#communications liason

[apokoshit]

majlis raja-raja 🤲 ydpa 🤲 clc and sistem ahli 🤲 hukum kanun melaka 🤲 nasionalisme filipina/thailand 🤲 pindaan perlembagaan 🤲 langkah pembentukan malaysia 🤲

[1-800-badvibes]

we all know and love the ronance x-files au but have you guys considered: criminal minds au

robin as emily, nancy as jj, steve as morgan, eddie as garcia and dustin as reid (im aware robin would make more sense with reid's mannerisms based off of s4 robin, but snarky sarcastic s3 robin is far too dear to me to let go)

i'll make a more in depth and detailed post about why i chose which characters to pair together if anyone is actually interested but this brain worm Will Not let me go if i don't speak it into existence

[viablemess]

I am totally normal about the Star Wars - Criminal Minds AU occupying all of my head right now. Yup. Totally normal. Looking at all the upcoming Cody, Codywan, 212th appreciation etc for the muse.

Anyways. Here's my tentative team breakdown and I'd love folks thoughts. We got the Fett family (the Fett kids probably helped get Jango arrested and may or may not feel guilty about it), we got qui-gon Parenting obi-wan. Annakin and Padme hiding their not so secret romance. Mace and qui-gon butting heads about how to lead. Will deffo pop other characters in there (Aayla, Quinlan, Gregor, Xanatos, Luminara, all my favs). Anyways 🧡🧡🧡

Yoda - Section Chief. Ex-ATF Senior Agent, Fingerprint & Administration expert

Mace Windu - Unit Chief. Counterterrorism expert.

Qui-Gon Jinn - Senior Supervisory Special Agent. Geographical Profile Expert & Handwriting Analyst.

Cody Fett - (Senior on-call) Supervisory Special Agent. Forensic Psychology expert & Hand-to-Hand Instructor at Quantico.

Obi-Wan Kenobi - Supervisory Special Agent. Linguist, Interview & Hostage Negotiation expert.

Anakin Skywalker - Supervisory Special Agent. Ex-ATF Electrical and Fire Engineer & Bomb expert.

Waxer Fett - Supervisory Special Agent. Family Annihilater & Human Trafficking/Sex Crimes expert.

Boil Fett - Supervisory Special Agent. Ex- Violent Crimes Against Children Senior Agent & Child Advocacy expert.

Rex Fett - Tactical Intelligence Analyst & Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) expert.

Padme Amidala - Media Coordinator & Communication Liason

[gold-rhine]

In an ideal universe where your wish fulfillment came true... any particular characters (including npcs) you'd like Kaeya to interact with when he gets there?

by wish fulfillment i assume you mean "kaeya moves to sumeru". to proper answer, i need to explain my pet crack theory which is Kaeya and Candace are related. buckle up babes

ok, so, we know chlothar is one of kaeya's ancestors. look at this pasty ugly dude. he did NOT produce the hottest man in the game by in-breeding with other pasty khaenriah nobles from same bloodlines. and we know it had to be same bloodline or kid gets hilichurled.

where are kaeya's hot genetics are coming from??? the darker skin?? blue eyes, dark blue hair?? like they could've at least give him the same brown skin tone to match, but no. and genshin matches relatives OBSESSIVELY. hot genetics HAVE to come from somewhere.

sumeru is near khaenriah. deshret's civilization is connected to khaenriah in canon, we know for a fact some of the survivors became part of khaenriah. deshret's civilization was also highly advanced AND fucked with the abyss. it's all not crack, thats just stating canon facts. so like it doesn't seem to me as a stretch to guess that the khaenriah's noble bloodline originated from Deshret. like, a lot of ppl connected to the desert have rhombs in their pupils, which we know is the main visible sign of this bloodline. like, thats not precisely khaenriah diamonds, but its fucking close, ok?

and Candace is canonically a direct descendent of Deshret himself. Brown skin - check, blue eye color - check, dark midnight blue hair - check, hotness - hell yeah check.

if you catch my drift, i think khaenriah's main noble bloodline, the one that is not hilichurled, hailed from deshret. their only choice to get a normal, non-cursed kid was to find the descendants of the same bloodline who did not leave desert for khaenriah and so were not cursed, and it's Candace's family. booom babyy

so in ideal world, Candace and Kaeya realize they're distant cousins bc she's like Alberich? My aunt married some shady dude named Alberich, was that your dad? like all kaeya always wanted was to belong, and here he finally will have family that is not trying to use him OR repressed anger issue catholics. and nahida let even scara to redeem after he tried to murder her. kaeya could finally come clean and just live as himself.

and he would be so needed too, like the desert ppl are in turmoil process of integrating with sumeru, criminals are overrunning aaru village. and who keeps treasure hoarders in mond in check with nothing but three dumb sergeants and a smile? kaeya would sort that shit out in a month. seriously, i had to go to liyue to farm treasure hoarders, there are no roaming mobs of them in mond. kaeya would also be the best liason to akademiya, growing up with nobility and being used to political games as mond's spymaster.

after this premise, there is literally not a single character in sumeru it would not be fun to see kaeya interacting with. he and dehya are immediately besties, they met on a shopping trip where candace was helping him choose his new skin outfit, and this same evening drunk dehya is princess carrying him out of tavern. he can amplify cyno's horrible puns into a weapon of mass destruction and tighnari can't even hate him, bc he also made ppl stop eating poisonous mushrooms by spreading rumors that if you eat too much of them, their spores will grow inside of and mindcontrol you. its absolute bullshit, but it worked, goddamit. kaeya could solve kaveh and alhaitham's communication problems in one evening at a bar, but he wouldn't, bc he's a little shit and he thinks its entertaining to watch and he's curious how long its gonna take them by themselves, but he would give them trollish little nudges. also, in nilou's tropue he would finally have a proper bohemian scene to exercise his flair for dramatics and inspire several epic poems by being a heartbreaker.

tldr little desert village has neither rich nobility nor grand destiny he's supposed to fulfill, but it has ppl who will accept and appreciate him, and i think realizing that he doesn't have to choose between a coinflip of bad and awful and learning to live for himself instead is one of kaeya's arcs best possible resolutions

[apas-95]

Memetics research is, today, a much-diminished science from when it was at its peak. In mid-2008 there existed more than 400 institutions pursuing research likely to uncover […], including government agencies, military branches, private corporations, independent laboratories, university research projects and notable amateur groups. Many of these were GOIs or internal divisions within GOIs. None of these groups still exist, except for the Foundation's Antimemetics Division.

