#its officially been 9 years since the coma

[petya-in-a-cup-sideblog]

im afraid its been...

9 years.

[limitless-shadows]

Picking up gofushi crumbs from the manga pt. 3

Disclaimer: Beware of anime/manga/fanbook/light novel spoilers. This is just me commenting on the manga with the lenses of a gofushi fan. So... it’s just my opinion.

This section runs from chapter 26 to 79.

About character developments, gofushi first meeting, “Oh, nothing <3″, and others.

[Chapter 26]

Bless Yuuji’s imagination creating gofushi material LOL

[Chapter 32]

Megumi’s disappointed and nonchalant face when others connect “that moron” to Gojou www :surprisedpikachu: it’s even more funny when it’s Megumi who says that.

[Chapter 33]

Megumi being sharp at noticing changes in Yuuji. If he’s that keen, would he have sensed anything different on Gojou after Getou’s death?

[Chapter 45]

“You really can tell even with that guy’s drawing” Dang it, now I have to add great artist to my list of type standards.

Well, Gojou can do almost anything as stated in the fanbook, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he can communicate well with art as a medium. Ack, is that why Nobara said he had high standards.

I like how fast Megumi is able to dial Gojou’s number here www

[Chapter 55]

If Megumi never tells them anything, what do they think about the gofushi dynamic? Domestic feeling? lolol

Especially Yuuji, who can be perceptive (when he noticed that Junpei was being bothered by his teacher).

[Chapter 56]

Knowing Gojou’s schedule again.

[Chapter 58]

Aaah it implies that Megumi doesn’t usually ask Gojou to train him :(

"Is it that annoying? To ask me?"

...either doesnt want to ask him because he is annoying and/or because he doesn’t want to feel more indebted to him ;-;

I like the face that Gojou makes here haha like: eeeeh~ why is that? what’s wrong that you don’t want to ask me

Did Gojou realize Megumi’s self sacrificing tendencies from just the bunt? or did that already confirm previous suspicions? I liked the anime adaptation of it~

Of course Gojou would be so angry at that that his finger flick made Megumi's forehead bleed. Megumi who isn't growing up in the correct way to be strong enough as was asked from Gojou during their first meeting:

“You better get strong, don’t get left behind.”

And also Megumi throwing away his life in such a manner after Gojou protects him so much ;-; Gojou knows Megumi has plenty of potential but isn’t tapping on it effectively. Disappointment.

Then follows it up by asking him to be selfish so he can grow up strong (it's ok to ask your sensei for training! ;-;). Megumi freeing himself from the chains that bind him to a lesser self valuing is such an amazing character development.

Adding to it is that this flashback was used as the base for Megumi’s change aaaah

I also wanted to add that Ep23 was released 1-2 days before this post and it was such a great adaptation of this chapter with the sunset, the shadows and if that wasnt enough gofushi food, they went with the jujusanpo and and violinteacherhomewreckersformationbgaaah

what is formation a??? or c??? the gofushi interpretation of megumi’s gomeeeeeeeen?andsorrythatepisodewastoogoodImenjoyingthenewgofushiviolinarts

[Chapter 59]

A suspicious dude with white hair who is tactless.

Yaaay way to go with first impressions :D It's funny how Gojou hasn't changed and is still disrespectful in his speech XD

[Chapter 79]

Gojou guessing that Megumi already manifested his cursed technique...

While the fanbook said that he wanted to recruit a talented person, I also fancy believing that Gojou didn’t want Megumi to grow up under a harsh Zen’in training.

Ah. I like how Gojou kneeled down to talk to him about his father’s death. Imagine a 190+ cm tall stranger coming to you, a 6 year old, and telling you from that high up that he killed your father lololol

At this height, Gojou is near Megumi’s stature or at least close to seeing him eye to eye. That pose is also less threatening and even seems childish in Gojou manner lolol but that’s sometimes how Gojou approaches serious things: in a joking way.

Gojou has such a similar reaction where he doesn't say what he is thinking directly, but masks it. In the chapter where Todou says that they should continue with the exchange event, he questions Todou’s age XD and here he asks if he really is a first grader.

That right panel tho... what was going through his mind in that moment? Surprise? Pity? This kid is not normal.

Akutami-sensei Q&A mentioned that the one to tell Megumi about his father was going to be Gojou... and I wonder how it’s going to go? also, Gojou getting out of the box? aaa-

I wonder how it must have felt for Megumi... when the suspicious dude with white hair actually did take care of things. The fanbook with the following Q&A for Fushiguro:

Q: How did he become so insightful?

A: Maybe it's because he has negative thinking and doesn't just trust people.

Source: JJK Official Fanbook (fan translation)

Oof, his own upbringing made him like that. Especially with how he regards himself...

When it says that he “doesn’t just trust people”, Megumi then probably didn’t expect much from Gojou after their first meeting and is surprised when Gojou comes back :(

His father and mother leaving him, but Gojou coming back... although the situation doesn’t get better when later on Tsumiki goes into a coma and Gojou is sealed...

He will take care of things after a hehe~  ;-; 

---

Oh, yeah and:

Q: Has he known Maki and Mai even before entering the school?

A: Yes. When Gojo was working on Megumi and the Zenin clan issue, he took him to the Zenin house, so I think that's when they first met.

source: JJK Official Fanbook (fan translation) (same as above)

Seems like the Zen’in house is in Kyoto? Because of Maki and Mai’s birthplace not to mention Naoya’s kansai dialect. So... did they go on a trip to Kyoto? :D

---

Then, Gojou counting on shotagumi to work extra hard.... so he can be strong ;-; and maybe become part of his nakama group to change Jujutsu's society huhuhu

On the topic about being granted a choice, I only came to realize it after reading this excellent work, Close Your Eyes (To See) it’s a lovely soulmate fanfic, please consider reading it if you haven’t ^^. Megumi usually goes on about unfairness randomly granted on people, so to be given a choice about going to the Zen’ins or not is quite big. Particularly when it comes to how the Zen’ins would have treated Tsumiki, a non sorcerer. It’s too good.

The look when he says that ;-; counting on Megumi to get strong enough to rival Gojou? Then Gojou wouldn’t be the only one going against the conservative higher ups.

When Gojou closes his eyes, it seems to convey regret/resolution where he sets in motion his plan to reform the Jujutsu society so that no more sorcerers go stray or overwhelmed by duties following a rigid doctrine ;-; as if preventing them becoming like Getou. And thats so aaah because while I knew what Gojou's wish was, I didn't know the why behind it, and that would be a great reason. Megumi has been with Gojou since the start (or near the beginning of it), so it’s even more beautiful.

That transition from closed to eyes to the present where the 1st year trio wakes him up. Was he recalling all those events during the nap?

I- I just love Megumi's pouty face here. But it's still not that angry looking, more like, he is used to it (as always). Then my gofushi brain telling me that there is a hint of concern in Megumi's look- its almost affectionate. Could it be concern because he is worried about how much sleep he gets.

About Gojou’s sleep:

Q: How many hours does he sleep?

A: Seems like only for a short while.

source: JJK Official Fanbook (fan translation)

And Megumi being aware of his tendency to eat sweet things:

“When he’s busy, Gojou-sensei tend to eat more sweets like these, after all…”

source: JJK First Light Novel - Chapter 1 (fan translation)

aaaaaaaaaaah

Gojou lifting his blindfold to look at Megumi with his left eye because Megumi is on his left side.

Wait... it’s the same left eye from the second opening of the first season.... is that a hint.

The legendary “Oh, nothing <3″ with the heart~

Is he being fond of Megumi because of dreaming about their first encounter or because Megumi did get strong, or, or, both of those. aaaah what if it was from recalling everything that happened in the 9 years they've known each other? Calm down! Probably because he got strong comrades now! ;-; i-it’s not just because of Megumi! ...but I like how he has his body turned to Megumi only...

It's a "Megumi has been with him all this time (9 years) while he is trying to achieve his dream and he became this strong"

They... they just look so good together ;-; my gofushi feelings... Chapter 79 is special grade.

[Part 4]

[mylovelies-docx]

Kid Krow - The Story

A/N: Well guys, it's been a pleasure creating this story. I can't thank you enough to all those who left likes and comments on every chapter - you have no idea how excited it made me to read your thoughts and feelings on the project I had started on a whim. 

You guys are the best!

But this is officially the end of Poe and reader's story on this one. The only thing left is a little blurb I wrote for General Hux that I just thought could lighten the mood amidst all the angst of chapter 9.

Again, I appreciate you all from the bottom of my heart.

I don't have any ideas for any more stories, but if you guys want to send something in I might try them out! 

Chapter warnings: some very light smut, pure unadulterated fluff.

Listen to the song here!

Read it on AO3 here!

Taglist: @maraudersandco​ @sociallyawkwardcircus-freak-hi​ @hkmultifandom​ @spider-starry​ @ashleykaiba​ @mayangel19​ @plxstic-rose​

Word Count: 1.2k

Your cheek was pressed against Poe’s bare chest, soaking in the warmth that radiated from him. One of his arms was holding you close, drawing random patterns into the skin of your back. You were perfectly content to stay just as you were for the rest of your life.

You glanced down at your left hand that was resting on Poe’s stomach and a soft smile lit up your face when you saw his mother’s ring on your finger. It had been there for a few months now, but had gained all new meaning within the last few days. You had taken a trip back to Yavin IV with a small group of your closest friends under the guise of a lunch-date for everyone to meet or catch up. 

The conspiratorial air between you and Kes felt similar to the last time you were together, but this little picnic had turned out so much better than the last you two had cooked up -- you would even say this one was perfect.

There weren’t many in attendance, just Zorii, Zalos, and a couple of Poe’s squadron members like Karé Kun, Jessika Pava, and Temmin ‘Snap’ Wexley, so it was easy for everyone to find a seat on the pillows spread out between the Force Tree’s meandering roots. The jungle moon’s weather was perfect for the picnic-turned-wedding that no one knew they were attending. 

You and Poe had decided that only Leia and Kes should be in on your plan, since you needed the help with getting everything together. Kes had been over the moon when he watched the General stand up and explain what was going to happen, grinning from his son and very soon-to-be daughter to the shocked expressions on your friend’s faces. You and Poe had stood in front of everyone you considered family and pledged yourselves to each other for the rest of your lives. And you both intended to keep that promise.

Focusing back on your ring, you couldn’t help but tease Poe just a little.

“You know,” you began mischievously, “it was kind of creepy wakin’ up from a coma to find that I was engaged to someone I hadn’t seen in five years.” You put on a mock-serious face and looked up at Poe, startling him from his own thoughts with your voice. Or you startled him from the beginnings of sleep; you were both exhausted from the day’s activities.

Poe stares down at your face, trying to see if you were serious. He scoffs good naturedly and hugs you tighter into him when he sees the teasing light in your eyes.

“‘Hadn’t seen in five years’. And who’s fault was that?” Poe countered, quirking an eyebrow at you and turning so that you were now lying face to face. His brown eyes were shining with mirth and he couldn’t keep his hands from creeping towards one of your more ticklish spots.

You smirked. “Are you sayin’ it was mine?”

It was nice being able to laugh about how stupid the two of you had been; neither of you felt the sting of pain you used to over the situation. You both had worked everything out those first few days while you were recovering after having many heart-to-hearts and sob fests. You enjoyed the return of your easy friendship with Poe and you especially enjoyed the new facet of your relationship that came along with being together in love. 

“I’m saying we might both be a little responsible,” Poe replied, shrugging the shoulder that he wasn’t lying on. 

He tightened his fingers on your waist and dug in. Your body jerked at the pressure and a laugh escaped your lips. You pretended to glare and brought up a finger to point at him.

“Don’t you dare,” you warned.

“What? I’m not doing anything.” 

It was Poe’s turn to be mischievous now. He poked your sides again and held you when you tried to wiggle away. There was a crooked grin on his face as he watched you. You couldn’t help but cackle as his fingers continued to wiggle against you. 

The sound of your unrestrained laughter and joy caused Poe’s heart to stutter in his chest. He was indescribably happy that you were both on the same page and as in love with each other as two people could be. He stopped his assault on your abdomen and raised a hand to cup your face. Poe brought his mouth down to yours, tasting the laughter on your tongue and grinning against the smile you were still wearing. 

He would never get tired of kissing your lips.

You both melted into the kiss with ease; the months of practice allowing the two of you to push and pull your mouths in a rhythm that only the two of you knew. Your arms slid around Poe’s neck, allowing your fingers to tangle in the short curls at the back of his head. You gave a soft tug and felt the soft groan that escaped from Poe. You grinned and tugged again.

“Princess. I thought you were tired?” Poe questioned, moving from your lips and leaving a trail of warm, languid kisses along your jaw and down your throat. 

You craned your neck to allow Poe better access, relishing in the feel of his soft lips on your delicate skin. “You’re the one that started this, fly boy.” Your voice was raw from your recent laughter, but Poe had never heard anything more beautiful.

He growled into your neck and flipped you onto your back. Poe was on top of you, pressing you firmly into the mattress. No matter how sore they were, you wrapped your legs around Poe’s waist and pulled him into your body. The feeling of Poe nestled between your thighs and pressed against every square inch of your skin sent chills running through you. You whimpered at the feeling.

Poe’s left hand was cradling your cheek, providing himself with a better angle to kiss you. You brought your same hand up to reach across your face and interlace your fingers over top of his. Your wedding bands clinked together with a metallic sound when they met.

You might have been secluded in your shared quarters for nearly an entire standard year already, but neither of you planned on leaving any time soon.

There had been so many things that had tried to keep you separated from each other. The fact that you had grown up together on Yavin was incredible; out of all the planets and moons in the galaxy, Poe had found you lying in the grass not far from his home. And your brush with death while the two of you were separated could have very easily ended the story of your love before its happy conclusion. The universe was a cruel place: it ain’t funny, it ain’t pretty, it ain’t sweet. That’s just the way it works. But sometimes, beautiful things can come from hardship and pain and be all the stronger for it. The universe did not work in anyone’s favor or towards any one goal.

But you think that it could work out for you and Poe.

[omg-imagine]

⊱ Forget Me Not (8/15) ⊰

Pairing: Keanu Reeves x Reader

Summary: After you wake up from a coma and realize that your memories from the last five years have been erased, Keanu works to bring back what you have lost.

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: Angst

A/N: I kept thinking this would be a short chapter but then BAM! words ahaha. Once again, thank you for the feedback! It truly means the world to me. I hope you enjoy!

Part 7

Since the spontaneous beach date in Santa Monica, time seemed to blend seamlessly from one day to the next. Nearly three, blissful weeks had flown by in a blink of an eye, and your relationship with Keanu blossomed like a fresh flower in the spring. The connection had grown more profound when the two of you crossed the line between friendship and romance, the sweet kiss on the sandy shores being the final push you needed.

The days that followed felt something akin to the beginning of the honeymoon phase in a relationship. Your parents had been right; Keanu was a good man who loved you very much. Each day he was winning over your heart more and more. He treated you like a queen with a tender adoration, unlike no other. He made you feel things you didn't believe anymore, pulling you away from the past you've known and despised, and replacing it with moments much better.

Keanu had made it his mission to bring you to all of the favorite places you used to go together. He took you to a fancy restaurant up in the hills, an art gallery you spent hours at, and most recently, a botanical garden where you found out about your newest affinity for flowers. Everywhere you went, Keanu shared with you cute little anecdotes from the last time you visited, adding more stories to cherish in your heart forever.

Along with that, you were also unable to keep your hands off of each other. Touches seemed to linger a little longer, and holding hands while out in public became the norm. You realized how much you were addicted to kissing Keanu, and how your heart would melt with every adoring look he gave after pulling away.

Sometimes, you would steal a kiss from Keanu when he least expected it. He would be in the midst of telling you about his day at the Arch office when suddenly, you would lean in and kiss the living daylights out of him. After a moment of surprise, he would quickly kiss you back, his lips perfectly melding with yours as he held you close. You didn't know of another man who could kiss you breathlessly like Keanu, and deep inside, you didn't want to.

You only wanted him.

Though the two of you had gotten closer over the last few weeks, you didn't miss the slight sadness hiding behind his eyes. Whenever you tried to get Keanu to open up about his feelings, he was often reluctant to do so, answering with short, vague responses that barely skimmed the surface. Something was clearly troubling him, and it was a bit worrisome that he couldn't tell you why.

But you still trusted him. Perhaps it was quite naive of you to believe that he has done nothing wrong, but he never gave you a reason not to. Your best guess was that he continued to blame himself for your accident. There could have been a quarrel that night, causing you to leave the house, which wasn't unusual for you to do so. After all, you did have a bad temper, and a bad temper was typically followed by impulsive decisions, usually unfortunate ones.

Such as driving in the dark, in the middle of a nasty storm.

And if you were correct, then Keanu shouldn't feel guilty about what had happened, and he needed to understand that.

"Y/N?"

A gentle voice spoke your name, and you glanced up, seeing Harry, the receptionist at the office. Your doctor had cleared you to return to work earlier that week, and you were excited to finally have something to do rather than stay at home all day. You weren't sure what exactly your job entailed, but being that it's related to one of your passions, you couldn't wait to get started.

"Hey, Harry," you smiled as you stood up from your seat, smoothing out the wrinkles from your blouse.

"Nicholas is ready for you in his office," the older gentleman informed you. "It really is great seeing you again here. Everyone was so worried when we got word of your accident and the amnesia. I almost didn't believe it until you walked in here and didn't recognize me right away. But all that matters is that you're fine now, and you're back."

"Thank you. I appreciate the card you sent me while I was in the hospital. It was lovely of you to do that."

"Of course, honey. You and I were inseparable, and I wish you could remember the shenanigans we've done here."

"Me too," you added. "Don't worry, one day we'll get lunch together and catch up."

"I can't wait." Harry beamed brightly, leading the way to Nicholas' office.

Stopping in the hallway just several feet from your boss' door, Harry turned around to face you. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," you answered, sensing the slight jitters in your body.

"Don't worry, Nick is a nice guy. You're going to love him," Harry responded before approaching the office and knocking lightly on the wooden door. "Sir, she's here."

Seconds later, the door swung open, revealing a tall man with a bright smile, joy and relief emanating from his face as his eyes settled on you. He was younger than you had expected him to be, more charming and good-looking, too. You felt Harry softly squeeze your shoulder before walking away, leaving you alone with Nicholas.

"I can't believe that you're back," he said, stepping to the side and allowing you to enter his office. "When Harry mentioned that you were coming to visit today, I was ecstatic. We've missed you around here. Well, mostly me because I thought I had lost the best assistant I've had."

Sitting down in front of his desk, you studied the walls around the room. It was decorated with what you assumed were his best works, as well as the plaques, certificates, and awards he had received for his talent. According to Molly, Nicholas was very well-known in the industry, and you were lucky to have worked alongside him.

"Impressive, huh?" You heard him say, and you shifted your gaze forward. "It took years of hard work and dedication. Not impossible as some people may think."

"I didn't pursue a career in this at first because that's exactly what I had thought—it was impossible."

Nicholas nodded. "That wasn't your mindset any more after you started working with me. You have the talent and tenacity. I could see you owning a successful business one day."

"Really?" You smiled at him.

"Surely," he replied, sliding a portfolio towards you. "Here, these are your most recent works. Back in January, we were doing this big fashion shoot in Prague. Soon after it was over, we went to Paris and then Milan. Your gift really shone at that time, and I'm very proud of how far you've come."

Flipping through the photographs, you couldn't believe that this what you were now doing for a living. It certainly was a step up from those boring 9 to 5 jobs you used to have.

"We actually have another project for a client coming up soon. It'll be a week in Japan, and I was hoping that you'll be well enough to come."

"That sounds amazing, and it would be an honor," you began, closing the portfolio and handing it back to Nicholas. "But I'm not sure if it’s the best idea to do so soon. I don't think I'm as good now than I was before the crash."

"Nonsense," Nicholas chuckled. "You are a natural, and I've known that since the very first day you walked in here. I'll tell you what, just think about it and get back to me in a week or two. I would really love to have you back on our team again."

"Okay," you nodded your head, accepting his suggestion. "I'll think about it and let you know if my decision changes."

"Good," he grinned, giving you two thumbs up before getting up from his seat. "Now, let me show you around and re-introduce you to everyone else. I'm sure they're all excited to see you."

---

You were practically skipping out of the building at the end of the day, overwhelmed with excitement knowing that you would be officially back to work next Monday. Although you wouldn't be doing everything you were usually responsible for, Nicholas was willing to use the time you're there to train you again.

As you walked to the quiet parking lot across the street, you heard the clicking of a camera shutter, a sound that was unmistakable in your ears. There was a sudden flash of bright light, followed by another click, whirr, and repeat. It was coming from behind you, you could tell, and your feet began picking up the pace. You could already spot Keanu's car which you had borrowed parked at the very end of the lot, and you quickly searched for the keys inside your purse.

"Damn it," you muttered when you stumbled, dropping your bag and its contents all over the concrete.

Your heart thumped wildly in your chest as you caught a glimpse of the stranger approaching you. It wasn't that you were scared that he might hurt you. You had become somewhat used to the presence of paparazzi whenever you and Keanu were out and about. But this was the first time that you were alone, cornered by one, and you didn't know what to expect.

"Here, let me help you, Y/N," the man's deep voice sounded as he crouched right beside you, a camera ready in his hand.

"No, it's fine," you gruffly spoke, grabbing your belongings and tossing them back into the purse as fast as you could. "Please, just leave me alone."

"Hey, there's no need to be worried," he assured. Though he wasn't menacing, you could tell that trouble lay ahead the more he spoke to you. "I only want to talk, that's all."

