#and the other black folk who do this? why? what do u gain by making fun of people who look like you?

[antianimus]

really wish I could go on a post containing a fat white woman on any other website and not see some racist ass shit. i really wish this wasnt where we going with being on the internet

[shivada-jade]

codename: vind

older sibling!reader

characters: diluc, kaeya ➡ mentions: adelinde, crepus, la signora warning(s): alcohol consumption, swearing, and because for some reason, older siblings tend to be shorter than younger siblings. iDK WHY but ugh, yeah you're shorter than diluc and kaeya bc you're the older sibling. ik, i hate it too

like, i wanna be a tall 6'2 woman

diluc's 5'10 so u can still be tall in the story.. just not 5'11 😢 sorry over 5'10 folks

➡ WRITTEN BEFORE 2.1 so uhh :D

notes: platonic w diluc and kaeya, duh bc ur the older sibling. sibling love!!! sibling love !! woop woop !

"Dad, I'm home!" You bellow out to the house, waving a polite hello to Adelinde who looked shocked to see you. You kick off your shoes and slide your way to the long table in the living room, swiftly grabbing an apple before heading upstairs.

Your hands graze the railings and make your way up to find your dad. Upon reaching the last flight of steps, you were suspicious with how the place was very quiet. Granted, your younger brothers are now adults, but it still felt too quiet. Maybe you expected to see your brothers playing a game of chess, maybe bickering and fencing. You were hoping to see your family after being away.

You were a part of the Fatui under the Mondstadt branch. It was and at the same time wasn't a choice to be roped into the Fatui. You got roped into the wrong group of friends and found yourself blackmailed by the infamous group.

You didn't want to join. You didn't want any of it. You've been disconnected from the world. Wiped out from the face of Earth. No one gave information to you, you couldn't learn anything about what's happening currently. The most you could do was send letters, but even those were difficult to send out. You had to do it in secrecy or you'd be in trouble.

Love, the better sibling,

[Y/N]

Or another common send off is:

Please write back soon,

[Y/N]

And your family never failed to send back letters. They asked what you're doing, where you are and how are you, still you never told them your occupation, fearful of what they would think and where your loyalties lie, so you told them you were working under an adventurer.

It's for the greater good. You remember trying to convince yourself.

You're a horrible person.

You were sixteen then. Your younger brothers were twelve. It's been 10 long years since you last saw them, and 6 years since you last received a letter back. You miss them dearly. You often wondered what sorts of adventures they did without you.

But why are you wondering about this? You knew what they did: you knew everything that happened.

You're living under a heavy burden.

"Dad?" You call out again. Maids and wine makers look aghast when they see you, and they're on the verge of fainting when you call out to your father.

Stop the act.

It's strange how the letters were suddenly cut off. The last letter you received was from Kaeya, telling you how you needed to come home straight away. You tried to, but the Fatui prevented you from doing so. A lady called La Signora supervised you directly to make sure you didn't leave.

You know...

Adelinde brushes the dust off her uniform and hurries up the stairs to catch up to you, "Dear, is that you [Y/N?]"

"Did you forget me that easily? I'm offended Miss Adelinde," you chided, but the teasing look in your eyes give Adelinde relief to know you aren't actually offended. "Miss, where's dad?"

You're sickening.

Adelinde takes one look at you and squeezes your shoulders with a smile, "I'm afraid that's not for me to say. Master Diluc should be able to-"

"Oh, where's Diluc and Kaeya?" You ponder, and the corners of your lips curl upwards. "Those two were always attached to the hip. Where are they now? Horseback riding at the vineyard? Ha! I-"

You glance at Adelinde's watery eyes and stop your babbling. "What's wrong Miss Adelinde?" You reach for her hands on your shoulders and hold them. "Ah, has father been making you work too hard? I can request him to lessen your load."

Adelinde shakes her head no. "You don't have a clue, do you? Oh," she sighs. "Please, rest yourself by the fireplace. I'll prepare tea for you." She rests her hands back at her side and scurries to the kitchen.

You frown, unsure why she's jumpy, but you follow her request and sit by the fireplace. The crackle of the fire contrasts the tense air you feel when maids brush past you, offering tea Adelinde made. You thank them, gently blowing on the drink.

After taking a sip, you place it down with a pinky to lessen the noise it makes on the table. You hear the door open, and the choruses of maids greeting someone.

"Welcome home, Master Diluc," you hear and other voices saying, "We've prepared a meal for you and your sibling, would you like to rest yourself?"

You peek from your chair, he obviously hadn't realized you yet.

Diluc's lips make a thin line and shrugs off his jacket, "Why is Kaeya visiting. Isn't he supposed to do his knightly duties?"

You have no clue why he says it like that. The venom in his voice sends a shiver down your spine. You decide this is your cue to give him a warm welcome. You stand from your seat, and open your arms in a grand gesture and waltz to your brother. "Diluc! It's been a while huh?"

You clearly see him tense hearing your voice. His head snapped to your direction with his mouth parted. The maids respectively take their leave, bowing before they do so.

Diluc looks you up and down, still not believing you're there, like you're just his imagination. His hand slowly reaches out to you as if you're a dream.

Your feet lead you closer and you grasp him tightly in an embrace.

He freezes, but slowly relaxes in your hug, reluctantly bringing up his own arms to wrap around you. You feel his grip tightening, and you feel his shake out silent sobs. His face buries in your neck, letting tears fall on your clothes.

You soothe his back, and press a kiss on his hair. "I'm home, Diluc."

He trembles, pushing himself away to look at you clearly. Why hadn't you come home earlier? He wanted to vent, he wanted to yell, shout, he wanted to know how much he missed you in your absence.

He clears his throat and coughs in his fist. "You should have told me about your arrival," he adjusts the gloves on his hands, and looks to the floor like he did when he admitted he accidentally broke your toy when you were 10.

After these years, he still looks up to you as his older sibling. Not a thing has changed.

But you couldn't help but notice one thing. You knew Diluc and Kaeya had matured, you knew they would grow taller, but shit, now Diluc's taller than you.

"I sent a letter a month ago," you began. "It should have been sent to your office in the Favonius Headquarters? That's where I send my mail after you told me about your promotion to Cavalry Captain."

You squish his cheeks with both your hands. "Because I know you're a workaholic and only respond to letters that mean business, so that's where I sent it off to. You never write back, neither does Kaeya," you pause, thinking for a moment. "Neither does dad. Tell me he hasn't gotten sick that he couldn't respond to my letters."

Diluc lifts your hands off his face and frowns. He doesn't know how to break the news to you- not when you look so excited to be home and tell of your adventures to your family, so he asks, "Did you eat yet?"

You note the frown on his face. "'What's got you grumpy," you prod. "I need to find dad first. Told him in the first letter I gave him, I'd give the first gem I find."

Diluc watches you leave him to go to Crepus' room on the second floor. He hears the thuds on the floor and the opening of the door, but does nothing to stop you. You left with a smile, and you come back confused.

"Why is dad's room empty?"

How cruel.

...

Kaeya hums, passing by Flora's shop and purchasing a Calla Lily for the sake of it. He is well aware of the Fatui that stand by corners. Whispers of the wind give him intel, and so does alcohol apparently. He leans on a wall right outside Angel's Share, watching two Fatui members drink some of the tavern's strongest alcohol, imported from Snezhnaya.

"That damn," the one with the red and black mask hiccups, lifting a mug with foam overflowing. "Damn brat's gonna snitch on us to the Knights- *hiCC* boss lady wou- *HicC* would have our heads!"

Thankfully, their more responsible Fatui friend takes the mug and switches it with their drink, water. "You're the one who let Vindicta out of your sight when you know their frequencies to escape. This is all on you, buckaroo."

One of the Fatui escaped? How peculiar.

Kaeya hums, in steady strides he shows himself to the Fatui and takes a seat from another table and sits in front of the two. "My, my, my. If it isn't the wonderful Fatui," he divuldges. He twirls his Calla Lily around his fingers, amused with the Fatui's reactions.

Their mouths drop, knowing who he is and they hastily clean themselves up by sitting straight and wiping away the alcohol from their faces. "Good evening, sir."

"Evening to you too," he places the flower behind the person's ear, flustering them. "Well? Drink up. Everything you order will be on me."

The Fatui look at each other, skeptical with Kaeya's kindness, but the drunken one accepts the offer. Kaeya celebrates in the inside as he slowly gains Fatui intel.

Though, the second Fatui whom he dubbed the "Responsible One," took a while for them to take a sip. Turns out, they couldn't handle alcohol, that's why they avoided drinking it.

"So, my dear friends," he slides a coin on the table and stares both of them down. "A mora for your thoughts? I couldn't help but notice the tense of your shoulders when you first arrived here."

Responsible One raises their mug drunkenly, and gives a pointed look, "You... you know too much. How?..." They stare at their friend and whisper shout, "Don't tell him about Vind or-" They fail to continue their sentence and pass out on the table.

Kaeya feigns a surprised face and looks at Fatui number 2, "Who exactly is Vind? I'm sure you don't mean the storm watcher up at the cliff." He coats his voice with sugar, and it seems Fatui friend fell for his kindness.

"The damn brat," they spit out before hiccupping again. "Recruited them, fed them, saw potential, gave a home, and they escaped."

Kaeya nods and pushes another bottle of wine to the Fatui's direction, urging them to continue.

"Was supposed to be one of the Agents to spy on the *hiCc* to spy on the Ragnvindr family, because *HicC* Vind was one of the best there is. They were about to be promoted Harbinger after an assignment *hiCCUpp* but then Big Boss Lady said 'End the Ragnvindr legacy,' Vindicta left without a word. They escaped."

The Fatui downs another bottle of wine. "But judging from Boss Lady's reaction, Vind did the job: killed him and placed the blame on the Knights."

The Calvary Captain knits his brows and places his hands in front of him. It laced themselves and he watches the Fatui person empty out his wine.

"I'd be careful of what you say if I were you." His lone eye glints dangerously.

"End the legacy?" Kaeya frowns. "Can I ask..." He couldn't ask why or the Fatui would stop talking to him. "Can I ask when your beloved spy did their job?"

The Fatui waves a hand, "Six years ago. After they killed that damn aristocrat's father, they tried escaping. Big Boss supervised them under their watch. 'Potential' the Harbingers always say, but I don't see the potential in them if they don't have loyalties under the Fatui. A wild card, really."

They lay their cheek on the table. The temperature drops quite dangerously. Kaeya's diamond eye glints with coldness before it turns back to warmth.

"Rumours have it," the Fatui sighs, playing with his empty mug. "The training Vindicta went through is rougher, so we were hoping they would tie their loyalties to us. We let them explore once, and they escaped under my watch. Maybe it was their assignment to leave, maybe it's not, because Boss Lady was okay with it, she said 'Vindicta will always return in our hands.' when they first escaped, and surely enough they do return. But either way, I'm fucked for letting them go missing the third time of the week."

Kaeya laughs with no soul and quickly ends the lovely 'conversation.' He pushes himself from the table and stands, "Thank you for chatting with me, it's been interesting." He tucks in the chair and glances at the two Fatui dozing, or close to dozing off.

He swiftly turns away, scoffing when he's out of sight from people. Vindicta is a dangerous card. Not even the Fatui know where their loyalties side.

Vindicta. How peculiar indeed.

One of the best Fatui, which probably meant they were payed well with respect and mora, but why are they labeled as an escapee when they always return? With someone as dangerous as a Harbinger, who do they side with- the Fatui or something else?

Kaeya has a lot of questions.

...

Diluc sits on a cushioned chair and hunches over, resting his chin on his hands, thinking.

Always thinking.

The once lit fireplace is soaked with water he splashed over. The scent of burnt wood wafts nearby. The light chatter of maids go through one ear and leave the other.

How long had it been since he last saw you?

Eternity is his answer. It's been eternity since he last saw you.

He lets out a long sigh, throwing his head back and running a hand through his untied locks.

Too much thinking for today. Diluc groans in frustration and sits back up. He turns his head slightly, seeing you in the corner of his eyes taking out boxes of things you owned from 10 years before.

It doesn't make sense to him. Why come back so suddenly after years of not seeing you? Though, you claim you sent him letters, he never got them because he closed himself off from the Knights.

"Diluc," you set down a small picture of a family portrait you took out from hiding behind many books.

You are taking this oddly well.

You're taking this too well, in fact.

This raises a red flag for Diluc. He told you the fall out of your family, how he quit the Knights, but still you're going around the place like nothing had happened.

Don't you feel any rage? Or even sadness?

He sees too many red flags and hates it- from the way you can hide things like Kaeya so easily, to the way you just suddenly appear back in his life. It feels weird. It's not easy to let someone that in quick, yet you're still his role model, so it's okay, right?

He's always looked up to you when he was younger. You never were at a loss of words and stood up for him. You were the person he can turn to when something wrong happens, but what were you doing for yourself to be gone for so long? Adventuring Teyvat could not have taken ten whole years. Where did you even stay?

"Diluc," you crouch in front of him and talk to him as if he were six again. "I'm okay, okay?"

Diluc takes a shaky breath and sits up straight. His posture resembling a king's. "I have an idea, and I would like you to help me."

You look at him in awe. The realization settles in: Diluc has grown, and you're still stuck trying to make up the past.

"And what do I help you with?"

"Finding who's responsible for father's death."

notes: had this in my drafts for a long time and i was like "wait where was i going with this..." until BAM i have the idea again so im gonna continue it

(part 2)

[petewentzisblack1312]

okay so since you know more than sarah could u give more info?? because i love learning about pete and his blackness as its literally never talked about ANYWHERE else. like thank god for tumblr tbh. sarah is genuinely the only reason ive ever known anything about him in that way but its always been limited so thats why i sent her the ask. i didnt even know ur blog. sorry for sending to her instead of you!!!

oh its fine!! im pretty new on the scene technically. while sarah and i were in the fob fandom at the same time in 2015 ish, i actually left tumblr completely and recently came back!! but anyway, lets talk about petes melanin (my beloved <3)

theres a pretty pervasive narrative, not just around pete but around any black and especially biracial celebrities that theyre ashamed of their blackness or arent "really" black. theres like. a looooooooooong conversation to be had within the black community about this, but to tldr it, the assumption is if you dont look black, you arent black, which for a lot of reasons isnt exactly the case. with him in particular theres a lot of stuff that contributes to this.

most people do not associate the alternative scene and emo especially with black people, so its easy to overlook a lot if someone isnt SUPER obviously black. pete has other ethnic features, like his nose, and is recognizable visually as black except for his skin color. except thats because hes been artificially lightened in photoshoots due to editing and (ALLEGEDLY AND POSSIBLY) lighter foundations. further, he relaxed his hair, which takes away another ethnic feature of his.

there is another aspect to this, which is that black people tan, noticeably and by several shades. you will not notice it if youre like seeing them continuously throughout the year, but as someone who lives in the caribbean and has spent some time in the states, the difference is stark enough to be noticeable. a lightskinned black person may look MUCH paler in the winter compared to in the summer.

in addition, the wealthier you are, the less time you tend to spend in the sun, so ive noticed that black celebrities tend to get lighter as they gain notoriety just because they have like more resources. the reason people from the caribbean tend to become lighter when we go to the states isnt because of less sun, during the summer thats not at all the case, its because the US is more developed so you dont HAVE to spend as much time in the sun.

besides that, hes like genuinely very loud and proud about being black, but all of those attempts are met with backlash. there was the reaction to his natural hair, the reaction to him with cornrows, and the reaction to his very emotional rant about the murder of george floyd. it happens in fobs music too!! ioh for example draws a lot of influence from choral and hymnal arrangements and soul music, not to mention jay-z and babyface working on the album itself, which led to them being labelled sell outs. they also just generally work with rappers more, with lil wayne on tiffany blews and big sean on srar, both of which also led to them being called sell outs. ab/ap as an album draws influence from rap/trap and mixtape culture in the way it was written (thats why its got so many samples), and subsequently got remixed. remember what happened next? mania draws a lot of influence from calypso and dancehall music and features burna boy singing in yoruba patois. that one led to the featured artist getting harassed en masse and multiple (worse) edits of the song without him on it. i dont like it here 💞.

that last point brings me to the fact that while pete definitely loves hardcore and metal, he also has always loved reggae and dancehall. hes half jamaican, spent time in jamaica as a child and listened to his grandparents records, which were. well. reggae and calypso and a little dancehall. if anyone ASKS him about it, hell talk about it willingly and candidly, theres an entire interview from during the hiatus (which i can no longer find rip) where hes asked about and talks about going natural and spending time in jamaica and listening to reggae, which heavily influenced black cards. he visited jamaica during the hiatus! although its unclear if he visited family since literally every news outlet that mentioned it was like "oh tropical getaway <3" unaware that thats where his folks are from

also heres that interview snippet sarah mentioned! i have the full page, its about the early days which is funny bc its just before futct.

theres also some poetry on sarahs blog that she found years ago thats VERY black. i dont like making it easy to find for nonblack people simply because the first time it was unearthed mostly white people were talking about it and the meaning of it went way over everyone elses head so i try to make sure that if people start talking about it they know going in that its about being black and biracial specifically and so that black fans dont feel the way i did when it first surfaced lol

all of this emphatically points to pete genuinely loving his blackness and not trying to hide it and it being something that majorly shaped his life, but genuinely being unable to talk about it bc of public perception.

sorry for talking your ear off!! if you have any specific qs i almost certainly have answers!!

[appledotcodotuk]

why the hive fckin suck at its job: a rant

spoilers for tgwdlm ahead!

first of all, it's important to consider what exactly the hive's job is. my answer is... who the fuck knows. literally. what is the hive's aim. what do you want Paul? more like, what do you want hive? let's find out!

it kinda evolves, as the play progresses. the intial aim of the hive, and one that does actually remain consistent is the constant burning need to grow and devour and gain more and more (insert capitalism metaphor here).

however, this is distorted by the people it possess who influence that aim, as we'll see later.

also the fact it crashes into a theatre displaying Mamma Mia gives the hive the motive it need to fit the world around it to the structure of the musical. having no originality of its own, the hive instead just picks up what is given to it. kinda like an evil baby.

it wants uniformity, that is indeed its ultimate goal and desire, no duh. it thinks it can achieve that through musical theatre, shame that the hive is dead wrong. cause the hive fucking sucks at its own job / aim / ultimate purpose / one concrete goal that motivates all its actions.

can't maintain control over its subjects

okay, so, the hive wants uniformity. it wants everyone to be dancing to the beat of its own tune. right? yeah. shame it literally can't keep its own possessed subjects in line at all. at the risk of sounding like the 10th doctor waxing lyrical abt humanity for the 50th time, humans are really difficult to control cause we're not really motivated by an altruistic allegiance to one primary good. we've got icky emotions that often move us to do stupid unpredictable stuff way more. it makes me wonder if the reason the hive wanted to use musical theatre to try and persuade ppl was cause it seems to think that is how theyll get emotive humans; through emotive songs. anyways. let's look at some examples shall weeeee?

Mr Davidson:

so, Mr Davidson. funnily enough, he's the guy whose in part acting as the hive trying to figure out what it wants through his interactions w/ Paul. every person it possess gives it just a bit more humanity and curiosity abt the world it is currently taking over. at least I think so. hence why as the musical develops u get character's like possessed!Alice wondering 'why does it hurt to love?' - the change in music and mood to something much more introspective really suggests to me that the hive is beginning to question the thoughts and emotions of its human hosts.

Mr Davidson is a family man through and through, he loves his wife Carol. she's his muse, his source of light. his feelings for her are not concrete or easy to explain and solve - hence why his sudden ahem demand of her is so hilarious and also jarring. it completely clashes with the 'I want song' which is simple, and often pushes forward a wider cause. not so with Mr Davidson, he just really loves his wife man. enough to break a frickin alien possession.

tbh I think its hilarious that (at least to me) the hive has to force him to forget and continue with the song, like, he straight up is just talking to his wife in that phone call, talking, not singing. so, no possession until he reverts back into song. ergo, the hive cannot maintain the uniformity it wants. even from the get go when theoretically its control should be stronger cause it has less ppl to co-ordinate. bad. at. its. job.

