#The show actually calls it multi-face disease but by that time I was like 'no that's Human Face Disease that's its name'

[fluffypurpleglitterdemon]

New day, it's Human Face Disease time!

[aineryeo]

Prominence ௹ ATSUMU

The letters of the first few days when you parted ways 📨

Prominence: “Find someone great, but don’t find someone better.” You’d say to yourself, though it was directed to your ex-boyfriend, writing in a number of papers, serving as letters. Awaiting your impending doom.

Timeskip! Atsumu x Reader

Synopsis: You break up with Atsumu Miya in hopes to alleviate his pain. And for what he'd have to deal with. » 6.2k Words

Warnings: Depictions of Mental Illnesses & actual disease, Angst, Suicidal tendencies, Cursing, Atsumu is an impulsive bitch, so is reader. Read at your own discretion. Do not read if this has any sort of possibility to trigger you, more if you feel encouraged to do something you shouldn’t. This isn’t what the fic is about.

It was a rainy day, droplets of water knocking on the window of what was your empty room. It wasn’t a space you were supposed to be getting used to at this point in your long life. A faint tune of a piano was penetrating through your thin walls as you stared into nothing in particular, maybe the particles that become visible with the peek of sunlight through the gray clouds piercing through your window pane.

Your body got up, but you had a stinging migraine, your limbs were weak, and today was an off-day from your work as a bustling city journalist. No phone calls for a sudden need for your presence in your job. Your blanket was wrapped around you loosely, your feet navigating through your creaking floors. How depressing.

Empty fridge.

Messy bed.

Disorganized papers.

And clothes in unsuspecting places.

Your clothes. None of his. You can’t even reminisce about him anymore. Your migraine seems to have gotten worse. You spot one of the few things that were left organized. Your letters. You grimaced, the pain suddenly pushed to the back of your head as you were reminded of the contents.

“It won’t be bad to see him, at least once.” You reason to yourself with a small smile, it wasn’t a happy one. Nonetheless it was one. One reason out of many when you were always reminded that he was already happy, that Atsumu no longer needed you, and your relationship was a ghost of the past.

It has been for a month now, how else would it go, when you were the one who ended it?

Yeah, it was a bad idea to see him. You scold yourself for coming here, furthering your torture. You see him with a huge smile, bigger than when he was with you. Brighter than when you last picked a joke, at least that was what you thought. You dated him since you were sixteen, young, and fresh in-love.

“Tsum, baby, not here.” You vaguely make out, from hiding behind one of the tall bleachers near the exit from where their practice usually resided in. She was very pretty, her voice silky. You hear a rumbling chuckle in return, you feel your spine shudder at the familiarity. “Hm, honey where do ya want me ta do it then? I jus’ can’t resist ya.” You took your small window to catch a glimpse of them. The perfect lovers.

This was selfish, you knew it. But you inwardly cheered for him, happy to know that he found someone great. That he was happy, even if it was at your expense. Your eyes were glossy, dams about to break, so you walk away; like you always do, like you always did. Your mouth formed into a shaky frown, your fists clenching ‘till you were white-knuckling nothing in particular. White-knuckling all your pain, perhaps.

It was when you exited the establishment, into the car park, into your cheap second-hand car, did your tears fall; until everything kept breaking, your multi-functional tape to bar all your emotions inside, failing you for the umpteenth time for the past month. You were all alone, still clutching your keys to open the door to the driver’s seat. When you felt a hand on your shoulder, which made you jolt, you were too surprised that you didn’t get to wipe your residual breakdown off your face.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Your blurry eyes adjusted, and your heart almost jumped at the familiar face. You turned your face away from him, you were too ashamed to show your face to him. To the brother of the man you were still in love with. You changed your voice a few octaves higher, “Yeah! Thanks, sorry you had to see that.” Mishandling your keys before being able to open it quickly, though Osamu stopped you just as fast.

“I know it’s you, Y/N.”

You froze. “I’m not—”

Hearing a small laugh from him made you stop. “I think I’ve seen your car enough times before, with the same plate to know that it’s you when I parked right next to it.” Turning back, he already had his hand out holding a handkerchief.

“Sorry.”

He smiled sympathetically at your small figure, noticing that you’ve gotten smaller than you already were. More fragile. So he placed his hand that was roughly the size of your face, gently on top of your head to stroke it, hoping to bring you some comfort; roughly knowing the situation about you and his brother. How couldn’t he?

“It’ll be okay.”

It’s not. You recall, already sitting in your bathtub, not really crying, not really feeling anything of the sort. You exhaled as if it lightened your burdens. It won’t be.

You hum. Knees to your chest, “Not when...” You sigh, not now.

It was time for work, tedious work that requires you to write articles and camp out places at 2am in the morning, only to turn up and camp out at a different place again, just hoping for an interview for your channel. You didn’t feel like breaking down at all, but it felt like everything is typically more down. You refused to eat when your co-workers asked you to join them, you had no appetite.

You hadn’t for weeks.

A heavy feeling is always stuck inside you. Like everything is screaming at you, but you can’t scream back. You just can’t. Always heaving sighs, always staring into what once was blue skies, turned dull grey. Was it because you regretted having to let go of him? Or was it because of the news you had received prior to when you left him? Was it because the one time you felt like you couldn’t walk, the doctor told you that you had a few left; extend your life with a surgery that was high-risk.

Your hand ran through your hair for the umpteenth time, thoughts drifting to whether you should just end it quicker than what you had. What was the point? You failed to notice that your hand was writing on another piece of paper, as if documenting everything that ran through your mind. And maybe you wanted them to find out, when you’re gone. So you don’t have to face the burden of facing them afterwards and giving them any answers.

But you don’t want to ruin the happiness Atsumu had right now. He’ll blame himself, but this was all your fault. You ended it with a bad note so he’d forget you easily, you yelled at him, told him that he was useless, you didn’t love him anymore. You open your eyes, seeing yourself back at the situation where it all began, and where it all ended.

“Atsumu, I hate you.”

“Angel, what are ya saying? I said I was sorry! I’m tired from practice.” He replied, he was tired. He was stressed. You were stressing him. And he was getting rightfully agitated, it was working.

Your thoughts briefly flash to the days before, same old. You chose to do it days slowly, so it wouldn’t be too sudden; so he’d lose all love for you once you leave him. So you nitpick him again, even though it never really bothered you, “You always do this. Maybe we should just...” You swallow, it was like eating hard, bitter candy at once.

“What? Break up? Yeah, with your incessant yappin’ these days, Y/N, I wouldn’t mind one bit.” He said, looking at you with a harsh gaze. Similar to when some random fan begins screaming during his serving routine. You were nothing now. You nodded, if he had the right mind that time, he would’ve noticed that you were eerily calm; you were expecting this, why wouldn’t you?

“Yeah, break up.” You confirmed, with a somber smile. He hadn’t even noticed that more than half of your things were already gone from your shared apartment. You had one last suitcase, it was right beside the door. Atsumu failed to notice all the little things disappearing, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he failed to also stop you before you hung your apron on the rack, turning the stove off, he was already gone. Into his bedroom, where he slept, too tired for anything his aching muscles couldn’t take right now. Your keys left untouched on the table before you left him altogether. Always, just always looking back with a heavy grimace.

The skies were the same color from that day, to everyday, same grey.

It wasn’t long before you found out he had a new love. Apparently an avid, and innocent fan of his whom he met during one of his morning runs in the park.

“What’re you writing there, Y/N?” One of your co-workers as of now, Akaashi Keiji, brought your head back up in the present. You hummed, folding the paper your hand subconsciously wrote in, and placing it in your pocket. “Nothing, really. My hand just kind of moves on its own when I think of anything in general.”

He smiles, sweet. “That’s endearing. Must be why you’re quite famous in the department.”

You chuckle, “I’m not famous, Keiji. If anything, this job just keeps giving me migraines. You’re the real MVP as a great editor in your dept.”

His hand was rubbing his nape, laughing softly with you. You stood up, supposed to get some water only to fall back down again. Your co-worker quickly catches you with worry etched in his delicate features.

“Y/N, have you been eating?” No, but..

“Keiji, I can’t feel my legs.”

It was showing.

You asked Keiji not to tell anyone, he in turn, asked if any of your family members knew this. It made you chortle, you said, “No. My grandmother died years ago, I’m an only child, and my parents didn’t last.” It wasn’t a funny thing, you knew that but it made you laugh anyway. Laugh at how pathetic you were.

He looked at you, on your bed at your home that he had kindly helped you in after calling your doctor from before. Saying it was that the disease was starting to become severe, causing your limbs, your legs, your arms, to lose its sensation. Slowly, you’ll become more agitated, and it’ll be harder for you to talk, or even move. Only your co-worker, and your boss knew for the time-being.

“You don’t have to help me. I know you’re busy.” You said, though weak, “I’ll only weigh you down.”

Keiji sighed, he knew that you worry too much about other people, he knew that you got lost enough to stop thinking about yourself. And it was sad, he empathized with you in the way that you were both overthinkers, though he’d understood for a while that you were more hasty with decision-making.

“No.” He said, simple.

You looked down at the blanket that covered your bottom half, your top half facing the big, musty, old window next to your bed. Facing away from Akaashi.

“Why?”

He was quiet for a few seconds, save for the usual noise from the surrounding roads. He looked up, before he looked back at your weak figure. “It’s just you—you’re all alone.” Walking around to the other side so he can face you. About to utter a tad more to his sentence, he stopped when he saw your eyes blown wide, a bit red at the bottom, a hard attempt to stop tears from falling. He didn’t miss a beat after, quickly crouching, and allowing your head to rest on his chest.

“So I thought you could use some company.”

You appreciated your co-worker, now close friend’s generous help. It’s been a few weeks, and you’ve been spending it cooped up in the hospital. He had also forced you to finally admit yourself so you can get immediate assistance in the case that something similar were to happen again. A similar event where he was forced to carry you to your car, and drive you home.

The cords stuck to your skin to hydrate you was a bother, but it was manageable. Here were your last few months alive. You still had no idea why you couldn’t just leave. You had no specific goal, you were bound to hit rock-bottom, and the least you can get is a few more months, maybe years of living if you get the surgery. There was no point, nothing to live for. You could work on your career, but what can you really do with legs that can barely stand, and… hands that can’t even pick up a pen.

The latter was the one that you cried to every night if you had tears to spare. The latter was the one where you try to continuously hit your head in hopes it can keep writing. It was such a simple task, why couldn’t it do its job? When Akaashi came to visit one afternoon, he had to rush and grab the sharp pen you had in your barely moving left hand, attempting to dig it in the skin of the right. Just to feel if it was still alive.

Then it was requested to have no pens, or sharp objects left near you without supervision. You’d call your friends, if by friends, you mean other than occasional visits from your co-workers that didn’t know much about your personal life; but still had the courtesy of visiting you nonetheless after hearing news from the boss, you’d consent to it since you were leaving the field. But he hasn’t fired you yet, apparently.

Sometimes it shifts, when your arms refuse to work, your legs will move for a bit, vice versa. A frown forms on your face when it happens to be both. Why couldn’t this just be quicker? You ponder, and hear the door open. Expecting the only person who visits you so frequently.

“Keij—” You stopped. He stopped. “What are you doing here?”

“Hm? So I can’t visit ya now?” Oh, his familiar tone.

“How did you even know I was here?” You said, a bit agitated.

“Asked one of yer co-workers.” He shrugged.

“...You visited my workplace? And they told you immediately?” You raised your brow, bringing your body up to sit on the bed instead. It was a feat on its own, but he’d seen your struggle, he was about to reach and help actually.

“Yeah, I had deliveries to make.” He said, leaning back. “And I may have made them slip it after overhearin’ yer name. Couldn’t resist my charm.”

“You’re ridiculous, ‘Samu.” You smiled, for the first time in a while. He could tell that it wasn’t a normal occurrence in a while, the thought of at least alleviating your stress for a bit eased a tide inside Osamu.

Osamu took his hat off, putting it on the table next to your bed. He was humoring you, because he didn’t want you to see the first look on his face when he confirmed that it really was you who's been confined here. Not any other person with the same name. He sat on the sofa beside you, next to the window. You’d lie if your heart didn’t clench at the sight of him, If you’d look inside, you’ll spot the tinge of pain; but outside, all Osamu could see was that you still adored him. By that, he meant his brother. He knew he might trigger you due to him being the twin of what was your love. Still is, he was sure.

Clearing his throat, your trance broke. “Y/N.”

“Hm.” You lay your back flat on the metal headboard covered in the white pillows of your white bed, in your white room.

“Why are you here?” It was true that Osamu had heard you were confined in the hospital while he was making deliveries to your place coincidentally, so he couldn’t help but perk his ears. Despite your break-up, he was still your childhood friend, and although he heard of the story of how it ended from none other than his brother’s dull voice on the phone that night he was closing up Onigiri Miya; he knew there must’ve been something that caused you to do that other than Atsumu himself. He’d investigate, and help rekindle the lifelong relationship you both shared if he wasn’t so busy himself. And if his brother hadn’t immediately used a rebound to inflict immediate pain upon you, maybe he’d have considered it.

“I don’t know.” You shrugged.

Osamu sighs, “You do. Tell me,” he looks at you with sincerity, placing his coarse palm from the work he’s been juggling in, on top of your pale, lifeless hands. Almost wincing at the cold temperature they held, “Please.”

You sucked in a breath, he placed his, what you assume to be, warm hand on top of yours. But you felt nothing. So you let it out, “I have Friedreich’s Ataxia. Apparently it’s genetic, uh, doesn’t allow me to use these flimsy things.” You glanced at your legs, slightly waving them along with your hands, “I can’t even feel the warmth of your hand right now. I mean, that is, if you’re warm. It’s always cold here. The doctors said they’d try to give me therapy and train me to walk again, or actually use my hands.” You chuckle.

“And something about heart surgery, though that won’t really extend my life for long.” You finish, opting to insert a joke that you thought was bright until you let it out, “Better than turning out blind though! Haha… Kidding, it may happen to me too, which sucks, by the way.”

Your rambling was cut off when you were met with an intense stare from Osamu. “And you’ve found out of this, when?”

“...Nearly 2 months.. Ago?” You gulped the lump that was stuck in your throat.

Osamu rested his elbows on his knees, thinking. “So that was the reason?”

You retained silence.

He sighs. “I knew it would be a valid reason, but I really wasn’t hoping it would be this.” His face hidden in his big hands, frustration was visible. But it was the breathy question of, “Why are the gods this cruel?” To which your eyes soften, albeit a little bit.

“Samu, can I ask a favor?”

He looks at you, face out of his palms. “Sure.”

“Can you… Turn the TV on?” He raised a brow at first before standing up and getting the remote by the stand, switching it on, immediately being greeted by the sports channel on Volleyball. Oh, they had a game today. He had nearly forgotten due to this new revelation from you. He looked at your face that was staring directly at the screen, then he saw the number thirteen, and his heart clenched tighter.

He placed the remote on the table beside your bed, and he took his black cap. He spun it on his finger for a bit, “I won’t tell ‘Sumu.”

You hummed again, before looking at him. “Thank you.” Then he smiles sweetly at you before turning around, his face immediately turning into a painful grimace. Because even he could feel the tragedy of this love.

Each day you were gone was a punch in the gut for Atsumu. His initial lack of reaction to his overreaction, trying to get back at you for leaving him. It was wrong. All he ever wanted was to call you, tell you to come back, have you in his arms, the lot. He’d miss the smell of your hair when he hugs you tight, or the clean apartment whenever he comes home to you beaming, cooking dinner; like his precious wife-to-be. Though he hadn’t proposed, the ring he bought for you started collecting dust in his drawer.

The girl he was with didn’t really last long, she broke it off after getting annoyed by him calling your name instead of hers on any normal occasion on impulse. His head in his hands, bed half-empty. His games gave him a little bit of adrenaline, but every time he sees the empty spot saved for you in his jersey, the adrenaline will scafe off, bit by bit. It’d be a lie if he said that he didn’t at least try to call your number in the past two months, he had actually, for a couple of times. But your number was unreachable, and your social media was non-existent.

It was like you weren’t real. Like a ghost. Sand that was slipping far from his fingers, his hold. His hold loosened in a moment of weakness.

To say his biggest regret was the night you left was a lie, because the biggest regret he ever made was never immediately trying to get you back. He was dazed off in the locker rooms after one of their games, his water bottle in hand. Hinata waved in front of him, Bokuto right next; to which his daze cut off.

“You okay, Tsum?”

He smiled, nodding. But his teammates knew it wasn’t the same for a while now. He was more rigid and tired in his movements. Probably not the kind of exhaustion that could be solved by sleep.

“Yeah, no worries.” Even Sakusa worriedly glances once in a while, he still cares, though not openly shown. Atsumu slung his gym bag over his shoulders after changing, he decided to visit his brother in his shop for now. He was walking out to drive when he accidentally bumped into someone, trapped in his little thoughts about you again.

“Oh—Sorry, didn’t see ya there.” Atsumu apologized, knowing it was his fault.

“It’s okay, Miya-san.” It took a few moments before Atsumu registered who this was.

“Akaashi? Keiji? Bokuto talks about ya all the time! Nice to meet ya.” He smiled, putting his hand out for him to shake. To which the latter man does. Oh, Akaashi recognizes him, not just from being his friend’s teammate; but from being your ex. He concluded in his thoughts by the few seconds they shook hands that he wished for him to not find out about you any longer. Thinking about the pain it would cause for both of you, especially him. They nodded at each other before bidding goodbyes and heading off to their own destinations.

Atsumu drove past the busy streets of the city, traffic holding him back a little bit. He was stopped a little bit in front of the city hospital. He didn’t know why, but his gaze lingered on the building a little longer than he’d like to admit. His left hand clutching the wheel, the other on the stick; Why does it feel like… He shakes his head to rid himself of ridiculous thoughts, seeing as the cars were finally moving, he did too.

Just as his foot pressed on the accelerator, his eyes landed on you. His eyes were the widest it had been, and this was the day he felt the most emotions since the day you left him.

“Y/N?” He asks, though his window was turned up and he was inside his car. He must be going crazy. Were you on a wheelchair? Was it really you? Or were his eyes playing tricks on him again, just like it had been every time he visited places he used to go with you. Or when he needed anything in particular, his first call in the apartment would be your name, expecting an answer back like you always had been.

He rolls his window down, and at that moment he swears your eyes met before you quickly changed vision. He’d run out of his car to chase you right now, if it weren’t for the honking behind him. Fuck.

He drives forward, and goes around to park for the hospital real quickly. Just to see if he wasn’t going insane by the amount of times he’d imagined seeing you again. He looks around the area, arriving at the greener part of the hospital, probably one of the places where they take some patients out for walks. Atsumu’s heart beats faster when he sees the same beautifully familiar hair, and angelic face he’s fallen in love with. He misses a beat, he stops, just plainly admiring; he notices your weaker stature, and your crest-fallen face. Paler skin, and limp limbs. And for that mistake, he fails to notice you were being guided in already.

He panics. About to bolt when he suddenly trips over his feet, and gets a bloody knee as the door closes. That doesn’t stop Atsumu, no, he’s dealt with much worse; one of which was the pain of not having you in his life. So he runs, and he sees the wheelchair you resided in enter the elevator; and once again, he swears, he swears, that his breath catches in his throat as he sees your eyes, and you see his.

And maybe he didn’t know, and maybe you didn’t know, but for the first time in months, you both saw colors.

“She was there, ‘Samu, I was sure of it!” Atsumu yells even in the midday of the bustling Onigiri Miya.

“Yer delusional as always, ‘Sumu. Ya should get yer head checked.” Osamu says from the kitchen in the back, there was faint squealing from the men and women alike in the restaurant. Feeling blessed for being able to witness the Miya twins in one sitting. And bantering, no less; even if it was over a girl.

“I can’t have mistaken it. I know when I see ma’ girl, Samu. Ya know it.” Atsumu groans, burying his head in his arms on the counter. “But when I asked the nurses, none of ‘em are giving me details. They say there ain’t Y/N L/N on their recent list of confined patients.”

