#is 5^n - 1 always divisible by 4?

[unma]

Proof by induction is not hard so much as it is weird because until it clicks exactly what you're supposed to do you just kinda look at the question and feel like you're being asked to perform magic.

[ldysmfrst]

Welcome to American Mate's Master List! The Taglist is CLOSED for this story.

This is an OT7 x Plus Sized/Chubby Reader story. The story will have Mature Scenes. The chapters with these adult themes will have (M) in the chapter name, so please 18+ readers only. Within the chapters, at the start and end of the Mature scene will be the following banner, if you want to skip them.

The Hybrid K-pop group BTS is on tour in America; of course, things don't start out the way they should, but after an encounter with Y/n, things change but will everyone follow Fate?

It's Time to Meet the Bangtan Pack

Chapter 1 - Two Weeks Early

Let's introduce you to the world of Hybrids and Playmates. It really is quite simple until a VIP Potential Client's manager walks into your office two weeks early, and it's only a skeleton crew right now.

Chapter 2 - The Playmate Meeting

Bangtan Pack arrives at Playmate Services Inc., USA Idol Division. It's time for the pack to meet the unsigned Playmates, but things don't go as well as planned.

Chapter 3 - Following Instincts

Dealing with the aftermath of the accident, Bangtan Pack reacts upon instincts, some more than others. Y/n learns a few new things.

Chapter 4 - First Case of Alpha Space

Y/n may call herself a Hybrid supporter but never has she dealt with something like this. Y/n gets to see firsthand some of what an Alpha is like when they get a little lost in their instincts.

Chapter 5 - Heated Discussions (M)

Y/n didn't want to cause trouble, but that seemed to be all she did. However, Bangtan Pack thinks sometimes the trouble is worth it.

Chapter 6 - A Proposition for You

Things get intense for Bangtan Pack and Y/n, but not in a good way. Meeting the doctor tonight has bigger implications than Y/n thought was possible.

Chapter 7 - Is This a Joke

After proposing to Y/n the option to become their playmate, the Bangtan Pack struggles to convince her to accept their Prime Alpha's offer. Will Y/n be persuaded or will she run from Fate unknowingly?

Chapter 8 - Time to Tell the Family Pack (M)

While the Bangtang Pack is excited to have Y/n join as a "Play"mate, that may not be the case for her family pack.

Chapter 9 - Shadows of the Past (M)

It becomes clear that pack dynamics can vary from pack to pack. This sometimes leads to interesting reactions. It's where the past can be seen influencing the present that will shadow all.

Chapter 10 - A Date in the Right Direction

After the visit from Dr. Blackwell, some of the Bangtan pack start behaving differently. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe the eldest Alpha has some insight. (This chapter is Seokjin-centric in honor of his coming home from the military)

Chapter 11 - Just a Staff Member

Y/n stands up for someone else, and everything starts falling apart. Last night was a dream but the reality of the situation finally hits.

Chapter 12 - Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

It's time to make a choice that can make for an adventure or change y/n's life.

Chapter 13 - Shall we?

It's time for the date with Namjoon. Getting ready becomes more fun than you think it could be with an unexpected surprise and new friends, but what happens as the night goes on?

Chapter 14 - Does it Always End in Ruin?

Scenting in a car with the Prime Alpha goes better than expected, but once they return to the pack house, things take a turn for Y/n.

WARNINGS FOR CHAPTER 15! This is a heavy chapter. Please read before reading the full chapter. Thank you 💜💜💜

Chapter 15 - The Pack Meeting and Troubled Pasts

Y/n shares her history with Bangtan Pack and finds she isn't the only one with a dark family life.

American Mate (16) - We are Alphas

Bangtan Pack discusses what to do next, followed by Namjoon's attempt to correct things.

As a paid member of my Patreon, you can read extra spicy smutty scenes and additional content, and have early release benefits for each chapter.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Reader Asks

Has the Bangtan Pack been with a woman before?

How would The Bangtan Pack react to finding Y/n dancing?

Additional Content

Meet Alpha Giant Flemish Rabbit Jungkook's Family

Patreon Artwork Poll Results (1)

American Mate (5) - Extended Scenting Scene (M)

American Mate (8) - Extended/ Additional Scene (M)

Take a look at Chapter 12, Hobi's Fire Red Suit.

[brights-place]

[Tokyo Revengers] Souya Kawata x Reader

1K 5 Part Special: 1 , 2 , 3 ,4 ,5 (You are here) Warnings: Fluff, cursing, SMOOCH

A/N: YOOO IT'S THE LAST PARTY YAYAYAYA!! Thank you for the people who continued to read and request my work along with the people who read my stories aha go check it out here and I hope you all enjoy this last part! ──★ ˙ ̟ My Wattpad🐇 !!

Summary: Little summary here for the last part you and souya were on a date and got surprised to see Nahouya and the other division captains enter the restaurant and welcoming themselves to join the dinner after nahouya decided to mess with his brother

Souya and you have been dating for awhile and every now and then nahouya would mess with his younger brother who would get annoyed at the fact Nahouya would just be pestering him.

So when you and nahouya were at a resturant booth of a local diner rambling and talking about the recent things they saw at the aquarium the door of the diner got opened as rowdy voices were heard and one kf them were oh so famillar to Souya who froze eyes snapping over to see his brother and friends entering the resturant in toman uniforms grinning and chatting while getting take iut as regular customers looked away to avert eye contact.

Souya was one of them as he turned back to you as you blinked blinking “Whats wrong?” “Code Peach” Souya sighed as he still held his usual angry expression you loved so much.

You paused before stiffling a laugh at how your boyfriend looked while sounded annoyed that his brother would pester you two again even as a joke. A hand slammed down on the table as a cherry vocie was heard “No way!” A grinning mikey smiled at the duo “You two on a date?” “Y-Yeah!” You said sweatdropping at Mikey is random exclamation.

Draken sighed apologizing to you as he was holding a plastic bag of food they just got. Nahouya popped by soon after from beside Mikey grinning like always but staring at his younger brother eyebrows wiggling “OoOoOh~?” “Aniki” Souya frowned at Nahouya he continued to smile.

You giggled at the interaction as the other toman guys were joking around and crowding around the two on a date as One was embaressed the other was just genuinley chatting with them as a lovely voluminous curly peach-colored hair male with a wide grin that masks his eyes teased his brother and snatching a dumpling from his brothers plate as Souya hir his brothers arm with his usual angry face.

Mitsuya and Draken being the best went over and got to drag the others away leaving souya and you too finally be alone. The rest of the time it was just a flustered Souya who was holiding his head in his hands apologizing quietly with his usual angry expression as your lips twitched at how cute he looked.

Even when you left the diner after dinner he was holding your hand and trying to apologize yet was cut off by you kissing his cheek as his eyes widened and sparkled slightly.

The irk mark slightly disappearing while he blushed staring at you befote yoy bursted into a light giggle cupping his face. For a moment his angry face was gone, his lips twitching up as you pecked eachothers lips lightly before pulling away.

A soft smile reached your lips staring at souya who stared at you for a moment as you blinked at him confused before souya said something that made you flush.

“I cherish you”

Souya whispered blinking at you as if you were an undiscivered constellation that hooked him in as you laughed softly kissing him again once more before the two of you freezing from a loud yell from afar

“YEAHH MAKE SURE MY SISTER IN LAW IS PAMPERED SOUYA! AND FOR FUCKS SAKES DONT BE A PUSSY”

An angry face once returned on souya is face as he snapped his head tk see Nahouya cackling on his motorbike with the other toman members either stiffling a laugh or a Smirk at the cute scene they just saw as he snapped his head to his brother flipping him off.

Yup… perfect date (⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ ©brights-place 2025 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact!

[sutashii]

Hoshina Soshiro x Doctor!Reader AU, pt. 3

setting: even if you two are together, you still need to act formal in front of everyone

pairing: Hoshina Soshiro x Doctor!Reader (established relationship)

warnings: not applicable

notes: aaaand this one also can be read as a separate story! sorry for these parts being short, just need to take these drabbles out of my head as fast as possible x3

another parts of this AU: part 1 part 2 part 3 (current one) part 4 part 5 part 6

Subordination

You knew you needed to respect subordination between you and Soshiro when you were on public.

For others, you were no more than a vice-captain of Third Division and a simple doctor. Soft touches, lingering feelings of passion and devotion were all perfectly hid behind formal greetings, emotionless phrases and conversations filled with things that should be included in reports and medical forms, exactly as written in the protocol.

You were making medical rounds to see patients’ condition, provide additional treatment and make sure that everything was going as planned. It was a part of your every day routine, and you were doing everything to make your patients’ recover come as soon as possible.

“Doctor [Y/N],” dry and unemotional voice suddenly interrupted you on your way back to the medical office.

Of course it was Soshiro… Vice-captain Hoshina, to be precise.

“Yes, vice-captain?” you turned around to face him, his frowning face was showing hints of worry and exhaustion.

“One of our cadets is injured,” Soshiro said. “They stabbed themselves during the training session.”

“Stabbed?” you raised an eyebrow. “Are they using swords, too?”

“At least they’ve tried to,” Soshiro said with a small smile that had a hint of sympathy to the cadet who also preferred close combat over other fighting styles.

“Noted. Please escort them to my office,” you said and leaded the way to the small medical room filled with equipment and kits.

Cadet settled into a medical chair with anxious look on their face, their right hand visibly injured. Soshiro was standing near to the exit, leaned on doorframe with arms crossed.

“This injury won’t require any stitches,” you said after examination. “But you’ll need to reduce the load on this arm until you’re fully recovered.”

Cadet exhaled with a relieve, and Soshiro’s face lit up with a small, restrained smile.

“Vice-captain Hoshina,” you suddenly said. “I’ll ask you and cadet to fill in a small form about this incident. Feel free to seek my help if needed,” you gave Soshiro and cadet some report forms and started to sterilise all equipment that was used.

Vice-captain and cadet, after ten long minutes, have finally finished their small task. With a sigh of relief, cadet left the medical office just to meet their friends who were waiting for them outside.

You and Soshiro were finally left alone.

“This is actually so exhausting,” Soshiro finally said, coming closer to you with few small steps.

“Yeah, looking for your subordinates was always a hard task to complete,” you smiled, perfectly understanding how much energy Soshiro puts into training and educating his cadets and rookies.

“No, I’m not talking about them. They may be the pain in the ass, but still,” Soshiro smiled and bent just a little, looking over your shoulder as you check medical reports. “I’m talking about us.”

“And what is it?” you turned around to face Soshiro. It was something in his always half-lidded eyes that drew your attention. It was something sad but gentle at the same time.

“That constant need of maintaining subordination between you and me in front of others,” Soshiro exhaled and took your hand into his, his movements filled with love and respect.

“I know,” you nodded. You were kinda tired of these formalities, too, but they’ve needed to be done anyways. “But we can’t be all lovey-dovey in front of your subordinates, you know?”

“You’re right,” Soshiro chuckled. “Otherwise they won’t hop off me until I’m dead.”

You smiled widely and placed a kiss on Soshiro’s cheek, and his face at this moment was worthy of being captured in an art museum.

“I can do this at least when we’re alone,” you said.

Even if you two couldn't show your feelings in public, the moments of closeness and intimacy were twice as dear for both of you when you were alone.

[cozage]

The Daughter's Return: Part 4

Secrets Exchanged

Part 1 | Part 5 | Table of Contents | Read this on A03

Characters: Ace x reader WordCount: 9k (buckle up! this is a long one!) CW: alcohol mention

You just had to get through this strategy meeting, and then you could avoid Portgas D. Ace for the rest of the day. It wouldn’t be so hard. You had done this a thousand times, as the lead strategist over all the divisions. Ace being wouldn’t make that much of a difference. 

If you thought about it, the second division strategist was actually a demotion. It was significantly less intense. Two years ago, your job had been to review strategy plans and find flaws in them. Now, you just had to present plans and get them picked apart by the other divisions. 

You thought about going to wait for Marco at the commander’s common room, but you didn’t want to risk seeing Ace yet. So you walked to the strategy meeting alone, with a few minutes to spare. 

Only a few commanders and your father were in the room, but you found Marco there with an empty seat next to him, so you sat down beside him. 

“You should really sit with Ace,” Marco urged quietly. You began to steam at his suggestion, so he quickly added more. “Strategists sit with their commanders on the other side of the table. And the commanders who didn’t have strategists present sit over here.”

You ignored him, shuffling through your papers to find the list of names you’d be presenting. You were so nervous for this meeting. You had done this hundreds of times with much higher stakes, why were you nervous now?

“Y/N,” your father called from the head of the table. You paused your work, looking up at him to acknowledge that you were being spoken to. “I’d like to talk to you privately after this meeting.”

There was no trace of anger in his voice, but you were still concerned over the private meeting. You couldn’t let that show though, you had to keep a cool exterior. If anyone picked up on your anxiety, they would question you and your abilities. You couldn’t afford that, not now.   

You nodded once to signify you heard him, but you still didn’t speak to anyone. You simply looked back down at your paper and continued to give one last look over your report until the meeting began. You saw people trickle in, with an occasional double glance at your placement next to Marco. 

Eventually everyone had arrived. Everyone except your commander. 

“Damn Ace,” your father bellowed. “That boy is always late.” 

“Must be with someone,” Blamenco mumbled. “He’s been busy recently.”

“There was a lot of noise coming from his room last night,” Thatch noted.

“Noise?” someone questioned, but you didn’t see who. 

You were looking at your papers, but you could feel a few eyes shift over to you. You could feel your skin start to bubble, and you took a breath to keep your cool. It didn’t matter if Ace was sleeping with someone else. He could do whatever he wanted to. It shouldn’t bother you what, or who, he did in his free time. But it did. 

“I can go get him,” Marco groaned, finally rising from his seat. 

“No,” Whitebeard said, rather firmly. “His strategist can go.”

You were so focused on appearing to look normal, it took you a few seconds of silence to realize that your father was talking to you. You glanced around the table, and found all sets of eyes on you. 

“Me?” you asked, rather stupidly. 

“You are his strategist, aren’t you?” Your father asked, looking at you. 

“Doesn’t mean I’m his babysitter,” you mumbled. You heard a few snickers from around the table, which brought you a bit of pride. 

“Y/N.” Your father’s voice was dangerously close to anger, and you could see a few of the newer commanders tense. 

“I’m going, I’m going,” you grumbled, rising from your seat and slinking out the door. 

Every step towards Portgas D. Ace’s room felt harder than the last. You found yourself hoping you’d meet him in the hallway, or he got his dates mixed up and would be running to the meeting. But that wasn’t the way Ace did things, which you knew from experience. 

You stood in front of his door, hesitant to knock. You didn’t want to know who was on the other side of this door. You didn’t want to see Ace after he had been with someone else. Or worse, see someone else with him. Your stomach twisted into a thousand knots just thinking about the possibilities. 

But you had to do it. Perhaps it would be better to just get it over with. So you knocked. 

There was no answer. 

You knocked again. “Ace!” you shouted, banging on the door. 

The door swung open, Ace’s freckled face inches from yours. He looked rough, like he hadn’t slept at all in the past 24 hours. You wondered if this was how he looked yesterday, when all the commanders came and grabbed him as you hid under the covers. 

“Y/N.” Ace’s breath was warm on your face, and you took a step back. “Just the lady I wanted to see! Can I show you something?”

“We have a meeting. A strategy meeting,” you said. “The one I worked really hard for? That one. Do you remember?”

His eyes grew wide at your words, and it was clear he had lost track of time. “Shit,” he said. “Shit. Shit. Shit! I’m so sorry.”

“We need to go.” You started to turn around to walk down the hall. “Now.”

“Wait!” He grabbed your wrist as you turned, and you almost burned him for touching you. Almost. 

“I want to show you something,” he begged. “It’ll be fast, I promise.”

“I don’t want to see who-” but he yanked you into his room before you could finish your sentence. 

His room was empty. Well, empty in a sense that there was nobody else inside his cabin. But it was filled with woven strands and half made hats, and new shelves had appeared on his walls since yesterday morning. Whatever he was doing last night, it wasn’t a person. 

“What is this?” you asked. 

“Shelves. Hats. A little thing.”

You hadn’t even noticed the decor strewn across his floor. You were too consumed with the hats and the shelving. It was a garland of wooden flowers all strung up on a piece of long leather cord. Each of the wooden flowers had been hand cut and painted, and they were all unique. It was beautiful, you had to admit. 

“Why?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted. 

You scoffed in disbelief. “You can always sleep.”

“I couldn’t last night. I-” he hesitated, looking at you for a moment before his eyes darted away. “I just couldn’t.”

“We need to go, Ace. Tell me about your weird midnight projects later.”

“Wait! Okay let me show you just really quick. Please.”

“Ace,” you hissed. A piece of you was curious, but you knew everyone was counting the moments until you were back. 

“The hats I’m making for Little Oars, right? I made him one, but it's starting to get old, so I need to make a new one, you know?”

“Ace-”

“And the shelves are for the shells. They’re everywhere, I know. I need to take better care of my stuff and organize things better, so…shelves.” He held his hands out, showcasing the shelves he built. 

