#but my stance on good rep still stands

[badboychaser]

I know everyone is excited about the Cole & Geo thing + Doc twt liking that one post and confirming that Cole & Geo are the same age which is perfectly fine..you’re allowed to be excited about things!!

However, it’s not proper gay representation and I dont believe it was initially intended to be. It does come off queercoded, but I’d advise people to think more about how Cole & Geo need more screentime together (ex. Talking- not just standing next to eachother) before going around saying “Ninjago is being progressive” because I would like progressive to actually..BE progressive instead of barebone scrap food type representation.

If Cole is going to be our gay/aro/ace rep I want it to be genuine.

I’m not a Cole/Geo liker BUT that being said there’s people on Twitter that hate Cole/Geo purely because it’s a gay ship so don’t let them win

[whereslynx]

Being Rubys sister and seeing sad eyes threatening him (yk, First Episode at the Santos Party) sad eyes doesnt know you but Joker (the one next to him) knows you. Your defending you lil brother and sad eyes falls hard for reader the second he lays his eyes on her)

a/n: WHAT A CUTE IDEAAAA p.s lost my headphones today :( but we balling!!!!!

part 2 <—

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You had always kept an eye out for your little brother Ruby. In a place like Freeridge, where the streets could swallow you whole if you weren’t careful, someone had to look out for him. Your older brother Mario might’ve been the muscle, but you? You were the voice, the one who knew how to stand your ground, demand respect, and navigate the chaos without backing down.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew you as Mario’s little sister—younger, but fiercer—the one who kept things in check and never let anyone mess with her family. Los Santos were a family, and with you, well, the way you guarded your family and their honour led Spooky and the Santos to hold a sense of respect for you.

You had held their respect because of your relation to Mario before, but you carried your own weight, gaining a special place in their good fortune. They respected you for how you held it down in the community.

That’s why, when you heard Ruby was at the Santos party, you weren’t about to let him get caught up in some gang drama, especially if he was in over his head.

You pushed through the crowd of partying Santos, scanning the room for Ruby. The smell of weed and cheap alcohol hung in the air, music thumping against the walls of the rundown house. Your eyes finally landed on him, standing wide-eyed with his back pressed against a wall. And there he was—Sad Eyes, a tall, menacing figure, looming over your little brother. You didn’t know Sad Eyes personally, but his rep had reached you enough to know he wasn’t the type you let intimidate your family. But the guy next to him—Joker—you knew him well.

Joker spotted you before you could make a move, his eyes widening in recognition. “Ayo, y’all better back up,” he said, nudging Sad Eyes, who hadn’t noticed you yet. “You don’t wanna mess with her.”

Sad Eyes glanced at Joker, confused for a second before turning to face you. The second his eyes locked on you, something shifted. His hardened expression softened, just for a second, as if the world had slowed down. He wasn’t expecting this—a girl, fierce as hell, marching right into the lion’s den like she owned the place.

Without hesitation, you stepped in front of Ruby, glaring up at Sad Eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” you snapped, your voice steady, commanding respect. “That’s my little brother you’re pressing.”

Sad Eyes blinked, caught off guard not just by your attitude but by you in general. He couldn’t take his eyes off you, the fire in your stance, the way you didn’t back down despite his size or reputation. Most people would’ve looked away, maybe even backed down, but you? You were different.

“You know who you’re talking to?” Sad Eyes said, trying to regain some composure, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. He hadn’t been expecting a girl like you to come at him like that, but he kinda liked it.

“I don’t care who you are, pendejo,” you shot back, your eyes narrowing. “You’re not gonna lay a hand on him and think you’re all sweet.”

Joker laughed from behind Sad Eyes. “Man, I told you. You better listen to her. She’s a Martinez.” He gave you a nod of respect, acknowledging the weight of your name in the neighborhood. “She’s managed to get Spooky’s respect.”

Sad Eyes raised an eyebrow, now fully intrigued. “Mario’s sister, huh?” he said, his eyes still on you. There was something about the way you stood your ground, not giving an inch, that made him forget about Ruby altogether. You weren’t timid, nor afraid. You had fire, and damn, if that didn’t do something to him.

You straightened your posture, planting your feet firmly on the ground, arms crossed defiantly. Your glare didn’t waver as you stood between Sad Eyes and Ruby. “Mario ain’t here to play peacekeeper no more, so if you wanna put your hands on my little brother, we can throw down.”

Ruby, still visibly rattled, peeked out from behind you. His wide eyes, full of both awe and disbelief, darted between you and Sad Eyes. He’d seen you handle neighborhood issues before, but never like this—never standing toe-to-toe with a Santos, fearless like you had nothing to lose.

Sad Eyes’ smirk only grew wider. He leaned back, his dark eyes sweeping over you, taking in the confidence that rolled off you in waves. “Alright, alright,” he said, raising his hands in mock surrender. His tone was laced with amusement, like he was enjoying the challenge. “Didn’t know I was dealing with royalty.”

You rolled your eyes, unimpressed by his smooth words. “Just stay away from my brother, and we won’t have any problems.” There was an edge to your voice, one that said you meant business. You didn’t care about the gang politics or his reputation—what mattered was keeping Ruby safe.

Sad Eyes paused, his smirk faltering just slightly as he considered you, his gaze lingering longer than it should’ve. He didn’t expect to be checked like this, especially not by you. There was something about the way you held your ground, the fire in your eyes, that made him rethink his usual game.

His expression softened, but the smirk never fully disappeared. “Got it,” he finally said, his voice low and almost teasing. He nodded slightly, the look in his eyes making it clear that he was more interested in you than the beef with Ruby now. Sad Eyes chuckled, clearly impressed. “But hey,” his tone softened slightly, “what’s your name?”

You hesitated for a moment, not really wanting to give him the satisfaction, but finally you said, “Not your business.”

Sad Eyes’ grin deepened, clearly relishing the pushback. “Alright, ‘Not Your Business.’ I’ll catch you around.”

You turned on your heel, tugging Ruby along with you, his small frame still buzzing with adrenaline. “You better hope you don’t,” you shot back over your shoulder, your eyes meeting Sad Eyes’ one last time. That cocky smirk of his hadn’t budged—if anything, it was more pronounced now. His gaze clung to you, a strange mix of intrigue and amusement lingering in those sharp eyes.

As you walked out of the party, Ruby let out a shaky breath, the tension finally easing from his body. “Thanks,” he muttered, his voice small but grateful.

You ruffled his hair, a soft smile crossing your face as you both walked further away from the party—and then your smile dropped, a stern frown replacing it within a blink of an eye. And before Ruby knew it, his ear was being roughly pulled by your hand, small whines of protest escaping him as you led him home by his ear. “¿Eres tonto? What the fuck were you doing at a Santos party?!” Your lectures blasting through Ruby’s ears could be heard from a distance.

But even as you left, there was a weight in the air you couldn’t shake—the sense that this wouldn’t be the last time you crossed paths with Sad Eyes. There was something about the way he had looked at you, as if he had seen more than just another face in Freeridge. His usual bravado had cracked, revealing a flicker of curiosity, like he wanted to figure you out, maybe even get closer. Despite his rough edges, it felt like he wasn’t done with you yet. And deep down, you had a feeling you weren’t entirely done with him either.

As he watched you disappear into the night, Sad Eyes couldn’t help but shake his head, still smirking. This was different. You weren’t just another person to intimidate, another face in the crowd to forget. Something about you got under his skin, made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t in a long time. He knew he was hooked—whether you liked it or not, he wasn’t going to let this be the last time.

[pleasantspark]

My bad, this was NOT meant to defend her, I was half asleep and had a brainfart. Okay, so what I meant by this in my initial post was.

The fandom mischaracterizes a certain set of people, and by terms sexualities and or POC Rep, an Intersex individual came out to Lily about these issues and she DID not apologize.

The terms I mentioned before has been thrown around ALOT. So the proper tag would be:

"It's giving mischaracterizing someone based on stereotypes or a false set of circumstances" but I had NO way of proofreading. My point still stands. I am not defending Lily in no way, because guess what?

I'm a victim of CoC CSA. What position would I fucking be to defend someone who committed the same acts that I was a victim of, don't jump to conclusions, I misspoke and people went ahead and made a assessment. So my bad on not having a brain this time around.

Also implying I defend someone deplorable and ignoring my stance on WHAT COUNTS as Racism in my eyes when I witnessed the bigotry secondhand is fucking sick, the NERVE of implying I am someone who defends it (Proper term is CSEM not CP iirc) is ridiculous, instead of actually jumping conclusions ASK first, anyone in the sphere of my content KNOWS I have trouble putting shit into words and you're not helping my case here.

ALSO KEEP IN MIND LILY DEFENDS AND FINDS HAZBIN HOTELS WRITING GOOD? She's criticized at least shows with far less crappy writing out of bad faith criticism.

[misscammiedawn]

Number 1?

Has being trans been an obstacle In your life with your friends, family, work, etc?

CW: Transphobia with a recorded message of someone saying that I am going to be murdered.

Alas, it was a mixed bag.

My marriage was not ended by my gender transition but my gender transition created the tension in the relationship required to break it. In my heart of hearts I don't know if our ex-wife would have been able to accept us through the process. She objected to the name we picked, she was always uncomfortable with us trying to change our voice. She was the definition of an obstacle in that she limited our ability to explore on our own terms.

Work were okay enough at the ground level but horridly difficult at the corporate level. My theatre were so good about my transition that years after I left when they attempted to play No Way Back, a detransition documentary, the new GM got in contact with me and helped me rally a petition to home office to remove the movie. A petition that was successful. The theatre pulled the film.

Home office had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy and I have audio which I decided kindly *not* to put in the audio post here of the HR rep telling me that it was my "personal life" and the company had no stance on my gender transition when I asked if they would stand by me if I stood up to bigoted guests. Leaving them was easy.

It's not my place to out any people still with the company but I am happy to say that others at the leadership level have reached out to me since I left and asked for my advice and guidance in their own transition. If work was ever an obstacle then it's one I'm pleased I tackled.

For my family of origin. I went No Contact with them. I won't discuss more. Though as I've mentioned my bio-brother's video. Here's a segment from it (the full thing is 30 minutes long and this is a tame sample):

"You were baptised with a Christian name and you need to take that back, dude, because if you don't you're going to die and you're going to die painfully because you'll probably be murdered"

So, yeah. Fuck them.

Friends? They did the best they could. Divorce and transition and a pandemic was a lot of strain on the friendship and I wasn't the best I could be. I think the people who stand with a freshly hatched egg are the ones who go through the most difficult time because they get that awkward half formed fragile and terrified period of discovery and it's a lot. They have to see the end of a person they knew and they don't yet have the honor of seeing the person they'll become.

I feel bad for burdening anyone with our literal transitional period. The friendship didn't survive and we have more than a lion's share of that blame. I miss them. But I'm not the person I was back then. We needed to go through that to become who we are now. It's regrettable but it's life.

These days? There's not really anyone from the previous life around so it's less an obstacle and more just a feature of being associated with us. We are who we are. That just happens to be trans. Being me or being us cannot be an obstacle because it's who and what we are.

[titlemewickedwonderland]

Love Your Enemy (Dewdrop Ghoul x Male!Ghoul!Reader)

Summary: No one hated Papa's little fire ghoul more then Y/n - a newly summoned ghoul that struggled to find his place in Papa's pack. No one understands why the two ghouls hate each other so much until it comes to light their past - perhaps an intervention is needed.

Fandom: The Ghost Band (Swedish Band)

Pairing: Dewdrop Ghoul x Male!Ghoul!Reader

Triggers: Cursing, slight violence, sexual tension/dirty talk, and well Dew...Dew's his own warning label.

Auth. Note: The portrayal of Ghouls and Papa is from a fandom base and imagination alone; the personas of the band do not have anything to do with the real people behind the masks. I am a fan of their music and respect their privacy so their stage persona is separate from the real-life individuals in my works.

Workshop!

The perks of being Papa's ghoul were the accommodations and respect one got. The ability to be part of something bigger, do things you love, and at the same time find a place within a pack to form an unbreakable bond with each other. It certainly bet Hell by a long shot. Still, every coin is double-sided, and even with the good, there was always that bad side - such as how Y/n was struggling to fit into his new pack. Being a newly summoned Ghoul for Papa Emeritus the 3rd he still had things to learn. Struggling with being topside was always the worst - it had been forever since he'd been summoned by someone besides selfish little teenagers. He didn't have the best rep when it came to being summoned so when he'd crawled from the summoning circle he feared he'd see another eager but terrified face girl at a slumber party or some shit. Instead, he had been greeted by a man wearing skull paint and funny-looking pope robes alongside a few figures clad in black attire and wearing silver masks.

Y/n was a ghoul - he could sense those of his own kind right off the bat and he didn't like it. Fuck it actually had terrified him more than the teenagers. He'd even asked if he'd been thrown into another circle of hell or some shit. But no, Y/n had been topside, and after his contract had been confirmed with 'Papa' he had been carefully whisked away by the other ghouls. He would have liked his stay better if he hadn't realized a little too late who all the ghouls were. Not that it was bad. Quintessence ghoul named Aether was the most welcoming and Y/n felt at ease immediately with him as soon as they were locked behind the walls of the ghoul's quarters. Then there was the multi-ghoul Swiss who's personality was a bit flirty but he gave off a best friend vibe that Y/n digged - he imagined they'd be hanging out a lot together. There was an Earth Ghoul named Mountain who barely spoke but had a calm and kind aura. A Water ghoul named Rain was soft-spoken and a bit shy. Despite being older than Y/n he gave off the vibe that Y/n would probably do almost anything for him. The Ghoulettes were away and he couldn't meet them just then but it was the Fire ghoul of the pack that made Y/n's hair raise on his arms and make his tail twitch uncontrollably. He knew that fucking stance and those eyes even behind the silver mask. He knew his scent before he'd ever fully registered who was standing in front of him. And Y/n knew he was fucked.

It took months for him to get comfortable with the new routine. His own traumas made it hard to connect with people but at least he had music and his pack mates that were patient with him. Except when it came to Dewdrop. The pair were at it every chance they got - their presence announcing each other through hisses and low rumbling growls. No one understood why they were on edge with each other. During practice on stage, Dew would make a show of crowding Y/n as if showing a sign of dominance but Y/n would only return the favor with a headbutt that to anyone else would have looked almost brotherly or affectionate but in fact, made Dew's head vibrate with the force through his mask like two goats locking horns. It got so bad that Rain often had to take Y/n away from the fire ghoul to calm down him while Swiss and Aether distracted the firecracker.

