#via death penalty of course!!!!!!

[pictureswithboxes]

I cannot stand Miles (for the most part), and I’m so surprised by how well I write him. Because again, I do not care for this man.

[codenamesazanka]

I love your spinaraki fankid! I hope you don't mind receiving asks about him, if so, then please ignore.

In your AU, would Masanori be inclined to meeting mr. compress, if he's still around? Like, if compress was able to get out of jail, would he try to find Masanori (maybe not try to interact but just out of curiosity to know what happened to the kid)? Or Masanori could get Deku to let him speak to compress if he's still in jail? Does compress even know about Masanori's existence?

Ahhhhhhhh I'm so glad you like Masanori and thank you so much for the ask! Please, send all the asks you want. I'm just really happy people like him. 🤗🙇🏻‍♀️🙏🏼

In this AU, Mr. Compress is still around - though still in jail, on death row.* Execution could happen any day now.

(*As part of a terrorist group that was involved in kidnapping, insurrection, multiple murders, etc., he's definitely getting the death penalty. All prison/legal aspects here is based on irl modern-day Japan.)

Compress does know about Masanori's existence! The League (+ the PLF leadership + two or three PLF medical workers) all knew that Spinner laid an egg. And just like Spinner, none of them knew what became of the egg - if it ever hatched, if the kid is doing okay, if they're even alive. Having guessed correctly that Spinner never told the Heroes anything, and with the subject never brought up in interrogations, they all intend to take the secret to the grave.

(Tho you're right: if Compress had ever broken out of jail because he totally should, he definitely would have tracked down the kid! And watched him from afar, to make sure he's okay. As much as Compress might want to make contact, he probably won't, to give the kid a chance at a non-villain, non-fugitive, non-League-bleak-end life. Though he may meddle with some things behind-the-scenes to make sure the kid stays on the straight path.

However, in an AU of this AU—if, like, fate ever puts Masanori in life-threatening danger, Compress would def rush there to save and protect him.)

Masanori - at first - actually has no interest in speaking to Mr. Compress. He knows about the guy, via reading Spinner's memoir and research, but since Masanori decided not to get sentimental about his parentage, he doesn't care to get in touch with Mr. Compress.

Not that Masanori can in the first place - by himself, he's got no way to establish communication with a death row prisoner, no good reason for it should he have to give one, and no one other than family and lawyers can contact Sako Atsuhiro anyway. That also lowered any incentive to act on any curiosity he might have had.

*

It's actually this lack of desire that gives off a red flag to Deku, as part of a series of red flags regarding Masanori. See, Masanori has closed his heart off - doesn't want to know more about his parents or lineage, doesn't want to bond with anyone, doesn't even want friends. (Even Shigaraki had friends and held the League close to his heart!)

It just seems very sad and lonely to Deku. Masanori is not a villain and has firmly declared that he won't be one, so everyone can rest easy, but Masanori sure acts like a Villain, clearly broken and rejecting a world that had rejected him and "too far gone" for any of Deku's (or anyone's) attempts to Make Him Smile. (Metaphorically.) (Also literally - not a smiler, Masanori. Or emotes much.)

So of course obviously, for the story development, for Masanori's character growth, and Deku to for-real save Masanori, kid does eventually have to open up and develop connections. Deku actually takes the first step in facilitating this - getting a stay of execution for Mr. Compress so the kid can still have the only connection left in the world to Shigaraki and Spinner.

Plus for Deku - Compress will also probably be the first person to really take Deku to task about caring for Masanori, for Masanori's sake - if Deku's serious about helping this kid, without forcing his shallow and egotistical heroic ideals on him, and to continue helping him no matter what, no resorting to punching even if the kid fucks up, even if people finds out about Masanori and Deku'll have to defend Masanori's very existence against the world.

*

Anddddddddd I've also toyed with the extremely terribly too-sappy idea that Masanori thinks of himself as a mistake, someone who shouldn't exist. Not only because of his villain lineage, but because clearly he's the result of some awkward situationship between Spinner and Shigaraki, two loser 20-somethings who were each other first friends because they were both gamers. While being boss and underling. Kinda cringe, you know? If they were sensible, they wouldn't/shouldn't have had him. Of course a pair of criminals would end up with a mess of an egg.

But it's Mr. Compress who'll be able to back up everything Spinner says in his letter to Masanori, and more. He'll tell Masanori that Spinner and Shigaraki really did care about each other very much. Masanori is a child born of... maybe not love, but definitely affection. And while he was indeed a complete surprise and accident, that wouldn't have mattered to his parents. Once he was in the world, once he existed, that would've been reason enough for Shigaraki and Spinner to fully accept him and fight to create a world that he can be free in. They surely would've done that. Wanted to do that. That's something Compress can say with 100% certainty. And it'll soothe such an important part of Masanori.

Also once Masanori does open up his heart and he and Compress do bond, I think they can have a good time chatting about stuff. Not just League stories, but also like, history details that Masanori can't learn from books, tips on thievery, the terrible name Shigaraki and Spinner would've came up for Masanori, how to survive having notable bloodlines weighting on you, expensive foods Masanori should try on that Deku Hero's budget.

*

Thanks again for the ask!!! For allowing me to ramble on about this!!!! 🙇🏻‍♀️🙏🏼😭

[after-the-ellipsis]

If your (amazing perfect) versions of Hannibal gets the death penalty, how do you think Will and Hannibal would react and do?

I really prefer your version of Hannibal and Will, I love that he holds on to good, and found your portrayal most accurate

Oh my goodness, Hannibal would have the greatest time on death row. He quickly works out which of his inmates are innocent and rubs that knowledge in Jack Crawford's face via an impassioned, sneering speech about the evils of capital punishment - "The good old U. S. of A. is the greatest serial killer of our time, a mechanized for-profit death machine. Makes my little operation look positively quaint." Hannibal spends an ungodly amount of hours planning his last meal, drafting and tearing up potential menus, scandalizing the prison kitchen by requesting "chateaubriand" but the tenderloin and bone marrow can only be "locally sourced." All this breathlessly covered by Freddie Lounds, of course.

There would be a 'Free Hannibal Lecter' movement, naturally. Beverly skirts the edges of a protest, wondering who all these people are, and whether they'd change their tune if they spent ten seconds talking to him through bars.

Meanwhile Will hates the thought of the killing of Hannibal Lecter being delegated to the bureaucratic state. This is an excruciating punishment for Will, for reasons he can't look at too closely, which is exactly why Hannibal is able to cope with his fate so magnanimously.

Hannibal, of course, needs to see Will before he dies and would do everything in his power to make this happen. He does the only thing guaranteed to bring Will back, which is create a killer only Will can catch. He slowly manipulates one of his 'Free Hannibal Lecter' stans until they assume this mantle, a killer in the mold of Francis Dolarhyde but even more of a Hannibal puppet. (You'll notice Hannibal hasn't attempted this obvious course of action in Greatest Show, which might make you wonder whether Hannibal is actually ready to see Will again...)

Anyway, he'd get Will back. He'd even get his Zero Doors scenario, because of course he would. Hannibal always gets what he wants. A death sentence wouldn't stop him, it only speeds him up!

[sami-guinea-arts]

I've been wanting to ask you something about your ocs for a while but I always chickened out out of embarrassment lol

How do witches and covens work? Witches are born into them or a person can join later in their life? What would be the requirements to join in that case?

Sorry if it's too specific.

Oh sure, I love to share lore! In fact, I did want to make a post about them in book style to talk about (my version) of witches in the series.

LONG post below! Took a while to answer :D

How do witches and covens work? I based my witches mainly on the ones from the Soul Eater series, meaning souls are involved. But also from irl tales. Witches look like humans. Male (amab) witches exist too, tho they are rarer. They differ from the females (afab) in some of their powers. Obviously, nonbinary and such exist too. "Witch" is actually a gender neutral term, tho I call the males Warlocks. With magic souls, they are stronger and more enduring than normal humans and have a FAR longer lifespan. The coven leader which I yet have to design is over 800 years old, lol. One might consider them immortal, but they can still die to weapons and such. Of course, they can still suffer injuries from guns and poison, but it takes more than that to kill one. Witches' biggest weakness is fire, hence witch burning. Only exception is Calida (she's Mtf, meaning born male), who has fire powers. They also can't step on church blessed ground and take major damage from holy water, crosses, etc.

A coven is a group of usually 13 witches, one of them the "leader". My coven, despite focusing on dark magic, still cares about balance (in their way obviously) and the cult/the eyes has been their enemy since centuries. It has 7 members so far. The leader, Azura, Wendy, Louhi, Lucy, Natalie and Calida. Covens irl gather for rituals and practices, while mine is sorta also a group of closure, as all members are outsiders of society with rather tragic backgrounds. I try to make them all different in bodytypes and personality, but it gets harder the more I'd add. Also, while all can do magic (black magic, blood magic), they all have themes. Such as Louhi's being shapeshifting, Wendy is a wendigo (animal), Lucy is poison, etc. The coven leader can do all sorts of spartial magic. Witches have personal brooms, but can use all brooms to fly! Their magic is the strongest under full moon, while they get very destructive under a blood moon. Witches can sense each other's magic sorta telepathically and keep their identity hidden for obvious reasons. Mine look kinda down on other witch OCs who openly express being witches, such as wearing witch clothing etc. as humans would probably hunt them down. ----- Witches are born into them or a person can join later in their life? In my universe, both! All my OCs that are witches are naturally born witches. However, you can also be a human becoming a witch by pacts with certain beings, such as the deity my coven worships. It changes a human soul to that of a witch, giving it magic abilites. It is how in my AUs, Carmen and Lila get turned into witches. Turned witches are not as powerful as naturally born ones tho. Obviously higher chances to be born a witch is if both parents are witches, because usually the result of human x witch is a hybrid. You can also be born as a full witch via recessive genes, like if one of your ancestor was one, but it is rare. You can also create hybrids with other species, such as vampires, werewolves, demons, etc. ----- What would be the requirements to join in that case? While normally, one can just find a higher magical being and do a deal with them of some sort. Being part of the coven means you are loyal to them, it is death penalty if you are also working for the cult in secret. Unlike the cult tho, they will not force someone in front of their deity to be turned. My coven is "old school", the leader only allowes members that identify as women. Meaning that, MtF folks are allowed too obviously. For example, one member is Calida, an OC from my friend, who is Natalie's sister. She's MtF. Basically you must "feel like a woman with your soul." The reason is that...the deity this coven worships requests it for some reason. So far all members are naturally born witches, but new members are welcomed, as long as they are not part of the cult yet and their soul can handle a "transformation". Coven members can't be converted by the eyes and are immune to it, while cult members who are converted by the eyes are immune to the coven deity.