— Five Five Five Five Five, qntm

Roughly 1 in 10 Foundation employees do not, in actuality, exist. Simple surveys of site planning and capacity documents (available to all personnel with security clearance level 1 or above), compared to informal polling of site population numbers, reveal that on average, Foundation facilities operate at roughly 60% capacity (10% fewer than mainstream models show without correction factors), with facilities linked to the Antimemetics and Counterconceptual divisions at roughly 10% and 40%, respectively.

Or, at least, that's how it seemed. Things you can't remember seem to disappear - for however much we think of ourselves, we never really outgrew 'peekaboo!' ... The facilities and people made invisible to humanity at large obviously had to still be *somewhere*.

Moreover, we certainly hadn't outgrown any youthful hubris - we assumed we could understand the enemy when we could barely even understand the enemy's tools. Certainly, if anything, if any ridiculous organisation, organ, or organism, were to be so arrogant enough to erase from knowability entire facilities, persons, events, or even concepts... which else could it be but our very own Foundation?

In any case, now we've finally organised (through some extremely desperately one-sided bargaining, and, it is likely, annoyance) an interdepartmental liason office with the ██████████████ Department. [Ugh, I hate how it does that.] Currently, the office is located on our site [do we really only have one site?], though it's entirely possible our proposals to send some exchange staff were accepted and we simply aren't capable of knowing it. Yeah. It's slow progress - trying to figure out how to avoid doing anything they'd need to redact, while they obviously can't communicate to us anything relevant.

Apparently lots of people that we've never met really missed us on the other side.

[thaliagracesgf]

hc that if percy had siblings (and i may have to write this into my fic) they can communicate telepathically but they have to go through a horse. because theoretically if he communicates with horse and horse adjacent animals telepathically so could his siblings, so if there's a horse in the room they could have an entire conversation with each other provided the horse is willing to be a liason.

is anyone following this because i think i'm a genius tbh

[genericpuff]

Have you seen the Webtoon "Working with an Editor" Video? I feel like this explains a lot of how the platform's Originals end up in the states that they do. Based on that vid, it seems their editors are less the developmental or copy types, and more acquisitions and managerial focused. Which explains how some series have "an editor" for editorial oversight, while not being what readers would consider "edited".

oh there are... definitely things about the editors I can tell you based on what I've read and even been told directly by some Originals creators (obviously their names are going to remain anonymous here lol) Before I go into it, every editor and every contract is different, I have no way of actually knowing what goes on behind the scenes due to not being an Originals creator myself, so please take what I'm about to say with mountains of salt as much of it was either learned secondhand through creator AMA's and at best, firsthand through anonymous Originals creators who I've communicated directly with. Ultimately you should be getting your facts from the creators who actually speak up on this matter, not me.

1.) WT has a VERY small pool of editors who are currently being stretched incredibly thin. Bre Boswell, as an example, currently oversees 20+ comics, including Lore Olympus (though not anymore haha), Nevermore, The Kiss Bet, Down to Earth, and Castle Swimmer. She is not the only one with this big of a workload. Obviously with one person having to oversee this many series at once, it's virtually impossible for them to do the actual "editing" part of their jobs, even if they genuinely want to.

2.) The role of WT editor isn't the same as a traditional editor - many of them are simply liasons between creators and Webtoons, meaning any questions creators have about their schedules, salaries, etc. are directed to their editors who then contact WT on their behalf and relay the response back to the creators. The bare minimum requirement for their job seems to be just making sure that creators are following terms of services. The traditional role of editing - proofreading, offering advice and storytelling tweaks, etc. - seems to be entirely optional and dependent on how much time the editor can devote to the series (see #1) + how much creative input the creator is willing to accept.

3.) With how low WT's standards are and how overworked a lot of editors have become, many editors actually stop reading their respective comics after the first few episodes once they're confident that the creator can handle the series on their own without needing check-ups that they're following ToS. So in that respect they truly do just become messenger owls between the creators and WT (and IIRC creators send their episodes to their editors to upload, they don't do it manually themselves). This is also why there are webtoons that share the same editor but differ greatly in quality of writing and art - how well a webtoon is written and drawn is often entirely dependent on the creators making it (it's why Nevermore manages to be so consistently good despite having the same editor as Lore Olympus which is consistently awful lmao).

As an added little thing, I will not say who, but there is a specific editor who... often gets a looot of special treatment from WT, from what I've been told and heard. A lot of their series get away with way more than what others do and get a lot more advertising privileges.

(and no, it's actually not Bre LOL from what I've been told Bre is actually a very sweet person who's very chill to work with haha)

[theresattrpgforthat]

Do you have any game recs that have unconventional ways of determining outcomes (outside of rolling dice/drawing cards?) I remember I once saw one that revolved around candles, and another about rolling marbles, I think... I'm curious what other ones you've come across!

THEME: Dice and Card Alternatives

Hello friend, all of these games use very different modes of resolution! Happy gaming!

Spin the Fishblade, by Marshall Bradshaw.

Spin the FishBlade is the GMless, diceless storygame where players control one fish with a knife by spinning a knife.

It's meant for three to five players to play for one to two hours, telling an outlandish story with some stylized violence. Imagine if Finding Nemo were mixed with an action movie, like Taken, Kill Bill, or Snatch.

Spin the FishBlade is a game made to spoof off of a tweet that came across as (a little) derisive of indie ttrpgs, and is one of a number of games entered into a game jam celebrating the game community’s willingness to commit to a bit. However, it’s also a completely playable game! You will sit in a circle, and arrange items to sit in between each player to act as loci of power. A knife will be spun, similar to a game of spin the bottle, but the goal is to share narration and introduce uncertainty based off of the objects in the circle. Great for GM-less games or a storytelling exercise in a casual setting!

Printweaver, by N.L. Morrison.

