#this is called the max humbling arc

[gunthermunch]

[Transcript under the cut]

Elsa: Britechester, Foxbury, Académie Le tour, La Fiesta Tech, New State, Landgraab Institute [grasps for air] Alto Academy and. um. Pierce Max and Lucas: Willowcreek Institute of Technology Elsa: and others. it's just too many options and I'm stressing out! Max: oh boohoo Malala, future's a little to bright for you? should i tell them to tone it down? Elsa: fuck off Max Max: next option is Le Max Instituté, after you help me graduate Elsa: no way, my hands are already full. unless you want to do some babysitting for me Pierce: that's too fair of a trade, make the rich boy scrub your windows squeaky clean Max: i prefer being held back thank you very much Lucas: babysitting sounds cute… Max: you say that as if you were going to help Lucas: i will. through very encouraging texts Max: again that's not going to help Elsa: it helps Pierce Max: sorry? Lucas: i swear! Pierce: I'm a babysitter. Max: what if i died Elsa: that's a yes! we've got a deal.

Elsa: what do you mean you aren't coming to the isle with me Max: yeah i'm Lucas' temporary neighbor. speaking of which, we should get going Lucas: mhm! Pierce: you two seem closer than ever huh Max: the hell you mean Pierce: i mean, you're even matching Lucas: gasp Max we are wearing stripes Max: hey, Lucas? Why don't we shut the fuck up Lucas: byee guys!!! Elsa: happy sigh Pierce: you're not going with them? Elsa: in a minute, i'm enjoying the peace and quiet while it lasts.

[aesterblaster]

Bad Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

Which Blue Lock Characters Have Gone To Therapy, In My Humble Opinion. (+ Who Desperately Needs To But Hasn't + Who Might In The Future)

Warnings: Some spoilers for way past the U-20 Arc, also not an extensive list of characters, honestly kind of funny. I wasn't trying to be TOO serious

Songs: Falling Behind / Laufey , The Main Character / Will Wood , Nothing's New / Rio Romeo

Has Gone To Therapy And Loves Their Therapist Gang

-Anri, There is no way she is able to have that much patience and take that much shit from corporate without having a therapist. I think she uses like 1/5th of her paycheck on books about improving your life and stuff like that LMAO. Her therapist is also a woman so it helps her to have someone who understands her frustrations with not really getting credit despite being one of the founders of Blue Lock. Also sometimes she gets worried she's unethical towards the boys so that weighs on her.

-Kenyu, Look it's still in progress ok? He was just starting before he came to Blue Lock. Once he realized he was going to lose his vision he started working with a professional and found it really helpful. In fact they were the one who encouraged him to go after Blue Lock in the first place. One of the reasons he was so quick to say sorry to Isagi is because he has those #coping skills.

-Gagumaru, After having a run in with a bear in the woods he kept having nightmares and his parents made him go to therapy. Well it was kindddd of therapy..it was a hippie who's a family friend. That doesn't mean he doesn't know grounding techniques. He even taught Naruhaya how to calm down from a panic attack once. But yeah, he doesn't really tell people that he went to therapy

-Snuffy, After his best friend's death he went to therapy ASAP. The type to only call his therapist once every 5 months and still have a rock solid relationship with them. His therapist helped him break his womanizing habit and realize that he's enough all on his own. 100% did some soul searching and stepped away from the scene. He also combined the therapist with a personal trainer to really max out his healing process. 100/10 dude for it.

"I Have Gone To Therapy And It Didn't Work" Crew

-Chigiri, Similar to Kenyu, his parents thought he might need some mental health help after the trauma of thinking he'd never be an athlete again. But he was one of those cold shoulder my mom is forcing me to do this cases. He never actually worked through what he might do if this whole thing falls through. Also snarkiness 100, his therapist almost quit because he was so insulting to them. Chigiri just felt ashamed that his parents even thought he should go in the first place and convinced his sister to also beg them to stop taking him lmao.

-Isagi, Okay at some point his parents realize he takes faliure wayyy too hard and tried to get him in therapy. When he talked to the therapist though the dude was like "Yeah, he's just competitive. Nothing wrong here." Alas, he's been masking for so long that he's incapable of revealing his issues to anyone who hasn't known him for 3 years or plays sports with him. Also, he convinced himself he doesn't need it and then idly imagines just going apeshit and killing his enemies to cope with stress...like bro...

-Noa, Why do you think he gets along with Isagi? All jokes aside, his PR people probably asked him to do it and he went and then secretly never went back. It honestly didn't work because he wasn't willing to give it a chance. And still isn't!!!! Would rather backflip off of a yacht than tell someone in a lounge chair about how growing up in intense poverty still haunts him sometimes, makes him question his worth and avoid conflict in day to day life. Sometimes he wonders if one day he'll wake up and find out it was all a dream....But nah he doesn't need therapy!

-Oliver, He was soooo close to actually getting his mental health in check but then his therapist retired. After that he got another really seasoned one and saw the amount of case files in his desk and just felt like a straight up burden. One of those "other people have it worse" and "it is what it is" guys. He's very open about his emotions and feelings so he just talks to his friends when he's really struggling. (Even though Sendou never says the right things-) Like yeah it's their job but why bug these nice people when sex?? Why talk about issues in sessions when he can get drunk or go train for 4 hours??? Riddle him that?

The "I Need Therapy And I Know It" Team

-Ness, He has so many fucking issues. Honestly, despite his devout worship of Kaiser he does realize that his behavior isn't quite healthy or normal. Dude tries to show you a funny video on his phone and all of his ads are for Betterhelp. Genuinely trying to figure out a diagnosis. Yes he has looked up all sorts of personality disorders and no he doesn't think he has any of them (He has at least two). But again, Ness is self aware enough to know that some help or someone to talk to who sees him as an actual human being would be nice.

-Niko, He cannonicaly describes himself as very very introverted and nerdy, also he hides his face. Tell me you were bullied in school or at least had an extremely traumatizing incident without telling me. Kind of never had anyone, just people who hung around because of his soccer skill or avoided him like the plague. He is that guy who will rant about "society" online for hours and fantasize about moving to a different country thinking he'd get better treatment there. Cripplingly lonely and self conscious at the end of the day, in all honesty. Also he genuinely wants a therapist but just can't afford one.

-Hiori, Obviously his parents are the ones who stop him. He tries to go and his mom realizes where he's making her drive him and swerves off. Even when he gets his license, you just know they're tracking everywhere he goes. He doesn't have enough privacy to really get better like that, Hiori has to wait until he moves out. Still genuinely fucked up by the fact that Gagumaru has gotten therapy and he hasn't. Just listens to emo music and plays video games and pretends that that fixes everything. He's totally releasing a top-selling book about his horrible childhood after Blue Lock.

-Bachira, Is he outgoing and silly? Yes. Does he need better coping skills? Also yes. Men will tell you the most horrible and traumatizing childhood memories about getting jumped and then laugh it off, and it's him, Bachira is men. He ties to brush off his trauma with humor but it never really works. He knows that he genuinely needs to talk to someone other than Isagi or his mom about the Monster and how it was by his side for so long. But also never goes through with getting professional help, just thinks about it sometimes.

The "What's Therapy? Fuck You!" Group

-Kaiser, Oh god, don't even suggest it to him. I headcannon that mental illness kind of runs in his family. He's watched family members be taken away for being too out there and openly mentally ill so he has a reason to not trust doctors. Just associates therapy and things like it with abusive institutions. If he told a therapist all of his issues, he'd probably be sent to a psyche ward. Just the threat of being sent there single handedly kept him from killing himself or talking about his feelings when he was younger. He will continue to just be slightly abusive to the people around him thank you very much.

-Ego, Bro's got the government banning him from soccer and you think he's thinking of therapy? When Anri tells him he needs it offhand, he's like, revenge is my therapy. Insane as fuck but thinks that it's a good thing. He is not willing to talk about his issues to anyone, but especially not someone who will write it all down. Genuinely ruined a few relationships in his past because the main people he attracts are the "I Can Fix Him" people and it just never works. Suprisingly unself aware for how much he analyzes others.

-Barou, His main issue is just shame and failed gifted kid syndrome. But as soon as he's back up he's convinced he doesn't need help. Barou suffers from really high highs and really low lows but he also has the mental fortitude to handle it. He is a well adjusted and kind enough person outside of the soccer field so he never considers that he needs therapy. When he feels bad about himself he hits the gym but he's never really opened up to anyone and he sure isn't going to start once he gets more famous. Especially when he's seen as one of the best right now, can't risk his reputation.

-Rin, He's would rather gut himself with a sword than admit that his mental illness doesn't make him a cool loner wolf and just a lonely person who hasn't healed his inner child. Kind of just wants someone to baby him and tell him everything's going to be alright but in the mean time his barriers are up 24/7. He disdains therapy, thinks that he'd just be seen as a pay check and he kind of isn't wrong. Rin would rather pay money for expensive cleats than spend it for someone to suggest him breathing exercises. He also had a traumacore phase, but he'd rather not talk about it.

[solaneceae]

【 𝙿 𝚁 𝙾 𝙹 𝙴 𝙲 𝚃 : 𝙳 𝚄 𝙲 𝙺 𝙻 𝙸 𝙽 𝙶 】 | a QSMP Baghera playlist 🐤

a narrative playlist retracing her story, from her humble origins to Purgatory.

cover art by @Rion_Riots on twitter

⤵️ tracklist under the cut ⤵️

CHAPTER 1: lab rat

a duckling opens her eyes to white tiles and syringes.

Bumblebees are Out - Jack Stauber

A Bird in a Gilded Cage - Alex Niedt

Body - Mother Mother

rises the moon - liana flores

CHAPTER 2: Duckling and Bluebird

a bond is formed between two birds of a feather.

Rule #4 Fish in a Birdcage - Fish in a Birdcage

Two Birds - Regina Spektor

Evelyn Evelyn - Evelyn Evelyn

Innocence - Madeon

CHAPTER 3: escape!

this little duckling has had enough.

Escapism - Rebecca Sugar

THE KID WHO KEPT RUNNING - Vylet Pony

Shelter - Porter Robinson

We'll Meet Again - The Ink Spots

CHAPTER 4: drifting away

the ocean waves are tall and scary, but she presses on.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead

Ship in a Bottle - fin

Shackleton - Adam Young

soundscape diary - vylet pony

CHAPTER 5: a new life of music and dirt fountains

she finds new friends. and slowly, she forgets.

Youth - Daughter

Tout Oublier - Angèle

La veriter - KronoMuzik

I Say - Zerator & BagheraJones

CHAPTER 6: [[We Hope You Enjoy The Island :) ]]

you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?)

Fallen Down - Toby Fox

Amnesia was Her Name - Lemon Demon

HEAVEN SAYS. - chart

Clocks - Alex Niedt

CHAPTER 7: binary green and white bears

federation? codes? where am i?

Your Best Friend - Toby Fox

Beware The Friendly Stranger - Boards of Canada

01001010 01000001 01001101 - Red Skies Project

Untrust Us - Crystal Castles

CHAPTER 8: cherished egg

the island has granted me the gift of motherhood.

Daughter - Sleeping at Last

I'm a Survivor - Reba McEntire

Apple Pies and Butterflies - Blue Wednesday

Little Moth - chloe moriondo

CHAPTER 9: petit frère

APLUPLUUUUUU

Anything You Can Do - Bernadette Peters, Tom Wopat

Amor de irmão - Barão Vermelho

Brother - Kodaline

For Forever - Ben Platt

CHAPTER 10: can I call you Bébou?

(gifting furniture is his love language.)

Lemon Boy - Cavetown

Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend - Powerwolf

It's Alright - Mother Mother

Chateau - Angus & Julia Stone

CHAPTER 11: ordo theoritas

call her apollo, because her theories ALWAYS turn out correct.

Cry Babies - cclorox

Touch-Tone Telephone - Lemon Demon

Dream Sweet in Sea Major - Miracle Musical

A Good Song Never Dies - Saint Motel

CHAPTER 12: don't you want to become a leader?

the election arc.

NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO BE A - Toby Fox

Blood // Water - grandson (first death: whale)

14.3 Billion Years - Outer Wilds (second death: the tower)

Brutus - The Buttress

Animal Farm - BIBI

CHAPTER 13: There is no escape this time.

a childhood bedroom hidden beneath engine steam.

Everything Stays - Rebecca Sugar

715 - CREEKS - The Nor'easter

Memories - The Midnight

Look who's Inside Again - Bo Burnam

CHAPTER 14: "Pomme reviens... les gosses me manquent."

she waits for things to change. she seeks her origins.

Dear Wormwood - The Oh Hellos

CRT Days - Waveshaper

Implanted Memories - Infinity Frequencies

What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish

CHAPTER 15A: P U R G A T 👁️‍🗨️ R Y part I

i don't want to leave. i can finally be myself, here.

Wonderland - Caravan Palace

Misery Meat - Sodikken

Hayloft II - Mother Mother

Chainsaw Girl - Chainsaw Girl

Family - Mother Mother

CHAPTER 15B: P U R G A T 👁️‍🗨️ R Y part II

adios, bolas. i won't leave without her.

Idioteque - Radiohead

Eat Your Young - Hozier

My Friends - Oh Wonder

Goodbye - Bo Burnham

On the Nature of Daylight - Max Richter

[turboacek-blog]

Ash and Clemont

Not necessarily a diodeshipping post

The dynamic duo no one saw coming

Was mentioning the girl's lately so thought I should mention one of the guys

In my opinion Clemont is one of the best foils to Ash

(at least XY Ash)

They just play their trope roles super well

Ash is the leader, Clemont is mostly the second in command (lancer)

Ash is kind of a dumb physical guy Clemont is not a physically fit smart guy

Ash is like a jock, Clemont the nerd

Ash is extroverted, Clemont is introverted

Ash has confidence near arrogance, Clemont lacks confidence and is nearly too modest/humble

They're very much opposites

But where characters like Gary and Paul contrast Ash in a rival sense

Clemont contrasts Ash in the friend sense

Clemont gets inspired by Ash despite them basically being equals, Ash is amazed by Clemonts intelligence and such making them both want to improve

You can say the first half of XY that the first four gyms are Ash preparing for Clemont since he does repeat he wants to challenge Clemont implying whether just honoring his request or that Ash feels he needs to work his way up to Clemont

Which in turn made Clemont see how strong Ash was and made him want to improve himself

It's a more healthy rivalry if you want to call it that

Then after their battle when Ash wins Clemont keeps helping Ash improve which also lets Clemont use his technology skills more improving himself as well

So yeah Brock will always be referred to as the best male companion, he had four/five regions to be with Ash

But I think when it comes to group dynamics, Clemont’s role is highly underrated and is only behind some of the girls like a Dawn

As Clemont might not have had the arc post gym 5 that his fellow companions Ash, Serena, and Bonnie had making his impact not as high in the later part of the gen 6 anime but he still had one of the best dynamics with Ash

As with Brock and Cilan it was always partly a big brother or mentor dynamic with Ash, and Max the little bro and mentee dynamic, whereas with Clemont it was the first guy he had as a companion and more of an equal making them kinda like more normal best friends at least until we got to Sun and Moon and Journeys where Kiawe Sophocles and Goh can also fit in that role just different dynamics

Plus should point out Clemont might be either the second or fourth-strongest companion

As obviously Iris is number one, but I think they're can be a debate between Misty and Brock where the only real edge they have is Mega Evolution, and based on the feats and what we've seen and heard Clemont might be more skilled

As he is better than Cilan the other gym leader and the coordinators are good but probably not gym leader good, and the Alola cast is hard to compare

I know it's more popular to talk about the girls and the rivals of Ash but I figured the guys have their bright spots as well

[nerdyenby]

Blue time :D I’m watching Shelby

Thank you Shelby!! Hair is normal and it’s so weird that society tries to make afab people feel bad for how their body naturally exists

Shelby talking about needing a reminder to take her vitamin D when I’ve been out of mine for over a week now 👀

STARLORD!!!! Oh my gosh, I just remembered I’m seeing gotg3 this weekend

Blue’s skins for this event are so cute I could freaking explode

When will my husband (buildmart) return from the war (hiatus)???

MCC is about the vibes first and foremost, if you’re not in it for a good time then why are you here lmao??

Wait when was there a 3-player team???

Shelby’s chat is so silly and for what (me not knowing who that was either)

Yeah no, they do sound alike, I didn’t think they did but ummm yeah

I too forget meltdown exists lol

“I didn’t vote, oh my gosh, I’m a bad ciziten” I can’t believe you Dave, smh

Grid Runners

A bit rough but it was such a smooth grid runners overall

They did so good on the Minecraft one!!!

Dave trying to craft a daylight sensor with their minecraft in Spanish 😭

I feel like this is a good sot team, why do they want it so early??

Parkour Warrior

This team is so chill until Shelby just starts screaming lol

“I can’t do that one- that’s not even parkour, that’s like mind games and I have a small brain” Dave 😂

“You got 30 seconds, no pressure” I love False

“I played so bad, how is that number one?? These guys honestly need to step up, I played horribly” we stan a humble/self-deprecating king

Dave calling out Fruit’s hypocrisy, as he should!!

Did I know Shelby has adhd? I’m not sure if I did tbh, we’re literally the same person tho

That fox dissociated into the afterlife, same dude

Sands of Time

Dave sandkeeper arc my beloved

Dave’s saying all the right things, be more confident, man

Why didn’t Shelby get that sand??

“I’m coming for you, sir” Dave what is that voice????

Why are they so flustered?? This team has experience and are all strong sot-ers, they just need someone to take charge

Shelby you need to rush red vault, everyone else is busy, you got this queen

Fruit praying to the timer and giving the gold key as an offering 😂

Trust yourself Shelby, you had it, you just need to believe in yourself

“I like [sandkeeping] because all I have to do is talk the whole time which is… what I do anyways” Dave my beloved

Ace Race

*Giving Shelby all my asexuality* “now have him home by 8”

REAL!! Ace race is so hard to commentate

Tridents broken, real and true

Purple is stacked, fear them

Identity theft?? In my minecraft tournament???? /j

Halftime show my beloved

Meltdown

The most polite power negotiation in history

They are merely cruising

It’s the bare minimum but people actually using both sets of pronouns for Ranboo means way too much to me as a fellow he/they

NOOOO

That was such a tragic way to go :((

Dave popping off!! As she should!!!

It’s easy for them!!!

Dave going absolutely insane and Fruit just sounding so concerned 😂

“This is my game, baby!!” YEAH IT IS!!!

“Dave you’re so insane!!” “I don’t know what I’m on today, I’m just three beers deep” “I like it! Wait, beers?” “Who said that? Not me” I swear I could hear the 👀 in Dave’s voice

Blue 2nd and Dave 2nd individual!!!

