#but if they lose to c*le I’ll be so annoyed

[theemporium]

okay but do I risk watching the devils game and being bad luck again?🤠

[bereft-of-frogs]

A: How did you come up with the title to [dark underground//violent sky]? -- G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? -- K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with? -- T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand? ---- and i hesitated about this one but gotta ask --- J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [hurts like ghosts].

Thank you for asking things! Sorry I’m getting to this so late!

A: How did you come up with the title to [dark underground//violent sky]?

The title was like...the second thing I came up with after the basic concept! I didn’t have all the details of the horror AU and it was originally going to be slightly different so I wanted something with ‘underground’ in the title, and then something with ‘sky’ in the second part to contrast and show the setting moving from ‘Earth’ to space. It is....kind of nonsense and doesn’t really mean anything, like most of my titles, but I liked it! Especially using the // I don’t know why but I really liked the idea of the whole title being the titles of the two sections divided by dashes.

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Out of order, all the way. I was writing the next ‘nine in the tree’ literally backwards, but I’ve gotten to the point where I have to go back to the beginning and start trying to write in order because nothing is making sense.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Angstiest idea I’ve actually written and published: I think ending the chronology of  ‘pain and other human sensations’ with ‘restraints’ was reeeeaaaal angsty.

I have a really angsty idea that I probably won’t ever actually write and would be kind of concerned about people’s reactions if I did because it’s really, really dark so I don’t want to go into too many details but it involves um, unintended things picked up on Sakaar and having to deal with those consequences. (I mean, that’s so vague and #onbrand because I do nothing else but write angsty post-Ragnarok traveling-in-space AUs but trust me, this one is super angsty, super bad, maybe I’ll drum up the courage to write it someday but we’ll see.)

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

Hm, there certainly are a lot that squick me out (bringing that back into usage yay) but I guess it’s more overuse of fandom tropes...like it can get annoying when certain things become so prolific that it’s hard to find fics without those tropes. Like the way the c. 2012 Les Mis fandom became so overrun with modern AUs it stopped being tagged. (Okay, I was complicit but at least I tagged it.) I don’t actually read a lot of like Coffeeshop AUs, or Soulmate AUs, and I have nothing against them but when it becomes hard to find not-those, it can get annoying.

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [hurts like ghosts]

Well there’s the obvious answer - -

They’re overpowered, absorbed into the system of gladiators and slaves. Essentially, exactly what Loki says would happen:

Thor looks away. Loki’s grip tightens on his wrist. “Think of what would happen to Asgard if we fight against them and lose, which we almost certainly will. You and I will be enslaved to the arena, forced to fight. Bruce surely will be as well, once they learned who he is, and Karos will rejoice at stealing the Grandmaster’s prized champion. The Valkyrie, Heimdall, Korg, any other warrior who took up arms will be immediately executed. Our people will be lost, combed through for any traces of magic, the rest sent to work as galley slaves or slaughtered. Is that what you want?”

But, also fun: instead of the final scene where Karos pulls Thor aside to provoke him, he pulls him into the room to meet his special guest, recently arrived to take refuge after a revolution on his own planet - - the Grandmaster.

:D

(Also, because I can’t remember the titles to my own fics I thought for a second you’d asked for an alternative ending to ‘bone and broth’ and I also had a twofold answer - the obvious, super angsty version and another that gave me an idea and I totally want to write but I really need to stop acquiring WIPs...)

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Closing Time

Inverted Character Intros 1/7: Chase

People who asked me to tag them: @evyptids @awkward-bullshit @watermelonsinmyattic @asunachinadoll @a-humble-narcissus

It was a bar in the rough part of town. That meant it was dimly-lit, had dirty glasses, played bad country music twenty four seven, and had pool tables that were usually surrounded by tough-looking men. The whole place was sketchy, and normally that was enough to warn off everyone but the regulars, who were the type of people who had switchblades up their sleeves and in their boots.

But, at approximately ten thirty at night, a strange man had walked in, plunked down at the bar, and ordered a whiskey. Not one to deny a customer, the bartender had obliged. The regulars, however, had given the new guy the side-eye. He looked harmless: on the thin side, brown hair tucked under a gray-and-red snap-back cap, sad blue eyes. He didn’t do anything but sit and drink. Eventually, the regulars let him be.

Hours passed. People drifted off into the darkness of night. The stranger never left from his spot at the bar. The bartender grew steadily annoyed with him, not only because he was steadily draining his supply of whiskey without any compensation, but also because the other customers were starting to get annoyed. And these customers were not the type of people you wanted to annoy, because then they tended to toss the annoyances through the bartender’s barely-repaired window.

It reached two o’clock. The bartender approached the stranger and said, “It’s closing time, son.”

The stranger looked up from his half-drained glass of whiskey. “Yer not tellin’ that to those guys, over-over there.” He waved vaguely towards a group of five men, sitting at a table in the corner. They were the only other customers.

The bartender glanced over. “They know we’re closing. But I’m not too sure you do.” In truth, the bartender would rather not talk to that group. They were here on a certain business, and he’d learned through the years that it would be better if he just left the room and let them get to it.

“Alrigh’, I’m goin’.” The stranger stood up, a bit wobbly but not as much as he should have been, considering the amount of alcohol he’d drained that night.

“Not so fast,” the bartender interrupted. “How’re you gonna pay for all of this drink?”

The stranger froze. “Pay?”

“Yes,” the bartender said, irritated. “Whiskey isn’t free, you know.”

“I...I didn’...you could pu’ it on a...on a tab, can’t ya?”

“We don’t do tabs here. If you don’t have cash, we can take credit as well.”

“Credi’ cards? In this economy?” The stranger leaned forward. “You think that a-a person like me, drowning in my studen’ loans, would have a credi’ c-card?”

“Well, do you have cash then?” The bartender snapped.

“I loved her, y’know...” The change of subject was accompanied by the stranger slamming the palms of his hands on the surface of the bar. “Damn, I did. I dropped i’all for her, for the kid we werr gonna have...An’ we werr hap-happy for a long time...and then that bitch decided she didn’ wanna deal with my issues anymore, an’ I told her wha' would happen, oh I warned her, an’ she didn’t lis’en, and she left!” The stranger shook his head, and growled, “Well, I hope she enjoyed what she got, enjoyed wha’ vidyo I sen’ her, because then she’ll come righ’ back, an’ she’ll realize I still want her back an’ that it’s-it’s where werr s’posed to be.”

The bartender took a step back, a little disturbed. The odd mixture of anger and longing in the stranger’s voice was simply...unnerving to listen to. “Son, you still need to pay.”

“Wha’? No, no, no I jus...I jus’ told you why I couldn’! I’m inna bad place righ’ now, please, jus’ take a li’ll sympathy. I can pay ya back later...please?” The shift in his tone was subtle, but noticeable. The wide eyes, the tremble as he talked...he was clearly trying to appeal to emotion.

Too bad this bartender had met people like him before. Too many, in fact. “Son,” the bartender said in a stern tone. “You have three choices: pay up right now, come in the back to wash dishes, or let me call the police.”

The stranger’s eyes widened, like he couldn’t believe he’d failed. Then he leaned back. His hand went to his side. “Alrigh’...I choose the fourth one.” He raised his hand again, and pointed the thing he held at the bartender.

Hastily, the bartender put his hands up. “S-sir, put down the gun. I’ll drop the cost, promise.”

“Pu’ down the gun?” The stranger thought about it. “Nah.”

BANG!

The five men in the corner all stood up in unison. They didn’t run over to the bar, instead they walked slowly, confidently, on a V formation. The leader looked down at the stranger, leveling him with a menacing stare. “You just cost us a safe haven to meet,” he said in a low voice. “You’re gonna have to come with us.”

The stranger shook his head. “No, I don’...don’ think so.”

“We’d rather not make any more stains on the floor, if you mind,” the leader growled. Behind him, the other four shifted, reaching into pockets and below jackets.

The stranger laughed. “Dude, y’think I care abou’ where I die? Nah. I’ll be goin’ downstairs any way ya slice it.”

“Very well.” The five men advanced. The stranger raised his gun.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A few moments later, Chase sat on the sidewalk outside the bar. Sometimes he wondered how Jackie had any trouble with these guys. Only two of them had been carrying guns. He’d been quick, even in his current, ah, state of mind. Tolerance came with advantages. And then, with the remaining three...well, there was a reason they said to never bring a knife to a gun fight.

Chase took his phone out of his pocket, opened up his contact list, and selected a single name. He dialed the number. On the other side of the line, the phone rang, and rang, and went to voicemail. Chase rolled his eyes. He was probably asleep, but whatever. He could wake up for this. It took three more attempted calls before somebody finally picked up. “Hey, Jack?” Chase said. He began playing up his slur. “C'n you...c’n you come pick me up? ’M at 342 Whittenburg...yeah, I was, why does’t matter?...really? you’d le' me walk home, on my...on my own? I dun rem’ber the way...nah, dun haf cash...thanks, dude, yer the-the best. ‘M outside, dun need to go in.” With a click, he hung up.

This had been a good night.

You know those people who try to use their mental illness as an excuse to act shitty? Yeah...that’s Inverted!Chase. Just like canon Chase, he has depression and suicidal tendencies, but unlike canon Chase, he knows that saying such things garner sympathy from others. He can get away with a lot just by using that as an excuse, which, you know, you really shouldn’t do.

Inverted!Chase has absolutely no regard for his life or anyone else’s, so he has nothing to lose, making him dangerous. He’s often jealous of other people who have it “better” than him, whether that’s true or not. Sometimes that leads to excessive use of his gun. Sometimes he projects his death wish onto others, and that also leads to excessive gun use. Either way, murder is a terrible coping mechanism.The only people who are “immune” to this are the other Inverted!boys, who he actually likes. He’s still not over Stacy, and really want to get her back. Usually his methods of doing so involve trying to guilt her, but it’s entirely possible he’ll go to more extreme methods in the future.

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Epi: Meat p7 reaction

Well, seeing as to what movie I just watched on Sunday. "We're in the Endgame now." :O I wonder if it'll switch back to Earth C before showing us (the tail end of) the Masterpiece scene.

I'm curious to know how truthful Caliborn was about the scene, what he may have omitted from his retelling (the presence of the leprechauns, maybe?), and also how it concluded. I wonder if it'll be told from Dirk's perspective, after the B1 kids have been stolen. He's got the closest connection to Cal and Arquiusprite, after all. I wonder how his perception of his puppet might have changed, too. For all we know, LOTAK might have been ripe with allusions and phropecies regarding the thing, thanks to his denizen. That's another thing connecting him to LE, after all: Yaldabaoth. Just cause he never went into the Lion's Mouth doesn't mean he didn't harvest every bit of intel and backstory. This is Dirk 'Batman Gambit' Strider we're talking about.

---

"The boxing bell is going off like it's having a fit." Well, I did ask for Dirk's perspective. :P Wrong Dirk! Okay, so it seems like the POV will be changing hands like a baton pass on Earth C. That would mean we're in for Rose's POV next, and I wouldn't mind that. Tight-lipped as she would still be even in her own mind's narration about her plans, it'd be nice to see things from her end!

"Dirk has to stick a finger in one ear to hear what Rose is saying over the cacophony of boos and buckets being lobbed toward center stage." Not sure if it would be worse or not for trolls to have thrown that bucket.

"He considers it all pretty fucking annoying, so he flips off the crowd and jumps the ropes. Always a good idea to abscond from the stadium before the customary show-end riot hits full swing." ... So his whole upset-the-audience-into-rioting is par for the course? Dear god, are all his fans hooligans? ... That actually runs pretty close to what happened in AIDS, come to think of it.

"ROSE: It’s not so much “what is up” as “what is down,” the answer to which is, proverbially: Me." Down for the count, not down in the brooding caverns, naturally. You know, since she's ascended to the highest top of the surface.

"ROSE: I mean that both physically and philosophically by the way.

DIRK: You’re down philosophically?

ROSE: Yes.

DIRK: I’m not sure what that actually means.

ROSE: What doesn’t it mean, Dirk." Oh my freaking god, these guys might even be more amazing together than Dave and Rose, it's a sight to behold.

"DIRK: Glad to see that my genetic predisposition for melodrama is still alive and well in my slime-progeny even after all these years.

ROSE: Please don’t interrupt. This is important, and I’ll need all the energy I can spare to sustain even a heavily monologic transmission of the relevant facts." Yes, Dirk, please cut Rose some slack, she only has so few monologues left in her. :P

"ROSE: Anyway, the matter at hand is my “condition,” with which you’re already familiar.

ROSE: I’ve struggled to devise the right way of telling you without causing undue alarm, which would unquestionably trigger the overbearing tendency of yours to “solve the problem” for me, which is not the kind of circumstance my constitution can withstand these days.

ROSE: I can barely lift a wrist to my forehead to telegraph my infirmity, of late. Your bullshit is precisely the thousand-pound feather that could knock me clean through my apartment’s plate glass window." While I don't disagree Rose's condition might be severe, I see she's still well enough to heat a scalding plate of sarcasm. Also, wouldn't Jasprosesprite^2 be better than Dirk at handling her situation? Her feelings for interacting with a clownesk version of herself not withstanding, it's a Rose that already went through the ultimate self thing. Granted, she had fake magic Sprite powers to help her cope, as well as bullshit feline asshole personality issues.

"I’m taking solace in the fact that your infirmity doesn’t seem to have spread to your vocal cords yet." Right, got to remind myself that actual voices are being used to talk with one another. Still not used to it for Homestuck characters doing this when phones are involved. :P The only time it happened in-story was when a "shellphone" was involved, after all.

"ROSE: The bottom line is this.

ROSE: I am ascending, and it is terrible." ... Hmm, could that imply that the Ultimate Self is the last of the god tiers, or pretty high up there, at least? It would take a ridiculous amount of XP, seven years may or may not be enough, but if it's about the accumulation of self-reflection & general knowledge, a Seer of Light would be pretty quick to collect that kind of required boons.

"Rose adjusts her position on the couch with the body language of one about to dive into the latest gossip about a mutual friend. The mutual in this case: her tortured psyche." So the therapist is seeking counsil, in a way, is she? :P

"ROSE: Years of refining my Seer of Light powers have cursed me with what is approaching near infinite prescience. Dwelling in this idyllic post-canon realm has worn down the barriers separating my primary consciousness from the memories and experiences of all my doomed alternate selves, which were forgotten and discarded over the due course of our journey." So that implies they were many, more than we'd assume immediately. There's Dream Rose, Alternate Future Rose, pre-retcon Rose (now Jasprose) & B2 Rose, but it appears there are more still. Well, okay, there's also Reload Rose now, I guess.

"ROSE: As I approach the realization of my Ultimate Self, I cannot stop the extant knowledge from seeping in. I am plagued by near constant visions from the less fortunate versions of myself, as well as a broadening view of the metatextual nature of our existence." She's starting to become self-aware, before you know it she'll be addressing us directly through the Fourth Wall! Well, it's not like we didn't have a smug monologic narrator before. (Did I mean Doc Scratch, Andrew Hussie or Lord English? Yes.)