Your fingerprints determine your unique adventurer. Explore the wilds and find your own adventure through combat, death, and revival. Your fate is in your hands.

Printweaver looks like a traditional ttrpg in its gameplay mechanics, which use d10s, but character creation is determined by the player’s fingerprints. You’ll determine what kinds of stats you have, and where your abilities lie, by examining your finger prints and following instructions as laid out in the rulebook. The game itself is $10, but if you’re unsure about the game, character sheets and the Shorthand edition are free to download!

DIY Identity: An Odd Bijou, by S. Kaiya J.

There are a million other paths you might have walked in life.

Every one of them passes through this place.

DIY Identity is a two-person game about mutual exploration, co-construction of perception, and missed paths in life. In order to play, you will need to take a trip to an IKEA store. It is recommended to play this game with someone you trust but do not currently live with.

This game uses an hourglass and a room in an IKEA store, and can be played for about as long as you’d like to spend in that store. I’d only recommend you play it with folks if you are both comfortable with them and if you don’t mind playing the game in a semi-public space.  The game itself is only one page; easy to print off to fold up and put in your pocket.

Grave Liasons, by Yugie.

Grave Liasons is a PvP roleplaying game powered by chocolate where you play as nosy ghosts trying to ensure that their descendants get matched with the perfect partner (according to them).

While playing, players take on the roles of SPIRITS, who are trying to ensure or prevent a match, and DESCENDANTS, who are just normal people looking for love. 

This game is a one-page game in which you will embody both a Spirit and a Descendant, with the Spirits playing ghostly matchmakers and the Descendants, doing their best to find love. When a Spirit’s match goes well, the Spirit’s player eats a chocolate heart! However, be careful - once you run out of hearts you’ll have to beg or steal hearts off of other players. If you want a light-hearted way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, or you just want to eat chocolate with friends. I suggest checking this game out!

Games I’ve recommended in the past

Witches Brew, by C.R. Legge. (Tea!)

Clown Helsing, by Planarian. (Rock, Paper, Scissors)

[transingthoseformers]

You know, even asuming Transformers can see our Blaschko's Lines, natural human coloring would look fairly drab since we're all various shades and hues of brown depending on our concentration of melanin. Plus with our small size and very weak electromagnetic feilds we'd be hard to read for enotional context. Given how importan facial expressions are for communication it would make Autobot human interactions hard for the bigger bots.

Picture in the mid 80's some very matcho military types being very confused when Optimus gravely thanks them for the consideration of their biological differences in their choice of designated liason. There's head scratching untill they realize one of their secrataries in 1980's makeup look delivered a document. Looks like either someone's about to get a feild promotion rather than explain the misunderstanding or have a bunch of dudes wear make-up.

Honestly I like the promotion idea because that's such a Reader fic scenario (positive) (I need this au now)💖💖💖💖💖

[aza-trash-can]

Courtesy of @kimiheartblade encouraging me, here are some of my hcs about Cody and Rex

Rex was only chosen as Anakin's second in command because Anakin thought his armour looked cool. The other commanders in the 501st were upset about this at first, and Rex did try to give the position to them, but after one mission they gladly let it be

Rex technically isn't supposed to be Anakin's second in command, because according to the regulation manual, the highest rank a CT can hold is major, which is equivalent to a battalion commander. Legions are lead by senior commanders (two ranks higher). Rex definitely had a panic attack about this

Cody also technically isn't supposed to be Obi-Wan's second in command. This was a clerical error on Obi-Wan's part, he put down Cody as his second command because he didn't know what a clone liason was. Cody is supposed to only command one corps, but now he commands all eight in the third systems army. He also had a panic attack about this

Fives found out a way to exploit Cody's extra communication gear on his armour and set up a special long range 501st comm channel through Cody's gear. Cody saw it immediately, but he lets it slide

Any time Rex and Cody are on the same ship, Rex just barges into Cody's quarters and stays with him. They don't get to see each other in person all that often, so Cody doesn't mind. He will shove Rex off the bed if he doesn't wake up in time, though

Because of Cody's unexpected promotion due to Obi-Wan's clerical error, Rex will sometimes sit with Cody and do some of his reports for him so he doesn't overwork himself

[maranello]

hiring suggestions for scuderia ferrari f1:

team therapist(s)

internal communications specialist

vicious litigation lawyer to act as our representative and liason to the steward, the FIA, and Formula 1 corporation

psychic meterologist

me

[faerune]

i dont think ive actually posted an info dump about my bg3 gorlies so here ya go finally

Triss Montadras 💜

Triss was born of a liason between a human dock barmaid and elven sailor in Baldur's Gate. Triss never knew her father and only has well-cherished but hazy memories of her mother who died of disease when Triss was six. As "payment" for her mother's debt, Triss worked in the same tavern as her mother under the oft cruel owner into her teenage years. She began to peddle, trick, and steal at a young age and used the inherent magic of her elven bloodline to aid her though most even basic spells were beyond her. She cavorted with the birds of the city (often crows, given how both they and Triss loved to steal shiny things that did not belong to them) using them as her eyes and ears for bribes of stolen bread. Her troublemaking, charm, and wit caught attention of both The Guild and the Zhentarim for who she both worked for, with, and against in varying degrees as she grew older. Her loyalty could be bought but never fully earned by any of them. At twenty, Triss had managed to squirrel away enough of her earnings to buy a pub and inn of her own, naming it The Crooked Crow. The Crow became a refuge for criminals of all kinds, a place to parley and do business, and a place where Triss could smuggle in all sorts of contraband. By the beginning of the game, Triss' pub had solidified itself as a staple in Baldur's Gate's underground.

Delphine Montwin 🎻

The Montwins are a notable noble family in Baldur's Gate and Delphine was the last of seven siblings born to the current patriarch of the family. Delphine suffered a lonely childhood despite all of her family. Many of her siblings had varied talents and interests, favored and tended to by their parents. One of her brothers was a notable wizard, the other a cunning politician, and the other a businessman who looked to be in line to take over the family shipping company. Her sisters were all but willing pawns in their mother's political machinations and Delphine found herself dissatisfied looking at her potential future. Delphine was skilled in some things including the musical arts and dueling of which she shared a dueling master with none other than Wyll Ravenguard. The pair were furious rivals despite Wyll's best efforts initially to maintain a friendship with Delphine who was not one to lose or be swept up by Wyll's handsome charm. In the end, Dephine found that adventuring seemed to be her best calling and traveled to and from Baldur's gate with her lute and sword. The hero life she loved, adoring attention lavished on her because of her (admittedly exaggerated) tales of glory.