Battle Box

I’m so ready for them to pop off

Oh that first round was so smooth!!!

“They’re a piñata” IM WHEEZING

Aimsey and Shelby screaming their love for each other my beloved

“I kinda love this map” “Yeah, I could see how people could hate this map” real

“Our comms make no sense but they work” seriously, they’re killing it!!

Dave is such a good igl, I’m glad they’re leaning into it :))

Good calls on better comms False :)

“Ori” 😭😭😭

That’s was sooooo close against cyan, my goodness

Gosh this event was SO close

Sky Battle

“Mr. Fruit ridge over here” the temptation to make a gay joke is nearing max capacity

“I was reviewing the map ‘cause I’m a dork” I love her, you don’t understand, Dave Krtzy my beloved

False advocating for hermit on hermit violence, as she should lol

Dave popping off!! He’s insane!!!

“Alright, new plan for me: not miss the jump” I love you False

Shelby’s death was so sad what

That second round territory battle was so tense, sad how much it threw them off though

Good eyes and good comms, rip to lime but blue handled that sneak attack like absolute champs

Fruit popping off???? Not unexpected by any means, but it was so chaotic and he was just running around like ‘mhm yep and dead’ what a king

Dave and Fruit holding hands, real

Dave only has banger opinions, MCC is about the silly goofy first and foremost

Not the AirPods 😭😭😭

Hole in the Wall

“Whatever happens, we did great” “Whatever happens, I love you guys” what is this, the finale battle to defeat the Firelord???? /lh I love them

They’re too in the zone to do meaningless things like so called ‘bodily functions’

Oh the way Shelby went out was so tragic, she bounced and slipped all the way off the edge ;-;

“Purple! No- I wish I never said that, I’m shutting up” Shelby 😭

NOOOOOO why does Shelby always go out in the saddest ways

“We did our best” real and true!!

Dave s-tier real and true!!! If you disagree you hate nonbinary people /j

Dodgebolt

I think they’re getting confused on who’s saying “purple” vs “Purpled” lol

“This is what [All Stars] should’ve been” Shelby spitting absolute facts

Gumi insane!!!

False changing sides just as her new pick loses rip

Ah yes, reverse psychology on reality as we know it

“I have faith in Purpled, which probably means he’s gonna miss these… yep”

GGs, great team, great time

[yukipri]

Finally got my copy of the latest Obi-Wan comic, #3!!

As you can see from the cover, it's got Cody + the 212th!

Spoilers beneath cut:

Ah...😭😭😭

"I still think of my Second-in-Command, CC-2224--whom I called "Commander Cody"--with great fondness. I miss him to this day. Even though he eventually tried to kill me. So it goes with my friends, it seems."

Comic is worth it for the above lines alone, in my humble opinion.

Also, new 212th boy just dropped!! He has a terrible haircut. I love him. Welcome, Airo!

("AR-" hmm, is he the first official 212th ARC? Though he lacks the fancy gear ^ ^;)

That's all the images I'll share, please buy the comic if you can to support it! I got mine at my not-so-local comic shop online.

Additional thoughts:

Overall I really enjoyed it! It was still obviously very Obi-Wan centric, I mean it's the Obi-Wan comic, but had armored!Obi-Wan and also a decent amount of the 212th + Cody. Less centered around the clones than I would have ideally wanted, but still more than expected! ^ ^;

Obi-Wan was drawn really beautifully! I could feel the love. I couldn't feel quite as much love for the clones alas ;_; (also, as much as I adore the cover, Cody my dude u do not look 20~22 max there buddy) Also Phase I helmets in comic but Phase II on cover, minor detail but hrng

One thing that makes me really sad is that the Obi-Wan narrator of this comic is ~20 years post ROTS, aka shortly before ANH. In this comic he isn't with Cody, and apparently still doesn't know about the chips/that the clones didn't want to betray him. Assuming this is canon, it effectively kills any chance of Cody showing up in Obi-Wan show S2.

Unless, of course, they decide to ignore this comic. I'm not sure how "canon" all the new comics/novels are, but I'm hoping that the stories within them won't completely dictate all future SW content, and that this story being Legends-ized is a possibility ;_;

I'm happy to see more Cody + 212th content, I don't want to seem grateful!! But, I still want to see at least part of the scrapped Obi-Wan script one day. It doesn't have to be that exact script! But a Cody + Obi-Wan reunion in some form, or at least closure for Obi-Wan in realizing the clones were victims not traitors.

#5 of this comic is apparently about Obi-Wan encountering a stormtrooper who reminds him of his clones. Maybe..?

(idk but this blurb reads like a Codywan fic summary doesn't it ahhaha)

But if Obi-Wan does find Cody again immediately before ANH...like again, closure is the most important part. But admittedly that's less time together than I would have ideally liked ;_; We'll have to see!

Either way, it's a lovely comic that has Obi-Wan + Cody + 212th. Please check it out if you can!

[fruitydemogorgon]

Mike Wheeler; One Dimensional?

I've been confused about Mike for a long, long time. And, after watching the season with my Mom, I realised most people are. He's an interesting character. Shy yet witty, humble yet dramatic, caring yet stubborn. These traits contradict each other, but Mike Wheeler presents them all.

So, what is the Duffer's intention with this character? A boyfriend for El? A protagonist? Comic relief? The show tells us that he's more than this with his variety of scenes and moods, emotions and actions.

Compare him to, for example, Lucas or Dustin. Lucas, the strong-willed, thoughtful, courageous companion. Dustin, the intelligent, level-headed, empathetic guide. These characters are consistent throughout the show.

They present both positive and negative qualities that impact their lives, that cause complications and lead to timely resolutions. We are shown from start to finish the troubles that they go through, their thoughts, emotions, all demonstrated for the audience to easily see.

But it's not like that with Mike. And that's why he's so complicated.

In season 1, we see him faltering at moments where he misses Will, but we also see him striving when he gets the chance to help El. In season 2, he's miserable, calling for El, unable to save her, until Will gets possessed. Then, he has someone else to rescue. He devotes three days to saving Will and stopping the Upside Down. In season 3, El has harnessed her powers. He dislikes her strength because it means she doesn't need his saving. We also notice that whenever Will senses the Upside Down, Mike is immediately there to check on him.

I dive into a little more detail on season 1 here.

So, why is he wrote like this? Why is he written to be confusing and contradictory to himself?

When I was talking to my Mom about the characters, she told be she 'didn't like Mike and Will'.

And upon asking her why, she said, "It seems like the actors have many layers, their acting is very multi-dimensional"

She spoke about Will's boring character arc in season 3 and we laughed about that a little bit.

A bit later, I asked her why she didn't like Mike, and she explained that his character is:

"His character is very one-dimensional in season 3. He's kind of just swooning over El"

It's not just me, someone who has delved into analyses and theories about Mike and Will, but a casual viewer.

But, what shocked me the most is that she was right. She had a point. An extremely good point. The acting is multi-dimensional. Proving that there is more to Mike than what we see.

With the recent Premiere interviews, we can conclude, I think, that Mike's ultimate goal is to save the people he loves, and when they don't need saving, he's unsure of himself. It's like a reflex, his mind tells him how to protect and care in scary situations, but not how to 'be normal' in 'normal' situations. I think it's safe to say he's become comfortable with his friends, but when, for example, Max is introduced, he's awkward, resentful, shy, until Will has an episode and he gains confidence again.

In season 3, its been a long time since he's had anyone to 'save'. El has been living safely with Hopper, Will has returned to almost-normal. He loses himself, I think, when he can't ground himself in saving the people he loves. I believe a contributing factor is also his desperation to impress people (mainly El, the first girl whose shown any signs of wanting to be with him). He proceeds to adapt Lucas's 'maturity' and enhance his own dramatics, straying from who he was in the past seasons because he thinks that's what made him 'unlikeable'.

And I think El's unbreakable admiration for him didn't help, either. He could act however he desired, and she would still want to be with him. She mistook appreciation and gratitude for something in the lines of love (likely from watching all the soap operas). Not El's fault, not Mike's fault, but simply a lack of proper understanding and communication.

When Will was alone on the swings, Mike went up to him, despite not knowing him at all. He chose to save someone he didn't even know. Mike is not one-dimensional jerk he seems to be, he's just unsure. Unsure of himself, unsure of the people around him, unsure of his relationships. You could even say he's....

"trying to figure himself out...whether that's with El or not..."

"learns a lot about himself...how he sees his relationships with other people...a lot of understand-ment and growth"

[crystal-moon-101]

Managed to do another redesign with rewrite notes, this time my second favourite character in Ben 10, Azmuth The First Thinker. And just like Ben, he's canon self is such a mess that I wish to fix in my own way. The other Galvans in this picture are his family, with his father from the movie "Destroy All Aliens", his nephews mentioned by DJW, and their mother who is Azmuth's twin sister. So let me get into the notes and rewrite ideas of mine!

-Retaliator-

Yes, I am aware that this is most likely not his name, but I could not be bothered to make up my own at this point, and I also find it funny to have a Galvan dad called this, so I'm sticking with it. So Retaliator is the father of both Azmuth and Divi, a very humble and calm old galvan, who has seen a lot through his years, now retired and mostly just trying to keep the family together through small things.

Retaliator has the rare gene of having aqua/turquoise eyes, a recessive trait in galvans, similar to human with the red hair gene.

Retaliator looks younger than he should be, and that's because he is, in a way. You see, right before Azmuth vanished to start working on the watch, Retaliator fell ill to an disease with no known cure, and this caused the family to...kind of break down. A lot had happen up to this point (Things that will be noted throughout this), and none of them wanted things to end like this. So Azmuth did something he know he shouldn't have, as such a thing takes so much time and resource, and generally frowned upon, and ended up creating a new young clone body for his father's brains to be transferred too. By the time Retaliator woke up from surgery, his son was already gone, off in hiding. It this was event that really made Retaliator realize he may not have been the best father for a long time...

While he is retired now, Retaliator use to do work based around energy stuff.

Since he's family's back together, he likes to host game or movie nights, or even little dinners and get togethers.

He adores his grandsons, and loves to share stories from his past to them, and he's one of the few people they calm down around.

He will admit that he did...go a bit wild when he thought Azmuth died, fighting Ben in the Galvanic Mechamorph suit, but him and Ben have since made up, and the old galvan likes talking to the young lad often.

He has most defiantly embarrassed both of his kids by showing off baby photos of them.

He met his wife through work, like most galvans, with her being a much higher up worker. Surprisingly, despite their statuses, it was his wife who asked him out first, having found him very charming.

Retaliator can never thank Ben enough for convincing his son to come home, and despite their bickering, he enjoys seeing Azmuth's bond with Ben, as the two have a way of balancing each other out.

While he may be in a younger body, his mind is certainly still that of an old galvan, and can often act like his body is older than it really is due to the mental age of his brain.

-Azmuth-

Ahhhh, dear old Azmuth, how I love your character concept, and yet get so frustrated with your actual canon self...There is a lot I have changed in terms of his placement and behavior on the show, and while I can't note all of them down there, the major theme behind them is that he is not a complete jerk in them. Don't get me wrong, Azmuth would still have flaws and issues with his off-standing nature, but he would act in a way that feels more natural, showing his growth and change while mentoring Ben. He genuinely wants to help and is a good person, it's just...he still has a lot to work through. In terms of his slight redesign, I'll like to mention that if you look closely, his outfit is a mixture of his first original outside, crossed with his UAF outfit.

I did mention that I couldn't note all changes of him in series plots, since most boil down to be him being nicer and more realistic, but I will note one change because it's big enough to mention. For the Diagon/Forever Knight Arc, Azmuth did not create Ascalon, because I while I get he's smart and created things like the Omnitrix, I don't think he should be such a big source of dangerous artifacts in the series so often, especially ones that cause trouble. So instead, Ascalon was a weapon crafted in Ledgerdomain, to help fight Diagon who orientated there, and at the time had been trying to conquer earth, and Zenith leaving Azmuth happened because of miscommunication and issues between them instead.

That being said, Azmuth does get involved in the Ultimate Alien Diagon arc when Ben himself calls Azmuth over, needing his help knowing he can better understand Ascalon, and eventually entrusted Azmuth and the Galvans to keep it and the trapped Diagon safe.

Azmuth and his sister had a very rebellious phase as teenagers/young adults, this being the age that Azmuth said he was a lot like Ben, though admittedly, Azmuth was slightly more of an ass than Ben ever was. They were going through a tough time, and Azmuth reacted negatively too it all. Funnily enough, the one thing that seems to make him doo a 180 degrees in personality was his massive swooning crush over Zenith.

He won't ever admit out loud, but he does find Ben's trait of nicknaming his aliens kind of funny...

He shares a mentoring role towards Ben with Grandpa Max and Tetrax, with Max handling the more emotional and human side of Ben's problems, Tetrax handling the physical training and teachings, and Azmuth handling the more logical steps and hard truth Ben needs to hear. He's one of the few people to give Ben the smack of reality he needs from time to time.

That being said, Ben is also one of the few people able to handle Azmuth right back, and give him needed talkings to when the man is losing himself to a bad habit.

Mostly due to the fact that Tennysons seem to have a habit of making people very close to them like family, E.g with Ben seeing Kevin and Rook like brother figures at times, there seems to be subtle hints between Azmuth and Ben that there might be parent and child like moments between them, though both would deny it if brought up.

It doesn't help that Azmuth ends up taking it upon himself on making sure Ben is healthy and happy, based on scans from the Omnitrix he reads daily. Of course, he'll just say he doesn't want the boy he entrusted his watch with to die in a stupid way, but people close to either of them know that Azmuth really does care deep down.

He has said both "I'm too old for this" and "I'm too young for this" many times.

Azmuth has admitted that he's nervous around the Omnitrix, and doesn't like putting it on. He's not good at handling the idea of becoming something he's not...

The Malware arc for Azmuth was...a lot more complicated than canon. Azmuth really did try to fix Malware, but for some reason he couldn't, and it scared him that one, this might be the first problem he can't find a solution too, and second, he just came back from hiding and had been wanting to make changes in his life, so to fail and hurt someone already? He didn't know what to think. It didn't help when Malware started refusing his help and ended up endangering the lives of others, including galvans and Azmuth's own family. And despite it all, Azmuth kept trying over and over again to let him help Malware, but the villain always refused, until Azmuth eventually had to accept that he couldn't do anything. When Malware was finally killed, Azmuth went quiet for a good while, and needed time to recover from his mistake.

Due to some past issues, Azmuth mostly refers to his father by his real name, and only calls him dad or father during emotional or quiet moments.

Whenever they're hanging out, Ben likes to bring him and Azmuth cricket smoothies to drink together.

Despite how they seem to bicker often, Myaxx and him play off each other rather well, able to dry wit each other every day.

Azmuth and Albedo's relationship is also very complicated. Before Azmuth returned, Albedo was an outstanding Galvan and protégé, being praised every single day. This, unfortunately, made Albedo develop a prideful nature and his close minded views on the galaxy, as he rarely was ever put down or critiqued. His ego also got a bit of a boost when the great Azmuth took notice of him, and made him his assistant, and while he loved it at first, some issues started to arise when Azmuth wasn't like the other Galvans who praised Albedo to no end. That isn't to say Azmuth never complimented him and liked his work, but he was an honest man who knew no one was perfect, and especially wasn't going to worship someone, knowing what kind of ego that could make in someone. It doesn't help that Albedo just can't understand what Azmuth sees in Ben, and how the two bond, despite Ben's young careless nature, and being human. It ends up making Albedo want a lot more from Azmuth, the man he looks up too, and when he's denied that he eventually turns his back on the First Thinker. Azmuth can only hope that being able to turn into other aliens, and being stuck as human, will teach Albedo that Galvans, including himself, aren't what make the galaxy function.

Azmuth is typically one of the must unfazed people you'll ever meet.

Given most Galvans have an issue of seeing themselves as the top race, Azmuth is kind of fond of Blukic and Driba for being very open and helpful to outsiders, and was even the one to suggest them to join the Plumbers.

Zenith and Azmuth too meet up again eventually, and while they don't get back together, they do make amends.

Azmuth was fairly small for a Galvan for a long time, until he finally hit his growth spurt late into his teen years, something his sister use to tease him over.

Greymatter's DNA mostly comes from Azmuth, meaning Ben actually looks like a Azmuth when he was young, his family having made comments about Ben being his "Clone".

-Divi-

Here we have the twin sister of Azmuth, Divi. A dry wit, no nonsense, sarcastic and feisty single mother of her three chaotic sons. Unlike Azmuth's father and nephews, she was something I had to completely make up from the spot, since Azmuth was said to have nephews, that meant he had to have a sibling, so it was fun to create someone with an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. She is, after all, one of the few people to exhibit some of those petty family squabbles out of him. So I hope you enjoy her and her sons.

As mentioned before, Azmuth and her went through rebellious phases after some downfall in their family life, with Divi jumping around jobs and never settling for one, and even dating another Galvan that neither Azmuth or Retaliator approved off. When Azmuth first left Galvan Prime to go into hiding, Divi and her boyfriend had still been dating. However, when he finally came home, he found the boyfriend to be gone, and Divi now a single mother to three sons. Azmuth never got a clear story what happened to the boyfriend, but he knows that the break up was nasty, and that the boyfriend isn't on Galvan Prime anymore.

Sometime after Divi had her children, she eventually settled for a job in the nursery/incubation centre on Galvan Prime, looking after eggs and newly hatched tadpoles before they go home with their parents.

Divi is quite a blunt and honest woman, who has no time for dragging things on, and while she may sound harsh, she ends up just wanting the best for people. In fact her open nature of speech is how she gets people to listen and see reason.

Her and Azmuth had a...bit of a dysfunctional relationship growing up. Azmuth was actually a slow learning when he was young, and Divi had a habit of picking on him. They did eventually mallow out, until tragedy struck their family and they entered their rebel phases, and the bickering and arguing come from both sides. They have made up since Azmuth returned, but the two have their squabbles here and there, but they're mostly just playful banter or family habits.

Her and Myaxx get along quite well, and the two like hanging out with each other.

She's also fond of Ben since meeting him, and the two like chatting whenever he plays with her sons, he's even babysat for her a few times.

She has no interest in dating again anytime soon, and is proud to be a single mother.

She's the one who points out Azmuth and Ben's family like roles to each other often, mostly due to the fact that she understands what a paternal feeling is like, and because she's blunt about it.

She got her wisdom feet first out of her and Azmuth growing up.

While Azmuth was off in hiding, Divi reconnected with his father when looking after to him after surgery. So, unlike Azmuth, she mostly just calls him father and dad.

