#I was kinda right with a side of It Was Scientific Method All Along

[starplusfourletters]

I've been ribbing on the orville for being a reskinned voyager (and Guess the Voyager Plot Twist has been a fun minigame) but omigod never in a million years did I think the Seska Baby Plotline was going to make a reappearance

[squeakyfir]

The Love from a Skelton [Jack Skellington X Reader]

Plot: Halloween... The time of year you absolutely hate. Not because of the ghouls and monsters, you enjoyed that kind of thing, it's because of trick or treaters. They get free candy and whine and complain to their parents if they didn't get what they expected, which is the whole bowl of candy. Anyways, since you don't celebrate that holiday, you decide to go for a late stroll through the woods on the hiking trail. While walking, your whole life changes. And I mean that literally... Everything started to change drastically until you find trees with holiday symbols on it. One of them being a Jack-o-lantern. Being curious, you enter through the door and discover a world that would represent a children's book written by Stephen King. But the leader of this place was a king. Not just any king... A pumpkin king. His name is Jack Skellington. He's a very tall and slender skeleton with a pinstripe suit, a black cat bow tie and ghost dog named Zero. He discovers you and welcomes you to Halloween town until he can figure out how to send you home. But this place is perfect! No taxes to pay No drama And no more loneliness Jack believes that your hideous. But don't worry, hideous in the Halloween town definition means... Beautiful. Enjoy! *I do not own the Nightmare before Christmas. All rights belong to Tim Burton and Disney™*

Chapter 5

Previous ~ Next

After the town meeting, you were starting to get tired from everything that's happened. Jack offered his home to you and said you could stay as long as you wanted. You thanked him for his hospitality and could now trust Jack completely since he's now proven that's he a true gentleman.

Or in this case, a gentle skeleton.

He provided you his room and when you told him it was unnecessary, and tried to deny his offer, he told you once again that he didn't mind a single bit. You were his guest and he wanted you be comfortable to the fullest extent. Jack stayed up reading Christmas books and even decorated his home with Christmas decorations.

It seemed a bit strange but kinda cute, to be honest. Once again Jack set a book aside and said, "Theres got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing"? You wanted to tell him but he then pulled out a book that said 'The Scientific method'. You smiled since he was taking this whole thing to literally but you didn't want to intervene. After a moment, you started to get tired and you settled down by the fireplace. Jack noticed and said, "Are you tired"? You nodded and Jack stood up and offered his hand to you.

You took his hand and he led you to a room. There was a large bed and you instantly figured out that it was his bed. "Oh no, I can't take your bed".

"Oh thats ridiculous, I insist you do".

"Then where will you sleep"?

"In my chair of course" he said with a smile.

"I'm sorry Jack, but I'm not taking your bed just so you can sleep in a chair. Please take your bed". Jack took your hands in his bony hands and said in a comforting voice, "It's alright. I promise I don't mind". You sighed and saw no end to this. Jack then said, "Go ahead and get your rest, I'll see you in the morning". Jack then carefully closed the door and you sat along the bed. You started to think about everything that's happened today. Your in a new world thats all about holidays.

Does that make sense to you... because it shouldn't.

When you woke up in the morning, you saw that Jack was gone. He left a note on his side of the bed that read,

"Dear (Y/n),

I went out to retrieve some equipment from Dr. Finklestien. I didn't want to disturb you while you slept. I'll be back soon.

-Jack".

You put the note aside and got up to leave the room. A familiar barking sound caught your attention and you saw Zero flying towards you, looking happy to see you. "Good morning, Zero". You went over to the large window that overlooked the small town. It was more eerie in the morning than it was at night. It reminded you of a early morning in mid January, gloomy and chilly. You didn't mind, if anything, it reminded you of home.

Home...

You then thought about your home and hoping it's still vacant and also hoping no one broke inside. "(Y/n)? Zero? I'm home". You looked over and saw Jack walking the spiral staircase. "Welcome home, Jack".

"Thank you (Y/n). How did you sleep"?

"I slept fine, thank you. What's that stuff for"?

"Oh! I'm conducting a series of experiments". You looked at him curiously but he then placed the case on the table and pulled out test tubes and other pieces of equipment. All of this just for trying to analyze Christmas? To name a few of the things he did for experiments was putting a small berry from a mistletoe and looking at it under a microscope only to have it crushed. He stuck a candy cane in a pot of what was believed to be boiling water with voltages and when he pulled it out again, it was nothing more than white and wet noodle. He attempted to make a snowflake but made Halloween flake with a spider as the shape. He also cut open the stomach of a teddy bear to examine the stuffing.

He's been doing it for hours and seemed to forget about you. He may have also forgotten, or maybe didn't know, that humans require three things. Food, water and air. In your case, it's the first two. You were getting parched and starting to starve. You wanted to tell Jack your needs but he was so enamored with Christmas and not paying any attention to you. Zero flew over to you with a smile but then heard your stomach growl. He look worried and then flew over to Jack and barked at him. Jack stopped and looked at Zero with shock since Zero was now growling at him.

Zero then flew back over to you and barked at Jack. Jack was then able to piece the puzzle together and understood what was going on. You were starving and dehydrated. Jack had huge guilt and shame on his bony expression. He walked over to you and placed his bony hand on your shoulder. "(Y/n), I- I have no excuse for this. I'm so sorry".

"Its ok Jack, I forgive you". His frown quickly turned into a smile and the both of you went out the door to retrieve some stuff for you. Luckily, there was fresh water and since it was Halloween town they had candy. All different kinds. That was good but you obviously can't eat candy all day. Jack understood and after getting the temporary candy, he went to go back to Dr. Finklestein to get books about humans and what they do and need.

Jack has now got a lot more to learn to put it briefly. That night when you went to sleep, your dream seemed to last for only fifteen seconds as it was a stick that turned into a small and cute Christmas tree. But it suddenly caught fire and turned to ash. This couldn't be good.

TIMESKIP:

It was the next morning and you awoke to a very strange and disturbing bird. It sounded like a rooster but it also sounded like it was dying. You then hear music and the following vocals from the fellow monsters.

Something's up with Jack x2

Don't know if we're ever going to get him back

He's all alone up there locked away inside

Never says a word

Hope he hasn't died

Something's up with Jack x2

You quickly got out of bed and went to see Jack pacing back and forth thinking deeply. He must've heard the monsters singing because he started to sing his own lyrics.

Christmas time is buzzing in my skull

Will it let me

I cannot tell

Jack sat down on his chair and as he kept singing, he placed two playing cards on top of a house of cards.

There's so many things I cannot grasp

And when I think I've got it and then at last

Through my bony fingers it does slip

The house of cards fell over and Jack got a bit irritated by that and just brushed most of the cards off the table. He kept singing and then pushed himself along in his wheeled chair pointing out all the Christmas decorations and still wondering what they were.

Like a snowflake in a fiery grip

Something here I'm not quite getting

Though I try I keep forgetting

Like a memory

Long since past

Here in an instant

Gone in a flash

What does it mean x2

Jack then stood up and goes near three small Christmas things frozen in some containers. You weren't sure why he did that but if he knew why he did then it doesn't matter.

In these little bric-a-brac

A secrets waiting to be cracked

These dolls and toys confuse me so

Confound it all

I love it- though,

Jack then picked up a doll and continued singing but started shaking the doll as if it would answer, which it didn't.

Simple objects, nothing more

But something's hidden through a door

Though, I do not have the key

Something's here I cannot see

What does it mean x2

"What does it mean? Hmmmm". Jack threw the doll over his shoulder and it landed on Zeros bed which awoke him. He looked over at Jack worried as he continued singing. Jack went up a ladder to look through the Christmas books for the millionth time.

I've read these Christmas books so many times

I know the stories and I know the rhymes

I know the Christmas carols all by heart

As Jack came down the ladder, Zero flew past you and he was carrying a picture of Jack on the spiral hill with a pumpkin in his bony hand. You went closer to Jack to get a better look at the picture.

My skull's so full it's tearing me apart

As often as I've read them, something's wrong

So hard to put my bony finger on

You went closer to Jack to get a better look at the picture.

Or perhaps it's really not as deep as I've been led to think

Am I trying much to hard?

Suddenly, the picture changed from Jack being the pumpkin king to him being a Santa skeleton. He wore Santas clothes but it fit Jack well. Instead of a pumpkin in his hand, it was a small present. It was a bit odd since he's the king of Halloween but Jack thought that this was brilliant.

Of course!

I've been too close to see

The answers right in front of me!

Right in front of me!

Jack got up the ladder again and made the ladder push to the other side of his bookcase. You and Zero looked at each other in confusion but kept listening to Jack sing.

It's simple really

Very clear

Like music drifting in the air

Invisible but everywhere

Jack then got down from the ladder and started dancing with the small Christmas tree by twirling it and dipping it. He then pulled twirled the tree to pull the string of lights off which made ornaments fly off and crashing on the floor which left broken glass on the floor.

Just because I cannot see it

Doesn't mean I can't believe it

You know I think this Christmas thing is not as tricky as it seems

And why should they have all the fun

It should belong to anyone

Jack had the string of lights wrapped up like rope and slid across the floor on his knees to wrap the lights around an electrical chair.

Not anyone in fact

But me!

Why I could make a Christmas tree

And there's no reason I can find

I couldn't handle Christmas time

I bet I could improve it too!

And that's exactly what I'll do!

Jack then pulled the lever to the chair which turned the lights on but since the chair was very high in voltage, it made the bulbs of the Christmas lights burst. Jack then laughed and ran to his big window and opened it fast. "Eureka! This year, Christmas will be... OURS"! You could hear the monsters cheering and applauding for this small announcement. You then remember your small dream last night about the burning Christmas tree.

You couldn't help but think yourself...

"What does it mean"?

[vannahfanfics]

Off the Beaten Path

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Momo Yaoyorozu, Yosetsu Awase

I was going to work on other request stuff, but I was reaaaally feeling Momo x Awase lately and because of finals I wasn’t able to participate in @bnhabookclub‘s Provisional License Exam event, so… Even though it’s a little late, here’s a MomoWase story for the prompt “You’re really pretty”!

Momo’s vertebrae decompressed with a series of satisfying pops as she stretched her hands over her head and slowly bent back into a forty-five-degree angle. With a contented hum, she held the position for several seconds to ensure her lower back muscles were stretched properly before straightening back up and dropping her arms back to her sides. She did some leg stretches, priming her femoral and tibular muscles for exercise, before standing and planting her hands on her hips to admire the lovely Saturday morning. It was about nine-thirty, pleasantly warm with a consistent cooling breeze, and plenty of cloud cover to protect her from the worst of the burning sun. The birds were chirping. Car engines hummed in the distance. The air smelled sweetly of the various floral fragrances spilling out from the dormitory’s landscaping.

Really, could she have asked for a better morning to go jogging?

She ensured that her laces were tied properly before hopping down the steps of the porch, hitting the concrete pathway in a medium-paced jog. Her arms pumped at her sides as her legs kicked back in series, and she kept her breathing in a steady rhythm to ensure maximum stamina. She was determined to break her mile record today- under nine minutes. Momo wasn’t the most agile or athletic of the students in her class, but she could still attain her little victories here and there. I can do it!

There was a walking track not far from the dormitory that was always open to students and instructors. Momo jogged there in no time at all, and once she trotted through the open gate and greeted the security guard who moderated the comings and goings, she paused to take a swig of water. She took out her phone to ready her timer and then secured it to the plastic holder at her waist. The jaunt there had warmed up her body nicely, so she was feeling quite good when she walked down to the walking track proper. The spongey synthetic rubber-like material bowed slightly under her steps. U.A. spared no expense in any aspect of their campus, so Momo didn’t doubt that the material was of the highest quality and scientifically designed the erase almost all impact damage to the joints. She made a mental note to do some research into its chemical composition; one never knew when the material could come in handy.

“Right then! Nine minutes or less!” she crowed and started her timer, then took off down the track.

Most people preferred to listen to music while running, but not Momo. There was something cathartic to her about the natural world. The walking track doubled as a small nature park, landscaped professionally with shady hardwoods and flowering bushes. Momo usually ran at this time because the animal activity peaked mid-morning; the tree boughs were alive with dozens of birdsongs, melding together in one harmonious concerto. Bumblebees bobbled alongside the path, flying from one flower to the next to gather the succulent nectar. They were joined by a colorful assortment of butterflies, which elegantly flitted along with not much care of their rounder, fatter cousins. The park had a healthy population of squirrels, as well, which would scramble down from the trees to feast on discarded acorns only to fling themselves back up the trunks when Momo came jogging along. They would peer at her with beady black eyes from the boughs and would only descend back to their nutty buffet once she was rounding the corner of the track ahead.

A third of a way into the mile Momo checked her timer. Two minutes and thirty seconds! I’m making great time! She thought jovially and replaced the phone to its holster. She swept the back of her hand across her forehead to flick away the beads of sweat that were accumulating there. A few of her fluffy black strands had fallen out of her bun; she always had possessed impossibly thick hair, and it seemed like it absorbed all the heat from the atmosphere when she was exercising. Just as she was sucking a little more water from her sports bottle, she spotted someone curled up off to the side of the track a few yards ahead. Oh no! Maybe they’re injured! She thought worriedly and sped up her pace a little.

“Hello? Can I help you?” she called out to them. They were seated on the other side of a park bench so she could not see their features very well, but she thought she spied a familiar patterned headband and spiky black hair.

“Yaoyorozu?” Sure enough, that was him.

“Awase!” She stuttered to a halt past the bench to find him smiling tersely and clutching at his ankle. He had his sneaker off and sock pulled down, and she hissed at the gnarly swelling that had enveloped the joint. “What happened?” she asked and crouched down in front of him.

“Well,” he said with a sheepish smile, “I kinda surprised a sleeping raccoon and she didn’t much appreciate it.” Momo blinked in confusion. A raccoon would be sleeping well off the path; what reason did he have to go tromping off into the underbrush? When she asked him, his face took on a carnation-pink hue and he mumbled, “I, uh, kinda had to take a leak, Yaoyorozu…” In turn, her face blazed with a rosy blush and she nodded excessively in understanding.

“Oh! Right! Of course!”

“A-anyway, while I was scramblin’ to get away from her, I tripped over the tree roots and twisted it tryin’ to catch myself.” Momo frowned as she situated herself on her knees, tapping her thighs to indicate for him to prop his foot on the pillowy surface. He leaned back on his hands and grunted before hefting up his leg. A string of curse words flew from his mouth as he quickly shifted his foot from the ground onto her lap. His shoulders sagged after the pain stopped streaming through his nerves and he stared at the swollen joint through lidded eyes. “Man, this is a pain. I look so uncool,” he muttered, almost to himself. Momo gave him a bright smile and shook her head.

“These things happen! Don’t beat yourself up over it.” He flushed again and looked away with a small pout, making her wonder if he didn’t intend to utter it aloud. That’s irrelevant. His ankle is terribly swollen. I hope he hasn’t torn a ligament or even broken anything! She thought worriedly. She had taken a few first-aid lessons from Recovery Girl for use in rescue training and missions, so with a few manipulations she would be able to get a clearer picture of what damage he had done. Only an x-ray and MRI would conclusively diagnose any injury, but it would be better for Momo to have a general idea so she could determine how she should proceed with moving him. “Awase, I’m going to manipulate your ankle to see what you could have damaged. I’ll be as gentle as I can, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, do whatever you gotta do,” he grumbled, but glanced at her out of the corners of his eyes. Leaning down, she gently began prodding various places in his foot. She started on the top of his foot to see if he had damaged the tendons there.

“That hurt?”

“No.” She shifted to the lateral side of his foot, starting near the toes. “That doesn’t hurt eit- Shit! Shit! Ow!” He began to cry out once she began palpating the area near his ankle. There was both a tendon and some nerve endings there, so it could be that he either stretched the ligament or the nerves were reacting to the swelling. Still, it gave her a better picture of where the injury could be.

“Sorry, Awase.”

