#general prelim

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Propaganda for General Prelim Poll 4

(Vote here)

Griseo (Honkai Impact 3rd) :

"Her name is derived from a medieval Latin word meaning Gray"

Blacksad (Blacksad) :

No propaganda yet

Gray (B-Daman) :

No propaganda yet

Asmar (Azur & Asmar : The Princes' Quest) :

Asmar is an Arabic name meaning brown

Red Mage (Everhood) :

No propaganda yet

Cole Bucket/Brookstone a.k.a. Earth Ninja a.k.a Black Ninja (Ninjago) :

"The name Cole translates to "swarthy, coal black" and yes his mother absolutely named him that as a pun on Coal because he's the Elemental Master of Earth and can control it. He got turned into a ghost for a while but was fine after (had a scar that was a rift to the afterlife on his face for a bit that still appears when he turns his arms into lava), has two nickels for every time he fell from an absurdly large height that should have killed him, uses a scythe (and now a hammer), loves cake, ran away from dance school to climb mountains in his grief (then became a ninja), came out to his dad as a ninja in the most LGBTQSIA+ coded scene ever, and is overall a super funky guy"

Lloyd Irving (Tales of Symphonia) :

"Lloyd comes from the Welsh word for gray"

Violet (The Walking Dead game) :

"Violet is one of our first official love interests for our main character, Clementine! She's a lesbian, and has a past girlfriend, Minnie, who is no longer part of the group. Violet takes over the leader position when necessary, and is always on Clementine's side. (im trying to keep this spoiler free lmao) "

Black Star (Soul Eater) :

No propaganda yet

[fjordfolk]

there's something to be said about this trend of doing prelim hip screening on very young dogs and freaking out when they look kinda meh

there's a whole bunch of other somethings to be said about vets apparently bringing up FHO as an option based on those prelims??

[a-luran]

I would love to know how you chose your name! Please do share

ksksksk hello rainbow! With this I will finally beat the hetalia accusations and will be able to resume my honourable life, writing smut.

I accidentally named myself after a leather tag on a pair of fuzzy pink novelty socks that I bought after a hike through Picos during which my worn in black converse were so wet with snow that I lost sensation in all my toes. This was incidentally less than 24 hours after I pulled a 32 hour no-sleep stint and travelled from Scotland to Spain (where i climbed up the aforementioned Picos de Europa National Park in my converse although admittedly i also rode the cable car up most of the way). During this 32 hour no sleep stint I had a half-hallucinatory but also deeply reflective experience standing in front of a triptych in the Guggenheim titled something like a Christ allegory. in the span of those 32 hours I also crossed from one autonomous region to another, learned about an eviscerating family secret and also stepped foot near my grandmother's home town unawares of the fact that she would die three months later, followed by another three family tragedies.

Some years later, I thought about naming myself something with the same general vibes as 'Armand'; shortly thereafter i chose Antonio. It was the most correct choice. One night i was wearing my fuzzy pink socks in the middle of the pandemic and realised that they have small leather tags with 'Antonio' printed on them. i laughed in my dark empty flat and told some of my very dear friends on Telegram. I choose to keep the male form of my deadname as a second given name because men in my family have compound names and I like the way it sounds. i go mostly by my first name.

One day, a friend asks if I named myself after Antonio from Hetalia.

Some months after that, I'm watching WWDITS with a friend and we crack up when Guillermo explains how much he loved Armand from VC; they show him in his wee costume and my friend asks teasingly if i named myself after Antonio Banderas because Armand sounds out of place in the modern world. I open my mouth to defend myself but it is too late, she is already laughing.

The truth is that I simply chose Antonio because i liked it. San Antonio is the patron saint of lost things and impossible love.

[articleandverse]

[cbsesamplepapersblog]

Master the General Studies portion of the UPSC CSE with a comprehensive manual designed for the 2024 exam. Learn what to look for in a study guide and how Oswaal Books can help you succeed.

[onlinebpsccoaching]

Check 68th BPSC GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2 Analysis

This video aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the paper, highlighting the key areas, topics, and recommended preparation strategies. The 68th BPSC General Studies Paper 2 is a crucial examination that tests the candidates' knowledge and understanding of various subjects related to the state of Bihar.

[eudaimaniacs]

Imagine Hugh presenting (soft-launching) you as his girlfriend to the paparazzi.

word count: 1.3k words

warning/s: age-gap relationship, paparazzi being annoying, and other things i forgot about.

notes: it's been almost a week since i didn't post an imagine and i also turned off my notifications here. i have upcoming prelims and it's been stressing me out. i decided to write fluff since i feel like i have been writing smut too much. also, i inserted my crochet hobby in this. enjoy reading!

You were a rising movie actress and happened to meet Hugh at a party. The two of you immediately hit it off and began to date secretly. Unfortunately, some of your friends found the relationship weird as there was a significant age gap, and Hugh had been divorced. You heard their criticisms and assured them that the partnership was fair despite the age difference.

While the comments of your circle can be minimized, the general public can’t be. Although social media embraced the thought of age-gap relationships, it can be scrutinized if there is a power imbalance, what age the younger one started dating the older one, etc. However, you didn’t feel that with Hugh. He was caring and understanding and didn’t manipulate or make you feel like a child. Hugh wanted to launch the relationship because he wanted to be comfortable when discussing the status of his love life in the interviews. Although you loved his enthusiasm to show you off, you were worried about the attacks you would receive when the secret was out. Hugh’s fanbase might start nitpicking about your life, news outlets criticizing the age difference, etc. Your partner was dismayed to hear your nervousness about showing off the love you two had for each other but understood how your reputation could be tarnished early in your career.

One day, Hugh planned a picnic at a New York park after finishing filming your new film. You wore something plain and safer than you usually would wear when going outside. You rode the train to the destination and saw Hugh laying out the picnic blanket and the food.

“There you are, darling. How are you?” Hugh kissed and hugged your waist. You snuggled in his chest and giggled about how good your mood was today.

“Can’t wait to have my first New York picnic with you, Hugh,” you cheered wide-eyed as you sat down to eat. The older man chuckled and passed you some of the food he prepared. The two of you caught up on anything like the film you’re doing, Hugh’s press tour, any gossip, and many more. The joy of having a picnic with an older man, acknowledging that you’re a woman, was indescribable. Hugh listened to your thoughts, admired how you spoke, laughed at your jokes, and matched your energy. His green, hazel eyes reflected the sun’s glow, and the creases that formed at the corner whenever he smiled or laughed made you love him even more.

After the picnic, the two of you went downtown to run some errands. You looked at every corner, hoping that a silhouette of a photographer wouldn’t appear. The change in energy didn’t go unnoticed, as Hugh reassured you that no paparazzi would be there. You smiled and passionately kissed him at the store’s corner.

