#more unit swap stuff coming soon!!!

[starshine-valley]

Part 2 of me dumping character dynamics and lore for my Unit Swap AU because I’m bored.

Fly n’ High (pronounced as Flyin High)

“Finding Hope and Soaring the Heavens above!”

-> Members: Honami Mochizuki (“is it… really okay to hide?”), Shizuku Hinomori (“I wish it were all perfect..”), Rui Kamishiro (“Hmm? Ready for practice now~?”), Mizuki Akiyama (“Gosh~! They’re so adorable~!”)

-> Sekai: Concert Sekai (Like a concert hall! Similar to the Stage Sekai but more bigger and expanded!!)

“Your true feelings mirror those around you~!”

-> Virtual Singers: Miku and Luka

-> Relationship Chart:

“Such a reliable senpai! I can always count on her!” <-> “Shii-chan’s friend is hard on herself…”

“knows her secret, with her all the way.” <-> “Different than when they first met, misses him a ton.”

“Very playful, loves her style!” <-> “She’s adorable! New best buddy spotted!”

“Doesn’t understand his inventions but is still supportive.” <-> “Shizu-kun really does have what it takes, glad he supported her all this time.”

“Interesting fella but his inventions keep her on guard.” <-> “Sweet girl, doesn’t want to drive her away.”

“She definitely has what it takes to be an idol!” <-> “Do I really deserve Shizuku-Chan’s praise?”

-> Leader: Honami Mochizuki (Fly n’ High focuses on being more confident and being comfortable in your own skin without pleasing others!)

“An idol group formed by those who want to fly high without being brought down!”

[magicfootballstuff]

Shirt Swap - part 2 (ella toone x reader)

Summary: Your long distance relationship with Ella faces its biggest test yet as one of you has to crush the other’s Champions League dreams.

Read part 1 here.

———

Your return to Manchester is a strange one. You’ve been back several times since your transfer last summer, most recently to spend Christmas with Ella and her family, but every other visit has been for leisure.

This time, you step off the plane into the bleak Manchester drizzle surrounded by your Lyon teammates and know you’re here to get a job done.

It doesn’t stop you from having a little bit of leisure time though. You drop your things off at the hotel and then the whole team gets on a bus to Old Trafford for the final training session before the match tomorrow, but after that you have the evening free to spend how you wish. Most of your teammates are going out to explore Manchester, some of them even ask you if you’ll show them around your old home, but you have to decline. You have more important things to do.

You meet Ella at your favourite restaurant in Manchester, the same place you had your first date over two years ago, and your face breaks open into a huge smile when you see Ella already sitting at a table near the bar, out of her usual trackies and glammed up for your date.

“You look gorgeous,” you say, leaning down to kiss Ella before sitting down opposite her.

“So do you,” she says, eyeing you up and down. “Wow, babe. Remind me why we decided to go for dinner and not just skip to the fun stuff?”

“Because…” you roll your eyes at Ella, though a tiny part of your brain agrees, especially after seeing her in that dress, “it’s been ages since we went on a proper date. I miss hanging out with you.”

“We wouldn’t have this problem if you’d stayed at United,” Ella teases you.

“Yeah, but then neither of us would win the Champions League this year,” you grin back.

“Oi!” Ella complains, with a pout that is just too cute.

“Sorry, let’s make a deal,” you say, as you reach for the menu. “No more football talk. I want to hear about what’s been going on with you.”

“Deal.”

———

The no football talk rule lasts about five minutes, because both of your lives are so heavily wrapped up in football that it comes up inevitably, but there’s an unspoken agreement to not mention the game last week or the second leg coming up tomorrow. Instead you talk about your teammates, funny stories from training, and everything except the fact that one of you is going to crush the other’s dream tomorrow.

It’s nice to spend time with Ella like old times, but you appreciate it more, knowing that moments like this are rare. You stay even after you’ve finished eating, talking about everything while playing footsie under the table like giddy teenagers on a first date.

“So, can I convince you to come home with me?” Ella asks, swinging your joined hands between you as you finally walk away from the restaurant.

Home. You live in Lyon but Manchester, and specifically the flat you used to share with Ella, still feels like your home. Wherever Ella is will always be where your heart really is.

“We have a curfew,” you grimace apologetically. “I’m supposed to be back at the team hotel soon. Big game tomorrow, and all that.”

Ella is disappointed, but you know she understands and would do the same if the situations were reversed.

“But I’ve already spoken to the coach and she’s happy for me to fly back a day later than the rest of the team,” you explain. “The day after tomorrow I’m all yours and I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on leaving your bed for anything less than an emergency.”

“You’re a real charmer,” says Ella, pulling you closer to her by your joined hands and tilting her head to give you a slow and sweet kiss. “See you tomorrow, I guess.”

“Not if I see you first,” you grin against Ella’s mouth, giving her one final kiss before you reluctantly pull apart.

———

The coach starts you on the bench. You’re frustrated by the decision, you always are when you’re not starting and this one especially stings, but you know the game plan and that you’ll get your chance to come on in the second half, so you obediently don your bib and find a seat amongst the other substitutes to watch the match.

It’s always hard to watch from the bench, knowing that the game is out of your control, but you get to take in the game as a whole much better than you would be able to from the pitch. Unlike the United team that seemed full of nerves last week, this United seem to be thriving off the twenty thousand home fans that have shown up on a cold weeknight to cheer on their team. Though Lyon have a two goal advantage from the first leg, United seem determined to overcome that and you bounce your knee nervously as you watch helplessly from the dugout.

You watch Ella in particular. You know this is her favourite place, that she more than most will be fuelled by this atmosphere and while you’re off the pitch, not directly playing against her, you can really appreciate how good she is.

She shows the entire stadium how good she is twenty-five minutes into the game, when she catches the ball on the break, drives it through the high line of Lyon’s defence, and sends it soaring into the top corner from outside the box.

It’s one of the best goals you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing live and for Ella, you’re delighted that she’s scored such an incredible goal in an iconic stadium in the biggest competition in club football. But for yourself and your team, you wish she could have scored that goal against anybody else.

The game is a lot tenser now that the aggregate goal difference is down to just one. All it takes is another goal, another moment of magic, and United will be back level with the momentum and the fans in their favour. You wish more than ever before that you could be on the pitch to help your team, barely able to watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Unfortunately for Lyon, Ella is having the game of her life. You’re warming up on the side of the pitch during the second half, ready to go on in a few minutes when you see Ella hit the ball cleanly over the line of defenders and Leah Galton is too fast for all of them, running onto the ball and tapping it past the keeper for United’s second of the night.

It’s not supposed to be going like this. You knew tonight wouldn’t be a walkover but in all your preparation for the game, Lyon didn’t account for the Old Trafford atmosphere lighting a fire in the hearts of each and every Manchester United player on the pitch.

Now more than ever, you need to get on the pitch to make your mark. The coach understands this too because as the game restarts, she beckons you over and starts talking you through the change in tactics needed to overcome this little blip as you take off your tracksuit and slide your shin pads into your socks.

When the substitution finally takes place and you jog onto the pitch, you’re met with boos from the United fans who aren’t happy to see you back on their turf in different colours to before. It’s not unexpected, but you know that you have to channel it to the right place, letting it fuel your desire to win instead of being a distraction.

With eighty minutes on the clock, you get the ball out on the wing not too far from the corner of the box. In a split second you evaluate the positions of the opposing United players and weigh up your options.

You’d probably win a footrace down the line. The defender has been on the pitch for eighty minutes, your fresh legs have only done ten. If you can make it past them, you could cross the ball in from the wing and hope it finds one of your teammates in the box.

The defender is expecting you to do that, you can tell from her body position. So you feint as if going to make that move, then duck back when the defender moves and cut in behind, propelling yourself and the ball into empty space in the box.

But then there’s a hand on your back, you stumble over the ball and slide belly first across the grass.

The shrill tone of the referee’s whistle is immediately drowned out by the boos of the crowd as you’re helped to your feet by one of your teammates.

With less than ten minutes to go, you’ve just won your team a penalty.

The United players aren’t happy, of course they’re not. As you brush the grass off your shorts, you see a ring of red around the referee as they complain, the players only backing off when the ref shows two yellow cards, one to the defender who pushed you, and one to another player for dissent.

You assume that Wendie will take the penalty - she’s the captain, the first choice for penalties, and currently holding the ball, but she instead places the ball into your hands, maybe sensing the significance of your return to your old club.

“You won it, it’s yours,” she tells you. “Don’t miss.”

You ignore the watchful gaze of all your old teammates as you walk up to the spot and carefully place the ball on the grass. The jeers of the Manchester United fans, who are always willing to make a lot of noise but especially eager to boo one of their former players, almost drowns out the referee as she gives you the usual pre-penalty instructions. You line yourself up, take a few steps backwards, and let out a huge exhalation as you finally look up, where Mary is jumping up and down between the goalposts and waving her arms around in an attempt to distract you.

The situation is so familiar. You remember training sessions before cup matches with United where Marc would have each of you take penalty after penalty, just in case. You’ve scored past Mary before. Why should twenty thousands jeering spectators change that.

You run up to the ball and take your shot.

Mary dives the way you expect her to. And you slot the ball into the opposite corner.

You let out all your emotions in a yell that will probably leave you with a sore throat tomorrow, punching the air as your teammates run over to you and jump on you in celebration.

Less than ten minutes to go and you might just have scored the winning goal.

The momentum has shifted. You were energised before, but the goal has livened up some of your teammates who were starting to flag too. The United fans boo every time you get the ball, maybe not realising that the sound just spurs you on and makes you want to win even more.

The only potential obstacle is Ella, but you force yourself to stay free of that distraction. For these last few minutes, she’s just another player. The one thing that does unite you is your passion. Ella is exactly the same in that respect, she lets every emotion show on the football pitch.

You’re sure she must be shattered - everybody else who has been playing since the beginning of the match is visibly tiring but she commits to everything like it’s still the first ten minutes instead of the last. As the seconds dwindle, you get increasingly anxious that Ella is going to pull another miracle shot out of nowhere to take the game to extra time. All you can do is put your head down and work just as hard.

After what feels like an eternity, the final whistle blows and Lyon are through, thanks to your penalty. Your teammates want to celebrate with you but your first thought is of Ella, and once you’ve escaped the bundle of bodies that surround you, you look for your girlfriend.

Your eyes find her straight away, lying on her back on the grass with her knees bent and one of her arms across her eyes. She looks exhausted, having given it her all for ninety minutes with no final reward, and you don’t know what you can say or do to make this any easier on her.