“S’Fine,” he huffed. His face had taken on a slight flush and sweat was dampening the bottom of his headband. He must be in a lot of pain…

“Do you know how it rolled?”

“Um… I think it rolled inward,” he answered uncertainly. Momo tutted and glanced back down at his foot. Given the method of injury, it could either be his Achilles or his peroneus brevis tendon… I’m hoping it’s the latter, because tearing his Achilles could put him in physical therapy for months! Tentatively, she grabbed the sole of his foot and pushed it upwards, flexing it such that it would stretch the muscles of his calf. He winced a little bit but did not yelp in pain like before, making Momo smile. “What? Was that a good thing?”

“Yes. It makes it very likely that you haven’t torn anything up too bad,” she responded. “Let’s see what this does, though,” she continued and pushed his foot inward. His back arched and he threw his head back with a howl of several very unsavory words, so Momo hastily ceased the flexion. He kept his head tipped back for a few seconds, chest heaving and fingers digging into the loamy soil, before he let out a long groan and wearily looked back to her.

“Fuck, that hurt.” When she apologized again, he frowned slightly and shrugged. “S’not your fault… I’m the one who tripped over myself like a dumbass. Nurse Yaoyorozu, do you have a diagnosis for me?” he asked with a teasing grin. She blushed brightly at the nickname and spluttered out a reply.

“O-Oh! Yes, I think so. I think you may have either injured or torn this tendon right here,” she stated and ran her fingertip ever-so-slightly along the lateral side of his foot, being careful not to apply any pressure and make his pain worse. He made a tsk sound and flexed his leg muscles experimentally, and the way his entire body tensed indicated to Momo that it would be difficult for him to walk. “We should get you to Recovery Girl. She has the proper machinery to tell for sure. I’ll text my classmates so they can send for someone to collect you. I’m sure they can get down the track just fi-”

“Ain’t necessary,” he grumped. His hand snapped up to wrap tightly around the metal arm of the bench, and he pushed himself off the ground with the other hand. He clumsily tucked his good leg under his body to get some leverage in standing up. Momo’s hands fluttered nervously around his injured foot.

“Awase! You shouldn’t move too much! Be careful not to bear any weight on this foot; I can help you to the entrance to the track, but we really should have someone get you from there so you don’t injure yourself further!” As gently as she could while moving fast, she placed his foot back down on the ground and scrambled up to grab him underneath his armpit and help him clumsily climb to his feet. Per Momo’s instructions, he refrained from moving his injured leg at all and just let it slide in the dirt and leaves as he hobbled to a standing position, but even just the contact with the ground made him hiss in agony. His arm wobbled precariously at it was forced to bear all his weight, and Momo saw that his knuckles were glaring white as he gripped the metal arm. “Here. Come to this tree,” she instructed him.

Yosetsu Awase was not by any means a big guy, but her breath still left her in an oof! as his full weight sunk against her. She slung his arm around her shoulders and supported him by the waist as she dragged him to the trunk of the nearest tree.

“How the tables have turned.” A curious “huh?” popped out of her and she looked down at him with wide eyes. He grinned wryly and explained, “Remember the summer training camp? I was haulin’ you around the woods like a sack of potatoes…” Her cheeks brightened as the blood rushed to them, and she looked away shyly.

“Oh… Yes. The circumstances are a little different here, though. You saved my life that night.” They reached the tree, and he reached out to brace a hand against the rough trunk before leaning away from her, spinning on his good foot to flop his back into the woody surface. He gave her a wry smirk.

“Hey, you never know. You coulda saved my life this morning. I coulda been out here, all alone, and dragged off by some wolves.” Momo snorted at his obvious joking.

“Awase, there are no wolves out here.”

“How do you know? Just because you haven’t seen ‘em don’t mean they don’t exist.” His relentless joshing had her giddy, and she held her hand up to her mouth as she began to giggle.

“You’re too much. Seriously, though, walking a third of a mile in your condition, even with my help, will take us half the day. I’ll send for someone,” she told him through little laughs and pulled out her phone. She quirked an eyebrow when she noticed her timer had just hit exactly nine minutes. More important things to tend to than my record, she thought and swiped out of the app. She typed up a quick message in their class group chat and sent it before returning her phone to the waist holster. “I just sent for help. They’re telling Mr. Aizawa and…” Her words trailed off as she looked at him. He was staring at her with a lidded, heated gaze and this little smile on his face that made butterflies take off in her stomach. “I…” she murmured incoherently when his hand reached out to gently cup her cheek, and she compulsively straightened up- and leaned slightly into the touch.

“You’re really pretty.” Momo had never heard a tone so full of… endearing admiration. As soon as his hand met her cheek and he uttered the words, his eyes widened, as if he realized he had actually done so instead of it being in his head. His face flushed red and he went to drop his hand, sputtering out an apology, but Momo pinned it to her face with both of her own.

“No! Don’t apologize!” she cried and took a few unsteady steps forward. Now self-conscious herself, she flushed as well and looked timidly down at her sneakers. “I-I… No one’s ever called me pretty before…” she admitted meekly. She peered up at him through her lashes to find him wearing an incredulous look.

“Really? But you’re fucking beautiful.” His use of a curse word only made the compliment more impactful, and her face grew unbearably hot as she smiled blissfully. She squirmed a little, knowing she was beginning to sweat a little against his hand cupping her face, but unwilling to let it go.

“W-well… Mina says that I’m so intelligent that boys find it intimidating,” she chuckled diffidently. He snorted in laughter and leaned back against the trunk with an amused smirk.

“You? Intimidating? No offense, but you’re about as intimidating as a wet kitten.” She let out an affronted gasp and went to glare at him, but the sultry smirk on his face made all opposition die in her throat. “Guess that’s good for me that they think so,” he said in a low voice, and she yelped as he grabbed her arm and tugged her forward. There was a slight incline in the ground, so she stumbled all the way to the tree and landed against his body with one hand splaying over his chest. The other was now being gripped tightly, and he brought it to his mouth to lay a lingering kiss to the top of her hand. How prince-like… she thought faintly. “I don’t think I could stand for having competition.” The smirk he shot her wasn’t prince-like at all, rather channeling all the devilish and playful energy of a rogue. Like a princess ensnared by his handsome charms, she could only stare owlishly at him with painfully pink cheeks. His hand dropped hers, letting it land on his shoulder, before cupping her face again and threading his fingertips into the black strands that had fallen from her bun. “Yaoyao-”

“Momo,” she interrupted quickly. She then flushed, realizing how rude it had been to do so. “C-call me Momo. Please.” He snorted slightly and his smirk widened.

“Momo,” he corrected poignantly. “Thanks for saving me today.” She was about to assert once more that it really wasn’t anything like that night, but he took the opportunity to interrupt her. He leaned forward to envelop her mouth in a searing kiss. She inhaled sharply through her nose as her breath was all but stolen from her. Whatever response she had on her tongue descended into fog, as her mind hazed until all she could focus on was the movement of his lips against hers. He lit a fire over her body as his hands roamed her curves, finally settling with a consistent blaze at the small of her back. Very distantly the thought bloomed that this was her first kiss and that she had to tell Mina about it. From how good it felt, it was obviously a hell of a first kiss. She felt like she could get lost in the kiss, in him, forever.

They broke apart with startled jumps when they heard Katsuki and Eijirou screaming her name in the near distance. She began to flutter about nervously, fixing her sports bra and jogging pants despite the fact they were form-fitted and not rumpled at all, while he reclined back against the tree with a self-satisfied look.

“Was that your first kiss?”

“What? Yes- I mean, ugh- is that relevant right now?” she huffed with a dour glare that only made his grin widen. He let out a few chuckles as she pouted at him, totally embarrassed by his unbothered attitude, then gestured with a tilt of his head at the track. She whirled on her heel to find the two boys striding up with Recovery Girl’s robots holding a stretcher between them. Laughing nervously, she cheerfully called out to them and tried to seem inconspicuous as she ran up.

“Hey, guys! Thank you so much. I don’t think I could’ve gotten him back to the entrance by myself.”

“It’s no problem, Yaomomo!” Eijirou smiled kindly. Katsuki began to gripe, and without breaking eye contact with the girl, Eijirou elbowed him hard in the ribs.

“Ow, what the hell?! Ugh, fine, whatever! It’s not a big deal!” he yelled angrily and stalked over to the boy leaning up against the tree. “Come on, loser, the sooner your ass is on this stretcher, the sooner I can get back to weight training!” Momo frowned worriedly as Katsuki helped the injured boy back to his feet, but despite his harsh words, he was gentle in helping him limp the short distance to the stretcher.

“Are you coming back with us, Yaomomo?” Eijirou asked as the robots began to trundle off with their charge in tow. Katsuki stomped along ahead, yelling at his friend to hurry up.

“Oh! No, I would like to finish my run, I think…” she murmured, her gaze trailing off to the stretcher. She pushed past him to run after it a few paces, cupping her hands to her mouth. “Hey! Awa- I mean, Yosetsu!” He glanced up, a big grin splitting his face at her calling him by his given name. “Come running with me sometime!”

“Sure thing!” he called back and gave her a thumbs-up before flopping back down against the stretcher. Eijirou walked past her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and grinning, which made her flush pink as answer his unasked question. Momo waited until they had disappeared around the corner, then grabbed her phone to reset her timer to two-minutes and fifty seconds, the approximate time she had stumbled across Yosetsu on the track.

Hmm… Maybe I’ll go off the beaten path and aim for eight minutes! She resolved with a smile and put the phone back before taking off in a fast jog.

After all, the morning she had spent off the beaten path had already been quite interesting. She might as well keep the streak going! No doubt, there were rich rewards waiting at the end…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @mhafandomman

[intim3ate]

Mending | McMercy / Mercy + McCree [Overwatch]

Angela Ziegler and Jesse McCree have never gotten along. He's rude, sassy, and doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. After a mission gone awry, however, that 'famous McCree attitude' turns out to be just what the doctor ordered.

My monthly patreon fic. The prompt was "McCree and Mercy historically dislike each other (when they were young) but one of them has a terrible experience and the other one comforts them." 

This can be read as romantic or platonic - up to you! I really really love platonic/borderline romantic fic, and McMercy is great, so I was so excited to write this! It's completely up my alley. I hope everyone enjoys reading this half as much as I did writing it!

AO3 Link | Commission Info | Patreon | Leave a Tip?

——-

When Angela enters the room, McCree is already there waiting for her, sitting on the medical table. She looks up from her chart and frowns, far from happy to see him. She has enough on her mind as it is; she doesn’t need him fouling her mood even further.

He must see the disdain on her face, because he rolls his eyes. “I’m not exactly happy to be here either, y’know,” he says. “But I got a wound that needs stitchin’ and I got sent to you specifically.”

Angela hums her acknowledgement and decides, wisely, not to wonder aloud why he couldn’t have been sent to someone else. “I see. Show me the wound, then.”

She gestures for him to sit in the chair at the back of the room, and when he does, she pulls a medical table over to him and sits on her own chair. McCree extends his arm and reveals the long, deep gash on it. Angela’s frown deepens. “Genji?”

“Genji.” McCree nods. “Stress relief after the last mission, I guess.”

Angela purses her lips and turns away from McCree’s steady, expectant gaze. She puts on her sterile medical gloves and prepares her suturing equipment and anaesthetic, trying to pretend she doesn’t feel McCree’s eyes like fire on her back.

She had gone on that last mission. Overwatch had borrowed Genji for it - they claimed it was because they needed someone quick to get into their target location undetected, but they’d also decided to use this mission as a field test for his cybernetics. To make sure nothing went wrong, they needed Angela to accompany him.

Genji had been fine. He wasn’t happy after finding out he was there just to be tested, but nothing had gone horribly wrong on his end.

The rest of the team, however, was another story entirely.

It was the first time Angela had not been able to get her whole team home alive. One of them, a more experienced agent named Nichols, had been killed in action. Angela watched it happen, watched as his leg was blown off by a grenade. Watched him start to bleed out. She’d wanted, desperately, to go back, but another explosion cut Nichols off from her and she - she -

“You still with me, doc?”

McCree’s voice cracks through the memory and brings Angela back to the moment. “Yes, yes,” she says quickly. “I just - just got lost in thought a moment, is all.”

“Mm.” McCree nods and sits up in his seat when Angela returns to his side. She holds up a syringe as forewarning for what’s about to come.

“This will sting a moment, but it will numb the wounded area,” she says.

“I know what it does,” McCree bites back. Angela’s eyebrows twitch - why does he have to be so ornery already? - but she says nothing in response and injects him with the local anaesthetic.

It takes effect quickly. When she’s sure McCree won’t be able to feel the sting of the sutures, she sets to work.

She’s glad for the silence while it lasts; but, as usual, McCree demonstrates that he has no idea how or when to keep his mouth shut.

"I heard about what happened," he says. "About the mission. That Nichols didn't come back alive."

Angela pauses for a moment. She narrows her eyes, takes a deep breath and decides not to grace McCree with a response. She simply continues her work.

Of course, McCree takes that as an invitation to continue.

“These things happen,” he says. With his free hand, he removes his hat and ruffles his hair, then looks down at his feet like he can’t bear to meet Angela’s eyes. Like he’s personally disappointed in her. It kills her, and she cringes away from him pre-emptively, waiting for the barb that she’s sure must be coming.

It doesn’t. Instead, McCree says, "You can't beat yourself up about it."

It makes Angela feel worse than if he had been angry. Why didn’t he yell at her? Why didn’t he rub it in her face that she isn’t cut out for Overwatch after all, just like she herself believed from the start?

All the anger inside her, all the hatred she feels for herself, all the guilt, roils inside her and bursts out in a yell. "You don't understand!” she shouts. “I could have saved him!"

McCree puts his hat back on his head. He meets her angry gaze with one of his own. “Not from what I heard.”

“Then what you heard is wrong.” Angela pulls the needle through McCree’s skin, a little harder than intended, and clenches her fingers around the forceps. Her shoulders won’t stop shaking. “If I had just gone back--”

“Then you’d be dead right now too.” McCree’s tone is harsh, final. There’s no room for argument, and Angela realizes it. She lowers her shoulders in a vain attempt to relax them, but the tension does not leave her jaw. She glares at McCree, daring him to continue.

He does, unaffected by (or unaware of) the vitriol she aims at him. "You were in a war zone, doc. People die in war all the time."

Heat rises to her cheeks as anger bubbles up in her throat. Angela’s face twists as she looks up at McCree, staring right into his eyes, fire and fierce determination glinting in her own. She knows yelling will do no good, though, so she swallows down her burning rage and replaces it with cold, unwavering fury. "I don't need you to tell me what war is like.”

To his credit, McCree inches back, sheepish.

"Didn't mean it like that," he says, turning his head to the side. Angela almost doesn't catch his words; they're mumbled right into the folds of cloth around his neck.

"Then you should choose your words more carefully."

McCree is silent for a moment. He looks like he wants to say something - the wrinkle in his nose and at his brow are sign enough - but he must eventually realize he's in the wrong, because he lets a breath out through his nose and some of the tension leaves his shoulders. "... Yeah. Right. Sorry."

Angela frowns. She feels like a bit of an ass now for bringing him down like this when he was only here for a prescription and a quick stitch, but she's tired of being treated as delicately as she is. She's not a girl anymore - she's seen more than her fair share of bloodshed, and she's one of the leading minds not only in Overwatch's medical branch, but in the global scientific community as a whole. It's what drives her so crazy about this man - they’re same age, but he treats her like a doll.

And maybe she hates herself, just a little bit, for liking it.

"I'm sorry, too," she says. She really is, but she can't bring herself to meet McCree's eyes again. Instead, she focuses entirely on his arm, on the needle moving in and out of his skin. It's simple work, almost mindless, and it's easy to understand - much easier than navigating the complex emotions behind her acquaintanceship with McCree.

They sit silently, Angela stitching McCree up and McCree trying to hide how uncomfortable je is. He's doing a terrible job, what with how his leg bounces with every jab of the needle, and he bites his lip hard to muffle his sharp intakes of breath, but it's nice that he's no longer trying to distract her.

