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#next set either next week or the one after depending on if i do heritage sets in between lol
wartornrequiem · 2 years
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miw videos as movie posters (2009-2012) // miw appreciation post, pt. IV
[next] // credits: template
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bailey-writes · 4 years
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So You Want Your OC to be Jewish
So you’re writing a story and you want to make a Jewish character—great! I’m here to help. I always want more Jewish representation but I want good Jewish representation, so this is my attempt to make a guide to making a Jewish character. What are my credentials? I’m Jewish and have been my whole life. Obligatory disclaimer that this is by no means comprehensive, I don’t know everything, all Jews are different, and this is based on my experiences as an American Jew so I have no idea, what, if any, of this applies to non-American Jews. 
If there’s anything you want me to make a post going more into detail about or if there’s anything I didn’t mention but you want to know please ask me! I hope this is helpful :) Warning, this is long.
Jew PSA
If you are Jewish you can use the word Jew(s), e.g. “She’s dating a Jew.” If you are not Jewish you cannot use the word Jew(s). This is not up for debate. Non-Jews calling us Jews has a negative connotation at best. Don’t do it and don’t have your characters do it.
Basics, Plus My Random Thoughts that Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else
A confusing enduring issue is, what is Judaism? It’s a religion, but some Jews aren’t religious; is it a race? A nationality? A culture? A heritage? The only constant is that we are seen as “other.” There’s a lot of debate, which makes it confusing to be Jewish and as such it’s common for Jews to struggle with their Jewish Identity. However many people agree that Jews are an ethnoreligious group, aka Judaism is a religion and an ethnicity.
Temple/Synagogue/Shul = Jewish place of worship. Shul is usually used for Orthodox synagogues.
Keeping kosher = following Jewish dietary rules: meat and dairy can’t be eaten together and you can’t eat pork or shellfish. Fish and eggs are pareve (aka neutral) and can be eaten with meat or dairy (but again not both at the same time.) When eating meat it has to be kosher meat (e.g. kosher Jews are allowed to eat chicken, but not all chicken is kosher. I know it’s kinda confusing I’m sorry.) Kosher products in stores will have symbols on them to identify them as kosher. If someone is kosher they’ll probably have separate sets of utensils/plates/cookware/etc. for meat and dairy
Shabbat/Shabbos/Sabbath = holy day of the week, day of rest, lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Depending on observance Jews might have Shabbat dinner, attend Shabbat services, or observe the day of rest in its entirety (making them shomer Shabbat)
Someone who is shomer Shabbat will refrain from any of the prohibited activities. These can easily be looked up but include: working, writing, handling money, cooking, and using technology.
Bat/Bar/B’nai Mitvzah = tradition where a Jewish boy/girl becomes a man/woman. Celebrated at 13-years-old for boys, 12- or 13-years-old for girls. Girls have Bat Mitzvahs (bat means daughter in Hebrew), boys have Bar Mitzvahs (bar means son in Hebrew) and twins or two or more people having one together have a B’nai Mitzvah. They will study for this for months and then help lead services and, depending on observance level, read from the Torah. The ceremony is often attended by family and friends and followed with a celebration of sorts (in America usually this means a brunch and/or party.)
Goy/gentile = non-Jew. These words are not slurs, they are literally just words. Plural of goy is goyim and is a Yiddish word, plural of gentile is gentiles.
Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew calendar, meaning that according to the current solar/Gregorian calendar the dates of our holidays are different each year.
Jewish law recognizes matrilineal inheritance. This means that Jewish law states your mother has to be Jewish for you to be Jewish. This is because of reasons from biblical times that I can explain if you wanna come ask, but as you can imagine is a bit outdated. While Orthodox Jews might embrace this idea and only consider someone Jewish if their mom is Jewish, many Jews are more flexible on the idea (and yes, this does cause tension between Orthodox Jews and other Jews at times.)
Judaism =/= Christianity
Some people think Judaism is just Christianity without Jesus (some people don’t even realize we don’t believe in/celebrate Jesus so newsflash, we don’t) and that’s just wrong. Yes both religions share the Old Testament, so they also share some history and beliefs, but the entire ideologies of the religions are different. In brief, they are similar in some ways but are not the same.
What seems to me to be the biggest difference is that Christianity (from what I understand) has a heavy focus on sins, more specifically repenting for/gaining forgiveness for your sins. In Christianity you are born tainted by original sin. In Judaism we believe everyone is born pure and free from sin and everyone is made in God’s image. Judaism has some concept of sin, but doesn’t focus on them and instead focuses on performing Mitzvot (plural, singular form is mitzvah. Direct translation is “commandment” but basically means good deed or act of kindness. It also relates to the commandments, so following the commandments is also performing mitzvot.) Examples of mitzvot include anything from saying a prayer or lighting Shabbat candles to helping a stranger or donating to charity (called tzedakah). One of the main tenets of Judaism is tikkun olam, which directly translates to “repair the world” and means exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of focusing on being forgiven for doing bad Judaism focuses on doing good. The only day we focus on past wrongdoings is Yom Kippur, one of our most holy holidays, discussed below.
Holidays
Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year, occurs around September and lasts for two days, though Reform Jews often only celebrate the first day. Day of happiness and joy, celebrated by eating sweet things for a “sweet new year” (often apples dipped in honey) and circular challah to represent the end of one year and beginning of another. Also celebrated with services and blowing the shofar (rams horn.) Some spend the day in prayer and/or silent meditation. Possible greetings: chag sameach (happy holiday; can be said on almost any holiday), Shana Tovah, or happy new year (which is what Shana Tovah means, some people just say it in English.)
Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement. Occurs ten days after the start of Rosh Hashanah. One of if not the most solemn day for Jews, but also the most holy. The day is spent reflecting on yourself and any past wrongdoings and atoning. The day (sundown the night before to sundown the day of) is spent fasting, a physical way of atoning. We do this in hopes of being “written in the Book of Life” and starting the year with a clean slate. The shofar is blown at the end of the holiday. Most Jews will end the fast with a grand meal with family and friends. Most common greeting is “have an easy fast,” but happy new year is still appropriate.
Sukkot – Celebrates the harvest, occurs on the fifth day after Yom Kippur and lasts seven days. Celebrated by building a temporary hut outdoors called a sukkah and having meals inside it, as well as shaking palm fronds tied together (called a lulav) and holding a citrus called an etrog. Very fun and festive holiday. Possible greetings include chag sameach or Happy Sukkot.
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah – Some Jews (mostly Reform Jews and Jews living in Israel) combine both holidays into one day while some celebrate them as two separate days. Either way they occur immediately after Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret is similar but separate from Sukkot and features a prayer for rain; Sukkot is not mentioned in prayers and the lulav isn’t shaken but you do eat in the sukkah. Simchat Torah celebrates finishing reading the Torah, which we will then begin again the next day. It’s a festive holiday with dancing and fun. Some Temples will roll the entire Torah out and the children will run under it. Appropriate greeting for both would be chag sameach.
Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah are referred to as the High Holidays.
Chanukah – We all know about Chanukah, celebrating the reclaiming of the Second Temple and the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. The most represented Jewish Holiday there is. Unfortunately it’s one of the least significant holidays for us. Occurs around November or December and lasts eight days and nights. Celebrated by lighting candles in the Menorah each night with a prayer and kids usually get gifts each night. Also celebrated with spinning tops called dreidels, fried foods like doughnuts (sufganiyot in Hebrew; usually the jelly filled ones) and potato pancakes called latkes. Greetings: happy Chanukah or chag sameach.
Tu B’Shevat – Birthday of the trees, basically Jewish Arbor Day. Minor but fun holiday, sometimes celebrated by planting trees. Occurs around January or February.
Purim – Celebrates how Queen Esther of Persia defeated Haman and saved her people, the Jews. Occurs in Spring. Festive holiday traditionally celebrated by dressing in costumes, eating sweets, and giving tzedakah (it’s also technically commanded you get drunk so woohoo!) Whenever Haman’s name is mentioned you make a lot of noise, booing and using noisemakers called groggers. Greetings: happy Purim, chag Purim, or chag sameach.
Passover/Pesach – Celebrates the Jews being freed from slavery in Egypt. Occurs in Spring and lasts eight days. The first two nights (some only celebrate the first night) are celebrated with seder, a ritual meal with certain foods, practices, prayers, and readings from a book called the Haggadah and often attended by family and friends. Most famous prayer/song of the holiday is the four questions, which ask why that night is different from all other nights and is traditionally sung by the youngest child at the seder. The entire holiday is spent not eating certain foods, mostly grain or flour (the food restrictions are complicated and differ based on denomination so look it up or ask a Jew.) We eat a lot of matzah during Pesach, which is like a cracker kinda. I personally hate it but some people actually like it. Greetings: happy Passover, chag pesach, or chag sameach.
Tisha B’Av – Anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. Occurs in Summer. Very sad, solemn day. Some celebrate by fasting from sunrise to sunset. Not the most widely celebrated holiday. Some also commemorate the Holocaust (also called the Shoah) on this day as it was the destruction of a figurative temple.
Denominations
There are a bunch of denominations in Judaism, we’ll go into it briefly.
Religious denominations:
Reform/Reformed: This is the least religiously observant level. Often Reform Jews don’t keep kosher or observe Shabbat, their services on Shabbat will use instruments. Reform Jews probably attend services for the high holidays at the very least and probably had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah. Might say they consider themselves more culturally Jewish. Their Temple/Synagogue will be the most “liberal”—aka have more female/diverse Rabbis and a more diverse congregation. I’m Reform and my Temple’s lead Rabbi is a woman and we used to have a Rabbi who’s a queer single mother.
Conservative: More religiously observant and more generally traditional. Might keep kosher or observe Shabbat, but not necessarily. Services likely won’t use instruments (not supposed to play instruments on Shabbat). Most likely had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, but girls might not read from the Torah, though this depends on the congregation. They do allow female Rabbis, but in my experience it’s less common.
Modern Orthodox: Very religiously observant but also embrace modern society. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot (singular=kippah) and tzitzit under their shirts. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married), most likely with a wig, and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Parents will likely have jobs. Might have larger families (aka more children) but might not. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and female Rabbis are very rare. Children will most likely attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.
note: there are some people who fall somewhere between modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, or between any two denominations really. as you can imagine people don’t all practice the exact same way.
Ultra-Orthodox: Very religiously observant and not necessarily modern. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot or other head coverings and tzitzit under their shirts, and are also often seen wearing suits. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married) with a wig or scarf and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Men might have jobs but might instead focus on Jewish studies, while women most often focus on housework and child-rearing. Don’t believe in contraception (but this is kinda nuanced and depends). Will often have very large families because having children is a commandment and helps continue the Jewish people. Might be shomer negiah which means not touching members of the opposite sex aside from their spouse and some close family members. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and there won’t be female Rabbis. Children will attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.
Ethnic denominations (the different denominations do have some differences in practices and such but tbh I don’t know much about that so this is just the basics):
Ashkenazi: Jews that originate from Central/Eastern Europe. Yiddish, a combination of Hebrew and German, originated from and was spoken by Ashkenazim and while it’s a dying language it’s spoken among many Orthodox Jews and many Jews of all levels know/speak some Yiddish words and phrases. Majority of Jews worldwide are Ashkenazi.
Sephardi/Sephardic: Jews that originate from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southeastern Europe. Ladino, a combination of Old Spanish and Hebrew, originated from and was spoken by Sephardim. It is also a dying language but is still spoken by some Sephardim. After Ashkenazi most of the world’s Jews are Sephardic.
Mizrahi: Jews that originate from the Middle East and North Africa.
Ethiopian Jews: Community of Jews that lived in Ethiopia for over 1,000 years, though most have immigrated to Israel by now.
Stereotypes/Tropes/Controversies/Etc.
There are so many Jewish stereotypes and shit and I ask you to please be mindful of them. Stereotypes do exist for a reason, so some people will fit stereotypes. This means your character might fit one or two; don’t make them fit all of them. Please. Stereotypes to keep in mind (and steer away from) include:
All Jews are rich.
All Jews are greedy.
All Jews are cheap/frugal.
All Jews are [insert job here]. We’ll go into this more below.
All Jews hate Christians/Muslims/etc.
All Jews are white. 
First of all Ethiopian and Mizrahi Jews exist, many Sephardi are Hispanic, and today with intermarriage and everything this just isn’t true.
All Jews have the same physical features: large and/or hooked nose, beady eyes, droopy eyelids, red hair (this is an old stereotype I didn’t really know existed), curly hair.
Many Jews do have somewhat large noses and curly hair. I’m not saying you can’t give these features to your characters, but I am saying to be careful and don’t go overboard. And don’t give all of your Jewish characters these features. As a side note, it is common at least among American Jews that girls get nose jobs. Not all, but some.
Jews are secretly world elite/control the world/are lizard people/new world order/ any of this stuff. 
STAY AWAY FROM. DO NOT DO THIS OR ANYTHING LIKE THIS. If you have a character that’s part lizard, do not make them Jewish. If you have a character that’s part of a secret group that controls the entire world, do not make them Jewish.
Jews have horns. If you have characters with horns please don’t make them Jewish.
Jews killed Jesus.
The blood libel. Ew. No.
The blood libel is an antisemitic accusation/idea/concept that back in the day Jews would murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals and sometimes even for consumption (did I mention gross?) Not only did this just not happen, but it’s actually against Jewish law to murder, sacrifice, or consume blood. Yes these accusations really happened and it became a main reason for persecution of Jews. And some people still believe this shit.
Jews caused The Plague.
The reason this conspiracy exists is because many Jews didn’t get The Plague and the goyim thought that meant it was because the Jews caused it/cursed them. The real reason Jews didn’t get it is because ritual hand-washing and good hygiene kept them from getting it. Sorry that we bathe.
Jewish mother stereotype.
Ok, listen. I know stereotypes are mostly a bad thing but I have to admit the Jewish mother stereotype is not far off. Jewish moms do tend to be chatty and a little nagging, are often very involved in their children’s lives, and they are often trying to feed everyone (although they don’t all cook, my mom hates cooking.) They also tend to be big worriers, mostly worrying about their family/loved ones. They also tend to know everyone somehow. A twenty minute trip to the grocery store can turn into an hour or two long trip because she’ll chat with all the people she runs into.
Jewish-American Princess (JAP) ((I know calling Japanese people Japs is offensive. Jews will call girls JAPs, but with a completely different meaning. If that’s still offensive I am sorry, but just know it happens.))
This is the stereotype that portrays Jewish girls/women as spoiled brats basically. They will be pampered and materialistic. Do these girls exist? Definitely. I still recommend steering away from this stereotype.
Names
Listen. Listen. There are some names that Jews just won’t have. I won’t speak in definites because there are always exceptions but you’ll rarely find a Jew named Trinity or Grace or Faith or any form of Chris/Christopher/Christina etc. Biblical names from the Old Testament? Absolutely Jews will have those names they’re actually very common.
I’m in a Jewish Sorority. My pledge class of ~70 girls had five Rebeccas and four Sarahs. Surprisingly only one Rachel though.
When it comes to last names I have two thoughts that might seem contradictory but hear me out: a) give your Jewish OC’s Jewish surnames, b) don’t give your Jewish OC’s the most Jewish surname to ever exist.
By this I mean I would much rather see a character named Sarah Cohen or Aaron Levine than Rachel Smith. Just that little bit of recognition makes a happy exclamation point appear over my head, plus it can be a good way to hint to readers that your OC is Jewish.
On the other hand, please don’t use the most stereotypical Jewish names you’ve ever heard. If you have five Jewish OCs and one of them is Isaac Goldstein then fine. If Isaac Goldstein is your only Jewish OC I might get a little peeved. There are tons of common Jewish surnames that are recognizable and easy to look up, so don’t revert to the first three that come to mind. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it yucky, for lack of a better word.
Jobs
We all know there are certain jobs that are stereotypical for Jews to have. We’re talking lawyer, dentist, doctor, banker type stuff. To an extent these stereotypes exist for a reason, many Jews go into those careers. Do not make these the only careers your Jewish OCs have. Stereotypes might have reasoning behind them but it doesn’t mean they aren’t harmful. If you have multiple Jewish OCs some of them can have these careers, but not all of them. I do know a lot of Jewish lawyers, dentists, and doctors. I also know accountants, people involved in businesses (“mom, what does Brad do?” “he’s a businessman” sometimes there just aren’t more specific words), people involved in real estate. I don’t actually know any bankers personally, and with money and stuff being one of the most common and harmful Jewish stereotypes I would suggest steering away from that.
These are common fields for Jews, but Jews can have literally any job. Please feel free to get creative. And if you have more than one Jewish OC you can think about making one of them a Rabbi, but DON’T do this if they’re the only Jewish OC. Please.
Yiddish
So I mentioned Yiddish earlier. Like I already said, it’s not a very widely used language anymore but there are some words and phrases that are still used by a lot of Jews (in America at least.) Here’s a list that is absolutely not comprehensive:
Oy vey = oh no
Shvitzing = sweating (but not just a little bit. Shvitzing is like SWEATING)
Kvetch/kvetching = whine/whining or complain/complaining
Mazel tov = congratulations; this is the same in Yiddish and Hebrew
Chutzpah = nerve or gall (e.g. “He’s got a lot of chutzpah for breaking up over text like that”)
Kismet = fate; I just learned this is Yiddish
Bubbe and Zayde = grandma and grandpa
Schelp/schlepping = drag/dragging, can also mean carry or move (e.g. “I had to schlep the bag all around town” doesn’t mean they literally dragged it)
Schmutz = dirt or something dirty (e.g. “you have schmutz on your face”)
Schmatta = literally means rag but can be used to refer to ratty blankets or clothes
Plotz = collapse (usually used in the sense of “I’m so tired I might plotz” or “she’s gonna be so excited she’s gonna plotz”)
Schmuck/shmendrick = both mean more or less the same, a jerk or obnoxious person
Shtick = gimmick, routine, or act (can be used like (“I don’t like that comedian’s shtick” or “he always makes himself the center of attention it’s his shtick”)
Spiel = long speech, story, or rant
There’s so many more so look them up and think about using them, but don’t overdo it. A Jewish person isn’t gonna use a Yiddish word in every sentence (or even every day or every few days.)
Israel
In my community at least it’s very common that by the time your college-aged that you’ll have been to Israel at least once.
Israel is a controversial topic within the Jewish community and in the world. It’s sensitive and complex. I really, really suggest not getting into it. Just don’t bring it up because no matter what you say someone will be unhappy. Just don’t do it.
Ashkenazi Disorders
Ashkenazi Jews have some sucky genes (I’m Ashkenazi so I can say this, you cannot.) These sucky genes cause certain disorders to be more prevalent for us. Children only get the disorder if both parents are carriers of the disorder, so Jews usually get genetic testing done before having children. If both parents are carriers the risk of the child getting the disorder is high, so parents might reconsider or have some indecisiveness/fear. Some of these are:
Tay-Sachs
Cystic Fibrosis
Canavan Disease
Familial Dysautonomia
Gaucher Disease
Spinal Muscular Atrophy  
Fanconi Anemia
Mucolipidosis IV
Niemann-Pick Disease
Torsion Dystonia
Bloom Syndrome
Ashkenazi Jews also have a high prevalence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women and increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer in men.
Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Lactose Intolerance are also very prevalent
In a dorm of like 40 Jews, six of them had Crohn’s.
