#t: conceivable solutions

[asgardianhammer]

conceivable solutions

Heroism--that is the disposition of a man who aspires to a goal compared to which he himself is wholly insignificant. Heroism is the good will to self-destruction. Friedrich Nietzsche

( avengers tower - 2:13 AM - 87th floor - war room ) @snkts

[ ϟ ]—– The Tower is eerily quiet, in a heavy way that is not peace, not exactly, but in the way a long inhale feels before something breaks.

Humming below the city continues its persistent hum, never sleeping, all lights and all loneliness despite the sounds, and in the confines of the metal fortress, behind mildly damaged walls thunderer leans against the table, wrist heavy with a half-emptied bottle of some Midgardian brew that barely burns.

The space is appearing worse for wear, more than it ever had before; half-lit, sparks emitting from several broken displays, yet somehow there is still ghost-blue projections flickering across the high windows. A few of the panels hum with a near tired, almost overworked sound of energy moving, transmitting still, with distressed hissing as if even the technology knew it was conveying disaster, projecting horrors.

A soft, endless rustle of rain trailing down the glass has the tower feel like a cage in the clouds.

An endless loop of imagery is repeated on the largest holo-dsiplay, cold blue schematics, strange insignia. Flashes of dossiers with redacted names.

----static ---- northern Greenland ----- ------------------- red heat signatures ----- (J.A.R.V.I.S. cracking voice ) ------offshoot, or what’s left of it, has unearthed a facility — ------- static -------- Not human built,-----------------static ---- ----- old. The language… older.---------

It has become evident, in the returned imagery and broken sentences from the A.I. that whoever was responsible, whoever had pulled this operation out of the fire did it with full knowledge and intent that no one should be able to come back from it.

Numerous unknowns, many defenses, enhanced-cancelling technology, energy dampers, god-blood weaponry forged from things that were never meant to exist.

Rolling of broad shoulders was performed to stave off some of the tension, the dull ache of a thousand healed-over battles felt in ever tendon. Weight of weapon is not in his hand yet, but she is nearby, calls to him from its resting place by the elevator doors, a low thrum in thunderer's bones, eager, eager, so very eager...

Tingling of nerves had begun, yet it was not the prickle of fear creeping towards the surface. The god does not tremble before war, the sensation the unnerving sense of foreboding he had not experienced in...ages.

Assemble - Await Instructions - Extraction not possible- it flickers on the holo-display in bright red lettering, blinking rapidly, warning with persistent flashes.

Another swig from the bottle coats the god's tongue with the now lukewarm liquid, and even before the elevator dings there is defiance formed, and decision made.

[eudaimaniacs]

strawberries (logan howlett x female reader) | part ii

character/universe: logan howlett/wolverine (x-men/marvel)

word count: 806 words

warning/s: implied future smut and pregnancy

notes: i am sick and can't focus on anything right now. here's a new imagine since i haven't posted for five days. i might write a sequel to this if i have the energy again. enjoy!

“Daddy, look at the strawberries I picked!”

The high-pitched, sweet, and jolly voice makes Logan kneel and look at the small figure before him. He softly smiles as he picks up Holly, giggling as she feels the scratch of Logan’s beard tickling her.

“Those strawberries look nice, princess. What are you going to do with them?” Logan squeezes her cheek as he takes the small basket and puts them on the countertop.

Holly hums and points to you, fixing your dress and washing other produce you picked up. Logan smiles as he sees your figure basked in the sunlight and hard at work. He looks at his daughter to see the exact features you passed on to her—your sweet smile, ethereal and wavy hair, and those beautiful eyes Logan loved to stare at.

“I’m going to make strawberry jam with Mommy!” Holly exclaimed as she grabbed one strawberry and tried to put one on Logan’s mouth. The pair laughed as the older man put her down, and she ran to her mother. Settling his hands on his hips, Logan made his way to you and embraced you. You stopped the faucet as you leaned against his chest.

The sound of Holly giggling as she counts the strawberries makes you and Logan sick with laughter, too. You sighed as you grasped Logan’s hand and bent a bit to kiss his jaw. It felt nice to have a quiet life after Logan’s tumultuous journey and quit the X-Men. You never thought that after many fights, close calls, cries, and almost leaving each other, you two would be together. Logan was tired from the constant wars and missions; all he wanted was to settle down and be at peace.

“What’s on your mind, honey?” You whispered as you slowly swayed to the breeze. Logan hummed as he kissed your head.

The older man said, “To make another little one with you.” You chuckled as you playfully slapped Logan’s hand. You turned around to see if he was joking. Holly was accidentally conceived during Logan’s final months as a member of the X-Men. You were scared that he would abandon you with a possible mutant child. You kept the pregnancy a secret until a bald man offered you a solution. He promised to convince Logan to leave the team and have a safe place for your budding family. It sounded too good to be accurate; however, knowing Logan, he would give up this violent life to spend the rest of his years peacefully.

Charles and some X-Men members escorted you to a remote area where they built a pleasant and comfortable house. You listened to the bald man’s instructions about waiting for Logan to go to this place. One member, Storm, cared for you as you anxiously waited for weeks for your lover to come. You nervously admitted to her to know and see Logan’s reaction as he saw you with a protruding belly. Storm assured you that Logan would accept and love you as he was offered the life he had always wanted.

One sunny day, you watched the television and knitted when you heard knocks. Storm left to return to the mansion, and you were sure it was her outside the door. As you unlocked the barrier, you met Logan, dressed in his plaid button-up and tight bootcut jeans. You cried as you hugged him tightly, welcoming him to this new life.

“I missed you, bub,” Logan kissed your cheek as he rubbed your back. You tried calming yourself as you explained the pregnancy and Charles’ proposal. Logan grabbed your hand and told you that he knew all about it. You asked him if he was angry that he left the team and had a child coming his way. Logan smiled as he touched your belly and asked how far along you were.

After three-and-a-half years of serenity, you were adjusting to the calm family and rural life. There were no threats, disruptions from the X-Men, and other troubles. Logan couldn’t be happier to have the life he constantly desired. Now, he wanted to build a bigger family.

“Holly would love a sibling to play with,” Logan remarked as he tied off the apron on your waist. You hit his chest as you replied that Holly was in the living room playing. You didn’t want your daughter walking in as Logan fucked another child inside you.

“You have to wait until tonight, Lo. I have to make strawberry jam with Holly,” you chuckled as you went to the living room to prepare your daughter for the activity. Logan squeezed and slapped your ass as you gave him one more kiss. “Can’t wait for tonight, bub,” Logan smirked as he saw you carrying Holly. He looked forward to seeing you carrying his child again in a few months.

eudaimaniacs - 2024

[artytaeh]

hey babe! how are you doing? hope you are doing fine :) I know you are probably full with requests or projects, so please don't feel pressure to answer this :( But I was wondering, how do you think Mattheo would be once he realizes he is in love/developing feelings? Do you think he would try to push them away at first?

. 𖥔 ࣪˖ hello bae, i'm doing fine, tysm for asking! i am a little overwhelmed, however !! i hate the idea of discarding/ignoring the asks i receive <3 everyone is so lovely here. it ended up being a full-on lengthy thought... thank you for interacting!

THE (CATASTROPHIC) ART OF FALLING IN LOVE ; mattheo t. riddle.

mattheo doesn't know how to react to being in love with someone. one thing is physical attraction — mattheo is acquainted with the feeling of desiring someone, perhaps lusting over some physical contact here and there.

but that's something that eventually disappears, like a wave that comes at full force and fades into a gentle touch at the shore, drawing back to the large ocean. mattheo can be so attracted to someone today, then perceive them as someone who mingles with the crowd like, less than a month later. the problem here is that when feelings develop, they linger — and stay, for longer than one can control.

and why would that be a problem? well.

mattheo isn't used to attachments.

for someone who's been passed from hand to hand, born from two people who wanted to conceive power rather than someone to love, mattheo taught himself to rationalize that everything is temporary. that death eater lady who took care of him during his toddler years? yeah, somewhere along the way he was sent to another couple, then to someone else, and that formed a sequence of bad, worse and less bad historic of mattheo riddle's caretakers.

things are temporary. dangerous feelings like attraction — mattheo knows that lust can easily be mistaken with love — are meant to be short lived. desire, conquer, fulfill, abandon. and that's that.

but developing feelings for someone — merlin forbid, falling in love — is a much longer process. like falling asleep, one falls in love, sometimes for reasons that not even merlin himself could properly explain. mattheo doesn't like the vulnerability; one thing is wanting to fuck someone, another totally different thing is wanting to hold hands just because, spend time together for the hell of it without expecting some sort of carnal reward in return.

mattheo riddle fucking hates it.

because in a selfish world where the strongest suffer the least, mattheo can't afford weaknesses. he's already alone, very much prejudiced because of his recent and ancient bloodline, not a wizard with many people who would defend him.

so to want to protect someone, when he should focus on protecting himself, is dangerous. it's foolishness. it's another weight to his already heavy shoulders.

and this, anon, so i can give you the right context to why mattheo's first instinct is to be fucking angry about this stupid person that stole his well guarded heart. because mattheo doesn't have an history of exemplary adults to look up to, he can be, hm... childish. even in his anger, the way he seeks solutions for his problems can either be violent (mhm, to assert dominance) or some stupid shit that apparently, makes sense to him.

said stupid shit is sending an anonymous letter that goes straight to the point.

get the fuck out of my school, you freak.

very mature. definitely meant to provoke the desired outcome.

for a good while, probably during the time span of mattheo slowly — veeeery slowly — coming in terms with his feelings, mattheo goes through the five stages of grief.

DENIAL, even though the handful of slytherin outcasts he can count as friends will use any. given. chance. to absolutely wreck mattheo's patience with jokes regarding how much he's in love — which he isn't, thank you fucking much. mattheo will deny to his very grave that he couldn't care less about her; at most, sure, she's kinda cute and even stunning on days that he's more distracted and less guarded, but that's it! lust, everyone! hormonal boys being boys, alright?! nothing romantic about that.

even though he can't help but follow her with his eyes, mentally distant from whatever conversation to see her walking by. the sight of her existing totally unaware of him, probably hurts so good that it sends mattheo into another wave of denial. even if he was in love, it wouldn't work — so there's no feelings involved.

are doomed children even able to get such good things? no, mattheo assumes not.

ANGER, because these little things start to accumulate a heavy burden to his fragile patience. like a mad dog waiting for the chance to bite, mattheo starts warning draco and pansy to shut up about the puppy-in-love jokes, and even gives a warning glare to theodore and blaise, hoping that there's some peace from their side, too. mattheo feels like exploding whenever he's given lame advices for corny situations.

it's anger, because sometimes, mattheo thinks that he can't feel anything else.

BARGAINING, whenever the evidence becomes too obvious to ignore. at this point, mattheo has to, begrudgingly, admit that his excuses are so stupid that it gives him secondhand embarrassment for himself. for fuck's sake, voldemort's son excusing his lovesick actions for must-have-been-the-wind kind of excuse.

the gradual path to acceptance, although through baby steps, forces mattheo to reinforce the idea that he's in control of this whole situation.

if-only's are followed by what-if's, like a push and pull sort of situation, where mattheo sways between a stage of anger and denial, while unknowingly crawling his way to depression and acceptance.

DEPRESSION, because how can he convince someone to put up with his shit for longer than what, one night stand? despite his terrible reputation, there are girls more than willing to make out in a corner of some dorm party, or even more than that for the hell of it. but more than that? nah, no one is crazy enough to do that — remember? lust and love can be mistaken, but in mattheo riddle's case, it's easy for people to distinguish it with him. so yeah, just his luck.

as much as his friends might try to help him, mattheo is hardly convinced. it seems some stupid karmic trial sent his way, because he is, supposedly, not struggling enough. sure, throw some heartbreak and highschool failed romance on his way.

the whole 'depression' stage is filled with overthinking. either silly daydreaming of what will never happen, to following the sight of her everywhere she happens to exist where he does, too. then, it happens to be unintentionally noticing very little things about the person he likes — and convince himself that it only serves as more incompatibility, because you'd have to be crazy to be with someone whose surname happens to be riddle.

yeah, some things just aren't meant for him, are they?

ACCEPTANCE, however, is the stage that finally offers some peace of mind to him. mattheo accepts that bargaining and getting angry at his feelings won't do shit — by now, he's used to the whole butterfly-stomach-bs that some fourth-years were chanting about in the great hall, and the natural anxiety he feels whenever she's near. the tingling in his fingers, because he wants to touch, to protect, to be equally loved too, but ends up being another fistful on his pockets' fabric in the end.

unfortunately, this acceptance might only be fully achieved upon some major event. mattheo has to act subconsciously to accept that there's no way around it anymore — he's in love, he wants this person in the least selfish way possible, and he's fucked because of this.

if you want my opinion, the easiest trigger to this stage would be anything that sparks mattheo's protectiveness. the moment that he feels good about having helped her, it's over. mattheo isn't his own priority anymore — she is.

after trying to push her away, even if that means to distance himself from every little thing that reminds mattheo of her and, consequentially, his weak feelings for this girl, mattheo will surrender to it. this time, he carefully reapproaches her — tiptoeing his way back, ambitioning for a possible connection, or the slightest friendship that allows him the peace of being in her presence.

it could take a good amount of time for mattheo to convince himself that he can, and should, take a chance. it's not the same as flirting with someone into getting something carnal out of it — it's the attempt to open a potential door for a relationship, which he really, really wants to, even though mattheo has no good examples of it. at fucking all.

but for her?

he'll try.

and merlin help him if he won't even read some stupid book to properly understand it. give him a chance — and he'll be a good boyfriend.

as good of a boyfriend as bellatrix lestrange and the dark lord's lovechild can be.

[tinyraptorhands]

Pro Hero, Pro Mama, No Problem pt.2

The Hero Gala was *the* event for the year, next to the Hero Awards, that is. The Hero Gala was an event for heroes to make connections, show off fashion labels, etc. It was a fun event, Katsuki wasn't exactly thrilled about it. But you used to love it. You always loved playing dress up and having your husband's eyes on you. You're pretty sure Katsumi was conceived in the venue bathroom-then again, you weren't too sure.

What you were sure of, is you were *not* going.

"I'm not going." You said, tossing the invitation to the counter, Katsumi in her swaddle over your chest. She was six months old, and blowing raspberries every chance she got. Katsuki was looking at his own invitation.

"No. You're going."

You blinked, looking up from wiping spittle from Katsumi's chin. "Excuse me?"

He turned, gesturing to the invitation. "You're going. And you're gonna look gorgeous, and you're gonna make your debut since the baby, and it's gonna be good. And I'll be right beside you." He stated, and you blinked owlishly.

"...Katsuki-" You sounded exasperated, and he held a hand up.

"Nah, nah. Don't give me that shit. You haven't been anywhere, and the last time we went out for dinner when she was four months old, we ended up eating in the damn car at a WacDonalds." He walked over to you, taking Katsumi out of your swaddle. She squealed, and he held her on his hip. "You've seen the news. Everyone's been asking where you've been-and I know your PR agent has been hassling you about your debut comeback."

You fidgeted, sitting at the kitchen island. "I don't think I'm ready." You knew how the media could be. They would tear into you, your body, your looks...

Society had an issue with celebrity mothers-hero mothers? A completely different ball game.

"Look," he said, coming over to you. "I don't wanna either, but I've been climbing in the ranks-and the media keeps saying I'm with other women-"

"Since when do you care about what the media thinks?" You huffed, interrupting him.

He looked at Katsumi. "Since I have a damn kid that's gonna see that shit one day."

Good point.

