#because 1) i gotta focus on exams

[marivanilla05]

In the middle of exams so here are just some higher quality versions of my last sketches!

(There will be no context for Menelaus dressed as a seal and Helen doing drugs. If you know, you know.)

[rose-maidenn]

Pick a card : What to manifest this full moon and upcoming days

Happy full moon folks, choose with your intuition and take what resonates, order 1-2-3 hope it helps let me know if it does love love 🌷

Masterlist , Paid readings

Pile 1 :

I see something about relief , if you or anyone around you is suffering from something you're advised to ask for relief and manifest it , something about a lace dress as well , you might wanna wear it the next function, i aslo get that u should eat more fruits and walk your dog . Your English teacher really appreciates you . As per my cards you have to let something go maybe some friendship or relationship, you have to do a cord cutting with this person or situation. It's hampering you , you're clinging to it will your dear life and it's eating all your energy up I'm so sorry but you gotta leave this behind . Learn to take life less seriously sometimes especially in the case of people cause humans are fickle , be stern headed about your goals manifest that your intentions maybe clear this full moon pray for clarity and call out to your soul to give you power to go for what you actually wanna do with your life , let life take you , let your guides and gods carry and cradle you they know what to do . Also get grounded consider red foods , wearing red and do some root chakra meditation. All the best !!!!!

Pile 2:

Are you Egyptian haha or else you might wanna look into the history and culture of Egypt that will be significant in your journey , i also see something about being more athletic this season and planting some flowers in your garden in honour of a deceased someone . This full moon focus on rejuvenation, you know what happens when one works too hard , creativity blocks okay so see I don't think you need to be this harsh on yourself okay you will get everything that you want but in time okay so give yourself and the universe that required time . This full moon manifest a girly community or new friends who understand you and love you for who you are for men manifest a community of men who want to see you win and will support and motivate you . Manifest more help from your guides and pray for building a stronger connection with your guides or gods . If you have applied for a job or exam okay manifest a positive result right now be confident as the answer is most likely a yes , this could also be in the case if you're proposing to someone . Trust your path and manifest to heal you from trust or abandonment issues you're good real good you're amazing you got this !!!!!

Pile 3 :

This full moon pray for understanding that sometimes things happen not to us but for us and this situation is just like it you know sometimes we just need a little understanding to leave a lot of stuff that doesn't belong in your life , you're reaching a deadline for some project or assignment this is a sign to complete it rn . You need rest and last pile needed rest but you need it more than anything , so many things are getting blocked because you don't sleep and keep overthinking, pray that you do not overthink no more things will happen in their own pace you know you just have to do your duty and leave it on God . Manifest your soul family / soul tribe call in real support from people . This full moon manifest that you can let go of karmic baggage from your past lives or this life and start anew with no more contracts or baggage you're new this is new you're rejuvenated . Your soul tribe is so close , think who are the people you feel are from your tribe intuitively and invest your time in them and they will do the same for you in return . Manifest more financial stability and home if you're looking to move out soon . Take care of you !!!!!!

Thanks for reading , have an amazing day 🌷

[tantegel]

common haikyuu misconceptions

i might make a more comprehensive list later, but i just gotta get this out now to scratch the itch:

setting errors:

date tech is a vocational school for engineering (as evidenced by hq-bu and its name), NOT a regular highschool - meaning there's a focus on getting actual hands-on experience and the classes are likely specialized to the fields the kids want to get into as soon as they graduate highschool. i doubt any of the date tech kids went to college because of this, as vocational schools fast tracks their students into their respective careers. (it's also why the third years not having jobs is a running gag in bu, bc they very much could start working right after highschool, esp if they don't go to uni)

so far the only member of shiratorizawa's team to have been explicitly confirmed to have passed the entrance exam and was NOT scouted by washijo is shirabu. it's been stated that anyone scouted earns a sports scholarship that lets them bypass the entrance exams.

this gets glazed over because of how emphasized the accents of inarizaki is, but our main cast+anyone else from miyagi almost certainly also have accents, that when localized would also be rural-country adjacent! washijo is localized with a accent written out similar to inarizaki's, but he's actually speaking with a more thick miyagi-ben that's difficult to distinguish in english.

what class number a person has (typically 1-5, but can go higher depending on the school population) can correlate to their general state of their grades (on the lower end would usually get assigned to class 1-2, while those who are aiming to get into competitive unis are 4 or higher) however this isn't always the case but does work for a general rule of thumb. i do have to say being in lower ranked classes doesn't necessarily equal to stupid, just not academically inclined.

if school has academy in the name it's a private institution, whereas -highschool (karasuno, inarizaki) implies it being a public school.

character writing errors:

NO ONE FROM SHIRATORIZAWA WOULD EVER CALL USHIJIMA USHIWAKA. sorry, this one really pisses me off bc the dub reallllllly fucked up with localizing nicknames/how characters refer to each other and is super inconsistent BUT I DIGRESS. it's extremely rude and implies he isn't worth a proper address of either his first or last name, and considering ushijima is implied to be an old wealth type of family with a lot of history to the point where they broke tradition to have waka's father take on the ushijima name upon being married - it's very very insulting. the third years would call him wakatoshi, while 2nd and 1st years call him ushijima/ushijima-senpai. ESPECIALLY SHIRABU HE WOULD DIE BEFORE HE EVER CALLS HIM USHIWAKA (biting my phone in rage at how this shit made it into the dub script)

who uses first names/who doesn't can get confusing, but a character who consistently uses first names, even when absolutely not appropriate is tendo. he even calls washijo tanji-kun which is fucking insane because he's not only an elderly staff member, he's washijo. the fact that he gets away with this implies either tendo's always this rude or they're very close (my personal preference) interestingly he does call semi by his last name, just with the twist of it being an affectionate nickname (semi-semi) which implies closeness considering the only other guy who isn't just [first name] or tanji-kun is wakatoshi (waka-kun)

everyone knows oikawa loves using nicknames, but in regards to how he formulates said nicknames for his team, it seems to be based on making their last names sound as cute as possible. adding an -un (matssun) or -chi (watacchi) or just using -chan, an affectionate term often used for girls or young kids (iwa-chan). the two (technically four) who break this trend is makki (interesting that he doesn't call him hana-chan, which would fit his naming scheme more as that's a very common cutesy nickname) and kyotani (kyoken, which might be a ref to ushijima being ushiwaka as a form of subtle disrespect and may imply that oikawa probably likes him the least out of everyone on seijoh but sees a little bit of ushijima in him) yahaba and kindaichi unfortunately do not have canon nicknames however which is. strange. i personally deign them yahabun (because yahaba is also set to be oikawa's successor and the oyabun/boss of seijoh) daikun (in reference to him low key being built like a radish) daicchan would also be acceptable. the use of last names is verrry interesting tho considering the cutesy-ness of his naming choices would lend itself better to the use of first names, implying there's an invisible wall he's putting up between him and his teammates (writers, make of that as you will)

hinata is sometimes written to be ruder than he actually is, because canonically he's pretty respectful to anyone older/figures of authority, with a notable exception: oikawa. however, you could argue his intent isn't to be rude, rather he views his nickname as cool (similar to his original view on kags' king of the court nickname) though he calls him oikawa-san post timeskip. he's a good noodle 🥺

inarizaki does not have a confirmed vice-captain, however considering all the little context clues given it's verrry likely to be oomimi ren, as he's close enough to kita for atsumu to joke they're married (👀👀👀) and aran, for all his screentime is never explicitly stated to be vice captain when there were plenty of opportunities, esp in the scene where kita was named captain. very much a soekawa jin situation where a character w very little screentime actually had a relatively important role within the team

i put this one last bc it's a nitpick with no definitive answer, but it is highly likely that reon ohira, aran ojiro, adriah tomas, and oriver barnes are incorrect spellings of the intended names of these characters. the correct spelling based on intended naming themes should be leon (lion theming fitting with shiratorizawa's apex predator theme), alan (fox in breton language), adrian (highly likely to be american), and oliver (this one should be a no brainer)

[thehypnone]

Sundown: Chapter 8

WC: 800

Relationship: SwissAlps

Tags: AU; Cowboy!Swiss x Barmaid!Mountain, Transfeminine Mountain, Angst, Crying, Nightmares, Comfort

There had always been something sitting in the back of his mind and waiting for the boy to fall asleep so it could strike.

Notes: Just a short little thing because exams are killing me but I don't want y'all to feel abandoned ahfhagsf

Playlist here. / Chapter 1 here or on AO3.

Read chapter 8 under the cut or on AO3.

Swiss has always had nightmares.

There had always been something sitting in the back of his mind and waiting for the boy to fall asleep so it could strike. The themes have changed over the years; from monsters under the bed to gruesome images of things he himself has done to people.

Sunshine, too.

Those were the worst.

They didn’t go away when he started sleeping with Mounty—albeit they became less frequent with her presence—but he never actually mentioned them and the girl didn’t pry. Every time he had shot up with a gasp and sweat slick skin in the middle of the night he had mumbled something about having to take a piss, tumbled out of bed and ran out of the room. Mounty wasn’t ever awake enough to will herself to follow him, but that’s not what the man wanted anyway, so—wanting to respect his space—she had always let him. She would go back to sleep and would not even know how long Swiss spends outside every single time, breathing heavily and holding back tears against Monty’s neck. The mare saw nearly as much as him and he wonders sometimes, if her mind is as plagued as his.

Still, every time he had come back—he’d never let Mounty wake up without him by her side again, if she’d let him.

Now that she knows everything, though, she doesn’t let him run.

He’s been in there so many times he knows that barn better than the back of his hand; he could count the wooden boards that make it with his eyes closed.

He’d rather not.

He knows what he’ll see, he knows he shouldn’t take the next step, and the next, but he can’t stop. He’s been told she’s there, waiting for him, so he must go.

He knows now it wasn’t true, but he can’t stop. His legs are moving on their own and he’s crying—he’s always crying—but he can not stop.

The pool of blood on the sand reflects the light breaking through a crack by the roof, just as her reddened skin. Her usual tan is barely visible; everything but her face is covered in red.

All Swiss sees is red, red, RED…

All Swiss sees is…just dark ember. Pretty dark ember, reflecting the moonlight filtering in from the carelessly shut curtains

“Swiss, breathe,” he hears, albeit muffled, as if coming from far, far away. “Breathe, darling, it’s alright. You’re here with me, it’s alright.”

Mounty.

His eyes focus on her face, but they don’t clear; the girl looks blurry through his tears. Swiss’ breath hitches and he tries to cough to cover up a sob. Pathetic attempt, really, but he still tries to act as if nothing is wrong.

“Oh, s–sorry,” he chokes out, his voice wobbly, “I–I gotta–”

“No, you don’t,” Mounty interrupts him; sternly, but calmly. It’s all it takes for the cowboy to give up all fight. He slumps over with his eyes squeezed shut, his face falling into his hands as he tries to breathe. It’s not working very well, it’s shaky and he’s getting dizzy. “Oh, darling…”

The girl puts a gentle hand on the back of Swiss’ neck and he wheezes painfully. “Okay, that’s enough. C’mere, darling. And breathe. That’s it.”

The man is all but a ragdoll when Mounty grabs and maneuvers him to lay against her bare chest. He’s tense and limp at the same time, with his mind so, so far away. The barmaid hopes he’s not registering the pained look of worry on her own face; she truly hates seeing him like this.

The dam breaks the moment the strong beat of Mounty’s heart sounds against Swiss’ ear. He curls in on himself, tightens his arms around the barmaid and begins to fully sob, his tears spilling down his face and onto Mounty’s skin, making it glisten in the moonlight, too.

It’s beautiful, actually.

“I know, darling, I know,” she mumbles, stroking his sweaty back. He’s getting cold, starting to shiver. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Swiss knows she does, for some reason since the very moment they met. He will never understand why, but he knows. He can’t stop crying for long enough to tell her that, though.

Another sob rips itself out of his chest and he nuzzles his face closer, scratching Mounty’s skin with his stubble. She sighs, feeling as useless as ever in the face of Swiss’ awful memories.

All she can do is bring a blanket up and wrap it right under the cowboy’s chin, holding him close and whispering how—even if it doesn’t feel like it right now—everything will be just fine.

[omghallucinations]

idle soyeon and ateez hongjoong--2 idols both alike in indignity (very in the weeds edition: decans, chart patterns, retrogrades, degrees, etc)

(part 1 probably, this kind of very nitpicky sorting shit is addicting to me, let's DO it)

my personal fascination!!! do you not see the twinning?? these two have very "the same/different" charts and present really similarly, with the same MC, first house and ascendant.

same: simultaneously a bad bitch who can kill you and the silliest lil dummy in the world. cult of personality. big idea person. cutey tiny adorable. shapeshifter. bossy as fuck, but also baby?? vegetable anti. kind of a dweeb. otaku bestie energy

i wanna focus on the things that are similar between them to pick out any key differences, so let's get VERY INTO THE WEEDS.

(anyone who reads this is a real one and we are bros for life because this is niche in so many ways)

the same: capricorn neptune at 29° conjunct capricorn ascendant (spiritual workaholic)

neptune is at 29°, the anaretic degree--exam season is on, babes!!

anything at the anaretic degree= talent, tests, urgency, intensity, crisis

like damn can they both Act and Create and Visionary!! but um self-sacrifice is not your profession, babes? with capricorn neptune rising, they compulsively take on responsibilities.

they are both semi-monomaniacal and probably work best alone--or they think they do. if they could get away with it, they would do everything themselves (bc they know how they want it!!!), truly predebut soyeon fine... i'll do it myself.

the mood is...

shapeshifters, can completely inhabit a character

life is about artistic expression and creation, but also authority!

idealism, big issues, humanitarianism but through a practical lens

art, beauty, tapping into Feelings and Experiences of humanity (songwriter shit)

spirituality, religion??? some connection to like... The Universe, a higher being, a Grand Idea, something like that

full of empathy and kindness lowkey

capricorn wants strict boundaries and neptune wants to merge with others, so my guess would be that they often either go too hard with boundaries (into the studio, shut the door, talk to no one, become a ghost) or too light (i will take every meeting for every single thing no it's fine i got it don't worry you can take a nap i don't need sleep yes i will work over the weekend and do the work of 7 people myself)

both capricorn and neptune looooove to deny the self. capricorn ignores the self in favor of The Work (whatever Their Work is); capricorn neptune specifically has a jesus complex and wants to carry the cross for everybody. also there's religion stuff there in general!

damn honestly, talk about overwork issues and inability to delegate, #mood

different: hongjoong's direct neptune, soyeon's retrograde neptune (witch vs. EXTREMELY witch)

faith is going to be more important and more Pressuring for soyeon. both of them have neptune following them around through life like..

capricorn ascendant: gotta Work neptune, whispering in their ear: consider the Beyond 🥺... consider Humanity 🥺 cap ascendant: gotta work neptune: consider a total lack of boundaries.... consider ghosting everyone you know,,, 😶‍🌫️ cap ascendant:gotta make that money🤑 make purse🤑 neptune: Art, Creation... the Aesthetic... cap ascendant: got a fur coat so i make it purr 😎

hongjoong's neptune is like, "perfect script, no notes."

however, soyeon's neptune is coming in with edits.

capricorn ascendant: gotta Work (gotta work) neptune rx: that's me in the corner... capricorn ascendant: gotta make that money? 🤑? neptune rx, screeching: THAT'S ME IN THE SPOT 🗣️ LIGHT 🗣️ LOSING MY RELIGION capricorn ascendant: make... purse? neptune rx, yowling: WHAT IF GOD WAS 🗣️ONE OF US🗣️ capricorn ascendant: got a fur coat??? neptune rx, bellowing: ART AND COMMERCE ARE INTERLOCKED SEMIOTIC PRACTICES A NON-LINGUISTIC SIGN IS BOUND TO THE INTERPRETANT WHO IN TURN IS IMPRISONED WITHIN SOCIETAL CONVENTION,,, WHICH, capricorn ascendant, frantically googling: ..; haha so i don't make it purr, actually i, um, unravel the mythos of the symbol,,, also the coat is vintage?? neptune rx: 😈

basically soyeon is under more pressure to develop her own conception of spirituality and connection to The World Beyond and shit. retrograde planets are usually associated with past life stuff (like some thematic shit went down and was unresolved in a past life which means u have to reckon with the planetary themes now) and a pressure to individuate, aka decide shit yourself.

soyeon is a bit more revolutionary when it comes to her spirituality, and the way she connects to Humanity's Vibes is more... mystical?? idk. i mean it really tracks that she's a practicing buddhist and shares that as a part of her Idol Image.

aquarius uranus in the 1st house: well sinead o'rebellion!!

it's in the 1st house, in its own decan, it's SUPER visible. we've already got our spiritual goats (neptune conjunct capricorn ascendant) and now it's time to make this significantly um.... well a little bit meaner but also cooler and more Revolutionary!

aquarius uranus in the 1st=aquarius rising flavor

a capricorn rising can be very strict and structured and potentially traditional in their worldview (not as much these two, not with neptune conjunct ascendant). uranus in the 1st house says lmao fuck your bourgeois ideas in this very black and white no-excuses kind of way

they could both be excellent revolutionary leaders if they wanted

they truly want to overthrow shit they don't agree with--but at the same time they're both canny, capricorn knows how to play it just within the rules and push boundaries just enough to stay out of real trouble so they can keep their positions of authority (although i bet their personal opinions are pretty radical)

they're comfortable in situations of dramatic change or instability--they do well in chaos or unpredictable situations especially for earth risings

there's an inherent difference in their personalities--they know they're not like other people in many ways and they can't hide that. they feel misunderstood and often are misunderstood, people project stuff onto them (neptune) and misread them as harsher than they are (capricorn, uranus).

