#consultation and communication stations

[mionemymind]

Blood Drive

Summary: While donating at a local blood drive, Y/n stumbles up the best nurse in town, Wanda Maximoff. Unable to get Wanda out of her mind, Y/n goes through a lengthy process just to ask her out.

Warnings: Fluff, Blood Donations, Passing Out, Needles, Happy Ending

A/n: Not gonna lie, I think it's somewhat getting easier to write kissing scenes but I still have to look at a tumblr post just to figure out the wording for it. Let me know what you think :)

Word Count: 4.0k

Masterlist

In an era of new politics, the Mayor of New York City declared that registered heroes of the city had to do mandated community service. This was a new mission to help build relationships between the regular folk of New York City and the heroes that harbor it. Because let’s be honest, having Hulk throw your new car at the enemy was not the best introduction for regular people. 

Those who harbored powers relaying force or strength helped out in the trade industry. You’d often see super soldiers helping out in the demolition zone by crushing what was needed. Those with magic tried their best to help heal the homeless or aided at soup kitchens. Anywhere you can unconventionally help, the heroes did. 

For Y/n, it was a lot of physically demanding tasks. Such as helping families move from apartment to apartment. Or helping police officers move accidents out of the way. Sometimes, she would even demonstrate how to safely carry a person through a burning building for the local firefighters. 

Today, however, Y/n decided to do something different. Rather than focusing on the same physical tasks, she chose a simpler mundane task. “Hi there, are you here for the blood drive?” Y/n nodded in agreement to the receptionist upfront. “Just sign in for me right here. Have you filled out the online rapid pass?”

“Yes, I have the QR code screenshotted.” The receptionist smiled warmly. “Perfect. Someone will be with you soon. Please have a seat in our waiting area.” 

Y/n walked towards the waiting room area. This was the fourth thing on her list of community service opportunities to try. She wasn’t quite sure if her blood was even allowed to be donated, having the super soldier serum in her surely could cause a reaction to a regular human. 

After some tests back at the compound, the staff found everything to be okay. That’s how Y/n ended up in a place like this. 

“Y/n Y/l/n.” Getting up from her seat, Y/n followed a nurse in red scrubs to a different area. “How are you today?” 

“I’m good. I'm a little nervous. I’ve never done this before.” The nurse led them to a private part of a huge common room. Multiple stations were built throughout with various people donating blood. “It’s okay to be nervous, but the worst feeling you’ll get today is just a small prick.”

Y/n breathed out slightly in relief. “Let me first get your basic information.” The nurse had gone over Y/n’s personal information but was immediately flagged by the date of birth. “It says you were born on April 2, 1917. It must’ve been a typo.”

The nurse almost changed it to 1971. “Actually ma’am, that is the correct birth date.” 

“So you mean to tell me you were born during World War I?” The nurse was unwilling to believe the joke that was being played. Y/n could immediately tell from the look she gave. “It was the Great War at the time, but yes ma’am I was born in 1917. I’m actually a super soldier.”

The nurse went back to her computer and typed in more information to store on Y/n’s file. “Ah - I see. I’m sorry about that. There’s already a note on your file. It looks like your director has already approved your donation today.” 

Y/n sighed in relief, while she didn’t mind explaining to people her situation of being frozen for so long, it was strenuous trying to get them to understand it all. The rest of the consultation went along smoothly as she gathered the remaining information such as Y/n’s hemoglobin and her rapid pass. 

“Alright dear, let’s get you to a bed.” The nurse led them back to the common area where all the beds were laid out. “Just sit right here for me, right now we currently have a special volunteer today that’s helping out with the drive. She’ll come over in a couple of seconds to help you out. But if you have any questions, please feel free to let us know.” 

Y/n sat up on the reclined bed and looked at her phone. She scrolled through her messages to make sure nothing important was happening. The sound of someone clearing their throat gained her attention. “Y/n?” As Y/n looked up, she could physically feel the moment that time stopped again. Was it possible that she fell back into the ice again? Surely she would feel the same numbness as before. But it was all different. Because from just one look from this girl would be enough to melt all the ice away. 

Y/n’s breath hitched as she locked eyes with her. “I- yes, that’s me.” Y/n cleared her throat, embarrassed at the lack of composure she had. 

“Nice to meet you today. My name is Wanda Maximoff and I’ll be helping you with your blood donation today.” All Y/n could do was nod as she further realized that the woman in front of her was the Scarlet Witch. 

Wanda looked through her notes on the clipboard. “It looks like it’s your first time donating, is that true?” Y/n’s eyes remained locked on Wanda. It was embarrassing how much she couldn’t look away. “Uh yes. It is.”

“Do you have a preference on which arm you would like to use today?” Y/n shook her head in disagreement. “No preference at all.” 

Wanda wrote down more information when a note caught her eye. “S.H.I.E.L.D. approval - are you a member?” Wanda looked over at the young girl in front of her trying to see if she could remember the pretty face.

“I’m one of their new recruits. Only been active for three months.” And suddenly, Y/n seemed to never mind all the questions that Wanda could possibly ask. If it meant talking to her, Y/n would oblige. 

“That’s great to hear. If you don’t mind me asking, do you have any powers that we should be aware of?” 

“Well, I think you’re aware of my counterpart, Bucky Barnes. We both have a super soldier serum.” Wanda smiled at the mention of her old teammate/acquaintance.

 “Interesting. How come I haven’t heard about you before?” Wanda couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow she had managed to miss this girl for three months. 

Y/n scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. “You know how Steve was found in ice right?” Wanda nodded. “That’s basically the same situation I was in but rather than crashing into the arctic, I was in a freezer chamber. I’ve been awake for only ten months.” The shock on Wanda’s face was apparent. 

“Sorry to keep asking,” Y/n never minded, “how has it been like adjusting back to the new life?” Y/n shrugged indifferently. 

“A little rough. I do miss my friends back from my time, but Bucky has been trying his best to help me. However, he has been focused on helping the new Captain America, Sam?”

Wanda nodded, confirming that Y/n’s information was correct. “I do enjoy the fact that I’m no longer Hydra’s soldier though. More than anything, I’m just glad to have a second chance in life. Not a lot of people get that so I’m pretty thankful.”

Wanda digested Y/n’s words and was pretty enlightened at Y/n’s outlook on life. “Thank you for answering all my questions.”

“It’s no problem.” 

“Now, let's get you set up to donate.” Wanda proceeded to bring out a couple of items from the nearby stand. On the table beside Y/n, Wanda placed various tubes and empty bags. Although it was nothing, the sight made Y/n feel slightly uncomfortable. It reminded her too much of Hydra’s labs but minus the dark atmosphere and torture that came with it. 

As if sensing her discomfort, Wanda grabbed a disinfectant and started to disinfect Y/n’s left arm around the area inside her elbow. “Ya know, for being so nice and cooperative. How about you ask me a couple of questions? It makes the day go by faster.” 

Bringing herself out of her internal thoughts, Y/n asked the first thing that came to mind. “You’re the Scarlet Witch, right?”

It was Wanda’s turn to blush. She hadn’t expected Y/n to recognize her so quickly, especially since she just got back to the real world.  “I am.”

“I wasn’t aware that you could help with the American Red Cross as part of your community service.” Wanda grabbed a marker and a squeezable toy. She placed the toy in Y/n’s left hand stating, “Give me three big squeezes and hold on the last squeeze.”

While pressing around Y/n’s elbow, she continued with, “I had to do some training to get qualified. A lot of the people who use magic generally help in other areas.” Wanda marked a dot followed by a line. “You can stop squeezing now.”

“I’m gonna disinfect one more time and then I’ll have to poke you. Are you scared of needles?” Feeling more embarrassed, Y/n looked away as she said, “Yes.” 

“All good. Just means I’ll have to give you a small distraction.” Wanting to distract herself even more, Y/n asked, “Why did you decide to do this rather than something in your wheelhouse?”

Wanda thought about it before replying with, “I like the normalcy of it. On the plus side, it feels more rewarding. Like I’m actually earning my community time rather than going the easy way of using my powers.” As Wanda finished disinfecting, she blew on Y/n’s elbow hoping it would dry fast. 

“When I give you the go-ahead, I’ll have to ask you to give me three more squeezes and hold on to the last one, okay?” Y/n nodded and waited for the signal. 

“And - go.” Y/n did as told, but as she did her last squeeze and held, red wispy magic flowed in front of her morphing into swirls in the air. “Woah.” She followed the magic with her eyes, not even noticing that Wanda had already poked her and started the transfusion. 

“Should be about 10 minutes. Every couple of seconds give the toy a small squeeze to keep it going.” Y/n glanced away from the magic amazed with Wanda. “That didn’t even hurt.” For the first time in Y/n’s life, she didn’t scream when the needles came. 

Wanda couldn’t help but keep the magic up for a little longer. The dopey look on Y/n’s face was something she didn’t want to go away. 

“I told you I would distract you.” Y/n was at a loss of words. Her brain jumbled for anything but all she could focus on was that Wanda Maximoff successfully distracted her. She had a natural caring heart, something the media failed to show. 

“Your magic is beautiful by the way.” Y/n savored the last few seconds of it before it completely disappeared. 

Wanda’s magic has been called many things in life, powerful, destructive, and manipulative but none have ever said beautiful…till now. “Thank you Y/n.” 

There was a small silence as Wanda stayed to make sure Y/n was okay. “I’ll be assisting other volunteers, but if you start to feel like you're fainting, just call me over, okay?” 

“I will.” Would it have been wrong to immediately fake an injury just to get Wanda back? Possibly but Y/n weighed the consequences and none could compare to her. So as Wanda left, Y/n used her free hand to call Bucky. After a couple of rings, he picked up the phone. “Hey, Y/n.” 

Getting straight to the point, “Is Wanda Maximoff single?” 

“Uhh - I think so. She and this synthezoid, Vision, used to date but I believe they broke up a year ago. Why do you ask?” Y/n looked at Wanda who was across the room. Her radiant smile could be spotted from miles away. “Just wanting to gather intel. Thanks Bucky.” 

