#all within the bounds of not causing a catastrophe of course

[ladylynse]

So, I just had this idea for a Secret Quartet fic:

After Hawkmoth/Monarch’s defeat, Adrien talks to Jake/Danny about how Ladybug still isn’t willing to do an identiy reveal. They end up bringing up the possiblity of Alternate Timelines (which are supported for his end by the event where Sass used his powers without a wielder). One thing leads to another and Adrien & Danny visit Clockwork, who shows Adrien What Ladybug Knows (without sound, of course, to avoid Spoilers)

Ooh, that would be fun! Adrien might very well suspect she's not being wholly honest with him in this. He knows her well, after all. But he also knows she clearly doesn't want to talk overly much about it, so getting answers a different way makes sense.

He expects he'll find out what he missed in her last battle.

He doesn't expect to find out how badly things could have gone wrong.

While Adrien's trying to digest the whole Chat Blanc future (even if he doesn't know what spurs that future beyond getting akumatized; Clockwork might well edit what he shows), Danny--assuming he's still present--could be mentally comparing it to his averted future and trying to figure out how to comfort Adrien when he's still not exactly comfortable with the whole nearly-could-have-been future himself.

It's all a distraction, of course, because Clockwork is not going to play things straight and simple. Show them bits here and there, give them enough of an answer to be satisfied without revealing anything that's not quite ready to be revealed. Cards played right aren't questioned.

Really, it might have worked wonderfully if Bunnyx hadn't chosen that moment to drop by--but she'd have known that, of course. She'd have chosen that moment specifically because of that. She's good at picking out the proper threads of the timeline for someone so young, and she's aware of the consequences of what she does, but that doesn't mean she's not above bending the rules when she finds some flexibility within them, ready to be exploited, where she can nudge things one way or another without nudging everything onto the wrong course.

#secret quartet #musings #ladylynse #asks #miraculous ladybug #danny phantom #sorry I just figure Bunnyx would involve herself in this were going down #I figure sometimes she'd agree with Clockwork's assessment and sometimes she wouldn't #and when she doesn't she'd annoy him by doing what she can to get her way #all within the bounds of not causing a catastrophe of course #anyway if you do write out your idea let me know so I can toss it on my 'to read' list

[bloodredx]

Day 4: Hidden

What efforts have been made to look past the veil, cross the boundaries between the known, the unknown, is there a difference in truth? The realm of the Children, how fascinating a byproduct of their creation. For the Beloved do not hold this, unless of course it is due to consorting with the bounds of this form. How deft their wings, to carry them back home, wherever that may be.

No, the Children of course remain in locales far from the concrete and formed of the world, residing in realms of spirituality that form the reflection of who and what they are, were, and always will be. It is no more mutable than they are, the whims of the Precious Living holding next to no influence in such sacred spaces. After all, Water, she will always be Water, unless he is Ice. Such is a place frozen and deep, dark, all in opposition to that which Fire claims. Simple ideas, thou must already be loosely aware if nothing else. The same that Earth and Wind stand opposed, but all four together in their opposites. Only the Twins have to be together, for the Beginning is nothing without the End that defined it. Bizarre in their initial companionship that such spaces are intrinsically connected, and even now with the Beginning long since slain that her realm remains as solid as the day she last stood before this form. Had this form the stamina, it might possess curiosity to stroll amongst the black soil and white skies that have long laid asleep in that space. The End dare not step there either, despite his many visitations there past.

What secrets lie in wait for all the shrines, all left in tethers and tatters to connect the Precious Living to the Children, they know not what lays hidden and sleeping. Despite that some shrines still harbor souls! Regularly too! To be so close and not witness what is before them! And none yet wonder in all their grasping why no shrine to this form is available. Bah. Perhaps one day. Perhaps someone curious enough. Still, the reaching of the Precious Living into the realms they cannot survive, nor really understand will cause undoing in the most wonderful of catastrophes. To strive for a hand in the beyond. It corrupts through and through. Mages, scholars, those both with and without the Vestiges in their blood. The Song must flow. To warp the Notes, why, that is disrespect to the entire piece.

--

Careful. Marie’s head turned to the left as silently as possible. The library was quiet, she was the only one standing in there after all. Her only company; the few motes of dust floating around the damask drapery, the private collection of books old and new, and the silent face of the ancient stone bust of her ancestor. The gem crusted eyes staring in judgement, the amethysts encased within judging. Look at how y’all had fallen. It seemed to whisper, the wrath and disappointment of each of her great grandmothers. She ran a finger along the dark oak shelving, waiting one more moment to ensure the coast was clear before whispering a spell on her fingers as she kissed them quick, placing them swiftly onto the forehead of the bust.

There was a gentle clicking, so soft even Marie could barely hear it, as the narrowest part of the bookshelf began to peel back, swinging open as a door to reveal the secret chamber hidden behind. She floated quickly inside, muffling the air behind her to silence as she closed the passage. Only once everything was still did she finally touch her toes to the floor, whispering pathetically to herself. “Esc’lyr, have some grace on this fool.”

A small stone idol, one of the great goddess of air sat to the side, and she knelt before it in reverence, desperate for the answers she did not possess. Her mind raced with the implications, her second son showing potentials for her family’s gift. According to the text of her foremothers, it could happen that men should hold some notion of their magic, but it was exceedingly rare. Even still, he could be no greater than a hedge mage, a facsimile of the real thing. How cruel. To leave me all ‘lone with this blood an’ leave me with a husband that would sooner kill me if he knew the truth. An’ grant me sons on top of it. Her head stooped low with shame. Of course, she loved her sons. Nathaniel was stolen away from her by his father, already tainted by the rhetoric of his anger. And Mitchell, well, she would gladly trade everything for him. The fact his sneeze sent him near sky-bound was a testament to his miracle nature, and thank the goddess that Sigmund hadn’t seen it. He already was much too rough on the boys, but especially to Mitchell. The boy was soft, a pure heart, but that made him beautiful to his mother. If Sigmund knew this too? She shivered at the thought.

But why now? Why now when she was only a few months off from giving birth to what the doctor had assured her would be a daughter. Her last chance. A tear fell from her eye, rolling along her cheek and past the thick, black curls of hair that had fallen loose over the course of the day. Mitch bein’ that way only makes it complicated. He ain’t able to fill the shoes. The stone effigy of Esc’lyr offered no answers, only sitting back on her carved companion cloud, eyes closed to the suffering of her devoted worshiper. “I just wanted to protect ‘im.” Her voice cracked. “Now he has to know an’ he’ll never be free of this.”

If the goddess knew any truths, she was not inclined to share them. Hiding them deep inside both the echoes of the wind-filled swamps and the lost labyrinths of time. But then again, stone couldn’t speak on the best of days either. Marie stood up, thanking the idol for just listening if nothing else, and turned back to the assembly of tools and charms hidden away behind the walls of the library. Her fingers traced over the collection of carved rune charms, each one glowing a faint purple in response to her touch until she finally landed on the one she wanted. A simple one, a rune she never wanted to part with. Ain’t gotta choice left.

Pulling out a small chisel, she slowly picked away at the wood of its back, until finally the shape of Mitchell’s true name took form. Whispering one last blessing, she kissed it to silence its hum and cease the glow, blending away the newly engraved shapes in one rippling swell. She flipped it over, reading the single shape of the sacred word. Prevail.

(OC-tober challenge by @oc-tober2022 can be found here.)

#oc tober #oc-tober #oc-tober 2022 #writers on tumblr #hidden #prompt #mage #Marie Whitegold Anderson #mother #love #gods #goddesses #Adamsa Priasi #the first one #Esc'lyr #runes #magic #oc-tober2022 #Bloodredx writes

[onenettvchannel]

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore after vessel hits below the Stem-like Bridge [#EquestriaInquirerManila]

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- A cargo ship traveling at a slow pace in Baltimore City in 'Maryland, United States of America' (U.S.A.) collided below stem-like stand structure beneath water bed, commonly known as 'pier' in a steel arch truss of the iconic 'Francis Scott Key Bridge'. The accident occurred on Wednesday early morning (March 26th, 2024 at 1:29am -- Eastern local time) and Baltimorian residents left in shock, and authorities were frantically assessing the damage in the late night hours.

In a catastrophic manner, the cargo ship veers off course, slammed to collide with a bridge pier stem in an exclusive LIVE streaming video 'StreamTime LIVE'. A terrifying scene that reminds us that you kinda like watching a graphic R-rated disaster movie was caused by the impact, with a section of the bridge collapsing into the 'Patapsco River'. The said LIVE video parallels to the 2011 film 'Final Destination 5' are eerie due to its depiction of a similar bridge collapse.

The vessel involved in the accident had an all-Indian crew on board (containing a Singaporean flag) which has yet to be determined, adding a layer of complexity to the unfolding situation. It was previously departed on Monday late night, bounded from 'Baltimore Harbor' in America to Sri Lanka, in a slow pace sea travel by a cargo ship. Yet all of the sudden, the bridge is now completely gone.

As local emergency response teams rushed to the scene, American president named 'Mr. Joe Robinette Biden Jr.' addressed the nation in the press conference, expressing solidarity with the people of Baltimore and emphasizing the need for resilience in the face of adversity.

In an ongoing result of this disastrous transportation of events, Maryland State Governor named 'Mr. Westley Watende Omari Moore' issued a city-wide State of Emergency (SoE) order acknowledging the grave nature of the situation, and the need for organised relief efforts to help restore safety and normalcy. City Baltimorian Mayor 'Mr. Brandon Maurice Scott' echoed these sentiments, emphasized by taking swift action and augmentation of resources to those people were affected by bridge collapse.

Built in the early 80s from the 19th century on mid-March 1977 until the present day, after he was named by the late-Mr. Francis Scott Key in Frederick City, Maryland, U.S.A. The man-made construction workers in Maryland City now undergoes extensive assessment, and to fix a collapse bridge which can soon rebuild as normal within a few to several years time. This is to ensure for the people of Baltimorians to prevent further disruptions in a mass heavy traffic block and ensure the safety of their commuters on the road.

The ongoing incident has blazingly sparked concern among local residents and officials alike, raising questions about the maintenance and oversight of critical infrastructure in the area. Presumptively, there are 4 casualties related to a late night ship crash, and lives claimed to two (2) of them as local reports say.

As the investigation into the root cause of the collision continues, the people of Baltimore are left to grapple with the aftermath of this shocking event. Incidents like this highlights the fragility of man-made structures and its potential consequences of ignoring safety measures.

The Baltimore community's resilience and unity prevail, shining through despite the destruction caused by the collapsed bridge beneath under the water's surface, paving the way for a brighter tomorrow.

As the city continues to come together to tackle this unprecedented challenge head-on, recovery initiatives are soon being implemented with the goal of rebuilding by early 2025 or later.

PHOTO COURTESY: Julia Nikhinson via Reuters BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULzspJZuf8 [Referenced YT LIVE VIDEO via StreamTime LIVE] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm6MAZvb_-8 [Referenced YT VIDEO #1 via WBAL-TV 11's NBC: Baltimore] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zTu5MRiZA [Referenced YT VIDEO #2 via WBAL-TV 11's NBC: Baltimore] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9bACZLWkc [Referenced YT VIDEO #3f via WBAL-TV 11's NBC: Baltimore] *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key_Bridge_(Baltimore) *https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/03/26/key-bridge-collapses-into-patapsco/ [Referenced News Article via The Baltimore Sun] *https://gizmodo.com/key-bridge-collapse-youtube-video-baltimore-maryland-1851365421 [Referenced News Article via Gizmodo] *https://www.wionews.com/world/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-shipping-vessel-had-an-all-indian-crew-704493 [Referenced News Article via World is One News (WION)] *https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-baltimore-victim-search/ [Referenced News Article #1 via WJZ-TV 13's CBS: Baltimore] *https://www.fox5dc.com/news/maryland-state-of-emergency-baltimore-bridge-collapse-francis-scott-key-bridge [Referenced News Article via WTTG-TV's FOX 5: Washington - District of Columbia] *https://mayor.baltimorecity.gov/news/press-releases/2024-03-26-mayor-scott-issues-state-emergency and *https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/president-biden-baltimore-francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-maryland-tough-strong/ [Referenced News Article #2f via WJZ-TV 13's CBS: Baltimore]

-- OneNETnews Team

#international news #baltimore #maryland #my little pony #bronycon #cargo ship #francis scott key bridge #bridge #fallen #fyp #awareness #OneNETnew

[panzerhund-1960]

WAR: IT ALWAYS COMES BACK

In the distant expanse of the cosmos, where stars once again shine brightly after an era of darkness, the flames of conflict are rekindled between two spacefaring titans – Valkyria and Aetheria. As tensions escalate to alarming levels, the shadow of war looms large over the galaxies once united in a common cause.

The historical roots of these two space superpowers trace back to the aftermath of the star darkness catastrophe that plunged the universe into chaos in the year 3500. From the ashes of the past, Valkyria and Aetheria emerged as beacons of resilience and innovation in the galaxy known as 'Raine' 3569063990470-44959055.

Valkyria, a testament to human ingenuity, stands as a self-sustaining marvel, a colossal space station that once enjoyed the support of the long-forgotten Eden government. Aetheria, on the other hand, is a modest solar system with a single planet and moon, forever linked by a shared determination to unravel the mysteries of the star darkness.

The once strong alliance between these two nations began to erode in the year 5117, when a solution to the star darkness problem emerged from Valkyria's technological prowess – the awe-inspiring biomechanical supercomputer known as Komplexer. The revival of a dark star, a process fraught with challenges, necessitated resources, including the exceedingly rare Aetherium found solely within Aetheria's dominion.

Yet, the harmony that had bound them for centuries shattered as the price of Aetherium remained a point of contention. Valkyria, seeking to secure the starlight for all, fervently advocated for lowered prices, viewing Aetheria's actions as an attempt to monopolize salvation itself. When diplomacy failed to mend this divide, the course of history took a tumultuous turn.

With desperation yielding to bitterness, Valkyria's resolve took a darker turn, manifesting in a series of regrettable terrorist attacks targeting Aetheria's vital power and internet infrastructure. The aftermath of these events saw the declaration of war by Aetheria against Valkyria, a grave step that pushed the galaxies back into the abyss of conflict.

For six long months in 5118, the stars bore witness to a war of ideologies and aspirations, a clash between the luminous future sought by Valkyria and the pragmatic realities championed by Aetheria. The struggle finally culminated in a hard-fought peace treaty, an accord forged upon the anvil of destruction. This accord, the cornerstone of a fragile equilibrium, mandated the division of the planet Rastislav between the belligerent powers.

Today, Rastislav stands as a stark reminder of the cost of conflict, a testament to the courage and sacrifices made by both Valkyria and Aetheria. The once unbroken landscapes now bear the scars of a border laden with restrictions and echoes of past enmity.

As the universe gazes upon these two celestial giants, it remains to be seen whether the lessons of history will prevail over the ghosts of rivalry. The tale of Valkyria and Aetheria serves as a poignant reminder that even amidst the boundless expanse of space, the specter of war is an unwelcome companion – a lesson etched in the stars for generations to come.

#after dark rp #valkyria #aetheria #war

[witch-hazels-musings]

i dunno if requests are still open but if they are, could i request this? if not, feel free to delete! but in case they are open here's the request: jean, beidou, and ganyu reacting to accidentally hurting their s/o? it could be anything from simple slap in the face while turning around or hurting them with their vision/weapon :]

Accidents 

(ouchie -- having them accidentally hurt the reader T.T -- they didn’t mean too!) 

Warning -> SFW, accidental injury (Character -> Reader)(face injury (Jean)), (meantions of cuts to face / arms (Ganyu)), (hit by rope (Beidou))

Character X GN Reader | Anthology 

Includes: Beidou, Jean, Ganyu 

Beidou

She takes pride in keeping everyone on her crew safe, no matter the danger - on sea or land, she will fight and guard each person in her charge -- you are no exception and in fact, you are probably the one she fights the hardest for. The thought of seeing you hurt doesn’t sit well with her and, if she can control it, she’d never let it happen 

How could she have known that she’d be the one to cause you discomfort -- that she’d end up allowing you to get hurt because she let something slip through her fingers … pride was a strong emotion, but guilt could send a pirate to the bottom of the ocean 

The weather had made a sudden turn for the worst. Dark clouds rolled overhead as the crew furled the sales to protect them from the downpour that was bound to arrive any second now. 

“Captain!” Beidou’s attention shifted to the crow's nest, her scout pointing violently toward a massive cumulus cloud in the distance. She knew it was bound to smash right them if they maintained this heading, so in an effort to avoid it, she ran toward the bow barking orders. 

“Tack to starboard! Finnick,” She turned to point at the several crew waiting on the foredeck, “raise the spinnaker, now.” They quickly bustled to their jobs while she found herself at the head of the boat. Her arms crossed as she oversaw the work of her crew; great pride swelling in her chest to see how organized they were even without her voice like a well-oiled machine everyone did their part.

As the creaking boat turned, heading parallel now to the storm, Beidou hoped that it would stay on its heading so the Crux wouldn’t have to bear the brunt of its onslaught. It was now a waiting game, but if she knew anything about the ocean - it would be a win for her today. 

Just then, a rope tying one of the many large sails snapped. Its reaction was like a domino effect and soon all hands were rushing to stop a potentially catastrophic outcome. Leaping over the railing, she landed hard onto the deck below, her feet finding solid ground long enough for her to push forward and, before the other crew had a chance to react, she was already climbing the mainmast as if it were a simple tree. It took her no time at all to reach the issue but the strong winds continued to whip around the ropes below her and by the time she managed to capture them - her eyes fell onto your frame. 

In terrible slow motion, she watched as you reached for the rope only to have it collide into your chest and knock you back into another crew member. Her heart sank, her arms burned, her determination steadfast as she made quick work of the problem before dropping back down to you. 

“Are you alright?” Someone called, their hands reaching to you as if to offer some assistance but Beidou knocked them away. Orders were told, tasks were assigned, and before you could object, she carried you into her quarters. 

When the door closed and she sat you on her bed, you could already tell how upset she was. “Beidou -- it was an accident, I didn’t have good footing and …” She uncrossed your arms, you didn’t even realize that you were holding onto your chest. Carefully peeling back your tunic, she noticed the welt that was starting to grow in the area below your collarbone. With a huff, she walked away before returning with a cloth. “You’re being silly, it’s not that ba-AD!” You shouted, the cold material shocking you as it came into contact with your burning injury. 

“This could have been much worse. You’re lucky it only bruised the surface.” Sitting next to you, she rested her knee near your lower back, and the warmth of her leg as she moved close to you somehow offset the ice on your chest. 

“I’m just upset I didn’t grab it, it was right there and then … ah - that’s sore.” She tested your shoulder, pushing against it with her palm and shaking her head at the notion that you were going to have a painful recovery. 

“You are a member of this crew and I have sworn an oath to protect you, but …” Her head dropped and she found it hard to continue. 'How could I let this happen' was written all over her expression. 

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault. You’re an excellent captain.” 

“A captain keeps her ship on course, its belly full, and its crew happy. How can I do that when my happiness is your wellbeing?” Her fingers ran over your ear, slipping in between the locks of your hair as if to show you how much she cherished you. Carefully, she leaned toward you, her lips connecting softly onto your shoulder as they trailed a path to your injury and even in the numbness of it you were still able to feel the heat from her love. “If you are ever out of your depth, allow me to be your lifeline.” 

“Of course, as long as you trust me to know when I'm there.” 

“Within reason.” As the boat rocked on the sea and the sky rumbled far into the distance, you captured the steady heart of the captain.  

Jean 

Jean would never intentionally harm you, the thought of putting someone innocent in danger makes her sick - as the acting Grandmaster she has a sworn duty to protect everyone around her from those who would do them harm 

So when she's the one who caused your injury, she's beside herself with regret 

She stood in her office, her back to the door as she let her mind wander on all the things that needed to be done. It was never-ending, and while she was always fulfilled by the products of her work, she often pushed herself so far that her body and mind became clouded. 

Today was one of those days. The work, planning, problem-solving was weighing on her. There is never enough time, she thought to herself as she rested her head in her hand and squeezed tighter around her rib cage. She was distracted, so exhausted that her ears felt blocked, her body swayed even though she knew she wasn't moving, and her head throbbed. 

"Jean ..." What needed to be done first, she pinched her nose and through harder. "Jean?" She sighed and attempted to stop the voices in her head. 

"Jean, hey?" A hand touched her arm and in her daze, she turned suddenly. Her hand was further from her face than she expected and with a solid smack, she hit something. 

"Ah!" Your startled voice shook her back to understanding, your expression and hand now covering your face sent her heart in the pit of her stomach. 

"Y/N? I'm so sorry ..." She rested her hand on your arm and shakily reached for your face, her fingers tenderly touching the ones that hid you from her pained eyes. "I didn't -- are you badly hurt?" 

"Ouch, you got me really good." You explained, scrunching and circling your nose but allowing her to take your hand. 

"My mind was elsewhere, I am ... I'm sorry." She ran her hands over your face, the warm feeling of wind slipping from her fingers and soon your expression eased. 

"Thanks, It was an accident, don't worry." 

"An accident like this should have never occurred, it is unbecoming of me to allow myself to falter." She stepped away from you, afraid that any prolonged contact would make it worse.

"Jean, you're allowed to make mistakes, and look - I'm fine, see." You grinned proudly but she couldn't let it go. 

"I need to make amends." 

"Mmm, well then, I have an idea." 

"What is it?" She looked at you hopeful, her eyes watching you as you stepped closer. 

"I'll take a kiss as an apology." You tapped the side of your cheek and presented it to her. 

With hesitating hands, she rested her fingers on the other side of your cheek and let her lips touch the skin she hurt, "I will be more observant in the future." 