Today was of no difference as Y/n effortlessly ducked as a cup went soaring over his head to smash into glass shards on the kitchen floor. "Fuck you swing like a girl." Y/n snorted with a feral grin behind his mask as he placed the kitchen island between him and the pissed fire ghoul.

"Oh look I think I actually see flames coming out of your mouth there, Dewdrop! And here I was thinking you were just a imp." this caused Dew to snarl and launch himself across the island but before Y/n could meet him across to deck him an arm wrapped around his middle yanking him back just as another grabbed Dew's tail to jerk him backward.

"For fucks sake, it's only 7 in the morning! What's this about now?!" Aether's tired voice growled as he got a struggling Dew into a headlock.

"Fucker ate my last yogurt." Dew spat gripping with claws at his packmate's forearm.

"Yogurt?" Swiss snorted from behind Y/n as he idly rested his chin on top of the smaller ghoul's head. "You're fighting over a fucking tub of yogurt Dew? Really?"

Y/n smirked leaning back into his bandmate and stuck his tongue out at the other who only struggled against Aether's hold like a wet cat ready to claw someone's eyes out.

"Okay, that's enough! What the fuck is this all about?!" Aether boomed shoving Dew down to pin him like a thrashing bull. "You've been at this since the moment Y/n was summoned! It's been months!" he huffed just as Rain and Mountain came in seemingly woken up from the shouting and commotion from the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Rain asked blinking sleepily

"Y/n and Dew are at it again." Swiss huffed taking a playful chunk of Y/n's pointed ear like a nip of disapproval but the action was caught by Dew and the fire ghoul snarled.

"Fucking hell Aether get off!"

"Not until you tell us what the hell is going on! this is ridiculous, you're packmates now!"

"I don't claim that....thing." Dew sneered at Y/n and the latter flashed a cheeky smile in return

"Alright, that's it." Mountain rumbled in frustration as he walked over and grabbed Dew by his scruff as if he weight nothing and then hauled Y/n over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before stalking out of the room with the others trailing behind curiously.

The large ghoul went down to the basement of the Ghoul's chambers were usually their equipment was kept when not in their rooms - a place where they usually just hung out watching movies and playing games together. It was isolated and a large circular room with one door that led in and out. The Earth ghoul dropped the pair onto the carpeted floor before pointing a finger at them in warning.

"You will not leave this room until you sort out your problems!"

"You're locking us in a room together? That's not the smartest choice big guy." Y/n crossed his arms looking away from Dew

Mountain stalked forward until he was looming over the smaller male causing the other to look up but shrink at the look on his face. Mountain hardly ever got mad but that look in his eyes right then made him want to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. He swallowed thickly as he forced down a whine as the other reached up a hand to tip his chin up to look at his eyes.

"You will stay in this room until I see fit that you won't kill each other outside of these walls. Fuck it out, fight it out, I don't give a rats ass but you two are not leaving this room until you are not at each other's throats anymore. Fix whatever shit this is, okay honey?"

Y/n nodded dumbly and watched as the others silently filed out - the sound of the door locking from the outside was loud in the quiet space but neither he nor Dew moved for the longest time until Dew got agitated and shifted further into the room.

"Out of all the fucking ghouls to summon Papa had to summon you didn't he?"

Y/n's head snapped over towards him and his lip curled. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? It's not like I wanted to be summoned, asshole!"

"You took the contract. He would have easily sent you back if you didn't want to join us, dipshit." Dew fired back and Y/n's mouth clamped shut with a click.

It was true, he could have said no to the contract and Papa would have sent him back. But the truth was, Hell was far worse than what his life top side was right now; it wasn't a place he wanted to remember or go back to anytime soon. Sighing Y/n made his way to the couch and sunk down into the cushion staring up at the ceiling with dull eyes.

"Was it really that bad?" Dew finally spoke up and Y/n could feel the burn of his stare on his face.

The ghoul snorted and lowered his gaze to meet the familiar color of Dew's irises he actually once fell for. He shrugged and licked his lips thoughtfully. "Fucking sucked ass, dude....especially after you left."

A heavy silence fell in the room and Dew shifted on the couch he sat on until he was near Y/n. "I didn't want to leave you there alone, Y/n..."

"But you did. You chose your freedom over your mate...and I supposed I shouldn't have blamed you as much as I did all those years. If I had been given the choice...I probably would have taken my freedom too."

Dewdrop's face twisted slightly and Y/n was reminded as he scanned the familiar features why he'd fallen for the spitfire in the first place. He had been so beautiful when they first met - feral and wild like the flames of hell themselves. He was still so beautiful now but there was more ease about him after being on top side for so long. The fire was there still sure...but it wasn't as if either of them were a mindless demon anymore. Still, fuck had it hurt when Dewdrop left Hell to stay in the real world.

"So, you uh...found yourself a family up here then that kept you tethered huh? I mean....I get it. They're great. I probably wouldn't have the heart to leave them either. Or Papa. That eccentric doofus." Y/n's lip curled slightly in an attempt at a friendly smile but Dew's intense stare made it drop.

"I didn't take another mate...Y/n..."

"And what if I did?" Y/n's challenge caused that perfect jawline he remembered nipping at clench as Dew launched himself at the other.

Strong thighs bracketed Y/n's frame as Dew gripped the back of the sofa to lean closer; his nose almost touching Y/n's as their eyes stared at each other. A snarl flashed his white fangs and a long-fingered hand slid up the column of ashen flesh to grip his jaw.

"Then I will have Papa summon that motherfucker, I will force you down until you're gagging on my dick and after I blow my load down your throat I'm going to fuck you in front of them." he snarled lowly feeling the way Y/n's throat constricted in a hard swallow and getting lost in the colors of his irises.

"A-and if that's not what I want?" Y/n panted out against Dew's lips that hovered above his.

"Oh baby boy...you won't have a fucking choice. You're mine. I had you first. my mark...." The guitarist's fingers tugged down the shirt collar to stare at the patch of skin between shoulder and neck before a curse escaped him.

"Fuck~ You still have my mark..."

Y/n whined and arched up into the ghoul straddling him; gripping his slender waist to pull him closer. "Of course I still have it. I'm a demon with morals, you asshole... You honestly think I found dick better than yours?" he let out a shaky laugh but Dew merely pressed his lips to the fading scarred mark on his skin making another whimper escape Y/n lips.

"Dew....Please..."

"Fucking hell, firebug." Dew's fingers sank into the soft hair and yanked Y/n's head back until his mouth parted in a gasp which he took full control of.

Dewdrop's tongue slipped into his mouth to tangle with his mate's and he groaned at the familiar taste of him; pressing down until Y/n felt nothing but the fire ghoul above him. When lungs screamed they parted for air - a string of saliva connecting their panting breaths.

"Fuck all that shit...turn around I'm about to fuck you until you can't remember anything but my name and after that I'm renewing that bloody mark - your mine Y/n!"

~

Rain tapped his foot on the step as he chewed on his fingernail glancing at the others in the stairway. He cleared his throat before speaking his voice at a little higher pitch than usual.

"Did anybody know about...." he trailed off. " I mean should we..."

Swiss bit his lip as he looked towards the locked door when another cry of pleasure sounded from behind it between the snarls. The scent of sex and arousal seeping from beneath the door caused his pants to tighten a bit.

"Know that our Dewdrop had a mate all this time in hell that he abandoned? Fuck no."

"A-ah." Rain nodded and looked helplessly at Mountain who merely shrugged and bent down to pick Rain up bridal style.

"Come on Raindrop." he walked up the stairs leaving Aether and Swiss staring at each other.

"Fuck it!" Aether threw Swiss over his shoulder and bolted up the stairs to his room with a giggling Swiss behind him.

Now it's safe to say the fights didn't end up with any more glass shattering during the mornings or shouting matches over the stupidest stuff. But the Sister who took care of their laundry sure did have to stop by a lot more often than usual.

Taglist: @kattreffic

If anyone else wishes to be on a taglist for future Ghost oneshots or fictions please let me know!

[wavyphoenix-png]

I [don’t] hate to get on the screen and write dissertations on this commute to work but fuck it, everyone else is doing it. I wasn’t shocked by the election results at all. Could you imagine that your opponent chooses to run a campaign motivated by Christian nationalist sentiments, and to offset that as a democrat, you in turn take a center-right approach at best to appeal to right-wing voters? A great deal of whom are operating from the far right and have had their minds made up about you from the very beginning? Simultaneously ostracizing the demographics of those who vote blue and identify as progressive? I mean, what did she think the Joe Rogan appearances and Liz Cheney endorsements were gonna do?

Some fingers are being pointed at Kamala’s identity as a woman, and Black woman as to why she lost, but how valid of a statement is that? Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian woman was re-elected in Michigan, a region in which Kamala was absolutely put through the wringer (Dearborn was not jackin her vibe AT ALL and as a Muslim, albeit not Arab I completely understand.) Somali-American rep. Ilhan Omar still stands in her state of Minnesota even in spite of her identity and as she was outspoken about her position on the genocide in Palestine. So what gives? Whether you believe Kamala ran a good campaign or not, the fact of the matter is that she ran a campaign almost wholly disconnected from the youth, the marginalized, and the progressive, and she’s paying the ultimate price for it; defeat in crushing and humiliating fashion. In fact, liberalism in itself is paying the ultimate price for consistently falling short of people’s political, social, environmental, & overall material demands.

Now, what do I mean by disconnected? Let’s take a good look. Firstly, let’s take a good look at the elephant in the room that is to continue amplifying a genocide (only to walk it back last minute by saying that if she wins, she’ll “end the war” in Gaza.) It’s not 2004 anymore. American sensationalism doesn’t work on the general public in the manner it did when Condoleezza Rice was still the National Security Advisor. Sure, a Civics course could tell you that she wasn’t in charge of arming the colonial state in the Middle East, but all signs pointed towards her not stopping in the event that she won — a humanitarian catastrophe and an environmental disaster.

Furthermore, rather than to actively contrast Trump in immigration policies, she completely decided to mirror his stance in such — all while remaining passive about the Cop City project in Georgia, regressing beyond the mean with the rights of trans individuals, and a lengthy list of grievances that no person running from the left would ever take on in a public eye.

And after all of it, my second biggest gripe of it all? The gilded approach of co-opting Black culture and marketing her identity as a benchmark of progress within the community. Fixating less on identifying and building a true relationship and good rapport with the average proletariat, and more on trying to buy endorsement through the means of celebrity worship while running with center-right practices. Maybe this is what it was like watching the 2004 Lakers lose to the Pistons in the finals despite buying more depth in previous all-NBA talent. Analogy aside, isn’t it ironic having to hear “do we believe in freedom?” from an Attorney General who has made countless amounts of black people difficult in the prison industrial complex, turned Vice President who’d actively seek to continue the colonial occupation in Palestine?

Do we still believe in freedom when it’s niggas my age getting tear-gassed for begging our colleges to divest from a colonial apparatus committing murder several and several miles across the ocean? Or when that’s brought up, does it then become “I’m speaking?” So much for skipping the primaries and leaving us with one of the most uncharismatic, and detached candidates I’ve known in my lifetime. Not to mention she’s a perpetual loser who managed to lose the most winnable election of my lifetime and possibly even beyond than that.

My heart truly just weeps for those of whom reproductive rights are up in the air. Citizenship. Livelihood. All that. My heart also weeps for the black girls Miss Harris ran high and dry by not even showing up to her own speech at (Howard?) after losing. I mean, what leader does that?

I wanna switch gears real quick though. Don’t interpret this as me being mad, but rather emphatic. Interpret me as emphatic when I say that I think you niggas who sided with Trump are absolutely some of the most soulless, decrepit, pathetic people to grace the Earth. ESPECIALLY, if you are of a marginalized group. You telling me that he could walk you down with a declining cognitive state, re-rock Weimar Republic rhetoric and you’re on board with it? Block me back and debate ya mother twin, I’m so deadass. At least I can understand why someone may have voted Kamala. With Donald, you’ve basically voted against my best interest and those who look like me. We don’t need to be amicable.

The reality is, regardless of whomever were to take office, the Western world altogether has taken a shift towards fascist ideology with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Your savior will never live in Capitol Hill. In this landscape of white nationalism, we truly have are ourselves, and we’re really going to have to band together for the foreseeable future, because it’s increasingly clear that we are living in an empire in decline. Go link up with ya local Grassroots organization. Show up for ya community. I truly refuse to lose hope no matter how bleak it look. I truly can’t stress enough — ALL WE TRULY HAVE IS COMMUNITY

[possum-socks]

Ooo i would love to talk about this thank you for phrasing this question respectfully.

I would like to preface this by saying my opinions on South Park are very…varied. I am not trying to take a pro South Park or anti South Park stance here, im just trying to answer this in the best way I can. I’m specifically going to be talking about why I think so many queer people like South Park.

I think there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding South Park, in that many people believe South Park wholeheartedly embraces and promotes ideology in support of bigotry, and I do have to say that as someone who has seen the entirety of South Park, there is not a ton of validity to this statement. The purpose of South Park is to make fun of and offend extremists. They do this in a multitude of ways, specifically through satirical humor and shock value. South Park rarely ever takes a stance in any matter, instead opting to show why extremism on either side is a harmful thing. South Park often goes to great lengths to show why racism/homophobia/ablesim is BAD, and why you do NOT want to be one of those extremist people. One of the prime examples of this is the character Eric Cartman, who im sure doesn’t need an introduction. The purpose of Eric Cartman’s character exists solely to serve as a joke in and of itself. He is less an actual character and more an example of why people who are like Cartman are TERRIBLE, and why you do NOT want to be one of those people. Cartman started off as mainly a gag to show how horrendous nazi extremism is, which makes sense as Matt Stone is Jewish himself.