"ROSE: It drains all of my energy to keep my consciousness focused on relevant events, but even then I am losing my ability to discern what is and is not canonically relevant, let alone what is also true or essential." Well, okay, if she can't even discern between her own life, fanon and fan fiction, she might really have a problem.

"ROSE: And all of this is making me incredibly fucking sick." Rose is getting Homestucksick, is it? :P

"DIRK: Oh. Is that all?" My first thought was: blatant sarcasm. But then... We don't know how far Dirk's powers extend, do we? What shards of his has he had access to all this time, if Brain Ghost Dirk is any indication?

"DIRK: Well, in the spirit of full disclosure,

DIRK: Same." Ooooooh, wow. So it's the same for him? If he was nurturing the mother grub of all splitting headaches all this time, no wonder he pisses on the whole audience experience every time. While he would have more experience juggling disparate experiences, it was already a strain on him back when it was just him and Dream Dirk. Can you imagine him having to jostle Arquiusprite's thoughts & desires, or god forbid, some part of Lord English' experiences too? ... Okay now I'm curious as to what it's like for Dirk.

... Dirk's Ultimate Self experience would have been one of those things I would have liked to see speculation of, back on the old forums. But alas, we're archival readers now, not serial readers. It was not meant to be.

Got to say though. If it's this hard on the god tiers, how must it be for Terezi? Because I'm pretty sure post-retcon Terezi forced an ultimate self revelation on herself through her mindy thing.

It might be that Mind is the aspect best suited at handling all these inflows from doomed timelines and conditional experiences. Or it might be that Heart is, they're related aspects, and Heart is supposed to stand for Soul. It just might depend on where you think the self is defined: in actual experiences, or in the potential for them, realized or not.

"DIRK: We are suffering from the same condition, Rose." So... Does this lend more stake to Dirk's idea for backing Jane, or is it just one of those situations where he can't discern the right course of action any more, that Rose was referring to?

"She allows several rare conversational beats to pass in silence between them, to process the admission." That's how you know things are grave, when Dirk and Rose stop talking.

"DIRK: I guess I used the wrong phrase. You are suffering from it. I am adapting to it.

DIRK: I already have, really." No, wait, THIS is how you know things are grave: when Dirk insists he's got a handle on things. "Adapting", like he's the AI version of himself, not the human version.

"ROSE: When were you going to tell me this?

DIRK: When you were ready.

ROSE: So you have determined that I’m ready to receive this rather critical piece of information now, of all times?

ROSE: What distinguishes the present from the other moments you could have mentioned it?" Well, isn't today the day that things become relevant again, Rose? April 13th? :P

"DIRK: Wow. Well, when you put it that way, it makes me sound like kind of a dick.

DIRK: But I guess it isn’t far from the truth, either." Well, you already sound like kind of a Dirk, most of the time, so

"

ROSE: Unbelievable.

DIRK: Look, it’s not something you just spring on people that frivolously.

DIRK: “Hey folks, just so you know, the boundaries of my awareness are coming apart, and now I know almost everything, about everyone, everywhere.”" "I can see into forever!" Okay, so it was more Dirk's low self-esteem springing up again. He was waiting for someone to "get it" and make the first move. So, is the omniscience thing coming from Arquius' unfathomable depths of AI? Or its connection to Doc Scatch???

"

DIRK: “Also, the process should be tearing my body apart, but actually I’m handling it quite well. Thanks for the concern though.”" Imagine Dirk as the dog in the "This is fine" image.

"DIRK: There will be time to explain all this.

DIRK: Despite whatever appearance of callousness I’ve maintained in withholding this information from you, I actually do have your best interests in mind. I don’t want to wear you out on this call." Gotta say, omniscient Dirk working behind the scenes with whatever boatload of narrative information he has on hand is both assuring and worrying.

"DIRK: For now, I’ll just mention that I’ve been alert to your problem for some time, and I’ve been devising a solution which should permanently remedy it without compromising the boon of your expanding consciousness." ... Definitely tipping back into worrying. It's for the lack of kernelsprites on Earth C that I'll give Dirk the benefit of the doubt, for now.

"DIRK: Would love to tell you, but I’ve got some work to do. Why don’t you stop by my studio later so we can hash this shit out in person." ... I dearly hope his solution isn't: "Here, upload your consciousness into this Rosebot. There! All the limits of your feeble immortal biological coil, removed."

So, Dirk (and Jake) have a studio, Rose has an apartment, Dave 'n Karkat 'n Jade a hive, John a house. I wonder if Jane has ended up owning a mansion of sorts (the White House doesn't count... yet).

Also, Dirk hashing things out is funny, because of Dave's former sylladex mode: hashmap.

"

DIRK: Right now, you should get some rest." Hmm, Blaperile has some theories rest might help her condition. I wonder if, through sleeping or some other process, Rose might be able to actually 'act' through her alternate selves. What if she could make contact with Reload Rose, send her some bits of the bigger picture without overloading her with information?

"ROSE: Actually, I’m feeling oddly invigorated suddenly. I think I’m good for more exposition, if you are." ... Okay didn't see that coming. Either she's scathingly sarcastic right now, or we're in for a treat.

"DIRK: Can’t say I’m surprised. But no." Nothing to perk up Rose better than the promise of secrets not yet revealed, I guess!

"ROSE: Have I caught you at a bad time?

DIRK: Nah, but there is an election coming up, and my work as a political operative is going to be absolutely essential for the fate of humanity." See, Rose could think Dirk is being falseful, but she's nearing omniscience so probably not. Still, Dirk is forgetting to include other species' fate in his calculations, not just humanity's.

"ROSE: I see. Wheels within wheels, I assume?

DIRK: There are always wheels. Wheels are everywhere.

DIRK: They aren’t my wheels or yours. The wheels don’t have owners or designers, but they do have caretakers.

DIRK: They won’t keep turning on their own without someone to grease the mechanism." This is turning into a Dave metaphor again. ... But hmm, that's a mechanics metaphor he's using. Is that a reference to that Rosebot I theorized about... or Arquiusprite? Cause if Rose could act through Reload Rose, Dirk could act through either his Reload self or Arquiusprite! Here's to hoping there isn't a shard in Lord English influencing his behaviour, or reading his every thought and intent.

"the full brunt of the sunset: purple and orange, blending brilliantly on the horizon." I see what you did there. Yes, Dirk and Rose's first actual conversation was brilliant.

"She’s right about him, he thinks. While his ecto-daughter views herself as having a somewhat deft artistic hand that lends itself naturally to a gentle push-and-pull style of influence, Dirk knows his methods are mechanical, like those of an engineer. There is nothing adaptive or interpretive about his method. Every piece has a purpose, a slot, an interlocking mechanism that is functionally pointless without the whole." Yes, it's been pointed out on occasion Rose is quite elegant in her ways. Those ways don't include tidying her room, but still. With the visuals being used to describe both of Rose 'n Dirk's different takes on influencing people, I am reminded of how Names in the "Practical Guide to Evil" story feel different for each person. For one, like putting on a tailormade pair of gloves, for another, like observing the methodical churning of a machine. I already felt quite a few times reminded of Homestuck while archive-reading PGtE (not done yet!), it's only fitting it now goes the other way around again.

Also, thinking about the wheels metaphor has gotten me thinking about LOHAC, and now I have the Clockwork theme from the Medium album stuck in my head.

[akaluan]

WIPs And Me

Hahahahahaha... ... hah... ha...

Okay so. I’m basically sitting down and taking an accounting of what I have in progress RIGHT NOW (as in have words written for) and then I’m going to try to prioritize things so that I actually get things done.

(Y’all can weigh in a bit on priority, but keep in mind that I’m probably going to be pretty firm about the rankings I initially pick.)

(Doing a cut cause this is huge)

(Also, permanent link to this list HERE. since I decided to turn it into an actual page that I can more easily update and not lose.)

Dragon Eclipse Verse WIPS

Dragon Eclipse itself. 100% S Ranked priority, top of my list, I’m working on this every weekend at the very least.

A Dragon Flaps Its Wings. Probably B-Ranked priority? I really do want DE main story done first.

Shattered Eclipse. E-Rank. I’m not thrilled about this verse, it’s hard to write, it hurts a lot, it deals with themes I’m not always capable of facing. Just... definitely not a priority to me. I’ll get it done eventually, because I’ve got nearly 10k words written for it, but... eck.

Dragon Eclipse Side-Stories: lots of these, lesgo:

Karakura Crew Viewpoint: S-Ranked, second only to DE itself. I’d like to get it caught up to current DE chapters soonish. I need to finish Uryuu’s viewpoint during the training, then a scene during dinner, the early morning discovery of jinzen, and the moment Kaito separates and what the others do after that point

Learning Shinigami Sealing: B-Ranked, I need to consider if this actually needs another part or not. It feels pretty good where it ended, but there’s other things I could add

Shiro + Sewing: B-Ranked, cute little scene, not very long, needs finishing. This one actually shouldn’t be too bad to finish off

Tatsuki Requests Training: A-Ranked, I really want to get this done and out. It’s already like 3500 words, but there’s a whole lot of stuff I’d like to cover in this side story, including the friendship that grows between Tatsuki and Kaito that eventually results in her calling him “Kai” during the xmas scene

Kaito Napping Around the Teens: D-Ranked, just a cute little scene that shows Kaito trusting the crew enough to fall asleep in their presence, and the things some of them notice. Not really a big deal, just something cute

Relaxing Together: A-Ranked, I want this scene done, it’s already basically done, I just need to find a good end point

Meeting Ryuuken: B-Ranked, not quite as high priority as the rest cause I haven’t posted any of this, but... this is Kaito meeting Ryuuken for the “first” time. It’s... not a particularly happy moment. I feel it’s important tho.

Kisuke Confronts Ryuuken: B-Ranked, follows from Meeting Ryuuken scene. It’s uh... Angry!father confronts Annoyed!Ryuuken, basically. Look Things Happen in the previous scene and Kisuke is Not Happy.

Kaito Discovers Kurotsuchi’s Death: C-Ranked, follows from Tiger Protects. I like this one, but as I haven’t posted any bit of it, not quite so high on my priority list.

Christmas Fluff: A-Ranked, I’d like this DONE. WHOOPS.

The Zanpakutou Rebellion: D-Ranked, there’s some important stuff going on in this one, but I need to know a bit more about how Kaito interacts with a few Shinigami before I can really focus on this, also it’s probably going to turn into a proper full story arc instead of just the “reveal who I was” oneshot that I posted

Dragon Wings/Dragon Eclipse AU Crossover: C-Ranked, super awesome, I love this so much, but it’s literally an AU that’s not canon at any point? It’s purely self-indulgent hilarity that’s turning into Deep And Meaningful Content and WHY IS THIS MY LIFE.

Shattered Eclipse Side-story, Outside Looking in: E-ranked, I need to be working on SE before I want to work on this one at all, since it’s Ryuuken and Isshin’s POV (currently, more chars might be added as I write) that follows SE.

Things Unrelated To The DEVerse

Unnamed Werewolf AU: A-Ranked, honestly. I’m really getting interested in writing this via all the reading I’ve been doing. Unfortunately this means I need to find a title, whoops

Our Attain[AB]le Dreams: B-Ranked, I love it to pieces, but I need to sit down and do it right if I’m going to continue this

Drunken Uryuu: A-Ranked, basically done, needs tidying up. Takes place before the crew gets teleported into the Nier: Automata world.

We’re Listening This Time: B-Ranked, I feel like this is going to end up being a long one, but I’d like to end NOEL on a happy note finally, for those who want a bit of optimism in their lives after me ripping their heart out in NOEL.

Soul Gifts AU: B-Ranked, I’m actually really interested in this too, especially since Tatsuki gets a major role in kicking ass and taking names.

It’s Only A Small Dragon: D-Ranked, I know this was a drunken oneshot I wrote, but the idea’s been festering a bit in the back of my head and I’ve been making a couple random notes here and there about it. It could be pretty fun.

Unnamed Epilogue Fix: D-Ranked, Uryuu goes mad-scientist and goes back in time because seriously screw the epilogue. Potentially very fun, but not a big deal to me at the moment since I have all of about 300 words written for it

Unnamed Kid!Fic: E-Ranked, Ichigo awakens as a Quincy at his mother’s death, Uryuu finds him, cue childhood friends who no one else realizes are friends.

Unnamed Theater Kid!Fic: E-Ranked, making an assumption on early schooling and putting Ichigo and Uryuu into the same theater club together. This becomes theater-trained-from-young-age teenagers coming face to face with Shinigami shenanigans and basically being little shits about everything because why not.

Things Unrelated to Bleach Fic

Oh look, I’ve branched into the MCU too, whoops.

Clouded Silver Wings: A-Ranked, it’s fun and a different style of writing than my Bleach stuff, so it’s basically a good gear-switch. Also it’s sitting on AO3 unfinished right now so I should probably stop being a dork about it and write more.

Unnamed Fireborn/MCU crossover: C-Ranked, BUT DRAGONS! But basically I haven’t written much to this, so it’s not really a high priority on things to get off my plate, also it’s gunna be long because it’s starting before Iron Man 1 so yeah.

Unnamed Breath of Fire/MCU Crossover: E-Ranked, what even is my brain, why do I keep doing weird crossovers, I’m so exasperated at myself. Is there a switch I can turn off to stop this from happening? And why am I only doing crossovers in MCU, wtf brain.

And then my poor, lonely HP/Loz fic.

Scholarly Savior: E-Rank, probably pretty fun, but I’m not quite on the same HP kick as I was when I started this, so it’ll be a while I think.

[pilferingapples]

Les Mis 2k Pt. 2.2: The Trainwreck Crashes into The Barricade

IT'S REVOLUTION MAYBE! For...Reasons! please don't ask me to explain the politics unfolding in this disasterpiece, I can't, I can't at all, but there is definitely a Revolution brewing and we know it because Enjolras is BOUNCING, it's the Best Day of His Life , but Marius doesn't want to join in because he's got Cosette to take care of now and Enjolras is like "I Am Sad To Lose Your Company But Respect Your Choices!" and then they sorta cuddle 

...I'm not kidding

also  Marius is living with Enjolras now, because What's a Courfeyrac 

Enjolras has an apartment PLASTERED WITH REPUBLICAN FLYERS, super discreet; also he somehow has a WHOLE PRINTING PRESS in his bachelor pad?? HOW, WHY 

uh meanwhile back at the Rue Plumet Valjean has pulled his COME COSETTE WE MUST AWAY and Cosette fainted so now they're staying?? Valjean just has Toussaint douse the fire and make the house look shuttered up , and he's relieved when the fighting breaks out because it means the cops will be occupied

- also somewhere in all this, EPONINE LEADS THE ROBBERY ON THE RUE PLUMET, that's what she promised her gang in exchange for breaking her dad out of prison (she changes her mind though? there's no real logic in this, or anything else about this adaptation), the gang decides to let the robbery drop because there were two sparrows fighting, bad omens, Dad Thenardier is pissed though?? SHE'S SO LOYAL TO YOU DUDE, LET IT GO 

-uh the letter thing goes as usual except Cosette has to toss it to Eponine from her balcony because , again, VALJEAN IS HOLDING HER PRISONER IN HER ROOM  

- THE BARRICADE is actually a really good barricade! It's a shame everything else is terrible!

-The Bounciest Enjolras AND COURFEYRAC blow off Gavroche's warning about Javert?? they're like "no it's cool we're expecting lots of cops and soldiers to join our side" like MAYBE but you could AT LEAST ASK?? they don't, not until Javert acts SUPER SUSPICIOUS for Quite A While and then of course he's Javert and they tie him up with an inescapable ENTIRE ONE CIRCLE OF ROPE  >_< 

OTHER BARRICADE HIGHLIGHTS let's just get this all out of the way:

- Gavroche and not Mabeuf puts the shattered flag back up, which is fine, except Gavroche ALSO gets shot, which is not Fine but is potentially narratively solid, except after being CLEARLY shot in the chest (and Courfeyrac grabs Gavroche as he falls etc) , Gavroche LAUGHS AT EVERYONE and bounces-BOUNCES-- back up onto his feet and goes back to running around, the kid is seriously immortal 

-Sometime around here Valjean reads Cosette's letter on the blotter and starts cursing her for pretending to be sweet while he takes care of her WHILE SHE LOVES ANOTHER MAN, HOW DARE SHE, and it's *exactly* as gross and messed up as you might be thinking

- Bahorel dies in the first charge! Except...maybe he doesn't? He kind of keeps moving around doing things for a good while, but then I guess he realizes he's blowing his cover and lies down 

- Eponine gets shot! A lot! And then goes wandering around the barricade scene like No Big, looking for Marius, and then when she finds him she falls over in his arms like "I suddenly can't stand up, I don't know"

- Marius hangs around while she talks and SPITS BLOOD EVERYWHERE and is Very Concerned until she mentions Cosette's letter and then he's like COOL THANKS BYE GTG SEE MY GF , Eponine has to*beg* him to come back and stay with her while she's dying?? it's so funny, it shouldn't be but it IS, oh gad, it's like a parody of that scene

-"This shouldn't be funny but I'm cracking up" becomes a running theme

-OH ALSO Fauchelevent now leaves the convent to join the army? Yeah he's still alive somehow. Also the Army wants  a 70 year old with a crap leg, I guess. 

-Marius tells Enjolras it's been real but he's gotta get back to Cosette, Enjolras is like YOU DO YOU BRO, GLAD IT'S ALL WORKING OUT FOR YOU with ZERO SARCASM, also apparently people can just leave the barricade whenever I guess

-Gavroche does his bullet-gathering and the army shooting at him is like DON'T HIT HIM, HE'S JUST A KID, as they keep shooting at him. I mean it doesn't MATTER, they hit him multiple times and he doesn't care, he just keeps bopping along and singing without a break, until , like Bahorel and Eponine before him, he realizes he's blowing his cover on the whole Actually Immortal thing and lies down

- I mean that, all of them are just like OH FINE I guess I'll carefully sit here now, ugh, whatever, okay, lemme set my alarm

-Oh also yes at some point Valjean cuts Javert free blah blah, as it goes, but it's kind of a massive nonevent, y'all are gonna think I'm skimming this because I'm biased but no really this adaptation just makes it Not Matter Any when it happens, Javert seems about as annoyed as I am when I want onion rings but I have to get fries , this adaptation--y'all, it is Not Very Good

- apparently the Guards would let everyone live if Enjolras and Courfeyrac would just give themselves up but E&C aren't about that because the Guards are jerks? anyway it hardly matters since the Rue de Mondetour is OPEN FOR BUSINESSS ANY TIME, LEAVE IF YOU WANT, FOLKS, LITERALLY NOTHING IS STOPPING YOU

- Anyway then there's the Final Assault on the barricade and FAUCHELEVENT LEADS THE CHARGE and then Valjean sees Enjolras about to shoot Fauchelevent and is like ENJOLRAS NUUUUUU but Enjolras shoots him and it's supposed to be very Dramatic but I'm sorry it's slow mo and hilarious 

- Marius gets hit with debris while Valjean's trying to help him escape and that's why he's unconscious and then Valjean drags him into the sewers EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE AMPLY ESTABLISHED THE RUE MONDETOUR IS OPEN FOR ALL YOUR ESCAPING NEEDS , Valjean just feels the sewers Call Him 

-Valjean spends like ten seconds in the sewer before getting out, the carriage ride is Whatever, there's a funny bit with SUDDENLY APPEARING GILLENORMAND, but the IMPORTANT thing here is that Valjean gets Javert to take him home to Cosette , says hello to her, and LOCKS HER IN HER ROOM AGAIN BEFORE LEAVING (he thinks) FOREVER, NO EXPLANATION OF WHY, he just tells her Toussaint will let her out?? Sometime?? HOLY SHIT 

Oh also we never actually see the barricade finish?? I'm deciding the revolution succeeded, Gavroche, Eponine and Bahorel all got back up , REPUBLIC RESTORED EVERYONE GETS ICE CREAM, why the hell not, reason has no reason here and matter doesn't matter!

-anyway Javert is gone and I'm calling this a wrap for the barricades and NEXT TIME EVERYTHING IS WORSE 

[la-mariposa-azul-94-blog]

You’re My What?! Ch. 11: What Should Have Been [Slow Updates]

Alright so 1.)This chapter is a huge departure from what it has been so far. It's a lot more serious then the other chapters, but I am hopping you guys will still love it! Also forewarning it is pretty long too >.<

“Tony? Tony wake up…Tony!” “Ugh…sleeping, leave me alone…”Having been slightly pulled out of his sleep by Pepper, Tony instantly became annoyed and tried to ignore her attempts at shaking him awake. “Anthony Edward Stark! You wake up right now!” Being a bit more alert now, his eyes still closed, the billionaire took instant notice that the voice that spoke to him wasn’t Pepper’s voice. Scrunching his brows together in confusion, the stranger’s next words had the man shooting into a straight up sitting position on his bed. “Tony, wake up! I think my water just broke!” Whipping his head to his left, Tony found himself face to face with a distressed looking Latin woman. As he continued to stare at her, Tony quickly realized that he was looking at none other then.. “Milagros?”the name came out as a confused mutter, his mind racing to understand what was going on. “What? Tony this no time to be fucking around! Call the Midwife already, before I end up giving birth right here on the bed!!” shaking his head somewhat clear, Tony looked down to his ex’s stomach, and indeed he saw that it was significantly enlarged. “Oh..Oh!! Uh…Wha-what do I do? Where, how?!” Realizing what was happening, the man became overwhelmed as he was never good at dealing with these kinds of situations. “Tony? Tony, look at me!” Tony froze, as a pair of hands suddenly took hold of his face, forcing him to look at the raven before him. “Tony, you need to be the calm one here, alright? I am the one who is in pain, so get your head on straight, and just call the midwife so we can have our baby already. Alright?” he didn’t know why or how he found himself in this moment, but at Milagros words and soft tone, Tony found himself doing as he was told without question, Grabbing the phone from his nightstand, Tony found that his body seemed to be on autopilot as it seemed to know what number to call and where to go to get everything set up for a Home Birth in his old childhood mansion. As his body raced around, his mind looked around in utter confusion. However, as soon as the voice of an exhausted sounding Rhodey came from the other line, Tony’s mind seemed to lose all previous confusion, as he suddenly seemed to know what was going on and what to do. “What do you want, Tony..It’s like four in the morning, you know that?” “Hang on, give me a second..” Completely ignoring his best friends complaint, Tony called out to JARVIS “JARVIS, get Linda up and get her to come up here now!” “Linda is already on her way up sir. She is currently gathering up the last of the items for the birth.” Nodding his head, Tony suddenly remembered his friend and got back on the phone. “What is going on, Tony?” “You need to get down here now, Milagros is going into active labor!” At Tony’s words, he could hear his friend falling off of his bed in what seemed like a rush on his part. “What?! Like..now?!” “Yes now! Get over here as fast as you can, Rhodey, I’ll have my pilot come get you!” “Alright man, I‘ll get there as soon as I can.” As soon as Tony sent out his privet jet to go get Rhodey from his mansion in Malabo, he hurried up and got the tub ready for the birth. Going back to a highly stressed Milagros, Tony saw that Linda the Midwife was already with her. Going over to them, he helped get Milagros to the room where the birth would be held. Once in the room, all that was left to do, was to wait until Milagros was fully dilated. “Ahh! You did this to me, asshole!” as Milagros yelled this at Tony, he could do nothing but laugh at her lightly and apologize for the umpteenth time. “I said sorry already, alright honey, but it wasn’t all my fault. Remember, it takes two to tango…Ouch! Alright, alright I deserved that..” for his smart comment, Tony had received a nice slap to the back of the head.                                              ~Twelve hours later~ “Alright, Milagros just a few more pushes! Come on, just a little more sweetheart!” “Ahhhh!! I can’t! I-I just c-can’t anymore.” “come on Milagros, you can do this!” even with both Happy and Rhodes trying their best to encourage her to keep going, the young mother to be had appeared to loose the will to keep trying. Milagros had been pacing around for ten hours in pain, before she was finally dilated enough to begin pushing. Sense then two hours had passed with no progress, as the birth became complicated just like her entire pregnancy had been. Seeing Milagros in pain and defeated, Tony knew he had to do or say something. anything to get her to keep going. Thinking quickly, he leaned forward and took her chin into his free left hand, making her look at him as he spoke. “I know you’re hurting, honey, but you have to keep trying. You’ve made it this far into the pregnancy, and beside that you made it this far with me. If you can handle me, then you can handle this, so just give it another few tries, alright? For me and for the baby.” as Tony had been speaking, everyone in the room had gone silent, not just to see if his words would work but because it was so rare for Anthony Stark to get so serious and vulnerable. Knowing this, Milagros closed her eyes for a second, as Tony gave her an encouraging kiss on the hand. Taking a deep breath, she opened her tired eyes and nodded her head signaling that she was ready to try again, “Mmmmmhhmmm!!” clamping her jaw shut, Milagro’s muffled screeches of pain nearly drove Tony over the edge, as he continued to hold her hand and encourage her along with everyone else. Finally, after three more pushes, Linda saw that the baby was beginning to crown. “Oh! Oh she’s crowning Milagros! One more push sweetheart, just one more big push and you’ll be all done!” Hearing the news, Tony became excited, and Milagros became determined to give birth to their child once and for all. “AAAHHHH!!!!” Letting out a loud screech of pain as she pushed for the last time, Tony had to hold back his own scream of pain as he felt his hand being crushed far worse then before. Finally, finally after all the struggling and pain, a sudden popping sound was heard along with a chain of events. As soon as the noise was heard, Milagros instantly fell back against the tub and let out the longest sigh of relief mixed with a small sob. However, Tony was only able to have his attention on her for a second, before the sound of a little screech could be heard to his right. Turning, he felt his entire world suddenly stop and everything and everyone, besides Milagros disappear, as his mind zeroed in on the baby that was crying in the arms of the Midwife. Stunned, he watched as the baby was handed over to a sobbing Milagros, completely forgetting that he had had someone privately hired to take photos of the entire labor and post labor. “Tony, l-look, it’s our b-baby. Isn’t she b-beautiful? I thought w-we could name her Isabella, and I wa-wanted to have her middle name be Maria after your m-mother.” Looking to the woman that had just given birth not even five minutes ago, and his wife, Tony felt like he was looking at two angels, and he realized that tears had began to sting at his eyes. For once, he could care less, as he nuzzled the young mother’s head with his and looked at their child. “She’s perfect. You did great, Milagros.” Smiling tiredly at him, Milagros nuzzled her head in the cork of his neck as they both looked at their child. Taking the small blanket, Tony placed it over the baby, and then he took her into his arms. “Look at you, baby girl. Look, you already got your old man wrapped around your tiny finger, huh? You’re going to be my little trouble maker aren‘t you? I promise, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”                                                 ~Le little Montague~   After Isabella was born, Tony had Rhodey become her Godfather, and Milagros had Linda become Bella’s Godmother as they had become close during the pregnancy. Tony had agreed to raise their daughter in his old childhood home, but they would all still go back to the Malabo home during holidays, vacations, and summer. Time seemed to go unusually fast after Isabella was born, as she went through all the stages of growing up as a Stark. She graduated high school at thirteen, went straight to college after that and graduated at seventeen like her father had from MIT. Though she was beyond smart, Tony always made sure that he didn’t push his daughter too far, and allowed her to grow up as normally as he could help her do so. Sure, they had their disagreements, some even being really bad fights, but as Tony had said to Isabella when she was born, she had him wrapped around her finger from moment he found out Milagros was pregnant, After his kidnapping, Isabella had been the one to help a lot with the search and rescue of her father, and had been right there when he announced that the company would no longer be dabbling in weapons manufacturing and when he agreed to join The Avenger‘s Initiative, It had been hard to grow up under the constant view of the world, and at times Milagros would keep Isabella back at the mansion while Tony had to go back to New York or Malabo for work, which was often, Eventually, Milagros got sick and fainted while she was preparing dinner, and Bella had to be the one to call Tony to come to the hospital. Once there, he had her flown to his house in Malabo, where he had JARIVS check her out, as the hospital had claimed nothing was wrong. JARVIS confirmed that Milagros was in the late stages of brain cancer. Shortly after the discovery, Milagros died two weeks before Milagros nineteenth birthday. At this time, all the other Avengers had befriended the entire Stark family, and were there for Stark and his daughter. Suddenly, time froze again a year after Milagros had passed away, and Tony found himself in the living room with all the Avengers and Isabella. As he noticed this, he felt once more confused as he watched Isabella jumping up and down like she had won something. “Tony, you alright?” Turning, the older Stark looked at his friend Bruce. “Sure he is! He’s just upset because he didn’t catch me! So now he can‘t say he won Hide and Seek like he wanted to!” Blinking, Tony looked at Isabella and then at everyone else. “Wait dad…are you actually alright?” Shaking his head clear, just so he wouldn’t worry his daughter, Tony quickly composed himself as best he could. “Me? Of course I’m fine, and I just let you wi, kiddo.” Rolling her eyes, Isabella scoffed and went back to celebrating her victory. “Yea sure you did, dad.” Everyone still noticed how Tony seemed to be a bit out of it, including Bella, but they all just chalked it up to his random moments of sadness he would get when thinking of Milagros at moments like this. However, Bruce kept his hand on Tony’s shoulders, as everyone and everything around them seemed to freeze for no apparent reason. Keeping a sad yet understanding smile, the eerily calm male spoke in a soft tone. “This is what should have been. Don’t worry though, you might not be able to get all the lost years and important moments back, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go ahead and make new ones with her. Isabella still needs a father just as much as she did before. You got Tony…Now wake up…” Towards the end, Bruce’s voice became more and more faint, turning into a whisper by the time he instructed the billionaire to wake up. Feeling confused, Tony was about to ask what he meant, when suddenly he was thrown into darkness, where he heard a faint yet worried voice calling out to him. Assuming it to be Milagros, Tony shoot up in bed, looking around for his wife, only to find a very worried Pepper sitting up in bed beside him. Realizing that everything that had just happened was only a dream, Tony let out a light gasp of shock and overwhelmed feelings as he tried to shake his head clear. “Tony, are you alright? What happened?” Looking to Pepper, he cleared his throat before getting out of bed. “Uh, nothing I’m fine..Uhm I need to go check on Isabella. I’m fine though, just a…weird dream.” after hurriedly putting on a shirt and pants, Tony quickly gave Pepper a peck on her forehead before rushing out to go find Bella. He was about to go to her room, but then realized that she would likely be awake and in the living/bar room by now. As soon as he entered the room, Tony paid no mind to everyone in the room, and walked straight towards his daughter, leaving everyone perplexed and worried as they all got to their feet. “Tony? Are you alright?” wincing slightly as the young female spoke his name instead of dad, Anthony looked at his daughter as the question that came out of his mouth just came out like a flood. “Isabella, I need to speak with your mother, what is her number? What his Milagros number?” As soon as Tony asked this, Isabella dropped the spatula that she had been using to make breakfast for everyone, a gasp escaping her mouth and her eyes instantly watering up.