Irl covens from my knowledge don't care about gender! Also please do not confuse dark magic mainly used in media such as movies with "Wicca", Wicca is peaceful and has nothing to do with any dark practices. While cult members have the amulet (some people also give them a spider or diamond shaped tattoo, we don't know if they have any), Coven members all have a pentagram (pentacle) tattoo on their back and a tatoo of the "goddess" on their stomach. Also rune tattoos that wrap around arms and legs. Only the tattoos on the arms/legs can be hidden. Meaning joining will also get you these.

[stephensmithuk]

Shoscombe Old Place

The final Holmes story published by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1927, this forms part of Case-Book. Doyle would write a number of other works, including two Professor Challenger stories, before his death in July 1930.

This was originally trailed as "The Adventure of the Black Spaniel".

Newmarket Heath is the sight of Newmarket Racecourse, one of the most prominent horse racing venues in the UK. Therefore, this was a rather public horsewhipping. I am pretty sure that the Jockey Club, which regulated the sport until 2006, would have a thing or two to say about actual bodily harm.

The Grand National takes place at Aintree every year and is the most famous steeplechase race in Europe; even those don't normally bet will take part, either directly or via a sweepstake.

The race has become controversial due to many horses being fatally injured when falling, frequently at the steep drop of Becher's Brook, and then euthanised over the years; various changes have been made to try to make things safer. There have been five horse deaths since the 2012 changes from 595 runners; you are fully entitled to think five is five too many. 2023 saw Animal Rising protestors attempt to stop the race and cause a delay; Hill Sixteen ended up dying, with his trainer blaming the protestors for spooking the horses.

"The Derby" refers to the Epsom Derby, held every year on the first Saturday of June. It is the flat race with the highest prize in British horse racing, with a first prize of £885,781.84 in 2023, when Ryan Moore won it riding Auguste Rodin.

"The Jews" refers to moneylenders, the stereotypical profession that Jewish people practiced. Most Jews by 1902 did not of course.

"Halt-on-demand" stations are those where passengers have to request the train stops there either via informing the guard in advance if getting off, or by other methods if getting on, like holding your arm out for a bus, although electronic methods are in increasing use. Great Britain has around 135 of them.

Historically fishing was a major source of food for poorer rural families. From 1865, you needed a licence for salmon and trout fishing, although not for other fish. The rod licence's provisions were expanded over time to prevent overfishing and you now need a licence, as well as permission of the property owner, for most fishing in England and Wales. Not in most of Scotland and Northern Ireland though. There will also be restrictions on what you can keep (which has caused issues with foreign anglers who generally don't operate on the 'put it back' principle) and the whole angling business is now pretty heavily regulated. Fish without a licence and you can be on the hook for a fine of up to £2,500.

It is a legal requirement to register a death within five days in England and Wales. There is also a separate offence of preventing a lawful and decent burial, which has a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, but it is fairly rare for someone to be charged with it unless as part of a homicide case.

[contentment-of-cats]

F*ck anons

Hate, Harassment, and Threats: Coping and Handling

It happens and it's happened since the rise of LJ. I remember getting my first hatepost and how much it upset me, but I was never a target in the way that many were. LJ was truly the wild and wooly west - Dodge City or Deadwood, when people thought it would be a utopia. We had greyfaces, anons, sock puppets, and meat puppets. For people transitioning from controlled environments like e-Groups, Listserv, and forums it was not the mod-free utopia that they might have wished for. Real fandom scandals and legitimate harm to fans have been built on anons, sockpuppets, and greyfaces.

Terminology

Anon: Anonymous account either from outside the service or from an established account that has been anonymized.

Greyface: LJ term for an account with no identifiers, created explicitly to harass.

Sock Puppet: Account created by one person with the intent of being perceived as a separate individual.

Meat Puppet: Also used to be called a fanpoodle. A person whose actions are directed by another. Also called a muppet for having the controller's hand shoved so far up their ass that it can work their mouth.

Defining Hateposting/Cyberstalking/Harassment/Threats

First, there is a federal law -18 U.S. Code § 2261A Stalking - that defines stalking and harassment. Full text is here, with excerpt below:

(2) (Whoever) with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person, uses the mail, any interactive computer service or electronic communication service or electronic communication system of interstate commerce, or any other facility of interstate or foreign commerce to engage in a course of conduct that— (A)places that person in reasonable fear of the death of or serious bodily injury to a person, a pet, a service animal, an emotional support animal, or a horse described in clause (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of paragraph (1)(A); or (B)causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to a person described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A),

Laws can vary from state to state. 48 states have some laws on the books, with 44 having criminal penalties. You'll need to contact local law enforcement or look them up on your state legislature's website.

All forms of online harassment can be grouped under the label of cyberbullying. How do you know what is or isn't cyberbullying? There is a comprehensive list. Even some things that you didn't think might be bullying are, in fact, bullying. Unfortunately, the FBI seems to focus on financial crimes and scams, and have changed their reporting pages to reflect that. In all cases using the internet to convey threats as defined under 18 U.S. Code § 2261A need to be documented and reported to the FBI.

Documenting: Keep the Reciepts

Documenting online abuse is key to stopping online abuse. To be Tumblr specific, screenshots of DMs, replies to your posts, posts harassing you, reblogs of your posts with abuse in the comments and tagjacking or abusive hashtags, screenshots of anons/sockpuppets and harassing asks need to be kept. You need your receipts.

Fuck Anons

Anons are not worth your mental health or the pleasure and community you derive from fandom.

"But some of my followers are shy!"

They can create an account that they can use just for doing asks. Exposing you to abuse and bullying should not be the price of someone being shy. I have also turned on anons when someone has asked me to via DM, in a post comment, or via an anon comment on my Ao3 so that they could send me an ask without unmasking themselves. This protects me and protects them.

Tumblr recently started requiring a valid email address to send an anon without being signed in. This could be seen a couple of different ways - Tumblr wants some sort tabs on people using their site anonymously, or that they want people sending anons to create an account. There is nothing to stop an anon from creating a burner email account in order to harass, so that only goes so far.

Block anons. I am serious. Just go into your account settings and do it. You can even turn off asks entirely.

Per Tumblr: "Anonymous asks are not associated with a specific account, and blocking those will block the IP address of the sender."

So, if you block an anon and someone suddenly disappears from your followers, or you get a follower asking why they can't see or interact with your blog, then you have your answer as to where your anon bullying might well be coming from.

However, isn't it easier to just turn off anons?

Yes. It is. My anons are kept off 99.9 percent of the time and I sleep just fine.

Other Tips and Tricks

You can control who reblogs your posts. The default is that anyone on Tumblr can reblog. You can also block anyone from reblogging. The new feature offers middle ground by allowing you to add users allowed to reblog by mentioning them. I don't know if this extends to other parties reblogging from the people you allowed to reblog, however. Click on the little gear to access the dropdown.

From the Settings Menu

In addition to the default, you have two other options under the dropdown.

Tumblrs you follow and that have been mutuals with you for a week can reply

Only Tumblrs you follow can reply.

Keep the people you follow private by toggling this off.

Toggle off to stop DMs from people you don't follow.

Hide your Tumblr from people without a Tumblr, or from people who are signed out. Remove your blog from Tumblr search results or from search engine crawlers.

Finally, you can block DMs on a case by case basis, too.

Finally, it can be hard to start over, but when the bullying is too much and too persistent, you can back up your blog or take it private and start a new Tumblr with people you trust.

Other Resources

Online Harassment Field Guide - a really comprehensive source

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

Many of JKR's approaches to social class seem to me to reflect precisely the same mind-set that she so loudly and shrilly denounces in her depiction of the Dursleys. People like the Dursleys, JKR tells us, are wickedly regressive -- brutish, even. They and their ilk should be scorned, as should the things that they tend to believe in. Things like corporal punishment. Things like the death penalty. Things like disdain for the lower classes. Things like suspicion of the aristocracy. Things like jingoism, and law-and-orderism, and political paranoia, and the belief that foreigners are intrinsically dubious, not to be trusted. Things like "blood will tell." We are treated to this at the beginning of each novel, almost as if JKR wants to establish her progressive credentials from the very outset. Once we move on to the meat of the text, however, it can sometimes become a bit difficult to avoid the suspicion that in some indefinable way, the spirit of Aunt Marge is pushing the hand that holds the pen. Blood really does seem to tell in the Potterverse, and foreign names do often serve as a marker of dark allegiance. The lower classes are stupid and beneath notice; the aristocracy is sinister, and very likely sexually perverse as well. Corporal punishment is precisely what children like Draco Malfoy deserve, and although Hogwarts does not itself permit this, the narrative voice positively exults whenever the little brat gets physically smacked down. The political approach of Crouch Sr. was regrettable, of course -- but all the same, you know, his son really was guilty...and besides, Fudge is ever so much worse. And Sirius Black, whom Vernon Dursley so brutishly classifies as gallows-bait, was innocent all along. Pettigrew was the real culprit -- and the narrative voice rather gives us the impression that the author believes that he really does "deserve to die." It is troubling, this, and it casts the Dursley sequences which open each novel in a strange and somewhat disturbing light. The broad slapstick viciousness of these passages—often strikingly stylistically out of kilter with the more subtle shadings of the rest of the text—almost begin to read like expressions of authorial self-hatred, or perhaps even as failed authorial attempts at self-exorcism. JKR rings her little bell and lights her single candle: she sneers at Vernon; she blows up Aunt Marge. But the values that these characters represent cannot be so easily dismissed. Their personifications may receive all manner of public thrashing in the first chapter or two of each novel, but it would seem that their spirits are lodged somewhere deep within the author's very soul. When it comes to the Dursleys, the closet conservative doth protest too much. The result—much like the homophobic rantings of those trapped in a somewhat different closet—is strangely unconvincing. On some fundamental level, we simply do not believe in the Dursleys in at all the same way that we believe in the rest of the fictive world. The explicit condemnation of their values doesn't carry the same weight as the implicit approval that these same values are granted by the rest of the text -- in very much the same way that JKR's use of stereotypes as a form of humor so often fails to quite convince readers that she really doesn't, deep down in her heart of hearts, genuinely believe the things that she passes off as "nothing but a joke." JKR wants to be a progressive. But there's a rock-solid streak of conservatism in her writing, and even though she herself seems to dislike it, she nonetheless seems incapable of banishing it even from her very own text.

via Elkins's essay on Class in Harry Potter. Notably, this was written before the last two books were released and is very insightful on things that would later be revealed both about the authorship, Rowling's views as a writer, and her general social views in the following 15 years.