That being said though I myself do not really know where I stand in this debate. One theme South Park likes to touch on which is prevalent in all media, not just comedy, is the all or nothing rule. You can see discussion of this in art, in writing, in film making, to the damn bill of rights free speech section. How do you decide what is “allowed” to be talked about and what isn’t? You really can’t, and I am in full support of this idea. However, are there many moments in south park where i go “yikes 😬 maybe that could’ve been handled differently” or “woah that was a bad take” ABSOLUTELY. Do I think all of south parks messages are good messages? ABSOLUTELY NOT. South Park does have offensive media, or takes that can be considered harmful, but as someone who has taken the time to sit down and view all of South Park, in my opinion South Park primarily promotes the opposite, (while still remaining offensive, as this is their thing) Media like south park is not entirely good or bad.

To help further illustrate what I mean i wanna talk about some of the queer rep in South Park. The first explicitly stated queer character we see in South Park is Big Gay Al. Already, this characters name may be raising alarm bells for you. Sound demeaning? Sound kinda stereotypical? Definitely! While Al does talk with what is stereotypically known as the “gay man voice,” and while he does express other traits often stereotyped to be traits of a gay man, I think it’s also important we talk about Al’s actual character and not just how he is outwardly presented. Big Gay Al was introduced in the very first season of South Park in the 1990’s, the FOURTH episode of the show, and in this episode Al teaches Stan (an eight year old boy) about the dangers of homophobia and he helps Stan to see past the homophobic ideology that has been instilled in him and learn that hey, gay people are just regular people too! This all starts because Stan learns that his dog Sparky is gay, and some of the kids at school make fun of him for having a gay dog, which makes Stan become very stressed and unsure of what to do. Sparky goes missing one day and Stan becomes very concerned, until he finds out that sparky has been staying with big gay al, who runs a sanctuary for other gay animals who have been unloved by their owners for being gay. With the guidance of Al, Stan becomes educated and sees that all of the anti-gay talk he has heard in his town actually holds no grounds, and goes to try and explain to all of the adults in his town why queer people should be loved and accepted the same as everybody else. But as is typical in the real world, the adults are too ignorant to listen.

So, while just looking at Al, you might think he is just another character who promotes harmful stereotypes, and while South Park certainly didn’t need to go the direction of “effeminate gay man” appearance, it should also be noted that people can express themselves however they please and this does not reduce who they are as a person. So, was South Park wrong for choosing to portray a gay character has very stereotypically presenting, or were they right in trying to make a message that you can present however you want without that making you any less respectable of a person? I really don’t know. But the most important part to Al is that Al is consistently shown to be a positive figure in the show who helps to encourage themes of love and acceptance. He is actually one of the only adults in the show to consistently be portrayed as level headed as opposed to the majority of South Park adults, who mainly serve to show the ignorance and unwillingness to change that so many adults have.

Later in the show Al is even brought back to make a statement against the whole “queer people sexualize kids!” bs in an episode where he is a Boy Scout leader for the main children characters. When some of these kids parents find out the scout leader is a gay man, the parents eventually get him fired under entirely misplaced and false fears of Al possibly being a pedophile. The new scout leader replacing Al actually DOES end up being a child predator, and all of the scout boys band together to protest against the firing of Al and to get Al back as their counselor, because they all really like Al! Big Gay Al sues the Mountain Scout program, and gets the dangerous scout leader arrested and exposed for being a child predator.

Al is probably the best example of queer rep in South Park. It is a bit unfortunate that other main queer examples include characters like mr. garrison, but there is also the case of Tweek and Craig, who are another decent example of queer rep. So, as for why so many queer people like South Park, it is probably because those people who watch South Park get the impression that South Park likes them, too!

Overall, I think the problem lies with the consumer, and not with South Park itself. Many shows do what South Park does, (Family Guy being a big example.) No one who is not already racist, or homophobic or ableist, is going to walk away from a show like South Park suddenly supporting such ideologies. If someone who is a bigot watches South Park, they are not a bigot because they watched South Park, they are a bigot because they are a bigot. It is true that many people who do hold these ignorant beliefs will watch South Park and get the takeaway that South Park is in favor of those things, too, but South Park is not at all turning people into ignorant bigots, and in fact they make a great point to make fun of these ignorant people. It’s just that often those ignorant people are, in fact, too ignorant to understand that they are the butt of the joke.

Is South Park “good?” Is South Park “bad?” I don’t know! Who gets to say what’s “good” and what isn’t? In the end, nobody but you as an individual and a consumer can decide how you will let a piece of media influence you and your actions. It is just unfortunate that so many people choose to be idiots.

That is my two cents!

I gotta know, if anyone has answers please tell me, why are there Tumblr South Park fans? In particular fans that are queer/neurodivergent?

[wonderwomanfantasy]

punishment with Iida

IIDA! i love him so much why do I never write for him ugh 

Alpha! Iida x Omega!Reader

warnings: smut, ABO stuff, Mineta. 

word count: 1,000 (about)

Summary: Mineta causes problems, and Iida punishes you for your part in it. 

Most people assumed Iida would hate how rash and wild you were, but he was a firm believer that opposites attract, and while you were a handful sometimes he wouldn’t have you any other way. Still, when he heard the screaming coming from the girl’s dorms he didn’t except you were the one behind it. 

For a moment after he heard the scream he froze. As a hero and class rep, he should go check what was wrong. But he didn’t want to intrude as a boy, and it wasn’t like the girls couldn’t handle themselves but on the other hand-

“Iida! Help!” Mina shouted rounding the corner into the kitchen where he was and that was all the encouragement he needed to take off towards the commotion. 

“I’m going to make you regret that you little pervert,” you snarled. Lifting the baseball bat up over your head. You had finally cornered the little pervert after you caught him trying to put up cameras in the girl’s shower room. 

“P-please I want to live!” he cowered against the wall with nowhere to run. You weren’t planning on killing him, or even caving his skull in, just fracturing his ankles to make sure the little pervert couldn’t walk. 

You only got the chance to hit him once before your boyfriend

“(y/n)! what is the meaning of this!” Tenya cried jumping in front of Mineta, you pouted and relaxed your stance. 

“Tenya baby you don’t understand-” you pouted. Tenya flushed pink at the pet name

“Do not “Tenya Baby” me it is unexceptable to attach anouther student-”

“He was putting cameras! If anything you should be pissed at him,” you protested 

“What’s with all this yelling?” Aizawa yawned making you jump, he could move so quietly when he wanted to.

“(y/n) IS TRYING TO KILL ME FOR NO GOOD REASON!” Mineta sobed darting out to hug Aizawa’s legs. 

“Thats not true that little son of a bitch was trying to spy ont he girls shower,” you snapped. Aizawa sighed, 

“I’ll take care of Mineta, Iida i’ll let you handle some punishment for (y/n),” Aizawa said, as soon as the words left his mouth Iida took you by the wrist and pulled you all the way to his dorm room in record time. The door clicking shut behind the two of you distinctly. 

“Tenya?” you breathed staggering backwards, you weren’t expecting this, If anything you though he would stick you with cleaning duty for a week but he was kind of making you nervous.

When he turned around and finally looked at you you saw the fire in his eyes. And you gulped. 

“Baby,” he purred stepping forward and wrapping his land around your throat and pulling you close to him so you were forced to meet his gaze, your breath mingling with his. 

“You’re Such a naughty Omega,” he growled to himself before crashing his lips to yours in a feverish kiss that knocked his glasses out of the way. The two of you stumbled back in a mess of grabbing hands and messy kisses until Iida pushed you up against the wall. 

He couldn’t explain the feeling in his gut when he saw you beating the hell out of Mineta it was almost like it had turned him on, then when Aizawa gave him permission to punish you he really couldn’t keep his mind out of the gutter. 

His heart usually sped up when he found you in battle but he had always assumed that it was fear but perhaps all this time it had been excitement. 

“You can’t just go around starting fights with your classmates,” He scolded tearing at your shirt and sinking his teeth into the side of your throat. You moaned helplessly as your hands fluttered to his shoulders. 

“I’m sorry Tenya,” you whimpered as he slipped his hands under the cups of your bra and squeezed your breasts making your knees buckle. You couldn’t help but go weak when he touched you, his breath was hot against your neck while his large hands shoved off your clothes. 

“Are you ready for your punishment?” He asked once he had gotten your skirt off leaving you naked.

“Are you going to spank me or something alpha?” you asked biting your lower lip. He snarled at you grabbing a fistful of your hair and yanking your head back.

“You don’t ever know when to stop do you? I bet you’d like it if I spanekd you you can be such a brat,” He snapped and with his free hand he undid his tie and started tearing at the buttons of his shirt. 

“Keep your hands to yourself,” he snapped when you lifted your hands up to help off his shirt.  Seemingly to distract you he kissed you passionately, slipping his tongue in your mouth. Tenya angled his hips against yours grinding his hard cock against your core as he worked off his own shirt, his hand still locked in your hair pulling every now and then just to remind you he was there. 

There was a loud clicking sound as he undid his belt that made your core clench. You tensed when you felt his cock head push against your folds. You struggled breaking the kiss

“Wait Tenya- I’m not streached out,” you whined,

“Oh? Is it going to hurt?” he cooed sarcastically “if you don’t want me to fuck you so hard it hurts then why are you humping my cock like that hmm?” he asked. It wsa true, you were shamelessly grinding yourself against his erection, whimpering at the feeling slowly getting wetter and wetter with each time he rutted against your clit. 

“Alpha please,” you begged softly and his hand went back to your throat this time applying enough preasure to cut of your breath.

“I’m going to fuck you until you can’t stand up and you’re not allowed to cum until I say so alright?” he asked readjusting his glasses.

“Y-yes Alpha,” you squeaked out and with your consent, he thrust up into you.

[itsclydebitches]

(WLW anon) I really don’t like the “bad rep is better then none at all”. I hate that. We should want good rep, because bad rep has been used time and time again by homophobes as to say we shouldn’t get representation. To me it’s not “gay can have the same flaws as het”, it’s “fix the flaws in the het”. Also I know Renora being independent was a good, I was just saying in comparison BB. Also, yes, they were separated, but also didn’t stop thinking about each other. Especially bad with Yang.

Indulge me for a moment because I want to take a trip down memory lane and list some—just some—of the queer rep that has been important to me over the years:

Ellen comes out both as herself and as her character… years later, she’s a hated millionaire who is criticized for how she treats her staff

The wildly influential Buffy gives us two women entering a loving relationship… except then Tara is killed off, Willow goes evil for a time, and Buffy comes under fire for Joss Whedon’s everything

The beloved and respectable headmaster of one of the most popular book series ever published is revealed to be gay… except it doesn’t count because it wasn’t in the text and now all of Harry Potter is cancelled because JKR is transphobic

Kurt is an unambiguously gay teen in a hugely popular TV series, acting as one of the first overt representations a generation has seen… except he’s way too stereotypical and Glee is a joke now

Orange is the New Black gives us a number of queer women, including one of our first trans characters… but isn’t it problematic that they’re all criminals?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine hosts an out gay captain and gives us a bisexual coming out story that resonated with many, myself included… except now we’re supposed to hate all the characters on principle because they’re cops

Korra and Asami walk off into the spiritual sunset together… but they never kiss or anything, so that doesn’t count either

Steven Universe gives us a queer relationship and a wedding… but it’s an issue that this is just a kid’s show and, really, does it count when the rep is embodied by space rocks whose entire species only creates a single gender? Feels like a cop-out

Same with Good Omens. Yeah, Crowley and Aziraphale clearly love each other… but you never see them kiss or declare their intentions. It’s great ace rep though! Unless you want to level the criticism that asexual characters are always nonhuman

A character intended to be a minor guest becomes a show staple and eventually declares his love for one of the two main characters… except then Castiel immediately dies, Dean doesn’t respond, and they never meet on screen again

I finished Queen’s Gambit the other day and the main character had a one-night stand with a woman! … but everyone is talking about how bisexuality is used to represent her lowest point, so that’s bad too

I could go on for literal pages. Some of these arguments I agree with (Dumbledore), others I’ve pushed back against quite strongly (Crowley and Aziraphale), but all of them are valid criticisms depending on what part of the queer community you’re in and what your expectations are. My point here is that it’s all “bad rep.” I mean that seriously. If anyone reading this is scrambling for the comment section to say why [insert media title here] is actually fantastic rep, I guarantee that someone disagrees. Or if they don’t, give it some time. Just wait until the characterization becomes offensively outdated, or another part of the story ruins the relationship, or it comes out that the author did something truly horrific, or the terminology changes and it’s labeled as “problematic” now… just wait. At some point, any rep we feel is good rep now will be criticized, cancelled, and dragged through the mud. The rep that I personally haven’t seen much push-back against—like the beloved Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who, or Schitts Creek that just won a ton of awards—is wrapped up in the criticism, “So it’s all just about able-bodied, cis, (mostly) white dudes, huh? :/”  Even the argument that queer characters need to be written by queer authors doesn’t hold up. I absolutely adored Sense8. “Wow, a gay main character in a loving relationship with another gay man, both of whom enter a loving poly relationship with a woman, another lesbian trans main character who marries the love of her life on screen, an entire cast arguably queer due to them sharing orgy scenes centered around the emotional intimacy they share, everyone survives, and this was written by two trans women! Great, right?” Well, not according to the wealth of opinions explaining how Sense8 is horrible rep, actually. Every piece of rep we’ve got is either currently flawed or will become flawed in the future.

So what do we do with that?

That’s where my “I’d rather have bad rep than no rep at all” comes in. For me, that’s not waving the white flag. That’s not an oath that I won’t expect better rep in the future (I do) or that I won’t criticize the rep we get (BOY DO I), but rather just an acknowledgement of reality. The vast majority—if not the entirety—of rep is “bad rep” in one way or another, but I’d still rather have it than nothing at all. Because I’ve lived just long enough and studied media just enough to know what nothing looked like. It was watching all queer characters meet untimely deaths. Before that it was watching queer characters be derided and treated as jokes. Before that it was nothing but coding, where queer characters didn’t exist except in our own headcanons and interpretations. Obviously “bad rep” covers a very large range of issues and “They haven’t even confirmed this relationship yet” is a bigger issue than “This queer character embodies one or two, mild stereotypes,” but ultimately I’d take any of it over nothing at all. And enjoying what we’ve currently got doesn’t mean I’m willing to settle for it indefinitely.

To use an iffy analogy, imagine there’s a factory. This factory makes plates. So. Many. Plates. Big plates, small plates, plain plates, decorative plates, plates for every possible occasion in your life—and everyone with a steak for dinner is pleased as punch. You though? You’ve got soup. You need a bowl. Your entire life you’ve been struggling to eat your soup off a plate (it doesn’t work) and listening to friends and family claim that the plate with a slightly raised edge could be a bowl if you squint (it’s not). To say it’s frustrating is an understatement.

