#might be just for users in the PH but yeah

[binary-bird]

hm

[neechees]

alongside just being racist, people constantly accusing any and every Palestinian fundraiser of being a "Scam" have been using scam busters' red flags out of context and not taking our advice when we say that our red flags cannot exist in singular, there must be multiple and they must be taken into context TOGETHER to POSSIBLY be a scam, but now people will use one red flag from our guide to say any account is DEFINITELY a "Scam", which we constantly specifically fucking advise against. In particular, people will say that the Palestinian accounts not speaking English well is "Definite proof" that they are a scam, but this is wrong.

"They don't speak English/very well" yeah, they're Palestinian who's first language is going to be Arabic, if we go with the idea that most of these fundraisers are genuine (which they are), this isn't unusual. When we scam busters brought this up as a red flag, the original reason this might have been one red flag is in cases where the story is that they were pretending to be from a primarily English speaking country who's first language was English, but there were holes in their story that proved this wasn't the case.

For example, the scammer behind the now deactivated url jezzzzmm pretended to be a White American asking for funeral money, but in ADDITION to other mutliple red flags, they used language that suggested that English was not their first language, despite acting as though it was. This particular account was likely run by Laura Deramas, who used similar language and tactics.

Another way we find out is by looking at the paypals: often scammers will offer a paypal and for instance, claim to be from Canada, but then if we look at a specific type of paypal url, it can tell us where they are located. We've managed to find out which multiple scam accounts that were being run either by Laura and Co. OR the pet scammer (both of which are from the Phillipines) on accounts where they claimed to be outside of the Phillipines by looking at that url of the paypal offered, which would have "country.x=PH" (which shows that the paypal in use is actually operating from within PH, the Philippines).

The reason this was a red flag is because it should be applied in cases they were faking an ethnic and language background, one of which assumes they would speak English fluently, and them not speaking English well on this account didn't match up with their claims of being from an English speaking country.

Therefore, the red flag of "this user seems to not speakEnglish fluently" doesn't and can't apply on its own where an account that claims to be Palestinian, a place where English is not the primary language spoken there, and the account never claims to speak English well. That is not a fucking red flag, because that tracks to what the account is saying.

[antimony-medusa]

Do you like DEADLINES? Do you like writing to someone else's prompts, staying away from the stuff they said they DID NOT LIKE? Do you like CHALLENGES?

WELL HAVE I GOT THE ACTIVITY TO YOU.

Ever wanted to save someone's day?

I've been helping out with the big @fiabex exchange, and the final deadline passed last night, and there are— a lot of pinch hits from people who didn't make deadline. A lot of people had a bad October. It took three posts to post them all. All of these gifts have to be fulfilled before the exchange opens.

The reason I am here today though is that there's a segment of MCYT on the pinch hit list, and it's always hard to fill MCYT pinch hits cause there are less MCYT people who do exchanges! So here I offer you the breakdown of the mcyt pinch hits:

PH 72 - needs 3k 2k - fandoms are Dream SMP, SMPEarth, The Mandalorian (TV). You can see all of the requests at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/Kryon CLAIMED

PH 77 - needs 1k - fandoms are Dream SMP, 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Hermitcraft SMP, SMPEarth, Hotguy Comics Zine - Various (DFE), Origins SMP. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/Odaigahara CLAIMED

PH 102 - needs 1k - fandoms are 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Hermitcraft SMP, Good Omens (TV), Hamlet - Shakespeare. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/adlerthetranscender CLAIMED

PH 103 - needs 1k - fandoms are Dream SMP, 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, QSMP | Quackity SMP. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/amaranthinecanicular CLAIMED

PH 144 - needs 8k - fandoms are QSMP | Quackity SMP. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/WhyB (I SPECIFICALLY want to draw attention to this one, cause it's only one fandom so that means they won't hold the exchange for this pinch hit to be filled but it being 8k means the person already turned in that much, so if you know anyone who can help with fitpac or animations family— let them know) CLAIMED

If these have gone out for pinch hit, this means that these people have already delivered a gift of at least this amount, and they need an equivalent gift. The due date is November 13th at Midnight EST— can you get a gift written in that time?

But wait, you could maybe write 1k, but not the 3k that PH 72 needs— that's fine! We can take it in small bites. You can just tell the mods that you can take 1k (or 2k, or however much you can take) and then the mods will drop the "needs amount" to 2k, and then we're that much closer to everyone having a gift. If 8 people do 1k, we can get WhyB completely covered!

If you can write a gift fast, adhering to someone's Do Not Want list, about the requested characters or worldbuilding prompts, you might be exactly what we need here. We've got Emduo requests! Animations family! DSMP Fiances! Scarian! Fitpac! Cletho! Boat boys! Preyduo! Watchers prompts!

You can take a pinch hit by either commenting on the dreamwidth post where the PH you want is posted here (tell them the pinch hit you want, an email to reach you, how much you want to take, and the Ao3 account you'll be posting from), or emailing the mods at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com— (tell them the pinch hit you want, how much you want to take, and the Ao3 account you'll be posting from, they already have your email, but check the post to see if the PH has been claimed before you email just to save yourself some time).

And if you can't take it, I'd appreciate it if you'd reblog this, cause if we can get this in front of as many eyes as possible that increases the possibility of someone who says "great british bake off beeduo? yeah I can do that", etc!

[righteous-r0de0]

Confident Botanist Helps Your New House Feel Like Home | Audio Rp

Confident Botanist Helps Your New House Feel Like Home | Audio Rp | M4A

you know about the pH levels in your soil, right? (script and link to ao3 under the cut :))

Read it Here on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57992941

Hey, how can I help you? Woah, woah, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, man! [chuckle] You just kinda had this look on your face like you wanted some help, but didn’t want to ask or maybe didn’t know who to ask?

Well you’ve been stuck in the doorway a while now, and looking around aimlessly. So to me , that looks like maybe you wanted some help. I mean, hey, feel free to tell me to kick rocks, man, but if you want some help, I’m Raleigh and I’ll be in the hydroponics station over that way. [footsteps begin to fade away, then pause, and grow louder again]

Oh , so you do need help? Chill, I’m just messin’ with you. [quiet] No offense, but I could kinda tell you weren’t from here. Well, for one, you don’t sound like you’re from Cali at all. I’m feeling maybe somewhere out east? Maybe one of the Carolinas or Tennessee, but I wouldn’t bet any further north than that. And you don’t have that California tan yet. Unless the sun doesn’t particularly agree with you? Hey, rain’s a vamp’s favorite weather. Relax, relax, I know you’re magic. Don’t need to look around like that either. You’re the only customer I’ve had all day. Yeah, no. I’m a freelancer, I’m just pretty heavy handed with my earth magic. It was always my favorite growing up. And you are? Oh, I meant what kind of magic user are you, but sure, nice to meet you! Freelancer too? Uh, you sure? You feel a little, I dunno…different? And your eyes… Okay, dude, I’ll drop it [small sound of uncertainty, beat of silence] .

Uh, anyways, I’m sure you didn’t come here to have me questioning your magical abilities [chuckle] . So, right, uh, new in town, I’m guessing you’re looking for some house plants to deck out the new place? Well, you should know that DAMN doesn’t allow real plants in the dorms. I know almost no one follows that rule, but it’s there. How’d I know you were going to DAMN? You’ve got the patch on your bag, dude. And there’s not much draw here for magical folks beyond the Academy. [Shuffling noise] Not living on campus? Are you a transfer student, then? I know they make the freshmen live in dorms. Something about immersing them in an educational environment? I dunno. When I was a freshie, I was right out of high school and I figured freshman year at college, albeit magical college, was the perfect time to start getting blackout drunk nightly and completely ignoring my studies. I think I spent maybe a night a week in my own dorm? Other than that I was passing out in bushes outside the R.M. Estevez Building on the complete opposite side of campus, or getting, uh, busy , in other people’s dorms. [Laughter] Hey, I might not be able to look at Pink Whitney without gagging anymore, but I met my boyfriend that way. You from McKinley? Ah, Borden!

Wow, sorry for that tangent. So [clap] new place, looking for plants. Do you have any experience with keeping plants, or gardening, or anything like that? No? No worries, man, I know exactly where to get you started. [Footsteps] So, some pretty easy plants to start with are succulents. Not a lot of maintenance is needed, just sunlight and some water every so often will get you a long way. This section right here is probably where you’re gonna wanna start. What’s your lighting situation looking like at home? You’re gonna be hard-pressed finding an apartment in the city that gets a significant amount of natural light, but do you have any big windows? Or areas that get more sun than others?

Oh, not an apartment? I mean, you can’t be any older than me and you’ve already got a mortgage? [Light punching noise] I’m impressed, dude! So, not a mortgage? Oh, you inherited it! Still impressed honestly. It’s hard getting property in this day and age, no matter how it comes to you. Especially if it’s already completely paid off. Though, I’m sure your gramps probably bought it for like dollar fifty back in his day, am I right?

You’ve got an entire sun room? That is so sick, man. I’m sure my apartment would look less like a jungle and more like a place where people live if I had one of those. Looking to put it to good use? Succulents are definitely a good choice for full sun. Aloe is pretty low maintenance and good to keep around. Obviously aloe gel is good for sunburns and skin care in general, but I’ve seen people use it for other stuff too. The lady who does my mom’s eyebrows uses it to soothe the skin after waxing. Uh, [footsteps] string of pearls is a really unique looking plant. I think they’re just adorable [chuckle] .

Beyond succulents and cacti, if they aren’t really your thing, pretty much any palm will do well in the sun. Obviously not full trees since you’re looking to fill a room [laughter] , but there are some smaller palms and similar plants that will do well in your sunroom. Areca palm will definitely take up some room, if that’s what you’re looking for. They grow to be about six feet tall, or more, and they’ll spread pretty far. [Footsteps] Ponytail palm is another weird lookin’ one, but it’s pretty chill. Sago palm is pretty slow going, if you’re looking to ease into being a plant parent [chuckle] . It’s a cute little guy, though, won’t get much bigger than this.

If you’re looking for a functional indoor garden, you could always go for [footsteps] herbs! Those’ll be a little more picky as they tend to shrivel from time to time, but if you keep a close eye on them and take care of them, it shouldn’t be too much work. You could easily keep some basics like basil, oregano, thyme, cilantro, etcetera, etcetera. The window above my kitchen sink has been turned into my herb garden [chuckle] . Which is really helpful when my boyfriend is cooking and I forgot a couple things at the store. Which, uh [clearing throat] totally never happens.

Oh, you’re uh, handing me your card! [Pause] Go nuts? [Chuckle] I don’t know if you really know what you’re asking for here, pal. ‘Go nuts’ is a pretty arbitrary phrase and I can really, uh, go nuts , when it comes to plants and spending money on plants. [Lengthy pause] Okay, so no limits on price, do what I think is best? Ooh ho ho [laughter] you’re really putting your life in my hands! Let me go grab a pallet cart. [Quick footsteps, Raleigh’s voice sounds further away] Do you have a picture of the room you’re trying to fill, man? I gotta at least somewhat know what I’m working with! [Voice is closer again] Okay, okay, I see what you’re working with, here.