You turned your head, your face so close you could feel her breath, "I don't see how that's possible, but if it means I get to have more of your attention, I'll be okay with that." 

You kissed her and wondered if she was able to heal through her lips. 

Ganyu 

The absolute sweetest soul in all of Teyvat. She cares deeply for all things, works hard to get the job done, and is dedicated in her actions - it's one reason why her contract with Rex Lapis was drafted; she is the epitome of ____ 

She would never maliciously hurt those around her and often puts herself in harm's way to keep others safe

To her, causing harm to someone she adores, loves, cherishes would be as severe as breaking her contract 

The two of you ran through the field, your legs burning as you dashed across the landscape and away from your persistent pursuers. 

"Ganyu! Up ahead!" You shouted, pointing to the higher ground and dashing in that direction. She followed, keeping an eye out on the enemies behind. To buy some time, she laid down her tantalizing cryo flower before picking up her pace to reach you. 

"From here we can handle them more easily, just be ready." She nodded her head and pulled back her bow, ready to strike. 

The fight was far more doable in this arena, each enemy falling one after another as the two of you fought in perfect sync. Charging her shot, she saw the ideal opportunity to hit multiple targets at once, but as soon as her arrow flew so did you. 

"Y/N!" She shouted but you were too far away and, as soon as you reached them, prepping your sword for a swing, the arrow exploded hitting everything in its path. You yelled, sliding on the ground only to slam hard into the dusty surface. In an instant, everything that Ganyu was, and wasn't, aiming for fell. 

Rushing forward, she reached you and quickly assessed your condition. Her hands hovering, her eyes scanning only to find the damage she had caused. Several small cuts appeared on your face, your arms were equally damaged and the despair that filled her was so great she prostrated herself before you. Her head resting on your hips as she bowed deeply. 

"Ga-Ganyu? What are you doing?" You asked, setting your sword to the side as you looked down at her. 

"I hurt you, please forgive me." You tried to pull her up but she shook her head and dug in deeper into her display. 

"It was an accident, I wasn't looking and that was a good shot. I'm not hurt." 

"You are!" She shot up, her eyes looking at the marks that she had created on your skin. "It was my fault that you have -- if-if they leave a scar ... I ..." She shook her head, unable to finish her thought. 

"Ganyu ... they won't leave a scar, and even if they did, don't you think I'd look super cool?" You smiled but she hated it. 

"It's not acceptable ... if you'd like to d-dismantle our contract, I understa-" 

You wrapped your arms around her, squeezing tightly as you spoke. "I don't want that, I'd never want that. I need you, please don't ever think I'd be okay if you weren't at my side." After a moment, she returned the gesture and you felt the pressure of her nose dig into your neck. When she finally pulled away, you let your hands slide down her arms and rest into her delicate hands.

"I'll just have to practice harder." She nodded fiercely as she helped you stand up. 

"If you insist." You laughed, thinking to yourself when she would ever find the time to do that. 

--

tag list:

@clemmywrites @sufzku @plenilunegazes @lucacandy @marianadibenea @nonniechan @jaemjenjam @softlybeloved @excitedlysuffering

#genshin impact #genshin impact X reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact musings #genshin impact fiction #genshin impact ganyu #ganyu #ganyu x reader #jean #genshin jean #jean x reader #beidou #genshin beidou #beidou x reader

[dizzydennis]

Sonic x Cream & Cheese Cover Story - English Translation

Translator note: I am not fluent in Japanese. I did my best to bring these translations for Sonic fans to enjoy. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcomed, but please be kind. I hope you enjoy this sweet little story!

It’s the popping and colorful, “Music Plant.”

Tubes of brass instruments weave and wind around the bouncing path of a piano keyboard. This area is entertaining to anybody who listens to  the music within it and it’s become somewhat of a famous attraction for some animals.

In such a cheerful place like the Music Plant, you can see two energetic shadows chasing after something. The blue hedgehog, "Sonic" was ahead of the other two with a large gap between them.

Just behind was the little rabbit girl, "Cream" and her chao friend, "Cheese.” Due to the Music Plant being full of various musical instruments and gadgets, even if they thought they had caught up, they'd be pulled elsewhere soon again. The race between these characters allowed the scales of music to play beautifully like a duet.

Looking back, Sonic couldn't see Cream. Sonic tried slowing to walk to assess the situation, but... Cream then came down softly from the sky and blocked his way.

“Mr. Sonic! Please let us go on an adventure together!”

Cream can fly through the sky by flopping her big ears. She could never beat Sonic in terms of foot speed, but she was always able to catch up with some clever shortcuts. Sonic smiled and sighed.

“Like I said, ‘that’s no good!’ The place I’m heading towards is pretty dangerous.”

Sonic carefully chose his words. As he continued on forward he gave a wink to express an all-too-simple: “I’m sorry.”

Sonic then slipped and said “...for a kid.”

Upon hearing this, Cream puffed out her cheeks in frustration and clenched her fists.

“Urgh, Mr. Sonic! Don’t treat me like a little kid! Hmph!”

“It’s not like that, Cream! It’s not that at all. It’s just a bit...”

-ZUUUUUUUUUN-

Just as Sonic tried to find the right words, a terrifying rumbling sound was heard from a distance that shook the Earth. Sonic gave a serious look. Apparently he had a bit of an idea of what that sound was.

“I gotta go fast! Cream, you get home safely, OK?”

“Ah, Mr. Sonic! Please wait!”

Sonic, who flew off at full speed this time, disappeared from Cream’s view as he ran towards the horizon.

For a few seconds, Cream stared at where Sonic had ran with a frazzled expression, but she soon got blown forward... or rather, she started walking again with a much more excited expression.

“Teehee, we should probably go check out that loud noise. It’ll surely shock Mr. Sonic!”

“Chao, chao?”

Cheese seemed to be questioning why Cream wants to keep up with Sonic so badly.

“Is it alright, Cheese? Wherever Sonic goes, there’s bound to be lots of fun adventures! Of course, there are times when our adventures get tough, but Sonic is strong, kind, and knows all about how to adventure. Everything will be just fine!”

“Chao! Chao, chao!”

Cheese seemed to agree and the two went off!

-BANG!!!-

The air shook from far away, and suddenly a loud roar broke through the air. A very large clump of iron flew towards them while it emitted a thick black smoke. It quickly slammed downwards.

CRASH! CRASH! The keyboard bridge and instruments around it were totaled and collapsed.

“Th-Thi- This is bad!”

It must have come from that dangerous place Sonic mentioned just before. Cream, who had fallen over due to the first impact had gotten up in the chaos of everything and saw the miserable, destroyed surroundings. She tried to dust herself off.

Crumbling bridges, animals fleeing for their lives... is this what constitutes as an adventure?

Meanwhile... on the other side of the Music Plant.

“You wanna play me a number? Heh, this is just a robot from Eggman’s Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park; I guess he won’t play.”

A mass-produced Death Egg Robot about the size of a small mountain had stopped moving and was leaning against a trumpet-like facility. It stopped with black smoke shooting out all over the place.

Through it all, Sonic was making a fool of himself while gleefully playing the trumpets.

The truth is, Sonic came here to take down this mass-produced Death Egg Robot when he had heard it was attacking here. The owner, Dr. Eggman, was nowhere to be seen as this seemed to be a “stray robot” that rampaged at complete random. Even so, it was still strong and dangerous. Sonic had to be careful getting Cream involved.

The robot was defeated without much trouble. Sonic was in a good mood because he had made sure the collateral damage was minimal. With this, fixing things back to normal would be fairly easy. The beautiful scenery of the Music Plant and the beautiful sounds that people loved would soon be restored.

Suddenly...

Sonic noticed black smoke rising from the overpass which was only a short distance away. It seemed like the last explosion from the destroyed Death Egg Robot may have caused a huge clump of debris to fly off. It must have flown far and struck that bridge.

“Oh no!”

There were probably many tourists there and Sonic felt it was the exact area where he split up from Cream. He ran with all of his might and had an absolutely serious look on his face.

Sonic traveled at the speed of sound as he overcame colorful hills, spin dashed through a tunnel of brass instruments, and more to arrive at the scene.

A group of animals seemed to be relaxing after having safely evacuated the dangerous bridge area. Cream and Cheese flew down as she flapped her ears.

“Cream!”

“Mr. Sonic!?”

Cream made an expression that shined brightly as she flew to Sonic. But in the shadows of her shining smile, she was tired... but still happy. She went to rescue the many animals and others who were too slow and left behind on the bridge. She took care of the children who had been separated from their parents.

Sonic talked for a while and noticed that Cream was safe, the damage to the surroundings was not as catastrophic as it first seemed, and there were no major injuries. Cream felt relieved and put her hand to her chest. However, Cream’s expression seemed off.

She then said, “I’m so glad that everybody is safe.”

Cream looked downward and continued to speak in a sweet voice.

“I really wanted to defeat that bad robot and go on an adventure with Sonic.”

Just then, Cream stomped on some pebbles at her feet and turned away from Sonic. She continued to look down at the ground. Sonic spoke softly to Cream with a gentle smile.

“That’s not it at all, Cream.”

Sonic stroke the back of Cream’s head and she slowly looked up. Sonic then took to one knee to be at Cream’s eye level.

“An adventure like today... well, it requires both ‘strength’ and ‘kindness.’ We gotta make sure we have both of them.”

“...?”

“Today, you helped me out entirely with your kindness. It was honestly a huge help if I do say so myself!”

“!?”

“Sure! I defeated the robot that was attacking the Music Plant, but half of this adventure was entirely you, Cream!”

“!!”

Like a soft breeze floating by, Cream’s heart shined.

There are times when things get really tough, but if you have strength and kindness, it will be okay. Isn't that the ideal form of an "adventure" for Cream? Today she had an adventure with Sonic!

For Cream, today’s excitement, her hard work, and the way things turned out are all a shining part of her adventures.

Happiness and pride filled Cream’s heart.

“I... really had an adventure?”

“Yeah!”

“I really used my kindness well?”

“Sure!”

“So... will you... take me on more adventures?”

Of course! Sonic gave a thumbs up as a promise, but as the sun started setting, he thought for a moment and answered:

“That’s fine by me, but... it’s getting late. Isn’t it time to go home? Your Mom must be worried. So, how’s tomorrow sound?”

“Hmph! Please don’t treat me like a kid again.”

Sonic ran off with an expression that showed he knew he hit a nerve. Cream and Cheese gave chase.

Music scales filled the air as they ran through the Music Plant; their performance echoing through the sky.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Cream the Rabbit #Sonic Advance 2 #Sonic Heroes #Sonic Forces

[justimajin]

Til Death Do Us Part ♜ Pt. 1

➟ Pairing: Namjoon x Reader 

➟ Genre: Angst, Fluff, Eventual Smut 

↳ (3.7k), Arranged Marriage AU

➟ Summary: If someone told you that you’d be marrying the Kim Namjoon, you would think you were being lied to, or worse, that you were hallucinating. However, fate seems to have it’s own ways of making the impossible possible and before you even know it, the title of Mrs. Kim is bestowed onto you. There’s just one problem: you’re not sure if Kim Namjoon is the person he says he is and the truth of your own identity is dangling by the strength of a mere thread. 

➟ Warnings: This series will involve themes of graphic violence, depictions of blood, major character death and hints of trauma. 18+ rating. Reader discretion is highly advised. 

gif credit. 

➟ Next Update: Tuesday, December 22 

Love is a strange thing. 

It pulls individuals together, sparking fireworks and blissful rays of euphoria within seconds. It renders people affectionate, words dripped with honey and caresses full of tenderness transcending  without a means of stopping. To be frank, it’s majestic through the eyes of the beholder. 

But love is indeed a strange thing. 

It’s history has been plagued with moments of weakness and hesitation, moments that rip away layers to reveal raw, vulnerable selves from every individual. It’s inability to forget and move on clutches onto the minds of those that chose to associate with it, invading their memories and never granting them a single second to run free. Love is a strange thing, but it’s most putrid use has always been the necessity to use it like a tool. 

A deep breath escapes your tinted red lips, cold hands clutching onto the delicate bouquet that’s been thrust into them. The petal pink and lilac purple flowers rest against the chaste white of your dress, the awaited arrival of yours long passed as you raise your head and sneak a peek at the person standing in front of you behind your veil. 

Clad in a special tailored suit for the occasion, his dark brown hair has been brushed back and neatly tucked into the corners of his hair. He stands tall and confident, seemingly captivated by the words the priest mumbles through as he drags on through every dull phase written in his book. As if he can tell your eyes are on him, he suddenly looks in your direction and you return your gaze back to the ground, clutching onto the array of petals in your hands. 

The priest goes on to dutifully declare the responsibilities you must carry, including the very ones that tie you to each other. 

For better, for worse. Rich, poor. Sickness, health. 

Love. Cherish. 

“Until death do you part?” The priest peers up with fatigued eyes, glancing in between you. You suck in a shaky breath, eyes fixating on everything except for the man standing on the opposing side.  

“I-I do.” You hastily mutter, swallowing the lump stuck in your throat. Patiently waiting for his answer, you try not to focus on the collection of eyes gawking at you from the altar. 

“I do.” He states, firm and resolute with his answer. It shakes you to your core, eyes immediately flickering up to meet his warm ones. 

You’re perplexed for a moment, but you’re not given time to dwell any longer once the priest shuts his book, content with your answers. Relief floods you in an instant, yet it’s short-lived and has your stomach churning instead. 

“You may kiss the bride.” The priest steps back as if you needed room for the grandiose gesture, eagerly awaiting the showcase with the rest of the people seated in front of the altar. Nevertheless, your hands begin to quiver despite your best wishes and you remain planted in place. 

Before you even know it, the delicate veil resting against your forehead is being pulled up and tucked away, projecting your dolled up features on full display. You can only fidget when he draws near, preparing for the worse until he pauses. 

Glancing up in surprise, you’re caught off guard from the lines crossing his forehead and the dismay clouding his eyes. For a second, you could have sworn that you were gazing into a mirror, an image of your combined concerns being painted right in front of you. 

You’re caught in between a daze and bewilderment when he advances again, however all you feel is a soft peck against your skin before your veil is placed back into place. Your audience seems to be at loss with the action, but once he turns around to face them in the midst of holding your hand, loud cheers and roars flood the room as congratulatory confetti bursts into the room. 

Unconsciously, your hand drifts over to your cheek with furrowed brows and you steal another glance at the man you will be bound to for eternity. 

***

The L/N Family. 

Tactical and resourceful, known for their skillful strategies and trade explorations, a business they would go on to proudly pronounce in the arms industry. Others would look to them for support and reassurance, and they would in return cohesively make protective deals that would ensure no harm. Yonghwa, their head, would go on to make a legacy out of his family name. 

The Kim Family. 

Discreet and powerful, known for their relentless determination and invokable hunger, characteristics that would eventually seep into their weapon manufacturing business. They know how and with whom to pick their fights, vigorously acquiring a steady position in the industry within a flash before everyone’s eyes. Namjung, their head, carved the Kim name into a status no one would have ever imagined. 

Trade and manufacturing, two able sides of the same coin. They seeked to forge an union that would unite their two sectors, to create a harmonious flow of success within their collective industries. 

But not all deals, go as planned. 

On the fateful day, Yonghwa was found on the ground in a pool of his own blood while Namjung was left visibly shaken. Catastrophe seemed to only follow the event there on after, with both families seeking revenge on the other. Their union seemed to be the last thing on either mind, but after the years passed and stained relations had been fully dragged out, there only seemed to be one solution that could bring peace to the two of them. 

*** 

The wheels of the large suitcase hit the polished ground. 

It’s lavish and grand, crystals littering the high held ceiling and lilies spread over the handles of the spiraling staircase. It ends right at the large chandelier, with more crystals dangling down opposite the shining marble that your slippers find purchase in. 

You remain in place, staring with wide eyes and an agape jaw the scenery before you. 

“Please,” A girl bows before you, dressed in a simple pale blouse and skirt that’s paired with an apron. There’s a small twinkle in her pleasant eyes paired with natural pouting lips; the delicate features drawing out the sheer youth the girl embodies. “Follow me.” 

You snap out of your daze once she advances forward, her hands careful weaving through yours to clutch onto your packed luggage. At first, you’re a bit unsure as to if you should let her carry the heavy load up the stairs, but you’re pleasantly surprised when she manages to hall it all the way up.

She roughly pushes herself against a large wooden door, revealing the grand room behind it. It’s decorated similarly to the main portion of the house, however the sheer size of it has your jaw dropping again, eyebrows furrowed as its appearance. 

Your suspicions are confirmed right away, “This will be your room, Miss Y/N.” 

“I-I…” You can’t help but hesitate, “Are you sure?”

She nods, placing your luggage now. “Of course, Master Kim asked us to prepare it for you.” 

You instinctively flinch at the sudden mention of your husband, but the girl tilts her head to the side, curiosity peeking through her. 

“Don’t they have such rooms in the L/N residence?” Her eyes suddenly widen, and she slaps a hand against her mouth, “Oh no, I-I didn’t mean it that way!” 

A smile curls on the corners of your lips, “What’s your name?” 

She gazes at you with surprise, like she had been expecting a scolding fit for her lifetime. Nonetheless, she hastily answers your question with a bow. 

“I am Eunjoo, one of Master Kim’s most faithful servants.” 

“Little flower.” You decipher, “Sounds like a fitting name.” 

“It could have been summer’s grace.” Eunjoo offers with a shrug, “Though I don’t really like summer, so I’ve tried my best to ignore that meaning.” 

You let out a genuine chuckle from that, something that has Eunjoo instantly beam. The news of her own Master getting married to someone from the L/N family was initially difficult for her to digest, but it appears that she was too early to judge. 

A lopped smile etching onto your features, “And to answer your previous question, unfortunately the L/N’s don’t have such a residence. We’ve lost much of our wealth after‒…” You pause, biting back your words, “...after, you know.” 

You wave your hand away in the air and Eunjoo understandably nods, no need to delve into the long-lived history of your families that is known to all. She hurriedly aids in you in unpacking much to your reassured protests, following and assisting you around like a little fairy. Her company ends up being both interesting and comfortable, especially since the two of you discovered the other wasn’t well in adapting the titles you carry. 

A knock resounds against the door, drawing out your attention. Immediately Eunjoo drops the clothes in her hands, right before she straightens up and takes a graceful bow. 

Her reaction is telling of who's at the door, so with pinched lips and a creased forehead, you turn around. 

He remains glued to the door frame, still adorned in his tailored black suit. Aside from the similarity in his put together appearance though, his shoulders are no longer hiked up in a noble stance, nor is there any remaining amount of warmth spreading through his eyes. Instead, he appears akin to how he was in the split-second before your ultimate union was official, the memory causing the skin of your cheek to slightly burn. 

Swaying from side to side, he hesitates to step into the room. 

“I see you’ve met Eunjoo.” He mentions. On cue, the servant straightens up, a huge smile on her lips. 

“I was just helping Miss Y/N unpack!” 

“Oh that’s nice, perhaps I can assist to‒” He isn’t able to finish his sentence, because the next thing you know you jolt at the sound of a loud crash that echoes through the room. 

“Master Kim!” Eunjoo immediately rushes forward, scurrying to help the fallen man. He instantly rises up to his feet and dusts off his suit jacket, but remains of glass are scattered all over the ground. 

He lets out a groan and Eunjoo sighs, “Master, you know you have to be careful.” She begins to quickly pluck up the shards of the vase, raising one up to eye level with a pout, “I especially picked this one out for your newly wedded wife.” 

At the mention of you, Namjoon instantly glances up, pupils shaking. “I-I can get you a new one soon, it might take around a week but if I put in a request now‒” He scrambles around for a moment, before checking the inner pockets of his jacket for something to write on in a haste. 

Unconsciously, a small smile cracks through the seam of your lips, increasing as he tries to intervene with Eunjoo to pick the shards, and she protests that he shouldn’t get his hands soiled with her errands. He eventually has to sheepishly stand to the side, staring at her defeated like a child that had just gotten scolded for misbehaving. 

Eunjoo eventually collects all the pieces and ushers herself out, reminding you of the pending family dinner you’ll need to attend in the evening. She leaves the room and you decide to resume unpacking, until you come across the realization that you’re not alone. 

“Do you need help?” He peers at your suitcase behind you, “I’m usually more capable with things that aren’t easy to break.” 

The abrupt proximity catches you by surprise, but you merely shake your head at his kind offer, “I should be fine, thank you.” 

He nods and you assume he’ll excuse himself after a moment, but he lingers and that’s when you crane your head over at him. 

Appearing to be in between a deep ponder, he snaps back into reality once your questioning eyes fall onto him. “Uh I‒” A lengthy sigh leaves his lips, “I know this is strange.”

You wonder what he's referring to until you notice him gesturing to the gap between you, “It’s strange for me, and it’s strange for you. We didn’t really have a choice in the matter.” 

He sheepishly scratches the back of his neck, a deep crease forming between his brows. You’re frozen in place, at a complete loss for words. 

He suddenly sucks in a breath, looking up to gaze into your eyes, “But I’d like to get to know you better….a-as my future wife.” 

Your eyes round and his declaration only receives dead silence in its awake. Flabbergasted, he attempts to correct himself amidst your prolonged response. 

“T-That doesn’t mean right away! We can take our time and I’m not expecting anything from you, so you don’t need to worry and‒” 

“I’d like that.” 

He freezes, “Wait, really?” 

You hum, a corner of your mouth lifting, “You’re right, it’s strange. But I’d like to get to know my husband better as well.” 

His eyes immediately sparkle, like you’ve said the very words he’s been aching to hear, “That’s great!” A breathtaking smile overtakes his features, “I guess I’ll see you at dinner then?” 

You nod with a smile,  and he departs, the euphoria never once leaving his lips. 