But then, one day, the factory starts producing bowls too. Hurray! Except as soon as you get your hands on one, you’re told you really shouldn’t be using it, let alone praising it. Look at the state of that bowl! It’s cracked right down the middle, ugly as hell, shoddily made all around… you’re not really going to settle for that, are you? And no, you obviously still want the factory to produce better bowls, but at the same time, this is a bowl. You’ve never gotten one before and you can finally enjoy your meal, even if the soup leaks at times. Sometimes a lot. But you’re still feeling better about your meal than you ever have before. And what you then begin to realize is that lots of the plates are a mess too. They also have cracks, they’re also ugly, many are also shoddily made. The difference is that the factory is producing so many plates at such a rapid pace that every steak eater is able to get by. One plate breaks completely? You’ve got a thousand fallbacks. Don’t like the look of this one? A thousand other options. You disagree about what “shoddily made” means? Luckily there are enough plates that everyone can find what they prefer! But the bowls… there’s only a few. Some are really expensive. Others are only available for a limited time before they suddenly disappear. Your bowl breaks and you have to wait months, years sometimes, to get another one. You’re constantly told to go buy this one obscure bowl no one else has heard about and yeah, you like it... but you’d also like to buy one of the bowls everyone is already enjoying. You find yourself looking at the plates and thinking, “I’d like that. I’d like to have so many options that the flaws, while still a problem, are much more bearable.” You’re still going to demand that the factory get its shit together, you’re still going to (rightly) complain about the awful quality of your bowl… but it’s still nice to have a bowl, period. There are still things you like about it, even if it’s a mess: the color, the size, the beauty of the shape of it. Its potential. You’re still pleased you have something to enjoy and that helps serve the need you’re looking to fill, even if that something is imperfect.

That’s “bad rep is better than no rep.” To bring this very long response back to Blake/Yang, I don’t think their problems negate their benefits. Is their relationship currently non-canonical and filled with a number of writing issues everyone has a right to be angry about? Yup. I express that anger a great deal. Are they still half of a team on a very popular show that is (presumably) set to be canonized as queer? Yup. I’d much rather live in a world where big shows like RWBY try to include queer rep and fail in a multitude of ways—with the expectation and hope that they’ll continue to improve—rather than in a world where authors a) don’t care or b) are too scared to try. Because that’s where a “good rep or no rep” stance leads. The danger isn’t homophobes because they’re, well, homophobes. It doesn’t matter if the rep is good or not, they hate it on principle. But if queer authors writing for other queer identities, or allies writing queer identities, or even queer authors writing their own experiences (like in Sense8) continually come under non-stop fire for their attempts… there’s a good chance that many people won’t ever try. We’re already seeing that here on tumblr with young authors admitting that they wouldn’t touch [insert topic here] with a ten-foot pole because just look at what happens when you get it wrong. And authors will get things wrong because authors are fallible people forever unlearning their own ignorance. So though it might sound strange coming from a blog that has turned into such a RWBY critical space, I am glad that RWBY’s queer rep exists, despite all the frustrations that I share about it. I think a RWBY with various types of “bad” queer rep is better than a RWBY with no queer rep at all, particularly when “bad” or “good” is so intensely subjective. There’s a middle ground between passively accepting whatever we’re given, and tearing into rep with such ferocity that we end up rejecting it all. There’s a space where we can be critical of rep and embrace the parts that work for us, simultaneously.

I hope and expect the het rep will get better too, but… that’s never going to happen instantly. To quote RWBY, there’s no magic wand we can wave to fix all our problems. Rather, it will take slow, plodding, meandering, lifetimes’ worth of work to see that change occur and I personally don’t want to spend the one life I have waiting for that perfect rep to show up. Because it’s unlikely that it will. While we work, I’d rather find the good in what rep we’ve already got.  

[canyourscienceexplainthis]

An Updated Version of !Lush Sokka!

The first thing Zuko notices is the smell. His nose is met with the scent of orange, rose, coconut, and probably a million other scents, all mixed together. He hasn’t even entered the store yet, but he knows that as soon as he does he’ll face a true assault to his senses. How does Azula actually like this smelly shit, he wonders, standing outside the shop doors. 

There’s dozens of different products in the windows, all multicoloured and strange-shaped. If Zuko’s life depended on it he probably couldn't tell what product served what purpose. 

There’s multiple glossy bars that he figures are probably soap, but why would anyone need such a broad selection of soap? Soap is soap!

There’s also chalky bars molded into different shapes on the shelf below. There are so many colours and shapes; green dinosaurs, red hearts, pink and orange peaches, and blue robots, but most of them are just glittery spheres. 

There are black bottles upon bottles of products with silly names like “Honey I Washed the Kids,” and “D’fluff” stacked neatly at the bottom of the window. 

Zuko is completely out of his element. 

He takes a breath and remembers Ty Lee telling him that this is Azula’s favourite shop.

“She loves their stuff! I mean, she doesn’t care about their stance on animal testing or veganism, but she likes the smells; especially any of the lavender products,” Ty Lee had said when he admitted that he hadn’t gotten her a gift yet.

He’s shopping for her 21st birthday after all, and if this is what she likes he’ll brave the perplexing aroma and entirely too broad soap selection to get his little sister a gift that’ll make her happy. 

“Fuck,” he huffs under his breath. He sucks in one last lungful of semi-fresh mall air before walking into the store. 

Stepping into the shop he realizes that, sure enough, the smell emanating into the hall is nothing compared to the floral wave that hits him as soon as he passes through the door. It’s not a bad smell, he thinks, just a lot to take in at once. 

He starts looking through the myriad of products. There are so many bottles and black pots with ‘witty’ names. He seriously can’t believe that his type-a, high strung little sister has ever even stepped foot in this store let alone uses their products regularly.

He walks around the store aimlessly for a few minutes, trying to figure out the lay of the land. He ends up in front of the bath bomb selection. Just as he’s sniffing at a ‘sex bomb’ and thinking about how he never wants to imagine his baby sister using such a thing, like ever, he is interrupted by a voice behind him asking, “can I help you find anything?” 

The words, ‘I’m fine, just browsing,’ are ready on his tongue as Zuko turns around. He doesn't say them though. He doesn't say anything for what feels like ages. He’s suddenly face to face with one of the sales reps, a guy so gorgeous his mind to mouth communication goes ‘error 404 page not found.’ The guy has half blue and half pink hair thats been french braided into a short ponytail at the top of his head. The sides of his head are shaved, and the blue and pink of his braid mix together like a sunset on a cloudy summer evening. The guy’s name tags says Sokka. Zuko meets his eyes for a moment. Blue, is all his stupid mind says. So blue. Sokka pushing his wide framed glasses higher up the bridge of his nose and giving a soft “mhmm�� rips Zuko out of his hypnotized daze.

I’m...uh—” Zuko sputters, clearing his throat, “looking for a birthday gift for my sister.”

Zuko lowers his gaze in an effort to hide the blush that he knows must be creeping up his cheeks. He notes that the cute sales guy—Sokka—is wearing a lanyard with buttons pinned all over it. theres a cactus pin, a button that says they/them, another is the bi flag, and one is a red hand against a black background. As subtly as possible (which, in hindsight, he thinks probably wasn't that subtle) he scans the truly breathtaking person standing before him. his nails are painted with chipped neon green nail polish. Under his black apron he’s wearing a baggy blue sweatshirt and grey shorts. Are those—oh my god he’s wearing crocs. 

“Okay I can help you find some stuff. You probably don't want to go with one of those, though,” Sokka points to the pink and purple jasmine bath bomb in Zuko’s hand. 

“Yeah, definitely not,” Zuko agrees, placing it back in the stack. 

“Do you know if she’s ever used any of our products before?” Sokka asks. 

“Yeah, she has,” Zuko takes a moment to breathe. “I know she likes the lavender stuff.”

“Okay, great!” Sokka exclaims as he grabs a small black jar that was resting on the island beside them. “We have a whole bunch of lavender stuff. This is one of our more popular ones, it’s called Sleepy.” He twists the lid off and brings it up for Zuko to smell. 

Zuko dips his nose near the purple lotion, and the lavender hits him immediately, but there’s also something else, something sweet and earthy that he can’t quite put his finger on. 

“It’s a lavender base with tonka and ylang ylang. Pair it with this,” Sokka says, moving to the other side of the store in what Zuko’s still dumbstruck brain registers as slow motion. Sokka glides back with a multicoloured cloud shaped bar.

“This one is also called Sleepy, but it’s a bubble bar. Oh, I forgot to ask, do you know if she has a bathtub?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay perfect, Tell her to run a bath with this,” Sokka holds up the bubble bar, “and then put the cream on afterward. She’ll be so relaxed, I promise it’ll be the best sleep she’s ever had.”

“Ha!” Zuko nearly shouts. The image of a ‘relaxed’ Azula is the dictionary definition of unimaginable. “Is that a company guarantee?”

“If she isn't as calm as a monk on morphine just come back and ask for Sokka, and I will personally,” Sokka puts a hand to his chest and grins back at Zuko, “make it up to you.”

Zuko’s breath catches in his throat. Is he flirting with me? No...no way, Zuko, he’s just doing his job. God, you need to get it together and stop ogling the (objectively sexy) salesperson. 

Zuko chokes out an awkward laugh. “Um, okay, will do.”

“Is there anything else I can help you find?”

“Uh, nope, I think that’ll be good.”

“Okay, I’ll check you out,” Sokka says, with what Zuko’s single remaining brain cell identifies as a wink. 

Oh my god. He is flirting with me. 

[mcheang]

Let it go

Marinette has had enough of Ms Bustier’s better example, of Adrien’s high road, and everyone else’s nonsense. She had been pushed to the breaking point and had snapped. It pretty much happened when planning for a skip trip, Lila had suggested a resort recommended to her by a famous skier she knows, and Chloe had insisted that they go someplace high class. Marinette is frustrated because it would mean the large pile of paperwork she had recently completed would be for nothing and too much fundraisers (that Chloe would not even help out with) just to meet the drama queen’s standards.

Marinette stands up to Lila, calling her out for her lies. She also protests when Ms Bustier does nothing regarding Chloe’s lack of effort in school work. This results in her classmates shunning her and replacing her with Lila as class president, though Adrien still tries to be her Friend even if Marinette refuses to listen to his advice.

“A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I’m the Queen.

Despite what Marinette has done for the class, despite how she thought they were friends, they had completely abandoned her and refused to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Be the good girl you always have to be.”

Well, now that she was no longer class president, now that she had no more friends, Marinette no longer had to please others for their sake. Especially since they weren’t really her friends if they just turned on her like that.

“It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small.”

Without friends and class rep duties, Marinette has more time to truly let her creativity flow and soon her business begins to boom, especially once Jagged hears about it.

Soon even Ladybug is seen wearing her accessories in winter.

“It’s time to see what I can do, to test my limits and break through.”

Meanwhile, Lila dumped her responsibilities on Alya, who is super stressed that by the time they manage to get enough money, the ski resort Lila recommended is already fully booked. They end up having to go a normal ski resort. The mayor had only donated enough money so that his Daughter could be treated like a princess.

While the class goes on their field trip, Adrien is not allowed to attend and Marinette goes on a joint tour with Jagged and Clara as their stylist. Along the way, her fame grows and she even attends celebrity shows and galas.

When Adrien mopes about missing all the fun, Nathalie informs him it was a good thing he didn’t attend because the ski resort his class has settled in is currently in a snowstorm. By the time the storm would be over, the resort would be buried. Between all that and the time it would take to shovel out of the resort, the class won’t get to ski at all and only Chloe is able to take full advantage of the indoor facilities.

Adrien: yikes!

At the end of the ski trip, Marinette returns to Paris too, and is interviewed by Nadja because she is now a well-known designer. Marinette admits she has more free time now ever since Lila became the class president. Marinette mentions that Lila claims to have saved Jagged’s kitten, is friends with Ali and is even Ladybug’s BFF. But Marinette doesn’t know whether that could be true or not. The interview moves on, but Nadja is interrupted by a FaceTime from Jagged claiming he has never owned a kitten and that his beloved Niece should take what that boastful liar said with a lot of salt.

The next morning, Prince Ali’s manager makes a public statement denouncing Lila’s claim.

When class begins, Ms Bustier is noticeably stressed because for some reason, the school board had been conducting inspections and found her inefficient and incompetent. (They did so on Ladybug’s expressed concern of the akuma class.) the final nail was the disastrous field trip because she didn’t help Alya plan. Ms Bustier is currently on probation and thin ice.

The classmates gang up on Lila for her lies and because they were feeling sullen about the lousy ski trip, what a waste of time! Ms Bustier tries to stop them but is uncertain what is the right course of action.

To be honest, Lila was going to skip school as soon she saw Jagged exposing her on the news. But Marinette’s interview had sparked unwanted interest in Lila and Mrs Rossi had been notified of it. The principal and school board actually called her hotline to check on Lila’s disabilities and, in the process, her truancy is exposed. Lila is forced to attend the rest of the school year and will be repeating the grade. She is also given detention until the end of the year.

“Here I stand in the light of day!”

The class tirade is interrupted when Marinette herself struts in, dazzling in a new outfit of her own design. She pauses, takes in the scene. The classroom is in chaos. Rose is crying. Alya’s face is blotchy with rage. Adrien is failing to keep the peace. Chloe is absent for some reason (ahem she’s suspended for bullying. She got the news on the ski trip and had sulked in silence in the sauna) Lila is cowering against an angry mob. Ms Bustier looks near tears and her hair is a mess.

As one, the class takes in Marinette. Cool and regal as an ice queen as she stares at them, unaffected. They all know she had a glorious tour with celebrities, that she had finally made it big.

Then with a toss of her hair, Marinette heads out the door with a “I’m going to get help” to her once favourite teacher.

The door slams behind her.

“The cold never bothered me anyway.”

The class realizes their mistake. They had been manipulated and pushed away a good Friend. Now Marinette was on top of the world, and had left them behind for good.

For the record, after the next akuma fight, Nadja manages to interview Ladybug about Lila, and Ladybug shrugs that she already told Lila to knock it off. Honestly she was disappointed that the Ladyblogger believed what some random stranger said about her.

