#yes it’s 70% student athletes

[manawari]

Solo Leveling Highschool AU!

Sung Jin-woo

• transferee in the school.

• gets lost in the middle of the hallway because he doesn't know where his classroom is located until a friendly student helps him and leads the way. The student introduces himself as Min Byung-gyu.

• when Jin-woo gets there, he's seated at the back in the second column. He is used to sitting next to the window a lot, but this time, there is already a student occupying the seat and snoozing.

• is quiet, reserved, and barely raises his hand. But when his name is called, Jin-woo answers correctly.

• has little doodles on his notebook if he's getting bored in lectures.

• signs up for the track and field.

• often gets picked up by two brothers from another class named Hwang Dong-soo and Hwang Dong-suk. Jin-woo chooses to ignore them, but when he has enough, he retaliates in a way that won't end him up at the principal's office or at the teacher's.

• if classes are dismissed early, Jin-woo stops by his little sister's school to pick her up.

• his first friend is a junior named Yoo Jin-ho, but among his classmates, his first friend is probably Byung-gyu (who checks up on him frequently) or Hae-in (since she's in the same sport as him).

• plays games on his phone when he has a vacant time, which got him closer to Byung-gyu, Tae-gyu, Hae-in, and Yoon-ho.

• classmates: Choi Jong-in, Cha Hae-in, Baek Yoon-ho, Min Byung-gyu, and Lim Tae-gyu.

Choi Jong-in

• president of the student council.

• known as the smartest student in school, but the students are divided on that topic since Cha Hae-in occasionally steals his spot.

• a master in essays and solving mathematical equations.

• basically has the trust of every teacher in school. Even the principal.

• doesn't join any sports clubs, only academic ones.

• makes tutoring his business. 100 won per hour, but 70 won if he's feeling magnanimous.

• doesn't like getting his lunch at the cafeteria since he has low patience, especially when he's hungry, so he usually goes out to the nearest convenience store outside school.

• hates it when the vending machines are low on snacks every time he uses them after classes, so Jong-in makes a rule to the students to limit getting snacks. He even has a secret camera attached somewhere.

• frequently scolds Tae-gyu for sleeping in class. Tae-gyu also pays him double when asking for tutoring in a certain subject — solely to stop Jong-in from scolding him in-between lessons.

• also argues with Baek Yoon-ho for several reasons.

• he's strict, yes, but he is kind in his own way and is ready to defend anyone from being bullied. He has the contact number of the principal, so Jong-in uses that to increase his threats.

• classmates: Cha Hae-in, Baek Yoon-ho, Sung Jin-woo, Lim Tae-gyu, and Min Byung-gyu.

Cha Hae-in

• vice president in the student council.

• is second smartest, but steals Jong-in's place, which ends the two in a competition (from Jong-in's perspective) even though they've been friends since elementary.

• is shy and isn't active as well. When called, she answers correctly without having a second to think.

• she and Jong-in often argue about which answer of theirs is correct during maths.

• is a track and field runner, which is a sport she has been passionate about, and has been trusted to teach the newbies.

• has a friendly rivalry with Choi Tae-woong, who is a fellow athlete.

• she's friendly, but only a few people know what she really is like as a person. Cha Hae-in often gets underestimated due to her kind and soft nature, but once she gets mad, she won't hesitate to release her ferocity.

• has the most organized notes ever and almost not a single erasure is seen.

• she listens to classical music when studying.

• has an unhealthy obsession with coffee while studying for a test and Jong-in has to be the one to stop her.

• classmates: Sung Jin-woo, Choi Jong-in, Baek Yoon-ho, Min Byung-gyu, and Lim Tae-gyu.

Baek Yoon-ho

• basketball player.

• is actually good at English and despite being involved with sports, he turns in his assignments at the perfect time.

• doesn't raise his hand on purpose and often looks bored in class, especially when he doesn't like the teacher.

• lives in the same apartment as Byung-gyu and Hee-jin, so they usually go to school together.

• has a close bond with his coach, Ma Dong-wook.

• is one of the few people who has never been bullied due to his intimidating persona and Yoon-ho can and will scare those who try to mess with him.

• helps teachers around. Some say that he does that only to get high grades, but Yoon-ho is naturally helpful and often tells teachers that they don't have to do something in return.

• carries a gym bag around that contains both of his jerseys and school supplies.

• always has a big container of water. It's only for him when training, but that doesn't stop his friends from asking for water.

• spends his lunchtime with his friends.

• his parents own a restaurant in a separate block from his apartment, so Yoon-ho often brings his friends there for a meal or group study.

• classmates: Cha Hae-in, Min Byung-gyu, Choi Jong-in, Lim Tae-gyu, and Sung Jin-woo.

Lim Tae-gyu

• tennis player.

• usually sleeps in class.

• doesn't have a particular subject he excels in unless it's P.E, though he manages to pass anyways.

• exams? Students are anxious and panicking? Tae-gyu thinks they're overreacting and continues minding his business.

• gets under some teachers' nerves sometimes, but as usual, Tae-gyu doesn't care and will still joke around them until they threaten him to fail in class.

• does his homework in school, but if he's around his friends after school, he'll do it already.

• hates being paired with someone he does not know or not close with.

• acts like he doesn't have a lot of money, but he is given 500 won worth of allowance every week.

• used to sit in the front of the class until some students start complaining they cannot see the writings on the board due to his hair.

• supports Jong-in on the snack limit of vending machines rule because he too has experiences of seeing an empty machine.

• despises when he's assigned to clean restrooms. Tae-gyu always has a spare facemask and surgical gloves. It never fails him to receive odd looks from his friends.

• classmates: Min Byung-gyu, Choi Jong-in, Sung Jin-woo, Baek Yoon-ho, and Cha Hae-in.

Min Byung-gyu

• the history nerd in class.

• is weak in maths, so he frequently asks Jong-in or Hae-in for help. But usually, it's Hae-in because he doesn't want to spend his allowance on Jong-in, who doesn't care whether they're friends or not in terms of tutoring.

• knows how to construct essays, not just because he has been taught in school, but due to him reading essays written by historical figures in his free time.

• has known Hee-jin and Yoon-ho since they were young, but hangs out with Yoon-ho the most since Hee-jin used to study in a different location until they finally enrolled into the same school.

• is friends with Eun-seok, who studies in a different school and the son of one of his mother's friends, after tutoring him. Their schedules are different, but Byung-gyu makes sure to include Eun-seok when hanging out during weekends.

• is the reason why the previous history teacher in his class quit because Byung-gyu kept correcting the mistakes in the lessons and even argued with that said teacher.

• reads manga and bonds with Tae-gyu and Jin-woo with it.

• allots some time to watch his friends practice at the gym or field. It's all fun until Hee-jin and Yoon-ho make him choose on whose game he'll attend.

• is also good at science and will help anyone who needs it for free. looking at you, Choi Jong-in!

• frequently stops by at the library, both in school and outside.

• classmates: Sung Jin-woo, Choi Jong-in, Baek Yoon-ho, Cha Hae-in, and Lim Tae-gyu.

Park Hee-jin

• a student from a different class.

• often waits for Yoon-ho and Byung-gyu so they can go home together.

• plays volleyball.

• specializes in science and studies geography in her free time.

• likes eating ice cream before going home.

• takes notes during classes, but when someone asks her if they could burrow, she declines. Last time she lend her notes, the papers returned to her with creases and worse, have traces of ink and other things that ruined her work.

• hates having Kim Chul as one of her group members during a project.

• due to her being a volleyball player, some students try not to make her mad otherwise Hee-jin will leave a red mark on their body. Even when she's laughing, she tends to hit people, so Yoon-ho and Byung-gyu choose to stay away from her as possible.

• classmates: Han Se-mi, Gina, Son Ki-hoon, Lee Min-sung, Kim Chul, and Yoo Soo-young.

Lee Ju-hee

• Jin-woo's friend from a different school. Public school, to be precise.

• an average student who doesn't pressure herself much in studies.

• uses a bicycle when going to school.

• has a cute little cousin who lives with her and whom she also teaches.

• likes studying by herself, but she also likes studying with her closest friends.

• gets easily anxious when speaking in front of class, especially when she has something to present. Ju-hee struggles with public speaking, but in the end, her friends praise her for doing well.

• classmates: Jung Ye-rim, Lee Bora, Eun-seok, and Esil Radiru (an exchange student from Russia and is still learning Korean).

Other characters:

• Go Gun-hee is the school principal.

• Woo Jin-chul is a mathematics teacher.

• Song Chi-yul is a history teacher (the new one).

• Ma Dong-wook is a P.E teacher/basketball coach.

• Ahn Sang-min is a science teacher.

• Norma Selner is an English teacher. (let's just say she got a promotion to become a teacher in Korea. She's still learning the language, but Gun-hee reassures her that her speaking in her original language will help students learn easily.)

[mayraskywalker]

Hello! I’ve had this story in my head for a long while. And I finally wanna share! WARNING! This may be inappropriate for minors under 18! With that being said, enjoy this naughty story of our favorite sorcerers as teenagers. 🥰

CHAPTER ONE: VESSEL

An impatient white-haired young man, and an indifferent man sit at a bar. A coffee bar, that is.

The white-haired man, excited as can be, waves to the petite barista, who would sometimes stop what she’s doing to look back at the pair of handsome third-year students. Satoru Gojo is used to this kind of attention from girls, boys, men, women, and children alike…he is, after all, extremely good looking, in a boyish way. It also helps that he’s the inheritor of the 6 Eyes AND Limitless cursed techniques. So any stares coming his way are inevitable.

“Wave, Nanami. The pretty girl will put extra whipped cream in our drinks if we amuse her”, he says as he coyly smiles at the flustered barista.

“I ordered tea. Waving would be useless”, an annoyed Kento Nanami replies. He doesn’t even look up from the graphic novel he brought to the mission. Gojo knows Nanami dislikes him, but for the time being, he finds a certain type of amusement from the banter. They almost never get sent on missions alone together, since they both are from two different classes with different sensei’s, but they needed Gojo’s strength to protect Master Tengen’s prize, and Nanami is up for a Sorcerer Grade promotion, pending Gojo’s recommendation.

“I wonder what this one will be like. It’s been a good 70 years since the last vessel was chosen. I heard this one is a girl, and she’s a senior from Oxford Academy in LA. Master Tengen sure likes them young, huh? And a foreigner at that! I’m sure she had her whole life ahead of her. Her file says she’s an honor student, part of her school’s council, an amazing athlete, a proficient polyglot, and comes from a prestigious family. WHOA! Look Nanami, they own the third largest fishing port in California!” he places the open file right on top of the novel Nanami is reading.

Nanami groans and slides the folder off, then slowly places his book on the counter, making sure it stays open on the current page, and looks up at Gojo, “Yes, I read the file last night, although I’m surprised they didn’t attach a picture to this case. They usually give us detailed files, so as there won’t be any confusion. But I suppose it would be obvious to see a young, foreign girl walking into this secluded coffee bar.”

The barista walks over, flustered and whispering her shy words, “here you are, one iced Americano with hazelnut foam and extra whipped cream. And one black Oolong tea, hot.” Gojo lowers his shades, flashing his gorgeous blue eyes, batting his long white eyelashes, and gives her a wink. She practically squeals. Nanami rolls his eyes.

The scene was interrupted by the chime of the front door of the establishment opening. The barista and Gojo keep their eye contact, while Nanami looks over and sees a young woman, long dark brown hair, fair skin, and eyes like pools of honey, walk in and quickly close the door behind her. She’s no taller than 5’5, maybe 55 kg, and plump, mocha, pouty lips. She is wearing a high-waist leopard print skirt that loosely flows down to her calves, and a black, long-sleeved, fitted turtleneck. She’s carrying a cream leather tote and wearing knee high suede black boots. The cold, winter air momentarily penetrates the coffee shop, and blows in Nanami’s direction, rapidly flipping the pages of his book. For a second, he faintly caught the scent of her jasmine and vanilla perfume mixed with the smell of snow. “She’s here,” Nanami softly says as he stands, and tugs on his black uniform shirt, trying to smooth out any creases that may have formed while he sat. He adjusts his glasses as he feels his cheeks begin to warm.

Gojo swiftly turns, completely forgetting the flirty brunette who had just been the focus of his attention for the past 2 minutes. He unapologetically scans her up and down as she approaches. He stands straight, sticks his hands in his pant pockets, and with a smirk on his face says, “umm, aren’t you a little young for animal prints? Might give older men the wrong idea.” Nanami shoots him a death glare.

The young lady stands in silence for a second, one that seemed an eternity in this awkward situation. She looks straight into Gojo’s brilliant blue eyes, and without hesitation or a stutter, lightly scoffs and replies, “Aren’t you a little old for school boy outfits? Might give young girls the wrong idea.” Silence again, but then immediately broken as Gojo scratches his head with his right hand and giggles. “You’re a lively one. You do know why you’re here right?”

She shoots a playful smile back at him, and confidently says, “Yes. I’m here to die.”

Both Nanami and Gojo widen their eyes in disbelief as this 17 year old nonchalantly speaks her fate, without even so much as a flinch.

“Right, well, that’s rough,” exclaims Gojo, “sorry about that. But you know you can always just say no, right? You’re not being forced to do this. I certainly wouldn’t,” he continues, “I mean, yeah Tengen is cool, but not enough to die for them.”

“She’s not dying,” Nanami interrupts, “it’s more like a merger. Both their consciousness will still be fully intact, so they both know what’s going on. It will be her body, but MASTER Tengen will be calling the shots.” He made sure to emphasize the word MASTER, since Gojo so easily said it informally before.

Master Tengen is an immortal jujutsu sorcerer that has lived for over 1200 years. They are the source of the veil/curtain that’s protecting both Jujutsu High locations. They are powerful, but in order to stay alive, they have to switch vessels every couple of decades. But every time they do, it’s a very dangerous process.

The vessel must be young (18 years old to be exact), pure (a virgin of course), smart, and good-hearted. Also something about blood compatibility. A vessel is very rare to find, and of course there are also enemies of the jujutsu sorcerers that want to destroy Tengen and the schools. So every time a compatible vessel is found, high grade sorcerers take on the mission to safely deliver them to their destination. Usually, a vessel is of legal adult age when found. But this time, she was found at the age of 17, only 2 days shy of her 18th birthday.

That’s where Gojo and Nanami come in. They must both keep her under their protection until she is ready to merge with Tengen.

“They gave us enough money for food and necessary things,” Gojo says, “Unfortunately, since this is a super top secret mission, we aren’t allowed to go sightseeing. Sorry, princess. No tourist stops for you.”

“My name is Eleanor, NOT princess.” She rolls her eyes at Gojo and looks over to Nanami, who is looking down at her skirt. “Is there something down there that interests you?”

Nanami quickly looks back up at her, adjusts his glasses, and replies, “No, forgive me. My name is Kento Nanami. It’s a pleasure to meet you miss Eleanor.”

He bows once more, and Gojo follows suit. “The name is Satoru Gojo. You can call me Gojo, since I am your senior. Do you know how honorifics work here in Japan? Usually the youngest greet the eldest with a bow and ALWAYS talk formally. You speak pretty good Japanese. I heard you were a polyglot. How many languages do you know?”

“Gojo,” Nanami interrupts, “I think you need to cool it with the bombardment of questions? The girl just got off a 13 hour flight. How about we pick up some dinner, and head over to the hotel. I’m sure she wants to rest.”

“Riiiiiight,” Gojo casually comments, “I know a good sushi place just a block from where we are staying. You know how foreigners love sushi.”

“I’m actually not that hungry,” Eleanor exclaims. “I had a heavy lunch on the plane, and honestly, I kinda just want dessert. Does this coffee shop sell pastries?” She takes a quick look up at the menu.

“I’ll take a banana-nut bread, please. The boys will pay for it.” Gojo smiles at her and hands her a bill. Nanami looks at his watch, and the three head outside and into the car that picked up Eleanor from the airport. It was assigned to the trio by Jujutsu High, driver and all.

“By the way,” Nanami whispers to Eleanor as they walk out, “I like the print.”

[sineala]

Captain America: The Great Gold Steal

I wrote this up last week because I did not have access to my usual comics files but I figured I could review something that was just a book. So here is a review of the 1968 Captain America novel Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White, with an introduction by Stan Lee. I really liked it, actually! It was surprisingly good!

This novel features: Cover art of Captain America holding his shield in one hand and a very large gun in the other! A scene where the villains dramatically unmask Captain America and have absolutely no idea who he is! Captain America being extremely, extremely depressed about being in the future! Captain America dropping acid!

(I'm not kidding about the last part. In this novel there is a lot of LSD use. By Captain America. Talk about something the Comics Code wouldn't ever let you put in a comic book. Thank you, 1968.)

