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arceneades · 3 years

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Why I Love She-Ra (2018)

I watched She-Ra after my YouTube feed had been inundated with She-Ra for a couple of years. I just sort of wanted to know what it was all about. People were talking. I was curious.

I think the first time I felt like crying was during the theme song the first time I saw it.

“We’re Gonna Win In The End!”

This was a queer show. I knew that. And... well, I grew up in the 1980s. And people, we are winning. We are winning this fucking fight with the forces of fucking darkness, some of which were in my own mind and heart, and it has been a long god damn slog but we are winning.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I worked for a company that published a phone book (yes, a printed book, with phone numbers in it that you could call. It was a different time, okay?) that was targeted to the gay community. Specifically, it was a yellow page directory with advertisements for restaurants, and florists, and plumbers, and towing services, and any other business that you could think of that were paying money to let gay customers know that they would be treated like fucking human beings by that business.

That book doubled in size every year for 4 years. Because we were winning.

It took decades to go from the Defense of (straight) Marriage Act to nationwide acknowledgement of marriage rights. But we got there. Because we are winning. And I care about this fight.

So, yeah. I’m in. Let’s go. We’re gonna win in the end.

The feels did not stop. I cried during “Promise”. Well, I mean, of course I did, I’m not an inhuman monster. I cried during the battle of Bright Moon. I cried for Catra when Shadow Weaver left her, when she hurt her friends, when her pain and rage tore the world apart. She just kept breaking my heart. I wanted her to make just one good decision.

She did, of course, and I cried about that too. I knew what was coming with “Corridors” but it killed me anyway, Adora’s “no, no, no” just bruised my soul.

And “Save the Cat”? Adora’s righteous fury and the power of her love for Catra... again. Tears.

Maybe it was just 2020. Maybe my emotions were just close to the surface. I don’t know. I HURT for those kids. I wanted them to be okay. I still want them to be okay.

But I also felt seen. Seen in a way that... was different.

I was a middle aged, cis-gendered, straight white male. And this show was hitting me, and hitting me hard, and I didn’t know why. I was invested in this love story. I was invested in the war. I knew they were the same thing.

Not unusual, I suppose. I’m a Jane Austen fan. I like love stories. I like it when main characters get together. I’ve read Pride & Prejudice more than twice. But I don’t feel seen when I do.

Part of it was Catra. We all probably have some Catra in us. I might have more than most. It’s taken a long time to get some of my more extreme behaviors under control, although my rage and trauma tends to direct inward, not outward.

Part of it was Adora. I love characters that reflect fierce protectiveness, a part of us that wants to stand between the universe and the people we love and say “No, You can’t hurt them. You can’t have them. They. Are. Mine.”

But hey, you know, Tony Stark has that vibe in “Avengers: Endgame” and even dies to protect what he loves and while that speaks to me, I don’t feel... seen.

Tony Stark is played by Robert Downey Jr, an actor I grew up watching. Avengers is essentially built for me to watch. Literally, I am the target market, me and the kids I’m going to bring to the theater. I don’t feel seen. Marketed to, maybe. But not seen.

Which led me to wonder why a love story about two lesbians who are too young to drink, set in a world where it is not only okay to be a teenage lesbian but it isn’t even worth commenting on, meant so very much to me.

And thinking about that reminded me of something. Which is that when I was super into Second Life, a decade or so ago, I always used a female avatar. Always.

And it felt right. Perfectly right. And I had a lot of conversations with trans people who were also using female avatars because it helped them get along with their dysphoria. A feeling I don’t have. Of course.

I mean, sure. I prefer playing female avatars in games. That’s totally a cis-het thing to do, right? You know the joke, “If I’m going to be staring at an ass, it might as well be a nice ass.”

Okay, so maybe, just maybe, I did sort of decide that I wasn’t a man during that time. I wasn’t sleeping. I was depressed. I hated my job. Totally understandable. My friends straightened me out, shamed me out of that. Maybe that wasn’t the nicest way they could have approached that but I got shamed out of it, didn’t I? If I were actually trans, that wouldn’t happen. Right?

And I like being male. Well, I like the privileges that come with being male. I like having the upper body strength, and I find other men to be sufficiently terrifying that I wouldn’t want to... take off the armor. Not around them.

Yes, maybe, just maybe, I would prefer to have sex as a woman, given the option. That doesn’t make me trans, it just means that I really feel at home around lesbians and want to be a part of their world. Totally normal cis-het feelings there. It’s not like I would actually transform into a woman if I had a magic wand. I mean, not permanently. Not all the time. Just, you know, sometimes. When I wanted to take the armor off. Just when it felt safe.

Totally. Normal. Cis-Het. Feelings.

I mean, obviously I don’t want to be a woman. I don’t want to carry breasts around, for one thing. Looks uncomfortable. I like having just muscle up there instead, thank you very much. And I’m super comfortable with short hair and a beard. It’s a good look for me. I wouldn’t want to look different. I’m happy with my hormone mix. So, there you go. I’m a boy.

So why don’t I want to be one?

This argument has been raging in my skull forever. Am I a boy? I’m not a girl. I like being able to grow a beard. I’m as Dad a Dad as any Dad on the face of the planet. I don’t want breasts. But... I sort of do want hips.

When I first started questioning my gender, as far as I knew, there were two options. And neither of them fit. Because what I am is non-binary. A fact I would not know if Noelle had not made SPOP, and I don’t know how I can possibly thank her enough for that.

And according to the kids on the enby lesbians server, I’m a non-binary lesbian, which explains the fact that I’m on my fifth Subaru, but doesn’t explain why I don’t currently share my life with a mixed breed Labrador.

I am queer. I felt seen watching She-Ra because I was seen. On Etheria, everyone would use my pronouns. On Etheria, my friends would have helped me through my gender crisis. On Etheria, even in a war, we love and accept each other for who we are. We see each other.

We’re not on Etheria. But I believe we’ll get there.

We’re gonna win in the end.

#spop fandom #gender #queer is beautiful #nonbinary #she ra and the princesses of power #she-ra

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lobsterdex · 4 years

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beach house living (part 2)

part 1

here’s some more beach au. the google doc is at like. 8k words. oops. but here is just some of it bc i want to share it but i also want to finish it before i post it on ao3. anyways. tagging some mutuals bc give me attention @birlcholtz @tonytangredis @pieplease @fasterthanthemoon @unfairlawyer

He’s back in his and Shitty’s room hanging his clothes up in his half of the closet when he hears a loud bang, followed by footsteps and a general commotion.

“Holster,” someone says, “How many times have I said quit that, you’re going to dent the wall.”

“Dex can fix it!”

“Fuck you, you can fix it yourself.”

The voices continue, along with what sounds like footsteps going up the stairs and another loud slam that Jack assumes is the front door being closed. A few minutes later after the noise dies down, someone knocks on the bedroom door, and it starts to open before he can answer.

It’s Shitty, saying, “It’s me, hope you’re not naked.” He catches sight of Jack by the closet and grins. “Nice, yeah, make yourself at home.”

Jack stares at him. “What if I had been naked?”

Shitty laughs. “Then I would close my eyes out of respect for you and your beautiful body. We’re leaving in five to go grocery shop, just a heads up.” He starts pulling clothes out of the dresser, so Jack turns back to the closet and hangs up another shirt to give him privacy.

“You ready?” Shitty says behind him. Jack hangs up another shirt before turning around. He takes a moment to take it in. Shitty is wearing cutoff jean shorts and a neon pink tank top that’s so bright it almost hurts to look at. It says, “life’s a beach.”

Jack remembers Shitty asked a question. “Yeah, let me get my wallet.”

Shitty heads for the door. “Pretty much everyone is in the den, I’ll introduce you before we leave.”

Jack grabs his wallet from the night stand and follows him into the hall. He wonders how many people actually live here and if his father even knows. Bob had said it was a four bedroom house but not much else.

In retrospect, Jack should’ve asked more questions.

Again, too late now.

Shitty announces their arrival by cupping his hands around his mouth as a megaphone and screaming, “Silence!”

The chatter dies down, and everyone in the room turns to look at them.

Jack thinks, why.

“This is our new roomie Jack Zimmermann,” Shitty says, gesturing at him.

Jack tries not to cower behind him. He doesn’t know if they follow sports, or hockey, or if they know who exactly their landlord is, but no one seems to react to his name. Small miracles.

“You met Lardo,” Shitty says, pointing. She nods at Jack.

“That’s Ransom,” he points to a tall, dark skinned guy standing by Lardo, who is sitting on the kitchen counter. Ransom smiles at him. “That’s Chowder and Bitty,” he points to an Asian kid in a sharks tank top - so at least one person in this house follows hockey, fucking hell, who gives him a little wave, and a shorter, blond, white boy with freckles and a tan, who smiles brightly.

“That tall bastard is Holster,” Shitty points to another blond white boy next to Bitty. Holster grins and nods.“And those two are Nursey and Dex,” he gestures to the brown skinned guy with a tattoo circling his bicep and a third white guy with freckles and bright orange hair.

Why does no one have a normal name, Jack thinks.

“Hi,” he says lamely. “I’m Jack.”

“Welcome, dude,” Nursey says.

“Alright,” Shitty claps. “Anyone who wants to go to the store, up and at ‘em.”

Jack has just enough time to hope it isn’t a long drive and that they won’t ask him about himself during it before five of them pile into a gold Subaru parked in the driveway. Shitty has the keys and Bitty calls shotgun, so Jack crams in the back with Ransom and Dex. He gets the middle seat, which Dex apologizes for.

“Sorry we bitch seated you,” he says with a smile. “But since Bitty got shotty, you are the shortest.”

Jack shrugs, or tries to. “It’s fine.”

Shitty backs out of the driveway while Ransom and Bitty play rock-paper-scissors for the aux cord. Bitty wins it, plugs in his phone and starts playing pop music Jack doesn’t recognize.

“Yo, Shits, guess what happened today,” Ransom says.

Up front, Bitty twists around to face the backseat and rolls his eyes. “Are you going to tell everyone this, Rans?”

“Uh, yeah. I fucking am,” Ransom scoffs. Bitty rolls his eyes again and flashes a grin in Jack’s direction.

“So this lady comes up to my chair, right. Total white suburban mom vibes, visor and, like, Ray Bans or Tiffany shades or whatever.”

“Oh boy,” Shitty says.

“Oh yes,” Ransom says. “So I’m like, okay, benefit of the doubt, maybe she has a reasonable question about riptides or our hours or sunscreen, I don’t know.”

To Jack’s right, Dex sighs.

“But no,” Ransom continues. That would be too much to hope for. Instead, this woman--Shits. Guess what this woman asks me.”

“I cannot even begin to guess.”

“She asks if it’s safe to go in the ocean even if you can’t swim.”

“Bro,” Shitty says.

“I know,” Ransom says.

“Some fucking people,” Dex says.

Bitty, still facing the backseat, rolls his eyes again. Jack snorts, which earns him a sideways glance and a grin from Ransom.

“So I’m up there, leaning down to hear her better, and she says that, and for a sec I just fucking stare at her like I’m the idiot. Processing that. Thinking about how to phrase ‘no the fuck you can’t’ nicely. And then I go, ‘No, ma’am, I’m sorry, but it’s not safe to swim unless you know how to effectively stay afloat.’ And then she says, ‘I don’t mean swimming, I just mean going in the water.’”

Jack frowns, and Dex sighs again, shaking his head.

Up front, Shitty just says, “What.”

“Right? So I ask, ‘What do you mean by ‘just going in the water?’ and she fucking gives me this look, like I’m the dumbass. And she says ‘I mean just the shallow part, where the waves crash.’ And I try my very hardest not to look up at the sky and ask the gods for help. And I say, ‘I’m very sorry ma’am, but that’s also dangerous due to the currents. Rip tides can be very strong.’ Which like, okay, she might not be taken out by a riptide, but assuming she has kids and shit and no athletic ability herself, she shouldn’t chance it if she can’t even tread water.”

“Lot of assumptions you’re making there, Ransy babe,” Shitty warns.

“I know, I know. But in terms of safety, I’m trying to play it safe, and she’s the one who told me she can’t fucking swim.”

“Hm,” Shitty says. “Acceptable. Carry on.”

“So she says, ‘But what about just the shallow part? Where the waves come up and go away?’ And yeah, okay, she’d be fine above the tide, but again, safety and liability and whatnot. I don’t want it to be on me if she pulls some shit. So I tell her again, no, it isn’t safe. And I fucking shit you not, this lady says, ‘Are you sure? Is there someone else I can speak to?’ This bitch really asked if she could speak to a manager. On the fucking beach.”

Up front, Shitty is laughing. Bitty is grinning and shaking his head. Dex snorts, and Jack finds himself smiling, because what.

“So I fucking walkie beach patrol, and we wait 10 minutes for Ollie to roll up, and he tells her the same exact fucking thing, and she frowns and gets all huffy and has the audacity to ask us if we’re sure. Like, yeah, bitch, we’re pretty fucking sure. If you’d dug around in your brain a little bit for your common sense maybe you wouldn’t be so mad about it. Jesus Christ.”

Shitty opens the front door, and Jack realizes they’ve arrived and parked.

“What’d she do after that?” Shitty asks before getting out of the car.

Ransom opens the door and climbs out, saying, “Well, apparently, she walked to the other lifeguard stand and asked them the same fucking thing.”

Jack climbs out after Ransom, finds himself saying, “You’re kidding.”

“Bro, I wish,” Ransom says. “That lifeguard, I think it was April, also had to radio beach patrol, so Ollie went over there to check it out and had to call someone else from beach patrol ‘cause this bitch still didn’t like our answer. Ollie came back and told me about it, ‘cause he’s a bro.”

“Ollie just loves to gossip,” Bitty says.

“I said what I said. Guy’s a bro.”

“I always get him confused with Wicks,” Dex says.

Bitty grabs a cart from the front of the store. The automatic doors slide open, and they get blasted with air conditioning, which is a relief to Jack. Everyone splits up pretty much immediately, so Jack just trails behind Bitty because he has the cart and Jack has nobody’s phone number if he gets lost.

Bitty notices Jack following him and flashes another smile. “Guess you’re with me! We’re doing the shopping for the next week or so. Or so we say. Someone always ends up going again during the week for snacks or butter or because they’re suddenly inspired by the food network.”

Jack nods, and Bitty steers them into the fridge aisle.

“It gets a bit chaotic just because there’s so many of us. But we have a system now, of sorts, Shitty and Lardo shop for each other, Ransom and Holster shop for each other, lord knows they know each other well enough, and Dex or Chowder shops for the other and Nursey. Nursey, bless his heart, always forgets something.”

It’s around this point that Jack notices Bitty has a southern accent. He also notices that Bitty has dumped about 10 packages of butter in the cart.

He decides not to ask.

“I shop for just me, myself, and I, but I also usually end up buying the most. Sometimes the other boys will make a store run for me though, which is nice of them, but they get some of the goods, so it balances out,” Bitty says. He’s talking really quickly. Jack has no idea what that last bit is supposed to mean.

Bitty puts two cartons of eggs in the cart. Jack’s brain processes the “I shop for me statement” and he adds another carton for himself.

“All the people that shop for each other have a texting system worked out, I believe. There are so many group chats, I can’t keep track. I know Chowder, Nursey, and Dex have one, which I think is how they cover everything grocery shopping. There’s a whiteboard on the fridge we add to, but it isn’t very consistent. Feel free to add anything you need to it, though, I always take a picture of it before we shop! Is there anything else you need in this aisle, Jack?”

“Oh, uh, no.”

Bitty pushes the cart onwards, talking as they go. Jack isn’t really following, but Bitty doesn’t seem to be expecting answers, so Jack nods and smiles and adds things to the cart and eventually, Shitty reappears with his own basket full of groceries and he and Bitty settle into a comfortable sounding banter.

Ransom and Dex find them near the checkout lanes, adding their groceries to the cart.

The seating arrangement is the same for the ride back, except Ransom gets to play the music this time. He plays different pop music that Jack still doesn’t really recognize, but everyone - save Jack and Dex - is singing along.

Jack helps unload the groceries. He’s about to escape back to his room when Holster says, “Hey, Jack, we’re grilling tonight, do you want chicken or a burger?”

“Oh. Chicken is fine.”

“Nice. We’ll start screaming when it’s ready.”

Jack blinks at him.

“Or we can just come get you.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks.” Jack takes it for the dismissal that it is and heads back to his room. He finishes unpacking, does some sit ups in an attempt to get rid of nervous energy, and ends up lying in bed staring at the blank Safari tab on his phone. He opens his messages instead, lets his parents know he’s settled in. There’s a text from his therapist letting him know they can do phone sessions. He ignores it for now.

There are no texts from Kent. Which makes sense. There haven’t been since they fought on the phone a few days after Jack got out of rehab.

Jack can’t decide whether or not he actually wants to hear from him. Can’t decide if he misses him or if he just misses hockey.

A knock on the door stops that train of thought.

“Food,” someone says.

“Thanks,” Jack calls.

Dinner is burgers, chicken, and grilled vegetables. It’s surprisingly good, better than Jack expected from a bunch of 20 somethings. They crowd around the glass dining table on the porch and it’s loud and cheerful, everyone talking over each other and laughing. He declines the offer of beer, but not everyone is drinking, so he doesn’t feel like the odd man out. He doesn’t say much, but he’s sandwiched between Holster and Shitty, the latter occasionally elbowing him and grinning. They’re both loud and talkative, so he pretends he can’t get a word in and smiles whenever someone catches his eye.

At some point, Shitty and Holster are arguing over his head, and Jack catches Bitty looking at him. Bitty blushes, but offers a sympathetic smile and shakes his head. He says something that Jack doesn’t quite catch, so he leans forward and taps his ear.

Bitty meets him halfway. “These boys,” he repeats, and he sounds incredibly fond.

Jack goes to bed around ten. He lies awake for longer than he’d like to admit, but still falls asleep before Shitty returns to the room.

#check please #omgcp #omgcp fic #my fic #beach au #bhl

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welcometomy20s · 3 years

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March 31, 2021

.Hololive Quarterly Report

I was trying to write this, then it became painfully too long, so I stopped and I’m going to try a much abbreviated version. I don’t why I’m writing this preamble.

Usada Constructions - Buy

CEO Pekora has come back from the creative crisis in late January, her response to the Akukin relay, Pekoland has been quite the success, and Pekora has hired three new people and taken two into actual production, and there has been talks of two more recruitments. Usada constructions has been the premier revenue maker in the server already and with renewed vigor, Pekora has inadvertently cornered the service industry, with her business associate Moon, making the HoloID mall, and hiring Botan or Menya Botan and Kiara of KFP in the process, and thinking hiring Watame, which has a food delivery service.

Future is looking bright for UsaKen and one should buy the stocks now.

Akukin Constructions - Sell

Akukin has a bright start with the recent hiring spree then the wildly successful AKukin Building Relay... and boasting 25% of the workforce in their wake. But CEO has been hampered with failure of her personal projects, first with her loss in the Mario Kart tournament, and then her failure to get the elusive solo Master in Apex. Perhaps, buoyed by her failure, she’ll return to Minecraft, but for now... there has been minor outing of the employers.