Y/n hung up the phone, not caring about what Bucky had to say back. Her eyes lingered back to Wanda. No matter how much she distracted herself with her phone, her eyes always glanced back on Wanda Maximoff. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and all she wore was matching red scrubs. But everything about her looked and felt beautiful. 

Little did Y/n know, Wanda was admiring her too. 

The blood donation was soon over, quicker than Y/n anticipated.  Wanda had already come over, stopped the machine, and disconnected the line from Y/n’s arm. She taped a cotton ball on top of the area she poked and proceeded to wrap a red bandage around Y/n’s elbow.  “You keep this red bandage on for two hours and the cotton ball for four hours.” 

Wanda grabbed a pamphlet that had Y/n’s personal information and gave it to her. “Don’t miss a single meal for the next eight weeks. Make sure to drink plenty of water as well. If you feel dizzy in the next couple of hours, be sure to call this number, okay?”

Y/n nodded. Her mind was elsewhere at the moment, trying to find ways to ask Wanda Maximoff out. “Do you have any questions for me though?” 

Y/n opened her mouth, wanting to ask her, “Are you busy after this?” But nothing came out. And the more she tried to say words, the more silence that remained. 

“Wanda!” The pair turned to the employee that shouted her name. “I have someone that needs your help after you're done with your current volunteer.” 

“Understood.” Wanda looked back at Y/n. “We have snacks and shirts over there but I think you should be good now. Thank you for donating today.” 

As Wanda walked off, Y/n couldn’t help but beat herself up for not asking. She took a couple snacks and juice boxes before walking out of the donation center. 

Was Y/n in love? Not quite yet. Infatuated? Probably. It was the best explanation as to why she was back at the blood drive the very next day. The brown eyed girl paced around all night trying to think of ways to see Wanda again. And the very first realistic idea she thought of was to donate blood again. 

The super soldier practically begged the compound to give her another approval to donate blood stating that her super serum allowed for faster recovery. When no one could argue with her logic, they allowed a special approval to donate so soon. 

So when Y/n followed all the same directions, all the same questions, she was met with disappointment when she didn’t see the redhead that captured her mind. “Hi, my name is Lucy and I’ll be helping you today.” 

As Lucy proceeded to set up, Y/n couldn’t help but ask, “Is Wanda Maximoff here today?” 

The blonde shook her head with a small smile. “I’m sorry dear. She’s not going to be here today.” Y/n couldn’t hold back the frown that escaped. It was stupid to think that Wanda would come back the very next day, but she had hope. 

And as much as Y/n wanted to ask when she’ll be back, she knew the blood center wouldn’t give out information like that. Regardless, Y/n was determined. She was going to see Wanda again. 

It was a new month and a new day. Although Y/n was glad to help a good cause, her hope waned as each day passed with no Wanda. By now, everyone in the blood center knew Y/n by name. On the bright side, the other volunteers were not bad to talk to but none compared to her. 

So as Y/n sat down once again, she scrolled on her phone, expecting much disappointment. Until the voice that captured her heart called her name. “Y/n?”

She looked up from her phone and saw that familiar smile that was ingrained in her head. “Wanda.” Y/n couldn’t hold her smile back as she finally saw the girl that she’s been begging to see. 

“Looks like you’re here for you…18th donation? Look at you being a star citizen.” Y/n blushed knowing that those donations were mainly for something else. “I think by now you should know the drill. Are there any concerns you may have?”

Wanda looked back at Y/n, ready to disinfect her arm. “I-” Y/n’s brain short circuited at the feeling of Wanda’s hands on her arm. It was like everything that she wanted to say suddenly left her brain. But the feeling was just on the tip of her tongue. 

“You know, they should give you a badge or something for donating so much. I didn’t even know that was possible. Didn’t you start donating like last month?” Again, not a single thought formulated in Y/n’s head when all she could focus on was how soft Wanda’s hands were. Because if Y/n was able to focus, she would be able to say that her donation was 17 days, 13 hours, and 5 minutes ago. But who was counting? 

Wanda looked back at Y/n’s chart to confirm her suspicions. “Are you still scared of needles though?” And that’s when Y/n finally got back into the real world. For all the times she’s been back, she’s had to look away from the needle while using a nearby pillow to control her nerves. 

“I think I might need your magic again.” Y/n blushed at the request but felt proud at the smug look that came from Wanda. “I might have to start charging you for the show.” 

With sudden blind confidence, Y/n asked, “Let me take you out on a date in return.” Wanda almost missed the vein at Y/n’s sudden question. She had an inkling that the girl liked her but never expected her to actually pursue her thoughts. 

“You didn’t even need it.” Y/n looked down and saw that Wanda had poked her without realizing it. 

“Does that mean you won’t go?” Wanda looked at the time on the clock and smiled at Y/n. 

“It actually means you have three hours till my shift is up.” Wanda patted Y/n’s arm, reminding her to squeeze the ball in her hand. “So pick me up then. How should I dress?”

“Something casual. I hadn’t really planned out what I was going to do after you said yes.” Wanda blushed at the idea of Y/n practicing this moment. 

“How about this? You and I walk around New York. I don’t think the guys have given you much of a good tour. So I’ll tell you all about the new New York and you tell me about the old New York.” 

“You have a deal.” 

Wanda and Y/n were in the back seat of an uber. The small date was something Y/n never wanted to end but the lack of energy made it hard to keep up. So when Y/n asked if it could be an early night, she was relieved that Wanda wasn’t mad at her. 

Right now, the uber was at a stoplight and the two hardly spoke as their shoulders touched. 

“Can I hold your hand?” Y/n whispered as she lightly placed her hand above Wanda’s. The small smile was hard to miss on Wanda’s face. She could feel Y/n’s internal battle to ask her that. She leaned into Y/n’s ear and whispered, “You don’t even have to ask,” and pressed a small kiss on Y/n’s cheek as they interlaced hands. 

A small blushed and a wide grin appeared on Y/n’s face. “I hope you had fun today.” Looking away, Y/n yawned into her hand.. “You tired dekta?” 

Looking back at her, Y/n tilted her head in confusion. “Dekta? What does that mean?” Wanda blushed more. She hadn’t meant to call Y/n that, but it left her lips so easily. Like it was second nature. 

“I’ll tell you later,” Wanda placed her left hand on Y/n’s bicep and gave it a small squeeze, “Aren’t you supposed to be a super soldier? It's barely past 10 pm and you’re already tired.” Y/n scratched the back of her neck, slightly embarrassed at how tired she was. But all Wanda could focus on was the feeling of Y/n’s muscles as she gave one more squeeze. 

Y/n yawned again, unable to fight the sleep that took over her body. “It’s what happens when you donate blood every day to try and see a pretty girl.” They hadn’t even kissed but Wanda could’ve sworn she was in love. The dopey smile on Y/n’s face would make any girl’s heart melt. The red head mentally thanked that it was her that Y/n was looking at and nobody else. 

“You did that for me?” Y/n could think of many things she would do for Wanda, rescue a billion people, punch a hole in the moon, even kidnap someone. Regardless of how unrealistic it was, Wanda Maximoff was worth changing the tides on Earth. So how could someone so wonderful could ever question that someone would do something for her attention? 

“I wanted to see you again.” Y/n bit her inner cheek, trying her best to stay calm but all she could think about was how soft Wanda’s lips looked. 

The red head hadn’t meant to hear that thought, but she was glad she did. She bit her lip wishing that Y/n would just kiss her already. But something about the way they stared into each other's eyes was already enough for her to feel alive. And for someone so sober, her body grew drunk at the touch of Y/n. 

“So you donated blood to see me?” It was still all unbelievable to Wanda but Y/n would tell her a million times until she believed it.

Their eyes interlocked causing Wanda’s breathing to hitch. She swore she could look into those brown eyes forever. “18 pints and counting.” Y/n couldn’t hold back her grin as Wanda looked away, unable to hold back her wide smile. 

Y/n gave a gentle squeeze in their interlaced hands as Wanda turned back to face Y/n. “You’re gonna get yourself sick if you keep donating.” Wanting to focus on something else, Y/n caressed Wanda’s cheek as she tucked a loose strand back. 

Not wanting her touch to go away, Wanda placed her hand above Y/n’s. So many thoughts ran through both of their heads. Wanda could feel the weight inside Y/n’s mind but didn’t dare to peak. 

“Tell me what you’re thinking…” 

“...I think you’re really pretty,” Y/n admitted in secret. 

“What else?” Y/n rubbed her thumb gently across Wanda’s cheek. 

“I think I want to take you out on a second date.”

“Oh yeah?”

“And I…I think I want to kiss you.” Wanda swallowed all the nerves in her chest.

“...I’d really like that…” And as brown eyes looked at greens eyes one more time, Y/n slowly leaned in and kissed Wanda. There was no rush with each kiss, something Wanda never experienced before. All she could remember was the sloppy kisses and fast make outs. But something about kissing Y/n slowly drove heart mad because how dare she live this long without being kissed like this. 

And as they kissed, their hands never broke apart, instead, they gave gentle squeezes with every kiss. And when slowly pulled apart, Wanda knew then she was love sick. 

Bonus

“Let me get this straight,” Bucky rubbed his forehead, feeling the headache coming forth, “Y/n passed out from kissing you?” 

“Well, the kissing didn’t help but she also donated 18 pints of blood in the last three weeks.” Wanda looked at Y/n’s sleeping figure. Her head rested comfortably on Wanda’s lap. 

Bucky sighed. “Okay, I’ll meet you at her place.” 

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[carionto]

Hardcore Space Parkour

Some Humans are worryingly agile. And stupidly driven to endanger themselves. For no reason we can understand.

________________________

Within the Coalition governing station of the segment of the Galaxy where the Sol system is are countless embassies for each member civilization. Each is designed to accommodate their respective species (or multiple in certain cases) to the fullest while also being able to host guests from any other member.