Minae Kilviir 🌙

Promised to Lloth at birth, Minae's soft heart was always a point of contention with her mother, the matron mother of the Noble House of Kilviir. Minae was a promising, obedient cleric, raised equally in her mother's house in Menzoberranzan and the great temples of Lloth, though she shied away from the scheming and treachery expected of her. She was the victim of lashings by the elder priestesses and bullying by her fellow initiates. As a young girl, Minae's cries of suffering were heard by the goddess Selune who regularly communed with and comforted Minae in her dreams wearing the form of a kindly older drow. Eventually, Selune broke Minae from Lloth's bonds and encouraged her to the surface and the moon where she could spread good word of Selune and help other oppressed persons from their suffering.

Aoife Neridove 🐑

Aoife was born into a lesser noble family House Neridove. Her parents had wanted a child for a decade but had never been able to conceive. The archfey Oberon saw this as the perfect opportunity to bring about a child, teach the Neridoves a lesson of unconditional love, as well as anger his lover, the archfey Titania with whom he was at that moment in conflict with. The result was a strange baby girl with milky white eyes, pink hair, and an uncanny knack to cause trouble wherever she went. For two people like the Neridoves who strove to greater heights in society and were obsessed with image, Aoife was by far not the heir and prized child they had wanted. Often frustrated by the strange girl and the stranger events that seemed to follow her, Aoife was confined to their estate and even barred in her room when guests supped at the Neridove's table. However, this didn't prevent cups from turning into toads, lambs resurrected with two heads, and strange creatures finding their way into the Neridove's prized garden to converse with the girl. In animals and nature, Aoife found her only friends and she dreamed of being able to escape her confines to explore the world.

[akirameta84]

idk when or if ill finish this and ive had a habit of sharing my unfinished wip fics lately so heres the sequel to the werewolf au oneshot i wrote (and that i also shared the first part of months before i finished and posted it to ao3 lol)

id say its a bit under halfway done? idk. it follows directly after the last oneshot and may be confusing without it. and its an unfinished fic so you wont be missing anything if you just wait for it to eventually be finished and published (even if it might be a year rip)

but yeah. this is the first half or so wip of "Howling Harassment" sequel to the kubosai werewolf oneshot "Lycanthropic Liasons"

has not been edited or proofread obviously cause its not even done

its 5.3k words, and warning for vomiting mentions. if you want to skip the mini scene where kusuo is sick (he doesnt puke in the scene but talks about having done so) ive bolded the start and end of it. you wont be missing any plot details with it, but this wip preview does end shortly after it with just a paragraph so if you plan to skip that scene you can just stop reading at the first bolded part and be fine

enjoy i guess

also my italics didnt copy over so :shrug: place them where you think they go

Kusuo had been enjoying a very nice nap, relaxing peacefully and soaking in some warm sunshine, when the feeling of something wet dripping onto him slowly roused him from his slumber.

He blearily opened one eye but then immediately snapped both open when he caught sight of the tan wolf, shockingly with a normal looking chin, leaning over him and drooling all over his face. Recoiling and lurching to his paws in the same beat, he stumbled a good few meters away from Nendou, standing tensely in the grass.

They were right outside the makeshift and, honestly, poorly constructed hideout of Kaidou and Aren’s, and Kusuo had thought that if he took a nap outside he could both enjoy the sun on his fur and separate himself from Nendou, since the idiot would likely be enthralled by Kaidou and Aren attempting to play card games with paws.

Apparently Kusuo had been very very wrong. He sat down hard into the dirt and reached a back leg to scratch painfully at his head, like it would help get all the saliva off of him even though he knew it wouldn’t.

Nendou had been staring at him the whole time until a deep bark from the hideout entrance sounded, calling his attention. Aren’s deep purple and very furry but scarred head stuck out from the door made of blankets and glared at Nendou, having heard Kusuo’s mental distress. Nendou whimpered but strutted over to the entrance and headed inside.

In regards to the werewolf telepathy, since they were unsure if Nendou could hear them, attempting verbal communication without the ability to speak words was necessary to try and talk to the idiot who had also found himself lycanthropic by unknown means. At least they knew where he was now and Kusuo could fix any problems his disappearance has started to cause.

Kusuo was slightly worried as well that, due to the fact that he was missing all of the last week, Nendou couldn’t turn back like Kaidou and Aren had at first. Kusuo had been able to teach them by just instructing them through how he usually activated his shape-shifting, and it had thankfully done the trick.

He was still hoping that Nendou could hear their trains of thought even if they were blocked from his. He’d shown no signs of it, but this was Nendou. He could be hearing everything and not give a single clue.

Either way, it was still absolutely bizarre to have someone (Or up to three someones) reading his mind for a change, even if the fact that he didn’t have to bother with proper communication as much was pleasant.

‘It’s still bizarre to me that you’ve heard all of our thoughts up to now from when you met us, Kusuo.’

Yeah. That was fair. Kusuo lifted his head and gazed at the darkening sky that was many shades of orange and pink as the sun gradually lowered into the horizon. It was rather pretty and almost soothing to stare at. It’d been decently bright and blue when he’d gone to sleep, so he’d gotten a good few hours in.

That was good. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep once he went back home and dealt with what would be waiting for him. There was no way his brother had already gone from England to Japan in under twelve hours, even if their mom calling about limiter issues was fairly serious, but he’d still get harassed via television video call from his brother and either wait in dread for his brother to fly over or just teleport himself and get it over with.

Both sucked.

‘I think you’re over reacting. Surely your brother didn’t literally create something that turns people into werewolves. That sounds impossible. To be fair, so does being born an esper, but still.’

‘…B-but how else did it get…created?’