Reaching the quarter finals in their first year in the competition is an achievement. More than that, beating a team with Lyon’s track record tonight, even if the aggregate score goes against them, is something they should be extremely proud of. But you can’t say any of that to Ella without is coming across as patronising.

“Ella?”

She lifts the arm from across her face and sits up when she realises it’s you. Ella isn’t crying, but her eyes are glassy and her jaw is clenched from the effort of trying not to. You squat down beside her on the grass.

“I’m sorry,” you say to Ella, wrapping your arms around her neck as she buries her face into your shoulder.

“Don’t apologise,” Ella replies. “We knew this would happen to one of us. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

“Just promise me one thing,” says Ella, pulling back from the embrace to look directly at you.

“Anything.”

She smiles through her own pain, and says, “Go and win the whole damn thing.”

You grin back at her, overwhelmed with affection for the girl who is still your number one supporter, even in a moment of such personal difficulty.

“I’ll try.”

———

When you manage to keep your promise and go on to win the Champions League a couple of months later, your first title and Lyon’s ninth, Ella’s face is the only one out of the fifty thousand fans in the stadium that matters. You look for her when the final whistle blows and she’s crying with happiness, which sets your own tears off right as you get bundled into a pile of bodies on the turf as your teammates all celebrate.

The photo of you and Ella kissing over the advertising board, Champions League medal hanging around your neck, goes viral on social media the next day.

[purplekoop]

@daylightcommand3 Explaining this in its own post because it's very much its own topic separate from the other figures

I actually don't remember any official life-sized Bastion statue (there were official life-sized statues made for stuff like cons and such, just not one of Bastion), but what I was referring to in that last post was, as far as I'm concerned, the "white whale" of Overwatch figure collecting.

The incredible, the elusive, and the unauthorized:

DX9 Freeman

A fully articulated and transforming translation of bird-loving bot into roughly 1/12th scale figure form, this is a godly Bastion figure.

It comes with everything you'd expect and hope for besides maybe an alternative welding hand. There's a little plastic Ganymede, and even treads and a cannon to you can swap out the gatling gun and legs for to replicate their Tank configuration, though now it'd be more accurate to just swap the legs for Assault mode and swap the cannon for Artillery mode, which like. the design was accidentally future proofed for the OW2 rework, I just find that neat.

Aside from the tank parts though, the transformation is completely legit. You bend the legs to form the stand, fold up the arms, retract the head, and swivel the torso around and pull down the back cannon to get it into turret form, just like the in-game animation. It's a testament to both the exceptional amount of thought and effort put into the character's original design, and the engineering required to make it into a functional model.

So... what's the catch. Obviously the perfect Bastion figure doesn't come without a catch, right?

Well. Notice how I called this figure "DX9 Freeman". Why isn't it just called... y'know, Bastion?

You might've been able to deduce by this point that this figure is in fact: Unofficial. DX9 is, from what I can gather, a Chinese company that specializes in making high-quality unofficial transforming figures for stuff like Transformers. Naturally, when a mega popular and relevant new game comes out with an iconic transforming robot, they decided to make this figure.

And this was back in 2017 or so, well before the Hasbro line, with I think the only thing out by then being maybe the Tracer Figma. It was slim pickings if you wanted an Overwatch guy on your shelf back then, so "Freeman" here caught on. Even when other figures started rolling in, there were no official figures of Bastion. There was a Lego set and an above-average Funko Pop in terms of both looks and size, but nothing else would just about perfectly fit in line with the proper action figures.

Sadly though, it was a spark short-lived, as it is basically impossible to find the figure now. The direct site to find it has been out of stock for years, and I doubt many people who already have one are willing to part with theirs for cheap, if at all.

So yeah. This is by far the best but most elusive Overwatch figure out there as far as I'd say. It's a basically perfect recreation of the character (save for a flat paint job, if you wanna be picky), but by nature of being an unlicensed figure from 6 years ago now, jesus christ, it didn't stick around for long and is nearly impossible to come across today, and even if you miraculously somehow find a secondhand seller today, I have a feeling it ain't gonna be cheap.

If I could magically wish for any mundane object that wouldn't technically benefit my life in any drastic way, it'd be one of these. Bastion's one of my favorite designs in a game full of fantastic character designs, so having a big ol' unit of a figure that offers a physical way to showcase the coolest part of that design with the game-accurate transforming feature would be... more personally exciting than I'm willing to admit.

Anyways yeah, full breakdown of every figure line and what characters are in which coming soon. Wanted to clear up Bastion first anyways, both because it's such a cool figure and also such a specific asterisk that's worth bringing up but not totally fair to include in a breakdown of official figures that are more easily and consistently available for most people without getting lucky.

[tf2workbench]

[Image description: a graph with a beige background, reading “G.R.U. vs Eviction Notice.” The horizontal axis is measured in seconds from 0 to 40, while the vertical axis is measured both in HP, from 0 to 300, and distance covered, from 0 hammer units to 14000 hammer units. If a Heavy pulls out the GRU, his max health will decay to 100 in about 18 seconds. The Eviction Notice will cause his health to decay to 100 in about 36 seconds. If a Heavy runs for 40 seconds with the GRU, he will cover about 14000 hammer units. With the Eviction Notice, he will cover about 12000, and with neither item, he will cover about 10500.]

The Gloves of Running Urgently and Eviction Notice are basically just two gradations of the same item. Both increase your movement speed while draining your maximum health. This graph is an illustration of that, meant to provoke some discussion. Note that this does not mean one or the other is flat-out “better” - I’ll discuss why later in this post.

Mechanical stuff These are the unsimplified equations for the graphs, with the letter t standing for time in seconds:

HP: GRU: 300 - 20 - 10t EV: 300 - 20 - 5t

Distance traveled: GRU: 230 * 1.3t = 299t EV: 230 * 1.15t = 264.5t

Hammer units can be a little difficult to visualize, so I’ll give you a few in-game references: - First blue spawn to first red spawn on Upward: ~6700 HU - Third to fourth point on Upward: ~2700 HU - Spawn to spawn on Viaduct, shortest route: ~6700 HU - Blue spawn to second point on Badwater: ~4150 HU - Full Doublecross bridge: ~2600HU - Spawn to spawn on Granary, shortest route: ~12800 HU

I also want to clarify a few mechanical questions: - As soon as you start to switch to either weapon, your max HP drops by 20 and immediately begins to drain. As soon as you start to switch away, your max HP begins to regenerate. - Regeneration occurs at exactly the same rate it drained: 5 per second for the Eviction Notice and 10 per second for the GRU. - Healing does not affect the drain rate. Overheal is always capped at 150% of what your current max health is. - If you have taken damage, your health will drain proportionally: if you are at 30 health when you pull out the gloves, your health can drain down to 10, but no further.

And now, on to the analysis:

Analysis Some people have suggested that this means the GRU is less efficient than the Eviction Notice. This is, well, kind of true, but that does not mean that the EV is flat-out better. It is more efficient at using your health to boost your movement speed, so if you want to get to a place as fast as possible while losing as little health as possible, it’s your best option.

By contrast, the GRU is good for getting you places as fast as possible. For example, I like to use it to roll out if I know my team is waiting for me - I can give them support but not commit to the fight until my health is back to full. There are definitely scenarios where speed is more important than having your health high, and the GRU works well for those scenarios.

I get the impression that a lot of people think of these gloves as rollout tools, used when you need to get to the fight and never after. But you can also use them to reposition in combat zones. If your Medic wants you to take an Ubercharge, you can swap to the gloves to gain some ground before you start shooting. And if you need to retreat, it’s better to lose some max health than lose all your health. That’s one scenario where the GRU far outshines the EV: when you’re running away, moving at “regular class” speed is definitely preferable to moving slower than most other classes.

This is kind of a cursory overview of the gloves, I’ll admit. And it doesn’t change the fact that they’re entirely too similar to each other, making both of them less interesting. That’s something I plan to tackle in a coming post, but for now, enjoy the graph!

[qnewsau]

'No More': Aussie artists unite for powerful call to action

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/no-more-aussie-artists-unite-for-powerful-call-to-action/

'No More': Aussie artists unite for powerful call to action

Australian singer Greg Gould has collaborated with a group of Aussie artists on the powerful track No More, sparked by the tragic murders of Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

Greg Gould released his debut original album Strings Attached this month. The release debuted at No. 4 on the ARIA Australian Albums Charts.

For No More, Greg Gould joined Australian Idol winner and Young Diva Kate DeAraugo, theatre and pop superstar Adam Noviello and drag queer icon Kween Kong.

“It feels right to be four artists coming together to do something about this,” Greg told us.

“We have to stop sweeping things under the carpet.”

Adam Noviello and Greg Gould had chatted about working together when they found out about Jesse and Luke’s murder.

“I felt numb. I started writing things down. Releasing a song was the furthest thought from my mind,” Greg said

They wrote some more lyrics and soon their text exchange turned into the song.

“It was a very organic and honest process,” Adam told us.

“We started writing with no real objective in mind.”

“Swapping lyrics and sharing ideas and poetry. It became something bigger than us, than our community.

“This song was born out of an awful situation where we as queer folk were fed up.

“We’re tired of being attacked and subjected to this stuff.”

The song became about so much more than just one story in the news cycle.

It became about violence overseas, the war in Gaza, and the rising statistics of violence against women.

“It almost felt too personal to put out in the world,” Greg explains.

“But once we finished the song, we knew what we had and what it could do.”

No More is more than a song, it’s a call to action

Knowing the song needed other voices and points of view, the pair welcomed Kate DeAraugo and Kween Kong onto the track.

“When Greg explained how the song came about, I felt honoured to be a part of it,” Kate DeAraugo said.

“It’s so powerful to be a part of this track with these artists.

“I’ve experienced domestic violence, so I understand what it feels like, and why this song is so important, especially how it speaks to so many people in so many ways.”

With the song’s release, they’re partnering with the No More Foundation, dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault by increasing awareness, inspiring action, and fuelling change.

“While other drag queens might be the life of the party, I’m the one that throws the bricks at the front of the protest,” Kween Kong told us.

“I knew Luke, he was going to be one of my drag kids – I was heartbroken.

“When Greg told me about the premise of the song and said the words ‘no more’ it was a call to action.

“The hate towards our communities influenced by America is growing.

“I hate to say it, but I think we are going to see more drag bans, and more trans people being made to feel unsafe.

“When you hear my verse, you’ll hear my response to this, because I’m squaring up to the bigots. No More is a powerful track, and I am happy to be a part of it.”

Adam Noviello said, “Kate and Kween joining the song have been incredible. It means everything to us to form our voices, stories, and experiences.