Then there are the communal areas, set for a galactic standard that is viable for the majority - gravity at 0.6 Earth, far less of that dangerous oxygen, and slightly more humid and cooler than what Humans are normally comfortable with. In fact, Humans technically fall outside the Galactic standards and are all equipped with a partial breathing assistance unit and pressurized clothing to stimulate their circulation. While they can function reasonably well despite what we assumed would be too draining without assistance, most Humans do make use of these gadgets.

Some, however, prefer to "stimulate" themselves a bit differently.

There is a small group of individual Humans many have dubbed "Leaping Cortix" after an infamous invasive fuzzy gelatinous centipede-like pest species that always manages to make a hive on any sufficiently large space station or vessel given enough time. Everybody swears they're some kind of magic, and it's hard to dissuade such a notion when there are fairly common reports of ships on deep isolation missions, without making contact with anyone or anything else for years at a time, still one day find themselves with a pack of Cortix skittering about near their nutrition supplies!

This group of Humans, found the title amusing and have embraced it. One of them even made a hooded sweater with the name and a stylized Cortix jumping off the letter x.

The reason for the name is simple - despite becoming integrated into the Coalition just around a year ago, Humans seem to appear everywhere within this segment of the Galaxy. Mostly in small groups for tourism reasons, but the point still stands. And these Humans in particular appear to make it a habit to appear out of the most unexpected places.

The leaping portion comes from how this group tends to move around the communal areas. Most Humans adapt to the lower gravity and eventually (rather quickly actually) change how they move around when outside their embassy - the movements seem more relaxed, fluid, some even appear to exert almost no effort at all in their steps. This group on the other hand utilizes the full force of their incredibly dense musculature.

First, they jump good. Real good. Then they bounce and pivot, real fast. After a few days they started a game - get to any place without touching the floor. Not even a day later they managed to always be in the air.

At first it was impressive and quite mesmerizing. Quite a sight to behold as they got better and quicker at chaining their jumps and bounds together into one smooth motion that took them from one part of the station to the other in mere moments.

Then they started getting bored. And one of them had an idea. An "awesome" idea.

Add flying robots and moving obstacles.

Chaos ensued. Naturally.

As the Humans leapt off of one of the maintenance machines they programmed to hover between several distant structures, it could not compensate for the sudden recoil from the movement and crashed down on the floor. Thankfully it was above a small garden and only some artificial plants were damaged, as well as itself, but that was enough to call in the peacekeeping units to put a halt to their antics.

We deliberately brought a Human peacekeeper along to make the reprimand stick. The Leaping Cortix, most of whom are junior staffers and one is a retired military veteran now serving as a consultant, looked ashamed, but also sad. At least they seemed to understand the gravity of the situation (though perhaps not as well as the physics of gravity) as the wreckage was cleared in clear sight of everyone.

After the offending member was issued a token fine (as it was their first offense), the group as a whole became less active. Initially, most people felt relieved, but as the incident grew more distant in memory, the sight of the flying Humans started to become missed by quite a few.

Some from the more physically able races were even inspired to try this "parkour" the Humans had demonstrated and found it quite thrilling. When done in a lower than their normal gravity that is. Trying it at their standard caused a few broken bones and cracked shells.

There is currently a petition by the permanent residents to dedicate a large open indoor field for such extreme physical sports as well as to commission the design of a variety of machines to facilitate, as written in the official documentation - "stimulating courses to improve the physical well being and readiness of all participants".

I.E. - Humans introduced a new sport to us and many are hooked.

[necro-om-nom-nomicon]

If anyone's curious, this is the text of the Shelliac Treaty seen in "The Ensigns of Command".

ALL REQUESTS FOR CHANGES IN THE TEXT OF PROVISION (B) MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING OR BY A TERRIBLY COMPLEX SUBSPACE [AS] LONG AS IT IS ENCRYPTED AND UNREADABLE, AS WELL AS GARBLED AND CONFUSED, SO AS TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISION (A.294 A-C) OF THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE ACTS OF WIDDERSHINS. FEDERATION DOCUMENT LOCATOR NUMBER 7847308340 (SECTION 876234). ALL OF THIS SIMPLY TO GET THE TEXT ALONG TO SUBPARAGRAPH 832. WHICH IS QUITE A WAYS DOWN THE PAGE. YOU MIGHT THINK THAT THIS IS INCREDIBLY CLEVER STUFF. BOY ARE YOU WRONG.

SECTION 87654 RICK IS FINALLY GETTING A KEI AND YURI REFERENCE INTO THE TEXT. YOU KNOW, THE TWO CUTE GIRLS WITH THE BIG GUNS. WE MIGHT ALSO MENTION AKIRA, RANMA NIBUNNOICHI, URUSEI YATSURA, RHEA GALL FORCE, AND A FEW OTHER ANIMATED FILMS. THE FEDERATION AT THIS POINT IN TIME SEEMS MORE TANGLED UP IN PAPERWORK THAN THE IRAN-CONTRA SCANDAL BUSINESS.

SECTION 74543 IN THE TEXT OF THE TREATY, OR DIDN'T ANYONE THINK ABOUT THAT EVENTUALITY WHEN THE BLOODY DOCUMENT WAS FIRST DRAWN UP? NEVER MIND. IT'S A RHETORICAL QUESTION ANYWAY. BUT WE JUST THOUGHT WE'D TRY TO DEMONSTRATE OUR LEGALISTIC CLEVERNESS. JUST ONE MORE UNTIL THE CRITICAL ONE, WHERE WE TALK ABOUT CONSULTATIONS AND THAT SORT OF THING.

SECTION 33406 WE CAN DO SEARCH-AND-REPLACE. COME TO THINK ABOUT IT, THAT'S WHAT THE SHELLAC WANT TO DO WITH THE COLONY ON THE PLANET. THIS SECTION DEALS WITH THE RIGHT OF EACH PARTY TO CONFER WITH THE OTHER IN THE EVENT SOMETHING SCREWY HAPPENS WITH THE TREATY. THIS MAY TAKE THE FORM OF NORMAL EM SPECTRUM COMMUNICATION, SUBSPACE EM COMMUNICATION, FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS, TELEPHONE TAG, MESSAGES IN BOTTLES OR ANY OTHER WATER-TIGHT FORM OF ENCLOSURE, GOSSIP, HALF-TRUTHS, OUTRIGHT LIES, OR FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS. INTERRUPTION OF TREATY COMPLIANCE SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE (1.00 X 10E0) STANDARD UFP SOLAR YEAR (EXCEPT DURING THE MONTH OF JULY). SEE TECHNICAL TA48589.1742A-C(58945) FOR CODE INPUTS. LCARS UPDATES ON TREATY COMPLIANCE INTERRUPTIONS SHALL TAKE PLACE AT EACH STARBASE LAYOVER, OR WHEN COMMANDED BY RANKING UFP (OR OTHER DESIGNATED BODY) OFFICIALS AT STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS, 24-593 FEDERATION DRIVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, EARTH, SOL SECTOR. REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE MAY BE PLACED BY TRANSMISSION TO STANDARD STARFLEET BOOSTER STATION FOR CHANNELING TO UFP TREATY OFFICE (SOL SECTOR).

SECTION 74543 ACCEPTABLE IF APPROPRIATE NOTIFICATION IS GIVEN TO FEDERATION BUREAU OF TREATIES (SOL SECTOR). SEE TA 98745.234EE-E FOR SCHEDULE OF CODES AND TEMPORAL ADJUSTMENT FACTORS. THIRD PARTY AGREEMENTS. THIRD PARTY ASSISTANCE MAY BE REQUESTED FROM A FEDERATION IF THE DISTANCE FROM THE VESSEL TO SOL SECTOR IS GREATER THAN 5,000 LIGHTYEARS, UFP STANDARDS MEASUREMENT BUREAU UNITS. ASSISTANCE MAY ALSO BE REQUESTED IF THE VESSEL IS LESS THAN 1,000 LIGHTYEARS OF A STANDARD UFP SUBSPACE RELAY BOOSTER STATION. AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS.

[cmdrfupa]

Hidden Place

Law school Higuruma x Reader

a/n: Was this inspired by the Bjork song? Well, yes! Our quiet love boy is genuinely like a muse for me. I unpack and pack then unpack him every other business day and if i'm being real, the entire Vespertine album is simply Hiromi Higuruma.

I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!

Early winter created a very specific type of buzz on campus. Students seem to have come alive with a rush from the activities post finals and winter break slowly approaching. The student-run Legal Aid Society was hosting a weekend event to offer free legal consultations for under-served communities in the area.

Hiromi, a third-year law student and one of the top performers in his class, had been recruited to help. He didn’t mind especially considering it was a good way to attempt some type of social activity before going home for the holiday.

Rows of tables set up for consultations, a check-in station, and a section dedicated to helping attendees fill out necessary paperwork sat in the bustling campuses center. Despite the organized chaos, there’s an air of determination amongst Hiromi and the other volunteers.

He arrived slightly early, as he always does, wearing a neatly pressed button-down, a dark brown sweater over and his usual calm, serious expression as the director of the event made his way to him.

The event coordinator hands him his designated clipboard of tasks, directing him to the registration area as he gave him the rundown of how the day would churn out to be. “It’s going to be a little hectic but I think we will be able to help at least 300 people before we call it this evening. Got any questions, Higuruma?”

Before he could ask his few questions, he sees you.. Quickly observing you juggle a chaotic scene—fielding questions from attendees, directing volunteers, and scanning a spreadsheet on your phone. Your cardigan is slightly pushed off your shoulder from the rush, and your hair’s a little disheveled, but your voice is steady as you manage the growing line of attendees. “Uh no, no questions. I’ll just hop in.”

The director clasped his hands and smiled before making his way to the group of tables nearby.

Your volunteer booth with your department’s Global Advocacy Club, which focused on humanitarian issues and international policies, had been up since 6am. The event provides a perfect collaboration, with law students handling casework and global studies students assisting with outreach, logistics, and communication.

Hiromi watched you for a moment, noting the way you command attention without raising your voice. Finally, he steps forward with his usual quiet confidence.