[Sound of small wheels on pavement, rustling of foliage] Let’s start you with a couple of these [sound of effort] areca palms to fill those corners and work further into the room. [Footsteps] Then, we’ll go for these [sound of effort] snake plants and fiddle leaf fig for some variation. And we’ll do some of these hibiscus plants! [sound of effort] They do great in sunlight and they’ll add some color and flowers, obviously. You got a preference on color? No? Cool. And I’ll grab you some of these moon cacti, again for color, but they’re prickly, like you!

[Footsteps, Raleigh’s voice gets further away again, he continues rambling about plants] [Sound of terracotta being lifted from a shelf] What’s up, bud? [Voice comes closer] Oh that? That’s hens and chicks. Cute name right? You’ll start with just one central plant, the hen, then it grows like crazy and you get the little ones, the chicks, surrounding it and spreading out. This one’s got some growing to do before it gets any chicks. It’s still just a sprout. Aw, oh my god, just like you! You’re just a chick now, but once you get started at school, you’ll have tons of little friends surrounding you and you’ll all grow together! [Cooing] Aw, don’t look so grumpy, Sprout. If your new hoard feels your bad attitude, they won’t grow well! Then you’ll have to come see me again [clicks teeth] .

Tell you what, this little lady is on the house, but you have to take good care of her if you want any chicks. Let’s get you checked out and get your new hobby loaded in the car. Uh, yeah. While you were staring down this hen I rounded out your order. Most of these should be pretty easy for a beginner, such as yourself [footsteps] but, uh, if you have any issues, of course call me. I’m literally a plant doctor [chuckle] . Oh right, my number! Well, here’s my card, but gimme a second. [Pen clicking, scribbling] That’s gonna be my personal cell on the back there. You’re more likely to get a hold of me that way. Especially outside of business hours.

Yeah, no, feel free to call me whenever! I gotta know how my newest client’s sunroom turns out! Besides, I have a feeling I’ll miss that grumpy face of yours, Sprout. Speaking of which, like I said, let’s get you checked out and then we’ll get this garden crammed into your car! Ooh a truck! Nice! You came prepared! Still I bet you weren’t expecting to leave with this many plants… [Voice fades out].

[pokeheros-drama]

"Yes, we can get people banned, but only if they’re a danger."

Yeah, I remember that. And that was some good shit to see you-know-who get turbo blasted. But this isn't really the same situation. Maybe I'm overreacting. It just felt like people were overstepping a boundary when dunking on Zuki (a confirmed minor) by dragging her personal relationship into the mix. Get her for begging and harassing Reii, absolutely. But let's not go overboard into actual bullying territory. I know its easy to go too far when calling someone out. 

And to be clear, I don't condone any kind of predatory behavior. I'm actively against that shit. 

2 people dating and being users on PH isn't ban-able. And I completely agree with another ask I just saw on here, if it DID become ban-able then minors who 'don't want to get banned' might not report a situation later down the road. Plus like... what does that mean for all the people who play PH with a S/O?

With that in mind, ABSOLUTELY ban people who make posts like "looking for a gf" or "anyone wanna date?" Cause fuck that. That I agree with does NOT belong on PH. But we can't ban people who are already dating.

If anyone has any suggestions though on how to limit danger to the young users on PH, feel free to voice them. There's gotta be something beyond 'ban people who are in relationships' cause that, unfortunately, just isn't gonna work.

[ninjuice]

Hello! Just a heads up, the post about the cat medical bill from user 'turnersapphic' is a scam. There's a post about this scammer and how to identify their scams here, and a detailed post on general scam red flags here, if you wanna learn. This particular scammer spreads their posts in two ways: first, by sending asks to totally random people, telling them not to publish those asks so they can hide how much they're spamming people, and second, recently, they started @'ing random users to get boosted that way.

The biggest giveaways for this scammer are: 1) their oldest post is only a few hours old. 2) They're using USD $ in their post, but if you hover over the paypal link, it says 'country=PH', which is Philippines, where they use Philippine pesos. 3) They ask people to send money using paypal 'friends and family', which doesn't have protections for people if they're scammed

You can report the scam post through 'report something else', 'unlawful uses or content', then 'phishing!' Depending on what you're ok with, you can delete the scam post, or edit it to have 'this is a scam' in big letters in your reblog and tags, so people who see the original post see your warning in the notes. I'm sending this message to as many people as I can to warn them and share some tips :) Have a nice day!

thank you, i thought it might be but yeah

[bomberqueen17]

replies, about rudeness

Replies to my post This is rude

msilverstar

Good points, all!  They should change the way they do collections and make them less prominent and bookmarks by default.

See, the thing is, collections are the way they are for very good reasons. But it’s not immediately obvious to most users that you can use bookmarks this way-- you can make a collection, and add things to it as a bookmark. Collections have as much potential control over the works as they do because of events and exchanges, which were a large part of why AO3 was built-- but it’s not obvious if you don’t know that. I do wish the Bookmarks Collection approach was slightly more prominent, or that there was a little explanatory text on the page as you set out to do this. It’s definitely not immediately obvious; I didn’t know how to do it. But then, I don’t use AO3 for reading nearly as much as I do for posting, so I am not by any means a power user. If I read as much as this person does, one thinks I’d have devoted a bit of effort into working it out?

littledeconstruction

i agree with OP and also ... maybe it's an error? i had no idea how collections worked as a new user, i thought they were like ... fancy bookmarks? AO3 doesn't make it super clear.

I’ve never said I think the person who sent that request is a bad person or anything, I’ve no doubt they don’t intend outright to cause harm, I’m just saying, what they’ve done is fucking rude. And i can see not having much idea of how a collection works at first, of course; I didn’t, but: you have to send a request to the author to include them, and that request, by the very name of this collection, is going to be “hi I’m not reading your stuff unless you finish it”, which is fucking rude, there’s really no way around that. I can put myself in a lot of places, especially a place where I’m not sure how to use a complicated website, but I cannot put myself in a place where I throw that shit directly into the email inboxes of-- I looked-- hundreds of writers. The brass fucking balls on this one.

Like-- I really do, I get not knowing how a feature on a site like this works, and I get that it’s easy to make a collection, but

how do you go to an author whose stuff you’ve never commented on and who you don’t know and send them a direct email saying you’re not reading their stuff unless they finish it. and think that this. is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Like, fuck the fuck off man, I feel perfectly within my rights to be rude in return and not give the benefit of the doubt in that instance because there is literally no way that’s not an entitled, pushy, selfish thing to do.

Part of why I snapped and posted something was that a fellow writer in one of my Discords, a much slower and less-prolific writer, with a lot less of an audience, got a request for this collection a couple of weeks ago, and was devastated. It was the only AO3 notification they’d recieved that entire day, they were all excited it might have been a comment, and instead they got slapped with this, that someone was going to maybe conditionally read their WIP? It hurt their feelings so badly, and I spent some time consoling them, and went on with my life, and then I got this notification too and i was like all right that’s it fuck this person.

I’m not saying this person is a bad person or should be harmed or even should be shunned or whatever, or that they should stop reading fic, I’m saying they need to fucking stop emailing wildly demotivating things to authors. Think for FIVE SECONDS about WHAT YOU ARE DOING and CUT THAT SHIT OUT.

puffinsandwich

What the fuck. "Collections" means "series this fic is a part of". This use here is what "Bookmarks" was made precisely for.

Yeah. Like, that’s expressly how most people use bookmarks, I think. I tend to only bookmark stuff I find myself coming back to, but tons of people who are better at curation than me bookmark things just to finish reading them. I mean, etymologically, that’s what the physical object, a bookmark, is for-- it marks your place in a book.

As a writer I sometimes look through the bookmarks on my works-- I know the text in there isn’t for me, and if I read something I didn’t want to see that’s on me. That’s the place to say “i’ve read thru chapter 8″, or “this has great characterization up through the murder scene and then kinda goes off the rails”, or even shit like “nut nut nut!!!” which might be slightly creepy to comment with but is hilarious in a bookmark. I have absolutely no problem seeing a bookmark that says “read when competed” or something-- that’s super fine. That text isn’t for me. (Bookmarks that say shit like “stop clicking this it sucks”-- you’d really be better off putting that in private bookmarks, but I’m not going to yell at you for not doing so, I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and I know it and you might be warning a friend. This is not Be Nice Or Leave-- that’s reserved for the stuff that actually is directed at the authors. The things that send them email notifications. The things that make them come click on a thing to respond to it.)

I get it, Mark For Later doesn’t let you sort things very well, and is clearly intended for the sorts of casual browsers who have no more than a screen or two of things they mean to come back to. Subscribe only works when you’re reading along and following a story as it goes up; I argue this is the best way to follow really involved WIPs, but I admit in my own life I tend to fall behind and then come catch up when the thing’s done. No shame there.

But there may come a time when these tools are not adequate to your needs! So, in case anyone reading this doesn’t know this! You can make a collection, and then instead of sending a request directly to the authors, to in effect put a banner of your metadata onto their work, you can just-- bookmark things into the collection. This is fine, and works great as a rec list but also as a reference tool for you to come back to, to keep track of things you’d meant to get to, to curate your browsing experience. The collection then can be managed like any collection, but without impacting the original works or really notifying the authors at all. You can, as an author, see that you’ve been bookmarked, see that it’s in a collection, but it doesn’t show that on the work before it shows the work’s content, and it doesn’t push notifications to an author’s inbox by default, and nothing you do to that collection is going to affect the work at all.

I’m not mad about people asking to put me in collections, but I’m also not going to allow it. I’ve been collected into a few rec lists over the years, and I think I’ll let those stand if they’re already there-- but to the newer requests, I’m just not going to. Those, the regular sort, that are just like “love this” or “my stuff”-- they’re a bit presumptuous as a collection, why am I going to put a banner on my work that proudly proclaims it’s part of “my stuff” when “my” is not me???, but I’m not offended by those requests, those at least imply the reader has read the thing, which as a writer was frankly my intention by publishing it.

[mfpeace]

@justbeingedgy @weird-colombian-gurl You asked me to elaborate on the "Ches already has a kid" theory in the notes of that one mf analysis post (which I really liked, go check it out!!), so that's why I'm making this one, cuz notes are a bit too restricting for what I want to talk about!

Though next time think twice before asking me to talk about something I'm interested in, because you never know when you're gonna wake up lovecraftian horrors!! :DDD you'll see what i mean when you press read more :))

So, I'll say it right now - this post is largely inspired by the second story highlight of this Instagram user (sorry, I don't know their name, only that their Instagram handle is dee_girl_metalfamilyfan), it's in Russian though, so keep that in mind

Alright, so I'll break this theory into two parts: the first one will be all about Ches, and the second will be about his potential child (spoiler: you might've seen her!)