-Trapez, Cieven & Aegls-

The three mischievous nephews, sons and grandsons of the family. Left to right, Trapez, Cieven & Aegls, who are the triplets of Divi. The three are like glue, and are often playing or up to little tricks, creating chaos around Galvan Prime. While they mostly look the same and are all tricksters, they do have personality differences. Trapez is the best when it comes to emotions and the phycology behind it, something most Galvans struggle with, and can come across as the kindest of the three. Cieven has a lot of traits from Divi and Azmuth, being fairly intelligent and wanting to be a lot like his uncle someday, though does have some of their sarcastic nature as well. Aegls is the most energetic of the three, hype up often and quick with crafting and thinking of ideas. When you combine all three together, you get a force of endless chaos.

Their mother has been honest to them about who their father is, and why he isn't around, but the three have grown up fine without him, and will forever be grateful for the work their mother put into caring for them.

They were born while Azmuth was away, and so have been building up hype about their missing uncle for most of their lives, enough so that when Azmuth did come back, they all tackled hugged him while he was still understanding the idea that he was now in fact an uncle.

They love Ben and the Omnitrix, roping Ben into some of their pranks and shenanigans, and while Ben mostly tries to stare them into the right direction, he can't help himself half the time and joins in on the chaos, much to Azmuth and Divi's dismay.

They do become a part of my Ben 10 Next Gen Series, given Galvans take forever to age, and will finally be young tweens when the Next Gen takes place.

The three each have different dream jobs for the future. Trapez wants to be a psychiatrist or doctor, Cieven wants to be an inventor, and Aegls was to deal with energy based matters like his grandfather once did.

Never give these kids sugar or coffee, it will end badly.

The three...had a bad encounter with Malware during his rampage, and for a while were scared around Galvanic Mechamorphs...They get over it eventually, but Malware does haunt them for a long while.

They once picked up some colourful language from Azmuth and Myaxx when overhearing them once. You can imagine how Divi took that.

-The First Thinker Family-

The traumatic event that struck the family was in fact the death of Azmuth and Divi's mother, who was killed by someone who was after Galvan Tech. The family fell apart after that, with Retaliator falling into a deep depression and being distant from his kids, and Azmuth and Divi going wild in their teen/young adult years to distract themselves from the grief. They've all come together now and have been taking the proper sets to honor her memory, and become a family again.

While no one has outright said it, Ben has kind of become part of this little family in a few ways, and after a while Azmuth stops being survived when the boy shows up for family dinners or game nights.

They all live on Galvan Prime, though Retaliator is known to take trips here and there around the galaxy, wanting to see more of it during his retirement.

On the outside, many Galvans treat the family as there wise people, who have sage advice. And while that isn't wrong, once you get to know them they're a very chaotic family...

[countessofbiscuit]

all this devotion

Shaak Ti/Rancor Squad, Mature, 2600 words, 1/2 chapters . . .

Three things are certain in life: death, the Force, and the insistence of a togruta’s heat. Stationed on Kamino, Shaak Ti can now add rain and the dedication of ARC troopers to that list. 

View all tags/warnings and read on Ao3 or find chapter 1 below the cut.

“Are you alright, General?”

The map on the viewscreen expanded. Shaak Ti stared at the dispersal of the Second Army, pointedly, more bothered than she cared to admit by how closely Blitz had chosen to stand. “Yes, Commander, quite,” she lied.

Blitz was one of the more solicitous Alphas, all of whom married intuition with professional pride in a way that said they wouldn’t want the Force even were it offered. He did not accept this untruth. “Lama Su called you mistress three times. You didn’t correct him.”

“There are battles enough, some days,” Shaak Ti said. Tackling the Prime Minister’s insistence on outdated titles was not one for today.

“And you never shy from any.” Blitz hadn’t moved, but somehow his presence grew with his confidence in being right. “You’re very hot.”

The bottom of Shaak Ti’s stomach puddled into her groin. Her stripes flushed. It was the worst thing he could have said. “Excuse me?” she demanded, finally turning to face him.

“Infrared doesn’t lie, sir.”

Shaak Ti felt incredibly exposed. Unfairly observed. She swallowed the impulse to tell him not to flag her with his senors, just as Commander Colt had firmly requested her not to flag them with the Force. Blitz was trying to be helpful. Kamino was their home, their area of responsibility. And although she was trying to be helpful, too, she was an interloper, a stranger whose character and peculiarities needed to be roundly understood in order for them to do their jobs.

And her body was candid.

It was determined to make an honest togruta out of Shaak Ti. She was more than warm. The burn was beginning. The kindling was there, dry and licked into flame by pheromones. The best air-scrubbers in the galaxy couldn’t hide some things from a predatory plains species. She’d smelt the lust on them for weeks, here in this bleached city where sterility was an art form, where nature was scoured clean. But where virility could not be controlled. Her arrival had caused a flurry of activity among the clone staff that had nothing to do with the presence of a Jedi or an outsider in their midst. It was in the unreserved awe of their deep eyes. In the damp patches on their training blacks. In the lingering ache in their wrists. Shaak Ti’s many senses had discerned it all.

Her heat was upon her, and it was inflamed. And she wasn’t in the Temple, anymore.

“Alright. I will own it.” She lowered her voice. “I’m not well, and I'll be even worse for the next day or two.”

Blitz’s helmet canted slightly to the left. He stepped even closer. “What’s wrong?”

How much I want to bite you. “That’s personal, Commander.”

“With respect, sir, we’re in a heightened state of readiness, and anything that may compromise your health — ”

“Command devolves the same.”

“If you expect to be incapacitated in any way, Commander Colt should be informed.”

Oh, please don’t name him, too. An idea was germinating in Shaak Ti’s mind, rooted in biology and matriarchal instincts — and in the kindness the command cadre had shown her when she’d stepped off that shuttle, Geonosian dust still clinging to her robes. Commanders Colt, Blitz, and Havoc had removed their helmets unbidden, in unison. They were the first fresh clone faces she’d seen, not bloodied or twisted in agony. And they were very handsome.

On Shili, she would’ve had a harem to protect and cherish and serve. And who would have served her in turn —

She banished the thought before she flared whiter in Blitz’s HUD.

The Council had sent her here that she might grow confident in her ability to teach and nurture success once again. To oversee a programme she feared rife with ethical abuse. To counsel the Kaminoans on sapient integrity and encourage them to regard the clones as something more than product. She was not here to satisfy herself with her subordinates, singly or otherwise.

She was a Jedi Master. If she couldn’t master herself in this, after all these years, how could she claim mastery of the Force that flowed through her? A Jedi had to rise above base needs — and be humble enough to admit problems and devise solutions with peers. Historically, the solution to this issue involved much meditation and a temporary relocation to a sealed chamber at the distant end of the itinerants’ hall.

Shaak Ti returned her attention to the commander still lingering with unnerving focus. “Fine. I will inform him.”

“Fine,” clipped Blitz. “Thank you, Mistress Ti.” He turned heel and left her gaping at his nerve.

And at the sway of his patterned kama below his belt. And the subtle smell of rain-damp wood he left behind him.

Later, when the ache between her legs gnawed at her brain, Shaak Ti hurried to the medbay to beg soporifics from a droid. A familiar lightness had set into her limbs, as her inguinal organs sponged up blood. Her awareness tunnelled. It became harder to hold onto the serenity of the Force — it was sensitive and slippery like that, like trying to grip a current of water. Existing in the moment, too, demanded great effort. She had to concentrate on exchanging a cold nod with Hina Me, on acknowledging the waist-high salutes of a cadet company, their backs straight against the bowed walls.

Shaak Ti finally reached her room. Tipoca City wasn’t warm, and still she blasted the air cooler in the colorless, compact space, made larger by the transparisteel wall that overlooked the ocean; a meditation stool, Fe’s beads, some cacti from the Temple Gardens — a reminder of rain’s blessing, not its ubiquity — formed the sum of its personal effects. She began to strip with trembling hands.

Maturation brought much relief. Her biannual cycles weren’t as long, nor dangerous; she’d been in the habit of meditating her way through them, though she always crashed afterwards, bandwidth of mind and body maxed out. When that failed, downers, a device, and some do-not-disturb instructions could set her right after a day or three. That would be her method here, where the Force flowed thinly and the air was thick with androgens.

Commander Colt was not told. Not explicitly. As her tool warmed in the nanowave, Shaak Ti fired off a simple message to him: she was seriously unwell, and he was to consider himself in temporary command of the Grand Army stationed on Kamino, along with its reserves and training facilities. She was on comms for emergencies, but was not to be physically disturbed for love or credits.

Alphas were headstrong. They were never satisfied when they’d found the end of a problem; they had to pull it up by the roots with both hands and ask the grass why it grew. She had come to appreciate this about them. Her respect had been earned three, four, five times over by their blistering competence that ran circles around her own sluggish climb up the learning curve.

But when they knocked on her door just as the nanowave dinged, Shaak Ti wished she’d never met them at all.

There were two of them. They had moved in step down the quiet hall, but her montrals weren’t fooled, picking up the mass of their footfalls. The Force practically shouted their signatures. Blitz she knew best: cool and supple, yet columnar, like the limb of some great, unseen god; and Havoc, gritty and shifting, the scree slope of a mountain. Shaak Ti had the disconcerting feeling that they could smell her — not in any conscious way, like she could smell them. Just enough that it reinforced a need to roam in pairs, which they never did. It was Havoc’s shift now. But it wasn’t her place to question their duty rostering, just as it wasn’t his place to come here as shift commander and order her from her quarters. Only the Prime Minister could do that.

“Sir, Commander Colt insists we escort you to the medbay.” Blitz’s voice was full and clear, without the canniness of a helmet.

Shaak Ti frowned. “My compliments to the Commander, but that’s not necessary,” she said, affecting an authority she didn’t feel. She felt drunk. It was a heavy intoxication that sagged in her lekku, not the giddiness that bubbled in her tips after one too many passes at the punchbowl.

The silence was mighty. If they were discussing next steps, it was in handsign.

“We know,” Blitz finally replied. “We’re here to help.”

Shaak Ti stood stunned, keeping her distance from the door. She would not open it. But she called her shimmersilk robe to hand, all the same.

Jango Fett, the Clone Template, their progenitor, had ordered the Alphas to obey and serve the Jedi. That was their prime directive. Shaak Ti wasn’t even sure what oath they’d taken, if any. But she was bound by many things; she’d spent nights committing the Republic Code of Military Justice to memory. Ill-treatment of subordinates and misapplication of service property came presently to mind. If she accepted their help, they would ask all manner of questions and seek her direction and would be bound to comply. It would not be right.

She gathered herself against the want clamoring in her body. “I’ve made myself clear, gentlemen. No assistance is needed. Medical or otherwise. Goodnight.”

Blitz spoke up again. “With respect, sir, we know about your condition — ”

“We may be Alpha planks, sir,” Havoc cut in, “but we can read. And you’re a textbook example of a togruta in estrus.”

Shaak Ti stifled a mewl in her fist. She hadn’t made a noise like that since her feral teenage years. She sagged against the wall. How did they ... ? It wasn’t a secret phenomenon, true — as mundane as any bodily function, really. But they had conspired! They had bored a peephole into her life. For the second time that day, she felt rudely observed.

It was, however, rather rich to be affronted by that, when she’d come here to oversee, monitor, inspect and otherwise snoop.

“Let us help you, sir. Isn’t it better that way?” Blitz offered.

So much better: gorged on pleasure, in throbbing harmony with all life, magnified by her own gifts. She’d done it once, with a clan on Shili during her maturation rites. It’d been almost enough to sway her from a different kind of service, as she’d lain there, an open vessel for every feeling, carnal and uncomplicated.

These men were under no duress, not in this moment. They were consenting, volunteering freely. Outside of Shili, no one had done that for her before, not even fellow knights; certainly no masters, even when she’d reached their ranks. Was it not a honor to the Force, to offer a kindness unbidden to someone in need? It would be over sooner, too: just a standard day, if they kept up the pace. She was well-matured and no longer in the prime of reproductive life. And there was more of them, in every sense ...

Shaak Ti’s hand had slithered between her legs, fingering into her wetness. She didn’t have to imagine how big they’d be. With the height of scientific pride and the depths of indelicacy, Hina Me had paraded four naked clones before her, one of each patented Fett type, bemoaning that she had no sample from their first test batch, for though deranged, the viable half had been remarkable specimens of human physicality. Their statures differed subtly, but Shaak Ti couldn’t help noticing that they were uniformly well-endowed. All eyes front, but only the Alpha clone had met hers, deliberate and defiant. Asking his name seemed inappropriate, and her embarrassment had only compounded with time, to still not know which officer had been made to endure that humiliation.

Had it been one of hers who thickened before her, until he hung heavy in her peripheral — ?

Shaak Ti squeezed her eyes shut. She skirted around her bed to the far corner of her room, under the cooling air duct, and stared out at the roiling deep. The silk glued to her, dampening with her heat. It would be fouled. So much the better, perhaps: it was a strange and shameful gift from Halle Burtoni.

“You cannot help,” she said, more to her reflection than to the men in the hall. What would her peers say? The opinion of the Kaminoans didn’t concern her, but they would surely go red in the fin and sniff at her. “I am responsible for you. As a — ” She didn’t want to say Jedi. It seemed unfair. A brevetship of chance, when they were more capable in many respects. “A representative of the Republic.”

“An administrative detail,” Blitz countered. “We were no one’s responsibility until you came along.”

Heat surged down her lekku. The primal excitement of a threat. “You question my authority?” Her white brow scowled back at her in the pane. Fett might have ordered them to obey, but had clearly said nothing about holding their tongues; they took grumbling and constructive criticism as an act of religion.

“No, sir. We respect it,” said Blitz. “Just as we respect your ability to act responsibly towards us when this is all over. Do you think we can’t do the same?”

Surely this constituted some form of entrapment. But Shaak Ti couldn’t find the logic to argue. Not when she felt like a besh with a body attached. “I cannot ask this of you,” she said. When the silence stretched, she realized she’d whispered it to the waves. She repeated herself, louder. “I cannot ask this of you.”

“You aren’t,” Blitz clarified for the record. “We’re offering.”

Havoc spoke up. “Honestly, sir, you’d be doing Blitz a favor. He’s been rutting into his cod ever since you got here.”

Shaak Ti wheeled round, lekku spinning, feeling the pressure wave of something imminent.

Then came the thunderclap of armor against the door. A scuffling ensued. They were fighting. Something absolutely unheard of in togruta males, and it was not attractive. At the same time, it was also potentially embarrassing for everyone involved in this bizarre negotiation.

If only her door had been locked from without, too. It was altogether too easy for Shaak Ti to slide it open with a flick of her wrist, allowing two clone officers to stumble into her room and out of sight.

Blitz and Havoc clipped halfway to attention in their confusion, shuffling their helmets under their arms. Their pauldrons kissing, their eyes not diverted. They looked surprised — youthful, like two Padawans whose Force antics had granted them access to the larder.

Or maybe that was her.

The room was suddenly so much smaller. Suffused with their scent, too: musky, undisguised, and mouthwatering.

Shaak Ti's loneliness burst its buried dam. She worked in separation, she lived in isolation. Nala Se was courteous, as welcoming as any Kaminoan could be, but she was not a fellow master. There was no community here that she might join. There were the troops and there were the natives with their rigid caste system. She understood a cadre of off-world trainers had lived here alongside the Prime Clone, but his death and the outbreak of the war apparently ended their contracts; a handful remained in the Special Operations wing, but they were Mandalorians — they made the Kaminoans look friendly.

These persistent men had changed everything. They’d just shifted the center of gravity. Shaak Ti’s every thought rolled down into her besh, hungrily. She needed to consume and be consumed.

She let her robe slip, giving in, only if for a night.

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Paladin Rose (An Other Magic AU Substory written by CartoonAddict564 from the comment section)

Part 3 (Beginning of the End arc)

First things first, Juleka thought. She had to get Alya away from anyone who might suggest anything to her. She had to find out exactly what had been done to her. She had to find out how to fix it. And she had to see if it was possible to take the Ladyblog ad down.

So she carefully left Alya, who kept apologizing for 'being useless and stupid,' and went back to Bustier's class. "Um, Miss Bustier?" she said. "The Lavaillants asked Alya to help them write up some flyers to find Rose. Is it okay if she does that instead of coming back to homeroom? She's super worried..."

Bustier quickly nodded. "Of course. That's very kind of her."

Sometimes, Juleka thought, it was nice having a total pushover for a teacher. "Actually, she asked if maybe a few of us could help. Is that okay?"

"Well, if it's to help Rose I don't see why not--"

"Great. Alix, Chloe, Sabrina, let's go. Bye!" And Juleka ushered her friends out the door before leaving a somewhat surprised Bustier behind them.

----

"So she'll really do anything anyone says?" Alix asked. "Anything?"

"Far as I can tell," said Juleka, frowning at her phone. "Come on, Luka, pick up already!"

"Oooh." Chloe grinned. "This could be fun."

Alya beamed at her. "Yes?" she asked. "Do you have something I should be doing? I'd try to think of it myself, but I'm terrible and dumb. If you could tell me what to do, I'd be so grateful!"

"Ugh, she's worse than Sabrina," groaned Alix.

"Hey!" said the redhead. "I don't act like that."

Everyone stared at her.

Sabrina sighed. "Well, not as much anymore," she insisted. "I'm getting better. I--"

"Quiet." Juleka held up the phone. "Luka, finally. We have a problem, and--um, why are you wearing a helmet?"

Through the video feed of the phone, they could all see Luka looking embarrassed as he removed it. "Oh, uh, Rose said she could use a sparring partner, so I thought I'd help out." He paused. "She whooped me. Your girlfriend knows her way around a sword and lance, Juleka."

"It's why I love her," Juleka deadpanned. "Listen, the Lavaillats showed up and cast some kind of spell on Alya to make her ask Ladybug and Chat Noir to find Rose."

All the good humor fled his face. "Rose," he called. "Get over here. You'll want to hear this."

----

"...so that's what happened," Juleka finished.

Rose's normally adorable face (at least in Juleka's view) was red with anger. "But that's awful!" she insisted. "That spell is only for evil monsters and villains! It's supposed to help them recognize the harm they've done. You know, make them more humble so they stop being all 'I am so great I have the right to hurt people' and start being all, 'I'm no better than them; it's wrong to hurt them.'" She crossed her arms. "Using it on a civilian is messed up!"

"Aren't they worried someone might learn they're, you know, crazy magic paladins?" Alix asked.

"Doubt it." Luka shrugged. "Presumably the spell wears off at some point. Then all anyone thinks is that Alya had really low self-esteem today, probably including Alya herself. No one thinks magic was involved."

Rose nodded. "The spell lasts for about twelve hours. If the bad guy has some epiphany about, you know, not being a villain anymore, that can last longer. But the spell itself should be done by bedtime."

