#could they just. not wait for his mandatory female love interest to be introduced?

[eikichi-supremacy]

the anime adding kuwabara having a crush on botan randomly for like 2 episodes is still ridiculously funny to me

[nayialovecat]

Sozo visits Helob's family

I haven't posted anything written in a long time - so here's a fragment I wrote recently, when I was wondering what a mandatory visit to introduce the chosen one to the family could look like.

Of course, Sozo has no clue what's going on. Helob not really either. (Their relationship is at the stage of "they like each other very much, but they have not confessed their love and they consider themselves only very close friends".)

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

Meanwhile, Helob and Sozo walked through the dark, damp corridors. Sozo looked around in awe. "It's darker and more atmospheric here than Sozo remembered."

"The domain is getting wild, your royal highness," the spider pointed. "Shamura's former vessels try to keep things in order, but... they don't always succeed. Certain pieces of Silk Cradle are already overrun by beasts - and an ever-present famine."

"Then maybe we didn't take enough gifts?" Sozo remarked. "King said he could order the mushroom subjects to go with them, no pity for them at all..."

"Most spiders will not even touch mushroom people. Distrustful. Helob resistant to poisons, but not every spider has that, no, no... Mushroom subjects, on the other hand, presumably poisonous. King Sozo wants to walk on his own two feet? Lamb is unlikely to followed their..."

"Or can I stay like this? You are a very comfortable litter, my love..." murmured Sozo, stroking the spider's fur. Helob smiled slightly. "Helob can manage to carry the king and the preys all the way home. Not a problem."

They walked for quite a long time. At some point they both sensed that they were being watched - and the number of watchers grew. Several times, female spider hung on ropes at the eye level of King Sozo and watched him with interest. They were generally tiny, smaller even than the mushroom subjects. He waved at them cheerfully, and they scurried away. "He pays no attention to the children," chuckled Helob, seeing this. "And he doesn't maintain eye contact. They will take advantage of this to stab. The venom won't harm the king, but it will still hurt."

"Sure. Helob, do you have a lot of this family? Because you've lived a while, so I assume..."

"Helob himself is not sure. One that he knows for sure comes from his sisters has a few hundred. There are still potential descendants from the brothers' line, but that's always harder to trace. I don't keep in touch with everyone, no, no, not with everyone. With some it's not worth it. Sheela, he told about, is from the brother's line. But she's more than a distant cousin. She is, besides king Sozo, Helob's only friend, yes..."

"I hope just a friend...," murmured Sozo, and Helob trembled slightly at these words. Sozo stroked his forehead. "Sozo wouldn't want her to eat his friend. He would then have to show disrespect to the spiders' habits and kill her." Helob didn't know why, but he smiled broadly at these words. And with such a broad smile he made the rest of the way. They reached the large chamber, having already had a large herd on their backs. Some of the spiders separated, seeing where they were going - they were probably from outside the family. The rest, however, were waiting. They could feel the excitement.

Helob took Sozo, who giggled, off his back and set him on the ground, then reached for the wooden structure. He didn't manage to call out when several spiders emerged from the darkness toward them.

"Helob..." They heard the hiss of a large spider female. She had hairy legs and a large purple abdomen covered in fur, and her black eyes squinted slightly. She definitely looked like a relative of Helob. Accompanying her were four smaller females and several males, stopped just behind her. She tilted her head. "We haven't seen each other in a long time... Thank you for the previous gift."

"She will forgive that it was modest. Today Helob has more. Still not much, yes, yes, but just in time for everyone after a bite..."

Female spider was clearly expecting, so Helob took three of the five cocoons and handed them to her. She tousled each one before sending it on, then nodded satisfied. And then she reached out a hand ending in three sharp claws and touched Sozo's face. "And this is..."

"King Sozo, milady," replied the mushroom king cheerfully. He wanted to bow, but she almost stick her fingers into his cheeks. "King likes his face, thank you." She let him go. She laughed briefly. "Brave food," she commented.

"King Sozo not food," Helob snorted.

"Yes, yes... she heard... For them it's food," she replied, pointing to the ceiling. Lurking there was a lot, a whole lot of spiders. "But they respect the right of priority. Helob's prey. No one will move."

After these words, she retreated, as a strange sound rang out high above them - as if a large number of claws were unexpectedly moving across the stone. Indeed, the spiders dodged as a large female spider walked across the vault, and after a moment she lowered herself abruptly on a rope. It hovered right in front of Helob's face, but didn't look at him. She hissed at another female. The hairy female responded with a hiss, but after a moment she bowed humbly. She folded her hands over her head in the shape of the sickle of the moon and on bent legs retreated into the shadows. Sozo watched this with interest.

"And better not forget where you belong Amethyst," snorted the new female spider, and then turned her gaze to Helob. "Helob, honey... Three of five for this poseur? You disappoint me..."

"This is in the pure bloodline of his sister," Helob reminded. "It's not appropriate otherwise... Two for Sheela and her hatchling..."

"Oh, well... Give them, let them eat..." The spider female waved her hand almost dismissively, and then swang a little towards Sozo. "Hm... and there must be... Oh, yes, I can smell you, Helob..." She touched Sozo's cheek, but her touch was gentle, barely a tingle. "Quite an appetizing morsel."

"King Sozo, at your service," Sozo bowed slightly.

She squinted her eyes. She glanced at Helob, who had already handed over the preys to the spiders and was now looking beaming at Sheela. The latter spun around on the rope and sank to the ground. She looked at the ant again. "I must admit that I am... only slightly puzzled. That's what he meant by "prefers slender." Yes, yes, undoubtedly... Ants are slender. She doesn't ask about technical details. But it's interesting..."

"Helob?" Sozo didn't quite understand what the female spider was talking about. This one sensed it. She laughed.

"Oh, boys... So you haven't... yet. How sweet. You are as innocent as a fresh hatchling... Helob, beloved... You have satisfied my curiosity and brought appetizing gifts, now let me gifted you..."

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

Tymczasem Helob i Sozo szli ciemnymi, wilgotnymi korytarzami. Sozo rozglądał się z zachwytem.

- Jest tu mroczniej i bardziej klimatycznie niż Sozo zapamiętał.

- Domena dziczeje, wasza królewska mość - zauważył pająk. - Dawne naczynia Shamury starają się utrzymać porządek, ale... nie zawsze się udaje. Pewne kawałki Silk Cradle są już opanowane przez bestie - i wszechobecny głód.

- To może za mało darów wzięliśmy? - zauważył Sozo. - Król mówił, że może kazać grzybowym poddanym iść z nimi, nie szkoda mu ich wcale...

- Większość pająków nie ruszy grzybowych ludzi. Nieufne. Helob odporny na trucizny, ale nie każdy pająk tak ma, nie, nie... Grzybowi poddani zaś przypuszczalnie trujący. Król Sozo chce iść o własnych nogach? Jagnię raczej nie śledzi ich kroków...

- A mogę tak zostać? Jesteś bardzo wygodną lektyką, mój miły... - zamruczał Sozo, gładząc futro pająka. Helob uśmiechnął się lekko.

- Helob da radę nieść króla i ofiary do samego domu. Nie problem.

Szli dosyć długo. W pewnym momencie obaj wyczuli, że są obserwowani - i liczba obserwatorów rosła. Kilka razy na poziomie oczu króla Sozo zwieszały się na linach pajęczyce i obserwowały go z zainteresowaniem. Były z reguły malutkie, mniejsze nawet od grzybowych poddanych. Machał do nich wesoło, a one się płoszyły.

- Nie zwraca uwagi na dzieci - rzucił Helob, widząc to. - I nie utrzymuje kontaktu wzrokowego. Wykorzystają to, żeby dźgnąć. Jad nie zaszkodzi królowi, ale nadal będzie boleć.

- Jasne. Helob, dużo masz tej rodziny? Bo żyjesz już trochę, więc zakładam...

- Helob sam nie jest pewien. Takiej, która wie na pewno, że pochodzi od jego sióstr, ma kilka setek. Są jeszcze potencjalni potomkowie z linii braci, ale to zawsze trudniej prześledzić. Nie ze wszystkimi utrzymuję kontakt, nie, nie, nie ze wszystkim. Z niektórymi nie warto. Sheela, o której mówił, jest z linii brata. Ale ona więcej niż daleka kuzynka. To poza królem Sozo, jedyna przyjaciółka Heloba, tak...

- Mam nadzieję, że tylko przyjaciółka... - zamruczał Sozo, a Helob lekko zadrżał na te słowa. Sozo gładził jego czoło. - Sozo nie chciałby, aby zjadła mu przyjaciela. Musiałby wtedy okazać brak respektu zwyczajom pająków i ją zabić.

Sam nie wiedział czemu, ale Helob uśmiechnął się szeroko na te słowa. I z takim szerokim uśmiechem pokonał resztę drogi. Dotarli do wielkiej komnaty, mając na karku już spore stadko. Część pająków oddzieliła się, widząc dokąd zmierzają - zapewne były spoza rodziny. Reszta jednak oczekiwała. Czuć było podekscytowanie.

Helob zdjął z pleców Sozo, który zachichotał, i postawił go na ziemi, potem sięgnął po drewnianą konstrukcję. Nie zdołał zawołać, gdy z ciemności wyszło ku nim kilka pająków.

- Helob.... - usłyszeli syk wielkiej pajęczycy. Miała owłosione nogi i wielki fioletowy odwłok pokryty futrem, a jej czarne oczy mrużyły się lekko. Zdecydowanie wyglądała na krewną Heloba. Towarzyszące jej cztery mniejsze samice i kilku samców, zatrzymało się tuż za nią. Przekrzywiła głowę. - Dawno się nie widzieliśmy... Dziękujemy za poprzedni dar.

- Wybaczy, że był skromny. Dziś Helob ma więcej. Nadal mało, tak, tak, ale w sam raz dla każdego po kęsie...