The class tries to get Adrien to convince Marinette to forgive them since he is the only one who is still her Friend. They had tried to talk to her at first but felt intimidated and guilt-ridden. Adrien does make an effort to mend the bridge but Marinette firmly stops him because now she feels free and she has decided to let her so-called friends go for good. If they want to mend the bridge, they need to prove themselves and face her themselves, not send Adrien like a messenger boy and hope to forget all the old grievances. Marinette is done being the perfect girl (aka doormat.)

As Marinette thrives and makes new friends, Aurore replacing Alya as her BFF and the new fox miraculous wielder, the class truly feel the loss without Marinette. They find school life harder. Alya’s field trips weren’t as impressive (she became class president and made Sabrina her deputy), no more free pastries to brighten their morning, no free help in designing costumes and banners. Ms Bustier wasn’t a big help either. She had become such a wreck that she was soon replaced with a stern substitute.

Adrien remained a passive middle ground. He was still friends with everybody but he missed the old times when everyone was happier. The class weren’t happy he had let Lila manipulate them but didn’t want to ostracise another innocent Friend. He has decided not to push Marinette to forgive the class. It just isn’t in his nature to push, if it was, he would have taken a firmer stance against Chloe’s meanness and Lila’s deceit.

❄️ ⛄️ ❄️ ⛄️ ❄️ ⛄️ ❄️ ⛄️ ❄️ ⛄️ ❄️ ⛄️ ❄️

[titsthedamnseason]

Are kbr problematic authors?

i’m not going to lie, i really hate this question. and it isn’t your fault, more society’s fault for creating this narrative of problematic v unproblematic. there’s no spectrum for forgiveness or learning and the very nature of it is so subjective. how do you know if what i see as problematic is the same that you see as problematic? it’s like when people put “basic dni criteria” in their carrds. like. WHAT IS THAT??? that is so beyond dumb to me.

but anyway, to answer your question….no? again, being “problematic” isn’t black and white so there’s plenty of people who would answer this question with yes, this is just my opinion. if you’re asking whether they have representation in the addicted series, the answer is no. if you’re asking whether the representation in the like us series is particularly good, i would also say no (although it does exist). if you’re asking whether they’ve ever done anything worth “cancelling” then the answer is no, not to my knowledge. and also, a lot of people think they’re portrayals of mlm relationships in the like us series reads like fetishization, but i’ve never really thought so 🤷🏼‍♀️

again, it’s a spectrum. they aren’t perfect but i think it’s more out of a lack of representation in their books than out of an active problematic stance on racism, homophobia, etc (basic cancel criteria 🤪)

you could also argue on the other hand that while they might lack racial diversity in the addicted series, they tackle a lot of issues regarding mental health (addiction, depression, ocd, (social) anxiety, etc) and really normalize getting help and going to therapy. they also do technically have lgbtqia+ rep, and while it’s only one main character, it is one of my favorite forms lgbtqia+ representation in any book bc of the way the character identifies. so while they lack in numbers, i really appreciate that they included it in the narrative

sorry that this was so unnecessarily long but i love talking and again, the question as it stands kind of bothers me in its broadness. do i think the addicted series worth a chance? yes, but i’m also highly biased bc i love it (plus, i epubed it the first to around so i didn’t really see it as “supporting” them especially bc i didn’t expect to like it so much. also, i now have all the addicted books not including the calloway sisters and semi-regularly pay for their patreon so that was down the drain for me)

(side note: i somehow forgot to talk about raisy here? arguably their most problematic act. i hate raisy and pretend they don’t exist but it is an age gap romance that started when the girl was a minor so that’s like the biggest point in the anti-kbr column imo. the book community should never have let them get away w that and should not still be letting raisy be as popular as it is)

[b-radley66]

A little WIP for Friday. The Star Wars thing that nobody asked for.

The First Light

Dryden stares at the tall young woman, being held by two of his Hylobon enforcers. Aemon Grimm comes up to him and hands him the blaster taken from Nola Tamsin. His eyes narrow at the sight of the Imperial officer’s model. A weapon that had not been in Nola’s possession when she had been taken, only some pretty type of Naboo blaster that Qi’ra had taken for ‘safekeeping.’

“The Xizor rep managed to escape. There was no hold order on his ship on the airlock. I’ve sent out pursuit ships, but he has already jumped away.” Aemon looks at Nola with something like a scientist examining a specimen about to be dissected. “She managed to wound him. Along with Fett. Apparently the clone came down to see what was happening.”

Dryden stares at the clone, who returns his gaze defiantly. The clone appears to be unarmed, in his server’s loincloth. He nods at the lead enforcer, then walks toward Nola. The two enforcers tighten their grip. One of them, ever-helpful, grabs her hair and pulls her head back, baring her throat.

He chokes as Nola elbows him in his own throat. He recoils, managing to keep hold of the arm that had been held in a heretofore loose grip, but releases her hair. Dryden shakes his head.

He lifts his activated knives. Nola exhales, but otherwise holds herself erect, with no fear in her eyes as the blades approach her throat. Dryden gives a quick glance around the room. Covenant is there, his body tense. Surprisingly, Boba Fett stands with his carbine at port arms, at the ready. None of his enforcers had apparently had the courage to disarm him after the fight.

The clone stands with his arms crossed, staring at Dryden, his huge frame tensed, as if ready to uncoil and toss enforcers around at will.

Dryden’s eyes fall on Qi’ra. His eyebrows raise as he sees her expression. One he has never seen on her sculpted features.

Pleading.

“She wasn’t anywhere sensitive, Dryden,” she says quietly, her voice calm, belying her expression. “Plus she may have kept one of Xizor’s minions from doing mischief.”

He turns his gaze back to Nola, who continues to stand between the enforcers. Her face is calm, but he can see that her shoulders are tense. The stance of someone who has been in this position before.

He nods, then deactivates the blades, a feeling of satisfaction as he looks back at Qi’ra. Of finding out what he needed to know.

The new serving woman/dancer, a young woman with long red hair and dark eyes, plus a beguiling smile enhanced with jewels and precious metals takes the weapons from him.

“Perhaps as the final part of your job interview, I’d like to see how you do in a fight. I could make you face Qi’ra, who is quite skilled in teras kasi, but perhaps I’m feeling like I need to stretch my legs.”

Aemon hands him another set of similar knives. He touches the edge, then stabs one towards his own palm. The blade bends and retracts without leaving a mark.

The two enforcers release Nola’s arms. Another hands her a matching set of training blades. “These are blunted, but they do have a charge.” He smiles. “This will give a good evaluation of what your training needs might be.”

Without a word, Nola looks at the double bladed weapons in her hand. She touches the activation stud, a blue sheen of energy glints in the low light. A slow smile comes over her sharp features.

The small crowd of his enforcers and the three whose part in this is unknown, move back, giving them room.

She immediately lifts the left blade above her head, the point towards him. She drops the point slightly, to account for the weak spot of the misangled little finger. He nods to himself. She moves her body and her feet into a wide stance with her right foot forward.

Her right handed blade is held parallel to him, as he starts to move. He can sense that Covenant, and the others who might know her, including his own lieutenant are surprised.

Dryden doesn’t hesitate as he lunges with both blades forward. Nola, instead of attempting to block with her right blade, brings her left blade down to engage both of his blades. She screams lightly as his blade shifts and jars her injured finger.

He can feel Covenant start to move towards the spar. Someone pulls him back. Someone shorter than him, shakes her head slightly.

His moment of attention to the noble costs him, as Nola, rather than drawing the vulnerable hand down, locks even more with his blades, somehow securing both from moving. Her right hand lifts up and into an arc as she brings it towards his face.

A slight shift and the blade misses his face. He feels the electronic fire of the stun charge along his chest. He grits his teeth, fighting through the pain. His right hand powers through the hold from Nola, jerking her defensive blade downward.

The blade goes flying. She immediately brings her right blade to block; he separates his blades to opposite sides of his body and goes on the attack. She is able to block most of them, but a feint with his left blade towards her chest and she makes a fatal miscalculation, drawing that area back in protection.

There is a slight movement of her head forward. He smiles and touches his blade to her forehead, firing the stun charge. Her eyes are surprised as she collapses to the floor in a heap.

He looks at Qi’ra. “Take her to the medical droid. She’ll be fine.” As Qi’ra motions to four enforcers, he turns and looks at Covenant, who stares at him with something akin to loathing.

“She is well-trained. No one has ever made a mark on me in one of these evaluation sessions. Your doing?”

Dryden watches as he visibly calms. His eyes move towards Nola, who is being lifted gently from the floor. He can already see her eyes starting to flicker.

Covenant turns back to him. “Nope. Not my doing. All her. I just taught her some Laughing Murder, from my world.”

Dryden smiles as the crowd disperses. “Perhaps you might demonstrate some for me. I don’t think even Qi’ra, who is from your world, has been trained in that.”

Covenant lifts one corner of his mouth in a brief smile. “I’d be happy to demonstrate it for you.”

Dryden thinks about his words as he looks at both Covenant and Qi’ra walking next to Nola’s limp form.

He turns away from them, satisfied. He stops as he sees Boba Fett staring at him, his helmet allowing no emotion or analysis.

He still holds his blaster carbine at high port as he gazes at Dryden.

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia - Chapter 83: Of Sound and Wings

Continuing my nextgen MHA fic!

Earlier chapters can be found here

To say Toshi was worried was an understatement.  While no one had said anything bad would happen if they lost the relay, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give it his all. Which meant he had to make sure he wasn’t going to let anyone else down either.  And he was more than certain that, however the relay worked out, Aizawa and Uncle Kacchan would be using whatever he saw to help format their lessons going forward.  Their teacher would just use any failings to push them all the harder.

He couldn’t allow his differences with Tatsuma to be the reason they failed.  While there hadn’t been any more violence or any scuffles between the U.A. and Shiketsu students (Not even from Katsumi, which seemed to be a minor miracle in and of itself), there was still a strained feeling when some members of the two groups interacted.  And Tatsuma had made a point of avoiding him.

He needed to be able to clear the air with the Shiketsu girl.  Even if there was still bad blood afterwards, he needed to apologize and he needed to make sure that they’d be able to work together.  Plenty of Heroes didn’t get along off the field but could put their differences aside enough to fight alongside each other.  He would have liked to at least get to that point.

They had a few minutes before they had to start getting ready, so he sought her out, finding her standing alone.  The other Shiketsu students looked to have already peeled off to find their respective U.A. partners.

“Ah, hey, Tatsuma,” he began.  “Do you have a minute to talk?”

Tatsuma didn’t budge an inch. When she spoke she didn’t even turn around. “Later than I expected this to happen. The instructors have forced your hand.”

Toshi frowned and swallowed nervously.  “You’re right,” he said.  “I have been putting this off.”  Not very heroic of him, really.  “And the timing makes it look even less great than it already is.”

Best to just get it out there.

“I owe you an apology.”

She turned to look at him now. With her arms crossed and her stoic stance, it made her already tall figure even more imposing.

“For what?” The question is not one of confusion or lack of knowledge, but rather did he understand what he should be sorry about. 

Toshi was of average height for his age, with maybe a few more inches to go, but the way Tatsuma simply towered over most people did nothing to ease the situation.  “I was pretty insensitive when we talked near the beginning of the camp,” he began.  “And didn’t do a good job of listening to what you were actually saying.  It’s been pointed out that I don’t always see the privileged position my family gives me and I trivialized something very important to you.”

He looked up.  “And for that, I’m sorry.”

Tatsuma listened, looking at him carefully before speaking. “Well I can’t find a realistic problem with your apology. So..thank you.” Her eyes narrowed a bit. “I’d argue it’s something many Heroes should see as important, but now is a pointless time to argue it.”

Toshi nodded.  It was about as good a reaction as he could have hoped for.  Tatsuma didn’t seem like the type to lash out violently, the way Katsumi might (Though in truth, Katsumi was always more bark than bite), but he’d been deeply afraid of making things worse.  He was a Class Representative.  He was supposed to be a leader, someone others looked to and who helped make things right, not someone who caused trouble with other schools.  

“You’re not wrong,” he agreed.  “I’ve grown up around enough Heroes, not just my family…”   He winced slightly.  A reminder of all that probably wasn’t the best choice of words.  “But a lot of them question if they’re not good enough, if they’re not doing enough.  And their failures stay with them too.”

Dad didn’t talk about it much.  He wanted to keep a smiling face, especially for this family.  But as Toshi had gotten older, he’d been more willing to talk about the lives he couldn’t save, the times he was too slow or too late.  He’d wanted to impress upon Toshi that being a Hero could bring great joy, but that it would weigh you down too.

“I don’t know why the press or the public treated your mother differently.  But she didn’t deserve that.”

For a time, he had had her attention. Maybe he’d gotten this right. Tatsuma was also a Class Rep. and as such she represented her school. As much as she may have wanted to show up UA, she had to know holding grudges like that weren’t good for anybody.  And it was true that in the past, the rankings had led to a lot of damaging and toxic behavior.  You just had to look at Izzy’s grandfather for that.  But things were different now, right?  But when he mentioned her mother, he suddenly felt the situation change, the hairs on the back of his next standing up.

Human life had started long after the dinosaurs had died out, despite what a lot of science fiction would have people believe.  But if a man had been threatened by a t-rex, he was certain it would felt like what he was feeling now.

Toshi would later swear that he saw Tatsuma’s eyes go red. “Because of the damn rankings!” Smoke started to unfurl from her nostrils. “She fell from the all-mighty Top Ten! The heroes of all heroes! You think anyone says anything if someone drops a rank in the 20’s or 30’s? No, no one cares about their efforts. But if someone can’t cut being in the Top Ten-!” Her skin looked like a very thin layer of scales was forming. 

“That's all my mother ever heard! ‘You couldn’t cut it.’ ‘Leave it to the men!’ ‘You weren’t meant to be among the elite!” All because of how the rankings portray what Heroes are supposed to be!” 

She was now towering over Toshi now. “I won’t dismiss what your father has done for this country, or any of the others in the Ten, but if you can’t see how it has also harmed those who have done nothing but sacrificed-!” Her hands clenched. She was very, VERY close, then snarled and turned away. 

“Seung’s worked too hard to keep her emotions in control. I can’t disgrace that effort.” Tatsuma let out a breath, a steaming hot one. “You’ll never get it. You’re too ingrained. I should probably just accept that.” She was quiet for a moment, before finally speaking up again. “What else did you want?”

