excitement and victory shattered any semblance of silence in the marketplace and she winced at their volume, shaking her head in amusement as they rushed to shove it in the already crammed shopping cart.

Yona drifted over to her side, clasping her hands behind her back playfully.

"You caved~" The redhead sang, giggling.

A fond smile made its way onto the older girl's face, gazing after them as they disappeared around the corner with a worried Tae-jun hot on their tail to make sure they didn't get lost. Or end up causing chaos that couldn't be contained by the mere mention of his title.

Chuckling, Calista began pushing the cart to follow after them. "I always do..."

After numerous attempts to convince their temporary guardians to buy them all the snacks they wanted, five failed chances taken to sneak electronics into the cart and two feeble efforts to buy candy bars at the checkout lane, Calista, Yona, and all the others finally left the supermarket.

Though they were armed to the teeth with food and amenities for later that night.

They hopped into their separate cars, but Tae-jun followed them back to the house so the triplets could spend some more time with Calista.

Kicking open the door with one foot, the raven-haired girl yelled out that they were back as the three troublemakers along with Tae-yeon and Hani shot past her, vanishing from her view within seconds.

She had just set down the groceries and supplies on the floor when she heard two loud crashes come from upstairs and the kitchen at the same time an outraged cry reached her ears.

"Are you all alright?!" Calista shouted out as she untied her shoes and gathered up the food that needed to be refrigerated.

A chorus of reassurances were screamed back and she chuckled to herself, nudging the door with her foot to close it. She had a feeling Yoon would take care of whatever that was all about. Jae-ha appeared at the base of the stairs in a flash, paint in his hair.

She stifled a laugh that bubbled up, opting for a wild gesture that could have been interpreted as anything. But judging by the chuckle and the hand that was raised to wipe the excess away for the time being, he knew what she was getting at.

"Do I want to know?" She teased the eldest, handing him two of the larger bags.

Jae-ha's violet eyes crinkled at her ask, a smirk curling at the edge of his mouth. "Maybe not, my dear."

The pair made their way into the kitchen, both lifting an eyebrow at the pristine state. They glanced at each other and then shrugged. Yoon must have cleaned up whatever was spilled already, he couldn't stand the messes.

Zeno and Hak were sitting in the family room, crowded around some sort of card game, roping Heuk-chi into it the moment he passed by. A movie was playing in the background, but no one was paying attention to it. Some sort of Disney film that Calista knew Hak had put on for the kids after he was alerted of their impromptu meeting at the store.

Good thing she had sent him that text.

She had asked him to clean up the house and rid it of any exposed weapons when they ran into Tae-jun and the triplets in the store, having a suspicion that they were going to tag along all the way back to the house.

The night before, she was cleaning her knives and reassembling her sniper rifle. She hadn't gotten a chance to put it away, believing she had enough time before they were set to come over. Knowing her brother though, he had tossed them all on her bed without a second thought. It didn't matter, just as long as the children didn't see them.

It wasn't like they weren't aware of it, but in their line of work, they were better protected the less they were exposed to their lifestyle.

In tandem, the green-haired man and the raven-haired girl began to put away the various food items, Jae-ha automatically taking over the fridge and Calista the pantry. However, she dropped what she was doing the instant she heard a small cough.

Clicking her tongue in worry, she hurriedly filled a cup with water, handing it to Tae-yeon, who had just sprinted into the vicinity with Hani right behind him.

He coughed again as he tried to drink it too fast and she hushed him.

"Smaller sips, Tae-yeon. There you go..." Calista encouraged him quietly, masking her concern so that she didn't accidentally scare him.

Eventually, his breathing steadied and she was less panicked than before.

Patting him on the head gently, she asked, "Did you need your medicine? Are you sure you're alright?"

He nodded cutely, raising the cup above his head in an attempt to put it in the sink but he was struggling. His older sister watched him for a moment, letting him try for himself. But he couldn't do it and after another minute of struggling, he reluctantly asked her if she could do it for him.

Hani hopped up and down on her little feet, golden hair bouncing with her as Calista set it down in the sink. "Yeonie, Yeonie, Yeonie, come and meet my pet ladybug!! She's outside!!"

His eyes lit up and Calista was left alone as the kids shot off.

"Wait!!" She called after them worriedly, starting after them as they slid open the glass door leading to the backyard. "Both of you be careful please!!"

"Relax, Calista dear, they'll be fine." Jae-ha reassured her as he put the milk and the giant cake away in the fridge.

Hak was weird, he only ate bakery if it was cold and Yona made sure to call him out on it more than once.

Calista snorted, hesitating for a beat before giving in, knowing he was right. "Only if someone's watching them to make sure they don't accidentally get in trouble like last time."

Jae-ha shook his head slightly, eyes filled with light humor. "They're on our property. What could possibly happen?"

Once, Kija had mistakenly left the two children alone with the triplets, and somehow the five of them managed to land themselves in a police station within the hour. Something about escaped shelter animals and a raid on a corner store with a stereo. She couldn't even make sense of the police report when they had given it to her, and now she just knew better than to ask.

"Hak—"

"I'm on it." He interrupted his sister, already halfway out the door that led to the acres of open land naturally fenced by several hundred-year-old trees. Zeno skipped cheerily after him, closing the door behind him to conserve the heat inside.

Following his younger brother in order to make sure his allergies didn't act up due to his weak lungs, Hak grabbed a spare rake from the shed in the back. He might as well do this now so that he didn't have to do it tomorrow, plus it would make the lawn easier to mow later on. Zeno took the smaller one to help after he played games with Tae-yeon while Hani went to look for her tiny friend.

They raked all the fallen leaves into a huge pile.

But the second Hak turned his back, he heard a yell of, "Cannonball!!", and in came the pitter-patter of small feet shaking the earth.

He let out a shout at the wave of dead leaves that he had just collected showered over him. Spitting out the ones that landed in his mouth, he glared in mock annoyance at his sheepish brother and the delighted golden-haired girl beside him. Zeno threw up his hands, having dived in with the children and sent another torrent of leaves up in the air, beaming widely.

"Mister!! Come on in!!"

Hak shrugged, tossing aside the rake as he sprinted towards them. Work would have to wait.

Hani and Tae-yeon shrieked as he leaped and clumsily scattered about, thoroughly diminishing all of his hard work. But he couldn't bring himself to care as he began to chase them around in a spontaneous game of tag.

Zeno sat on the ground with his legs crossed in front of him, scarf bundled up to his nose as a chilly wind blew by. "Zeno wants the little miss to win!!"

"But what about me?" Tae-yeon whined with big eyes, doubling over in a fit of giggles as Hak scooped him up, tickling his stomach. "Hak— hehe!! Stop!!"

His big brother didn't let up until Hani tackled him with a warrior cry, latching her tiny arms around his neck to get him off of her friend. Hak stood up with a loud but playful roar, chasing the two around the empty field until all of them collapsed in a fit of ringing laughter.

Hours passed before the four reentered into the house, teeth chattering with the need for a hot beverage.

Jae-ha had disappeared back upstairs. Something about a project with Kija and Yona that he had yet to complete. But Calista was still in the kitchen, and now so was Yoon.

Calista told the freezing bunch to go change into something warmer so that they didn't catch a cold and instructed her brother to sift through her closet to find spare jackets for the little ones. While he was busy doing that, she gathered what she needed to make them something hot so that they could warm up on the inside.

Coffee for Hak, and hot chocolate for the kids and Zeno.

Helping the small children onto the kitchen stools on the opposite side of the island where Yoon was at so that they didn't accidentally get in his way, Calista made sure they weren't going to fall off but guiding them to first blow on their hot chocolate before taking a small sip. Things wouldn't go well for the rest of the evening if they burned their tongues while attempting to chug the drink.

Hani swung her feet playfully, emerald eyes eager as she reached for the liquid chocolate.

Pulling back her hand that held the steaming, small mug, Calista stared at her intently. "Drink it slowly, okay, little one?"

She nodded enthusiastically, making grabby hands for it. The older girl finally handed it over, watching her carefully for a minute to make sure she was being careful. The little girl had a history of being too hurried that had unfortunate consequences.

Three sets of footsteps could be heard from the second floor as the triplets ran down the stairs, skidding to a halt once they reached the kitchen, resembling dominoes as Nier crashed into Opal and Yue crashed into his brothers. They fell into a heap on the carpeted floor, with a very winded Tae-jun trailing after them.