***

Evening draws near and long gone is the dilatory white piece of garment that’s forever confined you to your fate. Instead, it’s replaced with a delicate fabric of rose gold, perhaps to represent the luxury you have of being present in such a place or in the new beginnings that will soon follow you. 

Regardless, you prepare yourself. Although you’re simply arriving to dinner, there’s a family waiting at the table that you don’t know of yet. 

Eunjoo brings you down with her after putting your hair up and presenting a pair of matching heels your way. You’re wary as you walk down the spiraling staircase, barely balancing yourself on the elevated shoes. Luckily, Eunjoo notices and helps you down, but the split moment of relief is met with a jolt of surprise when you notice someone waiting at the bottom.

“I’ll take it from here, Eunjoo.” The women amiably bids. Eunjoo swiftly bows, mumbling something along the lines of Mistress Kim, before heading into the dinner room. 

You immediately whirl around, eyes on alert like a deer in headlights. She mirthfully smiles at you, carrying a warm tone in her eyes that feels familiar. 

“You don’t have to look so worried,” She reprimands, “I’m not going to bite your head off.” 

Your eyes widen even more, “I-I’m sorry?” 

She bursts out into laughter, concealing her ruby red lips with a hand that is glittering in assorted jewels. 

“Nothing, dear. I’m just teasing you.” You nervously laugh at that, and she places a hand against your back, guiding you forward. “Come, I’m eager to know what my son’s wife is like.” 

Politely nodding, you follow behind her and nearly freeze. If you had expected your bedroom to be astonishing, then you weren’t prepared for the enormous buffet that waits for you ahead. 

Pieces of food are scattered all over the decorated table, ranging from freshly cooked to foods you would have never imagined yourself eating. It reminds you of times your family could barely manage to have a decent meal for one night, lost scavenging for food that wouldn’t make your empty pockets hurt. 

You’re so lost in the thought that you don’t feel someone brush by you. There’s suddenly a warm hand planting onto your shoulder, drawing your attention with a smile full of dimples. 

“Do you want to sit down first?” He gestures to the table, where his mother sits next to his father and opposite to his sister. Embarrassed that you’ve been just gawking at the table, you hurriedly take a seat and so does Namjoon. 

Even though you’re only just sitting at the table, it seems like all eyes are on you, burning into your skin and tracing every move. The impending silence eventually does crack though, and it’s done by a person you would have least expected. 

“Is that chicken?” Namjoon’s father blurts out, his eyes following a tray one of the servants brings by. His wife immediately interjects, dismayed by his reaction. 

“Indeed,” She points a demanding finger at him, “But none for you, there’s a reason why your health hasn’t been the greatest as of lately.” 

He pouts at her response, longley staring at the dish once it arrives. The childlike display catches you a bit off guard, eyebrows raised. 

“That’s unreasonable though.” He suddenly looks in your direction, “What do you think, Y/N? Isn’t she being unreasonable?” 

The abrupt inquiry leaves you speechless, no coherent words manifesting at the tip of your tongue. His wife whirls around, cocking up a brow in his direction. 

“Why are you dragging her into this?” She faces you with a smile, “Y/N is the newest addition to our family so we should make her feel welcome, not bring her into such trivial matters.” 

The pleasant response astonishes you, but more so the mention of your inclusion. He lets out a sigh, acknowledging his wife’s sentiments. 

“You’re right.” He turns to you, “Y/N, why don’t you tell us about yourself?” 

His mother hums, “I’d like to hear about where you grew up, Y/N.” 

“Oh, it’s nothing really special,” You grow bashful, “I was raised in the outskirts of the country by my parents.” 

The two of them nod, intently listening to you, “Before coming here, I studied in the imperial academy for a while.” 

“Ah, involved in the industry I see.” He praises, “You must know a lot about how our businesses are conducted, right?” 

“Not quite.” There’s a strained smile on your lips, “I didn’t want to actively participate in it.” 

Although your answer seems to have taken both of them by surprise, his wife hums in approval. “So I’m assuming that was your personal choice?” 

When you nod, a giant smile stretches onto her lips, and she elbows her husband, “A gutsy one, don’t you think?” 

He smiles in retaliation, “Just like you.” 

She blushes at his sudden compliment, but a voice from afar breaks the two out of their daze. 

“Gross - we’re eating here.” 

Appalled at the feminine voice, you notice the young girl seated across from Namjoon, a deep frown etched onto her stern features. 

“Leave them be, Geongmin.” Namjoon coaxes his sister, but she lets out a grunt of disapproval in the midst of eating soup.

The corners of his mother’s lips turn up and his father faces you again, looking as if he had a million questions up his sleeve lined up just for you. 

Much to your surprise, the rest of the evening is spent exchanging pleasantries with them and keeping conversation light. There even comes a moment when both you and Namjoon end up reaching out for the bread basket, only to pull away once you discover your hands had ended up meeting halfway. As you grow bashful, you notice his mother smiling tenderly and his father chuckling at the abrupt affiliation. 

Once the evening begins to come to an end, you excuse yourself through the use of your own fatigue and request to head to bed first. They waste no time in understanding, with Namjoon’s father even wrapping a hand around his son and expressing that he needed to discuss some things with him anyway. 

You leave the room as he heads off with his family, granting you with some much-needed time and space. 

***

Treading back, you pause at the large wooden door that leads into your room. Your eyes briefly skim over the fine carvings on the wood, instead choosing to scrutinize the direction of your right and left side. A shadow casts over your pupils and your hand presses against the door, letting it slowly creak wide open. 

Step by step, you stroll inside and let the light fade out, replacing itself with only darkness. 

The moment the source of luminescence disappears, you move within a flash. The handle is locked, tugged at for a confirmation. There’s a speck of radiance coming from the small lamp you’ve turned on, enough to see the large suitcase you’ve brought get yanked out. 

Zippers are flying and the cover is ripped off. Clothes are frantically thrown astray, dumped into a careless heep without much of a second look. Your hands are weaving through the material and running rampant, eyes flickering with something akin to desire and alloyed with increasing unease. 

Once your hands meet with metal, a twinkle emerges within your orbs. The spindle of ore is unwound; detangling the material in a quickened manner. It looks distinctly similar to what one would use for electrical purposes, set with the intention of providing light in grim areas. 

Right. The intention. 

Unraveled, you cautiously drift over to the large window by the bedside and crank it open. Peering outside, there’s no glimmer or streak of luminescence meeting your eyes, only a dark, simple gray sky. 

Unconsciously a breath of relief leaves your lips and you reach out, reclining your body just enough to reach above and then below the window’s hilt. The instrument effortlessly blends in, appearing like a simple cable that’s been tightly strung around. 

You lean back and rummage through the luggage on the ground, pulling out a small plastic box that doesn’t appear to be much, but more or less, is the sole thing you couldn’t have departed without. With a small hinged click, it connects to the thin barbed string you just unraveled and right when a quiet buzz resonates through, does a smile tugs on the corner of your lips. 

A knock resonates through the box. Followed by another, and then another. It’s succeeded with a prolonged silence on your part, your entire body remaining in a frozen state. 

Static echoes and you let out the air you didn’t realize you were holding from your lungs. 

Within seconds, you are nimbly knocking against the box in repetitive notions. Your actions range from different types of knocks; heavy, light, twice the sound. 

More static echoes and your eyes immediately widen, hands balling up into tighter fists. 

A heavier one. 

“I have….” 

Lighter. 

“...successfully infiltrated….” 

One last firm knock. 

“....the enemy household.”

#ficswithluv #btswriterscollective #btsbookclub #namjoon fanfic #bts namjoon fanfic #kim namjoon fanfic #bts rm fanfic #namjoon fluff #namjoon angst #namjoon smut #bts namjoon fluff #bts namjoon angst #bts namjoon smut #bts namjoon arranged marriage au #bts arranged marriage au #bts rm arranged marriage au #bts fluff #bts fanfic #bts angst #bts smut #bts scenarios #bts imagines #namjoon x reader

[distinguished-slacker]

Owari no Seraph — An Analysis of Shinoa and Mitsuba’s Friendship

(Warning: A long post that nobody asked for and I had to make the panels tightly packed into one image each due to the Tumblr 10 images per post restriction so I am not taking responsibility for any brain aneurysms I might cause. I am serious, it’s really LONG.)

(Why? Because this cursed manga needs more girl power.)

(Note: Friendship)

We always speak about friendships like the ones between Yuu and Mika, and Guren and Shinya but we rarely talk about the one in the girls’ side, which is the the friendship between Shinoa and Mitsuba. It is the only female friendship we actually have in Owari no Seraph since we haven’t seen Chess and Horn ever since Nagoya arc, and we barely get to see how Mito, Sayuri and Shigure act with each other as friends when the topic of conversation is not Guren.

I agree that Shinoa and Mitsuba’s friendship is cute and funny. However, as I reread the manga I realised that their relationship is deeper than that, that each contributed into the development of the other to a degree but at the same there is a wall that keeps them from growing closer but of which none of them is aware of, and how their distance has been exacerbated by some faults that makes me believe their relationship is deteriorating.

So I decided to make a deep analysis with some theorising about their friendship throughout the manga where I make it sound more complex than the sexualised joke Kagami has made of it :D

The first time we had a glimpse of their friendship is of course when Mitsuba debuted in chapter 8 of the manga as the fifth and last member of Shinoa squad. She is first seen complaining to Guren about why was she placed in a squad full of rookies being most visibly infuriated by the fact that the “sarcastic airhead Hīragi Shinoa” was chosen as the squad leader instead of her. When Shinoa appears, she addresses Mitsuba as “Micchan” (or Mi-chan/Mitsu/whatever translation) and mocks her, angering Mitsuba more and driving her to manifest her weapon to fight Shinoa. This scene shows that they have known each other before Shinoa squad was established. The question was when? Shinoa described her life before the catastrophe occurred as “living under a rock” and how she “didn’t see or speak with anyone at all” in the afterword of volume 17, which can be further proved by the events of the Catastrophe at 16 light novels. Shinoa and Mitsuba were bound to meet because of their statuses as Hīragi and Sangū respectively but Shinoa was always kept in the shadows by her family so it’s quite unlikely that they have met as children before the catastrophe.

The only possibility for them to have met is for military reasons rather than for family reasons. In chapter 3, before Shinoa squad was formed, it was revealed that Shinoa is part of the vampire extermination unit but we don’t know for how long. Considering that Mitsuba used the argument of joining the vampire extermination unit at the age of thirteen to explain why would she make a better squad leader than Shinoa, it’s safe to assume that Shinoa joined later than Mitsuba. However, Shinoa received Shikama Dōji as a weapon in 2012 when she was 7 (6 if Kagami could do maths but whatever...) so I doubt the army would let a capable and armed person have a relaxing life for so many years when she could be used for fighting instead since there is a shortage of soldiers (unless Shinoa used her power as a Hīragi, which sometimes works in her favour, to avoid military duties). Moreover, I doubt that the army would place an unexperienced soldier straight into the extermination unit, which is the most dangerous unit in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, regardless of their status, especially a child. So even if Mitsuba said she joined this unit when she was 13, there is a small chance that she has been a soldier before that but was tasked with easier jobs like being a wall guard and the same thing could be applied to Shinoa. In other words, it’s likely that these two girls have known each other for a good number of years before the timeline of Vampire Reign began.

The reason why I want to believe that Shinoa and Mitsuba met a considerable time ago before the start of the series is because of Shinoa’s attitude towards her. Shinoa has lived a life lacking family love and social interaction which caused her to become apathetic and unemotional up until the formation of Shinoa squad. But somehow there is this girl, who is the only one whom Shinoa gives a cute nickname, has a lot of interest on teasing her and feels comfortable enough to barge into her shower and be seen naked when that is a situation where a person is really vulnerable. I mean, considering Mitsuba’s personality, it’s understandable why Shinoa feels so free to act like that around her but still it’s emotionally detached Hīragi Shinoa we are talking about.

(From top to bottom, and left to right: chapters 8, 9, 19, 29 and 43)

One thing that bothers me is how Kagami made it look like as if Shinoa was completely empty before being influenced by Yuu’s ‘kindness’ when that is not true at all and Shinoa was able to show a caring side before that.

One example of this is in the same chapter where Mitsuba debuted, shown in the top-left panel. In this chapter Mitsuba is acting so bossy and arrogant here that to be honest anyone would find her annoying. However, Mitsuba’s constant shouting about battle formation is to ensure that everyone adheres to the rules to avoid any danger, especially considering the reckless attitude Yuu has displayed here about killing vampires as soon as he sees them. In reality, Mitsuba’s behaviour is a defence mechanism in order to hide her traumas regarding the death of her previous squad members and Shinoa knows this well. Shinoa knows Mitsuba is a kind person on the inside, going to the extent of even calling “adorable” how Mitsuba feels that their lives are her responsibility, and that’s why she tells Yuu to bear with Mitsuba because Shinoa doesn’t want him to hate her.

In the panel below the first one which occurs in the next chapter when the girls are in the showers, Shinoa comforts Mitsuba telling her it wasn’t necessarily her fault that the entire squad got annihilated (as some of the members were already killed before Mitsuba made any reckless move, Mitsuba was too young and it was the leader’s decision to sacrifice himself for her). Speaking about this, Shinoa is the only one in the squad who knows about Mitsuba’s past and it makes me wonder whether Mitsuba herself told Shinoa about this or Shinoa discovered it since as a Sangū, Mitsuba must be well known in the army so her failure might have been spread around and Shinoa happened to discover it. It depends on how much of friends they were before the beginning of the manga; whether they were friends before that or they were somewhat distant but strengthened their friendship when the squad was established. After all, it is hinted that they live together in the chapter where they tried to cook for the guys though Shinoa said it was her room (but it wasn’t specified if it was Mitsuba’s too) so maybe Mitsuba decided to come over for that event. In the anime there was a bunk bed in the room next to the living room which wasn’t shown in the manga but still it doesn’t hurt mentioning it.

This one is a very subtle panel. In the middle panel that happened in chapter 29 after Shinoa and Narumi squad finished their mission of killing Lucal Wesker in Nagoya arc, Yuu realises that people really do die in these missions and Mitsuba replies to him with a “Your friends die. That’s the reality of battle...I...I’ve seen this...” while recalling her previous squad’s members deaths. Shinoa quickly picks up on this and touches her elbow in comfort, as highlighted by the green circle pointed by the green arrow, and gives a speech that reminds Mitsuba that she is not alone anymore and has people who are still alive for her to protect. I really love this moment because Shinoa was so perceptive of the little changes happening within Mitsuba.

In the right panel, it might look like Shinoa is throwing the bothersome job to explain the squad’s situation to Mitsuba, which might be true considering how Shinoa is sometimes, but I like this panel because it shows that Shinoa lets Mitsuba have her part and act as her second in command since being squad leader is what Mitsuba initially wanted. Mitsuba seems to be happy to act as her second in command which shows their relationship is more chill than what their first scene together in the manga made it look like.

Like Shinoa cares for Mitsuba, Mitsuba cares for Shinoa too. In the bottom-left panel which is taken from chapter 19, Kimizuki is suspicious of Shinoa after Yoichi and him were interrogated and tortured by the Hīragis, going as far as thinking she was using Yuu and saying that this is nothing but a “sickness” where he is forced to “play comrades”. Mitsuba quickly defends her by stopping Kimizuki because she knows Shinoa is only making them hide Yuu’s transformation out of genuine care for a comrade. Curiously, this scene parallels to a scene in chapter 99 that occurs after Shinoa makes Shikama Dōji submit. Kimizuki starts shouting at Shinoa thinking that she has been using them all while laughing behind their backs the whole time. This time Mitsuba doesn’t intervene. There are three possibilities for this: one is that Mitsuba is simply being relegated to the sidelines due to constricted space in the current events of the manga, two, that Mitsuba cannot act because this whole situation confuses her which is understandable, and three, that Mitsuba and Shinoa are becoming more distant, which I will explain later in this post.

I tried to find more panels of Mitsuba visibly showing care for Shinoa in the beginning and middle of the manga but it was hard but this is not Mitsuba’s fault, neither Shinoa’s. To be brief, Shinoa is a tough nut to crack. With her personality it’s hard to get emotionally close to her. Add to that that Mitsuba has her emotional baggage too which makes her emotionally constipated, this sets a wall between the girls so I hope Kagami will do something with it later in the manga where it breaks. Yuu already achieved it, so why not Mitsuba who is supposedly Shinoa’s only female friend and even best friend?

(Left: chapter 26 and Right: chapter 45)

When Guren knocked Mitsuba out during the squad mock battle and when Mitsuba was attacked by Crowley, Shinoa always jumped to protect her regardless of the risk. Have a look at Shinoa’s pained face when Mitsuba told them to leave her behind or Shinoa’s determined face when she told Makoto to follow Kimizuki and Yoīchi in order to rescue Mitsuba. That raw emotion. Seriously, is it me or ironically in the beginning of the manga Shinoa showed far more emotion despite being claimed to be initially cold?

(Top left: chapter 19, bottom left: chapter 26 and right: chapter 24)

Does someone else miss when these two girls used to team up to annoy the boys? These scenes might seem for pure comedic purposes but they are actually deeper than what they look like. When Mitsuba debuted, she was not only strict with others but with herself too. Due to her past failure and family expectations, she was forcing herself to grow up quicker, to be the perfect soldier and follow the rules even if that put herself under pressure. However, as she got more involved with the squad she became more free and Shinoa’s personality started started to rub off on her. There are two scenes where Shinoa starts with her pranks and Mitsuba follows with them. It’s vastly thanks to Shinoa that Mitsuba started to act like the teenager she is and that’s really wholesome. I mean, just look at how happy Mitsu is at the bottom left panel or her smirk, something unusual for her, in the bottom right panel when they abandon Kimizuki on the side of the highway (lmao poor Kimizuki). This duo have a great dynamic!

Interestingly, as the series progresses, you can see how both Mitsuba and Shinoa’s characters start acquiring qualities from the other. The always so stiff and temperamental Mitsuba becomes more laid-back and honest while Shinoa goes through the process of discovering more emotions within herself and expressing actual interest on other things. But the problem is that while Mitsuba’s change was influenced by the squad, Shinoa’s was primarily by influenced by Yuu.

(Top left: chapter 8, bottom left and middle right: chapter 48, top right: chapter 17 and bottom right: chapter 43)

It is known that Shinoa loves to tease Mitsuba. In fact, her favourite person to tease is Mitsu because in the fanbook Shinoa said that someone who gets bullied easily is “1. Micchan 2.Micchan 3.Micchan” and even Mitsuba said that she hears Shinoa talk about her a lot.

The first thing Shinoa does when they reunite in chapter 8 is tease her. In chapter 48 when they are talking in the girls’ toilet you can see Shinoa looking at Mitsuba with soft and sweet expressions. Shinoa is really comfortable around her and Mitsuba’s personality allows Shinoa to be herself. Shinoa even said “I really like you when you always react to me like this.” with a gentle laugh which is something rare for her to say.

However, there are times where I personally feel that Shinoa should set some limits to herself regarding how much she teases Mitsuba and with what topics she uses to tease her like when she joked about Mitsuba not being a virgin in chapter 43 because the combined blood of the squad that Mika drank was gross. Although I find hilarious how Mitsuba reacted with a “I am SO going to kill you someday!!” but limits are limits, especially if it’s in front of everyone.

Another panel that was used for comedic purposes that I find somewhat off is the one in chapter 17 showed at the top right corner. Before this panel, Mitsuba says with a serious face that she hopes “things go okay for Yuu” in the interview with the Hīragi family and Shinoa starts teasing Mitsuba saying that she is in love with Yuu. Shinoa teases her but her gaze is at the building not at Mitsuba, her focus is on Yuu, and so it feels as if she teased Mitsuba to cover something else. And what is that something else? Easy. This scene happens not longer after Shinoa confronts Guren in his office about him drugging Yuu where Guren asks Shinoa if she fell in love with him. Ever since this moment Shinoa started to doubt about her feelings and I feel that she teased Mitsuba about her being in love with Yuu to cover her own feelings and that is not a nice thing to do to a friend.

Shinoa annoyed her many times throughout, Mitsuba never really got seriously angry at her aside from an occasional initial outburst. Mitsuba shows great patience with Shinoa, unless there is something we don’t know since we have never gotten an inner monologue of Mitsuba but I will talk about this later.

(Chapter 17)

In the same chapter but some panels before, Shinoa makes fun of Mitsuba addressing her incompetence paralleling to how she made fun of her when they met in chapter 8. Mitsuba just got out of an interview with the Hīragis where she has been promoted, and Shinoa mocks her about how easily she can climb up the ranks just because she is a Sangū and not because of her abilities. On one hand, considering Mitsuba’s severe low self-esteem Shinoa shouldn’t be joking with this a lot but on the other hand, it’s because Shinoa is like this that Mitsuba is comfortable with her. Mitsuba doesn’t like it when everyone talks bad behind her back while praising her on the front, so Shinoa, who is the only one who is honest with her, makes Mitsuba feel at ease (let’s not count Yuu here because that guy is clueless about the weight that the hierarchy holds within the JIDA).

In the middle panel we can see how Shinoa talks about herself to Mitsuba and the same thing can be said with the toilet scene in chapter 48. Mitsuba is the only one out of the squad who knows about Shinoa’s life within the Hīragi family and some story with her older sister Mahiru (I know this is because those higher ranking family members have access to that information but nevertheless this gives Mitsuba an advantage when it comes to bonding with Shinoa). However, Shinoa is here just stating facts but doesn’t open emotionally to Mitsuba so that wall between them persists. Considering that they might have been friends for years, it’s mostly Shinoa’s closed heart the main reason that made their friendship stagnant. But of course, this is not Shinoa’s fault since she is a product of her terrible childhood.