"So for today, Alya will do anything anyone asks." Chloe began to smile. "Well, obviously we need someone to stay by her to make sure no one asks her for anything bad. I volunteer."

"No," said everyone else at once, including Luka and Rose.

Chloe pretended to gasp. "What, do you not trust me?"

"I trust you!" said Alya. "You're better than me, anyways."

The others frowned, but then Chloe glared at them. "Listen. One of us can get out of school anytime she wants because of who her daddy is, and it happens to me. I'll tell Damocles that we have some urgent thing to do, and he'll give us passes so we can leave. Then I'll take her up to my room in daddy's hotel and, I don't know, lock her in a closet or something. Otherwise, she'll be stuck here all day, and then Kim will dare her to dive into the pool with her laptop or something dumb like that."

Nobody said anything.

"I'm not going to hurt her," stressed Chloe. "Seriously. Guys--"

"Alright," said Alix at last. "If you promise, I trust you."

Juleka gave Sabrina a very uneasy look, but Chloe was right; she was the only one who could get out of school, and even her power was probably limited to just herself and maybe one other person. "Fine," she said. "But seriously, Chloe. If we come by and find her in a maid costume scrubbing your bathroom, we're throwing you into your pool."

"Bleh." Chloe stuck out her tongue at them. "I'll be good. I promise."

"If that's taken care of," said Alix, "We need to get that blog post off the Ladybug."

Juleka shook her head. "Can't. Alya's the only one that knows the password, and anything to do with the blog is the one type of suggestion she won't take. That post is up there until the spell wears off and she gets rid of it herself."

"Hey," said Luka. "Here's a thought. Maybe that's not such a bad thing."

"What?!" yelled the rest of the team at once. Even Rose seemed shocked.

"No, wait, listen." Luka held up his hands. "We know the Lavaillants are going to do something to try to find Rose, right? Well, this is something we can control. Alya has Ladybug's number. Once this spell wears off she can contact her privately and explain that they shouldn't find Rose--instead they should stall. Lead the Lavailllants on for as long as possible, and then say, oh, we got a report that she was heading to Timbuktu or something." As long as Ladybug doesn't find Rose today--and since Rose is going to be staying under deck all day, that shouldn't be a problem--we're fine."

Juleka considered. "One issue. Suppose Ladybug doesn't just take Alya's word for it that Rose shouldn't be found? I mean we can't explain the real reason."

"Why not?" asked Sabrina. "They're already magical. They're literally the most likely people to believe 'Rose's parents are evil paladins and Rose had to run away to date her vampire girlfriend and stay with her vampire girlfriend's cute older brother' on Earth."

Juleka sighed. "Because--wait, you think my brother is cute?"

Sabrina made a soft 'eep!' sound. "Um, I just meant aesthetically."

"Hmm," mused Rose with a soft smile. She was still wearing her armor, except for her helmet, and it occurred once again to Juleka that Rose looked incredibly beautiful when wearing full chainmail and carrying a sword. "He's alright. But I prefer the vampire girlfriend, myself."

"...right." Juleka shook her head, though she couldn't hide a faint smile. "Anyways, the more people who know that things like vampires and werewolves exist, the higher the chance of Inquisition 2: this time the humans have guns." She shrugged. "Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn't join the mob, but if we told them about us and it leaked somehow? We could be in trouble."

"Oh." Sabrina frowned. "Right."

"We'll just have to be persuasive, then" said Luka. "Or, you know. 'Persuasive.' Like I showed you."

Juleka frowned. She'd didn't like using her suggestion power, and really didn't like her odds of using it on a superhero. "That might... not work."

"Well, we'll think of something. And if I'm right, the Lavaillants will think things are progressing, so they won't look for her." Luka clapped his hands together. "Okay, that just leaves your classmates. How do we deal with them?"

"If it were just Kim and Max it'd be easy," grumbled Alix. "I could blast them with spells to make them confused. Well, moreso than usual."

"Or I could use Suggestion," added Juleka. "But Markov is a robot. I don't think magic works on him."

Then Sabrina stepped into the center of the group. "I'll handle them."

Chloe frowned. "What? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Sabrina, we can all fight if we have to. We're predators, except for Alix, who's a badass magician." Alix blushed a little. "But you turn into a deer. What'll you do, eat grass at them?"

Sabrina frowned. "I'm serious, Chloe. I want to help."

"Why?" asked Alix. "I mean, we appreciate it, but I don't know if this is your thing. You're... nice. Easygoing. You let people do things. Standing up to Kim and Max... you sure you're up for it?"

"Yes." The redhead looked down. "You all saved me from being trapped in an alien world. And even before that, you were nice to me despite the... the things I did." She managed a glance at Chloe. "I've done nothing to repay you yet. I want to fix that."

"This isn't about paying a debt," insisted Juleka. "We're friends. We--"

"I'm not going to be a burden!" Sabrina took a breath. "You're my friends, and I want to help you! I... I just really want to help." She bowed her head. "Please let me do this."

They all looked at each other. But it was Rose who said, "Well, then I say go for it!"

"You realize if she messes up and Kim catches you, you're the one who's in trouble," said Alix. "We're clear on that, right?"

"If she says she can do it, I trust her," said Rose serenely.

Juleka hesitated. She had a very bad feeling about this. But...

But she understood wanting to be useful. Wanting not to burden one's friends. And she trusted them, both Sabrina and Rose. "Alright." She said. "Let us know if you need anything."

"I will!" enthused Sabrina. "I won't let you down!"

"Alright then." Luka nodded. "Chloe, take Alya to the hotel; Alix and Juleka, maybe start working out our argument to Ladybug; Sabrina, do your thing." He grinned. "Let's do this, guys."

——

"Hi-yah!"

Luka tumbled to the floor of the ship and looked at the beaming Rose. "Okay, okay, I concede. You're the better fighter." He accepted her hand to pull himself up. "How did you get so strong?"

"I am strengthened by my righteousness!" said Rose. "And also push-ups. Lots of push-ups. One more time?" Her tone turned wheedling. "You can use magic if you want."

Luka considered. "Alright," he said at last. "And--go!" He murmured something as Rose leapt at him--

And then Rose sailed up to the ceiling as Luka's floatation spell hit her. The sword fell from her hand, and without it her arms were just a little too short to reach his head. "Hey!" said Rose as Luka chuckled. "That was mean."

"I am strengthened by my magic," intoned Luka. "And also 'not being a midget.'" Rose stuck out her tongue at him, but was smiling and didn't seem annoyed. "Anyways, that should wear off in a few minutes. Want a snack while you're waiting?"

"Hmph." Rose wrinkled her nose. "No. As a paladin who has been defeated, I must reflect on my failure and pray to improve--wait, is that cherry licorice?" She looked at the box of candy Luka had taken out from one of the hold's cabinets. "I love that flavor!"

Luka laughed at that and lifted the box above his head so she could reach it. "Once you're down we'll check on Juleka. See how the gang's doing with Ladybug, Kim, and so on."

Rose frowned. "Do you think they're doing okay?"

"Oh, I'm sure they are."

----

No sooner had school let out than Juleka entered Le Grand Paris Hotel and made a beeline for the elevator so she could get to Chloe and Alya, but just before she entered she got a text. "Juleka," Chloe had written to her. "Sabrina left school early to start getting ready, so when you get here, go to the private kitchens and check on her to make sure she didn't set herself on fire or anything."

"Set herself on fire?" Juleka frowned. "What's she doing?" And so she ducked into the restaurant, slipped into the back area, and then went past the bustling main kitchens to reach the smaller ones which were reserved for private functions and special occasions. One of them had a 'Closed' sign on it even though there was light coming through the crack in the door, so Juleka pushed it open and went in.

Sabrina was working at one of the counters next to a rack of ovens. The burners held bubbling pots of food that looked and smelled great. Juleka's stomach rumbled and she wondered if maybe she could get a snack--but then she forced herself to focus. "Sabrina?" she asked.

"Eep!" Sabrina jumped and pointed a ladle at Juleka before realizing who it was. "Oh, it's you. Sorry." She took a breath. "How was school?"

"Sucky." Juleka frowned. "Um, are you sure you should be in the open like this? Your father's looking for you, and he's in the police, so--"

"I know it's a risk." Sabrina took a slow breath. "I know. But like I said earlier, I want to help. And..." She gestured at the food. "This is the only way I know how to help."

Juleka tilted her head as she understood. "Fey food," she murmured. "You're going to get Max and Kim to eat something which puts them under your control."

"Right."

"Do you know how to do that?" Juleka stepped closer and looked at the food. "I talked to Luka about that stuff one day--I was a little kid and I got it in my head that if I accidentally bought a snack from a store and it was a fey store somehow, the fey would be able to take me away forever--and he said it's tough."

"Well, I've been studying," said Sabrina primly. "You know how good I am at school. I'm sure I--"

At that moment, one of the pots erupted in a blast of stew, spattering Sabrina's face and covering her eyeglasses.

Juleka hid her giggle as Sabrina looked down. "I'm not useless," she said, as if trying to convince herself. "I'm not. I'm not--"

"Of course you're not," said Juleka. "I've needed help with my powers plenty of times too. And Chloe--she needs Alix to do all kinds of magic junk to her every month so she doesn't wolf out and eat somebody." She stepped to Sabrina's side. "I can call Luka. Maybe he can help walk you through this."

"Or," said a new voice from the door, "She could ask an expert."

Both Juleka and Sabrina wheeled around to see another Sabrina. But this one was different. Wilder, somehow. Her hair was tangled, her clothes were a bizarre mishmash of black goth gear and forest-green stuff that looked like it came from Ancient Rome, and her eyes were somehow unsettling. "You're the other me," Sabrina whispered. "The one the fey took."

"What do you want?" asked Juleka at once.

The human Sabrina smiled. "Maybe I just wanted to drop in on my sister," she said as she approached. "Give a little advice."

"Fey don't give things." Juleka growled. "You want to trap her in some kind of deal, and--"

The changeling Sabrina put a hand on Juleka's shoulder. "Wait," she said. "She didn't let my dad send me back to the fey. I don't think she's hostile." She took a breath and met her double's gaze. "I want to talk to her."

"Sabrina..." began Juleka.

"You seem stressed," said the human Sabrina. "Peckish, even. Want a snack?" She whipped what looked like a box of cookies out from... actually, Juleka had no idea where it had come from. "Freshly baked."

"Nice try." Juleka frowned at her, then looked around for something safe to eat in case the human Sabrina could somehow manipulate her appetites and make her hungry enough to eat the cookies. She settled on a box of nuts on a counter and began to snack on them as she said, "We're not dumb enough to take food from someone who lives with the fey."

The human Sabrina shrugged. "Many humans aren't. That's why we have other methods. Like, say leaving a few food items around ahead of time just in case." Her eyes flicked to the box of nuts.

Then the changeling Sabrina looked at the box too. "Uh, Juleka? I didn't put those there."

Juleka's eyes widened and she tried to spit out the nuts, but the human Sabrina snapped her fingers and Juleka's body froze. "In exchange for those nuts," she said in a light voice, "You're to leave this kitchen and not return until after I'm done talking with my sister." She grinned as Juleka's body began to move of its own accord. "Bye!"

As soon as Juleka's traitorous legs took her out of the kitchen and stopped, Juleka cursed, then raced towards the nearest ceiling vent. No sooner had she gotten there and verified the coast was clear than she pried the vent off, shifted into her bat form, and flew through it. When she found a vent leading into the kitchen, she placed a talon on the vent's exit grate and found it completely unmovable. Her body would not let her open up the passage back inside. But she could stay there, technically 'outside' the kitchen and watch the conversation.

"Why do you want to help me?" asked the changeling Sabrina quietly.

The human redhead shrugged. "We're sisters," she said. "And you interest me."

"Why?"

"During that fight on the hill, even though you were drugged, you tried to help your friends," the human said. "You could have tried to run away. Or just hidden. But you tried to save them--even though you were the one in danger." She hesitated. "It's... not a very fey thing to do. I was intrigued."

The changeling smiled slightly. "Thanks. And, um, thanks for not letting my dad send me back."

"No problem." The human Sabrina clapped her counterpart on the shoulder. "So. This fey food."

"Is it good?" the changeling asked.

The human stuck a finger inside one of the pots and sucked it. "Magic's all wrong," she said. "This is basically synthetic hemlock. Sorry."

Sabrina blanched and looked down, but her counterpart was at her side. "Fortunately, I can show you how to do it right," she said.

That made the changeling brighten, but then she paused. "In exchange for what?"

The human Sabrina grinned, as if the changeling had passed a test. "Get me set up with this 'Internet' thing the mortals use," she said. "It sounds cool. I want to see what the fuss is."

The changeling quickly nodded. "You got it. Once I'm done with this food, I'll get you a phone and an account." She extended her hand and the other Sabrina shook it.

"Alright then. I think we'll be fine." The human Sabrina sent a meaningful look up at Juleka's vent. "Totally fine," she stressed.

Juleka flushed; apparently she hadn't been as sneaky as she thought. And it did seem like the changeling Sabrina was in good hands. She quickly fluttered back down the shaft.

----

When Juleka reached Chloe's suite and entered it, she sighed. "Chloe. We talked about this."

"What?" Chloe was reclining in bed while Alya braided her hair and did her nails. "You said no scrubbing the bathroom. She's not!"

Juleka frowned.

"Besides, I did her hair and nails too, so she owes me." Chloe gestured at Alya, whose hair and nails did seem fancier.

"You realize when the spell wears off you're going to have an angry fox on your hands?"

Chloe waved a hand. "That's not for a few hours. I'll send her away, give her time to see that I just gave her practice in making people prettier. She'll be fine."

Juleka frowned. There was an odd glint in Alya's eyes. A mixture of annoyance... and anticipation. "And supposing my brother got the time wrong and the spell actually wore off two minutes ago?"

Chloe blinked. "Huh?"

And then Alya dumped all the hair dye bottles onto Chloe's head at once.

"ALYAAAAA!"

——

"Kim! Max! Thanks for coming!" Sabrina clasped her hands together and welcomed the two boys into the deserted little park. She'd sent them a text asking them to meet her there at dinner for 'something urgent,' and fortunately, both had showed up, along with Markov. "It's good to see you!"

"You too, Sabrina," said Max politely. "We noticed you left school early today. Is anything wrong?"

Sabrina waved this off. "Don't worry about it."

"How long will this take?" Kim asked. "Cause I don't know if you heard, but Rose's folks put a $3000 bounty on her, and we're gonna collect!"

"Not long," Sabrina promised. She had a picnic basket and began to take out what looked like small sandwiches. "Come on, I brought snacks so we can eat while we talk! Here, these are the appetizers--please, enjoy!"

Juleka, who had asked Luka to cast a glamour over her so she would look as different from herself as possible (it wound up making her look like a peppy cheerleader), was sitting nearby and paying close attention. She smiled as Kim's expression changed to one of glee. "Awesome, free food, thanks!"

Sabrina smiled brightly as Max and Kim each ate one of the sandwiches. "Man, this is really good," Kim said at last. "Did you do something special to make this?"

"N--" began Sabrina, before her mouth seemed to freeze. "N--N--"

Juleka stiffened. "What's going on?"

"Ooh, rookie move."

Juleka jumped and turned to see the human Sabrina, who had someone slipped up next to her without her noticing. "Hey Fangsy," she said. "What're we watching?"

Juleka scowled. "Sabrina's trying to talk to those guys but her mouth stopped working or something--"

"Well, duh." The human shrugged. "She's probably tried to lie. But she's a fey, and fey can't lie. So she couldn't say it."

"But she's lied before!" Juleka insisted. "Loads of times! Mostly for Chloe!"

"Yeah, but she was trying to live like a human then. Most of her magic was dormant. Now she's actively using her magic and calling on her fey nature. So that nature's reasserting herself." Human Sabrina shrugged. "No lies for her."

Juleka scowled, then quickly texted Sabrina, "YOU CAN'T LIE." Sabrina glanced at the text, blanched, then seemed to make herself swallow and say, "Yes. Now--"

"What'd you do?" asked Max. "Seriously, this is really good."

"I..." Juleka could see that Sabrina was thinking fast. "...had an expert teach me a few tricks."

"She local?" asked Kim.

"No. From out of town. Way, way out." Sabrina fixed a big smile on her face. "Anyways! I hope you enjoyed that?" Both boys nodded. "Good. And, um, in exchange I was hoping for just a little favor?"

Kim gulped down his second sandwich. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well, I had this proposal for you, and I'd like you to listen to it and--uh--agree with me?" She flashed a disarming smile, one that usually accompanied a statement being made in a tentative or hopeful manner, one that could be accepted or rejected later. But there was nothing ambiguous in the words themselves, and Juleka knew that with fey, the words were all that counted. The boys were bound to listen to and agree with whatever Sabrina proposed.

"Ooh, smart," mused the human Sabrina. "Nice play."

"Why?" Juleka asked.

The redhead looked at her. "If she just ordered them to 'not look for Rose,' they'd do it--their bodies wouldn't let them go walking around hunting for her--but they'd notice how weird that was. So first she ordered them to 'agree' with whatever she says next. Now she'll offer them another round of food and tell them not to find Rose. They won't look for her--that's from the second dish--but more than that, they'll agree that they shouldn't look for her--from the first one."

Juleka considered. "Why don't all fey do it that way, then? Instead of just ordering people to do X, order them to think they should do X?"

"Well, it's easier to screw up and drive people totally insane the way she's doing it. She has to make sure she asks for something reasonable enough that their minds accept it; if she asks for something crazy, they'll do it and think that they should do it but still know it's insane, so then they go bonkers from the contradiction. Giving orders without demanding agreement doesn't hurt human brains as much if things go wrong." She grinned. "This is fun! Popcorn?" She offered Juleka a bag.

Juleka found herself reaching to take a handful before she caught herself and scowled. "Do you do anything besides offer people food to get them to do things?"

"Why? That's the best part of being fey-like!"

Meanwhile, Sabrina had taken out little platters of steaks with a compound butter on top. "Oh wow," said Kim as he gobbled it down. "Seriously, when we graduate and you become Chloe's live-in servant full time, she's gonna eat like a queen."

Juleka thought she saw a vein twitch in Sabrina's forehead. "Anyway," the changeling said. "Here's my proposal." And from her basket she took out a map of Paris. "You said you were also looking for Rose, right? I propose we should split up the city to be more effective. Specifically--in exchange for this sumptuoussteak," She paused so they all could laugh, again letting her tone and demeanor make the 'bargain' sound more informal than it was--"You guys pick this area." She gestured at a large section of the map mostly comprising the outer districts and suburbs of Paris; by area it was more than 70% of the city. "I'll take this one," she said, gesturing at an inner area which just happened to include Rose's actual location.