Stifling a giggle as the energetic boys sprang back up, she clapped a hand over her mouth as the sound escaped nonetheless and she was faced with three playful brooding looks.

"I didn't do anything." Calista claimed, shrieking and then breaking into a run the second she saw the look in their eyes.

"Get her!!!" Opal screamed, chasing her through the house with his brothers hot on his tail.

"Wait what?! Why me?!?!" She yelled over her shoulder, weaving in and out of the corridors at a breaknecking speed.

Dodging the sharp corner that separated the living room and the foyer, she twisted and turned throughout the extensive first floor of the house. Her memorization of every nook and cranny came in handy. They stumbled after her, not quite as fluent in the layout as she was, eventually giving up and declaring her victory.

"Marshy!!" Calista yelled, completely out of breath, resting her hands on her knees. "When's Gramps coming over?"

Hak checked his watch, keeping Yona at bay with the other hand as he held her out at arms length. They were playing a game of charades with Opal and Yue since Nier declined to have anything to do with lifting a finger after that exhausting chase through the house.

"In an hour." He answered her leisurely, a smirk of amusement stretching across his features as the redhead puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "Yoon, what's for dinner?"

"Hold your horses, you rare beasts!!" Yoon shouted over his shoulder, bustling around the massive kitchen, doing a hundred things at once.

Peering over the kitchen island, Calista tapped on his shoulder when she saw a pause in his purposeful stride.

"Anything I can do to help?" She offered.

She was a complete klutz in the kitchen, but she still wanted to be there for him so that he wasn't so stressed. Still, she wasn't sure if she brought anything to the table. What could a genius pretty boy possibly need from a clumsy girl like her?

Calista could barely keep track of Tae-yeon and Hani as they skipped around, their tiny heads bobbing into view every time one of them got too excited and started jumping up and down.

Yoon never got a chance to answer her as he saw her speed towards the door the second she heard it ring.

Throwing it open, Calista was surprised to find Gi-gan standing on the other side instead of Mundok. Nevertheless, she quickly invited her inside so that the elder woman was out of the cold.

"Would you like some tea?" She offered, taking her coat off and hanging it up for her on the antique coat rack Yona got from a thrift shop. "Is it that time already?"

Gi-gan rubbed her hands together in an effort to get the blood flowing again, sending the raven-haired girl a rare warm smile. "No, no, not yet. The little ones are going trick-or-treating later, yes? Tea sounds wonderful, girl. Thank you."

Flashing her a grin, she led her into the family room filled with laughter and all sorts of shenanigans.

Jae-ha stood up immediately, greeting his old guardian with a trademark, suggestive remark that had the elder smacking him upside the head for his language.

"I didn't teach you that, you brat." Gi-gan fired at him mercilessly.

Simply smiling, Jae-ha dodged the second blow aimed at his head, green ponytail streaming behind him as he escaped her. "Now, Captain, you wouldn't want to scratch a face this beautiful, would you?"

"You overestimate your beauty."

The offended gasp at the flat retort had everyone dying of laughter.

As Calista caught her breath, she boiled some water, gaze drifting to a mop of golden hair that came bounding up to her hopefully. Steering Hani away from the stove so that she didn't accidentally burn herself like last time she got too close, she crouched down to the little girl's level, who now was avoiding her gaze.

"Hey... what's the matter, little one?"

Hani pouted slightly, emerald orbs rounding as she exclaimed, "Can we make caramel apples?"

Chuckling, Calista pushed herself up and held out her hand. The golden-haired girl eagerly took it, pulling out the apples from the fridge as the older one fetched the caramel dip from the pantry.

"Guys!!" She shouted over the noise of their heated game of monopoly. "We're making caramel apples if you want to join!!"

"Not now, Bat-Ears!!" Hak fired back. "I'm just about to win!!"

Rolling her eyes, a crafty smile played upon her lips. "He's cheating."

"I KNEW IT!!!!!" Kija yelled, bolting up.

"Zeno wanted to join!!"

Jae-ha smoothly got to his feet as the two went head to head, whisking Tae-yeon away from the chaotic scene while the two of them bickered over who was right, the triplets egging on the grown men without any hesitation.

Tae-jun was lounging on the couch with Heuk-chi, flipping through the channels on the TV, trying to ignore the massive headache he had coming on.

Swiftly turning off the fire as the kettle began to whistle, Calista placed some jasmine tea leaves in a porcelain cup, leaving it alone to steep for a couple of minutes. Jae-ha and Yona had been the ones to convince Hak they needed nice silverware and fine china. Her idiot-of-a-brother was going to buy plastic utensils and plates from the dollar tree for crying out loud!

She set it down silently on the end table next to Gi-gan, trying not to disturb her.

Yona and Gi-gan were engaged in a casual conversation while the rest of them dipped fuji apples in smooth caramel, placing the finished but messy treats on a parchment paper lined tray so that the taffy treat could set.

The children eagerly waited by the countertop, much too hyper to eat one to even think about sitting down.

Calista gave up trying to pry them away from the island, leaving them to do whatever they wanted now that Yoon was finished making dinner and the kitchen was no longer that hazardous. Collapsing on a velvet chair, she sprawled herself out lazily, done moving for the rest of the day.

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion as she heard the doorbell ring, but sat up with a groan and ran to answer it when no one else got up.

It wasn't even five yet and people were already trick-or-treating?! Unbelievable.

Flinging open the door to give whoever was on the other side a piece of her mind, all words died on her tongue when cropped, blue hair flashed into view. She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock, taking in the signature red marks decorating his cheekbones and those piercing, golden eyes.

Calista choked on air, tears pricking at the back of her eyes.

"Shin-ah?"

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hazelandglasz · 5 years

Note

Can you please write the "We’re neighbors who don’t really talk but your cat might have gotten my cat pregnant?? We must raise this little kitty family together" AU, maybe with Kurt's cat getting Blaine's pregnant? That prompt is the most adorable thing ever and you are the perfect writer for it, please?

On AO3

Blaine really likes his building.

It’s all bricks and exposed beams, large windows and, surprisingly enough, a functioning elevator.

There is a grocery store right around the corner which makes an exquisite coffee and donuts.

There is a park nearby whenever he wants to sit and let his mind relax and, or, indulge in some people watching.

And next door, there is a vet, which means a lot for Blaine.

He’s very fond of his very own Miss Ahsoka, you see, so having a vet nearby puts him at ease.

The neighbors are pretty cool too--sure, there is the odd scales and arpeggios coming from one apartment, but really, Blaine should be the last one to judge.

There is a family with triplets who are simply adorable and either their parents did a sublime job of soundproofing their room, or these toddlers are quiet as a winter night.

Blaine has offered to babysat for the parents, and if he is a good judge of human characters, they are about to take him on that offer, if only to go and take a nap somewhere. They may not cry, but three babies are a lot of work.

Blaine can’t wait until his hands are full with his own babies.

But he digresses, and yet, not really.

There is one other neighbor that he meets regularly and would love to talk about babies with.

Mister K. Hummel, 21D.

The man has everything going for him, as far as Blaine is concerned: tall, slender, built like a swimmer, exquisite sense of fashion, gravity-defying hair and a laugh that Blaine would pay good money to hear more often.

Blaine is sure that Mr. K. Hummel is a cat owner, too, but he has yet to spot a feline in the building.

Why is he so sure, you ask?

Well, the bag of quality kibbles carried on Mr. Hummel’s hip was one big clue.

His behavior toward Ahsoka when they met at the mailboxes is another--only a cat owner would know how to befriend a cat that easily.

It’s either that Blaine is right, or his cat is playing matchmaker.

Speaking of romance (not that there is any romance between Blaine and one Mr. K. Hummel, they are only exchanging pleasantries and awkward elevator smiles.

For now), Blaine could knock himself out for being so stupid.

As much as he, as previously stated, likes his building, there is one minor problem with the windows.

As in, they don’t close completely.

Oh, usually, Blaine doesn’t mind the draft--he likes the breeze, and if it gets cold, he puts his bags in front of the opening and wraps himself in a fluffy blanket--but this time, the opening allowed Ahsoka to escape, right in the middle of her heat, goddammit.

“Ahsoka, come back, darling,” Blaine calls, going up then down the fire escape. “Baby, where are y--”

One window opens on the fourth floor and he finds himself face to face with Mr. K. Hummel.

“Oh, um, hello.”

“Hi.”

There is a long pause where Blaine can’t look away from the man’s wide, clear eyes and his pink lips.

“May I help you with something, neighbor?”