When you look deeper into it, they don’t have the emotional bond and trust they should have with each other.

In the right panel, that’s where the real problem in their friendship starts. Please zoom and have a look at the section surrounded by the vertical amber rectangle. Have a look at Mitsuba’s expression. She is angry and not for comedic purposes. Shinoa has just asked Mitsuba how much information about Yuu she “bribed” the Hīragis with in exchange for her promotion. It doesn’t even look like Shinoa is joking here. She actually thought that Mitsuba, her closest friend, would fall so low as to sell a comrade for a promotion that she didn’t even want in the first place. Look at the region surrounded by the horizontal amber rectangle and you can see that despite Mitsuba already told Shinoa she did not say a thing, Shinoa keeps asking her if she said anything about Yuu going berserk in the battlefield as if she doesn’t fully trust Mitsuba. To be honest, Shinoa crossed the line here and I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t read the beginning of the manga since in the anime they made it different.

This is the beginning of the popular scenario where a friendship is tested when a guy comes in between.

(From top to bottom: chapters 57, 70 and 75)

In chapter 57, Guren reveals to everyone a shocking fact; Shinoa was born with a demon inside her because of a crazy experiment. Mitsuba is the one who looks the most visibly shocked and when she asks Shinoa what does he mean by that Shinoa instead looks away to where Yuu is even though he didn’t ask her anything unlike Mitsuba. To me, this where Mitsuba and Shinoa’s friendship officially entered the amber region.

Then, in chapter 70, Aoi starts choking Mitsuba, asking her why she is not dead and branding her as traitor. Shinoa didn’t try to stop it but it’s understandable since going against Aoi could be punished, especially because they are in JIDA territory, and that Yuu was already doing the job of defending Mitsuba. What I found curious about this is that the whole time Aoi was talking bad about Mitsuba being a traitor we get scenes with Yuu, and even a glimpse of Kimizuki and Yoichi as highlighted by the blue square but not of Shinoa. Shinoa is only shown just after Yuu says “I’m Mitsuba’s family” as if this choice in the structuring of these panels is implying that Yuu saying something nice to another girl gets more reaction from Shinoa than when said girl, who is a friend of Shinoa too, is in a problem. What hurts me the most is that even if there was no need for Shinoa to intervene, we don’t get any shocked or sad expression of her while Aoi puts her hands on Mitsuba’s neck or starts insulting her.

Shinoa’s priorities changed and this is further seen when she is turning into a vampire in chapter 75 and everyone is around the wheeled stretcher where Shinoa is lying on but she looks only at Yuu. I could say that maybe she looked at Yuu instead of anyone else because he was closer to Shinoa’s face but then when Shinoa is taken to the doctors and scientists the last thing she thinks of is “Yuuichi...ro” and only Yuuichiro.

(Chapter 86)

I guess we are going into the orange area now...While Shinoa changes, Mitsuba stays relatively the same. The panel where Mitsuba runs to Shinoa and hugs her in tears is the greatest proof of how much Mitsuba cares for Shinoa, which is impacting for the readers since we haven’t got much of their friendship for a long time up until that point. Now, if we compare Shinoa’s facial expressions in this chapter with the ones I have previously shown in chapters like 45 (when Crowley attacked Mitsuba) and 48 (when they talked in the toilet), you can see the difference. Before, Shinoa’s face was full of genuine happiness, care and worry but now she is poker faced. She completely disregards Mitsuba’s concern for her and crying. She doesn’t show a shocked face, doesn’t hug Mitsuba back or doesn’t even tell her “Sorry for making you worry, Micchan” or something like that. She turns the situation into a boob joke and Mitsuba simply replies back. Then, we get an emotional panel again of Mitsuba asking Shinoa if she is really herself again (and if you zoom to where the green arrow as pointing at you can see Mitsuba’s red eyes from crying a lot) but then Shinoa continues with the boob joke like nothing. Sure, I understand that Shinoa has fallen in love and her priorities are somewhere else, but could she at least show more concern for Mitsuba?

Now some people might tell me that I am making a huge deal out of it, that’s it normal Shinoa is not comforting her or acting accordingly to the situation because Shinoa is emotionally stagnant and dense but this is actually not true at all. Please have a look at this image below:

(Chapters 85 and 90)

The first and only person Shinoa thinks about after being freed from her possession in chapter 85 is “Yuuichiro” (or Yuu-san if the translators did it properly). She doesn’t think about the rest of her squad even though she is supposed to be the squad leader.

Then here is where we can make the comparison. In chapter 86, Mitsuba was crying because she was scared since Shinoa was ‘dying’ by turning into a vampire, Yuu got kidnapped, and Kimizuki, Yoichi and Makoto left her without telling her a thing when the war broke out. Mitsuba informs her of this. Four chapters later, in chapter 90, which probably happened like half an hour or an hour in the OnS universe after Mitsuba cried, when Yoichi says Yuu was crying Shinoa gets worked up saying “I have to rescue him”. Shinoa hasn’t even seen with her own eyes that Yuu was crying yet she is prepared to go and help him when she didn’t do it for the girl who was crying right in front of her just some minutes ago. This shows clear favouritism towards Yuu. Of course, there is nothing wrong with having the person you like as your first priority. It’s almost the natural thing to occur, especially considering that this is the first time Shinoa feels like this. However, it’s because of things like this that the possibility of Shinoa eventually losing the closest friend she has exists.

(Also if someone wants to object to that part saying that Shinoa didn’t comfort Yuu in the end I will just say that it’s not weird considering Yuu was acting all happy go lucky and on the outside he didn’t look like needed comfort even if he really did.)

Also, many people noticed the use of “I” instead of “We” in “I have to rescue him” and “Yuuichiro... Hang in there. I’m on my way.” even though she is with the whole squad and I especially find it more surprising considering that when she said this last phrase, Mitsuba was next to her (or behind her from our perspective) showing that Shinoa doesn’t think of Mitsuba as much as she used to in the past. This mirrors what Mahiru told Shinoa in chapter 56, even though Shinoa couldn’t hear her, about how “sexual desire and lust” (I am going to put “crush” here instead because this might be too far someone like Shinoa) “corrupts you” “to the point where you don’t care about the world and its future anymore” and this already started with Shinoa’s care for the squad decreasing at the expense of her care for Yuu increasing.

Additionally, if you are a fan of this manga art style you might have took an interest on its illustrations and might have noticed that ever since Osaka arc there have not been many illustrations of them together anymore. At most it’s just Shinoa alone. Whether it implies their distance or Yamamoto simply does not have the time of making complex illustrations again, I don’t know.

(Chapters 54 and 96, and volume 17 afterword ending on chapter 69)

Boob jokes. The worst part. Boob jokes. The first time I guess it was okay but it just keeps repeating and it’s not only in the manga. I even looked at the anime fanbook, and watched the CD Dramas and some clips of the game Owari no Seraph: Unmei no Hajimari (which all take place at the time before the squad defected the army) and I realised that there are more times where Shinoa makes a comment about Mitsuba’s chest. Some people say that this significant number of times Shinoa starts a boob conversation may indicate that rather than being jealous, she is obsessed and actually attracted to Mitsuba. But ships aside (I want to keep this post as ship-free as possible), it’s not nice that every time these two have an interaction, which is rare lately and so special because of its rarity, the topic is boobs. It’s not even funny and it degrades their relationship. Why Kagami cannot treat their relationship like the boys’s and give them scenes where they talk about their emotions rather than body parts? After all, the friendship between Shinoa and Mitsuba is not that different to Yuu and Mika’s or Guren and Shinya’s for reasons like sharing a past together. The major difference I can only find between them is their biological sexes and this is not an excuse for this bias.

But since I am the type of person who likes to looks deeper into every joke I am going to do it for these ones. The only thing that I find refreshing about these jokes is that at the beginning every time Shinoa made a comment about Mitsuba’s body, Mitsu was always embarrassed, exhausted and denying any claims. But because Shinoa started this topic of conversation so many times Mitsuba has gathered the experience and skill points to retort her insults😂 Shinoa has awakened Bad Girl Mitsu, and Dethroned Sass Queen is now on the losing end loool just joking.

It might seem that everything that I mentioned in this post until now it’s a lot for Shinoa and Mitsuba but remember that for them, ever since they arrived to the JIDA and all this mess started around chapter 70 they have been in the same day in the OnS universe (even if for us it has been years) and only two days passed at most ever since Shikama Dōji started influencing Shinoa’s views on Yuu in chapter 66 (although Shikama Dōji probably talked to her about him offscreen a lot of times before this chapter). It has been only one bad day, it’s okay, there is no need to panic, Mitsuba and Shinoa are still super best friends and will be...or that is what I would like to say because one, if in just one day Shinoa’s feelings became this crazy imagine how she would be after a longer time if no one stops her? And two, Mitsuba is starting to notice Shinoa’s feelings for Yuu:

(From left to right: chapters 10, 19 and 99)

As I mentioned in a previous post, the number of times Mitsuba is realising that Shinoa feels something for Yuu from afar in the manga is around 3 or 4 (I am not including the fourth since I am not really sure about it), with the most recent being the most eye catching. Now, you might tell me that Mitsuba is just jealous which I would agree since the first panel gives that impression by going with the typical cliché where the second girl is jealous of the first girl. But then if you look at the whole three panels there is nothing that exactly shows a jealous expression on Mitsuba’s face but rather she is just concerned or surprised. It’s hard to decipher her emotions here but if you look closely at the middle and right panel you might notice something in common: Shinoa is placing her hand on top of Yuu’s. So it’s more likely that Mitsuba is looking at this specifically rather than at the whole picture of Yuu and Shinoa together considering that these latter two have gotten scenes together many times but Mitsuba never looked at them and acted normal. Kagami is the type of subverting our expectations like when Yuu was supposed to be the main protagonist but sometimes he seems to be a cover and the real protagonist of the story is Guren (this is just my impression). For this case, Shinoa has been called a “dispassionate observer” by Shikama Dōji in chapter 72 but sometimes I feel that the observer is Mitsuba.

This could explain why we have never gotten a glimpse of Mitsuba’s heart and demon even though she is a main female deuteragonist and the only one unaddressed in Shinoa squad. It might seem that she is patient and a stagnant character, but all these subtle moments might be building up to a potential Mitsuba mini arc that will be about her relationship with Shinoa? After all, what Mitsuba cares about the most is her squad, so bonds is a likely theme. Moreover, in the fanbook Mitsuba’s favourite person was stated to be Shinoa (while for everyone else it was ‘Yuu’). It’s possible that she will confront Shinoa about this because Shinoa never tells her anything about herself so Mitsuba has to do all the guessing and Shinoa has grown distant from her. No way Mitsuba is fine with that. Looking at this, it’s normal we haven’t gotten much of them because looking at the current events of the manga, now is not the time to sit down (it’s not like they either have the time) and do something that might sever bonds anymore. This is why I came to the conclusion that if it’s not just bad writing, then Kagami deteriorating their friendship is something intentional.

Now, how will Shinoa and Mitsuba’s friendship proceed from here will rely mainly on two factors. One is whether what Shinoa feels for Yuu is genuine or a result of Shikama Dōji and Mahiru brainwashing her, and two, whether Mitsuba feels something for Yuu too or not. For one, I am not going to jump to conclusions regarding Shinoa’s feelings for Yuu and I will just say that regardless of whichever route Kagami chooses, Shinoa still has to cherish her friendship with Mitsuba. For two, it’s ambiguous as I can say as many arguments for Mitsuba having a crush on Yuu as arguments against. So let’s wait and see. However, I want to say that making Mitsuba crush on Yuu would be unwise considering that it’s already hard enough with Mika and Shinoa, so adding Mitsuba would mean pointlessly adding more fuel to the fire, especially considering Yuu’s personality and that he might not end up with anyone by the end of the series.

However, if somehow Kagami decides to take the route where one, Shinoa’s love for Yuu moves forwards and two, it happens at the expense of her friendship with Mitsuba and others, I will start calling Kagami a hypocrite. This is because we are talking about the guy who said that the focus of OnS is not romance, but family and bonds. Therefore, I would be disgusted at his bias of exploring only the theme of family and bonds within male friendships at the expense of destroying female friendships just for romance.

I theorise that this confrontation (not a cat fight) will happen around when Shinoa will entirely lose the strength to keep restraining Sika and become possessed again (unless Yuu is here to save the day of course). For this to happen we will need a scene with Mitsuba talking with Tenjiryū in which we can finally see how she feels in order to set everything up before this moment, and another scene that will be a flashback of Shinoa and Mitsuba meeting for the first time when younger so we can actually understand the magnitude of their friendship.

And how this confrontation will happen? To be honest I don’t think that there is any person capable of putting up a fight against a Shikama Dōji possessed Shinoa (unless the main character’s plot armor is used here again) so Mitsuba confronting Shinoa will be at an emotional level where Mitsuba might voice her preoccupations and will tell Shinoa to trust her more instead of keeping things to herself because they are friends. This will be a perfect opportunity for the wall that Shinoa put between them to break and for Mitsuba to be finally given the chance of paying back everything that Shinoa did for her.

The reason why Shinoa needs to be stopped is easy. If she keeps going like this, at this rate she will take the same path as Mahiru where she moves everyone out of the way in order to obsess over one thing, being alone with no one to give advice to her or stop her when she will be making dangerous decisions. All this emotional outburst Shinoa has shown recently is not healthy because she is being rushed instead of being allowed to do things at her pace. She needs to calm down, and realise that where she should be emotionally expressive is with her friends as a whole group.

If you managed to read the whole post, I am sorry aghjskwkashs but it’s just that I wanted people to give attention to this underrated friendship😭💔 It’s so underrated so that’s why I wrote such a long post because I wanted to include every single detail (I hope I didn’t miss anything🤔) and searched for as many images as I can for evidence (sorry for making it so compact that the images might look blurry due to Tumblr restrictions🤧).

P.S. When I will be a granny (considering the fuckin slow pace of this damn manga) I wish to go back to this post and assess whether I was an amazing analyst or an idiot for trusting Kagami😂

#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #hiiragi shinoa #shinoa hiiragi #mitsuba sanguu #mitsuba sangu #sanguu mitsuba #sangu mitsuba #sote

[jasontoddiefor]

Title: would you be so kind Ship: obikin Second: Ten years ago, Obi-Wan Kenobi met Anakin Skywalker, a charming young mage from Naboo, but as fate willed, they could not be together. A decade and thousands dead later, Alderaan’s High Court Sorcerer meets a Forger and his excited apprentice. AN: I forgot to post this on tumblr apparently, but here’s the first chapter of my second long WIP I am working on!

Then

The ship was crammed, filled to the brim with people clinging to one another, staring either at the home they’d lost or the home they hoped to be sailing to. Hundreds of ships had left Dromund Kaas already, carrying refugees across the ocean to safer harbors. The tension was high and sharp enough to cut as they sailed away from the doomed country and only relaxed when the pressure of the country’s shields finally left their shoulders.

“An awful sight, isn’t it?”

Anakin startled, instinctually pulled his coat around himself. Were he in a better shape, he would have lashed out immediately, winds, bindings, blood—

But the power flowing through his veins was too constricted, caged like a wild beast. Instead, Anakin just turned to look at the person who’d addressed him. An old woman with snow-white markings and long lekku stared at the dying country just as he had moments before, grief and resignation painting a sorrowful picture. “I never thought I’d leave this place. Did you?”

Wordlessly, Anakin shook his head. No, he certainly hadn’t thought he’d ever leave this place again. He’d been ready to be buried under the ashes of marble altars, not see this new dawn.

“I was born here, married too. All my children were born within the boundaries of this country and perhaps that is the reason they all left,” the woman continued. “I am glad that they weren’t here. If I think about what could have happened to them were they anywhere near the capital… I apologize; I hope you don’t mind my rambling. You looked like you needed company. Are you traveling to Naboo?”

He opened his mouth to reply, to give an affirmation, but stopped. He hadn’t quite thought where he’d go, except as far away from this place as he could. Naboo was certainly an option; Padmé would be glad to see him, he was sure. She’d take him in without asking a single question and defend him against the storms that were sure to come.

But Padmé was his friend and Anakin couldn’t allow her to shoulder his burden.

“No,” Anakin heard himself saying. “I’m not traveling to Naboo.”

“They are quite defenseless right now, yes, you are right. The fact that it’s the first stop of this ship is tempting enough for most to disregard what troubles might find them there.” The woman nodded in understanding. “I’ll be going to Alderaan myself. My eldest lives there, and in a country as strong as that, a tragedy like this can’t strike.”

She turned to look at the remains of Dromund Kaas again. The coastline used to be covered by beautiful large trees; his Master used to tell him how vital they were for its defense.

Now there was nothing but ash and darkness. Even here on the outskirts, where it had taken the longest for the remains of the catastrophe to reach, nobody was safe from it. Dromund Kaas had been in a pitiful state after the last war, which had made it an easy place to hideaway in. Alderaan might be stronger, the blooming center of magical education, but Anakin doubted they’d be able to defend against an attack like this. Nothing could save them from an attack such as this.

But Alderaan’s distance to this cesspit of disease was enough to provide a different kind of security.

Thousands of refugees would search for safety there, and Queen Breha was as cunning as she was kind. No one would be turned away and Anakin could slip in just right with them.

“I’m going to Alderaan as well,” Anakin replied.

The woman looked him over, then she beamed as if she were a young child and not already among the older members of her species.

Her smile was the first Anakin had seen in weeks. “Looks like we’ll be traveling companions then! You must tell me your name, young friend. I’m Raya Tano.”

She held out her hand and Anakin awkwardly shook it with his own left.

“My name is—”

Now

“Anakin Skywalker! Your automaton is ruining my kitchen!”

Sighing, Anakin let the spell sink back into the metal and settle into it. So much for working on his commissions today. A quick glance around the workshop told him that it was not one of his automatons running wild. Artoo was currently charging up and Threepio was keeping himself busy cleaning up. All the other small automatons Anakin crafted when he was bored were either asleep and charging or hurrying around the workshop, washing up the floors and putting away the tools Anakin had been using.

Anakin tugged off his gloves and threw them to a tiny and eager little automaton before picking up his softer everyday gloves. The leather was still quite resistant and had more runes stitched into it than most people dared to weave into one cloth, but they were nowhere near as excellently crafted as his work gloves. The dragonhide gloves were worth a fortune and so they never left his workshop unless Anakin had to. Anakin watched the little automaton put the gloves in their usual compartment until he could hear the click reassuring that the lock was in place. At first, that had only been a measure against thieves as he hadn’t had much to his name, but by now, it was a habit.

And it discouraged Ahsoka from stealing them for her own projects.

Anakin walked out of his workshop and crossed the courtyard to the small cottage he called his home, finding a kitchen in disarray, Raya standing on a chair with a small red automaton attempting to clean the floors.

“Look what a mess it��s making!” Raya said accusingly. “Instead of polishing my floors, it’s dirtying them!”

“I can see that,” Anakin hummed. He waited until the small automaton had reached his feet, then he bent down and pressed his hand flat on its small back, stopping it. Ahsoka’s handiwork was getting better; this little guy had kept moving for a while despite her absence. Anakin had no idea what the formal apprenticeship for forgers entailed, when they ought to hit what milestone, but he was willing to bet that Ahsoka was years ahead of her peers. Her spells were strong, her rune work fantastic, and very few actual weaknesses were left to explore in her automatons.

But Anakin was still a Master and Ahsoka only an Apprentice. Her work was not yet good enough to keep out foreign interference. Without much thought, he deactivated the automaton completely.

“This was your granddaughter’s handiwork,” Anakin commented. “She’s improving in leaps and bounds.”

Raya huffed and stepped from her chair. “I’m glad to hear that, but weren’t you meant to teach her control?”

“I am,” Anakin said, the argument an old and fond one. They returned to it frequently, mostly to annoy the young Apprentice. “And were she still as much of a mess as three years ago, she hardly would be able to craft such a fine automaton. Can’t do anything about her manners.”

Especially since she’d become a teenager. Anakin didn’t remember being as much of a pain as Ahsoka could be.

“And here I was thinking Masters were supposed to teach their Apprentices a medium of decorum.”

Anakin snorted. “Yeah, well, that’s what she has you for, doesn’t she?”

Raya’s expression softened. “That she does.”

Anakin sometimes wondered how Raya managed to stay so kind and calm when the world had taken so much from her. Her husband, country, her children— and yet she still stood straight, caring for the fellow traveler she’d never allowed to leave and the granddaughter that had been dumped on her with just a warning for Ahsoka’s generally explosive tendencies.

“Where is Ahsoka anyway?” Anakin asked, looking around the kitchen as if she would jump out in the open any moment. “I sent her on an errand earlier this morning, but she hasn’t returned yet.”

Unfortunately, Raya couldn’t tell him either. “I have no idea where that girl is running around—”

“Anakin!”

Speak of the dark and it shall appear. The door was thrown open and Ahsoka rushed inside, tracking even more dirt all over the floor, causing Raya to throw up her arms in defeat in a way Anakin knew meant Ahsoka would be left with all her favorite chores for the next week.

“Welcome back, Ahsoka,” Anakin said. “You’re late.”

“Yes, yes,” Ahsoka replied and rolled her eyes, obviously disinterested in what he had to say. “I got all you asked for and ordered the new metals, but look at this!”

Ahsoka raised her hand, revealing a ripped-off poster. It was tasteful in design, fine cursive writing on light blues, gold ornaments in the corners and, of course, the royal crest right in the middle of it.

Her Majesty the Queen of the Kingdom of Alderaan, Breha Organa, invites all Alderaani Practitioners of the Mythic Arts to attend the festivities in the capital of Aldera—

“Absolutely not,” Anakin said before he could even read the rest of the text. “We’re not going to Aldera to some festival.”

“Why not?” Ahsoka shot back. “It’s no summit, but it would at least be something.”