You sighed. "...I can't. I-I really can't." You felt your voice waver. Katsuki sighed loudly.

"Dammit, woman. I'm not saying go nuts-just....let people see you, at least. I know we agreed on you being on maternity leave for a year, but all your friends are wondering where you are!"

"They're your friends, too." You pointed out.

"Not the point." He huffed. "Its not only about that. It's you being a recluse-its your insecurities and your fears of leaving our damn kid for five seconds."

You frowned. You leaned your elbows on the marble. You rubbed your face. "Katsuki, I'm scared." You admitted.

"I know." He said, uncharacteristically soft. Katsumi tugged on his hair, blowing more spit bubbles.

"What if the media tears into me?"

"Then we sue them for defamation." He stated, as if it were that easy. You looked at him, rolling your eyes.

"Can't you go by yourself? Go stag?" You whined. He looked at you like you were insane.

"Y'want me to go? By myself!? Hell no!" He groused. "You're the only reason I go." He said quietly, blushing. You sighed.

"I'll need to pump."

"Then we'll bring the hand pump."

"What if Katsumi gets fussy?"

"Then the old hag and pops'll take care of it. They already said they would watch her."

Damn. He had a solution for everything. You ran your hand through your hair. "T-then I'd have to find a designer and a make up arti-"

"Done." He said. You gave him a look.

"*How*??"

He rolled his eyes, and looked at Katsumi as he twiddled his fingers at her face, making her give him a gummy smile. "I talked to your PR agent. She already has a few lined up. They're wanting you to model their designs for your comeback. And Mina's make-up and hair artist got in contact with me. I really don't want another year of concealer on my face, so I sent her to your agent."

Double damn. He knew you were gonna try to wheedle out of it. You sighed.

"Fine. But we're not staying the whole night."

He smirked. "Done and done."

Katsumi cooed. You looked at her, then at him. "...But what if she-"

"Nope." He held her up, making her squeal. "Don't think shit. It's all gonna be fine."

It was all not fine. You woke up the day of the gala, breasts engorged. Katsumi had eaten her full, making them less hard, but you noticed two hard lumps in your breast.

Blocked ducts. Fabulous. You were holding a heated cloth on your right breast as you pumped, the living room abuzz with your designer and your pr agent.

Yoshiko Ruo, your agent was a godsend. You always liked her. She made sure your birth was a private affair, and Katsumi was kept from the media. She looked over at the designers picks, tossing the ones she saw your face flicker in doubt over. "No. None of these." She said, being your voice when you felt like you couldn't turn the cat-quirked designer down. "You're putting her in these...baggy things. She's a mother, not an old woman." Yoshiko frowned. The designer flicked her black cat ears back, frowning.

"Well, I don't think (h/n) wants to flaunt anything at the moment." She said, gesturing in a not so descreet way at your current predicament. You looked down, feeling embarrassed.

"Excuse you." Yoshiko hissed. "You can take that attitude and shove it. So she's pumping. Big deal. I'd like to see you handle two hard rocks on your chest and be as dignified and calm as (h/n) is right now. And what happened to your brand being all about body positivity? (H/n) is recovering from birthing a *child*. And by the way, she looks amazing, for your information." She sneered. "Honestly. I think we can manage to get a new design-"

"No, no! I...I think I have some other dresses we can use!" She scrambled to the other dress bags on the rack. You looked at Yoshiko, mouthing the words, 'thank you.' She gave you a thumbs up.

Finally, what seemed like forever, your ducts were clear, and you had two bottles filled with milk. You carefully went to the kitchen, preparing to freeze them when Yoshiko came up. "Listen. I know you're nervous."

"Uh huh." You said softly, trying to be modest as you adjusted yourself back into your nursing bra. "I just...I don't want to look like an idiot."

"And you *won't.* I promise." She said, a hand on your shoulder. The brunette woman tossed her hair back, and gave you a grin. "I wouldn't do that to my best client."

Your smile wavered. She caught it. "Besides," she huffed, "I think if I did, your husband would ruin me."

You both chuckled.

As you came back into the living room, your eyes spotted a dress hanging off the leather couch. It was a light rose, sweetheart neckline chiffon floor length dress, with billowing long off-the-shoulder sleeves, capped at the end. It would highlight your decloté, and would make your neck look long for sure. It would also put your now rather ample breasts on display, and would even make access to them easier if you had to pump. You walked over to it, as the designer was setting out other options. Yoshiko didn't miss your reaction to the dress. "How about that one?" She asked the designer, who had turned to you-watching you finger the sleeves, her yellow cat eyes pinning.

"...We can try it." She said quietly. "I thought that it was too muted-"

"Its perfect." You said softly. You loved how flowy, how...*pretty* it looked. You would feel like a goddess in it.

They wasted no time. Soon, you were standing in front of a floor length mirror the designer had brought over, turning this way and that. The dress flowed and flared as you turned, and you smiled.

You felt like your old self again. You felt *beautiful*.

"Thats the one." Yoshiko nodded, the cat eared designer nodded as well.

It was decided. Miraculously, no adjustments were needed. You could even put your nursing pads inside without them peaking out. It was amazing.

Jewelry was next. That was quick enough. Delicate Pearls stringed in two were decided for your neck, and drop pearl earrings were placed in your ears. Nude strappy heels were laced up your mid calf, and soon the make up artist and stylist came in.

Things moved quickly. Your hair was set in a low bun, braided, and your hair was slicked back, giving your hair a wet look. Your make up was decided to be nude, to match the rose tone of the dress. You were looking *amazing*. You looked in the mirror again, and smiled.

There you were. Good to see you, old friend.

"Oh yeah." Yoshiko said. "Its all coming together."

You almost forgot about your new life, until a scream was heard from the baby monitor.

Everyone startled except you. "Ah...she needs to eat..." you frowned.

"Right. You said Dynamight's parents are coming over soon?" Yoshiko looked at her watch. You nodded, watching the designer, make up artist and stylist pack their things.

"Yeah. Any minute now." You said, grabbing one of the freshly pumped bottles. "I'll just give her this for now. It's still warm and I won't need to take anything off." You said. Yoshiko nodded. "I'll get everything cleared up in here. Dynamight should be here in...an hour? His agent called me. Hes getting ready over at his agency." Bless the woman for keeping you in the loop. As you said your farewells and thank yous to the others, you dashed to the nursery.

Katsumi was sitting up in her crib, her pink cheeks flushed as she wailed-only to stop when she saw you. Her wail turned into a squeal of delight and you chuckled. "Mommy's big girl have a good nap?"

She cooed, wiggling her bottom and her head side to side as she gave a gummy smile, little fists clenched in excitement. Wide, carmine eyes-katsuki's gazed back at you. They were intense, but she had your face, the red sharp in your soft features.

You scooped her up, and grabbed three extra spit up cloths. There was no way you were gonna ruin your dress with spit up breast milk.

As you encouraged her to suckle the bottle, she stared up at you unblinking. It was as if she were seeing you for the first time.

"Momma looks a bit different, I know." You whispered.

"Momma looks amazing." You heard a familiar voice. You looked up to see Katsuki, leaning on the doorframe. You blushed.

He looked good. He always cleaned up nice. He had a black suit, with a green dress shirt on, a satin black vest to compliment. His tie was black, too-with a silver tie clip. It had his signature symbol, a grenade with a small flash symbol around it. You recognized it as the one you gave to him the day of your wedding. You smiled fondly. "Best Jeanist didn't hassle you about doing your hair?" You teased, and he smirked. "He didn't get the chance. He sent his stylist over but I told him to pound sand." He smirked, like he was proud of himself. "Besides. I don't want to outshine you."

You chuckled. You continued to feed Katsumi. A comfortable silence, save Katsumi's sucking sounds and swallowed filled the air.

You heard a camera snap and you looked up, seeing Katsuki's phone out. "Hey!" You frowned. He shrugged, nonchalant.

"What? Can't take a picture of my sexy wife feeding my beautiful baby?" He smirked. "Saving that one for the albums."

"Katsuki!" You huffed. He chuckled. He came over, leaning over the rocking chair.

He dangled his hand in front of Katsumi's face, and she grabbed his finger. She continued to eat, her eyes now looking at him. "...s'weird. Seeing me in her." He whispered fondly. "Its...not bad, I mean-shes gorgeous. I just...sometimes can't believe we made her."

"Yeah...I know." You whispered. You both watched as she began to tug on Katsuki's fingers, her little legs began to slowly kick around. You smiled warmly. "Shes probably gonna be like you, you know." You said softly, brushing her bangs away from her face. You heard a soft snort.

"Well. Let's hope she won't be too bratty like me." He huffed.

You laughed. Katsumi finished, and he gently pried her hand away as you adjusted her for a burping.

You sat her up on your lap, gently tapping her back. "C'mon, baby girl. Gimmie a good one. No pukes, please..."

Miraculously, she only burped loudly. Katsuki sighed.

"Manners, kid. Ever hear of 'em?" He teased, hands sliding into his pockets as he went to the changing table. He set up a fresh diaper and a onesie as you laughed again. "With a grown-up sounding burp like that, you should start filing our taxes." He smirked.

"Totally," you played along, "and get a job while you're at it, Katsumi." You walked her over to the table, nodding your thanks at Katsuki for him preparing her things. He helped you clean her up, only wincing as you changed her soiled diaper.

"Never fails, the kid shits each time she eats." He mumbled, looking away and pinching his nose.

"Oh, come off it. She's just making room." You smirked, used to the scent and grossness of it all. He shook his head.

"Still don't get how it can smell like death-coming out of such a cute kid. Maybe she's possessed by some colon demon."

You gave him a deadpanned look. "Uh huh. That's what it is." You finished changing her, then remembered something. "Your mom told me your baby poops were the sa-"

"My mother told you about my *shits* as a baby??" He found himself red as he stared at you, completely embarrassed.

You nodded nonchalantly. "Oh, yeah. She told me once you completely blew out your pants, and cleared out a whole restaurant-"

"Bullshit!"

"Yeah, it probably smelled worse than that if it cleared out an entire restaurant!" You cackled.

He groaned, and mumbled curses under his breath. You just continued to smile and wipe Katsumi. "I'm sure I have some baby stories of my own. Not...that insane, but still." You said, still mirthful. You slipped a fresh diaper on Katsumi, who suddenly found her feet the most fascinating things in the world.

She cooed softly, her little pink lips forming an 'o'. "Yes, Katsumi. Those are feet. Your feet!" You said, and Katsuki looked over.

"Heh. Kid's flexible. Can grab her feet and shit." He watched as you maneuvered her legs without Katsumi breaking her hold on her toes. "She do that often?" He asked.

"Yeah, more recently. Especially during diaper changes." You said, snapping up her Uravity onesie. He got quiet.

"....Wish I'd seen it, first." You heard him mumble.

Ah.

"You know you can't help it. You're on patrols." You said softly, scooping her up and placing her in his arms. He frowned.

"Yeah, I get that. But shit...sometimes I wish I could be you and get to spend my day with her. See how she is, y'know. Not spend a few moments or just see her asleep in her basket." He said, his face neutral. He held out his hand to her while he held her on his hip. She tapped it with both her hands, continuing to go, 'oooh.'

You gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, well...sometimes I wish I was back out there again. Being (h/n) again."

"You will be. Soon." He said softly. "Just...enjoy maternity leave, yeah?"

You sighed, leaning on the changing table. "Yeah..." you wanted to tell him how maternity leave really was. It was no picnic. In fact, it was sleepless nights.

Poop, pee, spit up and snot. Days where you forgot to take care of yourself until you took a whiff. Your body still bothered you. And your back? It hadn't been the same since delivering Katsumi. And you were pretty sure you had every baby song memorized at this point.

But sure. Enjoy maternity leave, he says.

Mitsuki and Masaru had picked up Katsumi, by now everyone knew the drill.

Breastmilk, a little puree, more breastmilk, and call if needed. "We won't be the whole night, we promise!" You said, handing Katsumi over in her carseat. Mitsuki chuckled.

"Yes, yes. We know. But really, you look amazing, (y/n)! Maybe Katsuki will give me another grandkid??" Mitsuki teased, and you shook your head.

"Not any time soon, I'm afraid." You chuckled.

Masaru also praised your looks. "I hope we can get photos?" He asked, and you gave him a small smile as he walked to the driver's seat.

"Yeah, we'll get a few." Katsuki said, loading her diaper bag in the back. "Just don't forget to give her her milk." He said, shutting their car door.

"We won't!" Mitsuki and Masaru said, and you both watched as they drove away. You both stood at the entrance of the apartment.

The self-doubt began to kick in.

"...Are you sure I can-"

Katsuki cut you off, "C'mon. The limo will be here any minute."

Right. You internally shuffled through your brain for your (h/n) mask.

Tonight, you were (h/n). And that was something you were born to be.

((I'm gonna make a third part. I know what I wanna do, but I feel like I'm droning so I wanna start a fresh chapter. Also please look at the comments for the dress I'm describing for what the reader is wearing. I didn't want a massive link in the post lol.))

[lightlycareless]

Hey hope you're doing great ❤ I wanted to ask, how do you think Naoya would react if his beloved wife is infertile? I think it would be pretty interesting considering he's a traditionalist and heir and all 🤔

Hello!

I am doing fine thank you 🥰!! I hope you're doing well too.

And omg this ask.... it was just what I needed, angst. Or at least that's what I wanted to take it as hahahahahahaaaaaa thank you so much for sending in this hehe. The perfect excuse to write down some thoughts I've been having for a while.

warnings: mentions of infertility, adultery, self doubt. Naoya is somewhat ooc I guess but he's your loving husband nontheless.

Happy reading!!!

Discovering you were infertile quickly becomes one of your worst nightmares—and not simply because of that, which is severe by itself, but rather all of the things that ensued; notions that your mind convinced you of … the insecurities it awakens.

The moment you and Naoya decide to finally try out for a baby, you completely dedicate all your efforts to it. It was only all you ever wanted, after all: to have a family with the man of your dreams.

Thus, believing your prayers to be answered in just a matter of time, you and Naoya began to make all preparations, from buying clothes to choosing which room to transform into a nursery… you were enthusiastic as enthusiastic could be! Your husband nothing but indulging to your desires.

But even with all your persistent attempts, those typical symptoms associated with pregnancy failed to present themselves. Weeks passed and you haven’t felt either nauseous or tired. No odd cravings, nor anything else…

A part of you didn’t want to admit it; feared that doing so out loud might make it true, but perhaps… perhaps you were one of the women that were fated to struggle when conceiving, regardless of how much you desired a baby; still hoping you’d be placed above such chances and have your dream conceded.

Yet… it didn’t. And with much fear in your heart, you’ve decided to go to the doctor for a checkup. A second opinion, the reassurance that everything was fine, you were just bound to struggle a bit before becoming a mother.

Maybe there was something else you were failing to consider, skipping over when together with Naoya…

Desperately hoping for literally anything else but the gut-wrenching revelation that soured your heart for the rest of your life.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N, but the reason why you haven’t been able to get pregnant is because you’re—”

You knew exactly what was coming and yet, you didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t think yourself capable of—it just… it just never occurred to you that it would happen. That it would be true.

But that awful word felt like it was being imprinted on your forehead, with bright red ink for the whole world to scrutinize, when she said it. When she sentenced your fate and marriage in more ways than you could possibly imagine.

Infertile.

…

So that’s why you weren’t able to have a child. That’s why no matter how much you tried, how much desired it, you weren’t seeing results.

Oh, what a simple solution.

“But that—that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do about it, right?” Naoya frets soon after, perhaps to give you hope, encourage you to seek solutions. Medicine has advanced so much in recent years, certainly there must be something to consider before closing this chapter!