Right, his runaway cat.

“My cat took advantage of the window not closing completely.”

“I see.” Unless Blaine is mistaken, there is a slight smirk pulling Mr. K. Hummel’s lips upward.

“And it is the time of her heat, I keep on planning to take her to the vet to get her spayed, but--”

The humor disappears from his neighbor’s expression. “Oh shit.”

“Precisely.”

“The cat you carried the other day is your cat, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Shit, shit, shit.”

His neighbor rushes back inside his apartment, leaving Blaine quite befuddled.

“Gio, come here, let me pick up--Gio, come on sweetie … Thank you!”

Blaine cocks his head to the side, and in the distance he can see a white and brown cat licking their paws.

But M. K.Hummel is back, carrying Ahsoka, who looks quite displeased with the proceedings.

“Here you go,” he says, gently putting Ahsoka in Blaine’s arms and petting her lightly between her ears before stepping back. “Let’s hope these two didn’t get into any shenanigans.”

“Oh. Oh! Because your cat is--”

“Male and 100%, yep.”

“Ah.”

His neighbor kneels down and stands carrying the cat in his arms. “Neighbor, meet Giorgio Catmani. Gio, meet …?”

“I’m Blaine. Blaine Anderson.”

“Kurt. Kurt Hummel.”

They awkwardly shake hands while their cats take advantage of their proximity to lick each other’s muzzles like some sort of feline Romeo and Juliet.

“Let’s keep them separated for a while, shall we?”

“Good idea,” Kurt replies, petting his cat without leaving Blaine out of his sight. “See you around, though?”

“Of course. See you around, Kurt.”

“See you, Blaine.”

As he goes back to his apartment, two flights of stairs upward, berating Ahsoka for being so reckless, Blaine allows his mind to stay on the fourth floor with one Kurt Hummel and his gorgeous cat.

Like owner, like cat, for sure.

“Meoooowr.”

“You can be pissed with me, missy, but I’m taking you to the vet as soon as they have an opening and we’re taking care of you, okay?”

“Rowwff.”

---

“As soon as possible” happens three weeks later, and Blaine is increasingly worried.

Not just because, clearly, he should have taken care of Ahsoka sooner, but because of her behavior, especially in the past couple of days.

She is usually an energetic cat, prompt to play and eating parsimoniously throughout the day.

But in the past days, she has become lethargic, sleeping almost all day long, and when she’s not asleep, she … well, she vomits everywhere, meowing after Blaine and pawing at him until he cleans her up and takes her in a hug.

Highly unusual behavior, that has him biting his nails while he waits for the vet.

“Ah, Mr. Anderson, what can I do for you and Ahsoka today?”

“Well, Doc, I first took an appointment to see if we could spay her, but she … I think she’s sick.”

“Let me check that for you, hm?”

The vet picks up Ahsoka who barely hisses at her--again, not her usual vet behavior--before putting her down on the table.

“Hm, she has gained some weight recently, hasn’t she?”

“Yes, maybe, but she’s turning one in a month, it’s nothing out of the ordinary, is it?”

“Hm-hm, no, no …,” the vet replies absentmindedly, carefully rolling Ahsoka on her back.

The cat looks at Blaine with an annoyed desperation.

“Shhh, baby, just a minute,” he coos, petting her nose to keep her quiet while the vet examines her.

The vet frowns as she palps Ahsoka’s belly. “Just give me a minute, Mr. Anderson.”

Just like that, she leaves the room, leaving Blaine even more worried.

“Oh baby, what is going on,” he whispers, kneeling to get his face at the table’s level.

The vet is back with a machine that is vaguely familiar.

“Is that … an ultrasound?”

“Indeed.”

Without any other word of explanation, the vet applies one end of the machine to Ahsoka’s belly. Something appears on the screen but Blaine doesn’t understand what is shown.

Or maybe, he’ll think in retrospect, he didn’t want to understand.

“Well, Mr Anderson, I have an answer for both your questions.”

“Yes?”

“Spaying Miss Ahsoka will have to wait, and she is not sick. But you will have to be careful with her for the next, oh, two months, I think?”

“Uh?”

“Congratulations, Mr Anderson, your cat is pregnant.”

Blaine is more than shocked by this piece of information and Ahsoka’s face reflects his emotion perfectly.

“Do you know who the father is?”

Blaine’s shock disappears to give room to his resentment. “Oh yes I do.”

---

All Kurt wanted after this hellish day was to come home, cuddle with Gio and drown his day into a pint of Caramel Ice Cream arranged with some Bailey’s.

That’s it, that’s all he wanted.

But as soon as he drops himself in the depth of his couch, ready to get his plan on, someone vigorously knocks on his door.

And keeps on knocking.

“For fuck’s sake, what?” Kurt snarls, throwing the door open, only for his anger to vanish in the face of Cutie Pants--of Blaine, his name is Blaine, stop calling him Cutie Pants.

(Though those pants are really cute)

“Blaine!” he exclaims, leaning against his door in what he hopes is a seductive pose. “What have you in such a hurry? Lost your cat again?”

Please say yes, let’s look for your cat together, maybe she got lost in my sheets … Forget it Kurt, your life is not a soft porn movie.

“No, I did not,” Blaine replies, and his tone shakes Kurt from his daydream. Is that …

Anger, directed at him?

“But I just learned about the consequences of her little escape.”

Kurt raises one eyebrow.

“Your bag of fleas--”

“Excuse you, Gio is flea free!”

“--is my cat’s baby daddy!”

Kurt closes his mouth, ready as he was to go into a rant about Blaine’s condescension for his cat, but that is one sentence he was not ready to hear.

Not sober, at least.

“I need a drink.”

Blaine stays on the threshold, his anger apparently leaving him deflated and tired. “May I join you?”

“Be my guest. We’re going to be raising this little cat family anyway, aren’t we?”

Blaine’s cheeks turn a lovely pink as he follows Kurt and closes the door, Ahsoka still in his arms.

The moment he comes in, Gio rushes from the couch to wrap himself around Blaine’s legs, meowing and purring like he never did for any of Kurt’s guests.

“Wow,” Kurt mutters as he takes the pint of ice cream and the Baileys back to his kitchen counter, mixing two bowls. “He never acts like that.”

“Such a smooth talker,” Blaine says softly, his voice similar to the way he called after his cat on Kurt’s windowsill not so long ago. Kurt absolutely oggles him as he bends over to put his precious cat on the floor but he is quickly distracted from that sight--and that is saying something--as the two cats greet each other as tenderly as two lovers reuniting after a war.

“Drama queen.”

“Drama king.”

Blaine and Kurt said that in perfect sync, and they are startled into a laugh.

“So, kitties.”

Blaine takes a small spoonful of “adult” ice cream and nods. “Kitties.”

“I am not ready to be a grandpa.”

“Ah, me neither.”

Kurt knows he should do something, say something, but Blaine eating his ice cream has turned his brain into mush.

See, Kurt may not have talked a lot with his neighbor, but he sees him.

He sees how Blaine stocks up on beer and Cheetos around football season.

He sees him coming back every Thursday with sweat on his brow and these sinful pair of sweatpants that mold his ass like a glove--and the subsequent boxing gloves dangling from Blaine’s bag.

He sees it all. Kurt can see how Blaine would be considered a man’s man, whether he’s gay or not.

So to see him eating so … daintily.

Kurt was not ready. God knows why he finds it impossibly alluring, as if Blaine needed any more points to sweep Kurt off his feet.

“Kurt?”

Kurt shakes himself back into a proper, neighborly behavior. “Sorry, got lost in the image of my clothes covered in kittens.”

Blaine snorts, hiding his face by looking down as he keeps on giggling into his ice cream. “I’m fairly sure this won’t turn into a 101 Dalmatians scenario.”

“Fairly sure,” Kurt replies with a chuckle, pointing his spoon at Blaine, “but you are not certain.”

“Meow!”

They look down at their cats. Blaine’s beautiful cat is asleep on Gio’s bed, and Gio is wrapped around her, glaring at the humans for making too much noise.

Blaine gives his spoon one more kitten lick--no pun intended, Kurt’s brain is too fried to pull these on purpose--before smiling bashfully at Kurt. “I guess it’s time for us to go home. I--I’m sorry for making such an angry entrance.”

“Understandable,” Kurt says, licking his own spoons before gathering the empty bowls to drop them in his sink--and thus missing the way Blaine’s eyes slightly darken at the move-- “and forgiven. Now, of course, if you want me to participate in the vet’s fees or to let Miss, um …”

“Ahsoka.”