Her bitterness did not go unnoticed. Ahsoka had begged for months to attend this year’s summit. Every five, all magic practitioners gathered on Tython to exchange notes on their craft and pretend they were not also discussing the politics of their respective countries, forging alliances and the like. Anakin hadn’t been to the last summit, it having been just after Dromund Kaas, and the one before were tainted by the memories that followed, no matter how sweet the time had been. Ahsoka, of course, had begged to attend this year’s one, but it would only be foolish and reckless. He couldn’t just walk into the biggest gathering of mages in the whole continent and expect to get out of it without anyone realizing who he was, asking questions, concluding what he’d done.

Anakin had too much to hide, too much to lose, and he wasn’t going to risk his little Apprentice for it.

Not that Ahsoka knew any of that and wasn’t in the least satisfied with Anakin’s reply and immediately made her displeasure known.

“What would you even want to see there?” Anakin asked, trying to downplay how entertaining such an event was. “It’ll just be all the posh court sorcerers showing off with their fancy focusing crystals. It’s utterly boring and uncreative.”

“Like you wouldn’t use a focusing crystal if you had one,” Ahsoka muttered, arms crossed. “It’s just— there’s nobody else around here who can do magic. And all you ever do is work on machines.”

“Which requires a lot of concentration as it’s not just the manipulation of one aspect, but—”

“—but many, yes, yes, I know the speech,” Ahsoka said and dutifully listed all elements that went into their craft. There was a reason why not many forgers existed. Most mages lacked the talent, patience, and education to learn this craft, or were just plain afraid that they’d permanently damage their ability to use magic at all.

And with the speed technology was evolving and magic weaponized to terrifying new heights, not too many people still had use for forgers. Where two-hundred-years ago, you wouldn’t have gone out to hunt a dragon with a simple sword, but only with one crafted by a Master forger, nowadays you didn’t necessarily need one. Battle magic was on the rise again, especially with more and more countries growing uneasy, peace treaties falling apart. Combined with the threats from the northern continents, it was no wonder people cared less and less about expensive forgers when they could mass-produce and enchant simpler items.

“I just hoped you’d allow at least this,” Ahsoka finished. Her shoulders dropped. “Should have known better. I’ll go finish my readings.”

Ahsoka turned around, her shoulders still hanging, her head low.

Damn it.

Anakin knew that she was doing it on purpose. His Apprentice was cunning and had learned how to play into his every weakness. Slowly she marched into the direction of the door, dragging her feet behind her for effect and dramatics.

Raya raised a brow at him. She usually stayed out of Ahsoka’s tutelage, knowing next to nothing about magic herself, but even with his past being little more than a mystery to her, she could read him better than anyone else.

“Urgh, fine,” Anakin heard himself say. “Fine, we can go to the festival.”

Ahsoka turned around quicker than light and jumped up. “Yes!”

“But that means you’re not going to bring up the summit again!”

“Yes! Of course!” A moment later, Anakin had an armful of an apprentice. “Thank you so much, Master, you’re the best!”

Once she let go of him, she went to hug Raya and hug even her dirty automaton to her chest, still radiating happiness. “I need to go pack my bags immediately!”

“The festival is not for another week—”

Ahsoka obviously didn’t care. So caught up in her joy, she rushed upstairs, heading to her room to start packing. It shouldn’t surprise Anakin that she was so motivated. Ahsoka was a person who thrived on interaction, being surrounded by other people. While the people of their village were friendly, none of them were mages or even just sensitive to magic. It was one of the reasons Anakin had decided to stay without too much fight. But growing up so far removed from other mages had made Ahsoka twice as curious to meet others.

The thought made his stomach churn. He’d have to give Ahsoka formal lessons about their trade now, just if somebody asked questions that were too pointed. She’d also need a bit of the know-how on how you usually interacted with other mages and which pretentious bastards to call sorcerers before they threw a hissy fit. All these capital folks were much too sensitive about terminology after all. Anakin had never bothered to tell her the differences before, but Ahsoka would kill him if she accidentally embarrassed herself because he hadn’t seen it fit to instruct her properly. Forget teaching Ahsoka how to improve her automaton, the next week would be full of etiquette lessons. Skies, there’d be people trying to steal their spellwork too. Had he even mentioned that kind of theft before? Anakin honestly couldn’t recall.

“Already regretting it?” Raya asked, her voice just a touch amused.

“Just a bit,” Anakin replied.

“It’ll be good for her,” Raya said, convinced and confident enough for the both of them. “And good for you as well. I’ve known you for years now and you’ve never even brought a friend over. I’m not going to be young forever, you know. I do expect to be introduced to your future spouse at some point.”

“And this is my cue to go packing as well,” Anakin announced and followed Ahsoka up the stairs with Raya’s laughter following him.

He had no intention of being with anyone, ever, unless he could find glamours that held up even when majorly distracted. On his way up the stairs, Anakin caught a look of himself in the window, saw black vines curling around his neck, inviting someone to take a closer look.

It was better this way.

#obikin #star wars #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #fanfic

[guiltysecretpasttime]

Linzin Week 2021 Day 4: Gaoling / Nobility

Note: Here is my contribution for Day 4: Gaoling / Nobility. I admit - this was a bit of a ramble, a ramble that I rather enjoyed as I tried to put into writing this plot bunny I had in mind. Hope you like it. (unedited as of posting time)

-----

Pairing: Lin/Tenzin

Rating: Teen

One shot, AU

You may also read this in AO3.

Lin scrabbled around the room, lifting objects and crouching under furniture. Apparently, searching for clothes appeared to be challenging if they were strewn haphazardly the night before.

Aha.

She crawled partially under the bed, taking care not to stay on the floor too long, to grab her shorts. Her top and underwear, meanwhile, she snatched from behind the lounge seat.

As she put on her underwear, she mused at how the past days went -her five days of independence in Ember Island.

It definitely was lovely, a nice escape from reality and the pressures of her life. She knew she had to make the most of it. It would not be long before the lackeys of her grandparents would find her.

Lin believed herself stealthy and crafty enough to escape Beifong manor undetected. She was proud to say that she did all that and managed to arrive at Ember Island without bribing anyone. She liked to think that she would have made a good criminal or detective if she were not born into the House of Beifong.

Poor Suyin. Her grandfather was sure to tighten security at home now. There was no way her younger sister would manage to have the same ‘liberties’ she had.

Lin snorted as she tied her hair up.

Not like there was a lot of freedom to begin with.

A groan came from the figure on the bed.

Lin hurried dressing up. It simply would not do to have to have that morning after conversation.

The man continued to slumber on, turning to his side, mouth open with a bit of drool at the corner of his lip.

She smiled at the view while she stuffed her other belongings into her satchel.

As much as she wanted for a repeat of the night before (and earlier that morning) and to run her fingers through his soft brown hair, the earthbender knew that her self-control would be tested. She was bound to end up not leaving at all. And that, she sighed at the memory of the pale wiry arms that were wrapped around her, would be catastrophic. There would have been no way for her to hide her identity if her family descends upon Ember Island.

After one final look, Lin Beifong slipped out of the hostel room of her technically three-night stand. She fled to the inn on the other side of the island to prepare for her trip back home.

It was unlike her to be reckless. But damn Agni, did she need this.

But, of course, her life being her life, her luck being her luck, little did she know that this act of rebelliousness would have its repercussions.

 ---

Tenzin bit his cheek to stop from furiously answering back. They were at the last leg of their diplomatic tour.

Tour.

He scoffed.

More like the Search.

As in the Search for a bride.

Correction – the Search for His Bride.

It was quite tedious, honestly. They have been at it for more than a year now. His father descended from the Air Nomads but this was amount of time on the road was ridiculous.

He did not mind travelling, honestly. He enjoyed it. The feel of the wind while using his glider or the sight of the clouds while on Oogi… In fact, the misguided yet hopeful part of him saw to it that he travelled at least monthly to Ember Island, in a bid to recreate the blissful memories of a past vacation (or rather, in a bid to try and meet the earthbender again, though he failed at spotting her every time).

On the other hand, travelling with his parents meant having a retinue composed of his father’s main advisory council and security. It was fine – for the most part. Accompanying his father during his diplomatic visits around the world was unique, educational and inspiring.

What he hated was that the advisors tended to barge in at all times of the day, leaving no respite for the family when they were on the road.

Right now, for example, Abbot Yuji was going on about the status of the Northern Air Temple.

His father is the Avatar and the one of two of the last airbenders so it was expected that this was well within the territory.

What was grating was how Abbot Yuji started to describe the temple and the lovely female air acolytes that populated it.

Having an acolyte from your Air Temple married off to the family of the Avatar? Outstanding. Having an acolyte from your Air Temple married to the only single airbender? Priceless.

He was getting frustrated at the blatant -.

“Stop frowning, Tenzin.” His mother whispered to him, leaning at his side. “You know Bumi underwent the same thing.”

Oho but no, Bumi did not.

The thought made Tenzin frown deeper.

 Avatar Aang and Master Katara’s eldest son had gone ahead years ago and caused a scandal when he eloped in the Fire Nation capital. It was a love match.

Even Kya, the most free-spirited of the siblings, had discarded tradition, gotten engaged them wed to an air acolyte. It was also a love match.

Tenzin wanted the same, except, since apparently he was the only one left of his family bloodline to take over his father’s position in the Air Nation, it was close to impossible to form any lasting romantic entanglements.

There was a lot to take up, to get heavily involved in the Air Nation. To be fair, all of the children of the previously last airbender were equally exposed and poised to lead as part of their birthright. However, Bumi went on to be the consort of the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. Then, just a few years ago, Kya agreed and, together with her wife, settled in the Southern Water Tribe to take up the mantle as the chosen heir of the late Chief, their Uncle Sokka.

That left him – Tenzin, the airbender.

The master airbender, his father would proudly introduce him – all shaved and tattooed. Despite the ceremony being a few months old, it all still felt fresh to him. It certainly felt odd to him to be shaven and so Tenzin had taken it upon himself to grow out a beard.

Anyone who would marry him would be part of the most powerful dynasties to date. His currently unmarried state was not due to the lack of prospects. And yet for some reason, his parents still saw it fit to keep going back to Gaoling.

Gaoling – which was the only city-state in the entire Earth Kingdom that had their nobles shun the Avatar and his family when they dropped by to visit last year.

Gaoling – where, coincidentally, was where they were a few miles in.

“Why do we keep going back here?” Tenzin turned to his mother once his father made his routine exit of the satomobile. Aang would usually leave the vehicle and go ahead of the convoy, using his glider to reach their destination earlier. “They don’t seem interested in meeting up with us anyway.” He was referring to the highborn family of the area.

Katara paused in the knitting she was working on. “Your father was almost betrothed to their daughter.”

This information took Tenzin aback. They all grew up hearing their parents’ epic love story. This was mainly why they had wanted the same for themselves. So, to hear that it was almost a different story was surprising.

Tenzin shook his head. “What happened?” He eyed the gates with the winged boar insignia the loomed nearer.

“Your father was going around at that time, seeking for support to campaign against the tyranny of the Fire Lord.” His mother tucked her yarn and work in progress in a weathered pouch. “It did not help his case that he had abandoned his role for years on, resulting in the Air Nomads being wiped out. There was a bit of bargaining and one of the conditions of Lao Beifong was to have the Beifong heiress wed Aang.”

Tenzin vaguely noted that the rest of their convoy turned left to the town proper while only their vehicle urged on forward.

The gong sounded from outside of the satomobile, announcing their arrival at the large ominous gate of Beifong estate.

“And then?” Tenzin prodded urgently as the gates opened and the satomobile crept slowly into the grounds of the Beifong family.

“Aang was weighing his options then when the younger Lady Beifong refused adamantly. We were turned away that same moment from the estate. In an unexpected turn of events, Toph Beifong saw it fit to defy her family and joined us. She became your father’s earthbending teacher.”

Tenzin’s eyebrows raised.

He had grown up to tales of his father’s bending masters. Only the blind earthbending master Toph, who became the world’s first metalbender, remained a bit of a mystery to him. For one thing, aside from the Monk Gyatso, he never met her. He only learned now that she has a surname.

There was a sense of anticipation now.

Maybe they will get to meet her in a few minutes?

Tenzin looked out the window. They were now parking in front of what looked to be a sprawling mansion. They have certainly made it further than they did in the last non-visit, where the guards did not even open the gates for them.

The metalbender was the stuff of legend. After having established a metalbending academy, Tenzin can find no trace of what happened to Toph Beifong.

So much was his anticipation that Tenzin did not notice the somber expression of his mother.

 ---

Lin sat in front of the dresser in her bedroom, silently watching as her grandmother’s maid finished tucking her thick black hair into a bun and placing the last strand of beads coiled around it. After ascertaining that she did not need any further help, the maid made herself scarce, stating she will be back once Lady Beifong called for Lady Lin’s attendance.

Lin blinked once at her reflection on the dresser mirror.

Twice.

She did not feel like herself.

She tilted her head.

She did not look like herself either.

If she were to be honest, the last time she truly felt like herself was the reprieve she had during her stolen time in Ember Island.

Breathing deeply, she reached for a tissue. Methodically, the young woman wiped off one side of her face, then the other.

She blinked again as the angry red marks on her cheek became visible.

 ---

A touch of his wife on his arm and Avatar Aang knew what she was asking.

It was unusual for none of the Beifongs to be standing in attendance to welcome their visitors.

Aang tucked his wife’s arm into his and patted it. He nodded to his son to follow.

Various household staff bowed to them as Aang led them deeper into the manor. Tenzin looked around curiously, keeping himself within hearing distance of his parents.

“Lord Beifong is in bad shape; he has been since the fire that broke out in the estate last year.” Aang finally shared.

Katara gasped in dismay, gripping Aang’s arm tightly. “And Lady Beifong?”

“She’s doing the best she could. She is…coping.”

“And their grandchildren?”

Aang shrugged weakly, stating he had not seen the grandchildren of the Beifongs yet.

“Is this why they are now considering the proposal…?” Katara trailed off, tossing a quick glance at their son who was seemed to be preoccupied by the framed portraits they were passing.

The Avatar nodded. “I had hoped it would be a joyous occasion, but this is what we’re dealt with.”

 ---

Tenzin clutched the warm teacup, looking into the dark tea in contemplation with what he had learned so far.

He sat at his parents’ side at the formal tearoom of the Beifongs, a silent participant and observer. Across them, Lady Poppy Beifong sat demurely, seemingly fragile and with the graceful bearing of someone born into the nobility. The airbender found it hard to believe that this woman gave birth to his father’s tough earthbending master.

Pleasantries were exchanged at the beginning and a stream of maids served them tea and an assortment of light snacks. His father shared about the different festivals across the nations that they had attended recently while his mother told stories about the flora they encountered during their trips. Even he was called upon to talk about the developments across the reconstruction of the Air Temples. Lady Beifong calmly spoke about the renovations in their estate, to revive the areas that the fire had touched.

After some obscure statements that were traded among the other people in the room, Tenzin was struck by the realization.

Toph Beifong was dead.

For how long – Tenzin tried to recall of portraits in the hallway – it must have been a long time ago as all of the portraits and photographs were quite dated.

Oddly enough, grandchildren (Toph’s children?) were mentioned and yet there were no photographs of them.

 ---

Lin tapped her fingers somewhat nervously on the armrests. She tried to get engrossed in the book she was reading, but her mind was not into it.

A few rooms down, her future was being decided, so much for being a young woman of independent means.

 As expected, upon her return from Ember Island, Lin received the scolding of her life. Never mind that she was already in the twenties – running off on her own was unbecoming of a Beifong Lady.

Words were said. Lord Lao Beifong’s word was final and his granddaughter had no other recourse but to continue to submit to the duties of the Beifong heiress. The families that depended on their lands for a living were part of her responsibility. Both the Beifongs and their staff flourished under Lin’s attention. Lao was pleased with the profitability of their produce and in turn, with Lin. At least, until it became a Problem.

Once it became apparent, Lord and Lady Beifong cut down the number of their staff and security, locking once again the Beifong gates, unwelcome to any visitors. It was during this period when the Avatar and family had passed by for a diplomatic visit the year prior.

It was also in this situation, a few months later, did fire strike in the household. With the limited staff, it took a long time to get the fire under control. By then, her grandfather, who had been at the indoor arboretum at the time, had inhaled much of the smoke.

Lin and her sister had sought to pry open the gates of the arboretum that had gotten tighter during the fire. In a miscalculated move, metal shrapnel that Suyin fashioned out of her practice cables flew from her grasp and hit Lin as they both struggled to release their grandfather. Despite the blood dripping to her chin and Suyin’s teary apologies, Lin did not pause and endured the pain while working on metalbending the gates open.

They did succeed though Lord Beifong was not the same presence as he used to be.

Once assured that her grandfather would live, Lin endured one of the longest nights of her life.

 Since then, changes as to how the household was run were made. Since then, Lin took it upon herself to manage the estate as penance. After all, if it were not for her situation, her reckless behavior, there would have been adequate support in the estate to prevent the fire from spreading.

Bringing herself back to the present, Lin stopped her woolgathering as the knock on the door signaled that her presence was wanted by her grandmother and her visitors.

With one last look, Lady Lin stood to meet with her prospective in-laws.

 ---

Tenzin waited in tense silence with his parents.

He knew the drill – they had done this song and dance numerous times with other noble families around the different nations. Discussions about potential courtships between him and the daughter, eliciting information about familial expectations and loyalties… Nonetheless, not a single marital agreement came about.

One word from him and his parents would cease and back off from the negotiation or pursuing the potential bride.

Today, however, sitting in the opulent tearoom in the Earth Kingdom while waiting for Lady Beifong and her granddaughter, felt different. There was something in the air, a history that seemed to tie the two families. Or at least, the Avatar and his earthbending master (who, Tenzin learned had quietly passed during the birth of her second daughter).

Click-click-clack-click-click-clack.

Lady Beifong’s shoes echoed at the corridor, followed by a softer set of steps.

The door slid open.

 ---

Lin kept her head bowed as she greeted the family of the Avatar.

A Beifong lady keeps her eyes averted. So, she did.

A Beifong lady keeps silent until spoken to. So, she did.

She sat down beside her grandmother, hands crossed on her lap, vaguely paying attention to the discussion.

That was why she was surprised to feel a cool hand touching her scarred cheek.

 ---

“…Introduce you to my granddaughter.”

 Everything paused for Tenzin when Lady Beifong stepped aside to present the younger Lady Beifong.

 He caught sight of her face.

Her eyes. He will never forget those eyes.

 He went through the motions next, his body on autopilot as his mind brought up memories he frequently revisited.

 Those eyes which crinkled in laughter when he dropped her in the sea.

Those eyes whose pupils dilated in the dark as he gripped her thighs high.

Those eyes which rested on his without judgment while he whispered his fears of not being a good enough bender for his parents.

 Lin now sat before him, where he now found it easy to observe her.

Her face – her porcelain skin was slashed --- who could have done this, what could have happened?

He was barely aware of what he was doing, he reached out gingerly to touch –.

SLAP!

Lin looked at him aghast.

His parents and her grandmother faced them in alarm.

Lin stood up. “Excuse me, everyone, grandmother, may I be excused?” Without waiting for a response, she bowed and rapidly made her way out of the room.

“I-I-I,” Tenzin stammered, dazed. “I apologize I don’t know what came over me.” He motioned to follow. “I need to find Lin.” He bowed and went out as well.

 ---

It took them a few more minutes to recover from what happened.

And it took them several more to realize that they never did mention yet Lin’s name to Tenzin.

 ---

“Wait, Lin – I’m sorry – wait!” Tenzin managed to grab her arm when she turned at the end of the corridor.

Lin shrugged him off. “How dare you!” She gritted out, each word hard with controlled anger. “Just because I look like this,” She waved a hand in the direction of her scarred cheek. “I don’t fit the mold of the perfect debutant your parents might wish for you – you don’t have the right to -!”

“Lin, I’m sorry – and it’s… it’s me!” He placed his hand on his chest. “Tenzin, from the beach.”

“No, you’re not.” Lin stared at him.

“I’m Tenzin – from Ember Island, don’t you remember me?” He plodded on, almost desperately. Didn’t their encounter mean anything to her like it did for him?

“No, you’re not him.” Lin shook her head frantically. “Were you hired by grandmother? Suyin? This isn’t a funny joke.” Her voice rose a pitch with each sentence.

What.

Then it clicked.

Damn – his hair.

Maybe Bumi was right – his personality came with his hair.

“No, Lin, it really is me – I – I’m a master bender now.” He raised his hands up, showing the tips of the tattooed arrows.

 ---

Lin took a step back, finally taking in the man who was her potential betrothed.

It couldn’t be…could it?

He did sound and look like the Tenzin she met last year…

Then it clicked that it was him.

How could she not have recognized him when she had retreated to thinking about their time in Ember Island as an escape…

 “Excuse me, Lady Lin? It’s his feeding time.”

Lin froze, almost regretting her instruction to the governess that she could interrupt whatever Lin was doing at any time. She swallowed thickly, ignoring Tenzin’s dumbfounded expression and plastered a smile on her face.

She turned to the governess who had been looking for her and reached out her arms to take the precious bundle for her.

“Hello, dear, are you hungry now?” Lin Beifong nuzzled the baby in her arms.

 ---

Footsteps clattered nearer to where they stood.

Lady Beifong, Master Katara and Avatar Aang came to a halt as they rounded the corner.

Lin, Tenzin and even the baby turned to face the new arrivals.

Tenzin leaned forward, gravitating towards the child, who blinked back at him with bright grey eyes.

“Sweetie,” Katara started cautiously. “Not to be anything but – don’t forget about propriety, don’t act too...familiar with them.” Her eyes darted towards the Beifongs and their staff, likely worried that any action might be turned against him and he would not escape the situation unscathed.