[sillygooseun]

tw-destiel confession meme (i’m sorry you have to see this on your dash again)

someone probably already did this but thought i oughta contribute to the destiel meme :)

(more about the news under the cut cuz it’s actually super interesting and it’s all i can talk about because i’ve been reading articles on it since tuesday)

basically, if you don’t know, Van Houten, who is now like 70 something, was 19 when she met Manson and joined the cult which ended up being called the “Manson family.” before she was released on tuesday she was serving sentences of 7 years to life after being convicted in 1971 for the murder of a husband and wife.

“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal offenses, the victims’ families still feel the impact, as do all Californians. Governor Newsom reversed Ms. Van Houten’s parole grant three times since taking office and defended against her challenges of those decisions in court,” Erin Mellon, a spokesperson for the governor, said Friday (directly quoted). A family member of the hair stylist Jay Sebring, who was killed by the Manson cult in 1969, said he doesnt agree with the decision to not challenge Van Houten’s parole. he pretty much said (and this isn’t a direct quote like the other one, im paraphrasing it) that he has respect for the governor and such but the families think it’s a bad decision not to file an appeal.

DiMaria called Van Houten a “cold-blooded killer in one of the most notorious murder rampages in United States history,” and said her release sets a “dangerous, pernicious precedent.” (thats a direct quote from CNN)

after 50 something years in prison, she’s gonna take classes to learn how to get a job, support herself, etc. i mean she’s never used an atm, a cellphone, so she needs to be adjusted similarly to how captain america was adjusted after he was in the ice (COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SITUATIONS THOUGH, I AM NOT COMPARING HER TO CAP.) anyway, she was originally sentenced to death, but the death penalty was overturned after California abolished capital punishment, so she was just sentenced to life. she was eligible for parole back in 1977 and the parole board thingy recommended release in 2016 after 22 appearances for the board. in 1994 this is how she described her part in the killings; “I went in and Mrs. LaBianca was laying on the floor and I stabbed her,” said Van Houten, who was 19 at the time of the murders. “In the lower back, around 16 times.”

so anyway yeah this is a pretty cool story that i’ve been reading up on and i thought i would share it (via the best news source there is, of course)

[f1]

Newey recalls the last-lap defeat which left Vettel absolutely distraught | RaceFans Round-up

In the round-up: Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey describes how Sebastian Vettel reacted to his famous last-lap defeat by Jenson Button in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. Join RaceFans on Facebook Don't miss anything from RaceFans - join us on Facebook here to see whenever a new article has been added: In brief Newey recalls podium that hurt Vettel and inspired team Vettel took pole and led all but two laps of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. He began the final lap in the lead, but a mistake halfway around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve allowed McLaren’s Jenson Button through to nab the win “Jenson beat him. And he was absolutely distraught at that because he felt he had not driven as well as he could have done, and therefore he had lost what should have been a dominant win,” Newey recalled in a Red Bull podcast. The defeat made a big impact on Vettel as he pursued his second world championship, Newey explained. “Everybody’s packing up the computers and everything in the engineering office around him while he just sat there going through the data with his engineer, going through the television feeds and stuff. He wanted to understand what he could do better should that situation arise again. “I think that dedication, that played through into the team as well. That meant that then the team often prepared to put in that extra mile because they saw his work and commitment that he was prepared to put in.” Alonso banks on needing extra engine Fernando Alonso has told his new Aston Martin team to plan on needing an extra power unit this year, The Objective reports. While the 2023 F1 calendar has expanded to a record 23 rounds this year, and could increase to 24 if China’s cancelled event is replaced or reinstated, drivers remain limited to a maximum of three power units. Using a fourth will trigger an automatic grid penalty. Alonso got through six Renault power units over the course of 22 events at Alpine last year due to various failures. However he is understood to have been impressed by the performance of the well-used Mercedes power unit in his car when he made his first appearance for Aston Martin during the post-season test at Yas Marina. Alonso will be powered by the three-pointed star this year for the first time since he drove for McLaren in 2007. Hamilton pays tribute to Ken Block Following the death of famous rally driver Ken Block in a snowmobile crash, seven-times F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton joined those paying tribute to the late American on social media. “Today I received news of the loss of a dear friend. I am devastated to hear of Ken Block’s passing. He was such an amazing person, always lived life to the fullest,” he wrote. “I remember our first time working together and how positive he was. So much talent behind the wheel. Years ago we had an amazing time heli skiing and snowboarding in Canada. We held so much respect for one another. He will truly be missed and my thoughts and prayers go to his beautiful family. Gone too soon. Rest in peace, Ken.” R-ace GP reveals FRMEC line-up French team R-ace GP have revealed six drivers for their four-car attack on the Formula Regional Middle East Championship. Two of the drivers, Levente Revesz and Formula 4 graduate Nikhil Bohra, will do all five rounds of the series which runs through January and February. Francesco Braschi and Martinius Stenshorne will share the third car, with Braschi doing the first two rounds and Nicolas Todt’s protege Stenshorne doing the remaining three. In the fourth car, British F4 runner-up Matias Zagazeta will do rounds one to three then hand over to ADAC F4 runner-up Tim Tramnitz. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Happy birthday! Happy birthday to Anne Lambert, Timi, Bosley and Gitanes! On this day in motorsport Born on this day in 1989: Future IndyCar race-winner Graham Rahal, son of multiple IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[bllsbailey]

Texas: Democrat DA Will Seek Death Penalty For Venezuelan Illegals In Rape, Death Of 12-Year-Old Jocelyn Nungaray

(L) Jocelyn Nungaray, 12. (Photo via: Houston Police Department) / (R) Donald Trump listens as Alexis Nungaray speaks at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on October 25, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Nungaray is the mother of 12 year old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was killed by illegal immigrants (Aliens) in June, 2024.

Kim Ogg, the outgoing Democrat district attorney for Harris County, announced that her office will pursue death sentences against the two illegal aliens charged with raping and killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.

“We’ll be filing notice by the state of Texas that we intend to seek the death penalty against Jocelyn’s murderers, Peña and Rangel. Both were Venezuelan nationals, they had been captured while committing a crime, coming into this country illegally, and then within days of murdering and raping Jocelyn Nungaray,” Ogg said on Fox News on Friday. “So we are seeking death because we want the message out there that regardless of who you are, but especially if you are illegally in this country, that you will face the same consequences as anyone else for murdering a child during the course of raping and kidnapping her,” she added.

Nungaray was reportedly tortured, raped, strangled, and her body was then thrown in a shallow creek nearby to her home. Her body was found at 6:49 a.m. on June 17th. Police also noted that her “wrists and feet were bound.”

26-year-old Franklin Peña and 22-year-old Johan Martinez Rangel, who police say are members of the violent gang “Tren de Aragua,” were charged with capital murder in June. Peña was wearing an ankle monitor when ICE finally apprehended him, according to the prosecution, and they believe that he cut it or broke it off either before or after the crime.

— Abigail Dye (@AbigailDyeNews) December 13, 2024

According to the DA’s office, she will notify Judge Josh Hill’s 232nd District Court on Friday, informing the judge that her office intends to pursue death penalties in this case. Additionally, Peña, Martinez Rangel, and their legal representatives will receive the notice as well.

“Jocelyn’s murder was as vile, brutal and senseless as any case in my tenure as district attorney,” Ogg said in a statement. “And it was made worse by knowing that these two men were here illegally and, had they been held after being captured at the border, they would never have had the opportunity to murder Jocelyn and destroy her family’s future.”

Detectives with the Houston Police Department have stated that they believe Nungaray left her family’s apartment at around 10 p.m. the night before her body was discovered in the creek.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) verified that the two men had entered the country illegally near El Paso without being inspected. The two were then “granted parole or admitted by immigration officials.”

Since her 12-year-old daughter’s tragic murder, Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, has been a staunch supporter of a closed border, frequently siding with Republican leaders like President-elect Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The young mother also expressed anger and disbelief that neither Biden nor Kamala Harris ever reached out to her after the murder made national news headlines.

“Kamala Harris has never reached out to me, just even as a human, to give her condolences as a humane person running this country,” Nungaray said. “I think it’s very sad that she can’t even just give me an open apology, sincere apology,” the mother continued. “She [Jocelyn] was a preteen, months away from becoming a teenager, out doing what teenagers do. Going to the corner store to get a soda, she was being preyed on by two illegal Venezuelan immigrants. They saw an innocent young girl and made her a target for their horrendous actions,” the mother wrote on September 10th in a testimony to the House of Representatives Committee.

Nungaray also told the press that Trump reached out to her the day after her daughter’s funeral, expressing his deepest sympathy.

“Alexis, it’s Donald Trump, and I’m just calling to give my warmest regards to you and your family, it’s so horrible what happened and I’ll call you later,” Trump said in his voicemail. “But, you just do the best you can. It’s a horrible thing. This should have never happened. The whole world loves you and they love that beautiful beautiful daughter of yours so… I can’t express what’s going on in this country, so you just take care of yourself and I’ll speak to you later, and all of Jocelyn’s friends and family, give them my warmest regards. Just take care. Thank you.”

By the end of this year, DA Ogg will have served her second and last term as district attorney. One of her former prosecutors, Sean Teare, who defeated Ogg in the Democrat primary in March and defeated Republican Dan Simons in the general election in November, will succeed her.

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 22, 2024

— @Chicago1Ray (@Chicago1Ray) December 13, 2024

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

[dasmuggler]

An Appointment in Samarra• for a Ninja.

In the wake of double failed raid and attempted escape from Cobra Island II•, Storm-Shadow learns and pays the penalty for betraying Cobra Command- with the Baroness to collect in the penultimate page to Marvel Comics’ G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero #47, “Sea Duel”.

With action filled scenes and the introduction of then new Joes Beach-Head & Wetsuit and the one time only use of the G. I. Joe Devilfish fast attack boats and Cobra Hydro-Sleds, odds are Nobody was expecting THIS scene to happen. Hopefully, Larry Hama never received hate mail from the more... emotionally invested Joe fans when they got to this point of the story.•

(To be fair, this issue came soon after Marvel Age Magazine #34 came out where, in an interview, Larry revealed that Four popular characters would die’, adding that they were characters fans ‘really liked’, and, the kicker, that there would be ‘no resurrections or come backs’ for these characters.•)

For the older fans, they would’ve been more pragmatic about Storm-Shadow’s fate, but given that Hasbro perceived that kids watched the cartoon and bought the action figures, odds are the younger fans were shocked at Storm-Shadow’s fate and most likely hated the Baroness.