neither of them could follow orders for more than like 2-3 hours because the minute they think something is stupid they are rebelling (uranus), losing any respect they still have for the stupid-order-giver (aquarius), completely evading control (neptune) and/or taking control themselves (capricorn). lmao what is hongjoong gonna do in the military, that's gonna suuuuck.

you can tell them to do whatever, sure, but when it comes to The Work they are literally going to do whatever they want, sorry.

just physically they have the skinny compact capricorn rising look with the alien uranus flavor and soulful neptune eyes--plus the neptunian shape-shifting ability. they're two of the best performers in the game.

different: soyeon's retrograde uranus conjunct ascendant, hongjoong uranus direct in the 1st house

soyeon's aquarius uranus is retrograde, and also widely conjunct her ascendant, so it's gonna be more... loud.

capricorn ascendant: Gotta Work (gotta work) neptune rx: that's me in the corner... uranus rx, dead serious: disobedience is man’s original virtue capricorn ascendant: gotta make that money? 🤑? neptune rx: THAT'S ME IN THE SPOT 🗣️ LIGHT 🗣️ LOSING MY RELIGION uranus rx, staring capricorn dead in the eye: the proletariate has nothing to lose but their chains capricorn ascendant: make... purse? neptune rx, yowling: WHAT IF GOD WAS 🗣️ONE OF US🗣️ uranus rx, poorly hiding a guillotine: complacency is complicity...bitch

not saying she is a committed revolutionary in every respect just saying she could if she wanted to despite her compromising 7th house placements and libra moon (all of whom also committed to equality and fairness!)

also just in general, social change is going to be a driving force for soyeon in a different way than hongjoong--he also has a good amount of that but it's maybe less... political? less intense? than it is for soyeon. not surprising, for a female producer in south korea. if i were her i'd be furious 100% of the time.

soyeon also has a lot more creative control of idle's music than hongjoong does of ateez's--idk if that is by design for HJ or not. the urgency of control/individuality/personal expression is stronger astrologically for soyeon with the retrograde planets so it does track?

i think hongjoong is more willing to let things go, in some ways. soyeon is more willing to let things go in other ways, so!

the same: ruled by saturn, saturn acting up at the base of their charts, saturn retrograde

damn i love people who are saturn-ruled. saturn is lowkey my favorite. people who are saturn-ruled or saturn-dominant tend to Go Thru It but in return there is a gift. like damn saturn is a harsh parent but saturn cares soooo much. you will Suffer but it will be the making of you, u know?? also people who cross you will eventually get fucked up by the universe.

both of them have insanely active saturns that anchor their charts. cannot emphasize enough how intense these fuckers are. since they both have a retrograde saturn, they are less attached to the trappings of societal norms than they could be. also they are really gonna have to deal with their issues with authority??

different: saturn at 29° aries v. saturn in taurus

hongjoong: ruled by saturn in aries at 29°

another 29°! neptune isn't hongjoong's only big talent/tester--saturn has joined the chat. first of all aries saturn is already weird and jumpy as fuck. aries is a baby and saturn wants you to grow the hell up. aries loathes a rule, saturn has the rulebook in hand and is annotating as we speak!! there's inherent conflict within the heart of an aries saturn. a real tinderbox tbh--both saturn and aries really think they're right. who will win???

(there are no winners :( they have to learn to live together :()

in aries--leadership, drive, doing it all on your own so pretty clear uhhh workaholic situation

anything at 29° is frantic--it's about to pass to the next sign, so it wants to do everything before it leaves. hongjoong has this almost manic need for control and leadership and creation, action, drive.

3rd house=gemini flavor, cute! i mean, weird for saturn, but fun for me personally. saturn is exerting a lot of force in communication, language, learning. maybe he had a very restrictive childhood education that also made him like way more committed to being in charge himself bc rules are stupid. unless they are his rules, in which case they are perfect, so.

square capricorn neptune (exact) and ascendant-- the aries-capricorn square is the most #leader one u can imagine. take no prisoners, extremely cardinal sign. if there's a crisis or a zombie apocalypse bet on hongjoong--he can really pull together a survival plan in the face of abject horror. snaps for hongjoong!

with neptune here it's softer, more concerned with humanity, less monomaniacal. so we don't have to worry about hongjoong turning his ragged survival group into a fucked up cult or something, he'll make good choices for the collective, more snaps for hongjoongie!

still there's a conflict between his saturn, who is suuuper harsh and out for itself and wants to act without restrictions (aries) and his softer neptune who cares about the greater good or service and wants to be more democratic or measured and mature--so going back to the zombie apocalypse, hongjoong might be prone to taking extreme action and then regretting that shit. deducting a snap for hongjoong. hm maybe he should have a second-in-command 🤔

a very productive square, here! lots of energy and action--lots of creation and follow-through. trust him in a zombie apocalypse but make sure you've got checks and balances in your pseudo-government.

opposite scorpio lilith -- there's an optimism about aries that scorpio does not share. aries is a baby. scorpio is a hardened nordic detective in her forties. she's making cynical asides and aries is toddling off towards a beautiful future

in scorpio opposite 3rd house saturn hongjoong loOOVEs the drama and #secrets and #intrigue but he acts like everyone else is bothering him by bringing their drama to him

the 9th house is more uranus-y stuff--rebel with a cause. god i would pay real cash to see what he was like in school. or would have been like in school if he hadn't been a trainee which probably took up all his energy. he hates rigid societal standards and dumb rules and shit!! hates injustice!!! i feel like we would have been expelled together, it'd be so romantic🥹

saturn wants hongjoong to Take Charge, Take Responsibility, and lilith is like DISAVOW SOCIETY, OVERTHROW THE EARTH. lilith constantly is telling hongjoong how people are CROWDING him he's TRAPPED they're gonna BETRAY HIM SOMEHOW even though saturn wants that responsibility and social interaction. fight!

soyeon: ruled by saturn in taurus

soyeon is practical. she focuses on what can tangibly be done and she works methodically. she doesn't really do "writer's block" bc she's like ah, hating my work is a natural stage of creation, just gotta keep going. she's a lot softer than she appears, but if she wants something her way she will get it that way.

soyeon likes the physical parts of creation. she likes being in the room and she likes her equipment and her stuff. she likes messing with the files, and she has a very physical feeling about it. it makes me think about how she is when producing--how she talks her members through what she wants, it's very focused on the body and the physical way to make the sound.

i imagine hongjoong is more about the ideas when he explains things, or generally more like, let's experiment a lot and then i'll narrow everything down later. soyeon has an initial vision and takes incremental steps to guide people to that vision--and she wants it her way before she edits. she needs the vision to be concrete.

she has less frantic energy here than hongjoong. soyeon is absolutely a workaholic and is gonna have to deal with that, but she's less afraid i guess. hongjoong probably has really dramatic ups and downs with his work, but soyeon is more level-headed. she might decide she hates something later (superlady) and she's never gonna change her mind on that but it's not gonna send her into a tailspin. it's more like she'll want to work her way out of any perceived failure immediately.

super strong square to mars: hello productivity! also very similar to the capricorn-aries square--you can also put soyeon in charge during a zombie apocalypse. she will be very level-headed and practical and will remember to secure a reliable water supply.

taurus square leo: fixed square--stubborn as FUCK. SUPER productive. creative, some ego situation. resting bitch face in a massive way. loves an object. loves a good house. loves a good vibe. loves comfort and pretty things.

quincunx pluto: hm well there's the fear! i retract what i said about the fear. issues with authority, also she probably both desperately wants the approval of authority figures and wants to fully ignore their influence and go her own way. confusing!!

trine the sun (exact): lucky!! damn i wish i had this aspect. as another adhd bitch, consistency is not my bag. it is however, soyeon's bag. it's an earth trine and it's saturn-sun--soyeon is disciplined as fuck and reliable in her work.

she also has the lilith opposition but it's not out-of-sign, so we've got fixed squares and a fixed opposition! attachment, desire, sex, money, power, all that fun stuff. veeeery secretive in some ways.

you can also trust soyeon in a zombie apocalypse. very good head on her shoulders, will be super productive, will think about proper waste disposal. she will not share power though, so that could be a problem. also she probably thinks she does share power and it's like "... girl? what about this is screaming teamwork exactly???"

same: locomotive charts with mars "engines"

in a locomotive chart, planets are all around the chart 3/4ths of the way. the "engine" planet sets the tone for all the other ones. both soyeon and hongjoong are led by mars--action, initiation, survival, drive. any locomotive chart wants to go-go-go, but mars leading it--extra this.

different: everything else!

hongjoong's planets are led by his 8th house virgo mars

8th house is the scorpio house, fixed water, depth, transformation, deals, secrets, darkness

UNNECESSARILY DRAMATIC

may enjoy bdsm or transgressive sexuality in some way? especially with the scorpio of it all. sexual but feels weird about it (virgo)

virgo wants to be of service, wants to pick out what is useful, wants to critique, wants to fiddle with everything, virgo is cautious, virgo is freaking out about something

works to avoid feelings (workaholic +10)

virgo also loves a crisis, and with the 8th house... it's not that deep, hongjoong... it's not that deep....

the 8th is mars and pluto ruled, so hongjoong's mars gets a boost here too, and a scorpio flavor--he lowkey (highkey) can be very very intense

in a fixed house wants to do things its own way, in a mutable sign its willing to adapt however to survive. earth and water and a fire planet. confusing!! very weird mars vibe! lots of conflicting energy!

super wild exact jupiter-mars opposition--bringing the drama yet again, girl. at least he's funny as fuck. also a really good leader! makes people feel good and seen! not afraid of the Darkness (that much!)

however... those hasty decisions... girl be grateful for your capricorn rising bc this could've been a disaster.

also pisces jupiter is really cute and jupiter is hongjoong's final dispositor (rules everything). very important jupiter!! it all comes back to his ideals and philosophies and dreams for the future. he's very future-leaning in general. much more emotional than some of his other placements might lean or try to lean--and jupiter trine sun and venus... ahh my heart. cute placement. more on this another time.

soyeon's planets are led by her 7th house leo mars

7th house is a libra house, venus-ruled, it's cardinal air, it's communication, it's relationships, it's uhhh having to litigate for ur life all the time ha ha ha?

leo mars wants to shine, wants to LIVE FOREVER through creation, creativity, praise, the spotlight

leo and libra, very it's not that deep babes it's just a laugh babes

in the sun decan it's all about personal expression!! it's a little bit tinkerbell I live for the applause applause applause (+5 sharpay from hsm)

in a cardinal and angular house it wants to act first, in a fixed sign it is sure of itself, we've got a real unobstructed leader energy here--the 7th house is a little more hesitant but everything else is propelling mars forward

fire and air are friends and they wanna party. fire sign, air planet, fire planet--the energy is super pure super unified, consistent, complimentary (if hongjoong's locomotive is a lil cautious and intense soyeon's has NO FEAR and it DID come here to make friends)

soyeon's mars is right up against her descendant--it's like a little fuel pot for her but it might uhh give her indigestion? there's this little bubbling anger pit she pretend she do not see a lot of the time. it probably feels deeply unproductive and maybe scary to feel her anger, but if she doesn't face it it's gonna face her, girl!

opposite her ascendant and 1st house neptune--holy avoidance batman, soyeon simply loves to close her eyes and ignore a problem, byyyye

the back n forth between her optimistic puppy leo mars and her sad swan capricorn neptune is very creatively potent tho

lmao fire trine to her her sag pluto, she's genuinely hilarious, versatile creatively, can shake shit off well

soyeon's fear of not proving herself enough or whatever actually propels her to action instead of freaking her out, canNOT relate but good for her

in conclusion this is really fun for me lmao I'm gonna do another edition. stay tuned for the 10th house I guess!!

[that-bipolar-mood]

I hate being put in a deep depression, times like these I wish I was manic but at the same time I wasn’t, it’s so bad I relapsed on drinking too. I’m so underproductive with my studying I have to drink and force myself to get something done but when I’m manic I can do 10 things at once.. But then it’s all counterproductive, I did 40 mins worth of revision just to rest in bed because of how mentally vegetative I feel.. Idk what to do atp because no ones helping me💀

Hey,

thanks for reaching out.

Depression is... well no use wasting words, you know how it is. I can give my own perspective and what worked for me, but in the end, everyone's different, and mania is just a different side of the same coin.

Also when using alcohol as a coping mechanism, please consider that it makes any mood disorders worse in the long term, and if you're currently in depression, it is highly likely to induce anxiety attacks as well.

I feel like there is nothing enough, I can't even begin to offer adequate advice or support. These are some of the ideas and tips that helped me.

1. Acknowledge it

You gotta say it to yourself. Out loud. We veterans know what it means to be in depression, yet we rarely give ourselves permission to feel bad. Despite knowing how bad it is, we continue to feel guilt, trying to push ourselves through it. It is okay. You are okay.

2. Make a choice

So, when you weigh everything, you also have to make a choice. Should you turn to professional help? Take time off school? Or is this non-negotiable? Whatever you choose is okay, but you have to choose.

3. Create, darling

Depression is paralysing, passive, but it also lies. It makes you believe you are a failure. Yet, writing your thoughts, sketching silly cartoons, dressing up, trying new yoga poses... all that is creation, the opposite of the bleak cycle. So, create, darling.

4. Revisit your childhood

The food, movies, music... the warm familiarity of childhood can bring something new, fill you up, hug you, like fuzzy socks.

5. Now that you feel even a tad bit better

...choose one thing. Do you want to pass? Okay, studying it is. Write down the goal for today. Review 2 chapters, outline an essay, write practice questions, etc... But this means you have to deal with emotions and negative thoughts. If it gets too much, you have to quit and pick the task of rest for the day.

6. Ancient wisdoms and This Too Shall Pass

Maybe in the end, philosophers, poets, and artists knew best. And somewhere in those desperate hours, there is always the notion that everything passes, turns around, or ultimately changes. It's not always a great comfort because it doesn't help you momentarily. But it's nice to keep it somewhere in the back of your mind, as a bit of a pointer when it's pitch black.

If you are trying to work around depression you have to force things. I feel that letting everything go and focus on healing works faster, but... we don't always have that option. Life happens, and it rarely waits for you. So. Push. In the morning, scream affirmations if you must. Forcefully pat yourself on the back. Begrugingly admit that you're proud of yourself. Find friends, family, animals, funny TV shows, and escapist books. Sleep, food, love, study, repeat. It will get easier, slowly, but you have to push.

If you reach the point, you know it, when it falls apart, you need to stop. Sometimes that's the point of depression, to get us to stop and rest. You can always retake exams. But you can't get your life back if you bomb it, either with alcoholism or mania.

If I may be so bold to suggest, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke always brought me solace in the darkness. Also, music. Also, animals.

I wish you the absolute best in life and recovery. I urge you to arm yourself with whatever support and system you can find. And maybe you can afterwards indulge us in your success story.

Love, always

[geometea]

(Under) Qualified (Part One)

Six p.m. on a Friday, and you’re still in your office. Door shut, staring blankly at a computer screen. I wasn’t planning to start off too heavy on the symbolism, but why would you choose to spend your life in a windowless box? It’s the destination, why d’you gotta make it the journey as well?

It’s a bad day for it, too. The sort of day where any sane person would be outside, enjoying the evening air and spending time with other people. Normal people. Interesting people. People who could enrich your life, bring meaning to your muddle, give you the gift of variety beyond the tunnel-vision world that you occupy. But you. You strange, strange, str-str-str-strange thing that you are, you’d rather be there breathing in the chalk dust and staring fruitlessly at a paper. You’re not going to understand it, you do realize? You’ve been staring at it for four hours, maybe five - even I’m not sure at this point - and you’re still not sure what an isolated type is or how in the hell you wound up doing model theory. I mean, you are many things but a model theorist is /not/ one of them. Close the document, I beg of thee.

Of course, you won’t do that. There might be something useful in there, some new way to look at the latest problem you’ve set yourself. After all, your qual is coming up. The big day. The biggest of days. You’re going to have to stand there in front of (gasp) your advisor and your almost-advisor-but-that-one-academic-match-making-meeting-was-kind-of-awkward and some guy from Lie Groups that you dragged in because you did a course at one point and it was the only thing you could think of for your minor topic.

You have to be right where you are. You have to be studying away, with all the diligence of the damned. Buried before you’re dead, except instead of a coffin it’s your office and instead of earth piling up atop you it’s a mountain of definitions you don’t remember and instead of a priest it’s your advisor asking you a question and you stare at her blankly because you do not for the life of you remember what any of those words mean and -

Oh. You’re panicking. Oh dear.

Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Lots of people fail their

Well. A few people fail their quals. It’s not the end of the world. 

Though you’ve never met anyone who failed their qual, have you? Maybe they just won’t admit to it. Shame. Humiliation, even. The unlucky 1%, the only 1% you’ve any chance of making it into you aspiring academic, you.

But you’ll be fi-i-ine. You’ve got a syllabus. Cribbed from a list your advisor sent you, questions some other student of hers you’ve never met presumably survived. How, you have no idea. Because you’ve never heard of half the things on here, even though you d e f initely should have, and you’ve been avoiding learning the other half because they sound scary. But hey, you’ll always have Lie groups.