Without any further ado, let's get to the Ches part:

1. The creators said that they're gonna explore Ches' character in the second season. Obviously, it doesn't mean anything on it's own, but just wait.

Dima: Let's talk about the second season a little. Of course, the seconds season will show development of the old characters, as well as new ones. That's in short. As you see, Ches looks a bit different here.

Alina: Yeah, we'll show a bit more about Ches at the ages of 18 to 20. His past. We'll reveal a bit more about his complex character, as much as it's possible.

(The source of the translation) Also I think they also said at one point that adult Ches will get some character development too? But that's probably a given, considering that we wouldn't see his youth if it wouldn't have affected him in the present, flashbacks without any relevance to the overall story don't sound so good

2. Not sure about this one (we don't know how much in character it was) but I can't not mention it.

Alina: Actually there was this one fanfic that I really liked. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was about Ches having a daughter, which is a cool topic. It was relatively in character and truly interesting. It’s great when people focus not just on sexual relationships of the characters, but also try to look at their development. That was a really interesting one. That’s it.

(UnityCon '19)

3. This one's a pretty big one, in my opinion. So, this is what they said on ArtWave '19:

Dima: Ches also has flaws.

Alina: [to Dima] Don’t spoil stuff.

Dima: His flaw is that he's very... irresponsible, let’s say.

So, maybe, just maybe, Ches does have a child but he, you know... left them? As the Instagram highlight from the beginning say: "he might be irresponsible enough to leave his child, and he's probably irresponsible enough not to use any contraception" (rephrased, not the exact quote)

4. Alright, so, the only mention of this one I can think of right now is the aforementioned Instagram highlight. The Metalfamilyfan says:

I contacted Korg/Корж, (admin of @ metal_yama [and I believe one of the organizers of the Metal Family Meetup in Moscow]) and she asked Alina on one of the meetups: "if Ches were to be a father, what kind of father would he be?"

And she said: "The kind of that would say "kid, look at that birdie over there!" an then he would run away"

Someone's words are not the perfect source, but they did tag Metal Yama and from what I know they didn't disagree with what the author of the page said. if anyone has anything to say about this (disprove or definitely prove what I said) feel free to do so in a reblog, notes, DMs, send me an anonymous ask, or in any other way you feel comfortable with

5. Ches has literally been through the same thing, and we know how important the theme of the cycle of abuse is in Metal Family (or, in this case, the cycle of neglect? Abandonment? Idk)

You managed to hide your PREGNANCY from me! AND you've been hiding the child from me for a whole year!

YES, because you would've insisted on aborting him!

AND NOW I'M INSISTING ON PUTTING HIM UP FOR ADOPTION! OR I'LL LEAVE RIGHT NOW!

6. Here we can see Ches with a blonde girl. Nothing too special, probably just a one time hook up. He doesn't seem to be interested in her, and she seems to be annoyed with him.

But wait...

What is this?

Like, it doesn't even matter if there's actually a punk/rock/whatever band named MOM or not, I just think it's pretty weird to put it in this particular drawing of Ches and this random woman who is implied to have slept with him. It's not integral to Ches' character as, for example, Korol i Shut is. It's just... there. For some reason.

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

Alright, now, finally let's get to the second part of the theory: who is, exactly, his child?

The short answer is, according to this theory, her:

First, let me list every single instance of her appearing in canon (and by canon I mean everything made by the creators. Even with this definition of canon it's not much, I promise): The screenshot you can see above on the left (it's a screenshot from the second season and it appeared here), an instagram story posted by Alina (above, right), and two drawing with a lot of characters where you can spot the girl which I'm gonna call her PinkHair or PH for short, I'll mention them later I feel like I should mention this, comparing the sources of the images and the dates when they were posted, it's safe to assume that the screenshot in the classroom has the latest and final version of her design. The red hair most likely doesn't mean anything

1. Alright. So. we've seen Dee and PinkHair in a classroom together, so they're most likely related in some way, or at least they know each other. Their exact relationship doesn't matter here, because all that matters here is that they're related story-wise

Let's look at the first image. This is the banner of the main Metal Family channel. Ches is near Heavy (they get along quite well and I'm sure Heavy aspires to be like Ches in many ways), Dee (we can see his classmates/friends near him, they're all about his age), and we can see people related to Glam on the left side of the image (including Ches!), and Vicky's - on the right side (notice how the hell sign is also there)

Now, I'm not absolutely sure about this one, but it's still kind of weird - look at the image on the right (it's from ArtWave 2021 btw) - wouldn't it make more sense to put PinkHair near Dee? Also, Curiously enough, not only is she not close to Dee on this image, but she's also standing next to Ches.

Though this whole thing could be explained by art theory (too many small things in one corner of your drawing isn't great composition wise lol sorry PH) but I still can't quite skip this point

2. Remember the "MOM" lady? Fun fact, she has the exact same pearl earring that PinkHair has on the screenshot.

3. I'll put all similarities with her supposed parents in this point: Mother: * She's also pretty uh.. glam? for the lack of a better word? Or feminine in a traditional sense, yeah I think that's a better way to put it. Like colors they prefer to wear for example, and jewelry. Characters like that aren't common in Metal Family * She's gotta be a blonde. I can't imagine her being anything but blonde. If she manages to maintain that hair color as a brunette I'm just straight up assuming her character arc is gonna be killing God because these kind of people are capable of anything. I fear them with every fiber of my being. * I can't say for sure because of the shading, but it seems like they both have gray eyes, and she also has darker skin compared to most MF characters. Though, it's likely that Mom just applied a lot of fake tan Ches: * We know that Ches for sure has darker skin * AND grey eyes * There's also some possible personality similarities but I'm not sure if you can compare a child to a parent they've never really known in this way

That's about it, I suppose, I hope there isn't that many grammar mistakes and logically unfinished parts and whatnot in this post I forgot to edit lol x) I'm not sure how to end this post other than to remind you guys that almost all the points in this posts are inspired by the "тупая теория" highlight on the dee_girl_metalfamilyfan's Instagram page, so go check them out and subscribe, they post Dee x The Quest Girl fanart and and always credit the artists. Without them this post would be much, much shorter.

Thanks for reading this post, please feel free to let me know your thoughts on this post <3

[shiftynightshade]

How Half Of Class 1-A Gained A Crush On Iida At 5 AM: PT2 Electric Boogaloo

Oh Tenya could understand now why Shouta loved torturing their class so much.

It was a solid 30 degree day, and with no hint of a breeze, and the air conditioner was broken, so training was going to be a fucking nightmare, fortunately Tenya had the foresight to wear shorts instead of pants to hopefully keep his engines from overheating too quickly.

Of course, this happened to be half his classmate’s downfall.

Tenya was one of the last people to enter the gym, leisurely strolling to where the rest of his classmates were stretching or warming up their quirks, most of the Dekusquad in Todoroki’s general vicinity, unlike where most were avoiding the heat that naturally emanated from Bakugou and his explosions.

After their rather eventful (i.e. loud) dinner gathering on Friday night, Hitoshi and Nemuri had begged to him to let them help mess with his classmates, and honestly, how could Tenya pass up an opportunity like that?

Ok, maybe it was a little cruel, but considering that this class drove him up the wall half the time, Tenya could easily justify his teasing with ease.

(Tensei had sat back in his wheelchair with a laugh as Nemuri and Hitoshi were muttering over a quickly filling up planner with more ‘crazy person’ energy than Todoroki and his theorist board.)

Tenya waved at Shouta, barely holding back a smile. “Apologies for being late everyone!”

Midoriya was the first to see him, having turned his head in the direction of Tenya’s voice while still in mid-air from his jumps-

Only for his eyes to widen and slam into the wall with a loud ‘oof!��

The rest of the class fell into chaos rather quickly.

From where he was standing Tenya could easily see the blush on Uraraka’s face, the zero-gravity user not even realising that she was floating until she bumped gently into the ceiling, a surprised squeak escaping her mouth, causing her hands to slam down on her mouth non-too gently.

A small dusting of blush had made its way across Yaoyorozu’s face, her head swiftly turning to look back at the table where a small selection of food was placed, though with the extreme look of concentration on her face, Yaoyorozu was no longer producing any trinkets or objects.

A small scream and a small burst of flames erupted from Todoroki before it was swiftly extinguished by quickly melting ice, heatwaves emanating off of the dual quirk wielder.

‘Looks like Todoroki’s quirks gone haywire, whoops.’

Over where Ashido was standing with sheets of metal with varying thicknesses, melted clumps of metal on the ground in one pile, the acid dripping from her fingers and onto the metal no longer even burning through the first layer.

The the popping and crackling sounds of an impending explosion from Bakugou’s palm added to the chaos.

Making sure to keep any hint of a smirk off of his face Tenya walked towards Ojiro with a cheerful expression, water bottle in one hand, the other giving a cheerful wave.

Ojiro smiled back at him, his tail brushing the ground as the martial artist leisurely patted away the sweat gathered on his neck with a small hand towel.

Shouta barked at the stunned and flustered students to get back to work, the tell-tale feeling of his quirk settling over them like sudden wave of cold before it retreated again.

Ojiro raised a pale eyebrow, eyes sparkling. “What was that about?”

Tenya knew, obviously, but he was the ‘straight laced Class Representative that was just, oh so oblivious, so he merely shrugged and feigned confusion.

“I do not have a single clue unfortunately.”

Ojiro shrugged. “Alright… it was weird though, I’ll ask Hagakure later and see if she has any idea.”

Tenya nodded. “That’s a brilliant idea Ojiro! Hagakure always seems to be in the know about our classmates.”

Ojiro coughed, a small blush crossing his face. “Yeah… thanks Iida.”

Tenya smiled, huffing out a near silent laugh when Shouta called for the class to line-up for their sparring partners.

‘I’m going to have to get Hitoshi and Nemuri a thank you gift for this.’

*Omake*

Nemuri clapped like a child on Christmas morning as Tenya sat down, Hitoshi leaning over to stare at Tenya with a smirk.

“So, how’d class go?”

Tenya smiled. “Chaotic. When they blushed they desperately tried to pass it off as the heat, but they only got more flustered.”

Nemuri threw head back and let out a cheery laugh.

“So the shorts worked?”

Tenya smirked. “Well Midoriya slammed into a wall, Yaoyorozu couldn’t create anything all of a sudden, Uraraka didn’t realise she was floating until she hit the ceiling, Ashido couldn’t produce high PH levels in her acid, Todoroki couldn’t control his quirk and Bakugou was a literal ticking time bomb.”

Both Nemuri and Hitoshi’s laughter grew louder as Tenya listed off the events of that class, absentmindedly ticking them off on his hand as he went.

Hitoshi cackled. “If they were that flustered when they saw you in basic training shorts,” He gained a sadistic glint in his eyes. “Wait until they see your street wear!”