You decided to buy some yarn to get back to your crochet. You wanted Hugh to wait in the car, but he wanted to help you. The two of you go inside, occasionally taking pictures, and Hugh is in awe of the yarn selection. You laughed at how many yarns you decided to buy and apologized to Hugh about your addiction. He kissed your forehead and complimented how unique and cool your hobby was. As Hugh puts the bags in the car trunk, at instinct, you immediately feel the flash of a camera. The dread of getting caught with the man you love during a great day made you want to crawl into your hole and disappear. You hear the paparazzi’s invasive questions and try your best to ignore them. You wanted to run away and tell Hugh you’ll meet him again at his house. However, you knew that the paparazzi already had pictures of the two of you as soon as both of you got out of the shop. Maybe they even had more pictures than you realized.

You kept a straight face and greeted the photographer with the fakest smile you could put on. You dodged the question of whether you and Hugh were official as he revealed that there was a rumor about the two of you dating. The man looked punchable; however, you knew that they had to make a living by following celebrities and making news with the photos they took. Conversely, you hoped they would get the message and respect a famous person’s boundaries, especially when trying to live an everyday life for once.

“Let’s go, sweets.” Hugh’s deep voice breaks the awkward conversation between you and the photographer. You stared at his beautiful eyes to seek comfort and escape from this feeling. Hugh noticed your shaky smile and the stare that said you wanted to drive off from that moment. As much as he tried to show the world the relationship, Hugh didn’t like your feelings hurt if you were not ready to tell them about your love for him.

He greeted the photographer and made his way towards you. You held Hugh’s hand and squeezed it hard. His touch comforts the anxiety and anger rising inside of you. You leaned on his chest as Hugh and the photographer continued to converse.

“So, are you two dating? I mean, I have to hear it from the two of you,” the man interrogated, excited to finally confirm the rumors. Hugh awkwardly laughed and looked at you for a green light to say something. He wanted to say yes; however, with your shaken aura, he had to subsidize his eagerness to confirm the relationship finally. Trying to process that the paparazzi were miles ahead of you, you slowly squeezed Hugh’s hand and gave a slight nod.

“The secret is out; me and [Y/N] are dating! You got the two of us on a great day,” Hugh chuckled as he kissed your forehead. You nervously giggled as you snuggled on his chest, not wanting to look at the photographer. The man remarked how great it was and started to show some of the photos he had taken of the two of you earlier that day.

You looked up to Hugh and wanted to say that you weren’t ready for the photos to be released. The older man rubbed your back and kissed your forehead. Hugh wanted you to be fully prepared to launch the relationship, and with this man breaking the progress, you had angered him.

“Sorry, mate, but my lady here isn’t yet ready for the world to know. I hope you understand that we may want the pictures not to be released for now,” Hugh explained, trying to alleviate the situation. The photographer frowned and expressed disappointment in not letting this new gossip out to the world.

“I’m s-sorry if I’m not prepared for our relationship to be out, but I’m still scared about the reception I’m going to get,” you whispered and tried to plead with the photographer to keep it in the vaults for some time. You knew it was hard to persuade the paparazzi not to release something unless you were a powerful celebrity. However, you had hope that this man was different.

Hugh stood his ground and offered something, “How about this? When we decide to share the relationship news, you’ll share the pictures and have a better article about it. You’re the first photographer to capture us in public, so keep the photos first and release them when the time is right.” You slowly look at the photographer, who now has a softer gaze and relented about releasing the pictures immediately. You smiled and thanked him for accepting Hugh’s condition, assuring the photographer that it wouldn’t be long until you and Hugh shared the news.

As the three of you started parting ways, Hugh asked the man if he could take another picture. The photographer smiled as he knew what was going to happen.

Hugh pressed his lips against yours as you heard the camera’s flash crack. You smile as you deepen the kiss. The photographer took more pictures as the two of you broke the kiss. You weren’t yet ready to share your relationship with Hugh; however, you were getting used to Hugh showing you off and the pictures of the two of you in love being captured.

eudaimaniacs - 2024

[occamstfs]

Ni Hao!NYC

Morally conflicted journalist puts off questions of ethics until it's just too late. Finally assigned to put his name next inflammatory content Sam finds himself more than appreciating Chinese culture.

Various white to Asian Muscle growth and racial change ahead!

Like many, I saw the final pictures on twitter and had to do something with them haha! Ended up with a piece just a tad different than usual! Hope you all enjoy! -Occam

Samuel Johnston knew he worked for a rag but as long as the checks cashed he could afford to mute his conscience. They made money not from sales so much as some rightwing think tank who wants their views affirmed in any way they can get it. So he lays low and pens little puff pieces, avoiding anything too controversial and introduces himself as an accountant to anyone he cares enough to lie to.

He’s quite adept at staying out of sight and mind when it comes to the doling out of any especially charged or problematic issues. Making sure to bury his own work any chance he gets, even using a pen name in case someone accidentally stumbles on his writing. It’s gone well enough so far he thinks! Sam tells himself that really working for NY:Red isn’t that bad, surely it’s even good that he’s got the job rather than anyone who believes the shit they write. Right?

No job is without its problems, he tells himself. So far he’s done a commendable job keeping his nose down with an almost supernatural ability to duck away from bigwigs or management. That is until now as he’s summoned by name to his boss’ side. His proficiency at staying off the radar of management has kept him from a one on one with the man in charge for some time, but now he is sitting on the top floor outside of Mr. Howard’s office, surely waiting to be assigned some horrible project.

“Come in!” Sam hears the surly man shout before promptly stepping into the gaudy office. He’s immediately taken aback as somehow the editor looks almost younger than he does in the many pictures Sam has seen. Sam hides his shock at the man’s jet black hair as well as he hides the general fear and disdain that begins to send adrenaline pumping towards his mind. Mr. Howard doesn't notice at least, getting straight to business, “I can tell from yer writing that ya like the city Sam, can I call ya Sam?”

Samuel opens his mouth to reply but the chief just continues on, “Anyway I love all yer little toilet paper stories but how do ya wanna write with the big leagues?” This time Samuel stays strong and gets a word in before being steamrolled again, “Actually I-” “I’m puttin’ you on the most important case we have Sam. Surely ya’ve noticed all this, what's da word, influx? Invasion? Bah. All the Asian shit that’s startin’ ta creep in on our city’s culture!” Samuel makes an awkward face as despite knowingly working for the racist, it’s different to hear the words out loud.

