#then again 'the amount of “harassment” i do is relatively small compared to just how massive the ship-policing community is'

[fortanuvasyama]

not to, like, stir up the shit again, I promise my intentions in this are genuinely wanting answers

but I DO think it is very funny that @elioherondale has just... stopped responding to me altogether after my reblog to his last jab at me to 'prove' I've read Roy comics.

it's most likely because he knows that I won't change my mind but idk... the timing of it is fucking hilarious. that failure at gatekeeping is enough for him to completely refuse to engage with me? c'mon bro. did I stand my ground enough for him to decide to move on to softer targets? does he only like to pick at people who aren't expecting it?

come on dude I answered your question, why won't you answer mine?

[theprincesslibrary]

#26: Quid pro quo

She had a plan. A good plan, flawed of course, but a good plan nonetheless. She would march into the Azure dragon’s lair, offer him a deal he could not refuse, and spend the rest of her days in relative peace. She would not be burned alive, nor have her body desecrated postmortem. It was a good plan, albeit a bit of a crazy one.

She had carefully designed said plan for months, spent countless hours with her nose buried deep in obscure literature, practically harassed the head of the royal guard into telling her every tiny detail of his encounter with the sand dragons - the man used to boast about his tale of glory, now he couldn’t bear to utter the word dragon - but for all her effort she still wasn’t ready for the Azure dragon himself. There were a few key elements about the beast which were not accounted for in those dusty grimoires: for one, he was a man rather than a scaled monster; and two… he was incredibly handsome. He had ordered her to sit opposite him, and she had since spent a stupid amount of time staring at his face, which wasn’t all that smart considering her current predicaments. Yet, one could hardly blame her; she had been expecting a blue lizard - a giant lizard, with wings, and teeth, and claws - and she was now sitting in front of the most gorgeous man she had ever met. Nothing during her months of research had prepared her for the day's events, and she was a bit lost and quite unsure of how to proceed.  

 *****

When she had walked past the entrance on the north side of the snowy mountain, she had expected a cave or an abandoned mine; a place dark and humid, where the air would be stale, almost putrid. There would be spiderwebs on the walls and maybe a few rotting corpses lying in the shadows of a dusty corner. The place would be grim, quiet - save for the few drip drops of a leaking roof - and extremely scary. But the halls she was wandering in looked nothing like old collapsing tunnels. There were sculpted columns where she expected old support beams, and vast rooms with smooth walls instead of rough rock and loose stone. It looked more like an underground palace than it did the belly of a mountain, and she couldn’t help but be a little bit in awe of the craftsmanship required to achieve such a feat. Her father’s castle could never compare to the dragon’s lair, nothing could.

As she made her way from room to room, she found no pile of gold or shiny jewels, not that she hoped to find any, she had specifically chosen the Azure dragon for its peculiar taste in treasure. She had however expected a few rotten corpses, maybe some dead knights, or discarded armors, but again she was pleasantly surprised: not a dead body in sight. Just books, shelves after shelves for as far as the eye could see. They occupied every surface of the place: wooden tables covered in parchments, rare volumes piled up on the floor. Some piles were so high, she had to crane her neck up to see the top and almost lost her balance more times than she’d admit to. Some books were torn or half-eaten by mice, soot-stained or with missing their spines, others were brand new and carefully ordered by author and date. And everywhere the dry scent of paper mixed with the faintest bit of charcoal, a good indication that she was in the right place. Which might sound confusing to some: what kind of princess would willingly seek out a dragon? But she was desperate, and desperate times called from desperate measures. Crazy measures, some might even say. 

Now that she was deep into the beast’s lair, she was faced with two issues. One, for all her planning, she hadn’t come up with a solution to prevent the dragon from killing her without hearing her plea. She had a proposition for the creature, one that required some explaining, and she could hardly do so once reduced to a fuming pile of ashes. She had thought she’d come up with something eventually, but as her twenty-first birthday grew closer things accelerated, and now she was here, with no idea how to speak with such a being. Maybe she should send words in advance? Did Dragons get mail? And If so, who would be brave enough to deliver such correspondence? There wasn't any protocol on how to converse with a dragon. She was taught how to politely greet foreign emissaries, but somehow her etiquette lesson didn’t cover “how to greet a mighty dragon without being toasted”. Clearly a gap in her royal education. Most people - knights in search of gold and glory - marched into a dragon’s lair with two goals in mind: kill the beast and steal its treasure. They either succeeded or died, adding to the long list of nameless fools no one remembered. There was hardly any tale of them having a civil conversation with the beast. 

And either way, if she knew how to politely engage the Azure dragon, she would first need to find him. One would think a creature this size would be easy to spot, but so far she only passed by empty rooms (saves for the mountains of books) and deserted halls. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think the place to be abandoned.

As she continued her discovery of the underground palace, she stepped inside a dimly lit room, more vast than the rest, that looked like a library. There had been books in every room she visited so far, but this one looked like it was meant to hold paper and manuscript. It was dark, save for the few candles and the fire roaring in the hearth.

“Excuse me.” She called out to the shadows, not expecting an answer. She had been doing so in every room, and only got an eerie silence as a reply. So when the shadows moved in a corner of the room, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The shadow was in fact a man sitting in a chair with a heavy book in his hands. Her heart was in her throat, and it took her a few minutes to regain her composure. 

“Forgive my intrusion,” she started, “I'm looking for the Azure dragon.” 

The man barely lifted his eyes from the books to give her the most unimpressed look. He was handsome, almost painfully so: silver-white hair, high cheekbones, a jawline that could cut through glass. But his most striking features were his eyes: icy blue, pupils slit in the middle. And then everything clicked: the hair, the pointed ears, the haughty look... 

“You're one of the Elezens” she whispered dumbfounded, “It was said that your race had passed into legend.” “Sorry to disappoint.” 

Panic ran through her, insulting the very being she had come to beg for help was a mistake, insulting one of the Elezens was a death sentence. She quickly dipped in a graceful bow, knees almost touching the ground, and lowered her head as much as her spine would allow. 

“Forgive me, your grace, I spoke out of turn.”

She did not dare look at him, but she could feel his eyes on her. She could sense his disdain and perhaps a hint of curiosity. She kept her head low and her knees bent, waiting for him to speak, to dismiss her, or worse, to kill her. Her muscles screamed at her, and she secretly thanked her mother for her rigorous etiquette lessons. Lya might look frail and delicate, but she could curtsy for hours, her body well-trained to the princessly art of lowering oneself (literally) to please powerful men.

“Sit.” He finally said. “And pray tell, why is a princess seeking me out. That ought to be an interesting tale.”

For a brief moment, as she sat opposite him, nervousness overwhelmed her. Her hand clenched into her skirt, her fingers tugging at the fabric. She had not planned for this, hadn’t even considered the possibility, his kind was supposed to be extinct. This changed everything. Elezen were stronger than most dragons, smarter too. Knights didn’t kill Elezens, they simply ceased to exist; or hid in the heart of a snowy mountain, it would seem. Still, she couldn’t help but stare, he looked so… human.  

“Speak.” He ordered, “all the fidgeting and staring is deeply annoying.” “I’m sorry, your grace, I expected you to be…” “Taller?” “Bluer actually, with more scales perhaps?” “I can hardly read with a full set of claws,” he pointed out with a haughtily condescending tone.   

She swallowed heavily and nodded.  She had been willing to face a beast breathing fire, surely she could converse with a man reading a book. She hadn’t escaped her father’s dungeon and portaled all the way up north to give up now. She brushed off her skirt, took a deep breath and raised her head to meet his gaze. 

“I've come to request the honor of being your captive.” Words stumbled out of her mouth so fast she wasn’t sure she had been intelligible.  “Do I look that feeble that you’d rather be my prisoner than some baron’s wife?” He said, weary and just a little bit sharp. “Do you not fear me?” “I do, very much fear you, your grace. Even more so now that I know of your true lineage. But I wish to live, and being held captive, given the proper circumstances, seems rather small compared to losing my life.” “I don't follow.” “I was born under the blood moon, your grace…” 

She didn’t finish her sentence, didn’t need to, they both knew what it meant. Silence stretched between them, only broken by the sound of a log cracking in the fireplace. When the dragon spoke again his voice wasn’t thunderous nor loud, it wasn’t “ dragon-like ”; it was soft, barely a whisper, with a hint of sadness to it, and something else. Empathy? Pity? Most people pitied her. 

“I didn’t realize humans still followed the old ways. And they call us beasts… Very well, I can see how this agreement would benefit you, but what's in it for me?” “It is my understanding that a dragon’s reputation among his peers is correlated to the size of his hoard and his ability to keep a princess captive.” She started, glad her voice didn’t betray any of her fear. “Your hoard is rumored to be quite impressive, but you never…” 

She hesitated for a while, she needed to be careful with her words, she had insulted him once, it would be a mistake to do it again, dragons weren’t known for being magnanimous. Still, there wasn’t exactly a pleasant term to describe the situation, ‘prisoner’ seemed a bit excessive considering she was offering to be locked away in a tower of her own free will. Well, maybe not locked away, and there was no tower…but ‘guest’ would be most inappropriate. Hosts had duties towards their guests, she could not insinuate that he’d owe her anything. 

“You’ve never ‘harbored’ a princess before”, she finally settled on. “I suppose you find the task bothersome, fending off knights can be quite tiring, believe me, I know.” 

He laughed, barely a huff, but she heard it, and she liked it. It spurred her on, and she smiled in return. Maybe their shared disdain for knights could bring them to a quid pro quo. 

“I'm the thirteenth princess of the sand kingdom, hardly the golden prize, and even if a knight wanted to risk it all, well, rumor has it your hoard is made of books…” she let her eyes wander around the room, her stare landing on yet a precarious tower of volumes, minutes away from collapsing on the ground. “Not exactly the type of treasure knights tend to seek out. They're not very well-read. So you see, this agreement would benefit both of us.”  

His eyes narrowed at her as he studied her. His stare was neither cold nor disdainful, but calculating. He was appraising her, measuring her worth and deciding whether she was worth the hassle; and for those interminable seconds, she held her breath in anticipation of his response. 

“I can clean too. And sing.” She hastened to add. “I'm fairly good at enchanting animals. I could sing the rats away from your books.” 

He huffed once more, amused at her outburst.  

“No need to oversell it, Princess. You have yourself a deal.”

[kihyunswrath]

A masterpost about Wonho leaving and Starship being whiny wankers

It’s been a full day since the news came about Wonho leaving and I finally also decided to write a post of my own. So I came here to bring some logic to this thing because they haven’t cancelled the news yet and it looks like Starship has given up on literally every bit of sense they had. I’m still so fucking pissed off. I’m 10000% ready to fucking fight, as I always am, because I am true to my fucking username.

So away with the crying and missing Wonho, and wailing and lamenting because I think other fans have done their part with that. I’ll focus fully on just listing the things Starship should have automatically realized if they had even ONE fucking sensible person working in there. This will be fucking long but I don’t care, this needs to be said and heard. So tl;dr: Do they have the slightest idea how to run a business? This is most likely the end of Starship, too, so how can they be THAT dumb to not realize they decided to screw themselves over SUCH A SMALL ISSUE? 

__

1) First of all, Wonho loved his job. This is not about me being sentimental or pretending I don’t understand how pretentious idols can be about their actual working conditions, this is simply the truth. He loved communicating with fans, he loved improving his body, he loved making songs, he loved performing. No kpop companies are treating their idols perfectly, but Monsta X was in general doing very well. This means he with 99% certainty did not want to make things end like this, he just felt he had no other choice, and was panicking. 

2) Wonho thinking there will be a huge backlash against him because of his problematic past and there actually being a backlash against him are two separate things, and if he himself cannot distinguish this difference because of his anxiety, his company should at least be able to. They are the ones holding the money and the power. It’s not like their careers are not at stake, too. 

3) He was fucking popular. Like he had a LOT of fans, those that were specifically dedicating their money and attention to him, and then those who liked several members at the same time, but he was still among their most favourite. We can pretend all day we love all Monsta X members equally, but looking at it from a purely transactional perspective: there are members who are popular, and then members who are EXTREMELY popular. The more popular members bring more money to the table, and Wonho was clearly a part of that latter group. Him facing not one but two scandals in a very short time period did not change that yet, which can be proved by how much support he and the other members still got in the first days of their comeback. Which brings me to point number four:

4) We do not have evidence these scandals were ever going to affect Monsta X members careers in an indispensable way. We do not know whether Wonho’s reputation would have tarnished the group’s future for good, mainly because WE NEVER GOT TO SEE FOR GOOD. This all happened in one WEEK. What can be said about one week? If one comeback of theirs, after a string of VERY successful albums, singles, concerts and world tours, gets ruined because of this one thing, does it mean Starship should have torn their clothes and started throwing temper tantrums like little babies? After they STILL got a nice amount of money out of this comeback TOO? After not even waiting it out to find out if they could have still received number one positions in the comeback show, for at least one week? 

5) Follow the logic mentioned in point two and even the dumbest person in the universe should realize that Starship will end up losing a LOT of album sales, views and ticket revenue now. There was no way of proving that Wonho would actually damage the group long-term by deciding to stay there, and looking at the amount of support he’s now getting, that’s actually unlikely. BUT by kicking him out? DEFINITE LOSS OF REVENUE. People are all now saying we will continue supporting the other members, but the fact is this: many of us won’t. I probably will not. If this is how Starship decided to deal with things, kicking out a member three DAYS after a relatively harmless scandal, started by an absolute embarrassment of a person, I will not support such a company. Kihyun is my bias and I love him to death, but if he’s accepting how things are being handled in his own company, he’ll have to do without my support. That’s how simple it is. 

6) Monsta X is the moneymaker of Starship. They screwed everything with Boyfriend, they disbanded Sistar, and WSJN and Starship solo artists are all nugus compared to Monsta X. This is not to say they’re not good, but they do not bring even near the same amount of money to the company. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that Starship cannot afford to make dumb mistakes in relation to how they’re handling Monsta X. 

7) As a fan who has followed this industry closely for almost 13 years now, I have seen the rise and death of countless kpop groups. At this point I can say one thing for sure: groups can survive or return back to their old glory even when their members leave, but only on certain conditions. If members 1) leave because they want to change their career, 2) leave because they’re not satisfied with their company or 3) have health conditions that prevent them from continuing, the group might still manage to survive without them. If they are kicked out, there’s a smaller chance for continued success and support, but it might work anyway, if 4) they are kicked out relatively early during their career and 5) if they aren’t popular at all at that point. None of these cases apply to Monsta X’s situation. And if and when Monsta X falls, there is no other groups within Starship that could take their position.

8) Now, we don’t know the truth behind all this. Later on Wonho’s leave might turn out to have other motives we are not aware of yet. But as it is, this juvenile prison thing combined with the debt will be the scandals people will remember until forever. That will affect the reputation of Monsta X, YET that’s not how things needed to go. And why is that? Because those scandals actually caused Wonho to leave, unlike so many of the other things we keep hearing every single day because of twats like Han Seo Hee and other antifan wankers. Idols are under constant attacks, but most of the time these DON’T end their careers. Typically, when it hasn’t been about anyone actually getting hurt (rape, abuse, assault, harassment, murder, etc.) or about anything S. Korea specifically condemns idols for doing (drugs, promiscuous dating/sex life, being piss drunk and causing damage, DUI), people will forget things real quick and move on. There are a lot of scandals I will accidentally find out about years later they actually happened, and the idols in question are thriving. But now? People for certain are going to find out, because the consequence was so dire, and so fucking QUICK. 

9) Someone going to a hiatus to solve their private life issues is one thing. Idols canceling or postponing their comeback dates and events because of private life matters is, again, one thing. However, leaving in a matter of days after the scandal started? That’s suspicious, irresponsible, stupid and may make Wonho look much more guilty than he ever was. It may make people think there’s more to this than they know at this point. They may think Starship is partially responsible for hiding things, not checking Wonho’s background or that some of the scandals Wonho is involved in were actually happening while he was in Starship. Because, you know, someone holding a job and having his non-offensive past explored from over a decade ago should be two TOTALLY SEPARATE THINGS. That brings me to point number ten: 

10) Making someone all of a sudden, over all these years, face consequences for things that happened ages ago, with a punishment that is not relevant, fair or just? Yeah that does make people think Starship is unreliable, irresponsible, childish and acting in a rush. It’s not like they didn’t KNOW Wonho had been in juvie. It’s not like they hadn’t already decided to give Wonho another chance. It’s not like Wonho DID anything at this point to show he was no longer earning that trust. Actually, he did not do anything at all. Starship changing their mind about it so quick just revealed how vulnerable, spineless cowards they are and how they don’t want to carry responsibility over any of their actions. Not good for any business, let alone one whose LITERAL JOB is to gain profit from positive publicity and keep a close watch of their reputation. They do not survive without fans. They do not survive without Monsta X. They do not survive if they have THIS presumptuous and careless attitude, thinking they can quickly cover up all their “mistakes” by removing people out of their way.

11) The entire concept of Monsta X is revolving around the solid formation of the group. Every single member has a very steady role within the group, one that is not replaceable. Wonho’s position as the muscular, sexy dancer and soft-voiced vocalist was crucial to the image of Monsta X. People became interested in Monsta X because of their masculine energy, and Wonho was one of the key members in that. He was also very important in terms of how often he catered to the fans’ needs, how often he thanked us and sent messages to us and how frequently he wanted to hang out with us in vlive. He was a steady composer and had a plenty of potential, and all of his songs turned out to be popular. His role as a specifically health, bodybuilding and fitness -oriented idol was widely recognized and celebrated. His character as a cute, aegyo-filled, emotional and extremely kind “fake-maknae” was loved by literally everyone in this fandom. I don’t think I ever knew anyone who didn’t have a specific soft spot for him, even when he wasn’t their bias or even if people mainly followed other groups. Other members in Monsta X have their own, just as solid, roles that are irreplaceable, but it’d be stupid to not acknowledge Wonho has been among the first members people notice when they learn about Monsta X. Without him, it’s almost like not one but two members are missing.