"Why that one?" asked Markov in a protective voice. "And why should we look in this outer area?"

"Well, honestly, I think Rose is--" Sabrina's mouth froze again and her eyes bulged slightly as she tried to reword whatever she was about to say to be, technically, not a lie. "There are reasons why Rose could choose to go to these suburban areas," she said at last. "Less security cameras, fewer people who know her personally. You looking there could be logical."

"Then why are you giving it to us?" pressed Markov.

Sabrina made a melodramatic sigh. "My father won't take me to wander around the outskirts of town right now," she said, and Juleka knew that was true, though not for the reasons she was implying. "Also, I know this inner part of the city best. If she's there, I'm sure I can find her. Whereas if I looked somewhere else, I surely wouldn't find her no matter what."

All true, Juleka thought. Rose was in the central part of the city, and Sabrina could find her--but she hadn't said she'd tell anyone she'd found her. And if Sabrina looked somewhere else she would never find Rose, since regardless of Rose's exact position, she wouldn't be in the 'somewhere else.'

The human Sabrina grinned. "She's a sharp one. I like her."

Meanwhile, the two boys looked at each other. "I agree," said Kim, and Juleka was relieved to hear he didn't seem to be mentally struggling with it. "Splitting up makes sense, and I'd rather have the bigger section anyways. We'll look there and not on your turf."

"Agreed!" said Max.

Markov hesitated, but said, "I suppose that makes sense. I'll recalculate my probabilities, focusing on that area."

"Excellent!" Sabrina grinned. "I'm so glad we could work this out. And now..." She hefted her picnic basket. "Desert?"

----

"So now, what, they just owe you a favor?" asked Juleka.

"Yep!" Sabrina beamed, then looked at her duplicate. "Thanks again for your help."

"Hey, you already paid me back," said the human Sabrina lightly. "No worries."

Juleka chuckled as she looked at the remaining food. "I can't believe they just ate it."

"Why? It's delicious!" The changeling Sabrina gave a sly glance to the human one, and Juleka had the brief feeling of being set up for a prank. "Want some?"

"Um, no," said Juleka. "I--"

The changeling Sabrina gasped. "Juleka, are you saying you think I'll order you to do something horrible?" She melodramatically flopped against her duplicate's arms. "I thought you trusted me!"

"I just don't--"

"Oh!" Sabrina's eyes quivered like she was about to cry, though her smile belied this. "I knew you wouldn't trust me. Nobody trusts fey."

Juleka stared. "Are you... are you trying to guilt me into eating your fey food?"

"Who, her?" simpered the human Sabrina. "She's just sad you don't trust her."

"My heart is shattered," intoned Sabrina. "My soul is rent! My--"

"Fine!" snapped Juleka, grabbing one of the desert toffees. She glared at it and sighed. Well, how bad could it be? And she popped it in her mouth.

Both Sabrinas grinned.

---

Alya and Chloe were still in the suite when Juleka came in, now wearing a cheerleader outfit for real. "Let's have some pep!" She chirped as she began a complicated series of gymnastics she probably couldn't have done normally. "For the mystery gang! Like, yay!"

Behind her the Sabrinas came in. The changeling one was recording the performance on her phone and sending it to the boat, where Luka, Rose, and Alix were watching. They all stared as the goth vampire bounced around like a hyperactive school mascot.

Finally, Juleka finished her performance with a set of splits. "Hooray for us! We're awesome!" And it was only then that she came back to herself, picked herself up, and glared at the Sabrinas.

"So!" chirped Sabrina as everyone else, including Rose and Luka, burst into laughter. "As you can see, I learned how to make fey food!"

——

"...so Max, Markov and Kim shouldn't be a problem anymore," Juleka was saying. "Sabrina did great."

The redhead blushed as everyone else clapped. They were gathered in Alix's living room, with Rose and Luka having used one of Alix's charms to teleport directly there. "The rest of the class shouldn't be a problem," Juleka went on. "I'lll ask around tomorrow to see if anyone else will try for the reward. If so, Sabrina's got some emergency baked goods."

Sabrina waggled a basket full of fey pastries, a bright smile on her face.

"Great," said Luka, making a note. "That's one problem down. What about Sabrina and her dad? How do we stop Roger from having police look for her?"

"He hasn't done that yet," mused Alix, sitting next to an armchair. "I mean, nobody stopped Sabrina at school. Don't know why, though."

"Because he doesn't want her," drawled Chloe. She was in the armchair Alix was next to. "He's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, and wants the other Sabrina. He only needed our Sabrina to get the other one back to our world, and now that other Sabrina's in town, he has no use for his own daughter." She sniffed. "What an idiot. If I had someone like Sabrina I'd respect her."

"Uh," said Alya. "About that." But Sabrina waved her off.

Luka looked around. "Where is other Sabrina anyways?"

"She left after I had my cheerleading debut," muttered Juleka. "Said she'd be around."

Luka smiled at the thought of the video, which he of course had saved so he could tease Juleka in the future. "Well, we need to ask her if she'll hang around town for a while, maybe show her face here or there. If Roger thinks she's still here and gettable without some kind of fairy trade, he has no reason to go looking for our Sabrina. I wouldn't say she should go home, but she should be able to go to school and stuff without problems." He made a note. "Next: you, little sis."

Juleka blinked. "Me?"

"Uh, yeah." Chloe rolled her eyes. "The Lavillants got a good look at you, remember?"

"Oh, right." Juleka sighed. "Here's the problem: if I go back to school, yeah, they might see me there. But if I drop out, though, they'll see me on the news reports about 'two girls missing from same class' and recognize me anyways." She sighed. "I think our best hope is for me to stay at school, maybe change my appearance a little, and hope they don't notice."

"Well, I've got more cheerleading stuff for you!" said Alya brightly. "You know, to disguise yourself."

Juleka glowered, but then Rose hugged her. "I think you make a beautiful cheerleader," she whispered. "I mean, you're a beautiful everything. But that includes cheerleader."

A slight blush reddened Juleka's cheeks. "Uh," she said. "You too, Rose."

Meanwhile, Luka was going down his list. "With all those of the way, the next issue is Ladybug and Chat Noir." He turned to Alya. "Did they get back to you?"

Alya hesitated. "Yeah, but it's not great news."

"What is it?" asked Juleka.

Alya sighed. "I told her that there were some, um, problems at the Lavaillant home--don't worry, I didn't talk about paladins or anything--and Ladybug said she could understand that, but she couldn't just take it on faith." She took a breath. "She'll only believe it if you meet with her and convince her, Rose."

Rose frowned. "So I just need to talk to Ladybug and explain why I can't go home? That doesn't sound so bad."

"Explain without sounding crazy," Alix drawled. "If you say that you ran away to live with your vampire girlfriend because your paladin parents tried to deport your fairy friend back to fairyland and then tried to kill everyone who got in their way, they'll send you to the loony bin. You'll need to make up a fake reason and get her to believe it."

"And," Alya went on, "If you try to explain and don't convince her... I mean, she's Ladybug. She could just scoop you up and run you home."

Rose smiled slightly. "Maybe I could beat her."

"No." Luka's voice was flat. "The Miraculouses are some of the most powerful magic there is. She could fight all of us at once and win." He sighed. "There's just two choices. You can keep hiding in the boat, and hope she never finds you. Or you can meet with her and try to persuade her to stop looking, but if you fail, she takes you home right away."

The room fell silent, and Juleka clenched a fist. It wasn't fair! They weren't Hawkmoth, they just didn't want to be killed by psychotic paladins!

"I'll talk to her," said Rose at last.

"But--" Luka began.

"No. I trust Ladybug and Chat Noir. They're heroes. They'll understand me. They'll do the right thing." Rose stood. "Set up the meeting, Alya."

"Then I'm coming too," Juleka announced.

Luka snapped his head around to stare at her. "What? Why? Jules, you can't do anything. If it's a fight she'll destroy--"

"I'm going to be there," said Juleka in a flat voice. "If Ladybug tries to take Rose, there's a chance--however tiny--that I can stop her or stall her until Rose flees. I don't care if her Lucky Charm is a garlic-coated stake. I'm there." Her voice was like iron. "Clear?"

And that was that.

----

Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared in the abandoned building right on cue. Juleka, hiding up in the rafters and tensed to drop down on Chat Noir if needed, desperately tried to make no noise as the heroes approached Rose.

"You must be Rose. Take this," Ladybug said, giving Rose a green potion. "This is a truth serum. Once you drink it, you won't be able to lie for an hour."

"Courtesy of Master Fu--ow!" Chat Noir winced as Ladybug elbowed him. "Right, right, secret IDs, got it."

Rose drank it at once. "Thank you," she said quietly, "For hearing me out."

"Of course." Ladybug's voice was stern, tense, impersonal. Juleka wondered if Ladybug was nervous at this unusual task. "I'll get right to it. Are you safe where you'r staying right now?"

"Yes," said Rose at once. "Totally."

"Why can't you go home?"

Rose hesitated. "I can't say."

"Then--"

"Wait!" Rose insisted. "If your parents were going to move you away from Paris, you'd have to find some way to talk them out of it so you could keep protecting the city--but you couldn't tell them the real reason, right? You can't reveal your secret identity. You'd have to make something up. I'm in a similar situation."

Chat Noir hesitated. "She, uh, has a point."

"No." Ladybug shook her head. "I couldn't say that I'm Ladybug, but I could say that I help the city in ways nobody else can. I could say people count on me for protection. And so on." She hesitated. "I need an answer, Rose. What's wrong?"

Rose hesitated. "My parents believe my friends are evil," she said at last. "I tried to stop them from... hurting... two friends. They think I'm evil too because of that." She took a breath. "If I go home, they will try to 'fix' me."

Ladybug's mouth dropped. Chat Noir asked, "Are we sure the truth potion works? That story--"

"It works, Chat," murmured Ladybug. Then: "Are you saying they're abusive?"

"I don't know if that's the right word." Rose looked down. "But I won't be safe going home, Ladybug. Please believe me."

"My God." Ladybug stepped back as if slapped. "Then we'll get the police--"

Rose quickly shook her head. "There's no proof," she said. "They'd probably send me home themselves. And..."

Juleka frowned. There were two more reasons not to involve the police: Lieutenant Roger was likely on the Lavillants' side because of his changeling daughter, and also having police try to arrest paladins could be disastrous. Worst case, that could reveal magic to the world. But Rose couldn't say either of those reasons. So what other true reason was there?

"...and I don't want them in jail. Or beaten up by superheroes. I just want them to stop thinking my friends are evil, and that I'm evil for supporting those friends." Rose took a shuddery breath. "Maybe if I'm away for a while, they'll miss me more than they hate my friends. And they'll get better."

Juleka winced. That was pure Rose--concerned with the welfare of even those that had betrayed her. She wished she could hop down and hug her.

Ladybug and Chat Noir stepped away and deliberated. Finally, Ladybug came back. "Okay," she said at last. "We won't tell them where you are, and we won't tell the police... yet. But we'll keep an eye out. It's possible they're hurting other people, and if so, we'll have to intervene."

"I understand." Rose bowed her head. "Thank you so much."

Ladybug gave Rose her number. "Call me anytime you need me," she said. "And good luck." And then she was swinging away.

Juleka dropped from the rafters moments later and embraced Rose. The blonde sniffled and then hugged her. And they stood together for what felt like an endless moment.

----

"Think we should have mentioned Ju--uh, that girl in the rafters?" asked Chat Noir as he sprang away.

"No." Ladybug frowned. "I wonder how Rose's friend got up there."

"Well, apparently she didn't count on my night-vision. Can't really blame her; it's not like she could have any experience with magic." Chat Noir hesitated. "What do you want to do?"

Ladybug sighed. "I'm not comfortable going against Rose's wishes and turning her in. Or her parents... assuming she's the only one they hurt. But I'm going to stay in close contact with Rose, and look in on the Lavillants as well. If anything else is wrong, we act."

"Got it," said Chat Noir, and the two headed off into the distance.

[boundforhiveswaphell]

The Campfire Song Except Without the Song Part; A Tender Pseudoreligious Story

Artemis, my lovely dnd pc, regales her party with the Tabaxi creation myth, which also happens to be Homestuck fanfiction. 

In other words, a short story written about an evening around the campfire involving my group's DnD party. All characters mentioned are original excluding the four beta kids, obviously! So, no. This isn't the beta kids playing DnD, sorry to get your hopes up. Many thanks to my lovely, lovely beta reader, Nym_P_Pseudo on Ao3! And so, I humbly present.... a Work. 

This can also be found here on Ao3 - if you wanna check out my other, non-homestuck stories!

Smoke danced before them, ember and ash swirling in the summer air. Rancorous laughter merged with the crash of distant waves, the crackle of fire and the shifting of feet providing the backdrop. The evening was alight with fireflies, and the sweet smell of the afternoon’s hunt whirled through the sky in long, lazy arcs.

Khr, the party’s resident Gnoll, was doubled over in laughter. His sickle was embedded in the earth beside him, forgotten in the evening’s relative peace. His laugh was unmistakable - a high-pitched keening giggle that rebounded off the trees. His dark claws were sunk into his knee-fur, and his mouth was agape as he struggled to breathe. Bella, a diminutive figure chuckled beside him. Her elfin features beamed with pride behind the curtain of dark hair, a clear indication that she was the source of his laughter.

“And what would you two be up to?” inquired Vega, her tone joking and light. Her robes glimmered with magic, fine craftsmanship showing even in the dim lighting. A quarterstaff rested beside her, also pulsing with power. Her face was unwrinkled and child-like - but when she smiled, her eyes showed depth beyond their years.

“Nothing!” barked Khr and Bella, near in perfect synchronization. They looked at each other and burst into yet more giggles, even louder than before. Artemis snorted as she tended the fire, feeding another log into its base. She turned to the pair to find them both practically rolling in the dirt, Khr’s tail thumping the ground.

“Sisters help me,” muttered Artemis, lips curled in a grin made menacing by her fangs. Her catlike eyes blinked slowly as she surveyed the group. They were a rag-tag bunch, for sure, but they were certainly capable enough when it came to the adventuring business. She was proud of each of them in turn and loved them as she would her own blood.

“Artemis, I thought you only had brothers?” It was Foofy, the puppet’s, high, comical voice that broke her reverie.

Artemis’s creme-colored face looked up from the fire in confusion. Did pupp… not know who the sisters were? “Y’know,” she began, speaking slowly and deliberately as if to a child. “The Jade and Violet Sisters?” 

“The fucking what?” Merlin, a brooding young prince, had joined in on the conversation - ever the eavesdropper.

“I - the Sisters! Life and death, the giver and ender? Y’know, the important ones?”

“Let me restate since you didn’t understand the first time - The fucking what?”

The party had gone eerily silent, Khr and Bella stopping their childish antics to watch the imminent conflict. Judging by their perplexed expressions, it seemed that no one else knew what she was talking about, either. Her mother would be having a conniption in the face of so many pagans.

Artemis was still not entirely sure if her companions were playing a joke on her, but she prepared to educate the gaggle of heathens regardless. She quietly called upon a lifetime of her mother’s adages and stories, harkening back to her days as a helpless whelp being told tales of the strings that shaped the very world. A silent prayer formed on her lips to the Violet Sister, to spare the heretics before her.

She let out the breath she was holding and opened her eyes.

“Would you like me to tell you?”

“Maybe,” came Khr’s grating voice, still breathless from his earlier hysterics. “Is this one of your father’s weird Dragonborn things?” 

“No!” huffed Artemis. “It’s Catfolk history. I learned both as a cub.”

“What are you, anyway?” Foofy’s pitchy tone again. Artemis chuckled softly.

“We’ve been over this, Foof. My mother’s Tabaxi, and my dad’s Dragonborn.” Foofy sat in thought for a moment before nodding sagely, as if in understanding. Artemis shook her head in fondness. 

“So,” she continued. “Do you lot want to hear the story?”

Seven bright pairs of eyes captured in varying degrees of interest stared back. Foofy was the first to answer with an enthusiastic nod and a cry of “yes!”. 

Gracefully pulling herself off of the pine-soaked earth, Artemis rose to her full height. It was for dramatism, of course - she would have towered over her companions even while sitting. 

“This world,” she began, “was once a wide and white nothingness. Bright, inescapable, and unfathomable.” Artemis’ voice mimicked her mother’s famous story-telling cadence, though she withheld a majority of the dramatic flair. It was a low, sweet tone, like honey trickling from a spoon. 

“The desire to create - that which we all feel - and to leave one’s mark on the world. The hunger to know and to understand the world in which we live. The void, empty as it was, still felt this need, this innate desire. It is from this grandest, ceaseless emotion that Heat and Clockwork willed himself into existence.” Fire blazed behind her eyes, and the scarlet of her scales seemed to glow brighter in the dying ember’s light. 

“It was a fiery blaze of desire, passion, and want. The universe willed itself to create, and Brother Crimson was to be its first creation.

“Born of invention itself, his destiny would be as such. He was the antithesis of the blank void around him, dark and fire-fueled, his burning red eyes like hot coals. His life’s work would be to build from the space before him, a task whose monotony was comforting.

“Lord Time created this, the first world, in a symphony of molten rock and flame. It was here, at the center of this feverish landscape that the Forge was created - the workshop of the gods.” 

“Yes, yes, that’s all well and good,” drawled Steve, the party’s quip-hurling bard, “But I was under the assumption we were learning about a few familial goddesses, not some red cherry-scented loser!” If his words weren’t enough to set Artemis off, his languid, careless posture certainly was. He was sprawled across a wide log next to Vega, lying with his stomach to the skies. His back was a half-circle against the ground, curled in what must have been the most uncomfortable position possible.

Artemis ignored the barb, instead choosing to reprimand her friend using a most motherly tone. “Sit your sorry excuse for an ass up before you ruin your back, Stephen. You’ll be sore in the morning if you fall asleep like that!” 

Maybe not a motherly tone, but it got the point across.

“The Forge,” she continued, eyeing Steve with an unveiled challenge, “would become Heat and Clockwork’s playground, an endless molten landscape with which to smelt his creations, and to flaunt his prowess as a skilled smith of rhyme.” Her expression shifted back to the flickering eyes and bright smile of a well-meaning zealot. 

“Hold on, hold on!” Maxwell’s lilting voice interrupted. “You lost me at Brother Crimson. Who is he? I thought it was Heat and Clockwork?”

Artemis’ whiskers twitched in poorly concealed amusement. “They are the same, Max. Lord Time, Knight of the Forge, Ascendant’s Anger, et cetera. It’s all the same, dear.” Though her expression seemed annoyed, her tone was light and full of affection. “Any other questions?” The cleric murmured a soft “no” in response.