Yet, to you… his words unwittingly igniting a new insecurity in you as you’re reminded that you weren’t the only one who wanted a family as well, with Naoya seemingly having much more to lose if unaccomplished.

There was nothing, ever, in his actions to lead you down this path, but you couldn’t help but worry about it, especially the circumstances you were surrounded by.

If you weren’t able to conceive, then… what was your purpose as his wife?

What kind of scrutiny awaited you once you returned to the Zen’in estate, once his family knew that you were unable to have children? They’d figure out in time, perhaps it wasn’t even necessary to tell them personally…

Not that it mattered, this would only highlight what they already thought of you:

A failure.

“A woman that can’t have children is no woman at all.”

“It’s the only thing we had hopes she’d be able to do well, and not even that was she capable of. What a disgrace”

“Oh, poor Naoya-sama… hopefully he’ll be able to deal with this issue before it’s too late.”

“Don’t listen to them, Y/N.” Your husband, all too aware of the inner workings of his family, was quick to defend you. Either by openly scolding them, punishing those he could, or removing you from those dire situations, away from the comments of people you really shouldn’t bother considering, and surround you with those that truly cared for you. “They don’t know what they’re saying.”

Clearly, for how could they even imply he was angry at you? Disappointed? Instead of worried given how dimmed you behaved nowadays, lacking the happiness that always accompanied you whenever doing your daily duties or talking with your staff and family!

Naoya worried, naturally. So much so that he decided to reassign all his missions and duties to someone else just so he could keep by your side, tend to you, let you know that you aren’t alone and that he understands what you’re going through—to the best of his ability.

Your husband hoped that his company would make you happy, it always did or so he supposed by the way you clung to him whenever around.

But not this time around. If anything, having him near proved worse than he anticipated, as if his presence was a constant reminder of whom you failed, and what you would have to sacrifice in order to fulfill your role.

“Y/N, my love… you have to eat.” Naoya murmurs, kneeling to your level as he gently holds onto your hands, hoping that this gesture would be enough for you to raise your eyes to him and, well… see him.

Acknowledge him. Like your husband, the man who swore to accompany you through thick and thin—instead of purposefully ignoring him, like he wasn’t even there.

Had he done something to bother you?

Or was there something else prickling at the back of your mind?

“I’m not hungry.”

“…I know.” He breathes, pressing his lips together and squeezing your hands. “But at least try to do it a bit. You can’t go on for hours without eating.”

You don’t respond, not even lifting your eyes to him.

“At least do it for me, please? I… I worry for you, my love.”

“…Why?” You eventually respond, giving him a look of unprecedented anger that takes him by surprise. Though he was still able to see that deep within, you weren’t mad, rather… sad.

“What do you mean why?” he repeats, hurt by the implications behind your reaction. “You’re—you’re my wife. Obviously, I care for you.”

“…perhaps it would be better if I wasn’t. Then someone else could do the job.”

“Y/N?” Naoya blinks, frightened by your words. “What are you—"

“I’m not hungry.”

Naoya leaves with the conclusion that perhaps it’s best to not touch the subject anymore. Perhaps you just… needed some time along to come to terms with this unwanted predicament, for his words seem to only make everything worse.

He won’t leave you unattended—never. Your husband would leave your care to your attentive staff, who had been nothing but amazing friends the moment they knew what happened at the doctor’s office.

“Please keep a close eye on her. And tell me if anything happens, please.” Naoya silently confides to Mariya before heading over to you, seconds away from his departure.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” Is what Naoya always says when deployed to those tedious, seemingly senseless missions he often questions why he even bothers. His family has enough money to support you and himself, so why does he have to keep on?

…

In moments like these you would’ve reassured him that it was all for his career; for the sake of proving himself to the clan and HQ that he’s a worthy sorcerer to guide the next generation—though you’d agree that him being away was just as dreadful as it sounded.

But not this time around. No, instead, you just keep quiet, demure as Naoya steps closer to press a kiss on your forehead, a good luck charm that was normally bestowed to him by you, yet given the circumstances, you needed it far more than him.

“Take care, I’ll bring your favorite, ok?”

“Ok.”

Naoya presses his lips together before entering the car, disappearing into the horizon.

Your husband considered himself to be very focused when it came to his work, although he won’t deny that ever since he got married, he’s unable to keep you out of his mind—today was to be no exception, though not how he would’ve liked.

Ever since he left the estate, there has been a dreadful sensation gnawing at the back of his mind, the presumption that something bad was to happen, and yet, he was unsure whether it related to his missions, or worse, the estate—you.

Naoya anxiously checked his phone whenever he could, believing that whatever bad news he was to endure would come through there.

And he was right, for it rang during the times Naoya specifically asked to not be bothered unless it were an emergency, quickly taking it out of his pocket and reading the caller ID across the screen; heart sinking when realizing it was none other than the estate, or more like the line assigned for you.

“What is it? Is it Y/N? Is she ok?!” Naoya breathes against the speaker, not even muttering a hello.

“No, Naoya—she isn’t. I don’t even know how to begin to explain but she—she started packing her things.” It’s Mariya in the other side, with an unmistakable tone of fright that spirals Naoya even more.

“What?” Naoya breathes, heart thundering against his ears. “What do you mean she’s packing her things?!”

“I don’t know, but that’s what she’s doing! I tried to talk her out of it, or at least get her to tell me where she’s planning to go but she’s not saying anything!”

A million thoughts cross Naoya’s mind at that moment, but one perseveres above the rest:

Is she leaving me?

The mere notion of a separation is enough to make him mad.

“Stop her!” Naoya demands. “I don’t care how you do it but stop her!”

“I’ll try stalling her, but she’s—she’s very determined to leave, Naoya. You have to come back!”

And that’s exactly what Naoya does, careless with what happens on the mission, he drops everything on the spot and rushes his way back to you. He was lucky that his latest mission didn’t place him too far from the estate, so when he finally returned home you were still around.

Though it seemed that if he had taken just a few minutes later, you wouldn’t be there anymore, as you’d managed to escape your staff’s persistent attempts of stalling you, a small suitcase by your side, as you headed to the exit with them just right behind you.

“He—Hey, honey, what—what are you doing?” Naoya asks with a nervous chuckle, gesturing to the staff to leave the two alone, which they obliged soon after, elated that he was finally there—but worried he couldn’t be of much help.

“I’m leaving.”

“And where—where are you going, my love?” He goes on, his heart squeezing in pain as his worst fears seemed to materialize before him. Yet, Naoya still hopes to be wrong. “Did… did your family need help with something? If so, maybe I could drive—"

“…No.” you say, not even looking back to him. But he was still able to hear the pain in your voice. “I don’t—I don’t need anything, because I’m never coming back.”

“What?” Naoya freezes, hands trembling as his mind tries to understand what you just uttered. “Y/N— you can’t—”

“I… I no longer have a place here.” You say. “After this I… I realized I was never meant to be with you”

“That’s not true.” Naoya swiftly interjects. “None of the things you’re saying are true! I cannot envision anyone else to be my wife, less to share my life with! Where did you even get this idea?!”

“What do you mean where?” You frown, looking back at him. “Have you not been aware of what’s going on around?!”

“Y/N, I—I get that you’re upset because of what happened. I can only imagine, really, the pain you’re going through. You have no idea how much I wanted to have a family with you too but— but if it’s not meant to be then… then I guess we just have to live with that!”

“That’s easy for you to say, isn’t it?” you hiss. “It’s just so easy for you to simply move on, because all you have to do is look for someone else to do the job!”

“And who told you I wanted to do that?! I never implied, not even once, that I was interested in having another woman just for the sake of having a family! I don’t want to! If it’s not with you, then I don’t want anything!”

“Then I guess you didn’t want it as much as I did.” You murmur, Naoya freezes.

“What’s… that supposed to mean?”

“…Nothing. I’m leaving.” You say, attempting to walk away. But before you were able to do as much as take the first step, Naoya grabs your hand, keeping you in place. “Naoya—”

“No, I can’t let you go. I won’t let you.”

“Let—let me go!” You tug at his arm. “You wouldn’t understand anyways!”

“Then help me understand.” Naoya pleads. “Please—please tell me; I’ll do anything you want, whatever you want, it’s done—but please don’t… don’t leave me.”

This is why you wanted to leave before he came back, because you knew that at the sound of his trembling voice, and the teary-eyed look in his face, you’d succumb.

You’d crumble, wanting nothing more than to stay with him.

Because you wouldn’t take it. You couldn’t take the notion of hurting him even more than you already seemingly done.

… It is also why you took this abrupt decision. Why you needed to leave.

“… I just—I just want to go home.”

“But… you —you are home.” Naoya says, a sad chuckle at the overwhelming pain of you not recognizing his company as home. “He—here, with me.”

“I can’t be here anymore.” You whisper, looking back at him. “I don’t think I—I can take this anymore.”

“Why?” Naoya laments, gently cupping your face and wiping your tears away. “What happened? Did something happen while I was gone?”

Always. The Zen’in could never keep to themselves.

“…I have failed you.” You eventually sob, Naoya taking you into his arms and chest as you let out the sorrows you’ve been dragging along. “As your wife I— I was supposed to give you children, a heir, but I—I couldn’t and that is going to—it’s going to— ruin your life.”

“Ruin my life?” Naoya asks, perplexed. It all becomes clear now, who was responsible of this misunderstanding…

Just what kind of stupidities did his family plague you with?

“If I—I can’t have kids then you—you couldn’t be heir anymore.” You explain. “And I love you too much to do that to you.”

“I wouldn’t be heir—”

Were they truly that desperate that they resorted to doing this?

Intimidating you?

Naoya doesn’t even bother to ask who started this train of thought, knowing all too well where to look.

It probably began with his uncle, the man that never knew how to keep quiet, always commenting in other’s marriage because his was miserable. As if that gave him permission to do so. Always quick to bark first.

From there, the elders. His father too, probably. They probably thought the same as Ogi but kept quiet about it because they had other matters to tend too—or perhaps too drunk to care. But do not be fooled, they were the ones that once suggested him getting a lover, a concubine of sorts, to “secure” the bloodline long ago; way before this issue began. Naoya promptly dismissed them, calling their idea idiotic: but what gave him security that they wouldn’t insist again?

He could see how this happened too, scolded himself for not even considering it before!

Since Naoya was now out of the estate, it gave them the freedom to target the one they considered most vulnerable, and without holding back: you.

If done right, then you would essentially be intimidated into disappearing from their life, giving way for their plans to continue. Or so they hoped.

…

You were too good for this family, how could he claim to deserve you, when he’s allowed so much pain to befall you?

“If Naoya can’t bring himself to beget a child for his wife, then he might as well pass on the title to someone else.”

None of those words were true, not one bit. But how could he dismiss them if he’s never taken the time to say what he thought of this situation?

Of what he thought of you, and what it means to this marriage?

It was time that he did what he should’ve the moment you stepped out of the doctor’s office.

“I wanted a family with you, I won’t say that I didn’t; that I never found something enthralling about hearing the footsteps of our children running from one side of the estate to the other. To have kids that looked just like you, or maybe like me; though secretly hoped they looked more like you. Ever since I saw you interact with my cousins, that’s all I thought about. You being the mother of my children.” Naoya murmurs, holding you tightly against him. “But… I’ve also accepted that some things are simply not meant to be. And if we are not meant to have a family, as long as I have you by my side, I am fine with it.

As long as we remain together, I will know what happiness is.”

“I—I don’t—” your lips tremble, overwhelmed by Naoya’s, regretful for the way you’ve behaved these past few days. “Naoya, I’m—"

“Whatever they said, it’s a lie. Nothing but things to get under your skin—hurt me.” He insists. “You know how my family is, how stupid they can be—"

“But they—they said things that could be true.” You fret. “If I’m unable to give you a child, then you—you might not be heir anymore—”

“Y/N.” Naoya sternly interjects, cutting through your spiraling mind as he cups your face, forcing you to look at him. “To be an heir is my birthright. It was decided way before you stumbled into my life. So, what happens after shouldn’t worry you.”

“But the Zen’in—”

“Like to antagonize people. Make up things to worry your pretty little mind just for the laughs of it.”

“And what if it is true? What if I do make you lose your title? I know how much you wanted to be leader! If that happens, I—I couldn’t—I couldn’t live with myself!”

“It won’t happen. I promise. I swear.” Naoya insists, kissing your tears away. “But please, please don’t ever think of yourself as expendable or replaceable, because you are not. Not to me.”

“I’m—I’m sorry.” You sob again, pressing your face against his chest. “I’m sorry for disappointing you—I’m sorry for not being able to give you children…!”

“You’ve never disappointed me, never.” He murmurs, kissing the top of your head. “If anything, I’m sorry for disappointing you. I failed to be the husband you needed in these difficult moments. I… let my fear get the best of me, giving you the impression you were less than enough.”

“Are you… are you really ok with not having a family?” you dare to wonder, one last reassurance.

“It just means I’ll have more of you to myself.” He attempts to jest, successfully making you laugh, but not without a sniffle to follow. “…But we could always… adopt if you want.”

“I… I guess I have to think about it.”

“You don’t have to make a decision now.” Naoya says. “Or ever. Just know that whatever you decide, I’ll agree with.”

“…I think I still need some space from here.” You murmur. “And see my family too.”

“You haven’t told your father, have you?” you shake your head, Naoya sighs. “Do you want me to be with you?”

“You already made your most to be here, I don’t want to distract you any further”

“This is a family emergency; I have to be there. What’s the use of being your husband if I won’t act like one?” He insists. “But if you don’t want me there, I won’t insist.”

“I want you to be there.” You confess. “Please”

“Of course, always.” Naoya promises, leaning to softly kiss your lips. “…Does this mean we’re still… together?”

You nod, another tear sliding down your cheek as you hug him tighter. “I can’t imagine my life with anyone else but you either. …I’m sorry.”

“Don’t think about anything anymore; just focus on being with your family. It’s probably the best place for you to be right now.”

“Can you stay over there too? At least until I feel better?” you ask. “I mean, if it doesn’t affect your work.”

“I’ll make all the preparations, don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Do you also need me to send your staff?”

“I wouldn’t mind the company.” You say with a smile, making Naoya’s heart flutter.

“There’s my pretty girl.” He says, pinching your cheek. “I’ll see if I can make time for a holiday too; we could fly somewhere nice, cold to fight this horrible summer heat.”

“I want to take it easy for now.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He nods, kissing your lips once more. “I’ll always be here when you need me. Don’t ever forget that.”

“… I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Little details to note: Naoya has always struck me as the type of guy that never really wanted a family, he just had no interest! That changes a bit when you come along, but the bottom line is that he isn't actively seeking it. Sure, he likes to play with the idea of breeding you, but you know, he had other priorities. (He loves your kids tho when you eventually have them, do not get me wrong)

And once again, the Zen'in estate is not a good place for you lol. Thankfully, I like to think that changes when Naoya eventually becomes leader :) but most of the time you're living somewhere else—and honestly, he prefers it that way too. More... privacy ☺️

I just really wanted to write an argument between the two were both have their biggest insecurities exposed :) kind of extremist in Y/N's part but can't say I didn't enjoy the angst hehe I hope you enjoyed it too!!

Take care and hope to see you soon!!

[kn1ghtkrawler]

So Real

Fem!Jayvik, F/F, T, Fluff, Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021), Idiots in love, All good nothing bad AU, 5K words

Characters: Fem!Jayce (Jess), Fem!Viktor (Vik), Ekko, Powder, Vi, Caitlyn

Also on AO3!

Jess considered herself to be a smart person.