Both Mio and Marine went on Minecraft once after the relay, Marine to push Kanata to make her noteblock machines, and Mio in basically upkeep. Rest of the players have been quiet or have been associated with other people. Roboco have played once of twice, although she didn’t even participated in the relay. Choco has been mostly working as a broker for Flare, who is a contractor for Akukin. Lamy and Nene has been basically doing their own thing, mostly since they haven’t had anything else to do... and that’s it, I believe. Iofi, Mel, and Akirose never returned to Minecraft after the relay.

Well, Shion returned after four months with Rushia as the guide... but seriously, Akukin is all but over unless there is a serious reorganization. Sell them!

Shirauni-Elite Conglomerate - Buy

This is outside of current consensus, but it makes for me because it fits the current state of things. Miko and Flare first found their calling by basically gaslighting Kanata into operating a school. They have sense collaborated many times, Flare being part of the four heavenly kings and expanding their partnership in the urban environment, more specifically in Los Santos.

Flare’s turn in Minecraft basically leads me to reassess Flare’s strengths. Flare was kind of the straight man of the 3rd Gen, but she has shown that she could be as wild and unpredictable as the rest of the Hololive Fantasy. Flare eventually roped Polka into an apprenticeship, and Polka’s ability to pop into the most unexpected direction really helped with Flare’s stream as well.

Flare is having the time of her life, and her lover Noel has finally turn the tide on her devastating decline due to the great ASMR purge in early 2020, by embracing the English duolingo... finally passing up people, after falling so far.

Yeah, you should buy here. Although Miko’s recent pause is little worrisome...

Oozora Constructions - Hold

Subaru has been doing a lot of work... her biggest strength has been her free talks, she is a great storyteller, but that’s obviously hampered by language, which is why Subaru made the difficult move of having English summary in her topics, which is a great improvement for her... but her collabs have been on fire, and I mean Oozora Police was just amazing, with good timing as well.

Apparently Subaru has a new costumes, collabs, and original songs coming up in the next quarter, so Subaru is going to surpass already high expectation made during this quarter. As for her company though... well, Subaru has been a... lone duck in the situation. (Sorry for the pun)

Famously outcasted as Kanata and Marine were chatting up with Moona and Reine, Subaru has been lonely for quite sometime. Subaru has been working an actual commission from Korone, although Korone is most inconsiderate Hololive member (as evidenced by two consecutive Kuukiyomi tests), which is a bad sign. Rushia has been working well, both independently and with Subaru... now Luna... that’s the cinch of the situation at this moment.

I’ll talk about Luna later, but overall Oozora has its strength and weakness perfectly balanced. It’s a hold for me, although it can be a buy quickly...

Haachama Constructions - Buy

Haachama started off kind of lost. She recently moved back to Japan, and she didn’t really knew what direction to go off on... apparently a horror unfiction was her choice. It is a great unfiction, in all its spirit, the meta-component worked perfectly, the improvisational and interactivity was unparalleled, it is astounding that this a one-woman production, since even a dedicated team might not pull off this feat, taking images made minutes before the stream is due and incorporating them into the story flawlessly.

Akai Haato always impressed me, but this arc showcased that to everyone. And her future seems to be bright as she starts working on Season 2. Just buy!

OkaKoro Constructions - Hold

Both Okayu and Korone has been steady in their output, minimal collabs and continuing their series of old games. Korone has been particularly clever in her selection of games. Everyone playing Undertale, why not play the game that inspired the whole thing, Earthbound? People are playing Dragon Quest? Well, how about a classic version, Dragon Quest 3, instead of 11S?

But other than that, there wasn’t much going on... then the OkaKore anniversary concert happened, and I realized they still have so much progress. One commenter said how Bloom was a failure because there wasn’t any idols in that list, namely Watame, Okayu and Korone, and I started to agree.

But that’s just one performance, we don’t know if this would be foundation for something better. So let’s hold on the papers for now.

Kureiji Constructions - Hold

There’s always a bit of anxiety when one is lauded as the next new star, least to me, I was always anxious about Ollie’s growth. She could be great, she has plenty of talent, she’s a massive simp and a social collaborator, but her personality can turn on a dime if not careful. Fortunately, Ollie made good on herself, having one of the more explosive growth and becomes generally accepted as a peer, recently doing a large Mario Kart collab.

It’s still a hold, since I have residual anxiety, but this is a good stable company.

Seiso Pillars - Buy

I never really got the appeal on Sora, until she put on her glasses on. Her movement was so fluid and practiced, you can tell she’s a young lady with ambition, which is contrary to the goddess image. Azki has been making the move that Suisei did in end of 2019, slowly putting herself in the comedic spirit of rest of Hololive, and her Vtuber showcase is freaking phenomenal.

Suisei has been flirting with the pillar in Minecraft, and bring the third of HoloKazo(?) in Los Santos, letting her psychopathic side fully. Suisei used her arbitrary demonitization to her advantage, reinvigorating her streams immensely. I thought about holding, but honestly this is a buy. They are going to get better.

Shirakami Forestry - Hold

Fubuki wanted to finish her cherry tree by spring. Well, that didn’t happen. But Fubuki has been doing okay. Fubuki has made some radical moves this year, firmly associating with Coco. Remember that Fubuki’s explosive growth was due to Chinese fans, and this is true of Aqua as well (which is why Aqua has been more distant lately), so to associate with one of the most hated Vtubers by the ‘West Taiwanese’ is a risk, but one made with the knowledge that her base can be shifted, since this did not impact her growth at all.

So Fubuki is going to be Fubuki, no matter who she associates with. Hold.

Free Agents - ???

Matsuri might be the most valuable free agent, but she’s kind of like a public official, helping to keep stock on the commons, and helping Luna as well. This is why Luna is the kingmaker. Luna has connections with both Subaru and Matsuri, but their connection is either loose or non-associative. She can be convinced, but she could easily refuse... and who knows how that would affect Pekora.

Most people thought Matsuri was going to join UsaKen, and that might still be the case, although Pekora is notoriously uncomfortable of senpais.

Risu is next valued player. After her explosion in the 4th quarter, Risu has been struggling to keep afloat, although Risu seems to be fine with her laggard growth. Her impromptu Nier;Automata streams are always a delight, and her Spring soundboard has been fun as well. Risu also returned to Minecraft for a bit, so she might be on the hunt... she would be a great addition to UsaKen.

Ayame is the third player. Ayame has been inconsistent this quarter, mostly since she streams the least amount out of anyone. Her recent collab with Marine was something though, although that’s going to be paused for a bit.

Anya is the last person, just because she doesn’t have Minecraft and she is the least subscribed member. I think it was surprising how Anya’s stream has been. Instead of doing gatcha and perhaps talking stream, her game selections has been far off the beaten path, more so than Korone and Okayu, and she has been blazing (that’s another pun) her own trail much to her detriment.

I mean she’s fine in the grand scope of things, still very interesting move.

Okay, that was the short version, and even then it’s really long so... yeah.

#hololive #vtuber #youtube

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kyouxa · 5 years

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Diabolik lovers Chaos Lineage: Subaru Sakamaki (Story 04+CG)

In terms of the gameplay: The black choices lead up to a bad ending, the white choices lead up to a good ending. Please no reposting onto other sites, ask me before translating this into another language too! I’m an amateur translator, but I hope you do enjoy it anyway!♡

Place: Violet mansion — Corridor

Subaru: We’re there. Get in.

Yui: Eh, but... Subaru-kun this is

Subaru: It’s fine just get in. Geez, don’t act so ridiculous.

Yui: Y-Yes. Alright...

Place: Violet mansion — Kitchen

Yui: (Subaru-kun, why are we in such a place?)

Kou: Ah, she came. Welcome~!

Laito: Oh? Did you bring Eve here on purpose?

Azusa: We were waiting... I’m glad that you came...

Yui: Why did everyone gather in such a place?

Kou: Why do you have anything else to do than cooking in the kitchen?

Azusa: We are prepare food for the welcoming party ... That’s why we wanted you to help us cooking...

Yui: Welcoming party... Is someone special coming here?

Kou: Thaaat’s wrong! We are doing this because it’s your welcoming party!

Laito: You know, we are very much reflecting on your help. We’re also sorry for putting you in jail like that.

But this is not mainly an apology, it’s your welcoming party!

Kou: You can rest assured that it's Carla's instructions. Because we aren’t doing this on our own.

Laito: With that being said, I can’t make a lot of things, but it’s our main role and I’d like you to help us.

Yui: That is...

(No way, I never thought of them having a party for me and that they would end up cooking as well...)

(It seems as if they really are throwing a welcoming party for me)

(Subaru-kun is...)

Subaru: .....

Yui: (After all he’s still grumpy. I wonder if he is against having a party? He was already mad about something yesterday)

(Yeah, I can’t just think about the bad stuff. Everyone really wants me to help them)

I will gladly help you out. Let’s make something delicious together.

Kou: I’m glad!

Laito: It’s really hard for a man to stay alone in the kitchen all day.

I’m super happy that Eve decided to help us out.

Azusa: Yes, I am relieved...

Yui: (Speaking of which, I know not everyone is good at cooking)

Kou: Yes, then Eve can cut the ingredients over here.

♡ Roses ♡

Subaru’s hand: You really don’t seem to have a lot of interesting things in your life, why are you staring at me how I cook?

Yui’s face: Hey, look away already. It might come off if you don’t.

↳ Video Chapter

Yui: Hey, how did you even prepare your meals until now?

Kou: Oh uhm, for the time being the four of us cooperated together.

Laito-kun was always going out to get the ingredients, and I and Azusa-kun were preparing the food...

Subaru-kun is also working hard on his cooking, yet he always complains about my food having a horrible taste or sum...

Subaru: It’s always horribly bad cooked! And then, it’s also mostly your food!

Kou: Lies, Lies! I'm counting on you this time, so better keep your supportive attitude and good work up!

Subaru: Stop joking around or I’ll kill you.

Yui: Fufu... Subaru-kun really is looking after you.

Kou: Even if he is the youngest.

Laito: Good boy, Good boy!

Azusa: Subaru is... a nice guy...

Subaru: You guys really are out there mocking me! Eve, don’t you dare laughing at me as well!!

Choices

1) — I thought it was cute (black)

2) — Apologize (white) ♡ ♡ ♡

— I thought it was cute

Yui: Um, it was actually cute...

Subaru: Hah!?

Yui: (Since I thought it was cute, he got even angrier)

Subaru: ... What is it?

Yui: I’m sorry, it’s nothing at all

— Apologize ♡

Yui: I’m sorry, Subaru-kun

Subaru: It’s not like I asked you to apologize.

Yui: Y-Yes I know...

Subaru: Hey, don’t take it too serious. I’m not angry or anything.

Kou: Subaru-kun would have such a kind habit if he wouldn’t have such a bad mouth.

Yui: (Sometimes Subaru-kun acts like a lone wolf, but he actually works better with someone by his side)

end Choices

Yui: (... When I laughed, I felt a little better. The mood is not as awkward as it was yesterday)

Subaru-kun. I’ll help you out as well, so why don’t we work hard together?

Subaru: Tch... well, that’s fine with me.

Well then, you should bring the ingredients to me so we can cut them.

Yui: Y-Yes

*Yui starts cutting*

Yui: ... Hey, Subaru-kun. Is it alright if I do it like this?

Subaru: Eh? Ahh... don’t you think it’s good? I mean, why are you even asking me about that.

Yui: Well, because Subaru-kun is the one who is cooking the most ...

Subaru: You are way better in cooking than I could ever be.

... The taste your food has, it’s always missing in mine.

Yui: (Eh... wait, what did Subaru-kun say just now...)

(Did he say that my food is delicious? But, I never cooked a single meal since I came here)

(Could it be, that his memories are slightly coming back to him... ?)

Hey, Subaru-kun. Why do you know how my food tastes like?

Subaru: ...Hah?

Yui: Just now you said "Your cooking is way better" ...

Subaru: .....

No... I was not especially saying that. I just had my thoughts too deep into it, there’s no particular meaning behind it.

Laito: Ah, maybe it’s a certain strategy from Eve to attract a certain person’s attention.

Kou: Eh! Is that so!? Subaru-kun really is her target.

Subaru: Don’t come up with those stupid ideas! You should rather move your hands than your mouth!

Azusa: That is right... when the preparations will be late... Carla might get angry...

Laito: I’m honestly sick of Carla’s ongoing sermons. I'm getting overwhelmed, but yet I’m still doing it seriously.

Kou: That’s right. Let’s do our best, Eve.

Yui: By the way, can you tell me what’s today’s menu?

Kou: Sure~

Laito: Does that mean, that Eve is doing everything for me as well? I personally wouldn’t mind you helping me with all the work.

Subaru: No she is not. Hey, Laito. There won’t be support for you today.

Azusa: Eve... let’s do our best...

Monologue

Everyone worked peacefully together so we could prepare everything for the welcoming party.

While we were working together, this entire recent days I’ve spent here felt like a complete lie.

A wrong brotherhood with false memories. Even if that’s reality, I was having fun to cook together with them.

Because I was cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen, it didn't go as good as usual.

Even so, the dishes were somehow completed and the welcoming party started.

We cleaned up the kitchen together and then went to the living room.

Azusa-kun went to call for Carla-san who immediately went to the living room since he was excited for the food.

Place: Violet mansion — Living room

Carla: Did you brought all of the dishes?

Azusa: Hm, these are all...

Carla: The cooking everyone prepared looks surprisingly satisfying.

Laito: Just like this, Carla really is that type of a terrible person who makes us do all the exhausting work.

Carla: Do you truly desire that I cook for you? Of course, I will leave the miscellaneous tasks to you.

Kou: Eh, he is not even leaving it to us he is pushing us to do it... ?

Azusa: Carla’s commands are mostly important in the battle... because there are... so many things to think about ...

Kou: That’s right Azusa-kun. I understood it now.

Laito: Carla really is a strange man. Isn’t it a real pain in ass to fight and become the king at the same time?

Carla: That is because I was born to be Violet's eldest son, I have an obligation to lead and protect all of you.

In addiction, there is no one other than me who is suitable for the seat of the king.

Kou: That means Carla-kun thinks it's natural to stand on people if they try to get in your way, because his wish must be granted.

Laito: He really is the right person in the right place.

Yui: (Carla-san is the eldest son of the Violet family... After all, the discomfort of the current brother relationship is hitting me)

(I wonder if everyone really doesn’t remember their real brothers at all)

(Especially because Carla-san is the founders king, he is different from the vampires ...)

(But, yet they prepared such a nice welcoming party all together)

(I really want to thank all of them for doing this for me)

(...Huh? My napkin has a cute flower on the clasp)

(There seems to be nothing on the other people's napkins, but who decorated them then?)

(Is this like a different kind of welcome? If so, I am really happy about it)

(That means, that they actually thought about me while decorating, right?)

*time skipped*

Carla: Now, the supper has just started, and I only want to say one thing. Eve—

Yui: Yes, what is it?

Carla: Forgive my past rudeness.

Yui: Eh...

(Carla-san is apologizing to me. After all...)

Carla: You are a huge necessity for this mansion. I want to proper welcome you like this.

Yui: .....

(Necessity... In other words, is he doing this because I'm the traditional Eve?)

(Rather than confining myself in prison, I am forced to cooperate with them now)

(Is he trying to get me into a situation where I think about the Violet family as my friends or even my own family?)

(Whatever it is, it is only for Carla-san to become the king)

(If that’s their actual plan... then it might become a little complicated)

(Maybe they just threw this welcoming party to make me open my own feelings to them)

(But, if I look at everyone's joyful faces, I don’t want to judge them like that)

(Still, I will thank them for having a welcoming party for me then...)

(Even if everyone might have any certain speculations ...)

Kou: Azusa-kun, I’ll get this if you don’t wanna eat it anymore~

Azusa: Ah...

Kou: Hehe, now it’s gone.

Yui: (Ah, Kou-kun took something from Azusa-kun’s dish without properly asking)

Subaru: Hey, Kou. How many times did I tell you to ask if you want to steal from someone’s dish already? Correct your spoiled actions already.

Laito: Don’t you want him to stop this habit? Isn’t it bad to enjoy your food in any way you want?

Carla: I don’t mind. Let him do as he pleases.

Laito: Uhh, aren’t you in the place to stop both of them?

Carla: It is not something I personally need to mess with, such things as how to have eating manners. Let them do what they want until they feel pleased.

Subaru: It’s already usually that they show bad behavior...

Yui: (I’m sure they would stop if Ruki-kun was the one ordering them to)

(Carla-san seems to be strict in courtesy, but maybe he has an unexpectedly dismissal?)

(He wasn’t that type of person from the very beginning if my thoughts are right)

(Or is it just because Kou-kun isn’t his real brother? I don't know which one it is)

Kou: Laito-kun has been quiet for awhile already now, if you want to share your dish you just need to say it you know?

Laito: ...Rather than that, Subaru-kun is facing his dish as if he surely wants to give his brothers a side dish.

Subaru: The hell I will! Why would I...

Azusa: ... Subaru

Subaru: ...Ngh. Even showing such a face is useless.

Yui: Fufu. Kou-kun, Azusa-kun. Would you like to eat something from mine?

Azusa: Eh, is that okay... ? Eve really is a nice person...

Kou: Yay!

Subaru: Hey, you don’t need to pamper these guys.

Carla: Is that okay, Eve? After all you are the lead of this party.

Yui: Yes, I already had enough.

Carla: I see. Do as you please then.

Kou: Thank you, Eve!

Azusa: I’m glad... thank you...

Yui: You are welcome. If I made the both of you happy, it already means enough for me.

(It's not just a certain memory, it’s this place where the families relationships have gone wrong ...)

(I wonder if everything will continue to go as good as this did)

Monologue

I don’t think the current situation is fine. But for now, I want to cherish all those peaceful moments with them.

While watching all of these people interacting so friendly with each other, my loneliness slowly eased itself.

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cupidmarwani-archive · 6 years

Text

Ink Stains (8/25)

WC: 1606

Barely an hour into the workday, and Benson is already calling him. It’s hard to keep the annoyance out of his town when he answers it. “Is this an emergency, Lieutenant? I have a lot of work to do.” He doesn’t explain that it’s because he wants to go home in time to visit Pam before dinner.

“Sonny’s en route to Bellevue with Rollins and Amaro, thought you might want to know.”

In less than a second, Peter’s out of his seat and pulling his coat on as he leaves his office, just barely pausing to scribble a note to hand to Carmen to make sure that no one bothers him while he’s there. He hears the panic in his own voice as he asks why, how, if he’s going to be okay.

“Rollins was questioning him. She got called out by Amaro for an interrogation, and when he walked by a few minutes later Sonny was on the floor, having a full-blown panic attack. Hit his head pretty hard while he was freaking out, and hyperventilated his way out of consciousness.”

He thanks her before he hangs up to call an Uber to the hospital, hoping to get there before Sonny wakes up surrounded by strangers and potentially restrained. That’s just asking for disaster. If he were in that position, waking up in a sterile white room with his arms belted down and with unfamiliar faces in his personal space, he knows he’d lose it. Pile that on top of the trauma of whatever Sonny’s been through, and in the aftermath of a panic attack, and Peter knows he has to be there.