Ways to Show Your OC is Jewish
Wears Jewish jewelry, e.g. Star of David (also called Jewish Star and Magen David), Chai symbol (means life), jewelry with Sh’ma prayer, or hamsa (but beware this symbol is used outside of Judaism).
Mentions their temple, their Rabbi, having a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, going to Hebrew School, Shabbat, or a holiday coming up.
Have someone ask them a question about Judaism.
Have someone notice they have a mezuzah on their door. 
Most Jews will have a mezuzah on the doorframe of the front door of their house/apartment, but they could even have one for their dorm room or whatever. It’s traditional to kiss your hand then touch the mezuzah when walking through the door, but most Jews don’t do this every time, at least not most Reform or Conservative Jews.
Have them call out antisemitism if you’re feeling spicy
The end! I hope this helped and if you have any questions my ask box is always open!
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ninjakasuga · 4 years
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Sonal Celebration: Day 5
Day 5 of the Sonic & Sally celebration hosted by @boundforfreedomsonsal and here is my contribution to the ‘Alternative Universe’ prompt, ENJOY!!
Alternative Universe:
[Author’s notes: Gonna be using the Reboot Archive-verse for this one; hopefully, you all will find it as good as my preSGW Archive-verse stuff. Minus one or two bits of altered history, there’s very little changed compared to my compulsion to exceedingly alter things in the preSGW timeline. Also, this one will push the PG-13 a bit (mostly due to constant nudity and implications), but I promise to keep it as tasteful as possible but the set up for this is too good to pass up.]
The first rays of sunlight managed to cut through the drawn white almost-see through curtains of the room. Small sunbeams touching a large bed in the middle of a moderately high-end hotel. The rays of light finally touched the face of a blue sleeping hedgehog, whose soft snoring slowly came to a halt as the light was enough to make his eyelid twitch and then finally open. The single eye narrowed before a hand reached from under the covers, and fumbled around at the nightstand, looking for something. Finding the object, a remote; a push of the button caused a thicker curtain to slowly draw close via a mechanical track system. Thus quashing the annoying light rays of the sun. Satisfied, Sonic placed the remote back on the nightstand and curled back into a comfortable position and tried to return to dreamland.
Yet a new sensation prevented sleep from returning to him. His sleepy brain at first had trouble deducing what was going on, he just knew his left ear felt wet- wait a minute. Blinking his eyes open, Sonic craned his head and glanced upward, finding a familiar chipmunk nibbling his ear gently. “Good morning Sal, must you do that every morning?” He softly grumbled in his greeting of the one sharing his bed.
The Princess softly giggled and merely began to ‘groom’ the fur around his ear. “I’m just indulging an innate urge native to my chipmunk and squirrel heritage.” Her playful tone oozed a mix of sass and snark, but also a tenderness only he and one other got to hear. “Is it wrong of me to love on or groom my boyfriend?”
With a sleepy yawn, Sonic managed a smile, “No, nothing wrong there, but can’t you do it when I’m not sleepy?”
The sassy Princess just smirked back, not backing down, and in retaliation, just held his ear between her teeth, causing him to shudder. “I can’t help it, it’s fun to tease you, plus it is almost noon.”
The blue hedgehog reached back his hand bumping her hip as he tried to reach for her fluffy tail but Sally angled her body so it was out of reach. “D-dirty pool Sal!” He squirmed as she started to chew on his ear again. “R-really dirty, didn’t you get enough lovin’ last night?”
Sally was not relenting and slid her arms around his chest, keeping him pinned as she held his very chewable and cute ear hostage. “I diiiiid, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just do this because I love you and I ca-aaaaaaaaaaaaaannn!!” She suddenly yelped and released his ear as she felt a hand grasp her fluffy tail and squeeze softly. Her yelp transforming into a partial moan as the hand continued squeezing and playfully toying with her fluffy appendage. “Aaah! N-Nicole?”
At her name, a third party in the bed slid up from her ‘hiding spot’ in the covers, appearing behind Sally. As if to mimic Sally, Nicole softly nipped at one of her ears, while still keeping a hand on her tail. “You rang Sally-sweetie? Sorry, but I saw you harassing my main Hog’ and I had to save him.” After a slight pause, she playfully added with a crooked smile. “Also this tail was wagging in my face, bad Princess. You know it makes Hedgehog’s and Lynx’s pounce Chipmunk’s.”
Pumping a fist, and now free of Sally’s nibbling, Sonic rolls onto his other side to face the two, smirking as he holds up his hand in the air. “Nicole my sweet cyber-lady gimme some love!”
“Always my main man’.” She happily returned the high five with a free hand, before their fingers latched together in a handhold.
Feigning hurt, Sally pouted with a quibble of her lip. “Et tu Nicole? I thought you were my girlfriend?”
Releasing Sally’s tail and bringing that arm around to tilt her chin, the Lynx leaned in to kiss her lips. “I am, but I’m also his girlfriend, and you were being a Princess bully.” The matter-of-fact way the line was delivered, made Sonic snicker and Sally roll her eyes.
“I am not a Princess bully, and I’ll remember this next time he picks on you.” Arms crossed, Sally huffed, but a quiver of her lip hinted she was being playful and barely held back snickering at her own BS.
After releasing Nicole’s hand, Sonic put that hand to his chest as he sat up in bed. “Moi? Pick on Nicole? For shame Sally, why would I do that? She’s still getting used to her bio-nanite body, I’d be cruel to use my advanced knowledge of pranking on her.”
Both females stared at him with raised eyebrows and expressions unique to each other, that spoke volumes of how much they did not believe him. After a few moments of staring, the trio breaks out into sputters and then full-blown laughter. As their laughter died down, the three gave each other a hug, a kiss and then climbed out of bed.
Stretching, Sonic picked up the remote and had the thick curtain drawn to let sunlight in and so they could see the view outside. As he started to do a few post-wake-up stretches his mind wandered a bit, musing on recent events. After the Dark Gaia/Planet Break incident had been dealt with; the United Federation and other agencies against Eggman, helped the Freedom Fighters tow the Freedom Stormer to a coastal city where a G.U.N. controlled harbor and shipyard were stationed. As a thank you, for their efforts in helping fix the planet and stop Dark Gaia; G.U.N. offered the use of the shipyard to repair the Freedom Stormer. In the meantime, they would be set up at a hotel, on the U.F. 's tab with meals comped on top. Rather generous but none of the Freedom Fighters saw a reason to turn down the offer.
Tails and Rotor often would go to the shipyard to continue repairs, either by themselves or with Nicole or in some cases, help from the shipyard staff depending on what part of the flying vessel was being worked on. For the two tech-savvy inventors repairing the Stormer WAS a vacation, especially as they could get parts to do upgrades they had been pondering installing for a time. Oh, they still took some time to relax at the resort, but they were very content working at their craft. 
Bunnie and Antoine decided to use the free time to have as they put it ‘extended honeymoon’ as their original one got cut short thanks to Eggman’s scheme of the week at the time. A sentiment everyone supported and so the two were spending most of this ‘mini-vacation’ by themselves for obvious reasons.
Big simply enjoyed being able to fish from the docks or the local beach. Give the big guy a chance to fulfill his pastime and he was content.
Amy went to visit her cousin who they found out was in the next town over. Some guy named Rob whose wife had just delivered their firstborn and Amy was keen to see the new baby. Cream and Cheese went with her, the young rabbit eager to see the newborn herself and enjoy the free time with one of her favorite people.
As for the three of them; well they would help with the Freedom Stormer repairs sometimes; especially Nicole as she would download herself back into the Stormer’s systems and help figure out what still needed fixing or simply help. Other times she would be helping Sally with her workload. 
Speaking of Sally, she did what Sally did best when she wasn’t helping with getting the Stormer up and running, she was multitasking. Updating her Father, the King on what was going on, hosting holo-calls with allied leaders to discuss how to deal with Eggman while he was licking his wounds from this recent defeat. While Sonic usually found the ‘diplomacy’ a snore-feast he had to admit he enjoyed seeing Sally fired up and showing she had the chops as future Queen. Heck, she’d been pushing for the alliances to all really start some ‘info campaign’ to make sure the world knew just how far Dr. Eggman went since he was behind the whole planet breaking apart. Some stuff about ‘weakening his supporters' faith in him’ and stuff about ‘getting those still apathetic to the cause to see what will happen if they don’t all unite to stop the Eggman Empire’, etc, etc.
As for Sonic himself, when he wasn’t running, or doing what little grunt work he was capable of with the ongoing Freedom Stormer repairs; he was enjoying some needed downtime with Sally and Nicole. Especially since the three of them were keeping their ‘more than friends’ relations on the mum. Looking back at the two women who were gathering their discarded clothing items, he felt his cheeks redden at how things changed last night. In a really nice way, but well after focusing on saving the world and not being a werehog at night anymore, Sonic had not given things getting more intimate a thought, and they didn’t even go all the way last night. Just a lot of touching, kissing, and sleeping together without pajamas.
Then again when you nearly die for the umpteenth time and given how ‘close’ this last adventure was; in a way, he understood the need for something more. Whether or not they might cross the ‘next threshold’ anytime soon he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to rush things. Some things were better taken the ‘slo-mo route’. Yet he doubted he would deny either of them if they sought more and everyone was in agreement. It was just one of those, see what may come situations with this three-way relationship.
Moving towards the window, he stared out at the lovely view facing the beach and a small stretch of beachside near the resort. The sun was up, and the world looked at peace, at least for the time being. One wouldn’t think the planet was in pieces last week. His smile slowly eased into a frown as a forlorn expression washed over his face as he recalled the ‘sacrifice’ made to fix everything. Okay maybe sacrifice was overkill, Chip wasn’t dead, he was just stuck inside the planet. Even with his assurances he could ‘feel and see’ them through the planet itself, it didn’t remove the sense of loss Sonic felt since the spirit returned to his duties. It hadn’t been that long Chip had been with them, but he left an impact and he’d become fond of the little guy.
“You gals think Chip’s okay? That he ain’t alone where he is?” He spoke suddenly, as he stared out the window. His words causing both Sally and Nicole to turn his way, their expressions almost mirroring Sonic’s as the loss of their friend hit them. Yet they each also carried concern for the blue hedgehog, since he was the one taking Chip’s return to the planet hardest. “I know he said he could, ‘feel’ through the world now that the Light and Dark Gaia were in balance and harmony was restored; that he wouldn’t be lonely like he was before; but… I worry he just said that to make it easier for us.”
He felt two pairs of arms wrap around him from behind, not an easy task with his quills, but Sally and Nicole seemed to have picked up the best way to go for a double hug without any quills jabbing into him. After a sigh exhaled from his throat, he rested a hand on each of theirs. “Sorry, don’t mean to be a downer, I just miss the little guy.”
Placing a kiss to his right cheek, Sally warmly nuzzled him as she craned her head so their eyes met. “It’s okay to feel that way Sonic, we all miss him in our own ways, and out of all of us you bonded to him the most.”
“You got him excited to see the world to understand the planet he was meant to protect and serve in his role. Not unlike how two certain someone’s did so for me.” Murmured Nicole as she rested her chin on Sonic’s shoulder, her fingers curling in his chest fur, a habit Sonic noticed that the lynx had picked up. “You inspired him to be the best he could, to find the courage inside he felt he lacked. Take it from me Sonic, even if he’s stuck within the planet, he knows he’s not alone and that he has you, and the rest of us as his friends.”
“I hope so, I really hope so Nicole.” As another sigh left him, the hedgehog slowly began to smile again as he leaned against the two women in his life. “Then all the more reason to kick Eggman’s keister so Chip doesn’t have to fret about some other horror being unleashed, and maybe, when all’s clear we can see him again.”
“That’s the spirit Sonic.” Cheered Sally as she squeezed him before taking his right arm and nudging him to follow. “Come on, the three of us should clean up, and that shower should easily handle three Mobian’s given it’s designed with humans in mind as well.” Her blue eyes twinkle with a bit of mischief as she smiled more. “I wash your back, you wash mine?”
“I call dibs on the tail!”
Laughing at Nicole’s outburst, Sonic shook his head, before giving the lynx a grin. “Fine you get the tail I’ll get the top!”
“Deal!” The lynx clasped hands with Sonic, a deal was struck.
Feeling a bead of sweat start to roll down the side of her face, Sally suddenly started to regret her suggestion. “Uh guys, WHA-?!” She cried out as she was lifted up into the air, Nicole holding her up by her feet, while Sonic held her up with his hands grasping under her arms. “N-now we shouldn’t get crazy the others will start to wonder if we’re late-.”
“Assuming they ain’t sleeping in themselves after all this is a vacation as much as recuperation from all the fighting.” The lynx sing-songed with a cheerful hum as she helped Sonic carry Sally to the bathroom. “We’ll behave and stick to just washing.”
“Maybe.” Sonic mused, earning a giggle from Nicole while Sally rolled her eyes, but smiled warmly.
“I love you goofs, and since you’re adamant, very well your Princess awaits her washing!”
The three share a laugh as Sonic uses his foot to kick the bathroom door shut. The worries of the future put aside as the three opted to share what time they could in this sort of blissful state. At any moment Eggman or his Egg Bosses could start a new incident and put their moment of peace out of commission. Sometimes, you just had to live a little.
[Author notes: Not very originally using the Post-SGW Reboot setting; but every time I tried to create some new alt-verse or one something of the prior ones; it just… Wasn’t working. So I decided to give this a go and rather enjoy it.
Also, I shamelessly do not regret my Sally/Nicole/Sonic shipping of the Reboot verse. So I decided to use it; and while in-story I didn’t explain it as to avoid killing the pacing here’s the 411 on Nicole having a ‘bio-nanite body’.
After restoring her hand-held, learning of her origins and stopping Phage, Dr. Ellidy before the crew left his lab revealed he had one other project that was to coincide with Nicole’s original purpose of being the digital repository of his daughter Nikki’s mind and memories. A pod containing a cluster of bio-nanites coded with Mobian Lynx DNA, that when given a brain to link with, could create a solid, actual living form. Granted it would still be a blend of natural and artificial but you’d have a living being able to experience the majority of the living experience. While still at odds with his feelings for Nicole; he feels Nikki would want Nicole to have all the chances to ‘have a full, and wonderful life and experiences’. So he gave the pod to the FF, and after some tinkering, Nicole downloaded herself into it and later emerged. Nicole was herself still but now with a body beyond hard light holograms. Yet she was still able to digitize herself and return to cyberspace and come back. Cue all the happiness.
As for the menage a trio, I may….revisit this and give them a fuller story and explanation. Hope it was good and sorry for the fatty A/N I just felt having to go over all this in-story would kill the pace.] 
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thebiasrekkers · 4 years
Text
Make It Right [BTS Mafia!AU]
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Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC Genre: BTS Mafia!AU Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language, Angst, Smut, Slow Burn WC: 3,496 Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?
AO3 | WP
Chapter 13: Reflection
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"But you know, sometimes I really really hate myself. To be honest, quite often, I really hate myself."
Seoul – Hannam; Yongsan District South Korea
When Yoongi got the call, he was on his way to the airport.
Seokjin managed to secure a personal financial advisor for their group so the next step that needed to be taken was to start consolidating their assets. Yoongi was one of the ones responsible for setting up accounts overseas and he wanted to get the business deals taken care of before the end of the week. He’d need a couple of days to adjust to the jetlag and then he would be in and out of office meetings for most of his stay. Americans were capitalists by nature and so they ultimately would try to get the biggest bang for their buck.
Yoongi was out to accomplish the same.
He’d packed his suitcase that morning. His flight was scheduled to depart in the late afternoon, and he would hopefully arrive in California first thing in the morning. He wasn’t planning on staying for more than three or four days, timelines depending. Yoongi wanted to get lunch with Eden before he left.
They’d agreed to be friends, after all.
Friends, he thought bitterly, staring at himself in the mirror as he adjusted the lapels of his gray blazer, who am I kidding?
It was an excuse. It was an excuse for himself.
Reaching out with the olive branch for friendship was his way of being able to stay close to Eden, but keeping her at arm’s length. He could lie to her every chance he could and he’d be a liar still if he didn’t feel a shred of relief when she’d accepted his offer for friendship. But there was a part of him that knew he had to keep the ruse up for as long as possible. The further he kept her from his life, the less entangled in the criminal underground she would get.
He’d been selfish to have maintained the illusion of their relationship for so long.
He sighed. Three years…
How could he have continued to lie to her for three years? It was one thing when they were just starting to get close while he was in the States. He never imagined she would travel all the way to South Korea. Yoongi wasn’t arrogant enough to believe she’d done it for him. He knew of her desire to learn more of her mother’s roots and to walk the same paths and see the same things that her mother had. She’d been an orphan for her entire life, but Eden always cherished that side of her heritage – even going so far as to learn the language and the culture long before he’d ever met her.
It was creeping closer toward mid-morning. He shot Eden a quick text, inquiring whether she had any plans for lunch. It was probably presumptuous of him to think she was just waiting around for him to call or text her. They met up one more time after he’d let a week slip by with no contact. Honestly, Yoongi spent those days contemplating if he’d made the right decision in wanting to maintain a friendship with her. Should he have just cut her out of his life completely and made the choice to stop making excuses to pull her into his orbit?
After waiting for her to respond and getting nothing back, he decided to leave it alone. He’d text her when he arrived State-side and let her know he was out of the country on a business trip. She was used to that, seeing as how he drew up his entrepreneur persona and maintained that guise for all the years he’d known her.
His phone rang and he answered, not bothering to look at the screen to see who was calling. He was already on his way out the door.
“Min Yoongi here.”
“Hyung, we have a problem.”
It was Namjoon.
“What’s wrong?”
Closing the door, he waited for the security lock to beep before he headed down the stone walkway leading out to the expansive front garden. Dragging his rolling suitcase with him, he fished for his keys so he could lock the front gate. Once it was locked, he rounded the corner of the building and headed out toward the street.
“It’s Hyungsoo-nim…”
Yoongi froze.
“What?”
“…uh, I mean, Raelyn Noona.”
He sighed, brushing a hand through his bangs in frustration. “Is Hoseok still having her monitored?”
“Look, Hyung, that’s not really important right now. You know how thorough Hoseok is. He just wants to make sure she’s safe and he always keeps his distance.”
“Whatever.”
“Anyway, that’s not the problem. The problem is that she was seen in Myeongdong today.”
Yoongi was about to take another step when he stopped. “She was seen in Jade Fang territory?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s not like she doesn’t know how those guys operate. Why would she risk even going there?”
“Well, she was out shopping with a friend. A mixed girl. I think her name is Eden?”
A lump of ice crashed into Yoongi’s gut.
No, he thought, a bead of sweat forming on his brow, how did I miss that?
But the answer was right there. He’d missed it because he always made it a point to keep Eden as far away from his world as possible. Which, in turn, caused him to be kept just as far away from her world and inner circle as well.
“Fuck.”
“Yoongi Hyung? Are you alright?”
“And we can’t send Taehyung to fetch her because he got caught fucking around out there, either.”
He heard Namjoon sigh on the other line.
"No. And I don’t want to risk sending any of the other boys out there. The Jade Fangs are probably itching for any excuse to start a skirmish.”
“God fucking dammit, Taehyung-ah,” he muttered. If he hadn’t blown his damn ability to sleuth around properly, this would have been a cake walk. “What about Jungkook?”
“With his reputation on the streets? They’d see him coming a mile away.”