“Do you need a hand?” he asks, his voice steady but with a slight edge of curiosity.

You glance up, momentarily startled, before recovering with a polite smile. “I could use a clone, but I guess you’ll do.”

The corner of his mouth twitches upward at your quick wit. Without another word, he sets his clipboard down and begins sorting through the paperwork pile beside you. Within minutes, the two of you fall into an efficient rhythm, his calm presence balancing out your high-energy focus.

For the next hour, you and Hiromi end up running the front registration desk by yourselves as things picked up. It didn’t take much to fall into a routine that highlighted both of your strong suits. Your efficient and diplomatic presence ensured the process ran smoothly. It balanced out the steady, grounding presence Hiromi held while he worked closely with the incoming groups that were grateful for the patience he showed as he walked through the processes for each of their legal questions. Working in tandem was proving to be far easier than he anticipated.

For awhile, the afternoon showed no signs of slowing up. Word seemed to have spread a bit more in the morning and that bought in a flood of those seeking aide. Then, when a translator doesn’t show up and chaos threatens to erupt, Hiromi watched you handle the situation.

“Yes! That’s exactly it. Just be sure that when you get over to the support services booth, you tell them that you qualify for the reduced travel pass and show them that paperwork. You’re all set.”

A combination of diplomacy and charm, seamlessly switching between languages to guide a nervous attendee to the right station. You made it look too easy.

“Impressive,” he murmurs, his tone low but genuinely admiring.

You glance at him, a little surprised by the compliment. “You should see me in a real crisis,” you reply, the light teasing in your tone making him chuckle softly—a sound you realize you like more than you expected.

The two of you exchange occasional bits of banter as you work, gradually easing into a camaraderie that feels surprisingly natural. At one point, while stacking forms, you quip, “You’re way too calm for someone in law school. What’s your secret?”

“Practice,” he replies smoothly. Then, after a pause, he adds, “And coffee. Lots of coffee.”

You laugh, shaking your head. “Noted. I’ll have to get the name of the coffee you drink because mine does the exact opposite.”

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

Later in the day, during a brief lull, you both sat on the edge of the check-in desk, sharing a rare moment of calm. Hiromi stretches his neck, loosening the tension in his shoulders. You hand him a water bottle without thinking, and he accepts it with a soft “thank you.”

“So,” you ask, breaking the silence, “what made you join the Legal Aid Society?”

He considers the question for a moment, his gaze distant but thoughtful. “It’s practical experience, sure. But... I think it’s important to do work that reminds you why you started. Law can get... theoretical.”

“Which route are you thinking of going?”

Hiromi took a small sip of his water and looked ahead. “Nonprofit or criminal.”

You nod, catching the weight of his words. “So you’re keeping yourself grounded?”

“Something like that,” he replies. Then, with a slight tilt of his head, he asks, “What about you? Why diplomacy and policy?”

You laugh lightly. “Because I like puzzles. And people. And trying to untangle seemingly impossible knots in a system that already works over those who hold it up the most. It’s messy, but it matters.”

Hiromi listens intently, his gaze unwavering. “That’s... a lot more idealistic than most people I’ve met.”

“Is that a good thing?”

He pauses, and for the first time, there’s a glimmer of a smile—not just polite or amused, but genuine. “I think it is.”

"It's good to be passionate this type of work. It isn't always this breezy. But when good people are doing work that others overlook, It makes the long days worth it once you see the relief on ones face."

Hiromi looked down at his hands, attempting to hide just how wide his smile was growing. "I'm glad it's us doing the work then."

-

As the event winds down and the last few attendees are seen to, you and Hiromi find yourselves walking back to the campus building where volunteers are cleaning up. The warm glow from the sun fades the courtyard, and the air is cool but not cold.

You’re discussing the day—its challenges and successes—when he suddenly stops walking.

“You’re good at this,” he says, his tone as calm as ever but with a sincerity that makes you pause.

“Good at what?”

“At... handling people. Keeping everything moving. It’s not easy.” He hesitates, rubbing the back of his neck, as if unused to giving compliments. “It’s rare.”

You smile, a little surprised by his earnestness but touched nonetheless. “Thanks. And you’re good at not losing your cool. Even when things got hectic.”

For a moment, there’s silence—comfortable, not awkward. But complimentary.You continued your walk to the student center to turn in all the paperwork and grab your belongings. Hiromi seemed to tag along for no reason other than to try and muster up a little extra courage to ask to see you.

As you prepped to part ways for the night, Hiromi lingers for a moment before speaking again.

“This was... good,” he says, his words slow and deliberate. “I don’t usually enjoy these things, but... it was different today.”

You tilt your head, a teasing glint in your eyes. “Because I was here?”

His lips twitch upward again in that subtle almost-smile. “Maybe.”

It’s a simple, understated moment, but something about it lingers. “Well, perhaps you can join me in more of my volunteer efforts in the area. Or even show me where you get your coffee from.”

A slow heat crept up the nape of his neck and Hiromi could only smile. “Coffee while we plan our next volunteer efforts?”

You thumbed through your bag for a moment before pulling out a purple sharpie. Gently grabbed his hand, you jotted your number in his palm. “Don’t wash that hand until you’ve called me.”

As you walk away, you can feel his steady gaze following you for a moment before he turns and heads to his flat.

From that point on, you start to see him more often— starting with a coffee date then at events, around campus, and eventually, in moments outside of school. The connection grew slowly, but it’s unmistakably strong, rooted in mutual admiration and the shared sense of purpose that first brought you together. And it only grew.

(3 years later)

You and Hiromi’s cozy shared apartment was awash in a warm glow from the various desk lamps you had on in the late evening. Papers and books lay sprawled across your workspace, their edges curling slightly from overuse. A faint trace of jasmine lingered in the air, courtesy of your favorite candle burning in the corner, mixing with the scent of coffee gone cold.

It was late, and the rest of the world seemed to have fallen silent, leaving only the hum of the central heating and the faint rustle of pages turning.

You were hunched over your laptop, eyes fixed on the screen, fingers flying over the keyboard. Three more weeks of feeling like your brain was going to somehow evaporate and you’d be done with grad school. Your half-empty mug of coffee sat neglected beside you, its contents forgotten as your mind worked to untangle research you’d already logged but simply needed to sort.

Hiromi was in the adjacent room, quietly reviewing case briefs. Even as he immersed himself in his work, he noticed that you hadn’t come out of the living room in more than 3 hours. Familiar with your late-night study habits at this point, he set aside his papers, the faint sound of his chair scraping the floor barely breaking the silence as he rose to check on you.

He stepped into the living room, his movements soft and deliberate. Dressed in a plain t-shirt and sweats, he paused at the doorway, leaning against the frame. His gaze rested on you for a moment, taking in the way your brow furrowed in concentration and the strands of hair that had fallen loose around your face. A small smile tugged at his lips—a moment of quiet admiration for the person he’d spent the best times of his life with so far.

Finally, he broke the silence, his voice warm and teasing. “If you keep frowning at the screen like that, it might start frowning back.”

Startled, you glanced up, blinking at him before the tension in your shoulders eased. “It’s not that bad,” you replied with a faint smile. “Just a lot to get through.”

Hiromi stepped closer, his presence grounding. He reached out to brush a thumb lightly over your shoulder, the gesture gentle and familiar. “How’s it going?” he asked, his tone low and steady, inviting without pressure.

You leaned back slightly, stretching your shoulders as you spoke. “It’s... getting there. This section is tricky. I want to make sure I’m framing the argument clearly.”

Hiromi nodded, his eyes never leaving yours. He might not have been an expert in your field, but his ability to listen—to truly listen—was one of the things you cherished most about him.

“You’ve been at this for hours,” he said softly. “Take a break. Even geniuses need a break and a sweet treat.”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Just let me finish this paragraph. I’m almost done.”

He arched an eyebrow, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Famous last words. You said that 2 hours ago.”

You laughed, the sound easing some of the tension in your chest. Hiromi’s chuckle joined yours, the shared moment of levity a small reminder of how well he understood you.

“Alright, alright, take this laptop away from me. 30 minutes, Mr. Higuruma.” You smiled and moved the papers from the couch cushion and moved them to the coffee table as he sat you computer off to the side.

He sat next to you and like clockwork, you grabbed his hands to lightly massage them.

Then, almost as if thinking aloud, he said, “I’ve been thinking about what’s next.”

You glanced at him, curiosity flickering across your face. “For after I graduate?”

He nodded. “You’ll be accepting a position with a great agency. We’ll be finalizing pretty much everything for the wedding soon after. And that job at Freusters firm that I accepted. So many paths I could’ve chosen and I’m still feeling unsure on that one. It’s a lot to consider.”

“It is,” you agreed. “But you’ll figure it out. You’ve always had a strong sense of what matters to you.”

Hiromi’s gaze softened, his usual stoicism giving way to vulnerability. “Sometimes it feels like there’s so much riding on every decision. Like I can’t afford to get it wrong.”

You reached out, taking his hand in yours. “You’re not going to get it wrong. Whatever path you choose, you’ll make it meaningful. You’ll learn from it, grow from it and come out better because of it. That’s just who you are.”

“So if I said I wanted to go into corporate law?”

“I’d ask what the hell happened to my fiance and find the real you.”

Hiromi chuckled and brought your hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to your engagement ring.

He gave your hand a gentle squeeze, his expression lightening. “Thank you, my heart.” he said, his voice soft. “You’re the most driven person I know. And the best part of my support system.”

The conversation lulled into a comfortable silence, neither of you needing to fill the space with words. Hiromi shifted to lean against you, the papers and laptop momentarily forgotten while he rested his head lightly against yours, the warmth of his presence steady and reassuring.

“We’ve got this,” you thought, the words unspoken but understood. The challenges ahead felt less daunting with him by your side, just as you knew he felt the same with you.

“Soon to be Mrs. Higuruma.”

“Yes. Mr. Higuruma?”

Hiromi caressed your ring finger. “We’ve got this.”