You’ve got to focus, you tell yourself. You spin in your chair to look at your chalkboard, at the practice problems you’ve hunted-and-gathered from the weird-n-wild corners of math.overflow, to the weirder-n-wilder corners of the brains of your academic siblings. Of the ten you’ve got, you’ve managed to solve two and both of those were rather like pulling teeth.

You sigh and run your hand down your face. This is hopeless. You’re hopeless. You’ll never get anywhere at this rate. No, this calls for some outside intervention.

Do you: A) Reach out to your advisor - she’ll set the questions, maybe if you look pathetic enough, she’ll give you hints about what you ought to focus on. But you’ll be exposing your soft, squishy belly like the desperate little pup you are. B) Email the student who’s syllabus you’re using. He’s still listed as a student at the school, when you google him, though you’ve never spoken to him. Honestly, you’re pretty sure you’ve never even seen him. But he passed the exam using this syllabus. He might be able to identify the key ideas.

C) Beg your academic siblings for help. You’re all in this together, right? They might not be able to help, and suffering shared might not be suffering divided, but at least they’ll be suffering too. If all else fails, you can see if they’ll pity-comp your dinner. D) Surely there’s something in this model theory paper that can help. Or at least something your committee doesn’t know - when in doubt, apply surface level understanding of something completely unrelated. Confusion is always your friend (apart from when it’s your enemy).

[cerastes]

Hi hello I've dealt with worsening attention span and task volition over the past like six years and it's something I don't know how to deal with but it's absolutely a problem. Can you talk about your training arc a bit more, or recommend anyone else who has?

It's different for everyone else but sometimes we can glean useful tips or methods from others' stories, so don't expect this to work 1:1 with you but maybe parts of it can help you.

For me, it took figuring out that I'm very motivation-centric. That is, my brain only cooperates if there is a "logical motivation" for me to do something or to focus on something, otherwise deeming things a waste and not really helping with the whole "focus and get stuff done".

So for example, when I was still in university, I'd hate, for example, Lacanian stuff, so I'd not want to read it in the slightest because I hate it and don't even want to apply it. But that means bad grades and possibly failing, so my way of Persuading(tm) the brain was "hey we hate this but if we don't do this, we tank our scores, and if we tank our scores now, then we'll have to put it an even bigger, herculean effort for the exam. We can instead fucking hate it NOW and get it over with instead of hating it even more later and having to put thrice to effort, how's that" and my brain would be like "aight bet".

Or cleaning, for example, 'cause I'm trash blind, it's much the same: "brain we gotta clean and do the dishes" - > "why? we don't, it doesn't really matter, it doesn't hurt us, it doesn't really inconvenience us right now, play more Bloodborne instead" - > "no but there'll be more dust and bugs and imagine we get an unexpected guest, we'll have a fucking píg sty here, it's happened before" - > "wait fuck those are good points, ok let's clean up".

At least with me, being entirely motivation-centric, I need to justify things to myself before I can actually put in effort and focus, I need to find an internal logic that'll justify me putting effort into things I don't like. If it's something I like, it's as easy as "we do it because we like it" but if it's something I hate, I kinda have to have this dialogue where I imagine my brain as this dude that's holding the keys and without the keys I ain't getting nowhere, but this dude, despite being capricious, is not unreasonable, and will in fact hear me out, I just need to actually give a reason and a logic as to why he should hand me the keys, and he will if I do just that. Basically, I’m very capricious and weaponize that to my advantage.

[siriuslysatorusimping]

Fight Like You Mean It (Another Level - Installment 7, Part 2)

Summary

Time had to be running low now. A surge of energy just outside of the veil caught her attention, and she clenched her jaw. She’d rather die than let Naoya take this from her. Sucking in a shaky breath, she released it as she whispered, “Cursed Technique, Perfect Double.” It appeared opposite her, her mind narrowing as her view of the world split. Two TVs, two video games with separate controls—just like every time before, it threatened to overwhelm her. Focus on your energy. Gojo’s order resounded in her mind as she blinked rapidly. Focus less on your thoughts and more on your energy.

AN: I made some big revisions to this part, which is the original parts 2 and 3 combined. I've already updated both parts on AO3. For those who read the original version, I made changes to her fight, the group’s conversation at the izakaya, and some details about the Special Grade cursed spirit she fought. Her convo with Nanami is also a bit different. I added some fun banter because we love Nanami/Rinko banter.

Guess I'm spoiling her exam with the header, huh? Everyone, congratulate Rinko on her Grade 1 status. She got her ass beat for weeks while preparing. This part is spicy, too, but is that really surprising?

<- Prev - Fight Like You Mean It: Part 1 | Another Level Masterlist | Kiko's Masterlist

Fight Like You Mean It - Part 2 (and 3)

Dropping to her knees, Rinko allowed herself to cough once, dislodging the blood clot in her throat as she did.

Spitting it out, she growled her frustration wildly.

Despite expecting it and preparing for it—training extra with Gojo and Nanami for weeks—the Special Grade was still more than she had anticipated.

Thunder roared in the distance as rain pelted the veil overhead.

Nanami had given her sour expression a single glance as he got off the train that morning and sighed.

“You’re in a mood, I see,” he’d said, raising his eyebrows. “Where’s–?”

“Special Grade assignment,” she’d replied flatly, her eyes watching Nanami’s narrow. The words left a bitter taste in her mouth. “Don’t fucking ask.”

They had been walking to her apartment from getting dinner at the sobayaki place she’d taken him that night over a year ago. His arm was draped over her shoulders, a smirk on his face as he asked if she wanted to get some taiyaki and relive that night. The smirk on his face grew when she scoffed, letting his shades slide down his nose so he could stare into her eyes. She’d known he was about to say something unhinged when his eyes almost glowed down at her, but he didn’t get the chance because his phone rang, his mouth flattening into a hard line as he answered.

“Yaga–” His expression went from annoyed to furious in an instant at whatever Yaga was saying, his arm dropping from her shoulders as he tensed. “You’re fucking joking–”

He’d gone back and forth with Yaga for the rest of the walk to her apartment, his tone hushed except for a few occasions when he snapped at the older sorcerer loudly.

“Yeah, yeah,” he finally said, hanging up without another word. Running his hand through his hair in frustration, he muttered under his breath, “Christ.”

He let out a heavy sigh of annoyance, removing his sunglasses and retrieving his bandages from his pocket.

“Special Grade assignment just popped up,” he stated drily in response to her confused look. “Sendai. Urgent– I know.”

She’d scowled as soon as he spoke, to which he nodded and sighed again.

It wasn’t that she needed him there with her, but she knew they were sending him off on purpose—and that was infuriating.

“They aren’t exactly being fucking subtle, are they?” he asked flatly as they arrived outside her apartment. “I gotta go.”

Nodding along, she unlocked her door silently, feeling the irritation settle in her chest at her father.

“Hey,” Gojo said, the fury in his eyes softening for a moment as he grasped her arm. “You’ll be fine. You’re more than ready. Just stick to the strategy and–”

“I know,” she snapped, watching his eyes narrow at her. “I got it.”

“Don’t get bratty with me,” he ordered, pressing her against the wall beside her door. His eyes were flashing dangerously as he raised his eyebrows. “Not when I don’t have the time to teach you a lesson for it.”

Leaning down, he captured her lips with his, licking his way into her mouth immediately. Stroking his tongue against hers, he flattened her against the wall roughly when she whimpered.

“You’ll be fine,” he whispered again, biting her lip and grinding his hips into hers. “Don’t be nervous.”

Easier said than done.

“I mean it, Rinko,” he insisted, pulling back to stare down at her. “Stay calm. I’ll be back once I finish whatever the hell they’re sending me all the way to fucking Sendai for, and we’ll celebrate your new Grade 1 status.”

He’d released her shortly after, wrapping his bandages around his eyes and clasping his hands together before disappearing.

The cursed spirit shrieked as it charged at Rinko again, forcing her to swap with a duplicate to get away. It had knocked her through a second-floor window of the abandoned middle school into the old courtyard, almost crushing her skull when it jumped out after her. Had it not been for her duplicate, she’d have been out before the fight even started.

Her head ached, and sweat trickled down the side of her face. Raising her hand, she wiped her face and scowled when she pulled her hand away to see that it was blood and not just sweat. Perfect.

Another clap of thunder forced her attention back to the present.

The clock was ticking.

Time limits weren’t standard for exams, but yet another wrench the Zenin clan had thrown her way since she was impressive enough for Gojo Satoru to recommend her promotion. Someone like that should have no issue with an extra challenge. To make things worse, should she fail to exorcise the curse within the allotted time, Naoya would be the one to do it for her.

She and Nanami had shared a look, both clearly thinking the same thing: As if the little shit stood a chance.

The reason they’d sent Gojo over 800 kilometers away became crystal clear: so he couldn’t stop Naoya from inevitably trying to sabotage her exam by interfering early.

Yoshinobu, to his credit, had looked furious. But he’d remained silent, as always. He’d clenched his jaw as Yaga questioned who had approved such drastic changes to what should have been a standard Grade 1 exam.

Her uncle had only smiled, ignoring Yaga completely as he met Rinko’s hatred-filled eyes.

“Best get started, Kurisaki,” Ogi told her, his smile growing as he adjusted the umbrella in his hands. “The clock starts upon first contact.”

Spitting on the ground again, Rinko heaved as she drew her cursed blades, flipping them between her fingers while she tried to assess the situation.

They were close to the Uji River, she realized, squinting her eyes at the curse. Taking in its appearance, she ran through what she knew about the area. There were numerous legends and folk tales about the Uji River, but one in particular stood out. The snake-like body and horns on its head made her eyes narrow as it all clicked into place for her: Imaginary Vengeful Cursed Spirit, Uji no Hashihime.

Like all legends, the details of Hashihime varied, but the base of it stayed the same: the manifestation of a scorned lover. A woman fueled by jealousy who begged the gods to give her the power to punish those who wronged her. But Uji no Hashihime was also known as the dread Bridge Princess demon. Why was it in an abandoned school? How had they lured it away from– It released another shriek, zeroing in on Rinko’s cursed energy and charging her again before she could question its location further.

The implication of the Zenin clan’s choice of cursed spirit wasn’t lost on her, but she refused to let it throw her.

Fuck them, she thought as she readied her blades.

She wanted to slaughter the entire clan, but she had to survive first. More than that, she had to exorcise the curse or her only chance at ever getting Grade 1 was gone forever.

It slithered towards her, tortured wails brokenly lamenting how it was wronged and how she would pay for stealing its lover. Fury oozed from its every pore, the horns on its head glinting when a flash of lightning breached the barrier and lit the courtyard.

Keep moving.

Nanami was likely losing his mind at seeing her standing so still as it charged at full speed, but she purposefully waited until the last moment, swapping with her farthest duplicate. It crashed into the wall, the sound of its shriek mixing with the boom of thunder.

Taking advantage of its distraction, she rushed forward, thrusting her left blade into its side. She drove the knife as deep as she could, using her momentum to swing up and over its body.

Pain exploded in her ears at the scream Hashihime released, her head pounding as she landed and activated her technique to send a decoy in the opposite direction.

Keep moving.

Dropping low, she ducked its flailing arm to slide beneath it, dragging her blade across its belly as she went. She swapped away, watching it grab her duplicate and slam it into the ground as she tried to catch her breath. 

Blood roared in her ears as she realized that the only thing she could hear was a constant ringing, everything else a fuzzy mumble as a crack of thunder shook her chest.

A growl of frustration escaped as she realized that the cuts she’d made healed instantly. All she’d really succeeded in doing was making it angry.

“Cursed Technique, Shadow Step.”

Using her echoes as a form of cover, she charged forward again, this time launching herself up and managing to slice one of the horns from its head. Twisting, she tried to stab her other knife into its side, but an arm swiped out and caught her square in the chest, sending her straight into the wall.

A yelp of pain escaped as she hit the ground, quickly forcing herself back onto her feet.

Time had to be running low now. A surge of energy just outside of the veil caught her attention, and she clenched her jaw.

She’d rather die than let Naoya take this from her.

Sucking in a shaky breath, she released it as she whispered, “Cursed Technique, Perfect Double.”

It appeared opposite her, her mind narrowing as her view of the world split. Two TVs, two video games with separate controls—just like every time before, it threatened to overwhelm her.

Focus on your energy. Gojo’s order resounded in her mind as she blinked rapidly. Focus less on your thoughts and more on your energy.

Energy, right.

Moving her left leg back, she braced her weight against it, watching her double do the same. It raised its fists as she raised her knives in front of her, and she allowed herself another deep breath before darting toward the Special Grade.

Her energy flowed as she moved, striking the cursed spirit from both sides and feeling the cry of pain it released vibrate through her arm. Swinging her arm, she severed a second horn from its head, her brain protesting as her double continued its assault with a punch charged with cursed energy.

She yelped as she was forced to swap out of the way of the curse as its body skidded away from the force. It clutched its head, its mouth opening in an obvious wail even though she couldn’t hear it.

There was more to this curse. There had to be. The stories typically involved dragging its victims from the bridge and drowning them. Would it try to drag her to the river if she got too close again?

Liquid erupted from her throat, and she gagged as water gushed from her mouth.

It didn’t even need a river, lovely.

Her double faltered but seemed otherwise unaffected, and she tossed her knives in the air as they crossed paths. A flash of lightning broke across the sky. The blades glinted in the brief light as her double caught them. One of the many things she’d wondered early on with her double was how she’d deal with one version of her having weapons and the other not, until she’d realized that the double could still use them even if it couldn’t duplicate them.

Coughing wildly, she tried to expel as much water from her lungs as she could, sucking in a strangled breath before the water refilled them. Blinking through the pain-induced haze, she ignored the way her body protested her movements as her chest already burned from the lack of oxygen.

She forced herself to keep fighting. There was no other choice but to keep going. The only way to breathe was to exorcise the curse and hope she didn’t pass out first. Wrapping her cursed energy around her fists, she landed blow after blow, only retreating to allow her double to close in to slice at it in her stead. Her vision blurred, the strain of controlling her double and fighting alongside it pushing her to her limit.

Clenching her jaw, she kept going, feeling something snap as her mind went blissfully blank. Her double moved in perfect sync, following up on her hits with its own. It felt effortless as she caught her knives, following up on her double’s punch by jabbing her blade into the curse’s side and flipping over its attempt to swat at her.

She’d never felt so free in her entire life.

The curse flailed, trying to fight the endless flurry she and her double were inflicting. Dodging its sloppy movement, she swore she was floating as time stopped in its tracks. Her energy flowed effortlessly, her body and her double moving before she even had to think to do it.

Her lungs burned as she ignored her racing heart and the ringing in her ears, tossing her blades to her double. Landing strike after strike, her fists glowed with energy.

Air, she thought desperately. Need air.

But the only way to get air was to keep fighting. She could breathe when it was over. She didn’t have a choice.

Black sparks flew around her as her double immediately landed another blow, sending another flash through the air. Her blades appeared in her hands, and she slashed through Hashihime’s middle like paper. The shriek it released shook her chest as the shredded remains exploded around her, accompanied by the final streak of black sparks.

Her legs shook beneath her before they finally gave out, her knees hitting the ground as she heaved the last of the water from her lungs. Gasping, she choked when she desperately tried to inhale before the fluid was cleared. Her vision briefly returned to normal when her double disappeared, but dots fluttered around behind her lids whenever she blinked.

The veil above her began to recede, rain immediately soaking her clothes all the way through as another clap of thunder shook the ground.

With shaky hands, she sloppily flipped her knives to return them to their sheath. A stabbing pain shot through her arm, and she released a groan of pain, the sight of a few of her fingers bent in the wrong direction finally registering in her mind.

Shoes appeared in front of her as a hand grasped her shoulder, and she lifted her head to see Shoko grinning down at her.

Her lips moved quickly, but Rinko just shook her head when she could only hear garbled nonsense.

A frown pulled at the corners of Shoko’s mouth before she placed her hands on either side of Rinko’s head. Warmth radiated from her palms and then the sound of the rain slapping the ground around them hit her like a wave.

“Holy shit,” Rinko breathed, wrapping her arms around Shoko’s neck in a tight hug. “I absolutely love you, Ieiri! Dunno what I’d do without you. You’re literally the best sorcerer in the world.”

Her friend laughed, patting her on the back before extracting herself to assess her for other injuries.

“Don’t let Gojo hear you say that,” she teased, grasping her hand firmly. She tightened her grip when Rinko tried to yank it away on instinct as the bones moved back to their proper place. “You’d definitely be deaf without me, but you’d probably just be dead.”

The truth in her statement hung heavy until she smirked and leaned a bit closer.

“You did it,” Shoko whispered excitedly. “I think your uncle is so angry he’s going to have a heart attack.”

Rinko’s eyes finally moved to where her committee stood, patiently waiting for Shoko to finish her quick assessment.

“How long did I have left?” she asked, watching a vein on Ogi’s forehead bulge. Naoya’s gaze burned hers when she met his eyes, and she sent him a smug grin in return. “I lost track of time–”

“Three minutes,” Shoko replied, wrapping Rinko’s arm around her shoulders and helping her to her feet. “It was close. Yaga had to stop Naoya from jumping the gun and just coming in twice.”

They clearly thought she wouldn’t be able to do it.

As they approached, her gaze moved to the rest of her committee.

Mei Mei stood with a hand on her hip, a relaxed smile on her face like always; Yaga’s expression remained neutral, his arms crossed; Nanami smirked at her, his eyes shining with what she swore was pride. Her gaze found Yoshinobu, who stood behind her uncle with an indifferent expression until he met her eyes. He gave her a slight nod, a proud smile pulling at his mouth before he schooled his expression when her uncle turned to glare at him.