Osamu was lucky he was working the kitchen right now, because he was low-key nervous of what to say, to not compromise you. How was his brother so close to it anyway? He wants to drive him away. He thinks he can agree with your rationale, but when he thinks of his brother’s side, wouldn’t it be more painful to just find out that you were just… Gone? His mind was splitting in half because of this dreaded situation, until Atsumu called him out again.

“Hey, ya scrub! Are ya even listening to me?” Atsumu lightheartedly yelled as Osamu’s heart softened. If anything, he didn’t want to see his brother bear the pain of losing you, permanently.

“Yeah, yeah. Shut yer trap. I have a business running here. Yer scaring off the customers.” Osamu says, getting out of the kitchen, arms crossed with a scowl.

“Help me, Samu. I just… Can’t bear to lose her.” Atsumu finally says, with a lace of evident longing. Osamu’s face contorts into a myriad of reactions that he couldn’t pick from. Before he settled with a sigh, and a lean on his forearms to poke his brother roughly on the forehead. A grunt of pain from the blonde.

“The only one who can help ya is yerself. If ya want to go find her, go ahead. Whatever your choice will be, don’t let it end with regret.” Was all he said before he went away to tend to the girls who were about to order, red-faced, and all.

Atsumu didn’t understand it a bit. How was that supposed to help him? He thinks. His fist digging into his cheek, face contorted into heavy thinking. It went on like that. He had no other clue, but he kept visiting the hospital, kept driving through, hoping he could catch a glimpse of you; to prove to himself that you were real. But for the first few days, he had no sign of you whatsoever. He kept bugging the nurses, or at least asking them everyday and ended up getting rejected again, and again, and again.

He sat in his car parked in the hospital on his free-day. As if a lightbulb turned on, he felt stupid for not visiting your workplace. They should at least know something about you, right? You were pretty well-known, and idolized in the industry. So he drove there, he may or may not have sped up a little more than he should but all in good purpose. He arrived there, and immediately knew where to park, the signature spot for everytime he comes to drive you home. Recently hearing that you bought a car when you broke up with him, made him sink a little bit. But he saw the spot was taken, eyebrows furrowing for a little before parking to the spot next to it.

When he got out, he noticed that the car that took your spot had dusting on it. As if it hadn’t been let out in a while. Or used. Quickly putting two-and-two together, maybe this was your car? The one you had bought? And if it hadn’t been used in a while… Then that supports his thoughts about you being in the hospital. His face shifted into worry. That must mean.. Whatever you had been sick of, was serious if you haven’t been using your car as often, considering your job was hectic.

He shook the thoughts off for a while, determined to find more clues about you instead. But he thinks the search suddenly became too easy when he suddenly heard a few gossiping women.

“Oh, poor Ms. L/N… She’s been hospitalized for a month now.”

“Really? Have you heard of any reason why?”

“I’m still unsure but I heard it’s chronic, and she doesn’t really have long.”

He sucks in a harsh breath. What? His ears perk up more to their conversation. He hides behind a wall, he assumes that they’re probably heading for their lunch break as a group right now.

Then a snicker, “I know this is kind of mean, but who’ll be replacing her now? Surely her position is up for debate.”

Atsumu’s face darkens at this. Stepping out of the wall as his big frame became all the more intimidating, “I mean, she’ll be biting the dust sooner or—”

“Shut your damn mouth, filthy whore.” Atsumu says with a sneer. Chin up, looking down. “Continue that sentence and I’ll see who bites the fuckin’ dust first.” A whimper, “It’s him again!” Shuffled feet, then they’re gone and out of his sights.

It takes a sigh, and a slump in his posture before everything sinks in. What does this mean? Is it.. True?

He shook his head, sure, you weren’t looking so good when he last saw you. You looked especially sick. But it was like nobody, not even the universe, had wanted him to see you. He thought back to the gossiping workers earlier. It’s him again? Atsumu hasn’t visited in a while, and he doesn’t think that he’s seen them… Oh.

Fuck, Osamu.

He could pass off as a professional racer with the speed he was driving at, only lucky enough to not have any cops tailing him. He was breathing heavily, his brother knew about you and didn’t tell him anything apart from that vague statement a few days ago? He couldn’t help the light betrayal he felt but in all honesty, he’d much rather force his brother to take him to you now. So when he arrived in Onigiri Miya, he didn’t waste a second dragging his brother out who was grumbling incessantly.

“The fuck ‘Sumu, I have a business to run!”

“No you, The fuck ‘Samu. You knew where Y/N was? Take me to her, now.” Atsumu said, foot on the ground, he won’t let anything come between his decisions now. Taking the bag of Onigiri from Osamu’s hand, “I’ll take this too. I’ll pay for it, I need to give a treat at least but we’re kind of in a hurry.” Osamu sighed, finally getting the gist of the situation. Deciding to spare his brother, he’d have to apologize to you later for spilling the beans. But he thinks he needs to let his brother let his feelings out as well.

“Okay.”

“No, you don’t have any other cho—Okay. Okay, get in the car.”

Osamu briefly yells at the part-timer he recently hired, telling them to take over for a while. To which they nodded eagerly, and so, the brothers left. Save for the quiet ride for the first few minutes. “...How—” Atsumu clears his throat, “How is she?”

A quiet beat, Osamu thinks of his answer. He settles for a passive one, “Okay.”

“Hn.” Atsumu grunts.

Osamu leans back on the passenger seat, “Just… Just make sure you don’t regret any of this.”

Atsumu raises a thick brow at this, “Why would I?”

“I think you already know why.”

He sucks in a harsh breath at this, and the silence remains. Atsumu reaches the hospital, parks the car, and Osamu leads the way to your room. Every step Atsumu took felt like the ground was shaking and trying to eat him whole. He wanted to see your pretty face again, your smile that could make his day whole and puff his chest out, or your hands that would comb through his hair and ask how it’s so soft when he bleaches it regularly.

So why was he seeing your writhing body under nurses yelling your name this time. Osamu breathes in, slowly understanding the situation as he quickly glances at his brother who was frozen. Both of them kept walking, until they were in front of what was supposed to be your room. Door open, and multiple people, trying to keep you alive. He hears that the doctor is coming, that you should wait, that you’ll get better in no time, at this point Atsumu didn’t know if the reassurances were for him instead.

When he sees your weak hand gripping the railing of your bed, he breaks. The bag of Onigiri long forgotten on the floor as he runs towards your bed.

“Darling, hey, hey, Angel, you—Yer okay, yeah? You’ll be fine, please be okay.” Atsumu says with shaky hands gripping yours, it was intensely cold, as if you weren’t even alive in the first place. He wishes so much that he was the one to give you warmth. “Look at me, you’ll be okay.”

And for the second time in a while, your eyes meet his, your weak, fragile, pretty little eyes; finally meeting him. The nurses noticed you calming down more, but your state wasn’t getting any better. They were initially going to let Atsumu out, but noticing the intimate relationship you two seemed to have displayed, they decided against it. More focused on bringing you back to life.

You had the heart surgery. You took the leap to extend your life, ever since you caught a glimpse of him a few days back; you just knew that the biggest regret you’d ever have is to never try. You told Akaashi when he visited that you were deciding on it, and he was supportive. He was really supportive. But you weren’t blind that it was a risk that may also shorten your life instead. Though wasn’t that what you were asking for, this whole time?

So maybe the time you got out of the surgery unscathed was the calm before the storm, it was the calm before this. But you were glad that even through your hazy vision, it was him that showed. It was Atsumu that kept telling you to look into his pretty eyes, and tell you that you’ll be okay.

Atsumu thinks that even in this situation, you were the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid his eyes on. So when the most beautiful thing slipped from his grasp, with no chance of clutching it back; his heart is torn, and burnt into crisps, non-existent flakes as his mind replays every memory he’s ever had with you, and how he was standing and watching warm, sunny spring turn into the ruthless, cold winter.

Osamu watched his brother break down in front of your bed, his own tears mixing in the lot, his cap covering most of his face. Another familiar figure that frequented visits with you, a solemn expression on his usual calm face. Heavy feeling on his chest, Akaashi approached the man who lay on his knees in front of your bed while the nurses that were scrambling to keep your life had promptly announced the date and time of your death.

Akaashi handed the box in his hand towards Atsumu who was kneeling with all his might, head on the ground, continuously asking for forgiveness from you, continuously asking for more time, just a little more. He hates this, he hates it. Because, when it sank in, you were gone.

The scene of your death. ⁆ To Visualize :) But instead of it being Kousei playing the piano, it's Atsumu when he plays volleyball, but when someone comes up to him, tapping on his back with a bright smile for an interview after the game; it's not you.

[kaimelia]

tourist (ch 1)

the song that's some sort of inspiration for this story:

tourist: a love song from paris

and there's a kinda long note at the bottom if you wanna read that 😅

---------------

"So, where are we going?" Link opened the hospital door, holding it for Amelia to come through. He'd finally convinced her to go out with him on an official date, with the mutual understanding of a relationship between them. So, after an hour of rushed planning, he was leading her out of the hospital with the promise of something formal.

"Where do you think we're going?" A playful grin spread across his lips as her eyebrows furrowed in momentary concentration, her eyes glancing upwards in thought.

"Angelini's?" Link nodded. "We'll finally have an actual date," she laughed and took his hand, allowing Link to lead her towards his car in the lot.

"Are you forgetting about our sushi burrito trip?" He unlocked the car, opening her door for her and climbing into the driver's side afterward. Link turned the keys and pulled out of the lot. His mind drifted back to what he considered their first date, eating a 'culinary abomination' in what felt like the middle of nowhere.

It was calm, and he liked it. He felt like he had finally gotten to see the real Amelia on that date, eating messily and laughing with food in her mouth.

"That doesn't count. We ate and then had sex in your car. That's not a date." He laughed as her voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Fair enough." Amelia reached over to switch on the radio, humming along to a song he faintly recognized. Silence settled between them, but he didn't feel awkward. It was the same calm from their previous 'date.' He parked the car in the lot and stepped out, holding his hand out to her. "You know, I'm not used to this."

"Used to what?" He grinned at the dimple on her face as she smiled, taking his hand as she stepped out from his car.

"Dating. Like, real dating. Especially with you."

"Well, on the first date, you get to know each other. And I actually don't know that much about you." They stepped into the lobby, Link giving the hostess his name. She led them to a table and handed them menus. "So, what's something I don't know about you?"

"I was a theatre kid in high school," he set his menu down, resting his head on his hands.

"You, Atticus Lincoln, were a theatre kid? I thought you'd have been a jock or something."

"Football in the fall, theatre in the winter, and baseball in the spring. But, I did community theatre in the summer and whenever I had time. I almost applied to college as a musical theatre major, but I didn't have the time to focus on auditions."

"You're gonna have to show me some videos of you some time. I'm having a hard time imagining it." He grinned as the waiter walked over, and they gave their orders to her.

"What about you? What were you like in high school?" Amelia rested her head on her other hand, Link's eyes not leaving hers.

"I struggled with my addiction a lot. I was in some random clubs, but nothing big. I honestly didn't know who I was," Amelia sighed, looking down from his gaze. "I let my family define me for most of my childhood. So, I didn't become anyone until I got my medical license and became my own person." He watched her shake her head slightly before looking back up at him. "What? You're being weird."

"Sorry. It's just, you're pretty amazing." Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No, it's just that you've come so far, and you've been through so much, and I somehow got lucky enough to have you let me in." Her eyes sparkled as he spoke. "Sorry, I'll stop."

"No, it's sweet," she whispered, dropping her hands into her lap. "Did you ever think we would end up here? I mean, remember when Maggie made you ask me out?" He closed his eyes and shook his head, letting out a sigh. "That wasn't your fault; Maggie's very persuasive."

"It was mortifying. I went out for a drink with Richard and Deluca after, and when I told them, they laughed at me."

"I guess I should credit Maggie, though. She clearly was onto something," she raised her eyebrows. The waiter brought over their food, and Link watched in amusement as Amelia immediately dug into her salad. "Okay, new game. Name 3 things that you have never done but really wanna do," she muttered, her mouth half full as she chewed. Link cocked his head to the side in thought for a moment.

"Surf a 20-foot wave. Ride a camel through the Sahara and," he paused. "Cure Parkinson's." Link let out a breath, glancing away from her briefly before resuming his previous grin. "Okay, your turn." She set down her fork.

"Go to a psychic medium and talk to my dead father, get licensed in scuba diving, and," she grinned at him widely, "have sex with more than one person." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"You've never done that?" Her mouth dropped in confusion, causing Link's amusement to heighten. He'd always seen her as a very adventurous person, and this?

"You have?"

"Yeah, I lived in Venice Beach for a year," his voice dropped to a whisper, suddenly conscious of the tables of people around them.

"So did I."

"And you never had a threeway? They're offered up like mints in Venice Beach!"

"I had a medical practice there."

"Oh, I worked in a bike shop." He took a sip of his drink, meeting her eyes once again. "Okay, are we talking about a stranger, or did you have someone in mind?" She smirked.

"Carina. Deluca." He laughed. "What! I had a thing for her last year, and you have to admit it, she's really hot."

"Okay, if you ask her and she says yes." Amelia's face lit up like a kid in a candy store, her eyes wide and filled with joy.

"Really?" Link nodded at her, amused by the excitement on her face. "Oh, I could kiss you right now!" He took another bite of his food while grinning.

"That sounds like a good plan for later," he raised his eyebrows at her, receiving a grin that mirrored his.

"Okay, so you mentioned wanting to cure Parkinson's, is there a story behind that?" Link sighed, a hand brushing through his hair.

"My uncle. He was my role model growing up, and he died because of complications with the disease about 10 years ago." She had never seen him like this, so vulnerable. He was always the one with a positive mantra stuck in his back pocket, never letting her sit in her sadness. Amelia reached for his hand from across the table.

"Oh, Link. I'm sorry, I didn't know." He shook his head, shaking off the expression on his face.

"It's okay. But, it's one of the things that pushed me to become a doctor, so I wouldn't be here without him." Link chuckled, a hand covering his mouth. "See, I'm not all bright and shiny."

"That's good. I don't think we'd last much longer if you kept spewing constant rainbows out of your mouth. Maggie is enough of that." Link called over the waiter, asking for the check. "What's the plan now?"

"Well," he pulled out his credit card, placing it in the checkbook, "I could either drive you home or we could head back to my place." She raised her eyebrows at him, pulling her coat off the back of the chair.

"You think you're getting laid on the first date?" He tilted his head to the side.

"I do remember a comment about wanting to kiss me. And, this technically isn't our first date." They stood up, Amelia's hand falling into Link's as they left the restaurant.

"To your place, it is."

---------------

quick note: hi! so...if you've been around for a while, you may remember a story I have on ao3 called "dating" which was originally intended to be some one-shots of amelink exploring their relationship without the pregnancy storyline...but I kinda abandoned it. and now i'm taking 3 of the 4 one-shots and re-writing them (and combining them) to make a multi-part fic! i'm not sure how many parts this will have.....but I hope you enjoyed it!

[dontmindmyshadowhunting]

The new Shadowhunter Academy - Fan Fic (Chapter 6 - Staying Alive)

Chapter 6 of the new Shadowhunter Academy (fan fic) is out! ;)

Kit & Ty are both at the Academy for a few days to act as guest lecturers :)

Dru is attending of course, and an unexpected guest might show up :)

AO3 link to Chapter 6 - Staying Alive

Link to entire fic up until Chapter 6 is here (fair warning - there is explicit content in Chapter 4 so skip it if you want to avoid it ;)).

****

Kit was ten minutes late. It wasn’t a big deal but given the students’ eagerness to learn from the famous Christopher Herondale, it seemed like hours of anxious babbling that he might not show up.

Dru was starting to wonder about that herself.

When the door of the training room finally opened, Kit’s cheeks were flushed, his blond curls soaking wet - as if he had just come out of the shower - and he looked… pissed. Like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room.

“What am I to teach you for the next hour?” He snapped.

“Spear?” Daniel, one of Simon’s mundane recruits, replied. He was an enthusiastic student who had been nicknamed “Harry Potter” on his first day at the Academy because of the resemblance he bore to the hero from the eponymous books (if said hero had acne problems).

“Oh, right. Spear.” Kit grumbled as he grabbed one from the table filled with multi-sized weapons and twirled it gracefully – the circle moves almost a blur – before instantly stilling it into a horizontal position in front of him. “See that pointed head? Well, you put that right through your opponent’s body. Preferably hit a vital organ.” He threw it toward the dummy placed at the far end of the room. The spear pierced straight through its chest where the heart should be. “Like that.” The students started applauding.

“That’s it. That’s the lecture.” Kit whirled and started toward the door. He stopped short before the figure of Catarina Loss barring the door. She looked furious, her blue complexion a shade deeper than usual.

“KIT HERONDALE, you go back in there and I don’t care if you look at your fingernails for the next hour, you are NOT LEAVING THIS ROOM.”

For the rest of the class, Catarina remained seated on a big granny armchair she had conjured up, in front of the door, knitting a tiny pink pullover (probably for Mina), while Kit told the students everything they needed to know about spears. As it turned out, he was an excellent teacher, and aside from technique, had several stories and anecdotes to share about these weapons, and their history through the ages. He certainly knew how to catch his audience with witty jokes and, yes, Dru had to admit, his Herondale charm and good looks.

****

He wasn’t what Henry had expected. Not by a long shot.

First, he looked nothing like his sister Drusilla, whom Henry shared most classes with. He had gray eyes - the color of iron - where hers were blue-green, and his hair was crow dark where his sister’s were a deep, warm brown. He knew that the Blackthorn siblings were born from two different mothers, but didn’t he have a twin who died during the Cold Peace, and who shared Drusilla’s traits? He had been too young to fight at the time but Henry had seen Julian Blackthorn on a big screen in Idris right before the battle of the Imperishable Fields and he definitely looked like his sister.

To be honest, when the rumour had spread that the best Centurion of his generation - and the creator of several groundbreaking inventions - had finally decided to make an appearance at the Academy, Henry had imagined a crazy inventor wearing oversized safety goggles and a dusty lab coat. Obviously not some Adonis, who looked like he belonged more on a runway than in a library or a lab.

Second, he was more than a little surprised to discover that he was shy and reserved, for a Blackthorn that was. His rigid stance and the way he kept stroking the pendant tied around his neck, to quote only a few tells, betrayed how nervous he was. The whole character was a mystery to him. If he had his reputation - hell, if he had his looks - Henry would probably be parading around like a peacock.

“I am curious. So we are going to start with a question,” the teacher said, his expression bemused and his gaze fixed above the students’ heads toward the far end corner of the room. Most of the time, Henry had noticed, it looked like he wasn’t really addressing them. “Why do you want to become Centurions?”

Several voices erupted at the same time, and he flinched, before lifting a halting hand. “Please. Speak when you are granted permission to.”

The voices subsided and several students raised their hands instead, including Henry.

“Gillian?” He asked as his gaze flickered to her. Henry realized that he never looked anyone directly in the eye.

“Because I want to study faerie lore, the real deal, not the load of crap they teach you at the Academy,” she said smugly, and most students sniggered approvingly.

The Centurion’s lips twitched but he nodded in acknowledgement.

“Henry?”

“Because we get to wear that hot uniform,” he replied, giving the Blackthorn teacher a slow once over.

There was a collective roar of laughter in the classroom. The Centurion just nodded, straight-faced, as if it was as good an answer as any. Henry realized that he was starting to like him.

“Shut up, Henry.” Her Highness Amber Cartwright said as she entered the class. She shooed a student from his seat in the front row and sat there. “I am sorry for being late, Professor Blackthorn,” she said in a sultry voice, as she crossed her long legs in an exaggerated gesture.

The teacher spared her a brief glance. Henry braced himself for the double take - everyone, boys and girls alike, did a double take upon beholding Amber for the first time - but... nothing. The Centurion’s face remained impassive. Moving on. There is definitely something off with him, Henry thought. He is either half-blind and not wearing his binoculars or one fucking hundred percent gay.