Paul:

this one hurts folks. yes, I know it's generally agreed, though somewhat debated that the state of Paul by the end of the tgwdlm is not purely possessed. I agree. once again, the hive is unable to truly enforce uniformity.

at this point, the motives of Paul and the hive are kinda just mixed, neither fully human nor fully alien. hence the constant shifts between pleeing for her to get away, to hide, to stay safe: 'what if the only choice is you have to sing to survive' and just full on old style hive nastiness 'let me puke in your mouth and just open your food bin girl' (so romantic 🥰 /j).

the hive has gone away from its original aim, and become something... different. no longer stuck to just one type of genre or style of song, it's really clever to show the developing complexity of the hive by showing how it is now juggling lots of different motifs with references to all the old songs from before recontextualised in a new way - its learning. evil baby... no longer uniform.

general miscommunication:

there are several instances of the hive not fully having uniform control over its subjects. for instance, right after not your seed with the three teens having to like... calibrate. they aren't just completely connected then?? also, this is a very small thing, but uhhhh at the end of inevitable when Paul is about to say the apotheosis is upon... the chorus interrupts him with USSSSSSS. interruptions??? not very in sync of u hive.

I think this inability to exert uniformity is also shown in the contrast between genre of musical theatre. my alien abomination cannot decide whether it wants to be the more modern edgy rock musical (join us (and die), not your seed ) or super happy go lucky old style musical theatre (lah dee dah dah day, and inevitable). it tries to do both, even while trying to encourage union, and sticking to one thing. hypocrite!!!!!

2. aims are guided by the people it possess

so, I mentioned this a bit already, but the hive isn't only mutating the humans, the humans are mutating the hive right back. this is more an interesting observation than any actual analysis but let's goooo.

greenpeace girl:

I think it's very likely that greenpeace girl is one of the first to be possessed. This is probably easily debunkable but whatever this analysis is flying by the seat or its pants anywayyyyy. why? cause where else would it pick up that whole 'this planet needs fixing' thing? it's interesting too, cause it morphs from expressing the desire to join hands and sing together, unity and peace with no actual action behind it. this then goes right to the other end, with the hive going 'fine I'll do it myself' and trying to save things by enforcing a dictatorship on the world. it develops and changes, and strays from its original means of accomplishing its aims! speaking oooooof...

3. inconsistent in means of accomplishing aims

okay, ur an evil hive mind. u think musicals are the way to win over these silly humans cause they're all weak and emotive and seem to respond to them. but, wait! schwoopsie! you haven't realised that for emotional depth and growth to mean anything, you need there to be established development and well... growth. otherwise the sentiments are as vague as the ones expressed in What Do You Want, Paul?

this show has genuine emotional moments, just not really during the musical numbers WITH EXCEPTIONS. any strife is smoothed over quickly, and so the development and change that would have to go into such growth is just gone. (see, You Tied Up My Heart) all so it can achieve its own desire to grow and grow and grow, maybe a metaphor for art being killed under late stage capitalism??

what actually matters is the impact the songs have afterwards, in causing a death - because we have a bond and care abt these characters. those short scenes between Paul and Emma are actually way more resonant than any song. except... inevitable, and also not your seed a bit. at this point the hive has learnt a thing or two, and can actually twist human emotion a little. but for it to do that, it has to reject the uniformity it prizes, and be adaptable. point towards being more human than it first thought? methinks so. and yet it's just not enough...

it's also why let it out, to me, feels really ingenuine. Paul has expressed himself in much better ways already. what they're doing is clearly paining him, and hurting the guy. he's terrified bless.

you can't force someone into being emotional vulnerable, man.

it's why all the deaths for the characters who are forced to express themselves are really violent, involving them being ripped open - literally forcing them to expose themselves from the 'inside out' as Alice reflects in Not Your Seed. you can't force genuine emotional connection, it has to be fostered, shown in the much more affecting relationship of Paul and Emma. the only reason the hive actually has power over our characters is because of these genuine emotional connections, which it tries and often fails to take advantage of, resulting in just resorting to brute violence. messy hive, very messy.

at the core, the musical's a kinda attack on that toxic positivity mindst: trying to force people to reach the sort of easy solutions by sharing feelings in a way that feels pretty invasive and deciding you are instantly fixed. the problems these characters face are jarringly not really what you'd expect a character in a musical to face, cheating, a lot of it, mid-life crisis. problems that are bland, or wayyyy too real. this is purposefully done, to reveal just how silly the hive's aim to use musical theatre to solve everyone's problem is. life is more complex than that smh.

4. a human can write a much more expressive, and genuine song than they ever could lol

u know which song I'm talking abt. what more is there to say. so much for making persuasive songs to tempt people over.

5. make me sad cause they took some perfectly nice ppl and funked them up 😭

this was a stupid point lol. basically I'm just bitter that this hive took a bunch of perfectly okay ppl and gave them hive brain. screw u hive. I swear I'm gonna watch Black Friday soon, cause I'm sure it's gonna completely destroy every thought I've had so far, but whateve,,, just take this as a look at tgwdlm like it's a stand-alone piece.

these guys are supposed to all be 'individuals' on one level, but also 'appendages of a much larger organism'. there's a little too much individualism and fracturing to be cohesive enough to do that I feel. the hive to me is not an infallible, unstoppable force, in fact, every human it takes over only brings it closer to understanding us. so that's maybe a slight positive note??? idk ?! I just have lots of thoughts and feelings abt this musical even if this doesn't make sense I'm proud i wrote it down hehe.

[indecentpause]

Excerpt from the rough of That Boy, That Girl

A working title while I try to think of something clever about baking.

I’ve been struggling a lot with writing recently. When I can come up with ideas, I can’t seem to execute them very well, or the way I want. So there hasn’t been much progress on the Puzzle front. But this is an old project I’ve always had a soft spot for, so I’m gonna try to chip away at this, too. :) I’m also working on two other projects: These Quiet, Terrible Things (a story about folk magic, superstitions, and hauntings) and And All the Devils Are Here (a story about a mob family based on Hamlet).

Anyway let me know know if you wanna be tagged!

cw: food

You wake up the next morning with Dakota’s arm slung over your face and Christie’s leg flopped over yours on the other side. You snuffle a little and shove Dakota’s arm out of the way. Rub the sleep from your eyes. It’s light out, which means it’s probably past 8:00, but it could be later. It’s hard to tell with the curtains pulled closed.

Carefully, quietly, you stand. You’re not worried about Dakota; she sleeps like a rock. You just don’t want to wake Christie.

After you make your way to the bathroom, you head back through the living room, through the dining room, into the kitchen. The smell of cooking batter fills the room -- a caramelly, vanilla-y sweet smell that could only mean --

“Ms. Gadhi, are you making waffles?”

“I am!” she grins. She looks exactly like Mariam -- tall, lean, with long, curly black hair and smooth, even brown skin. She just has a couple more years on her face, which is a little rounder and simultaneously a little more square in the jaw. “Would you like to help? I know you like cooking!”

“I’d love to! What can I do?”

“Why don’t you handle the turkey bacon,” she says. “Mariam loves it, but I hate touching the stuff. If you don’t mind?”

You laugh. “No problem.”

“It’s in the fridge on the bottom shelf, wrapped in brown paper in a Ziploc.”

You pull it out and unwrap it and cut the pieces in half to make them easier to handle, then pull a frying pan off the wall and get to work.

“How are you and Gavin doing?” Ms. Gadhi asks.

You shrug, not taking your eyes away from the bacon. “Okay, I guess. I don’t see him as much now that I’m back in school, so that sucks. He works a lot. We’re hoping I can get a part time job next year to lighten the load a little, even if it’s just in fast food or something. I should be able to go half-time at school because I did summer classes last year. Gavin doesn’t want me to both work and go to school full time.”

“That’s good of him,” Ms. Gadhi says. “It’s important that you focus on your education. Anyone who says a GED is just as good as a diploma is either misinformed or lying.”

You nod as you pull out the first batch of bacon and spread it on a paper towel with the tongs. You brace yourself for her next question as you start the second batch. The question she always asks when you go down this road.

“Are you eating okay? You look so thin, sweetie.”

“Yeah.” It’s not exactly a lie. Gavin always makes sure you have three meals a day, and snacks, and a vitamin. Sometimes they’re just crappy cheap meals, like ramen with peas or off brand mac and cheese. But you never go hungry.

“I just have a super fast metabolism,” you say. Also not a lie.

“Mariam does, too.” Ms. Gadhi signs and chuckles, and when the waffle iron beeps, she opens it and pries the waffle out with a fork before she pours more batter in. “She eats like a horse and never gains a pound. I’m sure the cheerleading helps.”

“I’m sure.”

She pauses a moment, then says, “You know, I think I may have gone a little crazy the last time I went grocery shopping? I overstocked on some things I’ll never be able to use before they go bad. Can I send them home with you?”

Your fingers tighten on the tongs. You flip the bacon.

“Okay,” you whisper. “Thank you.” Because you can’t afford to turn it down. You and Gavin need all the help you can get.

“I’ll pack some things up for you,” Ms. Gadhi says. She leans closer, almost conspiratorially, and whispers, “I’ll just say I borrowed some cookbooks, okay? Mariam doesn’t need to know.”

“Thank you,” you whisper again. Someday you’ll pay her back. Somehow.

“Hey.” She nudges you gently with a sharp elbow. The cloth of her pajama top is soft against your skin. “You’re the one doing me a favor, here! I’d hate to have to waste food because I didn’t plan properly!”

She doesn’t plan properly once a month, at least. You both know exactly what she’s doing, but framing it that way makes it a little easier. Mariam probably knows what’s going on, but she never brings it up.

For that, you’re grateful.

[nctloveclub]

satisfied

pairing: lee taeyong x fem!reader

prompt: based off satisfied from hamilton

genre: angst; royal!au

word count: 1.6k

a/n: i watched hamilton on disney+ and the only reason why i watched it was to see satisfied in person, and let's say i was not disappointed

you walked your way towards the large grand doors, already hearing the music and chatter from the guests

you walked in the front, wearing an all too uncomfortable dress and too high shoes

you were the oldest of three sisters and your father had no sons, meaning your family was dependent on you to marry rich, well even richer

your father had decided to throw the ball because he deemed you old enough to get married and wanted to find you a suitable suitor

"ooh! i cant wait to get inside!" your youngest sister, lia, squeals, while your younger sister, mina, just sighs dreamily. "i cant wait for all the cute guys"

you roll your eyes at their antics, muttering about how these balls aren't all that

you make your way to the door and take a breath, the servant at door opens the grand-looking doors

you and your two sisters walk into view, the guests' eyes moving to your figures, quickly bowing slightly at your presence

you make your way down the stairs, giving your brightest smile to the people, bowing slightly to acknowledge them

your two sisters behind you giggle before rushing off to the dance floor, probably to go dance with each other

you laugh softly as you see the multiple boys move towards your sisters, hoping to gain their attention

the music is loud in the ballroom and you make your way towards your sisters before you stop, a figure approaching you

it's a young boy, probably your age and he's absolutely handsome. you feel your breath catch in your throat when he's suddenly in front of you

he bows and gently places a kiss on your hand and you feel your face heat up immediately

"hi m'lady." he smiles and you're frozen in shock you nearly forget your own name

you give him a smile in return, softly saying "hi". you feel your heart race in your chest as you take in his appearance

he's wearing a black suit, but you notice how it isn't as fancy as the other men in the room

you wonder if he's actually common rather than the noble folk your father usually invites

your thoughts are cut off when you hear him speak, "you strike me as someone who has never been satisfied."

you make face of confusion, "i beg your pardon? i'm sure i don't know what you mean." he laughs softly at your reaction.

"you're like me princess, i'm never satisfied." he replies. you raise a brow at him, bringing your hand to your chest teasingly, "is that right?"

he nods, "i have never been satisfied." you nod at his reponse before clearing your throat.

"my name is y/n, y/l/n y/n." you smile, bringing out your hand for him to shake. he gladly takes it

"taeyong, lee taeyong."

"where's your family from?" you ask taeyong. you notice his body stiffen for a moment before relaxing immediately. "that's unimportant princess," he laughs. "but my father is a blacksmith."

"is that so? how interesting." you smile at him. the two of you walk towards the dance floor, continuing to make small talk.

to be completely honest, he made you extremely nervous. he openly flirted with you as the two of you danced. it's obvious that he knows he's handsome and is using it to his advantage

the song comes to an end and he bows and you curtsey. he holds your hand one more time, moving to whisper in your ear. "it was a pleasure meeting you princess, and thank you for the dance."

you feel yourself blush furiously, "the pleasure is all mine." he smiles one last time before walking away, your eyes following his figure.

you turn around, spotting your sister, mina dancing with lia. you make your way towards them, stopping next to lia. "may i cut in?" you ask, mimicking the voice of a man.

"well of course sir." lia jokes before running off, you immediately taking her place. you and mina begin to dance to song currently playing, the two of you laughing loudly.

as you go to twirl mina, you lock eyes with taeyong. your sister stops before looking in the same direction, a gasp leaving her lips. she quickly takes your hands and drags you off the dance floor

your eyes are still on taeyong and his on you. you wanted nothing more than to walk over there and take him somewhere far away but you remember your sisters' presence.

you turn to face mina to question her before stopping, realizing the look on her face. the face of pure adoration and helplessness. your words were caught in your throat and you couldn't speak.

you notice the shine in her eyes as she looks at taeyong. she looked like she has fallen in love at first sight.

you observed her face before glancing back at taeyong. you make your way towards him, ignoring your sisters' pleas to stop you

but as you made your way towards him you realized three fundamental truths at the same time

you realized that you lived in a world where girls had to marry rich, hence why your father was throwing the damn ball in the first place

you were the oldest so your father was adamant on your marrying another prince to strengthen the kingdom. but taeyong wasn't a prince.

he wasn't rich but rather penniless. the gossip that would occur if the two of you got married. it would ruin you and your family. but that didn't stop your heart from racing at the sight of him

you stop in front of taeyong, and he smiles at your presence. "yes princess?" he asks. you don't reply, instead taking his arm and dragging him across the ballroom towards your sister

"where are you taking me?" he asks.

"i'm about to change your life." you reply simply, you feel his body relax in your grip.

"then by all means, lead the way."

the second thing you realized was that he was interested in you because you were royalty, if you got married, it would elevate his status

you realized you would have to be naive to set that aside. you realized that your father was depending on you, that you couldn't just marry any man. that in reality he was mostly interested in raising his own status

you realized that you never could've been with taeyong anyway.

you're cut out of your thoughts as mina introduces herself to taeyong

"y/l/n?" he questions and you nod. "my sister."

"thank you for coming to our ball." mina smiles

"if it takes a long journey for us to meet, it would have been worth it." he replies

"i'll leave you to it." you say, feeling your heart shatter at how quick he was to woo mina. you give your sister a smile before walking off, giving them their privacy

the last thing you realized was how well you knew your sister. you knew her like your own mind. you wouldn't be able to find anyone as trusting or as kind as her.

you knew that if you told her that you loved him she would put your happiness first. she would back off and let you be with him. she would say that she is fine but it's obvious to you that she is lying.

as tempting as it was, you couldn't do that to mina. the bond between the two of you was so strong, you both would've done the same thing for each other.

ultimately you decided to leave. as you left them you felt your heart break into two.

for the next three weeks, mina and taeyong had written letters to each other everyday. on the fourth, you and your sisters watched as taeyong asked for your father's blessing to marry mina.

now here you stand, watching the two people you love get married.

mina had chosen you as her maid of honor, and as you watch them recite their vows you can't help but cry.

you cry out of happiness for your sister and also for your own broken heart.

not a day goes by where you don't regret what happened that night at the ball

almost every single night since the ball, you've fantasized about taeyong's eyes. they were just as soft as you remembered. you romanticize what could've been if you didn't size him up so quickly

maybe if you weren't so quick to judge his status, maybe you would be the one in mina's place instead. maybe you would be the one to marry the love of your life.

but you realize that the past is the past, you can't go back and change what happened. so you look at the couple in front of you, observing the pure love in their eyes as they look at each other.

"at least mina is his wife. at least i get to keep taeyong's eyes in my life." you think to yourself

"excuse me!" mina calls to the crowd, you look back to her as she turns to look at you.

"i would like my maid of honor to say a few words." she says and you nod, "of course i do."

you take a step forward, facing the huge wedding crowd. you take a deep breath, turning to see the beloved couple already looking at you.

"To the groom! To the bride!" you say, the crowd repeating you after each statement.

"from your sister, who is always by your side."

"to your union and the hope that you provide."

you turn to face the married couple for your last statement, "may you always be satisfied."

"she'll be happy as his bride." you tell yourself as the couple begins to walk back down the aisle, leaving the chapel.

you realize one last thing as they walk out the doors. you realize that taeyong was right, you will never be satisfied.

thank u for reading!! this isn’t edited so sorry for any mistakes. also i dont know how to write royal aus fjgdjd hope that doesnt take away from the fic lol. as always feedback is always appreciated thank u :D

[flyandfamousblackgirls]

6 Things Intersex Folks Need to Know About How We Perpetuate Anti-Black Racism

1. The Segregation in Our Intersex Movement Is Real

The intersex movement has been mostly white since day one. Consequently, it’s necessary to ask ourselves if we’ve inadvertently created an atmosphere that urges Black intersex people to put aside their Blackness — and the oppression linked to it — in order to focus on our collective goals.

In creating this type of environment, it appears our community hasn’t yet been able to connect the dots between Black and intersex people’s oppression — which Saifa reminded me are both rooted in state violence — and our liberation.

Black intersex folks who’ve lived in isolation and have dealt with segregation in their daily lives shouldn’t have to contend with similar experiences once they’ve finally found, and entered our community.

I’m not talking about highly visible institutionalized segregation like the Jim Crow era when Saifa’s uncle, who was also intersex, was forced to sleep outside on the porch of his hospital after a surgery.

I’m talking about the low-key, harder to detect, segregation.

The kind that just takes for granted that the majority of people in the room will always be white. The type that may have a few Black and Brown faces sprinkled here and there, but on a vanilla frosted cake. Is there a path forward?

Sean Saifa Wall, a Black trans intersex activist and collage artist based in Atlanta, reflected on this question by looking back on his time spent as the former board president of an intersex non-profit. Saifa captured why increasing representation shouldn’t be the endgame.

“I think I made the mistake of thinking we need more people of color… but what does institutionalized white supremacy do? It brings in Black or Brown faces who won’t challenge white supremacy — and that’s how white supremacy perpetuates itself. You don’t need white folks to perpetuate it, you just need folks who are invested in white supremacy.”

When I was younger and mistakenly believing that whiteness was the norm to strive towards, I ended up internalizing racist ideologies and, as a result, never fully connected on a truly deep BFF level with my Black friends. Perhaps our movement, and its longstanding quest for acceptance, has created a similar divide.

The global intersex activist network consists, to my knowledge, of less than only 5 Black intersex activists. One of them is Saifa.

2. One’s Race and Intersex Identity Overlap

Born amidst racist flames that attempted to level his neighborhood, Saifa was brought up whilst his borough, The Bronx, was attempting to rebuild itself.

“When I was younger,” Saifa recounted, “I realized I had a different body. Then, due to interactions with NYPD, I was made to know that I was different in another way as well.”

As he got older, Saifa came out as queer, intersex, and trans to a mother — and a world — who wasn’t always ready or eager to respect his intersecting identities. Regardless, his Blackness, sexuality, and intersex identity were always interwoven.

“I cannot separate my intersex identity from my Black identity,” Saifa said. And he shouldn’t have to.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid our community hasn’t figured out ways yet to allow people to show up as their whole selves.

For instance, on the international level, it’s become a known issue that intersex activists from African countries don’t get similar amounts of representation, or speaking time at gatherings. And nationally, our support group meetings rarely, if ever, have been led by Black intersex folks or had sessions dedicated solely for Black intersex community members to come together.