To his credit, Toshi had managed to stand his ground during Tatsuma’s tirade, only taking a slight step backwards once. As it was, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.  “I’m sorry,” he began.  “This is important to you, I can tell.   And I’m sorry for the pain it’s caused you and your mom.  What happened to her wasn’t right and wasn’t fair.”

He straightened up a little.  Maybe this was too much meddling.  But wasn’t meddling the job of a Hero?  Tatsuma had so much anger in her, it was going to consume if she didn’t find a way to break it.

“And maybe I am too close to see some things.  But I’m also close enough to a lot of things to see some of the details.  When your mother started dropping in rankings, it was a different time.  The world was still hurting from the loss of All Might and wanted its Heroes to be more perfect than they were, than they could actually be.  I don’t know, can’t know, if that was the cause, but I’d be surprised if that didn’t have something to do with it. And none of that would make it right or fair if it did.  

“But while I can’t quote you chapter and verse like Shota could, I can tell you that plenty of people have risen and fallen out of the Top Ten in the last decade or more, and only the trashiest and least reputable ‘news’ sources and commentators are bad mouthing them.  Creati dropped down to Number Eleven a while back.  And you know what she did?  She congratulated Rodeo, who jumped up to Seven and knocked her ranking down.”

He frowned.  “What happened to Ryukyu wasn’t right.  I agree with you on that.  And you’ve every right to be angry about it.  But I don’t think it’s like that anymore.”

He shook his head.  Maybe there was still something he was missing.  But he had to try and bridge that gap.  “But maybe you’re right.  Maybe this is something we can’t agree on.  But can we work together?”

She looked back at him. “If Ground Zero and Deku could learn to work together, it would be embarrassing and shameful if we couldn’t.” There is the vaguest hint of a smile. Maybe he’d said some of the right things.  At least, he hadn’t made it any worse.

Toshi gave her a small smile of his own.  “Oh, the stories I could tell you about that…”

***

The Rookies’ relay course was set up in the woodlands around their compound, virtually invisible from the treetops, but complicated once you got to it.  There were bridges and swings, with complex structures built into the trees.  The tree line itself was thick with trees and other vegetation, making it difficult to see where any attack might be coming from.  Fortunately, their path was pretty straightforward.  

“You got Tomodachi okay?” Inuzaki asked.  He was ahead of Shota, in dog form, pausing every so often to sniff the air.

“Good enough,” Shota told him. The “civilian” they were rescuing was a training dummy, like the kind they used at U.A.  It was about the size of an adult man and loaded with sensors that would tally up injuries and damage.  They had immediately decided that he’d needed a name. Shota had him over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry.  He didn’t need his arms free to use his Quirk, after all.  

“He’s pretty heavy though!” Shota said.  “Maybe he should run the course too!”  He was in good shape—you couldn’t be in the Hero course and not be—but he wasn’t anywhere near as fit as Toshi, Kirishima-Bakugo, or Shoji.  Even Inuzaki was in better shape than him when he was in human form.  Still, his joke did get a laugh out of Inuzaki, so it was worth it.

Dad always said you had to take care of your body as much as your Quirk.  Maybe he needed to start working out more.  Toshi was always working out.  But he got up so early to do it!

 “Smell anything?” Shota asked.

Inuzaki stopped and shook his head.  “Maybe.  Lots of smells.  I can smell people.  Mostly the Rookies.  They’ve been through here a lot.  Might be trying to make it confusing.”

“Let me try,” Shota said.  He took in a breath then started to unleash one of his sonar-screams, but stopped when Inuzaki started whining.

He cut the scream immediately.  “What, what is it?” Shota asked.

Inuzaki winced.  “Your scream hurt my ears,” he said, quietly.  “It was like a knife through my skull!”

Crap!  His Quirk and Inuzaki’s weren’t compatible?  How were they going to do this?  He had to scream to use his Quirk!  When they got attacked, he’d have to use it!  But if it hurt his friend, then what could he do?  Maybe it was only certain frequencies?

“That’s only when you’re a dog, right?” Shota asked.  “Change back for a second.  I’ll get a quick look and then we can keep going.”

“Okay,” Inuzaki agreed.  He stopped though, his back leg scratching at his ear.  “Hang on, gotta scratch first.”

“Oh!  How cute!”

The girlish voice seemed to come from nowhere.  It could only be Ojiro!  But where was she?!

Inuzaki sniffed.  “Ah ha!  Got you!”  He jumped up and seemed to collide with something in mid-air.  Ojiro reappeared as they hit the ground.  

“Oh, dang it!” Ojiro cried out.  She tried to get up, but Inuzaki’s weight was keeping her down.  “I got distracted!

“Hold her still!” Shota said.  They’d been given ‘capture cuffs’ so that they could harmlessly take their classmates out of the fight, though there was a good chance they’d have to do at least a little damage.  He had some in his pocket, but he also had the dummy!  Crap!  What were they going to…  Inuzaki changed back to his human form in a puff of smoke.  He had capture cuffs too!  Right.  Why was he worried?

Ojiro was quick though, using that moment of transition to act.  She brought her legs up, flipping Inuzaki over her, then sprang up to her feet.  “So close!” she said.  “But not quick enough!”  Meanwhile, Inuzaki changed back to dog form in midair, landing easily.  He and Ojiro circled each other warily.

Before he could help, the ground started shaking.  Shota swallowed hard.  He remembered now, one of Class 1-B had a vibration-based Quirk, didn’t she?  Mio Yamaguchi, a dark haired girl.

The vibrations picked up intensely, knocking Shota off his feet.  He hit the ground, twisting to minimize the damage to Tomodachi, but he knew he took at least a small hit.  “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Shota told the dummy.  Carefully getting back to his feet, he looked around for any sign of Yamaguchi or anyone else.  Behind him, he could hear the sounds of Ojiro and Inuzaki fighting.

He wanted to help.  He really did.  But if there was more trouble coming, somebody had to watch.

Doing the right thing sucked sometimes.   But he had to trust that Inuzaki was going to be able to handle it.   “Better hold your ears, Tomodachi,” he told the dummy.  “It might get loud!”  If he kept his powers really focused, hopefully he’d wouldn’t hurt Inuzaki either.

There.  Yamaguchi stepped into view, looking beyond Shota.  “Can’t you catch one dog, Ojiro?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

From behind him, Ojiro called out.  “It’s really hard!  He’s really fast!”

Yamaguchi rolled her eyes.  “Okay, let me just take care of the kid and I’ll help.”  She brought up both of her hands, unleashing vibrational waves that seemed to blur the air in front of her.

Dang it!  Just because he was short and a few months younger, it didn’t mean he was a baby!  Why did everybody treat him like he was a little kid!

“YOU’RE NOT GONNA STOP ME!” he shouted, clenching his fists.  He unleashed his Quirk, turning a shout into a broad sonic wave.  His wave met Yamaguchi’s vibrational blast in mid-air, where there was a small explosion of air as the two different waves hit each other, before his own caused hers to dispense. Somewhere behind him, he heard Inuzaki yelp.  He just prayed his new friend could hold on.

“What?” Yamaguchi said.  “How’d you do that?”

Shota grinned.  “I canceled out your vibrations with my own!”  Maybe not as good as Uncle Shota’s Erasure, but his sonic vibrations could stop hers well enough.

Again and again, Yamaguchi threw her vibrational blasts at him, but Shota kept canceling them out. Her vibrations were at least as strong as his sonics.  Keepings up that kind of pace, matching vibration with vibration, was making his skull rattle. Even without the blasts hitting him, he could practically feel the vibrations in his bones.  Even though he wasn’t used to fighting someone with powers even a little bit like his own, he was holding his ground, but if he didn’t do something, he was sure to lose!

“Okay, that’s it…” Yamaguchi said. A look of annoyance crossed her face. “Guess it’s time to bring down the house!”  Her eyes narrowed and she brought both hands together and pointed them down, ready to unleash another vibrational blast.  The air was practically humming as she charged up her power.  He had to do something… now!

Shota took in another breath and screamed, hitting the ground under Yamaguchi with a carefully modulated sonic pulse.  While he mostly used his Quirk for purely destructive sonic screams, he could do so much more than that depending on the frequencies he hit.  Everything from sonar to force fields to all kinds of other effects.  In this case, he could hyper-agitate molecules causing…

An explosion!  It wasn’t a big one, but the ground underneath Yamaguchi exploded, knocking her off her feet and several feet back.  As she landed, Shota rushed over, unclipping one of the capture cuffs from his belt.  Yamaguchi was still trying to get her bearings when he slapped one end on her wrist and then the other.

“All right!” he cheered.  “Got you!”  

Yamaguchi just stared at him, then rolled her eyes.  “Monoma’s never going to let me hear the end of this.”

Shota wondered why Monoma would give her a hard time.  She tried her best!  

“Oh, dang it!  This is so unfair!  How you can you be this cute and this tough?!  IF YOU WERE CLOSER, I’D GIVE YOU SUCH A SMACK!”

Shota’s attention was instantly drawn to where Inuzaki had managed to corner Ojiro.  She’d climbed up into a tree, and Inuzaki was back in dog form, circling the bottom of it.  

Inuzaki transformed back to his human shape.  “Can you get her down?  I’m not so good with climbing.”

Shota nodded.  “Let me try this one…”   He let lose another scream, shifting the pitch a bit.   This time, when his sonic attack hit the tree, it began to shake and vibrate violently, but it didn’t explode.

“Nnnnnnnoooo  fffffaaaaiiiirrrrr,” Ojiro wailed.  She was struggling to hang on and ultimately lost the fight.  She fell, landing flat on the ground.  “Ouch…”   She held her up arms.  “Just cuff me already.”

***

They’d probably gone another two kilometers, easy.  Shota wasn’t really good with eyeballing distances.  Every now and then, they’d trade off, with Inuzaki resuming his human form so he could carry Tomodachi and so Shota could scan the area with sonar.  But the forest was so thick with trees and everything else, it was hard to see anything that way.  Buildings were a lot easier.  

“How much further?” he asked.  He was pretty sure they’d been told how far they had to travel for the hand-off, but he may not have been paying the best attention.

“About another couple kilometers,” Inuzaki said.  “I think.  Everything looks bigger from down here.”

Not too much farther then.  But there were definitely more of his classmates or schoolmates out there, waiting for them.  Unless they were really dogpiling the other teams, there had to be at least one, maybe two more coming after them.  Even Shota could do that kind of math.

“Do you smell anything?” Shota asked.  It hadn’t worked so well last time, not with all the other smells in the forest, but maybe they’d get lucky.

Inuzaki made a weird face, one which looked even stranger on a dog.  “I smell something,” he said.  “Like ink, maybe?”

“Oh!” Shota said.  He knew who that was!  “Fukidashi!”

“The cartoon girl?” Inuzaki asked.  He sounded a little annoyed, which was surprising, given how well he got on with everyone.  “I tried talking to her a few times, but every time I did, she just kept going on about how cute I was. Just like the invisible girl. It got old really fast.”

Shota frowned, looking around.  Where could she be?  His eyes fell on a strange looking patch of ground.  “Do you see that?” he asked, pointing.

“Is that patch of ground a different color?” Inuzaki asked, curiously.  

Shota bent down and grabbed a stick from the ground.  Getting back up with Tomodachi on his shoulders was tricky, but he managed it.  He gave the stick a toss towards the patch of ground.

The stick hit something, making a small thunk sound.  Instantly, Anime Fukidashi sprang from the patch on the ground, partially covered in leaves and dirt.  “Aw,” Fukidashi said as she landed.  “How did you know?!”

“The ground was a different color,” Inuzaki said.  He bent down low, ready to pounce.  

“Dammit!” Fukidashi yelled.  Her head somehow got larger as she yelled, becoming larger than the rest of her body.  “Betrayed by the drawing on the animation cell!”

Inuzaki looked over at Shota.  “Is she all right?” he asked.  Shota just shrugged.  Even he and Toshi had no real idea how her Quirk worked or how it affected her.  

Before any of them could act, suddenly, something snaked around Tomodachi, yanking him off Shota’s shoulders!  There was Kaminari, coming out of the bushes behind Fukidashi, her Cords wrapped around the dummy and dragging it towards her.  He could even see a few sparks dancing across her Cords and areas of the dummy lighting up as it registered damage.

“Nice job being the distraction, Fukidashi,” Kaminari said.  Her expression turned slightly apologetic.  “Sorry Shinso, but you’re not winning this one.”

He couldn’t get in a good sonic blast with her holding Tomodachi like that.  He was in the way and she could still shock him either way.  “Aw, c’mon, Kaminari,” he said sadly.  “We gotta win this one!  Everybody’s counting on us!  I don’t want to disappoint everybody!  I just…  I just gotta…”

Her face fell as he talked.  There.  There was his moment.  “Aaaaah!” Shota let out a shout, a regular one, and charged, tackling Kaminari about the middle and knocking her to the ground. He hated tricking her like that, but if everybody was going treat him like a little kid, then maybe he should take advantage of that. He landed on top of her, with his head on her…  He jerked his head up quickly!

Kaminari’s Cords reflexively reeled in when he tackled her, but as she soon as she was able, her Cords poked into his back and unleashed a jolt of electricity.  It wasn’t a strong shock, just enough to make him release his grip, but it still hurt.  Shota let out a cry of pain and let go, as Kaminari shoved him off her.  As he hit the ground, he could see Fukidashi trying to hit Inuzaki with a comically oversized hammer.

“Dang it!” Fukidashi yelled when her latest hammer strike failed to hit Inuzaki.  “Why won’t the music change?  Isn’t he a comedy character?!”

Kaminari, meanwhile, was back on her feet, heading for Tomodachi again.  She was too close!  If he missed with a sonic blast, he’d hit the dummy.  But he’d been working hard on his Quirk all through the camp.  And Bioshock helped him figure out some other pitches he could use.  If he could go high, Bioshock had said, he could go low.

Infrasound.

He opened his mouth and pitched his sonic power low, buffeting Kaminari with waves of low-frequency sound.  She stopped in her tracks, suddenly clutching her stomach.  She wobbled on her feet, before falling to her knees, throwing up.   Shota was already on his feet, running past her.  “Sorry!” he called out.  “It won’t last long, I promise!  Sorry!  Sorry!  Sorry!”