[awesome-onward-israel14]

Memories from The Holy Land

As my closest friends certainly know, for as long as language has been a part of my life, I have been a collector of words. Random bits of conversation, serendipitous haikus, inspiring passages from a book or magazine -- for me, these are the most precious trinkets. And so, as my Jerusalem experience comes swiftly to an end...I present to you, for the second year in a row, a collection of moments -- some written, some oral -- compiled into a single lexical collage. Each of these snippets is unique. Some were uttered in moments of pain; others, in joy. Perhaps the best of these words, however, were given life in the mundanity of “everyday life.”

All of the quotes are important, representing (a few of) the people and places I have encountered in this utterly transformative year.

Relationships:

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“If I were an 18 year old boy, I would be all over you.” Emily Rose Kearns, phone call from Boston to Jerusalem, February 9

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“I wonder how consent works... for cats.” - Adri, Student village (date unknown)

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“I’m so glad i’m not in love. It was so fucking annoying.” -Michelle, May 8, student village

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“He’s not immature... I just think he’s a psychopath.” -Lena, December 26, phone call from Washington D.C. to Jerusalem

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Lena: You’re still his plan A. She’s his plan B.

Me: But they’re serious.

Lena: You can be serious with a plan B. You can even be serious with a plan C.

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“I want to lose my virginity to David Bowie in a Kimono.” -Adri, February 28

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“I’ve always liked lil wayne. I’m sure  he’s not that little if you catch my drift.” -Not recorded

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Lena: He looks single.

Me: What does that mean?

Lena: Every guy looks single when he’s cute. (Lena, 3/3, Eilat)  

Social Media:

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“I need this caption so i can do my homework.” - Sam, December 6, Jerusalem (on Instagram)

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Culture:

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“That’s what I miss about capitalism. It’s always convenient for you.” -Sam, December 3, TLV.

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“So are the Amish mormon?” -Marie (my Parisian roommate), January 31, Student village

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Life:

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Me: Do you ever eat protein?

Michelle: I eat pasta sometimes...” (May 13)

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“Well to be fair... Squidward was a REALLY bad clarinetist.” -Sam, December 27

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Me: You’re so proactive about finding housing.

Lena: well yes -- I do have doh have a certain sense of urgency that I don’t want to be homeless. (December 26)

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“Saying yes and then backing out is way worse than just saying no in the first place.” - Not recorded

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“Intuition is a very tricky thing. Sometimes it must be acted upon at once, but sometimes it is merely a symptom of anxiety and then it can be very misleading indeed.” -Golda Meir, My Life.

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“But theory is for theoreticians. People are people.” -Golda Meir, My Life.

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“It takes a lot of courage to be afraid-- and still more courage to say so.”

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Out of context:

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“I’ve only been with a woman and i’ll only ever be with a woman.” -Kali, December 2, TLV.

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“I will not adopt a cocaine baby.” -Sam, December 14, Jerusalem

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“I don’t really care enough.. I don’t care about... anything...” -Kyleigh McSherry, February 12

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“Did I ever tell you I used to think my grandfather was Hitler?” - Steven, February 18

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“If I was a guy I wouldn’t be able to grow a beard i’m pretty sure.” - Sam January 2, on the light rail outside of Damascus gate

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“I ate this daffodil once...” -Sam, January something...

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“If the purge was a real thing, I would participate.” -Steven 3/29, 9:38

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French:

“Je ne savais comment m’échapper de moi-meme et, d’ailleurs, ne le désirais nullement.”

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“On voyait bien que j’étais seule, et par malheur libre.”

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“Je voulais renoncer par-dessus tout à la betise que restait inséparable en mon esprit de mes aventures avec les autres, ce que fut l’amitié ou bien l’amour!”

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Thank you to everyone who was a part of my life this year <3 

Cheers to many good times to come. 

[sadisticsmiles]

Beyond a Thief’s Power Episode 14

The Alliance of Thirteen

             It was the afternoon a few days later inside Le Renard Noir. It was an inauspicious day for the guys due to the heat coming into the city. The air conditioner was on full blast, but like every blazing wave arriving before summer, there was not enough cool air for their exhaustion and heavy pants to go away. The sweat dripping from their bodies was what regulated their bodies from the thermal flow.

           Hiro slumped down in his seat in front of the bar counter with his arms stretched out on it while his eyes were closed. "Ugh..." He felt like he was going to pass out soon. "It's... so hot... We're practically dying from the heat...!"

           Riki looked at the youngest member of the team. He was sitting on a seat around the side of the wooden counter and attempted not to complain about the hot atmosphere. "If we're gonna die from the heat anyway, I'd rather fall onto Mitsuki's boobs since they can wrap me into a marshmallow heaven. You guys can dive into the ocean if you can't take the heat wave."

           Kenshi closed his eyes and sweat-dropped. "...I'd prefer shaved ice in a bowl, which Boss is making for us but... If that's what you want to have instead, Riki, I won't say anything about it. I'm just hungry right now, so I'm still waiting like everyone else. Water's nice and all, but let's have some without a salty taste, okay?"

           "Gross," Takuto cracked a comment at the leader of the Black Foxes. "I can't believe you would talk about your wife's chest at a time like this, Riki. She's not a pillow for your convenience during hot weather. And seriously, marshmallows?" His expression and tone of voice became monotone. "How cliché can you be? You're making fun of Mitsuki that way, so don't say anything further about them, will you? You know, you can be pretty insensitive, seeing as it's been part of your personality even before you met her." A smirk appeared on his face. "You should've stopped nine years ago, yet you’re still going on with the perverted remarks? Man, you're not as mature as a lot of people think. All the other women who glance at you would be disappointed if they heard you, not counting magicians of course." His indifferent facial appearance came back in an instant.

           Riki reconsidered what the programmer told him about his wife, and pondered about everything else before he spoke. "You've got a point there. When I think about it, everything about her is more like mochi to the touch." He shook his head. "No, wait. Her skin's a lot softer than that, and she feels nice, too." A confident smile formed on his visage. "I don't know if I should say this or not, but every part of her relaxes me. Hugging her is great, but I also like having her on me when we're together, especially when we're on the bed."

           At that moment, all eyes (Takuto, Kenshi's, Hiro, and Sayuri's) turned towards Mitsuki, who was indeed standing behind her husband with a sweet smile and her large eyes were opened. She was holding onto a few grocery bags in her left hand, and another set in her right one. Kenshi's eyes widened; Hiro's perked up as he kept laying his head down on his folded arms; Sayuri had her reserved and calm expression from before. As for Takuto, he was just... Well, a lot like Sayuri.

           "Uh, Riki?" Takuto asked, averting his gaze towards the former government official.

           Riki did not lose his smile. "Yeah?"

           Instead of telling him that Mitsuki was behind him, the hacker simply answered with a, "You shouldn't have said that." He glanced at the dark purple-haired magician.

Besides, he thought, she's right behind you.

           Riki blinked once and turned his head around to his left, finally seeing his cute yet beautiful wife. He smiled awkwardly. "...Hi there, Mitsuki."

           "...Riki, we need to have a chat about this at home." Mitsuki had closed her eyes when she told her husband that. But her smile was still etched onto her face like a tattoo on a person's body. "Thanks to what you said about me, I'll let you know the details about tonight's mission later before we go on it."

           Riki's eyes widened; he was flabbergasted at the last sentence. "What? A mission? Can't we talk about it now?"

           "No." There was Mitsuki's faint smile again before she turned around to leave.

           Riki got up from his seat and followed after her. "Wait! Mitsuki!"

           After they exited the restaurant, Takuji walked in. Smiling in a friendly manner, he added, "Well, they seem to be having a good time from what I heard down the street. Love sure is surprising when it comes to a human man and female magician, unlike how Asuka and I are both magicians. It must be the most splendid thing ever to hear a guy say debauched things every day."

           Kenshi tilted his head to his left. "Does that make male magicians like yourself pure or somethin'? It sounds like you guys don’t really… you know,” his face was flushed in embarrassment, “take part in stuff like that.” Then the firefighter gulped, letting his eyes move to his right without a head motion. “…”

           The mint-haired young man continued to smile and closed his periwinkle eyes. “You can say we’re more decent than you would believe. Then again, it’s not like we don’t have any knowledge about the things that are done in private. You don’t have to get so nervous about erotic topics, though. Besides,” he raised his right forearm up, “from what my employees have said—and most of them are otakus—adult visual novels for ages eighteen and up are all the hype now, especially… Hehe.” His laugh was unanticipated for Kenshi and Hiro, as the latter raised his head up and the both of them were puzzled. “Gal games."1

           Hiro's eyes widened. "You mean the type of visual novels targeted towards males? The ones that have mainly female characters in them with a few—even a very limited amount of male characters to add to them, right?" He quickly understood what the editorial department CEO meant. "There are some anime adaptions based on them, which have gotten pretty popular during our current century. From the beginning—one of my favorite series, Da Capo2, one of the most lighthearted series with some drama in it, which makes it a must play/watch. I really ship Junichi and Nemu, despite the relationship they have. Teehee." Hiro giggled. "Sorry, Sakura!" He stuck his tongue out slightly in a teasing manner, giving a wink from his left eye. There's also To Heart, Kanon, Air, along with some others." He stopped for a second before continuing. "Oh. But I wish Ina☆Koi3 had an anime adaption so I could listen to the music and compare the soundtrack to the visual novel! The artist makes the characters so cute, and I just adore the opening so much! I even have the Ina☆Koi fandisk, and I can't wait for the next gal game to come out! Go, Swirlpool!4 And we can't forget about Nursery Rhyme and Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni. by Lump of Sugar,5 either!" Hiro's face lit up with an air of rising euphoria. The subject of galge added fuel to his elated fire and gave Takuto, Kenshi, and Sayuri something to say about what he told them.

           "So," Takuto paused, "you'’re a closet fan of gal games. What else do we not know about you, Hiro? By the looks of it, you seem to play a heck lot of them. Is this how you expanded your knowledge of females, and..." He blushed, quivering in his own thermal energy. "...what happens between a man and a woman? Just so you know, I'm not c-curious about that!!" His expression was now furious as he kept his flustered facial expression. "You hear me?!"

           A cat smile appeared on the college student's visage. "Well, I do love the H-scenes if they're steamy enough. The seiyuus also have to appeal to my sense of hearing as well, you know. Before ever continuing an eroge of any kind, the characters' voices are important. For example, if any of the girls have voices that are too high, too low, too quiet, too annoying, etc., they just throw the entire game off." He seemed as though he were scolding someone with his VN lecture. "I mean, what's the point of selling a galge if the characters have inadequate voices? It's a waste of hiring those seiyuus if their pitches aren't perfect! No matter how great a company's reputation is for their works, they shouldn't hire just ANYONE; there needs to be a sense of moderation when it comes to picking the correct person to voice a girl or guy in a visual novel! Second, the plot should be consistent to the description given by the staff. When things get peculiar in a gal game, players don't have much of an interest in it, even if they do play through to the end. Art is essential, too. The character designs and backgrounds are the best when drawn to fit a fictional setting. They also establish the mood and atmosphere of the game, and—" Hiro smirked. "—I'm very picky when it comes to my hobby, so if I get a VN that doesn't match my criteria, I stop playing and I'll throw it away afterward. If I feel like it, I'll just sue some companies for making a rip-off in the first place. Or I'll wait until something happens. In truth, I go to this website where I can request something, and if I get a reply accepting my request, it gets done in a short amount of time. I don't believe miracles can easily exist, but to me, that website gave me some I'll never forget."

           Takuto's eyes narrowed in a nonchalant way. "Thanks for ranting, you 2-D women loving maniac. You're even worse than a co-worker of mine when it comes to visual novels. Anyway, how is it that you have them at your place? You never seemed to have a geeky vibe during all these years."

           "Kenny bought them for me," Hiro replied without another thought.

           "Huh?" Takuto was confused while still having an uninterested expression on his face.

           Sayuri blinked four times with her archetypal quiet state on her face. "Kenshi bought inappropriate games for you? When was this?"

           "During my senior year of junior high," Hiro casually answered. "I was fourteen back then. Speaking of which you and Rina were also the same age as me, weren't you, Sayuri?"

           The orange-haired magician nodded. "Affirmative. But…I can’t imagine you as the type of person who would play adult-oriented games, Hiro. It doesn’t suit your image. In addition, you were at a very young age when you started, so…” She gaze downward, then looked up. “…this means you’re a rule breaker. In other words, some sort of rebel. I do not comprehend since I never knew about this side of you before now. Perhaps I do not know your true self, after all.”

           “Um…” Hiro was having difficulty coming up with his next words. It felt like he was beginning to have some trouble after he had realized his own feelings towards the young woman. At the same time his heart palpitated, and he knew he was blushing. “I-I guess you have a point there, Sayuri. Maybe I shouldn’t have put Kenny through an ordeal like that, but you know, I was trying to l-learn more about different parts of Japan’s subculture because it’s my home country.”

           On no…! he shouted in his thoughts. I can’t speak normally to Sayuri! What do I do?! Ah, it’s getting hot in here! My body can’t take this any longer. Someone help me…!

           At that moment, he could feel himself becoming dizzy—dizzier with each second passing by. His body swayed back and forth, and from side to side, until he flopped down gradually onto the counter he had laid on earlier. His eyes were closed and he was slowly breathing.

           “Hiro!” Sayuri, Kenshi, and Takuto shouted in concern; Takuji, on the other hand, was a little surprised at what had occurred.

           Kenshi placed his right hand on Hiro’s back. His expression was serious and focused. “He’s still alive… He probably got overheated from the heat pouring in from the outside. We should let him rest upstairs in his room.”

           Takuto shot a cool and relaxed glance at the firefighter. ”It’s also hot in the bedrooms. We let the windows open to give some light in them, remember? If we take him to his bed, he’ll feel the blaze scorching his posterior body region. What good will that do, Kenny? We need to cool him down and hydrate him.”

           Sayuri was frantic. She was uncertain as to what she could to do help Hiro regain his senses, but came closer to the youth’s right. She placed her left hand on Hiro’s face, and her right hand on top of his head. She also had a worried and sad look on her visage. “Hiro…” Regardless of the time and place, she allowed her wings to shoot out, compelling Takuto and Kenshi to move back from their seats as a result. Then, Sayuri’s radiant wings began to flap, sending moderately cool winds inside Le Renard Noir.

           The spiky-haired brunet’s eyes slightly widened as astonishment displayed on him.

           Sayuri… he thought. She truly and honestly cares about Hiro. Is it because they knew each other before everyone in the Black Foxes met her? Or, Kenshi sensed an undesirable sensation brimming in his chest, specifically where his heart was, is it something… more? Did their friendship grow while I wasn’t aware of anything that may have happened between them lately? What if… they’ve fallen in love with each another? What am I supposed to do about the likelihood of the two of them developing feelings for the other? Do I… let them know about my own feelings, or do I leave the option of never letting Sayuri know how I feel about her?

           Takuto lowered his eyes at Kenshi and whispered. “Oi, Kenny. You’re letting it show on your face. What if Hiro had seen you? Still, he is unconscious for the time being, but you should hide your feelings a little. You never know what can happen when facts and knowledge are spread around. That’s why you might as well keep yourself composed until this is all over.”

           Kenshi’s flustered expression was transparent enough for anyone to read him as he whispered back. “I-I know, Takuto! G-Geez. What’s with you these days? You’ve been bringing up strange things whenever we talk.”

           An amused look was on Takuji’s face.

           I wonder if I should do anything while I’m here, he thought. I haven’t interfered on my own accord, but it looks like another interesting banter is going on. Sayuri’s paying Hiro Sarashina her undivided attention, while Kenshi Inagaki is anxious about being near them. Hmm. Takuto appears to be the type to observe and take notice on what’s going on. As expected from Rina’s former boyfriend. He’s become a renowned figure for some time now. Not that I’m ready to tell that to him, though. It’d be better if he found out later. The question is: Will the magicians outside of Neon such as myself be able to be of help to this world, which is full of humans—whether they’re corrupt at heart or sincere enough to gain a magician’s trust—and survive through to the end of the approaching fates we’ll have to confront? Hahaha, this is getting corny for someone like me when the results aren’t even given out by none other than…

           The mint-haired magician took out something from his magic pocket, pulling out something from his home in Neon. What was revealed in his hand was a clear drink with what seemed to be small, shredded coconut shavings (?) with something else that looked like mini assorted multi-colored jelly fillings in it. The liquid and tiny solids that were like floating tapioca balls lying internally in the Collins glass as were both vivid and breathtaking to the human eye. Maybe not only to humans. Either way, it was spectacular as it existed only in Neon, the world of magicians. With that said, Takuji walked forward and teleported to where he was behind the counter, setting the beverage in front of the unconscious art student.

           “Come on, wake up now,” he smiled. “You should be fine after getting that fresh breeze. Plus, I’ll be getting some pizza done soon, so take a gulp out of my wife’s blend, Hiro. Sayuri has to leave soon, anyway, so hurry and wake up already.”

           “Mm…” Hiro stirred a bit but slowly opened his eyes as if he had just been shook by Atsumu in the morning for breakfast. He blinked once and looked at the winged magician’s visage. “Sayuri?” He sure did look sleepy. “Did you fan me?”

           Sayuri nodded with her concerned expression still on her face. “You should drink what Takuji brought for now. I have to do make some runs in the Human World until tonight. Takuji will relay the detail of tonight's mission later on."

           Hiro nodded as a reply. "Be careful, okay? Even though you're not a thief and you're occupied with your own goals and objectives, I still think of you as a part of the Black Foxes. Everyone does. No only you, but Takuji and every other magician who are good at heart. When I think about it, we wouldn't be where we are without you guys."

           Kenshi chuckled. "That's true. Saionji may have been the first one we encountered thanks to Riki for falling for her at first sight, but she didn't become a member until years later after Rina's arrival. I guess you guys have plenty of tasks to finish while you're here on Earth, huh? Must be taking a long time since we have far more people than Neon, albeit how large your world is compared to ours. There’re too many sinister people out there to get rid of, but what you guys decide to do with them is up to you, and we'll support your decision, even if it's the worst-case scenario."

           Takuto frowned. "Maybe what we need is for more magicians to act as undercover police agents, seeing as the authorities don't do a lot. While we can't precisely will a rapid change to happen and lower our diverse populations by a number of death penalties on criminals, we'll just have to wait for an era where very few people plot against the good."

           Atsumu and Rina came out of the kitchen shortly after, with the wavy-haired brunet carrying a tray that had glass bowls of shaved ice with different flavors in them; Rina had a few glasses full of drinks on a separate tray. They may have been late, but better that than not showing up.

           "Well we certainly heard a lot, didn't we?" Atsumu grinned broadly. "Yet, the development of events was really intriguing. I felt bad for Riki, but Hiro's rant on visual novels was great, too." He set the bowls on the counter in front of the guys, giving Hiro some 'special treatment' for passing out moments ago. Sayuri glanced at this kind gesture and vanished when Hiro stared at the shaved ice that finally arrived.

           After the winged magician was out of sight, Rina smiled gently and placed Kenshi and Takuto's drinks in front of them. Atsumu took the tray the Magician of Power carried and went back into the cooking area to put them away, before coming back. Takuji had already gone inside to start on the pizza for the group, happily placing the small, circular, and flattened dough in the oven. Then, he adjusted the settings on the machine.

           Takuto glanced at his ex-girlfriend and asked, "Were you even in the kitchen while we were talking about all this stuff? I mean, before the complaints on the weather today?"

           As Rina kept standing behind the counter, the smile on her face did not go away. "No. I was resting at home. I thought I'd stay there until I was well enough to come back here."

           The hacker of the Black Foxes scooted over to his right and patted the seat he previously sat on. "Take a seat."

           Rina's entire expression became softer and she instantly teleported behind the stool Takuto's hand was on. In response, the latter took his hand off, placing it on the counter next to his bowl of light green shaved ice. The blonde magician took her seat and a fuzzy and warm sensation sprung from her chest.

           Hiro took a bite of his grape-flavored shaved ice. The air between the past couple had spread to where he and Kenshi were. His eyes were closed by the time his spoon was in his mouth. "It's so cozy~. I wanna go to sleep but I need to eat this to get my stamina back. What should I do?"

           Kenshi sweat-dropped. "Keep eating your ice, Hiro. And don't forget about your drink. You already passed out once today, so rehydrate your body. We wouldn't want you to miss out on the mission."

           "Hai~!" The twenty-one-year-old youth obeyed and continued to eat at a moderate pace to avoid a so-called 'brain freeze' from happening. He also took a sip from the beverage Takuji took out for him, and his eyes widened in amazement. "Wow! This tastes really good! I suddenly feel refreshed and better than I usually do. It's like everything's so clear and bright, and I'm so positive. I... I'm feeling a lot of awesome emotions at once, it's surreal!"

           Kenshi's eye widened. "Woah, what's in that drink? Hiro's getting so energized! Are there... more gemstones? Wait." He paused. "How did I come to that conclusion?"

           "Because there are," Takuto and Rina said together.

           "Heh?" The firefighter was baffled.

           "That's correct~!" Takuji exclaimed mildly as he walked out from the kitchen, holding the small six-inch pizza that was divided into six pieces for everyone in Le Renard Noir. "Since la boisson was prepared in Neon, it's only natural to have gemstones in something like this, especially to rejuvenate oneself. To be honest, no magician has ever allowed a human to drink or eat something from Neon before. You're kinda lucky to have passed out when you did, otherwise I wouldn't have pulled this from my house." He explained further. "The benefit of our food and beverages is that you gain more than you would believe. Should your body be exposed to magic, so too will parts or even all of you begin to alter into a finer being. Anyway, let's eat." He took a slice of pizza from the top right corner and bit into the slice he was holding.

           Atsumu strolled into the dining area and took a glance over the mint-haired magician's shoulder. "Wow, the pizza smells better than the ones I bake, and it has a better air to it. I wonder what ingredients you used to prepare it. I think I'm about to drool from looking at it. You were making it so fast I could barely see a thing! Plus, there's the fact you were so blurry, I was getting dizzy from watching you do every single thing! Slow down, will you?" His shoulders slumped once he finished what he was saying.

           Takuji closed his eyes. "Not like I can help it, though. I am a magician after all. What I do depends on my being. My mood also comes into play, and how I'm feeling will influence the things I do. So, there's that."

           Takuto narrowed his eyes in stoic-like annoyance. "Give him a break yourself, Beardface. You were being too attentive on what he was doing to quicken what you had decided to do, and man were you gross just now. Magicians aren't like us most of the time. They're meant to be the perfect beings in their own way, but it doesn't mean perfection is key."

           Rina blinked. Is this really how Takuji is in the Human World? His demeanor is so different than what I anticipated.

           "At least there are different ways to consider the concept," the Magician of Power added to the conversation. "Still, we're supposedly known for being 'perfect' in others' eyes. We hear different comments about us, but what's been said shouldn't get in the way of what we do."

           "I'm starving, but that's pretty coolio," Hiro beamed. "Haha!" He took his slice of pizza from the bottom left side he was facing. "Perfect or not, you guys seem like it anyhow. That's what great about you all, and I'm glad you're here." Placing his pizza slice into his mouth, he was fully enjoying the taste with a blissful expression on his visage.

           Kenshi smiled lightheartedly. "Can't say I don't agree, but I like how even magicians have flaws to them. It makes me feel closer to you guys because we have some stuff in common, whether it's just a tiny portion or not. Who's to say we can't get along?" He took his slice and the first bite lifted his spirits up. "Wow! This tastes incredible, dude! Oh, man. I wish you would use ingredients from Neon every day to make food like this! Boss's cooking pales in comparison to yours, Takuji! Mm!" In a matter of seconds, the firefighter gobbled down the slice of pizza. "Think you can make some more? Having one slice and shaved ice with a cool drink to accompany a meal is definitely not enough to fill anyone's stomach—magician or human. I'm grateful enough to eat what you make. So, uh, thanks."

           "Hey!" Atsumu immediately flipped his head towards Kenshi; he was offended by the spiky-haired brunet's comments. "My cooking's not that bad! I try very hard to please everyone with the food I make!"

           "Well if you need some more food to fill your stomach, alright," Takuji opened his eyes and smiled casually. "We still have some time before nighttime comes for the mission to be initiated. I'll get some more for you guys and add some other food to the menu."

           "Awe—" Just as Kenshi was jubilantly answering, Hiro cut him off.

           "Yay!" The college student was glad as well to be able to get more food. "An all-you-can-eat buffet! Magic style!"

           "Looks like Hiro's happy," Takuto noted. "He's having so much fun eating, he won't care about becoming a glutton."

           Rina kept smiling faintly. "As long as he's content, he'll be going on the mission with us."

           "H-Hey..." Kenshi trailed off. He was a bit disappointed no one was paying attention to him.

           Atsumu sighed unhappily. "Now you know how I feel. Serves you right..."

           The two brunets were obviously in the same boat, but the restaurant owner was the one who had a more melancholy atmosphere to him. Of course, who would not be when their cooking gets insulted by someone they trust as a comrade? Either way, they were both hurt by their small group of friends gathered inside the place. In addition, it was going to be a while before they got over their depression and somewhat childish anguish.

  XXX

             It was already dark out during the early hours of the night. Inside Le Renard Noir, everyone was gathered for details on the mission; rather, it was a bit of a review.

           "Here's the plan for this mission," Takuji began. "Since we'll be going to this museum that was once a huge mansion for some wealthy aristocrats, Sayuri, Rina, Mitsuki-san, and I will knock all the 14K members guarding the exterior. That will give you guys a chance to go in, but there will also be some inside, so make use of your best combat abilities. Once you all (the Black Foxes) go in, Sayuri and I will round up all the members from outside and bring them to the police station, which has been upgraded to fit in more law breakers. They will face punishment, as did all the other criminals who have been caught, especially since the magicians from Neon came to the Human World. We do have a few friends who are now manning the prisons, so they'll place whatever judgment they choose on those fiends."

           Hiro raised his right hand. "Um..."

           Takuji kept smiling. "Yes?"

           "I think Kenny wants to say something," Hiro smirked, passing the speaking authority to the sniper.

           Kenshi had a solemn and conflicted expression on his face. "Well... Something came to mind just now about what you said. I was wondering..." He glanced at the mint-haired young man. "...are you... By 'placing punishment' on these people you've caught, does that mean that you'll... kill them for what they've done?"

           "You said it yourself that you would support whatever decisions are made. Thus, they're for the guys in charge of the stations aka prisons to decide," Takuji replied coldly. His expression matched his tone of voice. "You wouldn't care about what happens to those criminals, would you? When you think about your main objective, the reason for the Black Foxes' existence isn't to pity the villains who steal from or harass and harm others, but to bring a sense of peace and justice back to the ones who have been wronged. However, you guys mainly concentrate on artworks and other valuable things. If we don't concentrate on the mission tonight, we'll miss our chance of finding Nao-san."

           Kenshi nodded with a lowered head. "Yeah..." He looked up once more. "But... How are we supposed to do that? We don't know where she lives, so it'd be impossible to meet with her."

           Takuji grinned smugly. "It's actually simpler than you'd expect. This morning, Sayuri and I met with our advisor in the Human World about how we can get to her."

           "What?" Hiro's eyes were ready to pop out.

           Kenshi blinked. "Heh?"

           Takuto replied. "Well, it's not so surprising after what we've all been going through recently. Nao's a powerful magician and she's most likely to have concealed the location of her man's house with her magic. Rina's book was also unable to detect anything, so I'm pretty certain that thanks to the Human World's blockage against most of the magicians' powers, it might also be blocking other magicians' abilities to find one another—maybe even their books' knowledge."

           "However, there's a chance of locating any magician if there's a strong connection between two or more magicians," Rina announced. "It doesn't always work, so perhaps Nao-san set up a barrier after regaining her memories. Anyway, we should listen to Takuji's information since it'll prove to be a big help to us."

           Takuji's smug grin was still plastered on his visage. "As I was saying, we were told that a thief will appear inside the museum. Apparently, he has an interest in the Black Foxes, so he'll break in to catch your attention in tomorrow's news, but we'll have to prevent this from taking place. After all, we're trying to meet him tonight since he knows where Nao-san is. Thus, he'll be the key to finding her. We'll need to send two people to encounter him, so how about sending Hiro and Takuto?"

           Hiro's eyes widened again. "Huh? Me and Takkun?"

           "That's right," Takuji laughed menacingly. "He's going to break into a window from the top upper middle room on your left. Each of the left and right sides of the three stories have three rooms, so there's six for every layer of the house. Therefore, the total number of rooms equals eighteen. In order to successfully get to him in time, everyone else has to barge into the mansion and fight the 14K members before you two go inside. Sayuri and I will go in after we come back from delivering the ones that are knocked out. It shouldn't be so difficult with Rina and Mitsuki-san around. Besides, Swillving will be back in action with her dynamic powers and sharp blade. Make sure to speak with the guy, as well. We need to convince him to take us to Nao-san."

           Takuto said, "I'm not much of a speaker when it comes to a lot of people, but I'll see what I can do. Hiro's gonna have to back me up, anyway."

           "Ugh," Hiro frowned. "Takkun, you're so hopeless. What's the use of having Rina's book fused with your laptop if you're not going to do your part in this?"

           "It's not like it was for nothing," the hacker answered in his stoic voice. "I'll tell him some stuff, but don't forget that we're both going to speak to him."

           Sayuri, who had been staring at the sequence of events in the bar, said, "Let's go. We can't stay here forever."

           Atsumu nodded. "That's right. Justice needs to be done to those triad members. We can't let them get away with what they've done, whatever they may have been involved in. I'll be waiting here like always for you all to return safely so we can enjoy dinner together, no matter how late it is."

           Everyone else nodded and a white light signaled their teleportation and departure to the museum without allowing them to be caught by the 14K members.

  XXX

             With the four magicians' combined powers, the bountiful amount of men associated with the 14K triad were quickly put to sleep, and their bodies collapsed onto the ground.

           Riki gave a nod and stated, "It's show time!"

           The six members of the Black Foxes dashed in; Takuto and Hiro followed as the strategy had called for. With two bright lights—a vivid tangerine one representing Sayuri's powers and a medium sea green for Takuji, the two magicians of fate teleported themselves and the 14K members that were lying outside to the police station.

           Meanwhile inside the museum, the triad members were rapidly being beaten by Riki and Kenshi's martial art skills, while Mitsuki had summoned her weapon's spirit Swillving, a lovely and beautiful lady with long, sea green hair reaching to her feet and imperial red eyes. The weapon in the dark purple-haired magician's hands was a naginata and with each swing, there was a swift attack that hit a bundle of mafia members; Swillving used quick movements and was hard to perceive, hunting down the males in black suits before returning to her master's side. Rina had gone up ahead, leading the hacker and the youngest member of the Black Foxes upstairs after the other three. Once they were on the second floor, she joined the fighting and hit some of the 14K guys with generations of earth and crystals, sending forth many brown stones along with those crystals with an aesthetic nothing the planet could compare to.

           Mitsuki had already gone to the top and third floor, which was being handled by Takuji and Sayuri. The latter pair fought with a combination of thin glowing needle-like structures (Sayuri), and dark metal bits and pieces (Takuji). It took a mere matter of seconds for them to defeat the last group of 14K members. Shortly afterward, a resonating bright, white light surrounded the mansion and the mafia men, and the magicians of fate disappeared to imprison the new batch. Everyone else met on the uppermost floor, allowing Takuto and Hiro burst into the middle left room while the other four waited for their OK.

           Hiro shut the door behind him and the team's hacker to witness the male thief's arrival, which was in...

           3...2...1...

           The glass shattered as a man with purple hair wearing a black suit intruded into the luxurious room. Unlike what they had expected, Hiro and Takuto saw another figure with the male. The second person was in the purple-haired man's arms, and had long, silver hair. From the looks of it, there had to be a girl in the guy's arms.

           So he wasn't alone, Takuto remarked in his mind. He had his laptop in his left hand which was bent over to his side.

           But why is there a girl with him? Hiro questioned in his thoughts as he glanced at Takuto, who met his gaze.

           The light blond shrugged and they both looked back at the two in their far front.

           The purple-haired man had wavy hair and when he raised his head, he opened his eyes, revealing French beige eyes. When his gaze met the two Black Fox members', he was surprised. "..."

           "Hyosuke, what's wrong?" The girl in his arms lifted her head to look at his face, soon following the direction of his gaze to her right. Unlike Hyosuke, she was not surprised to see Takuto and Hiro standing the room they were in. She had ruby red eyes and wore a dark midnight blue long sleeve blazer that was unbuttoned with a white button-down shirt underneath, a palatinate purple tie around her collar and a matching midnight blue miniskirt resembling a school uniform which was completed with black near-knee-length socks and a pair of brown loafers. She blinked and asked, "Are you... the Black Foxes...?"

 XXX

             With everyone including Sayuri and Takuji gathered within the room, they began to converse with Hyosuke and the silver-haired girl.

           "So you see," Hiro said before laughing. "Haha. How should we explain this? We were expecting only one person to come to this museum. It turns out there are two."

           Takuto seemed no different than he usually was with his aloofness. "We needed to meet you, anyway. There's a reason for this encounter tonight, but it looks like we should be asking both of you."

           Takuji closed his eyes and sweat-dropped. "Akio-sama sure did leave an important detail out, didn't he? To think Miyuki was also going to be here. What an interesting turn of events." He sighed, opening his eyes to gaze at the pair who came in from the window. "I must say, it is nice to see you again after three years or so."

           Miyuki, the silver-haired girl, placed her left hand on her hip. "Likewise, it's good to meet you again, Takuji." She looked at the others. "Although, it seems like I've seen a few more familiar faces. It looks like you've met up with a third of our group from high school. Including you and myself, it now makes two-thirds, instead of one." She lowered her eyes towards everyone on her right before glancing back at the mint-haired magician. "Moving on, what exactly did you guys come here for? It seems that it's something important, since you (Takuji) and Sayuri went to meet a member of the Juujouchi family to prevent us from making our way out of here. Well, you did save us some trouble in waiting for your (the Black Foxes) appearance, so thanks."

           "..." Sayuri was staring down at the floor. She looked as if there was something on her mind, and it was as though she were lost in thought.

           While Hiro did not see the orange-haired girl's expression, Kenshi did.

           Sayuri... he thought. It looks like she's having a hard time bringing Nao up, but I'm positive she wants to see her again. They did live together after all, but does Miyuki also have a connection to her? I'll have to do something, so here goes nothing.

           Without any hesitation, Kenshi stepped forward, displaying a stern expression on his visage. "Our plan's already changed, but look. The reason we came to confront you guys is because we believe that you can take us to Nao Aozora. We actually have some things to talk about, but we're likely to need to enlist her help on a battle we'll have to go through in the near future. Think you guys can do us a favor and let us meet her?"

           Takuto was not pleased, and had a wrathful look on his face. Plus, his eyebrows were drawn together. "Hey, Kenny! I was gonna do the talking before you said anything! And you left some parts out, you know!" He turned towards Hyosuke and Miyuki, and his expression quickly became indifferent. "Sorry, but Nao might be the key to defeating a certain woman. If so, the magicians residing in the Human World won't have to die from that woman's powers. I have a theory that Nao has a strategy to defeat her, so we HAVE to meet her and find out if she does have one. She may be a ray of hope for us, and for your..." He shifted his gaze from Hyosuke to Miyuki who was on the former's left.

           "Girlfriend," Hyosuke told the group. "Miyuki's my girlfriend. So uh, I have something to ask too." He stared intently at Takuto. "Do you also know about my brother?"

           "...Yeah." Takuto's reply came about a few seconds later after he had paused. "And we know about his relationship with Nao. There's a possibility he's being protected by her, and perhaps, she's using her magic to protect you two."

           Miyuki's eyes widened. "...Nao-san..." She lowered her eyes once more.

           Hyosuke smiled sadly. "Well my brother does hold the strongest love for Nao-san, even if he hasn't conveyed everything he feels towards her, and I've also sensed that Nao-san has been trying to do more than enough for everyone in the house, which includes our parents. Maybe there's more on her mind than my brother knows, so we'll take you guys to our home. Both of them are there right now, after all. It's a token of my thanks for letting me see you guys. From the looks of it, six of you are probably members of the Black Foxes." He turned around. "Stay behind us. We'll lead you there."

           "Sayuri," Miyuki called out to the orange-haired magician. "I'll explain things to you later." She turned around and stayed by her boyfriend's side.

           Sayuri was staring at Miyuki's back before averting her gaze down again. "..."

           Hiro glanced at her, but did not say anything. Surely, there were some things he and the others did not know. After observing the college student's concern for Sayuri, Takuto placed his right hand on and patted Hiro's back. Everyone faced the direction of the couple they had just met, and all five magicians emitted different vivid, glowing lights before the entire bunch teleported to the Kujo residence.

           After they got there, Hyosuke opened the door with a key and allowed Miyuki to go before him and the rest. Then, he shut the door behind them and looked at the others with a serious and intense gaze. The Black Foxes and magicians of fate knew immediately that they had to wait for the purple-haired man's signal before going into the living area.

  ��        Hyosuke stepped into the living room which included the kitchen and dining furnishings. Miyuki, on the other hand, stayed behind with the other eight persons.

           With a broad grin on his pretty visage, Hyosuke announced, "Bro! Nao-san! I'm home! There are also some guests here to see you two! Especially Nao-san!"

           "Hyosuke?" His brother's eyes were slightly raised at seeing his younger brother after he came out from the kitchen. Then, he lowered his eyes, allowing them to return to his normal gaze. "Why are you alone? Where's Miyuki?"

           Hyosuke closed his mouth. "Um..."

           Nao relaxed her shoulders and breathed out. Then, she steadily opened her aquamarine eyes and turned her head to her right toward the Kujo brothers. "Ara. Hyosuke, you said you brought guests, didn't you? Miyuki’s with them, I suppose."

           "Y-Yeah," Hyosuke answered, sweat-dropping. "But uh... We brought eight of them with us." He glanced at the man with smokey topaz hair. "So, Taiga, try not to get too shocked, okay?"

           Unfortunately, the underground doctor was already astonished at hearing the amount of people who were in their home. "Eight?! Hyo, what's going on? Why did you two bring so many people into our house? If Mom and Dad were here right now, they'd be surprised, too." He then shouted, a chiding expression on his face. "What are you thinking bringing them in here?! We can't have them stay here at night!!"

           "C-Calm down, Taiga..." Hyosuke pleaded with a worried look. "They just want to talk with you two, alright? It's pretty important, too. There are other magicians along with the Black Foxes."

           "The Black Foxes?" Taiga frowned. "Don't tell me you actually met with them."

           Hyosuke laughed awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. We just happened to be in the same place tonight."

           Nao glanced at the dark hallway to her right where Hyosuke had entered from. "Miyuki, you all can come out now. It'll be fine. I'd like to speak with your guests as well, so feel free to come in and sit yourselves down."

           Miyuki, the Black Foxes, and the magicians of fate walked into the room. Nao was slightly surprised to see the magicians who had arrived with Hyosuke and Miyuki, but smiled shortly after. "It looks like we have some familiar faces," she noted in a kind voice. "Welcome."

           Though the members of the Black Foxes were seated, Sayuri and Takuji stood. Sayuri still seemed distant and somewhat depressed, causing the mint-haired magician to place his left hand on her back. However, there was still no sound response from her as she stared at the floor.

           Nao instantly saw her expression but glanced at the others. "What would you all come to talk about?"

           Riki frowned. "It's quite complicated, but I think you already know the situation the magicians here are in, Aozora. We need your help, and Takuto believes that you have a plan to defeat the woman who's trying to kill off the magicians on Earth. Sayuri's willing to put an end to her deeds, and it was thanks to her that we found out about what was really happening to the magicians on the planet. We also know that you were the one healing them not too long ago. Without your powers, I don't think any of the magicians can survive this fight against that woman. I'm sure you need help bringing her down, so will you please aid us in doing so? I know it may be selfish of us to ask for your cooperation, Aozora." He bowed in his seat across from Nao.

           Nao was slightly stunned by Riki's action, and so were Taiga, Hyosuke, Miyuki, and everyone else in the Kujo home.

           Then, the white-haired magician asked, "Do you all have any other reason to defeat her? I know who she is, but to think you would bow to me, Riki-san... It's so surprising, I don't know what else to tell you right now."

           Riki nodded. "I see. Then—"

           "There is another reason!" Sayuri exclaimed with a firm voice and determined facial expression.

           Everyone turned towards the orange-haired magician.

           "Sayuri?" Miyuki was puzzled when she heard her friend shout.

           Sayuri's eyes narrowed. "Ains... Three years ago, Ains was stolen. By none other than that woman."

           "...!" Rina's eyes widened.

           Everyone else's did as well, except for Taiga, Nao, Hyosuke, Miyuki, Takuji, and Mitsuki's when they heard what Sayuri told them.

           "No way..." Kenshi breathed.

           "Rina's weapon was stolen...?" Riki inquired.

           "But how?" Hiro asked. "Ains is such a powerful weapon that there shouldn't be any way of taking it away. Plus, Rina is..."

           Takuto's shock soon turned back to a nonchalant form and since he already had his laptop opened sitting on his lap, he looked back at the screen. Then, he searched for Rina's profile. "Though Ains shouldn't have been taken away from Rina, it seems like a lot went on."

           Rina swiftly turned her head toward her ex. "Takuto, why are you looking at my profile?!" By the sound of her voice, her great shock, and astonishment, it was as if she did not want him and most of the others to find something out.

           "What?" The hacker glanced at the blonde magician. "You're making a big deal out of it already. Am I not allowed to look through the information you gave me? We are partners, after all. Also, didn't you want to help me because of that?"

           Rina frowned. "I did but... Can't you wait a little before reading the rest?"

           Takuto's eyes lowered. "You don't seem like yourself. If you're not going to let me read on about you, what good will that do? Ains was taken from you, wasn't he? Don't you want him back since he's the entity residing in your sword?"

           "Listen to what I have to say," Sayuri commanded. "Not just me, but Rina as well. It's something that also links to what's happening to the magicians on Earth." She gazed at her best friend with staid eyes, but there was something in them as she pleaded, “I can’t do this without you, Rina… Takuji can’t, either.” At that point, her voice was breaking.

           The human men, Miyuki, and Rina were surprised to hear the vulnerability in the orange-haired magician’s voice.

Rina nodded in response. “Un.”

           Although Takuto wasn't displaying how puzzled he was, he decided to do what the female Magician of Fate said. So did the others.

           "It was an incident that took place at Rina's trial," Sayuri explained as her eyes narrowed. "Truthfully, it was bad timing that he was stolen. In fact, there's no doubt that woman waited for this all to happen."

  ~December 19, 2003~

             It was a winter day in Neon. Snow fell from the sky outside but the sky itself was clouded with a somewhat dark—yet mild, gray scene overshadowing the capital city. As it appeared, it was not a brilliant day for someone. It just so happened to be an unfortunate day for Rina. Rina Tokuhara.

 —The trial room somewhere in the palace—

             There was a circle in which several family members of the Eight Great Families were gathered around to survey the trial; some were missing. Those included Manjuki Saionji, the current head of the Saionji family; Nao Aozora’s parents, her cousin, and even a few members of the Juujouchi family were among the ones present. Despite not being a member of one of the Great Families, Sayuri was also with the crowd, concerned for Rina.

           The first queen and former princess of Neon was the “judge” of the trial, or at least the one in charge of it. She had long, French violet hair reaching the bottom of her feet and shoes, and topaz yellow eyes. She was also very beautiful and even had a magnificent outfit to contribute to her beauty and the judgment process. Her husband stood next to her left, and he was very handsome with his ultramarine hair and true blue eyes.