“And the decorative thing was just…I dunno. For fun. For you.”

“For me?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“You don’t have a lot of stuff in your bunk.”

“I prefer it that way,” you said. 

“But now you can have this too,” he explained. 

You wanted to take it. You could tell he put a lot of effort into it. But your own preservation was key. 

“I don’t like flowers,” you lied. 

“You do,” Ace argued. “I see you smell them every time you pass the garden.”

Your heart raced. “Ace-”

“I know. Creepy. Whatever. Commanders are supposed to give a personalized gift to their strategist when they join. This is my gift.”

Your cheeks flushed with pink. You were about to decline again, but he picked up the garland and shoved it into your hands. 

“No returns,” he said. “If you try to return them, I’m going to hang them up in your bunkhouse myself.”

“Thank you,” you mumbled. You held them gingerly, not wanting to ruin his hard work. You looked over them, admiring all of the detail he had done. It was hard to believe he did this in one day. 

Ace watched you for a moment, and then gave a nervous laugh. “I think we should head out, or more people might come looking for us.”

“Shit!” you hissed. “The meeting!”

Both of you took off towards the command center. Luckily you had to pass by your bunkhouse, and you stopped in briefly to drop off your garland of flowers. You tucked them safely in your bedside drawer, to keep them away from lingering eyes and curious hands.

When you walked back into the command center with Ace, you saw that a few people had shifted around the table. Thatch had taken your seat next to Marco, leaving the only open seats next to one another. You scowled at Thatch, but you took your seat next to Ace without any argument. Your papers were at your new seat, at least that oversight hadn’t been missed. 

“Now that everyone is present,” Whitebeard said as soon as you and Ace took your seats. “Shall we begin with the strategy proposal?”

You nodded, passing out a copy of the division breakdowns and a rough outline of the plan as you began to explain. 

It went well. It barely lasted 20 minutes. There was no pushback from any commanders or the other strategists in the room. Everyone was in agreement that your strategy was airtight. It was clear that the commanders still trusted you completely, even though you had been away for two years. 

You ended the meeting with the promise to reevaluate the day before, when Namur got updated schematics, and the rest of the table agreed.

“Nice work,” Ace congratulated you, holding out his hand for a high five. “I’ve never had a meeting go that fast before.”

You grinned at his compliment, and gave him a high five in celebration.

“You slept practically the whole time,” you teased. 

“No! I was just resting my eyes!”

You giggled at his defensiveness as you gathered up your things. “Sure, whatever you say, commander.”

“I sense sarcasm,” he grumbled, which only made you laugh harder. You both stood to your feet and started to leave, when your father called out your name.  

“Right!” You stopped in your tracks, turning back around to face him. “Sorry, sorry. Coming!”

“Let’s go lover boy,” Marco mumbled to Ace, pulling him out the door. 

You hoped your cheeks weren’t red enough to give you away. Even though it was only your father left in the room, you didn’t want him knowing about whatever you and Ace had going on. Not that there was anything going on.

Your father stared at you for a long while, towering above you. You stared back, waiting for him to begin speaking. 

He chuckled to himself after a bit. “I see you're getting back into ship life again.”

You shrugged. “Some changes from being on land, but it’s been an easy transition.”

“How do you like being in the second division?”

He was watching you. Extremely close. Looking for any hint of a lie or nervous behavior from you. 

You chose to answer truthfully, crafting your answer with just the right language.  “Honestly? I haven’t don’t much with the division as a whole. But I’ve missed strategizing. It was kind of fun getting back into it.”

He squinted at you, aware of what you were doing. “And Ace?”

It felt like a careful game of chess. You couldn’t keep your face completely neutral; it would be obvious that you were hiding something. But you also couldn’t completely react to his words, or else it would show that something happened. 

You chose to scrunch your face in slight disapproval. “How honest do you want me to be?”

“Completely.”

“He seems like a good commander who can rally people when they need their spirits lifted. He cares about his family, that’s clear. But…”

You sighed, looking at your dad. “He’s pretty stupid. And he’s always falling asleep.”

Your dad bellowed out a fit of laughter at your comment, and you could feel the air lighten a bit. You had chosen to move the right piece in your chess game. 

“He is definitely a character, thats for sure,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes before he spoke more seriously. “But how do you feel about him?”

You gave him a blank stare. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t act dumb. How do you personally feel about him as an individual?”

“Oh,” you said. You had to think quickly. Tell the truth, just not the whole truth. “He’s fine, I guess. I don’t know him very well.”

You saw a glint in your father’s eyes, and you knew that he had some kind of information which contradicted your statement. 

“I see,” he said, watching you closely. You resisted the urge to look away from him. If you did that, he would know for certain you were lying about something. 

“Are you happy with your position?” Your father asked you. 

You nodded. “I enjoy it.”

He hummed at your answer, thinking for a moment. “Do you prefer it to your old job?”

You had noticed that your old position hadn’t been filled. Marco seemed to have taken over as the lead strategist in a sense, but he wasn’t as thorough as you had once been. 

“It’s certainly less work,” you said, instead of an answer. 

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Are you offering me my old job back?” you countered skillfully. You hadn’t been the lead strategist for no reason. You could see what game he was playing. 

Your father sighed, refusing to play the game any further. “If you’d like it back, it’s yours.”

You wouldn’t belong to any division, just like before. Nobody would be in charge of you except your father. You’d be able to get away from Ace. It seemed like the perfect escape from all your troubles. 

And yet, you found yourself wanting to turn down the offer. You wanted to stay in division two. You had enjoyed the freedom you had gotten since your return. You had more time to enjoy yourself than before, even with a big mission coming up. 

“Can I think about it?”

Your father nodded. “I would be worried if you gave me an immediate answer. By sunrise tomorrow?”

“That works great. Thank you.”

“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked. 

“Your decision to wait for an appointment offer until after my first strategy proposal makes sense. If any commanders had concerns about favoritism, those are surely gone now. I do have one question, though.”

Your father raised an eyebrow, waiting for you to continue. 

“What would you have done if I didn’t get appointed to second division strategist?”

Yoru father smirked and gave a light chuckle. “Listen, brat. You’re not the only one playing chess here. I wasn’t about to take away your promised position without giving you another one. Got it?”

An understanding passing between you both. “And you say you don’t play favorites.” You gave him a cheeky grin, the best way you knew how to genuinely say thank you. 

“Get out of my sight,” he groaned, but you could hear him laughing at your comment as you left. 

You skipped out of the room, happy with the knowledge you gained during your time with your father. He was always looking out for you, even if you didn’t feel like it. You had a big decision to make, and you needed to find Marco to talk about it all. He was always a good sounding board when you needed to make decisions. 

You were still skipping as you turned the corner, and ran straight into Portgas D. Ace. 

He grabbed your arm to steady you. “Hey there, smiley. What’s got you all excited?”

“Nothing,” you sang to him. Whitey still sat in the back of your mind, though her tears seemed more like a distant memory at this point. 

You gave him a boastful smile. “My father is offering me my old job back.”

“What?” his voice was sharp when he spoke, as if someone had stabbed him with a knife. 

His fingers dug into your arm. You weren’t expecting to see such devastation and panic in his eyes. It was so startling you took a step back, burning his fingers to make him let go of you. 

“As the lead strategist” you explained. “Just like before.”

“You can’t take that,” Ace’s voice was desperate. “You’re the second division strategist.”

“Well, yeah. But you can always get another one. You have plenty of great-”

“I don’t want another one,” he hissed. 

“I’ll still be looking over everything and offering up strategies, Ace.”

“It won’t be the same and you know that.” You got the sense that he was mad at you, though you weren’t entirely sure what you had done wrong. This was supposed to be good news.

“Why are you so angry with me?” you asked. “What were you expecting?”

“I was expecting you to stick to your word!” Ace answered, his voice rising with every syllable. 

You weren’t sure what facial expression you were wearing, but Ace seemed to realize his mistake in his tone and his words. 

“Sorry I reacted like that,” he apologized. “I just wasn’t expecting this.”

“Clearly.” You stepped to the side to continue walking down the hallway, but Ace blocked your path. 

“Did you tell him yes?” He asked. His widened eyes looked at you with a strange mixture of pain and hope. “Are you leaving the second division?”

You knew not to be the one to break eye contact with your opponent, but it was painful to continue to stare at him. So you did the one thing you had never done: you looked away first. 

“I told him I’d give him an answer tomorrow morning.”

His shoulders slumped in defeat, and his lonely eyes bored into your soul as he looked at you. “Is there anything I can do to make you stay?”

You wanted to collapse from the pain that blossomed in your heart. Portgas D. Ace was so easy to fall for. It made sense why everyone adored him, why everyone constantly spoke of him. He was someone who would make your heart grow three sizes, and then would drop it into the ocean the next day. 

“I just need to think about my options,” you admitted softly. 

“Got it.” His voice was full of sadness, and he stepped to the side to let you by. 

You didn’t want to walk past him. Every bone in your body told you to stay there. But you took one agonizing step after the other, and walked past him down the hallway. 

You wanted him to stop you. A part of you even wanted him to rush up to you and kiss your lips, like you had seen happen so many times during the plays in Wano. But he didn’t run to you, or call out your name. He didn’t even move. 

You had planned to go talk to Marco, but you weren’t interested in that now. You didn’t even want to have to make this decision anymore. You just wished someone else could make it for you. 

But yaybe someone could. Someone who wasn’t invested either way. Someone who would be able to help without judgment. 

You roamed the ship, searching for the sixteenth division commander, until you finally found him at the stern of the deck. He was surrounded by friends-ones you didn’t feel comfortable sharing this information with.  

“Izou, can I speak with you for a moment?” 

The man looked startled to see you addressing him, but he quickly regained his composure. 

“Of course,” he said smoothly, standing to his feet. “How private do we need to be?”

“More private than this,” you admitted as you both walked away from the group. “But less than a soundproof room.”

He smiled at your joke, probably one he often heard from your father as well. “If this is about yesterday morning-”

“It’s not!” you quickly said, your ears and cheeks tinting red at the mention of it. “I…need some advice.”

“Is this about your appointment to second division strategist?”

“Kind of…” You found an unoccupied portion of the deck and sat on the railing. “Pops offered me my old position back.”

“And you don’t know what to do now?”

“Right!” you exclaimed. The words came rushing out after that. “I really like being the second division strategist, and the workload is much easier to manage. Plus, I really like working with Ace-” Izou raised an eyebrow, but you rushed on before he had the chance to say anything. “-but it is kind of a demotion from where I was. And if i was lead strategist, nobody would be in charge of me, and I’d be right under Pops again. And I liked what I used to do. It was stressful, but I helped people and I was good at it.”

Izou hummed, looking out across the waves. “Can I ask you an insensitive question?”

You sighed. “Go ahead.”

“Do you only care about status?”

Your mouth dropped open at his question, but he stared at you waiting for an answer. 

“No.”

“Well,” Izou chuckled. “You could’ve fooled me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” you hissed. You were regretting coming to him. 

“You seem much happier in the second division. You had nothing bad to say about it except for the status it put you at. If status is all you care about, then you should be the lead strategist.”

You frowned, trying to think of a rebuttal that didn’t give your feelings away. 

“It’s not just about status. There are other things at play.”

Izou raised an eyebrow at you. “You mean other people.”

“Have you always been this observant?” you grumbled, sulking at being read so easily. 

Izou only laughed and ruffled your hair. “Your secret is safe, kid. But you need to be honest with yourself in a decision like this.”

“We didn’t even sleep together.”

“I know,” Izou smiled. “I believe you.”

You were quiet for a long time, trying to work up the courage to ask Izou one last question.

“You’re observant with everyone on the ship, right?”

Izou sighed. “Just ask the question, kid.”

You stared out at the sea and took a deep breath. “Is he as bad as everyone says he is?”

“Ace?” Izou asked, and you nodded. He hummed, trying to think of the proper way to respond. “He used to be. But he’s calmed down in the past few months.”

You looked at Izou curiously. “What changed?”

Izou laughed. “You’ll have to find that out on your own. I’m not one for gossip. Only advice.”

Advice. Right. You had come here for advice on the strategist position. Ace was always distracting you, even when he wasn’t around. 

“The position. What would you do?”

Izou smirked. It was clear he had been waiting for you to ask that question. He pulled out a golden coin. 

“Heads, you move up to lead strategist. Tails, you stay at division strategist. You stick with whatever the coin tells you. Got it?”

“You’re going to let a coin decide?!” you yelled, but he already threw it up in the air. 

It fell into his hands, and he quickly flipped it onto his wrist, covering the result. Your gut twisted into a ball of nerves. 

Izou looked at you, but your eyes were fixated on his hand. “Show it,” you murmured. 

“Without thinking, answer one question for me.”

“Sure,” you said, still transfixed on what the result would be.

“What do you want it to be?”

“Division strategist,” you said softly. You hardly processed his question before you realized you already answered. 

Your eyes grew wide and you looked up at him in shock, but he was grinning back at you. He revealed the coin to show a shiny golden head. Lead Strategist. Your heart sank.

“You have your answer,” Izou said. “You should stay a division strategist.”

You gave him a confused look. That's not what the coin had chosen.

“The result of the coin doesn’t matter,” Izou explained. “What matters is the feeling you have when the coin is in the air. What matters is the side you hope for.”

He held out the coin for you, and you took it. You turned it over several times, but it was just an ordinary coin. You had seen thousand just like this, it wasn’t special.

“Keep it,” Izou said. “For when you need to make decisions.” He left you alone, Still staring at the coin. 

“Thanks,” you muttered, hearing his footseps recede. Could it really all be that easy? If you flipped the coin again, would you be disappointed with the same result?

You threw the coin in the air, and as it hung there, you still wished for the division strategist position. Even if it wasn’t the most logical choice, it was the one that would make you the happiest. That’s what you had to go off of now. 

Your stomach rumbled, and you realized you hadn’t eaten all day. With the meeting this morning, you had been too nervous to eat, and your mind had been so preoccupied since then, you almost missed lunch. There was only about 20 minutes left of lunch, so you went to the dining hall to find whatever scraps were left over. 

There wasn’t much, but you found enough to make a light meal. You prepared your plate, and found an empty table to sit at to eat your lunch. You had seen a few people you knew, but you weren’t up for chatting much at the moment, so you ate alone. 

After a few minutes, someone sat across from you. Blonde hair, and a tattoo across his chest. Marco. 

“You up for chatting?” he asked, looking up from his meal at you. He sounded tired.

“No,” you answered truthfully.

“Okay.”

That was all he said. The two of you ate together in silence, each in your own world while you mindlessly shoveled food into your mouth. 

It was moments like this when you appreciated Marco. He knew when you needed quiet, and you knew when he needed it. There was a comforting reassurance that you were both able to exist together in silence without there being any tension. 

You finished up your plate, and cleaned up your area. You were about to get up from the table when Marco finally spoke to you.  

“You okay?” Marco asked.

You nodded. “You?”

Marco sighed. “Long day.”

“Hard day in the clinic?” you asked. You hated small talk, but it was tolerable with Marco. 

Marco rolled his eyes. “Let's just say some guy cut off his hand.”

“His hand?!?” your voice carried through the dining hall, and a few people stopped to look at you. 

Marco shot you a look. “Try not to announce it to the whole ship next time.”

You giggled. “Sorry, sorry. Tell me more!”

“I don’t even know how he did it,” Marco groaned, covering his face. “Some accident in construction. I was able to reattach it, but it was exhausting.”

“Incredible,” you breathed out. 

“Miserable,” Marco replied. 

The door to the dining hall swung open, and you looked over to find Ace in the doorway. The coin in your pocket grew heavy. 

“I’m out,” you grumbled. 

You didn’t look back at Marco as you walked away from him. You were sure he was making some sort of face, but you weren’t interested in seeing it. 

You threw your dishes in the kitchen sink and headed out, trying your best to ignore Ace on your way. Now that you saw him, you realised you were still hurt by the way he had spoken to you this morning. 

“Y/N,” Ace called. He reached out for you, touching your arm just for a moment before he pulled away. “Can we talk?”

“No.” You kept walking. You had to get away from lingering eyes that were in the dining hall, especially Marco. 

He didn’t follow you. A part of you was a little disappointed, but you were mostly relieved. You didn’t want to talk, and you weren’t ready to forgive him yet. You had already made up your mind. He didn’t need to persuade you any further. And, though you would never admit it, the devious side of you wanted him to sweat a little bit longer. 

You walked into your father’s office, where he was having a meeting with many familiar members of the crew. You found Whitey in the crowd, and you smiled at her briefly before acknowledging your father. 

“Ah, Y/N,” Whitebeard’s voice boomed. “Back already?”

“I made a decision,” you said, walking over to stand beside him. 

“I see. Let’s go talk, then. Are you good here for a moment?”

A few of the members nodded, and you and your father went into his private office. 

“I’m going to stick with the second division for now,” you said as soon as the door was shut. 

Your father did his best to keep a neutral face, but you could see surprise flicker in his eyes. He hadn’t been expecting that answer. 