Finally, you stood up and swung your purse over your shoulder, walking briskly towards your vehicle. "No, I don't want to talk to you."

"Listen, Y/N, I'm running a story here about you and your boyfriend Keanu," the man trailed closely behind you. Merely a few steps more, you thought to yourself, and you would escape his bold intrusiveness. "There's been reports of your break-up before the accident—"

"Break-up?" you halted for a brief second, the mention of it catching you off-guard. Turning your head, you looked at the man in the eye. "You must be mistaken."

You didn't know why you were still talking to him. What you should be doing was getting inside the car and driving back home.

Back to Keanu.

But your mind couldn't shake away the strange feeling unexpectedly washing over you. You drew in a shallow breath, unable to ignore a certain uneasiness. You dared not to ask anything further, afraid that the man's answer would be nothing but hearsay. Yet, you remained intrigued, not fully understanding why. It sounded familiar as if it wasn't the first time you had heard it.

"Yeah, break-up," the man carefully nodded. "The two of you hadn’t been seen together in months. There were reports of tension between you and Keanu for a while. Surely this rings a bell, yes?"

You stayed silent. According to Keanu, no one outside your family and a select number of friends knew about your amnesia. His team hasn't caught wind of any article mentioning your current condition either, and you wanted to keep it that way.

"I-I have to go," you stammered out before promptly opening the driver's side door and sliding inside.

From the rearview mirror, you could see the man taking more pictures of you, even as you pulled out of the parking space. You drove away from the building and further down the street, turning into a convenience store lot once you were sure that you had gotten far enough. Putting the car in park, you sat there for a moment, hands still gripping the wheel as doubt gnawed at your guts.

The quiet purr of the engine filled the empty air, offering itself as a fleeting distraction from the hurricane of thoughts swirling inside your head. You didn't want to believe what some stranger had said to you, but you couldn't easily brush it off. It perturbed you, causing you to second guess everything you know, what Keanu has told you.

The perfect relationship you had painted— the one deeply ingrained in your mind for some time— was now falling apart. It crumbled down the more you tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle, your heart both seeking and fearing the truth. You had always ignored the possibility that Keanu could have been lying to you, pushing the idea of it away because you wanted to hold onto the happiness.

But perhaps you were indeed that naive after all.

---

Keanu flipped back to the first page of the script he had finished reading, thoroughly enjoying the plot and the storyline of the character he was being asked to play. He could see himself accepting the role and working on the movie scheduled to shoot early next year. The only thing holding him back once again was you.

Things between him and you were going great, to say the least. It felt like everything was back to normal. The kind of normal which Keanu had missed so dearly and at one point, thought that the two of you would never get to experience again. This entire journey of showing you the memories that you've lost was also reminding him of what was special about you. It reminded him of why he fell in love with you, something he had forgotten before the accident.

You would be coming home anytime soon, so Keanu decided to simply wait and discuss with you about the upcoming project. As he sat there on the couch, scrolling mindlessly through the hundreds of emails on his phone, another text came in from Molly, and he heaved out a sigh. Opening the notification, he then read the words on the screen, realizing that it was the same question she has been asking him for weeks.

Have you told her yet?

No, Keanu typed out and quickly hit send.

When will you? It's been weeks, Keanu. She deserves to know the truth.

Ignoring Molly's response, he deleted the messages and set his cell down on the coffee table. Keanu was lucky that she had not mentioned anything about it yet to you despite how often you and Molly were talking now. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she told you, however, either on purpose or a slip of the tongue. Keanu should be grateful that Molly was giving him the chance to confess to you himself instead of hearing it from someone else.

As if it fared any better the last time.

Keanu was mulling over his predicament when he heard the car pulling into the driveway. Quickly, he got up and headed to the front door, ready to greet you and ask you how your day went. But when he stepped outside and saw the crestfallen look on your face, the smile he had on faltered, withering away as he hurriedly met you halfway.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Keanu probed, bringing his hands up to hold the sides of your face. You didn't even glance up as you pushed him away, silently walking past him. You almost made it to the door when you paused, your body tense as it slowly spun around to face him.

"Ke," you said his name in a whisper, your teary gaze meeting his own. You opened your mouth again to speak, but no other words would come out. Keanu waited as you attempted to collect yourself, but your chest continued to rise and fall with rapid breaths. "I-I can't… There are just too many thoughts in my head. I-I feel so scattered."

Exhaling deeply, Keanu recognized it almost immediately. You were clearly overwhelmed, and he knew a way to calm you down. Closing in the distance between you and him, he placed a palm on your cheek, urging you to look at his eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"I-I don't know," you stuttered lowly, much to Keanu's shock. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"Then let me help," he spoke softly. His hand moved down to grasp yours, tugging it slightly as he began heading towards the garage, encouraging you to follow.

Punching in the code, the door opened slowly, revealing his array of motorcycles inside. Keanu led you to his most treasured bike, his sleek and elegant black Norton Commando which had become your favorite one to ride with him. He caught the hesitation etched in your features, so he gave your hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I need you to trust me right now, can you do that?"

You shrugged, eyes remaining downcast. "What are we doing?"

"We're going for a ride," Keanu answered before swiftly retrieving two helmets and the keys by the back wall. "Here, put this on while I wheel the bike out."

Moments later, Keanu was on the motorcycle with you sitting behind him. Your arms were tightly wrapped around his waist, afraid of losing balance. The bike idled underneath as he glanced over his shoulder, seeing you looking back at him.

"Don't worry, just relax and hold on," he said over the rumbling sound of the engine running.

Pushing the kickstand up, Keanu twisted the handlebars and smoothly pulled out of the driveway and onto the quiet street. Usually, he would have gone at a faster speed but decided to drive a mile or two under the posted limit. He wanted you to get used to the feeling of riding a bike again, which he hoped was currently working.

He felt you leaning in close, your chest resting on his back as he carefully navigated up and down the winding roads. The cool nighttime breeze blew gently into Keanu's face, but all he could focus on besides the path ahead was the heat radiating from you. A familiar warmth spread throughout his body as you clung on to him.

Yet another thing he has missed.

Reaching a red light, Keanu placed a foot down to steady the bike, waiting for the signal to change. He then looked back at you, noticing how your eyes had softened and the small smile on your lips. "Are you okay?"

You gave him a nod. "Yeah. I actually quite like this."

Keanu removed a hand from the handlebar and placed it above the one splayed on his abdomen. He intertwined his fingers with yours, allowing the simple touch to bring you comfort and reassurance. Eventually, the light turned green, and he started to drive again, the destination in mind just another mile up ahead.

Slowing down as he reached a bend, he brought the bike to a stop along the side of the road and shut off the ignition. Keanu slid his helmet off, brushing his messy locks back as you did the same. 

"Is this…" you trailed off, seeing the bright lights of Los Angeles in the distance, the scenic view in front of you nearly taking your breath away. "This is the overlook from that picture back at the house."

Keanu smiled as he took your hand and began strolling through the grassy hill, bringing you closer to the edge. The sky was like a dark, infinite canvas with millions of twinkling stars painted upon it. They shone brilliantly in your eyes that were filled with wonder and awe. He led you to a wooden bench, gesturing for you to sit before taking the space next to you.

There was silence, and as much as Keanu wanted to break it, he let you bask in it for now. The overlook was a special place for both of you, not only because it was where he kissed you for the first time. It was the place you went to when life got too stressful, and you needed peace. It was a place for you to get away for a little while just to think.

"When I left the office, something happened," you revealed, your attention still on the skyline. "A guy approached me, one of those paparazzi, and he said we broke up before the crash."

Keanu's breath stalled as your glossy gaze slowly shifted to him.

"I know I shouldn't be paying them any attention or believe a word that they say," you sighed. "But it stuck to me and left me wondering if there's any truth to it."

This was it. It was Keanu's time to finally come clean. This was his opportunity to tell you what truly happened that night and the months leading up to it. As he sat there staring into your pleading eyes, he could already sense the hurt in them, and Keanu knew he would only be adding more.

"We didn't break up," he said tautly, his voice thick. "But for a while, we were in a bad place in our relationship."

"A bad place?" You repeated shakily. "What happened?"

Keanu licked his dry lips, his eyes flickering down in shame. "We were fighting a lot. I was doing a movie out of town, and the distance made it worse. I'd promise that I'd be home to spend time with you but never followed through. When I did come back, I let out all of my stress on you and pushed you away whenever you tried to get close. You were growing tired of it—of me. Meanwhile, I just ignored it."

Truth.

"The night of your accident, we got into a huge argument. I had said so many hurtful things to you that I still can't believe those words came out of my mouth," he continued, running a hand over his face.

Half-truth.

Keanu still couldn't force himself to admit it, the real truth. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't say it. It was already difficult for him to tell you pieces of the story. The memories of you and him screaming at each other and hurling insults broke his heart all over again.

If there was one thing Keanu had learned that night, it was that he couldn't lose you. He has gone through tragedy after tragedy for years, and he didn't want you to be another one of his devastating losses. He believed that he'd make up for his mistakes later on and prove to you how much he regretted making them.

Prove to you that he still loved you despite what he had told you before you stormed out of the house.

"Y/N?" He murmured, his hand coming to rest on your thigh, gently shaking you out of your daze. "Please, say something."

You blinked at him as you placed your hand on top of his. "We all make mistakes, Keanu."

"I know, and I didn't want to tell you because I was scared."

You knitted your brows. "Scared of what?"

"That you'd leave me. I was scared that if I told you that we were at the end of our ropes, you wouldn't stay. But I need you, Y/N. I love you, and I can't see myself spending a day without you."

"I don't like lies, Keanu." Shaking your head, you cupped the side of Keanu's face, the pad of your thumb brushing against the prickly scruff along his jaw. "You should have told me this earlier."

A single tear streaked down his cheek, and you wiped it away. "I know."

“But is that all?”

Swallowing thickly, Keanu nodded once.

Lie.

“Okay, I believe you.”

He exhaled a long breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep that from you.”

"You don't have to be perfect, Ke, because no one on this earth is. I might not remember how I felt back then, but all that matters is what I'm feeling now."

"And that is?"

You smiled softly at him before nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck. "I feel like I'm falling in love with you."

With his free hand, Keanu tilted your chin up so that your eyes could meet. Though there was less weight on his shoulders now, he had yet to share with you one last important detail of the story. He's now caught in a battle between telling you to clear his conscience or let the secret be forgotten but risk dealing with the consequences if you end up finding out on your own.

But when you leaned up to his face, your soft lips sweetly molding to his, Keanu saved the fight with himself for another time. Because god forbid you do uncover the truth and leave, he wanted to at least savor every moment he has left with you.

Part 9

Tags: @penwieldingdreamer​ @fanficsrusz​ @toomanystoriessolittletime​ @awessomness​ @meetmeinthematinee​ @ringa-starr​ @ficsnroses​ @iworshipkeanureeves​ @keandrews​ @greenmanalishi​ @feminine-machinegun​ @thehumanistsdiary​ @lussdew​ @rdjloverxxx @flaminasteroid @danceoftwowolves @allie1804-fan

[eretzyisrael]

I’m not a broadcaster, not a journalist, not a policy-shaping official. But I have things I feel ought to be heard and known about one of the world's most important media platforms, the BBC.

I am writing now because there is an important, sober and factual expose of the problems there in today's edition of a British weekly ["Shame of BBC Arabic as systematic bias revealed | A JC investigation shows a pattern of anti-Israel bias and inaccuracies", Jewish Chronicle, February 3, 2021].

I am quoted briefly there but want to raise some larger aspects of the deeply disturbing affair.

On November 9, 2020 I took part in an intense meeting with senior executives at the BBC. The subject was a complaint I had published some weeks earlier [see “Why does BBC‏ ‏promote my daughter’s murderer?” Arnold Roth/Palestinian Media Watch, October 13, 2020] about a Jordanian woman, a fugitive from US justice, being given the celebrity treatment before a global audience tuned in to a BBC show that has a huge following among Arabic speakers.

The meeting, by video conference, was at my request.

I was and continue to be impressed that the senior executive at BBC World Service responded positively to me and without hesitation. He could easily have ignored or deflected what was clearly an uncomfortable proposal. That’s pretty much what the vast majority of media organizations and their editors and management with whom I have tried to engage have done during the past four years.

Is this because I am rude? Nasty? Perhaps, but I believe it has more to do with how I bring disturbing messages with me.

But first some needed background.

My daughter, Malka Chana Roth, a beautiful high school student with a sunny disposition, was one of 15 innocent people murdered in a pizzeria attack carried out by Islamist terrorists in the center of the city where we live, Jerusalem, on August 9, 2001. A sixteenth victim remains in a coma all these years later.

That Islamist terrorist, who was 21 years old at the time and responsible for selecting the target and planting the bomb, was a part-time news-reader at a Palestinian Arab TV station and personally reported the news on camera some hours after engineering the massacre. She went on to publicly call the savagery “my operation”. She has been explicit about how she wanted her victims to be children and took pains to ensure that is what happened. In this she succeeded on a monstrous scale.

My wife and I are battling to see the woman whom the BBC so generously profiled in its October 2020 broadcast, Ahlam Tamimi, locked up for life in a maximum-security prison. Dedicated investigators, prosecutors and agents in the US Department of Justice are too.

This is a battle we have waged – in the literal sense, a fight for justice – since February 2012. There have been meaningful achievements along the way, most notably the unveiling of terror charges against Tamimi on March 14, 2017.

But what counts is that Tamimi remains free. She’s based in Jordan’s capital, living a life of privilege, influence, public adulation.

Jordan is a monarchy with friendly ties throughout the Western world. It happens also to be a tightly controlled state with famously unfree media. Despite the restrictive policies and willingness to silence the regime's critics, it has extended a rare degree of generosity to Tamimi. Most notably this has extended to the privilege of allowing her to host her own television program devoted to promoting terror and terrorists.

That show, distributed and watched globally via Hamas satellite TV from a studio in Amman every week for five years, allowed Tamimi’s unique incitement to terror to reach Arabic-speaking audiences in virtually every country on earth.

The Jordanian woman not only spearheaded the atrocity and has never stopped boasting about it. She boasts on camera of slipping into Jerusalem multiple times by means of her media credentials, of selecting the target with great care; of personally planting the bomb. And in due course she celebrated the many deaths and injuries with manifest glee. On any reasonable view, this is a monster.

That along with her years of exposure via frequent public appearances – live and via television – in large parts of the Arab world have made her a global celebrity.

I can barely type those words.

It’s a crushing reality made much worse by foolish political decisions and the moral cowardice of a long line of public and media figures. In practice, the outrage tends to be somewhat muted largely because, unless you are fluent in Arabic, you probably have had no idea till now.

* * *

Read More: Here

[wandsandrings]

HISTORY [KACE PETERSON]

[ Note: Major canon-divergence in year 6. ]

Founders’ Time: 

> In the year 993, a brother known as Ruairidh Ìomharach (Roderic Ivory), a first-generation Legilimen, and his younger sister, Èibhlin Ìomharach (Evelyn Ivory), a first-generation Seer, were among the first ever students to attend Hogwarts. The two siblings were taught by all the founders during their time there. They then learned of the Cursed Vaults, and the treasure inside of it. 

> The two siblings, blinded by the prospect of mystery, adventure and reward, began to look for the vaults. It was during this time where something began to tamper with the vaults, but the siblings, along with their friends, managed to close the vaults and break the curses placed upon the school.

> However, when the siblings had found the fifth vault, a gigantic monster was released unto the school. It ravaged Hogwarts, seeping the vitality from students and faculty. The siblings, however, learned that they could seal the monster inside of the vault’s pillar, and after a gruelling battle, they did just that. However, the monster was enraged, and placed a curse on the two siblings. The curse made it impossible for the siblings to move on when they died, and forced them to be reborn in every century as completely new people and lock away their memories every time they died. Eventually, after 9 other lives after theirs, Roderic and Evelyn were reborn as Jacob Peterson and Kace Peterson.

Pre Hogwarts:

> When Kace was 6, his brother, Jacob, started Hogwarts. Kace missed his brother, as the two were very close. However, this is the age Kay met some other magical kids to befriend.

> When Kace was 9, though, Jacob became cold and distant towards his family, including his little brother. He ended up running away when Kace was 10.

> Shortly after Jacob running away, Kay lost all of his friends due to the rumours surrounding the family. Kay was so sad he barely went outside and ate his sorrows away.

> Kay got his acceptance letter, though, and later met future housemate and best friend Rowan Khanna.

 Years 1 - 5 are very similar to canon-events with minor or moderate canon-divergence, listed below:

> Kay meets and befriends Ben Copper in the Hogwarts Express. (Year 1)

> Kay meets and befriends Penny Haywood, Nymphadora Tonks and Diego Caplan at the sorting ceremony and feast. (Year 1)

> Kay has a vision of a mysterious, unknown voice from a woman. (Year 1)

> Rowan gives Kay a matching friendship ring with the year they met and each other’s name on each other’s rings to commemorate their friendship. (Year 2)

> He takes Ben, Bill and Rowan into the vault. (Year 2)

> Kay’s boggart is Death-Eater Jacob. (Year 3)

> Kay finds out he is a Seer. (Year 5)

> He has a vision of the dragon in the vault and his arm being coated in fire. (Year 5)

> He gets into the vault after remembering the past when he opened the vault as Evelyn. He didn’t know it was the past, however. (Year 5)

6th Year:

> Kay’s visions start becoming more vivid and more common.

> At some point, Kay has a vision of Rowan being struck down in the Forbidden Forest. He starts deliberately avoiding Rowan, going as far as to try and sabotage their own friendship so Rowan no longer wants to talk to him. However, he didn’t succeed, as Rowan still followed him into the Forbidden Forest. 

> Rowan gets struck with a lethal spell from Rakepick. However, he is saved, but falls into a coma. Kay feels extremely guilty and spends every day in the Hospital Wing. 

> At some point, he has an argument with Dumbledore and tries to run away. However, Talbott stops him and convinces Kay to stay at Hogwarts.

> Kay begins to meet up with Jacob more and more, both to re-connect with him and learn from him. 

> At some point, Rowan woke up. He confessed that he heard Kace apologise to him, and that he accepts and reveals that he knew what Kace’s goal and his fate were, but he says he just couldn’t bear the feeling of not knowing if his best friend’s death was going to be announced if he didn’t follow Kace. Nevertheless, they became fast friends again, and even found out about their mutual crush, but for their sake, decided to wait until the vaults were dealt with and until they had more time to start a proper relationship.

> Kay, Jacob, Merula, and Ben go into the lake vault whilst Diego, Chiara, Talbott, Badeea, Tonks, Tulip, Barnaby and Rowan stay outside of the lake making sure that R doesn’t try to get into the lake. However, the four are attacked by Rakepick who was already at the vault before their exit caves in. They are unable to disparate due to being too close to Hogwarts. 

> Here, the group find a mirror at one end of the vault, with the rim having Old English carved into it. Kay recognises some words from the mirror, but doesn’t know why or how. He suddenly feels dizzy and sick, like his brain was tumbling down a mountain. After composing himself, though, he tells the others that the mirror only shows the truth with it’s favourite reflections. Merula and Ben note that they cannot see themselves in the mirror, and it only reflects exactly what is around them. This is when Jacob and Kace see that they also cannot see themselves, but they can see that the reflection of their surroundings is different.

> The two try to figure out just what is going on before Jacob falls through the mirror. Kace freaks out and tries to follow his brother, and he, too, falls through into the mirror’s world. They find out, however, Merula or Ben cannot follow them.

> There, they find a small book upon the fine silk, and looking beyond the altar, they can see the chains and lock on the large, cathedral-like doors that was in their world was in much better shape. This seems to be the vault back when it was recently made.

> The two brothers retrieve the book before they return to their world through the mirror. The four find their way out of the vault through a secret passage-way they manage to find with Aparecium. They end up at the boat-house again.

> The four explain what happened in the vault before they open the book. Inside, there is a plethora of information about the vaults, such as speculations when they were built, why the curses existed, what the purpose of them was, and more. It seemed to be a diary of sorts, which belonged to Roderic Ivory and Evelyn Ivory, and the diary then talked about the sunken vault’s monster. The diary spoke of how Roderic and Evelyn used the vault to seal the monster away, but they were then cursed by the monster to be reborn and have their memories locked away. Then it spoke about their precautions for the future, such as how they had made a lock only opened by an enchanted sword, but thought this book was way too dangerous, so they made a magic mirror that would allow only them entrance into its world before sealing the book away there.

> The two brothers were extremely confused by this, since they were able to go into the mirror, before they realised that the mirror responds to one’s soul, not their physical reflection. They further realised that, as unlikely as it is, they are the siblings of the diary. It explained why they were a Legilimen and Seer without there ever having been one in the family, why they could remember words from very old or forgotten languages, why they were always called wise as children... and why only they could get into the vaults. This obviously shook them up, but they decided they didn’t have time to talk about it. Jacob entrusted Kace with the book, and they enchanted it so only they could open the book and read what’s inside, before the Circle of Khanna and Jacob parted ways.

7th Year:

[ Note that most of this is TBA, since year 7 has not released yet. ]

> At some point during the year, Jacob and Kace go search for the sword from the diary. However, when they retrieve the sword, it got stolen by R and taken back to the lake to open the vault. Once the brothers returned, however, the monster was already freed and was proceeding towards the school. The two brothers go to find the sword and find that the whole vault has been destroyed and submerged. They manage to find the sword, which Jacob wields before they return to Hogwarts to fight the beast.

> During the fight, Jacob is injured heavily, leaving Kace to finish fighting the monster. Kay grabs the sword before he and the Circle Of Khanna manage to slow down the monster enough for him to kill it. The monster erupts into light, blinding everyone for a few seconds, and Kay is found on the ground, the sword plunged into the dirt.