“I think I’ve done more than enough to be familiar with Lin, mother.” The airbender tickled the nose of the child, to the outraged gasp of Lady Beifong and the widened eyes of his mother.

“Ah-CHWOOOOSH!”

Silence fell on the group.

The baby giggled as he rubbed his nose.

Lin and Tenzin shared a look of awe.

 Of all their trips to Gaoling, Avatar Aang could claim that this was his favorite.

The day he met his airbending grandson.

 ---

Avatar Aang and Master Katara’s children all grew up hearing their parents’ epic love story. This was mainly why they had wanted the same for themselves.

The eldest, Bumi eloped with his childhood sweetheart, the Fire Nation’s Crown Princess Izumi. It was a love match.

Their only daughter Kya married her air acolyte wife in a simple Southern Water Tribe ceremony. It was also a love match.

Their youngest child, Tenzin wed the mother of his child, Lady Lin Beifong of Gaoling. It was, as everyone concluded, also a love match.

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

Note: And that's the end~. Love it or hate it - let me know!

#linzin #linzin fanfic #linzin2021 #lin beifong #tenzin

[charlthotte]

Breaking Through the Iron Wall - Aone Takanobu x Reader

Chapter 16

It must have been approximately three hours before we arrived back at school, in the early noon, with almost everyone staying slumbering the entire time - their gentle - and not so gentle snores ringing through the air. While I saved the page I was reading, Coach Oiwake instructed me to wake the rest of the team up.

One by one, I went around the team, waking them - some much easier than others. That was, until I came to rouse Futakuchi, who had no desire to depart from his dreams, sleeping as still as a log. Several shakes of his shoulders later, he still hadn't arisen from his drowse, no matter how hard I shook. Until, Kamasaki, the idiosyncratic schemer with his water bottle in hand, unscrewing its lid, ready to ensue utter chaos. And with a squeeze of the container, the liquid had sprung itself into Futakuchi's face, its coldness stirring him immediately, but unlike the rest, he quickly entered an unbridled rage directed straight at the conniver, Kamasaki.

Subsequently, with a new burst of vigour - Futakuchi leapt from his seat, bounding after his attacker, spitting a slew of obscenities from between his lips. Waving his arms around in unadulterated fury, he relentlessly chased Kamasaki around the car park, screaming that he would get his revenge in due time - causing a whole bucket of catastrophe. Without wasting any time, Takanobu and Coach Oiwake swiftly bounded out from the coach, rearing to hinder the fight between the two feral children. 

It took nothing more than a slight interference from Takanobu, a stern glance - for the two opposing teens to immediately put a halt to their skirmish, sheepishly apologising to each other, even if that was only for show. 

With a defeated sigh, Coach Oiwake beckoned the rest of us out of the coach, gesturing for us to listen to what he had to say, "So, I know that you're all exhausted and you've all worked incredibly hard today - and there isn't much time left of the school day anyway, so it'd be pointless if you went back into lessons now. Therefore, I will be giving you all the permission to head home slightly earlier today. You're all dismissed, I'll see you tomorrow." Then, he bid us farewell, waving us away with an unenthusiastic gesture.

And with that, each one of us grabbed our bags and jackets, eagerly heading out of the school gates, but still being absolutely enervated. However, that meant that the usual train that Takanobu and I would catch wouldn't be coming for quite some time to come - so we would have to loiter around somewhere until that time came. 

After waving goodbye to the rest of the team, Takanobu and I began strolling slowly towards the train station, but since we had time to kill, we turned and passed down different streets, until we came across a dainty, sweet, little café - its outside adorned by trellises; bound by tresses of white wisteria. The entire aura of it was truly welcoming and mellow, practically ushering us inside its doors.

"Hey, Takanobu - do you want to get something to drink?" I asked him, feeling somehow uplifted from the scenery around me.

From the way he responded, I could feel the exhaustion exuding from him - his eyes drooping gracefully while he sedately nodded his head, apparently too tired to entertain a conversation.

As soon as I walked through the doors the delightful aroma of pastries and beautiful beverages floated towards me, swimming through the air. I took a deep breath, savouring the delicious fragrance, before I ordered drinks for both Takanobu and myself - but before I could get my wallet out to pay for what I was purchasing - beside me, Takanobu delved into his bag at the speed of light in an attempt to get to his wallet, too. I gave him a glance to cast my disapproval, firmly placing my own upon the counter to pay. "How about we call this a reward for playing super well?" I chuckled, tilting my head to the side.

Takanobu sighed, seemingly defeated, nodding before sinking into the collar of his jacket. It genuinely looked like he would fall to sleep at any given second.

In a small matter of minutes, our drinks were ready - but rather than stay inside, we both made the unconscious decision to sit on one of the tables outside. After all, the sun was shining radiantly, along with the wisteria adorned trellises compelled me there, as if its aura gave me a sense of belonging.

"(Y/N)?"

My eyes flicked away from my drink, landing upon his face, "Yes, what is it, Takanobu?"

He pointed to the abundances of wisteria around us, his eyes filled with adoration as he scanned the scene, "What do they mean?"

Giggling at him softly, I answered his question - but, before I did so - a warm pang palpitated inside me. Was it my stomach? My heart? I couldn't tell. "Like most things, wisteria can have more than one meaning. First, it can symbolise the longevity and figurative immortality of life, illustrious beauty and absolute infatuation." Suddenly I halted my explanation, hesitating when I spoke those last two words, for some reason unbeknownst to me.

'Absolute infatuation'

Sensing that I had zoned out, I quickly carried on with my diatribe, "But, every part of the wisteria is poisonous, toxic, deadly even. Especially since it is a rapidly growing plant. Now, I'm not completely sure about this, but I'm quite positive that that gives the wisteria its other meaning - warning profusely about how dangerous 'absolute infatuation' is - and how quickly it can grow, and eventually, take over everything you once were. After all, unfiltered, unbridled love... it's terrifying." I looked down at the floor, slightly embarrassed by the subject at hand. 

Faintly, I could hear a soft chuckle from Takanobu's side of the table. That was until, he said something, something so quiet that even I struggled to hear him. Two words that purely shook me to my core. It may have simply just been me overreacting, but alas - I believe it was called for.

"You're amazing."

In an instant, my eyes gaze shot straight up to meet his. My eyes widened and my mouth parted slightly, hanging agape in revelation. I wanted desperately to reply to him, but at the time, I was incapable of forming coherent dialogue. Wringing my hands together, I laughed awkwardly, trying desperately to form a reply.

After taking several shallow breaths of reassurance, I made my best attempt at speaking, despite my mind had gone into complete overdrive, "Thank you, Takanobu... You're rather amazing, too."

My heart thrummed at a pace so terrifyingly loud that I worried that everyone within a kilometre radius could hear it. I felt stupendously awkward after that, with my gaze darting from place to place, searching for something to distract my mind from the inner turmoil I was experiencing.

After shifting my line of sight many times, the only thing I was drawn to was Takanobu's face. It was like I was magnetised towards it. Unequivocally compelled towards him.

Our eyes met each other, and in that instant that they did, everything froze, everything fell silent, the world stopped turning. In those few seconds, no one existed but us.

And even though, every thought in my head told me to turn away - I was frozen too, our gazes seemed to be permanently latched to one another, neither one of us wanting to break away first. 

However, after a small eternity of making unrelenting eye contact, I was the first to break away, staring straight down at my beverage until I had finished every single last drop of it.

Neither of us spoke until we were walking back to the train station, following a road that I had never come across before. But, the complete opposite could be said for Takanobu - as he abruptly tensed up and stopped moving entirely when we passed one house in-particular. Its garden and exterior were completely barren, devoid of any wisp of joyousness - every inch of the walls covered in a dull, draining grey. There was no light or life exuding from the inside of the house at all. Its overall lack of spirit made it seem like someone had abandoned it, many eons ago.

Noticing how visually distressed Takanobu was, I finally broke the silence, "Hey, what's the matter?" I asked.

Before he replied, he swiftly moved further ahead until that house was out of his line of sight, "Nothing, it's just a place from my childhood." He whispered, careful to make as little noise as possible.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I questioned, growing increasingly concerned about the way Takanobu was acting.

"Yeah." He hesitated for a beat, "Could we please go to the train station now?" His eyes shining with an immense tone of pleading.

"Oh... Of course." I said, leading Takanobu away from the house that seemed to be haunting him.

It took significantly less time than usual to arrive at the station, as Takanobu was walking at a much speedier than what he normally did. Which, ending up being quite a fortunate thing, as we only got onto the train with as much time as a blink of an eye able to pass, before it would have set off without us. 

However, nearly straight after we sat down, Takanobu's head began to loll downwards - snapping it back up if it ever drooped too low. Eventually, he leant against the window beside him, his eyes fluttering open and closed - his entire face relaxing as he began to fight a losing battle between him and the valiant forces of slumber.

While he drifted off to sleep, I couldn't help but admire the view in front of me. The way the Sun hit his face in the most perfect manner, the way his chest slowly rose and fell with each inhale and exhale. Something about it was just so ethereal, and even though my conscience told me to look away, I couldn't divert my line of sight. Once again, my eyes were frozen in place.

Just before the train arrived at my stop, I gingerly took Takanobu's shoulder in my hand, rousing him softly, waking him from his slumber - and as he rose from the depths of his dreams, his eyelashes fluttered delicately across his face, fanning perfectly over his cheeks. But, as I got up to leave the train, so did he - not realising that he wasn’t yet at his destination. He must have have been confused, nothing more. 

As soon as we departed from the carriage, Takanobu immediately began conversing with me, "(Y/N), would you mind if you came to see Shiro with me?" He gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in some sort of trepidation. "I don't think I could do it alone."

I wasted no time with replying to him, "I wouldn't mind that at all, not one bit." I said, looking into his eyes, noticing something, some kind of aura shrouding him - one that I had never seen before - and much to my chagrin, I couldn't determine exactly what it was. Was it fear? Anxiety? Or perhaps something completely different?

Looking down at the pavement as I walked back to Takanobu's house, I could not hinder a peculiar feeling in the pit of my stomach, making it churn and flip around inside of me. And once again, I was questioning all that I knew. Putting all those queries to one side, I tried to coerce myself into believing that it was only a worrisome feeling for the sake of Shiro's health. But, deep down - I somehow knew that that wasn't true at all, I was only masking what thing was truly there - as a voice inside me, told me I wouldn't be able to handle the magnitude of the way I really felt.

Even by the time we had arrived at his house, I hadn't once let my vision deter from the path I was walking, it was almost as if I couldn't bare to look Takanobu straight in his eyes while he would look back into mine, in fear of something unknown.

While Takanobu opened the door to his house, the unease exuding from him was truly insurmountable, so much so, that anyone in the prefecture could feel it.

And that was completely understandable.

He didn't come running, nor did he walk over.

It was almost as if he didn't exist anymore.

Instead, he laid on the sofa, a morsel of what he was before - bones protruding under his skin, his fur thinned and brittle, his eyes no longer holding the spark of life that had been there before.

Shiro was merely a husk now.

Beside me, Takanobu's legs wobbled at the sight set before him - almost dropping to his knees in disbelief. 

Immediately, he ran to Shiro's side, seemingly forgetting his exhausted state - stroking the dog's back feebly, his hands quivering as he did so - careful not to disturb his friend before him. 

Ejiri must have noticed the sound of the door unlocking, quickly bounding down the stairs to greet us - wearing an expression showing both happiness and sorrow. Without wasting a second, she hurried towards the cowering form of her nephew, wrapping her arms around him with much vigour - truly ecstatic to see him again. Takanobu sunk into her arms, even though, he stood a whole head higher than her - resting his head upon her shoulder, beginning to silently sob into her, his breath hitching and releasing at an unkempt rhythm.

"Don't cry, honey... He's here now and that's all that matters in this moment." Ejiri spoke, patting her nephew's back in an effort to calm him down, "I'm here for you, darling... I always will be." She smiled serenely, "I travelled halfway across the world for you, I dropped everything I had for you - but, I'd do it again infinitely. I will never let you feel isolated again. So, know that I will always be there - no matter the time, no matter the place, no matter what." She reached up and ruffled Takanobu's hair, guiding him towards the sofa where Shiro laid. Then, she turned to me - her arms outstretched, carrying a grateful grin on her face, "And you, my dear - I can't express my gratitude for you enough. You have helped my boy greatly, especially in these not so nice times." After briskly patting my arm, she popped up from the sofa, heading towards the kitchen.

Looking over to the sofa, I saw a sight so beautiful, yet heart breaking - seeing the dreary eyes of Shiro droop in a daze, seeing the immense hurt burning behind Takanobu's eyes. I made way over to them, kneeling on the sofa next to the sick animal, stroking his back, careful not to cause him any pain.

As Ejiri came back into the room, a steaming mug in hand - Takanobu lifted his gaze away from Shiro, "How long?" He uttered, his eyes beginning to prick with a single tear.

She sighed, preparing herself for the news she was about to deliver, "Three days at best." She whispered, furrowing her brows, "I'm sorry."

Takanobu's arms dropped suddenly, in shock - bringing one of them up to cover his mouth, he whimpered, squinting his tears away. His body began trembling, shaking along with his lamentation, his breaths becoming laboured. In that moment, there was something in his eyes, a heart wrenching realisation that what was to come was absolutely inevitable. His face froze in place as tears continued to cascade down his cheeks.

Feeling his sorrow alongside him, I rushed over to his side by pure instinct - comfortingly caressing his back, while leaning my head on his shoulder. The sheer amount of pain he was feeling genuinely hurt me, too.

Takanobu took in an unsteady breath, "(Y/N), will you be there... When it happens?" He spluttered.

I twisted my head upon his shoulder, now facing his tortured expression, "Of course I will."

He smiled slightly, trying to hide the pain - wrapping one of his arms around my shoulder, rubbing into it gently with the pad of his thumb. We stayed like that for a while, enjoying each other's company while we could - Takanobu never letting Shiro leave his sight for a single second, as if he thought if he looked away - he'd disappear.

Eventually, enough time had passed, so that Takanobu's exhaustion had caught up with him. So, I shimmied from underneath his arm, slowly manoeuvring him so he leant upon the sofa, his head resting next to Shiro.

Not wanting to impose upon their household any longer, I grabbed my belongings, heading towards the door. But before I did, Ejiri came shuffling towards me, signalling for me not to depart just yet. "One minute, (Y/N)! I wanted to give you Takanobu and I's phone numbers before you go." She paused, handing me a slip of paper with two numbers on it, "For when the time comes." 

I took the note, thanking her for her hospitality - leaving the house in quite the sullen mood.

Upon arriving home, I was greeted by an overly enthusiastic embrace from my father and a lack of her presence from my mother. The usual.

My dad requested that I told him all about the trip to Tokyo - but of course, I left out some of the details - for the sake of my dignity. And in return, he began drabbling about his recent experiences at work, leaving me truly enthralled by his anecdotes. After a long while, he ended his side of the conversation - finally letting me head upstairs into my room. 

While I unpacked my bags, I took the hydrangea out from between the pages of my book, admiring it for a minute or two, before putting it back in the book - letting it rest there as a memory from the trip. I smiled at the thought of it, and how little of a thing that flower was - yet the amount of significance truly resonated with me.

For the rest of the week, everything flowed by rather smoothly, lessons being as average as they could be, Futakuchi being his usual self. Except for Takanobu, who seemed to become more and more solemn as each hour passed by. I didn't think that any person could ever appear that doleful. That was, until late Friday night, as I laid on my bed, trying desperately to fall asleep - my phone began to ring. On the other end was Takanobu's voice, tremulous from the fact he was crying. He didn't need to say much, I knew what was happening. His voice rang out...

"It's time..."

#aone #aone takanobu #aone x reader #aone takanobu x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader

[tanadrin]

The single factor most predictive of what a xenologer will encounter on first contact--barring, of course, those features of alien civilizations that are necessarily unique and by definition cannot be predicted--is the size of the planet's sentient population. The technological situation of civilizations is not, of course, a simple hierarchy, with "advanced" at the top and "primitive" at the bottom, but when it comes to those factors that do lend themselves to a simple numerical expression, there is a clear correlation between the size of population and the amount of energy generated by, or the maximum information processing capability available to, the civilization in question.

On that basis, we may reasonably expect every world of twelve billion inhabitants to have explored their local star system. We may reasonably expect every world of ten billion to have harnessed fusion power; every world of five billion, to have devised some form of computing technology; every world of three billion, to have harnessed fission. By the time a planet reaches a population of one billion, it will have writing, steam engines, and the rudiments of astronomy and physics well-covered. In Chapter Four, I discuss a range of important technological milestones, the size of civilizations that tend to attain them, and why I believe that milestone tends to be found in civilizations of that size, down to populations of about five hundred million. I believe the tightness of this correlation holds for smaller populations as well, including entirely preindustrial ones, but further investigation is warranted.

Now I shall reply to several usual objections in turn.

First, surely historical circumstance matters? Of course. The unique geometry of the Dimidians' home system hampered local spaceflight and space exploration considerably. Religious-philosophical considerations delayed the development of fusion power among the Samhese by centuries, while in the case of humans, internecine strife rather accelerated the harnessing of fusion by several decades, for use as a weapon of war. I believe population size is the largest contributing factor to technological development--the largest but, to be sure, not the only one. For a discussion of other important factors in detail, see Chapter Nine.

Second, how does one account for biology? To put it simply, I do not--I believe that Kerzoa's Law not only holds, but has repeatedly been successfully tested. In short, Kerzoa argued that, in the highly competitive arena of biological evolution, the intelligence threshold at which sophisticated cognition becomes a runaway evolutionary advantage is the same in all biospheres, and that upon reaching this threshold, short-term technological and social innovation will rapidly overtake long-term evolutionary innovation, drowning out its effects as an intelligent species masters its immediate environment and spreads. In short, all evolved sentients are roughly equally intelligent, insofar as this is a feature that can be approximately measured. That's not a trivial assumption! No one would look at Taphaon spatial reasoning ability, or Samhese abstract thinking capability, or the quirk of Dimidian physiology that makes higher-dimensional systems trivial for them to understand and think all evolved sentients are roughly the same. But strengths in one area generally are commensurate with weaknesses in others; that is to say, all sentients begin from a common baseline of intelligence[1]. Of course, this uniformity does not hold once genetic engineering and artificial intelligence are added to a civilization's technological arsenal (see Chapter Six), which should be a great relief to my human readers, whose only natural intellectual advantage, according to studies, is the ability to recognize different-colored fruits at a glance.

Thirdly: famous counterexamples. Each of these, I will argue, is not a true counterexample, since the correlation I argue for did in fact hold until another factor overtook population size in importance, usually only well after the civilization attained a population of at least two billion.

The Hazari population was small on contact, despite being technologically advanced *and* distributed throughout their local star system, due to a plague that had greatly diminished the population of the species, and reduced its long-term fertility. Notably, while their civilization did not collapse in the aftermath of this crisis, it also stagnated for a century and a half, until the Accord initiated a scientific exchange program.

The Kinu-Kmei are similarly famous for being unusually advanced given their population (historically found only on their homeworld). While not stagnant like the Hizari, their rate of innovation is slow; furthermore, as both Kerzoa and Williamson have convincingly argued, the Kinu-Kmei genome shows distinctive signs of uplift in their distant past, which means the Kinu-Kmei are not bound by the same constraints (positive or negative) implied by Kerzoa's Law. Uplift is rare (though cf. Terran examples; the human civilization has uplifted no fewer than six native and alien species to one extent or another, a truly unprecedented number), but in every other known case uplifted species were integrated seamlessly into the uplifting civilization. Whether the Kinu-Kmei were abandoned, their uplifters wiped out by some catastrophe, or are the remnant of a once more widely-distributed species, remains to be investigated by archeologists and xenologers.

The human civilization hews very closely to the population size/energy use correlation until about 900 years ago, when the two became suddenly decoupled; in this case, the cause was not civilizational catastrophe, but its opposite. Due to a quirk of human biology, human populations can grow extremely rapidly in preindustrial conditions, but upon transitioning to an industrialized condition, undergo a delayed reaction they refer to as the "demographic transition," and quickly stabilize, or even begin to shrink. This pattern repeats itself on colony worlds, too; and while there is some indication that, in the absence of the existing human technological base, this might result in stagnation similar to that experienced by the Hazari, the initial human demographic transition (and all subsequent examples) took place in the context of rapid innovations in artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, the latter of which the human genome is especially well-suited for. So even as the human population stagnated, its information-processing capacity did not, which is the real factor with which we are concerned. Population is only its proxy--but, as noted above, due to Kerzoa's Law, it is a very good proxy.

Then there is the example sometimes cited from my own homeworld, that of the Devouring-By-Night. Before being driven to the brink of extinction, the Devouring-By-Night were notable as the only natural predator of my species, the Osmians; they are of course extremely intelligent, but also extremely solitary. They have no technology to speak of; in their natural state, they do not even possess language. But this is not a counterexample at all! For due to their isolation, we cannot speak of the Devouring-By-Night as having any civilization at all; or at least, we must speak of them has having historically had only many civilizations, each with a population of exactly one. And each civilization having, at that, no history, no memory, no language, and no innovation save what its sole member might develop, informed only by instinct and experience, from the time it hatched to the time it spawned and died. Surviving members of that clade can be regarded as having experienced a kind of counter-uplift, and are not representative of the species as it historically existed.[2]

In Chapter Ten, I will discuss these counterexamples in more detail, as well as more subtle objections that have been raised against this theory.