           "We are here today to commence the trial of Rina Tokuhara," the queen, whose name was Haonowa Suzushiro began. "Due to her engagement in a relationship with a human man during her stay in the Human World while under the age of eighteen, we have called her down here. Please note that she has not yet graduated from high school, and the man she has fallen in love with is currently twenty-one years of age as of this year, which adds the detail of an age gap of over three years. We have a rule that only permits the maximum age difference of one year, two months between a man and woman, the former of which is permitted to be the older one in the romantic relationship. It goes without saying that we do not allow any humans to be romantically involved with magicians, as well. As these rules have been broken by one of our own, it is unforgivable to let this go on. Yet, I must question the one at fault." She stared at Rina with a look without any warmth and compassion. "Do you, Rina, take responsibility and admit the truth?"

           Rina gazed into Queen Haonowa's eyes with a resolute look and said, "Yes. It's true that I have committed myself to being with Takuto. Thus, I chose to be with him, despite breaking the laws of this world full of magicians. I also know that we aren't close in terms of age, but I still wish to be with and see him. He has already severed the relationship between us, but I won't stop loving him because he is precious to me. Takuto is my most important treasure, whether we're apart from one another or not. I do not regret falling in love with him, even at the expense of my own life. Therefore, I do not mind if I am to be executed here in Gemstone Palace."

           Sayuri's eyes widened with a mix of several emotions for her best friend. "Rina..."

           It was too sad to have to watch the Magician of Power she had a close bond with to receive the most severe punishment right in front of her eyes. Not only hers, but also Rina’s family's and the other Great Family members that were in place of “witnesses” and a jury.

           "So I see," Haonowa responded. "Very well, then. I shall inflict the execution penalty on you right here and now for breaking Neon's sacred laws. Tragic as your demise may be, you were a well-known and respected magician, as well as a member of the Tokuhara family. Why did it have to be you, I wonder? If this had not happened, you wouldn't have to be killed by my hand. However, I cannot allow any sentiment to get in the way of justice." She raised her right hand and was about to direct her attack on the blonde magician when suddenly...

           The sound of the double doors in the back of the room was heard. Someone had burst in; it was Kousuke Suzushiro. He had recently married his high school girlfriend months ago, and was now the current and third king of Neon. He had pure white hair, the clearest silver eyes, and wore a long, white button-down shirt and a pair of black pants with black dress socks and dress shoes. What's more was that he was also Haonowa's grandson.

           Everyone was either slightly surprised or composed and reserved. Queen Haonowa and her husband, however, did not have an alteration in their expressions.

           "Please reconsider this, Haonowa-san!" Kousuke pleaded as he walked forward ahead of where Rina stood. "If you kill Rina, you'll take her away from her parents. They'll no longer have their daughter, and will experience the same anguish as you and Minato-san did after Mother and Father died from the curse. You shouldn’t do something cruel as to take away another set of parent’s child, Haonowa-san. They shouldn't have to suffer like this!"

           Haonowa did not waver from hearing Kousuke's words. "Kousuke. This is what the law requires me to. Do you not understand that we as the people of this kingdom and world, are not supposed to break the laws for order must be maintained at all costs? Are you willing to disobey what has already been set for us? As the king of Neon, will you risk everything to save a guilty person from their own punishment?"

           "Haonowa-san, I cannot back down from what is right," Kousuke answered. "What you are doing will only accumulate something worse than what you and Minato-san've already gone through. You won't be able to forgive yourself if you do this. As Neon's current king, I want to spare you of becoming miserable over what you are about to do. Didn't you love Mother because she was the daughter you had given birth to years ago when things became peaceful for our world? Do you not think killing Rina would be similar to how Mother was taken away from this world? She's also a married couple's daughter. If she dies, you won't be able to face Shizune and Hajime’s family anymore. The bonds of our family and the Tokuhara's and Hachisachi’s will be forever broken. Do you truly want any of that to happen?"

           "..." Haonowa narrowed her eyes. She gave no reply to her grandson's question.

           Rina was not sure what she could do, but she was at least touched by hearing the white-haired king of the magicians stand up for her and her family. "Kousuke..."

           In turn, Kousuke turned around from his left side and smiled. "Don't worry, Rina. I'll make sure to save you, so you can get back together with the guy you're in love with. Trust me—" Suddenly, an excruciating pain took over his heart���his eyes widened for a few seconds and he collapsed onto the floor.

           Everyone's eyes also widened and they rushed to Kousuke's side. Rina hurried over, leaving her sword as to not cause any misleading scenarios. Haonowa and her husband, Minato, also ran towards their grandson's side. It was quite a frantic situation and as Kousuke was taken to his bedroom, a portal opened in the courtroom. With that, someone—a woman with long, black hair and red eyes came and went after Rina's sword: Ains. Her presence caught Sayuri's attention and she flew quickly towards the woman, but to no avail as she had been struck by the sword belonging to her best friend. The orange-haired magician barely managed to survive from an overwhelming attack filled with malice; as soon as Sayuri had been hit with Ains, the woman disappeared and closed her portal. Takuji had rushed to his partner's side shortly after noticing she had been ambushed.

           He rapidly teleported in a dash from where Kousuke was taken to recover to Sayuri. "Sayuri!" He held her body in his arms, narrowing his eyes. "Sayuri, stay with us! Asuka will heal you, so wait a bit, okay? I'm sorry we weren't paying attention, but I won't let you die!"

           Takuji's girlfriend [at the time], Asuka Suzushiro, knelt down by Sayuri's injured body and started to heal the wounds filled with blood. Her healing abilities gave off a bright purple glow. Sayuri fainted from the pain that was fading away and was soon taken out of the palace to the Aozora home to rest in her bedroom until she regained consciousness.

           For the most part, Rina was acquitted, and soon went back to her normal life. As a result of what had occurred, she had let go of returning to the Human World until years later. Sayuri had also went back to attending high school with her, Takuji, Miyuki, and their other schoolmates. Eventually, they all graduated and moved on with their lives. Thanks to Kousuke's intervention, Minato and Haonowa had altered the laws Rina broke after the trial. They now had given permission for some female magicians to fall in love with human males, and an age difference of seven years or less with some exceptions and abilities that had to be sacrificed, but the requirements for both partners to reach the age of eighteen and graduate from high school still remained.

             "As Takuto said, a lot of things had taken place after Ains was stolen by that woman," Rina added. "It may have been a careless mistake for me to leave my sword alone, but no one could afford to cause a conflict with the first rulers of the royal family in order to save my life from being executed. Kousuke interfered with the trial to do so, and because of him, we're all grateful.”

Sayuri continued. “I've been honing my powers, and Takuji's been doing the same, so we trained together. Consequently, my personality has changed from what it used to be like in order to become stronger for Rina's sake. At any rate, we still haven't been able to get Ains back from that woman."

           Takuji glanced at Sayuri and smiled. "You wouldn't believe how energetic and clumsy she used to be. Now, she's pretty similar to Takuto, aside from his short temper. Hehe." He laughed.

           "Is that true, Sayuri?" Hiro asked. Sayuri nodded as a response before glaring at her former training partner. "Oh, wow... So you really were cheerful back then! Just like the persona you had at the café."

           Sayuri frowned sternly. "When I was working there, it wasn't even close to how I used to be. After being hit by Ains and recovering from the attack, I gradually became how I am today. What has been lost cannot be restored so easily. That's what I've learned after getting injured to the point I couldn't move my body. After trying to get Ains back repeatedly, I got wounded again the night the owner of the café was in trouble, but it wasn't as aching as it was over three years ago."

           Hiro inquired further. "To do that, you'll also need more power, right? So we'll need Nao to do get to the goal."

           Takuto looked down at the floor. “That explains Rina’s powers weakening even though you were able to find a temporary solution to restore them before.”

           Sayuri nodded. "Even if Nao-san doesn't wish to cooperate with us, I'll sacrifice myself for Rina's sake. Ains should not be misused, but he's suffering because of that woman, and she is letting her partner wield him at the moment. Takuji and I can't do this alone, though. Since you said you'd come with me to this battlefield, I can't give up on this."

           "Sayuri..." Kenshi sniffed. He had tears in his eyes. "You're such a good friend...!"

           "You don't have to cry, Kenny," Takuto pointed out.

           "I-I'm not crying..." Kenshi retorted; then, he took a tissue from the box on the table and blew his nose. "I'm just getting sentimental, that's all."

           Takuto frowned nonchalantly. "Same thing in your case."

           Mitsuki looked down at her lap. "It wasn't until sometime after the trial ended that I received a call from Manjuki about what had happened. Because of that, I kept it a secret from you all, except for Riki." She looked at the hacker of the Black Foxes. "Takuto, I'm sorry for not telling you most of all about it. Though I knew you and Rina were suffering from the past, I couldn't bring myself to say anything."

           "I should apologize, too," Riki said. "I've watched over you for a long time, but it was hard to confront you about it. As time passed by, it grew more difficult to bring up. Sorry, Takuto."

           Takuto glanced at the eldest couple in the house. "It's not your fault. I was too rash about everything that happened between Rina and I. So, you guys don't need to apologize to me."

           Rina smiled softly as she gazed at her former lover. She glanced at Nao and said, "Nao-san. We can't let her (the woman) have her way here, or anywhere else. If our lives end, this world will no longer be protected by anyone. The people we care about won't be able to defend themselves against a being as strong as her, and we won't be around to help them. This must be dealt with no matter what, and we need you to save the universe we live in. Can you not give us an answer as to whether or not you'll lend us a hand?"

           Nao looked at Rina before shifting her gaze downward. "...Of course I know, but the amount of power to defeat her may push us past our limits. And yet, when I reflect back on how I came to be here, it reminds me that even I have a score to settle with her. As we're already being forced to face her sooner than I had anticipated, my answer..." She smiled contently. "...is yes." Then, she looked at everyone. "I give you all my hand in defeating this woman."

           "Nao..." Taiga, who had observed and heard the whole conversation, knew he could not stop his girlfriend from her decision. He walked over to her, and placed his left hand on the idol's corresponding shoulder.

           Nao looked up to meet the underground doctor's gaze. "Taiga..."

           He stared at the aquamarine eyes his lover had before shifting his eyes towards the Black Foxes. As he gazed into Riki's eyes, he told everyone in the living room, "I'll help as well."

           Riki's eyes widened. "Taiga..."

           "I'd rather not lose Nao to this fight," Taiga spoke in a composed manner. "Nor do I want to lose Hyosuke and Miyuki. They're my family, and the only ones I have left besides my parents. If they're going to cooperate with you guys, I'm going with them. Even so, I can't let go of them. You should already understand that feeling as the leader of the Black Foxes. Do what you can to protect your loved ones."

           Hyosuke's face lit up. "Bro..." He held Miyuki's right hand in his left.

           The silver-haired magician [who was taller than Mitsuki] gripped her boyfriend's hand. "So we have an alliance with everyone here."

           "Actually," Riki said, "we have another member of the Black Foxes waiting for us to get home. He's more or less the boss of the group, but he doesn't participate in and fight during our missions as much as he used to."

           Takuji smiled casually. "That makes thirteen of us in this alliance. Though, who would have thought everyone would gather like this? It really is the work of fate."

           "You say that a lot, Takuji," Miyuki uttered.

           The mint-haired magician glanced at Miyuki and kept on smiling. "Well, it's true. If Akio-sama hadn't pointed us in your direction, we wouldn't have reunited and met up like this."

           "Anyway, it's about time we head back," Riki stood up from his seat. "We shouldn't keep Boss waiting too much." He looked at Taiga and Nao to finish what he had to say to them. "Thanks. It really meant a lot to us. I'm glad you agreed to join us in this battle, Taiga, Aozora."

           Nao smiled back. "You should address me by my name, Riki-san. I feel insulted that you would call me by my surname."

           "Maybe another time," Riki replied. "I'm still not used to calling you by your given name. But rest assured, I don't actually hate you or anything. Really."

           "Wait." She held her right hand up and stared into the black-haired man’s eyes. "You and Mitsuki-san should at least know this before your departure." She glanced at Mitsuki. "Manjuki needs you two more than you both believe. She’s your family, after all."

           The dark purple-haired magician gazed attentively at Nao. “..”

           The Black Foxes and magicians of fate then left the Kujo residence and the sound of the door closing was soon heard. Hyosuke went to lock it.

           Nao looked up affectionately at Taiga, holding his left hand in hers, and putting her visage close to it. "Everything will be okay, Taiga. I'll protect you and everyone else."

           Taiga smiled back fondly at his girlfriend. "Yeah. I love you, Nao." As he leaned down to kiss her from where he was standing, they were soon interrupted by none other than Hyosuke, who had returned.

           "Whoa, don't start kissing here!" the purple-haired man shouted. "You're embarrassing me, Bro! And we haven't had dinner yet, so wait 'til after we're finished eating before you get to it!"

           Nao smiled at Hyosuke's reaction. "Ara, Hyosuke, you're back."

           "Nao-san, don't ignore me!" Hyosuke pouted.

           As Nao giggled, Taiga smiled and laughed.

           "Seriously, what's with you two?" Hyosuke asked. "You guys are so mean."

           Miyuki came out from the kitchen and tilted her head to her right. "? Hyosuke, come help me set the table."

           "Alright," was the purple-haired man's reply as he strolled toward his silver-haired girlfriend.

  XXX

 1)        Gal games are also known as bishoujo games/galge, whereas LLFTX is a counterpart; an otome game, or the portmanteau: otoge.

2)        Da Capo is a visual novel by Circus set on the fictional island of Hatsunejima and centers around the never wilting cherry blossom tree.

3)        Ina☆Koi is a gal game by Whirlpool, and is the company's first project.

4)        Swirlpool is my shout out to Whirlpool. They have a beautiful art style for the characters and backgrounds.

5)        Lump of Sugar is another visual novel company focusing on producing gal games. They also produced Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity-, another one of their visual novels that has gotten an anime adaption in 2009. However, as this fanfic is set before that year, I did not include Tayutama. However, keep in mind that some of my shout outs do not match up with the fanfic’s timeline.

[yourrainycollectorhologram-blog]

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"How much is a spouse's auto insurance in MA?

How much increase is a spouse's auto insurance compared to just an individual's insurance if we drive the same car in MA, with full coverage and that he's a casual driver?

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://saleinsurancequotes.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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I recently moved to Brooklyn and I need to find affordable car insurance for my car. Any suggestions?

I know car insurance in NY is not less expensive in general, but any suggestions would help.""

Buying Health Insurance?

I am 60 with pre-existing conditions and am trying to find health insurance, not a discount program. However, I am not sure how to go about finding the right insurance that I can afford. I have degenerative joint disease and spinal stenosis and it is difficult to find affordable insurance. Can anyone help me with this?""

How much will I have to pay mom for Insurance!?

Ok, my mom agreed with me to let me get on her car insurance because I'm under 25 and if I was to get my own insurance it would cost a fortune. She uses Drive Insurance through Progressive. She has a 2007 Ford Edge and I think she's paying 185/mth. I'm getting a 1999-2000 Pontiac Grand Am and I'm not getting full coverage insurance just half (I guess)..How much do YOU think it will cost for me? I live in Michigan if that helps.""

How much should I be getting paid insurance CSR?

I live in California, I work for a small insurance brokerage that brings in about 6.5 mill in premium. I have been working here for 2 years and have had my PnC license for a year now. I am the ONLY employee in this office. I make 13 a hour, no paid vacation or holidays, no random bonuses, no commission. The company pays my health insurance which comes out to 230 a month. The duties that I do is answer phone calls, policy changes, rewrites, occasional new business apps, renewal quoting, and PDF filing. Im just wondering if Im being taken advantage of or not. Im new to the insurance industry. Thank you!""