“The song was born out of frustration, and I hope people hear it and are inspired to do something.”

Greg Gould’s No More is streaming now. Find out more about Greg’s music here.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[unmeiokaemasu]

finally making progress on a maddening run of 3h 8)

verdant wind, because the final battle on that route is the one that I find the easiest by far, and the thought of even trying maddening was very intimidating to me. If I beat this route I’ll probably do a maddening azure moon with some even stricter rules.

I did start a maddening run before, and found if you start a new game+ file and utilize like all your carried over renown and stuff, it still completely trivializes the game even on maddening. ...I forgot why I still did the new game+, so uh. hm. anyway so rules:

I can’t spend renown (no weapons from the abyss statue, can’t buy friendship or weapon levels for units, whatever else it’s used for)

can’t use the free shit I found under my bed. I don’t usually do that anyway so

no amiibo gazebo bonus items because I want to be limited by the gold I can obtain normally, so I have to think about how to allocate my funds, and the gazebo sometimes gives you like basic weapons and things you can sell...although I didn’t think about that until I’d already picked up two items. I don’t remember what I got, I think it was like. two ingredients. so yeah I started this run one fish and one tomato richer.

Absolutely allowed to use divine pulse; I’m definitely treating this as a learning experience and it’s way easier to learn what you did wrong if you can immediately go back and try it a different way that works. 

I’m allowed to recruit all free units, so I’ve got the ashen wolves and anna (and sylvain, is it universally known that he joins for free if you picked another house but your byleth is female?); this unlocks other paralogs, but I’m still going to have to deal with hunting by daybreak, so using units outside my house is a handicap I have to think carefully about. Ashen wolves give you access to the abyss passes tho so that’s a pretty big bonus* (moved a tangent about how good Constance is to the end)

I’m playing online, so I am allowing myself to pick up the extra exp and items. It’s another case of if I’d thought about it sooner I probably would’ve said no but. I’m already here.

since it’s new game+ bcs idk the saint statues are all fixied, so yeah I guess I’m getting whatever boon I get from that

it took me a long time to get past the mock battle at the beginning; I don’t know exactly how many attempts bcs the first time I tried I was like “well I guess I’m not as much of a better player as I thought” and didn’t come back to it for a while. but I finally beat it a couple nights ago! it wasn’t like I wasn’t trying to strategize the first attempt, but I came away with the impression that it was intentionally more like a puzzle you had to solve with a pretty narrow solution than like the sprawling battles later. (Those still have an order to them, y’know, get to this advantageous spot, take out the miniboss, deal with the reinforcements, proceed to boss with caution, that kind of thing). I tried hiding the woods, but that by itself wasn’t enough. I’m really used to relying on my magic users, so not having any that were powerful yet really forced me to think differently.

In the end I had to send Claude (whose map position was fixed) into the woods to take a hit from Ashe, and then gang up on Ashe with Claude and Hilda without agroing Hubert and Ferdinand in that direction. Then I could get Byleth posted up in the lower forest, take out Ferdinand in one turn with Byleth and the magic girls (I swapped Lorenz for Lysithea lol, she’s really weak at the beginning but I wanted to get her exp as soon as possible), and then take out Hubert next turn with Byleth. I had tried to have Marianne tank a hit from Hubert because she has good res, but in maddening there really are some enemies you can’t just tank hits from.

The other major departure is that I normally go straight up to whoever’s got the right base and get the “wow they’re fighting both houses?” remark from whoever’s on the left, and just never deal with the two people hiding behind the barrier because they come out of it to fight, but this I had to absolutely avoid agroing both houses so go up left and carefully lure out Dorothea and Edelgard by letting Byleth take a hit from Dorothea while everyone else hid in the leftmost forest. It’s really fun seeing the thought that went into designing these maps once you can’t just knock down enemy units like bowling pins! This game really does a good job of teaching you how to think about this kind of strategy if you were like me and just not good at that to start with.

Anyway no map after that was nearly that hard, including the practice battle after that were you still don’t have divine pulse (you have to manage your whole squad at that point so I can see why they pulled back the level of the enemy units; also I just realized that teaches you that generic enemies are weaker than named ones, huh). Even with divine pulse I failed the next map once because of trying to juggle exp gains, but it was fun to start the map from scratch now knowing everything I had to do better.

* (the Constance tangent that I moved:) honestly I’ve used Constance a lot bcs I always like to get the relic for Yuri so I always train Constance up to not die during that...and she’s probably my sickest unit every time? She learns a barrier ability that gives her exp when she uses it, so between that and teaching her healing she can get a lot of non-kill exp and tends to level up really fast, and then you put her in the air and she gets all those crazy benefits...

So if I beat this route, like I said I’ll probably do a maddening azure moon, and NOT play on new game+ and NOT connect to the internet. A “no divine pulse” run is kind of the dream, but again, not worried about that right now. I think as long as I beat the side story I’ll still be allowed to recruit the ashen wolves, which I probably will do. but beating this file is still probably a long way off so 8)

So yeah...I think I went through a bit of a “3h fatigue” phase when I started playing the older games and was like “dang these are all really good,” but 3h isn’t just popular because it’s new or even just because the writing’s good, it’s a really great game. Blazing Blade and Path of Radiance are still my favorites, but 3h is a much closer contender than I thought, they’re basically all on the same level.

[irvinenewshq]

Daylight Saving Time 2022 is ending. Now lets do away with it as soon as and for all. This is how

NEWNow you can hearken to Fox Information articles! Right here comes the tip of Daylight Saving for 2022, a Sunday morning most of us get pleasure from as a result of we get an additional hour to sleep in. Catching up on sleep every November, nonetheless, is the one good factor that comes with Daylight Saving or DST (it’s singular, not plural, by the best way). Springing ahead and falling again creates havoc with airline and prepare schedules, complicated individuals, costing cash, and inflicting accidents and delays. PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME MAY BE HARMFUL TO OUR HEALTH, EXPERTS SAY Extra visitors fatalities happen each time we swap the clock, as a result of motorists are too sleep disadvantaged to drive safely. Dad and mom despise Daylight Saving as a result of it signifies that their youngsters stroll or bike to and from college in darkness. Farmers hate DST, as a result of cows need to be satisfied to be milked one hour earlier or later. Ever have that type of a dialogue with a cow?  Neglect cows. Your physique hates to shift an hour both ahead or again. It’s like getting jet lag despite the fact that you didn’t even get to journey wherever. Many individuals want a full week earlier than their inner time clocks — their circadian rhythms — are reset.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER Ben Franklin will get the credit score for the inventing Daylight Saving, however the idea was truly adopted first by Germany throughout World Battle I to assist conquer Europe. And everyone knows how that labored out. Why hold DST? Some research point out that it saves a small quantity of power, as a result of we do extra stuff on summer time evenings than summer time mornings. After all, now you want extra power in winter mornings, when it’s darker longer, so there goes that argument. Some say that fewer pedestrians are killed as a result of the times are longer. In truth, extra pedestrians and bicyclists are hit by vehicles due to DST, just because extra of them are outdoors when the evenings are longer. So, the time has come to remove Daylight Saving, as soon as and for all.  Election day is Tuesday, and new Congress might be sworn in come January. Right here’s a little bit of bipartisanship that may get the brand new session off on the proper foot: remove DST now and ceaselessly. This would be the first piece of laws upon which virtually all voters can agree.  Passing the invoice may even enhance Congress’ dismal fame within the eyes of the voters. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP That’s what I name… authorities within the sunshine. This Sunday, get pleasure from your further hour of relaxation, and optimistically, subsequent 12 months, we are going to stand united as an alternative of falling again. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MICHAEL LEVIN   New York Occasions best-selling writer Michael Levin runs TheFableFactory.com, a guide ghostwriting agency. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[sanjosenewshq]

Daylight Saving Time 2022 is ending. Now lets eliminate it as soon as and for all. This is how

NEWNow you can take heed to Fox Information articles! Right here comes the top of Daylight Saving for 2022, a Sunday morning most of us get pleasure from as a result of we get an additional hour to sleep in. Catching up on sleep every November, nonetheless, is the one good factor that comes with Daylight Saving or DST (it’s singular, not plural, by the way in which). Springing ahead and falling again creates havoc with airline and prepare schedules, complicated individuals, costing cash, and inflicting accidents and delays. PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME MAY BE HARMFUL TO OUR HEALTH, EXPERTS SAY Extra site visitors fatalities happen each time we swap the clock, as a result of motorists are too sleep disadvantaged to drive safely. Mother and father despise Daylight Saving as a result of it signifies that their youngsters stroll or bike to and from college in darkness. Farmers hate DST, as a result of cows need to be satisfied to be milked one hour earlier or later. Ever have that form of a dialogue with a cow?  Overlook cows. Your physique hates to shift an hour both ahead or again. It’s like getting jet lag regardless that you didn’t even get to journey anyplace. Many individuals want a full week earlier than their inside time clocks — their circadian rhythms — are reset.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER Ben Franklin will get the credit score for the inventing Daylight Saving, however the idea was truly adopted first by Germany throughout World Warfare I to assist conquer Europe. And everyone knows how that labored out. Why hold DST? Some research point out that it saves a small quantity of power, as a result of we do extra stuff on summer time evenings than summer time mornings. After all, now you want extra power in winter mornings, when it’s darker longer, so there goes that argument. Some say that fewer pedestrians are killed as a result of the times are longer. In truth, extra pedestrians and bicyclists are hit by automobiles due to DST, just because extra of them are outdoors when the evenings are longer. So, the time has come to get rid of Daylight Saving, as soon as and for all.  Election day is Tuesday, and new Congress can be sworn in come January. Right here’s a little bit of bipartisanship that may get the brand new session off on the fitting foot: get rid of DST now and ceaselessly. This would be the first piece of laws upon which virtually all voters can agree.  Passing the invoice may even enhance Congress’ dismal popularity within the eyes of the citizens. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP That’s what I name… authorities within the sunshine. This Sunday, get pleasure from your further hour of relaxation, and optimistically, subsequent 12 months, we are going to stand united as an alternative of falling again. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MICHAEL LEVIN   New York Instances best-selling creator Michael Levin runs TheFableFactory.com, a ebook ghostwriting agency. Originally published at San Jose News HQ

[robininthelabyrinth]

Initiative pt 2 - ao3 or tumblr pt 1

It was just typical of his brother, Nie Huaisang thought. He finally, finally, finally found a girl that might suit him, agreed to marry her, and then he spent all his time worrying about…saber.

Typical.