Notes:

[1] Due to the fierceness with which intelligence is selected for--owing to the vast advantage over the environment which it confers--variation within clades is even smaller, or nonexistent. The three divisions of the Taphaon, despite being separated for almost one million years shortly after they achieved their modern form, differ considerably in size, coloration, shell pattern, visual acuity, and numerous other physiological aspects--but not noticeably in intelligence. Samhese evolution is considerably more complex, and the species we now know as the only surviving member of that clade only branched off from the others about fifty thousand years ago--but this branching occured after that subspecies reached the approximate cognitive threshold of Kerzoa’s Law, and variation in intelligence within that sub-clade has always been small. Similar developments hold for the evolution of Osmians, Dimidians, and humans, though in the lattermost case the difference between even the most outstanding members of the cognitively advanced sub-clade and its closest relatives is perhaps not so great as the sub-clade would like to believe.

[2] Critics of the counter-uplift program have held that it amounts to genocide of a sentient species with a moral right to exist; as a member of the species of which the Devouring-by-Night were an obligate predator, a species which still has an instinctual terror of the deepest parts of the sea where the Devouring-by-Night dwelt, one cannot help but wonder if these soft-headed moralists’ need to find an underdog to root for has overwhelmed every ounce of sense and moral reason in their bodies, or only most. Suffice it to say, the humans’ counter-uplift program was the only alternative to extinction (see articles by Kerzoa, Maugrim, Tersei, Golith, Thompson, and Bellows, cited below), and the law forbidding the surviving members of that clade from intruding on Osmia or the Osmian Antarctic Cession are necessary for both their own wellbeing and that of the Osmians.

--Nauri Maugrim, Statistical Correlations in Planetary Development (Oxford University Press, 3178)

#tanadrin's fiction #the same future history as #tjungdiawan's historical reader

[camillasgirl]

A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales at the Central Remembrance Ceremony in Berlin, 15.11.2020

Mr. President,

President of the Bundestag,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a particular honour to have been invited to speak here today, on this solemn and special occasion, and to join you in eternal remembrance of all victims of war and tyranny. In this memorable year, marking seventy-five years of peace and friendship between us, it gives my wife and myself such great pride to return to Germany, and to renew those enduring bonds between our two countries.

I have been coming to Germany since I was just thirteen years old, and first visited Berlin nearly fifty years ago. Over the decades, I have been struck by the ways in which this remarkable city embodies so much of the history of our continent, and all that we have been through. After the devastation of conflict, and the tragedy of division, it has not only endured but triumphed, liberated from flawed and distorted ideologies so that hope and the human spirit could prevail.

Berlin reminds us that the fortunes of all Europeans have been dependent on one another for centuries. The relationships we enjoy today are built on foundations dug deep in the bedrock of our common experience, anchored by bonds running North and South, East and West, through our diverse communities and across our borders.

The connections between the British and German people go back at least as far as the Roman Empire, evolving within a shared civilisation, and woven with threads drawn back and forth through the years. For many of us, those ties are personal, with family connections and associations which remain greatly treasured to this day.

Our people have prospered from one another through commerce, since the Hanseatic League established a trading relationship which continues to drive our shared prosperity. However, the relationship between us has always been so much more than a transactional one. We have long viewed each other with fascination - admiring of each other’s culture and inspired by each other’s ideas, we have influenced and borrowed from one another in a virtuous circle of reinforcing connections that have strengthened and enriched us both.

The examples are myriad. It was a German, Hans Holbein the Younger, who became the first celebrated artist in England. Half a century later, German was the first language into which Shakespeare was translated. The English landscape garden was brought to Germany by Prince Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau who, inspired by the models of Stourhead and Stowe, laid out the magnificent gardens at Wörlitz of which I am proud to be Patron. Onecan scarcely imagine where the British musical tradition would be without the influence of Bach, Beethoven or Brahms; and the music of Georg Friedrich Handel, who was born a German but died British, has been played at the Coronation of every British Sovereign since that of my seven times great grandfather, King George II.

Throughout the nineteenth century, German scientific and artistic thought shaped British life, encouraged, in part, by the leadership of my great, great, great, grandfather, Prince Albert, The Prince Consort. German was a vitally important language for British academics to acquire, at a time when German immigration to Britain grew significantly and Schroders Bank and Reuters News Agency helped shape London’s global role. It was not as remarkable as it perhaps now seems, that at the outbreak of the First World War four members of the British cabinet had studied at German Universities. It is similarly striking, that in the years after that conflict, British students flocked back to Germany for the exposure to German culture that they, and their parents, considered to be so essential to their education.

Looking back through the prism of two world wars, with all the cruel distortions rendered by conflict and loss, so many of those close connections between Britain and Germany became obscured. And yet, as our countries, and our people, set to the difficult task of rebuilding this continent – and our trust in one another – the deep and historic well of shared experience from which we drew, enabled the seeds of reconciliation to take root and flourish.

And so, over these past seventy-five years, our two countries have been restored to our natural position of allies and friends. Britain was by Germany’s side through those extraordinary years of post-war reconstruction. We have watched, with profound admiration, the remarkable success of Germany’s peaceful reunification over the past thirty years, and with deep respect for the example that she has offered the world.

Today our countries stand together as indispensable partners in almost every field of endeavour imaginable, conscious of our past but confident about our future. As the message read on the wreath that you, Mr. President, laid at the Cenotaph in London two years ago this week, let us “remember side by side, grateful for reconciliation, hopeful for a future in peace and friendship.”

Reconciliation is a difficult but essential process, as I have seen in almost every corner of the globe, as well as on the islands of my own country. That we have healed so much division on our continent is cause for sustained gratitude and the utmost pride. However, as thankful as we should be for how far we have come, I know that many of you share my view that we must take nothing for granted.

We can never reconcile ourselves to the horrors of the past as simply the events of another age – distant, time bound, disconnected from our present lives. Nor can any of us assume that they are someone else’s burden to bear. Instead, the searing relevance of the past to the present day, and to our future, makes it our solemn and shared responsibility to ensure that heartbreaking lessons are learned and heeded by each successive generation.

The former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Rabbi Lord Sacks, who so tragically died earlier this month, wrote that “a future of reconciliation can, in some measure at least, retrospectively redeem the past.” He was quite right, of course. Otherwise not only do we compound past wrongs and amplify their effect, but we fail all those who struggled and died for a better tomorrow.  

In this, we must work together. We must remain vigilant against threats to our values and our freedoms; and never rest in seeking to create mutual understanding and respect. We must be resolute in addressing acts of unspeakable cruelty against people for reasons of their religion, their race or their beliefs, wherever they occur in the world. We must stand alongside each other in determined defence of the future we owe our children and our grandchildren.  

The challenges to that future are manifest – whether from this dreadful pandemic which threatens not just our public health but our prosperity and security; or from the existential threat to our planet, and our way of life, from climate change and catastrophic biodiversity loss.

These crises demand that we act together, and the partnership between the United Kingdom and Germany offers such a vital opportunity in this regard. We are heavily invested in each other’s futures, such that our national interests, whilst distinct, will always be entwined.  

Our countries are instinctive problem-solvers, working together to find innovative and practical solutions to the challenges we see in the world around us – on global health and vaccine development; clean growth and renewable energy; forest protection and biodiversity; and climate action in developing countries. Together, we stand resolutely in defence of our shared values, as champions of human rights and the Rules Based International System. Together, we are an indispensable force for good in our world.

The English poet, John Donne, famously wrote that “no man is an island entire of itself.  Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” One might equally submit that no country is really an island either, other than in the wholly literal sense. Our histories bind us tightly together and our destinies, although each our own to forge, are interdependent to a considerable degree.

Mr. President, President of the Bundestag, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The United Kingdom has chosen a future outside the European Union, and the relationship between our countries is evolving once again.  Its shape is a matter negotiated between our governments and its essence is defined by the enduring connections between our people.  It is, therefore, my heartfelt belief that the fundamental bond between us will remain strong: we will always be friends, partners and allies.

As our countries begin this new chapter in our long history, let us reaffirm our bond for the years ahead. Let us reflect on all that we have been through together, and all that we have learned. Let us remember all victims of war, tyranny and persecution; those who laid down their lives for the freedoms we cherish, and those who struggle for these freedoms to this day. They inspire us to strive for a better tomorrow – let us make this our common cause.

#Prince Charles #brexit #speech #this speech was/ is amazing #loved it

[saikagerights]

Technical Difficulties

Hello Saiino nation!

I am beginning my return a little earlier than I anticipated! I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind today and start work on my upcoming projects for the winter and the highly anticipated Yamanaka Week 2021. But I realize that I first must post this leftover oneshot that was written right before my school hiatus in August. A little background behind this fic is that it was inspired by an art drawn by our nation’s very own @sugarriene. It was something that stuck in my mind long enough that I had to write about it and there we go! I even added a mild bit of angst for the culture!

Read on Ao3

“KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Right on cue, her husband peaked into the room. What he had witnessed was an utter catastrophe. 6 ink mice crawling across her body and she was understandably horrified.

“What’s wro-” “Ah. I see...”

“SAI! DON’T JUST STAND THERE! FIX THIS!”

“Uh…” He stuttered, proving he was just as useless in handling this as she expected. “A-as much as I would like to assist you, I am unable to control them. These are not made of my chakra.” Of course they weren’t his! Sai wasn’t the type to pull pranks like this. And even if it wasn’t a joke, he had a much better handle with his ink. There was only one other person who could be responsible.

“INOJI-mmmmph” Her husband’s hand swiftly covered her mouth to muffle her. She had an inkling of an idea to bite it.

“Don’t do that.” “If his concentration breaks, your clothes will be stained.” As rude as Sai was being, he did have a point. She would prefer it not get any worse than it could be, or else her son would be in for a lot more trouble than he anticipated. Perhaps it was just a mistake. It better be a mistake or she would make sure that the boy wished he hadn’t learned to use that brush in the first place.

His deft fingers gently scooped up two of the mice from her shoulders. The unrestrained gesture would typically make her stutter and blush at his forwardness, but in her current predicament all she could do is stand there holding back a yelp. “Just sit tight. I will handle this.”

With that, her husband swiftly left the room, leaving her alone with only her son’s animated mice to keep her company. Ino had nothing more to truly fear. She could trust Sai to fix this. It was his expertise, afterall. Maybe this time her husband would actually act like a father for once and discipline their son. She inwardly sighed; That was a long shot for sure, but she could only hope.

Inojin knew he messed up. And his fate had been sealed the moment he heard his mother’s shrill scream from down the hall.

______________________________________________________________

He was dead

He was so dead

He had always been instructed by mom to only practice the Choujuu Giga outside, but it had been raining. Dad had advised him (without mom’s knowledge of course) so that he could successfully practice indoors in the safety of his room as long as the door had been shut. And to his misfortune, he forgot the step regarding the closed door. At least he had solace that his father would also be punished. If she realized that they had conspired like this from under her nose than they would both be in for it.

The mouse perched upon his head turned towards the door with him when he heard his father’s footsteps approach his room

“Dad”

“You’ve lost control.” He fully entered the room, closing the door behind him with his foot until it was only slightly open. He had an ink mouse in each of his hands, struggling against the pressure of his grip.

He chuckled nervously. “You noticed?”

His father was never one to raise his voice, but he did express his disapproval through soft sighs and furrowed brows. He was already aware of how much trouble he was going to get into with mom.

“Do you know what caused this?”

Inojin shrugged “I don’t know how it happened, but I was fine until mom called for me.” His head dropped and the mouse tumbled to the floor, splattering into black ink onto the wood. So much for keeping tidy. “Then a bunch of them escaped.” He looked timidly back up to his father. “She found them, didn’t she.”

“Oh she found them pretty well actually. I plucked these ones right from her body.” Inojin’s stomach lurched. He was worse off than he initially thought. Dad looked down at the mice in his hands. His thumbs had secured their heads, calming their struggles down. “These drawings do not have a mind of their own, nor are they entirely mindless.” He crouched beside Inojin, setting the mice onto his scroll. He was surprised that they didn’t scamper off like before. They only sat there looking up at him. “They are an extension of your will, Inojin. They rely on you to move, so one little distraction may change their direction entirely. You must remember this.”

He did remember. Dad had been telling him that for years, ever since he was young. But here he is now, still making the same mistakes as he did when he was 5. How was he supposed to get any better at this rate? His frustration stirred within him and the mice sitting on the scroll began to tremble and distort. They were going to break at this point, and it would all be over and mom would come for both of them. His father’s hand came to rest on his shoulder, the tension built up in his body slowly releasing. “Mistakes are bound to happen, though. You are still learning.”  Dad’s smile was warm and encouraging, something that Inojin couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“You lost control like this too, right?”

The smile hadn’t faltered. “Of course I did. The Choujuu Giga was something I mastered on my own, so I made plenty of mistakes. In fact, I did something like this to my brother as well.” Inojin’s curiosity piqued at the mention of his uncle. His father’s sworn brother had tragically died years before he had been born.

“What happened?”

His father’s smile began to shift, pursing his lips as if he had been holding back a laugh. “I had drawn a snake, and when I wasn’t paying attention, it constricted him until it burst. He was completely coated in ink!” Telling the story alone was enough to free his laughter. It was a sight to behold, as he was usually very slow with humor. It must’ve been a cherished memory for him. “Anyway, I hardly saw him the rest of the week. He was probably too angry with me to talk, but I’m sure he found it as funny as I did.”

Inojin gave a worthless sniff, gluing his eyes to the scroll in front of him. The mice retained their shape, now crawling towards him. “I think you were too concerned with what Mom wanted, so they decided to figure it out for themselves. And now all you have to do is fear her wrath.” Inojin’s fingers shot up into a sign and the mice immediately scurried back to him.

The misunderstanding was eventually cleared after numerous apologies and pleas to Mom. She didn’t kill him like he envisioned, but that didn’t mean he was completely in the clear.

___________________________________________________________

Although Dad did talk her down to a week, his video games would still be confiscated. Probably locked in the same place as his father’s expensive paints for hiding from her.

___________________________________________________________

“Your clothes are stained.” The imposing presence of Danzou-sama stood before him. “Why is that?” His question barely above a whisper, drenched in suspicion. But he could already tell from his half-lidded gaze that he wasn’t impressed.

But then again, he wasn’t impressed by much...

The white haired boy stood relaxed, his eyes to one of the many trees that surrounded them. Anything was better than looking directly at him. “We were sparring. He lost control and now I’m covered in ink.”

The sounds of calming wooded atmosphere was drowned out by his master’s silence

“Look at me” His voice was still no louder than it had been before, but held a commanding power that struck fear into the boy’s heart. He forced his gaze up.

“A loss of control is not something I tolerate.” His hand moved to reach towards his bandaged eye...

“No! Please don’t punish him. He’s getting there, he just needs more practice.” The boy pleaded. Realizing that this was out of line, he swiftly bowed. “Please, forgive us!” His brother was still too young and inexperienced. He’d hate for him to receive their master’s swift hand over a simple accident.

“Very well. But I best not bare witness to such a sight ever again, or there will be consequences for the both of you. Although you may believe you are noble in taking the blame for his mistakes, it is actually a foolish endeavor.”

The boy’s eyes widened and panic set in his chest as Danzou-sama turned to trudge his way back into the forest. And just before he thought he was safe enough to catch his breath, the man halted his steps. “You know that there is no room for weak shinobi in my ranks.” He turned his head slightly around, the atmosphere intensifying. “And If he so much as passes without meeting my standards, I will do everything in my power to make sure your death is insignificant.”

And with that, Danzou-sama was gone in a cloud of smoke.

The boy’s knees buckled beneath his weight, collapsing into a seated position. Gasping for air, his lungs felt ablaze. He couldn’t restrain the coughing fit that ravaged his body, grasping tightly at his ink-stained shirt.

as much as he wanted to persuade himself that he was fine.

He was still able to keep up with his master’s demands.

He was still able to live with his brother without fear of what was to come.

He gritted his teeth. That wicked man still held them firmly within his control, his brother knowing not of what truly awaited him. Soon his brother would be all alone and forced to bear the weight of Danzou-sama’s will. His brother had to be prepared for that burden or else he could never truly be free.

____________________________________________________________

And there it is! I hope you enjoyed this long time coming one shot! 

Until Next Time!

-Saikage

#saiino #InoSai #Ino Yamanaka #sai yamanaka #inojin yamanaka #naruto fanfiction #boruto fanfiction #naruto #boruto #si fanfic

[zankivich]

Corona Diares pt 2: An Arrangement Sequel

a/n: Hello. Something must be in the air. OR, you’re all trapped in your houses and paying my pics more attention than when I actually wrote them lol. Either way I felt inspired to write this and would LOVE to point out that I planned this entire chapter out before the the S + C bullshit was even a thing. I quite enjoy this. I love talking about mental health. It’s so serious and so underrepresented and so poorly represented. I wanted to show a black woman dealing with it and one way, not the only way, that a partner can be supportive during that. If you like it let me know. And if you have ANY ideas for this series please please please share them with me because this was the last idea I had. K bye! 

WARNINGS: Depression, discussions of mental health, a very worried husband just wanting to love his wife

*Shawn’s point of view*

After the first month, he notices a change. When they can no longer go out to the store to shop anymore and have to get everything delivered. No more throwing random things at her to build dishes around. When she can’t go to get her hair done, or go on friendship dates with Ti. She gets a little down, not as energetic and bubbly as is her nature. Even the level of sass she seemed to whip at him with incredible comedic timing was at odds. It’s not that he’s not enough for her, it’s just that all the other parts of her life outside of him seem to dry up. There’s not much managing to do, beyond giving their artists a break. Her world domination halts when the world does. And what he’s left with is a rare and devastating vision. A depressed y/n.

At first he’s not super concerned. The whole world was turned upside down. They were witnessing history on a day-by-day basis. Who wasn’t a little sad?! At first, she just takes a little longer to get out of bed. So, he cooks them breakfast after his morning workout. But then she starts to zone out for shorter and then longer periods of time. One day he notices that for an hour during a movie, she just stares out the window. Barely blinking. Never moving. Just sat still. And then come the naps.

“Babe, I have a headache. I’m gonna go lie down for a little while, okay?” She murmured, placing her hand on his shoulder as she stood up.

He peered up at her with concern.

“Of course. You want me to make you some peppermint tea? We can watch movies in bed if you want. I’ll rub your back.”

She smiled a smile so small it barely touched her face. It was nothing like the beautiful wide-toothed grin he fell so deeply in love with.

“You’re incredible, but I think I just need to lie in the dark for a little while. I’ll feel better and then we make some fresh gnocchi for dinner.”

Her gnocchi was one of his favorites. So, of course he nodded and kissed her fingers as she slipped away. He tried his best to stay quiet the rest of the day, sticking to the other side of the house as he played guitar, or video games, or piano. As the day grew later, he went about prepping the potatoes for the gnocchi. He cleaned, scrubbed, and pierced the potatoes before placing them in the oven to bake. He even went about setting up the pans, olive oil, salt. Anything they might need. He grated the parm himself.

When the potatoes had but about ten minutes left to go, he finally made his way upstairs. Their bedroom was dark, the light outside the hallway even turned off. He flicked it on as he stepped quietly inside on raised toes. She was on her side of the bed curled up in the entirety of their comforter. Her bonnet was missing, something he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before. He wasn’t nervous yet though, so he just assumed it had fallen off in her movement.

“Sweetheart. Hey, I went ahead and got everything prepped for dinner. I thought we could listen to some records while we cook? Maybe open a bottle of wine if you want.”

Her eyes opened. And she looked near him. But she was completely and utterly away. Like her body was a shell and she’d fallen within the depths of herself, hidden away and unwilling to come out. She took one look at him and shook her head before rolling to the otherside of the bed.

“I can’t.”

“Oh...Okay. Well how about I do the cooking, give you a little more time to rest. I’ll come get you after.”

“No Shawn I...I can’t.” She whispered.

This is where the worry started to creep in. Let’s just say he was very good at worrying.

“What is it? Is it your head still? Maybe you should take something.”

“I just...You gotta leave me alone for now, okay? I need to sleep.”

And that was where things started to shift. Because she sounded broken. Not sick, not hurt, but just absolutely broken. Like she might cry if he asked her again, might completely break down and never come back to herself. The most surprising piece of this new territory that he found himself in was that...she didn’t want him near. In a relationship where every pain, every fear, every insecurity thus far had been comforted, if not cured, by the presence of the other, for the first time in his marriage, his wife wanted to be away from him in the midst of her sadness. This was a phenomena he knew nothing about how to manage

He goes back to the kitchen and busies  his hands with gnocchi, in part because he had nothing better to do, and in part because he thought he might freak out if he didn’t. Silly him for thinking the concentration on the physical could do anything to silence his mental. At first he wondered if it might be the virus, and that was a terrifying thought all on its own. y/n had made it clear from the jump that their celebrity would not be an excuse for privilege in the face of death caused by oppression. They had not been tested for the virus when half the industry had without symptoms. Even in Canada where healthcare was far better, she was more concerned with donating to others. But she wasn’t exactly showing symptoms, and she didn’t really seem sick. More than anything he couldn’t shake the loneliness in her eyes. Like he could hug her for hours and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. That wasn’t a virus. That was something else.

So as the fear of the virus hitting the love of his life ebbed, what remained in its place was a sort of terror about the unknown. And he tried to be positive, tried to imagine the next morning when she’d come bounding down the stairs singing a song beneath her breath and looking for eggs for breakfast. However, Shawn couldn’t shake the idea that his wife was experiencing something new entirely, something that she herself may have never navigated before. And he simply may have no idea how to help her out of it. He was scared shitless.

*Three Days Later*

She hasn’t left the room once. In the middle of day two he had insisted on taking her temperature. She wasn’t even ninety-eight degrees. No dry cough. No trouble breathing or wheezing or anything. She was physically fine in the technical sense. But God was she far from fine. On the third day, he was so terrified he didn’t know what to do. So, he reached for the blanket and tried to wiggle it away from her. The result was catastrophic. She just absolutely fell apart. She cried and cried and cried until her cheeks were soggy, until her eyes were red, and all she could do was stare at him in helplessness.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me?” She cried at him.

