#Maximum Power Point Tracking

[futureelectronic1159]

Nexperia Energy Harvesting MPPT Technology Explained

https://www.futureelectronics.com/m/nexperia. Nexperia's Energy Harvesting PMIC uses the advanced Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm to harvest energy for ultra-low power IoT sensors/nodes. MPPT uses an embedded hill-climbing algorithm to deliver the maximum power to the load. https://youtu.be/yWnLrX9O7qg

[futureelectronic1527]

Nexperia Energy Harvesting MPPT Technology Explained

https://www.futureelectronics.com/m/nexperia. Nexperia's Energy Harvesting PMIC uses the advanced Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm to harvest energy for ultra-low power IoT sensors/nodes. MPPT uses an embedded hill-climbing algorithm to deliver the maximum power to the load. https://youtu.be/yWnLrX9O7qg

[floweycidal]

chara and asriel content in 2024 who else screamed

this letter is brilliant i don't think i'll ever get over it.

there’s something so powerful about the idea that a number can represent a limit—something finite.

for chara, the world had always been about limits—limits to how much you could trust, how much you could love, and especially, how much you could endure. after all, when you’ve been hurt enough times, you start to believe there’s a number to it. that at some point, you hit the maximum of how much you can take.

their hatred for humans didn’t come from nowhere; it was the result of seeing the worst in people, over and over again. the pain, the betrayal, it all piled up, like tallies on a wall. there was always more to endure, and it was exhausting.

but then there was asriel, who saw the world so differently. where chara saw hurt, asriel saw hope. where chara felt the need to protect themselves from more suffering, asriel embraced every moment for what it was. he didn't think much about limits because, to him, the present was enough. he wasn’t counting the days or keeping track of how much joy he had left—he just lived, freely, in the tender times they experienced together.

"nothing can hurt you anymore." was a line that spoke to chara’s deepest wish—to finally reach a place where the world, and the people in it, can’t cause them pain. to chara, it means invincibility, a state of being untouchable, where the wounds of the past can no longer find them. however, asriel gives those words a different meaning. in his eyes, they represent a kind of freedom. freedom from counting, from holding on to every scar, from measuring life by how much hurt or joy you can bear.

asriel offers chara something they’ve never known before: the chance to stop keeping track. the chance to live in the moment, to experience happiness without the fear of losing it. like picking flowers, one by one, where each one is beautiful on its own, without needing to count how many there are. he shows chara that joy doesn’t have to be tallied or compared. it can simply be felt, in the here and now, without worrying about when it might end.

for chara, who has spent so long building walls to protect themselves from a world they can't trust, asriel represents the possibility of something more. not invincibility, but peace. not a life free of pain, but a life where pain no longer defines them. where the moments they share—laughing, making scary faces, picking flowers—are enough. and in those moments, nothing can hurt them anymore.

[whetstonefires]

So like, I'm pretty darn sure Mo Xuanyu did not actually make a pass at Jin Guangyao.

For several reasons, like for one thing hitting on your own actual brother who is also your boss is genuinely insane behavior, in a way nothing else we know about the guy actually matches, other than his reputation for being crazy which mostly seems to originate from the same point as the sexual harassment allegations. which tracks because even with rampant societal homophobia, that's such a crazy thing to do people would question it if it didn't come paired with the information that he's insane.

Then there's the fact that if that had actually happened, there's basically no way master spin artist jgy would have let it get out, because actually experiencing that would trigger his sense-of-uncleanliness issues so hard.

But what we see is that somehow Everyone Knows that it happened, but also that Jin Guangyao totally didn't tell anyone, because he's too merciful and kind and respectable. It just mysteriously leaked somehow that this private scandal happened.

(Also, to step up a meta level, the gay goth kid who was never quite accepted into his own family and wound up self-destructing was in fact guilty of the homophobic allegations spread by the powerful man who manipulates reputation for personal advantage? This is not the kind of story where that would be true. The thematic dissonance is too much.)

The only way it's believable that mxy made a move on jgy is if jgy spent a long time maneuvering him into it, hinting and deniably flirting and just generally being maximum skeeze, just a huge elaborate incestuous honeypot, just to bait a 'ruined reputation' trap. Which makes no sense at all.

I don't think jgy is necessarily above that kind of creepy grooming behavior but I do think he would hate it, and definitely wouldn't resort to it when sowing rumors would work just as well. and expose him to less risk.

So Mo Xuanyu didn't do it.

So what we've got is that Jin Guangyao systematically obliterated this kid's credibility.

No one would listen to anything he said after being expelled in that sort of context, especially anything against Jin Guangyao, whom he now has obvious motive to smear. This was a preemptive strike against some kind of leak.

It's exactly the kind of thing jgy would do--it targets individual vulnerability, leverages the weak points in Mo Xuanyu's reputation into gaping chasms, in a way that associates jgy with scandal but makes him personally look better. also shows signs of jgy projecting his own issues onto others. The MO fits.

And his motive is easy to construct: Mo Xuanyu had had access to his secrets, such as Wei Wuxian's manuscripts and probably a lot of the other ugly shit. And Jin Guangyao needed him silenced, due to some thing or other, but as with SiSi didn't want to have to kill him.

(A fascinating thing about jgy as a villain is the moments where he yields to sentiment pretty consistently contribute to his destruction.)

But then we come around to: so why didn't Mo Xuanyu sic Wei Wuxian on Jin Guangyao, then?

In cql wwx does have a curse cut for jgy, to keep him in the plot and create an additional open storyline to resolve, since viewers are gonna be denied romantic catharsis, but in cql the homophobia plotline isn't there because all the gay is censored, and mxy allegedly hit on qin su instead. which is less utterly unhinged to do though still big wtf.

In the book, mxy summoned the Yiling Patriarch just to kill the Mos. (Which he didn't even do lmao.)

So I've always been sort of poking at that, like if you're destroying your own soul to get revenge, why spare the person who deliberately ruined your life?

Even if he had done the thing, it was weird! Maybe even weirder; if you're in a headspace where making sexual advances anyone should be able to predict are unwelcome seems like a good idea in the first place, there's a pretty good chance getting punished for them isn't going to make you think you were in the wrong. Otoh there is a zone where he could have done it, gotten the backlash, cleared his head a bit, realized it was fucked up to do, and therefore not held a grudge in that particular direction, but it's still weird. (And also he definitely didn't do the thing.)

But if he was so angry, why was he not angry at Jin Guangyao? Who definitely kicked him out of the Sect, all else aside?

And then I looked at the passage in Jin sect where we swap to Jin Ling's pov and he tells us one of the few first-hand things we hear about Mo Xuanyu: He thought Jin Guangyao was the most amazing person in the whole world. He adored him.

And being betrayed and rejected by him didn't turn that into resentment. Even though he resented the other side of his family enough to want them gratuitously murdered.

So you know what I think happened?

I think Mo Xuanyu thinks it was an honest misunderstanding. That Jin Guangyao, his idol, falsely concluded that his gay little brother was creeping on him based on a misinterpretation of his admiring behavior, and was appropriately revolted. And that Mo Xuanyu doesn't blame him for it. He blames himself.

He went back to his mother's family to rot genuinely feeling like the ruination of his life was his own fault for being creepy. And died like that.

Because of that, to a considerable extent. How can you bend any of your will to saving yourself, to getting out of an abusive situation and seeking a better one, when you don't think you deserve to be saved?

Fucks me up.

[dingodoodles]

🎉 CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!🎉 Hey! Soooo To celebrate the Fool's Gold: Into the Bellowing Wilds campaign setting arriving in people’s hands

We got a contest to make some Post cards advertising the Bellowing Wilds A hard sell, I know lmao😬 You win cool shit too from us and Hit Point Press! So this is what we got going on: The Bellowing Wilds needs your help! Many adventurers are soon to experience our…..EXCITING (and very questionable) creatures and locals, and may not live to tell the tale. Let’s tell it for them!

ENTRY 📩 Using your powers of persuasion, create a postcard promoting a visit to the Bellowing Wilds. Come up with a slogan, or draw an adventurer’s picture, or write a small excerpt from an adventurer’s point of view on the postcard. Either way, it should try to convince the reader to visit in any way possible! Then either:

1) Post it in our Discord in ⁠postcard-contest , to enter for the community award. Winner will be determined by most ❤️ reactions. or 2) Post it on social media with #VisitFoolsGold (Twitter/Insta/Tumblr/Bluesky), to enter for the crew choice award. Winner will be randomly chosen from eligible posts. or Both! (But you can only win one)

REWARDS FOR EACH WINNER 🏅 - 1 copy of the "Heckna! Box Set"!! 🤡 (Provided by Hit Point Press!) - The winning postcards will also be PRINTED and SIGNED by Dingo, Felix, and Avery - A chosen sticker sheet of Fool's Gold stickers!

RULES ✅ Using and/or reformatting provided images from the digital Bellowing Wilds PDF (The one given is just 1 example of what can be. Feel free to use it if you wanna) ✅ Drawing your own artwork ✅ Using clip art text ✅ You may submit to both discord & social media. Your choice. ✅ Maximum of 3 entries per person (On either/both platforms) ❌ No AI art

IMPORTANT Discord: Upvote your favorite submission with a ❤️ emoji (No other emoji / heart colors count) Social Media: You have to include the hashtag and like the contest post. Contest will end Sept 26 @ 11pm PST 🗓️ Kickstarter Backers: It's arriving! 👀 For those who have pre-ordered the Fool's Gold campaign setting, make sure you keep an eye on your mailboxes! Orders have been shipping out for a few weeks now, so if you haven't received yours yet, you should very soon! For help or tracking info, you can contact Hit Point Press at kickstarter@hitpointpress.com

I apologies for the big wall of text :'3

[coveholdenmyluv]

I. Midoriya - New Beginnings

Synopsis. Stained and calloused, the commission has nurtured your palms into silent artillery and trained you to fight the wolves they throw you in with. Not at all accounting for the possibility that you too might learn to bite the hand that feeds you.

Or alternatively - in which the Hero Commission recruits YOU to go undercover as a student in UA to keep a certain class, who already seems to be a magnet for trouble, in check...

It's safe to say you get a little more than what your briefing covered.

A story of the finding of self love, a family, and a new beginning.

Series masterlist.

Chapter warnings. emotional manipulation, minor death, this is sort of a set up chapter?, kind of a long chapter, the latter half is very chill. pls read prologue first!

Chapter synopsis. You’ve been summoned to the HPSC headquarters! Hopefully they’re planning on giving you that vacation you dream of.

1| Only in Our Dreams. 10.9K words

"Mercy, please! I swear, we meant no harm. It was just for some extra cash, I've got my girls at home!"

The man cowered near the back wall as you intimidatingly stepped towards his hunched position. The leisure steps you took barely made much noise at all, yet the soft pats of your boots were deafening. His whimpers reached their maximum volume when the soles of your feet came into contact with a limp limb laying on the concrete, and his head flew every which way to gaze at the lifeless bodies of his companions strewn around him.

He feared to meet the same fate.

"Do they have a mother?"

"No!" The man shrieks, "That's the reason that I'm doing what I'm doing. I just want to give them a better life." He explains honestly. "I've barely even found a babysitter, I've got my ma watching them!"

You chuckled bitterly at his justification - instantaneous hysteria that you've heard countless times before.

"Illegal drug trafficking, right? How's that working out for you and your girls?" You asked in a sneering manner, to which he simply sputtered as he struggled to elucidate any further. "I've gotta say, you're good at what you do. The police are having a hard time tracking you down. But of course, your little side hustle has been causing the citizens in Kyushu to grow rampant. The heroes based in the area are beginning to go into overtime, thus leaving them tired and malnourished. We can't have our dutiful saviors walking around enervated, can we?" Your right palm lifts into the air and a crisp chill invades your palm whilst the radiant gleam of your dainty sun mark begins to swell.

"No, please! My girls- You're a hero aren't cha'? You can't- you wouldn't!" He squeals and squirms as you corner him. His eyes gape at you in horror and look to nearly burst out of their sockets as his pitiful cries reach their peak.

"Your girls will be better off with your ma." You state as your palm draws near his face. "Scum needs to be dealt with, you understand, don't you? This is for the good of our cause."You rasp, steeling yourself to proceed with the actions that will surely haunt you until the moment you reach your deathbed composed of wilting and withering black dahlias.

"You're no hero, you're the devil incarnate. An angel of death! You'll get what's coming to you, Aeron. Mark my words, I'll be cheering for your downfall from hell-" He begins, only for his ardent proclamations to dwindle in their power as your palm finally makes contact with his rugged skin.

You watch as his limbs go limp, surveying his body for the telltale signs of the remaining life to dispel. Though, those aren't what notify you of your completed mission, instead it's the warm draft that floods your body and inhabits every crevice available.

The feeling is supposed to invigorate you, supposed to bring forth newly born vitality, but in reality it makes you nauseous to the point where you yearn to clutch that wretched right palm onto your lips.

"Go ahead and save me a spot then. If those are the consequences of fulfilling my purpose, then so be it." Your excruciating voice grinds out. You can nearly taste the bile adhering to the walls of your throat, forcing your retreating hand to clutch into a fist and fingernails to pierce into the skin of your palm.

Nausea.

You hate the rising feeling of nausea - with nausea comes profuse perspiration, retching, dyspnea, and remorse.

Your line of work bears no room for penitence.

With corpulent and dense inhalations, you gather your bearings to go forth with the completion of your mission. Slipping your cell phone out of the pouch strapped to your waist, you dial the numbers ingrained into your muscle memory - carved and sealed with cement into your bones.

"Assignment fulfilled. Another clean job." You state in a low tone into the speaker.

"Nothing but the bodies is being left behind, correct?"

"Affirmative. Not an ounce of blood spilt."

"Heavenly. Flawless work once again, Aeron. Attain the photos and head west once more. We have more to discuss, my dear."

"Roger that, ma'am. Arrival time should be soon, expect my appearance at ten past eleven hundred."

"Noted. You've done us well, hero."

The long tone indicating the call had ended allows the knot in your chest to lessen its grip and release the breath you hadn't quite heeded before. The hand clutching your phone lowers itself to your side as the corner of your lips soften and warmth fills the apples of your cheeks. The crease to your brow alleviates and you can feel the effect the praise has on your conduct.

It's almost pathetic how easily your nausea fades at the approval the woman expresses for your actions.

After you comply to your post mission orders, you make your way to the vehicle delegated to take you to and from your superiors. There, a very much not unexpected ring tone chimes in your ears.

"Gooood morning!"

Your hand instinctively pulls the device away from your ear drums, a wince creasing your face. "Well, it was just a second ago." You grumble into the speaker.