Angela pulls the needle through one more time, then pauses. McCree looks down at his arm and raises a brow, uncertain, but before he can ask what the hold up is, Angela speaks.

"How do you… how do you deal with it?" she asks. Because he has dealt with it - he must have, because covert or not, not everyone returns from Blackwatch missions alive.

"You mean the guilt?" he asks, but they both know Angela doesn't have to answer. He chews the inside of his mouth as he mulls over what to say, then eventually shrugs. "We all have our methods. All different ways of coping. Me, I drink. Genji cuts heads. Reyes… he sews, if you can believe it."

In spite of herself, Angela giggles. "I can. I've seen his Halloween costumes."

McCree laughs too. "Right? Wouldn't've thought someone like him would be into that kinda thing. Someone who's all tough and no-nonsense like that." He shakes his head fondly. "But that's beside the point. Point is, distractions help. You gotta face it eventually, but in the meantime, keep yourself busy. I can't tell you how to do that, though, since that's what's different for everyone."

"Hm." Angela looks up, watches McCree's eyes. He doesn't look at her, not directly. His gaze is far away, locked on something she wouldn't be able to see even if she tried. And that's where the conversation ends, with him giving her something to think about.

She finishes the stitch and wraps the wound. "There, all done," she says. "The anaesthetic should wear off soon. Now let's write you that prescription."

She stands up and moves to the desk, scribbling something on a pad of paper. When she hands it to McCree, he squints, trying to decipher it, but there’s no point. Angela has perfected the art of illegible doctor’s notes.

“Don’t worry, it’s just an antibiotic. It shouldn’t interfere with any other medication you take, but it might cause stomach aches if you don’t take it with food.”

McCree nods and stuffs the note into his pocket, but he still looks wary. Angela smiles in spite of herself. “Thanks, doc,” he says. “I’ll let you know how it gets on.”

“Please do. If there are any complications, make sure you see me right away.”

“Got it.” McCree tips his hat to her and turns around to leave the room. He manages to open the door and get one foot out, but he doesn’t get any farther than that: hastily, Angela calls out “Wait!”

McCree looks at her over his shoulder, expression puzzled. “What’s the problem, doc?”

Angela hesitates. She looks down at her hands and wrings them together. She isn’t even sure why she stopped him leaving, really, but she decides in that moment that she can’t just let him go like this. Can’t let him go without saying something.

She looks up. “Thank you,” she whispers.

McCree nods. The slightest hint of a smile quirks his lips upward, and he tips his hat again. “Anytime, doc.”

He leaves the office and shuts the door behind him, leaving Angela alone with her thoughts, and her slightly lessened guilt, once more.

[minyoongijjangjjangmanboongboong]

The Parting Chapter Eleven

Description: The only certainty in life is death, and it seems to follow Park Jimin. All his life, the icy shadow of death has hung closely by his side, along with the shadow of…something else. Reapers exist to guide the souls of the living to the world beyond. But what happens when a particular Reaper tampers with the natural order and saves a mortal boy’s life? What will they do once their fates become inextricably linked?

Genre: Supernatural, Drama, Fluff, Angst

Pairing: Jimin x (f) OC

Word Count: 8.6k

Tags: Flower Shop Owner!Jimin, Reaper!OC, Non-Idol!AU, Cop!Yoongi, Supernatural!AU

Warnings: Death, swearing and mentions of alcohol, although infrequently

A/N: Hello! This story is pretty quickly wrapping up! Only a few things left to be seen/answered. I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride as much as I have! And I’m already planning for my next fic, which will be VERY reliant upon your interaction! Your choices will directly affect the story. Anyway, I’ll post more information about that once we get to the last chapter of this story. As always, I will respond to all asks received within a day of receiving them, so feel free and feel comfortable sending me anything! And please send feedback, criticism, comments or concerns my way so I can address them.

DISCLAIMER!!! Although I have researched quite a lot about Korean culture, I am taking a fictitious approach to its history. While I am trying to be historically accurate, there are sure to be details that I mess up! Please know that I have no poor intentions! DISCLAIMER!!!

AHH! And I started a Ko-Fi account! PLEASE do NOT feel pressured to donate if you don’t have the money or just don’t want to! There’s no expectation or obligation, but anything is appreciated. Love you guys! https://ko-fi.com/mercurywriter

- Mercury

Previous Chapter – Next Chapter

Chapter One

Masterlist

Weekly updates: Sunday, 1PM (PST)

Hoseok sat on an old rope swing, swaying gently along with the branches overhead. I stood beside him, leaning against the rough side of a tree with my eyes on the underbrush below our feet. Neither of us said anything for a while. After we’d seen each other, Hoseok had quickly righted himself and jerked his head towards the exit. I’d followed, throwing apologies over my shoulder at Seonhwa as I rushed after her son. She called after us, but after a few moments she simply shrugged and hopped back over the desk to rest with the pharmaceuticals.

It had been five minutes of silence between me and the nurse.

“Hoseok-,”

“Hold on,” he said, shaking his head as he gripped the rope swing with both hands. “I need to think about how to word this.”

I sighed and laced my fingers in front of me. “Please take your time,” I said. I was still avoiding going back to Jimin for the time being.

He glanced up at me from below and shook his head, staring at me properly as he blinked and said nothing for a while. “It’s just crazy,” he said.

I raised my brows. “What is?”

“All of this,” he said.

“Be specific.”

He sighed. “At first…I guess I was kinda suspicious of you because you can see…those things.”

I thought a moment. Could he possibly mean…? “Reapers?” I asked.

His eyes went wide. “They have a name?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, then sighed. “I’m rather stunned that you can see them too.”

He shrugged and watched his feet as they traced circles into the dirt below. “Every few generations, someone in the family gets the…gene or whatever. It’s always been the women until I was born.”

I stared at the ground. “I…I believe I used to be the same. In the past.”

He cocked a brow. “Which past?” he asked.

I stiffened. “Hoseok, what do you know about me?” I asked.

He sighed and stood up, standing in front of me properly. “My mom and my grandma used to tell stories about the family heritage. Apparently, we come from a line of shamans.”

My eyes widened. So my theories were correct. These people…were my descendants. “Y-You do?”

“The earliest Kwon was named Seonhwa. She lived a really successful life actually. She practiced herbal medicine in the common class, but she wasn’t a shaman. Her grandmother was, and so was her sister…,” he paused to glance at me. “Her sister Nari.”

I shook my head and raked my fingers through my hair. “So she grew up well…,” I breathed, relief flooding through me. “She lived well. Children too…”

Hoseok chuckled. “So you really are her then? You’re…that Nari?” he asked.

I met his dark eyes, scanning them for a long moment, and reluctantly nodded my head. “I believe I am.”

He smiled and chuckled, reaching a hand out to me. “It’s nice to officially meet you,” he said, shaking my hand gently.

“You seem very unfazed by all of this,” I said.

He shrugged. “Once Dad told us that you took a temporary name, I kinda put it all together. The fact that you can see those shadows, the fact that you look like Mom and Jisoo…I don’t know, it made sense,” he said.

I chuckled. “What an odd life you must live if something like that makes any sense to you.”

He laughed and shrugged, his expression softer and kinder somehow, less hostile and distrusting than before. “Weird shit has always happened to me. Hell, this town,” he said with a laugh. “Anyway, I just got a weird vibe from you since the start. And the fact that you could talk to the shadows-,”

“Wait, how did you know that?” I asked.

He raised his brows. “That day at the hospital when Jimin found you in the hallway. I was following that shadow after it left a room and heard your voice,” he said.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I groaned.

He scoffed. “And risk you thinking I was a crazy person? No thanks,” he said. “What if my hypothesis was wrong? I’m a nurse. I value the scientific method.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anyway…I guess I’m your aunt now?” I asked, furrowing my brow. “That seems wrong.”

He laughed and nodded. “Yeah, well…” His expression shifted as if he remembered something suddenly and he turned to me, arms crossed and eyes wide. “There’s something I’m curious about though. Aunt Nari…she died really young.”

My stomach dropped. Another early death. Just what had happened to Jimin and me all those lifetimes ago? “How young…?”

“It’s hard to say since it’s just a family story, but…twenty-one or so,” he said. “It just seems strange that you’d come to this town as the same age she died at.”

I shook my head. “I…I didn’t come here, Hoseok,” I said softly.

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain it but…just know that I was sincere when I said I didn’t remember a life before waking up on the street,” I said.

His eyes went dark as he scanned me. “Nari, you’re confusing me,” he said, tone serious.

I shook my head. “That’s all I can say. Hoseok, my life began two weeks ago,” I said.

Hoseok watched me with confusion in his eyes and his jaw clenched before a sigh escaped him and he nodded. “As long as it’s not, like, time travel or something I’ll accept it.”

I laughed, feeling the mood shift towards something more comfortable and playful and nodded my head. “I am certain that’s not it.” I sighed and ran my hands over my thighs. “But…do you know how that Nari died?” I asked.

He pursed his lips. “Mom said that Grandma Seonhwa didn’t like talking about it. Seems it was a pretty big wound for the family,” he said, then peered around as if looking for spies. He leaned close. “But I have a theory.”

I raised my brows. “You do?” I asked, grabbing his arm. “What is it?”

He glanced at my fingers before prying them off of his skin. He sighed. “Whenever the family keeps something secret, it has to do with all that shaman business,” he said quietly. “It’s not something the family likes to be associated with. Ever since Grandma Seonhwa started doing herbal medicine, nobody in the family worked as shamans.”

My eyes widened. “Even though they were born with that…gift?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’ve always been suspicious. Like, why do we talk to death about all of the other relatives, but we never learn about Aunt Nari and what she did? Why she died? It’s suspicious.”

“So you think…something paranormal happened to her-er, to me?” I asked, shaking my head.

He gave me a heavy, grim look and nodded once. “I think so.”

If Jimin died at twenty-three, and I died at twenty-one then we died around the same time. Coincidences like that didn’t just…happen. I’d lost all faith in coincidence. It had to be connected. Slowly, the dots of my past life began to emerge, their hazy connections taking shape as I uncovered more information.

But there was still something nagging at me.

How did Jimin die?

At the end of the week, I made a trip to the library. Jimin and I had grown distant, with neither of us speaking much and no more shy glances. It seemed I’d really hurt him. My heart ached, but it was for his own good. I was never meant to be a permanent fixture in his life. He’d gotten too close too rapidly. The fact alone that he didn’t care about what I was said enough. He was deluded by feelings he shouldn’t have for me. And despite my own curiosities about my background and the life I lived before, I didn’t need to entangle Jimin any further. It seemed I couldn’t keep my promise to him that we’d figure things out together…

I sat at the same table we’d shared that day and watched the empty space where he would have sat with a tightening chest. I shook my head and grabbed the book of records, quickly locating Jimin’s name and trailing a finger down the page, searching for an obituary or even a cause of death. After a few seconds scanning the words, I found it.

Drowning…

I furrowed my brow and touched the word with the tip of my finger, shaking my head. How could he have drowned? I remembered that river and a shiver ran up my spine. I shut the book and slid it away, crossing my arms as I stared at the wobbly table before me, unable to understand exactly what it was that had happened between us.

“You’re researching the boy…,” said a voice from behind me.

I jumped and turned to find Zero standing with his back to me, eyes flitting over the shelves of books before him. I stood and rushed to his side, watching him as he gently lifted a hand to touch a book before sighing and glancing to the side, peering down at me.

“Zero…what are you doing here?” I asked, frantically looking around for any onlookers. “In public?”

He smiled slightly and returned to scanning the books. “We are the only souls in this library who don’t work here,” he said with a listless chuckle. “Quite a lot safer than that apartment.”

I stiffened and sighed. “Yes,” I said. “I was researching him.”

“Not the him from this lifetime, however,” he said, not even bothering to look at me.

I nodded. There was no use lying to him when he knew it all already. “Yes.”

“So you’ve remembered something?” he asked, looking at me with a smirk. “Just how much?”

“Zero…what do you know?” I asked.

He smiled, but it didn’t seem malicious. “I’m bound by contract not to tell you,” he said. “But it seems I may not have to.”

I stared up at him. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Your memories are returning on their own. That, my friend, was not part of the contract,” he said, laughing slightly. “I almost can’t believe it.”

“So…my memories…they’re really mine?” I asked, voice timid, giving life to the silent fears and worries that had plagued me for weeks.

“That I cannot answer,” he said. “The only solution is to continue remembering.”

I shook my head. “But Zero, I have just over a week left before the deadline. How am I supposed to remember a lifetime?”

He sighed. “You must,” he said, finally turning to me and sending me a severe look. “If you don’t and time runs out, I must take matters into my own hands regarding the boy.”

“Can you do that?” I asked.

He nodded. “I can do many things,” he said, resting his Book on his hip. His expression soured. “If I am beckoned.”

“Beckoned…?”

He stared down at me and a soft smile touched his sharp features. “What I saw in you before is stronger now,” he said with a nod. “Remember your place.”

I exhaled in a long huff and shook my head. “I don’t understand what you mean! Stop speaking in riddles and tell me properly.”

He shook his head and reached out to give my shoulder an almost reassuring squeeze. “You have the answers, Nari.”

My eyes went wide. He called me by my name… Before I could respond, he was gone and I was left alone, staring at a shelf of books with my pulse thrumming. There was something barring Zero from speaking, some contract binding him to silence. But he said I had the answers…

All I had to do was remember.

“And that’s how Grandma Jisoo got away with insurance fraud,” said Hoseok with a sigh, leaning back on his palms as the two of us watched the advancing tide.

We’d spent the entire afternoon going over old family stories, hoping to stumble upon something useful. If Zero was convinced I had the answers, then that meant there might be a way to save both Jimin and Injung. If I could only find the right key, I could unlock the door to my third option.

But it seemed that key was rather elusive, since hours had passed and nothing had seemed relevant enough to remember. Although hearing about my descendants made me smile, I didn’t have the luxury of time to enjoy their stories. Hoseok and I sat on a checkered blanket on the sand, the sun seeping into my skin as I sighed and rested my chin on my knees. What in the world was I supposed to do when my only insight came from dreams I could neither control nor summon?

“Hoseok!” called a female voice from behind us.

The two of us turned to the source and saw Jisoo — not Grandma Jisoo who successfully committed fraud, but the living one — rushing down the beach towards us. As she approached, she rested her hands on her knees and caught her breath. She sent Hoseok a sharp look before turning to me with a smile.

“Hi, Nari!” she said, voice singsongy.

I chuckled and flitted my fingers. “Nice to see you, Jisoo.”

She wore her casual clothes which, much like mine, seemed slightly too big for her. And in her hair was a striking little pin. The pin she’d toted the other day, the lily pin. A vision flashed before my eyes to the pin I’d worn in my own hair in my dreams. I furrowed my brow. Hadn’t that been mine from the start? How could they be the same when she’d received it as a gift from Yeoreum?

I shifted away from Hoseok to make room for Jisoo on the blanket and she sat with a grin. “What’re you doing down here? Aren’t you helping Mom today?” asked Hoseok.

Jisoo tossed him a glare before returning her attention to me. “She wanted me to tell you we’re ordering takeout and you have to go get it.”

I glanced to Hoseok. There was still so much we needed to go over. Hoseok shrugged his shoulders and stood up, dusting off the backs of his legs with a sigh. “We can talk more later, Nari,” he said with a wave.

I moved to follow him, but quickly remembered Jisoo and settled back down. “You look kinda pale,” she remarked, scanning my features. “Paler than usual.”

I nodded. “I’m not doing very well.”

She pouted. “Is it something I can help with?” she asked.

I smiled and gave the top of her hand a pat. “I don’t think so,” I said. Hoseok had agreed it was best not to tell Jisoo or Seonhwa about my past life, given how the family reacted to anything occult. So I simple smiled. “That pin really suits you,” I said.

She touched it with a grin and nodded. “I think so too.”

“And it was a gift? From Yeoreum?” I asked, my tone edgy. “You mentioned he bought it.”