As the candles burned lower, you closed your eyes for a moment, savoring the quiet intimacy of the night. It wasn’t grand gestures or elaborate declarations that defined your relationship.

It was always moments like this—small, tender exchanges and quaint love that would move mountains from how strong it was. It’s what spoke volumes about the life you were building together from the very beginning.

[thedovesaredying]

Monsters in the Dark | Nikto x Reader | Part 1

First "official" part of Nikto x Reader fic set in the cowboy AU originally created by @ghouljams once again staring our darling Sputnik. Makes a lot more sense if you read the prologue which can be found linked below.

A/N: Did I spend several hours watching Kevin Richardson videos with him hanging out with his hyenas while writing this? Yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. This also ended up a lot longer than I was expecting lmao.

Warnings: Depictions of Minor Medical Procedures.

Masterlist: CoD Masterlist

Prev Part | Next Part

When working as a rural vet there’s a surprising amount of driving involved. Travelling from the clinic to farms and huge properties miles and miles away for in-person appointments and consultations can understandably take several hours out of your day. Most of the time you don’t even have working cell service to help guide you to your destination and you’re forced to either memorise the route beforehand or turn to your old reliable map.  

You’re new to the area, having decided to spend some time travelling across the US for the potential experience it could offer you. You’ve done plenty of work on stations in the north of Australia, helping jackaroos to manage any illness within their herds, always moving from place to place, and so Texas seemed like the perfect place to start your travels.  

While training, however, you had been given an offer to travel to South Africa to work with the numerous wildlife there both on reserves and in zoos. It was the best year of your life and ignited a passion for working with exotic animals.  

Travelling the US for work was an exciting opportunity to help rural communities with their livestock and to work with the numerous native species you’ve never had the chance to encounter in your everyday life. This little town was just another step on your travels and, so far, hadn’t really stood out to you more than any other small town.  

So, it isn’t out of place for you to be driving down a lengthy driveway through the woods and pulling up to a rundown old house. What is strange, is the huge creature sitting at the top of the porch.  

The hyena is massive. It’s powerfully built with pure muscle, and no doubt would be able to tear you to pieces if it chose to. It’s so distracting that for a long time you don’t even notice the huge man standing beside your car. He looks just as strong as the hyena sitting behind him and you’re not sure how you missed his approach.  

When the lady at the front desk informed you that there was a gentleman asking for a veterinarian with experience handling exotics, you were thinking perhaps a rare lizard, or an uncommon species of parrot. What you weren’t expecting was to see an adult hyena staring you down.  

You’re more than a little reluctant to leave the safety of the vehicle, but upon receiving a jerk of the head from the man, you cautiously exit the car. Not once do you take your eyes off the predator while you quickly grab your bag from the backseat.  

Having dealt with hyenas before, you know better than to show any kind of fear, forcing your shoulders down from your ears and starting to take calm, deep breaths. You offer your name to who you presume is the animal’s owner and hold out a hand for him to shake.  

The man, “Nikto,” as he grunts to you, takes your hand after a moment and gives it a firm shake. You’re used to farmers having a strong grip, so you simply offer the man a bright grin. “I take it this is the patient?” you ask, nodding your head toward the hyena in question.  

The man is clad head to toe in all-black clothing. Typical cowboy hat, black denim jeans, and a shirt that has a high collar and sleeves that reach all the way down to his wrists where they meet with a pair of leather gloves. All regular clothing, albeit a little dark for such a hot climate, but what really sets him apart is the dark neck gaiter covering most of his features.  

You would think it odd for him to be hiding his face on his own property, but you’ve heard that there’s several other ex-military men in the town that also prefer bandanas or masks to showing their bare faces. It looks intimidating, especially given just how huge the guy is, but at the end of the day he’s your client and it isn’t your place to judge.  

“да,” Nikto nods, “this is Sputnik.” He looks you up and down, before asking, “you are comfortable with her, yes?”  

“Uh, yeah, I’ve worked with hyenas before,” you confirm. That, unfortunately, doesn’t make it any easier or less nerve-wracking to be so close to an unrestrained predator. Normally, there’s at least a fence between you and any of the wildlife you’re treating, but hopefully the animal is somewhat friendly given it’s allowed to roam free.  

At your confirmation, he lets out a sharp whistle and snaps out a harsh, “КО МНЕ!” Causing the animal to leap to her feet and sprint across the grass to her owner’s side.  

You try not to jump when Sputnik runs directly toward you but manage to keep a handle on your reactions. Much to your relief, however, rather than tackling you to the floor and tearing your throat out, the hyena starts laughing excitedly and running circles around you. She’s clearly very curious, stopping every few seconds to try and sniff at you from a distance.  

You can imagine it would be an intimidating sight for anyone who has never encountered a hyena before, but she’s clearly just excited to meet someone new. “Is she normally this excited to meet new people?” you ask, unable to resist the smile that grows on your face as Sputnik starts to playfully nip at Nikto’s legs.  

The man huffs, crossing his arms over his chest, “no.” 

You’re beginning to understand that Nikto is not one for making conversation.  

As Sputnik calms again, you watch her wander around the area. The issue becomes clear to you quite quickly in the form of a slight limp on one of her hind legs. She seems to otherwise be bright, alert and responsive, only the sore leg causing her problems.  

You run through the basic questions about the problem, how long it’s being going on, and how her behaviour has been recently. You quickly take notes on her previous medical history while keeping an eye on Sputnik. After taking down her information, you ask Nikto to bring her to one of the old sheds so you can begin the exam.  

She’s a beautiful hyena, and despite not having the behaviour of a domesticated dog, she can somewhat follow her owner’s commands. After seeing Nikto tapping the top of one of the tables, she hops up into a bench for you to more easily inspect her body.  

With Sputnik firmly restrained by her owner, you gently reach out for her hind paw. You softly palpate the area, taking note of the large amount of swelling, particularly in the area between two of her toes. After glancing up to ensure she isn’t getting too stressed, you pull apart the toes, spotting a nasty yellow lump of what is presumably infection.  

As you check over the area, you notice something black sticking out of the wound. With your trusty pair of tweezers you take hold of the object and begin to gently tease it out of the swollen mass. Sputnik’s leg twitches slightly, clearly not happy about someone touching her sore paw, but after a few soft words of encouragement she settles once again.  

Your grip on the object slips a few times, but eventually you’re able to pull it free. It’s a nasty thorn, a whole inch in length that was buried in the poor animal’s foot. Just removing it causes a flood of pus to begin squirting from the wound and you’re thankful for the medical gloves you’re wearing, because it is far from a pleasant smell.  

Sputnik whines, trying to pull her paw away again, but with your client still holding her head in place you can continue to express the rest of the fluid without causing her much more distress. With a small syringe of saline, you quickly flush out the remaining chunks of hardened infection until the liquid runs clear.  

It’s a small enough opening that she won’t need the wound packed or any stitches to keep it closed. Instead, you spray the area with a thick layer of Blu-Kote to prevent any further infection.  

“I'll need to give her a quick antibiotic injection to make sure it won’t come back, just make sure she’s restrained, okay?” You receive a grunt of acknowledgement, then provide the needed shot. Sputnik tries to turn and snap at you, but with Nikto in the way she ends up biting at thin air and growling in frustration.  

You gently rub at the hyena’s back with a loving coo, “what a brave girl, you did so well!” 

After being released she turns to regard you for a moment, before squealing happily and trying to lick at your face. It seems you’re already forgiven for your cruel transgressions against the poor girl. “Looks like this was the cause of the trouble,” you explain, briefly showing Nikto the old thorn you’d removed.  

Nikto turns his gaze to Sputnik, rolling his eyes before gently cuffing her around the back of the head. “Долбоеб,” he mutters, ignoring the way she starts to playfully bite at one of his gloved hands.  

You’re not entirely sure what he said, but no doubt it’s some sort of insult. Not that Sputnik seems to care, hopping down from the table and trotting around the barn as if the last ten minutes didn’t occur.  

“I gave her a strong antibiotic, but spotted hyenas are pretty notorious for their infections being resistant to treatment, so if she starts getting worse or isn’t improving then be sure to give me a call and we’ll look at if there’s anything we need to do,” you explain, keeping an eye on how Sputnik moves on her feet now. 

“Understood,” the man nods, standing ramrod straight with his arms crossed over his chest.  

Clearly this man still isn’t very interested in a conversation, given he has nothing further to add and almost seems to be pointedly ignoring you. It’s a little uncomfortable, but he’s certainly not the first... interesting character you’ve dealt with in your career and he won’t be the last. “Do you have any other questions about the treatment?” you ask.  

“нет,” he grunts, before quickly adding, “no.”  

You nod, offering the man a genuine smile, “well, I’m glad I could help out.” You remove your gloves and quickly start packing away the tools you’d been using, “the office will send through an invoice to your email, so you can pay online or head down to the clinic to pay in person.”  

He just nods, watching you silently as you finish up collecting your tools and placing them back away into your bag. His eyes seem to burn into you, his icy gaze piercing through your body and directly into your very soul. You’re not sure how comfortable you are having your innermost self so openly exposed to someone you’ve only just met, but quickly shake off the feeling.  

As soon as you’re finished packing, you pull out one of your personal cards, handing it to Nikto. He stares at the piece of cardboard for a long moment, and you quickly explain, “my card, it’s got my number on it in case you ever need help.” You can’t imagine how difficult it must be for him to find someone with genuine experience treating large predatory animals and you’re more than happy to offer as much of your expertise as he wants.  

Nikto awkwardly goes to reach for the card with one of his hands, only to pause midway and reach for it with the other one. He fleetingly glances over the card, then tucks it into one of his shirt pockets.  

While you make your way back to your car, Nikto calls Sputnik back over and ensures the animal walks at his heels. She doesn’t seem happy with this command, whining and laughing as she looks between her master and you. She very obviously wants to run after you and play but knows better than to ignore her owner.  

Sputnik sits next to Nikto as the man watches you quickly pack everything back into your car. She keeps looking between you and Nikto, as if silently begging him to allow her to go back to you for more attention, but he stands strong against her sad eyes. It’s cute, really, since it likely means that weaponized puppy dog eyes are an effective tool in getting the stoic man to crumble if she’s still attempting to use them against him.  