“I see,” he said, pondering what to say next. “May I ask what led to your decision?”

“Honestly,” you sighed. “I’m happier being in the second division. It’s less work, I like the people, and I still feel like I can provide assistance and feedback to other division strategists in my current position. I’d be happy to take on the strategist duties that Marco took when I left, but I would like to remain in the second division while doing them.”

Your father watched you carefully, and you did your best not to show your hand. You knew he was aware of something extra you were hiding, he just wasn’t sure enough to ask. 

“Let me talk to Marco and see if he’s willing to give up those duties, but I don’t see a problem in your proposition. Thank you for giving me such a swift answer.”

“Of course. If I may-”

Your father nodded. “You’re dismissed.”

You nodded to Whitey as you left, praying that she never discovered what you had just done. 

You ate dinner alone, and went to bed early. It had been a long and draining day, and you simply didn’t feel like being conscious any longer. 

The bad thing about a bunkhouse is whenever someone comes into the room, the door creaks and the lights flick on, and you were always stirred from the edge of sleep every time. 

After the third time, you huffed in frustration and rose from your bed. You needed a night time walk to reset your body and your brain. You opened the door to find your commander standing outside of it. 

His eyes widened when he saw you. “Great, I really look like a creep now, huh?”

“Ace.” Your mind blanked on any other words. You couldn’t think of what else to even say to him.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he said, his voice soft. “If that’s okay?”

“Sure.” You were trying hard to not let him know he had surprised you, but you could feel your ears starting to fry your hair. 

He led you out onto the deck and up to the crows nest, and you followed him quietly the entire way. It had been later than you expected; the moon was high in the sky and only a few people remained on deck. The night air whispered against your skin and caused goosebumps to rise. You thought about turning up your internal temperature, but the cool air made you feel more alive.

You got up the ladder, and you found several blankets and pillows strewn about the small area. It looked rather cozy, especially for such a chilly night. The area was so small, it was almost impossible for you to sit down without touching Ace in some way. You took a seat across from him and wrapped a blanket around yourself, enjoying its soft touch. 

“Sorry I had to bring you up here,” Ace said, handing you a bottle of sake and opening his own. “I had first watch tonight. I tried to make it as comfortable as I could.”

You nodded, but still couldn’t bring yourself to speak. You weren’t sure what to tell him. Should you yell at him for being so rude to you this morning, or ease his worries by telling him you were staying? You opened the bottle and took a swig, trying to think about what to do.  

“I want you to stay as the second division strategist,” Ace whispered. He was avoiding your eyes. He was dangerously close to touching you, but he made himself as small as he could so you could have your own space. You almost leaned into him, desperate for his warmth, but you refrained. 

“So do whatever you need to,” he continued to say. “Yell at me. Curse me. Ask me whatever you want, and I promise to answer truthfully. Please. Do whatever you need to ease your mind.”

You almost told him you had already made a decision. You opened your mouth to say it, but then you thought better. Now was your opportunity to get answers. 

“Why did you make me the division strategist?”

“I already-” Ace stopped himself, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “I spent a year hearing all of these great things about you. And a few intimidating things. You intrigued me, and the moment I met you I knew I had to have you. On my team, I mean. I saw how calculated and effortless your movements were, and I knew the stories weren’t just stories.”

You hummed, still not satisfied with his answer. “So why are you trying to hold me back from helping everyone? That's what I would be doing as a lead strategist, isn’t it?”

Ace was silent for a minute, and you could see him trying to curate the right answer. 

You glared at him. “Honesty, Ace.”

He sighed in defeat, realizing he had been caught. He took a long drink before answering. 

“Because I’m selfish. And a little jealous. And Whitebeard entrusted you to me, so I would feel a bit like a failure if you left before we even went on one mission. I know you’ve only been here for a week or two, but it still would look bad to have you instantly transfer out of my division.”

You gave a dry chuckle. “Since when do you care about the way others see you?”

He smiled, and you could see sadness plainly across his face. He didn’t even try to hide it. “I’ve always cared. I just try not to show it.”

Your heart gave a painful ache at his words. You could relate to him in that sense. You always had to act like people’s snide comments about you being the captain’s daughter didn’t bother you. You knew you had gotten to your status by your own merits, but other people never seemed to see it that way. It always hurt, but you had to pretend you didn’t notice the sharpness of their words. 

You almost asked him more, or let him know you understood his pain. But you chose to move on, taking another drink from your bottle. “Why’d you join the crew? How’d your path cross with pops?”

Ace groaned at your question. “Anything but that question.”

“Nope,” you said stubbornly. His distress at the question intrigued you. “You said you’d answer any question.”

“I know.” he put his head into his hands to cover his face. “Just don’t hate me, okay?”

“No promises.”

He peeked up at you with a worried expression, and you laughed at him. He gave an uneasy smile, still unsure if you were being serious or not. 

“I had my own pirate crew, and I was making a name for myself on the Grand Line. So…I tried to kill him. Pops.”

Your mouth fell open in surprise at his words, and then you let out a fit of laughter. “You’re joking!” you said, gasping for air. “What made you think you could kill him?”

“I thought I was hot shit!” Ace said, trying to defend himself. “I thought if I killed him then everyone would take me seriously. I tried several times. Even after he brought me and my crew onboard.”

You were still howling with laughter, amused with the fact Ace thought he could ever do such a thing. You could feel your skin warm and glowing, your magma bubbling beneath the surface with your emotions. 

“I know,” Ace said, taking a drink of alcohol. “It’s so embarrassing looking back on it! He told me to join him, to be his son, and I tried to cut his head off! I obviously didn’t get very far.”

“God, Ace.” You were finally starting to calm down, wiping tears from your eyes. “You really are stupid.”

Ace laughed nervously. “In hindsight, it was pretty dumb. But I thought I was invincible.”

You giggled again, looking up at the sky. It still wasn’t an ideal night to stargaze, but the moon was starting to wane, which meant the perfect night was coming soon. 

You thought of the first night you laid with Ace on the deck and watched the stars, and the night he carried you back to his room. You thought of your father’s proposition, and how you had turned it down. And you thought of Whitey. What would she think, seeing you here like this. You took another long drink of alcohol. It burned going down, but you needed the courage. 

“Whitey,” you whispered. At some point yours and Ace’s legs had made contact with each other, and you felt him stiffen at her name. “What happened with you all?”

“Y/N, please.” Ace’s voice was pained. “Please not that.”

You both stayed quiet for a few minutes, staring at the sky. You knew it had nothing to do with your appointment or your position, but this might be the only time you would get it out of him. Still, it was quite cruel of you to put him in such a position. You were at a crossroads of whether or not to forget the question, when Ace spoke. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard about my reputation on this ship,” Ace finally said, his voice barely a whisper. 

You nodded, still looking at the sky. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at the freckled-face boy. You weren’t sure why. 

“Well it’s true. I slept around a lot. A few months ago, Whitey started giving me attention. And I gave it right back to her. The flirtation, the soft touches and little whispers, the looks when you think nobody is looking…it was fun for me. I enjoyed the chase more than the actual catch, if you know what I mean.”

You nodded again, though you didn’t really know what he meant. Your stomach churned with envy just hearing him talk about it. 

“She wanted something more. A real relationship. I just-I dunno. I wasn’t ready for that. I didn’t want that. I became a pirate to be free and to do whatever I wanted. Whoever I wanted. I liked sleeping around with a bunch of people. All different cultures, backgrounds, shapes and sizes.”

“Ace. Get to the point,” you said sharply. You felt like you were going to be sick hearing him talk about all of this. 

“She wanted a relationship, I didn’t. We both thought we could change eachother. But it never happened. Eventually the game got boring with…no reward So I moved on.”

Ace took a deep breath, and you could tell he was trying to figure out how to word the next part of the story. 

“She was devastated. The whole thing really hurt her, that was obvious. Not to sound too cocky, but it turned out she wasn’t the only one who fell in love with me. I just never noticed the trail of broken hearts I was leaving. I guess I’m just too irresistible.” He gave a nervous laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “But it made me realize my actions were hurting people, so I took a step back and limited the flirting and sleeping around. I never meant to hurt anybody. I just wanted to have fun.”

You finally pulled your gaze from the sky and looked at him. He was staring at the ground, wearing a look of deep shame. 

“I know she’s one of your closest friends, so I don’t blame you for hating me now that you know. But that’s the truth, I swear. If you don’t want to work in the second division, I won’t blame you. Whitey left too after it all came out.”

You pressed your leg against his, trying to get him to look at you. But his eyes stayed glued to the ground. 

You nudged him again, ignoring the pit that was forming in your stomach. “I don’t hate you,” you said softly. “Thank you for being honest.”

“Yeah.” He sounded miserable. Like he didn’t believe your words at all. He was picking at his skin, trying to calm his nerves.

You knew you should let it go. You had caused him enough painful reflection tonight. But the question was burning as strong as alcohol in the back of your throat.

“Do you regret it?” you asked, unable to contain your curiosity.  

“No." His answer was immediate. "It was what I needed at the moment. And Whitey was a wake up call. I’m glad it happened to me, even if it hurt other people in the process.” He snorted a laugh that held no humor behind it. “That’s kind of shitty to say out loud.”

“Maybe,” you agreed. “But I know what you mean.”

“Thanks.” He still refused to look at you. 

“Hey.” You nudged his leg again, but he didn’t respond. 

“Hey!” You bumped against his arm this time, leaning in closer to him in the process. “Will you look at me?”

He didn’t for a while, but his eyes finally moved up and landed on your face. 

You gave him a small smile, hoping he wouldn’t be mad with what you were about to say. “I told pops I was staying in the second division.”

His brows knitted together in confusion. “Staying?”

You took a drink. “I like it better than my old job.” You gave him another playful nudge. “Better people.”

“You’re joking,” he scoffed, but his eyes widened, and they looked much more hopeful than they had a moment ago.

“I turned him down right after lunch,” you admitted, a soft blush appearing across your cheeks. 

Ace’s mouth feel open in shock. “Lunch? But then-”

“Ace!?” A booming voice called from the bottom of the mast. “Is it safe to come up?”

“Shift change already?” Ace mumbled, looking up at the moon. “I’ll be damned. Rakuyo! You can come up!”

You heard the seventh division commander climbing the ladder, and your heart raced at the thought of him finding you here. What would he think? Would the rumors with Ace start up again because of you? You weren’t sure those rumors ever really died out, but you didn’t want to fuel the fire more. 

Rakuyo’s head popped up between you and Ace, and it was clear that he was startled to see you there. A sly smirk grew across his face. 

“Oh, darling.” His voice was full of mischief. “Ace, seriously? Up here?”

“We were just talking,” you rushed to say.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rakuyo said, waving you off as he stepped onto the crow’s nest lookout. “That’s what they all say.”

You looked at Ace, who’s eye twitched slightly, but he said nothing in his own defense. 

“Whatever,” you grumbled. You chugged the rest of your sake quickly, desperate to get out of the conversation. “I’m going to bed.” You lowered yourself into the hole and climbed down the ladder. 

“Can you throw my pillows down?” Ace asked his fellow commander, lowering himself down after you.

Rakuyo laughed. “You know the rule dude. Whatever stays up here, stays until morning.”

“Dude,” Ace whined. “Thats what I sleep with.”

“Should’ve taken the all-night shift then.”

Ace groaned. “Seriously?”

“Mmmm, so comfy. And alcohol!? Ace, you shouldn’t have!” Rakuyo jested, and Ace gave up on his endeavor of getting his sheets back. 

You and Ace walked back to the bunkhouses quietly. The walk back gave you a lot of contemplation, and a lot of time to work up your courage. He only spoke again when you were at your door. 

“So you’re really staying?” Ace asked as your hand was on the doorknob. 

“Wait here,” you whispered, and you opened the door just enough to slip inside. 

You snuck into your room quietly and grabbed your comforter and pillows from your bed. You hesitated for a moment, and then reached into your bedside table and shuffled around, looking for the bottle of wine you had stashed in there. You finally found the glass bottle, and slipped out the door with the comforter, pillows, and wine. 

You handed off the wine and pillows to Ace, and got a better grip on the comforter before you looked up at him. 

“What are you doing?” Ace asked, looking at the things you had handed off to him. 

“You don’t have bedsheets,” you said simply, your cheeks warm. “So we’re using mine.”

“I can’t take your bedsheets,” Ace said, looking around dumbfoundedly. 

“Relax,” you hummed, starting to walk towards the commander's chambers. “I’ll sleep with Whitey. It’s not a big deal. But we’ll finish that wine first. I have more questions to ask you.”

Ace groaned, but followed you through the halls. “I thought we were done with honesty hour.”

“No way! I have so much more to learn about you, Portgas D. Ace,” you giggled his name. It felt so sweet on your lips. “You’ve piqued my interest.”

“I get to ask questions too, then,” Ace argued. 

You chuckled. “Maybe. We’ll see how generous I’m feeling.”

Ace scowled at your response. You stuck your tongue out at him, which made his mood lighten a bit.

"You're really staying?" Ace asked again, eager for you to finally answer him.

"Yes, Ace!" you said, smiling at him. He seemed to carry himself higher after you answered his question, and the tense air between you two finally cleared.

You danced down the hallway with a newly found lightness, your comforter still in your hands. You felt comfortably warm, and just a little tipsy, though you weren’t sure if that feeling was coming from the alcohol or from Ace being so close to you. The only thing you truly knew was that you were throwing caution to the wind, and hoping that you weren’t as stupid as your best friend.

After a short walk, you reached his room and quietly slipped inside. As he dropped the pillows onto the mattress, you found a place to sit on his bed and wrapped your comforter around you. Ace sat down across from you, opening the bottle of wine and taking a long drink before handing it to you. 

“So,” he started, wiping the wine from his upper lip. “What else do you want to know?”

You weren’t really sure what else to ask him, so you looked around his room for inspiration. The half-made hats were still strewn around, but you already knew the answer to that mystery. 

“The shells,” you said, looking around. “Why do you have so many?”

“They’re from every island we visit,” Ace said, watching you look around the room. “I make sure to grab one every place we see.”

“Why?”

Ace shrugged. “I dunno,” he admitted. “Something that nobody else can get. It’s mine and it’s free. Every island has shells.”

“Even winter islands?” you questioned. 

“I’ll settle for stones too.” He pointed at a pile of rocks on his shelf.

They all looked like normal rocks. Just smooth stones that had been worn down by the current of the ocean. He could’ve gotten them from anywhere. Even the shells were mostly common ones you could find on any beach. Someone could easily swap them or steal one and he’d never be the wiser. But they were obviously important to him. 

“I’m going to show them to my little brother when I see him again,” Ace explained. He was staring at the shells, but you could tell his mind was elsewhere. “I’m going to tell him all the stories that come with those shells over a nice bottle of sake.”

You liked this side of Ace. He was kind and gentle and sincere. He had a little brother and he loved shells and he wanted an adventure worth telling. 

You picked up a shell on his bedside table. “What’s the story with this one?”

He looked over and saw the small conch shell in your hand. He smiled fondly, and you felt yourself relaxing.

“Narrow Arrow Island,” he said. His hand reached for the shell, and he turned it over in his hands. 

“Me and Thatch had this big mission, but we totally misread the map to find the town we were going to. We ended up walking 5 miles in the wrong direction. We only found out we were going the wrong way because some bandits tried to rob us and ended up telling us!”

You giggled at his story. “How do you mess up five miles in the wrong direction?”

“The island was narrow as an arrow! It wasn’t named that for no reason!” he said defensively. “And we had the map upside down!”

“You’re lying!” you squealed out, nudging him playfully. 

“I swear.” Ace crossed his heart with his index finger, which only made you laugh harder. Ace couldn’t help but join you in laughing at the outlandish story. Even if he knew it was true, he understood your skepticism.

“Okay, okay,” you said, finally calming down. “Your turn.”

“My turn?” Ace asked, looking at you with a puzzled expression.

“Ask me anything,” you said, puffing your chest out and taking a long swig of wine. “I can take it.”

Ace thought for a moment, running through his options. He had so many questions, but one had bothered him for a while. 

“Why’d you leave?”

“Pops told me I could have the second commander position if I was stronger,” you said smoothly. It was an answer you gave so frequently, you almost believed it yourself. 

But Ace squinted at you in suspicion. “There’s more though, isn’t there? I imagine you could’ve gotten stronger on the ship if that was the only reason.”

He was good at reading people, you had to admit. Or at least good at reading you. You sighed, taking another drink. You’d need it for this answer. But you owed Ace honesty and vulnerability, since that’s what he had given you all night. 

“My entire life I was always Whitebeard’s Daughter. Everyone looked at me like I didn’t earn my place; like I only got there because of who my father is. Ever since I could remember, wherever I go, his name follows me. Which is fine, most of the time. I love my dad, and I know he loves me. But those looks from others…the hatred, the envy, sometimes a mix of both. I just got sick of it. I needed to know who I could be without him towering over me.”