12) There goes Starship’s good reputation among kpop companies when it comes to foreign record label deals as well. Did the company in Japan or the US like what happened? Would they have punished Wonho for this kind of a meaningless bullshit? Do they like the idea that they are now supposed to interact with a company that acts this recklessly, isn’t loyal to their employees and throws their hands in the air as soon as a problem occurs? I bet not. 

13) Why did no one in the company actually sum up together what damage Wonho had allegedly done, like, for real? 1) He made one non-malicious, absent-minded joke half a year ago not a single Monbebe present at that time complained about. This was brought up by a person who intentionally made him look bad. He apologized and people moved on. 2) He has been in a juvenile prison for a small thievery (or something about as stupid as that, according to the information I found about this) over a decade ago, and he most likely did not get a criminal record for this. Starship however, probably did know this when they took him in, so at least back then they thought he’s atoned for his errors and can fucking move on, right? Being in a prison means rehabilitation, especially if you’re there just once as a kid after committing a very minor crime that does not involve hurting people. Bringing this up now is totally irrelevant. 3) Him not paying back to his old friend (3 million won) has absolutely nothing to do with his career. Haven’t people ever been indebted to their friends? Is that a crime worth you ending up kicked out of your company that doesn’t have anything to do with, well, anything? When he accepted that money, he was still a child. For years afterwards, he didn’t have money to pay it back, and he could now handle that issue in privacy, because it’s no one else’s fucking business but theirs. Considering the people who brought this up and their reputation, there’s also a chance this entire thing was somehow fabricated. In conclusion, none of this means anything at all. These are not big enough reasons to make your entire company lose a substantial amount of money, followers and fans, plus a really good performer who had repeatedly proved he had grown up, changed and was capable of taking responsibility of his own life. However, by kicking him out Starship has now reinforced the idea these things were indeed a huge problem, their company can be attacked by these means in the future too, and that their idols’ wellbeing and career paths don’t mean shit to them.

14) All of these scandals, including the very first thing involving that Me Too -movement mistake, COULD HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO FUCKING STRENGTHS. The thing that was in common with all of them three things was that they have happened in the past. Sure, the debt is, I assume, still unpaid, but there’s a small chance Wonho did not remember it anymore, or that there was blackmailing or other kind of shady business going on with that. With clever strategy, Starship could have turned these “scandals” upside down, disclaim them, say they have happened long time ago and do not reflect the company’s current values. They could have accused Han Seo Hee and that another twitter wench of slander and point out to their decreased sales revenue as a proof of damage they caused them. They could have said they are fine with Wonho’s past because they are not merciless bastards but a good, forgiving company that is giving its workers second chances in life. They could have said they SAVED Wonho and his family from a dark path. They could have said they have learned from the Me Too -movement joke and that they are now strongly joining the feminists struggling against rape and sexual harassment. They could have proved they are a good, steady company with good moral values, a backbone and trust toward their employees. All this could have happened with a couple of announcements, a week-long hiatus from the promotions of Follow and a post about how Wonho has paid his debt with a big interest. JUST LIKE MANY OTHER COMPANIES, CELEBRITIES AND OTHER WORKERS HAVE HAD TO DO THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS. Not at all hard.

15) Most importantly: DID ANYONE AT ANY POINT, INCLUDING WONHO HIMSELF, CONSIDER HOW THIS MIGHT AFFECT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE OTHER MEMBERS? Did anyone at any point stop to think that they might not be just fine with this, after fighting to debut together, after they have become such a strong, unified group, after they have seen so much together, when they are now very well aware that this could happen to them at any second, too, considering how these accusations were torn from peoples’ dirty shitty anuses? That they might not accept this, that they might not be able to move on from here, that they might want to resign now too, that they know for sure earlier this year was the peak of their career and nothing they will ever produce without Wonho will receive the same amount of popularity.

__

So yeah. I actually do not hope Monsta X continues as a six-member group. There won’t be “many, exciting things” waiting for them, like those Starship announcers said. There will be depression, more hardships, flopped comebacks and members separating on their own ways, resigning from Starship. The chances of the fucking company itself collapsing are not nonexistent. 

I fucking do hope Monsta X members will refuse to cooperate with Starship until they can negotiate a new contract for Wonho. But if I’ll see them continue performing as a six-member group with these sad, depressed and angry faces I saw today in the comeback show, that’s the end then, for me, as a Monbebe. 

Fix your shit, Starship, or fuck off forever. That’s the deal. 

[fantasyresident]

There’s Something I Have To Address

Just like when the Dexit controversy was stirring, there is now a “new” controversy (if you want to call it new) that is causing unhinged fans to go after Masuda. Only this time, they decide to do it in response to people wishing him well for his BIRTHDAY. Last time it was a wedding, this time it’s his fu**ing BIRTHDAY. I missed this insane ordeal, which happened on January 12th (5 days ago from now) but I thought it was important to respond because I always consider harassment wrong, especially against people who work hard at what they do. 

Apparently people are automatically assuming Pokemon were cut in the first place to be added later for money, even though they took the time to make a free update that allows you to get them through trade. Now it is true there is still a little bit of a “paywall” for them since Pokemon Home is a paid service, but if you’re operating a service like that, shouldn’t you be allowed to charge for it? And if it’s a low price like Pokemon Bank, that’s an extremely small paywall especially compared to what other games expect you to pay for various things. The other cost is the Nintendo Online subscription, which again is a service that has to be constantly run, which I and anyone else who believes in paying for hard work would think, SHOULD be paid for. Not to mention, the Online Membership has different payment packages you can choose from. The single member plan is quite cheap (compare it to the terrible price of Play Station Plus). Many PS4 games lock online content behind that $60 PS+ paywall and nobody complains about it. Yet Pokemon expects you to pay for the same thing only for far less and suddenly it’s a “problem”.

This isn’t to say that everything is perfect with the Pokemon Company. In fact, I do believe there is some level of corruption going on somewhere within the company. (Most likely the marketing department) But then again, you look at any company these days and you find the same exact issues all over the place. However, since Pokemon is a huge brand and people have seriously extreme attachments to the franchise, people complain more about Pokemon than other franchises that pull the same (and even far worse) tricks. Do I believe Masuda or Ohmori are behind any of this. NO. Masuda and Ohmori seem very passionate about their work in the Pokemon franchise and I don’t believe they called all of these shots. There’s more to a company than just a couple people making decisions. Many people make decisions in a company and normally most of the decision-making process is made privately, so we Pokemon fans don’t even know the full picture of what’s going on behind the scenes, yet many people are harshly judging others. Masuda did give reasoning for dex cuts previously, referring to things like game balancing, better animations, etc. For one, they most likely did try out game balancing, but realized when everyone was using the same broken Pokemon that their plans for that were done for.As for the animations, many did improve or were worked over entirely, even if a handful remained the same. (New animations wasn’t a total lie like everyone’s making it out to be.) Referring back to the gameplay balancing, the timing makes sense, considering not long after the first tournament they decide to reveal the DLC expansion pass for more Pokemon. (They probably used the results of the tournament as a way of judging how well the game was balanced.) There’s literally a million things that could have happened behind the scenes to change their minds, yet people interestingly enough automatically glue their minds to the word “corruption” and “greed”. Negativity spreads like wildfire and not everyone wants to deal with that shit. I’m very skeptical of big-shot gaming companies, but do I automatically assume the worst every time Game Freak does literally anything that people doesn’t fully understand? Of course not. If you’re going to attack Masuda for making very good DLC for $30, then attack the creator of Call of Duty for the COD Black Ops 2 season pass that costs $50. Or you can criticize all of the other games that have season passes that cost just as much or more than Pokemon SwSh’s very expansive passes. 

I realize that some of you critics will refer to how supposedly “empty” the base game of Sword and Shield was and then rant about how games that are complete from the start deserve to have highly priced DLC, but let me address that point. It may be “incomplete” in your opinion, but it’s not in others’. For me, the game felt fulfilling and I especially loved the new gen of Pokemon creatures. The only thing that felt a bit bare was lore, and SwSh aren’t the only games to lack that, so it’s not that shocking to me. They’re still great games. If you’re going to call SwSh’s expansion passes expensive, then be fair and consider all other expansion passes/season passes. Not only that, but DLC as well. Consider the often absurd cost of skins that are marketed in many games like Final Fantasy Dissidia NT. Just because the Pokemon Company decided to do DLC, that doesn’t mean they’re planning to make us pay heavily for pre-existing Pokemon. Again, there are small pay hurdles, but considering I only have a small amount to spend per month and I can even afford to pay what the Pokemon Company is asking, that really speaks volumes for how relatively cheap the content is. You also have to consider how companies need methods for earning revenue in the long term, something inbetween releases of major titles, and a service like Home will not only benefit the Pokemon players, but it will also benefit the people putting their time and effort into making the service a success. A win/win for everyone.

What I’ll say is, leave other people the f*ck alone, this includes Masuda. Whether if your biased mind wants to admit it or not, game developers DO work hard and they don’t deserve to be attacked on their birthday of all times. Nobody does. When you act, put yourself in someone else’s shoes first. Would you want to spend such a long time on a game that you felt passionate about only to be put down by a bunch of people on your own birthday? This really just shows how fans don’t even think of game developers as people, they just think of them as factories for making games. Whether if you liked Sword and Shield or not, that doesn’t matter. Stop attacking Masuda and bombarding him with paparazzi-style questions that imply he’s cheating fans their money.  

[vagrantblvrd]

Where the Heart Is, (1/1)

Summary: Michael knows Ryan doesn’t like his apartment building. Knows he doesn’t like the fact it’s a shitty little place with a shitty little landlord. Knows he really doesn’t like the security – or really the lack thereof – it has to offer its tenants beyond the deadbolt and chain on their front doors.

Notes: I was playing around with this prompt generator and got one that felt perfect for these two and this AU in particular and then shenanigans happened. :D?

Takes place in the Crinkle Dot AU.

(Read on AO3)

Michael knows Ryan doesn’t like his apartment building. Knows he doesn’t like the fact it’s a shitty little place with a shitty little landlord. Knows he really doesn’t like the security – or really the lack thereof – it has to offer its tenants beyond the deadbolt and chain on their front doors.

He knows all that, which is why after a steady campaign of harassment and innocent doe eyes proclaiming that’s not what it is, Michael, really, Michael agreed to get a new apartment.

He’s still waiting on the paperwork at his work to go through with the bump in pay to go with it because fuck if he’s going to let someone else pay his way even if Ryan and the others insist it wouldn’t be like that.

That they’d paid Phil for what he did for them, found a way to make it look all nice and legal and shit and just.

Look.

Michael’s not an idiot, okay? Could use the money they’re trying to give him to live a better life and all that, but it feels shady to him considering he’s got more invested in the crew and Ryan in particular than Phil ever did.

So, all that money they want to give him goes to the non-profit clinics around the city instead. Split evenly among the little places barely staying afloat who do more for the communities they serve than the cops that like to hassle them from time to time ever have. (Doesn’t amount to all that much in the end, but it’s better than nothing and that’s what matters.)

Jack and Gavin are looking for places he’d agree to move to, and he keeps reminding them he’s got a budget and no funny business. No leaning on some poor bastard to give him a discount or whatever else because he has ties to the crew.

Other bullshit that has to happen first like getting Ryan to stop being so fucking smug about winning the argument or whatever he thinks this was.

Until then, however, Michael’s got shit to do.

A wedding back home for starters. One of the million and one cousins he has getting hitched, and Michael expected back for it as a member of the wedding party.

========

It’s weird, being back.

Relatives and other assorted assholes he hasn’t seen from anywhere from a couple of years to when he was in diapers.

He spends the first day back on a nostalgia kick, wandering around the town he grew up in and realizing how small it seems now. All the shine it had in his head from his time there growing up worn off and that special warm glow in his heart about the place fucking right off now that he’s seeing it from a different perspective.

Sure, he’s still got all those fond memories from his childhood kicking about in his head, but looking around now he can see the shittier side of things. Stuff he wouldn’t have noticed as a kid or the teenager he grew up to be. Young twenty-something in his first crappy apartment thinking he had life figured out and no idea how dumb he was then. (Or how much dumber he’d get because look at him now.)

He stops by his old high school and walks the grounds after all the extracurricular activities ended hours before.

Goes to his old work and wonders how things could have gone differently if he hadn’t taken that job offer that fucked him over, if he’d stayed. (Doesn’t dwell on those thoughts too long because they’re depressing as fuck and miserable as hell to think about compared to his life now.)

Thinks about calling up his old friends but his heart’s not in it. Not when he’ll see most of them at the wedding anyway, and it’s. He doesn't know what he’d say if he did call, because two years is a long time for something like that and they’re all doing their own things now which is how it should be.

The second day back, though. Goddamned nightmare with his mom dragging him around for last-minute errands like picking up his rental tuxedo and other things she wants his input on.

And then there’s the day of the wedding.

Wedding ceremony that goes off without incident that leads to the worst part afterwords with the wedding party. Small-talk up the wazoo and cheap booze and overly expensive chicken dry as a bone he chokes down between the small-talk.

His mom flitting about poking at the assholes trying to one-up her regarding their families and success of their kids and all that bullshit Michael’s never understood. Cousins and people he doesn’t recognize sidling up to him because they’ve heard the horror stories about Los Santos and Jesus Christ, Michael, how can you stand to live there?

Michael shrugs, because really it’s no worse than being back here.

Less murder in the streets and panicked screaming, maybe, but yeah.

Overall the same.

Assholes of all kinds and most of them out to put you in your place one way or another. Pecking order that gets real huffy about things if you put a toe out of line and something he’d forgotten dealing the clusterfuck of moving to Los Santos and everything that came after.

Kind of funny, actually, how dealing with his family and neighbors and whatnot prepared him for Los Santos.

Real Karate Kid Mr. Miyagi wax on, wax off kind of bullshit.

“You’d be surprised,” he says, thinking about Ryan and that dumbass crew of his. The shit he’s been dragged into because of his own stupidity and terrible life choices. Smiles at the concerned looks it gets him. “It’s not that bad.”

Watches the worst of the lot go back to their cliques and gossip circles probably spreading rumors Michael’s fallen into bed with organized crime or something along those lines.

Which, ironic really, given the truth.

His mom shoots him a dirty look when one of his aunts says something to her that has to do with Michael being a horrible son. Piece of shit kid who’s probably doing drugs or murdering kittens in his free time, because you’ve heard about people in that city, haven’t you?

He has to look away when she gets that look on her face Michael remembers seeing as a kid. The one where she’s gearing up to tear someone a new one for talking bad about her kids. Doesn’t want to give the game away even though his aunt should know better by now.

Sure, they're awful little bastards, but they’re her awful little bastards and like hell will she let anyone talk shit about them in front of her.

Michael wanders away from the main party at some point. He’s been home for three days now, and it’s.

He’s starting to realize he can’t call it that anymore.

Feels wrong when he does.

Things have wound down enough it should be safe to head back to his hotel without causing some sort of social faux pas. Everyone outside his mom worth talking to is already gone, and she just tells him to drive safe when he says his goodbyes, look in her eyes like she understands.

He stops to get food on the way, little place he used to go to all the time they don’t have on the west coast and the worst kind of food for you. Greasy and artery-clogging goodness that tastes like heaven and if he ever brings Ryan to meet his family, he knows he has to bring the asshole here to show him what fast food is supposed to taste like.

Speaking of, Ryan picks up on the second ring when Michael calls him, concern in his voice like he thinks Michael’s run into trouble in small-town Jersey. Uncovered a criminal ring being run by the local soccer moms or some bullshit and needs to be rescued like a damsel in distress.

“Michael?”

Michael rolls his eyes, not really sure if it’s at the worry in Ryan’s voice or the way Michael gets this little warm fuzzy feeling at hearing it.

He’s called to check in a few times since he got to Jersey. Make sure the idiot’s looking after his busted ankle he earned himself for a botched parachute jump out of Jack’s Cargobob. Part of a heist or just some dumb stunt for the hell of it and Ryan being an asshole with frail old man bones. (He’s not, really, but goddamn is it fun to rile him up about it.)

“Hey, asshole.”

They don’t really go in for lovey-dovey pet names, the two of them. More of Michael calling Ryan an idiot or moron or an asshole, because that’s what works for them.

Ryan tends to stick to Michael’s name, but every once in a while he’ll be more of an asshole than usual and ‘yes, dear’ him which doesn’t seem like it should be as infuriating as it is? And yet somehow Ryan just has that special superpower.

There’s a pause, some shuffling noises on Ryan’s end before he says anything else. No gunshots or screaming or police sirens, which means he might actually be listening to sound medical advice and resting instead out having a rootin’ tootin’ good time with the rest of the crew.

“Is something wrong?” Ryan asks. Careful. Measured. Like he thinks Michael’s been kidnapped again, probably the soccer mom criminal ring and is making a phone call under dress, who knows. “Did something happen?”

Michael sighs because no, but also yes, and he’s just.

Getting old.

Appreciating the things he has, the life he’s lived to get where he is and how it all fits together when it has no right to. All kinds of insightful bullshit he didn’t expect to deal with when he booked his flight to Jersey weeks ago.

“You manage to burn the place down yet?”

See, Michael knows Ryan’s supposed to be taking it easy and letting his ankle heal? But he also knows Ryan.

The idiot’s got a key to his place and this restlessness to him. Those plants he pawned off on Michael when he first mentioned heading to Jersey for the wedding. Perfect excuses to out from under the watchful eyes of the others when they’re not being chaotic disasters because they know as well As Michael does how dumb Ryan is about his own well-being.

Valid reason to check in on things while Michael was gone because someone needed to water them even though Michael was only going to be gone for five days at the most, but sure, okay.

Make himself comfortable, cook something up while he’s there because the man’s predictable as hell.

Ryan huffs, because he’s really not enjoying the implication he doesn’t know his way around the kitchen. (That, and there’s a real possibility Ryan or one of the others will just. Do something and Michael's apartment will be in flames, because that just happens with them.)

“No Michael,” he says, sullen note to it that makes Michael grin. “I haven’t burned your apartment down. Yet.”