Before you hop into the car you give Sputnik a wave, laughing when she cries at you. “Bye, sweetheart!” you coo again, before offering her owner a wave and a smile.  

Looking into the rear-view mirror on your way back toward the main road, you can see both Nikto and Sputnik watching you leave. They’re an odd pair, but it’s been a while since you had the chance to work with such a beautiful animal and you can’t help looking forward to seeing both her and her strange human again sometime soon.  

[supermanshield]

Mistletoe superbat kiss for the holidays? <3

This turned out longer than I expected and I had a lot of fun with it! Thank you for the prompt!

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

Every year, Wally made it a national sport to put mistletoe up on the watchtower in all kinds of places. Together with Kyle he'd managed to get various members of the team to kiss each other - Aquaman and Wonder Woman, J'onn and Green Arrow, Black Canary and Zatanna just to name a few. But there was one person they hadn't gotten yet. Or rather two. Superman always politely kissed the other person on the cheek if he even walked into their trap, and Batman avoided them like the plague. It was as if he had a sixth sense for mistletoe. As far as Wally knew, he probably actually did.

Batman wasn't on the watchtower as often as the other team members, which already made it harder to catch him. But he was also extremely aware of his surroundings, and would slip out of the way always just in time when he'd notice the offending branch, and reset his course through the tower as if nothing happened. But Wally knew. And now he was out to get him. Together with Kyle he devised an ingenious plan.

Even though he wasn't there often, the watchtower was still one of Batman's most proud accomplishments. So obviously the plan had to involve some sort of malfunction to her wiring. Batman would come check it out and bam! Unavoidable Mistletoe dangling above his cowl. Now they just needed another person for him to kiss. Wally or Kyle could do it themselves, but as fun as that sounded, there was no challenge in that. Superman was the obvious choice, but it would be difficult with his speed almost matching Wally's. Wally would have to move faster than he ever had, and inside a space station at that. It was an ambitious plan, but together with Kyle he'd pull it off.

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

On December 24th, Bruce reluctantly beamed up to the watchtower. He was only here to get a hold of Aquaman before the crazy holiday villains would start wreaking havoc on Gotham. He said hi to Clark, always in for a good chat in the cafeteria around the holidays. Bruce knew it was a somewhat lonely time for him and had invited his friend to the Manor for Christmas day.

He heard Wally and Kyle giggling before seeing them walking off to a different section of the space station. He found Arthur in the pool, and while talking to him heard one of the minor alarms going off, indicating damage, followed by Superman's familiar swoosh flying past. Clark would have it handled then.

Except that a minute later Bruce's communicator beeped. Grumbling and sighing, he answered. "What?"

"B, we've got a minor issue in C-wing. Can you come check it out?"

This team really couldn't function without him. Although it was good to know that they wouldn't operate on his baby without consulting him first. "Give me a minute," he replied and cut the line.

When he finally reached the end of the corridor in C-wing and entered the room Clark had called him from, Bruce briefly looked at the three superheroes already there; Flash, Green Lantern and Superman. The minor issue they were standing around was a loose wall panel and some exposed wiring. "Hng."

"What's wrong?" Clark said. "It's nothing. A quick fix."

"How many Justice Leaguers does it take to change one lightbulb," Bruce said drily in his Batman voice. Kyle laughed a little nervously, but Bruce paid him no mind.

"Something went wrong with our maintenance job, Bats. Sorry," Wally explained. Bruce grunted again, and squatted down to the broken wall panel. "Superman, right here," he pointed. "Do your thing." As Clark squatted down next to him to use his heat vision on the wires, he felt more than saw Kyle moving and flying up a bit, but thought nothing of it. That was his first mistake. The second was getting up and turning around right as Clark was done. They got up together and turned around to a very smug Flash pointing up. "Got you!"

Kyle was hovering a little bit, holding a green fishing rod with real mistletoe attached at the end.

"Oof!" Clark cowered a little bit, clearly feeling guilty he had asked Batman here while The Mistletoe Plot was unfolding, but also clearly not having been in on it. He tried to get them out of it. "Well, technically you were in the middle of work when it happened, and it's not in a doorway, so..."

"I'm not one above admitting defeat, Superman."

"True. But you're also very resourceful in changing rules for your own benefit."

"Not this time. It appears I'm completely out of options."

"Haha! We got them!" Kyle yelled.

"Heh! Okay," Superman said. He started tilting his head in his signature Mistletoe Move to kiss Bruce on the cheek, but Bruce wouldn't have it. He grumbled, huffed, and angled his face towards Clark's lips. This might be the only chance he'll ever get at feeling those lips against his own and he was gonna make the most of it.

He grabbed the front of Clark's suit with his gloved fist to keep him close, and planted his lips soundly against the Kryptonian's. There was a little surprised sound in the back of Clark's throat, but that quickly faded into a sigh as Clark leaned closer to him. Could... could it be? That Clark had a crush on him just as he did on Clark? But then he wouldn't have tried to get them out of it before... Clark's lips were still moving against his own, softer than Bruce had ever imagined. He would get lost in this... forget himself and wrap his arms around Clark if they kept going any longer. Reluctantly, Bruce pulled away.

"Ha!" Kyle yelled. "That was better than I expected!"

Clark stared at Bruce, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. "B...," he started, but didn't get to finish. In the background, Wally was still saying something about defeating the undefeated Batman, but it barely registered to Bruce, lost as he was in Clark's eyes. And in his grip. Sometime in the last 30 seconds Clark had grabbed his shoulders and was pulling him close again. Clark's face was very quickly getting closer, closer, Bruce closed his eyes and felt Superman's lips again. The force of the kiss made them fall to the floor in a flurry of black and red capes, the landing cushioned more by Clark's arms around Bruce than his own armor.

"Sorry!" Clark said. But that meant he wasn't kissing Bruce anymore, and Bruce wouldn't stand for that.

"Don't," was all he said, and pulled Clark back in for an open mouthed kiss. Somewhere off to the side, Bruce heard Kyle's laughing, and his saying: "How many Leaguers does it take to figure out Batman and Superman are in love with each other?"

"Four, man. Four!" Wally screamed. He threw his arms up and started pushing Kyle out of the room. "Uhh, we'll leave you guys to it I guess. Bye!" He quickly shut the door behind them.

"Thank Rao for mistletoe," Clark breathed above him.

Bruce smiled. "And for Wally West."

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Cecilia Nowell at The Guardian:

On the campaign trail this year, Donald Trump routinely criticized US media. The president-elect called for CBS to be stripped of its broadcast license after it aired an interview with Kamala Harris, refused to participate in an interview with 60 Minutes and routinely called journalists the “enemy of the people”. But perhaps no American media has attracted as much ire from the president-elect as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – a non-profit corporation created by federal law in 1967 to distribute funding to public media organizations like PBS and NPR.

“NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in April. “THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!” As the Trump prepares to take office next month, public media organizations – such as NPR and PBS, which have aired longtime favorites such as Curious George and All Things Considered – are readying themselves for funding cuts and other attacks against their programming. After Trump was re-elected in November, NPR member stations circulated a report warning that “it would be unwise to assume that events will play out as they have in the past” where funding is concerned, the New York Times reported Friday, and PBS board members received an update from political consultants earlier this month. Trump and his allies have repeatedly called for the federal government to cut all funding to public media. In March 2017, Trump called for Congress to cut all funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the first proposed budget of his presidency – a call he repeated throughout his presidency.

In response to a 2020 effort to defund public media, the PBS president and CEO, Paula Kerger, issued a statement noting that “PBS and our member stations have earned bipartisan Congressional support because of the vital role that public television plays in homes and communities across the country. For 50 years, PBS has served as a trusted source for educational and thought-provoking programming, including school readiness initiatives for children, support for teachers and caregivers, public safety communications and lifelong learning across broadcast and digital platforms.” But the conservative playbook Project 2025 has continued echoing conservative calls to cut funding to PBS and NPR, stating that the new Trump administration should strip public media of federal funding and licenses for noncommercial education stations.

[...] In November, shortly after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Musk coauthored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal with Vivek Ramaswamy (the two have been tasked with leading a “department of government efficiency”, an agency Trump claims he will create). In it, the pair identified the $535m Congress allocates each year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as one line item they would cut to reduce federal expenditures. As recently as this week, Musk posted on X that “legacy media must die”. Although these attacks against public media are growing more concerted, they’re not new. Every Republican administration has aimed to defund public media since the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was founded. American public media traces its origins to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, passed under Lyndon B Johnson’s administration. A public-private partnership, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting connects 1,190 public radio stations and 356 public television stations with federal grants, allowing those stations to maintain editorial independence and also raise funds from members and sponsorships. Today, 99% of the US population lives within listening range of at least one public media station.

The attacks on NPR and PBS should worry us all, as it is part of Donald Trump's authoritarian war on press freedom.

[bittysfoodbaby]

ok so on top of me being a diet film major at school i'm also on the executive staff of my school's college radio station and that combined with omgcp means it's headcanon time!

you're listening to 91.7 WSMU-FM. don't turn that dial!

lardo started doing radio to keep up the promise to do something technical to her parents after becoming an art major. she chose radio tech ops and programming because it was a chill and easy gig that didn't take too much time out of her day. she ended up being pretty decent at her job and later became known for her cable management skills.

jack first met lardo when he was dating camilla and eventually got involved with the station as a graveyard shift dj to hang out with camilla more as friends (#studentathletethings). lardo often took on the late-night shifts for tech ops, which is just making sure the station doesn't go down in the middle of the night, and noticed that Jack wouldn't use the automated software and do everything manually from spinning tracks to doing his talk breaks live. eventually they became friends over "the old days of radio" and jack referred lardo to becoming the smh team manager.

holster acted as a consultant to the promotions and PR team for one of his finals and observed a morning shift as part of the project. the "bro, we should start a podcast" part of his brain was promptly activated and convinced ransom to do a morning show with him. they mostly talk about college sports and get very heated over college hockey and how much cornell has fallen as a hockey team.

shitty grew up listening to wsmu and used radio as another way to be rebellious against his family. he appreciates the community service and outreach the station does and is ranked the best voice on the station. he hosts a show about local music in samwell and the greater boston area.

bitty joined the promo team after smh found out about his blog and convinced him to join radio after they all realized they did radio together. eventually he became the webmaster of the station's website because he was the only one other than shitty that knew how to use wordpress. his ego grew after he forced hosts to write blog posts during their shifts for the station website and be active on twitter.

chowder used to dj local events in high school and was a pretty decent dj and producer back in the day. when he found out the rest of the team was pretty much doing radio he convinced a radio show about live dj sets boiler room-style.