Does the insurance cover my car after i just barely bought and crashed the next day?

My Uncle bought a car one day and the next day he crashed. So I was wondering if his old car insurance which he is still paying for can cover the car.

Car insurance in minnesota?

(my parents car has insurance but my names not on the card does it need to be for me to drive it)

How long do car accidents affect my insurance rates?

I have heard that accidents and tickets will affect car insurance rates for five years. I was in an accident four years ago, that was determined to be my fault. Now, my (old) ...show more""

What's the cheapest Insurance company?

I'm sixteen, will be seventeen in June. I just got a job and I need to get insurance so I can get a car. My parent's insurance will be really expensive plus to put the car on there it will be even extra. Can anyone tell me what the cheapest car insurance place would be for me with full coverage? Thank you (: oh and my car will be a 2000 saturn.""

Why do good drivers get better car insurance rates than bad drivers?

It's not fair. Some people are genetically predisposed to be bad drivers or just don't care. Why should they be charged more than drivers who do not participate in risky behavior?

Where i can get tips of cheap auto insurance?

Where i can get tips of cheap auto insurance?

How much do you pay for car insurance?

Just wanted to take a poll. Per year or per month Do you live in Canada or US

Can I put my mom in my health insurance?

Can I put my mom in my health insurance?

What type of insurance i need for a driving test does it have to be a full coverage?

do i need to bring a vehicle with full coverage insurance or could my car that only has a cheap insurance plan work for the DMV's driving test

Do you have to get car insurance?

I live in England, i am not getting an car yet. I don't want to pay a lot of money & i am in my teens and i heard it is quite a bit of money for insurance, so i don't want to ...show more""

How much is a spouse's auto insurance in MA?

How much increase is a spouse's auto insurance compared to just an individual's insurance if we drive the same car in MA, with full coverage and that he's a casual driver?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-geico-ever-higher-payment-monthly-nixon-ashely"

[twilightpony4]

Ola Americano... Turtle?: 14. Who Sent You

“Aye, I think she’s waking up.” The woman heard a low whisper. She was not quite sure where she was yet remembered what she was doing. For her safety, she kept quiet and listened. “Turn on the lights! Turn on the lights!” A very over eager voice whispered harshly. The bright white light over her head shocked her pupils that were used to the pitch black. Through her squinting eyes, she could see the faint faces of the mutants she was fighting with earlier. One of her bantu knots had come undone, thus flopping in front of her face. Footsteps were heard behind her. She remained still; her head kept low as they came up beside her. It was an orange banded terrapin. His posture was upright as he came around with his hands behind his back. She tried not to stare at him, but it was so hard for a fantastic creature such as him. He was now about-face, glaring her down with a large lower lip. “Who sent you? Who sent you?!” He exploded. The refined posture went out the window as he grasped the handles of the chair she was sitting in and leaned in close. With her hands now tied behind her back, she could do nothing but respond. “Dejar de lado que te sucio animal!” She shouted with fire. The young turtle drew a blank expression. “What the shell is that?” he turned to his family behind him. “I think she's speaking Spanish.” Donnie added. “What the shell kind of black girl speaks Spanish?” Michelangelo’s voice was distressed. He was so ready to play bad cop and now the girl cannot even understand him (and he can’t understand her). No fun. “The Dominican Republic is Afro-Hispanic.” The techie informed. “Tell her to stop playing and talk right!” Suddenly, the woman began to speak rapidly in her native tongue. “You may be speaking gorgeous but I ain't got time for your games!” He retaliated over her, but all they got were two people trying to talk over one another without understanding. “I don't know Spanish.” Donnie shrugged. “At least we know someone who does.” Leonardo nodded when he held his shellphone and shook it in a presenting way in his hand.

Minutes passed as Leonardo tried to catch a hold and fully explain the situation to their Chicana ally. Meanwhile, Michelangelo was trying to cope with the overwhelming language change as the black woman continued to argue him in spanish. “No!” He grabbed her shoulders. She continued to shout, now looking at his large hands grasp her shoulders. “You’re black, stop embarrassing yourself!” He stared into her eyes with the most sincerity. However, she continued to scream. Mikey’s shoulders dropped. He turned his head away and whined in defeat. “I’m so confused by all these languages!” Donatello sighed. “There's just as many of African descent speaking Spanish, French, Swahili, and English.” It was annoying to keep reminding him about the diversity of the world, but it was just getting a little too much for their younger brother. A large hand descended upon Michelangelo’s shoulder. His eyes were watery when he looked up into the eyes of his understanding brother. Leonardo used easy force to tell Michelangelo to get off of her. The turtle complied, but was still upset. To comfort him, Venus took him into her arms. She held him from behind, smiling as he took it all in and used her as his rock.

The woman eyed him as he crouched down and put the phone near her. He remained calm in demeanor. “Ask her where Baxter Stockman is hiding.” He referred to the one on the other end of the phone. “¿Donde se esconde Baxter Stockman?” The woman looked up at Leonardo. She appeared lost at first before responding. “¡Usted toda cometiendo un gran error ! Pronto , se le pedía clemencia , Stupido rojo n****! “She said y'all making a big mistake. And one day you'll be begging for mercy. She also said…” They leaned in, waiting for the rest. It never came. “What?” Leo inquired. Still more silence. “Angel, we gotta know everything.” Raphael chimed in. “I don't know man, she used the N- word to you.” “To me?” He shrieked, quite surprised. Must be because he was the last thing she saw. “But she-! Look, tell this piece of s- word that I'm gonna f- her up!” “Raph!” Leonardo scolded. “I ain't sayin it, Angel is!” “Él se llama un pedazo de m***** y se j****** . “¿Me llama un j ****** ?” The assassin repeated with a laugh. “Su madre tiene que j ****** arriba , n**** rojo.” “Did she say negro again?” Raph turned quickly to the phone. This was war now. “Yeah, but then she mentioned yo mama.” “Tell her that her mama’s an ‘H’!” “Raph!” The brute turned to Donatello, quite annoyed. He was expecting another scolding but instead, he got a whispered correction. “I think it starts with a ‘w’.” “‘W’” He corrected. “then her sister and her mama a ‘w’ with a double ‘w’ grandma that makes double cuz she got no teeth! Tell her I said that!” “Veo el c*** lucha sus batallas.” Her voice smoothed out from earlier. It was still harsh, but there was less stress in her throat. “Did she diss again?” “This time she was calling out Donnie for being a word that means ‘cat’.” Offended, Donatello clenched his heart; his mouth gaped open. “Tell her she's an ‘HW’!” He exploded. The rest of the team lifted a brow. Homework (A Donatello-y thing I guess)? “Bro,” Michelangelo spoke as calmly as he could, his body was still engulfed in the female turtle’s arms in which he kept closed with his own hands. “you mean ‘h’.” “Whatever! Call her something insulting!” “Todos ustedes estarán marcados para la muerte cuando Stockman los encuentre aquí.” She gave them an equal amount of glaring, locking her eyes on each individual as she spoke. She was confident and smiled the entire time. “¡Cada uno de ustedes!” “She said you'll be marked for death when Stockman finds out you're here.” Without warning, the red brute kneeled before her. On his knees, he was an acceptable height to come eye-to-eye with her. With him being so large, putting himself between her legs rendered them useless to try to kick him. Of course, what she could possibly reach was all shell.

“Where's Stockman or imma cut your throat and squeeze lemon juice in it!” Raphael was not playing these games. “That's nasty.” Mona cringed. The very remaining chain in her hand jiggled when she shivered from the thought. “Gonna get her to talk! Ain't it?” He turned back to the woman. How much did she want to bop him right there, but her body would not allow her to do so. The terrapin looked her up and down, formulating a plan. “ Let's do it this way.” He nodded, then extended his arm behind him. His hand them flapped his two fingers into his palm like a ‘gimme’ gesture. “Mikey, hand me a shuriken.”

Although a little upset he had to remove himself from the satisfying embrace, Michelangelo brought his hands down and went off to go pick up one of the thrown shuriken. He disappeared into the dark. Moments later, the sound of the air slicing  caught everyone’s attentions. The silver piece came close to the turtle and his captive. Just before it could try to scrape him, Raphael jerked his shoulder down as the piece flew past them. He, the other mutants, and the captive as well all looked in the direction from which it came. Standing in the shadows was the orange clad terrapin. He was completely still as he balanced on one leg and maintain the stance from which he threw the piece. “Oops! My bad.” He apologized quite deadpan. From his other hand was a backup shuriken that he had hoped to keep rather than give it away. The brute scolded him as he walked up humbly and handed it over. “C'mon man, I'm trying to interrogate somebody.” Raphael shook his head disapprovingly as the young turtle backed up into the shadows once more. He kept going until his shell bumped into Venus’ carapace. Quite deadpan himself, he grabbed Venus’ arms and wrapped them around himself. With the metal in his hand, he carefully came closer. When it got near her face, she brought her chin up in avoidance. He stopped just below her chin. If he brought it down, the blade would puncture her throat. The turtle was giving her another chance as he stared her down. “Where's Baxter Stockman?” “¡Màtame!” Her body thrusted forward. It surprised her interrogator, causing him to jump. The woman then began to sob very lightly, catching her breath and her eyes began to water. “What'd she say?” He was yelling to the phone that Leo still held behind him. Honestly, he did not like these types of interrogations. It was unlike his style. Despite that, it wasn’t him doing it and their patience level was already wearing thin in this foreign land. “She said ‘kill me’.” Angel was a little distressed herself on the other side. She was probably feeling the weight of the situation just from hearing it. “Okay, you better tell me something right now.” Raphael threatened. This time, he pressed the blade in the hollow part underneath her chin. With a tad bit more force it would puncture. Her eyes were wide in shock. She stared hopelessly to the shadows as he continued to bark his threats.“ I'll send you to heaven, I don't even care no more! I'm marked for death so I got nothing to lose!”  The chicana on the phone then began to speak in the woman’s native tongue. What they did not know was that she was pleading to her to tell him and that the red turtle means business. “That's right Angel, call the lord and tell him he about to get company. Tell me something!” The woman continued to resist. Her heart beat faster and faster as Angel tried even more desperately to get her to speak. Why would a fifteen year old need to hear a person die? “She's almost done! Forgive me for I have sinned!” “¡Detener!” The woman cried. “She said stop!” Angel screamed on the top of her lungs. Thankfully their outbursts did not move the blade against her throat. He kept the blade there in the hung silence. The woman licked her lips, breathing heavily as she did and looked helplessly into the amber eyes of the turtle. “Es en Barbarella, Rua Ministro Viveiros de Castro.” “He's at Barbarella, Rua Ministro Viveiros de Castro.” repeated. Donatello took note of it, typing it down in his phone and sent it to his personal computer. Raphael removed the blade and got off the woman. She breathed heavily and brought her chin down. He tossed the shuriken to the side. Mona gave him a nod for letting her go. The brute sighed and returned it before turning around to look back at her. “We’ll drop her at the nearest police station. They’ll think she’s crazy for what she’s seen.” He added.

“Thank you, Angel.” Leonardo brought the speaker up to his face. Suddenly, his phone was engulfed by the wanting hands of his youngest brother. He kneeled before him. “Thanks boo.” Michelangelo sang. With that, he blew her a kiss through the phone. Leonardo rolled his eyes, but let the friends have their time. “Anytime Brotha.”

[awesome-onward-israel14]

Captured moments... snippets of time.

As my closest friends certainly know, for as long as language has been a part of my life, I have been a collector of words. Random bits of conversation, serendipitous haikus, inspiring passages from a book or magazine -- for me, these are the most precious trinkets. And so, as my Jerusalem experience comes swiftly to an end...I present to you, for the second year in a row, a collection of moments -- some written, some oral -- compiled into a single lexical collage. Each of these snippets is unique. Some were uttered in moments of pain; others, in joy. Perhaps the best of these words, however, were given life in the mundanity of “everyday life.” 

All of the quotes are important, representing (a few of) the people and places I have encountered in this utterly transformative year. 

Relationships:

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“If I were an 18 year old boy, I would be all over you.” Emily Rose Kearns, phone call from Boston to Jerusalem, February 9

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“I wonder how consent works... for cats.” - Adri, Student village (date unknown) 

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“I’m so glad i’m not in love. It was so fucking annoying.” -Michelle, May 8, student village

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“He’s not immature... I just think he’s a psychopath.” -Lena, December 26, phone call from Washington D.C. to Jerusalem

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Lena: You’re still his plan A. She’s his plan B.

Me: But they’re serious.

Lena: You can be serious with a plan B. You can even be serious with a plan C.

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“I want to lose my virginity to David Bowie in a Kimono.” -Adri, February 28

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“I’ve always liked lil wayne. I’m sure  he’s not that little if you catch my drift.” -Not recorded

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Lena: He looks single.

Me: What does that mean?

Lena: Every guy looks single when he’s cute. (Lena, 3/3, Eilat)  

Social Media:

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“I need this caption so i can do my homework.” - Sam, December 6, Jerusalem (on Instagram) 

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Culture:

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“That’s what I miss about capitalism. It’s always convenient for you.” -Sam, December 3, TLV.

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“So are the Amish mormon?” -Marie (my Parisian roommate), January 31, Student village 

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Life:

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Me: Do you ever eat protein?

Michelle: I eat pasta sometimes...” (May 13) 

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“Well to be fair... Squidward was a REALLY bad clarinetist.” -Sam, December 27

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Me: You’re so proactive about finding housing. 

Lena: well yes -- I do have doh have a certain sense of urgency that I don’t want to be homeless. (December 26)

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“Saying yes and then backing out is way worse than just saying no in the first place.” - Not recorded 

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“Intuition is a very tricky thing. Sometimes it must be acted upon at once, but sometimes it is merely a symptom of anxiety and then it can be very misleading indeed.” -Golda Meir, My Life.

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“But theory is for theoreticians. People are people.” -Golda Meir, My Life.

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“It takes a lot of courage to be afraid-- and still more courage to say so.”

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Out of context: 

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“I’ve only been with a woman and i’ll only ever be with a woman.” -Kali, December 2, TLV.

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“I will not adopt a cocaine baby.” -Sam, December 14, Jerusalem 

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“I don’t really care enough.. I don’t care about... anything...” -Kyleigh McSherry, February 12

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“Did I ever tell you I used to think my grandfather was Hitler?” - Steven, February 18

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“If I was a guy I wouldn’t be able to grow a beard i’m pretty sure.” - Sam January 2, on the light rail outside of Damascus gate

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“I ate this daffodil once...” -Sam, January something... 

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“If the purge was a real thing, I would participate.” -Steven 3/29, 9:38

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French:

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“Je ne savais comment m’échapper de moi-meme et, d’ailleurs, ne le désirais nullement.”

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“On voyait bien que j’étais seule, et par malheur libre.”

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“Je voulais renonces par-dessus tout à la betise que restait inséparable en mon esprit de mes aventures avec les autres, ce que fut l’amitié ou bien l’amour!” 

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