Tenya chuckled. “I think they would just shut down all together.” He straightened his posture. “Class 1-A exe has stopped computing.” His tone was a modulated and robotic, imitating a computer.

Nemuri wheezed as Hitoshi slid to the ground and rested his head on Tenya’s legs. “Oh god, I can just see the bluescreen of death.”

Tenya nodded sagely. “Yes, the bluescreen of death. Here lies half of Class 1-A; cause of death? Thighs.”

“Well that would be a way to go out.”

Tenya turned to see Tensei beside Shota and Hizashi, each holding a drink a drink of some sort, a tray of milkshakes were resting on Tensei’s lap as he wheeled forward over the grass, Shouta and Hizashi each holding a drink in one hand while their free hands were clasped together.

As Tenya received his drink he slid from the park bench to the grass, revelling in the much cooler breeze. “So what next then?” He took a sip.

Hitoshi smirked. “Unbuttoned shirt and bed hair?”

Shota groaned in despair as Tenya choked on his drink, leaning against Hizashi on the grass. “I think you’ll end up killing them before the years out.”

Hizashi chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that’s their plan at this point babe.”

Shouta shook his head. “Welp, might as well and enjoy the show I guess.”

Tensei chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that without your class, your world might be darker.” He put his thumb and index finger a few millimetres apart from each other. “Just a smidge.”

Looking Tenya dead in the eyes his dryly stated, “Revelry in the dark.” And relished in the groups laughter, Hitoshi falling against Tenya.

“D-did he just quote Tokoyami!?”

Tenya nodded gravely. “Shouta-nii has finally learned the true way of life. Revelry in the dark.”

Hitoshi shook his head. “Well if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Hizashi shook his head incredulously. “And I thought we were weird in high school.”

[staysuki]

Ash I don’t think some of my asks are coming through 😭. Like I sent two a few days ago but I still haven’t seen a response lol. Does this happen often? Is anyone else having this problem? I feel stupid if I send them again and in reality you’ve already seen it pfft.

Omg your getting so many asks I’m so happy for you rn!!! The hype is real. People are really throwing in their thoughts and feeling now, we’re definitely getting the ball rolling to you being tumble famous✨. Not to mention how fun it is to come up with conclusions wrong or right. It’s almost like we’re a jury panel trying to figure out who is guilty. I’m also glad to see you’ve got your mojo back, I know your were procrastinating a bit there at one point. Even so, you must have a lot of energy to keep birthing these fics haha. When I write I have so many crazy ideas, plot hooks and so forth but when I start writing I just get stuck at one point and give up🧍‍♀️.I always get writers block because of my perfectionist heart 💔. In school I was always good at creative writing, once I even got 97 percent on one of my best written pieces but now it feels like a chore for me to create new ones, school ruined it for me I think because I was made to do it. I envy you and your genius, you really are brilliant and I guarantee everyone here agrees 🥰♥️.

Also in 🍕’s ask not that long ago, where they asking me how I’m doing??? I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at me or you haha. Pizza is cute~

~ lovegame anon

what 😭 no, your asks are definitely not going through

i've seen other anons have the same problem before so they usually just resend the ask, dw about thinking it might be doubled! i'd rather have duplicates than not get your asks at all :,)))

AND YES so many asks, maybe that's why it's lagging??? idk, i definitely know some other users who get a lot more asks and theirs seem alright idk 😭 maybe it's just my tumblr? or your tumblr?? ever since the new mobile updates, i've been getting lots of glitches and bugs lately (like the photo issue and the readmore issue)

tumblr famous pLS. i could never. maybe only in stray kids fic tumblr but idk 🤔🤧 i like being here at the back~

thank u for always enjoying my crazy ass messy fics. i swear the next ones won't be as heavy anymore JHSHWJSHE I SWEAR. I PROMISE. I CAN'T SAY IT'LL BE FULFILLED BUT I WILL TRY TO WRITE LIGHTER ONES. i mean, the jeongin smau was really really fluffy tho so i'm just balancing it out 🤷‍♂️. ehaloj is like the neutral fic lmao, it's just slice of life.

but yeah, i've always loved writing ever since i was a kid, sometimes i get burnt out when writing the written chapters so i'm happy that SMAUs are a thing because i can just pump out content without having to like, write tons of paragraphs. and jgejshwjshss the time i was procrastinating was when i was getting ready to fly back to the PH so it was hectic 🤧🙈 got lots of time now though~ hence the new fic hehe BE EXCITED FOR IT. IT'S GONNA BE GOOD, join the fic name event (it's anonymous) if you haven't already!!

and i think that was for you uwu

[wahbegan]

catoadie replied to your post “I would just comment but i think this might get too long okay sOOOOO...”

You made the lanterns sound interesting... I’d always written them off as somewhat boring, so that’s pretty neat to see

OOH BOY THIS IS ALL THE EXCUSE I NEED TO INFODUMP OKAY SO 7 CORPS THERE ARE oh also they all have eldritch abominations personifying emotionthat they draw their power from lmfao and it follows light color theory which is fun

so Red Lantern Corps yeah i just talked about they’re at the one end and their eldritch abomination is The Butcher, a giant red demon bull thing next to them is

Agent Orange, the one-man Orange Lantern Corps., his ring runs on avarice and he’s really cool cause he was already a greedy son of a bitch but the orange light of Avarice (oh eldritch abomination Ophidian, a giant snake) makes you go crazy with greed and hoard it all to yourself and go around sapping the power out of other lanterns and killing them. His “Orange Lantern Corps.” is made of orange light constructs of the people that he’s drained

Yellow Lantern Corps, Sinestro Corps is uh god fuck this one’s complex what’s the really short version uhhhh their Eldritch Abomination, Parallax, is a gross lizard-bug-parasite thing that runs on fear and was sapping the power out of the main Green Lantern power battery and made Hal Jordan go insane for a little bit it-it’s not important point is they exorcised it and it found this guy Sinestro, who defected from the Green Lanterns due to reasons of being a fascist piece of shit. So he took his power from Parallax and became the first Yellow Lantern, who run on fear. Their rings are unique because they don’t run on their users’ fear, they run on fear their user inspires in others, the fear of the people around them and yeah they’re p much fascist assholes and the Green Lanterns’ main nemesis 

Green Lanterns are just based on willpower, they’re pH neutral of the emotional spectrum, their eldritch abomination is a giant whale shark thing called Ion, and yeah they can make light constructs as powerful as the users’ will and anything their imagination can conjure up and they’re a peacekeeping force made by the Guardians

Blue Lanterns, two of the Guardians defected because The Guardians are all about that pH neutral emotional thing and they’re kinda like Jedi in that way but two of them found that was stupid bullshit and founded The Blue Lanterns, who run on hope. Blue Lanterns can’t really do a whole lot without a Green Lantern by their side, because somethingsomething hope does nothing without the willpower to act something, but together they’re incredibly powerful. ALSO the blue light of hope is one of like two things that can cure a Red Lantern so they can take their ring off without dying. You might have seen the Blue Lantern Corgi meme, which is adorbs. Eldritch abomination Adara, a terrifying three-headed bird thing which doesn’t scream hope to me but eh

The Indigo Tribe, this one is FASCINATING so Green Lantern runs into Sinestro (as we established, a real piece of shit) in an Indigo uniform with in an Indigo ring that runs on compassion, and he’s like “Yeah i’ve reformed i’m penitent and i’m good now i do good deeds to make up for my hideously awful past” and the WEIRD thing is he actually seems really sincere about it so Hal does a little digging and it turns out ALL of the Indigo Tribe are like former serial baby-curbstompers and puppy rapists and shit and he’s like “what the fuck?!” Turns out the Indigo eldritch abomination is called The Proselyte, and it’s a Lovecraft Squid thing that, kinda like the Orange ring on the opposite side of the spectrum, changes the user’s personality. Difference is, the Orange ring just amplifies what’s already there, Indigo light finds people with no conscience and forces one on them. It forces them to feel remorse for their actions and compassion for others. This is, for some reason, treated like a bad thing because yadda yadda brainwashing yadda yadda I can redeem him withouuuut an Indigo Riiiinngg I need a neeeemessiiiisss waaaahhh. Anyway they’re the ones about whom the least is known and they’ve been seen the least. 

Yeah Hal literally makes them let Sinestro go which is fucking W I L D to me but w/e

And finally, the Star Sapphires, or Violet Lanterns. These are the....the fucking continuity here is so god damned snarled but basically The Guardians are volcels. Actually they’re MGTOW. The females of their species were like “this Jedi shit is....stupid,” and went to harness the power of the Violet Light of Love. They are basically all female. The writer has said men CAN join, but are very VERY VERY rarely worthy which is hilarious to me. Anyway, they found this magical star sapphire with the power of love in it, oh yeah violet eldritch abomination is thE FUCKING PREDATOR, A GIANT XENOMORPH LOOKING DRAGON THING WHICH ???? but w/e anyway at first, they kept trying to put the gem into whoever their Queen was at the time, including at one point Green Lantern’s ex gf, but being at the far end of the emotional spectrum, it had an unfortunate tendency to drive people insane. SO Star Sapphire WAS a villain way back in the day in a very embarrassing FUCK MEN AND FUCK U 4 NOT DATING ME way, this was before all this emotional spectrum canon was established it’s just been explained by retcons anywho they split the gem into power rings so it did not drive people crazy and made the Star Sapphires and they’re good guys now. Also they can crystallize people?