“Kurisaki Rinko,” Yaga began, stepping forward to meet her, “consider this your official welcome to Grade 1 status. This committee reports your exam result as a ‘pass.’ Congratulations.”

“Not only that,” Mei piped up, her hands clasped loosely behind her back now. “You tied the consecutive Black Flash record. A well-earned pass, Kurisaki-chan.”

They dispersed, Mei and Yaga turning away, both of them walking with Yoshinobu as Ogi and Naoya continued to glare at her for just a moment longer before they turned and walked away without a word.

Taking a deep breath, Rinko felt the weight of Yaga’s words finally settle over her.

Grade 1. She’d done it– The world spun as her legs gave out.

Shoko caught her just before she hit the ground, her grip tightening when she sagged as her vision began to go dark.

Blinking rapidly, she forced her legs to straighten, feeling another arm wrap around her waist. She turned her head to see Nanami helping Shoko support her.

“Well done,” he whispered, a small smile on his face. “You made it look easy.” He paused, a smirk forming. “Though I was worried you were gonna try to tell it your color–”

She let out an indignant squawk, her mouth dropping open as she glared up at him in disbelief. She should have known he wouldn’t let that go.

“I just– I almost died,” she rasped, her eyes narrowing, “and you’re still–”

“You were fine,” he replied calmly, his eyes sparkling down at her. “But Kurisaki, I’m never going to let you live that down. I hadn’t laughed that hard in years.”

“We had a deal.”

Nanami spoke as she slid into the corner booth beside him.

“We did,” Rinko admitted, accepting the drink he slid towards her.

They’d decided to meet up at an izakaya not far from Kyoto Tech, giving her a chance to go home to shower and change into regular clothes instead of her Jujutsu Tech uniform. Now, she felt refreshed and alert, and she was starving.

Shoko had hung back just outside, citing the need for a cigarette and telling Rinko to go in ahead of her. She’d healed the significant injuries but had left the minor ones to heal on their own to preserve energy, which Rinko didn’t fault her for.

Taking a long gulp, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the ice-cold beer soothed her still-burning throat.

“Well?” Nanami pressed, raising his eyebrows as she lifted her glass to drain it completely. “You’re really keeping me in suspense, now.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Rinko said, placing her empty glass down heavily. “It’s not like you already haven’t started figuring it out for yourself.”

“A deal’s a deal,” he stated firmly. “I’m waiting–”

“You can’t tell me you didn’t think it was odd that the Zenin clan kept interfering?”

“You mean like last-minute, completely unheard of changes to a standard Grade 1 exam?” he deadpanned, taking a sip of his drink. “What did you do to the Zenin clan for them to hate you so much?”

“S’not that hard to figure out, right?” she asked, fidgeting with her fingers idly. “Come on, Nanamin, you’re a smart guy–”

“And you’re an irritating woman,” he cut her off, smirking when she squawked. “But being irritating isn’t enough for them to deliberately block your promotion. You seem to think the reason is obvious, but it really isn’t–”

“Zenin Naobito’s my old man,” she snapped, clenching her jaw as his eyebrows rose in surprise. “He– I’m a bastard kid. S’why they hate me so much—why they don’t want me to be successful. Makes them look bad since he already had kids.”

“So they just very obviously try to hinder your progress,” he noted, smirking again. “Guess it makes sense that you’re related to them. The Zenin clan is strong, even if they’re a bit–”

“They’re all assholes,” she cut him off sharply.

“Either way,” Nanami began drily, taking another long drink. “You beat them today. They clearly didn’t think you’d be able to handle that Special Grade, but you did. You’re a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer now, and they really can’t do anything about it.”

“Thanks to Gojo–”

“You earned it beyond that.” Nanami’s smirk shifted into a small smile. “He didn’t fight that cursed spirit today, you did. He’ll tell you the same. Speaking of, have you heard from him?”

“No,” she replied, checking her phone absently. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d left yesterday evening. “Have you?”

Nanami hesitated, and she narrowed her eyes.

“Kento,” she warned, leaning closer as he shook his head. “You’re lying–”

“I haven’t heard from him since before your exam,” he denied, nodding towards Shoko and Utahime as they approached.

Hime wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

“Congratulations!” she exclaimed, releasing her to slide into the booth behind Shoko. “I heard it was quite a show.”

“I said she wasn’t breathing for almost half of it,” Shoko reminded, rolling her eyes. “She’s lucky she didn’t cause permanent damage–”

“I’m right here,” Rinko interjected, glaring at her friend half-heartedly. “And it wasn’t like I had much of a choice, either. Plus, I was fine because I have one of the very best sorcerers in the world as one of my very best friends–”

“I can’t revive the dead,” Shoko stated. She grinned at Rinko’s noise of indignance, ignoring her protests as she and Hime ordered their drinks when the waitress approached.

Rinko and Nanami took the opportunity to order appetizers, each ordering another drink as well.

“Can I also get a pitcher of water?”

She was still grossly dehydrated after her fight earlier since she’d kept vomiting even after she’d choked all the river water out of her lungs.

“The cursed spirit was a nasty one, even for a Special Grade,” Nanami said once the waitress was gone. “Unregistered, too. Odd, seeing as that’s such a highly populated area.”

“The dread Bridge Princess,” Shoko murmured, tapping her chin in thought. “An Imaginary Cursed Spirit, a Special Grade at that, doesn’t just pop up overnight.”

They didn’t. It had clearly been there for a while and felt territorial. She still didn’t understand why it was in a school and not at a bridge, either.

“No,” Rinko agreed, her eyes meeting Nanami’s. “And a populated area like that should have had more than a few suspicious drownings reported by now. Plus, Uji no Hashihime is the Bridge Princess–”

“You don’t need to worry about that right now.”

She jumped, turning to find Gojo standing over her. He was wearing the same clothes as the day prior, his bandages still covering his eyes. She noticed subtle signs of exhaustion as he smirked down at her but decided to stay quiet as he nudged her leg with his knee. Scooting over, she gave him enough room to plop down next to her, draping his long arm across the back of the booth behind her.

“Congratulations, Rinko-chan,” he greeted, chuckling at her dumbfounded expression. “Don’t worry about that Special Grade. Already had a little chat with the higher-ups about that one.”

“What kind of chat?” Nanami asked, his eyes narrowing. “When did you have the time to do this?”

Gojo pulled Rinko’s phone from her pocket, checking the time as she gave an indignant sound and snatched it back.

“Use your own!” she snapped, swatting him when he tried to steal it again.

“Mine’s dead,” he argued, pouting and poking her side petulantly when she swatted his hand again. “Finished arguing with them about thirty minutes ago. As soon as I heard about those little rules Ogi imposed, I knew there needed to be a fuckin’ conversation. Once I saw that damn Special Grade, I knew the talk needed to be sooner than later.”

“You saw it?” Rinko asked, her eyes searching his face carefully as he scowled. The scowl dropped instantly when he turned his face back to her, a smirk taking its place. “How did you–”

“Made it just in time to see the veil go up,” he replied, his smirk growing when her eyes widened. “Saw the whole thing. Had to leave as soon as you exorcised it, though. Wanted to talk to the higher-ups before Ogi got a chance to go bullshit them more than he already had. Those rules wouldn’t have held up as a reason for you failing your exam, but they would have delayed your progress if Naoya exorcised the Special Grade instead of you. Good job on keeping that from happening, Rinko-chan.”

She raised her eyebrows, and he snickered.

“Anyway, it was obvious they were trying to set you up to fail, and I was pretty fucking pissed that they thought they’d get away with it. So I decided to point out their blatant violation of Jujutsu Society Regulations.”

Violation?

“How is tampering with her exam a violation of–”

“Ah-ah,” Gojo cut Utahime off smugly, his smirk growing when she growled.

Their waitress returned with their drinks and appetizers, taking meal food orders before turning to give Gojo an expectant look. He ordered a melon soda absently, his hand tracing idle patterns on the vinyl booth right behind Rinko’s ear. She fought a shiver when he subtly brushed his thumb along her skin, focusing instead on the food placed in front of her.

“The Zenin clan violated Jujutsu Regulations because they’ve been purposefully endangering non-sorcerers,” Gojo stated once the waitress had walked away. “Not to mention that they’ve been covering up any drownings reported in that area to protect their little secret.”

“How d’you figure that?” Rinko asked. She wouldn’t put it past them, but it made such little sense that they’d go through that much trouble just to fuck her over. She wasn’t worth that much effort to them. “Why would they–”

“Been using Gakuganji to make sure none of the Kyoto Tech sorcerers find it,” Gojo cut her off simply, shrugging. He paused to accept his soda, once again waiting until the waitress was gone before he continued. “D’you wanna know how many deaths have occurred in the last two years alone because of that cursed spirit?”

She didn’t. From how his expression dropped, she had a feeling it was a disgustingly high number.

“More than a hundred,” he stated flatly, setting his soda down so hard the table shook. “Zenin has been using the old geezer to sweep them under the rug and keep people from finding it, letting it marinate for the past few years–”

“But why would they do that?” Hime interjected, frowning. “You can’t tell me they’d been prepping for Rinko’s Grade 1 exam for years-”

“No, they weren’t,” Rinko agreed, clenching her jaw as she finally put the pieces together and the realization smacked her in the face. “But they were going to use this as an opportunity to get Noaya his Special Grade 1 status.”

“Bingo!” Gojo cried dramatically. “They didn’t appreciate that I called them out for their bullshit, either. But that means that the past few Zenin promotions are being re-evaluated for their legitimacy. Including Naoya’s Grade 1 from a couple years ago.”

A delirious giggle burst from Rinko’s chest at Gojo’s words, and she gasped for breath.

“You’re joking–”

“Nope!” he replied happily, smirking now. “The Zenin clan has been hiding high-level, deadly cursed spirits from the higher-ups so they can use them to rig their promotions. The time limit they gave you was meant to ensure that Naoya still got to exorcise it, with the added benefit of you softening it up a bit for him.” His smirk shifted into a sadistic grin. “But you surprised them by finishing it off before they could have Naoya go in. As soon as he realized you were winning, he wanted to go in anyway. And you fucking won, Rinko-chan.”

But if they’d been prepared to use that curse for Naoya, then her exam would probably have to be re-evaluated as well.

“So, her exam still counts?” Nanami asked, his eyes on her face. “Or does their interference change–”

“Since their interference was obviously meant to serve as sabotage,” Gojo scoffed, clearly rolling his eyes behind his blindfold. “Her exam stands.” He nudged her lightly, his grin feral when she turned to face him. “Kurisaki Rinko is still very much a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer. But Zenin Naoya will have to be re-evaluated.”

She had little doubt that Naoya would still pass. As much as she hated him, she couldn’t deny his strength. But the fact that his status was being questioned because they’d tried so hard to ruin her chance at Grade 1 made her absolutely giddy.

Another set of giggles broke free, and she knocked her shoulder against Nanami’s.

“I know you were hoping I’d need to shadow you a bit longer,” she teased around her snickers as he rolled his eyes. “You liked having me around to help.”

“If you call being a deranged idiot who treats jobs like they’re a game ‘helping,’” Nanami stated, raising his eyebrows. “Then I suppose. I meant it when I told you before that you’re almost as crazy as Gojo.”

“That’s rude, Nanamin,” Gojo argued, leaning across Rinko to pout at him. “I take the job very seriously–”

“You’re both children,” Nanami cut him off. “After seeing how you help her train for her cursed technique, I have an even better understanding of why you get along so well.”

“Because beating the shit outta me is training,” Rinko scoffed, poking a finger in his chest. “You helped him beat me into oblivion for the past few weeks, too, so you have no room to talk.”

“Her injuries did increase by about 150% since she started training for her solo exam,” Shoko added, bracing her hand on her palm. “Her injuries today were surprisingly less concerning than some of the ones she’s gotten while training.”

“Needs to learn to block,” Gojo replied, shrugging nonchalantly. He gave her a smirk when she glared at him. “Wouldn’t get hurt if you’d just block, Rinko-chan.”

“How’s being back in Kyoto, Iori-san?” Nanami asked, causing Hime to grin.

“It’s great,” she replied excitedly. “It’s so nice to be back home–”

Their conversation faded into an unintelligible haze as Gojo leaned down to whisper in Rinko’s ear.

“I told you you’d be fine,” he murmured, his breath hot against her neck. “You did incredible against that Special Grade. Your double looked fucking perfect.”

“You were there,” she replied quietly, pursing her lips to the side as she tried to focus on what Hime was saying. “You didn’t tell me before–”

“Didn’t wanna risk stressing you out more than you already were,” he cut her off. “Nanamin said you were a bit on edge this morning when he got here.”

Her eyes narrowed at that, and she turned to meet his blindfolded gaze. Made sense that Nanami had asked if she’d heard from Gojo yet.

“Plus, I had to leave immediately to go deal with the higher-ups,” he continued. “I’d have been back sooner if they hadn’t been so damn difficult. But I couldn’t let that shit slide anymore. Fuck’s had gotten away with way too much already, and you exorcising that curse gave me the perfect chance to beat them at their own game.”

“I did it.” It still didn’t feel real. She’d wanted it for so long, and now that she’d finally done it, she didn’t know how to feel. “I’m a Grade 1 sorcerer.”

“You are,” he agreed, his smile amused now. “Remember what I said before I left yesterday?”

How could she forget? Still, she blinked up at him slowly.

“About sticking to the strategy?”

He chuckled, his fingers brushing across the back of her neck as he shifted in his seat.

“About celebrating.”

Her thighs clenched, and he licked his lips slowly.

“Thought so.”

The rest of their food arrived, and she tried to keep from inhaling it as fast as she could. The stress of the day practically melted from her shoulders as they all dug in, conversation picking back up here and there. Gojo’s arm didn’t move from its spot right behind her, his fingers occasionally teasing her as he leaned around her to try one of the side dishes they’d all gotten to share.

Eventually, Nanami let out a heavy sigh, motioning for someone to let him out of the booth after they’d all paid their bills, with Shoko insisting on paying for Rinko’s despite her protests.

“I’m heading out,” he stated. “I don’t want to miss the last train back.”

 He climbed out behind Shoko and Hime, who muttered about needing to use the bathroom anyway.

Nudging Gojo out of the way, Rinko stood to wrap her arms around Nanami’s neck in a hug.

“Thank you again for helping me,” she told him sincerely. “I wasn’t so bad as a shadow, eh?”

“Tolerable,” he replied drily, returning her embrace and pressing a light kiss to her cheek. “Great job today, Rinko. You earned this promotion.” 

Slipping back into the booth, Gojo followed behind, his arm returning to its prior spot behind her.

“You’ve gotten close,” he mused. “Surprised you didn’t invite Nanamin to stay with how cozy you looked before I got here.”

Raising her eyebrows, she turned to face him properly.

“What would you have done if I had decided to invite him to stay?” she teased, watching his brow furrow in the way she knew meant his eyes were narrowing. “Jealous, Gojo?”

His mouth quirked up, a slight smirk appearing now.

“Nope,” he denied, leaning down so he could whisper in her ear. “‘Cause I know you’re already planning on celebrating that new Grade 1 status with me.”

“Oh?” she challenged, ignoring the small fire kindling in her core. “You sure? Maybe I’ve just decided that I’m too tired to celebrate after–” She cut off when his tongue darted out to lick her neck, a breathy moan escaping before she could stop it.

“Actin’ like I don’t know you’re already fucking dripping for me,” he growled quietly. He licked up the side of her neck until he reached her ear again.

“Maybe it’s not for you–”

“Don’t be a brat,” he hissed, biting her lobe harshly. He chuckled darkly when she squeezed her thighs together. “Your pretty cunt doesn’t lie, baby. She says it’s for me. I can’t wait to find out how much sweeter you’ll taste after that victory today.”

Her quiet whimper had him leaning back slightly, watching her face as she struggled to keep her composure.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to leave instead of bending you over as soon as that fucking veil dropped earlier?” he murmured, his breath mingling with hers. “You looked so perfect, all banged up and bloody.”

“There’s something so wrong with you,” she replied, giving him a skeptical look. “Seeing me fighting for my life turned you on, huh?”

“Your life wasn’t in danger,” he scoffed, his hand moving to her jaw and stroking it softly. “Looked sexy while you fought, though. Strong–”

“I stand by the fact that there’s something very wrong with you,” she deadpanned, drawing a chuckle from him before he pulled her up to meet his lips.

He swallowed her moan, taking advantage of the sound to slip his tongue into her mouth. The hand on her jaw tightened as he angled her just right so her tongue had no choice but to submit to his.

Part of her wanted to scold him for being so blatant in public, especially since Shoko and Utahime would surely be back any moment. It wasn’t that they’d made an effort to hide that they slept together occasionally, but she preferred not to advertise it. She knew people would talk about how Gojo had suddenly decided to recommend her promotion after they’d started sleeping together, and she didn’t feel like dealing with that gossip.

She didn’t have to stop him, though, because he released a low groan before withdrawing on his own. He cleared his throat before draining the rest of his soda. She glanced down to see the obvious tent in his pants and rolled her eyes.

“You about to cream in your pants just from the memory of me fighting?” she murmured, fighting to keep her own excitement from showing. “Really?”

A shiver ran down her spine at his quiet, dark chuckle.

“No,” he replied, pressing an almost sweet kiss to her temple. “I’m about to cream in my pants because of those pretty little sounds you keep making and because I know you’ll make even prettier ones while I take you apart later.”