Nie Huaisang volunteered himself to act as the family representative in negotiations with the Jiang sect, seeing as his brother would undoubtedly get them fleeced if he were trying to do it himself – “Try not to be too mercenary, Huaisang. We are the ones in the stronger position, through no fault of theirs.” –  and with one thing or another he arrived at the Lotus Pier less than a week after Jiang Yanli did.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian seemed rather surprised to see him.

“I haven’t had a moment to tell them,” Jiang Yanli said, pressing her head to her forehead and looking a little tired. “They’d just completed the memorial hall, when I arrived.”

“And it’s been nothing but keeping them from fighting ever since?” Nie Huaisang said, not without some sympathy.

Only some, though. If Jiang Yanli couldn’t handle Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, even the grieved and tragic versions of them, what was she going to do the first time his brother went into a rage?

Maybe he was being too cold-blooded. After all, they’d been her parents, too.

“Your arrival is a good thing,” she said, narrowing her eyes a little in satisfaction. “Now they have no excuse to run away from me.”

Nie Huaisang couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

She summoned a few sect disciples, divided them neatly into two groups – one larger than the other – and instructed them to go bring her two recalcitrant brothers to the main hall. “You may use force,” she informed the larger group. “I would advise you that A-Xian is especially weak to tickling around his ribs, and don’t let him scare you off with that Yiling Patriarch stuff. And as for the group going to get A-Cheng – may I suggest looking especially pathetic when you convey the message that his sister, who he left alone for almost the entire war, would really like to see him if he has a moment to spare for her?”

Nie Huaisang’s smile broadened. “Tears,” he added solemnly. “Tears are very good. He hates tears.”

“Just so. Thank you all.”

“My brother is already planning out your saber,” he told her once the disciples had left, and she brightened visibly. “If there’s anything you want to contribute in terms of design, now’s the time – I brought mine in case you want to have a look later on.”

Aituan was in his luggage. Somewhere. His brother had refused to let him leave the Unclean Realm before he’d produced proof of saber, and he hadn’t unpacked since then, so surely it was somewhere.

“I’m sure whatever your brother comes up with will be fine,” she said. “I don’t know anything about weapons.”

A brief hesitation.

“Although, perhaps not – so large…?”

Nie Huaisang decided to be daring. He opened his fan in front of his face and looked at her over it, allowing his eyes to curve up in a smile. “Don’t worry about that – though if all goes well, you’re going to have to accustom yourself to dealing with a large saber at some point in the process.”

She burst out laughing, which was good.

“Nie Huaisang!” Oh, look, Jiang Cheng was here. “What are you saying to my sister? You’d better not be harassing her!”

“What would you do if I was?” Nie Huaisang wondered. “I mean, I’m not, I don’t think, but –”

“Just don’t.”

“A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli said. “Be polite. Where’s A-Xian? I have something to tell you both.”

Wei Wuxian came in a few moments later, grumbling and rubbing his ribs but brightening when he saw them all gathered up there, and he slid into place by Jiang Cheng’s side easy as anything even if they did sort of stare awkwardly with quasi-glares, quasi-grimaces at each other first.

And then Jiang Yanli told them why Nie Huaisang was there, and all awkwardness fell away at once so that they could unite in glaring at Nie Huaisang.

“Why are you looking at me for?” he asked. “I’m not the one marrying her, that’s my brother.”

“If you had anything to do with this –” Wei Wuxian started, doing his whole looming-with-the-subtonal-wailing-of-dark-forces Yiling Patriarch thing, but ticklish around the ribs and a summer of nonsense didn’t really do much to encourage fear in Nie Huaisang, who’d never had as much common sense as a regular person ought.

“Oh, no, I objected to it,” Nie Huaisang said breezily. “Your sister doesn’t deserve my brother.”

And that, of course, got them both up in arms even more.

“What’s that supposed to mean? What’s wrong with my sister?” Jiang Cheng shouted, and Wei Wuxian’s aura-of-darkness got even more out of hand as he crossed his arms and glared death. “She’d be a great bride for anyone! Give me one reason –”

“I’m glad to have your support, didi,” Jiang Yanli said, calmly ladling out the soup she’d promised Nie Huaisang as if they were sitting in the midst of a nice breeze instead of a hurricane, and okay, fine, maybe his brother had a point about the importance of things like backbone and patience. “Don’t worry so much. If Nie-er-gongzi is here as his brother’s representative, that must mean he’s accepted the match.”

Or that he was here to sabotage it, but he appreciated her good faith interpretation.

“Please, just Huaisang is fine,” he said, smiling at her. “You’ll be my sister-in-law soon enough, won’t you?”

“We haven’t agreed yet!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed.

“Oh, like your opinion matters,” Nie Huaisang said, rolling his eyes. “You know how many people have put good money down on you leaving the Jiang sect in the next three-to-six months?”

That got all of them looking like they’d just been unexpectedly stabbed in the chest, Jiang Yanli included.

“What?” he asked, batting his eyelashes innocently at them. “Did I say something wrong? Everyone knows you aren’t doing anything for the Jiang sect anymore, Wei-xiong. All the rumors says so, and the only reason for that is if you were planning on ditching now that you don’t need them anymore.”

“That’s enough,” Jiang Yanli said, and there was a bit of steel in her voice. “A-Xian isn’t leaving, and even if he was, his opinion on my marriage would still matter to me.”

“That’s one of the reasons I objected,” Nie Huaisang said to her, deciding that she was clearly the only one mature enough to have this extremely necessary discussion with. “Meaning no offense, but in every possible respect, you’re a bad match. If you marry my brother, will you be expecting him to run around defending everything the Yiling Patriarch does whenever he’s in the mood to thumb his nose at the cultivation world? Or paying for the Lotus Pier’s reconstruction costs, even though Jiang-xiong hasn’t made a single overture to our Nie sect in terms of reestablishing trade routes or even just swapping craftsmen for mutual benefit?”

Both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were positively black in the face.

“Of course, even if you weren’t going to anchor him down with even more political obligations, there’s your personal value,” Nie Huaisang continued, tapping his finger against his cheek. “Word has it that you’re weak and sickly. Who’s to say that you won’t die along with the first child you bear –”

“How dare you talk about my shijie like that!” Wei Wuxian shouted, slamming his hand down on the table, while Jiang Cheng’s Zidian crackled lightning like an overactive firework. “How dare you –”

“And do you still support the marriage, even with all of these disadvantages?” Jiang Yanli asked, holding up her hands to hold her brothers back. Her eyes were a bit wet, but she was otherwise unperturbed, at least on the surface.

“I do, actually,” Nie Huaisang said, pleased. Even if she went to go cry later, which he didn’t think she would, she’d done well enough to pass his personal test of what constituted backbone. “My brother doesn’t care about politics, we have plenty of money, and there’s doctors for the rest of it. If you’re really willing to put in the effort, I’d be happy to call you my sister-in-law.”

Jiang Cheng was hissing like a pot of water on the boil. Wei Wuxian was grinding his teeth.

“I appreciate that,” Jiang Yanli said, disregarding them entirely. “I can promise you that I’ll do my best.”

“Good, good,” Nie Huaisang said, and grinned at her. “There’s only enough room for one useless flower vase in the Nie household, and the position is taken. By me, if that’s not clear. I brought my brother’s eight characters – do you have yours at hand? We can calculate the auspicious date immediately.”

“I still haven’t agreed!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed, and Jiang Yanli reached out to touch his arm lightly. “I haven’t! Jiejie, you don’t have to marry anyone you don’t want to, no matter what good things you think it’d bring to the sect, okay? You should marry for love!”

“Jiang Cheng’s right, shijie,” Wei Wuxian said at once. “You should get anyone you like. Even if you still want that stupid Jin sect peacock, we’d find a way to get him for you.”

Nie Huaisang looked at Jiang Yanli carefully at that one. It was even odds if his brother minded her having some vestigial affections, especially in the beginning, but he himself wouldn’t be having any of that – least of all with a Jin, no matter how much better Jin Zixuan seemed to be than his father.

His brother deserved someone who would put him first, this time.

“No, thank you,” she said without the slightest hesitation, and Nie Huaisang nodded in approval. “Young Master Jin has made his opinion about me clear enough, and not just once. I’m not going to run after him like I think that’s all I’m good for. And anyway, Chifeng-zun is a good man, who you both greatly admire – why can’t I marry him?”

“You can marry anyone you want,” Jiang Cheng said at once.

“And I want to marry him,” she said, and smiled. “At first, yes, it was primarily because he seemed to offer the most advantages for our sect, but…I don’t know. He’s very nice.”

Nie Huaisang mouthed the word ‘nice’ to himself, rolling it around in his mouth like a fine wine. It might be the first time anyone had ever described his brother that way.

“I think I would be happy being married to him,” she concluded. “Even very happy. Will you approve?”

They folded like a stack of cards.

“Oh, I like you,” Nie Huaisang told her, finally but now wholly delighted. “It’ll be good for my brother.”

And it’ll be interesting to see how the Jin sect takes it, he thought with a smirk half-hidden behind his fan. Since you bring the power and influence of whole Jiang sect with you, and the Yiling Patriarch too.

He wouldn’t mention that, of course.

Only an idiot would negotiate against themselves.

[ranveer--singh]

Appreciation post 2020

So today is the last day of 2020. Its been some what a different year as we hoped. But I must say tumblr was my espace this year and I met some lovely people on her. Happy New Year to you all, hope 2021 is better for us all.

@sunslittlesister Dana you are my sister, who been with me through all my username changes through to all the players and actors I like. Thanks for being there for me, we hade great year watching movies together our teams clowning around and all in all having fun. Thanks for sending German snacks, we should do another gift swap middle of the year. Here is two another awesome year and hopefully our teams do well.

@footballffbarbiex Amy you are amazing, I've know you since gosh can't remember but I know it was a world cup. Thank you so much for keeping 2020 amazing with everything you write. They have been my safe haven, I will cherish them all. I am so happy to find another crazy Henry Cavill fan like you who indulged me in my requests. Hope you have an amazing 2021 and can't wait to send you more chocolates, hearing bud squeal made my day.

@footballfangurl I know you haven't used tumblr as much this year. But watching movies with you been fun, you found out so early on on MI6 that Henry was the bad guy lol. Can't wait till after your exams so we can watch Sand Castle together. Thanks for being my friend, beta and all round great person. Let's hope 2021 does good for football.

@lawsandother your my little sister, I love when ever we talk because your so sweet and passionate about the clubs you support. I am so happy you started to write and are posting them all, your such a talented person who deserves everything. Let's hope for a great 2021.