Kaidou was very bad at hiding his excitement at the concept of a mad scientist making something like lycanthropy, even if he posed his question as.

And also how he wondered if Kusuo’s brother could make him into a vampire instead, because when he watched a movie series called- ‘Hey stop stop sto-’

Kusuo snorted but obliged and cut that train of thought off, standing up and padding over to the hideout entrance.

Regardless, the answer was very much no to Kaidou, there really was no other potential source, and yes to Aren. Kuusuke was most certainly behind this and Kusuo was either going to make him fix it or commit fratricide.

‘…Can you…m-maybe-’

‘If he makes a cure I’m not letting you stay like this, Kaidou.’

Kusuo arrived at the blanket covering and stepped inside right on cue to see Kaidou’s best attempt at a canine frown and puppy eyes…the latter of which was quite a lot more effective in a literal dog form than it normally was for the boy seated on a pillow in the very corner of the hideout, front paws splayed over a bunch of cards on the carpeted ground in front of him.

He looked away before the eyes could take effect. He was getting far too soft and was not about to consider willingly keeping one of his friends a goddamn werewolf when he could reverse it.

When. Not if. Kusuo kept making sure he left no room for doubt in his mind. That way it would be easier to kill Kuusuke if he failed to make a totally guaranteed cure.

Aren was padding back over to the light blue wolf, a sulking Nendou in tow, and though Kusuo’s thoughts had already spelled out for the two of them that he was about to go home and get the confrontation or whatever over with, he still had one more pressing issue to attempt to solve beforehand.

‘Nendou,’ He projected outwards, staring at him as if it would help get his message across, taking a few more steps on the frankly uncomfortably textured carpet.

To his slight shock, the tan wolf spun his head around so quickly he feared Nendou would break his neck (A familiar sight, Nendou did that far too much, even if it had less of an impact without the…mildly disturbing human face), tongue lolling out of his mouth as he watched Kusuo expectantly.

Aren and Kaidou looked up, intrigued, their minds similarly surprised that Nendou could hear their minds just fine.

…Could he? There was a chance that had been Kusuo’s own inherent telepathy as it was hard to tell the two versions apart, unlike the ease at which he could separate the lycanthropic ability and his own shape-shifting.

If it was his own and the idiot couldn’t hear Kaidou or Aren that wasn’t that much of an issue. Kusuo was the one who needed to help him turn back, after all.

(Considering the fact that Nendou didn’t visibly react to any of Kusuo’s ambient thoughts about that, actually, Nendou was not connected to the werewolf telepathy. He can only hear projected thoughts from Kusuo’s. Kaidou seemed utterly fascinated by that, while Aren was just mildly annoyed at how it was so complicated. Kusuo was in agreement with his boyfriend, and not just because of that status).

Nendou’s head tilted after the good few moments of staring, and Kusuo realized he should probably elaborate on why he got his attention before he was licked or pounced on again.

‘Do you want me to show you how to turn back tomorrow?’

He almost offered to do it right now but remembered, bitterly, that they were all stuck like this for a good while longer thanks to the moon cycle.

To his surprise, Nendou responded by shaking his head no, slobber flailing from his tongue as he did so. He heard Kaidou yelp as a drop landing in his eye, according to his thoughts.

That was…not the expected or desired answer at all. Kusuo wished he could just ask why straight up, but he would just go through the options instead.

Aren had sat down facing the two of them, even though Nendou was still turned away from Kusuo and looking back with his head, face far too amused to be anything but smug.

‘I bet he’s going to already know how to-’

‘You’re jumping ahead in the narrative, shut up.’

‘…I’m what?’

Kusuo firmly decided to ignore him. Kaidou could probably use some help putting all the playing cards away, he not so subtly thought of but didn’t directly project as he looked over and saw the small wolf in question pushing around the cards with his paws to try and get them all in a small stack again.

Aren just rolled his eyes but turned away to assist, and Kusuo gave his attention back to the ever still and rapt Nendou.

Seriously, he kind of wished that Nendou had lost interest in their one-sided conversation during the decently sized breaks in it. That would be less creepy.

‘Are you saying no because you already know how?’ He asked next, using purely his own deductive reasoning and nothing else.

‘You are really something special, babe.’

Kusuo shifted in place, annoyed, as Nendou nodded. There was no bothering with asking why the fuck he had stayed like this a week when there wouldn’t be a reply. He just huffed out a breath of air and asked one last question.

‘Will you please turn back and be human again by tomorrow?’

Nendou unflinchingly nodded at the downright angry tone of Kusuo’s, finally spinning around fulling and raising a front paw up, curling it and uncurling it awkwardly.

Was that supposed to be a thumbs up? Probably. He could only guess that it was because the idiot tended to give so many of those normally.

Kusuo nodded to himself and walked away, putting as much space between him and Nendou as he could in the small hideout, ending up next to the other two slightly less idiotic wolves.

‘Slightly!? It’s more than just slightly!’

Aren just chortled.

‘Do you want help getting home before I go, Kaidou? I can teleport you and then make your family perceive you as human if they happen to see you before you’re able to change back. And, of course, make your disappearance today nonexistent.’

There was a worrying hesitation before Kaidou replied, his snout twisting awkwardly as if he were trying to bite at his lip, and he paused in gently nudging a few cards to the side and merging them with the growing stack. Kusuo used his telekinesis to grab them all and order them neatly into a stack, floating them straight into the box.

Kaidou blinked at him, startled but grateful, but refocused his mind quickly.

‘A-actually I want to. Uh…t-tell them. I don’t want to hide it forever and it would just be…easier. To tell them.’

Huh. Kusuo had heard Kaidou’s mind dance on that possibility, but it had been thought about so little that he hadn’t expected the boy to actually decide on that course of action in the end.

‘…I hope it goes well, then. Do you still want help getting home right now or will you wait?’

‘I’ll w-wait with Aren. Get some nerves out. And go home when we’re back.’

‘Very well.’

Kaidou and Aren had taken to keeping spare clothes in the hideout, so that plan would work just fine for them. Kusuo had no need, he could just teleport freely around those two since his secret wasn’t secret between them. And, in all honesty…it felt nice to have have a friend closer than Aiura or Toritsuka know, as well as someone even closer but not family.