(side note: farmer finds out about chowder's secret life as a dj through a girl on the volleyball team who's friends with a wsmu sportscaster who knows holster.)

dex found himself working in tech ops after a freak accident involving the station's backup recording software went down. he ended up staying because it's the only non-hockey or non-school thing he had.

nursey was approached to be on the station's student spotlight show for his poetry and found out that the whole team was working on the station. he then romanticized the image of analog radio in his mind and what being a late-night DJ was like. he immediately switched to a mid-day jazz shift the next semester.

i swear i have more but i still have fics i need to write before posting more LMAO

[acti-veg]

Train operators in the UK are planning on closing physical ticket stations, in a move that will severely limit the ability of disabled, older and vulnerable people to travel. There are many people who just cannot access electronic tickets, or need help from ticket staff to find their way around. It will also result in massive layoffs.

The public consultation on this has been extended until 1st September 2023, and you can have your say here.

Please take 2 minutes to tell operators how much of an impact this would have on you, your loved ones and your local community while you can, because once these services are gone we will not be able to get them back.

[theflyindutchwoman]

Is that an apology? Yes. All right. No! Look, because you never would've let me work my magic if I had told you, and then I would have ended up transferring to another station to save you from yourself, and…this worked out so much better. And if you can't see that, I'm sorry not sorry. Okay. I accept your non-apology.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 5.16 - Exposed

I'm not going to lie… this is one of those scenes that I wish I could fully love… It has so much potential, but, unfortunately, it feels like something is missing. Like, say, a deeper conversation between Tim and Lucy… one where he gets to explain why he is so upset with her in the first place. Is it because she went behind his back to orchestrate the five-player trade, as suggested here? Is it because he worries about how this makes him look, as he implied earlier in the shop? Those are not mutually exclusive but since he never get to properly voice his thoughts on the matter, we never really find out which is it (or if it's both for that matter). Instead, it is skimmed over, as if it was an argument just for the sake of it.

Now, there's nothing wrong with that in itself… Not everything needs to be an arc. But as this 'fight' is connected to two storylines, it needed more depth. And this is where I, personally, feel a bit let down by this. I absolutely loved how Lucy didn't hesitate to put her career on the line to help Tim find a more suitable job, just like he did when he decided to take a desk job for her… They are prioritising the other, which is something neither of them ever had before… And that is extremely special for them, to have this unconditional support and love. In Tim's case, he was asked twice to sacrifice his career. And this time, he has someone who does everything in her power to make sure he can have it all, a job that he loves and a relationship. But none of this is truly acknowledged. We saw Lucy being grateful and appreciative when he transfered for her but not Tim… And I have a hard time believing that he wouldn't be even a little, once the sting fades. That is not to say he doesn't have any reason to be upset… And that's my second issue with this : this could have been used as a setup for the coming angst, the one that is brewing with Sava and Jake, Isabel's return, Lucy's undercover mission… All these episodes have one main theme : how secrecy and lies can destroy a relationship. How this is what actually started to break Tim's marriage with Isabel, long before her addiction drove the final nail in the coffin… So this could have been the perfect opportunity to have Tim confide in Lucy why her going behind his back, no matter how good her intentions were, is triggering some bad memories. Why their promise not to lie to each other is that important. This could have tied this whole arc altogether in a more organic way.

That said, I love how unapologetic Lucy is. She gets where he's coming from - to an extent. But she still stands her ground, simply explaining why she did it. After all, this all started because of the decision he unilaterally took, when he went to Grey and accepted a desk job, without consulting her first. So her worries that he would end up resenting her, their relationship or even just his situation are natural. Honesty works both ways. And that's the thing with them : while they are usually really good at communicating, they can also be selfless and impulsive when it comes to the other, ready to sacrifice themselves so the other can be happy. That, and they're both used to being independent. They just need to find a balance in their personal relationship. And as upset as Tim appears to be, it's quite clear that he is ready to move on right after her first apology. They might be good at arguing but he doesn't like being mad at her, that much is clear. He can't even stay that way too long, even after she turns the tables on him #sorrynotsorry. His smile… He's just so amused and disarmed. He can't even hide it anymore. So much for not being a softy...

(To be continued...)

[ome-magical-ramblings]

An Updated index to my blog

(updated 24-10-2023) (updated 27-05-2024) I figured out people might have wanted a more of a "guide" or "index" to my blog that might be more preferable than just letting someone dig through my blog, I will be updating this blog overtime. I also offer tarot reading and magical spell/ritual service depending on consultation, divination, and figuring out your country's currencies and adjusting my rates and the task at hand, throwing that out of the way if you are thinking about that. I do magical service and readings for pay, you can contact me and ask me about it if you're wondering. Book Review: Greatness of Saturn, A Therapeutic Myth My free publications: Sandalphon: Archangel of Malkuth Sandalphon's spirit portrait by @desdemonasarchives Business and Money Psalms Magic for Traveling Long distance Kefizat Haderech/Tay Al Ard Virtue of Quranic VersesFour Wheels of The Enchiridion

Akshaya Tritiya and A Collecting of folklore Quranic benefits,

Prayers, rituals: Prayer for knowledge/studying(Occult/Mundane Knowledge) Dream Oracle Adam's Prayer Liber Resh PGM-based Qi Ball and Helios Rite Invocation of Light Hagith's Home Sweetening Ophiel's Mercury Retrograde Mitigation Ritual Stick Pad's Divination Affordable 7 days candle where you can't buy it Visualization Advice from Ophiel New Memory Improvement Spell from Grimoire of Pope Leo Prayer of Crowns Arabic Translation The Ladder and Spring for Scrying elemental Kingdoms Kerubic Prayers for 4 stations of the sun. Virtue and Spells to the see the Prophet(Mohammed) Setting Light into the Past, for Spells, Ancestors and Beyond. Magical usage of Prayer of Crowns Incense Series ( Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 ) More new stuff Offering and Salutations to the Teachers practice, outline, and technique. Contacting Ophiel with Pen and Paper.

Praying with Flowers and St Justina

Wish fulfilling power of Verse of Throne

Log and record of practice:

Signs of Witchcraft ( Part 1 , Part 2 )

Spirit Stealing Offerings

Radionics Magical experiments

Elelogap's Purification work

7 Weeks of Arbatel/Olypmic spirits work

Geometric Entities and 3d polygons-like nature spirits.

Daimon of Sodom's Apple ( Part 1 , Part 2 coming soon )

Hagith's Flower

Grimoire of Sixfold star's Series: The Method Elnafi( Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , finale ) Rimori( Part 1 ) halting 44 days of Psalm 119

Scrying The Elemental Kingdoms Method ( Air , Earth , More Air , More Earth , Water! , FIRE ) Meeting Angalaparameshwari! Thoughts and contemplations:

In Praise of Mistakes and Mishaps

craft on oil/consecrated oil

Magical results and time scale.

Variance in magical languages and Pronunciation Circumambulation Magical Rings Closed Practices, Initiation, and gate-keeping practices. "the most powerfull exercise you did", Stacking prayers, and praying with spirits and entities. Concept of Werd/Daily Recitation or prayers.

ABLANATHANALBA's formula breakdown and experiment ( Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 ) At a Crossroad The power of the Cross The Crossing of Magical Currents Purification Practice Sincerity and Severity and advice for spirit communication. Being Hard on oneself and other. Sadness, Disappointment, and 3 of Swords God does not burden any soul beyond its capacity. The Golden Chain, lineages, egregores...and the open secret to initiation Linguistic Breakdown of Prayer of Crowns In Memory of Dr Leon Wright. By Letters, Words, and Names. Prophets, Mounts, and Open Secrets/ initiation To Be Silent and Pearl Clutching. Good Deeds, Virtues don't sell. Lineage of Spirits(A rope from spirits and a rope from people) Enjoy your Practice. Wisdom, Torah, Tear, Tarot. Shem Angels, Guardian angels, and Natal spirits.

Restitutionism: Praying For and with the Spirits.

Love Elemental-astrological Talismans

Chaldean Oracle 147, Gate of Man and Immortals, Cancer/Capricorn and Daniel in the bible. Retrospective: Practice from a length and at a length.

Previously public services: ( I might make more in the future, stay tuned ) St Expedite Work Ganesha's Working ( Part 1 , Part 2 ) St Cyprian and Aratron

[the-last-dillpickle]

omg Wait wait waitttt I just had a thought. the episode Inquisition (and thus Sisko's order to Julian to follow along with Sloan's offer when he next appears) happens in season 6. We next see Sloan more than halfway through season 7, and Bashir consults Sisko about the encounter when it happens. But you know what happens in between then? Jadzia's death, and Sisko's subsequent 3 month absence from the station without communication. What if (in AU form or not) Sloan took advantage of the situation and visited Julian during that timespan?

[petalruesimblr]

Artisan's Creative Hub

Download Link: Sim File Share | MTS (for approval)

Description:

Welcome to the Artisan's Creative Hub, where creativity thrives and unique expressions find their home. Nestled within this vibrant space are four distinct establishments namely, the Inkwell Tattoo Parlor, Luxe Elite Couture, StyleScape Interiors and Artisan's Den Café, each offering its own brand of artistry and craftsmanship. Step into our hub and immerse yourself in a world where artistry knows no bounds.