“The Knight’s hands carefully crafted the First Being, his finest creation. All was perfection, from the soft feline face to the fur that rippled down her back. Satisfied with his work, Brother Crimson stood back and proudly surveyed it. The fires around him grew dim, no longer needed to smelt and shape.

“With a smile as bright as the heavens-jewel, the Knight of the Forge breathed into his creation, giving life from himself to the beast before him. Though he blew and blew, the statue did not - could not - move. Its empty eyes seemed to mock his disheartened visage.

“Tears of sputtering, flaming rock rolled down his stony cheeks. He tried again and again, forming new husks as quickly as he destroyed them. The Pyre found that no creation of his would breathe. Thus, his passion rendered into bitterness, and the fires of his purpose grew cold. He was alone in this vast world, without a means to escape.”

The group was still and silent. Artemis’ voice swept over them like an enrapturing spell. 

“His despair was so great, and so vast, that from it formed the first Sister. The Jade Sister, Frost and Frogs, stood before him in all her radiant glory. Her hair was long, dark, and tangled, an ever-moving sea of creatures and landscapes. It was full of beastly things and lilypads alike, a cacophony of creation. She had three eyes that glowed green as grass, bloody and beautiful in all that they saw. Her teeth were sharp as needles, stained with the raven-wine of those who would come after. She was splendid. She was beautiful.” 

“She was life itself.” 

“Okay, gayass.” Khr, ever the instigator, called to her across the circle. Artemis rolled her eyes and suppressed a chuckle.

“The Jade Sister,” she continued, “reached out to her Brother. Shaking, unsure, he took her hands in his - and the world went green. A verdant, endless green. Viridian and emerald as far as one could dream.

“And lying, hidden, at the center of this green expanse lay a secret. That which Brother Crimson had so desired to produce - life.” The forest around them seemed to sing a hymn of agreement as she spoke. The branches of the looming pines shifted and creaked, whispering the name of their creator. 

“Heat and Clockwork dried his tears and filled his lungs with feral joy - he knew in his heart that his creations would no longer be lifeless. Though the world was devoid except for them, the Crimson Brother would scream and cry for all the void to hear that he was no longer alone. Touched by his display, the Fern Mother held his hands in her own, gripping so tightly that her claws coaxed the wound-sea from his veins.

“Locked in an embrace, the Siblings danced upon the newly lush ground. With each step they took, a forest was brought to seed. With each note they sang, a field was grown to fruition. Before his Sister’s birth, the Blind Son thought he had known happiness - but as he leapt and twirled with the Witch he came to understand that it was nothing in the face of her smile.”

Khr hurled another jest, louder this time, but much the same.

“I have a girlfriend at home, Khr,” Artemis admonished. “I’ve no reason to go chasing after goddesses.” Bella let loose a mocking “Oooh!” in response, and he elbowed her with an embarrassed chuckle. 

“And so,” she continued, “The two waltzed their way to the heart of the earth, where the Forge lay empty.

“Frost and Frogs, all gleaming teeth, placed her hands onto the First Being. At her touch, it awoke - its ears and tail began to twitch, filled with the life that surrounded the Jade Sister. It bounced and leaped and jumped. The Siblings danced with their creation, their happiness burning brighter than the Forge could ever hope to be.

“It was from this immense jubilation that the Cobalt Brother was born. His siblings’ bliss was so powerful, so potent that it spat forth the god of Wind and Shade. Born of laughter, harlequin god, bringing joy to those who would gamble and hope.” As she spoke, the wind around them stirred, ruffling Artemis’ fur and scattering the lingering smoke from the now cooling embers.

“His visage is porcelain and pale; his eyes drip with black blood, thick with stars like the night sky. Like his sister, he is always smiling, though his teeth are far less terrifying than the Fern Mother’s maw. His arms are uncountable and many - each unseen and unknowable. In his left-most arm, he carries a hammer with which to shape the world. In his right-most, a mask, its face obscured. It is said that with it, he can assume the shape of any creature he should so choose.” 

“What the fuck…” muttered Merlin.

“The fuck indeed!” Artemis laughed. “The Trickster is the god of curses and profanity, in addition to his other domains.”

“A god for cursing, hm? I need one of those…” 

Artemis let a brief silence hang and then continued. “As they walked, the Motley Jester’s thoughts turned to mischief - born of laughter, he was predisposed. A dark grin festered behind his eyes - and with one swing of his hammer, the Son of the Tempest brought forth a mighty gale to set the world spinning.”

“The Heir’s joke completed, his siblings fell to the earth below as it began to spin beneath them. Slowly, but it did - they watched as the sun above them moved slowly to their West. Their creation was spinning, much to their chagrin - but they loved each other, and could not stay mad at their youngest Brother. They continued their walk to the Forge, excited to show the Motley Jester their playground.”

“Upon their arrival, he turned his attention to the First Being - now a stumbling, walking beast. Its claws were sharp as daggers, its fur dense as earth. A single entity, born of metal and fire, of life and verdance. The Trickster produced his signature leer, and wrest a mask from the void into one of his many arms. It was a perfect mockery of the creature's face, fine as silver and smooth as bone. Ensuring his Siblings were preoccupied with other parts of the Forge, Brother Cobalt fitted the mask upon the First Being’s face.

“It was from this perfect mask of porcelain that the First Being felt - was given the ability to form bonds, to experience emotions, just as its creators had done.” Artemis’ claws gleamed in the moonlight as she spoke, a deadly reflection of the First Being she described.

“The Siblings hollered with delight at their creation’s fate, a sweet song with which it joined in harmony. It was a joyous night, and the lush earth, spinning, living, and beautifully cratered, seemed to pulse with excitement. From the rich earth below, the Witch pulled woven cords to the surface. Her brothers wrapped them around rocks and trees, pulling them taut. It was then, the three Siblings acting in harmony, that the first Song was played.” Had any of her audience not been so enraptured with her words, they would have heard the dulcet tones of a soft-spoken tune in the distance.

“The Trickster played strings with his hammer by his side, striking deep notes in a flurry of exhilaration. His sister’s tones were more muted, though just as excitable. She plucked the strings with her long, clawed hands - careful not to tear them. The eldest brother, though slow to join his family, plucked and sang a melody. It was brash and loud, a flurry of notes that was perfect to the ear.

“From each string plucked, from each note coaxed, a new being was born unto the world. It is said that the songs made that day were the purest expressions of music, unmatched by any performer.” Vega gave Steve a warning look, to deter him from making an expected pompous comment regarding his playing skill.

“The Forge was alight with sparks and laughter, and the Siblings’ bonds grew stronger as they worked beside one another.” Her expression grew dark. “But - they worked too quickly. The world they had created was only so big, after all. And as they built a thousand creatures, they began to fill and fill the space that was left. They crowded the land, clawing at each other. Their claws and teeth, built for singing and creating, had become tools of violence.

“It was the screaming that alerted the Siblings to their creation’s plight. Screaming, endless screaming as they fought for space. The Siblings looked upon their earth in horror, in fear, of what they had done. Their world was suffering for their foolishness.

“Heat and Clockwork, the eldest of the three, knew what must be done. The other two, in the hearts, knew as well - though neither the Witch nor the Heir could bring themselves to do it.

“Foolish children that they were, their creations had not been designed to die - they could not kill each other. Their gods had cursed them to an endless cycle of suffering.” She paused, looking into her companion’s eyes. 

“Brother Cobalt would eventually decide their course of action. He looked into Heat and Clockwork’s scarlet-red eyes as he summoned a gust of air to smother the flames of his Brother’s Forge. The rich earth around them grew cold and empty, the blissful heat that emanated from the planet’s core now gone. The creatures stilled, the air devoid of the warmth that kept them moving.” Like the creatures she described, Artemis’ movements slowed and halted as she spoke, coming to a standstill. 

“The Siblings made a pact, there in the cold and silent Forge. They would not meet again, under any circumstance. Their love for each other was too strong - they would be unable to resist creating more things to fill the earth. Though the Jade Sister, giver of life, had tried to revoke it from her creations, she quickly discovered she was only able to give life, not take it away. Resolute in their decision, the Siblings, weary and heart-broken, pulled themselves away to the farthest corners of the earth.

“Time passed. The Siblings grew restless. Lonely, locked away by themselves for their selfishness. A deep sadness ran through them, and as a result, into the remains of their creations. For the first time in eons, the Forge sat empty, it’s bellows long since cold and forgotten. Lord Time tinkered by himself in his endless stone castles, building things that could not fulfill him. Space’s Beldam performed a joyless dance for the depleted world around her, it’s once vibrant colors dulled. Her footsteps no longer brought forth life - they left trails of a withering blight in their path. Breath’s Scion, the gleeful god, was the saddest of the three. He could not truly understand why they had separated, just that he was now alone.” Her eyes were cold. She was glad for the silence of the night around them.

“Frost and Frogs, born from an abundance of loneliness, collapsed onto the earth she had so loved. Her voice warbled from her vicious mouth, a sad, keening sound. It was high and sweet, carrying easily to the other Siblings. Hearing her mournful call, both Brothers joined her in the sound. It was a feral instinct, deep and instilled. And though they were leagues apart, their song was harmonious, clear as day.” The woods around her seemed to stop. Each member of her party stood in slack-jawed enchantment at her words.

“It is from this hopeless, despair-driven sound that the Violet Sister was born. Called from the same white void as her siblings, she was thrown forth from the emptiness. From her head sprout a pair of long, needle-thin horns. Her lavender skin is marked and scratched, places where her ebony-black blood drips in slow, rhythmic steps. Black twines of a shadow substance beyond mortal comprehension twist from her skin, enveloping her in an unknowable darkness of tentacles. She is the blind goddess, the Empty one, ruler of the creatures that lurk below, the end of life and the bringer of death.” Artemis took a breath. “She is the goddess of Light and Rain.”

“Piss!” cursed Steve, eyes wide with poorly masked fear. “You named this - this monster Light and Rain? What kind of a name is that?”

No longer content to let him disrespect her deities, Artemis squared her shoulders, bringing her up to her full height. The tallest of the party, Artemis was a fearsome sight. Her eyes and scales gleamed a menacing red in the firelight. When she pulled her lips back to reveal honed, gleaming teeth, it was enough to make anyone not used to her promptly shit their breeches. 

“Light and Rain is the goddess of the unseen, the otherworldly, and the unknown,” Artemis’ steel-sure voice was the only sound that could be heard over Steve’s ragged breathing. “I will make the place I dump your sorry excuse for a corpse very unknown if you call her a monster again.”

 Vega snickered from her comfortable place on the log. Anyone who had met Artemis for half a second knew she’d never actually act on that threat, especially not to Steve - the dorky kid she treated like one of her younger brothers. Despite the clear emptiness of her threat, it was enough to make Steve back down with a few mumbled apologies. Mollified, Artemis turned her gaze back to the rest of the party. She was close enough to the story’s end now that she was unconcerned with Steve’s ill-mannered words.

“Light and Rain, newly born into the dying world, cast her soothing gaze across the fractured land before her. Though she was young, her knowledge was vast. The Grim Seer gathered her elder siblings into her arms, pulling them together once more.

“Though Heat and Clockwork’s furnace-bound eyes burned through her, she continued. Though the needle-fine teeth of Frost and Frogs sunk into her skin, she persisted. Though Wind and Shade’s star-strewn tears burned like acid, she pursued. They held each other in an expression of the purest love, reunited and whole.

“The four held each other, crying. They sensed that with this newest addition, they were complete. Their struggle was over. No words needed to be spoken as they parted, smiles bittersweet and tears drying away. They looked at one another, then to Light and Rain. They knew what must be done.

“The Violet Sister’s horns crackled with dark, purple energy - and then with a flash of light as bright as their void, the world was clean. Her claws had flashed across the earth, quick as lightning. The First Beings were free of their chains of ill-begotten immortality. Light’s Mistress had granted their creations a most peculiar, but needed gift - the gift of death.” A light smile played on her lips. She was thoroughly enjoying the shocked faces of her party.

“It was known as the Scratch - it was the beginnings of our universe. Now mortal, the creations found peace in themselves - and the Siblings found peace in each other. And so, our world was born. The Catfolk, the First Beings, were the first to speak to their creators, spreading this truth to the other races.”

Artemis’s words were interrupted by an enormous yawn from none other than Khr - his arms stretched to the sky, claws curling inwards. “Sorry…” he murmured, eyes threatening to close.

“Well then,” chuckled Artemis. “I believe we’ll call it a night here.”

“What, no! We have to know more!” whined Merlin, now suddenly interested in the mythos. 

“Later, dear. Save it for the next campfire.” Her smile was genuine, and her eyes kind to reflect it. “You need to go to bed. We've got work to do tomorrow!” With that, the magic dissipated. It was clear the evening’s entertainment was over. She tutted and shushed her companions as she ushered them to their tents, wishing them a restful sleep. As she snuffed out the last of the fire with a kick of dirt, she chuckled to herself. Maybe her mother would be proud - stop calling her a heathen for not wanting to listen to the same tired stories. 

As she padded back to her tent, Artemis was treated with the passing conversation from another party member’s shelter. Though the voice was muffled, it’s high cadence could belong to none other than Bella.

“Catfolk are badass!”

[kaedeichinose]

hi janelle, do i remember right that you like otome games? please help me out i have an abundance of free time and im feeling so lonely i just need fictional characters to say they love me. what are the best ones you'd recommend?

hell yeah i do. ok so as a general rule, if you’re taking a chance go for something thats out on a real console (psp, vita, ps3/4) basically because theres a lot more random garbage on the mobile and steam fronts, and it’s not like there arent good ones but obviously the rate of trash to good is higher 

so heres a few of my most highly recommended:

Hakuoki: this is the most popular otome franchise in the west by far (even the non otome spinoff action game got localized. imagine) the most recent edition of the games in on vita (maybe steam? i havent checked) and its the combo of kyoto winds and edo blossoms. the reason theres two of them is because the game has SO MUCH CONTENT there was no way they could localize it as it was and possibly make a profit, so they ended up splitting it. Some people dislike the protag bc shes a little too yamato nadeshiko for their tastes but it never bugged me. it’s got a lot of action, historical intrigue, theres like? 13? romance candidates as of kw/eb so you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. plus, since so many version of hakuoki got localized the older versions tend to go on sale whenever aksys’ stuff is on sale so you can get one of the older version for real cheap if you wanna dip your toes.

Code Realize: this is probably my favorite otome game and one of my favorite vns in general. the art is gorgeous, the characters are so fleshed out and well developed (even the side characters), all the narratives whirl together with intrigue and drama and the protagonist has a lot of personality. Theres not a single character i dislike here. i think the ps4 version comes in a dual pack with future blessings, which is a direct sequel focusing on lovey-dovey marriage stuff with some more serious stories too. 

norn9: norn9 is really unique because it has three entirely different protags to play as, and each one has three different boys to pursue. this affords for them to have a lot of love interests while still keeping the MC’s arcs feeling fresh. theres one route i dont like but 8/9 aint bad! nice art, good writing, intriguing world building. fully recommend. 

anniversary no kuni no alice: so this ones pretty different in that its a doujin game that was never officially localized (ok, there was a mobile port that got released in the west but calling that a translation...... is generous) but the fantranslation finally got finished like? last year? recentlyish. despite its humble routes it made a huge splash in japan and is definitely genre defining. it also isnt as tender and sweet as some of the other games i listed, it fully embodies the charm of alice in wonderland where nearly everyone is an oddball whackjob/asshole (and dont worry, the protagonist can throw a punch) and has an old fashioned affection point and date system which make it feel really old school. its not an eroge but these characters absolutely fuck, which is nice if you want some self indulgent steamy stuff. that said i fully recommend opening up the debug menu and just slapping max affection on your chosen boy bc the low budget, slightly dated mechanics can be kind of a slog. theres also like a shit load of secret events that you need to monitor flags for so you might as well just save yourself the trouble and fudge the numbers a bit. and since the company that made it is fucking dead its 100% free! rad.

collarxmalice: this one is a bit weird bc im more recommending it for the story bc the romance elements didnt really do it for me? like full disclaimer this is a me problem, and even though the romance elements didnt click with me the routes are all still very well written (except.... for one.... who i was expecting to like the most..... aaaaaaaaaaaaa) . the heroine is a cop so shes very action focused and the game even forces you to do your own crime solving, and its easy but its still more immersive than a lot of other games try to be. it has a very strong story and aesthetic and even though it bounced off me im still looking forward to the fandisc releasing on switch so i still really enjoyed it. it was met with rave reviews and was even an office favorite of the translators working on it.

if youre still unsure i suggest just checking out which game has a cast you find appealing, theyre the main reason your here afterall 

[3416]

Hiya! Would you mind elaborating on your tags on that last post? What is it that carina said that would make it bad writing? I don’t have twitter or anything so I’m not in the loop on that stuff

hey there, anon! 

you’re really about to unleash a BEAST, and i already apologize in advance, but i’ve thought about a certain tweet pertaining to that line “it’s just him, you know? screws me up” ... maybe a little TOO much. and i’ve had lengthy discussions with lu @cosmicguerin about this, so some of this might be a nonsensical mix of her thoughts and mine. if you’re out of the twitter loop, i’m not sure if you’ve seen this yet, but i’ll post a link and pic for you here.

..... i think. before carina tweeted this, most of us had assumed michael meant something different with the way he said that line, and honestly, i might go so far to say that even vlamis might have played it off slightly different than what she’s saying. i didn’t really feel.... it even fit his character if we’re being honest, and that’s why i’m calling it bad writing , in my humble and uninformed opinion lbr. because michael guerin up to this point hasn’t really exhibited this . hatred of himself or who he is. honestly? if anything i’d say he’s more mad that other people can’t accept him. he’s dealt with his fair share of trauma, and so i can’t just totally write that line off in my head because yeah , maybe there’s still some internalized homophobia i guess, but listen. he’s a god damn ALIEN. if you think he’s drawing the line at falling in love with a guy, well then. i don’t even know. he really was ready to let isobel walk in on him and alex in episode T H R E E, so please tell me how that’s really... being scared of his siblings reactions to him being something other than straight. so for him to go from that supposedly self deprecating line that marks a “glitch in his straightness” to openly admitting he’s bisexual to isobel with seemingly no hesitance is......... odd to me. especially in a pretty short amount of time. even with the six random weeks thrown in the middle. if he thought max was going to get dodgy with him because he’s bi,,, why would he be so open to isobel? they were raised... under the same household.... and they too have weirder personal identifiers than smth do with sexuality (they’re a l i e n s). and.... if you look back at high school.... i mean, i don’t think michael’s ever thought that was wrong? it took him ONE day and a talk from max to get over his bi panic and kiss alex in the museum. and yeah, jesse smashed his hand for sleeping with his son, but he’s sadly........ been through so much even before that point in his life, that i just. i don’t know. i don’t see that one event changing the entire way he views his own sexuality when he went in knowing alex’s dad was literal piece of shit. ...... i think michael guerin’s character just doesn’t strike me as a guy who hates himself and what he is..... he hates that he feels like he’s not at home where he is, and he’s looking to find a place where he feels like he fits,,, not trying to change himself to fit his own current surroundings. that tweet itself STILL nags at me daily, i swear, but i just don’t think his character arc needed that lil tidbit... like on top of everything else. if that’s really what he meant by the line “it’s just him, you know? screws me up”,,,, then it feels . idk, just meh. i was looking forward to seeing a bi character like. own their bisexuality in a way. he’s got that cool and collected manner about him, and i think,,, if they were going to do this whole internalized ,, hating yourself type shit ,,, there should be more about it then, and not just throwaway lines like that that the majority seemingly interprets a complete different way than intended. that’s all i mean by . bad writing.

anyway i really ran out of steam at the end, i have a lot more thoughts, but i just got home, and i’m tired.... i can easily rant some more if provoked, but.... i’d love to hear opinions on thisfdkls.. it was a source of debate and heat when it surfaced a couple weeks ago. 