It seems to take an eternity to get to the hospital, but the clock on his phone says that it’s only thirteen minutes between the time he slides into the backseat of the Subaru and when he tumbles out to run into the ER demanding to know where Dominick Carisi is. The nurses just tell him to get in line, which he does dutifully despite his urge to argue. Actual people in need of medical treatment should come before his desire to see Sonny, but at the same time, he has this need to find him and stand by his side and tell him that everything is going to be okay even if he’s not so sure that that’s true. The line crawls by as people are sent through triage with their bleeding arms and their clammy faces. All of them need help, but Peter can’t bring himself to care when Sonny’s somewhere here, needing his help.

“I need to get back to see a patient immediately.”

“What’s their name?”

This is too slow, far too slow. Peter has to repeat Sonny’s name twice to be understood.

“Relationship?”

Now’s not the time, but he wonders what their relationship is. Back in college, it had been weird. They were best friends, but there were these moments where it seemed like they had more. Late night studying where Sonny would lay in between Peter’s legs against his chest so that they could read at the same time. Peter would feed them both, bites of shitty takeout and 99 cent ramen between pages. Sometimes they’d share clothes, even if Peter was always a size bigger than Sonny. Many nights passed in the same bed when they were too tired or too cold to part ways. Things were questionable then, but now? It’s a different wheelhouse. Peter always hoped he’d come back. Explain himself, or say he was sorry, but he didn’t want them to cross paths again like this.

“I’m the Manhattan ADA and my detectives have reason to suspect that he’s a victim,” he says, which isn’t technically a lie. “He should be with Detectives Rollins and Amaro from Manhattan SVU, they’ll vouch for me.”

She does, in fact, have Amaro come to the front counter to wave him in before he can go to Sonny’s room. As they walk, he learns that Sonny isn’t awake yet and the doctors are going to do a more thorough exam to document the abuse that ‘Vinnie’ put him through once he’s conscious to provide consent. He asks for more specifics on why Sonny freaked out, and Nick shakes his head.

“He was fine when I pulled Rollins. Few minutes later, I walk by and he’s on the floor losin’ it.”

“Did you approach him?”

“Yeah,” Amaro says, stopping in front of a bay and pulling the curtains to let Peter in. “I grabbed his arms to get his attention and he slammed his head into the floor. Opened his eyes… the second he saw me, he got all… he went limp. Like a ragdoll. Just stared at me and kept hyperventilating until he passed out. Bus got there a few minutes later.”

Sonny’s lying in the bed, eyes shut and hooked up to a heart rate monitor that beeps slowly to the tune of his heartbeat. According to Rollins’ voice that Peter barely manages not to tune out, he’ll be up soon. He fainted from the high concentration of carbon dioxide due to his hyperventilating. It could have gone on for several minutes before Amaro even noticed that something was wrong.

“When you called out Rollins, how did you do it? Did Sonny see you? Hear you?”

With a strange expression, Amaro tilts his head to the side. “I leaned into the room, told her to come help. She said to wait, I said we needed her now.”

“Your tone?”

“It may have been aggressive.”

That’s when Peter’s brain helpfully supplies how much Amaro and Reyes look alike, and that ‘Vinnie’ could be short for Vincent. It would make sense; Sonny’s fear of cops, why he would be triggered by Amaro’s apparent anger, the fact that he seemed paralyzed when he saw Amaro up close while he was in a fit of panic. All of it is completely circumstantial, but Peter gets the feeling he isn’t far off the mark.

He pushes it all aside for later and comes to Sonny’s bedside to hold his hand. It’s cold like always, but completely limp. The veins under the skin of his wrist run purple and blue, fragile and thin. Under the white clinical sheets, Sonny looks more like a cadaver than a breathing person. Without his usual layers, he looks so much more sickly. Bruises under his eyes from not enough sleep, hollowed cheeks. A thin pink scar runs across Sonny’s neck that Peter doesn’t remember from when they were younger. It must be from Vinnie. He can’t help thinking that Sonny’s a victim right now.

“Did you get anything, Rollins?”

“Uh, yeah. Vinnie abducted him, and he lived in an old house the entire time, no clue where. Before he got away, he only left once to sign a marriage certificate. Legally, he’s married to Vinnie. He didn’t get to telling me what was done to him before Amaro pulled me, but he said it was a lot.”

Standing there, she keeps her arms crossed over her chest. Peter knows that this has to be killing her almost as much as it is him. As long as he’s known her, she’s been an emotional detective, one who takes things personally. Today’s episode wasn’t her fault, but seeing Sonny panic twice in as many days has to be devastating for her, too. Before they can continue, Sonny’s eyes start to open with pinprick pupils and a lost look.

“Sonny?”

He squeezes Peter’s hand and looks up at him like he’s someone worthy of love. They don’t need to say anything to understand that neither of them are going anywhere anytime soon. Rollins says she’ll get the doctor, letting Amaro in on her way out. As soon as Sonny catches sight of him, he tightens his hold on Peter so much that it hurts and his heart rate starts to skyrocket again.

“Hey, shh, look at me,” Peter says, smoothing Sonny’s hair off his forehead and gently turning his face to meet his eyes again. “You’re safe. That’s Nick Amaro, he’s not gonna hurt you. He’s here to help.”

The look on Sonny’s face, accusatory and disbelieving, breaks Peter’s heart. If his hunch is right and Reyes is Vinnie, then Sonny probably thinks that Amaro is him and he’s going to have to go back home with him. More torture, more abuse.

“I promise that he won’t hurt you. No one will, I’ll keep you safe.”

Amaro shakes his head and raises his hands with clear frustration on his face. Sonny flinches and Peter fights the urge to snap at Amaro for not keeping his face neutral, for acting like it’s a personal vendetta. “I’ll be in the hallway, Rollins will be back soon,” he says bitterly, and leaves the room.

Once he’s gone, Sonny shuts his eyes and as Peter watches, he starts to silently cry. If there was something, anything he could do to make this all better, he would. In the span of a month, the world has gotten so small around him. First, Sonny shows up a mess in need of help. Then things are going downhill with Pam and he definitely won’t have time to visit her today. And on top of it, he just caught the biggest case of his career and it’s a mess of Brooklyn officers who’ve done things that could make corpses shiver. Everything is overwhelming right now, and it looks like it’s not going to slow down anytime soon. He brushes the tears from Sonny’s face and makes a silent promise to protect him and keep him safe.

#starisi #fic #mine #angst #inkstains

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mikegranich87 · 3 years

Text

Pixel 5a review: The 4a 5G wasn't broken, so Google didn't fix it

youtube

The Pixel 6 is just around the corner. But before Google brings it and its Tensor mobile chip to market, the company is updating its entry level offering with the $449 Pixel 5a. The whole point of the “a” family is to offer the basics at a reasonable price without sacrificing too much of the Pixel experience in the process. That means a relatively clean version of Android with a bunch of AI tricks and a heavy focus on photography.

But apparently Google feels like it more or less nailed that formula with the Pixel 4a 5G because the 5a is basically the same phone. (Note: The Pixel 5a is not a direct successor to the 4a, which was a much smaller device.) There are some differences — notably the addition of IP67 waterproofing — but most of the tweaks are extremely minor. Even the processor and RAM haven’t changed. So, if we said you could do better way back in October of 2020, what does that mean for the 5a in the fall of 2021?

Well, it makes the Pixel 5a about as unexciting as a phone can be, for one. But look, boring isn’t necessarily bad. Especially when you’re talking about the mid and lower tiers of the smartphone market. For one, keeping things staid allows Google to focus its efforts on battery life and performance optimization. And just like the last generation of Pixels, the 5a feels pretty responsive despite the aging Snapdragon 765G inside. That said, the 765G wasn’t exactly top of the line last year, and it’s starting to show its limits. While scrolling through the UI and doing simple things like reading email and sending text messages, the 5a is indistinguishable from any flagship device. It even handles most mobile games without a hiccup. I spent some time playing The Elder Scrolls: Blades and Wild Castle and the phone barely broke a sweat.

But, I did notice it stutter a few times while navigating YouTube, editing photos and jotting down my thoughts for this review in Evernote. The latter I could easily chalk up to Evernote’s questionable development over the last few years, but the pauses while switching to fullscreen in YouTube and swapping filters in Google Photos are a bit more concerning.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The plus side of going with something a bit older and lower-powered (not to mention with an integrated 5G modem) is power efficiency. The 4a 5G was already something of a beast, lasting over 17 hours in our battery drain test before our reviews editor Cherlynn Low simply gave up and moved on with her life. That device had a 3,885mAh battery. The 5a has a 4,680mAh cell. It took 22 hours and 56 of playing a video on loop at 50-brightness before it finally powered down.

After 24 hour of heavy usage — playing games, repeatedly running 5G speed tests, installing apps, watching videos on YouTube and even letting it play sleep sounds overnight — the battery was still at 40 percent. It didn’t finally crap out until almost 2AM on day two. And if you turn on Extreme Battery Saver, things could get even more absurd. I’m fairly confident that under normal use you could get a full 48 hours out of the Pixel 5a before needing to find an outlet.

Battery life isn’t the only difference between the 5a and 4a 5G: The new phone is also IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. At a time when many smartphones have at least some form of water resistance the Pixel 4a 5G was sort of a disappointment. In fact, the lack of waterproofing was one of the big cons called out in our review. But the Pixel 5a should easily survive getting caught in the rain or if you drop it in a toilet. It can withstand being submerged in water up to one meter deep for 30 minutes, but I wouldn’t push this to its limits. Definitely don’t go swimming with it in your pocket.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The last difference between the Pixel 5a and the 4a 5G is in the size and construction, but it’s subtle. The 5a has a metal unibody as opposed to a polycarbonate one. The texture is still matte and similar to the softtouch of the previous models, though, and the upgrade to Gorilla Glass 6 from Gorilla Glass 3 is notable, but you’ll never notice the difference in daily use. The 5a comes in one finish: Mostly Black. Some might find the look a little dull, and it’s certainly on the utilitarian side, but I quite liked the feel of the phone. The finish is a nice contrast to the seemingly endless sea of smooth glassy surfaces and the heft is just right, too.

The 5a is ever so slightly larger and heavier, but you’re talking about a few millimeters and grams. Even if you had a Pixel 4a 5G in one hand and a Pixel 5a in the other you’d be hard pressed to figure out which is which.

The change in size mostly comes down to the slightly larger screen. The OLED panel on the 5a is 6.34 inches, versus 6.2 inches on the 4a 5G. Otherwise, though, the screens are basically the same. The increased resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 makes up for the size difference so they both have a density of 413 ppi. Both also sport a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and support HDR and are stuck at now outdated 60Hz. And both are just bright enough to use in direct sunlight, though high brightness mode is definitely a necessity if you’re watching a video outdoors.

Even the holepunch for the front-facing camera is in the same place. That said, I appreciated Google’s “for fun” wallpapers that camouflage the hole by incorporating it into the design. My favorite is the record player where the camera becomes the hole at the center of an LP.

That 8-megapixel front-facing camera, by the way, is one of the weak points of the 5a. It does the job in perfect lighting and for video calls. But details can be a bit soft, in low light it gets noisy and portrait mode is hit or miss. Overall, I found Google’s portrait feature to be a bit too aggressive even on the main camera. You can easily adjust the blur and depth after the fact, but the default settings could stand to be more subtle.

The selfie cam, though, is the same one found on the Pixel 4a 5G, so none of this is a surprise. In fact, all of the cameras are the same. The two sensors around the rear, however, are much better than the one on the front. There’s a 12.2-megapixel main shooter with optical image stabilization and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens. They have a somewhat “moody” vibe when compared to shots from an iPhone or a Galaxy device, but they’re not obviously inferior. And even though images taken with the wide-angle lens can get a little fuzzy if you start zooming in on details, Google’s processing does an admirable job of minimizing barrel distortion. Google isn’t at the top of the smartphone camera heap anymore, but it’s not far off and photography is still an undeniable strong suit of the Pixel family.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

There’s nothing new to report, though. It’s the same set of excellent photography features that you got last year: Portrait lighting can help clean up and add some contrast to photos of people (but sadly not pets — the option only appears if a human face is detected). Night Sight turns on automatically in dim lighting and at times produces mind-blowing results. And the video stabilization modes are excellent. Cinematic Pan, which combines slow motion with super smooth movement, is especially fun.

Also, just like every other “a” model Pixel, this one has a headphone jack. All I can say is: That’s great, now please bring the headphone jack back to flagship phones. I know I’m not the only person clamoring for it. And it drives me nuts that the only way to get an old-school 3.5mm jack on my phone is to go down market.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

One last thing to mention: The actual full name of the phone is the Pixel 5a with 5G. So, guess what, it supports 5G connectivity. That’s not really surprising since the Snapdragon 765G has an integrated 5G modem. Unlike the Pixel 4a 5G, however, there is no mmWave variant of the 5a. And, although technically it’s capable of C-Band support, it’s currently not enabled and Google wouldn’t commit to adding support in the future. That’s not a huge deal at the moment since there are no active C-Band networks in the US yet. But it might irk some when AT&T and Verizon start flipping the switch, likely sometime later this year. That said, full C-Band rollout isn’t expected to happen until at least late 2023.

Those caveats out of the way, 5G still seems stuck in a state of arrested development. I tested the Pixel 5a using Google Fi, which essentially means I was on T-Mobile’s network and speeds were all over the place. In my home, it was often slower than Verizon’s LTE network, averaging around 35mbps down. (Note: Verizon is Engadget’s parent company… for now.) But two and half miles up the road at a local Subaru dealership I was routinely getting over 300mbps down, topping out at 370mbps.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Of course, 5G and excellent cameras aren’t a rarity at this price any more. Mid-tier phones have come a long way over the last few years. The problem for Google is, it no longer clearly “owns the midrange.” Part of that is down to price. While the 5a is $50 cheaper than the 4a 5G, it’s not the obvious bargain that the 4a was at $350. If it was even just $50 cheaper still, the 5a would be a much easier sell at $399.

The Samsung A52 5G is slightly more expensive at $500 (though regularly on sale for less) and has a slower Snapdragon 750G SoC. But, its Super AMOLED screen clearly outclasses the Pixel’s and has a 120Hz refresh rate. Plus, its camera system is much sharper and feature-packed (but that doesn’t necessarily mean “better”). In addition to a primary camera and ultra-wide shooter, there’s a macro lens and a depth sensor that helps with portrait mode. While both the A52 and 5a ship with 128GB of storage, the Samsung has an advantage in that it has a microSD card slot.

Then there’s the OnePlus Nord N2 5G. It has a trio of cameras around the back, including a 50-megapixel primary sensor, an AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, and up to 12GB of RAM. Then again, it has a MediaTek processor, which you rarely see in phones in the US and with good reason: They’re not exactly known for their high-end performance. But perhaps more importantly, you’re highly unlikely to be making a choice between the Nord N2 and the Pixel 5a since the former isn’t available in the US, and the later is only available in the US and Japan.

Of course, if you’re more of an iOS fan, the obvious comparison would seem to be the iPhone SE. It’s the same price as the Pixel 5a for a 128GB model, but it does feel quite a bit dated. It still uses the old iPhone 8 form factor with a Touch ID home button instead of Face ID, it's positively miniscule at 4.7 inches and doesn’t support 5G. Frankly, if you’re dead set on iOS, I might suggest saving your pennies and springing for the $699 iPhone 12 mini.

So, no, Google doesn’t “own the midrange” any more. The Pixel 5a is almost aggressively boring, but it’s not bad. If you want the Pixel experience and don’t want to break the bank, this is the way to go. But if you’re just looking for the best bang for your buck, the choice is far less clear.

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-5-a-review-android-midrange-5g-smartphone-160051630.html?src=rss

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jjblue1 · 6 years

Photo

As it seems the picture and the translations for Shoten 6 Tokyo Babylon story has disappeared from the net I’m going to share them.

The translation was done by iamsocool12345 and it’s shared here merely because it’s not available anymore anywhere as far as I know. Should iamsocool12345 ask for me to remove it, I’ll do it.

Now... since I know many people wonder about the last pic in which Seishiro put a ring on Subaru’s finger... well it actually isn’t a single spread picture.

That’s how the scene looked like on the original magazine.

As you can see you would have to turn the page to see Seishiro.

Now... I’ve placed all the other picture in order except those last two because it’s nice to see them as a spread page... but remember, in the original they wouldn’t have looked like one.