> Kay wakes up with Jacob in limbo. There, they meet a woman with dark skin and hair. She introduces herself as Cedar, and explains that the two siblings are in limbo because their soul is no longer forced to be reborn over and over, and that the curse placed on them was broken, and so was the one placed on Hogwarts. When asked why she knows this and how she knows them, she responds that she made a promise to Evelyn to watch over her and Roderic’s lives, so she can always answer any questions that will one day come her way. She then gives them the choice to move on or to continue living. The two brothers choose to continue living.

> They wake up in the training grounds surrounded by the Circle Of Khanna and the rest of Hogwarts. The brothers announce that the curses have been broken, and the monster was dead. Everyone cheers and there is a lot of celebrations.

> Over the rest of the year, the brothers and the Circle of Khanna make headlines in the papers, receive awards from the Ministry and even get their own chocolate frog cards for their bravery, heroism and legendary tale. Kay completes his NEWTs and graduates Hogwarts, and Jacob moves away to continue being a Curse-Breaker in other countries. Kay and Rowan officially begin a relationship during this time.

Post-Graduation:

> After graduating, Kay comes to work in The Three Broomsticks as a server and, later, a cook. He also purchases a cottage in Hogsmeade. Rowan later comes to live with him in 1993.

Order of the Phoenix / 2nd Wizarding War:

> In 1995, Kay leaves The Three Broomsticks to help his mother and father make their way to America to escape the surge of Death-Eaters. He then moves to Khanna Farms to stay with Rowan, who moved back to be with his family.

> Kay meets up with his brother, Jacob, who has decided to come back and fight when he heard of a possible war.

> Kay proposes to Rowan in 1996, who accepts his proposal. The two get married without having an official wedding due to the war.

> He, Rowan and Jacob all fought in the Battle Of Hogwarts and survived.

Post-War:

> After the war, Rowan and Kace go back to live in Hogsmeade while helping to rebuild Hogwarts. During this time, Rowan takes up the position for H.o.M. teacher when Hogwarts re-opens in September.

> They find out of a Muggleborn boy whose family had been killed by muggles and whose magic was making it hard for him to be adopted. The two apply to adopt the boy, called Maple, and meet him at the orphanage with some Ministry obliviators, who, after Maple is adopted, make the workers at the children’s home forget he ever existed and erased his records form the Muggle orphanage to protect the statute of secrecy.

> The family slowly build up a bond between themselves, even adopting a stray crup for Maple, and soon they become close. This is when Kay realises he wants to devote himself to make sure that Maple doesn’t end up having a life of obsession like he did, which lead to him lacking a good school-life to look back on.

> When Maple is set to become a student in 2000, Kay applies to be a D.A.D.A. teacher and gets the job, so he can teach students how to defend themselves in various situations, using experiences from his past. He is known as a strict, no-nonsense teacher, who is also very respectable and knowledgeable.

Old Age & Death:

...

[shockdowndefiance]

You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆

Pick five of your character's most influential milestones (moving away from home, a first kiss, a death, etc.). Why and how did these milestones affect your character?

Thank you for the question! Once again I am answering for Allison Shepard as she’s the only MC I really have fleshed out. I sat down to write out her most influential milestones and narrowed it down to the five I felt would be most interesting. In chronological order:

1. Finding out she was a latent biotic and suddenly developing biotic abilities at the age of sixteen 2. Meeting her first boyfriend, Finn

After she was expelled for punching and injuring another student, and moving to a different human colony, she enrolls in a new school and meets Finn on her first day there:

A teen boy slouched casually against the wall opposite the office, moving to stand up when Allison shut the door behind her. His dark hair flopped down into his bright blue eyes as he moved, his hand almost continually going up to move it out of the way.

"Finnegan Osmani. Call me Finn," he said once he was close enough, holding a hand out. Allison took it and gave a brief shake before she pulled back. "You're that new kid, right?"

"I am," Allison said, turning and looking around. "I hear you’re my chaperone."

Finn laughed. "That's one way of putting it. Hey, rumours going around; you are a biotic, right?"

"Sure am," Allison said, turning back to look at Finn with a cool glare. "You gonna make something of it?"

"Nope." Finn grinned. "My lil sis is a biotic, she'll love to meet you."

Allison smiled herself.

Maybe introductions weren't going to be so bad.

Outside of family everyone treated Aliison and her twin brother Elliot like a ticking time bomb. Finn was the first one to fully embrace who she was, biotics and all. This was in part because of his younger sister also being a biotic, so he had some knowledge of what being a biotic meant.

Walking in to that new school, she had put her hair up and left her amp fully visible - she didn’t care what anyone thought of her, whispered about her. Hating her for being a biotic was the same as hating her for having green eyes, and if it meant she rounded out high school as the ostracised creepy biotic whom no one talked to...well, she didn’t care.

And then Finnegan showed her that, no, not everyone was going to act like that. Some people would be accepting of who she was, biotics and all.

Again, this has gotten really long so the rest is under a cut!

3. Enlisting in the Alliance 4. Getting dumped by Finn 5. Defending Elysium from pirates and slavers 6. Being awarded the Star of Terra for her actions on Elysium

Allison didn’t do anything special on Elysium.She didn’t do anything more than any other marine would have done (and in fact some of them willingly laid down their lives so that others could be saved). Being hailed as the Hero of Elysium is an aggravating and unnecessary epithet, and doubly so when her status as a biotic soldier is emphasised.

(This does create positive associations with biotics so it’s at least something but, again, she’s an average biotic. Nothing special. Stop advertising it on recruitment posters so much.)

She receives the Star of Terra (among others: namely her officer commission, invitation to ICT school, and a special commendation) for her actions, but despite all the pomp and circumstance, unless she needs to wear it it stays hidden away in its box in storage.

It doesn’t help that she’s the daughter of Hannah Shepard, well-regarded veteran of the First Contact War. People expected a lot from Allison, and barely four years since enrolling in the Alliance, they had humanity’s newest hero on their hands. She brushes off most applauds about her status; they take it as her being modest, she intends it as a stop bothering me about it but she can’t not keep it.

(This does later cause a bit of friction between Allison and Ashley later, but that is 8-9 years later in the timeline.)

7. Being invited to participate in the Interplanetary Combatives Training course 8. The untimely death of her paternal grandfather In the late 22nd century, the average life expectancy for humans is around 120, with some individuals reaching 150 years old.

As such, Allison’s paternal grandfather dying in his early nineties was a shock to all. It occurs in the middle of Allison’s ICT learning, and as a result it delays her graduation by a year. Completing ICT can be done in a year, but Allison spread it out a little because she wanted to pace herself - being one of the first biotics invited into the program, she didn’t want to crash and burn (despite there being no shame in being able to complete the first rank, she personally would have hated having done so).

Her grandfather’s death causes her to step back and reevaluate things a little. She idolised her grandfather so much (I have an idea for an art piece when Allison was about eight years old, on the back porch of her grandfather’s house; Allison is pulling a face because she and her grandfather are eating liquorice; she despises it but her grandfather adores it, and because he adores it she reckons that she must also adore it) and losing him punches a hole in her career plans.

She stays in the Alliance (not much else for a biotic to do, and her family going back many generations has been military, so she doesn’t quite know what else to do) but she misses him for a long time. 9. Completing her Interplanetary Combatives Training course and being awarded N7 rank 10. Accidentally interfacing with the prothean beacon on Eden Prime and getting the first glimpse of the impending Reaper invasion 11. Becoming a Spectre, part of the Citadel's specops group 12. Rescuing both Kaidan and Ashley from the near-doom mission on Virmire 13. Allowing herself to fall in love with Kaidan This harkens back to Finn and him seeing her as a whole. For Allison, being in the Alliance and having a relationship doesn’t mesh - initially she’s working on her career, aiming to get her officer’s commission, then Elysium happens and people are more interested in her as Commander Shepard, Hero of Elysium than they are of Allison.

Kaidan’s different. Heck, all of the Normandy crew are different (barring those who knew her prior like Anderson and Adams) - while they respect her as their XO/CO, they don’t idolise her like other people she’s met. She can pull off heroic feats and achieve the near-impossible, but a large part of that is down to her crew and how they are all able to work together.

But Kaidan sees beyond rank, sees beyond medals, sees beyond her service history, and does indeed see Allison, the person. Admittedly at the point in time this occurs, Allison hasn’t seen how bad things can get, and she doesn’t know how much of a rock Kaidan will be to her, but to realise that he loves her, the entirety of her, and not the hero plastered across the recruitment vids, or the thin line between reverence and rejection biotics often get.

But they’re military, she’s his CO and he’s her HOMD. She’s gotten a lot of leniency running as a Spectre ship but she still answers to the Alliance. Fraternization is not allowed, and so they push their feelings to the back once the Citadel is saved and Saren and Sovereign are killed. Kaidan requests to be given a new posting, a space halfway across the galaxy, given a few months and then start an official, public relationship, and allow Allison a shot at a normal romantic relationship. 14. Dying and being ressurected 15. Finding out that the Collectors are protheans, enslaved and mutated by the Reapers 16. Leading a team through the Omega 4 relay, a place where no one had returned from, to destroy the collector base and returning victorious 17. Blowing up a mass relay in batarian space, killing over 300k batarians and being put under house arrest 18. Almost losing Kaidan after an ambush on Mars 19. Uniting the galaxy against the Reapers and delivering the killing blow, ending their message for ever 20. Waking up to a post-Reaper galaxy with both physical and mental injuries, and learning how to manage with those

Allison wakes up in a hospital bed for the second time in her life after a major battle and she almost cries. Let me rest, she thinks, fearing that Cerberus has gotten to her again and they’ve rebuilt her again to go rogue and save the galaxy again. Hasn’t she earned her rest?

Well, yes. She has.

She’s in a hospital in London, her mother at her bedside as medics struggle to sedate her, worried that Allison will injure herself more without it. Miranda, the one who rebuilt her after the Collector attack, is leading the team. Allison is officially awoken from the induced coma/sedation about a month later and told what happened.

She lost her lower left leg, replaced with a prosthesis in the short term and a tissue cloned leg in the long term. One arm was dislocated, the other broken; a scar now bisects her face from forehead to nose, before curving around her cheekbone to her ear.

The Normandy has disappeared, no one knows where her or her crew are, including Kaidan - whom she had married just hours before the final assault against the Reapers.

Allison gets a multitude of diagnoses - acute stress disorder, anxiety, depression, panic attacks. Physically she recovers without issue, though she considers the clone tissue leg a waste (I can manage just fine on a prosthesis thank you) when there are others around who could benefit from the resources used on her.

But she’s got one more epithet to add to her collection - saviour of the galaxy, and a one-of-a-kind medal to accompany that. Her immediate family survived - her parents, her twin brother, her younger sister. And somehow Kaidan and nearly everyone on the Normandy survives too, reunited about three months after Allison officially wakes up.

But she struggles with her mental health, lashing out at Kaidan for his idea to take her to inner British Columbia, to his family’s orchard. Logically she knows it’s the best idea - remote and peaceful - but her brain rebels, another choice made for her, another change to her life that she has no control over.

But she apologises, rests, and recovers. Takes up Anderson’s apartment on the Citadel when it’s habitable once again and considers, maybe, retiring from the Alliance and pursuing a normal life.

Maybe.

(It doesn’t stay that way for long.) 21. Choosing to get pregnant and raising children with Kaidan

[somniumoflight]

Crossover Idea #9 – My Hero Academia/Bendy and the Ink Machine

Izuku ends up sharing a body with the Ink Demon and slowly changes his mind about wanting to be a hero – he ends up being a villain instead

Still haven’t read/watched My Hero Academia, but I’ve read a lot of fics in that fandom and recently I’ve been browsing the Vigilante/Villain!Izuku fics, and then suddenly my brain went “hey man, do a BATIM crossover of this.”  And, well, here we are.

So, the basic idea of this story is as follows – the Studio (and all the monsters/people in it) where actually a product of both Joey Drew’s Quirk and some occult stuff he dug into in an attempt to make his creations last for longer on their own instead of relying on him.  In the process he accidentally made sentient self-sustaining Ink, which in turn became the Ink Demon when it grew strong enough, and then the whole downward spiral of BATIM canon backstory basically happened with one major twist – Drew managed to deal with the Studio’s occupants on his own without Henry ever needing to be involved, and decided that he was going to just chuck all the evidence of what he’d done into the ocean – including what was left of the sentient Ink that made up everyone in the Studio, in the hopes that it would just dissolve into the sea thus officially be “dead.”

What actually happens is that the crate with the Ink in it eventually washes up on the shore at Mufastu (think that’s the town?), and the Ink breaks free and, since a lot of it did get washed away by water leaking in, starts trying to gain enough ink to reform by basically sneaking into stores and stealing from people. Eventually, though, people catch on to this ink black blob, and since it’s been hurting people in the process of trying to reform (by sort of possessing them/absorbing their minds??), the local Heroes start chasing after it, and after several months, the Heroes finally get a lucky break and manage to both figure out its weaknesses and isolate it in an empty warehouse to keep it from getting away.

Except the warehouse isn’t quite empty, because guess who got shoved into that same warehouse and locked inside of it by his bullies earlier that day?  Who else but a 11-year-old Izuku, who, when the Ink tries to possess him in a last-ditch attempt to escape the Heroes, somehow accidentally traps the Ink in his own body with a passive quirk he never knew he had, and then flees in panic.

At first, Izuku is not happy about having what’s essentially a villain sharing a body with him.  Especially since he starts having nightmares of the Studio and everything in it from the Ink Demon’s pov, and the Ink keeps basically using him to steal ink to eat so it can get stronger.  When he wanted a quirk, he didn’t want this! Except… then a series of unfortunate circumstances leads to him never getting into UA.  And the Ink, though sinister and deadly, has been reluctantly helping this kid, because now that they’re stuck together the Ink really doesn’t wanna test what will happen if the kid dies.  And Izuku’s been seeing memories of some of the worst things that people do to each other, through the memories of everyone trapped in the Ink.  And how villains are treated by Heroes. Suddenly, the notion of being a normal Pro-Hero doesn’t quite appeal to him as much any more… and when All Might tells him he can’t be a Hero because he’s quirkless, well, that’s the last straw.

So instead of going to UA, Izuku decides he’s going to become the vigilante/villain that shows people just how wrong the current system is about treating their “villains” and everyone who eventually becomes them… with the Ink, and eventually the Ink Demon once the Ink fully recovers, acting as his Quirk to help him.

Details of this crossover I’ve figured out:

Joey’s quirk is called “Animation.”  Anything he draws on paper can come to life, but only for a very limited period of time, and it only really works with ink, not pencil or anything else. Problem is that Joey’s creations can only really last for so long before they fall apart.

So when Joey decided he wanted to bring his creations to life permanently, he started diving into some old occult stuff from the pre-Quirk era to find something that could make his creations self-sustaining.  He finds something that works a little too well, and ends up accidentally creating the Ink.

According to the Dreams Come to Life book, the Ink in the studio is actually alive and manipulating things.  Here that’s not exactly the case – Joey literally just accidentally created a sentient liquid being with initially no sinister intentions unless you count trying to, you know, survive.  It’s not controlling anyone, even if all the ink critters are made of it.

The Ink starts off as shapeless, but slowly begins shaping itself into the form of the Ink Demon.  So, basically, the Ink Demon and the Ink are mentally one and the same here, it’s just that the Demon is the Ink’s properly solid form.

Joey is of course irritated, because in his mind this thing has no right to exist, and tries to get rid of the Ink Demon.  This is a big mistake.  The Ink Machine, though not directly bringing the demon to life or anything, has been pumping ink into the Demon p much ever since he existed, without Joey realizing it, so the Ink Demon is almost literally unstoppable.

Joey does end up eventually destroying the Ink Machine, thus cutting the demon off from their supply of ink, and then uses acetone on it until it’s an inky blob again, then shoves it in a leaky container and chucks it into the ocean, in the hopes that when water started leaking in it would dissolve the Ink and ultimately kill it, and thus erasing the evidence of his crimes.

What actually happens is that the container ends up washing up on the shores of Degobah(?) beach (what’s one piece of trash amongst others?) and manages to break out.  The Ink then begins searching for normal ink to “eat” so it can become strong again – it doesn’t like being weak.  

However its abilities as nothing but liquid are limited and so it starts trying to manipulate people into stealing ink for it and accidentally discovers it can possess people a-la the sludge villain from MHA canon, only the people’s minds are trapped in its ink when it leaves instead of dying, putting those possessed people into a coma regardless of how long the ink is in them.  Still, if they have a useful quirk the Ink can use it, and that’s good enough reason to keep doing it.

The Heroes eventually catch on to these possession tactics and start hunting this creature down in earnest, since its obviously dangerous.  Negotiations don’t work – it just attacks, seemingly mindlessly to them.  They then try fighting it – that doesn’t work out because so long as it’s got a mouth or nostril or even breathing tubes to get through it can possess literally anyone regardless of their quirk, and while freezing it does sort of work it’s only really frozen on the surface and the rest of the ink is warm enough to start thawing the rest of it.

Eventually though a certain flaming garbage can finds out that the “liquid” they’ve been chasing is strangely flammable (as some pen inks are).  Then suddenly things start getting worse for the Ink FAST.

The Ink eventually gets cornered in an old warehouse on the shore that nobody uses, and Endeavor ends up getting permission to burn the thing down since this “villain” will clearly not come peacefully and literally nothing else seems to permanently effect it other than fire.  He has people block off the warehouse entrances and burns the place to the ground with great glee, and it seems to the Heroes that the Ink is now dead.

Not quite, as it turns out. Because earlier that day, Izuku got locked into that same warehouse by his bullies, and the Ink desperately tries to possess him in the hopes of being able to use his mystery quirk to escape.  Except of course he has no such quirk.  Instead, he has an unregistered passive quirk that somehow fuses the two beings together into one body while leaving them with their individual minds.  This allows Izuku immunity to most of the Ink’s more harmful tricks, though possession is definitely still on the table (for limited periods of time).  

With flames rising around them, the Ink, sensing an opportunity, intimidates Izuku into keeping his silence as they try to escape, because nobody’s ever survived the Ink possessing them before so the Heroes will probably try to hurt Izuku thinking he IS the Ink, and if he’s quirkless he can’t defend himself, can he?

Izuku ends up escaping with the Ink in tow by sheer luck – one of the nicer Heroes sees a scared, burned, scorched kid escaping from the blaze, and after asking him a few questions (the Ink never talked to anybody before, just acted “mindlessly,” so the Heroes mistakenly believe it’s mindless and thus cannot talk) he lets the kid go, telling him to run home.

After that, things are difficult for a while – the Ink has basically threatened Izuku into silence considering its existence, and sometimes forces him into letting it puppet his body to grab ink to eat and heal itself with.  It doesn’t help that the Ink’s on edge, fully expecting to eventually end up getting caught again, and its nervousness is rubbing off on Izuku, who gets even more skittish than normal (not that anyone except Inko and Bakugou really notice, and Izuku can lie to his mother p well when under pressure as it turns out, and Bakugou could care less about “Deku” at this point.)

Eventually, though, the Ink calms down when it becomes clear that the Heroes have written it off as dead.  It still uses Izuku’s body to steal ink to heal itself, but other than that its… calmer. Less threatening-feeling to Izuku.  And having it around is actually helpful to the poor kid too, because having the Ink fused with him means he’s gotten its abilities as well, including healing from drinking ink, which helps avoid awkward questions about bruises and stuff wonderfully.

On top of that, realizing that it was a bunch of Pro Heroes that burned down the warehouse he was stuck in sort of shook Izuku’s faith in Heroes.  Like, a lot.  All Might wasn’t one of those Heroes, though, so he still admires him and wants to be like him, complete with being a Hero himself.

This is the prime reason why they stay on edge around each other for a couple of years, because the Ink hates Heroes (they tried to kill it, and Joey once admitted he had aspirations to be a Hero when he was younger until he found his true calling in life – that’s enough for a grudge in the Ink’s mind) and Izuku’s a little scared of it because of the previously mentioned threats and the fact that he’s technically sharing his body with a villain.

Then comes the day when Izuku’s told by All Might that he can’t be a Hero because he’s quirkless. Izuku is heartbroken, and thanks to the trauma and the Ink’s influence over the last couple of years, he ends up just… giving up on being a Hero.  What’s the point of trying, when his idol says he could never succeed, and all other Heroes might hurt him?

This is when the Ink, wanting to get revenge on the Heroes that nearly killed it, and possibly Joey as well, gets an idea which it presents to Izuku – become a villain. Rob a bank or something.  Izuku’s against this at first, trying to scout out actual legal jobs, but as it turns out, hardly anyone wants to hire a quirkless teenager no matter how good his grades are if there are people with quirks they can hire instead.

So Izuku’s slowly worn down to the Ink’s idea, and after some very careful planning, lots of training with the Ink in how to use its abilities, and finagling a promise out of the Ink that if Izuku doesn’t want to keep doing the villain thing that they will stop after this, they end up robbing a major bank.

Izuku wasn’t intending to keep doing the villain thing after that – robbing a bank of that much money is bad enough – but then he sees how everyone and their mother is talking about his villain persona, and how the news is painting him, the quirkless loser, as a threat. And suddenly, he’s feeling a vicious kind of satisfaction at his actions.  That’d show everyone – his bullies, Kaachan, they were all wrong, he’s not useless!

So Izuku starts tentatively committing more crimes.  At first he keeps to robbing places to get money.  Then some local criminals try to corner him when he’s out and about as a villain (to get his money that everyone now knows he probably has) and Izuku ends up killing his first person in self-defense.