He had never seen her so quiet. So timid. So dull. It was everything that she wasn’t, and it shook him to his very core.

“Please. Y/n I love you so much. Y--You’re scaring me, sweetheart. I just want to help. You’ve been lying in bed for three days now and I’m trying to help. Just tell me what you need, and I’ll fix it okay? I need you to tell me what’s happening.”  

She shook her head and rolled onto her back, legs curled awkwardly beneath themselves. He sees a tear pool on the apple of her cheek and then spill over and down the side of the face he hadn’t kissed in days.

“Don’t you understand? You can’t fix it. They’re dying Shawn. They--they’re gonna die.”

“Who’s gonna die?”

Her face crumpled then and she covered her mouth as a sob let loose that cracked into his chest and tore open his own heart.

“All of those people. Who can’t afford to stay home from the restaurants, from the grocery stores. The people who got fired and can’t afford rent. The people without homes, without safety nets. They’re gonna die. Because we allowed them to. Because we created a system that needs their death to remain sustainable. They’re gonna die. And then we’re gonna die. And it’s all gonna be for nothing. The protesting, the political statements in interviews, the canvassing door to door. It will mean nothing under eradication.”

This wasn’t pessimism under a patriarchal, racist system. This wasn’t y/n on her soap box complaining about the white man, or teaching him about the intersections of oppression. This was something different entirely. This was like watching the love of his life suffocate. He was literally watching her worry herself into a frenzy.

“Y/n, you have to breathe. You’re not breathing.” He mumbled crawling deeper into the bed to get beside her.

She shook her head vigorously back and forth, the tears pooling into puddles on their bed.

“I can’t--I can’t see my way out of it. It’s like... it’s crushing me from above and below. Like I’m sandwiched between it. T--there’s no light. There’s nothing.”

“Okay, okay just uh--give me a second to think...Can I lie down next to you?”

She shrugged more than nodded, but he took it for what it was and crawled in next to her. His thumb wiped at her cheeks, chasing away the tears as she worked to breathe. Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. And all he could do was reach out and place his hand slowly over her heart, his lips falling to her ear. Everything was measured, intentional, because he didn’t want to scare her anymore.

“I used to have panic attacks as a kid. Listen to the way that I breathe. Try to match it. Don’t focus on getting it right, just do your best. I’m right here, okay?” He whispered. “Your body knows how to breathe. You just have to remember.”

He took a few deep breaths, slowly in and out against her ear. Her heart was hammering, and he knew that before they addressed the existential dread, he needed to calm her heart down. He was glad that in that moment her hand wasn’t on his chest, because she might feel the way that his heart beat just as fast. He was terrified, not of her, but for her. He knew this was the “in sickness and health” part of the deal, and more than anything he just wanted to be good to her. He didn’t want to see her suffer. So despite the crippling fear of getting it wrong, of saying the wrong thing, he had to try. He’d do anything for her.

“Find something to focus on.” He offered still breathing in and out in exaggerated slowness. “I--It can be the ceiling, or anything really as long as it’s not moving. Sometimes it helps. You’re doing good. It’s gonna be okay, babe.”

At first she just flounders. Y/n was a woman good at most things with an ease and precision that could make him feel insecure at times. In this moment though she just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it no matter what she did. Every moment she didn’t succeed only seemed to ramp her heart rate up further.

When she chooses to look at him, to use him to focus, he almost cries. But instead he smiles at her. And he keeps breathing with her. And slowly, slowly, slowly, she floats back down to him. And she sort of just collapses on his chest in a mangled heap. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s okay.” He whispered kissing at her hair. “I’m right here, my love.”

And she falls asleep again there. With him holding her. He’d rather it be that way. He can only hopes she feels the same

***

He puts out a call on instagram and twitter. He doesn’t name names, but he asks some of his friends if they were experiencing anything like y/n, or if they knew how to help loved ones who were. The next day, he lets her stay in bed just because it breaks his heart when she cries. And also in the hope that he could do a little digging to get her some help.

He’s on an instagram live playing guitar and staring off into space with a blunt in his mouth when the chat starts going crazy.

“What’s going on guys?” He asked, reaching to scroll past the words.

He just kept seeing the words GAGA over and over again. In hindsight it may have been obvious, but he was a bit of a dumbass...and stoned.

“Gaga? What does that stand for? Is that some sort of internet slang I’m already too old to understand?”

He pulled the phone closer to his face and finally saw someone who said: No dumbass. Lady Gaga is in the chat and she wants to speak with you. Woops.

“Holy shit.”

It takes him honest to god ten minutes to figure out how to get her into the video. His fans make no qualms about laughing at him while he does it either. Eventually she’s there and it’s like the first human connection he’s had in days. And he can’t quite explain it but there’s a part of him that wants to cry.

“Hello Lady! I hear you like to be called Lady, is that okay?” He asked.

She smiled through the tiny image on the screen and gave a slight nod.

“Lady is perfectly fine. Your wife calls me Lady all the time...Actually she likes to call me lil Lady. She’s the only one who gets to call me that though.”

“Sounds like her. I’ll stick to Lady then. H--How are you doing right now? Thank you for joining me here.”

“Of course, of course. You know I saw what you posted on twitter the other day and I’ve just been thinking about it so much. I wanted to give it some genuine thougth before I responded, and then I saw you were going live, so I thought I’d give it a shot.” She explained. “It’s hard isn’t it? I’m healthy and I’m safe and I can take care of my family, so I’ve got nothing to worry about. But uh people are dying. And people don’t have the same resources we have, so I just kind of feel like a piece of shit most days. Like I gotta do something ya know?”

He takes a breath so deep it stuns him a little. His fingers still on the guitar and he just looks up at the ceiling and nods. She gets it. Maybe better than he does. Definitely better than he does.

“I do. My uh--y/n. She said the other day that it’s like we allowed it to happen. We as in society, the big ‘we’. And we did in a way. It’s in who we vote into office, who we confront about their world views, who we question and who we don’t. It kind of feels like a culmination of what a lot of us have been saying for a long time. And nobody would listen. Nobody would change. And so this is the card we’ve been dealt.” He sighed. “But you’re right. It’s not gonna be me, or you, or any of the assholes in office. I--It’s gonna be the people we were fighting alongside the whole time. The people without a fanbase, or the ability to write a check. So what the fuck do we do?”

It’s the wildest thing. He’s talking to Lady Gaga, but she’s got no make up on and she’s sitting cuddled up on her couch in glasses. And he’s at home in his studio. The only place where he makes sense. And they’re talking through the hurt together. It’s a collective hurt that seems to permeate through the screen. But at least they can wrestle with it together.

“I think we have to be willing to put ourselves on the line. We got to stand up and offer what we can, because it’ll always be more. And not like the bullshit sing a longs ya know? Like dollars, and pushing of the political agendas, and more dollars. That’s only way we get out of this, all of us, together.”

She’s kind of a genius. The way she spoke reminded him of y/n and the way she would talk sometimes. It was the kind of way of speaking that made you know she could change the world. And it only hurt his heart all the more that she was in such a space.

“Can I ask you a mental health question?”

“Oh of course?”

“I know that you’ve been open with your own experience andI guess I was just wondering… well first how you’re doing in this moment? And then I have someone close to me who’s really struggling under the weight of all of these things we’re talking about. And I don’t really know how to help them, but I really want to.”

She took him seriously which was nice and listened empathetically in a way that didn’t make him feel so alone.

“Absolutely. You know it’s--it’s hard to get out of bed some days. And some days I don’t. For me personally, channeling my energy towards finding funding and aid for people has been helpful. I’m an italian girl so I want to fix shit immediately ya know?” She giggled. “So I’m doing okay today, and I’ve learned to be happy with where I’m at, to try not to push myself towards something I don’t have. Is your loved one okay?”

He could feel the part of himself that was being pulled towards the stairs to get to her. He could still remember the whine she let out when he asked her if she wanted to shower that day. His heart hurt for her and because of her, as it belonged to her.

He shook his head softly and she frowned back at him.

“She--They haven’t gotten out of bed in four days now. N--not really eating. Cries a lot, and they’re really not a big crier. I just wanna make it better, but I guess I don’t know how.” He mumbled. “It’s hard to tell ‘em it’s gonna be better when it feels like that might never happen ya know?”

She nods and suddenly it’s like a huge therapy session for him, which only makes him feel a bit more like a piece of shit. But he’d do anything if it meant she felt better.

“Let me guess. You tried giving her space? Thought maybe she’d snap out of it?”

He gets the feeling she knows exactly who he’s talking about it and the pretenses sort of melt away.

“Yea. It’s kind of driving me crazy though. We’re not really the distance type.”

“Of course.” She smiled. “I can’t really explain what’s going on in her head. It’s different for everybody. What I can offer is only a suggestion if what’s currently happening isn’t working. Just go lie next to her. It might not be today. It might not be this week, but there are moments in and out of it--kinda like a fog? And in those moments of clarity, Shawn? There is nothing worse than finding yourself alone. I can promise you that.”

He nods, hanging onto every word that she speaks. In all honesty the genius of women had never gone unnoticed to him. It was a part of what always made him realise what an idiot his father was.

“Look, still get up. Work out. Shower. Eat. But when you can...be there. And let me know if that helps. In the meantime I think I’ve got a bit of an idea, would you mind if I sent you something?”

“Absolutely. Send away.”

The second the livestream ends he makes his way upstairs. She’s sat on his side of the bed this time, which makes him wonder what’s going on in her head. It’s clear that she’s awake, so he climbs in slowly after her. But this time he doesn’t press, doesn’t beg, doesn’t coax. He simply goes back to plucking at the strings of his guitar. And the reality is that nothing happens. He honestly doesn’t know if he helps even in the slightest. But he’s there. And that’s all that he could offer. He just hoped it was enough.

***

Day six she snuggles into his side for the entirety of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She’s asleep, but it’s a win.

Day seven she lets him open the curtains for a while.

Day eight she asks him if they can take a bath. He gets a little overzealous. Pulls out the bubbles and the bath salts and the bath bombs. In the end, when she takes her bonnet off for the first time, her curls are flattened and stuck together. He asks if he can wash it for her. She pauses but tells him she’s afraid she won’t be able to get out of bed again to rinse out a deep condition. So they make a deal to sit in the tub long enough for the conditioner to penetrate, and then he rinses it for her. She spends a long time with her head pressed against his chest, bubbles popping into thin air against their skin.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, tears welling up again. “‘M so sorry.”

“Shhh. I love you more than life. I’d do this every day. I don’t need an apology okay?”

The bath drains her. He gets her into a robe and she crawls immediately back into bed. There’s no time to detangle her hair for her. She goes to sleep and lets her curls mat against the pillow. He doesn’t stop her.

Day nine she comes downstairs for lunch. He makes her soup. She finds an old loaf of bread and drizzles olive oil over it before broiling it. It’s the first cooking she’s done in days and he beams with pride, he’s sure of it. They get her hair detangled together. She cries at the puff of hair that comes from the comb. He holds her for a while and then helps her back up the stairs.

Day ten is a movie on the couch.

Day eleven she walks around outside with him.

It sometimes feels like the tiniest of steps, but every day seems to get a little bit better. She cries and sleeps and still seems to think herself into a frenzy, and yet he gets to see her slowly come back to herself. It’s not until two full weeks after the first incident that she finally talks to him about any of it.

He was in the bathroom shaving and she walked in on socked feet wearing one of his sweatshirts and apparently nothing else. He could still only beam at her like crazy. It was practically in his DNA to be smitten by that woman.

“Hi.” She whispered to him in the mirror.

“Hello. I like your sweatshirt by the way.”

She smiled. The first smile he’d seen in weeks. And it drove him giddy. So giddy he slipped and cut himself like an idiot.

“Ah shit.” He mumbled touching at the cut.

“Are you alright?” She asked him and reached on her toes to touch his shoulders.

He couldn’t quite explain the intimacy her touch brought. Or how starved he’d felt of the feeling. Truly the thought had never occurred to him in the past few weeks. Despite their active and frankly adventerous sex-life, a day hadn’t gone by when he thought about anything but her wellbeing. So why, oh why was he ready to fall to his knees and cry for her off the touch of a goddamn shoulder?

He nodded shakily. “Just a knick, sweetheart. You look...you seem--you know? Good today. Better than the past few days.”

“Yea I--I feel different. Good different.”

“Yea?”

She peered up at him. “Yea. But maybe I should let you finish up here. I could make us some eggs and toast maybe? I--I don’t think I’m ready for much else.”

“Eggs and toast sound great. I’ll be right down.”

“Okay.”

She nodded to herself like she needed the confirmation that she could do it before turning on her heel.

“Y/n?”

“Yea?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

***

“I still don’t really know what happened. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

He reached for the hand not occupied with playing with her eggs and squeezed.

“Did you ever have depression or anxiety before? Maybe to a lesser degree?”

Y/n snorted. “Depression? Anxiety? In my mother’s household? I love her dearly but black mothers aren’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat to therapy. My mother had one goal, to keep a roof over my head, and she didn’t make room for much else. We didn’t have time to be sad.”

He frowned. “Darling that sounds...honestly kind of terrible.”

“Maybe. But it’s the reality I grew up in. Depression has always been a white folks thing.”

“Well last I checked depression doesn’t know color, babe. And I think the fact that you lied in bed for two weeks means that there’s something bigger at play here.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. And he knew she was back by the way that eyebrow told him every word that would come out of her mouth before she said it.

“You know you’ve gotten bolder since you married me? I don’t like it.” She whined.

He chuckled softly and reached to push her dish out of reach. She’d taken to playing with the leftover scraps so that she didn’t have to look him in the eye, but he desperately needed her attention.

“If anything I’ve only fallen more in love with you. And I just wanna understand. I wanna help. If that means getting you to understand that you, my beautiful, intelligent wife are not immune to depression and anxiety, then I’m sorry we’ll simply have to work through it. I’m only interested in what’s best for you, you know that.”

She bit her lip and squeezed his hands, intertwining their fingers across the table. Her mouth dips into a frown as she finally reflects on her emotions.

“I just kept thinking about it. I mean constantly. I--I couldn’t stop. And it...made me sadder than I’ve ever been in my life.” She whispered. “Even now I’m imagining bodies. When I close my eyes that’s what I see. And I don’t know their names, I don’t know their faces, but I can feel their pain. And it is absolutely insufferable. It’s like this big, huge brick. And I can’t move it. I can’t get rid of it. It’s just there. All the fucking time.”

“That sounds terrifying baby.” He sighed holding onto her tighter. “I--I’m so sorry that you’re feeling this way.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do? See a therapist in the middle of a pandemic? Whine about my sadness while we live in a mansion and fucking cook all day while healthcare frontliners are pulling twenty-four hour shifts, and people can’t afford their bills? I don’t do this, Shawn. This isn’t me.” She sniffled.

He let go of her hands and wiped at her tears instead. This felt like a moment best spent with her cheeks in his palms anyway.

“Hey, having money doesn’t mean you don’t get to feel. In fact I think you’re the person who taught me that. What you’re feeling right now is nothing less than a product of your empathy and your willingness to care for people you’ve never even met. You need to be fucking kinder to yourself, do you hear me? It’s my wife you’re talking about.” He smiled. “We’ll get you whatever you need. But we will get it, and you don’t need to feel bad about that. I promised you the world didn’t I?”

She sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself, always feeling quite silly when he held her face that way. It’s why he did it.

“I do remember something to that effect.” she said dryly.

“Good. Now perhaps I could kiss you? It’s been quite a while for me.”

“It has...You may proceed.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” He chuckled and kissed her silly at the dining room table. “Hey I think I have an idea to balance how you’re feeling and still get you the help that you need.”

“Oh god. Every time you have an idea it always ends up with me having a damn heart attack.”

“I’ll keep the paddles near by.”

“Not funny!”

***

*y/n’s point of view*

Leave it to Lady Gaga to try and save the world. And leave it to her to reach out to Shawn and ask for your help when you couldn’t get out of bed. Women really do it all.

She called on a Sunday. She said she was sick of the instalives and the donation swipe up buttons and the rally cries that we were all in the same boat. She wanted to use her privilege, her money, and her big ass mouth to really get some change made. But she couldn’t do it alone. She had three people helping her thus far and they’d raised twenty million already. But, the reality was that the pandemic was disproportionately impacting black and brown bodies. If the thought of the pain and the death was really getting to you, this was essentially your shot to make some good out of it.

So, you went all out. Tyler Perry gave ten million up front. Normani donated five hundred thousand. Michael B. Jordan gave a million. Chadwick added two. Oprah heard Tyler gave ten so she gave fifteen. The messaging was simple. Our people are hurting, it’s our responsibility to help the very communities that no one else will. Besides, Shawn and you were putting up another ten million yourselves. Excuses were minimal.

Every one of your artists joined in on the One World: Together at Home, including the big man himself with the piano you bought him for your anniversary. It really was an amazing experience. That didn’t mean you were fixed though. Usually work in the midst of anything going on in your life was your MO, but you couldn’t manage to kick this one. There were still days where you just needed to sleep and sleep and try to forget the world was in turmoil. And the hardest part is seeing him lean over to your side of the best and whisper in your ear asking if there was anything he could do. There was so rarely anything he could do.

There’s a therapist. Black. Female. Located in Toronto but she was raised in Alabama. Shawn finds her when you don’t get out of bed again. It’s the most stern your husband had ever been with you, and even that was full of devastatingly warm gooiness.

“You need to talk to someone. And I understand that it can’t be me. I understand it needs to be someone who gets it and who can connect with you in all the ways that you’re hurting right now. So we’ll set up the zoom calls on the tv in your office, you can close the door; we never even have to talk about what goes on during your sessions. But, baby I...I can’t watch you just be in pain like this. Not anymore, okay? So you’re going to therapy dammit, do you hear me?”

And that’s the story of how you got a therapist for the first time in your life. Men. So dramatic.

***

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[truckaccidentattorneylaw]

What Are The Liable Parties In Truck Accidents?

truck-accident cause some of the most catastrophic injuries and damage to property based on the magnitude of the impact associated with collisions. Moreover, accident victims are bound to deal with fatalities and other irreversible consequences after the incident. Therefore, the accident victim or the deceased’s survivors must establish the truck accident’s liable party. However, the investigation and case filing process can become tasking for the involved parties, primarily if they act without an attorney’s help. Most of the challenges you may face during the preparation process are areas of expertise for a truck accident injury lawyer, meaning that he/she can ease the burden of determining liable parties and proceeding with the compensatory suit.

On top of finding an attorney, it is crucial to establish that he/she is conversant with your case and has experience handling similar matters. At the Truck Accident Injury Attorney Law Firm, we provide professional legal services for all truck accident victims. Our team is available to provide personal injury services to clients throughout California for the best chances of receiving rightful compensation for the damages. Additionally, you will benefit from the personalized approach we include when providing our clients’ services, as we focus on putting your needs first.

Understanding How Liability Arises in Truck Accidents

truck accident case elements Like other vehicles, trucks and their operators should function under the California Penal Code’s traffic regulations to promote a safe driving environment. Hence, any activities or choices that motorists make will play a significant role in causing truck collisions. Similarly, other parties whose primary focus is on the manufacturing and maintaining trucks, roads, and other vital elements of the truck structure should conduct their duties with care. A failure to deliver standard products or make the right repairs may cause severe incidents involving truck collisions. Hence, each party should operate under the guiding principles of operation to uphold high standards of care.

Liable Parties in a Truck Accident Case

As an accident victim seeking compensation after a truck collision, you will have to determine the liable party in the case. Choosing the right parties to include as defendants in the civil suit is pivotal to the matter’s success, as you should prove the party's civil liability. Therefore, you want to have the right party answerable to your claims so that your truck accident injury lawyer can establish all the necessary elements required in law. In civil suits concerning personal injury compensation, most points of liability arise in the tort of negligence. When your lawyer files claims under the tort, he/she must determine that the liable party engaged in all four elements of negligence for the judge to award damages. Thus, your attorney will guide you through the four factors that must be present in a negligence claim. They are:

* Establishing a duty of care that law imposes on the liable party

* Determining that the liable party breached the responsibility to take care

* Demonstrating the causation between the breach of care and the accident outcome

* Proving the damages you suffered after the accident

It is necessary to have all four elements in mind even as you choose the appropriate liable party for your accident, as you will have to produce sufficient evidence to support your claims against them.

Truck accidents occur under varying circumstances, meaning that different cases include varying liable parties. Some of the possible parties include:

The Truck Driver

Naturally, most aggrieved accident victims choose to hold the truck driver responsible for the incident, as he/she is in direct control of the vehicle. As a result, you will have to prove that the driver engaged in gross negligence or direct violation of the law for an acceptable compensatory claim. The truck driver should undergo thorough training before taking on a job position, meaning that he/she should be aware of traffic regulations and expectations when handling the truck. For example, section 23152 of the California Vehicle Code prohibits motorists from driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol because of the foreseeable risks of drunk driving. Hence, if the driver in question was drunk or high when the incident occurs, he/she will be answerable to the claims you present in court.

Also, reckless driving is a severe fault that endangers multiple motorists, especially on highways. Some of the irresponsible practices that truck drivers should avoid include speeding in restricted areas, ignoring traffic lights, and overlapping other vehicles. Any truck accident that arises from a driver’s recklessness indicates a breach in the duty of care, meaning that the motorist should be answerable for the damages you suffered. However, the element of vicarious liability may affect the course of action against a negligent driver. Under the doctrine, if a driver is the employee of a larger company or truck owner, liability may shift to the employer. Nevertheless, vicarious liability only applies if the truck driver acted within the employment scope when the accident occurred.