Without thinking, her hand moved to palm his cock, pulling a low groan from his throat. His breathing sped up, hot against her skin and sending a spark through her that settled in her core. Pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her neck, he released a heavy exhale through his nose.

“Careful, baby,” he hissed, his teeth digging into her flesh when she squeezed him gently. “If you don’t stop–”

“You’ll actually cream in your pants?” she taunted. She was playing with fire, but she truly couldn’t help herself. It was just too fun. “Please do. I think it’d be very entertaining to–”

“I’ll fuck you on this table,” he growled, his hand seizing hers in an unforgiving grasp to halt her movements. “I’ll sit you right in front of me and eat your pussy like it’s my goddamn meal, so don’t fucking push me.”

Her eyes went wide, breath catching in her throat as he groaned in her ear again.

“We’re leaving.”

He lifted his blindfold to stare at her carefully as he spoke, giving her a look she knew all too well by now: his silent question to make sure she was actually okay with him deciding it was time to go.

“Okay,” she agreed, her smirk softening with her gaze when he gave a slight nod in return before pushing himself to his feet.

Following him, she allowed him to position her in front of him to hide the growing bulge in his pants from the general public as they walked. His hand went to the small of her back as he led her towards the exit, hissing ‘Just leave them,’ when they saw Hime and Shoko on their way back from the bathroom. Ignoring his order, she bumped his shoulder with her own before pausing to tell their friends goodbye.

“Thanks again for your help today,” Rinko told Shoko, wrapping her in a tight hug. “Really dunno what I’d do without you.”

“You’d be dead,” Shoko reminded lightly, squeezing her in return. “You’re welcome. I’m proud of you.”

“Your mom would be proud of you, too,” Hime noted, hugging her tightly as well. “Really proud. I bet she would have made a cake, too.”

“Oh, fuck,” Shoko said, her eyes glossing over at the thought. “I always loved Yuzu’s cakes. The strawberry one she made was the best–”

“You knew her mom?” Gojo interjected, leaning forward and purposefully pressing his erection against Rinko’s ass as he addressed Shoko. “You’ve never mentioned that–”

“Why on earth would I have ever talked about Rinko’s mom with you?” Shoko asked, a grin pulling at her lips at his scowl. “You didn’t even know Rinko until this past year.”

They moved outside into the cooling autumn air. The rain had cleared up while they were eating, leaving behind a pleasant chill.

“Technically,” Gojo countered, “I’ve known her since our second year–”

“When you almost killed her?” Hime cut him off harshly, raising her eyebrows. “Oh, right. You guys were best buds.”

He pouted, leaning more of his weight onto Rinko as he subtly began grinding into her.

“That was an accident–”

“Using Lapse Blue, something you’d used to level buildings, was an accident?” Rinko snorted, unable to stop herself from teasing further. “Against a little Grade 3 sorcerer? Purely accidental.”

“My point is,” he stated, his tone telling her he was rolling his eyes, “you hadn’t mentioned her mom in the past year, either–”

“Not when you were around.” Shoko shrugged, retrieving a cigarette from her purse. “Rinko and I see each other outside of when you half-carry her in because you’ve knocked the shit outta her during training, you know.”

He didn’t reply, and Rinko turned her head to see his face blank as if he hadn’t considered that as an option. She guessed he didn’t think she and Shoko could be friends without him present. They never talked about it before. It wasn’t like she told him when she visited Tokyo just to see Shoko. She didn’t have to.

“You seem to forget that I’ve been friends with Rinko longer than you have,” Shoko noted, rolling her eyes as she blew a small puff of smoke. “In fact, I’ve been friends with her longer than I’ve been friends with you. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Hime is right that Yuzu would be really proud of you. She definitely would have made a cake to celebrate.”

“She probably would have made the strawberry one,” Rinko murmured, her heart clenching at the thought. Her mother went out of her way to make that damn cake sometimes, even though the strawberries were so expensive. “She made it for special occasions–”

“You don’t happen to have that recipe, do you?” Shoko asked. “Because it was always my favorite, even though I don’t really like dessert–”

“You can’t even bake,” Hime interjected, eyeing Shoko. “You’d just waste strawberries and traumatize whoever tried it.”

Rinko laughed when Shoko gestured towards Hime with her cigarette carefully and narrowed her eyes.

“Uncalled for,” Shoko stated drily. “While it might be true, that was uncalled for. And I was asking if Rinko could make it.”

“I can,” she informed her around her giggles, dutifully ignoring the light swat Gojo gave her ass to try and get her to wrap their conversation up. “It probably won’t be as good, but I can make it for you sometime.”

Shoko grinned, letting out a sigh as Rinko checked the time.

“Are you good to get home?” she asked, pursing her lips to the side as she remembered that Nanami had left when he had specifically to catch the last train back to Tokyo. “Do you need somewhere to–”

She yelped as Gojo pinched her ass hard enough she knew there would be a bruise. Slapping his hands away, she leveled him with a glare and rubbed the spot lightly. 

“I’m crashing at Hime’s,” Shoko assured as the two shared a look when Gojo pouted at Rinko. “Don’t worry about me.”

Waving, Rinko finally allowed Gojo to tug her away, his arm draping around her shoulders as they walked.

“Didn’t realize you and Shoko were close,” he murmured. “How often d’you visit without seeing me?”

“We used to get lunch once a month,” she replied, shrugging lightly. “We try to meet whenever we can since I’ve been in Tokyo so much lately. Been friends since she visited Kyoto Tech early during our first year.”

A quiet hum was all she received in reply, and they spent the rest of the walk to her apartment in comfortable silence, listening to the cicadas chirp.

He stood with his hands in his pockets when she unlocked her door, following her when she stepped inside. But it seemed that was the extent of his self-control.

As soon as light filled the room, he kicked the door shut and shoved her against it, his mouth finding hers in a frenzy of teeth and tongues.

“Fuck, if you only knew how much I’ve wanted to do this all fucking night,” he moaned against her. She had a pretty good idea, considering he’d threatened to eat her out on the restaurant table. “And you decided to be a fuckin tease about it, too? Brat.”

“Thought you said I’d earned a bit of celebration?” she pressed, smirking as his hands went to the hem of her shirt. “I worked really hard today, ya know.”

Grunting in what she took as agreement, he yanked her shirt over her head.

“You used your double,” he breathed, latching his mouth to her neck and sucking her pulse. “Looked perfect. Almost impossible to tell the difference. Actually doubt anyone else was able to. How’d it feel?”

“Like my brain was gonna explode,” she admitted, letting her head fall back. She tugged on his hair when he sucked harder. “But I remembered something you said about just letting myself exist with my cursed energy and then it was like my brain turned off. Felt kinda weightless—like nothing could stop me.”

“Looked incredible,” he hummed, his lips trailing up to her ear before his teeth dug into it. “Tied the Black Flash record, too. How did that feel? How’s it feel to be one of the elite, baby?”

“Didn’t even realize what was happening until Mei Mei said it,” she replied, tugging on his hair and feeling her cunt clench when he groaned in her ear. “Just– just went with it. I remember seeing them, but it was like I was watching from a distance while somehow in the middle of it all.”

“You shoulda seen yourself. You really moved perfectly with your double. You made it look effortless.” He moaned, shifting to capture her lips again. “Smart to use your knives like you did: as a tool to help create more confusion.”

Her eyes narrowed at that comment, but before she could snap out a retort, he yanked her pants and underwear down as he freed himself from his own. Slamming into her, he immediately slid all the way to the hilt, nudging the deepest parts of her painfully and leaving no time to adjust.

“Fuck!” she yelped, her hands desperately clutching his shirt as he lifted her so she was braced between him and the door. She wrapped her legs around his waist reluctantly. “You gotta fuckin warn me first. You’re too damn big–”

His smug grin made her roll her eyes, earning a harsh grind of his hips as she whimpered.

“Sorry, baby,” he replied, sounding anything but. “Told you I needed to be inside you.”

“Shit,” she whined, using his shoulders as leverage to lift herself up. “Gotta gimme a second to–”

“Really?” he taunted, grabbing her hips and tugging her back down onto him. “Because she’s tellin’ me otherwise. Taking me so good. Knew you were already fuckin dripping–”

“Still gotta let me– fuck!”

“I am,” he drawled, chuckling at her glare. He leaned forward, nuzzling her against her throat and sucking her skin between his teeth until she moaned and her muscles relaxed around him. “That’s it, baby. Just like that.”

His left hand stayed under her thigh, holding her up as he withdrew almost all the way before thrusting so deep she keened against him again.

“Good girl.” He lifted his head to capture her lips, biting and nipping as his hips settled into a steady pace. “Pussy feels so good. You feel good, baby?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, her eyes rolling back briefly when he hit that spot that made her see stars. “How– fuck– how did you get the higher-ups to meet with you so fast?”

“I didn’t fuckin ask,” he replied, his hips speeding up. “I told ‘em I was pissed they were letting the Zenin clan get away with holding my Grade 1 rec back and I wanted to know why they didn’t give a shit that the clan had clearly been hiding a Special Grade curse for their own shit. That last bit was new information for them.”

“Must be nice having them listen to you,” she replied drily, “being the honored one–”

That earned her a harsh thrust that kissed her cervix. His eyes narrowed playfully, laughing sadistically at her yelp of pain as she squirmed.

“You tell me, baby,” he taunted, emphasizing each word with deep thrusts that had her scraping the door above her head to escape. “You’re the one riding my cock. You feel honored?”

“You’re such an arrogant piece of–”

“Take that as a ‘yes,’” he cooed, his fingers tracing slow circles around her clit. “You should feel honored. Pussy fits me like a goddamn glove. Can’t get enough of it."

She reached up to pull the blindfold off, revealing the absolutely feral look in his eyes as he grinned at her. Lust darkened the bright blues, the deep oceans threatening to drown her as he fucked into her quickly and drove her closer and closer to her high.

“How’s it feel, Rinko-chan?” he asked, his voice just beginning to sound breathless as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Kurisaki Rinko, Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer? Feel good?”

“Fuck, yes,” she moaned, arching her back into him to meet his thrusts. “Feels so fucking good.”

“You gonna cum for me?”

His fingers moved faster now, her entire body tensing around him, ready for the coil inside her to snap.

“Fuck, yes,” she cried, yanking on his hair desperately as it crashed into her. “I’m–”

“Yeah?” He pulled back slightly so he could watch her face as she fell apart. “Good, because you fuckin earned it.”

[looking-to-rattle-the-stars]

little late but i gotta yap so i can lock in for my exams tomorrow morning

anyways so i watched star wars the force awakens for the first time ! (as far as i know i have no knowledge on the other films so please forgive me if anything i say does not actually extend past the first film)

here’s my thoughts:

overall, the movie was enjoyable at least more so than i thought rogue one to be. a fun two hours as you would hope an action movie to be. that said, i have grips with the way the plot is constructed. the pacing of some areas felt too quick and lead to some abrupt interactions because of it. i also have quite a few grips with character decisions but ill get to that in a moment.

the plot was easy to follow sure but like, it didn’t actually make sense to me how certain things progressed. i think the other thing that bothers me about the story is that compared to the prequels and original trilogy there’s feels like an extreme extreme lack of political commentary. i guess you could say that episode 1 doesn’t have much political commentary in it, and that’s fair so maybe i can cut this film slack. however, episode 1 mostly stays away from the sith with the focus being on anakin for the majority of the film so like… not exactly a similar situation. if you compare it to episode 4, the political commentary and relationships are very structurally clear between characters and goals. the force awakens i feel didn’t deliver that. who the fuck is that guy talking to kylo? snoke? what kind of a name is that??? and like outside of the army line up/salute scene, none of the commentary from the bad guys feels like it has political undertones. i understand that as a science fiction story it does not have to be inherently political, but given the role of politics in the first sets of films the lack of political standing in this one is disappointing. so they want the resistance dead, we know this by now. what new thing are they introducing? it doesn’t feel like anything.

oh my god almost forgot saving grace of this movie is the comedy. this movie has some funny dialogue and that was something that helped keep me interested in the film. and the line deliveries too ugh chefs kiss.

characters

might as well bring some humor why does the best character have under ten minutes of screen time in the hole film? poe i know they won’t do that in the next one but god would’ve loved more oscar isaac in this one! and speaking of poe, their death juke-out? bad. badly done. even if i hadn’t been watching with friends who had seen the movie i would’ve known he was going to come back and even if i didn’t i don’t think i would’ve cared! they introduced him and then “killed” him way to fast that it just didn’t feel like a meaningful “is he dead is he alive???” scenario with the empty flyer. and that’s disappointing because it had potential to be such a good up in the air moment but i think they just did too much too fast that you don’t really feel a connection to poe to care if his life is actually gone.

i am pissed about how finn quit being a stormtrooper. i am not mad about the plot choice by any means! but it felt disingenuous! you’re telling me, a kid taken from his family and raised to be a stormtrooper, goes into his first battle and sees one comrade die and decide he doesn’t want to do it?? i think it would’ve been more interesting to have him kill, kill quite a few people even, and then have one of his pals die in front of him. someone we know he had an established friendship with. it would have made the viewing of him experiencing grief all the more impactful and allow for the possibility of him to reflect on the grief he’s caused any survivors. i think that would have made his leaving all the more impactful and made helping poe even more meaningful. especially since he reveals later he mostly worked in sanitation! going out and killing, feeling the power (and ecstasy/adrenaline) to then have it stripped away when he sees his friend die before him causing him to reflect on what he has done and what he could become (both in death or chasing power) would have been so so so much better.

tbh! tbh i don’t like that it feels like rey’s narrative is dictated by the men around her. kylo, finn, poe, luke, and han. she does not feel like she is able to exist independently and that sucks! kylo and finn i can just tell they want to set up a love triangle for, i can feel like it that goodbye kiss could not just be platonic as much as i want it to be. and the meeting with kylo and him wanting to teach her the ways of the force? he’s going to chase her around the galaxy. poe i can’t speak to much of it yet but based off the fact she became responsible for bb8 it just feels like their relationship is going to be something ignored for the others but still that she’ll have to always be supported by him/his flying despite her completely solid skills and knowledge! which brings me to han, i do not necessarily have an issue with her knowing han! but at some points it felt like she was more of han fan girl which would be fine outside of him offering her a job where her narrative would then become reliant on him and traveling with him. maybe i’m just not really invested in celebrities to understand the connection so much anymore but just i don’t know. i think it mainly bothers me cause it feels like another part of primary character/interests is now connected to another man which is a lot with the aforementioned and following guys, it just feels like too much going on. and lastly luke. he’s training her. i’ve heard she takes the skywalker name. need i say more about him being crucial to her narrative and development. and again, this could be fine if the love triangle stuff was not going on too! it just feels to me that at any opportunity where she is able to be independent and showcase her knowledge/skills it becomes undermined narratively by her connections to one of the men. and that sucks! because if i ignore that belief she seems to be an interesting character! and have an interesting role in regard to jedi history! but no! she becomes passive in the story—despite being the main character—because she is so intertwined into the stories of other men now that it doesn’t feel like these actions benefit her as much as it serves to push the character development of the others :/ (exception being han and formally luke since i don’t know how the story goes).

and you could perhaps make a case for leia or padme. but i would dare say that they both have very strong narrative moments regardless of the men in their stories. while yes padme is anakins necessary love interest for the story and that is important to her character, she is still really strong in her beliefs. she is a politician and she has never let anakin get in the way of her doing her job correctly. she has multiple moments of being able to show her independence and strength in terms of being able to act regardless of the men around her. and the other key distinction is just that—she is narratively an important love interest, rey isn’t. rey doesn’t need to be in love with anyone to have a role in the story! in regard to comparing her to leia, i would say that leia is also very strong in her independent and solo scenes. while she is a partly a love interest, she is narratively important outside of that due to being the leader of the resistance. the resistance, as far as the original trilogy goes, does not function without her. she is crucial in seeing plans and action come to life. and rey has that potential, we see it when she saves and takes in bb8. but i feel like poe came into soon and disrupted that opportunity for her to showcase her strong suits. similar argument for when she’s running around the base to get away from kylo, the skill sets feel overshadowed by the fact that we are constantly seeing them from men’s perspectives and hearing their commentary on what she is doing. it takes away from her moment! it takes away from allowing her the opportunity to have strong scenes like leia and padme that show us why rey is important! you can’t even count the scene before maz talks to her because gets what! that’s luke’s saber and she must go to him!

speaking of that, what the fuck was that? force flashbacks? maybe this is just an episodic viewer lack of knowledge but i did not think that was a thing? and if it’s kylo or luke trying to talk with her, how could they have done that if she was not previously “in tune” with the force? i didn’t think it worked that way. and by in tune i mean aware of her connection to it. especially since luke and kylo don’t even know who she is yet?? or where??

i don’t even think i have much to say about kylo ren outside of why are you 29 and throwing temper tantrums at every turn. who is raising you that way cause i know damn well it wasn’t han and leia. i’m kind of disappointed in how he comes across as an antagonist. even bitch boy anakin didn’t seem this badly emotional and he’s the reason everything downward spiraled! pull yourself together kylo 🙄

bb8 was a fantastic droid i love the little soccer ball it felt like he had big wet puppy dog stares so often like he just felt like a puppy whereas c-3po and r2d2 kind of feel more like humans (probably the sass). i like that little thing.

other

it’s 1:40 and i started this at 12:40 so maybe i’ll make a separate post but i can tell there’s intended to be parallels between luke and rey and kylo and anakin. you know what i think needs to be talked about? the parallels between anakin and rey and therefore potentially luke and kylo. god i cannot yap anymore about it right now but i’m cooking something up trust.

i hope there’s going to be a stronger connection between rey and leia. i was really disappointed to see them not interact until after han’s death and in which case they just hug and then rey leaves. like cmon man. give them something outside of han and luke they are women with direct experiences with the force! let them have a cool interaction. (this also ties in with the aforementioned rey rant and what i mean by her narrative being dictated by men like come on we couldn’t have made her have a connection with leia if she got excited over the finn being in the resistance?? you’re telling me she would not be thrilled to have the opportunity to meet general organa??? )

oh controversial but i do not like the new lightsaber graphics. kylo’s ill excuse cause i was given the information he made his own saber hilt (in regard to the way it moves/shakes). outside of that though don’t like them. i don’t know what it is about the new styling—i think they might give off too much light in comparison to how the glow reacted in the other films. it’s just so overwhelming and while yeah i suppose that’d be realistic, it just pulled me out of the fight scene cause the lights are too bright. i don’t know if that’s the only thing or if there’s other aspects in relation to the CGI/animation but eugh i don’t like their vibe. bring back the prequel lightsabers if anything!

thats all i can think of now. congrats on reading all of this if you did. please don’t spoil anything as it relates to the other movies if you want to have a discussion about any of my thoughts. i want to find out if i already knew something when im watching the movie is all.