@ghosts-of-puppets Kingaaa I love how are minds work together to create crazy ideas for Amy to write. She gets scared everything I send her a request. So happy to see new Virgil content and hopefully he can play next year. Man United are 2nd lol we could win you never know. Thanks for being amazing and making my dash fun with your posts.

@avsensio Lexiiiii my sister I miss you, miss your writing, but your incredibly talented person who shares the same interests as me. Your dogs are adorable and we definitely need to chat more next year.

@trentalexanders @football-laeli @dancefaeries @peterpanupinthesky you girls in the OG group are amazing. Can't believe how much has gone on but the group kept us sain, happy and was a place I could switch of to. Love you girls we still need that England nt photo.

@keanureevesisbae I am so happy I got go know this incredible girl who has the most beautiful smile. Your writing makes me smile, feel happy and your a bundle of joy. Love the time we watched MI6 together and skipped to all the Henry parts. Keep being your beautiful and bubbly self.

@wondersofdreaming TJ your my dumpling buddy, I wish there was no brexit so I could come over and try your home made dumplings. I love our calls, watching movies together even though I got a shock in Aquaman seeing Graham as king. Thanks for being such a kind spirt and I hope to be able to see you in 2021.

@littlefreya Freya your an amazing human being, without your fics this year I dunno how I would have coped. They cheered me up, made me smile, laugh and of course hot at times. Keep being the incredible person you are, cannot wait for what new things we get to see from you next year.

@luclittlepond your my Spanish mum lol your amazing person to talk to. I love that you also like Real Madrid and I hope next year they do better. Thanks for always being there and reading my stuff. Hope 2021 is good for you and your family.

@madbaddic7ed Twinnie I dunno what to say but it's your fault for me enjoying Outlander and Sam Heughan 😆🤣 Thanks for being there for me, the countless phone calls, video calls, watching movies together. It's like we twins bit far away, I hope soon we can meet up.

@toomanystoriessolittletime Steph your a huge beacon of joy. I love getting to know you, gosh your quicker then me in watching tv series. I am grateful your my friend and would love to come to Germany and try your cooking as you talk so much about it. I loved the gifts you sent over, not opened the new box yet but will soon. Love the calls we have had. Hopefully you can travel to London next year.

@emelinelovesjc I love seeing your gifs on my dash, they are so good. Even your writing is amazing, your such a lovely person to talk to and can't wait till 2021 when I can cone try your crepes.

@b-n-a-o one thing I have accomplished this year was getting you into Sergio Ramos to the point you made gifs. Such a win all around, your gifs are incredible, your amazing to talk yo and we share many smiliar interests.

@foodieforthoughts I love how this year I met a lot of Indian's in the Henry Cavill fandom. You are funny, talented writer, friendly and just as thirsty as me. Glad I got to know you and we share the same love for Henry Cavill and Chris Evans. Lets hope 2021 is good and we get to have more fun.

@toomanyfandomsshreya @unicornbitchface you girls are amazing. It's like having more sisters in my life, thanks for making 2021 amazing as you both are. @unicornbitchface Evans is a hottie lol.

@wolvesandhoundshowltogether You amaze me at how incredible you are. So glad I got to know you this year and your Henry Cavill shitposts made me laugh, fireman Sy got to be the best thing I loved reading this year. Hope 2021 is good for you.

@hlkwrites I dunno what to say but gosh your writing really made me smile. Prime Time is my favourite series and I binged it in 1 day. I love talking to you, your another brit I found on her. Love how much we have in common and I cannot wait for 2021 for you to kill us with more Rugby dad.

I wanna also thank these people for making 2020 good on tumblr, with things they reblog, writing fan fics and gifmaking @killjoy-assbutt-1112 @thelastsock @demivampirew @dancingwendigo @dangerouslovefanfic @infinite-shite @the-soot-sprite @luna-aestas @fishcustardandclintbarton @yespolkadotkitty @august-walker @lxndonorris @emyearns @oh-for-fic-sake @sciapod @mariestark @crimsonrae @kaibacorpdork @nuggsmum @ladyreapermc @hell1129-blog @brexrif @promptandpros @hollydaisy23 @penwieldingdreamer @viking-raider

[sircarolyn]

fitton thoughts:

i’m so ready for this one, it’s my joint fave with vaduz and i must have listened so many times, it’s one of those ones i go to when i need an audio hug, because that’s what it really feels like

this cold open really is everything, captain wing commander sir arthur shappey i could not adore you more <3

douglas being late causes me some pain, i hate being late

but then he makes arthur tea and i want to cry - i almost forgot how many bonding moments these two have in this series

‘though i’m a little surprised you do’ arthur trying to remember the song is just delightful 

‘are you sure you’re not thinking of when martin trapped my hand in the cabin door’ oh what a delightful image that presents 

‘i’ve taken the s off!’ oh martin, one day you’ll be okay at word games 

‘god has smiled on us’ i’ve tried really hard not to say this for every single line, but i adore how stephanie cole says everything 

arthur miming apocalypse now <3

i know i’m meant to feel bad for martin here but i just can’t because of how hard i laugh at carolyn and douglas every time ‘but lo! his cap was on his head!’ it’s just so so funny i’m sorry martin you had it coming 

and now is where it sucker punches you, ohhhhhhhhhhhhh gordon my enemy >:(

another beautiful arthur and carolyn moment here, the way she says sorry, calls him dear - man she’s so gentle with him here, and then on the flip side you can just here how horrible gordon’s being in the letter, you can hear his nasty tone and i just want to cry oh my god these two 

ahhh who else fondly remembers john finnemore scrawling on people’s heads in lipstick at airdotcon berlin.... i miss that so much

mmm here’s the most overused martin line, ‘i wanted to be an aeroplane’, and excitingly douglas backstory!

and now arthur breaks my damn heart again with the muppet babies - i actually cannot articulate how much this means to me just like... he doesn’t feel good enough! he doesn’t fit in! and then the others making him feel better hhhh it just hits me in a place in my chest

‘neither carolyn or arthur quite float my boat’ and we’ll see this line again very soon...

‘i’ve just been talking with your father’ o u c h

the way that carolyn is so sharp with douglas and then so gentle with arthur like... god these two! and arthur being ‘selfish’ i’m honestly on the verge of tears 

arthur’s happiness speech is something i try and hold very close to my heart every day, because he’s right! he’s so so right! it’s the little things every day! ‘and when you are you’re too busy worrying about it being over’ i don’t have to say anything else because he’s just right

and at the same time, picturing carolyn sitting alone in the plane... making a decision.... oh my god 

‘surely the only professional pilot who cannot successfully juggle one apple’

and the song <3 these guys what a family unit! this is it!!!!!! this is it!!!!

i hate pineapple juice, but i love that it’s arthur’s running gag

and here, twisting the knife again with douglas’ confession - this episode is such an emotional tightrope and the subtext is so heavy, but it’s balanced so beautifully with the genuinely funny stuff - i know i say it every time but finnemore is so smart 

‘arthur shappey. you’re up.’ oh my boy, he sounds so afraid

i know it’s for the jokes, but i’ll never understand why they changed the names - it’s not like goddard knows their names enough to realise they’re swapped 

trans martin rights!!!!

and they’re juggling apples <3 and arthur is so close to nailing it... if only he hadn’t said his age... and isn’t he just channelling douglas here so so much... dad figure douglas ahhh hh hh (and i’ve just made a realisation about myself as to why i loved douglas so much at 16 rip)

zyyuuumm! zyuummmm! but like he’s right.... it does look like a ray gun...

‘i have a message for mr shappey from the ceo of mjn air. gerti’s staying with me so up yours baldy. yes that is a business message’ <3 queen

and here again, exposing vulnerability - this is such an interesting episode for douglas + carolyn because it really really puts them on the back foot, and for a change douglas ends the episode on a low - i could talk about this all day but i’ll stop now haha i really really adore this episode 

[archer3-13]

Characters from 3h that I would probably cut

maybe i'll make this a thing, idk. to explain, its not particularly complicated. i just wanna consider which characters i would probably have cut from 3h if i had creative control in it to some extent. note that in 3h case due to its already smallish cast per house i'll also brew up hypothetical replacements.

Black Eagles:

dorothea - top of the list and what inspired this exercise really, dorothea is a character that suffers more so from being out of sync with the story then out of place with it. that is, well she doesnt stick out in terms of inherent concept and design, in terms of writing however she sticks out for sounding like shes living in an alternate reality from whatever's happening on screen at any given time. in terms of story writing she feels like the safest cut overall of the black eagles, even in terms of replacement all you really need is a 'commoner' character to explore what its like living in adrestias ground floor which could be basically whatever you can think of [merchant family stalling out socially to highlight adrestias classism, a religious commoner to show adrestian approaches to religion, lowborn soldiers who managed to scrap up enough to send their kid to garreg mach to win them a better position in the army, a commoner effected by the insurrection of seven to explore more of its effects, lots of ideas].

bernadetta - more so because she needed to be replaced by a character with a more so intimate immediate connection to either byleth or edelgard if she was gonna be bbqed alive. narratively its pretty much her only function, and anything else about her is mostly just a lame gag character that people confused as a tragic one. point being, it would have been better to cut bernadetta and say replace her with a childhood friend who knew edelgard before she was implemented with a second crest and is struggling to reconnect with her or something. that way the horror of edelgard lighting her allies on fire hits harder, because its someone relatively important narratively speaking not someone relatively expendable like bernadetta.

caspar - unlike bernie or dorothea i dont actually have any specific problems with him, its just that like bernie hes totally expendable. from what i recall his rapport with lindhart is more so confined to their supports then an ever present textual element, and in terms of wider narrative use... hes on that one map with the death knight? as a minor obstacle? arguably you could cut lindhart as well, but he gets a little more cut being an expositional faucet for crests and society stuff. personally id replace caspar with someone a bit older, maybe even the actual heir of the bergliez family and have them act as another window into how the insurrection changed things or what the adrestian army is like.

golden deer:

raphael and ignatz - wrapping the two together since they feel like a package deal, well they provide a little bit of insight in leicesters merchant culture and civilian life leonies... just the superior commoner in general and in regards to the merchant aspects raphael and ignatz dont provide nearly enough insight there. they're the most expendable of the golden deer because even though they have their own story it doesnt do anything for the story at large really. id say, swap them out for active rival merchant families forced to attend the same class and actively competing with each other due to bad blood stirred up by leicester nobles, initially suspecting count gloucester but revealing the true culprit to be the slitherers or something.

blue lions:

mercedes - one of the cases of a character i actually like but feel didnt actually need to be there, at most all she really does is provide some more meat for the death knight stuff, even if she does have a fun rapport with annette its just not enough to convince me she couldn't have been easily cut. that said, an easy replacement for her has a strong slot to fill with annettes fun rapport buddy and without the distractions of the death knight stuff her replacement could be built more towards being an insight into the seiros faith and how faerghus approaches it.

the church:

alois - much as i love his dad jokes he provides little, showing up late gameplay wise geared towards a role you have more then enough units already around to play well generally doing it not as well. and story wise hes pretty much a non entity outside of an excuse to drag jeralt to garreg mach. in terms of a replacement, definitely still someone connected to jeralt but a] have them as say... a natural hero class due to its under representation in game and b] have them act as the oifeyjagen of the game as it were by being available at the start giving them an immediate utility, and a prominent role as an advisor on things and how they work since jeralts playing the greil of the game.

other:

jeritza - a massive disappointment nowhere near to matching the black knights legacy, i say he can be pretty easily cut because he serves a villainous role that isnt actually needed to be served, and which largely gets dropped in terms of relevance as soon as the ts comes along. there are a lot of ways you could go instead, but i personally feel the most interesting would be to replace him with a slitherer. its dramatically ironic, it gives them a more prominent role, and if its made so edelgard is unaware of their nature as a slitherer it helps better realize the themes cf keeps buried under gape moe.