It’s only in the past few years that single Black folks are sitting on boards, or in staff positions of our organizations. There’s also never been, to my knowledge, any Black clinicians present at our Continuing Medical Education (CME) sessions that happen before our support group conferences each year.

Race, especially as it relates to anti-blackness, feels as though it’s at times an elephant in the room.

For me, this elephant peeped its head out when I realized it had become a tradition for one of our non-Black community members, who I love and cherish dearly, to sing Macy Gray’s “I Try” — in Gray’s uniquely raspy voice — at the annual talent show, which is supposed to provide a fun contrast to the rest of the conference.

The audience, if it’s a diverse year, might have a handful of Black folks. This year, there was only one person. I can’t imagine how isolating that experience might have been for them.

And this bring me back to the story I shared at the beginning, about the person who had Obama on a hit list.

Often, racism perpetuates itself by wearing the mask of a “joke” or “fun,” but racism is never a joke and the mask just presents one more hurdle in calling racism out.

It’s time us non-Black intersex people become more aware of our whiteness problem.

We need to keep having difficult conversations about race and oppression every step of the way.

Most importantly, we need to show up the few Black intersex people we do have in our small community, and check in with them to see if there’s anything else we could be doing to have their back.

We can challenge white supremacy in our movement just by asking Black intersex folks in our community what they need to feel safer in our collective spaces.

For our movement to be successful, it’s imperative that Black intersex folks feels they can participate as whole persons.

3. We’ve All Been Dehumanized

The list of atrocities against people of color, especially Black folks, carried out by the medical industrial complex and other agents includes: “the father of gynecology” using enslaved Black people as surgical research subjects, being disproportionately targeted by the US’s eugenic sterilization program that served as a catalyst for Nazi Germany’s and today’s “population control”policies, and the shackling of pregnant women inmates — who are disproportionately Black — in labor delivering children whom they most likely will be immediately separated from.

Likewise, intersex people have been rendered hermaphrodites and featured in freak shows, gawked at as monsters to at on TV, disproportionately put up for adoption, pumped with artificial hormones, robbed of their reproductive organs and genitalia, selectively aborted, raped, and brutally murdered.

Lynnell, a Black intersex lesbian activist, was born intersex but raised male by a single mother in a low-income household. She grew up in Chicago’s mostly Black, hypersegregated, South Side where her family — unlike mine on the North Side — was forced to deal with the effects of the city’s racist public policy and divestment responsible for the destruction of local economies, public schools and affordable housing.

Hyde Park, a pocket of wealth and whiteness on the South Side and home to the University of Chicago (UofC) Hospital, is where Lynnell’s mother took her as a child for doctor appointments.

Lynnell shared memories of that time stating, “My mom wasn’t given the tools she needed to make informed decisions.” As Lynnell grew older, she also “wasn’t taken seriously at first by [her doctors] either.”

Low-income and single mothers of color, labelled unfit by society, experience discrimination. Lynnell’s mother went to U of C seeking care, not charity, for her child. Seeing a golden opportunity, Lynnell’s doctors manipulated her mother’s financial status and turned the situation into a charity case anyway.

“They told my mom they were doing her a favor because they weren’t charging her.” In the doctor’s mind, they were participating in an equal trade with Lynnell and her mother.

To Lynnell, it was torture. “For eight years, every summer, for at least a month, I was put on different drugs, experimented on, given unnecessary procedures and manipulated.”

Exploitation of marginalized people by the MIC for their gains, especially in teaching environments, has been well-documented. Exploitation specific to Black intersex patients has yet to be researched. Lynnell’s doctors, I imagine, took one look at Lynnell’s mother and decided a poor Black woman wasn’t powerful enough stop what they had in store for Lynnell.

“I don’t know many white people that were used as guinea pigs like me,” Lynnell said.

4. Doctor’s Aren’t the Only People Attempting to Erase ‘Difference’

Intersex people are pretty familiar with secrecy, shame and stigma thanks to the pathologization of our bodies. As such, it’s important we have spaces to process our stories with each other. Yet, it’s important to note that as oppressed people, we are still capable of participating in the oppressing others.

The few times I’ve witnessed our community attempt to break down white supremacy and talk about racism, white intersex people successfully shifted the conversation, almost immediately, back to a conversation that centers them and their experience with intersex oppression.

Spaces where intersex people get together and talk are rare, so it makes sense why someone would want to relate and process, but in doing so, we are inadvertently preventing Black intersex folks in our community from expressing their unique experiences.

Saifa recounted a time when he “was trying to bring up the topics of anti-oppression, racism, etc., in the movement and people lost their damn minds. People were like, ‘we cannot hear it.’”

He also shared, “Anti-black racism showed up when I went to South Carolina on behalf of the MC case [a lawsuit involving the parents of a young Black intersex boy and his doctors] and one of the lawyers was condescending, talking down to me as the only Black person in the room. I was constantly pushing back against his patriarchy and racism.”

He continued, “I feel like people don’t care about issues related to anti-black racism in the intersex community.

“I think there’s some intersex people who really see those intersections, who really are affirming of people of color, but for the large part I feel that the level of anti-black racism awareness ranges from hostility to apathy.”

I asked if people ever seemed to care and he replied, “When funding is involved. That’s when people start to care more. Or, when a group wants some representation of diversity—but I found they wanted a Black face, but weren’t necessarily committed to issues around anti-Black racism.”

As a movement, we can’t only focus on these issues when funding dollars are at stake. That tokenizes Black folks.

Instead, we have to stitch anti-Black racism training, and education around white supremacy, into the fabric of our work together.

Saifa pointed out, “In the world, I’m confronted with anti-Blackness, and it’s par for the course, but it’s particularly more devastating when it’s from intersex people. Why? Because I think, ‘Oh, you understand.’

“Or at least I think they understand, until they say or do things that’s really racist and are unapologetic about their racism.”

5. We Need an Intersectional Analysis to Combat Racist Stereotypes

One of the white people present at Lynnell’s first intersex support group meeting recently told her that she was “afraid” of her at first, “because [Lynnell] had on leather and dark sunglasses.”

I asked Lynnell why she entered that support group meeting dressed in leather, sunglasses, and the rest of her leather daddy alter ego outfit. She responded, “Because I was the only Black intersex person there.”

Lynnell shouldn’t have to feel the need to protect herself like that in a room that was supposed to feel like home, a room where she was supposed to be able to let her guard down amongst people with similar experiences.

Unfortunately, this is the type of thing that can happen when a community doesn’t have a firm commitment to operating with an intersectional lens — one that places its most marginalized folks at the center.

Lynnell needed to protect herself at a support group, and in doing so, made a white person feel afraid, circles back to my main point.

We need to place Black intersex folks and their particular needs, struggles and desires at the front and center of our intersex activism.

If we don’t, we risk ostracizing Black intersex folks, again, within spaces meant to be a reprieve from shame and stigma.

6. Confronting White Supremacy Means Confronting Disembodiment

Disembodiment, or feeling detached from your body, often happens as a coping mechanism in response to intense trauma. Intersex activist, Mani Mitchell, once described it as feeling like a “floating head tugging around a body.”

Saifa, someone I admire for their commitment to somatic healing work, believes that white supremacy is rooted in disembodiment “because you have to be disembodied in order to not allow your self to be impacted by the inequity or suffering of others.”

Regardless, Saifa thinks it’s “imperative that white intersex activists feel their feelings regarding any shame they may have as they interrogate white supremacy and its brutal history.”

“It’s only fair that white intersex activists start to acknowledge, as much as their embodiment can hold, the shameful and disgusting emotions that come up after hearing the bitter truth and realities of Black folks and people of color.”

“Doing this work is difficult,” he acknowledged, “and it can bring up things we’d rather not have to face about ourselves.”

Still, non-Black intersex folks need to “confront those feelings and allow themselves to be impacted, then hopefully they can be motivated to action, and allow that empowerment to impact others.”

In taking Saifa’s advice, we can create positive ripple effects throughout our whole community. Doing the work to steer our movement towards becoming an intersectional, anti-racist, intersex movement is a win-win for everyone involved!

[doctorguilty]

alright here’s how I’d rewrite Infinite and ergo some of the plot points of the games story.. it  got long i got a little carried away lol........................ 

Infinite’s name probably isn’t that before he becomes a tool of destruction thing but I don’t care all that much to name him something else rn 

he also doesn’t have a sword because that’s really not necessary and I don’t know how to make that relevant at all 

forget the mercenary thing because it makes no sense that he was “hired” by eggman and that’s also boring. The jackal squad is a nomadic, robin hood type group that steals from bad folks to help other animal people villages in need 

to make character relationships.. matter a little bit more, OC is a long time childhood friend of Infinite and they still see one another a decent amount despite the jackals moving around

I don’t really care how or why the phantom ruby exists in fact I’m just realizing there’s a huge discontinuity because according to the COMIC it just.. existed arbitrarily like a chaos emerald, but according to the GAME it seems to be something Eggman fabricated, since there’s “prototypes” in play??? hm hm okay you know what I’m feeling ambitious let’s make both make sense. There is one true phantom ruby that exists, eggman finds it, where ever I don’t care. some legend about, this ruby can bring your ultimate fantasies to life! EXCEPT you need to have, idk, a good heart, a heart of gold, to use it and eggman doesnt have that so he can see the illusion of his empire but it wont become reality 

eggman thinks okay well, maybe if I fabricate copies of it I can make a version that will work, which I reckon doesn’t make them “prototypes’ anymore but just, copies, but close enough. however, they still don’t work 

now cut to jackal squad raiding eggman for his cool shit. maybe they catch wind about this whole “bring your fantasies to life” power and want to use it for good and they know eggmans vibes are rancid. in any case the jackals make off with a ruby (a FAKE one uh oh!) but not without infinite losing an eye and gaining one big unsightly scar from a fight w/ eggman and he’s like Shook about that but he’s like hm well at least I stopped that terrible guy from harnessing this power (oh no bitch u thought..) 

of course the jackals dont keep their spoils but WHO ever could be trusted with this legendary gem thing?!? oh none other than You, Original The Character, aka Infinite’s best friend .............. so he gives the ruby to OC and tells them like, idk allegedly this can make ur dreams come true but I don’t know how it works...oh my eye? yeah I sure used to have two of those but dont worry about it, anyway ttyl stay fresh  *saunters off, jackaly* 

because the fake!ruby is.. fake, it just seems to be a dud at first so OC just hangs onto it as a keepsake 

eggman, pissed about his shit getting stolen and worried what could be done with it sends robots out to hunt down infinite, kidnap him, and drag him back to eggman’s base and demand the fake!ruby back. infinite naturally refuses to tell him anything especially at the cost of putting OC in danger, so he’s like, blow it out your ass

eggman is like HAHA WELL U DUMB SHIT you stole a fake anyway and I have the real one right here.. he uses the ruby to suddenly spawn a bunch of robots and infinite braces himself for the attack... except they go right through him because they’re just illusions. eggman is like FUCK !! DAMMIT! WHY WONT THIS SHIT WORK!! Infinite uses eggman’s tantrum time to rush in to snatch the ruby. when infinite touches it as its in eggman’s hand, however, all the illusion robots become “real” (probably conveying this through effects/opacity), taking them both by surprise. infinite is unable to take the ruby before getting hit with a full force attack from a robot 

infinite is incapacitated and eggman grins,  like, inch resting...................... you seem to be able to make the ruby work... I will now use you for malicious purposes >:) (cut to black) 

NOW when Infinite is in the tube, 1) he already has his mask because the scene with him putting it on and monologueing about abandoning his old identity is unnecessary, it’s more symbolic here, 2) he’s amnesic and I know we did that with shadow already and I don’t mean to overuse it, but I think it works well enough in a different way for this story! Shadow had some fragments of memories and an identity crisis, but with Infinite, his memory is completely wiped (or perhaps suppressed?) and his only understanding of himself is that he was “created” to work for eggman. Even MORE importantly! the stakes are raised because of Infinite’s relationship to the OC--Infinite cannot remember them which makes attacking them a lot more heart wrenching ESPECIALLY when we get to a point where OC begins to recognize their brainwashed best friend using one of the (apparently) very same rubies given to OC to try to destroy them with

this also adds more tension to all the scenes where Infinite is taunting and threatening OC on a quite personal , rivalry-like level? Infinite would, over time, begin to get an inexplicable sense of familiarity with OC, which causes him to hesitate and hold back 

oh and as for the fake!ruby, OC does use it to defend himself just like the first time! it ends up being successfully activated because OC shows a strong will to protect the other civilians. if you haven’t caught on to my cheese, both OC and Infinite have hearts of gold and thats why they can use the rubies. eggman is cheating though by fusing Infinite to the ruby and using him as a proxy for his bad will..... and again, coming back to the cheese, Infinite’s heart cannot be changed and he is not truly “evil” so that’s like, how this is working 

I’m way too lazy to fix everything scene by scene because there’s also just SO MUCH wrong with all the other characters and plot but I’m just focusing on fixing Infinite and making him more interesting so I’m skipping to the end..  

I’m not entirely sure how I’d order the bosses and what I’d wanna do with the eggman robot phases  the whole things was a big mess............I kinda wanna go with what I THOUGHT was going to happen after beating up giant robot thing and then that squid robot breaks out??? and I thought it was going to be Infinite cause that would be much more dramatic? So lets go with that---When Eggman says like, well fuck infinite who needs him? i harnessed the power of the ruby into my robot, he means he literally trapped Infinite in it like, wired up and shit to use him like a power generator. fucked up. Infinite breaks out after that phase of the battle, and he’s like, in so much pain and glitched out on overclocked energy he cant even control what he’s doing.... commence TRUE final boss battle (it can still be a tagteam with sonic), and it’s sad and dramatic! OC pleads (or I reckon sonic, maybe the other heroes too since they talk during fights! like since OC doesnt talk) infinite to remember his true self because they dont want to destroy him 

once you’ve depleted his health bar, I’m going to go ahead and use the game’s weird addition of quicktime events to fuel more cheesiness (B/C THIS IS SONIC...WHY DID THEIR “POWER OF FRIENDSHIP” MORAL END ON SUCH A BLAND, UNEMOTIONAL NOTE IN FORCES??? shadow didnt fall to his (alleged) death in sa2 for this..............) and you quicktime OC HUGGING Infinite, like jumping towards him and grabbing him in an embrace type of thing! and when OC makes contact with the ruby, it activates, making all the probably hostile glitchy  battle terrain or whatever dissipate, infinite stops being like.. idk lookin like he’s being electrocuted, and his mask fades away .. exposing Infinite as his true self once again 

the in between the lines intent here, again since OC doesn’t talk, is that OC’s fantasy was to bring Infinite back so they could be together again. you’re welcome to interpret that as romantic, or platonic, it doesn’t matter! it’s open ended! it’s just supposed to be cute!  

idk and then emotional stuff, I’m not entirely sure what it doesn’t really matter the idea is that Infinite is like, remorseful of what happened but everyone ofc forgives him because it’s not his fault , and then he joins up with with everyone to help fix the world! hmm I’m torn between Infinite keeping the true phantom ruby or giving it to the OC, like giving it to the OC makes sense, but for the sake of like, hypothetically bringing Infinite back in a future game and having special powers, it would be perfect if he kept it and that was his thing, he uses the power of virtual reality to help people and fight evil and whatever  

I dont know I guess there’s not a lot of sense in thinking too hard since I just remembered none of this is canon whatsoever and we’re probably not seeing Infinite again unless as a stock evil thing to beat up like metal sonic 8′) 

I have no idea who i wrote this for I guess myself! Idk if anyone else played forces or cares or w/e but! if you DO happen to be someone who read this and cares about it omg well like feel free to! comment and tell me what you think!!!  this was all very stream of thought

[lightchildofthespring]

The fantastic adventures of Takeru Takaishi

Chapter 3: Takeru's amazing (ruined) plan

{In which Takeru’s marvelous plan to save the revolutionaries doesn’t work quite as predicted and one Ken Ichijouji steals his thunder when it comes to speeches}

When Osamu told his little brother to stop working on the pepper field to join the henchmen, Ken was hesitant, but couldn't think on a good excuse to decline. It was too exhaustive to work 18 hours per day, seven days per week, on one of Yamanaka's farms, after all. And the payment of 50 cents of royale per hour was far from being enough to buy food and other necessary things from the shops controlled by Yamanaka. Since most of the population of Turtle Island worked on his farms, most of the people were indebted to him and couldn't leave their jobs; those who tried to escape without paying their debts were hunted by his henchmen and murdered as examples.

However, there was one opportunity for a simple worker to gain a bigger remuneration: to become a henchman. The problem was that a henchman's job was to assure that workers remained productive and obedient, to collect taxes and other payments and to severely punish those who didn't fall in line. That was the job Osamu had chosen. His alleged reason for working for Yamanaka was to pay their family's debt and save enough money to buy a good boat, so he and his brother could start a travelling business. For Ken, that excuse wasn't good enough. Nevertheless, it was difficult to say no to Osamu.

For that reason, he was following his brother and the other henchmen up the hill to fight the revolutionaries. Osamu insisted for Ken to carry a shotgun like his, but Ken took a small pistol instead. He wasn't planning to fire it, but his brother wouldn't like to hear that.

“Just you wait until you shoot someone for the first time, Ken. You'll see there's nothing difficult about it,” Osamu told him.

“Have you ever... killed people...?” Ken asked.

“I do my job,” Osamu said back. “If everybody just did what they were supposed to do, they wouldn't have to be punished. Honestly, it's their own fault if they get killed.”

“Was it Mom's and Dad's fault...?” Ken muttered.

Osamu turned to face him. His angry expression made Ken step back.

“Stop bringing them up!” Osamu ordered. “They shouldn't have tried to run from paying their debt! They should've paid it! If it wasn't for their transgression, maybe I wouldn't have to do this kind of job in the first place! I'm the one who provides for you, so show me some respect!”

“I do work on the farm...” Ken murmured, looking down.

“You can barely buy bread with your payment!” Osamu stated. “Which is why you should join me as a henchman already! I'll show you how there's no big deal about it!”

Ken shivered, but didn't say anything else. Osamu wouldn't listen to him, anyway.

Right before they entered the woods, someone came from among the trees. It was a young man with spiky red hair and black eyes. He stood in front of the group of 80 people and gave them a severe look.

“You should turn back right away!” the stranger told them. “You are dealing with forces you don't comprehend and your insistence on fighting the revolutionaries will bring-”

Osamu shot the stranger on the forehead before he could finish his sentence. Blood splattered from the bullet injury as the man fell on his back, completely still.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Ken shouted.

“I did my job,” Osamu replied, coldly.

“You just killed someone!” Ken cried. “How can you act as if that's normal?! What's the matter with you?!”

“You better stop disrespecting me, Ken! Or else!” Osamu said in a threatening tone.

However, they noticed shrieks coming from the large group around them; those men and women who usually bragged about not being scared by anything were all pointing to the stranger who had been killed not long before. Ken and Osamu turned to that direction and saw the red-haired man standing up. The bloody hole on his forehead expelled the bullet and then closed itself. He tried to wipe away some of the blood on his face, but he just spread it more.

“You're still here...?” the stranger had a confused voice. “I had never come back so fast... please, don't kill me again, otherwise-”

The henchmen discharged their weapons on the stranger as if there was no tomorrow. Maybe because they probably thought there would be no tomorrow for them if they didn't kill that thing, whatever that was.

“I-I-I must've missed the shot earlier,” Osamu muttered, shaking from head to toes, “yeah... t-that's what happened... but now we definitely killed that guy!”

“OH MY GODDESS, WHAT THE HECK?!” various people shouted, pointing at the man soaked in his own blood, who was once again rising to his feet. The henchmen tried to shoot again, but realized they were out of munition.

“You all are really inconsiderate people, you know that?!” the stranger shouted, furious. “It's my third resurrection today! THIRD! I can't wait for you to die and go to the Underworld! All the people you've killed are waiting for you there! And then, you'll understand the pain you've inflicted on so many others!”