She shrugged. “I dunno where he got it. I kinda just assumed he bought it, but the more I look at it the more it seems like…really old.”

I stiffened. It did seem rather antiquated. “I see…”

“Mom told me a cool story when I first got it about one of our ancestors,” she said. “The one Mom is named after.”

I nodded. “Hoseok has been telling me some of your family’s stories. It’s very interesting,” I said, to which her dark eyes lit up.

She grinned. “Right? This story is my favorite I think. She’s told parts of it before, but she never told me this part,” she said with a nod. “When Grandma Seonhwa moved to this town, she met with a super rich family. Like, one of the richest ones in the area.”

I raised my brows. Such an industrious girl was meeting with nobles? “How did she know them?”

Jisoo shook her head and glanced out to the water. “We don’t know. She never talked about it.”

“Huh…” Another thing they didn’t talk about…I could only theorize that it had to do with me somehow.

“Anyway, the youngest son was her age and he really liked her,” she said with a laugh. “Every day he would send her gifts and try to get her attention, but she never responded to him.”

I chuckled. That, I could picture. The young, plucky girl with her messy hair and dirt-stained hands. Of course she would reject the advances of someone like that. “Charming.”

She shook her head. “Anyway, I guess he kept trying to give her this one lily hairpin and she kept saying no. I dunno why, but I guess that gift really ticked her off and she finally told him outright to stop,” she said, then laughed. “Which only made him like her more. I guess he only gave up when she got married to someone else.”

“How persistent,” I said, but my mind had begun churning. If that lily pin really was mine, and it did look horribly similar, then what did that say about the youngest son? A cold chill ran through me as an inkling of an idea took form in my mind. “Tell me, Jisoo. Do you know if this man had siblings?”

She nodded. “Two older brothers.”

I stiffened and stared at her profile with wide eyes. “And what was their family name?”

She pursed her lips, then snapped her fingers. “It’s Park!” she said with a grin. “Just like Jimin. I actually thought it was pretty funny when Jimin told me his family name the first day we met, since it was the same as that rich family.”

I felt my stomach flip and my hands grip the blanket tightly. Yeoreum was related to Jimin’s past. He had to be. After Seonhwa rejected that pin, that youngest son must have held onto it. And if Seonhwa was at marrying age, then I was already dead. She likely cast it away so vehemently because it had once belonged to me. I shook my head. Just how connected was everything in this town?

“Just how long will you continue watching me?” I asked, washing the linens with downcast eyes as the river rushed over my fingers.

Jimin cleared his throat and came to sit beside me, footfalls soft on the leaves and underbrush. He adjusted his hanbok and crouched on the balls of his feet, watching me as I tended to the laundry.

“Hello…,” he said softly.

I nodded my head, but didn’t look at him. For months, the boy had been relentless in his approaches toward me, leaving me no choice but to ignore him.  While I was mixing herbs for his older brother’s rash, he was watching in the doorway like a specter. The day I’d spent teaching his younger brother calligraphy, the boy had lingered just outside in the garden, listening in. Time passed this way, almost too quickly for me to notice, and without even realizing I’d become comfortable with this place and with that strange second son. But the more persistent he was, the weaker my will became. I simply was no match for his stubbornness.

“Is there something you wish to discuss?” I asked. I’d grown bolder during my time with the Parks, and I seldom held my tongue around the sons.

Jimin cleared his throat and wrung his hands. “Well…it’s a bit strange, but…uh…hm…”

I finally glanced at him and saw in his cherubic cheeks was a pinkish blush, blooming all across his fair skin. I raised my brows. “Yes?”

He sighed and ruffled his hair, frustrated, before he turned to me and took my hands. I jumped, desperate to avoid his touch and the unpleasant consequences of it, but his grip was tight and his eyes were pleading. Slowly, I stilled and watched him with cautiously narrowed gaze.

“Nari, will you accompany me to the festival tonight?” he asked.

I tilted my head to the side. “Festival?” I asked.

He nodded, brows knitted. “I would really love it if you could,” he said, then his eyes went wide. “If you can spare the time of course!”

Why then did my heart race? I glanced down at my chest, ordering my fickle heart to settle down, before I met his eyes once more. “Is that appropriate? For someone like me to accompany you?”

He furrowed his brow. “Appropriate?” he asked, seemingly baffled. “What does that matter? I want to go with you.”

“And because you want it, is it so?” I asked, sighing as I gathered the washing and placed it carefully in my basket. “This is the critical difference between you and me. You, Park Jimin, request and receive. Have you known rejection?”

He stood up and stared down at me with cheeks flaming. “Yes!” he exclaimed, pointing at me wildly. “I experience it every day with you!”

I scoffed and rested my basket on my hip. “And just what do you mean?”

“I come to you all day and all day you make yourself scarce to me,” he said, pouting slightly and crossing his arms over his chest. “Would you like to know what I think our critical difference is?”

I nodded and offered a grin. “I would love to know.”

He squinted at me before glancing away, still pouting. “I see things that I desire and I reach for them,” he said, then smirked slyly. “I am not a coward.”

My chest puffed and I gaped at him, unable to manage my expression. “A coward?!” I shouted, wagging a finger at his chest. “My apologies, Young Master, but those of us who serve others have not the liberty to be brave!”

He stuck his tongue out at me and shrugged. “I am hearing many excuses from you today, Nari.” He took a step toward me. “It seems to me that you are simply finding ways to avoid me because you are afraid you may fall for me.”

I gaped. “Park Jimin, in what reality would that be the case?” I asked.

He chuckled, confidence now inhabiting his form as he leaned away. “If you’re unafraid, then come with me tonight.”

I laughed and nodded. “Fine,” I said, holding out my free hand for him to shake. “But expect no falling from me.”

He grinned and grabbed my hand, shaking it firmly. “We shall see.”

Why then did I tend to my appearance so carefully that night? I sighed at my reflection, touching my lily pin gently with my fingertip. If Seonhwa could have seen me then, gracefully made and pristinely dressed, she would have laughed. But something about that boy made me frustrated, agitated. He made me competitive and ornery. A spoiled young aristocrat, born into wealth and power, taking a shine to someone like me? It was comical. The plot to a lackluster theater performance.

Nonetheless, I made sure not a hair was set out of place.

When I entered the garden to meet him, Jimin was wringing his hands and staring at the ground. He seemed to be regulating his breathing and I wondered briefly if perhaps he was nervous. I quickly banished the thought with a dismissive shake of my head and approached him, mindful to maintain a stoicism that his charm couldn’t penetrate.

But as he turned to me with a smile, my heart leapt and I had to glance away from his flushed face and his shy grin to keep from feeling something troubling. The two of us walked together along the path from the estate which led into the town center. Jimin and I made quiet conversation, although to call it conversation was slightly overstating. Jimin indeed did most of the talking. But I didn’t find it unpleasant. In fact, his anecdotes and jesting tales made me laugh.

“Ah, Nari!” he called, pointing to a stall serving nuts to crack in the teeth. The harvest ceremony had already ended and evening was descending, lanterns lightening the paths which all the townspeople traversed with smiles. “Would you like to try?”

I stiffened and rushed toward him. “I cannot afford it-,”

He gave me a look which silenced me and shook his head. “I asked if you would like to try, not if you had money.”

I blinked and glanced back toward the stall. “I…suppose,” I said quietly.

He smiled gently, the yellow light from the lanterns reflecting in his eyes, and I wondered if perhaps he had been right. Perhaps I really had been afraid… “Let’s go then,” he said, taking my hand and leading me toward the stall.

We each pressed the nuts between our back teeth and bit down hard. It ached my jaw, but watching Jimin laugh and giggle as the crumbs fell from his lips kept my complaints from being aired. I simply watched him with a fond smile as he cracked a few more, joking that his teeth would surely be the strongest in the town if he kept going.

After a while, Jimin led the way to the beach. Many of the townsfolk dared not descend that far from the festivities, choosing instead to deviate in groups and climb cliffs to catch a glimpse of the first full moon. Jimin and I stood together, watching the sky as it turned vibrant orange and red, neither of us saying much of anything. Twilight was encroaching on the horizon, and I watched the sky carefully.

“You must like the night sky,” I remarked, thinking privately.

He glanced at me, bathed in sunset light, and smiled. “Hm?”

I felt my face go red and cleared my throat. “Well…considering your father’s occupation.”

He nodded with a sigh. “Father thinks the sky has the answers, but…I think he troubles himself too much with fate. If it is indeed inescapable, then why assume the burden of monitoring it?” he asked.

I thought a moment. His father had said that he was very worried for his second son. For Jimin. I turned to him slightly. “What do you think?” I asked.

He glanced at me with only his eyes before a small smile touched his lips. “I think…life is a very fleeting blessing. I wish to live each day with that in mind.”

I opened my mouth to remind him that not everyone could live that way, but stopped myself. The air between us was somber, vulnerable. For reasons I didn’t fully understand, I wanted to protect that. “Is that why you were so persistent towards me?” I asked.

He swallowed harshly and coughed a little, clasping his hands behind his back and turning to walk down the beach. I quickly followed, taking up a spot by his side, and examined his expression. “That is…part of the reason, yes.”

“And the other part?” I asked.

His eyes slid towards me. “The other part is…because…,” he started, then cringed slightly and shook his head. “Forget me. I’m rambling.”

“I was the one who asked,” I said, scanning him.

He flushed and looked away, his strides long and slow and easy. “Well…the other part is because you are…very different from anyone else I’ve met.”

“Is that a compliment?” I asked, emboldened by the sunset and the warm atmosphere between us.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “You are awfully direct,” he said, then sighed and faced me. “It is a very, very good thing.” I looked away, chagrined, and listened to his endearing laugh. “When you spend all your life with people who wish to exploit you and your family…it is refreshing to meet someone sincere. Someone with a moral compass and too much pride.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, eyes wide.

He laughed and shook his head. “I really enjoy you.”

My breath hitched and I avoided his eyes once more. What sort of feeling was this? Had he always been so kind? The Park Jimin I’d known since coming to his home had been a petty troublemaker, a mischievous boy with a penchant for disturbing me. He’d frustrated me and charmed me in equal measures.

But this evening…he seemed different.

And my heart behaved differently in turn.

“I…suppose your company is not entirely bothersome,” I said, my tone begrudging as I avoided his imploring gaze.

He laughed. “Please repeat that.”

I shook my head. “I do not repeat myself for nobles.”

Jimin’s laugh echoed through the beach, now drenched in the purple hues of twilight. “I am glad to know you regard me more kindly now,” he said, voice as gentle as a cresting wave. “I’ve always regarded you that way.”

My stomach fluttered slightly and I nearly groaned in frustration. How could I have these budding emotions for someone like him? After all these years caring only for my family, I’d never once considered my romantic life. Marriage, children…they all seemed lofty goals compared to daily survival. But this aristocrat was stirring my heart about carelessly.

“Say,” he began, taking wide, sweeping steps forward. “How did you learn medicine?”

I pursed my lips. “It was out of necessity. My family…we are not the kind of people who can receive aid in any way. This includes medical treatment,” I said with a sigh.

He raised his brows and stared down at me. “Truly?”

I nodded. “Many people live this way,” I said.

He furrowed his brow. “They shouldn’t.”

With a smile, I chanced a glance his way and noticed his jaw set staunchly and his eyes narrowed. I chuckled. “Righteous outrage?” I asked.

“I never knew people really lived that way,” he said, shaking his head. “If I take after my father, I’ll see to it that the king affords basic human dignity to even the lowest class.”

I smiled. “I hope you can do it,” I said.

He peeked down at me and as our eyes met, his cheeks grew pink and he cleared his throat. “H-How do you know my father then? If you cannot approach him.”

“My father is…a very trusted physician,” I said with a nod, although the words felt like acid. “He works with your father often.”

His eyes went wide. “If your father is a physician, then your class equals mine,” he said.

I smiled at my feet as they flattened the sand beneath them. “If I were conceived legitimately, certainly.” He paused and his steps slowed to a stop. I turned to face him and met his eyes, something burning in my chest. “Does your favor end here? Has your opinion of me changed?”

He furrowed his brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you think I’m such a spineless man?”

I blinked at him. “No, your reaction is simply-,”

“I’m upset,” he said. “It upsets me that you’ve had to live so poorly for nothing more than a birthright. What kind of society allows this?” he asked.

My heart pounded. I’d never imagined holding counsel with an aristocrat over such issues, and even stranger still was that our opinions aligned. I took a step toward him and crossed my own arms. “Does it truly upset you?”

He nodded. “Of course! What great wrong have you committed to live this way? And your poor mother!”

A small smile stretched across my face. “Poor indeed,” I said, tilting my head to the side as he watched the beach over my shoulder, stewing in frustration. “Father stayed with us even after my sister was born, saying he would cast away his title and raise us from poverty with the strength of his hands alone.”

Jimin’s eyes went wide. “A sister too!” he scoffed. “What a horrible man.”

“A liar too,” I said with a full-fledged grin. “He left even after promising so much. A man is only worth the value of his word, don’t you think?”

“A man’s word is his bond!” exclaimed Jimin, brows set low and face red all over from anger.

I took another small step closer, watching the spectrum of emotions on his face. “My grandmother too now must work,” I said. “Isn’t that too cruel? My elderly grandmother working as a shaman?”

“Deplorable!”

“And my sister catches fish!”

“A little girl!”

“And I work for a rich family, separated from my own!” I shouted, smiling.

At this, his outraged waned and he looked down at me with eyes reflecting the ocean, lips parted. “Why…why does your expression seem so joyful while recounting such awful things?”

I laughed and, gently, pressed my index finger between his eyebrows where the skin was creased with worry. His eyes grew round. “It is the first time I’ve commiserated with someone.” I retracted my hand and smiled at the ground. “How strange. Watching you assume my woes has made me smile.”

“Then I’ll do it forever!”

I looked up at him, at the earnestness in his wide eyes, and couldn't help but laugh. “Truly?”

“Of course! If it brings you joy…anything,” he said softly, voice petering out at the end as he turned his eyes to the ocean and the sky. “Ah! It’s the moon!” he called, pointing toward the sky with a grin.

I followed his finger and noticed that indeed, a ghost of the moon was appearing amongst the lilac clouds. I laughed. “Incredible!” I looked toward the boy and found him smiling brightly at the sky, neck craned and eyes locked on the heavens. I smiled despite myself. “Do you know the old superstition? That the first person to glimpse the first full moon of the lunar new year is granted one wish?”

He turned to me and smiled. “Is that so?”

I nodded. “You must wish quickly. Someone else may be looking at that moon as well,” I said, nudging his shoulder toward the shoreline.

He stiffened and nodded, squeezing his eyes shut and clasping his hands in front of his chest. “I wish…I wish to live a long and happy life with the people I care for, and to make the world better for those people with that life.”

I watched him profess his sincerest wish and felt a twinge of sadness in his voice. I scanned him, desperate to discern even a fraction of his thoughts from his expression. But all I saw was a yearning hope. Had I ever seen someone with such wholehearted, profound longing?

Why was he reaching for his wish with such wild, grasping hands?

He opened his eyes and offered me a smile which I couldn’t return. Instead, I simply watched him for a moment before sighing. “Why did you sound like a man about to die?” I asked.

He blinked and glanced away, rubbing the back of his head. “Do not trouble yourself on my account.”

“It is too late to advise me not to trouble myself. I am at present very troubled,” I said, walking to his side and scanning his profile, a bashful smile on his face. “If you refuse to tell me, perhaps I can write to your father.”

“No!” he shouted, turning to me with a fearful look. “He cannot know I am spending time off the estate.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

He sighed and settled on the sand, sitting on his backside and watching the waves. I joined him, still scanning his features. He ran his hands through his shaggy hair with a grimace. “I’ll tell you,” he said, then shook his head. “But once the night is over. I still wish to have fun.”

I sighed and nodded. “Fine,” I said, touching my own hair and grazing the pin with my fingertips. I watched Jimin’s face as his eyes drank in the scene of the ocean before him. Why did he look so lonesome? I removed the lily pin and held it in my palm, sighing softly. “This pin…was the only gift my father ever gave me.”