Tokyo Babylon - Shoten Translation *********************** BABYLON Ancient capital of Mesopotamia. In the 18th century B.C., Hamurabi, ruler of the kingdom of Babylonia, claimed it as such, and the city prospered, as a thriving political and cultural center. In time, however, the people of the city began to grow proud of this prosperity, and challenged God's authority, building a tower called "Babel" that would reach up to Heaven. Unable to forgive this indiscretion, God struck the tower down, and with it, destroyed the common language of the people. People are now doomed to repeat themselves constantly, a mark of their foolish act against God. Woe to Babylon, City that suffered the wrath of God. "He seemed pretty cool, didn't he?" Hokuto muses, sipping happily on Subaru's iced cafe au lait. Subaru isn't quite sure what Hokuto's talking about. He tilts his head. "Who?" "Sei-chan." "Oh. Seishirou-san." Hokuto's already started calling Seishirou "Sei-chan". It took her all of three hours after first meeting him, but then, she's a little more...friendly than most. [1] This is Heinesen [2], in Shinjuku's Kabukichou. [3] Not exactly the first neighborhood you'd recommend to anyone as a nice place to live, but it's still got its fair share of quality apartment complexes. All of them with very good security systems, of course. And our hero is Subaru Sumeragi. He's 163 cm tall [4], 16 years old, and he's just been accepted into his first year at CLAMP Campus Academy's high school. He has one sibling: a twin sister, Hokuto Sumeragi, who's currently lounging on the sofa across from him, with a smile. Like some of you might already know (after reading Shoten 5), Subaru-kun goes to school and "works" at the same time. He's an onmyouji. Lately, his profession has gotten lots of attention from newspapers and magazines, and a lot of people have heard about what onmyouji do. They're well-versed in astronomy and study the calendar very closely, in order to perform fortune tellings, and other special spiritual rituals. In fact, people like Subaru-kun have started to show up everywhere in popular media, lately. [5] It seems like everybody has read "Kujaku-ou" [6] or seen "Teito Monogatari" [7], and they've noticed these characters who have incredible power. Abilities beyond what any normal human being can do. Sumeragi Subaru-kun is one of these onmyouji. As a matter of fact, they're growing increasingly rare in our day. So much so that, if he let it, publicity would completely overwhelm his life. Sumeragi Subaru-kun is an onmyouji. He's adorable, still just a high school student, and he might not seem like the sharpest kid his age, but when it comes to onmyoujutsu [8], he's at the very top of his game.The 13th head of the Sumeragi family. It's a position that claims quite a bit of respect. But with that respect also comes its fair share of difficulties. Subaru-kun keeps a smile on his face, but in a profession this uncommon, it's easy to feel spread thin. His line of work can be tough. And it is work for him; he gets paid for what he does, and because of that, he feels like he can't take on any case half-way. He has to go all out, every single time. Subaru-kun has come up against some pretty unpleasant situations, but he does his best to try not to let sort of thing affect him too much. Which is easier said than done. Sometimes, he can get a little depressed, but we'll leave that for another time. For now, something else entirely is bothering Subaru-kun. Something that has nothing to do with his job...or so he's trying to tell himself. Still, he can't help but wonder if... "Hey, Subaru!" If... "Earth to Subaru! Hello~ooo? Subaru!!!" Subaru looks up suddenly, to find Hokuto hovering over him. "You were thinking again, weren't you? You're always doing that! Getting lost in thought, and shutting yourself off from the rest of the world... And I'd bet money you were just depressing yourself over it, too, whatever it was. Would you cut it out already?" She looks down at him, and... Er, well. Subaru had thought she'd been hovering over him, but it turns out she's just sitting on his lap. "Here. Phone's for you." He hadn't even heard it ring. Subaru thinks she might be right; he really doesn't pay enough attention to what's going on around him, and it could get him into trouble, one of these days. What if someone came into his room uninvited, and he didn't notice? Although he can't really imagine that anyone would want to. A thief, maybe? But it's not like that sort of thing happened very often, anyway, and...- "The phone, I said! Geeze! You're totally impossible!" Oops! There he goes again. He's really got to break that habit... "Who is it?" "Loverboy." "L-Loverboy-san? Who's that?" "You have got to be kidding me." Subaru takes the receiver from Hokuto. "H-Hello? This is Sumeragi." "Hello, there! This is Sakurazuka." "Oh! Seishirou-san!" Hokuto jumps up, spins around, and starts hopping in place excitedly. Energetic would be an understatement. Have you ever in your life seen twins with two more opposite personalities? "I'm sorry that I kept you so long today." "N-No, it's fine! I had fun." "Well, there's something I forgot to give you when I dropped you off at your apartment." "Huh?" "Do you think you might be able to stop by the hospital on your way home from school tomorrow?" "S-Sure..." "Great. Be careful tonight. I know it's been really hot out, lately, but make sure you don't catch a cold from running the air conditioner, okay? [9] Have a good night." "O-Oh, um! Okay! G-good night!" Subaru sits blinking at the cordless in his hand. "So!? What did he say!? Tell me everything!" "Um... He said there's...um, something he wants to give me..." "Presents! Starting in with the fancy gifts already, in order to win over your affections! Ooh, he's good, he's very good!" "I-I really don't think he's trying to 'win over my affections'..." "But what on earth could Sei-chan be thinking!? He knows you're head of the Sumeragi family, and he's the Sakurazukamori!" The Sakurazukamori is part of the Sakurazuka family, another famous omyouji clan, like the Sumeragi. Except...the history of the Sakurazuka family is a little less prestigious, and the Sakurazukamori doesn't exactly make his services known to the public. Supposedly, though, the Sakurazukamori considers himself above ordinary moral restrictions, and buries all of his victims in a grave called the "sakurazuka". [10] Basically, the Sakurazukamori acts as the Sakurazuka family assassin. "We don't know that for sure! The Sakurazuka family is so mysterious that even other onmyouji can't tell the truth from legend, anymore. These days, anyone could be the Sakurazukamori. Just because Seishirou-san's last name is 'Sakurazuka' doesn't necessarily mean anything..." "Well, we know that the current Sakurazukamori is a man! Obaa-chama told us so!" [11] "But that doesn't mean that it's Seishirou-san!" "He didn't exactly deny it, did he?" "He didn't say yes, either!" "Oh, come on, Subaru! What's wrong with you? It'd be so much more interesting if you were head of the Sumeragi and he was the Sakurazukamori!" "...You're crazy..." "You dummy! Don't you realize what you're doing here? Every single day, I turn on the TV, and what do I see? Perestroika, Kuwait, Iran, environmental pollution, water shortages... [12] But you know what? That's all fine, so long as girls like me can still have our fun! But will boys like you let us!? No! Instead, you have to go and ruin everything!" "...If all girls think like you, then I'm a little scared..." "Sorry to make you come out here like this." Seishirou bows low to Subaru from just inside the hospital. Subaru bows back. "But I had some business to attend to in Ikebukuro [13] today, so I stopped in at this little restaurant called Melos [14], and brought us back some tiramisu. Huh? Where's Hokuto-chan?" "Oh, um, she said that Marui [15] was having a bargain sale today..." "Aha. I understand. That definitely takes priority," Seishirou nods vigorously. "Well, let's not stand out here all day. Come on in and tell me how school was. Are you getting used to it?" Subaru follows Seishirou into his examination room, where Seishirou sets out the tiramisu and some tea. "Yeah. There are so many new faces, but... But it's a lot of fun." "Mmm. CLAMP Campus is a good school. Even if they do get a little carried away, from time to time." "Where did you go to school, Seishirou-san?" "Would you like some more tea?" Seishirou changes the topic so smoothly that Subaru figures he must not have heard the question. "S-Sure. Thank you." "Actually, I got this tea from Krishna-san. He went home to India for a wedding, and brought some back to Japan with him. He must have felt very nostalgic, visiting home for the first time in so long." [16] "Have you lived in Tokyo your whole life, Seishirou-san? Or are you..." "What wonderful weather we're having today, hmm?" And then it dawns on Subaru: apparently, Seishirou doesn't want to answer his questions. "So what did you learn about today at school?" "Um. Well, actually, the evil Imonoyama Shopping District Secret Association showed up right in the middle of class, and then the CLAMP Campus Defenders Duklyon came in to chase after them, and things got a little crazy, and that was sort of the end of the lesson, right there." [17] "Ahahahaha! As interesting as ever, then!" Seishirou laughs, long and hard, and Subaru starts to wonder if he really might be the Sakurazukamori, like Hokuto had said. After all, he seems to be avoiding Subaru's questions about his past... For the briefest instant, Subaru feels his heart ache. "What's the matter? Is the cake no good?" "Huh!? Oh! No! I-It's delicious!" "You looked so sad for a second there. Are you sure you're alright?" "I'm fine! It's nothing, really! Honest!" "Hmm. Alright, then. Although I have to admit, it's a little suspicious of you to deny it so strongly." Seishirou laughs again, and reaches to refill Subaru's cup. "Oh, that reminds me! How about we get to what I called you over for, hm?" "O-Okay!" Still smiling, Seishirou reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box, covered in red velvet. "What's that?" "Open it up and see for yourself." Subaru flips the box open...and freezes. "Th-This is--!" "A ring. The size should be fine, hopefully. I've got a knack for things like that." "Wh-Who are you going to give it to?" "Ahahahaha! Why, you, of course, Subaru-kun!" "W-Wha-! You-! H-! Hold on!" "Don't worry, I don't mean to tie you down with this. It's just that it seems like so many people have been getting married lately, doesn't it? Even at Iserlohn and Heinesen [18], I feel like I know at least 10 couples who've decided to tie the knot." "Y-Yeah, I've been invited to a few of them too, but..." "Veterinary hospitals might be hospitals, but they're still businesses! I started worrying that, one day, I might not be able to afford a ring anymore. So I went out and bought this for you yesterday, while I know for certain that I've got the money to." "But I can't accept this! It's so expensive!" "You won't take it because it's expensive, or because you don't want to?" "What?" "Because it really wasn't expensive it all, Subaru-kun. You believe me, don't you?" "Well, I do...-" "Then you'll take it!" "Seishirou-san!" "I promise I'll do everything I can to give you the wedding you deserve. And I'll be a devoted husband, day in and day out! You'll look after me, won't you, Subaru-kun?" Looks like Subaru-kun doesn't have much of a say this time around! Don't worry, Subaru-kun! We're sure he'll make an honest bride out of you, soon! *laugh* *********************** [1] A cursory note I'd rather ignore, but obviously, "chan" indicates a certain closeness that most people don't really feel they've achieved in 3 hours. [2] Heinesen is a tricky one. It's a German name, but I found out that it was also used as a location in an '80s manga called Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (in English, Legend of the Galactic Heroes), which is where CLAMP probably lifted it from. I think they mean it here to serve as the fictional building/complex that Subaru and Hokuto are living in. [3] Like the text tells us, Kabukichou in Tokyo's Shinjuku district is...lively. It's well-known for being active at night, with its fair share of restaurants, love hotels, bars, etc. It wouldn't exactly be my first choice if I were looking for a place to live, either, but in with some of the seedier stuff are some really classy clubs and restaurants. [4] 5'4", for those of you as metrically challenged as I am. [5] Actually, Japan really did see a sort of pop-occult boom in the '90s. 1999 was coming up, for one, and young people especially started to really get into stuff like that. Think of the fortune telling and matchmaking and apocalypse fear that we see in Tokyo Babylon. [6] Late '80s/early '90s manga (translates to Peacock King), with gods and demons and magic spells, and exorcisms, and all that sort of thing. [7] '70s novel turned into late '80s/early '90s live action film and anime (translated as Doomed Megalopolis in the US). The main villain is an onmyouji. [8] Onmyoujutsu is onmyouji magic, or "yin-yang magic". [9] Okay. Korea is notorious for this sort of thing, and I met a girl from Brazil who believed it. I don't think I've come across any Americans who really believe this, but I could be wrong. Anyway, the idea is that an AC or fan, especially if left on overnight in a room that you're sleeping in, can make you sick. I... I mean, maybe if you set your AC to record low temperatures? I only make a note here since reading that line in English out of nowhere like that would probably make me think Seishirou's even stranger than I'd imagined. [10] Literally, "cherry blossom grave". [11] "Grandma", but I don't feel comfortable translating it as such, since the "chama" is distinctive. Think "chan" + "sama". Subaru simply uses "obaa-chan". And everyone in English has their own cute grandmother diminutive, anyway. [12] As in depressing early '90s news. Perestroika refers to Gorbachev's doomed economic reforms, then we've got the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm, the hole in the ozone layer, etc. [13] Big, busy commercial district in Tokyo. Sunshine 60's there. Lots of department stores and activity. [14] "Melos" might be the name of a real restaurant somewhere, but probably not in this case. If anything, I'd say CLAMP's throwing a quick nod to Hashire Melos! (Run, Melos!), an '80s anime movie, remade in the early '90s. [15] Marui's a big, famous department store, well-known for women's fashion. The logo for the store reads "OIOI", but it's pronounced "marui"..."maru" for "zero" and "i" for "one". [16] Errr. I'm pretty sure Seishirou's referring to Krishna, the CLAMP character who appears in some of their earlier stuff. He works at CLAMP Campus as a professor, I believe, and looks pretty much like Ashura-ou? I think? If you've got any more info, let me know! In any case, I doubt Seishirou's talking about Krishna, the god. [17] See CLAMP Campus Defenders Duklyon, if you haven't checked it out already. That's more or less the plot of every single chapter. [18] Iserlohn seems to be another German name/location in Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu. See note #2.

#Tokyo Babylon #Shoten #Subaru Sumeragi #Hokuto Sumeragi #Seishirou Sakurazuka #S: Tokyo Babylon #S: Tokyo Babylon 1999 #S: Shoten #C: Sumeragi Subaru #C: Sumeragi Hokuto #C: Sakurazuka Seishiro

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saintsnsinnersbdb · 3 years

Text

Deal with the Devil: The End of the Beginning (Part 6)

Written by @Lassiter_SASBDB.

https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srinhn

It was a normal, blue-collar suburban neighborhood, filled with 1950’s ranch homes and split-levels. Mature trees lined streets that were probably filled with kids on bikes and dog-walkers during warm weather months, although now they were barren except for a couple of people shoveling snow off the sidewalks and a few toddlers playing in the white stuff with a stay-at-home parent in their respective yards. Shortly the Catholic K-12 down the street would let out and younger kids would trudge their way home while teens tentatively navigated the slick streets in 200,000+ mile Subaru’s and Nissans that had been purchased not by their parents but by working summer and after-school jobs and saving their money to do it themselves. Yeah, this was that kind of human neighborhood. So why was Devina here?

Short answer is hiding out. After I’d rousted her from that obnoxious ode to regentrification in yuppieville she’d gone deep. So deep I’d thought for a while she’d left Caldwell. But I knew I couldn’t be that lucky, so I’d kept looking. The easiest way to find her was to focus on missing persons. Not the bodies, although there would be plenty of those, but she was smart and careful. She wasn’t going to leave any of those where I might put together a pattern. But I’d been looking for the wrong /kind/ of missing persons.

Devina’s preferred prey was male and not too sober. A horny, drunk man was a sitting duck. She’d take females, too. Had all too often, but her bait for them tended to be emotional support or some such shit. She “bonded” with them when they were at low points. So I’d been looking for singles. People who had gone missing from bars or been depressed and just ghosted. I’d been over hundreds of missing persons reports…yeah, computer hacking isn’t my bag, but when you can go invisible and look over a cop’s shoulder for an afternoon it’s a piece of cake to get the right passwords. Then it’s just a little late night B&E into the police station and an empty office. But I’d looked for months and hadn’t found anything I couldn’t track down. And yes, some of them had been dead, but a few inquiries “up top” had let me know the souls had made it where they were supposed to. Obviously not Devina’s victims, as taking the souls was the whole point for the bitch. So I’d finally backed off that angle, taking a wait-until it-smacks-me-in-the-face approach.

For a while I’d turned my attention to the problems of the Brotherhood and the race. That whole deity-in-training thing was turning out to be a full time job. I kind of liked it. Who knew I had it in me? But while “tending my flock” I’d stumbled across something that sent me in a new direction.

Now,I’m not big into the whole “organized religion” thing, even for the race, but I tried to keep tapped into this one particular Catholic church. Most of the brothers aren’t big on prayers to the Virgin Scribe unless shit is going down hard, but Butch was a regular, so long as he could do it in a Catholic church like his human mother had taught him and this was his one of choice. I wasn’t 100% sure prayers not directed to the VS would get to me through the whole ethereal call-forwarding system the Creator had put in effect, so sometimes I went to hear Butch’s in person. I know, I know, I could have just tapped into his head when he was in the manse or the pit, but it seemed like an invasion of privacy to do it in his personal space. A church was basically public, so it felt more acceptable to go invisible and sit in the pew behind him while I listened in. I didn’t wanna neglect him. And it was a beautiful place. The serenity there was on par with my place in the forest so sometimes during the day, after my morning deity duty, I’d go back to the church and hang around and kinda veg in it while the Brotherhood slept. Or whatever. With all the shellans these days you never knew. Or, given the volume level, sometimes you did, but you didn’t /wanna/ know, feel me? So some days I decided to be missing during the fireworks and this place was calming. Ellen and Maury only relieve the stress of being a deity so much, you know? And if I followed the priests back to the rectory, well, hey, the nun who cooked for them made killer snickerdoodles. I kept trying to snitch the recipe for #Fritz but she did it all from her head and man, I am SO not going to pick a nun’s brain.*shudders at the implications* It was while I was looking over her shoulder as she baked that I overheard the three priests that lived there talking.

They’d lost a family from their parish that week. I mean literally LOST them. Dad, mom, and four kids, ages 4 through 9. Just vanished. The kids all went to the parish school and when none of them showed up four days running and the voicemails to the parents weren’t being returned one of the priests had gone to check on them. All he had found was an empty house. He’d called the police and filed a missing persons report to start a preliminary investigation but essentially both mom and dad had called into work one morning and said they were taking a week off, and since it’s not illegal to take vacation time, the cops had done nothing. But it was odd that the school hadn’t been contacted at all. So I did a little digging of my own and what do you know...a pattern.

Six families from different parishes in Caldwell had disappeared in the last four months. Thirty-seven souls in all. All the families had been Catholic. All the families had young children, one just a few months old. And the mother in all the families had attended a stay-at-home mom support group that met every Thursday night in the gymnasium of St. Phillip Neri’s Church and Catholic School. The same one that was just down the street. And the group was open to people from all parishes in the archdiocese, which explained why the missing families were from all over the city.

It hadn’t been hard from there. I’d stationed myself outside the gym two Thursday nights ago and waited and lo and behold, who should walk out, but Devina, bundled up in a puffy white coat that made her look like the Pillsbury Doughboy and fake giggling with a human female. It was “soooo tough to relax when the kids couldn’t get out much because of the cold” she said and then she said her condo on the beach in Florida was “sooooo relaxing” and such a help. And then she offered her nonexistent condo to the frustrated mom and her family for a stress-free vacay. And bingo, bango, done, I knew how she was luring the families in.

She’d left the woman in the parking lot as others came out, getting into a predictably boring, yet originally expensive, used Volvo, thereby confirming her image as a middle-class mom who could afford a few luxuries and putt-putted to the last house on a street that dead-ended at a dense woods with a “no trespassing” sign on the the fence that separated it from neighborhood. That gave me a good idea what she was doing with the bodies.

I’d done my recon in the past two weeks. While she hadn’t brought any new victims home, she did have a routine she invariably followed. In the mornings she made a public appearance with a pair of toddler-sized gollums she glamoured into looking like rosy-faced children. Playing in the front yard, a walk with a stroller in the park, going to the grocery store… it was always carefully planned to give her maximum exposure to her victim group without allowing them to get too involved in interacting with the “kids”. Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon she put the golems in carseats and left the house at 1:58 PM. I’d followed her those days and found Devina had a standing 2:30 appointment with a therapist. Good to know somebody else knew what a neurotic bitch she was. She’d deactivated the gollums and left them in the car in a parking garage while she had her appointment, magicking the rear window tint to opacity so no one noticed them there. Afterwards she indulged her inner compulsive shopper for an hour or two and then headed back home.

And now, on /this/ Thursday I was standing across the street from her modest hideout waiting for her to leave. Like clockwork, at 1:58 the garage door rose and the Volvo backed out of the driveway. I had stayed invisible while I waited for her to leave -- even though I’d taken the precaution of tucking my long black and blonde streaked hair down inside my coat with a black watch cap shoved over my head and added shades and a black scarf to obstruct most of my face, I’d decided discretion was the better part of valor here. While it was obviously a friendly neighborhood, 6’7” of unknown muscle encased in black leather standing on a dead end street would make anyone take notice and I did/not/want to be noticed. And I was glad I had. Devina must have sensed something off. She stopped the car after she’d backed onto the street and looked up and down it. She’d paused as her gaze fell on where I was standing and squinted. I simply stood there watching. If she saw me and we did this the hard way, it was no skin off my nose. I’d just thought it would be simpler if I searched for the souls and released them myself before deciding what to do about her this time. Finally, she’d given up and driven down the street to turn onto the main drag. As the last wisp of frozen exhaust from her car disappeared, I turned my attention to her house.