Kurt blinks at Blaine who bites on his lips as he blushes. “That’s an … exotic name.”

“Star Wars.”

“Ah. Perhaps I should watch it.”

Blaine’s eyes widen. “You haven’t--oooh,” he laughs, “you’re in for a treat. I have all the movies and TV series on a USB key, actually, I--” Blaine cuts himself short, the pink hue of his cheeks darkening. “I’m getting ahead of myself, is what I’m doing, I’m sorry.”

“I would love to let you introduce me to the great cinematic masterpiece that is supposed to be Star Wars,” Kurt rushes, before Blaine can scoop up his sleepy cat and fly away.

“You would?”

“I would.”

Blaine grins at him and Kurt wants to taste that smile.

“It will be my pleasure, then. I’ll arrange our journey. At your place or at mine?”

Kurt considers it. “Switch?”

Blaine makes a strangled sound before clearing his throat. “S-switch is good. One movie at yours …”

“And one movie at yours.”

Until “your” become “ours” and we live happily ever after with our cat family.

Now who is getting ahead of himself, Hummel?

Oh shut up, a man can dream.

You’re right, let’s dream.

*sigh*

“Well, you know where to find me,” Blaine concludes. “When are you free to discover this whole new world?”

Real-life Prince charming. “I’m available to pop this particular cherry tomorrow night?”

It takes Kurt far longer than should be necessary to catch up with his mouth and to understand why Blaine’s face is now matching the aforementioned fruit.

“I mean--”

“Got it!”

Kurt puts his hand over his face. “Today has been a long day and I blame it entirely on the alcohol.”

“Dangerous, Baileys is.”

“Very.”

“I shall bid you Goodnight, then,” Blaine says, curtseying with his cat cradled in his arms.

“Goodnight, Blaine.”

“See you tomorrow night, Kurt.”

Kurt does not look at Blaine walking away before closing his door and sliding until he sits on the floor, hiding his face in Gio’s fur.

Absolutely not.

He pleads the Fifth.

---

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

Blaine can feel his face heating up, but he still laughs.

Kurt glares at him half-heartedly, gesturing to all the cherry-flavored snacks on the table. “You think you are really funny, don’t you?”

Blaine brings the jug of Rosewater Manhattan he prepared and winks at Kurt. “I’m hilarious and you know it.”

“I have yet to witness this hilarity,” Kurt deadpans, but the corner of his mouth still gives a little telling uptick.

“That’s why we need to get to know each other,” Blaine replies. As he sets everything on the coffee table, Kurt sits on the couch, all prim and proper, like he doesn’t want to disturb Blaine’s decor.

“Make yourself at home,” Blaine says.

Please, please, do make yourself at home, let my home be your home and wow, hold your horses, Blaine.

Kurt slightly relaxes, putting one arm over the back of the couch. Ahsoka sniffs his ankles and before Blaine can do or say anything, she jumps in Kurt’s lap, purring against his stomach.

Lucky kitty.

“She’s very friendly,” Kurt says, automatically petting Ahsoka’s thick fur.

“Not usually that friendly, but I suppose you smell like her boyfriend.”

“Are you saying I smell like my cat?”

“I’m saying you smell like boyfriend material--oh my God, no.”

Blaine firmly clamps his mouth shut, focusing on plugging his USB key into his TV.

“Um, Blaine?”

“Can you forget the last five seconds, please?”

“If you can forget the whole cherry popping comment, which, apparently you cannot.”

Blaine cocks his head to the side to glare at Kurt. It’s very hard to glare at him when he looks, finally, so at ease on Blaine’s couch, shoes off and legs folded under him while he keeps on petting Ahsoka and sips on his drink.

Like he belongs there.

Like this is where he should have been and should always be.

Oh, there you are, at last.

“Blaine, don’t worry, we apparently have a tendency to put our feet in our mouth when we are together, let’s accept it.”

“And just roll with it.”

“Exactly.”

Blaine is still on one knee in front of his TV but he looks up to Kurt and nods. “Deal.”

“So, a well-informed friend told me that there are different ways to watch the whole saga, what’s your point of view?”

Blaine goes to sit on the couch before answering. “I hesitated, but we’re going to go numerically for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“Yeah, I’m going to slide in the animated series between movies 2 and 3.”

Kurt groans. “Really?”

“Well, if you want to meet Ahsoka’s namesake, it’s a must.”

“Fine, fine. But, what, 11 movies and an animated series?”

“Yep.”

“That is a lot of movies.”

“Yep.”

Kurt smirks as he picks up a small canapé of Brie, prosciutto and dry cherries. “Do you have an ulterior motive, Mr. Anderson?”

Blaine’s breath gets caught in his throat and then he decides to just take a leap of faith.

“We’ve been neighbors in this building for awhile, haven’t we? Adn all this time, I’ve been wondering What if. What if I invited you out for a drink. What if I dared to proposition you, even. What if I simply asked you out on a date, cat-less, granted, but still. I didn’t plan for our cats to fall in love and do the nasty, but it is--it is my chance, an opportunity, really, to spend more time with you and, um …”

Blaine finally looks up, tentatively reaching for Kurt’s hand. Kurt’s eyes are wide and he gives Blaine a short nod to encourage him to go on.

“... and to tell you that I am very bad, terrible really, at romance, with a serious case of footinthemouthitis, but I would love to get better at it. With you. For you.”

“Blaine.”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“O-okaymph.”

Ahsoka really has barely a handful of seconds before jumping off the couch before Kurt’s hands are cupping Blaine’s cheeks and the two are finally kissing.

It’s deliciously awkward and not right at first, but Kurt guides Blaine into a better position, and things go from deliciously awkward to delicious, period.

“Wow.”

“Uh-huh. Come back here.”

Kurt giggles into their second kiss, pulling Blaine on top of him until they’re lying on the couch, snacks and movies forgotten.

(Sometimes afterward, between the end of The Clone Wars series and the middle of Episode III, the sentence “Oh Master Jedi, show me the way of the Force” is uttered and both will deny saying it and acting on it.

Blaine manages not to make any lightsaber jokes, and Kurt gets a Pavlovian Boner at the sound of the main theme.

They both accept it.)

---

“That’s a lot of kittens.”

“An armada.”

“Pour Ahsoka.”

“She’s a warrior queen, that’s for sure.”

“Eleven kittens.”

“My goodness.”

“What do we do?”

“Well, the triplets are already getting three, so there’s that.”

“Eight more to go.”

“Eight?”

“Need a math refresher?”

“No, but--”

“Kurt, no. We agreed that we were not going to keep them.”

“Aww, come on, we could keep one. Two. Just two.”

“Kurt …”

“We already have two cats, they will take care of their offspring!”

“As if.”

“Blaine, please?”

“... Put those eyes away, you’re going to hurt yourself. Fine, fine.”

“Yes!”

“--But I get to name them.”

“Eurgh. You drive a hard bargain, Anderson.”

“Still six more kittens who need a home.”

“Look at them,” Blaine says picking up one of the kittens, “they will find good homes without a problem, won’t you you adorable fluffball?”

“Blaine, can you put the kitten down please?”

“Hm?”

“Hm-hm.”

“Oh, Mr. Hummel, not in front of the bab-mph!”

(Miss Ahsoka Anderson and Mr Giorgio Catmani Hummel are proud to present the two babies they get to keep, Cat Murdock and Sabrina.

They are also delighted to announce that they are moving in together in order to take care of the kittens and of their two humans who successfully made a match.)

#Anonymous #sometimes i write #klaine au #fluff #cat shenanigans #those two are embarrassing

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cookiedoughmeagain · 3 years

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Haven DVD Commentaries; 5.24 - The Widening Gyre

Commentary with Nick Parker (writer for episode), Shireen Razack (writer for the previous episode) and Josh Brandon (script co-ordinator and writer)

NP: I laboured over what to name this episode, because stuff is going so wrong, and ended up pulling from one of my favourite poems, The Second Coming, and The Widening Gyre is about things falling apart. It’s a weird falconry term, I guess? I always liked the way it sounded. SR: It was really fun watching Nick really tear out his hair over the title of this episode. NP: Yeah. Titles are always tough for me for some reason. I feel like I end up thinking about titles more than most of the writing. SR: Or it’s our way of procrastinating.

SR: The cool thing about this episode, that I really really love, is that the stuff that happens between Audrey and her dad, all takes place in this one room for the entire episode. It’s two people talking to each other and normally if that happens on any other show it is the most boring thing you could imagine. But when I watched this I just thought it was so compelling. I could not look away. Nick did an incredible job of crafting these scenes. NP: Oh that’s so sweet of you. We talked a bit with the last episode about how we had to shoot that really fast and that was why we went with the security camera footage idea that ended up working really really well. For this episode in order to get it done quickly we had to basically have a bunch of two handers in static locations. So we’ve got Audrey and Croatoan here, we’ve got Vince and Howard in the Herald, and then we’ve got Duke and Nathan basically, in the station. All conversations between two people in a single room. It was a lot of talking. SR: For a writer that’s doing TV that can be the most terrifying thing on the planet. But when you’ve got a great writer like Mr Nick Parker, then what you see on screen is compelling that you don’t care that there’s not a lot of movement. NP: Thank you very much. I think it was also aided greatly by the fact that we have a legend in the sci-fi genre, William Shatner, holding some of these scenes up. He was so much fun to write with. My dad is a huge Star Trek fan. I used to watch The Next Generation with him when I was growing up, and he used to watch the Original with his dad back in the day. So when I found out I was going to be able to write for him and I told my dad on the DL, and he just kept asking me questions; Are you going to get to meet him? How much do you get to write for him? He was so excited. JB: We did get to meet him briefly when he came into the office. SR: Of course that was the day I was out of the office. NP: He is just awesome. I don’t even know how old he is ... JB: He’s 83 NP: And apparently these days were pretty brutal, they were working and working and working. And he was great - there is a reason that he is a legend. SR: Now that I think about it, both of my brothers are huge Star Trek fans, as am I, and I don’t think I’ve told them that I got to write for William Shatner. How is that possible? NP: It’ll be a great surprise for them when the episode comes on.

[McHugh throws a chair to Dwight who smashes it over Duke’s back to stop him attacking Nathan] JB: Oh that was awesome! NP: Yeah that was definitely a callout to the wrestling. WWE fans will know, but for those that don’t know, Adam Copeland and Christian were tag team partners in WWE for years, so we wanted to have a moment where we had a little tip of the hat to their wrestling past. So Christian tosses Edge a chair and it just seemed very wrestly SR: It was beautiful. NP: I was afraid it might be cheesy SR: Not between these two. They know how to sell it. NP: They made it work. McHugh ended up being a really fun character too, so thank you for giving us that character Shireen. McHugh’s cool.

SR: The thing that I don’t understand, is why isn’t Croatoan serving Audrey pancakes? NP: Because Mara hates pancakes. And he wants Mara back. SR: Oh, right. NP: Audrey is just an imitation to him. SR: She’s a real girl now.

NP: I think production did a really good job with this room that Croatoan and Audrey are in. It’s pretty but creepy SR: It’s very Laura Ashley NP: Yes. Any time you start to throw in a floral wallpaper, you’re going to terrify me. It feels like an old horror movie, set in my grandmother’s house.

NP: These were fun scenes to write between Audrey and Croatoan because when we were going through the revision process, Matt McGuinness was having some problems with his back so wasn’t coming into the office. So I went over to his place and spent a whole day working just with him which was really fun because Matt is the father of three daughters so he gave me a lot of good guidance on talking with your daughter, which is an experience I do not have, so that was good. SR: It’s really interesting when you’re on a writing staff and half the staff are parents and the other half are single, and footloose and fancy free. NP: Yes, functionally still children. SR: That too. So Matt’s got three daughters, Speed has triplets, and hearing the stories that come from them as opposed to the stories that come from us are polar opposites. NP: Yeah like when I start talking about my weekend like; I woke up at 10, went to play basketball. And you can just see Matt’s blood slowly starting to boil. SR: Yes, exactly.

NP: This was a fun story line {Vince and Howard] because we got to really … well the difficulty of an episode this late in the series is that you’ve still got a lot of mythology you want to pay off, but you don’t want to get all talky and boring becasue too much mythology can be really cumbersome. But it was fun to have basically the guy from the other world who knows how everything works, with the guy who’s spent his whole life protecting Haven (the lore keeper of Haven) talking to each other. That was a lot of fun to write SR: I remember in the room, once everyone realised that was what was happening it was like; Holy crap of course - this is what the story is! NP: And then we were pitching the idea that Vince becomes the New Barn’s Controller. And at first it was like; Oh man that’s huge, how do you get your head around it. But then as we talked about it more in the room it started to really make sense and fit. And then really just informed all the scenes previous because we knew what we were working towards. SR: Yeah. Basically when you came up with that, it was another light bulb moment, and everyone was just like: Of course, that’s it, that’s what has to happen! JB: It has to be that way.

[Nathan sitting down to talk to Duke in the interview room] NP: I’m always a sucker, as you can probably tell in this episode, for scenes where there’s two things happening on both sides of a one way mirror. It’s a total cop trope at this point, but I still think it’s so much fun. SR: Especially when on the other side of the mirror is someone who’s completely possessed/ NP: A total monster, yes.

[Croatoan: I loved your mother. She wasn’t destroyed by me. She was contaminated by weak minds] NP: Yeah, he really sells it. I’m so glad we got him. NP: I don’t think any of us thought it was really going to happen. They were talking about it for a long time. He came in and met everyone. He sat down with Matt and Gab and kind of quizzed them about the show for an hour. But I still think everyone thought it would be too hard and we wouldn’t get him. And then he said Yes. NP: It worked out great. He’s also sitting a beautiful table - look at that. SR: And the house that they found for the exterior of this, is just perfect. NP: Oh I know. It was like; We’ve got to find a place that looks isolated, kind of innately creepy, but also Haven. And then; this house that is totally alone on a cliff side? Perfect. SR: Our location scouts are amazing. NP: Yes. That’s a great example, and then there’s that spa that we shot at a couple times. It’s this crazy place where they were going to build this huge getaway place up in Nova Scotia there and I guess the real estate bubble crashed in 2008 or whenever that happened. And so, seriously, you walk in and there’s blue prints lying around. Uninstalled light bulbs. They just stopped paying the workers and people stopped coming in, so it’s just this giant concrete, unfinished … it’s humongous, halls and halls and halls of it. It’s crazy looking. SR; Which episodes did we shoot there? NP: 4.11. And also … something in the first season. And we go up there for exteriors every so often.

NP: I think the shroud ended up looking really cool. I think I’ve said that before but it ended up looking amazing. I really like it. SR: Yeah it’s really cool. It doesn’t look like a visual effect. It just looks like Los Angeles fog.

[Nathan; Whatever Croatoan did to you it’s wearing off.] NP: No, it’s not. Boo. SR: That’s my favourite line; Boo. NP: Oh thanks. But really the way he acts, the way he’s teasing Nathan and everything, was absolutely informed by your sing-song dialogue in the last episode. Because, we were really the ones that were responsible for setting up how he’s going to be through to the end. So the Evil Duke character you conceived really helped me write these scenes, so I couldn’t have done it without that. SR: Oh, thanks.

[Duke: Sometimes Audrey likes the bad boys. And now that I’ve found my true self, well, we might go all the way this time] SR: Doesn’t it just always go back to Colorado? NP: Yeah, pretty much. That one scene in Colorado … the actual scene was probably like three minutes long, but the amount of time we’ve talked about it since then, it’s like three hours of on screen content. SR: And back then, I was a fan then [before working on the show], so I’m watching it as it’s airing, Screaming at the television; What are you doing? No! NP: Yeah, we can all blame Shernold for that JB: Everyone does, it’s so unfair. NP: Poor Shern. One of my favourite people in the world. Even though she did put Duke and Audrey together. And she did start the whole Team Waffles thing I guess. SR: That’s true. And I think in the commentary that we did together … You know, I fully own my Naudrey-ness, but Shern refuses to own her Daudrey. NP: I mean, she is the originator of the Daudrey movement. She has to admit it. JB: But just so everybody knows - these decisions are not made by one person. NP: No, that’s true. And she’s not even here to defend herself, poor thing.

NP: I love the way that post-apocalyptic Haven looks. Like; Well, we’d better throw some garbage on the street. JB: But I love that because so many times you see - and one of the best examples is Dark Knight Rises, the place is on lockdown and nobody does anything for months. But still there’s no garbage, nothing piles up, there’s nothing on the street.