Jimin turned to me slightly, watching me. “A lily pin? For your name?”

I smiled at it, turning it over in my hands. “Yes. He said that for a name as lovely as mine, I should have a pin to match,” I said, smoothing my fingers over it. “Perhaps it seems silly to hold something that man gave me so dear, but…it is my most precious possession.”

“How many possessions do you have?” he asked, a teasing smile on his face.

I cast him a sharp glare. “Well now,” I said, huffing with a laugh. “Regardless, it is very important to me.”

“It’s beautiful.”

I was quiet a moment before taking his hand and placing it palm-up atop my knee. “I’d like you to have it,” I said as I placed the pin in his palm.

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “I couldn’t possibly-,”

I met his gaze with a soft smile. “As a thank you for this evening,” I began, “and as a reminder.” I watched his eyes flit over the pin. “You mentioned that you’d like to change the way things are, to fix them for people like me and my family. I want you to keep this pin and remember that promise.”

He stared at it, sitting daintily in his rough palm, and blinked. “Nari, I simply couldn’t-,”

“I am asking you to,” I said, then smiled. “And I am asking you to live a long, healthy life so you can do what you said you would.”

His eyes grew hazy and his fingers closed around the pin. He took it onto his lap and stared at it, nodding his head. “I will,” he said, then turned to me once more.

Slowly, he moved closer. I’d forgotten myself that night, neglecting my position and allowing myself to slip into the easy fantasy that the two of us were simply people. Perhaps friends even. But as his advanced, eyes shut, a brief panic ran through me. I had to run away. I had to save myself from the punishment of cavorting with someone so far above me. I had to save Jimin from the harsh reprimands of his father should anything happen between us.

But in the end, once his plush lips touched mine, I could do nothing but shut my eyes and lean into his touch. Frustration coursed through me, but so did something else. Something much deeper and warmer, skipping through my veins and setting my skin alight. The kiss was short, chaste, but intimate. He pulled back first and stared at me, face still inches from mine, breaths coming slightly shallow as he scanned me. His brows knitted and his eyes fell to the ground.

He took a steadying breath before looking at me again. “Nari…the reason I made that wish is because…,” he began, then stopped and shook his head, swallowing hard. “I am very, very sick.”

My eyes went wide and I backed away, watching him carefully as he ran his fingers through his hair. We’d shared but one kiss, one evening of joy and laughter, and yet this confession sent my heart aching. Why, after just one night, did I wish so deeply to protect this boy?

Morning light sifted through the curtains beside my bed and I watched it for a moment as my senses returned to me. I had awoken from my dreams not with a start, but with a stiffness in my chest. The dream had only confirmed my fears. The Jimin from my memory was nearing his demise. The more of my past memories returned, the closer I felt to this horrible itch in the back of my mind, ever-present and scraping, growing stronger and stronger. I was close to something, something important.

All I had to do was remember.

But I had less than a week left.

I padded out of my bedroom, scratching my head as I wandered towards the kitchen. But as I did, I noticed the refrigerator was open and standing before it was Jimin. He turned to me and opened his mouth as if to speak before, upon thinking a moment, shutting it with a sigh and shutting the refrigerator, maneuvering around me into the living room where he fell against the sofa.

While I tried to make myself accept the distance I’d forced between myself and Jimin, it still hurt to see him in the mornings, readying himself alone, eating alone, heading down to the shop alone. It was a far bigger wedge than a simple rejection. If I’d rejected him, perhaps he might have laughed it off and continued as normal. I’d placed a block between us that was forged of steel. My own unwillingness to allow him close to me, an impregnable wall keeping him from coming to me.

Things were fine before I’d known the depth of his feelings for me. I could convince myself he would surely hate me once I told him the truth about me, but still he stood beside me, steadfast as ever. I could force myself to believe he was only attached to me because I was available, because I was around so often. But he wanted to be with me. For real.

It was for his own good that I wouldn’t allow it.

“Will you pick up some purple ribbon from the store? I’m arranging a wedding bouquet and I don’t have enough,” he said.

Our words were scarce lately. I nodded. “Sure.”

He was quiet, the silence palpable as I stood with nothing to do in the kitchen. “Nari?” he asked, voice breaking slightly.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “Mhm?”

“Please don’t disappear,” he said softly.

I felt the tears welling in my eyes. How could he be so astute yet so oblivious? I turned toward the front door and dabbed my eyes. “I’ll get going now,” I said.

Jungkook helped me check out after I’d found the right ribbon, and the way he eyed me from above let me know he was worried. His brow was slightly lowered, his eyes scanning my features. I wanted to tell him it was fine, that I was fine, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him. Things were so messy and complicated, and my only saving grace was a faulty memory which only arrived in bursts while I slept.

I left the supermarket with one small bag in my hands and wandered through the streets of the town, the tall white-washed buildings I’d glided through before this whole mess began. The uneven pavement, the bright sky and the sun which bleached the bricks. Before I knew it, I was outside that bar. The one Jimin had gone to the night he’d almost died. It was odd to return to such an unsettling place. Just down the street was where I’d emerged as a human being, where I’d defied the laws of the universe for a single boy. I remembered the street slicked with rain and black as sin. I remembered the tingles in my new naked body as I struggled to understand what had happened. After three-hundred years of invisibility…

I sighed and continued walking, routing myself back towards the flower shop.

But as I rounded a corner, I heard a distinct voice. A deep, chesty voice that I recognized at once. Kim Taehyung. Quickly, I crept along the side of a building and inched into the backstreet, untouched by foot-traffic and the source of Taehyung’s voice. I followed it slowly, keeping to the shadows, and peeked around the corner of a decrepit building, catching sight of a red bandana and dark hair. It was him indeed.

“I’m not doing this,” he said, and from his voice alone I knew he was agitated.

I stiffened and peeked at my own discretion, keeping close to the exterior wall of the building so as not to be noticed. “I know. I don’t wanna do it either…,” said a second voice. I tried to place it.

“Then don’t,” he implored.

The second voice sighed. “It’s not that simple.”

Taehyung huffed and I heard a crash, likely the sound of him kicking something into the silent, empty street. “It is! Just leave him alone! Haven’t you done enough now?” he asked.

I shook my head. Surely, he couldn’t mean Jimin… “If I could stop I would, okay?” asked the second voice in a shout. It was so familiar, but impossible to assign to someone without seeing their face. It was too frantic to match the voices I knew. Perhaps if he calmed down…

“Whatever. You’re alone on this one. I had a bad feeling that first night that I shouldn’t have accepted your stupid deal,” spat Taehyung.

The second man sighed. “I should’ve told you the truth from the start. But listen, we’re in too deep now. If I get caught, so do you,” he said.

“What?! I’m not the one who tried to kill somebody! Your instructions were clear: invite Jimin out, get him drunk, text you when he leaves the bar,” said Taehyung. My heart raced. He was the one after all. But who was this man who had commissioned him?

“Do you really think they’ll let you off with a slap on the wrist?! You’re an accomplice to an attempted murder!” shouted the second man. The longer I listened, the more familiar his voice became. But it was still too hard to discern through the yelling.

“Like hell!” shouted Taehyung. “I’m out! Just…skip town or something. I don’t wanna see your face anymore.”

“Wait!”

“Getting involved with you was a fucking mistake!” he yelled.

The first man shouted into the air. “It’s one more night Taehyung! All I need you to do is make sure he goes to that stupid fair!” he called.

“Not a chance!”

“Jesus, do I really have to threaten you?” the man yelled.

The conversation was going nowhere and Taehyung’s voice was growing more and more distant. This was my chance. An opportunity to get a glimpse of the murderer with my own eyes. If I didn’t seize it, he would slip through my fingers once more. I didn’t have much time to unravel this mystery before it was too late. And if this man was planning to attack during the fair, I needed to know who to look out for.

Stealthily, I edged around the corner. I could only see his back, calling after Taehyung, but I could see some distinguishable features. Dark hair, long legs, black shirt. He was too far away. If I could just get a closer look…

“What was that?” asked Taehyung, whipping around to look in my direction. His eyes went round and horrified as he stared at me and I was rendered immobile in fear.

The culprit’s posture went rigid as he looked at Taehyung before, like a lightning bolt, he was sprinting down the street. “Stop!” I screamed, running after him.

Taehyung watched me as I whizzed past him before he too began running, but in the opposite direction. I wasn’t sure where he was going or what he would do, but as we passed one another, I noticed him reach into his pocket and grab his cell phone. Just like that night. I shook my head and kept running, pushing my body to its limit as I raced after the man’s rapidly retreating form as he became but a dot on the horizon, weaving through alleyways and between buildings.

I searched for the man for hours, the ribbon long forgotten, my breaths coming and going in wheezing gasps. But in the end, he was far faster than me. I’d been so foolish, chasing a man like that. I was desperate. There was nothing more I could do besides run and run. And as I ran, things became clearer and clearer. Taehyung had been contracted by this man to lure Jimin out. Taehyung seemed not to know the scope of what he was involved in, likely unaware that the end result would be murder. This man, this mastermind, seemed bound to his actions as well. As if there was something far larger than him pulling the strings.

Just like Jin had said. Perhaps this was much larger than a petty murder case…

I approached the flower shop with blisters on my heels and my hair a mess atop my head. My eyes never lifted as I walked past the front of the shop, but I noticed in the reflection of the glass that two police patrol cars were parked on the curb. I tilted my head and thought a moment. Why were they here?

Unless…

My heart raced and I shook my head in fear, hands trembling as I quickly ripped the door open. No, no, no. The murderer was surely not reckless enough to attack Jimin right after being spotted. Surely he had more sense than that. Surely, surely. I shook my head, rushing into the shop.

Breathlessly, I looked around and tears began collecting in my eyes. “Jimin!” I shouted, voice cracking from the strain. “Jimin! Jimin, are you okay?!” I cried.

Movement came from the back of the shop and my eyes darted madly towards it, jumping at the promise of Jimin’s safety. But who emerged left my chest deflated. Yoongi approached me slowly, sighing as he came close, and scanned my face, avoiding my eyes altogether.

“Where’s Jimin? Is he safe?” I asked, tears spilling.

Yoongi nodded. “He’s in the back talking to Namjoon.”

I sighed, relief rushing through my body, and nodded. “Thank God. I just saw the murderer. I chased him, but I lost him in town. He was talking to-,”

“You’re under arrest for suspicion of attempted murder.”

My blood ran cold and my words halted. “What?”

“You have the right to an attorney,” he said, staring into the middle ground beside me with an almost disinterested affect. “Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law-,”

“Yoongi-,”

“If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be assigned to you.”

“Yoongi, wait-,”

“Please come with me back to the station.”

“Yoongi!” I shouted, finally forcing him to look me in the eyes. When he did, I saw something there that startled me. Both regret and apprehension. He didn’t trust me… “Yoongi, you know I didn’t do it.”

He sighed and gripped the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know, Nari. That’s the problem.”

I shook my head. “I’d never hurt Jimin.”

“We received an incriminating testimony from someone who was at the bar that night,” he reported with a shake of his head. “He said you spoke to a man while Jimin was lying on the ground before removing your clothes and feigning unconsciousness.”

“I…I what?” I asked, shaking my head. “Yoongi, that is absolutely impossible.”

He shrugged. “It’s a reliable statement.”

I swallowed hard, peering over his shoulder towards the back of the store as Namjoon and Jimin emerged. Jimin’s face was red. It was clear he’d been crying, eyes swollen and cheeks puffy. He lifted his eyes to look at me and I tried with all my heart to understand what those eyes held for me. Contempt? Anger? Hatred?

All I could see was a broken boy, all alone.

“Was it Taehyung?” I asked quietly, piecing it all together.

Yoongi sighed. “I can’t disclose that.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

Wordlessly, he placed a hand between my shoulder blades and led me towards the front door, guiding me to his car. Before I exited the shop, I looked over my shoulder and met Jimin’s eyes. Hopelessly, I sniffled as tears trailed down my face. Suddenly, the ground was ripped out from under me. Everything I relied upon was taken in an instant, and I was left stumbling in the blackness of the infinite unknown alone.

I didn’t know if I would ever see him again.

So, loudly enough for him to hear, I nodded my head and said the only thing I knew was true. The only thing I could think to say. “I love you.”

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Epi: Meat p10 reaction

So, with little fanfare, we've passed the point in time that is the Masterpiece.

I wonder if John's next interaction with the outside world will be granting himself retcon powers, or whether from his perspective the next thing is being summoned by Vriska. That being said, I wonder how Vriska will react to seeing these people emerge from the house artefact, you'd think she'd be very surprised. Will John & co. have felt it to be hours from their perspective, being trapped? Or longer? Can't have been years, or their relative age difference wouldn't matter any more.

Also, is Davepetasprite^2 nearby for their confrontation with LE? If not, this definitely won't be the final showoff! But if she is, well... I wonder how things turn out, this almost can't already be it for Lord English. Then again, if the perspective now switches back to Earth C for a long time, by the time we switch back the plot could be culminating.

I also wonder if there will be any interaction with the people outside the Black Hole's event horizon (I know, contradiction in termini there). Like, post-retcon Aradia, who'd been watching the mayhem unfold.

---

"Jane Crocker sweeps into her office" Well then. That answers that. Mary Poppins-style entry for them, then? :P Courtyard Droll isn't around to be wielding an umbrella, fortunately.

I'm interested to get a good look into her mind, given all we've heard said about the state of Earth C, and Dave's mistrust in her. Also wondering how her relationship with her Dad has evolved over the years. Wouldn't at all be surprised if he was still leaving supportive notes as well as confectionary in her office.

Blaperile has a good point, Dirk might be coming around, being her campaign manager. Their relationship was always interesting, due to the similarities to as well as the differences with John & Dave's.

"The sun cuts through her venetian blinds, painting butter-yellow strips of light all the way from one end of her impeccably tailored office to the other." In other words, exactly the state in which a private investigator likes their office to brood. :P Stations may change but demeanors don't do as quickly.

"It’s a lovely day, like most days, so not terribly remarkable except for the horrid news that she has just received at her customary morning press conference." There's competition afoot and its name is Vantas.

"[Jane] brushes her hands over her hips to smooth the wrinkles out of her powder-blue pencil skirt. Then she hems, haws, puffs out her cheeks, and takes a very deep breath before snatching a pillow off the nearest couch so that she can scream into it." So majestic. And such a Jane thing to do, too (even though Rose started the whole screaming into pillows for Homestuck), remember the time she was being 'supportive' when Jake was contemplating Dirk's affections? Both times, really.

"There are, surely, a multitude of ways for a person to find out that an acquaintance is running against you in a presidential election. From a carapacian reporter, in front of twenty-six other members of the interspecies press, was not the method Jane would have personally chosen." Welp. Well, yeah, it stood to reason Dave wasn't going to say anything, given his misgivings about her. 27 reporters, huh. Kinda wondering about how representative they were to the entirety of the populace. All the bigwig stations must've been represented, of course, but then it would seem humanity has an overly large representation in those already.

"She cannot believe that Karkat would do this to her. This is no longer a political fiat (which the election would surely have been had she run uncontested by any other civilization-founding celebrities) but rather a battle between “friends.” What did Vantas think he was doing?" Well, uh, it seems that he's giving you fair competition where you seemed to be of the idea there wouldn't be any. That's not really a good starting point for a politician, Jane. Seems like her business-minded attitude is indeed influencing her campaign strategy.

"This could not have possibly been Karkat’s idea." Yeah, I'd thought she'd be on to it quickly.

"He is not cut out for politics, neither intellectually nor in the very important matter of social constitution. Certainly not when it comes to economic policy. In fact, Jane is pretty sure that Karkat Vantas would probably literally burst into flame if too many people happened to look at him at the same time, like a vampire walking out into the sun." I was going to say that's unfair of her, but then she's never known Karkat when he's aflame with purpose, only the Karkat that's been hurt too much and suffered too many losses to remain motivated. Also, of course she'd "think of the economy" first. :P That's hilarious given Dave's concerns.