“I know Seokjin Hyung is in Busan right now. What about Jimin-ah?”
Namjoon sighed again. He wished he’d quit doing that. It wasn’t helping his nerves in the slightest.
“He’s still not back from Jeju. He won’t be arriving until later in the evening.”
“Fine. I’ll go get her.”
“No, you can’t either Hyung. Just like everyone knows about Jungkook, they know about The Lightning Claw too.”
Yoongi hissed, clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth.
“And I can’t go running in there since I have to stay by Hoseok’s side. I’ve already had to convince him three times to stay put.”
This was getting stupid.
But Eden was with her. He knew that she could take care of herself and as long as they didn’t move against them, there would be no reason to stir up trouble. Hoseok wasn’t dating Raelyn anymore and, as a result, she was no longer the Hyungsoo-nim of the Golden Jackals. There would be no reason for them to push at her since she wasn’t tied to them anymore.
Well, at least not in that capacity. He couldn’t control what Taehyung and the others did.
“This is one giant fucking mess.” Yoongi spied the time. He’d have to cancel his flight. “Keep on them. And as soon as Jimin gets back, you let him know what the hell is happening. He’ll at least have an idea of what to do about this since he’s the only one of us who knows how to keep his foot out of his goddamn mouth.”
“Got it. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
“Good.”
He hung up the call and immediately called the airport to cancel his flight. Yoongi dialed a cab and after five minutes, he hopped in and made a beeline for Gangnam. He didn’t know how he was going to manage it, but he had to keep an eye out and make sure that nothing crazy happened. He’d keep his ears to the ground for as long as he could manage it before calling for reinforcements.
Seoul – Cheongdam; Gangnam District South Korea
It was a fifteen-minute cab ride.
It felt like it took a hundred years to get to Eden’s street.
Arriving, he paid the cab driver and immediately made his way up the stairs. Once he reached the top, he fished into his pockets to retrieve his keys. He quickly plucked through them and saw the spare key.
He still had the spare key to Eden’s apartment and while he’d been meaning to give it back to her for some time, it just never came up. She never asked for it back. While he’d never encroached into her privacy, there were times he would swing by when he knew she was at the shop to make sure that she was at least eating properly.
She wasn’t, of course. She was always eating out – the tell-tale signs of Chinese takeout in her mini fridge.
Slipping the key inside, he unlocked the door and dipped inside. Kicking off his shoes, he slid into the spare house slippers and immediately began marching around the small space.
“Eden?” he called.
There was no answer.
The darker part of Yoongi’s mind that often dreamed up the worst scenarios immediately began to panic. His heart jack-hammered against his ribs and while her apartment was small, it felt like it took almost an hour to search. His legs frantically moved from one empty space and then to the other. She was nowhere to be found.
Dashing out of the apartment, he stalked around the rooftop – flinging his arms out to avoid being hit by the laundry she still had hanging out on the line.
She wasn’t there.
Fuck, came his angry thought.
Well, at least she wasn’t there bleeding out on the floor.
Shaking his head, he took a breath and quieted those dark thoughts – smothering toward the shadowy corner of his heart where they belonged. “She’s fine, Min Yoongi. Get it together.”
He tried calling her and texting her. The call went straight to voicemail.
Again, Yoongi attempted to quiet his frantic mind. It’s fine. Her phone just might be dead. You know how she barely keeps the thing fully charged daily. It’s fine.
Yoongi went back inside, deciding that he would wait for her. That was the best course of action to take. Falling onto the couch, he sank into it and felt like the weight of the universe had been thrust upon his shoulders; this being the first break he was able to take all day.
His phone began to ring and he answered before the first buzz got a chance to finish. “Hello?”
“Yoongi Hyung?” It was Jimin. “I just got back to Seoul. Is everything alright? Namjoon Hyung told me to call you as soon as I was able to use my phone again.”
“Are you still at the airport?”
“Yeah. I just picked up my bag.”
“Good. I need you to take a cab to Gangnam immediately. Raelyn was spotted in the Jung District.”
“Heaven help me, are you serious? Was she by herself?”
“No, Eden—” He paused, taking a moment. He could already tell he was about to sound way too familiar. “—her friend, Eden, is with her. At least that’s what was reported to me.”
There was a long pause and Yoongi looked at his phone to make sure the call wasn’t disconnected. “Jimin-ah?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry Hyung. I just got a bunch of texts from Jungkook. He’s bugging me about coming with him to check on someone. Hold on.” There was the distinct sound of street noises being heard. Yoongi heard Jimin hailing a cab and once he finished giving the driver directions, he returned to the line. “This boy. Well, it looks like I’m headed that way anyway, Hyung. Jungkook is up my ass about bothering Eden. If Hyungsoo-nim—I mean, if Raelyn Noona is with her, then I can kill two birds with one stone.”
Yoongi suddenly sat up. “Wait, what?” His eyes narrowed. “You and Jungkook both know Eden?”
“Huh? Well, yeah, Hyung. Jungkook met her a few months back when he brought his bike into her shop to get it looked at.”
“And you?”
“Hyung, I’m a Christian, remember? Eden goes to the same church I do.” He heard Jimin laugh. “Well, when she makes the time to come, anyway.”
He frowned. Had he even known that about her? Yoongi knew that she believed; that she was a believer, but he never remembered her attending church back when they were in the States. And she certainly hadn’t gone to church when they were still together.
But now that he thought about it, he was usually gone and when he wasn’t gone, he was with her and only her. He took her to various places away from prying eyes because he didn’t want to risk anyone recognizing him and tying her to him. The risk was too great; for her and for himself.
Yet she’d somehow managed to entangle herself in their world, regardless.
Yoongi got up and started heading toward the door. It was already dark outside. When had it gotten so late?
He took two steps out of the door, pulling it closed behind him. He locked the door just as the sound of a motorcycle roared to life from down the street. Yoongi moved to the other side of the roof, peering over the edge. Jungkook’s motorcycle could be seen from the other end of the street. He slowed his pace as he hit the wide turns as he peeled into the neighborhood. Yoongi spun on his heels and immediately went to the other end of the roof behind Eden’s apartment, vaulting over the edge and landing on the fire escape.
Descending the stairs, he hit the pavement in time to see a cab pulling up. Jimin stepped out from it but Yoongi remained hidden in the shadows. Part of him wanted to reveal himself to Jimin, feigning ignorance for why he was there. He was simply checking on Raelyn. Nothing more. He didn’t even know this Eden chick.
That was the lie he could have spun if Eden didn’t already know both Jimin and Jungkook.
He watched as Jimin and Jungkook met each other after parking, the two exchanging brief conversation and relaying to the other about the call from Namjoon. If the two of them were there, then that would be fine. He could leave things in their care and call it a night. He still had to fly out to the States tomorrow morning.
I’ll wait until she gets here, he told himself, pulling out his pack of cigarettes from the inside of his jacket pocket, then I’ll go.
He’d barely gotten a few puffs in before another cab pulled up. Yoongi spied that it was Eden with Raelyn in tow. She hefted the drunk woman up, barely able to keep herself upright as well. They’d been drinking a lot, it seemed. Eden managed to pull out a few shopping bags and paid the cab driver. When Jimin and Jungkook made themselves known to Eden, he was about to leave.
That is until he saw Jungkook brushing Eden’s hair behind her ear.
His legs remained rooted to the ground and a flare of heated jealousy exploded across his chest. While Yoongi knew he had no right to feel that way, the emotions pushed to the forefront. He recalled the conversation that he’d had with Jungkook a few days back about the “Stubborn Tiger” he was pursuing – how he’d stolen her number but was still willing to talk to him despite knowing that he was affiliated with the mafia.
And she hadn’t turned him away.
He took a step forward, away from the shadows and into the light. Could things have been different?
Yoongi watched as Jungkook started heading upstairs, only to stop when their eyes met.
“Jungkook-ah,” Eden called, but Jungkook didn’t take his eyes off of him, “what’s the matter?”
“…Yoongi Hyung.”
It was here that Eden’s eyes searched the darkness and when he appeared, he could see the confusion and surprise on her face. He did his best to ignore it, but he knew that his anger was showing all over his face.
“Yoongi,” she said, her eyes shifting to look back at him, “what are you doing here?”
“Go upstairs, Jungkook-ah,” he said, ignoring her question. His mouth felt dry all of a sudden and he knew it wasn’t because of the cigarette perched between his lips.
He watched Jungkook turn to look at Eden and this made his brow twitch. But when he turned to look back at Eden, he could see the wheels turning in her mind. And then that was when he watched her mentally put two and two together.
“Now, Jungkook.”
He waited until Jungkook was out of earshot before he tossed his Zippo lighter to her. She caught it easily. But he knew she wouldn’t light up in front of him. She was about to get angry. Her anger was about to rise to meet at the level of his own.
“You,” she began, her voice seething as her fists began to shake.
“That’s right,” he said, his expression neutral and his tone cold. But he couldn’t hide the throbbing behind his eyes – the way that his eyes seemed to shake with the heavy emotions swirling in his chest. “I’m one of the Golden Jackals.”
He dropped the cigarette from his lips and crushed the ember out with the heel of his shoe.
“Min Yoongi, The Lightning Claw.”
For a moment, nothing else was spoken between them.
And then he watched the tears form in her eyes, shining under the glow of the streetlight.
“You son of a bitch,” she muttered. Yoongi watched her reach into her pocket and she pulled out the switchblade she was always known to carry. “You fucking…SON OF A BITCH!”
Yoongi watched Eden run at him, and just when she was about to strike, he caught her wrist at the last second. Holding her arm high, he squeezed on the pressure point where her wrist was – forcing her to drop the knife. It landed on the ground with a loud clatter and she raged at him, her voice echoing off the brick walls of the residential housing in the area. He watched her left hand curl into a fist and when she tried to land a blow to his face, he blocked it with his forearm and gripped onto her wrist.
“You liar! You goddamn fucking lying sack of shit!” She tried to jerk free, but his grip tightened. “Let me go! LET ME GO!”
He braced most of his weight onto his back leg, spinning her around and forcing her arms up and over her. Once they were crossed in front of her, he held her tightly against him. He wasn’t sure if it was her heart or his own drumming mercilessly against his chest, but he knew that their breaths were coming out in rough huffs simultaneously.
“How could you lie to me? After all these years, you had me believing I was nothing to you!”
Eden shook violently, doing her damnedest to break free of his hold. But he wasn’t letting go.
“I did it because I didn’t want you wrapped up in this shit, Eden!”
She was practically vibrating now. “That wasn’t your choice to make! It was mine, you bastard! It was mine and you took it from me!” Eden tried her best to fight his hold, but he was too strong. He could hear a broken sob escaping her. “You never even let me make the choice for myself, you asshole.”
The sob was what did it and he finally released her. When he did, Eden whirled around and a loud crack issued as her palm connected with his cheek. Tears streamed down her face and he sighed, the pain of the strike nothing compared to the betrayal that was etched so perfectly all over her face.
“Is that why you finally decided to tell me the truth? Because you’ve figured out that I not only know Raelyn Unnie, but Jimin and Jungkook too? Because your little lie was finally going to come back full circle and kick you in the balls?”
Yoongi couldn’t say anything. What could he say? It wasn’t like anything she’d said was a lie.
He watched her angrily swipe at her nose and cheeks. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that, Min Yoongi?”
And without another glance his way, Yoongi watched Eden ascend the stairs. He couldn’t bring himself to go after her. Because what excuse did he have now? What leg did he have left to stand on?
Eden McGee, once again, managed to knock all the fight he had left out of him.
AN: So it's come to my attention that some of you might not know which honorifics I'm using. I've decided to go ahead and start by listing the honorifics in the story in notes so there is no confusion. -- Hyung - what a younger man calls an older man who they are close with or actually blood-related to. -- Noona - what a younger man calls an older woman who they are close with or actually blood-related to. -- Hyung-nim - what younger men call an older man who they are close with and also see as a mentor; can also be a term for rank, as in Hoseok's case. This can also be used in terms of "In-laws" when speaking to the older brother of their wife. -- Hyungsoo-nim - what a younger man calls his older brother's wife. In this case, since Hoseok is the leader of the Golden Jackals, his ex-girlfriend, Raelyn, was once called "Hyungsoo-nim" as a show of respect. -- Unnie - what a younger woman calls an older woman who they are close with or actually blood-related to. -- Name-ssi - a polite way to address someone deemed as an acquaintance or used in the workplace between fellow colleagues. -- Name-ah/ie - an informal way to address someone who is more than just an acquaintance; generally used between close friends and by older siblings to address their younger siblings. These are the ones that I use the most and will be the most prevalent in this fic. I figured I would go ahead and clear up the confusion. Hope this helps. I will update these as I go depending on which ones are used in the story.
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djinmer4 · 4 years
Text
Letter (Dresden AU)
“Bitte, grrnk!  I can bear no more, nmmmak! Shoot me, erk!  Put me out of my misery.”
“Stop whining.”
“Du Unhold!  You are enjoying this nnmph!  This inhuman torture.”
A giggling reply.  “Of course not.  I just like playing doctor.  Pity, a few snips and it will all be over.”
“Eeeungh!  Nmmph!  Glk . . . Gggnmmph!”
“Okay, okay.  I’m finished already.”
“Aaahhh, wonne.  Danke, Katzchen, danke.  Ooaah, wunderbar . . . the itch was driving me wahnsinnig.”
Kitty helped pry away the last pieces of plaster.  “You’re lucky Moira said it was okay to remove the cast, Kurt.  I’d have left it on for another month.”
“To teach me the consequences of violence, I presume.”
“No, that’s a risk we all accept.”  She carded her fingers lightly through the matted fur, carefully smoothing out some of the tangles that had formed in the past month.  “I meant you’re lucky that you heal so quickly.  Most people would take about another eight weeks to knit.  There’s no significant muscle wastage either.  How do you feel?”
Kurt stood and stretched, bringing his knee up to his chest.  “Starr.  And a little weak.  Mostly I’m just off-balance- I have grown used to compensating for the weight of the cast.”
“You’ll just have to take it easy for the next few days.”
“I have not the time.  I received a letter, via Jean Grey, from an old friend, Jutta.  She needs my help so I am leaving for Germany within the hour.”  He hesitated then looked at his young friend.  “Would you like to come?”
Kitty gave him one of her lopsided smiles.  “Sorry, I can’t.  I got a letter too, from one of my cousins.”
“Wer?”
“Connie Barrowill, on my dad’s side.  No, you don’t know her, we’re not close.  But she’s in college right now and apparently having a bit of trouble.  Since she’s only a few years older than me, her dad asked that I fly over and see how she’s doing, maybe give her some advice.”
“Ah, well, family is family after all.  I wanted to introduce you to my friends from the circus, but it looks like it will have to wait for another time.  I will bring you back a souvenir.”
~~~~~~~
“Connie?  Connie, are you there?  It’s me, Kitty.”  Shadowcat looked around the campus.  She supposed all colleges had similarities, but while Chicago had had a mix of gothic stone and modern concrete architecture, Oklahoma was all brick, much more cohesive.  Also, flat as a pancake.
“Kitty?  Hey, I wasn’t expecting you!”  Connie was just a few inches taller than her, with blonde hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes.  She looked like a stereotypical cheerleader actually, which never failed to annoy Kitty a little.  Everyone else in the Court looked like a supermodel and she just looked like the girl next door.  And if what Thomas told her was right, she’d keep looking like that for the next hundred years or so.
“Yeah, your dad called me.  Said you were having some difficulty with . . . school and that I might be able to answer some questions for you.”  Kitty felt stupid trying to convey her meaning with pauses and eyebrows, but they were in public.
“Oh?  Oh!  Yes, just some stuff you’ll probably find easy.  Here, come in!”  Connie stopped standing in the doorway and let Kitty into the dorm.  They walked up three flights of stairs to Connie’s single room.  Kitty was surprised, there was an aura of lust in the corridor so thick she was surprised normal humans couldn’t detect it.
Once the door was shut, they both dropped the pretense.  “So what happened?”
“Well . . . I take it you know all about our-”
“Our little nutrition problem.  Yes, I do.  But you . . . “  Kitty gave her cousin a good once over.  “But you haven’t changed.  I’m surprised, Lord Raith doesn’t allow fledglings to be told about their heritage until-”
“Until it’s too late.  Yeah, that’s the thing.  Um, Dad said you . . . had an unusual transition.”
Kitty stared at her cousin.  She let out a sigh.  “Yeah.  Mind control.  A body jumper took over and he knew my background.  Decided he wanted all the perks that came with being a vampire, and arranged for the right circumstances then did the deed.”
“So there wasn’t any decision making involved,” muttered the blonde.
“Connie, what exactly happened to you?”
“Oh, um,” her cousin took a deep breath.  “I brought my boyfriend up to my room to make-out.  We didn’t go all the way,” So that explained some things.  “But it was enough to trigger the Hunger.”
“Soo . . . I don’t understand.  Do you want to complete the transformation?  Just invite the boy over and drain him.  Simple enough.”
“No!”  Then Connie’s voice dropped.  “Or well, it’s not that simple.”
“Do you not want to be a vampire?  I can understand that.”
“Maybe.  I’m not sure.  How would you go about doing that?”
“Hmph.  Normally I wouldn’t tell you this information, but since you already know about the Masquerade . . . there’s really only one chance at this.  The first time you have sex and-” Kitty side-eyed her cousin.  “-go all the way.  If you have sex with someone who truly loves you and who you truly love in return, it poisons the demon and kills them.  Then you’ll live the rest of your life as a normal human, and have normal human kids.  But if it’s anyone else, you’ll kill them and become a Pale Hunter.”  She paused.  “How did the guy last long enough that this became an issue?”
“Oh, it turns out he’s the son of a Forest Person.  Dad apparently did some mojo so I’d screw him to death, but he’s got enough resistance that he was unaffected.”
“That explains the aura out in the corridor.  Was that all you needed?”
“Er, no.  Some of the other Forest People blocked Dad’s influence, said they’d give me time to decide if I really wanted to become a vampire or not.  I told Dad that since I actually had a choice, I wanted to know more about it.  So I guess he sent you.”
Kitty leaned back in the chair she had grabbed from Connie’s desk.  “Pros and cons then.  You already know what it’s like to be human, so I’ll leave that alone.  Cons: once you turn into a vampire you have to feed, you have no choice.  If you go too long without it, or something causes you to drain your resources too low, the demon will take over and attack and kill people to feed.  And every time the demon does that, it takes a toll on your mind.  Go into a frenzy often enough, and eventually, you’ll never come out of it.  You’ll just be a mindless monster.
Are you taking notes on this?  You’ll remember it better if you write it down.”
Connie grabbed the notepad Kitty held out to her.  “You’re not worried people might come across proof of the supernatural?”  
Kitty snorted.  “The Masquerade isn’t that fragile.  If anyone asks, tell them you were brainstorming a story with me.  Shall I go on?”  The blonde nodded.  “Okay, pros now.  You get enhanced senses and strength and durability.  Feeding regularly will give you a healing factor, feed enough and you can survive being set on fire and almost being cut in half.”  At Connie’s wide-eyed look, Kitty continued.  “That’s not hyperbole, I’ve actually seen Laura do the exact thing.  It’s not the most powerful healing factor I’ve seen but it’s definitely up there.  Anyway, going on.  It enhances all your physical characteristics, strength (“You said that already”), speed, endurance, dexterity.  Your lifespan also increases, Lord Raith and Laura have lived for centuries.”