“U-Underworld...?” Osamu asked in a weak voice. “Is he talking about Hell...? D-Did that thing come from H-Hell?!”

“It's a demon!” Someone yelled. “He's going to kill us and drag us to Hell!”

“Do you see now that you're dealing with forces you don't understand?” the red-haired man inquired. “Leave the revolutionaries alone or face the consequences!”

The henchmen all screamed and ran away. Ken was the only one left behind. He fell to his knees, shaking. What had he just witnessed?

“Nooooooooo!!!” a cry came from the woods, followed by an elegant blond man running in the direction of the person who was soaked in his own blood. “Koushiro! You ruined everything! You were supposed to deliver the inspiring speech I wrote and make them see the errors of their ways!”

Five more people followed the well-dressed young man down the hill.

“Well, our group escaped safely and those dreadful henchmen are gone,” a woman with orange hair and a gentle smile said. “The way I see, everything turned out fine. Cheer up, Takeru!”

“But my beautiful speech was never heard!” Takeru cried. “I knew I should've been the one to deliver it!”

“If you had done that, you'd be the one shot on the head,” an older blond man with a grumpy face told the younger one, “unlike Koushiro, you can't come back to life. You would've died pointlessly!”

“You don't have to be so matter-of-the-fact, Yamato...” the woman with orange hair said.

“The special protection I created worked perfectly!” a beautiful lady with shiny purple hair announced in a proud voice while approaching Koushiro.

“About that, Miss Miyako...” Koushiro murmured, taking from under his shirt what looked like a deformed piece of armor, “... you'll probably have to fix it...”

“That's easy!” Miyako dismissed. “But, tell me, how did you do that trick of faking being shot in the head? It was quite impressive, I must say.”

“I was actually shot in the head multiple times,” Koushiro told her. “I died twice.”

“Yeah, right!” Miyako laughed.

“It's true, Miyako,” a young man with dark pink hair said, “if we look around, we'll certainly find pieces of Koushiro's-”

And, at that moment, his eyes locked with Ken's. Cold sweat ran down Ken's forehead. The revolutionaries had discovered him! What would they do to someone that had stood by their enemies' side? Ken tried to remember terrifying stories about how vengeful the revolutionaries were. But the truth was that he had never actually heard any story like that. When the common folk talked about the revolutionaries, they always used the words “good-for-nothing” and “hiding among the trees.” Maybe Ken shouldn't worry too much about his fate, after all.

“There's still one henchman left!” the pink-haired guy shouted, pointing a finger at Ken, startling almost everyone else.

“You mean you hadn't seen him?” the teenager with dark hair and green eyes asked.

“Iori, you had seen him and didn't alert us?!” Miyako was alarmed.

“I thought he had surrendered or something!” Iori adopted a defensive tone. “How did nobody else notice a person kneeling on the ground?!”

“I don't know... he has kind of an unremarkable face, I guess...” the one with pink hair said.

Unremarkable? Ken couldn't accept that insult! Sure, he had trouble standing up to his beliefs and confronting people, but that didn't mean... in truth, that probably meant he was an unremarkable person. Understanding that made him depressed. Especially because the ones calling him unremarkable were the good-for-nothing revolutionaries that did nothing more than hiding among the trees all day!

“That's kind of a mean thing to say about someone, Daisuke,” the woman with orange hair told the man who had insulted Ken.

“Sora, we don't have to be nice to one of our enemies!” Yamato pointed out. Then, he got closer to Ken and pointed his shotgun to his face.

Reassessing his previous conclusion, Ken decided that maybe he should worry a bit about the revolutionaries. Or at least about the blond grumpy one pointing a shotgun to his face like some maniac.

“Wait, no! He's an ally! Or, better said, he's going to be an ally!” Koushiro shouted. The young man covered in blood ran to Ken's direction and put himself between him and Yamato. “I had a vision of him... erhm... it's kind of a random vision, actually... you were all on a ship... or a boat... and Mr. Takeru was looking at the moon and wondering in loud voice what surprising developments the trip would bring...”

“That is indeed something I do every time I travel...” Takeru admitted, looking up at the dark sky while striking a dramatic pose. Or at least that was what Ken thought he wanted to do as the younger blond man ran his fingers through his hair, shook his head slowly and then pointed at nothing specific in the dark sky. “Because life... is the greatest mystery of all...”

Ken wasn't sure what was happening. Were those fools really the revolutionaries? Even though nobody ever gave too much credit to them, Ken had always assumed they had to be minimally competent to be considered a threat to Yamanaka. But upon encountering that group, he couldn't help but wonder how they hadn't been wiped out yet? Maybe Yamanaka's men were even more incompetent than them. To realize that his oppressors weren't actually a mighty unit but a bunch of incompetent morons that could be taken down with minimal organization and effort was a bit underwhelming.

Koushiro turned to face him, like all the others were doing. But, unlike the other revolutionaries, there was no glimpse of preoccupation in his eyes, as if he was sure that Ken wasn't a threat. Koushiro intrigued him, not only because of his unexplainable resurrections, but mainly because he had the air of someone who knew a lot more than he was willing to share. It took him a few seconds to realize that the others were expecting him to say something. Unsure about what to do, Ken stood up and raised his hands above his head, as a sign that he wasn't dangerous.

“Listen, my name is Ken...” he hesitated, remembering that revealing his family name would denounce him as the brother of someone who certainly had killed several revolutionaries, “I never wanted to work for Yamanaka as a henchman... I worked on one of his farms, though... but what other choice did I have if not working for him in a way or another? He owns everything on Turtle Island! I never wanted to become a henchman, but I was coerced into joining their group anyway! I never killed anyone, though! But if I were to kill a person... it would be the bastard who had my parents murdered because they tried to run from their debts!”

Against his will, Ken let a couple of tears escape his eyes. It was never easy to remember what had happened to his family. If his parents hadn't been caught trying to escape, his predicament certainly wouldn't have been so bad. Maybe his brother wouldn't have become a murderer for the sake of taking care of him.

Yamato put down his shotgun. The threatening aura he had been exhibiting had vanished. In his blue eyes, Ken thought he had seen a glimpse of sadness and compassion.

“My parents were also killed because of debt...” Daisuke said. He approached Ken and put a hand on the newcomer's shoulder, in solidarity. “They were good people... they didn't deserve that... nobody deserves that!”

“My family is alive, but we've been persecuted too. We tried to own a small business... our goal was to sell things for affordable prices... but it got shut-down by force by those men...they broke everything we owned... Yamanaka doesn't like anyone defying his monopoly...” Miyako muttered, also approaching Ken.

“For as long as Yamanaka stays alive, everybody on Turtle Island will continue to suffer!” Sora stated, clenching her fists. Ken was taken aback by the intensity in her voice. It was if those terrible things had happened to her. Perhaps they had, to some extent.

Ken was starting to understand that the revolutionaries were normal people, just like him and everybody he knew. Of course, they suffered because of Yamanaka as well. That should make them the most motivated people to fight him. And thanks to Koushiro, who had dispersed the henchmen, there was no better time to fight that horrible man.

“Let's go kill Yamanaka!” Ken proposed. “His henchmen ran away and, from what I heard, there's only a weird monk protecting him right now! This is the best chance we'll ever have of killing him! Let's do it!”

The revolutionaries exchanged concerned looks. Koushiro paled and looked down.

“Do you think we're foolish enough to listen to someone who was our enemy a couple of minutes ago?” Iori inquired.

“We gave our comrades time to flee, our mission was accomplished!” Yamato reminded the others. “We should reunite with them now! There's no need to do anything unnecessary”

That comment ignited Ken's fury. Was it unnecessary to fight? Was it unnecessary to free Turtle Island from that tyrant?

“Oh, right! Go hide in the woods again! That's all you revolutionaries do, right?” Ken accused. “It's not like you ever bothered about helping anyone!”

“That's not true!” Sora interjected. “We've been recruiting new people and organizing our forces to prepare-”

“For how many decades have the revolutionaries been preparing?” Ken wasn't willing to back down. “How many people have died due to your inaction? How many have lost their loved ones because you weren't ready to fight? You are all a bunch of useless spineless good-for-nothings!”

Nobody contested Ken's accusations, as if deep down they already knew all that. Ken was disappointed. If they at least tried to argue, maybe he could understand the reasons for someone to stay still on the face of injustice. And then, maybe, he would have an excuse for his own life-long inaction. But the truth was that there was no excuse and it was time for Ken to take responsibility for his future instead of letting himself follow the flow. Even if he was alone, he had the moral obligation to at least try to do the right thing.

Ken was about to turn around and head towards Yamanaka's mansion when Sora suddenly spoke:

“You're right!”

Ken stopped moving. Did he hear that right? Did his unremarkable words have an effect on someone else?

“Sora, no!” Yamato protested.

“He's right! This is our best chance! We might never get one like this again!” she stated.

“It's not intelligent to invade that place without a plan!” Yamato insisted. “We should at least head back to our comrades and plan an attack!”

“That would give Yamanaka's henchmen time to regroup,” Miyako said. “This window of opportunity won't open again! We should strike now!”

“I don't like the idea of listening to an enemy but... I'll accept anything to bring justice to Yamanaka's victims!” Iori murmured, angrily.

“To me, it would be stupid to lose this chance! Think about all the people we could save if Yamanaka's rule ends tonight!” Daisuke had hope in his voice. “We can do this! We can win!”

“It's a bit sudden... but I'm all for this new development!” Takeru exclaimed. “In the end, my words really inspired transformation!”

“You mean Ken's words,” Miyako corrected him. “Nobody listened to your speech.”

Takeru had a mortified expression. Then, he looked at Ken with rage so deep that it should only be directed at the most despicable of creatures.

“It seems that there's no stopping you...” Yamato sighed. Then, he turned to Koushiro and asked: “You said we would all be on a ship, right? Does that mean that none of us is going to die tonight?”

“That's correct,” Koushiro confirmed. “You will all survive... I probably won't, though...”

“Why do you say that?” Sora asked, worried.

“That monk that is protecting Yamanaka is not an ordinary person... he's the one responsible for most of my deaths for the last centuries...” Koushiro informed the others. “He won't stop until he kills me for good.”

“Who on Earth is that monk?” Daisuke questioned. “Another demon?”

“An old enemy?” Takeru wondered. “A nemesis?”

Koushiro hesitated for a few seconds before answering:

“My best friend.”

[talpup]

Erase the Shadow: 12

Summary: Despite sharing dreams with Teris for as long as he can remember, Aizawa Shouta never believed in soulmates.  That was until he met Teris in the real world on his first day at UA.  Trouble is, Teris doesn’t know anything about their shared dreams.  And the one time Shouta tried to tell her, he nearly lost her completely.

Five years after graduating from UA, Shouta still believes Teris is his soulmate. But things have only gotten worse.  Teris moved to another town shortly after graduation.  And now she’s dating his best friend Yamada Hizashi.

Please remember, this fic is rated explicit and has warnings of sex, violence, and other possible triggers.

***If you prefer reading off AO3 here’s the link for that: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22027552/chapters/55261261

If you enjoyed reading this at all please comment and let me know. Since I post for free, think of it as nice way of leaving a tip.  And since comments are the only thing that encourages me to keep editing and posting, it’s also a benefit for you.

Thank you to those who have left hearts.  And a VERY special thank you to those who have recently left comments or re-blogged. They REALLY mean a lot.

As always, an extra special thank you to @inorganicone2230 for their encouragement and friendship.  Also for them helping plot bunny this story out and reading through a piece of this chapter before its posting.  This fic was my personal guilty pleasure, and without them never be getting posted.

12.1

“Babe! Do you really have to go on patrol tonight?” Hizashi was getting ready to go to a party the radio station was putting on and was still trying to convince Teris to accompany him. “You’ve been livin’ here for almost a year and still haven’t met anyone.  Everyone at the station is startin’ to think you don’t exist.”

“I’m an underground hero, Zashi.  It’s better if people don’t know I exist.”  Teris replied from the en suite bathroom.

“But you wouldn’t be going as a hero, Babe!  You’d be going as my girlfriend.”

Teris pulled up the other bra strap and sighed at her image in the mirror.  She could hear the hurt hidden beneath her boyfriend’s cajoling whine.

Damn it.  Was she really that bad a girlfriend?  Why was it that she couldn’t go a single day without proving to herself and Hizashi just how terrible and unworthy she was of him?  It was a wonder he had stuck with her this long.  It wasn’t as if she were anything special.

As much as she didn’t want to meet a large group of loud, extroverted people, Hizashi was right.  She had been living with him in Musutafu for nearly a year and one of his greatest excitements, other than living and working together, had been that she would meet his friends and colleagues at the radio station.

Grabbing the dark grey shirt of her hero costume, she exited the bathroom.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry, Sunshine.”

“Does that mean you’ll come?”

Teris gave a scoffing chuckle at Hizashi's theatrical pouting expression.

“Please, Ris Wren.  It’ll be fun.  I promise.  And if you hate them we can leave early and have the rest of Saturday night to ourselves.”

“I can’t, my Love.  I’m scheduled to do patrol.”

“So call in.”

“Eraser’s counting on me.”

Hizashi ducked and turned his head, hiding his frown.  “Eraser will be fine.”

“I have no doubt he’ll be fine without me. But he was gonna introduce me to this CI that’s apparently a wealth of information.”

Hizashi lifted his head, green eyes fixing on hers. “You’ve been working every other weekend with him for how long and you still haven’t met all his contacts?  Sounds like he’s holdin’ out on you.”

Probably so he can claim that there’s still a reason for you to do these stupid joint patrols with him, he thought sullenly.  He really should've pushed Teris harder on cutting down her patrol hours before Nemuri had the chance to suggest Teris and Shouta team up.

Teris stepped closer to him, explaining. “The underground doesn’t work the same as regular heroing.” Her hands trailed up his chest.  “People in that life are skittish. It takes time for someone new to prove themselves and gain their trust.  Honestly, I’m surprised Shouta got this woman to agree to meet me so quickly.”

Hizashi perked up at that.  “Woman?”

Teris rolled her eyes.  “Oh.  Now he’s interested.”  She gripped his shirt and tugged him closer. “You’re taken.  By me.  Remember?”

“I remember that greatest top hit every millisecond of the day, Ris.” His arms snaked around her waist, knees bending to better line up their hips.  “But, Eraser? Working with a woman?”

Teris tired to ignore the tiny swell of jealousy at the thought of Eraserhead working with another woman.

She fiddled with his shirt collar.  “I wouldn’t call it working. She’s a CI.  It’s not like she does jobs with him.”

“Still...” He kissed a trail from her cheek to her neck, rubbing his semi-hard cock against her. “Don’t CI’s usually require payment for their information? And not always in cash.”  He nipped at her neck.  “I wonder how he pays her.”

12.2

Hizashi's words stayed with Teris as she walked with Eraserhead down a narrow pass through between buildings.

“We usually don’t meet at her place of work, but I think she wanted the extra protection the bouncers bring when meeting you.”  Shouta gave a small, sideways smirk expecting Shadow to scoff at the thought of her being a threat to a possible informant.

When she didn’t, his lips thinned.  It wasn’t that Shadow was distracted.  He would have called her out on that. But she had been distant since the first moment they had greeted at their usual meeting spot.

“What do you pay her in?”  Teris asked, softly.

She kept her eyes straight ahead, focusing on him out of her periphery. She didn’t want him thinking she was bothered.

Why did she even care how Shouta paid the dancer, come call girl?  He was a grown man and could do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t as if he were her boyfriend.  No, she told herself.  But if the woman’s to become my CI, it’s something I should know.

That’s right, she reason.  She wasn’t asking because she was worried and jealous.  She was asking because the woman would likely expect the same sort of payment from her and she needed to know if she could, or was willing to deliver.

“Various things depending on the level of information and her mood.”  Shouta answered.

She wouldn’t even glance at him.  Had he done something wrong? He reminded himself that he was introducing her to a new CI.  One that had helped him with many a case, and could do the same for her.  It was logical that Shadow would be focused and not in the mood for friendly banter.  He shouldn’t read too much into it.

Teris’ thumb rubbed against the dull obsidian point at the end of one of the metal knuckles bars.  She carried two of them.  Each of the slender ‘u’ shaped weapons had one long end slipped in the front pocket of her black jeans.  The other long silver line merely appearing an adornment to the average eye.

Eraserhead’s words looped in her mind.  Various things depending on… her mood.

Would someone who was paid for sex want sex as payment?  She glanced at Eraser and swallowed.  She was with Hizashi.  She really shouldn’t care how Eraser paid his CI’s. She needed to focus, not wonder if this woman sought sex from Eraserhead as payment.

Would Eraser even agree to such a form payment if asked?  He didn’t have a girlfriend...

Stop it!  She silently scolded herself.

Shouta stopped in front of a door with no handle.  “We’re here.”

He looked at her, gauging her readiness.  Why did she look distracted now of all times?

“You ready?”  He questioned, lowly.

Teris tried to ignore his deep rumbling voice and inhaled deeply, staring at the metal door.

“Yeah.” She exhaled.

Shouta saw her focus return.  He waited a beat, making sure.  Finally he took a fortifying breath of his own and knocked the short coded beat into the door.

They were shown to a rather spacious dressing room.

For a moment Teris wondered about privacy, thinking the room was for all the dancers.  But she quickly took in the single vanity and comfortable lounge seating, and realized this was all for one person.

“Big Boy’s gonna stay by the door if that’s alright with you, Eraser.” Said a feminine voice from behind a dressing screen.

“Whatever makes you comfortable.”  Shouta said, his deep rumbling voice a stark contrast to the high sweet one that had just spoken.

Even her voice was lovely.  Teris quickly shooed away the troublesome thought.

She noticed the name above the vanity mirror.  “Your name is Delphin?”

“Eraser didn’t even tell you that much?”  The melodious voice questioned. “Why am I not surprised.  The handsome devil doesn’t easily give out information.  He only seeks it.  Yes.  I’m known as Delphin.  I took the name based off the pretty but deadly little flower cluster Delphinium.  And you are known as Shadow. Correct?”

“And I thought you said Eraser wasn’t good at giving info.”  Teris’ smirk cut short when a lacy bra was flung over the shielding screen.

She stole a glance at Eraserhead, upset at her own gladness when she saw his head tilted and lowered, black hair curtaining off any hope of a view.

“Oh, Eraser didn’t tell me.”  Delphin said, pulling a silk robe from the screen.  “You were clocked the moment you moved into town. Well, at least the moment you started patrolling here. Your darkness quirk had quite a few folk worried.”  She stepped out into view.  “They thought you were working for this Void that some are whispering about.”

Teris blinked at the woman.  She was… beautiful.  Hell.  If Delphin asked her for sex as payment she, at the very least, would be tempted to consider it.

Delphin glanced at Shouta, red lips turning up into a smile.  “But when you started working with Eraser here.  Most peoples concerns were put to rest.”

Shouta lifted his head.  “Most?”

“Come now, Eraser.  You know people aren’t won over so easily.  New opinions take time to form.  Trust must be earned.” Delphin caught the slight pinch of worry in the Erasure Hero’s brow.  “You can’t make everyone fall in love with Shadow.  No matter how cute she is.”

The furrow between Shouta’s eyebrows deepened a fraction, but a fraction was all Delphin needed.  This would be fun.

“Come. Sit.  Let me and your partner get acquainted.  Delphin looked the female pro hero over as they all made their way to the small sitting area.

She was a pretty thing, even in dark grey and black with no make-up. Delphin could tell her clothes weren’t picked for the purpose of flattering.  But since they fit properly, unlike Eraserhead’s baggy garb, the hugging jeans and cotton, scoop necked tee definitely did flatter her heroes body.

“So this is who you’ve been ignoring me for, Eraser.”  Delphin saw the barest tightening in Shadow’s shoulders.

Oh. This was definitely going to be fun, she thought.

Shouta opened his mouth to reply that Delphin hadn’t left any messages on his work voice mail saying she had information worthy of a meeting. But before he could make a sound she went on.