"Wait. Jane lowers the pillow from her face and stares at her brass-and-glass art deco ceiling. Was that vampire thing xenophobic against Kanaya?" Well, at least we know that IF Jane's really xenophobic, as Dave fears, she's trying to become aware of when she is and doing something about it. Of course, trying and succeeding are two different things - just as Karkat.

As for it being hurtful, well... Good thing she never met Game Over Kanaya, she might have had some objections to death-by-light-from-above.

"Dave was certainly no Dirk Strider, no Rose Lalonde, no Roxy, but he had that same scheming gene, buried deep down beneath his transparent onion layers of posturing and, frankly, rather outdated humor. An instinct to plan." Well, I wouldn't have said as much - if it was genetically determined there's no reason Dave couldn't have just not inherited those genes. But then, I'm all here to see Dave's take on scheming, sure. He's had a great example in John planting ideas about apple juice in his head. The bar is already set.

"And despite being inarguably the dimmest of his family’s impressive ecto-biological stock...

Oh, dear. Stock. That’s likely a problematic word, isn’t it?" Yep, seems like Jane really is trying. Can't believe I'm saying this, but if Kankri were here, he might have some good advice for her. A lot of bad, too, but still.

"Despite being the least mentally gifted member of his family" Eesh, okay, but she's still got a lot of prejudices to work out.

"Dave has always had an awful lot of opinions on the economy. In fact, Jane cannot remember a single conversation she’s ever had with him that wasn’t about the economy. She thinks back to one time at John’s eighteenth birthday when Dave engaged her in a rigorous and rather one-sided debate about deregulation and the failure of “neoliberal austerity measures” until Karkat had to come over and put his hands over his roommate’s mouth to make him stop talking." Well, I guess he's really, REALLY concerned. Can't blame the guy, though, but poor Jane, Rose knows what that's like, being on the other side of that trailing, lumbering monologuing. At least Rose's monologue's don't meander. :P

"carapacians were widely known to be swayed by underdog populism." That's because their civilisation was founded by WV, isn't it?

"And the consorts? Who had even given them the right to vote in the first place? In any other year..." Oh, so... Does that mean the consorts only got their right to vote so recently, after 5000 years. That's... Well, that might just be indicative that until recently, their political activism was nothing to write home about.

Jane starts to chew a pencil and it's just so FITTING for her, she's so fidgety, it's probably how Jade ended up being so giddy.

"In any other year, this wouldn’t be a problem. She’d be happy to accept a graceful, temporary defeat and let Karkat play president for a couple of years. After all, unlike her, he was not immortal." ... Eesh, so, yeah, that confirms that Karkat's godhood isn't expected to be eternal, unlike the humans. They could be wrong about it.

But what is so special about the current year, is the political situation on Earth C THAT volatile, or is Jane aware of things about to unfold on a cosmic scale - or even pan-cosmic, if she knows about the events back in canon with the Black Hole 'n all.

"But Earth C’s paper-thin idyllic history was very close to a boiling point—its very first boiling point, in fact, which will have everything to do with the problematic nature of troll reproduction." Ahhhh, right. So that's why she's aiming for the reigns. Didn't think her 'political takeover' had so moral reasons. ... Or, well, at least humanitarian.

"The first generation of natural-born trolls obviously cannot be entrusted to a troll." ...

Well that's just cruel. I know she'll have reasons given troll history on Alternia and B2 Earth alike, but it's their purpose as gods to change the world for the better, together.

Guess now we get to see the parts of her thinking that gave Dave reason to brand her a fascist, semi-serious or not.

"The citizens of Earth C were able to rest easy knowing that the government held careful rein over the... well, over matters of equity. No one could possibly trust something so important to a troll, knowing what everyone knew about their violent history." So it's the hemospectrum she fears would be reinstated. She's equating their biology with their ideology then, thinking natural-born trolls are fundamentally more oppressive as to those birthed through scientific means. Oooh boy. That's a whole steaming pot of problematic thinking.

"Jane presses her eyes shut and runs her fingers along the fine-grain patterns in her mahogany-paneled desk. She is about to think something that she has promised herself never to think again. In fact, she is about to say it—this horrible, ghoulish, girlish thought that used to rule her world and make her so terribly weak. The shameful thought is expressed out loud in the form of a defeated sigh." ... Is it... "I wish Dad was here?" Even if he's still alive, she might have tried to become her own woman, cutting more ties than is healthy.

"JANE: I need Jake." Pfffff, okay, yeah, that I understand. She needs his support to swing the voters. Guess Jane is also trying very hard to be "over him", just like Jake with Dirk. I can see how well that is going for her. Now I wonder how the Nannasprites are doing.

"She spins around and, still sitting on her desk, presses a familiar entry on her phone’s contact list." Either it's Jake and it's familiar to her because she still looks at it ten times every day, or Dirk's because they get along so well and are working together on her campaign.

"JAKE: Ahoy ahoy!" ... Yeah, this is going to be so cumbersome for Jane, I can just feel it, her old feelings now causing quite the opposite response towards everything that makes Jake who he is.

"the ol’ horse tranquilizer trick." Just... just how many times has Dirk pulled this on him already? And how many more times is Jake willing to go through with their show?

"JAKE: Which i suppose i should have seen coming, as dirk has ended all of our matches in this fashion for the past week." ... Jake. Jake, honey, you need a coach. A non-robotic one. Or settle for a non-shitty spirit guide. I know that narrows it down to basically zero, as far as sprites are concerned, but still.

"JANE: Oh dear. That sounds absolutely terrible, Jake. Is there anything I can do to help?" I wouldn't like it if Jane keeps pretending to care for Jake if there wasn't any truth left to the gesture.

"JAKE: Help? Gadzooks woman! I hardly think myself in need of help. JAKE: Its a jolly good adventure working with someone so predictably unpredictable as our good friend dirk!" Then again, it would be hard not to get exasperated by all of this... airheadedness, well meaning as it is.

"You would think that Jake enjoyed the sadomasochistic nature of his and Dirk’s personal and professional relationships. Judging from the last conversation about election strategy with Dirk, he seems to be perfectly aware of this feature of Jake’s personality. You can’t be too nice when courting his endorsement, Dirk would say. He doesn’t respond to nice." So Dirk is still being rather methodical in his interactions with Jake. :/ But I mean, Jake does respond better to challenges, at least initially. He appears not be scared off/by Dirk though, I wonder how he's worked through his feelings about their breakup?

"something big and hollow and metal connecting with Jake’s head. When Jake comes back to the phone, he’s yelling into it." Jake's life is just like a cartoon on even the best of days, isn't it?

"I appreciate very much that you have called me out of the blue to say such nice things to me with no ulterior motive!

From anyone else, this would have been a portentous statement. However, Jane knows that Jake English could not have possibly meant this with anything but the utmost sincerity." Well, I wouldn't mind it for Jake to have developed a level of self-awareness, but yeah... That's unlikely by now, isn't it?

"JAKE: Because i must note that although i try to stay sporting about what comes at me, i cant say that i am chuffed about how much of my correspondence lately has to do with the marketing of my image. JAKE: Its beginning to feel like all people want from me is to stick my derriere on a signpost for their own profit." ... Well, okay, he's become self-aware to the extent he realizes people idolize him and pine for his affections. But that's just because he was so very much affected by that during the session. It'll take a lot longer for him to pick up on more subtle and rarer things, though.

"It must be so difficult. For you more than the rest of us, due to your, let’s say... JANE: Natural gifts? JAKE: Huh?" Well, guess he doesn't realize his good looks yet, at least.

"JANE: But you know that I have always wanted what’s best for you, right? JANE: And I am ready to give that to you. JAKE: To give me what? JANE: The best, Jake. The very best." That could be very ominous, "what's best for you". But what would it be if it were sincere? A way to follow in his Grandma's footsteps, while ensuring he doesn't blunder and blow up anyting unintentionally?"

Jake is quiet a moment, and Jane can hear the rusty gears turning in his head." Insert "*thinking*" smiley here.

"JANE: You should stop by to see me this evening! JAKE: Do you mean my evening or yours? Were in different time zones right now and i dare say that the sun just went down here so if you wanted to have a soiree on my time youve missed your chance." It'd be a fair question, assuming Jane could've been in his neighbourhood. I'm sure their meetup won't go quite as nefarious as pretending they're dating to the press, right? ... Right, Jane?"

Jane feels her fake smile flexing so hard that it was beginning to hurt. Oh yes, she loved this man in basically every category that you could possibly love a person, but sometimes talking to him is like trying to build a house of cards while riding a mechanical bull." Ah, so they were facetiming? :P Note the past tense in 'loved'. :/ Well, old flames do still elicit feelings of friendship, a lot of times.

"JANE: Mine, of course! I’ll have the best year of your favorite crocodile-made scotch flown in from the Consort Kingdom and we’ll have a little catch-up.

Jake actually hates scotch, and only drinks it for appearance’s sake. But for this—for this unbelievably pivotal moment in the history of the planet that they created with their bare hands—Jane is willing to spend a few thousand boonbucks to watch her old friend pretend to sip at the same glass for a couple of hours while prattling on." So: A) Crocodiles might be living in Scotland, if the scotch authentic. Highlander Crocs in kilts and playing bagpipes. Glorious. B) Boonbucks are the currency running the economy, which explains how they can all be so rich. Of course, their influx of cash could've disrupted the economy, but if it had Dave's would've already complained about it. C) Guess there's never been something as disruptive to happen to Earth C as the Mother Grub, then. Not even natural disasters. D) Plan Fake Date is apparently, actually going to happen.

"Time to work your magic, Crocker." Magic being ruthless business-minded political scheming, I hope. Since she's serving Jake drinks he doesn't like, it'll all be for pretense, down to the drinks too. But I wouldn't like to be in Jake's shoes if she starts to fake-fancying him.

[cancerbiophd]

I'm in a neuroscience PhD program and I just decided I would join my second rotation lab and the PI is happy to (and has money!) have me. While she has some ideas on what directions she wants me to take, specific ideas are up to me, and I'm feeling pretty stressed out trying to come up with something that's a thesis-worthy idea. How do I deal???

Hi there! And congrats! It sounds like you’re in a fantastic lab. 

I know it sounds daunting to come up with a thesis project, and it kinda is… but lets see if we can make it a bit more manageable by breaking it all down! So I’m not 100% sure what you mean by “specific ideas”, so I’m going to answer this in a very broad “how do i come up with a good PhD dissertation project?” kind of way. 

A PhD thesis should be an independent project but still related to your lab’s current work. I would strongly advise to not stray too far away from the parent projects of your lab. Picture the lab’s current research as a tree. You want your thesis project to be a branch–have it take its own direction, but still be able to gather resources (ie. funding, equipment, lab member expertise, preliminary data) from the trunk. 

So your process of deciding on a project could go something like this*: 

*If your PI already has a general idea/project overview she would like you to focus on, go ahead and skip to step 4

Familiarize yourself with your lab’s specific field (by reading lots of papers), and your lab’s current projects (by reading the lab’s papers and grant applications, talking to the other members, etc). Find a few projects that have “future directions” or “future applications” that haven’t been explored yet in the field, but could have significance. 

Meet with PI to discuss these ideas and whether any are feasible dissertation projects.

Choose a potential project (or a few) together.

Make a list of all the preliminary data–from your lab and from the field in general–surrounding that potential project (I like to make almost a word-vomit word doc of “what we know” and “what we don’t know” to get me going). Oftentimes as you study the existing data, a “hmm i wonder if…” pops up, which can be used as the start of a project or any specifics. 

Meet with PI to go over these data (and any other ideas).

Come up with a research question and then testable hypothesis (testable meaning it’s something that can be explored using the scientific method within the resources and time available to you).

Meet with PI to go over the hypothesis and whether she thinks it’s feasible for a PhD project.

Come up with 2-4 specific aims (aka mini-hypotheses that further break down your main hypothesis. I would highly recommend looking at your PI’s existing grant applications and/or PhD proposals of current and past students to get a sense for how to structure these aims).

Meet with PI again to go over these aims.

Come up with experimental approaches to each aim, along with predicted results and what they could mean in regards to the main hypothesis. 

Meet with PI to discuss these.

Rinse and repeat steps 8 - 11 ad nauseum until they approve (in the meantime you could be working on other things, like learning techniques, maybe prepping for Aim 1 if it’s pre-approved, etc). 

Bonus: congrats! by creating specific aims, you’ve just started a grant proposal! perhaps you can submit it somewhere :O

As you can see, your PI should be involved in almost every step of the process. You truly want their guidance in all these early steps so you’re going in the right direction. There’s nothing worse for both parties involved for you to start on something in the lab that the PI doesn’t think is a good use of their money and your valuable time (and yes, your time is valuable!). It is also possible that at any point in this recipe you’ll have to start back at #1. I think I made 2 or 3 different PhD project proposals before my PI and I were happy with one (but on the bright side, she actually took one of the “tossed” ones and grew it into a full-fledged grant proposal for the whole lab, so yay!)

A more few things to keep in mind:

The research you do as a doctorate student is an avenue for you to learn the “Ph” part of your PhD: how to think outside the box and then apply it to your field. Your project is there for you to add tools to your toolbox. So if there’s a snazzy technique you’re itching to try that could work with your project, be sure to propose it. 

Coming up with a good solid project will take time. I think it took me almost half a year to get all the specifics down. There’s going to be a lot of reading, a lot of jotting down ideas and then crossing them off, and a lot of back-and-forth’s between you and your PI. And that’s all part of the process, and oh what an important process it is! So it’s ok to take your time. 

Your project may change as time goes on, and that’s ok. As it oftentimes happens in science, what we predict will happen doesn’t always occur (or it does, but there’s a variation). So it’s ok if say, you finish Aim 1, and your results are totally not expected and it ends up completely changing the trajectory of your project. That’s ok, because that’s science! 

Lastly, your PI probably has an entire project mapped out for you, but she wants to see if you have any ideas of your own because a) she wants to encourage your curiosity and passions, b) it’s good exercise and part of being a successful scientist, and c) new members of a research team sometimes have a different perspective on things and thus can come up with some really neat ideas! As my old PI used to say: “You hire a tech if you want stuff done; you hire a grad student if you want innovation.” 

I hope I answered your question! And if not, please let me know! I’m always happy to help to the best of my abilities. 

Best of luck, future Dr :)

[luciola-reviews-anime]

Let’s Talk About Conspiracy Theories

So with this post I want to talk about conspiracy theories, or at least, what one needs to have for it to be viable. There are a lot of them out there, and I'm sure there will be more to come in the future. We have the earth being flat, 9/11 was an inside job, the moon landing was fake, and vaccines cause autism. Just to name a few. No matter what side you're on, usually your views are very strong, but no matter what you bring to the table. It's in my opinion that if the conspiracy cannot meet these three targets, it simply can't even be taken seriously.

The first is very simple. Who benefits? Remember, what we're looking at is a fact that has either been falsified, or a truth that has been hidden from the world for a specific purpose. Let's look at flat earth theory. Whenever I check out something about this one. They claim that NASA is the group to benefit from a round earth. They're given billions of dollars in funds to run experiments and studies, and even to send people into space. From what I've studied, most people that believe in the flat earth say that space itself is a lie, gravity is a lie, and the mathematics to support them is fake. Any images of space is just CGI.

Here's the problem. NASA did not come up with the idea of gravity, nor did they originate the claim that the earth was round. The discovery of gravity was made in 1687, and since that point the scientific community has used the math and theories of gravity in a number of different ways. For over three hundred years, gravity has been subjected to the scientific method. Many a flat earther will remind people common believes have been disproved before, but they forget that they were disproved thanks to the scientific method and community.

Then we have the discovery of the earth being round. Again, this was not a NASA development, but proven when Magellan circumvented the globe. He did this in 1519 with a fleet of five ships to discover a western sea route to the spice islands. Though he did not survive, the trip was a success. We're close to five hundred years of knowing for a fact that the earth is round. The only counter acting of this argument is that what we know of history, is a complete falsification, for five hundred years, for no plausible benefit to anyone.