“Call me Tiberius. I believe we are all around the same age.”

Amber beamed, her usual scowling face alight. “Okay. Tiberius,” she said, her voice caressing his name.

“And you are…?”

“Amber Grace Cartwright,” she said proudly, as she brushed her fingers through her blond hair.

Tiberius moved to his desk and furrowed his brows as his gray eyes scanned the paper lying there.

“You are not on my list.”

Amber’s face fell a little. “I know, I did not initially register for these training sessions, but Talib agreed to give me his spot. You see, I changed my mind and I really really want to become a Centurion someday.” Henry wondered how she had managed to convince Talib. Only the twenty most promising students - among those interested in becoming Centurions, and Amber had never expressed such an interest - were allowed to follow the course and there was a waiting list.

The teacher just lifted a dark eyebrow. “Oh. Okay.” They all waited as he sat at his desk and started scribbling on the paper, dark curls falling over his face as he bent his head. He was nothing if not meticulous. At the start of the class, he had asked, one by one, each student’s name. Henry had the feeling he had memorized all twenty of them. “Xian?” He asked without looking up.

The girl’s eyes widened and she whipped her head right and left, wondering whether he really was addressing her. As if there was another Xian in the classroom.

“Yes, Pro- Tiberius?”

“You don’t need to pass that folded paper on to your friend Barbara, I can provide the answer to your question.”

“Oh.” She flushed a deep red, and hastily crumpled the paper that she had been clutching under the table. Henry wondered what the message had been about.

“The answer is no. I don’t provide my personal number to students, but if you want to communicate with me, you may either send a fire message or a letter to my attention at the Scholomance, depending on the urgency of the matter.”

His tone was even, his face serious, as if he hadn’t meant to humiliate the girl, but simply state a fact. A low chatter erupted in the class, students casting worried glances at each other. Henry wondered himself how the Centurion had managed to read Xian’s paper when he was seated at the desk in front of the class, a few feet from her. The only one who didn’t seem troubled by that was Amber, who turned to glare at her friend. Xian stuck her tongue out in turn. Oh, Henry thought. Let the Hunger Games begin.

****

After a short recess, the students had another hour of training with Kit.

“As you well know, Shadowhunters use Runes to heal faster when they are injured in battle. Sometimes, it’s all that you need. But other times, a wound needs to be tended before an Iratze is applied. For instance, if you have foreign bodies in your wounds, you have to take them out before using your stele. Except, of course, when it would do much more harm to retrieve them, for instance if it's an arrow. Also, and although you should carry a stele with you at all times, situations may occur when you are without them. Finally, although we have a stronger constitution and heal faster, us Shadowhunters are humans, and we suffer the same diseases as mundanes. We can faint. We can die of a heart attack. We can die of blood loss following a car crash. Therefore, it’s important - and Catarina shares my view on this - to train you in first aid.” A crooked smile lit up his gorgeous face, his blue eyes glinting mischievously. “So who wants to be my dummy?”

All students - save for Dru - raised their hands eagerly. Brianna actually elbowed the girl next to her so she would put her own hand down.

“Drusilla Blackthorn,” Kit announced, with a smirk on his face.

Dru rolled her eyes and came to stand next to him.

“I think it’s more efficient to work on the basis of real-life situations’ simulations. So, what happened to my dummy in this scenario?”

“She fainted!” A student said.

Several students giggled.

“Okay,” Kit said, then looked over expectantly at Dru.

She rolled her eyes again and mimed fainting. As she lay still on the floor, she wondered if he would consider them even after the demonstration or continue to make her pay for the trick she had pulled earlier that day.

Kit knelt next to her.

“Is she conscious or unconscious?” He asked.

“Unconscious!” Another student said.

“Dru, close your eyes,” he said. She did as requested, letting out a deep sigh. “Okay, so how do you check whether or not someone is unconscious?” He asked, and she felt his fingers brush her hand, then he pinched her. She swallowed a swear word.

“Dummy? Dummy? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, blink or move your fingers. No answer. So you can assume she’s unconscious. Next step: you have to check if she breathes.”

She felt Kit’s fingers gently cupping her chin and forehead and tilting her head backwards. He pulled her lips open. “Check the airway first. If the throat is clear…” His hair tickled her face, and the Blackthorn locket grazed her jawline, as Kit leaned over to put his ear directly above her mouth. “See what I am doing? I am checking for a breathing sound while observing the rise and fall of her chest. So, tell me, is she breathing?”

“No,” a student said. Dru recognized Brianna’s voice. You will pay for this, roomie, Dru thought.

“Okay.” Dru realized Kit’s voice trembled a bit. She opened her eyes and saw the conflict in his gaze. What was the matter? “If you are with someone else, that person must go fetch a defibrillator that’s now in every patrol car. If you are alone, you can’t leave the patient so you must call for help. Do not - and I repeat - do not leave your patient’s side to do that. You must practice CPR at once.”

Realization dawned on Dru. Oh, bugger.

“In a real-life situation,” Kit said, drawing the words out. “You should… take your patient’s shirt off or - more accurately - rip it open.” He flinched as he said the last words, but swiftly regained his composure. She had to give him credit for his professionalism. “You must give chest compressions on bare skin. In our case though…”

Dru smirked. “Didn’t think it through, did you?” She whispered to Kit. Seeing his look of dismay, witnessing him trip over himself, was surprisingly satisfying, and if there was something Dru never missed, it was an opportunity to play a prank. Especially when she had been the intended victim of the stunt. She just couldn’t resist. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she became reckless. Act first think later became her course of action.

“That’s fine”, she said out loud as she sat up. She pulled the top of her gear off before lying back, wearing only her bra above her gear pants.

There were a few gasps in the crowd. Kit gulped.

“First of all, make sure your patient is lying on her back on a firm, dry surface. If there is blood, move the body away from it. I understand Catarina already taught you how to deal with hemorrhage.”

A few students mumbled a confirmation.

“You should push on the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, which corresponds to the beat of several songs you can use to help you maintain the proper tempo.” He fiddled with his phone and the sound of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees started playing.

Dru snorted. Kit was barely looking at her as he plowed on.

“Position your hands above your patient’s chest, like this. Interlock fingers. Then, give chest compressions. Like this.”

Dru tried to hide a smile. Kit’s palm was sweaty against her bare skin. He was flushing a deep red, his face a mask of embarrassment. Punk’d, she thought. Had he known he would be giving chest compressions to Dru - that he considered like a little sister - he would have thought twice about using her as a dummy.

He stopped abruptly, after thirty compressions. “Okay, we are… going to stop here for today.”

“What about the rescue breath?”

“I’ll show you next time,” he choked, as he stood and almost tripped on his feet scouting back. It seemed like he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.

“Does… anyone have any questions on CPR before we move to another exercize?”

“Yeah,” Talib raised his hand. Shit. Not him, Dru thought. What the hell was he doing here anyway, wasn’t he supposed to follow the Scholomance training course?

Kit nodded to him.

“Is that the Blackthorn locket you are wearing?”

Kit’s mouth dropped open. Dru tensed. She knew that Ty had asked that they keep their relationship a secret. Only family and very close friends were in the know. Not because Ty was ashamed, far from it. But because, as a Centurion, he was entrusted with all missions related to the First Heir, and that would change as soon as the Scholomance found out how involved Ty was with the subject of his investigations. Ty didn’t trust anyone else with these missions, so he had begged Helen and Aline not to tell the Penhallows about Kit and him, even though the identity of the First Heir remained a secret to most. One could never be too cautious.

Watching his face fall, the glint of panic in his azur eyes, Dru started to feel really bad for the Herondale boy. She knew that if he had been allowed, he would have screamed his love for Ty at the top of his lungs, from the Academy’s roof. Instead, he lowered his gaze to his feet, swallowing hard.

“Yeah, it’s mine,” Dru blurted. “Seriously, Kit? I told you not to wear it at the Academy!”

Kit whipped his head up in surprise, his blue eyes wide and questioning. He looked like he was about to say something, but Dru wouldn’t give him a chance to deny. What was done was done. She whirled around and retreated to a corner of the training room, bowing her head in order to conceal the blush that had started creeping up her face.

****

“Do you know who founded the Scholomance?” The Centurion teacher asked.

Amber was the only one who raised her hand.

“Amber?”

“It was originally founded by an alliance between the Fair Folk and prominent Shadowhunter families.”

Most of the students gasped. Everyone turned a questioning look at Tiberius, whose lips quirked. “Correct. This is not common knowledge, to say the least. How have you learnt about it?”

“I read a lot and… I may have borrowed some of my brother’s notes. Cartwrights have been filling the ranks of Centurions for generations.”

“But…” Barbara said, looking confused. “I thought the whole purpose of the Scholomance was to investigate all Downworlders, especially faeries, since they are the Nephilim who possess the most extensive knowledge about them.”

“And where do you think the Centurions got their knowledge from?” Amber snapped.

“Why would the Nephilim create a school with Downworlders?” Xian interjected.

“About that,” Tiberius intervened. “The classification of faeries as Downworlders is not entirely accurate and has been challenged over the past few years. Contrary to general belief, some of the Fair Folk species do not have any demon blood. Maybe you’d like to carry on, Miss Cartwright.”

Amber pursued, with a smug look on her face.

“As the story goes, not long after the creation of the Nephilim, the Angel warriors and the Fair Folk made an alliance to protect the Earth from demon invasion. They shared their knowledge - the fey teaching the Nephilim how to use magic in the school they created together, a sort of real life Hogwarts - and even… consorted. After all, the biggest problem that the fey have been facing in the past centuries is the thinning of their blood. Why not mix it with that of Raziel’s chosen warriors? Ultimately, a union was arranged between the Faerie King and a member of a highly respected and powerful Nephilim family. Not all fairies were happy with the union and there was a secession. The Faerie lands were split between two courts from then on. The Unseelie court, choosing to acknowledge a Nephilim queen, considering her as part of the fey royal family, ara nothlir, and the Seelie court, refusing the Angel warriors’ influence.”

She paused to watch the effect of her words on the wide-eyed students.

“The Nephilim queen was not immortal but the King used his magic to stretch out her years. Although they were happy, they had to rule in troubled times. The strong divergence in traits, opinions and customs between the Fair Folk and Shadowhunters soon drew them apart. Raziel’s warriors criticized the fey for being cunning and strongly disapproved of the tricks they played on mundanes and the creation of changelings. Faeries thought Shadowhunters to be ruthless, overbearing and contemptuous.

The Unseelie king’s death - it came as a shock, everyone thought the mortal Nephilim queen was bound to die before him - without any heir being born from their union, was a fatal blow to the alliance. Unseelie laws were clear, the queen dowager no longer held any claim to the throne - the full fey blooded prince Arawn succeeded to his father - and she hid in Faerie under the protection of a few Nephilim who swore to protect her. They could easily be distinguished from the red caps as they wore black cloaks identifying them as Angel warriors. They were not sanctioned by the Clave though, which preferred to sever all ties to the Fair Folk. With the magic they had learnt from the fey, these protectors created an enchanted wall of thorns surrounding the tower where the Shadowhunter queen and her family lay low for hundreds of years.

When an heir was born from the union of the Seelie Queen and Unseelie King, most Nephilim took it as the last stroke of the Fair Folk’s betrayal. It didn’t help that there were whispers about a prophecy stating that the world would fall to shadow under the First Heir’s ruling. So began the witch hunt, the primary target being the cursed descendant. That’s how Centurions began to use the knowledge they had collected from their former allies at the Scholomance against them.

The chase officially ceased when the disappearance of the First Heir was officially announced by the Unseelie Court and the tensions between the Nephilim and the fey eased until they finally made peace with the signing of the First Accords in 1872. The Scholomance was closed then, as a show of good faith that Downworlders and Shadowhunters were no longer at war.”

“What has become of the Nephilim queen’s family?” Henry blurted.

Amber turned to look at him. She was positively gloating.

“They had nothing to be blamed for, so the Clave as well as the Fair Folk let them be after the signing of the First Accords. After all, they were a very influential family to begin with. So, they are still among us.”

“Who are they?”

“Before King Arawn changed the Unseelie Court’s sigil, the symbol was that of a full crown…adorned with a rose, symbol of his father’s attachment to the Lady of Roses,” she said mysteriously.

“The Nephilim queen’s descendants are known as the Rosales,” Tiberius specified evenly.

A low chatter erupted and the words “Inquisitor”, “Diego” and “Cristina” were thrown around repeatedly. They all knew the Council kept a lot of secrets, but the fact that the current Inquisitor belonged to a family that had forged an alliance with the fey in the past, confirmed how little they really knew about Shadowhunter politics.

“And what about their protectors?” A voice suddenly raised from a corner of the classroom.

Amber turned to look at the Centurion who nodded imperceptibly.

“Easy,” she said. “They were released from their oath a long time ago but they have kept their Shadowhunter names. Some say the earlier generations had sharp, elven features due to their closeness to - and interbreeding with - the Fair Folk. They were black cloaked warriors guarding the queen’s family like thorns protecting the delicate rose from its predators. They called themselves the Black Thorns.”

As the students suddenly burst into commotion, Henry’s gaze focused on Tiberius, who stood straight like an arrow, his expression unfathomable. He had a feeling there was more to the story but, whatever it was, Henry knew he would have to swear the Centurion vows before being allowed to hear it.

****

Being a Shadowhunter had major downsides. No matter how hard you tried to shut yourself from your environment, your highly trained senses betrayed you by fulfilling their role like obedient little soldiers.

Dru had never better understood Ty’s need for headphones as she weaved a path in the main hall towards the exit - she wanted to crawl in her bed and hide there until at least the next morning - and tried to ignore the glares and angry whispers that followed her.

“Seriously? Christopher Herondale and Drusilla Blackthorn? It’s like some stupid chick flick where the hot jock hooks up with the weird geek.”

“He’s probably with her because she’s easy. Did you see her take her shirt off in the training room like it was no big deal?”

“Oh, come on, every girl does that here. We’re warriors, we undress to draw Runes on each other all the time. And how is it different from when we train in sports bras when it’s summer?” Well, Dru was relieved to hear at least some girls had her back...

“It’s different when you have a pair of breasts like hers.”

“Right. Tell me about it. Best boobs at the Academy.”

“Yeah, I would definitely hit that.”

“You’re kidding? That girl’s creepy, I would be afraid to be strangled in my sleep.”

“What does he see in her anyway? She has a pretty face, but she dresses like a Goth freak. And don’t get me started on the size of her thighs...”

Dru never allowed anyone to say a single bad thing about her family and friends. But where her own securities were concerned, she was like an open wound anyone could poke. Dru bit back tears as she hurried her footsteps. She needed air. Fresh air.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped her head around. It was Brianna.

“Seriously, Dru? Why didn’t you just tell me before I made a fool of myself?”

“Brianna. I just gave him a necklace. I am not dating him or anything. He’s just a member of Livia’s Watch, that's all. Hence the locket.” Why had she not thought of that excuse earlier?

Brianna lifted her eyebrow dubiously. Dru felt her temper rising.

“Fine.” She snapped. “Believe me or not, I don't CARE.”

NNNNEEEEW YOOOORK. They both startled as the voice of Alicia Keys suddenly blazed through the main hall’s stone walls.

As one, all the students rushed outside to see where the noise came from. Brianna and Dru exchanged puzzled glances before following them wearily out of the wide double front doors.

Dru blinked and, when her eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, tried to hide her shock as she took in the incongruous sight.

In the Academy’s front yard, a crowd had already started to gather in a circle around the main attraction, giving it a wide berth.

A splendid charcoal grey convertible car was parked at the center of it, as if it had appeared there by magic. "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys was playing full on from the vehicle’s sound system.

Leaning casually against the hood of the car with his arms crossed was the tall figure of Ash Morgenstern. His platinum blond hair was peeking out of a green beanie and he wore an elegant gray cashmere coat that made him look like a British gentleman.

In the back of her mind, several questions buzzed like little alarms. Was he not supposed to be under house arrest? What the hell was he thinking showing up in front of the Academy ? Where did he get the car anyway?

But foremost in her mind was Ash. It’s Ash. It’s really Ash. How gorgeous he was - even more so than she remembered - and how she had never felt more relieved to see anyone in her whole life. She had missed him, she realized with surprise.

Ash straightened up and gave Dru a crooked smile as soon as he caught sight of her.

She couldn’t help it, she ran to him and threw her arms around his slender neck, burying her face in his chest. He smelled of aftershave, a sophisticated fragrance of amber, sandalwood, mandarin and jasmine. Ash stiffened at first, obviously startled by her sudden display of affection, then relaxed and squeezed her tighter.

“If I had known I would receive such a warm welcome, I would have broken out of jail sooner,” he whispered in her ear.

She drew back and shook her head disapprovingly, though a grin was still plastered on her face.

“What on earth are you doing here, Ash?”

“I have come to rescue my Queen.”

“Rescue me? From what?”

“Food poisoning, of course. You told me it was awful here. I was in the neighborhood and it just so happens that I know a perfect French restaurant in Manhattan.”

“And so you decided to break out of your confinement and show up at the Academy in a flashy sports car?”

He shrugged. “I thought it would be a more inconspicuous way of traveling.”

“Inconspicuous? Really? As compared to what?”

He raised a silvery eyebrow. “Flapping my dark wings?”

“Where are you going with my sister?” Ty demanded with a frown as he marched towards them, his voice louder than usual, probably due to the headphones covering his ears.

“Manhattan. For dinner.”

“It’s not safe,” he said, then glanced at the vehicle. “Is that an Aston Martin DB9 GT Volante?”

“What’s not safe?” Ash asked. “My company? The car? The whole idea of a crazy night out?”

“All of the above,” Ty answered, his gray eyes like saucers, still fixed on the car.

“Oh, so now you care about where I go and who I am with?” Dru intervened.

Ty’s gaze snapped back to her, and his eyes crinkled in confusion.

“Of course I do. Why do you ask? Wait- Are you… angry with me?”

“Of course I am! I had to find out you were at the Academy by eavesdropping on fellow students!” She was grateful the music was loud and the observers far enough that they could not overhear their conversation.

Ty’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “But... But I wasn’t sure I was coming until this morning. I didn’t want to tell you before I was certain. I thought you would be happy to see me.”

“Yes, Ty, I am happy to see you. But I started at the Academy months ago, and you have only decided to show up today! We both know who convinced you, and it certainly wasn’t me.”

The look of hurt on Ty’s face almost made her regret her words. As if on cue, Kit suddenly appeared, coming from the opposite direction to where Ty was standing. Dru realized with a pang that they were purposefully avoiding being seen together and maintaining a safe distance between them.

“Hey guys, I think I missed the invitation to the party,” Kit said playfully, but Dru knew him and could sense that his heart wasn’t in it. He was just trying to ease the tension.

“You didn’t miss anything,” Dru replied sharply. “Ash and I were leaving.” Ty opened his mouth to object but she cut him. “And you, Ty, do not get to tell me what to do.”

“Where your safety is concerned, I do,” Ty snapped back, red starting to creep up his white neck. His hands were now fluttering at his sides.

“If you’re worried about her safety, Ty, why don’t you come with us?” Ash offered in peace. “You too, Kit. Raziel knows we all need to… let off steam.” He looked like he was holding in a laugh and Dru wondered whether she was missing a private joke.

Ty’s gaze flickered to Kit then, and their eyes met for a brief second before they both hastily looked away. They were clearly blushing now, Ty nervously stroking his heron pendant and Kit thrusting his hands in his pockets and staring at his feet.

“I can’t,” Kit said, kicking a pebble. “I have to stay here where I am protected. Catarina and my parents will kill me if they know I left the Academy’s grounds.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, Kit. Who would you rather have as bodyguards? Me and the badass Blackthorn siblings?” He said, gesturing at their little group. “Oooor… these frightened little squirrels posing as Academy students?” He pointed toward the crowd of students who were still gaping at him. And the car. But mostly at Ash.

“I guess you have a point,” Kit conceded.

“Okay,” Ty answered hesitantly, looking away.