"You left the house before I could tell you, punk. What did we say about wanting to start having breakfast together again?"

Your eyes soften and guilt paws at your insides at his reminder. "I know, I'm sorry. I had an early mission and didn't want to wake you. It was very last minute too." You explained.

"They aren't overworking you again, are they?"

"What? No, it's fine- I'm fine. It was an easy one today, so."

Keigo audibly sighed on the other end of the line, "I still don't like how all of your missions are classified. You'd think that I of all people would be spared some info, but alas, I guess I'm not trust worthy enough for that."

"Don't say that, it's just... different." You attempt to expound without unveiling what the commission deems as too much. Tip-toeing the edge of compromise and divulgence. "Besides, I'm never allowed any details pertaining most of your missions either. It'd be unfair if you were the sole exception. You're not as special as you think you are, Hawks." You subtly tease.

His buoyant guffaw resounds in the confined space of the cabin you sit in, forcing your lips to purse in amusement. "Ouch, I'd beg to differ." He retorts. "Anyway, where are you headed now? It sounds like you're in a car." He asks.

"Yeah, I'm heading west. Wish me luck. Do you think they're finally summoning me for that vacation time I requested? Bali sure is calling my name." You suggested sarcastically. In reality, you knew the notion was far too good to be true, though that never stopped you from entertaining the idea.

"Only in our dreams. Maybe if you told them you were going somewhere nearer than Indonesia? What about Honshu? Mount Fuji might be cool to see, right?"

You appreciated Keigo's willingness to join your wishful chants, even if it was all for naught. "Do you think it's possible to build a house directly on it?"

He laughs at your question and you can almost visualize the way he clutches his stomach, which he is definitely doing considering the slight wheezes you caught lingering in the sound. "No sane person would risk their life to live on a volcano, psycho." He berates.

You shrugged, "But, just imagine the view. Hell, even a home at the base would be divine." You suggested, telling yourself these were merely words, though deep down you know that some amount of truth laid hidden in the thick of their woods.

"Tell you what, in a couple of years we'll actually start looking into it. Who knows? Perhaps by some work of a miracle we'll be in a situation that allows exactly that by the upcoming." He offers, and a fond smile paints the skin of your lips as your eyes soften once again, though this time it was not because of grasping praise. This time, your cheeks filled with warmth at the thought of one day living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere with nothing but yourself and the man you see as your own blood. Well,him and Kitty. "By the way, I'm talking about the vacation thing, not the living in a volcano idea. That is suicidal."

"Only in our dreams, big bird." You sighed in resignation. "Anyway, how's Tsukuyomi doing?" You asked.

"He actually just walked into the office," He announced and you could hear the faint excited greeting he dealt the boy with upon his arrival. "We might head out on a patrol soon." He informed you, which you assume was his way of making the teen on the other side of the line aware of as well.

"Alright I'll let you go, but take the boy out for a walk along side you, at the very least. Don't leave him behind, you know he's the only one who genuinely still attempts to sustain the same pace as you." You reminded. The intern had expressed his annoyance with his lack of contribution towards any successful arrests during his time at the agency so far, and to be frank, you couldn't blame him. To most, Hawks moved too fast to be able to cooperate with properly.

The man also continued to claim that his interest in mentoring a student from UA was nothing short of a sudden change of heart, which you still don't quite believe. While your trust in him runs deep within your veins, with every passing day you grew more wary. Something in your instincts warns you that there has to be some underlying issue revolving the situation. An issue you wouldn't be surprised to be signed and dated by the Hero Public Safety Commission themselves.

But, you knew when not to pry.

"Yeah, yeah." He had begun to leisurely waft away your advice, before his tone of voice differed from any he had used in your entire short conversation. "Hey," The words he spoke next were low and dangerous.

"Be careful."

The leisure grip on your cell phone tightened, your fingers acting as the bars to the cell withholding the quiver of your lip, masking the trepidation creeping its way up your throat and replacing it with insouciance.

"Aye aye, captain."

Heavy footsteps coming from yourself and the guard behind you reverberated off of the long barren walls of the hollow hallways in the Heroes Public Safety Commission headquarters. The aroma that filled your nostrils was overbearing with the scent of recently used cleaning products and your dead dreams...

Okay, perhaps you were being a tad bit dramatic, but not without good reason!

Although you pledged your life to the commission's cause and would never dream of disobeying your saviors, you were still at the peak of your adolescence - with raging hormones that demanded an eye roll every fifteen minutes. Every time you trudged the same path down the abyss hallways, a minuscule portion of your soul would wither. It was not always like this, though as you aged, the officers that directed the trails that which your life would take grew bolder. So much so, that the last dozen twists and turns had left a sanguinary in their wake.

The exchange would go as such: you would receive the orders and complete them without error.

It's what you are a paragon at, obeying orders was a phenomenon that was drilled into you as a small child. These missions and interactions with the higher ups were meant to stay within the walls of this very building, meaning you couldn't even vent to the sole person that could possibly understand. Keigo was excellent at keeping the two of you in check for the public, while you were the perfect underlier pulling the strings to keep the public in check for the commission.

After all, it's what you were born for. The reason you were gifted with the quirk that you wield; your inherent purpose.

Knuckles meeting cold metal pulls you away from your thoughts, muscle memory working in your favor, having knocked on the slate grey door innumerable times before. It doesn't take long for it to be slid open by another man dressed identical to the one behind you. They donned all black attire bar the small pieces of armor in different locations of their body, presumably to better suit their specific quirks. Once all of the weapons strapped in various places on your body were removed and within the safe keeping of their arms, the guard behind you turned his stance to guard the door you stepped through.

Security doesn't abate for the higher ups anymore, not since the incident with the former chairman years ago.

The slight shuffle from the black boots of your hero costume announced your arrival. Near the wide windows and before the ash colored desk placed in the vacant room stood the woman you've acquainted yourself with since you were young. A woman well into her fifties dressed in a lilac pencil skirt, and matching button up with white heels, crossed her arms and upturned her nose well into the air at the sight of you. She had always done that, you presumed the reason was to assert her rightful place above you, something you found that you never minded and had coerced out a side of you that forced your own nose to face the ground in submission.

A man not too far behind her in age was also a ways away from her side, though you had never been in contact with him as you were with the woman. He sported light slicked back grey hair and a black suit, with a stern expression gracing his wrinkly features. You had met him over the years, but due to the strict rules of your earlier tutelage, you were never given the chance to interact with many other than the few you are still allowed to now in the present.

"Good morning, Aeron. Thank you for coming here on such short notice, and especially after a mission so well done." She spoke gently.

Aeron is who she spoke of, your hero name and the only moniker attached to you to exist. Whether she still remembers your birth name or not you were clueless of. The only person you knew of with that knowledge was Keigo, albeit even he only made use of it in the safety of your own home. Though he never failed to remind you he thought it suited you better than, 'Aeron, goddess of battle, slaughter, and war', chanting about how smoothly the name you were born with rolls off the tongue.

'Always the charmer, that one.' You reminisced with an affectionate smile.

"Good morning, Madam President. As always, I am glad to have been of aid to you and make it my duty to meet your expectations." You say as you bend over in a bow to present your respects.

"We're enrolling you into UA High." The man spoke curtly.

Sustaining your position while nodding your head, you reply, "Yes sir, UA High- wait what?!" You end with the raise of your head as you direct your shell shocked irises their way. The woman herself froze along with you, it seemed as if she was going to keep the small talk flowing before her intentions were thwarted. It was almost comical how large her turquoise eyes had widened. Standing upright, you clear your throat and speak with noticeable cracks littered in your question. "P-pardon me, could you repeat that?"

'Hooooly shit, oh my gosh. Okay, I've never asked for shit but just this once, can any celestial being work their magic or whatever and make them not make me kill a kid!? I'm gonna need so many vomit bags if I were to go through with this. Screw that, would I even be able to? Well... maybe if one were to turn out to be a sick pervert with no boundaries and god awful balls on their head, than yeah okay I can roll with that-'

Not without giving the man a dirty glance, the chair woman tries her best to mend the unraveling situation before her. "What he meant to say was that, we need you to go undercover as a student at UA High." She says, satisfied and clearly very confident that her statement would be enough to ease you into compliance.

It's safe to say that it was far from enough, very far. Like, miles away. What ever happened to 'hello' or 'how was your day'?

"Right, uhm... If you don't mind me asking, why would I need to do that?" You ask, masking your dubiousness with a forced comprehensive expression.

"I'm sure you've heard of the recently infamous class 1A, correct?"

"Yes, they're all the citizens are speaking about. Especially, due to the recent events of the sports festival a few weeks ago." You answered, before the realization dawned upon you. "Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that my mission is to enroll into class 1A? I'm not understanding, why the hell would I need to do something so distressing?"

"Calm yourself, Aeron. We simply want you to be and act like a mere late enrollment. We need someone on the inside to keep an eye on those children. They need to be kept in line." The president says.

"I assume you're aware of the USJ incident? After their performance at the sports festival, we know for a fact that the USJ won't be the last of the trouble they get themselves into. Most recently, we have reason to believe that a group of three students, all from class 1A, were heavily involved in the Hosu incident which involved The Hero Killer: Stain. Far more involved than the reports state they truly were. Of course, we don't know this for a fact, so we won't act on this situation specifically, but that alone is enough to raise alarms for us." The man explains.

The Hosu incident happened just two days ago, in which The Hero Killer: Stain was finally apprehended and sent to Tartarus Prison. The reports stated that The Flame Hero: Endeavor was the hero that defeated and arrested him, saving three student interns. You hate to admit it but considering the class was only in their first year, if what they were suspecting is true then these instances were very alarming.

"The group of three students you believe to be heavily involved, they were the interns, weren't they? Who were they specifically?" You ask.

"If the reports were telling the truth - Tenya Iida, Shoto Todoroki, and Izuku Midoriya. All of which made it to the top ten in the Sports Festival."

You hummed in thought, "Tenya Iida and Shoto Todoroki... both of these students hail from powerful families. I'm assuming if your theory is true, the cover up was not purely for their sake. Something like this could tarnish the reputation of hero society as a whole, considering one of them is the youngest son of the number two hero. Someone had to have taken this into consideration..." You deduce, but these thoughts only thrust you into confusion once more.

The only person you could think to make the decision of fabricating headlines for the sake of hero society's reputation is the woman before you. But if that was so, why was she acting clueless?

"Aeron, I know that look. Don't go poking your nose in situations you have no place in, this isn't the first time and I can certainly make it so that it ends in the same way it did last time, if you're so hellbent on making this a habit." She warns in a sickeningly sweet tone, her voice contradicting the fangs presenting themselves in her eyes.

"Apologies, President." You hastily correct yourself and force yourself to redirect your attention to the situation at hand. "That won't be necessary."

"We simply need someone to act as a sort of bodyguard for the time being, as well as giving them slight shoves in the right direction. If even one of them shows signs of acting up, you know what to do. You'll need to send reports of your time with them and if any extra measures need to be taken, we'll handle it. It won't be forever." The woman said in an attempt to ease your worries, though you couldn't tell if her sympathy was authentic or spurious, which admittedly frightened you to no end, considering one of your redeeming qualities involved easily reading the people around you.

"So... a spy?" You point out, which was not far at all from the truth. They want you to send reports of your time at UA, which more than likely will be done in secrecy.

"Well, more of a bodyguard spy sort of situation..."

"They would never let me in this late into the year, they're most likely gearing up for final exams right now. Not to mention, babysitter was never on the resume that I turned in." You state matter-of-factly.

"Except, you never turned in a resume, Aeron."

"...My point still stands."

"You're the only one we could trust with this, and the only one with the skills to pull this off."

"That's just because everyone else here is an ancient geezer-"

"Aeron." The woman cuts you off sternly, and in another much softer tone of voice, she tries another tactic. "Remember, we're the ones who saved you from your old home. Don't you want to repay us in the form of your loyal services? You've pledged your life to our cause, you certainly remember what that cause is, correct?"

In a matter of milliseconds, your expression alters itself. Your eyes soften their natural edges and your body translated every form of meek. Almost robotically, you site the words ever so familiar to your tongue. "I pledge to lie my life down for the cause of protecting and serving our society, bettering the lives of the many civilians housed on our soil."

"That's right, and you were cursed with a quirk that directly contradicts life as we know it. We're the only ones that can aid you in putting it to good use and help you repent. After all, the only thing that it's useful for is death, you're lucky that I'm here to guide you and allow you a way to do good things with it. You're already on the route to becoming a true hero." She explains and then gifts you a gentle and motherly smile. "This is your purpose."

She poke the truth, and that fact was the reason you sometimes despised the ability you were born with.

"Right," You utter softly, and after a few more seconds of your pondering, in a voice more fragile than before, you ask, "And this is absolutely necessary? Those kids are training to become heroes, you saw their performances. In my opinion, they're more than capable of taking care of themselves. I'm not so sure they need my guidance." You say sincerely.

This time, the man speaks up. "It is just a precaution. You said it yourself, those kids are very promising, they're our future. You and Hawks are the best of the best that we have had here with us, but that just isn't enough. It'd be a shame to see such talent go to waste."

You allow another round of seconds to escape your grasp as both adults await your response in silence.

"I'll think about it."

"..."

"..."

"Oh, you're not asking me, are you?"

"No no, we'll allow you to think it through this time." The woman assured you. You nod in appreciation and let your gaze fall to the ground as even more beats of silence gloss the room. Both adults seem to find the ceiling highly interesting.

"Have you thought about it?" They ask in unison.

"Why bother calling this a proposition when you know that I can't possibly refuse?"

"Well, technically we never called it a proposition-"

"Fine, you're right. We won't try to deny it." The woman admits, suddenly getting serious.

You exhaled in exasperation, giving the idea further thought. This particular mission differs from any of the others you had ever embarked on. The closest experience you've had to attending a class is the sporadic lectures run by Mera you are required to attend whenever your superiors see fit. Actual school is something you had never thought you would have the chance to experience, and you were unsure if you ever truly wanted to. Though, this would allow you to brighten society's future without using your quirk for sin. A path to brighten Keigo's future and aid in the accomplishment of his long term goal, something you longed for:

Aiding in the achievement of his dreams, his prosperity, and his happiness.

You bow once again, the small wisps of hair on your forefront falling forward along with you. "Enrolling into UA High School - If babysitting some brats is what it takes to ensure a bright future for our people, then I'll gladly take on that task."

You are Aeron, a mere girl whose hands have been stained alizarin crimson with sins that could never be undone. You long to live in a world where peace and tranquility are innate, especially to the person you hold dearest. You've pledged to lie your life down for the sake of society's future, but you intuit that you'd lie down society's future for his.