[procrastinatorimagines]

Could Have Been More Part 4

Fandom: Chicago PD / One Chicago

Series: Could Have Been More

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 (Final)

Character/s: Voight x Reader, Sylvie

Warning/s: kidnapping

Word Count: 1,990

Summary: A bad break up with Hank Voight was only the start of Y/N’s problems, now, 12 people are dead and a dangerous killer is on the loose, and she might be his next target.

The morning brought rain, lots of it. You’d woken up around dawn to it pounding on the window, a little dazed as it took you a few seconds to remember where you were, Hank’s guest room. 

You’d had some clothes left there, you definitely hadn’t found the time to pick up your things in the few days since the break up. God, was that only on Friday? Everything had happened in slow motion.

Slipping out of the bed you went to wash your face, looking at your tired eyes in the mirror as your mind went over everything that had happened from that day. First, you’d completely derailed Intelligence’s investigation into the murder of a gang member and his waitress girlfriend, which had apparently been committed by the waitress’ boss. Then, you’d found out that the boss, Albert Strauss, had started cleaning house, his restaurant a front for moving a different kind of product behind the scenes. Now 12 people were dead, 10 more at a stash house Strauss had used, 3 more injured but on the mend. 

Voight thought you might be a target, having accidentally tipped Strauss off to just how close Intelligence was to him through your contact with a friend who also worked at the restaurant. They’d cleared her as a potential gang member, but she’d also been given a protective detail, just in case. 

The whole city was looking for Strauss, they’d find him, you told yourself as you ran your hands through your hair, wishing you could go back to work at 51, go back to normal. But Voight had insisted that it was better for you to stay off work until this was resolved, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to find you on a call, or even stage one to draw you out.

There was a knock at the door as you emerged from the bathroom, heading over to open it you found Voight, mug of coffee in hand for you.

“Morning,” he said, glancing down quickly before swallowing. He looked uncomfortable for some reason, which was when you realised you were only in your pajama top and underwear. Whoops, old habits.

“Sorry,” you flushed, quickly grabbing your jeans from yesterday off the chair in the corner of the room and hurriedly putting them on. Voight entered a little and set the steaming mug down on the dresser.

“Cream and two sugars,” he said as he placed it down, just the way you liked it. You noted his badge and gun then, you might not have been able to go to work, but Hank definitely had to.

“Thanks Hank,” you said gratefully, really needing caffeine right now. The whole night had been spent tossing and turning, you must have woken up several times, some following graphic nightmares about the recent murders, and now you were exhausted. “Any news?” You dared.

“Nothing last night, I’m meeting up with the rest of the unit at yesterday’s crime scene, it’s been cleared now so we can take a proper look around,” he explained what he could and you ignored the fact that there was clearly something he was leaving out; you knowing too much is what had gotten you into this mess in the first place. 

Hank went to turn away, clearly not really knowing what to say, when you stopped him. “Thank you,” he paused, not turning to face you exactly but definitely listening at the door, “look I know I shouldn’t have just dropped by like that, but you listen to me, let me stay here last night, and I know things aren’t the same with us now but- it means a lot, so thanks,” you finished and he nodded, the Hank Voight way of avoiding his feelings, and headed out the door.

Though you were a little deflated by that, you knew how he got, emotions weren’t exactly his forte. As soon he left the room you finished getting changed, noticing that Hank had also brought you one of your shirts with your pajamas last night, he’d washed it too. Putting it on you took a sip of the coffee, grateful that Hank always bought in the good stuff as you let it slowly wake you up properly. You heard Hank moving around downstairs as you finished getting ready, grabbing all your things and wandering downstairs.

He was on the phone when you reached the kitchen, hanging back as he talked, his back to you. “Another registered vehicle? Do we have a location?” You couldn’t hear the response but the way he sighed told you that the answer was no, “okay, well keep on it, I’ll be in soon, thanks Trudy,” he said, hanging up and turning to face you.

“Everything okay?” You asked, sipping your drink in the doorway as he pocketed his phone, snatching his keys up off the counter. 

“We’ll get him,” was all Hank said on the matter before he changed the subject, “I should get you back home, then I’ll head to the district, keep working the case.”

You nodded, downing the rest of your coffee and grabbing your shoes. No matter how much you’d rather be at 51, you knew better than to argue with Hank, he was doing what he thought best to keep you safe. 

“You going to be alright on your own?” He asked as you both left the house, moving quickly to avoid the down pour.

“Sure,” you shrugged, “besides, I won’t be alone, I’ll have a detail outside by door.” Although you didn’t think it was necessary, again, you weren’t going to argue with Hank. If you’d just trusted him in the beginning none of this would have happened, Strauss might even have been behind bars already, murders averted. Who knows, you and Hank might have even still been together...

You shook that thought out of your head as you climbed into the car next to Hank, pushing back your now damp hair. It wasn’t even 7 o’clock yet, you realised as you headed back towards your house, it was going to be a long day.

Hank drove in relative silence, besides the constant swish of the windscreen wipers. The man never even really put the radio on, but you could tell he had a lot on his mind as you pulled up outside your house, an unmarked squad already there as you got out, the driver nodding to Voight. “Take care of yourself Y/N, call me if there are any problems,” he told you, his tone one of concern.

“I will, just do what you can to catch this guy Hank,” you replied and he nodded, singular focus clear. He looked like he wanted to say more but thought better of it as you closed the door, his eyes never leaving you until you reached your front door, practically running to avoid getting wet. An officer left as you entered, Hank must have called a head for a sweep before you were allowed to enter You watched him drive away before you closed the door, double and then triple checking to make sure it was locked. 

Okay, one thing at a time, you told yourself, putting away your coat and heading towards the kitchen. First, more coffee, you decided, then you’d think about what came next. 

The pot was still heating up when your phone rang, it was Sylvie. You put it in between your shoulder and ear as you answered, bending down to route in your fridge for some cream.

“Oh good you answered, you’ve got to get back here as soon as you can, they’ve given me Chout,” she said straight away.

“Good morning to you too Brett,” you laughed, glad that no matter the situation, Sylvie Brett never changed. 

She caught herself then and laughed too, apologising. “Sorry Y/N, good morning to you to, how are you? You got whisked away and we barely know what’s going on?” She rambled as you emerged victorious from the fridge. You quickly swapped hands with your phone as you made your drink, thinking about how to answer.

“It’s... complicated, what has Boden told you?” You figured the best place to start would be by figuring out what everyone knew.

“Not much, he said you were involved in a police investigation, this doesn’t have something to do with the murders yesterday does it?” She asked in alarm.

“Er, yeah, it does,” you answered as you heard her gasp, “but it’s fine really, I can’t get into it much, but I’m fine, Intelligence is on top of it,” you tried to reassure her. 

“Well stay safe you know, we want you back in one piece,” she said and you smiled.

“Aw Sylvie, you always know just what to say,” you told her as you leaned back against your counter.

“What are friends for?” You heard her jump and close the ambo doors, the chatter of the squad table in the background comforting as she continued, “yeah well if you don’t get back soon I’m going to be stuck with Chout, so you’d better-” you both laughed but it was cut of by the ringing of your phone, you had another call coming through.

Moving your phone from your ear you saw the name ‘Jenny’ pop up on the screen... your waitress friend from Strauss’ restaurant. 

“Everything okay?” You heard Sylvie ask, suddenly concerned.

“Yeah it’s all good, but I have another call that I have to take so we’ll talk soon alright?” You promised.

“Take care Y/N,” Sylvie said as you switched over. 

What you heard next was not what you expected. Screaming. Your blood went cold.

“Help!” You heard from the other end, following by the sounds of crashing and scrambling. With a start you dropped your coffee mug and dashed to your front door where the squad car was stationed outside. 

“Jenny? Jenny oh my god hold on, please talk to me, I’ll get help,” you said frantically, heart pounding - this had to be Strauss.

“Y/N! No! Please, no!” You heard her cry as you hurriedly unlocked your door, throwing it open and stepping into the pouring rain, the horrible pit in your stomach growing with every sound on the other end of the line. 

“Stay with me Jenny,” you tried as you took a step outside, looking to where the unmarked car was. You didn’t want to dare hang up even to call Voight, but they could call him, they could trace the call somehow...

The doors were open- the car doors were wide open, and no one was inside. 

A feeling of pure dread settled inside of you as froze in place a mere metre from your house. You could still here Jenny screaming as you panicked, attempting to take a step back to head inside your house, if you could just get back inside you could figure out what to do next.

But before you even made it have a step you felt one hand go around your waist, the other around your mouth, a cloth of some kind covering, stiffling the scream that tried to burst from your throat.

You thrashed with all your might, legs kicking and elbows jabbing as the phone fell from your hands, Jenny’s screams becoming hauntingly further away as your vision started to blur, your legs feeling heavier as you had no choice but to breath in the odour on the cloth. You were being drugged, you realised as the fight drained from you, the strong arms around you not loosening their grip as they pulled you away from your front door and down your steps. 

The last thing you saw was a van door opening and you were hauled inside. 

Someone would come for you, you thought, though it was more of a prayer as you started to drift away until you could just hear the clatter of rain on the van roof... Hank would come for you...

[jacensolodjo]

In which hurt/comfort doesn’t quite have the comfort. Warnings for medical stuff but nothing graphic.