It's the ‘yet’ that gets Michael, but he lets it slide because he knows Ryan wants him to take the bait and he’s just asshole enough to leave him hanging.

“Good,” Michael says. “Try to keep it that way.”

Ryan sighs, like Michael’s being unreasonable about not wanting his shitty little apartment to be on fire and can’t believe the big, scary Vagabond is still being bullied like this.

Ryan asks how things are going, so of course Michael has to counter with his own inquiry into Ryan’s day and eventually one of them gives a real answer. Which leads to Michael telling Ryan about his new side-hobby of murdering kittens, or maybe it’s puppies, and Ryan’s quiet snort because no, that’s his shtick as the previously noted big scary Vagabond.

From there it’s just.

Nice, really, telling Ryan about all the bullshit he’s dealing with and listening to the bullshit Ryan’s had to content with because the Fakes are a goddamned handful and menaces all around.

Eventually the time difference catches up to Michael. Exhaustion not creeping up on him so much as sucker punching him when he yawns. It’s only a few hours difference, but the last few days have been busy as hell.

Ryan laughs at him because he’s an asshole, and Michael should remind him he’s the one who falls asleep during movies because he’s an old, old man, but.

Yeah.

“Shut up,” he says instead, which just gets another laugh out of Ryan and this comfortable silence Michael’s learning to appreciate. “I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. Try to keep from burning the pace down until then.”

Ryan’s still sputtering protests about not being that bad about things when Michael hangs up, dumb smile on his face and that warm fuzzy feeling that’s edged out the homesickness he’s been feeling.

========

“So,” Michel says, suitcase still in hand. “I’d like to say this is quite the surprise, but I’d be lying.”

His smoke detector’s going off, which makes sense given the way his entire apartment smells of smoke, decent cloud of it in the kitchen the fan over the stove and open windows can’t quite keep up with.

Ryan’s swearing and flapping a dish towel uselessly trying to help it dissipate and looking guilty as hell as he turns to face Michael.

“I can explain,” he starts to explain, and then just.

Doesn’t.

Caught red-handed, as the expression goes.

Not expecting Michael for a few hours, but Michael had the chance to catch an earlier flight home without any outrageous fees to deal with and jumped at the chance.

Came home to a screeching fire detector and apartment filled with smoke and Ryan at the center of it, because of course.

“Uh, hey,” Ryan says, shoving the dish towel behind his back like that’s going to do anything to hide what’s going on here, whatever it is. “Michael. Hi.”

Jesus Christ.

Michael sighs, because Ryan, and after a quick check to make sure his kitchen isn’t actually on fire goes to dump his suitcase in his bedroom and wash up a bit. Give Ryan some time to hide the body or whatever evidence he needs to because he’s too tired to deal with it right now.

By the time he comes back out the smoke clouding up his kitchen’s gone, but the smell’s going to linger for a while longer, so thanks for that.

Also, Ryan is staring sadly at a tray on the stove. Blackened bits of...something in it and this slump to his shoulders.

Looks all sad and pathetic.

“What is the one thing I told you not to do?”

Sad panda Ryan aside, Michael came home to a smoke-filled apartment with a dangerous criminal waiting for him instead of a regular apartment with a dangerous criminal waiting for him.

Ryan pokes whatever is in the tray with a spatula and frowns like he doesn’t know the answer. Really has to think about it for a bit before that memory resurfaces as though all the reminders he needs aren’t literally in front of him.

“...burn your apartment down?”

Oh that’s. That’s nice, the way Ryan turns it into a question. Like Michael made any other requests of him while he was out of town because he knows how Ryan feels about the place.

“And what did you do?” Michael asks, feeling like he’s talking to one of his baby cousins however many times removed or however that shit works.

Small words. Simple sentences. Not asking a lot because toddlers and their limited grasp of pretty much everything ever at that point in their lives. Like Ryan with not setting things on fire or exploding them or other highly dangerous (and doubtless illegal) things.

“I made you dinner?” Ryan says and gives Michael this dumb little smile.

All lopsided and stupid sweet and overall sad because from the evidence before them, he really kind of didn’t.

“And almost burned the place down,” Michael says, walking over to get a better look at the charred remains. Steak by the look of it, because Ryan. “But guess I should have warned you my oven’s broken before I left.”

Not that he expected Ryan to use it to surprise him by cooking dinner, but just an in general sort of thing. It’s been broken for a couple of weeks at this point, his landlord assuring him it’s on the list of things for him to see to he hasn’t gotten around to yet.

Doesn’t seem all that bothered about the way it veers from not working at all to burning hot like the surface of the sun or how that might constitute a hazard of some kind.

“I figured that part out on my own, yeah,” Ryan says, glancing at him.

Touch of wariness to it because Michael's not annoyed or mad at him for the whole possibly burning his apartment down thing, even if was unintentional.

Hard to be angry about it when he was trying to do a good thing, and yes, okay. Michael missed him and his dumb face while he was gone, so there’s that too.

Figures he ought to thank him for the effort he put into it, the sentiment, so he does. Hooks his fingers into the collar of Ryan’s shirt and pulls him down for a kiss, grinning when the idiot looks surprised about it like Michael's just that much of a bully to him.

“Thanks for making dinner,” he says, and gives him another kiss when Ryan huffs like he thinks Michael’s giving him shit for his failed attempt. “No, really, moron. Thanks.”

And now he’s embarrassed, blushing and having a hard time meeting Michael’s eyes. Awkward as anything because he’s shit at accepting compliments that don’t involve wholesale mayhem and destruction.

Michael lets him squirm out of it, watches him fuss half-heartedly with the ruined tray of steaks and all that until he settles.

“Take-out?” Michael asks, because he’s not in the mood to bother cooking anything or go out somewhere.

He’d rather sit on his couch and watch shitty movies with Ryan while they have the time for it with their schedules, and he’s sure Ryan’s not quite up for more cooking adventures at the moment.

“I...yeah,” Ryan sighs. “That sounds good.”

Great, because there is something Michael’s annoyed about, which is the fact Ryan shouldn’t be bumbling around anywhere with that ankle of his.

“Awesome,” Michael says, “now go sit the fuck down before you make your ankle worse than it is.”

And Ryan, because he’s Ryan, gets this look to him like he’s about to tell Michael he’s fine, really. Ankle miraculously healed since Michael saw him last like the idiot thinks he’ll fall for it.

Michael crosses his arms and waits, because Ryan’s stubborn as hell and real dumb sometimes. (Most of the time.)

“Alright, alright, alright,” he grumbles, and hobbles his way to the living room.

Michael would offer to help him, but he knows Ryan would just get all dumb about it again. Insist he can manage and no, no, really. Look at how strong and independent I am, Michael like that’s anywhere close to being the point. (Because idiot.)

Michael rolls his eyes and turns back to the stove clean up before he calls in their take-out order because this is his life now, and for whatever reason he likes it, which.

Yeah.

A sign he’s fucked in the head, but life’s just like that sometimes. Dumps you into some ridiculous situation and lets you fumble your way around until you make something of it, whatever that means you.

For Michael it’s this whole clusterfuck of a life he never could have predicted, because what person in their right mind would?

And that’s just fine with him because strange as it is, he’s never been happier, even with all the assholes he has to deal with now.

So, yeah.

Michael’s an idiot, but he’s a happy one, and that’s all that matters.

[quicksilversquared]

How to Fake a Marriage (chapter 1)

Adrien Agreste is excited to go to London to get a degree in Physics- but he's less excited about the ridiculous list of rules his father keeps giving him, especially since it's clear that his father doesn't trust his judgement at all.

So what better way to rebel than to fake a wedding with one of his friends as soon as he gets to London?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  9  10

(AO3) (FF.net)

Gabriel Agreste was an overbearing parent, everyone who knew him and his son knew that. He micromanaged Adrien's life to the point that everyone wondered if he even trusted his son to make any good decisions on his own, even now that Adrien was very much an adult.

"He thinks I'm going to do something impulsive and ridiculous the second I'm out from under his thumb," Adrien complained to Alya and Nino during their weekly meet-up at a local cafe. He scowled down at the quiche on his plate and stabbed at it a bit irritably. "Like, what could I possibly do? Go out to a fast-food restaurant? Forget to exercise for a week?"

"Go to a rager, get drunk, and get tattooed all over?" Nino suggested.

Alya rolled her eyes and elbowed her boyfriend. "That is why Mr. Agreste thinks you're a bad influence on Adrien. You make the most ridiculous suggestions."

"I wasn't saying he should do it, I just was giving him better examples of impulsive and ridiculous things that his dad might think he would do." Nino rolled his eyes right back and slumped back in his chair. His head lolled to the side so he could look at Adrien. "Dude, it's gonna be weird with you and Marinette both gone. She's in London too, right?"

Adrien nodded eagerly. Marinette had headed to London several months earlier to do a year-long internship at a fashion house there. From what Adrien heard, she was enjoying herself but missed her family and friends. He had texted her a few times since she left, but hadn't really asked too many questions about her internship beyond a few basic inquiries about how it was going. She was probably pretty busy getting herself set up in another country by herself. "Yeah! Hopefully we'll be close enough together that we can hang out sometimes. I don't know how close my apartment building will be to hers." With a wince, he added, "Nathalie was in charge of finding a place for me to stay, so I don't actually know where, uh-"

"You don't know what part of London you're staying in," Nino said flatly, looking thoroughly unimpressed. "Dude. Really? Your father wouldn't even let you do that by yourself?"

"He was worried that I might end up getting scammed," Adrien admitted. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been rather relieved to find that particular job taken out of his hands. He didn't have the faintest clue how to go about apartment-hunting when he wasn't even in the same country. Granted, he didn't know how to do it when he was in the same city either, but that wasn't particularly relevant at the moment. "And it wasn't as though Nathalie did that much work. One of Father's designer friends lives in an apartment in London near her business and it's a pretty nice place and doesn't cost a ridiculous amount, so Nathalie just found an empty apartment in that building and snagged it for me. It comes prefurnished, which is nice. Then I don't have to do a bunch of furniture shopping as soon as I get there to make the apartment livable."

Alya gave him a look. "And is it near where you're supposed to be for school?"

"It is," Adrien reassured her quickly. He had asked about that much, at least. "It's only a short bus ride away, really."

"Ooh, old man Agreste is letting his son ride on public transportation?" Nino said tauntingly. He smirked at Adrien. "I never thought I would see the day."

Adrien snorted. "He tried getting a chauffeur for me there, but the ones he found that met his criteria were way too expensive and all of them said that driving back and forth the short distance to school would be a waste of time and they had better offers. Besides, I'm technically an adult now. I can make decisions on my own."

He got a dual snort in response.

   "I fail to see why you can't simply complete your schooling here in the city," Gabriel said as he entered the dining room yet again for the sole purpose of trying to dissuade Adrien from his trip. Again. "There are perfectly good schools here in Paris where you could do another degree if you really think that it's necessary, and you would not have to forego your driver and your home chief. You'll have to do your own cooking in London, you know."

Adrien only just refrained from rolling his eyes. His father made it sound like cooking would be some sort of huge inconvenience. "I am aware. I have been going over to Nino and Alya's apartment to get cooking lessons from them for several months now."

Gabriel looked cross. "And have any of your experiments been edible?"

"All of them, actually." Adrien was quite proud of that. He had a previously undiscovered talent in the kitchen and even Alya praised the meals he had made. All it had taken was a couple crash-course lessons in reading recipes

Gabriel looked even more sour at that, which made Adrien suspect that that had been his last big argument against Adrien leaving. He had been coming up with reasons (some more valid than others) why Adrien should drop his plans for studying abroad. As the day for Adrien to leave drew closer, Gabriel had only upped the frequency of the appeals.

It wasn't as though Adrien was leaving the continent. He was only going to London for a couple years, and he would be returning to Paris for visits during his vacations and maybe on a couple weekends. London was relatively safe- in fact, it looked like a paradise compared to Paris, which had suffered poor ratings for years after all of the akuma attacks. Tourism still was a little reluctant now, even with Hawkmoth long since defeated. Really, his overprotective father should have been glad that Adrien was moving to London.

"You will have rules to follow in London," Gabriel said after a moment, when it was clear Adrien wasn't planning on backing down. "You still will be representing the company, even if you insist on taking classes for physics instead." It was a long-standing disagreement between the two; Gabriel thought Adrien should stick with the business degree he had already earned at his father's insistence, while Adrien wanted to get his second degree in a field he was actually interested in. It was only because Gabriel refused to let Adrien go into debt that he was even paying for Adrien's apartment and tuition- well, that and the fact that Gabriel wasn't going to have his only son living in a pigsty while abroad just to save money. It wouldn't reflect well on the company. It also probably wasn't very safe to have Adrien living in a slightly dodgy neighborhood just because it would be cheaper.

Adrien inclined his head in response to his father's statement. "Of course." He was well aware of the rules, since he had been forced to follow them for years. Most of them were so obvious that he wouldn't have broken them anyway, even if he hadn't been made aware of their existence. Being reminded of the rules over and over just made Adrien want to break them in the most ridiculous fashion possible.

"No drinking at clubs," Gabriel started, apparently deciding to run through the rules again anyway, just in case Adrien had miraculously forgotten them. "No clubs, period. No pubs. No gluttonous consumption of alcohol in public; it's only acceptable to have a small glass of wine at a dinner function."

As if Adrien would ever dare to behave in such a manner in public.

"No smoking of any sort. No drugs at all, period. No prostitutes or strip clubs. No dating. You will focus on your studies and attend the industry functions that I request of you. I don't want to see you showing up in the tabloid headlines."

Adrien only just refrained from rolling his eyes at that last one. It wasn't as though he could actually control what the tabloids said about him. There seemed to be several particularly trashy ones in the UK that would probably report anything about him with little to no evidence to back it up if they found him interesting at all. Adrien could see the headlines already.

Agreste heir friendly with classmates: secretly starting a harem?

French model drinking wine at dinner: the start of his harrowing descent into alcoholism!

Son of Gabriel Agreste moves to London: Exclusive interviews on the family blow-out!

...yeah, dealing with that wasn't going to be fun. As long as he hadn't done anything ridiculous, though, Adrien was pretty certain Nathalie and the company lawyer would be all too eager to tear into the magazines for harassment and libel.

"Is that clear, Adrien?"

"Yes, father."

  A week and a half later, Adrien finally left Paris to head to London. His father reviewed the list of things Adrien was Absolutely Not To Do twice more before he left and had Nathalie email him a list of reminders when Adrien was still on the train. When Adrien got to the station, he found his father's friend waiting for him there on the platform, holding up a sign with his name on it so he could find her as soon as he got off the train.

"Oh, you've grown so much!" Madam Rosalie said as soon as he drew close. She sounded absolutely delighted. "I've seen your photos, of course, but it's different in person!"

"Uh," was all Adrien could manage. Madam Rosalie was not what he expected. He had assumed that since she was a friend of his father's, she would probably dress similarly to Nathalie, with a no-nonsense suit or straightforward blouse and pencil skirt combo. Instead, she wore a playful polka-dot top with a navy crinkle skirt and her brown curls were barely held back by a bandana. He suspected that the clothes she designed were probably similar in their fun style, standing in sharp contrast to the more formal designs Gabriel tended to produce.

"Do you have all of your things?" Madam Rosalie pressed on, apparently not fazed by Adrien's lack of response. "Yes? Good, good- and did you have any other coats with you? Any other bags? No? Fantastic- it's always so difficult to track down loose things left on the Eurostar. Right, then, follow me this way, my car's parked right outside. You're going to be in the same building as a lot of my interns, did you know? I'm in the building right next door."

Adrien blinked. "I thought Nathalie said I was in the same building as you."

Madam Rosalie laughed, even as she grabbed one of his suitcases and herded him out of the station and towards the car. "Oh, no. My building is all long-term residents. Out flats are larger. The building you're in is just as nice, only a little smaller and the flats come pre-furnished. They had student housing in mind there, I think, or maybe temporary workers. It's owned by the same people that own my building, though, and I double-checked with my interns over there on the quality before recommending it to your dad's secretary."

Adrien nodded. That sounded just as good. As long as the place had good reviews from reputable people, then it was fine with Adrien.

Once they reached the car, it didn't take long for Madam Rosalie to shove all of Adrien's luggage into the back of her car, ignoring his attempts to help her. They were on the road not long after that, headed for the apartments.

"So how did you become friends with my father?" Adrien finally asked, breaking the silence. Madam Rosalie didn't seem the sort that his father would immediately click with. Maybe they had had class together at some point and had been forced to do some sort of group project-

-except no, that wouldn't make sense. She and Gabriel wouldn't have become friends from that, if his father's interactions with would-be collaborators was anything to go by. They would have come out of the project hating each other's guts. That was just the effect Gabriel tended to have on people.

Madam Rosalie laughed. "Oh, I was friends with your mother first," she said, flashing a grin at Adrien before returning her gaze to the road. "We were in a bunch of classes together. I met your father through her."

That made more sense. Adrien always remembered his mother as being more of a social butterfly than his father (not that it was hard to be more social than Gabriel Agreste; it was a very low bar to meet), so it made sense that she was the one making connections for Gabriel. She had also been the one to maintain connections until she vanished, at which point Nathalie took over. Despite her best efforts, Nathalie just wasn't as good at it. She was a little too stiff to make people flock to her.

Madam Rosalie was a talker, Adrien realized very quickly. As soon as Adrien's mother was mentioned, Madam Rosalie had two dozen stories to tell about the shenanigans the two had gotten into when they were younger. From that, Madam Rosalie dove straight into a few funny stories about Gabriel and by the time she was done, they were pulling up in front of the apartment buildings.

"You're on the second level," Madam Rosalie informed Adrien as she yanked his suitcases out of the trunk of her car. "It's a lovely view up there, I was just in there last week to vacuum and do a little cleaning. The room's been empty for maybe two and a half months now, so there was a bit of a build-up of dust in a few places but it's all gone now."

Adrien blinked, accepting his backpack automatically when she offered it to him. "Were they having trouble finding someone to fill it?" He had always been under the impression that apartments in the city, especially nice ones like these, were in high demand.