"Wait wait wait, can we hit the pause button for a sec?" You blurted as you sat in a cushioned rolling chair. Your elbow was propped onto the table as your palm held the weight of your right cheek, and countless files with the words 'Top Secret' stamped in red ink were sprawled across the table before you. "I'm still not so sure this can truly be considered top secret, taking into account how frequently I'm seen with Hawks. I don't mean to sound like I've got a big head, but we can't ignore the fact that I'm not a complete nobody. People are bound to recognize me as Aeron and word will get around that I've joined UA... not that I'm doubting these orders, but wouldn't that just garner more attention towards these students? Bringing further problems their way?"

The last two weeks have been filled with back to back meetings regarding your mission. Yokumiru Mera, a member of the HPSC that you had come to know since your youth, was dictated as your supervisor for your time at UA and he is not enjoying the responsibilities it entails anymore than you are.

His heavily lidded eyes gradually slid to acknowledge you without so much as an ounce of enthusiasm painting his dark irises, and in a weary voice he replies, "The mission's endgame itself is the aspect we consider to be top secret, Aeron. Your identity wouldn't, nor could it, be kept a secret. We understand that you're no stranger to the public's eye, and although you might not be as relevant as Hawks currently is, you certainly aren't too far behind."

You brow quirks curiously, "Right," you hum, "So, I'll keep being regarded as my hero name for the entire time that I'm enrolled into UA... because that isn't suspicious at all." You mutter.

The man was either too sleep deprived to recognize your sneering or he was purposely ignoring your attitude. "Yes, that's precisely what you'll be doing. Since your birth name has ceased to exist for a while now, it'd be far more suspicious to suddenly present yourself with a newly constructed alias. You'll just be the Aeron the citizens have already acquainted themselves with - a late enrollment with no connection to working directly under the commission's command as an agent aiding the next generation of heroes and making sure none of them get themselves or anyone else killed. At all costs."

You sighed dreamily, "Ah, yes. Aeron: the alluring, mysterious, up and coming, symbol of hope, poster girl-"

"Aeron." Mera grumbles harshly. "You haven't even been in any posters." He mumbles.

Your concerns made sense, there was no doubting that fact. But, like always, the commission had already taken care of most details, so in full transparency- it was the hours upon hours of sitting in meeting chairs and browsing PowerPoints that was inducing your complaints.

"We've taken care of your admission, so there is no need for an exam to determine your eligibility. According to these documents, you were enrolled through recommendations." He assures you.

"What about my living situation? Am I expected to walk to Musutafu every morning?" You question, and then move to thread your fingers together and wring them pleadingly, "If that's the case, can I pretty please with an ice cream sundae on top be assigned a driver?" You plead.

"We've already secured your housing in an area near the school. Of course, you'll be living on your own for the time being." Which wouldn't be a problem, considering independence is lulled along with the territory of being a child soldier.

"Did you get me an Airbnb?"

"That is irrelevant. Now, onto the next topic that we need to cover." He diverted and then altered the screen being projected onto the wall to display the first of many files you were expected to review and memorize.

"These are the students you will be required to befriend in order to make the job easier."

That is a detail that should not prove to be difficult for you, having had interpersonal skills drilled into your psyche from a young age, making you a master at deception and infiltration... if only you were taught how to wield those skills against the teenage mentality and intellect.

"First up-"

A photo of a boy with lustrous blond hair parted on its side and gleaming amethyst eyes appeared on screen, along with a list of various details regarding the flamboyant adolescent.

"Yuga Aoyama. Age is fifteen and birthday is May thirtieth." Mera begins to read the information on the list whilst you held a copy of the file in your hands.

"Oh, I know a fake French when I see one." You mutter to yourself, squinting at the photo.

"One hundred and sixty eight centimeters tall, or five foot six. His quirk is Navel Laser, which grants the user the ability to fire sparkly twinkling laser beams from their navel." He continues in a drowsy tone. "His recently chosen hero name seems to be 'Shinning Hero: Can't Stop Twinkling'."

With your brain already working on committing every possible detail to memory, your eyes narrow in inspection, "Okay, that weirdly makes sense. I just hope he doesn't regret that when he's older."

"He seems to highly value vanity, as well as always have a smile engraved onto his face. He can usually be seen eating alone, by choice, and is an overall highly flamboyant person."

You internally questioned how they had even acquired such personal information, including his eating habits. Given the numerous photos to support these claims, you guessed that the commission already had their eyes trained on these students far before they decided to ask for your support.

Though you soon would be replacing those exact eyes acquiring the information they deem necessary, and the thought of such espionage left a bitter taste on your tongue.

This time, the screen flickered to display a girl with a rose colored complexion that matched that of her hair. Her irises, though portraying a vivid yellow, contrasted the pitch black of her sclera.

"Next, this is Mina Ashido. She is currently fifteen years old and her birthday is July thirteenth. Her quirk is called Acid which is pretty self explanatory, it allows the user to create corrosive liquid from their skin, with it being naturally resistant to the acid it produces. Her chosen hero name is 'Pinky', and she seems to be highly outgoing. She doesn't excel academically, but more than makes up for that in her athleticism."

"Mina Ash-i-do." You drawl out the syllables of her name. "These first two students were matched up for the first round of the one v one battles during the sports festival. If my memory serves me right, Ashido displayed her athleticism by swiftly dodging Aoyama's spurious attacks, leading to her victory." You ponder aloud.

"Having a quirk that conveys power has little to do with victory. If you're loaded with stamina, that alone has the ability to take you a long way, as you know." Mera adds with a knowing lilt. "Moving on."

The photo faded to display a pale skinned girl with pitch black pools for eyes and swamp green long pin straight hair.

"Tsuyu Asui is fifteen years old and was born on February twelfth. She's on the shorter side, at one-fifty centimeters tall, making her four feet and eleven inches."

Your head tilts and your eyes squint as you inspect the image before you. "She... sort of looks like-"

"She wields the quirk called frog, which is so self explanatory that I won't even bother to elaborate. Her hero name also hints at this, being the 'Rainy Season Hero: Froppy'."

"Kermit." You finish.

"She's a straightforward and aloof child who can sometimes come off as very blunt. She's the eldest of her siblings and would quite frequently act as their main caretaker, this resulted in the molding of her very mature and responsible ethics. She also excels in aquatic environments."

Before Mera had uttered a peep about her quirk, you had already held an inkling of what it might be. While she was still undeniably human, her appearance did, oddly enough, resemble that of a frog.

From what the man in front of you has told you, she, nor the prior two students, would not pose a threat to your mission. This was a good sign.

"Next, Tenya Iida."

This boy being shown had inky navy blue slicked down hair and eyes the color of freshly bloomed saffron, framed by a pair of silver eyeglasses.

"He's fifteen years old with his birthday being August twenty second and he is one hundred and sixty nine centimeters tall, or five foot ten and a half."

"This is one of the students who made the top five in the sports festival, though I don't recall seeing him at the award ceremony." You utter aloud.

"Because he didn't attend the award ceremony, I'll get to that soon." Mera answers your obvious question. "His quirk is engine, which allows the user engine-like protrusions somewhere on their body, allowing them to move at extraordinary speeds. This child has them on his calves,"

"Which is almost too perfect for the intended use." You finish.

"Precisely." The man agrees, "His hero name was formerly 'Tenya', but has recently been changed to 'Turbo Hero: Ingenium'."

"Like his older brother, which if I remember correctly, had those engine-like protrusions on his arms. He was also a recent victim of the Hero Killer: Stain, wasn't he?" You ask.

Mera nods his head, "Correct, unfortunately we have yet to know if or when he will make his recovery, but it seems that Tenya has taken the liberty to keep the legacy going."

"I see."

"You are to keep an extra eye on him, Aeron. After all, he was one of the three children who encountered the Hero Killer, and we still don't have a clue if the reports were tampered with. If it comes to be that he engaged in combat with Stain, that means he is more likely to break the law once more in his deluded sense of justice. You are to prohibit that, by all means possible. Or, at the very least, do what you can to keep him from being caught." He whispered his last sentence underneath his breath, though he couldn't bring himself to meet your eyes.

"Essentially, I am to act as his PR specialist..." You mutter in return. Was all of this simply a ploy to make the President's job easier for her? You suppose you shouldn't complain in that case, as you were grateful for any opportunity to repay your debt towards the woman.

Still... you couldn't stop yourself from internally groaning at your new job description.

"As you know, he comes from a family of successful heroes, which means he doesn't fall short on the topic of wealth. An influential family like that should not have their name tarnished by the scar of a mischievous adolescent. See to it that it doesn't." Mera continues swiftly, "He is also the class representative and extremely dedicated to his studies. He previously attended Somei Private Academy, and placed sixth in the UA entrance exams, with fifty two villain points and nine rescue points. He is a stickler for the rules, ironically, and will snitch on you if given the opportunity."

"How fitting."

The photo then transitions to that of a female with short auburn hair and doe auburn eyes. Her full cheeks were adorned with a natural rosy blush, adding to her enchanting charm.

"Wow, she is beautiful." You utter breathily.

"Ochako Uraraka, age fifteen, with her birthday being December twenty seventh. She is one hundred and fifty six centimeters tall, which translates to five foot one and a half. Her quirk is called zero gravity, which allows the user to remove the effects of gravity from solid things upon touching them with the pads of her fingers."

Your brows raise at the description of her power, "That has a grand amount of potential, if honed correctly."

"Her hero name is 'Uravity', and she placed third in the UA entrance exams, with twenty eight villain points and forty five hero points. She is bubbly, empathetic, determined, and a quote 'cutie patootie'."

"A what?-"

"Unlike her previous classmate, she received the short end of the stick when it came to her financial situation."

'She reminds me of Kirby...' You entertain yourself.

A boy with blond hair slicked forwards, instead of the common opposite direction, and pitch black eyes came next. "Mashirao Ojiro is fifteen years old and was born May twenty eighth."

'Kind of plain looking.' You think.

"He stands at one hundred and sixty nine centimeters tall, five foot six and a half, and has a quirk named tail, which grants the user a prehensile appendage that extends from their lower posterior. His chosen hero name is 'Martial Arts Hero: Tailman'. The only other notes we seem to have gathered are that he has a quote, 'wack quirk and wack look that certainly won't help him climb any ranks after graduation' end quote."

"Oof, so harsh yet so true." You wince.

"Don't be rude." Mera offhandedly scolds. "Moving on, Denki Kaminari is fifteen years old and his birthdate is June twenty ninth. One hundred and sixty eight centimeters tall, making him five foot six short."

"He was born with his future merch logo imprinted in his hair. I'm not going to lie, that's kind of iconic." You comment regarding the boy with blond hair, and a unique black lightning bolt on his left side. His eyes, which were arguably the most striking thing about him, were a shade of metallic yellow that nearly mimicked pots of gold.

"His quirk is called electrification, which grants the user the ability to charge in electricity and emit it out of their body as a sort of protective aura that electrocutes anyone who attempts to form contact."

"Which they'd be stupid to do." You comment before shaking your head in disbelief, "So many powerful quirks with so much potential in one place, it's almost unreal."

"His hero name is 'Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt', and he's a very friendly himbo with excellent social skills. He's a well meaning jokester that hits on women, and sometimes men, respectfully."

You give yourself a moment to digest the information, pondering if this was actually imperial to your mission, which you realize is probably not the case.

"Who is writing these notes?" You ask.

"Irrelevant." Mera answers curtly, "Next is Eijiro Kirishima."

"Oh, this was one of the guys who had the only tie in the sports festival. If my memory serves me right, he won that tie breaker, correct?"

"Very correct, like the others, he is fifteen years old and was born on October sixteenth. He's one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, making him five foot seven. His quirk is called hardening, which gives the user the power to harden any part of their body. This quirk protects them from most physical threats. His hero name is 'Sturdy Hero: Red Riot'."

"That's my favorite one so far."

"He is a beefy himbo that placed second in the UA entrance exams with thirty nine villain points and thirty five hero points."

Your brows raise slightly, "Impressive."

"He has a scar right above his right eye and... hmm..." Mera seemingly begins to trail off, his dark eyes squinting at the file he holds in his hand.

"What?"

"These notes are stupid, I don't want to read them." He states and the screen flickers as the next student's portrait is displayed instead.

"No way hold on, I want to know everything Mera. What if I need this information one day?"

"Trust me, you won't need to know this. Much less, see it in writing. Let's move on-"

"You know, you saying that is just making me want to know more. Come on, I thought we were cool."

"I am cool, you just wouldn't leave me alone since the day you learned my name."

"It's a cool name, I like names that roll off my tongue like that."

"I digress, if you want to know so bad, read it yourself." He says and slides his version of the file across the table, having it land directly before your eyes.

"Oh." You sigh, reading the bullet point that Mera was being dramatic about, "He has a 'big ahh forehead'..." The urge to look at the small photo of the red head at the top of the page was instinctual, anyone would have done the same. So that's exactly what you did. "Well, they're not wrong."

"Aeron." The man grits, rolling up one of the many files he had left and bopping you on the top of the head with it. "Don't be rude. You have to learn to be their friends, that can't happen if you don't learn to filter your opinions."

Fixing the hair at the top of your head, you groan, "Aren't you supposed to be able to be yourself with friends? What's the point of establishing myself as their companion if I can't even do that?"

"Not in this case, no. Keep in mind, this won't be a normal 'friendship', your relationship with these children will be completely fabricated. Fake. You need to put a leash on yourself and, if needed, present yourself with an entirely new persona in order to fool them."

You grumble, "Well, don't be surprised if I don't end up their friend at all. I'm not going through with this to make friends."

"You kind of actually are, that's sort of the entire mission."

"Well, I won't be enjoying it."

Mera chuckles, "There's no harm in milking this for what it's worth, why not go and bask in the positives your mission might bring you? Friends your own age would do you some good, at least I think so, anyway. Not to mention, a break from whatever the President has cooking up for you in the future."

You stutter, "What? Don't state it like that, I'm very grateful for the opportunities the President has granted me."

"Sure, kid." The man relents, and for a moment, if you were somehow a passerby watching this moment from the outside in, you could have see the turbulence, or perhaps guilt?, knotting and twisting itself in the visible disruption on his face. The hesitation he feels in continuing to push you so far, in aim to create some robotic servant who would never even think to make the same mistakes as the ones before her.

"Let's continue," He decides. "Now, Eijiro Kirishima is known to be a very kind student, and his hair takes a full three minutes to set. He is also a fake red head."

"What's his natural hair color?" You ask, intrigued.

"Black."

"I could see that."

"Next, we have Koji Koda. Age fifteen and birthday is February first."

This student's appearance surprises you, as it seems his body is a permanent version of Kirishima's hardening quirk. This boy has no hair at all and was only blessed with small beady irises.