After you finished, you glanced nervously at Ace to see his reaction. His face surprised you; his mouth was agape in shock, and his eyes seemed to glisten with understanding. He cut his eyes away from you after a moment, deep in thought. 

“I know what you mean,” he mumbled. 

You laughed at his statement. “You know what I mean? And how’s that?”

He glanced over at you nervously, opening his mouth again to say something. He seemed to change his mind though, and reached for the bottle in your hands instead. 

You handed it over him, contemplating on if you should push the question or not. You got the sense that Ace truly did know what you were feeling, but if you tried to open that door, it wouldn’t budge.

“Tell me about your brother,” you offered instead. 

Ace’s eyes lit up. His entire body jumped to attention at your question. He looked like a little kid in the candy store, thrilled to have an opportunity to talk about something he truly loved. 

“Luffy,” he said. “That’s his name. He should be setting out to sea any time now, actually. We made a pact when we were seventeen we’d become pirates. His seventeenth birthday is in a few months, so I’m sure I’ll see him soon. You’ll have to meet him! He’s like nobody else you’ve ever met before, I swear.”

He went on and on, telling you about Luffy’s straw hat and their adventures in the jungle together. They were raised by mountain bandits, which was surprising to you since Ace had such proper manners. He talked about his brother until you both finished the bottle of wine, and you found yourself smiling along at every story. 

“I look forward to meeting him one day,” you said, a sleepy smile on your face. 

“Oh crap,” Ace groaned. “I talked way too much about him, huh?”

“No! I really enjoyed it all, truthfully.” you sighed, rising to your feet. “But I think I do need to go to bed now. It’s pretty late.”

“You can stay, if you want,” Ace offered. His already rosy cheeks turned into a deep shade of red.

You wanted to stay. You really did. It would be so easy to slip back into bed and cuddle up against him. You wanted nothing more than to fall asleep against his warm, bare chest. 

But you couldn’t. He was your commanding officer, and while one night in his bed could be explained away as a fluke, two nights would become a slippery slope. Plus, your absence in the bunkhouse wouldn’t go unnoticed. Whitey was painfully aware of your movements, and the last thing you needed was to hurt her even more. 

“Not tonight,” you said, attempting to give him a smile. “Whitey’s waiting for me.”

He flinched slightly at the name, and you felt a tinge of remorse bringing her up. 

You started walking towards the door, trying to think of something else to say. 

You turned, smiling at him. “Let’s do it again soon though, okay?”

He perked up at that, nodded in agreement. “I’d like that.”

You opened the door and slipped out in the hallway. “Goodnight, Ace,” you whispered. 

“Night.”

You silently shut his door and headed back to your own bunkhouse, unaware of the eyes that were watching you go. 

tags! @taeyoge @teiza @tojislawyer @trafalgardnami @bloopbopsblog (if you'd like to be included in the tag list, just comment or send me a message!)

[5thcloud]

Process of writing Tres Flores

(how go about and how write in doc)

--

trying get in habit of rambling more here , so going ramble about Tres Flores again , but this time both it and our old lobotomy corporation oc story Soul of Marine Blue , or just Marine Blue

But this more about writing process n how went about it

---

1.

So previous longest story we've ever written was our lobcorp oc story Marine Blue which we started in 2022 and was about 46k words long . it wasnt complete or posted anywhere as we prefer post stories once all fully done , think it was about 2/4 ~ 3/4 done before stopped

reason stopped was because lack of plan and hard to connect stuff (also other story stuff n didnt feel like was in good brain space to write the stuff)

--

2.

see , way we prefer write is more so like pantser but with general plot timeline in mind .

every time try complex plan it not work for us , how we work is that we go ahead put pen to paper and just start write , then once get feel , we redo it with proper version and make general timeline of events

We didnt do this well enough for our Marine Blue story , so not turn out that well in it construction

--

In end , it was like trying to write straight ahead literal scene by next scene , which can make feel aimless or hard know what do next even if do have timeline

despite Marine Blue being about twice as long as Tres Flores (which is currently 28k n likely will reach around 30k mark when done) , Marine Blue feels like Less important or strong things happen .

it could be because Marine Blue is written in standard writing n Tres Flores is narrative poetry (so less word but more happen) , it still feels like process of writing still effected it .

--

3.

so what we did with Tres Flores is Immediately solidify how many cantos / chapters there will be , which is 7 cantos ("0" as prologue , 1-3 as main cantos , and 4-6 as shorter and acting as "ending" and more focus on Dolorem and Campanella)

Not only that , we divided up majority of these cantos to have 7 clear sections , ie clear scenes that are labeled within the story that feels like parts of the canto

heres what the timeline looks like with just the planed cantos + sections division which all was done before started writing .

Mostly idea of "How many sections will each one have , sections 0 and 7 will act as opening and ending of chapter , 7 sections max"

--

Because we a strong pantser but always bounce around and check over , having these very clear divisions before fully write anything Really helped us , we very much wouldnt be able write Tres Flores without this slicing done before

because mean we can more easily bounce back and forth and not feel need to complete scene fully before go onto next , fill in gaps , know where the gaps are , and not feel overwhelm or overshoot the scope

Tres Flores was always planned to be very brief and very tightly woven , so help lots :]

---

4.

We feel the strongest stories , you should be able recite the scene timeline clearly , their reason and purpose . A clear "it started here , it ended here" . If open any book or comic , you can see it happen and you can physically see how long it lasts

So is feel planing out story , whether short or long , in terms of scene divisions , is feel can help lot 🐕 feel idea is pretty helpful for both planners and pantsers wawa

---

5.

other writing things we do is put square bracket into rectangle like this to mean "theres gap here , fill it later"

we do this as its very noticeable while skim and can find them if search the double bracket

And extension of that is that we directly note things inside writing doc which is also inside square bracket , can also color them to grab eye

last thing we do is that we do double dashes to show separate writings or edits of the scene . sometimes realize can write scene better , so what do is add double dash divider then rewrite scene in the section carved , then can compare and delete and do changes directly inside writing doc

we also make sure the dashes are all written same because also works with word finder , so can find every instance of this and wip brackets

--

Doing all this make us happy as we kind to prefer keeping everything in one place , all things about writing for story directly is right on the page and not separate file , this can also help beta readers too with understanding what supposed to happen in wip or empty spaces wawaw

everyone work different but wawuaa , hope give insight

ty for reading 🐟

[sambhavami]

Panchala in Mahabharata - Part 4

This is a selective summary of Dr. N. P. Bhaduri's 'Katha Amrita Saman' series, covering only the points that he made with regards to Panchala. Now, because Shikhandi is an integral point to that story, and the professor does note some controversial streams of explanation in relation with his story, I just want to make it clear, that this is just a summary of his work. I personally both agree and disagree with the different parts of his commentary.

Special thanks to @chahaa-piun-ja, who wanted to read the books, and gave me the chance to comb through it once again! ❤️

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

In contrast with most form-specific adjectives the writers normally subject these women to, Draupadi is introduced to the Pandavas as ‘darshaneeya anavadyaangi sukumari manaswini’: where her intelligence takes the forefront before whetever her physical qualities may be.

Vyasa mentions that Drupada, from that first day in battle, has always wanted to have Arjuna as a close relative, and after having Draupadi, he is dead-set on finding the lost princes and marrying her to Arjuna.

Among other things, the author mentions that the fish-eye target which is usually used to illustrate the swayamvara challenge, is not mentioned in MB-proper, which rather explains it just as a ‘moving target’, with a small point to serve as the main target. Atitya lakshyam yo vedhha sa labdhva mat-suta-miti (it’s a reach, but mat-suta somehow got misinterpreted as Matsya? Seems unlikely though). Also, one had to hit the target with all five arrows to succeed.

 Drupada’s first act of revenge is to be to alienate his best and favourite student.

Draupadi was carrying the weight of Drupada’s silent desire for having Arjuna as his son-in-law, which became part of the reason for her rejection of Karna.

Description of Panchala: in the center of the city, there was the sabha-mandapa, around it, his residence-palace. Outside the palace, a high wall, and outside that a watered moat. At regular intervals, there were gates with intricate toranas. Throughout the inside of the walls, specially for the swayamvara, chandraatapas (or semi-transparent tarps/covers). For announcements, big drums were situated at regular intervals. All roads were washed with sandal-infused water. Several seven-storied buildings were constructed (called vimanas), with gold chandeliers, gem-encrusted seats, and non-steep staircases. For 16 days they had a festival, with several kings and princes congregating. From Panchala’s side, dancers and singers were hired for non-stop entertainment. The Kings, along with Drupada, were engaged in many acts of charity as well.

After Arjuna is successful, Draupadi is described as almost ‘drunk’ with silent excitement. In Kashiram Das’s MB, Arjuna reciprocates this when he fights the other kings and keeps turning back mid-draws to see with a wide grin if Draupadi is impressed enough or if he needs to up his game. 😊

After Dhrishtadyumna check s up on Draupadi and returns, Drupada prepares a roomful of gifts: fruits & flowers, weapons, armour, and agricultural paraphernalia. Once their identities are well-discussed, Drupada makes Draupadi move into the same quarters, even before marriage, as the Pandavas and Kunti.

Then, there’s an interesting bit about ‘bhojana’ being an expression of an intricate relationship (and I do not mean actual food) in Mahabharata in general. Aamis, the Assamese film broadly explores the extremities of this concept in a modern construct.

The brothers then get married to Draupadi over a 5-day span, one after another in order of age. Also, after marriage, for quite some time the Pandavas quietly relax in Kaampilya, with Draupadi before Bheeshma comes up with the plan to divide the kingdom.

By this time, even Drona has become an important minister in Dhritarashtra’s court, but he does not poke and prod at his personal issues with Drupada, and aligns with his technical employer Bheeshma on the division proposal.

[mads-hemmo]

Baseball Boy - College AU

Part 2

Baseball Player! Schlatt x Fem! Southern Sorority girl reader

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Schlatt moves down south to play baseball for a Division 1 school. At a party, he meets a girl who is the exact opposite of him. She’s a sorority girl who obviously has money and a very strong southern accent. She believes there is good in everyone and Schlatt isn’t as much of an asshole as he is letting on.

The beginning of the semester is always your favorite time. You love spending too much money on a planner and choosing an appropriate color for each class. When you receive the syllabus, you put all the assignments in your planner in their respective color. You also love seeing your friends and sorority sisters. It warms your heart to be back on campus in the place that feels the most like home.

You are glad that you had gotten an early start on planning because there’s only been one thing on your mind since Saturday Night. Schlatt. You don’t know why he has taken up so much space in your mind. Frankly, he’s a bit of a douche, but you want to break his shell. You are curious to see what is hiding under that tough exterior. There seems to be more than meets the eye and you want to know what it is.

You have always been curious, wanting to understand how things work and know every detail of it. You hate the unknown and he seems to be the biggest mystery you have ever encountered.

On Sunday, you decided to go on Instagram and search for Schlatt’s name. He only has a couple hundred followers. The only mutual friend you have is Alex Lopez. You saw them talking during the party. There wasn’t much information you got from his account. There were about 6 posts and he only had one that included his face. The rest are just photos of him playing baseball.

Baseball. That seems to be the only thing you know about him. That and he’s from somewhere up North. You are not sure where, but it seems like it might be the New England area.

The other things you know are what you can see on the outside. He’s tall, probably about 6’3”. He has messy brown hair and puppy brown eyes that seem to be constantly squinting into a glare. You're surprised he doesn’t already have crow’s feet. He’s annoyingly gorgeous.

There is so much you do not know about him though. What’s his major? Where exactly is he from? Why did he brush me off when every other guy would be falling at my feet? It’s what made you the most curious. You took the time to talk to him and he barely batted an eye. You know most guys only like you for my money, but he didn’t even care to know your name. Maybe that’s what made you somehow want him even more. He does not know who you are, so he cannot judge you. Even though it seems that he already has.

As you have a meal plan, you make your way to the Cafe to get some dinner. “How was your summer break, Miss.(Y/N)?” Ms. Debra, the sweet lady at the front who scans our cards, asks you. You made it your mission in your first semester to learn every staff member's name, especially those who work at the Cafe. You learned after a semester that if you are nice to every employee, they make your college experience enjoyable.

“It was pretty boring honestly. I’m happy to be back here. How was your break?” You ask her back.

“It wasn’t too bad, sweetie. I was here for most of it as many students take summer classes. The family and I went camping a few times.”

“That sounds amazing. Have a good rest of your night Deb.” you make your way through the main line to grab some chicken fried steak, rice, and peas. You missed the food served here, especially since it wasn’t made by someone who thinks you should be on a diet.

After you get your food, you see your friends sitting at their usual table towards the right side of the cafe. You smile at the familiarity that rings through you as you sit down with the three girls I missed the most during the summer. Gia’s boyfriend Alex is also there. He became a part of the group as soon as they started dating two years ago. Your friends and you all met in your freshman year. Lucy and Gia were assigned as your roommates along with another girl, Sara Beth. Sara Beth however did not stick around as long as the other two. Sara was a nice girl but she never really fit into your group. She came here with her high school boyfriend so you barely saw her. Lucy, Gia, and you all ended up rushing KKG where we met the fourth member of your group, Haley. Haley is Gia’s big who didn’t bond as well with the girls in her year, so she quickly joined your friend group.

Even though you only met them two years ago, you feel like you have been friends with them your whole life. You all live in different cities so you didn’t get to spend the summer together. This is the first time you have all eaten together since May. As soon as you sit down, they all give me a big smile. “How was your first day of classes, (Y/N/N)?” Gia asks you with Alex’s arm around her tiny waist.

“Pretty boring. Just a syllabus day as the first week always is,” you tell her.

“Same for me,” Lucy says as Haley nods in agreement.

“Did Alex tell you about his asshole roommate from the North?” Haley speaks up.

“(Y/N) has met him,” Alex says, with a wink. You raise my eyebrow at him. You didn’t even know Alex had a new roommate, much less met the guy. Alex notices my confusion. “You spoke to him at the PIKE party.”

It finally clicks. “Schlatt is your roommate?” You ask. He just nods. As in on cue, you see Schlatt with a few slices of pizzas on his plate walk to a small table in the corner. His fluffy hair is hidden by a baseball cap. He looks a lot more comfortable than he did at the party. You ignore the butterflies in your stomach when he combs through his hair before putting the cap back on. You also ignore how lonely he looks as he scrolls through his phone.

“(Y/N)!” you hear Gia say, snapping me out of the one-sided staring match. You look over at her. “I said,’ Was he that guy who made you feel bad at the party?’”

“He didn’t make me feel bad. He just didn’t know anyone and I was being too pushy. Do you guys think he looks lonely?” you ask, looking back over in his direction.

“Do not say you feel sorry for him,” Lucy says. “I should’ve kicked his ass when I had the chance.” Lucy is always the one threatening to beat anyone up who ‘hurt’ the ones she cares about.

You roll your eyes at her forwardness. “Maybe I should go give him company. No one wants to sit alone,” you say.

“Didn’t you just say he called you pushy?” Alex comments. “Plus I think he is one of the few people who likes being alone.”

“Like I said he doesn’t know anyone. I’ll die of regret if I know I let him sit by himself when he didn’t want to.”

“God you’re too sweet,” Haley pipes up. “If you do go over there, please just be careful and don’t get upset if he’s an asshat to you.”

You grab your plate and make your way over to him. He doesn’t notice, so you clear your throat. “Can I sit by you?” You ask him.

He finally looks up from his phone. “It’s you again. Why do I feel like, if I tell you no, you’ll do it anyway?”

“You looked lonely over here so I figured you needed some company, so can I?”

“Whatever,” he mutters, paying attention to his phone. You feel like this was maybe a bad idea but you can’t back down now. You have to prove everyone else wrong.

“So Schlatt right? Did you have any classes today?” He just simply nods. “Awesome. How were they? My professors just went over the syllabuses or syllabi I guess is the right term for it.”

“I’m not interested in joining your sorority or whatever cult you are a part of,” he says, finally looking up from his phone.

“Obviously, you can’t join my sorority seeing as you’re a male. Or at least I assume you are since you play baseball and live with Alex. I don’t want to make any assumptions.”

“Definitely a male,” he confirms with an eye roll. He takes a bite of his pizza and makes a face in slight disgust at it.

“Yeah, the pizza here is disgusting. They were serving chicken fried steak which is much better. If you don't want southern food, they always have pasta.” You take a bite of your food, savoring how good it is. White gravy is a gift from heaven.

“Do you always dress like you’re going to an event ?” He asks, looking you up and down. You’re not even that dressed up in your mind.You are wearing a pink flowy tank top with white jeans and flats. The only jewelry you’re wearing is a pair of pearl earrings and your Kendra Scott necklace.

“This isn’t that dressed up, but I always try to look nice. I feel better when I take the time to do my makeup and pick out a nice outfit.”

He just snorts a bit before scrolling again. You sigh seeing that the conversation has gone one-sided. Though you should just walk back to your friends and accept defeat, you continue. You take a look at what he is wearing. He has on a baseball cap and a plain T-shirt. You noticed he was also wearing joggers earlier, meaning that he prefers to dress comfier than you.

“What team is that?” You ask, motioning towards his hat. The logo isn’t one of any team you recognize.

“It’s the school I played at before I came here. Don't look it up. I don’t want you stalking me.” You feel a tinge of guilt. He thinks you’re some creepy girl who can’t take a hint. Maybe this really was a bad idea. Why didn’t you listen to your friends? “I’m joking,” he says, noticing my discomfort.

You let out a fake laugh. “Obviously. I knew that.” you sigh. You’re usually really good at reading people, but he’s so hard to read. You feel like the whole douchebag thing is a cover-up, but he’s making it seem like that’s not the case. You want to learn who the real Schlatt is. The one who doesn’t feel like he has to be a lone wolf to not let anyone in.

“Did anyone teach you it’s not nice to stare.” He looks at you with his soft puppy brown eyes that make you want to melt in your seat.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I’m just trying to figure you out.” God that sounded a lot less creepy in your head.

He raises an eyebrow at you. “Why are you trying? I’m obviously an asshole who isn’t worth your precious time. Don’t you have some impressional freshman girls to join your cult, I mean sorority.” He cracks a small grin as if he thinks he finally broke you.

“I’m a really good judge of character and you seem to not be as bad as you are putting on. Plus I’m a junior, I did my duties of talking up KKG as a sophomore.”

“Sorry to break your heart, but I’m really a douchebag. There’s no act I’m putting on. So why don't you just go back to your little friends and talk bad about some helpless girl who doesn’t know how to dress?”

You scoff. “This isn’t high school. Unlike you, I’m not pretending to be someone I’m not to feel better about myself. I’m a nice person just trying to help someone who knows no one here or even in Arkansas for that matter.” You look at your plates which are both now empty. “Do you want some dessert? I think Miss. Brenda made peach cobbler. It’s really good. It will make you happy you came here.” You know desserts are the way to anyone’s heart.

“I have a few questions for you first. One, are you offering to grab me dessert after I was rude to you? Two, what the hell is a peach cobbler? And three, you know the name of the lady who makes desserts.”

“Yes because like I said I’m actually a nice person trying to help someone out. I learned every staff member's name here during my first semester and it’s like a warm pastry with peaches and cinnamon. It’s really good.”

He sighs. “I learned that you don’t take no for an answer, so I guess if you’re getting one.”

You smile making your way to the dessert line. “Hi, Mrs.Brenda. Did your grandbabies have a good summer vacation?” You ask her.

“Hello (Y/N). Yes, we went to Pigeon Forge and they had a blast. Did you have a good summer?” She asks you, putting more bowls of peach cobbler on the line.

“Yes ma’am. I spent a few days with my granny and papa in Fort Worth. I would have stayed the whole summer if I could.”

“I bet they enjoyed having you there.” She hands you a bowl.

“I hope it’s not too much to ask, but could I possibly have two bowls? My friend over there is from the North and hasn’t ever had peach cobbler. So of course I told him he had to try it from the best.”

“You’re too sweet, darling. Of course, you can take two.”

You smile at her as you grab the two bowls and some spoons. You go over to the ice cream machine to add some to each of the cobblers.YouI make your way back to the table and set one bowl in front of him. “It’s best with ice cream,” you tell him, taking a bite of your own. The noise that comes out of your mouth is sinful, but it’s deserved as you missed Mrs. Brenda’s dessert.

Schlatt looks up at you with wide eyes before taking a bite for himself. “It’s good. A bit too sweet.”

“You’re in the south. Everything is a bit too sweet.”

“So I’ve learned,” he looks at you with a smile small enough that it’s barely noticeable and it makes you blush a bit. You feel like maybe just maybe his douchebag act is melting like the ice cream in your bowl.

You both sit in silence for a bit, just eating your desserts. After you finish, he looks at your empty dishes. “Are you done?” He asks and you nod. He takes them, adding them to his dirty plate and bowl. Instead of saying goodbye, he puts his phone in his pocket and takes your dishes to the conveyor belt where they get washed.

You probably look like such a creep watching him leave with a big smile on your face. You look over to see your friends looking at you with faces of disbelief. You smile at them knowing that even if you didn’t feel like you made much progress, they think you turned Schlatt into a total softie who put up your dishes. You grab your things and make your way towards the exit. You smile hoping that someday you will see the full softie that you feel like Schlatt is hiding behind his douchebag exterior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Here is reader’s POV. As I mentioned in the first part, I changed the point of view from forts person to second person. I hope you enjoy this part. This gives you a little insight into reader. I’m sorry she is so stereotypical, but I promise there is more to her character. Let me know what you think!

[pholla-jm]

7 Stages of Grief

IMAGINE:  STAGES OF GRIEF ~ ACE X READER GENRE: ANGST WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. LOT'S OF ANGST. *********************

There are seven stages of grief that everyone goes through at one point in their life. It was fate, something bad always has to happen. 

Well fate can be cruel at times. 

Fate didn't have to rip your lover out of your life, but it did. 

1. Shock/Disbelief 

Seeing Ace's dead body hit the ground was an out of body experience. And not in a good way. Seeing the blood splatter against the ground froze your body. There was just no way that this could happen. You really couldn't believe your eyes as the world around you fell silent. You didn't hear Luffy's screams that his brother died. You didn't hear your fellow crewmates cry out in shock. You didn't hear your Captains final words either. 

You were too shocked to believe anything that was happening in front of your eyes.

2. Denial

You didn't want to believe that it was real. But as you felt Ace's cold body against your fingers, you had to pull away. 

"No," you whispered turning away from his body. Your eyebrows were furrowed as you fought back the tears that wanted to cascade down your face. Some of your crewmates looked at you in confusion. "This can't be real. Maybe it's a dream. But I know damn well that Ace isn't dead. He can't be." 

You kept pushing the image of Ace's dead body out of your head. Instead, replacing it with a time when he was alive. In fact, at some point you convinced yourself that he was still alive. Somewhere out there.

You felt a hand on your should causing you to look back. It was Marco. He had a look on his face. One mixed with sadness and pity. His facial expression caused you to look away. You knew if you looked at Marco any longer then it meant that it was true. That your boyfriend was dead.

"I'm so sorry (y/n)..." 

3. Guilt

When reality set in, it was like guilt punched you in the gut. You often wondered how things could have gone differently. What if you went with Ace to hunt Marshall? Then he wouldn't have been captured in the first place. 

Maybe if you tried harder in the fight, you could have stopped him from getting a fist through his stomach. You kept beating yourself up for not being strong enough to save him. 

All these 'what if's' running through your head just only made the guilt that ran through your veins worse. 

4. Anger and bargaining 

When anger set in, no one wanted to be around you. Your episodes were quite scary. It wasn't sudden either. No, it gradually grew into you snapped. It started with small things, like seeing something that reminded you of Ace. Honestly, anything reminded you of Ace. Like when you saw his favorite food or even a necklace. 

When someone was talking about Ace's death, anger has never surfaced faster. You were shouting at people, throwing things, destroying anything that was around you. You weren't going to stop until you felt someone grab your wrists. You look up to see the third division, Jozu. He had a stern gaze on you. One that you matched.

It was a silent stare off between you two. Everyone was waiting to see who would break first. 

It was you.

Angry tears started to roll down your face and you could feel Jozu's grip on you loosen. He was definitely not expecting that.  "W-" Jozu starts but gets cut off.  "It's not fair!" You shout finally snatching your wrists free from his grasp.  "It's not fair," your voice breaking- not wanting to say those words, "that I'm still here."  

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jozu asks.  "I would do anything to have him here. Even if it meant trading places with him."  "Don't say that. He wouldn't want. Ace would want you alive."  "Well it doesn't matter what he wants now."

Your words are basically like venom as you leave. The only thing that could be heard was a door slamming shut.

5. Depression/ sadness 

"(y/n), wake up." Ace's voice whisper causing a small groan to leave your lips. You peeked your eyes open to see Ace smiling down at you.  "hey." You whisper bringing a hand up to caress his face. The warmth of his face immediately brought a smile to your face.  "I have an idea." He says.  "Uh oh. That's never good." You joke causing him to roll your eyes.  He decides to ignore your little jab at him, "let's go out today." 

You immediately sat up, eyeing the bandage on his chest. "Let's not. Marco said you need plenty of rest before going back out. Plus I have something planned today."  Ace lays back down, his head resting in his hand. 

"I bought a whole bunch of new clothes, so let's do a fashion show!" You excitedly say before jumping out of the bed.  However, the sheets got tangled up in your feet causing you to crash onto the floor.

A groan left your lips as you rubbed your head. After the pain left, you realized that something felt different.  With a sigh, you climbed back into the empty bed. Pulling the blankets over, you reached over to where Ace usually sleeps. 

You closed your eyes imagining that his warmth was still there. Imagining wasn't enough though. You couldn't really feel his warmth. Tears started falling down your face again as you started to wander back into dreamland. 

7. Acceptance 

"Look babe," Ace says walking out from the bathroom. 

You laid in bed with a book in your hand. When he called your nickname, you looked up at him with a large smile.  "Yes?"  "My wound is healing up," He says lifting his arms to show the clean bandage.  "I'm glad." 

Ace jumps into the bed, not wasting any time to hover your body, your book falling off the bed. A mischievous smile covers his face, "how should we celebrate?" 

You roll his eyes at his innuendo, "definitely by not doing that."  A pout replaced on his lips as he rolled off onto the side. 

"I feel so much better though." 

Your nose scrunched up at his words as you also rolled on your side to look at him. No words were spoken between you two. Just silence as you looked into each others eyes.  You never wanted this moment to end.

Ace let a sigh, his lips slightly twitching into a frown. 

"I should go out today. See if there's anything for me to do." 

A frown placed on your face now, "no," you whisper bringing up your hand to caress the side of his face.  "There's no reason for you to leave. You can just stay here with me." 

Ace sat up causing you to do the same.  "I think it's time for me to leave (y/n)."  Your heart started ache at his words and Ace can tell that this hurts you.  "I love you." He says bringing you into a hug, which you gladly return.

There was a knock on the door and soon light entered your bedroom. There Marco stood in the doorway, watching your figure sit on the bed. You were holding a pillow closely to your chest.  When the light hit your body, you turned around seeing Marco looking at you with a saddened look. 

"He's gone Marco...." 

Upon seeing the tears in your eyes, he immediately goes over to your bed and sits on the edge.  "This is my first time actually saying it..." You mutter, your grip slowly loosing it's grip on the pillow. 

Marco doesn't waste another second to pull you into a hug. Sobs started to break through as you clutched onto him. 

"It's okay (y/n). Let it out. We'll work through this together." 

[littlevillageidiot64]

OUR DARING YEARS 1. Servicemen: you are a volunteer serving Humanity faithfully and with honor. 2. Every Servicemen is your comrade in Service, irrespective of their nationality, race, sexual orientation or creed. You will demonstrate this by an unwavering and straightforward solidarity which must always bind together members of the same family. 3. Respectful of the UNSF's traditions, honoring your superiors, self-discipline and comradeship are your strength, resilience and loyalty your virtues. 4. Proud of your status as a Servicemen, you will display this pride, by your turnout, always impeccable, your behavior, ever worthy, though modest, your living quarters, always tidy. 5. For the combatants and comrade in arms, you will act without relish of your tasks, or hatred; you will respect the vanquished enemy and will never abandon neither your wounded nor your dead, nor will you under any circumstances surrender your arms. 6. Belongings are shared by all. Supply yourself according to your needs. 7. You will be judged by a single criteria: do you contribute? If not, we'll make one. - UNSF, CODE OF HONOR CHAPTER 1:

Anna took the realization in something.... unusual. It is quite common to head for the bridge of the ship and even though she was an officer she felt she'd been lead in the wrong direction. It wasn't that she was given less info than usual since it was for security purposes, but it was the first time she wasn't handed any information at all, and she could see she was seriously out of place amongst the fold even within rank. She knew this was more than merely a get together for army officers; navy and air corps top brass for the siege whom waited, too, glittering with seniority along with the suits, the intelligence staff, the CN and political advisors. This was a mere gathering of the top circle, but in terms of sheer authority, this was a clear summit by all accounts. It'd only been two months and still progress with The Division wasn't anymore faster than before. Wether High Command would admit it to not, this might put the UNSF (United Nations Space Force) to the test. One could know eighty ways to kill people under their care and still wouldn't get anywhere.

Her expressions were risen within seconds, "Marcus!" Bowman jumped back a bit as he jerked his head towards the marine captain but became nearly cradled by her broad arms giving a hug that felt more like pinching a lump as the navy officer yelled as if his chest cavity had cracked. Anna mainly smiled, "Oh I have missed you so much!" she said almost sounding like she's squeezing his lungs out. Jacob stood close to her saying, "Captain, stop unintentionally murdering the staff." Her eyes showed off their marble brown colors once more with Anna carefully placing Bowman down, "My mistake." she said. Bowman just chuckled yet coughed a tad, "N..no no, that was my fault, honestly, I should've kept my guard up." "Frankly, I didn't even hear her come.” Admiral Tsoko stated. Standing at seven three for a Galactic Marine compared to Anna’s own height of seven two, Jacob still somehow managed to hardly stand out among the crowd of the room, and in their time together, Anna couldn’t recall a single occasion on which Jacob’s uniform was too tight or too loose. Despite equally such a presence as her, most stared at Anna more so given she was all muscle in a military issued uniform that acted and sounded friendly yet held the aura of a woman who wasn’t afraid to a swing a punch or take one. She looked harder than most of everyone in the room; a room of mere cardboards encasing around mountain of muscle. Anna noticed Marshal Commander Grame in one of the blue leather chairs, chatting to Naomi as if the two knew the other for a good ten years since OCS. Courtney would have found all of this too cozy to her liking. Anna could have brought her along but both she and Jacob hardly thought alike. When push came to shove, Courtney was prepared to kill a world to save at least some of it.

Jacob, Anna suspected, might not have been the same. Its not Anna didn't trust Courtney. In fact, she envied her; affected by grief, yet self contained, and who is satisfied by making broken things work. However if she had her way she'd retire her for her sake and health. Lick each other's wounds if she want. It was like she had a friend who was a firefighter but got divorce tomorrow and then started running head first into burning buildings. Are they saving lives? Yes. Should you probably give them a therapist or go hang out? Definitely.

She eyed at Naomi another moment longer. Her skin was dark brown in tone with a slim jawline, high cheekbones and a somewhat round but tapered, pointed chin. Puckered scars ran across her right cheek and through her lip as well as a thin nose shaped into a prominent bridge with a downward slope. Her hair was cropped and blonde with ocean blue, wide set, sullen eyes. She had a slim figure that was equally as robust; high, round, youthful breasts; narrow shoulders; small waist; wide hips and thighs. The clothing she wore was typical BCA attire: light blue tunic, light blue trousers with a white undershirt and a black tie. Two gold oak leaves on the collars of the undershirt. Gold cuff links. White gloves. Black, dress shoes, and epaulettes with their emblem on a dark blue arm band at the bicep region of the left sleeve, which was a pure white five pointed star with white wings stabling it that have rectangular like feathers. She was ten years her senior yet age hardly effected her form and stability. Even in the many photos and pictures she found of her she looked exactly as she had seventy five years before.

Surprisingly this was probably a first among a few times she saw her interacting with anyone she knew or respected. Anytime any of the more lower runts spoke to her she kept the talks short and at others a knowing stare and a nod with several, “Uh-huh” at rare moments of self contained silence, as if she was conserving energy for more relevant issues. Even in friendly conversation despite always being temporary she was polite firstly yet gave the impression that part of her was holding back, secretive, withdrawn, watching, judging, willfully impossible to read or know yet still respected by Servicemen because she didn’t waste their time but also hated by others given she could trap them easily through such words. She would call her having little doubts but that’s a strong word to say given their agents were good at sowing seeds of doubt. It was their job. They probably didn’t even know they were doing it, not even the likable sort. They were from an organization that is a unique phenomenon of this century. Having no true counterpart, either in history or the contemporary existence of Human Space, it cannot be fully comprehended through analogy with other organizations, or other adequately defined by human terminology.

It helped that they were really careful in controlling their public persona. Stories about the BCA as the UNSF's cutting edge science agency appear regularly in the press, while the bulk of their more consequential and sometimes more authoritarian programs go largely unreported. In fact, alot that's more reported is towards health and wellness even though their stated mission is to be an intelligence agency. The aversion to risk was perhaps the single greatest discrepancy between the BCA and other branches. They were about taking chances. Its officers and operatives were trained to act as the Chairman’s hidden hand. Intelligence is a secret action from them that aims at understanding or changing what goes on abroad across Human Space. A nation that wants to project its power beyond its borders needs to see over the horizon, to know what is coming, to prevent attacks against its people. It must anticipate surprise. Without a strong, smart, sharp intelligence service, politicians and generals alike can become blind and crippled.

In its near century long history, the BCA has never allowed the UNSF to be taken scientific surprised. They make the future happen. Industry, public health, society, culture all transform because technology that the BCA pioneers. A revolution is not a revolution unless it comes with an element of surprise. They are like spiders, exquisitely sensitive to any vibration in their webs, ready to pounce on problems and efficiently dispose of them. They are constantly analyzing all changing inputs and factors, making countless quick small judgments and decisions, then passing them on to the crew and the ground team. It’s like being coach, quarterback, water boy and cheerleader, all in one. Everyone affected by the actions of the UNSF is affected by the BCA. Given their reputation, how they show themselves personally, they somehow manage to have zero insecurities when they should have alot. In fact, so self assured that there's nothing that would deter them from feeling good about themselves.

She noticed the two separating. She walked to Naomi holding a statesmanlike half smile. Most thought it was probably more for the benefit of her local audience than really for Jacob. Anna was suddenly surprised at the lack of reek of coffee smell. Probably people trying not to invite questions when they all returned back to the Center. Servicemen never forgot what the real thing smelled like. The fresh pot of coffee in the office, genuine coffee, not some ingenious but completely unconvincing cereal concoction.

The few she knew tried resisting it. Servicemen were often uncomfortable enjoying what the average Colonist no longer could whether through poverty, shortage, or both. Some Candidates who first joined often held the sense of entitlement, that subconscious expectation that their exceptional jobs demanded exceptional rights, but was slowly evaporated year upon year. With privilege goes responsibility. To be a Servicemen is to belong to a justice minded community of perennial social outcasts. Even though there’s bad Servicemen there’s no really bad Servicemen.

Naomi moved her eyes to Anna’s direction before turning her whole head mainly blinking at her. “Greetings to you. I’m sorry about my actions before.” Anna said. Naomi remand expressionless. “It’s nothing.” She said, humorously with a smile. She held out her hand. Anna reached out and grasped it firmly, unhesitating now. As they shook hands Naomi’s had all but disappeared into Anna’s, however was quite surprised of the aged agent’s firm and strong grip. Anna got a chuckle out of this. She kept her smile for sometime, as if it proved a problem for her, which grew affectish on Naomi as well with the help that Anna’s voice was mellow like a hum. Elegance, deep pitched and strength. Comfortable to hear and sounds clear and uncluttered. Her vocal cords sounding completely relaxed. Warm, and buttery to the ear with her words sounding slow yet never treating her like a child almost as if she mastered her impulses. Her strong grip and stance had also told Naomi many things. There was no pose, no pretense, no attempt to establish anything for the record.... She's natural, alive, alert, spirited, and give the impression of having intense amount of unloosened energy, both intellectual and physical. She held the impression that here was a woman who was realistic, practical and disciplined. She has the power of drawing the hearts of people towards her as a magnet attracts the bit of metal. She merely has to smile at you and you trust her at once.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance finally. Your reputation precedes you.” Anna continued. “Not all of it is good, Captain.” Naomi replied with sudden melancholy and sorrow in her eyes. “If rules and customs are unbroken, then they are meaningless, either brittle from misuse, or so strong and overwhelming that you remain clueless to the truth of what it is they were intended to protect…” “On that we can agree fully.” “I apologize if I’m saying you’re soulless in your approach.” Naomi chuckled, yet composed. “Oh I have my moral quandaries of my own. It’s just they don’t matter in the grand scheme of affairs. You just concentrate on killing soldiers and the uneducated for the rest of us.”

“Hey, you, blondie!! Yeah I’m talking to you!!” Anna turned to her right still holding her smile but the enthusiasm within her was palpable. She lightly ran over as she and Grame widen one another’s arms. He himself had also hold a strong smile. “What of it, huh? You don’t call me, nor wrote to me for a good two months and expect me to be quiet the whole war?” “Jon, you magnificent son if a bitch!!” She squeezed tightly and he managed greatly against her tough muscles and iron dense bones. Anna felt she was hugging an alien or clone for all she knew. He hugged identically to her except he was… different. He spoke a little differently. He smelled subtlety different. Wasn’t so use to seeing him out of armor either. “Been too long, Man.” Grame then suddenly pulled from her but kept his hands at her shoulders, looking bewildered like she had a dick latched on her forehead. “Anna, its been twenty years now. Wasn’t that long ago.” She rolled her eyes. “Just trying to make you feel better, Hun.” “Only thing I miss is you being alot smaller than you are now. Then again, everyone’s small compared to you, so it evens out.”

He noticed Naomi keeping a short but fixed stare. “Don’t get your gown all tucked in.” He humored. “There’s no regs that states an officer can’t be friends with their subordinates. I’ve never been easy on Barkwood, but she did the job. That’s worth enough for the two of us.” She gave a carefully blank stare. “Message received, Marshal Commander.” she said, mellowly. “Now I just feel good having a wall at my back.” “I noticed you haven’t thought to speak with the Task Commander and her subjects in this summit.” Anna said. “They can wait a while,” Naomi said. “This summit is a show, and this is clear pomp, and this is, essentially, a waste of time. But Monroe is the Chairman. His authority needs to be reinforced.”

Anna kept examining Grame. His uniform was what had been worn by the greater majority of the room: a collared light blue shirt, a dark tie, slightly loosened at the neck, and a deep blue coat. He had dark brown skin with a strong but tapered jawline. His lips were full but thin with a typical short black hair and had a thin bridge nose with a flat base.

Not much has changed about him physically but she took a chuckle that he’s kept that sharp, slender, stout mustache for years, looking as if it might have been finely penciled in. Might as well been his symbol much like his utility cap because once he shaves it off people are gonna freak out at such a sudden change. She was still weirded out at him not wearing armor. It was like he was from another world she never knew of. Not wearing his armor and service rifle made him appear off balance, yet still noticed the gravity of warfare latching to him even if he lost his combat suit. Maybe, she thought, he was showing what he was packing given there’s a chance they might tell others for certain arrangements. He already looked naked. Without armor, Servicemen felt exposed somehow, like they had left their quarters without their skin. They had grown use to how they weigh and felt. It was like missing an arm that they knew existed at some point in their lives or a common comfort item. It was very jarring to see. Almost no one outside the organization saw how they looked underneath since nobody wanted to risk inhaling tougher amounts of oxygens on other planets or expose themselves to the elements and catching some alien disease or die to a new form of cancer from the mountains of heavy sun activity due to a lack of melanin. Apart from the heavily publicized display of massed UNSF battalions boarding carriers at the military staging area a few months ago, the vast majority of both the human public and alien themselves held no contact with them whatsoever. And never without their helmets mainly due to both security and personal reasons. Armor itself does not make a Servicemen. The armor is simply a manifestation of an impenetrable, unassailable heart.

Grame’s eyes wandered and noticed Jacob from afar. “I take it this is she?” “Yes. She’s been quite the extra hand the day we met.” “Hmm…” He walked on over with Jacob standing at attentions like always. "What’s your name, Marine?” “Jacob Jablonsky, Marhsal Commander.” “I take it you know who I am?” “Marshal Commander Jonathan Roland Grame. Former CO, 92nd Platoon.” Jacob always had a prodigious memory, Anna thought. “Fourth Battalion, 11th Core Regiment, of the First Infantry Division.” “I’m not planning to buy you dinner, Marine.” “I make a point to remember all officers my captain regards as exceptional.” Grame made no reply. That was the point at which he did not like her. It never took him long to make up his mind. She was too formal to be a Servicemen. She treats knowledge so official like she just read it off of a briefing file. There was something robotic about her word usage he could not stand. But speaking a certain way didn’t matter in the scheme of things. “Well, take good care of that armor, Jacob. It’ll come out of your pay if you don’t.”

Tychus walked into the same room, though Anna had almost mistaken him for a businessmen by any other measure given. He noticed her from afar. If Anna had passed him in the streets of a colonial planet, she would have thought he was just a clerk, a regular, intelligent man who had little importance in the moment. But there was that look: absolute steel, absolute honesty, and a refusal to give in to his fears. He was scared. Anna could see it.

There also came a Hiyon (Hai-yen). She was average in height and broad shoulder, holding heavy arms for her wide frame. Her Hiyon fur was orange with dark black stripes and her eyes held an orange glow to that of a morning star that laid beneath her sharp, narrow, sullen expression with darker shades of it in the form of pupils. They were oval in shape yet laid sideways, appearing very egg like and sat at the front of her head. Her skull was square like with no human like hair but only white fur at the jaw, chin, and cheek regions. Her armor was of peculiar plating that shelter her whole figure with no clear insignia to be seen or understood as a matter of fact. Her name was strangely written in human text so most called her Masuku for convenience sake. It was also quite firm for a body suit, as if wrapped tightly around her. Human fashion seemed airy and loose when compared. They had given humanity more specifically the UNSF a considerably long tome on their species but general enough to where it is digestible and non-classfied. They had explained they were eyeing on Human space for a good long while with their philologists taking years to understand the human language. Difference was the words they used in the documents were clean, consist in both the grammar usage and punctuation almost second nature to them and uncanny when reading it back to command, despite missing key human elements when choosing their words.

Anna didn't have much to say on their culture through those pages beyond stating what others said before her. They hold a strong martial culture yet have no military state. They're very collective but individuality and self reflection were as sacred if not more so than what humanity had. Their proverb said it all: ‘it can always be better’. Your great, great grandfamily needed to be better than their parents; their great grandfamily needed to be better than their great, great grandfamily, and their children's children needed to be better than all of their forebearers before them and education lied at the center of it for it is considered as a practical measure of success and a way to escape poverty. They make great sacrifices to offer their children quality education. It is not just for themselves but for their culture as well that the Hiyon value education. They study because they want their decisions to be consistent with answers to questions of meaning, of life mission, of facing mortality and of ultimate truths: Who are we? Their study will help put their decisions into this deeper context. They value thinking as a whole. Theirs is a tradition of people who think, question and explore. Masuku didn’t much eye anyone in particular. In fact, she did not looked at anyone but kept to herself with silent confidence in her movements. Nobody wanted to be near her and yet she was indifferent to such a social gathering.

The hatch doors quickly shut tightly as the Task Commander, Kelty Housden, ordered it through simple gestures. Her hair was dark brown that was crop cut in design and had small, hazel colored eyes. She had thin but full lips and a flat base nose. Her jaw was round nearly circular with plump cheeks and had dark skin. She spoke as everyone got into their respectful seats, “We’re soundproofed in here, ladies and gentlemen, and soon you’ll understand why we need to be. This is now a strictly need to know basis so unless you have plans I’d suggest being quiet for the foreseeable hour. Michaelson, hit the lights.” The display panel flooded with light as a pixelated sphere formed through simple white dot formation with a sophisticated satellite weapon appearing alongside. “Tychus…” Housden said, extending out her hand. The room fell completely silent, no fidgeting, no coughing, as she let the computerize images sink in. Anna felt… dejected to say the least at what was to be unfolded.

Even as they had their proper sit down amidst a polished island of tables that gleamed beyond in a windowless room, Grame manage to have found himself thinking almost enviously of the Systems War as it came to be called. Felt like yesterday since it paused. A very different time when rules seemed easy to remember: human versus human, motives known, limitations understood, yet somewhere within the Sovereign Colonies there was always a system or sector that could be crossed to find planetary society seem normal.

He’d hope the colonial front at least managed just enough to partake in this odd endeavor. It would have mocked every sacrifice of the past nine hundred sixteen years. He was at least relieved that Anna had been involved this day. She had a voice in this, too, dammnit; she understood the cultural differences between the Servicemen and these new batch of civilians. Whether they’d responded to her or not, he trusted her, to the point where if he needed something to get fixed and gave it to her, he knew it would get done. She got the job done everytime. Those like sergeant Courtney Halls, however, almost every time.

Anna knows what she’s doing, he thought. She’ll be a steadying influence. Stick Halls with another unit, and she’ll probably be busy picking fights with them. Lucky for her she didn’t need to love or be loyal to humanity to function in this organization. He chuckled to himself. Five break ups, outright human civil war, and a total of seventy years of Service and this was what sparked concern from him.

Tychus spoke in grave detail in the many specific areas of which such a device needed. Many sat in wonder knowing what could be said of this event. Housden kept herself still if to listen to his comments, thinking over his words carefully. She could be engrossed in something but that slight tilt of the head said she was taking in everything within earshot.

This fight to her presented many ways to make people suffer, to force them to do unspeakable things. Though guilt rangled her thoughts, she focused on her duty first. At this point, it'd become a magnetic north on her moral compass. She didn't wish the role of Task Commander but she had the bones to pull it off. Fewer than two percent of all Naval Servicemen were selected for this role. That said enough. They were counting on her specifically, and in times like these, it is and always is a time honored tradition to develop a plan for all Servicemen for it is their duty to view in the context of their character and the impact they had on others. Order, structure, and control is a feature not a bug. Was this the correct call? No, but, in reality, the choice never mattered if it was good or bad but making a decision and sticking with the consequences did. Servicemen take the initiative and make decisions, regardless of wether things are going well.

Tychus spoke in her direction, “Task Commander, pending your questions, this concludes my brief.” Housden took a breath. She knew the risk here: they make a wrong step and the tenuous threads of civilization unravel. "In your considered opinion?" She asked, looking towards Anna. Anna paused herself to think carefully before replying. She didn't wish to tar her Task Commander's institution with verdicts of incompetence, yet knew her well enough in knowing how little good sugaring the pill would be.

"You had mention before the orbit radius and that it would hold consecutive strikes and be reduced. How would this factored in? Never mind the significant reach to make such a device penetrate the surface with immense power, how would you refuel with efficient effort?" Tychus extended the screen with much needed data across the pixelated screen by a simple button press. "From our current estimates, we would require at least one hundred seventy thousand cubic meter tank. Mind you, this is only taken into account a fuel reservoir filled with crude oil and remained efficient at our best estimates into converting a basic plasma beam.” “Then how would you handle this process. At that rate, you would only have about ten seconds worth of power.” “I do not know the physics, but I do grasp the fact that the satellite platforms would cover the entire planet, which what is required of such an effort." Housden chimed between. "What are you going to target? Is that what you need me for, to advise on blast coverage?" Grame cut in. "This is all well and good, Tychus, but even so we'll be feeding their political affairs. With something like this, it won't be just the enemy that will die, not all, but this will be seen as asset denial than a strictly won victory."

"What will the civilian population have left among the rumble?" The political advisory asked. "All you'll have left is a panic population with no borders left to defend." “Mining will still be possible after the worst of the radiation subsides. Its agricultural possibilities would be poor at any rate, however what they’ll offer in return will survive the worst we can do on the surface.” Thychus replied. “You see no other value to this world?” Anna asked. “Our mission here is one of elimination. Therefore, the most efficient way of ending the enemy while minimizing our expenditure of lives is through such weaponry.” He replied again. He soon continued on.

"So far, the only major centers we'll have then is the west and south regions of the planet. That's where we'll regroup. The entire network would be deployed in stages; we'll need a priority list. We feed in the coordinates for the first batch of targets, activate the lasers, then feed in the next batch, move the orbital platforms, and so on." "We'd need nine billion joules per second at the rate you want this, Tychus." Tsoko spoke. "What would be refueling this device? You’d need to charge it for about twenty seconds that it is used let alone be refilled once per month. We'll need twice the crew, twice the supplies needed for the extra wandering pinatas you're asking for to protect it from ground forces below. My Servicemen would not stand for this.” “You have fortified the planet and planetside for such efforts, Admiral. You have enough ships and battery systems to fend off open hostile approach. They will be restrained enough to cover the entire surface of this world without signifcant weakness of early warning systems. Even if we speak small scale attacks do not assume you can keep them out all at once. A planet is a vast terrain. Assume the worst, and make sure you notice their footprints when they do attack.”

“How long would we give the civilian populist?” The political advisory asked. “Three days top.” Thychus replied. “Three days?” They asked. “The longer the delay, the higher the chance of the enemy working out what’s going on.” “And the units?” Grame asked. “At that rate we can’t expect them to make it with the refugees. Giving the civilian populist more than three days is one thing, withdrawing units are just going to clue in the enemy even more effectively.” Thychus replied.

Grame shoved his hands under his fold arms. Anna knew that fixed position of his. Housden did, too, because she watched his lips compressed into an even tighter line. Grame was going to toss the yellow flag. “Task Commander," he said finally, keeping his voice steady, "after you go with this, you'll need every Servicemen you have, and you'll need them on your side. Think about how you'll command even a Servicemen's loyalty once they know you'll waste them in their millions of thousands like that." He paused for a breath for a moment. “Dying in combat is expected, but this is way beyond the pale. This is within our control." Thychus turned to his direction. “I understand that an officer must keep their subordinates safe under altruistic care, but you make them sound really damning to suggest they aren’t loyal, Marshal Commander.” “They are reasonable to a point, Thychus, but they are a stubborn and stiff necked people, and they will only tolerate so much.” “But they are aware enough that this isn’t the first time intelligence was gathered to pull these feats. They knew the risks going in. They’ve given everything they have.” “That’s why we shouldn’t waste away our own numbers at the same time. Even if every country was burnt like brisket on holiday even, we need an army to crush what’s left when the smoke clears.” “With respect we've lost over 78,000 Servicemen in one region alone. With this device, it will make an even footing." Thychus said. "And we've killed 800,000 people on one planet, 200,000 being civilians back home.” Anna replied back.