“Not that I blame you.  Pretty, new hero comes to town.  No doubt you’ve been showing her everything Musutafu has to offer.  Tell me.  How just how well do you two know each other?  How deep does the partnership go?”

Teris stared. Was this woman capable of making every sentence she spoke have a sexual connotation?  She’d hate for Delphin and Hizashi to meet.  The two would no doubt have a blast trying to out do each other.

“That’s not your concern.”  Shouta told.

“Protective, are we?”  Delphin played, her laugh as clear and beautiful as a crystal.

Teris had never felt so dull and ugly in her life; and given all the reprimands she received as a child about her habits and state of dress, that was saying something.

“You know I don’t tolerate personal questions.”  Shouta stated, without emotion.

“Oh! So your dealings together are personal are they?  Should I be jealous?”

“I don’t see why.  Our contact is work based and both party’s can end the deal at any time.”  Shouta said of his and Delphin’s agreement.

Delphin’s sparkling eyes raked hungerly over him.  “But one can derive so much pleasure from work, Sugar.  Wouldn’t you say?”

“I find fulfillment in my work.”  Shouta admitted.

“Do you find fulfillment working with me?”  She asked, voice as smooth as silk.

“You provide good information.”  Shouta replied, oblivious to Teris’ rising ire.

It wasn’t that he didn’t catch Delphin’s suggestive teasing.  He wasn’t an idiot.  But he was use to her ways and, tiresome as all of it was, at least Delphin wasn’t as blatant or forward as Ms. Joke.

“Only after sufficient, satisfactory payment, Handsome.”  She turned her shimmering eyes to Teris.  “Has he ever drilled you for information?  He can be rather ruthless.  Can’t he.  Then again I like at man who knows what he wants and is willing to work long and hard for it.”

“Are we gonna get to the point of this meeting anytime soon?”  Teris questioned, shortly.

Surprised by her sharpness, Shouta looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Don’t like being ignored, Sweetness?”  Delphin asked.  “Then again I know all about Eraser and the point of tonight is to get a feel for you.  To decide if I like you enough to let you use me too.”

Shouta swallowed.  A flash of an image shot through his mind before he could stop it.  It made his blood pump with desire and possessiveness.

Shit. He knew how Delphin talked and teased.  Why hadn’t he thought that she would do the same with Shadow?  Not that being prepared would have made him feel any better about the woman talking to his Love that way.  Still, that didn’t explain Shadow’s annoyance with Delphin.

“It took me a long time to let Eraser tie me down and pump me for information.”  Delphin continued.

Teris gritted her teeth.  The woman was trying to toy with her.  No. She was toying with her.  Because you’re stupid enough to let her, she thought.  Some hero your are.  Letting a possible CI get to you like this.

If Delphin had been talking about any other hero Teris wouldn’t have cared. But Eraserhead was different.  Eraserhead was Shouta.  And Shouta was-- Not yours, she reminded herself harshly.

How is it that you don’t like it when Hizashi uses terms of ownership, but are sitting here wanting to claim a man that you have no right to try and claim?  Shouta's not your boyfriend.  He’s your boyfriend’s best friend.  You’re such a hypocrite.  You’re an idiot hero, and terrible girlfriend.

What kind of person desires their boyfriend’s best friend?  You don’t deserve anyone.  But you certainly don’t deserve someone as sweet and caring as Hizashi.  He was either blind or kind enough to date you in the first place, and here you are nearly three years in your relationship with him wanting Shouta.

Do you really think Hizashi would stay with you if he had any idea how you felt about his best friend? You sick, disgusting fuck.  No wonder your family didn’t want you. They might've said they disowned you because you wanted to become a hero; but let’s face it, they were looking for an excuse.  You were a disgrace of daughter.  Just like you’re a disgrace and despicable girlfriend.  You lost your name and your family to be a hero, and here you sit being a discredit to that as well.

“So tell me, Shadow.  What kind of hero are you?  You must be something special to get the normally lone Eraserhead to team with and vouch for you.”

Short as the meeting was, Shouta was glad when it was over.  He didn’t think himself a jealous person.  He had managed to tolerate Hizashi hanging all over Teris without hitting him yet. But Hizashi was his best friend.  And Delphin’s constant subtle sexual turn of phrase set his teeth on edge.

Shouta and Teris got to their feet.

Big Boy, who had silently stood at the rooms entrance, opened the door.

“Eraser. Stay a moment more if you would.” Delphin smiled, coyly.  “I have something special for you that you’ve been wanting.  Something that you’ll pay me real good for.”

Shouta glanced at Shadow, inciting Delphin to tell Teris.

“Oh, you can wait out in the hall or go get a drink at the bar, Sweet One. Big Boy will make sure they know it’s on me.”

The way Shadow paused and looked at him out of the corner of her eye told Shouta that she wasn’t keen on leaving him alone with Delphin.  But Shouta trusted Delphin well enough to be comfortable. He had been getting intel from the woman for a couple years.  He knew she wouldn't try anything.

He gave Shadow single nod.

Teris reluctantly followed the large Bouncer out of the dressing room.

As soon as the door closed Shouta questioned.  “What do you have?”

Delphin noted how he didn’t step back to the sitting area.  He probably didn’t want to leave Shadow alone out there for too long. A smart, all be it protective, move on the hero’s part.

She rose to her feet.  “You asked me to keep an ear out for this Void people are whispering about.”

Shouta’s eyes met hers as she stepped to him.

Despite his studied efforts, Delphin was able to see the hungry hope he felt for any sliver of information.  It wasn’t his fault.  Eraserhead was rather good at hiding his emotions.  He was excellent at it in fact.  It was one of the main reasons she continued their agreement.  He was a challenge that kept her people reading skills sharp.

“What have you learned?”  Shouta asked, not liking how she entered his space.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what this information will cost?  You usually do.”

“What do you want?”

“Since you brought me that cute hero to play with, and this is clearly something important to you.  Why don’t we call it even.”

Shouta's eyes narrowed.  “Even the smallest information costs with you.”

“Fine then.  Since you insist.  How about forgiveness?”

“Forgiveness?”

Before he could wonder what she wanted forgiveness for, Delphin kissed his stubbled cheek.

It was closed mouth and quick, but purposefully messy.

Shouta jerked his head back, scowling.

He didn’t step back or push her away; but the tension in his body told her that she had crossed a line.

“I’m sorry.  I don’t know what came over me.”  Delphin lied.

Far from pacified by her apology, Shouta frowned at her.

She stepped back out of his space. “It won’t ever happen again.  I promise.”

“If it does, our arrangement is over.” He told flatly.

Delphin swallowed.

Okay, maybe she had misjudged Eraserhead this time.  Yes, she had expected him to be upset; but she hadn’t thought that he would threaten to end their bargain.  He must’ve liked Shadow far more than she thought.

“I swear, Eraser.  I’ll be good.”  Delphin ducked her head and pouted, a contrite look that always worked on lesser men.

Shouta sighed roughly, well aware that she wasn’t truly sorry.  But so long as she didn’t do it again he would let it slide. Forgiveness was an easy price to pay for any information on the Void.

“What do you have?”

“Turns out that this Void has someone with a sleep or dream quirk working for them.”  Delphin told.

Shouta felt stupid that he had never considered such a thing.  If the Void had someone with a somnambulist type quirk working for him it would explain how he was able to enter his and Teris’ shared dreams.  He would have to look at the quirk registry and see how the various somnambulist quirks worked.  Maybe even met and ask Nemuri.  Though he would have to be careful if he did.  He didn’t want to chance Nemuri learning about and getting involved with the Void.

“I really am sorry, Eraser.  I know I overstepped.  I swear I meant nothing by it.”

Shouta’s neck stiffened at the memory of the pecking kiss.  “No need to mention it again.”

“If I get anything else I’ll call and leave you a message.”  Delphin promised, wanting to make amends.

Eraserhead was more than a fun visitor that kept her people reading skills well honed.  He was one of the few people she saw that didn’t want her for sex.  She doubted the man had ever looked her over with anything more than an initial appraising glance to make sure she was well and not a threat.

Shouta opened the door just as Teris got slapped across the face.

He rushed over to her, while another man pulled the attacking woman back.

“Fucking Slut!  He’s mine!  Bitch!  Get your own man and stay away from mine!”  The woman raged.

“You best leave.”  The Bouncer told, already crowding them in effort to usher them out the back door they had entered through.

Shouta wrapped a steadying arm around Shadow’s waist and led her down the hall.

Once outside, he stopped.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” In truth Teris was still dazed by what happened, but that wasn’t what Eraserhead was asking.

“You’re bleeding.”

“What?” She lifted her hand to her stinging cheek.

Shouta grabbed her hand before she could touch and smear the blood.  He moved her to a small, low crate beside the door.

“Sit down.”  He helped her sit and squatted in front on her.  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’ve been hit harder, Eraser.”  Teris said, more embarrassed than hurt.

Shouta's heart squeezed.

He knew she had taken harder hits.  Much to his distaste, he had seen it happen during their patrols.  It was something that stayed with him.  Though he was able to lock the images and guilt that came with those instances away.

She looked down at his still holding hand. His skin was warm.  Fingers calloused.  Touch gentle but firm.  Just as she had imagined.

“Looks like the bleeding stopped.”  He commented, worried eyes focused on her cut cheek.

Her fingers began to close around his.  No!  This was wrong.  She pulled her hand out of his and tried to stand, but Shouta stopped her.

He had been about to apologize when she pulled her hand away, but then she started to get up.  “Stay.”

His hands hovered over her, afraid to touch her and cause further offense.

Teris’ eyebrows furrowed in question.

“We need to disinfect that.”  He explained.

“It’s a scratch, Eraser.”

“It still needs treating, Shadow.”

They stared at each other.

It was clear from his expression that he wasn’t backing down, so Teris gave in.

She relaxed and Shouta opened a pouch on his utility belt.  “Stubborn.”

The word was mumbled so softly that she questioned.  “What?”

“What happened?”  He asked, pulling supplies out.

She eyed him pretty sure that wasn’t what he said.  “Some guy started hitting on me.”

Shouta needlessly busied himself with the alcohol and antibiotic packets. “What did you say?”

“What do you think I said?  I politely told him I wasn’t interested.  And when he kept on, I told him to get lost.”

She normally would’ve said she had a boyfriend; but since she was on patrol, details like that were guarded.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“I can handle myself, Eraser.”

Shouta smirked at that.  He lifted a hand, tucking her hair behind an ear, better exposing the scratch on her cheek. “Sure looks that way.”

Teris rolled her eyes.

His hand remained.  Her hair was so soft.  Focus, he scolded himself.

His fingers trailed the line of her jaw.

Her eyes fluttered closed.  Try as she might to hold still, her head slightly tilted into his touch.

Not wanting to pull away, Shouta, used his teeth to tear open the alcohol swabs foil lined packet.  With his other hand, he pulled the swab free.

He caught her chin between his fingers and gently guided her face closer.  “You alright?”

She opened her eyes.  How and when did he get so close?  That’s right. He had moved her.  And like putty in his hands she had went easily. Too easily.

“Yeah.” She breathed.

Shouta's thumb lightly brushed beneath her lip.  “This might sting a bit.”

It was silly warning to give. Small as the scratch was its cleaning likely wouldn’t cause her any discomfort.  But he was doing everything he could to extend this moment.

She was so close.  He could feel her breath on his face.  It was the most glorious feeling in the world, to breath the same air.

“I’ll be fine.”  She whispered, eyes locked on his.

“Will you?”

Would either of them be fine without the other?  Everyday was more difficult than the last.  Try as he might to hide his feelings he couldn’t help but think he was failing miserably.

He had told himself that he would wait. That he would let Hizashi ruin things with her and then take his chance. But nearly three years later, Hizashi and Teris were still together.  He didn’t want to betray and risk losing his best friend, but…

A breeze ruffled Shouta's hair.

Something on his cheek, hidden by his dark, wavy locks, caught her eye.  A flash of color that shouldn’t be there.

Teris’ hand lifted, tucking back his hair.  For a moment her heart squeezed, thinking he had been hurt.  But the red was too bright.  Realization dawned.  Her heart clenched for a completely different reason.

At Teris’ contact, a soft groan sounded from the back of Shouta's throat.

It was one thing for him to touch her, but this…  That single touch felt so much better than he ever could’ve imagine.

Too soon, her hand pulled away.

She rose to her feet and stepped to the side.

“Shadow?” Shouta stood and stepped after her. “I’m sor--”

“You got lipstick.”  She muttered, unable to look at him.

Why did her heart ache so much?  She was with Hizashi.  She shouldn’t care.

Shouta heard the crack in her voice.  His hand raised to his cheek.  Delphin, he thought.  Her lipstick must’ve transferred when she--

“She kissed me.”  He tried to explain.

“Whatever you do with your CI’s is your own business, Eraser.”

“Shadow. No. It’s not like that--”

Her phone rang.

“I gotta take this.”  She said without looking at the screen.

Shouta watched her step further away.  He wanted to explain.  Wanted to tell her that he hadn’t expected the kiss.  That he hadn’t wanted it.

It turned out the call had been important.  One of her former students needed her help.

Teris quickly explained that the student would have graduated last year if it weren’t for the Hero Commissions order and that the young man said he was injured.  Lucky for them, he had moved to Musutafu soon after the Hero Commissions order and wasn’t far away.

Teris had tried to talk Eraser out of going with her, but Shouta insisted on accompanying.

He didn’t like the idea of her meeting anyone, even an ex-student, alone.  More than that, something about this wasn’t right.  Why wouldn’t the young man simply go to a clinic?

He had a feeling that Shadow wondered that same which was why she had fought so hard against him going.  But Shouta could be just as stubborn as Teris, and in the end the two were walking to the given address.

The walk gave Shouta time to think, and he came to a realization that excited him with gladness despite the circumstances.

“This is the address.”  Teris said, turning into a small run down apartment block.

The unlatched apartment door swung open at her knock.

“Sensei?” A voice called cautiously from within.

“Kiro?”

Teris entered, Shouta at her heels.

“Sensei! I—I’m sorry.  I heard you accepted a position at UA and didn’t know who else to call. I was wounded but can’t go to a clinic.  They’d ask too many questions.  I’m sorry, Sensei. Please.  Help.”

While the young man talked, Shouta gave the place a cursory check.  He peeked over the bar style counter-top into the kitchen, and then in the bedroom before closing apartment door and locking it.

“It’s clear.”  He told Shadow, who was already looking over the young mans injuries.

“Sensei. Wh—who’s that?”

“A colleague.”  Teris answered simply, urging the young man to sit. “It’s fine, Kiro.  What happened?  Why can’t you go to a clinic?”

“You’ve turned vigilante.”  Shouta stated, dark eyes on the young man.

Kiro stared at the man’s unfriendly expression.

Teris paused in her assessment.  “Kiro?”

“I—I—I’m sorry, Sensei.”

Shouta moved by her kneeling frame.  “Shadow. We need to leave.”

Teris turned and looked up at him. “What?”

“A former student of yours turned vigilante.  You can’t be here. You could lose both your hero and teaching license if they found out.”

“We can’t leave him.  He’s injured.”

Though he felt for her and the young man, Shouta's expression remained dispassionate. “Are his injuries life threatening?”

Teris’ sense of failure and concern for her student mixed with her earlier jealously at the lipstick on Shouta’s cheek.

“Are we heroes or not?”  She snapped.

She took a steadying breath.  This wasn’t Shouta's problem.  He could get in trouble just the same as she. He shouldn’t be here.

She turned back to Kiro, dismissing him. “You should go, Eraser.  I don’t want you getting in trouble over this. Leave. Please.”

Shouta ground his teeth, exhaling through the nose.  He had said she could get in trouble. He wasn’t concerned about himself.

“Help him.” Shouta told her, fighting a growl.  “You,” he pinned the young man with a brooding glared, “don’t say a word.  Unless you want to see your Sensei in trouble, don’t tell us what you were doing or how you got those wounds.”

Teris worked quickly.  As much as she wanted to ask Kiro questions, she didn’t.  Eraser was right.  The less they knew about what happened the better.

Soon she had popped Kiro’s dislocated shoulder back in place, cleaned and steri striped two deep, sizable puncture wounds, and wrapped an ugly looking burn after applying ointment from the small first aid kit she carried on her belt.

The moment she was done, Shouta had a hand on her arm, tugging her to her feet.  Once she was standing, he moved to the door unlocking and opening it.

“Thank you, Sensei.  I’m sorry.”

Teris looked away from the young man’s watery eyes and exited without a word.

She didn’t know why he had apologized to her.  She was the one who should’ve apologized.  She wondered how many other students of hers, effected by the Hero Commissions ruling, had turned to vigilantism. Had she failed all of them?

Shouta paused just outside the door.  “I’ll be right back.  Gotta use the bathroom.  Stay here.”

He left Shadow outside and stepped back into the apartment, closing the door.

Before Kiro could fully rise to his feet, Shouta was pushing him back down with a heavy hand.  He didn’t know what the young man’s quirk was, and doubted that he would use it, but his hair rose, eyes burning red as he activated his own quirk.

“You’re going to listen.  And listen well.”  Shouta rumbled, the barest hinting of the anger inside him edging into his voice.

Kiro nodded, fearfully.

“Lose her number.  Shadow’s not your Sensei any more. And when you find yourself in trouble again, don’t you dare think about calling her for help. Lacerations and dislocations will be the least of your worries if you do.  Understand me?”

Kiro nodded again.

“Answer properly.”  Shouta's hand tightened on the young man’s tender shoulder.

Kiro squirmed in pain, his hand futilely trying to pull Shouta's off.

“I’d answer fast.  Your shoulder’s about to dislocate again.  If it does, who won’t you be calling?”

“Teris Sensei!”

Shouta blinked, deactivating his quirk.  “I told you she’s no longer your Sensei.  Don’t make me repeat myself.  I don’t like it.”

He released his grip and patted Kiro’s throbbing shoulder.

“It wasn’t suppose to be like this.”  Kiro called after the retreating hero.  “I was suppose to be a pro hero.  The Hero Commission took that away from me.  Made me waste three years of my life.  I would’ve done whatever stupid test they wanted to prove myself so I could graduate and become a pro. Instead they said we all had to start over again.  As if private heroics teachers weren’t previously seen as qualified, and trusted to teach us. It isn’t fair.”

“Life’s not fair.” Shouta said, thinking that if it were Teris would remember their shared dreams and they would have been happy together since their days at UA. “Heroing is dangerous enough when you have support and back-up you can call on.  Being a vigilante might seem the answer.  But it’s not.  You have three options.  Find something else to do with your life.  Retake the hero course.  Or continue down this path and find yourself dead or in jail within the three years it would’ve taken you to redo the hero course.  The choice is yours.”

12.3

Their patrol time was almost over so Shouta decided to simply call it an end.

Teris didn’t put up much of an argument, proving just how upset she was. Though Shouta couldn't say if it was solely from learning that a previous student of hers had turned vigilante, or if it also had something to do with what he had recently figured out.

She liked him, romantically.  It was the only logical reason for her earlier jealousy.  And she had been jealous.  He would’ve been able to reason what he saw away if it had simply been Delphin’s word play.  He had done so before with various looks and touches Teris had given him.  But when she had seen the lipstick on his cheek…

Displeased as he was by Delphin’s pecking kiss, he was grateful for what it had brought about.  The sure realization that his Love loved him in return.

Sadly, the knowledge didn’t allow him the freedom to do anything about it. She was still with Hizashi.  But the fact that Teris wanted and cared for him gave Shouta hope that she and Hizashi might not be together much longer.

He told himself that he would have to tread slowly after the two broke up. He had suffered through the near three years of Teris and Hizashi's relationship because he respected both of them.  He didn’t want to lose his best friend.  He told himself that when he and Teris got together, he would mindful.  He didn’t want to rub his relationship with her it in Hizashi's face the way Hizashi had unknowingly done with him.

There was a subtle smile on his lips as he walked beside her.  Teris had told him he didn’t have to walk her home, but he had insisted. Even though their patrol had ended early, he didn’t want their time together to end.