Still, for the period Tomasiburo Arashikage was in the afterlife, the reason for his fate would be hammered home in the very next issue•. Oh, joy. Lets really twist the knife into the fandom.

Still, it was a reminder that war is Not a game and the Grim Reaper can come at any point for any person, regardless how high a fan following he may have.

• An Appointment in Samarra is a 1934 short story/folk tale by John O’Hara of a tale narrated by the Grim Reaper, with the moral being that nobody escapes death.

As Thanos of Titan would say, “I am inevitable.”

• The objective of Storm-Shadow’s and Snake-Eyes’ raid was to secure payback on Zartan for killing the Hard Master of the Arashikage Ninja Clan- that was a washout, as was the pair’s plans to escape Cobra Island via air or sea.

Thankfully for Snake-Eyes, Hawk subscribed to the James Tiberius Kirk doctrine, regardless what a Coastie like Cutter may think or say about it.

(Like Dr. Venom and Firefly, I’ve a long memory.)

• No Joke- its said Chris Claremont and John Byrne got flak from X-Men fans for killing off Jean Grey back in X-Men #137; Frank Miller caught fire from overzealous Daredevil fans when he had Elektra killed by Bullseye in Daredevil #181 (with the greenlight of then DD Editor Denny O’Neil; the death of Jean Grey was asked by then Marvel EIC Jim Shooter, citing that Jean Grey be made to face the consequences of her actions as Dark Phoenix; see Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe, 2012 Harper Perennial.)

• Those characters apparently meant Storm-Shadow, Billy & Candy (taken out by Scrap Iron with Firefly’s implicit approval in G. I. Joe #43) and the Cobra Commander later on in G. I. Joe #61; Storm-Shadow & Cobra Commander as popular characters I understand, maybe Billy, but Candy?!? Doubt that.

• Of course, Storm Shadow would return, but at the time, nobody was 💯% sure- and back then, the return of a supposedly dead character was done with an explanation how it came to be (see G. I. Joe #s 52, 55, & 98), and neither was a character blatantly killed off just to have a handy stand in on hand to conveniently reverse the scenario instead of dealing with the consequences.

• “Storm-Shadow made vengeance the sole reason of his existence and that’s what killed him in the end. You can’t base a life on hate. You have to leave room for love...”

- Scarlett to Snake-Eyes, G. I. Joe #48.

[xrskunkrx]

Big I, Jonb, AKA: Jonathan Edward Bower 1/17/1986 - 45-2333917 -+1 9097133131 - Rx.inn:PM - Am to humans, people, as people, their own person, being their own corporate masters say no to unsound confirms. confidently state order constantly reporting fullest degree, every 360• flip-day I am Director: Jonathan Edward Bower 1/17/1986 & due to time wasted, my fee by twenty five thousand dollars hourly & five hundred thousand dollar fine if indirectly contradict with unauthorized mistakes or hearings or directly saying otherwise to one self to neglect what I know void incorrect. To touch subject at hand by unprofessional manner or disregard standard apply fee & fine by default. Failure to Rebutted is due to insufficient quality in persons, remarks or gossip a mistake if time invested to declare. 23 days, to include leeway too. As Director I can rewrite any policy, disclose any errors in bygone to futures integrity as I am the sole entity saying otherwise not being or to be of my own. Jonb that be me, says so. Otherwise confirm it to me, else conform to being of me. Pleasantly allow demands by law or else death penalty takes trespass & tyranny into account is a confirmed law of elimination to equate indecisive, laws of averages null so to stand at table a disadvantaged being sound. Politely jester or agree to disagree. Or pick a seat.

I, myself JB & my children VB or VB are innocent, not guilty of any charges. Saying otherwise is a mistake. U.S. Gov persons ignorantly make mistakes which will cost them their lives being unsound or solicited retort applying fee to engagement. One says dues & other due not forgets time seated rhetorical, enough fees expands fines, on extort anti up fee applicable backed up by deadline saying so, overtime tyrannical turnover is superseded by accountability with integrity to frustrate lawful display an intentional liability. Misconduct or act of War beseech lone persons capacity unto full volume of proscribed personhood entirely. Audacity poring in illiterate tongue-in-cheek is not anyone’s business, at least not to naive or presumptuous minds to a vanity void of audience, claiming otherwise needs not proof, as its niche behavior leads only to solicit nature unruly or corrupt into planned of obsoletion.

Any formal Carbon taxation records can be populated & free. masonry bracket taxi unsound hold beyond 1965 U.S. Gov persons institutionalized Asylum to America incorporating the legality by rule of law that disclose rights & psychological principles in disorders proscribe manually to bypass sanctions or penalties pathetically penalized to prior criminal records, configured copywrite illegally via propaganda & taxation to covert read / writ under discourse asylum conducting concern. Unpresidential high value behavior describe net zero & debt ceiling political reasoning evident doubt impractical to corporate world standards inadequate vs Neo Monopoly to be pump n’ dumping 9/11 Nasdaq centralization minting defraud days into depopulation. The criminal charges warrant immediate reentry to asylum institution, malarkey misconduct unjust & redress instantly & show of hand a unit misdemeanor due process accordingly as justifying the one size fits all thesis as only course of action to be retire; forwards remedy & bargain trust, to speak unreasonable political mentality is staff work, it’s to be expected as much & its the law merit, freedom synchronizing securities above net zero table manners. No one leaves U.S. Gov, as you can see. No copywriters, no racketeer voting, no covert taxation, No money back after giving trillions to outsource demand & supply covid plandemic @ same time insider supply & demand chain piracy of censorship & no scientific facts or records”same seeking asylum post 1965 rhetorical timeline, superseding ultra malarkey due to acts of war receded unto futures bottlenecking prorate of tactical redress by illegally incorporating proof to war effort. Neo Police State regression to anti defraud strategic effort to warring via frontend monopoly, backend diagnostic reports institutional entry to America from overseas, tax boat fairs masonry corporation & socialist disability insurance simply uncut corporate world funds 08% pur $ & highest turnover rate globally means institutionalization works, to asylum its rule of law, to psychology it proscribes diagnosis with fashionable sense unfit by societies everywhere, medicate practice post stat! Clinically insane U.S. Gov persons inoculating manic fault tolerance to peoples survival necessary overhead. No Closing Supreme Court. No to bar off the court. One way in & one way out isn’t geopolitical, is it? Exercising highest execution rate possible? won’t change the fact more than one way skinning a cat. Thank you, have a great rest of your day.

[automatismoateo]

My family excommunicated me via /r/atheism

My family excommunicated me So basically I moved out really quickly because of an argument, was only planning on staying there for a couple of days, and then I get a text from my father saying that I can never move back in. I was fine with it and since I was away from their extreme religous beliefs, I decided to come out as trans. This set them off and they told me things like “your soul is in danger” and “this isn’t the right way and you know it”. I asked them to name their god and they couldn’t, I asked my mom “if your head was between an axe and a log, and you had to take an oath that the Bible is the true literal word of god with the penalty of death, would you?” And of course she said no. She then ignored me and went and on about how my soul is in danger, there was no logic behind it. I got excommunicated because of a mythology book that my mom takes too seriously….. I hate religion. Submitted September 27, 2023 at 03:05PM by Medicine-Abuser669 (From Reddit https://ift.tt/of912FJ)

[stephensmithuk]

The Speckled Band Part 3

The links in the email are broken, so I will post information about the two murderers cited here.

Victorian murderers were generally only convicted of one murder. As that was enough to get the death penalty and execution would happen fairly quickly afterwards, further cases were deemed pointless.

Public executions finished in England in 1868 - it was possible to attend some of the last by Tube as the first part of it opened in 1863.

Other notable murdering doctors would include Hawley Harvey Crippen, one of the first murderers to be caught via the aid of wireless telegraphy - the crew of the liner he was worked out who he was and got a message back to the UK before going over the horizon, allowing a detective to take a faster ship and arrest him in Canada when he arrived.

Of course, there would also be Harold Shipman, Britain's most prolific serial killer, who may have killed up to 250 patients. The spike in the UK homicide rate in 2002 is entirely due to the fact his crimes were added to the stats for that year.

****

Swamp adders aren't actually a thing - ACD was no expert in snakes and you can argue which one he was actually going for. Or he just made one up.

****

In England, any sudden or violent death has to be investigated by a coroner to determine the cause of death. There are certain other cases where one would get involved too:

So, Dr. Grimesby Roylott's death - and the others in his orbit - would have come under a coroner at some point. India had the system until the 1990s.

[contentment-of-cats]

Hate, Harassment, and Threats: Coping and Handling

It happens and it's happened since the rise of LJ. I remember getting my first hatepost and how much it upset me, but I was never a target in the way that many were. LJ was truly the wild and wooly west - Dodge City or Deadwood, when people thought it would be a utopia. We had greyfaces, anons, sock puppets, and meat puppets. For people transitioning from controlled environments like e-Groups, Listserv, and forums it was not the mod-free utopia that they might have wished for. Real fandom scandals and legitimate harm to fans have been built on anons, sockpuppets, and greyfaces.

Terminology

Anon: Anonymous account either from outside the service or from an established account that has been anonymized.

Greyface: LJ term for an account with no identifiers, created explicitly to harass.

Sock Puppet: Account created by one person with the intent of being perceived as a separate individual.

Meat Puppet: Also used to be called a fanpoodle. A person whose actions are directed by another. Also called a muppet for having the controller's hand shoved so far up their ass that it can work their mouth.

Defining Hateposting/Cyberstalking/Harassment/Threats

First, there is a federal law -18 U.S. Code § 2261A Stalking - that defines stalking and harassment. Full text is here, with excerpt below:

(2) (Whoever) with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person, uses the mail, any interactive computer service or electronic communication service or electronic communication system of interstate commerce, or any other facility of interstate or foreign commerce to engage in a course of conduct that— (A)places that person in reasonable fear of the death of or serious bodily injury to a person, a pet, a service animal, an emotional support animal, or a horse described in clause (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of paragraph (1)(A); or (B)causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to a person described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A),

Laws can vary from state to state. 48 states have some laws on the books, with 44 having criminal penalties. You'll need to contact local law enforcement or look them up on your state legislature's website.

All forms of online harassment can be grouped under the label of cyberbullying. How do you know what is or isn't cyberbullying? There is a comprehensive list. Even some things that you didn't think might be bullying are, in fact, bullying. Unfortunately, the FBI seems to focus on financial crimes and scams, and have changed their reporting pages to reflect that. In all cases using the internet to convey threats as defined under 18 U.S. Code § 2261A need to be documented and reported to the FBI.

Documenting: Keep the Reciepts

Documenting online abuse is key to stopping online abuse. To be Tumblr specific, screenshots of DMs, replies to your posts, posts harassing you, reblogs of your posts with abuse in the comments and tagjacking or abusive hashtags, screenshots of anons/sockpuppets and harassing asks need to be kept. You need your receipts.

Fuck Anons

Anons are not worth your mental health or the pleasure and community you derive from fandom.

"But some of my followers are shy!"

They can create an account that they can use just for doing asks. Exposing you to abuse and bullying should not be the price of someone being shy. I have also turned on anons when someone has asked me to via DM, in a post comment, or via an anon comment on my Ao3 so that they could send me an ask without unmasking themselves. This protects me and protects them.

Tumblr recently started requiring a valid email address to send an anon without being signed in. This could be seen a couple of different ways - Tumblr wants some sort tabs on people using their site anonymously, or that they want people sending anons to create an account. There is nothing to stop an anon from creating a burner email account in order to harass, so that only goes so far.

Block anons. I am serious. Just go into your account settings and do it. You can even turn off asks entirely.

Per Tumblr: "Anonymous asks are not associated with a specific account, and blocking those will block the IP address of the sender."

So, if you block an anon and someone suddenly disappears from your followers, or you get a follower asking why they can't see or interact with your blog, then you have your answer as to where your anon bullying might well be coming from.

However, isn't it easier to just turn off anons?

Yes. It is. My anons are kept off 99.9 percent of the time and I sleep just fine.

Other Tips and Tricks

You can control who reblogs your posts. The default is that anyone on Tumblr can reblog. You can also block anyone from reblogging. The new feature offers middle ground by allowing you to add users allowed to reblog by mentioning them. I don't know if this extends to other parties reblogging from the people you allowed to reblog, however. Click on the little gear to access the dropdown.

From the Settings Menu

In addition to the default, you have two other options under the dropdown.

Tumblrs you follow and that have been mutuals with you for a week can reply

Only Tumblrs you follow can reply.

Keep the people you follow private by toggling this off.

Toggle off to stop DMs from people you don't follow.

Hide your Tumblr from people without a Tumblr, or from people who are signed out. Remove your blog from Tumblr search results or from search engine crawlers.

Finally, you can block DMs on a case by case basis, too.

Finally, it can be hard to start over, but when the bullying is too much and too persistent, you can back up your blog or take it private and start a new Tumblr with people you trust.

Other Resources

Online Harassment Field Guide - a really comprehensive source

[titan-fodder]

A Force of Nature [1]

1. THE CURIOUS CASE OF DEAN TODOROKI

Tags: exposition and introductions, mentions of death, a crush on a teacher, magic stuff

| masterlist | next >>

Fourth year begins with a body—or really, the direct aftermath of finding one. 

The entire student body of One For All University had received the same message two weeks before term started delivered via dreamscape. 

As your semi-lucid self blinked at the other students who suddenly surrounded you, you knew something was wrong. Master Yagi stood at the center of the group, skeletal face grim as he broke the news. 

Dean Todoroki had been found dead on the campus grounds. There were no leads and no suspects. 

“We’re doing our best to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, should any students decide not to return to the university this semester, the commission will waive any penalties and allow you to pick up your studies in the spring.”

When you’d woken up the following morning, all you could do was stare at your bedroom ceiling. You were never very fond of Dean Todoroki, a stern man with absurdly high expectations, but that didn’t mean he deserved to die. 

No further details were given—nothing about the exact location or even cause of death—which led you to believe that the dean’s demise was the result of foul play. The real question that remains to be answered is who in the fuck would be ballsy enough to take on such a man. 

The option to take a gap semester tempted you for the small remainder of your summer break, but truthfully, you always knew you would return. No amount of fear or suspicion could stop you. 

You’re well passed the halfway point in attending OFAU, and the quicker you push through, the quicker you can join the workforce and put your skills to use (making real, adult money could also be a factor). 

The second week of September brings with it a textbook shopping spree, a four hour plane ride, and some dorm room decorating. Classes don’t start for another two days, but you always get to campus a little early just to settle in. The staff never seems to mind, and it’s not like you're the only student roaming the yards and halls. 

As you stack the last few books onto the shelf that hangs above your bed, your stomach gurgles, alerting you that you have put off dinner for long enough. Fortunately, you’ve reached an acceptable stopping point and can actually allow yourself to give in to your body’s needs. 

You slide your feet into a pair of slippers and grab one of your more casual cloaks, then step out of your small room and set the ward you’ve used since your first year. Each student is given a personalized protection spell for their dorm room, not unlike a combination lock. You're discouraged from sharing it with anyone, but that rule gets broken quite often for obvious reasons. 

The Chimera Axis dorms are the closest of the dorms to the dining hall but the furthest from most of the class buildings. One For All campus is set up like an old, wealthy neighborhood. Most courses take place in what look to be large Victorian houses, but each was gutted at some point in order to customize them for whatever setting its class or classes require. There’s a greenhouse on the roof of professor Nemuri’s brew house, a floor full of dummies and other foes inside of Mic’s house of defense, an entire observatory protruding from the third story of Sakamata’s astronomy house, and much, much more. 

There are nine of these outdated but gorgeous buildings, all arranged in what could be called a cul-de-sac (if said cul-de-sac resembled pancake batter poured by a toddler and took ten minutes to walk across).

You nod to the few students you pass on your way to the dining hall, asking how their summer breaks went without actually stopping to chat. It’s still warm out, and you see a couple of unfortunate tanlines, a sign of a happy vacation–the kind that you did not have. 

Your break was mostly spent holed up in your home studying, practicing, and showing off for family members like some kind of circus monkey. You can’t even remember how many tarot readings you did for your aunt Eileen, nor can you count the number of palms that were shoved in your face. However, nothing compared to your ignorant cousin pushing his spit cup across the coffee table for you to read the sodden tobacco like tea leaves. 

Even with a possible killer on the loose, the university has to be better than your home in the states.

Obviously not paying much attention as you enter the dining hall, still stuck on your cousin’s oh-so punchable face, you come very close to running straight into someone. You stop just in time, slipper-clad feet sliding on the hardwood floor until familiar hands steady you.

“Can’t say my hopes are very high for you this term if you’re already slamming into staff members.”

You crane your neck so that professor Sasaki can see the way you roll your eyes at him.

“I’m surprised you have any hopes for me at all, sir,” you tell him. “Lucky I even came back considering there’s a madman running amok.” 

It’s Sasaki’s turn to scoff. He drops his hands from your shoulders then pushes his glasses further up his nose while grumbling, “I hope for their sake they don’t run into you.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment to my staggering skill in magics–” you flip your hair in faux arrogance, “–or an insult to my overall personality.”

Sasaki lifts an eyebrow, but his lips are curving in a small smile. He doesn’t have to say it. Your strength in witchcraft is mostly average, and you’ve been called difficult by more than a few people, so…

“Just say it,” you sigh, batting your eyelashes. “It’s okay, I won’t poke fun.”

“Yes you will,” he responds matter-of-factly before patting the top of your head and admitting, “I’m glad to see you,” then tacking on a wholly unnecessary, “Little brat.”

“Excuse me, is that any way to talk to your star pupil? Your newest apprentice?”

“Technically the paperwork hasn’t been signed off on,” he says as if he doesn’t care. He does, though. You know he does.

You’re a mediocre practitioner in every branch of magic save for one: The Fates.

Palmistry, Tarot, Tasseography, Geomancy, Scrying–skills not commonly used in this day other than at tourist trap boardwalks and secret government jobs, but it’s an art you appreciate and enjoy (though, your crystal gazing needs some work). Sasaki had been impressed when you’d excelled in his beginner’s class, the one every student has to take as a core credit, and he continued to hum in approval and encourage you through the intermediate classes most students struggle through for two whole years, so much so that he had you transferred into his advanced course early, a third year student among fourth and fifth years.  

There was no question as to what you would be majoring in here at OFA. Most people knew by their fourth year which was when classes became less about learning a bit of everything and more about honing specialized skills, but you’d known for a long time, about when you first discovered your gift as a child.

Standing at the threshold of the dining hall, you try to act nonchalant, as if you aren’t thrumming with excitement about being able to work closer with Sasaki. You shrug, look at your nails, then hum, “I mean, if you don’t wanna push it through, that’s on you, but… I think your next best candidate is Mineta.”

Sasaki cringes at the thought of the young man in question, suspended the year before for streaking through the gardens on a dare. You snort, telling the professor, “I hear he’s great with balls. Probably better than I am.”

“Please,” Sasaki holds a hand up and coughs. “I’ll remind Yagi.”

“I bet you will.”

He lets out an exasperated sigh at the same time that your stomach rumbles, and that prompts both of you to start moving again, sidestepping one another so that he can leave and you can make your way to the kitchen counters.

“See you in class,” Sasaki offers. “Make sure you come prepared.”

“Always do, sir.” You wave, flash a smile, then stop him with an, “Oh, by the way…” Sasaki tilts his head to listen, eyebrows high and expectant, but when you tease, “I missed you too, you big grump,” all he does is scowl in an unconvincing manner and turn around. 

Professor Mirai Sasaki is arguably one of the more intimidating teachers at OFA University, but you think you’ve done a pretty damn good job of worming your way into his good graces. He actually has a wicked sense of humor. It’s a shame he doesn’t show it often.

You find yourself smiling with every bite you take of your dinner, didn’t realize how much you missed the school food. The few other students in the hall are all sitting alone like you, some with books cracked open, some practicing simple spells—making their tea stir itself or charming cookies to dance around their plate. Little refreshers like that help, and you think about trying a few yourself then wave it off. You got enough practice when you were setting your room up, dusting and organizing your things Fantasia style. Besides, the first couple days of term consist mostly of reviewing what you may have forgotten over break. 

By the time you finish eating and get back to the Chimera dorms it’s nearly 8 o’clock, so you’re a little surprised to find a note waiting for you, floating in the air at face level so that you all but run into the damn thing. 

Let’s hang out. 

F. T. 

Simple, to the point. Exactly what you’d expect from Fumikage. 

You grab your trusty water bottle as well as the novel you’ve been reading all summer, then turn right back around to begin the long walk to the Indrik Axis dormitory building. 

It’s dark outside now, and you speak a simple incantation to make the tips of your fingers glow brightly, pointing them all at the ground in front of you to keep from tripping over anything. 

There’s a good chance you’ll be over pretty late which is fine, a sort of tradition you and Fumikage have after not seeing one another for months. He’s been your best friend since starting at the university, a low maintenance one at that which you appreciate greatly. You’ve talked enough to form a strong basis for a friendship, but most of the things you’ve learned about one another have been through observation. 

He comes from a rural area of Japan, still lives with his parents, enjoys metal music, horror movies, and suspenseful books. He’s also fantastic with transfiguration and astronomy, helping you with those classes since the moment you realized your weakness in them first year. 

When he opens the door to his dorm Fumikage offers you a head nod before welcoming you inside with a wave of his arm. 

“Good break?” you ask. 

He shrugs narrow shoulders. “Visited family and caught up on my movie list. Nothing exciting. You?” 

“About the same only the fam-bam came to me.” 

“Trapped by obligation in your own home. How miserable.”

“It wasn’t all bad. More draining than anything.”

A movie is playing on the small TV, an old slasher that even you have seen a dozen times, and the two of you settle on the floor, leaning against the foot of Fumikage’s bed. 

“Safe trip in?” 

He nods. 

“Did you fly or… fly?” You flap your hands by your sides to differentiate, and he shows a half smile then mimics the motion. 

One of the most impressive things about your friend is his ability to turn himself into different animals, his favorite being a raven. It suits him considering he already resembles one—high cheekbones, pointed chin, jet black hair. Some days he prefers to stay in his winged form, often hitching a ride to class on your shoulder, but that makes it a little difficult to communicate effectively. 

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, eyes fixed on the bloody TV screen, but you start to get antsy as the gore reminds you…

“What do you think of, uh… Dean Todoroki?” 

Fumikage grunts, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think it’s suspicious we haven’t been told anything else about him.”

“My money’s on murder,” you say grimly. “Question is why. And who.”

“His body being found on campus grounds leads me to believe it was an inside job.”

“A colleague?” 

“Who else would be strong enough to kill him?” 

You hum in acknowledgment. That’s a very good point. 

“Did you hear who’s taking his spot?”

“Nah, who?” 

“His son.”

You frown, going through the list. “Natsuo?” That doesn’t make sense. You’d heard that he actually struggled during his time at the school. 

“Shouto,” Fumikage corrects, and now you’re even more taken aback. 

“Didn’t he literally just graduate in spring?” 

“He did.”

It’s hard to wrap your head around. A professor two years older than you? Hiring someone so young at such a prestigious school seems risky even if the guy in question is a fucking savant. 

His skill with the elements was apparent even before his first year so you’ve heard, and by the time he hit his second year he was more powerful than every student and even some staff. You can only imagine what his strength is like these days. 

That doesn’t mean he’s prepared for this position, though. You don’t know his exact birthday but he can’t be any older than twenty-four. Even if he’d come off as stoic—aloof, even—as a student, that didn’t necessarily mean he was any more mature than everyone else. 

“Who’d you hear it from?” 

“Overheard Aizawa and Yamada talking about it when I was flying to the dorms.”

“Sneaky.”

“They could probably sense me. They just didn’t care.”

“You’re not exactly the gossip-y type.”

“And I pride myself on that.” 

Fumikage generally isn’t a man of many words, and you’re more than okay with that. Oftentimes the two of you sit in silence, watching something, studying, or reading. You’re a little more outgoing, especially when you get comfortable with someone, but spending time with someone without having to make conversation is nice—allows you to recharge your battery while still having company. 

There is one more member of your friendship, making you part of a very stable trio: Kyouka Jirou who you’d more or less adopted last year after hanging out together at one of the school festivals. Shy until forced to be otherwise, she’s one of the top students in your year due to her status as a badass dueler. She could put you in the ground if she wanted to. 

Much like Fumikage, she prefers to stay quiet and observe (and judge) rather than make small talk. Mostly the three of you talk about music, but you’ve all been known to deviate from time to time. 

“You know when Kyouka is getting here?”

“Sometime tomorrow,” Fumikage answers. “I think her flight leaves at around seven, so she should be here by the afternoon.”

You nod, hoping it’s an easy trip. Kyouka has mentioned many times how much she hates flying, but it’s the easiest way to get to the campus. 

It’s then that you realize just how excited you are to see her—how ready you were to see Fumikage and how spending time with him feels like a breath of fresh air. They’re your best friends, and the university, as cliché as it sounds, is your home. You feel like you belong here more than anywhere else. 

“I’m glad both of you decided to come back,” you say quietly. 

Fumikage lets out something close to a chuckle and glances at you. 

“Did you think we wouldn’t?” 

You shrug. “I really wasn’t sure. I mean, it is a little freaky being here after… Anyway, I just didn’t know.”

“Ye of little faith,” he tsks only to smirk afterward. “Plus, how are you supposed to solve a murder mystery by yourself?” 

It isn’t something any students should get involved in, but as soon as you stepped on to the school grounds you knew that you would. 

“Curiosity killed that cat,” you remind him with a raised eyebrow. 

Fumikage turns to look at you, eyes locked, and of course he’d be interested in this. Of course he would. How long has he been thinking about this? Since Master Yagi delivered the news two weeks ago? You wouldn’t be surprised considering how morbid he can be. All those damn horror movies. 

“You didn’t finish the quote—satisfaction brought it back.”

“Yeah, yeah, but we really shouldn’t go snooping around, Fumi.”

Leaning back against the bed frame, he sucks his teeth. 

“We’ll just have to fly under the radar.”

“Easy for you to say.”

~

Every student is back on campus the day before classes start, and dinner that night is always an ordeal. Friends are reuniting after the break, catching up, complaining about not being ready to study. 

This is also when everybody receives their class schedules. As everyone else is eating, many of the upperclassmen pass out the sought-after papers. Each card is linked to their student, charmed to make glowing lights appear just above your head as soon as your name is flipped to, thus ensuring the list finds the correct person.

You catch the paper that floats toward you, eager fingers crinkling the parchment as you quickly look it over. You grin and nod in satisfaction at most of the classes you see, but some make you groan. 

Block A: (Monday, Wednesday)

Brewing - N. Kayama - 08:00 - 09:30

Transport - O. Shirakumo - 10:00 - 11:30

Conjuration - T. Hakamada - 15:00 - 16:30

The Fates - M. Sasaki - 17:00 - 18:30

Block B: (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)

Elemental Magic - S. Todoroki - 10:00 - 11:30

Will Bending - S. Aizawa - 12:00 - 13:30

Combat Magic - H. Yamada - 18:00 - 19:30

Necromancy -  K. Chisaki- 20:00 - 21:30

*Apprenticeship with M. Sasaki; schedule TBD

“Shit, I have Necromancy this year. At fucking eight PM.”

Fumikage smirks. “How spooky.” 

“Dude, the house is right next to the graveyard!” The only one of the teaching houses that stands apart from the others. “That’s so creepy!”

“Seems like the best place to put it. Plenty of resources right outside.”

You squint at him just as he reaches up to retrieve his own schedule. 

“Looks like I have it at… six. Sorry I won’t be there to hold your hand.”

“Shut up,” you scoff. “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand.”

Across from you, Kyouka gives you an unsure look. “As long as there aren’t any jump scares you’ll be fine.”

“Why would there be jump scares?” 

“I mean, it is raising the dead. There’s bound to be some corpses that just hop right off the table.” 

She and Fumikage laugh as you lower your face into your hands. 

“Why would you even suggest that?” 

You really should be immune to petty fear tactics considering how many horror films you watch with your friends, but god dammit, those jump scares get you every single time. You can’t imagine what you would do if you experienced something like that in real life, if a reanimated corpse suddenly popped out of its coffin… 

If that idea isn’t bad enough, you’ll have to deal with the terrifying professor who teaches the course, Dr. Kai Chisaki. He may be the least liked teacher at the school (would probably be the least liked person if Mineta wasn’t around). There’s no real reason for the contempt, just that he gives everyone an uneasy feeling, like he’s always watching you or wondering how to add more bodies to his backyard. You’re pretty sure you’ve even seen Master Yagi shiver while in Chisaki’s presence. 

“I’m gonna fucking piss my pants at least once,” you mutter, “I just know it.”

“If it gets too embarrassing, I’m sure Chisaki is capable of catheterizing you,” Kyouka notes as if it’s a normal thing to say out loud. 

“What in the fu—Why would you—? Ew! What is wrong with you?” 

Fumikage is quietly laughing into his food, and he doesn’t stop even when you shove his head further into his bowl of rice. 

“You guys are disgusting, and I hate you.”

“Lies,” Kyouka sighs casually. “You’d be lost without us.”

You would be, but this kind of bullying is unwarranted. 

“At least the guy is nice to look at. You definitely won’t be bored in his class.” 

“You aren’t even into dudes, but he registers as attractive on your radar?”

Kyouka waves a hand and defends, “I recognize all pretty people, thank you.”

“And, you consider him to be… pretty,” you try. 

You’re playing it up, acting as if you haven’t noticed, but the truth is as freaky as Dr. Chisaki is, he is also ridiculously hot. 

“Have you seen his eyelashes?” Fumikage joins in, sounding serious as ever in spite of the conversation topic. “He probably did some sort of black magic to get those.”

“His eyes in general,” Kyouka adds. “Very striking.”

“The plague mask is pretty metal, I won’t lie.”

“Okay, fuck, I get it. You both have a crush on the creepy necromancer,” you try to sound careless, but you can’t say you aren’t amused. “Noted.”

Fumikage tuts, “I said no such thing.”

“You’re coming on a little strong is all I’m saying.”

“You just don’t see his potential because you’re in love with—”

“Shhh, sh, sh, sh,” you cut off Kyouka who’s now smiling too slyly for your liking, and as your cheeks heat up, you deny her accusation with a weak, “We are not speaking of that, and also no I am not.”

“Sure you’re not.”

Kyouka gets her schedule, and the three of you forget the joke and begin to compare. You all have Transport and Will Bending together, and you and Fumikage share the same Elemental block, so at least you won’t be alone all day every day. 

“I really shouldn’t be in Elementals. I’m not great at it and definitely won’t be majoring in it, but,” you lift an eyebrow conspiratorially, “it will be interesting watching Shouto teach.” 

“Maybe you’ll get better at it this year,” Kyouka shrugs. “Maybe he’ll be a great teacher.” 

“Unlikely considering his reputation as a student, but we’ll see.”

Cold, arrogant, some would even call him mean. You think it has more to do with the fact that he could never relate to his peers, not that he hated them, but you still can’t forget the time in your first year that one of Shouto Todoroki’s many admirers asked him to the All Hallow’s festival (in a very public setting), and he replied with, why would I want to go to that with you? 

To her credit, the girl did not break down in front of him, but you remember how puffy her eyes were for the remainder of the day. 

“When do you start your apprenticeship?” Kyouka asks after swallowing a mouthful of noodles. 

“Don’t know. It says to be decided on the schedule. I’ll probably have to ask after class tomorrow.”

She wiggles her eyebrows, but you ignore it, trying to be subtle as you glance toward the staff table, eyes scanning over everybody there, noting their formal cloaks and high-collared shirts, and how handsome Sa—

No. Stop. None of that this year. It’s time for you to get over your school girl crush and focus on your studies and how to further grow your power. 

Sasaki’s eyes flick up from the meat he’s cutting into (very precisely, you might add), and you have to force yourself not to look away immediately—make it seem like a coincidental glance instead of guilty staring. 

You do what you always do when you’re around him, which is to be generally annoying. He tilts his head to the side just slightly as if asking a question, and you respond by sticking your tongue out at him. Even from this distance you can see how he rolls his eyes, just like you can see how his mouth twists to keep from smiling. 

“Yeah, definitely not in love with him,” Kyouka mumbles. 

You load a small ball of sticky rice on your fork then catapult it into her face. 

~

As you predicted, the first day of classes is all review. You whip up a draught for the common cold in the brew house, practice the basics of teleportation in Shirakumo’s transportation lesson, then walk with Fumikage and Kyouka to the dining hall for lunch. 

So far you’ve chatted with a few familiar faces during and in-between classes, people you consider more than acquaintances but not quite friends. You aren’t hard to get along with (most of the time), and you don’t dislike the other students; you’re just picky. Usually it’s just you, Fumi, and Kyouka in your own little world, and that is perfectly fine with you. 

A few more people do join you during the meal, though—Shoji, who Fumikage pals around with when you’re not available, Tsu, who is close with Shoji and therefore welcome to join, and Momo, who Kyouka enjoys hanging out with whenever given the chance but is too chicken-shit to ask out on a date even though she’s wanted to for two years now.

You and Fumikage have entered some kind of silent agreement to not mention the late Todoroki around anyone else unless he gets brought up organically, and even then, both of you are smart enough to not say anything about wanting to “investigate.” You haven’t even told Kyouka about your shared interest—not that she wouldn’t enjoy being a part of it, but you and Fumikage both know she would be a nervous wreck, afraid that the teachers, or worse, Momo would find out about all of you sneaking around. It’s far too early in the school year to be causing drama like that.

“Is everyone going to the Indrik party on Friday?” Tsu asks, glancing around the table curiously. 

You’re on the fence about it, as you are every year. At the start of each term, the residents of the Indrik Axis host what they call a “ritual” but everyone else knows is just a rager. They claim that the energies of so many practitioners being together and having a good time feeds them and helps them get more in touch with their shifter selves, some bullshit about connecting with one another—being at peace—and how it’s good to experience that after long breaks away from school and like-minded individuals.

You fell for it your first year, walking to the dorms and expecting there to be candles and casting circles and herbs. But there were none of those things, just a bunch of university students drinking various brews of euphoria, playing juvenile games, dancing to bad music, and… Well, granted, many of them were connecting with one another. 

The parties aren’t bad by any means. They’re just parties, is all. No need to magic it up into something that it’s not. 

“Perhaps. I’ll see how I feel that night,” Fumikage says, his form of a joke as he is part of the Indrik Axis. He has spent more than a few of those parties locked in his room, though, so you really wouldn’t put it past him to skip out on an event his own Axis is hosting.

“There’s no fun going to a party you know is gonna get busted,” you sigh, resting your cheek in your palm. 

Just as the throwing of an Indrik party is a tradition, so is the busting of one. Wards are put up for every “ritual,” but it’s mostly just to make sure the entire campus doesn’t hear the blasting music or see the spark of spells or the flames from the bonfire out back. It makes it so that you need a sort of pass code in order to get in, but that pass code gets well-circulated within the first week of classes, so it’s more or less an open party. 

Would a young practitioner be able to get in? Unlikely. Would a staff member be able to? Absolutely. And, one always does, the same, grumpy Will Bending professor who gets into every party and goes straight for the speakers.

I’ve let you have your fun, but it’s three AM. Go to bed.

And, then, like good little students, everyone disperses only for Aizawa to give extra assignments the following week, sick bastard. 

“I don’t know. Does no one else think it’s kinda cute that he humors us for a while before shutting things down?” Kyouka asks, then adds, “That guy wants to be such a hardass, but he just… can’t get all the way there.”

You snort, looking at the end of the staff table where Professor Aizawa is sitting next to Professor Yamada. The two could not be any more opposite, yet it’s impossible to find one without the other. Even their classes are housed in the same building. No other teachers share space, but they don’t seem to have a problem with it and have even been known to combine classes for lessons before (some of your favorites, if you’re honest).

“Yeah, he’s a big softie,” you agree. “Not that I’d let him hear me say it.”

“Soft or not, I have no plans of getting busted by him,” Momo says as she places her eating utensils down, “so, I will not be attending the Indrik party.”

Course you won’t be, you almost say out loud, but you’re able to stop yourself. 

Momo is great. She’s insanely smart, and she’s very kind, and she seems to like your friend a lot. It’s just that she’s a little self-righteous. Apparently, she grew up with money—the kind of money that’s hard to imagine—and not only did her family make said money in an ethical way, but they did ethical things with it, like give to charity, create organizations, and donate buildings or whatever good rich people do when they have funds like that. The point is Momo is very proper, and she comes by it naturally, so you can’t even hold it against her. 

“Wanna spend the time studying instead?” Kyouka asks, so earnestly it actually hurts, but when Momo smiles prettily in response, making your friend grin back and blush, you can’t be annoyed with either of them. 

Everyone hangs out in the hall for a while longer until afternoon classes approach. You have to go back to your room for your textbook, planning on flipping through it during your walk to Hakamada’s, but the volume is nothing but dead weight in your arms when you step out of the dorm building and spot two very familiar figures crossing the grounds several yards away from you. 

Master Yagi looks like he’s trying and failing to walk at a normal, human pace while Shouto—sorry, Professor Todoroki—does his best to keep stride with him. They’ve obviously mid conversation, the younger with his head tilted back so that he can look at the towering practitioner as he speaks. 

You aren’t sure why, but your stomach twists a little. It could be that you feel sorry for the guy since he just lost his father, can only imagine what kind of stress he’s under; you can’t be the only one around here with little faith in his teaching abilities. There’s something more there, though, something about the way his perfectly even two-toned hair blows in the wind, something about the way the uniform cape every professor wears looks too natural around his shoulders, something about the way his forearms are straining a little too much as he grips his—god, is that a briefcase? Who still carries a fucking briefcase?

You force a smile when Master Yagi waves in your direction, apparently not finding your staring out of the ordinary. Todoroki glances past him and at you, left eye so icy that it actually makes you shiver, and after shaking your head you finally turn and begin walking in the direction of your conjuration class.

When you look over your shoulder a few moments later, you see that they’re starting on the trail that leads to Chisaki’s house and the graveyard. 

~

“What do you think you need the most work on at this point?” Sasaki asks from across the small table. He’s leaning back, one leg thrown over the other, and you’re trying not to get distracted by how long his fingers look where they’re steepled over his knee. 

You’re in the sitting area on the second floor of the Fates house, more casual than a classroom or office setting. Just from looking around you can tell that this is the bottom half of Sasaki’s living quarters and can easily assume that the floor above is where he sleeps. It isn’t very different from any other home, has a kitchenette, bathroom, and living room. The curtains are drawn, the lights are a little dim, and incense is burning, something a little more subtle than what most practitioners use. It’s nice—cozy, even.

“I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Scrying?”

You nod. “I practiced over the summer with the ball you let me borrow—I have that in my room, by the way, don’t let me forget it—” he waves you off, obviously not concerned. 

“No improvement?”

“None that I could tell. Everything just looks like fog to me.”

Sasaki hums before standing up and shedding his teaching cape, draping it over an armchair before stepping over to the shelf in the corner. It’s mostly full of books, but one of the middle shelves is home to a few different sized crystal balls, all arranged neatly on one side and wrapped in velvet bags. Pressed against the other side of the shelf are a couple boxes of bagged tea leaves and at least a dozen tarot decks. He grabs the beginner ball made of smoky quartz, summoning a small stand for it from a drawer on the opposite side of the room, then takes his seat again.

Bottom lip tugged between your teeth in concentration, you set the crystal up in front of you, making sure you’ll be able to reach it from your chair without issue. You sit up straighter and take a deep breath as your eyes focus on the ball. 

“Comfortable?” Sasaki asks.

“Mhmm.” Not a lie, but not the complete truth. You’re comfortable in his presence, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t still jittery around him—in a giddy sort of way, of course.

“Your shoulders look tense,” he states.

You glance up at him, honest when you tell him, “I’m not particularly keen on making myself look like an idiot in front of my mentor.”

Sasaki allows a soft smile to turn his mouth upward as he shakes his head. “I know you’re not an idiot. You don’t have to worry about that.”

You don’t have any sort of witty comeback for him, too distracted by the way your cheeks are heating up. 

Okay, okay, release the tension, let it ease out of your body, you think to yourself, trying to recall the soothing instructions all the people on your meditation app use. Acknowledge the breath, feel it fill your lungs…

You hold your hands so that they hover just over the ball. You know that you’re supposed to be touching it, but that feels so personal with a crystal that isn’t yours. 

Sasaki sighs, and it makes your stomach drop. 

“Here, give me your hands.”

You frown in confusion, but all he does is reach out, and it’s not like you’re going to tell him no. Willing your hands to stop shaking, you place them over his, looking anywhere but his face.

This is why you can’t ever relax completely. This, right fucking here. 

“Breathe with me,” he commands before inhaling deeply through his nose for a few seconds and exhaling through his mouth. 

Mimicking it, you finally let your eyes fall on him. You know you’re putting yourself at risk for him to exercise his specialty, but you trust him enough not to go poking around in your future without your permission. 

“Relax,” Sasaki drawls on the next breath out, and again on the following, “relax… relax...”

Your mind does begin to slow down ever so slightly, but the way your stomach flips when Sasaki leads your hands back down to the crystal is jarring enough to keep you from falling fully into a trance. The ball is cold beneath your palms, a stark contrast from the warmth that’s radiating from Sasaki’s, and fuck, how are you supposed to concentrate like this?

“You don’t have to look closely, just let the crystal guide you… Follow your intuition…”

This is basic stuff, and you’re a little embarrassed that you have to keep reviewing it like this, but it simply will not come to you. Tasseography and geomancy came very naturally to you—tea and sand are much easier to read than crystals in your opinion—and tarot had been one of your interests from a young age. You never upgraded from your first deck, having gotten very attached to it over the years, but you really should start thinking about it. The corners of every card have become frayed, a couple even peeling apart.