Oh I guess the Predator is like it wants to protect love a bit ViOLeNTly and Does Not Like Men which is valid

Also there’s this bloke Nekron who’s just the grim reaper but evil and he wants to kill everything and makes The Black Lantern Corps. which is made up of the re-animated dead, who seek out people who loved them in life and eat their hearts out and all the Lantern Corps. have to join forces to beat him and they make like a White Lantern Corps which runs on life and yadda yadda

It is fun though I like how Rage and Love are Red and Violet, then as you get closer to the middle it’s Greed and Compassion, Fear and Hope, and then just pure willpower. Oh yeah also the Violet Light of Love can restart a Red Lantern’s heart. D’awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[glitterandmoondustofficial]

Side To Side

Chapter 190: The Dark Forest

Characters: Law, Ruby, Heart Pirates Rating: T Warnings: Language Notes: Time for the next arc *sunglasses emoji*

~~~~~

Ruby hummed nonchalantly as she checked on the health of her tomatoes. She cut one off of it’s vine and rotated it around, making sure it was perfect in every way. She stared at it for a moment before taking a large bite out of it.

“Maybe I should come back another time.”

Ruby looked over to the entrance where she saw Law looking fairly amused. She swallowed the tomato in her mouth and wiped her chin. “I’m testing them.”

“Uh-huh.” He walked over to her and ruffled her hair.

She swatted his hand away. “Why are you interrupting my work?”

“Came to tell you that we’re about to land on an island.” He took the tomato from her hand and placed it on the table. He pulled her in and hugged her tightly.

Ruby rolled her eyes but hugged him back. He was still trying to make up for shouting at her and starting an argument. She was tired of apologies...even though she still may be a little upset with him. After she got over being depressed from being yelled at, she was frustrated. She was frustrated at Law for hurting her and frustrated at herself for being hurt by something as stupid as him snapping at her. She closed her eyes and breathed him in. He better be glad she loved him because if it was a year and a half ago, anyone who would’ve yelled at her would’ve been maimed, or worse.

“I love you,” he told her.

“Love you, too.” She pulled away from him. She picked up her tomato and took another bite of it. “This island we’re going to isn’t that far from the other one we were just on. You sure you want to go to it?”

“Might as well,” he shrugged. “I figured I could take you out to dinner,” he said, a little nervous. He was, of course, smart enough to realize she was still a little upset with him.

“Hmm,” she swallowed the tomato. “I suppose we can go on a date, if you’re really sure that’s what you want to do.”

“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”

“You mean other than the fact you’ve never really liked to go on “real” dates, and the fact that when I hurt my foot you said we couldn’t go on them at all anymore, and Doflamingo is still pretty close to the island so if he catches us together who knows what could happen.”

Law hesitated. “It sounds like you don’t want to."

“Of course I want to.” She said. “I love spending time like that with you, I’m just not sure if that is what you really want, or if you’re just trying to make things less tense between us.”

Law stared at her and pulled away. He closed his eyes and sighed. She wanted to reach out and take his hand to kiss it. She wanted to tell him everything was alright. She took a deep breath and stepped up to him. She reached for his face, and cupped his cheek. She stared into his guilty eyes. She rubbed his cheekbone with her thumb. He opened his mouth and she knew it was another apology so she pressed a finger to his lips.

“I know you’re sorry and that you feel guilty. I know you’re trying to make it up for me. You don’t need to say it. Now, do you really want to go on a date with me, or are you just trying to make me feel better?” Ruby removed her finger from his lips.

Law stared at her for a silent moment, his lips turned into a small frown. He stared into her eyes, his racing thoughts shining through. “You make it sound like I don’t like spending time with you.”

“You don’t like dates,” she shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not that I don’t like dates…”

“Law,” she gave him a small, tired smile with her eyebrows raised and creased up. “You get uncomfortable, you barely talk, and you almost never order an actual meal, usually sticking with coffee. It’s not hard to figure out.” She turned to her tomatoes and started picking at them.

“It’s not that I don’t like dates,” he repeated. “But with our current life…I don’t want you to get hurt. I need to protect you.”

Ruby’s smile relaxed. “I know.” She took his hand and rubbed it with her thumb. She’d be over this frustration by the end of the day. She knew he was going to beat himself up far more and worse than anything she could do or say. “Let’s get dinner tonight, alright?” She grinned at him sincerely.

Law relaxed and squeezed her hand. He pulled her in and kissed her gently. “Assuming there is civilization on this island.” He said quietly.

“You don’t know?” Ruby pulled away and looked up at him with a raised brow.

“No?”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “You better be glad I like you so much.”

“I am.” He leaned in and kissed her again. Ruby wrapped her arms around his waist, reaching around and shoving her hands into the back pockets of his jeans. He also better be glad that he was such a good kisser. She really did enjoy kissing him. Even back when he was so stiff about it. She felt herself smile as she remembered their first weeks, Law being so stiff and unromantic. He loosened up, though, and became a good lover. In her opinion at least. He pulled away and stared at her curiously. “Why are you grinning?”

“Because you’re cute and I love you.” She leaned up and kissed his nose. “Now get out of here so I can do my work, you’re distracting me.”

Law ruffled her hair again. “Alright.” She swatted his hand away again. “See you when we land.”

Law left quietly and Ruby returned to her tomatoes. She picked and prodded. She made sure the soil had the right pH balance, she made sure they were properly watered, she made sure nothing needed to be reused for compost. She grabbed a crate and started to place the tomatoes in them, perhaps Clione could make pasta with tomato sauce with them.

“We’ve landed,” Law’s monotone voice came out of the intercom system. Ruby took off her gloves and her apron. She picked up her crate of tomatoes and left her greenhouse, walking towards the kitchen to drop them off.

When she safely delivered her precious cargo, she walked towards the deck door. She opened the door, squinting in the bright sunlight. She walked on deck, looking at her crew mates that were already on deck. She walked to the guard rail, placing her hands on the rail and leaning in. She looked at the beach, it seemed relatively untouched. A breeze rolled by and she closed her eyes, her hair softly blowing in the wind. The wind smelled wonderful.

“Ruby!” Someone smacked the back of her head, ruining her romantic image. “Quit spacing and let's go!”

Ruby glared at Ikkaku, rubbing the back of her head. Ikkaku grinned at her and took her hand, dragging her away. Ruby caught sight of Law as he walked onto the deck. He was talking to Bepo quietly. He caught her eye as Ikkaku dragged her off. Ruby waved at him for a moment with a small smile. He gave her a small wave back before returning to his conversation with Bepo.

“Where are you taking me?” Ruby asked as her and Ikkaku walked down the ramp together.

“Well, don’t you need to check if the island is safe?”

“Yeah, I guess. Why are you coming then?”

“To protect you, obviously.”

Ruby snorted. “Alright.”

They walked onto the beach staring off into the forest. “Be careful!” She heard Law shout. She waved and followed Ikkaku into the forest. They made small talk as they walked the island. It wasn’t inhabited. They only saw some forest animals and bugs. They stood in the middle of a clearing, next to a fairy ring.

“I suppose we can just chill on the beach,” Ikkaku said with a shrug.

“Yeah,” Ruby replied. She supposed that Law would be far less nervous now there was nowhere to go on a date. She masked her disappointment well. She had been looking forward to going on a real date. Oh well. Maybe she could convince him to go on a picnic on the beach with her. She was sure he’d do that. Ruby checked her watch. “Oh man, we’ve been at this for like three hours.”

“I didn’t even realize,” Ikkaku chuckled. “Let’s go back. I want to take a shower before we change into our bathing suits.” She took Ruby’s hand and they walked out of the forest. It took around an hour and a half to get back, since they weren’t stopping and looking at things.

“There she is!” Someone yelled and Ruby looked curiously at the Tang. Shachi started running towards her, panicked.

“Hey,” Ruby said as Shachi stopped in front of her, panting. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“It’s Law,” Shachi said and Ruby grew nervous. He didn’t use Law’s name unless it was serious. “We were attacked and, he’s so stupid, Rube. Why doesn’t he ever pay attention? Why does he have to be so overconfident? I swear to god-”

“Shachi, slow down. Explain to me what happened.”

“There’s someone on the island,” he started. “They came under the guise of like, a city mayor or some shit. Anyway, they started to welcome us onto the island. Law wasn’t having it though, you know how prickly he can be. He ignored them, telling them to leave us alone. He didn’t suspect anything, so when they touched him he...he just fell unconscious.”

Ruby frowned and swallowed. “When did this happen?”

“Almost three hours ago. We couldn’t find you and that person disappeared. We have no idea where they went.”

Ruby felt her stomach drop. “Where is he?”

Shachi led her onto the sub and into the hospital. Ruby, Shachi, and Ikkau stared through the examination window. Law was laying in one of the beds, glowing a soft gold color. “He’s been glowing for an hour now. His vitals are fine and it’s like he’s sleeping, but nothing wakes him up. Penguin has been watching him for any sign of, well, anything.”

“This is clearly the work of a Devil Fruit user,” Ruby said and walked into the room. “Again.” This color...it looks vaguely familiar. Why did it look so familiar? Something was there, in the back of her head; at the tip of her tongue; she’s seen this before.

“The amnesia was easier to deal with,” Penguin spoke up. “At least he was conscious and like, normal. This? This is weird. I have no idea what to do with this.”

Ruby sighed. This idiot. He always got onto her for being careless, but look at him! He got hurt too! At least when she got hurt it was physically. Something that could be easily fixed. Not supernatural, magical powers bullshit. She sighed and took his hand, squeezing it.

“Ruby!” Ruby snapped her head in Bepo’s direction. “They’re back!”

Ruby’s eyes narrowed and let go of Law’s hand. “Watch him.” Ruby ordered Penguin before speed walking out of the room. She ran to the deck and looked out. Her stomach froze in fear as she looked at who it was.

“Lillie-Mai,” Ruby growled at her. Everything made sense. The glowing gold covering Law’s body made sense now.

“Iunia,” she greeted her with a sly smile. “It’s been so long.”

“What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? This is my island, it’s where I’ve stayed since you ruined Boss’ business.”

“How did you even survive?”

“Do you really have the right to be asking me that, when you yourself are alive?” She scoffed.

“Why did you attack Law? He has nothing to do with you!”

“To hurt you, obviously. You were always pretty stupid.” Ruby glared at her. “You ruined my life. I was comfortable with Boss. He gave me everything I needed. I had a home, and you destroyed it.”

“Good to know you were comfortable while people suffered.”

“That’s rather hypocritical of you isn’t it? You didn’t seem to care about being with the company until you found that warehouse. You fought and killed how many people? And then you have the nerve to say you were traumatized and had a horrible time? You’re not special. Your soul is just as tainted as mine or Boss’. No, I would say you’re worse, because you killed the person who took you in and cared for you for three years.” Ruby clenched her fist and her nostrils flared. “Hmph, you’re not fighting back because you know I’m right.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she snapped. “Undo your bullshit on my captain, if you don’t I will kill you.”

“Nah.” She shrugged. “I’d rather see you suffer. You took away my boss, now I’m taking away yours.” She turned her back to Ruby and started to walk into the forest. “You’re welcome to kill me, if you can of course. The world has heard about your accident, there’s no way you can fight me when you’re as crippled as you are. It would be too easy. Besides, you were never able to stand up against me anyway.” She looked back at Ruby and smirked. She pulled out a piece of folded up paper and dropped it on the ground. “Directions to my place, it’s hard to miss when you find it. Come fight me there if you want your captain to live.” She took a step into the forest and she suddenly disappeared.