“Do you think it’s my fault?”  Teris asked, voice cutting into his thoughtful planning.

Shouta’s eyes turned to her.

He took in her lowered head and slumped shoulders, and immediately scolded himself.  How could he be so selfish?  While he had been pleased and excited during their walk to her and Hizashi's apartment, Teris had clearly been blaming herself for the turn one of her former students had taken.

“No. Not in the least.”  He said, firmly.

Teris sighed.

She wasn’t sure what she had wanted him to say but that wasn’t it. One thing was certain.  If the ‘tell it like it is’ Aizawa Shouta was sparing her feelings, then Hizashi and Nemuri wouldn’t give it to her straight either. Not that she would readily tell them that a former student of hers had turned vigilante.

“Hey. Listen to me.”  Shouta reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping them in front of the apartment complex.

“Shouta. I just--”

He stood facing her, hands on her shoulders.  “People make their own decisions.  You can’t control them.”

No, she thought.  But I could have taught him better.  If she were half the hero ethics instructor Shouta was, than maybe--

“It’s not your fault Teris.  You didn’t buy and persuade the Hero Commission into making that decision.  You didn’t encourage Kiro to turn vigilante.”

No. But I could have done more than try to keep tabs from afar.  I could have called.  Checked in on him.  On all of them.  I just felt so guilty that I--

“Do you really think he would have told what he was doing?”  Shouta asked.

He knew her well enough to know exactly where her mind would go.  He knew that her favored private pastime was beating herself up.

Shouta's hand cupped her face.  “Look at me.”

He gently turned and lifted her head, waiting for her eyes to follow.

“How long have you known me?”  Shouta asked, when her gaze finally met his.

Silently he wished that she would say, for as long as she could remember; but he knew it was a silly hope.

“Near twelve years.”

“And in all that time have you once known be to lie to spare someones feelings?”

She shook her head.

But this was different, she thought.  Shouta had--

“Ignore that inner argument in your head and answer me, Teris.”

“No.” She swallowed.

“No what?”

“You’ve never lied to spare someones feelings.”

“Then, special as you are, why do you think I’d start now?”

“Special?”

If he hadn’t so recently realized her feelings for him, Shouta likely would have lamely flustered his way around the telling slip. Instead, this newfound knowledge gave him a surety with her that he had only ever shown in their shared dreams.

“You have no idea how special you are.”  He told, thumb caressing her cheek.

He wanted to go on.  To tell her just how amazing and special she was. How treasured and precious she was to him.  But he didn’t.  He had patiently waited this long for friendships sake.  He could hold out a little while longer till she was no longer with Hizashi.

At least that’s what he thought.

His mouth, on the other hand, had other ideas.  “You’re amazing, Teris.  Kind. Tenacious.  Generous.  Smart.  You bring people up.  Make them better.  You make me better.”  His cradling hand moved, tucking her hair behind an ear.  “I hate that you think so little of yourself.  That you can’t see how wonderful you truly are.”  His knuckles smooth down her cheek.  “You’re beautiful, Ris.”

He glanced down at her lips, and found her staring at his when his eyes lifted.

As if by some silent accord they both inched closer.

The tips of Teris’ fingers brushed the top of his hero costume.

Moving a bit more sure than her, Shouta's other hand slid down her arm.

Teris’ gaze met his.

Shouta tilted his head.

Her eyes fell closed, lips parting softly.

Shouta felt the first whispering touch of her lips.

Teris’ phone rang.

Her eyes snapped open.

She pulled back, cursing under her breath.

“Ter--” Shouta tired.

“It’s Hizashi.”  She said, taking another step back.

What had she done?  No.  She hadn’t done anything.  They hadn’t done anything.  But you would have, she thought.  If Hizashi hadn’t called.  You would have let him kiss you.  No.  She had been moving in just the same as Shouta.  It would have been a shared, mutual kiss.

Fuck! She was such a horrible girlfriend.  Shouta was wrong.  She was a terrible person.

“Teris. I’m sorry.  I didn’t...”  Shouta fell silent.

There wasn’t much he could say.  He couldn't tell her he didn’t mean it.  That would be lying, and he wouldn't lie to her.

Teris stared into Shouta's eyes.  Eyes that were filled with want and concern.  Eyes that likely mirrored hers.

She hesitated, wanting nothing more than to step back to him and bridge the gap between them.

The sound of Hizashi's ring tone stopped, his call going to voicemail.

“Shit.” She muttered, stuffing her hand into her pocket and taking out her phone.

She took another step back.  She needed to get away before she did something that couldn’t be undone.

“I--I gotta go.”  She said, turning away.

“Teris!” Shouta called after her.

He could’ve easily caught up with her hurried steps, but he didn’t give chase.

12.4

Hizashi wasn’t drunk but he had had enough drink at the stations party to feel good.  That good feeling evaporated the instant he turned the corner and saw Shouta holding Teris by the shoulders. Her head was down and at first he thought she was hurt or upset.

He had taken a step intent on comforting his girl but then Shouta cupped her face and…

Hizashi had watched in breathless heartache. Waiting. Hoping.  That Teris would slap Shouta's hand away.  That she would back away from him and leave.  But she didn’t.

Hizashi took another step, intent on pulling his girl to his side and challenging Shouta.  He wanted to yell at his  best friend. To hit him.  Teris was his girl.  And Shouta was his friend.  His best friend.  But his whirling mind thought better of it.

Teris was accepting of Shouta's touch.  Her sweet, beautiful face was moving closer to Shouta's at the same rate as Shouta's was moving toward hers.  She wanted Shouta to kiss her.  More than that, she wanted to kiss Shouta.

I think I’m losing her. The words he told Nemuri a couple months back floated through his mind.

Would this be how he lost her?  What if he went over there and blew up at Shouta for making moves on his girl and Teris pulled away from his side and moved to Shouta's?  What if him going over there and confronting this was what caused her to break up with him?  He couldn’t have that.  He couldn’t lose her.  He would come up with a way to keep her.  But first he had to stop this.

He quickly pulled the phone from his pocket and blindly called her.

He heard his ring tone echo across the quiet street as it played from her phone.

Teris pulled back.  It looked like Shouta was apologizing.  She turned and rushed away.

Hizashi was able to breath again.

He watched a left alone Shouta.  It looked like his friend was upset and berating himself.

Good. Hizashi thought.  Shouta should be mad at himself.

It was bad enough that Shouta had entered Teris’ dreams and had been caught watching his girl countless times.  But this…  To try to kiss her.

He wondered if it had happened before.

No. He told himself.  Teris would've said something.  She would’ve stopped patrolling with Shouta.  Her constant self deprecation and sense of unworth wouldn’t have allowed her to look him in the eye if she were seeing Shouta on the side.

Still, Hizashi couldn’t help but imagine the two of them hanging out, snuggled up together at some cat cafe instead of patrolling. Would they lay in each others arms in Shouta's apartment on Friday nights and listen to his radio show, laughing and making love to the music he played?

Hizashi shook his head trying to expel the image from it.  But it didn’t go away.  Instead it kept on playing.

Nemuri's advice echoed in his mind.   You should share her.

Could he share her?  If it meant keeping Teris he could.  He would do anything to keep her.  Shouta was likely desperate enough to go along with it.  But would Teris agree?

Damn it!  He didn’t want to share her.  Teris was his.

Then another thought came to mind, brought on by a different memory.

Teris had been having a sex dream and practically said Shouta's name.  Once awake, she had claimed she hadn’t remembered her dream.  Well I guess it couldn't have been that good. He had replied.

What if Shouta really wasn’t that good in real life? Hizashi had never seen Shouta so much as flirt with someone.  Shouta certainly had never had a girlfriend.  Considering how little the man went out and that Shouta had never hinted at any escapades, it was highly likely he was still a virgin.

Hizashi knew that he was a great lover even without his vibrating tongue. If he could show Teris that Shouta was a clumsy virgin fool…

A plan began to form.  And while far from pleased, Hizashi did feel better as he entered his shared apartment with Teris.

[auburnfamilynews]

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Time to Barn Hard

Here we go... With under 24 hours until the kickoff of Auburn’s 2020 season, the luminaries here at College & Magnolia offer their sage opinions on what Tiger fans will see tomorrow afternoon. Most of us see a close contest destined to give us that all too familiar fall Saturday heartburn but there are a few brave souls who are prepared to barn hard no matter what.

Auburn (-7.5) vs Kentucky (O/U 49.5)

2019 Auburn fans won’t recognize 2020 Auburn. Bo Nix is going to take a huge leap forward. His receivers are healthy for game one. Our fearless leader has finally found someone he trusts enough to manage playcalling duties. The defense will reload with All-Conference (and maybe All-American) talent. A talented (and deep!) group of hard-hitting running backs. Pre-season optimism has overwhelmed pre-game jitters for me. Look for Chad Morris to show off all his weapons Saturday. He has a tendency to put up a lot of points in his first game at a new school. Brace yourselves, Wildcats. Let’s barn hard, yall.

Auburn 48

Kentucky 14

-Josh Dub

I was talking with a friend of my wife’s the other day and she asked how I thought Auburn would do. I was raised by an old school Auburn fan who taught me to sandbag and say that we were just hoping that everyone buckled their chin straps correctly and that they just had fun out there. That was met with my wife telling her, I always do this. I responded by saying that I just lower the bar so that, when they win by 40 in a game I don’t expect, I get the rush of being a kid again and genuinely happy when Auburn wins.

That said! HERE WE GO!

Auburn has got stars everywhere on the outside and in the backfield but a bunch of green horns on the starting line on offense, so IF Chad Morris (or Gus if he is still calling the plays) can use quick screens and....this route called a slant...to hide the fact that the Auburn offensive line will look a lot like the French army circa 1938, then they might buy a few chances for Anders to kick some field goals.

On defense, you don’t lose D Brown and Marlon and get better. You probably don’t maintain the production you had last year on the D-Line. You can get back there, but that takes time and experience. That said, I am a bit more bullish on the defense as a whole. There is a ton of talent to go around on the line and the secondary and the Linebackers may be the best in the conference. Once again, the defense will keep Auburn in every game for the most part. And that new line will be tested against a really well coached, running offense that Kentucky brings to the Plains.

I love what Mark Stoops has been able to build in Lexington, and sort of done what Matt Campbell has done at Iowa State, that team you just don’t want to see cause they are scrappy and will take advantage of your mistakes. On the betting lines, I am staying away from this one with spendy cashy monies but with fakey non-existant moneies, I love the Cats getting a touchdown and a hook because I see this one being in the 3-4 range with Auburn probably winning, just based on history and going with my heart, but I could totally see Kentucky pulling this off as well.

Gimme Auburn over Kentucky 27-24 and the defense had to get a late stop to seal this one away. Nothing like a late missed FG to start that stomach ulcer.

(betting pick: UK and the points, Over at 51)

-Drew Mac

Auburn *should* win this game. Auburn *should* have the talent advantage. But hey, this is 2020. Who knows what havoc Covid will have wrought on install for any given team.

That being said, I trust Bo Nix’s development as a true sophomore. I think this Auburn team, while still going through some growing pains, will finally start to hit on explosive plays with a veteran WR corps. This Kentucky defense is not the one that one 10 games two years ago.

The only way things go sideways is if the retooled defensive line can’t stop the Kentucky ground game, which is an extremely valid concern. The Wildcats have three returning backs who combined for 1,900 yards and 18 TDs while sharing the spotlight with Lynn Bowden Jr last year, and Terry Wilson is no slouch. I think the Auburn linebackers are going to have to earn their keep as best LB group in the SEC here in week 1.

Auburn takes this one with some big plays through the air and a defense that bucks up in the second half. 27-13 Auburn.

-Ryan Sterritt

I’m a huge proponent of playing a patsy in week 1. In a normal season fall camp doesn’t really give a complete picture of how an offensive line communicates in real time, how well the quarterback has his timing down with his receivers, if the tailback has fumbling problems, mike linebacker being able to switch the defensive alignment based on tendencies, etc. etc. But if you can’t play a patsy I’m a huge proponent of playing a top 10 team who will keep you engaged without distractions leading up to kickoff and will tell you so much about where you can go from here. What you don’t want is a trap game in week 1.

Folks what we have here is a trap game in week 1.

We’re 14 points better than Kentucky. I genuinely believe that. Talent wise and coaching we’re at least 2 scores better than this football team at home. And it does not matter one bit thanks to COVID.

I am so concerned over what we’re going to look like out there considering how many guys were held out at various points of our extended fall camp thanks to COVID. Which wouldn’t be as big of a deal in a normal year, even though it would still be a big deal, but OH YEAH WE HAD NO SPRING PRACTICE. So in keeping with my tradition of being absolutely God awful at Barnin’ Hard, this tiger ain’t changing his stripes for this one.

Keys to victory:

- Stop a Kentucky ground attack with a defensive line that is fully capable of plugging the gaps and have your linebackers make plays in space. This will only work if our corners, who will be in a lot of one on one situations, make plays. Jaylin Simpson is the guy that will get picked on, and this is a fine opportunity for the redshirt freshman to get thrown into the deep end to see if he’ll sink or swim in his first meaningful snaps. If he can hold his own, we’re in good shape.

- Establish an intermediate passing attack early in this game. Keep their defense off balance early on the offensive script and allow Bo Nix and an offensive line that will struggle but has a higher ceiling than that of the last 2 seasons gain some confidence early.

- Get the fastest player in all of college football 10 touches/targets for the day. This one may appear in all 10 entries of “Keys to Victory” for our schedule this year. Scheme to get Anthony Schwartz the ball in multiple ways. And then scheme off of it to get other players in positions to be in favorable coverages.

- Rotate your running backs in a way that makes sense instead of giving the “guy with the hot hand” 25 carries. This running back room is deeper and more talented than it has been since the healthy parts of 2016/2017 for Pettway and KJ. Give these guys a chance to punish Kentucky’s defense with fresh legs for 4 quarters. Make them hate playing us.

- Oh, and finally, get some sound sleep and show up alert for an 11 AM kickoff. I don’t need to explain to any of you why this is obviously something we should all worry over.

All in all I think being at home does matter, despite 20,000 people in the stands. Traveling in these uncertain times has to account for something, right?

Auburn 27 Kentucky 21

-Josh Black

If the first few weeks of football are any indication, I’m expecting some low scoring sloppy games on Saturday. And while Auburn’s rivals have essentially “warmup games” to start their season, Auburn will play another ranked opponent in Week 1. That’s JABA right?

Anyways, I’m really excited to see this group of Running Backs led by Captain Shaun Shivers this season. I’m really excited to see Shaun get the opportunity to start and it’ll be interesting to see how many carries he and the rest of the RBs get on Saturday. This is an experienced receiving corps too led by Seth Williams, “Flash” Anthony Schwartz and veteran Eli Stove.

The biggest question to me (other than the offensive line) will be the defensive line as it’s hard replacing Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson. And we can all hope for better O-Line play this season and a more mature Bo Nix as he enters Year 2 as the starting QB.

As I said earlier, I’m thinking this is a low-scoring game and I’m a bit concerned about this one, with the 11AM kick and all but I’ll take Auburn in a close one.

Auburn 17 Kentucky 14

-Will McLaughlin

I firmly believe Auburn has a significant talent advantage at the skill positions in this matchup. Yes the Cats have an athletic QB, a strong stable of backs, intriguing WRs and a surprisingly good secondary but across the board I’ll take Auburn. However, it won’t matter if the Tigers lose the line of scrimmage battle which is way more likely than any of us wanna imagine.

As you have probably read, heard, seen by now, Kentucky has one of the best offensive lines in the country. This isn’t a group made up of 3-star kids with heart. Left tackle Landon Young was a 5-star recruit. Center Drake Jackson was a 4-star ranked as a top 150 player. Future NFLer Darian Kinnard was a 4-star recruit as well. This is both an experienced AND talented front who enjoy physically beating the hell out of their opponents. Everyone in the world knew that a run play was likely coming last fall and it rarely mattered. While I trust Rodney Garner & Kevin Steele to rebuild this front 4 for the Tigers, I am concerned about them being ready to go week 1. Even with Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson last year, Oregon pushed around the Tigers for one half. This UK OL is of the same calibre and it wouldn’t shock me if they came out the gate with similar success.

Then there’s the other side of the ball where the UK return plenty of experience of a solid front 7. However, they were actually pretty porous against the run last fall allowing over 5 yards a carry against SEC competition. The problem is I am not sure if Auburn is ready to take advantage. In most years, when I see a defense susceptible to the run, I expect an AU victory that borders on dominant. I just don’t know if the Tigers though will be ready to go on Saturday.

That’s why Anders Carlson will be the x-factor. I think Auburn’s offense will look disjointed but generate enough explosive plays to get into UK territory consistently. They don’t put the ball in the end zone as much as we would like but Anders knocks through 4 big kicks. The defense rebounds from a rough first quarter to limit the UK offense to only 2 touchdowns on the day. Auburn recovers a late onside kick to escape with a hard won victory.

Auburn 26 Kentucky 20

-AU Nerd

Auburn at 11am.

Auburn in season openers.

Auburn as favorites vs hungry teams.

Yuck. I am finding it hard to Barn as hard...——record scratch—-

(The boys are back in town starts playing)

Just kidding!

The Boys are back!

Guys we are gonna kill em.

Auburn 34- Kats 24

-Son of Crow

Most of the time I have some idea of what to expect. There’s a gut feeling, an inkling, an intuition. Even days when I publicly avow a big win, and we end up losing, I realize that I knew it deep in my soul. This time, I have nothing. I guess that’s what 2020 will do to a man. I can’t pick this game with my heart or my gut, so I have to go with the limited knowledge that we’ve been able to glean from the practice fields. Somehow, Gus has kept it tighter than usual this season. He’s keeping spies, leaks, and COVID out of the fold.

It’s not a big secret that Auburn’s level of talent is superior across the board, but Kentucky might have the mix of experience to go along with its skill to make this a very scary opening contest. We’ve heard that the Wildcats’ lines are both going to be solid, and that gives us a flashback of what the Oregon offense was able to do for about a half last year in Arlington. Auburn can’t afford a slow start on Saturday, because we’ll be breaking in a new offensive line. Now, that might not be the worst thing in the world — our line last year was nothing much to write home about — but they started to get better down the stretch. That said, this year’s group might be more maulers than linemen. Sometimes you just need some dudes being guys up front to push people around. We might have that, thus the run game could come to life with a much more talented group in the backfield. Not to mention, Bo Nix’s sophomore development with a true quarterback coach could be something unparalleled.

Kentucky will give us a fight, but there’s no way I’m picking us to lose this game. It’ll probably be close, and uncomfortably so for a while I’d wager. Still, the home “crowd” and the overall talent win out in the end. I think someone else mentioned Anders Carlson being a weapon in this one, and I agree. I think he hits 3 kicks and Auburn scores 3 touchdowns. Tigers 30-21.

-Jack Condon

In our preseason predictions I pegged this as one of the three games that Auburn could lose, and had it at the top of my list as the one I’m most worried about. That may seem weird, but we really just have no clue how any team, including our own is going to look on Saturday. We’ve all seen how bad some of these other teams already playing have looked, and I guess people think that there’s no way their own team could look that bad, but I’m not so sure. That said, I believe this Auburn team has all the components necessary to be better than last season and thus easily handle a Kentucky team that is, well they’re Kentucky. The new look offense should give an older, more seasoned Bo Nix a chance to throw some higher percentage passes, we have an SEC caliber stable of running backs for the first time in a couple of seasons, and presumably a fully healthy group of receivers. The new-look offensive line doesn’t concern me at all, because, well, I’ve lived through the last two seasons. At this point Kevin Steele and co. have earned my utmost confidence that the defense will pick up right where they left off.

Tigers 37 - Cats 12

-AU Chief

Man alive I wish I wasn’t so worried about this. Kentucky is well coached. They know what they are, and they don’t try to do things outside their comfort zone. Their strengths could cause problems for us. And yet, Auburn has more talent. 2020 is going to be a weird year, but I think having better athletes is going to win out more often than not, because teams are going to have to keep things simple. I like everything I’m hearing out of fall camp. I still don’t know about that line though. I could see a backdoor cover for UK where Auburn has to recover an onside kick to clinch things. I could see a front door cover for Auburn putting the game away late. I’ll stay on the safe side.