Jaster was scouting the perimeter in the liminal space time of dawn. His rifle was nestled in his arms like a newborn, his head constantly on a swivel. His fellow scout was around 100 paces off to his left. They always worked in pairs, if not three at a time. As much for safety as being efficient.

Seventeen was still at base camp, looking over maps of the area and where their enemies had been reported as being. Jaster was due to check in soon, and Seventeen found himself a little antsy. Dawn and dusk were perfect times for ambushes, mainly because of how blinding the sun could be. Another sergeant from another unit had offered to take Jaster's place but the Alpha had been unable to accept the trade.

"Sector 120 mark 34 is clear," Jaster reported, jerking 17 out of his reverie.

"Alright, head to the next grid on your right," Seventeen answered.

"Copy, wilco."

He gave the signal to the other ARC he found to be slightly annoying in questioning everything. Which made it surprising that he gave a nod then swiveled to head to the next grid. Jaster did the same, keeping an eye out for booby traps.

Jaster heard the heavy thunk of something moving fast and strong only to slam into the ground. Another slammed in the ground a mere couple inches from his foot. Both ARCs quickly pulled up rifles and scoped the area.

"Shriekhawk to base. Shriekhawk to base. We are under attack, possible sniper. We need backup immediately. Repeat: poss--" Jaster spoke into the radio but was cut off by a sudden, hard hit to his left chest, just under his pectoral. It was almost comical to see his legs fly out from under him and send him flat on his back, gasping and wheezing for air.

"Sergeant? Sarge!" His scout partner shouted, rushing over but doing his best to stay in cover. "Front to back or back to front?"

"No exit. Front," Jaster rasped.

"Shriekhawk, come in we didn't fully catch that last bit. You said you are under fire?" The base comms officer said, barely getting through past the blood pulsing in Jaster's ears.

"'Lek! Need... backup! More pressure, Storm!" Jaster grunted, then yelled out as Storm did as asked.

Seventeen nearly tripped over his own feet as he practically flew out of his quarters, sans Kama.

"Base to Shriekhawk, reinforcements incoming!" Seventen barked while gesturing to every trooper he passed to follow him.

"Sev? No, Sev. Unknown assailants!" Jaster gasped out. Seventeen was the highest ranking ARC on this mission, and thus the commanding officer and important to keep alive. 

"Shut up I'm on the way!"

Seventeen swapped to his helmet external speakers.

"Listen up, scouts haven't cleared all the grids we are heading to. Unknown number of Tangos and unknown about any long range action. We have one vod down and another possibly. Let's do it quick and do it neat. No one is dying today! If you do I will kick your shebs from here to Tatooine!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The random collection of troopers barked in unison.

Jaster groaned and gasped as Storm struggled to keep his grip. Storm mumbled apologies as he pressed harder to staunch the blood flow best he could until backup arrived.

It didn’t take much time for Seventeen and at least a platoon of troopers to arrive, ready for anything (or so they’d claim).

"What the shab happened?!" Seventeen demanded, going into a slide as he rushed to Jaster's side. He looked over the injury then growled.

"I-I don’t know, sir! We were clearing the grid and then he suddenly went down!" Storm said, sounding more panicked than he should be but that was likely a side effect of talking to someone like Seventeen.

"Two... two missed shots," Jaster stammered. "By the time I realized it wasn't an indigenous animal I got hit."

"Alright, get him up. We need him back at base. Keep pressure on it. We are not losing him to exsanguination."

Seventeen and Storm worked together to pick Jaster up by legs and torso. Jaster snarled in pain and made Storm wince at the sound. 

“The rest of you, finish the gridwork and find me that shooter! Keep ‘em alive if you can cause I call dibs on their life!” Seventeen ordered as he started to run from the area. 

“Yes, sir! You heard him, let’s move. Low and slow!” one of the corporals ordered. 

Jaster groaned, his eyes rolling back into his head and his neck going limp.

“Jaster? Jaster?! Jas! Wake up, Jas!” Seventeen demanded, lightly shaking the man’s torso. Jaster groaned and mumbled incoherently. “Shab!”

Seventeen and Storm skidded to a halt at the closest pre-fab building. Seventeen kicked the door in like a mule and kept moving. It wasn’t a barracks so Seventeen had no choice but to lay Jaster down on a table. He quickly yanked off Jaster’s helmet and dropped it to the floor. He lightly smacked Jaster’s cheek.

“Jaster, wake up! C’mon Jaster, that’s an order! Open your kriffing eyes!” 

“I should go get a medic--” Storm began to say.

“Yes, fine! Go!” Seventeen snapped. Storm ran full tilt out of the pre-fab.

“Jaster, wake up you di’kutla shabuir!”

If it had been anyone else it was unlikely Seventeen would be trying so hard to revive the other Alpha. As it was he began to unhook and fling plates off of the man and slice through the body glove underneath. He had finally exposed the gunshot wound when the medic appeared, the medical corps insignia bright on his armor. 

“How many?” the medic, Tarik, asked as he rummaged for the bacta spray. 

“Just the one. Non-laser, physical projectile,” Storm explained, making Tarik pause.

The medic gave a deep sigh as he put the bacta down and went rummaging back in his kit for the right tools. He removed some gauze in the process, handing them over to Storm. Seventeen nudged the younger trooper out of the way and put pressure against Jaster’s chest with the gauze. Storm blinked in surprise but said nothing, likely a wise choice.

“Alright, release pressure I need into that wound,” Tarik said. Seventeen delayed a moment on doing as asked but he did it, taking the gauze with him. 

“Wait! Aren’t you going to use a pain med or knock him out?” Storm asked.

“No, I don’t need it!” Jaster gasped out then groaned. 

“Jaster, this is not the best time for you to be Mr. Stubborn,” Seventeen said, frowning.

“Ha... hah. You’re one to talk, Sev!” Jaster said, laughing weakly then wincing. The only thing Seventeen ever accepted was the bacta spray for healing, nothing to numb the pain. 

Seventeen watched closely as Tarik performed a bulletectomy, fishing the metal out of Jaster’s chest which had been way too close to his heart for anyone’s comfort. 

"You shouldn't even have been out there! You're a drill sergeant!" Seventeen said, anger tinging his voice.

"Sir, I apologize but you need to leave. I still have to give him bacta and apply bandaging and his BP is too high with you yelling at him," Tarik said, not caring about Seventeen's reputation.

"Like haran I'm going anywhere!" Seventeen snarled.

"Sev, go! I'll be fine!" Jaster said, reaching out shakily to barely touch Seventeen's wrist, out of sight of the medic.

"Fine. He better be fixed and ready to report to reveille tomorrow," Seventeen said, kicking the wall on his way out.

“I guess the scuttlebutt was true,” Tarik mumbled mostly to himself.

“Yeah, he’s a bit of a shabuir but he means well. For the most part. He’s not much of a people person but he’ll sacrifice himself for a vod if he has to,” Jaster mumbled as Tarik began to sew up the wound and apply bacta. 

“Alright, you’re good. Let’s get you to a real bed,” Tarik said, gently helping Jaster to sit up then get to his feet. Slowly they walked to the barracks where Jaster easily found his bunk and carefully lied down on it. It was hard to lie on his back given he was a side sleeper but he had to to protect his front.

“How many fragments?” Jaster rasped. 

“Uhm, three. It wasn’t a hollow, sir,” Tarik said. “Or a very big caliber. Any bigger and...”

“I know.” 

“It would’ve been easier with plasma based. Self-cauterizing.”

“I know.” 

Tarik fell silent, glancing away. 

“I’ll be back in a few hours to change the bandaging. Get some rest.”

“Yeah.”

Jaster found it relatively difficult to fall asleep, mad at himself for getting hit. And the old adage was true about medical personnel making the worst patients. At least Seventeen seemed more concerned than expected. 

When he woke it was to feeling a weight on the bunk and something--or someone-- touching his hand. He slowly opened his eyes then looked over to see Seventeen, sitting directly on the floor and leaning over onto the bunk with his hand covering Jaster’s. It was one of the gentlest, physical things he had ever had Seventeen do. He almost wished he could get a picture. 

“Ven?” Jaster whispered, hoarse. It was enough to wake the relatively light sleeper and Seventeen jerked upright.

“Jas! About kriffing time. You slept right through your bandage change. Was afraid I’d have to call in for a replacement sergeant,” Seventeen said. 

Jaster gave a chuckle then softly swore right after. 

“Whoa, hey. If you bleed out on this bed you buy it,” Seventeen faux scolded. 

"You're not concerned about people seeing you here?"

"I threatened the medic with court martial if he breathed so much as a syllable."

"Ven... court martials don't exist for us."

It was hard not to remember how execution was the main punishment for infractions against the GAR or the Republic itself.

"He doesn't have to know that," Seventeen waved his hand dismissively.

Jaster carefully sat up with a long groan of pain. He then glanced down at his chest and sighed at the large stain of blood.

"When did Tarik come in?"

"Who?"

"The medic, who else?"

"Right. Hm, an hour ago?"

"Kriff me. Uh, get me some gauze and more bacta."

Seventeen frowned but did as asked. Jaster suddenly realized the man was in his BDUs compared to his armor. Jaster didn't have to wait long for his supplies.

He carefully peeled off the blood soaked bandage and tossed it into the trash nearby. He fumbled with the bacta spray in his right hand, being predominantly left handed which even though it was a chest wound there was some pulling of muscle and skin by moving his left arm. But for some things he was ambidextrous.

"Stop. Stop! Give me that!" Seventeen snapped, rolling his eyes. He snatched the spray cylinder away then sprayed a perfect layer on the wound itself and a good few centimeters further out from it just to be sure.

“I had it,” Jaster argued.

“Shut up,” Seventeen muttered as he began to open the packs of gauze and apply them to Jaster’s chest, pressing down rather gingerly (for Seventeen). 

“...You’re mad at me,” Jaster said quietly, looking to a wall nearby. 

“Yes, I’m mad at you. I told you to get someone else to do it!” 

“Ven, I don’t need or want special treatment. I need to do my part. At least I had backup.” 

Seventeen frowned, understanding immediately what Jaster was referring to. He then shrugged. 

“So next time I’ll just make it an order.”

“Hah. Good luck, ner cyar’ika.”

Seventeen laughed before leaning in to tap his forehead to Jaster’s in a clear keldabe kiss sans helmet. 

[meigh-day]

Obligation (Tendou x Reader) - Part 3

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

Title: Obligation

Pairing: Mafia AU Tendou x F!Reader

Characters: Includes characters from both Shiratorizawa and Seijoh/Some OC background characters

Includes: Swearing, Mentions of Guns/Knives and Violence

Status: Complete

Word Count: 1.6k

Previous Next

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The remainder of your night had been quiet after Yua, the sweet elderly woman who'd escorted you around, had dropped you back off at your room with a promise to visit again soon.

Once you had been left to your own devices you found yourself a little unsure of what to do. They had more or less given you free reign to do what you wanted around the house and if you wanted to leave, they were happy to arrange a driver and someone to accompany you, a.k.a. a bodyguard. It was a little too late to just wander the house aimlessly so you'd opted to sprawl out on your bed and swap between the various apps on your phone. At some point your eyes had closed while your phone had teetered out of your hand and onto the bed as sleep suddenly took you. You hadn't even managed to change out of the clothes you'd arrived it. The last 24 hours had been very demanding and your mind and body had decided they'd had enough.

Sleep had taken hold of you so soundly that you didn't stir in the slightest as soft footsteps crossed your room, stopping at the edge of your bed. Deep red eyes gazed down at your sleeping form, watching your chest rise and fall, admiring how cute you looked as you lay curled up in the middle of the bed like a cat. He leaned over the bed, just far enough to reach a hand out, his fingers ever so gently pushing your displaced hair away from your face.

"Sweet dreams, pretty girl."

.

..

.

The following morning you found yourself standing in the middle of a hallway, confused. The mansion was certainly huge, and you'd just been given a very lovely tour just the night before. Yet here you were, glancing around the long corridor, hoping to find something that struck you as familiar. Honestly, you felt embarrassed as you shuffled along, first time out on your own and you'd already gotten lost. When you had woken up your found yourself sprawled out across the middle of your bed, still fully dressed, covered in a soft black blanket. You didn't remember it being in your room at all so you were a little unsure how it had appeared. Though as you had laid there pondering over it's appearance, you inhaled deeply and let out a happy sigh, whatever the had used to wash this smelled heavenly.

A quick shower and a change of clothes had you feeling more awake but your alertness hadn't kept you from getting all turned around. Yua had shown you around the home, and was sure to mention little tidbits of information that she had gleaned over her years of working in the house. It was interesting, truly, but you had still found yourself distracted, thoughts wandering to a certain red-head. The memory of his teasing the night before still made you feel giddy and embarrassed. A few pretty words and a smile and you were ready to agree to whatever he asked. He'd been teasing you, a favorite past time of his and you were eternally grateful to whoever's laugh had helped clear your mind, otherwise, you were almost certain you would have said yes. Then Tendou would have had a real good laugh at your expense.

Truth be told, if you had said yes, Satori wasn't so sure he would have had the strength to turn you down. Of course he had been teasing you, no one else in the house was nearly as fun to toy with, but if you had even nodded at his hollow proposal, there would have been no power on this earth to stop him from scooping you up and escaping back to the confines of his room.

With a grumble of annoyance at yourself you turn a corner in time to see a door swing open as Tendou emerged. He was dressed in all black once more, it was honestly the only color he really ever wore, and he wore it well. You quietly watched him as he emerged, his hand running through his straight red hair, his foot pushing back against the door too close it as he lifted his eyes to you.

"Good morning." A smile spreads onto your lips as you greet him.

"Morning." His greeting seemed almost hesitant as he glances around the hallway briefly before he settles back on you. "What are you doing here?" He questions you, curious why you were wandering around in such a weird place. Unbeknownst to you, you had gotten lost in the part of the house with all the offices and meet rooms. Not really a place he thought he'd find you strolling thrugh..

"Am, am I not allowed here?" You ask, eyes wide as you wonder if you had wandered into some forbidden part of the house that Yua had likely warned you about, too distracted by Tendou's pretty face to listen.

"Shit, I'm really sorry. I guess I got a little turned around. If you could just, uh, point me in the direction of coffee I'll be on my way." You didn't even wait for him to answer as you sputter out an apology, hoping wherever it was you were wasn't so off limits that you were going to have to be made an example of. Hadn't even been here 24 hours and you were already causing trouble, Kimura would be so disappointed if he found out. Tendou shook his head, laughing as he watched your hands flit about nervously.

"You can come here if you want. Just a bunch of offices and stuff."

"Offices? Oh, is that one yours?" He glanced back at the door you were pointing at behind him and nodded.

"Mhm. Say, I was on my way to the kitchen anyway. If you don't mind tagging along, I'll show you the way."

"That would be great."

.

..

.

A few short minutes later you and Tendou had arrived.

"Oh wow, I was on the wrong side of the house completely..." You chuckled as you shook your head in shame. The kitchen was clean and spacious, stocked with pretty much anything you could need. Currently all you wanted was coffee, and with that goal in mind, you start to poke around the kitchen on your quest to find a mug. Tendou crossed his arm as he leaned back into the counter, his eyes on you.

"So, how was the tour?"

"It was good." You answer, pulling open the nearest cupboard only to find the shelves lined with cans of vegetables, not mugs.

"Just good?" He presses as he watches you open another door only to find boxes of tea, not mugs.

"Uh, yea."

"Did something happen?" Something was off. Normally your answers were much more colorful, so to hear these non-committal, bland, answers had him wondering.

"No, nothing happened. Yua showed me around and told me a lot about the house." You glanced over your shoulder at him as you opened yet another cupboard. Soup, not mugs. He seemed to be fairly interested in your answer, almost as if he knew what had been on your mind and could tell you were trying avoid telling him the truth.

"Hm." After watching you open a few more door, fruitless in your pursuit of a mug, he dives into action. Tendou turns in place and opens the door that had been directly behind his lanky form, retrieving two mugs along with a container of sugar. You turn, hearing the soft clicking of glasses, and see him settling them down onto the counter. So, he'd been standing in front of them this whole time. You purse your lips in slight annoyance as you watched him gather up a few other supplies. Soon all manner of coffee related items were piled on the counter before you, including several varieties of creamer. You take action now and start to pour coffee into the two mugs.

"Are you sure nothing happened?" He questioned again, this time from much closer. Tendou stood directly behind you, leaning back against the counter while you worked at the island. You could feel him there, his eyes regarding you almost passively.

"Mhm."

"Then you do you look so disappointed?" He could come up with a thousand reasons why you might be feeling that way you were and he was at the center of them all. Ironically he wasn't wrong, though not in the way he was thinking. In his mind, it was plain that you were disappointed and, what else could there be to be disappointed about in this house except him? This heavenly creature before him was destined to spend the rest of her days united with him and he couldn't blame her for feeling distressed at the situation.

You slow your actions, the spoon lazily cutting through the coffee as you spare him a glance. He was being so damned persistent and, while part of you was a little annoyed, a much bigger part thought it was very sweet. Whether or not he intended it to come off this way, he was making it rather evident that he cared about you. So with a soft sigh you turn, pressing back into the counter and peering up at him.

"Yua is really sweet and all but..." You pause, shifting your eyes down to the side. "I kinda thought you were going to show me around..."

Of all the things he thought you might say, that wasn't even in his radar. If you hadn't been looking away like the shy dweeb that you were, you could have seen a genuine look of surprise on his face.

"Oh." He takes a long drink on his coffee, meeting your gaze when you chance to look back up. Could there be a chance, even a small one, that you could be happy with him? It didn't have to be love, that was an impossible idea for someone like him to long for, but maybe he could be someone special to you. Someone you trusted and confided in. Someone you could laugh with and rely on. That would be enough.

"Well, I have a little spare time right now."

[samantha-chicago]

Panic

Summary: Your having a panic attack because schools are due to go back soon. You are in your final year of med school and everything about going back to school during a pandemic is freaking you out but luckily your boyfriend is there to help. 

Pairing: Adam Ruzek x Reader

Warning/s: Panic Attack, Anxiety (Possibly better to be safe than sorry) 

A/N: This happened to me except I’m due to go back to high school not med school. If only I had someone like Adam to help me. These are not my distraction techniques I have different ones but if you would like to know them then please feel free to message me or if you need someone to talk to.

You had just gotten the email that your med school was starting back up next week during a pandemic. Their advice was to wear a mask, use the handwashing facilities in the building as much as possible and bring your own supplies. This terrified you so much to the point you started having a panic attack. Your boyfriend Adam was due back any moment but you were sat staring at the email on your computer. You were sat on the floor sorting out your school work into the correct folders. The school work scattered around you like you were in a cage of paper. You were so caught up failing to correct your breathing you didn’t hear the door opening and closing. 

“Babe what’s wrong?” Adam asked taking his shoes off. You couldn’t reply if you did you were in fear that you would start panicking more. Being a police officer in the best unit in Chicago helped Adam notice you were staring at your computer. Most people would have thought it was the wall you were staring at but he could read you like a book even from the back. Adam sat down behind you pulling you closer to his chest. 

“Baby follow my breathing” He instructed as much as you tried you couldn’t the tears flowing down your face, your heart pounding in your chest and your breathing becoming faster than it was before. He closed your computer lid, slowly drawing shapes on your hands that he was now holding 

“Baby lift your left leg up for me and bring it to your chest” He calmly instructed and you did so wondering why you were to do that 

“Now lift your right leg to your chest” You did so again you felt as if you were now in a safe place

“Now put your right leg back down flat” You obliged again 

“Now your left leg” You placed your left leg down not noticing that Adam had started to calm your breathing down. 

“Now lift your right leg in the air” You lifted it up feeling stupid in a way but Adam had seen you at your best and your worst 

“Now swap it for your right” You did so. Your heart stopped pounding against your chest as if the police were banging on your door, your breathing now matched Adam’s and the tears stopped falling down your face. You leaned further back into Adam if that was possible 

“Want to explain this panic attack to me?” Adam whispered sweetly in your ear. You nodded slowly 

“Our med school goes back next week” You said barely above a whisper hoping Adam heard you 

“Baby everything is gonna be ok. I know everything is gonna be different this time but when you think about it you have a year left then your a doctor” You let out a small laugh 

“Not just like that but I’m almost there” 

“Come on it’s midnight let’s go to bed all your school stuff will be here in the morning” 

“Why are you home so late?” You asked knowing he either finished a case and went out with the team or their case is a long one that isn’t solved even though they want it to be. 

“The case we’re working 4 teenagers murdered no clues or suspects” You nodded as Adam helped you up and walked you to bed. He climbed in next to you and you leaned your head on his chest. He ran his fingers through your hair. 

“Thank you” You whispered 

“For what?” He questioned 

“Being here when I need you and not leaving me at my worst” 

“Y/N Y/L/N I could never leave you no matter if someone paid me a million dollars. I love you and that’s never gonna change” He kissed your forehead and you fell asleep in each others arms.