As quick as he could, he hoisted Tomodachi over his shoulders again.

Inuzaki had Fukidashi cornered now, growling.   She let the hammer fall from her hands and it vanished as soon as it let her fingers.  “Sure, now the dramatic music plays.”

Inzuki reared up and hit Fukidashi hard with both front paws, knocking her to the ground.  She hit her head on the ground and laid there, stunned, with little cartoon birds floating around her head.

Shota definitely didn’t understand how her Quirk worked.

“C’mon,” he said, moving as fast as he could.  “They won’t be down for long!”

He and Inuzaki ran.  Soon enough, he could see Kocho and Shida waiting up ahead, standing next to a small sign that clearly marked the second leg of the relay.

They’d done it!

***

Shinso and Inuzaki had definitely looked worse for wear by the time they’d arrived and handed off the training dummy (Which they’d named, for some reason.) to Koharu and Shida.  The two had spun a tale of being ambushed twice, but had managed to successfully fight their way through.  It gave her a good idea of what to expect.  There would probably be at least four attackers then, though there might be more.  She’d done the math. There weren’t quite enough students for a totally even split.

At least for now, Shida was carrying the dummy.  With her spider-legs carrying her in a way that reminded Koharu a lot of how Shoji traveled with his own Quirk, she was able to hold the dummy in her arms and remain mobile.  Koharu herself was flapping her wings, floating just a bit above ground level.  That way, if they needed to engage, she wouldn’t waste any time on a takeoff.  The forest canopy, for now, meant moments to fly really high were going to be few and far between, but there was enough space between the trees that someone could still fly under it. 

And flying above the canopy had been strictly prohibited.  Even if it wasn’t against the rules, there were several other students with flight Quirks and it was likely at least one of them would be playing the Villain for their leg of the relay.  And she’d be leaving Shida behind if she did that, which seemed like it would defeat the purpose of the exercise. 

None of which did anything to quell her body’s primary panic at the spider-like aspects of the Shiketsu girl.  Given there were spiders that ate moths, it was a natural reaction for animal-type Quirks like theirs. She was getting better at it than when the camp had started, though.  It helped that the other girl was incredibly nice (and, she admitted with a blush, rather cute), but her instinctive reaction was still just below the surface.

On the plus side, the two of them were going to be incredibly hard to sneak up on.  Between Shida’s multiple-eyes and her own antenna, they had a range of extra-sensory perception.  

“See anything?” Koharu asked quietly.  Her antennae weren’t giving her any good information, unless you counted knowing where several squirrels and more than a few birds were.

“Not yet.” Shida said. If she’d noticed that Koharu tended to keep her distance from her, she didn’t let on but she seemed happy enough to be working with her. Her six eyes glanced about in multiple directions. “I doubt that will be the case much longer.” It didn’t help that she wasn’t sure where exactly to look. Knowing who the “Villains” were would have helped, but Heroes seldom had a heads-up. 

“Me neither,” she replied.  But Shida was right.  Sooner than later was to be expected.

It didn’t take long for that sooner to become now.  There was a great cracking sound and one of the trees fell, blocking the way forward for a moment.  Someone strong then, or maybe Kaniyashiki from 1-B with her scissor Quirk?  But even then, between her ability to fly and Shida’s legs, it would only slow them down for a minute.  So what was their enemy’s plan?

A sound like jet engines told her what it was: a distraction!

Faster than a bullet, one of the Iida twins--Sora, she realized--blasted through the air right towards them.  She was fast enough that Koharu couldn’t react in time to stop her, only to get out of the way.  Iida stuck an arm out as she flew past, grabbing the arm of the dummy Shida was carrying as she tried to rocket away.

Like Koharu, Shida hadn’t seen Sora coming. She’d told Koharu before they’d set out that, while spiders had six eyes, their sense of sight actually wasn’t all that strong. She could see more than most people, but only by volume, not by magnification. There was no way either of them should have been able to see her coming in time. But somehow, Akira’s second-from-the back left spider-leg to shot out in a reflexive strike. 

It was a solid strike, enough to send the Iida girl flying off course, slamming head first into a tree trunk.  She still had the dummy though, which made things complicated.  Already, she was scrambling back to her feet, although quite unsteadily.  Koharu spat a blob of String Shot at her, pinning her to the tree with a mass of sticky strands stronger than steel.

“How did you do that?” Koharu asked, unable to keep the amazement out of her voice.

Shida bowed her head slightly and smiled.  “My leg hairs.  They’re very sensitive to vibrations.  It’s a bit of an instinctive reaction to danger like that.”

“This is excellent tensile strength,” Iida said, as she struggled to break free.  She sounded impressed. Koharu could hear the other girl’s Jetpack engines firing, but for the moment, her String Shot held.  “I would love an opportunity to examine this at a later date! The uses are practically unlimited!”

“Sister!” a voice called out.  It had to be Tensei Iida.  “As much as I am in agreement with you, now is hardly the time for scientific curiosity!”

“It is always the time for curiosity, little brother!”

“I have asked you to stop calling me that!”

“Maybe you two could have this discussion another time?” Another voice asked.   It was Shoji. He sounded very, very tired. Koharu didn’t blame him. The Iidas were very nice, but they could also be exhausting.

Shoji dropped down from between two trees, using his extra arms like spider-legs, free-falling the last few feet to land with a slight thud.  Tensei Iida, meanwhile, dropped down with a series of shot Jetpack bursts to slow his fall.  Both of them were between Koharu and Shida and the dummy.

She shot Shida a quick glance.  “How long can you hold your breath?” she whispered.  Iida and Shoji were playing defense for the moment, watching them.  

“That’s a complicated answer with my mixed body. But I can “hold it” long enough. What are you planning?” Koharu remembered, vaguely, that spiders didn’t breathe in the same way as some animals, but she didn’t know how that applied to the spider-girl.

“I can drop a sleeping powder from my wing scales,” Koharu said quickly and quietly.  Shoji was eying them warily, all six of his arms up in a fighting stance, while Tensei Iida attempted to free his sister and the dummy without success.  “If I can cover a wide enough area, I can knock them out.  Iida’s crazy fast and Shoji’s crazy strong.  Probably the best chance we’ve got.”

“Hmm, I could use my legs to lift my body above the powder. Plus I should be able to use my leg hairs to feel the vibrations of where they might move even if I can’t see them,” Shida suggested. 

Koharu nodded.  These were all Hero students with months of training that she simply didn’t have.  And many of them had even more than that, coming from Hero families.  Neither side here had a full understanding of what the other could do, so evening out to neutral was the closest they had to an advantage. “Let’s do it.”

She flapped hard, gaining height and propelling herself forward towards the boys, already releasing her Sleep Powder from her wings.   Down below, Tensei Iida looked up and let out a cry of alarm, while Shoji moved towards Shida, his top pair of extra arms stretching out to grab at her.

Shida saw Shoji heading for her, scanning above herself with her uppermost eyes. Staying on the ground was a bad idea as she had no idea how strong Shoji really was. She bent her legs, took a moment to look Shoji in the eyes, and gave the six-armed boy a wink that Koharu would have called flirtatious, before her legs suddenly unbent and sent her flying up into the air. Shooting well up past the smaller trees, Shida extended several of her legs to pierce and grab onto the nearest larger specimen.  Others of her legs lashed out at Shoji.

Shoji dodged out of the way of the initial strike, pushing himself to the side with his lower set of arms.  “Good reflexes,” he said, his voice smooth, like silk. He craned his neck to follow Shida, top arms extending out at her, but his maximum extension wasn’t enough to get him close.

Meanwhile, having recovered from his initial shock, Tensei Iida was rocketing into the air.  He was a major threat, though without the armor and support equipment Koharu had seen him use during the final exam, possibly slightly less of one.   And she had the advantage in maneuverability.

She flapped hard as she flew, releasing her Sleep Powder from her wings until the air was filled with the orange powder.   Iida got the worst of it, flying directly into the cloud of it.  He coughed and sputtered and was out almost immediately.  Which meant that his Jetpack cut out and he started falling like a stone.  Koharu cursed and went into into a dive, catching him in midair by grabbing his wrists. She let loose a cry of pain as her jerked to a stop. It felt like her arms were being torn from their sockets!

“Dammit,” she hissed.  Iida was heavy, muscular and compact.  She could just about manage to carry her own bodyweight when flying, but he was definitely heavier than she was.  She dropped down low and released him, letting him hit the ground.  He’d gotten more than enough powder that he didn’t wake up.

Shoji, meanwhile, was still standing. She’d had to stop spreading her powder to keep Tensei from dropping and he hadn’t gotten nearly as big a dose.  His arms lashed out again, grabbing her wrists!

It had been a gamble that she’d be able to drop Shoji, especially as big as he was and as little powder as she’d been able to release.  She was glad Shida had her back. As soon as she’d seen Koharu drop down to save Iida, the spider-girl had already been making her way down the tree when Shoji extended his arms to grab Koharu.

She watched as Shida did her best to land from an angle that she hoped was in Shoji’s blind spot. Her legs made surprisingly little noise when they were in motion, and she sped toward the big, six-armed boy. When close enough she extended her two front legs and brought them in a scything motion toward the back of Shoji’s knees. 

Shoji was a big guy, which made him a pretty big target.  The blow from Shida knocked him down, bringing him to his knees and making him release Koharu.  Looking over his shoulder, he tried to swat at Shida with his Extendo-Arms, but the move was awkward and uncoordinated.  Koharu used the moment to escape, taking to the air again. She swung out with her legs, striking Shoji upside the head.  The blow wasn’t enough to put him down, but it did spin his head around.  He looked back and forth rapidly, now caught between her and Shida.

Shida dodged Shoji’s clumsy blows easily, her eyes and leg hairs giving her incredibly reaction time to his attack. She used her four back legs as a brace as she used them to hold herself in an almost standing position. She launched her remaining arms at Shoji, each attempting to strike at the arm joints of his extended arms. 

When it came to extra-appendages, Shoji was definitely unarmed by comparison to Shida.  Even as he’d been able to turn to face her, her spider-legs struck home, nailing him in each of his Extendo-Arms.  The silver-haired boy let out a cry of pain as his arms retracted, snapping back with a strange, stretching sound that was more than a little nauseating.  

He’d done a remarkable job of staying upright, but between the pain from Shida’s attack, the blow to the head, and the whiff of sleep powder he’d gotten earlier finally making its way through his system, Shoji went down, slowly sliding to his knees and then to the ground.

They’d done it!  Three hero students, and they’d managed to beat all of them!  She’d even managed to take out two!  Of course, Shida was also a Hero student, so that evened the playing field a little, but still!

“Let’s get the dummy,” Koharu said.  It should still be where they left it, next to Sora Iida.  She quickly glanced in that direction.  The other girl was asleep.  She must have gotten enough Sleep Powder too. Koharu stopped, her antennae moving rapidly.  There was something stirring up a lot of air. 

Anything Shida might have said was cut off as something swooped down and slammed into her.  Rough, clawed feet grabbed her shoulders and she felt herself being carried into the air.  It had to be Hizashi Koumori, the bat-like member of Class 1-B.

“Sorry, Kocho,” he said.  “Totally most heinous to do the sneak attack, I know, but we gotta win this one!”

Just before Koumori had grabbed her, Koharu had seen Shida briefly give herself a smile of triumph. That had abruptly ended when Koumori struck. Koharu could see Shida move on instinct to try and help, but she stopped, as though remembering what Koharu had told her. They needed to get the dummy. Shida cursed quietly before heading over to Sora to grab it. With any luck she’d be able to secure it and get back quick enough to help.

But Koharu couldn’t count on that.  She needed to do whatever she could to try and free herself.

It was the element of surprise that had let Koumori grab her.  He was bigger and stronger than her, to be sure, but all he had was his feet around her shoulders. Her wings were still free. And he wasn’t rocket-powered like the Iidas.  He was as dependent on muscle power and flapping for flight as she was, which meant his flight was a lot easier to disrupt.  She flared her own wings out, spreading them wide.  It attacked like an immediate drag chute, jerking Koumori back.

“Whoa!” he cried out.  Reflexively, he released his grip on her as he sailed back.  That was all she needed.  For just a moment Koharu let gravity grab hold, then flapped her own wings, diving back toward the ground.

Just as suddenly, however, she was hit by what felt like a solid wall of force that set her bones rattling and seemed to echo through her skull.  Flailing, she started falling again.  It was hard to think clearly, everything was spinning…

Clawed feet grabbed her again, this time grabbing her legs.  “Sorry about the sonar, dudette,” Koumori said.  He did sound genuinely apologetic.  She knew he was pretty mellow guy most of the time, though how mellow tended to change with how awake he was.  “I’ll have you down in a second.”

No!  She had to prove herself!  She couldn’t lose now!  “No,” she said, “I’m sorry… for this!” With his grip on her legs, she flapped her wings just once, giving herself just enough ot a push to swing upward, slamming both of her fists into his snout!  Koumori let out a cry of pain and released her again.  This time, she flapped and kept herself into the air, but hit him with a blast of String-Shot, pinning his arms--and more importantly, his wings--to his sides.  A pang of regret shot through her as he dropped like a stone.  Koumori was even bigger and heavier then Iida. There was no way she could keep him from falling…

Koumori, at least, was awake. He twisted in the air, trying to break free from her String-Shot, but hit the ground hard, letting out a soft moan, his eyes fluttering.  That looked like it had hurt.  Maybe she’d make it up to him back at U.A. with a fruit smoothie from her stash of exotic fruits.

Koharu landed next to him, bending down to make sure he was okay.  Kuomori was still breathing and it didn’t look like he had any major injuries.  Didn’t look like that had felt good, but it looked like he’d be fine.

It wasn’t the first time she’d had to hurt someone.  She’d sparred with friends and fought in the Sports Festival and trained against others here at the camp.

It didn’t mean it felt good.   Maybe Park had been onto something about children fighting like this…

Shida skittered to a stop next to her, the dummy safely in her hands. “That was amazing, Koharu! I came as quickly as I could, but it turns out you didn’t need it.” Skida smiled, but frowned slightly; she must have noticed the disturbed look on Koharu’s face. She frowned, all her eyes narrowing in concern. “Are you okay?” She didn’t specify if what troubled her was physical or mental, but there was something in her voice that suggested this wasn’t the first time she’d seen someone react like this. 