[your-dietician]

NBA Draft Profile: Michigan State’s Aaron Henry

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nba/nba-draft-profile-michigan-states-aaron-henry/

NBA Draft Profile: Michigan State’s Aaron Henry

Here we are a year later and Michigan State’s Aaron Henry finds himself on the precipice of his NBA career. Where last year I had some questions and ultimately predicted that he would return for his junior season, this year there is zero doubt in my mind that he is more than ready to have a terrific NBA career and to be a rotation-level player right away.

NBA scouting report for Aaron Henry

General info and initial scout:

Height: 6’6” (in shoes) Weight: ~210 pounds Date Of Birth: August 30, 1999 (~22 years old and one month at the start of 2020-21 NBA season).

Official measurements (NBA Draft Combine):

Height: 6’4.5” without shoes, 6’6” in shoes

Wingspan: 6’10.75” (nearly plus-five inches)

Standing Reach: 8’7.5”

Standing Vertical: 29”

Max Vertical: 35”

(Note: you can check out all of Henry’s NBA Draft Combine numbers here)

Henry improved significantly as an athlete this past year — showing better leg strength and explosion than he displayed as a sophomore. He has NBA-level athleticism, solid, positional strength, and can hold up against bigs, but that is not a strength at this point. Henry still shows the very quick feet and excellent technique both in his slide and drop-step and in his turn-and-run that he did last season. He continues to show an excellent understanding of when to use which technique on defense, he gets skinny over picks, and is good in trailing around screens.

My critique of Henry previously was his tendency to float through games, or get mentally knocked out of games due to foul trouble. That critique is no longer remotely applicable. This past season, Henry played on a truly bad team by Michigan State standards: this was the worst Tom Izzo-led Michigan State team since his second season at Michigan State and the only Izzo-led team in the Kenpom era to rank lower than No. 45 (the team finished No. 64!). Henry was the alpha all season long and, in the second half of the season, single-handedly (at times) dragged and willed the team into the NCAA Tournament. With no other shot-creators, terrible point guard-play, woeful three-point shooting around him, and generally poor defensive contributions from players other than Marcus Bingham Jr., Henry was the offensive focal point all year and played engaged basketball all season (bar a couple of blowout losses after the team returned from its two-plus week COVID pause).

Henry projects as a rare plus on-ball defender at the next level — even more so than he did last year. He has terrific feet, hands, length, timing, and understands when and where to use his physicality. There were games that Henry simply dominated on the defensive end where he improved his steal and block percentages to 2.4 and 4.1, respectively. He proves adept at reading the game, understanding other teams’ actions, and blowing up plays on-ball and off-ball. This will be his calling card initially as a professional.

His shooting form has improved significantly since the end of his junior season:

He is much smoother and has a more natural dip and release from behind the three-point line in this catch-and-shoot drill from the combine, a smoothness that he already had (all season) off the dribble in the mid-range. Despite his guide-hand looking a little funky, it appropriately does not influence the ball; this is a replicable form for catch-and-shoot situations in the NBA where teams will initially, at least, shade off of Henry until he shows he can hit three-pointers (and even then Henry will likely be low on the scouting report).

Henry’s shot is far from broken; in fact, there is strong statistical evidence to pair with this improved visual data that indicates that Henry will be an at-least-average three-point shooter for his position (i.e. that he will get to around 35 percent as a professional).

Henry’s off-the-dribble creation improved dramatically this season (evoking his high school years where he played as a point-forward). Often going against set-defenses, Henry proved able to beat players off-the-dribble, and to slash off of catches and curls from the wing.

Henry remains an excellent and confident finisher with both hands on a variety of reverses, off-foot finishes, push shots, tear-drops, and hooks. Significantly, Henry also showed the ability to play off of two-feet and off of one-foot in the paint — an athletic dynamism that is important in the NBA. Henry had 10 dunks this year (on 13 attempts), but he continues to finish well around the rim when he isn’t dropping off passes, which is one of his underrated skills: for his entire college career Henry has been a terrific paint-area passer through and around help— and this will really maximize his NBA role as a secondary creator and paint-breaker (see below).

When he runs the wing Henry is a terrific transition player: he reads the court well, understands best angles to attack, and finds open teammates on the perimeter, but this year Henry was often the one bringing the ball up the court or having to work with a delayed break (due to the point guard struggles on the team). I expect him to be a potent transition player and finisher in the NBA in a call-back to his first two seasons at Michigan State. While Henry’s free-throw rate still leaves a bit to be desired, he does not rely on free-throw generation the way some college stars do, which will benefit him in the much more physical NBA, where he will not get a lot of calls.

In his junior year, Henry stepped into a much bigger role this year than was anticipated, as evidenced by his massive leap in usage and the percentage of shots he took while on the court (in his second and third years Henry’s usage, role, and minutes-played took huge leaps each season, a strong indicator that he can handle and even thrive in a bigger role as a more veteran NBA wing — a not-insignificant consideration).

By the end of his junior year he was playing his best basketball on both ends of the court and finished the year as one of the most impressive juniors to ever play for Tom Izzo. Henry remains very smart, very engaging, cerebral, humble, and highly teachable, but, as noted earlier, he developed an absolute killer-edge and alpha mentality this year.

After this past season, Henry’s ball-handling and individual shot-creation and finishing (in the mid-range and at the rim) should put NBA teams on notice. In fact, Henry finished as a top-five mid-range shooter in the entire nation (see below) an extremely valuable long-term proficiency as Henry’s three-point shooting begins to percolate, and as his creation role and finishing acumen lead teams to encourage mid-range shots from him even more.

Henry’s strength, length, quickness, and explosion are all at-least-average in the NBA, if not genuine positives (his length — nearly a plus-five wingspan — and lateral quickness — he should test very well in the athleticism drills at the combine — are real selling points). And, with his “killer” mentality secured this season, the only actual weakness that I still have for Henry is his three-point shooting — an important weakness, but not a fatal one, nor one that should scare NBA teams away given some positive indicators: his impressive second-half-of-the-year shooting (see below), steady free-throw shooting improvement, and excellent form and comfort on mid-range shots.

Statistical profile:

Aaron Henry. Three-year detail

Barttorvik.com

Note: the impressive step-function increase in Henry’s usage, assist rate, and free-throw percentage. Also of note: Henry finally “putting-it-all-together” on defense this season; on a poor defensive team, generally, Henry posted terrific block and steal percentages.

Aaron Henry. 2020-21 shooting statistics

Barttorvik.com

After a more quiet year last year in terms of dunks, Henry amped up his transition dunks and landed (and attempted) far more dunks in the half-court (almost all off of one foot; to complement his jump-stop finishing). Henry’s self-creation and efficiency at the rim and in the mid-range is impressive, particularly considering the awful spacing he had to deal with.

While the three-point percentage looks ugly on its face — especially given Henry’s solid 35.6 percent mark over his first two seasons (129 attempts) — the granular detail of Henry’s shooting season tells a far different story. In non-conference play, adjusting to the absence of fans, a new, much-larger role, an unexpectedly bad team, and dire shot-quality due to poor point guard-play, Henry started the year making just six of 26 shots from three-point range (23 percent). But over the rest of the season, Henry shot 18-of-55 from three point range, for 32.7 percent from beyond the arc. In fact, in the second half of the year (from the Iowa game onwards; i.e. the last 14 games of the season) Henry shot 15-of-38 from three-point range, for a superb 39.5 percent — while maintaining a high degree of shot-difficulty.

Henry’s selling points on offense:

Passing: Henry is a terrific passer, particularly in tight-quarters and in-and-around the painted area. If a big is open near the rim Henry will make the right pass and get the big-man an easy dunk — he is a willing and capable passer.

Creation: this past season, Henry’s self-creation and creation for others was a revelation, and he produced excellent looks out of the pick-and-roll as well. On a bad team that did not generate high quality shots, Henry was at the heart of almost all of the good things that did happen on offense. His ability to beat his man off the dribble using complex cross-over combinations, hesitations, spins, and aggressive jump-stops won Michigan State games to the extent that Henry became a go-to a drought-breaker and closer (see his 10-straight clutch-points against Indiana down the stretch of that must-win game) even in the face of intense defensive attention.

Mid-range and paint-scoring: Henry’s mid-range output (roughly six mid-range attempts per game at 46 percent) is in the same range as guys like Khris Middleton, Jamal Murray, and Jeremy Lamb (current NBA players) — I am not saying he will be those guys, but from a mid-range scoring perspective he is not dissimilar coming out of college, and, in fact, is a better mid-range shooter than those players were in college.

Highlights:

There are not a lot of prospects with a more impressive set of highlights in terms of winning basketball, variety, and ability to produce smart basketball plays despite a high degree of difficulty or pressure. Henry’s smooth handle (much improved from his sophomore year), calm under-pressure, and keen awareness of time, score, and personnel saved Michigan State’s season, and indicates that Henry will thrive as a secondary creator, paint-player, and primary wing-defender.

Henry’s point-of-attack defense and help defense (in terms of his help-awareness and positioning, timing of his rotations, and completing of plays) really pop in this film where he stifles nearly every player he guards. Take a look at this play against prospective first-round pick Ayo Dosunmu:

Aaron Henry on-ball defense: just devouring Ayo Dosunmu, going to his left. Rugged at the point of attack, quick feet/fluid hips. Glides over screens. pic.twitter.com/elSKTrtP4c

— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) May 14, 2021

Henry’s defense is a real weapon, and while many NBA evaluators may not value it, his offensive game also pops on the film, too.

While Henry is not a lottery-level offensive creator, he really is not that far off: on a team with negative spacing, and often lacking any semblance of rhythm, Henry’s ability to generate shots for himself and his teammates was pretty incredible in the half-court. Take the second Indiana game, at home, for example. You can see a series of highlights from that game in the above videos, but some context is required.

Both teams were fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives, and Indiana’s entire defense was focused on stopping Henry after he destroyed them in Bloomington in the first matchup. In the first half, the Hoosiers bottled him up pretty successfully, holding Henry to four points. In the second half, Henry scored 18. With Michigan State down 49-48, with 4:35 left in the game, Henry scored 12 straight points (from all three-levels), grabbed an offensive rebound (for a put-back), had a crucial steal, and a defensive-possession-ending rebound, to put Michigan State up 60-52 with, 25 seconds left in the game. He dominated the game and there was nothing Indiana (with the No. 43 defense in the nation, per Kenpom) could do to stop him.

This same story played out in all five of the season-defining wins against Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Indiana, and Michigan — these high-level teams, two of them with excellent defenses (defensive ranks of No. 43, No. 7, No. 82, No. 43, and No. 4, respectively) were geared toward thwarting Henry, and simply could not keep him out of the lane, or off of the scoresheet as he put up 27 points and two assists, 20 points and five assists, 18 points and four assists, 22 points and five assists, and 18 points and three assists in those five season-defining wins.

Henry’s feel for the game and the rhythm of opposing defenses is superb, and while he did at times struggle with getting stripped (often getting raked across the arms) on drives into traffic, the NBA game and spacing will benefit him tremendously in this respect. Like Miles Bridges a few years ago, Henry’s game will absolutely thrive in the NBA where defenses are stretched, driving lanes are wider, teams are not putting their best defenders on him and not helping towards him, and his passing awareness and skill will punish teams that do help on his drives and curls.

In the second part of my discussion of Aaron Henry as an NBA prospect, I will dive into some more granular player comparisons and show why Henry is such a unique prospect as a point-wing whose role, usage, creation, defense, and two-way excellence place him in a tier of his own making. Part two will also include a discussion of his NBA role and his potential “fits” for teams. Be on the lookout for that article soon.

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[youngonescast]

The Case For: Natasha Irons

Carefree Black Girl? Check. Technological Genius? Check. Legacy Heritage? Check. Look, Black Panther is a breakout hit smashing all kinds of records right now, people are chomping at the bit for more, and Shuri was a breakout character. Black Lightning is so lit that’s the hashtag. Moon Girl has so much heat they are making a TV show about her. Smart, charming, and heroic, seems to be recipe for success. The moment is right to center one of the least exposed Superman Family member: Natasha Irons, niece of the black Superman, Steel.

To call Natasha’s origins humble is both an over and understatement. Created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove her heroic pedigree is spotless. The book she first appeared in, Steel, was a jumble of an uncomfortable black family pastiche written under the pen of two obviously white creators. It was a different time, of course, back in 1994 and the lurid nature of inner city gang violence was the perfect place to pitch the tent of a reformed arms designer John Henry Irons. During this period Natasha served as Damsel, Ingenue, and Supporting Cast to her Uncle. For better or for worse, when Christopher Priest took over the book the majority of the work Simonson had put into her characterization was lost but replaced with a recognizably authentic voice and a date with Superboy. There was a major milestone in Natasha’s career during this time, however, her first outing in the Steel suit.

Natasha would finally come into her own as an inventor, hacker, and engineer in Superman: Man of Steel #97-134, including spending some time as a technopath conduit for Brainiac 13, but it wouldn’t be till 2003 till Natasha would get her own suit and take up the legacy name of Steel in Action Comics #806. There she would engage in a Supergirl Team-Up to save Superman from a Pregnant Magical Revenge Ninja with the help of Traci 13, an urban magician and ally to Superman, and Cir-El the time displaced Girl of Tomorrow. Natasha’s extremely smart looking Art Deco suit and hammer could grow and shrink, maxing out at about 60 feet tall, a power that has inexplicably been lost since.

However, from her introduction story she would have very few appearances on page till, in 2006, the weekly series 52 would see her stripped of her armor. No longer Steel she joined Lex Luthor’s Everyman Project and was granted a package of powers by metagene treatment. Despite having a storyline of her own in 52 her time as the Infinity Inc. hero Starlight would be short lived being depowered by the end of the weekly series’ run, as would her tenure as Vaporlock from the next incarnation of that same team. Natasha could not catch a break. Then came The New 52, a continuity wide reboot, from which she would be absent until the Rebirth book Superwoman.

Superwoman centered on Lana Lang who was dating John Henry Irons, so naturally Natasha was a member of the supporting cast. Now dating Traci 13, Natasha was called out repeatedly as the hope of the group, bravery incarnate. Without a codename of her own she joined the fray against Lena Luthor’s Bizzaro Superwoman clones and was injured. Once again relegated to a back seat role for a while she did notably design Lana a suit to augment and at one point replace Lana’s powers. Still shown as an inexperienced teen hero with a heart larger than her hammer, while she did not have much of a character arc of her own this final and most recent arc provides the greatest argument that she deserves to get another turn in the spotlight. Because when she does get a chance to shine she’s a dazzling character. Full of life, courage, determination, and the drive to do what she feels is right. She has that pure strain of heroism, untouched by the cynicism of her Christopher Priest incarnation, that brings joy and delight. Not to mention her seriously excellent character designs and great action moments in the course of her 24 year history.

With the flexibility of Rebirth an update to the history and the future of the Irons family is in order. All of the ingredients are in place already. The character has a clear legacy, heroing intent, and plenty of room for character growth and exploration. The only thing that needs to happen now is for there to be a reason for Natasha to take up the ‘S’ and either strike out on her own or join a group where she is more likely to have the kinds of stories that center her as a character. There is no reason to keep sidelining this incredible black girl and have her story continue to come in second place to the needs of other Superfamily members. Similarly, there is no reason to keep sidelining the excellent talents of black women writers in comics. I can think of no better place to start than a story that has all the hallmarks of success.

Find out more about teen superheroes in our podcast Here.

Or at any of the places you may already listen to podcasts: Apple Podcasts Google Play Stitcher

Written by Everett Christensen, Young One’s Lead Editor

Action Comics v1 #806-807 W:Joe Kelly, P:Pascal Ferry, Karl Kerschl, I:Cam Smith, Karl Kerschl, C:Guy Major

Action Comics v1 #818 W:Chuck Austen, P:Ivan Reis, I:Marc Campos, C:Guy Major

Steel #36 W:Christopher Priest, P:Denys Cowan, I:Tom Palmer, C:Stuart Chaifetz, L:Pat Brosseau

Superwoman #5 W/P:Phil Jimenez, I:Matt Santorelli, C:Jeromy Cox, Tony Avina, L:Rob Leigh

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Animage June 2013 Kobayashi Yuu & Oohara Takashi Interview

Full scans can be found here: http://inazuma.pmsinfirm.org/?p=317

Animage June 2013: Highlight: Grand Prix Kobayashi Yuu (Kirino Ranmaru) and Oohara Takashi (Tsurugi Kyousuke) Interview

Translator’s Notes: THIS is the extent of Inazuma’s popularity in Japan! First place for three years in a row in one of the biggest anime magazines, Animage, not to mention a song from the anime being displayed on a huge screen in Shibuya! I’ve seen them – those screens are massive and I can’t believe IE GO was playing on one! Ares, I eagerly await you. Make my boys popular again~

Regarding the voting method for The 35th Anime Grand Prix: The target of the votes cast were characters who appeared from December 2012 - November 2012 (excluding flashback episodes). This includes Inazuma Eleven GO, Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stone, and Inazuma Eleven GO The Movie Kyuukyoku no Kizuna Gryphon, but all votes for characters that appear in more than one series were added together.

Like a Gallant Flower

Male Character Division First Place

Kirino Ranmaru

Raimon Junior Second Year/ DF Shirt Number 3

A humble boy who contributes to the team with his common sense. It’s a shame he was separated from the main characters in the new series. His gorgeous Keshin Armed form can be seen on page 26.

Flowers Bloom!

Since both winners of the male and female division have flower-based names, we decided on a flower theme feature this month!