The older girl continued to make notes.  “Any drawbacks?  Sunlight and things?”
“Nope, that’s a different court.  No problems with sunlight or silver or iron or religious symbols.”  To prove her point, Kitty opened up the collar of her shirt to show Connie the Star of David she wore.  “Um, you can cross thresholds without being invited, but that does limit your abilities to human norm though.”
“So no weaknesses at all?”
“A few.  We’re definitely not as strong as the other vampire courts.  Also, we have a vulnerability to some types of positive emotion.”  Kitty though for a second.  “You and you’re dad are part of House Ashma that feeds on rage.  So trying to feed off of someone who’s serene or coming into contact with symbols of that could hurt you.
There are some other things that pertain to magic, but that’s not going to be an issue unless you actually become one.  Anything else you want to know?”
“So if I,” Connie hesitated then continued.  “If I don’t want to become a vampire, I don’t have to swear a vow of celibacy or anything like that?”
“And what’s wrong with being celibate?  But no, you just have to make sure that your first time is with someone who really loves you and who you love in return.”  
“What about your mutant powers?  Does it help those?”
Now it was Kitty’s turn to look wide-eyed.  “Charles told you that?”
“It was supposed to be a secret?”
“Well, not really I guess.  I haven’t been hiding it, but I haven’t been advertising it to the rest of the family, that’s all.”  She shook her head.  “Honestly, it’s hard to say.  I pretty much got them at the same time.  But I don’t think so?  I can still use my mutant ability even when my vampire ones are cut off, like when I go somewhere uninvited or warded with a magic circle.  And it doesn’t depend on my feeding either.”
The elder looked over her notes.  “This is all really great information, Kitty.  But it doesn’t answer my question.”  Summer blue eyes looked into paler, icier ones.  “You weren’t given a choice.  But if you had been given one, would you have become a vampire?”
She hissed out between her teeth.  “That’s a very difficult question.  On one hand, I really hate how I transitioned.  I hate the fact I wasn’t given a choice, that someone else was puppeteering my body around, that he chose to kill an innocent to kick-start my powers.  But on the other hand, I love the abilities that being a vampire gives me.  I don’t think I’d be nearly as good a fighter without those abilities and they certainly make me a much more valuable member of the X-Men and Excalibur.  And of course, on the gripping hand, there’s the whole fact I had to kill someone to be like this and can enthrall people and may kill other people in the future.”  
“That’s not a yes or no answer.”
Kitty sucked in another breath.  “If this was a question with easy answers you wouldn’t need my help now, would you?”  Connie closed her eyes and dipped her head.  “I think, when it comes down to it, I do like being a vampire.  And if I had a choice I would do it again, even with how traumatic the transitioning was.  I’d prefer to do it under different circumstances, I mean, I could think of a lot of people who need killing after all, but even if I had to do it that way, I still would.”
“Thanks, Kitty.”  If the two of them had been closer, Connie might have risked hugging the younger girl.  As is, she settled for a firm handshake.  “That’s all I needed to know.”
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masterskywalkers · 4 years
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OC Interview Meme
Tagged by the very lovely @ghostlygal​, thank you so much! (:
I’m going to be doing two of these, since I couldn’t pick between the two OC’s I wanted to write for. Today will be the first one, and the second will be posted sometime over the next few days. 
I’ll also tag @renegade-skywalker​, @dreamerinsilico​, @diceyfall​, @sexy-salmon​, @rannadylin​, @flyppa​, @ohvatnirs​. No pressure though if you’d rather not (:
I’m answering with Keanu Reeves, the one birdman - Caleb De Sardet!
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Name ➔ “Caleb De Sardet. If you weren't already aware, I'm also the Legate of the Merchant Congregation."
Are you single ➔ He shakes his head, a small smile rising upon his lips as he lets out a small breath of laughter. "I very much am not, no."
Are you happy ➔ “Yes, I believe I am."
Are you angry ➔ “Not right this moment. Is there any reason that I should be?"
Are your parents still married ➔ “No. My father died when I was very young, and as for my mother ..." Caleb drifts off, face scrunching slightly in pain. " ... well. I rather suppose she's no longer with us, either."
NINE FACTS
Birthplace ➔ Caleb frowns in thought. "I'm ... not honestly sure. I used to believe I was born within the Continent, but after learning the truth about my heritage I know that to be false. I believe I was born at sea, but whether or not that is the honest truth either is anyone's guess."
Hair colour ➔ “Brown."
eye colour ➔ “Also brown."
Birthday ➔ “24th of June."
Mood ➔ “At this very moment? I suppose I'm calm."
Gender ➔ “I'm a man."
Summer or winter ➔ “I'm much rather more fond of spring and autumn, truthfully. Both summer and winter are either too hot or too cold for me, whereas I find spring and summer more pleasant."
Morning or afternoon ➔ "Afternoons, if only for the fact that those are the times of day where I manage to find some sort of respite between my duties."
EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE
Are you in love ➔ Caleb smiles. "Yes."
Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ “Not at all. If you take my relationship with Vasco as any sort of example, you'll know why." He pauses, letting out a small laugh. "I still believe I offended him by calling his ship a boat."
Who ended your last relationship ➔ "Ah," Caleb sits back in his chair, appearing somewhat uncomfortable for a second. "The truth is that before Vasco, there was no other relationship. Oh my Cousin tried to set me up with one or two people when we were younger, but when he realised I wasn't particularly interested he stopped right away."
Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ Caleb thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. "Not that I'm aware of, no. I wasn't all that popular growing up."
Are you afraid of commitments ➔ “Oh heavens, not at all! I've always known that one day I'd have to marry - whether or not it was a political move or a decision built upon love was never really a question.”
Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ “Yes."
Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ “Again, not as far as I know."
Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ "I - suppose I have. Childish thoughts though, truly. Nothing could have come from them."
SIX CHOICES
Love or lust ➔ “Love." Lemonade or iced tea ➔ "Lemonade, although I must admit I rarely drink it." Cats or dogs ➔ Caleb's face lights up. "Constantin and I always wished for a dog growing up. Neither of our parents would allow us to have one, but it never lessened the desire. Perhaps once things have settled in New Sérène I can convince him to finally get one." A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ He sighs. "As Legate I have many allies. But only a few close friends whom I would trust with me life. I prefer it that way."
Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ “A romantic night in. I very rarely get the chance to spend some time by myself these days, and I've never been much for drink and indulgence. That was more Constantin's scene, not mine."
Day or night ➔ “Daytime."
FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS
Been caught sneaking out ➔ “Once or twice." Caleb laughs, shaking his head at a sudden memory. "The worst was the time Constantin and I snuck out to avoid one of our classes. His stepmother found us after I'd climbed out my bedroom window - having fallen onto her prized roses. She wasn't at all happy. My cousin tried to take most of the blame, but I wouldn't let him. After all, I was the one sitting on a rather prickly flowerbed."
Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ “A few times. Especially running around the halls as a child." Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ His face turns pained. "Oh. Yes." Wanted to disappear ➔ “All the time when I was younger. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for Constantin and my mother."
FOUR PREFERENCES
Smile or eyes ➔ “A lot can be said about how someone smiles." Shorter or taller ➔ “Taller than me. Not that it's particularly unusual." Intelligence or attraction ➔ “Intelligence can be misplaced. There are different kinds of intellect, and I am not the person to be deciding what makes or does not make an intelligent person. So I suppose my answer is attraction, since that is something that comes much more naturally." Hook-up or relationship ➔ “A relationship is a much more preferable method. I find the former rather empty in their connection."
FAMILY
Do you and your family get along ➔ "That depends entirely. To me family was mainly Constantin and my mother, and they are two of the most important people in my life. But if you are referring to my Uncle and Step-Aunt ..." Caleb takes a moment to think. "... I got along well enough with them, I suppose. I would never say we were close, and I always hated how they treated Constantin. I do not trust them, but I was never as ... open in my disagreements as my cousin often was." Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ Caleb's eyes widen at that. "My life is by no means normal. But ... I'm happy, so I can't complain too much. I just wish so much of my past wasn't hidden within layers of secrets and lies." Have you ever ran away from home ➔ “No, never." Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ “Not at all."
FRIENDS
Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ Caleb frowns. "No. If I ever did, then they surely wouldn't be my friend any longer." Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ “Of course." Who is your best friend ➔ "Probably Kurt. We've known each other for years, and I can always rely on him."
Who knows everything about you ➔ "Constantin, of course. It's his business to know everything and anything about me, and I think he'd be offended if I ever tried to hide anything from him. And my partner, Vasco. There are no secrets between the two of us."
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willofhounds · 4 years
Text
Storm that shakes the pine ch1
A/N yes I know I have a lot of fics to finish but I couldn't help myself. If you dont like m/m go elsewhere. If you dont like soulmates go away. For the rest of you enjoy the story.
Once the reincarnation happens they will be called by their new names. Not by their old.
:thoughts:
"Speaking"
Ozpin's POV
Oscar's body was barely holding itself together. Around them lay their comrades and Salem who was finally dead. Three years in the new reincarnation and they had finally done it.
A tinge of guilt and sadness went through him. This was his fault. If he never returned to the world he this wouldn't have happened. Salem would have stayed a lone witch in the forest.
As his green brown eyes swept over the field he saw Ruby Rose. His brave silver eyed warrior had been the one to defeat Salem.
With the help of Maria Calavera she mastered the powers of her eyes. In the end Jinn had been right. Ozpin and Oscar fighting together in harmony were unable to kill Salem. Their shared body sustained mortal injuries. It was a testament to their sheer willpower that they stayed standing.
All of his friends and colleagues lay dying now. Just when they had saved the world from Salem they weren't going to see it rebuild itself.
Oscar he could tell was tired of war. The war had burdened them all. Oscar being as young as he was got hit the hardest. He was just a boy who was pulled from everything he knew into a war he never wanted to fight.
Ozpin guided Oscar. Trained him mentally and physically. There was only so much one could prepare. Watching ones friends die wasn't something he could prepare Oscar for.
:Oz... it's not your fault. We did all we could was fight our hardest. We won...: came Oscar's tired voice.
Ozpin answered as his own exhaustion coming out, :I only wish I could have done more. We've lost our friends.:
:Oz...:
There wasn't a chance to respond to Oscar. The four relics began to shine their power enveloped them. All of his aches and pains receded.
Ozpin blinked. The world around them whited out. A familiar setting was before him. A golden dragon floated above him.
It took Ozpin several seconds to realize he looked like Ozpin before he was Oscar. Looking around he saw Oscsr. For the first time in thousands of years he was alone in his head.
Ruby and the others also stood around the dragon. As the God of Light he would be able to bring their souls to him. Just as he had done with Ozma.
Ruby asked carefully, "Are you the God of Light? Why are we here?"
The God rumbled as it looked at each of them, "Each of you have played a pivotal role in bringing down Salem. You have overcome your shortcomings and put aside your differences. Some of you even learned from mistakes of the past to get where you are now."
Ozpin flinched. That last part was meant for him. It was his actions that led Salem here.
God of Light continued, "Each of you have earned the right to either go on to the after life. Or to go onto another world where you will be reborn. Things will be different in this world than what you know. No creatures of Grim as you call them. Magic is born into some souls but not others. As a gift those that choose to go to this world will be given magic."
Oscar questioned softly, "What about me? My soul is intertwined is intertwined with Ozpin's."
"That is up to you. Should you both go on to the new world you will not be the same person."
Relief flooded them both. The last thing they wanted was to forever be connected to each other again. Ozpin knew what a burden it was. He didnt want to be such a burden upon the boy again. Let him live his own life without the threats of war and death.
This was a second chance for him to do good. Good without having causing the evil.
Ozpin declared, "I will go on to this new world."
"As will I," came from Qrow.
"You're not getting rid of me that easy, Ozpin," from James.
"I want to see this new world," Ruby.
The God of Light rumbled once more, "Despite you all leaving this world at the same time; not all of you will not enter the next at the same time. Ages and lives will vary but you will all find your own path. Never forget the bonds you have forged. They will serve you well.
White lights surrounded them accepting their choices. Yang was the next to speak, "I'm sorry Ruby but I will not be going with you. I'm tired of the war and fighting. All I want is peace."
They didnt get to hear what anyone else said. The God of Light sent them on.
In the end Ozpin was reborn as Newton Fido Artemis Scammander. He was the second son of the Scammander family.
The Scammander family was a Dark family. His magic was naturally dark as it came from blood first then what was practiced second. Even if Newt was to practice light magic his magic would never be any lighter than dark neutral.
His parents were not what he had grown to expect of the dark. They were gentle with him. There wasn't an ounce of hatred in their eyes.
Newt's biggest struggle though was accepting help. It had been thousands of years since he was so vulnerable. In his previous reincarnations they were all at least 12 or older. They were able to take care of themselves.
Along with accepting his parents help he had a brother five years older than himself. Theseus Scammander was an intelligent boy if his parents were to be believed. They treated him like he was a genius.
When they first came face to f eyes were familiar. Three years of seeing that when he looked in the mirror made them hard to forget.
They were Oscar's eyes. His own eyes were green with a hint of an amber swirl. Both of them groaned internally. The God of Light had a sick sense of humor.
When Theseus turned seven he did something unexpected. Newt was watching from one of the chairs as he unlocked his aura.
Theseus's aura was a dark green. No longer the light green that they had grown used to. The look on his brother's face was comical. It was the final proof that their souls were no longer fully connected. That their destinies intertwined but not overlapping.
Not two months after that Theseus got his soulmate mark. It was that of a raven taking flight. His brother was excited and so were their parents.
Powerful families had the crest of the raven. His parents offered to help Theseus with the search but his brother only shook his head. He would find his soulmate on his own.
The years passed until Newt was five. One day he was out in the gardens and a small green twig like creature moved down the tree he was laying against. From the children books he was allowed to read he knew it was a bowtruckle.
Normally a shy creature it came to rest on his shoulder. With a fascination that he had not felt in a long he began to play with the bowtruckle. Through trial and error he found out that they had their own language. It was through clicks.
With its helps he was able to meet the other bowtruckles in tree. Unlike the one on his shoulder they were more suspicious of him. Earning their trust took weeks but eventually they accepted him.
On Theseus's eleventh birthday they went to Diagon Alley. He got his Hogwarts letter. As Newt would find out every magical child in Britain got this letter. One day Newt would too.
It was in one of the lesser shops that Newt found his cane. It seemed that even in a new world he would never escape the past fully. At first his parents didnt want to buy it since it was Theseus's birthday.
At Theseus's insistence however they got it. As with all his previous lives it felt right in his hands; though to small to wield it properly. Theseus watched over him as he began to practice movements that were second nature once.
By the time he was seven Theseus was a second year in Hogwarts. His own soulmate mark had appeared. It was a circle in a triangle with a line through the middle. The symbol he recognized through his books. It was that of the Deathly Hallows.
Who his soulmate was he didn't know. What he did know was that they would be searching for the Hallows. Most believed it was just a fairy tale. Newt knew that every had some truth to it. Wherever the Hallows were he would avoid them. He had no interest in soulmates.
So he hid his mark with long sleeved shirts or a bracelet. If no one saw it then there was a lesser chance that he would find whoever his soulmate was.
He had learned that dark, light, and neutral magic weren't evil or good. It wasn't like Remnant were dark magic was evil. A lot of it depended on the wizard's intentions.
This made accepting his heritage easier. Having seen what the darkness had done to Salem he at first was wary of it. Now he knew as long as his intentions were true then he would not be consumed by the dark. That was what would push him forward.
The main event in his seventh year of life was unlocking his aura. He remembered the power and sense of duty it gave him every time he had unlocked it. The oath every huntsman had made. This would be his final time making it.
Inside the library away from prying eyes he said, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death," his heart pounded in his chest. Something in him gave away at the words and a new feeling of duty filled him, "I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."
A familiar light green light erupted from his chest. It flashed over his body exhausting his energy. His energy was the same level of a seven year old so he couldn't hold it for long.
This encouraged Newt to train every day. On the holidays when Theseus came back he was surprised when his brother offered to train with him. Theseus had decided to be an auror the police of the magical world. He wanted to train both his body and magic for whatever was to come. Newt obliged.
Spars were immensely difficult for the younger Scammander. He was smaller and lighter than his brother. His reflexes slower than he would have liked. Giving up wasnt in him and he pushed through working the old memories into muscle memory. His aura growing stronger with each passing day.
Along with reading and retraining his magic there was little time for idleness. What little time he did find was spent with the creatures. The creatures watched him as he worked through his training. Slowly but surely warming up to him.
From Hippogryffs to bowtruckles all creatures of his home accepted him. In turn he accepted them. They were beings to be cherished.
Finally his eleventh birthday came and he like his brother. Theseus was entering his sixth year and still had not found his soulmate. Not unusual by any means but it discouraged him.
Newt knew that Theseus would find the one meant for him. As long as they lived he would search. Newt would look for the mark that matched it.
September 1st rolled around and Newt felt excitement. He was curious to see what was learned in the schools here.
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trans-advice · 5 years
Link
For two decades, most of the LGBT movement’s highest-profile victories have come at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2003 the justices issued a ruling legalizing gay sex that dissenting conservative Justice Antonin Scalia warned would set the stage for nationwide legalized gay marriage. Within 12 years, his prediction was realized. The court made marriage equality the law of the land—reflecting, and also accelerating, a sea change in straight Americans’ views and treatment of their LGBTQ family members and neighbors.
But next year the high court could deal LGBTQ people a painful blow: wiping out lower-court rulings that shield them from getting fired for who they are.
In a trio of cases this coming term—involving a child welfare worker, a skydiving instructor, and a funeral director—the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether it’s legal for bosses to discriminate against LGBT employees. Contrary to what many Americans now assume, no federal law explicitly prohibits firing workers simply for being gay or transgender. Nor do the laws of most states—including some populous ones such as Texas and Ohio. (Only 21 states and Washington, D.C., have laws that explicitly prohibit private companies from firing workers for being gay or trans; another one restricts anti-gay firing but not anti-trans dismissals.)
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On the Basis of Orientation or Identity
*Some states with laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of orientation or gender identity are also in a federal circuit with a ruling that says the federal sex discrimination ban effectively prohibits discrimination based on orientation or gender identity.
Data: Movement Advancement Project
Jimmie Beall learned that the hard way in 2003, when she was abruptly terminated from her position as a public school teacher in London, Ohio, a couple weeks after receiving a glowing evaluation. Beall, a lesbian who taught government to high schoolers, says she learned from local parents about rumors she was fired for being gay and was shocked to learn there was no law specifically prohibiting that. An email later surfaced from the superintendent to the school board alluding to Beall’s sexual orientation while discussing not bringing her back for another school year. “I thought, They can’t do that, because that would be illegal—there’s protection against discrimination,” says Beall. “It never occurred to me that there wasn’t.”
Despite the lack of explicit protection for LGBT workers, Beall filed a lawsuit arguing that because she was a public employee, firing her for her sexual orientation violated the Constitution. In 2006, after a new superintendent took over and a judge ruled Beall’s case could proceed, the school district agreed to settle the case and establish a nondiscrimination policy. But Beall says she assumed that before too long the state of Ohio or the federal government would prohibit anti-gay discrimination across the board. “I never imagined that, this many years later, we still would not have the same protections that everybody else already has.”