He holds his tongue out of shock or fear and his boss continues on his diatribe, “The last couple a schmucks I had on the beat just up’n left me high and dry can ya believe it! Old friends I thought!” He grumbles as he scratches his chin, moving away his hand it seems his beard thinned? He shakes his head in irritation and Sam would swear he saw his jowls tighten and wrinkles smooth over. “Anyway kid. Go out and do some prelim research. Have something on my desk by Friday or yer out just like those galoots!” Samuel stands for a second unsure if he’s allowed to leave before his boss looks up to glare with eyes Sam would’ve sworn were blue when he walked in.

Sam rushes out the door and to the elevator, riding it back to his floor, debating between writing a preemptive resignation or keeping mum and keeping on payroll for one last week. Profiteering from a culture war he may be but he’s not about to regurgitate genuinely racist talking points. He taps his foot impatiently as he thinks about just how cushy this gig is though. “Fuck!” He decides to call the only other confirmed decent human being he knows here, his friend Nick who works in the fashion dept.

The two go to grab coffee at a chain next door, Sam tries not to notice how they’ve started selling Vietnamese iced coffee. “Fuck man I can’t do it! Literally just one conversation alone with Howard was a wake up call.” Nick smiles like he has no problems with working for the dirtiest rag in the city, “Chill out Sam. Huward had my manager on the same beat and he, uh, Hidaka said that is said to just look busy for a bit and we won’t need to worry about all this racist shit anymore.” Sam squints his eyes at his friend, he’s not usually so easy breezy about work. He also racks his brain trying to figure out who Hidaka could possibly be. That can’t be his boss. No way Howard would let someone not white lead a department.

Seeing Sam lost in thought Nick reaches out and grabs his hand in a way Sam couldn’t imagine him doing before this second. In fact as the second drags on he stares down in the hand in shock, feeling the warm hand squeeze his forearm. He looks up to his friend’s face searching for any clue to the cause of this odd behavior. Sam smiles awkwardly and half-jokes “Hah hah, uh- Who are you and what’d you do with Nick… Hah.” Nick bursts out laughing, patting him on the arm jovially and leaving a hand larger than Sam remembers resting on his own. “Hidaka-san just showed me how to worry less about this job un?”

Sam inspects him closely for anything amiss, it looks like he’s picked up a bit of a tan? His hair is messier than usual and definitely a little darker, his skin is alluringly smooth and Sam can feel the heat his body is generating despite sitting across from him. Looking at his clothes Sam finds another surprise, his shirt almost looks strained! As if Nick has been hitting the gym for sometime, maybe it’s just been a while since he’s seen his friend in person? 

Assuaged in the slightest, Sam ignores the glowering red flags and follows this lede, “Woah Nick have you been working out?” Nick blushes and Sam at the very least sees his friend is as shy as ever. He goes to scratch the back of his head straining his shirt almost to its ripping point as he responds, “Ah a little haha! どうぞ(please) don’t you worry about me. Since you have no desire to write the article, why don’t you go ahead and check out the little Asian market down the street for fun? It was quite a good time when Hidaka-san brought me earlier this week!”

Sam awkwardly smiles as he wonders why on Earth Sam is suddenly referring to his boss like this, it’s almost like he’s performatively speaking Japanese. Taking a second to pause Sam looks at the haircut as hands unseen style it into something fashionable he puts two and two together. Thinking to himself, ah! Nick must just be a weeb! Tension disappears from his body with a sigh of relief as he wonders how he didn’t notice before now. He gets up to follow his friend’s advice, what better way to stick it to the man than support the people he aims to malign right?

He bucks up and grabs a Vietnamese iced coffee for the road, tossing a “Sayonara,” at Nick with a wink to which he perks up and slightly bows. Man, how did he not notice before Sam thinks yet again. Blissfully unaware, leaving just as kanji symbols appear on Nick’s keyboard and his friend responds to an email in a language he didn’t know this morning. Blue eyes growing coal dark as his tanned, increasingly muscular arms tap away at the keyboard.

Sam spends the bulk of his day at the little Asian street fair and has an absolute blast. Any residual stains on his mind from his unpleasant morning absolutely fade away as he goes from booth to booth sampling cuisine and chatting with diasporic cultures the world over. Time flies as he goes into journalist mode and basically interviews first gen Chinese immigrants about their time in the city. He finds himself beyond immersed in the conversation, continuing to learn from the couple as the tables around them begin to pack up for the day. 

He offers to help the older couple pack up and they happily take the aid, striking him bashful as they talk of what a sweet young man he is. “Wa! 哇强 (strong) Too!” The wife chuckles as she jokingly feels his less than impressive arms. He was having a better time at this little fair than he ever could’ve imagined, enough so that he thinks about going to stick it to Huaward then and there. Huaward? Whatever. His mind slightly off put by whatever that was, in an uncharacteristic act of transparency, Sam lets it slip that he works for NY:Red. The expressions on the kind couple’s faces immediately sour and Sam is quite shocked that they even know what the paper is.

There is a glint in the husband’s eyes as he starts to motion Sam away from any further aid, “谢谢 (Thank you) for your help, Sam. There have been a few, hm, bad men wandering around from that paper and I uh-” He looks around his table and grabs some miijiu they hadn’t put away yet. His wife nods, her face somewhere between rueful and hopeful as she watches her husband offer Sam the glass. “Again, 谢谢, er thank you for your help young man, enjoy this for the road 好的? (Yeah?)” The two turn to each other and begin talking to each other in mandarin alone and Sam takes the hint.

Kicking himself that he fumbled the capstone on such a pleasant afternoon, though finding solace in the rice wine he’s walking away with. He is blissfully unaware as the couple watch him drink and head down the street debating if everyone from that paper really is an asshole. Grimacing as they think about the vitriol spewed at them by NY:Red readers they decide they had no other recourse. Pleasant as he seemed Sam was consciously working on the side of hate and that could not be simply overlooked.

Sam quite enjoyed the rice wine the couple left him with, it immediately smooths over any lasting regret or concern about his interaction with the couple. They don’t know anything about him! He’s nothing like his other coworkers. It feels as if he’s had far more to drink than the small container they left him with should allow, but every time he looks down there always seems to be more mijiu to entice him. It would be impolite not to finish their gift he thinks; his confident stride quickly shifting to a stumble as he wanders home. 

His phone goes off as he gets an email from his boss, Mr. Huang?  Can’t be right. He squints at the email, deciding he must really have overdone it on the mijiu and stuffing his phone back in his pocket. Beyond the obvious difficulties in ambulation being drunk, Sam is unable to notice as his proportions slowly begin to shift. His ever-so lanky body begins to feel dull and heavy as the warmth of the wine fills his chest to capacity and then some as he leans against his apartment door, wiping his feet on an unfamiliar doormat. 