BIG NEWS

In response to fans’ ranking of all Inazuma characters!, we can announce a project to turn the most popular characters into figures! For more information, please see page 15.

Male Character Division Second Place

Tsurugi Kyousuke

Raimon Junior First Year/ FW Shirt Number 10

The strong, silent type. He’s usually cool, but when he makes a special move his cry stands out with passion. Be it Keshin Armed, regular clothes, or French armour - any style seems to suit him well.

BACKSTAGE

Kobayashi Yuu

Since Kobayashi-san is used to taking many kinds of photos, even though it was her first time to use a bangasa (oil paper umbrella), as expected she looks wonderful with it~ By the way, the bouquet of flowers on the first page is, naturally, a bouquet of orchids – Ranmaru’s flower. ‘You made your Mom proud. Thank you!’ she said with a smile as bright as a bouquet of flowers~

Oohara Takashi

Oohara-san confessed nervously that he was not used to taking photos ‘It’s my weak point, so I’m really sorry,’. Not to mention, taking a photo alongside Kobayashi-san - ‘Taking a photo with a professional model – this kind of pressure is no joke!’. Don’t worry, you look really cool, Oohara-san~

Thanks to Inazuma Eleven Fans’ passion, it’s a third consecutive victory for Inazuma!

Inazuma Eleven GO took first place in our Anime Grand Prix. Congratulations on your 3rd consecutive victory!

Oohara/ Kobayashi: Amazing! Thank you so much!

First of all, since Kirino Ranmaru took 1st Place, and Tsurugi Kyousuke took 3rd place in the male character division, please share a few words about your victory.

Kobayashi: As with last year, to receive this title is a huge honour and I’m deeply moved. Since I have the wonderful opportunity to play Ranmaru-san, I want to congratulate him! And I also want to thank everyone who voted for him!

Oohara: Putting the fact that he was up against so many great characters aside, I was surprised Tsurugi came third. I really want to express my thanks. I really believe that it’s all thanks to everyone’s support that Tsurugi was able to come this far.

In addition, Tsurugi, Tenma and Aoi’s character song ‘Te Wo Tsunagou’ won first place in the anime song division.

Both: Ooh! (Applause)

Oohara: That was unexpected (laughs). But to be honest, I was really pleased with Tsurugi’s ‘Darou?’. I have a feeling I won’t get another chance in my life to say a better ‘darou?’ than that… Ahh, I got a little carried away.

Kobayashi: Get carried away!

Oohara: No, it’s all thanks to KMC-san (T-Pistonz + KMC) - it was their idea when they wrote the lyrics. I’m really happy that I got to sing with Tenma and Aoi-chan. Thank you so much.

Next, while we call out a few of the top places in each division, let’s look back over the past few years. Second place in the TV Show division was episode 24 ‘Chikai wa kono Kata no moto ni’, the last episode of the Medieval France arc.

Kobayashi: I remember those few episodes well. Even just hearing the word ‘Kata’ (flag) brings back memories. Ranmaru-san was troubled over what kind of role he played for the team, felt some jealousy towards Shindou-san, and after all that thanks to Kariya pushing him forward he was able to travel to Medieval France. I thought together with Ranmaru-san about what kind of role he should play to benefit the team to the best of his ability. I was also moved by Ranmaru-san supported Jeanne-san with those words of encouragement. I thought he was speaking to himself too with those words.

What did you think of his Mixi Max with Jeanne?

Kobayashi: His hair suddenly grew longer, and he wore glasses; it was really beautiful. I wanted to congratulate Ranmaru-san on his full-body transformation.

Oohara: Chrono Stone episode 21 is a top contender for one of my favourite episodes too.

Kobayashi: Oh, thank you!

Oohara: The catalyst for everyone’s Mixi Max is different for each person, but in Kirino-san’s case, he first had to accept himself - he supported Jeanne with his words of encouragement ‘If I can do it, so can you!’. Then it happened all of a sudden. I also like the words Kirino-san said just after he summoned his keshin Brynhildr. ‘My role isn’t to stand at the front line. In order for Shindou and everyone else to focus on attacking, my job is to support everyone!” is what he said.

Kobayashi: That’s it exactly! Thank you for remembering!

Oohara: It made me think that apart from participating in the heart of the battle, it also takes strength to encourage and protect.

Kobayashi: Listening to Oohara-san talk about it now makes me think that everyone in the Raimon Eleven also feels that Ranmaru-san is looking out for them. They know that in a team people who defend are just as essential as people who attack.

To continue, 3rd place was Inazuma Eleven GO episode 44 ‘Ten made Todoke! Minna no sakka!!’, the climax of the first series.

Kobayashi: Fire Tornado DD was so cool!

Oohara: They finally mastered it! That’s how I felt. Could you say it was the showpiece of the first series? After winning the tournament, Tenma says ‘Soccer is definitely happy too. Right, Tsurugi?’ and Tsurugi replies ‘Don’t ask me!’ but in reality I really liked that conversation.

From Oohara-san’s point of view, how was the young Tsurugi that Kobayashi-san played?

Oohara: If you take away Tsurugi’s thorniness, he becomes a very honest child. I thought it was wonderful. Especially the scene where he cries out ‘Nii-chan not being able to play soccer any more is a lie, right??’ - I was really moved. Back then, before we recorded, Kobayashi-san came to me and said very politely ‘This time I’ll be playing young Tsurugi. Thank you for the honor,’. Actually, I should be the one saying thank you! (laughs)

Kobayashi: It was a great honour.

Oohara: Naturally I did kind of want to try playing young Tsurugi too, but I think I couldn’t beat Kobayashi-san’s performance.

Speaking of Tsurugi, he’s had a pretty rough life. He underwent Spartan-style training on a solitary island at distant sea.

Kobayashi: That’s one of Tsurugi’s attractive points, that there’s a lot to him. And when he’s crying out the name of his special moves, it looks really cool. Even though he’s normally calm and composed, he suddenly bursts into blue flames. It always makes me think, ‘how wonderful!’ after recording!

Kirino’s development happened thanks to Kariya nonchalantly pushing him forward.

To continue, in fourth place was episode 29 ‘Jidai o tsukuru otoko tachi’.

Oohara: That’s the episode Tsurugi Mixi Maxed with Okita-san. I was interested in how Tsurugi would persuade Okita-san, but it was more to do with his actions and behavior rather than persuading him with words. I thought that was very Tsurugi-ish.

Kobayashi: Tsurugi is always calm, and everyone watches him from behind, while he tells things like it is. He’s quite intellectual. That episode showed another side to him too. Okita-san might have reminded him of his brother, Yuuichi-san~

Oohara: His brother being in hospital has taken his toll on him.

Kobayashi: I think that’s understandable.

Oohara: Oh, thankfully Nishiki-san and Sakamoto-san also Mixi Maxed. Since they have the same first name, when Nishiki-san Mixi Maxed I thought it was amusing that he said Sakamoto’s full name - ‘Mixi Max - Sakamoto Ryouma!’. I also like the relationship between Zanark and Nishiki. Since the ending was a little bit rushed, I wanted to see more.

Fifth place was episode 18 ‘Minna ga kaettekita!’, the episode where Kinako and Zanark appears and there’s quite a bit of drama.

Oohara: The one where Kurama-san used ‘Winder while wearing his casual clothes. Against some delinquents.

Kobayashi: That’s right, a casual-clothes Sidewinder. There was many different scenes of many differents places in that episode. I was happy about that. Stuff that hasn’t appeared yet in the main story. Even though every character has surely got their own lives, we could only imagine what they’re doing in their personal time so far.

That episode became a turning point for Kirino.

Kobayashi: Ranmaru-san started to show he’s worrying over Shindou-san. Since these feelings are a delicate part of Ranmaru-san’s heart, I tried my very best to portray that was gently as possible. But Kariya-san, with those wonderfully sharp eyes of his, notice Ranmaru-san worrying and reached out to him. I was really glad.

Oohara: Kariya’s developed quite a bit, in these surroundings.

Kobayashi: He has. He went as far as to feign a stomach ache and gave up his place to Ranmaru-san for the Time Jump, since there was a limit. Even the way he talked to Ranmaru-san about it was very Kariya-san-ish. He read Ranmaru-san’s mind. Ranmaru-san, you really owe Kariya-san one!

Oohara: Since we haven’t really seen such a human-like drama like this before, I was happy. I thought it was very tenacious.

In the new series, the troubles continue for our Playmaker!

Now we’d like to ask about what you think of the male character division. Following Kirino, Tsurugi and Kariya, Shindou took 9th place.

Oohara: As always, Shindou-san had a year full of worries (dry laugh). Since he had the best view of everyone’s individual situations, I felt it was expected of him to worry so much but he’s gone through a lot.

Kobayashi: Yes, in the new series too he’s also put through a lot of trouble…

Oohara: Soon enough, there’s going to be a hole in his heart with worry.

Kobayashi: Oh no! We need to take care of him. Ranmaru-san, I definitely want you to escort him if he needs to go to hospital! In the last series when Shindou had to go to the infirmary, Ranmaru-san escorted him there!

When Shindou was Captain of El Dorado Team 02, that was also pretty tough.

Oohara: Out of al three teams, I think Shindou got the worst deal (laughs).

At that time, Kariya was bickering with Beta and started running wildly.

Kobayashi: If Ranmaru-san was there in that situation, I think he’d definitely scold Kariya-san. While I think his mischievousness is one of Kariya’s attractive points, it was just too much for Shindou-san at that time! (laughs)

Kobayashi-san, you’re still a huge Shindou fan like always?

Kobayashi: Yes, I love him! As Tenma-san adapts to being Captain, Shindou-san supports him and looks out for the team. He’s really a person that all the members can rely on! A big part of why I love him is also because of Saiga Mitsuki-san (Shindou’s voice actor).

Oohara: Oh yeah.

Kobayashi: Saiga-san also really looks after everyone after we finish recording. She’s a kind and wonderful person.

When Kirino was watching El Dorado Team 2’s match who was constantly muttering to himself ‘Shindou, Shindou…’

Kobayashi: Yes!

Oohara: In the original script he said ‘Now of all times I can’t be by Shindou’s side…’

Kobayashi: That’s right, he did!

Oohara: I thought ‘Oh, that’s a very typical thing of Kirino-san to say!’ but in the final version it was omitted.

But even without him saying it, the viewers could definitely understand it’s what he was thinking. (laughs)

Kobayashi: But I really, really wanted to say that line so it’s a pity! That’s what I really thought Ranmaru-san felt, from the bottom of my heart. His was urging Shindou-san on with his gaze alone.

Oohara: Kirino-san and Shindou-san have a bond of trust so deep that it would make you jealous. You can really feel those two support each other together. I want to see them together when they were younger. I wonder how they met?

Kobayashi: Me too, I want to see that too! Of course, I’d also like to see more about Tsurugi-san and his brother. I think their relationship as brothers is great.

Since Kobayashi-san is an only child it seems like you admire sibling relationships.

Kobayashi: I do!

Oohara: I wanted a younger sister (laughs).

Kobayashi: I like Oohara-san’s older sister a lot!

Okay then, Oohara-san – out of Kinako (Female Character Division 1st Place) and Beta (same division 3rd place), who would you prefer to have as a younger sister?

Oohara: Kinako!

Kobayashi: That was a quick reply!

Oohara: What I like about Kinako is that she’s so innocent and she really thinks about the feelings of everyone around her, and is kind to everyone. It left a big impression on me when such a cheerful kid like her joined the story during such a difficult time for the Raimon members.

Kobayashi: Her first appearance was funny too. She was wearing the number 10 uniform.

Oohara: Tsurugi lost it to her in a shoot off.

Kobayashi: I’d like to see that story drawn one day. Kinako-san’s Mochi Mochi Kinako Mochi looks delicious. I want to eat it!

Oohara: As for Beta on the other hand, her cuteness and her brutality are two sides of the same coin – I think I like that. She’s a little bit scary, but it’s quite realistic. It’s refreshing to see her voice actor change her voice from sweet to scary in an instant.

Kobayashi: Beta-san makes me a little bit nervous.

Oohara-san and Kobayashi-san’s personal Anime Grand Prix are?

So, we’d like to hear about your personal choices out of Inazuma for the Anime Grand Prix.

Oohara: Out of the TV series, if I look from Tsurugi’s point of view, it’s Inazuma Eleven GO episode 41 ‘Kessen! Amano Mikado Stadium!’.

The one where you practice Fire Tornedo DD.

Oohara: Tsurugi said to Tenma ‘You showed me how soccer should be played,’. They’ve come this far and he was able to express his feelings in words to Tenma. Therefore, I think it was a very important scene. Of course, there are a lot of episodes that I really like, but for Tsurugi episode 41 is unforgettable.

As for the Male Character Division?

Oohara: I wish I could say Sangoku, but (laughs) I’ll have to go with Tenma. If it wasn’t for Tenma, I don’t think Tsurugi could have played real soccer again, nor could he have made such good friends and even his relationship with his brother might have become strained. Tsurugi is who he is today mostly because of Tenma.

You always say you like Sangoku, but what is it about him that you like?Oohara: He was cool from his very first line! I thought his conversation with Shindou-san was really cool. Didn’t you feel it?

Kobayashi: I felt it! The whole team loves Sangoku-san. The time he invited Tenma-san to his house and made roll cabbage for him – I get the feeling whatever he served would have been delicious.

Oohara: All in all, I think he’s a good man, with a good balance.

Kobayashi: When he entrusted the goalkeeper position to Shinsuke too, that was very masculine. No matter how many goals are scored he stays optimistic.

Oohara: He keeps standing up again and again. He doesn’t get discouraged! (laughs)

When Sangoku-san speaks, everyone becomes roused up (laughs). To continue, your second-place character.

Oohara: My favourite female character is Kinako-chan. I was happy when she gave Tsurugi candy. He was standing a little bit further away from everyone, so she took the time to go over to him and he said the candy was ‘Umai’ (*delicious – masculine version) (laughs). In the Anime Song Division, I liked the movie version of the song ‘Niji o Koete Ten Made Todoke!’. I always liked Ten Made Todoke, and Terasaki Yuuka-san (Tenma’s voice actor) said that this song has the power to bring tears to your eyes. You can really feel the characters power up. And in the opening, they literally soar to the heavens and fly through space (laughs).

Kobayashi-san, it’s your turn.

Kobayashi: It’s so hard to pick a favourite episode from the TV series… From Ranmaru-san’s point of view, the Medieval France arc, episodes 18 – 21. In those four episodes I became completely absorbed in playing him. Especially in the last episode, 21, since Ranmaru-san was helping Jeanne-san and everyone else it was very moving. As for the male character section… I gotta pick the whole team!

Oohara: Huh, you can do that? I should have said that too! (laughs)

You feel like you can’t pick just one?

Kobayashi: I just really like everyone! Shindou-san, Kariya-san, and of course Tsurugi-san and Tenma-san. So please let me pick everyone! What should I say for the Female Character Division? I really like Kinako-san and all of the managers, but I think I’ll go with Jeanne-san. She made Ranmaru-san’s heart stronger.

Finally, the Anime Song Division – the ending theme Kirino sang ‘Bokutachi no Shiro’ was left out of the vote ranking this time.

Kobayashi: In the TV series, Bokutachi no Shiro was a duet between Tenma-san and Tsurugi-san – it was wonderful~ Everyone please vote for it next year! Okay, I pick ‘Te o Tsunagou’. I thought it was a wonderful song, like something they’d sing at a get-together or party. It was refreshing to see everyone wearing headbands, and you get the feeling that anything is possible. I once saw that ending displayed on a big screen in Shibuya.

Oohara: Seriously??

Kobayashi: Yes! I just happened to be walking through the street and by chance I saw it playing on the big screen. I was really moved. So it’s left a deep impression on me.

So Tsurugi’s ‘Darou?’ rang out for all of Shibuya to hear?

Kobayashi: Yes~ Tsurgugi-san, you were so cool~

Does Kirino appear in Galaxy?

Finally, let’s talk about the highlights of Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy. In any case, the first match against Teikoku was a bit of a mess, and ended in a loss.

Oohara: Right? I wonder what’s going to happen afterwards. None of us were told anything about what happens next.

Kobayashi: Yes. From the title ‘Galaxy’, I wonder does it imply something to do with outer space?

Oohara: It’s got the longest name so far. It’s really thanks to everyone’s support that the Inazuma series has come this far. From here one too I think exciting things are going to happen, so please continue to support us.

Kobayashi: You can tell from the title it’s going to be a fantastic series. We can only imagine what’s going to happen! I’d be happy if you could get together with your friends and watch Galaxy! Thank you for all your support!

I think perhaps that many readers are wondering when Kirino will next appear in Galaxy (laughs).

Oohara: As expected of such a popular character (laughs).

Kobayashi: What a great honour. I’ll also wait impatiently along with the readers for Kirino’s next appearance! 

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Kirino and Tsurugi ‘Souji Jikan’ (*Souji is the designated time period where students work together to clean their classrooms and the rest of the school…)

Kirino and Tsurugi haven’t had many chances to interact a lot up until now - what do you think would make them bond?

Oohara: Speaking of which, the first person Tsurugi used keigo towards was Kirino-san. (Translator’s Notes: Keigo is polite Japanese - for example, kouhai should use towards senpai. I made a post about Tsurugi using keigo towards Kirino here:  http://inazuma-eleven-translations.tumblr.com/post/158941896068/use-of-language-to-show-character-development  )

Kobayashi: It was~

Oohara: Since Kirino was very annoyed by Kariya, he asked Tsurugi ‘Don’t you think he’s a Seed?’ but Tsurugi told him something like, ‘Chigaimasu yo~’ (I don’t think so).

Kobayashi: Wah, Tsurugi-san! (She smiles FULL of affection)

Oohara:Well, wasn’t that what he said?

Kobayashi: Yes! They had the conversation under the shade of a big tree (laughs). I’m sorry, but the way Oohara-san said that just now was just wonderful! (calms down). For sure, the first time Tsurugi used keigo left a deep impression. I thought he was someone who understood the importance of being polite to his upperclassmen.

Oohara: He’s quite sportsmen-like, Tsurugi. (Note: Sports clubs are particularly strict about kouhai using keigo with senpai)

When he was a Seed, the importance of sportsmanship was probably pounded into him.

Oohara: Tsurugi’s social etiquette is better than you think. He shares that in common with Kirino-san... I think they could bond over some kind of volunteer activity. Like cleaning the school.

Kobayashi: Wah, souji! Yes, they’d do it to the best of their ability!

Oohara: Also, since Kirino is a second year, he could tutor Tsurugi in the library.

Kobayashi: Wah, if they did that kind of thing I’d be so happy! I think Ranmaru-san would do his best to revise as he tutored Tsurugi-san. Both of them are hard-working so they’d definitely bond!