But this brings us to the second target of a conspiracy theory. How many people are in on it? Remember it just takes one person in the know to mess things up. You can argue that it's easy to silence one person, but why don't you tell that to the NSA and Edward Snowden? Or even the number of leaks that are in the current Trump administration? The fact is that the more people you need to have to be in on the theory, the less plausible it becomes. I picked on the flat earthers before, and I can just mention that it would take… Literally millions of people to be in on the conspiracy though history, science, sailing, flight, construction, and astronomy to name a few to have to be in on this.

So let's take the anti vaccinations. They say that Big Pharma benefits from hiding the truth that vaccines are dangerous. Because obviously when a product doesn't work properly, instead of fixing it, it's easier to just lie to the population of the world. Look, in the end it's still a business. If there's a hint that something is wrong with a product there will be studies and tests to determine if that's the case or not. These are independent studies done by people who want to make money off the failure of said product. Have you ever seen an advert about filing a mass law suit because a certain drug or procedure was found to be unsafe? In other words, you need the medical community of the entire world in agreement to hide this one little detail. Because if it got out? Let's face it, we still need vaccines to live. I don't want polio. I don't my kids to get polio.

And this takes us to the third target. Can you prove it one way or another? Let's face it. The reason that something is placed in the category of a conspiracy, is because we're being fed a false truth to cover up the real one. The problem is that you shouldn't be able to prove a false truth. You shouldn't be able to circumvent the globe if the earth is flat, and there should be no way to see or prove the curvature of the earth. Doing either of these things instantly busts the argument. (sorry flat earthers) Studies by independent parties shouldn't be able to say things like "There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism."

Now you might say. But Lucio, those are the false facts being fed to you! The problem you're running into in these goes in three fold, first we have the second point, how many people are in on it? And we can add in, how credible are the people we're trying to discredit? Remember in the anti vaccine argument, we're not trying to discredit one group of people making one specific product that cannot be recreated. We're trying to discredit the entire medical community, and people who make and study diseases and medicine. If there was a problem with vaccines, there would be another group that would be working night and day to make a safe working version of them instead of just giving out a faulty product.  Finally we would have to ask. Where does the truth end, and the lies begin?

Let's look at it this way. Say I offer the theory that the anti smoking campaign is actually a false organization. They've spread out fake medical reports about cigarettes to get people to quit. They actually make nicotine patches, they're behind vapping, and they also collect funds from organizations like Truth. I can support this much like a flat earther. I mean, I've seen people in their eighties that claim to smoke every day and they're fine. I can support this like an anti vaccine supporter and say that the medical facts and studies that we have been given are just lies, or even state that these are the same people who are telling me that vaccines are safe. So when should I believe them, and when shouldn't I?

This is why you must look into how credible the other source is, and how able the world is to be able to prove something. With a flat earth, we have so much mathematical and scientific evidence that you must say is simply a lie in order for you to have any ground to stand on. There have been countless studies on vaccines and if they cause autism, but far too often there simply isn't any proof. Most commonly what I hear from these theorists is that they just have a feeling. They have a feeling that they're right, despite the evidence. Another excuse is something along the lines of "You shouldn't just take everything people tell you as a fact." Yes it is good to ask questions, this is how we learn. But there's asking questions, and there's ignoring the facts. Most people within the conspiracy theory are not actually open to the truth, kinda ironic, right?

I can give a quick glance at the other two theories I mentioned, so they don't feel left out. The moon landing was staged. We have a clear benefiter. The USA and Russia were in the cold war, and anything one could do better than the other would be a clear win. The space race was, in a way, a proxy war. The people that needed to keep the conspiracy secret would not be too unreasonable either. It would have to be all of NASA at the time, a select number of US governmental and militaristic figures, and the people who staged the show. The great thing about this as well is that the people in the know, can grow smaller and smaller in numbers as the years pass. And finally. I mean, how can you prove it one way or another? Go to the moon? And why haven't we been there since then?

Sounds like something we can, oh wait a minute… So question? What about Russia? I mean. There's no way they would just give us the win if they knew it was false. And you have to believe they wanted that win. So we'll have to add in an enemy nation into the people that need to keep it secret, at no benefit to themselves. This can also actually answer why we haven't been back to the moon. Do you know what's on the moon? Nothing. I've read some articles on how the next great business idea is to send a rocket out to mine a comet for minerals. This could be a trillion dollar idea. And there's the moon. Right there. Where we can see it, we've been on it. And that's how we know there's nothing good on it. We beat the Russians there, mission accomplished. Going back is just a dangerous waste of time and resources until we can colonize the bastard. Or attach lasers…

Well at least 9/11 was an inside job right? I mean again we have a clear benefactor in the US. Stage a terrorist attack, get the perfect excuse to go to war, get that delicious delicious oil. You don't really need a lot of people to be in on it either. Just the military personnel who planned it. Hell, let's even go with this. The US knew it was going to happen, and they let it happen. They didn't think it would be such a disaster, but when planes crash into buildings, things happen. And it's not like we can prove one way or another that the US didn't know about it and just let it happen. I mean, look at Pearl Harbor. Shit, I might have to look into this one more sometime!

In the end though, the thing that makes it a conspiracy theory, is that you can't prove it. It might be brought into light later. But you shouldn’t chose to distrust or hate the government or an organization because of a plausibility. There's already too many reasons for that as it is.

I hope this helps you in your future! Remember those three proofs when you hear about any crazy theories out there, and have fun. Please try not to take any of them too seriously though, because in the end a belief is a tricky thing to change, and often enough that's what they turn into. I'd rather take the advise from the Thirteenth apostle, Rufus, and instead just have a good idea.  

[inevitablesurrender]

Exploring around Meldacio Hunter HQ or Endless Trees or ALIENS? Part 2

From the end of the last post, I ran my way along the tunnel path to get back to roughly where I’d parked.  Using the “stay along the right side” method when following invisible walls to make sure I got to all the boundaries.  There were a lot of trees.

Luckily there was a lot of rock so I could see things, too.

I mean.  I could see rock.  But also sky.

And here?

Yep, more rock.  This is really much more entertaining actually doing it rather than reading about it probably, but you’re here and you’ve already gotten this far, may as well commit.

The lights again.

Here’s where I tried and failed to cross to the other side of Hunter HQ.

Multiple attempts made, along with jumping and warping, but no way through the invisible walls.  Alas.

Kinda fun looking down from here, though.

Back along the fence.  Hi guys!  Bye guys!  (Just kidding, they’d de-spawned by then.)

Into the dark trees.

And the other tunnel entrance.

Which I attempted to jump up on, but nope.  Again, invisible walls.

So I climbed and went around, instead.

Hugging the invisible wall of the tunnel.

This is just here because I have a knack for capturing the dumbest parts of Noct’s walking and running animations.

The darkness and the mist out in the distance...

It’s just pretty, okay.

Wandering through the darkness, ooooohhh.  (Wait for it.)

And then just about here...

We go from darkness to...

WHAT.

THE FUCK.

...Um..?

Why is... there a golden light... all over me.  What.  Happened.

At this point I imagine I’d do what anyone would and look up at the fucking sky for goddamn aliens.  ...It’s a Final Fantasy game, guys.

Okay also I was looking for a light source I’d accidentally triggered because what the fuck.

Just the moon.  The innocent moon.  You’re not so innocent, are you moon.

So I stood there for a while.

Pondering my life choices.

Then decided to keep going.

And just about here...

From light...

To darkness.

What the fuck?

So, explorations that happened after this confirmed an odd thought (through experience and conversation) I’d come up with shortly after this: the light from the tunnel was “leaking” through.  At times, when you get too close to a tunnel entrance, the light source freaks out.  And sometimes when you keep in contact with a tunnel’s invisible wall... the light “leaks”.  I feel this might have a bit to do with the tunnels that still glitch and will sometimes not load quickly enough when you’re driving through them, accidentally dropping you through the floor or walls, but as of now that’s just an idea.

Well.  I survived my extremely dramatic encounter with aliens.  ...Time to explore more!

Oh boy yeah, there’s that invisible border wall.  Time to move back around to where I started.

With some mild diversions to test just how far out I could go.  Spoiler: not very, but further than I expected.

I was a little surprised to see the cable car... er... cable-y pillar things (scientific term) out here, though.  Or maybe not so much that, but the fact that they’re full models.

All detailed and everything.  Never did catch anything moving along them, but then I didn’t feel like waiting and I can’t really remember when the cable cars disappear into the mountains to respawn back at their origin point.

I did make it about here before slamming into another invisible wall, though.

The clouds breaking...

The light of dawn.  Pre-dawn.  Pre-pre-dawn.

And then more rain as I returned from whence I came.  But I was not done yet, oh no.  There was the fence on the other side of the road to jump, and I was ready.  ...On to Part 3!

[schfifty-five]

 so grateful to have had the science teachers that i did. every single one has had a profound effect on me, and they were all weird in a way that reminded me i wasn’t alone.  (ordered by grade 1-12, skipping grade 2)

mrs. perino: we passed a jar of heavy whipping cream around the class and shook it till we had butter. she brought bread it so we could try it!

mrs. giordano in third grade, still remember learning how your lungs take in your deoxygenated blood and convert it to oxygenated blood. (she gave away two reference books to the best 2 science students that year and i got the book about marine life and cheyne westerman got the book about the human body and i was honestly devastated by that and continue to be to this day)

mrs. nole, in retrospect, kinda scarred me for life with that day where she kept all the girls back from recess and let us out one by one in order of how well behaved we were. i was last. still relatively patient otherwise. she did, at least, instill a strong understand of the scientific method, which i would be helpless without.

mrs daviskiba, classic old lady science teacher. i remember her saying she didn’t understand why people tried to get rid of wrinkles because hers were only there because she smiled all the time and why would that be a bad thing

mrs. brugger taught me the value of reading and taking notes, as well as how to read a textbook without dying. didn’t really appreciate that till college when i skipped all my classes and taught myself everything in half the time by reading and taking fuckin notes.

MR DVORIN i think in my mind that class was just him and me having a convo. i remember many lessons would just be me, kneeling in my chair, talking with my hands, throwing out hypotheticals to get a better grasp of the scientific principles he was trying to convey. his patience helped me truly understand and love chemistry/physics concepts. i remember being so confused by a question on a test once, and not understanding why i didn’t know the answer, and i just fucking cried like a baby for at least one minute during a 7th grade science test. i distinctly remember him mentioning the statistic that 1 in 10 people are gay in response to something ignorant a classmate stated (which i do not remember). although not necessarily “fact”, it’s more than likely true (given that the current adult population was raised before the extremely recent and still-needing-work movement to accept LGBT ppl) and regardless, it opened my mind to the possibility that not being straight wasn’t “one in a million” type thing. also just in general, he would level with us like any good teacher does. a kid knows when you’re treating them like a kid, and i was so much more comfortable learning when i was treated how i felt.

for example, one time i think we were talking about bad habits or maybe someone was being critical of a nose-picker, but at one point he was like “no guys i’m not saying anything, but if you see a white honda accord sitting at the stoplight outside in the morning, you might see me picking my nose.” his delivery was better but it was validating to see an adult be as candid and as unashamed as i was (or as willing to embrace shame as i was), so i remember that. 

also interesting follow up story, the next year he fell off his roof and broke both his ankles and also got divorced because he was gay. so after knowing and loving him so much everyday for a year, and then having two major things happen to him and i had no way to reach out-- to say i’m sorry and you will get through this-- that was hard. it also made me wonder if he was suffering when i was his student. i was sad to think that someone was struggling with a decision, with a life change, and all i did was spectate. in my mind, he was my friend, and i felt like i had let him down. 

mr. smith was also a gift in that he made me appreciate mr. dvorin so much. he taught with enthusiasm and he definitely made “louder” (more dramatic or eccentric) attempts to convey information with visuals, experiments, jokes, anecdotes. he was a great teacher, but  dvorin was too hard an act to follow, and i’ll only remember mr. smith as a science teacher who was more of a Babysitter than a Science Friend. (which, in retrospect, was probably necessary. any teacher that didn’t tolerate my bullshit, like mr. smith, was crucial to me turning into a moderately acceptable employee)

mr. campbell (biology) i don’t know where to start with this class. the phrase “fucking iconic” comes to mind, but i think that’s more in reference to mr. campbell than the class. it was token milford though. the selection of kids, specifically. plenty of asshole lil bitch boys to pick on me, thankfully seated on the other side of the room. iggy bernotas in front of me. we actually got along great, he was nice and we became good friends on the basis of busting one another’s balls. i once wrote “fatty” (he was tall and skinny) on the back of his sweater as a tasteless joke (i was 14 and had a horrible sense of social norms). although the execution sucked, i stand behind the sentiment. that was the essence of our relationship. i think we were both a little too familiar with being the butt of mean jokes, and getting teased in a non-malicious way (by people who have nothing to gain or lose from you) is incredibly relieving. his mom found it though, and i got called to the principal's offiice. i bawled my eyes out trying to explain that we were friends. i had to take his sweater home and get the ink out, on the condition that i’d pay for it if i didn’t. i felt like an asshole, i just wanted to give him a hard time. iggy wasn’t mad though, i told him how bad i felt. everything was good. regardless, the joking and friendly vibe was arguably sustained by savannah right next to us. she had transferred to milford that year so she didn’t know i wasn’t cool. i don’t remember how i acted in that class, but i’m sure savannah was more tolerant that i deserve, and i remember how kind she was to both iggy and i. vinnie was in front of her, also very patient and kind. anyone that has been around me before yesterday is kind and patient honestly.

mr. campbell is not easy to describe. it takes a semester of his class to truly appreciate this man. i hope if i read this in the future i’ll remember exactly what i mean.  that year in biology was one of my favorites. I will remember the view from my desk forever.

MRS GLEASON taught me so much about love, forgiveness, enthusiasm, and how you don’t have to be bouncing off the walls every day, but that it doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to bounce off the walls if that’s the kind of day it is. i have a lot of ups and downs, and people have trouble dealing with unpredictable moods, so on down days, i used to spend a lot of energy that i didn’t have trying to poorly maintain the persona that people expected, and now i just don’t. i get down some days, and i get happy and energetic other days. that doesn’t mean i won’t still do a good job. mrs. gleason got through to me and i gained a majority of my scientific confidence in her class, but she didn’t have to be the exact same person everyday. a lot of people are stable everyday, but if you aren’t, that’s ok.

Mrs. Kempff would’ve been a great teacher, and AP chem could’ve been a way better class, but i was extremely anxious and in a bad way during junior year. i don’t remember much of what happened, but i know i could’ve mastered the content of that class if i had better tools to deal with my “fuckin head” as they say. 

mrs. gleason also taught me physics in senior year which was pretty fun. everyone needs to understand AT LEAST conceptual physics. if you have any interest in increasing the efficiency of your life and the actions you take, learn basic physics. if you have any interest in anything, basic physics.

i feel like i probably had one or two decent science professors in college, but i never went to class, so i wouldn’t know. I would like to thank me for teaching me science in college. me was very inspiring and showed me that you can accomplish anything you believe in, as long as it’s before the adderall wears off.

thank you for reading, i hope you have all had wonderful science teachers and you use your science knowledge to make the world more gooder.

[court-of-pokemuses]

Every Kukui ship rated!

I’ve done this over on my main account @/pkmnsdarkqueen, and I think it’s kinda fun. It’s every ship on the muse from this page rated by my personal opinions. For this account I’ve been slowly working on it since January, and since this is a multimuse it took this long. I hope ya’ll enjoy!

Disclaimers directly below and the list under the cut!

strike through=my side commentary, trying to be funny, usually about ship names italicized=if asked I’d be down to rp it mostly just to see how/it it’d work * by name=I just think it’s a wildly random ship bold=ship name and who in it to help you find a certain ship highlights=they are grouped up, again in case you want to find that one ship

Took out category of Kukui and a protagonist/rival/or companion since they’re all children so it’s a hard no. A few other younger characters fit in the other categories though they’ve been judged no as well for the most part. Some shipped but ONLY in the context of the character being grown up.