[ark-inkweaving]

since ur dying studying at the moment - what does the education/exam system look like for your characters?

i'd say thanks for the ask but honestly i hate it here

(jk, love ya)

there are... a lot of education systems in Revolve, by virtue of Navilee having 40+ countries, plus Izerko (plus Ferive, but we don't go to Ferive). lemme think about the relevant ones

✵ Izerko

Izerko is modeled similar to the american system (as far as i can tell from research). education is mandatory up to 18 years of age, with a varying number of schools for every urban center. the schools offer the mandatory core subjects (izerk language & literature, one foreign language & literature (usually Onan), art, maths, basic sciences & magics), plus an assortment of additional more specialized elective classes that get more advanced the further up you go in schooling

speaking of, mandatory education is divided into 6 years of elementary (5-10), 4 of middle school (11-14) and 4 of highschool (15-18), which is the one with the highest number of elective classes. anything higher than that is considered high education and is no longer paid by the state (unless you went to a private mandatory school, but they're very few)

elementary schools have no exams, middle schools have a final exam at the end of the 2nd and 4th year and highschools have final exams every year, all of them more or less in the same period of mid-june to mid-july. there are also standardized tests distributed all the same through all the schools to years 2 & 5 of elementary, 1 & 3 of middle schooly and 1 & 3 of highschool to check if some districts are falling further behind than others

higher education happens in a variety of colleges (which usually only offer 3-year degree cycles) and universities (which offer a mix of 3-year, 3+2-year or 5-year cycles), with the universities being more present in larger urban centers. many of these universities set their own exam periods and such, but they're all under the authority of the Ministry of Education and Research. a lot of the larger universities also have their own research departments, galleries and outreach programs, and then limited PhD programs

the most well known of these institutions is the Royal Academy of Humanities, Magics and Sciences, a massive university in Izerko's capital with three local poles in the city and four in nearby caves. it has a lot of scholarship offers, many really good study-abroad programs that go out into Navilee and its own huge research center. actually the head of their research department, Nalakirija Bolu, is also the current Minister of Education & Research and she gets called Zaikeyenn {tr: Fluorite} a lot by some of the researchers there ;)

✵ Ona

mildly relevant because this is where Ele and Beriel attend University when they're not panicking about their friends getting caught up with criminals, void creatures, egomaniacs, curses and a war. they're also in university while panicking, but there is significatnly less studying at those times

Ona's education system is modeled after the italian one. it has mandatory education only up to sixteen, with the option of kindergaden two years early (ages 3-4), and two extra years at the end (ages 17-18) that are mandatory if you want to go into higher education (they get you an A-type diploma rather than a B-type)

elementary school (5 years, ages 5-9) has the same curriculum and goals for everyone, whether private or public. in middle school however things start to differentiate into tracks (general track, then sports, music, visual arts and technology) that have a little more focus on specific areas but not really a substantial difference that keeps you from doing something completely different in the future. and the exam is only at the end of middle school and it's prepared on the basis of the general track

then you get to high school and boy oh boy things get tough. first of all, you gotta decide if you're gonna go into a trade school (4 years, ages 13-16), a technical school (6 years, ages 13-18, for three of which you have apprenticeships) or a lyceum (6 years, ages 13-18). and within those different kinds of schools, you have the different tracks, such as classical studies, scientific studies, arts and music for the lyceums, then IT, chemistry, architecture, mechanics, business, graphics, agrary and more in the technical schools, and then trade schools are literally the trades; cooks, hosts, plumbers, electricians, tailors, all of them and more come out of trade schools

the various tracks are standardized and overseen by the Ministry of Education. exams for high schools are at the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th year. exams for year 2 are roughly the same across all tracks, but for years 4 and 6 they are specialized (and standardized) by track. so a chemistry track at two different schools will have the same exams, but a school that offers both a chemistry track adn a mechanics track will have a different exam for the two

higher education is only possible if you have an A-type diploma, which you get with a lyceum or a technical school (or, later in life, with integrative classes). degrees in Ona also run on a 3 (+2) method of bachelor + masters, and only from a master's degree you can go into a PhD. however there are a number of one-year programs available at both bachelor and master level, called Adept Programs that are hyperspecific to their relative field and work on a mixed lecture-internship course

✵ Reiki

in Reiki, schooling is mandatory until seventeen, divided between preschool (3 years, ages 3-5, not mandatory), primary school (5 years, ages 6-10), middle school (4 years, ages 11-14) and high school (3 years, ages 15-17)

primary schools and middle schools have a fixed standard of classes, and then individual middle schools can offer after-school classes and clubs. highschools instead have a numer of core classes everyone has to take and the rest is all electives, with plenty of after-school clubs, classes, tutoring spaces and more. the bigger the school (or the more expensive for private ones) and the bigger the range of electives, clubs and facilities that students have access to

the school year runs in two terms, with exams at the end of every year for middle schools and at the end of every term for high schools. most highschools offer and manage internship programs, but they aren't required to graduate

after highschool, there is a number of choices. many people get into a trade school (2 year programs) or vocational school (1 year programs), as universities offer only 4-year degrees before going into doctorates and post-grad education

✵ Esluxia

Esluxia is particular, because it's not a sovreign state. it's just the alliance. all that Esluxia does is set the minimum for mandatory education at 16, oversee a minimum of correspondence between the schooling levels of its nations and standardize diplomas and certificate. so for example, it makes sure that a Wraen highschool diploma that you get at 18 really is worth as much as a Yeisen one that you get at 16

more than the mandatory education, it's the higher education that Esluxia works with, overseeing and facilitating transffers between universities, study-abroad programs and certificates and requirements, and then it interfaces with external nations (like Ona, Nodi, Pi'Enk, Zet and Cyrr) on behalf of the single nations

i'm not gonna go into every single Esluxian nation, because they're all very different and prioritize very different things in their education, but i can tell you that everyone considers Fymurian, Uylan and Trezic education a bloodbath, Djisian and Yeisen education for people who care less about learning and more for trading / fighting (the irony of those two nations having incredibly advanced universities and research centers), Ekrean education specifically tailored for gearheads. Wraen education for idiots and Laejian and Xoric education the only normal ones, while Asglen is for fancy rich people. oh how wrong they are

❊

✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy @inspirationallybored

[callmeruki]

You can read this fanfiction in Fanfiction net, Wattpad and soon AO3

This will be a “My Hero Academia” story but will have a minor crossover. I say minor because only the power system of another anime will be crossed over to MHA as a Quirk, no other elements from that anime will appear in this fanfiction. Said anime will remain a secret for now but it will be obvious once you see it.

There are references to 3 different anime within this chapter, see if you can figure them all out, it’s pretty easy tho.   Good luck ;)

Enough said. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

DISCLAIMER

I do not own My hero academia or any other elements from existing anime, the pain is real. TwT

 ____________________________________________

 “Talking”

‘thinking’

Screaming (aka bakugo) xD

Special attacks, moves and skills

_____________________________________________

 Chapter 1 – Beginnings and preparations for UA

 The classroom was in a buzz, being the last day of middle school everyone was excited, specially with the teacher still not in class yet.

The classroom was full of groups of friends huddled together babbling about what highschool they want to go to, what they plan on doing during the break and many other topics.

It was no different with a pair of friends on the back near a window.

“I’m telling you, we gotta beef up our training man! We couldn’t focus a lot on the physical aspect of our training because of the exams so now we gotta make up for it Shinso.” - A boy with amethyst eyes and silver hair caught in a ponytail exclaimed to his friend. He was tall for his age, being 15 years old and standing at 5’11’’.

“Really? Can’t we just keep doing what we used to do before the exams? We already trained every day Luci.” – The now named Shinso asked his exasperated friend. Shinso was a boy with spiky indigo gravity defying hair and purple eyes, like his friend he was tall for his age, being 15 years old and standing at 5’9’’, just 2’’ shorter.

Luci just gave Shinso what Shinso likes to call the ‘making you feel stupid with a look’ look, a deadpan expression with an eyebrow slowly arching up. “Shin, buddy, we’re aiming for UA high, not your run of the mill highschool, it has less than 5% acceptance rate for the heroics course. We can’t go in half-assed.”

Shinso lightly blushed in embarrassment at being on the receiving end of that look coupled with the rational observation. “Yea… I guess you’re right...”

“I’m always right!” Luci quipped in jest while holding a finger up with a smirk.

“Smartass” Shinso glares but the image is ruined by the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. It’s a running joke between them, thanks to Luci’ eidetic memory more often than not he tends to be right.

“Our quirks might be useful in combat but they are not in all situations. While your quirk ‘Brainwashing’ might be perfect for fighting against other people, it is terrible for fighting inanimate objects while mine will only be useful if I’m fighting inorganic objects, like robots or something alike. That’s why we gotta train our bodies to compensate.”  ‘Well that’s not entirely true… I could use my quirk on people but the reaction wouldn’t be pretty, nor would the consequences of those  be. I’d be lucky if all they did was lock me up in Tartarus’ – A shiver went down Luci’ spine at that thought. ‘I’d never see the light of day, let alone be a hero.’

“Fine, fine” – Shinso relented tiredly already dreading Luci’s hellish training, although he couldn’t complain. Ever since Luci came into his life everything changed dramatically for the better. Not only did Luci become his first and best friend since his quirk awoke but now he no longer lamented on how his quirk was seen as villainous and had no applications on heroics. He thought back to their first interaction fondly as Luci went on a tangent about training.

_________FLASHBACK_________

(Beginning of the second semester of the second year of middle school)

“ Alright class, settle down.” – The teacher spoke with a tone that demanded attention. When all was quiet he continued. – “Today we have a new transfer student joining us from Shibuya. I want you all to be civil and help him acclamate to our school.”

While the teacher spoke, light chatter could be heard throughout the classroom.

“Ohhh it’s a boy, I wonder if he’s cute” – One of the more popular girl asked her friends.  “I wonder what his quirk is, do you think it’s a powerful one” - A boy asked to no one in particular, but several commenting and speculating on it.

Shinso lightly tskd ‘if it is, he’s probably like all the rest with powerful quirks, arrogant and unappreciative of being born blessed with a powerful heroic quirk’

“You can come in now” – The teacher said while turning to the door.

The door slid open and a boy with silver hair that reached the middle of his back caught in a pony tail walked in.

When the boy reached the teacher he turn to the students. Everyone could now see the boy clearly. He had deep amethyst eyes and fair skin, he was slim and muscular but not bulky like the jocks. He had almost an androgynous look to him.

Mumbling could be heard throughout the whole classroom, most predominantly from the female students who most were sporting generous blushes. “oh my god he is gorgeous!” – one girl said almost awestruck  - “He is so cute!” – one girl quietly squealed to herself.

The boy didn’t react to any comment of the girls, either he didn’t hear them or he was downright ignoring them, ‘probably with practiced ease’ were the thoughts of many of the boys in the class.

The boy was almost perfect in the girls opinion… Almost.

“Yes he’s pretty hot but… he looks more apathetic than Shinso” – one girl commented to her friend.

For all the boys looks, the one thing that stuck out the most was the apathetic look the boy had. He was standing tall, looking straight to nowhere in particular showing no emotion on his face or eyes.

“Yes but with those looks it makes him seem more cool than antisocial unlike Shinso” – The girls friend commented back to her friend.

Shinsos eyebrows twitched at that comment.

“Alright you can introduce yourself to the class.” – The teacher spoke to the boy, wanting to get the class started.

The boy turned to the chalkboard and wrote his name than returned his attention to the class.

“My name is Akabane Luciel, it is a pleasure to meet you all.” – The boy spoke politely while bowing with a smile. While he was polite and his smile seemed genuine, his voice seemed almost cold, making many question if his smile was actually genuine.

‘No surprise, he just transferred here, he wouldn’t be chummy with everyone right away. Either that or he thinks he’s better than everyone here.’ – Shinso thought, first in understanding that than turned to annoyance.

“Alright then, you can sit… ah, there’s a free seat there in the back next to Hitoshi Shinso.”

The now named Luciel nodded to his teacher and went to sit down. On his way to his seat he crossed eyes with Shinso and gave a small nod in greeting. Said act seemed to surprise the indigo haired boy.

‘Huh… guess he just doesn’t talk much instead of thinking he’s better than us.’ – Shinso thought, having his opinion of Luciel raised a few notches.

With everyone seated class began.

 ____________________________________________

(Some time later after class, during lunch)

Nearing the end of the class Luciel was contemplating whether he’d risk trying to find the cafeteria alone or ask someone to show him around. Having decided to ask for help he chose to ask his desk neighbor Hitoshi Shinso. Out of everyone in the class he was the only one that wasn’t commenting about him as if he wasn’t here.

Luciel got up and stood next to Shinso’s desk. “Hey, Hitoshi-san right?” – Luciel asked with a friendly yet neutral tone. It amazed Shinso how one can sound friendly yet neutral.

“Yes, can I help you Akabane-san?” – Shinso asked, curious what the new kid wanted.

“I was wondering if you could show me around, at least to the cafeteria for lunch, as a thank you I’ll pay for your lunch.” – Luciel added seeing no bento or any kind of food with Shinso, guessing he’ll also go to the cafeteria.

“Yeah, I don’t mi…” Shinso was answering the silver haired boy when they were rudely interrupted.

“Hey, new guy, a friendly advice.” – A brunette girl and two black haired boys walked smuggly twords them “Be careful around Shinso, or he’ll mess with your mind with his villainous quirk.” – The girl crossed her arms when she reached them and gave a confident smirk “You should come and hang out with us instead.”

Luciel raised an enquiring eyebrow looking between Shinso and the new arrivals. “Villainous quirk?”

Shinso said nothing but had a resigned and frustrated look. That seemed to emboldened the girl as she continued. “Yes, his quirk allows him to brainwash people when they answer one of his questions, then they obey any and all commands he gives them, worse yet, those brainwashed don’t have any memories of what they did or ever being brainwashed in the first place.”

Luciel cupped his chin “hm… Interesting” Luciel murmured so quietly that no one heard him.

“Hey Hitoshi-san” – Luciel asked with the same  tone as the beginning of the conversation.

Shinso looked up, expecting the usual ‘you wouldn’t use your quirk on me’ or declaring it a villainous quirk or even just the silver haired boy not wanting anything to do with him. What Luciel actually said completely befuddled not only Shinso but also the trio who started this topic.

“Can you use your quirk through a phone or a radio?” – Luciel asked in complete seriousness, not noticing or just ignoring everyones perplexed looks. Most likely the latter.

“I can use it through the phone but I can only affect one person at a time, if I want to effect various people I have to do it one by one. Visual contact with who I want to target helps me focus but it’s not mandatory.” – Shinso answered honestly, too confused with the suddenness of the question to even think about saying anything but the truth.

“hm… very interesting…” - this time they all heard him, but Luciel continued unbothered. “Quite an impressive quirk, and with a lot of potential, could be used in many different ways in heroics, actually probably one of the best quirks I ever seen for a hero.” – Luciel commented, actual amazement dripping into his voice, the first emotion any of the four have heard from him since they know him, albeit they just met the silver haired boy today.

However no one was more shocked to hear those words than Shinso himself, he couldn’t even hide his shock. All his life he was told by his classmates that his quirk was a quirk of a villain, now someone says the complete opposite.

The girl was the first one to find her voice. “What do you mean the best quirk for a hero?! That quirk is clearly one for a villain! He can control people with it, against their will!”

All she got from Luciel was him giving her a deadpan expression with an eyebrow slowly arching up. This was the first of many times Shinso would see that expression on the silver haired boy.

The girl started to fidget under that stare and eventually asked – “What?”

“Are you pulling my leg or are you actually serious?” – Luciel asked honestly. Seeing her serious expression he sighed and mumble to himself while lightly shaking his head“When has common sense become rarer than quirklessness”

“Imagine there’s a bank robbery, there are civilians inside being held hostage by a villain. With me so far?” – Luciel asked, getting a nod in affirmation he continued “All it would take is Hitoshi-san here to ask ‘What are your demands?’ through the phone for the villain to be caught under his quirk, making it possible to free the hostages and apprehend the villain with near to 0% risk to both the hostages and the officers.”