Auburn 24

Kentucky 17

(Auburn wins, UK covers; under)

-James Jones

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/9/25/21456468/staff-picks-8-auburn-vs-23-kentucky

[skamamoroma]

How do you feel about them using violence in wtfock? You are all about the warmth of skamit and the hope and comfort but you are super balanced about all remakes and appreciate them all so i would like to hear your perspective on this whole thing of that is ok with you?

Thank you for your lovely words, anon ❤️

I do always talk about the hope and comfort of it all. That, for me, is why Skam is special. So you’ve absolutely read me right there.

This is the only post I’ll make on the whole thing (after last night’s emotion fest). It’s a little long, I got a little carried away...

So I guess I’d say first of all that I do not need a remake to be the same as the original. I appreciate changes, I appreciate creative choices and alternative approaches. They may not all work for me but that’s fine, we’re all very different, but what doesn’t work for me will no doubt be someone else’s exact cup of tea.

Julie Andem has always been very open with her intentions with Skam and it was always to firstly reflect reality properly, none of this sugar coated, vapid kind of reflection of young people but a real, genuine, warts and all, personal and in-depth look. Another thing she always talked of was reflecting the thoughts and experiences of young people in their own environments and shining a light on actual experiences but always with a view to ensure young people to know they aren’t alone and that there is hope and comfort... the very things that Skam has always striven to do and, for the most part, done very well.

We’re talking about s3 here and the original was absolutely special. That’s undeniable. There’s also a reason it was incredibly popular and one of those reasons is the sheer U turn on classic LGBT storytelling. It was hopeful, intimate, affectionate, clever and still maintained the real and honest storytelling while ALSO touching on very serious subjects like homophobia, mental health, parental importance, found families, loneliness, suicide, religion, friendship, forgiveness etc etc etc.

It was a story written FOR young people and in a way to raise awareness on topics that still provided them with hope and effectively telling them that if they’ve got it rough like Isak or Even then it may be difficult for a while but it can and will get better. She didn’t choose to show too much of the difficult stuff, rather hinted at it. Examples being Even’s intentions for suicide, Even’s episode was minimally shown, Isak’s mother wasn’t shown, homophobia was casual rather than intense etc. It had its own issues and wasn’t perfect but as a whole was done with love and respect and wonderful intentions and it resonated.

They were artistic choices and WONDERFUL ones. I appreciate them so much for so many reasons and they worked.

A show like Skam is going to be watched by many and s3 was going to be viewed by both LGBT+ people looking for representation or hope etc and also non LGBT+ folks. The intention was always clear - she’d give LGBT+ folks a story to hold tight to and the non-LGBT+ folks a story to learn from and to help perhaps some less supportive or educated people to see LOOK THIS IS LOVE ALSO. You know?

So that has always been the way of Skam. Each remake has considered its approach and has done its own thing, some in a much more drastic way but the overall requirement has always ultimately been to primarily provide hope and a story for those who identify and, as an extra, provide a story to educate those who don’t.

The country the show airs in is very specific too. Take Italy, with a right wing political landscape and significant issues with LGBT + representation, safety and support, decisions were made to give a huge dose of HOPE. It was warm and cosy and emotional but Ludo Bessegato even talked about how Giovanni GaraU as a character was his “tool” in that season for people to learn from - be more like Giovanni GaraU. It was beautifully done and is absolutely dear to me and always will be.

To me, darkness and reality isn’t to be shied away from necessarily. I have experience a lot of stuff in my life and the most affected I have been by media/fiction when these sensitive topics are touched upon have been when the sheer reality has been shown and a person has then been shown to grow, heal, gain strength and love and support and leave it behind. Not everyone will respond the same but many many will.

So, there’s contention in including blatant homophobia and violence concerning LGBT+ folks in a season dedicated to LGBT+ issues (amongst other things). It has been done time and time again and even in the 90s, it was the staple of any LGBT fiction. LGBT+ folks craved (and rightly so) to be depicted beyond that, to be shown to be loving and caring and varied and intelligent and filled with the same multitudes as any other group of people but also for the unique things about the LGBT+ community to be celebrated. That’s entirely a worthy cause and likely why we have so much more diverse LGBT+ media/fiction. Look at Moonlight winning the Oscar and Love Simon being released as a successful teen movie and San Junipero being arguably the most beloved Black Mirror episode and winning Emmys... it has been a long fight and it isn’t over but it’s WONDERFUL to see that type of progress.

But. Society isn’t there yet. I can’t speak for every society and country because I’m merely 1 person who is still learning and I am uneducated for that but violence against LGBT+ folks still happens, LGBT+ people still fear for safety in public etc etc etc. These issues haven’t disappeared. They are a reality for many. A sad, maddening reality that is horrific to comprehend but a reality all the same. So many folks who have endured this have grown, thrived and proven the world they are as worthy of love and support as any and that those who seek to destroy their love or community will fail and are worth nothing. Should they have to? No. But their stories are worth telling. The same way that an experience I lived through that was harrowing and has changed me as a person to this date when much of it happened when I was a teenager... was made easier by seeing other succeed from where I was. Their power and optimism and stories helped me make big decisions and change my life.

There is more than one way to do something. I will ALWAYS be a champion of hope and comfort and contentment. I strive in my life - everyday - to live that way and to give that to people around me because I know what it is to be without it. People need kindness and hope and you can provide that in many effective and useful ways that will work for some and not for others... and isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t it great that media and fiction has that power? It can be used for bad and we should ALWAYS constructively call that power out but Skam has always been a champion of hope and I don’t think wtfock’s intention is to provide misery porn for the enjoyment of straight folks. They wouldn’t be striving hard to show a complex, moving, intimate, affectionate, real relationship between two boys if they didn’t have respect for the people they are trying to portray.

Do we always need the stark realities of life to know they’re there? No. Do we need hope in media/fiction especially LGBT+ focused fiction? Damn right we do. Can a story like that be told without showing or highlighting those topics in any significant way? Of course it can and it is. But is there value in representing the stories of those who have sadly been subject to mistreatment or who have acted poorly when struggling with internalised homophobia? In my opinion, yes. Watching a journey of a character you are living the life of and seeing them succeed from a very difficult place is absolutely what some need. Not all. And if folks don’t like or agree then that’s the beauty of media/fiction, you can choose what you consume.

Wtfock has a lot to prove but I haven’t been shown anything in the clips so far that suggests that they intend to do anything other than show a story of survival and hope and comfort. If I’m proven wrong then so be it - won’t be the first time haha - but Julie Andem wouldn’t give the rights to her story if it wasn’t going to achieve that. I’m willing to give them a chance.

[but a warning should have 100% been added to last night’s clip. Nobody should have to watch scenes like that if they don’t want to and need to be given a choice]

I hope this answers your question ❤️

[shooter-nobunagun]

Quarantine UST 5

//Seriously, writing for such a sustained stretch is...unprecedented...I think I haven’t done this since the beginning of my intro into this fandom. Maybe this period of time is good for something after all.

And yes, I definitely binged my way through FF7R as soon as it came out...

The days seemed to pass in a blur; yet as Sio woke up after another night of binging Netflix with Jess, it felt like nothing had changed, either. She’d adjusted to the rhythm of her new life fairly well: sleep in until 10am or so, leisurely troop downstairs for breakfast after brushing her teeth⁠—usually Adam was already up and frying some eggs, or sometimes they picked up coffee and pastries from a local cafe⁠—clean up, then she might go for a walk outside or spent some time in the yard while catching up on emails and texts from her family and Asao-san. By then, Jess and Mahesh were usually awake, and they’d all gather again for lunch (or in the other twos’ case, brunch), and afterwards Sio usually would do her training, either by herself or under Adam’s watchful guidance. Then it was free time (which usually involved another stroll outside), dinner, sometimes a group activity, and then everybody retired to their rooms for the night.

Recently, the group started venturing out a bit more; at first it was just to the local cafe for drinks and snacks, but yesterday the group’d gone for another grocery run, this time at the farmer’s market. Even with all the restrictions in place, Sio was glad to be able to spend some time outdoors again, and picking from the wide variety of fresh produce was much more fun than going to the grocery store.

Yawing, the sniper continued lounging in her bed, absentmindedly scrolling through her texts from last night. Her parents were doing okay (actually most of Japan seemed alright by comparison) though obviously they were concerned about her health and safety. Asao-san’s latest couple of messages contained the usual news and gossip, although the last one before she signed off left the sniper blushing and covering her face.

[Asao Kaoru]: By the way, how are things with Jack-san? You two seem to be getting awfully close... (ΦωΦ)~ Did you get any more peeks in during training?

“Moou, Asao-saaaan!! I-It’s not like, that!” The sniper screeched, tugging her hair. “Jeeze, why does everybody keep assuming we’re gonna...hook up or something like that...” 

Admittedly, her own brain wasn’t helping matters; at this point, she’d given up on denying her attraction towards him⁠—besides her nightly little ritual, she’d already had at least one...steamy dream involving him and no clothing. “Ugh...why do I have to make things so complicated...”

‘I just want to get to know him better, not get a crush on him! Besides, knowing him, he probably has a girlfriend waiting for him back in London. Or at least, had one...unlike me...’ A cool, good-looking guy like him who was the epitome of the tall, dark and handsome type? Sio looked down at her own flat chest, unfashionable haircut and childish face, and sighed. ‘Yeah right; I’d never stand a chance. He’s probably got way more experience and prefers girls who look like Newton...’

The thought depressed her more than she expected; even though she knew her chances were slim, and that shacking up with your platoon leader probably wasn’t the best idea, the thought of not getting any closer than just friendly teammates made her heart sink straight to the ground. ‘I know I’m just a below-average high schooler, and I don’t even have anything going for me except my e-gene; but even I can still hope, right...?’

She moped about all through her morning routine, not really bothering to fix her hair or wear anything aside from putting on a pair of shorts (why bother, it wasn’t like she was cute or anything). Walking into the quiet kitchen, she pulled out a box of cereal and some milk, sullenly eating her cold breakfast.

“Good morning, Sio dear. Oh goodness, is something the matter? You’re looking awfully peaked...you don’t feel ill, do you?” Jess came down the stairs, Sio a bit surprised as it was unusual for the blonde to be up before noon. “Hmm, you don’t seem feverish...”

“Oh, good morning, Jess-san.” She heaved another sigh, not really interested in finishing the rest of her soggy bowl. “It’s, nothing...I’m not sick, I guess I just feel...”

“The quarantine blues?” The sniper nodded, and the blonde patted her shoulder sympathetically. “There there, it’s perfectly normal. Things are unprecedented, you can’t expect to keep your spirits up all the time in a situation like this.”

“Yeah, well...I guess I’m surprised I’d let it get to me. I mean, all things considered, it’s not like we’re suffering or anything. There’s a lot of people who have it way worse than us...”

‘Yeah, and here I am moping about because I have the hots for my platoon leader even though I don’t stand a chance...’ 

Jess nodded in sympathy. “Definitely, I can see that. But you know, that doesn’t mean you can’t feel bad, either. I can’t say the past week has been much of a vacation, despite what Mahesh likes to claim. Feeling down about everything that’s been going on is understandable, and it isn’t healthy to pretend otherwise.”

“True...thanks, Jess-san...um, I guess it does feel a little better to talk about it.” Sio stirred her cereal a bit, surprised that she was finally having a true conversation with the blonde that didn’t involve a fear of tongues and kisses (mostly).

“Of course, dear. I apologize for my earlier behaviors...but I am still serious when I say I do want to be there for you, should you ever want another ear,” the blonde smiled kindly at the younger girl. “By the way, where is Adam? Don’t tell me he’s still asleep?”

“Eh? Adam-san...uh, I dunno. He’s usually here by the time I wake up, so...” Sio shrugged. “It’s not like I checked his room, but maybe he went out for something?”

As if on cue the front door unlocked, both girls turning around as Adam walked in, bag in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other. Sio rushed out to the foyer to help him unload and disinfect the door, keys, etc.

“Speak of the devil; we were just wondering about you,” Jess commented as Adam finally took his seat at the table. “New place this time?”

“Yeh; was checking out local places online yesterday and thought this might be a nice change of pace.” He passed out the drinks; only Mahesh’s chai latte remained untouched as the trio started unwrapping pastries and other baked goods. “Ogura, you’re alright with tea, correct? They didn’t seem to have anything like sencha, but I got jasmine, if that’s okay.”

“Oh, yes please; and thank you, Adam-san. You could’ve waited for us to get up,” Sio offered as she took a sip of her beverage. “I kinda feel bad for making you go all by yourself...”

“Eh, it’s fine. Even I like taking a break from cookin’ once in a while.” Their leader shrugged as he drank his coffee (pure black, no sugar or cream). “Besides, it’s nice to get some fresh air when it’s early in the morning. Also less folks t’ dodge...swear to god, every time we go out it’s like playing a game of Frogger...”

Sio sweatdropped, but it was true; as much as she cherished her daily walks, there was a reason why she preferred running on the treadmill. Trying to avoid other passerby who were also exercising or walking their dogs and also not getting run over by traffic... It was a good thing the yard was decently sized, and the days were slowly starting to warm up. The sniper glanced out the windows, where the golden rays were starting to bathe the garden with their yellow hues.

“Actually, I’m gonna eat out in the garden. The weather’s been so pleasant lately, might be nice for a change.” She took her tea and croissant with her; to her surprise, Adam followed. “Oh? Did you...also want to eat outside?”

“Why not; like you said, today seems to be shaping up to be pretty nice...would be a shame to spend it all indoors, again,” he gave her just a the slightest hints of a smile, and Sio felt her stomach fluttering with butterflies. Maybe she wasn’t insane for thinking it would be possible? Maybe?

“U-Um, s, so, how was the rest of the city?” She was stuttering again, much to her dismay; didn’t she get over this already?

Adam didn’t seem to notice, or at least, he didn’t comment on it. “Hm, mostly the same; not that many folks about, but all the better for me. At least we can still get takeaway and drinks.” He finished the rest of his cup. “I was surprised Jess’ up so early; usually she and Mirza sleep ‘til past noon...”

“Heh, me too.” Sio grinned as she finished her croissant. “Mm, this croissant is super flakey...so good...” If it weren’t for their training and exercise, she was sure she’d have gained at least 5 pounds by now. Even in the midst of a pandemic, San Francisco’s culinary scene did not disappoint; and that wasn’t even counting their cooking nights.

“To be honest, I’m more surprised you’ve been able to stick to a decent wake-up time every morning,” Adam teased, “considering someone always had to wake you for a morning meeting back at the Logan...”

The sniper nearly spit her tea back out. “H-Hey! Well, you’re always banging on my door every other morning anyway for some thing or other...so I figured, I might as well just save us both the trouble and get up anyway,” she pouted, cheeks tinged with pink. “Besides, those meetings were way early; if there’s one thing that’s better about this, is that I can at least sleep in a little...”

Adam smirked behind his sandwich, glad the sniper couldn’t see his face. For if she could, he was sure she’d be able to notice the warm flush spreading across his features, including his ears (mercifully hidden by his hair). She was adorable, really; the innocence of a girl, yet she was surprisingly insightful and able to see a clear line from point A to B, without being bogged down by details. ‘Not to mention that wit, when she actually works up the courage to talk back,’ he noted, recalling many of their previous conversations where she’d sparred with him using nothing but words.

Cunning, intuitive, determined and sincere; it was amazing how quickly his opinion of her changed, not just since she joined but even from the beginning of this quarantine. Hardly any of her quirks seemed detrimental now; silly at most, and charming at best. Was this what poets meant by love causing you to see everything through a rose-tinted lens? Even her appearance, which most people would probably consider average at best, gave him a flurry of feelings whenever he thought about them: large, round maroons, that cute bob with uneven bangs that could probably use a trim soon, and her slender, lithe figure... Adam swallowed and tried to turn his mind away from more lustful thoughts, but it was useless. It was obvious she was probably the most flat-chested female holder next to Geronimo, but it didn’t detract his attentions at all; if anything, he felt it suited her quite well. Once he’d caught a glimpse of those salacious photos Capa had distributed, and they gave him a bit of a shock—her willowy frame saddled with two huge water balloons that seemed to defy gravity, nevermind the fake, prancing-around poses the clones took.

All-in-all, good things definitely come in small packages, he decided. In fact, the smaller the better. Sio wasn’t that short, but her slight frame made it seem so, especially compared to him. He’d never paid attention, but Adam was sure the sniper would probably be just the right size for spooning, cuddled between his arms and those petite breasts could fit just right in his palms—

‘Hoo boy, stop right there Adam; you should not be thinking of your fellow holder in such a manner...’ But even his inner consciousness sounded half-hearted, as if it were just repeating things because that’s what was expected. And maybe it was right; even now, he still quarreled with himself on whether or not he should even pursue anything beyond friendly camaraderie with the girl. Her ambiguous feelings towards him aside, what if they got in trouble? What if it ended up interfering with their duties as e-gene holders? Or worse yet, what if it didn’t work out and the subsequent fallout ended up destroying their entire platoon?

“Adam-san?” He jerked up at her voice, having been lost in his own turmoil for the past couple of minutes. “Are you okay? You seem kind of...glum.”

You’re not wrong there, he almost said, but only shook his head. “Nah; just thinking about...stuff.”

The sniper nodded. “Yeah, I get that...I’ve been, kinda thinking on a lot of stuff too...”

Now it was Adam’s turn to be surprised. “Oh? Somethin’ else botherin’ you lately?”

“Ah uh, I mean nothing really...specific,” Sio squirmed, caught off-guard by his question. There was no way she could admit her burgeoning feelings for him. “I just...guess the whole pandemic situation is kind of getting to me, even though all things considered, this isn’t that terrible. But somehow things just feel...off.”

“Yeh, I get that too, sometimes. But I mean, this isn’t exactly a normal situation; people are sick and dying, we’re stuck in this house and still have to do our best to try and maintain a ‘normal’ life—and that’s not even counting the Objects mounting another attack at any minute.” Adam cut into the remainder of his muffin with a knife. “It’s normal to feel distressed about it—hell, I think I’d be more concerned if you weren’t...”

The sniper nodded, though she didn’t seem keen on finishing the rest of her pastries now, instead fiddling around with her fork. Adam felt a bit guilty; he hadn’t meant to ruin her nice garden breakfast with something gloomy like the virus. Especially not after they’d managed to have a normal, decent conversation.

“Hey uh, squirt? Y’know, if you need some time to yourself, you can skip your training for today,” he offered, the sniper blinking in surprise. 

“Oh...I-I mean, it’s fine, you don’t have to make an exception for me; it’s not like I physically feel bad or anything...”

“Don’t worry about it; I wouldn’t want you around that equipment when you’re all distracted like this, anyway. Last thing we need is an accident,” Adam muttered. To be sure, she’d definitely improved quite a bit, but sometimes he still did worry about her.

“...Are you saying you don’t trust me to handle myself?”

“...I’m just taking precautions.”

“Hnnn...” Sio didn’t say anything more, instead sullenly sipping the rest of her tea. 

Adam sighed inwardly. Why were girls so fickle to deal with at times? “...By the way, not sure if you’re interested, but one of our other care packages finally arrived, and they got our request for a game console plus some of the latest games, so...”

He didn’t finish, but Adam could tell by the way her eyes gleamed the second he mentioned the word Playstation. ‘Ah, so she’s also a gamer...’ Somehow he wasn’t surprised; it seemed natural that a military otaku would also be into video games, though he was curious if she played genres other than shooters or military sims.

“...What sort of games did they send?”

“Oh, I haven’t gone through them myself yet, but I’d assume a pretty wide variety...why, was there anything in particular you’re looking forward to?” Adam replied nonchalantly, testing out the waters. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to spend some time with her in a casual setting...