She was one, objectively speaking: the golden girl of Pilltover, a genius inventor, the first person in generations to join the Senate without having a privilege of an established great house behind her back.

But for all her intellect, she often found herself at a loss when it came to her lab partner. Vik was smarter than her in every way, her mind as bright as the stars. Whenever Jess found herself stuck over a formula, whenever one machine or another stopped doing what it was, by all rights, supposed to do, Vik was there, gently guiding Jess to the solution, her fragile but surprisingly strong fingers putting the tiny elaborate mechanisms back together. It never felt patronizing, moreso inspiring. Having someone smarter than her around gave Jess an opportunity to learn and an example of someone she wanted to follow.

She proved herself to be a quick learner as well, and wore it as a badge of honour. She could no longer count the times when it was Vik who was confused by one equation or another and Jess was the one to offer a solution - and every time it happened, Vik’s honey-golden eyes would light up and something in Jess’s chest fluttered.

But it wasn’t their studies that most often made Jess confused about Vik’s behavior, it was their downtime. Those were the rare hours when they would leave the lab to run one errand or another, the times when they celebrated major breakthroughs in a nice pub not far from the Academy, and especially the times when Vik invited her to stay over at her place for the night, when they would spend from dusk till dawn talking, reading, listening to music, the times when they would often fall asleep on Vik’s couch, Vik’s head nestled on the crook of Jess’s neck. Those were the times when Vik would smile and laugh the most, when she would hug Jess’s shoulders, when her fingers would absentmindedly brush Jess’s knees. When that happened, Jess would feel her mind short circuit. It felt like Vik knew something she wasn’t telling her, and Jess would just feel a little bit dumb.

Jess also considered herself to be an attractive person.

She never ran out of suitors, and some of her ex girlfriends were literal goddesses walking the Earth, if Mel was anything to judge by. Jess knew the signs of someone being attracted to her. Getting a date was fun and she was good at it - a smile, a flick of hair, a timely ordered drink, an appropriately addressed compliment, and here she was making out with some nice girl.

If only it was that easy with Vik.

Vik was perfect in every conceivable way - smart, kind, funny, beautiful, - and she was also Jess’s best friend and lab partner. No matter how much Jess wanted to tread in the direction of romance with her, two questions stopped her: would it be professionally appropriate? And, perhaps more important, would it ruin their friendship?

Jess, alone in their lab, a piece of chalk in her hand.

A hypothesis.

She asks Vik out.

Possible outcomes:

Vik goes out with her:

They fall in love;

They get married (?);

They have a child(ren??);

They live together till the day they die and nothing is ever bad in the world ever (???)

Probability: highly unlikely.

Vik doesn’t see her that way and all her signs of attention were just usual friendly behaviour:

Vik (politely, of course) refutes her advances;

They go on being “just friends”;

They still grow apart and the conflict is never resolved;

The tension starts affecting their work;

They make a fatal mistake during an experiment;

The end of the world (?)

Probabili…

The word trembled to a squiggly chalk line on the blackboard as Jess heard a familiar sound from the corridor leading to the lab - shuffle, shuffle, knock, shuffle, shuffle, knock. Shit.

She managed to erase most of the hypothesis when a soft voice spoke up from behind her back.

“A fatal mistake during an experiment leading to the end of the world? Anything you’d like to tell me, Jess? I hope you haven’t gotten up to any world-ending business in the, ugh… half an hour I was away?”

Jess couldn’t help but chuckle as she erased the rest of the words.

“I’d never dream of leaving you out of the world-ending. Wouldn’t be fun to do it all on my own. No, it’s just a mental experiment to occupy my brain while you weren’t here. What did you get?”

“They opened a new pastry shop on our floor, I got us some brownies. Powder offered some that she made, but I do not quite trust her in terms of food, especially not since the last time.”

Jess pulled out a chair and sat next to Vik at their paper-covered table. Vik took the brownies out of the paper bag and offered one to Jess, who tried her hardest to hide the blush she felt spreading on her face as their fingers briefly touched by stuffing the entire pastry in her mouth at once.

“Tathth rheally ghood,” - she swallowed, - “Certainly no sprinkles and gunpowder in the stuffing.”

“I’m delighted to hear that,” - Vik replied, elegantly eating her own brownie in small bites. Jess tried to ignore the fact that this woman managed to look ethereal even licking chocolate off her fingers.

Fuck it. Jess at least had to try, or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself knowing she might have missed such an opportunity. A deep breath, a sprint, a jump right into the cold water -

“Vik, I…” - Jess’s voice broke, making the “I” sound more like a cry of a dying bird than an actual word. She choked, whether on the crumbles of the brownie or her own words, she wasn’t sure.

Vik turned her head to one side and looked at Jess like a confused puppy. Jess couldn’t be happier at that moment that her partner’s mouth was still full, because she definitely would have received either a witty remark or an expression of genuine concern for her well-being otherwise, and she wasn’t sure which would have been worse.

Alright, so the jumping-into-the-water strategy didn’t work. Slowly dipping her toes instead it is.

“I mean,” - she cleared her throat - “are you doing anything later tonight?”

Jess felt herself turning red. Thankfully, once Vik finished chewing, she opted not to comment on it.

“Powder’s exams are right around the corner, she wants me to help her study. Honestly, she truly needs none of my help, but she likes being smart in front of an audience, I suppose. Would be rude to deprive her of that. You are free to join us, if you’d like to spend some time with me. I’m sure Powder wouldn’t mind.”

If you’d like to spend some time with me.

Jess wondered if Vik was aware of what she was doing to her. On second thought, she definitely wasn’t - otherwise she wouldn’t have suggested “spending some time with her” in front of a wise-cracking eighteen-year-old whose humor mostly consisted of jokes about explosions and lesbians, and Jess thought that exploding was preferable to being called out on her crush on Vik by someone like Powder.

No, this course of action would lead to no progress at all. Mentioning Powder, though, gave Jess another idea.

“Nah, you can enjoy that by yourself, if you don’t mind. I’ll probably go hang out with Cait and Vi tonight.”

“Alright, tell them I said hi.”

The rest of the day went on as usual: solving equations, discussing theories, Jess even managed to spend some time in the smithy correcting the angles on their working model while Vik explained her her vision. Having Vik in the smithee was a bit distracting - she was definitely not used to the heat, even if she claimed to be fine. She was sweating and panting, her vest forgotten somewhere near the entrance and the first three buttons on her shirt undone, and yet she insisted on being as close to the working Jess as it was safely possible to “observe the work in progress”. At one moment Jess became so concerned with her partner’s well-being that she had to put the hammer down, grab Vik by the shoulders, sit her down at a chair that was as far as it could get from the furnace and present her with a bottle of water and a wet towel. It seemed to be good timing, too: as soon as Jess touched her, Vik turned as red as a cooked lobster and by the time they got to the chair she looked like she was about to pass out.

The model and Vik’s health weren’t the only things on Jess’s mind, though. She could not believe she hadn’t thought about consulting Cait and Vi earlier. After all, they were her closest friends - after Vik, of course, - and a pretty strong couple. If anyone could help her figure things out with Vik, it would be them, and even if their advice were to be “don’t even think about it”, they would never tell on her to Vik. So, as soon as the work in the Academy was done for the day, Jess went straight to the Kiramman estate.

***

Meanwhile Vik stayed in the Academy.

She did have to do some walking, unfortunately - Academy was not the smallest building in the world and, alas, not the newest, so not every floor had an elevator. Thankfully, the person she was heading to did not care about whether she was late or not.

Entree exams to the Academy were an excruciating affair - Vik shuddered when she remembered her own - and took several stages. The lucky few who got to the final hurdle had to take the final tests in person, so they were generously provided with living quarters on the Academy grounds in the building that students and some younger professors dubbed “The Swarm Dorm”.

Vik was getting out of breath as she struggled to the second floor of the dorm - the hot air (and the hot Jess) in the smithee earlier didn’t help her dizziness much. Thankfully, someone was courteous enough to help the lady out.

“Need a hand?” - a familiar voice asked.

“Thank you, Ekko,” - Vik replied, putting some of her weight on the boy’s shoulder. - “I swear, they add more steps to this stair whenever I come over.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean. First project I’ll offer once I enroll will be installing elevators here. There are some laundry chutes that haven’t been used in ages that can easily be widened, I can’t believe no one had thought about it yet.”

“I would gladly invest. You seem awfully sure you will enroll, though,” - Vik smiled.

“Isn’t that a done deal?”

“Well, there is competition at every turn of the tournament, and being from Zaun isn’t much of an advantage either. They don’t usually accept more than one student from there per year.”

“Well, they will have to accept two this time, whether they like it or not. We will get progress even if we have to bite and claw our way to it, and there’s no way that one of us is going to get here without the other. Speaking of the devil…”

Ekko opened the door to the dorm room he shared with his girlfriend.

If Vik hadn’t known where to look, she wouldn’t have noticed Powder. Thankfully, she did, so she wasn’t startled when the girl jumped down from one of the wardrobes right in front of her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

“Hey, Cookie!” - she screamed, letting her go after a moment and giving her a proper look-over. - “Damn, you look even worse than in the morning. Get over here,” - she pulled her through the room and sat her down in an armchair, before jumping over to a cupboard in the small kitchen area. - “I told you those brownies were no good. Nothing better than a good old home-cooked meal.” - she finally found a bowl full of pastries in the cupboard and dropped it on Vik’s lap. - “Get on with it!”

The brownies were any other color but brown and, upon further inspection, any other flavor but chocolate.

“How do you survive with her?” - Vik smiled at Ekko, anxiously taking a small bite of the nicest looking pink pastry. Ah, strawberry with cream and hot pepper flakes, of course.

“She compensates by mixing killer drinks,” - Ekko smiled back.

“Eh, save your gratitude, I know you two love everything I do,” - Powder threw back, stealing the scariest looking of her creations from the bowl. - “Now, Cookie, what the hell?”

“As in?”

“Where’s Jess? I was hoping for a double date!”

“Ah. She went to visit Cait and your sister. And in any case, no one said anything about a double date, this was supposed to be a study session, if you remember.”

“Yeah, bla-bla-bla, I know everything already, you said so yourself. Anyways, Vi and Cait, you said? Let’s get over to them too! Thoughts on a triple date?”

“I doubt that would be appropriate.”

“Killjoy.”

“In any case, Jess looked like she needed to have a bit of a break today.”

“A break? From you? Trouble in paradise?”

“You are awfully invested in our relationship, Powder.”

“I just like to keep up with the gossip. I was just telling Ekko what colour scheme we should go for for the wedding and here you are, telling me that the lucky girl would rather hang out with my sister.”

“I… I think it's a bit too early to talk about a wedding. Now, if you could tell me, which metals are used in the…”

“Bridge support system? Aluminium and copper originally, steel beams were added two decades later. That's the easiest question, Cooks. What's wrong with Jess?”

“What's… What's wrong with her?”

“Why is she avoiding you?”

“She's not…”

“You've been dating for how long? Forever?”

“We…”

“And no PDA, she won't even ask you to move in with her, you're not going out anywhere as a couple. That's fucked of her, if you ask me.”

Vik went quiet. Her relationship with Jess has been, in fact, quite weird. They were together - of course they were together! - they spent almost every waking moment in each other’s presence, Jess would blush in the most adorable way every time she touched her, they took care of each other, supported each other, that's what partners do, isn't it? And yet, they never did more than cuddle and hold hands, never discussed moving in together, never even defined their relationship in concrete terms - probably because Jess was so in love with her that she was too shy to ask for more and Vik felt too bad to push it from fear of being too forward and losing her.

So… did Jess even know they were dating?

That wasn’t something Vik even ever considered. They met seven years ago and ever since then were the most important people in each other’s lives, they saved each other’s lives, damnit! That’s a bit more than you usually ask of your friends, isn’t it?

Vik wasn’t blameless. She knew Jess well, she knew just how insecure and gentle the heart in that perfect body was, she should have known that that girl needed everything spelled out for her, everything that was so perfectly clear for Vik, or she would spend her entire life questioning every touch, every word, every smile.

It must have been torture. Vik has been torturing her for years.

“Are you okay?” - the ever-considerate Ekko pulled her out of the spiral.

“I… I apologise, I must have gotten distracted. I seem to have forgotten to tell Jess something, ugh, very… important. Are you two sure you need no further help with your studies?”

“We got it, Cookie.”

“Then, wouldn’t it be too much to ask of you to help me get to the Kiramman estate?”

“You’ve got it, Vik,” - Ekko said. - “Think you can hold onto me on the hoverboard?”

***

“Do you think Vik likes me?” - Jess asked, flopping down on the couch.

By the sound of it Cait just choked on her tea.

“Well, I don’t know,” - Vi said, - “What do you think?”

“You’re not helping,” - Jess mumbled into a cushion.

“I was under the impression you were rather close,” - Cait dragged on, - “I suppose she wouldn’t work with you this closely if she didn’t feel some fondness for you, would she?”

“I think Jess here wasn’t asking about working conditions, Cupcake.”

“I understand that,” - Cait replied, taking another sip of the tea, as if she was putting a full stop in the sentence.

“Alright, so, Jess,” - Vi clapped her hands, - “Yes, Vik likes you. You like Vik too. Why haven’t you two fucked yet?”

Jess groaned and turned away from them. Why did she ever think that this was a good idea? For Cait and Vi a relationship was a whirlwind, it swooped them off their feet at the same time and they were a unit in less than a month after meeting each other. Obviously they wouldn’t understand what it was like, to wonder, to steal touches, to remember every compliment given and to store it deep in their heart, to yearn.

For seven long years.

With her face hidden in the cushion and her mind lost in thought, Jess didn’t even realize that the conversation went on.

“…seize the opportunity until it’s lost. What’s the worst that could happen if you just come up to her and ask her for a coffee? You go for coffee together all the time anyway,” - Vi was saying.

“I made a hypothesis,” - Jess said, turning on her back and staring aimlessly at the ceiling.

“And?”

“If I ask her out and she doesn’t accept, the world will literally explode. So I need to be one hundred percent certain that she likes me back before I try anything.”

“Well, Powder is convinced the two of you are dating already,” - Vi shrugged, - “so if the world were to explode it would probably happen if she found out that you weren’t together, not if Vik rejected you.”

“Which she would never do,” - Cait added.

“Yeah, sure. I’m not good enough for her. She’s literally perfect.”

“I’m sure she thinks the same about you,” - Cait tried to console her.

It was sweet, really, even if they were just trying to make her feel better.

At this point Jess decided to spend the rest of the evening brooding and eating biscuits. Still, though…

“Why does Powder think Vik and I are dating, anyway?”

“Well I don’t know,” - Vi sighed. - “Because you two are glued at the hip? You never even talk about anything else.”

“But her and Vik are friends, wouldn’t Vik just tell her that this wasn’t true?”

“You know Powder. Once she gets something in her head it is impossible to convince her otherwise.”

“And in any case,” - Cait said, - “if we didn’t listen to your complaints as often as we do I think we both would have assumed the same. You do look like a couple, maybe a comparatively reserved one, but you are not teenagers anymore, no matter how much you try to act like one. Honestly, what would even change in your relationship if you just made it official?”

That was a good question. Well, they would be more physical, obviously. Kissing Vik was probably very nice. And doing other stuff, too. Jess did have a pretty nice bed, after all.

It would be so wonderful to wake up together in that bed, every single morning. They have woken up together before, but never in the same bed: in a lab after an all-nighter, on Jess’s couch after celebrating a breakthrough. Vik looked amazing in the mornings, much better than Jess; her hair messy, the honey-gold eyes beaming from underneath the heavy eyelids, an absent-minded smile on her tender lips; watching her wake up was like watching a sunrise. She even moved better in the mornings, her legs and back well-rested. Vik was the most beautiful when she was feeling her best, and Jess wanted nothing more than to make sure that she was feeling her best as often as possible.