Faithful readers may remember that some time ago I posted reviews of Marvel prose novels from the 1970s. There was a line of prose novels featuring everyone's favorite Marvel superheroes, published by Pocket Books in the late 70s; I have reviews of the Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers entries in the series; I liked the Iron Man one best, and I also have a Doctor Strange one I have not yet read. They're all short and action-packed paperback reads, of varying quality; the only one by anyone you might have heard of is the Avengers one, which was written by David Michelinie, who was actually writing the Avengers run at the time. That one was, um. An experience. 

(Yes, it's "prose novel" because otherwise the assumption is "graphic novel.")

Marvel still publishes prose novels now, of course, also of varying quality; some are new plots and some are straight-up novelizations of comics arcs, which I guess is useful if you want to, say, read Civil War and not look at pictures at the same time. I also have a bunch of those that I could probably review if anyone wants. But, anyway, I personally am particularly intrigued by the older Marvel prose novels, both because the stories are all original and not retellings, and also because I often prefer the characterization found in older comics. And the older prose novels of course use the then-current characterization. So reading a Marvel prose novel from 1979 is like getting to read a brand-new comic from 1979, and that's a whole lot of fun for a nerd like me. Also do you know what's not subject to the Comics Code? Prose novels. So things can happen in these that definitely could not happen in comics of the same era.

This brings me to my current prose novel, which is something else entirely. I mean, okay, not really, it's still a Marvel prose novel. But it's not part of the same line. It's actually a lot older.

Bantam Books actually published Marvel prose novels in the late 60s. Yep, a full decade earlier. They published exactly two, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they were probably not bestsellers. The first one, which I do not own and now sort of want to track down, was an Avengers novel in 1967, The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker. And then in 1968 they published the novel I am currently holding in my hands, Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White.

(I am still not sure why no one involved in titling this book thought of the word "theft.")

Judging by the back copy, it appears to be about Captain America foiling the villains' dastardly plan to steal gold from the Federal Reserve. Oh boy. Fun.

So this book is from 1968. The modern Marvel universe had kicked off just a few short years ago! Captain America was just getting his own solo book after the end of Tales of Suspense! And here's a novel about him, back when certain elements of his characterization were perhaps a little more flexible than they are today, by which I mean that the cover art -- which the internet informs me was painted by Mitchell Hooks -- is a striking full-body portrait of Captain America, head held high, shield in one hand... and a very large gun in the other. Hell, yeah. Not gonna see that in today's Cap comics, are you? It's amazing and I love it.

(Okay, you might see that in Ults. I'm pretty sure I have seen that in Ults, actually. But this is still cool.)

So the cover art is a definite plus, and apparently it's one of the few reasons anyone has ever heard of this novel. The other reason -- and the reason this is more expensive than the later novels, I assume -- is that Stan Lee's name is slapped on the cover, because he wrote an introduction. (I think I paid about $30 for this. The others were definitely under $20.)

All right. Here we go.

The first page is actually a brief summary of Steve's origin story, but not a version I was familiar with. Steve was born July 9, 1917 (yes, I was surprised too), was orphaned at a young age, and was a student at Columbia University (!) before Rebirth, which in this version is a gradual process that is also extremely body-horror. Steel tubing was inserted into the marrows of his bones. He was fed "high-protein compounds." Then they gave him a chemical that "gave him complete control over every nerve, muscle, and cell in his now-magnificent body." Sweet. Where can I get some of that?

The blurb also confirms his control over his own metabolism as well as his healing factor ("wounds would heal in half the normal time"), which is nice, because sometimes I wonder if canon even remembers the healing factor.

(I don't know why Marvel has this kink for filling people's bones with metal, though. It's not actually empty in there, guys! You need your bone marrow! How else do you want people to make new blood cells?)

The book is dedicated to "Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, without whom there would be no Captain America." Hey, Marvel, Joe Simon would like a word with you. I'm just saying.

The Stan Lee introduction is three paragraphs written in Stan Lee's, um, inimitable, distinctive and extremely florid narrative style -- if you've read any of his work, you know what I mean -- and making the point that Captain America is incredible and you will like him. If you are just discovering him for the first time, you will definitely like him. Okay. Thanks. I guess.

Oddly, the writing style here is substantially different than any of the other Marvel prose novels I've read; it doesn't immediately front-load you with exposition and a cast of colorful superheroes. It opens with a sort of James Bond spy-novel feel, running through a series of unnamed villains and bystanders, and a man who wants nothing more than to talk to Captain America but is killed before he can. Steve comes in halfway through the chapter, and he seems to be written for a reader who doesn't necessarily know who he is, and he isn't introduced as Captain America with his shield flying ahead of him to smite evildoers, or anything like that. He's just a tall, handsome blond guy who is reading a bunch of novels and is unsatisfied by all of them because all he can think of is the past. It's definitely an attitude I would expect from Steve in this era -- he is very much a Man Out Of Time here -- but it's also not how I expected the book to introduce him. You wouldn't even know he was Captain America by the end of the opening chapter, which then ends with a digression about the history of NYC subway tunnels. It's like it wants to appeal to someone who has watched a bunch of Man from UNCLE and just wants to read a cool thriller. Which is not at all what I was expecting.

By the beginning of the second chapter, of course, we discover that Steve is Captain America, as he changes into his uniform. The narration refers to him as Rogers when it's in his POV, if anyone is curious. He apparently keeps the cowl off in the mansion, because the cowl annoys him.

It was not so much that he needed to conceal his identity these days, because for all intents and purposes he had no other identity. Steve Rogers was officially dead, and had been for almost twenty years. Captain America *was* his identity. It was only when he donned the tight-fitting blue uniform with its shield chest-emblem, the red snug-fitting leather boots, and the heavy, yet pressure-sensitive red-leather gauntlets, that he began to feel real -- a complete human being.

Steve? Buddy, are you okay there? You're really not okay, are you, huh?

You see what I mean? They're really hitting the early-canon angst. Hard.

(Also it sounds like his uniform is a few sizes too small.)

We then get an expanded version of the backstory from the beginning excerpt. In this version of canon, Steve actually has an older brother, Alan, who is handsome and athletic and basically amazing, and when they are orphaned they are raised by their aunt and uncle. Steve gets TB twice as a kid, nearly dies from it, and when the stock market crashes, ends up separated from his brother and in an orphanage after his uncle loses everything.

(Honestly if I were writing this book, his brother would be the secret villain. Chekhov's Gun!)

Steve has glasses, gets bullied, is a nerd and an honor student, and studies law at Columbia because he wants to help stop fraudulent business practices and also fight organized crime. Legally, I mean. In a manner relating to law. I guess he's sort of like Daredevil. The lawyer part of Daredevil.

And then he joins Rebirth, and this is the part where I had to put the book down for several minutes, because Erskine's secret chemical, the key to making super-soldiers... is LSD.

Oh my God. You should see my face right now. My expression is, I am sure, indescribable. I'm trying not to wake the dog up laughing.

I just. Holy shit. This book is from 1968 in a way I definitely was not expecting. What the fuck, Marvel?

This project was headed by the brilliant biochemist, Dr. Erskine. His work with the endocrine system, and chemical body control, was well beyond that of his contemporaries. Only he, of all his colleagues, had fathomed the secrets of the Swiss Dr. Hoffman's 1938 discovery -- the mind-controlling LSD-25.

Let's just pause here for a few minutes and contemplate this.

I will point out that Albert Hofmann (yes, the book spelled his name wrong) didn't actually discover that LSD was a hallucinogen until 1943 when he accidentally tried it, but I am positive that 1968 here was a time when Some People were convinced LSD was a wonder drug. I'm still laughing. As far as I can tell, legal manufacturing of it stopped in 1965 so I am pretty sure that the author did not just decide to name a drug that had an ostensible legal therapeutic use, because it wouldn't have still had one by '68.

Anyway, in this version of events, Rebirth is a month-long process that involves a lot of vitamins, physical conditioning and training, and, yes, putting metal in his bones like he's the next Wolverine. They're filling his bones with stainless steel rods to make him stronger. That doesn't seem like a great idea to me, but I am also not sure about dropping acid to gain superpowers. Clearly I am not a genius scientist. Also Erskine knows what DNA is, apparently, because he's just that great. Anyway. Other than the metal, those all seem like relatively normal interventions. So far.

Now Steve has become fairly big and strong (and I guess he still has metal in his bones? this concerns me!) but they need to make him superhuman, so, yes, really, it's time to drop acid. Several pages of this book are devoted to describing Steve's acid trip. His acid trip is amazing and he discovers that he has conscious control of his entire body down to the cellular level. He can control the adrenaline in his bloodstream! He can tighten his muscle fibers! And when he's done tripping he still remembers how to do this, if not exactly on a conscious level, but he can still access the abilities. And that is how you make a super-soldier. It's LSD. Remember, kids, drugs are awesome! Do drugs!

Let's maybe take a few more minutes to think about this.

I just. I have no words. How did anyone at Marvel agree to print this?

I think for the most part superhero origin stories tend not to involve real drugs because people are generally aware that drugs they've heard of won't make you into a superhero. I guess this is what it looks like when you invoke the names of real drugs. They probably wanted something that sounded more realistic but somehow I don't think this was the best way to go. (Radiation, of course, will definitely make you into a superhero but I feel like most people have accepted that as one of the conventions of the genre.)

Anyway, after that Erskine gets killed by Nazis, of course, and Steve goes to war, and for some reason this book contains footnotes by Stan Lee himself listing the comics you can read all of this in. Just like the actual comics do!

We are introduced to Bucky, who for some reason is also from the LES in this version, although not anyone Steve knew before the war, and there is of course a description of Bucky's tragic death and Steve's subsequent icing.

They are really, really stressing the Man Out Of Time thing here:

No other man could have survived so fantastic a voyage through time. And no other man could feel so displaced by time.

He was a man twenty years in his own future. By rights, he should be nearly fifty years old -- nearly twice the age of his fellow Avengers. Yet his mind and his body were not yet thirty.

When the Avengers had brought him back to New York with them and insisted that, as an honored hero of the past, he join them, he felt a sort of melancholy homesickness for his own time and world.

We then get a few paragraphs with the usual being sad that he let Bucky down and got him killed, and also that he misses his family, and that Steve Rogers doesn't exist anymore, and that nobody is alive who remembers him, and that war is hell.

Hey, Steve, maybe the drugs you should do are antidepressants. Just a thought.

Also, this book is 118 pages and we're not out of the origin story flashback until page 34. I think there are some pacing issues here.

Actually, I lied, the flashback keeps going, but now we're up to the Avengers finding him, and I have to say that the list of things Steve finds strange about the future is kind of charming when the future is 1968. Men have long hair! Women have shorter skirts! Everyone is kind of blasé about rocket launches because there have been so many space missions now. (Oh, come on, you haven't even landed on the moon yet, 1968! You're not that blasé.) Color TV! And, excitingly, LPs! You can now listen to 36 minutes of consecutive music. (I actually don't know what previous standard he's describing that is a ten-inch record that holds six minutes a side because I don't think 45s are that big. Yeah, no, I just checked and 45s are seven inches in diameter. Hmm. Oh, never mind. He means 78 rpm, doesn't he? In my defense, the record player my family had when I was a kid didn't play those.)

The description of Steve coming into New York for the first time is definitely written by someone who knows New York, which is fun. There is generally a lot of local flavor to the setting of this book. That’s one of the best parts.

There is a brief summary of Steve's feelings about all the Avengers -- he is most impressed by Thor, which, I mean, fair, he's an actual god -- and Hank telling him all about how he can live in Tony's mansion. With Jarvis. Who Hank says is actually from Flatbush. Apparently Steve spent a lot of time at the NYPL branch at 5th and 42nd trying to catch up on history. And then of course the Avengers ditched him and gave him the Kooky Quartet, and for some reason they're not here right now either so it's just Steve being sad and alone and dealing with this mysterious dead guy. I think probably the book is also done explaining fiat currency now. This is definitely the weirdest Marvel novel I've read.

Anyway, we have now returned to what is ostensibly the actual plot. Steve shows up at the New York Federal Reserve Bank (I guess the theft is happening here and not, like, at Fort Knox) with the gold bullion that the dead guy from the beginning of the book had on him -- I think I got distracted by the LSD bit and forgot to mention that part, but the dead guy was carrying some US government gold -- because the actual plot is that villains are trying to tunnel into the bank vault and steal gold. Steve discovers this after he gets the bank manager to give him a tour. The bank manager tries to refuse, citing security concerns -- Captain America could be anyone under that mask, after all! Steve just smiles and says, "If I removed my mask, would you have any better idea of who I am?" and I guess that's a flawless argument because he gets his tour.

(I'm sorry, all I can think of is that one gif from the JLA cartoon where Lex Luthor bodyswaps with the Flash, announces that now that he's in the Flash's body he's going to discover the Flash's secret identity, then pulls off his own mask, stares at himself in the mirror, and says, "I have no idea who this is.")

Given that the theme of Steve's interior life in this novel is "Steve Rogers died twenty years ago" it seems even more sad that Steve is just walking around basically saying, yeah, well, I'm nobody. And apparently that is being reaffirmed for him by the narrative.

So Steve goes down the tunnels, takes out some of the bad guys, and gets himself knocked out and buried in a collapsing tunnel. Don't worry, he's gonna be fine.

A lot of this book, by the way, is from the POV of random people, like this bank guard who went with Steve into the tunnels:

He had wondered, briefly, if a man like Captain America ever knew the pinch of too many bills, had ever felt desperate over the arrival of yet another mouth to feed. But, of course, Captain America had no family, and would hardly concern himself with such matters. It didn't occur to Thompson to wonder if this in itself might not be something for which to pity Captain America.

Rude. I mean, come on, do we really need random characters telling us Steve is a sad sack whom nobody loves? Steve's already got that covered!  (Also, how does this guy know Captain America has no family?)

Anyway, thanks to the power of LSD, Steve is going into a trance, amping up his metabolism (he loses "several pounds" in a few minutes), and making himself super-strong so he can dig himself out. Hooray. This is definitely how human bodies work. Also LSD. This is definitely how LSD works. Yes.

Steve then finds out that a couple of the guards who were with him in the tunnels died down there and he goes home and eats dinner while stewing in miserable guilt because he was responsible for their deaths. He's really not okay. I'm not sure the book actually understands how not okay they have made him. Then someone from SHIELD is on the phone for him and he is briefly cheered up by the thought that it might be Sharon although I think we should also note that the narrative makes it clear that at this point in canon Steve still doesn't know her name. Remember when that was a thing?

Alas, it is not Sharon; it's just a random SHIELD agent who happens to have information about the plot and asks to meet. Then, as Steve leaves to go to the meeting, we get two pages of exhaustive description about the mansion layout and how it's built relative to the surrounding buildings. It feels like this book was written by a frustrated city planner. But anyway, the meeting is a setup and the villains capture Steve.

They knock Steve out, drug him, take him to their hideout, and tie him to a chair. Except, once again thanks to the power of LSD, the tranquilizer they're using wears off way sooner than they expected and so Steve feigns unconsciousness and listens to them discuss their evil plans.

And then the villains unmask him and I swear it's exactly like that JLA gif:

Rogers heard footsteps scuffing across a thick carpet, and then Sparrow's voice again, almost directly over him. His ears still buzzed, but he fought to catch the elusive familiarity of the man's tone. He wished he dared open his eyes.

"This is a moment which I, personally, have long awaited," Sparrow said, his voice rising in triumph. "*The unmasking of Captain America!*"

Then, his nails scraping along Rogers' face, Sparrow dug his fingers under his cowl, and ripped it back. Rogers felt air strike his exposed cheeks and forehead. Then fingers clutched his blond hair and pulled his head back. "Behold!" Sparrow said.

Raven was first to speak. "Well, I dunno about you, Sparrow, but it rings no bells with me. I never seen him before."

Starling agreed. "His face means nothing to me."

"He could be anybody," said Robin. "What good does this do?"

Sparrow let Rogers' head fall back to his chest, and his voice when he spoke was defeated. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I always wondered. I felt, if these guys -- these costumed heroes -- wore masks, it must mean something."

"Captain America was missing for twenty years," Starling said. "That could mean the first one died, and this one took his place. He looks awfully young."

"Perhaps. It doesn't really matter. Let's get going."

(Yes, the villains all have bird-themed codenames. I have no idea why.)

This scene just makes my day. I love dramatic unmaskings. I bet they'd have been a lot happier unmasking Iron Man.

The villains then leave Steve and go to a power plant, where we switch POVs to one of the plant employees and get two entirely unnecessary paragraphs about his racist and anti-Semitic thoughts about his coworkers before the villains murder him. Great. Thanks.