But for now he also was definitely not telling any other friends. Not until he was ready to actually do it on his own terms for once.

Kusuo turned around and walked towards the exit of the hideout despite not needing to in order to head home, but it somehow felt more polite to leave this way and then teleport.

‘I’ll see you guys tomorrow, then.’

Kaidou and Aren seemed baffled that he’d said farewell which was rather fair since he never gave those or said hello much at all, but responded in kind themselves.

Before he could make it all the way out, though, footsteps sprinted towards him, and he didn’t have much time to react before Aren shoved his face against Kusuo’s, rubbing them together like he was a cat instead of a wolf.

Aren’s expression was far too innocent afterwards as he drew back and somehow grinned, and Kusuo rolled his eyes and turned away, keeping his body but most importantly his stupid tail with a mind of its own still as warmth bloomed in his chest, grateful his face couldn’t flush like this.

He continued walking moments after, only not doing something to be polite and reciprocate because he needed to leave and not because the prospect of doing so like this was embarrassing.

He briefly wanted to strangle Aren when he heard his mental chuckle at his denial.

As soon as he had fully crossed through the blanketed doorway, tail and all, Kusuo gathered his energy and teleported to his bedroom, a location so familiar he didn’t even need to conjure the image in his head to travel to it.

And, as soon as all four of his legs landed on his bedroom floor, his television turned on and his brother’s ugly face filled the screen, telepathy canceler adorning his long blonde hair, some of it covering his left eye and the rest of it in a ponytail, despite Kusuo being nowhere close enough to read his mind. He bared his teeth at the image and intentionally raised his hackles.

It took less than a second of being home for his brother to make an entrance.

Fifty six milliseconds, to be precise.

Kuusuke sniffled, feigning sadness as his tinny voice sounded through the speakers, “I can’t believe my own baby brother is so angry at me paying him a pseudo visit. How upsetting, after mom called me so worried about you and everything…”

Kusuo just sat on his floor and glared at the television, making eye contact not with Kuusuke’s image, but with the camera perched very visibly on top of the television.

His brother knew he’d be slaughtered if he had cameras permanently installed in Kusuo’s or their parent’s bedrooms. But he’d been barely spared when he added one to his TV that only activated when he was video calling, and the living and dining rooms got actual full-time cameras.

“Hmph, no response? Not even a rude comment?” His brother paused purposefully and smugly, “Oh, wait, you can’t respond! Without your telepathy, since even with my lovely canceler I’m still far out of range, you can’t speak like that.”

A teasing glint entered his brother’s visible eye as Kusuo continued to glare, unimpressed, “Or can you? Come on, can you speak, Kusuo? Speak? Like a good dog?”

He had to put physical effort into swallowing his growl, because that would have almost given Kuusuke exactly what he wanted. His bedroom sat in silence as they had an impromptu, or really, with his brother, expected competition to see who’s resolve gave first.

Kuusuke didn’t bother to try very hard, giving up with a shrug quickly because as much as he liked to make fun of his brother and attempt to win at every little thing, proper competition or not, they shared the same trait of impatience.

Kusuo’s patience was better overall, though. It had to be, growing up with his powers and all.

“I will say, it is a lot harder to decipher what you want to say like this. I’ve mastered your blank human expression, obviously, but I am very much not a canine person. Maybe I should have made werecats instead…”

Kusuo didn’t even bother to hide his growl that time, narrowing his eyes and translating his words clearly enough that his brother was easily able to garner the meaning when given more information than an empty glare.

“Oh? Am I responsible for you and your friend’s predicament? Obviously. To be completely truthful, though, you were never supposed to find out, and you were especially not supposed get infected yourself.”

Kusuo tilted his head to the side, keeping his eyes narrowed to hopefully keep his skepticism clear.

His brother laughed at first, “Aw, you look adorable like that. It barely looks like you’re angry,” Kusuo snapped his head back up instantly, “But no, I am not lying. That’s why I kidnapped and gave the virus to your brainless friend initially, so you wouldn’t hear any thoughts about it.”

Kuusuke paused to wave a hand dismissively at the question Kusuo didn’t even try to ask, anticipating the obvious.

“I never left London and your friend never left Japan, either. I had robots kidnap and inject him with the serum I had mailed to a private lab I own in the area beforehand. It was easier and I had no risk of getting infected myself. What I failed to realize is that your little pet idiot could break out of a room made of solid steel walls and take off the tracking collar in the process.”

The screen briefly flickered to an image of, presumably, the room Nendou had been held in. There was a large hole in one of the gray, metal walls, opening straight into the outside, and the image barely lasted a few seconds before his brother was back in view.

Ah. Kusuo didn’t think that was possible either, but this was Nendou they were talking about, who has done countless other inhuman feats like his stunt in the school marathon. If Kusuo didn’t know any better, he’d say that Nendou also had psychic abilities.

“Anyways, I’m sure you’re wanting my help with this…issue of yours?” Kuusuke questioned, not leaving room for Kusuo to respond before continuing.

Not that Kusuo would have replied anyways, but the implications were still rude.

“Why don’t you teleport over here right away and let me have a look? I have to admit, much to my shame… I have no way of making a cure without seeing the biological structure of the transformed state first. Otherwise I might be reverting things that are actually a part of your human body.”

That was the biggest pile of bullshit Kusuo had ever heard, and his eye roll only conveyed a tiny fraction of how pissed he was.

“Ah, you’re too smart for that, huh, Kusuo? Yeah, I actually don’t know if I can revert the lycanthropy at all, haha! I never planned to in the first place.”

…Sometimes, the truth hurt significantly more than the lie he had tried to get fed. Kusuo sighed, quite displeased, and stood with a stretch, walking right past his television and heading for the door of his bedroom, which he swung open telekinetically.

He couldn’t see his brother anymore, but he could, unfortunately, still hear him, “Cold shoulder, huh? I never said I wouldn’t try, Kusuo,” He paused mid-step, body halfway out of the door, “Teleport over tomorrow before school, since I really don’t think you’ll get anywhere near me transformed and you’re stuck like this until around six in the morning tomorrow, and I’ll see what I can think of. I won’t keep you anymore, mom’s about to call you down for dinner. Goodbye!”