“A similar plan can be used to apprehend rampaging villains, regardless of their quirks or physical strength. All he needs to do is find a way for the villain to answer him, either by asking a simple question or irritating them enough for them to answer him. With enough knowledge on human psychology he can be one of the best heroes for capturing villains.” – Luciel answered honestly, surprised he even had to point out something that should have been obvious.

Everyone was speechless, the trio looked like their whole world just shattered. But Shinso was the most surprised of all.

‘I… I never thought of that… I never even considered what my quirk could do as a hero… why did I never think about ways I could use my quirk, was I always so cought up on what people said about my quirk that I didn’t bother to think for myself?’

Before, Shinso’s opinion of Luciel raised a few notches, now his opinion of the silver haired boy was better than anyone he’d ever met before. Not only did he stood up for him without even knowing him, if it was his intention or not is irrelevant, but he also changed his opinion about his own quirk. His once jealousy for people with powerful and heroic quirks turned to gratefulness for having a not only a powerful quirk in his own right, but one that can make his dream of being a hero not only feasible but very likely based of what Luciel said.

‘Now that I think about it, the uses were pretty obvious’ – Shinso chastised himself in his mind for missing something so seemingly obvious ‘I guess hindsight really is 20/20’

Luciel seeing that would be the end of the conversation turned back to Shinso. “So Hitoshi-san, you still up for showing me to the cafeteria?” – Luciel asked casually as if he hadn’t just shattered the world view of 4 people.

Being snapped out of his own thoughts Shinso stuttered. “Y…yes, let’s go before lunch break ends.”

When they were in the school halls Shinso looked at Luciel while they walked. “Shinso.”

“Pardon?” – Luciel asked, a bit confused.

“You can just call me Shinso, no need for Hitoshi-san or Shinso-san” – Shinso replied to the silver haired boy with a friendly smile.

Luciel gave a nod and a smile “ Then you can just call me Luciel” – luciel replied with a warmer voice than Shinso has ever heard from the silver haired boy.

They walked towards the cafeteria in a compatible silence, not yet realizing that this was the beginning of a friendship that would last until the very end.

______FLASHBACK END______

Shinso was pulled out of memory lane by the annoyed silver haired boy in front of him.

“Hey! Are you even listening to me?!” – Luci asked with an annoyed tone and eyebrow violently twitching.

“Yes, yes, I heard you. We have to train our bodies to compensate for the limitations of our quirks.” – Shinso answered, but inwardly sweating bullets not wanting to tell his already incredibly annoyed silver haired friend that he didn’t hear a single word.

Luciel just offered Shinso a deadpan look. “Y’know, I’m not sure if you actually listened to me or if we had this conversation so many times that you can already guess what to answer…”

But further musing were promptly stopped, along with every chatter and babble going around the classroom by the arrival of the homeroom teacher.

“Alright, settled down class. Just because today is the last day of your stay in middle school doesn’t mean you can turn my classroom into a children’s playground.”

“Now that you’re about to enter Highschool you should try to behave more accordingly to your age, it’s time to stop playing around and get serious with your studies. Your next choices will be very important for your lives going forward. The school you choose, what subjects you focus on, what path you follow in your careers, these are all important choices you will have to make in the near future.”

Everyone for once sat quietly and listened to the lecture with wrapped attention. Despite some words could be considered jabs at the students maturity, all of them could hear the fondness they held. Mr. Ukitake truly cared about his students and wanted the best for them.

“I know I could say to strive for higher and higher, to make sure you go for the best of the best, but instead I’ll say this. Make sure you live your lives with no regrets, chase your dreams and fight for them, nothing in this world is given for free, you have to work for what you want. But most importantly, make sure that what ever happenes, you always strive to be better than you were yesterday. Don’t just look in front of you on how far you still have to go, remember to sometimes look back on how far you came, how much you’ve achieved, how much you’ve grown and be proud of yourselfs. Because I’m proud of you all.”

A few sniffles could be heard throughout the classroom as the teacher spoke, his lecture truly shows how much he cares for his students. He really is the best teacher any student could ever ask for.

“Now, with my peace about your futures said, it’s time for us to check who has applied to what school.” – Mr.Ukitake talked as if he were a host to a great game show.

Giggles could be heard throughout the classroom stopping any remaining sniffling from the previous lecture.

Mr.Ukitake started to call out students and their school choices. This whole exercise was to get the students to be honest about their reasons to want to go to said school and any possible advice or recommendations he could give his students.

Nearing the end of the list Mr.Ukitake paused. “UA High’s hero course… Hitoshi Shinso and Akabane Luciel.”

The classroom was dead silent, everyone knew how hard it was to enter into UA High, even into General education, let alone heroic course.

With everyone’s eyes on them Shinso started to slightly fidget, fortunately not as bad as it would’ve been 2 years ago, while Luciel maintained his neutral face.

Luciel just slowly gave his homeroom teacher his patented ‘Making you feel stupid with a look’ look.

‘How does he do that so well…’ Mr.Ukitake sweat dropped ‘He makes you feel uncomfortably awkward with a single look’

Mr.Ukitake coughed to hide his awkwardness “You boys are planning to go to UA High? Those entrance exams can be rather brutal… But I know you two will be able to get in, you have the makings of great heroes” – He gave them a kind smile.

Shinso gave his teacher a big smile at the reassurance while Luciel dropped his look but gave a small smile.

“May I ask why that school in particular?” – Mr.Ukitake enquired.

Shinso was the first one to answer. “I want to be the best hero I can be, and UA High has the best results in the whole country.” – Shinso replied honestly.

With their teachers gaze now on him, Luciel answered. “My favorite hero not only went to UA but he’s currently a teacher there, I want to go there and follow in his footsteps.”

This was a new piece of information about the silver haired boy that none of them new, except for Shinso. Luciel has always been a very reserved person, no one even knows what his quirk is, despite several times trying to guess or coerce it out of the silver haired boy. The only ones who know what his quirk is are the teachers, who have read it off his file, and Shinso who he told and showed several times during their training and sparing.

Mr.Ukitake was now intrigued “And who is your favorite hero young Akabane?”

“My favourite hero is The Erasure hero : Eraser Head.” – Luciel replied honestly

All we’re confused by the name, no one’s heard of that hero before.

Luciel seeing the confusion thought to himself  ‘of course you wouldn’t have heard of him, he’s an underground hero after all’

“I see, fine reasons indeed” – Mr.Ukitake said while nodding and smiling softly.

As the class continued it was soon coming to an end, and with it the end of their time in middle school.

_____________________________________________

(Some time later)

Luciel and Shinso were walking towards the train station.

“You’ve been on your phone for a while, anything up?” – Shinso asked Luciel, who still had his eyes glued to the phone.

“Yeah, kinda. I’ve been doing some research throughout the internet and it seems that the entrance exam of UA is comprised of 2 parts.” Luciel replied, still on his phone.

Now that caught Shinso’s attention.

“The first part is a written exam rumoured to be incredibly hard, but that isn’t much of a problem. My eidetic memory makes almost all tests incredibly easy and your test scores are incredibly high.” He wasn’t bragging but just stating facts, fair or not, his memory is a tool he’d exploit whenever necessary, and Shinso’s scores were always near 95%.

Shinso nodded even though his friend wasn’t looking at him.

“The second part is what’s going to be tricky, at least for you.” That got Shinso nervous

“It doesn’t say exactly how the exam works but it mentions a lot battle and robots.” Now Shinso understood why Luciel said it would be tricky for him, his quirk doesn’t work on robots, he’d be participating in the exam pretty much quirkless. “There is no more information anywhere about the exam, apparently when you enter UA you have to sign a contract of confidentiality that forbids you from talking about the exam, maybe that’s how they managed to keep the same exam for almost a decade and still maintain less than 5% acceptance rate.” – Luciel pondered while pocketing his phone.

Shinso was digesting this new information, his great mind working 200% trying to figure out how to get past this massive hurdle even before starting the exam.

“Eraser head was in the same situation as me and yet, he still passed. His quirk only works on other people, in fact, he’s even more limited than me since he can only cancel quirks while I can create a fully in sync team with just a few words, but using people like that isn’t what a hero should do.” – Shinso said idly saying his thoughts aloud.

Luciel just waited for his friend to come to his own conclusion. He’d comment if Shinso needed it.

“Meaning either there are other parameters to the exam besides just defeating robots and/or we can use tools to help us defeat the robots for people who’s quirks aren’t suitable for combat against machinery.” – Shinso concluded.

Luciel smiled “Yes, you can use any tools you like as long as you register with the school at least a week prior to the exam.” – he confirmed for Shinso.

Shinso wasn’t annoyed that his silver haired friend neglected to mention that detail, he long since learnt that when Luciel does this, it is to train his deductive reasoning, something Luciel’s father taught him the same way. The faster you can deduce, the faster you can solve problems or find an enemies weakness.

“I have to figure out a weapon to use in the exam, and train with it, preferably something not lethal… At least we have 10 months to train and prepare for the exam” – Shinso commented on the current situation.

“We can figure it out with my dad, being ex-military he has a better grasp on those kinds of things than us at the moment.” – Luciel assured his friend, there’s no need to go through countless weapons and waste time when someone could direct them to the best weapons to complement their physique and fighting style.

“Wow… You’re dad is going to help us train?” – Shinso asked Luciel in awe and slight fear. While he met Luciel’s parents several times, he only trained with Luciel and his father a handful of times. Akabane Karma may be a brilliant teacher and trainer but he is also a huge slave driver. Coupled with Luciel’s stories of how brutal his father’s more serious training was, he’d won a generous amount of fear and respect for the man.

Luciel’s father, Akabane Karma, was a tall man with a slim and muscular frame, he had red hair with pale and sharp mercury eyes. He is a kind and caring person to those he calls friends and family, however to those who he doesn’t know he usually acts cold and dismissive. Many calling him apathetic.

Despite being reasonably young, being only 39 years old, he is retired from the military after having stayed for several years and completed successful missions in a special taskforce designed to go to Japan’s allied countries to help in any raids on big criminal organizations.

Now he stays at home, reading, spending time with his friends and family and training his son to become a hero.

His quirk, explosive touch, allows him to transfer a portion of his energy through his hands into an object, turning the object into a bomb as powerful as a C4 charge that he can detonate on command from any distance. This quirk, along with his tactical mind made him exceptionally effective and dangerous in the military, quickly rising in the ranks until he became captain of the taskforce.

Unlike Luciel’s father, his mother, Grayfia Akabane is a very caring person, she’s incredibly kind to everyone and always has a smile on her face. People jokingly say she is the heart of the household while her husband is the mind.

Grayfia Akabane is a 40 year old beautiful woman with an amazing figure, with fair skin, light violet eyes and long silver hair.

She is incredibly smart, having been a college chemistry professor but later leaving her job when Luciel was born, wanting to be a stay at home mother so she could raise her baby boy due to her husband’s job keeping him out of the country for long stretches of time.

She is very fond of embarrassing Luciel by calling him cute baby names while in public or whenever a friend comes to visit, which is always Shinso.

While Luciel may have inherited most of his personality from his father Karma, no one can deny that All of his looks were inherited from his mother Grayfia.

He didn’t understand how Luciel wasn’t afraid of his dad when he was mad, but was downright terrified of his mother when she got angry. Grayfia Akabane was a sweet woman.

 ____________________________________________

 

As the months went by Luciel and Shinso fell into a routine. Approved by both boys parents, Shinso would spend 5 days of the week in Luciel’s house to train under Luciel’s father.

Shinso would train in his chosen weapon, it was a Bo Staff that when twisted in a certain way it would break off into a Three-section staff, physical conditioning, marshal arts for if he ever was disarmed, resistance training, pain resistance and combat, either facing Luciel, facing Luciel’s father alone, or both Shinso and Luciel facing Mr.Karma to practice teamwork.

It was hell, in fact, Shinso was sure Mr.Akabane was a sadist, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t productive.

The other 2 days would be spent in his house, one for studying, and the second for resting.

By the end of the first day, all Shinso could do is fall face first into his bed while groaning loudly. Causing Luciel to burst out laughing at his friends misfortune.

“I swear…” – Shinso groaned tiredly with a hint of irritation. “You and your dad are sadists.”

Luciel just laughed harder.

As for Luciel’s training, this time his father didn’t hold back. His training got cranked up to 11 and he had the bruises to show for it.

Since Luciel was in a better physical shape than Shinso. While Shinso was working on his physical conditioning, Luciel was working on his quirk.

Luciel’s quirk, called alchemy, is a very interesting and complex quirk. It is the manipulation and alteration of matter by using his bodies energy, mostly his stamina.

The process is divided into 3 steps.

Step 1 is the understanding of the inherent structure and properties of the atomic and molecular makeup of a particular material to be transmuted, including the flow and balance of potential kinetic energy within.

Step 2 is the deconstruction by using his bodies energy to break down the physical structure of the identified material into a more malleable state so as to be easily reshaped into a new form.

Step 3 is reconstruction, continuing the flow of energy so as to reform the material into a new shape.

But if Luciel so wishes, he can interrupt the process at step 2, this way, as long as Luciel understands the atomic and molecular structure of the object, he can destroy anything he wishes regardless of how durable it may be. A truly terrifying ability, able to bypass any and all types of physical defence.

This quirk is powerful but extremely hard to use, unless you have eidetic memory like Luciel. What would normally take someone years to memorize the atomic components of all objects you can find in a city, it only takes Luciel a quick read.

Alchemy is a quirk based off science and chemistry, as such is subject to certain law and limitations, of all all which fall under the concept of equivalent exchange. In order to gain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed.

Equivalent exchange is separated into 2 parts.

Part 1 is the law of conservation of mass. Energy and matter can neither be created from nothing, nor be destroyed to the point of elemental nonexistence.

Part 2 is The law of natural providence, an object or material made of a particular substance or element can only be transmuted into another object with the same basic makeup and properties of that initial material.

When Luciel’s quirk awoke, he gained markings in the palm of his hands that can be changed at will into a transmutation circle. There was also a shift in Luciel’s brain, giving him an innate understanding on how each circle needs to be to manipulate the matter, akin to a 6th sense.

Alchemy can only be used with a transmutation circle, whether it be the circles in his palms, a drawn circle in the moment or an etched circle for a permanent use.

Luciel’s training with his quirk revolves around training the speed of the transmutations, his understanding of his quirk so as to be able to transmute matter into the atomic level instead of just molecular, hence turning one element into another, for example transmuting the ground into steel or iron instead of dirt, or turning air into methane gas.

Along with finding new attacks using alchemy.

His latest idea for the exam is using cloth and steel to create ignition cloth gloves, then transmuting the oxygen in front of him to create pathways highly rich in oxygen and methane gas, with a snap of his fingers with the ignition cloth gloves he can ignite the air and create fire attacks capable of destroying robots with one hit.

Needless to say, Shinso was amazed and slightly nervous on how destructive his attack was.

At the end of that day Luciel had to face a very angry Ms.Grayfia, and Shinso understood why Luciel and Mr.Karma were so terrified of her…

Ms.Grayfia is a very sweet woman, but also a very terrifying one.

_____________________________________________

NA: This is the ending of chapter 1, next chapter will be the entrance exam and the period of waiting before the results.

This chapter changed characters perspective quite often, hopping from Luciel to Shinso several time, this will not be the case in the future, it was just in this chapter because it was an important one for both characters.

Now to address some questions that may come up.

Do not worry about flashbacks being as big as this one was in the future, this one ended up being this big because i wanted to show what prompted Shinso’s change, how he and Luciel became friends and to show Luciel’s true personality to people who he hasn’t befriended.

This is a slightly AU, although most characters will be present, I have taken some liberties in changing some elements from the story that I always felt could’ve been more fleshed out. Most will be addressed in future chapters.

The addition of the confidentiality contract is to keep the exam always the same, this is not due to laziness, this is purely intentional on Nezu’s part. Although students can’t give the specifics of the parameters to pass the exams, they can give a general idea to what’s happening, hence battle and robots in plural. This is Nezu’s way to give an incentive to hopeful students to do research and use deduction to figure out what’s happening in the exams. The rescue points are just common sense, although that seems to be lacking in the MHA universe.

Are you surprised with Luciel’s quirk? If you are familiar with alchemy from FMA then you probably noticed that there are several differences between the original and the one found in this fic. Those were intentional. I wanted alchemy to be a quirk and not just a power that anyone with the right know-how could use, hence several changes needed to be made to facilitate it’s integration.

What did you think about this chapter, did you like it? Did you find all the references I mentioned in the NA at the start. Tell me your thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Much love! see you next chapter!

[litrumi]

(ADLN Inspiration) Background Music Cheat Sheet [Teaser-y Spoilers]

Well, while I'm still trying to get out of "Chapter 8 writing hell" because I am totally... totally out of it atm (been feeling super ultra mega sick), have a little teaser post.

This one's just about my writing process! If you've been a reader of the fanfic (pinned in profile), you know by now that I really like listening to music that sets the tone or mood of the scene that I'm writing! And very recently, I hit upon a specific bit of creative intention / ideas. I want to use very specific tracks / songs for very specific things. Chapter 6 kickstarted the idea, but the rest of this just suddenly came to me out of nowhere. So, here's a little taste of what I've been thinking about.

Or rather, the music I think I'll be listening to for later, or the near-future, story events! Thank ya thank ya. It's just so people can get an idea of what "environment" I put myself in for writing. And if it might serve as some unexpected inspiration for anyone, then more power to you. Wheeeeeeeeeeee.

*Formatting will probably look like... (Type) "Track name" Vibe: Describing the type of scene being set by the music.