Took out category of Kukui with pokemon because pokephelia. In multiship some of them have a pokemon and these have been dubbed as being one of the human’s part pokemon.

ships on ‘never ending romance’ website. Before asked yes mun has other ships she likes that aren’t listed, but Im only focusing on those listed.

Kukui w/ Villian

Top rated ships: LabSafetyShipping

Bottom rated ships: FieryNutShipping

DarkParadiseShipping - Guzma & Professor Kukui 4/10 I don’t think it’s bad I just genuinely love Plumeria and Guzma so much. Also they’re both unwilling to say sorry to fix their friendship I don't think that’s a good sign for long term. Maybe in the early days tho.

*FieryNutShipping - Lysandre & Professor Kukui 1/10 Who named this ship, I just want to talk. Anyways I get Lysandre has a thing for profs but c’mon now Kukui is too down to earth for this guy.

LabSafetyShipping - Colress & Professor Kukui 7/10 Colress smacking him left and right for not having proper safety. Tbh tho it could be kinda cute. Like Kukui is more brass tax and put em up approach to science meeting cool calculated and methodic. 

PurescienceShipping - Faba & Professor Kukui 3/10 Ok so we know Faba has a man crush at the minimum on The Masked Royal. I don’t think it’d be reciprocated on Kukui’s end tho makes for fun plot.

Kukui w/ Elite

GrandSlamShipping - Kahili & Professor Kukui 5/10 I mean this is one of those that depends on interpretation cause we don’t get too much info on Kahili from the games. In pokemon Masters she’s pretty cool though so I’d give it a shot. 

*NowWeHereShipping - Drake (Hoenn) & Professor Kukui 3/10 I love the name cause it’s like,”yeah...yeah why not this, heck!” So Drake and Kukui would be interesting, I think there’s a bit of an age gap between them which would make somethings awkward but also I can just see them both enjoying exploring things together. 

Kukui w/ Gym leader or trial captain

EducationalbattleShipping - Ilima & Professor Kukui 0/10 Ok so according to the internet Ilima is either 11 or 19??? Just kind of a weird age thing there cause Kukui looks like 28 to me and they seem to of known each other awhile so no on this. 

*HotMovesShipping - Professor Kukui & Flannery 0/10 Heh, 2 high energy people in a room together. Yeah this seems great to me as a friendship because Flannery is 18 folks and again that’s just kind of a weird age thing. If they met which she was older sure, but rn it’s squeaky.

*MasochisticShipping - Professor Kukui & Gardenia 8/10 I think this could be kinda cute. She’s got the high energy of Flannery with the explorer side of the coin, and some gentleness about her. Yeah I like this alot

OldNutsShipping - Hala & Professor Kukui 0/10 Oof that name, yeah I don’t like that. Ok so it’s cannon they met when Kukui was young. Hala was like a mentor to Kukui. Yeah this just kinda reads bad, don’t like that connotation. 

Kukui w/ Professor or Assistant 

Top rated ships: EternalHoneymoonShipping

Bottom rated ships: TropicalNutShipping

*DreamAttackShipping - Professor Kukui & Fennel 7/10 Yes, please yes. I’m a sucker for high energy meets soft energy and Fennel is certainly a soft gal. Also heck maybe after the dream service closed down she moved to Alola to retire and met this cool nut.

EternalHoneymoonShipping - Professor Kukui & Professor Burnet 100/10 You mean my Kukui OTP? Yes I ship this, it’s cute. They’re relationship is some of the few episodes I’ve seen and they’re adorable man. Seriously I suggest go taking a look at those clips on youtube.

*SturdyGlassesShipping - Professor Kukui & Professor Willow 8/10 The two manly young professors shipped. I mean...ye I’m down. Willow definitely got that yearn for adventure and Kukui brings the chaos. It’d be a cute time. 

TreeNutShipping - Professor Kukui & Professor Sycamore 3/10 I hmmm, I mean maybe? I just idk how they’d work or what they’d have in common really? I just think they’d be good friends but I can’t envision any sparks of romance happening. 

*TropicalNutShipping - Professor Birch & Professor Kukui 0/10 Naw dude. If original Hoenn games are anything to go by Birch for one seems kinda like the stereotypical white straight guy so that’s a killer there. But even past that he couldn’t fight a poochyena, and I don’t think Kukui would be too impressed by that. 

Kukui w/ minor GAME npc

*ArtificialMovesShipping - Professor Kukui & Viscountess Julia 0/10 Look I like this trainer class ok, they’re cool, but like ya’ll she’s like 80??? Um yeah no.

*MoveInversionShipping - Inver & Professor Kukui 4/10 I do think that they’d get along great especially what with this guy twisting moves around and doing cool stuff with em. I’d give it a shot yeah.

Kukui w/ mange character

MoveExpertShipping - Professor Kukui & Ultima 0/10 Again she’s like 80???? No, but he’d love to know how she teaches these cool moves.

Kukui w/ minor MOVIE or ANIME npc

Top rated ships: TreeResinShipping

Bottom rated ships: NewScience, and ScientificUnderstanding shipping

*BeachFireShipping - Macy & Professor Kukui 0/10 And she’s an actual child. that’s a big no.

*FistTechniquesShipping - Clayton & Professor Kukui 6/10 I mean he’s a secluded boi and Kukui is vibrant so maybe it could work with the opposite attract couple. Also Clayton would helped the masked man train.

*IslandStudyShipping - Professor Kukui & Professor Westwood V 0/10 Ya’ll he also super old wtf. Also he isn’t the most trustworthy with scientific information and I don’t see Kukui vining with someone who does that. 

*MoveStudyShipping - Professor Kukui & Marble 2/10 I think they’d get along via adventure, but she seems a bit on the young side. I feel like he’d enjoy mentoring her though.

***MyislandhomeShipping - Professor Kukui & Caroline 5/10 So this is May and Max, wife to Norman. Uhhhhh yeah so home wrecker Kukui? I men if she’s already divorced then I can see it, but Kukui would certainly not be a home wrecker.

*NewScienceShipping - Jarvis & Professor Kukui 0/10 Kukui is in no way a bad guy, he’s all pure, so this is not gonna happen. 

*ScientificUnderstandingShipping - Dr. Akihabara & Professor Kukui 0/10 This is the guy who’s episode caused seizures. So about this ship, the guys a bit crazy so I don’t really see it personally. 

*TreeResinShipping - Meyer & Professor Kukui 7/10 It’s another person with kiddos! Ok so I don’t know if this guy is married or not, cause again Kukui is no home wrecker. But besides that I can maybe see it. Tbh might be cute if they meet both in costume first and fall for each other that way.

 Kukui w/ multiple people: (All are gonna be a no romantically because I don’t see Karen being poly, but I’ll give plot ideas)

Top rated ships: PhylogeneticTree, ColorlessParadise, Copse, Cousin, and Osteology shipping

Bottom rated ships: HotRoastedTreeNut, and HotRoastedTropicalTreeNut shipping 

ColorlessParadiseShipping - Colress, Guzma & Kukui 10/10 I can see them all hanging out for sure. You have the nerd, the rebel, and the jock all in one room and I ship that friendship.

CopseShipping - Professor Birch, Professor Elm, Professor Kukui, Professor Oak, Professor Rowan, Professor Sycamore & Professor Juniper (Gen infinite) 10/10 It’s the pokemon professors! Yeah I wish there was more with them all interactiong and hanging out cause I think they’d get up to some fun shenanigans.  CousinShipping - Professor Kukui, Sun (game) & Moon (game) 10/10 I mean he already hangs out with these nerds and I see it as a mentorship kind of thing which is like what he had with Hala but in his own style.  GreyparadiseShipping - Faba, Guzma & Professor Kukui 9/10 Again we have nerd, rebel, and jock. In a bit more sleepy of a way though. Anime this would work, game no cause Faba betrayed like everyone. Also not as seamless as ColorlessParadiseshipping.

**HotRoastedTreeNutShipping - Lysandre, Professor Kukui & Professor Sycamore 0/10 Oh no the name tho....ooohhhh boi. This would be a situation where Lysandre and Sycamore wanted to bring a third person in. I don’t see it going well though.

**HotRoastedTropicalTreeNutShipping - Lysandre, Professor Birch, Professor Kukui & Professor Sycamore 0/10 Bruh these names with Kukui x3. Ok so again I don’t see this working cause what I said with Birch and Kukui just throws a wrench into the flow with Sycamore and Lysandre.  LeagueChallengerShipping - Challenger Tristan, Faba, Gladion, Hau, Molayne, Professor Kukui, Ryuki, Sophocles, Hapu & Plumeria 5/10 All of them doing big training sessions sounds about right to me, or just them all challenging the league one at a time one day just to see who can get the farthest.  OsteologyShipping - Guzma, Professor Kukui & Professor Burnet 10/10 Osteology, ah yes the study of bones. Kukui and Burnet try to figure out how the fudge Guzma’s brain works. Nah I’m kidding just do think that they’d get together every so often for game night, add Plumeria in there too though! PhylogeneticTreeShipping - Professor Kukui, Professor Sycamore & Professor Juniper 10/10 This is just all the pretty professors minus Sonia. I can see them going to get drinks together though or after a professor meeting going to stay up late at a bar and cheer each other on as they try to flirt or talk to people.  TropicalTreeNutShipping - Professor Birch, Professor Kukui & Professor Sycamore 5/10 Eh kinda, maybe I can see them talking about maybe how mega evolution and habitats go together and maybe how that effects moves. I just see them getting along but only work/research related. 

[thecoroutfitters]

This isn’t necessarily a topic for the faint of heart, but slaughtering and butchering is part and parcel of being at the top of the food chain in a survival situation unless you’re a vegetarian.

Even if you just want to learn how to break down your meat so that you can buy it in bulk and butcher it yourself, this is the article for you.

Thinking about it, the term “butchered it” is typically meant as a derogatory remark, as in, “She absolutely butchered my hair” or “He butchered that song when he sang it.” It implies that it was hacked up when in fact, butchering is pretty close to an art. As a matter of fact, if you don’t do it right, you really run the risk of … err … butchering a good cut of meat. Yeah, I don’t blame you – I’d groan, too.

Butchering a cow was a skill most pioneers grew up with as an essential part of an independent life.

Discover the golden days’ practice for getting all you can eat food without buying from the supermarket!

Forget About Mad Cow

Before we move forward, let’s clear something up. You’ve no doubt been warned about eating various parts of the cow. You’ve probably been told that you’ll catch Mad Cow Disease. Scientifically known as BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Mad Cow has only been found in one cow – a dairy cow – ever in the US. And it’s not entirely clear that Creutzfeldt Jakob, BSE’s human variant (153 cases, ever) is caused by eating infected animal protein.

In other words, your odds of catching Mad Cow is exactly nil, and the odds of catching the human variant is, well, nil.

What You’ll Need

If you’re going to do this, do it right. You need a crazy sharp knife, non-serrated. I actually have a few different sizes so that I can make long strokes when I need to, but can use almost surgical precision when it counts. You also need a hacksaw (no, I’m not kidding) and a meat cleaver. Though that’s a tool that you may want to use judiciously.

And most importantly – space and containers, then refrigeration or freezer. A cow is big, even when it’s quartered, and you’re going to have a lot of meat.

Finally, use safety equipment including goggles and safety gloves (metal mesh).

Butchering Tips

Remove any membranes from the meat. It will be sort of a bluish sheen stretched over the meat, but you want it off. It’s tough and it gives the meat a stronger flavor

Watch your fingers! You’re going to be cutting blind in some instances so use your head unless you want to lose your fingers. If your knife is sharp enough to cut through cow flesh, it’s definitely sharp enough to cut through yours!

Clean your meat as you go. This is just a personal preference for me, but I’m the rare southern girl who can’t stand the texture of fat. Tendon doesn’t bother me, but it’s tough and unpalatable. So as you clean your meat, trim it before you store it. That way when you pull it out to use it, it’s ready.

Fat and connective tissue (marbling) is what cooks down and makes your steak tender and flavorful, so don’t ruin it by taking the lean route and trimming all of the fat off.

And speaking of the fat, if you’re going to make tallow (and why wouldn’t you?), you need to keep the chunks of fat, then render them down.

Parts of the Cow

Now the first thing that we need to discuss is the parts of the cow. Obviously, there are some folks that enjoy tongue and brain, so that’s in the head. The tongue is removed by simply cutting it out of the mouth and the brains are removed by cracking open the skull.

Hind quarters: The rear quarters are where you the rump roast, the round roast, and the shank

Front quarters: This is where your chuck roasts. The neck meat is typically used for stew meat or to make hamburger because it has a lot of fat in it. Also, the breast is there, and that means BRISKET!

Belly: Flank steak and skirt steak. These cuts are typically tougher than other cuts and are therefore either sliced thin to use in dishes such as fajitas, or are used as stew meat and cooked low and slow for tenderness. You can also marinate them for tenderness.

Ribs/Back: Now we’re getting to the good stuff, at least if you’re steak and ribs kinda person. The ribs, short loin, sirloin, and tenderloin are on the back. You can get a variety of cuts from these sections. The rib section has the baby backs and St. Louis style ribs, or you can do boneless ribs. This is also where you’re going to get your steaks from.

Now, let’s break it down a bit further. The ribs are also where you get the ribeye steak, the rib steak, the rib roast and the ribeye roast, depending on how you cut it. As the names imply, the rib roast can be cut into rib steaks, and the same goes for ribeye roast.

The Difference between a Porterhouse and a Filet Mignon

Moving further toward the south end of the cow, you’ll find the short loin section, right behind the ribs. This is where the majority of steaks come from. Top loin, T-Bone, Porterhouse, tenderloin roast and filet mignon, which is just the tenderloin roast cut into steaks.

Now, you may not know this, but all of these steaks are inter-related since they all come from the short loin. Technically, they’re all T-bones, in that they have a T shape to it, with two different cuts of steak – one on either side of the bone. A Porterhouse is cut from the rear end of the loin and is bigger. On one side is a tenderloin, or filet mignon, and on the other is a New York Strip. A standard T-bone is cut closer to the front, is smaller, and contains a smaller portion of tenderloin.

And behind the short loin is the sirloin, which is still a decent cut of meat. As a matter of fact, if it’s cut and cooked right, it’s nearly as tender as the loin. That makes sense considering the tenderloin runs right along the bottom of the sirloin and short loin, coming to a point right behind the ribs.

So, how does all of this information help you? It gives you an idea of what things are going to look like when you get in there. Now you’re ready to start cutting, because there’s no time like the present.

Getting Started

The first thing that you need to decide after the cow is skinned is whether you’re going to age it or not. If so, you need to do it before the roasts are cut into steaks. Many people do it with a steak that they buy from the store and this may be the easiest way for you, too, unless you have somewhere to hang the whole carcass.

The purpose of aging is to break down connective tissue so that the meat is more tender, and to allow the flavors to mellow and develop. Unaged beef will have a metallic, bloody taste to it, but aged beef will have those deep, mellow flavors that are the signatures of a good steak. There are two methods – wet aging and dry aging.

Wet aging is a relatively new process and is done by vacuum-sealing the steak. It’s faster and there is no waste, but you may not be getting the exact flavor that you want. Many people love wet-aged steaks, though. As a matter of fact, you know how it seems that a steak just doesn’t taste the same when you cook it at home? That’s because most store steaks are wet-aged, whereas good steakhouses used dry-aged meat.

The bad part about dry-aging is that you need special, temperature-sensitive meat lockers to do it, and even if you do have them, you’ll lose some meat. Still, I think the flavor is worth it. And you can dry it at home – but that’s an entirely different article!

The only way to truly know your meat is truly safe, is to slaughter it yourself so take the next step to food independence.

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If you have any questions or would like to add anything, please do so in the comments section below. There’s nothing better than talking beef!

 This article has been written by Theresa Crouse for Survivopedia.

from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag