#PROTECT THE PRESIDENT kind of jump dive

[zenathered]

The valentione outfit is adorable, but the irony hasn’t been lost on me that the event story was all about looking the way you want to look, then proceeding to reward a gender locked outfit. 

It’s just so funny, this seasonal event could be comedy of the year. But I think they’re going to fix it eventually, probably didn’t have the time.

[starseedfxofficial]

The Euro-Japanese Yen Hustle: How AI Bots Are Secretly Swinging the Market Imagine you're on a sushi conveyor belt. You spot a delicious-looking plate, but just as you reach for it, someone—or something—snags it first. That's the Euro-Japanese Yen market when Artificial Intelligence bots are in the mix. These bots aren't just another sushi diner; they're the ultimate conveyor-belt ninjas, snatching up opportunities faster than you can say "unagi." And no, unlike the fish, these bots aren't raw—they're cooking up some seriously advanced trading maneuvers. But here's where the real magic happens: understanding how these AI bots make their moves can be your golden ticket to avoiding costly pitfalls. In this article, we're diving deep into how artificial intelligence bots are influencing the Euro-Japanese Yen market, unveiling the hidden tricks, the underground trends, and the proven techniques that only the pros know. Buckle up—no clichés intended—because you're about to enter a secret world where money moves at the speed of machine learning, and you can ride the wave without drowning in it. The Secret Sauce: Why the Euro-Japanese Yen Pair? Before we get lost in the AI wonderland, let's understand why the Euro-Japanese Yen (EUR/JPY) is an attractive playground for artificial intelligence bots. The answer lies in its volatility and liquidity. These two factors make EUR/JPY perfect for quick swings, like those rollercoaster relationships your friends can't seem to quit. AI bots love this kind of volatility because they feed on speed—like, "did I just blink and miss it?" kind of speed. The Euro and Yen are also heavily impacted by macroeconomic policies, especially given the historically low interest rates in Japan and the Eurozone's dance with quantitative easing. For AI bots, this means predictability in the chaos. Like a magician predicting which card you'll pick, AI can decode patterns, reacting instantly to news events or economic releases. So while you're still trying to figure out if ECB President Christine Lagarde was being dovish or hawkish, these bots have already made three trades. Bots Have Feelings Too... Kinda Alright, not real feelings—they're not out here buying Euro-Yen because they "just feel good vibes." But these artificial intelligence bots are sophisticated enough to emulate human sentiment analysis. They scan Twitter feeds, economic news, and even market rumors faster than you can retweet a cat meme. And they do this to understand market sentiment—like whether that statement from the Bank of Japan was more of a "meh" or a "holy sushi, we’re doomed!" The AI bots aggregate this data, turning sentiment into actionable trades. Picture it like someone throwing a dart at a balloon: the balloon is market uncertainty, and the bot is out there popping it before anyone else can even take aim. This means that having an understanding of how these bots react to news can give you an edge—allowing you to jump in (or out) right before the bots do. How to Outsmart an AI Bot—Yes, It’s Possible Now, I know what you’re thinking: "How in the world can I compete with an AI bot that’s probably out here sipping jet fuel for breakfast?" Here's the unconventional approach: instead of competing directly, leverage their predictability. These bots have rules—algorithms, really—and they follow them religiously. You, on the other hand, can be spontaneous. You can trade like you're in an episode of your favorite sitcom—unpredictable, surprising, and just a little bit chaotic. One ninja tactic to outmaneuver these bots is "time-blocking" your trades around expected news releases. AI bots are built to react to news milliseconds after it drops, but they are often very predictable right before a big event. They tend to close positions or place hedges to protect against surprise volatility. That’s where your chance comes in: if you can position yourself strategically—like placing an order just before major volatility hits—you can surf the wave that the bots create. The best part? They help move the market for you. It’s like they’re setting up dominoes, and all you have to do is tip the first one. The "Ping Pong" Strategy: Playing Between AI Moves I call this one the "Ping Pong" strategy—because you’re literally bouncing between bot trades. AI bots often operate on a micro-timeframe, executing trades in seconds or even microseconds. But guess what? They leave behind traces, micro-trends if you will, like breadcrumbs in the forest of trading. By tracking these micro-trends, you can create a strategy that plays off of these repeated moves. AI bots often fall into patterns during less volatile times—kind of like that one friend who always orders chicken at every restaurant. By placing buy and sell orders around these movements, you’re essentially playing ping pong with the market, pocketing small profits while the bots are just busy doing their thing. And here’s where it gets cool: you don't need to win big; you just need to ride their coattails consistently. Little wins over time add up—just like convincing yourself each sale-priced pair of shoes was an 'investment.' The AI-Trader Paradox: To Bot or Not to Bot If you can't beat them, join them, right? Well, kinda. You might wonder if you should start using AI bots yourself. They can be incredibly useful—especially if you use smart trading tools like the one offered by StarseedFX (wink, wink). These tools simplify order management, calculate lot sizes, and do a bit of AI magic on your behalf. But the paradox here is that, if everyone uses the same bots, then the market evolves to counteract them. The trick is not in buying an off-the-shelf AI bot—those tend to get outsmarted fairly quickly. Instead, invest in your trading education to understand how these bots think. Be aware of their weaknesses: the fact that they all execute similar strategies. Use this to your advantage. Remember, AI bots can be programmed to trade, but they aren’t great at strategizing outside their code. Humans still have that creative edge—we’re the ones who can think, adapt, and create better strategies when the market shifts. AI Bots' Kryptonite: Market Overreaction Here's another hidden gem: bots have an inherent flaw—overreaction. Ever seen someone laugh too hard at a joke that wasn't really that funny? Bots can act similarly, especially during major news events. They tend to overreact to news, causing momentary spikes that can lead to profitable opportunities for savvy traders. Take, for example, a recent statement from the Bank of Japan that hinted at possible tightening of monetary policy. The bots read the news and immediately started selling yen, causing EUR/JPY to spike dramatically. However, upon closer examination, it was clear that the statement wasn't as hawkish as initially thought—classic bot overreaction. Savvy traders took advantage of this temporary volatility by buying into the dip, reaping hefty rewards. So, keep an eye on those sudden spikes or drops—they're often the work of bots and can present a perfect opportunity for you to strike back. Closing Thoughts: Turn AI Influence into an Ally, Not a Rival Artificial Intelligence bots are not your enemy; they are simply a force in the market—a very quick, very efficient, and often very predictable force. The Euro-Japanese Yen pair, with its liquidity and high volatility, makes it the perfect playground for these bots. But instead of seeing AI bots as unbeatable foes, understand them, leverage their strengths, and exploit their weaknesses. Use smart trading tools, study their behaviors, and remember: while bots may have the speed, you have the creativity and the ability to adapt. You don't need to feel like David against Goliath in this story. Think of yourself as the sly fox—always finding the clever way around, surfing the waves the bots create, and riding those market moves to your advantage. And hey, if you mess up a trade, it’s okay—just tell yourself you’ve added another "collector's item" to your trading journal. Because let’s be honest, every mistake is part of the experience collection—the one collection you never really wanted but learn to value over time. Ready to Outfox the Bots? Here’s How to Start If you're looking to step up your game, make sure you’re equipped with the right tools and community. Join the StarseedFX community for daily alerts, live insights, and exclusive tips. Stay informed on groundbreaking economic movements with our news updates, or learn advanced Forex tactics through our free courses. And if you’re really ready to take on the bots, you’ll want a smart trading tool in your back pocket—it’s like having a mini-AI ninja on your side. All this and more at StarseedFX. Remember: it’s not just about keeping up with the bots—it’s about knowing when to play their game and when to play your own. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated Read the full article

[killmebythebeach]

A bunch of head cannons (Maybe too much). Also in talking about the characters.

I think Dream is that one design where his skin is just the static tv screen. He just constantly emits that fuzzy noise, Sam crafted him the smile mask that he can see through so he doesn't scare people.

George is just kind of the server itself. He's the same species as Hannah, but a mushroom and more powerful. If he stays awake too long, the server just kind of freezes. This is also a reason XD keeps him sleeping, it's his way of talking to George and he thinks the server is like his soap opera of mortals.

Callahan is sort of like the person who makes sure George doesn't get killed or dies while asleep, making sure he's surrounded by mushrooms and such. Deer hybrid <3

Alyssa joined the server because she knew all her friends were idiots and didn't want them to die immediately. But once the elections rolled around, she felt the pressure of choosing sides and ran away to the desert, only keeping contact with Ponk. She actually lives just a couple miles from Foolish's summer home. Her communicator actually died after a couple months and she had no way of charging it, so she lost contact with everyone.

Sapnap is a magma cube hybrid and can jump higher than most, his natural temperature runs hotter, and is fire proof. Bad found him in the nether when he was maybe 10-15 years old.

Sam was actually a normal creeper, but gained player like sentience from being struck by lightning. Instead of becoming charged, he gained intelligence and met the others on the server. Callahan taught him some Redstone, but from there he figured out a lot on his own. He's also a creeper centaur.

Ponk is actually a descendant of a fairy, a lemon tree. Their mask was also a gift from Sam because after the second or third time their tree was burnt, their immune system was weakened a considerable amount. Alyssa also wore her mask for them.

Bad is a size shifting demon from the nether, more specifically soul sand desert. He uses soul fire to gain strength, so because the egg died when near it, he was just a little weaker than normal. Because he's a demon he needs a tie to the overworld to stay there, he tied his soul and lives to Skeppy.

Tommy was grown in a lab to be a hero, project: THESEUS. The lab gave him small enhancements, like slightly stronger and just a bit more resilient, to make the Above Average Boy (TM). He then ran away to meet Wilbur. When Dream asked Wilbur if he wanted to come to the server, he asked if Tommy could go first to see what it was like. He also actually really likes gardening and making up funny songs to Wilbur playing guitar. He also made funny lyrics for his discs, but he's still a bit scared to take them out of his ender chest. Other than bringing attachment, Dream also exiled Tommy to see what his lab enhancements could do.

Tubbo is an adaptive hybrid! His hair was blond, shifting to brown when Wilbur found him, getting blue eyes from Tommy, growing small horns under Schlatt, parts of his skin being static when Dream was "helping" him with his presidency, and parts of his scars tinging black and green from Ranboo and Micheal. Tubbo also helped Wilbur write part of the anthem. He likes living in the snow because the Manberg flag had magma blocks on it, casting a heatwave over the country, and after L'Manburg blew up it got really hot from the exposed stone in direct sun.

Fundy can actually hold his breath for a very long time and swim very well because of Sally teaching him and his salmon genes. The yellow things on his hat are actually shells, and the stripes on his jacket are trans colors. Also with his dreams, he saw Eret was going to betray them but didn't think it was real, or didn't want to. He also saw Wilbur blow up L'Manburg but chose not to believe it, thinking his father could still be saved. He actually saw pretty much everything, but didn't quite understand what they were until after doomsday.

The necklace Punz wears is one of those picture lockets, but he lost the picture and can't remember what it was. The first time Dream paid him was when Dream asked for help and Punz made an off hand joke about getting money, and then Dream thought he was being serious. Him, Dream, and Sapnap were like brothers, and Punz got sadder every time he saw Dream pushing people away and diving deeper into darkness.

Purpled is an aliensent to see if the planet was colonizable, but then crashed and was stranded, all his communications down and his ship barely able to hover fifty feet off the ground. When Quackity blew it up, he essentially got rid of his chance of ever going home. Purpled's species can shapeshift, so he turned himself into the first person he saw, Punz. Eventually before trying to communicate with the native life forms, he edited his form a little so they weren't identical, keeping purple eyes and antennae, changing the colors slightly, and changing the voice up. When he moves away from the main SMP, Ponk makes sure to check up on him and that he has a way to check his communicator.

Wilbur came a month after sending Tommy. His father being a patron of life and his mother the goddess of death, he met in the middle being born as a human. The only reason Ghostbur was as active and present as he was was because he was so connected to both life and death. Since his corpse was decaying for as long as it was, Wilbur is now super weak, his flesh is thin and his eyes are rotted and gone. Much like Ghostbur, Wilbur in limbo saw what people said about him, and Ghostbur could hear that from the back of his head. Now Wilbur can hear what people say about Ghostbur and he hates it, not wanting to be connected to what he thinks like a shell of himself.

Schlatt is a ram (duh) and actually does the fainting goat thing. So when he died of a heart attack, no one knew at first if he was actually dead or not. His alcoholism stems from the revive book, as the possibility of tampering with death made him existential and scared, so to cope he drank. There are also a ton of other stuff other than revival in the book, but it's in galactic.

Skeppy was just a normal human, but after making the pact with Bad, Bad put a spell on him. Parts of him turned into diamond, protecting both his and Bad's lives. He however, is unaware of this. With the egg, he would just sit on it, the diamonds chipping away to make room for the vines.

Eret was cursed by the Wither Cult, giving them white eyes and a slowly deteriorating memory. Not sure what to do, Foolish dropped them off at the SMP. Sometimes they would dream about old memories from before the curse, but it was just glimpses so he could never tell what they meant. Once they were king, they made the Herobrine shrine subconsciously, not really sure what it was after. They also had a strange affinity of beacons and resurrection, some of their memories resurfacing when they tried to help Phil and Ghostbur revive Wilbur after doomsday. The reason people are more scared of their eyes than any other wierd eyes was because he generally looks like a normal human, but the wither along with their Herobrine origins creates an uncanny valley that people are shocked by.

Jack had red and blue irises before crawling out of hell, but after coming back the whites of his eyes also turned red and blue. He always wears 3d glasses so no one noticed, but he just thought no one cared enough to mention it. He also has a bunch of scars and burn marks that no one but him can see, therefore no one asks about them or thinks something is wrong, cementing the idea that no one cares about him.

Niki is a blaze hybrid (stole this from @/420technoblazeit) whose fire hair color changes based on strong emotion, something she bond with Tubbo for as a fellow shifter. A soft yellow in L'Manburg, brighter orange in Manburg, hot pink on Doomsday, a soul fire blue with the syndicate (which Techno hates), and a dead grey when she found out Wilbur was alive. She was also old child hood friends with Ranboo and Eret, leaving Ranboo for the SMP. Ranboo, unfortunatly, doesn't remember much more than her name. She also knows galactic from Ranboo, so she talks about her troubles to Shy the Enderman. She doesn't really know how to talk to Puffy anymore after Doomsday or finding out how she wants to protect Tommy.

Quackity can perfectly replicate someone's voice and, with a lot of effort, can completely change his form to another player. He also has very small yellow wings, too small to fly, so he almost always hides them. He used to constantly change his voice for jokes with Karl, Sapnap, and George, but he doesn't like doing it now in Las Nevadas, as he sees it as unprofessional. However, sometimes he uses when he visits Dream, changing his voice to people like George and Sapnap to make torture more effective.

In the In Between and Other Side, Karl actually looks like his old skin, or his natural state (the big purple one that inspired his sweater). But most of the time in the normal world, he looks human. With effort he can bring out the interdemential being thing, something only Quackity and Sapnap know about. The more he time travels, the easier it becomes to change, and he's even started defaulting to the other form.

HBomb is actually just a normal news reporter, sent to interview and record what's going on in the server, his first big story being the election. Upon Doomsday, the stress of seeing everyone alone, fighting, and disconnected, he ran away from the world, essentially becoming a cat lady. His undercover reporter persona is actually the cat maid. He eventually came back to the server to see how he could help after Doomsday, befriending Niki again and living with her in the underground city.

Techno is a piglin, so he's scared of soul fire. He forgot to tell Phil before he decorated the syndicate room, so he just suffers in silence. He also does better when around a lot of gold, like in the nether, and he feels drained and slightly weaker without it. Instead of just putting gold around the area (it would ruin his property value), he just hibernates. He has an emerald earing, like all of the syndicate, but his is a locket that unfolds into pictures of the syndicate.

Ant always wears a red hoodie, now ruined by the egg, that used to be Red's. On Red's death anniversary, him, Bad, Skeppy, and Sam would make cake and put flowers on his grave. He missed the last one because it was during the egg, but for a brief moment after Puffy killed him he saw Red. Red then promptly and bluntly told him to stop being a pussy (haha, cat) and that he shouldn't do all this just to get him back, one of Ant's motivators to make amends with the people he hurt while with the egg. Ant is also a shapeshifter, but can only turn into a cat.

Phil actually used to work under Foolish as a patron of life but then he had a son with the goddess of death, so his title was removed so he could be with her and he became an Angel of Death. Kristin noticed how sad he was after being released, so she gifted him wings. They were however, destroyed on November 16th. His chat also serves as messenger pigeons, which were used to send letters to Wilbur.

Connor is actually just a hedgehog who somehow befriended Schlatt. Even before the haunted mansion, Karl vented to him about his time travel troubles, not knowing he was a sentient player. As a hedgehog, no one really cares where he goes, so he goes outside the server limits to meet his friends from the haunted mansion.

Puffy is a distant relative of Schlatt, but instead of politics she went into piracy. With her mom, she went travelling the seas. One say, a storm came and wiped out her ship, her crew, her mom, everything but her. The reason she survived was because Foolish saw her and saved her. Unfortunately, Puffy hit hee head in the crash and doesn't remember anything.

Vikkstar is the equivalent of a big time celebrity, so of course his endorsement of POG2020 was a big deal.

Lazarbeam is literally just a ginger bread cookie.

Ranboo has actually met a lot of the smp before actually joining. He's met Niki, Fundy, Eret, Punz, and Dream at least. He also sees the inverted colors Enderman see. His suit was actually a gift from Eret before they forgot how to tailor. He got the crown from Techno after joining the syndicate, claiming he didn't want any syndicate members to look like trash.

Foolish came to the server most recently to check up on Eret, but he couldn't bring himself to leave again. When Puffy adopts him, he can't say no because he remembers saving her. His initial goal was to kill an ender dragon to claim the XD title and become a full god like DreamXD, but after realising someone already killed it he went into his totem if death phase. Upon meeting Eret, he got over it and they went on some silly adventures, Foolish now taking a more peaceful route.

Hannah is essentially a weaker George, as her power is tied to the plants themselves and not the entire server. She however has a lot more physical power because rose dryads like to fight because they have thorns. Since roses can be taken out a lot easier, she is essentially a glass canon. Also when around any plant, she can make it grow faster than normal.

Any guest on the server? Corpse, Pokimane, Lil Nas? They were all Slimecicle. That's how he knows where everyone is from, even outside of Las Nevadas. No one else knows this. He's also ancient, if he met Phil they would probably recognise eachother. There was an actual Charlie Slimecicle who was not a slime, but after being launched into orbit this Slimecicle decided to impersonate him.

Michael Mcchill is a sort of bounty hunter. He came to the server after hearing of all the crime, assuming there'd be a lot of bounties to collect. However, he soon learned that no one really cares if you commit a crime. He then took to reading news articles made by HBomb to see if there were any past open bounties. But after reading for a while about the server's wronguns, mostly Dream, he began to sympathise with them. And he's also a speedrunner, so maybe he could help with some bounties across other servers!

This was a very long post and i apologize, but it was so fun to finally write all these thoughts down! I hope you liked them! I can't even fit all the tags I want.

[jayz4dayz]

5 for Meariri?

Of course! This was a lot of fun to write! 

Prompt: “Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

Jealousy 

It was hot. Hot and sticky and miserable. Truth be told, Mary wished Kirari would have chosen a less humid location for a getaway. Technically, Mary wasn’t even supposed to be there considering this was a student council event. She wasn’t fond of a single person on the council aside from Ririka, who was the only reason why Mary agreed to go in the first place.

She just couldn’t say no to Ririka who was so excited to go and was happy to invite her to come along. Besides, sharing a hotel room alone with her girlfriend and relaxing without the burden of school work for a few days didn’t sound like a bad idea at first. Anyone would have jumped at the opportunity to go on an all expense paid trip to an exotic tropical island in another country with their significant other after all.

What Mary wasn’t prepared for was the blazing hot sun, humid weather, and having to shop for a new bathing suit and temporary clothes with Ririka because their luggage got mixed up with someone else's at the airport.

What she certainly wasn’t prepared for was the overly flirtatious clerk at the swimsuit shop who was all too eager to help Ririka find a perfect fit. Ririka was oblivious, of course, and didn’t understand that the young man was heavily flirting with her. But Mary knew and it was starting to piss her off the longer his eyes greedily awaited for Ririka to exit the dressing room in a bikini she had picked out.

“I don’t know, it looks a little tight in the bust,” Ririka said shyly from the dressing room.

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you come out? Then I can see if you need a bigger size or maybe take your measurements,” the man grinned, reaching for the handle of the door.

“Um, no. I think the fuck not,” Mary stopped him in his tracks. “I’ll be the judge of that, thank you.”

The man raised a brow at her. “Alright, ma’am. See if your friend needs a bigger size then.”

Friend. The word made Mary bite her tongue for she wanted to say she was much more than Ririka’s friend. It left a bitter taste in Mary’s mouth as she grumbled, walking into the changing room.

Almost instantly, her sour mood shifted the moment she saw her girlfriend shyly holding her arms as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The bikini was an aquamarine color and fit her body near perfectly. It showed off her well toned stomach and seemed to fit in all the right places. She was stunning as always, only now even more so.

Ririka smiled slightly, blushing when she saw Mary’s wide-eyed expression. “H-how do I look?”

“Hot,” Mary breathed out. “I-I mean you look great!”

“Thank you, love. Do you think it shows off too much of my body though?” Ririka asked, lowering her arms.

To Mary, it didn’t show off enough. Not that she’d ever admit. However, it was revealing enough that she knew people would definitely look twice if they walked past Ririka. It was hard enough for her to keep her own eyes off of Ririka, but perhaps that was only because she was her girlfriend. Besides, Ririka was going to be wearing this bathing suit for one reason and one reason only: to swim. It was either this or a wetsuit, which both Kirari and Mary discouraged her from doing since the ocean water was relatively warm and it would have just been a hassle.

“Would you like a one piece instead?” Mary snickered.

Ririka pouted. “Well, not really. I kind of wanted to get a tan.”

“Babe, you don’t tan. You burn,” Mary scoffed. “And this’ll mean you’ll need to put on extra sunscreen.”

“Hm, maybe you’re right. I’ll just get a one piece,” Ririka agreed, beginning to strip down.

“You could get both,” Mary suggested. “One for the beach and one for the pool at the hotel or for other occasions. That is if it’s in our budget.”

Ririka grinned. “Money’s not an issue, so I think I will! Thank you, dearest.”

Mary maintained her tsundere attitude, rolling her eyes when Ririka briefly pecked her lips. However, she failed to hide her blush or the smirk that made its way onto her face from the sudden affection from her lover.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just hurry up so we can meet the others at the beach spot,” Mary chuckled.

Ririka’s hand intertwined with Mary’s and she grinned as they walked along the sandy sidewalk. Seeing Ririka smile warmed Mary's heart; she rarely saw her girlfriend smile. She was used to seeing the creepy smile of Ririka’s mask, something Mary was grateful Ririka left behind for this trip.

Mary received several glances from onlookers, which she normally wouldn’t pay any attention to. Until she realized they weren’t staring at the two of them, they were staring at Ririka. She was in her two piece and Mary supposed that and Ririka’s platinum hair drew a bit of attention. She protectively held her girlfriend close to her, scowling at whoever stared at her for too long.

Ririka paid no attention to that or the people who looked at her. She only smiled brighter, thinking Mary was only being extra affectionate to her which she’d gladly accept. She’d never deny it since Mary typically only showed her affection when they were alone or occasionally when they were with friends.

“Clingy today, hm?” Ririka teased.

“Maybe,” Mary grumbled, her cheeks reddening.  

Ririka recognized that tone of voice. Mary was greatly irritated by something. What it was, Ririka couldn’t figure out yet. It was hot outside and she knew how much Mary hated hot weather, but soon they’d be in the cool, soothing water of the ocean. So she didn’t dwell much on the thought.

Once they arrived at the location, they were greeted by Kirari and Sayaka. Kirari immediately handed her sister a bottle of sunscreen, to which Ririka began to complain. The two started to bicker while Sayaka insisted for Ririka to apply sunblock. The conversation bored Mary, so she walked over to an empty area and took her beach towel out of her bag. She laid it across the sand before sitting down, watching sea birds dive into the ocean.

Eventually, Ririka walked over to Mary in defeat, plopping down on the towel. She laid her head in Mary’s lap and pouted, looking up at her.

“Riri, you’re gonna get sunscreen on my jeans!” Mary laughed, brushing a loose strand of hair out of Ririka’s face.

“Kirari put too much on me,” Ririka cringed, trying to rub the whiter areas on her arms that still had sunblock on it. “I don’t burn that badly.”

Mary snorted. “Yeah you do. Even worse than I do.”

“Whatever,” Ririka groaned. “I want to swim eventually. Maybe I’ll see some fish.”

“Nah, chances are you’ll only see Midari trying to drown,” Mary replied. “If you’re lucky, you’ll see Yuriko-senpai drown trying to save her.”

Ririka looked out at the shore, seeing Midari chasing Yuriko with a dead or perhaps horrifyingly still alive sea jelly as the poor girl shrieked and tried to evade her. “Hm... or Yuriko will try to drown Midari herself.”  

“Yeah and Midari would probably let her,” Mary snickered as she too watched Midari torment Yuriko. “Maybe that was her plan all along, the damn masochist.”

“I don’t know,” Ririka sighed in disinterest. “Will you go swimming with me?”

“Later maybe. I don’t wanna get covered in sand if I can avoid it,” Mary responded curtly. "Besides, then I'd have to change out of my jeans which I really don't wanna do."

Ririka grinned, wrapping her arms around the blonde’s waist. “Do you want to just stay like this for a while then?”

“I can get used to this,” Mary smirked in agreement.

And so they did, enjoying the ocean breeze and each other’s presence. For a while at least, until Kirari and Sayaka returned. Mary only glared at them as they approached, hoping they were only coming over to grab something from their bag or that they’d walk right past them.

“We’re playing badminton,” Kirari announced with her signature sly smile, wrapping her arm around Sayaka.

“That’s nice. Have fun, I guess,” Mary raised a brow at them in dismissal.

Sayaka’s face was bright red, regardless of her efforts of trying to remain in her professional Secretary persona. “T-the President is referring to the four of us.”

“Tch, I’m not playing against her. She never plays fair for gambling or sports,” Mary scoffed.

“Your incapability in athletics is no excuse for accusing me of not playing fair, Saotome,” Kirari faked a pout that made Mary’s blood boil.

“We’ll play only if I choose who’s on each side,” Ririka chimed in. “And Mary is very athletic, Rari. Her flexibility is impeccable.”

Mary’s face felt hot as Ririka winked at her, catching on to the double entendre. “T-thanks.”

Kirari pursed her lips. “Very well then. I have no issue with this.”

Ririka grinned and looked at Sayaka who was still practically attached to Kirari by the hip. “Sayaka, are you alright with being my partner for this?”

Mary instantly felt a stab of betrayal and she could tell by Kirari’s sudden shift in expression that the feeling was very much mutual. The younger twin squinted at the blonde, silently voicing her displeasure with this sudden arrangement. Mary shot back a sinister glare with just as much venom.

It was clear neither were expecting Ririka to choose Sayaka. It would have been less surprising had she chosen Kirari, even. Perhaps this was all for Ririka’s entertainment, knowing that Kirari and Mary would rather eat sand than pair up together for anything.

Sayaka gave Kirari a look of panic to which Kirari gave a slight nod, kissing Sayaka’s forehead before releasing her. Sayaka’s expression immediately softened.

Sayaka gave a light smile. “I would be honored to be your partner, Ririka-san.”

Jealousy tugged at Mary’s heart. She despised feeling jealous of Sayaka, someone she knew followed Kirari around like a lost puppy and devoted her life to her. Maybe it was because she knew Ririka shared the same face as Kirari that made her feel like Sayaka was some sort of threat. Mary of all people knew that Ririka and Kirari were two very different people, regardless of their similar features. Yet it still got under her skin.

“Now that it’s settled, I’m going to ask Runa to be the score keeper,” Kirari spoke up; her tone was bitter.

Mary sighed, getting up and dusted off the sand from her legs. She watched as Kirari and Sayaka walked towards the volleyball net which she was sure they were going to use for their game.

Ririka smiled mischievously at her to which Mary responded with the roll of her eyes. “Was it really necessary pairing me up with Kirari?”

“Of course it was,” Ririka nodded. “You said you wanted things to be fair. Had Kirari and I been on the same side, there would be an unfair advantage since the two of us are unstoppable at pretty much every sport. Had I paired us with each other’s significant other, all of us would be distracted. This pairing assures that Kirari won’t try to cheat because you’ll be there to catch it, though I’m not sure how she could cheat in badminton. Regardless, this will be a good way for the two of you to work on your team work skills and maybe help you bond with each other.”

It made sense at least, but the last thing she wanted was to be on the same team as Kirari Momobami. Hell, she would have rather been paired with Sayaka and accepted whatever loss they took if the twins dominated in the game. She couldn’t have cared less about victory or loss seeing as how she didn’t even want to play in the first place.

Being paired with Kirari complicated things. She knew how competitive Kirari was and she did not want to hear Kirari’s constant complaints and reminders of how shitty of a player Mary was if she didn’t put any effort into the game.

So Mary was trapped, and very much frustrated with the whole situation. All she could really do was sigh and grin and bear it for the time being. It was just one game after all. How bad could it be?

Mary severely underestimated just how competitive Kirari was and Ririka for that matter. Her girlfriend was right in saying that she and Kirari would have absolutely had an advantage had Mary been paired with Sayaka. In all honesty, it looked more like the twins were going against each other rather than all four of them.

Mary and Sayaka couldn’t keep up with how fast Ririka and Kirari were. Their speed and accuracy was almost inhuman; Mary and Sayaka more or less gave up and just watched the twins compete. It’s not like they were able to attempt to score anyway; Kirari and Ririka were always quick to beat them to it.

Because of the twins rarely missing a hit, the game stretched on far longer than Mary wanted. Both sides were tied and still needed several more points to win. Even Runa looked like she was growing bored, scrolling on her phone since she knew this game wasn’t going anywhere.

The only good thing about this was that Mary got to watch her lover sweat and see those beautiful muscles go to good work. She looked so beautiful, even like this. Her eyes had a fiery tint to them, glowing from her competitive spirit. It made Mary's core burn with desire.

Ririka was panting heavily by the time Runa called for a break so the twins could catch their breath. Mary and Sayaka were hardly breaking a sweat, not that they had a reason to anyway.

“Sayaka and I haven’t scored a single point, so I don’t understand why you didn’t just ask Ririka to play with you,” Mary commented.

Kirari panted, tying up her hair that had long since fallen out of its braids. “I’m beginning to regret not doing so. You haven’t been very helpful.”

“Because you won’t let me hit the feather thing!” Mary shouted in defense.

“It’s called a shuttlecock, heathen,” Kirari huffed. “And I know you’d likely intentionally miss and allow the other team to score so you can get this game over with.”

“Honestly at this point, yeah,” Mary confirmed. “I just wanna be done with this and spend the rest of the day with my girlfriend.”

“Well I refuse to lose in front of Sayaka,” Kirari muttered. “So you’re sorely mistaken if you believe I’ll concede to defeat so easily.”

Mary sighed. “If I make an effort to help you win, do you think the game will end sooner?”

“Perhaps, but if we lose even after you give your all, you know I won’t let you hear the end of it, don’t you?” Kirari smirked.

“I expect nothing less and I really don’t give a shit,” Mary grumbled.

“Oki! Let’s resume!” Runa shouted in a clearly faked cheerful tone. “But I’m changing things up. The team to score the next point wins!”

“Why the sudden change of rules, Runa?” Sayaka asked.

Runa sighed. “I’m tired of being the scorekeeper and I wanna go swimming, so let’s get this over with.”

That news was music to Mary’s ears. Now that it was just one point she had to worry about, her mood finally turned competitive. She wanted to end this. She wanted to win this not just to keep Kirari off her back, but to impress Ririka as well.

Everyone got into position. It was Ririka’s turn to serve and Mary didn’t keep her eyes off of her. Ririka glanced over at Mary, giving her a quick smile before serving. Kirari was quicker than Mary, hitting the shuttlecock back onto the other side. Mary rolled her eyes and watched as Sayaka hit it next, sending it towards her.

After sending it back and forth several times, things became rather intense as now all four participants kept their eyes glued on the shuttlecock flying through the air. Mary knew Sayaka was expecting her to always send it to Ririka, so she decided to catch the violet-eyed girl off guard.

Thwack. Sayaka and Ririka watched as the shuttlecock glided through the air. Mary watched as if it were in slow motion as Ririka ran to hit it and surprisingly didn’t miss. However, she crashed into Sayaka in the process, falling on top of her. It wouldn’t have been as bad had Ririka not accidentally placed her hands on Sayaka’s breasts, making the entire scenario all the more awkward. Both Mary and Kirari watched with wide eyes, completely ignoring the fact that the shuttlecock had already landed in their zone.

“O-oh my god, I’m so sorry, Sayaka!” Ririka squeaked and instantly lifted her hands, her face turning bright red from embarrassment.

“That’s… that’s…” Sayaka couldn’t even finish her sentence for she also was too embarrassed.

Mary snapped out of her gaze when she heard laughing next to her. She snapped her head towards Kirari who looked all too amused by this.

“Ara, ara, what I would give to be in my dear sister’s position right now,” Kirari grinned cheekily.

"Does that not make you even a little bit mad?" Mary hissed.

Kirari chuckled. "Of course not. I find this to be quite amusing."

"Of course you do," Mary growled.

“Ririka-chan’s team wins!” Runa announced, startling all of them. Apparently they had forgotten she was there. “Game over! Finally.”

“Good,” Mary grumbled, storming off away from them.

She heard somebody call out after her, but she paid no attention to it. What happened was a complete accident, she knew she shouldn’t have felt angry or jealous. The fact that it happened to Sayaka and not her was perhaps what made her the most upset. But she knew she had to let it go. It was a stupid thing to be upset over.

She plopped down onto her beach towel with a huff, glancing towards the crashing waves in the distance. She saw Midari’s arms wrapped around Yuriko’s waist as they allowed the water to rush past their knees. Mary wished that was her with Ririka right about now. Perhaps not in the water, but instead in the comfort and privacy of their hotel room.

“Are you alright? You looked really upset,” a familiar voice said from behind.

Mary slightly turned her head and her face softened upon seeing her girlfriend. “Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just tired.”

Ririka knelt down, her cerulean eyes full of concern. “Are you sure there’s nothing bothering you? You can talk to me, you know.”

‘Yes, the fact that I haven’t had a damn minute alone with you yet today and people left and right have been looking at you in a way only I should be,’ Mary wanted to say.

Mary shook her head. “Like I said, I’m tired. Don't worry about it. Do you still want to go swimming?”

“Of course!” Ririka grinned. “The badminton game really made me hot so I want to go cool off. Are you going to join me?”

“Maybe I’ll dip my toes in,” Mary smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. “But don’t push your luck.”

“Alright, I’ll see you there then,” Ririka said softly, kissing the top of Mary’s head.

Mary watched Ririka walk over to the shore before wading her way into the water. She chuckled when she saw her dive into a wave and move her platinum hair out of her face when she returned to the surface. She looked happy. Seeing that made Mary happy. Though her day hadn’t gone as planned in the slightest, she was at least relieved Ririka was having fun. She rarely got a break like this and genuinely had fun. School work and helping Kirari run their psychotic family was stressful enough on top of maintaining their position as top gamblers. Ririka deserved a chance to breathe and be herself for once.

Mary got up and rolled up her pant legs before walking over to the shore. She noticed that Ririka had swam much deeper into the water, but wasn’t too concerned. She shivered slightly when the cold water touched her feet, but it was refreshing nonetheless. It was hot anyway, so it felt nice.

She stood there for a moment enjoying the breeze and the shifting sand beneath her toes, finally feeling calm. That is until she saw a lifeguard run past her and into the water. She was swimming closer and closer to where Ririka was which caused Mary to panic.

All she could do was anxiously wait and watch as the lifeguard tugged Ririka parallel to where they were until they reached the shore. Mary sprinted to them, still in a panicked state of mind. Ririka held onto the lifeguard’s arm, her face red either from exhaustion or embarrassment… or because the lifeguard was very attractive.

“I-is she okay? Is she hurt? What happened?” The blonde asked frantically.

The lifeguard gave a friendly smile. “Your friend got caught in a rip tide, but she’s alright now.”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Ririka stuttered in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it,” the lifeguard assured her. “Just be careful swimming in this area of the beach. Alright, beautiful?”

That was it. That was the comment that made Mary nearly lose it. It was too much. With all that had already happened, the flirting from the clerk earlier, the looks from people on the street, Ririka falling on Sayaka, and now the attractive lifeguard flirting with Ririka, Mary's jealousy had finally gotten to a point where she was about to snap if she didn't get so much as a minute alone with her girlfriend.

“Thanks for saving my girlfriend, ” Mary said in the nicest tone she could, emphasizing on the word 'girlfriend.'

“Just doing my job,” the lifeguard nodded. “You two have a good day now!”

Mary crossed her arms, trying her hardest to not let her inner emotions show.

“Mary?” Ririka asked with caution. “You okay?”

Mary huffed, looking up at her. “Yes. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” Ririka smirked.

Mary’s face turned bright red. “No! I just...yes. A little.”

Ririka knew that was an understatement. She took a step closer to her lover, looking down at her. Mary was pouting and refusing to look at her now. Ririka placed a hand on Mary’s cheek, turning her face to look at her.

“You know I only have eyes for you,” the platinum haired girl whispered seductively.

“I-I know that! I’m not doubting your loyalty or anything! I just don’t like people looking at you the way I do,” Mary admitted, placing her hand over Ririka’s lovingly.

Ririka chuckled. "There's so much irony in this situation."

Mary raised a confused brow. "Huh?"

"You think I don't get jealous whenever someone looks at you with lust in their eyes? There are girls and boys in school including in our friend group who I know would give anything to be in a room alone with you," Ririka explained.

Mary was all too aware of her popularity at Hyakkaou. Heck, every Valentine's Day she received love letters from people she'd never even met. Being a top gambler had its perks, but Mary didn't necessarily consider that to be one. Especially now that she was no longer single and had to reject people instead of just brush them aside.

"Our friend group? Who?" Mary asked with a bewildered expression.

"Ryota," Ririka said softly.

"Okay, Suzui doesn't count. He gets flustered around everyone. Remember how much he blushed when he saw you without your mask for the first time? He's just a bundle of awkwardness," Mary explained with a scoff. "Who else?"

Ririka hesitated. "Yumeko."

Oh. Now that Mary could understand. Yumeko was a touchy person by nature, but she was different around Mary. Perhaps it was because she had feelings for her or maybe it was because she was close to Mary. Whatever the reason, Mary could see why Ririka could be jealous of her.

Mary rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Yeah, okay. I can see that. I've never had feelings for Yumeko though."

"Really?" Ririka asked with wide eyes.

"I care about her and all, but she has a hard time with boundaries. You always respect my boundaries and care about how I feel. Even today, you checked in on me when you felt like something was wrong," Mary blushed.

"And something was," Ririka nodded. "Communicating is important, my love. Without talking to me about these things, our relationship wouldn't be solid. We agreed from the start to be honest with each other about everything, right?"

Mary smiled fondly. "Right."

"So be honest with me now. You haven't gotten what you've wanted all day," Ririka sighed, placing her hands on Mary's hips. "What would you like to do now? What do you want?"

Mary licked her lips and breathed out. "You."  

"I'm all yours," Ririka whispered.

Ririka's eyes sparkled with desire. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pulled Mary close, pressing their two lips together. Mary smiled into the kiss and the world around them fell away. All they could hear was the crashing waves behind them. It was a moment, a single blissful moment that felt like a lifetime. Kissing Ririka always had that affect, like she was the only other person in the world.

The two broke free for air and pressed their foreheads together.

"I want more," Mary panted. "Somewhere alone with you. Do you think we can go to the hotel?"

"Hm, perhaps. Though the rental car is closer, don't you agree?" Ririka smirked.

The heat between Mary's legs grew more prominent now and had this been any other time, she would have obliged. But she wanted absolute privacy with no risks of being intruded.

Mary shook her head. "No, I want to be alone in a room with you. I need you, Riri."

Ririka grinned, briefly kissing Mary's lips once more before holding her hand, gently tugging her to walk away with her.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

[utterlyhopeful-fics]

Already Gone (SOA x Mayans Crossover)

A/N: Deep diving back into my roots. SOA will forever be near and dear to my angsty heart! This chapter primarily focuses on Y/N and Jax but following parts will include my Mayans. As always, feedback is GOLD!

SIDE NOTE: Huge shout out to @creativepromptsforwriting for motivating this story into fruition. Your blog is beyond inspirational!

If I keep tagging you and you’re not interested or you’d like to be tagged; please let me know!

MASTERLIST 

Jax Teller x Reader (then we’re in Mayans territory :D )

Word Count: 2375k

Warnings: language, mention of biker gangs, slight female degradation, angst, sprinkles of heartbreak. 

*********************************

Daylight vanished drifting into another starless evening. Nightfall succumbed to a starless evening. Y/N wished to be anywhere else in the universe than where she currently found herself; the Sons clubhouse. In childish hopes, she stilled all movement adjusting her jacket nervously fidgeting with the hem. The door swung back under her touch; light reflected back harshly in the demurely lit bar. Smoke descended throughout the congested area; clouds of hazy fog engulfed her lungs. Here goes nothin.

The air wreaked of putrid obscenity and cheap tequila. First and foremost, Y/N met Chucky’s charismatic stare. She sent him an anxious grin impulsively pleading for uneasiness in her stomach to subdue. The one-handed man remained surrounded by countless liquor bottles engrossed in order after order shifting gears from her. 

Every man and member leeched on to the closest thing in a short skirt, tits overflowing from too small blouses, and topped off in four-inch platforms. Any girl within proximity of the Sons all had a similar motto; barely-there skirts and perky tits. There was no doubt sex was the main attraction tonight.

And to this very day, she played nice with them so long as they abided by one rule in particular; Jax was untouchable. She was their queen bee. Glancing down at her outfit; she preferred a more comfortable approach. She paired tonight’s look with her favorite pair of worn out high-waisted jeans styled with a Ramones crop top finalized with suede black booties. Her body was a sacred temple and only those granted permission were able to worship her. She made sure of that. Loud conversations vibrated from table to table, voices lost in the chaos increasing with every passing decibel.

Y/n scanned the room peering for one particular member; Jax fucking Teller. In childhood, Mr. President and Y/N friendship blossomed as close friends before ultimately admitting their feelings five years ago. The wildest five years of her entire life. Her thoughts quickly darkened, if only someone would’ve warned her those three years ago. If only Y/N hadn’t welcomed him with welcoming, open arms. But sometimes life’s a bitch, and the hardest way is merely the only route.

Her clandestine orbs voraciously whipped back and forth jumping from person to person. In her search, Opie sat alone at a corner table secluding himself willing her his direction. The pitiful look in his eyes was enough to make her stomach flip. Long ago, she grew weary with the amount of messes that befell on Opie. Their relationship bordered along best friend status, always seeking the other out. Ranging from moments of clarity to cruelty, Opie Winston never once betrayed the trust instilled upon him.

She already knew what bullshit lay ahead; it was his shitty way of apologizing for Jax’s past, present, and future fuck-ups. In the back of her mind, Y/N convinced herself she was different to him, that she was his one. But nowadays, doubt replaced confidence as Y/N drifted farther out of reach/touch. Her feet clumped heavy against the wood suddenly weighing her down. Making her way through the crowd, Y/N plopped herself closest to Op.

Her palms dampened in sweat wishing the fall beneath her to open up swallowing her whole. “So, this was the big meeting Jax was in a rush to get to?”

His eyes bounced from side to side searching for any way out of the conversation; “Shit Y/N...”

Y/N collapsed next to the burly man nuzzling deeper into the warmth of his neck, quietly leaning in closer so he could hear her clearly; “I know it’s not your fault, Op. I just wish he respected me enough to be honest with me. I can’t keep living like this anymore, he’s breaking me… I’m sure going to miss you, big bear.”

Y/N waited patiently for the wheels to turn in his brain. “You’re a smart man. Connect the clues, buddy.”

“You—You’re leaving?”

Her heart plummeted into uncharted territory; her head bobbled too quickly, too excitedly almost as if she’d been rifling for a way out of this life, out of their lives. She glanced sadly at him, really appreciating his handsome appearance while trying to memorize the man who’d kept her insanely calm since middle school. There was no hiding the bemudding frown etching her lips. His lengthy, luscious hair and accompanying brawny beard was enough to make any woman swoon.

If only she’d chosen him to protect her heart but what ifs were a dangerous path to question. Add in his admirable qualities and he was the gleaming winner. The man Y/N should’ve pursued but she was a fool and fell for the Teller trick over and over again. Long ago, Opie came to the conclusion that Y/N would never leave his side, not even if the devil bribed her himself. Her departure was agitating, possibly selfish, but absolutely necessary. Jax breaks everything he touches…eventually.

“Some bitch is grinding against his junk and you expect me to be alright with it? Boy’s got another thing comin if he thinks I’ll always be waitin to greet him at the front door.”

Words jumbled on the tip of her palate; ‘I just wanted to talk to you first before shit goes down. I’m so thankful for you, always know that.”

Op stared down at his dirty boots unable to meet her dejected orbs.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. You deserve more than his half ass shit. Ya know, I was afraid Jax had sucked out all that rad awesomeness you possessed before you decided to get together. He’s my brother, don’t get me wrong. But, he’s kinda the biggest dick on the planet and not the good kind. I’m proud you found your backbone. Here I thought you’d softened up…”

“Haha, glad to see you think so highly of me still! Please take care of yourself.”

“I’m a phone call away if you need me. Any time, any day, I’ll be there.”

His arms draped around her exposed waist rubbing soothing circles on her lower back. Her chin rested atop of broad shoulder before she reluctantly pulled away from his embrace.

A few tables over Jax’s arms seductively draped his arm around the croweater’s exposed waist. Every few minutes the chick gyrated submissively against him cock arousal his member. Jax closed his eyes inhaling a puff of his cigarette thinking of the girl waiting at home for him. All he had to do was find the courage to get up and leave. But this was the life, his life and Y/N understood him better than anyone else. So, he accepted the Yaeger bomb from girl with the rose tattoo and smiled widely. Fuck ‘em. He leaned incredibly closer connecting his lips to her plump ones.

Her sultry tone echoed into his ear; “Mmm, you taste like sin…”

Jax chuckled in retort; Darling, you ain’t even taste the best part yet…”

Disgust and fury ran uncontrollable through her body radiating to an explosively dangerous level. She quietly whispered; “This fucking asshole…” as she compelled herself to clear the lump in her throat noisily.

Her annoyance was beginning to peak into seething eruption; “You’ve got some damn nerve, Jax. That I can give ya. Such a lady’s man.”

A shudder ran through his vertebrates forcing the hairs along his neck to stand painfully on the edge. Her words were impudently brash bouncing off her rosy plump lips.

“Can’t say I didn’t warn ya, doll.” His arched brow sprouted newfound madness as Y/N daydreamed of punching that shit grin off his idiotic face. But his eyes told another tale, his sapphire irises brimmed with tacit concern and uncertainty.

Her life with Jax was a never-ending roller coaster. Exhilaration awaited them at every corner until it didn’t. No matter how many wrongdoings Jax committed, Y/N dutifully stayed by his side never daring to question his authority. Gemma taught her of loyalty, of the importance of family eternally sticking together, and to never turn her back when the going gets rough because it was bound to cross a line if you survived long enough. The Sons checked their moral ambiguities when they patched in, sacrificing their soul for the benefit of the club.  

So, Y/N’s skin thickened as time meandered on, and as Jax shacked up with Wendy, and again every time she watched some slut leave his dorm every night. Honestly, she should thank Jax for her turned her into the dominantly powerful woman she became that awakened Jax’s feelings. But now, now he was the reason her heart was breaking.  

She cleared her throat attempting to draw his attention; “Wow, seems like you’ve got your hands full tonight. Didn’t realize I needed to make a reservation.” Her eyes penetrated his, he looked like a deer in blinding headlights at the recognizable voice in front of him.

The girl seating in Jax’s lap had the audacity to open her bright fuchsia painted lips; “He’s busy tonight. Shoo, buh-bye.” Motioning her hand in Y/N’s direction.

Y/N eyed the broad up judging her every spectacle of the way. She bit the corner of her lips in attempt to register what her mind couldn’t.

She clicked on tongue in vast disapproval at the idiot before her; “Listen here, bitch. I’m Y/N, his old lady and you’re going to get the fuck up and listen to the words leaving my mouth and find another lap to occupy, NOW.” She put on her fakest high pitched voice just to prove a point; “Got it? Good, now if you make me repeat myself, I’d love the opportunity to fuck up that plastic face of yours. Now, Shoo.”

The random girl gulped unwillingly to challenge the alpha female and meekly wagged her head in agreeance. Jax noticed the slight tremor as she removed herself from his grasp trudging in defeat. He sighed in extreme exasperation; “Congratulations, you’ve got my attention…now talk.”

“Ugh, I’m seriously starting to question what the hell I’ve been doing with an asshat like you for so long? Seriously Jax, what the shit?”

He remained irrationally irritated Y/N had chosen a party to air out their dirty laundry. She was undermining him in front of his brothers, nobody challenged him. This was yet another lesson he’d teach Y/N the difficult way.

“You’re makin a scene! Let’s talk this outside?” He seized her arm dragging Y/N behind him. Her heels dug into the surface fighting his weight with her own. Jax glanced back at her stubbornness on display and/snickered sinfully.

“No, I’m fine where I am.”

Jax invaded her space, his breath jostled against her peach fuzz. He hovered dangerously close to her, fury seeping from his freckled skin.

“Ah, the mighty heroine here to save herself. Classic, real good Y/N.”

Y/N huffed venting her building frustrations; “I can’t do this anymore, Jax.” Her voice wavered in confidence before erupted in sadness; I fucking won’t do this anymore.”

Jax Teller rolled his eyes before sighing annoyingly loud; “You always say this shit, Y/N. And you always keep comin back for more. This is a dance we memorized baby girl, our dance.”

Her fists ignited into internal rage; her breathing skyrocketed to unbridled anger. Typical biker to neglect the actual words leaving a woman’s mouth in this hell hole.  

“So, I guess that makes me the fool and you the asshole, hmm? Yes, I might be a fucking glutton for punishment but at least I have a heart, some decency of a moral compass to abide by. But you, Jax? You would burn the world simply because you were bored. And right now, this is me telling you I quit. Go fuck one of your many other mindless wannabes. I bet they’re beggin for Jax Teller’s cock as we speak.”

His cockiness was beginning to push her past the point of no return as he growled his words from his venomous mouth; “I don’t doubt that darling. The question of the hour is if you’re really sure you wanna throw in the towel?”

Y/N’s head whipped around fast; her eyes blazed in pure hatred; “The biggest mistake you ever made was letting love come into your life. You fuck up everything you touch. Have a nice life, Teller.”

Heavy footsteps clonked against the wooden slats swiftly rushing towards the front doors of the clubhouse. She approached the entrance grazing her knuckles along the worn material. In the upper right-hand corner, the smallest of carvings adorned the walk away years later; their initials carved for the world to bear witness. Digging through her purse, Y/N located her car keys and stood on her tiptoes scratching at the etchings now nothing but mere wood indentions. Fuck happy endings. No wait, fuck this ending.

Finally, anger breached its imminent tipping point as his temper imploded. His arms gripped hers excruciatingly firm slamming her against the wall aligned of mugshots. A frame or two randomly dropped closer by. Jax was the Kurt Cobain to her Courtney Love; both destined and simultaneously cursed. Glass pierced the ground piece by piece. Her eyes fully dilated as fear crept into her smug demeanor. Her breath came out in short, timid, huffs as quaked in anxiousness.

“You’re my girl, Y/N. Don’t do this shit. You know I love you.”

Confliction cowered in her bones. His ragged and pathetic tone drew her in wrapping itself snugly around her. She knew that if she would have heard these words any other day, she would have declared it the best day of her life and would have started to call everyone to let them know that he finally said the words! But today was not that day and all she wanted to do right now was putting her hands over her ears and stop listening.

She spewed her virulent words once and for all; “You’re not the person I thought you were.”

Her body went rigid in his arms as sorrow clung to her like forgotten hope. She was losing him, sacrificing a piece of her heart for her own freedom. She loathed the man Jax evolved into but somewhere under his façade lived the gentle poet who stole her soul. Jax snickered obnoxiously before a murderous grin took ahold; “No. I’m just not the person you wanted me to be.”

Tags: @twistnet @ifoundmyhappythought @angelreyesgirl89 @carlaangel86 @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass @imagineredwood @gemini0410 @mayans-mc @reaperwalking @prospectfandom @emmaveale123​ @peaky-marvel @kind-wolf​ @scorpio4dayzzz​ @starrynite7114​ @penny4yourthot​ @breanime​ @whyisgmora​ @thegirlwhowritesfics​ @star017​ @threeminutesoflife​ 

[atopearth]

Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia Part 1 - Aurica & Misha (Phase 1)

PHASE 1

Okay, I am beyond excited. I honestly never thought I'd be able to play my favourite PS2 games ever again after I moved houses, because I can't for the life of me find my old PS2 that could play copied games, all the wires and some of the games, and I can't buy these games anymore either, so I was literally so sad and nearly cried when I first realised this. But then I realised that we could get PS emulators now and play the games!! Honestly so thankful and happy right now because omg it's so beautiful to know I can finally properly finish these games again!! Anyway, I still remember Shurelia and Lyner very well, I loved how cool Shurelia was, whereas I can't remember much about Lyner so he's probably the average protagonist that gets all the girls lmao. I'm not sure if I'll bother playing each Reyvateil "route" but I do know who I picked as a kid so I'm definitely going to pick her again. It's kinda funny, I wonder if this is when my bro and I decided to each choose our favourites and play through them so we could both see the different stories haha. I just remember he liked the shy brown hair Reyvateil and I loved the blue hair childhood friend, I can't remember their names anymore but I still love them hahaha. And if I remember correctly, Shurelia should have a short story/route, but I remember diving into her cosmosphere was weird because she's kinda like the old type of Reyvateil haha, so I was sad about that but it doesn't matter, it's Shurelia, everyone loves her!

On to the story itself! Lyner is pretty childish but he's a typical teenager protagonist so I'll just ignore it lol. On another note, dang, the art and character design and everything still looks good to this day imo. It's sad that Shurelia and Ayatane had to stay behind to fend off viruses that I can't really kill off until Lyner goes and gets the Hymn Crystal Purger, but I guess they can't really allow these viruses to run around into town, so as long as they stay in the Tower where I assume Shurelia has tried to seal them for many years, it should hopefully be fine~ Poor Lyner got his airship broken the moment he left though, but I guess that's how journeys begin haha. Lmao at Aurica (that's the name of the brown hair girl!!) healing Lyner with her Reyvateil magic/song and then running off when he wakes up, she's so cute lol. Kinda sad to see Reyvateil treated so badly by organisations like Tenba, like wow, the abuse is rampant. The village is pretty unreasonable to make Lyner kill their monsters to get his airship back but I guess that's just how desperate they are? Still don't like them. LMAO when Lyner went to learn grathmelding, the grandpa joked around saying Lyner's reward for learning it was his granddaughter hahaha.

Well, I guess it's good to help the village, because now they're willing to take care of the broken airship until Lyner finds someone who can fix it. Anyway, did Jack like Misha or something? I can't remember🤔 Lmao, Jack is so slack to Aurica, like yeah she's gloomy but I can empathise with her😭 Okay, I gotta agree with Jack though, Claire is definitely much hotter than Aurica, just the fact that she runs a bar by herself and tries her best to be strong and independent already makes me like her lol. On the other hand, why is Misha with Tenba, was she being manipulated or controlled or something? Anyway, the moment I saw Misha, I fell in love with her again, like wow, her design is so beautiful and unique, I could never pick someone else over her. I feel so sorry for her that Lyner can't remember her though, because I'm pretty sure she really likes him🥺 I can't remember the story but I guess we'll know when we can dive into her. Lyner is rash, super reckless and honest to a fault, but that honesty is a good thing I guess haha. The fact that he can't take people in Tenba badmouthing Reyvateil like they're tools that can be scrapped when they don't seem to be crafting good magic would make anyone mad, but Lyner refuses to sit by and listen to that, which is pretty admirable of him tbh.

With the way people react to others going into the Dive shop in the middle of the day with a Reyvateil, you'd be thinking they were doing something R rated lol, but they're just getting to know each other so it's kinda weird to have that kind of stigma, I mean I'm pretty sure going at night is weirder?! Anyway, I have to agree with Misha, Firefly Alley is a scary place, just thinking about being near all those propellers and falling down is crazyyy. It's kinda funny, but I remember Spica (Misha's friend that sells good stuff) but I don't remember the chainsaw girl lmao, I feel like she looks familiar but that's all hahah. It's so hilarious but brave of Misha to tell Lyner to dive into her so they can craft magic to break the wall and leave to go to Nemo without Bourd and them on their tail. Considering how bold she is, it's crazy that it's her first time, but since diving is such a personal thing, I honestly doubt Misha would let anyone aside from Lyner dive into her. I gotta agree with Hama (Misha's cosmosphere mind guardian) slapping Lyner for saying he's only in there because Misha told him to dive in, like excuse you Lyner?! You do realise the one that's being invaded and the one that has to feel vulnerable and everything is Misha right?! Have some tact lol! But I guess Lyner is slow, so it was normal of him to not have realised that it was a bigger deal than he thought, especially since Misha seemed so nonchalant about it. Misha's Level 1 Cosmosphere is so nostalgic though, I remember it so well, because I think it was a really nice contrast to see the brave and cool Misha in real life compared to the vulnerable one in the cosmosphere who is scared of revealing her true self to Lyner. It was nice to see him encourage her and to tell her that he wants to know her better, I mean it's sad that he can't remember her but you can't help things you can't remember I guess...

Krusche and Misha arguing all the time is pretty cute lol, I think it was even better when they worked together to open a door and made bets the whole time making them shout each other food if they got things wrong haha. Misha really is such a great girl to be so scared of heights but try her best to save Aurica. As usual though, Lyner is pretty crazy to jump and save Aurica when she was falling, like dang, they're lucky Krusche was nearby to catch them with her airship. Anyway, lmao at Aurica's naming sense and that fireball she made😂 I feel like Lyner is way more encouraging towards Aurica than he was with Misha before though, I guess it helps when it's obvious that she's troubled, whereas Misha being capable made him slow to realise a lot of things? Awww, Aurica cares so much about Lyner. She crafted blue magic in the real world because she wanted to protect him so much🥺 He's honestly really reckless though, he really could have died with the Hymn Crystal Purger, he's lucky Jack saved him. Honestly though, the more I play this, the more I feel like Lyner's type is Aurica and I'm so sadddd😭 I mean, I like Aurica too because she's so cute, but Misha😭😭

Lmao at how much it would cost Krusche to fix Lyner's airship, back to trying to climbing the tower back to Platina instead~ Well, I didn't expect Claire to really sing a song, her voice was beautiful! I'm glad she's out of Tenba and doing what she wants now, I feel sorry for any Reyvateil stuck in Tenba. Honestly, considering how self-sacrificing Misha was before for Aurica, I would have expected Lyner to care a little more of the possibility that Misha might be hurt or dead from one of the Hexagonal plates falling off and landing in Tenba where Bourd and them were having a meeting. I'm starting to think he really doesn't deserve Misha lolll. Anyway, the virus/Reyvateil Mir sounds familiar, was she one the girls in the next game? A Reyvateil utopia sounds about right if she was also once oppressed by people like Tenba. I honestly can't remember much about Ayatane but I do feel like I remember he disliked Lyner for being the one that protected Shurelia when he feels that he's so much more capable which is understandable considering he seems to be obsessed with her too. Well, the President of Tenba looks very...wow haha. Ooh I remember Misha looking super great as her real age, but she's great the way she is. Anyway, considering that Tenba experiments on Reyvateil, I hope Radolf talks about this with the church, but I guess I'm not sure if the church even has the power to destroy them even if they were so inhumane. Well, dang, Demon Aurica looks like a spider devil or something lol. I'm not surprised there's a part of Aurica that hates Claire though, it's understandable because she feels so inadequate compared to her. It's interesting to read the other bits in the cosmosphere that aren't as important, because omg, Aurica actually really liked this Knight guy before and she got rejected so terribly, that's sad.. I love Aurica's images of Radolf and Krusche, they're so silly🤣 Misha as a student body president is cute lol, and Shurelia(?) is there too?? Lol. Anyway, I like the cat on top of a vacuum, it's so cute. Lmao, okay wasting 900DP to find out that Aurica is a cat fanatic is hilarious, the idea of her rolling around with cats when no one is looking is so funny😂

I'm so glad climbing the Tower led to saving Misha, her breaking down and crying was so heartbreaking, she's really suffered😭 On the other hand, lmao at these residents up here cooking chicken, I just stole all their food✌️Lol at the trial though, it's literally just to test your strength! I'm sure Jack and them could do it too. Anyway, I never realised the Tower was called the Tower of Ar Tonelico, and oh wow, it's pretty cool that in between the Lower World and the Upper World is the Frozen Eye that separates the two so they're actually not physically attached. Oh wow, so Misha being the Star Singer meant she was the one singing her Chronicle Key song to keep all the viruses out, but because her song was stolen and she can't sing it anymore, the viruses are now attacking Platina. How sad though? She has to sing for eternity to keep world peace but what about her? Ooh, Jack left the Teru Tribe because they were too fixated on rules even when they were on the brink of destruction huh? I guess it's understandable why he would be annoyed, he's seeing so many people close to him die and he can't even use the technology that could possibly save them because of some covenant with Elemia. On the other hand, nice to know that Krusche wants to go to the Upper World because her ex-boyfriend Luke went there and never came back. Tbh, the Luke part sounds familiar but I don't remember anything else about this story. And I see, Jack is close to Misha because he used to protect her until he left.. She must have been so lonely after that. Anyway, I don't know why it didn't click to me that people are named after musical instruments here, like Flute and Harmonica lol, not sure what Tastiella is lol.

Time to do Misha's cosmosphere before going up! Adult Misha is beautiful~ lmao at the chunk of ice being an ice fairy😂 LOL at Aurica in the Don Leon costume😂😂😂 I'm kinda glad we did Misha's cosmosphere now though, because I would be so confused why her world is like this if I didn't know she has the responsibility to sing for eternity to keep the world peaceful. Especially now that she can wander around to find her song, I'm sure she's even more reluctant to go back to singing all by herself to save people she doesn't even know, and she's been doing this her whole life. I'm dying at the "flower" you can water with the China dress Misha that turns into a freaking tree hahahahah. I'm not sure about an abundance of love being able to grow a little flower into a gigantic tree😂 But I guess it exactly shows how little exposure Misha has of the real world, since even the stuff in her cosmosphere is really a lot of stuff she read in books. Honestly, I got mad at Lyner when he shouted at Misha to like do her job as the song fairy to save this Krusche, Misha was right that he doesn't understand her feelings at all. She's been stuck in one place for so long and has finally been given medicine that could turn her into a human, of course she would hesitate. I don't really blame Lyner though, since he doesn't really know about her life and her past at all. Shinobi Misha is so hot, I love the costume! It's so heartwrenching to hear how understanding Misha is to say she's willing on giving up on this chance (that she doesn't know if she'll ever get again) so that she can save Krusche because she understands that as long as she's alive, there's still a chance for her to find another way to be free, but if Krusche dies, she'll never have a second chance for her life. HAHAHA, I was thinking if those things in Misha's hair were drums, and thanks to Hama's confirmation, yes they are! But just like Hama's bells, they're just decorations, so don't beat those drums she says lmaooo. 

Lolll at Shurelia being Misha's mum telling her to grow up. So, the reason Misha hates growing up is because when she was young, she was still "free" and got to be in Platina playing with Lyner and stuff, but once she grew up, she was forced to sing and sing, so now she hates the idea of being "grown up" and having to live with this responsibility for the rest of her life, since at least if she's a kid, she can rebel and be a bit more selfish... I always find it hilarious how every Shurelia character in the cosmospheres have to ask Lyner out 😂😂 I guess it's because Shurelia is connected to all the Reyvateils? So even if Shurelia herself doesn't realise it, she really does like Lyner enough that it leaks into all her "characters"? It's terrible to think about how strict Lyner's dad was on Misha when she was in Platina if it's still haunting her here. Aww for Aurica's cosmosphere, Don Leon was a gift from Claire to Aurica before she left the village, she told Aurica to treat it as if it was her so that she wouldn't be lonely. It's cute how Don Leon really stayed so important to her that it's even her Mind Guardian now.

I'm glad Misha put Lyner in his place and told him it's too late to say he doesn't want to involve everyone, but I guess it's understandable since they could die or never be able to come back to the Lower World, but even still, Misha is right, they should be the ones to make that decision and not him. Anyway, in terms of the story, I feel like Lyner would choose Aurica to download the Hymn Crystal into to fight the viruses but I'm biased towards Misha so~ The viruses invading Misha's cosmosphere must have been pretty scary tbh like omggg, that's terrifying, especially since she got sealed in a crystal and everything was a wasteland. It was nice that after choosing Misha for this, it seems like Lyner has finally shown concern and worry over Misha lolll. Well, Platina is saved and now there's potential for more interaction between the Upper and Lower Worlds so I guess that will be nice. And that's the end of Phase 1!

Overall, I've been really enjoying my time with Ar Tonelico again. Tbh, now that I'm playing it again, it really does run like a visual novel with RPG elements hahaha. The battle system gets pretty repetitive and boring though, I'm glad it's not hard, but it can get tiring when there's a lot of random battles, I had to escape a few times because I was just so bored of it lmao. Otherwise, I definitely like Aurica much more than when I was a kid lol! She's actually really adorable and kind, lacking confidence at times, but with Lyner, I think she's definitely found a lot more confidence in herself and her abilities, and we should really be thankful to Lyner for that hahah. I love her weird naming sense and how she's so obstinate about silly things. As for Misha, I still really love her too. I like how she's so honest and true to herself, and I think I like her dynamic with Krusche and them more than Aurica is with them, but I really like how vocal Misha is about stuff like telling Lyner what she thinks and stuff like that. Shurelia is as cool as I used to think she was haha. I think I'll go with Aurica's route first though, just because I've never played it😆

[cosmonaughtt]

hitch-hiker (steven universe future/dannny phantom crossover)

ao3

Danny's lost, thanks to the help of another ghost patrol gone wrong. Luckily he finds a kind driver who's willing to take him to the next town. But is this driver just as "normal" as he is?

Hitchhiking was NOT the way that Danny wanted to get back to Amity Park, but he was left with it as his only option, because;

1. He was exhausted. His powers could still work, sure, but he didn’t want to risk trying to fly back home, transforming back mid-flight and taking a tumble to the earth, and

2. He didn’t know where he was and what direction he had to go to in order to find his way home.

Danny tried to pull out his phone and check its signal; no luck. It wasn’t a dead-zone, but his phone was dead. Hah. Funny.

What did he have on hand? Well, he always had the thermos on hand, in his other form. He had his phone and a wallet. And that’s it.

Just his luck. 

He sent a few texts out to the ghost hunting group chat. They wouldn’t send until he had some kind of connection again, probably, but it eased his heart to 

And. And, to top it all off for his current situation, he hadn’t even found the damn ghost he’d been fighting originally! Stupid Skulker. The wild chase (of which Danny was, unfortunately, hunted again) took him back through the Ghost Zone and out through a random door. 

Which led him to this current moment. Standing on the side of the road trying to catch a lucky ride to the next town to figure out how long it’ll take to fly home.

The road was pretty empty. It was inching closer to midnight by then, and he was probably going to have to transform to try and get at least to the next town where he can break into a motel and catch up on a little bit of sleep before trying to get home.

Damn his luck. 

Danny glanced at his phone again. Now it was midnight. Hopefully, his messages would send in soon, but he was going to give it until… 12:20 until he gave in and flew. Try and recover some energy so he wouldn’t suddenly decide night-time sky diving sounds a lot of fun in the middle of nowhere. 

12:01.

12:02. 

12:04.

12:10.

The sound of a car’s engine brought Danny up from the crude drawing he was doing in the dirt by his feet. He stood, and glanced down the road. A single car, brights on, was making its leisurely way down the road.

Danny stuck his hand out and waved. Please, please, please…

To his luck (thankfully), the car slowed down as it neared him. It was a compact Dondai of sorts, but Danny never paid much attention to the different kinds of cars. He had to think of more important things, like the different kinds of ghosts. 

The passenger side window rolled down to reveal the driver.

Who looked not much older than him.

“Hey, are you okay?” The kid asked, quirking an eyebrow. He looked really young, but maybe it was bad genetics. 

“Uh, yeah, I’m good. Could I get a ride, though?”

The boy didn’t look immediately distrustful of Danny, at least. He even smiled and nodded. “Sure! Hop on in!”

The passenger side unlocked with a click-- it was one of the older cars, where you had to manually roll down the windows and had a cassette deck, but other than that you couldn’t tell. It was really nice inside, and Danny jumped into the plush seat and smiled at the driver.

“I’m Steven, your humble new chauffeur.” He introduced, with a cheeky wink. 

“Thanks. I’m Danny.”

“It’s good to meet you. Where are you heading to?”

“I just need to get to the next town. Do you know how far that is?”

Steven thought for a moment, before leaning over to Danny’s side and pulling out a map. Really off-road, but then again, Danny didn’t have any service, so the odds that Steven had some were slim as well. He didn’t bother turning on any lights in the car to read the map, but it only took him a minute to figure it all out. “An hour or so, I’d say. If I’m doing the math right.”

“I’ve got a C minus in math, I doubt I’d be much help,” Danny said. “Is that on your way? If it isn’t, I can try and--”

“No, it’s fine!” Steven interjected. “I’ll probably gas up there, and probably rent out a room to sleep.” He laughed nervously. “All buckled up?”

Danny nodded.

And off they went.

…

….

…… It was weird.

It only took a few minutes of being in this stranger’s car to realize how weird this situation was.

He was in the car with a boy, probably barely a year older than him. In the middle of nowhere. In the middle of the night. It was not some horror movie concept (and frankly, Danny hadn’t been scared by one of those in months after all the shit he’s been through), but it was just. Really, really, really weird. 

Steven hadn’t asked why Danny was out in the middle of nowhere. He hadn’t asked Danny’s full name, he had provided his own and hadn’t hounded Danny with any questions. He also didn’t explain much about why he was out in the middle of nowhere, either, just driving in the middle of the night.

Maybe not all things needed answers. 

“Do you mind music?”

Danny shook his head. He’d be listening to his own music, had he not broken his earbuds in the latest fight with Technus. He was going to get more tomorrow, since it was officially a weekend and he and his friends could go to the mall and he could buy them, hopefully without any fights along the way. 

“Sadie Killer and the Suspects cool?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Sam had gone through a brief time of being obsessed with that band, and when she showed Danny the music he had to admit, it wasn’t that bad. 

Steven reached into the compartment by his arm and pulled out an old cassette, switching the one that had previously been in it with the new one with seasoned ease. 

Disobedient. Hm.

Again, another pause of silence. 

“So… You’re not going to ask me why I was out in the woods? In the middle of the night? Alone?”

Damn it, Danny is so awkward. But he can’t help but be confused by the stranger who took him in without questions.

Steven shrugged. “I mean, yeah, it’s kinda weird, but I’ve seen weirder.”

Oh. Now that piqued Danny’s curiosity. 

“So you pick up hitch-hikers often?”

“Eh, you’re only my third,” Steven replied. “The first was a guy who needed a ride to the hospital, I couldn’t just say no, you know? And then there was the woman who broke down on the side of the road, on the way to the car dealership. Talk about bad luck…”

“And you weren’t… afraid that they’d like, kill you or anything?”

“I can protect myself.” Danny tried to ignore the slight flinch that Steven had, but it was noticeable.

They settled into another beat of silence. Another song-- G-G-G-Ghost. Oddly fitting for Danny’s situation.

He didn’t even turn the question around and ask why Danny was in the middle of nowhere. He just… took it, as is. Might as well throw Danny’s cover story of getting lost when he got up in the middle of the night to pee while camping out the window, because Steven didn’t seem phased by anything at all.

Heh. Phased.

The thought of Steven being the maniac serial killer came, but Danny shot it down. The other teen-- he had to be a teen, or at least in his 20s, with a super bad case of Baby Face-- gave off some kind of vibe that he wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

But he could. It was extremely powerful; but not threatening. More like royalty, if anything. 

It was strange. Danny never got it confirmed as an official “ghost power”, but being able to just sense people’s vibes were definitely not a human thing. 

Then again, what was a human thing? It’s been almost two years since The Accident. 

Tucker called it being able to vibe-check people. Steven’s vibes were powerful, but not malevolent. 

“So… Steven, where are you going?”

“Eh. I don’t really know.” He gave off a smile, but it was different than his tone. “I’m trying to go on a journey of self-discovery right now? Just going where-ever the road takes me.”

“Really? Don’t you go to school or anything?”

“Eh-- uh, kinda. I’ve taken up a few online classes I can get with free wi-fi and stuff, you know?”

“How old are you?” 

“Almost seventeen.”

Alright. Danny knew some kids in Amity Park who dropped out of Caspar High. Some of them took up jobs at the Nasty Burger, others in various gas stations, and grocery stores throughout the city. So Steven must’ve been a well-off kid to just drop out, take online classes, and travel the country.

Danny was kind of jealous. Being able to just drop everything and go somewhere else, and make a new identity for yourself?

But he’d be leaving Amity Park defenseless. No, bad idea.

Danny checked his phone again for the time-- ah, finally. Connection again.

big titty goth gf: danny? helloooo?

t.f. as in the fuck: you’d think he’d be back by now.

big titty goth gf: yeah, well, he isn’t if u hadn’t noticed

t.f. as in the fuck: ………. Yeah

t.f. as in the fuck: usually he’d be out of the ghost zone by now if skulker’s got him going. think something happened?

big titty goth gf: i hope not or else jazz is gonna start yelling at us for letting him go into the gz alone

big titty goth gf: danny tuck and i are headin back to my house let us know when you’re ok?

Oh, his messages are finally going through. That’s good.

sad ghost club president: hey SHIT guys uh i got out of the ghost zone but uh. Don’t know where i am and don’t know where skulker went i’m gonna try and find a way back home. can either of u cover for me while i’m gone? Idk when you’ll get this massage

sad ghost club president: *message fuck tonight sucks

It wasn’t long until someone responded. They were teens, they were up late on a weekend night. No rules.

big titty goth gf: oh thank GOD its been like two hours 

t.f. as in the fuck: good to hear you’re ok! sam and i got ya covered. But where are you?

sad ghost club president: tuck i just said i didn’t know. but a kind samaritan stopped and i’m on route to the closet down 

t.f. as in the fuck: you’re HITCH-HIKING?

sad ghost club president: well it’s either that or having a fun trip skydiving tonight, so yeah

big titty goth gf: just be safe danny, don’t fall into a horror movie

sad ghost club president: remember i’m scarier than anything they can throw at me owo

sad ghost club president: plus this guy doesn’t look like he’d hurt a fly

sad ghost club president: or, well, he could if the fly hurt him first. Vibe Check is going off yall

big titty goth gf: i still cant believe u refer to that as ur Vibe Check

t.f. as in the fuck: sam its a good name

big titty goth gf: I Beg To Differ

t.f. as in the fuck: anyway if his vibe check is clear then you’re probably ok danny

sad ghost club president: yeah but its still super weird. he hasn’t asked why i was in the middle of the woods or anything, he didn’t ask me any questions about whio i am?? he’s also like. jazz’s age at MOST. just driving nowhere in the middle of the night because apparently he’s on some sort of journey of self-discovery

big tittyy goth gf: yeah thats weird but also danny?

sad ghost club president: yeah sam?

big titty goth gf: stop being paranoid

big titty goth gf: also ur cover story is being at my place with tucker for a movie night like we originally planned until He came around.

t.f. as in the fuck: fuck skulker

sad ghost club president: skulker does not have rights

He could chill now, that he knew that Sam and Tucker have his back (like always, they always have his back) and a cover story already set up. His parents didn’t question his whereabouts usually on Friday nights, because he usually spent them with his friends and they were usually too buried in research to notice him not there.

Sad, but true.

Steven changed out the cassette tape for another, continuing the quiet drive down the road.

This is okay. They were probably only half an hour away now. Once they got to the city, Danny could look it up on his GPS app and see how long it’d take to fly back home. He couldn’t have ended up too far away from home, but with the Ghost Zone, he had doubts sometimes.

Of course just as everything seemed to be okay, everything had to go downhill immediately.

It started with his ghost sense going off. Steven was preoccupied with looking at the road, listening to the music playing through the speakers. Luckily. 

Danny glanced out the window.

Skulker’s face materialized through nothing and threw his robotic body at the car.

It was a shake, but the sudden force against the poor car sent it sliding across the road. Steven grasped the wheel hard and hit the brakes, and Danny braced himself and held onto whatever he could.

Luckily it was midnight in the middle of nowhere, no one else was on the road.

“You okay, Danny?” Steven asked, looking around with frantic eyes.

“I’m-- yeah, I’m good.” Danny took a deep breath. He glanced out the window again. Skulker was still around, no doubt about it, and Danny’s ghost sense went off again. He’s close.

“What was--” 

Danny didn’t want Steven to have to deal with ghosts, on top of his existential cross-country trip to find himself. For all Danny knew, the kid didn’t even believe in ghosts! He unbuckled his seatbelt and threw open the door.

“Thanks for the ride, goodbye!”

He didn’t want to deal with Skulker, once Steven was out of the way he’d go ghost and try and fly to the town nearby and figure out where he was, then let Skulker hunt him all the way back to Amity Park. All in a night’s work.

“Wait, Danny--?”

He ducked into the brush by the side of the road, trying to lure Skulker away from Steven. He didn’t want more normal people to get involved in his problems.

But apparently the other kid didn’t take goodbye! very well, Danny turned his head around and saw Steven following him carefully into the woods by the side of the road.

Before he could tell Steven to turn around and go, Skulker appeared. Of course. Steven was immediately drawn to the sight of the sudden floating, glowing robot in mid-air, of course, but it didn’t go the other way. 

“You’re too out-of-range to have your friends help you with that stupid tablet now, whelp.” Skulker had somehow got re-synced to one of Tucker’s tablets, and it was good while it lasted, but it seemed Danny was out of time. And even if they were still synced up, they were too far away from Amity Park for it to connect.

Damn it. Just his luck.

“Let’s make this quick, shall we?” Skulker added before Danny could interject with a witty remark. He raised one of his DALV-made ecto-guns and it shot.

Go intangible, his instincts said.

FUCK, his brain said, helpfully.

He closed his eyes and braced for whatever was coming-- intangibility, pain, whatever. Hopefully, Steven got the idea to run--

No pain came. He wasn’t intangible.

Danny opened one eye.

And then the other. 

Steven was standing between him and Skulker, and a weird… It wasn’t ecto-energy, but it was some kind of pink energy, forming a barrier, taking the hit from the ecto-gun too easily.

What.

The fuck.

Steven turned around to Danny, eyes wide. “Danny, are you okay?”

“Uh-- the-- what.” Skulker looked as annoyed as he usually did, if not more, and tried to phase through the pink barrier. “Are you-- what-- uh. I think my brain has officially had it. Yeah, you know, this might as well happen.”

Steven cringed. “Oh, the shield. It’s a, uh… Long story.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll take your word for it.” Danny replied. He looked back at Skulker. He didn’t want to transform right in front of Steven, but the barrier probably wouldn’t hold forever, or Skulker would just go over it or under it eventually. 

Steven could clearly protect himself. This is what he meant, it seemed.

“Well. I didn’t freak out on you. So don’t freak out on me now, okay?” Danny looked to Steve, who nodded.

“No freaking out, got it!”

Danny allowed the familiar rings to transform him. Why he was trusting this random kid with the biggest secret he had (well, one of the biggest secrets, technically), Danny didn’t know.

But the kid obviously wasn’t normal himself, as evidenced by the glowing pink barrier between him and the ghost.

And to his word, Steven did not freak out. His eyes did glimmer and he did look at Danny with an odd sort of familiarity to it, a sort of kin-ship of weird teenagers with weird powers. Apparently.

Skulker broke through the barrier. He looked down at Steven, then to Danny. “Looks like I’ve got two pelts to add to my collection.”

“Ew, gross?” Steven replied, looking a bit sick to his stomach. 

“Yeah, you get used to it after a while.” Danny shrugged, before turning to Skulker again. “How many times do I have to tell you, Skulker, that you’re never gonna get your hands on my beautiful hair?”

Danny charged ectoblasts into his hands. Steven allowed more of that weird-pink energy form around his fists, like boxing gloves. Ah, not just a one-trick show pony. 

“I’ve got your back, Danny.”

And for once, Danny didn’t feel alone in his ghost-fighting.

----

Skulker was taken down easily with two people fighting instead of one, especially with barriers that could take hits from both ecto-gun blasts and normal ecto-energy blasts pretty well. It was probably not even five minutes until the pesky hunter was sucked up into the thermos and stashed back in the safe space along Phantom’s handy belt.

Steven didn’t even look fatigued. It looked like he had more energy than he had started with originally-- probably the adrenaline high that came with every ghost hunt. 

“Alright. I was trying to not be too nosy, but what was that?” 

“A ghost.”

“A… a ghost?!”

“Yup. Not the whole horror-movie, boo and spook ya kind of ghosts.” Danny said, floating down to where Steven stood. “You’re taking this well.”

“You’re taking this well.” Steven wasn’t even bruised and he’d been thrown into a tree during their fight. He wasn’t even bleeding, but one of his fists was still covered with the magic-bubble glove. He flexed and it popped, fading away.

“Well, at this point, anything might as well happen.” Danny landed, allowing him to transform back. “You can’t tell anyone about this, alright?”

The sudden harsh tone in Danny’s voice startled Steven, and he straightened up. “Scout’s honor! Even though I was never a scout.” Steven shrugged. “And, well, I never kept my gem powers a secret, so I don’t care if you tell anyone or not, I guess?”

“Gem powers?” It was the word that Skulker had thrown out during their fight, but Danny was just trying to take him down quickly so he could get home quickly so he could take a nice, long nap. 

“Oh, yeah. I’m half-gem.” To prove, Steven lifted his shirt and showed that, in the placement of his navel was a bright pink gemstone. “Half-gem, half-human.”

Wow.

The only experiences Danny had ever had with other hybrids like him-- halfas-- were Dani and Vlad. Dani (or, Ellie, as she said last in one of her letters) was his clone, for starters, who was taking soul-searching to a whole new global level. Vlad was an egotistical maniac who wanted to kill his dad so he could date his mom.

“I’m… I’m half-human, too. Except, half-ghost instead.” He could feel a few tears welling up, but he pushed them aside. “Normally I’d say you’re going to have to wait a little longer to unlock my tragic backstory, but after tonight I’d say we both have stories to tell.” 

Steven smiled. “I still owe you a ride to the next town, don’t I?”

[solcheeky]

Helplessly Spellbound

Summary: Mark is struck once and he can’t get you out of his head—it’s driving him insane. Technically it was his fault he got cursed, you never asked him to protect you, so why is it your responsibility to undo it? (5k)

(further explanation in note at the end, excerpt 4 is the cont. of the original post)

[EXCERPT 1, CH: Diving Ocean Deep]

“Make a sound and I will end you.” Your cold hand clamps over the student president's mouth. His doe eyes waver between your hand and face in alarm and his brows furrow at your sudden hostility. Yet, you pay no heed to his rattled body language; shoving the boy into a narrow storage room with you wasn’t exactly part of your plan either.

Instead, you bring all your attention to the stilling sounds beyond the closed storage room door. An emptiness fills your ears; this unpredictable silence making your chest heave in the slightest of relief. Silence was a good sign, it meant you probably had a minute or two before that thing finds where you are.

The reality of Mark Lee pressed under your palm almost slips your mind.

Seriously, out of all people, you had to bump into him. 

A bitter sigh tumbles past your lips before you can stop it, the distress in your expression making Mark feel like he was to blame. Technically, he wasn’t, but having a third party civilian meant things were just going to be a whole lot harder than it already was. His presence invited an endless train of problems. The first and foremost being the risk of exposure to your secret identity, and the second being the troublesome aftermath of making sure this incident doesn’t slip his lips and meet another pair of ears.

Oh. And not to mention the pain-in-the-neck nuisance it was to keep Mark Lee’s blabbering mouth shut.

If anything, Mark was known for his non-stop unnecessary rambling, and the last thing you needed was for your chaser outside to hear out where you were ...For now at least. Originally, you had it all planned out; a deliberate chase via an elaborate escape route that kept the secrets of this world and the next, hidden from the public eye. 

Except it all fell through the roof at the unexpected presence of Student Representative Mark Lee alone in the gym.

Averting your eyes and ears away from the door, you look at where your hands were stuck: one over the boys lips and the other pushing his shoulder down. In annoyance, you scowl at the position of your hands then at his innocent face. Great. How was this supposed to work? You can’t exactly send your chaser back to where it came from with your hands occupied.

Mark jumps a little when you finally make eye-contact with him, examining his wide-eyed face with a long, hard stare as you contemplate whether it would be smarter to keep his mouth shut than to set both your hands free. It was his shaky breath and nervous gulp that was convincing you otherwise. He looked scared shitless. Though you don’t blame him. 

How often is it that you find a stranger bulldozing you over into a storage room?

Under your touch, Mark hoped you couldn't feel his heart thumping in his chest. He also hoped you would unclamp the hand you had around his mouth. It wasn't doing his short breath any good and neither did it help the state of disorientation his entire being was knocked into. The unexpected rush of being blindly shoved into this tiny space had his head spinning; dizzying thoughts crashing over in his mind like a tidal wave. It was all too much and too sudden. The way he had almost tripped into the shelves, the way your hand had swiftly found its way to his mouth, even the way you were squashed hotly against his frame. Mark didn't even know what to think—how to think.

You blink at him, the unreadable look on your face making his gaze nervously blink away from yours for a second, then quickly blink back again. There was something awkwardly endearing about the way he avoids your stare and the uneasiness in his every move kind of making you want to laugh.

Suddenly, a small echo ripples through the gyms empty walls outside and into your ears. Immediately, you steer your attention away from Mark Lee's interesting demeanor.

“Okay," You whisper in defeat, at this point you really had no choice. "I’m going to take my hand off your mouth now, alright?” You pray that Mark remembers what you had said before.

But the moment you peel your palm off his lips, his dumb-self barely lets out a word before you have to slap your hand back onto his mouth—his hand immediately following yours to grab onto your wrist.

“I said don’t say shit.” You grit through your teeth. “Fuck Mark, you’re smart enough aren’t you?”

You sigh using the one hand you have left to pull a pen out of the pocket on your opposite side, hitting his chest with your elbow in the process. Purposely? Let’s just blame the tight space you’re both crammed into.

"Sorry." His small voice muffling into your palm.

Oh my god. What part of being silent does he not understand?

But Mark can't help but shuffle uncomfortably under your clasp, hesitation in his every move because he’s too afraid to get any closer or rather—touch anything he’s not supposed to. You have one leg slipped between his to maximize space and your elbow is pressed against his upper body to rest the arm that’s clamping down on his mouth. You were so close. And he can’t even back away. The boy has to shut his eyes tightly for a moment to stop his mind from running in the wrong direction. 

“Can I let go of your mouth now?” You’re busy fiddling with something in the sleeve of your free arm when your voice reels him back to reality. "Mark?"

You watch as it seems to take him a second too long to process what you said before he slowly nods, the look in his doe eyes acting like a reflection of his thoughts. It intrigued you. Mark was like an open book, his facial expressions oh so easy to read and movements untrained to hide feelings. It was strange for someone like you to see a person so innocently transparent with their emotions. 

You were brought up different. You learnt to conceal sentiment from those who didn’t know your truth and bury it deep under the mask you called yourself for both your sake and others.

[CUT]

Once your other hand is free, you can finally pull out a spell-ready paper tag from the inside your sleeve, and Mark can finally wipe the sweat off of the hand he had on your wrist on the side of his hip before keeping it there stiff.

With the tag in one hand you examine the space you’re in; it's dark walls feeling a lot more confining now that you realize you’re so close to them you can see the details of its terrible paint job. Meaning, in such a limited space, you’re forced to use Mark as a table.

“Give me a sec.” Holding the tag up against his beating chest, you focus on drawing a column of runes down the paper, each one you active with a hushed whisper.

Mark takes one quick glance at your hands then cranes his chin up to the ceiling and gulps, your proximity was now minimized to the point where he can feel your hot breath on his collar bones. Ultimately, Mark has to force himself to concentrate on something else other than you touching him. Thus the start of his usual, incessant rambling in his head: he notes the light from the crack in the door, the ugly paint job of the walls, the dust covered light-bulb hanging from the ceiling and the leftover sports equipment on the shelves. He even rambles on about the funny-not-so-funny spider web in the corner. And for a moment, Mark thinks he's doing a great job. Until you make a light jab into his chest and his mind races back to how close you are.

He grimaces then scrunches his nose before taking the courage to look down at your busy hands. At first, he tries to read what you're scribbling down, tilting his head a little to orientate his gaze to match yours, except his brain couldn't piece together the lines you had so effortlessly drawn. 

Mark’s stare makes you glimpse up at him. 

Instantly, he glances away, his cheeks reddening in shame. So he waits a second until he thinks it's okay to peek again.

It wasn’t.

...

[EXCERPT 2, CH: Diving Ocean Deep]

Mark is parking his bicycle on campus when he finally manages to see you again.

“Hey!”

At the sound of the familiar voice, you look behind you to find a busy Mark Lee hurriedly fiddling with the straps of his helmet, backpack fallen off one arm and one shoelace untied. For a second, you doubt he had called out to you, I mean that ‘hey’ could’ve been for anyone, right?

You blink at him, once, twice. But he doesn't say anything more, his fingers too busy with the clipped straps of his helmet and lips tightly pursed in a hurried concentration. You figure you had probably just imagined his voice. However, just when you take half a step backwards, Mark hastily looks up, earnest eyes making sharp eye-contact yours. 

Guess you spoke too soon.

“Wait– wait up!!” Mark looks as if he was stuck in his own helmet.

But you don’t wait, spinning on your heels to walk away from the one person you hoped you wouldn't talk to. Eyebrows knitted, you ducked your head and picked up your pace. It had been a while since that incident at the gym, a few couple days so undisturbed you had almost forgot about what happened (only almost) and you intended to keep it that way.

Mark, on the other hand, seemed to have other plans.

Annoyingly, you hear him stumble over his own bike and soon enough his hand is shooting down to grab yours, “Hey–” You spin around before he could touch you.

Mark's brows furrow at your quick reflexes, “How did you–”

“What?” Your facial expression like stone yet ineffective to the boy who appeared to be incredibly distracted by your dodge of his hand. “What do you want, Mark?” Your sudden sharp tone reminds him about what he was going to say and his eyes quickly tear away from your wrist.

“The other day,” he recalls, "What was that?" The buckles of his helmet clack against its plastic as he pulls the fallen strap of his backpack up his shoulder.

You keep a blank face, “Nothing you should be concerned about.” Nothing the student president should be concerned about anyway.

[CUT]

Shoulders hardened, you swiftly spin around to face him again, almost bumping completely into his chest in the process, but your backpack strap slap his bicep instead. Mark’s chin pulls back sharply and he scuffles backwards on his heels.

"Mark." You shut him up, very weary of the hundreds of other open ears on this campus. "You can't," You exhale annoyed. He can't just go around blabbing about what he saw or it'll be game over for you. It makes you think your hand really does belong permanently across his lips.

The boy is a taken aback by your hostility. "W-What?" Can’t what? He wants to know.

But you don’t finish that sentence. Instead, a warning is what you give him. "You saw nothing." Your words seethe with bitterness; just a little something to keep him away for a little longer. You just pray to the gods that Mark gets your gist.

But he doesn't. Because he's Mark.

He had come prepared for this kind of response. He knew you would say something like that, which was why he was prepared to use his status as student president to get answers—not that he wanted to, honest—Mark promises he isn't the type to abuse power, but you had given him no choice.

“Well,” You watch as his expression hardens (supposedly to match with yours) and his shoulders straighten as if to intimidate you like you did to him. “You weren’t there next period." Mark clears his throat. "And, as Student President, that’s something I should be concerned about.”

You wonder how many times he had rehearsed that line in front of a mirror, his widened shoulders and textbook glare making you conclude that he had asked google for help. Too bad your entire childhood was a rehearsal for the life you lead today; Mark and his internet search history will never be enough to phase you.

“I bunked.” Is all you say.

And his eyebrows twitch at your blatant answer. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

Mark doesn’t believe you one bit. “Why?”

“I don’t like that lecture.” You lied and he knew.

There's a tensed pause.

“Do you ever say anything more than three words?”

“Do you ever stop asking questions?”

Your gaze never wavers as you peer up at Mark through your lashes. 

His pink lips purse into a thin line.

“Before.” You watch as he runs his fingers through his hair in exasperation, like he hadn’t been sleeping for the past few nights because of this. “You said ‘I can’t say right now’ not ‘I can’t say period.’ So answer me.”

You can’t. You can’t just tell him you’ve been closing gates to the otherworld since you can remember, and that the other day, when you shoved a goblin through its portal gates back to where it belonged, was just a normal part of your life. Because things like that don’t exist in society anymore. People like you have been hidden from this world for a reason.

...

[EXCERPT 3, CH: Diving Ocean Deep]

It baffled Mark to say the least. Everything about you made no sense, like a puzzle with all the wrong pieces, and the fact that something so obvious to him now, had flown over his head for the entirety he had known you for, made things all the more unusual.

He needed an excuse. He needed to find a valid enough reason to talk to you without you pushing him away. So that's exactly what he did.

...Three days ago.

Mark had saved your number in his phone three whole days ago, unable to bring himself to message you anything. Sure, he had it all planned, (his excuse being Yukhei's party next weekend) but the moment his thumbs started typing, the funny feeling in his stomach would reappear. The same one he felt when you were both stuck in that storage room together. You’re friends, Mark tells himself. Friends can ask friends out to parties. 

You're lying in bed, hair wet from showering and all bandaged up from Taeyong’s usual 'errand' when your phone vibrates.

New Message, from [Unknown] 8:30PM, hey its me

[Unknown] 8:30PM, I mean mark haha

[Unknown] 8:30PM, how would you know who “me” is haha sorry

[You] 8:32PM, mark lee I assume?

[Unknown] 8:32PM, oh right sorry! yeah mark lee

[You] 8:33PM, how did you get my number?

[Unknown] 8:33PM, yuta gave it to me :-)

Immediately, you sit up, not thinking twice when the damp towel around your hair falls on to your pillows as your fingers tap furiously onto your screen.

[You] 8:34PM, yuta wtf

[Nakamoto] 8:34PM, ive always loved the way you start our conversations

[You] 8:34PM, mark lee asked for my number and you said yes ?!!!?!

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, no, dont be stupid

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, he didnt even ask

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, i offered ;)

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, but that was like 3 days ago,,,, is he only texting you now? lmfao wtf

You roll your eyes, trust Yuta to give Mark your phone number.

[Unknown] 8:36PM, anyways I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come next weekend

[Unknown] 8:36PM, to this thing right

[You] 8:36PM, no thank you

[Unknown] 8:37PM, wait I wasnt done yet

[Unknown] 8:37PM, I didnt even say where or what

[You] 8:37PM, you dont need to

[Unknown] 8:38PM, why do you always do this haha

[Unknown] 8:38PM, let me just say first then you can say no

[Unknown] 8:38PM, please :-)

-

[You] 8:39PM, I hate you

[Nakamoto] 8:39PM, not really ;*

-

[You] 8:40PM, alright

[Unknown] 8:40PM, so theres this party

[You] 8:40PM, no, thank you

[Unknown] 8:40PM, wait wha t

[Unknown] 8:40PM, I’m not done yet lol

[You] 8:41PM, oh

[Unknown] 8:41PM, so theres this party I’m hosting, and I want you to come

[Unknown] 8:41PM, I mean everyone is

[Unknown] 8:42PM, so you should :-) and you can bring your friends if you want

[Unknown] 8:42PM, its gonna be at my friends place opposite tcn, you know yukhei right? from the swim team? its at his

[Unknown] 8:44PM, okay haha done

[You] 8:44PM, I appreciate the offer, but no thank you.

Mark was texting you like you were friends. 

[Unknown] 8:45PM, :(

[Unknown] 8:45PM, haha okay

[Unknown] 8:45PM, fair enough

If that was all, you weren't even going to bother saving his number on your phone.

New Message, from [Unknown] 8:50PM, so what you up to?

Spoke too soon.

[You] 8:51PM, yuta istg

[You] 8:51PM, you are so dead when I see you tomorrow

[Nakamoto] 8:52PM, try me bitch ;*

[CUT]

“What now?” You don’t even have to look up to know that it was Mark who was trying to keep up with your pace.

“You didn't reply to me last night.”

“I fell asleep.”

Mark raises a brow then contorts his face, “But it was like 8PM.”

“I had a long day.”

“You weren't in class yesterday though.” He muses pulling on the straps of his backpack.

You let out a sigh. What in the world did Mark Lee want from you? Ever since that incident he was everywhere you were. "What do you want?" You halt abruptly and swivel to face him.

Mark clears his throat, eyes flitting away for a second. "N-Nothing. I just- I wanted to talk to you." You watch as he licks his bottom lip nervously.

"What?" No storage room talk? The genuine confusion on your face makes Mark’s cheeks grow warm.

...

[EXCERPT 4, CH: Kicking Blankets]

Mark frustratedly rips his duvet off in hopes to release the fiery tension in his body, he can’t stop thinking about you, it’s driving him crazy. He sits up in a huff and drags the pads of his fingers through his hair, then pulls his hand down the flushed skin of his face in distress. He feels hot. A feverous temperature seeps down his back like his skin is burning for something—or someone. He can’t sleep, can’t focus, can’t do anything but think about you; about how his lips would feel pressed against yours or how your soft skin would feel under his hands.

Mark shakes his head, he hates himself for thinking about it. But why can’t he stop? He tries to inhale deeply but his breath was shaky. What the fuck is happening to him? His body falls back onto his bed with a puff, and he heaves a tired arm over his eyes. Sleep, he thinks, he needs sleep.

However, no matter how hard Mark squeezes his eyes shut, he just can’t do it.

“Jesus.” Hurriedly he swings his legs over his bed, grabs his keys, forgets his helmet then he’s out the door.

The cold Seoul city air felt good on Marks burning skin. Except it didn’t stop the strong desire inside his chest that was to feel you. He needs you, but he shouldn’t— he knows he shouldn’t. 

Nonetheless, his legs pedal faster. 

His bike wheels screech against the asphalt as he dodges the people that flood the night streets of Seoul not caring if he has to splash through puddles, there was only one thing he cared about right now, and that was you. 

Soon enough, he was hopping off his bike, letting it crash onto the gravel of the car park and buzzing at a number at the entrance to your towering apartment. The intercom buzzes at him, its seemingly never-ending rings vibrating from its speakers like they were teasing him. He kicks the dust around his feet annoyed.

“Hello?”

Mark instantly whips his face up at the sound of your voice, it made his heart wrench forward. “It’s Mark.”

“Mark?” You’re thrown off. “Mark? What are you doing h–”

“Please, open up.”

“I–”

“Hurry.”

For some reason, your half-awake self pushes the open button. Scratching your scalp, completely bewildered at what just happened, you stare at your door. You almost don’t believe Mark Lee was on his way up to see you right now—like past-midnight-right-now.

Just a few moments ago the intercom doorbell had jolted you awake with its sharp buzz and before you knew it you had jogged down the hallway to let Mark in from downstairs. You lean back to look down the hallway where you had came from; there no sign of Taeyong or Doyoung, making you wonder whether to wake them up. Mark was all of a sudden hot on your tails at an ungodly hour and if anyone knows what to do, it’s them. 

Then it hits you. 

This probably has something to do with his wound, that mark that scars his chest. That same one he got from trying to protect you from the otherworld. Fuck. You pray that the only reason he’s come to you is because it was hurting, not because he had contracted some dumb curse or something. 

However, deep down, you wanted to believe it was for something normal, something unrelated to the past few events but there was a weird feeling floating in your chest that you couldn't ignore. It was making you think it was about something you did not want to hear.

A rapid set of knocks jump-scares your tired body.

You open the door to see Mark in an all-black plain t-shirt and sweats. You take one look at his restless appearance and instantly worry washes over you. “Come in.” You say.

He nods his tired head and steps in past you. “What happened?” You close the door behind him.

“You have to do something.” You turn around to see Marks facial features darken. He takes a step forward, “there’s something happening to my body.” He gets so close you feel the heat radiating from him. “And I can’t control it.”

Suddenly Mark closes the gap between the both of you, pressing himself flush against your body with his hands on your hips. “You need to help me.” He sounds so desperate.

Your mouth is agape, “I.... I don’t know what....”

“I can’t sleep.” He’s staring at your lips with a frown. “I can’t close my eyes without picturing you.”

“Mark, what are you talking about?” You take steps back breaking away from the hot contact of his skin, but he follows you like a magnet.

“This thing, it’s making me go crazy.” Mark backs you up against the door, his forehead leans down to press onto yours and you freeze. “I mean it. I can't fucking get you out of my head.” He lowers his voice, speaking with a quiet intensity. “You have to do something.”

You know it’s the spell that’s talking. It’s making him do this.

“I want you.” Mark says urgently, his knee moving between your legs. You don’t know what to do when you feel his hands on your waist tighten.

“I need you... But you have to stop me.”

So you grab him by the shoulders so he can look into your eyes. Exhaustion riddles his features; his doe eyes no longer sparkle with innocence and his jaw is clenching with tension.

“You’re all I can think about.” His gaze wavers down to your lips again. But then you see a flash of inner conflict across his features; his eyebrows furrow and he scrunches nose. “You can’t let me do anything to you.” So when he ducks his head down to kiss you, you turn your head, and his lips press against your hair.

You feel dizzy from the whiplash Mark is giving you, the words of desire that roll off his tongue immediately clashing with the sentences that follow straight after. It sends your body into confusion. You should probably shove him off, it would be so easy, but your traitorous body is too tempted by his touch.

One of his arms snakes around your lower back and his other hand slowly travels up higher past your waist, his forehead fallen to rest on your shoulder causing his face to be so close that the tip of his nose tickled your skin. Your fingers clench tighter into his shoulders.

“I should...“ His soft lips whisper against your collar bone, “not be doing this.” Suddenly the hand that was riding up the side of your ribcage, wrenches away from your body and palms the door behind you.

“Mark, I don’t know what you want me to do. Tell me and I’ll–”

“I don’t know either.”

You feel his features twist in agony on your shoulder. He releases his arm from your back, “I don’t know either.....” He repeats breathless.

Suddenly, the lights flick on.

“What’s ...going on?” The sound of Taeyong’s voice makes you shove Mark off, sending him stumbling over all the shoes left by the door.

[CUT]

When you shuffle back into the living room, Mark had abandoned the ice pack on the table and his face was buried in his hands.

“Here,” you lightly nudge his shoulder with the pillow.

His eyes widen slightly at your sudden appearance, “thanks.” He was too engrossed in his own thoughts about how hectic it’s been—how hectic his mind is now.

The air stilled, an empty quietness between you, neither of you knowing what to say; you, trying hard to return to your indifferent-self despite the previous lust-intensive moments, and him blanking out on conversational topics that don’t include kissing or the words ‘I need you’.

You figure it was just best to retreat back into your room.

“Wait.” Mark grimaces to himself, he hates himself for opening his mouth. “I’m really sorry but can you..” With an overworked brain, he tries carefully to find the right words. “Stay with me for a bit.” Mark can feel his heart racing in his chest, pounding through his body and ringing in his ears at your cold silence. "I– just for a bit," He gulps nervously. "I really can't sleep. And you, you can help me."

You sigh, Doyoung had spent more than enough time trying to heal Mark, what good was it for you to stay with him any longer? “How? Doyoung tried his best, I can’t do what he does.”

“I just need you here. I don’t know, it felt better when I was holding you...” His voice fades into nothing, like he was too afraid to finish his sentence.

You honestly don’t know what comes over you when your feet start making their way around the sofa.

[CUT]

With all the courage he can muster, he slowly follows your movements and lies behind you, his body almost touching yours. Only almost.

But the pink eared boy wasn't comfortable at all. His arm was in a funny position and his back felt weird. Chewing on his inner lip he stared intently at the awkward gap between your back and his chest. You hear Mark sniff stiffly. “Can I...” Then he lifts an arm in hesitation.

You hate that you fall weak at his innocence.

“Yes.” You say, a simple answer but it was all Mark needed to hear.

So with your permission, he eagerly takes the chance to snake his arms around you, letting himself go completely as he buries his face into the nape of your neck. 

Finally, with you against him, he felt at ease. 

The heat in his body releasing into this in-explainable feeling. Something he had never felt before. Something he didn't even know could be so perfect to exist. It just felt so right, like fitting the last piece into a puzzle.

And for the first time in forever, he can finally feel his eyes close into a deep slumber.

Unlike Mark, you couldn't fall asleep. Perhaps it was because his arms were wrapped so tightly around your waist, or because your back was flushed into chest sharing warmth with yours—even the way his cute nose nuzzled into your skin so naturally made your head spin. He was so close the lightness of his breath tickled the sweep of your neck, the slow beat of his heart fluttered between your shoulder-blades and the soft of his pink lips grazed across the bare skin of your shoulder.

The most damning part of it all? The fact that it felt so right.

You were so fucked.

-

note: hello! to those of you got to the end of this weirdly laid out plot/excerpt thing, im surprised and grateful you made it lmao thanks

this is the draft version people have asked for which has been in my drafts for a year! though it may not even make sense to half of the people reading this oof

i just wanted to clarify, these were the few parts of ‘helplessly spellbound’ that i, as a writer, was not too ashamed of to post lol the rest of it wasn’t so successful in terms of the standards i have set in my mind ? and thus shall never see the light of day on this site :-)

if anyone wants a break down of the whole plot summary/what i had planned or an explanation of anything written above or just in general curious about why i ended up posting it this way, ask me! my inbox is always open!

also, before anyone asks again: what most definitely wont happen, is me finishing this fic completely twice over smh and posting it. sorry :(

finally, thank you! and sorry, again, to all my followers that were expecting more

[toshootforthestars]

The school year is looming on the horizon, despite the fact that the coronavirus pandemic is still raging out of control in almost every state, and most schools do not have one tenth of the resources and preparation necessary to operate safely. Still, American politicians across the country are pushing to get schools back open.

It's yet more evidence of the utter void at the heart of the American leadership class. Few people in positions of authority are willing or capable of governing, and especially not Republicans. They are either deranged maniacs like President Trump, or they are avoiding unpopular decisions in a way guaranteed to fuel the pandemic, simply so that they can shift blame away from themselves.

Getting schools open is obviously a matter of great urgency. The current situation is wearing American families to the bone. Parents report having to juggle work, child care, and distance learning over Zoom is driving them to the breaking point. It follows that being able to open up the schools would be a godsend for both parents, who could go back to work and get a little rest, and kids, who could go back to actually learning, and seeing their friends (even at a distance).

But insofar as schools actually are reopened, it's a virtual certainty that in most cases there will be outbreaks and they will close right back down again. We have already seen multiple outbreaks at summer camps, where both children and staff were infected. Indeed, Israel threw months of pandemic control work in the trash by jumping the gun on schools. The country had new cases down to just a handful per day by early May, and had been carefully experimenting with limited school openings. But in mid-May the Israeli government abruptly reopened the whole school system, and touched off a galloping outbreak across the country. Israel is now in a much worse position than it was in April.

And contrary to some conventional wisdom on the right that kids never get that sick from COVID-19, we know now that occasionally they do, and a few have died.

Worse, they definitely can transmit the disease, and will therefore easily pass it on to teachers, school staff, and their families at home, many of whom will be much more vulnerable.

Even Republican governors probably see the writing on the wall here. The pandemic is not going anywhere, Trump is not going to do anything about it, there is neither money nor time to set up schools properly, and therefore it just isn't going to work. But to simply admit defeat would mean attracting a lot of negative attention from conservatives, who insist it's all fake news, and from the people who are just hoping it can work so they can go back to their jobs.

...

Opening schools properly would require a great deal of effort and money. At a minimum, schools would need new social distancing protocols, mass testing capacity, more staff to decrease class sizes, and ideally upgrades to their internet service (to allow for some distance learning) and HVAC systems (to improve ventilation and prevent air from recirculating). Instead, education budgets are being slashed across the country, and in most places they weren't sufficient in the first place.

Journalist Keith Gessen did a deep dive (for New York Magazine) into the situation in New York, one of the richest states and where the virus is best under control statewide, and found that preparations to avoid outbreaks in schools range from comically inadequate to nonexistent. Cash-strapped schools have measured out new limited-capacity desk configurations, secured some protective gear, and so on, but many old schools don't even have HVAC systems, let alone the money to build them.

It would take hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, extra staff, and new protocols to make this happen safely. Thanks to Congressional Republicans' refusal to rescue state budgets, and Governor Andrew Cuomo's desire for austerity instead of tax hikes for the rich, that money is nowhere to be seen — and that's in one of only a few states where the pandemic is under enough control that reopening could even be imagined.

Realistically, if the virus is heavily circulating in the wild, as it is in most places, no kind of preparation is going to be good enough. Schools are petri dishes of disease at the best of times...

Ryan Cooper: The American leadership void

The Week magazine   /   4 Aug 2020

See also...

[metareview]

mindhunter sentence starters episode 3 - 4.

i'm gonna grab coffee. you want some?

how's your family?

since when did you care about any of that?

i'm adopting a façade of caring.

you want to dive right in?

i've read a lot about you.

sure, these men all have wives, kids, dogs, goldfish, but not because they stopped being psychopaths, but because they just had different leanings.

do you think they have the same underlying personality traits?

it's crazy in the way that anyone with a truly new idea is crazy.

that hasn't been the feedback we've gotten so far - actually, this is the only feedback we've gotten so far.

these men are just sitting here, locked up, and we're too afraid of the morality of it to see the far-reaching value of their insights.

i didn't realise this was so informal.

you think people would be interested in this outside of law enforcement?

imagine, like, truly imagine what it takes to bludgeon someone to death.

narcissists don't go to the doctor. psychopaths are convinced that there is nothing wrong with them.

i've spent enough time with him to know what it means when he gets that crazy look.

you know, this is really important work.

it's good to get some encouragement, even if our hands are tied.we realise this is somewhat unorthodox.

well, that's the last time we give them advanced notice.

ever feel like you're on the cusp of something and it keeps spinning out in your head?

did you smoke my pot?

not only is this exactly what we predicted, but he's getting a taste for it. there will be more.

your unsub will have bite marks.

guys in unhappy marriages have hair triggers. they lash out.

my bet is poor white trash.

well, now what has he done?

who the hell have you brought into my home?

just take a fucking moment to breathe.

you trying to suck me off?

what kind of fucking question is that?

don't you stick up for yourself?

what a bitch.

i think she actually likes me.

there's nothing behind his eyes. it's like standing near a black hole.

we're good at this shit, even if it turns my stomach.

guys in my high school always thought my mom was hot and it always really disgusted me.

i can't let these guys rub off on me - the way they view sex. and women.

if going down on me while i'm filing my nails is your idea of being kinky...--

i'm kinky. i'm very kinky.

i could impale you with this nail file.

you sound like you have a crush on teacher.

i'm teaching a class on the intersection of sociopathy and fame.

how do you get to be the president of the united states if you're a sociopath?

you think this might help?

what do you say we get down to brass tacks?

how did you choose your victims?

you want to diddle around, we'll walk out of here. we'll go have a nice leisurely lunch wherever the fuck we want, and then take the picturesque drive home.

what he's too polite to say is we're talking to men like you because we can't understand how someone could fuck up their life so completely before he's barely old enough to vote.

i gotta keep checking in or they send me back.

it's like the idea of doing it pops into your head like a - like a sneeze, you know what i mean?

your science buddy might have something there.

you don't expect us to buy your mercy horseshit.

he's an olympic-class bullshitter.

we just need to extract what's useful and discard the rest.

here's the fucking law, pal!

why am i so upset?

i didn't see it coming. you could've been killed and i didn't see it coming.

i feel like we're failing him somehow.

you have no idea what i'm trying to say, do you?

let's make that our term of art.

isn't that just life?

what else is a criminal except somebody who can't function in society?

why do i get the sense that 'reductive' is your worst insult?

i meant to say you were right.

i did not want to be in california, that's for sure. nobody wanted me there either.

when i was nine, i shot my cousin in the ass with that gun.

i got into all kinds of shit.

nobody wanted me. nobody on this earth ever wanted me.

you guys mind if i bother you a minute?

you don't think somebody local did this?

we shouldn't jump ahead of forensics, am i right?

we're gonna have to go over ground you've covered: witnesses, crime scene. we don't mean that as a challenge to you.

we're all on the same side.

i'm not trying to make you feel bad... maybe a little.

i'm curious why you're cutting this guy so much slack.

he's never seen this kind of thing before. he's rattled.

without a doubt, you have more experience, but why rub it in his face?

what did the killer see in her?

you need to be with family at times like this.

no apology necessary. we're all learning as we go.

events we process as good news sometimes hits these killers the wrong way.

sometimes the killer will insinuate himself into the investigation.

what kind of dog do you have?

if we want to find something out, we will.

i was scared the cops might want me for it, okay?

those wounds were inflicted posthumously.

you're not under arrest.

the idiot was with me the whole night.

nine times out of ten, it's the boyfriend, husband, somebody close.

can't say how much i appreciate all your help.

you're in the middle of an ongoing investigation?

my assumption is that you're good at your job, which means you're gonna be more focused on solving an actual crime than the theoretical work we're doing.

we can't end crime, no matter what we do.

the psychopath understands how to play his audience.

i'm trying to frame an overall taxonomy, except i don't know where to start.

the class is great, but he's obsessed with the meaning of shit.

all shit has meaning, man.

should i be jealous?

would i have invited her to go out with us if i was interested in her?

i've seen men do stranger things.

do you plan on getting married? having kids, the whole thing?

for a fed, he's not so bad at having a good time.

are you in law enforcement also?

i'm not intimidated being around women who are smarter than me.

he has a lot of flaws, but surprisingly, that's not one of them.

is there anything i need to know?

my job is to provide guidance and quite a bit of protection.

you have stepped outside of the shade of my umbrella and you are now exposed to direct sunlight.

so much for the protection i might have afforded you.

congratulations, i suppose.

[themadvigilantist]

things about time lords that was new to me and/or i forgot about that i’m now going to consider canon for basically every time lord in a fight:

Time Lords' physical forms are only fragments of much vaster multi-dimensional ones existing in a realm invisible to humans; this aspect is able to create coincidences around a Time Lord. (and everyone is so surprised by how strong they are. gallifreyans are (possibly) stronger than the hulk and captain marvel full force. k bye)

While the human eye was just a dish of light-sensitive cells, leaving the brain to do all of the processing, the Time Lord retina was capable of thinking on its own. As a result, on Gallifrey, the retina replaced fingers as the main method of communicating with machines. (a brain for the skull and a brain for each eye and just holy shit. they can feel people with their eyesssssss.) Gallifreyan eyes were better at seeing in general, as well as in the dark, as they could gather and enhance available light. They could notice incredible amount of detail from distances of at least one hundred yards away, as well as people that were well beyond the human line of sight. Gallifreyans had incredibly precise control of their eyes (which explains a shit ton on why the doctor’s eyes just get bigger when they can’t find a companion and have to resort to yelling their name. it’s like that meme about yelling something to get them to respond but extreme sports edition. like extreme marco polo or waldo like holy shit).

Gallifreyans could survive some falls which would shatter the bones of humans.

If pushed from a height into a liquid, a Time Lord body was capable of protecting them, sealing up the lungs to conserve air for a short period (see Hell Bent and 12′s constant diving)

Gallifreyans could survive extreme cold, due to having a "souped-up metabolism"; they could even withstand exposure to a vacuum for a few minutes with the only consequence being blindness rather than death. They could also survive extreme heat. They could even survive the subzero temperatures and extremely low pressure of vacuum for around six minutes, and survive electric shocks that would be fatal to humans. 

Röntgen radiation affected Gallifreyans so minimally that Gallifreyan children were routinely given radioactive toys in the nursery. They could, at will, absorb very high doses of Röntgen radiation, transform it into a form harmless to humans, and expel it from their bodies. Radiation of other kinds could be fatal, but even then a Gallifreyan could handle much higher doses than a normal human could, and could hold out much longer than even most terrestrial life-forms, although a unique form of radiation around the Lakertyan System was only fatal to Time Lords while being harmless to humans.

Gallifreyans needed less sleep than humans, and could make do with as little as an hour.

A Gallifreyan who was severely injured without actually needing to regenerate to heal the damage would generally slip into a healing coma, and devote all his or her energy to healing the injury. While in the coma, they would appear to be dead.

Time Lords also seem to have an increased resilience to higher frequencies of sound.

Gallifreyans could be disabled by a blow to the left shoulder, which possessed a vulnerable nerve cluster.

Gallifreyans were capable of resisting attempts to disintegrate their bodies, despite being shown capable of disintegrating other organisms.

Early Gallifreyans deliberately infected themselves with the Yssgaroth taint to give themselves a biological advantage.

Time Lords occasionally displayed, or referred to, the ability to fly. (cough cough mary poppins, saxon, missy, that time lord messenger, tenth doctor when he got back to normal and cradled the master and cried after lucy shot him cough cough)

Even without regeneration, Gallifreyans had considerable lifespans. Within one regeneration, Gallifreyans could live for hundreds of years, yet look much younger than a human of equivalent age. (which means the curator in the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who is 500 yrs old in that face so like imagine young tom baker but with just the short curly cut like wow)

Physical stress could cause Gallifreyans to age.

the Time Destructor may have contributed to ageing

Gallifreyan children grew at about the same rate as humans of the same age. After this point, ageing would slow, with the Gallifreyan looking like a teenager for decades. ( @girl-in-the-tardis @gallifreylegacy so basically those kids end up being like twilight minus the disco ball vampirism when they graduate college and get the highest occupation of their job. like they could be considered both the youngest president but also the oldest being visually a teenager but actually 90 yrs old. like No. 5 from Umbrella Academy)

90 is teens, 750 is middle-aged and senility age when one time lord gets over 12,000 years old (depending on the regeneration i guess???)

Gallifreyans had all the senses possessed by humans, and to generally superior degrees. Gallifreyans also had extraordinary reflexes and precision timing, literally superhuman.

In the space of four nanoseconds, a Time Lord can move fast enough to dodge shots fired at them whilst devising a plan to escape. (so that trailer where 13 is like a speedster? fucking canon y’all)

Gallifreyans showed great hand-eye coordination and dexterity with a wide variety of tool and weapons.

Gallifreyans (in "younger" bodies) were, consequently, very physically able and highly athletic

A time lord perceived sounds from the TARDIS, while located several sections away in a larger spacecraft or planet.

Gallifreyans were capable of identification by taste. (see all of tenth doctor) The Gallifreyan sense of smell was equal to their sense of taste. They could do a chemical analysis of the air using their sense of smell. On some occasions Time Lords were also able to judge what time period and location they were in by the smell of the air. (this explains that comic where rose was possessed by the ninth doctor and she basically became the ninth doctor for that strip while also talking to him out loud as he responded in her head: basically 9 was remy the rat and rose was linguini the hair-controlled human k thanks. so that’s a thing)

Gallifreyans were better at coping with sudden changes in position than humans and were harder to disorient. 

As well as the senses shared with humans, Gallifreyans had further senses, with at least a sixth sense. Gallifreyans had time- and spatial-related senses and physical attributes; they were able to resist fields of slow time, notice distortions and jumps in time, retain perception of local time flow, including a secondary "backwards" consciousness during jumps back in time that could overwrite the one prescribed by forward time, directly perceive the interstellar motions of cosmological bodies or their inhabitants — including sensing the "shape" of the world to the extent that they were aware when trapped in pocket dimensions — and perceive all possible timelines. Due to their time sensitive nature, Gallifreyans could retain memories of negate or alternative timelines. (so basically the whole ‘i won’t remember this’ schtick from 50th was a sham. which explains why tenth doctor was looking for rose the second he heard bad wolf but he was on gallifrey and not earth. this boy was looking for the moment but like she just didn’t appear and then the button changed into a rose shaped one like wow ok bye) The form of eidetic short-term memory, able to recall every insignificant detail of even the most moments in time (holy shit there’s no way you can win an argument with them. that’s fucking sad...for any human anYWAY). on a quantum level, their brain could receive information from possible futures, possibly without even realising it consciously. (ahaha do you mean that the tenth doctor saw different futures where he saw all outcomes of doomsday which makes all those edits where he’s living life with rose and donna as his sister fucking true but it’s also true that canonically he went, ‘nah, have tentoo im gonna skidaddle’ and left THEM OKAY BYE AGAIN). Time Lords shared a special mental connection to the structure of history. The chakras of the Time Lord nervous system could detect contours in the Time Vortex and also felt an instinctive gut revulsion towards fixed points in time.

The Time Lord brain was much larger and more complex than the human brain. The size differences effectively ruled out brain transplants from a Gallifreyan to a human, having one, two or three brainstems (so basically that whole plot in Get Out would have backfired so fucking hard. now that would have been a wild movie.) Time Lords could also separate the hemispheres of their brain, allowing them to multitask easily. Records on some planets indicated isolated cerebral hemispheres as a characteristic of Time Lords. Time Lords had an additional brain lobe dedicated to mechanical and other bodily functions, freeing the other lobes for intellectual endeavours. The autonomic functions could be artificially supplanted with a special device, allowing the Gallifreyan to think with their autonomic brain.

Gallifreyans could sense the presence of others of their own species, with the sense being specific enough to allow identification of one another just by sight, regardless of potential recent regeneration. (v and vin tend to turn this off because they like being surprised. surprises are fun.)

Body temperature of Gallifreyans are fucking Arctic or near Pluto levels, hence the layered clothing in the most hottest climate possible like what the fuck. it explains so much on why tenth doctor still donned that luau necklace thing because that was just a nice warm spring to him okay. which means if they get sick, you need oven gloves and a heat resistant suit. that’s what im gonna assume. like holy shit. no wonder that ice didn’t do shit for 10 in the 42 ep. good to know

Time Lords displayed the ability of touch-enabled mental manipulation; this manifested itself in a number of different ways, including hypnosis, mind-reading, thought sharing, the ability to relieve dementia, putting others to sleep, influence on others' dreams, memory erasure and could also transfer knowledge quickly to another person by headbutting them. In addition, they were telepathically linked to one another and could join the entire Time Lord intelligence as one. They could hold telepathic conversations over distances, but this was more difficult. They could converse with each over the astral plane, although this ability required intense concentration, and an interruption might have fatal consequences for the Time Lord. Their telepathy extended to less intelligent animals. Perhaps because of this, they had an innate ability to understand any language. In ancient times, Gallifreyans who were capable of blocking out the telepathic thoughts of other Gallifreyans were called Individuals. They usually had red-gold hair and often went on to become Young Heroes. (THAT’S 👏🏾WHY 👏🏾THE 👏🏾DOCTOR 👏🏾WANTS RED 👏🏾HAIR 👏🏾👏🏾 THEY 👏🏾 WANT 👏🏾 TO 👏🏾BE 👏🏾A 👏🏾INDIVIDUAL 👏🏾👏🏾) They were highly resistant against, if not immune to, other forms of mind control. However, they were vulnerable to more powerful forms of mind control. (so basically Jessica Jones episodes 1 thru whatever episode Kilgrave doesn’t find out about Hogarth trying to inject herself with his DNA, they are immune but, episode where kilgrave injects himself with it and becomes powerful might be vulnerable to it if that same kilgrave did what cartoon kilgrave did with tony stark and used the stark tower to boost and spread his control over everyone...or you know, maybe can withstand wanda vision’s control. maybe. i have to consider pythia and the karn so, it’s a good 50 - 50 chance on kilgrave and wanda being able to mind control a time lord. like properly. so jot that down)

Gallifreyans (Time Lords) don’t have prostates.

[drakonics]

<DIR> // HC DUMP: GENERIC.

/under the cut for potentially disturbing/mature mentions. you’ve been warned.

<o1> contrary to annoyingly popular and recurring belief  seto is/was the furthest thing from spoiled given his seemingly polished upbringing and generally standoffish person as a whole. after a watered down past at the orphanage his new life he intended to give mokuba was the very furthest from anything he ever wanted. everything and anything gozaburo ever ‘gave’ him was double edged and even though seto could truly have cared less about the abusive fool inflicting on him he broke his stubborn streak when the bastard truly surpassed all unthinkable lows and began using mokuba as leverage to ensure seto did whatever he wanted. that being said any accomplishments made by seto are strictly his own. he has built his own network of success from the very ground up fully eliminating any and all traces of his ‘father’ over the years ensuring kaiba corporation became something all his own without the stain of adoptive ties to reflect on the company when mokuba someday succeeds him.

<o2> despite being unable to recall the exact events leading up to the untimely deaths of his real parents seto suffers from vivid recurring dreams/chronic nightmares centering around the scattered cause. born to a japanese father and a mother with egyptian roots dating as far back as the ancient days, the two met during an expedition in giza where seto’s father was conducting research on the first pyramids and his mother doubled as a tour guide at the time and was later revealed ( due to extensive research conducted by seto himself ) to be the successor of ancient tomb guardians with blood of the medjay hailing from the old kingdom. fittingly enough seto inherited her striking blue eyes and sinfully soft brown hair with his father’s more stern personality as an opposing trait, whereas mokuba took after their father in terms of looks but maintained their mother’s immovably caring personality. the kaiba brother’s pendants although made by mokuba also contain a second digitally reconstructed and salvaged image of their deceased parents, courtesy of seto’s personal additions alongside the intricate self destruct mechanism integrated in conjunction to the duel tower.

<o3> for all of his top of the line prowess and upkeep with personal/public appearance the greatly esteemed president of kaiba corporation is in fact not in the prime of health. the true meaning of rest is simply lost him and not an option given he is expected to be anywhere at any time whenever the occasion calls for it day or night. seto wages around 3-5 hours of sleep within a 24 period and never manages them consecutively resulting in consistent sleep depravation, chronic insomnia and bouts of sickness. in effort to counter balance the tolls taken on his health seto maintains a strict self-training regimen, a particular diet and coffee in dangerous dependability. when confronted about his overall decline of health seto merely states he will sleep when he is dead and the path he shapes known as his life will never stop regardless if he sleeps or not.

<o4> courtesy of kaiba corporation and his personal profits, seto has officially deemed a select percent of his entire generated revenue in donations to orphanages worldwide. to better the future and generations to come seto believes giving children like him and mokuba a chance to reclaim and successfully live their lives will make the most lasting impact. depending on their schooling success kaiba corporation also offers free admission to the duel academy upon graduating base grade school or fully paid tuition up front for college. as per seto’s endless pursuits in bettering his own technological finesse continue to evolve he is constantly adjusting the prices of all other kaiba related entertainment: kaiba land officially has multiple locations set up worldwide which operate strictly on their own real time via the intricate crystal cloud network. a handful of nature reserves are also in continued production as well as personal cruise lines that offer travel to and from all forms of attraction or personal getaways. all parks and attractions are operated at significantly cut costs to make them more easily accessible and affordable to the people with mandatory pre-release periods, however mainly focal on children in general.

<o5> it is excruciatingly important to note that a bout of sudden ‘kindness’ from seto is hardly true kindness at all up front if at all strictly due to him believing ( and being forcibly taught by ) that kindness is an immediate show of weakness. at many points seto was beaten by gozaboru whenever he cried due to the afflictions gozaboru made on mokuba. as such was just proclaimed another weakness gozaboru refused in a heir, seto grew to resent tears and emotions as a whole, effectively crushing his own as a detrimental drawback. lack of proper upbringing paired with a stunt in social growth since childhood effectively cut him off from normal development one would have according to generation and therefore seto suffers from severe social impairment and is unable to make emotional connections. many defining factors of his tyrannical business front and hellbent on remaining top-of-the-world persona were injected by gozaboru himself and forcibly imprinted ( to the point of both physical and mental ) abuse that carried into and ultimately tarnished his adulthood. seto has been put through more forced consumation attempts than he cares to count in one lifetime, compliments of gozaboru wishing to extend his own corporate clutches and influence via other rich or corporate owned families worldwide. attempts that have scarred seto to such a degree he is wary of women in general and utilizes sex in itself as a power play and tool and inherited gozaboru’s manipulation in the form of trauma ( as if unwanted sexual occurrences and attempted assassination efforts were not enough. ) adding to his already fiercely independent and withdrawn personality, seto firmly believes others will never simply approach him but that they all have an underlying motive and purely intend to use him because of his position, wealth and grand success; a defining paranoia that has sadly been proven time and again throughout the course of his arranged future successes which only further contributed to his inability and overall unwillingness to trust, forging the cold settlement that most if not everyone is out to hurt him so he fully intends to shut them down and hurt them first.  while even but a fraction of his trust is ten times hard earned and rarely given, seto is loyal to a fault and would staunchly go to the very ends of this world and the next if it means protecting anything ( or anyone ) he cares about.

<o6> although official records state seto dropped out of high school by choice, gozaboru withdrew his son seeing his intellect was years beyond what modern day education was capable of on the falsified notion that seto himself was above normal schooling and destined for much greater. in reality, gozaboru already knew seto surpassed him in every way possible and despite having groomed him as the perfect heir to someday succeed him, implemented a planned attempt to murder his own son in fear of losing his company and having everything taken from him. gozaboru attempted a number of recurring set ups in attempt to separate mokuba from his older brother and kill him off long before deciding seto was a liability, attempts that Seto was not only fully aware of in entirety but also planning a counter measure in turn. while it is known seto effectively manipulated the big five against gozaboru in conjunction with his inhumane treatment towards his own subordinates, official records state gozaboru was driven to suicide and took his own life by jumping out of the window of kaiba corporation’s presidential office on the top floor. the unpublished truth remains undiscovered to this day: seto turned gozaboru’s own murderous machinations against him and killed the man himself solely based on the belief that he was merely giving back everything that bastard ever gave him and his little brother.  thanks for nothing, gozaburo.

<o7> officially unreleased to the public and deemed solely for his own personal use, seto’s next generation of neurons links him to an encrypted network constructed with any and all depictions of ancient egyptian lore he has personally salvaged in effort to hopefully someday fully piece together the ongoing mysteries shrouding his past life and any ongoing connection he clearly has to the departed pharaoh. utilizing the original state of the art bleeding technology seto has successfully constructed a subconscious research vein dubbed the STEM, allowing it not only to connect with and create images solely based on the user’s brainwave activity but fully reconstruct scenarios based on their dreams and fleeting visions. In its final stages the STEM places the user in a catatonic state by integrating itself directly into their central nervous system and works in perfect conjunction with the nervous system to provide real time feedback, lifelike sensations and produce results generated directly from either. by diving his subconscious, seto has been able to place himself at the heart of many scattered memories pertaining to his past, effectively allowing him to ‘re live’ or experience certain occurrences as his past self, courtesy of obtaining DNA sequences in unorthodox means. ground breaking as it is the STEM is it hardly comes without its immediate faults and dangers as it forcibly dives into genetic memory and imprints at an alarming and often much too realistic rate. as the centered drawback of reproducing a near immaculate 3D world and structure at will, due to the overall strain placed on the user’s body their vitals are continually monitored and the system is set to cease immediate operations should they fall beneath the natural threshold of safety. 

<o8> prolonged use of the STEM has adverse and potentially life threatening side effects, one such that seto has deemed the ‘bleeding edge effect’ where the user will experience severe bouts of hallucinations caused by the user’s past life memories ‘bleeding’ into the present and can cause permanent mental disorientation or push the user to insanity if proper rest between sequences and extended safety protocol is not met during use and after. unbeknownst to seto himself by linking to his ancestor and diving his subconscious to the egyptian afterlife he has unwillingly attached the soul of his past incarnation to himself, effectively transcending the plane of digital space and dimensions alike. by utilizing this alongside his breakthrough with the quantum cube, seto has ultimately forced his own soul and that of his priest side to exist as one in present day.

[thecomicsnexus]

The Case of the Chemical Syndicate

DETECTIVE COMICS #627 MARCH 1991 BY BILL FINGER, BOB KANE, MIKE FRIEDRICH, MARV WOLFMAN, ALAN GRANT, BOB BROWN, JIM APARO, NORM BREYFOGLE, JOE GIELLA, MIKE DECARLO, STEVE MITCHELL AND ADRIENNE ROY

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC FANDOM)

This story is reprinted from Detective Comics #27.

Commissioner Gordon relaxes at home entertaining his young socialite friend Bruce Wayne. Wayne asks if anything exciting has happened lately, and Gordon explains that a fellow called the "Bat-Man" is puzzling him. Gordon receives a call that chemical manufacturer Lambert has been found murdered. They have Lambert's son in custody, whose fingerprints were found on the knife. Gordon invites Bruce Wayne to the Lambert mansion with him, and Bruce Wayne says he has nothing better to do.

When they arrive at the crime scene, young Lambert insists he is innocent. The lad explains that he arrived home early and saw his father lying on the floor. When he entered the library, he saw a figure escaping out the window. He pulled a knife out of his father's back, and his father's last word was "contract." Lambert's son recalls that his father had three associates, Alfred Stryker, Paul Rogers, and Steve Crane. Steve Crane calls Gordon on the phone. Lambert told Crane that he had received a death threat the previous day. Crane has received a similar death threat, and asks for police protection. Bruce Wayne decides to go home, and Gordon rushes over to the Crane residence.

Steven Crane is killed by a gunman who enters through the window. The thug and his partner steal a paper from Crane and climb onto the roof. They are confronted by a figure they recognize as the Bat-Man, standing in the moonlight. The Bat-Man punches the first thug out, then grabs the second one in a headlock and throws him off the second-story roof. He grabs the paper and escapes as Gordon is pulling up. The GCPD try to arrest the Bat-Man, but they are unable to catch him. Gordon learns that Crane has been murdered, and moves on to the next business partner. The Bat-Man smiles when he reads the paper he stole, and drives off in his automobile.

Paul Rogers visits the laboratory of Alfred Stryker, having learned of Lambert's death by news broadcast. Stryker's assistant Jennings clubs Rogers over the head and ties him up. Jennings explains that he will lower a gas chamber over Rogers and kill him the same way he puts animals to sleep. Jennings leaves to activate the gas. The Bat-Man leaps into the room through an open transom. The Bat-Man grabs a wrench and dives inside the gas chamber before it closes.

He plugs the gas jet with a handkerchief, and busts through the glass with his wrench. Jennings returns and tries to pull a gun on the Bat-Man, but the Bat-Man punches him in the face really hard. Alfred Stryker enters and demands to know what happened. When Rogers explains that Jennings tried to kill him, Stryker pulls out a knife to finish the job. The Bat-Man is hiding in the shadows, and he grabs Stryker from behind to stop him. The Bat-Man explains to Rogers that they were all partners in the Apex Chemical Corporation. Stryker had made secret contracts with all of them to pay them a sum of money each year until he owned the business. He grew tired of waiting and decided to kill them so he wouldn't have to pay. Stryker breaks out of the Bat-Man's grip and pulls a gun on him. The Bat-Man punches Stryker so hard in the face that Stryker breaks through a railing and falls into a tank of acid. The Bat-Man remarks that this is a fitting end for his kind, and leaves via transom. Rogers tries to thank the Bat-Man, but he is already gone.

Later at his house, Commissioner Gordon relates this story to Bruce Wayne. Bruce remarks that this is a lovely fairy tale, and leaves. Gordon thinks to himself that Bruce Wayne is a nice young chap, but he seems to lead a very boring life. Bruce returns home to Wayne Manor, where it's revealed that he is in fact the Bat-Man.

This story is reprinted from Detective Comics #387.

Batman and Robin swing across Gotham City. They arrive at a crime scene where the wealthy atomic chemist Lambert has been murdered with a poker in his own living room. Commissioner Gordon is accusing Lambert's hippy son Mel, whose fingerprints were found on the murder instrument. Mel is furious and rants about authority figures abusing their power. Batman determines that the fingerprints could have gotten there at any time, and they cannot prove that Mel is guilty. Batman and Robin leave to investigate while Gordon has his back turned. Mel announces that the scene is one big bummer and he is going to split.

Batman and Robin return to the Batcave, where they're welcomed by Alfred Pennyworth. Robin hates Mel, believing that punks like him should all be locked up without a key. Batman reminds him that their job is to protect everyone's rights, not just those of the people they like. The Batcomputer determines that Lambert was part of a chemical syndicate with three other men, Alfred Stryker, Paul Rogers, and Steven Crane.

They drive to visit Steven Crane in the Batmobile. Crane explains that Mel and his father had a heated argument several days ago in the lab. The elder Lambert insisted that his chemical research would benefit all mankind. Mel Lambert insisted that the research would really be used for military purposes, and lead only to advances in war. Robin believes this proves Mel guilty, but Batman tells him not to jump to conclusions. They leave the apartment and hear gunshots behind them, as Crane is murdered. They rush back in and the killer shoots at them as well. His silhouette resembles Mel Lambert, and he escapes but drops a piece of paper when Robin hits him with a batarang. The paper is an account of Crane's part in the research. Batman believes this casts doubt on Mel as a suspect, but Robin believes it confirms his suspicions. They rush to find Paul Rogers next.

Paul Rogers has heard about Lambert's murder, and gone to visit the laboratory of Alfred Stryker. Stryker lets Rogers inside, and Rogers is clubbed on the back of the head with a gun. The culprit is a masked man resembling Mel Lambert. Batman and Robin burst in, and they take down the masked man. It is not Mel Lambert, only a man dressed like him. Stryker picks up the gun and reveals that he hired this killer to do his dirty work. Stryker forgets to keep track of Batman in the shadows, and Batman karate chops the gun out of his hand. Batman explains that he knew one of them was the culprit because only someone involved in the chemical syndicate would want Crane's research data. Stryker was attempting to eliminate his partners so he could claim their research as his own for financial gain. Mel Lambert was simply a convenient scapegoat to frame for the murders.

That night, Mel Lambert and Robin are both troubled. Mel Lambert criticized Batman for being part of the system, but Batman was the only reason he wasn't thrown in jail. Robin realizes that he tried to jail an innocent man simply because he didn't like him personally. They both know they have some thinking to do.

Batman watches over the city at night. An older man gets into a cab with an Iranian driver, who complains about racism in America. The cab is attacked by a costumed woman who sprays it with acid, destroying the vehicle and killing its passenger. The woman announces that her victim coordinated transportation, so it is only fitting he died in transport. The Iranian later recounts these details to homicide detective Dana Hanrahan. Batman arrives and Dana tells him that the victim was Theodore Lambert, Vice President of CLRS Chemicals.

Bruce Wayne knows Theodore's son Ted Lambert, and has Alfred set up a late-night tennis game with him. Ted complains to Bruce about his father, who made his fortune by abusing the environment. Ted announces that he is waiting for his father to die, so he can undo this damage using his father's fortune. Hanrahan arrives and accuses Ted Lambert of murdering his father. Ted admits to a history of arguing with his father about chemical dumping, but insists that he loved his father.

There is a press conference held for CLRS Chemicals by public relations executive Steven Crane. Crane tries to put a positive spin on their dumping, insisting that these chemicals can be used to save the planet. They are developing cleaning materials and pesticides to kill viruses and bacteria. The costumed woman arrives and reveals that she calls herself Pesticyde. Pesticyde murders Steven Crane and his wife in front of a giant crowd, melting them both into a pile of goo. The crowd scream and run in terror, so she begins killing them indiscriminately. Batman arrives to investigate the convention center, and Pesticyde tries to kill him. Pesticyde escapes by burning a hole into the sewers. Hanrahan is horrified when she arrives, and throws up several times at the sight of the melting bodies.

Hanrahan investigates Fred Stryker, the chemist at CLRS Chemicals. Stryker was disfigured in a horrible chemical accident, and is now confined to a wheelchair. His nursemaid Mrs. Watkins tells the police that he cannot move or speak, so Hanrahan leaves. It's revealed that Fred Stryker has a daughter named Priscilla Stryker, who took the identity Pesticyde to avenge him. The other three executives at CLRS refused to listen when Fred told him their chemicals were too dangerous and harmful. They were only concerned with making a profit. When a machine broke, the chemicals fell onto Fred Stryker. This was apparently a mechanical error, but Priscilla believes it was a plot by the others to kill him.

The only remaining executive is Paul Rogers, in charge of business at CLRS. He denies police protection, but Pesticyde easily breaks through his security system. Pesticyde reveals her identity to Rogers, who is her godfather. She kidnaps him to a chemical processing plant, where she dangles him over the vat of chemicals that destroyed her father. Batman arrives just in time and knocks the remote out of her hands with a batarang. He is barely able to swing Rogers to safety before she returns fire. Batman and Pesticyde battle on the catwalk. Pesticyde insists that she is not a killer, she only wants justice, and asks if Batman wouldn't do the same. Pesticyde accidentally destroys the ground underneath her, and falls to her death in the tank of chemicals she prepared. Batman stands on the catwalk and says that he would not do the same thing.

Late at night, a bum walks down the highway into Gotham City. He finishes drinking his bottle of table wine and throws it at a sign. There is a disturbance at G.C. Chem Co. when a thief steals something in one of the trucks. Batman and Commissioner Gordon arrive to investigate. The guard on duty explains that he chased the thief to an office, where they stumbled on the corpse of company owner Professor Lambert. The thief takes his mask off and reveals that he is Mel Lambert, Professor Lambert's son. Batman determines that Mel could not have been the killer, based on fibers on the knife. Batman realizes that Mel is still hiding something, and grabs a bag of cocaine out of Mel's pocket. Mel pulls a gun and threatens to shoot Commissioner Gordon. Batman throws the cocaine in Mel's face and punches him out. Mel is taken into custody.

Batman leaves to check up on Professor Lambert's partners. The homeless man from the beginning tries to tell a cop that his friends are dead, but the cop won't listen to a drunk. Lambert's partner Steven Crane is at home reading when his butler receives a call from Gordon. His butler opens the door and is pistol-whipped by two robbers. The robbers force Crane to open his safe, then shoot him in the head. Batman bursts in and violently beats the two killers. They confess that a man named Paul Rogers hired them to make it look like a robbery. Batman and Gordon rush to the Rogers Chemicals building.

The homeless man is attacked by several muggers, but Batman sees this and defends him. Paul Rogers is innocent, and the real culprit is his partner Alfred Stryker. Stryker forces Rogers to write a suicide note at gunpoint, claiming responsibility for ordering the deaths of his friends. Gordon arrives at Rogers Chemicals to find Paul Rogers swinging dead on a noose. Batman arrives and does not believe the suicide note. He knows Alfred Stryker is still in the building, and calls out to him. Stryker fires his gun at Batman and Gordon. Batman throws a batarang to make Stryker drop the gun. Stryker tries to leap over a metal railing, but the railing collapses and he falls to his death in a tank of acid. Batman fishes out Stryker's skeleton, and remarks that this is "a fitting end for his kind."

Batman explains that Alfred Stryker owned a waste disposal company partnered with Lambert, Crane, and Rogers. To increase profits, Stryker illegally buried the toxic waste and his partners kept quiet. The city bought Stryker's dumping grounds for a housing project, and this lead to an incident where several homeless men died. Stryker killed off his partners so they couldn't report him to the police.

REVIEW

So, two reprints (one of them already reviewed) and two new versions (by the then creative teams of Batman and Detective Comics).

The second story is odd, Robin is profiling hippies, while at the same time he is hanging around with heaps of them when he is with the Titans. Being so conservative doesn’t really fit the character. Another problem I have with this version of the story is that the main theme here is atomic power, so while it is related, I doubt a “chemical syndicate” would be involved. This, by the way, would be Earth-1 version of the case.

Wolfman and Aparo’s version is pretty much horror. This was common in the modern age (and in Batman). While this story is perhaps the strongest one in the book, I felt it was a bit anti-climatic. I was also confused by the detective first, as she looked exactly like Sarah Essen (who was around back then). That’s one of the problems with Aparo’s art, everyone has pretty much the same face and expressions (sometimes there are certain combinations where he does look a bit different).

The Grant and Breyfogle story is plagued with references to several Batman artists. Since I am biased for Breyfogle, this is the one I enjoyed the most. But I admit it starts to force itself to become a homage by the end. Which is ok by me, as the whole purpose of this issue is to do an homage.

While the first two stories happened in Earth-2 and Earth-1 respectively, the last two are probably imaginary stories (as both of them happen in modern times). But of those two, the Wolfman version is more in continuity than the one from Grant (as Gordon just had a heart attack).