In recent years, some courts have ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s ban on sex discrimination also implicitly prohibits bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “When a male employee is fired because he has a husband, and he would not be fired if he were a woman who had a husband, then he was fired because of his sex,” says Jennifer Pizer, law and policy director for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a nonprofit that pursues LGBTQ civil rights cases. “When a trans woman was acceptable at work presenting as a man, but was fired when she presented her true gender, which is female, she was fired for being the wrong kind of woman.”
Citing past precedent that discrimination for not conforming to sex stereotypes is a form of illegal sex discrimination, several federal circuit courts have embraced such arguments, creating a patchwork of protections covering their jurisdictions. Next year the justices could either extend those protections nationwide or wipe them out. So in states that haven’t passed laws prohibiting anti-LGBT bias but have been covered by federal appeals court precedents restricting it—including Florida, Georgia, and Indiana—a Supreme Court ruling could give companies that don’t want LGBT people in the workplace a green light to fire them. “There won’t be a question mark anymore,” says Beall. “And because of that, I could see a whole lot more people discriminating.”
President Trump’s appointment of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, which made the Supreme Court more conservative than it’s been in a generation, could turn the tide. “My instincts suggest that this is an uphill battle,” says Anthony Michael Kreis, a visiting professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law who’s helped draft pro-LGBT legislation. The prospect of a loss at the Supreme Court raises the stakes for action in Congress, where Democratic allies have tried unsuccessfully for decades to pass a law that would explicitly ban anti-LGBT bias. “I don’t have a lot of confidence that the court will protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination,” says Rhode Island Democratic Representative David Cicilline.
On May 17 the House finally passed the Equality Act, a sweeping bill Cicilline sponsored that would beef up the Civil Rights Act by prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity bias in employment, as well as in education, credit, federal programs, housing, jury service, and public accommodations such as hotels and restaurants—even if the Supreme Court rules that the original law didn’t do any of those things. The bill’s supporters include more than 200 large employers such as Amazon.com, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Marriott. Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an online post that the legislation “is true to what we’ve always valued at Facebook for our employees and the people who use our products around the world. No one should face discrimination because of who they are—and we hope Congress passes this legislation.”
After proposing narrower bills and fighting among themselves on questions such as whether to pursue the rights of gay employees separately from those of trans workers, liberal lawmakers and activists unified in 2015 behind the more-ambitious Equality Act, which they say better highlights and addresses the full spectrum of discrimination LGBT people still face. In a survey this year by the Public Religion Research Institute, 69% of Americans—including majorities in all 50 states—expressed support for legislation protecting LGBT people in hiring, public accommodations, and housing.
But in Congress, like the Supreme Court, the fate of anti-discrimination protections now rests with conservatives. Republicans command a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and even if Democrats were to take back that chamber and the presidency, advancing the Equality Act would require either abolishing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule or mustering enough GOP support to reach the 60 votes. The same day the Democratic-controlled House passed the Equality Act, Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah and a Judiciary Committee member, called it “counterproductive” legislation at a time when “Americans are becoming more tolerant every day” anyway. “It unnecessarily pits communities against each other and divides our nation when patience and understanding are so sorely needed,” he tweeted.
Conservative groups including the Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit that Trump said helped develop his roster of potential Supreme Court picks, are hoping LGBT activists get rebuffed by both the judiciary and the legislature. For the justices to rule that the Civil Rights Act already covers sexual orientation and gender identity “would be usurping the power of Congress,” says Emilie Kao, who directs Heritage’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society. If Congress did pass the Equality Act, she says, it could infringe on management prerogatives such as the ability to dictate what’s worn by an employee, including those who have “a belief that they are of the opposite sex.”
Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley, who sponsored the Equality Act in the Senate and is working to secure GOP support, says he hopes the Supreme Court’s coming LGBT cases will help draw national attention to the bill: “The issue of having full opportunity in our society, of having full freedom, shouldn’t depend on the whims of a conservative court.”
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apineruetelei · 4 years
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SPAD FAB BLOG
WEEK 2
This week we were given a task to draw atmospheric images that either make us feel at place or displace. I found this A2 drawing a little challenging, I had no problem drawing but the complications occurred when I struggled to think up ideas of what to draw and how to communicate how these images made us feel through the images. Drawing feelings, sounds, mood and atmosphere isn’t easy to communicate through drawings as these are usually communicated by the use of words.
Here is my first drafts of my atmospheric images as you can see I had drawn words for the sounds as these are things that are complicated to communicate through images.
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 The next two images was my attempt at drawing what senses I feel within my room without using abstract images but solely depend on lines and how I could use lines to describe my senses within my room. The outcome was better in my opinion than using abstract images, it didn’t just tell the viewer what exactly I wanted them to know and feel but it left space for them to come up with their own interpretation of the space.
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After I had finished my atmospheric images I moved onto my final A2 drawing and had a whole arsenal of images I could choose from as I had drafted and developed images I had drawn in my drafts. Here is what I had come up with.
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Majority of these images are images of what makes me feel at place within a certain space, DNA representing family and friends the cultural designed love heart representing my love for my country and my drive way representing the start of my comfort zone and where I step out into an unfamiliar space. These images all helped me develop my thoughts and ideas of what I wanted my diorama to look like.
 WEEK 3
 In week 3 I started to brainstorm some ideas of what my Diorama would look like, I started off by brainstorming how my ‘place’ area of my diorama would look like as this was the easiest one to do out of the two. I tried to incorporate my heritage and its environment into my design and tried to tie it towards a more modern New Zealand building interior. I did do a rough sketch of what I wanted.
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Here I roughly tried to sketch what environment I wanted to display in my diorama, first I brainstormed some words of what makes me feel at place within a certain space and tried to incorporate them into one drawing, my first initial idea was to create an environment that was similar to my home in Samoa, green grass with an area of sand littered with a few coconut trees. I wanted to incorporate an island vibe into my diorama and place my New Zealand house within the environment. The only problem with this idea is that it didn’t allow me to play with any interior spaces and place other things that I wanted too such as tables, certain items that are special to me and make me feel at place. So I had to scratch this idea.
 My second idea allowed me to play with a lot of interior space and allowed me to incorporate an island environment without it being majority of the diorama. It still held the same principles to my first design but allowed me to place certain things in an interior space.
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I made up quick models of the two and posted them to photo shop to get a rough image of how things would look.
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Wednesday class we were asked to present our A2 drawings in small groups and discuss it with our peers. It was very interesting to see other peoples work and have a little insight into what made them feel at place in certain spaces and areas. The way that each student displayed and drew their senses also intrigued me as this was a complicated problem for me. An idea I saw was that one of my classmates had used colour to describe his feelings and how light and air flows through his room. Where there are hot or cold spots and how the sun travels across his room with different shades of red this idea had never occurred to me and its surprising to see how everyone had their own styles and ideas of communicating senses through drawings.
Now that I had a better idea of what I wanted to do I continued to brainstorm some materials that would help me design my diorama, not only allowing the diorama to be aesthetically pleasing but allow for strength/stability and meaning and purpose. The interior space I wanted in my Diorama was inspired by my room and so therefore I had to research some materials that looked similar to the materials of my room. For the floor I used pop sickle sticks and glued them onto a piece of paper allowing me to create a wooden floor, I had to darken the popsicle sticks to allow for a warm cosy feeling with in the interior space. White paper would allow me to create the white interior walls.
WEEK 4
This week I went and picked up a few materials required to build my diorama I had thought about using wood (Popsicle sticks) to build the exterior wall of my, place setting that will separate the exterior island vibe beach from the modern interior. I re-framed from doing so as I realised it wasn't aesthetically pleasing, I found this out by testing this before with the little materials I had at home.
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This wasn't done to its full extent but from this test I already knew that it wasn't aesthetically pleasing as I wanted a modern interior with a beach exterior separated by a wall. This modern interior wasn't going to work well with this island vibe wall and so I proceeded to redesign the wall so that it matched the modern interior and came up with this.
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I designed this inspired by my bedroom window as it was one of the main features of my room allowing air flow into my bedroom.
I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do for my diorama and how I wanted everything to look, I also realised that since my dioramas in a closed box I feared that due to the lack of lighting the diorama wouldn't be appreciated the way I had envisioned in my head. So I proceeded to add precise cut out holes on the exterior panels of my diorama to allow light to flow into my scenes. One of those cuts allowed a piece of paper to be fitted on the left side of my diorama. This allowed a blue fluorescent light into my place scene. I used a pattern that I designed myself to give the modern interior an island feel so it would connect the exterior and the interior together. 
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I experimented with the sand I had acquired from a sand pit and tried to make a quick mock-up of a sandy beach for my exterior.
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Using one layer of glue and sprinkling sand over wasnt enough to fully cover the paper as some white patches were easily visible through the sand, so I had to wait for the first coat to dry before I could add more glue and sand to the white areas that were showing through. This process was a little time consuming but I like the way it had turned out. 
 I started to plan out my ‘displace’ part of my Diorama, I have brainstormed and have come up with a few ideas. I played on that idea of isolation and loneliness as the driving stone of my displace ideas. Due to my Diorama having ties to my cultural background, I also tried to come up with ideas based around the idea of suppression. From my drawings I tried to create an atmosphere that was gloomy, sad and dark to communicate my ideas of displacement. I believe that lighting will be the main driving factor within this part of my Diorama, with the right lighting I will be able to emphasize the dark shadows of this part of my diorama. I wanted to keep this side of my Diorama simple with a minimalistic style to communicate emptiness, with the shadows I wanted to create an atmosphere where monsters or unknown things would be lurking within those shadows.
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I planned to use black A4 paper as the walls, floor and roof for my ‘displace’ diorama as this will help bring out the emphasize of the shadows. Of course, for there to be shadows there needs to be light, so therefore I have created a little circle cut on the roof of my Diorama which will allow a little bit of light into the space. This also helps create that notion that within this place darkness is superior.  
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bedlamgames · 4 years
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Q&A #103
Today we have the Twine conversion, lesbian training mantras, social lube, a bunch of random stuff from the discord, and a whole lot more. 
[Anonymous said]: I'm really curious what the tally means for your twine conversion posts. Can't seem to figure out what its suppose to represent progress wise...
- Answered this last Q&A. Because of you asking I’ve now also added the explanation to what it’s about to every stream post so I hope that helped with understanding what’s going on with that.
[Anonymous said]: Suggestion: For races that start with a random corruption (ie: Succubi), have an option in full custom to spend points to either narrow what that corruption is (to be one of the four types, for example) or to outright pick one (for a much higher cost).
- That’s a good idea. Being able to pick specifically I think would be too much. There are ALOT of corruptions so that would mean many many menus to be able to select everything. Being able to pick one of the four types seems fair to me as something to spend points on in Full Custom. Added it to my notes. 
[Anonymous said]: Have a succubus slaver who used to be a lamia. On level up, she had the option to get the Fleet trait, which I thought was off-limits for Lamia due to their body shape. I think it's a bug?
- Good spot and should be fixed as of the last update. 
[Anonymous said]: Noticed a bug with No Haven 0.903: If you select a human (or once-human) for your character, and then quick restart, your next character will keep the human's Racial aspect Social Lube. On the topic of that Racial, it says " includes one human, and three other different races/subtypes gain an additional Success" Does that mean one human and three non-humans, or one human and three slavers each of a different race from each other?
-Took me awhile to work this out as going from human to human seemed fine. However you’re right that those with a heritage like demi-angels or succubi will incorrectly keep the previous racial. 
The second so as long as you have at least one human you can get the buff by say having a northerner, noble, wastelander, and convent. 
[Anonymous said]: hi bud, xfto/x421 here, its been a long time i guess. wanted to ask about the status of the no haven/twine conversation. i joined your picardo lately but couldnt post some reports since you dont allow guest-posts. well anyway, the report is about something ridiculous i have found after some restarts, the chosen main charakter (lamia) starts as male with the hard carry aspect(immense shaft) and different description than the ones the perks would give. 1/2
another question, feels like i asked something similiar in the past, how about the integration of different artpacks/access to older pics, or deletion of those that never get used? i guess that would requiere some more access to the game than you allow atm. maybe with twine? do you have a roadmap on tfgames or somewhere for the future of no haven? i know there are some more races you want to implement and improve some systems, but thats it, hope you are doing well in these times. 2/2
I do an update on the patreon every two weeks which is linked on the twitter. You do not need to be a patron to read these and is the best way to stay informed about what I’ve been up to. That includes the status of the conversion. To quickly sum it up;
It's at a stage where all the RAGS to Twine code conversion is basically done. What I need to do now is translate all that work into something playable and there's currently big logic issues with a bunch of the conditions and passages. So what I'm currently doing is trying to tidy up the visual look of the code with a bunch of idents with the theory that will make finding the errors easier.
Alas it’s not me disallowing guest posts... Picarto had some massive stonking issues and so they locked things down hard due to that preventing guests from chatting. I suggest a throwaway email site to get around that.
I don’t think there’s any art in the game file that’s not used as I try to keep on top of deleting the old ones. Not really down for doing art packs of the old ones as due to that not being my art so I see them as placeholder only until they can be replaced by commissions. 
I probably do need to do some kind of roadmap sometime. I’m less keen as it’s kind of a dirty word these days as due to the miss-use of them by others it’s got some bad connontations, but I’m also aware the alternative which is me randomly mentioning stuff on discord/picarto streams leaves the vast majority of my audience in the dark which is also really not ideal.
[Anonymous said]: [no haven 0.903] [Crit no longer grants Bimboborn] okay, but how do I get bimboborn now?
- It’s a corruption. Specifically Blessings of Perversion. 
[Anonymous said]: With the change to training where hypnotic slavers can fully embed the relevant mantras for blowjob, bimbo, and sissy training, could we also get that for lesbian training?
- Yes that’s the plan when I do the third part of lesbian training. Got a set of commissions planned just got to sort the funding and work out who I’m getting to do it. 
[Anonymous said]: hey bud, x421 here, again, might be already fixed because thats from no haven .903, but i recently had the witch queen super rare quest, you might want to proof read the quest and results, there are a few typos. i really did enjoy the writing nonetheless, just a quick question about that quest, as far as i understood this one, you only change your odds of the final result depending on how good you do on your way to the final, but the reward in the end only depends on the final result? 1/2
2/2 it just dawned on me that its been a while since you made an Q&A post so i guess i ll go and lurk on the tfgames forum in the next days, just one last question: i asked early in development about camp upgrades and you were not that convinced about that stuff, i understand you want the slaver camp as some bandit camp and not some castle/bastion or whatever, but since you added camp upgrades, maybe add proximity to a certain region? or something to spend supplies and gold in a 13month+ run?
- Hah! Okay will give it another read through.That’s correct yes. There’s also rewards on the way if you Critical those parts. 
There is a new gold sink coming soon in an upcoming update. I’ve also got plans for more camp upgrades coming later. 
[From the Patreon]: I'm that guy you replied to about the patch notes in Q&A 101. Solid updates. Bugs in the outfit system has driven me nuts since like, 2015, has it been that long already? I think it has. I like collecting them and something always blows up. This time, I ended up with a slaver wearing both the ooze outfit and ponygirl outfit. So there's that. Also I was disappointed the new Quicker then You'd Like wasn't interactive. Solid in any case though, thanks!
- I'll get them all one day I swear! Don't suppose you remember the chain of events that led to that? New QAYL was a patron requested one with the idea of having a big pay off for playing submissive which often involves playing sub-optimally.
[From the Patreon]: 1-ive been noticing when you choose to repick choices for an slave training assignment the slave gets added to the list of choices 2-also just how rare is the post-slave princess city assignment, cause i can never seem to get it even after selling multiple slave princesses 3-another thing is that the nightly puppet-leader stat is almost impossible to get again(either that or i have bedwarmers incapable of usurping me even thought i my current stats mean i couldnt win against even the subbiest slave)
- Will check 3 as you've not been the only person to mention that. 2 I know exists for sure as other people have definitely got it. Should be no rarer than any other rare City assignment, and thanks for the spot on 1.
[From the Discord]: Top 3 Animes of the 2010 to 2020
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica the series was staggeringly good. Just redefined what anime could be to me. Film is a... well it was a thing. A beautiful thing with an ending which I still quite know how to feel about. 
Shirobako. It’s about creativity, craft, and about how people can come together to make something. It might not be something good, but dangit it’s been made and that’s worthwhile. It’s also from personal experience by miles the most accurate depiction of working in an office I’ve ever seen.
Oh man this is very very hard deciding on the third so pick one of the following and I could probably make a strong case for it. 
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, Darling in the FranXX (yes really, yes even the ending), Lupin III: Part 5, Kill la Kill, Monster Musume, Flip Flappers, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, Zombieland Saga, or Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai.
Also while I was taking the question to mean series both Your Name and Promare are absolutely phenonemal films. 
[From the Discord]: Best recent Eurovision Act
Lena. Always Lena. 
[From the Discord]: What's the agricultural technological level of No Haven like 
It’s not hit industrialization yet. What makes the difference is and allows cities like Aversol and even bigger to exist is that the organization of the human empire is far better than it has any right to be for the other levels of development being able to keep an incredibly complex supply chain constantly flowing even if on the ground level it barely seems to be moving at all. There are also some much, much larger farms both on the Great Plains and further to the north compared to the much more isolated single/couple of households ones that your slavers raid. 
[From the Discord]: What have been some of your all-time favourite assignments, both in terms of working on them and how they turned out?
Love When Week’s End Comes for a recent one. Writing all the results in colour commentary (and all the variations for weather, events and outcomes) was a real challenge and I do like how it came out. 
Witch-Queen and Arisin’ for being the first times I tried to go for a different, more potentially disturbing/freaky mood, and I’m pleased with the results. 
Sable Masquerade as I really like the ‘bad end’ I came up with. Actually I like the whole thing as while the pitch from the patron obviously helped, a lot of it was inspired by a random superhero bondage party picture I saw on HF, which I decided to run with, and had a bunch of fun exploring. 
[From the Discord]: Weirdest bug and most difficult bug
The one that resulted in a male wisp riding a griffon was a fun one. 
Most difficult has to be the clothing management which as a previous question suggests I’ve still not entirely solved. 
[From the Discord]: If No Haven was an MMO, what race/class would you play?
Kreen rogue mainly as I really like the edit I did for the portrait which MidnightonMars later translated into a commission. 
If not definitely a lamia. 
[From the Discord]: Knowing what you do now about the design of the game, are there any game mechanics you wish you'd have implemented differently?
Clothing management. So very much clothing management. I’ve redone it entirely twice now, and it’s still not where I want it to be. 
[From the Discord]: What was your inspiration for creating the setting of No Haven?  Has the direction the game has gone varied from your initial idea? If so what has been the biggest change?
- It started off with adapting the chan game Deeper Dungeons which was basically a certain popular mmo with nothing different about it outside of it being porn along with some possibly unwise options of personal abuse. I first changed it by ditching gnomes for neko which to my mind was a clear upgrade. There even used to be an examine refference in the RAGS version to suggest they’d been in the region of the dungeons before being driven out.
Then it was a gradual process of adding with the occasional subtractions to get it closer to a more Warhammer feeling setting which has always been a major love of mine when I was still doing Whorelock’s in RAGS.
With No Haven it was a case of building on what I’ve done there and expanding upon that with the race lore and assignment descriptions. Biggest was probably when I did the favoured/unfavoured stuff and added a ton of extra backstory to various races to justify the choices made there. 