He kicks his shoes off by the door on some new instinct and immediately goes to collapse on the couch. His small sofa creaking as he puts more than his usual dead weight on it. His legs that usually hang off the end lengthen even further as his thighs grow meatier. Pecs press into the cushions as he snores. He is swiftly ushered into an unfamiliar dreamscape, the jubilee of the fair and the bewildering amount of wine he drank produce a vivid carnival of culture in his subconscious.

He sees the old couple at their stand and begins to speak with them in their mother tongue, seeing the delight as a load is taken off their shoulders. His dreamself seamlessly conversing with a fluency unearned. Sam stirs in the waking world as his mind existentially changes to match his morphing body. His blond hair grows thin and longer as its tint stains darker. Twitching in REM the green eyes that he prides himself on speckle with brown before they are entirely overtaken, becoming a rich cacao like the thick eyebrows framing them.

The discomfort of a new language forcing itself into this memory begins to wane as he prides himself on how fluent he is in both Chinese and English. His hand goes to scratch his pecs and he smirks in his sleep as they pulse larger, knowing pride is not the only thing surging within him. At the edges of his mind he feels the memory of learning a language, words written on a blackboard in chalk, English and Chinese both. For the life of him he cannot recall which of the two he’s learning second. An alarm set on his phone blares and he jolts awake to get ready for work.

Throwing on a shirt, Sam freezes as he sees his reflection. Hundreds of little questions seize his mind, those aren’t his eyes are they? Did he dye his hair last night? Are those abs? God his arms look good don’t they!? As they race through his mind and grow rampant they fixate on how attractive he suddenly feels. Rubbing his pecs and feeling them bounce he cries out to himself, “该死！Uhhh, Damn I look good!” He poses in the mirror and takes in every new angle of his powerful body. Taking note as his body hair seems thinner, and decidedly darker wherever it remains. He looks close at his pit seeing his once dense bush of curly hair thin out and straighten, before the memory of even having dense body hair is washed from his mind.

His phone goes off again and his work is immediately brought to the forefront of his mind. “Fuck I didn’t read Huang’s message!” He finds email after email from his boss, only the first few mention the wretched assignment they last talked about. Sam’s eyes widen as he continues to skim through the emails as the topic lines quickly show some drastic re-prioritization from his boss. Only then does he realize that he’s been reading his boss’ name as Huang. His boss is white. Rather his boss’ whole identity is based around being white! Huang isn’t, right? Incredibly he clicks the last email, subject line Vacation, and is immediately greeted with a mouth watering picture of a powerful man. Everything comes to a stop as he can’t help but gawk at this man’s body.

Ni Hao Sanuel- take the day off shi de? Still only half dressed Sam balks at just how bizarre this is, rereading the name Sanuel he is thrown for a loop as his mind reconfigures this. Tearing his eyes from the man’s torso he finally looks at the cocky face and sees a thread he recognizes,  “天啊! (Holy Shit!) That’s Mr. Huang!” He shuts his mouth before he drools like a dog at his boss’ arms. God, this is unlike him though right? He tries to dig through his memories of the editor in chief as the caustic racist he was yesterday, but with each uncovered the image of Huang changes as this dreamboat playboy overrides more of what was.

Sanuel readies to just stay in for this day of assigned vacation before he gets another notification, this time from his friend, Nobu? An image of Nick flashes through his mind, a handprint burns on his arm, and the taste of Vietnamese coffee dances on his lips. “Meet me on the boardwalk うん？” Sanuel rolls his eyes at his friend tacking on Japanese like that, willing his mind not to think about how his friend’s contact ID now says Nobu. Must be one of those, uh, his own thoughts trail off as he successfully abandons concern to head to meet his friend.

Nearing the meeting spot he looks for his usually cleancut friend, the only body present however is a massive Japanese man awkwardly flexing at himself in a reflective surface. Sanuel shyly speaks up, “Ni Ha-, uh Hey? Have you seen a guy named Nick around here?” The apparent bodybuilder beams and goes to engulf Sanuel in a hug shouting, “Oi! Shan! took ya long enough!” His eye twitches hearing the name, as this man effortlessly lifts him off his feet in a hug far too intimate for colleagues, and certainly from whoever this stranger is!

Shan pushes against the massive man, his body heat broiling him on this already warm day. He strains his eyes looking at the man grabbing him and suddenly it hits him, “Nobu?” The man promptly lets him go and pats him on the back with a laugh he would’ve never expected to come from his sheepish friend in the fashion department. “Wanna go have some ice cream or something Shan?” He feels the need to push back against his friend calling him Shan but as he hears it a second time he can’t recognize the names as anything but his own.

Shan pauses as he sees Nobu stop to chat with some Japanese tourists and something about the picture doesn’t sit right. God it’s that talk with Huang getting him all worked up again that,uh, racist? He clutches his head as contradictions between his past and present collide in his head and he slams his eyes shut as he cannot determine what is true about his current reality. Shan falls to the ground with a deep thud, slightly hyperventilating, his body grows larger as he takes deep breaths from the stress.

Hearing him collapse Nobu runs over to help him up, this time with more effort as his friend’s comatose body continues to put on muscle and grow heavier. Still, having the impressive figure he does, Nobu rather easily gets him on a bench and sits next to him, “クソ野郎？(Fuck dude?) You alright?” Shan slowly nods as his friend throws an arm around him. Looking down at his own arms as they pulse with muscle, he feels his eyes strain as the structure of his face begins to change.

Shan's jawline sharpens and his skin smooths. Stubble that has been a cornerstone of hiding his facial blemishes vacates as his hair stains black and flops longer. He feels clarity grace his mind as he stares at large hands on the ends of pale, hairless, muscular arms and he wonders if he is even himself.

He voices these concerns to Nobu who just laughs them off. “Hah! Of course dude, same Shan I’ve always known!” “那- that’s not my name Nobu.” His friend grins shyly in concern for his friend's mind. “It can't be my name. I’m-” grimacing before he continues as it takes everything in his power to speak against the realities in front of him. Memories of a world quite far away, moving to New York long ago, the youngest in a family of Chinese immigrants, “I’m white aren’t I Nobu?” 

Nobu can’t help but laugh again at the beyond bizarre statement. He jokes about Shan hitting his head when he fell. “You’re the most 2nd Gen Chinese わるがき(brat) I know bro! Imma go get us some ice cream while you chill out.” Shan stares at his friend as he abandons him, feeling his eyes tighten as they shift into the monolid eyes that his memories swear he’s always had.

Shan retreats into his mind racing against his changing memories to find a pillar of truth to grasp on. He sees himself at the gym with Nobu, his black mop of hair flicking sweat into the air as he poses with his bro. He sees just yesterday at the Asian fair, helping an elderly couple pack up their table, twitching as he would’ve sworn that went differently. He remembers sitting at the office getting no work done as he plays on his phone, 是的！that’s it! His job. There’s something there, if only he can remember what the problem was there.