Pajęczyca wyraźnie oczekiwała, więc Helob wziął trzy z pięciu kokonów i podał jej. Zmacała każdy nim posłała dalej, a potem skinęła głową usatysfakcjonowana. A potem wyciągnęła dłoń zakończoną trzema ostrymi pazurami i dotknęła twarzy Sozo.

- A to jest...

- Król Sozo, droga pani - odparł wesoło grzybowy król. Chciał się skłonić, ale ona wbiła palce w jego policzki. - Król lubi swoją twarz, dziękuję.

Puściła go. Zaśmiała się krótko.

- Odważne jedzenie - skomentowała.

- Króle Sozo nie jedzenie - prychnął Helob.

- Tak, tak... słyszała... Dla nich to jedzenie - odparła, wskazując na sufit. Czaiło się tam mnóstwo, całe mrowie pająków. - Ale szanują prawo pierwszeństwa. Ofiara Heloba. Nikt nie ruszy.

Po tych słowach wycofała się, bo rozległ się wysoko nad nimi dziwny dźwięk - jakby duża liczba pazurów nieoczekiwanie przesuwała się po kamieniu. W istocie, pająki umykały, gdy po sklepieniu przeszła wielka pajęczyca, a po chwili opuściła się gwałtownie na linie. Zawisła tuż przed twarzą Heloba, ale nie patrzyła na niego. Zasyczała na tamtą. Włochata pajęczyca odpowiedziała sykiem, ale po chwili pochyliła się pokornie. Złożyła dłonie nad głową w kształt sierpu księżyca i na ugiętych nogach wycofała się w cień. Sozo obserwował to z zainteresowaniem.

- I lepiej nie zapominaj, gdzie twoje miejsce Ametyst - prychnęła nowa pajęczyca, a potem skierowała spojrzenie na Heloba. - Helob, skarbie... trzy z pięciu dla tej pozorantki? Zawodzisz mnie...

- To w czystej linii krew jego siostry - przypomniał Helob. - Nie wypada inaczej... Dwa dla Sheeli i jej wykluwku...

- Och, dobrze... Daj im, niech jedzą... - pajęczyca niemal lekceważąco machnęła dłonią, a potem bujnęła się nieco w stronę Sozo. - Hm... a tu musi być... Och, tak, czuję twój zapach, Helob... - Dotknęła policzka Sozo, ale jej dotyk był delikatny, ledwie muśnięcie. - Całkiem apetyczny kąsek.

- Król Sozo, do usług - Sozo pokłonił się lekko.

Przymrużyła oczy. Zerknęła na Heloba, który przekazał już ofiary pająkom i teraz rozpromieniony patrzył na Sheelę. Ta okręciła się na linie i opadła na ziemię. Znów spojrzała na mrówkę.

- Przyznam, że jestem... jedynie lekko zdumiona. To miał na myśli, mówiąc "woli smukłe". Tak, tak, niewątpliwie... Mrówki są smukłe. Nie pyta o szczegóły techniczne. Ale to interesujące...

- Helob? - Sozo nie do końca rozumiał, o czym pajęczyca mówi. Ta wyczuła to. Roześmiała się.

- Och, chłopcy... Więc wy jeszcze nie... Jakie to słodkie. Jesteście niewinni jak świeży wykluwek... Helob, najmilszy... Zaspokoiłeś moją ciekawość i przyniosłeś apetyczne dary, pozwól teraz mnie obdarować was...

[draco-kasai]

Hero Collaboration Program

Chapter 2 pt. 1: Welcome to The Program! --> 

Chapter 2 pt. 2                                            Find Chapter 1 here!

Story Summery: High School Hero Collaboration Program! Helping Sophomore hero students connect with others around the world! Come join us for a two-week-long trip to one of our schools for an amazing once in a lifetime experience with students of Yuuei! Only a lucky 40 students will be selected for this program. They will be split into two groups of 20 and sent to different schools to have completely unique experiences!

AKA; A very bitg crossover fanfic I started because I can’t help myself. I adore all of these characters and hope I had done them justice, though I did take many backstories and threw them into the meat grinder to remold them in a way that fits this universe. Also, I love 1-A but I also want to take them down a peg or two... I also just want to see them get their asses handed to them.  

A/N: Here it is! Chapter two! I hope anyone who decides to read it enjoys!

Alfred Freedom Jones practically bounced out of his bed in excitement. All the exchange student’s had arrived around 7PM last night in hopes for them to receive enough rest and get used to any sudden time change and jet lag. He and Valerie - a teacher of the school where they conduct part of the program - had wanted to be the ones to pick up and welcome all the kids. However, They were tasked with any last minute decorating to make the dorms presentable and welcoming and preparing dinner, that way the kids would have food in their bellies before they headed to their dorms and began unpacking and going to bed. 

The dorms of the school are located right behind the school itself. Although they were especially made 15 years ago since the program had begun, they are used for other purposes throughout the year to not go to waste. When students find themselves in situations where they need a place to stay, they are welcome to speak to a counselor to explain the situation, where they are given a room key and a ‘job’ as a tutor or teacher's assistant as well as have mandatory counseling to ‘pay off’ their stay. Sports clubs are also welcome to apply and stay in the program dorms during the summer for training camp, and many clubs even enjoy having sleep-overs for a few days as a bonding activity. 

This year has been one of the few where nobody has found the need to stay in the dorms throughout their school year. Alfred could almost cry for joy at that fact. Not only is there no student in the school facing such problems, but there won't be a random kid trying to sneak into all of their activities. It’s endearing when it happens the first few times, but the moment you have every one of those students trying to sneak into amusement parks and other field trips with the exchange students they’d become attached to, making you buy them a ticket on the spot to not just send them back, it becomes a little of a problem. Needless to say, he and Valerie have started carrying extra money with them on field trips.

Last year was a new one. Instead of them just buying a ticket on the spot, the two seniors that were with them had been snuck onto the bus and into six flags. They had somehow convinced the shy Brazilian boy to use their quirk to turn them into mice for an hour, so they could sneak in.

Everyone that enters a theme park nowadays are given quirk suppressant bracelets, that are custom-made for each theme park with designs, shapes and looks, that they must wear during their stay and return when they leave. The senior students were somehow able to get their hands on some when they transformed back, inside the theme park.

 Everyone was very smug when they explained to Alfred and Valerie how exactly two seniors not in the program and without tickets got into the theme park. Even the shy boy seemed proud that so much was accomplished with their quirk. As illegal as that is, he couldn’t help but feel a little proud of how they had just outsmarted the system. Although that didn’t stop, he or Valerie from lecturing them. His kids were very apologetic, and tried to make up for it by paying the teachers for the two students tickets by all pitching in.  He had avoided Aizawa’s questioning stare at the two students the whole day and allowed Valerie and the kids to keep him busy.

All things considered, Alfred and Valerie might not be the best choices as chaperones for the students, since they let them get away with shit when they know they’ve been outsmarted. Their superiors don’t have to know. Although the teachers praise them for being so innovative, the two teachers always make sure to drill it into their brain how important following the law is and how they shouldn't abuse their quirks in such ways. They also make sure to explain what kind of consequences such actions can cause, especially if they were pros. 

The reason they don’t kick them out of the program or anything, though, is because they are kids in training for a dangerous profession. They deserve the opportunity to have fun and act their age every now and again. Sure, they usually end up realizing how idiotic many of their ideas turn out to be, but it’s best they start learning now than mess up later and have their careers ruined for it. He and Valerie have kept in contact with kids who had graduated too! They have all become wonderful heroes, even if they had pulled quite a few pranks during their time in the program.

Adjusting the prescription glasses on his face, Alfred grabbed all the lanyards with cardholders attached to them and made sure each of the students program ID’s, room and key cards were there. He was going to hand them out last night after dinner, but all the kids seemed too exhausted, so he and Valerie had led them to their rooms to go unpack and rest. Once he was sure all of them were there, he grabbed his own lanyard. Wrapping it around his jeans' belt loop, he grabbed a folder and stepped out of his dorm. 

Looking at his watch, he realized it was 9:01 AM. They had told the kids to set their alarms, so they should be awake and getting ready by now. Going over the schedule he had memorized, he noted that they all had to be in the cafeteria at 9:45 for a late breakfast. After, they would head over to the large field separating the two dorm buildings for group activities. Since the students are all jet-lagged, they are free from classes till Friday, tomorrow. It may be a program for training, but they're students, can’t let them all fall behind.

 Making his way down the hallway, he began knocking on doors to the boys rooms on his floor. “Head down to the common area in ten minutes! Wear something comfortable for physical activity!” he called out as he made his way down all 12 doors. He could faintly hear Valerie doing the same downstairs to the females. 

As he walked towards the stairs, he spotted a few students already following behind him. He had even spotted a few of the girls walking behind Valerie, already attempting small talk. Once in the common area, he and Valerie smiled at the kids that followed them down.

“You kids are free to enjoy yourselves with anything you’d like while we wait for the others.” Valerie’s chipper voice practically sang as she spoke. “The remote to the TV is on the coffee table, the pool table racks are on the wall over there, the ball for the foosball table should be in one of the goals, and you are free to explore the field, just don’t go too far.” 

Both adults watched in amusement as the students stared around in awe. By the time the ten minutes had passed, all the students were scattered throughout the field, or common room. It hadn’t taken long for the two adults to gather them all up outside. One of the students had been quite sociable, going around speaking to everyone.

“Alright students ~!” Valerie sang as she closed and locked the sliding glass door behind her, “Since we still have time before we have to head over for breakfast, let’s all introduce ourselves properly to one another.” 

Alfred gave the kids a two finger salute as his partner took her place next to him, “Wassup guys! I’m Alfred Freedom Jones! Call me Mr. Jones! I’m a representative of the Hero collaboration program! I’ve been to both schools and have been doing this for 6 years! I was actually a student of this program when it was established! I hope you all enjoy yourselves while you are here!”