[Howard; By your calendar it was several centuries ago] NP: Oh, here’s comes the info dump. Get ready SR: But hey, there’s something very important about this info dump. NP: Well and it is nice that he gets to talk to Vince about this. Vince is the right guy to hear this stuff. SR: And even more important is that this connects to the awesome comic book that is the insert to the DVDs that you wrote. NP: Yes, the season four comic book. What I loved in that is that Maurice [who plays Howard] has an awesome look and his mustache is excellent. But the season four comic book was set way back, in the fifteenth century or whatever, so then he is in fifteenth century garb, and with a mustache that’s twice as big and goes all the way down to his chin. So it’s like; Yes, that’s the classic look. And it’s funny how we really got to push a lot of mythology in the comic books. Like; We’ll tell that story there - OK, great, that’ll be fund, it’s actually a really important story! JB: What was it called? In The Beginning? NP: Yes. The other one was After The Storm, which tells what happens between seasons three and four. And then the season four comic book told the story of Mara and William’s first time in Haven. It was funny because, between three and four it was easy becasue there was a six month gap between the seasons so we could tell the story of what happened right after three ended. But between seasons four and five - no time passes whatsoever. JB: Yeah, what can we tell in this one hour? NP: So we’ve got to go back, we’ve got to go way back.

SR: Is that Dwight’s new crossbow that he was talking to Jason Priestley about? NP: Yeah that might be the one he wanted Chris Brody to see. Adam has got a long career ahead of him. He’s just so good. And built like a giant brick house. He’s great. And, the nicest person you will ever meet. SR: And Adam and Christian are awesome on screen together. NP: Yeah you can tell they have a lot of history together. They’ve been friends forever.

*Some joking around about the idea of Mara drinking black coffee as a child and that maybe that is what messed her up, and perhaps black coffee isn’t that different from aether anyway* JB: You should put some milk in your aether so you can tell them apart

[Audrey stabs Croatoan in the next] JB: Oof, that looked good. NP: He just looks like such a bad ass here SR: Daddy’s not happy [Croatoan breaks Audrey’s arm] NP: Oh god SR: That looks nasty. NP: Yeah I feel like I had to work in the bone breaking moment. Just because, I love on TV whenever you hear a bone breaking, because the folio people do such a great job to make that bone breaking sound. It always sounds so brutal SR: There were some conversations in the writers’ room about how much of the bone should be poking through the flesh. And I think Standards and Practices might have pulled us back. NP: Well in the original script it was just hanging at an impossible angle. And then we were like; Let’s go as gruesome as possible. SR: And I also remember there being a lot of conversations about what Croatoan should wear. And ultimately it was a beautifully tailored suit, and he looks awesome! NP: Yep, gotta look classy. JB: I remember on the prep schedule, one of the first things it had - because Shatner is always dressed by … he either has a tailor or he does something with Mens Wearhouse or whatever. And so it even said on the prep schedule; Shatner arrives and is taken immediately for fittings at Men’s Wearhouse. Although he was not listed as Shatner on the prep schedule. We won’t say what it is, but he travels under an assumed name so that people don’t mob him. NP: Yeah it never said “Shatner” on the scripts or anything.

[McHugh; Some Guard buddies of mine have Old Troubles that can make Duke talk] NP: McHugh doesn’t have a lot of lines in this script, but what he has to work with, I think he did a great job with. He’s just efficient, just like; Let’s make it happen - let’s torture the shit out of him and find out what’s going on. SR: We’ve played with that a couple different times in different episodes, and it’s even been cut from certain episodes JB: The ethics of it? SR: Using Troubles to torture people. NP: Yeah because for this one we had talked about going back through the old Trouble catalogue. I think the character’s name was Ginger Danvers, from 3.10 - Burned. Ginger was named after one of Matt McGuinness’s kids. And her power was that anything she said that you had to do, you had to do it. So she inadvertently kills several people, and then she uses the power on Jordan at one point to make her tell the truth. So we were like; What if we bring Ginger Danvers back? But we had to keep it simple, we really could only have a few people in each scene.

[Vince draws Dwight a map of the old farmhouse where he thinks Croatoan will be hiding out] JB: That was a very quick reference to the old mis-labelled East Haven, West Haven map. West Haven is where East Haven should be, and vice versa. It’s a quirky thing. So in case you’re wondering why West Haven is written on the East Side of that map - it’s deliberate. NP: It’s very Haven.

SR: The thing that I thought was really interesting about the final cut of this episode is that normally the act outs (where you go to commercial) are usually on Audrey, or Nathan, or Duke. But a lot of the act outs in this one went out on Vince. And I thought it was a really nice send off to the character, because he is the one that has the worst dilemma but also the most heroic moment. NP: Yeah. It’s something I thought about a lot writing this. Functionally, the fact that Audrey is in the scenes with Croatoan makes that the A story, but really there’s three A stories in this episode. And while we’re getting a bunch of information from Croatoan and there’s a lot of emotional movement in their story, and obviosuly Duke and Nathan are going through a lot as well … but then all the while going on in the background is this Vince story where he is making this huge sacrifice that no one else is really aware of because they’re so caught up in their own stories. So that I think was why we ended up putting the act outs where they are. It kind of gives him that impact.

[Croatoan; I created you] NP: That was scary. SR: This is the best part; “Twice.” His evil little giggle at the end, just sold it so well. NP: Yeah, he really held those scenes.

NP: Just looking back on Duke’s character; he’s goes through a Lot this season. Leaves Haven, goes on this journey, comes back, loses Hailie. He has quite a journey this season. SR: Yes, and if you go all the way back to the beginning of 5A, it’s just been quite the rollercoast ride. NP: Yeah, Mara was a rollercoaster there. JB: And there are echoes of the Mara,Audrey stuff from the beginning of the season here, Duke trying to come to the surface [Nathan seeing Duke still there underneath what Croatoan has turned him into] NP: Yeah, this was definitely a callback to that kind of stuff. It’s funny, talking of Hailie - in the original concept for this episode, Duke was receiving instructions from Croatoan, but Croatoan was posing in Duke’s mind as Hailie. And there was going to be this whole big reveal. But as we got further into it we realised; We don’t really need to see that side of it, it’s enough to play all of that off of Eric Balfour’s acting, and him really selling it. And he nailed it. So I’m glad we don’t have that complicating factor. JB: And I think as well, I remember reading that and thinking; This is really cool, but it would be amazing if it was Jennifer. And knowing we couldn’t make it Jennifer, I wonder if some of the fans might have thought the same thing. NP: Yeah, we totally wanted it to be Jennifer. But it was a case of who was available. JB: She was great too though, Hailie NP: Yes she was, but just emotionally does she mean the same to Duke? JB: Exactly

SR: So, do you think, if Dave were still alive, would Vince be willing to do this? [To sacrifice himself to become the controller of the new Barn] NP: Um, yes. It is something I thought about working on this, that his sacrifice is more about Haven as opposed to some displaced or weird mourning process for his brother. I definitely think that Dave passing recently maybe put the idea in his head, but I wanted the sacrifice to be more about his relationship with Haven as opposed to his relationship with his brother. SR: Right. Actually, I guess if Dave were alive they would do it together. NP: Likely, yeah. Just high fiving on the way in. They can just play gin rummy for ever and ever. SR: And argue with each other. NP: Yep. They’re good at that.

*Some comments about how pretty the house in this is, and how pretty Nova Scotia in general is, the downsides only being that it’s cold and rains all the time* SR: When we started shooting this season it was bitter cold. NP: Yes, because we did 26 episodes this year, which was a lot to cover. So we started shooting in April, and didn’t wrap up until mid-December. So by the time we were into the last four episodes, we had maybe 6 hours of daylight, the sun went down at like 3 o’clock or something. So that’s why we have a lot of interiors. SR: And when we started - April in Nova Scotia is still really cold as well. And I remember Lucas was out there in a shirt leaning against cold steel NP: Yes where Mara had shot him and he’s leaning against the bronco, there are all these out takes of him leaning against the cold metal like; Ahhh!!! JB: And in the last couple of episodes there some stuff outdoors and everyone’s wearing big coats which you’ve never seen anyone in Haven wear before. NP: Yeah, we just couldn’t do it otherwise SR: But our actors are troopers, man.

[Duke breaking out of his chains, and walking through the table and the wall/window] NP: It’s the classic; He wanted to be captured. SR: And as it true on pretty much any type of sci-fi show, you’re always wondering how much money do you have for visual effects. And I remember this discussion of; Do we have enough money to see him go through the table? NP: Yes, it was that specific. Because originally it was; We can’t do any more special effects. And because of the structure of this episode there was not a big visual effects budget dedicated to it. So originally that was going to be practical where Duke would have jumped across the table and leapt through the window. And then they were like; Er, actually it’s going to be more trouble for us to do it that way, let’s just go with the visual effects. So was I was like; Yes, that’s what I wanted all along. JB: So that’s the answer. You have what you want in your head, but you know it’s a bit expensive. So you write a shittier version of it so they insist you re-write it. NP: Yeah pretty much. A long con.

[Duke taking the Trouble census from Nathan] SR: The amount of times that Nathan has been hit in the head. NP: Yeah poor guy. I know he can’t feel it, but. JB: I feel it. I feel for him. Also didn’t McHugh almost get killed in this scene too? NP: Yes, that was changed, so eventually we just knocked him out. JB: A bit of a shout out to Nick because he’s too modest to mention it himself, but the whole concept of what the Trouble Census looked like, Nick spent a lot of time mapping that out for the art department when we were coming up with the concept. NP: I did? Oh yeah I did. I think because I carry around a journal that looks a lot like that.

[Audrey pleading with Croatoan not to kill Nathan] NP: That was the first time Audrey called Croatoan ‘Dad’. Probably to manipulate him, in that moment, but. SR: It worked NP: I wanted to have this cut back and forth between appealing to people’s real selves. And as scripted, this fight scene between Duke and Nathan was much longer, but with the constraints of producing something it had to be tightened. SR: The other thing I remember is that part of the reason we were shooting these two episodes in 10 days is because we were banking a lot for the finale. So that the finale could be awesome for the fans. NP: Yes, we really wanted to have as much time and money as we could, to do those final episodes right. SR: And I think Matt and Gab did a bang up job NP: They turned out great. And what’s nice is because we did do that, with the constraints of the last episode and this one of just being two people in various rooms, we got to have them talk a lot and figure out where they’re coming from heading into the craziness of the final two episodes. Because there’s a lot that goes on in 25 and 26, and there’s not a lot of time to sit down and talk about motivation. So that’s why these were fun to write.

[Croatoan tells Audrey she’s free to go] SR: This was another light bulb moment, because we were trying very hard to figure out what happens at the end of this episode. NP: Yeah you really painted me into a corner with having Audrey abducted. I was like; Why does he let her go? Gotta come up with something. SR: But you did a beautiful job! NP: Thank you. SR: It make absolute sense that he would just say; Off you go - go say goodbye. NP: Yep, before I turn them all against you. And then what we see is the result of that move [Dwight walking up to the house, about to find Lizzie] NP: This has always been one of my favourite story lines; Dwight and his daughter. He just talks about her really, you don’t see much in the show, but I always liked it. SR: And you did a webisde about it. That cleared up a lot of stuff for him. NP: Yeah we got to cover a lot in that, which was fun. Got to learn a lot about the Guard and everything. SR: She’s super cute. She totally looks like his daughter. NP: What I liked about this is it’s the first example of like; How I’m going to ruin you all. This is how I’m going to manipulate you and your friends. SR: Oh so beautiful. JB: It’s more evil than violence, it’s more manipulative. NP: Yeah. And that plays out in 25 and 26 in a cool way. It gives Dwight something to really lean into.

[Vince; I know exactly what we have to do to send Croatoan screaming back to hell] SR: That is a great line. NP: I love it when he gets tough. I also love that the outfit he chose for eternity is a sweater vest, or cardigan or whatever that is. Thank you all for watching. SR: Watch the finale, you’re going to love it.

#haven syfy #haven 5 #haven dvd commentaries #5 #5.24 - The Widening Gyre

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spoilingstories · 7 years

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DuckTale: A Reboot Done Right!

Anyone else die a little inside when they here another reboot is happening? It’s not that reboots are inherently bad, but in the last several years they are rarely… good. You have reboots like Teen Titans Go! that have character names in common… and that’s pretty much it. They don’t pay any attention to what came before and are counting on potty humor to carry them. You have reboots like Sailor Moon Crystal that is so similar to the original source material (the manga/comic) that you could almost read along. There are people who appreciate that sort of thing, but it takes absolutely no risks. You have reboots like the newest Beauty and the Beast movie that just miss that mark. They took some risks, but they wanted so much to honor Howard Ashman (in no way is that a bad thing) that few of their changes really made much of an impact. You don’t really have reboots that take too many risks that don’t pay off, because reboots in general are a safe and quick cash grab for companies. They know that people will watch the reboot if only for curiosities sake. But doesn’t it make more sense to re-imagine a show in a way that grabs the attention of not just those who remember it and loved it, but those who have yet to discover it.

But more and more we are getting reboots that not only highlight what we who grew up with it love, but takes enough risks that it feels fresh and new audiences are willing to take part. You can see it with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (in its 7th season), the live action Jungle Book from 2016, Spiderman: Homecoming, and most recently the new DuckTales series on Disney XD.

When I first heard about the DuckTales reboot, I was conflicted. The more artwork and promos that got released the more conflicted I felt. I wanted to feel excited, they were showing us how much potential this has, but with all of that potential the harder the crash would be if they did not meet it. With all of this hanging over it, what did I think of the new DuckTales? It was more than I thought it could be!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You could tell from early artwork that they were trying to distinguish Huey, Dewey, and Louie from one another. They got separate voice actors for the triplets and worked to make sure they had distinguishable character traits, which hasn’t been tried since the infamous Quack Pack series. And it really works. They didn’t focus on making the characters “hip and cool” (which ultimately dates the series), but instead focused on the boys and thought about how each one of them would relate to the world, their family and friends, and each other. And they did it. From this one episode that Huey is the most responsible and the nerdiest of the three, that Dewey is driven by the challenge and is most interested in the epic-ness of adventure, and Louie is very clearly about the gain, and the more gain and the less effort the more interested he is. From ONE episode. I love it when I can get an idea of a character from that little of information.

Webbie is also nicely updated, and while I thought that she was going to be a copy of Mabel from Gravity Falls, there are more than a few differences. While they are both imaginative, adventurous, hyper girls, Webbie is far more isolated and insecure. Mabel makes friends everywhere she goes, but Webbie actually asks the boys “Are we friends now?” after she captures them and explains that she lives in the manor with her grandma and studies literally everything to do with Scrooge McDuck. Webbie’s imagination also has a darker, espionage flair, while Mabel’s is sunshine, rainbows and sparkles. And I really love Webbie. I liked seeing her try to figure out how to relate to kids her own age. I liked her problem solving. I loved her voice. It was a happy update from the 80s and her high-pitched voice that sounded more like a 3-year-old than someone who did contribute on the adventures.

Watching Donald in this was awesome. You could see that he is still our favorite ill-tempered duck, but there was something that we’ve never seen in Donald, parental care and worry. He is very much like he is in early Scrooge comics, still temperamental but you can tell that he cares about his family. But something that hasn’t been explored before is the idea of an estranged relationship between Donald and Scrooge. It’s very intriguing and gives the writers room to grow, to repair possibly lost trust with Huey, Dewey, and Louie acting as that bridge between them.

Not much was changed with Launch Pad McQuack and I wouldn’t want it to. The only change I could see was that Launch Pad was already working for Scrooge as his chauffer, so we will move on to Beakly. I like that they made it so that Mrs Beakly was aleady working for Scrooge as his house keeper. It fits with his character to not hire more people than he deems necessary to run his house and having Mrs Beakly already living there means no one else has to be introduced or hired. But from a few lines that aren’t explained, you get the feeling that there’s more history between Scrooge and Beakly. The exchange that the two of them have in his study hints that Beakly knows him very well, working for him for a long time and probably going on past adventures with him. We know from Webbie that Beakly has trained her to “be ready for anything” but keeps her at the mansion with her. I see a correlation between Beakly’s and Donald’s attitudes towards their families and wanting to keep them safe and out of trouble. And while Beakly’s relationship with Scrooge has not suffered the same way Donald’s has, she still doesn’t want to risk Webbie to adventure.

Now Scrooge. Scrooge is the same greedy duck we all know and love, but we can see these days he doesn’t go adventuring the way he used to and he is bored. Why he stopped hasn’t been explained, but there’s time to explore that. He doesn’t like the thought that his adventures are over and that he should (in a sense) retire from those days. He doesn’t want to become a doting old man that spins tall tales for the next generation. Then Donald comes back into his life with his great-nephews in tow and they turn his world upside down in a way that he’s missed. Yeah, he shows off a bit for these kids, but whatever happened in his past with Donald I think is influencing him, because he tries to keep them safe. And at the end of it all, he invites Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie to come live with him. That is huge to me! I feel like he didn’t just offer his home because they suddenly found themselves homeless, but because he’s realized how much he misses his family.