I give this issue a score of 8

[duckworthlehman9-blog]

Electrum Stratis Wallet

Stratis is 1 of the 1st connected with a range of blockchain growth platforms. It had been initially while platform whereby developers may easily generate their own non-public blockchain. Stratis Electrum Wallet wanted their own program to be the premier blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) tailored to get use by organisations. Having said that, since firing, Sratis offers increased the extent connected with their project. They wish to construct out the larger blockchain development circle that will take on the particular likes of NEO plus Ethereum. Can Stratis in fact contend in this really competitive place and supply an attractive alternative in order to all these blockchains? In this Stratis overview, we is going to attempt to answer that question by taking a deep-dive on the task. We will look at the technological innovation, team members and unique advantages of its blockchain. We are going to also analyse typically the STRAT token and whether you must think of it. Let�s jump in. What on earth is Stratis? Stratis commenced being a project that will wanted to assist organization logistics with a BaaS model. However, as often the demand for developer ecosystems possesses grown, hence also have the ambitions of Stratis. They are now attempting to construct their own developer blockchain. There are numerous additional projects that are wanting to do this but this main variation between them all and Stratis is that it will be using C# for Microsoft�s. NET structure as the development language of it is blockchain. Ethereum has one particular advantage above Stratis in that the idea was your 1st smart contract system, on the other hand their use of the Solid design programming language could very well be it has the weakness. Stratis uses a far more comfortable programming language and may obtain the same blockchain architecture and include sidechains like well. Stratis is certainly gaining on Ethereum, launching C# smart agreements as an alpha in Might, accompanied by alpha sidechain help support in July. This produces Stratis with par having leading smart contract blockchains. In fact, for a lot of companies Stratis will be the favored solution since blockchain expertise isn�t all that popular at the older, more traditional technical companies. These kind of older technical companies perform have armies involving computer programmers familiar with C# and the. Strat Electrum and will be more than likely to pass more than programming some sort of blockchain having Solidity once they can apply the more familiar C#. Stratis offers this acquainted programming language, and the particular power to use almost all the same features to be able to generate a feature-rich blockchain with the ability to be able to include things like sidechains plus sensible contracts. This will make it possible for typically the old-guard tech corporations to easily build their personal blockchain treatments on typically the Stratis main sequence, trying to keep their own projects segregated and safe on sidechains. There is certainly promise, nevertheless it will take time to know the perspective of Stratis. Let�s take Electrum Stratis into the project in addition to their related STRAT tableau that powers the system. Understanding Stratis Stratis is designed as its own blockchain the fact that also offers some sort of suite associated with development tools in C# that help companies to work with the stability of its blockchain to make their own chains. That saves methods for the particular companies that don�t want to hire different blockchain developers as well as spin all of their heritage software to do business with a new platform. In it has the core Stratis is an up to date, enterprise pleasant version involving Bitcoin. It�s more international, it�s more quickly, and it goes aside from the resource starving Proof-of-Work mining of Bitcoin. Then it adds the Stratis system that allows sidechains, wise contracts and the addition connected with decentralized apps. Stratis may differ from additional blockchain projects by using the C# programming language. With over 6 zillion C# developers the idea aims to mesh simply with this pre-existing devices of classic technician companies across the particular globe. This has established a good package of equipment and even assets for developers to help them to build up their own blockchains, and the idea also offers the use of its blockchain as a mainchain to secure added sidechains. nStratis Enhancement Software The nStratis blockchain developmnent platform developed for businesses Additionally , the idea offers consultancy services regarding corporations that want to make use of blockchain technology, nonetheless don�t understand where as well as how to get commenced. For instance, they might suggest some sort of fintech company, featuring these individuals how blockchain technologies enable you to verify funds are usually being shipped to the right people, to track dealings, and to validate consumer personal. Stratis Team Often the main running company regarding Stratis may be the Stratis Class Ltd that is based inside the city of London, uk. They are comprised associated with some fairly experienced programmers with specialties in business computer software together with blockchain. Stratis was founded inside 2016 by way of the current CEO, Chris Trew. Chris possesses over 10 years connected with working experience in Enterprise IT. He or she is also a good backend developer who may have developed numerous applications around C# and ASP. NET. He / she started to cut the teeth in the blockchain environment inside 2013 and performed as a volunteer on the particular Blitz job. Stratis Staff Members Some of the Stratis Team Members Philip is as well joined simply by Nicolas Dorier who formulated NBitcoin merely as a good learning exercise. NBitcoin is now one of often the most comprehensive cross-platform bitcoin frameworks. He or she has also published a good book about blockchain programming in C#. Nicolas has also done many work on Bitcoin�s primary project. The STRAT Token This Stratis blockchain employs Proof-of-Stake (PoS) as their general opinion protocol, and typically the STRAT token as the local token on the networking. Because Stratis uses Detras it means there�s zero resource intensive mining required to protect the community, nor any expensive components required. It turned out developed because a low pumping cryptocurrency and holders can generate rewards by staking money, if they have sufficient to use a node. Functioning some sort of masternode requires staking two hundred fifity, 000 STRAT, which often has a value of $392, 500 at the $1. 57 price on Sept. 2010 7, 2018. That�s naturally out of reach regarding most, but there are chat of adding lower tier nodes that require significantly less gold coins. The primary cause of the STRAT symbol is as gas for that network, or a approach to buy network purchases. Naturally you can also buy it while a speculative expense, and the coin is detailed on well over a good dozen programs, including Binance, Bittrex and HitBTC. Binance STRAT Save at Binance and Buy STRAT Bridal party As of September 8, 2018 the STRAT or maybe is #49 on Coinmarketcap. com with a market place cover of $155, 347, 489. That�s at a good price of $1. 57 along with a distributing supply associated with 99, 004, 672. Stratis hit an perfect high price of $21. twenty one on January 8, 2018. Stratis was one associated with the first prosperous ICO�s, raising 1, 1000 BTC back in June/July 2016. This success led them to start their own ICO software in May 2018 to help others discover the same success. It is certainly a generous presenting, but could spell signs of trouble at the company. ICO Popularity in Decline If Bitcoin rose inside reputation most other cryptocurrencies battled to gain an target audience. So, they will turned to be able to the ICO like a new way to gain market place acceptance, and to boost funds to continue advancement. That�s the way Stratis obtained its come from 2016. ICOs became even more popular in 2017 when Ethereum commenced hosting as well on it has the blockchain, permitting companies to help bypass the long and expensive procedure for creating their own blockchain. That year saw nearly a single, 500 ICOs launched and $5. 6 billion in investment raised. It wasn�t just about all good news though since over 50% of those ICOs were failures. Perhaps even even worse was often the nearly $1 billion shed by simply investors to bogus ICOs. These losses came the attention, and ire, of presidency regulators. That put a bad light on ICOs. Right after major online simply because communities like Google, Facebook plus Twitter banned adverts intended for ICOs on their very own platforms. ICO prices chop down across the field plus people grew to become increasingly cautious projects releasing new cash via an ICO. Slipping ICO Demand Amount connected with funds raised via ICO will be declining. Source: ICO Files 2018 still sees some sort of good volume associated with ICOs, but it also sees a great deal more and more projects steering clear of the negative stigma linked to ICOs. Quite a few have eliminated returning to the airdrop to help deliver tokens, and in spite of everything other individuals will be opting to hold private sales, offering their coins to enterprise capital firms and substantial net-worth individuals rather compared to retailing them to the public. This telephone calls in question the decision of Stratis to release a great ICO platform in Could 2018. In a few respects the idea seems as if the management team is trapped in the past. Positive 2016 has been just a pair of short years ago, yet inside the cryptocurrency globe only two years is like a couple of generations. A turnkey ICO solution at this point seems to fly when confronted with the negative view involving ICOs and the improving government scrutiny. Stratis Remains a priceless Blockchain Even even though the launch of an ICO platform makes it look as if Stratis will be out of feel using the rest of often the cryptocurrency market, it remains to be a robust and outstanding blockchain venture. And whilst the value of typically the STRAT coin has decreased throughout 2018, that�s additional an attribute of the total decline throughout cryptocurrency areas. A $1. 57 price tag now is still the more than 22, 000% gain from the $0. 007 ICO price connected with the coin. That�s a new pretty hefty return around just over 2 decades. Stratis has also just lately been listed in the Microsof company Azure Industry, which was basically a big win to get Stratis founder and BOSS Chris Trew. The listing isnt necessarily an endorsement regarding Stratis as a venture, but rather mainly because the coin can be created in C# for that. NET framework. The. WORLD WIDE WEB construction was developed by way of Ms, and because of Glass windows enterprise usage the. WORLD WIDE WEB structure and C# encoding vocabulary are both stuck in every industry. As the particular developer in the. NET system Microsoft includes a huge share in the tactical together with growth of the construction and the C# words, building acceptance of Stratis by way of Microsoft almost some sort of granted outcome. Microsoft Pink Headline by Stratis on 'microsoft' Azure Company�s making use of older systems built along C# and. NET can find often the transition to a blockchain solution will probably be easiest and most budget-friendly with all the Stratis solution. Most of these businesses previously have C# developers that may be reassigned to some sort of blockchain project, and they�ll help to make quick progress thanks for you to their particular familiarity with C#. Unfortunately for Stratis the particular blockchain universe advances quite quickly. Their C# set was vaporware right until May 2018, meaning there are the number of projects of which swept up to and exceeded Stratis. And the Snap budget, which will sounded therefore impressive during the summer of 2016, wasn�t all those things revolutionary as soon as it was discharge as a beta mainnet merchandise in The fall of 2017. It is unfortunate, nevertheless the Stratis team appears to be operating at a a long way slow pace than brand new projects, mainly those through Parts of asia. The early exhilaration over Stratis hasn�t translated to first adoption. Around fact, additional as opposed to approval into the Azure Marketplace, the largest partnership so that far is with Earth Twine, an unknown international that will is looking to disturb the seafood logistics company which has a blockchain alternative. 1 optimistic development is the particular newest joint venture with GREAT BRITAIN Meds, the particular fastest increasing online drug store in often the UK, just announced in September 5. GREAT BRITAIN Medications plans on using often the technology for you to strengthen affected person safety in order to improve often the UK Prescription drugs supply sequence. Conclusion Startis has the distinction of being the initial prosperous ICO, and remains outstanding to this day, nevertheless some point out it needs to step up it has the game if that doesn�t want the big difference of 1st successful ICO to be the largest differentiation the project at any time reaches. While it offers solid technology and some sort of robust alliance with 'microsoft', this isn�t seeing often the type of adoption it takes. If it can power it is strengths there is definitely still an answer to growth within just the blockchain field as it offers a few feasible and helpful use-cases. Often the inclusion of the Stratis software in the Microsof company Azure market place is some sort of big win, and even investors have to be happy with the particular 22, 000% return because the ICO, including if the price connected with this coin has been recently sliding inside 2018. Entrepreneur sentiment might be slipping, but there is still lots of good for being said for STRAT. Typically the establish of an ICO system doesn�t seem to be the best move around in 2018 as government government bodies include been taking aim at ICOs, but fortunately Stratis has several other platform innovations and partnerships. Likely the enterprise blockchain remedy inside C# may definitely not sound as technologically sophisticated or alluring as some other blockchain assignments, but it�s just these nuts-and-bolts sort applications which can be typically this most useful together with rewarding. In fact, the work with of C# makes Stratis more attractive in order to classic tech companies using heritage systems, since they would not have to start through scratch for you to migrate or integrate their techniques with blockchain technological innovation. The Stratis solution exhibits real promise, but we have to wait plus see if they may truly deliver.

[howtohero]

Weapons as Part of Your Anatomy

Weapons can be highly useful in fighting crime. Sometimes you need a little extra help or sometimes you’ve gotta stop a crime that’s farther away from you than your fist can reach. So it’s no surprise that many superheroes use them. But they can also be clunky and unwieldy at times. They’re definitely a pain to keep track of when you’re jumping out of an exploding aircraft (we would’ve just said “plane” but as of last week, hot air balloons have actually surpassed airplanes in “aircrafts that are most likely to explode in the midst of a super-battle” according to a study conducted by the local chapter of Super Hot Air Balloon Enthusiasts International) or diving into the ocean to punch an evil sea turtle. So some superheroes bypass all of those problems by having weapons as part of their anatomy. They take being armed to a whole new level. (Just so it’s clear, they’re a group of international air balloon enthusiasts that are ridiculously attractive. They’re enthusiastic about air balloons of all temperatures the normal amount.)

One obvious advantage of having weapons for limbs is that wherever you go you’ll always have your weapons. Guys like Super-Sonic-Plasma-Ultra-Cannon Man never have to worry about being ambushed by Terror-Raptors or attacked randomly on the street because they can have their weapons locked, loaded and ready to shoot some supersonic plasma at a moment’s notice. Superheroes of this variety (this variety being the kind who have weapons in place of parts of their bodies) are usually robots or cyborgs. Robots who have cannon arms or harpoon hands or knockout gas kneecaps generally carry around an additional weapons or two and only rely on their arm blasters or knuckle rocket launchers as a last resort. The reasoning behind this is twofold. 

Onefold: Have you ever tried shooting hardlight from a cannon built into your arm? That jazz is exhausting. It requires a lot of energy and when you’re surrounded in a forest by a bunch of other robots who are not your friends, you want to save as much energy as possible. (This is the only reason most robots aren’t blasting sick battle-music while fighting crime, it takes up a lot of their already limited energy reserves.)

Twofold: I don’t know about you but if I’m fighting someone who is shooting at me with a gun I’m going to assume that if I take the gun away from them, they’ll stop shooting me. These robots rely on their foolish human enemies to make the same assumption thus giving them a secret advantage. The bad guys will foolishly focus all their attention on our robo-hero’s weapon that they’ll be completely caught off guard when it turns out they didn’t even need it!

Organic shapeshifters on the other hand, tend to only be able to morph their hands into melee weapons. Swords, hammers, that one guy who can turn his hands into chainsaws (his name is Rip Mason and he protects the president!), the reason being that shapeshifting into a ranged weapon is mad difficult. Guns are mad intricate! Turning your hand into one is hard, and then you gotta put bullets in your hand? That seems unsanitary. (Granted I guess it isn’t more unsanitary than sticking your sword arm into some dude’s chest but whatever.) There are a few advanced shapeshifters out there who can do it but it’s certainly not very common. 

Then there are other heroes who take this concept to their logical extreme and use their actual limbs as weapons. We’re talking about guys like Dismember (distinguished member of Member Dis? The organization that helps amnesiac superheroes recover their missing memories) the guy who can detach his limbs and use them to bludgeon people over the head. Then there are your various Headless Horsemen who sometimes use their decapitated heads as projectiles or as weapons of fear. There’s Countdown, the heroine who can turn any part of her body into an explosive, including her nails, teeth, and even hair. Then there are heroes whose powers are more conventional but who are creative enough to know that they never need to carry a weapon again. Pyrokinetic? Congratulations! Your arm is now a flaming club. Are you a spikykinet... a spike manip... uh a spike-sling... no dang it, you know those spiky guys? The guys who can sprout spikes from their skin and shoot them at people and stuff? Should we just call them spiky sorcerers? Would you guys be down for that? I’m just going to go for it. (Spooky spikey man!) it’s too late we already decided! If you’re a spiky sorcerer you can turn your fist into a mace! If you’re an element absorber you can turn your arm into a blunt object made of anything! 

But having a weapon as part of your anatomy is not without it’s downsides. For one, if your armature is permanent, nobody will ever really be able to relax around you. Think about it, would you be able to drink your morning coffee in piece if there was a bloke on the other side of the cafe with a tank cannon sticking out of his chest? Presumably not! (If we’ve presumed wrong don’t email us, we don’t care.) It’s hard to give somebody a consolatory pat on the back when your hand is three knives attached at the hilt. You get the idea. You’re also going to be banned from a lot of place. Like a lot. Movie theaters, museums, that cafe that we mentioned before. I hope you can fly or have access to a teleporter because there’s no way you’re going to be allowed on an airplane with a machine gun for an arm. You’re also going to have a hard time maintaining a secret identity. It’s unlikely that your enemies will think that there are two people in your town with battle axe arms, one who fights crime (with axes?) and one who just wants to finish his novel. If you’ve got a weapon attached to you, I recommend finding someway to cover it up. Like always wear bulky hoodies. Or a trench coat! Everybody ignores a guy in a trench coat! Sure it’s not going to help with the making-people-uncomfortable-in-the-coffee-shop thing but how much did you really like coffee anyway?

While having weapons as part of your anatomy can be incredibly useful to you in your war against crime. They’re not super great for when you’re not actively fighting hedgehog smugglers or monsters under the bed. So if you’ve got flame throwers in your armpits or razorblades for finger tips don’t worry, we still like you, and hologram projectors are relatively cheap these days. But if you read this because you were looking to sew a gun into your own arm (that’s not how cyborging works!) maybe hold off for a bit and just get a holster or something. A holster is basically like having a weapon be part of you. Or better yet, a utility belt! That’s like a ton of holsters!

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 730 (v1)

Episode: HUGtto! Precure 22 - “A song of love for two! Twin Love Guitar!” Date watched: 8 July 2018 Original air date: 1 July 2018 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/kfRvK0g

the crossover nobody expected

Hello no you’re not going crazy, I did skip almost 700 days. I mentioned on the status blog that I’d review HUG 22 early specially because it features the FW duo so here we are.

A note about names: after some research I’ve elected to use Ruru and Emiru instead of Lulu and Emile, so if you wonder why I’m writing Ruru when the captions say Lulu, suffice to say I have my reasons.

Here’s the setup, since I won’t actually review the episode this continues on from for another 2 years: in HUGtto! 21, Emiru and Ruru were out at the park, playing guitar when Papple attacked. At one point, Cure Amour (Ruru) is trying to save Emiru’s guitar from being trampled but the Oshimaida stomps down on her. Cure Macherie (Emiru) yells at her to get out of the way, and ultimately jumps in to push her out of danger. Unfortunately her guitar gets stomped and breaks in two. After the main trio swoops in and defeats the monster with Yell For You, Ruru apologizes to Emiru for her destroyed guitar. Emiru replies that it’s okay as long as Ruru is alright and tells her not to worry, and then turns to Yell and states that if they had Melody Swords then this wouldn’t have happened, so Yell should hand hers over. Yell, taken aback by this, tells her that these wands are theirs so Emiru turns to Harry and demands a Melody Sword. Harry brushes it off with a “don’t ask me” kind of response and then Hugtan starts glowing, opens up a portal in the sky, and out fall Cure Black and Cure White. Roll credits.

Also we got this awesome end card.

HUG 22 picks up right where 21 left off. Emiru assumes Black and White are there to deliver her Melody Sword, but they’re just confused. After figuring out who everybody is, and concluding that there are other Precures out there (All Stars confirmed non-canon), they all head back to Harry’s store to regroup. Emiru and Ruru get in an argument over Emiru’s feelings about the loss of her guitar and Nagisa and Honoka give them advice, saying it’s okay for friends to fight sometimes and they certainly have *flashbacks to FW08*. Ruru can’t understand why Emiru is saying it’s alright that her guitar is broken considering how much she loves music, and Emiru doesn’t want to have to explain to her that she cares more about Ruru than a guitar. It’s not as deep as the fundamental difference in personality Nagisa and Honoka experienced but it’s something.

After the pep talks from their predecessors, Emiru and Ruru set about making gifts for each other. Emiru makes matching charm bracelets, similar to the one Hana, Saaya, and Homare wear but with red and purple heart links instead of pink, blue, and yellow.

BRIEF ASIDE: I feel like this charm bracelet maker comes up every few seasons. Is it an actual toy Bandai sells? Is it rebranded for each show or what? I need to look into this, and anybody with more info please chime in.

Meanwhile Ruru sets about making a pair of new guitars for Emiru and herself, with Saaya and Honoka helping. There’s a humorous moment where Honoka remarks that it’s easy to forget Ruru is an android..... while Ruru is cutting into sheet metal with her finger. As one does.

The next day (I think?) Emiru and Ruru meet up at a dock with everybody else looking on. They talk out their feelings and give each other their gifts, with Emiru explaining that she can replace a guitar but she could never replace Ruru or the friendship they’ve developed. Hana says it best:

Meanwhile at Criasu Corp, Papple is feeling like a failure because she can’t seem to eke a win against the Precures and Gelos is subtly putting pressure on her. She goes up to the room of her mysterious lover who is most definitely not the president of the company and the strange man Hana has bumped into a few times, but she sees Gelos in his room with him. Feeling betrayed and heartbroken, Papple flees the scene and runs to the roof of a building. Telling herself that if he loves her he’ll come stop her, she summons a bunch of negative energy and..... STABS HERSELF IN THE CHEST.

She becomes an Oshimaida and starts terrorizing the nearby Precures. The Hug gang all transforms and tries to fight her but she lays them all out, so Black and White enter the fray and they single.... or I guess doublehandedly give Papple the smackdown. She cries out, and Ruru recognizes that her former employer is inside of there. Cure Amour and Cure Macherie together vow to try to help Papple from the inside. Cheered on by Black, White, Yell, Ange, and Etoile, the duo dive into the monster’s soul...... right through her cleavage.

You can’t make this up.

Inside they find Papple crying her eyes out from heartbreak. Putting aside her personal feelings, Macherie gives her a pep talk with Amour’s help and they tell her that they will protect her love at all costs. This calms her down, and the duo emerges. Suddenly they receive two new Mirai Crystals and new weapons: the Twin Love Guitars, as a reward for their act of love. They perform their new finishing attack, Twin Love Rock Beat, which involves them strumming a tune on the guitars (despite the strings being like.... 6 inches long. I know it’s a toy and it’s magic but that is not how instruments work!) before holding them like guns and firing hearts at the Oshimaida to purify it.

The dust settles and the original duo congratulates the newest duo for a job well done, saying they make a great team. Hugtan babbles and glows and a portal opens up in the sky again as Nagisa and Honoka begin to levitate. Waving their goodbyes, they disappear back to their own world. After they’re gone, Harry asks Hugtan how she did it, to which she responds with more baby babble. I don’t know what they expected. Homare freaks out over how cute she is, and Emiru and Ruru observe that with their new bracelets they now match. We close on this image.

HUGtto! 22 was a good episode. An unexpected but welcome return by the original cures, and I do mean unexpected because to my knowledge Toei did not say ANYTHING about this prior to the broadcast of ep 21, so when Black and White fell out of the sky it was a big WTF moment. It was an important development episode for Ruru and Emiru, and while Nagisa and Honoka were prominent in mentoring them they never overshadowed them. There was a part in the fight where Black and White were kicking much more ass than the entire Hug team were able to, but ultimately it was Macherie and Amour’s ability to see beyond the surface and address Papple’s heartbreak that saved the day, and that’s admirable. Even though I’m currently still working my way back through Max Heart, it was nice to be able to get an entirely new adventure with some of my favorite characters, and see them interact with the newest team in a significant way (those end-of-series cameos we’ve gotten the last few years leave a lot to be desired). I like how they were able to relate the conflict of this episode to a similar one that Nagisa and Honoka faced back in 2004. The animation of the episode was great, this might be the smoothest the FW characters have ever been portrayed outside of the movies, and while there was some minor deviation from their original art style to suit the HUGtto art, it wasn’t drastic. I’m having trouble even pinpointing what it is, maybe their a little less squished, it’s hard to say. My only nitpick would be that Yukana and Honna Yoko sounded a bit.... off in this, but y’know it’s been 15 years and all that, their voices have probably changed. I may simply not have noticed it in All Stars films because it was gradual, but since I’m actively watching Max Heart right now I picked up on it more. It’s a very minor criticism and it doesn’t detract from a fantastic episode. Look forward to my v2 review in a couple years, if I manage to keep this project up for that long, haha.

PINK PRECURE CATCHPHRASE COUNT: 2 MECHOKKU PINK PRECURE CATCHPHRASE COUNT: 3 ARIENAI