“Hello~! I’m Valerie Felicity Frizzle! Please, feel free to call me Miss. Frizzle or even Frizz, as many of my kids call me. I have been teaching in Marina high school for 19 years now. I was actually the teacher that had convinced my coworkers and the district to sign our school up for this lovely program! Truly, it has been a wonderful joy to meet and work with such wonderful children! I hope you all have a glorious experience and take home with you something new~!” The woman curtsied, showing off her dark purple dress that depicted outer space in beautiful patterns and colors.

“Now then! Your turn guys! Anyone want to go first, or shall we popcorn it? Maybe left to right? Choose someone and let them choose after? Whatcha guys up for?”

Both teachers watched in amusement as they watched the kids glance around at one another. They had seen some of them already starting to make some friends. Five of them seemed to get along well while playing foosball. Two had played 8-ball while conversing with two other students that watched with interest. Some of the others kept to themselves while watching TV or hanging around outside. Hopefully they are able to make some friends too. Just as Miss. Frizzle prepared to call on someone, a green arm raised up.

“Me! Me! I would love to go first!” The boy’s grin widened as everyone's gaze landed on him. Everything about him was a different shade of  green, from his skin to his hair and eyes. He wore a white tank top with an unbuttoned short-sleeved button up that has Disney dogs printed all over it, and loose, knee-length jean shorts. A boy at the other end of the crowd of students with green eyes and a serious face jolted in surprise and sank a little into his seat once he noticed him. 

“I like your enthusiasm, kid! Alright! Let’s hear it! Ah, don’t share any quirk information, though! We have a little activity planned later, and staying anonymous would be the best course of action.” Alfred grinned just as wide in response. 

“Okay!” He bounced over to stand between them. It was unnecessary, but it looks like it’s a thing now. Both teachers could see the discomfort that had settled on a small handful of students at the thought of standing in front of strangers to introduce themselves. “Hi! My name is Garfield Mark Logan! You guys can call me Gar! My name can be quite the mouthful. My hero name is Beast Boy and I came from San Francisco, aaand oh yeah! I’m Vegetarian! It’s nice to meet you all -! Oh my gosh, Damian! Hey dude!!” 

Said boy groaned as he facepalmed. A few people in the group held back their laughter as best they could as Garfield rushed over to him. Grabbing the sleeve of Damian’s jacket, he dragged him to the front of the crowd, “You practically ghosted us, dude. This is your punishment. Introduce yourself.” 

Damian almost stumbled when Garfield pushed him before retreating back to his spot next to a boy with green highlights in his hair. Letting out a heavy sigh, he fixed the sleeve to his hoodie and straightened his black V-neck shirt. Clearing his throat, he spoke, “Hello, I am Damian Wayne. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I suppose if I am going off of Garfield’s introduction; my hero name is Red Bird, I came from Gotham in New Jersey, and I am also Vegetarian.” Green eyes scanned the crowd before pointing to a boy with light brown hair wearing a tie diy shirt. “You go next.”

“O - oh! Um, okay.” The boy stood to his feet from his place on the concrete, “Hi, uh, My name is Rudy Tabootie. I live pretty close actually, Burbank, to be exact. Uh, I’m not vegetarian… sorry? Uh, my Hero name is Snap. It’s really cool to meet you all.” and just like that, all the introductions went, and the group found themselves in the cafeteria for breakfast with their new lanyards. It wasn’t long till all the student’s exited the cafeteria and made their way to the field between the dorms. 

“Alright guys! We want to explain a few things with you before we start today’s first activity!” Mr. Jones clapped his hands together, excitedly. 

“I’m sure you have all noticed how the special guests, the main reason for this program, Yuuei isn’t here yet. Well, they will all be arriving tomorrow. However, you will not be introduced to them until Monday.” Miss. Frizzle smiled widely, the students before them began murmuring to one another in confusion.

“Um, Why?” A girl with pearl white skin asked. She wore light gray joggers, a sky blue tank top and had her cobalt blue hair tied up in pigtails. Jenny Walkman.

“The answer is simple! The students of Yuuei have had the whole school year to train and get to know one another, as well as their abilities. Needless to say, they all know how to work together.” Miss. Frizzle explained, “For this reason, our program is set up to allow all the exchange students to have time to get to know one another as well as each other's quirks and skills, so you may be able to work together when needed. This way, when we do battle training, everything would be on as equal footing as we can get.”

Mr. Jones nodded beside her, “Which is why all weekend, as they rest from their long flight, get accustomed to their surroundings and have fun sightseeing, we will be doing a bunch of group activities to get to know one another better. That way, when we begin battle training…” He trails off, hoping someone would finish for him. He wasn’t disappointed. 

“We’d at least be on equal footing against them.” A girl with long red hair that she had tied up in a ponytail responded. Wearing a green crop top, and dark blue cargo pants, she crossed her arms over her chest, a smile crossing her lips slightly at the plan. Kimberly Anne Possible

“Precisely!” Miss. Frizzle and Mr. Jones sang together.

“Today’s activity, drum roll please,” Miss. Frizzle happily made the sound effect for her coworker. Mr. Jones held up a dodgeball, where he got it, nobody knows, “Dodgeball!”

Chapter 2 pt. 2  

[inredunderlinedx]

Ooh can I get a Steve Rogers x female Kryptonian reader? Like he’s scared to ask her out and stuff so he’s tries to asks the team for help but she ends up asking him first and telling he she was scared because she’s an alien and stuff. Sorry it’s long. Thanks ❤️

A/n: Omg this is so cute! I love the idea of Marvel interacting with this type of character! @rlly

I’ m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home: Steve Rogers x Kryptonian!reader

A/n: this fic will use she/her pronouns! As always requests for different pronouns in a new fic are welcome!

Being an alien was hard. Let me tell you, now it was helpful that I looked human, but once I started helping the avengers there were some not so nice messages about me.

Apparently people don’t like the idea that someone is different from them.

It was hard not having anyone who could relate to what I’d been through. I was the only Kryptonian to survive my planet exploding.

The superpowers were cool, but it was hard to watch TV and see all these people to tell me to go back to where I came from.

This was my home, I was raised here, and I don’t have a home to go back to. Those words only reminded me further.

Now, being offered a spot on the Avengers was surprising, but apparently they liked me.

I told them, on a trial basis, I would join the team. So far, it was amazing. I got a room, with a projected window view of Krypton.

There were places to train, and I got to go on missions I couldn’t have known about otherwise.

The only problem was Captain Rogers, who seemed to not want to know me at all. He avoided all personal interactions with me which was hurtful since I had a painfully obvious crush on him.

I mean, have you seen him? It’s hard not to want to kiss him.

I don’t think he hated me, but he certainly didn’t plan on becoming friends, which was disappointing.

Tonight Tony Stark had a mandatory attendance party, so I decided I’d make him be friends with me.

I showed up to the party in a outfit of mine, it wasn’t too formal or too casual:

•

Normal: white t-shirt with black leather jacket, black high-waisted semi formal shorts, with knee high black boots.

Modest: a small white button down, and a leather jacket. Dark black pants, and ankle height black boots.

With head covering: black head covering, with subtle matte pattern to match leather.

•

Once I had arrived, I searched around for Maria and Wanda whom I had become close friends with in my short time here.

“Hey, y/n!” Maria waved, “you look great! I love the outfit!”

“Thank you!” I beamed at the compliment, “I’m exited to get to know the team!”

“They’re all exited to meet you too, they’ve been asking us questions about you, but we haven’t said anything.

“Hey!” Natasha said, joining us.

“Hello, Natasha right?” I said sticking my hand out, like my adopted parents taught me.

“Yeah, but you can call me nat!” She said with a smile, “I would love to introduce you to a couple people, is your interested?”

“I’d love that!” I said looking over to Maria and Wanda, “I’ll be back I promise!”

“Have fun, y/n.” Wanda said

Natasha showed me around the party pointing out several people, eventually we got to our teammates.

“Y/n,” nat said glancing at me, “this is Clint and Bruce!”

“It’s so nice to meet you!” I said smiling.

“It’s so nice to be properly introduced,” Bruce said, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about Krypton and your powers.”

“I’d love that!” I said, “we could meet up at the lab sometime, yeah?”

“I’d love to!” He said

“Hi I’m Clint.” Clint said.

“Nice to meet you, I’m y/n.”

“Lovely to meet you formally, I’m stoked to think you might join the team!”

“Thank you,” I said blushing, “it’s an honor to be considered.”

“You guys can all talk later, I have to introduce her to some people.” Nay said grabbing my arm

“Nice talking to you.” I said sheepishly before I was dragged away.

Nat introduced me to several other SHEILD agents, before finally getting to the last 2 avengers.

“Thor, Steve.” Nat said, “this is y/n.”

“Hello, it is an honor to meet you y/n l/n, the last daughter of krypton.” Thor said, addressing me with my official title.

“Please, just call me y/n. I hear your not of this earth either?”

“No, I am from Asgard.” He said smiling

“Asgard is so lovely!” I said happy to feel something somewhat familiar.

“Roger, you did not mention she was intelligent as well!” Thor said laughing.

Steve looked wide eyed for a moment, before dismissing it. I blushed, but not noticeably.

“Hi, I’m y/n!” I said going to shake his hand.

“Steve.” He said shaking my hand.

“Hi Steve.” I said lightly, “it’s really nice to get to meet everyone!”

He nodded briefly. Maybe he didn’t like me. Oh… what if it’s because I’m an alien?

That thought probably hurt more any anything else. I couldn’t control that, it was part of who I am. It seems that’s the part he doesn’t like.

“Well,” I said, “sorry to bug you.”

I quickly left and walked back over to Wanda and Maria. I was fairly quiet, while they continued to converse.

All I could think about was why Steve didn’t like me. Was it really because I was an alien? It just didn’t seem fair. He didn’t even give me a chance.

The party was dying down, and I continued To listen to Maria and Wanda, until Maria had to leave. Now there was only Wanda, Thor, Steve and I.

Thor said goodbye to me before leaving to return to Asgard. Wanda noticed me glancing at Steve.

“I’m gonna go,” she said, “I’ll be in my room if you need me. Talk to him.”

I nodded, still timid to actually speak to him. We looked over to me, then looked away when he made eye contact.

“Steve.” I said standing up.

“Yes?” He asked, semi-surprised

“Can you be honest with me?” I asked, “what is your problem with me?”

“Huh?”

“You won’t speak to me until it’s work related, you don’t make eye contact. You refuse to hold any type of conversation. It’s like you hate me! I don’t get it!”

“I don’t hate you..” he said, looking guilty,

“Then what’s your problem? I have a stupid crush on you and you don’t even want to be friends!” I covered my mouth, oh shit.

“What?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

“You have a crush on me?”

“What? No.” I said, trying to laugh it off. “well I’m gonna go!”

“No, wait!” He said grabbing my hand

“Look, Steve, there is no need to pity me. I can take a hint.”

“I like you too, I just didn’t want to get to close and make it harder for me not to admit how much I like you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you didn’t like me cause I was an alien.” I said quietly

“What! Of course not! I think that’s awesome!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, this might not be appropriate, but do you wanna go on a date sometime?”

“I’d love to.” He said, taking my hand.

[vulgar-blue]

I honestly feel like a part of the reason why i’m so disconnected and solitary is my bisexuality and androgynous gender and gender expression. Not those qualities in themselves, but the things I’ve experienced because of them. 

(This turned into a pretty long, perhaps haphazard essay/rant but I’d be very glad if you stuck around to read through it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked to anyone, even my friends about all of these experiences in this much detail, so needless to say this will be a quite personal piece, but I would like it if as many people as possible read it. Though I’m talking about my own life, a lot of these things are universal for LGBT people and I think it’s important to talk about our experiences. Please feel free to comment your thoughts)

Ever since puberty began for me and my peers and, at first, mild forms of sexuality as well as a more... obvious form of gender expression became relevant, I felt estranged. At first I thought it was just the fact that I was a bit of a tomboy, and because I couldn’t care less about kissing boys I wondered if maybe, I was asexual. I couldn’t really relate to the girls, so maybe I should try to hang out with the boys instead? Except I didn’t feel like I belonged there either. 

I didn’t care about conventionally feminine things like shopping, makeup, looking pretty and so on. But then I found out that the group of female friends I’ve sort of... loosely connected with and hung out with were talking behind my back about my clothes and the fact that i didn’t pay too much attention to my appearance. And my insecure 13-year-old self took that to heart. So I tried. I went shopping for trendy clothes, light makeup, I started doing my hair, I lost weight so I could have the ideal, somewhat underweight skinny figure. And things were... great. My friends didn’t talk behind my back anymore, all of them wanted to hang out with me, everyone in my class, including the boys, talked to me and joked around with me.

And then I just. Didn’t care anymore. It took so much effort to try to fit into that mold of an average teenage girl because that wasn’t me. So I pulled away from my class and most of my friend group, I focused on my hobbies rather than shopping or looking good, if I did wear makeup or buy new clothes I was going for a more alternative look, because that’s what lined up with my interests and my aesthetic or whatever, I went back to a normal weight. 

But it wasn’t just a case of “oooh im so different from the normal girls, blah blah blah”. A friend introduced me to things like anime, j-rock and cosplay, and I found a world of ambiguous gender expression. Male musicians that looked androgynous or even feminine in makeup and elaborate costumes, female musicians who had an androgynous or even masculine appearance. Crossplay. It was a world I was immediately drawn to. And there was no pressure. No friends talking behind my back, I could’ve just brushed it all off, brushed it off as my best friend’s weird interest. But I couldn’t. Whenever I binded, put on a short-haired wig, and contoured my face to look more masculine, I felt amazing. Whenever my friends said I looked like a dude, it felt like biggest compliment imaginable. I could put on makeup and cool clothes, and be seen as androgynous rather than feminine, and I loved that. I became the outcast of my class, and now only had two friends to hang out with. But now I was much, much happier. I felt like my identity was going in the right direction. I didn’t feel quite so estranged anymore. 

When I was 15, the aspect of puberty I had mostly ignored so far, came crashing down on me. I had played with the thought of dating before, I had asked out one of my friends because I was curious what dating was like, but couldn’t really get close enough to a boy to consider dating. Some aspects of sexuality I had discovered quite a while ago, like masturbation. I had had a few crushes over the years, but either I was too young to make anything of them, or they were just... vague and fleeting, one-week crushes. I got a crush on guy that was doing his civilian service at our school (an alternative to the mandatory military training Finnish men have to take as an 18-20-year-old), but he was way too old and I never got the nerve to talk to him. 

But while I had that crush I was suddenly a bit fearful of girls. I was really nervous in gym class, in the locker room. I tried to change as quickly as I could and not even accidentally glance at anyone. Soon enough I realized I was scared that the girls might think I was a peeping Tom. I felt like a guy who had just walked into the wrong changing room and couldn’t escape. Except I wasn’t a guy. Or was I? At the very least I was starting to realize that when I watched shows like Game of Thrones, The L Word and so on, I found the sexy women... sexy. But I didn’t want to be a lesbian. I didn’t want anyone to think I was a lesbian. I was paranoid. I was a nervous wreck around girls, constantly over-analyzing my actions and words to make sure I didn’t come off as gay. I didn’t get along with boys and was generally avoided at all costs by them, but girls.. they talked to me. They were around me all the time, in gym class and in other classes. I’d sit next to girls if I couldn’t find a pair of desks that were both unoccupied so I could sit alone, because sitting next to a boy would subject me to subtle bullying, disgusted looks, looks that said “just fuck off you weirdo”. At least the girls didn’t bully me face to face, and what I didn’t know, couldn’t hurt me. 

There were a couple of times before I graduated Middle School when my class seemed... aware. They said and did things that on the surface were harmless, but the hidden message was “we know”. One of the popular, pretty girls in my class tried to sit next to me. I was sitting alone and she’d already picked her seat elsewhere in the class, but she came over, asking if she could sit there next to me. I blatantly said no, and she looked taken aback. Was she surprised because the lesbian wasn’t frothing at the mouth to have a pretty girl sit next to her, or was it an act, and she’d go on to laugh with the others “she was so quick to say no, she’s definitely gay”. The most homophobic guy in my class would say something about a pretty girl, or talk about “the gays” and turn to me “isn’t that right, [birth name]?” 

Maybe it was the subtlety, the room for interpretation, the hidden meanings and the context that stemmed from their own conversations, the context that I was unaware of. Maybe that was why I felt even worse, even more anxious than if they were to flat out call me “a dyke” or something. Always being on my toes, fearing when. When is it going to get worse? How long are they going to toy with me before the name calling starts, before I get beat up, before I get harassed? And it didn’t get worse. It went on for a couple months, and then we graduated. And I made sure to go to a High School as far away from my Middle School as possible. And once I started High School, no one from my old class was there. Only a couple people from the same Middle School, people who barely knew me and didn’t give a crap. Yet the fear was conditioned. Is it going to get worse now? Now these people, my new class have three years of time to realize I like girls, to toy with me, for the bullying to get exponentially worse.

At first I tried to make friends. My anxiety was terrible, I was constantly nervous, shaking, sweating, twitching. My face would sometimes flush, and I’d stutter while speaking. Heart hammering in my chest. Awkward face and head twitches that I prayed no one would notice. I was starting to get to know some people from my class. Everyone was very nice. We had fun conversations, we’d help each other with the difficult homework. I got a bit of crush on a guy who was funny and nice, who read a lot and said “in theory” a lot, even when he was talking about a practical application of something. Yet I also kind of liked a couple of the girls, they were pretty and smart, funny, one of them had similar interests as me. Maybe not crushes per say, but perhaps with time, they would turn into crushes. And I was still paranoid. And I was still waiting for them to figure out I liked girls too, for me to lose my new friends, for my whole class, including the guy I had a crush on, to gang up and start bullying me.

So I pulled away. I stopped talking to my classmates, I ate lunch alone, I spent the recesses alone. The first couple months everyone in the class had lessons together, but because in Finnish High Schools the students get to pick their courses - though many are mandatory, you get to pick which fifth of the school year to have that course, on which part of your weekly timetable, as long as the course is being offered by the school in that particular spot - only a small portion of my class would end up on the same lessons as me, and sometimes no one from my class would be there. Sometimes we’d have to sit in groups and inevitably I’d talk to people and get to know quite a few people from different classes, but mostly through teacher mandated discussions, exercises and so on. Outside the classrooms I was entirely alone, only speaking to people if I had to, never revealing too much of myself, especially my sexuality.

And the funny thing was, I went to a liberal Art High School. A big portion of the students were on advanced Art courses. And the people there were open-minded, because at least half of us were the types that had been outcasts in Middle School. There were lesbian couples, trans guys, a trans girl, a non-binary person. There was an event where the whole school was present, panelists talked about minorities, equality and the like, and when it was time to take audience questions, this one guy asked something and casually mentioned that he’s pansexual. And no one gave him shit. No one cared. Oh, you like guys and girls? Ok, cool. What’s your favorite band? Do you like (insert whatever hobby here)? Have you seen this meme? DO YOU LIKE PINEAPPLE ON PIZZA?

I spent three years in as much solitude as possible, I didn’t try to make any friends in school, because of an irrational fear. No one in my school would have cared that I was bisexual. Hell, if I had bothered to talk to more people I could’ve found an entire friend group full of bisexuals and pansexuals. Instead I focused fully on my schoolwork (and my free time interests) and settled for useless crushes on people I never talked to. At one point I had crushes on 4 different boys and probably double that amount of girls, and I’d only had a few conversations with each of them, always in the classroom, always during a group project or a philosophy dialogue or some sort of merry go round the classroom and exchange some answers to a question or little presentations or whatever.

And I think my High School experience was a usual, yet somewhat unusual example of navigating a heteronormative world as a bisexual. I was in a constant state of fight or flight, trying to survive any potential homophobia or even biphobia that could be thrown at me. In some other High School, this would have been the best course of action. Just a couple kilometers away from my school was a Sports High School, notorious for, let’s just say less than intellectually curious or open-minded sporty guys. There my tactic of avoidance would have been advisable. Make friends outside of school if possible, do not engage people in the school. But I spent three years in probably the most open-minded and anti-bullying High School in my city, and already within a couple months I had met a lesbian couple, two trans guys and probably many more lgbt people who didn’t happen to outwardly express or talk about things in those few moments in the classroom that would have hinted at their identity. Three years, and I just. Stayed the same. My anxiety was still too bad during first year, second year I just wanted to focus on school and figured I’m just a lone wolf, and I’m fine not really having friends, and by third year I figured it was too late to make friends now. And then I graduated.

And while my sexuality was the biggest reason for my alienation, my gender and gender expression were still there as well. I presented as female but not overly feminine for my first two years of High School, which somehow added to my paranoia of being seen as a lesbian. I never really felt a connection to either gender, or that core feeling of “i’m definitely a woman” or “i’m definitely a man”. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s hormonal or otherwise biological in part, maybe it’s in part due to my bisexuality, never feeling like I belong with the girls or the guys, even though sexuality doesn’t equal gender and vice versa. Maybe it’s because my mother wasn’t feminine, and my parents didn’t really force feminine gender roles on me growing up. Maybe it’s just how my brain works. With indifference towards “a gender identity” and a need to not be gendered. To appear androgynous. To be masculine when I’ve been as female for too long. To be feminine when I’ve been seen as male for too long.

I identified as agender in my second year of High School, I tried to tell my mom but she didn’t understand, and started using an abnormal amount of gendered (feminine) words about me. And I felt horrible. I hated everything about me that made me look so feminine in the eyes people around me. I hated my boobs, I hated my long hair, I hated my curvy figure. It went on for some time, and I started thinking... maybe I’m a trans guy. Maybe that’s why I hate being seen as female, why I felt like a boy trapped in the girls’ locker room in Middle School. I cut my hair short. I started binding again. I wore masculine clothes. I tried to deepen my voice when talking. I switched my hand bag to a back pack. I started trying to lose weight. I started using the name “Alex” online. I didn’t choose it because it was masculine. I chose it because it’s gender neutral. At first I thought it was because that way I could change my legal name before transitioning. Now I think it’s because of the gender neutrality itself. 

I started getting more involved in the tumblr gazette fandom, making all sorts of shitposts, commenting on posts a lot, being social. And I started making friends again. I didn’t know them in real life, but I still considered them my friends. I’ve always wanted to travel as much as possible, and having friends all over the world means the trips abroad I’m planning on making can also double as visiting my friends. I got into my first relationship with one of my online friends, and though it didn’t work out because of the distance, we’re best friends now. I’ve made many great friends online, and I definitely want to keep being friends with them. They’ve been the first I’ve been able to properly come out to and who have accepted me as who I am, and I’m forever grateful for that. 

My friends online were the first to call me by my chosen name of Alex and refer to me with male pronouns and words. And it meant the world to me. It eased the discomfort of mostly being seen as female by my family, by people at school and so on. Over the past year or so I’ve given my parents hints about my gender identity and my sexuality, but either they haven’t caught on or they won’t make a big deal about it unless I come out to them in some form. Maybe I feel like it doesn’t matter, maybe I’m scared to come out fully to my parents before I’m on my own and don’t need their financial support, don’t need their presence or their love or their acceptance. My parents have some gay friends and generally haven’t expressed homophobic opinions or behavior, but it might be different when it’s their own kid who’s queer.

Being seen as male by my friends and female by others was fine for some time. Strangers on the street would sometimes look confused looking at me, not exactly sure whether I’m a very butch girl or a guy with a curvy figure. I felt like I was starting to teeter more towards people interpreting me as male than female. And suddenly, I started hating the masculine things about myself. I stopped binding. I stopped cutting my hair short. I started doing my makeup again, though almost always just for selfies. For my graduation, I wore a suit. A few days after graduation I went shopping and bought a dress and some feminine accessories. I started feeling the pressure of needing to lose weight even more heavily than before. I look hideous in a dress. I need a slimmer figure. It was a familiar feeling, it was like 7th grade, but different. No one was pressuring me to be feminine. Yet I felt an even more dire need that before to be feminine.

I’m identifying as agender again. I’m not a man, but I’m not really a woman either. My biological characteristics are what they are. Some days I hate my boobs and want a flat chest, some days I think they’re sort of nice. Some days I want to look as feminine as possible, to have long hair again, to wear my makeup especially pretty, to have the figure or the confidence to wear my dresses. Some days I relish looking androgynous, some days I want look like a guy, deepen my voice a bit, wear a confident smirk, hide my boobs, inhabit the space around me in a more assertive way. I don’t have crushes currently, but I see some women and men and I feel attracted to them. I wish for a cute goth gf. I wish for a bf/gf or a non-binary partner who understands me, who inspires me, who challenges me intellectually. Yet part of me says I could never have that, that I’m unattractive and a loser. But part of me says, who knows. Part of me says, hell yeah, you deserve it! If not in a romantic then definitely in a platonic sense. It took me a long time to accept the same-sex part of my attraction but now that I have, I want to just go out and meet cute girls, I want to talk about girls and I’ve filled my playlist with wlw songs, I want to draw cute girls, and just. G I R L S!!

But I still lack the confidence. I’m still nervous, though much less than before. I’m afraid that me and my girlfriend will have to hide behind a platonic illusion in public, or even among some of the people in our life. I’m afraid we’ll get harassed or even assaulted. I’m afraid the same will happen with my non-binary partner when we’re both presenting and reading as very feminine or masculine. Hell, if I lose enough weight, wear baggy clothes, cut my hair short again and contour my already androgynous face to look masculine, some shitblossom on the street might even call me and my boyfriend “faggots”.

It’s so much easier to just stay in my shell, not get close to people, not risk getting crushes or dating. It would be devastating to make friends with people who I have things in common with and who are fun and inspiring to be around, only for them go “haha, yeah, it’s just a phase” “you’re a woman and that’s it, stop with that special snowflake bullshit” “oh so you’re a cheater” when I tell them I’m bisexual and identify as non-binary. I probably won’t come out to my family for a year or two, or maybe I’ll only come out once I change my name, or once I have girlfriend or an afab partner.

I’m an introvert, I’m cynical, I like being alone, I’ve been more of a lone wolf since childhood, preferring to play alone, preferring reading and drawing over sports or other social hobbies, I can be very critical of people and get socially exhausted easily. But I’m also afraid of making connection, making friends, dating, being fully open and honest with my family, because I’m a bisexual in a heteronormative society, because I genuinely do not feel fully female or male in terms of social gender and gender expression in a world that says you’re either a man and male or a woman and female.

And next time that negative part of me tells me I’m going to live my life alone, I’ll realize it’s not because I’m unlovable or a freak. In part, it’s because I’ve been conditioned, like so many other LBGT people, to be constantly on edge, in a near constant state of fight or flight in a society that should be full of other humans, of friends, acquaintances, humanity and solidarity, but appears full of tigers and lions and snakes just waiting for us to make the wrong move and devour us. 

It shouldn’t be the case. Not even the majority of straight cis people are homophobic/transphobic (in most western societies), yet the fear that the minority conditions us to have can so easily become generalized, to the point where we might want to avoid all people as much as possible, to disconnect ourselves from everything. Sometimes the only way to be free of that fear, even occasionally, is to just surround ourselves with people who are also LBGT. But I’d like to see the day when we won’t have to fear any more than the average straight person. I’d like to see the day I could make friends without checking that they’re LBGT first, without fearing the potential discrimination and rejection when I happen to mention my girlfriend in front of a straight friend. I’d like to see the day when I’m not cooped up in my room listening to Hayley Kiyoko with the headphones on so my mom doesn’t hear, wondering how different the past few years could have been if I hadn’t been so damn afraid.

[lia-nikiforov]

Spring Anime Watchlist

Ugh, sorry that I’m so late with this, I don’t even have a good excuse, I just wasn’t feeling it. But since I’m super delayed with anime and I’m out of town for the weekend (hopefully I’ll come back bearing exciting news *---*) I decided to leave you with this, my watchlist of the Sprinquel season and how all the new shows are shaping up so far (spoiler: the sequels are great, everything else… ehhhhh). Best to worst, too lazy to number

Uchouten Kazoku 2

Season one of this show didn’t make my all-time top ten for nothing, and if I ever doubted that, this new installment came with the perfect timing to remind us of its whimsical charm and simple yet painfully real family melodrama. The gorgeous, loving rendition of Kyoto, a city I love with all my soul, is just the cherry on top. It’s only four episodes in and there’s already so much drama and character work every episode is a delight. I also think Benten is by far Mamiko Noto’s best performance and she’s such a unique character in the realm of anime I love her as much as I loathe her. I love this show and it’s such an underappreciated gem, go watch it for real

Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul

Continuing the trend of absolutely fantastic sequels, Virgin Soul has done a brilliant job in plunging us back into the Bahamut world and the new character dynamics that have changed significantly in the past ten years. Nina is a most excellent protagonist, and I absolutely approve of how getting horny unlocks her dragon transformation. Now I understand why Victor Nikiforov had to pull back from the show, Nina would be stuck in dragon form forever *swoons*. I’m 100% intrigued and super excited to see where this is going. And the animation is fantastic, thanks Cygames for pouring so much money into this gorgeous production.

Natsume Yuujinchou Roku

I loved season five, but I’m already loving Roku even more. I can’t say why, but there’s something about this season focusing on how Natsume is no longer alone, but is instead surrounded by loving friends and family, and how happy he is for that, and it’s incredibly heartwarming. The episode where Natsume gets aged down to a child was particularly lovely. Of course it would be kind of great if we got some movement in the Natori or Matoba or Reiko plots, but I won’t say I’m getting tired of Natsume’s one-off little heartwarming adventures. This season also looks much better than the previous one, so kudos to Shuka for that.

Attack on Titan 2

You can almost smell the money on this one. The animation and direction are fantastic, even without original director Aramaki who’s too busy doing his Zombie Train!AU fanfic. I definitely like how they’ve made the tone more horror-like. I’ve already read ahead on the manga so there’s no surprises for me, but I was still gripping the edge of my seat when the Beast Titan spoke. At least the four years of wait look like they’ll be worth it.

Boku no Hero Academia 2

So the mandatory tournament arc is upon us and it’s honestly really top notch. But you gotta kill all this recap, it’s only been a year, BONES, we’re not stupid. I’ve heard a lot of praise for the upcoming Sports Festival arc and so far it’s delivered (gimme more of Mei and her babies pls), so I’m excited for whatever else is in store for us. And extra kudos for having a female character who’s doing it all for the money and isn’t shamed by it or called greedy or shallow, but is instead praised for her realistic approach. Ochako is best girl and Japanese otaku have literally the worst taste.

Yowamushi Pedal: NEXT GENERATION

Not much has changed since my Winter Final Impressions. Teshima’s still Best Boy, Kaburagi’s still mildly insufferable and Midosuji is a riot. The Interhigh has started surprisingly fast and I’m all set to see all the melodramatic sports anime deaths that await us. Just give Teshima a trophy, he’s literally the best of all boys.

Little Witch Academia

The plot seems to have finally kickstarted in this one which is fairly interesting. Though I must say I’m getting a little tired of Akko. She’s just too close to that plucky, ditzy, irredeemably dumb and childish protagonist that I tend to hate coughsailormooncough, sorry, something got stuck in my… keyboard. I’m definitely interested in the inevitable villain reveal for the new tech teacher and her backstory with Chariot, as well as more of Best Girl Sucy. It’s still a fun show and in the upper tier of TRIGGER’s limited portfolio, but it so far still feels eons away from the brilliance of Kill la Kill. Let’s hope they stick the landing.

Kabukibu

So let’s firstly get the butt animation out of the way. It’s butt. I’d started to regain some faith in DEEN after Rakugo and Sakamoto, but I guess not all shows can get the A team and it’s a shame that a series with interesting stories and pretty character designs gets stuck with the negative zero budget. Although seeing Kuro break into kabuki lines in the middle of a crowded room is giving me way more second-hand embarrassment than I can usually handle, the show is overall harmless and cute, and it has very good discussions of gender stereotypes, particularly in episode two. I think, narratively, they overdid it with the “oh wow, what a coincidence, there are TWO characters in this one school coming from kabuki families” but aside from that, it’s pretty fun.

Starmyu2

I don’t have a lot to say about this one. It’s still fun, extremely dumb, super forgettable, but equally charming. Everyone’s awfully samefacey and they introduced like a hundred new characters that I can’t keep track of, but we still have people randomly breaking into ridiculous songs, so that’s all good with me

Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine

This isn’t a great show by any means, but it hits the right notes for me so I’m not even gonna pretend I’m expecting any sort of groundbreaking quality out of it. It’s just pleasantly familiar without being gross and I legit like the deep voice they gave the tiny teacher. (I slept through the last third of episode 2 though and apparently missed on all of Kai’s deal oops he calls everyone ‘good boys’ so we cool)

Chopping Block

This special section is for shows that I wasn’t intending to watch when the season started, saw a lot of praise for them and decided to check them out, only to not find anything special. I haven’t dropped them and still kinda hope they do something interesting because the concepts could work, but they aren’t giving me any reason to continue watching, so… idek what to do with these lol

Re:Creators

This was nowhere near my radar because of that chuuni otaku title and throwaway LN character designs, but then I heard the premise and read it was from the creator of Black Lagoon and thought it could at least be exciting. It isn’t. There’s so much bloody talking in this show they had to make it interesting by showing us a montage of the characters doing random daily activities (excitement???) while one of them talked nonstop. Like with the others in this section, there’s a good story hiding beneath layers of boredom. They had a strike of brilliance when Selesia is accidentally spoiled of a major development in her novels that she’s not aware of (a spoiler of the ‘your friend betrays you and kills your other friend’ magnitude) and she… doesn’t react at all. God it was so frustrating. It was an incredibly opportunity for drama and reflections on morals, but I guess it was more interesting to gush about how thorough LN authors are when creating their works blablablayaaaawn. The animation in the fight with the magical girl was cool though.

KADO: The right answer

Let’s start by that horribly obnoxious title. It already seems like it’s gonna be preaching about some morally gray thing that they’re gonna try to make black and white. Not good. The CGI is certainly the best I’ve seen in anime, the cube alone looks excellent. Storywise though.... it’s trapped somewhere between absolute boredom and gratuitous glorification of our Lord and Savior Nippon, the only country with good people, capable of making decisions for the sake of humanity. Guys, I hate the UNitedstates’puppet as much as anyone, but the way the conflict is being presented is so transparently condescending it’s annoying. zaShunnina’s cute though.

Zero kara Hajimaru Mahou no Shou

Saw someone reccommend it as “if you liked Spice and Wolf.”. Turns out this is 10 times more boring and 10 times more chockfull of icky sex jokes than I ever needed in my Spice and Wolf. Also the animation is butt, episode 4 looked teeeerrible. I think there’s a charming little story somewhere in there, but they have to tone it down with the “hyuk hyuk everyone thinks Zero is banging the tiger man hyuk hyuk” because they kill me. That whole “what is a kiss” scene was just so cringey I wanted to throw the scriptwriter out the window. Puh-lease give me something interesting show. I’m begging here

 DROPPED

Berserk

Like, I thought I could suffer one more cour of hatewatch, especially since I’m a little ahead on the manga and at least Serpico is a character I enjoy, but having to digest this gross edgy manpain extravaganza with a sprinkle of gratuitous rape at every given opportunity in that godawful CGI is just… ugh. I’m fine experiencing this story just once, thanks.

Alice to Zouroku

I went into this expecting Usagi Drop or Amaama to  Inazuma cuteness, instead I got weirdass Anime Alice™ with little girls fighting with the power of godawful CGI and some evil scientific organization… thing. The show opens with a big fight scene, and Anime, if you gonna do that you better make it the best fight scene in the history of everything, but it isn’t. The direction is terrible, the colors are muted and even with the girls’ unique powers, it’s incredibly tedious, and the animation it a literal butthole. We have a lot of butt animation this season hey Japan maybe start paying your employees a living salary and not literally overwork them to death…? Just a thought.

So, like I said, the season’s strong because we have a LOT of magnificent sequels, but the new stuff is just…. Eeeeh. Kabukibu’s the best of the bunch, but it pales in comparison to the big hitters of the season. Oh, and I didn’t even sample SukaSuka because I’ll be caught dead before I touch a thing with such a stupid shorthandle (and the full title is highkey idiotic too), sorry, I’m too old for this level of LN.

[thegrumpypenguin]

  Mama and her girls

    Philip (front) and Tisa

This is a love story, albeit one that did not exactly begin “at first sight.” I’m not sure when Philip (full name: “Sir Philip Pigglesworth III”) arrived at the Toronto Zoo; I believe he was already on site when I started Volunteer training in the fall of 2012 and the first record I can find of him in our semi-regular issues of the daily Keeper Notes is on May 17, 2014 when he is being trained to step on the scale. From those same notes, I can tell you that Tisa’s first day in exhibit holding after being released from quarantine was August 7, 2015. (Quarantine of at least 30 days is mandatory for any animal that has been transferred in from any other facility.) She was given access to the outdoor enclosure (alone) for the first time on the 31st of that same month. (Fun fact: Tisa was born exactly one day before Philip, on April 1, 2011!)

  Philip in a moment of calm

In mid-September, they were introduced to each other on exhibit and it all went well… at first. A couple of weeks later, at the beginning of October, Philip suddenly began to show aggression toward Tisa and she sustained a couple of minor cuts. They were separated for s short time and then reintroduced, but every time they looked to be getting along, Philip would become aggressive and charge at Tisa. After a few more attempts at putting them together, the Keepers reluctantly shelved the plans for the short term and let them go out on exhibit alone for a few months. The next summer, in August of 2016, they were put back in the outdoor exhibit together again. This time, it was Tisa’s turn to show displeasure: Philip had no aggression towards her but she would snort at him and move away every time he got close. This quickly escalated into Tisa regularly jumping through or over the hotwire at the back of the exhibit, having to be coaxed back onto the “right” side over and over again. Eventually, the two were separated again and I can’t tell from the notes if they were put back together at any point for the rest of 2016 or all of 2017.

  Dinner time!

But then it was 2018 and a lot of water had passed under the bridge. Each had been assertive in their own way; time was passing by quickly and Tisa’s biological clock was ticking. So the incredibly patient Keepers tried, once again, to put them together. And that’s when the magic happened. At the very end of May, Philip and Tisa were “re-re-re-introduced” to each other and they began to breed the very same day. They bred again the next day, too; and when they went out on exhibit together on Day Three Tisa had had enough of Philip’s advances, but no problem: they just lay down a few feet apart, rooting and nibbling on whatever they dug up. To the best of my knowledge, they never again needed to be split up for any length of time, and I can remember quite clearly seeing them together outside that summer and marvelling at just how cuddly they seemed with each other, especially after all the angst of previous years. They bred a few more times unsuccessfully – although there was some suspicion in the fall that Tisa was pregnant, which was unfounded – until (apparently) sometime around Thanksgiving (Canadian) or so. They were probably spending their days on the inside exhibit by this time; perhaps that was just more comfortable for them. But for whatever reason, something finally “clicked” for them.

  Hazel (R) and Ginger

On February 17, 2019 (which I had no trouble remembering as it was the third birthday for Nandu), Tisa gave birth to her first litter of l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶a̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶p̶o̶t̶a̶t̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶l̶e̶g̶s̶  two tiny female hoglets. They made their first public appearance just under three weeks later, on March 8; incredibly. even though I have taken, quite literally, thousands of photos of them since then, the one I used for this month’s calendar feature was taken in the very first moments that I ever set eyes on these gorgeous little creatures. I returned to see them once or twice (Narrator: every second day, approximately) for the rest of March and early April; I saw them myriad more times throughout the summer, too. Those adorable stripes fade away very quickly, and there weren’t a lot of other babies to visit until the wolf cubs arrived in May. I’ll post a collage of shots at the end, and I already know trying to keep that gallery reasonably small in size is going to be the single most difficult thing about this month’s post. Seriously, hoglets are just about the most adorable babies in the animal kingdom, and I will fight you on that opinion!

  Papa Philip and Hazel

When the babies first came out to play with us, they had only Tisa to accompany them. Within a week, however, Philip joined his new family and quickly showed that he was an amazing and patient daddy (check out the photo at left). Then, on March 29, after a brief naming contest, the Zoo settled on “Hazel” and “Ginger” as the names for the two little girls. This contest was notable in that it was the very first time a name or names that I had voted for had ever been chosen by the Zoo, so naturally I was very excited. I learned very quickly from the Keepers that Ginger was the name given to the lighter-coloured of the two; as they lost their stripes and became much closer in hue I kept a close eye on the ridge of fur on their backs and, to this point, at least, Ginger has the more-pronounced tuft of white fur along her spine. When they reach full size, I imagine it will be a lot tougher to tell them apart from each other – and from their mom – so we’ll see how long I can manage it. For now, coming up on their first birthday, it’s still relatively easy to know which is which.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos I uploaded of the girls: one from the first day I saw them and one from the outside exhibit in the summer, when they had a case of the zoomies.

      But wait. There’s more.

  Two boys join the family!

On November 4, 2019 – before Hazel and Ginger were ever nine months old – Tisa gave birth to another litter of two babies. Red river hogs have a gestation of ~ 4 months, meaning Tisa was already halfway there in the second video above! I had watched them cuddle and snuggle away from the girls quite often during the summer, especially as Tisa weaned them off the teats, but I had no idea they had also been “canoodling!” In any event, the announcement came as quite a surprise to me and I was very excited to once again see a couple of l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶a̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶p̶o̶t̶a̶t̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶l̶e̶g̶s̶ tiny hoglets in the exhibit. The first week or so that they were out of the back room, the area around the exhibit was off-limits to the public so I had to stand patiently at the top of the stairs beside the pygmy hippos and grab a couple of long shots when they popped briefly into view. The photo here was taken on the first day they were out; when I went home to look at it enlarged on the computer, I immediately noticed something different about these two babies from the shots I had taken of Hazel and Ginger when they were brand-new. Can you spot it? Look closely just below their eyes at the top of their muzzles. (You might have to click on the photo and zoom in.) See the tiny bumps there on each of them? Their two sisters didn’t (and won’t) have those bumps, but Philip does. That’s right: these two are boys! it was pretty exciting to work that out from just the first picture I took.

I saw them from a distance a couple of times and then it was time for me to get up close and personal. At a day shy of five weeks old, the boys came out into an exhibit that no longer had barriers around the walkways leading up to it, and I made sure to be there. The very first hog I saw was this proud parent:

  Sir Philip Pigglesworth the III, proud Papa

  Shortly after that, Tisa led out her newest brood:

  Mama and the boys

The latest developments among the river hogs

  I stood and watched them for a while, happily snapping away, when all of a sudden I spied something out of the corner of my eye:

  Papa about to be joined by Ginger

  What’s this? Another red river hog arriving on the scene? All six of the family members were going to be living together?? Well, apparently yes: these animals live in large family groups and it was not unusual at all to see the children of different ages getting along with each other, helping the family find cohesion:

  Not my best shot of all six together, but my first shot.

  Here is one last video of the whole family together, taken that first day (the first scene you see is Ginger playing with her two brothers):

      Tisa (L), Ginger (R), and the bros

They’ve been getting along famously ever since. Sometimes the boys play together; sometimes they play with their mom or dad; sometimes they play with their sister(s) with no ill effects. And don’t forget their sisters are not exactly adults yet; sometimes they like to approach mom or dad for some extra nuzzles of their own. And in case all of this isn’t adorable enough already: I’ve heard that Tisa and Philip have been breeding again. The way things have been going the past couple of weeks, this could turn out to be a very interesting spring at the Toronto Zoo – and that’s not even including the arrival of the walruses, whenever that turns out to be. 

  Oh, there’s just one more thing:

    Mama and the boys meet Kindia

    The “Howdy Door” between their exhibit and the pygmy hippos next door has been open most (if not all) of the time, so all six of them have gotten to know Kindia and Penelope quite well. Which is just heart-meltingly cute to watch.

Ok, that’s it for this month – unless the boys get names very early in February, in which case I will edit this post and let everyone know. Next month: a long-time resident of the Toronto Zoo who, while not exactly reclusive, is rather hard to spot unless you are specifically looking for him. Please come on back for that, one day later than normal… because 2020 is a Leap Year! And, as always, thanks for reading. Here are the promised shots of the hog family.

    2020 “HANGING OUT WITH ANIMALS” Calendar – February Story This is a love story, albeit one that did not exactly begin "at first sight." I'm not sure when Philip (full name: "Sir Philip Pigglesworth III") arrived at the Toronto Zoo; I believe he was already on site when I started Volunteer training in the fall of 2012 and the first record I can find of him in our semi-regular issues of the daily Keeper Notes is on May 17, 2014 when he is being trained to step on the scale.

[realfinemood]

Continuing from here! Major story spoilers through chapter 19. 

So important thing I forgot to mention I loved about the team up with Maya chapter: driving along with Maya hanging off the back and cool music playing! It was straight out of a movie and I can’t wait to watch someone actually competent at driving or shooting play through that scene.

On a related note, I do not understand what possessed them to make so many mandatory story missions revolve around not only driving but driving that terrible car. The new big wheel ones are fun! And shoot better! And don’t explode anytime someone looks at them funny! Why do you constantly want me to drive the terrible ones instead??

So anyways. Once we started up the game again Sunday it had moved past the Horrible Monkey Sex Sounds glitch and we could actually progress the game. Got a whole bunch of artifacts from “killing” the lady AI (what even was this mission), assumed we would be able to use artifacts after turning in the mission, was slightly disappointed that that had to wait until after the vault was entered. But I did finally get to experience “the game pretends like you aren’t a Siren for this part where being a Siren is definitely important” in the form of “I am also an AI so I assume I could also solve this problem, but sure let’s shove this random AI we just met into our ship computer.” And now Ice-T is just. On our ship I guess. Yay.

I'm sure there’s a mission or poster that makes a joke of this but I enjoyed that there’s just this random vegan restaurant on Eden-6? I was wondering why there was a vegan decoration you can buy for your rooms. I’m also trying to imagine any person in this universe caring about another living creature this much but hey, first time for everything!

Also in light of all the misgendering “robots/AI don’t have genders in Borderlands except in the ways that they 100% do” I find it super interesting that after finding all of these parts from explicitly male Claptraps, Claptrap immediately switches pronouns for his new friend when a female voice comes out. 

At some point around now I upgraded my spiderant to a countess.... and... well. My ability to RP and pretend she was not a giant bug and therefore horrifying totally flew out the window. Also she started pulling a Deathtrap and just kept standing in one spot instead of actually fighting. I held on as long as I could cause she had the most upgrades but uh. Yeah.  Fun times.

I'm going to be honest with you. Even though I 100% knew Aurelia was going to join the non-Athena Pre-Sequel kids in getting definitely murdered by me (okay technically I guess we killed totally unrelated Jack clones), I did maybe hold out hope that maybe Hammerlock could talk her down. I mean it was a tiny hope but still. (When she told us to tell Hammerlock she’s rich, I was just “???? Is this some weird code?? Surely he knows you’re rich???) I never played her in Pre-Sequel but the impression I got wasn’t that she was evil so much as bored and killing things is a normal hobby on Pandora. And you know, I was prepared to be offended by her calling me a whore but, like. Her reasoning is hard to argue with lbh. 

Love what you’ve done with the place.

Alas. I do take heart in the fact that she told Hammerlock to get out of the way and did not actually kill him when she 100% could have. I will take those crumbs.

Tannis, I need you to stop announcing who all is definitely going to leave in a moment. You’re zero for two now.

A live shot of Fl4k’s favorite show, watching someone’s D&D stats.

In other news I still love Mr. Torgue who either is still working at his company despite being overthrown or someone is doing an A+ impersonation of. 

So this is a weird thing to say, but I really enjoy Tannis’ panicked Siren-talk-image? No serene smiling for her!

Got it in one, Fl4k.

Introducing my 100% least favorite boss fight, weirdly featuring Penn and Teller! Where my pets, including my rakk, became completely useless and you start from scratch if you die, say, four or five times. Fun.

And you can see here the exact moment I started doing some frantic math to figure out when the actual fuck Tannis became a Siren and somehow Jack never noticed during all the torture he did of her?? Has Tannis always worn long sleeves??? The white/purple Angel wings should’ve been a clue but listen, thanks to Steven i just forget all Sirens aren’t green. Needless to say, no, I did not see this coming.

So, important question. 

DO PEOPLE STILL LIVE ON ELPIS? Did Athena and Janey move to Pandora after Tales?? Is Pickle okay?? Nurse Nina??? I need answers, damnit game!