I’m very impressed with what Disney XD has done so far. This feels like it’s going to be an awesome adventure. It pays homage to what has come before, but it changes what needs to be changed to bring it into the 21st century. I recommend anyone who hasn’t done it to check out on YouTube and I am anxiously waiting for the official premiere of the series this September 23rd.

#ducktales #donald duck #scrooge mcduck #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #huey dewey and louie #webby vanderquack #webigail vanderquack #mrs beakley #launch pad mcquack #flintheart glomgold

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trash--universe · 7 years

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Platonic Braiding

a little bit I wrote for a friend. She wanted platonic BoKuroo hair braiding.

It was movie night at Kuroo's place - a tradition started after they met during volleyball camp when they were first years. The room was dark, curtains pulled tight over the window to keep even the tiniest bit of light from coming in and causing a glare on the TV. Not that Bokuto was really paying attention to the movie that was playing.

It was Kenma's pick, so they were watching the first Matrix movie for the thousandth time. He and Akaashi liked to sit of to the side, mumbling about their conspiracy theories that revolved around the Matrix. Specifically that their reality was a Matrix and the movie was a hint that they were supposed to be getting so they could try and break out. It all put Bokuto's brain into a frenzy though - all conspiracy theories did. He would stay up for days thinking about them and losing sleep.

So he was distracting himself. It had started with just playing with Kuroo's hair - it was down and loose after the boy's shower earlier. Now he was braiding it though, twisting soft knots into it that they'd be able to brush out later. It put his focus on something that wasn't the Matrix.

"Bro, what are you doing?" Kuroo's voice broke through his concentration, finally questioning him after a little over half an hour of braiding many small strands of his hair.

"Making you pretty, bro." Bokuto responded with a snort as he started on a new strand, braiding it with the practiced ease that came from having three little sisters. The triplets had been begging him to braid their hair since they were old enough to know what braids even were.

"Bro, I'm already pretty." Kuroo mocked offense, but then cracked up into little giggles.

"Prettier, then." Bo huffed as he continued what he was doing, letting everything but Kuroo's nice, floofy hair fade into the back of his mind.

He loved movie days, even if he wasn't the one really watching the movie. It was just enough to be surrounded by all of his best friends, hands messing in Kuroo's hair, letting the whole world melt away around them. Perfect was the only word he could use to describe it.

Absolutely perfect.

#bokuto koutarou #kuroo tetsurou #bokuroo #bokuro #haikyuu #maxx writes

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cacs101-blog · 4 years

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Group Game Making

Ideation

Asher and Ethan initially posed the idea of using Haiku in some form and i really liked the idea, it was alot more straightforward than our other game ideas of which included a pandemic/quarantine theme of which i thought may defeat the purpose of escapism that many people play games to achieve. We all decided after a few video chats that haikus would be an interesting venture after discussing some of our own personal project ideas. Initial research had been done by Eathan and Asher raised the idea of calling it ‘ Hectic Haikus ‘in our brainstorming session. I also posed the idea of having a player judging mechanic.

I decided to research differing aesthetics to see where we could go with it. I began by historical research and trying to determining the differences between traditionalist and modernist Japanese design and what would fit our game most.

Cultural Acknowledgement

As someone whos is not of Japanese heritage and we are not in any way trying to appropriate japanese culture in a crude or disrespectful way, we wish to pay homage to the poetic origins of the game and its historical relevance to those who have used it for hundreds of years, any aesthetic choices made are through modern and historical approaches that are meant to ground and associate the game historically with the culture it was birthed from. As this game will be aesthetically mashed it will be reappropriated to incorporate the idea of Hectic Haikus that go away from the traditionalist views of haiku and therefore visually we wish to separate ourselves from the product we have made.

Research

Where and when are Haikus from? Hectic? What is the significance?different aesthetic choices to be made?

Haiku origins and Hectic beginnings

During the Heian period of Japanese culture (700-1100), it was a social requirement to be able to instantly recognize, appreciate and recite Japanese and Chinese poetry. It was around this period that short forms of poetry (tanka) grew in popularity rather than long forms of poetry (choka). Hyper fixed lifestyles of the time carried over into their art; every poem had to have a specific scaffolding. The approved form was the 5-7-5 triplet followed by a couplet of seven syllables, becoming the Japanese equivalent to the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare's England.

Haiku formed directly from this notion and has been used for hundreds of years, but why? what should haiku accomplish? What should it do for the reader? According to the classic haiku poets of Japan, haiku should present its observer with an observation of a natural, commonplace event, in the simplest words, without verbal trickery. The effect of haiku is one of "sparseness". It's a momentary snatch from time's flow, crystallized and distilled. Nothing more.

The Term ‘Hectic’ in juxtaposition to the original objective of haikus, as defined by Urban dictionary is an adjective used to describe unusually extreme circumstances relating to an experience, in particular, those which cause an overt reaction. So for a haiku to be Hectic is juxtaposing features that could work in comedic purposes when someone has to explain what the haiku they have made means, filling in the blanks of a normal haiku with their own off the cuff explanations.

9 different Aesthetics associated with Japan

Initially i thought i would find there to be a traditionalist and modernist approach to japanese aesthetics i found my perception changed as many of the different aesthetics to be conveyed have been adapted both as traditional styles and modern styles in japanese art and aesthetics.

1. Wabi-sabi 佗寂 (Imperfection)

imperfection, impermanence and incompletion, the very ephemeral nature of phenomena like cherry blossoms in spring, Asymmetry, simplicity and modesty would also qualify as dimensions of this value.

2. Miyabi 雅 (Elegance)

elegance, refinement and courtliness. It is also about the elimination of anything vulgar or unsightly. Associated with politeness, social etiquette and helpfulness of the Japanese people.

3. Shibui 渋い or Shibusa 渋さ (Simplicity)

simplicity, subtlety and unobtrusiveness. Hayao Miyazaki’s anime movies like Spirited Away and Howl's moving castle are a good reflection of shibui, with their simple and subliminal story lines.

4. Iki 粋 (Spontaneity and Originality)

Also about simplicity and temporality. It however encapsulates qualities like originality, uniqueness and spontaneity, more audacious and less self conscious while still remaining measured and controlled. (japanese punk culture)

5. Jo-ha-kyū 序破急 (Modulation and Movement)

concept of modulation and movement. thought of like a tempo in that all things should start slowly, build up quickly thereafter to a rising crescendo, and then end swiftly. Aestehtics associated with traditional arts such as tea ceremony and martial arts. movies and books such as Haruki Murakami build upon this aesthetic.

6. Yūgen 幽玄 (Mystery and Concealment)

values mystery and concealment. elements of profound depth with questions that may remain unanswered even as the plot unravels. a common trait in much of Japanese theatre, movies, and books.

7. Geidō 藝道 (Discipline and System)

discipline, ethics and systematised approach to apprenticeship embodied in many Japanese traditional arts. These can be as varied as sushi making to Kendo and Sumo wrestling. An obsession with quality and high standards to see this in practice.

8. Ensō 円相 (Void and Absolution)

Symbolic circle that symbolises a holistic form of absolution, enlightenment, strength, elegance, the Universe and the void. A Zen Buddhism concept represented by a form of minimalism common in Japanese design and aesthetics.

9. Kawaii かわいい (Cute and Lovable)

The most well understood aesthetic element of Japanese art, culture and design. Meaning lovable, cute or adorable, kawaii is found almost everywhere in modern Japan and an integral part of Japanese society.

What Aesthetic choice fits most

I believe that the Ensō aesthetic of that symbolic circle that symbolises a holistic form of absolution and enlightenment, strength, elegance, fits well with the concept of haiku but i would like to have some kind of imperfection to that simplicity such as handwritten typography which may lend itself more towards the Wabi-sabi aesthetics but keeping with the Enso’s form of minimalism common in Japanese design and aesthetics.

Game Inspiration board:

Hanabi (A Japanese game that has found success in the West)

Machi Koro (Japanese Tabletop city builder, Aesthetic simplicity)

Cards Against Humanity (inspiration behind our ‘judging player’ mechanic)

Jabber Jot (similar game idea)

Miyabi (aesthetic codes of a Japanese garden)

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