He sees Nobu begin walking back with sweet treats, Nobu works at the paper too. Oh 呃/Duh! He smirks as he goes for his wallet to grab a business card. His eyes see the obnoxious red logo he knows before they read text that will send him irrevocably forward, Shun Jiang - Ni Hao!NYC. His body fills with warmth like a machine overworking as his mind races with information about his new reality. Sweat drips from his hair as he can no longer even struggle to recall his claimed existence as a bystander at the vile paper they produced. His brown eyes steep to a dark black as they glaze over.

“Shan-baka! Here’s a popsicle!” Nobu shouts as he returns to his overheated friend who immediately bursts from his stupor. “混蛋!(Asshole!) It’s Shun- thought we were close!” Nobe smirks as he starts to eat his own ice cream. Unable to recall anything too in depth he feels a pause as he wonders what his Japanese friend is doing working for a Chinese newspaper, before he answers it himself. Clearly his subconscious is more at place in whatever new reality he faces. Their paper is for all NYC’s Asian immigrants. Nobu works writing, or more often modeling, for Konnichiwa!NYC! Huang really was a genius for the idea.

Shun smiles, thinking fondly of his boss as he enjoys the short break from the summer heat that Nobu brought him. Back at the headquarters of their paper everything shifts from the rag it was and into a paper connecting the disparate Asian immigrants of the city, printed in any language they can find translators for, Ni Hao, Konnichiwa, Annyeonghaseyo, Namaste!NYC. Each day striving for a better, more inclusive New York City. Shun beams with his new face, no longer burdened with the just concern of his peddling vitriol, instead possessed with a desire to spread his culture far and wide.

———————————————————————————

As I was writing I remembered a similar series by the now gone Dumb-and-Jocked!

If interested do check out Horizon Zero: One, Two, and Three for quite a different take on a journalism themed Racial Change!

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Propaganda for Prelim Poll 21

(Vote here)

Alina Gray (Magia Record) :

No propaganda yet

Esther Backpack-Blueglasses (Solve-It Squad) :

No propaganda yet

Red Green (The Red Green Show) :

"old school classic Canadian comedy, because the idea of this old man fisher / handyman going up against Actual Fandom Characters is HILARIOUS to me. His wife is also named Bernice Green, so a two-for-one"

Shiro (Natsume's Book of Friends) :

"Shiro means white and is a fitting name for this yokai as he is all white."

Green Mage (Everhood) :

"They're silly. They're a little bit (a lotta bit) insane. They have toy cars and a hallway that you have to walk down for literal hours to get to the end to. What's not to love about God's Yoinkiest Sploinker?"

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) :

No propaganda yet

Violet Keene (Hello from the Hallowoods) :

"Violet is one of the leaders of the Scoutpost, the other one being her wife, Bern. They are the survivalist grandmas of the Hallowoods. She speaks 5 languages. She knits. She made socks for Diggory Graves, a seven foot tall Frankenstein's creature (I love Diggory so much they're so cool). She calls her wife Bernie-bear. She is an older queer person and she is happy and in love with Bern. In conclusion: Violet :]"

Pinky (Bug Fables) :

No propaganda yet

Blue Mary (SNK) :

No propaganda yet

[most-tragic-character-tournament]

So,

What a wild ride, everybody.

This tournament went live on July 13th, 3023, and concluded January 1st, 2024. For a long time before, I’d been wondering if I should try my hand at running one of these tournaments, and then I realized we hadn’t had a general tumblr-wide one for tragic characters. I knew that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I decided to bite the bullet and take the URL. The rest is history.

I didn’t have a set plan, but I figured I could take 128 entries. And then in less than a week and a half, I had ~122. And honestly, I wasn’t happy continuing with just those I’d gotten so far, and thought it’d be unfair if it closed that quickly without warning, so I decided to up it to 256 with a max 2 characters per canon after preliminaries. Only after that did I go on a mad search to find brackets that were big enough for that, and I’d almost given up before I finally found these:

Those are all the characters that made it past prelims and into the competition. Some quite unexpected results came out of these matchups, round after round, and honestly I’d consider the first round to have had the most brutal competitions, because I had tried to do the best I could to match levels of popularity with each other, as far as I could tell. (Yeah, that’s why we had c!Tommy v Jon Sims and Primrose v Jinx.). But even eclipsing all of those, as the weeks went on, we were eventually met with Antigone versus Lloyd Garmadon. Ah, those crazy kids.

At some points it was stressful, in the early rounds when I had dozens of posts, each with edited images and alt text, to prepare for every round, but I never regretted starting this. As of posting, this blog has 2,020 followers and has made over 1,000 posts. This will be the last post on this blog—any future asks I receive I will answer privately back to the asker, or cannot be answered if they are anon—but it will always remain here for posterity. The link below is to the similarly-preserved google sheet compiling every word of every submission this tournament ever received.

I’d like to take this chance to say thank you to everyone who submitted characters, supplied photos, sent in propaganda, reblogged the polls, indoctrinated their teachers into greeklitsweep, and everyone who kept good sportsmanship when their blorbos proved so tragic they couldn’t even win. Thank you to the small group of URLs whom I’ve consistently recognized in my inbox from submissions all the way to finals, thank you for letting me know when a name was messed up, and thank you for your patience in-between rounds. (Shoutout to @elemom as well for having their tiktok on the original antigone/lloyd poll blow up.)

If you’ve stumbled upon this blog weeks, months, or even years after this was posted, I would direct your attention to the tag map in the pinned post to sift through the tumblr history you’ve just uncovered. And I would also be tempted to point at the big sign next to it reciting the nuclear zone warning poem. Lastly, if anyone here or there wishes to talk to me about anything regarding the tournament, you’re welcome to DM @twilight-skies.

There were times when I said to myself this was a one-and-done thing—I was NOT dealing with this again, but….keep a look on the horizon, ya never know.

But until next time, it’s been amazing.

Sayonara you weeaboo shits.

[alfalfaaarya]

4 Jan 2025 // Saturday

15 days to finals.

I've started studying for final exam from today, the exam starts on 20th Jan and ends on 11th Feb :')

Today the pharmac prelims result was out, and I achieved my target for Paper 1 , Paper 2 was very bad but my overall score came up because of Paper 1 , pracs were amazing , I scored above my target , this just gave me motivation to do well for finals as well. The results I've got are directly proportional to the work I put in , I studied well for Paper 1 , Paper 2 not so much , and pracs I was prepared and confident.

Coming back to today, I got a lot done .