It was a tidy little brick ranch. No gargoyles or garishly macabre door knockers this time. The front lawn was fenced but otherwise unadorned. The curtains were drawn on the large picture window as well as the jalousies that were probably the bedrooms’ windows to the world. Down lower, hopper windows told me there was a basement. All in all, even if the basement is finished, there’s probably only 1400 square feet absolute max. A huge comedown for her. Devina liked luxury and lots of it. This probably was very nearly Hell for her. *smirking as I fold my arms across my chest.*

Getting inside wasn’t a problem. Although Devina knew how to keep me out she was just arrogant enough to assume this was enough of a change to keep me from finding her and maintaining warding requires power that she doesn’t have an abundance of right now. Thirty-seven souls weren’t going to be enough to keep it powered up and maintain the glamour that kept people from seeing the evil hellbitch she really was. But she could have put in ADT and that was going to take some finesse. I didn’t want her coming back before I was ready for her. As I dematerialized just inside the front door I took a moment and looked around. To the left, just behind where the door would hide it if I’d opened it was a control box with a steady green light. It was either set to trigger when the door opened or had motion sensors connected to it. Either way was no big deal. While it might have caught an unwary human, all I had to do was demat from room to room and stand still while I scoped them out.

As I stood in the doorway looked through the small living room it was apparent that Devina was maintaining her cover well. There was nothing here to indicate she wasn’t what she seemed. A photo of her in a wedding dress with a man in a tux graced the foyer wall surrounded by pictures of the “kids”. On the table beneath it lay a scrapbook, conveniently open to an obituary for National Guard Captain Alan Veckman, KIA in Afghanistan. A wife and two kids were listed as the only survivors. That explained why she hadn’t gollumed up a spouse for her image. She’d just tracked this guy down, photoshopped herself into their wedding picture, and probably taken the wife and kids as her first victims this time around. Instant sympathetic widow.

The house had had some modernization done on the inside. Instead of closed off main rooms the dining room walls had been knocked down to open it up to both living room and kitchen, forming the more-currently-popular “great room''. From here I could see all the public spaces were clean. No macabre art work on the walls, no horrific but trendy sculpture. Just a few framed prints on the walls and the typical kid’s finger paintings on the fridge. I popped into the kids bedroom and the hall bath, doing a quick check, but finding nothing then moved on to the master. It had been remodeled too, probably taking out the third bedroom to enlarge it and add the spa-like ensuite. This space, small by Devina’s norms, still felt more like her. Where the great room had been “Leave It To Beaver” tidy, this place was an overpacked disaster. Her shopping addiction was apparent in the overstuffed closet and bags of clothing laying on the floor. Jewelry strung haphazardly across the dresser and the unmade bed completed the total mess. The bathroom had every known brand of cosmetic, perfume and skin treatment known to man represented, and that was just a waste of money, given she relied on magick to maintain her outwardly pretty face and body. Lots of scented bath crap around the tub, too. Keeping the stench of evil down must require some heavy maintenance. But still nothing that hinted at her new well of souls.

Only one place left to check. The basement. I’d spied the door to it in the kitchen. If any door was going to be wired to alert her, it would be that one, but if it was her gateway to hell, ADT wasn’t going to be her alert system. Dematting to the kitchen, I look at the door and open my senses. There was nothing alive in that basement but there sure was a lot of pain coming from it. I dematerialize to the otherside of the door and flick on the stairwell light. The smell hits me immediately. The odor of death is distinctive. The odor of death by torture even more so. Blood, feces, spilled intestines, vomit….and the residual agony...I had to stop on the steps and take a deep breath to steel myself. I’ve seen a lot, done a lot, been on battlefields. But I never get used to this.

Jaw set grimly, I focus on the details of my surroundings to get me down the stairs. The walls are painted yellow concrete blocks, the ceiling exposed floor joists. The floor at the bottom of the stairs is smooth concrete. My eyes follow the slope of the concrete to the center drain, beginning to take in the blood and viscera still laying on the floor. She must have magicked the whole damned place to keep the smell down here. Nausea rises in my throat, but I force it down as my gaze rises to the table over the center drain. It’s a steel autopsy table, the kind sits on a pedestal and raises and lowers for the user's convenience. It has a sink attached to it and channels that run down the sides to let blood and body fluids drain away . But unlike standard autopsy tables this one also has straps attached. Ones for wrists, ankles and forehead as well as thicker ones that run over the chest and thighs. I guess Devina wanted options. Staked to the wall behind it is the mutilated body of a female. Early 30’s, blonde, fair skinned where the corpse wasn’t ripped open or stained with red. Before moving towards it, I flip another switch that lights the corners of the basement. I take in the empty cell in the corner. Makes sense. If she’s taking families she can’t work on them all at once and holding them immobile takes power she doesn’t have. And on the concrete wall that runs behind the staircase I see it. Instead of a well she’s created a wall this time. Faces frozen in agony are embedded along it. Male, female...children…

”Creator,” it’s a scream in my head “she did this to CHILDREN!” I can feel His pain, but the whisper enters my head “She has a part to play. She must live.”

I choke back an agonized cry and move towards the woman staked to the wall. Gently I close her already clouded eyes, murmuring “I’m sorry. I was too late for you and your family. But I’ll set you free.” I know she’s not in there anymore. She’s on that god damned wall. The body is just the alarm system. Devina will know if it’s moved. Well, I’ll get to that.

Moving to the wall, I let my wings become visible. The basement ceiling is too low for me to spread them fully, but I can feel the souls’ pain and terror. Going full angel will help calm them, I hope. The white light I normally suppress to a dim glow that can be at least partially explained by the light catching all my piercings is fully released to become a white light so brilliant it would burn the retina’s of a mortal.

“𒂼𒅈𒄄.” Release, in ancient Summarian, the language taught to humans by the angels. “Ama-ar-gi. Release,” I repeat it again and again as the souls gradually disengage from the wall and come to stand before me. Fathers, mothers...little ones, all confused and fearful. But even as they shimmer into existence, the rheapers come. I knew they would. As I serve the Creator, they serve Death. I help mortal souls find their way in life. They help souls move on and find their way once their mortal bodies can no longer serve them. And, like me, they’ve seen it all, but also like me, this sickens them. After the initial shock of pity passes, compassion settles on their faces as they begin to take the souls. Somehow they know which souls belong together and they take them as families.

After the last has gone, one rheaper remains. She’s small and dark-haired, her 5’3” frame barely reaching chest high on me, but she comes towards me, pounding her finger into my chest and hissing,

“They weren’t supposed to die yet! Take. Care. Of. This. Or we will.”

“I can’t. The Creator says she has to live. For at least a little longer.”

“Good thing we don’t answer to Him, then isn’t it? My boss doesn’t like waste of the life spark and this is incredible waste,” she shoots back at me. As I look at her, not a little shocked, she shrugs “What, you didn’t know? Everything dies. Even at the Creator’s level, there’s balance. Balance for Life is Death. Two sides of the same coin. So,” putting her hands on her hips and squaring off with me,” handle this before we do.”

“The demon has a part to play. I don’t like it, but I’m forbidden to kill her.” My frustration must be showing in my face, because she softens a little bit.

“Then get creative with it. Because the rheaper way won’t be creative. Just final.”

She disappears in front of me, a fine black mist swirling into nothing. ‘Get creative,’ she’d said. Biting my lip, an idea I really don’t like hits me, but one of the Creator’s early lessons pushes back on my initial rejection. ‘Being a deity often consists of doing things you don’t like.’ Yeah, this qualifies. With a sigh, I go to the body staked on the other wall and gently remove it, laying it on the autopsy table. The sudden drop in power when the souls were freed would have been enough to alert Davina there was trouble. At this point moving the female’s body was just respect for the dead. But I wouldn’t face the bitch over it.

As I go back up the stairs, I open the door to the kitchen and cross to take a seat at the table just as I hear the garage door go up. As she bursts through the door from the garage, she shrieks,

“YOU! What have you DONE?!!!!”

“Hello to you, too. Long time no see.” Everything in me wants to slam a lightning bolt through that glamored body just to see it twitch, but that’s not the plan. “You knew I’d still be looking for you. Did you really think hiding out in this hovel would be enough camouflage? You have a very distinct signature.”

“Those souls were MINE! They came to me freely. You had no RIGHT!” The last comes out as an angry wail and ok, I’m done with diplomacy. Rising from my chair I slam my hand thunderously on the table.

“I have EVERY right. You broke the rules. You took innocents…children. Babes in arms. You’re only allowed ones that have the ability to make their own choices.”

She glares at me, then crosses her arms and simpers, “The parents made their choices for them. Children have such power, You know, the more innocent the soul, the greater the energy. I’m short on that, thanks to you, so kids were a quick way to restore it. And the pain of the parents as they watched their brats die...it was sooo delicious. That kind of pain is almost as powerful as the kids' souls. So I’m stronger now than I was the last time we faced off. Whatcha’ going to do about it?”

Motherfucking bitch….Oh, so not getting away with that. Holding a hand out, I release a bolt of electricity that knocks her back against the refrigerator and spears through her body to pin her to it.

“What am I going to do about it?” I repeat. “I can do a lot of /very/ painful things to you Devina that won’t result in your --immediate-- death. You’ll just wish it did. I’m not that naive angel boy you once knew and betrayed. Deity-level upgrades come with deity-level thinking. And you aren’t strong enough to break free even from that,” nodding at the electric bindings holding her to the fridge, “Now are you? So I have a lot of pain in store for you. Maybe I”ll use your own autopsy table. But,” materializing a silver handled angel’s dagger, the blade flashing blue fire, “I think I’ll bring my own tools.”

The thing is, while I really would like to end Devina, torture isn’t my thing. It makes me wanna throw up. But ‘get creative’ the rheaper had said, so creative I was being. Devina doesn’t know what the kind of changes the Creator made with me when he agreed to bring me up to a deity, might have done to my psyche. In her fallen, psychotic brain the Creator is a cold, distant daddy figure capable of enjoying causing His children pain and she’s getting back at Him by embracing the dark side. So I can see the doubt growing in those dark eyes. She’s asking herself if I’m still the same egocentric, soft, gullible angel-boy toy she used and killed centuries ago or am I growing up in Daddy’s image? Have I turned into a being that is detached enough to use pain for my own ends? Thing is, I hope I am becoming more like the Creator. Because He’s nothing like what she thinks He is and nothing like who I used to be either. He’s just….more. But the doubt is good for my plan.

The energy trapping her against the refrigerator is doing its job. Not only is it keeping her immobilized, it’s sapping her strength enough that her true appearance is flickering through. Time to move to the next step. Calmly, I take the tip of my dagger and clean a nail with it before pointing it at her.

“You’re losing your mojo babe. Your face is showing. I don’t think all those creams and cosmetics are helpful for decayed, oozing skin.”

“OH!....Lassiter, please, don’t do this to me. To us. Remember what we were…”

Oh, I remember all right. In my nightmares. But this tact plays. I heave a sigh and look at her sadly, as though remembering something bittersweet.

“We did have some good times didn’t we. You were something special back then. We had something special.” Oh gag me, this is more likely to make me puke than torturing her. But she seizes on it.

“We did, yes, we did. Let me go, Lassiter and we can again. I never stopped loving you, I just got caught up in it all. It’s so dog-eat-dog on the dark side!”

Christ, how do I not kill her when she spews shit like this? But be creative. Creative. Think of it as an acting job. Ok… Sadly, I shake my head.

“Too much water has passed under that bridge for me to cross it again Devina. But…” pausing for effect, “for old times sake, maybe we could come to an agreement. Something that lets me not have to kill you.” Right now. Not have to kill you right now…. She makes a major effort to hold the glamour and pours a combination of pleading sensuality into her eyes that should have won her an Oscar.

“Oh, baby,” I cringe inwardly as she calls me ‘baby’, “I’m so sorry. But,” And there it is, the self-interest speaking…. “What kind of agreement did you have in mind?”

Bingo. Gotcha hooked. “If I let you go, you have to promise not to go after innocents. You have to leave them alone. And that includes their parents. And,people who are kind of lost, too. You can’t use that emo bonding thing with them to lure them in anymore.”

“But, but…,” she makes a pout, “what does that leave me with? I have to have /some/ leeway or I’ll die.”

And this is the part that irks me most. It goes against everything in me. But she’ll fuck it up, probably sooner that later and I won’t have to keep my end.

“Go back to trolling for your prey in bars. If they choose you, really choose you, you can keep them. You’ll have to work harder for it. A quick fuck in the backseat of the car isn’t going to be enough to get their souls. But if you can get them obsessed with you? You can keep them.”

“It will take me forever to restore myself that way!” It comes out as a wail but she’s almost there.

“It will take time,” I agree. “But meanwhile you won’t be stuck in suburbia living in a 1400 sq ft. dump. You can indulge yourself in the highlife again and I won’t hunt you. Think of it. A luxury loft, being able to wear Prada and Coach without blowing your image…think of the time it takes you to build back up as doing penance in the demonic equivalent of Club Fed. Payment for the innocents you took. All the perks, just a few restrictions. It’s the best I can offer you.”

“Fine,” she spits out, and I have to struggle to keep the uniquely male satisfaction of knowing that whenever a female says ‘fine’ it’s absolutely not fine but that she has no other options, off my face. “But you’re going to have to let me out of this restraint.” And then she coos “We’ll seal it with a kiss.”

Oh, hells no to that. “I’d rather we seal it with this.” Holding up my hand I materialize a contract containing everything we’ve talked about. And some very special wording. “You’ll sign it in your blood.” Laying the document on the counter, I release the energy restraints and grab her arm. Using the dagger I slice her arm as she howls in both pain and outrage, but not fast enough to do anything about it.

“Here. Use this. It’s appropriate.” My wings materialize and I bend one forward towards my hand. Managing to pluck a silvery secondary feather, I dip the tip in the blood running down her arm and hand it to her. “The magick in my feathers will make it doubly binding. Break the agreement and I’ll know. Immediately.”

If looks could kill, she’d be frying an angel right now. And with her, at full power, looks could. But she doesn’t have the juice right now and we both know it. She scrawls her name on the document and thrusts it at me, but drops the hand holding my feather. “Here. Take it.”

“Uh,uh uh...not so fast. I’ll take that feather back too.” Can’t let her keep it. No telling what kind of evil she’d use it to conjure up on me. Taking both feather and contract back, I step back from her and add, “You should have read the contract. In addition to specifying how you can attract souls it also specifies only /human/ souls.”

Dropping all pretense of cordiality now, I narrow my eyes at her. “I know you were imprisoned and I know how you were freed and by whom. Stick with taking the human souls agreed upon in the way we agreed upon and we don’t have a problem.” Until she breaks the contract. Then all bets are off. But one thing at a time.

“I’m going to make you pay for this Lassiter!” She yells as she grabs for the contract.

“Oh, please, bitch,” dematerializing contract and feather back to my room at the manse, “stop with the evil super-villain talk. It’s really cliche and Darkseid did it better.”

Walking to the door, I jerk it open, setting off the alarm system she’d neglected to turn off when she came in. As the earsplitting siren split the neighborhood quiet, I added...

“Oh, and if you want to avoid the police, I’d be vacating this place PDQ. I’ll be phoning in a dead body in the basement as soon as I’m out the door. Laters, babe.”

The resounding crash of what had to be the blender off the countertop hitting the door makes me chuckle as I dial 911.

“911? Yeah, I want to report a dead body….”

#DealWithTheDevil #TheEndOfTheBeginning #PartSix #TBC #SaintsNSinners #BDB #SASBDB

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cecilspeaks · 6 years

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Episode 119 - eGemony, Part 3: "Love, Among Other Things, Is All You Need"

The captain has turned off the seatbelt signs, and –has- turned on the ceaseless anxiety signs. Feel free to brood about the cabin.

Welcome to Night Vale.

Welcome, listeners. We have a new sponsor. Our show is now sponsored by – love. Uh definitely consider love when wanting to buy things, because… love conquers all, makes the world go round, and is all you need. This has been a message from love, conqueror of our former sponsor, money. It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru. [awkward chuckle]

OK, I have returned from the distant cavelands of the Baristas, an arduous journey made easier by it being pretty much downhill for the whole mile and a half. While I was there, I learned that the dreaded eGemony corporate prize contest and sweepstakes buzz marketing street team long ago became baristas. Distributing Night Vale’s case of Canadian Club to the citizens of Night Vale itself, meaning that Night Vale has been consuming its own soul, thus making us an ouroboros of our own selves. I returned because I knew that the best way to fight against eGemony’s attempts to drink Night Vale’s soul – was science. And I’m very into science. Or at least I’m very into someone who is very into science.

Once a year, all the scientists in the world gather in Luzerne, Switzerland, to calibrate their instruments to the length of Carlos’ hair. That appraisal is occurring right now, so of course, Carlos isn’t in town. Um, I’m on my own. Because the cause of science is important, but so is defending Night Vale, and one of the best parts about being in a couple is that when each of you is good at one thing, it’s like the couple is good at two things. This message was brought to you by – love. It turns out. Huh.

More of my plans to defeat eGemony as I desperately figure out what they are. But first, some local news.

Night Vale Community College announced its new slate of winter semester continuing education course. Introduction to Gibbering, Conversational Gibbering, Intermediate Gibbering, Advanced Gibbering, and Ikebana – the Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement.

Community college professor Adriano Copiello, who teaches French Gibbering said, "Ouvrez vos livres à page 3 et criez avant de vous faire bouffer" (Open your books to page 3 and scream before getting devoured)*. Professor Copiello, once considered a failure in his field, has developed what he calls a “charisma ray”, and now everyone thinks he’s A-OK, an exciting thinker and excellent dancer, and an entirely inadequate human being. When asked for comment, Professor Copiello responded by listing everything he could think of that was not a type of gum. By the time he finished, his charisma ray had worn off, and everyone realized Professor Copiello is in fact a terrible person, who attemps to court the friendship of students whose attractive naïveté is subverted, ironically, by how they gradually accumulate the tools of critical analysis in his classes. Meaning they apply what he himself taught them to judge him harshly, ultimately growing to resent his falseness, thus leaving his charisma ray utterly useless in the face of a culturally awakened classroom. Professor Copiello denied this by stringing together a bunch of French verbs related to the behaviors of aquatic animals. Those interested in continuing education should read a book for once.

OK, so earlier this morning, I walked across the street to get a two-pound bag of kiwis at Ralph’s, and had the most remarkable experience. Well, first I passed the same barista I always pass along the way, the one at the abattoire. But this time she gave me a friendly wink of recognition. And then another barista, the one in the produce aisle, he scalded my face with steam and said my mother was soo pungent, people thought she was an unroasted Sumerian bean, and I have never felt so welcome.

But the amazing thing was when I tried to pay for my fruit, the cashier said: “Don’t you love kiwis?” And I said I did and he said: “I love them too, and I love working here. So take the kiwis! Your love is your payment.” So I took the kiwis and later shared them with my brother-in-law, Steve Carlsberg, who said: “I love these!” Then he added: “I love you, brother!” and I nodded.

It seems that Night Vale is now a love-based economy. Oh, wait. This just in. Ralph’s would like to explain that the cashier made a mistake. It’s perfectly fine that he loves working there, and that I love the kiwis, but I do still have to pay for them. That makes more sense. But I’m a little disappointed. Still, because of the incredibly effective new sponsorship of our program, love is definitely in the air in Night Vale.