**Anddd... If you have a keen eye, you might just find out some small secrets that none of my readers should know about at this point! Good luck!

-

~ Getting Acquainted ~

(Normal 1) "Spirit of Justice ~ Cheerful People" Vibe: "This doesn't seem so bad! ...For now."

(Normal 2) "Spirit of Justice ~ Strange People" Vibe: "...Never mind. I really should have seen this coming..."

(Exploit) "PL vs PW ~ The Stake's Witnesses" Vibe: "Well... This is highly unusual. But I'll just have to get used to it, I guess..."

~ Understanding the Facts ~

(Explanation 1 / Logic 1) "Spirit of Justice ~ The Basics of the Case" Vibe: "Better pay attention... Everything starts here."

(Logic 2 - Normal) "Spirit of Justice ~ Logic Construct" Vibe: "Everything can be explained. So, let's just think about this carefully..."

(Explanation 2 / Logic 3 - Exploit) "PL vs PW ~ Logic and Witchcraft / Baroque" Vibe: "These rules make no logical sense at all! ...But I still have to try my best to make this work!"

~ Questioning / Interrogation ~

(As Catnap) "Spirit of Justice ~ Cross Exam Moderato 2016" Vibe: "As long as I focus... then nothing will slip past me. ...I hope."

(As Catnap) "Spirit of Justice ~ Cross Exam Allegro 2016" Vibe: "Our time is almost up... If I don't fix this now, who knows what could happen!"

(As Dogday) "PL vs PW ~ Mass Inquisition Moderato" Vibe: "Let's take our time! I'll listen to anything you have to say, so say it! We can figure this out together!"

(As Dogday) "PL vs PW ~ Mass Inquisition Allegro" Vibe: "O- Okay... This isn't what I was expecting at all. But if I stay calm, then things will work out! ...Right?"

~ Thrill / Suspense ~

(Normal 1) "PL vs PW ~ Suspense (English Court)" Vibe: "There's gotta be something we're missing..."

(Normal 2) "Apollo Justice ~ Thrill Theme ~ Suspense" Vibe: "W- Why?! What am I going to do now?!"

(Exploit) "PL vs PW ~ The Courtroom's Magician" Vibe: "How could this possibly be happening?! What is going on...?!"

~ Grand Turning Points / "Standing Up for Myself and Others" ~

(Normal) "Pursuit ~ Cornering Together" Vibe: "We've got nothing to fear! The only way to go is forward!"

(Normal - Variation) "Pursuit ~ Cornering Together (Variation)" Vibe: "Well, we're not done just yet! You've still gotta hear this too! Whether you want to or not!"

(Exploit) "Pursuit ~ Spell Breaker" Vibe: "There's only one thing I CAN do now... but there won't be any way for me to turn back..."

-

Yeah... I sorta reeeecently fell in love with the tracks from "PL vs PW" and now they're very much stuck in my head. And "Spell Breaker" is literally my new favorite "everything ever". (I really thought "Pursuit - Cornering Together" was going to be my one and only. But I've betrayed itttttt- sob). But it also gave me inspiration I didn't consider, so it was a big help.

And I'll fix up any other little tracks if I've missed any that I would definitely listen to. Editing magic and all that.

Now, I sure HOPE I get better from this dumb sickly feeling as soon as possible because all I want to do right now is WRITE, DAMN IT.

...Have a goose day!

-

- Quick access to other related posts -

Story Overview/Synopsis | Ability Compendium |

-

[danthediamondminecart]

Hey hey! Very few questions to ask so I won't take too much time on introduction. Also, very late, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!🎉🎇. Got any new year resolutions for 2025? I gotta say man, time flies. I don't know about you but I feel like I am still stuck in 2022 even though it is now 2025. 2024 was truly a rollercoaster of emotions for me, so much has happened in 2024. Anyway; here are the questions for you to answer:

Q1) From the RBB judge's point of view;

• Who is the most chaotic RB Battler/Battlers?

•Who is the most sassiest RB Battler/Battlers?

• Which RB Battler has the "Main Character Syndrome"? (If you know what I mean)

•Who is the most forgotten RB Battler/Battlers?

• Which RB Battler has the weirdest habits?

• Who is the most enthusiastic/energetic RB Battler?

• Who is the smartest RB Battler?

• Who is the most mysterious RB Battler?

• (This one is so god damn obvious) Who is the most calm RB Battler?

•Who is the most talkative and also the loudest RB Battler?

• Which RB Battler can be considered as the "Parent/Mom of the group"?

• And last but not least, Who is most reliable RB Battler?

Q2) Do you have any favourite Roblox game?

Ok, that's all and yet again; HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

(please tell us about your new year resolutions)

Happy new year! Sorry this took a while to get to, school started again and I've been busy.

My New Year's resolution this year is to get into (a good) university.

Yeah, I'm doing my university exams and applications this year, so that's what I'm putting my focus into, sorry if you wanted art stuff lol. My plan is to get into a good uni. That is all. NGL I was kinda dreading 2025 for this reason, I won't traumadump on you, but to put it lightly, the university process so far has not being going well. So...there's that.

I guess my other resolution for this year is to finish BLSMP, dear god it's been going on for two years my other fics never lasted this long.

As for your other questions, I'll put them under the cut!

Q1) Here we go:

Chaotic: Albert. There is no questions about this.

Sassy: Prooobably Sanna?

MCS: Kreek. Also, Tanqr. There is a reason they butt heads.

Forgotten: Probably anyone from Season 1 who wasn't in the other seasons (so Seedeng, Cybernova, Smallant).

Habits: Albert, again. Brother is weeeeird.

Enthusiastic: Pretty much everyone is energetic, so it would be hard for them to pick. Well, Sabrina and DJ would say Russo, Russo would probably say like Bella and then immediately agree that they're right

Smartest: Depends on whether you mean flat intelligence or wisdom. The hosts would think flat intelligence, so that would probably be Hyper, MiniToon, Kreek or maybe Russo due to his abilities (If we count Mr B, they'd say Mr B). If we're specifying wisdom...uh, I'd say everyone has their unwise moments. So the hosts would probably make a joke about the answer being no one. (There are many different types of smart - book smart like Hyper and Kreek, socially smart like Kreek, Denis and Leah, combat/street smart like Tanqr and Bandites, etc. Jackeryz has combat and intelligence smarts, so maybe him?)

Mysterious: Hm. Tanqr, maybe? Albert again? Though the hosts know a lot about their competitors, so they wouldn't really consider any of them to be "mysterious" imo. BigB, because of his Life-Series-induced-Disappearances, I guess?

Calm: You're probably thinking of PinkLeaf. However, I don't think that's the case - he's quiet, sure, but that doesn't mean he's calm. That boy is a bundle of anxiety actually. Anyway, I think they'd say Denis, Bandites or Jayingee.

Loudest: Kreek is damn well talkative and quite loud, so he'd probably be the host's first thought. though I think Russo would again come up as an option for this one, rip bozo

Mom friend: Russo. Well, all the hosts are. If we're talking competitors specifically, Thinknoodles, though that mf also needs a mom too tbh. Including the guest hosts, NightFoxx.

Reliable: None of them /j. Okay in reality, I'd think that Megan, Sabrina, Ashley, Hyper and Kreek always get the jobs they have to get done done before getting side tracked. (Though expect a bit of a wait time with Kreek, he always has a lot on his plate.)

Q2) Does RB Battles Minigames count?

If not, I'm not really sure. Despite having RB Battles as my main fixation, I don't actually play Roblox all that much? I play Minecraft a lot more. I guess the games that I've played a lot of would be Big Paintball (& Big Paintball 2) and Super Golf, so them, I guess. I have always enjoyed playing the Arsenal event games, so they're up there. Epic Minigames is cool too.

Thanks for asking :)

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "Odd Way 'Round" Episode Followup, Part 1

I am choosing to put an apostrophe in that title because the English perfectionist in me will get a rash on the ear if I don't stop scratching.

Welcome to the "Odd Way Round", where we will get more lore in the form of the Odd Squad Test Center that...exists...but hey, we get to meet new villains, which is neato. Below the break!

Your writer for this episode, who has a small resume of shows on her plate that...don't really look like kids shows. At best, it looks like a lot of older-kid stuff.

She has experience, is my point. Raising the bar just a teeny bit higher for this one.

Pictured: an absolute lack of whimsy.

And two of the characters in this scene are children who would probably love this and think it's cute.

Ahhh yes. The "person fakes an odd problem to get Odd Squad to come" call. Happens in (nearly) every season.

"I just moved to town and I'm a bit lonely, you see."

So you...socialize with the employees of a pseudo-government organization? Who are children?

Surely in this day and age there are still listings for, say, library clubs or meetups where you can meet people, even in Britain, no? You pair up with these kids and you'll be getting a lot of "what lovely children you raised" followed by "they're...not my kids".

The Rabbit Society should be led by Bugs Bunny, but it isn't, and that's what makes me upset.

It's funny because agents enjoying juice boxes is a rare si- oh. These aren't Shmumber juice boxes so they're non-alcoholic, huh? So Orli's not gonna stumble through town drunk?

Okay. Headcanon accepted.

"I'm the exam queen. Ask me a question?"

Hey, remember when "License to Science", being the metaphorical episode it was, had the very-scared Oona take the Odd Squad equivalent of a DMV test?

You remember when "Can You Wrangle It?", being the non-metaphorical episode it was, had the not-so-scared Orla and Oswald taking the test and becoming Ghostbusters for 11 minutes?

This is fucking neither of those. But quite frankly, I'm worried about a little too much element-borrowing. For example, Orli's the opposite of Oona here.

Look, at least Orla's riddle question actually made some sense for her character.

This is just borderline stupid.

Now, asking how her name should be spelled...that would be better.

"If you fail this exam, they'll send you back to Niagara Falls!"

But...but the entire fucking point of her coming to the UK precinct was to boost their numbers...and now they're introducing something where they potentially lose a member? The very same member that helped them out tremendously?

What fucking payback for some selfless service! Assholes, you all are.

"Why aren't you taking the tubes?"

"A relaxing walks helps to clear my mind and focus. Also, we have 11 minutes to spend, and we need a plot to spice things up!"

"We...what?"

"You think about that. I gotta go."

If you're late then they'll fail you automatically?

So would the excuse "villains tried to stop me from getting there" be an equivalent to "a dog ate my homework"?

Ahhh, and there it is. The very inevitable Doctor Who reference.

You knew it had to be referenced. I knew it had to be referenced. It was just a matter of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The first shoe, of course, dropped back in the Season 2 premiere, and has aged like a fine wine even the Crane brothers would be apt to try.

The plot of "License to Science" and "Can You Wrangle It?"...that is heavily subverted in favor of reusing the plot that episodes like "Trials and Tubulations" and "Robert Plant" executed well.

And before you ask me if this episode will exceed the perfection of those two episodes...lol no git gud. Chances are high Niki's never even seen either, let alone the show itself.

Oh hey, British Weird Al! And, uh...his...wife.

Hi, British Weird Al and his wife!

Monsieur...uh...Rappit (and I will be spelling his name as that from now on, thank you) Rapide looks and speaks like a LazyTown character and I refuse to elaborate.

Single Serving Sally Sarla, on the other hand...there is nothing on her uniform indicating anything relating to "single servings". At least we know Rappit's Rapide's thing is speed and he wears blue and has goggles to reflect that. Her power is "making anything in the world" and she dresses like someone in high society who doesn't know how people in high society dress.

(If you get a yellow character in there you'd have Odd Squad Heroes.)

Funny how we get a bootleg MLP unicorn last episode and this episode has this woman using the power that some MLP unicorns have to conjure up things randomly.

It's like it's a more fantastical version of the hammerspace spines!

Oh? Villains doing math. Basic math, but still. I dig it.

I'm sorry, I'm dying of laughter because I made a Sonic the Hedgehog joke when the second trailer came out and this guy is literally the Odd Squad version of him but villainous.

I do so love when I make jokes and then they later turn out to actually become truth.

"If you make a donut, Odd Squad will suspect that villains have been involved."

And just as smart as Sonic too!

THEY'RE FINALLY ADDRESSING THAT VILLAINS DRESS DIFFERENTLY THAN CIVILIANS AND IT TOOK THEM 10 FUCKING YEARS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This. This is what Orli's meta self-awareness should be used for.

The stupidity can be removed, though. Tenfold.

See, the more I think about it, the sillier this is because...when's the last time you or anyone you know used a paper map? Nowadays everyone has Google Maps.

But of course, that would eliminate the math lesson...and so this horror persists.

Behold: a rare inversion among villain duos where the woman is the idiot and the guy is the smart one. You don't see that very often.

Case in point: Sally Sarla probably has a phone that she could pull up Google Maps on and use that to find routes to block Orli. Since, y'know, they don't have a map anymore.

...I'm sorry. I'm fuckin' sorry.

But in all the time she's had this power, this woman has never made money?

THERE IS A PATH TO BECOMING THE RICHEST VILLAIN IN THE WHOLE DAMN ROGUES GALLERY AND YOU AREN'T WEAPONIZING THAT SHIT???????????

HELL NO. UH-UH. YOU SHITTIN' ME?????? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE.

And the even more sinful part? It's not even Jackalope Dollars. It's not even pounds and pence. It's an entirely different currency.

AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH WHOT???????

Oh, Niki hit a fucking home run with this one. I expected the episode to move on to Orli and instead we get this Rich Villain Gangster bit. The only thing missing is one hell of a rap.

I can't even be mad these aren't Jackalope Dollars anymore. This shit fuckin' made my day right here.

Wow, and we even get a jab at 99% of American rappers! And this is Britain!

(Which...probably has these kinds of rappers too, but hell if I know. I'm a dumb lil' American, after all.)

Putting aside that we get the actual TARDIS -- because again, it's an expected reference even if Anh hadn't brought it up -- is Orli's ditty a callback to the first episode? I legit thought we were over that shit!

...Can we scrap this song and put in a rap for Sally Sarla and Rappit Rapide instead, please? I mean his name is literally Rappit. Missed opportunity!

I'm really just wondering why the Test Center is such a permanent fixture in Namepending Town that they decided to put up a sign specifically for it. Give me lore and history on that.

(On to Part 2!)

[cruorcrave]

19 December 2024

(TL;DR at the end.)

Today was pretty alright. I mostly just finished up xmas shopping (took a while cuz my mother had a lot of places to go) but it was made more fun by the fact I finally got my sister's present. I bought her a bag of chocolates as well as a 10-pack of ciders, and I wrapped every item individually then put them back in their respective packets. Hopefully she finds it funny (me and my sisters prank each other with our presents - but we also make sure the presents are actually good and what they wanted, just in the most annoying way possible.)

Other than that, I haven't done much today. I'm trying to get myself into the mindset of drawing/writing/creating even if it's not good. Even if it isn't perfect I should still be creating because it's what I want to be known for and it's what I want to do, it just takes a bit of effort. Gonna try to get a drawing out today or tomorrow.

One of my new tumblr-made friends is being a bit distant and I'm worried about them. I haven't known them for long (literally like a month) so I don't know their habits or anything yet. I'm just hoping I haven't upset them or scared them off, or that something particularly bad has come up in their life. Hopefully they're alright.

The school morning tea was good. My friend picked me up in her car and luckily there weren't a lot of people there. Only about 10 of us from a class of about 75, and it was all people I liked or tolerated. My friend who wants me to be in his upcoming zombie short film chatted with me about it, I saw teachers I like again, I got like three cans of free Sprite, it was great all round. Me and a few friends have another get together some time in the next few weeks which will be nice as the people I hate/cannot tolerate aren't invited. Yippee!

tw discussing s/h briefly

As was probably clear from last night's posting, I relapsed. However, there is a silver lining here. I didn't cut myself or draw any blood in any way. I hit myself and got a small bruise, but it's already starting to fade just a day later, and the headache was gone by mid-morning. I'm dedicated to trying to get to 3 days right now, and then hopefully to a week. Trying to focus on the positives. My longest streak in a while has been 3 days and so I'm trying to break that. I'm still counting hitting (whether against something hard or with the pliers) as a relapse because one, it usually leaves a bruise and gives me a killer headache (sometimes for days on end) and two, it is to harm myself. I'm still struggling with thoughts of.. man, I gotta find a name for this. "drinking" feels wrong - its not that much blood - but maybe "taking" is more accurate? Let's go with that. I'm still struggling with thoughts of taking but I'm trying to acknowledge them and then move on. Rather than ignoring them, I'm telling myself "Okay, I want to do that, but I know I'll only feel worse for it, and even though I don't know what's causing the feelings directly, I know it's a problem and has to do with my mental illnesses, therefore I shouldn't give in." It's worked so far today, if only for today. I still can't help but wonder why I ever had the feelings in the first place, though. I just want them to go away now is all I know. Either way, this approach definitely works better than telling myself "If you give in you'll go crazy and never be able to stop like some freak vampire-hannibal hybrid so ignore the hunger." That definitely wasn't working.

Anyway, wish me luck. 1 day clean as I write this.

Song of the Day: Pieces - Sum 41

Also, I'm going to start putting TL;DRs at the end of my diary posts cuz they're long as shit and ain't nobody got time for that.

TL;DR:

Today was okay. Did Christmas shopping, ready to prank my older sisters. Didn't do much else, want to draw more. One of my friends is distant, I'm a bit worried. Final exam debrief morning tea was good. Relapsed but wasn't as bad as usual. Trying a new approach to staying clean; acknowledging urges and validating them. Trying to get to 3 days, then a week.

Clean since 18 December 2024