“Then jump in, Angel warriors,” Ash said as he opened the door for Dru. She ignored it, and instead, grabbed the edge of the back door to jump inside and landed on the front passenger seat. “What? I have always wanted to do that!” She told him when he lifted his eyebrow at her. Ash laughed and shook his head as he rounded the car to take the driver’s seat. Kit and Ty crammed in the back - the space had definitely not been designed to hold two full-grown Shadowhunters - and immediately stared out the car, pointedly avoiding looking at each other.

Ash put the Aston Martin in gear, as the students parted to let them through. The engine's roar was deafening, almost drowning the sound of the music still blasting from the sound system. Dru felt exhilarated, gusts of wind carrying away all her resentment and worries as they blew her hair. Everything was perfect… save perhaps for one thing.

“Ash,” she called over the noise. “Can you turn the music down?”

He threw her a puzzled look, his hands tightening on the wheel.

“Why? I thought you’d like it. We are in New York after all.”

“It’s not my hometown,” she observed, winking at him.

He grinned as he fiddled with the dashboard and suddenly 2 PAC's "California Love" was booming full volume.

“Better?” He asked.

Her answering smile was so wide it almost hurt her cheeks.

“Not just better. Perfect.”

[imnotwolverine]

The Monster’s Lair - A Belle Tune

Vampire!Henry x Belle - multi-chapter

Chapter 1 - A Belle Tune | Chap 2 >

Disclaimer: Dark adult fairytale - stalking, mild injury, angsty vibes

Author’s note: Here we go dear readers, a whole new series!! As I was setting out the plotline I kept saying to myself; “Let’s make this 3-5 chapters, a short series, okay, Wolfie?” ...Welp... Apparently I have many talents, but writing short series is not one of them. I’ve tried again and again to reshape the plot into a shorter, snappier version, but I just couldn’t. So, here goes; 12 chapters of broody vampire Henry and sweet Belle. I hope you are ready ❤️

Word count: 1.991

Reading music: Agnes Obel - Tokka 

(Link to my Masterlist)

-

It was the first day of Autumn, summer finally past, as a tale of old was sung anew.

The land was cracked open dry and dusty after months without rain, the crops starting to fail just before harvest season. It made the tensions run high amongst the town folk, their worried eyes aiming upwards. The air had been thick for days now, the clouds drifting heavy and grey on dreary skies, foreboding a long awaited storm that just wouldn’t break.

And yet, not all were worried. At this moment the morning air felt slightly cheery too, as a soft tune wove through the ancient pine tree forest that lay like a prickly blanket over the rolling hills. 

It was a familiar tune, sung by a familiar woman’s voice, her pale skin and dark braided hair a sight he saw often in these parts of the land. Before her, two mutts sniffled happily, their wet noses pushing through the fallen leaves and shrubs that covered the dry forest floor. 

From the shadows of that same thicket, he was watching her, watching her rosy lips curl up in that dreamy smile, her feet kicking her blue skirts with confident strides.

Belle, he knew her name by now, was one of the few who dared to wander so close to his grounds, his domain, her skirts rustling as she conjured a book from the depths of her pockets. Always reading. 

At first he had been somewhat surprised to see a woman of her position even owning a book, a proper book. Her father was but a poor horse handler and her family long deceased. 

But, indeed, she could read. 

With an elegant hand she brushed down her skirts before sitting down on that same fallen down tree that she used everyday; her hide-out whenever the weather allowed. Clicking her tongue she instructed her dogs to lay down, her hand flicking through the book, returning to the page where she had left off a day ago.

Away from the snarky remarks and jealous whispers of the town folk, here she could read as dawn cracked over the horizon, her presence welcomed by the listening embrace of the forest and its inhabitants. The birds quieted their song and the mice and squirrels halted their squabbling, just long enough to look and listen, bewitched beady eyes watching the pretty woman as she started to read aloud.

It was an old and leather bound rendering of Apuleius’ Cupid and Psyche, an ancient fairy tale, the book nearly falling apart as she brushed her fingertips over the yellowed, vulnerable pages. She had read it a dozen times now, and yet the monster couldn’t help but listen, his lips moving in a silent joined recital. He knew the words by heart at this point.

What exactly she did by the day time he couldn’t tell, his disposition making it impossible for him to visit town when the sun was out. And thus he would just imagine it. Perhaps she worked as one of the chambermaids for the Les Comtes. Perhaps she helped her father in the stables - he had seen the old man during the nights many a time, his rough hands being ever so gentle with the handsome beasts that belonged to the Les Comtes. In fact all was owned by the Les Comtes, the family so rich that almost all villagers worked for their estate and businesses.  

Far too soon Belle’s voice would silence again, her finger tracing the page she had ended on, memorising it before gently closing the book, her eyes looking up through the thicket of the tree branches, watching those looming clouds up above. He knew what she thought; it was going to rain and she probably couldn’t return to this spot for a long time.

After the rain would come hail, winds, winter. And as it goes with reading outside, her natural reading nook was simply not able to hide her from the elements, and, with her reading hobby sneered at by the town’s folk, this might very well be her last reading session for this year.

With a sigh she got up, calling for her dogs and making her way back to the village, long skirts kicking, her book hidden back in the depths of her pockets. Oh, how he was going to miss her. Even if it was just for a day. Here in the forest he was awaited by an eternal nothingness. No job, no destination, only empty days that wove into a long string of months, years, centuries.

Returning to the crumbling ruins of his castle, the grande structure long past its glory days, he wandered endlessly through its halls, dust collecting on items that shouldn’t ever run into such disuse. Plates, cups, the fireplace, the beds. For centuries now he could not feel the pleasure of the simplicity of life. The food ashen on his tongue. His eyes, though closed, never truly resting. His skin no longer feeling the comfort of a warm hearth. His still beating heart but a mousy whisper of its once roaring strength.

Watching those heavy clouds above the treetops, he knew that it would be long before he would get to hear her voice again. A storm was looming, the long dry spell finally coming to an end and taking with it the long awaited rains. He knew it was a necessity, the listening critters around him feeling desperate for food now winter was soon to arrive, but he couldn’t help but feel a deep disappointment all the same. Because with the dreary days would come even more dark hours for him, the last sparkle of joy ripped from his life until spring would probably come again.  

—

‘Another one dead.’ The hunter growled, heaving the dead dog’s body from his cart, the boneless heap of bled out sinew and fur unceremoniously dropping to the dusty ground. With the ongoing drought, food has become more and more scarce. Crops were failing, wild animals were roaming nearer to the village and despite their best efforts, the hunters had great difficulty to actually catch anything. Something strange was afoot in the forest and rumour was about; it was the beast!

‘So no luck then.’ Arthur said in a hushed tone, his old knees cracking as he squatted down to inspect the remains of the hound. And indeed. Neck cracked, jugular torn, the required strength for such an act belonging to no less than a bear..or beast..of sorts.

‘Twas a mad dog anyways. But still..’ The hunter squinted, looking out over the yellow grassed meadows, to the edge of the forest where that monstrous beast hid away. ‘..we must see to it. The darn thing must be done with once and ..for..’ He blinked, then looked at Arthur with mild confusion. ‘Is that Belle?’ He pointed at a figure that appeared from the tree-line, two dogs at either side of her light blue skirts.

Arthur pushed himself up with a groan and also squinted his eyes, his sight no longer what it had been. ‘If it’s a pretty thing with two mutts, a dress of blue and a smile for days, it must be Belle.’ He said, his vision too blurry to discern anything that resembled his daughter. The hunter gruntled his disapproval, though not denying that it was indeed Belle, his strong, broad shouldered frame turning back to his cart to bring out what few rabbits and pheasants he had managed to catch in his traps. ‘You ought to bring some sense in that girl, Arthur..’ He warned, bushy eyebrows frowning as he looked back at the girl, her skirts twirling as she threw a stick for the dogs to fetch.

‘She is just so very much like her mother.’ Arthur sighed, not fully agreeing with the hunter’s sentiments as his lips curled in an amused smile.

‘Tcould be the death of her, old man. The beast is out there, I know that much. In fact. There’s a meeting in the town hall by sundown, in case you wish to join.’

‘Good..good...’ Arthur nodded, only half-listening now, his eyes finally managing to focus on Belle as she kicked her legs over the wood log fence near the stables he worked, her face all smiles and skirts a muddy mess.

Oh..Belle!

--

The shutters of the barn-like town hall shuddered, the wind outside picking up and the torch flames dancing wildly in the draft. It was a busy night, the floorboards creaking as the town’s men got up from their benches to express their bewilderment and frustrations, loud “Aye’s” and “Nays” echoing in the air as the discussions roared.

Now the food reserves of the town were running low and people had to ration, the tension was near tangible. Winter was coming and the people felt as restless as the storm that was picking up outside. The pigs needed to be fed, the elderly were struggling, sickness was spreading and all fingers pointed angrily at the direction of that wicked forest. The Beast’s forest.

‘Dear people! My people!’ Old Master Le Comte stood up from the throne-like seat that was situated right at the head of the hall, his fatty fingers balancing a shiny cup of wine. He raised his hand to calm the uproar, old furrowy brows raising up to show two grey, beady eyes. ‘Say AYE and agree, that we must see to the end of this beast for once and for all. He threatens our livestock, steals our hunted bounty and his cursed evil talons bring us only disease and misfortune. This drought? I would not be surprised if it were by HIS design!’ He exclaimed.

The town roared up with enthusiasm, fists raised in the air as a loud ‘AYE’ resounded front to back. In fact only the old man Arthur sat quiet, far in the corner, thinking fingers pulling at his moustache. He had discussed the matter with Belle and all she had to say was; “It is indeed quite practical to make a simple minded animal responsible for all your sorrows. But is it right to kill it because you conjured an image of beastly proportion, fed by your own fears? From what I heard he only has killed those who came too close..far too close.” 

‘HELP HELP!! The church! A FIRE!’ The large doors of the hall swung open as a young man burst through, arms waving in despair, the discussions regarding the monster quickly forgotten as everyone made haste to stop the flames as they quickly swept around them, the simple wooden structures of the inner town feeding themselves like perfectly dried logs to the hellish bonfire.  

Arthur looked up from his daze and slowly followed the hastened crowd outside, his feet no longer so fast as he felt a sudden, surprising coolness in his neck. A wet coolness. With a question in his eyes he looked up at the darkened sky, feeling another drop on his wrinkly skin. Rain? Did the gods bless them just in time? Would all be well?

A conclusion made prematurely, as a new alarm was struck from the village’s heart.

‘THE BEAST! TIS THE BEAST!’ The loud screams came from the village square, Arthur’s attention immediately drawn back to the people that sped past him. Oh no..oh no...BELLE! She was alone, she was..

*FLUNK*

With a loud thud Arthur smacked to the ground, his eyes blinking in shock as he saw the person who had bumped into him rush passed, the silhouette of the person already fading from his vision as all he could do was claw into the dusty road, eyes seeing all black.

Oh no...he thought, his body now fading out of consciousness. Belle! She must be warned! She was all alone! The beast..Oh Belle..the beast..and...Belle...

With heavy blinking eyes he scratched and cried, trying to gain the attention of people rushing by, but failing. None could hear or see him as the storm drowned out his wails and the night hid him in unblinking dark, leaving him with little else but hope, hope that Belle’s joyful tunes would indeed not be ended at the slashing of beastly claws, like the hunter had warned him for this morning.

Oh Belle, dear Belle..

--

Chap 2 >

--

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If you want to be added to or removed from my tag lists, shoot me a message! 

[ayameakuma]

Hi guys!

(It has been a while since I last posted something)

Welp, today I kinda wanna just post here some ideas/prompts for fanfics (either one-shots or multi-chapter ones) and if anything catches your eye and you have the drive to write it then just go ahead and start writing (if you post it just tag me or sent me the link to your work cause I really wanna read it)

Welp, here it goes:

1. Prompt/Idea #1: Boku no Hero Academia and Pokemon (crossover)

Izuku begins his pokemon jurney in a world inhabited by both heroes and villains. Now he has to deal with: his very much aggressive starter Eevee, the angry and clearly "not dangerous" hero-wannabe Bakugou Katsuki (and his class of superpowered kids), villainous organizations that want to either get rid of him or take his pokemon away, his dead father who is not so dead anymore, Pokemon Hunter J who wants to ... er... adopt him? and many others. Well, at least he is closer to earning every badge and every ribbon from Kanto through Kalos...

Izuku: "This jurney won't be that hard, right?" Famous last words, Izuku.

2. Prompt/Idea #2: Miraculous Ladybug and Animal Crossing (crossover)

Marinette is still bullied by Lila and, just as the liar said, everyone turned their backs on her. Things take a turn for the worst when Lila decides to get rid of Marinette in a more ... permanent way. Now, in an induced coma, Marinette's consciousness travels to another dimension. This one may look peaceful but the inhabitants (why are they all humanoid-like animals that walk on two legs!?) have been dealing with huge and powerful Black Butterflies that have destroyed their homes time and time again. The villagers call this particular city Arcadia and apparently they have lost their mayor a few years prior to Marinette's arrival. To say she is surprised about all this is an understatement, but Marinette is Ladybug and Ladybug always helps getting rid of Butterflies - even if Tikki is no longer with her. Maybe - just maybe - she can start anew here. And who is this cat named Fèlix and why does he seem so... human comparative to the other villagers? Meanwhile, in the real world, with Marinette in a coma, a new Ladybug must show up and Kagami is up for the task. If it means beating some sense into Agreste's and his classmates' heads then all the better. Look out Lila, your days as the queen of the class are numbered.

3. Prompt/Idea #3: Boku no Hero Academia and Yo-kai Watch 1, 2 and 3 (crossover)

At the young age of 10, Izuku is mostly used to being treated like trash. When his childhood friend turned bully dared him to go in the heart of the woods and bring back a ball from the infamous "Cursed Gotcha Machine", well, he wasn't surprised. What surprised him was that he got a ghost butler? and a fancy watch out of this (Not that Kacchan will actually believe him) And now he is able to see what the butler - Whisper - said to be "Yokai". Izuku is making friends - albeit not all are human beings, so maybe he can also become a hero with this watch and with the help of his Yokai friends. (As long as he can keep them from murdering Kacchan..) Navigating new friendships, learning how to love himself and how to let go of friends from the past is already hard enough. If, along the way, he ends up falling for another tormented child who may or may not be able to see yokai as well and whose father is a literal walking flaming trash can, well he will deal with this too.

4. Prompt/Idea #4: Boku no Hero Academia - Otome Game AU

Akatani Mikumo is a 35-years-old office worker who leads a plain life devoid of any amusement. People find him boring or unpleasant so Mikumo always finds himself alone, the moment of his death is no exception. Alone in his appartment who went up in flames while he was sleeping, Akatani Mikumo died ... and in another universe, 6-years-old Midoriya Izuku woke up on a bed with people - his parents? servants of the house? - surrounding him and crying of happiness. Apparently, Izuku almost died from a deadly disease, but only he knows that it is not their Izuku that woke up on that day. Mikumo wants to fulfill the kid's last wish: to keep both his family and the people around him happy for as long as he can. A tall order for 35-turned-6-years-old Mikumo but he can try. Now if only he can remember where did he hear the names of these nobles and why does the word "Quirk" seem so... familiar? Watch as Mikumo navigates life, makes friends for the first time, bullies nobles and, unwittingly, makes everyone he meets fall in love with him.

5. Prompt/Idea #5: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Pre-Calamity setting AU (original take on Link's past)

Growing up, Galahad was best friends with Raphael. Their friendship survived until today and is still going strong, and with kids on the way the two decide to make sure their children will also become friends. Fast forward 10 years later, Link (Galahad's son) and Haruto (or you can put any name you like here) (Raphael's son) live up to their father's legacies - both in friendship and career. Both were blessed with above average skills in hand to hand combat and swordsmanship. However, they never fought in a real battle against the monsters inhabiting Hyrule yet. But, after a mission in which their fathers dissapear, a fairy by the name of Fi - self-proclaimed a messenger of the Goddess Hylia - tells them that they have 1 year to save them from the Yiga Clan's clutches. In exactly 1 year, the Yiga Clan leader will sacrifice Galahad and Raphael in a ritual to awaken Calamity Ganon, believing the two to be the Hero who wields the Sword that seals the Darkness and his Shadow's reincarnations. Now, Link and Haruto need to travel across Hyrule and get stronger in order to save their fathers. While they overcome the trials put on their path by the Goddess, the past unravels itself to them and they might just face a bigger foe than the Yiga Clan - their own self.

(Bonus points if the two meet the pilots of the Divine Beasts and befriend them - yes, even Rivali for all his pride shall fall into the clutches of friendship - before Link is announced as the Hero that wields the Master Sword)

Welp, here they are. These are just 5 of my ideas. Maybe this will become a thing that I will do monthly, who knows.

If you are interested in anything from here or you want more information on one of them, just send a message and I try to reply as fast as I can. If not, then happy writing.

Bye! 🤗🤗

[behindheremeraldeyes]

title: duty calls

[ch.2] [ffnet] [ao3]

summary: Modern/ Quarantine AU- A new disease is spreading around the world, and unlike most people, she can’t run away from it. As a health worker, Haruno Sakura understands her part in this fight, and unfortunately, she can’t have him by her side. In order to keep him and everyone else safe, she has to stay away.

a/n: so, in the middle of this whole pandemic, why not write a SasuSaku AU, right? Lately, I’ve been struggling a bit with this whole quarantine and after reading a bunch of fics in which Sasuke and Sakura stay inside together, I’ve decided to show her the health worker she is. I’m also thinking about making this a multi-chapter (no more than 4 chapters) but I still haven’t decided… Should I? Well, enough of my rambling! Hope you enjoy this one! I would also love to know your opinion! Stay safe and stay inside!

.

.

.

This fic is dedicated to all of those people risking their lives out there for the sake of their patients. You guys are heroes and deserve to be recognized as such. I support the health workers and their right to work under decent conditions.

.

.

The trembling of her key chain echoed across the hallways of her apartment complex, knocking on her neighbours' every door just to be bluntly rejected. People of all ages laid restless under their blankets, feeling their heartbeats rising while watching the latest news, and it was as if she could hear the silent screams of apprehension escaping through locked doors. Sakura was coming home from a very long and very stressful shift at the hospital— one of many others that were still to come— and as soon as she found herself standing on her entry, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to take a long deep breath.

Things were definitely not okay. Across the world, all kinds of people were scared of an invisible threat that was sweeping the globe at an extremely fast pace, leaving behind a trail of sickness and death wherever it went. For those still unvisited, the near future would make sure to even the nations, for the contamination was inevitable. In a matter of days— weeks, at most— the new Coronavirus would cross yet another border, and she knew better than to believe the capital of the Fire Country would be an exception. Chaos would soon strike her beloved Konoha and there was nothing she or anyone could do to stop it.

Though politicians were trying to control the uncontrollable with motivational speeches and isolation measures, the word around the health professionals wasn’t really that simple. The hospitals weren’t ready to treat so many people at the same time. They lacked security equipments, respiratory machines, rapid tests— heck, they didn’t even have space for all of the patients that were expected to show up at the hospital. Even if the hospital where she worked at was one of the best in the whole country, Sakura knew dark times were ahead of them.

There was no use in denying the inevitable outcomes of the pandemic, she knew.

A lot of people were going to be infected, some were going to get sick, others are going to die and stricter safety measures would be imposed in order to try to contain the contamination. They mayor had already decreed a state of quarantine in order to isolate everyone, and she knew that meant not seeing Sasuke, Naruto, her parents and everyone else that are not her work colleagues for the time being. She would miss them, for sure, especially her raven haired boyfriend, but deep inside she knew it was for the best. His safety was the most important thing, and now, from afar, she could only hope he  would listen to the security recommendations so they could all get through that crisis without major problems.

Yes, hope.. that was the only thing she could do at such late hours. She opened her tired eyes to be welcomed by the dark corridor of her apartment, and reluctantly decided that it was time for her to go clean herself. Even if there were still no reported cases in the city, it was only prudent to treat the hospital as a highly contaminated place, therefore, she would have to make sure to follow the recommendations given to the doctors.