“Your mind is still too busy,” Sasaki chides lightly, and you actually look up at him and pout.

“How would you know?”

He smirks. “I can read it on your face. You’re frowning.” As if to prove it, Sasaki lifts a hand and pokes right between your eyebrows, gently pulling upward so that you’re forced to relax the muscles there. 

“Now, as you’ve told me many times before,” he says as he drops his hand again, “you need to chill out.”

You laugh at that, head falling back as you agree, “Yeah, that’s fair.”

“Mhm. Try again?”

You try not to look too starry eyed—not good for the image—but in truth you’d do anything Sasaki asked you to. 

“Okay.”

He nods in approval then covers your hands again, leading you in another breathing exercise until you’re ready to focus on the crystal. You can feel more of its energy now, the power emanating from it, and now when you look at its smoky visage, you feel a bit more confident in yourself and a bit less concerned with Sasaki’s eyes on you. 

Your crush had developed very quickly. First year, probably within a couple months. When the Fates professor had initially introduced himself to your beginner class, you felt an immediate attraction but chalked it up to a handsome facial structure paired with him teaching your favorite subject. 

Then the praise started. Nothing overt—that’s not Sasaki’s style. It was all satisfied nods and subtle smiles, the occasional “impressive” when he was particularly pleased with one of your practical demonstrations. It made you feel very warm. More than that, it made you crave his attention, made you want to be his best student. 

The first time he kept you after class amplified those feelings tenfold. 

He’d sat behind his desk and stared at you for a little too long, watching you ring your hands nervously until finally asking, “When did you start exploring the Fates?”

“Umm, probably when I was around seven or eight.”

He’d nodded. “It shows.”

You can still remember the way your heart had pounded in your chest. 

“It was just, uh… just tarot back then.”

“Not exactly a common hobby for a child. What made you interested?”

You bit your lip, looking down at your shoes. “My gift.” Sasaki raised an eyebrow at that. “It presented at around that time.”

“May I ask what kind of gift?” 

“Past sight,” you answered. This was actually the first time you talked about it with anyone other than Fumikage, and that made you nervous for some reason. “Not quite as useful as future sight, but it comes in handy.”

“I’m sure it does. It’s a very valuable skill.” He had that impressed look on his face again, only this time it was mixed with surprise, much like when you’d exceeded his expectations with your first in-class tea leaf reading. 

“Thank you, sir.”

“No need for thanks. I’m just speaking the truth. You certainly have an aptitude for the Fates, especially for someone so young.”

It had taken a lot not to explode on the spot at his compliment, but you still gave yourself away with a bashful smile. 

“I’m really happy you think so. I’ve, um—I’ve really enjoyed your class so far.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. It’s not a course people typically look forward to.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly typical,” you responded only to cringe at the juvenile notice-me vibes you were no doubt giving off. “I mean, so I’ve been told.”

Sasaki’s lips lifted on one side, one of those small smiles that made your knees wobbly, then murmured a quiet, “I’m inclined to agree,” that had no business being as gratifying as it was. “But I digress—I know you have to get to your next class, but I’m interested to know more about your gift if you wouldn’t mind sitting down one day during a free period.”

“Of course!” you blurted too quickly. “I mean, yes, yeah, I wouldn’t—ehem—wouldn’t mind.”

Golden eyes shined with amusement, and you were glad to be dismissed shortly after so that you could rush into the nearest bathroom and fan your burning face (and maybe do a triumphant little dance). 

A week later you had sat down with him before evening classes to answer every question he had, flattered that he felt the need to write some of it down. In turn, Sasaki told you about his gift which just so happened to be the exact opposite of yours, the future sight you so admired. 

“Why invoke the Fates if you can already see what’s going to happen?” 

“My power is limited. It extends only to people and only under certain circumstances.”

“And, what might those circumstances be?” 

This conversation had taken place in his office, an alarmingly organized space despite how many personal supplies he kept inside. 

“Well, firstly, I have to establish eye contact. Then I have to touch my target physically.” 

Your swallow had echoed in the quiet room, eyes too wide, but Sasaki didn’t comment on either. 

“Oh.”

“I don’t usually like performing it on people I’m close with—sometimes I don’t end up liking what I see—but it’s necessary in some situations.”

“That makes sense. I imagine people get upset too.”

Sasaki’s expression went grim as he nodded. “They often do.”

There was, of course, a part of you that wanted him to look into your future, but you didn’t dare ask. Not only was there a chance he could see something awful, but it also seemed… intimate. You were already in too deep, no need to push the envelope. 

After that, Sasaki didn’t quite favor you in class, but he did pay closer attention to you than other students, calling on you more, sometimes when your hand wasn’t even up because it was rare you didn’t know the answer to his questions. 

By then you were good friends with Kyouka, and she had been the first to notice your affections, making the offhand comment one day that, “You sure do talk about Professor Sasaki a lot.”

“It’s just my favorite class,” you told her. “It’s what I’m best at.” 

And it continues to be what you’re best at, even if you can’t make out a damn thing in this godforsaken crystal ball. 

“See anything?” Sasaki asks. 

You snort quietly before telling him, “Smoke. All I see is smoke.” Imagine that. Smoky quartz looking smoky. Who would have thought? 

Granted, it does look a little extra swirly, like it might be moving. 

“Nothing else?” 

Letting your hands fall to the table, you shake your head and sigh. 

“Nope. Just smoke.” 

Sasaki hums and sits back, offering an encouraging, “There’s always next time. It won’t stay smoky forever. I promise.”

You stare at him hopefully, and you wonder if he has any idea how much you admire him, how much you respect him, and how much you yearn for him to feel even close to the same way. 

Doubtful but a girl can dream. 

“You really think I can learn this? I mean, it’s been two years.” 

“I know you will,” he says with what sounds like absolute conviction. 

The crystal ball is put away for the time being, and Sasaki makes some tea, both to drink and to practice with the leaves left at the bottom. Afterward you read a nine-card tarot spread, a monthly check in you needed to do anyway, and then, just as the clock hits 9 o’clock, Sasaki asks, “Any questions?” 

You shrug, “Not really. My eyes hurt.”

He chuckles, “I’m sure they do. You did well today. Both in class and this evening.” 

“Thanks. I’m trying not to make you regret taking me on as your apprentice.”

Sasaki begins gathering the cards in front of you, slipping them back into their box. 

“I don’t see that happening. Even if you do act out for me.” He catches your eye as he says it, gold shining with mirth. 

It shouldn’t make you heat up the way it does, shouldn’t make the hair on your arms stand on end from excitement. 

Act out for him. You just can’t help it these days. Teasing and rolling your eyes and pushing his buttons—it’s like a fucking compulsion. 

And you think it’s the looks he gives you in response, sometimes in amusement, sometimes in warning, as if to say keep it up and see where it gets you. 

“Someone’s gotta keep you on your toes.”

“And, you’ve taken it upon yourself.” 

“Uh huh!” you grin cheerily. 

He feigns exasperation, poking right back at you, “You used to be so shy, always fidgeting and stuttering. What happened to that?”

You suck your teeth at him and cross your arms over your chest, smugly tell him, “You praised me too much. It went to my head.”

“Is that what it was?”

“For sure. You spoiled me.”

Sasaki clicks his tongue and sits back. “I’ll just have to tone it down then, lay off the compliments.”

“Impossible,” you play, “you like me too much.”

He scoffs in offense, but you can still see the pink dusting his cheeks. It isn’t often you get him legitimately flustered, and you wouldn’t say he is now, but he’s getting there. 

Because you are a merciful being, though, you decide to give him a break. It’s about time you take your leave anyway. 

“I should get going,” you sigh like you’re disappointed (you kind of are). “Seven on Wednesday again?”

“Yes, if that works for you.”

You start to gather your things, not that you brought a lot, just a notebook, your own deck, and a pouch of crystals. 

Mondays and Wednesdays will be your longest days considering you’ll be up fairly early and getting back a little late, but it’ll be well worth it, and you definitely do not mind considering what, or who, is keeping you out in the evenings. 

Saturdays were also discussed, a possible twice a month meeting, but it’s still up in the air. You and Sasaki both landed on a we’ll-see-what-works type of schedule. Low pressure but still with definite expectations. 

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked about the dean,” he says out of nowhere, and you stop moving to look at him. 

“Honestly, I didn’t think you were allowed to talk about it.”

Partially true. You had thought about the fallen teacher numerous times throughout the day, but any questions you had dissipated as soon as you walked into your six o’clock Fates class. 

“I’m not, but I figure you must be curious.” 

“Oh, absolutely,” you affirm. “It’s rude to tease, though, sir. You can’t just dangle that kind of inside scoop in my face.”

Sasaki snorts quietly and stands up, walking with you out of the room and downstairs. 

“Not even a hint?” you try because now you’re really curious. He knows something, possibly the whole story. 

“Just one.” 

You stare up at him, trying not to look too happy at the idea of learning more about someone’s death, but it’s hard not to. Fumikage will be thrilled to have some reliable information. 

But, all Sasaki gives you in the end is a serious look and some advice: “Stay safe.” 

Touching but a total cop-out. 

Deflating, you grumble, “I will,” then feel his hand settle on top of your head followed by the sensation of something warm settling over your body. 

You recognize the feeling and cock your head. “Aura of protection?” 

“Yes. It’ll only last for a couple hours, but it’ll get you back to your dorm safely.”

Your insides feel like goo as you melt from the inside out. He cares about you. You know it’s only in the way a teacher cares about their student, but it’s still care, and that’s all it takes. 

“So, there really is a madman running around here,” you conclude, giving yourself props for managing to get the sentence out clearly. 

Sasaki doesn’t elaborate, but his sober expression says it all. 

“Just get back to your room safely.”

You nod, promising you will, then start on your way. 

It’s dark outside, the grounds mostly empty at this time which usually isn’t an issue, but you can’t deny you aren’t on high alert now. The breeze that blows is still warm with the summer air, rustling tree leaves and the grass underfoot. You look over your shoulder a little more often than you normally would and, to your embarrassment, actually startle when you see someone pacing toward you: Professor Todoroki, looking a little less put together than he did earlier. He’s coming from the opposite direction, maybe from the trail he started down in the afternoon with Master Yagi, and you wonder if he’s been in the graveyard or with Dr. Chisaki this whole time. 

A few yards separate the two of you as you pass one another. There is no greeting or head nod or really any type of polite acknowledgement, but for a brief moment your eyes lock, heads just barely turning to remain in each other’s line of sight for a second more…

And then, he passes, and you continue to your dorm where you forget about the odd exchange for the time being.