> Pharmac I studied Antifungal drugs

> Microbiology I completed Fungi from all systems :

General Mycology

Systemic Candida

Systemic Mycoses

Fungi causing skin and soft tissue infections - superficial mycoses, subcutaneous mycoses , opportunistic mycosal infections

Respiratory infections by fungi - pneumoncystis jiroveci , mucormycosis, aspergillosis, penicillinosis.

Fungi causing cns infections- Cryptococcal meningitis .

made flashcards for Lab diagnosis of all of these

Phew.

I think I'm gonna call it a day !

Byeeeee

Keep working hard you guys , it's completely worth it !!

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Prelims - Propaganda Division - Group 2

Propaganda:

Kyouya -

"what's there to say? you know him. you love him. vote kyoya."

Rinnosuke -

"Rinnosuke Morichika lives in an overly-cluttered curio shop, and has a special interest in making magical inventions. Since he doesn’t live in a modern setting— but a pocket dimension slightly disconnected to the outside world— whenever a modern item shows up in his shop via spiriting away, he can obsess over it for extended periods of time. He is quite blunt without realizing it, even to people he cares for. He also has a special ability to generally understand the name and use of any item he touches (though this backfires sometimes, he thought a Gameboy was a doomsday device once)."

Fuuta -

"okay look theres so many fucking signs hes autistic. he cannot tell tone and often doesn't know how to react to stuff which is a major point in his character id say. he was asked if he remembered his victim's name (hes a murderer. oops!) and his response was something along the lines of "Of course I do. I saw it everywhere." because he did not understand that they wanted to know what it was since it wasnt directly stated. im convinced that hoodies are a comfort object of his because i genuinely have not seen him without one except for one time. also hes canonically a chronically online twitter user. also he gets really passionate about his interests. also not really related but everyone in the fandom agrees hes transgender but no one can agree on what way. ive seen every single gender hc for this dude. vote kajiyama fuuta for this sopping wet poor little meow meow of a man."

Hansum -

"He's just a very odd and strange lad, can't remember names well, is an alien (mild spoiler), he's very popular, obsessed with Doritos and becomes their mascot, just refers to everyone as humans which is a mood, and is completely socially oblivious."

Miyuki -

"Relatable neurodivergent-Gifted Child syndromeTM case with all the superiority-inferiority complex that results. A chronic show-off and scheming strategist with a lowkey hopeless romantic dramatic aspect to him, silly cool and pathetic in a very hilarious way. Shirogane has a trademark glare purely thanks to his eyebags as he runs on coffee everyday having to support his family with multiple jobs in addition to class, on top of student council president duties. He's kind and an obsessive perfectionist who fills his entire wall with the weirdest motivational posters. Shirogane is very devoted to his love. He likes penguins (Kaguya and him is peak asd4asd and bi4bi btw)."

Kirito -

"He's autistic and bisexual as hell, and there's a good bit of trans coding in him 🥺

Autism coding: Bro's literally got a sword and swordfighting hyperfixation where, despite playing a game that focuses around guns, he still chooses to use a sword!! We also see him completely missing Asuna's flirting at first (he tells her she could have just checked her friendlist to make sure he was alive, in response to her tracking him down to see him)

Bi coding: Dual wielding swords is literally a euphemism in Japan for bisexuality; and Kirito initially tries to hide the fact he can dual wield out of fear of how the people he's close to will view him (and once he reveals it to them and they accept it, he begins to be more open about it.) Also in the Underworld arc he becomes very close with Eugeo to the point of living with him (and sharing a bed on occasion), and there are several parallels between Eugeo and Asuna, and they're so gay for each other that despite the anime having only a toned down version of it, they're still very affectionate (Also of note is that Eugeo is the only guy in SAO canon to consistently have a 'laying in bed with Kirito' talk CG in the spinoff games) (There's more but it's spoilers and this is a shortened version)

Trans coding: Kirito is very trans coded in the light novel (which shows Kirito's thoughts in much greater detail than the anime) Aincrad arc reveals that Kirito explicitly Does Not Like his real face, and dislikes how feminine it looks (he mentions that its led to him and his cousin being mistaken for sisters) And in Phantom Bullet arc, he's visibly uncomfortable at being mistaken for a girl due to his avatar's appearance, and in response to being misgendered he briefly panics and checks to make sure his chest flat (at least in the anime adaptation) 🏳️‍⚧️"

Shirou -

"Has one goal in life and ignores almost everything in favor of trying to fulfil that goal."

Keith -

"Speaks in a way that is seen as weird and has mannerisms others think is funny. He struggles with not being taken seriously by others because of this and many of the things others say goes over his head. He struggles to connect with other people because of these things. His entire arc in the second film is about him deciding that the people who don't accept him for who he is aren't worth it and that he's going to continue being himself."

Junpei -

"for other fans of this series, I know the more obvious representation here may be Luou, Junpei is So Good. his special interest is ballet and he has so many hangups involving how his family sees him and how other boys his age interpret him to the point that his idea of masculinity is extremely narrow and he enforces social rules on himself to mask and keep people from realizing that he loves something that Isn't Manly. he misinterprets social cues and takes things literally, like assuming that when Miyako asked him to dance with her she meant Right This Minute rather than as a pair in the studio. for some reason the point where he cuts his hair super short to prove his devotion to ballet is also sticking with me, I think maybe it's the combination of the way it's normal for boys/men in Japan to do that, yet Junpei didn't realize that kind of attitude/action didn't suit ballet at all? he wasn't aware that the context was completely different. Junpei also doesn't act or pretend very well, he's gotta put his whole entire ass into his roles, which he then proceeds to get TOO into and cause a lot of trouble, without giving too much away! he's really relatable to me as someone who's socially anxious but very skilled at masking, and seeing him become more comfortable with himself and start to show how he really feels is so inspiring to me."

Kazuma -

"He may be (wildly) misguided but his intentions are good kinda! He’s just the Guy of all time idk how to explain it."

[pokepollsters]

Best Mythical Pokémon Tournament- Stats Breakdown!

And so it's that time again, when us stats nerds can get excited about all the data to come out of the latest tournament.

Mew may be the favourite, but do the numbers tell more of the story? Let's not wait a moment longer and dive right in!

As always, we start with overall stats. This tournament was on the shorter side, a nice change of pace after the previous one! The total number of matches was 29 when including the preliminaries, and 23 without. This puts it as the third shortest tournament when including the prelims, and the second shortest- only beating out the Best Type Tournament- if you don't include them!

With that in mind, it's not surprising that the number of votes was on the lower side as well, with 16,525 votes including the preliminaries and 14,552 without them. The average number of votes per match was 570, but it jumps up to 633 when eliminating the prelims with their lower vote participation.

As with last time, here's a useful graph to show how this tournament compares with the others on these points- and as before, these don't include preliminaries, as not every tournament had them. (This time with a trend line showing how the average is generally increasing across the tournaments!)