Ruby stared in the direction where Lillie-Mai disappeared. Ruby let out a breath and watched Jun run over to the paper on the ground and pick it up. Ruby ran her fingers through her hair and covered her twisted stomach. Why was this happening? Again. Why can’t she shake her past? Why did it have to hurt the person she loved so dearly?

She closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. There was chaos around her. The crew was running around, Jun was walking up to her and talking to her, Shachi was giving out orders, Ikkaku had her hand on Ruby’s shoulder; Ruby ignored it all. Everything slowed down and the sound was drowned out by her heartbeat.

“Iunia,” Lillie-Mai called. “Boss wants to see you.”

Ruby looked her over, she was wearing a white fur coat and a rather lavish black gown. Ruby wondered if there were diamonds sewn into the fabric. It seemed fitting since Lillie-Mai was Boss’ favorite. “Do you know why?”

“No.” She shook her head. “You better get there fast, who knows what he’s thinking.”

Ruby swallowed and stood up from her bed. She rubbed her skinny arms. She wasn’t good enough for fur coats. She wasn’t good enough for extravagant dresses. She grabbed a thin, brown sweater and wrapped it around her body. “I’ll go.” She passed by Lillie-Mai.

“You need to just accept your life for what it is,” she said. “Things will get worse if you don’t.” Ruby turned to her and stared at her. She swallowed at her warning. “Don’t start thinking you deserve better than what you get, or you’ll get less. There’s no one who will save you and there’s no one who will love you. Submit yourself to Boss, and everything will work itself out.” She rubbed her fur coat. She smirked with her black painted lips, the note of empathy from before completely gone in her eyes. “Or don’t. If he spends less time with you, it’s better for me.”

Ruby turned back around and stepped out of her room. She took a deep breath and straightened her back. No one would save her. No one would love her. She had no friends or family. And there were no angels or devils to help her. She would devote herself to this life, like the good girl she was.

“Thanks.”

[amateurmagic]

Red [TodoDekuIida] - BNHA Secret Santa 2019

Hey there @dnd-beyond!! Surprise surprise!! I’m your secret santa for the @dailybnha Secret Santa event!! I’ve been grappling with writer’s block for the past few weeks so sorry that this meanders and rambles a bunch--I promise I tried!! 

I’ve never written anything from Iida’s POV and that turned out to be harder then I thought it’d be, considering I seriously identify with his neuroticism lmao. I also kept running out of synonyms for the three, so sorry it might get a little repetitive with me constantly reusing their names in dialogue

Because I’m a perfectionist at heart, I might try and do an edit or a rewrite of this in a few weeks. If I do, I’ll tag you in the revision if you’d like.

Anywho, happy holidays!! Hope they’re wonderful and have a happy start to the new year and new decade!!

Red.

The smell of damp concrete.

And the sound of steel clattering against the street.

Iida felt his pulse rise in his throat again, fingertips trembling against the pavement, only grasping at dust. A hoarse breath exhaled from his throat, still raw, emitting a rough snarl—just like—

Metal scraped against the ground—probably more of his armor. Iida’s eyes swiveled back against the quirk’s hold to assess the damage only for his gaze to land on something else. Something unfamiliar. A tattered piece of cloth.

Red scarf.

And the scrape of metal.

Presently he became aware of the array of chipped blades that surrounded him paralyzed on the street. His limbs now shrunken to almost skeleton-like proportions, wrapped in tattered bindings. His hands now long and bony and his fingers now too skinny from his expected proportions. Rolling his tongue around in his mouth, he felt his teeth at new angles and a new lack of space as the muscle pressed against the interior of his newly-hollow cheeks.

I am…

Pressing against the ground, his teeth gritted as he felt a new bolt of pain shoot through his arm as his brain registered the feeling of cool dampness against his skin. Bile rose in the back of his throat as the iron scent of blood invaded his senses. He choked back the urge to retch.

A pair of shadows fell over his crumpled form, heroes glowing in a backdrop of light. Their shoes only mere inches from his face.

“We’ve come to apprehend you, Hero Killer.”

Their voices made his body run cold—their authoritative tone echoing against the closing space of the alley where the shadows ran long.

Straining to look up, Iida couldn’t hold back the new series of shudders that shot down his spine as he recognized the two heroes of his judgment day.

“Todoroki,” he managed to choke out. “Midoriya.”

“Silence!” Todoroki barked sharply, his eyes cold.

“We have come to apprehend you for your crime against heroes,” Midoriya continued.

What crimes?! Hero!! I am a—

“No!! I—!!” Iida felt himself begin to protest before a small voice in the back of his mind argued otherwise. The selfishness. Ignoring Manual’s orders. The countless hero codes he’d broken the course of that one night. “I am—“

“Iida,” Todoroki’s voice sneered again, his palm reaching out as his flame began to ignite. Against the darkening peripheral shadows, a thin bolt of green energy zapped against the background.

Coward.

Iida pressed his forehead against the pavement against his mind’s conviction.

Iida.

“Iida.”

“IIDA!!”

Iida’s eyes flew open again, now met with a hazy outline of a dim room lit by only one fluorescent source. He found himself drawn to the familiar blob in the shape and hue of Midoriya’s hair as the boy continued to shake him awake. Reaching out, his left hand fumbled with his glasses on his nightstand as pain shot back up his arm.

“He—here,” Midoriya stammered retrieving his glasses from the floor and passing them to him.

Behind the familiar lenses, Iida’s eyes surveyed his surroundings as his heart continued to pound.

White. Monitors. Fluorescent lighting. Hospital gowns.

The clock on the wall read 3:07 in illuminated numbers.

Staring down at himself, Iida found himself dressed in a pale blue hospital gown, his legs tangled in his sheets, and both arms wrapped in bandages and his left one in a sling—that explained the misjudgment of his reach. His hand came up to his bare throat, now clammy with sweat, to reassure himself that there was nothing resembling a scarf there. Turning to continue to stare confused at the door, he watched Todoroki exchange a few words with a nurse at the door before shutting the doorway again and padding back across the room.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked.

“Drink this.”

Iida nodded robotically, accepting the plastic cup of water from his classmate and shakily raised it to his lips to drink. The liquid was lukewarm, likely leftover from their afternoon of mindless channel flipping on the room’s single television, but the stale taste was oddly comforting. Something about it’s overly chlorinated taste helped him calm settle his heart rate again because there was no way a liquid of this pH and cleanliness could’ve come from his imagined alleyway.

“Y-yeah. I think so.”

“You were dreaming,” Todoroki explained simply, coming to sit back at the end of his bed and pour himself a cup of water. “It sounded like a bad one.”

“Did—did I wake you both up?” Iida asked, attempting to swallow back a building lump of shame. Their expressions answered with only pity. “S—sorry.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Midoriya replied, his better nature taking over as he hobbled over to lean against the foot of Iida’s bed. “We’re just glad you’re alright.”

Iida nodded numbly, the heel of his palm coming up to swipe away the beading sweat from his brow. Flexing his fingers slowly, he forced himself to exhale a long breath.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Midoriya asked as he settled back on his own bed. “It sounded pretty intense.”

“No, I—I don’t want to bother you two more.”

“You didn’t,” Todoroki replied simply. “I get them too. The nightmares.”

“And if you wanna talk or anything, we’ll listen.”

Iida inwardly cringed at Midoriya’s offer—the same one he’d given on the train platform, when he’d decided he didn’t want to listen. When he’d decided to bench his normally rational thinking and hand the reins over to his own anger.

“The Hero Killer,” Iida felt himself mumble. “It was me. And you two were—there to apprehend me for my crimes against the Hero Code.”

“Oh Iida,” Midoriya echoed, his large eyes softening with concern. Iida watched him begin to reach out a hand but his body felt safer to reflexively flinch away and Midoriya retreated.

“You said your crimes against the hero ideal,” Todoroki remarked, still sitting with his arms crossed. “You mean the anger you were telling us about earlier?”

Iida nodded, his eyes tracing downward.

“And you said Midoriya and me were sent as your—executioners?”

“More like Heroes sent to apprehend a villain. But executioners also sounds accurate,” Iida replied bleakly.

“And the crimes. What exactly did you mean?”

Iida paused to awkwardly adjust his glasses. Why did he have such a big mouth when he was an emotional wreck? Some class rep persona.

“I like to think psychoanalysis of my dreams might a bit of overkill guys.”

“But if it helps you get to the heart of what you’re grappling with,” Midoriya pointed out and Iida was forced to yield to that logic.

“It’s just that, at the beginning of all this, I was so angry about what happened to my brother—and still am, to be honest—that I lost all reason. All I wanted to do was find Stain and hurt him—make him feel the same pain that he caused me, my brother, and my family. In my mind, that was justified. But as we all remember that Tsuragamae-san told us, that type of thinking is neither justified nor legal for quirk users—so that leaves me as neither a hero nor a law abiding citizen—two things I always thought I’d be.”

Iida paused for a breath, his fingers still clenched around his cup.

“I admit my judgment is still clouded. I wanted to hurt Stain so much—and, honestly, I think I still do—but I can’t deny that his ideals do resonate within me.”

“Yeah,” Deku breathed, flexing his crooked hand thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking the same.”

“Really?” Iida looked over surprised.

Deku nodded, his curly-haired bedhead bouncing slightly.

“With such a strong resolve as his, I guess it’d be hard not to have a long hard look at your own morals,” Todoroki mumbled thoughtfully.

“The internet’s been having quite a go at it as well,” Deku responded. “There’s been a bunch of new forums started that’re trying to break down Stain’s ideals.”

“I don’t want to say that I agree with a criminal, but when you get down to the core of what he was saying, I have to admit he had a point,” Iida remarked thoughtfully.

Todoroki nodded, his brow still crinkled thoughtfully.

“So then, why did you see me and Midoriya as those passing judgment on you?”

“Because you two are worthy of being called heroes!”

The pair blinked back startled in response.

“At least that’s what I see,” Iida continued, deflating slightly from his initial response. “Back in the alleyway where I was ready to throw all reason down the drain in favor of my own selfish convictions. Then you two stepped in and brought me back to reality. You had no stakes in that fight but you came to help anyway. You put others first and protected the weak and injured. You two were heroes. And I was just in the way.”

“You saved me, Iida,” Todoroki responded evenly. “You deflected an attack that I left myself wide open for.”

“Yeah, and you helped me bring Stain down in that last attack,” Midoriya added, “With my injuries, there was no way I would’ve been able to deal enough damage on my own.”

“I think you’re both giving me far too much credit. In the moment, I was only focused on protecting you two because I was the one who put you in danger in the first place.”

“And of course we had a stake in the fight,” Deku continued. “You’re our friend. How could we not want to help you?”

“And protection of others is what it means to be a hero, isn’t it?” Todoroki remarked. “Stepping in and helping where needed, no matter the consequences to yourself.”

Iida felt a breath catch in his throat as he felt his friend’s words wash over him.

“I want to be a great hero. A cool kind of guy who’s always ready to step in quickly and help protect people!!”

Tensei…!!

“Woah, Iida,” Midoriya stammered, his eyes growing wide again.

“Wha—?”

“You’re crying,” Todoroki observed mildly.

I am…?