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agirlinjapan · 5 years
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Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars (Week 28)
Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation
Miss the last piece? Read it here!
Check out the RDG Translation twitter!
Help me pay for my next translation project on Ko-fi.
Christmas in July, anyone? It might be hot and summery for us right now, but for Izumiko and the others in RDG right now, it’s December! I’m sending cooling thoughts to everyone broiling in the summer sun with this week’s installation.
Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 4: Mizuho Part 1 (2 of 2)
When Izumiko went up to the student government room, she found Miyuki there already, just like Mayura said she would.
Aware of Izumiko’s arrival, Miyuki looked up from the computer screen. For the first time, Izumiko realized that she wasn’t worried about her grades like she had been earlier in the semester. After all, she had already showed Miyuki all of her tests and she didn’t think he would react as unexpectedly as Mayura had upon seeing her results.
All the same, when he opened her report card, he said in a surprisingly bright voice, “Wow? You ranked tenth? You really did well!”
“Yeah. I reached my goal. And it’s all because you helped me.” Izumiko smiled and placed her bag down before settling into a nearby chair. “So…”
“The fact that your grades went up this far in such a short time shows that until now, you have been putting in very little effort. Clearly you can do well if you actually try.” Miyuki seemed to notice nothing as he spoke, saying things that hurt a little to hear. “You decided you weren’t any good at math and science, didn’t you? That’s not true. You and I might approach the material in different ways, but you quickly find the answers through instinct. Don’t just assume you’re going to be wrong because you’re not used to doing that kind of work.”
Izumiko shrank into herself, but decided to go along with the conversation for a little longer.
“I kind of get what you’re saying. Before this, I didn’t really understand the point of trying hard just because of tests. But now that I’ve done so well, I feel like I shouldn’t be saying I want to be like Mayura. Now I just want to pass her, exactly like you’ve been saying.”
Happy that her roommate had done so well on her exams, Izumiko smiled at Miyuki. “I heard that Mayura just barely beat out Takayanagi for first ranked in the grade. It seems like no one can beat her.”
“For sure. She’s definitely impressive,” Miyuki said with no particular enthusiasm. His tone might have been uninterested, but Izumiko caught the tiniest bit of a smile on his face.
“By any chance, were you aiming for first rank too, Sagara?” Izumiko asked, feeling a little unsure of herself.
Miyuki’s awkward smile remained. “What do you mean ‘by any chance’? When you’re capable of doing something, shouldn’t you put all your effort into doing it? It’s human to feel disappointed when you lose out on what you were aiming for. I’m the same as anyone else.”
“But you’re so good at everything. I can’t even compare myself to you,” Izumiko said in surprise. She honestly couldn’t see what Miyuki felt badly about. Wasn’t this the same Miyuki who had said he’d be happy as long as he scored in the top five?
“So, we should celebrate today…”
Miyuki spoke up, unaware of the direction Izumiko was seemingly trying to move the conversation in. “You’re not an incapable person. You can do so much more than you do now. I’m not just talking about studying. You’re starting to turn this academy into a safe place for yourself all on your own. The goddess hasn’t possessed you in a while, and you’ve managed to make the diviners your allies. I feel like something changed when we were named Team Goddess. I’ve got to think more about how else I can be useful now.”
Caught up in whether or not this was a good chance to reach for her bag and the present inside, Izumiko only heard the last part of his statement.
“Think more about… what?”
“Takayanagi, the Soudas, and everyone else are part of the team to protect the goddess, right? They argue here and there, but I can tell that from here on, they’ll be there to have your back with their spiritual powers. It’s their destiny to eventually become World Heritage Candidates like that. But that’s not the same for me.”
Izumiko sucked in a surprised breath and then heartily denied his words. “That’s not true at all! You’re part of this too, Sagara! Weren’t you able to get rid of those shikigami before at the Christmas party just like Takayanagi was? You were the one who helped me when the Wild Hunt came, too!”
“I was able to see the shikigami and get rid of them with my staff because Wamiya lent me his power,” Miyuki pointed out calmly. “You already know it. I don’t have abilities like everyone else does. If Wamiya ever felt like letting go of me, everything I can do now would disappear. That’s why I can’t be part of the team.”
“Why can’t you? Isn’t it okay for you to use Wamiya’s power?” Izumiko said, voicing her true feelings before pausing to think. “One day, you’re going to be the one who helps me out more than anyone else. I think Wamiya knows that and that’s why he’s with you.”
“That’s fine for the three years we’re here. I’ve more or less gotten used to him at this point. But if you think about it in the long run, I would only be able to show any abilities while I was near you. Admit it. That’s not exactly useful protection for myself. For example, if you were in Japan and I went abroad, do you really think Wamiya would actually cross the ocean with me?”
There was no hesitation in his voice, almost as if he had already thought about this many times before. Izumiko blinked and readjusted herself in her chair as she gazed over at Miyuki.
“Do you think you want to go abroad, Miyuki?”
Miyuki straightened his back and said, “Nothing’s set. I’ve only thought about the possibility. I don’t know what would be best for me yet. But I know I wouldn’t be gone for a long time. I’m not thinking I’d be gone my whole third year. I’d probably just be testing it out on a quick trip.”
“Testing out… going abroad?”
“I’ve talked with some people about becoming an exchange student,” Miyuki confided without any hesitation.
Izumiko’s body stiffened. Her breathing paused as she stared at him. All the same, it didn’t seem as if Miyuki thought what he was saying was all that shocking.
He continued speaking, his tone calm. “I’ve told my homeroom teacher that I’m considering the possibility of studying abroad for half a year or maybe a whole year when we’re second years. There’s downsides to being an exchange student, and I’m still thinking it all over, but there are definitely things I’d only be able to learn if I went now. I want to put myself first, and while I hadn’t planned to hand over my place at the goddess’s side from the start, if it turns out that the “team” is only you and one other person, Takayanagi or Mayura’s abilities are more important for you to keep nearby. You have to keep people who have the ability to fight near you.”
Izumiko was overwhelmed by the realization that Miyuki didn’t understand. He didn’t understand what Izumiko was wishing for in her precious three years at the high school or why she had come here at all.
We only have three years here, but if he’s not here too, there’s no point to it at all. I don’t even want to think about him not being here with me. Miyuki might not have any special powers, but he’s been my best support...
Something occurred to Izumiko just as she was about to say all of this out loud. If she said the things she felt, it would be the same as her saying that she needed him. She realized that was the one thing she hadn’t been able to do since Miyuki had been bound to her and her destiny.
Staying silent, Izumiko looked down at the hem of her skirt, knowing she couldn’t say the things she was thinking. Miyuki looked at her quizzically. However, it didn’t seem as if it was because he was wondering why she was acting the way she was.
“This is all still in the future, and I don’t know how it’s going to work out, so you don’t really have to think about it. I haven’t talked to Yukimasa about it yet either.”
“If Mr. Sagara says yes and gives you the money… will you go abroad?” Izumiko asked finally, her voice hoarse.
“Not necessarily. It would depend on where I could study.”
Maybe it was because he was thinking about Yukimasa, but Miyuki took a short breath and then said, “It’s just that with everything going on and now that I have to track down Yukimasa who’s disappeared into thin air, I probably won’t be able to go to Tamakura Shrine this winter. It seems like Yukimasa’s flown to the United States.”
“What? Really?...”
There was no reason that Miyuki had to spend his time at Tamakura Shrine over the long vacation. Izumiko knew that. They hadn’t bought tickets together in advance like they had for summer vacation. Seeing as her mother’s friend, Dr. Mizuho Nakayama was coming to Tokyo for a conference, she had bought a ticket for Izumiko as well so that they could travel back to Tamakura together.
Still, Izumiko couldn’t imagine a New Year where she didn’t see Yukimasa or his son even once. This, too, was quite a shock for her.
*****
On the twenty fourth, a silver and white Christmas card arrived for Izumiko at the girl’s dorm.
 Merry Christmas, Izumiko.
This year, I thought I’d give you your last Christmas present of the season first. But what should it be?
Yukimasa
 Izumiko stared at the card in front of her a little sullenly.
He must be teasing me with this…
Yukimasa had disappeared from the school without one word to Izumiko. Why was he asking her what she wanted now?
No matter how you think about, it’s generally pretty weird that an ascetic monk is wishing me a Merry Christmas…
The card arrived in the afternoon while Izumiko and Mayura were getting changed for the day’s party. Angelica’s party was still three hours away, but it would take them an hour and a half once they left the school to ride the Keio Line and then the subway to their destination. It was a good idea to give themselves some extra time in the process.
Mayura looked over at the card curiously, but she didn’t seem to think that the sender’s name was the Yukimasa Sagara they both knew. Soon enough, she moved away and went back to her own preparations.
“Hey, Izumiko. Why haven’t you given Sagara his Christmas present yet?”
“The timing hasn’t been right so I haven’t given it to him,” Izumiko replied reluctantly. Bringing it up only made her feel more disappointed about the situation. She let out a sigh. “I might give up on giving it to him. It’s not anything special and walking around with it all this time has hurt the wrapping paper.”
“What are you talking about? Today’s Christmas Eve, isn’t it? What if you give it to him before we go to Angelica’s house?”
Izumiko bit her lip. “Miyuki said something came up all of a sudden that he needs to do and he already left. He’ll meet us there. He sent me a text about it this morning.”
“Huh? He must have only sent it to you. Miyuki was the one to decide that we’d go to this. I’d love to tell him that he should actually be coming with us for that exact reason. Manatsu and I are only going because of him.”
Mayura glanced towards Izumiko and then let out an unexpected laugh. “Wow, Izumiko. You look seriously peeved. You went out of your way to put on such a cute outfit, but with that face… Look at yourself.”
Izumiko was wearing a dress with a short sweater over it. She had on a necklace and a corsage to dress the outfit up as well. Her hair was still in its usual braids, but she wore a rhinestone headband to give them more of a party-like appearance. Dressing up was supposed to make her feel better about going to the party, but Izumiko still wasn’t excited about it at all. She looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror on her wardrobe’s door, but she couldn’t focus on her expression at all.
“I never know what Miyuki’s thinking…” she complained.
“And he doesn’t understand how you feel either,” Mayura said bluntly in response. “Why can’t you give him that present? I promise you he’ll be happy to get it.”
Izumiko continued to frown. “I imagined myself giving him a better present on Christmas Eve. What I have is so ordinary.”
“You’ll know what he’s thinking when you finally hand it over. If it’s from you, it’ll be special to him.”
When Izumiko did not respond, Mayura smiled. “Well, I guess I have to say this then. In Europe, Christmas is celebrated for twelve days. I think you should give Miyuki that present even if it’s on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Don’t give up. You’d be stupid not to give it to him.”
The two of them finished getting ready with a little time left to spare before they had to leave. As they finished though, there was a knock at the door and the head of the dorm, Ms. Saijou, poked her head inside.
“Izumiko, do you know a woman named Dr. Nakayama?”  
Izumiko looked in Ms. Saijou’s direction in surprise. “If you mean Mizuho Nakayama, I know her.”
“Yes, yes. That’s the person. She’s just arrived here to pick you up. She’s in the lobby.”
“What?” Izumiko glanced towards Mayura in confusion. “What should I do? Mizuho must have gotten my return date wrong by a day.”
“Oh, is this the person you’re going home with?”
“I’m going to go down and talk to her for a minute.”
Mizuho Nakamura was not a careless person and so Izumiko couldn’t imagine that this was a case of misinformation. She hurried out of the room and down to the lobby.
In Izumiko’s mind, Mizuho was always a doctor in a white coat. The woman waiting just inside the door, however, was wearing a well-tailored beige trench coat. Regardless, Izumiko knew who she was. She was tall and just a little too thin with her hair in a high ponytail held up in a barrette. Her sharp cheekbones gave her strong, easily recognizable facial features.
Still confused, Izumiko stopped in front of the woman.
“Mizuho, I’m sorry, but today’s not actually the day I’m going home…”
Before Izumiko could finish speaking though, Mizuho wrapped her in a tight hug. Her grip might have been powerful, but Izumiko noticed the strained look on her face. This wasn’t the easygoing smile Mizuho wore when Izumiko visited her office in the hospital.
“I know, Izumiko. I need you to be calm and listen to me,” she said close to Izumiko’s ear. Her voice was so low it was practically a murmur. “Without making a scene, we’re going to leave together right now. Yukariko was injured at work. I’m taking you to her, but she doesn’t want anyone else to know her whereabouts right now.”
Keep reading!
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kumeko · 5 years
Text
elevator pitches
Character/Pairing: Kaoru/Kyoya, Tamaki/Kyoya, Haruhi/Kyoya
A/N: Written for the @ohshc-music-room3-zine. Somehow Kyoya ended up being the centerpiece for the fic. You should check out the beautiful artwork that went with my piece.
Summary: Kaoru the rookie detective. Haruhi the upcoming lawyer. Tamaki the procrastinating student. Kyoya’s story interweaved with the others, connecting him whether he liked it or not.
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I. The Detective
The room was a mess. No, that was an understatement. The room was a disaster zone.
Kaoru shifted the box of papers in his arms as he searched for an empty space to deposit his load. Every free inch of space was occupied with stacks upon stacks of papers and evidence scattered throughout the room. Even the floor was not immune to the mess and he almost danced his way to the table. The place no longer resembled a meeting room in the least.
“Where should I put this?” he finally asked, giving up after a frantic scan revealed there really were no clear spots.
His partner pointed to a box on his left without looking up from the paper he was reading. “On top of that.”
Even his voice was distant and commanding. Kaoru held back a sigh; he had heard that Kyoya was a hard detective to work with but he hadn’t realized just what that meant till now. They’ve been partners for almost a week now and he could count the number of times they had a proper talk on one hand. Kyoya had indicated a tower of boxes, which swayed precariously as Kaoru placed his box atop of it all. Carefully, he adjusted the column to prevent it from toppling. “Anything I should do?”
“Your job,” was the only cutting remark given and really, Kyoya had no intention of helping a rookie out at all. Kaoru bit back a sharp retort; it wouldn’t help him to get the ace detective angry.
Maybe he could go out with Hikaru later and get some drinks. Some strong, stiff drinks.
In the meantime, he might as well see if there was anything left to do. Maneuvering slowly through the room, he started to examine the evidence around him. There were research papers and photographs and something that looked suspiciously like a tutu. Small sticky notes stuck out between pages and perhaps there was more order to this madness than he thought. Even the witness statements were organized in order of most relevant to least.
His partner wasn’t big on social niceties but he was very meticulous. The kind of guy who only paid attention to results. Kaoru could work with that; he had long since learned how to play others like a fiddle and it wouldn’t be too hard to find what makes Kyoya tick. From the documents Kaoru had to recently collect, the majority of them were on the old heritage section of the city. Several old apartments, a theatre, and a series of museums were at the heart of that district. The crime scene was nowhere close to any of those places, but if he overlaid the subway system over the city map, the theatre made a good hideout. With that in mind, he started to gather the witness statements from the theatre troupe and their schedules and performance dates.
He’d gather all of the data and Kyoya would not only be surprised but also impressed. He’d show he was more than a rookie and that he should be taken seriously and—
Kyoya’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Is that Dancing Queen?”
Kaoru snapped his attention towards Kyoya, who was finally looking up from his papers. His glasses were slightly askew, just waiting to be adjusted. A moment of processing and Kaoru used his top-grade detective skills to very articulately answer, “Huh?”
“You were humming,” Kyoya clarified, more patient than he expected.
Kaoru blinked, unconsciously touching his lips. Had he been? Shaking himself out of his stupor, he nodded. “The theatre was performing Mamma Mia the week of the crime.”
“The theatre?” Kyoya lowered his gaze, noticing the documents in Kaoru’s hands. “Why were you looking into them?”
“You’re looking at the old heritage sights and the theatre aligns best with a subway getaway,” Kaoru explained, setting the stack in front of his partner. “I grabbed all of the witness statements and their schedules.”
Silence. All that got him was silence and he started to second guess his actions. He remembered the order to the stacks, the tabbed notes and sticky notes. Maybe he shouldn’t have messed with the system. Hell, maybe he had guessed wrong entirely.
“I’ll put it—”
A hand stopped him from picking up the stack again. “No, it’s fine.” Kyoya was looking at him now, scrutinizing him. There was something deliberate about the way he stared, in how he formed his words. “Kaoru, was it?”
His hand was warm where they touched and he could only nod, not trusting his voice.
“Decent work for your experience level.” Kyoya’s eyes never left his, even as he let go of him and reached for the papers. He was searching for something and Kaoru straightened his back, hoping not to leave him wanting. “I wasn’t expecting you to figure that out.”
Praise? Kaoru stared at Kyoya but the man merely started to flip through the papers, already focused on the next stage of the investigation.  His hand was long gone but he could still feel the intensity of his gaze, the heat of his skin. He took back everything he said earlier—he might know how to manipulate others, but this man was a master at it.
Still, he was never one to back down from a challenge, even if he should. Pulling out one of the witness statements, he started to examine it carefully, noting down any clues he found.
Maybe he’d find the criminal before Kyoya. Imagine his surprised face then.
-x-
II. The Businessman
 Haruhi pushed the down button. Rolling her shoulders, she looked around the elevator lobby. There was an extravagant feel to it, just like the rest of the building. One side was stained glass doors leading to her employer’s office. On the other, a giant window with a view of the city. A pair of white armchairs with a table between were positioned next to the seat with a complimentary champagne bottle and glasses.
 She could not understand the rich. It was a waste of money since she’d seen that bottle get replaced almost hourly depending on the clientele. At the least the view was great.
 “Haruhi.”
The voice surprised her and Haruhi snapped her attention back to the office doors, or rather to the man coming out of the doors. It seemed Kyoya did sleep after all.
“Of course I do,” he replied in a deadpan voice. Whoops, she had said that aloud.
Logically, despite being a department head and favourite to be the next CEO, Kyoya was human. And humans did require sleep and food. Looking him over quickly, she noticed that his shirt’s top button was open and his tie loose.
“So even you can relax,” she added and perhaps she shouldn’t have said that one out loud either. Her law teachers had told her once that while her honest streak was admirable, it was a hindrance in the court.
More importantly, a hindrance in life.
He stared at her, mild curiosity painted across his face. “Should a lawyer really say that to their client?”
“Perhaps not,” she admitted, shrugging. The elevator floor number slowly increased. It would not save her from this conversation or anything she said. “But you aren’t retaining me. The company is.”
His brow raised a fraction before his expression settled into a small smirk. “True, but I do have some say on who we employ.”
Haruhi bit her cheek and looked away. Now she was playing with fire and since this was her first job after law school, she wasn’t keen on losing it so quickly. Quietly, she murmured, “Right.”
“I’ve never seen anyone make so many blunders in a single conversation before. And it’s been,” Kyoya’s gaze flickered to his watch. “Only two minutes since we started talking.”
She wasn’t quite sure if he wanted an apology or not. The amused look in his eyes said otherwise, even if his words were cutting. “Two minutes is a long time—the elevator hasn’t even made it to our floor.”
“Were you timing the elevator?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Just since you—”
 Luckily, the elevator dinged as its doors opened, interrupting her before she could finish, and she gratefully stepped inside. Only to have him follow immediately after. Any awkwardness they had outside was compounded by the small room. He neatly settled in next to her, barely a hair length away. Kyoya pressed the button for the fifth floor and she looked at him, impressed. “And I thought I had no life.”