At Dark Owl Records, there is now a loudspeaker outside and store owner Michelle Nguyen is publicly playing the records she loves the most. Something she has never done. These albums aren’t vinyl but discs made of chalkboard slate, being spun underneath a needle and amplified through an outdoor speaker system. People who were strangers only moments ago are gazing into each other’s eyes with looks of admiration and hunger. That made it awkward to spy on them. Not impossible, of course, just awkward. Which has caused several members of the Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency, who sit outside our homes in dark sedans, to step out of their cars and offer hugs to anyone who would like to have a hug placed on their permanent record.

There are reports of unidentified citizens running by fountains, waving flowers and balloons and handing out otters. The Sheriff’s Secret Police have replaced their patrol car sirens with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”. The hooded figures who stand in and around the forbidden Dog Park are still terrifying to look at, or even think about. But one of them is waving. That’s probably the most expressive form of love that they have.

Love is everywhere. But also there has been a subtle shift. As love has become more prevalent, its value has decreased significantly. The angel who is definitely former billionaire Marcus Vanston, who is now named Erika, said that they have drawn on a cocktail napkin an economic model for supplizied feelings, where those with the most feelings will them trickle down the love to those with the least.

Even here in our radio studio, I am feeling such love for you, right now. Listener, I love – this microphone. Aand this cable. And the mixing board! I love these blinking phone lines, oh! You know, maybe we should take some calls. Um hi, this is Cecil, you’re on the air.

Anonymous caller: I love you.

Cecil: Awww, I love you too! Next caller, you’re on the air with Cecil Palmer.

Same anon caller: I love you.

Cecil: Did you just call from the other line?

Anon caller: Oh uh, no. [lowers voice] I hmm, I love you.

Cecil: Ah, my mistake. You know, I love our community. Our Mayor, our angels, and even – our weather.

Anon caller: [whispers] I love you!

["Turn Into It" by Jamey Browning]

Listeners, I would like to thank our newest sponsors, love, for bringing us today’s show. But in all of my loving clamor, I lost sight of what was truly at stake. Our newest intern, Blake, brought back a familiar guest into our studio, thus reminding me of it. Blake then tried to use the three-hole punch without reading the safety manual first. Oh, quick aside: to the family of intern Blake, he was a reckless intern, and he will be missed.

But now, we welcome back to the radio station, Hugh Jackman of eGemony. Hugh, I’ve done some investigative journalism, and I’m going to have to ask you the tough questions. First, I know that you’re here to claim the case of Canadian Club, right?

Hugh Jackman: Oh no, don’t worry about that.

Cecil: Well I am worried about that, among the many different things I worry about. You were coming back to get the case, you wanted me to look under my desk and…

Hugh: Not anymore, that’s OK.

Cecil: But the Barista King said...

Hugh: Cecil, I know about the baristas. I know about how Night Vale drank its own soul.

Cecil: Oh. So does that mean that eGenomy is going to, I dunno, just leave us alone then?

Hugh: Funny you should say that. When I followed you to the baristas…

Cecil: You followed me?

Hugh: Sure. [chuckles] I was the one with the Admiral Tippet sideburns!

Cecil: Oh my god that was you? Those were so good!

Hugh: [laughs] Thank you, that took me hours to grow them. Anyway, after all that I was planning on telling my team leaders at eGemony we were too late and to abandon our plans.

Cecil: Whew! Well that’s good.

Hugh: And to buy all of Night Vale to help with eGemony’s debt acquisition.

Cecil: Oh, well that’s bad.

Hugh: There’s a glitch. I’ve fallen in love.

Cecil: Pardon?

Hugh: eGemony has highly secure communications, corporate demands that we only send messages on postcards from lakeside resorts…Oh, I shouldn’t have said that out loud. Siri, remind me to prostrate myself before HR at 4 PM today. [Siri sound] Anyway, I was at the post office standing in line behind – well, it was the strangest thing, you’ll never guess, I was standing in line behind…

Cecil: A dog with a man’s head, yeah, that guy’s always there.

Hugh: Um, spoiler! We don’t have quite so many folks like that back at the office, and it made me pay closer attention to – everything around me. The first thing I noticed was this particular post office was selling stamps. Then I noticed the stamps had no denomination on them, just the word “FOREVER”. I’ve worked in retail before, put myself through high school operating (--) [0:15:34] that sold decorative soaps and customers there, as you might well guess, can be mean or even cruel, saying things like, “Do you have anything vanilla-scented” or um, they’d also say things like, “I’d like to buy some soap.” It was awful! So I am always extraordinarily polite to clerks, sometimes even flirtatious. And when I got to the head of the line at the post office, I winked at the clerk, and seven of her eight eyes winked back, and then I said: “Forever stamps? That’s quite a promise.” And you know what she said?

Cecil: No.

Hugh: Nothing. It turns out she was a spider and didn’t care what I thought, but Cecil, it was the way she didn’t care! I had a (Mackinac) Island postcard to mail, and it was important because it’s my report back about how we’re going subsume Night Vale.

Cecil: OK, see this is what I was getting at.

Hugh: And I realized that she probably sent a dozen (Mackinac) Island postcards that day and mine was no different. She asked me if anything in my envelope was liquid, hazardous, insidious, shameful, or emotionally fragile and I said: “No more so than my heart.” And then a mosquito hawk got caught in her web and she raced over to wrap it into webbing and then dissolved its body with her venom so she could later drink its liquid corpse like a child with a juice box.

Cecil: Awwwwww!

Hugh: I know, it was so sweet! Now, I am not a poetic man, Cecil, but I was inspired. Have you noticed that love seems to be in the air right now? Like that Mariah Carey song: “I had a vision of love and it was this crazy dream where I was in a park, and trees were made entirely out of recycled aluminum cans, and you were there but you looked just like me, only with a nose bleed.”

Cecil: Oh, I love that song! My husband and I danced to that at our wedding!

Hugh: Anyway, I was close enough to smell her perfume and, well, I asked if I could have a book of the “Forever” stamps, and she asked which kind. And I said: [flirtily] “The Wonder Woman stamps”, and she said that they were out of them, so I said because I’ve worked in retail before, and I try to feel like all of us are in this together, that I was feeling shortchanged by the whole “Forever” business then. And I said it with a frown on my lips, but a smile in my eyes. Like this? See?

Cecil: Uh yes, please stop.

Hugh: Cecil, she handed me back my change and said: “Next human entity in line.” And I [voice breaks] love her, I love Night Vale, so I’m staying here until she loves me too.

Cecil: Wait, what?!

Hugh: See, Night Vale is in my heart now, and it’s in eGemony’s heart. We want to pivet our company mission, see. We don’t want to drink Night Vale’s soul, we want to cross-pollenate our startup model with Night Vale’s greatest asset: love. We want to take all of this love, such [chuckling] great content by the way, and program it into an app that users can just access from anywhere. I can get our street teams on this right now, to inspire the dreamfluencers to talk about love, it’s your station’s new sponsor, right? So let’s (value add) social media platform to..

Cecil: Oh look, it’s right here! It was under my desk after all.

Hugh: Sorry what?

Cecil: The case of whiskey. Yup, here it is! Look at it.

Hugh: I don’t understand…

Cecil: Open it.

Hugh: It’s a cardboard box with the Canadian Club logo on the side. There’s bottles of Canadian Club here, but I don’t get it, the town and the former street team drank this long ago. How was it under your desk?

Cecil: Um, have you ever heard of – science?

Hugh: I’ve watched a TED Talk, I know everything about science.

Cecil: Well there’s this thought experiment where a cat is in a box, but it’s unknown whether the cat is alive and peacefully sleeping, or in fact, alive and just clawing and vomiting on everything because, well, it’s a cat. Since both things could be true, both things are true.

Hugh: This isn’t sounding familiar.

Cecil: Well, your husband clearly isn’t a scientist.

Hugh: But how is it even possible?

Cecil: Hey, with love and science, anything is possible! Now go drink your whiskey.

Hugh: I… guess I completed my goals here then, and this fulfills my obligation to my lawyer, and I won’t be staying Night Vale to pursue my true love.

Cecil: Awwwwww. You need help carrying that to your car? Our newest intern, (Makani), can help you. Hey (Makani)!

Hugh: Is this for real? Wow! You’d think fulfilling a quest of 40 years like that would be an incredible feeling but – this is slightly disappointing.

Cecil: Mm. The realest thing is disappointment. Bye now!

OK, listeners. Mr Jackman is gone. So I can tell you how I managed this. I bought a new case of Canadian Club at the Ralph’s by using – money. [chuckles] Yeah, please welcome back a classic sponsor to the show – money. Money – it fixes all your problems. There are no drawbacks to acquiring it or using it to change the destiny of others. [very fast] Corruption, organized crime and economic inequality may occur. Ask your doctor if you can afford even a routine checkup.

So listeners, that’s all for our show tonight. Oh! I have just gotten a text from Lucerne and yes, all of the scientific instruments in the world are set properly. And all measuring will occur with precise – precision. Because of my husband, who is coming home. And he’s bringing fancy Swiss chocolate, the kind with a little flex of salmon skin? Awwwww! That’s so sweet!

OK, I know money is sponsoring this show, but just for a moment, I have to put a word in for love. Love – is pretty good! OK, done. Money – it momentarily defers desolation.

Stay tuned next for our exciting new game show, “What’s in the box? No, what’s in the f[bleep]ing box?”

And as always, Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: For softer bones and a tenuous smile, drink malk. Got malk? It’s here. Drink it. [sped up voice] Drink it! Drink this myilk, mm, maalmk. [sped up voice] Drink it!

* Thanks to everyone who helped me out. It seems like there might be (intentional?) mispronunciation of words, but the translation above makes the most sense.

#welcome to night vale #wtnv #episode 119 #egemony #egemony part 3 #love among other things is all you need

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imagineyourstars · 7 years

Note

Hello it's me again. I like to request a scenario about the transfer student and her 2-A classmates hanging out on their days off.

this !!! i wrote a lot more than i originally planned !!! (i wrote 4000 words lmao) i made sure to keep the pronouns gender-neutral too ! i tried to keep it friendly but there’s a bit of ship-tease too~

but aaaaaa i love friendship requests…. they heal my soul…. writing for groups can be a bit chaotic sometimes but it’s really fun !!! i hope you like it ♥ and thank you for blessing me with such great requests !! - mod mademoiselle

Today was going to be a good day, you just knew it.Maybe it was how your lips were always tugging into a small smile, or how youwere humming happily while you were getting breakfast ready. You definitelywere in a good mood, and the reason for it all just so happened to be sendingyou a hundred of text messages per second.

“Don’t be late, alright !” “You remember how to getthere I hope ?? If you don’t I can come and pick you up !!” “Today’s gonna beso much fun !!” Subaru wouldn’t stop sending more and more texts, to the pointwhere you just couldn’t keep up with the flow and answer him. Well, it’s notlike he would mind, not with how excited he already seemed to be.

Today was theday when you and your classmates had agreed to see each other, and you’d beenlooking forward to it ! You’d been pretty busy this summer, and everyone elsealso had their own things to do, so you couldn’t really see the boys often.But you sure missed them, and it seemed like everyone missed you too !

You finished getting ready, checking one last time youwere looking okay and then left your place. You didn’t even take the time tocheck you didn’t forget anything, but it was more than alright ! You’d beenpreparing since yesterday evening, after all. You even found yourselfpratically running until the meeting point, the middle of the shoppingdistrict. Hokuto and Makoto were already there, and when the blond boyenthusiastically waved to you, you couldn’t help but do the same immediately.

“Good to see you. I hope you’re doing fine.” Hokutosent a small smile your way, which was his own way to show he was overjoyed atthe thought he finally got to see you after one long month apart. You noddedenergetically, making Makoto chuckle. The glasses boy’s cheeks were gettingmore than a little pink…

“I-I’ve been looking forward to today, you know”, heeventually managed to stammer out. Your smile immediately eased his stress,althought he got a bit redder too.

“Me too !” you answered. “I thought summer holidays would be restful,but… it’s kind of sad without you all.” Makoto nodded, while Hokuto lookedabsorbed in his contemplation of one of the store’s windows. He was hiding afaint smile, though…

“I never thought I would say that, but I did miss theidiots a bit—Oh.” You were about to turn around, curious to see what could havecaused Hokuto to stop talking immediately, but a pair of hands obscured yoursight.

“Guess who~ !” His chest was pressed close to yourback, and you could feel how loud his heartbeat was.

“Subaru !” You broke into a huge smile when he laughedbrightly, removing his hands and hugging you tightly.

“The one and only ! Did you miss me~ ? I’d feel prettydown if you say no, so just lie, okay ?” His blue eyes were bright andtwinkling, as usual, and the mere sight of them made you all jittery. Youreally, really missed them all…

“Ah, Subaru, not fair ! Don’t hog them all to yourself! Seriously, he just came in and he’s already acting like he owns the place,that’s exactly why we didn’t miss you !” Makoto looked happy to see his friend though, high-fiving him while Hokuto just shook his head.

“Idiot Duo, you’ll have more than enough time to catchup later. Don’t just ignore Adonis and Souma, say hello.” Huh ? When did theyeven get there ? You turned around and greeted the two boys with a smile. Adonisfaintly answered, and Souma nodded.

“Do not worry, Hokuto-dono, for we only just arrived.It is a pleasure to see you all.” Souma even bowed, and Subaru gave you a little wink.

“I found those two on my way, so we decided to walkthere together”, he explained happily. Makoto looked more than a bit curiousthough, head tilted to the side.

“Were you together, Adonis, Souma ? Did you perhapsmake plans without us ?! Aaah, how unfair ! I want to go out with my friendstoo !” Adonis, not getting the joke, merely shook his head in response.

“It’s not that. Souma and I have been spending a fewdays together. He showed me a lot of very beautiful places. I am thankful.”Wow, that sure sounded great. You kind of wanted Souma to show you around too !

“Oh, by the way, has anyone seen Natsume-kun ? We can’treally keep moving without him, right ?” Makoto asked, looking a bit confused.

“Is he even coming today ? He never answered my calls.”Hokuto sure didn’t look like he cared.

“I sent him looots of texts, so I think he knows !” Theboys kept chattering, exchanging suppositions and trying to agree on what todo. You barely listened to them, lost in your own thoughts. It didn’t seem likeNatsume to never answer and just ignore an invitation… but then again, it didseem like him to forget to check his phone… Wait, that boy, over there… ?

“Ah, he’s here ! Natsume-kuuun !” Subaru waved at himenthusiastically. Natsume barely even waved back, but did grin to you briefly.He was sipping on iced coffee and didn’t look like he’d hurried there at all.

“Hey, Sakasaki. You’re late. Didn’t you know about thetime of the meet-up ?” Hokuto asked, looking coldly at the newly-arrived boy,who just snickered in response.

“Time is only a social construct, Hidaka.” Well, hesaid that but his dark circles were cleverly hidden by a pair of sunglasses.

“Yeah, so basically he’s trying to say that he sleptin.” Subaru and you laughed at Makoto’s joke, who seemed more than pleased atthe attention. Even Adonis broke into a small smile, but Hokuto just sighed,shaking his head.

“Well, whatever. Let’s just move on, now that everyone’shere.” Hokuto, faithful to his position as the class’s representative, was nowattentively studying a list he seemed to have taken out of his backpack. Did he…prepare a schedule for the day ?

“Hokuto-dono, if I may… What are we to do today ?”Hokuto just blinked at Souma’s question, visibly unsure of the answer.

“Well… I was thinking something relaxing buteducational would be good. We could go to a museum or visit a shrine, if youwould like.” Subaru loudly whined, dejectedly shaking his head.

“Eeeeh… A museum… This isn’t fun at all, Hokke ! Can’twe just go play somewhere~ ?”

“Subaru-kun might be right, even though it’s the firsttime in his life ! I’d prefer to have fun too, but well, I’m not picky either !”Makoto seemed to be uneasy at the thought of siding with either of his friends,which made you laugh quietly. It’s just like him…

“I will follow you. I don’t mind either way.” Thanks,Adonis, that was helpful… You turned your head towards Souma, curious as towhat his opinion was, and he just so happened to be looking at you. Hehurriedly looked down, cheeks slightly tinted pink.

“I-I do not mind either. I do think the temple wouldbe refreshing, but I do not know what youngsters these days do for fun…” Helooked so flustered ! You couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Natsume justsnickered, still sipping on his coffee.

“Your leader skills are strong, Hokke-kun. Why don’twe just go and play ? You can visit shrines by yourself if you want.” Natsume’swords didn’t seem to make Hokuto happy, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, hestepped closer to you. For just a split second you thought his face looked a bit gentler, as he sent you an inquisitivegaze.

“What about you ? What do you want to do ?” Of course,everyone turned your way with expectant faces, waiting for your answer to getgoing. Not wanting to offend anyone, you hesitantly replied.

“Well, since most of us seem to want to do somethingfun, um… Maybe the arcade sounds good ? What do you think ?” They kept quietfor a moment, but ultimately everyone nodded and you silently let out arelieved sigh.

“I knew you’d understand~ Summer’s for fun stuff,right ?”

“Little kitten, you have good tastes, after all.”

“I do not know much about this ‘arcade’ place, but please teach me about it !” Seems like everyone was more or less pleased with your choice, and thatincluded Hokuto, who smiled softly at you.

“Well, if it’s what you want… then okay. Let’s headthere, you guys.” A chorus of enthusiastic exclamations echoed as his answer.

The room of the game center Makoto picked was dark,but pretty big, and the music was just a bit too loud for you to hear hisexplanations properly.

“… and then this button here is for reloading. Simple,right ? Really, aside from shooting, there’s not much to do in this game, but it’sfun to play with friends !” You nodded confusedly, trying to recap it allin your head. He said it was simple, but the controls seemed ridiculouslycomplex for an arcade game… Makoto visibly caught on your confusion, as helaughed and hesitantly patted your shoulder.

“Don’t worry, it’s simple once you get the hang of it! Wanna play against me ?” Against ? You thought it was a co-op game ! But helooked so happy at the thought of showing you his favorite game…

“Um, yeah, sure ! But go easy on me, okay ? I’m just abeginner !” He smiled widely, inserting credits into the machine.

“Sure, don’t worry ! I won’t be too hard on you~”Before you even had time to answer, the game was starting, and you were doingyour best to remember all the controls. Aiming proved a bit trickier than youthought, but you were doing a pretty good job at killing all those zombies !Just as you were about to brag and tease Makoto, you noticed his score wasthree times as high as yours.

“How do you do that ?! I’m going as fast as humanlypossible, and you’re still better ?” He laughed at your comment, but didn’t avert his eyes fromhis screen.

“I have years of practice under my belt, you know ?Just let me have a chance to show you my cool side !” Cool side or not, youdidn’t intend to lose to him ! You were getting more and more into it, andyelped when someone suddenly glomped you.

“Aah, be careful, the boss is about to come out !Here, lemme help !” Subaru’s hands joined yours around the gun’s handle,his fingers expertly pressing the buttons. And his aim was much better than yours too…but it was really hard to focus on the game when he was practically hugging youfrom behind… You hoped neither he or Makoto would notice you were blushing abit, but fortunately, they were too into the game to even look at you beforeit was over.

“Subaru, you lying cheat ! You promised you wouldn’tinterfere ! You’re the worst wingman ever !” Subaru just laughed brightly inresponse, handing you the gun back.