Sharing a bed would need some practice, though, as Jess was terrified of possibly crashing Vik in her sleep, even if she was much less fragile than she looked at the first glance. Jess would probably have to get used to sleeping on the very edge of the bed. It wouldn’t be something to complain about, though - instead, it would give Jess a chance to wake up earlier than her girlfriend - oh, how she wanted to call Vik her girlfriend, how she wanted to call her her wife! - and to surprise her with breakfast in bed.

Every single morning.

But apart from that, coming back to Cait’s question, what would really change? Vik would still smile whenever she saw her, still say the smartest and the funniest things with her soft beautiful voice, they would still be partners, spending almost every waking moment in the lab, pushing the progress forward, celebrating together whenever they succeed.

So why not risk it?

Jess spent way too much time thinking about what was the worst that could happen to notice that

[pegafin]

AI Generated McMansions: Capybara Axolotl Viral House!

I once again asked the @mcmansionhell Discord chat what they wanted for the next house. Received the following, very specific prompt:

tiffany glass inspired atria with capybara and axolotl ponds in the conservatory

I knew this would be a challenge, and ran a high risk of turning out "awesome" and "good" instead of "atrocious" and "an abomination to God and architecture" like the content you've come to expect from this blog. Fortunately, I think I found a rather elegant solution...

📣Attention real estate community!📣 As we all know, millenials are horribly, horribly, gruesomely "un-aliving" home ownership, amongst other industries. The slaughter must be stopped. So today, Pegafin Realty brings you a house so young and hip--so on fleek--that millenials and gen zs will be left helpless and scrambling to get this house to slide into their dms for instagramable moments go viral!🤩

Located in TikToc, this 15 bed, 14 bath new built has it all! Dive into countless indoor water features, overflowing with #trending capybaras and axolotls. Share instagramable moments around every corner. There's something for everyone to smashthatlike!

The selfie foyer is so young, so hip, you will fleek your pants to the moon.

Step into one of the as-of-yet-uncounted Tiffany glass living rooms and see the truth:

The house is the pond 😱

i̶͖̠̬̱̹̖̎̋̈́̾̉t̴̢̏̄ ̸̤̲͍̋͐̊͝i̵̢̮̯̦̘̐͋̉̈́̇̈ͅs̸̪̈́̍͜ ̷̡̍̉̓͠ä̴̻̟l̶̢͔̱̙̗͐͑l̴̥̘͊͊͂̒͑͝ ̸͙͐͌͛͛͒̂͘ͅͅt̸̹̀͂̀̏̎̎̀h̶̢̖͇̏ë̸͖̥́̀̉̚͘ͅ ̷̨̤̹̙͇̺̩̣͗̎͂̀̿̔͒͘p̴̢͓͇̯͍͋o̶͉̩͖͋̔́́̈͗́͠n̵̖̥̦̫̘͌̀̚��̪̞d̴̨͕͓̖̍͐̒̈́ͅ

p̵̥̳͑͑̕ ̴͙̙̯͈̭̆̚ȯ̸̡̬͇̳͓̥̍ ̶̣͐̀̓͊͝͠͝͝n̸͎̻̲̈́̕ ̵̞̘̮̬̳̖̉̾̀ḑ̶͕̬̙͍͒̎͋͆͒̚͝

The open-labyrinth concept kitchen is the perfect backdrop for any culinary influencer. Featuring only the finest, most delicate all-white countertops and fixtures for a clean, modern look, and built-in gelatin holes for that vintage flare.

To prep the food your family actually eats, experience the robust, mossy, slightly less all-white auxilary kitchen. T̶̜̾̅h̸̡͖͂e̴̼̋̆ÿ̶̰̗ ̴̣̂̍à̷͉̔r̸̎́ͅe̵̺͔̎ ̴̱̦̏͝w̴͕̞͑a̴̡͒t̴̗̗́c̵̠͋͝ḧ̷̨͔́i̸͕͌ń̵͈g̸̠͆̀ ̶̢̛̙̒ỹ̴̲̪o̶̢͇͂u̶͉̪͌̽ ̴̺͓̉c̵̥̯͐̿o̶̲͠ŏ̴̖ǩ̴ͅ.̷̱̈́

The dining room, and the axolotyl and/or capybara creature that lurks within.

The conversation pit

The master bedroom! Drenched in natural* light, and a thin layer of water. So fleek, so viral you'd swear there's real giant viruses floating on the ceiling and/or sky and/or the two dimensional space inside the window panes.

*Pegafin Realty is required by law to disclose that nothing about the land, subsurface, or air space on which this this property is situated is natural.

Master Bath Complex:

Additional bedrooms:

One room features a custom, built-in easter egg hunting green! Perfect for the kids 🤩

The 16* bathrooms are simply overflowing with all the most must-have Millenial and Gen Z bathroom things intended to hold liquid. Coin ponds, slime bins, soaking tubs, and receptacles so young and hip no human minds have yet to conceive of them! 🤩

*at the last count

Finally, we finish our tour in the Bathversation Pit. Prospective buyers are welcome to take a soak, take a selfie, and 🤩 be sure to tag us 👍 under penalty of u̶̼͛ň̷̝͎ï̷̭̒ṋ̷̢̏t̶͖̺̓e̷͓̗̔ĺ̷͙l̴̻̳̅̾i̶̪͌ģ̵͆͘i̵̡̓b̸̻̈̽l̴͚̑ͅé̸̮ͅ ̶̮͝!

So [instantly obsolete communication app no one asked for, but the investors were just soooo proud of themselves so lets let them have this, okay?😁 ] now and book your tour today!!!🥳😍🦫

***bookings only available through blockchain. Everything has to be blockchain, ya dingus---e v e r y t h i n g!!!🥴🤪

[interludered]

Beginning of The End

Alpha!Vampire Satoru x Alpha!Vampire Suguru

t/w minor character death, gore, descriptions of violence, arranged marriage, murder

word count: 1.9k

a/n an rp reply from an arranged marriage au of stsg. please excuse any mistakes, this is sorta of a heavy read.

The scent that permeates through the air would often make someone sick to their stomach, threatening violent fits of nausea and often begging for forgiveness in the form of vomit making its way past teeth, tongue, and lips. The aroma of burning flesh and hair. The human body has an undeniable scent, one so specific that anyone could pick it from that of another mammal. 

The lack of remorse in Suguru’s face as he wraps the silver chain around his father's neck and tugs is nothing short of alarming. The way the silver burns deeply into his palms poses no deference from the act, only determination to finish the job. 

The Totalitarian Prince was despotic in nature. Raised to be apposite, eliminating those who disturbed the desire. Family was nothing when it came to power, and besides, this is what his Father would have wanted. He’s sure that his seat in Hell is warm and inviting when he sits on it.

He isn’t sure exactly where it started, the power-crazed methodology he began to pursue, perhaps it was born into the bloodline. A destiny for those before him, each one failing. Maybe it was the private tutor lessons that taught him about royalty and kingdoms, or perhaps the declarations of war that landed on his Father’s throne throughout the years, all left for an impressionable Suguru to find. Maybe it was the dueling and consistent burns left by teachers, silver scorching his skin with each slice. The threats of vampire hunters are consistent in their assassination attempts. Maybe it was the night of meaningless sex just for him to have a blade go through his stomach in the middle of the night. Maybe, the burden of the Kingdom; of untrustworthy suitors and courting; of strict rules implemented by his Father; of harsh conditioning to claiming to prepare him; of sitting on the throne next to his Father his whole life; perhaps watching his mother die, forced to live out her human life and leaving him behind. It would also be feasible to assume the bittersweet taste of freedom that power guaranteed him. 

Conceivably, he finds himself walking quietly from one side of the castle to the other. The silver chain he holds, wrapped in thick wefts of silk, lays heavily in his hand as he begins. He knows his Father is sleeping, and hears his snores that echo loudly down the hall despite the double doors that lock him away. He makes no attempt to be quiet, the squeal the doors release echoes loudly down the hall into his own corridors to haunt him. A scar is required for untouchability. He remains deadpanned as he wraps the silver around his bare hands, the immediate sear of his skin creating a scent he had grown accustomed to. He kicks the door behind him shut.

It was barely a few seconds before he eagerly wrapped the chain around his neck, crossed neatly at the nape. His foot bore its weight between the shoulder blades of the struggling form beneath him. The screams deafen the walls, only for them to come to a halt as he jerks upwards, chain slipping to knot around the pieces of the spine that protrude from the decapitated figure below him. Cerise, a viscous liquid paints his skin as arteries protest their inevitable exposure. He watches it seep and glue itself to the carpet, hardwood, and cement surrounding him. Suguru wonders how long it will take for the maids to wash out stains, or if burning them would be a better solution. 

The Getou Prince takes his foot off the back of the man, wrapping the dripping chain back inside its silken case—his own hands holding the evidence and branded wounds, laid deep into his palms where he wrapped the weapon around. 

He flexed his hands to regain mobility before pursuing the door, opening it to find a terrified maid threatening to knock on hollow doors. She freezes with her hand in mid-air, chest level with the towering vampire. Getou stares blankly at her for a moment before bringing her hand to his lips to press a kiss against her knuckles, charing her skin with blood that isn’t his. Her scent was sickly sweet, the vulnerability of an Omega human, it nulled all senses he had as he leaned into her ear to whisper an eulogy of “Thank you,” before pressing fevered kisses onto her jaw and onto her jugular and sinking large canines into it. Her screams turned into wet gargling, falling silent as he drained her of all she had to offer. Her body hit the ground with a THUMP, what little was left emanated from her throat. He steps over the body of the young girl, letting the trickle of blood run along his sharp jaw to slip down his own throat. A mocking form of sinister ministry. His own ichor leaks where her nails broke the skin, but they heal within minutes. 

By the time he made it to his own courter, locking himself behind heavy wooden doors, weeping and screams became his lullaby as he drifted to sleep.

✧

Suguru Getou held the record for most kills within the Kingdom during his first 3 days of ruling. He also held the title of “Most Wanted” by more than one clan of vampire killers. In his opinion, he should get a trophy. It was an honor to hold the title, often viewing them as pesky gnats he shooed away with his hand. Though in his first few days of ruling, he found letters his Father kept from him, between him and a neighboring rule. Gojo read proudly at the top of the page, larger than any of the other words. His eyes widen as he looks over the page. From what he remembered, their families were rivals at best. So imagine his surprise when he receives an invitation, as well as a marriage proposal. The Gojo clan was one—if not the strongest around, their territory abundant. Getou decided he had a few weeks of homework which he promptly started on.

Within the next few weeks, he informed the King of the Gojo Clan that his father had tragically been assassinated by one of the vampire killer groups. He also informed them the rising number of deaths in his Kingdom were groups associated with the killers and he was doing so to seek revenge in the name of the late King. He expressed his own mourning and great appreciation that he sees Suguru as a fit for his son. Quickly dismissing that Alpha, although looked down upon, can be mated together and he could ensure that his son was in great hands and the opportunity was something he was forever in debt to. It also helped that Suguru was willing to end the line of Getou’s in order to take the Gojo name. For now, at least. 

Which brings him to now, carefully seated in a dark oak chair, opposing the Gojo King, swooning him easily with words he spoke so delicately into the air. His rich indigo hair was tied half-up with pieces falling to frame his face. The blood-red of his clothes complimented his fair complexion and radiated amber eyes. He had been there for around an hour before hushed whispers of the prince began to circulate. Until then, he continued his chatter. 

“Why, my Lord, you have such a beautiful Kingdom. I hope in my own ruling I become as benevolent as you. Though, you as my guide I am sure to get there in no time.”

“Yes, your Majesty, I had an exquisite ride over. They truly are well-behaved, your imprint must’ve left them in good condition. You must pick your men with such a well-crafted hand.”

“Indeed, Sire, my father's death was tragic. The silver that wretched Killer used burned deep into my palms, cauterized them, and left me with scars. I am sure they will go away with time. Unfortunately, I was just too late. My own servants and maids were terrified. I simply cannot blame them.”

His last reply was accompanied by a furrowed brow and a shake of his head, faux concern etched into his features as he sighed, finally looking back up. As he does, his eyes catch on the bright-haired male who enters the room, his own gaze fixed upon him with deadly aim. Even as the King continues his jabber, Suguru can’t help the small smirk that appears on his face. He is hiding it with the glass he brings to his lips. When the King does recognize that his son appeared, he boasts proudly. The act of defiance he has to his father ignites something within Suguru. 

‘Oh,’ he thinks, setting his glass back on the table, relaxing further into his seat and crossing his legs. ‘This one has some bite.’

When Satoru first approaches him, Suguru makes no effort to indulge him. His descent was aggressive in nature, but Suguru has always enjoyed the rush of a challenge. After Satoru’s first words to him, he continues to ignore the presence he attempts to hold. Getou found it tedious and childish if anything, and the last thing he wanted was to make a scene in front of the one that actually mattered in this deal. 

After a few beats of silence, and twirling his ankle from the leg that rests on the other, he finally looks at him. Though far away, his looks were enthralling, he can’t deny that Satoru is considerably more handsome as he stalks closer. He holds some type of gravity that captivates even the strongest of minds with crystal-clear oceanic eyes and a piercing gaze. His own warmth is a direct contrast to the Alpha that looms over him. Satoru is alluring in the sense of beauty and mystery, a perfectly kept secret that not even the best could be tortured out of telling. 

The only problem is his mouth.

“Well, I would agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.” His voice is deepened slightly at the presence of the other Alpha, to be expected. Though his words come out lazily, if not amused by the other’s actions. If anything, Suguru sinks further into the chair, filling it out in his own defiance. “There are 24 other chairs at this table, surely you would be able to sit in one of those just as properly as this one. If you want to sit positioned at the head of the table…well, that can be arranged with a proper show of manners.” 

His own words are picked out with his own careful deciphering, followed by the raise of an eyebrow. To rub salt in the wound he hopes to filet Satoru with, Suguru adds: “Besides, I’m rather comfortable.” He displays with a spread of his legs, and a release of his scent. 

An initial smokey caramel fragrance makes its way through the air, seeping out of his skin. Part of it was to mark the chair, but the biggest part was to gauge Satoru’s reaction. Although humanoid in form, alpha’s animalistic nature could not be denied. It was buried underneath layers of concrete for some, only to rip apart and explode suppressed anger, and for others, they had learned to embrace it, understand it, and value both its pros and cons. As his scent fades, it leaves behind the smell of burning wood and something faintly herbal. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see a few Omega’s wipe their heads around to look at the source.

[tj-dragonblade]

Last Line Tag Game

Tagged by @seiya-starsniper and @delta-pavonis - thank you! I have been working on three different wips the last couple of days so two tags, two snippets, both from bingo fics:

For the trapped in the frequency square, which is turning out very dry in the drafting:

His missing arcana and the existence of a dream vortex and the damage to his realm, they wear on him. He is stymied in his function, faced with questions and reminders of his absence at every turn, authority slipping through his fingers unexpectedly and leaving him off-balance, overly-harsh in his insistence that he knows what is best. When he discovers a ghost living in his realm and a child conceived of its presence, he is tired. The emotions that rise in the aftermath of evicting Lyta Hall and her dead husband, of Rose denouncing him, they leave him aching for some unspoken solace, and it is Hob and his welcoming smile that rise in his memory again.