Kusuo heard his television forcefully shut off with a faint click at the same time his mom’s thoughts grew in volume as they targeted him with ‘Ku-chan, dinner’s ready!’

He’d known dinner was ready. That was why he’d teleported home at this time and had started leaving the conversation when he had. Hmph. Maybe it was a little bit of intentional cold shoulder, sure, but it was mostly dinner.

Or at least that was what he’d tell his mom if Kuusuke whined to her about Kusuo being mean, because he was just being mean for the fun of it. It wasn’t like his brother didn’t deserve it. Sure, he said he was going to genuinely try and fix the whole stupid werewolf thing, but it was his fault in the first place so the effort overall amounted to nothing.

…Did Kuusuke say six in the morning? That probably meant the initial shift had been at six this morning, which added up. That was utterly ridiculous. It was from sunrise to sunrise on the day and night with the fullest moon. How irritating. Kusuo was very good at tuning out Kaidou and Aren’s train of dialogue at this point, helped by his seventeen years of experience tuning out telepathy in general, so much so that he could even forget about them, but their exclamations of horror at that time-frame brought them back into the forefront for a moment.

They’re going to be waiting in that hideout much longer than anticipated… Kusuo sent them a brief condolence. He sent himself a reminder to set an alarm for tomorrow morning so he could shift back promptly.

Abruptly done, Kusuo turned back into his room instead of stepping all the way out, finding and grabbing his dinner telekinetically and bringing it straight to himself, ignoring the silverware for obvious reasons. Upon seeing his plate float away from his table, his mom’s thoughts became rather worried, but he reassured her that he was fine, just still. Having issues.

“…And I’ll be going to see Kuusuke early tomorrow,” He tacked on as well, rolling his eyes at how that statement fully calmed her down in the end.

Setting the plate down on his desk, Kusuo did his best to hop onto his desk chair, grumbling as he landed and the chair teetered precariously before balancing. Doing that was much easier as a cat, considering he weighed around ten pounds as one compared to now in which he was probably a good bit over a hundred.

Mildly annoyed, he huffed again tonight, and started eating (And being a bit disheartened at how dull the normally delicious tonkatsu tasted. He didn’t have anywhere near as many taste buds as a human did, so it was like the flavor was distant and sad), debating on if even trying to sleep when he felt wild awake and irritated was even worth it.

Well, even just lying restfully in his bed would be nice, and Kusuo decided listlessly relaxing was how he’d spend the rest of the night. School tomorrow would probably be a pain after having to deal with his brother, and a mental break would be necessary.

If only he had his germanium ring to truly relax in silence, properly removing both forms of telepathy. As much as he was fond of his nuisances, it was socially draining to always be either in a conversation or hearing one, as the werewolf telepathy was louder than his.

‘Are you telling us to shut up?’

‘Of course not. I’m complaining to myself, not you.’

‘…Right.’

Back on track, even if he could wear a ring on paws, it was no longer functional. The initial transformation had taken his ring with it, just like his clothes, and it’d been warped and broken beyond repair due to Kusuo’s innate strength. If it hadn’t, he likely would’ve tied it to a string and placed it on his neck.

As it stood, it was one wrong tap from Kusuo away from shattering, which wasn’t good when one weak tap from Kusuo could kill a person.

At least in the fading hours of daylight as dusk transitioned to night, people were settling down; and while most people weren’t going to sleep, they were going from a busy day to a mellow night routine, and their minds quieted as a result.

Finishing his meal and barely stopping himself from zoning out and letting his brain decide to lick the rest of the plate clean, he squinted at the empty dish and activated his clairvoyance to see if he had any coffee jelly of equal value in the fridge.

Fantastically, he did. Thank god his parents didn’t splurge on fancy dishes and silverware. This cheap ceramic plate had the same value of a slightly high in value convenience store coffee jelly, and so he apported the two of them, not caring at all that his empty plate was now in the refrigerator.

Kusuo could put it up later, before his parents noticed. Probably.

The lack of hands was making Kusuo actually appreciative of the full scale of his ESP for once, as ripping the seal off of the cup of jelly was as simple as a flex of his mind.

His tail thumped against the side of chair from where it dangled downwards as he shoved his snout straight into the cup. The taste may be watered down and nowhere close to how divine it was normally, but there was still enough of it present for him to enjoy it blissfully.

When he finished it and licked the entire inside completely clean he apported the empty cup for a significantly cheaper but still good brand of coffee jelly, since eating the contents regrettably lowered the value.

He deserved two for this whole ordeal. Maybe three…

…Perhaps not three, actually, since it wouldn’t do if he ate too much coffee jelly while being unable to truly enjoy its delectable flavor…yeah, two would suffice. That reason was why he had avoided his favorite treat even when dealing with being miserable and shape-shifted against his will, but a whole day stuck as a dog warranted it.

----

Kusuo should not have eaten any coffee jelly.

His head and stomach burned fiercely but, at the very least, he heard little to no mental voices due to it being the middle of the night. Even Kaidou and Aren were fast asleep, evidently, since there was no trace of them in his mind. So he did get the reprieve of his headache was significantly less than it could have been in this moment.

His mom rubbed his back (Basically petting him but the comfort was something he would have gotten the exact same way in a human form, so whatever), kneeling down on the floor to be next to him as he sat on the same, chilly, bathroom tile, right in front of the toilet.

Caffeine was toxic to canines, as well as most other animals. Technically it was still toxic to humans but that was irrelevant due to humans having the constitution for it.

Wolves did not have the constitution for it. It made them very ill instead.

Yes, he’d known that, but he’s eaten coffee jelly in his cat form with no repercussions despite his biology being just as altered as it was now…but, on retrospect, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever spent the next few hours after those moments remaining in a cat form and letting that body start to digest it, instead turning back before that could happen.

His mom’s mind was frantic with distress which was fair considering she’d found her normally invulnerable son still transformed and heaving the contents of his stomach into the toilet in the middle of the night after waking up from the noise of him teleporting and landing loudly into the bathtub at first because he’d been disoriented and nauseous, but she’d refused to let her mind come up with and ask questions until she was sure Kusuo was going to be alright.