He raised an eyebrow and she resisted the urge to cover her mouth. Playing with fire. Right. She really needed to learn control. Fortunately, he left it alone with a single snipe. “I suppose you don’t.”
 There was little she could say against that.
 After a moment he added,“Considering our latest lawsuit, I need to double check our records.”
“Oh. I should join you then.” Haruhi suppressed a sigh; there went her chance to finally get home at a reasonable time. She didn’t have to look at her wristwatch to know it was past eight. “There were a few things I wanted to check.”
“A hard worker, huh?” Kyoya shifted slightly, his gaze inscrutable. “I was right to hire you.”
That surprised her. “You were part of the—” Her stomach grumbled and Haruhi flushed a deep red. She stared steadfast at the door. “Ignore that.”
“Was that—”
“Don’t ask,” she repeated forcefully.
 From the corner of her eye, she could see the bastard repressing a laugh. It seemed every part of her was honest, even her stomach. Maybe the other lawyers were right.
“I guess it is dinner time.” Kyoya pulled out his phone, typing out a text.  “I’ll have something delivered.”
She rummaged through her purse. “I should have some cash on me.”
Still focused on his phone, he dismissed the idea entirely. “Not needed.”
“I can pay for my share.”
“You’re not staying. I’m not paying the extra hours.” Kyoya glanced at her. “Besides, you’ll burn yourself out if you keep staying so late.”
Haruhi stared at him. The elevator music filled the silence, the sound of Dancing Queen softly filling the room. The cheerful song did little to alleviate the tension.
Turning back to his phone, he amended, “It’s a little late in the case to hire a new lawyer.”
The clarification sounded about right. Deflated, she looked back to the doors. “I think you’ll overwork yourself first.”
“Not a chance.” Kyoya straightened his collar and closed his top button. While soft, his voice was firm and adamant. “Not at this stage.”
Ambition. She had expected the goal but not quite the passion behind it. Then again, considering how often she saw his office light on after hours, maybe she should have expected it. People never pushed that hard without something fueling them on.
“Famous last words,” she muttered and he scoffed. It wasn’t quite a laugh but it spooked her all the same.
“Do you think so?” He turned to her and she stared, transfixed. There was something predatory in his gaze, in his smile. A thousand deals were closed on this expression alone. “Want to make a bet?”
Haruhi swallowed. She had seen enough people fail against him to know her chances of victory. “I…”
The elevator dinged all too soon and Kyoya stepped forward. His hand brushed against hers as he passed. “Maybe next time then.”
“Yeah.” Oddly enough, she looked forward to it.
-x-
III. The Student
 “Stop.” Kyoya looked up from the textbook, shooting Tamaki a glare. He had agreed to bring out the kotatsu for a single reason: he’d be left alone long enough to finish studying for his entrance exams.
Usually, that was a non-issue. The second the kotatsu was out, Tamaki would burrow into it and promptly lose the will to do anything else. For once, the idiot’s lunacy surpassed the kotatsu’s powers, leading him to narrate a series of stories. A series of stories that, for some reason, involved Kyoya.  
 “Huh?” Tamaki cocked his head, confused. “Why?”
 Kyoya rubbed his brow. Only the idiot could stare at all the textbooks and ask that question. “I’m studying. What are you doing?”
“I’m helping you study!” Tamaki beamed from across the table, his chin on his hands. Every part of him was vibrating and he seemed to dance as he leaned left and right repeatedly. “These are potential 'what-ifs’! Think of the future you could have!”
“The future I could have?” Kyoya repeated, not following his thought process.
“Well, once you’re in university you can become anything, right? And meet new people. So you could be a cop or you could take over your father’s hospital or—” Tamaki rattled off implausible scenario after implausible scenario.
Honestly, he should have expected this. At least he stopped him after that second story, the laundry list of clichés was getting tiresome. Closing his book, he gave his friend a deadpan stare. “I already know Haruhi and Kaoru.”
“Well, I’m using them as stand-ins. It could be anyone else.” Undeterred, Tamaki reached for an orange on the table and slowly peeled it. “It’s just possibilities.”
“The romance scenarios?” he prodded, calculating exactly what damages Tamaki would owe him. Should he punish him? Not that it would stop Tamaki from pulling this again. Nothing could really stop him when he went wild.
“Well, everyone likes a good romance story.” Tamaki said dramatically before he hugged himself, flinging his head back as he plopped on the ground. “The drama, the love, how it moves the soul!” His hand reached for the ceiling.
Kyoya sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The punishment it was then. “And if Haruhi or Kaoru heard that?”
Tamaki froze. He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, barely blinking, before sitting up. He leaned forward. Quietly, “Don’t tell them.”
“Is that an order?” Kyoya raised a brow and Tamaki balked.
“Please don’t tell them?” He rested his chin on the table, staring at him imploringly. His eyes were wide and watery and Kyoya could sense a headache coming up. A hand reached out to grip his. “I’ll do anything.”
Kyoya stared at Tamaki’s hand before sighing and relenting. Gripping it back, he gave him a stern look. “Then these stories will...?”
“Immediately stop, I promise.” Tamaki shook his head quickly. Beaming, he withdrew and split his peeled orange. Plopping a slice in his mouth, he moaned happily. “The best food for a kotatsu. Want one?”
“Pass.” Kyoya opened his book once more. There were only a few hours left in the day and he really wanted to get to the fifth chapter before bedtime. Before he could read more than a few lines, an orange slice was waved in front of his mouth.
“Just one?” Tamaki offered.
It was sometimes easier to just accept it than to fight it. Relenting, he opened his mouth. Tamaki’s smile broadened. As promised, he returned back to his own interests, creating small flowers out of the peels. Under his breath, he hummed softly. A familiar song Kyoya had heard three times today now.
“That song... you really like it, don’t you?” Kyoya commented offhandedly as he skimmed a page.
Under the kotatsu, Tamaki’s feet started to dance. Every part of him bobbed to an invisible beat. He cocked his head. “What makes you say that?”
Of course the idiot wouldn’t notice. “It was in every one of your stories.”
“Ohhh! You’re like a detective! And you were paying attention!” Tamaki glowed. If it were possible to bounce while sitting, he did so. “Oh, what if you were a detective and Mori was your assistant—”
“Tamaki.”
“Right, right, I promised.” He went back to eating, still humming the tune. “I’ll keep quiet, like a spy.”
Kyoya sighed and started to count down to next outburst. It was impossible to stop Tamaki when he was into something. Still, he hadn’t delivered his punishment. Offhandedly, he casually added, “We are not going to see Mamma Mia.”
 Tamaki froze, his humming instantly cut off. Pale, he opened and closed his mouth silently.
 Ah, if he knew that was what it took, Kyoya would have said it hours ago.
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goldguile-a · 5 years
Text
okay, claude’s childhood headcanon time. i got some sleep, i’m ready, let’s do this. under the cut because spoilers, of course-- and again, bits of this can be subject to change depending on any context provided from the black eagles, blue lions, or church route or even anything i’m forgetting. ...part of it also may go without saying, but let me live.
content warning for racism and prejudice, as well. 
to set the scene for claude’s childhood, one must first take a step back and examine judith’s circumstances. her brother godfrey was presumably lucky enough to have been born with the crest of riegan, settling his future as the next duke riegan and head of the leicester alliance in stone. judith... was not. 
her future consisted being married off to another noble house to bolster house riegan’s political presence and potentially produce another child bearing a crest. she never wanted that life, being a warrior at heart and a talented one at that, but no display of martial prowess could prevent her betrothal and marriage to the heir of house daphnel. seeking to return a crest to their bloodline after generations of their own never surfacing, they did all they could to secure that marriage.
and oh boy did judith hate her new husband. her new father-in-law was fine enough, but her husband saw her as nothing but a tool to elevate his status; a crest-baby bearing machine. judith avoided consummating their marriage at every turn, instead turning her attention to military matters and making a name for herself as the hero of daphnel. eventually, her ability was so renowned that house goneril requested her aid in a battle with the almyran forces. eager to escape daphnel, judith set out immediately. 
when she crossed blades with nader the undefeated, sparks flew. recognizing a chance when she saw one, judith took advantage of this unspoken connection to spring a deal with nader and arrange the circumstances so that it would appear she went missing after the battle. in truth, she returned to almyra with him. despite the almyrans’ protests at introducing a woman from fodlan into their society the duo fell in love, and judith soon found herself pregnant. 
and as her family had hoped when initially marrying her off, her son bore the minor crest of riegan. 
with godfrey having started a family of his own and house riegan’s future at least secured, judith saw no reason to return. prince claude would be raised in almyra though being a bastard born out of wedlock, his claim to his throne would be shaky at best-- his leicester heritage making the public even more unwilling to accept him as their prince. his parents loved him dearly. judith taught him the sword, while he took to the skies with his father and the latter’s wyvern before he could even walk. he displayed an aptitude for the bow, much like the rest of his countrymen, and nader couldn’t have been prouder. their family was close and loving.
the people of almyra, however, were not pleased. from a young age, the little prince was treated differently. any kindness outside of his family felt as though it was given out of obligation, because their status or role in the castle demanded it. he would hear whispers about himself and his mother, and how those from fodlan couldn’t be trusted no matter how steadily relations between the nations were improving. these whispers would be parroted by castle children who didn’t know better, and took to lording their status as ‘full’ almyrans over claude. 
at first, he tried to explain himself. his mother had come from a bad place, and his father showed her kindness by bringing her home with him. he would be rebuked with the comment that for all that ‘kindness’, nader never married judith. those savvy to castle gossip would point out that the entire relationship was an affair on the latter’s part. claude tried to point out that he couldn’t control WHO he was born from, but that did little to sway people either. 
then, he tried yelling. he demanded people stop demonizing himself and his mother, because they had nothing to do with the age-old feud. this also did not work. in fact, it only incited more anger from those he debated with.
finally, he fought back. a child’s words became the straw that broke the camel’s back, and claude swung a punch. with battle being such a focal point in almyra’s customs the childish spat soon escalated into an all-out brawl every time claude’s or judith’s names were slighted, and only judith’s intervention put a stop to it. 
unable to deal with the pressure, claude ran away from home at age eleven. he spent a week on the streets of almyra, watching those from other walks of life co-exist in the castle town and being amazed. in the castle, the social hierarchy was prominent... even if subverted entirely when it came to the two with fodlan’s blood in their veins. here in town? no matter who you were, you were equal. a baker and a blacksmith had the same level of importance, and were both treasured members of the community, even if one had moved recently from another part of almyra-- or even dagda. 
they worked together, daily lives full of light and love and fun, and claude thought perhaps he could stay out here. if the nobility didn’t want him, fine. nader had siblings with children. surely one of his cousins -- full blooded almyrans -- would be a fine heir in his place. 
unfortunately after claude told his story and his heritage was realized, the people in town were noticeably colder too. it wasn’t as bad as the treatment he received at the castle, not by a long shot, but... claude noticed. frustrated, he returned to the castle. 
if explaining himself, yelling, and fighting wouldn’t work, he sought to protect himself with other means. he grew well versed in the art of trickery and scheming, always staying one step ahead of those in opposition to his general existence. he held himself at arm’s length from people, carefully weighing every option presented to him at every given moment and how it might reflect upon others and their own goals. he hid behind his natural charm and easy-going nature as a mask, assessing and acting as needed. 
eventually, news reached almyra that the heir to house riegan, godfrey, had died. his daughter bore no crest, and with little time remaining for the current family head there was no heir. knowing this, judith reluctantly returned to fodlan with claude in tow. 
at first, claude was hopeful. perhaps the people of fodlan would be far more accepting of those from almyra-- he was dead wrong. despite his crest, he had to prove to his grandfather (and the rest of the houses at the roundtable) that he was not a war-mongering savage before being legitimized. while his easy charisma and strategic exploitation of the attitudes of the nobles around him, he won many’s favour. still, rumours ran rampant about his potential status as a fraud. judith was forced to return to daphnel, and in his rage her husband refused to acknowledge claude. to keep the peace, the bond between mother and son was strained... though deep down, it endured. 
it was decided claude would spend one year at the officer’s academy to ‘properly’ experience and learn the customs required of a leicester noble before returning to derdriu for further instruction to take over for his grandfather. he was legitimized, and the following year he was sent to garreg mach. the rest, as they say, is history. 
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psuedo-psyde-blog · 5 years
Text
Deviation: Chapter 1- Feast
Eating your way through a corpse is never easy, especially one that was hundreds of times bigger than one self. I would know. But that was the mountain of a task that our aväk friend had embarked upon. One bite at time the larvae ate its way through poor Leon's brain. Every bite imparting knowledge on the little aväk. For example, the center for motor control way tastier, while the portion that stored memories was disconcerting. Also that bone and blood went extremely well together. Anything that would be useful was withheld until the aväk was ready. It ate bits of everything it could get near. It ate and ate and ate. Until the larvae found itself in an empty cavern that was Leon's chest cavity. Empty is a bit of a lie because there is something already in there, just nothing that should have been there. The Lost Woods is a peculiar place, my dear friends. It gathers oddities and things thought to be dead and gone like a magpie, be it forgotten relics or future technology. Stay in the woods long enough and you will find something. The thing our small mutual friend found is known as a Marg. Looking like a pale rope with teeth, it was used by mages of a bygone era to make themselves more physically adapt. It was a way for them to expel their weakness by feeding their extremities to the marg. They replaced augmented limbs and quite literally had a mind of their own. Only those with iron wills would even attempt it, otherwise they might have a bit more than they would like eaten. The Marg currently nestled in Leon's abdomen had hollowed it out hoping to use this body like a meat puppet. Unfortunately, it's feast had made it rather sleepy so it was resting. Which is fortunate for our little aväk who was still starving. Unwittingly hitting the jackpot, the small black aväk sunk it's four magic teeth into the sturdy flesh of it's elder cousin. It was like watching a house cat eat a sleeping tiger. Almost exactly like that actually. The only reason that the tiger in this scenario didn't wake up was because of the terrifyingly potent numbing toxic on the house cats fangs. Realizing with the first bite that this thing was much tastier than human, the aväk began to devour the marg with gusto. Aväk usually try and avoid filling up on one part of the body in particular. It's in their instincts and their best interests to try and eat every part of the body, so they have a more diverse gene pool
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Tiny, squishy, and dumber than a three day old bottle of milk, the larvae could barely comprehend what food was. So a concept like everything that would ever be sending it personalized message was quite lost on it. While that it isn't exactly right it is right enough in this instance. So our small friend continued on his tiny gluttony filled rampage. After 2 full days of slow eating, the bloated aväk made its way slowly back to the skull. The once small black larvae was now about the size and shape of a human eye, burrowed in for a long nap. Aväk are one of the more peculiar species that I have seen in my long life. The life cycle of the aväk usually begin with the death of their progenitor, and then the subsequent feast on them. Most would consider such a birth monstrous in nature and not part of a rational race. For the most part the young are treated as monsters, but the adolescent and adults are hailed as the swiftest merchants in all the land. Dealing in both actual goods and death. This is probably the sole reason that aväk are even tolerated. While a fairly docile species on the whole, nearly all who have met an aväk usually describe them as being pleasant enough, as long as you don't give them a chance to open their mouths. *Crack* You see my dear friends, aväk's have a disconcerting habit of chattering their jaws. Quite frequently. And loudly. That coupled with their boisterous bragging about their chitin, or heritage, makes them rather annoying. In fact, it has been the sole source for three seperate wars on the aväk people. If it wasn't for their intimate knowledge of The Ways, then they would surely have gone extinct. The Ways are a vast series of interconnected tunnels that span most of the globe, that nearly all aväk's grow up in. All, except deviations, of course. *Craaack* Deviations are not born from their progenitor and start life in some other living thing. Aväk being as prideful as they are call such aberrations Deväks. The reason they are so despised is because aväks take on characteristics of the body they feast on as larvae. Meaning the larvae that worked its way through Leon's brainstem and had cocooned itself in the jelly of his eye was quite the rarity. Then again it was also rare for even deviations to be born alone, but with a cracked crystalisk it was luck that there was even one. *CRACK* As the larvae feasts, its small body is analyzing the makeup of the food and preparing to metamorphose into something else. A mix of original genes with information from the Aväks were once the most adaptable and diverse species, but they slowly became obsessed with unity and then tradition. Leading to the aväks hiding away in their cities afraid of the other rational races, and branding the outsider as a new species entirely. *CRACKCRAACK* The newest member of said species was finally breaking out of it's cocoon. After feasting for two days on blood, bone, and brain, it spent nearly a week inside it's cocoon. *CRACK* With a final kick the hatchling Deväk was free. Standing at just over 4 centimeters tall, it wasn't much to look at; with a rounded back reminiscent of a beetle, four arms, and two legs that looked like three entwined segments of rope. Of the two sets of arms, there was obviously a main pair and an auxiliary pair. The main pair had six digits on each hand, including two thumbs on each side of the hand. The second set of hands were smaller and they were tucked in as though it was hugging its chest. These each had 3 fingered hands, but claws instead of normal digits. Its eyes were a radiant blue, but other than that it really didn't look like anything special. The inside however, was a different story. Normally aväks only had an exoskeleton, but our little deviation had both the internal framing of a human and the plating of its species. Yet it's third "parent" made the most surprising change. Aväk's are usually lightweight and hatchlings will almost always have the ability to fly. Unless said aväk is bigger and bulkier than any normal hatchling. Where the wings would normally fold up in the back shell were two separate limbs that looked like miniature black margs. Each one had a maw filled with needle shaped teeth, which would explain why our deväk hatchling had no mouth on it's head. Unlike the real things, these were not independent but rather mutated limbs. It also had one other advantage over the deväk's other mutations
However, in this case it was less good. Aväk's are a highly adaptable race, which can vary drastically from generation to generation depending upon their needs. This is both their greatest strength and weakness, which is why most aväk's only consume the genes of their progenitor. To prevent disastrous mutations that could cripple them. So they cripple their evolution instead. Not knowing how to read, or for that matter possessing even a notion of what communication might be, the aväk larvae tried to eat the boxes, which effectively dismissed them. These boxes though small were vastly important, despite their size. In the simplest terms my dear friends, those 'boxes’ are the universes interpretation of the recipient. The recipients of said 'boxes’ or prompts are the universe's only way of knowing itself, while the prompts are the universe's way to help the recipients know themselves.
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Granted both skeletal structures were considerably weaker than a pure bred of either species, but this was still highly useful. However, the real benefits of the union of human and aväk brain structures: it allowed the small deväk to think and be aware of itself. Admittedly this was at the level of a child who had a severe concussion, but it allowed it to process information that might save its life one day.
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Which was in fact sooner than it expected. Unfortunately for the insect imbecile, reading was still way beyond it, considering its first reaction was to try and run away from the floating screens. Which was admittedly better than trying to eat them, which its previous iteration had tried. Still it decided to spend the next while running, climbing, and jumping, not to escape the demonic transparent monster, but to test out it's own limits. Obviously. Not knowing what else to do, the young deväk curled up into the fetal position and buried its face into the corpse of the once Leon. Hoping that the screen would lose interest and go away, it suddenly seemed to swell in the deväk's mind's eye and then it popped. Information flooded the idiotic insectoids mind and it understood what was happening. While the message it received was more like, 'Danger! Bad thing happening and bad thing will get badder in small while. Fix if living is to continuing.' Like I said dear friends, it was not the brightest knife in the shoe box.