Anyway, the villains cause a blackout, while meanwhile they've left Steve alone with the girl villain, and Steve is busy trying to persuade her that crime doesn't pay. He's moved from the "do you know what they'll do to you in prison?" theme onto "how exactly are you going to spend a billion dollars in gold bullion when it's illegal for civilians to possess? who are you going to do business with?" and then points out that gold is heavy and hard to transport, which is when she gets out a a knife.

The bad guys are off to steal the gold, and Steve has now successfully turned the girl they left him with, because she frees him. Of course, the first thing he does is put the cowl back on.

"Why do you wear that?" she asked.

"The mask?" He smiled. "It gives people something external to concentrate upon."

"But..."

"Without it, I'm just another ordinary-looking man. With it, I become a symbol. For some people it creates awe; for others, fear. Look at me. I'm different now, aren't I? With the mask on."

"Yes," she nodded. "You look -- bigger, somehow. Stronger. Fierce, implacable. You look a little scary."

"Exactly. You no longer see me as a person, but as a thing -- an Avenger. It can be a potent psychological weapon."

"They were so disappointed, when they took your mask off. As though underneath they'd find a famous person."

"Maybe that goes on TV -- handsome playboys, and all that. But I've been anonymous all my life. Even my real name would be meaningless to you, to them. No, the mask is part of the uniform, a psychological device. That's the whole story.

Now: let's get out of here. You have a good deal more to tell me yet, and we can't waste more time."

Bwahaha. In a few years, Steve's going to be pretty surprised about who superheroes are, I think.

STEVE, now: Superheroes definitely aren't secretly handsome playboys! That would be silly! STEVE, after Molecule Man: fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK I'm such an idiot

I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Also, not that the issue of Steve's psyche actually recurs after this, but he's once again having the narrative vindicate his belief that Steve Rogers is dead and whoever he is under the cowl doesn't matter. Steve, I don't think this is very healthy.

Steve then tracks down the villains stealing the gold, has some geopolitical thoughts about where the gold could be going (he thinks either South Africa or Russia for the best laundering potential) and then hides himself in the villains' trunk while they drive to Staten Island, which is where they're taking the gold out of the country from.

During the final confrontation, Steve finally gets to see the villains, and he discovers that the one in charge is in fact the director of the Federal Reserve Bank who Steve met at the beginning of this book. Gasp. But that's not all! He's also... the Red Skull!

Honestly, I was kind of surprised; I didn't think this was the kind of book where we'd get any known comic villains, but I guess it's always gotta be the Red Skull. I think he's the only one of Steve's big villains who likes to disguise himself; Zemo has obvious disguise issues and I imagine it's also hard to cover up Zola's Teletubby-esque television body.

Steve shoots one of the villains, because I guess that's what he does in this era of canon.

So the plot wraps up in, like, two pages, because for some reason all these early Marvel novels wrap up very fast. Red Skull, of course, attempts to escape and then disappears and his body is never found. The end.

Well.

That was definitely a book. That I read. Believe it or not, I actually think it was the best of these early Marvel prose novels that I've read so far, even if it was also the absolute weirdest; I thought the thriller-style plot was entertaining, I liked Steve and his Extremely Sad characterization, I obviously enjoy all the identity themes, I liked how very detailed the New York setting was, and I do like how they tried to treat it all seriously. I mean, sure, this did lead to LSD in the super-soldier serum in presumably the name of realism, but I felt like the book was trying to present superheroes in a way that didn't feel silly and also didn't really take for granted that the reader would automatically accept superheroes.

It felt like a book that was written hoping that people who weren't superhero fans would read it, if that makes any sense. And I thought that was interesting, because most modern superhero work that I can think of assumes they've got complete audience buy-in and everyone is willing to suspend their disbelief and we all know the genre conventions and are expecting people running around in brightly-colored spandex. Whereas this is more like a James Bond novel if for some reason James Bond were called upon to defend his decision to wear brightly-colored spandex instead of bespoke suits. But I assume no one read it, because Bantam never published a Marvel book after this one.

If you can actually find a copy of this one for a price you're willing to pay. I recommend it. It was delightful and way more solid than I thought it was going to be.

Also, come on, you know you want to read about Captain America's acid trip.

[satoriberry]

➼ ohira reon hcs!! (^▽^)

- summary: lol just headcanons about your friendly neighbourhood ohira reon. felt like making these because my blog is deprived of actual headcanons and not just scenarios under bullet form lol + no one talks about this golden boy so here we go >:]

- warnings: slightly suggestive in some parts, that's all :]

- he has a slight sensitivity towards cats (or any animal with fur) but he still pets any stray domestic creature within a 15 km radius. he sees a cat on the street, he pets it. simple.

- is a pinterest addict. seriously. this boy’s screentime on any device is just that fucking app/site. shirabu and goshiki once saw him making his boards and they had to swear by their soul that no word of this shall be spoken 🗿.

- is actually kinda popular around students (mainly the girls though) because he’s considered the perfect guy. smart, athletic, kind and also very hot. everyone has a crush on him. his underclassmen have some slight favouritism towards him (´-ᴗ-`)

- used to have a very VERY hardcore harry potter phase that he never talks about because god forbid tendou learn about this (btw he's a ravenclaw and his animagus is an ox according to some quiz. its canon because i said so.)

- his favourite music genres are 70s indie and 2000s rap. although, he was a guilty pleasure for female jazz singers

- IS A FEMINIST. HE RESPECTS WOMEN!!! his momma raised him correctly so he would rather get his kidneys removed using a blunt spoon before even thinking about being misogynistic

- his childhood shows were “my gym partner is a monkey”, “codename: kids next door” and “the grim adventures of billy and mandy”. sometimes, he invites tendou and yamagata to rewatch them with him

- he does the hip adjust thingy during class,,,,yeah <3

- he doesn’t really draw but he has what he likes to call a "doodle book”. it sits next to him during class so whenever he’s bored, he can just draw random shit. tendou pretends to be a doodle connoissuer and rates those doodles

- can cook really good and whoever his first date is, he’ll bring them over so he can make them a full course dinner. he’s a malewife!!!

- unironically made a deez nuts joke once and the entire team went silent. it was hell after that

- he has a very VERY strong attraction towards people with glasses. they just look so mature and sophisticated that it gets him all flustered. this one time ushiwaka put on some fake glasses when the team went to an accessory shop for funsies, and needless to say, he couldn't look him in the eyes for like 5 minutes

- shy people protector. you're shy, timid, a social mess? dont worry, he's there for you. will act as your communicator if you're afraid to speak up and will not overwhelm you.

- a BIIGGG fan of comic books. prefers the old school western ones though. think popeye, peanuts, calvin and hobbes etc

- he's not bilingual but he can comfortably have a short conversation with anyone in english. he's working on it though!!1!1

- semi tried to gaslight him into bleaching his hair once. he used an editing app to see what he would look like and ever since then, he could not sleep at night

- his favourite food aside from miso mackerel is sautéed broccoli. tendou didnt speak to him for a week after finding out....

- likes MILFs. i will not elaborate.

- has a very good skincare routine that he strictly follows. when semi asked him what his secret was, he answered "good genes" but the bastard just didnt want to share his routine with anyone

- his favourite media is the indiana jones series.

- coming back to the hc of him being really good at cooking, the girls in his class always ask him to partner with them in home economics because he's THAT good. it also adds to his charm <3

- this one time goshiki brought his old nintendo wii during game night and they started playing rhythm heaven.......reon cried when playing with tambourine monkey because he was too cute (yes, im projecting).

- he despises and i mean LOATHES uggs. he hates them so bad and everytime he sees those shits he pops a vein and starts to emotionally dissolve. he saw semi wearing them once and that was the only time he was seen insulting someone over something trivial

- "boy what the fuck are those nasty moose feet looking boots. no wonder you get no bitches. this is shiratorizawa for fuck's sake, you're either born rich or smart enough to be rich, and THIS is what we represent? you're embarrassing our school's name and tarnishing our reputation."

- semi cried to sleep that night.

©satoriberry 2021. reposts, plagiarism and modifications of my work are strictly prohibited.

[morethanwords0475]

March TC Challenge

1. If you could change one thing about your TC, physical or personality-wise, what would it be?

I kind of just wish he was closer with his students (me), because there are other teachers whom we can have really casual chats with - about their life, their pets, ask random questions, teachers whom we can casually wave to, but even though T is super great to us all and have been closer to us after becoming the other class’s homeroom teacher, it’s still so hard to become more like friends with him.

2. Are they "your type", or was falling for a person like them completely unexpected?

English is the subject in which I have the most TCs, so T probably is my type. However, like the last question, I used to tend to fall for teachers who are warm and close to us, and at the time when I realised I liked T, he was not like that to us yet.

3. If they were an ice cream flavour, what would it be?

I have no idea, maybe chocolate? There’s a kind of rich, heavy taste that’s sweet and energising with just a hint of bitterness.

4. Imagine you have a whole weekend to spend with your TC. What would you guys do?

I would love to go have a coffee with him in the morning (or an equivalent warm beverage because neither of us drinks coffee), maybe eat brunch, and just casually talk the whole morning. We would do some schoolwork in the afternoon, each doing our own thing but in the same space, and then he might cook me dinner. In the evening we could watch a sports match together and he would explain to me what’s happening on the pitch, then get up super early the next day to see the sunrise. We could go to a park/beach/field or whatever open space is near us for a picnic in the morning and for lunch, then watch a movie at home together in the afternoon and chat about the plot. For dinner I’d love to get all dressed up with him and eat at a restaurant. (This was unexpectedly long and elaborate, I just really like the idea of spending time with him ;-;)

5. What's their biggest talent?

I really want to say teaching lmao, but writing and sports are kind of his other big things.

6. Be honest: would you guys be a power couple or not?

I don’t think I’m 'power' enough to be a power couple with T, but if it’s with like an English setting then maybe, because most people in our year group see me as the best in English as a subject.

7. If they knew about your feelings, would they confront you about it or ignore it?

It would be really farfetched to say that he doesn’t already know - it’s been over two years and I have been very bad at hiding my feelings. So I think he knows I won’t step over the line because he hasn’t done anything to distance from me or anything (which I am really scared might happen). He's the really... professional type as well, if he did confront me it would be an extremely serious and scary talk.

8. Are they a good singer?

I am so curious about this, I have never heard him sing or even hum, I think he wouldn’t sound bad.

9. If you could choose an outfit that your TC had to wear every single day, what would it look like?

Ahh this is impossible to choose, I love his plain-coloured suits, but I think I would choose our school’s dark blue hoodie because he looks so fine in that, and it would be more comfortable to wear every day lol.

10. Are they more academic, artistic, or athletic? What about you?

T is like 70% academic and 30% athletic (this man be teaching English and phys ed), I’m probably 80% academic, 15% artistic, and 5% athletic.

11. Do they inspire you as a person?

Yes, so much. He represents everything I think is right and he is just so good on so many ways. He and S make me want to be better as a person.

12. Are they an early riser or a night owl?

Most of the time T is an early riser, I know S gets up insanely early sometimes to work out, but I have also occasionally seen T online at like 2am.

13. Have you ever made each other angry or upset? If so, how did you reconcile?

T very rarely gets upset at us, and he has never expressed anger directed towards me, but I’m sure there must have been times when he was annoyed with me but he chose not to show it. It’s not really favouritism he’s just that kind of teacher. He has made me upset quite a few times but mostly it’s my fault, such as when he jokingly made fun of us for sucking at phys ed or when his feedback on my work felt rushed or unjust. We never really reconcile because I don’t stay mad at him and neither of us ever displays discontent. Sometimes I wish we could have an honest conversation like that and I could tell him how it hurts me sometimes when he does that or when he never meets his promised deadlines.

14. Do you ever find yourself imitating them, either consciously or unconsciously?

All the time, mostly consciously. Everything about him is good in my eyes so I try to be more like him - speaking with clear terminal consonants, adapting British pronunciations, using words I learned from him. Even smaller details include using the style in which he underlines words that I saw him use once and unconsciously imitating his hand gestures when speaking. I am sometimes even drawn to clothes similar to his fashion style, which confuses my mother to no end lmao ("what are you doing in the men’s section")

15. What do you think their love language is? What's yours?

This is so hard to tell - from his dynamic with S, I can only guess it’s acts of service or quality time, but of course I don’t get to see what happens behind closed doors. Mine is physical touch and words of affirmation - the latter works very well with having a TC, the former not at all.

16. Have they taught you anything that isn't school related? Valuable life lessons, insights on how you feel about yourself, etc.?

I’d like to think so. There’s always the cliched he taught me how to love and all that, and I do think he has made me feel more than I have ever felt for another person - what it’s like to be so in love, what it’s like to be absolutely terrified and self-conscious, what it’s like to want someone more than anything. He also affirmed a lot of my values and views about the world.

17. What would they have to do to make you lose feelings for them?

Probably anything which destroys the core of my attraction to him, like his goodness in character as a person and as a teacher, his values, and the way he treats us. This sounds weird but I’d also be so devastated if he and S divorced.

18. Are they introverted or extroverted? What about you?

T can be extroverted with people he’s close with, but to be honest I find him a lot more introverted than some of our other teachers. I am probably slightly more extroverted than he is.

19. Who's more likely to start rambling about their interests while the other listens?

In reality, him, because I get way too self-conscious that I’m being annoying and such a situation never really arises for me, but in terms of personality, I would definitely be the type to ramble as well.

20. Do you feel guilty about having feelings for your TC?

I have mostly come to terms with it now, I don’t chose to feel this way and I’m not hurting anyone so I embrace it. Yes he is married, but I would never interfere with that and I love S as well. I do get quite guilty whenever I’m grasping for his time and attention, especially now that we have so little time left and I always try to get the most out of it. Sometimes I can also weird myself out a little bit when I get just so ever too obsessed with him.

21. Are you insecure about them liking another student more than you?

So much, there’s a girl in his homeroom whom I know he really likes when she was in our class last year, and our English grades have always been similarly high. T does spend more time with me now that he is mentoring my essay and not hers, which makes me feel like I’ve managed to one-up her in a way.

22. What kind of hairstyle would you love to see them in?

His current one is very standard and looks fine as long as he doesn’t cut it too short. I do miss when the pandemic first broke out and he let his hair grow quite long, the tip on his forehead even reaching his eyebrows, he looked so young.

23. Do you think they trust you?

In any school setting I’m pretty sure he does. I have never turned in work late or disrupted the class or anything and him mentoring my essay just showed that I’m probably more organised than he is lmao. We have never gotten to a more personal or emotional level of trust - mostly because no situation ever arose which called for it - but we have been in each other’s acquaintance for so long I hope he knows me well enough to be able to trust me.

24. What's the most comedic moment that's occurred between you two?

T for sure didn’t get this but I loved it - there was once when he got out a piece of equipment that we never use and the brand was the same as his first name. I quietly said "it has your name on it" and he lightly chuckled. A bit later S (his wife) came, and when she was leaving, she pointed to the thing and said "it’s got your name on it". I found it hilarious and so special mostly because S and I were the only ones who commented on it and we're the ones who care the most about T?? S and I also basically have the same name so yeah.

25. Have you ever drawn them or written about them to vent your feelings?

I can’t draw but I write about T all the time; in diaries, imagines, poems, this blog, it’s a good outlet for and record of my emotions.

26. How do you feel when you're around them? Are you so nervous that you can't concentrate, or do you just feel happy that you get to spend time with them?

Both, kind of. I love every second when I’m with him, but even after more than two years I could get so nervous for no reason at all. We have been spending more time with each other (if online counts) and I can’t wait to go back to school to be around him more.

27. Do you guys have any inside jokes?

Sadly, not really. Our English class has a few inside jokes but I feel like I’m the only one who remembers them. Hoping I get something just between the two of us before he leaves.

28. Do their morals, principles, or political views align with yours?

Yesss and I love it. We touch on some quite political topics in English and I love hearing his views, even though I don’t have very strong political ideas or know much about politics. He’s liberal, very supportive of gender equality, etc., his opinions on things like the role of religion and the justice system and education are all super interesting and all green flags for me.

29. Have you ever tried to get over them?

I’ve felt myself becoming a bit too obsessed and wanted to back down a little, but it only lasted for one day and I realised I couldn’t do it, that I was still happier and more sane with him. With his impending departure, I have just come to terms with it and want to maximise the time we have together.

30. If someone nice your age showed up in your life and you caught feelings for them, would you move on from your TC?

Maybe if it was after T left. We only have less than three months left now so all I can think about is him. There is someone whom I am trying to befriend right now but it’s not going well, and I know I will get super conflicted with my feelings if I actually got close to them.

31. Have you ever said or done something that, in hindsight, might have been hurtful to them? Have they ever done the same to you?