She was a godsend, and so he decided to explain of his own free will so she wouldn’t start crying, which she was far too close to for comfort, flicking his gaze to the side so that it met hers.

“I’m okay. Or getting there. Dogs can’t have coffee or they get sick. I ate two cups of coffee jelly after dinner…I think I forgot to take the plate I apported into the fridge back out as well. Sorry.”

“Kusuo…” The use of his actual name was usually a bad sign, but now it was more out of exasperation and worry than anything of the scolding variety, “Can you still not turn back?”

He just shook his head, not wanting to explain that he wouldn’t be able to until a time frame that was far too specific for what he was still pretending was a power malfunction.

Kurumi just hummed sadly at that, continuing to stroke his back even as his scooted a bit away from the toilet. His stomach was still rolling queasily, but Kusuo was fairly sure that his body was done being absolutely disgusting.

He almost shuddered remembering how it had felt. He was beyond glad his ESP made him neigh immune to disease, because vomiting was the most unpleasant thing he’d ever experienced so far in life.

As he continued to pull himself back together, staring blearily at the white bathroom floor tiles, his mom asked him another question, “Would medicine help?”

“Even if it did, given my powers, I can’t take it like this. Human medication is a very big no-no for animals,” He sighed mentally and slowly raised himself off the ground, taking shaky steps past his mom and towards the open bathroom door. It was dark in the house, and so the hallway outside looked pitch in contrast to the illuminated bathroom, even with his ability to see in the dark.

The bathroom was, fortunately, rather close to his bedroom, so he decided against teleporting and padded slowly back to his room, pausing as his mom rushed ahead to open the door for him, leaving the bathroom light on in the process.

That was sweet of her, even if he probably could have used his telekinesis fine. He sent a quiet thanks to her and closed the gap to his bed agonizingly slowly, as his stomach lurched ominously whenever he tried to speed up more than a tiny bit.

Kusuo had actually managed to drift asleep briefly before this incident, lulled sufficiently by soft mental voices as he laid on his bed, and now he was even sleepier feeling. It seemed like getting sick had actually assisted in granting him some much needed rest.

He didn’t bother to shut his bedroom door, nosing under the covers of his bed until he was completely buried and comfortable, wondering faintly where his mom had gone when he heard her footsteps go downstairs, but overall not that concerned about it.

It was only when he had nearly fallen asleep again that his heightened hearing noticed her approaching his bed, and she called for him as she approached the lump of covers he’d become, “Ku-chan?”

He stuck his head out from under his blankets, the rest of his body curled up tightly behind him, looking curiously at his mom as she held a bowl full of water out at him, setting it down on his end table once she’d confirmed that he knew of its presence.

“If you feel up to it, you should make sure to drink some water, okay? Otherwise you’ll get dehydrated, since you just threw up,” She reached a hand down and stroked his head gently, and Kusuo nodded both to signify that he heard her and to dislodge it politely.

He knew that. He just hadn’t felt like getting himself water when he would have survived the night regardless. But, now that it had been brought to him, he crawled up on his bed until he could stick his muzzle into the bowl and drink as his mom turned to leave, wishing him a good rest of the night that he almost forgot to return.

Drinking from a bowl like this was mildly demeaning, but it was significantly less of a hassle than using telekinesis to drink from a cup was. So, since he was feeling very icky and wanted to exert as little energy as possible right now, he decided he didn’t care, tucking his head right back under his blanket once he’d had enough to satiate his thirst.

----

Waking up to an alarm at six in the morning when he didn’t have to be at school until closer to nine would usually be a miserable experience, but for once, Kusuo was downright filled with joy when he remembered why he was startled out of a deep sleep so early.

[markrosewater]

RE: "I get a lot more posts than I reply to" Lets all remember that MaRo is a person who is doing extra work to liason with the community and really doesn't deserve the snide remarks that he publishes here. He could just as easily bury every negative message and gaslight the community when they think something is wrong, but he responds to it here for transparency. You may not like the direction WOTC is going, and this is the place to complain to the big man, but be kind.

As I always say, I’m not against people communicating things they dislike about the game and its designs. In fact, it’s important for me to hear what people are unhappy about to do my job. I just ask people to do politely.

[writeforfandoms]

So SO sorry I'm late to blubber over Mink (I caught COVID finally after nearly 3 years and pretty strict isolation and it's hitting me with haymakers still) but oh my god!!! My baby!! Everybody catching feelings but being allergic to healthy communication is the funniest bit. I can't wait for Den Mom/Liason to take one look at the three of them and be intensely smug about them choosing a third. It's also curious why Mink hasn't been around other shifters for a while and doesn't seem to grasp all shifter-y behavior 👀👀 -🦐

Sweetie you are never late to gush over these characters!! Like a wizard, it's always the right time. Also, I hope you have a speedy and uncomplicated recovery. I'm so sorry you've been through all that and I really hope things get better soon!

Mink is just. Oblivious. Trying so hard to shove her feelings down. Horangi is only a little better, he's not entirely sure yet but he's at least thinking about it. König is the one that wants to keep her, he hasn't had a lot of pack in his life so once he's accepted someone as pack he wants to do anything to keep them. (Yes this has caused issues with Liaison.)

As for Liaison... she's going to be SO entertained when she finds out about mink. Probably a bit smug.

We will learn more about why mink is the way she is, why she doubts herself about these social cues and what's going on there.

Thank you so much!! I'm so so glad you're still enjoying this 💖💖

[fannish-jam]

I'm curious about one thing: does the show ever touch upon those who left the team, at all?

I'm currently at s9, taking a break from watching it, but I have seen Greenaway's leave, Gideon's leave and the impact Prentiss' "death" and leave had and has on the team. I wonder if anyone on the team misses them?

We saw Garcia struggling with losing Emily and JJ, with her going so far to try and replicate JJ's role in one episode as Communications Liason (and fail at it.) does Reid ever think about Gideon, how he was a better father than his own? Would Reid miss Blake when she leaves? Does Prentiss, at Interpol, ever think about the team and Seaver? Do any of those who left ever think about the BAU, the friends they made and left suddenly?