But that is not their story, to seek comfort in one another's presence during hardship, and he has other matters still to attend to. He owes an apology to Lucienne; he has been intractable and unkind in his dealings with her, undeservedly. She is gracious in accepting, and brings with her good news in the form of Fiddler's Green, and then he is left with one more wayward nightmare to deal with and a vortex whom he must kill.

He is grateful, that it does not come to that; grateful that Lucienne and Unity Kincaid bring him an alternative solution at the very last moment. Their solution brings answers that enrage him, that wound deep to the core of him, and again, he finds himself wishing, when all is said and done and his sibling has been warned, to sit with his friend and share his tribulations.

It is an absurd wish, for again—that is not their story. Why does he yearn so strongly for a thing they have never had?

Hob would commiserate in his displeasure, he is somehow certain.

But it is not yet 2089.

And for the roleplay square, the fabulous @abyssalcryptid has given us this and this very inspiring (and nsfw) art, and I am drifting a little from the given visuals but they were the springboard for some student-seduces-teacher roleplay smut all the same:

"Spread your legs, sweetheart, lean back in my lap and stroke your pretty cock for me, show me how you do it when you fantasize about me—"

Dream obeys, hooking his stockinged legs over either of Hob's on the outside, bites his lip to catch a whimper at how it shifts him on Hob's dick. He leans back against Hob's chest with a little whine, tips his head onto Hob's shoulder, and Hob can't help pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Like this, Professor?" Dream asks, sounding just the right amount of breathless while both hands slide down his own body, one reaching to crumple the black plaid skirt up out of the way and the other grasping his cock. He arches against Hob with a moan at his own touch, and Hob brushes another kiss to his cheek, a bit breathless himself.

"Yeah, sweetheart, just like that," he murmurs, lacing the fingers of one hand with Dream's where it's gripped tight in the fabric of the skirt. "And this time, it really is me inside you, you don't have to pretend—"

Dream clenches around him, squirms as he strokes himself slowly, hesitantly, like he's shy about it; he's panting the sweetest little noises and Hob murmurs encouragement, runs his free hand up Dream's bare stomach, over the knot of his unbuttoned blouse and slips beneath it, searching out a nipple. He finds it covered by a layer of lace, and tuts his approval next to Dream's ear at the discovery. "Oh, love, you've dressed up so pretty for me, top to bottom, haven't you," he coos, enchanted. It shouldn't be as much of a turn on as it is, not when he's already seen the stockings and the shoes, when the black lace panties are on the floor at their feet, but knowing there's more to see under the saucy little shirt when they get there, that Dream's gone all-out on playing this scenario to the hilt, is just. So hot.

"Yes," Dream gasps, his strokes growing more confident. "It's all for you, I needed you to want—to want me as much as I want you—" He's squirming beautifully as Hob's fingertips trace over his nipple through the lace. "Professor—please—"

"You've no idea how much I want you, darling," he breathes, nibbling at Dream's earlobe, his cock throbbing in the warm sheath of Dream's arse. He spreads his legs wider, Dream's legs opening further with the motion and Dream gasps a soft cry at the shift, fist moving steadily over his cock, head arching back on Hob's shoulder. "Every day, I see you in class and I'm supposed to focus and teach? When all I want to do is lay you out naked on my desk and swallow your prick, turn you over and lick you open, fuck you with my tongue until you're good and ready to take my cock? Torture."

Tagging, no obligation, tag me in your existing post if you've just done it and I missed it: @kydrogendragon , @ralkana, @the-apocrypha, @five-and-dimes, @aquilathefighter, @teejaystumbles

[fallloverfic]

For the fic writers ask 2 & 32 please and thank you x

Ahh thank you so much for asking <3 (From the fic writer ask meme, which folks can still ask about :D)

2. In your opinion, what’s your best fic?

It's hard to pick, but I'll choose two.

I personally think my best fic is Sunlight, my 2023 what if ENNEAD Horuseth fanfic where Seth gives testimony at his sentencing about the night of usurpation. I fully outlined it and stuck to the outline and feel it's well-executed and enjoyable. It was also a lot of fun to write and I'm very proud of it.

My second is Empty Places, my 2019 Broadchurch/Detroit: Become Human Reed900 fanfic fusion. I am not great at writing mysteries, and I felt I did a very decent job, at least to the point many people were actually surprised by the solution to the mystery (which I felt was at least somewhat foreshadowed, though the motives were left unclear). I think the world was developed well and I liked the character dynamics a lot.

32. Have you ever written a ship into a fic without meaning to?

This one's waaay longer, so I'll put it under a read more.

This has happened a few times lol The more notable example is when I was drafting You reluctant demon, my 2023 Castlevania: Nocturne Mizrox fanfic, and started drafting Adrian and Olrox meeting, and the chemistry between them was uncanny lol I was truly not expecting that, I just liked both characters and enjoyed the idea of them meeting each other in any potential future season (season 2 was not confirmed immediately after the release of season 1, it took some time). I was also - like others - worried that Adrian would not be in much of any potential season 2 (so the story could focus on the new characters, even though Adrian does show up in most Castlevania games), and that he'd just briefly show up again in season 2 and that'd be it (again, it took a while for season 2 to be confirmed to be a thing, although the first stuff we saw when it was, was images of Adrian), so the fic was initially designed as wish fulfillment for two characters I enjoyed a lot and could conceivably cross paths. Their chemistry overtook the fic and I considered either making it an Alurox fic entirely or having a polyamorous conclusion with Mizrox and Alurox (it was actually hard to drag them apart and get Mizrak into the story, that's how good their chemistry is T-T). I also drafted several versions of the end of the story, which included Mizrak dying and Adrian becoming Olrox's partner, or Mizrox never reconciling and Adrian becoming Olrox's partner... and Mizrak dying lol The hardest thing about that fic was writing an ending where Mizrak didn't die, honestly lol Which is funny, given how season 2 turned out. I have a planned Alurox part 3 that I never put up, in part because I worried folks would be angry with me about it, because it's a Mizrox series and it was pairing a character of color with a white guy when there was already a canon pairing of two men of color, even though one of them (Mizrak) has a lot of religious and racist baggage to unpack and one of them does not (which made Adrian, who I already liked, far more appealing, too, but I also really didn't want to write a fic that felt kind of bashy towards Mizrak).

At any rate, to make the Alurox plot bunnies relax a bit, I wrote Too much conversation. The only Alurox fanfic at that point in time on Ao3 was a pre-Nocturne fanfic purely based on the game versions of the characters.

When I was thinking of Solas/male!Lavellan for a Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic, I didn't really intend to include everyone/male!Lavellan, and then ended up doing that lol I honestly just thought that Solas' interactions with male!Lavellan were funnily shippy, even though Solas in the final game can only end up with female!Lavellan (which makes sense, as apparently more characters were intended to be romanced with anyone, including Cullen, but they ran out of time). I tend to ship the protagonist with everyone anyway, so it wasn't that unusual (hence why my female!Hawke fic exists as it does), but it was not the original intention. Mostly it was because I didn't have much to do in the fic other than "vignettes maybe of Solas banging male!Lavellan" and Solas being an unintentional voyeur was a funny concept. Originally it was going to be Solas observing everyone else doing stuff and keeping Lavellan for himself, but then it made me happier to just have everyone/male!Lavellan, and it made everything make a lot more sense.

Another time this happened was when writing The Point of It, my 2020 Castlevania (animated series) post-season 3 fanfic. I struggled a lot with ending it happily. Although I'd already written what I intended to turn into a general Trevor/Hector and maybe everyone/Hector fanfic after trailers for season 3 dropped, I didn't know how to end The Point of It with a happy Hector, and didn't intend to make it an everyone/Hector fanfic for a long time. But while drafting scenes, he kept having chemistry with everyone (particularly... Adrian... why does that man have chemistry with everyone T-T When I was writing You reluctant demon I was like NOOO NOT AGAIN alkdjalj), and the Trevor/Hector library scene was so easy to write, that that's how the story ended up going.

Another time this sort of happened was when writing Look at Me, my 2021 The Scum Villain's Self-Saving post-canon fix-it with Zhuzhi-lang. This was originally intended to be a non-ship fic, and then eventually he got a friendship with Liu Qingge, which I felt had shippy vibes to it. I also wanted to bring Gongyi Xiao back to life (so to speak, he never died), and I like the Gongyi Xiao/Zhuzhi-lang ship, so it was for a while just intended to be Gongyi Xiao/Zhuzhi-lang and Zhuzhi-lang & Liu Qingge, but then I thought, "well he has two hands, why not", on top of Bingqiu making their way into things, so it became a polyamorous fic.

Year of the Rabbit, my 2023 Heaven Official's Blessing Quanyin fanfic, was originally just intended to be just Quanyin. But I couldn't figure out how Yin Yu got into the costume lol So Xie Lian coming in made sense, but it was odd for him to be doing that, so Hualian also having some background fun made sense. Thus it became what it was, and a lot easier (and more fun) to write.

This isn't quite I think the intention of this question, but Permission, my 2023 Hunter X Hunter/Given Wing/Murata Ugetsu fanfic was extremely not intentional. I wanted to write Ugetsu fanfic for years, but didn't want to write him with either Akihiko or the other main cast members of Given, and making a male OC was frustrating work, so I put it off. While watching the Hunter X Hunter anime, I also really loved Wing and wanted to fic for him, but couldn't decide who to pair him with (because I wanted to pair him with someone for an m/m fic). And given I was already struggling with the series (which I ultimately dropped), I worried I'd never find someone proper in canon for him, and again, making a male OC was a hassle. And then I thought about how I had these two male characters in different series I liked and wanted to write m/m fanfic for, and Ugetsu was a bottom and Wing was a top, and they had fun chemistry, and the rest is history.

Again, not quite what this question is for, but Technical Difficulties, my 2023 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Tauro/Link fanfic, was originally just going to be the shrine mechanical arms/Link lol Tauro was meant to solely show up and disentangle Link. I fell in love with Tauro while playing the game, and wanted to do Tauro/Link fic down the line when I got to know him better, but I really wanted to do mechanical arms/Link fic, especially since no one had seemingly done it, and Tauro sticking around longer made the story better. So. If I'd done as originally planned and waited to fic for him until after I finished the game, that fic would still not be published lol

My Nuisance, my 2022-3 Heaven Official's Blessing Yin Yu & Qi Rong and Quanyin fanfic, was originally just going to focus on Yin Yu & Qi Rong and Xie Lian & Qi Rong, but adding Quanyin (one of my favorite ships) made the writing more fun and easier (especially because exploring more of Yin Yu's thoughts involved Quan Yizhen a lot, and just having him in the story rather than just Yin Yu pining made sense), so it ended up being a Quanyin fic, too.

Consume Me, my 2024 Alien Stage IvanTill fanfic, ended up going to unintentional kind of shippy places with Ivan and Dewey, which I thought about including in the fic proper but didn't end up doing. If I'd made the fic longer (or do so someday), there was a planned plotline involving the ship, but I never got around to it. It was very much unintended when I was writing chapter 1, though: I just needed one of Hyuna's helpers to help Ivan (since Till was unavailable), and he was going to be nice to Ivan. I didn't (and still sadly don't) have much attachment to either Isaac or Dewey, so even picking which one I used was entirely random.

My Ayashi no Ceres M/M series is actually kind of this, because all the pairings are just random things I was thinking about while wanting to write the fic I haven't finished and put up yet. I think it's funny (and sad) I haven't put up the one and sole fic I actually intended to write, but I assumed (correctly) that no one would care about the other random pairings, so if I wrote those last, I never would due to the crush to my self-esteem. Therefore the idea was "end strong" or some nonsense, as I assumed the fic I most cared about would be the one with the most interest. Unfortunately the lack of interest has meant I didn't put up the one fic I wanted to write in the first place, and it's hard to go back and finish a fic knowing likely no one will care.

Washed Up For You, my 2023-4 Heaven Official's Blessing Hualian fanfic, was not meant to have Quanyin in it for a while. It was just going to focus on Hualian. But while struggling to finish the story and wanting to write more Quanyin, and because of Yin Yu's donghua debut, I ended up adding them, especially because I like Xie Lian & Yin Yu. It made things a lot easier and harder, because I felt the story needed more time to flesh things out, but I also didn't really want to write it anymore while not leaving it permanently unfinished. So it's a bit of a rushed mess.

Generally, though, side ships I feature in some degree are for intentional world-building. I used to pair off Tina with a female OC in DBH fics because that meant Gavin was free and Tina wasn't alone. Hualian will basically always be a background ship for TGCF fanfics I make if it's not the main ship, same with Wangxian in Mo Dao Zu Shi fanfics where they're not the main ship and HankCon for DBH fics that don't star them or feature Convin. I also like a lot of ships, so squishing them in the background when they're not the focus is fun. I'm a multishipper and am generally down for everyone/everyone ships. I also have relatively few notps. So if I think of something and start exploring it, generally that's where I end up with things.

[tieflingkisser]

UN Report: Israel’s Tactics in Gaza Are “Consistent With Genocide”

Israel’s “unprecedented destruction” has deprived Palestinians of all conditions of life, the group found.

A UN special committee has found that Israel’s tactics of starvation and mass civilian slaughter in Gaza are “consistent with genocide,” in one of the strongest worded reports by a UN group yet on the Israeli siege. The 27-page report documented the first nine months of Israel’s assault and was prepared by a UN committee established in 1968 to investigate Israeli human rights practices in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories. The committee finds that Israel is intentionally and consistently killing civilians and depriving Palestinians of the conditions of life in Gaza. “[T]he policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” the report says. “The targeting of Palestinians as a group; the life-threatening conditions imposed on Palestinians in Gaza through warfare and restrictions on humanitarian aid — resulting in physical destruction, increased miscarriages and stillbirths — and the killing of and serious bodily or mental harm caused to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are violations under international law,” it goes on. Israel has caused “unprecedented destruction of civilian infrastructure,” the report notes, while forcing civilians to evacuate into smaller and smaller areas of the Gaza Strip “with no regard for their rights to life.”

[...]

“It is impossible to conceive of any durable solution to [Palestinians’] displacement, given Israel’s systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, atop the immense psychological toll the conflict has taken on the people of Gaza,” the report says. The report examined a period between October 2023 and July 2024. Conditions have only worsened since then, with Israeli forces intensifying their humanitarian blockade even further and, this past month, conducting their campaign to ethnically cleanse north Gaza of Palestinians entirely.

[generation1point5]

You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing -- just by accident.

Armored Core 6 marks a triumphant return of a venerable series that has until now taken a backseat to FromSoftware's Souls games, which has overtaken all its prior IPs as their defining work. Armored Core 6 itself is a culmination of many things, and draws from more than just its direct predecessors; gameplay-wise, it inherits much of the lessons learned from the Souls series as well; after Miyazaki laid the foundations, the primary director for the game was left in the hands of Yamamura, who designed the gameplay for Sekiro.

FromSoftware retains a remarkable ability to provide challenging gameplay that evolves over a series while maintaining key elements that retain a sense of continuity across the IP. Armored Core has taken many forms over its many years, but its cornerstone feature is expansive customization of one's mech build. This has been maintained and expanded upon in Armored Core 6, whose level design and enemy variety encourages exploration and experimentation with different types of builds. It is not simply about tailoring an optimal loadout for the mission; given time and familiarity over one's personal approach and developing skills, the mech builds in Armored Core 6 are about utilizing the strengths of one's playstyle as much as it applying its nuances in a variety of situations.