I sometimes say obnoxious things in front of him but hopefully never anything hurtful, other than maybe complaining about his inability to meet deadlines to other students. There was one particular week when T messed up our two pieces of homework and I was the one who went to ask him about it both times. I just didn’t want to miss the work but I felt extremely guilty afterwards because he was being a bit self-deprecating for making those mistakes. I apologised to him at the end of the week to say I wasn’t intentionally calling him out, and he told me not to worry. He has also unknowingly hurt me before by joking about our poor performance in phys ed or being competitive for his homeroom class which sometimes makes me upset, but there’s no way he could have known.

[quasieli]

top six: fictional characters that give you gender envy, flowers, little things that make you happy and d&d moments :D

Ooh lotsa questions!

Gender Envy:

1) Bow from She-Ra (2018). Something about buff athletic dude who wears crop tops and is soft as hell is very Gender to me.

2) Vax from Critical Role. Pretty boy, kinda goth rogue? That’s sexy as hell and I wish that was me. 

3) In a wildly different idea of gender envy, I’ve been thinking about it lately and @quantum-lesbian’s character in the Frostmaiden game I’m in with them, Ambrose, is Big Gender. Beautiful non-binary drow with a starry and kinda witchy aesthetic that dresses super grandly and ostentatiously no matter the occasion? Yes please.

4) Pete from The Unsleeping City, specifically season two. I adore season one Pete but season two Pete that works in a queer bookshop and has a teapot arcane focus, is artsy and is unapologetically a trans man who doesn’t give a shit about gender roles? Sign me the fuck up.  

5) Beau from Critical Role. Buff GNC lesbian mixed with academia, but like academia from the prospective of a grad student with ADHD trying to learn everything about their special interests? A+, I love her and I’m jealous. 

6) I’m gonna cheat a lil bit for this last one. I know the prompt is fictional characters, but Julia Lepetit and Jacob Andrews in their Hitman streams? Simultaneously both of them were Gender for me. Jacob esp felt like that for me, which is weird cause dresses can make me dysphoric, but I am also slightly envious of the Dude in a Dress type of gender presentation. 

Can you tell that I’m a confused trans masc enby

Gonna put it under the cut from here cause oof, there’s still a lot more.

Flowers:

1) Big slut for Sunflowers, always have been, always will be.

2) Fun fact, my dad’s family used to own a flower shop (in like the 70s, so I never got to see it :(), and one of their big things was hydrangeas. My dad has always loved them and now I love the snowballs too!  

3) A recent favorite, the Baker’s Globe Mallow. It’s a type of flower that only grows from the soils of forests that have been affected by wildfires. It’s a simple little flower but I love the idea of something beautiful rising from the ashes after tragedy. A little dramatic, but I’m queer, ofc I’m dramatic.

4) Roses are another important flower to my family (Rose was a family name for a couple generations), and ya know, they’re a classic. 

5) There’s this beautiful magnolia tree in front of my house that blooms with the most beautiful white and pink flowers every spring, and it’s one of my favorite things to see every year. 

6) There’s so many different types of Lillies and they’re all very pretty, but the Purple Stargazer is prob my favorite.

Little Things That Make Me Happy:

1) My cat, Maddie. She may be a cranky girl at times, but she is also very sweet and will always be my baby (even though she is 12). 

2) Not a little thing really, but my best friend. Just getting a sweet/silly text from her or the two of us chilling in a room, sitting in a comfortable silence because we just like being together, nothing better. 

3) Baking, esp if I’m doing it for others. I’m not much of a sweets person myself, a little treat every once in a while type person, but I love baking. It’s a very relaxing process for me, even when it can sometimes get stressful, but seeing people enjoying something I made, especially something that brought me great joy to make, is simply the best. 

4) In the same sorta vein, crafting and other art, but that’s a bit more personal. I love making things for others, but art, particularly drawing, is something I do more for me. It’s such a great feeling when you can get into a really good art mood and just sink yourself into a project. I love it.

5) My plush toys. Yes, I am a 23 year old, no I will not stop loving my plushies. I just got a few new friends, which I made a post about recently, and they such good cuddle buddies. However, there is one king amongst them all. I have this old, beat up christmas puppy beanie baby, on his tag named Jingle Pup, but I just call him Jingle. I had one version of him since I was like 6, but he currently lives on a shelf cause he is very beaten up and fragile, but his “brother”, who I got when I was 8, is still in kinda good shape and is currently chilling on my chest as I type this lol.

6) Again, not a little thing, but it’s important to mention; D&D. The game itself is such a joy, but truly the best part of it is the people. I love creating stories and memories with people through this weird little game. Truly one of my favorite things to do.

D&D Moments:

These are all gonna be personal moments, rather than anything from actual play shows/podcasts. RC is Reforged Campaign, where I play Saube, and FM is Frostmaiden, where I play Sparks.

1) RC - Meeting Mahety, Saube’s girlfriend. We met her way back in session 12 and we are now up to like session 73. Saube saw her and was immediately big heart eyes at her but also felt a bit awkward and shy. So, being a game a dice, I decided to roll. 10 or higher, Saube would talk to her, 9 or lower, she’d stay put. I rolled a 17, 17 is now a lucky number for me. I love Mahety and I’d die for her. 

2) FM - This was an insane fight that should not have been so crazy, but in a fairly early session, my group went up against an angry druid and her awakened animals. So much batshit stuff happened in that fight, and we unfortunately lost our bread loving bard (RIP Agneyis), but one of my favorite combat turns happened in this fight. Our artificer, Omaren, has a robe of useful items and one of the patches on it creates a large pit. Thinking quickly, Omaren tore off the patch, slid it under one of the dire wolves we were fighting and created a looney tunes style pit under it, allowing us to take it out easily via pot shots. Such a clutch move and such a funny visual, especially because the dire wolf kept failing the checks to get out of the pit.  

3) RC - Saube’s Zebrith (I will never remember how this actually spelled RIP). So, for context, Saube ended up with a death curse (long story) that mechanically meant they had disadvantage on any death saving throws. Scary as hell, need to get that fixed! So, Saube and their party had to be smuggled into another country to talk with some religious leaders of a goddess known as The First, the goddess of death. They were told that Saube would have to go through the aforementioned ritual, which included her soul leaving her body for a short period of time. During this ritual, her friends had to call back to her, to say things that would bring her back to her body and I still cry thinking about that game. That ritual was not only important for Saube bodily, but spiritually as well. After that ritual, Saube officially became a cleric of The First! 

4) A real sappy one, RC - Saube meeting all of her friends. Anyone who follows along with the rantings on my blog probably knows how important this game is to me. I met this random group of strangers on tumblr and formed a D&D party with them and now, a year and a half later, I honestly think it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I know that sounds silly and dramatic but not only has this game brought me so much joy and comfort, but I also gained a group of really amazing friends who have been nothing but amazing since day one. As much as Saube knows she can depend on SICL, I know I can depend on my group of weirdos lol. We both love our friends very much and even though we’ve all been through some crazy shit, we wouldn’t change it for the world.    

5) RC - Just playing Saube in general. I really didn’t intend for it to be this way, but Saube is very much a reflection of myself. She is the first long term character I have ever played and so much of me is in her. I try not to treat D&D like therapy, because that’s unfair to my DM and fellow party members, but playing Saube has allowed me to work through some of my own problems, especially social anxiety, in a lot safer of an environment. It isn’t so much that I’m asking this game to help me fix my life, but playing out these scenarios that, in the real world, would make me anxious or make me freak out, I can stop, take a moment to breathe and work out these issues in a way that makes sense to me. Playing her has led me to understanding myself a bit better, as well, and that’s truly such a wonderfully unexpected gift from this whole experience. 

6) Lastly, a silly one: RC - Getting a crit 6. The last session of this game got real interesting. Saube’s party ended up in the ethereal plane and magic got real fucky there. So, any time any of us tried to cast a spell, we’d roll a d20, not look at the result, and then try to guess what number rolled. The closer to the number, the better the result. A few times, a few people managed to get within like 3 or 4 of their roll, but oh the power I felt when I rolled a 6 (on Saube’s die!) and guessed it correctly! So, not only did the spell (Bless) work, but it worked super well. So instead of getting +1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws, Saube and two other party members got +2d4 to attacks, saving throws and skill checks. So powerful I broke the rules of D&D lmao. 

[folkinsomnia]

will be ruminating on very decidedly unhealthy ideas about body image, weight loss, disordered eating, etc. below the read more.

whenever I start choking on shame for whatever reason, or whenever I get overwhelmed with everything around me, I return to the now-defunct thinspo and fitspo blogs I used to frequent almost obsessively from ~2010-2015 or so, and fitspo was just thinspo with extra disclaimers about why it wasn’t bad like thinspo.

in that period, I would comb through endless infographics about caloric contents, and fitness challenges, and before-and-after shots to show that you can do it too, you sad lonely fat girl, and gif sets of strong beautiful adult athletes and personal trainers doing so-called beginners’ workouts that I was never able to accomplish. I voraciously consumed the gospel of simple rules like fats bad, white rice bad brown rice good, bread pasta carbs bad, roasted broccoli baked chicken breast with a little salt and pepper on a bed of brown rice as the ultimate healthy meal, chew gum or work out to curb cravings (which was coincidentally a popular piece of advice on “pro-ana” blogs and websites I would sometimes come across, though I want to emphasize that I never had a full-blown, serious eating disorder - just disordered eating problems, which aren’t to be minimized by any means), couch to 5k couch to 5k couch to 5k, drink chocolate milk after runs to help your muscles recover but also lay off the dairy fatass, if you want chips eat carrots with hummus but only a small amount of hummus because it’s 70 to 90 calories per two tablespoon serving and if you want candy or chocolate or desserts then eat fruit dried fruit fresh fruit fruit and PLAIN GREEK yogurt with a little honey if you REALLY need additional sweetness, bananas as the core of every healthy diet and recipe, replace sour cream and heavy whipping cream with plain greek yogurt replace ranch and other dipping sauces with lightly seasoned plain greek yogurt thinned out with water or low fat milk, three ingredient protein pancake three ingredient protein pancake three ingredient protein pancake!!! (it’s just scrambled banana eggs with cinnamon and it’s disgusting), banana nice cream if you want a treat :-), 70 ish calories in an egg 100 ish calories in that one brand and size of tortillas you like but why are you eating tortillas when you could be be doing lettuce wraps instead coffee as basically calorie-free and then if you’re light with the NONDAIRY LOWFAT or else CREAMER then it’s almost guilt free!!

and on and on and on forever and ever.

that shit, which I intentionally and willingly sought out and consumed, damaged me so badly for years before a therapist I saw briefly in college pointed out that actually, I did have eating problems and actually, I should see a campus nutritionist because it was not normal to not eat for a day and a half and then eat as much as possible in one sitting so that it caused immense amounts of pain and emotional distress and the pain of eating too much and the pain of not eating at all being used as forms of self harm is supremely concerning actually and actually being ashamed to order food and too anxious to order food and too uncomfortable to purchase food on a daily basis when you’re a college student using a meal plan that necessitates those things is a huge worry and really, you deserve better and your body and mind need better to keep running and no you don’t have a full blown eating disorder and no you’re not in need of hospitalization and yes it’s good that no matter how many times you’ve tried you can’t make your body purge after you binge it’s concerning that you try but you aren’t a failure for being unable to purge.

I can barely understand what I was trying to write at first lmao but basically I still look at my old sources of obsession, blogs that haven’t updated since 2013 or so, blogs with ultra damaging and unhealthy rhetoric and because these other teens were victims of the neverending machine of diet diet lose weight diet that I was and still am. I saved probably over a hundred graphics from one of these blogs when I got my first laptop in 2013 and they’re still on my computer now, four laptops and eight years later, all saved in a word document titled “this is why” that I still refuse to delete and that I look at a couple times a year because I get so sick of myself, my weight gain, even when I was 145 pounds and objectively thin for my body type for the first time in my life and gained back five pounds going into college, and end up trying to trigger a period of this awful unhealthiness where I fixate obsess ruminate on and on over numbers exercise to the point of hurting myself (whether I get to that point or not) unsatisfying so-called healthy meal substitutions and truly try and brute-force myself into the same awful mindsets and behaviors that used to rule over me years ago. it’s like unhealthy and damaging and self injurious behavior is the only way I know.

[thewholetruthunedited]

Week 1 Blog Post {Hello and The Players Tribune}

Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog! My name is Corey Hannahs. I grew up in Grand Ledge, Michigan and currently reside in Ann Arbor with my wife Ami and our four children: Edison, Adelyn, Tynne, and Tommy. I am a transfer student pursuing my degree in Business Administration, majoring in Applied Business Communications. After 25+ years of working in the electrical contracting industry as a business owner and master electrician, I took a job with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as an electric content specialist, building content around NFPA 70 National Electrical Code (NEC) and NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. Upon joining NFPA in April 2020, I was made aware of a tuition reimbursement benefit that was hard to pass up. Some years ago, after graduating high school, I was set to attend CMU in the fall but I began working in the family business that summer and life took over. I had always felt like I had unfinished business at CMU and my new job provided me a great opportunity to finish my degree – so here I am! Plus, I had a ton of free time on my hands being a husband, father, coach, and employed full time. I love a good challenge but, needless to say, I don’t get much sleep these days.

Through this class I hope to learn more about different social media and specific techniques to improve upon content creation and overall reach. In my current role, I write blogs and articles for external publications, as well as assisting in managing content for our NEC Facebook page where I am also co-host of a weekly Facebook Live segment. Yes, Facebook – I know, I’m old… Likely why I am so excited to be working with Tumblr which I have not used prior to now. I’m looking forward to applying what I am learning in this class immediately in my everyday life and see how it can benefit both myself and my employer.

A company that I think does a great job with social media is The Players Tribune. Founded in 2014 by Hall of Fame professional baseball player, Derek Jeter, The Players Tribune provides a platform for professional athletes to tell their stories from the first-person narrative, describing themselves as “The Voice of the Game.” Doing so provides a unique fan and follower experience to engage with celebrity sports figures on a closer level, hearing the stories direct from them and therefore not relayed by a journalist in the middle. Athletes authentic stories of hard work, success, family life, social injustice, and more, are all shared on this platform.  In this past week alone, stories have been shared from professional women’s soccer player, Carli Lloyd, discussing her recent retirement from the game as well as former professional hockey player, Colin Wilson, coming clean with a story on his personal addiction. The Players Tribune has over 3 million followers combined over social media platforms that include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Looking at The Players Tribune, and how the principles we have reviewed in the first three chapters of The Social Organization (Bradley & McDonald, 2011) would apply, I see alignment within several areas. Reviewing the three key components of mass collaboration, this is how I see them fitting within The Players Tribune:

Social Media. As previously mentioned, The Players Tribune has a wide variety of social media platforms where they share their content and engage followers. The have successfully gained over 3 million combined followers in the seven years since they were founded, with the largest following being on Facebook with over 1.2 million followers.

Community. The Players Tribune community is made up of a wide variety of worldwide athletes from a multitude of sports. Combining that with a fanbase that yearns to know more about these athletes on a personal level makes for great engagement and interaction within the community. Athletes can tell their stories, fans can comment, and if they’re lucky maybe even get a reply to their comment direct from the athlete.

Purpose. The purpose of The Players Tribune can be taken directly from the “About” page on their website and reads “Welcome to The Players’ Tribune, a new media company that provides athletes with a platform to connect directly with their fans, in their own words.” The purpose itself brings together both the athletes and the fans, therefore defining the community.

While I know they all exist, on the surface there are three of the six principles of mass collaboration that are clear:

Participation. While at inception, The Players Tribune likely received a good push from Mr. Jeter and his stardom by engaging his fellow athletes to get involved, the ball is certainly rolling now. As athletes read the transparent stories of their peers, it likely builds courage and participation to be able to tell their own stories to their fans and the world. Fans want to take part and hear the stories of the individuals that they often hold in high regard but may never have the opportunity to engage with on a personal level.

Collective. The social media platforms where The Players Tribune  resides offers an area for the athletes and fans to join together collectively to tell stories and hear stories. Players can engage with players, players with fans, and fans with fans. Every new story posted provides a new opportunity for everyone involved to engage with one another.

Transparency. I don’t know that it can get any more transparent than having athletes, who can normally be very reserved and personal, tell personal stories in their own words and share it with the world. And then have a platform available to allow followers to engage and comment with their thoughts on the matter. The purpose of The Players Tribune naturally provides a transparency that other businesses may struggle to find.

Whether you are a fan of sports or not, I highly encourage anyone that does not already, to follow The Players Tribune for fantastic, vulnerable, human stories about life – as they tell it.

References

Bradley, Anthony J., and Mark P. McDonald. The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of Your Customers and Employees. Harvard Business School Publishing, 2011.

[mitchmarnier]

make my way back home [when i learn to fly]

pairing: eddie kaspbrak/richie tozier [reddie] w/ stanley uris/patty blum [stanpat], mike hanlon/bill denbrough [hanbrough] & beverly marsh/kay mccall [mcmarsh] word count: 1,458 chapter 3 of 10 summary: He stiffened for a moment, thinking it was Coach Henderson coming over to yank him to his feet, but the touch was much too gentle. “Hey, Richie. Come on.” Eddie Kaspbrak’s voice whispered in his ear, and Richie had to wonder if the fall had knocked him completely unconscious. He let Eddie pull him to his feet, and mostly just stared at the other boy as Eddie helped him gather up the loose- and now slightly damp and dirty- Chemistry notes. ⤹ class scholar richie tozier and school track and field icon eddie kaspbrak rekindle their childhood friendship  loosely based off the art concept by @caliceal  

read on ao3

perma taglist: @jwilliambyers​, @stebbins​, @isaacslaheys​, @s-s-georgie​, @transrich​, @eddiefuckinkaspbrak​, @edstozler​, @emgays​, @anellope​, @thorn-harvester-ven​, @wheezyeds​, @vipertooth​, @tozierking​, @billdenbrough​, @itfandomprompts​, @loserslibrary​​ (let me know if you want added!)

Eddie’s leg was shaking a mile a minute as he sat on the bench. He didn’t know how this had happened, he’d never fallen behind before. Maybe he hadn’t always had the highest marks in the class, hell he definitely never would be, but he’d always done well enough. He knew that he needed to regularate a 70 average in his classes to be considered for any sports scholarships and 60 average to even remain on the track team. Sure, his coursework had been harder this year than last but he really thought he’d been doing okay. So imagine his surprise when he was pulled into the guidance counsellors office and told that two of his classes had slipped down under 50% and he was being pulled from the track team if he couldn’t bring his grades up within this quarter. 

“It’s still very close to the beginning of the semester, Eddie, so I don’t want you to worry too much just now.” Ms McCullough said in her usual overly cheerful voice. “You have plenty of time to get those marks back up. You’re a smart kid, Edward. You just need to get on top of the concepts you’re struggling with, and I don’t doubt that you’ll be back on track in no time.”

Eddie huffed out a frustrated breath. “I didn’t even realize there were things I didn’t understand.”

Ms McCullough hummed to herself and pulled out a small file from inside her desk. “Well, Edward, our does offer a tutorship program. Our teachers do the best that they can, but we sometimes find that some students learn better when they hear how their peers do things. I have a list-” She slid the paper across the desk while Eddie stared at her. “Every student on that list had agreed to help out students in need, this list is juniors and seniors who will be able to help you catch up in English and History.”

Eddie sighed and pulled the list closer to himself, glancing down at it. He recognized most of the names on the list, unsurprisingly, with how small the school was. Stanley Uris, Patricia Blum, Edward Corcoran, Richard Tozier… He folded the list in half and gave Mrs Cullough a forced smile. “Thank you. I’m sure this will be really helpful, I’ll get right on it.”

“You’re welcome.” Ms McCullough said. “You’re a smart kid, Edward, really. This is a very important semester for college applications. I know track means a lot to you, and you’re an amazing runner, but your grades are equally if not more significant than your running times. I want you to take this seriously, because it is. Look into the tutors and talk to your teachers, and if there’s something going on at home-”

“There’s not.” Eddie broke through her rehearsed counsellor speech. He flapped the folded piece of paper in the air and gave half her a smile. “Everything is fine, I really didn’t realize that my marks were slipping. I’m going to bring them back up. I swear. It is my number one priority.” 

Eddie fled the office before Ms McCullough could give him any more pointed but misguided advice. He booked it through the hall, nearly colliding with Mike Hanlon and Bill Denbrough in his rush to get as far away from the stupid guidance office as possible.

“Whoa, Eddie, practicing inside the building now?” Mike asked, helping Eddie steady back to his feet. Mike and Bill were both wearing their athletics hoodies, and their hands were tangled together in the middle. Eddie suddenly felt a rush of jealousy that he’d never experienced before with his friends. 

“More like running away from my problems.” Eddie tossed the list of tutors in Mike and Bill’s direction, both of them leaning over to read the names. “Apparently my marks have fallen to shit both English and History and I have until the end of the quarter to get them back up or I’m benched for the entire season.” 

“This season?” Bill gaped. “They can’t sit you out this se-se-season, this is when the scouts are going to come out, you need to be racing!”

Eddie tossed his hands into the air in frustration. “I know that, don’t you think I know that? I need to bring my grades up at least 30 percent to even qualify for the extra grants I’d need to pay the rest of the way after the potential scholarship I won’t get if I can’t run. So, I am, for lack of any other term- totally fucked.”

 “Eddie, did you look at this list?” Mike asked, handing it back to him. “Tozier is totally infatuated with you, he’d probably drop everything to help you get your grades up if you ask him to.”

Eddie scowled and snatched the list back. “Shut up, he’s not infatuated with me. Asshole.” He grumbled. “We’re just friends, barely friends. I’m not- I’m not going to ask him for some huge favour, he’s got enough on his plate. Decathlon, cheerleading, his own classes-”

“And tutoring.” Mike said slowly. “He signed up, so he’s clearly interested in doing it. It’s something on his college applications, too. Ask him, he’s basically a genius.”

Eddie knew that, of course he did. Richie had always been inhumanly smart, spitting out information that he certainly had to reason to even know. Richie absorbed everything that was ever said in his presence, and Eddie swore he never forgot anything. 

“There’s l-l-lots of people on this list,” Bill pointed out when Eddie’s hesitation was obvious. “What about Patty Blum? She’s really n-n-nice, she’s in my bio class. She’s the r-r-reason I’m p-p-passing my bio class.”

Eddie frowned at the list. “Yeah but Patty Blum is dating Stan Uris, and Stan Uris hates me.”

“Didn’t you and Stan Uris used to be friends?” Mike asked.

“Yeah.” Eddie chuckled. “That’s pretty much why he hates me. But it doesn’t matter, it was a long time ago. I’m not going to dwell on what happened.”

He noticed how Bill and Mike exchanged a glance but Eddie just shoved the paper unceremoniously into the front pocket of his backpack. “Well,” Mike said quietly. “You have to do something. So it’s up to you, you can get a tutor you know you help you and that you’ll actually enjoy working with, or you can do something stupider.”

Eddie found Richie seated around the library with Stan, Patty and the rest of the decathlon team. Stan looked up the moment Eddie approached the table and frowned immediately. “This is a closed practise.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to take your common knowledge answers to the other schools, Stanley.”

“Common knowledge? So do you know what Olympian God gave up their seat of power for Dionysus when he came into creation?” 

Eddie opened his mouth, then quickly shut it with a deep frown. He caught Richie’s eye, who gave him a half grin. “Can I talk to you, Rich? Please?”

“Yeah.” Richie pushed the books aside and stood, following as Eddie moved away from the tables and towards the bookshelves. “What’s up, Eds?”

“I have a favour to ask you, but you can feel free to say no. Like do not feel obligated to say yes at all.” Eddie said quickly and Richie shot him a grin.

“Okay.” He said. “But we both know I’m probably going to say yes.”

“You don’t even know what it is yet.” Eddie said slowly. Richie shrugged one shoulder and Eddie rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. Apparently, I’ve majorly fucked up and I’m almost failing both English and History, which means if I don’t get it together I’m going to yank off the track team and I won’t be able to get the financial aid I need for school, and McCullough gave him a list of tutors and you were on it and-”

“Eddie, of course, I’ll help you with your classes.” Richie laughed.

Eddie bit his bottom lip. “Are you sure? Like, really sure? Because I know you have a lot of shit on your plate right now, with decathlon and you’re going out for the cheerleading team, so if you don’t have time please don’t worry about it, really- I wasn’t even going to ask, honestly-”

“Eddie. Shut up.” Richie said fondly. “I’m obviously going to help you.”

Eddie sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Okay, but if you think you have too much going on at any point, just tell me to fuck off and I can figure something else out.”

Richie smiled and shook his head. “Has anybody ever told you that you need to relax?”

“It’s come up once or twice in my life, yeah.” Eddie replied dryly.

[maxismatchccworld]

Naruto Ninja Career

Created for: The Sims 4 by RayBreeder7

This is a Naruto-inspired ninja career i created with Zerbu's Mod Constructor. It was my first major project in Sims modding, so, please, bear with me. It has a six-stage main career track, then splits into four branches, which are (loosely) based on the paths of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka, Tsunade, and Obito(aka Tobi). Some charachters are crossed with others to make some of the careers. Each branch has four stages, and all end up with at lease a bit more than the standard Maxis careers at max level. Some are more lucrative than others, and the careers that require more skill development get higher pay(one even goes so far as to require max body fitness, like in the athletic aspiration). I only used Zerbu's Mod Constructor. I did not use Neia's Career Maker, but decided to include her framework file, just in case it is still needed. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I have! Enjoy!

Download: http://www.modthesims.info/d/637006/naruto-ninja-career.html

Get featured: https://maxismatchccworld.tumblr.com/

Main Career Track - Ninja The ninja world is in need of heroes! Answer this call! Be a legendary Hokage, Medical Ninja, teacher, or leader. Or, if you prefer to sow chaos and discord, you could choose the path of a deviant rogue ninja. The choice, young shinobi, is yours!: Level 1 - Ninja Academy Student Shift - Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM Description - You've gotta start somewhere! Here, you will learn the basics of being a ninja! Pay Rate - § 20 Skills - N/A Level 2 - Ninja Academy Graduate Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - Wow! You've graduated! But, what is this? More training? Shouldn't you be a genin now? And, what's this about skipping breakfast? It seems there's still more to do to proveyourself. Pay Rate - § 30 Skills - Fitness 2, Logic 2 Level 3 - Genin Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - FINALLY! With skill and a little teamwork, you managed to take the bells from your new jonin instructor. Sure, you're doing grunt work, but, at this rate, you'll soon be doing more important tasks. Pay Rate - § 45 Skills - Fitness 3, Logic 3 Level 4 - Combat Genin Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - YES! You've finally got your first important mission. You're escorting a VIP to his next destination. There's not supposed to be combat involved, but sometimes, you know what they say; Expect the unexpected! Pay Rate - § 70 Skills - Fitness 4, Logic 4 Level 5 - Chunin Candidate Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - As it turns out, your VIP was a target of elite ninja assasins from another ninja village! Your team held their ground, though, and, in the end, you managed to, alongside your teacher, emerge victorious! Now, they've entered you into the Chunin exams! With some work, and a little luck, you may soon be a chunin! Pay Rate - § 100 Skills - Fitness 6, Logic 5 Level 6 - Chunin Shift - Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM Description - YES! You've been promoted to chunin! From here, your career options become incredibly diverse! Medical nin, academy instructor, unsavory rogue, or even the road to Hokage! With hard work, dedication, and a little luck, you just might make your dreams come true! Pay Rate - § 150 Skills - Fitness 7 Logic 5 Career Branch - Road To Hokage: This is it! The climb to the top! Be the hero everyone looks up to, and run the entire village! Spread the will of fire, honored one!: Level 7 - Jonin Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - To become hokage, you will need to first climb up to the ranks of the ninja elite: the Jonin! From there, build your reputation among the ninja, and reach for the top! Pay Rate - § 250 Skills - Fitness 8, Logic 8, Charisma 6 Level 8 - Savior of the Ninja World Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - You've shown bravery and courage, and saved your fellow ninjas' lives time and time again. People are looking up to you as a hero. And, with the rise of the Akatsuki and the dawn of the Fourth great ninja war, the ninja need a symbol to rally behing... Pay Rate - § 400 Skills - Fitness 9, Charisma 7 Level 9 - War Hero Shift - Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 3 PM Description - You did it! Practically on your own, you vanquished the Akatsuki, ended the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and claimed your place in ninja history! Your place as Hokage is now practically guaranteed! Pay Rate - § 550 Skills - 8 Charisma, 10 Logic Level 10 - Hokage Shift - Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM Description - YOU DID IT! YOU'VE BECOME HOKAGE! ALL THE LEAF NOW HOLDS YOU IN THE HIGHEST REGARD! YOUR DREAMS HAVE FINALLY COME TRUE! Pay Rate - § 700 Skills - 10 Fitness, 10 Charisma (Also requires maximum body potential, like in bodybuilder aspiration) Career Branch - Rogue Ninja: Not all ninja play by the rules. Some even actively break the law. If you're sick of playing by the book, or simply want revenge against society for making you suffer, perhaps it's time to go rogue.: Level 7 - Runaway Ninja Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - The system doesn't suit you. So what do you do? Run away, of course! Though you won't come by money as easily, until you build a solid reputation.But, It won't be long before clients line up at your feet. You hope... Pay Rate - § 190 Skills - 3 Mischief Level 8 - Missing Nin Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - We got Bad News and Good News about your growing notoriety. Bad News:Your notoriety has put a death warrant on your head. Good News:Your notoriety has put work at your feet, and, thus, money in your pocket. Pay Rate - § 330 Skills - 5 Mischief, 8 Logic Level 9 - Akatsuki Member Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - Your notoriety has drawn the attention of the most infamous criminal organization in the ninja world; the famed Akatsuki. Now a member of their ranks, you've been assigned the job of capturing the ninja equivalent of WMDs; Biju, or Tailed Beasts. Get ready to fight as you've never fought before! Pay Rate - § 420 Skills - 9 Fitness, 8 Mischief Level 10 - Akatsuki Leader Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - The leader of your organization just fell for the weak, peaceful talk of the ninja of the villages, ultimately deciding to give his life to help those pathetic weak-willed fools. You, however, vow to end their pathetic charade as the new Akatsuki Leader. Let's get that Fourth Great Ninja War underway! Pay Rate - § 700 Skills - Fitness 10, Mischief 10 Career Branch - Academy Instructor: Every Ninja Starts somewhere. Help them on their way to the top! Who knows, maybe you might be placed in charge of a three ninja squad! Perhaps one or more on that squad could become a living legend, and bring fame to you, as well!: Level 7 - Instructor-In-Training Shift - Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM Description - You're being taught the art of teaching! Work hard, young Chunin! Soon, you will be responsible for the next generation of young ninja! Pay Rate - § 215 Skills - 4 Charisma, 2 Handiness Level 8 - Academy Instructor Shift - Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM Description - Time to teach the next generation of ninja the skills of combat, strategy, and even how to set traps. Get them ready, because people say another ninja war is very near... Pay Rate - § 325 Skills - 6 Handiness, 8 Logic, 6 Charisma Level 9 - Squad Leader Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - You've been promoted to Jonin, and instructed to lead a three-man-squad. Test your students, and, if they pass, guide them in their journey to become ninja! Pay Rate - § 460 Skills - 10 Fitness, 10 Logic, 8 Charisma Level 10 - Teacher Of A Legend Shift - Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM Description - One(or more)of your students over your career has become a living legend! And, as their instructor, you have gained similar status as well! Congratulations! Pay Rate - § 800 Skills - 10 Charisma Career Branch - Medical Ninja: Do you enjoy helping your fellow ninja? Do you have steady hands? Are you the type who prefers brain over brawn? If so, maybe you'd rather support your teammates from the side lines as a Medical Ninja: Level 7 - Med Ninja In Trainingt Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - You're now a Medic In Training! Work hard to study those herbs and techniques! You'll be a Ninja Nurse in no time! Pay Rate - § 220 Skills - 2 Gardening, 8 Logic Level 8 - Ninja Nurse Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - You're now a Ninja Nurse! And, just in time to treat wounded in the Fourth Great Ninja War! Do well, and, maybe, you might treat patients on the front lines as a full-fledged Med Ninja! Pay Rate - § 315 Skills - 4 Gardening Level 9 - Medical Ninja Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - You now get to leave the field hospital and tgreat patients on the front lines! You have also been given a scroll containing the secrets of a jutsu called Creation Rebirth. Study this jutsu, and, perhaps, new oppurtunities could come of it! Pay Rate - § 425 Skills - 8 Gardening, 10 Logic Level 10 - Medical Sannin Shift - Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 2 PM Description - The glorious elite of the med-nin, you have unlocked the full potential of the creation rebirth jutsu, even mastering the Strength Of A Hundred Seal. The rules of the med-nin no longer apply to you! You can even fight, whereas your peers are not so permitted! Pay Rate - §700 Skills - 10 Gadening, 10 Fitness

[bxckybcrncs]

Have you ever noticed that ( JAMES BUCHANAN “ BUCKY ” BARNES ) from the ( MARVEL UNIVERSE ) looks a lot like ( SEBASTIAN STAN )? But ( HE ) also go/goes by ( THE WINTER SOLDIER ). Having the ability to/of ( SUPERHUMANLY ENHANCED STRENGTH, SPEED, REFLEXES, HEALING, STAMINA, AND AGILITY,  A CYBERNETIC ENHANCED LEFT ARM, AND EXPERT ESPIONAGE/MARKSMAN/TACTICAL SKILLS. ) sure makes them a force to be reckoned with. Rumour has it they are ( 105/30 ) and is working as ( PART TIME AVENGER / SHIELD AGENT ).

i  always  say  i’m  not  going  to  write  a  lot  and  then  write  12  paragraphs,  so  i’m  not  even  going  to  try  and  shorten  this.  it’s  going  to  be  long.  i’m  so  sorry.  

james  buchanan  barnes  was  born  in  1917.  he  was  a  good  student  and  fairly  athletic,  though  his  school  record  probably  wasn’t  great.  when  he  befriended  steve  rogers  as  children,  beating  up  bullies  that  tried  to  mess  with  him  became  a  pastime.   steve  was  a  scrapper,  always  ‘had  ‘em  on  the  ropes’  but  james  —  better  known  to  friends  and  family  as  bucky  —  was  the  kind  of  person  who  couldn’t  sit  back  and  watch  the  people  he  loved  hurt.  they  were  inseparable  and  the  majority  of  bucky’s  happy  memories  all  include  steve.  the  unhappy  ones too  probably,  considering  steve’s  health  wasn’t  great  when  they  were  young  and  he  probably  worried  about  him  24/7.   

he  was  idealistic  when  he  enlisted  and  was  assigned  to  the  107th  in  1943.   he  was  young,  all  smiles  and  charm, and  really  believed  in  the  cause.  or  believed  that  he  believed,  which  rounds  out  the  same  in  the  end.  he  was  a  waterweight  champion  prior  to  enlisting  and  was  given  sniper  training  shortly  after  he  got  his  papers.  from  there,  everything  went  from  sort  of  good  to  bad.   his  regiment  were  kidnapped  by  hydra  and  he  was  experimented  on  by  a  scientist  named  zola.  they  injected  him  with  a  walmart  brand  supersoldier  serum,  trying  to  replicate  the  success  that  they  had  with  captain  america,  but  his  regiment  was  rescued  and  he  vowed  to  fight  against  hydra  by  steve’s  side.   

on  a  mission,  fighting  alongside  steve  —  newly  super  serum’d  up  and  way  buffer  than  he  remembered  —  he  was  blasted  from  a  train  car.   he  was  clinging  to  the  railing  that  gave  way  moments  before  steve  could  grab  his  hand.   he  was  assumed  dead  as  he  fell  a  significant  drop.  the  serum  is  probably  what  saved  him  and  gave  hydra  the  perfect  opportunity  to  grab  him.   he  was  experimented  on  extensively  and  technologically  upgraded  with  a  cybernetic  arm  to  make  him  even  more  deadly.  hydra  brainwashed  him,  implanted  code  words  and  conditioning  with  triggers,  so  they  could  control  him  and  make  him  the  perfect  weapon.  

in  his  past,  in  and  out  of  cryo,  he  trained  natasha  romanoff  in  the  red  room.  there  were  a  number  of  super  soliders,  other  projects  that  were  deemed  failures  or  too  unstable  to  function,  but  the  black  widows  were  the  soviet’s  baby  so  to  speak.   up  until  recently,  he  didn’t  remember  anything  about  his  time  in  the  red  room.   or  the  time  he  shot  a  mark  through  natasha.   awko.  

over  the  next  70  years,  they’d  pull  him  in  and  out  of  cryofreeze,  wiping  his  memory  between  missions,  to  have  complete  a  series  of  prolific  assassinations  and  missions.  he  became  a  ghost  story,  referred  to  in  whispers  in  the  intelligence  community  as  the  winter  solider,  and  was  known  to  be  extremely  deadly.    

bucky  continued  to  operate  as  an  hydra  asset  until  the  fall  of  hydra  within  s.h.i.e.l.d.  in  2013.   his  programming  was  starting  to  fail,  triggers  from  his  former  life  waking  up  parts  of  him  that  he’d  thought  were  long  gone,  and  he  was  starting  to  remember  things.   the  man  on  the  bridge.  i  remember  him.   he  pulls  steve  out  of  the  river  after  the  helicarrier  crashes,   visits  the  exhibit  at  the  smithsonian,  and  then  disappears.   it  takes  years  for  him  to  sort  through  his  memories,  writing  things  down  frantically  in  notebooks  as  quickly  as  they  appear  in  case  they  disappear  again.  on  top  of  the  horrific  memories  of  the  things  he’s  done,  the  people  he’s  hurt,  he  has  blanks  and  gaps  that  he  doesn’t  know  how  to  quantify.   so  he  hides,  he  stays  off  shield  and  the  governments  radar,  and  he  tries  to  figure  out  who  and  what  he  is.    that  is,  until  his  picture’s  on  the  news,  steve’s  crashing  back  into  his  life,  and  there’s  another  fight  to  be  fought.   except  this  time,  it’s  over  him.   and  he’s  not  sure  he  deserves  it.

this  is  getting  really  sad  so  i’m  moving  on.  anyways.  after  the  events  of  civil  war,  when  nemo  used  his  conditioning  to  turn  him  against  the  people  he  cared  about,  he  knew  he  was  a  liability.   until  they  could  fix  him,  figure  out  a  way  to  condition  his  brain  back  to  normal,  he  went  into  cryofreeze  again  in  wakanda.   a  year,  maybe  a  little  more,  and  he’s  out.   he  has  a  new  arm,  which  he  refuses  to  wear initially,  and  his  mind’s  clearer  than  it’s  been  in  years.   the  memories  still  come  and  go,  the  journaling  never  stops,  but  at  least  now  he  has  a  clear  picture  of  what’s  real  and  what  was  implanted  by  hydra.   he  knows,  in  an  abstract  way,  who  he  is  again.    what  he  is,  however,  is  up  for  debate.  

anyways  yes  he’s  been  in  wakanda  for  probably  close  to  two  years  trying  to  heal,  figure  out  what  comes  next,  and  just  take  a  breather.   everyone  he  knew  before  is  dead,  the  people  he  cared  about  he  hurt,  and  there’s  so  much  blood  on  his  hands  he  practically  drowns  in  it.   (  do  i  think  he  stayed  out  in  a  hut  because  his  nightmares  prompted  violent  shouts  sometimes  and  he  was  embarrassed?  yes.   does  he  still  have  them?  sometimes. )   when  the  accords  were  overturned,  registration  abandoned,  he  negotiated  with  the  government  and  with  shield  so  he  could  come  home.   he’s  not  all  that  sure  it’s  what  he  wants,  or  even  what  he  deserves,  but  even  if  others  might  disagree  he  has  a  list  of  crimes  a  mile  long  and  he  needs  to  make  it  right.   if  they  decide  that  means  working  for  shield  instead  of  sitting  in  a  jail  cell  somewhere,  he’ll  sign  on  the  dotted  line.   he  knows  nothing  in  life  comes  free.  not  even  freedom.

 anyways  yeah  bucky  is  sad,  lowkey  hates  himself  sometimes,  wants  to  protect  the  people  he  cares  about,  and  has  a  soft  spot  for  anyone  in  a  similar  position  to  his  own.  there’s  trauma  but  there’s  also  sarcasm,  repression,  and  resilience.  i  love  one  (1)  man.

[ledenews]

Sean Duffy: Honoring HOFer Howley a ‘Great Day for Warwood’

If it were not for a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the latest Dallas Cowboy to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame would not have a new, sizeable sign honoring him in his native neighborhood. That’s a fact, and it’s thanks to Sean Duffy, the director of the Adult Program and local history at the Ohio County Public Library. Duffy is a lifelong Steelers fan and still refers to his team’s nemesis-rival as the “Cryboys,” but a man named Chuck Howley was one of his childhood heroes, too. The former linebacker was elected to the Hall on February 9th and was formally enshrined on August 5th, and just yesterday – only 73 days later – City of Wheeling workers erected the signage along River Road. It was Sean who addressed Mayor Glenn Elliott – a devoted Steelers fan, as well – and City Council about the sign, and about naming the athletic field at Garden Park in honor of the Super MVP. Now, when the Warwood Redbirds, or any other team, play ball, it will be on “Chuck Howley Field.” Duffy’s appetite for local history is seldom satisfied, but when it comes to Howley’s career, he recognized many of his accomplishments may never be matched. He’s the only player who performed for the losing team in the Super Bowl that was named t game’s most valuable player. He was one of the original members of the Cowboy’s legendary “Dommsday Defense.” He was a six-time Pro Bowl selection. He’s the only student-athlete in WVU athletic history to letter in five sports So, yes, a devout and dedicated Steelers fan has cheered for a Cowboy because the defensive player is now officially recognized as one of the greatest of all time, and, of course, because Howley is one of our own. Duffy (in the back on the left) joined volunteers and city employees this week to erect the signage honoring the Hall of Famer. Why would a Steelers fan do anything nice for a Dallas Cowboy? Yeah, it's a fair point. As a child of the 70s who grew up with Camelot, the Cryboys were right there at the top (or the putrid, hellish bottom, if you will) of my football hate list with the Raiders and Browns. Yuck. But Chuck Howley was from Warwood, like me. He played for Corpus Christi, like me. And my dad said he was a great linebacker like Jack Ham. So yeah, anything for Chuck. If he'd played for the Steelers, he'd be my favorite player ever. But Coach Landry picked up the phone. Buddy Parker didn't. And for Chuck to overcome the Cryboy stench and get me to take action – admirable. What was Warwood like when Chuck Howley was raised in the neighborhood? Warwood of the 1940s and 1950s was the idyllic all-American small town, with street fairs, soda fountains, corner groceries, and blue-collar families. It was the kind of place where you never bothered to lock your doors, sat on the porch most evenings listening to baseball on the radio, had barbecues with your neighbors, and played in the streets until your mom hollered for you to come home after dark. In short, it was the same kind of place I grew up in thirty years later. On occasion, Duffy will join in on some of the historical re-enactments like this one with Dave Clutter as "Big" Bill Lias. What is the biggest difference in the game of football between now and when Howley played the game? The speed of the game is probably the biggest difference. Chuck was fast, but by today's standards, well, not so fast. The players are bigger, yes. Stronger, yes. More athletic, yes. But I can't help thinking, despite all of that, players like Chuck and Jack Ham could still find a niche in today's game just by virtue of their heart, intelligence, and competitive nature. Plus, Chuck was a diving and gymnastics champion. He was really a great all-around athlete. Chuck could still be a star today. Maybe he'd be more of a specialist, but he could play. How do you explain your passion for the history of the Wheeling area? It's just part of who I am. I love my hometowns (Warwood, Wheeling). The history of this area is relentlessly fascinating. I'm always "discovering" things I didn't know. Did you know, for example, that Chuck Howley ran a laundry after retiring from football? Yep. He had a contract with the Cowboys to clean their uniforms. Then he bought a ranch. This is a guy who bought a gas station in Wheeling when he thought injury had ended his football dreams. This dude was going to be a success, whatever he did. He just had that drive. What's the point? That's Wheeling's history as a whole – hard-working, driven people made this city. And we're still here. I love researching Wheeling history. Duffy and his wife, Patricia, gather with his mother and his sister, Erin, as often as possible. What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life? Oh damn. Why do you have to hit me with a philosophical question at the end? Ok. The greatest lesson I have learned is that you should be who you are. Don't try to be what you aren't because it pays better. Follow your passion. And play the lottery. You'll flat-out do better and feel better. How's that? Duffy very much enjoyed having author William Sanderson at the library for a Lunch with Books program to speak about certain parts of Wheeling's history. Read the full article

[disscnants]

( sebastian stan, 100+, he/him ) - are you ready to fight for your world, BUCKY BARNES? through everything that’s happened in the world, you’re known to go by THE WINTER SOLDIER and have been said to be DETERMINED and UNYIELDING. over the past three years, you could be located at WONDER CITY and word out there is that your abilities include SUPERHUMANLY ENHANCED STRENGTH, SPEED, REFLEXES, HEALING, STAMINA, AND AGILITY,  A CYBERNETIC ENHANCED LEFT ARM, AND EXPERT ESPIONAGE/MARKSMAN/TACTICAL SKILLS.  seems like that’s going to help you survive this apocalypses. ( c, 21+, she/her, ast ).

james  buchanan  barnes  was  born  in  1917.  he  was  a  good  student  and  fairly  athletic,  though  his  school  record  probably  wasn’t  great.  when  he  befriended  steve  rogers  as  children,  beating  up  bullies  that  tried  to  mess  with  him  became  a  pastime.   steve  was  a  scrapper,  always  ‘had  ‘em  on  the  ropes’  but  james  —  better  known  to  friends  and  family  as  bucky  —  was  the  kind  of  person  who  couldn’t  sit  back  and  watch  the  people  he  loved  hurt.  they  were  inseparable  and  the  majority  of  bucky’s  happy  memories  all  include  steve.  the  unhappy  ones too  probably,  considering  steve’s  health  wasn’t  great  when  they  were  young  and  he  probably  worried  about  him  24/7.  

he  was  idealistic  when  he  enlisted  and  was  assigned  to  the  107th  in  1943.   he  was  young,  all  smiles  and  charm, and  really  believed  in  the  cause.  or  believed  that  he  believed,  which  rounds  out  the  same  in  the  end.  he  was  a  waterweight  champion  prior  to  enlisting  and  was  given  sniper  training  shortly  after  he  got  his  papers.  from  there,  everything  went  from  sort  of  good  to  bad.   his  regiment  were  kidnapped  by  hydra  and  he  was  experimented  on  by  a  scientist  named  zola.  they  injected  him  with  a  walmart  brand  supersoldier  serum,  trying  to  replicate  the  success  that  they  had  with  captain  america,  but  his  regiment  was  rescued  and  he  vowed  to  fight  against  hydra  by  steve’s  side.  

on  a  mission,  fighting  alongside  steve  —  newly  super  serum’d  up  and  way  buffer  than  he  remembered  —  he  was  blasted  from  a  train  car.   he  was  clinging  to  the  railing  that  gave  way  moments  before  steve  could  grab  his  hand.   he  was  assumed  dead  as  he  fell  a  significant  drop.  the  serum  is  probably  what  saved  him  and  gave  hydra  the  perfect  opportunity  to  grab  him.   he  was  experimented  on  extensively  and  technologically  upgraded  with  a  cybernetic  arm  to  make  him  even  more  deadly.  hydra  brainwashed  him,  implanted  code  words  and  conditioning  with  triggers,  so  they  could  control  him  and  make  him  the  perfect  weapon.  

in  his  past,  in  and  out  of  cryo,  he  trained  natasha  romanoff  in  the  red  room.  there  were  a  number  of  super  soliders,  other  projects  that  were  deemed  failures  or  too  unstable  to  function,  but  the  black  widows  were  the  soviet’s  baby  so  to  speak.   up  until  recently,  he  didn’t  remember  anything  about  his  time  in  the  red  room.   or  the  time  he  shot  a  mark  through  natasha.   awko.  

over  the  next  70  years,  they’d  pull  him  in  and  out  of  cryofreeze,  wiping  his  memory  between  missions,  to  have  complete  a  series  of  prolific  assassinations  and  missions.  he  became  a  ghost  story,  referred  to  in  whispers  in  the  intelligence  community  as  the  winter  solider,  and  was  known  to  be  extremely  deadly.    

bucky  continued  to  operate  as  an  hydra  asset  until  the  fall  of  hydra  within  s.h.i.e.l.d.  in  2013.   his  programming  was  starting  to  fail,  triggers  from  his  former  life  waking  up  parts  of  him  that  he’d  thought  were  long  gone,  and  he  was  starting  to  remember  things.   the  man  on  the  bridge.  i  remember  him.   he  pulls  steve  out  of  the  river  after  the  helicarrier  crashes,   visits  the  exhibit  at  the  smithsonian,  and  then  disappears.   it  takes  years  for  him  to  sort  through  his  memories,  writing  things  down  frantically  in  notebooks  as  quickly  as  they  appear  in  case  they  disappear  again.  on  top  of  the  horrific  memories  of  the  things  he’s  done,  the  people  he’s  hurt,  he  has  blanks  and  gaps  that  he  doesn’t  know  how  to  quantify.   so  he  hides,  he  stays  off  shield  and  the  governments  radar,  and  he  tries  to  figure  out  who  and  what  he  is.    that  is,  until  his  picture’s  on  the  news,  steve’s  crashing  back  into  his  life,  and  there’s  another  fight  to  be  fought.   except  this  time,  it’s  over  him.   and  he’s  not  sure  he  deserves  it.

this  is  getting  really  sad  so  i’m  moving  on.  anyways.  after  the  events  of  civil  war,  when  nemo  used  his  conditioning  to  turn  him  against  the  people  he  cared  about,  he  knew  he  was  a  liability.   until  they  could  fix  him,  figure  out  a  way  to  condition  his  brain  back  to  normal,  he  went  into  cryofreeze  again  in  wakanda.   a  year,  maybe  a  little  more,  and  he’s  out.   he  has  a  new  arm,  which  he  refuses  to  wear initially,  and  his  mind’s  clearer  than  it’s  been  in  years.   the  memories  still  come  and  go,  the  journaling  never  stops,  but  at  least  now  he  has  a  clear  picture  of  what’s  real  and  what  was  implanted  by  hydra.   he  knows,  in  an  abstract  way,  who  he  is  again.    what  he  is,  however,  is  up  for  debate.  

anyways  yes  he  spent  some  time  in  wakanda  trying  to  heal,  figure  out  what  comes  next,  and  just  take  a  breather.   everyone  he  knew  before  is  dead,  the  people  he  cared  about  he  hurt,  and  there’s  so  much  blood  on  his  hands  he  practically  drowns  in  it.   (  do  i  think  he  stayed  out  in  a  hut  because  his  nightmares  prompted  violent  shouts  sometimes  and  he  was  embarrassed?  yes.   does  he  still  have  them?  sometimes. )   shortly  before  the  equation,  steve  smuggled  him  back  in  the  states  when  he  felt  confident  that  he  was  no  longer  a  danger  to  the  people  around  him....  and  after,  when  the  world  was  fracturing,  his  past  crimes  didn’t  seem  to  matter  so  much.  

what  have  they  been  doing  in  the  last  three  years?

ever  since  the  equation,  bucky’s  been  on  the  ground  in  wonder  city  and  the  surrounding  areas.  sometimes  he  helps  get  refugees  into  the  city,  or  goes  on  missions  to  find  resources;  whatever  he  can  do  to  be  helpful.  he  has  a  stockpile  of  coffee  and  is  always  happy  to  share  it  with  friends.   it  was  his  first  priority  when  the  world  started  going  to  shit  and  he  has  a  massive  stock  now.  #priorities.

his  ptsd,  however,  hasn’t  fared  so  great  in  the  apocalypse.  he  suffers  from  mild  dissociative  episodes  where  he’ll  retreat  into  himself,  disappearing  for  hours  or  even  days  at  a  time.   

oh  and  because  he  has  a  walmart  version  of  the  super  soldier  serum  pumping  through  his  veins,  he’s  semi-resistant  to  the  anti-life  equation.   he  can  be  infected  but  his  body  will  gradually  fight  it   off  within  a  few  hours.   he’s  been  infected  twice  and  thankfully  the  casualties  were  minimal.   so  while  he  takes  more  risks  than  the  average  person,  he’s  very  conscious  of  how  lethal  him  getting  infected  could  be.  

how  will  they  react  to  having  the  others  come  back  from  earth-2?

he  understands  why  the  heroes  had  to  leave,  even  if  he  doesn’t  necessarily  agree  with  the  choice.   this  world  was  wartorn,  it  needed  them,  and  he’ll  always  wonder  if  more  people  could  have  been  saved  if  they’d  had  more  help.   he’s  never  wanted  to  be  in  the  fight  but  for  all  the  hurt  he’s  caused,  all  the  pain,  he  figures  staying  behind  in  a  ravaged  city  is  a  good  step  towards  retribution.   

[saintheartwing]

Explaining the Current Racial Situation to my Conservative Family

I have a LOT of conservative family members. My own step-mom, despite being Native American, is very conservative and very religious on top of that. My dad is fairly conservative too. Most of my step-mom, Barbara’s, family is conservative and my GRANDMA’S conservative and basically, unless they’re on my MOM’S side of the family, or they’re my brother and his girlfriend Abby...they’re not liberal. 

So, having to explain all that’s going on with Black Lives Matter right now, the protests, is difficult. Especially because they keep INTERRUPTING ME when I try to explain about generational wealth. 

Lemme try and break it down. Let’s begin with the whole “Black Lives Matter” argument. And ironically, one of the best ways I heard it described was by a conservative, by GLENN BECK of all people.

“"All of us are sitting around a table, and we're all friends. It's time for dessert, and everybody gets pie except for me and you. And you say, 'I didn't get any pie.' Everybody at the table looks at you and says 'I know. All pie matters.' You say, 'but I don't have any pie! What about my pie?'"

Therein is the point. You weren’t included in the “all”. Your pie matters TOO. Your right to a piece of pie OUGHT to matter. The same goes for black lives. Black lives matter TOO. Black lives SHOULD matter. It’s just that “BLM” alone is snappier, catchier, fits on a sign better. 

Now, many of my family argue that the reason WHY the cops treat black people poorly is because, proportionately, black people do more crime. They make up around 20 something percent of the population but commit an inordinate amount of the crime. So I ask “Well why do you think that is”? 

They, in general, brought up the issue of family, that there’s much more single moms in the black community. Now IN GENERAL, there’s more single moms than there used to be. Around the 60′s, 70, it was in the single digits, now it’s one in four when it comes to single parents. And yes, true, according to Pew’s Research Center, among single  parents, 42% are white and 28% are black, compared with 55% of cohabiting parents who are white and 13% who are black. “These gaps are driven largely by racial differences among the large share of solo parents who are mothers. Solo moms are more than twice as likely to be black as cohabiting moms (30% vs. 12%), and roughly four times as likely as married moms (7% of whom are black). Four-in-ten solo mothers are white, compared with 58% of cohabiting moms and 61% of married moms.”

But why are they single? It isn’t like welfare actually pays a ton. Take it from someone currently ON unemployment. My old job had me making 16 bucks an hour. Now on unemployment I am making 300 bucks a week. That barely pays for groceries, gas, car insurance and paying off my student debts. I’m not exactly increasing my social mobility. And I’m just a single guy. Imagine having to provide food for CHILDREN. It’d be MUCH harder. 

Now, a lot of black families have been broken up because the father was thrown in jail. Rightly or wrongly that’s how it’s happened. Many are in jail based of BS, unfairly harsh drug laws, and many drug laws on the books have racist origins. Richard Nixon’s own advisor admitted the War on Drug laws were MADE to target hippies AND black people to hurt the Dems and...you know, because he didn’t like Black people much either. And those laws are still there. Look at how we handle the enforcement of weed when we break down black usage vs white usage. Or how we handle crack cocaine vs powder. 

But the big issue is POVERTY. Poverty, a lack of a strong family unit AND not enough education are all big, huge driving factors that tend to be predictors of crime. If you can’t get a good job, and you need a good education to GET a good job, and if you’ve no family as a safety net to fall back on, and you’re poor...what the hell are you gonna do? You’ll be desperate and resort to crime. And because black people are MUCH less likely to be rich, and FAR more likely to be black, well, that’s where the proportionality argument comes in. It’s because of the lack of good educational opportunities, and the poverty issue. Not ALL minorities deal with this. Not all minorities DO have issues with poverty or education. But on AVERAGE, they suffer from them MUCH more than white people. That’s what the statistics tell us. 

But even if we did away with all billionaires, gave away all their money and gave all black people jobs and a college education, well...even Oprah still has people following her around in stores, assuming she can’t pay for the things she’s looking at because she’s black. Black, well-off district attorneys still get pulled over because they’re black. Black athletes still get s--t, and many of THEM are well paid and well off, and money doesn’t stop people from yelling “Listen boy, stop kneeling and play ball” or the like. 

That’s the sort of issue that I have to contend with when talking to my conservative family about racism. You need an INTERSECTIONAL approach. It can’t just be class reductionist. 

Anyway...take care of yourselves. Stay safe.

[shesawriter39049]

|TROUBLE| M|1 OF (?)

PAIRING:  OC XJimin/Namjoon/Yoongi ....Now how that happens..you’ll just have to wait and see…

High school/Drift racer AU

Running Back Jimin-

Point Guard Yoongi-

Not soo “Mr. Perfect” School President Namjoon-

Wild child Cheerleader OC...

***They all drift on the weekends *****

SMUT/Humor..ish.../mentions of drugs/alcohol

**Written all in good fun, for purely nostalgic reasons...the men in question are grown as all hell IRL and that’s all that matters lol! So for this particular AU yes... strap yourself in and take yourself back on a ride for a NEW highschool experience! ****

4.5K

Based off my headcanons I made for this threesum..it will play on those “characters” IE...my version of an Americanized..non art school BTS!

***I paint a very detailed picture...aesthetic wise for all three of the boys and the OC…(STYLE wise) I never get into physical looks with my OC’s***

It was 7:25 in the morning, I.E too damn early as three cars eased in one after the other to the already full parking lot, yet for some reason there normal spots remained untouched. The school itself was a “school of choice” and often attracted people of all walks of life due to its exceptional sports program. Everything from a Range Rover to a rusted out beater filled the lot, the students just as diverse as the cars. A white BMW 430i, led the pack, followed by a sublime green challenger scat pack, and ending the brigade was a very well taken care of satin black 70 Chevelle, two white pinstripes lying along the hood! The threesum almost making a untentional triangel, ironically enough the BMW eased into the spot that read “Reserved for class president”. Not even giving it a second thought before doing so, yet, it’s the first day of school and elections havent even taken place yet. Presumptions for him to assume for the third year in a row he’d reclaim his title!

Black loafers graced the gravel, lying beneath a pair of light gray slacks, which were tucked into a loosely fitted cotton polka dot dress shirt which sat slightly unbuttoned. A thin black Gucci belt laced around his waist. Hair currently ash blonde, messly waived out of his face, while cat eye glasses framed his button nose. Was Namjoon Kim a TA...or a Junior in high school!? Were still trying to figure that out too, the tiny bud of a joint pinched between his fingers kinda answered that question though. Leaning down to rub the end against the concrete to halt the remaining smoke, giving himself a couple sprays of cologne before throwing it into his black leather backpack. Placing his ice capp on top of his car before popping his trunk..removing 4 bright orange cones...placing them on either side of his car..

“This motherfucker!!” The playful scoff, in combination with the most dramatic eye roll you’d ever seen in your life came from the one in the scat pack as he sipped on his Bahama Mama. A pair of Puma RS-X TRACKS laid on his feet,accompanied by a pair of extremely tight,distressed, dark wash “Copper 9” skinnies. With the way your school's star running backs thighs were set up you’d swear these bitches were painted on. Ya know... the amount of rips that laid along his thighs mixed with how low the white Calvin Klein V-neck sat..the combo would definitely be a write up if worn on a female student! Well... actually…. nah, your school was very laxed on dress code just due to everyone constantly breaking it and your principle basically giving up! Jimin's caramelized complexion glowing under the sun.. his dark wavy locks locks sat tucked behind a backwards red Supreme snapback! A set of rhinestone 2G plugs sat in his ears while an array of other piercing traced of the outer frame of his lobes. Arms and fingers, also coated in a menagerie of gold and silver accessories.

Lounging casually against the hood of his car, a smug smirk tugged on his pouty lips observing the way his best friend gave his car one more one over before grabbing his coffee, dropping his gaze down to his watch. The diamonds visible from across the lot... strutting his way through the brigade of cars as if he owned the entire school.

“Is he aware that when he does that dumbshit...it just makes me wanna fuck his shit up!? I've never been so tempted to kick a car in my damn life!” and last but not least..that growl came from the proud owner of “The Creeper” AKA the Chevy Chevelle… lazily making his way in the running backs direction. A fitted black and white “DGK” baseball jersey draped his frame,paired with black skinnies to offset the primarily white jersey. His burgundy locks tucked under a matching black “DGK” bucket hat, all white Jordan 11’s dusted his feet. Of course the look wouldn't be complete without a “Tropical” Red Bull and his earpods wedged in both lobes..which essentially let you know he really didn't wanna be bothered. A helpful hint with Yoongi, wait for HIM to approach you...

Still trying to figure out why school couldn’t just start in November..or in layman's terms...during basketball season. Since that’s the only reason he comes anyway...just needing to keep his grades up so he can continue leading the school to their third consecutive championship. One of if not the best point guards in the state...you didn’t have to necessarily be the tallest to succeed in basketball you just gotta know your angles!

Sharing an all knowing smirk with the fellow athlete as the two of them coly strolled towards Namjoons car, casually kicking the cones one by one away from the premierter in the process. A gritty chuckle leaving their lips as they did so… before nonchalantly making their way towards the building, “Well, aren't you sexy…” The words purred from Yoongi’s lips making Jimin’s head snap around, but the minute it did he already knew the point guard wasn’t talking about a girl per say. But a car, a royal purple Camaro that clearly had drag tires on it….

“Fuck yeah she is….” The level of arousal that dripped from there lips ...at the site of a car was almost comical, yet not at all surprising. Incase you havent noticed they all have a thing for cars..even Namjoon’s BMW. It may look like the car of a businessman but thanks to Yoongi and Jimin under his hood was straight fire! The car itself peaking interest as neither of them had seen it before, and considering the fact that they raced every Sunday night...they’d know if there was another drift car in town! Shrugging it off for now, already well aware they’d see the owner at some point in the day….

The minute they entered the building it was just utter chaos, the school itself was huge, spread along three floors. Typically hovering a little under 2k kids a year between all four grades, it was clear as day who fresh meat was. The building clearly more than overwhelming as they ran frantically  through the halls, a combination of excitement and fear dancing along their faces! The pair smirking in amusement as they maneuvered through the crowd, unbothered wasn’t even a strong enough word to describe the two of them.

“Hey Park over here!!!” Jimin didn't recognize the voice, that shot through the air, yet he still adjusted his direction to follow the sound anyway. Not too surprised to see it was a couple underclassmen with cameras in hand. Probably on the school newspaper, or the yearbook committee...Jimin didn't care either way. You put a camera in that boys face and the charm goes on full blast! Quickly tossing the remainder of his drink in the garbage so he had freedom to ...I guess pose, suddenly this must've became a photoshoot in Jimin’s mind!  Eyes turning into tiny crestins as he smiled in the youngers direction, not hesitating to switch up his angles, poses, the stairs somehow became a prop...suddenly he was taking his hat off.......all he was missing was a damn fan!

“Yoongi you tooo….” Words slowly dying off his tongue at the glare the point guard gave him in response. Though he ultimately ended up complying due to a sharp nudge to the ribs from Jimin.

“Stop being a little shit!” Growled through clenched teeth as he continued smiling and posing for the camera.

“How about you stop telling me what the fuck to do?!” Reaching up to give Jimin one hell of a purple nurple ripping a low growl from his throat. Triggering the first genuine smile and chuckle to leave Yoongi’s chest all morning, as he glanced over in his direction.

“You said you wanted me to smile…” An almost menacing tenor rang through his throat as he spoke, still grinning ear to ear, gums on full display .

“You fuckin sadist!!” Nudging him in the shoulder before both randomly deciding they were done with this little importue photoshoot. Heading back to their initial mission..Tv production ...or as Yoongi called it..an extra hour of sleep before school starts!

“OH! So what your saying is you didn't enjoy that? “ Brow arched at the implied question cutting him off with another one before he even had a chance to respond.

“So now the rumors about our star running back #81 being into BDSM suddenly aren't true!? You suddenly lost your pain kink!? How about a little breath play action? Choking? Would you care to confirm or deny this accusation Mr. Park!?” Shoving his Iphone in Jimin’s face as if it were a mic..a shit eating grin playing on his lips…

The smirk that crawled up Jimin’s face at the sound of that should’ve already told Yoongi he was going to wanna kick his ass “Oh yeah, I fuckin love it ..in fact..your mom sounds soo damn good calling me daddy I just-” Insitnally cut off by Yoongi shoving him into the nearest locker, ripping a loud cackle from Jimins throat..laughing until he was almost weezing eyes completely dissapered into his face!

“Cool, I’m glad we decided moms are fair game this year..especially because your father travels a lot..I’m sure mama Park gets lonely...” Playfully wagging his tongue in Jimin’s direction earning a well deserved dual middle finger from the running back!

Stumbling their way down the hall as they, kicked, nudged and shoved each other in the process if people didn't know any better they’d really question the terms of their friendship! The pair finally danced upon there missing link, a combination of fondness and embarrassment laced along there face as they watched Namjoon network..or flirt..or both depends on perspective!

“Yes, of course I’m very confident in that and I think I did a very good job last year, and the student body will remember that..and hopefully vote accordingly when the time arises…”  Flashing the girl to his right his award winning dimply smile...nothing subtle about the way she damn near melted at the sound of his voice alone. Namjoon knew what he was doing though as his hand soothed over her shoulder. Eyes burning into hers, as he awaited her to remember how to breathe and close out her podcast recording.