"One hundred and eighty centimeters tall - six foot one. His quirk is anivoice and it allows its user to communicate with and command animals through speech. His hero name is 'Petting Hero: Anima', and despite his quirk, his personality is much mellow, as he rarely ever utters a word."

Mera doesn't waste time exploring this student further, as he swiftly moves onto the next. This student dons dark brown spiky hair and black eyes. Though, his lips were the most attention stealing aspect about him, considering they were bigger than the average pair.

"Rikido Sato. Age fifteen, birthdate June nineteenth. One hundred and eighty five centimeters tall making him six foot one. His quirk is sugar rush, which allows the user to multiply their strength five-fold for three minutes for every ten grams of sugar they ingest. His hero name is 'Sweet Hero: Sugar Man'. Due to his quirk, he has developed a grand skill for baking."

"I'm so jealous right now." You mutter, "Do you think he'll make cake when I join the class? Considering I'll have to be their friend, it'd be stupid to decline, right?" You ask Mera.

"I'm glad you're taking my advice of milking this for what it's worth, though I'd prefer if you went about it for the interactions these children could bring you." He answers.

"So, is that a yes?"

"Probably." He answers, "Next, Mezo Shoji."

This student had silver hair that was parted and styled to obstruct his right eye. A light blue mask consumes the rest of his face, leaving very little of his actual face to see the light of day, and unlike the two most people are born with, this boy has six arms.

"He's fifteen and one hundred and eighty seven centimeters tall, making him six foot two. His quirk is named dupli-arms and it grants the user a set of arm-like tentacles adjacent to their arms that can transform into duplicates of any other body part. Hero name is 'Tentacle Hero: Tentacole'. The only notes we have of this one are: always has a mask on, gentle giant, selfless, and empathetic."

"This quirk just screams that he'd be an ideal scout." You determine.

"Kyoka Jirou," This time, there was a girl on screen. She has short length indigo hair and triangular onyx eyes. Cables the color of her pale skin were connected to her earlobes, making her quirk a simple guess. "Age, fifteen, birthdate, August first. She's one hundred and fifty four centimeters tall, making her five foot one and three fourths. Her quirk is names earphone jack and it grants its users long controllable earlobes that work like headphone cables. Jirou's earlobes are shaped like jacks at their ends, allowing her to plug them into a variety of objects. Her hero name is 'Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack'. She has a very laidback personality, is a talented musician, and can be empathetic towards those she deems her friends."

'She has bottom lashes to die for.' You notice, though you decide to keep that thought to yourself.

"Hanta Sero is fifteen years old and was born on July twenty eighth. He is one hundred and seventy seven centimeters tall, which translates to five foot ten." This student has pin straight black hair that went to about his neck, and matching color eyes. He also has probably the most straight teeth you had ever seen. "His quirk is called Tape, and it allows the user to eject adhesive tape from openings located on both of their elbows. His hero name is 'Taping Hero: Cellophane'. The notes on him are claiming that he is very sociable and laid back, though also loud and humorous."

"Tape elbows?" You hum, and Mera could have sworn he saw a visible question mark floating above your head. "I'll admit, I like the hero name. It's catchy."

The next student was someone that has recently become very familiar to you, given his internship at the Hawks Agency.

"This is Fumikage Tokoyami, he's fifteen years old and his birthday is October thirtieth. He is one hundred and fifty eight centimeters tall - five foot two inches. His quirk is Dark Shadow, which grants the user a shadowy, monster-like being from within his body that they can materialize and de-materialize at will."

It's almost comedic to hear Dark Shadow described as some sort of vicious 'monster', considering during which the time that you had acquainted yourself with its owner, he was anything but.

"His hero name is 'Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi'." Mera continues.

"Hearing his hero name in full is always so damn cool."

"He is relatively reserved, noble, dependable, and regarded as a very strong student. He placed ninth in the UA entrance exam with forty seven villain points and ten rescue points."

"Considering the amount of aspiring contenders, he placed pretty high in those rankings." You point out.

As the screen transitioned to another student, you realize that you recognize this one immediately as well, his two toned hair being a dead give away.

"Shoto Todoroki is fifteen years old, and stands at one hundred and seventy six centimeters, making him five foot nine inches tall. His quirk is named half cold half hot, and it allows the user to generate ice, frost, and low temperatures from the right side of their body and fire, flames, and high temperatures from the left. However, the user is unable to manipulate either element that comes from an external source; additionally, they can only create them from within their own body. His hero name is 'Shoto'."

Pursing your lips, your fingers tap against the desk as you squint your eyes at the portrait. "A boring hero name is bad for marketing. Though, at least he's good looking."

"He would formerly come across as cold or aloof, but he has recently noticeably grew to be more open and friendly. Although, he is highly intelligent in his studies, he is on the denser side when it comes to social interactions. He is wise, powerful, intelligent, popular with the ladies and also very fortunate when it comes to his parent's financial situation. Which is expected as the son of the number two hero."

"It seems he underwent character development?" You ponder, "I support that, I guess. Wasn't he also one of the students that was implied to have been involved in the arrest of the Hero Killer: Stain?"

"Great memory, Aeron. Indeed he was, which is why he is another you will have to keep a mindful eye on." Mera advises you, "I've heard he is a tough one to decipher, but I trust that won't pose too much of a problem for you."

"It won't." You confirm.

"Now this next student is," He changes the photo displayed on the wall, but for some reason it seems the projector has ceased to function.

"Mera, what happened?"

The man gives you a blank stare in return, "What do you mean?"

"The projector isn't working. It's not showing the photo, I've told you before, this thing is ancient. Who even uses projectors anymore?"

"Nothing is wrong, the student is right there."

"Are you blind? There's nothing there."

"Aeron, that is the student. Toru Hagakure, age fifteen. One hundred and fifty two centimeters tall, making her exactly five feet. Quirk, invisibility. Hero name is 'Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl'."

You remain silent, mouth slightly ajar and eyes anywhere but the man before you. "Well... now I feel bad."

"Take it in stride, Aeron. Don't embarrass yourself any further. Anyhow, moving on, she is very outgoing and girly." Mera continues, not at all deterred by your glare.

"Whatever." You grumble as you cross your arms before your chest, "She totally stole my brand with the stealth part."

"Next up, Katsuki Bakugo. Age is fifteen years old, birthdate is April twentieth."

Though, your pouting doesn't last long as you almost explode with laughter at the arrival of the next photo.

"His quirk is called Explosion and this quirk allows the user to emit explosions from their hands by detonating the nitroglycerin like substance that they sweat. His hero name is still undecided and he placed first in the UA entrance exam with seventy seven villain points and zero hero points. His personality seems to match his quirk. He excels both physically and academically. He perfected reading at the age of four and is considered a natural born genius. Though, he has trouble working in teams and is victory thirsty. Due to his parents both being fashion designers, he grew up very fortunate."

"They should have kept his photo blank like the last student, they did him so wrong using the one from the sports festival." You murmur, before you begin to dwell on the information Mera had provided you. The blond seems very well off. Granted, the only view you were granted of the boy was at the surface, but if you were to judge him at that level, you wonder why he looked so angry all the time.

The photo of the blond boy then transforms into another, creating an almost comical contrast.

"Izuku Midoriya, age fifteen. Birthdate is July fifteenth. Height is one hundred and sixty six centimeters tall making him five foot five and one fourth. His quirk is a physical enhancement type of quirk that boosts physical abilities. His hero name is Deku, and he seems to be timid, polite, determined, and he also talks to himself a lot. He placed seventh in the entrance exam with zero villain points and sixty rescue points."

You hum as you inspect the photo, the one that Keigo had pointed out had made him look as if he desperately needed a toilet, and yet again you get that annoyingly nagging feeling creeping up the back of your neck.

Why does he always give you goosebumps?

"This one and the one before look as if they are total opposites, even their points in the entrance exam were basically inversed." You point out.

Mera chuckles slightly, "It's funny you say that. According to our espionage, they've known each other since childhood."

Your head tilts in curiosity, "So, they're close?"

"You could say so."

Your eye twitches in irritation, "I still don't think I like this guy. He gives me the heebie jeebies. I mean, come on... nobodies hair is that fluffy." You grit.

"I think there are more pressing matters regarding this one, Aeron. For example, this was one of the other students involved in the arrest of the Hero Killer."

"Yeah well, I had already gathered that he's someone I needed to keep on my radar even before the president had informed me of that incident. Considering the fact that he uses a quirk like a toddler first manifesting their own. It's so weird. I don't know of any other quirk that hurts someone as much as his hurts himself, and especially as a teenager. You'd think he'd have a grip on it by now."

"It'd do you well to keep in mind that, that is what UA is for. Helping teens learn more about and improve their quirks. Perhaps he was just a late bloomer? Or maybe that's just the card he was dealt. Quirks evolve with each generation, implying we cannot rely solely on past records. We have to learn how to adapt with the new age of heroes we are being dealt. And, considering this year's sports festival performances, we've got a long way to go in regards to preparing for the year they graduate and become pro's." Mera continues to school you, only forcing your pout to grow in volume. You hate it when he makes sense.

"I'm still going to be wary of him. That much you can be sure of."

"Well, why not make it apart of your mission to aid him in learning to control this quirk? Since his inability to handle it is bothering you so much." He suggests.

"What? No way. I'll avoid him every chance I get."

The blond man simply sighs in resignation, probably deciding the argument was not worth whatever he was getting paid to be here. "Sure, let's move on." Mera alters the photo to display the next student.

"Oh, brother." You mutter, recognizing and already feeling the incoming headaches this next student would bring you.

"Now, I don't want to spend any more time than I have to on him. So, forgive me if I skim over his file." Mera decides, and his dark under eyes only seem to deepen. "Minoru Mineta, fifteen years old and born October eighth. He is one hundred and eight centimeters tall making him only three feet and six and a half inches short. His quirk is called pop off and it allows the user to produce sticky spheres from their head that they can pluck painlessly. His hero name is 'Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice'. Mineta is perverted, small, and surprisingly intelligent. He is one of the ones you'll need to keep an eye on the most. Specifically because you are female, a quality he takes great interest in."

"Blech."

"And finally-" Mera begins, the screen displaying the photo of a girl with long silky black hair tied into a high pony. "Momo Yaoyorozu, age fifteen, and birthday is September twenty third. She is one hundred and seventy three centimeters tall, making her five foot eight. Her quirk is called creation and it allows the user to materialize different objects, such as weapons and tools, from any part of their body. Her hero name is 'Everything Hero: Creati'. She is highly intelligent, self conscious and another one fortunate in the money department. She is also the Vice Class Representative and gained some popularity due to her recent internship. You can probably see her on a billboard due to a popular commercial." He finishes with a sigh.

Your brow raises in intrigue, "Really? Good for her. Not to mention she is rich, pretty, and smart. Whoever sits up on the high throne certainly does pick favorites."

"Now Aeron, I know I've already reiterated this plenty of times, but I feel like I need to do it once more. The key to success is to gain the favor of at the very least, most of these students. That means, you'll have to appear affable and sociable towards them. So you know... not yourself." Mera explains, gesturing towards your slumped form.

His words have you rolling your eyes in order to hide the way in which your jaw almost dropped at his blunt words. Though, Mera certainly was never one to filter his own sentences. "I know, Mera. I have to learn to get along with them."

"Not only that but we want you to become someone that they can rely on. It is both beneficial for the mission end game and for the information that you are expected to relay back to us." He elucidated. "Think of it as becoming, somewhat of an older sister figure towards these kids."

"I could never be an older sister to anyone."

"Well, try."

"That reminds me, I'm a year older than all of them, what's up with that?" You ask.

"Paperwork is very easy to forge miss Aeron, during your time there, instead of a sixteen year old, you'll go back to being a fifteen year old instead. Which shouldn't be too much of a change, there really is no difference."

What he said was true... to most. But to your sixteen year old mind, there was a colossal gap between the cerebrals of a sixteen and fifteen year old. Withholding yet another eyeroll, you simply nod your head as stiffly as you could.

Mera stifles a yawn and rubs his eyes in exhaustion. "Alright, let's call it a day and get some food into our systems, yes?" He offers and you swore you could've kissed his feet.

"Yes, please." You say exasperatedly. "What do we have on the menu today?" You ask, expecting the normal portions that included your protein, carbs, fibers and vitamins. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Why don't we get sushi today?" The man offers, and you can almost see the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "My treat."

"Wait, really?" His offer understandably astonished you, leaving you gaping at the older man, before you narrow your eyes suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

"Don't make me regret this, just come on." He says and wearily starts his waltz towards the door.

Your eyes widen in shock at his kindness, and an excited smile embraces your face. Not needing to be told twice, you very quickly gather your files into a pile and place them into your bag.

Madam President and as well as Mera had made it crystal clear that if these files were to fall into the wrong hands, it'd be the demise of UA...

...so they very wisely let you, a teenager, handle them.

And so with another day of review complete, you make your way to the sushi place across town for the first time ever.

As you step foot into your eerily quiet penthouse, you yawn and stretch your arms high above your head, feeling as though you could touch the clouds even though you were nowhere near your elevated ceiling. The only word that roamed your mind as you thought of your subject today was... unique? Or perhaps interesting was a better way to describe the class, but one thing you knew for sure is that they were bound to be a handful.

You briefly wondered if they had ever heard your name in passing, or perhaps glanced at a photo online that the paparazzi had taken of you. What was their opinion on you, a mere stranger, and how would that opinion change when the day to meet them face to face had arrived?

For a second, you even pondered if your opinion of yourself would some how alter itself.

But, that was obviously a stupid thought. There's no way a measly group of teens would ever affect you that much. Not that you've ever met or interacted with a group of teens before. In fact, if not for Tokoyami, you would have never interacted with someone your age up until this point. You hoped the rest of his class was at least somewhat as tranquil as that boy had came off in your short interactions.

Soft snoring suddenly reaches your ears and forces you to follow the sound. Those snores lead you to your couch, and as you walk up behind it, you take in the sight that was Keigo, fully decked out in his silk sleepwear, sprawled out on the cushions. Though, the detail that really makes you reel is the fact that he's not alone.

Kitty is curled up on his back as Keigos supple wings cradle her slightly. Kitty seems to have awoken, blinking her sleepy eyes up at your form. And for the first time since you've been recruited for the mission, the fact that you'd have to leave them behind, even if just for a short while, fully marinates within your brain.

And it hurts you, because they're the only constants you have in your isolated life. The only constants that you don't mind, and the only ones that bring you peace.

You detest the fact that you'd be leaving Keigo alone, yet again, due to the commissions orders. But what else was there to do but accept it? It's not as if you could go against their commands, and even if you could, you don't think you'd have the will to. Because, as independent as you truly are, it doesn't escape your mind that at the end of the day, Madam President is a person you would always recognize as one of your main dependents. It was simply the way in which you were raised.

After slipping out of your clothes and replacing them with what was, coincidentally, a matching set of silk sleep wear as Keigo, which was totally not done on purpose? You have no idea why anyone would suggest that, you grab two blankets from the closet, and carefully drape the first onto the form of the man currently snoozing and use the other for yourself as you settle in beside him.

And after one large red wing subconsciously decides to drape itself over your frame bring you closer to his body, you decide that no matter how many expensive or fluffy blankets you coddled yourself with, none would compare to the warmth that this moment brings you.

You're grateful for the peace you are allowed and you secretly hope that your slumber isn't intruded on by the horrors of your nightmares once again.

As you allow your mind to doze off, you can't help but wonder how school- or your mission would go about. You don't quite recognize the feeling that is in your chest at the moment but you know that what ever it is, you don't want it to flee.

A/N: two chapter set up is DONE. Let’s get into some canon content next! The next two chapters are out now!! Lmk if you want me to make a tag list!

[eefaevie]

✨ my official good omens s3 prediction post ✨

which accidentally I guess comes with a side-order of analysis and a soupçon of meta because I can’t shut up

The quote "The plans for Armageddon are going wrong. Only Crowley and Aziraphale working together can hope to put it right. And they aren’t talking." is intentionally misleading.

I think with Aziraphale gone, Crowley is going to become Grand Duke of Hell. He’s hurt, he’s tired, he’s got nothing to lose anymore. He’s also a bit of a dramatic petty bitch (affectionate), and after suffering what he considers the ultimate betrayal from Aziraphale, he wants to hit him where it would hurt equally by joining the “bad guys” fully. Crowley thinks of himself as unforgivable, and since (in his mind) Aziraphale refuses to “see” him for who he really is, he’s going to force him to by acting out like this (beside the fact that we know that this isn’t actually who Crowley is, but he’s injured and lashing out, even if it hurts himself, too.)

So, that quote. The plans for armageddon are going wrong. as in heaven can’t get it to start. And the only way they CAN get it to start is to get the Grand Duke of Hell and the Supreme Archangel to work together, which they are refusing to do. Think about all those meetings between Gabriel and Beelzebub — those definitely didn’t start off as dates, they were business meetings. And so Aziraphale and Crowley REFUSE to speak to each other (with MAXIMUM pettiness and passive aggressive comedy) because they’re both mad at each other for their mutual miscommunication, but also because they KNOW that if they do work together they’ll end up fucking it up somehow (and actually set the second coming back on track, which they obviously don’t want). The one thing that is a common thread through Good Omens is that Aziraphale and Crowley are actually kind of useless at their jobs, and they usually end up accomplishing the opposite of whatever it is they are supposed to do. Aziraphale is still in the grip of heaven, and can be manipulated — while Crowley is probably still terrified of Satan, and now that he’s kind of recklessly agreed to such a big promotion, that’s now his immediate superior.

(So really, if you’re useless at your job, and consistently do everything wrong, and you’re trying to stop a massive project — the best place to be would probably be in charge of that project, no?)

So anyways, cue Muriel being used for the most immature go-betweens (“Muriel, dear, please tell the Grand Duke that I won’t be able to make our dinner reservation this evening because he is a lying snake.” “Muriel, tell the Supreme Arseangel that I never made the reservation anyways and his holiestness was presumptuous to assume so.” etc etc)

I’m also betting that the Metatron orchestrated his offer to Aziraphale very intentionally, because he knows that they’re each other’s most precious thing, and he knew that raising Crowley would be the best possible offer to get Aziraphale to agree, but also, he knew that Crowley himself would never agree to it. Which left Aziraphale in a tricky position. He’s still too afraid of heaven to back out, and by separating him from Crowley, the Metatron thinks he has succeeded in both eliminating the biggest threat to the second coming (the earth’s only professional apocalypse-thwarters with extremely powerful joint miracles) and planted (what he believes to be) a huge pushover of an angel in the seat of power — essentially a puppet for the Metatron’s commands.

(I’m not even going to get into the alleged threat of the book of life at this point, but that’s it own big bag of worms)

Problem is, the Metatron severely underestimated how much these two are idiots, how far they’re willing to go for love (or how far they’ll go when they believe their love has been scorned), and again, I cannot stress this enough — how much they’re both idiots.

Crowley accepting the position of Grand Duke seems out of character, until you realize it absolutely is not. (The same thing goes for Aziraphale accepting the position of Supreme Archangel, btw.) With everything else happening, it’s going to be effectively Crowley’s only option — Aziraphale is gone, the second coming is coming, and there’s a convenient little vacancy at the top of Hell’s hierarchy. He��ll take it because he’s upset and hurt by Aziraphale, but he’ll also take it because he’s angry, and it’s the only way he can possibly have any impact on what happens next.

I’d go so far as to say that Crowley loves Earth primarily because he loves Aziraphale, and Aziraphale loves Earth. Crowley is always the one to suggest running away when the going gets tough, because his top priority is always Aziraphale’s safety. If the Earth ends up a casualty, well, boohoo, at least he’s got his Angel with him. Now, though, he’s got no Aziraphale — so what’s the point in sticking to Earth? Remember how he pretty much immediately gave up on stopping the apocalypse when he thought Aziraphale was dead? Yeah. (In fact, he probably realizes very quickly that if he wants any hope of having Aziraphale back and sharing their lives together — this time for real — he has to take drastic measures to make sure Earth and humanity survives. He’s an optimist, and he’s also selfish.)

So, surprise, Metatron! You just took these two will-they-won’t-they eternal virgins and made them business partners. Which is an issue.

Because remember, for one supreme archangel to fall in love with the grand duke of hell during dubious business meetings makes a good story. For it to happen twice makes it look like there is some kind of… institutional problem.

We’ve taken the “workplace” in “workplace comedy” and dialled it up to 12. Now it’s not two salarymen from rival companies just kinda begrudgingly doing what they’re told until they don’t, it’s two high-ranking executives from rival companies who’ve decided they’re in love with each other, they’re done with this shit, and they’re taking the whole industry down from the inside.

Never forget that Good Omens is, at its core, a comedy. I believe we will get the romantic south down ending, for sure, but the path to get there is going to be a farce. They’re not talking — perhaps only in the business sense — so who knows the hijinks and shenanigans and making out they’re going to make everyone around them put up with this season. Aziraphale orchestrated an entire Jane Austen ball for Crowley before they’d even touched mouths. They’re going to be insufferable and I’m praying for Muriel’s sanity.

Finally, the final element of my prediction: Jesus will be there, probably. Maybe even Adam, too! Maybe it’ll even be lost celestial baby pt. 2: electric boogaloo. (as you can see my priorities are mostly regarding what happens with Aziraphale and Crowley lmao)

(and also, you know that dinky little half miracle they pulled together for jimbo? They were a couple of nobodies then. Imagine a full-powered joint miracle between a Supreme Archangel and a Grand Duke?)

(…Imagine a full-powered joint miracle between two supreme archangels and two grand dukes? 👀 ok ok who knows but also I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of beez and gabe)

ok bye ❤️

[madbard]

A continuation of that Dustplates post from earlier…

In the original Handplates, the Player’s curiosity ultimately frees Gaster, allowing him to contact Sans and Papyrus and restore their memories. In a Dusttale universe, the Player would never reach this point. Driven by their fixation on the genocide route, they would completely miss out on all the secrets a Handplates universe has to offer. Those memories would remain off limits, and those years would remain a mystery to Dust.

Until.

Until that mission to spread negativity in a young universe. Initial scans revealed what appeared to be a classic universe. The final human had not fallen yet - this world balanced on a knife’s edge and didn’t even realize it. The mission was simple - break in, cause chaos and misery, then retreat before the Stars could arrive. And at first, all went smoothly.

Horror rigged the trap and puzzle systems scattered throughout the Underground. Cross created panic, wrecking buildings and terrorizing passerby. Killer killed Gerson and challenged Asgore and Undyne to a battle. Nightmare slunk through the Underground, feeding on fear and despair, offering assistance when his henchmen needed it. Throughout all this, Dust remained in the shadows, searching for the perfect place to strike to cause maximum damage. That’s when he spotted Gaster.

Gaster was a bit of a question mark throughout the multiverse. Sometimes kind, sometimes cruel - in many worlds the genius had disintegrated into the very fabric of reality, leaving behind only echoes. Still, in worlds like this one, Gaster served as a beacon. What better way to bring about darkness than to destroy the one who had brought light and power to the Underground? Dust gave chase.

It quickly became clear that this Gaster was not a fighter. He sent a few powerful attacks in Dust’s direction but quickly retreated, turning and heading ever deeper into Hotland, making a beeline for his lab. Watching the scientist’s desperation, Dust tempered his attacks. If Gaster was so eager to return to his lab, there must be something important there, right? Perhaps some vital research that Dust could destroy, if he found it…

He tracked Gaster through his lab, until they reached a small hallway lined with forcefields. Here, Gaster suddenly turned on Dust and attacked with all the ferocity he could muster. Pleased to have found the most important area of the lab, Dust fought back, sending attack after incredibly powerful attack until the doctor was reduced to 1 HP. Gaster looked at Dust, and for a moment something like recognition flickered across his face. He opened his mouth to say something -

A bone slashed through his chest, and Gaster crumbled to dust.

Dust took a moment to steady his magic, panting through the scarf that hid the bottom half of his face. He leaned against the wall and felt his grin widen slightly - until he heard it.

“St-stay away from us!”

Dust froze. Beyond the forcefield lay two young children. The smaller one pressed itself against the far wall, trying to disappear. The larger one stood before it, summoning a small forest of blue and white bone attacks to surround and protect them both. That voice - higher than he remembered, and it trembled like a leaf. But there it was, clear as day.

A vision of a room just like this. A force field, just like this… and a silver plate welded onto the back of his hand… just like theirs…

Dust killed them. Didn’t he? He must have… that’s what he told himself at least as he paced his room back at Nightmare’s castle, on guard for when the others returned. Hadn’t he killed them? (Or had he broken the lock on their cell before vanishing from that world forever?)

He didn’t know. And he didn’t know what it meant. Apart from those images, he couldn’t remember… and it struck him that he hadn’t remembered the human’s resets, either. Not at first. It struck him that one could be a prisoner and never know it. He ripped off his glove, and the plate on his hand gleamed in the dim light. S-1… his name? Or the name of an experiment, someone else’s property?

He didn’t know. He didn’t know.

But he knew this.

He had sworn he would never be a prisoner again.

…

That night, the others didn’t think much of Dust’s absence. He often worked alone, and after the Stars showed up they assumed he must have left alone too. So they weren’t concerned… until he entered the room and collapsed against the table.

Horror leapt to his feet, rushing over to where Dust leaned against the table, breathing hard, his remaining eye light gleaming just a little too bright. Nightmare rose soon afterwards, walking over to where the two of them stood. He checked Dust’s HP and found that it was low - not dangerously so, but too much for such a routine mission.

“What happened?” Nightmare demanded, steadying the assassin with a tentacle as Horror brought over some healing food. Dust laughed and shook his head. “What. Happened?” This time, the lights flickered. Nightmare’s magic reached out, tamping Dust’s emotions as one might put out a low flame. Dust’s eyelight dimmed and he sagged a bit. The laughter stopped. Shoulders shaking, Dust lifted his right hand out of his pocket.

The bone was decimated. Bits of it seemed to have crumbled, while others were hacked away. His ring finger was gone, and some of the others looked nearly damaged enough to dust away. Immediately, Nightmare activated his emerald healing magic. Dust watched as the wound on his hand began to seal shut and harden, leaving behind fresh scars.

The plate which had marked that hand was gone.

Dust laughed.

“I don’t belong to him anymore.”

[vaguely-concerned]

I’m on a Star Wars books roll so here we go with my — unhinged thanks for asking! — thoughts on Dooku: Jedi Lost, specifically the audio play. Short version: I fucking loved this one! For maximum emotional devastation, pair with Master and Apprentice and Padawan the way my stupid ass did and then be sad about it forever I guess that's what I’m going to have to do.

 Long (LONG oopsie) version:

- So. First of all, let’s get the most important thing out of the way on this here old man yaoi website. We all agree dooku and sifo dyas explored each other’s bodies right. Or at least definitely would have if not for the laws of this order etc., potentially. That’s not just me. Good. Thank you. We can now move on 

- Secondly. Well. Guess I’m just going to be inconsolable about Sifo-Dyas forever now. I miss the days in which he was just a throwaway line in AotC spawned by a random misspelling to me, rather than an eternal raw aching wound in my heart

- poor poor ventress just reading through all the proof that dooku absolutely does have it in him to be a good dad I mean master and just — idk got tired of that and went the force lightning route with her. I love the move of having her dead master hang out with her all that time as well (having her slip up and refer to ‘us’ did something to me, god this is so sad. Is he actually there in spirit or is it just her grief dreaming him up because dooku is awful and cold as a cliff  wall and she needs some kind of attachment figure even if she’ll have to reinvent him herself, rebuild him word for word, gesture by gesture. Pain. sorry about your terrible track record with father figures asajj) 

- Lene: (About Averross): He hasn’t changed. 

Dooku: (In the warmest fondest voice you ever heard) And I hope he never does

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MYSELF? MUST I SET MYSELF ON FIRE TO ESCAPE THE PAIN???

Another strong showing for Rael in general, btw. He’s so warm and charming as a presence even though he’s also a little chaos gremlin. (He’s quite similar to how Sifo-Dyas was when he was young in some ways, I can definitely start to see what Dooku responds warmly to in terms of character traits.) 

- the fact that good ol’ sheev showed an interest in rael, dooku and anakin… interesting huh! He’s just got a soft spot for the disaster lineage I suppose, maybe there’s an element there of luring yoda’s most direct lineage into the dirt with him without yoda even noticing for the longest time. Also cackling at the idea that he looked at qui-gon ‘too fucking stubborn and insufferable to fall to the dark side out of sheer spite’ jinn and went ‘...not that one tho’ fhdskjfa. And obi-wan is more like ‘that one blorbo all my little guys seem wild about but I just don’t get it guys’ 

IF rael’s refusal to join dooku at the end of ‘master and apprentice’ is the last word (which I am not convinced of ;___; be safe cowboy jedi we never see in mainline canon so far), then he’s the only one who has dodged palpatine’s attentions. Wonderful if true love that for him

ALSO rael is one of the few people we know to be on (or at least to consider himself on despite what palps might think lol) first name basis with palpatine. Hilarious. I concur with dooku never change rael 

- Sifo-Dyas: That’s insane. 

Dooku, deadpan: Yes.

Sifo-Dyas: The worst plan I’ve ever heard.

Dooku, somehow even more deadpan: Most probably. 

Sifo-Dyas: I’m in. 

Crying… weeping and dying………… what if someone could have helped sifo with his unfortunate prophecy propensity and they hadn’t drifted apart. Clone Wars averted methinks if dooku still ended up leaving the order he would have been too busy having tender gay sex with the love of his life (and only person who can call him out on his shit and have him actually listen) to be a war criminal (I am being extremely facetious of course this is very much a ‘time traveler killing baby hitler’ situation where the underlying forces causing this point in history are way too powerful to avert the catastrophe in one move. but at least palps would probably have had to pick someone else to wreck the galaxy through and sifo-dyas would be kissed & held instead of going slowly mad. A net plus some (I, me) would say) 

- I just wanted to applaud both the writing and the voice acting for the characterization of Dooku in this, from his young self trying so hard to be haughty and self-possessed but also being like, y’know, twelve and a dweeb and easy for Sifo-Dyas to pull into trouble, to the dry wit and warmth he shows with Rael and Qui-Gon or his sister later. It took me a little while to get into the voice acting specifically (the actor makes no attempt at going the full Christopher Lee, which in hindsight was probably wise), but now I love it. It gets a bit goofy in places but you know what, I am a long time lover of audio plays, that’s part of the charm 

- “Master, have I done something wrong?”

My heart is clenching… do you think… that master yoda’s deal with leaving his student to try fucking everything to have some kind of relationship with him until he just breaks down in tears of despair… is the kind of thing that maybe started a little bit of a generational trauma cartwheel through the ages. The point that bb!dooku is arrogant isn’t without merit and he strikes out incredibly ungracefully about it (in fact I would be a lot more worried than yoda seems to be that he decides to try to kill a tree about it, ‘I felt like destroying something beautiful’-style)  but I just don’t think a… fourteen year old? A teen anyway, Is going to learn what you think he learns from this. I simply don’t believe that silent treatmenting kids will teach them emotional intelligence I guess especially if they already struggle with that naturally lol 

(It is exactly the same mistake (in my opinion) that Qui-Gon makes with Obi-Wan, too, just leaving the kid completely alone and forcing them to come to you every which way for comfort or guidance instead of meeting them or reaching out to them. Especially once you see that really Dooku’s prime emotion/big core wound right from the beginning is loneliness. And that doesn’t only come from a feeling of superiority (which to be sure is also a big factor), because he has no idea where he comes from until he meets his sister. I don’t think the jedi as a whole were unsalvageable by any stretch of the imagination, but Yoda specifically… you are on such very thin ice with me at this point you little green fuck. You’re very funny and moving in yoda dark rendezvous and that’s all that’s keeping you in my somewhat good graces.)

- Okay, coming back a bit later I think I’ve found the right words to say this. more precisely dooku has two big issues which you can later see haunting all the way down his lineage — loneliness and control. (and not incidentally the intersecting elements of the two haha.) We see from his relationship to sifo-dyas that he’s not incapable of having close mutual relationships with an equal, but that kind of crashed and burned for reasons neither of them could really help and after that it seems quite telling that he has the easiest time with deeper connection in a teacher-student sort of form. I think his affection is unconditional and real, but you can’t get away from the fact that he also has the most control in that relationship structure by default, he gets to dictate what form it takes to a big extent. He doesn’t trust other people — the underlying idea ‘Only I can do this’ that eventually leads him down the Separatist path is there the whole way. It speaks both to a sense of superiority and an utter lack of faith that other people can or will help him. And then that echoes down through the master-padawan line: 

Qui-Gon with his self-righteousness and utter refusal to compromise leaving him isolated among the jedi (only he is right. Yeah the Force told him so. Don’t worry I’ve got a permit *insert parks and rec I can do whatever I want meme here*), Obi-Wan with his anxiety and perfectionism and incredible sense of shame and responsibility that he should be able to carry the whole world on his shoulders alone and beating himself up for failing, all feeding into not knowing what to do with Anakin and his complete lack of control of himself and his desperation to gain and maintain connection and love (which earns him the title of ‘Dooku’s least favorite family member’ fhdsa his immediate disdain for him is so funny and so in character. Repress and go slowly mad like a normal person anakin the way you’re carrying on is just undignified and that is much worse than being evil)… 

- Rael gently telling Dooku to take on another padawan soon… so sweet, so sad, local cowboy jedi looking out for his dad. Also highlights something about Dooku I think is true: that he does much better and seems to have an easier time holding to the light when he’s responsible for someone else. Again, I do feel like Dooku’s core problem is loneliness, but it seems like raising kids is the one point where that relaxes somewhat. Maybe if Sifo-Dyas had stayed in a better mental place and they kept in touch it could have been different.

- Lene Kostana is SUCH a character! Charismatic and deeply fucked up, when it’s revealed how her and Sifo-Dyas’ relationship remains long after his padawan stage is done I felt a little bit sick, to my surprise. Because that could just be kindness on her part, of course, it’s good that he has someone he trusts to look after him when he can’t himself, but also there’s something… queasy about the way it keeps him continually young, in a way. (Notably he still calls her ‘master’ even as an adult, when they’re working together. Not uncommon in Star Wars, of course, but together with everything else going on vibes-wise… hm.) The inherent unreliable narration of this story really worked for me in this regard especially — do we know that young Dooku was entirely wrong when he sensed the dark side in her? She certainly is willing to go to lengths that are… worrying! in her fascination with sith shit, she tempted children into a dangerous place they didn’t understand and couldn’t know the consequences of and she continually puts sifo-dyas in situations that are implied to be a risk to worsening his condition. Run of the mill incredibly irresponsible at best, sincerely sinister at worst. Did she choose Sifo over Dooku because he’s more vulnerable and shapeable? There is an undercurrent of something icky and emotionally incest-y going on with how she relates to Dooku and Sifo-Dyas in general (right down to the ‘NO, no one can know about this’ intensity after the… evil moss cave. I can’t believe I’m this emotional about a book with an evil moss cave). I don’t think she’s a proper sith in any way and I also believe there is real affection there on all sides, but idk something about the whole thing makes me deeply uneasy. Yoda where the fuck are you your son is out there with his irresponsible mom again they’re looking for dirty needles in haystacks and they’re not even wearing any gloves

- dooku telling sifo-dyas he can come back to haunt him if he likes as a joke… well well well I’m sure that doesn’t ring with some dramatic irony at some point down the line lmao

- honestly looking back at master and apprentice after reading jedi lost makes qui-gon's apparent lack of reaction to dooku leaving seem — let's call it highly suspect haha. rael asks him if he's spoken to dooku after and qui-gon is like 'no. why would I. it's literally fine. anyway this topic is done now'. (and rael seems to just go ‘*older brotherly knowing* uh-huh’) meanwhile he's thinking about dooku *all the time* trying to figure out his role as master to obi-wan, thinking about being a padawan himself, the parts of his life he shared with both dooku and rael. The jedi doth protest too much methinks  

ALSO how much of qui-gon thinking the council was too lenient with rael after he had to kill his padawan is about that actual situation, and how much is a ‘our family still likes my older brother more than me even though he Fucked Up so bad and breaks just as many rules as I do’ sort of deal mixed with his own neuroses about how he’s failing obi-wan (to which rael’s situation symbolizes the worst possible outcome, i.e. the kid dies and it’s basically your fault). Many thoughts. 

- moment of silence for jenza of house serenno. Girl your only sin was being surrounded by asshole male family members and I’m so sorry I think you did all you could with what you had to work with here.

Not… entirely sure how dooku’s claim to the title supersedes hers — is he a year older than her? (she’s eleven when they first meet, he might be twelve or older at that point I don’t remember haha) Does she just give up her place in the inheritance order? Are primogeniture and male heir preference factors in Serenno inheritance law? Not the most important thing honestly it works anyway thematically but could have been clarified quickly!

- interesting to see that the council’s restrictive policy against engaging with prophecies had a surprisingly big impact on how things went down. Kostana has a lot of responsibility in Sifo’s fate for insisting he keep it secret, but there is genuine fear for what might become of him if the rest of the order finds out he’s got 24/7 futurevision hovering over him threateningly… listen it’s not like the poor guy can help getting the future constantly pumped into his brain at nightmare resolutions, I think maybe if there had been more willingness to at least engage curiously with the concept of prophecy and how it works, even if you don’t put your faith in the particulars of what the prophecies say, this wouldn’t have had to be such a shitty isolated secretive life for him. hearing him slowly fall apart over the years considering how bright and lovely he started out... oof is all I can say 

- when dooku was a good jedi he was such a good jedi!!! The scene where they’re saving the kids from the collapsing hospital, every time he teaches his students anything…the impulse of someone has to do something about this! that made him so good at saving lives turning dark with the tarnish of frustration and rage over the years… nooooooooo problematic grandpa why did it have to be like this :(

- …do you think infant jedi can sense what’s going on around them in the Force. Because it makes a very sad kind of sense if dooku on some level remembers bodily or in the Force that he was not only abandoned but rejected in disgust as one of the first things he discovered in the world. Oh boy. With all the ways attachment relationships can go wonky in the first few years in real life I don’t even want to consider how much more wrong it can go when the baby is fucking psychic lol

- vaguely related: the way dooku seems to find the very idea of being truly reliant on anyone, emotionally or otherwise, personally offensive, terrifying and humiliating lol. Yoda saves him from being crushed by rubble and he is outraged because that means he can’t save himself (and his newfound sister) without anyone’s help like he thought for one glorious moment he could. The fantasy of perfect emotional self-sufficiency, doing away with all the messiness and risk of interpersonal relationships and cutting off the possibility of really being abandoned again. It’ll get ya every time. This is also a thing you see reflected in his lineage — they’re all quite inward-turning that way until you get to anakin, to different extents and with varying presentations but it is there I think. Qui-Gon turns to the Force, Obi-Wan to perfectionism and shame and rumination, Rael to the bottle and depression and hedonistic apathy, but they all struggle hugely with letting anyone in to help them. Dooku’s line are all much more comfortable being the helpers rather than the helpees, as it were.  

- “Thank you for everything, Lene. Tell Rael and Qui-Gon — tell them… tell them the Force will be with them, always”

Emotional terrorism against me specifically and personally. You asshole you just excused yourself from the non-attachment rules there’s literally nothing in the world except you to stop you from reaching out and telling your children you love them yOURSELF why are you like this

- the recurring theme of dooku seeing something beautiful (the tree in the temple, the tirra’taka as a child and an adult) and ending up lashing out to destroy it… but the tree was old and mighty and he was young and new and couldn’t truly harm it, so he was saved from his own impulsivity. And then when he sees the tirra’taka as an adult he loves it immediately. And in the end he still mangles and destroys it. He didn’t mean to, but he did. He woke it up and hurt it just by existing as a child and then he had to kill it as a mercy because he was too powerful at that point for anything to buffer his mistakes. The parallel with the bird he loved that he also couldn’t protect. He starts out with an aching loneliness somewhere at the core of him through no real fault of his own but by the end it is entirely his own fault that it’s worse, because he starts wrecking everything he loves in an almost absent-minded but definitely intentional way, like it’s a nightmare he’s listening to through the door as it happens in the next room over. He really IS the ‘I just felt like destroying something beautiful’ central of the jedi.

at the end qui-gon is dead and through dooku’s own influence, however indirectly. Rael has had to turn away from him. Sifo-Dyas is dead on Dooku’s own orders and so is his sister, he might as well have done it with his own hands. (though I think it’s very interesting that in each case he didn’t do it with his own hands, he consistently uses a middleman.) He lives within the coldness of his sterile empty castle and horrifically mistreats the one person he might have found something like connection with the way he did with his students before (Ventress), deliberately trapping her in a similar state of utter desolate isolation and telling her, essentially, ‘We’re like this as people and nothing can be done to change it. We can’t escape, we’re already doomed, stop trying, it’s too late. You are just like me (and if you aren't already I'll make you like me)’. And that’s the closest thing he gets to love anymore. When he accused Ky of using her ‘as a salve for his own loneliness’ and you’re like well well well mr projection man how’s that working out for you. He is completely, shatteringly alone and he is so entirely as a consequence of his own actions and he's too far gone to understand or care. I’m howling you useless fucking FOOL dooku  

- dooku 🤝 john gaius

“Hm. I have observed that there are in fact many flaws in our society and the government is deeply corrupt. So if I kill a few billion people here and there in order to fix it, is that not basically okay when you really think about it” 

Dooku making salient points about the political and ethical failures of the Republic and then, just when you think he’s onto something, he goes and makes The wildest fucking decisions about what to do about it. Sure. dark magic and genocide are probably the only ways out of this you’re so right bro. If we make enough minuses to add together surely we’ll end up in plus sooner or later

- *head in my hands once more* I can’t believe I am genuinely emotionally invested in someone called Count Dooku with the looks of a knockoff dracula and ultimate moral character to match right now this is terrible. hey. hey dooks. what you have to go and fuck everything up so bad for huh I’m so incredibly sad now

there is something to be said about how getting to see glimpses of what dooku looked like in the light makes it so much more heartwrenching that he never came back. he could have, a thousand times. and every time he chose not to.

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

HGN-732bM "Old Bird's Nest"

BattleMech Technical Readout

Name/Model: Highlander "Old Bird's Nest" HGN-733bM Technology: Inner Sphere (Mixed) Technology Rating: F Tonnage: 90 Role: Sniper Configuration: Biped BattleMech Era/Year: Dark Age / 3150 Rules (Current): Experimental (Extinct) Rules (Era): Experimental Rules (Year): Experimental (Extinct) Total Cost: 16,131,760 C-Bills Battle Value: 2,735

Chassis: Krupp 255 Endo Steel Power Plant: Shelby/Ford 270 Walking Speed: 32.4 kph Maximum Speed: 54 kph Jump Jets: Pratt and Whitney 440s Jump Capacity: 90 meters Armor: Valiant Lamellor with CASE II Armament: 1 Holly "Ballista-20" LRM 20 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) 1 Krupp Sturmfeuer Light Gauss Rifle 1 ExoStar Pinnacle ER Medium Laser (C) 1 Harmon Starclass-ER ER Medium Laser (C) 1 Hegemony R&D Dept. Weapons Division ER Medium Laser (C) 1 Holly SideWinder SRM 6 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) 1 Clan Wolf Watch RISC Advanced Point Defense System Manufacturer: Skobel Mech Works Primary Factory: Yakima Proving Ground Maintenance Facility Communications: Studebaker-T19 with Neutron Star CEWS (counts as Nova CEWS) Targeting & Tracking: DeadEye Superlock 18K with Advanced Targeting Computer (C)

================================================================================================ Overview: Manufactured specifically for Star Captain/Colonel Melissa Hazen at the direct order of ilClan Ward, the HGN-732bM "Melissa" was designed to be as much a prototype of the HGN-732Ib "ilClan Highlander" as it was a command 'Mech for the newly resurrected Royal Black Watch. Stuffed to the gills with advanced systems for defense, mobility, and communication, as well as a impressive arsenal nearly equal to that of the original HGN-732b, the one-off prototype 'Mech has already come be known as the "Old Bird's Nest", an affectionate nickname referring to Star Captain/Colonel Hazen's advanced chronological age, and how much time she spends in the Mechbay, personally tinkering with and adjusting the 'Mech to her liking, sometimes even with the help of her personal Mech technicians.

Capabilities: Starting out life as the prototype of the HGN-732Ib, the "Old Bird's Nest" would soon see an almost continuous amount of tinkering and changing by technicians from both the ilClan and the reborn SLDF. Eventually, when Star Captain Hazen was frocked to the rank of SLDF Colonel to (eventually) lead the reborn Royal Black Watch, the 'Mech received a massive overhaul to become perhaps the most well-equipped Command Mech in the Inner Sphere. The upgrades started with a massively expanded and improved communications and sensor array with satellite uplink capacity. To this, the first unit of the experimental Neutron Star CEWS (based on Nova CEWS designs smuggled from the Clan Homeworlds) was linked, along with the DeadEye Superlock 18K Clan-spec Targeting Computer from the exact Hunchback IIC that Hazen used in her Trial of Position in the 3020s - this computer was not upgraded to modern specs by order of Hazen herself, save to add the advanced Variable Range Targeting program in trials for the HGN-732Ib. The weapons loadout is largely a replication of the old HGN-732b Highlander, though upgraded with modern technology. Mounting a Light Gauss Rifle in place of the standard Gauss of the HGN-732 was a decision by Hazen to gain more range at the expense of sheer damage output. The LRM-20 and SRM-6 remain, though upgraded with Artemis-V FCS. In a curious move that shows Hazen's admitted loveof the past, only one of the ER Large Lasers is a modern-manufactured Clan design - the others being one of the ER Large Lasers mounted on General Aleksandr Kerensky's Atlas II, and another the sole remaining weapon recovered from the irradiated wreck of Colonel Hanni Schmidt's Black Watch Highlander. A highly experimental RISC Advanced Point Defense System provides protection for the 'Mech and its starmates. The use of a Combat Computer helps the 'Mech's 20 Clan double heat sinks keep cool. Using a prototype Clan-spec Endo-Steel chassis, the "Old Bird's Nest" is covered in 17.5 tons of Valiant Lamellor standard armor, incorporating panels taken from the wreck of General Kerensky's personal Orion. A trio of Clan-spec Pratt & Whitney Jump Jets enable the 'Mech to execute Hazen's trademark extremely accurate "Highlander Burial", and prototype RISC Super Cooled Myomer technology helps the 'Mech keep cool even during movement, while Clantech CASE II protects the Mech from ammunition detonations.

Deployment: As the personal 'Mech of Star Captain Hazen, and soon to be the Command 'Mech for the Royal Black Watch, the "Old Bird's Nest" resides solely at the rebuilt Fort Cameron, just outside Unity City, Washington, Cascadian Administrative District, American Administrative Zone.

Variants: None.

Notable MechWarriors: Melissa "Mysty"/"The Old Bird" Hazen: One of the oldest and oddest MechWarriors in human history, Melissa Hazen was decanted, along with her 15 sibmates in 2990. As a Trueborn product of the Clan Coyote/Genecaste "Totem Warrior" program, she was part of an effort to create human-animal hybrid warriors - both to improve upon Clan phenotypes, and to embody the spirits of the totem animals of their respective Clans. After a successful career in an enormously popular holodrama, and after attaining three kills in her highly belated Trial of Position, Hazen, along with the others in the "Totem Sixteen" were sent on a scouting mission to the Inner Sphere. Joining up with the now-famous mercenary outfit, Fursona's Fusiliers, Hazen served with the unit for decades from the year 3025 onwards. Briefly taking extended leave to assist her Clan during Operation REVIVAL, Hazen returned to the Fusiliers to fight against the Word of Blake Jihad, and then as a mercenary for the Republic of the Sphere. During and after the ilClan Trial, Hazen and the others of the Sixteen fought on the side of Republic, but were spared by order of the new ilKhan. Biologically only in her late twenties thanks to the efforts of Project Totem Warrior, as well as later medical aid by the Terran Belters (on whose work the original project was based), Hazen has over over one hundred and fifty years of combat experience against virtually every foe in the Inner Sphere and Clan Homeworlds. This experience will soon be brought to the core of the revived Star League Defense Force, under which Hazen is slated to run the new incarnation of the Gunslinger program, as well as command the resurrected Royal Black Watch Regiment.

================================================================================================

Equipment Mass

Internal Structure: Endo Steel (C) 4.50 Engine: 270 Fusion 14.50 Walking MP: 3 Running MP: 5 Jumping MP: 3 Heat Sinks (Double): 10 20 0.00 Gyro: Compact 4.50 Cockpit: Standard 3.00 Armor Factor: 279 17.50 Type: Standard Internal Armor Structure Value Head: 3 9 Center Torso: 29 42 Center Torso (rear): 16 R/L Torso: 19 28 R/L Torso (rear): 10 R/L Arm: 15 30 R/L Leg: 19 38

================================================================================================

Weapons and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage

Jump Jet CT 1 2.00 CASE II (C) RT 1 0.50 Communications Equipment (2 tons) (C) RT 2 2.00 3 ER Medium Lasers (C) RT 3 3.00 Jump Jet RT 1 2.00 Light Gauss Rifle (Ammo 16) RT 1 1.00 Targeting Computer (C) RT 3 3.00 CASE II (C) LT 1 0.50 Jump Jet LT 1 2.00 LRM 20 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) LT 4 5.00 LRM 20 (Ammo 12) Artemis V LT 2 2.00 SRM 6 (Ammo 15) Artemis V LT 1 1.00 Light Gauss Rifle RA 5 12.00 RISC Advanced Point Defense System (Ammo 12) RA 1 1.00 Nova CEWS (C) LA 1 1.50 RISC Advanced Point Defense System LA 2 3.00 SRM 6 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) LA 1 1.50

================================================================================================

Alpha Strike Statistics

Point Value (PV): 63 TP: BM, SZ: 4, TMM: 1, MV: 6"j Damage: (S) 5 / (M) 5 / (L) 3, OV: 1 Armor (A): 9, Structure (S): 7 Specials: CASEII, ECM, IF1, MHQ3, NOVA, PRB, RAMS, RCN

Quirks: The HGN-732bM "Old Bird's Nest" variant is subject to the following Design Quirks:

Battle Computer

Combat Computer

Cowl

Cramped Cockpit

Difficult Ejection

Difficult to Maintain

Improved Communications

Improved Sensors

Multi-Trac

Non-Standard Parts

Reinforced Legs

Variable Range Targeting

[frostgears]

rules of engagement

Eight white diamonds in a line swept north over gray topography. Two more where they should not have been.

A monotone voice.

"This is Fulcrum Actual. Topaz Nine and Ten, you are trailing. Can you push any harder?"

"Ma'am, no, ma'am. Nine took a hit, jump jet damage, throttled down, I'm covering him, we're just running a little behind the pack, that's all."

"Topaz Nine, maximum remaining power on that next jump."

"Yes, ma'am…"

A crunch, audible over the link.

"Too short. Topaz Nine, ground and cover as best you can. Topaz Ten, throttle up to full, angle to your right, jump and aim to land on the shadowed side of the ridge at grid FA-68."

Overlapping chatter:

"Ma'am, I won't be able to cover Ten, leapfrog won't work…"

"Ma'am, I can't leave Nine behind…"

"Topaz Nine, ground and cover. Topaz Ten, to that ridge. Do you copy?"

"Copy."

"Copy."

Three red tracks converged on a white diamond.

"Topaz Nine, showing three inbound to you, forwarding fused sensor data, bearing 190, take the rightmost one first."

"Ma'am? Ten's on my left."

"Yes. Ten, you'll cover Nine as long as possible."

"And then what?"

"And then you'll cover yourself as long as possible."

A second arc of red tracks appeared. At least a dozen. Maybe more.

"Fulcrum Actual" took off her headset, rose from her chair, brushed black hair back past plugged link sockets unused by anything in the tactical room.

"I'm done here. Tac Two, take over, you should be able to handle the rest of the Topaz evac. Keep to the original dropship launch window and the original orbiter pickup window. Tac One, take a break. You didn't need me for this."

Fulcrum Tac One looked like she was about to throw up, but managed, with effort, to choke it down.

"Ma'am? I requested intervention because I thought you could get them out of there. What the fuck was that?"

Fulcrum's commander turned, not making eye contact. She tugged one sleeve of her sleep-rumpled fatigues back into position.

"The operation was already on the edge of contingency timing. Topaz Nine was dead the moment he took that hit. Topaz Ten was dead the moment he stayed behind to cover Nine. If you'd paged me earlier, I might have been able to use Nine better and kept Ten with the line."

"Ma'am, we could have gotten both of them out—"

The commander held up a hand.

"Most of Topaz was out of missiles; Three and Six were out of kinetics as well. Seven was developing a generator fault. You would not have been able to hold the evac site. As is, Topaz One thru Eight will be leaving on schedule. That was the best I could do with the mistakes that were already made."

"Ma'am, that's doll logic!"

The shout cut through the tactical room chatter. Chairs squeaked as unoccupied auxiliary personnel swiveled to get a better angle. A marine lowered a hand to her stunner's grip.

"You've never worked directly with combat augments, have you, Tac One?" the commander asked. Her voice never left its monotone. Her eyes never left their fixation point somewhere on the wall. "'Doll logic' given my rank and resources would have been saturation-bombing the subcontinent with the Fulcrum's long-range torpedoes. Neutron warheads are cheap. Minimal expenditure, zero casualties."

"The civilians… hell, the ecosystem…"

"Aren't ours and don't count. All ten of Topaz, which are ours, would still be safely in cryostorage ten decks down. That's doll logic. Unfortunately for Topaz Nine and Ten, I woke up one day to find out I'd been deconditioned, decommissioned, and promoted. And now I'm here, and I've been told that I can't go back until this whole insurrection is handled as cleanly and quietly as it can be…"

On the schematic display, one, then both white diamonds winked out, drowned in red.

The commander closed her eyes.

"Tac One, go get a coffee or something. If I hear the words 'doll logic' out of you again, I'll make sure you survive to learn it the way I learned it, and you'll have the benefit of knowing exactly what you're talking about." □

[bestworstcase]

re: talk of Burn, do you have any idea why Yang's aura clearly broke when Neo struck her in V8 (right after activating Burn)? my theory is that perhaps activating her semblance does something like Tock's where it makes her aura manifest more solidly on her body (which is how it can make her hair light on fire) and therefore also, like Tock, means that her aura is more vulnerable. to me this would also explain why Yang would use it as a finisher at first; using it when she's already going to run out of aura makes it, in a sense, less dangerous because she's already gotten most of the other uses out of her aura that she can get.

would love to know if you think this is accurate, or what you actually think is going on with yang's semblance on a mechanical level (if you're interested in that anyway)

first, a general point about aura and aura breaking. the characters’ use of meters has led to a sort of popular fanon that aura works like hit points in a video game, where you have this many and taking damage reduces your HP by a certain number until you hit zero and then your aura breaks; (dark souls splash screen voice) YOU DIED.

i do not think it works that way.

from world of remnant:

aura is a manifestation of the soul, a life force that runs through every living creature on remnant—whether they are a meager shopkeep or a renowned knight. however, what sets true warriors apart from all others is their ability to amplify and control their aura.

aura is the power of one’s soul. it’s guided by emotion, self-knowledge, and spirituality. in its purest form, it becomes a semblance.

defensive aura is not a passive effect. we know this for a fact. in V5, oscar finds it physically exhausting to engage his aura in this way and ren tells him that’s normal—it requires intense concentration at first, then becomes second nature with practice. in V7, jaune’s aura-training demonstrates that recovery, regaining aura once it has been depleted, is a conscious action that can be improved through practice. this is because the “aura level” tracked by those meters is not a measurement of how much aura you have in the tank, as it were, but something like the density of the aura-field you’re pushing outward, or speed of flow, or something along those lines.

(the way i’m handling it in TDT is there’s a hard upper bound to how much aura you can hold in your skin, like a sponge not being able to absorb more water, and what auraleric gauges attempt to measure is % of maximum saturation because everyone’s aura will break around 5-10% saturation even though the amount of aura you have at 100% varies. anything you push out above that threshold is projected as transient bursts of energy and that’s where you start getting into offensive techniques.)

hazel’s phenomenal endurance is noted to derive from his rapid recovery, not the basal amount of aura he has. (he even just shrugs off being impaled.) i believe his semblance gives him an edge here, because it requires concentration to amplify one’s aura and hazel can’t be distracted by physical pain.

which brings me to aura-breaking. it doesn’t happen when the proverbial tank is empty. auras break when you can’t sustain the mental effort of generating enough aura; this might happen because the well you’re drawing from really has run dry (<- think this is what happened to nora with the high voltage door), but it might also be because you’re too tired, or you took a really painful or unexpected hit that shattered your focus, because you’re panicking or furious.

i think tock’s semblance is in the same ‘family’ as hazel’s and ironwood’s in that it puts her into a state of intense focus by blocking out anything that might shake her—with hers being far, far more potent than theirs but so potent she can’t maintain it for longer than sixty seconds, and possibly needs the ticking clock to ‘anchor’ her focus.