Housden knew her answer on this, but spoke to Anna directly. “Captain Barkwood. You were on the surface. What are your views?” By all accounts, Anna stood out among everyone in terms of rank and she knows more than what's let on aboard the Dreaded Prosecutor, and she's just been required to present the staff with awkward analysis.

Anna gave her comments. “Respectfully, I disagree with such a dire conclusion. The value is more than just industrial. There is an important culture there. Its memory should be preserved.” “That culture failed.” Thychus replied. “Maybe it did.” Anna said. “Does that mean it should be expunged from our collective memory? Do we have nothing to learn from it? Does that mean its stand against The Division does not deserve to be commemorated? That there were no battles worthy of song?” “It does not.” “No it doesn’t. There is no logical value in the decorations we give to our vessels. They contribute nothing. What they contribute in between is inestimable. The records of the pacifications. The celebrations of victories. The memorialization of the fallen. The analyses of the recovered cultures. This is the living tissue to all civilizations. Even the dead civilizations are part of the human story. They have a life beyond the dust of their citizens.” Anna ended her talk. Housden paused but knew her answer clearly. “The Division may hold this planet. We will take it back, but we will not lose its heritage in the process.” Anna smiled towards him “I know you understand.” She said. “So I do.” He replied.

After the last words were said, everyone stood up abruptly, shook hands, and laughed about something in an earlier story, as if nothing just transpired, and never focused on the pain and sorrow. Even when they recounted any of sort, there was generally a sense of ease and softness in their words for those who fought hard and died gloriously. There was no complaint given. No blame of others for their misfortune. They worked hard and expected the same from their junior officers. Patriotism was worn on their sleeves, and while they weren’t naive about the UNSF’s faults, they knew that no other part of human space valued their service and sacrifice as much as the UNSF. Housden walked towards and shook Anna’s hand. “Its nice to meet you in person, Captain Barkwood.” “You too, Task Commander, but I’m sure you have more pressing matters than this summit and will be making your leave.” Housden smiled, “This better not be the only reason. I came all the way back here.” She paused for a brief moment and eyed each other carefully, “Off the record, Barkwood, there's not one major decision you've made that I would've done differently. Haven't seen you done anything dumb. I've never known you ever get drunk but you're fine as far as I'm concerned. Not surprising. Don't get a swell head about that. Just fine.” Anna smiled at her comment. “Commander,” she said, “I am merely the servant of the big think who seeks, as we do, to better the lives of us all.” Housden simply smiled at her. “Anyway, I’m sure you have other matters to attend to.” “Like not boiling a planet?” Housden chuckled as she walked on formally. “Yeah, something like that.”

Thychus and Anna soon bumped into one another. He gave her a smile, no teeth shown, just a curl of lips. “I know of you.” He said. “I have absolute faith in you, Captain Barkwood. We would never have survived this far without your leadership.” “You don’t seem too pleased for someone who almost given us an opportunity to end the battle.” “It would end the conflict here. I can’t speak for…. The future after this.” “You expecting the worst?” “No, just academics.” “I mean you know things are bad when everyone is looking at me. Ugh.” They both chuckled. “In all serious, you okay. How do you feel?” "Numbness.” He answered. “What else should I feel? I just almost ordered to wipe out possibly a millennia of culture." He looked depressed. Worried even that Servicemen back home would be furious. There was no replacement to culture. The mere fact he almost erased someone's unique cultural heritage and treasures appalled him greatly even now. One day, he knew, he would look back at this event and feel appalled that he almost destroyed something precious and irreplaceable. Human lives came first, yes, but like all Servicemen before him would mourn for the loss of knowledge all the same. He looked at her directly as he smirked again.

“Sorry just… this has been a difficult mission… for all of us.” His voice was strained to be casual, but clearly wasn’t. He blinked, nothing more. For a second their eyes locked and Anna couldn’t read his expression anymore. He looked old and tired and beaten. He looked like he wanted out of it. He didn’t buckle at once nor broke the illusion expressed on his face, but was emotionally exhausted. That concern Anna. Maybe he really cracked up. Traumatic stress was waiting for all of us sooner or later. This was a strange sight of sights. Not typical Servicemen behavior. Generally, they would give an embarrassing nod, because moments such as this had that exact tone for a majority of Servicemen existence: embarrassment. There was no anger or disgust, just embarrassment. These were exceptional times. A concern to be had. Grame had gone mentally alert at this and commanded two Servicemen by eyesight in carefully escorting the now emotionally wounded man, and with this Anna knew a sergeant was to be assign shifts to keep a close eye and partly to ensure witnesses each to stay up and watch him as he slept. This wasn’t exactly a Red Cross society but a Servicemen wasn’t going to leave this crisis to be festered alone.

[nothingrpgzone]

Oludammi, and the Griffon's Territory

Oludammi, the Back-End of the Ass

Animal Aspirant, Crocodile

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

Barbarians

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

Death-Cleric Rukh-Vile

Init: +2; Atk: Staff +2 Melee (1d4); Crit III/1d10; AC 10; HD 3d8; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Magic, Grisly Demise: SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +2; AL L

Magic: Rukh-Vile can cast the spells Ray of Enfeeblement, Curse, and Spider Web with a result always being 16. There is a 4% chance that it fails with any single cast but may drain the life of any allied barbarian to make sure the spell succeeds.

Grisly Demise: Upon death the ground beneath Rukh-Vile opens up, and a serpent of terrible black flames drags him to an underworld unseen.  All ignitable things within 5’ catch fire. The fire deals 1d6 damage each round and naturally extinguishes on a roll of a 1.

Keep in mind these are dry grasslands.

Ghoul

Init: +2; Atk: Claw +3 Melee (1d3+Paralysis), Bite +1 Melee (1d7); Crit U/d8; AC 12 (tough skin); HD 3d5; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Undead Traits, Silence, Complex Origin: SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0; AL C

Paralysis: A ghoul’s touch causes paralysis, rendering the victim immobile for 1d6 hours (DC 14 Will Save to avoid)

Undead Traits:  Entirely immune to paralysis, mind affecting spells, cold damage, and critical hits.

Silence: Ghouls make no noise while moving.

Complex Nature: There are many ways one could become a ghoul. Roll below to discover the types of ghouls.

1d10 Appearances

Vulture headed humanoids.

Normal, except for their black tongues.

Dessicated humans, their taut skin hardly containing bones.

The mouth continues, down past the neck all the way to the shoulders. Mouth lined with razorteeth.

A circular bronze plate where a face should be.

A bundle of bandages. On unravel it is clear all there is underneath are jaws and a black heart.

The humanoid form fails as locust carapace burgeons from underneath.

Where the fingers once were blood stained bronze blades cut their way out of the stumps.

A flayed and bleeding thing. It doesn’t mind.

Where eyes should be lies only more mouths.

1d6 Ghoulish Origins

Betrayer.

Ate human flesh to survive.

Raised by a long dead sorcerer king.

It was never human.

Once used a magic weapon.

Partially consumed by a ghoul.

Heavenly Warlord Nadromaean

Init: +6 (1d16); Atk: Battleaxe +1d8 Melee (1d10+1d8); Crit V/1d30; AC 14 (scalemail); HD 6d12; MV 25’; Act 1d20+1d16; SP Crit Range, Might Deeds: SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2; AL C

Crit Range: Nadromaean crits on an 18-20.

Mighty Deeds: Nadromaean can use mighty deeds. Below is a mighty deed table for judge’s ease.

3) Leg Sweeper. The victim must make a Ref save against the attack roll to stay standing.

4) Whirling Chaos. The battle axe is a mighty arc. The attack can target up to three individuals in range, with damage distributed equally (any remaining damage after the division is inflicted towards the first target).

5) Heaven’s Warrior. All allied barbarians gain a +1 bonus to attack next round.

6) Maker of Mutes. The battleaxe catches the mouth. The tongue is destroyed.

7+) The Mightiest Blow. The battleaxe utterly destroys any armor worn. Wearers of magical armor may make a luck check with a d14 to avoid destruction.

Mask Society Member, Crocodile

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

Mole-Men

Init: +0; Atk: Claw +2 Melee (1d6); Crit M/d8; AC 15 (tough skin); HD 2d7; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP Blindsense: SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1; AL N

Blindsense: Molemen can navigate entirely without sight via their keen hearing and ability to detect vibrations. Any attempt to Sneak Silently around them is made with a -8 penalty. If they are deafened they are treated as being blinded.

Priestly Butchers

As acolyte DCC RPG (pg 432)

Slave-Cultists

As peasant DCC RPG (pg 434)

The Eagle Fiend, Cyrruss

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

Tiger

Init: +7; Atk: Claw +4 Melee (1d5+2), Bite +4 Melee (1d5/1d14); Crit M/d10; AC 12 (agility); HD 4d10; MV 60’; Act 1d20+1d14; SP Stealth, Sneak Attack: SV Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +0; AL N

Stealth: A tiger gains a +12 bonus to being hidden in underbrush.

Sneak Attack: If a tiger makes a bite attack against an unaware target it inflicts 1d14 damage.

Vision Bees

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

The Griffon’s Territory

Dryads

Init: +0; Atk: Slam +3 Melee (1d8); Crit M/d8; AC 15 (Bark Skin); HD 3d10; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Enthralling: SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +2; AL C

Enthralling: Anyone attracted to women must make a DC 13 Will save upon seeing a dryad, on a failed save the beholder becomes hopelessly in love with the dryad and wishes to leave the world of man and wander into the woods.

Elves

Init: +1; Atk: Weapon +2 Melee; Crit II/d6; AC As Armor; HD 1d6; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Unearthly Allegiance: SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; AL C

Unearthly Allegiance: Elves can invoke a patron as determined by the judge. This starts as a 1d10 check but gains a +1d bonus to invoking for every other elf nearby.

Griffon

Init: +6; Atk: Claws +7 Melee (1d10), Bite +5 Melee (1d8); Crit M/d14; AC 16 (agility); HD 8d10; MV 40’ or 80’ fly; Act 1d20+1d20; SP Swooping, Variations: SV Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +3; AL N

Swooping: If the Griffon charges while flying the damage dice gains a +2d bonus.

Variations: Griffons have myriad forms, when encountering a griffon roll 1d5 on each chart to determine what constituent parts the beast is made of.

Bird

Bearded Vulture. The griffon’s bite breaks bones on a damage roll of 6+, causing a permanent point of strength or agility loss, as the bone never heals right.

Golden Eagle. The griffon gains a +1d bonus to saving throws vs magical effects.

Osprey. The griffon can hover in place for a round while flying.

Philippine Eagle. The griffon gains a +1d bonus to HD.

Turkey Vulture. The griffon is immune to disease and poisons.

Cats

Cheetah. The griffon’s speed is doubled.

Cougar. The griffin counts as double its size when grappling. 

Jaguar. The griffon gains a 50’ swim speed.

Lion. The griffon makes morale checks with a +5 bonus.

Tiger. The griffon gains a +3d bonus to damage die for sneak attacks.

Hollow Trees

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

Men-of-the-Grove

Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion.

Mountain Ghost

Init: +15; Atk: Claws Unseen +2 Melee (1d8); Crit U/d6; AC 18 (impossible to see); HD 1d10; MV 40’ fly; Act 1d20; SP Undead Traits, Incorporeal, Fog of Undeath: SV Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +3; AL N

Undead Traits:  Entirely immune to paralysis, mind affecting spells, cold damage, critical hits, and non-magical weapons.

Incorporeal: The mountain ghost can move through solids as if they were air.

Fog of Undeath: A black cloud follows the mountain ghost, anyone nearby cannot see more than 15’.

Mummy

Init: -1; Atk: Throttle +2 Melee (1d4 cumulative); Crit U/d10; AC 18 (immunity to pain); HD 5d12; MV 20’; Act 1d24; SP Undead Traits, Mummy Rot, Stench of Death, Vulnerable to Fire, Death Feaster: SV Fort +5, Ref -2, Will +6; AL L

Undead Traits:  Entirely immune to paralysis, mind affecting spells, cold damage, and critical hits.

Mummy Rot: Any successful attack inflicts Mummy Rot, causing them to suffer 1 Stamina damage per day (DC 12 Fort save to avoid). This damage can only be healed via powerful magic.

Stench of Death: Anyone who angers the mummy begins to reek of death, unbeknownst to them. They suffer a -4 penalty to Personality checks for the following 6 days.

Vulnerable to Fire: A mummy takes double damage from fiery attacks.

Death Feaster: If something dies within 100’ of the mummy it gains 1’ of height and 1HD.

Sorcerer

Init: +0; Atk: Punch +1 Melee (1d3); Crit I/d6; AC 10; HD 2d4; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Unknown Spells, Peculiar Fate: SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; AL N.

Unknown Spells: The sorcerer knows 1d3 spells entirely unknown to the mages of the bronzelands. All spells are cast with a +4 bonus.

Peculiar Fate: Upon reaching 0 hp the sorcerer begins to boil as they turn to green smoke.

1d5 Spell Suggestions

Elemental Wytchfire (Tales from the Magician’s Skill Volume 1), MM: 17 Stolen Knowledge. 1% chance the spell summons the queen of brands who attempt to steal it back. Daog’s Dying Wish (Goodman Games Yearbook 8 The Year That Shall Not Be Named), MM: 54 No change. Cosmic Lotus Magic (Supernatural Star Seeds Dice), MM 34 Thunderstruck. Lightning accompanies the casting of the spell.

Arnhoult’s Sequestrious Digitalia (DCC Dying Earth), MM: 58. No Change. Houlart’s Visceral Pang (DCC Dying Earth), MM: 52. No Change. Inside Out and Over (DCC Dying Earth), MM: 1 At great cost. The casting of the spell kills one person known by the sorcerer.

Personal Energy Attack (The Necromican, 1979), MM: 82 Terrible to Behold. A looming figure of pure darkness with piercing eyes appears over the sorcerer. Spell of Piercing Gaze (The Necromican, 1979), MM: 86 Mystic Twin. A face appears on the chest of the sorcerer for 1d3 rounds, it has it’s own 1d20 action die to cast spells. Sonic Scream (The Necromican, 1979), MM 79 Plague of Rats. Rats pour from the sorcerer’s robes, softening the next attack by 1d4 damage.

Lightning Bug (Blackstaff’s Book of 1000 Spells, 2020) MM; Accidental Alchemist. One random item within 20’ turns to lead, another to gold. Spirit Mask (Blackstaff’s Book of 1000 Spells, 2020), MM: 34 Thunderstruck. Lightning accompanies the casting of the spell. Fog of Viscidity (Blackstaff’s Book of 1000 Spells, 2020), MM: Planar Blink. The sorcerer phases in and out of existence for 2 rounds, providing a +4 to AC and -4 to attacks. There is a 1% chance they are permanently phased.

Cone of Air (Troika!), MM: 8 Count of 10. The sorcerer loses a finger every time they cast the spell, suffering -1 Agility for two fingers lost. Light (Troika!), MM: 25 Terror Inducing. All animals within 50’ of the sorcerer attempt to flee for 1d14 rounds. Tongue Twister (Troika!), MM: 82 Spell Killer. The casting of the spell drains the life force of a distant planet.

[ciarancreature]

fav albums of all time?

That's a tough one and I don't think it's consistently the same list on any given day, but I'll do the best I can. Keep in mind that not all of these are necessarily goth albums despite this blogs theme; goth is my favorite type of music, generally, and makes up a good portion of the list, but I like a lot of other things as well (some of you will probably HATE the folk punk stuff). Most goths don't listen exclusively to goth music, but several of the goth-adjacent artists on here seem to be pretty popular with other goths as well, at least among the ones I know. I'll also try to limit this to one album per artist, and I'll add my favorite song from each album as well. I can also do a separate list of my top goth albums if that's more of what you're looking for, given the nature of this blog.

1. Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (post-punk/doomgaze; goth-adjacent)

Favorite song: Bloodhail

2. The Cure - Disintegration (post-punk: goth classic)

Favorite song: Lullaby

3. Blackbird Raum/Lankum - Destroying (Celtic eco-anarchist folk punk)

Favorite song: Whitebled

4. Bauhaus - In the Flat Field (post-punk; goth classic)

Favorite song: Stigmata Martyr

5. The Horrors - Primary Colours (psychedelic garagegaze post-punk revival; modern goth or goth-adjacent, depending on the song)

Favorite song: Who Can Say

6. Pat the Bunny - The Volatile Utopian Real Estate Market (folk punk)

Favorite song: For the Sake of the Ashes

7. Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis (gothic doom folk; goth-adjacent)

Favorite song: Mer

8. Fever Ray - Fever Ray (dark electronic pop; goth-adjacent)

Favorite song: If I Had a Heart

9. Lingua Ignota - Caligula (noise/neoclassical darkwave; goth-adjacent)

Favorite song: DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR

10. The Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always (gothic rock; a goth classic)

Favorite song: Marian

11. Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse (I know it's technically an EP, but I'm counting it) (genre: occasionally post-punky art rock)

Favorite song: Beetles

12. Days N Daze - Rogue Taxidermy (folk punk)

Favorite song: Misanthropic Drunken Loner

14. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (folk punk; a goth classic)

Favorite song: Disorder

15. MGMT - Congratulations (psychedelic indie rock)

Favorite song: Siberian Breaks

[ilajue]

anyways. if you're interested in a different, more heavily cited block of text under a read more: here is a paper I wrote on the relationship between car dependency and food apartheid :)

was a little delirious writing this and at some point I gave myself tachycardia from caffeine overdose so it's a little rough around the edges lol.