Blinking, Iida became aware of the small amount of liquid beginning to bead at the corners of his eyes. A long droplet fell loose from one eye and began to snake down the broad contours of his face before falling into the deeper furrows around his mouth. Placing his glasses on his leg, he began to look for something to dry his eyes.

“S—sorry!!” the dark-haired student sputtered, sloppily rubbing a part of his wrist not swathed in bandages under his glasses, only smearing the liquid more.

“Here,” Midoriya said, hovering closer with a tissue in hand. “Let me.”

Iida bit back a reflexive reply as he felt the fabric gently dab at the corners of his eyes, removing the discomfort and potential obstruction to his field of vision. Todoroki handed him back his glasses.

“Helping where needed, right?”

Iida gave a helpless chuckle as a reply. Todoroki offered a small smile of acceptance as a response while Midoriya grinned easily.

“That’s—that’s just what my brother said when I asked him what sort of hero he wanted to be,” Iida murmured, a new breath of relief leaving his lips.

“Well, it make sense,” Todoroki replied. “That’s a good hero mantle to strive for—it seems fitting for a hero that wears a suit of white armor.”

“Yeah,Tensei was the greate—“

“I meant you,” Todoroki clarified simply.

“I—I—!! Well—arum—Thank you,” Iida mumbled awkwardly. Wrinkling his nose in resistance, he couldn’t suspend the new heat that flushed to his face at his awkward classmate’s words. His eyes squinted at his body’s involuntary response. Straightening up against his pillows, he abruptly cleared his throat.

“So, Todoroki,” Iida began again, straightening his glasses. “You said you got these nightmares as well. May I inquire what about?”

“They’re—“ Todoroki shifted in his sitting position, taking a moment to exchange a look with Midoriya that made Iida immediately regret trying to expand the conversion. “Mostly about my family—about harder times.”

“Well your father is the number two hero, Endeavor, right?” Midoriya chirped. “That’s what you said back at the Sports Festival.”

Todoroki nodded.

“What about your mother?” Midoriya asked, his tone regressing to hesitancy.

Todoroki paused a moment, inhaling and then exhaling a full breath before continuing.

“She’s doing well,” he replied, a fond expression overtaking his prior grimace.

“And you have—two siblings?” Iida inquired, his mind drawing on the sparse bits and pieces of information procured in the past few months of being classmates.

“Yeah,” Todoroki replied, his distant expression back in place. “Just two. Older brother and sister.”

“Are they heroes too?”

Todoroki shook his head, a deeper grimace forming around his mouth.

“My brother’s studying to be a doctor. And my sister’s a teacher. She also looks after the house and keeps me and my brother out of trouble.” A fond smile worked its way over his face. “She’s been kind of like a second mother to me.”

“My mother raised me herself,” Midoriya added in. “My father—hasn’t been in the picture since I was a baby. I hardly remember him.”

Iida held back an impulsive flurry of questions. He hadn’t heard Midoriya ever mention his parents—except maybe during the first battle exercise when he’d mentioned that his first hero costume had been a gift. Listening to his classmates’ stories, Iida felt a new pit of something that resembled shame begin to form in his gut. He’d always had both his parents on his side—and Tensei who always knew what to say. And he wasn’t afraid to speak up about his lineage. The days of quirk breeding and eugenics was thankfully a habit of the past, and lineage was not the biggest talking point of a pro’s statistics. But it was certainly something Iida was more grateful to have then not.

“Maybe it’s better that way,” Todoroki mumbled, barely audible.

“What?” Midoriya responded reflexively from the other side of the room.

“Nothing,” Todoroki responded shortly and Midoriya backed down.

“We should probably get some sleep,” Iida felt himself suggesting as a wide yawn stretched over his face. “It’s almost 4:00, and ample recovery time necessitates a proper sleep schedule. That consists of approximately eight full hours for still-growing citizens such as ourselves.”

“Do you ever relax?” Torodoki mumbled, half tucking back under his cot’s top sheet while leaving his left leg to rest on top of the blankets.

“Erruhhm? Todoroki?” Iida cocked an eyebrow at his classmate’s sleeping habit.

“Side effect of my quirk,” the dual-haired boy replied simply. On the over side of the room, Deku gave a small snort of amusement. Iida chortled in agreement.

“What?” Todoroki inquired, sitting up confused. The duet of laughter only crescendoed.

“I—it’s nothing, Todoroki,” Deku finally managed to reply. “It’s just that a bunch of people in class have speculated about this—and now I think Sero owes me 1200 yen.”

“Oh, well, I’m glad to have been of service?”

The pair crescendoed into another fit of laughter leaving Todoroki to look on, partially confused, but not without a smile small content smile spread over his face. Blinking peacefully, he reached for the single light on the nightstand.

“Lights out?” he asked. Iida gave a nod of confirmation and Midoriya copied across the room. Todoroki’s fingers flicked against the switch, plunging the room back into a peaceful darkness.

Iida exhaled a long breath as he shifted onto his back, his eyes drawn to the fuzzy outline of the battery light on the smoke alarm embedded in the ceiling. His head still swum with thoughts of Stain’s ideology and the brief details Todoroki had supplied upon some prompting. Maybe he should’ve have asked so much? Todoroki had a good head on his shoulders—maybe a bit socially challenged, but certainly not at risk of being forced into revealing anything unwillingly. But a class rep should never be put in a position of being accused of prying. After all, Todoroki’s home life certainly wasn’t his business to meddle in.

Perhaps an apology was in order? Midoriya seemed to at least not be startled about any of the details revealed. Perhaps Todoroki trusted him more? Not that Iida had any complaint!! No, it was good that his classmates that were forming deeper connections with each other!! Truly a victory of the modern day high school heroic education system!!

“Hey, Iida,” Midoriya’s voice whispered after a moment. “You still awake?”

“Mmmff—yeah,” Iida mumbled, pulling himself back from his mind’s tangent thoughts. “Todoroki?”

“I’m still awake,” his voice responded. Some shuffling followed his reply, and then the shared light on the nightstand between his and Midoriya’s beds flipped back on. “Can’t sleep?”

Blinking against the new light, Iida just made out the fuzzy outline of Midoriya sitting up again, his head shaking slowly.

“No,” he mumbled. “Sorry. I—I liked talking with you both. It made me feel—“

“Safe?” Iida found himself adding. Midoriya nodded to him across the room. “Yeah, me too.”

Todoroki made a noise of agreement.

“It’s like,” Midoriya began again. “I know you two are there because I haven’t heard you get up or the door open, but—my brain won’t turn off. It’s like—I need to keep reaffirming to myself that we’re still safe. S—sorry. It’s my problem. Go back to sleep.”

Iida felt a fond smile stretch over his face as a memory replayed in his mind. Back when he and Tensei shared a room and thunderstorms still scared him. The warmth. The feeling of protection. Knowing that everything was going to be alright.

“Midoriya,” Iida interrupted as Todoroki reached for the light again. “It’s fine. I think I have an idea.”

“No no!! Iida really!!” the green haired boy sputtered. “I’ll be fine!!”

“And what class rep would ever accept that translucent answer?” Iida asked, beginning to clear off the nightstand between the beds. “And I’ve been feeling the same. Criminal or not, I can’t deny that Stain’s ideology got be thinking. But the fact that my entire worldview now needs reexamining because of a criminal’s words is beyond unsettling.” Iida cast a glance over at Todoroki, who nodded in agreement before getting up to help him. “I think we’re all in the same boat here.”

“Wh—what’re you doing?” Midoriya asked, straining to get up again.

“Midoriya, stay there,” Todoroki instructed.

“Well, science has proven the human contact can help raise levels of oxytocin in the body,” Iida began to explain as he flicked on his phone’s flashlight and bent down to unplug the lamp and drag the nightstand out of the way. “And, I figure in any case, this way we’ll all be able to confirm for ourselves that we’re all still here and safe.”

“Iida, what—?” Todoroki began to ask.

“We’re making a superbed,” he explained briefly, releasing the lock on his cot’s wheels. “When I was little, I used to be terrified of thunderstorms. And Tensei and I would always pull our futons together in the middle of the room. It always made me feel safe—so I figured… Y’know?”

Iida paused, his cot now askew in the middle of the room. A feeling of unease dropped into his stomach,

“Listen—this is just something that’s worked for me in the past. I don’t know if it’ll work here too. Sorry, I should’ve asked first. If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

“No.” Todoroki’s grasp met Iida’s on the headboard of the cot. “It’s a good idea, class rep.”

Iida felt a wave of relief wash over him at the sight of Todoroki’s resolve. Midoriya stretched across his bed, gathering up any loose hanging sheets while Todoroki pulled his bed further away to make room for Iida’s to slot into the middle. Locking the wheels again, Iida looked over to Todoroki resetting the nightstand on his side of the superbed and plugging the lamp back in.

“You sure that I should get the middle?” Iida asked uncertainly, hesitating at the foot of his bed.

“Midoriya tosses in his sleep,” Todoroki remarked simply, resettling under his sheet again. On his other side, Deku made a sheepish noise of apology.

A smile settled on Iida’s face as he crawled over the foot of his cot and into the center position and handed his glasses to Todoroki. Resting his head back onto his pillow, he felt himself exhale a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding—maybe since the Sports Festival—as a new wave of security washed over him like sunlight. A click to his left signaled Todoroki turning the light off again and Iida’s eyes blinked open to a calming darkness. To his right, Midoriya’s breath was already thickening with sleep. Todoroki shifted under his covers before settling on his side for sleep.

Iida felt his brow unknit and his jaw loosen as he confirmed again that they all hadn’t died in that back alley. His friends had just helped him settle—again. And the world felt a little more okay again.

The smell of cotton sheets.

The rhythmic breathing of his two friends.

And a feeling of safety that he hadn’t felt since he was little.

Warmth.

Comfort.

Safety.

Red.

[rainybirdsweets]

Introduction to Buffers

A buffer is a solution that can resist pH change upon the addition of an acidic or basic components. It is able to neutralize small amounts of added acid or base, thus maintaining the pH of the solution relatively stable. This is important for processes and/or reactions which require specific and stable pH ranges. Buffer solutions have a working pH range and capacity which dictate how much acid/base can be neutralized before pH changes, and the amount by which it will change.

What is a buffer composed of?

To effectively maintain a pH range, a buffer must consist of a weak conjugate acid-base pair, meaning either a. a weak acid and its conjugate base, or b. a weak base and its conjugate acid. The use of one or the other will simply depend upon the desired pH when preparing the buffer. For example, the following could function as buffers when together in solution:

Acetic acid (weak organic acid w/ formula CH3COOH) and a salt containing its conjugate base, the acetate anion (CH3COO-), such as sodium acetate (CH3COONa)

Pyridine (weak base w/ formula C5H5N) and a salt containing its conjugate acid, the pyridinium cation (C5H5NH+), such as Pyridinium Chloride.

Ammonia (weak base w/ formula NH3) and a salt containing its conjugate acid, the ammonium cation, such as Ammonium Hydroxide (NH4OH)

Buffers are a class of solution-stabilizing molecules which existed long before contemporary lab technology. Natural buffer substances like bicarbonate and carbonic acid are manufactured by organisms and molecular interactions, functioning to maintain pH equilibrium.

After natural buffer systems were discovered, their balancing effects became indispensable in scientific exploration. Synthetic buffers were developed over decades to produce reliable reactions in experimental models, enhancing biochemical reactions and medicinal products.

New buffers are introduced every year, built from the fundamentals developed over a century ago. This article explores buffers beginning with the foundation which made them inseparable from biochemistry. We’ll then follow the construction and replacement of buffering systems among individual studies as procedures are continually refined.