“KIM NAMJOON!!!!” Squawked from Jimin’s lips..he didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was..just the simple stylization of his name alone let him know it was probably only one of few people!!

Glancing over his shoulder in there direction, ya know it’s funny..if you saw the three of them separately..you probably wouldn't assume they’d be friends. Unless your basing it solely on ethnicity, even there styles screamed different ‘Cliques” if you will. First you got Jimin who dresses like a...tendy, slightly boujee skater, Yoonig, who leans more towards “High end” urban street/lounge wear..and finally Namjoon. This boy either looks like he’s heading to a corporate meeting, or like he just got a Champs endorsement..there’s NO inbetween. Yet this threesum have been best friends since the 6th grade and wouldn't have it any other way!

“Yeah...were actually gonna make shirts that say “Daddy Joon for president…” so ugh look out for that merch coming real soon, I’ll slide the link on my Instagram..make sure you're all following me, it’s “ParkJimin81” in case your not…”

Tongue playing at the corner of his mouth as he casually draped his arm over the brunettes shoulder after shamelessly plugging himself .Now it was his turn to make this poor girl's knees go even weaker. Dropping his gaze down to meet hers not missing the way her body shuddered slightly at the contact. Or how her eyes zoned in on his cherry stained lips, a smug smirk tugging on his cheeks, as he slid his hat off, ruffling his figures through his hair. “Aeygo” left his tongue in response to how blatantly flushed the underclassmen’s face was before abruptly moving in Namjoon direction. “Alright playtimes over baby boy we gotta go!!” Tugging him down the hallway...

“Andddddd THAT ladies and gentlemen, was a free lesson on how to clout chase and be a hoe  with Jimin Park..he’s here 5 days a week..for at least 4 of the 7 hours of the day! But if you wanna learn how to do that thing where he looks like he’s going to rip every hair follicle out of his head...we can probably set up some private facetime sessions for like 20 a pop! Lemme know..Yoongi Min, manager and the only functioning brain cell for those two! Thank you!! ”  Extending his hand dramatically, dropping down to a sad excuse for a curtsey, bowing a couple times before tailing after his friends!

~~~~~~~

The boys managed to make it to the halfway point...they all had fourth hour together which meant they had the same lunch period. Which was ironically enough B lunch..none of them were actually signed out by there parents as they casually walked out the back doors. Not even remembering the last time they actually properly got signed out for lunch. The parking lot buzzing with students, during the summer months a lot of the time lunch was actually spent in the parking lot. Hints why there was one school security guard outside.. he wasn't doing much, though. Hell Larry actually looked like he was smoking a damn cigarette!

“Whoes car are we -fuck I knew it! I fuckin knew it” Swatting at Namjoon’s chest, smiling ear from ear compaly obviouslious to the current abuse. While Yoongi and Namjoon glared in his direction...

“Could you not abuse your president…I’m fragile...” Gently dusting his fingers over his pecks..

“Man! First off your the biggest motherfucker here! And if you don't shut the hell up about this damn election, you havent even won yet!” The phrase left Yoongi’s tongue with more bite than Namjoon expected, faltering back in surprise. Eyes blown out as he dramatically clutched his chest

“Alright FIRST off, RUDE!” Pausing to make sure there was enough emphasis on the fact that he was clearly offended! “ And are you doubting my skills Min Yoongi!? Listen I don't need this type of negativity in my political-”

“Oh for fucks sake!! Nobody cares about your damn election right now Namjoon!! Look!” Physically grabbing the taller of the threes head between his palms...turning it to the far left.

“On top of the hood of the Camaro..I told you little shits I saw her at the scrimmage!” Nothing subtle about the way Jimin pointed you out in the sea of cars as you reclined against your hood. Posing for a couple pics for Instagram with some friends, long story short 2 years ago your dad took a different job and you guys moved an hour and a half away. Due to the size of the school you transferred to you guys were still in the same division. So you saw each other occasionally on game nights or on the weekends and during summer break!. But nothing compared to bullshittiing and gossping all day in class with them, or actually being on the same team again! No surprise to anyone that you made varsity cheer for the third year in a row…

“Troubles backkkkk….” The words left Jimins lips sing song like as he gazed over in your direction, a cheeky little grin starting on his lips, before seamlessly shifting down the line.

“Well boys, I think Y/N deserves a formal welcome back..and who better to do so... then your class president, and two of the schools top athletes?” The grin on Namjoon's lips quickly changed from innocent to pure mischief as he glanced in his buddies direction!

Your LBD was without a doubt breaking every centimeter of the dress code, it looked like a standard cotton bodycon dress for the most part. But the very bottom flared out slightly almost like a skater skirt...which was currently playing “Chicken or go” with the wind! The leather chunky heeled booties didn't do much for that either. Only making your legs look longer and your dress look shorter, an oversized distressed denim jacket hung loosely off your shoulders. Finishing the look off with a pair of extremely tiny sunglasses so much so that they were actually useless..nothing more than an aesthetic! Hoops damn near the size of your head hung from your ears, hair half up, half down. A messy top knot sat in the middle of your head while the rest laid in loose curls..the sun catching your overly glossed lips and highlight perfectly as you posed along the hood.

Eyes zoning in on the pack making there way in your direction, you'd be lying if you said you hadn't already scopped them out prior to. The four of you followed each other on social media so you were well aware of how good purbirty was to the three of them over the past couple years! In addition to the fact that you guys weren’t necessarily super close but you were..comfortable if that makes sense! Naturally running within the same circle...so when you’d come down for the weekend, or summer break you’d still hang out or at least run into each other at parties!

You were always known for being a little bit of a wild child, the girl that was always down to cause a little trouble, and so where they..soooo it worked out! Only this time around, you got the opportunity to spend the majority of your summer abroad, so it was a bit of a surprise to most that you were coming back to finish out your junior and senior year!

“Well, well, why am I not surprised your all still connected at the hip?” A playful smirk tugged on the corners of your lips as the pack swarmed you, Jimin closing in first. Not hesitating to scoop you off the hood and into his arms for a hug, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Hiii..” slipped past your lips and into his hair, as the sweet musky scent of his cologne filled your nose in the process. A slight squeal leaving your lips as he twirled you around before placing you back on the ground.

“Hii, welcome back...” He naturally carried a very warm tenor to his voice,not the deepest but it was effective, calm..inviting...intimate.You could damn near feel every muscle in his body when he picked you up. Puberty hit Jimin damn near perfectly..even though you’d never tell him that!

He was always a little..’thick” I guess you'd say,nice ass, thighs..and the cutest chubby cheeks even though he hated them! Now..he turned all that into muscle..still thick just toned..Jawline chiseled to the GODS, you could damn near cut glass! Like I said, you saw them damn near evrry sumemr, but it seems you miss one and now it’s like..FUCK!!!

“You missed us that much you had to move back aye? Or was Brighton a little too...boring for you?” A smile that was almost too damn smooth played on his lips as he glanced down at you. Tongue slowly grazing against his teeth,reclining against the light post adjacent to your car. Funny how it was a question yet his tone indicated as if he was telling you, you missed them and you moved back because you got bored...

“Meh, I don't know about all that, but the three of you aren’t the worst ammently this town has to offer so I won't complain. Also you already know..lifes far from boring if I’m involved...”  Casually flipping your hair over your shoulder as you shifted back along the hood of your car, eyes now zoning in on the other making there way in your direction.

“Princesssssss..” Namjoon sauntered over to you..moving past some random that appears to just be observing or taking notes...it hard to tell. Fuck, did his voice get even deeper!!!??? How many times is this boy going through puberty shit!

Taking in his frame from head to toe, a slight snort  leaving your lips at his attire, hopping off the hood swaying in his direction. Letting your hands play with the collar of his dress shirt…”You do know you don't actually work here right? And like this whole student body president gig means nothing when you drive off the lot?” Brow arched at the implied smart arsed question, a smirk playing on the corners of your lips as you watched him roll his eyes. Ripping a cackle from both of his best friends lips in the process.

“I’m soooo glad someone else gets it!!!”

Instantly whipping a middle finger in Yoongi’s direction without breaking eye contact with you.

“Aww Joon! I’m glad you finally pulled that thing outta your ass!”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck the both of you! Now give me a damn hug girl!!” A playful growl ripped from his throat,as it was his turn to scoop you into his arms. Giggling into the side of his neck in the process, eyes fluttering open in enough time to see  Yoongi damn near salivating over your car. Palm coming over to caress the curve in your hood, yes, there was something extremely sexy about how delicately he stroked the frame of your car.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to touch something that doesn't belong to you without permission Min? ” Lashes fluttering in his direction, your tone of voice let him know you really weren't bothered

A smirk playing on the corner of his lips as he gazed over at you, still not removing his hand from your car though. “I mean ..yeah they have..but to be honest I don't really wanna touch...I wanna ride her..” Eyes locked with yours as he said it, you knew what he meant, he was a car guy, and right now he had a car boner! But he also knew what he was doing in the obvious change in tenor as he spoke…

“Oh yeah?” Brow quirked in amusement as you sauntered over in his direction, Namjoon and Jimin overseeing in silence.

“Mmmmhmm...she’s sexy..what can I say...I’m a man..I like sexy…” Kneeling down slightly trying to see if there;s anything under the frame of the hood.

“Is he stock..or a tease?” This time the question came from Jimin, as he slowly started to circle the perimeter of the car

“Hmm..why don’t you find out yourself? Reve her up a little..she’s a big girl..she can take…” Wiggling your key fob in Yoongi’s direction. A cheeky grin spreading across his lips, which looked extremely wet right now....

“Shit, you don’t have to tell me twice, get it baby girl!!” Extending his hand to catch the keys

“You two are more than welcome..I’m riding shotty though, my whip, my rules…”

The pair didn't even have to think about it before hopping into the back seat.

The minute Yoongi revved up the engine and they heard how sweet your baby girl purred, a literal moan swept through the car. Triggering a gritty cackle to leave your chest “I told you she's no bitch!!!!”

Easing out of the parking lot, and making his way down the main road, which was essentially all rural, your city itself was initially a resort town. Downtown itself was huge but for the most part there's just a lot of trails, backroads, lakes,and land, a lot of land..beware of mounds of horse shit in the road during the warm months!

“Do you mind if I smoke in here?”

Eyes whipping back in Namjoons direction dramatically as if you hadn't seen him hit a bong at a party “Oh my god our future class prez smokes!? Shit, I might actually vote for you instead of actually running my damn self!”

The look on Namjoon’s face was utterly priceless, while Jimin and Yoongi damn near weezed…

“Ohhhh shittttt…” Jimin’s entire body slouched into itself as he laughed until he was practically in tears!

“You would not….” Tone blatantly daring taking on a more dominant effect that your use too! But you didn't care shrugging nochanaly in his direction.

“Aww what’s wrong Joonie? Worried because for once you might have some actual competition, or because you may actually lose!? But don't worry I’d make sure you were like my treasure or something ...”

Reaching over to grab the joint from between his fingers positioning it between your lips, if you didn't know any better you’d swear he damn near growled in response. Turning your head in Jimin’s direction who leaned down to light the joint for you. Taking a long slowly drag before pulling it back from your lips, coating the tip in the leftover residue from your lipgloss.

“Nah, not even, phased honestly go for it baby ! To be real I’ve been craving a little competition anyway...and don’t worry there will be no hard feelings on my end. I’ll still invite you to my celebration party at my lake house because I gotta respect you for at least trying!” Smiling down at you before snatching the Joint out of your mouth with zero warning, placing it between your lips. Causing you to blow the cloud of smoke dead in his face, eyes shifting into tiny slits as you glared back at him.

“Don’t fuckin’ tempt me Namjoon…” Tone taking a sassy turn as he was now testing your patience.

“Oh no I’m not tempting I’m begging..and I don’t do that often..please..please be a good girl for me and do as I say...and run for class president!” Intentionally taunting you as there was now an almost whiny condescending tinge to his voice. shooting you a quick wink before reclining in his seat.

A short scoff leaving your lips in response, hating how quickly he could get under your skin “ Oh don’t worry..I’ll be damn good for you!! Game fucking...on..Joonie...you wanna play we can play...speaking of…” Brining your attention to the driver's seat

“Min, what the fuck are you doing? I thought you wanted to ride her not babysit her...I know you don’t baby stroke the gears on your Chevelle like this. Show me what you got..put in work, I bought these tires for a reason sir!

Adding a purposely taunting tone to your voice as you glance in his direction, knowing damn well you were pushing his buttons. Observing the way his eyes glanced up into the rearview mirror, catching Jimin’s, the pair sharing a smirk before a deep slow breath left his body. Adjusting the grip his handheld on the gear shift, lowering your steering wheel and reclining his seat back even further.

“Alright kids buckle the fuck up, you heard her, she want’s it fast and loud....well.. daddy’s about to have a little fun….”  Eyes shifting in your direction briefly..

“I’m waaaiiitingggg….”

You could see Namjoon in your peripheral pulling out his phone, aiming it at the additional speed gauge you bought for the car since nothing under the hood, including the engine was stock. It legitimately felt like your body melted into the seat as he seamlessly alleviated for 45 to 60 to 75-to 90....before you knew it he had her purring at a solid 150 and it barely even felt like it!

“ FUCKKKKKKK YEAH!!!” Ripped from your throat once you felt him flour it, feet hammering straight into the floor! Going a good 4 miles, at full blast before actually approaching a more…”Civilized” part of town.

A loud howl ripped from Jimin’s chest as Yoongi drifted down a slide street that was actually a dead in...which lead to the parking lot of a roller rink. Purposely easing in sideways as your tires rutted along the concrete, cradling the wheel until he completed 3 seamlessly donuts. Still, hovering at close to 100mph before slowly bringing her down, gear shift by gear shift, all four of you starting at each other breathless in complete silence as your car finally came to a halt….

“Holy shit I have to fucking PEE!!” Swatting at the back of your seat until you scooted over, almost onto Yoongi’s lap so Namjoon could hop out of the car. Passing Yoongi the joint in the process so he could finally hit it too now that he was parked.

“She’s fucking NASTY!!!!” Yoongi glanced over at you between puffs..placing the joint in front of your lips which you welcomed. Leaning down to take two more puffs, slowly inhaling a cloud of smoke releasing the remainderer through your nostrils.

‘Oh...” Leaning down again, causing you to lean forward thinking he was going to offer you the joint again ...but instead  “Welcome back by the way..you were missed..” Taking another slow drag before releasing a cloud of smoke from his lungs, concentrating the smoke in the direction of your lips. Reclining your jaw slightly, sucking in, recouping the remaining cloud of smoke . Fuck, when did Yoongi get so damn smooth!?

“Thanks, I’m glad to be back honestly” Clearing out your lungs a little before continuing “And thank you! I told youuuu..she’s  my little baby...a straight beast!” Chest swelling with pride, even though this wasn't close to half to what she could do.

“There’s a race...this weekend...Either after the first game on Friday orrrr sunday night...that parts still undecided!I think it’s too late for a buy in but...you definitely need to come...it’s at the trail down by Marine city.”

Nose scrunching into your face at the location...not too fond...at all..you hated the drive even on the bus for games !

You reaction caused Jimin to smile over at you , already well aware of your issue, as he ruffled his fingers through his hair. Slowly tailing his way down to caress his neck “You could always ride with one of us if you want-”

“Shit!!” Namjoon hopped back into the car slamming the door behind him, luckily you still hadn't fully shifted off of Yoongi’s thigh or else he would have crushed your ass! “I think I saw a -”

Before he even had time to finish his thought...a blacked out charger pulled in..unmarked but the sirens said it all….

“Everybody out of the car!!”

THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE FOR THE INTRO CHAPTER!!! If you like it and you want me to continue with this fourseume..then “Like” this..leave some feedback and come hit up my ask box!

NOTE- IF I continue this..it will be a one shot series..as in it won’t go into EVERY detail of day to day life but have a main focus. I.E the first game, the drift race, the election, Namjoon /Jimin’s birthday ETC…I’m also still undecided on how the smut is going to work between the 4 of them. There could be an array of scenarios that take place as “smut” means any type of sexual activity, so that’s not to say she’ll go the full 9 with all three of them...or maybe she will...IDK!!!! LOL

NOTE- I know realistically they would be staggered year wise, but to make it easier I’m making them all juniors (If I add in the other boys in another series, Hoseok would be a Junior while Tae, and Kook would be Sophomores and Jin would be a senior)

ALSO- The boys are all going to graduate at 18 or In Yoongi’s case he turns 19 right after!

Love you guys as always,

Rocki!