I don't expect anyone to actually read all this but I think it's funny to post here. if you have any questions or death threats, my asks are always open!

Bibliography

1. Allard, Scott W.; Wathen, Maria V.; Shaefer, H. Luke; and Danziger, Sandra K.. Neighborhood Food Infrastructure and Food Security in Metropolitan Detroit. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 51, 3: 566-597, 2017. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joca.12153

2. Boychuk, R. (2023, December 6). Local groups work to mitigate food deserts as I-81 demolition looms. The Daily Orange. https://dailyorange.com/2023/12/syracuse-local-groups-mitigate-food-deserts/

3. Brockmeier, E. Transportation justice, commute knowledge, and equitable access | Penn Today. (2021, February 1). Penn Today. https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/transportation-justice-commute-knowledge-and-equitable-access

4. C. C., & Tian, R. (n.d.). Promoting Food Equity in the Context of Residential Segregation. Environmental Justice, 15(6), 346–351. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2021.0029

5. Chilton, Mariana. “HOW FAR DO LOW-INCOME PARENTS TRAVEL TO SHOP FOR FOOD? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM TWO URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS.” Urban geography. 32.5 (2011): 712–729. Web.

6. Davies, R. O., & Kay, J. H. (1997). Asphalt Nation: How the automobile took over America, and how we can take it back. Journal of American History, 84(3), 1144. https://doi.org/10.2307/2953230

7. GARASKY, S., FLETCHER, C.N. and JENSEN, H.H. (2006), Transiting to Work: The Role of Private Transportation for Low-Income Households. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 40: 64-89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2006.00046.x

8. García Bulle Bueno, B., Horn, A.L., Bell, B.M. et al. Effect of mobile food environments on fast food visits. Nat Commun 15, 2291 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46425-2

9. Joyner, L., Yagüe, B., Cachelin, A., & Rose, J. (2022). Farms and gardens everywhere but not a bite to eat? A critical geographic approach to food apartheid in Salt Lake City.Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 11(2), 67–88.https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.013

10. Kakarala, K., Popielski, A., Riggs, K., Hashmi, S. S., & Hafeez, Z. (2023). The Intersection of Food Insecurity and Transportation Insecurity in Harris County, Texas. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 19(6), 1014–1027. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2023.2261873

11. LeDoux, T. F., & Vojnovic, I. (2021). Relying on their own hands: Examining the causes and consequences of supermarket decentralization in Detroit. Urban Geography, 43(7), 1007–1035. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2021.1890961

12. Powell LM, Slater S, Mirtcheva D, Bao Y, Chaloupka FJ. Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States. Prev Med. 2007 Mar;44(3):189-95. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.08.008. Epub 2006 Sep 25. PMID: 16997358.

13. Rehler, Jeffrey, and Daniel Baldwin Hess. “Drive through Dining and Development: Effect of Zoning Reform in Buffalo on Site Layout of and Access to Fast Food Restaurants.” Discover Cities 1.1 (2024): n. pag. Web.

14. Rothstein, R. (2017). The color of law: a forgotten history of how our government segregated America. First edition. Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company.

15. The Economist. (2008, February 14). America’s splurge. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/briefing/2008/02/14/americas-splurge

16. Tong, D., Buechler, S., & Bao, Y. (2016). A Comprehensive Food Access Analysis in Tucson (No. 02-25–2016). Making Action Possible in Southern Arizona. https://mapazdashboard.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/images/a_comprehensive_food_access_analysis_in_tucson.pdf

17. Food Access Research Atlas - Documentation | Economic Research Service. (n.d.). https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/documentation

18. Wood, B.S., Horner, M.W. Understanding Accessibility to Snap-Accepting Food Store Locations: Disentangling the Roles of Transportation and Socioeconomic Status. Appl. Spatial Analysis 9, 309–327 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-015-9138-

smoking that shit that makes you cry about the horrors of car-centric infrastructure

[theethicaldoclizzie]

My take on the viral movie "MRS" as a Bengali girl

1. Arrange marriages can be scary.. so I think dating phase is very important.. to discuss about job, responsibilities, division of work, babies, expectations.. Do your research well before marrying.. !

2. Not aIl men are same.. Growing up my father ALWAYS helped my mother in the kitchen, everyday.. Mind you, he has a full time 9-7 job.. My mom always had house helps, cooks, multiple smtimes.. n all modern appliances were used to their full potential.. I have seen many girls commenting - "all men are same", after watching this movie.. which does injustice to good men like my father.. yes, they do exist.. common in northeast india!

3. Every girl should discuss clearly about her job before marrying! Why did she not say about her wish to work as dance teacher before marriage? Big mistake

4. Every girl should set clear boundaries with in-laws. Always object to whenever you are overworked and pressurized. From the very beginning. The mindset of overworking initially to "impress" in-laws shouldn't be there. If you tolerate once, it will become a habit.

4. She could have called plumber herself.. she had a phone & access to internet..

5. Why did she tolerate her husband's forceful copulatn?

6. The girl is shown to be an introvert, but at the end she had an outburst.. well, myself being an introvert & I know other introvert ppl too.. we suffer in silence.. in the conditions shown the movie, introverts get into depression & get suicidal.. there was no sign of depression in this introvert girl.. this was not how the real life works.. this was nt how real introvert girls suffer under misogyny..

*Well the movie was good..bcz it was different... bt it had many loopholes.... are misogynist men & the women suffering under them actually watching the movie?

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s now 5 Dec 2024 and I’m noticing many differential moments. They’re exhilarating as I get some control, which largely occurs in simplest terms when I accept and stop looking for the next. This invokes the n-1 dimensional process, and that generates into countable because we now have an infinite chain that is End to End. That also invokes ordinality because countability is a contextual attribute, and that expresses mechanically through D-structure; we now have an n-1, which establishes an Emanating End which pairs to other Ends, meaning to 0 and 1.

This moment is a waking dream because defining the actual steps of the process by which uncountable becomes countable becomes finite was a dream. Not a goal but a dream, meaning what I wished could be achieved not what I could plan to achieve. So this End, at this moment, relates back to the very first thoughts about counting. I remember some of those. The counting of fingers and the spaces between and the way I’d do that everywhere while thinking about why this occurs and why the counts were the same and different. These were labeled then and over time with something akin to a ‘failed’ label, like this iteration didn’t make it so bad, instead of a label that might read extremely useful work you can’t remember because you labeled it as wrong when it took you decades to figure out the same stuff. That is interesting because that gets to something I have always tried to grasp.

I remember hearing voices that knew a lot more than me all the time. Mature voices, voices of authority, voices of kindness, voices of loving care, voices that would argue in front of me about what was right for me. I could talk to them and they’d sometimes tell me to be quiet. I assumed everyone was like this and that I was incapable of expressing or reacting well in whatever gsSpace I was in (where gsSpace means context of relevant contexts, about which I need more). Okay, so gsSpace here means context of relevant contexts - stop sounding like a robot - context of context is like saying Boundary of Boundary, field of fields but with the specific meaning that here is where the gsProcess focuses, here is what we are looking at, whether through the lens of recovered Actor perspective or through various pairings of Observer to the Ends of prior self and the experience. That sets up the Ends opposite the experience, meaning those pair, test, connect, form Pathways, etc. over Observer to End of Observed Actor, which translates into Actor perspective, which bounces a Storyline to the pairing of the Ends in that Storyline to the End of the experience.

Again, you can see n-1 as the structure for describing how this process works at the level where Boundary and Dimensional Enclosure become indistinguishable. Those are labels for the internal and the external gsProcess which defines a Thing within a Thing field. All relationships. The DE encloses the Boundary, meaning it relates to whatever is on the other side to whatever is on the inside, whatever defines the Thing internally and whatever defines the Thing externally. Like a spider is a pest whom we should love because it naturally keeps down the insect populations we should be tolerating more if we want to keep the planet alive. There are rings within that because is a layer which articulates a way of summarizing the arguments, the iterations, the Pathways which generate that layer, that section of meaning, same as with DNA and that should be obvious by now.

You want me to talk about DNA. One of my least favorite topics because I don’t know much at all. The field is too large. So here are my limited thoughts. First, the bases are IC, LC and CM64 ‘all in one’ because each tests versus whatever, which can be taken as an internal check, and each tests in pairs and each tests versus the others in whatever combinations may exist. It’s like 4 part harmony but each of the parts is divisible. That’s how more complicated stuff develops, and why it follows mathematical laws. And that includes statistics, which is a direct proof at this point of the concept of intangible existence because we each manifest attributes which connect us and separate us from others, and those appear in us because gsProcess identifies each D3-4 existence, each Thing, and you’re it. I’m it. We’re all it.

Keep going. Don’t bask in the last paragraph. Oh, come on: it was really good. I mean right in front of your eyes it constructed dimensions: add a 5th voice by the equivalent of adding a little hat! Wow. So that works this way: you take one of the 4 voices and split it in 2. Those can be in whatever harmony, including none, and that means the other 3 voices either adjust or not. If they adjust, then we can seek the ideal of Pentagonal, translated into voices as 1-0Segments around a central End, forming a Boundary to the arrangement of the 5 voices. I’ve obviously thought a lat about the 5-part piece in Don Giovanni. And time signatures, of course, because those break into the same combinations of 3’s and 2’s. Actually, this process fits to any estimations, like the way I count crowds by counting a section carefully and then counting sections of that until I reach a level which replicates over the crowd comfortably, meaning I can keep it straight in my head and it doesn’t seem too big or too little. I test those by seeing if I can hold a more accurate value in my head and if counting less generates a contradiction, meaning it’s obviously in error. These translate into faster and slower. At faster, I can’t hold the values well enough to be sure I’m accurate. At slower, I spend more time calculating back from the faster guesstimate.

These are aspects of the measurement problem. I mean that. It’s not all about wave collapse. That last paragraph described Pathways developed by a series of wave collapse which we model perhaps at its lowest level in the work yesterday (?) describing the existence of an object and then its next existence in Brick form, meaning in Triangular translated into gs.

To work on that some more, in Triangular, a bT has 3 existence states and that unites to the 3 existence states of its Irreducible, and these all flip through - think Coordinate Rotation - to what wins or fits since the place where the wheel stops is directly linked to how hard it is turned and that is an example of n-1 again because an infinitely rotational wheel, one with countably infinite stops, is a statement that here is a wheel. Not all wheels but a wheel. That’s the focal step necessary to generate the End to End pairing which is the 1-0-1 model.

We keep pulling imaginary rabbits out of imaginary hats. This is about as much fun as a human being can have. It’s exactly the same ecstatic feeling I get playing piano when I’m totally into it except this is in typing form. It’s like the radiance of creative existence shining its light in me. That’s what I’ve always trusted. You? Not so much because my versions of you reflected the versions of me which could come out, and those expressed anxiety and doubt about my capabilities because the quality and depth of this work is absurdly high and it takes a whole heck of a lot of work to get here. I’d say that’s a shared perspective.

Took a break and made the hamburger I promised myself. I made a sauce for it because that’s the thing these days. It was excellent despite the limited bread choice.

What’s interesting about a shared perspective is that it breaks in 2, that it manifest 2:1, meaning 2gs to 1 in both directions, up in scale and down, that it manifests Triangular, as is obvious, and that it manifests gs because we see the level of the 2Square floating over the level of the 1Square like in the basic gs sheet. Was that clear? We can see in the Bricks how a 1Square generates out of a Brick through all the relations shown on the wall. And if we translate that Brick into squares better, that makes the Brick a 2Square because the counting of 2 is an End and thus the shift is affine, meaning it’s just a slide over to this other version or mapping of 2, where affine to me means chained across, in whatever layers to make the 1-0-1//0-1-0 work. Once we’re at 2, we see the 1Square layer rotated next door, assuming of course the intermediate states exist in the general sense and are counted here. That connects the original gs sheet, as noted some weeks ago, to the Brick 2:1 representation which maps to the imagery we’ve been describing in which existence forms and passes through potential to existence.

This seems to be another holy grail because I realized in the last sentence that this isn’t a fool’s errand but actually connects End to End. The model of 2T connects to the Bricks and to the gs sheet. I believe this is also where there’s a fundamental connection to D3-4 existence, that being Things and 2T being the relationship of Things, those being the relationship within a Thing and among Things, which avoids being self-referential because the Thing which is all Things is subject to the n-1 reduction of the uncountable to the countable and thus to the construction of finite existence within the dimensional reduction which occurs at n-1.

And that is that.

Seemed appropriate to say that, given how much work went into it.

Need to take a break. Need to look at shelves.

[acoord]

Enhancing Industrial Efficiency with PLC Automation Panels

Today’s industrial world revolves around one term: automation. Gently changing the face of the industrial world, automation has become the backbone of manufacturing excellence. As a company that began as a pioneer in turnkey electrical solutions in 2002, Accord Automation has witnessed at first hand how PLC Automation Panels have changed the industrial processes of most sectors.

1. What are PLC Automation Panels?

PLC automation panels are advanced control systems, which have been considered the brain of industrial automation in the modern age. These panels integrate PLCs with a number of control components for the management and monitoring of manufacturing processes. Our strength in developing rugged, user-friendly solutions has made us a partner of reliance for the implementation of automation systems across various industries-from food and beverages automation to complex manufacturing operations.

2. Key Components of a PLC Automation Panel

The industrial automation degree depends on the quality and integration of these key components:

a. Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)

b. Human Machine Interface (HMI)

c. Input/Output Modules

d. Power Supply Units

e. Circuit Protection Devices

f. Communication Interfaces

Our research team is optimising these components so that they can handle hostile operating environments with simplicity in operation.

3. Benefits of Using PLC Panels in Industrial Automation

Through MCC Panels Automation Services with PLC systems, the following benefits are integrated:

a. Improvement in Operations Efficiency

b. Less Human Error

c. Real-time Monitoring Abilities

d. Higher Safety Standards

e. Predictive Maintenance

f. Energy Efficiency

g. Improved Machine Intelligence

Our focus on machine intelligence has allowed us to create systems that transcend simple automation, integrating predictive maintenance and sophisticated safety solutions.

4. Applications of PLC Automation Panels Across Industries

Our systems fit industrial applications in the following sectors:

a. Food and Beverage

The Food Beverages Automation division enjoys our control systems’ accuracy, which means consistent outcomes in the products while adhering to food safety standards.

b. Weighting and Treatment

Our Weighing and Batching Automation incorporates accuracy measurement and control, always a critical need for those industrial sectors involved with accurate material handling.

c. Fortification Systems

The Rice Fortification System designed by our engineers proves our capability to design customised solutions for particular industrial needs hence supporting public health initiatives through automated nutrient addition.

d. Manufacturing and Process Control

Our MCC Panels Automation Services are indispensable in manufacturing processes as they offer trustworthy power distribution and motor control.

5. How to Choose the Right PLC Automation Panel for Your Needs

Selecting the appropriate automation system is a significant decision that involves considering a number of criteria:

a. Process Requirements

b. Production volume

c. Automation level

d. Required synch

e. Environmental Conditions

f. Operating temperature

g. Moisture range

h. Dust exposure and vibration

i. Operator Skill Level

j. Training required

k. Ease of maintenance

l. Technical support required

m. Scalability

n. Future expansion

o. Compatibility with existing systems

We believe at Accord Automation that every industry has something unique about their requirements. We work closely with our clients to put together specifically customised solutions to the unique and specific needs of our clients. Whether it is implementing Weighing and Batching Automation or designing comprehensive Rice Fortification System solutions, our team ensures that the final implementation meets the requirements of today and the scalability needs of tomorrow.

We learned that successful automation installation goes beyond just installing the equipment with 18 years of industry experience. It is an understanding of the client’s process, the different challenges he might face, and his goals as well. Hence the simplicity we make it as simple, so operators with minimal technical expertise can effectively manage the systems.

Intelligent systems that predict and prevent problems from happening form the future of industrial automation. We work on our innovations; continuous feedback from our customers has enabled us to make them more efficient and reliable. Whether it is simple PLC Automation Panels or sophisticated machine intelligence applications, we’re about breaking the limits of what can be done in industrial automation.

You choose Accord Automation not only for a system but for an entire solution that is reinforced by years of experience, continuous research, and comprehensive support. Through respect, professionalism, and perseverance, our core values ensure solutions that don’t just meet expectations but exceed clients’ expectations.

Do not hesitate to contact us today to learn how our automation solutions can transform your industrial operations in order to be moved forward for better efficiency and effectiveness.