Madam Rosalie gave him a startled look. "Why, no! They had several people come and look, but your father's assistant snatched it up before they could sign anything. She's been paying rent to keep it open for you."

Oh. Adrien hadn't known that.

Really, Nino and Alya could tease him all they wanted for not being involved in the search for the apartment himself, Adrien mused as Madam Rosalie led the way up to the front door, but Adrien couldn't deny that the assistance was appreciated. Renting an empty apartment to keep it until he got there was yet another thing that Adrien wouldn't have thought of by himself.

"One of my interns is in the apartment right across the hall from yours," Madam Rosalie called over her shoulder as she headed up the stairs, pulling one of Adrien's suitcases behind her. "So if you have any questions, she's right there. She's from France, just like you, and she's been here a few months. Lovely girl, and so talented! She's very kind, too, so don't worry about talking to her."

Adrien perked up. "Really?" He couldn't deny that knowing there was another native French-speaker nearby eased his nerves just a bit. He was fairly strong at English- he wouldn't be going to a university in London otherwise- but it would be a relief to be able to chat to someone in French at the end of a long day. Of course, if they were in the fashion industry, it wasn't a stretch to think that they might know who he was- and who his father was. Adrien might have to deal with an overenthusiastic fan next door, for all he knew. That would be the opposite of relaxing.

"She's out and about right now, but I'm sure you'll run into her later," Madam Rosalie said as they exited the stairwell. She stopped in front of the door closest to the stairs and pulled out a set of keys. "You're in this flat. It's got a nice view and you only have the one next-door neighbor since you're on the end, so you should be set."

Adrien nodded. Of course, he knew he would still have to deal with upstairs neighbors and he wouldn't be able to jump around like he sometimes did at home since he had downstairs neighbors, but it was nice to hear that his closest neighbor wouldn't be a problem.

The door swung open, and Madam Rosalie ushered Adrien inside. Pulling his suitcases along behind him, Adrien stepped into the living room area. It was small compared to what he was used to, but then again everything was small compared to what he was used to. Still, it wasn't as though he actually needed all that much space. Nino, Alya, and Marinette all lived in apartments, and their living rooms were about this size. It would be more than enough for him, especially since he was living by himself.

"Since this is a furnished flat, you have a lot of stuff already here," Madam Rosalie said as she closed the door behind them. "Couch, of course, chairs, table, bed, desk in your bedroom, some pots and pans and a casserole dish, knives- you might want to get them sharpened, by the way, I have no idea what condition they might be in- and silverware, plates, cups, bowls- really basic stuff and not a lot of it, but at least you don't need to buy everything. You might want to buy a few more things in you do any fancier cooking, but the basics are covered."

Adrien hadn't even considered that. He had thought about groceries, of course, but not the cooking things. For whatever reason, he had just sort of assumed that it wasn't something he would need to get. That would have been a nasty shock if he had arrived to find that he had no food and nothing to eat with.

"Your father ordered towels, pillows, and bedsheets for you. The boxes are waiting in your bedroom," Madam Rosalie said while Adrien was still taking in the living room. He winced- another thing he hadn't even considered, he was off to a great start with being independent- and set his suitcases down to follow the designer down the narrow hallway to the bedroom and bathroom.

He was going to be stuck here all afternoon unpacking, Adrien could tell already. He would be lucky if he could get out to find a grocery store before the sun set. He might have to order out- or maybe he should just not unpack everything and deal with it tomorrow so that he would actually be able to eat tonight.

The bedroom itself was a decent enough size, though he wouldn't be able to leave much on the floor without it becoming a real obstacle. The closet was smaller than he was used to, for sure, but he had hardly brought along the entirety of his wardrobe either. That would just be excessive, especially considering that he didn't even wear most of it on a regular basis.

"Do you want any help unpacking?" Madam Rosalie asked as Adrien maneuvered around the boxes on the floor. "If not, I need to stop by the office and check on a couple designs. You have my number, right?"

"I can manage the unpacking," Adrien assured her. "And yes, I have your number. I'll be fine. Do you know where there are any grocery stores nearby?"

"There's one a few blocks over," Madam Rosalie said, stepping back around the boxes towards the door. "But it's more a high-end store, good for picking up a couple things in a rush but I wouldn't recommend doing a large shopping trip there. There's a larger store a little further out that's a little more affordable, but you can ask your neighbor for directions. Knowing her, she would probably come with you and help you carry stuff back."

"She won't mind me bothering her?"

"Oh, not at all," Madam Rosalie assured him. "As long as she's not in a huge rush for a deadline or anything I'm sure she would be happy to help. Like I said, she's very friendly. Oh, and here are your keys- catch!" She unhooked Adrien's set of apartment keys from her own keychain and tossed them across the room. Adrien caught them easily. "Have a good rest of the day! Ta-ta!"

With that, Madam Rosalie gave a cheery wave and vanished around the corner. Within moments, there was the sound of a door opening and closing. The second he was sure they were alone, Plagg zipped out from Adrien's pocket and surveyed the bedroom.

"It's small," Plagg commented, spinning around to look at the whole room. "And cramped, and I don't see any cheese."

"You are about as subtle as a speeding truck," Adrien sighed, kicking a box to the side to head back out to the main room. "I have some cubes of cheese that I packed. It's not Camembert, but it'll have to do until I can go shopping."

Plagg grumbled.

"And you'll have to ration your Camembert a bit," Adrien cautioned. "No more eating two wheels a day. Half a wheel at most plus some other cheeses will have to do."

Plagg let out an immediate loud whine at that.

"Don't even start," Adrien said warningly as he entered the living room and bent down to sort through his bags. "It'll look weird if I'm buying seven wheels of Camembert a week or going grocery shopping every other day. It's not back home, where we had Camembert stocked in the kitchen."

"I'll starve. You don't skimp on food for yourself ever."

"I'll buy other cheeses. You said you like Gouda, right? Brie? And I know you'll eat Swiss and cheddar in a pinch." Adrien dug in his backpack and tossed a large cube of cheddar to Plagg before taking the rest of the cheese and putting it in the refrigerator.

"But it's not the same."

"Think of it this way: for you, Camembert is like dessert. It's tasty. You eat less of it than other cheeses, and then it's more of a treat when you do have it." Adrien grabbed his suitcase and headed back to the bedroom. He might as well get started with unpacking so he could start getting rid of the boxes. "And I don't eat dessert day in and day out."

Plagg let out an angry mutter, but didn't argue further.

Back in the bedroom, Adrien attacked the boxes first. Once all of the pillows, sheets, and blankets were on the bed (it didn't look pretty, but Adrien wasn't actually sure how to make the bed properly and at least it worked), Adrien delivered the towels to the bathroom and tossed all of the boxes and packaging into the kitchen, where they would be out of the way for the time being. He unpacked his suitcases next, shoving shirts, socks, underwear and pants into the dresser and hanging a few things up in his closet. Much to his surprise, it really wasn't taking all that long to get things stashed away. Of course, part of that was because Adrien couldn't bring a ton of stuff with him on the train, but he had still thought that setting up would take longer. Granted, he still had grocery shopping to do. He would have to shop enough to set up his entire pantry- that meant all the spices and sugar and salt and flour and eggs and everything. That would probably take the longest out of everything.

Sighing, Adrien pulled out the list Alya had prepared for him of everything Adrien needed to start a pantry. He had made his own additions to the list, of course, since he had picked out what things he wanted to cook during his first week and obviously Alya hadn't included Camembert on the list at all. He would have to buy some containers for leftovers and some reusable bags as well...

Ugh. Grocery shopping would probably be the hardest part of the moving to a new country. At least he didn't have to deal with shopping for furniture or most kitchen tools. That really would have been a nightmare. This was already bad enough.

Adrien let out a long sigh as he gathered up his wallet, his keys, the one bag he had brought along, and the completed list. Putting off the trip wouldn't do him any good; after all, he did need to eat. Maybe he wouldn't take care of everything on his list until he found out where the budget store was, but he had to pick up a couple things, at the very least. Hopefully he would run into his neighbor soon.

Adrien was lost in his racing thoughts of what he had to get done first as he neared his flat's door. There were so many things to do that needed his attention so he could actually function, and all in a foreign country. Now that he thought about it, Madam Rosalie hadn't actually said where the closest grocery store actually was, so he would have to ask someone- and who knew if Londoners were friendly or not? He hated asking random people for help, especially when he was abroad. People tended to ask about his accent and then practically asked for his whole life story when they learned he was from France. It wasn't fun at all-

He was so distracted that he didn't even notice that there was someone passing his door until he ran straight into them.

Both Adrien and the other person yelped as they stumbled, and Adrien's hands flew out to steady the other person before they could fall or drop any of the bags they were carrying.

"Sorry, sorry- I mean! Sorry about running into you," Adrien corrected himself, switching from French to English. "I should have looked where I was going-"

"No, no! I should not have been walking so close to the door, I just am not used to anyone living there," the girl in his arms said quickly in accented English, finally steadying herself on Adrien's arm and readjusting her grip on her bags. "It's not your fault at all- Adrien?!"

Blinking in surprise, Adrien finally looked down at the girl properly, taking in her wide blue eyes and oh-so-familiar face. His mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Marinette?!"

[iishipallthethings]

Three is (Not) a Crowd

Story summary: Two months after Kuvira was defeated, things have finally settled down in Republic City. For better or for worse, Avatar Korra is ready to talk to Asami about the Unspoken Thing between them, however there's something Asami had been hiding from her friends. And that something is Lin Beifong.

Chapter 11: Back to Work

With the fourth cup of coffee since she first entered the building held in her hand, Lin turned the page of her rather big file on the Spirit Vines case. She was able to snuff the press’s flame about the spirit vines connection with the recent explosions. No need to cause a public panic, she had told the quivering reporters. Such spineless fools, Lin thought to herself.

She looked over to the map hanging on her wall. If anyone who was not on the case asked why she had circled certain areas, she would tell them that those were places where she was considering living in when she retired. That way no one would be the wiser when she crossed the circles off, they would just assume she was narrowing her choices. Of course, the word retirement sent the officers outside her office into a frenzy. Each one of them had their own ambitions but no matter what officer, they saw themselves sitting in Lin’s seat as the new Chief of Police once she hung up her metal cables. Greedy little shits, Lin had dubbed them all but greedy little shits got their work done and relatively well.  

A page turned and Lin’s coffee mug halted before it touched her lips. Hard and cold eyes stared back at her from a mug shot. Even when beaten and arrested, Kuvira still had a commanding look about her, like she was calculating each move, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. She was one of the most difficult criminals Lin ever had the misfortune to work with. Kuvira had been nothing but cooperative since she first starting interrogating the woman, but that just made Lin’s life harder. Lin had a sneaking suspicion that Kuvira was all too aware of the predicament she was causing her.

In most cases, Lin would have offered the young woman a deal to get time off of her sentence or a possible transfer to a less…. strict facility for the amount of information she was giving so freely. It occurred so often that it became an unspoken policy at the Republic City’s Police Department. The public was blind by the standard so there would be no outrage but the scum of Republic City knew about it so when they were interrogated, they were more willing to spill the dirt on their comrades.

Lin wouldn’t allow it in Kuvira’s case however. The bitch deserved to rot in that wooden prison for the rest of her life for what she put everyone through. For what she put Asami through.

The Chief took a gulp of her now cold coffee, wishing she had some whiskey to warm up the drink. She remembered helping Asami pick up the pieces after her father’s sacrifice. They had celebrated Kuvira’s defeat that night but afterwards Asami had stole Lin away from the meek party. Lin had held Asami and whispered soothing words as the younger woman sobbed into her metal uniform. The younger woman actually apologized for her tears and that was what caused something within Lin to snap. She said nothing, she had simply picked Asami up and carried the sniffling woman to her car. It had taken an hour for Lin to navigate to her house due to the destruction of the city but she finally found a safe route and carried Asami to her bed. Asami didn’t offer any complaint, she had pulled Lin down to join her as soon as Lin was free of her uniform. Even though they were both dirty and Lin had dried blood stains on her clothes from the final fight, they didn’t rise from that bed until well into the next day.

And that funeral. Lin drank the last of her coffee and pushed the empty mug away. It was such a small funeral, only Asami and her friends had attended. Lin was there as a formality, making sure no one harassed Ms. Sato as she lowered an empty casket to rest, or at least that was how her presence was explained. She hated it, seeing each tear that leaked from Asami’s eyes and not being able to do a thing about it. Instead she watched as Korra held onto Asami and murmur things that were too soft for Lin to hear. She was grateful for the Avatar that day, especially when she pulled her away from a publicist that somehow slipped through security to take a picture of Hiroshi’s funeral. Lin had smashed the camera to pieces and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the asshole. She couldn’t charge him with anything, it was a public place after all, but it was still satisfying to throw him in her patrol vehicle. Lin had secretly let Asami stay at her place for a week to comfort the grieving woman.

“Uh, Chief?”

Lin was brought violently out of her memories and she stowed away her emotions like she would the sheets of paper in the file that was clenched in her hands. Lin closed it and set it to the side so her desk would be somewhat clear. “Come in,” she barked.

Mako opened the door and went inside her office. He closed it behind him and marched to her desk. He offered a file that was meager compared to the one occupying the desk and Lin took it. She leafed through the report as Mako went to the map and crossed out another circle. “We’ve found none of the spirit vines but there was evidence of recent experimentation.” Mako answered before Lin could ask the question. “My partner is fine, Chief.”

There was something off in his stance and Lin looked at him expectantly. He almost fidgeted and she knew he was trying to hide something. She didn’t even need to use her bending to feel his pounding heart through the earth. “Out with it,” she ordered, her voice brooking no argument.

“When I came back, I, uh, got a call. From President Reiko.”

Lin growled under her breath and pushed back into her chair. “Let me guess. The investigation is going too slow?”

Mako nodded and almost fidgeted again under her intense stare. “He said that if we don’t pick up the pace, he’ll find others who will.”

A fist slamming on the desk made Mako flinch. He had only seen Lin angry once and that was at Su. He hoped he would never do anything to incur Lin’s wrath and he pitied the fool who invoked it. “That fucker has been up my ass on this investigation and now he’s threatening my officers! Disgraceful!” Lin growled. She stabbed a finger in Mako’s direction. “We are doing this safely and if that means being more cautious then so be it. I will not have another member of my force and another civilian killed because some pompous buffoon wants things done fast. The next time he calls, tell him that if he has a problem with how I handle things, he should face me like a man and not go behind my back like a pussy.”

“Really?” Mako’s eyes were wide in shock.

“No, not really!” Mako was truly one of her finest officers, the finest actually, but he could be just as dense as the rest of them. Lin took a deep breath to calm herself and waved impatiently at the map. “Just continue your investigation on another location after you and your partner have rested up.”

Mako nodded and left the Chief to her musings. Lin stared at the map. A little less than half the circles were crossed off now but what Mako said had disturbed her. “Evidence of recent experimentation,” she repeated. She didn’t like the sound of that at all. Lin radioed all the teams that were currently dispatched and warned them of what Mako told her. Once that was done, she slumped against her seat, feeling a headache coming on. Lin glared at the fat folder and the picture of the woman hidden inside the countless papers. “This is all your fault,” she told the photograph.

Lin looked down at her hands and noticed how they were empty. She opened one of her drawers and took out the present Korra had given her. The Avatar could be even denser than Mako but she did very well with choosing what she should give Lin. The Chief looked at the chunk of meteorite, feeling the metal within it, begging to put into use, to be manipulated into something beautiful. She created simple shapes first and then made the meteorite become more complex objects as she pulled the folder back in front of her. Lin opened it up to the page she left off and ignored the picture of Kuvira as she read what the notes of her interrogations with Korra.

She tried to think of new questions, anything that would help her find those spirit vines before they could cause more damage than they already did. But as she stared at the words written by her own hand, they danced off the page. In their place were two faces: the faces of the two officers that were killed in the second explosion. She had sent them to their deaths, they accused Lin. The Chief ground her teeth and banished the faces from her thoughts.

“Those two officers knew and understood the risks.”

Lin had tried to take comfort in Korra’s words, and she did for a time, but that night she couldn’t stop seeing their coffins being lowered into the ground. They were a fine man and woman and they had received a hero’s funeral. Lin looked back to the meteorite. Without her knowledge, she had bent it to the symbol of Future Industries. Asami had much the same look on her face as the two officers’ families.

She quickly sent the meteorite into a formless blob. Lin should think of something else, anything else. She allowed her mind to go forth wherever it wished. Her thoughts turned to the events of the night before. Lin had fun on the date, surprisingly. She still didn’t fully understand why she let it happen. She cared for Asami deeply, more deeply than she cared for anyone really, but Korra was another story. The Avatar was attractive, there was no argument there, but she was too full of herself. Lin had to concede that she had gotten a lot better than when the two had first met. She still chuckled when she recalled that Korra had assumed she would have gotten off scot free from wrecking a street and evading the police just because she was the Avatar.

But why did she let the date occur?

Even as she pondered the question, Lin had the answer. She would do anything to make Asami happy. If the duchess would be happy with the snowblower so be it, as long as Lin could have some of that happiness too. When Korra blurted out her feelings and asked for a date, it was Lin that agreed to it. It was a spur of the moment decision but she was also panicking. She didn’t want to end up alone again. Lin still did not know why Asami would entertain her for those three years and had assumed that the duchess would have put an end to it when Korra entered her life again. A dark voice would whisper that she was just a temporary replacement for Korra when she and Asami were panting and sweaty from a round of passionate fucking. Lin would roar at the voice to shut up and leave her be but it would whisper the same words the next time the two fell into bed together. But even after Korra returned, she and Asami would still meet in secret and spend whatever time they could with one another.

If she had to share Asami then she will.

“I’m going soft,” Lin grumbled to herself.

That damn voice was back. It whispered so low that Lin had almost missed it. It murmured how she was intrigued by Korra. After so much tragedy in her life, Korra was still able to hold her head high, like Asami. Lin respected that. And she supposed that the younger woman could be funny when she wasn’t aggravating.

The voice wasn’t satisfied with Lin’s confession. It brought out a memory of the date, more specifically the last bit of it. It showed Asami kissing Korra. The kiss itself was nothing particularly special, it was a peck really, but seeing it ignited something in Lin. The Chief thought that the sight was incredibly arousing.

Lin gulped and tried to take a sip from her mug but forgot that she drank the last of the coffee and hadn't refilled the mug. She set it down and tried to end the thoughts budding in her mind but she couldn’t. It was like a mud slide. Lin was so tempted to pay Asami a visit later on that night, it wouldn’t be the first time either of them made a late night call, but she stopped herself. Barely. So Lin had spent a great portion of that night touching herself, imagining the kiss between the two younger women leading into something more. Her mind didn’t even bother creating a proper scene, the two made love right in front of the restaurant. Lin took a deep breath and could feel her body heat up in arousal.

Maybe she was, what was the word? A cuck? No, that wasn’t right. Lin fought for the word and managed to grab it right as it tried to slip past. Compersion! That was the word. Lin frowned and crossed her arms at her new discovery. But it didn’t make sense. She never had the inclination of sharing her partner with anyone before. Lin knew and accepted that she was a woman that was quick to a temper and jealousy and perhaps she was possessive of Asami but the younger woman never voiced a complaint before. In fact, Lin believed that the duchess liked the knowledge that Lin could become possessive and jealous over her, she suspected that it filled Asami with glee that she had such a hold on Lin.

The Chief decided to do a little test. She looked at the door where Mako had left a little while ago. She tried to imagine him and Asami being intimate with one another. They had dated before so surely they had sex at one point? Lin knew first hand how much of a sexual deviant Asami could be once she was comfortable to let that side be known.

Lin didn’t even get past the image of Mako kissing Asami. She felt intense anger towards Mako, her hand clenched at her arm. So she didn’t like the idea of Asami being intimate with the firebender. Lin rubbed at her temples as she puzzled out her feelings. Why was she okay with Asami kissing Korra?

She tried another test. This time she imagined Korra kissing Mako. The same hot anger reared in Lin and she had another urge of hitting Mako. Lin groaned in annoyance. She never had to deal with these confusing emotions when she dated Tenzin. It was more like a second job than anything else. Go on a date, talk over food, laugh a little at his terrible jokes, maybe share a kiss goodbye. Just a checklist. Neat and tidy and predictable. But with Asami and Korra it was more like a sandstorm tornado. Lin could never predict where it would take her or how fast the winds would blow. But fuck was it exciting.

“I’m too old for this bullshit,” Lin concluded. She looked back down at the neglected folder and turned to the next page. It held much of the same information as the others but maybe there was something hidden there, something that Lin could use to end this mess. “Time to get back to work,” Lin muttered.

Author’s notes: I should probably explain this chapter. I figured I should explore Lin's mind, especially after the date. Out of the three, I think that Lin is the most confused about this new relationship, she didn't have the Unspoken Thing between her and Korra like Asami and Korra do. And I feel like she is more comfortable when she knows what's going on, with labels and such. She is the Chief of Police after all, anything that's messy and questionable is a thorn in Lin's side. For those of you who don't know, a cuck (usually a derogatory term BTW) is a person who takes sexual gratification from watching their partner having sexual intercourse with another. Compersion is when a person takes joy from the knowledge that their partner is in a romantic (or sexual) relationship with another. I actually didn't know about this until I started writing this story. However to be perfectly clear, this is a polygamous relationship with all partners being involved romantically with one another (if it helps I like to think of a triangle with the sides being the romantic feelings between two points). Lin just doesn't know the actual word for it and she's trying her best to label her feelings for Asami and especially Korra. Sharing doesn't come natural to the Chief so she's gonna have an adjustment period to this thing. Sorry if this is long winded.

[nezzfiction]

Team WISE Chapter 5 - Iris (Part Three)

Series Synopsis: Ten years have passed since Team RWBY disbanded. Remnant is in the midst of its Second Great War. And while the Kingdoms wage battle and destruction against one other, a darker, more ancient threat grows in its shadow. Only a select few are willing to set aside past differences to see the greater danger Remnant faces. Only those who possess the wisdom to seek out the truth in the dark—those who are truly wise. To that end, Weiss Schnee assembles her private group of covert operatives.

This is the story of Team WISE.

Links to read the series: Ao3 or FF.net

Or hit the jump below:

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Iris (Part Three)

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They honor Graves.

They decorate the Royal.

And they reward the Faithful.

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It was approaching night on the Saharan Front of Vacuo.

The sun was setting, and the sky dimmed a darker hue. Waving hills of sand lost their fluorescent gold, and faded to purple. And as the last rays of daylight retreated over the horizon, so too did the forces of Vacuo’s Southern Faction withdraw from the battlefield.

The Northern Tribes suffered a surprise attack during the afternoon. It was an unforgivable mistake, and their defenses paid dearly for it. To make matters worse, when they finally recovered enough to launch a counterassault, night was falling and the Southern Faction’s White Fang kited back. The Northern Tribes were at a disadvantage due to their lack of night vision. And, of course, there was the possibility the Southern Faction, which listed many Faunus in their ranks, set up an ambush should they recklessly pursue.

In the end, the Northern Tribes could only watch as their enemies retreated safely and leisurely over the hills. Defenses would have to be rebuilt, draining on what limited resources they had. There was also the body count, which received a huge blow. Their numbers, growing more and more difficult to replenish with each hit and run by the opposition.

From atop the ridge of a tall dune, a heavily cloaked figure monitored the progression of the entire battle. He purposely took caution in hiding his appearance, very few being privy to his actual whereabouts. But it was him, who commanded his forces to exhaust their enemy than fight the fair fight.

The leader of the Southern Faction’s White Fang.

Adam Taurus.

As he watched his forces retreat and glanced at the still burning remnants in the enemy settlement, a sadistic smile curled his lips.

“Have our forces rest four hours on returning to base,” he relayed his orders to his comms officer. “We’ll attack them again at night.”

The White Fang soldier nodded, and began speaking to the corresponding leaders of each division.

On their way back to their outpost, Adam continued to evaluate the strategy and the condition of the civil war as a whole.

The assassination attempt on the Northern Tribes leadership went comparatively well yesterday. They were able to eliminate some key threats with only the sacrifice of a few minor chieftains. It was a shame Sienna Khan survived. They could not have accounted for Blake and her lieutenants acting as bodyguards incognito.

Adam’s forces were performing well on the Saharan Front. They wounded the enemy and bled their enemy’s resources, while his army remained relatively unscathed. If they were lucky and their adversaries were incompetent enough, which was the case most of the time, the enemy might draw upon their exhausted forces from the Mojave Front to reinforce this position. Maybe then, he would reveal himself to Blake—and kill her once and for all.

While the idea brought some joy in its anticipation, a foreboding lingering stalked the back of his thoughts.

The current tactic was cruel and efficient, but his projections for the war were falling behind. The main reason for that was…

“Have we received new provisions from Mistral yet?” Adam asked his Logistics Officer.

The White Fang member checked his clipboard, then shook his head.

“No, sir. No shipments today either. Should I send another request?”

“This will be the fifth time already…! Remind them that if they want Vacuo as an ally, they have to make sure I win it first.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Hmmm…” Adam grunted.

What is Cinder Fall doing?

He realized thinking about it wouldn’t do much at this juncture. The man could make a big deal out of it if his requests were delayed this time. Until then, he had to maintain his army’s harassment.

“What’s the status of our forces?” he asked the returning comms officer.

“Tired, sir. Some are wounded, but most are exhausted. Especially with the surprise attack this morning and afternoon.”

“…You have something more to say?”

“They could…use more rest.”

“…Have them ready for the night raid. Four hours rest on making camp,” Adam ignored the consultation.

“I understand,” the officer nodded uneasily.

After some time passed, Adam’s army returned safely to base. Their usual small village of tents were erected on the spot around an oasis.

Tired soldiers tried to finish their remaining duties, so they could collapse onto their sleeping bags as quickly as possible. Bleary-eyed sentries took positions for first watch. Some seemed to choose to forego eating altogether, and postpone it until they woke.

…

And above the encampment, a certain cloaked airship treaded the sky.

“How are they looking, Fox?” Coco asked an update from her teammate.

The man sharpening his forearm blades replied,

“—Tired.”

It was vague, but after having worked with him so long, his teammates were able to interpret his meaning. The Aura levels of the army below them was low. Incredibly low, in fact.

Fox was Team CFEN’s radar, in a simple sense of the word. Due to his blindness, he was forced to develop a particularly high level of Aura Sense, in which he used Aura to discern his surroundings. It also allowed him to track the energy levels of others, even letting him evaluate their health conditions to a fine degree. And it was this skill, which he applied to the countless soldiers below them, that told him one other thing…

“Soft.”

The second word assessment by Fox came like the word of a hunter—or maybe, a predator.

His other teammates reacted to it with a knowing smirk.

“—Alright, brain trust,” Coco snapped, before tossing a digital map tablet to Neo and Fox. “Get to mapping their positions. I want us hitting them the same time their precious heads hit the pillows.”

She turned to Yang, who was taking apart her prosthetic to clean it. Then, putting it back together.

“The ice queen really sign off on this gig? We’re gonna leave a pretty big footprint on this one.”

“Well, if we don’t leave anyone alive, no one will ever know we were here,” Yang answered coldly.

“…”

“…Full operational impunity, Coco. Even if they did ID us, our team doesn’t work directly under Atlas anyway. Not officially.”

“True. Not like we can take the HVT without the mayhem. So, no blowback on our people?”

“Small blessings,” Yang grinned.

“That’s what I like to hear.”

At that moment, Neo handed Coco the digital map tablet. On it, an accurate layout of the camp with marked soldiers displayed on its surface. And in the center of the formation, was their main objective signed with a red skull.

“Alright, then,” Coco called her team’s attention, while mentally making custom small changes to their plan. “No major discrepancies from the drawing board. We run it like rehearsal. Get ready, get evil.”

“We drop in five.”

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X  X X  X  X

.

In the main officer’s tent, Adam had barely closed his eyes for a second. Then, all of a sudden, chaos sounded all around him.

He exited the door flap to see what was going on, only to find soldiers rushing in every direction.

The night sky was full of high sparkling flares, which lit up their encampment like it was day. There were fires and explosions all around the perimeter. And as if the surprise attack wasn’t causing enough disorder, there was also a high frequency ring that caused consternation to their Faunus soldiers. Also, a foul-smelling gas permeated the air, which did a number on those with keen noses.

Adam coughed with tears in his eyes. His heightened senses were assaulted on every front.

What the hell is going on?!

He tried to get a hold of one of his officers in charge, but found their communications jammed.

Damn it!

They know what they’re doing, whoever the hell this is!

Adam began shouting to his soldiers nearby, trying to bring order to his subordinates’ panic.

…

From a distance away, laying prone in the sand, a dark group of individuals peeked just over a sand dune. Their binoculars focused on the settlement ripe with chaos.

The leader of the pack went quickly to identifying the perpetrators of the attack. A certain woman seemed to blink in and out of the air, driving an icepick thin blade through key officers. A man made quick work of some figures, spilling their intestines on the ground or opening their esophagus. Another woman switched between several heavy weapons to fill bodies with bullet holes. And a particular individual, smashed through several armored stations with nothing but her fists, leaving a swath of destruction in her wake.

There were only four in all, and an impressive amount of damage caused between. They joined together, executed combos interchangeably, then split apart with perfect precision. It was a hybrid performance of both solo and coordinated movements. A deadly flow only few teams in the world could probably pull off.

Mercury Black hailed his allies through a relay of secure communication lines.

“—Mercury, report,” Cinder Fall’s voice came from the other end.

“They’re here. The White Queen’s favorite pipe-hitters, including the one-arm wonder,” Mercury said.

“I see. So, the one called Ember is finally getting here revenge after all these years. I knew Tyrian would break.”

“What should we do, boss?”

“……The status of Blake Belladonna?”

“She disappeared for a day, came back around the afternoon. No other changes.”

“Hm.”

Mercury could hear Cinder tapping on her desk in thought.

“…It seems our joint enterprise with Adam Taurus has reached a most disappointing conclusion.”

He understood what the statement meant.

“Copy that,” Mercury shrugged indifferently. “And the surveillance on Belladonna?”

“She returned, you said… Resume recon. In the instance she disappears again, do try to keep track of her this time.”

“Easier said than done without being seen.”

“That will be all. Keep monitoring the situation, and report the aftermath.”

“Roger that.”

The line went dead, and Mercury gave a tired sigh.

“Hahhh, what a slave driver.”

The man continued to peer through his binoculars, once in a while gnawing on a food ration snack. He watched the massacre, like he was watching one of his favorite shows. And then, a depraved smile appeared on his lips.

“Sucks, buddy. But sometimes, when you gotta go—”

“—You gotta go.”

.

X  X X  X  X

.

On Adam’s right, the soldier had his chest cavity opened with a cross-slash. On his left, a woman’s head was blown clean off with a single shot.

One White Fang lieutenant moved in front of the leader, probably trying to shield him from what came next. His body was large and the chainsaw in his hands was massive.

“—Hollow Point.”

On Coco’s order, a blazing yellow figure dashed in front of the giant Faunus. Neo laced Yang’s fist with pointed glass, while she entered the man’s guard.

The lieutenant swung his rippling chainsaw across, but Yang dipped her head below it. Then, with her crystal encrusted fist, snapped a vicious liver blow to the body. On piercing the skin, the glass shattered, sending countless shards tearing through inner organs. Some of the shrapnel cut so sharp, blades popped out the other sides of the body.

The White Fang lieutenant collapsed to his knees first, then his face hit the dirt.

The flares in the sky gave out. Nothing but the fiery remains of the army and their tents gave visibility to the four figures before Adam.

The man stepped inadvertently back.

“—Hey, asshole,” Yang greeted casually. “Long time no see.”

“You…!” Adam gritted his teeth with recognition.

“Yeah, me. Shoulda killed me when you had the chance~♪”

“……Coward. This is the only way you Humans can fight. Always underhanded, without a speck of honor!”

To the insult, Team CFEN only stared as if to say, “Like you have any right to talk”. They glanced to each other, before focusing on the one whose vendetta this belonged to.

“Well, I guess that’s true. We did kinda do him dirty,” Yang brandished an easygoing smirk. “So, let’s do this nice and fair. Mano-e-mano. No help, no handicaps.”

Adam had to fight down the smile from showing in his face. His opponent took his bait. But then, there were also the woman’s teammates to watch out for.

Fortunately for him, the rest of Team CFEN took some steps back. Even Neo postured herself on the dead corpse of the White Fang Lieutenant. The other three all but communicated their intention to simply let the duel proceed without interruption. Something Yang probably requested beforehand.

Adam lowered his body into his signature iaido stance. A menacing bloodlust leaked from the stillness of his sword-drawing form.

He recalled Yang’s data and Semblance. Adam’s technique was its perfect opposite when applied correctly. He wouldn’t give Yang the chance to build her energy from his attacks. The swordsman would end it with a single move, one fatal swing of his blade.

Yang cracked her knuckles challengingly. The previous glow of her hair was nonexistent, giving muteness to her Semblance. But the red of her eyes seemed to glint something hungry.

The woman lowered into her own fighting stance. Her boots ground into the rough sand and dirt. The right of her armed prosthetic drew back, while the left stretched out to lead.

All was still in the tense atmosphere. Every crackle of fire was like thunder in a brewing storm. The contest of wills built until its pinnacle moment.

Then, a burning tent collapsed under the strain, giving signal to their duel.

Simultaneous explosions occurred as both combatants kicked off the ground. They pulled the triggers on their respective weapons, which propelled them with a shock and a bang. The space between them was a mere ten paces, but it served as enough momentum for their clash.

Despite the great force produced by both, only one side would bear the suffering of catastrophic ruin.

The moment Adam drew his sword barely out from its sheathe, a few trace flames licked up and down Yang’s arm. The woman’s gold mane burned a scorching crimson.

At the same time Adam was caught off-guard by the surprise appearance of Yang’s Semblance, the boxer bypassed the man’s sword range. Her arm pitched forth like a howling star, connecting her knuckles with Adam’s own.

Caught between burning steel and the hilt of his blade, the swordsman’s hand was crushed. The impact of the clash sent him crumpling to the ground. His katana flew through the air with some parts of his crushed fingers.

“GRAAAGGHHH!!!” Adam painfully sprawled in anguish, grasping his twisted appendage to his body. “How…?! How did you—”

“My Semblance hasn’t worked that way for a loooong time,” Yang gloated, swaggering towards him with a triumphant strut.

With an uncanny movement, Adam picked his sword off the ground with his remaining hand, and swung it…

But Yang caught it with ease. And with a violent motion, ripped it from his grasp like taking it from a child.

“Okay, this is getting pathetic.”

“I’LL KILL YOU!!!” Adam frothed. “I SWEAR, I’LL KILL YOU!!!”

“Huh, no wonder you lost. Should’ve known you never had it in you—not the real stuff anyway.”

“I WILL DESTROY YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU LOVE! My rage will never stop! You’ll never escape me!!!”

“HAHAHA!” Yang cackled. “Your Rage?”

She used Adam’s sword to peel off the man’s White Fang mask. The scar of “S.D.C.” branded on his eye was revealed.

“Your cause, your beliefs?” Yang continued. “They’re nothing but an excuse for you to throw your tantrum,” she growled low. “You think you own Rage? Adam… Your hate doesn’t even burn.”

The woman strode to him with ominous steps. Adam felt his soul culled, as he struggled to crawl away. But an unforgiving hand clasped hard around his throat, forcing him to turn around.

“Look at me…!”

Above him, was the crimson inferno of hate personified. Yang bore down on him with eyes of accursed stars. Her hair stoked with unfettering embers.

“My Rage is my Semblance. It lets me run cold, and it also burns me from the inside out,” she breathed, with plumes of flame. “And I saved a lot of it, just for today…”

Adam tried to look away again, but Yang smacked him across the face one way, then back the other. She hoisted him up, single-handed like a dangling ragdoll.

“Any last words?” she asked.

“………Please…!”

“Nope.”

Yang sank a fiery fist through Adam’s heart, and rested it there. With a violent twist of her wrist, she unloaded a special thermite charge, which sparked a conflagration in the man’s chest. His insides began to melt like lava, while Yang’s Semblance burned, slow but sure.

“I owned my scars, but you tried to hide yours behind a mask,” she muttered disappointedly. “My anger could never lose to yours.”

As the lights dimmed in Adam’s sight, he remembered something told to him long ago.

“I pity you,” the voice said. “One day, your so-called Rage will fail you. Because you don’t have it. The fire that comes from a pain so hard and so deep, it defines you.”

Adam tried to reach out to that person. The only one who could possibly save him.

“Pray the day never comes,” Raven Branwen said, over her shoulder. “This is farewell, my old apprentice.”

…

The remnants of Adam’s body collapsed. Nothing but ash and dying embers at the end of Yang’s outstretched hand. And with a violent swipe of her foot, scattered the remains of his existence into the desert winds.

“A coffin’s too good for you, Adam. I already forgot who you were,” Yang spat.

Suddenly, a voice came over her in-ear radio.

“—That was certainly dramatic.”

“You were watching? That’s naughty.”

“…We’re on a private channel,” Weiss cautioned. “Tell me how the others are reacting.”

“Hm?” Yang wasn’t sure the reason, but did as she was told. “They look the same as ever,” she whispered, while glancing at her teammates. “Why…was someone supposed to stop me?”

The line went quiet for a second.

“……I’ll explain later. Keep a close eye on them, report any changes. Withdraw immediately.”

“Alright,” Yang grunted. “On our way back.”

After the line cut, the woman could only imagine what that private conversation was about. But for now, she wanted to take a little peace in what she just finished. It’s not everyday someone gets to settle a decade-old grudge after all.

“—You done savoring the moment, hot rod?” Coco asked, with a roguish grin.

Yang inhaled and nodded.

“Moment, savored. Let’s bug out, and get plastered.”

Coco tapped her radio.

“Penny, we are ready for pickup. I repeat,”

“Get us out of this sandbox.”

.

X  X X  X  X

.

It was early morning the next day, when a small party was held in Team CFEN’s private hangar. The members drank, talked, and played a few games. It was a tradition they enjoyed after completing missions, especially satisfying ones. And the successful assassination of Adam Taurus counted among that.

“Oh!” Coco responded to the vibrating scroll in her pocket. “It’s a message from Vel.”

Fox and Yang perked up at that.

“How is she today?” Yang asked.

“She’s doin’ alright. Rehabs still a bitch. Wondering where I am and what I’m doing, always worrying.”

“Aw, cute.”

“Shut up.”

“Winter said we’re doing a cycle in Atlas. Good time for us to pay a visit?”

Coco smiled wryly, appreciating the sentiment itself.

“Thanks, guys.” She instinctively included Fox, who was giving her the same look as Yang. “I…just don’t know if she’s ready for it yet.”

“No problem,” Yang nodded with understanding.

“Hey! Speaking of babes, Neo! You gonna show us some pictures of yours, or what?”

The silent woman took out her scroll, and began showing a number of pictures proudly to her team. Laughter and awe sounds cascaded the walls of the hangar.

Meanwhile, watching the gathering below, two figures leaned on the railing of the second-floor walkway.

“—They’re impressive. Team CFEN,” Ruby commented, with her own drink in hand.

“They’ve been trained to manage much bigger threats and combat more formidable enemies than Adam Taurus,” Weiss replied.

“Like the Maidens and Salem…”

“Yes.”

“And Relics, and tougher swordsmen, like Raven Branwen.”

“Yes…”

Ruby stared at her partner a little.

“So why do you need Team WISE?”

“…”

“Weiss?”

Weiss suddenly took out her scroll, which notified her of something.

“…It looks like Iris has arrived. I wonder what might have brought this on so soon after she left,” she feigned amusement.

The doors to the hangar opened, and a dark figure came stalking through the room. Her shoes falling hard on the metal surface, making everyone known of her arrival.

“WEISS! YANG!” Blake shouted with anger.

“Oh, geez. Party pooper’s here,” Yang drunkenly chuckled with her nth beer in hand.

As Blake was about to run at her, a scarlet cape fluttered between them. Ruby started holding her friend back as much as she could.

“It was you, wasn’t it?!” Blake accused, while trying to get through. “Your team was responsible for the attack last night! You were the ones who killed Adam!”

“—Uh, you’re welcome?” Coco tilted her head quizzically.

“Am I supposed to be grateful?!”

“Kinda expected it, yeah, to be honest. Also, long time no see, kitty cat.”

“YANG!”

“—Mmm… Am I drunk enough to do this?” Yang eyed her beer bottle, and chugged what remained. “Yup. I’m game.”

As the woman was about to engage from the other side, it was Weiss who dropped in her way.

“I won’t allow any fighting like this,” she stopped coolly.

“Serious? Come ON, it’ll be fun—”

“No. That’s an order. Stand down.”

Yang traded death stares for a second, before casually knitting her hands around the back of her head.

“Boooo~!”

“—Damn it!” Blake still struggled to free herself from Ruby. “You can’t just come here, doing whatever you want, taking things into your own hands!!! There are consequences!!!”

“Yeah, like getting a loud complaint from the fun police…”

“If you just solve everything this way, you’re no better than Adam!”

“I don’t even know who that is.”

“YANG!!!”

“—Enough!” Weiss’s voice pierced them both.

Her calm and frosty demeanor enforced her stance.

“This is what we do, Blake. We see the wisdom in the moves to be made, and we take the measures which need taking. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“That can’t justify everything…!”

“It justifies enough.”

“You know the long-term problems you’ve caused! The Southern Tribes aren’t going to give up just because Adam is dead! You turned him into a martyr!”

“Vacuo’s civil war will end.”

“The Kingdom is more divided than ever! More Faunus from the North are converting to the South by the second!”

“And with enough unrest, Vacuo will have no choice but to split into two separate states.”

“…!” Blake shook her head in disbelief. “You planned for that, too…”

“Somewhat.”

“You left the Kingdom worse than it was! It’ll take years to recover, maybe even centuries before they’re willing to unite again!!!”

“We stopped them from self-destructing, and from you dying with them.”

“You’re still trying to recruit me…! After EVERYTHING you’ve done?!”

“Join and add your counsel.”

“What?!”

“If you hate what we do so much, help us do better. Join the team. Otherwise, there’s no grounds for your opinion to be heard.”

“…I don’t have a choice, do I…?!” Blake growled with displeasure. “You’ll keep interfering with Vacuo.”

“With or without you. But with you, we can intervene only as you deem fit.”

Blake finally stopped trying to push Ruby out of the way. The rising and falling of her shoulders slowed. Her glare still fixed on the silver-haired woman, the target of her righteous ire.

“Congratulations, Weiss,” Blake seethed with her forging pact.

“…”

“You’ve become everything you ever hated—but at least, you have your team.”

“…”

“Your sister would be ashamed of you.”

Immediately, Team CFEN tensed and moved from their passive spectating. Ruby shoved Blake back, upsettingly shaking her head, like the woman had gone too far. And Yang particularly, burned with the fierce Aura of her Semblance, readying to throw a punch.

But all hostilities ceased, when Weiss raised a hand to stop them.

“I see,” she gave a short reply. “Welcome to Team WISE—”

“Iris.”

.

X  X X  X  X

.

In Weiss’s private chambers, an angry Yang pinned her against the wall.

“What the hell are you thinking…?!” she snarled.

“I’m thinking, I successfully recruited the last member of our team,” Weiss simply answered.

“Blake is the last person we need! And again, I find myself wondering: Why do we need Team WISE? CFEN just kicked ass, if you weren’t paying attention—except you were, ‘cause I heard you in my ear after I turned Adam into grey mist. So, what the shit?!”

“…Team WISE is essential to our operations going forward. Blake is essential to Team WISE; thus, the logic follows.”

“Bullshit!” Yang punched the wall. “You don’t keep me on the outs! Tell me the real reason NOW!”

“…”

“I deserve to know. I was there for everything. Suddenly, you’re going to start keeping secrets from me?”

“I was planning to tell you tomorrow, when you were more sober, but I can tell you today if you like.”

“Now’s good.”

For a moment, Weiss closed her eyes in thought. Her chest expanded and shrunk with her exhale. Yang’s gaze dropped slightly, before righting again.

“I intercepted a coded message from someone with access to the team’s private network,” Weiss explained. “It was being sent to Cinder Fall.”

“……Someone on the team is a spy?”

“Yes. Now, you know.”

“That’s why you had me read the others, after I dusted Adam.”

“It was a test of sorts.”

“You had me bait a trap.”

“I knew whatever happened, you would survive.”

Yang made an amused expression, while Weiss returned a heavily diluted version of it.

“Hahhh, that is a reason not to lean on Team CFEN, I guess,” the woman admitted. “But how sure, are you?”

“I’m sure,” Weiss flatly confirmed.

“Any ideas on who it is?”

“I have my suspicions.”

“…Don’t we already know? It’s kind of obvious, right?”

“Things aren’t always what they seem. It could be any of them. The only one I’m sure it isn’t, is you.”

“Aw.”

“Shut it.”

They both went silent. Weiss planned to let Yang take as much time as she needed to process. A few times, a hissed word of “shit” escaped her.

“Okay…” Yang worded slowly. “But even if Team CFEN is compromised, you and I could always take up the work. We’re more than enough.”

“We are not. That is why I am recruiting,” Weiss disapproved.

“Right! Because we’re going to be SO much more effective with Blake Dysfunctionallona on our team.”

“…That wasn’t your best pun.”

“I’m still a little drunk. Sue me.”

“Blake Belladonna is a commander of the White Fang and has led her armies to victory against impossible odds.”

“I read the file…”

“Ruby Rose is the youngest Vice Headmaster Beacon Academy has ever had, and is a veteran Huntress, who’s slain some of the deadliest Grimm to roam Remnant.”

“That’s up for debate.”

“Inform me, Yang. Who else can we trust, recruit readily, and who possess the same pedigree as those two?”

“………Fuuuuuuuuck~”

“I’m relieved you see my point,” Weiss crossed her arms, signaling her victory in the argument.

“Everything’s gonna really suck now, isn’t it?”

“The most trying times are to come. Building this team took long enough. We must start operating as soon as possible.”

“After our shore leave in Atlas, right?”

“…”

In response to Weiss’s dead stare, Yang covered her face in her hand.

“We have work in Atlas?! Ahhh! Well, my buzz is killed.”

“I’m so sorry that’s the case,” Weiss replied in monotone.

…

As Yang’s mood worsened, she pressed her head into Weiss’s shoulder. From there, she began nibbling the other woman’s exposed neck and collar.

“No.” Weiss’s cold fingers went to block Yang’s lips from going any further. “This isn’t the time.”

“How? We’re on autopilot for what’s supposed to be a two-day flight, at least. How is there not time?”

“Despite what your assumptions may be, fulfilling the roles of brigadier general for the Atlesian Fleet and running our teams’ operations is a time-consuming effort.”

“Aren’t you just afraid of Ruby finding out?”

“About, what? Our fling?”

“A fling? Is that what you wanna call this?” Yang questioned.

“We took comfort in each other during a vulnerable moment. It’s hardly more than a one-night stand.”

“Yeah, except one-night stands don’t last more than one night.”

“…”

“Or a few years.”

“…”

“Or semi-current until you shipped me off for that undercover prison op.”

“…Do you have a point to make?”

“…”

Yang slid her arms down and held Weiss close.

“You really mean that?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t have said it, if I didn’t mean it.”

“………Okay.”

Yang let go abruptly, and left the room. A few seconds later, Weiss heard a loud bang come from outside the halls.

…

Alone in her chambers, Weiss felt sadness seep in. No matter what walls she tried to erect to keep them at bay, the sorrow and regret seeped through. Weiss had half a mind to go after her.

“Yang…”

Then, pain wracked her thoughts. Memories which didn’t belong to her threatened to drive her mad. Countless screams and a collapsing world harassed every shred of consciousness. Her Aura fluctuated as if to consume her from the inside.

Remember…

Remember…!

Don’t forget!

WINTER!

.

X  X X  X  X

.

It was a day since the Nautilus docked at one of Atlas’s secret hangars.

While many of the team members went their different ways, spending their shore leave however they liked, one did not do so easily.

She descended the spiraling staircase on her floating Glyph. A place deeper than anywhere in Remnant swallowed her up. Down and down she went, like falling slowly into the endless abyss.

When she reached the bottom, Weiss could sense a presence in the pitch-black darkness.

“—Adam Taurus’s passing was rather untimely,” a voice called to her from the shadows.

Weiss knew this person heard echoes from the outside world, despite their isolation. Regardless, it was still a disturbing feat.

“…His death was a necessary one.”

“Hm. A wise course of action,” the old woman commented. “Though I can’t imagine you did Vacuo any favors by ending him so prematurely.”

“Time is of the essence.”

“It always is, isn’t it?”

“Where is the Spring Maiden?”

“Wouldn’t we like to know?”

“Where is the Spring Maiden?!” Weiss pressed harder. “Where is her Relic?!”

“Follow the bread crumbs… But what bread crumbs, when they’ve all been eaten away?”

Weiss lost her temper, and cast light from her Myrtenaster. The sword’s shine illuminated the chained figure, as she grasped the prisoner’s hair.

“Where is the Raven Branwen?! Answer me, Salem!!”

The decrepit Witch only laughed madly in response. The oversized chains binding her neck and limbs jangled unpleasantly loud.

“Where is the Relic?!” Weiss bared her emotions.

“Where is Famine?!”

[spicynbachili1]

Should you divorce a game from its creator?

Good video games however questionable assist?

I believe in essence, earlier than hitting the dusty path of this matter, some quantity of acceptance of enterprise practices is inevitable. Nevertheless, I believe it was an fascinating juxtaposition of the weeks main as much as Purple Useless Redemption 2‘s launch that everybody was speaking about Rockstar’s 100-hour work weeks. Some say crunch is inevitable and that listening to tales of individuals disintegrating so as to get their video games out is a obligatory evil of some kind. Purple Useless Redemption 2 is only one small instance of selecting to buy a sport versus acknowledging the practices that had been used to create the product.

Individually, I do not suppose too arduous on most video games I supposed to purchase if one thing fishy occurred within the background. I did purchase RDR2 with out pondering an excessive amount of about it. Fez is a much less comparable instance, as it’s a incredible sport that has a little bit of drama behind its creation with Phil Fish, earlier than getting right into a polarizing determine. My go-to instance, regardless of it not being online game associated, is the manga Rurouni Kenshin and its mangaka being arrested for possession of kid porn. There are quite a lot of totally different interpretations of this challenge, however for me personally, I felt bizarre and uncomfortable studying the Hokkaido arc he final began and might’t think about going again to studying the older content material.

I requested the group some time again on their ideas on the thought of disconnecting the nastier practices of the particular person or firm behind the sport and really enjoying the sport. RDR2 is the newest instance, however I additionally suppose it is fascinating for the group to carry up their very own examples of video games and media they’ve considered enjoying regardless of the actions of their creators.

Blanchimont, for instance, introduced up an anime I’ve watched, Gate, in addition to referencing the implosion that occurred with James Gunn’s outdated tweets:

The reply is sure. Simply since you love a piece does not imply it’s a must to love their creator. They’re two separate issues. For instance, the collection Gate is written by a historic revisionist who denied the wrongdoings of Japan throughout World Conflict 2. Nevertheless, though he glorifies the army in Gate, the historic revisionist concepts by no means seep by way of into his work, which is essential to understanding this. Simply since you like their work does not essentially imply you agree with their ideology.

The creator Rurouni Kenshin could be a pedo, however his work is much from it. James Gunn was fired for decade outdated tweets relatively than his early works which included an incestuous model of Romeo and Juliet, however his work on Guardians of the Galaxy may be very totally different from something he has ever made prior to now.

Punished Neitzseche continues the prepare of thought I had about Kenshin:

I do this on a regular basis, particularly when musician, actors or different personalities I favored turned out to be full dipshits. Watsuki was all the time a bizarre man (I have been studying Kenshin since 2005, when it was revealed in Spanish right here) and even within the Q&A piece of the volumes, you might see he was just a little bit off… So, I disconnected the work from the artist and voila!

Voodoome has the superbly cheap stance of taking it at some point at a time:

I take it on a case by case foundation, however I divorce the artwork from the creator extra usually then not. Some issues I simply can’t forgive, however quite a lot of stuff I discover to be overblown outrage for outrage sake. It comes down to private experiences and the way they form my viewpoints on numerous subjects. I by no means wish to utterly dismiss anybody that ever did something mistaken as a result of a bunch of different individuals inform me I’ve to. I consider in second possibilities and forgiveness … when acceptable.

I additionally consider strongly in private duty and that you’ve got a proper to say no matter you need, however you aren’t shielded from the results of your actions. If individuals resolve that Rockstar is mistaken and that they aren’t going to assist them then that’s their selection. I assist them making that selection, even when I’m not prepared to make it myself.

RottySiets makes a case that many builders lately are too far gone to make cheap exceptions. Issues suck on the market, so we would as nicely make the very best of it I suppose:

I believe I sort of have to try this with virtually each developer these days, as practically each firm is responsible of some observe that in a really perfect trade must be non-negotiable from my perspective.

For example, I like Half-Life 2, however I do not approve of on-line DRM being required to put in the sport even if you happen to use Steam’s bodily backup copy choice (it nonetheless forces you to be logged into Steam and on-line throughout set up). This creates a scenario the place there’s all the time a dependency on outdoors servers even for offline single participant content material, and certain, Valve clearly is not going wherever anytime quickly, but it surely additionally should not be up for them to resolve when to simply reduce me off from my very own sport that I purchased and paid for regardless. I firmly consider that once I buy a sport it must be my copy to personal and use as I please with no need to telephone residence to anyone each now and again to show that it’s legit. That goes for Origin and Uplay in addition to Steam.

So proper off the bat that places like 90% of PC sport builders on my shit record, and we’ve not even gotten into microtransactions, day one DLC, month-to-month subscriptions, and all that different jazz.

Even CDPR is not clear, as a result of whereas I completely adore their GOG service, they undergo from the identical issues as Rockstar with their working circumstances. Their titles usually undergo a interval of improvement hell and so they expertise lengthy durations of crunch as a result of mismanagement on the prime, and that is undoubtedly unfair for his or her staff.

It is sort of unhappy to suppose that we’re gone the times when you might simply purchase a sport and it was an entire sport on launch, and all you needed to fear about was simply whether or not it was a superb or unhealthy sport, not bear in mind a bunch of political nonsense and questionable enterprise practices that went into its improvement.

Adzuken and Jetter Mars focus collectively on the difficulty of a giant group versus a singular creator credited for a big a part of a sport’s id.

Adzuken: Properly, since I have been speaking up Earthworm Jim currently, I typically attempt to disregard that its creation concerned Doug TenNapel, whose therapy of LGBT+ people I strongly disagree with.

Jetter Mars: I used to be about to submit one thing comparable relating to TenNapel. I take a look at it as this, if it is a collaborative effort between a number of individuals than I might be extra open to experiencing the sport since I am certain the others concerned could not share the identical views. If one particular person is the end-all be-all of a product, it might most likely be a lot more durable for me to separate the artwork from the artist. That is simply me although.

Sailor Zebes in the end makes the essential level that this challenge is extra difficult than sure or no, so there is no purpose to disgrace an individual for his or her selections and selections relating to it:

On a regular basis. I am unable to consider a sport or no matter that I’ve determined towards getting as a result of creator or somebody on the staff.

Personally I believe it is a type of issues the place if that is what helps you resolve on getting one thing or not, for most individuals they most likely weren’t all that within the first place.

What most likely makes me grumpier is seeing individuals attempt to disgrace others for eager to proceed having fun with the sport or no matter.

And one thing to remember with video video games, until it is an indie sport, it isn’t made by a single particular person. And it isn’t made by the constructing they’re in or it is administration actually both. There’s most likely loads of good individuals who make these video games, most likely the general public making it. Why fault them?

Baccus’ remark brings to thoughts how widespread backlash was what introduced Star Wars Battlefront 2 to its knees for the higher. A bigger firm with a collective of fits behind the steering wheel is definitely simple to resolve towards:

If it is a person and so they have not finished something too excessive alongside the immoral scale then I am all for separating the artwork from the artist. Would not have a lot artwork to expertise in any other case. On the subject of firms I am far much less forgiving. Do not just like the enterprise practices of sure dev/writer? Then keep away from ALL their output till you see substantial change of their strategies.

Chris Hovermale has been going over the difficulty a short time, and it first popped up when it got here to DMCV. There’s undoubtedly a problem of severity, similar to judging the whole lot of Rockstar’s work hours towards RDR2 versus his latest discovery of the very severe sexual harassment on Channel Superior:

It is a crucial query I am nonetheless not fully certain the way to reply myself, even after watching a powerful 20-ish minute video on it a number of months in the past when it was related to some anime I used to be contemplating attempting to look at (however which might inevitably fail to suit into my schedule as a result of since when have I truly made time to look at anime).

So far as RDR2 particularly goes, I by no means had curiosity in it to start with (I respect cowboy settings however do not get pleasure from them with out some sorta spin on it, like Wild Arms or Wild Weapons) however I consider the devs have particularly spoken out saying that if it does not promote nicely, they will not get their bonuses, so they need individuals to purchase it? It is nonetheless an iffy space but when I had been I might purchase it anyway out of respect for that particular want from the devs.

On the whole, it is extraordinarily iffy to narrate any particular facet of a product’s improvement or its creators to a bit of labor. On one hand, it is actually arduous to get throughout the precise message of “this particular purpose is why I am not supporting X product”, and boycotting alone often fails to really resolve the issue in the long run. That is why group outcries towards cruddy practices are essential, to finally increase complaints that actually can’t be ignored, similar to what occurred with Battlefront II’s lootboxes.

Alternatively, I wrote that article about why I am nonetheless wanting ahead to DMC5 regardless of microtransactions, and whereas I am sticking to my weapons about how I really feel on that challenge, I believe I did a poor job of correctly emphasizing that I am strongly against the addition of MTX within the first place (though I did clarify within the article WHY I am strongly against them) and I respect the entire feedback that loudly voiced that concern. I am happening a tangent that is not a lot about creators, but it surely’s based in a equally muddy precept.

I suppose what I am attempting to say is personally, I choose this type of stuff on a case-by-case foundation with regard to improvement practices. On the subject of a selected particular person’s ethics past their work, similar to whether or not a lead developer usually spouts nazi rhetoric on social media, that is one other challenge altogether as a result of supporting that particular person’s work immediately or not directly funds their very own platform for spreading their views. So a creator spreading hate speech / supporting little one porn / equally excessive no-nos is the edge the place I begin to really feel disheartened and can most likely boycott a product. If there is a authorized technique to get pleasure from it with out giving something to the creator, like shopping for it secondhand, I might most likely nonetheless do this?

ADDENDUM: Once I first discovered in regards to the sexual harassment and mismanagement from Channel Superior / Doug Walker / and many others, I instantaneously misplaced all want to look at his movies and I nonetheless don’t have any plans to ever watch them once more. In order that proper there’s an instance of a time I continued to marry a creator’s unethical allegations to their content material.

Dr Mel factors on the market’s a distinction within the scope in how we work together with artwork we select to confront, and this scope can imply simply as a lot because the sure/no determination of interacting in any respect:

There’s an underlying context right here as a result of we have to know why we’re divorcing artwork from artist on this method. The context you are almost definitely to search out is the one the place the artwork is being offered and you do not wish to contribute to or reward a unpleasant particular person monetarily. Nevertheless, this can be a very restricted scope of arts and artists.

If by not shopping for or supporting a factor you then don’t assist the particular person, that to me is sensible. But when a shitty particular person makes one thing and it places you off of merely participating with it in any respect or taking time to understand it with out essentially giving cash, that appears far more excessive and the particular person would have needed to have a really personally detestable historical past for me to try this.

But when somebody is a homophobe, typically, or in any other case has actually unhealthy opinions and their artwork (be it a sport or a film or a portray) is not directly out there to me, I am going to take into account it nonetheless. There’s loads of methods to interact with artwork with out paying the artist (or, extra doubtless, the rights holder of the artwork) and this has its positives and negatives.

m121akuma‘s additionally goes together with a case-by-case determination, however he admits it is nonetheless very murky:

It is a query that has been plaguing me for years now, and I haven’t got a transparent reply. I believe a big a part of it will depend on the extent of involvement the creator has within the work, how a lot the creator’s controversial beliefs/actions come by way of within the work, and lots of different components. I fucking love the Witcher video games and am excited by Thronebreaker, however on the very least whoever in control of social media at CDPR wants higher coaching, as a result of they hold posting casually transphobic feedback. Will that cease me from shopping for the sport? I have not determined but.

RDR2 appears like a special beast altogether, for the reason that controversy is baked into the sport’s improvement. It is not simply “this man did/mentioned/believes terrible issues”, it is “these guys actively abused individuals as part of the sport’s improvement”. I really feel that makes separation even more durable.

Additionally, that incident with the Kenshin creator nonetheless fuckin’ breaks my coronary heart, man.

Hopefully studying by way of what a few of our group members take into consideration the difficulty gave you some distinctive examples that you’ve got been by way of. I consider the video Chris Hovermale referenced is a video I additionally watched, from Mom’s Basement. That is an entire additional discussion board of debate of the subject. However clearly since posting this matter initially within the cblogs, not everybody has the identical opinions on the topic and the dialogue that comes from it’s insightful.

Additionally, I hope the feedback stay civil.

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[whittlebaggett8]

Afghanistan’s Most Vulnerable Women | The Diplomat

Every girl in this state has a hundred house owners. It is generally been like that. Fathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors. They all believe that they have the ideal to discuss on our behalf and make choices for us. Which is why our tales are hardly ever listened to but buried with us underground.

– Sahra Mani Mosawi, Filmmaker

Who Are the Kuchis?

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Kuchis, traditionally nomadic communities, are viewed as to be 1 of the poorest and most marginalized groups in Afghanistan. Around the hundreds of years, Kuchis, whose numbers are believed from 300,000 to 3 million, have pursued a migratory existence, herding caravans of sheep, goats, and camels all over the state. However, many years of conflict and drought have increasingly compelled Afghanistan’s Kuchis to abandon their regular life style and relocate to settled locations.

Some of the destitute Kuchi pastoralists have lost their livestock and sought to settle completely and semi-forever in unregulated places, ensuing in conflict with community people and commanders due to the troubles close to land ownership and drinking water entry. With quite a few dwelling in refugee camps and temporary lodging, the vast majority of Kuchis go through stigma, exclusion, and discrimination at the institutional, political, and social amount wherein their identification is questioned and misunderstood.

The National Vulnerability Examination Report of Afghanistan states that Kuchi communities (both nomadic and semi-sedentary) have confined accessibility to health, training, and livelihood benchmarks due to the fact the government doesn’t acquire disaggregated facts on Kuchis. The indicators are much even worse for Kuchi women and females as compared to other inadequate ladies in the place. The enervating poverty confronted by Kuchis has a direct effect on girls in accomplishing social and effectively-remaining indicators.

Females Kuchis: The Types Still left Behind

Standing powering a roughly painted turquoise door, an 8-yr-previous woman, Lida, peeks out when she notices a group of Afghan officers and expats speaking to her father and brother. She exchanges glances and smiles, inviting herself out of a approximately structured house that can only belong to a nomadic household.

Not able to conceal her enjoyment, Lida eagerly and carelessly will take a swift stage outdoors the door. But then her 14-yr-old brother, Tariq, standing exterior with his brothers and uncles, gives her a sharp, stern appear with bloodshot eyes and clenches his teeth, muttering sullenly, “How dare you – get again in.” Lida quietly lowers her eyes and hides guiding the doorway.

Her mom, Karima, appears and drags her inside of a large rundown, ramshackle dwelling. She receives two slaps on her left cheek when her 10-thirty day period-old sister, Gzifa, who is crawling, will get kicked in the deal with for staying in the way. Gzifa cries out but no assist or support is offered. Karima shuts the door behind her, kicking Gzifa just about absentmindedly again and leaving her in the dusty courtyard to cry.

Ethnically, the extensive the vast majority of Kuchis are Pashtun, who have stricter gender regulations. Ladies as young as 8 are not allowed to go away their house with no the authorization of a male member of the relatives, which contains brothers as youthful as 10. In most instances a male member of the household would need to have to accompany her. In typical, girls are not authorized to go and request schooling. They get married and bear kids early.

Lida moved with her father and two uncles, their 9 wives, and 43 small children to Parwan as sedentary Kuchis as they lost the greater part of their livestock thanks to drought and conflict. Her brothers go to college delivered by the neighborhood government. Nonetheless, they really don’t show up at lessons frequently due to corporal punishment and the high quality of schooling. The brothers commit most of their time hanging out with other boys in the neighborhood.

Accessibility to Education and learning and Early Relationship

When questioned if Lida goes to university, Hamid, her lengthy-bearded father, breathes greatly and grunts, “No, she has to assist her mother fetch h2o and assists in cooking.”

The Nationwide Vulnerability Evaluation Report also highlights a important gender disparity in web principal university enrollment, specifically amid Kuchis.

“While instruction indicators for girls in Afghanistan are strengthening, for Kuchi ladies they have remained stagnant owing to stricter classic gender roles, insecurity and youngster marriage,” the Kuchi representative claims. “Many girls are solid-off to take care of dispute with landowners and conflict involving families. Women as youthful as 7 can be married to adult males 30-40 several years more mature.”

Hamid announces that “Lida will be married of just before she is 11,” proudly pointing toward her brothers. “They will choose care of almost everything,” he says, at which her brothers’ chests develop and shoulders broaden.

The Kuchi consultant, who has questioned to stay nameless, asks Lida what she desired: she coyly and shyly responds, “Yes, I want to get married.” The agent shaking his head, tells me that “she doesn’t even know the which means of marriage. They are accomplishing it just for funds.”

Lida has 21 other sisters, 6 of whom are married. Two of them, aged 13 and 14, were exchanged to take care of conflict with a landowner as Hamid’s relatives tried using accessing clean up h2o.

Women and boys queue up to obtain drinking water from a area hand pump lately installed by a government ministry. Photo by Ritu Mahendru.

Obtain to Risk-free Water and Sexual Harassment

The Danish Committee for Support to Afghanistan in 2018 described that only 45.5 % of Afghans have obtain to harmless drinking drinking water. A significant percentage of the inhabitants spends 4-7 hrs to collect their ingesting water from ditches, canals, and rivers, which frequently are polluted, and have water-borne illnesses.

In several Kuchi teams, women are dependable for fetching h2o for house intake. Simply because of the have to have to retain herds and encampments absent from villages and cultivated land, gals frequently have to wander considerable distances to collect h2o and may well encounter men from outside the house their communities when undertaking so.

The Kuchi representative suggests, “the crucial contribution of females to the pastoral economic process is generally neglected and overlooked.”

Entry to drinking water is a controversial challenge for nomadic and semi-sedentary Kuchis, specifically if they do not have entry to land. They end up relying on frequent residence resources, such as rivers, streams, and canals, or, alternatively negotiate to buy h2o from non-public or group-owned h2o resources. When water is accessed with out the authorization of a landowner it could possibly spark lifestyle-threatening conditions: blood feuds, disputes, and critical conflicts that could outcome in murders with impunity. This could direct to exchange of girls and females to solve conflicts, as took place to Lida’s sisters.

In addition, quite a few young girls and women of all ages on their way to fetch drinking water become subjects of sexual and gender-dependent violence.

Karima recounts that her sister was raped when she went to fetch water: “She experienced gone with other women to get water but she is a little bit sluggish and is ill. She talks to herself. Just one of my neighbors suggested that he would drop her back property when he took her to a secluded spot and raped her.”

When requested if they noted the scenario, Karima states no. “We did not [report] mainly because she brought disgrace to our spouse and children.” Karima did not know in which her sister was any longer.

She gravelly whispered in Pashto, “Bale me mar pase,” this means “good riddance.”

Sexual and Reproductive Health

There is no disaggregated knowledge to demonstrate the sexual and reproductive wellness (SRH) vulnerabilities faced by Kuchi ladies, who are continuously on the shift and deficiency SRH rights assistance. There is a deficiency of info and data that plainly describes the troubles Kuchi women encounter.

Just one of Hamid’s wives, Jamila, explained: “I have been pregnant 16 situations and only 5 of them survived. It is all up to God. I am fatigued but he does not recognize. I lie there like a dry cow.”

Jamila, who suffers from debilitating stress, looks weak, frail, and unwell. Hamid doesn’t understand why is she often ill and keeps crying.

“I will need to consider her to the Shrine yet again. She is often unwell and sad. I really don’t know what is erroneous with her,” he says.

Summary

Kuchi Afghan females confront a variety of worries and deprivations. They are denied obtain to education and learning, married off as youngsters, raped, and exchanged to settle disputes.

But policymakers and global donor organizations in Afghanistan have inadequately dealt with vulnerabilities faced by Kuchi women and females. They remain an just about invisible group in policy tactics and dialogues. There is no ready facts offered on the lived realities of Kuchi women who have professional or confronted gender- and sexual-dependent violence, deficiency wellbeing services and education, and are married before. The only facts on Kuchi girls and ladies is currently anecdotal.

Though the Kuchis are getting to be additional politically knowledgeable and are performing exercises their voting rights, there is a have to have for the authorities to go outside of political course of action and be engaged in their social realities.

While evolving insurance policies have progressively aimed to include nomadic groups, an overemphasis on mobility has distracted policymakers from going over and above infrastructure when Kuchi requires are also social and gendered.

Ritu Mahendru is a freelance journalist with a Ph.D. in sociology. She writes about gender, race, sexuality, migration, and conflict. Her function has appeared in Open up Democracy, the Middle-East Eye, and Arab Weekly.

The post Afghanistan’s Most Vulnerable Women | The Diplomat appeared first on Defence Online.

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[loveeasyhome-blog]

The Toronto housing crisis is a student issue

When it comes to the housing market, it seems just about everyone has something to say. And for the most part, we all agree that the state of housing in Toronto is nothing short of dismal.

As usual, Baby Boomers have been pretty quick to pin this issue on Millennials, with the most recent development in this discourse being that Millennials are single-handedly destroying the housing market by eating too much avocado toast.

Millennials—and the rest of us in the cohort that comes after them—retaliated by highlighting the disproportionate increase in property pricing, rental costs, and tuition fees facing our generation. Given the current economic climate, the majority of us can’t afford to save money, let alone even think about purchasing a house. It’s for this same reason that most of us who don’t live at home choose to rent and, even then, renting isn’t something that most of us can afford to do comfortably.

“Ideally, students in Toronto should be able to afford to live a reasonable distance from their schools. But that’s nearly impossible because rent is astronomically high for mediocre apartments in the downtown core,” says Olivia Tharme, a third-year undergraduate student at Ryerson University. “I constantly encounter students who are paying upwards of $800 monthly to rent a small bedroom. It just doesn’t make sense.”

With such a high demand for student housing in cities with institutions for higher education, we often see pockets that reflect a dense student population. This is a notion globally recognized as “studentification.”

Studentification is a word that accounts for all of the social, economic, and cultural changes that occur when large populations of students reside within particular areas of a city. This typically means an inflation in property rental fees that allow landlords to charge students disproportionate amounts of rent through the lease of individual floors of houses. In some cases, student houses accommodate upwards of 10 tenants, all of whom pay for their own rooms.

The increasing trend of private renting through student housing complexes alters the dynamic of the neighbourhoods in which it takes place. As such, studentification is the direct cause of the displacement of long-time residents and families of an area in favour of the younger and more transient student demographic. In Toronto, we see the effects of this phenomenon in neighbourhoods like the Annex, Baldwin Village, and Kensington Market.