“I couldn’t help it, their score was just so bad, it’salmost like it was calling me to the rescue~” You puffed out your cheeks. Andhere you thought you did pretty good !

“Hey, it was my first time ! Don’t be too hard on me !”Fortunately, Hokuto came to your rescue, alarmed when he heard just how muchnoise the three of you were making.

“The Idiot Duo’s not bullying you, are they ?” heasked, looking genuinely worried about you.

“Please forgive us, Hokuto-sama, we didn’t know youwere their knight in shining armor today !”

“Yes, we’ve been fools, Hokuto-sama… !” Subaru andMakoto were now prostrated on the floor, prompting you to giggle. Hokuto justsighed, before gently taking your arm and taking you away.

“Do you want to stay with me ? I’m trying to figureout how the games work. That, and trying to hide from Sakasa—”

“Oh, you’re here, Hokke-kun. Still afraid to take up achallenge, I see. Well, should I make it into a victory by forfeit for me ?” Natsumeliterally came out from nowhere, a teasing smile on his lips. You didn’t reallyknow what that was all about, but you suspected Natsume was having a lot of funteasing Hokuto.

“What happened ? Oh, did Natsume challenge you to agame ?! No way, you should just give up, Hokke !” Subaru and Makoto had joinedyou, much to Hokuto’s annoyance.

“Hey, Subaru ! It’s not Hokke but ‘Hokuto-sama’, didyou forget already ? Jeez, this kid can’t do running gags at all…” Makoto’sjoke made you smile again, and he looked pretty pleased at that.

“Oh, isn’t it the ‘Idiot Duo’. Good timing. I’m prettybored, so I asked Hokke-kun to face me off in a game, but he’s been avoiding meever since.” Natsume’s grin was positively cat-like.

“Hey, Hokke, you should have told us ! We’d haverooted for you ! What game is it ?” Subaru asked enthusiastically. Hokuto justsighed in response, visibly troubled.

“It’s this one… um, Dance Dance Revolution, was it ? I don’tknow much about this sort of things, so of course I’d lose.” Makoto gaspedloudly at Hokuto’s words.

“Don’t say that, Hokuto ! Aren’t you a natural atdancing ? You should give it a try !” You even found yourself nodding at the glassesboy’s words, and Hokuto seemed to hesitate a bit when he noticed it.

Natsume didn’t miss even a second of it, and keptgoing relentlessly. “Then, if you want it to be more exciting, shall we putsomething at stake ? Let’s say there’s a prize to be won… and it’s littlekitten.” You just blinked. Was he implying…

“I’m not a prize !” He completely ignored yourinterruption, but his eyes had lightened up and you could clearly see he washaving a lot of fun.

“Since the prize is already decided, let’s just saythe winner gets to ki—”

“I’ll do it.” Hokuto was already stepping towards thearcade game, much to Natsume’s delight. You were left staring at them inconfusion, while Subaru and Makoto were getting fired up.

“A fated battle between men, to protect their prideand their love ! How moving !” Makoto even got a tissue out to wipe his eyes,just for the sake of his joke. That boy goes too far sometimes.

“I’ll call this ‘Encouter of Fate ! Newbie Grandpaversus Sadistic Creep’ !” While they were getting excited together, you idlylooked over the other games. Hokuto and Natsume looked very intent on havingthis little showdown, and you were looking for an excuse to mysteriously disappear.You didn’t doubt Natsume would win, and you didn’t intend to give up to him soeasily.

Your salvation came in the form of very disoriented Soumaand Adonis, who were hesitantly trying games. When Souma met your gaze, hisface visibly relaxed.

“Ah, we were looking for you. Adonisu-dono and Iwanted to try…” You didn’t catch the end of the sentence, as the music was abit too loud and Souma a bit too quiet.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that ! What do you want to try? Maybe I can show you how it works !” Souma looked a bit embarrassed, but hedid step closer to you.

“We would like to try… the, um, the ‘purikura’, was it…?” Those photobooths ? Well, it was a bit surprising but who were you to judge?

“Oh, okay ! Can I try it with you too ?” Keeping asouvenir of today didn’t seem like a bad idea, and besides you wanted to be somewhere hidden when Natsume would start looking for you. Adonis shyly smiled at you.

“Of course. I want to make a lot of memories with myfriends.” And with that, the three of you were inside the booth, trying out thedifferent options. Adonis and Souma were curious about everything and seemed tobe having a lot of fun. You were completely forgetting about the others whenthe curtain suddenly opened, revealing a peering-face with bright blue eyes andorange hair.

“Aaah, you’re taking pictures without me !! How couldyou ! Make some room for me, Zaki-kun !”

“Subaru, you’re going to ruin the pho—” Too late. Youdidn’t have time to finish your sentence before Subaru’s photobomb wasdisplayed on the screen. You could only see his face and half of Adonis’nervous smile on the picture. Subaru’s face wasn’t even blurry, and hisecstatic wide smile was displayed in glorious HD.

“Save this picture ?” asked the automated voice, buteveryone kept silent. You exchanged a glance with Souma, then Adonis, andeventually everyone broke into laughter, including the photobombing culprithimself. Only once were you all calmed down did Adonis press the ‘Yes’ button.

“I like this picture”, he explained, shooting you asmall smile. You nodded. It was… very like Subaru. You were sure you were goingto keep it, actually. The curtain opened again, Makoto peeking insidethe booth. Two more pairs of legs were standing behind him, and you supposedNatsume and Hokuto were done with their little duel.

“Ooh, you’re taking photos ! Can we join ? Of course,we can also wait a bit !” he exclaimed loudly. Natsume just groaned, and you couldn’trestrain a smile at the sound.

“I’m not interested in pictures.” Makoto’s facemomentarily disappeared from the booth, as he turned it towards Natsume.

“Oh, come on ! Just a few souvenirs !” But Subaru wouldn’thave it and dragged Makoto inside, making him stumble on Adonis’ legs (whichwere taking most of the room inside the booth). Before Natsume could protest,Hokuto pushed him inside as well, and while the first few pictures were… challenging,to say the least, everyone ended up loosening up and relaxing. And the picturescame out nicely, too !

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, should we go andhave a bite somewhere ?” Hokuto suggested, looking at his watch.

“It’s already this late, huh ? Time flies when you’rehaving fun !” Makoto chirped, and Subaru vigorously nodded.

“As long as I can eat meat, I’m fine with anything.”Adonis’ meek voice was barely even audible in the noisy atmosphere of the gamecenter, but your smile in response made him break out into a shy attempt at a smileof his own.

“Then, let’s go and have fast-food ! Yahoo, I’m theone who gets to choose~” And with those words, Subaru dashed outside, causingNatsume to snicker.

“They do say fools are the happiest.”

“Oi, Akehoshi… Too late”, Hokuto sighed, massaging histemples. You gently patted his back, and he smiled faintly your way. His eyeswere so gentle whenever he was looking at you… “What do you want to eat ?” he quietly asked, so quietly you could barely hearhim.

“I’m fine with anything, really.” You smiled too, andhe looked deeply relieved.

“Then let’s just catch up with this idiot. He mightget lost, after all.”

Eating with everyone was definitely an experience.Souma was new to fast-food, but didn’t seem to dislike it. Natsume stole foodfrom the others whenever they were not looking, and Makoto seemed veryself-conscious at the thought he would be eating right in front of you. Subarudidn’t lack material for his jokes, his target of choice frequently alternating between Hokuto, whoinsisted to examine what was inside his food methodically before eating it, andAdonis, who ate easily twice as much as the others. You were pretty nervous atthe thought you might end up getting sauce everywhere but fortunately, you didn’tmess up. There must be a god, after all…

After that, everyone headed to karaoke. With Hokutoaround, it felt a bit more like a singing lesson to be honest, but Makoto andSubaru were experts at relaxing the mood. Souma didn’t know about karaoke andseemed to enjoy himself a lot ! Natsume just tried to disrupt everyone’sconcentration. You thought you’d be a bit awkward at the thought of having tosing with everyone, but it went really well ! Time flied, and before you knewit everyone was already saying their goodbyes.

“Thank you for teaching me so much. I will be forevergrateful to you all. Next time, please feel free to come at the Kanzaki familyestate. I shall show you many beautiful places and dishes.” Souma bowed deeply,prompting a little laugh out of you.

“No need for that, Souma ! I’m glad you had fun. Seeyou soon !” You waved, and there he went, soon followed by Adonis.

“Thanks for today. It was fun. Don’t forget to havedinner.” He left immediately after his elliptic goodbyes, apparently on thephone with one of his older sisters. From what you gathered, they were gettinghungry and were waiting for him. Oh well, you’d see him soon at school, afterall.

“Oh, it’s this late ?” Makoto winced when he noticedthe time, then shot you all an apologetic smile. “Sorry everyone, gotta hurryhome ! See you guys !”

“Aah, wait for me, Glasses ! Well then, see yaeveryone !” Subaru left running after Makoto, but not after giving you a littlewink. You waved at him, smiling happily, until you suddenly noticed you wereleft alone with Hokuto and Natsume. And here you’d forgotten about their littleduel and Natsume’s reward… You could practically feel Natsume’s grin as heslowly creeped up from behind you.

“Does that mean I can finally get my prize, little kitten? I’ve been ready since this morning.” Oh no he’s not. Your mind was reeling,trying to think of a witty comeback, but you didn’t need one in the end. Hokutostepped up, eyes shooting daggers at Natsume.

“I don’t think they really like that joke. I’ll bewalking them home. Goodbye, Sakasaki.” He dragged you away without any furtherexplanation, and you just followed him confusedly, before turning around towave at Natsume. You didn’t want him to be angry at you or anything, andfortunately it didn’t seem like he took it badly. He just waved back, a small, mysterious smile on his lips.

You were deep in your thoughts and didn’t notice whenHokuto suddenly stopped walking, a few minutes later. You just crashed into hisback, and as you were about to ask him if everything was alright, he turned toyou. His face looked a bit grim, and he was just as deep in thoughts as youwere.

“Sorry. Are you okay ?” You nodded, much tohis relief. “Good. I just… I’m sorry for this whole thing with Sakasaki. It waschildish, and certainly not very fun for you.” He sighed, albeit more deeplythan usual.

“No, don’t worry about that ! I didn’t mind, really.Well, to Natsume it’s just a game after all, right ?” You smiled, trying torelax the atmosphere, but Hokuto didn’t smile back. He was attentively studyingyour face, and eventually turned his eyes away.

“A game, huh. So that’s how you see it.” He kept quietfor a moment, then started walking again, with you following him as fast as youcould. His legs were much bigger than yours, after all… When he suddenly spokeagain, you weren’t expecting it and were a bit startled.

“You know, you won’t have to worry about Sakasakidoing anything to you. I… well, I’m the one who won.” Oh ? That was unexpected.You wanted to congratulate him, but he looked so serious that your words justdied in your throat. And when he shyly took your hand in his, you completelyforgot about them.

“Would you hate it if… if we walk home like that ?”You just shook your head in response, worried your voice would betray you if you talked. Heseemed relieved and squeezed your fingers just a bit tighter.

“Then, this will be my reward.”

#ensemble stars #enstars #ensemble stars imagine #enstars imagine #scenario #2A #hokuto hidaka #subaru akehoshi #adonis otogari #makoto yuuki #souma kanzaki #natsume sakasaki #mod mademoiselle

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cortisoladdict · 4 years

Text

Weekend

I spent a whole weekend with my adorable ass boyfriend and it was sooooooo good.

So good.

He came over Friday night and we cooked a Tanzanian dish together (Pilau). Messed up a thing or two here and there, but now I basically know how to make this dish, and it was still really good. We ate with my roommate, then he helped me clean up. While taking out the trash, we got locked out (my roommate was showering lol) so I gave him a boost through my window and we got back inside 😅 While we were cooking I pressed him to teach me more Swahili, so I felt like I made a little more progress.

That night we talked about how when he feels stressed he doesn't show it much. I had thought so--he never seems stressed to me, but having gone through MIT myself I was sure he must be, at least a little. He shared that he got pretty bad test anxiety, and that he's slowly learned how to deal with it. I am glad that he's slowly opening up to me more about the things he struggles with, though of course I don't wish him any suffering. However, it's a natural part of human life, and it's a sign of closeness to share not just your good times but the bad ones too, I think.

Sex after deep talks is pretty fuckin good. I definitely believe that emotional/mental state or closeness matters when it comes to sex. I have really good sex with this man. Really. Good.

The next morning (Saturday) we ate our Pilau and just Netflix and chilled. I like how he has all these dynamic little touches when we're with each other, like when we're holding hands he'll use his thumb to rub my fingers a bit, or when we're on the couch and I'm squirming around constantly and leaning on him this way and that, he'll rub me a little bit, or lean over and kiss me. It's so nice, it makes me feel loved.

We watched Mo Gilligan's comedy special because we saw him on YouTube once, so it was nice to have that moment come full circle. We talked about doing something--going to the library maybe, idk...we lingered a little bit and then, of course, we're just on the couch, makin out, I get on top of him, our tops are off, I laugh--scandalous, I say. Very, he responds.

In my bed, I ask him to take me from behind, he finishes twice, I am tingling with all the sexual energy I have, with all the desire I have for him. He's spent so he laughs, saying 'I'm the drained battery now" (a reference to what I said about myself once), he takes my vibrator and finishes me.

I love this man.

I read him a chapter out of his book and for some reason he really likes when I read to him. We have been so wrapped up in each other that we totally forget about dinner we're supposed to have with a friend, until he calls me, so we rush to meet a group and go to this Ethiopian restaurant (it's a weekend of East African food). Afterward, I want to go to the club, he kinda wanted to just go home and read again which I agreed to but he insisted we go, since he knew I'd been trying to for a while. So I said we'd pregame at home first to give him some energy. We drank a bottle of wine and played 'never have I ever' and 'two truths and a lie', which was fun because I already knew so much about him but I got to learn a bunch of other new, silly things, hear some interesting anecdotes, tidbits of his life. You have to get creative when you play those games with a close friend.

We take an uber to the club, it's not that lit but I am satisfied, I dance and wine and twerk and grind. Some dude fist bumps him while I'm winin' (lol) then at like 1:30am I'm super exhausted and spent. We sit at one of the lounges and alternate staring at each other and making out (cheesy, I know). The club is normally a place that's less fun with a partner, because part of the whole fun of a club is playing the who-can-I-get-with game, a game I've played many times before. But I was happy to be there with him; I realized how much I enjoyed it still. I thought, this is my person, the one for me. I told him in Swahili, Nakupenda (I love you). He never responds--or rather, he never responds with words. Instead, he just kisses me, slowly and deliberately. When he's away and I get too in my head this worries me, but when we're together I don't doubt that he loves me. I know also that I'm cheating a little--you never feel something the same way in another language.

Of course when we come home I am all over him. I love being with him; I love sleeping naked and warm and happy.

We wake up at like 1pm on Sunday. We take a shower together, which we often do. I like kissing him in the shower, there's something about water that's nice, maybe the fact that we're clean and wet and that somehow makes skin taste delicious. My only regret about Sunday is that there is no sex. But we go to brunch at a place I like, and I like how sometimes we're just quiet. There's a lot we say to each other without speaking, even jokes. And then there's the little touches, little elbow rubs, little caresses from fingers. The food is good; I am happy. I drop him off for his library shift then, and that's the end of it.

I feel so exhilarated, and in a way exhausted. It's like being so happy for three days required effort and energy. I love winter days inside with good food and tv shows and cuddling and sex and books. I love sleeping next to his long body. I love being held by him, he's always so warm to me. I love how affectionate he is, even if it's not always with words. He always gives me sugar when I ask.

In the morning I talk about how I daydream of the future, about having a dog and a Subaru, about living in a fancy flat in Europe. I talk about my real dreams too, and the confusion around what to do with my life. He tells me about a place in Dar Es Salaam by the ocean, and with beautiful houses.

I add this to my list of fantasies, living with him on a beautiful beach, traveling to Ethiopia or the US or China for my coffee business, or maybe for some other supply chain or robotics business, him, the PI of a research lab, I'll teach as an adjunct sometimes. Maybe I'd own a 2-bedroom in Cambridge where we spent our late 20's gaining experience in America, and sometimes we'd spend part of year there, but of course most of winter would be in our Masaki home. We'll start as a young couple on that beachside house, I'd buy the Women national geographic coffee table book we read together once in a bookstore; I'd pick out beautiful, modern furniture pieces, many African-designed. Then our house might grow, from two to three and then four, or maybe we would move, but still our home base would be there, by the ocean. Maybe we'd vacation in Shanghai and Tokyo sometimes, and I could take him to all my favorite places in Asia.

I feel like I know, now, what it's like to be dating your best friend.