He freaks out about this big-time at first, especially since due to basically drowning them in the Ink, their minds are trapped inside of his own body along with the Ink itself, and god but does it give him nightmares to hear them screaming.  But as more and more criminals start coming out of the woodwork to try to get rid of him, and he starts slowly getting used to killing, and the Ink outright encourages the whole killing-people thing, he slowly starts to take a vindictive satisfaction in killing people too.

Eventually, around the same time that the Ink recovers enough to become the Ink Demon again (when it can convince Izuku to use enough ink at once for their body to form, they’re still connected) Izuku’s convinced to plot a proper villain debut in the underworld.  No more just robbing banks and killing people in self-defense – time to act like a proper supervillain.

So, after some more careful planning, practicing summoning the Ink Demon and other super-Ink abilities that the Demon was holding back on until then, and planning their “costume,” Izuku and the Demon make their debut as a duo of villains.

Izuku’s villain name is “Inkstone,” and by this point he’s sort of learned to associate being a villain as his safety blanket – nobody knows who he is, nobody thinks he’s a quirkless loser, HE’S the dangerous one like this – so he’s a lot more confident as Inkstone than as Izuku, and has even decided to put on a bit of an act to make it harder to identify him – “Inkstone” outright worships their villain partner, and will willingly claim that the Demon “saved him from being worthless.”

His starting costume is basically just black clothes, shoes, gloves, etc, with a bunch of ink leaking out of his hair turning it black and dripping down his forehead.  He also orders some black contacts to put in to disguise his eyes and complete the spooky-ink look, and he’s naturally a little pale, and his freckles are hidden pretty well by the dripping ink.

Their initial debut involves killing a small-time hero – more specifically, the same Hero that let Izuku out of that burning warehouse, in order to keep him from identifying Inkstone as the same kid he saved from a burning building.  The two of them team up on said Hero and kill him as a warning to the rest of the criminal underworld to not mess with them. (They also use the Ink to absorb his mind like other people in the past – having his knowledge could definitely help in the future.)

After this initial debut, Inkstone and the Ink Demon quickly take over the criminal underground.  Nobody wants to mess with the duo that mercilessly slaughtered a Hero and left his corpse hanging up by the police station.  

Nobody wants to mess with a giant hulking demon made of black shiz, either, especially since the underworld catches on faster than the Heroes and figures out that hey, these two have something to do with that string of comas that was happening a couple years ago.  Soon Izuku has a healthy trade going, and ends up cornering the market when it comes to information gathering – all he and the Demon have to do is grab the right person and absorb their mind into the Ink, and bingo, they’ve got info.

At some point these two end up going up against Dabi and Toga (who have joined the League at this point) and end up absorbed by the Ink as well after a grueling fight – however, instead of their minds eventually being broken down by the Ink like all the others, the Ink Demon finds something very interesting in their minds – the existence of the League of Villains, their apparent goals and of course, Dabi’s history as one of Endeavor's sons. (They don’t pay much attention to UA stuff except to keep an eye on future heroes – they know that class 1A was attacked by villains and that’s about it at this point.)

And also the fact that neither of them are nearly as scared as most people that got absorbed have been. Toga’s mostly whining about not being able to make people bleed anymore, and Dabi’s furious that he didn’t manage to get revenge on Endeavor.

Neither Izuku nor the Ink Demon are thrilled about this – Izuku because while he is indeed a villain at this point, he still has some morals, and he still admires All Might and doesn’t appreciate the League trying to kill the man.  The Ink Demon’s more pissed off about the info on Endeavor over anything else, because this man is reminding it a lot of Joey.

In the end, the two of them end up using Dabi’s information to kill Endeavor for him (with Dabi’s blessing – yeah, he’s dead, but he’s also cheering his killers on because fuck Endeavor), and exposing his dirty secrets to the world to discredit him after death (also with Dabi’s blessing).  This is when Inkstone and the Ink Demon are officially designated as super-villains rather than normal ones – they took out the number 2 hero.

Dabi may or may not end up being basically revived as an ink creature by Izuku, since the guy wants to hang around and keep an eye on his siblings.  Also, he’s NOT going back to the League, thanks – he was more a vigilante in mindset than anything when he first got recruited.

Toga may also be kept around because the Ink Demon finds her bloodthirst and her excitement about killing folks amusing.  Also, they need some trustworthy minions and if these two are made of ink now, Izuku and the Demon can control them if need be.

Of course, now being considered one of the top villains in the country has a downside – in that everyone knows about them now thanks to news coverage.  This includes All Might, who Izuku still admires and never wants to go up against if he can help it, and Joey Drew, who basically spittakes when he sees the international news and realizes oh shit that’s his creation being a supervillain in Japan how.

All Might eventually tracks down Inkstone, and Izuku doesn’t bother trying to hide that he’s an admirer of All Might (which makes All Might uncomfortable because oh god this better not be like Stain all over again.)  Izuku’s also willing to give him some info on the League that he got from Dabi, such as info on their next moves as Dabi knew them – and All for One’s location, since they managed to get that thanks to Dabi snooping plus absorbing some of the rest of the league.

When All Might wants to know why, Izuku tells him that All Might simultaneously saved him (true) and ruined his life (also true), but that he doesn’t hold any grudges against him for the latter – I mean, look, Izuku actually has a life now instead of being a loser like before, and its all because All Might shattered his hopes and dreams!  (All Might is of course horrified by this.)

Joey crosses over to Japan at some point and attempt to get rid of the Demon for good this time. This doesn’t exactly work out because the Ink Demon is publicly enraged by his presence and makes this known in spades – and exactly WHY.  Joey gets arrested pretty fast after that, but not before Izuku and the Ink Demon basically pummel him into a coma.  The only reason they don’t kill him is because the Heroes catch up before they can.

Izuku may or may not have spilled some of his life story on camera while being driven into a rage, though, so that causes problems.

Eventually Izuku gets found out to be Inkstone, and may or may not end up being confronted by 1A after they’ve graduated and become proper heroes.  Including Bakugou, who is the guy who manages to figure out who he is under the ink.  Cue angst and Bakugou finally getting some consequences for his shitty actions as a middle schooler!  Yay!

Also there will be at least one or two glorious “oh shit” reveals about Izuku and the Ink Demon technically being the same person.  They’re not going to happen for a while though.

Holy wall of text, Batman!  Sorry about the length of this one, okay, but I’m a sucker for good Villain!Izuku stories – because quirk discrimination is NOT fine and Izuku getting to lash out at the world for it treating him so badly and getting away with it because he’s scary smart or strong now is like my favorite thing in all MHA fanfiction.  Green bean deserves to beat up some people.  (And so does Bendy, because its not his fault he came out misshapen!  Sure, he’s not exactly Bendy here, but… who cares!  Not me!)

[gamesception]

Sception’s Switch Port Wish List:

Dragon Age, first game only.  Fun game, even on console.  Best of the series easily - the second game’s rushed dev time forced so many cut corners that there’s hardly a game left over, and the third game is so bloated with tedium that every time I try to play it my eyes glass over and I slip into a boredom coma before I can get a quarter of the way into it.  But the first game?  Way better on PC with mods and keyboard/mouse controls, but even so I’d jump at the chance to play it again on switch. Chances of it happening?  Low.  EA doesn’t want to remind people of when Bioware made good games, and they aren’t interested in releasing anything on the switch that isn’t an exploitative microtransaction store.

Mass Effect Trilogy: First game was good, second game was better, and, yeah, ok, the series didn’t finish on the best foot, the third game suffering from tone problems and a final ending that just flat out sucked, but Mass Effect 3 has a several key moments that stand out as among the best in the overall series, and while the ending is kind of bad, at least the series *has* an ending - something Dragon Age fans will probably never get to see. Chances of it happening?  Again, low, for the same reason as Dragon Age.

Arkham Asylum.  Just Asylum, not the rest.  City’s not bad, but the loss of focus costs the experience more than the larger world and better boss encounters can win back, imo.  The rest of the series, though?  Bleh. Chance of it happening?  I don’t know.  Bunch of Warner Bros games on switch, of varying port quality.  Asylum was developed by Rocksteady, not sure if that would introduce rights issues.  Better chance of this than of most other games on this list.

FF6.  Sure, Square has ported over PS and PS2 titles, but what about earlier ones?  FF6 is the best game in the series, imo.  Sure, it’s way too easy, like most JRPGs are, but the engaging story with a huge ensemble cast of likable characters is amazing.  I’ve never seen a game with so many playable characters where I liked all of them this much, and the couple of multi-party dungeons reward you for spending time building up all of them.  You also don’t frequently see this kind of story heavy jrpg game with a real ensemble cast, with no obvious ‘main character’, letting the player engage with whichever characters they like rather than forcing you into the shoes of a Chrono or a Cloud or some other default Hero, characters who are sometimes good but rarely the most interesting or engaging member of their respective games’ playable casts.  So yeah, FF6 is great, but good portable versions aren’t easy to come by.  The GBA version is amazing, but good luck getting your hands on it.  The mobile port is trash.  Phone emulators have to deal with awkward phone controls.  A switch port - whether of the original snes version, or the PS1 port with additional pre-rendered video bits, or the GBA version with it’s not-terrible extra postgame dungeon and bosses, would be great. Chance of it happening?  Frankly, I’m confused why it hasn’t happened already.  Square has ported a bunch of old final fantasy games to switch, I have no idea why they cut those games off at the PS1 era.  I would say the chances should be good that FF6 will come to switch, but it’s such an obvious port that the fact that it hasn’t happened already implies to me that there’s maybe some behind the scenes bullshit ruling it out.  And if it does come over, it might be a port of the ios version, which would be terrible.

FFTactics.  I will buy this on any platform it’s released on.  But if we could get a port of the PSP version, with post game multiplayer dungeons intact?  Maybe with online multiplayer support - the turn based nature of the game letting it bypass some of the lousiness of switch online?  Please. Chance of it happening?  Again, I’m confused why it hasn’t happened already.  FF7, 8, and 9 are ported over, but not Tactics?  As with FF6, it seems like an obvious and very likely port, except that it’s so obvious and so likely that the fact it hasn’t happened already maybe implies that there’s something specifically preventing it from happening.  At least if they do port the ios version it wouldn’t be a tragedy here, though I would still lament the lack of the post game content from the PSP version.

Fallout 3 / New Vegas.  Really Loved 3, and loved New Vegas too, though I never did get around to finishing it.  Would love to see these games on the switch, provided Bethesda didn’t use the opportunity to stuff them full of microtransactions.  New Vegas, despite bugs and some cut corners, remains probably the best 3d fallout game, and 3, despite the not-undeserved hate it gets for its main story, is still probably the most fun I’ve had just randomly exploring a world in a bethesda game. Chance of it happening?  You’d think the chances would be ok, Bethesda’s had a bunch of games ported to switch - Skyrim, Doom, Wolvenstein, etc.  That said, Fallout 3′s reputation among the Fallout fan community has plummeted in the last few years so Bethesda might not think a port would be worthwhile.  And as they’re still trying to push 76, I can’t imagine their eager to remind people that their Fallout games weren’t always the hottest of garbage.  So... better odds here than of Mass Effect or Dragon Age, but I’m not holding my breath.  As for New Vegas, I doubt Bethesda has any interest in reminding people that the best Fallout game to be released since they picked up the license was developed by someone else.

Morrowind - Still probably the greatest Bethesda game, though I understand it was already showing the trend towards streamlining and loss of depth coming off of Daggerfall that would eventually lead us to the likes of 76 and Blades.  But yeah, another classic I never got around to beating, that it would probably take a switch port to get me to try again. Chance of it happening?  Some but not great, largely for similar reasons to Fallout 3.  Skyrim sold quite well on Switch, IIRC, so you’d think other Elder Scrolls ports would have been a natural choice, but years later and nothing but Blades means it probably isn’t going to happen.

Mother Series, especially Earthbound - which like tactics I’ll buy and replay on any platform it’s released on - and Mother 3, which seems fantastic, but the only time I’ve tried it I didn’t make it very far due to the SNES emulator I had at the time ruining the rhythm based combat minigame.  So yeah, an official port would be great. Chance of it happening?  Actually good for once, for the first time on this list.  As with FF6/Tactics I’m kind of surprised that it hasn’t happened already, but Nintendo being Nintendo I’m more inclined to blame that on them either just not getting around to it yet or trying to hold off on a cult classic to use it to spike excitement in a dull release window later down the line.

Demon’s Souls - Great game.  Sadly my play through was killed by a hacking incident, but yeah, a classic, laid down the souls game fundamentals while pulling of some aspects better than any of the games that followed it.  And a remake has officially been announced for release on PS5, would be a great opportunity to release a port of the original to the Switch market... Chance of it happening?  Unfortunately, Sony owns the rights, so I just don’t see it happening... not unless Sony really plans to abandon the mobile market and instead push interaction with switch.  They did include that “would you be interested in PS4 remote play on other devices - including Switch” question in a survey a while back.  Still doesn’t strike me as likely, though.

Dark Souls 2 - like Fallout 3, Dark Souls 2 has become the black sheep of its series in fandom eyes.  Not entirely without reason, but there’s some interesting and novel design choices that get overlooked and unappreciated as a result.  I’ve never made time to play it myself, despite it sitting in my Steam library never downloaded, but would absolutely play it on the switch. Chance of it happening?  Without the fan crowd clamoring for a re-release, an updated port seems unlikely.

[your-modern-shakespeare]

Just Like You (24)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23

Summary: You are an experiment, the first of its kind. One day you escape and are living a normal life when you run into a perfect stranger or was he?

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 5365

A/N: Well...it’s my birthday today so I decided to post a birthday chapter. I originally wanted to post this on March 10th but realized right as I was about to post, the first half of the chapter had already been posted so...I’m dumb. But it’s up for today even thought being quarantined has sucked the life out of me and will do the same for me today. I hope someone enjoys this but I don’t know. Enjoy. 

Warnings: angst, non-cannon info (?), kissing, some fluff, google translate, flashback, POV switching, a little bit of a cliff hanger

Tags: @thisisthelilith, @thesalsafic, @fangirl1802, @lust-for-pan, @iamwarrenspeace, @the-red-world-of-jess-chibi, @ssweet-empowerment​

BUCKY’S POV

1 Month Later

I walked into the hospital room and sat down on the bed next to her, like I did every day since we got here. She was still asleep, no surprise there.

So I pulled out the next letter, an identical match to the other ones I had written to her every day since we got here, and sat on the bed beside her. I looked over at the ever growing stack of them, sitting beside her bed, all 207 of them, and opened the newest one. I grabbed her hand, moved real close to her, and began the next letter.

.

Dear Y/N,

It’s been 6 months, 3 weeks, and 6 days since everything was normal. But it’s also been, officially, 1 year since we left Bucharest. Happy 116th Birthday.

Steve wanted to come in and throw some kind of party for my 100th birthday but it feels wrong to celebrate today without you. I thought we would both make it to this day and even though you’re physically here, it’s not the same. I wanted to take you out to dinner and I wanted to bake you cupcakes and everything else I had planned for us last year. I want to do these things because you’re here and you deserve it, I don’t want to do anything without you.

Bruce and Tony have been working really hard to figure this out and everyone else has been looking for new HYDRA information everytime they go out on a mission. They said that they had an idea, they’ve been working on it for a while though so I don’t know if it’ll work. They came to your room a couple of days ago to explain this idea and I want to say that I understood everything they said but I would be lying…

I wanted to wait until I understood everything to write it down but maybe when you’re reading these it’ll make sense to you. They couldn’t stop talking about trying to control the serum, that they thought that there was a harmless way to move the serum from all over your body to just a part of your body. The serum would be concentrated enough for you to control but they couldn’t tell me what the after effects would be to do something like this. Would you be in pain as the serum moved? Would you feel the serum once it was concentrated? What would move it and what would make it stay once it was moved?

Unfortunately I didn’t get those answers and probably because I am being hard on them. I hate to admit it but the things I’ve learned about what HYDRA did to you, about all the things you’ve endured, it’s made it hard for me to accept these experiments. I don’t want you to go through any more pain, I don’t want you to have to deal with this. God if there was a way I could take away your pain, I would in a heartbeat. But it doesn't work that way.

So instead I’m just waiting for some kind of miracle to happen and maybe next year we’ll get to celebrate our birthdays together.

Love,

Me

.

STEVE’S POV

The three of us stood outside of the hospital room, looking in through the glass window, watching as bucky sat there reading another letter to a sleeping Y/N. The last six months have been nothing but a huge search for answers. If we weren’t in Wakanda sleeping or resting from a mission, we were on a mission. It kept us busy but it also didn’t yield many results which was the most frustrating part of it all. That and the fact that we still had you in a coma.

I had wanted so badly to have you awake for Bucky’s birthday...and yours too I guess. Which is why I was hoping to anyone listening that Tony was right in this experiment.

“Tony, how sure are you about this?”

“I’m at like...98%?”

“Well I need you to be at 198%. We didn’t tell Bucky we were doing this so it has to work.”

“Look...I know that everyone wants answers to whatever is happening but I don’t know them, I act like I have them but I don’t. What I do know 100%, is that Y/N will know something that we don’t know. She knows a lot more about everything, HYDRA or otherwise. My goal isn’t to fix her right now, I just need to plug the hole so that I can wake her up. We have to stabilize her and I think that pushing as much of the serum as possible away from her brain and her arm would give her the control that she needs to wake up and give us some of the answers we’re looking for.”

“And what about these robots?”

“Well, when we x-rayed Bucky we noticed a strange reaction happening in the shoulder joint near his arm. Because his arm was amputated and healed before putting the arm on, there’s no real connection between the flesh of his shoulder and the vibranium of the arm, that we can see anyway. And yet the serum is still drawn to the vibranium, it’s why we think the arm was used as an additional way of controlling him. We think that when Bucky is activated the combination of the serum and mind control is what makes him obedient to whoever controls him and the metal would essentially behave in the same manner because not only is it attached to him but it can mimic the same reaction as the serum.” Bruce said.

“Mimic?”

“There’s some kind of connection between the two that we don’t understand. We did tests on the serum and the vibranium and the results were always the exact same. Ther serum was made with basic chemistry, there’s not much in there that we couldn’t find in labs today but vibranium...there’s a reason it’s locked up here in Wakanda. They know how powerful it is, they know the strength behind their technology that uses it. HYDRA found out what it could do and they connected the two together and somehow it works. So we wanted to use the same methods against them, to save her.” Tony said

“The vibranium microbots that we injected into her IV a couple of days ago, will essentially connect with the serum and will slowly push the serum down to her legs. This will give us the time that we need to wake her up and figure out how to fix this for good.” Bruce finished.

“I really hope so.” I said.

.

BUCKY’S POV

I was sitting in the chair, feet propped up on the side of her bed, holding her hand and watching some TV show that I couldn't understand. I was going in and out of consciousness pretty frequently, but it wasn’t sticking and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because every time I opened my eyes I was waiting for some kind of birthday miracle. I just wanted to see her eyes again maybe even her smile, but I could settle for one.

I must have finally given up because the next time I woke up the sun was starting to set and Steve was now sitting in the room.

“How’s it going?” He asked.

“The same as it has been for the last 200 days.”

“Well I know that you didn’t want to do anything for your birthday but I thought it would be nice to do a little something to hopefully bring up your spirits.” He pulled out a box and opened the lid, pulling out one of two cupcakes. He reached out to hand me one of them and I couldn’t help but think about the moment that we met two years ago.

.

Bucharest, Romania

March 10, 2015

BUCKY’S POV

Keep your eyes on the ground, hat pulled down low, don’t look suspicious. Be aware but don’t look paranoid. Don’t give anyone a reason to believe that you don’t belong there.

I kept these thoughts as a constant reminder, kept them right at the forefront of my mind. I escaped. I escaped and I’m okay.

I just had to keep moving, I had to find somewhere safe to live, somewhere where no one could find me. Was Bucharest far enough away from them? Could they find me here or do I need to keep moving?

I’m so tired of running. I’m tired. And hungry.

Just keep moving.

Just keep moving...right into someone.

I ran right into someone, the only downside to keeping your head down was that sometimes you couldn’t see who was right in front of you, especially if they’re not looking either. She had been holding something in her hands, a cupcake, I think, and it was now smothered between the two of us.

“Imi pare foarte rau.” (I’m really sorry.) She says first.

“Este bine.” (It’s good.) I didn’t want to make too much of a fuss about it but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel bad about ruining her pastry. I looked up at her to apologize as well, but couldn’t get the words out when I saw her face. She was beautiful, simple as that, easily someone that I would have dated back when I was normal. And yet at the same time she was somehow familiar which was strange and I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I didn’t want to perceive her as a threat but I could have taken her down if needed. I really didn’t want to though...

“Apartamentul meu e chiar acolo, dacă doriți să curețe.” (My apartment is right there if you want to clean up.) The gesture was nice and under different circumstances I wouldn’t hesitate to take her up on her offer, not only because I was covered in frosting, but because I felt like I wanted to spend more time with her.

When I looked at her, I saw flashes of my past. They weren’t of her, obviously given my age and the fact that she couldn’t be over 25, but she reminded me of that time. How easy it was back then to be attracted to someone, to want to pursue a relationship, to be normal...

“Da te rog.” (Yes please) She shyly smiled back at me and let me follow her back to her apartment. I watched her as we walked and the strange thing I noticed was that she walked exactly the same as I did, eyes to the ground, head down low, trying to make herself as small and as unnoticeable as possible.

I followed her into this building that wasn’t the nicest place in the city but was much nicer than anything I had been staying in since I left them. We walked up flight after flight of stairs, still paying close attention to her and finding it strange that she wasn’t winded at all by the distance we had gone up. Maybe she was used to it? Maybe I’m overthinking everything?