The novel solution that FromSoftware conceived to address accessibility for players new to the series while maintaining its trademark difficulty is the ability for player to modify their build mid-mission if they die, a feature that was not present in any prior title. This allows players to experiment and alter their mech to fit better a particular situation, but S-ranking missions require a mastery of the game mechanics such that your mech build must remain unaltered throughout the whole mission. The skill ceiling is high, but the climb to that point is not a sheer wall; you learn to build the stairs as you go on.

The defining feature for Armored Core 6's combat cycle is the introduction of a stagger bar, reminiscent of Sekiro's posture system. Unlike Sekiro, however, there is no scripted death blow upon stagger; it is simply a brief window of time where all types of damage dealt are greatly amplified. In addition, the time-to-kill for Armored Core 6 is significantly shorter than in any prior title; this is mitigated in part by the introduction of repair kits, which can only be refilled by resupply drones (also a new feature). There is a sense of both scarcity and efficiency in Armored Core 6; one's build must be able to either tank the damage they receive and brute-force their way through with sheer firepower, or find the finesse to deal damage while remaining mobile enough to avoid taking hits in turn. Veterans of the series that want to S-Rank missions are expected to complete it with minimal use of repair kits and foregoing the resupply, using only the ammo they start out with.

The principal mechanisms for conveying the values of capitalism have been evident as a trademark of the series from the very beginning; every mission's "score" is a direct correlation to one's income, with deductions for both repairs and ammo consumption taken into account. To get a higher score and maximize income, efficiency becomes the gold standard. As a mercenary, the player engages in violence for profit, to become a well-oiled war machine that maximizes destruction at minimal cost. If there was ever a visual metaphor for the military industrial complex, it is the Armored Core.

Armored Core 6 takes these trademark concepts and gameplay features and runs with them in ways both reminiscent of prior titles and also in new directions. It takes the space travel setting of the first two games, the late-stage capitalist exploitation of 4 and For Answer, the individualism of 5 and Verdict Day, and the undercurrent of artificial intelligence seen in Armored Core 3. It synthesizes these elements to create a new story, a sophisticated sci-fi narrative where corporate, colonial forces stumble upon a substance set to revolutionize human society, whereupon a lone mercenary alters the fate of an entire species.

Spoilers for the story of Armored Core 6 below.

The game is set on the fictional planet Rubicon 3, in a distant star system colonized by humanity. There, they discover the substance they dub "Coral," which after initial study is discovered to possess revolutionary applications in the fields of energy and telecommunications.

Like much of FromSoft's Soulsborne series, the player and protagonist of the series is lowly regarded, a mercenary pilot and recipient of older generation cybernetic augmentation to transfuse Coral within human beings to help operate giant walking machines called Armored Cores. This augmentation also results in a myriad of side effects, including suppressed emotional capacity and coral burn-in affecting the brain. The player's character doesn't seem to take particularly well to their augmentation: in the story trailer released for the game, the scientist operating on the player character describes them as "functional," and tells your handler not to expect much more than that. The player works under an overseer named Walter, who promises the player character a reason to live. The player begins their journey at rock bottom, and they have to fight their way up through a plethora of competing powers.

The humanity of the player's character is almost never recognized; the identity of the player is left both ambitious and ultimately irrelevant. For all intents and purposes, your sole official identification is Augmented Human C4-621; Walter refers to you by the pronoun "it" and "621," an object and a number. To those familiar with Walter's repute, you are seen as nothing more than his hound. Even your callsign on Rubicon 3 is not your own, but scavenged from the wreck of another: Raven. The businesses operating on Rubicon see you as one of many freelance mercs that can be hired as additional muscle to be used and thrown away at their disposal, most notably shown with the Arquebus Corporation. To Balam Industries, you are Gun 13, an auxiliary to supplement their frontlines. Should you choose to work with the Rubicon Liberation Front, you are known among their number as a war buddy.

The plethora of names, callsigns and terms speaks less to the identity of the player and more to how they are seen and treated by the varied cast of characters in Armored Core 6. It is almost as if the player is a mirror by which the characters in the game can be perceived: how they see others, how they see themselves. What is revealed is more sophisticated than a simple story about greedy executives, ruthless killers, and cynical opportunists, though these are all present in abundant measure. The picture that FromSoftware paints is supremely human; a story of motivations both admirable and self-interested, employing noble and ignoble means alike to often ambiguous and troubling results. The heroes have clear flaws and the villains retain points of sympathy.

These points of nuance, however, fit within a rather clear-cut setting. When the Coral is discovered to be volatile, the Fires of Ibis set Rubicon 3 ablaze, annihilating most life on the planet and igniting the entire star system. In the wake of that disaster, the Planetary Closure Administration was formed to maintain strict oversight over the ruins of the planet. Their control is upheld through a complex system of heavily armed closure satellites and a war fleet possessing advanced military technology. When Coral is rediscovered on the planet, however, the PCA must contend with a rapidly growing corporate presence that begins to conduct surveys and harvesting efforts in a second gold rush. All the companies must abide by the PCA's watchful presence, and at first they dare not intrude upon sealed-off sections of the planet guarded by the local PCA garrison, the Subject Guard. Instead, they fight among both themselves and the surviving natives who resist their incursion in the form of the Rubicon Liberation Front.

Where there is Coral, there is blood.

The imperial and colonial undertones of Armored Core 6 are obvious. A largely blind and unwieldy imperial power neglects the needs of the local inhabitants being exploited by the forces of capital. It is in this environment through which the player character enters the scene, slipping past the PCA’s orbital defenses to land on Rubicon 3 and assume a false identity to begin operations on the planet.

At first, Handler Walter ostensibly acts as the typical mercenary handler. He sees the opportunity to profit from the ongoing conflict on Rubicon 3 to claim a Coral vein and strike it rich, and thereby offering the means for the player character to undo their augmentation and buy a fresh start in life. The player thus perpetuates the system of exploitation and violence at the behest of capitalist forces to obtain the means for their own welfare.

The early jobs introduce the competing companies and their subsidiaries as they try to get a leg up on the others and also dismantle the resistance of the Rubicon Liberation Front. This chaotic pattern continues mostly uninterrupted until Walter gives the player a personal mission to attack a Coral monitoring station operated by the PCA. In the unexpected Coral surge that follows, the player makes contact with a Rubiconian within the Coral, Ayre. This marks a turning point within the story, whereupon the player begins to express greater agency, and becomes more aware of the unfolding plot around them.

The local release of Coral and its movement across the planet's surface serves as a guiding beacon to a much greater gathering of Coral in another part of Rubicon 3, which soon attracts the interests of all the major powers. Following this lead, the player interacts with RaD, led by Cinder Carla, to secure the means of crossing the ocean where the Coral begins to coalesce. Afterwards, the player becomes the vanguard for the corporations to expand their surveying efforts, with the Rubicon Liberation Front following close behind. In light of these developments, the PCA moves to unilaterally shut down all further incursion by deploying its warfleet to enforce order. All the other factions in response turn their weapons and resources against the PCA, while also searching for an edge over their competitors so that they emerge from the conflict on top of everone else.

In the end, the PCA is driven off-planet and Arquebus Corporation gains a decisive advantage, seizing a wealth of abandoned PCA technology and quickly leveraging their newfound firepower against their opponents, resulting in Balam's own withdrawal and the elimination of the Rubicon Liberation Force as an effective resistance. Arquebus's near-total control is cemented after they exploit the player's efforts to explore Watchpoint Alpha and discover the Remnants of Institute City, where the Coral has coalesced and gathered. Arquebus neutralizes the player's Armored Core and begins their efforts to expand a colossal Coral siphoning planet into outer space, allowing for seamless extraction and widespread distribution.

Through the last efforts of Walter and prior collaborations with Carla, the player breaks free from imprisonment within Arquebus, and raises the colony ship Xylem from its resting place on Rubicon to use as a last-ditch effort to stop Arquebus, and its ill-fated plans. At this point, the player learns of Walter and Carla's true identities as members of Overseer, the inheritors of the Rubicon Research Institute's troubled legacy who look to address its failures surrounding the research, exploitation, and mishandling of Coral.

The complex tragedy of the story approaches its apex at this point; over time, the player learns that Coral is not merely a substance that can be exploited for energy or telecommunications; it is a biological life form, capable of interaction and sentient communication with human thought. Its existence as an intelligent species can be directly correlated to human perception, ethics, and values. As the Rubicon Research Institute discovered, Coral's is self-propagating, and the rate of its growth increases exponentially in proportion to its environment; in a vacuum, the potential for Coral's expansion approaches infinity. Fearing this outbreak and its ramifications for their own species, the scientists of Rubicon III enacted an emergency contingency plan and burned the Coral; the Fires of Ibis that consumed the planet and the entire star system. Some of the Coral survived, however, and began to reproduce.

This discovery, however, was not made by the corporations. The PCA had been aware of the Coral's survival and the Rubicon Research Institute's experimentation, but intended to keep this information under wraps. Despite their efforts, however, the rediscovery of Coral was nevertheless leaked by a hacktivist collective, called Branch, that infiltrated the PCA's planetary defenses and transmitted this information to the public. Among their number was the original bearer of the callsign that you steal upon arrival to the planet, Raven. This same Raven challenges you midway through the game in a test of skill to determine whether you possess the means to realize your own ambitions, as all previous bearers of the callsign had before them. It is a title passed on from one mercenary to the next.

Self-determination as a theme has always been prevalent in FromSoft games and a recurring motif in the Armored Core franchise. The idea of the Armored Core and its customizability is not merely an expression of efficiency in applications of violence, but also an expression of personality, and indeed identity. At its apex, you become the force with which all others must contend, or be brought low by the force of your will made manifest in the war machine you pilot. Almost every single-player campaign in the series has explored this concept, both in the context of complex sociopolitical structures of capitalism and in the context of more classic sci-fi settings of life governed by advanced artificial intelligence.

Armored Core VI features both; besides the influence of corporations, there are two major artificial intelligences that govern two of the most powerful entities in the game. The first is the PCA, which is governed by an artificial intelligence that evaluates and responds to threats endangering the closure of Rubicon 3. The second ALLMIND, a mercenary support system the player slowly discovers to be the main driving force behind the unfolding events of the game. The artificial intelligence of the PCA represents order, stability, and stagnation as they try (and fail) to uphold the status quo of Rubicon. ALLMIND by contrast is an accelerationist, hoping to drive and guide the evolution of humanity through the release of Coral, to achieve the very thing that the Rubicon Research Institute and Overseer seek to prevent. To this end, ALLMIND manipulates and engineers much of the situation that the players find themselves in, to the point where their choices can sometimes feel devoid of real meaning. Yet at the end of the game, even the machinations of artificial intelligence that govern much of humanity's circumstances also bow to the triumph of human will.

Each of the game's endings has the player stand alone as the sole force by which change is achieved, each a commentary on the nature of humanity and the efforts of its constituents to alter that nature.

If the player chooses to pursue a path as Walter's hound, the player prevents the Coral collapse by repeating the Fires of Ibis, but on an even larger scale, annihilating both the Coral and the remaining human life on Rubicon 3. If the player chooses instead to trust Ayre in finding an alternative within their current means, they betray Overseer and rally the remnants of native resistance on Rubicon 3 to throw off the influence of the PCA, the corporations, and Overseer, an effort that brings an uncertain future and plunges the planet into chaos. The third is to attract the attention of ALLMIND, and participate in its plans to unleash the Coral so that the synthesis between it and humanity may propel both species into a new age. Each come with their own merits and points of concern.

To burn the Coral constitutes both a genocide and a xenocide; it is an act of regression far greater than the attempts by the PCA to maintain the status quo, an outright rejection of everything that had been accomplished by the Rubicon Research Institute, the corporations that followed, and the technology that enabled humanity to make contact with an alien species. In the end, the PCA and the corporations, seeing nothing that remains, make a joint statement to leave Rubicon as a dead planet forever, and to forever after halt all further research into Coral. On its face it is a horrific path, and yet it is not entirely reprehensible in light of the other two endings.

The betrayal of Overseer and the corporations both for the sake of a future for both humanity and the Coral puts the priorities of the inhabitants of Rubicon 3 front and center. Though difficult, the good intention of this path is the purest of the three. Yet the future of this path is the most uncertain; the corporations and the PCA still vie for control of the planet, and in the face of a greatly diminished Rubicon Liberation Front, the prospects for a road to freedom through revolution is a distant and bloody prospect. Moreover, much of the systems of exploitation of both the Coral and humans trapped under the forces of capital remain intact. Brutal augmentation procedures that require the harvest of Coral and inhumane surgery on patients is required for contact between species to be possible, to say nothing the other ways in which the forces of capital exploit both peoples. Rubicon 3 stands alone against an interstellar capitalist power structure with near-limitless manpower and resources to reassert dominance over a single planet.

Then we come to ALLMIND's plan, to more perfectly synthesize the union of the two species and accelerate the evolution of both. To pursue this path is to go where many others had turned away; it flies directly in the face of what Overseer sought to prevent, what the leader of the Rubicon Liberation Front turned away from, and represents a complete overthrow of the capitalist system that the corporations profit from. This final path positions you to betray just about everyone, including ALLMIND itself when it judges you a threat to the plan. Upon release, Coral and humanity are indeed united, two peoples made into one, synthesized into a new existence with the Armored Core as it's vessel...and its combat modes activated. The future of the two peoples is not a peaceful one; if anything, its potential for widespread violence and imperial applications of power had just been magnified to a truly intergalactic level.

The other interesting twist to the game's themes is how it almost separates itself from its original anticapitalistic sentiments; though dominant, the greatest expressions of capital and monetary power never achieve what they desire at any of the routes' ends. The pursuit of profit always ended up falling away to more compelling motivations in each of the three endings. It shows that capitalism, at the end, is a temporary and in fact fading thing. There are deeper forces and urges at work within the human soul that find its way out, and indeed surpass greed. But is that force ultimately for good? Perhaps not when it is expressed through mercenary violence, even if that mercenary violence is in pursuit of that greater cause.

On its face, one might label these three ends the bad, the good, and the true ending respectively. Yet each ending seems to me to compliment the others by providing alternate perspectives that complicate the moral analysis of the whole. If the future of a united existence between Coral and humanity translates into an unprecedented application of military power by an ascendant species, then Overseer's extreme measures to prevent that union is not as heartless as one might think. The incrementalism of attempting to liberate Rubicon 3 and avoiding direct synthesis does nothing to address the root causes and systems that have created the crisis over the planet and its people to begin with, and leaves the success of the whole endeavor in doubt.

True to much of FromSoft's motifs across its games, there is a paradoxical existentialism to its messaging that I admire, a tremendous, almost disproportionate level of nuanced commentary on human nature and the human condition that is not only applied to the mech genre, but also deconstructs some of its most well-known tropes and puts them into insightful applications that elevates a niche genre of gaming into high art.

If I were to sum up FromSoft's sentiment with Armored Core VI, it is that the triumph of human will can alter cycles of human behavior but never truly break them, at least not when that human will is expressed through force, the Armored Core. By your own choices in mech build and taking missions from certain clients and the developing circumstances around them, by destroying all obstacles in their path, the player holds the fates of countless people, two whole species, in their grasp. This grasp is yet limited to preservation and destruction; it may change the form, but not the substance. Even in the ending when the substance of the two peoples are changed, it takes on the form of a mercenary pilot in control of a war machine: the greatest expression of the worst developments of human history.

What Ayre fears becomes true: she and the player are doomed to spark conflict wherever they go.