“Nothing really, but I mean, if there’s something good...” Her eyes shifted a bit over the edge of her drink, meeting his for a second before they darted back down at her plate. “I’ve been hearing a lot about Apex Legends...the guys from the Fifth Platoon are always talking about it.”

“Hm; I’m not that interested in battle royale types; I was actually thinking more along the lines of action RPG or adventure...”

They surreptitiously looked at each other for a few more seconds, before Adam suddenly got up.

“...You wanna go take a look, squirt?”

“...Okay.”

The two fast-walked back into the house, rushing by Jess who looked at the two in surprise and a yawning Mahesh, whom Adam barely had time to point to his drink—“don’t blame me if it’s cold, it’s not my fault you slept in”—and straight into the living room, where the 70-inch flatscreen sat in pristine condition, having only been used as a Netflix machine thus far. The package was still unopened, Sio carefully wiping it down first as Adam sliced the box open with ease.

“Oooh, what’s this? Looks like a headset...wait, oh my god is this one of those VR things everyone’s been talking about?” Sio’s eyes glittered with excitement as she dug around. “Wow, I wanna try it out later!”

“Let’s see, here’s the PS4,” Adam carefully set the machine up, along with its cables, “and as for games...well, looks like they did include Apex Legends, so if you want to give it a shot squirt, go ahead. Other than that...Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, whatever the latest iteration of Call of Duty is, Devil May Cry 5—that might be fun—Monster Hunter: World, and...well well,” Adam let a low whistle, “what do we have here?”

Sio looked over his shoulder, eyebrow raised as she read the title. “Final Fantasy 7...wait, isn’t this game super old?”

“Look closer, squirt; it’s the remake. I don’t know how those bastards managed to pull it off with everything that’s going on, but I know what I’ll be playing tonight.” Adam tried not to sound too eager, but it was hard; Final Fantasy VII, while already dated by the time he was old enough to enjoy video games, was still considered a classic, and he’d secretly been hoping for a chance to play it as soon as it was announced.

Sio looked on in wonder as Adam diligently set the rest of the system up. He seemed much younger for a change, almost like a puppy instead of a wolf. His boyish enthusiasm was charming, and Sio felt like she was seeing a part of his true self, for once. It made her feel warm all over, but not in a horny way; rather, it was the joy of seeing him genuinely happy for once, instead of shouldering the burden of being their leader. ‘So I was right about him being a gamer...I knew that Metal Gear Rising t-shirt was more than just a coincidence.’

“Well, I guess I know what we’re playing then...” Now that everything was finally ready, she took a seat on the couch next to Adam; both sets of eyes now glued to the giant screen as the opening sequence panned over the in-game city of Midgar, the classic theme blasting from the speakers.

Though Sio didn’t know much about the Final Fantasy series (famous as it was, she preferred her games with more bullet-hell sequences and tanks), within a few minutes she could see why it was so revered, and why Adam was so excited. Movie-quality graphics aside, the action was tightly-paced and almost non-stop, Sio getting more engrossed herself as Adam deftly controlled the action on-screen. Before either of them knew it, it was past lunchtime; the only indication any time passed at all was Sio’s stomach complaining rather loudly after Adam finally got Cloud & co. past chapter 3.

“Whoa, I didn’t know it was so...cool,” Sio sat down to their late lunch (Chinese takeout), still in a bit of a daze at her mind replayed the action sequences and storyline. “No wonder it’s so popular...”

“Oh yeh; holy hell, they did a banger of a job remaking it,” Adam dug into the boxes with relish, barely paying attention to what was going into his mouth. “Shit, the graphics, characterization, soundtrack—and the overhauled ATB system is amazing—”

“I like the characters a lot! They look so realistic...well, as realistic as anime characters can get,” Sio mused, remembering the intro with one very well-rendered Cloud Strife. “So, I’m guessing you like a lot of JRPGs then...?”

Adam nodded. “I do, but I’ll play pretty much anything, honestly. I think the only genres I don’t do are racing and puzzles.” He shook his head, emptying the rest of his plate. “You? I prefer it when the action’s hot, bonus points if it’s got a great story.”

“Uh, I don’t play that many RPGs in general, but sometimes I do if it’s really good. But uh, yeah, I...prefer shooters like Ikaruga, or Biohazard—er, I think they call it Resident Evil outside of Japan? Oh, but there was that one series that came out a while ago, and I was surprised because I also liked the plot a lot...it’s called Bioshock?” 

“Somehow, I’m not surprised to hear that; a military otaku like you, would be shocked if you didn’t have some type of shoot-’em-up as your top three,” Adam smirked, Sio laughing sheepishly. “Anyway, if you wanna start your own file while I’m working out, go ahead; like I said, you should take a break today, get some time in for yourself.”

“Ah—oh, uh, okay...thanks,” Sio trailed off as Adam left, presumably to change and then train. “Well...guess I’ll try playing by myself.”

The console booted up, and soon the sniper settled into a comfy pile of cushions, learning the battle system based on what Adam was doing earlier. While years of shooters—first person and otherwise—had honed her reflexes fairly well, Sio had to admit this system of ATB, materia, and character swapping was a bit of unknown territory. Luckily the game was generous with tutorials, but she still struggled a bit against her first real boss, after the beginning section was over. She groaned as the ‘game over’ screen flashed, kneading her temples. 

“Man, I thought I had it! What happened...did I not use the right skills?”

“You might wanna check your materia slots, squirt. Those’ll matter a lot in the coming battles.”

A low, husky tone breathed right next to her ear, and Sio nearly jumped out of her skin. “Aaagggh! A-Adam-san, don’t do that! You scared the crap out of me...” She protested, hugging a pillow to her chest as Adam chuckled.

“Sorry squirt, but I was curious to see how you’d do. Didn’t wanna interrupt the fight, though seems like you’re gonna need to retool your party’s materia and gear first.” When he left, Adam was curious if the girl would continue playing Final Fantasy, or pop in another game. But it seemed Cloud Strife’s fabulous chocobo-locks had worked their magic, and he returned from training to find the sniper valiantly trying to defeat the motorcycle-crazy Rosche.

“Hrrm...I don’t really know what some of these descriptions mean. Magic I get, but things like MP up? Chakra?”

“Budge up a bit there, squirt, and I’ll give you some tips.” The sniper scooted to make room for the silver-haired man, as he plopped himself onto the couch and took the controller. “First off, always get HP up; more health never hurts. And then of course, healing...”

Sio nodded, but in reality she was only half paying attention. Adam was sitting right next to her, along with those chiseled muscles still glistening with sweat as his shirt clung to those washboard abs...swallowing thickly, she forced herself to listen to his advice, but even his scent was distracting; there was sweat, but it wasn’t offensive, mixed with a rather musky odor that she couldn’t quite place...

“—and this should be a pretty good setup,” Adam finished. “Uh, squirt? Ogura?” He snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Oy, snap out of it; what’s gotten into you? 

“A-Ah—huh? Hai? I-I’m, fine...” Adam raised an eyebrow, but Sio snatched the controller back before anything else happened. “Th, Thanks for the advice...I think I’ll be able to get him this time...”

Adam blinked. “...Alright. Well, good luck then.” 

‘Was she checking me out?’ Though he tried not to rouse suspicion as he left, he’d definitely noticed Sio staring at more than just the screen while he’d been redoing her party members. ‘And I’m pretty sure she wasn’t randomly looking around the house.’ Oh no. The sniper definitely had a long way to go if she wanted to be more discreet about her little voyeuristic habits. 

The thought of their innocent little sniper actually being not-so-innocent made him hot all over again, and Adam groaned, because he knew this was the kind of heat that couldn’t be solved with simply a cold shower.

“Bloody hell...” ----- “Well, it sure seems like you two have found your quarantine activity,” Mahesh commented at dinner that night, both the sniper and the Ripper arriving long after the food arrived. “Sorry, we just went ahead and ordered some stuff we thought you’d enjoy.” He pushed their respective bentos towards the other two. “But it’s Japanese tonight, Sio, so hopefully it’s up to your standards.”

“Mmm...oh man, it’s so nice to eat Japanese food again...” Sighing with delight, Sio eagerly dug into her chicken karaage, potato salad and white rice. “A-Ah, that’s not to say the food we’ve been getting is bad or anything, it’s been really fun to try a lot of different cuisines and taste everybody’s home cooking too...”

“This is really good; I guess they weren’t kidding about San Francisco being a melting pot,” Adam nodded in approval. “Good thing DOGOO’s footin’ the bill...I wouldn’t fancy being the one having to pay for all this.”

“Just like they’re paying for all your gaming purchases?” Jess smiled knowingly at the other two, who proceeded to turn oddly pink. “What are you two playing anyway that’s got you so engrossed? It must be good, if you two are willing to skip dinner.”

“Oh, uh, it’s the latest Final Fantasy VII Remake! I’ve never played it before, but Adam has, and then I started playing it too and it’s just so good and the battles are super cool and it’s a lot of fun to play--” Sio started gesticulating wildly, chopsticks flinging rice haphazardly and Adam had to sternly remind her to not toss food everywhere.

“Oy squirt, calm down! Say it, don’t spray it.” He muttered, flicking a piece of rice off his shirt.

“And then they even sent a VR headset! Which I’m super curious about,” Sio finally finished her bento, so they could talk without the risk of food flying about. “You guys should try it out too! I-I mean, not that I’m forcing you two to play video games if you’re not interested...”

Mahesh hummed in amusement, looking at least mildly fascinated. “I’m probably a ‘casual’ gamer by yours and Adam’s standards, but I’d be willing to try out this virtual reality deal. I wonder how it compares with Capa’s illusions...”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Sio grimaced, still remembering all those inappropriate pictures Capa took (and then distributed, the nerve of him). “Pervy old man...”

“Well, certainly we won’t have to worry about that. Let’s all check it out, then; Jess, you in?”

The blonde nodded, though not without conceding that gaming wasn’t really her thing, but it might be fun to watch others. 

“I’m more of an analogue girl; I don’t care that much for all those flashy explosions on screen, but bring me a set of Catan or Dixit and I’ll play any day.”

Now the entire squad was circled in the living room, the large windows open for some fresh, night air. After some rigging, Adam managed to figure out how to configure an output so those who weren’t wearing the headset could see what was going on, via his laptop.

“Alright, now who’s our first lucky contestant? Sio-chan, since you seem so excited, why don’t you go first?”

The sniper squeaked, not being used to put on the spot. “M, M-Me? U-Uh, I’ve been playing a lot of games today, s-so, why don’t you or Jess try it?” She laughed nervously, hoping they wouldn’t force her to take center stage.

“Yeh Mirza, you seem awfully eager to see how it works...why don’t you give it a whirl,” Adam goaded. Those dark eyes seem to meet his in a challenge, before the Indian resolutely put on the gear.

Everybody else watched eagerly as the screen loaded up. “Whoa; I’m not going to lie, the graphics aren’t photorealistic, but it sure feels like you’re somewhere else,” Mahesh gingerly stepped around, everyone suddenly giving him a wide berth as he set up the boundaries. “Please warn me if I’m about to run into something, or someone; I can’t exactly see anything in the real world...”

“I wonder if we’ll ever get to the point where it’ll feel even more like we’re inside a different world,” Sio said quietly to Adam, as Mahesh started playing a rhythm-action game called Beat Saber. “I don’t like Capa, but I have to admit his AU weapon is incredible. When I was doing those training exercises, it really felt like I was in a jungle, or in the middle of Shibuya...”

“Maybe; but I think we’ve got a ways to go,” Adam responded dryly, arching an eyebrow as the Indian flailed his arms all over the place. “...Definitely a ways to go.”

After a couple of tracks, Adam couldn’t take it anymore; seeing Mirza’s piss-poor coordination and timing destroyed any sense of fun or pleasure from the thumping EDM/techno tracks provided by the game. “Alright, you’ve had your fun. Let me give it a try.”

“More like Adam can’t stand Mahesh butchering those songs anymore,” Jess whispered, and Sio giggled. “He doesn’t like talking about his hobbies, but I know for a fact he’s into these music-type games. Who else do you think petitioned to get that dancing revolution machine installed in the Logan’s workout room...”

Before Sio could fully realize that statement, Adam took over. He selected a track that none of them had ever heard of before, and despite this being his first time playing, immediately notched the difficulty up to Hard. “Someone’s tryin’ to show off, eh?” Mahesh teased, but that didn’t seem to deter the silver-haired man one bit. If anything, Adam was laser-focused on the track before him, slicing through the colored blocks flying past with coordinated ease, as if he’d memorized the track beforehand.

“Whoa, he’s so good...how the heck does he know where to slice and stuff? I can barely keep up with what color they are, let alone what direction to hit,” Sio murmured, staring at the neon-colored action in awe. “There’s no way...he hasn’t played this before, has he?” She watched as Adam completed another combo streak, his multiplier at the max of 8x. “What the hell...”

Mahesh shrugged. “Who knows; I don’t think so, since VR is so new, but that’s Adam for you. Always full of hidden surprises...and probably some he hasn’t even revealed yet.” The trio watched in silence until Adam finished the track, with an impressive score of A, to their fervent applause.

“Well that was an ace performance! Especially for your first try.”

“No kidding; what, can you see the blocks before they appear or something? Sure you don’t have some hidden ability to see the future?” Jess jokingly suggested, though for some reason Adam flinched a bit at the statement.

“...Ha ha, real funny. If you must know, it helps a lot when you’re familiar with the song...”

“Eh? Adam-san, so you like this type of music, huh? Electronica?”

For some reason the sniper’s question made him blush, his cheeks turning even redder than they already were from the faux-workout. “Uh, yeh...I listen to a whole bunch of stuff, just so happens I recognized this track, and uh, decided to give it a go...”

“Now now, no need to be modest! Music or not, you really are good at this type of stuff. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, given how skilled you are on the battlefield...” Mahesh praised.

“Yeh, and it’s a good thing you’re a defender-type, not an attacker; otherwise we’d be long dead already,” Adam replied sarcastically, making a jab at the Indian’s less-than-stellar hand-eye coordination. “Anyway, I’m headin’ up; that took more out of me than I expected, and I want a quick rinse before bed. G’night.”

“Oh uh, good night, Adam-san,” Sio watched curiously as he climbed up the stairs. “I wonder if he’s upset about something...it’s not that late,” she glanced at the clock, which just hit 10:30pm. “Maybe he’s tired.”

“Or, more like someone’s just bashful. Don’t worry Sio, he’s not offended. I just don’t think he’s the type who likes being the center of attention all of a sudden,” Jess mused, as Mahesh picked up the controls again. “Ironic, considering he’s our de facto platoon leader.”

“Well, you don’t have to be outgoing to be a leader, I guess.” Sio nodded, reaffirming her thoughts. Adam was not the smoothest talker, but he had a certain charisma, especially on the battlefield. While Nobunaga’s e-gene was invaluable for strategizing, she wouldn’t deny that Adam knew how to adapt and call the shots, especially in the heat of battle. It was the same type of charisma she felt now, that inexplicably drew her towards him, despite his stoicism and sometimes abrasive words.

‘Though, he’s definitely less harsh, now. Not just his words, but the way he acts, around everybody too...’

He was a kind person, she decided. Probably just not used to letting his guard down, and Sio had a feeling that was partly due to his childhood, of being alone and having to fend for himself. ‘Kinda like me, except I’m just super awkward and terrible with talking to people in general...’

“I liked that song he played...I don’t usually listen to music without lyrics, but it’s really catchy. I kinda wanna listen to it again...” Sio pondered as the rest of the group finally decided to retire for the night.

“Why don’t you go ask him?” Sio blinked in surprise as Mahesh sidled up next to her. “He said he’d heard it before, right? Maybe he can share it with you.”

“Ah, I—uh, I don’t, wanna bother him with something trivial like that...” She laughed nervously, though Mahesh simply winked at her. She stopped short of the attic staircase right before the room, and looked up. The door was already closed, and he was probably already asleep, but Mahesh’s suggestion repeated itself in her mind.

‘Actually, maybe I will...after all, why not. I’ll ask him tomorrow...what kind of music he likes...’

If she was lucky, maybe he’d even offer to let her listen to some. Flushing hotly at the thought, Sio quickly went into her room and dove underneath the covers.

‘Ah Sio...what are you getting yourself into now...’

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With regard to the Manufacturer

Lexapure is really a renowned well being label that includes a line of high-quality goods developed by health and fitness and exercise professionals and experts.

Which Ingredients Are Utilized in the Nutritional supplement?

The elements plus the composition of LumaSlim are what largely would make it stand out within the pool of different fat reduction dietary supplements. It really is also the reason that the health supplement supplies numerous other rewards for well being. Adhering to is definitely the list of the ingredients in LumaSlim:

Artic Root

The various ingredients in LumaSlim have their unique gain with the overall health. On the other hand, the artic root is alleged for being by far the most powerful and efficient just one. You'll find quite a few names for it however the a person most used in investigation is Rhodiola Rosea. As well as weightloss, what's more, it can help in relieving stress, depression, and anxiousness.

Magnesium

Magnesium is often a well-known nutrient that is definitely also expected while in the appropriate performing with the entire body. Analysis exhibits that magnesium is enormously useful especially for ailments that reduce fat loss.

Zinc

A further popularly acknowledged nutrient, zinc is key in many procedures during the system for instance therapeutic of organs and preventing symptoms of getting older.

DIM

For those who have experimented with fat loss nutritional supplements, you'd probably are aware that DIM is definitely a very common component. Individuals have earlier documented that DIM has significantly boosted their weightloss and help them do away with poor unwanted fat precisely.

Black Pepper

Black pepper, also called piper nigrum, is amongst the most strong sources of antioxidants. Exploration exhibits that it also has antimicrobial attributes and will make improvements to immunity in folks.

A combination of these ingredients makes up a robust weight reduction formula, which also increases the final health and fitness in the person taking it. Also, you can find unquestionably no addition of synthetic chemical compounds, additives, or hazardous substances.

The way to acquire LumaSlim on Value Offer? Verify out in this article!

The way to Use LumaSlim?

If you acquire a bottle of LumaSlim, you may discover which the dosage and instructions of using the nutritional supplement are ideal around the base. The recommended dosage of your complement of two per day after aquiring a meal. You happen to be also supposed to consume a lot of drinking water with it.

On top of that, you need to know that like all other health supplements, it'll also consider time for LumaSlim to work correctly. Preserving a nutritious diet plan and doing exercises is usually expected since it may help the supplement get the job done improved. Attempt to maintain a rigorous regimen for a minimum of 12-16 months before making a judgment.

Simply how much Does the Complement Price?

In case you are thinking of shopping for LumaSlim, then there may be some superior news in your case! LumaSlim delivers three bundles on DISCOUNTED Price ranges! Following will be the possibilities you'll be able to decide on:

Get a person bottle of LumaSlim for less than $69.95.

Get two bottles of LumaSlim for less than $119.90 with just $59.95 for every bottle.

Get 4 bottles of LumaSlim for only $169.80 with just $42.forty five for each bottle in addition Free AdrenaVitals Multivitamin.

No Supply Charges!

For every one within your orders, you'll get no cost shipping and delivery. This offer you is valid for all addresses from the U . s . of The us.

Comprehensive dollars refund plan!

Are you presently pondering what's going to you need to do along with the supplements for those who think they don't seem to be doing the job? Properly, the suppliers of LumaSlim are self-assured that will not happen! Consequently, there is a 90-day 100% refund coverage without any thoughts requested.

Conclusion - In case you buy it?

LumaSlim by Lexapure is usually a nutritional nutritional supplement that induces fat loss obviously by triggering the hormone lipase. It employs all-natural elements and it has zero side effects about the body. The bottles of LumaSlim can be found at very reduced selling prices and can be economical for everyone.

When you are not joyful using the final results, you can even return it can obtain a refund. Just you should definitely do it within just the ninety-day time frame. Also, bear in mind to help keep a check in your diet regime and physical exercise as it is needed to create the complement perform. Do you think you're willing to kickstart your weight-loss journey?There may be only confined stock! Hurry up and grab your bottle of LumaSlim!