Basic reagents are used in combination to produce the most potent buffer solutions. Once buffers transitioned into biochemistry, researchers began to establish what chemical mixtures were most productive for equalizing the pH of certain reactions.

Between the 1960s and 80s, a project for determining the best buffers resulted in a list that remains crucial in modern laboratories. “Good’s buffers” were produced or collected by Norman Good and his colleagues, and selected on a number of criteria that qualified application to research in the biological field. Some of the requirements were pKa between 6 and 8, high water solubility, stability and a lack of exchange with membranes or biochemical reactions. Good also prioritized substances that could be prepared easily and safely.

One of the lab world’s most valuable buffer agents, Tris – was first recognized by Good in the early 1960s. Known in therapeutics as THAM, Tris quickly adopted scientific roles. Tris and other reagents identified by Good continue to act as the equalizing agents within buffer mixtures by adjusting pH to a specified range.

How are Goggles Made

Goggles are a form of eye protection that is designed to shield the wearer from injuries to the eye due to hazardous conditions in the workplace, home, or other venues such as while playing sports. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), approximately 2,000 work-related eye injuries requiring medical treatment are reported in the U.S. every day, the majority of which could have been prevented or been less severe had the proper eye protection been worn. Furthermore, the Department of Labor reports that eye injuries result in an estimated $300 million annually in lost production time, medical expenses, and workers’ compensation.

This article will describe how goggles are made and will discuss the common types of safety eyewear used as Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). You can learn more about other types of PPE in our related guides and articles, a list of which may be found at the end of this article.

Face masks

When her Danish colleagues first suggested distributing protective cloth face masks to people in Guinea-Bissau to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Christine Benn wasn’t so sure.

“I said, ‘Yeah, that might be good, but there’s limited data on whether face masks are actually effective,’” says Benn, a global-health researcher at the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen, who for decades has co-led public-health campaigns in the West African country, one of the world’s poorest.

That was in March. But by July, Benn and her team had worked out how to possibly provide some needed data on masks, and hopefully help people in Guinea-Bissau. They distributed thousands of locally produced cloth face coverings to people as part of a randomized controlled trial that might be the world’s largest test of masks’ effectiveness against the spread of COVID-19.

Face masks are the ubiquitous symbol of a pandemic that has sickened 35 million people and killed more than 1 million. In hospitals and other health-care facilities, the use of medical-grade masks clearly cuts down transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But for the variety of masks in use by the public, the data are messy, disparate and often hastily assembled. Add to that a divisive political discourse that included a US president disparaging their use, just days before being diagnosed with COVID-19 himself. “People looking at the evidence are understanding it differently,” says Baruch Fischhoff, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who specializes in public policy. “It’s legitimately confusing.”

Endotoxin Removal from Bench to Process Scale

Endotoxin or lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are highly toxic components of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria and are often present in significant amounts in bacterial cell expression systems such as E.coli.

A number of methods have been adopted for the removal of endotoxin based on adsorption, in particular ion exchange chromatography. Although downstream processing can significantly reduce endotoxin levels in the product, efficient and cost effective removal of residual endotoxin from biopharmaceutical preparations remains a challenge.

Astrea Bioseparations Ltd. ('Astrea') has developed a novel affinity chromatography adsorbent, EtoxiClear, that is highly stable, robust and non-toxic, with a high affinity for bacterial endotoxin and low protein binding. EtoxiClear is a cost effective and scalable technology designed for use in endotoxin removal applications including process development, sample/buffer preparation and product polishing steps used during cGMP manufacture of biological molecules.

This application note describes the use of EtoxiClear? to effectively remove endotoxin from a purified immunoglobulin protein solution at both bench scale and process scale; utilising Astrea’s new 100 mm diameter Evolve? Process Column.

A Basic Tool for the Small Clinical Lab

No matter how elementary or advanced, every clinical laboratory has one essential device—a centrifuge. Whether it stands on the benchtop or floor and is refrigerated or not, a laboratory centrifuge fractionates liquid specimens by creating spin-induced high g-forces, and has long been a standard tool for both clinical and research applications. With broad utility, laboratory centrifuges are true workhorses, usually providing trouble-free service for many thousands of cycles over many years of steady use.

Benchtop centrifuge, also known as tabletop, centrifuges have smaller throughputs and cannot provide high-end g-forces compared with floor models, but can accommodate most applications. Tabletop models include low-speed clinical centrifuges used for diagnostics; high-speed instruments for whole-cell harvesting and some nucleic acid applications; multipurpose centrifuges that accept either fixed-arm or swinging bucket rotors; and cell washers, which are highly specialized for washing red blood cells. For those considering a replacement or initial purchase, here is a brief overview of several of the most popular benchtop models used in the small laboratory. All are manufactured by laboratory equipment companies with long-standing reputations for quality and reliability.

Low-Speed, Fixed-Angle Clinical Centrifuge Options

At the entry point of its centrifuge line, the Drucker Company (Philipsburg, PA) produces the Model 614B as its most affordable basic centrifuge. The device is designed for the small lab or doctor’s office and is a single-speed centrifuge (up to 3150 rpm) used for blood separations. The 45o rotor will hold six test tubes of up to 15 mL (17 mm × 125 mm). The unit has a lid safety switch and is UL/CSA compliant. It includes a 30-minute timer, a double-encased, brushless motor, and a clear lid with a safety switch. The motor housing and rotation chamber are designed to allow for cool operation. Standard accessories include three sets of tube holders to fit tubes of varying lengths.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (Waltham, MA) characterizes its Medilite centrifuge as ideal for routine low-speed centrifugation of blood and urine samples. Each Medilite centrifuge includes a 6- or 12-place 45o rotor and standard shields for aerosol containment. The device is designed with an integral 30-minute timer and accepts a variety of tube sizes up to 10 or 15 mL, depending on the rotor. This centrifuge also features a maintenance-free brushless motor, incorporates a power interrupter for user safety, and provides fixed speeds of 3100 or 2700 rpm.

[flange5]

Slowly finding products that work for me - am gearing up to try vitamin c/e/ferulic (?) - may I ask what you use/recommend? Sorry if you posted about this already and I missed it.

Okay, so I can only give limited advice here from experience and then tell you what I’ve read.

For any, you want to keep it in the dark, preferably the fridge, to slow down oxidation-you can tell it’s oxidizing as it gets more and more yellow which is fairly inevitable with any of these products because of the ingredients, if you’re going for an L-Asorbic Acid. the CE+F is supposed to stabilize it somewhat, but it really is somewhat. All of them have a shelf life of 3 months, which can be extended a bit by keeping it the fridge, and by wrapping the bottle in foil to block light. (I am a bad person who doesn’t do this, but if you really want to extend the life, doing this, and if you’re really serious, decanting half a bottle right away to protect it until the first half is gone can also extend the life.) Close bottles as quickly as possible and tightly. Also, They all have a fairly unpleasant smell, which ranges from hot dog to metallic hot dog. I thought I was imagining it when I had my first bottle of Cosmetic Skin Solutions, but no, it’s the L-Ascorbic Acid.

The gold standard, which I’ve not tried myself bc it’s like $165/30ml bottle, is SkinCeuticals (x). You can finagle this a bit by going to an ebay seller with good rep and buying the 4-5ml samples, which appear to be going for about 10/$100 now, which is basically 1.8 bottles for $100 and has the benefit of only exposing one small ampoule at a time, which means you can probably keep the one you’re using out of the fridge and the others in the fridge until needed, plus you��re getting it for about 1/3 the usual cost. It’s still a significant outlay and there are a few notable dupes, which I’ll link below in order of descending price. None of the dupes will be exact, as SkinCeuticals patented their formulation and any formulation of the 3 actives in it which fall within a certain pH range, so dupers have to get sneaky to try to replicate its results without violating the patent rules, like formulating within 0.1 of the pH range or tweaking the % on one or more of the ingredients without messing with the efficacy overall.  

Usually the first dupe you hear of is Cosmetic Skin Solutions, which comes in at $40 (x). I’ve used it and liked it, but you do have to be super careful with it RE:oxidation. I didn’t keep it in the fridge and it was a pumpkin color within 6 weeks, which is a COMMON complaint of users. For this reason, though they offer a large 60 ml bottle in addition to the usual 30ml, I can see no earthly reason why you or any reasonable person would buy it. Until it oxidized, I definitely noticed improvements in skin brightness, texture, and lessening of fine lines, but I stopped buying it because of the oxidation and then fell off the Vit C train (except for a short detour to the grainy Ordinary 30% cream which I’ve heard has fixed its texture issue but eh). I just restarted with Timeless but ... see below.  I’ve seen multiple comparisons of CSS to SkinCeuticals which basically say it’s a fair dupe but not quite as effective. it’s also a quarter of the price. If it matters to you, if you buy from them, rather than amazon, it’s usually $5 cheaper and they tend to send a free sample ampoule of one of their other serums, typically a B vitamin.–I liked it, but yeah, you have to baby the hell out of it to keep it effective for the life of the bottle and it still might not work with all the babying in the world. I imagine the same is true of the SkinCeuticals, because there is a chorus of people bewailing their partial bottles oxidized all to hell, and at that price. 

Timeless vit CE+F is $24 (x) and I’m using it now. It seems more stable-I’ve not refrigerated it, had it out a month, and it is fully clear. That said, I feel like I need a little more time with it to judge it. This (x) head to head comparison review between CSS and Timeless and a third brand called Paula’s choice sees CSS and Timeless as tied in efficacy, but Timeless as much more stable. It’s also cheaper, so yay! 

Skin Deva’s vit c 20% +E and F sounds pretty comparable to Timeless, in that it has similar reviews in terms of efficacy and longevity. It’s $4 cheaper, but doesn’t have the same online presence and chorus of fans, so take that as you will. (x) I read a review that said this was 90% as effective as SkinCeuticals for her–same results, just slower, and she found it more effective than CSS.

Drunk Elephant’s C Firma has really mixed reviews, and at that price point, I don’t see why you would bother with the available much more affordable alternatives, pretty as the packaging is, which is kind of my attitude towards most of their stuff, with the exception of the peptide protini, which I am courting with my tax refund. 

tl;dr, it looks to me like if you’re thinking about a vit C+EF and you’re not swimming in a vat of money, I’d go with Timeless, or maybe Skin Deva. 

I hope this is helpful!

[pokeheros-drama]

"yeah i would be careful when putting your name on extensions for PH. Riako might get mad someone did something useful that he didnt and call it cheating. Also, to answer your question, i doubt people would exploit it in any significant way."

This is the post that made me realize that many of the users here are just children with little sense of logic. This made me think that coming to this blog is really just a waste of my time.