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princessnightwing · 7 years

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All the questions 😁

You're gonna kill me with "all the questions responses" one day.BUT HERE WE GOGet WetShallow:1. Favorite colorI don't have one. X3 I like black, green, blue and brown.2. HeightAccording to my doctor, 5' 3". But I've had other people measure me and they say 5' 4", so I'm giving myself that extra inch. -^-3. Eye colorHazel!4. Hair colorDark brown.5. Age30,000 years old. I flew on pterodactyls and fought T-Rexes.6. Piercings?Nope. Needles freak me out and for some reason any piercings what so ever- even earrings- gross me out. I'm nauseous just talking about it now.7. Tattoos?Nope.8. Favorite animal/petDude. That's hard... But I'd go with dolphins... And wolves.9. Favorite scentHuh.... Citrus? Sometimes woods-y smells. Ooo ooo, wait... The ocean. That beach smell I love. Actually, I like all of these. I don't usually have a specific favorite for things.10. What time is it?11:08 PMWading: 11. Favorite time of dayWhenever I can nap.12.First petA sweet golden retriever/cocker spaniel mix. His name was Buster. ❤ The poor baby had perpetually open sores, so I had to clean them everyday and he wore a giant pink scarf to protect them. But he was so happy and he took care of me. I miss him.13. Siblings4 more besides me.14. First carSubaru Forester 2005 (current car I own)15. On a day like today you would...?Laze about and sleep.16. The last book you readDo mangas count? If so, Oresama Teacher book 8. I haven't read a genuine book in a little while. I adore books, but lately I just can't concentrate on them for some reason.17. The last text message you sent/receivedI told someone to enjoy their shower. XD18. Are you usually hot or coldAccording to my friends, hot. One time a friend of mine was cold, so he cuddled up next to me to "steal my heat". XD19. Pick one thing to your left, what does it mean to youMy stuffed animal, Max. He's from build-a-bear and is a (now) very worn husky I got when my brother was born back in 2006.20. Day or night and whyThat depends on what's going on. Day for fun activities, night because I LOVE my sleep.Knee Deep: 21. When was the last time you told someone you loved them?Uh, earlier today I told my mom I love her.22. When was the last time someone told you they loved youShe responded back and said she loved me too. X323. Who is your best friend and how did you meetWell, I have two super close best friends, and one best friend. @reddhoodie and @tall-yet-smol are my super close best friends.Reddhoodie was someone I met uh... twelve years ago I think. I honestly don't know how we hit it off. Maybe she remembers. XDTall-yet-smol slowly became reddhoodie and I's best friend when I was 14-ish?My best friend is a guy I've grown up with since diapers. We're practically siblings.25. Do you get sick oftenShockingly, no. 26. Do you live alone or with other peopleI live with my family. So that's 6 other people.27. When was the last time you saw your familyAbout an hour ago. X328. What do you want to achieve in the next yearI want to become a CNA.29. Do you believe in true loveYes.30. Have you ever been hurt by someone you thought cared about youHeck yeah.To the Waist: 31. When was the last time you got hurtSeriously hurt or just a scrape? Because I injure myself at work ALL the time. Cardboard cuts, scrapes on cut zipties, smashing my fingers on some metal grid, etc.Seriously injured was a few years ago. I broke my leg roller skating.Haven't touched a roller skate since then.32. Have you ever hurt yourselfI'll leave this one unanswered.33. What was the last fight you had aboutUhhhhhhhhhhhhh... It was concerning respecting someone.34. Has anyone told you they hated youYep. But it was really petty sibling stuff.35. Have you seen anyone dieI have not.36. What would you tell your younger selfYou should've worn that dang boot more for your leg, you dumb plant.37. Would you skip the bad parts of your life to be successfulThey say that the bad parts can help you grow in life. I say the "bad things" I've gone through were important for me to grow.38. What do you want to do with the rest of your lifeToo many things. But simply, get a decent paying job, volunteer and maybe find me a Dick Grayson.39. Have you left behind/ were you left behind in a friendshipYep.Neck Deep: 41. Who would you want to meet again in your lifeAn uncle who just kinda left suddenly, even though he was a huge part of my life.42. Why did you choose your career pathFlexible hours, decent pay, can get this job anywhere.43. What is something you regret from your pastDeviantArt. (That's me being shallow. There's plenty of things I regret.)44. How much time is left at the end of your dayDepends on the day. X345. What was your last dream aboutAn attractive guy asking me out. Dude. I never get dreams like that. It was so weird.46. Have you ever hated someone and whyMmm... I have, because they hurt my mom (not physically).47. Talk about your favorite family memberMy mom is awesome. She works super hard to take care of us kids, she's a fitness instructor, she homeschools the remaining 3 kids in school (she homeschooled me and my other sister too) and she's "mom 2" to 3 of my best friends. She's obsessed with Doctor Who, loves to cosplay with me and my friends and go to ComicCons with us. She's got a great laugh and love to send my siblings and I quotes every day.And that's just a little bit about her.48. What is one thing you want to confessUh-uh. I ain't saying anything on here. There are people who know me in real life.49. Have you ever tried to take away your problems instead of deal with themThat's me almost all the time.50. Who would you save- yourself or a stranger?I'd like to hope a stranger.Head Under Water: 51. Have you been in loveYes I have.52. Talk about someone in your life who has diedOf course.54. When was the last time you thought you were beautifulNever. Decently pretty? Yes.55. Have you ever had to recover after somethingYes I have. Have you ever thrown up tacos? That took me hours to get that nasty taste out of my mouth.57. Top ten life valuesThese aren't in any specific order.* Be Kind* Show Love to All People (even if they're jerks. but that does not mean you don't stand up for yourself or others)* K'atini (Mandalorian for "Suck it up! It's only pain!")* Walk Like a Superhero* Fight Back* Make sure you let loved ones know how much you care about them. You never know how much they might need to know that.* Be there for people, even at the expense of yourself.* Nap Often* Sometimes you just need to tell life to go throw itself in the trash and just do whatever you want all day.* Don't let people tell you what you love is worthless.58. How do you fall asleepI generally just pass out from exhaustion.59. When was the last time you smiled and the last time you criedI smile a lot. And the last time I cried... hmm.. Tears from laughing so hard came down my face when I watched a "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" video. XD---Thanks for asking! :DSome of them I didn't answer because they were fill in the blanks. Such as would you rather __ or __. So I skipped those. X3

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whatdoyouexpectthistime · 7 years

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‘Choosing Sides’ Part Thirteen - This Cuddly

Special thanks to @hotcocosharing for reminding me that Kaga does NOT cook, and for @hifftn for inspiring Miho’s sass - however, ultimately dedicated to @smutmylifeup for all the enthusiasm. ;)

Pounding.

And not the good kind.

When Miho’s alarm forced her to push back heavy lids, it felt like the room was spinning, and shaking… and like someone was taking a jackhammer to her temple.

“Ugh, why do I do this?” she groaned, slowly, carefully stretching out her arms and unfolding the bedspread that had been covering her. “Huh?”

Her memories of the previous night were a little sketchy, especially the latter part of the evening, but she was still surprised to find herself in the clothes she’d put on yesterday evening at Kaga’s request.

“You’re way too old to get wasted like this,” she muttered bitterly, sneering as the snooze timer ran out and the alarm cried out again. “Oh fuck you.”

Moving cautiously, she sat, then waited for the internal earthquake to cease. Taking long, slow breaths she rose completely.

“Caffeine,” she yawned, stumbling into the lounge room. “Wha… uhh.”

Blinking furiously at first, Miho couldn’t quite comprehend the figure reclining on her couch. His tall, semi-naked body took up the entire length of the sofa, and lying on his stomach with his cheek resting against the very edge of the cushion, his peaceful expression was completely incongruous with all other experiences Miho had had with him. Somehow he looked comfortable, even with one arm dangling, fingertips just shy of touching the floor – but his fingertips were not Miho’s immediate concern.

The long sweep of his back from broad shoulders to the waistband of his boxers had her mesmerized.

On the coffee table his pants were neatly folded, along with his shirt, but his jacket laid in a crumbled mess. His makeshift blanket had slipped away sometime in the night – er – early morning, and left him completely exposed.

“But if he’s here,” she exhaled, padding silently across the carpet toward him, “and I’m…”

Again she looked at herself – all articles of clothing remained the same as when she’d donned them – skirt, blouse, underwear, even her pantyhose.

“He put me to bed,” she frowned, crouching, daring to study him a little closer, even though she expected him to burst awake suddenly and grab her.

But he didn’t. He remained sound asleep and completely unaware of Miho’s scrutiny.

“Well that’s… not fair,” she sighed, heading back into the bedroom to get a blanket.

Gently she covered him from toe to neck, fearful she might cause him to stir, but very sure she needed to shroud his body that, despite self-denial, Miho could found ridiculously appealing.

Mission complete, she headed to the kitchen and put on coffee before locking herself in the bathroom.

“Ugh he totally saw this face,” she grumbled, as she wiped her face over with make-up remover pads. “He’s going to tease the shit out of you.”

And yet… he didn’t touch a hair on your head?

She frowned all the way through her shower, trying to fight through the alcohol induced amnesia and reveal how her journey home had led to Kaga on her couch for a second time.

“And he arranged a party for you,” she pointed out to herself as she blow-dried her hair and braided it. “Oh, this is all very, very bad.”

Finally, dressed but feeling nauseous and miserable in her hungover state, she returned to the lounge room only to find her blanket neatly folded and all but Kaga’s jacket gone.

Gulp.

“It’s your apartment idiot,” she hissed to herself, staring along the room to the kitchen door, beyond which she could hear movement. “You’re going to let him make your nervous in your own home?”

Hell no.

“Here, drink this,” Kaga instructed bluntly, and a mug of coffee was shoved at her the moment she stepped through the door.

Barefoot.

Wrinkled shirt only half buttoned.

Tie hanging unfolded around his neck.

Hair wild.

Handing her coffee first thing.

Nope. Not nervous.

“Uh, thanks,” she hesitated, but took the mug, noting he’d added just the right amount of milk.

“You need to eat,” he declared, and Miho’s eyes wandered to the counter where sat a couple of bowls.

“You… you made breakfast?” she observed dumbly, but she just couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.

“Obviously,” he noted, tone annoyed – but he was acting like he belonged there in her space. “Surprised there’s so much Japanese stuff. Sit.”

He pointed to a chair, and Miho did as she was told, still too stunned to get mad about being ordered around in her own kitchen.

“It’s ahh… too much of a hassle to find stuff from home so… when in Rome,” she replied, before swallowing a mouthful of coffee, unable to help but imagine him wearing Subaru’s ridiculous pink apron. “So… last night…”

“Kurosawa tried to set you up with Kirisawa,” he reported flatly, placing a bowl miso soup directly in front of her, miso soup… swimming with instant noodles. “Goto got even more drunk than you, and danced with that cute girl you know from the embassy before passing out earlier than everyone else, and you…”

He placed a second bowl down, sat beside her and picked up his spoon – but paused to finally look at her properly.

“Please tell me I didn’t make a complete fool of myself,” she pleaded, blushing in pre-emptive dismay.

“You got far too cuddly with that playboy bodyguard,” he asserted, pointing at her with the spoon.

Miho figured he could only mean Subaru, who was never shy when boasting about his popularity with women.

“Um, cuddly?” she cringed. “Exactly how cuddly?”

Abruptly, Kaga pulled Miho’s chair right up against his, folded his arm around her shoulder, and pressed her head to his.

“This cuddly,” he hissed, but it was a surprisingly gentle sound.

With eyes wide, Miho remained in Kaga’s half embrace. His hair tickled her forehead as his own head leaned to rest against hers.

“You really go out of your way to push my buttons,” he muttered quietly. “As if I was going to let that moron take you home in your state.”

In her kitchen, Miho allowed Kaga to hold her and…

Liked it?

For a moment she closed her eyes and emptied her lungs in a long, steadying breath.

“You don’t have time to go back to sleep,” he told her, so close, so very close.

Just let me figure this out.

“Hey,” he prompted, much less gently, and he sat her up straight again. “Eat, or you’re going to be late for work, and I won’t allow that.”

Conversation after that was minimal. They ate together, then she washed the dishes while he got properly dressed, and before long, Kaga was putting on his shoes.

“I found these,” Miho said, jingling her way out of the bedroom with Kaga’s keys in hand. “They were in my jacket pocket for some reason.”

Kaga looked like he wanted to face-palm, but took hold of them; Miho’s grip remained and she looked up at him sincerely.

“I don’t remember a whole lot about last night,” she began seriously, squaring her shoulders. “But, I know I had fun at a party you organised at short notice, got inappropriately inebriated and… that you brought me home and put me to bed, safely.”

Impassively he stared at her as if waiting for more, chestnut eyes slightly narrowed.

“So… thank you,” she breathed finally, and offered up a smile before bowing a little.

“You’re welcome,” he dropped as she relinquished control over his keys, but his other hand lifted her from that shallow bow with thumb and forefinger lightly gripping her chin. “Think you can manage Hyogo now - Miho?”

“You’re still on about that?” she huffed, going for amusement to conceal the swirling squall raging inside her.

“Well?” he questioned brusquely, eye to eye, an all-encompassing stare that tried to cut away doubt and fear and anything other than thoughts of him.

“You’re a stubborn basta…” she managed, before he connected their lips most comprehensively.

Firm and sure.

In control and confident.

Consuming.

Miho’s eyes fluttered open a few seconds after he disengaged, gasping as he released her and grabbed his jacket.

“Get your bag; we’re leaving,” he told her curtly, and walked out the front door, leaving her to stare after him, bewildered.

The drive to the academy was painfully awkward, and this made Miho mad.

You’re also far too old to be this bashful over a kiss.

But it wasn’t like she and Baba who until recently had managed to just switch off everything and fuck like rabid bunnies. Kaga knew who she was, was in her face every day, was officially her superior officer the moment she signed her contract. There would be no clean separation from him.

“We should…” she began after he parked his car.

“Hurry up,” he dropped, checking a message on his mobile phone with a grim expression.

She had been about to say, ‘arrive at the office separately’, but the graveness in his face told her something serious had gone down.

“What is it?” she asked as they tromped up two levels of stairs and began walking briskly down the corridor.

“Ayumu got Sota to talk,” he reported.

“The drug dealer?” Miho frowned. “About the source of the drugs, or the dealer deaths?”

“The latter,” he clarified. “The drugs aside, I had an informant in dealer circles who had information on an emerging terrorist cell basing itself in Tokyo,” he continued, the pair of them haplessly passing early rising students in the hallway. “Last time we were in contact, he said they had gathered a disturbing amount of classified information about the Hiraizumi administration, and several branches of law enforcement, including Public Safety. Then he dropped off the map and dealers started dying.”

“So… so what? They figure out someone was haemorrhaging information and started killing people indiscriminately?” Miho wondered aloud.

“I needed someone, Sota, to find my asset and get that information out of the hands of these terrorists,” he finished, solidly thumping his way into the instructor’s room, where Shinonome and the others were already waiting.

“Wait, is this the same group who attacked the Prime Minister’s residence?” she scowled.

“In all likelihood,” Shinonome confirmed, opening his mouth to continue but stopping to stare at Kaga. “Those are yesterday’s clothes.”

Then he looked at Miho – then back at Kaga.

Soma grinned in the far corner of the office, reclining in his chair.

“What a subtle announcement,” he snickered, before his mirth evened out.

“Focus,” Kaga grunted, and Ishigami nodded in agreement – no arguing, not about terrorists.

“Sota gave up the location where they dumped Abukara’s body,” Shinonome then announced. “Divers and forensics are headed their now.”

“Then so are we,” Kaga stated, turning around and calling over his shoulder. “Send whatever else you have to my phone. Fujiwara, move.”

________

In Kaga’s car they made their way to the steelworks in Keihin District in Kanagawa Prefecture, and wound their way through large mounds of dirt, silos, and hulking machinery to a relatively small walled off area of Tokyo bay. Police crime scene tape already sectioned it off to distracted workers, but Kaga stormed through it like an angry bull until he reached the water’s edge where several people Miho knew at a glance were waiting for the police divers to surface.

“Fujiwara?” Medical Examiner Himuro Masashi questioned, though he obviously recognised her, as did the man beside him, Kimura Ryohei. “Don’t see you at crime scenes.”

“My first, officially anyway,” she smiled thinly, watching the bubbles gather on the glittering sheen of the water.

Kaga stood a little in front of her, as close to the edge of could be, glaring impatiently like his irritation would make any difference to the dead man who’d been decomposing at the bottom of the bay for weeks.

“Think this is your man, Captain?” Himuro questioned, stepping in beside Kaga, but Kaga didn’t even turn his head.

Instead, he held out the file he’d been carrying since he and Miho left the car.

“He’s got a bunch of tattoos,” Kaga dropped.

“Well,” Himuro thought aloud. Even in advanced stages of decomposition, I may still be able to find evidence of ink. But, if he’s been in the water as long as you say, I won’t be able to give you any answers here.”

This clearly didn’t sit well with Kaga, who glared with frightening intensity at the emerging divers. Miho, however, watched, unable to look away though she very much wanted to, as something somewhat resembling a human figure was carefully removed from the water, and carried up to Himuro.

“Oh,” Miho exhaled.

There was no smell but that of the localised pollution and the salt of the bay, but the gelatinous appearance of the man, and how she knew he should have looked as a person, was so jarring it took absolutely all she had not to lose her breakfast right there.

“I need to know if it’s him,” Kaga stated, despite what Himuro had just said.

He spared Miho no glance, but glowered at the slimy cadaver like he was an inconvenience.

“I warned him not to get too cocky,” he muttered instead, tone filled with vitriol, but even with the heat of growing nausea blossoming in her face, Miho could tell he didn’t quite mean it.

“I can say, preliminarily of course,” Himuro stated apathetically, “based on the state of decay, the body, male in appearance, has been in the water two to three weeks. Incongruent colourisation around the wrists suggests he was bound, but other than that, you’ll have to wait.”

“Not good enough,” Kaga growled, but he knew there was no rushing the Medical Examiner’s office, and even more so no point in rushing a perfectionist like Himuro. “Don’t miss anything,” he then demanded of Kimura, as if the reserved man didn’t know how to do his job, before grabbing Miho’s arm and propelling her into motion.

And motion was not good.

“What are you gasping for?” he snapped when they reached the car.

Miho found her limit, slammed her hands against the driver’s side of the bonnet, and regurgitated the contents of her stomach all over the front wheel. Agitated, her body heaved, even when there was nothing left, even when Kaga sighed and placed one hand against her back and dragged her braid over her shoulder out of the way, she continued to retch until tears had thoroughly smeared her mascara.

“Damnit, Fujiwara,” he grunted, giving her back a light rub but looking everywhere but her. “I made you that breakfast.”

“Instant noodles,” she coughed, her throat raw and burning, “isn’t really breakfast, Captain.”

“Ungrateful,” he snorted, but gently helped her stand upright again, letting her lean against him until the wobbling in her legs subsided. “But, better outside the car than in.”

“What now?” she asked, trying to regain her long lost composure, wiping at her black streaked cheeks with her thumbs.

“I’m going to pull Sota apart,” he declared, so much malice in his tone that had he not then smirked at her, Miho might have shuddered. “But if you keep making that face at me…”

“The I just blew chunks all over your car face?” she offered weakly, moving around to the passenger side. “Yeah, it’s definitely my go to for seduction.”

Sota looked exhausted.

The man who had threatened to ‘fuck her raw’ sat cuffed in the interview room looking like a husk. Apparently Shinonome had gone from her party, directly to interrogation, and the man had not been allowed any peace since.

Kaga insisted she come with him, though she felt frustratingly frail and embarrassed after her failure to stomach the corpse at the steelworks.

She stood in one corner, leaning against the wall with her arms across her chest, while Kaga leaned over the metal table at Sota and drilled him for answers.

Not quite the same ‘drilling’ approach as in the classroom.

It was hard to watch, but Miho forced herself, saying silently over and over that this man could hold the key to foiling terrorists, to saving live,s and to protecting members of government and law enforcement agents.

Indeed, it was a far cry from the sex laced intimidation tactics Kaga had employed against her; if Miho didn’t know better, and Sota really didn’t, Kaga truly would ‘hang him from a hook somewhere public and let the rabid dogs that killed Abukara gnaw at his entrails’.

“You’re gonna let him do this?” Sota gasped after Kaga threatened to release him and leak his name on the streets as a police informant. “They’ll fuckin’ kill me! They’ll… they’ll…”

“Then I suggest you tell us what we want to know,” Miho said coldly, and was proud at the ice frosting the edges of each syllable. “Because I’m sort of bored,” she went on, feigning a yawn and taking a couple of lazy steps toward the door. “So I’m just going to leave the two of you alone… and see if that’s a bit more productive.”

And she couldn’t decide if that made her good cop or bad cop.

“Coffee, Captain?” she enquired from the door. “I’d ask if you wanted some, Sota, but what use have dead men for caffeine?”

“You crazy bitch!” Sota shouted.

“I wouldn’t go there if I were you,” Kaga snarled, eyes flashing with true balefire.

There Miho was, playing her part in the kind of interrogation she had derided Kaga for, and it made her feel sick all over again – and yet, at the same time she felt the overwhelming roar of the desire to protect those put at risk, and to do whatever it took to get the job done.

I understand now.

Read Part Fourteen - Extra Credit

#voltage inc #voltage fanfic #voltage fluff #voltage romance #voltage otome #voltage angst #her love in the force #her love in the force fanfic #hlitf #hlitf fanfic #kaga hyogo #kaga fluff

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