The gentrifying nature of studentification poses a lot of issues for the impacted communities, but it’s difficult to determine just how much we—as students contributing to this problem—are to blame for this. For many of us, renting out overpriced rooms in a house occupied by students like ourselves is the only way we can afford to live near our schools. We are then exploited by the expensive nature of the Toronto housing market, which forces us to pay high rents for subpar accommodations. The fact remains that the cost of living in downtown Toronto, even as a student, exceeds what is reasonable given our financial situations. Students coming from low-income households or lacking in familial support are especially vulnerable.

On affording to live in downtown Toronto, first-year graduate student at Ryerson University, Rhianna Jackson-Kelso, says, “The only way to do it without financial help from relatives is to incur ten of thousands of dollars in debt through student loans. I’ve always compared notes with my student friends and relatives who live in other cities. People demonstrably pay much more for much worse accommodations in Toronto than they do in most other Canadian cities.”

For some students, living downtown for the entirety of their studies just isn’t financially feasible. “Not only is housing in downtown Toronto less affordable than in other cities, it’s even more difficult to find accommodations within your price range from a distance away, or while living outside of the city for the summer,” says Nickolas Shyshkin, third-year student at the University of Toronto. “Under such circumstances, I’ve had to resort to commuting from my parents’ home in Oakville in order to save money, so that I can start searching again at the end of the semester.”

Oftentimes students are forced to choose between settling on accommodations that are out of their price range, or on properties that are within their budget, but are perhaps unsafe and even harmful. Not only can this be detrimental to their academic performance—it also threatens to decrease their general quality of life.

“Last year I became cut off from my family’s financial assistance because of my gender identity,” says Meera Ulysses, a second-year student at UofT. “I had to rush to find housing affordable to me at that time. I ended up only finding a small room far out in North York above a grungy bar. Living above the bar proved unsafe for me, and I was frequently harassed by the patrons—and later, the owners—for being a trans woman. My mail was stolen and on several different occasions, I found weapons and drugs stashed in my mailbox.”

“Because I quickly jumped on the room for being relatively cheap—$500 a month plus utilities and heat—I didn’t worry about not knowing the other two people staying there, save for having a mutual acquaintance with one of them,” continues Ulysses. “It turned out eventually that one of my roommates began to steal cash from my pockets when I left my belongings in common areas, as well as from my partner’s when she stayed over.” The continued offences and general disregard for her well-being perpetrated by her roommates made Ulysses feel extremely uncomfortable in her own home. As a result, she was forced to move out and find new accommodations in what she describes as the “far-beaches-almost-Scarborough” area.

A housing market that benefits those coming from a high-income bracket, while putting virtually everyone else at a blatant disadvantage, is inherently problematic. As students, we are victims of this, sure, but that doesn’t completely absolve us from the gentrifying forces at work. To quote Twitter user @tali_uh, “being ‘college broke’ isn’t the same thing as actually coming from a low-income background.” Although most of us are busting our asses to make ends meet, it’s crucial to recognize that being able to live in downtown Toronto while attending one of our many postsecondary institutions is a privilege that not everyone is able to afford. This doesn’t make the insanely high cost of living okay; it’s just a reality that demands to be acknowledged.

In the meantime, while the future of the housing market is still unclear, the only thing I remain certain about is that there is no way in hell that I or anyone I know will be able to afford a house in the near future—but, I have a feeling that, somehow, we may just be alright.

Resource

http://thestrand.ca/the-toronto-housing-crisis-is-a-student-issue/

[supporthosechi]

Visiting LeLe!

Alisha was in much better spirits during this visitation (aside from her cello performance) and that may have been due to the fact that she had been released from segregation after 5 days. A conversation with her mother, Sherri, resulted in her placement into isolation- not an incident, an altercation or any type of “misbehavior” on her part. We were afraid we may not be able to see her on Sunday, but with the help of some callers inquiring about Alisha’s whereabouts, she was released on Friday. Sometimes it only takes outside pressure from our comrades and a major law firm to help reverse a rotten decision. 

I was feeling pretty giddy on our way to Decatur Correctional since their visitation process is less arduous than Logan and the environment is a little less abysmal. After making a quick stop at a Barnes and Noble to grab a few magazines for our girl, the three of us sauntered into the building with our IDs and some cash for the vending machines. The amount of time it took to get from the entrance doors to the visiting room wasn’t much more than 5 minutes and Alisha met us almost immediately. There was a rendition of musical chairs before we could settle at a small, square table adjacent to the supervising C.O.’s desk. Aaron could not sit on either side of Alisha- the rule is women must sit across from male visitors. (I do not know how this would apply in the eyes of this facility for folks who do not fit into the gender binary or are/have transitioned). 

We jumped right into personal updates, stories, and conversations about Alisha’s desires and goals upon her release. Although Rauner finally passed a state budget, there is still a lot of catching up to do from the damage created over the past 2 years. Alisha dreams of cosmetology school and fashion design- honing her artistic abilities and getting creative with her hands. However, there are no such programs for her to enlist and she has been trying to keep busy through reading, working out, styling hair for other prisoners, and developing personal relationships with her roommates. She has even found a couple of C.O.s who make her life inside the prison slightly less intolerable. One of these C.O.s happened to be working the desk next to us and Alisha, much more at ease during this visit, was bantering back and forth and even joking around with her. This friendly exchange would not have been something we would have ever witnessed at Logan. Unfortunately, we were also given the names of C.O.s who have made Alisha’s day-to-day very uncomfortable and difficult- officers that have singled her out for harassment and bullying. Decatur has a documented history in regard to male prison guards abusing their position, so this is not abnormal behavior. 

During her time in segregation, Alisha was suffering from too much cold air blowing in from the cell’s vent. The cold air was causing her to tremble and shiver throughout the day and night and multiple requests for an extra blanket were denied. To relieve herself of serious discomfort, Alisha wadded up wet balls of tissue and stuck them in the vent- a trick that worked, to the dismay of the C.O.s. We then lamented over the recent news out of the St. Louis workhouse jail- prisoners calling out in desperation from the insufferable heat, extreme temperatures, and no A/C units. The St. Louis prisoners screamed for help out of the small windows, hoping folks along the closest public road would hear their calls. A video posted to facebook captured the voices inside the jail and A/C units have been installed- without temperature control, causing the opposite extreme of too much cold air. Red chimed in about the typical practice of prisons to use climate as a punishment- making folks miserable and prone to sickness and physical exhaustion. Shameful. 

Of course, we talked about Alisha’s family and how much she misses them. Since most of them live in Ohio, it is not easy for them to visit- it is both expensive and hard to get time off for the whole family. Alisha especially misses seeing her mother who has not been permitted to visit Decatur due to some arbitrarily enforced rules. Sherri has accompanied her family members for visits but has had to sit and wait in the car just outside the building. Another shameful and heartbreaking aspect of prison. The four of us considered ways of trying to convince Alisha’s family to relocate to Illinois so frequent visits and greater connection could be possible. We also guaranteed that Sherri would have an established solid support system if such a move was made. This led to an emotional moment of appreciation and pause for how lucky each of us was to have one another’s back. Alisha was in near tears while she disclosed to us how much we meant to her and her family and she insisted, “god must be watching out for me.” 

Throughout this visit there was plenty of shared food and soda from the vending machines- better food than Alisha can get from the cafeteria during meal times. We also spent more time laughing and joking- a clear indication of our strengthening relationships with one another. Our girl is quick witted, silly and much better at dabbing than myself (although my dabbing is done ironically, it’s still not good). Since the visitation room at Decatur is one large, open room (similar to Logan), you inadvertently witness incredible displays of raw emotion from the other prisoners and their visiting families. A couple of us caught one of these moments and I felt an intense sense of invasion into another’s very private encounter: a mother reaching out as her three small children rushed into her arms and an unrestrained release of emotional turmoil poured out of her. I could hardly imagine another type of situation that could produce the same magnitude of relief this woman felt when reunited with her loved ones.

Nearly four hours had flown by when we realized we needed to begin our trip back to the city. Before leaving, I collected a pair of Alisha’s shorts from the “nice” C.O. It is still unclear why she could not keep them- something about having one too many pairs than she is allowed. We all took turns hugging our friend and comrade and walked out of the room to check-out with another officer. Again, this process is simple and relatively pain-free compared to the medium security of Logan. The three of us, however, won’t be satisfied until she is FREE. 

-Erica

-Dab definition (urban dictionary): “Atlanta term used to describe dance move (bowing head into elbow) which represents confidence, accomplishment, and pride.”

[ireview]

Grand Theft Auto, I’m pretty sure we all know the one. Grand Theft Auto is the vastly developed, long-timed series that combines the subtle features of sandboxing, driving, shooting and adventuring. Many kids wish to play this because it feels so cool to do whatever you can.

The many many releases behind, here comes Grand Theft Auto 5, or should I say GTA V. I personally didn’t feel an urge to get it but as soon as the hype intensified near the release, I didn’t have a choice but to buy it as well.

Grand Theft Auto V was released on 17th of September 2013 on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. This was the first disappointment for the large audience of PC players. The enhanced version is to be released on November 18th 2014 to Playstation 4 and Xbox One, but the PC release got delayed once again not earlier than April 2015.

Story: Classic Grand Theft Auto style plot, but with protagonists getting in deep with each other and also with the rest of the world. The idea of a prologue and history in characterwise was refreshing.

It all begins with the prologue of M, T and B robbing a local bank in Ludendorff, North Yankton. This concludes B and M getting shot. B (Brad) becomes arrested and T (Trevor Phillips) running for his life as more and more law officers show up. M (Michael Townley) ends up faking his death and changing his persona to Michael De Santa. He moves to the big city, Los Santos with his family and leaving his old crew.

In Los Santos, San Andreas (The smallest state there ever was) we get introtused to a new character, repo-jobbing Franklin Clinton. Franklin gets to know Michael. As Michael begins to dream the big money once again, he begins to run some big operations and comes back together with some old friends. Trevor finds out Michael is indeed alive and when he gets his hands on Michael, wouldn’t he want to become a part of the scores. GTA V is first in the series to present multiple playable characters.

Meet Franklin: Franklin Clinton is the ‘reasonable’ one of the trio. He is the one that gets the “This ain’t right” feeling but still is as criminal as the other two. He is often pressured to choose between his downtown homies and his new crime partners. Franklin is introduced at the very beginning after prologue. If you are not familiar with the idea of three playable characters, switch between characters at the very beginning may confuse you. I know it was confusing to me.

Meet Michael: Being the father of a good-for-nothing fat gamer son, Jimmy and the "doing-anything-for-fame" daughter, Stacey, the life at De Santa resident is no ordinary life. Not even mentioning about his cheating wife Amanda, no wonder Michael is so cold hearted. But deep inside, he wants good for his family. Michael De Santa is the planner and the initiative member of the crew. His profit-lust makes him un-retire and get back into business. Not spoiling anything (though everyone has already played through this game) but Michael could've been better off without ever meeting up with Trevor, they got some complicated history.

Meet Trevor: Now this guy is nuts. He has some problems comprehending with people and often just killing anyone in his way, especially business rivals. He runs a company, the ‘Trevor Phillips Industries’ which is mostly drug and firearm deliveries by planes. Assisted by Ron and Wade, Trevor has made multiple enemies across country and has become a public enemy. Does he care none? No. Trevor seems to have a thing about screwing anyone. You might find him doing some private stuff with almost anybody. He cherishes all women possible and can be a sensitive person, especially when it comes to his mother. Otherwise he’s pretty obliged on harassing everyone, both physically and mentally. When switching to Trevor, you might find him in some absurd scenarios, like waking up with a hangover wearing nothing but his underpants on a beach with a dozen bodies.

Gameplay: You'll sink countless hours into this masterpiece, but nothing is perfect. Some things were better in earlier entries in the series. Grand Theft Auto V was the first game in the series that really felt like a true open-world game.

There’s just so much to tell about this game, both good and bad. My opinion is that this game was a little too hyped because even though it’s an amazing game with a lot of play hours to enjoy, there were some disappointments and just from the amount of excitement everyone gave into it, i expected a little more.

To me, this game focuses too much on shooting people and driving around. There is a beautifully designed nature environments out there, Rockstar didn’t utilize this. Sure there’s a couple of missions and other past-time hobbies there but the way I see it, it’s kind of a waste of some good work. It just isn’t done so like you want to spend time there in the wilderness. It’s all in the city life. But this is the feature Grand Theft Auto has had in it the whole time so I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing. I just wished more from Blaine County.

The wanted star system is a very good advancement, but has some irritating issues. For example, imagine a situation where you leave your character idling and there happens to be a cop nearby. So what, right? No. If you stare at a cop for some time, you get a star. Well then, you immediately think of escaping. When you start running away, you get an another star. Driving away you find out that it begins spawning cops possibly right in front of you. This sucks because when you get out of their sight, they get a “sight cone” which indicates their vision. And the evading time is something ridiculous.

For once, the game makes it difficult to evade stars if you're on the move, so if there's a bit more heat going on, you're stuck to hiding in alleys and other shady areas. In a game like GTA, you would want to get rid of the lawforces quickly. This is not possible because it’s takes the minimum of about thirty seconds to evade even one star. It sounds like such a short time, but when you are just trying to play and you keep getting those wanted stars, you find yourself hiding quite often just trying to get the cops off of you. Most ridiculous one is when you have high enough wanted level to get chased by helicopters, if you are on a helicopter yourself, evading the stars gets close to impossible. They keep spawning right in front of you and don’t ever stop. If not for the city skyscrapers, evading those pilots would be impossible.

The driving mechanics are one of the best there is. I remember the first times playing, driving was just so satisfying. I don’t mean it’s not still, but you get rather familiar with it. Collision detection and car crashes make the vehicles too heavy in my opinion. You could crash a car going 200 km/h and it would only slide for about ten metres. I don’t mind really, but it’s so different compared to earlier Grand Theft Auto entries, like San Andreas and Vice City. In those games you got the satisfaction of making an NPC car blast off when you hit them.

There are many activities and games other than going through the storyline or terrorizing the city in free mode. There are tennis, yoga, taxi driving missions, darts, going to the movies, playing golf, call and hang with your friends, hunting, the rollercoaster and ferris wheel, collecting hidden items all around San Andreas, doing tasks for strangers and freaks, parachuting, racing by land, sea and air, taking the flight school, surfing the web, walking and playing with your dog, taking rides in a taxi, submerging and scuba diving.

As you can see, there are quite a lot of stuff to do other than missions. Only one problem, most of these are just plain boring. I mean, come on, yoga? And it’s always the same thing. Where are the vigilante and other emergency missions? How about the arcade machines from San Andreas?

In GTA V, you can get drunk, but they removed the ragdoll effect. You can’t do much on the internet. Street Racing gets kind of pointless when you have Franklin’s ability to slow time, of course this is depends on the player. I loved how in GTA 4 (IV) the taxi drivers, if you told them to hurry up, they did. The amusement park contraptions are the worst. Parachute jump doesn’t give me the intense daredevil feeling like it should, but parachutes are really neat generally.

They could have made the underwater world more useful, because I’m loving it! The secrets down there, all those sunken ships and planes in the bottom. There’s quite a few easter eggs below the surface, too. The biggest disappointment was that there’s no sea monster. It would have been awesome when you wander off too far from the island and you hear some crumbling in the distance. Next thing you know, there’s an enormous whale eating you alive. Just writing this gives me the chills, but it’s just my fantasy. The underwater world is not used properly enough, only major purpose is when submerging in two different missions and collecting submarine parts and nuclear waste. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

Graphics: As of 2013, hardware limitations restricted this game from being the most realistic-looking video game up to date! Even today, the graphics are still stunning.

First of all, what I’d like to point out is that the AMOUNT OF DETAIL in this game is incredible. The houses, all the small stuff everywhere. If you were to seach every little detail in San Andreas state, be sure to say good bye to all your relatives. Must I say, this game probably has the best looking explosions to date. I just feel like I'm just saying the same thing over and over again, but my point is that the game is very well made and I tip my small tophat to the leading art team.

Soundtrack: Classic thing for Rockstar to include a bunch of in-game radio stations with licensed songs. The game itself includes incredibly high quality sound effects and voice acting. Being a multi-million company, that's no surprise.

Not much to say about the music in GTA V. There’s pretty much something for everyone considering the genre-sorted radio channels. The songs picked for this game are not exactly up to date. Of course, due to copyright and budget reasons, Rockstar wasn’t able to include much music from today’s lists, so we’ll have to deal with the old-school gems. I just wish they’d include a feature for one to add their own playlist from external devices.

As usual for high companies, sound effects ranging from vehicles to voice acting is top notch. Much like done in graphics, GTA V is as realistic as it gets (not gameplay-wise).

Cinematics: With Rockstar's large budget, it doesn't matter whether you're watching a GTA V cutscene or an acted scene with real people. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but I know many people such as myself enjoyed not skipping through the story.

Really I don't have anything to tell you about the cutscenes other than they match the quality of the Last of Us and Metal Gear Solid 4 (or any other MGS for that matter), just to name a few.

Conclusion: 9 out of 10. A must buy game for anyone mature enough to handle the freedom of doing anything without responsibilities. Grand Theft Auto V is really the video game you can do anything in.  I reduced one point on the final score because of the dull activities in this game.

As much as I enjoyed this game, it does not rise over the original San Andreas. It is most likely out of nostalgia, but I feel like San Andreas had more interesting activities and minigames. If you were to combine GTA V's game engine and graphics into San Andreas and somehow merge the two worlds together, that would be the greatest thing ever.

I apologise for the review being rushed, but I really had no time (being the lazy ass I am) and most of this article was written two years ago. I know I really shouldn't be sorry.

Purchase the game on Steam here or search your local video game dealer.

Bob will be back with us on thursday with a little extension review regarding Grand Theft Auto Online. Be sure to check it out! Next monday we'll get back on normal schedule.

-Mikkelson