(fic stuff again, because tock’s alive in TDT for butterfly wing flaps reasons: sixty seconds is not a hard limit of her semblance; she can and on one occasion did go for much longer. to project an aura field you draw aura out of your reserve, which is the aura that naturally ‘pools’ around your soul; if that runs dry and you’re desperate enough, pushing hard enough, you can wring more aura out of your soul. blood from a stone. it hurts a lot, it will mess you up, and it can do permanent damage similar to what the aura transfer machines do to pietro. sixty seconds is how long it takes for tock’s semblance to drain her aura reserve, rounded down to allow for a margin of error.)

so. yang.

i think, mechanically, when the average person with aura training gets hit, their aura burns up to disperse most of that energy. (<- when they’re swatting gunfire away, the bullets bounce; the energy is reflected.)

but yang’s semblance absorbs energy—which is to say, if you had a ball throwing machine shoot a tennis ball at yang and someone else with equivalent training from the same distance, it would hit yang harder because her aura is less reflective; more of the ball’s kinetic energy flows into her body. then, like a battery, her aura converts that energy into some other form that can be stored.

sort of like dust, in fact. dust has a lot of potential energy, which is released when the material reacts with aura. given the literally explosive firepower yang gains from burn, i think that she’s storing this absorbed energy in the same form as occurs naturally in dust, which would put burn in the same ‘family’ as coco’s hype or arrastra’s equilibrium…

…and would also mean that this statement:

some prefer to use dust in its raw form: elegant, yet destructive. those who choose to wield dust in this state must possess a certain level of discipline to ensure that their resulting powers do not break free of their control.

is true of burn, too. and that tracks with who yang is and how she uses her semblance—even in V1-3, yang takes a more head-on approach to fights and tends to soak up more damage before exploding bigger vs her increasingly nimble and even acrobatic style post-beacon, but her control over those massive volcanic eruptions is immaculate.

the way burn works in general requires that yang be very, very in control of her aura at all times because she needs to balance between absorbing energy to charge up her semblance while reflecting enough to prevent injury, and this is one reason why i think yang is probably the best out of the cast when it comes to using aura. ren might have her beat on the more spiritual, extra-sensory perception side of things, but yang has to keep her focus while getting hit harder than anyone else Because Physics.

and that brings us to neo one-shotting yang’s aura. here is what happens: cinder is gloating from atop a pillar of fire while people scream and run in a panic all around them, and out of the corner of her eye, yang sees a glint of steel and realizes that neo is about to stab her unsuspecting baby sister in the back, she’s too far away, she can’t get there fast enough—burn is, in that moment, a reflex. instinct. she panics and hurls herself in between neo and ruby without even thinking about it because the only thing in her mind is GET TO RUBY NOW.

and that’s why her aura just shatters. it requires concentration—you practice until it becomes instinctive, until you don’t need to think about it, muscle memory. but it still takes focus. intention. yang has incredible self-control and thus incredible control of her aura, but everyone has limits, and hers are “holy fuck that guy stabbed blake” and “neo is going to kill ruby go go go.”

her semblance in itself doesn’t make her defense any weaker—but when she’s terrified enough for burn to activate reflexively like this, her aura will break if she gets hit because she’s freaking out.

[akkivee]

Intensely Spicy Curry Training: Hypmic Curry Drama Track TL

Kuukou: Y’all sure took your sweet time getting here! I’ve already got everything prepared!

Jyushi: But didn’t you tell us to meet you at the temple?

Hitoya: If we’re making curry, why the hell are we way out in the mountains to do it?

Kuukou: Because I just had a great idea. Check this out!

Jyushi: Ooooh, look at all this meat! So, we’re going to be using all of this in our curry?

Hitoya: Beef and chicken, huh? I guess it would make sense not cook these while inside your temple.

Kuukou: You’re half right, and half wrong.

Jyushi: What do you mean?

Kuukou: I don’t plan to make just any ol’ curry. Now it’s time for the both of y’all to mince the hell out of this meat!!

Hitoya: I didn’t know whether to expect if a corrupt little monk such as yourself knew how to cook, but I’m surprised. Instead of using something pre-made, if we pound and mince the meat ourselves, we’d get a far more superior product. Is that what you were thinking?

Jyushi: Oh, I see! That’s amazing, Kuukou-san!

Hitoya: So, where’d you put the food processor?

Kuukou: Ah?? The hell are you on? You’re grinding this meat with your bare hands.

Jyushi: …Eh?

Kuukou: Jyushi, you’re on beef! Hitoya, you’re taking the chicken! Punch it with everything you’ve got and make minced meat out of it!! This is a new training session I thought up!

Hitoya: What the hell is this fool saying??

Jyushi: B-But there’s so much meat!! Grinding it by hand is impossible!!

Kuukou: I don’t want to hear any complaints!! You don’t know that unless you try!

Jyushi & Hitoya: *reluctantly pounds the meat by hand*

Jyushi: *tearfully* …My body’s going to become minced meat before the actual beef!

Hitoya: Damn it, I can’t believe I let my guard down like this…! I shouldn’t have expected we’d simply make curry…!

Kuukou: You can’t expect to get anywhere with a weak spirit behind weak fists like that!! Lemme show you how it’s done!

Kuukou: *starts punching*

Hitoya: You bastard, those are vegetables!!

Jyushi: E-Even I could mince a tomato by hand!

Kuukou: It doesn’t matter either way!! Whether it’s vegetables or meat, all that matters is the heart you’re putting behind it!!

Jyushi: T-That doesn’t make any sense…!!

Kuukou: “Enlightenment can be attained through one thousand fists!” Don’t just keep yapping and put some energy into your hips and legs too!

Hitoya: Tch, I don’t see any way out of this… Then, I might as well get it over with…!! UWOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRRGHHHH!!!!!!!! *maximum effort punching*

Jyushi: H-Hitoya-san??

Kuukou: Hyahaha! There’s the effort I wanna see!

Jyushi: Guh… Because My God has unshackled the chains binding his true power, I, too, must unlock mine to continue alongside him…! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!! *maximum effort punching*

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

Jyushi: I-I can’t move another inch…

Hitoya: Ugh… I can’t even take the cap off my water bottle…

Kuukou: *sighs* It’s pretty pathetic to be that exhausted just from cooking.

Hitoya: You…!!!

Jyushi: But, I think it would be really nice if our training efforts could be felt by those eating our curry…!

Hitoya: …Well, I don’t think I’d say it like that, but I agree with the sentiment.

*the trees rustle and the birds chirp and there is peace*

Kuukou: The fuck are y’all talking about? There’s no point to this if the people who eating aren’t going through training too.

Jyushi: Eh?

Kuukou: Training can only be felt when you grow from the trials you’ve experienced yourself. Hopping off from other people’s efforts won’t mean shit.

Jyushi: B-but I mean, we’ll still be serving the curry to others once it’s finished cooking, right?

Kuukou: Yup. Which is why I’ve got…!

Hitoya: UWAH!! MY EYES!! IT’S IN MY EYES!!

Jyushi: That powder…!!

Hitoya: It’s red chili pepper!! Jyushi, run!! Move upwind so it doesn’t blow and stick to your mucous membrane!!

Jyushi: Eeek!!! *runs away sobbing*

Kuukou: HYAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Hitoya: Kuukou, you bastard, what are you doing? Are you trying to ruin everything we worked on??

Kuukou: I’m not ruining a damn thing! This curry will be spicy so I can provide a remote kind of training!

Hitoya: Stop fucking around!! There’s gotta be a limit!!

Jyushi: *runs back over* I think there’s more chili pepper powder than ingredients now…!!

Kuukou: Then it’s just right! Now try it.

Jyushi: NO!! I will not be eating!! I absolutely refuse!! Don’t even try me!!

Kuukou: Hey stupid, watch it, that’s dangerous!! Stop fighting me and just—Ahh??

Jyushi: T-The inside of the pot is pitch black……!!

Hitoya: Obviously. Chili peppers burn easily. Haah… Let’s just remake the curry.

Jyushi: But doesn’t that mean we’ll have to mince more meat??

Kuukou: Whatever, I was thinking our “Intensely Spicy Curry Training” was made too halfheartedly anyway!! Time to give it all I got and win this championship!!

[askvectorprime]

When Beast Convoy and Lio Convoy synchronized the power of their energy matrices, they transformed into Burning Convoy and Flash Lio Convoy respectively. Are these types of transformations common among matrix wielders like them? If so, what transformation does Big Convoy possess?

Dear Maximum Mammoth,

In order to promote cooperation and camaraderie among Convoy-type Transformers, Vector Sigma made a point of outfitting their Energon Matrices with the ability to resonate with each other. However, in one universe, Big Convoy's lingering hate for the Predacons over the death of his father was able to manifest in a sort of phantom resonance with Blue Big Convoy's extinguished Matrix, resulting in the birth of Blizzard Big Convoy.

Wreathed in white fur, Blizzard Big Convoy possessed the ability to supercool the air around him, freezing lesser foes dead in their tracks. In this Absolute Zero Field, only Big Convoy had the strength to still move, leaving him free to devastate his foes with the Blizzard Cannon. This form had none of Big Convoy's traditional bravado, his processors focused only on the elimination of his enemies.

However, as he became lost in his grief, he found himself unable to tell friend from foe, posing great risk to the Gung Ho’s crew of cadets. Only by uniting the warmth of their sparks to resist the cold were they able to embrace their commander and bring him back to the side of justice. It wasn’t until the final battle with Unicron that Big was able to truly master this form, resonating not with his grief, but with the memory of his father, purifying this ability and allowing him to banish the planet eater to the cold of space.

[waywardstation]

WIP THURSDAY!

For this poll, I Won’t Leave You Behind won!

So, here is a WIP from the fic!! It was hard to pick because at this point I couldn’t remember what I have and haven’t already shared, but I’m fairly confident I haven’t posted this segment yet.

Enjoy!

A recollection of an impromptu Garchomp biology lesson with Ingo emphasizes how bad his situation really is.

—————

Ingo reached out, stretching himself as far as he could go. His hands connected with her shoulder — thank Arceus — and he shoved hard. Hard enough to knock her right off her feet.

He had to.

Akari had made it. She landed in the snow and out of the path of destruction, safe.

“Well,” Ingo readjusted his position, shifting to get a better look at Akari’s Pokédex notes. His finger moved to point at the head of one of Akari’s observational drawings of a gabite, tapping gently on the paper.

“Notice their heads, how their lower jaws are noticeably less bulky than their upper ones. While the muscles that open their jaws are surprisingly weak, their downward bite force is incredible. It’s to ensure prey cannot escape, and every muscle in their neck is fashioned to specifically assist with this, resulting in quite an impressive steel trap for a set of jaws.”

Ingo’s finger moved down to the neck of the gabite as he talked, emphasizing his words. Akari found the information to be new and interesting to her, but she didn’t quite understand the reason for the impromptu biology lesson. Not until Ingo sat back, the glow of Ember’s back illuminating his side as he turned his head to her.

“Now, the design of a garchomp’s jaws improve upon this in every way, pushing power to a one-way extreme; practically all of its lower jaw strength is sacrificed for maximum downward bite force. Nothing can force its jaws open once they clamp down, except for the garchomp’s decision to open them again. And while a well-placed blow to the snout may possibly convince them to do so, it would not convince an enraged alpha like Jörmun.”

Akari glanced up at Ingo as he continued to talk, all prior attention for the Pokédex in her hands now abandoned. The worry in his voice had completely snagged it.

“Miss Akari, I cannot imagine the force behind the bite of an alpha of the species. If we are unfortunate enough to cross tracks with Jörmun tomorrow, I cannot stress it enough; above all else, stay away from her front. Do not let her catch you between her teeth. Nothing may ever get those jaws to open once they clamp down, besides Jörmun herself. And alphas do not easily deviate from their violent, one-track minds.”

Akari was quiet. She had stopped writing. Ingo could tell she was trying to figure out how to summarize all of his advice in her notes.

If she was having trouble summarizing it, she wouldn’t remember the most important part.

“Just, above all else, do not let her catch you between her jaws.”

Rows of jagged sawteeth clamped down hard, easily perforating right through layers of clothing, puncturing straight through skin, and settling deep into fleshy layers — sturdy as a steel trap.

[soulmatesinc-if]

Going around asking all my favourite IFs this-

My friend (who has written one and a half IFs so far) told me that she balances all the routes very carefully. If one choice reduces one stat and increases two others, then the other choice also does the same, though it might not be the same stats. She does this for most choices. She believes it's the only way to not have a route that's perfect or seems like the canon path.

I'm just starting writing an IF, but this does not seem to be working for me. Maybe I just need to add more stats?

Either way, do you agree with this? How do you balance your routes within the game?

First of all, congratulations on starting! Writing an IF is so much fun, although a bit strenuous at times 😅 I'd break down your question(s) into sub-topics and share my thoughts on the matter. This is just my personal take on the peculiarities of this media though!

The number of stats. There is no set amount of stats to track, there is no minimum and no maximum, and your game can play just as well with 3 as it does with 10. Some IF games track more than others. In some games, the personality of MC is defined through numerous characteristics, in others, it is whatever powers they have. Or a mixture of both. Finding what works for you is essential. Less is more, imo, especially if you're just starting off and even more especially if you feel like they're starting to drag you down. Be mindful of which parameters you decide to track and why. Are you adding it because the players expect their X to be tracked, or do you know what this stat will be doing in your game, what outcomes it will affect? When you plan, try to see if there is overlap in what your stats signify and merge them if it's possible. Notice if perhaps it's always all the same one/two stats that are giving you trouble.

Best/canon route. An IF game is about player choice, so care should absolutely be taken about what these choices mean. In my opinion, the devil is in the game design. You can set broad thresholds for achieving certain actions and missed stat increase opportunities would seem less punishing. Or you can insert opportunities into the failure outcomes: have an extra scene that improves a relationship, reveals a plot point, or allows MC an emotional moment of introspection. This, of course, assumes that no path explicitly punishes the reader for picking a certain choice you, as a writer, have put in there: no hardcore railroading, no breaking the fourth wall to tell them it was unreasonable to pick that, etc. Having a clear path from the beginning of your story to the end is good, but there need to be sides to it that can be revealed if you step off it. I believe this will reduce the pressure on the player to follow a specific path, chasing those perceived "best" stats. E.g. you don't have to be the fastest runner if being some kind of runner will give you an engaging and fun/emotional playthrough.

Stat balancing. You have mentioned that careful control of the stat changes while writing doesn't seem to be working for you. I can share what I found works best for me, and that is to accept it will change. The game is in the WIP stage, so I simply take it for granted that the values and stats I am adjusting now are probably fairly coarse, and sometimes I later rethink the relationship between the option and which stats it should modify and by how much. As I write along, things will adapt and fine-comb editing will take place. I also don't think every single choice should change some stat, sometimes it's just about letting the player connect with their MC and the game, and that is just fine.

Just a few words to how I approach balancing it in Soulmates Inc.: I prefer the path of content. You may have noticed that your MC doesn't have to rely on the soul-link powers. And while using them may be fun, your MC's refusal to use them (a clear penalty to the value of the corresponding stats) may either be a stance on free will, their love for a challenge, a creative approach to their work, or even an uneasy feeling about the whole soul-matching enterprise. This will show up in the game at times as options and conversations exclusive to that path.

I hope this helps you a bit, even if merely to give you a perspective. Always remember to have fun with the project, and I wish you that smooth creative sailing, anon!