I pushed the thought aside and she unlocked her door letting me into the apartment first. The place was much nicer than the building, she didn't have much but what she did have went together. There were no pictures of anything and no real decorations, just a simple layout, like she hadn’t been there long. I’m overthinking again.

“Do you speak English?” She asked amongst my inspection of her apartment. Her english sounded okay, but the Russian accent was heavy and more alarming than I would have liked.

“Yes.” I replied.

“That’s great. The bathroom is just down the hall, on the right.” She pointed to the hallway to the left of the door where I was standing,

“Thank you.” I quickly disappeared into the restroom, removed my backpack and grabbed a clean shirt to put on. I tried my best to rinse out the dirty shirt and dry it before putting it back in my bag, but it was just going to have to be a little wet. I was about to head out when I looked in the mirror one last time. I took in a deep breath and just reminded myself to remain calm. There was no way that she was HYDRA, they didn’t know where I was. There was no way for them to know.

Eventually I calmed down enough to step outside the restroom and right as I opened the door I saw her coming out of her room, in a new shirt and a bottle of water in her hands, but she seemed a little more nervous now...which made me nervous.

“So, I’m really sorry about the cupcake. The baker down the street had given it to me as a birthday gift.” She said, once again apologizing. She also seemed a lot more shy, having not looked me in the eye since we got into her apartment.

“It’s your birthday?” I asked, surprised.

“Yep.”

“Mine too.” When I said that she finally looked up at me.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“So birthday boy, do you have a name?” She smiled at me but immediately tried to hide it. I just looked at her and I hesitated because I was paranoid and because I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to know my name, but then again HYDRA never called me by my name let alone my nickname.

“Bucky.”

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you.” I tried to come off a little less tense but I think she could definitely tell that I was.

“Nice to meet you too. Can I get you anything? Water, food?”

“A water would be nice.” I was starving but I really didn’t want to impose, especially if she was an innocent bystander like I was trying to convince myself she was.

She made her way over to the kitchen and I absentmindedly followed her, just watching her move again. She was so graceful, there was just this sort of ease about the way she moved, almost mesmerizing. She looked back at me briefly to hand me the bottle of water and then grabbed a plum from a bowl on the counter.  

She took a big bite of the fruit, trying her hardest not to look at me as she thought real hard about something, wrinkles forming on her forehead from the effort. I watched her lips move, the act itself being more mesmerizing than her movements; It was such a strange action from me. Keep my eyes on the ground, head down low, easy steps to follow and yet I couldn’t help but look at her.

I had to distract myself so I opened the bottle of water and nearly chugged the whole thing.

“Can I ask you something?” She said, cutting the thick tension in the room as if she had a knife in her hands.

“Sure.”

“Have we met before? I know it’s a weird question and I don’t want to freak you out, but sometimes I have problems with my memory and I just feel like I have seen you before.”

“I don’t think we have but I’m kind of in the same boat as you. My memory is not in the best shape.”

“Then can I ask something else?”

“Okay.” Now she was making me very nervous. She hesitated before asking her next question, obviously just as nervous to ask.

“Do you know what HYDRA is?” I automatically took a few steps back, wanting to get as far away as I could.

“Who are you?” I asked, every single nerve on high alert and telling me to get away as fast as possible.

“So you do?” She seemed...scared. We couldn’t tear our eyes away from each other, watching each other intently.

“Yes.”

“Can I explain myself?”

“If you try anything, you'll be dead before you know it.”

“I’m a soldier, the very first. I was born on March 10, 1901. My father was in charge of the HYDRA Siberian Facility and he willingly gave me over to be experimented on. I don’t remember much after that, the only thing that keeps running through my head, the only thing that I have never forgotten was putting a bullet in his head. It was August 17, 1963.” She looked upset and I couldn’t help but relax a little at her words. She was like me, she was running from them. And for the first time in a long time I began to trust again.

“You’re a soldier?”

“Yes.”

“I am too. James Buchanan Barnes. I was born March 10, 1917. I fought in World War II with my best friend. I fell off a train and lost my arm. HYDRA found me and made me an arm of metal and then they made me their soldier.”

“I guess we really are in the same boat.” She relaxed too. The tension that had spiked as soon as she mentioned them was gone again and the thing that remained was that feeling from before, the attraction.

“It would appear that way.”

“So why are you in Bucharest?”

“About a year ago I had been on a mission. They sent me after the Avengers and I tried to kill my friend. I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t want HYDRA to find me. Anywhere I have gone just didn’t feel right and I was too nervous. Romania is what I thought of, something easy, familiar almost. I just got here but I want to start over really.”

“You can stay here if you want. I know it’s not ideal but I have a pull out couch and you wouldn’t have to pay for anything, at least until you get on your feet. And I’m sure we could help each other.”

“You want to be around someone like me?”

“We’re in the same boat remember?” She smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back, relief washing over both of us in waves. We would be okay.

.

God...her smile. It had had a way of lighting up a room. 

I just stared at the cupcake...thinking about her smile. 

Steve had left the room to find a lighter for the candle and I just held the pastry in my hand. 

A vanilla cupcake with white frosting and blue sprinkles. 

Her favorite. 

I laughed, how it was her favorite, I didn’t know. It was the only flavor she had ever tried. 

I don’t know what I was expecting the cupcake to do, but I stared and stared at it hoping it would...do nothing I guess. It’s a cupcake. It wasn’t meant to do anything. 

It made her smile though, so that was something. 

But not now. There was no smile now. Just a cupcake. 

I leaned over, elbows propped up on the side of her bed, my left hand holding up my head and the right holding the cupcake. I stared at the little cake decoration, declaring that it was my 100th birthday. Yippee for me. 

“You better not drop that on me.” I heard, whispered to me. It took me a second to realize what just happened. 

Now...some people would call me crazy for assuming first that it was the cupcake that had said that. Then again lets remember that the only other person who had been in the room had just been in a coma for 6 months and would be unstable and possibly kill us all if awoken from said coma. Also I probably could have allowed myself to leave the hospital every now and then so I wouldn’t go insane but that was a whole other issue. 

But no...it was definitely her who had said it. I don’t know how but she was awake. 

I genuinely smiled for the first time since we put her in a coma, placed the cupcake on the table beside the bed and grabbed her hand in mine. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”  

.

STEVE’S POV

I was really hoping that Tony’s plan worked. I told Bucky that I was leaving the room to get a lighter but I was kind of hoping that Y/N would be awake by now.

Tony said that these robots were in the right place and from what he could tell, she would be safe enough to wake up. So that’s what we did. 

We waned her off the coma medication and with the serum burning off most medications quickly, we thought she would be awake already. It took a little longer than we thought though. 

That was this morning, while Bucky was sleeping, and I had bought two cupcakes in the hope that she would be awake already but I guess we just had to give her more time. 

To make Bucky less suspicious of me, I walked back into the room within a reasonable amount of time and looked over at him. He was on the bed with Y/N, arms wrapped around her, his head resting on her chest and she was awake. She was so calm, just running her fingers through his hair. 

“Y/N?” I asked. 

“Hey Steve.”

“You’re awake.”

“Yeah. I’m not really sure about what happened, but he’s not really in the mood to tell me anything. He seems kind of angry.” She pointed at Bucky who had his eyes closed and had a scowl on his face. 

“Come on Bucky...you should be happy right now.” He sat up and glared at me. 

“I should be happy? I was happy and then realized that there was no natural way for her to be awake right now. All three of you perfectly explained that in order to wake her up we had to do some robot thing and something about moving the serum around. I know for a fact that I didn’t approve of that so then she should be asleep right? Not unless all of you lied to me and did it anyway. So I should be happy? I’ll be happy when you tell me that you didn’t do anything stupid, like expirementing on the one person I told you not to!”

“Bucky—” 

“No! I had one request in all of this. I said no experiments! No guessing, no trials and errors! Nothing but answers!”

“We didn’t have the answers! It’s been six months and we couldn’t keep doing this. There’s only so much failure we can handle before it’s time to try something else. I let Tony do this because you needed her to be awake and frankly, so did we.”

“Okay...I’m thoroughly confused now.” We both looked at Y/N, who was just taking in everything we said. 

So we stopped the argument for the meantime and took some time to catch her up on the last six months. She read all of his letters and Bucky seemed to calm down some, which was good. And while we explained everything it gave Tony and Bruce enough time to come to the room and explain the more scientific things, everything about the robots and the serum. 

She seemed to be following okay but I could see that she seemed a little overwhelmed by everything. 

“Why don’t we give the two of you a moment?” I said when the room was quiet. I ushered Tony and Bruce out of the room and we waited to see what Y/N wanted to do next. Everything was up to her at this point. 

. 

BUCKY’S POV

I was now sitting in the chair beside her bed and staring at the wall because I didn’t want Y/N to think I was mad at her. 

“Bucky…”

“Yeah?”

“Look at me.” I took a deep breath and tried to soften my gaze before looking at her. 

Even after being in a coma for six months, she was the most beautiful woman in the whole world. Seeing her smile, even though it wasn’t a full one, made me soften up; I felt my shoulders relax and my face unscrunched from its glare. 

“Hi.” She said. 

“Hey doll.” 

“There he is.” 

“I really missed you.” I felt my eyes start to tear up.

“Come here.” I climbed back on the bed, sitting right beside her as close as possible, and she grabbed my hands, holding them in hers. I just sat there, looking at her hands, feeling her touch again, but not really having anything to say and yet having so much I should say. “Why are you so upset?” 

“I just...I didn’t want them to do anything that could hurt you. And they went ahead and just did this experiment anyway, knowing that I had already said no and was not okay with trying this on you without more research to back it up. God knows, you’ve been experimented on enough and they couldn’t tell me if this was going to work or what the side effects were going to be and I didn’t want you to be in any pain.” I was like a fountain, just spewing everything I was feeling. I needed her to know everything. I needed her to know how badly I had messed up. 

“But I’m not in any pain.” 

“But you were...and everything was so bad and I didn’t know how to help you.” 

“Bucky…” 

“I hurt you. I had to hurt you to stop you. I had to break your arm so the whole building wouldn’t collapse on us. And then they had to put you under and you were gone...you were gone for six months!” I was sobbing by this point. I had pushed everything so far down that I didn’t realize just how hard I was beating myself up over everything that had happened. “They kept talking about the serum and how they didn’t know how it worked, they didn’t know anything other than what HYDRA had written down about the formula. And they said that they thought the best thing would be to activate you. To just straight up activate you and hope that the serum would burn away like it did the first time and yet they couldn’t even confirm that that would happen. So what, then you just do a quick little mission and all is fine? No! They don’t understand what we went through, they don’t understand what those words do to us or what we have to go through afterwards. I couldn’t put you through that, not after everything you’ve been through! All I ever wanted was for everything to be okay. I wanted you to be awake and I wanted us to move here so that everything could be like it was in Bucharest. I wanted you to be happy.” She just stared at me, knowing that I wasn’t done lifting the weight from my shoulders. “There was so much I couldn’t do. I couldn’t save you, I couldn’t stop Antonoff, I couldn’t find the answers to wake you up and I obviously couldn’t keep them from injecting some weird robots into you. I couldn’t do anything to help you.” 

“First of all...all of that is untrue.” She reached out and started to wipe my tears away. “You have helped me more than anyone ever could. You helped bring back all of my memories, you protected me when we left Bucharest, you fought for me when I was activated, but most of all you love me like no one ever has before. There are things that are just out of our control. Antonoff was never going to back down and even though we all knew he outnumbered us you still fought him. With the serum...there’s a lot to still understand and there are reasons that HYDRA never shared or even wrote down the things that were most important to them. And the robots, well I’m not exactly sure about those yet but it sounds like Tony, Bruce and Steve had the right idea. They were thinking of you, thinking about how they were going to get me back to you. So yes we’ve been through a lot, probably more than any one person should ever deserve to go through, but I’m not upset with you or with Steve or Bruce or Tony. What matters to me is that I’m here with you and I’m okay. We can still have that life that we always dreamed of and we’ll figure out a way to permanently fix this serum problem of mine. We just need to take each day a step at a time and we’ll get through this just like we always do.”  

“There’s just—”

“Nope.”

“But I—”

“No.”

“Y/N—”

She pulled me to her and kissed me the way I should have kissed her when I saw that she was awake. 

“This is all I want right now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.”

“I just—you were gone for so long. And I didn’t know what would be the best thing or the worst thing to do. I didn't want to hurt you and I didn’t want to make it worse. I just got so...scared.”

“You don’t have to shoulder this alone anymore. And you definitely don’t need to be scared, when are you going to learn that I’m always going to come back to you?”

“Maybe you should remind me.”

“You just want me to kiss you again.”

“Can you blame me?”

This time I kissed her, moving on the bed to lay down beside her so that I could feel as much of her as I could.

I pushed everything out of my head and just allowed myself to feel normal again, to love the woman that I loved more than anything in the world. It had been six months since I had kissed her, since I had held her, since I had done anything with her resembling the life we once had. It was this moment where the haze had cleared and for the first time in half a year that everything was okay.

.

Y/N’S POV

We kissed like two people starved. It was a mixture of, for me, not wanting him to feel bad about everything that had happened to me, for him, not having any real connection to me in six months, and genuine need to be close to one another.

We heard the door open and were cut off when Tony, who had his eyes covered, interrupted us.

“Person coming in! I don’t want to see any body parts that are normally hidden!”

“Tony.” Steve said, slapping his arm and making him look at him who wasn’t hiding his eyes.

“We just wanted to make sure everything was okay now.” Bruce said.

“Yeah everything’s good.” Bucky said to me with a smile on his lips.

“Good, we’re very happy that you’re awake Y/N.” Steve said, smiling at me.

“I am too. But I actually would be a lot happier if I could get some coffee.”

“You and your coffee.” Bucky mocked.

“You’re the one who got me hooked on it.”

“I know.”

“Do you mind?”

“I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you.”

He climbed off the bed and put his shoes back on. I grabbed his hand before he was able to get too far and pulled him back to me one more time, giving him a quick kiss.

“Happy Birthday Bucky.”

“Happy Birthday Y/N.”

He gave me one more kiss before leaving me with the other three guys in the room.

“So I just have a couple of questions to ask before Bucky gets back.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked.

“What are the side effects of using these robot things? Or I guess having the serum so concentrated?”

“We actually don’t know, we weren’t able to test this outside of the lab.” Bruce confirmed my worry.

“I was just asking because...I can’t feel my legs.”

They just looked at me with horror in their eyes and fear that maybe they hadn’t been right in doing this experiment so soon.

And yet the most feared question, the one that was most likely in all of our minds: 

What was I going to tell Bucky?

.

Let me know what you think here

PART TWENTY-FIVE

[thesportssoundoff]

When the inevitable happens, these will determine who the Cowboys next coach is.

Joey

December 2nd, 2019

When Jerry Jones stood outside a shouting and volatile Cowboys locker room, media onlookers said the proud owner had tears in his eyes. He spoke with absolute confidence in Jason Garrett and uttered the famous line that the only man who could take them to where he believed this team could go (That's the Super Bowl, fellas) was Jason Garrett. That's....actually true. If the Cowboys have any chance, as slim as it may be, to win the Super Bowl it's not going to become an actuality with an interim head coach. It's especially not going to come with no obvious choice on staff as Kris Richard's defense has fallen apart, Rod Marinelli has an endless loyalty to Jason Garrett (and his defensive line is not wowing anybody either), Kellen Moore is in his first year calling plays for a slumping offense and no obvious other choice on the offensive side of the ball. If there's any chance of any sort of post season success, it will lay with Jason Garrett and Jason Garrett only.

Having said that, understand that that comment is less about a faith in Jason Garrett and more about an obvious lack of options. If Jerry Jones or Stephen Jones or Will McClay felt as though they had an option in house, Garrett is probably gone around the Minnesota game when he held a private meeting with the players to fend off a potential revolt. Jerry Jones spoke of his confidence in Jason Garrett but it almost reeked of past tense. It came off like a guy whistfully battling reality while embracing the painful truth. Like a friend in a coma, Jerry spoke optimistically but with the pangs in his voice that this was over. From 2009 until 2019, Jerry held a belief that he had found his own homegrown head coach who would be the successor to the Landry and early 90s era of consistent coaching. Jason Garrett wasn't the guy and no amount of willing, no amount of coddling and no amount of firing him up will get him to where Jerry believed he would be. This marriage is just about done and it's all over but the crying, the paperwork and figuring out who gets to keep the dog. The Garrett Era will be a complicated one; underrated in terms of actual results (he has one season under .500 and led the Cowboys to their first actual success in the playoffs since the Chan Gailey one off in 1999 or so) but one where the gaffes, the post season flops and the inconsistency on a year to year basis will outweigh whatever successes he might've had.

So what now? In January the Cowboys will officially announce their desire to not bring Jason Garrett back and will embark on their first genuine coaching search since the end of the 2006 season. Coaching searches are complex and often times messy, especially with an organization as big and leak heavy as the Cowboys. What factors might determine or shape the coaching search? Well.....

Dak Prescott

Simply put, any head coach will be sat before the QB of the largest franchise in the world and will have to get the approval of the man who is about to be written  a 30 million dollar plus a year guarantee each season. This team asked Dak Prescott to take his game to the next level and thus far on a whole he has despite the chaos around him. The Cowboys will not (and honestly nor should they) hire a head coach who cannot answer the most obvious question that'll be presented: What can you do to further elevate Dak Prescott? Every coach who has had Dak Prescott from his college day until year four in the NFL rave about his work ethic, lack of an ego and adaptability so I have a hard time imagining anybody NOT wanting to work with him. If we can be year five into Jameis Winston trying to figure things out, coaches will be toppling over one another to work with Dak Prescott. Hiring a coach who will hold the QB accountable but also embrace his strengths as a leader and as a developing pocket passer will win out over everything else.

Is it a rebuild? Or is it a reloading?

This will almost entirely be determined by the end of the season. How things end and what the Cowboys do over these last four games (or longer) will dictate where this goes. If the Cowboys finish it up at 9-7 or 10-6 and do SOMETHING in the playoffs, there's a fine chance the Cowboys will look at this team and determine that the ship is fine and the problems are entirely related to the captain and his first mates. If this is about Jason Garrett, Kris Richard, Kellen Moore and company not maximizing the potential of this team then the offseason can be dictated in finding a better captain. Maybe it's as simple as finding a stabilizing hand as a head coach; someone who has been here before, been successful at it and is just in need of a new place to operate. Maybe it's not the sexiest hire like a wacky college guru or a superstar college coach but a guy who has enough real time NFL successes to garner respect from players and not try to re-invent the wheel. Think of hiring a guy like Gary Kubiak in Denver a while ago or more recently Matt LaFleur who was essentially given the same parts and pieces that Mike McCarthy had and then went to work utilizing them better. Hell speaking of Mike McCarthy; maybe the Cowboys look at him, assume his failures were from a collision of egos and figure a guy who won a Super Bowl, flirted with a few more and simply ran into a Seattle juggernaut he couldn't figure out would be of interest. Maybe it's just about changing the guy wearing the captain's hat.

If this team craters then it could get ugly. Real ugly. If the Cowboys ownership and the brass who makes decisions determines that this team simply wasn't good enough then you're looking at potentially wholesale changes. Your veteran OL with a lot of money tied up in it could all be potential dead money inducing cap casualties. Your big money linebacking crew that has underachieved could be stripped and sold off. The Cowboys could tempt fate and let the likes of Amari Cooper go, not wanting to tie up a serious piece of their offense over the concerns of the fit. A LONG term rebuild; often painful in NFL years could be on its way. That also opens up your coaching candidates. If you assume for the sake of argument that a first year head coach needs at least one solid year to implement his own parts and brand his own identity as a coach then you're probably more willing to burn a year of the primes of Dak, Zeke, Amari and company IF you believe you're a ways away. That would in turn open up the Cowboys to maybe a few more "growing pains" options.

77.

When the Dallas Cowboys take the field in 2020, Jerry Jones will be 77 years old with his 78th birthday waiting in mid October. This will be in all likelihood the last head coach he hires with his own influence. 5-10 years from now, the role of being "the decider" for the Cowboys will belong to Stephen Jones likely with Jerry's son in law Shy Anderson or John Stephen Jones (Stephen Jones' son currently playing QB at Arkansas). My guess is that Jerry wants to nail this hire not just for the obvious reasons of the Cowboys success but to leave the Jones family set up with a head coach who will make the transition as seamlessly as possible.

Kellen Moore

Even if you account for a complete shutdown of the offense for the past two games, Kellen Moore's Cowboys offense is off to a really fine start. They've got the most yards in the league, average the 2nd most yards per drive, fourth most points per drive despite being last in the league in average starting field position so on so forth so on so forth. The Cowboys offense under Kellen Moore is actually bordering on prolific if we're being 100% honest. The Cowboys will have Dak Prescott in the midst of a career year, they've got a really good running back sort of kind of, they've got three wide receivers having fine years and are getting more production than recent years out of their tight end spot despite so-so production from Jason Witten and Blake Jarwin being mismanaged. As much as people want to shout from the heavens about hiring an offensive guru, maybe you'd like to give your 31 year old potential guru a chance to keep developing what he's doing? The Cowboys could easily give Kellen Moore a few more years to work his magic offensively while hiring a steady hand head coach to be a reliable proven presence while Moore continues to get his on the job training as a coordinator. The same could be said for QB coach Jon Kitna and ascending WR coach Sanjay Lal. They've all produced in various ways.

The Familiars and the influencers

Let's start with the familiars. Jerry Jones has been in charge of this operation for over 30 years, he's had multiple players eventually become coaches, multiple coaches become friends and advisors. There's a real good chance that with so much riding on the line, their first move will be to try and see if somebody they know, trust and respect might be up for the task of manning this ship. If you're an optimist, your eyes may light up at the fact that the Jones family is very familiar of Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley or that they have a very close relationship with New Orleans head coach Sean Peyton or that they have a great trust and admiration for Mike Zimmer. Dan Campbell was once a member of the Dallas Cowboys and the team tried to corral him to coach their tight ends after Campbell was let go in Miami. He wound up in New Orleans where he's been the figurehead for their impressive running game. Perhaps the fact that Mike Tomlin and Stephen Jones serve on the competition committee together excites you should the worst case scenario happen for Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Not sure if he excites anybody but the Cowboys have a close familiarity with Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. If you're a pessimist, John Fox and the Jones family are very close with one another. Jack Del Rio and Jerry Jones go way back, so much so in fact that Del Rio was called by Jerry Jones to discuss Amari Cooper before the Cowboys made the Cooper plunge. The Cowboys interviewed Ron Rivera for their head coaching job and he was apparently in the running up until the end when the finalists were Norv Turner, Wade Phillips and Mike Singletary. If one truly wishes to swallow some bile, the Cowboys have long had a respect for disgraced Cleveland Browns/Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Haley was a Bill Parcells disciple who coached wide receivers and apparently was one of the few guys who could keep TO in check.

Then you have the influencers. For better or worse, Jerry Jones has always been known to be rather...receptive of information sent his way. He has people who have his ear and considering he's been around for years on end, he's pretty much the most accessible owner in the NFL. And so the likes of Larry Lacewell, Bill Parcells, Nick Saban and others will play a heavy part in this process and will be sure to chime in with suggestions. How good of a salesjob would Pete Carroll do for Ken Norton Jr? Will Sean Payton stick his neck out for former head coach and current D-coordinator Dennis Allen? Will John Fox also do the same for his one time defensive coordinator? What's going to happen if Jerry Jones calls for an accurate assessment of Josh McDaniels from Bill Belichick? Who are the influencers outside of this organization who will find a way to impact the coaching search.

The decay of the NFL coaching tree

It's a copy cat league as they say and so coaches from successful teams are often poached away. After all if it's working elsewhere then why not snag and pick it up for your team? The problem with this philosophy is that eventually you'll run out of guys worthy of the spot. Case in point; Sean McVay has been poached to the point where there's nobody who immediately jumps out as being HC worthy. Shane Waldron? Well that's great except he oversees the passing game that has completely collapsed on itself. Wes Phillips or Skip Peete do anything for you? The general rule of thumb was to just raid whoever was on Andy Reid's staff but that too has been picked pretty much clean depending on your stance on Eric Bienemey (who should garner an interview in Dallas). The Doug Pedersen staff? That's just about done too as Frank Reich is in Indy, Jon DeFilippo is trying to figure things out in Jacksonville and the current core of Matt Groh and Deuce Staley have clearly fallen out of favor. You willing to take a bet on Josh McDaniels actually showing up to his next head coaching gig? Can any Saints coordinator be relied upon to run their own team given how much control Sean Payton has? With so many new coaching staffs in play, you're pretty much stuck with a decaying coaching tree to pick from.

[threshasaurus-writes]

My SPN Fics by Ship (Gen Included)

I now have 85 Supernatural fics on AO3. I’m a multishipper and I thought it would be fun to see how those fics break down by ship. A few of them will repeat since they feature more than one ship, so you can scroll to the ship you’re interested in and see what’s there. 

WIP chapter fics = ✍️ Completed fics = ✅ Contains art/cover art = 🎨 Explicit = 🔥 Podfic Link Included  = 🔊 Newest fics = 🆕

Here goes the list!

Gen (No Ship)

✅🆕 The Right Thing - Dean can’t sleep after helping put down some vampires that look like children. The hunter involved in the case reminds Dean uncomfortably of himself -- and her vampire sister they just put down reminded him of Sam.

✅ The Evil Itch - Jack’s wings are itchy, and he’s worried something is terribly wrong with them.

✍️ The Biggest Heart - Through some magic mishaps, Jack is 40 feet tall, and will no longer fit inside the bunker. Sam keeps him company outside while Dean and Cas try to figure out a cure to the spell.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 4: Duckie Dilemma - Sam coaxes Dean, who is still de-aged to four years old thanks to a witch, into taking a bath and a nap. Dean gets very attached to a cute rubber duckie in the process. 

✅ Whiskey and Wool - Dean is hurt on a Wendigo hunt, and the weather's too dangerous to drive down the mountain in. Sam patches him up and they settle in for a night in the Impala.

✅🔊 A Little More Time - Cas tells stories to Sam’s little herb garden at night, thinking the boys are asleep and won’t hear him. Podfic Version Here

✅🔊 Who’s Counting? - Sam learns that Jack can count the number of hugs he's ever had on his fingers. Podfic Version Here

✅🔊 Of Bees and Necromancy - Bees are officially extinct, and Castiel is despondent over it. Sam and Dean try a spell to bring the bees back, but instead accidentally create zom-bees. Podfic Version Here

✅ Always - Teenage Dean saves his kid brother from a monster and makes him a promise.

✅ Devil’s Advocate - Sam muses about Jess and college…and Lucifer and Hell.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 3: Comfort Bacon - After a witch hunt gone awry, Castiel comes home with a four-year-old Dean who won’t speak. Sam and Cas do their best to reassure him everything will be okay.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 2: Small Smiles - Castiel drives quiet four-year-old Dean home in the Impala, and tries ways to get him to smile. Sequel to my little fic Suddenly Small, where Dean gets de-aged.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 1: Suddenly Small - In a witch hunt case-gone-awry, Dean has de-aged into a little boy who doesn’t really talk. Castiel gives him his coat as a security blanket.

✅ Last Words - It’s been weeks since Jack died, so why does he keep visiting Sam every night?

✅ Feather Pillows - After a night time case gone wrong nearly kills Sam, he and Dean and Castiel retreat to a motel to sleep through the day. Everybody's a little shaken up still, though. Sequel to Barbed Wire. 

✅ Aches - The night after returning from the past and learning that Lucifer is possessing Castiel, Dean can’t sleep. Turns out Sam can’t either. 

✅ After Heaven - Jack returns from helping Heaven make new angels with his powers, and Sam, Dean and Castiel learn that he visited his mother while he was there. 

✅ Nothing Serious - After several hunts that end in injuries, Sam realizes Dean thinks he deserves it when he gets hurt, and that it ties back to John. 

✅ Strangers - Mary's having trouble adjusting to life after death - and she's not all that died in 1983. 

✅ Barbed Wire - Sam is ensnared in a constricting, soul-shredding trap, and Dean and Cas resort to torturous measures to save him.

✅ Co-sleeping - Sam finds Jack crying in the middle of the night and is reminded that the nephilim is just a baby, no matter what age he looks.

✅🎨 The New Horizon - Sam and Dean and John go into stasis on a colony mission to Mars, but something goes horribly wrong, and that something is John. (Concept ficlet.)

✅ Magic Carpet - Baby needs a bath. Dean needs sleep. This car wash attendant needs a raise.

✅ Saving Juliet - If there was one thing Sam would never have guessed he’d be doing with his Friday night, it was playing veterinarian to Crowley's favorite Hellhound.

✅🎨 Unnecessary - Sam insists on patching up Castiel's injuries, even though they'll heal in a day or two anyway. Cas considers why.

✅ Carnival Memories - Sam and Dean drag Cas to a carnival. Cas does not see the appeal.

✅ Threads - When Sam is badly wounded during a hunt, a newly human Castiel tries to save him without healing powers.

✅ The Chills - When Dean gets whammied by "magic flu" that Cas can't cure, he's stuck on bed rest until it wears off on its own.

✅ A Favor - Something’s bothering Dean. He loves Cas — really loves him. Loves him too much to be just brothers, he thinks. There’s only one way to know for sure.

✅ Night Light - After Cas uses up the last of his grace saving Sam’s life, the brothers try to help him adjust to his now-permanent humanity. For an ex-angel, falling asleep feels a little too much like dying.

✅ Broken Wings - Sam finds a way to see angels' wings, helping them identify who is an angel on sight. He doesn't realize just how damaged Cas's wings are from Metatron's spell until he sees it for himself, though.

Destiel

✍️🎨🔥 8 Reasons - Space pilot Dean is caught trying to break Sam out of prison, and ends up tossed into a cell with a half-man, half tentacly monster alien. Now Rated Explicit; blame chapter 9. 

✅🆕 Tbbloboerne and Edibles - A suspicious package arrives on Cas's dorm room doorstep addressed to his roommate Dean. Cas thinks the contents are a death threat.

✅🔥 Can’t Wait Anymore - Dean’s leg is hurt, and newly human Cas can’t heal it, so it’s up to Sam to drive the Impala home from their latest work-related road trip (and to try not to strangle both of them for how they’re handling the situation.) Meanwhile, Dean really, really needs to pee.

✅ Never and Always - Dean looks back on how he’s treated Cas over the years, and he’s got a lot of regrets.

✅🎨🔊 Seashell Hearts - The story of a merman named Dean who got caught in a fishing net, and the human named Cas who saved him. Prepare for a cuteness-induced toothache, and enjoy the accompanying chibi artwork. Podfic Version Here

✅🔊 Back Asswards - People still mistake Sam and Dean for a couple. Dean is irked they don't assume he and Cas are a couple, because they actually are. Sam can't pass up the chance to tease his brother a little. Podfic Version Here

✅ Little - Cas tells Dean how it feels to be immortal and in love with a human. 

✅🎨 Winter Wonder Hell - When Crowley blames Team Free Will for Hell freezing over, they know they’re not going to have a silent night or any peace on earth. 

✅🔥 Something More - Cas lets Dean touch his wings, and neither of them expect the kinky response. 

✅🎨 Moon Eyes - Dean is the key to Castiel's revenge on Heaven. (Concept ficlet.)

✅🎨 Trust Exercises - Sam and Crowley have been dating, much to Dean’s dismay. When they decide to go to a couple’s retreat in the middle of the woods, Dean and Cas pose as a couple to keep an eye on them.

✅ Factory Reset - Castiel has lived with Sam and Dean for years when his hold on his vessel starts to slip. Sam can see what Dean’s love blinds him to: Heaven is overriding Cas’s programming. (Concept ficlet.)

✅ Sam Squared - When a spell goes wrong, Sam is split into two people, each with half of his soul — and half the morality that comes with it. The halves do not get along. Dean and Castiel try to reassemble Sam before the two conflicting sides of him can cause any damage.

✅ Old Habits - Cas is human, but he still wants to watch over Dean while the hunter sleeps. Unfortunately, Cas needs to sleep now, too — and he accidentally falls asleep in Dean's bed.

✅🎨 No Time At All - Sam is in a coma. An experimental drug lets him wake up for a few hours at a time, though, and be able to visit with his brother. Dean is helpless to change Sam's situation, so Sam decides to try to change Dean's.

✅ Hand in Hand - Somebody’s slapped a symbol on Crowley that keeps him out of Hell – and that is slowly killing him. Sam wants to research a way around it, but the demon seems content just to spend his last few days in the Moose’s company.

✅ Dancing Around You -  Sam teaches Castiel to dance a few weeks before Dean’s wedding, and the angel confides in him.

✅ The Words -  Dean and Castiel give in to their desires, leaving everything unsaid. The next morning, Cas wonders if they’ve ruined what they had before.

Sastiel

✅ Change in the Cushions - Sam and Cas think back on all the memories attached to the beaten up couch in their old shared apartment. The couch they’re leaving behind. It’s been with them the entire time they dated, and now everything is about to change.

✍️🎨 Heaven Help Them - Gadreel returns from the Empty just as Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack are trying to solve Heaven’s angel shortage. If they can overcome the past, they might just be able to secure Heaven’s future. 

✅🎨 The Night Stranger - Single dad Castiel’s car breaks down during a night time drive, stranding him and his baby son Jack in the middle of a storm. Writer Sam is researching for a horror novel when a stranger in a trench coat shows up on his doorstep...

✅🔥 I Love Yous - Sam likes to encourage Cas in bed. Cas likes to call his name.

✅ Bills, Bills, Bills - Sam wants coffee. Cas wants to talk about hummingbirds. Dean wants to know what's up with all of the puns about bills.

✅ Beneath the Surface -  Cas helps warm Sam up after he falls through the ice during a winter hunt, and Sam can’t hide his longing from the angel.

✅ Heaven and Earth -  Cas likes to stargaze, so Sam gets him a telescope.

✅🎨 Silver and Cold -  When a cursed necklace turns Sam into a merman with an alluring effect on people, Dean and Cas must find a way to cure him. Dean seems immune to Sam's powers, but Cas is another story.

Mooseley

✅ Hell’s (Wedding) Bells - Co-ruling Hell is less intimidating for Sam than what he and Crowley might do on their wedding night.

✅ First Impressions - Sam and his tiny puppy encounter Crowley and his big scary dog at the dog park. First impressions can be deceiving.

✅🎨 Winter Wonder Hell - When Crowley blames Team Free Will for Hell freezing over, they know they’re not going to have a silent night or any peace on earth. 

✅🎨 Trust Exercises - Sam and Crowley have been dating, much to Dean’s dismay. When they decide to go to a couple’s retreat in the middle of the woods, Dean and Cas pose as a couple to keep an eye on them.

✅ Sam Squared - When a spell goes wrong, Sam is split into two people, each with half of his soul — and half the morality that comes with it. The halves do not get along. Dean and Castiel try to reassemble Sam before the two conflicting sides of him can cause any damage.

✅ Hand in Hand - Somebody’s slapped a symbol on Crowley that keeps him out of Hell – and that is slowly killing him. Sam wants to research a way around it, but the demon seems content just to spend his last few days in the Moose’s company.

Saileen

✅🔥 Dancing With a Stranger - Eileen hates casual sex. She’s been dealing with her heat for years with artificial pheromones and a good vibrator. When the elevator breaks down and locks her in with a handsome alpha stranger, though, neither can resist the other.

WinCasWin (Sastiel, Destiel, no Wincest)

✍️🎨🔥 Shadow Box Butterfly -  From Heaven to Hell, it's assumed that Castiel is in a relationship with the Winchesters. Everybody knows but Sam and Dean. That doesn't stop the other angels from making an example of Cas for them to find. 

✅🔥 Burning Questions -  Right after Sam and Dean admit their unrequited feelings for Cas to each other, the ex-angel recruits them to answer a perfectly innocent, newly-human-problems type question: what’s a gag reflex?

✅ Double Dare -  Team Free Will have a few beers, and the brothers discover that everybody there but Cas has kissed a guy before.

✅ Wants and Needs -  Sam, Dean and Castiel are in a relationship, but Cas’s conditioning from Heaven forbids being a lover to humans. He doesn’t feel like he’s enough for them without sex involved, and says so.

✅ Now and Then - (Sequel to Wants and Needs)  Cas has gotten comfortable with sharing the Winchesters’ beds, and they seem happy with their arrangement. The angel still sometimes has flashbacks, though — and doubts.

✅ Love-Stuck -  Do Dean and Cas love each other? Sam thinks so — and an honesty spell might just convince them to admit it to each other.

WinCroWin (Mooseley, Drowley, no Wincest)

✍️ Tender Loving Care -  Crowley’s body has been stolen, his new meatsuit is a (dead) pregnant woman, and Sam and Dean convince him that ruling Hell with a baby bump is a bad idea. Crowley doesn’t care about the baby that will die if he ditches the new body, but having the Winchesters doting on him for a few months doesn't sound too bad. 

Wincestiel

✅🔥🆕 Holy Hell - Sam has a plan for how to cure Dean of being a demon, and that plan involves Cas getting some grace into him the direct way. Unfortunately, it also involves Sam having to watch Cas do his brother over and over…and over…

✅🔥🆕 A Lover’s Touch - Sam is struck with a curse that makes all touch “a lover’s touch.” Dean and Cas have to carry him back to the car.

✅🔥 Attention - Cas gets turned on watching Sam and Dean make out. Noticing this, the brothers playfully decide to focus their attention on him.

✅🔥 Good - One angel, two hunters, and a little praise kinky bondage.

✅ Wins & Losses -  A few months after Sam and Castiel start dating, the angel is killed. Still reeling from the loss of his best friend, Dean can’t just sit and watch Sam’s heartbreak slowly pull him away, too.

Wincest

✅🔥🆕 Eyes On Me - Sam and Dean are completely overpowered by a giant tentacled monster. At first it seems interested only in Dean, but when it sees how he responds to Sam’s attempts to comfort him, the thing gets other ideas.

✅🔥 If It’s You - Sam needs to have sex with someone right now, or the sigils on him will kill him. Dean tries to find somebody for him on short notice, but it turns out Sam wants him to do it.

✅🎨 Safe With Me - A case goes awry, and Sam and Dean are trapped in a rapidly-flooding cave that only one of them took a water breathing potion to explore. Dean must breathe for them both as they try to find a way out. 

✅ Whisper to Me - Thanks to a case with a cursed item, Sam and Dean learn that they both told John about feelings for each other, and John forbade each from ever mentioning it again. Now there’s no barely keeping hands off of each other — they’re scared, and they’ve had a lifetime of practice at living just out of each other’s reach. 

✅ Bad Days - With all of the things the Winchesters have seen — all the things they’ve done, and had done to them — sometimes they have bad days. Today it’s Dean’s turn. 

Gadreel/Dean

✍️🎨 Heaven Help Them - Gadreel returns from the Empty just as Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack are trying to solve Heaven’s angel shortage. If they can overcome the past, they might just be able to secure Heaven’s future. 

Dean/OC

✅🔥 Enjoy Yourself - Dean’s not sure how he got here, and he’s not sure who has him, but they only want one thing.

✅ Holy Shovel Talk -  Dean's convinced his new boyfriend can't handle the truth about him hunting monsters, and it's getting him down. Protective best friend Castiel decides to have a chat with the guy. 

✅ Dancing Around You -  Sam teaches Castiel to dance a few weeks before Dean’s wedding, and the angel confides in him.

Dean/Pie

Unforgivable -  Dean never should have left his pie alone

Castiel/Castiel/Castiel

✅🆕 Dream On - Castiel visits Dean’s dreams with a message from Heaven, only to find Dean dreaming about two Castiels in bed together. Cas knows how to get the hunter’s attention.

Three or More Ships

✍️ 3-sentence AU Fics - 3-sentence fanfics written based on the prompt of a ship name + an AU. There's a different ship and AU and fic in each (tiny) chapter! 

✍️🎨🔥 The Threshafterdark Art Book - A collection of my NSFW fanart for Supernatural, since I won't be able to post it on Tumblr anymore. Ships and types of smut may vary greatly, but they'll be one pic per chapter and clearly titled. I'll update the tags as I add new works.

[aion-rsa]

15 Most Powerful Street Fighter Characters

https://ift.tt/3lTNhAL

Street Fighter has been around since 1987, which means it has introduced many, many characters to the fighting game pantheon. Despite being a game where every fighter is supposed to be more or less on the same level, the narrative doesn’t reflect that. Boss characters and main heroes are the best of the best in the story. Some even reach demigod status and become virtually invincible . For real, even Sean’s endings show him either lose repeatedly to Ryu or reveal that him winning the game’s tournament was just a dream he experienced while knocked after the first round.

So who are the most powerful characters in Street Fighter lore? I’ve put together a list of the top 15. Funny enough, Guile and Chun-Li – the heroes from the two live-action movies – are nowhere to be found. Go figure.

15. Seth

Seth has the honor of being the final boss of the Street Fighter IV games. Not only does Seth have Taskmaster powers that allow them to understand basically every fighting move they see but they have a rubbery android body that allows them to upgrade said moves in badass ways. Seth runs their own evil organization and is the mastermind behind the big tournament, which gives them a spot by default.

Unfortunately, Seth never really does anything of note in the story. They gave Ryu a run for his money in the Tie That Binds anime, but Seth never really proves to be anything more that just another villain. They’re quickly overshadowed by Bison licking his wounds from Street Fighter II and reestablishing himself as the top terrorist. Seth is reduced to a malfunctioning afterthought.

14. Cody Travers

Cody is a unique subject as he’s a hero from another property (Final Fight) thrown into Street Fighter, where he isn’t really allowed to be the protagonist. It’s a lot like how Terry Bogard and Ryo Sakazaki are heroes in their own fighting games but act as supporting characters in King of Fighters. With Cody, there’s an actual story explanation.

Simply put, Cody is insanely powerful but lacks the drive to hit his potential. In both his regular and Oni form, Akuma tells Cody in his winq uotes that if he actually tried, he would be a major threat. That’s as high praise as you can get, considering how Akuma usually resorts to insults. Cody never does act on his potential, so we don’t actually know how high up the ladder he’d be if he gave a damn and asserted himself. In the meantime, he lazily puts up his dukes in hopes that it will kill his boredom.

13. G

As the story goes, Street Fighter V was supposed to get a second campaign, and G was going to be the villain, but the idea was scrapped. Despite all that, this enigmatic Uncle Sam knockoff is still a mystery threat that we’ve yet to understand. In fact, according to Rose’s Street Fighter V storyline, G is supposed to be the harbinger for the end of everything.

While he appears to be the avatar of Earth itself, G ranks only so high. While Rose can’t stop the apocalypse, she can still best G in battle. Gill also makes his first public appearance by defeating G, which G seems to fully accept with open arms.

12. Rose

Rose doesn’t get her hands dirty too often, but her backstory makes it easy to calculate where she ranks among Street Fighter‘s strongest. She is Bison’s doppelganger, albeit flipped in gender and alignment. In fact, Rose is basically equal to Bison, but just when he’s in his base form. When he’s amped up his Psycho Power, there’s nothing Rose can really do to match up with him. You’d think that by now we’d see some kind of purified form of Rose where her Soul Power is off the charts, but maybe in Street Fighter VI.

11. Gill

Gill carries himself like he’s the biggest threat in Street Fighter’s world. He’s the one who controls fire and ice. He has the power to self-resurrect. He runs his own secret organization, and seems like a bigger deal than Bison because he follows him on the timeline. In-game, he’s an absolute nightmare to fight. Gill seems like he should be at the very top of the rankings.

But honestly? He actually kind of sucks. He seems to lose a lot. In canon, he loses to Alex. Capcom Fighting Evolution depicts a showdown against M. Bison where Bison reigns supreme. In the very beginning of the manga Street Fighter III: Ryu Final (Masahiko Nakahira’s works are as official as you can get without being outright canon), Gill takes a beating from Ken. Even the nature of Street Fighter III: Second Impact and its secret boss fight suggests that Akuma has a leg up on him. Gill may be able to get up from these losses, but he still gets knocked down in the first place.

10. Alex

Because of Capcom’s tendency to downplay Street Fighter III, we never get to see Alex do all that much. That’s a shame, since Alex is cool as hell and really should pop up more. He’s still defined as the hero character of the Street Fighter III games who canonically thrashes Gill, and even gets a moment in Street Fighter V’s cinematic story mode where Dhalsim tells him that he’s going to be a huge deal down the line.

But despite his role in Street Fighter’s final chronological chapter, Alex isn’t the best of the best. His ending shows that he still eats Ryu’s dust and he has a long way to go. Now that he’s gone past his need for revenge against Gill, all Alex wants is to get better at fighting so he can eventually get one over on Ryu. And if he doesn’t? He’s still having the time of his life.

9. Ken Masters

Ken may never be as important as Ryu, but the games always insist that they are rivals. No matter how much more skilled Ryu gets, Ken is still there to give him a good one-on-one. On paper, Ken should be left in the dust due to how much more driven Ryu is while Ken balances his fighting with his family and business responsibilities. But it’s actually his family that gives him an extra edge and pushes him forward. Kind of like when Spider-Man is buried under rubble and thinks of Aunt May to brute force himself out of danger.

Like Ryu, Ken has his own special, sinister form as Violent Ken. Unfortunately, that form is pretty ill-defined in and just comes off as “Ken as mind-controlled asshole.” He’s still someone Ryu can take down, just in a more reluctant way.

8. Sagat

Sagat’s defined by his losses. Ryu tore his chest apart in the first Street Fighter. Dedicating himself to rage only caused him to lose to his former pupil Adon. He eventually lost to series joke Dan Hibiki. But those losses come with an asterisk. Ryu’s win came thanks to a supernatural cheap shot. A clear-headed Sagat got his win back from Adon down the line. Sagat basically let Dan win so Dan could let go of his thirst for vengeance and learn the same lesson as Sagat.

Sagat and Ken exist as Ryu’s go-to rivals, but I’d give Sagat the edge. While Ken has always been parallel to Ryu, Sagat started with a huge lead in skill and power. It’s only over time that Ryu has been able to catch up to him, and even then Sagat’s usually depicted as such a beast that Ryu is the underdog. Well, baseline Ryu, at least.

7. Ryu

Being the protagonist doesn’t automatically make you the strongest. Ryu may be able to take down most opponents, but he’s not obsessed with being at the top of the ladder. He even has the humility to know that he doesn’t truly live up to his reputation. And itoesn’t hurt that his iconic, name-making win was achieved only after he briefly became possessed by his inner darkness and cheaply blindsided Sagat.

As shown in various Street Fighter III endings, Ryu still has a long road ahead of him. He’s great, but he’s still not a master. That may take a few more decades. In the meantime, his Satsui No Hado form is like a cheat code that lets him skip years of training and puts him over his more friendly rivals.

6. Gen

Gen is like Ryu or Akuma in reverse. He’s incredibly deadly and nigh unbeatable, but he’s long past his prime. He’s dying of leukemia, and it’s his own stubbornness that’s keeping him alive, even when regularly challenging Akuma and somehow surviving the encounters. He and Akuma are treated as ships passing in the night, where Akuma feels somewhat cheated by how he’s stuck with a weaker version of Gen while his own power only grows with time.

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By Gavin Jasper

In the Street Fighter games alone, Gen would probably rank a bit lower, but I’m going with the potential of the man he used to be. The UDON Comics one-shot Akuma vs. Hell even shows Gen at his strongest in the form of an apparition from the after-life. When he doesn’t have sickness holding him back, he does prove to be a bit more than Akuma can handle…for a time.

5. Gouken

Much like Rose with Bison and Ken with Ryu, Gouken is on par with Akuma when it comes to the latter’s base form. The initial story was that Gouken beat Akuma back in the day, but didn’t kill him. That just isn’t his style.

Then Akuma got stronger, beat Gouken, and murdered him with his Raging Demon attack. But by the time Street Fighter IV came around, they retconned all, revealing that Gouken was able to figure out a counter just in time, which resulted in him falling into a two-year coma instead of dying.

As the yin to Akuma’s yang, Gouken is there to oppose him and help Ryu overcome his inner-demon issues. Unlike Akuma, Gouken doesn’t really have any ultimate forms. Ryu and Ken’s master seems to have leveled off while Akuma is still shattering his limits.

4. M. Bison

It really shows how screwy Street Fighter’s lore is when the iconic M. Bison of Street Fighter II is considered Bison at his weakest. It turns out that Bison’s strongest form came before that, in Street Fighter Alpha 3. At least that explains why the guy is skinny in one game and built like a goddamn bus in the other.

Bison is a man who figured out how to weaponize his own evil, and not only expelled all the good from his soul to make himself stronger but he’s able to figure out crazy sci-fi ways to increase his power on top of that. He loves stuff with satellite lasers, or simply crashing satellites onto major cities because people freaking out and dying is like steroids to him. His downfall usually comes from trying to oppose or take over Ryu, whose purity and inner strength is enough to be Psycho Power’s kryptonite.

But that’s not Bison’s only weakness…

3. Akuma

Yes, Akuma, by definition, eats Bison’s lunch on a regular basis. He made his video game debut by just popping in and destroying Bison with one move in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Hell, that’s canon! Despite his rivalries with Ryu, Gen, and Gouken, Akuma is 100% all about being the guy who ruins Bison’s (and sometimes Gill’s) day on a whim.

Too bad Capcom’s somewhat nerfed his accomplishments over the years. Akuma was considered the man who killed Gouken, Gen, M. Bison, and possibly Adon. Since then, all those deaths have been negated, and the Raging Demon isn’t the move above all others that it used to be. Still, Akuma gets to constantly up his game with his Shin Akuma and even Oni forms, which could probably destroy Earth itself if he felt like it.

2. Oro

In terms of traditional Street Fighter characters, the strongest is not a boss or even a villain, but a kindly old man in his hundreds dressed in rags. Introduced in Street Fighter III, the hermit Oro stands above everyone and is only conceivably beatable because he chooses to fight one-handed. Battles are just too easy when he uses both arms free, so holding back allows him to better check out who has potential to one day be on his level.

It’s hard to say who is superior between Oro and Akuma, or should I say, Two-Arm Oro vs. Oni (the UDON comic did have Two-Arm Oro completely clown Akuma but fail to kill him, for what it’s worth). In the end, I have to give it to Oro. Akuma comes off as a major threat that Ryu will gradually, but soon overcome. By the time Ryu has a shot at besting Oro, he’ll probably be sporting gray hair. He is the final finish line in Ryu’s search for enlightenment.

1. Ingrid

Ah, Ingrid. The most powerful Street Fighter character is also one of the most obscure. Ingrid was meant to be introduced in a 3D fighter called Capcom Fighting All-Stars, which was cancelled and replaced with the lazy-as-hell Capcom Fighting Evolution thatfeatured a roster of reused assets from older games as well as Ingrid in 2D sprite form. To get more bang for its buck, Capcom threw her into Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX.

Ingrid is a cosmic entity that dwarfs the power of M. Bison. It’s more apparent in Street Fighter X Tekken, where the plot revolves around various duos racing towards a MacGuffin called Pandora. In the comic that comes with the special edition of the game, it’s revealed Ingrid herself created Pandora for…reasons. And considering the reality-breaking (albeit ill-explained) abilities Pandora has, Ingrid’s just on a different level to the classic Street Fighter cast.

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[lfthinkerwrites]

Inauguration

Chapter Title: Inauguration

Work: From the Casefiles of Edward Nigma, Private Investigator

Fandom: Batman

Rating: PG

Summary: Quincy Sharp officially takes office and changes are soon to come.

AO3 Link

December 31st, 2006.

11:45 pm

"I hate this coat," Ellen grumbled, walking or rather, waddling next to Edward as they walked into Gotham Central Park.

"Well too bad," Edward said unsympathetically. He felt cold in his dark green winter coat and he rubbed his gloved hands together. He hated winter in Gotham City. "You're the one who wanted to come out to see the fireworks. You could have stayed in your nice warm apartment and watched them on TV-"

"Blah blah blah," Ellen said. Edward had to admit, she did look a bit ridiculous in the green puffy winter coat he'd purchased for her for Christmas. Better she be warm at least. "You've been grouchy all day Old Man. What's eating you?"

Edward didn't answer his daughter as they continued walking through the park. They stopped just where Edward saw a mob of people gathered near the center. Just through the crowd, Edward could catch a glimpse of the Arkham Memorial. Had that really been six months ago? It seemed like a lifetime now. What a strange year he'd had. He'd begun to come into his own as a private investigator, but he'd attracted the unwelcome attention of Hugo Strange and Quincy Sharp in doing so and in a matter of hours, Sharp would be officially Gotham's Mayor. He still couldn't remember much of his life before the coma. He'd been betrayed by people he'd considered friends once upon a time. Jonathan was still gone.

It hadn't been all bad though, he thought as the lights in the park began to dim in anticipation of the fireworks. He and Selina had managed to reconcile. He'd met Penelope. And he'd gained a daughter. He looked down at said daughter, who was looking up at him expectantly. "What's with you Old Man?"

Edward shrugged. "Just thinking about the year that's gone by," he answered. "Did you imagine standing here with me back in January?"

Ellen shook her head. "Nah. I knew I'd find you though. That was my New Year's Resolution last year."

"Was it now," Edward grinned. "What's your resolution this year?"

"Pass my stupid history class. What's yours Old Man?"

Edward leaned back and thought. Find the truth. About Strange, about Jonathan. "I think the fireworks are about to start."

Ellen eagerly looked up and joined in the crowd's countdown.

5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

Happy New Year!

Edward watched the fireworks and the other revelers and his mood grew dark again. This was the year everything would change. He just knew it.

January 1st, 2007

9:30 am

THIS IS VICKI VALE, REPORTING LIVE FROM GOTHAM CITY HALL, WHERE JUST FIVE MINUTES AGO, QUINCY SHARP WAS SWORN IN AS THE NEXT MAYOR OF GOTHAM CITY. QUINCY SHARP REPLACES HAMILTON HILL, WHOSE 12 YEARS IN OFFICE WERE BROUGHT TO A SUDDEN END BY HIS OWN UNCOVERED CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. MAYOR SHARP, FORMERLY THE WARDEN OF ARKHAM ASYLUM, RAN HIS CAMPAIGN ON A HARD ANTI CRIME PLATFORM. SHARP IS NOW ADDRESSING THE CROWD. LET'S CUT AWAY TO HEAR HIS REMARKS:

"I WANT TO THANK ALL OF MY SUPPORTERS WHO HAVE BEEN THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. THIS IS A NEW DAY FOR GOTHAM! THIS IS THE DAY WE TAKE OUR CITY BACK!"

NOW THAT HE'S IN OFFICE, SHARP HAS SO FAR GIVEN EVERY INDICATION THAT HE WILL FOLLOW THROUGH ON HIS CAMPAIGN PROMISES. THIS IS VICKI VALE.

Gordon never liked attending inaugurations. He never cared for the public spectacle, for the reporters, for any of it. As the Police Commissioner though, his presence wasn't optional. As he walked down the marbled hallway to the Mayor's office, he suppressed a sigh. He and Sharp had never gotten along when Sharp was warden at the Asylum. Now that he was the mayor. Gordon suspected it wouldn't be long until Sharp made his distaste for him known. Gordon stopped in front of the solid oak door of the mayor's office and knocked. An aide answered the door almost immediately.

"Commissioner Gordon. Please, come in."

Gordon walked into the open door and saw the man of the hour himself, hanging up the landline on his desk. "Commissioner." Sharp nodded his head at his aide. "Give us the room." The aide did as Sharp requested, shutting the door behind him. Gordon took a seat in front of Sharp's desk. There was an awkward silence before Sharp spoke. "I know we've had our differences when I was still warden of the asylum," he said, "But I would like to continue to work with you. I think it's vitally important for the security of Gotham that the mayor and police commissioner remain on good terms with each other."

They were the words Gordon wanted to hear, but Sharp's speech sounded stilted, as if he was reading off of a script. "Well, I'm glad to hear that," he said at last. "What did you have in mind for your agenda?"

Sharp fixed his beady gaze onto Gordon. "I want to be perfectly frank with you. I'm going to be establishing a commission to review parole practices in this city. And the recent conduct of GCPD."

Gordon tensed. "I understand that emotions are running high after the Goodman incident, but crime's at a ten year low in Gotham."

"That may be so," Sharp interrupted. "But less than a week ago, Victor Goodman killed several people, blew up a portion of GCPD and took a hostage! And neither his parole officer nor the GCPD had any inkling of this!"

"GCPD is conducting it's own investigation-"

"Oh is that so?" Sharp asked. "And with whose assistance? Batman's, or Edward Nigma's?"

And there it was. Gordon suspected that if Batman had been the one who brought in Goodman, Mayor Sharp wouldn't be making as much of a fuss. "Edward Nigma is not now nor was he ever privy to GCPD's case against Victor Goodman. GCPD is conducting its investigation without any outside interference."

Sharp nodded. "I don't mean to be so critical of you personally," he said without any meaning, "I know that you've made a lot of progress in cleaning up the GCPD since you became commissioner. But serious changes need to be made. As long as there are costumed manics causing chaos in this city, the public isn't going to care much that street crime's gone down!"

"And what kind of changes are you proposing?"

Sharp stared wide eyed at Gordon, as if he hadn't expected the question. Gordon was becoming more and more irritated. The man blamed GCPD for Goodman's rampage but didn't have any constructive ideas to offer?

"Well, that will be something the commission will decide, after reviewing everything," Sharp sputtered. "In the meantime, I suggest keeping a closer eye on Nigma."

Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You want me to devote time and resources to keep tabs on a private citizen?"

"When that private citizen is a former super criminal, then yes! He's caused nothing but trouble from the moment he woke up out of that coma!"

And yet, you hired him, Gordon wanted to say. "Mayor Sharp," he said in a measured tone of voice. "I have my share of concerns about Nigma. But the simple fact of the matter is that until or unless he does something that breaks the law, I can't do much about it."

Sharp's face darkened. "That may be so, but surely, you can keep him out of official police business! It's bad enough we're beholden to a man dressed as a bat, but to someone like Nigma...no. I won't have it!"

Gordon got out of his seat. "Are we finished here?" he asked with a slight edge to his voice. "Because I have work to do."

Sharp nodded. "Yes. I have another appointment I need to see to as well. I'll be in touch."

"I can hardly wait," Gordon muttered under his breath as he exited Sharp's office. This was going to be even worse than he thought.

January 1st, 2007

10:30 am

"For the last time Joan," Penelope said, holding her phone in one hand and grabbing her purse with the other. "I'm fine. If I spend one more day in my apartment, I'll need to schedule an appointment for myself."

"As long as you're sure," Joan said. "There's no need to push yourself if you need more time."

"I don't think I'll be going into GCPD today," Penelope said. "I'm just planning on heading into my office for a few hours to get caught up on paperwork. I'm not even sure when I'll be seeing a patient this week."

"Knowing you, I'm a bit surprised you weren't doing paperwork while you've been home," Joan teased.

"I wouldn't have had the time," Penelope scoffed. "I spent practically all day Thursday AND Friday convincing my mother she didn't need to fly back from Greece to check on me."

"Can't say that I blame her much." Joan was silent for a moment before she continued. "I didn't want to push it while you were at home recuperating, but there is something we still need to talk about."

Penelope paused as she was about to slip on her shoes. "Edward," she answered. She'd been thinking about it too. She'd been ready to tell Joan without hesitation what they were up to, but after he'd risked his life to save hers...she didn't want to do it without consulting him at least. "It might be better if you hear it from Edward himself."

"Would he be willing to tell me?"

"He's coming by my office today, I'll ask him-" a beeping noise from her phone distracted Penelope. "Hold on Joan, I've got another call." Penelope checked the number before placing Joan on hold. It wasn't one she recognized, but it had a Gotham area code. "Hello?"

"Is this Dr. Penelope Young?"

Penelope furrowed her brow. "Yes. Who is this?"

"My name is Howard Kline, with Mayor Sharp's office. Mayor Sharp would like to see you in his office at your earliest convenience."

Penelope nearly dropped her phone in shock. Sharp hadn't said as many as two words to her since the Arkham Memorial back in May. Why was he reaching out now? What did he want? Did he know that she and Edward were-

"Dr. Young? Are you still there?"

Penelope quickly recovered. "Yes. When's the earliest the Mayor can see me?"

"Mayor Sharp has a block of time between now and 12:30."

Penelope checked her watch. It would take her about twenty minutes to get from her apartment to City Hall. "I'll by there by 11."

"Thank you."

Penelope hung up and put Joan back on the line. "Mayor Sharp just had an aide call me and ask me down to his office."

"He did?" Joan asked, sounding as perplexed as Penelope was. "Why?"

"I'm not sure. I'm heading down there now. I'll call you later tonight." Penelope hung up before Joan could reply and slipped on her shoes. She doubted Sharp meant any harm, but this meeting made her feel uneasy all the same. On her way down the stairs, she dialed another number.

"This is Edward Nigma, Private Investigator. I'm either with a client or otherwise preoccupied. Leave your name and message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"Edward," Penelope said. "It's Penelope. Mayor Sharp invited me to his office. I should be done by noon. Meet me back at my office at one."

"Penelope!" Sharp said almost jovially when his aide brought her into his office. "So glad you could make it! Please, sit down."

Penelope did so, not taking her eyes off of Sharp for a moment. He seemed genuinely glad to see her, which made her cringe. At the Asylum, he'd taken an almost paternalistic interest in her and had involved himself more in her business than what she considered tolerable. It seemed that time and separation did nothing to change that. So she did what she'd done at Arkham: grin and bear it until she could leave. "Mayor Sharp. Congratulations."

"Oh no, none of that my dear. Please, call me Quincy." She would absolutely not. "Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you," Penelope politely declined. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that you asked to see me."

"Ah, well. I do apologize for not keeping in touch after what happened in May, but we've both been busy. How have you been? Are you happy at GCPD?"

"Well." she answered. "I do enjoy my work with GCPD, yes."

"Even after what happened? Gordon told me what Goodman did to you when he informed me of the dreadful incident."

That would explain why Sharp was reaching out to her now. "I'm alright. I'm sure that you have more important matters to attend to without checking up on me."

Sharp chuckled. "My dear girl-" Penelope bristled at the endearment. I'm not a girl and I'm not your dear. "I'm never to busy to look after one of the best doctors I ever worked with." Who is the best? Hugo Strange? "I actually called you here because I'd like to offer you an opportunity to work with me again."

That Penelope hadn't expected. "In your office?" she inquired. "Why would you need me?"

"No, back at Arkham. The Asylum sorely needs people with your work ethic and your vision."

Penelope felt her blood run cold. Her vision. Her vision that had led to her violating every oath she'd taken when she'd become a doctor. Her vision that led to the deaths of over a hundred people. "No," she murmured. "I can't go back there."

Sharp reached out to grab her hand and it took everything Penelope had to not flinch. "Penelope," he said in a serious tone. "What happened at Arkham was not your fault. I believe you could make a real difference there. And at any rate, you deserve better than to be slumming at GCPD, and being put in danger because of Edward Nigma."

Penelope looked up with a start at the vehemence in Sharp's tone. "With all due respect," she said carefully. "I don't consider the consulting work I do with GCPD 'slumming'. And Nigma did save me."

Sharp huffed. "After his stunt with Goodman led to you being kidnapped in the first place! The man's incorrigible! Just how much nonsense has happened because Gordon refuses to keep a leash on him?" Penelope bit her tongue. If she were overly defensive of Edward, Sharp might get suspicious. "At any rate," Sharp continued, "I don't want to spend much time thinking about him. I have my ways of taking care of that problem. I'd like you to consider coming back to Arkham as my head of research."

Penelope arched an eyebrow. "I thought that my old position had been filled already."

"It was," Sharp admitted. "But now with Dr. Strange taking over as the Warden, we will need that position filled. I promise you, we've completely revamped all security. The Rogues will never be able to...."

Penelope didn't hear anything Sharp said after he said Strange was taking over as the warden of Arkham Asylum. Penelope remembered just how eager he'd been ti get Edward back into his custody last summer. She'd heard the rumors from Aaron and from Joe Bryant about just how draconian he could be. That kind of man with that kind of power...what would he do with it?

January 1st, 2007

12:15 pm

Edward looked at his watch and swore. He should have left by now. He wanted to get to Penelope's office as soon as possible. He cursed himself again for not picking up when she'd called earlier. What did Sharp want with her? What was he telling her? A knock on the door of his office broke him out of his musings. He groaned. Not a client. Not now. "I'm busy right now! Come back in a few hours!"

The door opened and Edward's eyes almost popped out when he saw who was entering his office. A large, burly man with a black buzz cut and a cold smile on his face. "Nigma," he sneered. 'Long time no see."

Edward clenched his fist. "Not nearly long enough, Bolton."

Lyle Bolton snorted. "Is that any way to talk to your old pal Eddie?" Bolton walked over to where Edward had a framed article of a past case hung up on the wall. "'Edward Nigma solves case of break in at Gotham Park Towers.' You like getting your face in the papers Eddie?"

"It's a living," Edward grit out. "What do you want Bolton?"

Bolton smirked at the obvious discomfort he was causing. "Just here as a courtesy visit. Not sure if you know, but I'm the new head of security at Arkham."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "I see. What does that have to do with me?"

"Mayor Sharp asked me to come by and talk to you." Bolton's face darkened. "He's sick and tired of you trying to play good guy. So am I. Stay out of the news and stay out of police business."

The next words were out of Edward's mouth before he had the chance to think them through. "Or else what?"

Bolton grabbed the framed article and threw it as hard as he could on the ground, sending glass shards flying. Edward stood still, stunned for a moment. Bolton smirked again. "Or else that, but your head. I'll make that coma you had look like a nap." Bolton walked out of Edward's office. Edward dashed to the window to watch Bolton get into his car and drive off. As soon as he was certain Bolton was gone, Edward grabbed his coat. He had to talk to Penelope, now.

January 1st

1:00 pm

After being on edge all throughout her meeting with Sharp, Penelope was relieved to see Edward sitting on her desk in her office. Relieved enough to not scold him for not using a chair at least. "Afternoon Penelope," he greeted. His tone was more serious than usual. "How did your meeting with our illustrious new mayor go?"

"He's as pompous and demeaning as he ever was," she answered, hanging her coat on the rack. "That's not important though. He told me that Hugo Strange is warden at the asylum now!"

Edward didn't look surprised. "That's unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected. But I doubt he asked you to come to his office just to tell you that."

"No," she admitted. "He wanted me to come to work at Arkham again. He asked if I would consider becoming head of research again."

"Under the watchful eye of Warden Strange, no doubt." Penelope noticed for the first time just how tense his body language was. That couldn't be because of her visit with Sharp. "Sharp sent Bolton to my office," Edward said, almost sensing her question. "He's made Bolton head of security."

Penelope's jaw dropped. The last time she'd seen Lyle Bolton, he'd been put on leave for throwing an unruly inmate through a window. He'd still been on leave when the Joker had taken over the Asylum. "Bolton's a walking lawsuit waiting to happen. What's Sharp thinking putting him in charge of security? And why did he send him to your office?"

Edward hopped off the desk. "Evidently, Sharp is a firm believer in punishment over rehabilitation. And he sent Bolton to give me a message: Sharp doesn't like my recent activities on the right side of the law."

Penelope sank down into a chair. "Sharp sent Bolton to threaten you? Did he hurt you?"

"Me? No. A picture frame of mine wasn't as lucky." Edward looked at her with a look like almost looked like concern. "Are you alright? You look pale."

Penelope took a deep breath. "I'm fine Edward." She brought her hand up to her forehead. "It's just been a bit of an overwhelming day."

"Tell me about it," the man chuckled. "And it's only just past one."

Penelope took a moment to fully process what Edward told her. Warden Hugo Strange and now head of security Lyle Bolton...this didn't look good. And it was becoming a bit much for just the two of them. "Edward," she said finally. "I think we need to bring in more people."

Edward looked surprised, but didn't immediately object. "Penelope," he said gently. "I've faced worse odds than this."

"I know, but we're just two people Edward. This is potentially going to impact the entire city. I just..I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Edward nodded. 'I see your point. Who did you have in mind? It's a bit early to bring in Gordon."

"I want to tell Joan about this."

"Dr. Leland? Why?"

"She's already asking questions Edward. I can't put her off forever. And she's never cared for Sharp's methods. She might be able to give us insight that neither of us have."

Edward rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, at the very least, she won't go against us. I'll talk to her."

Penelope smiled a bit in relief. "Thank you Edward."

Edward smiled a bit in response before his face grew serious again. "What did you tell Sharp about taking the job?"

Penelope shrugged. "I thanked him, but said that I was happy at GCPD." Sharp hadn't been happy, but he hadn't been angry either.

"That's it?"

"It wouldn't do us any good to make him angry Edward. If he thinks I'm still friendly towards him, it'll be easier to get information from him."

Edward looked vaguely impressed with her. "I see. You do realize that that's a bit of a dangerous game you're playing?"

"Is it any more dangerous than what you'll be doing?"

Edward shook his head. "No. I suppose not."

January 1st, 2007

3:00 pm

As Edward finished telling his story, he studied Dr. Leland's face. She remained deep in thought, not saying a word. She didn't seem to be in outright disbelief at least. Finally, she spoke. "Do you have any tangible proof that Strange is targeting you, or is this just a suspicion?"

"I don't exactly have him on tape admitting to it, but I think I've got more than enough circumstantial evidence to make the case. At the very least, Mayor Sharp has a clear vendetta against me. I can show you the frame to prove it."

"I don't know that it's a vendetta against you specifically, but something seems to be going on, I grant you. Does Gordon know?"

"No," Edward answered. "I don't want to get him involved until I have concrete proof."

"Does Batman know?"

Edward averted his gaze from Dr. Leland's for a bit. "I don't know. I don't want to get him involved at all."

"Edward, I understand that your past with him doesn't make it easy for you to trust him, but if this is as serious as you and Penelope think it is, he needs to know."

Edward clenched his fist. "Will you tell him? Or would that break doctor patient privilege?"

Dr. Leland sighed. "Don't be snide Edward. But no, I won't tell him unless I absolutely have to."

Edward sighed in relief. "Thank you Dr."

"I have one question though: how and why did you bring Penelope into this?"

Edward shrugged. "I didn't bring her into it. She witnessed Strange accost me and decided to bring herself into it. I told you that. She's made it very clear to me that she'll be looking into this no matter what I do or don't do."

Dr. Leland pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't say I'm surprised. Penelope feels responsible for what happened during the Joker's riot a year and a half ago."

Edward's stomach clenched as he recalled how she'd offered herself up as a sacrifice to Horner last May. "I've noticed. I'd like to think she's come a long way since then."

"She has, but that guilt will never completely go away. It might lead her to take risks to prevent a situation like that from ever happening again." Dr. Leland fixed Edward with a hard look. "I know you aren't responsible for her actions, just like she's not responsible for yours, but please. Don't let her endanger herself."

Edward leaned back in his chair and sighed. In all of his past partnerships, professional and personal, he'd never been put into the position of protector. It was unsettling. "There won't be a repeat of the Goodman situation. I can promise you that much." Edward thought of Penelope, of Ellen, of Selina, of Oswald. It began to occur to him that more people than just him stood to lose if Strange succeeded in whatever his goal was.

January 1st, 2007

4:00 pm

It had been a good day for Dr. Hugo Strange. Sharp was now in place at City Hall, ready to implement whatever policy Strange and his master devised for Gotham City. And now that he was officially Warden, Strange could begin the process of fully remaking the asylum. He'd begun to institute stricter rules and more...vigorous regimens, but now, he had to power to fully enforce them and to remove anyone who objected. Speaking of which...Strange opened up his laptop and began typing up a list of names. These were people that, for one reason or another, demanded closer scrutiny. Aaron Cash. Joe Bryant. The former security guards who had the strongest objections to his new regulations. Dr. Joan Leland. Dr. Penelope Young. Leland had been a thorn in his side for years and it seemed that Young was following in her footsteps. Sharp's continued attachment to Young was also a problem to consider. The fool had actually offered her a position back at the asylum, without Strange's approval. Luckily for her, she had chosen not to take it. Strange shook his head and moved on. Oswald Cobblepot. Selina Kyle. They may not be criminally insane, but they were as much a pestilence on Gotham as those who were currently locked up in Arkham. Edward Nigma. Strange narrowed his eyes. He may be useful now, but he was becoming unpredictable. If he genuinely succeeded in reforming...he wouldn't. Strange would see to that, one way or another. Commissioner James Gordon. The only major city official who couldn't be bought or disposed of. Bruce Wayne.

Strange smiled. If all went according to plan, Batman would be soon become obsolete. It would be Hugo Strange who would be remembered as the man who saved Gotham City. Strange typed a few more words into his laptop.

Countdown until Arkham City: 18 months.

[orbemnews]

Lawsuit Accuses Tony Robbins of Discriminating In opposition to Worker Who Obtained Covid Tony Robbins, the life coach and motivational speaker, discriminated towards considered one of his staff by refusing to grant her the lodging she wanted to earn a living from home after she contracted a debilitating case of Covid-19 within the spring, in response to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The lawsuit additionally expenses that Mr. Robbins falsely claimed to have helped the worker recuperate by asking a physician pal of his to intervene in her care after she was positioned on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. The lawsuit, filed in federal courtroom in Manhattan, accuses Mr. Robbins; his firm, Robbins Analysis Worldwide; and his spouse, Bonnie P. Robbins, who is named Sage, of violating a number of incapacity legal guidelines, together with the People With Disabilities Act, which requires affordable lodging for individuals with disabilities. The worker, Despina Kosta, labored for Mr. Robbins for 18 years — the primary 9 in Europe and the final 9 in america, the place she had a job in New York as a gross sales govt, or “private outcomes specialist.” She was one of many highest-rated gross sales staff within the firm, in response to the lawsuit. In the beginning of the pandemic, the lawsuit claims, Mr. Robbins downplayed the severity of the coronavirus and pushed his staff to proceed promoting in-person occasions. Ms. Kosta claims she voiced considerations concerning the method however was ignored. In April, Ms. Kosta, 52, developed a excessive fever and was discovered to have Covid-19. She was positioned in a medically induced coma from April 12 by Might 1 whereas being handled first at NewYork-Presbyterian Decrease Manhattan Hospital after which at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Heart, in response to the lawsuit and Ms. Kosta. Afterward, Ms. Kosta struggled to recuperate, discovering it tough to stroll and even to carry a cellphone, she mentioned. Ms. Kosta tried to return to work on July 1 and requested her supervisor and a human assets official if she might work “only a few hours” a day as she recovered and constructed again her energy, she mentioned in an interview Wednesday night time. “They mentioned no to that,” she mentioned. Since July, Ms. Kosta mentioned, she has been unable to get entry to her work e-mail or the corporate’s database, the place details about the shoppers she served is saved. With out that entry, she has been unable to work, she mentioned. Ms. Kosta mentioned she had been incomes about $250,000 yearly. J. Christopher Albanese, a lawyer representing Ms. Kosta, mentioned that the corporate had not terminated her however that the lockout had left her unable to carry out her job. Up to date  Dec. 27, 2020, 11:08 a.m. ET Jennifer Connelly, a spokeswoman for Mr. Robbins, mentioned the claims within the lawsuit had been “ridiculous and baseless.” She mentioned that Ms. Kosta “stays a present worker” and that the corporate had “offered all wanted lodging” and “continues to pay the entire price of her medical insurance coverage, despite the fact that its authorized obligation to take action resulted in June.” Ms. Kosta additionally mentioned that remarks made by Mr. Robbins on a podcast had triggered her misery. Within the podcast, recorded in Might, Mr. Robbins described a feminine worker who had a cough and a 102-degree fever and “bought very scared.” “And so she went to the hospital, after which out of concern, she felt wanting breath, sort of hyperventilating a bit of bit, so that they instantly put her on a ventilator,” he mentioned. Mr. Robbins mentioned that after he had came upon that the worker had been positioned in a coma, he referred to as a physician pal who knew individuals on the hospital. He mentioned that he had requested his pal to name the hospital and that the pal had finally gotten by to the night time doctor, who diminished the stress on the ventilator. “Consequently, 4 or 5 days later, she opened her eyes,” Mr. Robbins mentioned, asserting that the episode confirmed that ventilators, no less than with an excessive amount of stress, gave the impression to be “doing harm.” In July, Ms. Kosta mentioned she had been contacted instantly by a shopper in Poland who mentioned he had listened to Mr. Robbins’s podcast and understood that Mr. Robbins had been describing Ms. Kosta. Ms. Kosta listened to the podcast and mentioned on Wednesday night that Mr. Robbins’s claims of getting intervened in her therapy had been totally false. She mentioned she was “ashamed” as a result of she felt that he had described her as a “hysterical feminine, a weakling.” The feedback weren’t the primary time Mr. Robbins’s remarks a few lady have drawn scrutiny. In April 2018, Mr. Robbins apologized for saying girls had been utilizing the #MeToo motion “to attempt to get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying another person.” Ms. Connelly, the spokeswoman for Mr. Robbins, mentioned the group had displayed concern for Ms. Kosta’s situation. “Once we had been knowledgeable Ms. Kosta had contracted Covid-19 and was hospitalized, Mr. Robbins and his group inquired with compassion and help for her,” she mentioned. She added, “Any suggestion by Ms. Kosta that RRI acted unprofessionally or out of compliance with any relevant legal guidelines, in her scenario or within the common conduct of its enterprise, is patently false.” Supply hyperlink #accuses #Covid #Discriminating #employee #lawsuit #Robbins #Tony

[monicamathis001]

Is there a Plant-based Treatment for Malaria?

Introduction

Approximately 210 million people get infected with malaria, and close to 440,000 people die from the disease. These numbers affect mostly young children in Africa, and currently, no vaccine has been approved for human use for malaria. The gravity of the situation is clear, for it only takes an infected mosquito to bite and transmit the parasite to numerous people. Preventative measures are key and organizations such as the World Health Organization, chooses to remind individuals in the tropical and subtropical countries to wear protective clothing, set up bed nets at night and use insect repellents. But there are medicines that are currently used as part of the treatment for the disease, which are effective (when diagnosed correctly), even though there is no official vaccine (“Malaria”).  

Malaria, AKA the “King of Diseases”, is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium and the most serious type of it known as Plasmodium falciparum. There are other human species as well, such as P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. The need for effective and practical diagnosis is increasing, especially since it is a global issue. To do this, diagnosis needs to be more streamlined and for that, it is important that early symptoms are caught at the right moment, especially since they are very nonspecific and variable (Tangpukdee). 

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Symptoms

Earliest symptoms - make it hard to diagnose and can be overlapping with other viral or bacterial infections (Tangpukdee). These are considered as the more common combination of symptoms: 

Fever

Headache

Myalgia

Chills and weakness

Abdominal pain

Diarrhea

Nausea

Vomiting 

 Malaria “attacks”: some individuals can experience these “attacks” that begin with shivering and chills, followed by high fever, then sweating, then back to normal temperature (“Malaria”). These are considered the stages for the classical malaria attack, as written by the CDC, and lasts for about 6-10 hours. 

Serious, severe malaria occurs when organ complications come into play and failures or abnormalities in the blood or metabolism are observed. According to the CDC, here are the following manifestations:

Cerebral malaria

Abnormal behavior

Impairment of consciousness

Seizures

Coma

Other neurological abnormalities

Severe anemia due to destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis)

Can lead to hemoglobin in the urine (hemoglobinuria) as a result. 

ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome)

It is an inflammatory reaction in the lungs that basically inhibits oxygen exchange, which is what our lungs are responsible for. 

This could occur even after parasite counts have decreased after treatment

Low blood pressure due to cardiovascular system collapse

Acute kidney journey

Excessive acidity in the blood and tissue fluids - Metabolic acidosis

Low blood glucose - Hypoglycemia (can also occur in pregnant women with uncomplicated malaria)

Hyperparasitemia

When more than 5% of the RBCs are infected by malaria parasites

**There are many strains of the parasite and these symptoms are from the common strains observed.**

Malaria Relapses: within P. vivax and P. ovale infections, patients who may have recovered the first time around can suffer from additional attacks - “relapses” - after months or even years without symptoms. These relapses occur due to P.vivax and P. ovale have parasites (“hypnozoites”) that can remain dormant in your liver and can reactivate later. There are treatments to reduce these relapses and should follow the treatment of the first attack (“CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - Disease”). 

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Treatment

Maximum drug effects, as observed, were between 18-24 hrs of parasite development; once again, showing the importance of early diagnosis. Increase in parasitic metabolic activity correlated with decreased drug sensitivity. 

Chloroquine (CQ)

Quinine (QN)

Artemisinin (AR)

Sodium artelinate (SA)

AR and its related compounds produced the most rapid parasitic clearance, followed by CQ and then QN. Basically, the artemisinin compounds, which behaved similarly, “had an overall broader time window of antimalarial effect than either CQ or QN ''(Terkuile, 91). In severe malaria cases, artemisinin derivatives also showed greater likelihood of inhibiting parasite cycle than other drugs.

CQ shows the most rapid onset of action out of the four drugs by inhibiting the parasite’s protein and nucleic acid synthesis. In contrast, there is a lag time of 1-4 hours before AR compounds begin to show any of the measurable effects, but after this, the reaction is very rapid as compared to CQ and QN. 

Based on this information, the delayed activity of AR and SA would be in favor for those with blood concentrations that were constant or above the concentration that inhibited parasite activity (or the inhibitory concentration) for several hours. Basically, these drugs are stage dependent and thus, the stage of infection will dictate which drug is best fit (Terkuile, 92). 

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Plant Based Treatment

Based on an assessment conducted by Alshawsh et al., the following information provides an overview of some Yemeni Medicinal plants that have antimalarial properties (specifically against Plasmodium falciparum). 

The following medicinal extracts are commonly used in Yemen by traditional healers and the study conducted evaluated their behavior against isolates of Plasmodium falciparum, in vitro (not in a biological setting, isolated). 

The IC50 of a medicine is the concentration of the medication in the blood that can inhibit the replication of the malarial parasite. It is the concentration at which 50% of the parasitic replication will be inhibited (“Concentration”). A low concentration indicates that less of the medication is needed to have an effect, thus implying the efficiency of the product.

Out of the 6 plants, there were three that were found to have significant positive effects with their IC50 value being less than 4 microgram/ml. 

  This table shows all the medicines lined up and compared with the SMI or inhibition rate of the parasite of Chloroquine, which is a widely used drug for malaria. Among all of the medicines, only Acalypha fruticosa, Azadirachta indica, and Dendrosicyos socotrana showed any inhibition against parasite growth. 

Acalypha fruticose

Traditional Uses: Antiinflammatory, antimalarial, antibacterial.

Active components: Tannins, terpenoids, flavonoids, proteins, polysaccharides

IC50 = 1.6 microgram/ml

Azadirachta indica

Traditional Uses: Antimalarial, fever, digestive disturbances, skin problems, general fatigue, intestinal parasites, diabetes, fungal infections, inflammatory diseases.

Active components: Flavonoids, terpenoids Polysaccharides, proteins, tannins

IC50 = 2.0 microgram/ml

Dendrosicyos socotrana

Traditional uses: Urinary retention, cystitis, symptoms of diabetes, problems with the liver and burns, constipation 

Active components: Terpenoids, proteins, polysaccharides

IC50 = 2.3 microgram/ml

Based on the commonalities within the active components, the presence of tannins, polysaccharides and proteins in the aqueous extracts (Table 2), might have been responsible for the antiplasmodial (against malaria, stemming from the genus Plasmodium) activity of those products(Alshawsh).

Another plant based on West African Plants, conducted by Zirihi et al., researched 33 plant extracts and found certain plants that have been described with having antiplasmodial activity – which is what we are looking for in medications (Zirihi, G.N.).

The root extract of Rauvolfia vomitoria (IC50 = 2.5 micrograms/ml, SI = 9-10)

Important medicinal plant used for many illnesses such as neuropsychiatry disorders, jaundice, gastro-intestinal, measles, and more.

The stem bark extract of Funtumia elastica (IC50 = 3.3 micrograms/ml, SI >15)

Traditionally used for the treatment of haemorrhoids

The stem bark extract of Fagara macrophylla (IC50 = 2.3 micrograms/ml, SI = 9-12)

Has a potent “antifeedant activity” (naturally occurring substance in the plant that causes an unfavorable reaction in the organism that consumes it) against the larvae of both Spodoptera frugiperdaand Spodoptera littoralis (species of moth)

Hypothesized that these substances also make the plant have antiplasmoidial activity.

Work Cited

 Alshawsh, Mohammed A et al. “Assessment of antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum and phytochemical screening of some Yemeni medicinal plants.” Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM vol. 6,4 (2009): 453-6. doi:10.1093/ecam/nem148

“CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 Jan. 2019, www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/disease.html.

“Concentration.” The Free Dictionary, Farlex,

medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/concentration. 

“Malaria.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 13 Dec. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/malaria/symptoms-causes/syc-20351184. 

Tangpukdee, Noppadon et al. “Malaria diagnosis: a brief review.” The Korean journal of parasitology vol. 47,2 (2009): 93-102. doi:10.3347/kjp.2009.47.2.93

Terkuile, F., et al. “Plasmodium Falciparum: In Vitro Studies of the Pharmacodynamic Properties of Drugs Used for the Treatment of Severe Malaria.” Experimental Parasitology, vol. 76, no. 1, 1993, pp. 85–95., doi:10.1006/expr.1993.1010.

Zirihi, G. N., Mambu, L., Guédé-Guina, F., Bodo, B., & Grellier, P. (2005). In vitro antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of 33 West African plants used for treatment of malaria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 98(3), 281-285. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.01.004

source https://www.nutrav.com/blogs/news/is-there-a-plant-based-treatment-for-malaria source https://nutravllc.blogspot.com/2020/11/is-there-plant-based-treatment-for.html