Now let's go into each contestant in a bit more detail, only 23 this time, so it's easier to stand out! Starting with average votes per match, here's how they ranked:

Jirachi- 429 (429 votes in 1 match)

Shaymin- 423 (2,114 votes across 5 matches)

Mew- 410 (2,049 votes across 5 matches)

Deoxys- 383 (1,914 votes across 5 matches)

Darkrai- 370 (1,111 votes across 3 matches)

Marshadow- 361 (722 votes across 2 matches)

Celebi- 347 (1,387 votes across 4 matches)

Meloetta- 336 (336 votes in 1 match)

Manaphy- 334 (668 votes across 2 matches)

Diancie- 293 (293 votes in 1 match)

Arceus- 287 (861 votes across 3 matches)

Genesect- 279 (836 votes across 3 matches)

Zeraora- 271 (271 votes in 1 match)

Victini- 264 (264 votes in 1 match)

Meltan- 252 (252 votes in 1 match)

Magearna- 176 (176 votes in 1 match)

Phione- 172 (172 votes in 1 match)

Keldeo- 141 (141 votes in 1 match)

Pecharunt- 139 (139 votes in 1 match)

Hoopa- 124 (124 votes in 1 match)

Volcanion- 119 (119 votes in 1 match)

Melmetal- 118 (118 votes in 1 match)

Zarude- 56 (56 votes in 1 match)

As you can see, our winner, Mew, ends up with bronze when ranked like this! Meanwhile 2nd placed Shaymin stays in place, but loses out to a surprise Jirachi! Could it be that if the Jirachi vs Mew match had swung slightly differently, we could have ended up with a totally different winner? Another notable drop though, our third place contestant, Celebi, dropping all the way to 7th. Seems that its matches didn't quite reach the same popularity as others?

Apart from the top 3, the rest of the upper half did very well, with the top 9 all scoring over 300 votes on average and the top 15 all scoring above 250! Meanwhile, poor Zarude is the only one to not score over 100 votes in a match.

The other way we can rank the contestants is by average vote share- how do they stack up like this? Let's see:

Shaymin- 69.4%

Darkrai- 63.7%

Mew- 60.5%

Marshadow- 59.1%

Celebi- 56.1%

Deoxys- 53.2%

Genesect- 52%

Jirachi- 49.8%

Meloetta- 49.4%

Arceus- 47.5%

Diancie- 46.7%

Victini- 46.3%

Meltan- 45.2%

Zeraora- 44.6%

Manaphy- 44.2%

Magearna- 30.6%

Phione- 28.6%

Keldeo- 27.1%

Volcanion- 23.4%

Pecharunt- 22.1%

Hoopa- 21.8%

Melmetal- 20.4%

Zarude- 8.9%

Once more, Mew slips to third! Meanwhile, Shaymin takes the top spot finally, with Darkrai squeezing in between them. Shaymin's clear sweeps early on in the competition has served it very well here! The top 7 all stay above 50%, with Jirachi just missing out due to not having a win under its belt to boost the average. A very impressive position when that's considered!

Once again, around spot 15 is where the numbers drop off, with all of the ones from there onwards well under 40%. And poor Zarude yet again getting an unfortunate distinction as the only Mythical to not hit double digits in the average.

We have one more graph now, a look at how much of the overall vote share each Mythical got. When combined, our Semi Finalists got over 50% of all votes cast! And when taking out the lowest vote winner of the 4, Celebi, the top 3 still have over 40%!

Last but not least, it's time for individual match stats.

The most voted on match was Round 3: Match 1, Deoxys vs Manaphy! With 1,006 votes, this was the only match to break 4 digits. Following behind was Round 2: Match 8, Mew vs Jirachi. On the other end, the least voted on match was Round 2: Match 4, Genesect vs Volcanion, with 509 votes, followed by Round 2: Match 3, Keldeo vs Shaymin, with only a few more at 520 votes. It seems these were just not the matches people were the most excited for! That is all excluding the preliminaries though, those 6 matches only reached 360 votes at most!

While none of these numbers are record breaking for the blog, this has definitely been the most consistent tournament to date. Not a single match in the main tournament dipped below 500 votes, and as such, the tournament average is higher than all other tournaments except one, as we saw at the top of the post. Great voting, everyone!

When it comes to individual contestants with the most and fewest votes in a single match, the top spot this time goes to Deoxys! Deoxys won 675 votes in the aforementioned Round 3 match against Manaphy. As expected though, the least amount of votes goes to Zarude, being the only Mythical to score less than 100 votes in any match, with just 56 votes in Round 1: Match 2.

Last of all, the margins! The closest match in this tournament was the extremely slim Round 2: Match 8. Mew beat Jirachi by a tiny 0.4%, or only 4 votes! This is tied for the slimmest margin by percentage in the blog's history! Only Round 1: Match 6 of the Best Gym Leader Tournament can match the 0.4% difference.

Finally, I can award the biggest sweep to none other than our second place Mythical- Shaymin! After a very strong showing through all these stats, it gets one more feather in its cap with its 82.2% margin over Zarude in Round 1: Match 2! Congratulations Shaymin!

And that wraps it up! Thank you all so much for reading, and once again thank you for voting and supporting the blog, it means so much to me. See you again soon for another tournament!

[raevenlyreads]

What happens when you ask for a reading?

People have been asking: What is it like to get a reading from you, Raev? A lot of you are just as new to being read for as I am to having a shop front, so I wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit and let yall know what the process of requesting a reading is like. Many thanks to my lovely volunteers for allowing me to share snippets of our conversations.

Preliminary Chats

When a querent reaches out for a reading, we start with a little Q&A, as I help guide my querents to the right spread for them. Doesn’t have to be in real time, though the process does tend to go quicker when we’re both available to chat at the same time. Often, these exchanges involve me helping the querent narrow down what it is they want to know, since they usually come to me with a general idea but not much in the way of specifics. For example:

Querent: My question would be "What is the best way for me to love them", what do you recommend? Me: I think it depends on what kind of love you're trying to give. I think this might be an interesting one for me to read the Revealing Prism for, as it will show 1) something about them 2) something about you 3) something you don't know and 4) a truth you can act on Querent: Mm, love in a general sense I guess? Like, what is the best way for me to show this person I hold them in high regard / care for them etc. not particularly romantic or familial just.. love? Hard to articulate And yeah, okay! Revealing Prism it is then Me: Sounds good! What deck would you like? Querent: The shadowscapes one? Me: shadowscapes was a good choice for this one, it's a very patient and gentle deck. Very loving and nurturing. It will really understand the vibe you're going for, I think. Querent: That's what I'm hoping for yeah <3

Into the Queue

Once we have the question narrowed down, and the spread and deck decided upon, the appropriate commission is purchased and the querent is added to my queue. Usually the turn around is within a few days, no more than a week. I like to try to do my reading as close to the prelim chats as possible, so that the connection is still fresh in my mind.

The Reading Itself

I will spend some time with the chosen deck, asking it the question on behalf of the querent (“[Name] is seeking actionable advice on how to show them they love them. “They” will be the external card, [Name] will be the internal card, help me show [Name] what is Hidden and reveal to us they can act on.”). While I ask, I shuffle. With some decks, this involves rifling the deck like common playing cards. With others (like the oversized Nameless One), I will spread the whole thing out on the table and just shuffle it all around flat. Circle spreads get arranged in a circle (go figure :P), and Above and Below gets shuffled then turned face up as I search for the signifier card. Oftentimes, I’ll know it's time to stop shuffling and begin reading when a card jumps out of my hand, or the deck splits itself neatly in two in my grip, or the cards start sticking to themselves. I lay out the reading, sit with them for a bit to absorb the interpretation, then start snapping pictures.

The Final Product

Once I’m done with the reading it's time for the write up. Each card is interpreted individually, and in the case of multi-card spreads, a synthesis of what they all say together is also written up. For single cards, I tend to drop the image and the interpretation right into our chat. For longer reads, I send a link to your own personalized doc with all the pictures and write ups. You can see samples of those in my kofi Gallery or on my tumblr under the tag #raevs sample reads.

Follow Up

This is my favorite part. I always love to hear what my querents think of their readings, how it impacts the way they think about things, how it opens up their perceptions, the clarity my readings bring. It especially delights me when they come back after some time later, telling me about the ways they saw the factors described in my readings coming to life before their eyes. I love hearing from my querents and would love to hear from you, too! Come talk tarot with me and let's see what the cards hold for you.

Ready to commission a reading of your very own? Check out my ko-fi page!

[flyingwargle]

@bokuakaevents2025's bokuaka week day 1: fukurodani shenanigans

fukurodani academy is one of tokyo's powerhouse schools, a staple at national volleyball tournaments, featured in articles at least once a generation. it isn't uncommon for its graduates to become pros, and every athlete on the team takes their position very seriously.

at least, that's what akaashi thought, until he enters the clubroom with half the team on their hands and knees, scouring every centimeter of the space. "um..."

konoha snaps upwards, whirling around to face him. "akaashi! thank god you're here!"

"well, konoha-san, we have a match today, so..."

"that's not important. help us with this!"

he steps back to lift an eyebrow at sarukui, halfway inside the closet; washio, on top of a chair to search the ceiling; and komi, running his hands across the floor. "with...what?"

"the team banner is missing." washio steps down from his stool with a weary expression. "i am sure you know what that means."

a beat. and then, "bokuto-san."

"onaga is distracting him," komi tells him, "and anahori is with the cheer squad to search the gym and equipment closet. we've got half an hour."

every school with a worthy team has a banner, and fukurodani is no exception. pour all your soul into each ball in black lettering on a white background accompanies them every game, gives them motivation to follow their school's tenet. for them, it's a reminder.

for bokuto, it isn't a proper game without it. "is there any place you haven't looked yet?" akaashi asks, putting his bag down and rolling up his sleeves.

they scour the clubroom, but with such a large and bright banner, it'd be easy to notice. a flurry of footsteps jolts them from their search, the door flying open. "bokuto-san is on the way!" onaga says breathlessly. "yamada-san is slowing him down, but he's coming!"

his teammates curse, scrambling to put everything back in place, pulling on their jackets and bags to leave. "we're doomed," komi mutters. "i can't believe this'll be the first time we won't make it passed the prelims."

"i wouldn't be sure of that, komi-san." akaashi zips his jacket, shoulders his bag at the same time someone approaches from the outside.

"hey, guys! we all ready to go?" bokuto's grin is wide, enthusiastic shout echoing around them. his expression falls when he receives mumbles in reply.

"hello, bokuto-san." akaashi nods at him, watches his golden eyes sparkle. "yes, let's get going. could you check the bus to see if it's ready to leave? we'll follow once we lock the clubroom."

"sure! don't take too long!" he steps back outside, footsteps echoing across the metal stairs.

akaashi shoulders his bag, glances at konoha, who walks beside him. "do you have a plan?" he asks.

"i think i do. for now, please don't say anything about the banner. we want to delay it as long as possible."

komi nods in agreement. "we might find it still."

the team keeps quiet during bus ride, tries to not act differently. bokuto rambles on about some anime he watched, akaashi nodding along. it's a short ride to the venue, and they change into their jerseys, leave their bags and jackets in a heap. they stretch outside until suzumeda tells them to get ready for the match. "let's do this!" bokuto declares, cracking his knuckles. behind him, his teammates exchange nervous looks.

they enter the gym to overwhelming cheers from the cheer squad. bokuto raises his fists as he enters, wide eyes scanning the stands. akaashi watches his eyes widen a fraction, head jerking in a double take, the corners of his mouth falling. he anticipates his name in three...two...one...

"akaashi." bokuto is mournful, confused. "where's our team banner?"

komi puts his hands together in prayer; konoha and sarukui close their eyes. washio shakes his head, onaga watching in stiff silence. akaashi picks off an invisible piece of lint off his sleeve. "it appears to be missing."

"missing? but...but how're we going to play without it? akaashi, that banner gets us going! if it's not here, we're...we're..."

"we'll be fine, bokuto-san. listen to the cheer squad; they're more than enough."

he shakes his head frantically. "it's not the same! hearing them and not seeing your school name is really sad, you know!"

ah, yes, akaashi thinks. he, too, is feeling really sad, although, for the sake of his team, he steps forward. "indeed, it was terrible of us to misplace it. we won't let it affect our performance though, will we?"

bokuto deflates, shoulders slumped as he mumbles, "i dunno about that."

"well, i have a solution. please come closer."

with inquisitive eyes on him, they watch bokuto move closer, and akaashi stretches to his toes and kisses his cheek. it's brief but enough for him to feel it warm beneath him.

he steps back. bokuto is shell-shocked, same with their teammates. "if we win," akaashi says, "i'll kiss you on the lips."

a beat. then another. then-

"come on, guys!" bokuto straightens up, marches onto the court. "we got a match to win!"

akaashi gets thumbs-ups and high-fives from the others as they follow. "how'd you know about his crush on you?" konoha mutters.

"ah...let's say it's mutual."

konoha gives him a look, then pats him on the back, lips shaping sounds similar to good luck. akaashi takes his place at the net, bokuto first to spike. the ball arches toward him, and he jumps to set. bokuto pulls his arms back before taking off.

to be noticed by a star like him is a dream come true, and he can only hope kissing him will be another.