Koharu shook her head.   She had plenty of options that didn’t involve hurting people when it came to takedowns.  Maybe she could learn to focus on that.  But she’d have to fight anyway if she followed her dream and became a Hero.  But what did that mean for now?

Maybe those were questions for another day.

“Just thinking about something your friend said,” she told Shida.  “But c’mon.  We can talk about that later.  Let’s get this thing to the next marker.”

These were definitely questions that needed answers.  But for now, she’d faced one of the first major challenges of her Hero training and she’d come out on top.

For now, that was good enough.

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 010: Fitness

Yang ran around Beacon when she came across Jaune doing pushups, shirtless. She nearly fell over as she skidded to a stop. "Well, shit."

Jaune finished his reps and stood up, looking at her. "Hello?"

"You're really pumping up, aren't you?" Yang asked. "Pumped up... I mean pumped up..."

"It's like I finally know why I'm here." Jaune replied.

"And... why's that?.." Yang asked.

"My team." Jaune said, "My friends." he smiled.

Yang looked around nervously.

"You girls have been wonderful to me." Jaune continued.

"We.. have?.." Yang asked. "Even Weiss?" With this Jaune's smile grew even brighter. "So, you still got a thing for her?" Jaune shrugged and then nodded his head. "What's she got that I don't?" Yang asked. Jaune looked at her like a deer in the headlights. "Uh, keep it up." she said, and Jaune nodded at her. Yang continued on her run.

* * *

Yang rounded a corner and flatened her back against it. She clutched her chest and she breathed headily. "What the hell was that?"

* * *

Weiss drew her rapier across herself as she adopted her ready stance. She breathed in deep to focus herself, to find her place in the universe. The first thing she saw was her father, which immediately angered her. Her feathers flushed a deep, dark blue, and she breathed deeply in. The flush moderately faded. She then thought of her sister, and the dark blue hues were mixed with lights. She remembered all of the harsh lessons her sister had taught her, but she would not be the huntress she was without her. She shuddered as she thought what would happen if she did not have her sister's training. She breathed in deeply, and the flush disappeared. In it's place she tried picturing Grimm.

In her mind, a Beowulf appeared in front of her. She breathed in and out as she prepared herself for her routine. She saw the Beowulf charging at her. She used her Glyph to launch herself forward, lancing the Beowulf with her rapier. She then turned to the other Beowulfes attacking her, dancing out of the way before giving the second a retort. She spun around, striking the first one. She turned around, three Beowulves disolving around her, when many more charged at her. She used her Glyphs to multiply her ice dust attack, launching a number of ice shards in their direction... when... her imaginings faded, only to be replaced by that of the lanky, antlered gentleman. She panicked, spreading the ice shards away.

When her vision focused, he was gone... She breathed in deep trying to recentre herself. He had never even been there... But... whyever did he appear? She felt her feathers fluff up and looked down to see a light blue hue. Really?

Wait?, she thought to herself, and stood at attention, saluting before lowering her sword. Just when did he become a gentleman? She breathed in deep trying to reclear her head. Her flush ran away and she once again summoned her imaginary Beowulves.

* * *

Ruby had Crescent Rose's blade buried into the ground, taking aim down range.

* * *

Blake ran along the rooftops of Beacon, trying to clear her head. It focued on two things, her ex, the monster, Adam, and the seemingly sweet but likely treacherous Schnee. How could she have such affection for her? She was a Schnee, and deep down, she knew she would act like a Schnee. It was in their nature, just like hers gave her a fondness of high places. She shook her head. There's no way she would acknowledge she had such feelings. But a viper was always a viper; a monster was always a monster.

* * *

Ren breathed in deeply with eyes closed, trying to meditate as Nora smashed Grimm dummies with her hammer.

* * *

Pyrrha cheerfully looked up at the stadium seating. "Do we have any volunteers?" Glynda asked.

* * *

Yang shadow boxed with her weapons. The image of Jaune doing his pushups flashed in her head and she stopped. "What the hell was that?"

A flush of rose petals appeared beside her. "What's up sis?"

"Oh, shit!" Yang exclaimed, breathing in deeply. "Oh, it's you, Ruby..." Yang's brown scales were nearly glowing orange.

"I've never seen you like that." Ruby said her.

"Oh, quit it, Ruby..." Yang voiced.

"Okay, even more suspicious." Ruby continued.

"Can't a girl blush in peace?" Yang asked, and Ruby giggled at her. She moved to smack her sister, but Ruby disappeared in a burst of rose petals. "Shit." Yang voiced, and slumped foward.

* * *

"Of all the vexatious daliances..." Weiss voiced, "Perhaps not phrased the best way..." She breathed in deeply. "Perhaps I should lose myself in my studies?.."

* * *

JNPR ran about Beacon, with Jaune trailing behind. Nora looked over her shoulder, "Come on, Leader!"

"You can do it!" Pyrrha added. Jaune breathed in deep, and did his best to try and catch up to his team mates.

Ruby watched JNPR running, tail wagging.

* * *

RWBY gathered together in their physical fitness kit. "Why, praytell, are we here?" Weiss asked her.

"Team run!" Ruby shouted.

"I, for one," Weiss continued, "prefer to fight with grace rather than brute strength." She then glanced over to Yang who was raising her eyebrows in reply. "No offence."

"None taken." Yang said, "Unless you think that's what Ladykiller likes?"

"He has taken a liking to Weiss." Blake added.

"He's taken a liking to all of us." Yang replied.

"Hm?" Blake asked, Weiss looking at her curiously, Ruby looking at her eagerly.

"What?" Yang said, and then eagerly continued, "He thinks we're all... his friends?.."

"A little eager?" Blake asked.

"What can I say?.." Yang asked, "You girls mean more to me than anyone else ever did. And JNPR feels like a little brother, ya'know?"

Weiss huffed, but Ruby looked wide-eyed with wonder.

"I'm... an only kid..." Blake quietly voiced. Yang looked at her with wide eyes. "What?" Blake asked.

Yang stretched. "Oh, just, you know, we managed to learn something about you, is all. Alright, girls, enough blabbing. Let's get going."

Ruby turned into rose petals, moving about 10 feet ahead of them, turning back. She raised her arm into the air. "Let's go!"

* * *

RWBY stopped, Ruby, Blake, Yang slumping over to various degrees to catch their breath. Weiss seemed content to pant while trying to stand at attention.

"Even now she tries to be all prissy." Yang voiced.

"Just because you..." Weiss said, and panted, "are a ruffian..." and panted, "doesn't mean that I..." and panted.

"Sometimes," Yang said to her, "you just got to relax... let go... do what your body tells you..."

"I am," Weiss said and panted, "quite - alright."

"Do we need the running commentary?" Blake asked, and Yang just audibly stretched in reply.

* * *

"Good work, team." Jaune said, standing in front of NPR, all breathing heavily.

"What now, Leader?" Nora asked.

Jaune initially shrugged. "Shower... then meet in the dorm room." With this Nora saluted in reply.

* * *

Jaune and Ren walked down the hallway wearing nothing but towels. RWBY jumped out of the way, turning their heads to watch them pass.

* * *

RWBY walked into their dorm room. "Okay," Blake said, "now I know what Yang was so excited about on the first night." This caused Yang to let out a giggle.

"We are here to become huntresses." Weiss lightly admonished.

"uh-huh?" Yang asked her, "You're almost as colourful as I am."

* * *

JNPR stood in their room, fully dressed. "So, what do we do now, GLORIOUS LEADER?!" Nora exclaimed.

"Like what?.." Jaune asked, "a group cheer?"

"Why not?" Ren asked, and Pyrrha giggled.

Jaune looked between his team mates and put his hand in, "Uh, all four one?"

"All for one!" JNPR cheered.

* * *

Blake was reading on her bed and looked up. "Was that what I thought it was?.."

"Sounds like JNPR is getting along." Yang said with a snicker.

"Please tell me we're not going to do that?" Blake asked, and Ruby looked disappointed. Weiss looked on, curiously.

[soysaucevictim]

Week 3.

-

Mar. 27

I woke up around noon today.

Spent a bit of time on the usual and getting some iced coffee before doing my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 1′ side plank hold with EC (30″30″). Took some focus, but manageable. It was a bit more challenging with slightly sore lats and pecs.

(After spending time to update some logs...)

Second, Day 13 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest, no assist. A fun sequence to focus on balancing work with.

Last, Day 13 of the RbP. Level 3, 1′ rest. I honestly think I probably could have gotten away with nixing the rest periods entirely, this time. But ah well. Definitely had some faves in involving jumping jacks and more balance work on the legs.

After some dishes, I made today’s Hello Fresh Meal. Rainbow Thai noodle toss. I probably should’ve cooled the noodles a bit more thoroughly to have them not stick together as much. It was otherwise just okay. Not quite as glowingly received to put this on reprisal list.

Spent rest of night on the usual stuff. I got to bed obscenely late, again...

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Mar. 28

I woke up after 1AM and the first thing I did today was my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 2′ jumping jacks with EC. I counted exactly 130 reps by the end. Very dun and manageable work. Though I was tempted to do more jacks or bounces I decided to reserve my energy for other stuff today.

Second, Day 14 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest, no drops. Even if this was an arm day with un/clenching fists - i was able to keep mental count of my sets in current headspace. Otherwise fairly breezy.

Last, Day 14 of the RbP. Level 3, 1′ rest. More arm work. Got pretty intense and had a few lapses in thinking and tried transitioning to the horizontal scissor exercise instead of that frontal arm raise hold. I usually caught myself quickly though.

Spent a good chunk of the day chatting and having movie night again. We watched Little Shop of Horrors & Dodgeball. Martin’s scenery chewing was one of my own highlights from the former movie.

Spent rest of night doing some of the usual and some reading. I got to bed a couple hours earlier than yesterday, still in the red zone.

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Mar. 29

I woke up around noon.

Was a bit uncertain about some appointments this week, including ability to have today’s therapy appointment via phone. But things got straightened up and had a pleasant phone session.

After a bit of the usual, did some exercise.

First, today’s DD. 30 leg raises with EC. Doable, a bit intense for the neck, needing to hold it up

Second, Day 15 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest. Flexibility/balance-oriented work. Breezy and fun.

Last, Day 15 of the RbP. Level 3, max rest, with allowance to let head drop to floor. Because I just did not have the energy for putting up with excessive neck strain. Regardless, abs really felt that (a bit of quads too)! One thing I liked, despite flirting with strain/fatigue was some fun sensory feedback I was getting here. Kinda making me like leg raises more, tbh.

I decided to bake some shortbread cookies to have with Logan’s jam... and it was so good. (I may consider baking another batch for Roman’s jam, and baking that on top into a glaze of sorts... maybe.)

Spent rest of night on the usual stuff. I got to bed obscenely late again...

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Mar. 30

I woke up around noon and one of the first things I did today was exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 balance side lunges with EC (20/20). Just about doable.

Second, Day 16 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest, no assist (only took a seat for the leg raises here given that I wasn’t sure about essentially doing a single-leg squat or wall-sit for those.... might try that next time though!) Pretty manageable, despite having modestly stiff quads.

Last, Day 16 of the RbP. Level 3, max rest. Tendon strengthening day. Took a couple sets to get things warmed up and limber, given the quads situation, but manageable. Tough work, but rewarding!

Hi the showers and made today’s Hello Fresh Meal. Oven-ready cheesy salsa verde chicken. Getting kind of annoyed that prescribed cook-times for the oven-ready chicken dishes being under-estimated. I was already grouchy about needing to cancel tomorrow’s trip reservation (under dubious circumstances) and other shit... (Despite that, food was just okay.)

So I was too angry and tired to avoid taking a nap after that was eaten...

Spent rest of night on usual shit. Got to bed a bit earlier than yesterday, but still in the red.

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Mar. 31

I woke up around 10AM.

Bro took me to group today. Seeking Safety went alright. Still exhausted about Everything.

Got home, did a lot of the usual and some writing, I did today’s exercise.

First, today’s DD.40 single arm climbers with EC (20/20). This was a tiny bit awkward arm placement throughout. Planted hand position was off-center, so remaining balanced whilst pumping the legs was a bit concerning. Probably could’ve done better form if that was a bit more on lock. Ah well, done at any rate.

Second, Day 17 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest, no drops. Arm work, I kinda like challenging myself with this program like this, I feel like my current level of fitness gets more out of it this way. :Ic

Last, Day 17 of the RbP. Level 3, max rest. Lotta up/down with it being high knees and single leg plank holds. After the first set or two, I’m glad I took time to get my ankle popped right so it wouldn’t hurt to keep up the toe-striking and jumping for the hidden burpees (probably was a tiny bit unstable/subluxed). Feeling good about that!

Spent rest of the day on reading fics and the usual. Got to bed around the same time as yesterday.

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Apr. 1

I woke up after 1PM.

Spent time reading and whatnot before exercise...

First, today’s DD. 80 [standing] side leg raises with EC (40/40). Happy I manged to do this whilst holding my balance the whole way through it - even if it wasn’t specified.

Second, Day 18 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest. A bit more of a flexibility-oriented day, breezy work.

Last, Day 18 of the RbP. Level 3, max rest. Had to mod-down over half the upward dogs to cobras just to mitigate built up straining (and avoid triggering some ETD). Was also worried about heartburn after some food choices beforehand - but at least that wasn’t an issue and I will consider it a small mercy. Also another workout for every second of rest was met with gratitude.

Spent rest of night reading fics and whatnot. I got to bed a little bit earlier than yesterday, still in the red zone.

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Apr. 2

I woke up a bit before 1PM, today.

Spent some time filling out some stressful legal shit.

After I took a break on that, the only planned exercise today was the DD. 200 punches with EC. I swapped stances at 100. This was a fun and breezy DD. I appreciated it given how tired I was feeling...

Spent time updating my logs, while watching YouTube after that.

Then a few rounds of dishes around making today’s Hello Fresh Meal. Szechuan beef noodles. This was just okay. I may opt to “cheat“ a little bit by putting a lil bit of sesame oil in the cook water for the ramen noodles. Still haven’t quite nailed executing them without excessive sticking-together. Would be a bit more appealing texture and flavor-dispersion. But it wasn’t bad.

Spent the rest of night getting some writing and writing plan/notes done.

Got to bed a bit later than yesterday.