Details:

Price: 113,469 Lot Size: 20x30 Lot Type: Salon Version: 1.42 Store Content: Ever Leaves ⚠️ CC Used: Kandiraver: Painting_7 ⚠️ Packs Needed: The Sims 3, Ambitions, Seasons, Late Night, World Adventures, Generations File Type: Package ⚠️-Not included in the download

Hi all! I just realized that most of my builds so far has been community lots and this time I'm back with another one. I find it easier to build community lots and always had fun in creating a bunch of custom rabbit holes for my Sims.

Click on the Keep Reading below for more information and pictures on this lot.

Anyways, this lot is a Salon from The Sims 3 Ambitions but I leaned more towards a Creative Hub instead. Here, you'll find a Tattoo Parlor for the The Ink-in-Comfort 3000, a couture store for the Fuss No muss Styling Station, an interior design business for the The Drafting Table by Scuzzmarr Industries and a small café for a hungry Sim.

I only placed one item for each of the objects I mentioned to avoid unnecessary spawning of service/homeless Sims in your game. There is space for more of those if you'd like; you just need to move things a bit to make it fit.

There is one piece of store content and one CC as well, for which I have provided a link in the Details section above. These items are not included in the download, nor are they required and are mostly décor which will automatically be replaced in your game if you choose not to include them.

The Ambitions expansion pack is required for the Salon lot to work in your game. This lot has been play-tested and I’ve used it in a few of my saved games. Let me know if you experience any problems on your end.

1st Floor:

Elevators

Bench

Bathrooms

Inkwell Tattoo Parlor: Reception area, Tattoo Room that contains The Ink-in-Comfort 3000

Luxe Elite Couture: Reception area, Clothes Rack, Stylist Room that contains the Fuss No muss Styling Station, a makeup station

2nd Floor:

Elevators

Bench

Bathrooms

StyleScape Interiors: Design consultation area, The Drafting Table by Scuzzmarr Industries, Artsy Easel, Precarious Shelving Bookshelf

Artisan's Den Café: Professional bar, tables and chairs, Public Sounds Stereo

[elvisgrace]

One last custom video game - I made The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for @tvickiesims as a thank you for her priceless know-how and support, and she wanted to share it with everyone!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - SFS/Mediafire

I made a Deltarune custom video game for the magnificent, marvelous, and municifent @mourky as a thank you for all their help, and they've requested that I share it with everyone - and not being content resting on their laurels, @mourky made a Polish version of the Doppelganger Console!

Deltarune -SFS/Mediafire

Doppelganger Console (Polish) - Mega/SFS/Mediafire

I made a Witcher 3 :The Wild Hunt custom video game for the incomparable @jellymeduza as a thank you for her invaluable help and guidance, which she generously wants to share, on top of which she has made a Polish translation!

Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (English) - SFS/Mediafire

Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (Polish) - SFS/Mediafire

Thank you @jellymeduza!!!

@itsyuna is amazing and a total bro, and has made a Brazilian Portugese translation - thank you so very much!

Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (Brazilian Portugese) - SFS/Mediafire

Like all of my custom games, you will have to first place the display on a community lot it order for your sim to be able to purchase the game and play it on their home gaming system.

EDIT: @howtoplaymyshuno graciously offered to share a game I made for them for being such a rockstar consultant, Uncle Albert's Magical Album:

SFS/Mediafire

The updated GIA television station can be found here:

SFS/Mediafire

Thank you @howtoplaymyshuno!

Ok, I took the Doppelganger Console down to fix some issues I missed, but now it's back, exorcised and improved!

This is a logic skilling object in Practice Mode

Gain enthusiasm is Games in Practice and Play modes

And because I thought it would be cute for children to teach their grandparents how to play video games, I've altered the age limits so that children can offer lessons to or be asked for lessons from the other age groups as long as the child has a higher logic skill than the other sim

I feel like a ginormous asshole for not catching my fubars before posting, and then it taking so long to fix, so as an apology, I've made you four customs video games!

And I made posters for them using @sushigal007's mesh.

So, I made these really elaborate movies for the games before I realized that they would be too long for the games themselves, but at that point there was no way I wasn't going to use them. Fuck that noise. So I've created a television station that builds games enthusiasm: The Gaming Intelligence Agency.

Doppelganger Console: SFS/Mediafire

@tvickiesims is a goddess and made a Russian version! SFS

Animal Crossing: SFS/Mediafire

Bizarre Jelly 5: SFS/Mediafire

Hero's Duty: SFS/Mediafire

Problem Solverz: SFS/Mediafire

Gaming Intelligence Agency Television Station: SFS/Mediafire

The biggest monster thank you to @jellymeduza, @howtoplaymyshuno, @tvickiesims, and @mourky - I couldn't have done it without you, you are fantastic, and I am hardcore heart emoji-ing in your direction

[vampkomori]

Ratio might be a Candelagraphos scholar

*The Candelagraphos is a school of the Intelligentsia Guild. theyre the so-called "printing department" of the guild.

despite having known Ratio for (arguably) a while, we still dont know what he actually does! funny. hes overall mysterious and we dont actually know anything about him, but we might be able to find out what he does at the guild/ or what hes planning to do.

^ emotional support ratio

lets start chronologically, im going to build this up again slowly for context, but also because i want to compile what Ratio actually does, so into the post it goes.

We know that he works with the Technology Department of the IPC as an outsourced science consultant. This is to be expected, because Yabuli, the head of the Technology Department, is also the controller of the Intelligentsia Guild.

- File Repository: Ally — Interastral Peace Corporation Headquarters, at the Seat of Divine Foresight

In the IPC trailer, you can see Ratio's bust in the bottom left corner-ish. The voiceover also says "Join us and team up with the Intelligentsia Guild!" So, its likely that the guild exclusively (or primarily) works with the Technology Department when the IPC requires aid.

Moving on to Ratio's qualifications/his 8 doctorates to establish what kind of fields he works in:

He has 8 doctorates, namely: Medicine, Philosophy, Natural theology, Mathematics, Physics, Computer science, Engineering, and Biology. (7 of his 8 degrees are mentioned in his character story, but his 8th (computer science) is only mentioned in his trailer)

From this we can gather he regularly publishes books and papers, invents machines/medicine, and does regular ol' research.

great job pookie. based on this, lets try figure out which of the guild's schools he would fit into:

Synesthesia School: Mostly known for its Synesthesia Beacon, the tool that lets you understand and speak languages. They mostly seem to focus on communiation-related things, as Herta says their next research focuses on "remote communication technology".

Ratio could probably thrive anywhere but he is not shown to have language-related interests or research, so this ones unlikely.

Astral Ecology School: Focus on Astrology/Cosmology, they study the void song whale, radiant jellyfish, and other organisms of the galaxy.

Highly unlikely. This one has nothing to do with his kind of science.

Armed Archaeologists: Very exploration-heavy. They do galactic exploration and archaeology. On the Interastral Peace Broadcast, its said that they discovered a miniature galaxy and recently unconvered the tomb of Rubert I.

Also highly unlikely. Ratio does science and is also a teacher, he doesnt go out into the universe to explore.

Quantum History School: This school is allegedly a bit of a scam. they used to try and "find the influences of disturbance and patterns of change hidden throughout history", but now they just scam you with calculation-based fortune telling.

No comment.

Candelagraphos:

Ill just add Hertas summary of it and marked the relevant passages.

Author✅ Ratio is a published author of multiple books and papers.

Programmer ✅ He has a doctorate in computer science and works with the Technology Department, so he likely knows how to programm.

Their altruistic philosophy ✅ literally matches Ratio's to a T.

"The science of the guild is gathered here" ✅ Ratio does science.

Naturally its possible that the guild has more schools than just these ones, but. well anyway lets keep going.

In 2.1, Ratios goal in Penacony is specifically to get Stellaron Research Papers from the Family.

"achieved what he desired" (to which he replies, "Thats true.") So, Ratio is doing research on Stellarons. interesting! this is a surprise tool that will help us later.

Anyway, Ratio was invited as a science consultant to Hertas space station, and its possible that it was during the events of Crown of the Mundane and Divine that the IPC allied with Herta

- Interastral Peace Broadcast Radio

Herta is known for a lot of things, but shes also one of the only people whos been able to seal a Stellaron and keep it "dormant", to the point that the Stellaron Hunters specifically used her sealed Stellaron for the Trailblazer.

Although Himeko later says that no one, not even Herta, has found a way to destroy a Stellaron.

Its interesting that Herta is emphasized, likely meaning that shes basically the universe's Foremost Expert On Stellarons. Naturally, the IPC allying with her couldve been for other reasons too, though.

In the same broadcast its said that the IPC has been doing research on Stellarons with the Intellgentsia Guild's support, and currently, their results are promising.

So, the IPC does research on Stellarons, recently allied with Herta who happens to be a bit of a specialist on Stellarons, has the guild's support, and recently Ratio acquired Stellaron Research papers, implying that hes the one doing research on it.

Fun bit: Stellarons are called "Cancer of all worlds" and technically what theyre doing could be considered "trying to cure cancer" which is funny because Ratio's a medical doctor and that absolutely sounds like something hed do.

But what school in the Intellgentsia Guild would do research on Stellarons? None of them seem to really have anything to do with them? how would you even classify Stellarons? biology????

Worry no more, I have the answer:

The Candelagraphos

Theyre requesting data on Stellarons for their experiments. I rest my case (bows)

that was kind of the conclusion. Ratio's department is absolutely the Candelagraphos, hes doing research on Stellarons with the IPC, and it is undoubtedly going to be very very relevant in the plot (soon? ish? eventually).

id love if we got more lore on him once that happens. He absolutely has ties to the Laurel Wreath Galaxy and the Philosophers Union. Maybe that wont be relevant in the Stellaron Chapter but. well, theres ample foreshadowing that Emperor Rubert is going to make a comeback and he was the reason said galaxy and philosophers even perished and Screwllum recently uncovered his tomb alongside a member of the guild? so??? pretty please. thank you 🙏

Ratio stonks will rise