With a silent sigh, she dropped her bag to the floor and quickly took off her shoes. She unbuttoned her jeans, letting it slip down her legs, and with one move, her shirt was also pulled from her body. The pink haired doctor was then left only in her mismatched underwear as she finally crossed the hallway of her apartment towards her bathroom for a good bath. Even if she lived all alone, she couldn’t simply risk infecting everything she touched.

What if someone recklessly showed up at her door, right?

Her bare feet against the wooden floor were light as she crossed the corridor, and as she approached the living-room entrance, an odd light caught her attention. It was dim and she knew it was probably coming from the lamp next to the couch, and immediately, she tried to think back to the last time she had turned that on. Nothing came to mind. If she were completely honest, Sakura barely remembered the last time she sat on her couch to watch some Tv without Sasuke around, let alone to read a book or do something that would require that amount of light.

No, she hadn’t forgotten that light on, that much she knew. And if it hadn’t been her, then—

Her emerald eyes widened at the realization, and in a heartbeat, she rushed to the source of light just to find the one thing that was supposed to be sleeping safely miles away from her. Lying on her couch and reading a book was no one other than her boyfriend, Uchiha Sasuke, who had apparently decided to spend his quarantine with a health worker. He was simply sitting there, wearing his usual marine-blue pajamas while a mug rested on the center table next to him. Her lips parted in a mix of awe and anger at the sight in front of her, and it took her some good seconds before she decided what to do.

She had to keep calm and think rationally in order to deliver a message. Better than anyone, she knew there was no need to make a fuss because of that.

Yeah, right.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” She spoke, her voice almost screaming and hands resting on her hips as she stood at least 4 meters away from him.

His shoulders flinched at the sudden sound as he was brought back from his book. “Oh, you’re finally home.” He turned his head around to face her, then, his dark eyes ever so calm, only to be surprised by the sight of his girlfriend’s current state. “Why are you naked?”

“What?”

“Your clothes… What happened to them?” His expression changed, a sudden concern taking over his demeanour. “Were you robbed!? Sakura, tell me, did they do anything to you? Because, if they did—”

“I wasn’t robbed!” She spoke firmly, the urge of face-palming eating her alive. “Shannarou, my clothes are contaminated, Sasuke-kun. Just like me! You really shouldn’t be here. I might—”

“Did you get a new case at the hospital today?” He cut through her speech, absentmindedly, as he closed his book just to take a sip of his mug.

“No, not yet, but—"

“Then you still don’t have to be so nervous. Calm down.”

“Calm down?!” She scoffed, bitting her lower lip before continuing. "There’s a pandemic out there, Sasuke-kun. People are gonna get really sick. They are going to die, and right now, we can only rely on the isolation measures so, hopefully, the hospitals won't crash. I’ll be out there exposed to this virus and instead of only risking myself, now, with you around, I’m risking your health, too! So, please, don’t tell me to calm down.”

Her eyes were widened as she let out all of those words of concern, and it was possible to tell she was finally feeling the weight of her responsibilities on her shoulders. His eyes grew serious at the sight of his girlfriend falling apart in front of him, and if anything, the Uchiha knew he had to do something.

At that moment, Sakura was stressed and scared. She was the personification of a breakdown, just like he had predicted she would be, and even if he knew his presence there would only leave her more worried, to say he regretted his actions would be a lie. In fact, Sasuke was happy to be there.

He was happy to be by her side while he still could.

And since that was the case, the Uchiha knew he had to help her.

“Hn, you’re right.” He nodded, closing his eyes in acceptance. Sasuke stood up, then, moving his neck a little before turning to face her. “Maybe I didn’t think this through.”

“Oh, you think?” She arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms across her chest, just watching as he started to take some steps closer to her. The pinkette was still aware that she was still technically contaminated, and after all that talk, she wanted to believe her boyfriend also knew what that meant.

She wanted to believe he had understood her plea. And without major problems, he did.

But that didn’t mean he would simply admit that.

“Aah. I guess I should start taking this more seriously.”

“You really should.” She kept looking at him, as his feet continued walking, her brows arched in surprised for he was actually accepting her words. There was something different with him. Sasuke seemed more mature, more responsible and— “What are you doing?”

“I'm walking. Is there a problem?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, yes. You’re coming too close and I still haven’t showered.”

“And?”

“Are you serious?!” She started, her voice now with traces of annoyance. "Did you really not pay attention to anything I’ve just said?!”

“Oh, I did listen to you, Sakura. Though I have to admit I got a little… distracted.” He smirked, running his eyes up and down her body. “I guess the lab coat really is important to a doctor’s image.”

Her cheeks grew red in a mix of embarrassment and anger, and she had to hold back the urge to smack him on the shoulder. Had she already washed her hands, though, he wouldn’t have escaped her heavy hand that easily.

“You have got to be kidding me, Sasuke-kun!” She started, pouting angrily. “What is wrong with you!?”

“Hn.” He scoffed, shrugging off her anger. “I'm still a man, Sakura. What were you expecting?”

Tch, you’re unbelievable.” She said, closing her heavy eyes for a couple of seconds in order to let everything sink in. That whole pep talk wasn’t going anywhere. It was late, she was tired, and more than ever, she needed to clean herself. “Ugh, this is useless. I’m gonna go get a shower and then we will continue this conversation.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No, not really.” She said, turning around and walking towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway. “It's not like you’re going anywhere before I disinfect the doorknob.” She could almost feel his eyes on her, but at that moment, she couldn’t find it in herself to care.

Though she could not see, he smirked at his girlfriend’s snarky words. Sakura was probably furious at him, but he knew it was worth it if it meant she could finally take a break during a hot shower. “Try to relax a bit. I’ll prepare you something warm to eat once you’re done.”

The unexpected softness in his voice took her by surprise, and at the mention of food, she suddenly remembered she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. She felt her stomach lowly rumbling due to its emptiness, and a pout formed in her lips at the thought of being betrayed by her own insides. Sakura hated when he did that in the middle of an argument.

Shannarou, How am I supposed to be mad at you like that, Sasuke-kun?

A sigh escaped her lips, at the thought. “Fine.” She said, her voice holding onto the first syllable for a couple more seconds as she disappeared into the dark hallway of her apartment. She opened the bathroom’s door, turned on the light, and before she could lock herself in there, the pinkette peeked out with her her head one last time for one last warning. “Uchiha Sasuke, don’t you dare use all of my tomatoes!”

Her voice echoed across the hallway, being followed by the sound of the door clicking shut. The water, then, began to fall down while she took off the last pieces of clothes shielding her body, and soon, the bathroom was filled with steam.

——————————

After almost 20 minutes, she walked out of the bathroom, dressed in her pyjamas and with her short, pink hair still wet from the shower. Even if her mind was still revolving around the inevitable upcoming of the quarantine and the fact that she still had things to disinfect, Sakura would be lying if she said the hot water streaming down her body didn’t sooth her spirit. She moved around her apartment, bare feet against the cold floor, as she headed back to the living room where Sasuke was waiting for her. Her nose could smell the scent of food, and for the first time that evening, she saw something positive about having him around.

“Hmm… The smell is delicious.” She stated, practically humming, as she entered her kitchen. For she lived in an open floor apartment— as expected, for those who live alone— she could see as her boyfriend was once more sitting on the couch, calmly, as he had resumed reading his book. He had left her plate covered with a piece of paper-towel on the kitchen island, and judging by the steam coming out of it, she could tell he had just placed it there. It was his special rice porridge with vegetables and tomatoes that she loves so much, and she couldn’t help but mentally thank his mother for teaching him how to cook.

A smile took over her lips as she took a medium spoon to help her eat, and instead of sitting on the place he had set for her on the dinning table, Sakura walked towards the couch where he was reading and found herself a place next to him. His dark eyes didn’t bother leaving the book as she scootched closer to him, and she barely noticed as he slightly adjusted his body to welcome her by his side. She leaned back until her back was pressed against his chest, propped her feet on the couch and allowed herself to relax her muscles so she could finally eat her homemade dinner.

“Are you properly disinfected now, Sakura?” He teased, still not changing the tone of his voice nor taking his eyes from his book.

“Well, we don’t know if regular showers are 100% efficient. Maybe you should’ve thought about that before breaking into my apartment.”

“Hn, you can’t charge me for that when I entered using the key you gave me.”

She was blowing the porridge on the spoon, clearly enjoying that domestic atmosphere surrounding them. “Oh, I guess I’ll have to get that key back from you, then.”

“I guess you really should. You wouldn’t want me showing up here every night and interrupting your precious routine of skipping dinner, right?.” He smirked, turning the page of his book.

“Tch, shut up. It’s not like I do it every night.” She said, smirking back at him. Sakura hated it when he brought up her bad habits as arguments to their silly arguments. She knew he was right about the things he said about her not eating or sleeping properly, though she would never admit such thing. Being an adult was hard, but it was certainly easier with him around.

“If you say so…”

“I know so.” She nodded, with a childish smile on her face. Finally, after blowing off the steam, the pinkette took a spoonful of the porridge, and as always, felt her tastebuds delighted by how all of the ingredients melted inside her mouth. Maybe it was the fact that she was starving or maybe it was because she didn’t have such high standards on food, but she felt like that porridge could win a culinary award. It was salty, warm and that combination of carrots and chopped parsley felt like a very comfortable hug.

She loves it when he cooks her dinner. Apart from the taste always being nice, Sakura can’t help but be grateful for the fact that he cares for her. Sasuke has never been a man of many words, not even during their younger days, and that’s why, whenever he does something like that—well— it means the world to her.

With that porridge, he made sure she had no excuse not to eat after a long day of work. He was making sure she wasn’t going to ignore her own health, and with that, he was showing how much he cared. And even though she was still mad at him for being so irresponsible, she couldn’t possibly disregard his actions.

She was thankful for having him around that night. Thankful for his company, for the rice porridge and for trying to help her ease her mind even though the world around them was about to turn upside-down.

After the third spoon, Sakura let out a pleased squeal, and she really had to hold back the urge to devour everything like Naruto usually devours his ramen. “Shannarou, I just love your porridge.”

"Hn” He nodded. “My mom taught me that recipe when I first left home for law school.”

“I remember that.” She said, her voice a bit muffled because of the warm food. “You would always prepare some at your dormitory whenever we had to pull an all-nighter for the tests.”

“Aah. It was either that or ramen every night.”

“Naruto didn’t seem to mind.”

“Tch, his eating habits are probably worse than yours.”

“Well…” A soft giggle escaped her lips as her eyes were focused on the last spoon of the porridge. “I might have to agree with you on that.”

Unfortunately, for her stomach, the porridge eventually came to an end. With the flavors still lingering on her tongue, Sakura moved her body so her hand could leave the dish on the center table, not wasting time before returning to her previous position. After dating the Uchiha for so long, the pinkette was already used to his body, and therefore, it was easy for her to use it as a comfortable pillow. Her head was now resting just bellow the crook of his neck, and she allowed herself to close her emerald eyes so she could properly enjoy that moment. His scent invaded her nostrils, his warmth enveloped her body and his heartbeat soothed her senses.

Sakura wanted that moment to last forever. She wanted to have the power to freeze time so she could spend more time with him and so the scientists could have all the time they needed to properly study a cure for that disease before more people lost their lives.

Time. Such a fleeting entity for everyone out there fighting against the virus. Patients, health workers, politicians… They were all begging for more time during that time global mess but it just seemed useless as countries all around the world were breaking death records day after day. Health Care Systems are crowded all over and even she knew Konoha had been preparing for this for over a month now, Sakura wasn’t a fool to believe they would be able to go through that without major damages.

People are going to lose their lives. People she knows and works with. People she cares about. Heck, for all she knew, she might become a victim of the COVID-19 herself. There was no telling who would be spared or who would suffocate, and she didn’t want to see people paying the highest price for pushing their luck. It was not the time to take things for granted, especially not when an act of irresponsibility could put other lives at stake.

It was time for people to think about each other and avoid agglomerations. It was time for people to stay safe and stay inside as much as they could in order to put a halt to the virus’ dissemination.

It was time for people to be alone. And unfortunately, that also included them.

The pinkette didn’t know for how long she had drifted away, but she suddenly felt herself coming back to her senses as soon as his body shifted next to her. Sasuke moved his hand to place the now closed book on the table next to her plate, and as soon as he placed his arm around her shoulders, Sakura knew it was time for them to talk about serious matters.

“Are you feeling better now?” He asked, his voiced laced with sincere concern.

“Yeah.. I guess it was just the first of many stressful days that are to come.”

“How are things at the hospital?”

“Well, we still don’t have any cases confirmed, but people are scared.” She bit her lip, her voice dropping an octave in apprehension.

“Are you?”

“I'm terrified, Sasuke-kun.” She spoke, sincerely, for she knew there was no use in lying to him at that moment. Sakura had to be honest with the Uchiha in order to show him the risks of being at her apartment. His chances of getting sick were a lot higher if he stayed with her, and that was a risk she wasn’t willing to take so she could have him around every day. “The hospital has already given us the PPEs, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of danger. Lots of health workers will be infected and there’s nothing we can do about it. We don’t know what will happen to us.”

At her words, he felt his arm tightening his grip around her shoulder, and Sakura couldn’t tell if he he was aware of that reaction. She could feel her heart aching inside her chest due to the uncertainty of what would happen in the next couple of days, and even if she is a responsible adult who understood their situation, it wouldn’t be easy to come home and not find him reading his book on the couch.

She shifted her position, then, her eyes now locked with his dark ones. Both of them were holding a serious and longing expression, and it was as if they knew what was going to happen next. Sakura took a deep breath, bitting her lip for a second before deciding to speak. “You know you can’t stay with me, right?”

Their eyes remained locked for a couple of seconds, as if they were talking their own, intimate language. Through the years, in the same way he has learned to read her like an open book, Sakura has also learned to identify his real emotions through his pitch-black orbs. He didn’t like that situation. In fact, Sasuke hated it. Not just because he wouldn’t be able to see her for who knows how long, but mostly because she would be out there, on the front lines.

Just like she said, there was no guarantee that she would be okay within the next couple of weeks, and knowing she would be risking her life while he did nothing was the worst part. Though he understood the importance of social distancing in order to help the health workers, it would all be in vain if she was contaminated.

And she was going to be contaminated. He was aware of the statistics involving the medical professionals, and he knew better than to believe she would escape those numbers. She’s strong and even her boss says she’s an exceptional doctor for her age, but she’s no superhero. His girlfriend is still just a human at the end of the day, and the virus won’t spare her just because he wants to.

She will be in danger. She will be in danger, lonely and knowing her like he does, she will forget about herself in order to take care of the others.

Even if not on purpose, Sakura was going to neglect her own health, he knew. And even if he wanted to ignore the risks and stay by her side during the hard times that were to come, he knew he would only make things worse for her. Though he wanted to, he couldn’t go against her words at that moment. Not when she was looking at him with such pleading eyes.

“Aah.” He answered, his voice as low as a whisper, and that was probably the hardest ‘yes’ he has ever given her. Her eyes softened at his words, as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

A silent sigh escaped her lips after that, but no word came out from her mouth. Instead, she remained looking into his eyes for a couple of seconds more, and slowly, Sakura leaned in to plant a chaste and longing kiss on his lips. Their eyes closed, and neither of them knew for how long their lips remained together. Her right hand cupped his left cheek in an affectionate way, and immediately, he knew what she meant with that kiss.

‘Arigato.’

Though unspoken, he could feel her feelings of gratitude through the way their lips touched, and at that moment, he could only hope to be doing the right thing. Damn it, he had to be.

After a while, then, the warmth of her lips was nothing but a ghost haunting him. They remained looking at each other for a little longer, until Sakura shifted her body, again, so she could turn off the lamp before leaning against him once more. Her head now rested on his chest, their legs entangled and his arms encircling her petite body to bring her closer, in fear she would just disappear. Both of them remained silent for a couple of minutes in the darkness of her living room, thinking about the inevitable future ahead of them, until the raven haired boy was the first to reestablish their communication.

“Sakura, promise me you’ll take care of yourself.” He ordered, concern dripping from his voice. “And if anything happens, you call me immediately."

“I will, I promise.” She nodded, closing her eyes. “You too, Sasuke-kun. You can call me anytime.”

“Good.”

"Are you going back to your parents’ to stay with them?”

“No. I’ll text the Dobe in the morning. There’s still a spare bed at his apartment.”

“Oh, you and Naruto quarantining together?” She spoke, a bit of joy once more present in her voice. “There’s no way this is going to work out.”

“Hn.” He nodded, closing his eyes and allowing his body to relax. Apparently, neither of them would move out of that couch any time soon, and he couldn’t find it in himself to complain. “You know he won’t survive this quarantine all alone. Eventually, he will try to leave home to do something stupid, so someone has to stop him.”

“Fair enough.” She chuckled. "I’ll be counting on you, then.”

“Aah.” He said, his ears focusing on her steady breath. Judging by the way she relaxed in his arms, he could tell Sakura was drifting away and he could feel himself doing the same. A sigh escaped his lips, and even though he was not completely happy about the way their night ended, he figured that was not the time to worry about that.

It was really late, after all. And the next day—oh, the next day—

Who could possibly know what was going to happen?

the end.

a/n: so, should I continue?

[gaiapaia]

Kermit and Friends: Unhappily Vaxxed

Kermit and Friends is a show that welcomes everyone. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what culture you come from, what religion you believe in, what sexual preferences you have, or what political party you’re aligned with. That’s just one of the many things that makes KAF so special.

However, it doesn’t stop at Kermit and Friends... the show’s host, Elisa Jordana, pretty much carries this mindset into her real life. She’s willing to be friends with ANYONE as long as they’re nice, funny, or interesting. Nothing else matters outside of having just one of those qualities. Bless her beautiful heart.

Unfortunately, not surrounding yourself with a likeminded bubble can lead to some annoyances, to put it lightly.

Everything in America is politicized right now. It’s been that way since a celebrity became President and the media started obsessing over him. Instead of COVID-19 being a health crisis, it became a political tool used by both parties to cater to their voters beliefs.

Since Elisa has friends on both sides of the political spectrum, she was hearing about it from every angle regarding the vaccine. From her Democratic friends, COVID-19 is the scariest disease in human history despite none of them actually knowing anyone who died from it. From her Republican friends, the vaccination was created to kill off the population despite none of them actually knowing anyone who died after taking the vaccine.

So when it came time for Elisa to make a choice whether or not she should get vaccinated... she had friends/family members telling her she was going to die with either choice she made. Imagine how nerve wracking that must be for someone who already has severe anxiety issues? It broke my heart to see Elisa so stressed out over this.

Elisa ended up getting vaccinated. I saw on her Facebook she was STILL being criticized by her liberal friends for waiting this long... it’s so ridiculous. Thankfully though, Elisa is perfectly fine. If you give 100 million people a Tylenol pill, a very small percentage of them will get sick from it and possibly even die. The odds of that happening though are about the same as winning the lottery (that also goes for the odds of dying from COVID). The coronavirus situation is a very serious issue since a small percentage of people dying or becoming seriously ill is nothing to take lightly, but it’s so silly how political everything revolving around it has become. Thankfully Elisa can put it all behind her now and not worry about it any longer.

Claire from New Jersey called into the show to announce he was converting to Christianity and accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Claire even said he was getting baptized Sunday night. I’m personally all for this, I think there’s a lot of good that can be learned from Jesus’s teachings and being a believer in Him. However, Claire took it a step further and said he’s joining a sanctuary of some kind and won’t be allowed back on the internet for the next few months.

This to me is taking it a tad bit far. You don’t need a community to be a believer in Jesus Christ. I also find the internet very helpful when learning about the Bible and Christianity as a whole. To eliminate it and instead go with a group led by some pastor or two is a mistake in my opinion, but hey... maybe this will lead Claire to happiness and fulfillment. I certainly hope so. His calls and presence in chat will be certainly missed.

Claire claims the place he’s going to is like a rehab facility so he can overcome his addictions to food and porn. Elisa hilariously took intrigue in Claire’s porn viewing habits... her questions made me laugh hard. Elisa also shared that Claire was the reason Sugar didn’t co-host the show this week. I know Claire had some critical comments about Sugar in the chat last week, but I was surprised to hear it had that kind of negative impact on her. Hopefully Claire will find it in his heart to apologize and sweet Sugar will return to her Kermit and Friends family very soon. We all love you Sugar and we missed you on yesterday’s show!

T-Bob and Kleenex had a spat on a livestream earlier this week and decided to continue it on Kermit and Friends. The fight on the livestream had to do with political stuff, and the fight yesterday was just them name calling one another. It was entertaining but nothing substantial I could break down and explain.

Their fight did lead to a guy named Mark Connors calling into the show. Referred to as Mark Cruz by T-Bob, this Mark dude claims to be a multi-millionaire and a former country music star who’s friends with Dolly Parton. How someone of this status can be so obsessed with T-Bob is baffling to me. He ranted about Bob in two separate calls for what had to be 15 minutes combined. Mark even brought his wife on the line to talk about a time when Bob supposedly threatened to skull f*** her, whatever that means.

According to T-Bob, Mark “Cruz” is a statutory rapist that got off because he was friends with the judge or something like that. Bob has made it one of his life missions to expose Mark’s allegations to the World, claiming he had news vans sent to Mark’s house in Tennessee to ask him about his legal troubles. 

Who knows what’s true and what’s false with these guys. All I know is that it has to be unbelievably tiresome to carry so much hatred for another human being. There aren’t many things I like about myself, but one thing I would never change is the fact that I obsess over things/people I love, not over things/people I hate. 

Kermit made 3 new awesome friends yesterday. The first was a very nice man by the name of Chip Baker. Chip is another one of Coach Love’s associates. He is the author of The Formula Chart For Life and he specializes in positive inspiration and motivation. Chip brought that positive energy to Kermit and Friends with a glorious smile and fun attitude, not letting the T-Bob/Kleenex stuff bother him at all, even offering advice to both men.

Laura Meadows and her handsome son Culver also made their KAF debuts yesterday. Laura is an actress that’s had roles in over 80 movies/television shows ranging from Law and Order, Any Given Sunday, and lots of horror stuff. Her son Culver was singing in the background when she first joined the show and later Laura brought him on to perform in front of the camera, but he was a bit too shy. I would absolutely love to see more of Laura and Culver on KAF in the future... both seem like extremely sweet people that exemplify the spirit of Kermit.

Sigmond returned to the show to give the greatest Rhianna cover you’ll ever hear when he sung her song, Stay. Wappy also beautifully performed Lady Picture Show by Stone Temple Pilots and Easy by The Commodores. Kermit and Friends is really blessed to have these two gentlemen and their amazing musical talent on the show every week.

To end the episode, Elisa played a phone recording of her final conversation with Andy Dick. It started with Andy mad at Elisa for the publicity he received over his arrest being covered on Kermit and Friends; then when Elisa defended herself, Andy went on this self-loathing tangent saying he doesn’t deserve her or anyone else. Andy then promptly hung up on Elisa when his friends started calling for him, pretty much summing their entire relationship up in 2 seconds.

What a jam packed show it was this week. There was a little bit of everything. I’m very proud of Elisa for both facing her fears head-on regarding the vaccination shot and for doing the show even though her anxiety/stress levels had been through the roof the previous 24 hours. That took a lot of fortitude and strength, and Elisa was rewarded with an awesome episode of Kermit and Friends that everyone enjoyed.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I actually had a different multi-page comic prepped for today, but over the weekend I got a wild hare to do something on topic right now. So if you've ever wondered how a disease can jump from other animals to us, now you know!

Species portrayed: Rabies virus (Rabies lyssavirus), SARS-CoV-2, Lyme disease (Borrelia sp.), Ebola (Ebolavirus sp.), human (Homo sapiens), domestic pig, (Sus scrofa domesticus) domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus), domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), domestic cow (Bos taurus), masked palm civet (Paguma larvata), Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), domestic cat (Felis catus), Senegal parrot (Poicephalus senegalus), bearded dragon (Pogona sp.), domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus)

(Just a reminder that I have stickers and other fun merch at my Redbubble store, and you can also tip me for my work at my Ko-Fi! Like many people, my income has been pretty badly affected by current circumstances, so every little boost will help.)

Transcript under cut.

[Title: Zoonotic Diseases - the second O and the I in Zoonotic, and the I and season S in Diseases have been replaced by drawings of bacteria and viruses]

[First panel: A doctor in scrubs and carrying a chart waves to a man, a pig and a chicken all laying sick in bed. A table by the bed holds tissues, cough medicine and a glass of water. The window nearby shows a view out onto a sunny landscape.]

Animals are hosts to all sorts of diseases, and humans are no exception. Some diseases are able to infect multiple unrelated species. Those that jump from other animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases.

[Second panel: A yellow short-haired dog snarls and foams at the mouth.]

The zoonotic virus most in our consciousness right now is SARS-CoV-2, which causes the illness COVID-19. However, there are many zoonoses; some of the better known are rabies, swine flu, bird flu, Ebola, and Lyme disease. Ironically, chicken pox is only found in humans, other than a few great apes we passed it on to.

[Third panel: a man sits on a stool while milking a Jersey cow into a pail.]

When humans are in close contact with other animals for long periods of time, it’s more likely a virus or bacteria in the nonhuman species will mutate to be able to infect us. These diseases usually spread through airborne particules, contact with fecal matter, or in some cases a bite from a dog, bat, tick or other animal.

[Fourth panel: Three circles with squiggles inside them represent viruses. One has a red squiggle, another has a green squiggle, and lines from these two point to the third which has a red and green squiggle.]

One way this happens is through recombination. When a strain of a disease found in nonhuman animals encounters a strain found in humans, the former may gain the DNA that allows for infection in human hosts. Viruses and bacteria both practice recombination.

[Fifth panel: Several animals are on a blank background, including a masked palm civet, a domestic pig, a domestic chicken, a Chinese pangolin, and a large flying fox bat.]

For example, we know the SARS virus from the 2003 epidemic came from civets, through recombination. H1N1 (swine flu) came from pigs, and H5N1 (bird flu) from chickens and other birds. Scientists suspect SARS-CoV-2 was passed to us by bats and pangolins, both traded in wildlife markets in Wuhan, where it originated. DNA from SARS-CoV-2 closely resembles that from the SARS strains in pangolins and bats.

[Sixth panel: More animals on a blank background, including a Senegal parrot sitting on the back of a great dane, a bearded dragon, a domestic cat, and a domestic rabbit.]

Some worry whether zoonoses like SARS-C0V-2 can infect their pets. While there’s a small chance you could pass avian flu to pet birds, and some other pets like guinea pigs occasionally catch human respiratory illnesses, it’s not too common. If your pet isn’t regularly around lots of other animals in public they’re not likely to catch something to give to you. Just keep your pets’ vaccination up to date, and try to avoid kisses and other close contact when either of you are sick. It may be good to not let strangers pet your dog during the pandemic, as the virus could sit in the dog’s fur and then pass to you when you pet them, though it’s less of a risk than direct human to human contact.

[Seventh panel: A golden retriever in green scrubs and a stethoscope sits looking at the viewer. Next to her is a sign that says “Wash hands! Clean everything! Lots of space! Good hygiene! Let wild animals stay wild!”]

How do we prevent zoonoses? By limiting close exposure to wild animals, and keeping all captive animals in clean, uncrowded quarters. Treat sick animals as soon as possible. If you handle animals, even pets, wash your hands thoroughly before eating, drinking, or otherwise putting your hands near your face. Be familiar with zoonoses that the animals in your life may be susecptible to so you can all stay healthy!

[laceypruett]

Traveling After a Pandemic

If you knew the angst that went into simply agreeing on a title for this piece, you would laugh. This is our current world. We have a scarcity mindset, mixed with some fear over what we’ve been through this past year. I’ve had seasons of scarcity, fearfulness, and oh the worry. Worry laced everything in 2020 and tied it in a bow, so when I shared my potential title, I was met with, “but we’re still IN a pandemic.” Are we?

According to historians, pandemics typically have two types of endings: the medical, which occurs when the sicknesses or death rates plummet, and the social, when the epidemic of fear about the disease wanes.

“When people ask, ‘When will this end?’ they are asking about the social ending,” said Dr. Jeremy Greene, a historian of medicine at Johns Hopkins.

In other words, an end can occur not because a virus has been vanquished but because people grow tired of panic mode and learn to live with a virus.

I chose the title I did, because, for me, it is the truth. The cool thing is that you get to decide for yourself, your family, and your life experience what is true for you. After this way-too-long discussion with some fellow authors, there was a moment when I said, “no more.” No longer will I live in fear, and no longer will I worry myself about what may happen. Death rates have plummeted (one of the medical ends to a pandemic) and the virus strand is weakening. This is great news! Precautions I’ve taken since last March can now soften a bit. I definitely won’t worry about things out of my control. An example of something out of my control… what others think of my life decisions.

When some of the world lifted their restrictions on air travel, my husband and I booked a few flights to some of our favorite places. “You’re going to travel out of the country, right now?” It echoed for several days, but it’s just one more reminder to make your own rules for your life. Yes, the pros outweighed the cons, for us, and that is enough. I wondered what it would be like “out there,” and what the experience would really be, and curiosity squashed fear.  We considered our safety, security, and health, in this decision to fly internationally, and we booked accordingly. You see, for us, the world is vast and there’s opportunity to expand one’s life perspective with traveling and seeing the world. Staying at home doesn’t make sense to us, as a long-term decision, especially if health and vitality are the goal. We take good care of our health, and we take proper precautions, so for people in our situation, travel is an option. If you have the travel bug, I invite you to get out there again, too. I’ll explain why later in this article.

When the COVID-19 flu strand pushed us into a global pandemic, my husband and I were crushed. We had four trips we now had to cancel or that were canceled on us. Birthdays, anniversaries, France, Spain, British Virgin Islands, and Cabo San Lucas all vanished off the calendar. We were sad but worked to quickly shift mindsets. We would have different types of adventures for a while. We would make an adventurous life at home, under these new daily, safety standards. We would enjoy the Texas beach house more.  We would spend time enjoying new hobbies, activities and a slower pace. The re-wiring of adventure expectations took some ebb and flow (especially by me—I already purchased new outfits for Spain and for France), and while I look back on the memories, we made last year, I am grateful for them. More on that later… let’s get to the good stuff. Traveling internationally, after a pandemic, was different but worth it. It’s easier if you plan ahead, set some new expectations, and give just about everything and everyone some added grace. 

Here are my tips and awareness (based on separate trips to Cabo San Lucas, and Riviera Maya, Mexico, flying commercial airlines, and staying at a resort & spa property (not private residence):

1.     Clean up your diet, increase your fitness routine, and be impeccable with nutritional supplements months before traveling. Do a 7-14 day detox if possible. This is key! Don’t travel with a weak immune system.

2.     Don’t fight the masks. It’s happening, and it’s nobody’s preference. (At least, I don’t think anyone loves wearing them?) As of today, wearing a mask is required  in all airports, on all commercial aircraft, and it was required in the lobby areas and restaurant entries. You can wear a mask whenever you want, but these are the places a mask was required. I wore a separate mouth and nose covering for the flight that met the required standards. It was more comfortable than my mask and worked well.

3.     Bring your own anti-bacterial soap. At the end of each day, it felt nice to scrub away the day with an extra anti-bacterial protection. Even if you don’t usually use an anti-bacterial soap, use one now for ease of mind. One bar of Dial soap lasted 10 days.

4.     Pack a pen! In addition to the usual customs and immigration forms, there’s a new COVID disclaimer form to fill out and turn in upon arrival at the airport and again at your lodging.

5.     Bring your usual daily multi-vitamin, but add in the following every day: Zinc, an immune modulator, extra vitamin C & D. These helped me feel armed against new elements, foods, and the new environments.

6.     Expect delays at check-ins. We arrived at the airport, our hotel, and even at restaurants that each had their own added health screenings or checks. The oddest one was a device you step into (think air brush tanning days) that sprays you with an antimicrobial solution. It’s light and dries quickly, and at its worst, just slightly annoying. They spray your baggage on arrival at the hotel with this solution, too. Some take your temperature, and some offer you (and expect you to take) hand sanitizer.

7.     Make reservations! Most restaurants are requiring them to comply with the distancing needs of the tables (Mexico restaurants and bars filled up but we were spaced out really well.) Don’t expect to just show up, without a reservation, and get seated anywhere. If it happens, yay!

8.     Hire private ground transportation. This minimizes your exposure to new taxi cabs and drivers each time you need to go somewhere. Walk whenever and wherever you can. Exercising keeps everything moving, even the bad bacteria and virus strands, and these getting stuck in our body cause the problems.

9.     Tip generously, when appropriate. Hearing the stories of how this year has been for different people, really opened my eyes to the outlier issues we’re now facing, outside of the actual sickness. By traveling soon, you are helping to reverse some long-standing financial damage people and businesses are facing, due to closures and restrictions. Select local businesses, restaurants, foods, and entertainment when possible. You can immerse yourself into the culture of where you’re visiting, and meet some wonderful people at the same time.

10.  Call ahead and ask what’s new due to the pandemic. Being aware of expectations, protocols, and changes will allow you to prepare yourself accordingly and to enjoy the experience better. None of us are at our best when expectations are not met. Proactively do some research and set yourself up for success.

Go explore! My soul came alive immediately as I started roaming one of my favorite areas of Mexico. Being in the elements, the sun, especially, taking in the sights, sounds, and feelings filled me up with vitality. Don’t wait any longer! Find your next adventure spot and start booking. I am grateful for our continued health, and we remain protective of it. You are in control of how you protect yourself, and it is possible to feel safe and protected while traveling the beautiful world again. Be respectful of others’ “house rules,” as everyone is trying to help everyone feel as comfortable as possible right now, and by respecting these efforts, we all get to feel a little more freedom. 

For us, the pandemic was a temporary situation, not a permanent change to our way of life. This travel experience has been educational for us, as many things felt differently than what we’re used to, but necessary for where we currently are with pandemic concerns. While we hope even more of the restrictions lift and more countries open up to American travelers, we hope some of the new practices never leave. Airplanes, airports, hotel rooms, and bathrooms have never been cleaner! I see people giving everyone space and washing their hands longer. Que Maravilla! On that note alone, take a deep breath and go explore somewhere new. Let me know what you find!

[meditativeyoga]

How Yoga Can Disrupt the School-to-Prison Pipeline

This is an interview with B.K. Bose, who began the non-profit Niroga Institute with a few yoga students in 2005. Niroga was asked to assist work with a team of delinquent girls in an alternative high college in the San Francisco Bay Area, and also from the very first yoga class the Niroga instructors might see just how these trainees took to the conscious activity, breathing and focusing (the ABCs) like fish to water. They appeared to attach with a place inside themselves that was safe from all the dysfunction around them.

Today, Niroga carries out over 100 yoga exercise courses a week in 40 websites throughout the Bay Area, serving over 5,000 children, young people, and grownups annually, in mainstream as well as different colleges, adolescent halls and jails, rehab centers, and also cancer cells healthcare facilities. It likewise performs trainings for numerous teachers, psychological health and wellness specialists, and violence-prevention authorities nationwide. In these trainings, individuals get aid with personal sustainability (stress monitoring, self-care, and also recovery from vicarious injury), which also has a favorable impact on their professional technique. Niroga shows Transformative Life Abilities (TLS: conscious yoga, breathing methods, as well as meditation).

Rob: What initially inspired you to do this work as well as exactly what continues to encourage you? Just how, if in any way, has that inspiration transformed over time?

I learned yoga as a kid, yet my technological training was in computer technology. While I was working as a researcher in Silicon Valley, I saw the ravages of persistent tension around me. It was affecting the wellness, partnerships, efficiency, and also worldwide competition of numerous people and companies. I understood about an ideal solution!

So I came to be a pupil of persistent anxiety and also its pervasive influence on people and areas. I learned that stress and anxiety is not only a risk factor for the majority of persistent illness (which are accountable for 75 percent of our health-care budget), however it impacts all of us the means down to our DNA, speeding up aging and also modifying our genetics maps (switching on disease-causing genetics). Chronic tension is additionally a common impact of every significant social determinant of health and wellness (e.g., income inequality, institutionalized racism, as well as the breakdown of traditional household structures). I additionally gained from the current injury research study that we hold chronic stress, traumatic stress, and post-traumatic stress in our bodies along with our minds. An incorporated mind-body strategy is essential for optimal healing.

How could yoga come to be a game-changer in stopping institution failure as well as minimizing adolescent delinquency

Approximately one in 2 young people is quiting of our inner-city colleges. About a million youths are dropping out of college annually across the United States ... When a youth leaves of school it is really most likely that he or she will be entailed in criminal offense and violence.

Many of the kids and young people who go to biggest threat of institution failure come to school not all set to find out. They are handling the injury of abuse and also disregard, crime and physical violence, weapons and gangs, medications as well as fatality. We rush to show them, failing to remember that we need to heal them first.

If we can bring ideal trauma-informed programs such as mindful yoga exercise, breathing methods, as well as reflection to adequate youngsters enough times, I believe we can reach a powerful tipping point. An efficient as well as affordable method to doing this is by training the adults that are around these youngsters (e.g., teachers, counselors, and also moms and dads) in these methods. This would have a twin benefit: It would certainly help the adults with their very own anxiety administration, self-care as well as healing from additional injury, as well as also allow them to produce communities of method in their colleges as well as homes.

Why should wellness professionals and college administrators find out about Transformative Life Abilities (TLS)?

The most current neuroscience study reveals that chronic stress interrupts our ability to hold focus as well as manage our emotions, neuroscience additionally shows that mindfulness practices can alleviate these very results. [1-4] Scientists have actually currently established that self-constraint is a forecaster of scholastic accomplishment, which low self-constraint is in charge of a wide variety of individual and interpersonal issues. [5], [6]

Independent scientists studying the result of Niroga's TLS amongst thousands of young people in urban schools have actually revealed that TLS lowered anxiety, enhanced emotion policy, enhanced school involvement, as well as transformed attitude toward physical violence. [8] I think this has multi-dimensional impact on our school-to-prison pipeline, along with on education equity as well as the accomplishment gap, considering that many of the youth leaving of institution and also winding up in adolescent hall are kids of color.

In addition to the studies you point out above, is there an evidence base for your program in particular? What is the return on investment?

As I claimed, there is engaging clinical study revealing 1) stress and anxiety influences self-control, as well as self-control predicts academic accomplishment, and also 2) yoga/TLS reduces tension as well as increases self-discipline. So it is rather feasible that yoga/TLS will affect academic achievement, and this needs to be investigated. It will require getting yoga/TLS to a great deal of youth arbitrarily picked to get TLS adequate times (sufficient frequency and also duration), as well as following their trajectories for numerous years. We are simply starting to obtain passion from entire school districts to examine just this.

Of course, we see circumstances of change on a daily basis in our straight solution programs in the area. When a young man is able to let down his armor of hyper-vigilance, when a girl in a homeless shelter claims that her continuous psychological pain is relieved with the method, when opposing gang members have the ability to close their eyes and also loosen up next to each other at the end of a session, when a high-risk teenager graduates from a different high school and joins our instructor training program to ensure that she can assist draw her close friends out of the mire of sadness, we consider these triumphes bread for our journey!

It expenses less than $1,000 to saturate a youngster or young people's life with TLS. If we used TLS throughout our institutions, and also if the graduation rate can be raised by just 1 percent, the math is simple and clear-- we would certainly get our money back often times over!

What is the best challenge you face in bringing TLS to those who require it most?

There are so many misunderstandings around yoga exercise. Despite 20 million people doing yoga in the United States, it is frequently viewed as socially elite. It is additionally often presented as a fitness trend for versatility, or simply as stretching.

So we call our program Transformative Life Skills (TLS), abilities that nudge us in the direction of healthy and balanced actions as well as healthy way of living options, also as they change us from the in out. Secured in mindfulness, connecting with our breath, we arise in activity, to ensure that the entire technique ends up being dynamic, symbolized mindfulness-- mindfulness in movement, or removaling reflection. It is an universal, secular transformative technique, which anybody can do anytime, anywhere.

Awareness regarding the power and possibility of these transformative practices requires to expand among instructors, health-care experts, and also violence-prevention authorities. Idea leaders in these interconnected major domains of social function are just beginning to recognize that these reliable techniques are evidence-based, validated by cutting-edge research study in several disciplines. Long-lasting funding dedication is needed, to make sure that detailed research study could be carried out to develop system influences, such as secondary school graduation price and the recidivism price in adolescent halls.

What are 2 vital features of your strategy to decreasing stress and anxiety and also enhancing self-constraint and resilience among at-risk youngsters as well as youth?

We think that every child and every youth has limitless capability for self-awareness and also self-mastery, to act rather compared to simply react, to attain their greatest potential.

We also think that we are not aiming to take care of or aid any individual, simply to offer them with love as well as empathy, unselfishly as well as unconditionally. Doing so is our opportunity. We are happy to those we offer, because each of them provides us with the opportunity to expand in lots of ways.

What are several of your concepts regarding or expects the future of 'service yoga exercise' in America in the next decade?

I desire about the opportunity when a lot of individuals in neighborhoods across the United States as well as past have access to these profound and powerful techniques, so that they can act with self-awareness and also self-mastery a lot of the time. Such gain access to will change ourselves, help recover our communities, and also aid make our vulnerable planet much more lasting for generations to come.

None of us could do this alone. We will certainly need all our enthusiasm and also compassion, vision as well as creative imagination. Yoga specialists will should extend their method past the limits of their floor coverings, bringing it from people to institutions, from classrooms to companies, from jails to juvenile halls, building healthy and balanced as well as dynamic neighborhoods one breath at a time.

[embsdiaries]

AI POWERED DATA ANALYSIS FOR CORONA VIRUS EPIDEMIC MONITERING AND CONTROL.

As the first few cases emerged in Wuhan, around the 31st of December information had reached the WHO. Early stages showed pneumonia like syndrome and had heavy similarities with the SARs virus. Whenever such a situation arises, we have very less or no clue at all that this might turn into a global disaster. By the time the severity and destructive strength of the virus was detected it had already flown to various countries and had started the pandemic. As an early protective measure government across the world had stopped the air transport facilities to a certain extend and had advised citizens to stay quarantined. But the big picture here is that these implemented procedures are no fool proof solutions to tackle the situation.

 Now to tackle such extensively spreading diseases or situations it would require heavy data rendering and processing artificial intelligence system working at various levels, that are able to predict and foresee the damage the disease can cause and design solutions to deal with it. If the AI system were to predict the intensity of the spread rate at a very early stage and proposed the right lockdown period, the pandemic control would have been a success. But while the design of such an artificial intelligence system that promises on predicting a global disaster, it would have to be very accurate as it is responsible for many lives. But building a 100% accurate artificial intelligence model is rarely possible, but AI models with slightly reduced accuracy rates have been announced in the recent times. Alibaba was supposed to release an AI model with about 96% accuracy which would categorise CT scans of pneumonia patients as infected and non-infected. Similarly, US military had announced an AI algorithm that could predict infection in non-symptomatic patients before the signs are visible with an accuracy of about 85%. Canadian company blue dot said to have observed signals of a potential pandemic long before the actual surge and had warned the officials well before hand. These signals where picked up by sophisticated AI models. AI has the capacity to work with enormous amounts of continuously updating data, and to render it and to produce meaningful conclusions. 

The interesting thing to note here is the possibility of detecting a potential pandemic from the macro data collected from the society from invariably everywhere. And this would not produce a security threat as these macro data collected from the user serves the purpose of understanding the mood and flavour of the society. Micro and microdata would include social media posts, amount of people visiting the doctor, symptom details, cash flow details and its rate, amount and places of ATM swipes, flight and transport details. These data could be integrated and fed into an AI model which according to the given data could analyse the mood of a certain society and predict the possibility of an upcoming pandemic. Sudden changes in patterns of domestic and international flights, direction and intensity of traffic flow, increase in procurement of medical supplies, retail patterns and increasing sentiments of a certain disease on social media suggests a peculiar event occurring in the community. Now there will be multiple layered AI model that would be used to first predict the possibility of a potential disease then further layered AI would be used to predict the damages it could cause and further layered AI would be used to provide a suitable defence mechanism to the problem.

In multi-layered complex AI algorithm once the chance of a potential pandemic is observed it starts working on the fate of covid 19 patients. The model would be fed with medical data containing all the symptoms that are shown. Now the algorithm would decide the fate of the patient with the symptoms mentioned. The patient could show various symptoms but may not necessarily be in fatal condition, but a patient showing only a few symptoms could turn serious. Now the AI model did not find most symptoms leading to a confirmed fatality, but it was able to narrow down 3 symptoms that ensured serious infection with heavy accuracy. Increase in haemoglobin levels, muscle aching(myglia) and the subtle fluctuation of presence of enzyme called alanine aminotransferase in the liver ensured the patient to be seriously infected. The prediction model also involved data feeding from a swarm of people and later analysing using probabilities, there is random forest model where all patient details are fed and different optional trees are created and finally the most accurate tree is selected that could perform the most accurate prediction of the fate of the covid infected patient.

Now considering the seriousness of the role performed by the AI system it is important to consider that the most accurate model must be used. A separate committee was designated in order to find the most preferable and reliable artificial intelligence model. Now there where 5 different groups of approaches that an AI model could use to produce predictions. Now these groups were evaluated according to their level of complexity, time taken to produce a certain conclusion, accuracy of the prediction is monitored. Clinical surveillance and the predictive surveillance of the patient data is matched and scored for accuracy. There could be basically 3 sets of models, it could be multi input models, parametric models or non-parametric models. Now a set of predefined small data is passed within these algorithms and the accuracy % is matched, now finally in panel selection the winner is selected and invariably the winner produces the most accurate prediction. This method is also known as the GROOMS methodology of selection of suitable AI model from all 5 different groups with predefined sets of characteristics.

Now one of the most important prediction that the AI model will have to make is the spread rate and possible infection probability strength of the virus. These predictions are made using the SIR and SEIR AI model. These are heavily mathematically modelled data which would finally produce a destined result that would predict the possible rate of spread of the virus in a particular community. Now this prediction necessarily would have very little accuracy as this prediction solely relies on the historical spread rate data that is fed into the model. But in reality, the spread of the virus would not follow a specific trend, we are just able to replicate the previous data and also considering the demographics, living conditions of people, the possible rates or its increase could to a certain extend be predicted. The SIR model relies on patient population data and its changes with time. It takes into account three parameters, the people with possibility of infection(S), infected people from the pool of people who had probability of being infected(I), infected and later on recovered people(R). now using these three data a probability calculation is estimated that could show the probability of infection in that particular area and similar demographics. These data when correlated with the surge rate we are able to produce a satisfactory curve on the increase of patients in the upcoming months, hence the rate of spread of the disease can be easily predicted. Similarly, mathematical modelling using various other data could produce further accurate predictions and its combination would make the predictions even more reliable. SIR and SEIR AI models help in drawing various analytical graphs and study on the spread in various places and the similarities shown, we could predict the overall infectious nature of the virus across the globe and find reasons that deteriorate its spread which would facilitate in easier solution development.

As we have now seen the process of fighting this covid 19 pandemic, we could anticipate that the modelling of virus pandemic behaviours would be aided by artificial intelligence in the future. It could provide mathematically regulated estimate for the ideal lockdown period that is not too short to facilitate the pandemic to resurface nor too long to harm the economy and be driven into extensive rates of unemployment rates and recession. It could be ensured that the death toll, infected rate, the economic damage, the lockdown period and necessary resources be minimised. And the availability of relief facilities at the exact required places be maximised as we will be able to predict the places with possible extensive increase. The treatment costs would be reduced and would help us choose intelligently the right mixture of preventive strategies for its control.

Overall, the artificial intelligence system rather than just providing a mathematically driven statistical analysis, it simulates the entire pandemic conditions using the bulk of data using super computers to predict with more accuracy. With the bulk of intelligently derived fight back strategies AI could also be deployed in medicine R&D which would ensure faster medical support and hence a faster break from the pandemic. So, these AI models would ensure a completely systematic and strategized fight against any devasting life threatening situation that may arise in the near future and would ensure our readiness against facing the global misery.

Reference:

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-5936-5_3

[robert-c]

The Pandemic

So far I’ve tried to focus on more fundamental issues that, while currently relevant, are less topical. Today I need to speak about the COVID-19 pandemic.

It should be clear to anyone who is following the real facts, that our response could have and should have been better and sooner, as there were ample early warnings. A global pandemic is a disaster scenario the last several presidents have been briefed about, because all of the experts knew it was a matter of when, not if, one would strike.

It should also go without saying that the primary opinions that matter in crafting a response are those of the medical professionals. Certainly not the “gut” of a “think they know it all”. And certainly not the concerns of multi-millionaires (especially politicians) who are afraid their stock portfolios will lose too much money. It may be possible to cloud the issue of just what could/should have been done sooner, but nothing changes the fact that this president (who deserves no more name recognition) eliminated our CDC liaison position in China six months before the outbreak in Wuhan, and has repeatedly tried to cut funding to the CDC and other critical scientific agencies.

This president’s divisive and ignorant rhetoric came at time when we needed a real leader to help us come together and coordinate a response. Instead, what we’ve been getting are potentially self-serving cure all myths (the malaria drugs which actually had more coronavirus patients die than those not given the drug), definitely dangerous suggestions (that we should look into how we could use disinfectants internally to knock out the virus), strong indications of vindictive allocations of needed supplies (away from blue states and areas in favor of red ones), and attempts to showboat as a leader while doing nothing but claiming credit for whatever good news there actually is (and making it up when there isn’t any.)

Look at what relief this president’s party has provided. A paltry sum for the average citizen (but making sure his name is on the checks), forgivable loans to small businesses with loopholes large enough to allow major corporations to benefit, as well as outright set asides for major corporations in major industries. All while making sure that unemployment funds are not supplemented for the states. While the president has refrained from some of the most heinous suggestions (e.g. that seniors and others at higher risk should just be willing to die to avoid tanking the economy), he certainly hasn’t disavowed those sentiments.

Even so, it is a ridiculous idea even if you are willing to put a dollar and cent value on lives. What sort of disastrous economic impact do you think having 500,000 to 1,000,000 deaths in the US will do to the economy versus perhaps ultimately 100,000 to 200,000 by sticking to our safety measures?

Until now, this president’s buffoonery was something to shake your head at and hope that we could quickly reverse when he is voted out of office. While there would be damage, it seemed like most of it could be repaired. But this pandemic is something we cannot undo. There will be many more dead than needed to be, and many more changes in our society than might have been necessary. Worst of all, more divisiveness, more “us versus them”; because stoking an angry emotional response is the best way to get people to NOT listen to their own reason and rationality. And that is exactly what this president needs to stay in power – people who won’t think things through, who will accept his (ever changing) version of the facts, because it satisfies fears of theirs.

I know the cowardly Republican lap dogs of the Senate won’t ever hold him accountable, but this president has done more to besmirch the office and circumvent the checks and balances of power than any president since Nixon. The lack of principle and courage to even investigate these actions should make virtually every Republican member of the Senate ashamed and rightfully removed from office by the citizens of both the left and the right.

The endless blame games, scapegoating and conspiracy theorizing of this president stand in stark contrast to the sort of leadership President Bush exhibited following the 9/11 attacks. His address to the first responders at “the pile” in NYC was even better than his speech to Congress. It was unifying and connected with people instead of tooting his own horn, or blaming others for our current problems in responding.

An ignorant distrust of science and experts characterizes this president and his hardest core supporters. When their fanciful beliefs were confined to political slander and “junk science” (like vaccines cause autism, windmills cause cancer, or denying climate change) they could largely be ignored as the rantings of the willfully uninformed. But when it comes to a worldwide pandemic that is infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands, and is not over yet, then it rises to the level that can only be described as “criminal stupidity”.

There are real problems for the small businesses and sole practitioners who are closed completely because they are not “essential” and I sympathize as a former small businessman (actually a sole practitioner consultant). But those wanting to rush the opening of the economy don’t really care about these people, or they would have done a better job of ensuring that the aid reached these folks instead of large businesses with deep pockets for campaign donations. This rush to reopen the economy is a self-serving political stunt and panders to the least informed of the electorate.

The bungling of early warning, adequate supplies and testing put America at special risk because we are a nation of “individualists”. Often that individualism is a good thing, but sometimes, like now, it exacerbates a problem. This is when there needs to be trust in the experts and a unifying leadership to encourage all of us “rugged individualists” to think (just a little for a time) about the good of others as well as ourselves. We are not a compliant populace, so the need for leadership by example is all the more important.

We do not have a long history of being ruled by absolute authorities, like the Chinese. After a short initial period of trying to deny the outbreak for image reasons, when the Chinese government accepted the reality of the situation they moved swiftly to impose controls, and they largely didn’t have to worry about public backlash. The Swedes have avoided full lockdowns, and while there is still uncertainty about this policy it seems to be working because the Swedes trust their government and scientific agencies and their people are taking sensible precautions individually because it isn’t an “all about me” culture.

The US has neither of these situations. The first is our political legacy and the second is mostly an issue of leadership. We have shown in the past that we can come together as a nation and solve problems for our common good. But in every case, we had a leader who showed us the way, who encouraged us to listen to our better angels. We have never endured a crisis with someone who got to his position through the exploitation of fear, anger and divisiveness.

It is my fervent hope that this is not the model for how we go forward, because if it is, we are all doomed; either to die from some natural catastrophe that could have been avoided or minimized, or to fall victim to a dictatorship of self-congratulatory smiley faces – like a Kim Jong Un, whom our president likes so much.

In the absence of scientifically based leadership, I’m calling on all the people still willing to use their brains instead of their emotions to follow the directions and advice of the medical professionals in the field of infectious disease, and ignore the advice of political leaders, looking to score a win with those want a rapid return to business as usual.

For those whose income has not been affected by the closures I encourage you to give significantly to individuals you know have been hurt by the closures. These are the people whose services you used, but cannot at this time. Perhaps the personal generosity of good people can offset somewhat the inadequate and self-serving response that was all our mostly Republican Senate would allow.

[bma-2020]

Okiedok here’s the delio. I have a list of all the blogs from the last six months who’s actively either responded to a meme i sent, responded to a message ive sent, replied to something regarding mally herself, has actually written with me, written a starter for me from my liking a starter call, has at least liked a starter i wrote for them to awknowedge it exists, all that jazz, i have a lot of open field so it’s not just a possible tumblr didnt let them no option anymore, because i send memes to everyone who posts them that i see. I reply to most peoples ooc posts. I like most starter calls I pass by. I try my darndest to actually interact bc i know how it feels to be ignored and its… i’ve been called one before so i’m using the word, thats fluffing cunty behavior, and honestly if you complain about not being interacted with but never even try when i try with you, ya being cunty, end of. I gotta list. That list only entails Mally because she’s who I care about the most. I’m probably gonna start instilling a new rule in all my blogs that if you ignore Mally and/or Darcy( @tasedandconfused ), since I would say they’re my two main blogs tho darcy gets ignored even more than mally does, probably bc i denied canon and left it entirely we know fandom hates that, if either of them is ignored then… Ya out of luck, I’m gonna unfollow you. I’m debating soft blocking everyone who ignored me on both of them but I don’t want to like be mean and deny the chance to eventually try again but at the same time i shouldnt feel bad for taking a stand and saying this is bullsheet, idk my anxiety says im awful for giving a fluff about myself but also i should give a fluff about myself probably, ive nearly died in the last three months, my brain almost exploded, i just had three root canals on one corner of my face, i have to potentially get surgery on my inner ear which i cant even afford, i dont got time to deal with only being used for like smut memes or like as a resource blog or utter bs like that, i dont got time for it. So new rules here. 1: If Mally or Darcy are not acknowledged, written with, responded to, viewed as more than just their fluffing bodies? ya dropped, im unfollowing, potentially soft blocking, which means blocking and unblocking for those not in the know, on all accounts I follow you on. Every single one. I know most of my muses are on sideblogs but despite not being able to send memes from sideblogs you can block people from sideblogs fun fact, i will do that if i have to. 2: I’m gonna be posting SCs, PCs, memes, etc. I like and respond to plotting calls, starter calls, i send memes, all of that. If I don’t get any response within.. I’m giving one week for people who don’t run on a queue and a month and a half to people on a queue based system, if i dont get anything within that time like at least an im being like ‘its posted’ or ‘its queued i wanted to let you know in case tumblrs a fluffbutt’ (i do this sometimes if i dont get even just a like on the starters i post so i at least know people saw it since i know tumblrs bs, i wait until the day they’re active to do so in case theyre busy yknow) basically i need acknowledgment at all. No you can’t claim this is abt follower count bc when you unfollow someone they inevitably unfollow you too, thats gonna drop my following, not as quickly as soft blocking would but i wanna be fair i guess, which leads to: 3: I’m basing this on your activity too, like if i like a think and you’re gone for a month after that its fine, im not gonna unfollow you unless you never come back or youre online and posting others just not mine because that tells me youre specifically ignoring me and im gonna drop you for that end of. I’m done with the bullsheet im done w the dillish behavior, i love friendship but if im giving and never receiving thats extremely one way and not gonna work. I check through my follow list weekly and i go back about five-10 pages on someones feed before i unfollow them to see their actual activity and see if theyre here or if its a q so. I’m thorough basically. 4: You dont have to be active with me on all your blogs, i mean i’d prefer it but thats hard as fluff so essentially if you have like five blogs and are just like trying w me on two or three thats fine. Ten blogs, four or five with at least a plot formed is cool. Multis just one muse is all I’d need. I’m not gonna unfollow the blogs youre not writing w me on if you at least write w me on some. Again, specifically Mally and/or Darcy. If you ignore both of them, we’re done. I havent been active on darcy because of being ignored and its a huge butt mess and im just tired i wanna use my babies, you don’t get to have my ‘better’ muses like i know a lot of ppl only follow me for my boys or my villains, you don’t get them if you ignore my baby. But, there is a limit there too. 5: If you never respond to a meme or thread even once with Mally or Darcy, or post a starter, i reply, its never replied to again after a month, I’m unfollowing and/or soft blocking for that too. Bc that means youre just raising my hopes to fluff with me or get someone else and honestly, youre even more cunty than than the people just flat out ignoring me if you do that. And this isnt a specific person, this is five of the people actually on my list. Yes, my list is also annotated with specifics again I was very thorough on this yesterday, I hyperfixated I’ll admit it, I’m in a fluffing depressionary bubble and being told to get over it because people want something they dont deserve to have to. I am a believer that people deserve good things but if youre purposefully being cunty… no you dont. 6: No I’m not releasing my list, maybe I will and I’ll omit the urls because I don’t want people being buttholes to each other too but otherwise, yall not seeing it im not giving a callout because… really thats just unnecessary here. I don’t think yall are toxic people or something i just think yall are unintentionally being cunty. And no I don’t mean everyone that follows me i mean the ppl that add up to what i’ve documented so far and fit the bill of butthat that i’ve shown, its behaviors yall gotta check before ya wreck. Yes there will be some people who have priority, everyone has those people, I write w kathryn on other platforms since she doesnt go on here as often but when Kathryn returns from war here (if she does cause she also agrees most ppl on this platform are cunty, i feel really bad saying that word so often but im gonna keep doing it i recently deleted an ask saying I was a huge cunt for not sending someone smut memes when I didn’t even follow them or know they existed so, again the travesty of this place is nutballers) same with owly, alex is here too, my most active partners are always going to be priority because theyre the ones who show the most interest and the most care. I understand that with others as well which is why I have the timeframe set up, because I want to be as open and shizz as possible while atill being firm i guess. I don’t want to have extreme double standards like its impossible for double standards not to exist at least a little bit but I want to avoid a golden chest full of them I guess. 7: I don’t have a seven rn, this was an even number and it bothered me. Seven is nust my warning that I’m bittery writing this on mobile so formatting is not real but i tried my dandest to make this look like something people might actually mind. I dont want to be butty, i dont want to be awful, i dont want to start drama or have drama but that shizz comes around anyways so i might as well make my space as okay for me as i can cause im supposed to avoid stress so my brain doesnt almost explode again, like again i almost fluffing died i dont need ppl fake being my friend or anything, i want stuff to be real and clear. I want to be happy to be on here again and have fun like i used to since my health is plummetting and I’m not allowed to go outside near plants by myself anymore because i welt up. I have plants outside my work place and im surrounded by chemicals all day long I’m welted from here to new york constantly and never comfortable in my own skin because of it and constantly see people online acting like these actual real problems are pretentious because ‘its an excuse’ when, im a fluffing sagittarius, do you know how much i want to magically be a millionaire so i can pay for friends and my own medical stuff and go on traveling and adventures, be outside probably not camping bc as a pagan i know thats a death sentence but like be outside, lay on grass, go back to swimming because i used to swim competitively and due to health reasons i can barely even go in a pool anymore because theres too much sunlight which, bit plot twist i know, im fluffing allergic to vitamin D and the rays of the sun, so go figure, attempts to be healthy kill me more, i also cant eat most plants and am constantly dying from just eating food, they dont know whats wrong with me. i cant fix it by going ve/gan for a month inf act i tried and it almost made my heart stop thanks society. These arent excuses these are the lives of disabled and diseased and to a lesser but still very real point, ethnic lives every fluffing day. This is real shit and its murder and online and gaming? It may be all I have soon since I can’t just go out and make new friends cause, again, I’d fluffing die. I get sick going to the mall or the movie theater, I miss theme parks so much but have to minimize it to weeks i dont have work so i dont get fired for having a welt while working in the beauty industry. I may have to get a degree online and change my field entirely because of my illness that nobody understands. People even make fun of it constantly online and I wish I could just drop online entirely because of how unbelievably ableist the entirety of the world is, i wish i could drop humans in general for their ableism, but i cant. I don’t have choices in most cases, but throwing away people who maybe purposefully maybe unintentionally thats why i’m giving you this warning and will be repeating this warning for awhile, this is where i have choice. I have to use what little choice I have in life while I can since everytime i go to movies or a concert or a theme park i almost die because of not having an immune system that functions or being in certain air qualities pr being near plants or unclean people, I may not have much time and I gotta do whats best for what little mental health I have, and if that means dropping people i care about and really want to write with and do things with but who ignore me then, i guess so be it.

[justincaseitmatters]

Contagious Vacations: Sarah Vowell on Hawaii’s History

Rewind from KCActive.com by Dan Lybarger

In her books, audio essays (for public radio’s This American Life ) and speeches, Sarah Vowell may be the only person on earth who can describe her vacations or recall historical events without making listeners sleepy.

That’s probably because not many vacationers frame their tales as entertainingly as she can. Vowell uses her journeys to explain how our country has developed, and she resurrects the fears, excitement and intrigue that our ancestors faced.

In her latest book, Unfamiliar Fishes, she explains how the past and present meet in Hawaii. When she comes to Unity Temple on The Plaza, 707 W 47th Street, Kansas City, Missouri at 7 p.m. on Sun., April 3 (tickets are available at Rainy Day Books), don’t be surprised if she makes you want to visit the same places she’s been or dig through the same musty documents she’s read.

Contacted by phone in San Francisco before her Kansas City appearance, Vowell explains, “Doing a reading is different from writing a book. You have to be cognizant that people are sitting there wanting to go home. That’s what most audiences are, people who want to go home. They have laundry to do, dinner reservations, whatever.

“Because I’m an audience member, I want to go home myself. There are certain sections of the book that are better out loud, things that are perhaps a little funnier that merely informational.”

A Nephew’s Help

It probably doesn’t hurt that she often joins her fraternal twin sister Amy and her outspoken young nephew Owen on her trips. The lad often says things during the journeys that wind up in his aunt’s books and essays.

She recalls, “It wasn’t really an intentional thing. I don’t know how to drive, so his mother has always been kind enough to come with me on some of my reporting trips to drive me around to places that have less than adequate public transportation. When Owen was born, you know how kids need their mothers, so he would just come along.

“When he first started talking, he would say a lot of quotable things. Some of it was the joy of childhood malapropisms. I needed his mom to drive me to Ohio when I was writing about assassinated presidents (in Assassination Vacation) and going to the cemetery where President Garfield is buried. After he got home from that trip, he told his mother he wanted to go to the cemetery. He called it, ‘a Halloween Park.’ He captures the weird appeal of cemeteries because they are sort of park-like.”

Even as he matures, Owen remains a valuable collaborator. “Sometimes he brings me down to earth because I get so sucked into what I’m researching.”

When she recalled to him how whaling ships frequently stopped by Honolulu harbor, the youngster was horrified by the slaughter of the animals and didn’t share his aunt’s obsession with Moby Dick. “He couldn’t stop being offended by the entire thing. So when I told him to lighten up because pretty soon that petroleum would be discovered in Pennsylvania and then the whole world would go ape for fossil fuel, he just said, ‘Good.’

“He didn’t know anything about whaling, which means to me that he didn’t really read the Moby Dick popup book I game him,” she adds.

No Dry Text

In all of her work, Vowell attempts to make recalling the past in a more visceral manner than history teachers did in school. Vowell is a huge fan of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, and her own tales have much of the same intrigue.

In The Wordy Shipmates, she expertly recalls how Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, left Massachusetts in order to escape deportation for his radical beliefs (he felt church and state should be separated because the latter would corrupt the former). He wound up receiving an urgent but secret warning.

“He was (Williams’) friend. When the official militia wants to stick him on a boat and send him back to England, (Williams) wasn’t at home because someone had warned him. It was later revealed that that someone was (John) Winthrop (the Massachusetts governor and the leader of that militia). I would do that for a friend, even one I disagreed with. It made them seem less far away or a Puritan cartoon. That made them seem like they were two guys who were buddies.”

Similarly, in recounting how June Carter Cash came to co-write her husband Johnny Cash’s hit song “Ring of Fire,” she makes listeners feel both their forbidden desire (both were married to others at the time) and their very real fear of facing fire and brimstone. Reese Witherspoon may have won an Oscar for playing June in the movie Walk the Line, but Vowell’s account of their relationship is far more powerful than the film. In case you doubt me on this, got to the This American Life site to hear for yourself at the 47:30 mark.

Vowell can also make seemingly staid subject matter hysterically funny. Her high-pitched nasal voice and her droll, deadpan delivery make anything she says sound more amusing. Even in print, she’s a riot. In Assassination Vacation, she attends the musical 1776 in the same theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot. While liking the performance, laments, “Going to Ford's Theatre to watch the play is like going to Hooters for the food.”

In Unfamiliar Fishes, Vowell recalls how 19th century Hawaii went from being an isolated kingdom to part of the United States. She recalls how both whalers and New England missionaries fought over the destiny of the islands. Naturally, she finds an engaging way to retell the feud. In describing how a French voyage to the islands included collecting data on social diseases spread by previous European sailors, she muses, “Typical — the only thing more European than spreading VD is documenting it.”

Toward the end of the monarchy, one almost begins to side with the colonists because King Kalakaua was paying for his massive gambling debts with the public treasury. It’s no wonder the kingdom fell two years after he died in 1891.

Before you start to celebrate his demise, Vowell cautions that Kalahaua also preserved important aspects of Hawaiian culture like hula dancing which could have been lost because missionaries disapproved of them. She adds, “Yes, he was corrupt and inept. But his contemporary over here, President Grant, happened to be presiding over one of the most corrupt administrations in our history. It was ‘The Gilded Age.’ There’s this golden sheen over an ugly face.”

Forced Diversity

Our current president, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii, and his multi-ethnic ancestry is actually typical of the region. With the 19th century rise of sugar plantations, the owners recruited from around the globe to find the multitudes needed to grow the labor-intensive crop. According to Vowell, it wasn’t political correctness that made them recruit workers from Japan, the Philippines and other remote locales.

“The reasons the plantation owners wanted all these different kinds of people were that they intentionally built their own little Towers of Babel in the Pacific because they didn’t want their workers to be able to talk to one another because they didn’t want their workers to organize against their overlords.”

A Woman of Many Faces

If you’ve never heard of Vowell or her books, there’s still a good chance you’ve either heard or seen her. She’s been on dozens of talk shows and has appeared on the TV show Bored to Death and in the movie Please Give. In that film, Catherine Keener can be spotted reading The Wordy Shipmates, and then Vowell can be spotted as an indifferent customer in Keener’s shop.

Most people, however, know her as the voice of the invisible Violet Parr in the Pixar classic The Incredibles. Vowell says that she prefers to be typing her books instead of appearing on camera, but says her readings and acting career help her find new readers for her unusual but rewarding texts.

“Being a salesman enables me to keep writing the little books I do. Part of the reason I can write these books that sound like ones that nobody would want to read,” says Vowell. “I went to graduate school and wrote a graduate thesis, and I think one guy, the one who was grading it, read it. I couldn’t contain my rage that this was something only one person would read. It seemed like such a waste to me. Before I’m a writer, I’m a reader. A book doesn’t exist unless someone’s reading it.”

[blackjack-15]

Staying Tuned for a Soap Opera — Thoughts on: Stay Tuned for Danger (STFD)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: STFD, FIN, RAN.

The Intro:

Stay Tuned for Danger is another short game, though it owes its runtime more to the limitations of 1999 than anything else. Full of wacky, overwrought characters and hilariously over-the-top threats, puzzles, and ‘incidents’, STFD isn’t a smart game, but it’s a mildly fun one, and definitely improves as the second in a series.

STFD relies heavily on constantly rising action, meaning that things never calm down — the game escalates and escalates until it’s over, which encourages the player to finish the whole thing in as few parts as possible to get the full effect.

It does have its problems — way too many things to click on that are pointless, an obvious villain, frustrating and out-of-place puzzles, and the clunkiest interface known to man, but it saves itself from the scrap heap by embracing, rather than avoiding, its own campiness.

The Title:

Funnily enough, this title is actually straight-up ace. It’s a snappy take on soap opera clichés, and is the only game to have a four-letter abbreviation, lest we take Nancy into the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

Er…considering how Rick looks, make that further into the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

Plus, this game puts a heavy emphasis on the continually rising action of its events, so the “stay tuned” part works really, really well. A+ work here.

The Mystery:

Fresh off of the success of finding a killer in Miami, Aunt Eloise once again hears of trouble and sends Nancy Drew barking after it. This time, it’s off to New York to investigate some death threats that a soap opera star is being sent.

Hold the presses, I know.

With everyone working as hard as they can to be unhelpful, it’s up to Nancy to massively invade everyone’s privacy and discover who’s writing the threats (and making the bombs, and dropping the lights, and…) before Rick Arlen actually gets seriously hurt or killed.

Through a lot of snooping, after-hours sneaking, and clunky interrogations, Nancy manages to “figure out” the culprit when he presents himself at the end despite 90% of clues pointing to him, has to solve a puzzle in the nick of time, and treats the audience to a hilarious-looking “capture” of the culprit.

The Suspects:

Mattie Jensen is the one renting Aunt Eloise’s apartment, and the person Nancy first encounters. Not only is she the (co-) star of the show, but she’s also the only one who stuck with her original agent, Dwayne Powers. 

Her mother is too involved in her life, she moves like a plasticine doll, and is a Horrible judge of character, employing Dwayne Powers and having dated Rick Arlen, but Mattie seems genuinely concerned for Rick’s life, asking Nancy to help by snooping around, and offering her aid to the amateur detective.

Mattie’s not short on motive, having been dumped by Rick and having her career endangered by his anticipated contract-breaking in order to get into films and out of soaps, but she’s not really a “suspect” once you’re 1/3 of the way through the game.

This is one of Her Interactive’s favorite tropes — a suspect cleared early on so that Nancy can have a helper — and it shows up for the first time here. In this case, Mattie helps Nancy go undercover as a budding young actress in order to help her investigate more fully.

Rick Arlen is the other co-star of the soap opera (“Light of Our Love”), playing the male main lead. Tired of the small soap opera notoriety he has right now, Rick longs for the big screen, leading him to try to break his contract with Bill Pappas and leave the show.

Rick is a blowhard egomaniac who’s willing to flirt with any woman he sees — even the young amateur detective Nancy Drew — but that’s pretty much all the depth that he has. He dates a lot, but he’s too shallow to keep any relationship for long, either dumping them (Mattie) or being dumped (Lillian).

There might be a moment or two where you think he might be behind his threatening notes to give him an unimpeachable reason to leave…but then you remember that this is Rick Arlen, and he has No Shame, and doesn’t see anything wrong with breaking his contract.

He does send the first few notes, signing them with an anagram of his name (which somehow Her thought was brilliant enough to use twice in one game), but that’s it as far as his involvement goes — he’s not a man with a death wish; he’s an egomaniac. Pure and simple.

The only other thing about him in the game is that he ditched Dwayne for a better agent, which is treated as, like, the Height of Disloyalty. However, knowing that Dwayne is balls-to-the-wall nuts, not a great agent, and hates Rick for dating Mattie….I’d switch to a new agent as well. Sure, it’s not super kind, but it’s not at all an immoralmove to make, and it’s the best thing he could do if he wants an actual enduring career in showbiz.

Dwayne Powersis Mattie’s agent, Rick’s ex-agent, and all around bleeding psychopath with delusions of grandeur. He’s also one of the most obvious villains in the whole series (tying with…well, RAN), blames Rick for his failing business (when the truth is that he’s just not very good at it and has stopped trying at this point), and casts his Cool Alter-Ego Owen W. Spayder as his crimesona.

Dwayne isn’t diagnosably medically insane like the culprit in FIN, but he’s crazy all the same, from his Loud Speeches about hating Rick, to his skulking around the set in a hat and beard, to his ridiculous bombs and light-droppings, etc. etc.

He’s upset that he couldn’t make it as an actor himself, and resigned himself to helping others with their natural talents. Not only does he let this turn him into an attempted murderer, but he also gives this Huge Speech at the end…which lets us see, yeah, he wouldn’t have made it as an actor (and as if RAN needed to reinforce that point, it does anyway).

Dwayne is interesting in that he’s the only suspect to escape twice and the only villain to be the villain in two games, but…quite frankly, he’s not interesting enough to deserve those distinguishing characteristics. Dwayne isn’t enough to carry one game, let alone two, and it shows.

Lillian Weiss is the snappish, cold director of “Light of Our Love”, who is suspicious of everyone and has the clout of being one of the only characters who can fire Nancy without it resulting in a second chance.

She also happens to be the smartest and most likable character in the game (except for Bill Pappas, of course), willing to accept when she’s been wrong and call Nancy to come back in, who figures out who’s pulling these “pranks” around the set, and poured a pitcher of water on Rick’s head while dumping him. 

She also sent him poisoned chocolates which, knowing the guy, I fully condone. She gets to live out Rick’s dream by going to Hollywood, so that’s nice and karmic as well.

Lillian isn’t ever really nice to you, nor does she lose her snappiness, but she is a good guy, and she’s allowed to be smart and capable without being warm and fuzzy, and I personally think that makes her more multi-faceted than most early ND characters were allowed to be.

Millie Strathorn is the elderly owner and founder of WWB and prop master for “Light of Our Love”. She’s also not quite sane, mixing fantasy and reality at any given moment.

Her “motivation” is that she hates Rick and tries to keep submitting scripts to write him out of the show, and this show apparently doesn’t have a Writer (we’ve got a producer, director, and two stars + talent agent, but no writer?), but her scripts keep being rejected anyway. 

Probably because, once again, she mixes fantasy and reality, and definitely wrote a scene where Rick Arlen and “Rory Danner” face off and mud-wrestle, stabbing each other in the face.

Either that or a ménage àtrois between Rick, Rory, and Yuri (Rory’s “evil twin” in the show”. Which would be Very Tricky to shoot with 1999 technology.

Anyway, Millie makes you solve a few middling riddles and then pretty much effs off for the rest of the game, making her a crazy memorable (not to mention straight-up crazy) character despite her lack of screen time (and overall pointlessness).

William Pappas is the never-seen yet always entertaining producer of “Light of Our Love”, who is super pissed about Rick trying to break his contract is “Light of Our Love” and says that he’ll kill Rick before he let him walk out on him. This threat, of course, is just Bill venting, and after Nancy defuses the bomb in Rick’s dressing room, Bill is more than happy to help her out.

As a suspect, Bill sucks, wholly and completely — to the point where he’s just not a suspect. As a character, however, he is a Delight and a Treasure, bursting with pointless personality. I aspire to be Bill Pappas.

Ralph Guardino is the twice-seen security guard at WWB who gives you access to the building, then promptly effs off until he appears to arrest Dwayne at the end. And yes, his name is just “Guard” with “-ino” added at the end. I guess Her used up all their imagination on weird and wonderful pictures to photoshop their characters into.

Ralph, like Bill, isn’t really a suspect at all; he exists because the story needed a job done, so they created a character to do it. He’s also Bill’s cousin, so there’s some added “meaning” that’s actually pointless as well. There’s nothing offensive about Ralph, per se, but there’s nothing good about him either. He’s just kind of…there.

The Favorites:

The general soapy tone of this game makes it fun, and Dwayne’s villain reveal/speech is only matched in its dramatic campiness by…well, his speech in RAN.

Bill Pappas is my Hero and I wish he’d gotten more screen time (though I love that we never see him), and Nancy’s delivery of “Prop Master of DEATH” alone is worth the price of admission.

The Un-Favorites:

First off, the fact that they forgot to put in the desk key really bothers me. I know that the only stuff in there are fake fan letters to Rick from Mattie, encouraging him to stay (which doesn’t point to guilt at all, and so is pretty pointless), but like…it’s locked. It must be important.

I know Her Interactive wanted to advertise their 100+ “close up shots”, but it drags the game down to look at everything — especially since hidden in those 100+ are 5-10 that are Super Tiny and that you have to click on, even if they don’t tell you anything new, or you’ll get stuck and be unable to progress.

Nancy’s inability to see Dwayne as the villain even when it’s patently obvious is a pretty serious knock against this game. Neither Bill nor Ralph are considered actual suspects, Mattie is cleared early on, Lillian is too snappish with you (too obvious, to Her Interactive’s way of thinking) to be it, and Millie is too old to do the physical stuff (and, with her wanting Rick’s character killed off, is also too obvious) and so as early as 1/3 into the game you’re left with Dwayne and Rick. As Rick needs himself to live so he can go on to Star in Movies, you’re just left with Dwayne, who all the clues point to anyway.

The Fix:

Fixing STFD would require totally re-coding it to fix sound and playability issues on newer computers, updating the graphics, fixing characters so that they don’t look like blow-up dolls…all those Quality of Life improvements are super important and vital to a fix.

But fixing it would also require some re-writing. I realize that Millie is in the game as a nod to the original writer of Nancy Drew, and it’s…well, definitely an homage, if not a good homage, but taking her out would go a long way to streamlining the game.

There are simply too many culprits for Her Interactive’s general ability to write multiple fleshed-out characters who are all plausible suspects (especially with Nik being gone), and so the result is that the incidents, character traits, and character appearances are spread too thin for anything but blatant caricature. Millie is simply the easiest character to remove, along with Bill Pappas and Ralph (who only appears twice anyway).

You could fold Millie into Lillian without too much trouble, get rid of Bill (though it breaks my heart to say it), have Ralph’s name appear early but have him only appear at the end to arrest Dwayne, and it would lighten the load that the story breaks under considerably. I don’t think this would make it an A+ story, but it would at least be less cluttered, and STFD is cluttered enough without needing extra help.