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https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21963/deviation
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thegreenwolf · 5 years
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The Importance of Nearby Nature
Note: Original link at http://www.thegreenwolf.com/the-importance-of-nearby-nature/. This was first published on No Unsacred Place around 2012-ish, which went defunct a few years ago (RIP–it was a good site). Then it was on Paths Through the Forests, but I split from Patheos a couple of years ago due to philosophical differences with their new ownership. As they have not honored my request to have my writing taken down, and I don’t want to direct more traffic to them, I am slowly reproducing my work from there here. That way if I want to share this post with someone it will come from my site and not theirs. Please help me by sharing this link around–thank you!
Last week I was taking a walk while in between appointments around the residential portion of the Hollywood District here in Portland. It was a glorious day, sunny and warm, and amid the sounds of lawnmowers and cars I could hear the voices of numerous birds in the trees and gardens around me. I walked beneath a male Anna’s hummingbird doing his distinctive dive bomb display with a chirp and a “tze-tze-tze” (that first sound being made by the bird’s tail feathers). And I passed by a pair of tiny gray bushtits in a flowering tree, hunting equally tiny insects for lunch. Numerous ferns and flowers burst forth in lush greenery, urged on by recent rain and immediate sunlight, and even a pair of domestic cats enjoyed their yard (thankfully from the safety of long leashes). It was, all told, quite a pleasant walk only cut short by a text that my next appointment was, in fact, in another neighborhood entirely.
Still, even those few minutes were enough to rejuvenate me through a busy day. Not that this is a new revelation; it’s been several years since I took my first graduate course in ecopsychology, and one of the first things we discussed were the restorative properties of exposure to nature. Research has quantified these positive effects, allowing a more structured understanding of why we seek outdoor places to refresh ourselves and find relaxation. It may almost seem redundant to some of us to have to study things we feel are common sense.
We are human mammals, Homo sapiens sapiens. As a species, we spent hundreds of thousands of years evolving in wide, open savannahs and scrub forests, and that experience was built on a much, much longer heritage of wild living. The few thousand years that we’ve been living in settled areas, with permanent shelters, is a much smaller period of time, and our current way of life is, at best, a century or so old, hardly long enough for us to properly adapt to it in depth. Our mammalian selves still look for open water and good vistas, and too much time spent indoors can lead to greater levels of stress, among other unpleasant effects.
So why is it so hard to get us outside sometimes? One of the prices we pay for our fast-paced, energy-hungry lifestyles is more of a dependence on controlled indoor environments. We learn from an early age that we’re supposed to do important things inside. Our very education is done indoors, for fear that being outside would lead us to distraction. And this trains us for the cubicle, the office, the checkout counter. Most of us don’t walk or bike to work or school, either, depriving us of even these daily encounters with the outdoors.
We also are concentrated more within cities and towns than ever before. It’s where the most job opportunities and other resources are located. However, other than neatly trimmed, rectangular parks with a few benches and trees, cities don’t always have green spaces. Most larger, wilder urban parks, like New York’s Central Park or Portland’s Forest Park, don’t have a lot of affordable housing nearby, and it can be quite a trek for some people to get to them, involving an investment of time and money that not all may have.Which is why it’s important to have nearby nature. What is nearby nature?  By some definitions it’s the wild places just outside a city or town; however, I also use the term to refer to the nature within these populated areas. After all, we don’t entirely pave everything over. There are gardens with flowering plants and trees and other green growing things, and an assortment of birds that have adapted to new ecosystems, and even a few mammals like raccoons and possums that have taken advantage of a lack of natural predators.  But it’s cultivated nature, too–gardens and landscaping and open green lawns (while I may hate grassy lawns and see them as a waste of space, they’re still better than asphalt).
Nearby nature allows us to connect with something other than ourselves; indeed, it connects us, ever so subtly, with something bigger than ourselves. When we’re inside, glued to a television set or a computer monitor or even a book, we can tune out everything that isn’t human-made. We’re lost in our own little world. But go outside, and we’re confronted with our neighbors, human and non-human alike. We have to remember, then, that we aren’t the only living beings on the planet.
This reconnection is beneficial all around. On the one hand, being outdoors in an environment where we feel safe helps to lower one’s blood pressure and relaxes the limbic system, and can reduce stress as well as symptoms of a variety of mental illnesses. We reconnect with our ancient selves, and give our senses the things they evolved to drink in. But it’s also beneficial for all the other beings, in that we–easily the single most destructive species on Earth–begin to feel more of a sense of responsibility for other living beings the more time we spend in their presence.
We shouldn’t have to go to wilderness areas to get that connection, though wilderness is certainly its own amazing experience. By infusing even our most urban areas and tallest buildings with reminders of nature, we’re giving ourselves day-to-day doses of nature’s beneficial properties. Like taking a daily multivitamin, we’re making sure that we’re getting the things we need to be healthy and connected on an ongoing basis.
Did you enjoy this post? My book, Nature Spirituality From the Ground Up, is an excellent guide to connecting more with your nearby nature! Find out more about it and my other books at http://www.thegreenwolf.com/books
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What the Storm Blew In (1/4)
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Summary:  50 years ago, Regina Mills founded the town of Storybrooke to be a sanctuary for supernatural creatures. Witches, trolls, and all manner of creatures that go bump in the night live in semi-harmony, all under the watchful eye of werewolf Emma Swan. Until a mysterious ship sails into port in the middle of a blizzard and Emma has to deal with the sexy Captain and unexpected consequences that came with it.
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Language, Violence.
AN: Here is my contribution to @cssns!  A huge thank you to @theonceoverthinker for her amazing beta skills and @kmomof4 for her encouragement.  Lovely art by @shady-swan-jones!!!!
               Snow crunched under Emma’s boots as she jumped down from the cab of David’s truck.  She pulled her beanie further down - ensuring it covered her ears - as the wind tore the hood of her jacket from her head.  She grabbed the coils of rope from the bed of the truck and headed toward the focus of her attention. Right before her eyes was a tree that had crashed down across the powerlines that connected the west side of Storybrooke to the town’s power grid.
              “Didn’t we fix this last week?” Emma muttered as she trudged through the eight inches of snow that had fallen since the most recent nor’easter had made landfall on Maine’s coast.  
              “Last week’s was on the other side of town,” August’s said, his voice floating from somewhere in front of Emma.  Instinctively, Emma tried to pin down her friend’s location based on scent, but all she got was a nose full of snow.  
              Even if Emma had been able to smell anything, it would not have done her any good. August, no matter where he was, always smelled like a tree; what type of tree he’d smell like depended on his mood. Usually, he smelled like pine. It was a trait of his druid heritage, he had explained on the one and only date the two of them had gone on. She wasn’t entirely convinced that he had been completely honest with her. Once, when running in the forest that surrounded Storybrooke, she witnessed him turn into a maple tree.
              One moment he had been standing in a small patch of sunlight that had broken through the canopy of the forest and in the span of a blink of an eye, there was a tree in the exact same spot.  The event had been unexpected, but it was hardly the weirdest thing she had seen since moving to Storybrooke. The majority of the town’s population was otherworldly and not-entirely human individuals, and she was no exception.  
              Emma’s werewolf boyfriend had ‘accidentally’ bitten her when she was sixteen. Not long after, she’d found herself in police custody for possession of stolen goods and her lover nowhere to be found.  Thankfully, one of the officers that had been involved in her arrest had recognized Emma’s unique condition and had arranged for her to be sent to Storybrooke for ‘rehabilitation’ with a very special foster family.  
              Over a decade later and she was the town’s Sheriff. Sometimes, that job meant dealing with drunk fairies or barroom brawls between dwarfs, a wizard, and a troll, but most of the time it was the same work as other Sheriffs in rural Maine. Being a werewolf helped, though. It was almost a tradition for her to sniff out the rebellious teenagers drinking and smoking in the woods at the beginning of the summer.
              However, werewolf enhanced sense of smell or not, there was no way Emma could pinpoint August when surrounded by trees. Relying on her hearing instead, Emma followed the dull thud of an axe hitting wood.  She found August hacking at the base of the fallen tree; it had broken from the trunk about 10 feet from the side of the road. Her eyes darted to the electrical wires the tree had fallen across and breathed a sigh of relief to see that they were not live. She doubted August had bothered to confirm that the electricity to the area was off before starting work - not that she was sure a direct shock would do much damage to the man.  
              Emma dropped the rope on top of the tree and eyed it with distaste.  Not only had it taken out the power lines, but it was now situated across the main highway that ran in and out of town.  She sighed as she pulled some flares from her jacket and set them upright in piles of snow.  Though she didn’t expect anyone to be on the road in the middle of the night during a blizzard, it was better to be prepared.  They would move the tree off the road tonight, but Leroy and his team wouldn’t be out until the storm weakened to repair the power lines.  
              A car horn sounded and Emma jumped.  She yelled “Sorry” to David and got out of the way of the backend of his truck.  Once they had the fallen tree disconnected from its trunk, and the length of itself that was on the other side of the road, they would use the truck to drag the obstructing section of the tree to the side of the road.  After that, it would be left to either decay naturally or August would buy it off the town for his and his father’s woodshop.
              Truck in place, David hopped from the cab and trudged over, two axes on his shoulder.  “I think you should make a line of jewelry boxes from this tree,” he suggested to August.  The other man halted his chopping and gave the tree a contemplative look.  
              “Regina wants to redo her kitchen.  This is Black Cherry and would make some lovely cabinets,” August replied.  
              David looked at Emma and rolled his eyes.  Regina was not only the town’s mayor, but also its founder.  She had formed Storybrooke over 50 years ago to be a haven for the supernatural people and creatures in New England.  A powerful sorceress, she maintained the magical barrier that kept people away from the area.  Only those who already knew about the town were able to find it.  
              Emma’s son, Henry, called Regina the town’s Secret Keeper.  
              “I don’t think boxes of any kind would be a good idea.  They named this storm Pandora,” Emma informed David as he passed her an axe.  
              Her deputy laughed.  “Are you serious?  Who came up with this year’s list of names?”
    ��         “People with a keen interest in Greco-Roman history,” Emma replied.  She held up her hand and lifted a finger as she listed off some of the other names on the list.  “We’ve already had Winter Storms Eris, Iola, Juno, and Neptune.  Next up is Quantum, which is latin, but after that is Remus and Sparta.”
              The three of them debated the wisdom of naming storms after gods and mythical beings as they chopped away at the tree.  Once they had a portion free and had removed most of the branches, Emma dropped her axe into the bed of the truck and grabbed a bottle of water from the cab.  She drank half of it before passing it to David and August.  
              Once they were all rehydrated, Emma crouched next to one end of the tree and lifted it a couple of inches off the ground.  David and August quickly looped the rope around the circumference of the tree and secured it to itself with a series of knots.  Emma dropped the end of the tree back into the snow as soon as they were done. While she was securing the ends of the rope to the hitch on the truck, she heard David let out a huff, a grunt, and, finally, a groan.  She looked back and saw that he was sitting near the end of the tree with a putout expression on his face.
              “He tried to lift it, didn’t he?” she asked August as he helped David to his feet.
              August nodded.  “He got it off the ground.”
              Impressed, Emma clapped David on the back.  David was one of the few completely human residents of Storybrooke, but more often than not, he could measure up in pure strength to some of his fellow townspeople. Emma knew she wouldn’t have been able to lift the tree even a smidge without the strength that being a werewolf gave her, and that just made David’s feat all the more remarkable.  
              “I’m sure Mary Margaret will be very impressed.  You may want to leave out the part about falling on your ass afterwards, though.”  
              David laughed and kicked at the tree.  
              “Then let’s get this log moved so I can go brag about my prowess to my lovely wife.”
              Mary Margaret, David’s wife and Emma’s foster sister, would be impressed.  After, she would brew a magically enhanced tea that could help with muscle pain, just in case her husband had strained a muscle trying to imitate a werewolf.  As an earth witch, Mary Margaret knew exactly how to combine nature’s gifts to solve nearly every ailment.  Her anti-nausea potions had been the only reason Emma had been functional during her pregnancy with Henry.
              David climbed into his truck and started the engine, but the tires had a hard time getting a grip on the road through the fresh snow.  Emma put her booted foot on the bumper and gave the truck a push until the tires found traction.  
              “I said you needed new snow tires,” Emma muttered to herself.  The 20-year-old truck was heavy, but even it could use some high-quality studded tires to deal with Maine’s winters.  David dragged the large log until it was parallel with the road.  Emma was removing the rope and preparing to push the log into the ditch alongside the road when David hollered from the car.
              “Emma!  Eric is on the radio! He says there is a ship coming into port!”
---
              “The ship’s name is the Jolly Roger? Really, over?” Emma said into the truck’s radio.
              David chuckled as he carefully guided the truck along Main Street.  
              The radio cracked as Eric replied, “That is what they said, over”
              “Did they happen to mention why they are out sailing during a blizzard, over?” Emma’s ‘like idiots’ was left unsaid but implied in her tone.
              “No Sheriff, over.”
              Emma sighed.  Storybrooke wasn’t equipped to stage a sea rescue if the ship didn’t make it into port safely: at least, not a traditional one that wouldn’t give away the special nature of the town’s inhabitants.  
              “Radio the Hermit and have him get the lighthouse going.  I don’t know how much good it will do in this weather, but I’d rather they not crash into the shore,” she said, before adding a belated “over.”
              “Already have, Sheriff, over.”
              “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Over and out.”
              Emma sighed.  A blizzard was bad enough.  She did not want to deal with possible humans arriving and becoming stranded due to the weather in the very not-human town.
              She looked down her cell phone.
              No signal.
              She was spared from having to call the mayor, in the middle of the night, and tell her about the unexpected ship coming into port for a little longer.
              Regina hated unexpected arrivals.  
              So did Emma.
              The town of Storybrooke and the surrounding woods were her pack’s territory.  And like their wild cousins, werewolves defended their territory against any interlopers.  They were the town’s second line of defense should anyone manage to get through Regina’s protective spells.  Not only did they patrol the woods on a regular basis, but they also knew the scents of everyone who lived in Storybrooke.  They would sniff out any newcomers or imposters.
              Given that - combined with her sense of duty as Sheriff - Emma could be a little overzealous about protecting her home.  However, it had been at least a year since she had growled, while human, at the few new arrivals that had come to town.  
              She was making progress.
              David eased the truck to a stop outside the Harbor Master’s office, positioning her door right with the path someone, probably Eric, had shovel a path to the door.  
              Inside the office, it was toasty warm and Emma immediately removed her hat, gloves, and coat.  Eric had the radio in one hand as he studied a map of the local coastline.
              “Keep on your current bearing as best you can and you should reach our harbor within the next 30 minutes, over,” Eric said into the radio.
              “Roger that, over and out,” the person on the other end replied.  Though the signal was full of static, Emma could pick up a hint of an accent in the male voice.  It sounded vaguely like the one from Newfoundland, but any sailors from that area would know better than to set sail when a blizzard as powerful as Pandora was on its way.
              Emma grabbed the handset of the phone that hung on the wall and put it to her ear.
              No dial tone.
              She depressed the switch a couple of times and, remarkably, got a dial tone on the fourth try.  She quickly dialed the number for the landline at Regina’s home.
              It rang a half dozen times before an irritated, “what?” snapped down the line.
              Forgoing any pleasantries, Emma simply said, “We have a ship coming into port.”
              Regina was silent for a few moments before stating, quite matter-of-factly, “We aren’t expecting anyone.”
              “No, we aren’t.”
              Emma heard the sound of blankets moving and a sleepy grumble of, “what is going on?” from Regina’s partner, Robin.  
              “I’ll be there soon, Sheriff,” Regina said before she abruptly ended the call.  
              Rolling her head back to loosen the knots she could feel forming in her neck, Emma spotted the clock that hung above Eric’s desk.  It read 3AM.  She turned to David, who was filling the coffee pot with water.
              “Why don’t you go home and get a couple of hours of rest before the clean-up begins?”
              “Are you sure?” he asked, but his hand was already in his pocket to retrieve the keys to the truck.
              Emma raised her brow before asking, “Would you rather stay and deal with Regina?”
              David laughed.
              “No way.  I’ll say hello to Henry for you!” He called over his shoulder as he headed out the door.  Emma took shameless advantage of her sister’s willingness to watch Henry when Emma worked.
              “Lucky man,” Eric remarked as he watched the truck pull away.
              “He’s been worried about Mary-Margaret all night,” Emma replied. She wrinkled her nose. His worry had made the truck smell like stale sweat.
              Eric finished preparing the coffee that David had start making.  
              “Is Ariel at home this evening?” Emma asked as the bitter smell of stale coffee started to fill the small office.  Eric’s wife, Ariel, was a mermaid.  She split her time between her family in the sea and life on land with Eric due to a bargain she’d struck with her father, King Triton, and Regina.  
              Part of the settled upon agreement between the parties in that deal was that Ariel would stop bringing any wayward sailors she rescued to Storybrooke.  Regina had become tired of erasing the memories of the hapless humans and having to arrange their ‘rescue’ away from Storybrooke. Eric had been one such shipwrecked sailor and the only one of Ariel’s rescues that had been allowed to stay.  But that only had been because Eric had proved oddly resistant to Regina’s memory manipulation and had wandered into town on his own two months after Emma had dropped him off on a beach near Jonestown.
              Eric chuckled.  “Of course not.  She informed me about the ship heading our way before they radioed in.”  Ariel, for whatever reason, loved to swim in rough seas.  “I asked her to keep an eye on the ship, just in the case the storm proves too much for them.  Though the Captain insists he is, and I quote, ‘a hell of a Captain.’”
              Emma scoffed as she poured Eric and herself some coffee.  Just as she was about to take her first sip, the smell of sulfur hit her nose.  A moment later, a puff of purple smoke filled the room. Regina stepped out of the smoke, dressed in a grey skirt suit and pointed black heels. It was nothing Emma would ever dream of wearing during a blizzard, but then again, she couldn’t travel via magic.  Immediately, Emma waved her hand in front of her face to dispel the stench of Regina’s magic, but it was no use.  A normal human wouldn’t be able to smell the hint of sulfur that remained in the air, but her enhanced sense of smell meant that she would be smelling it until the office was aired out.
              “What do you plan to do about this situation, Sheriff?” Regina was great at getting to the heart of the matter.
              Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  “I plan to let them dock, give them coffee, and ask them some questions.”
              Regina’s eyes narrowed.  “Why don’t you take them to Granny’s and buy them breakfast while you’re at it?  Whoever these people are, they are trespassers.”
              “I’m not going to arrest them and lock them up at the station, Regina,” Emma argued.  “Seeking a safe port during a storm isn’t a crime.”
              The mayor’s lips thinned.
              “I’m more curious as to how they got through your spell,” Emma continued.
              There was a map pinned on a wall in the Sheriff’s station that had the magical borders of Storybrooke outlined in bright red marker.  Emma mainly used it to mark trees in the forests, so she and her pack mates didn’t run beyond the limits of their territory during full moon runs, but she vaguely recalled that the coastal border of the spell extended about 45 miles away from the town’s shoreline.  
              Too far for the old radio in the harbormaster’s office to pick up the signal from boat unless it had already crossed through the spell’s barrier.  A fact she only knew because Regina had refused to allocate city funds to pay for a new radio and antenna at the lighthouse so the town could monitor the recreational boaters in the area.
              “You and I both, Miss Swan.”
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