So okay, can I just say, all the comments about how oh there’s totally no real emotion or heart in this game are just laughable to me, if for no other reason than this. The second Lilith said Ava was coming with us to go fight the twins I very loudly yelled “WHAT NO!” and apparently panicked to the point where this is the one story part that not only do I not have caps of this part but I fucked up the video as well. Which does sadly mean I don’t have a record of Fl4k being on board plan A, Lilith pointing out that plan B was a suicide mission, to which they immediately went “A suicide mission you say?? :D :D :D”

I can’t believe the “this is the edge of the map, there’s no game out here, back the fuck off” turrets became an actual plot point.

So real talk, the funniest thing in the world to me is that the first round of hotfixes "removed pain sounds from Troy for his boss fight” because oh my god. The entire fight was just me going “die with some goddamn dignity my dude” as he tried to prove how much of a big scary siren he was by using his sister like a battery while screaming his head off. Like he’s the first person whose ever been on fire in this game, gosh.

My girl’s all grown up and looking amazing <3! 

Look at these definitely dead villains! I’m a little sad that Tyreen got killed off basically off screen and by a dude trying to force himself into a woman’s space but-

uh

[bloojayoolie]

Being Alone, Andrew Bogut, and Animals: picture perrect say cheese @manhattan acc waiting 4 LOVE PLAY GROUP GREETER DOG Coca Cola Good looking, social, sweet, housetrained, lived in harmony with a small child &3 other dogs - Rocked his behavior evaluation **** TO BE KILLED - 9/18/2018 **** PLAY GROUP GREETER DOG, COCA COLA, HAS EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE SITTING PRETTY IN A LOVING NEW HOME, NOT SITTING ON DEATH ROW WAITING TO DIE. :'( Please help share this winner for a second chance. A Volunteer Says: This Gentle Giant was a pleasure to walk! We passed several other dogs that he showed polite interest in but kept on his way. On our walk through the park, we took a break and I sat on a bench. He immediately came over to me for the mandatory butt scratch, and although it is not encouraged...dare I say it...he gave me several affectionate kisses! He is attentive and a good walker. His one objection was going back in his kennel at the shelter, but who could blame him! He'll feel much more comfortable in his new home....maybe Yours! COCA COLA@MANHATTAN ACC Hello, my name is Coca Cola My animal id is #41327 I am a male white dog at the Manhattan Animal Care Center The shelter thinks I am about 6 years old, 75 lbs Came into shelter as owner surrender Sept. 12, 2018 Reason Stated: MOVING - No Pets Allowed Coca Cola is at risk due to medical condition. He has been diagnosed with Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex, which is contagious to other dogs. He would be suitable for any adopter prepared to manage his care for recovery which will likely just be a course of antibiotics. My medical notes are... Weight: 75.8 lbs Vet Notes L V T Notes 13/09/2018 [DVM Intake] DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 6 Microchip noted on Intake? n Microchip Number (If Applicable): n History : OS Subjective: BARH Observed Behavior - hesitant, timid Evidence of Cruelty seen - n Evidence of Trauma seen - n Objective T = - P = wnl R = wnl BCS5/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears waxy yellow debris/pruritus, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: mild calculus on canines PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: INTACT MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: externally normal Assessment - Grade 3/6 Heart Murmur - Mild Otitis Externa Prognosis: Good Plan Cleaned ears Momentamax AU SID for 7 days Permanent waiver due to a HM 16/09/2018 Hx: Vomited on 9/15 and today S: At front of kennel, barking and wagging tail O: Mild serous nasal discharge A: CIRDC likely P: Move to isolation -Doxycycline 325 mg PO SID x14 days -Enrofloxacin 136 mg tabs, 2.5 tabs PO SID x14 days -Cerenia 60 mg PO SID x4 days 1088 Details on my behavior are... Behavior Condition: 2. Blue Behavior History Behavior Assessment Coke took treats from hand and sniffed me. Coke pulls hard on leash, will not follow on leash, and became stiff bodied when it was time to walk him to his kennel. Owner had to walk with Coke, into the dog area and also had to focus him to sit down for a photo. Date of Intake: 9/12/2018 Basic Information:: Coke is a large mixed breed 6 year old male, unaltered. Owner had Coke since he was a 3 week old puppy. Owner needed to surrender because he is moving upstate where they do not allow pets in the home. Coke has callous on his back legs. Owner stated that was due to an allergic reaction caused by bleach. The owner purchased ointment for his skin irritation but has not received recent vet care. Previously lived with:: 1 Adult 3 dogs 1 Child How is this dog around strangers?: Coke is friendly/outgoing with strangers. Owner stated Coke loves women and will allow women to pet and greet him. How is this dog around children?: Coke lived/spent time with a 4 year old child. Coke is friendly and allows to be petted. How is this dog around other dogs?: Coke lived/spent time with three dogs. One out of the three dogs was a large mixed breed and the other two were small mixed breed. The large mixed breed is 6 years old and the other two dogs were 4 and 5 years old. Coke and the other dogs played together with respect. How is this dog around cats?: No cats in previous home. Resource guarding:: Coke is not bothered when owner touches food bowl while eating. He is also not bothered when owner takes away bones, toys or treats. Bite history:: Coke did not bite or scratch a person or animal in previous home. Housetrained:: Yes Energy level/descriptors:: Medium, alert Other Notes:: Coke loves baths and loves playing in water. Coke is not bothered when owner grooms him or touches his feet. Coke also enjoys water bottles. Coke is more relaxed when given a plastic water bottle to chew on. Coke is also very alert and becomes this way when his owner says "watch it". Coke is more focused on his surroundings and will protect his owner if needed. Has this dog ever had any medical issues?: Yes Medical Notes: Coke has callous on his back legs. Owner stated that was due to an allergic reaction caused by bleach. The owner purchased ointment for his skin irritation but has not received recent vet care. For a New Family to Know: Coke is friendly, affectionate and playful. Coke is alert and has a medium energy level. Coke is more relaxed when given a plastic water bottle to chew on. Coke is also very alert and becomes this way when his owner says "watch it". Coke is more focused on his surroundings and will protect his owner if needed. Coke also likes basketballs or balls made from rubber. Coke is an indoor dog and is house trained. Coke is trained to use the bathroom outside and rarely has accidents. Coke was fed Pedigree dry food only, twice a day. Coke is well behaved when he is alone and will sleep most of the time. Coke knows commands such as sit, come, down, stay and still learning paw. Owner took Coke out for long slow walks and Coke will pull on the leash very hard. If Coke is ever taken off the leash, Coke will remain by owners side. Date of intake:: 9/12/2018 Spay/Neuter status:: No Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 6 years) Previously lived with:: An adult, and a child (age 4), and 3 dogs Behavior toward strangers:: Friendly and outgoing Behavior toward children:: Friendly Behavior toward dogs:: Playful and respectful Resource guarding:: None reported Bite history:: None reported Housetrained:: Yes Energy level/descriptors:: Coca Cola is described as friendly, affectionate, and playful with a medium level of activity. Date of assessment:: 9/13/2018 Look:: 1. Dog's eyes are averted, ears are back, tail is down, relaxed body posture. Dog allows head to be held loosely in Assessor's cupped hands. Sensitivity:: 1. Dog stands still and accepts the touch, eyes are averted, and tail is in neutral position with a relaxed body posture. Dog's mouth is likely closed for at least a portion of the assessment item. Tag:: 1. Dog follows at the end of the leash, body soft. Paw squeeze 1:: 1. Dog does not respond at all for three seconds. Eyes are averted and ears are relaxed or back. Paw squeeze 2:: 1. Dog does not respond at all for three seconds. Eyes are averted and ears are relaxed or back. Flank squeeze 1:: Item not conducted Flank squeeze 2:: Item not conducted Toy:: 1. Minimal interest in toy, dog may smell or lick, then turns away. Summary:: Coca Cola approached the assessor with a soft body. He was social during the assessment, allowed all handling, and displayed no concerning behaviors. Summary:: *PLAY GROUP GREETER DOG* The previous owner of Coca Cola reports that he is "playful and respectful" around other dogs. Coca Cola has displayed social, appropriate behavior when introduced to male and female dogs in the care center, and has engaged in appropriate play. Summary (1):: 9/13: When introduced off leash to the female greeter dog, Coca Cola initially ignores approach. He eventually follows and sniffs. Summary (2):: 9/14: Coca Cola offers a brief sniff to the helper dog and wanders the pen. Summary (3):: 9/15-16: Coca Cola engages in some soft bouncy play with male and female dogs. He is soft and social with all dogs. Date of intake:: 9/12/2018 Summary:: Tense, would not walk on leash Date of initial:: 9/13/2018 Summary:: Timid, hesitant ENERGY LEVEL:: Coca Cola is described as having a medium level of activity. IN SHELTER OBSERVATIONS:: Though he presents to be a challenge when returning him to his kennel, Coca Cola remains calm and social with handlers outside of his kennel. He will engage with his care takers, taking treats and soliciting attention. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: AVERAGE (suitable for an adopter with an average amount of dog experience) Behavior Asilomar: H - Healthy * TO FOSTER OR ADOPT * If you would like to adopt a dog on our “To Be Killed” list, and you CAN get to the shelter in person to complete the adoption process *within 48 hours of reserve*, you can reserve the dog online until noon on the day they are scheduled to die. We have provided the Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan information below. Adoption hours at these facilities is Noon – 8:00 p.m. (6:30 on weekends) HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) nycacc.org HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications. Shelter contact information Phone number (212) 788-4000 Email adoption@nycacc.org Shelter Addresses: Brooklyn Shelter: 2336 Linden Boulevard Brooklyn, NY 11208 Manhattan Shelter: 326 East 110 St. New York, NY 10029 Staten Island Shelter: 3139 Veterans Road West Staten Island, NY 10309 Available Animals Thank you for your interest in adopting from Animal Care Centers of NYC. Our At Risk List is posted each day (except Saturday) at 6:00PM and remains viewable until 12:00PM noon the following day. newhope.shelterbuddy.com