As much as Armored Core VI emphasizes player choice, player agency, and player power and achievement, it is always through the lens of violence, and thereby expresses the limits and conditions by which progress can be achieved through such methods. It is a subtle but moving encapsulation of human endeavors and history, and the existential limits by which ideas of progress and growth can be pursued. I could write whole essays on individual characters, corporate entities, and the etymology of the part names alone, but for now I wanted to simply explore at a high level the incredible depth and creative genius of Armored Core VI. It is FromSoft at their best, and Fires of Rubicon winning best action game is, in my opinion, well-deserved. For what it has accomplished through gameplay, narrative, and artistic vision, I believe it deserves much more.

[a-skrub]

Dust and Flower Prequel

Part 2 of 2

“May I ask you something?”

“When I fall asleep later.”

“Will you promise to live happily without me?”

“In that moment, the Dragonborn witnessed something profound. Was it the past, present, or the future? Or perhaps, a convergence of them all? Honestly, I have no idea. The Dragonborn's mind flashed with the vivid recollection of the promise made to the Snow Dreamer. In that instance, the dagger seemed to resonate with his heart, unlocking the concealed realms of time. He could now tap into the long-forgotten names he once possessed and would possess. And with this newfound connection, he could bear the Black and Snow Dragon wings upon himself with a resonance that echoed through the cosmic expanse.”

"You're the one they call Sap-Licker, right? I didn't notice it at first, but it's been ages since you packed up and left Akavir," the Dragon uttered, invoking Nerevar-Husk's long-forgotten name. The husk displayed a hint of confusion, unsure of what the dragon was referring to.”

“Now adorned with the gaze, claws, and fangs of the World-Eater, the Dragonborn's name resounded through the cosmic void, a name that would no longer be forgotten. The Nerevar-Husk, sensing the immense power emanating from the Dragonborn, attempted to retaliate, eager to face this new revelation. However, before the husk could muster a response, his body suddenly chopped and disintegrated into numerous pieces, dispersing like cosmic stardust.”

(Sap-Licker? that his name?) (In my world, he's called like uhh, Herman, i think.) (Idk, some Nerevarines are different people okay, and i was busy with other stuff when the Red Mountain erupted.) “As the Dragonborn walked amidst the ethereal aftermath, he expressed a silent gratitude to the Nerevar-Husk for bestowing upon him a gift that would not be easily forgotten. The remnants of the husk, now mere particles in the cosmic wind, drifted away, leaving behind a lingering echo of the confrontation. The Dragon then shifted his gaze back to the Commander, but an unfortunate event unfolded.”

“Harmonic fractures threatened space-time and the Jills. This chaos resulted from Milk-Logger's actions as he attempted to open a gateway and infiltrate "Snow Dreamer" to fulfill his final mission. The Dragon tried to intercept him as his Voidship entered the torn gateway, but he failed. The event had the potential for disaster, yet the Dragon saw a risky solution.”

“Wait, why would you do it?” questioned one of the surviving Renaldmer soldiers who had somehow endured the relentless barrages from the Argo-Voidships.

“You tell me. If I don’t do this, all of us will be ripped from reality,” replied the Dragon, acknowledging the surprising survival of a Renaldmer soldier. Quite an impressive feat, really.

“But it will break... you. It’s too risky!” pleaded the wary Renaldmer, clearly concerned about the potential aftermath for the Dragon.

“I know, and I’m sorry that I had to leave his side once again,” said the Dragon. As he merged and split the gateway with him, it was at that moment that the Dragon broke.

(So you Actually saw that happened right? And you Did talk to him.) (Cool, cool, How..) (You were taking cover... behind bucket?)

"You see, the Jills have always been busybodies, diligently maintaining the delicate balance of space-time and such. They took great care to ensure the dreamer wouldn't shatter again. The Hist Rebels, being stubborn and ambitious, wanted their share of the pie. They dreamed within themselves, attempting to create a new reality and challenge the very fabric of existence. But, well, that plan crashed harder than a Cliff racer dive-bombing an unsuspecting traveler's skull, even for us, all of us."

“When the Dragon split, so did every conceivable aspect of the Last Dragonborn. We were plucked from our respective places and conglomerated in this land—millions, or perhaps an infinite number of us, now sharing this space that became our home.”

I had a migraine after that by the way.

[medfertility]

IUI Cost in Kenya: A Step Towards Affordable Fertility Treatment

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) has emerged as one of the most accessible and widely used fertility treatments across the world. It is a less invasive and more affordable option compared to other assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF. Kenya is becoming a hub for fertility solutions due to its growing medical infrastructure and cost-effective treatment plans. For couples and individuals exploring IUI, understanding the IUI Cost in Kenya is an important step toward planning their fertility journey.

Med Fertility is a trusted partner that helps intended parents access the best fertility solutions in Kenya, with transparency, affordability, and care at the heart of everything they do.

What is IUI?

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is a fertility treatment that involves placing specially prepared sperm directly into a woman’s uterus around the time of ovulation. This process increases the chances of sperm reaching and fertilizing the egg. It is often recommended for couples facing unexplained infertility, mild male factor infertility, or cervical mucus problems. It can also be used with donor sperm for single women or same-sex couples looking to conceive.

Why Choose Kenya for IUI?

Kenya has seen rapid advancement in the field of reproductive medicine, attracting patients not only from neighboring countries but also from around the globe. The reasons why many people choose Kenya for IUI treatment include:

Cost-Effective Care: The IUI Cost in Kenya is significantly lower than in countries like the United States, UK, or even South Africa, making it a feasible option for many.

Skilled Professionals: Fertility specialists in Kenya are well-trained and experienced, with many having international qualifications.

Modern Medical Facilities: Fertility clinics in Kenya are equipped with advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies.

Friendly Regulations: Kenya offers supportive legal and ethical frameworks for a wide range of fertility treatments.

What Does IUI Cost in Kenya Include?

When assessing the IUI Cost in Kenya, it’s important to understand what is typically included. While prices may vary slightly depending on individual needs, most packages cover:

Initial consultation and fertility assessments

Ovulation monitoring

Sperm washing and preparation

The IUI procedure itself

Follow-up consultations

Some packages may also include fertility medications, although this might be charged separately depending on the treatment plan and the patient’s medical profile.

Contact Us: +91–701669315 Email us: info@medfertility.com

Med Fertility ensures that patients receive a comprehensive breakdown of costs before treatment begins, eliminating any hidden charges and offering full transparency.

Factors That Influence IUI Cost in Kenya

While IUI is considered one of the most affordable fertility treatments, the cost can still vary based on several factors:

Fertility Medication: Some women may require hormonal medication to stimulate ovulation, which can increase the total cost.

Diagnostic Tests: Blood tests, ultrasounds, and semen analysis might be necessary before the IUI procedure.

Number of Cycles Required: Success with IUI often requires more than one cycle, and each additional cycle will incur extra costs.

Use of Donor Sperm: For those opting to use donor sperm, the cost of sperm purchase and storage will add to the overall expenses.

Med Fertility: Your Guide to Affordable Fertility Treatment

Navigating fertility treatments can be overwhelming, especially when factoring in medical, emotional, and financial aspects. Med Fertility is here to simplify that journey for you. As a reputable fertility solutions provider, Med Fertility connects patients with trusted fertility experts and clinics in Kenya and ensures that every step of the treatment is handled with care, professionalism, and transparency.

They assist with everything from the initial consultation to follow-ups, ensuring that the process remains smooth and stress-free. Their mission is to make quality fertility treatment accessible and affordable for everyone, regardless of where they come from.

Whether you’re a resident of Kenya or traveling from abroad, Med Fertility is your dependable partner throughout your IUI journey.

Final Thoughts

Choosing IUI is a significant decision, and understanding the associated costs is an essential part of the process. Kenya offers a promising solution for those looking for effective and affordable fertility treatment. The IUI Cost in Kenya remains one of the most budget-friendly options globally, making it a smart choice for many intended parents.

With expert support from Med Fertility, you can begin your fertility journey with confidence, knowing that you’re backed by a team that truly cares about your dream of parenthood.

Take the first step today.

Contact Us: +91–701669315 Email us: info@medfertility.com

[nursingwriter]

HIPAA Compliant Electronic Medical Record Capture/Management System The successful outcome of medical processes largely depends on complete, relevant, and timely medical data. Up-to-date and accurate data allows for images of surgical wounds, surgical pathology, and operative techniques to be used in the most efficient ways for patient management. However, while there are technological solutions that could improve medical data storage and retrieval systems, any improvement to medical data systems must include not only technological elements but ethical and legal considerations as well. There are multiple regulations guarding the privacy and integrity of patients' medical data. One of the major regulatory instruments that governs medical data in the United States is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which imposes harsh penalties for breaches in patient privacy, data handling, and data security rules as defined in the act. Hence, images of medical data or medical procedures that are not HIPAA compliant must be discarded. To be HIPAA compliant must meet certain standards for image quality as well as accurate accompanying information (such as when and where the image was created) along with an adherence to the strictest standards for patient privacy. Company X has conceived the idea that there is an opportunity for it to formulate an "image capturing process that is fully compliant with HIPAA regulations." The company has developed an application (app) that runs on standard smart-phone platforms, where this app allows the phones' high-resolution camera to capture the relevant images and then to process them in accordance with HIPAA-process requirements. The company's plan is to market this application primarily to physicians working in hospitals as well as to primary care physicians employed in other settings. Organization, Market, and Competition Characteristics As noted above, Company X has determined that the segment of the medical market that would be most likely to buy this application is primary care physicians as well as various physician specialists who work in hospitals. In part because of the enactment of HIPAA and in part because of the systematic changes brought about to the American healthcare system over the last generation due to the pervasiveness of HMOs and more recently PPOs, physicians find themselves with far more clerical responsibilities than their predecessors had to contend with. Even as the distribution of work has shifted in the medical field, requiring physicians to do more and more of the work themselves, the practice of medicine has become more and more complex with individual patients undergoing far more tests (and far more complicated tests) than their predecessors underwent. This combination of more work and greater medical, technological, and legal complexities had made physicians more open to technologies that will save them both time and money. They thus constitute an ideal demographic segment for this new application. The financial situation of the company is somewhat risky given that it does not yet have any customers or a product on the market. However, the relatively low-cost of a software start-up counters this fact, making the company's financial future reasonably sound. Organization of the Technology Personnel The company is a relatively small one given that it is selling intellectual technology and does not need significant infrastructure per se: It does not need a large factory, for example, or a large-scale distribution system. The company needs its software engineers who, while they have already developed the software, will need to be present to vet the system as it is rolled out. There will necessarily be changes that need to be made for the beta version, and even once the beta version is released there will be the need for future updates that reflect changes in medical practice, software technology, hardware technology (as new phones are released into the market), and in legal regulations concerning patient records. The company will also include a marketing department. The background of these staff members will include both marketing techniques and a medical background. While there are generalized marketing techniques that the department can rely on, the marketing staff will be far more able to sell the country's product if they can communicate with the physicians if they can do so in a collegial way. Physicians are used to being pressured by marketers, especially those from drug companies. As a result, they are likely to respond negatively to what they feel is a hard sell. To avoid this response from physicians, the marketing staff must be able to make a firm alliance with the physicians who can in fact benefit from this product, the company's staff must be able to stress the specific ways in which physicians would benefit from a product that is relatively low cost. The marketing staff must make it clear that they are not aligned with pharmaceutical companies but rather with patients and their doctors. The company will also have an IT division that oversees the distribution of the application via web access. There will be no need to produce a physical version of the software (such as on CD) since it will be available as a download. This decreases the cost as well as it increases its efficacy. The company will be privately held, at least initially, which simplifies its structure. In addition to the software department and the marketing department, it will have the same staff that any well-run modern company has, including human resources, payroll, and a hierarchy that consists of the president and one to three vice presidents. The company will remain small, and so therefore efficient and collegial, without outsourcing tasks such as payroll. While there would be cost savings by outsourcing activities such as payroll, the advantages of not doing so in terms of company morale and cohesion are more important and will benefit from a company that is self-contained. Not only does this ensure that changes can be implemented more easily and more quickly, but it ensures that there can be the highest level of quality control overall aspects of the company's functioning. All technical design and programming for this application are performed internally and will not be outsourced. The front end of the system runs on smart phones and so requires close support from smart-phone platform manufacturers. This integration will be easier to accomplish if there is no outsourcing. An examination of the current smart phone market suggests that the winners in the market scrimmage suggests that Google and Apple will be the primary companies with which Company X must communicate to ensure the best possible product. Assumptions and Constraints The constraints on the success of this project are both technological and social. While the company's software engineers are confident of the quality of their product, they are also aware of the fact that any software that is responsible for addressing such a complex problem and that must be used by thousands of individuals not all of whom are technologically adept is subject to any number of difficulties. A key potential constraint to the product's successful adoption is that it depends on the quality of the images that the app will be capturing. The application is designed to assess the captured image quality and provide feedback to the end-user (in this case the physician) on whether the image quality is acceptable. In some cases this will be the case, and in some cases the image will not be of acceptable quality. This much is known to the company (and most if not all of the physicians) beforehand. What cannot be assessed before the actual roll-out of the product is what the next step will be in actuality when a physician determines that the quality of an image is inadequate. The company will offer 24-hour on-call support for all users; however, it is possible that physicians will be less likely to use this support line than the company is hoping for. While physicians are theoretically scientifically knowledgeable and technologically adept, this is often in fact not the case. Physicians who may well be interested in this application because it offers the potential of saving time, improving patient care, and decreasing financial liability from potential lawsuits may nonetheless become easily frustrated. The software has been designed with the intent of providing image-capture on the first try. However, it is inevitable that there will be occasions on which this will not be the case. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of the marketing department will be to assure the physicians that the company will help to solve any problem that comes up in a way that minimizes the time that the physician needs to spend on the resolution of the problem. There must also be assurance to the physicians that any and all problems that they experience with the app will be addressed in beta-ing the application. The fact that the specific concerns of physicians will be met through a clearly defined feedback system should help the physicians feel a sense of ownership of the process. This should distinguish the marketing of the product from the ways in which drugs are marketed to the physicians by pharmaceutical companies. This process of differentiating the marketing of this product and its usefulness to both the physician and the patient is essential given the ever-rising friction that exists between many physicians and Big Pharma reps. It may be the case that a single application will not prove to be sufficient to cover all of the possibilities that physicians will come up against. The software designers do not believe that this will be the case; however, if it becomes necessary for different versions to be proposed, a close connection between physicians and the company will facilitate this process. Conversion Effectiveness and Valuation Methodology Despite potential problems that may be encountered by physicians, company officials and software designers are confident that the application will be welcomed by members of the medical community and will be able to hold its own against other Electronic Medical Management products. Among the key aspects of Company X's product that will give it a secure footing in this market are the following: The application will be able to discern any unauthorized devices and will block any unauthorized data access. This is of course essential because any breach of confidentiality as mandated by law (along with the ethical requirements of the profession) will expose the physician to distinctly detrimental consequences including possible lawsuits and even loss of licensure. It will annotate the captured data with necessary identifiable information, including time, date, and geographical location. This is essential both because of HIPAA requirements and because of fundamental medical considerations. Often patients, especially those with the most serious medical conditions, have repeated scans and other tests in a short period of time. It is imperative for the highest quality of treatment that a patient's physician be able quickly and accurately to distinguish between different X-rays, MRIs, etc. Any method that reduces the chance of confusion among different scans -- as does this software application -- will allow physicians to feel more comfortable with the care they provide. The backend system will integrate the data from the captured images to other existing EMR systems. This is an advantage that this application has over a number of other software systems which are more proprietary. The company's app blends the high degree of security required to ensure that patient confidentiality is never compromised with the openness in terms of software design that allows integration with the widest possible number of software and hardware systems. The application will securely transfer data to the HIPAA-compliant backend-system and destroy traces of information on the capturing device. As is true with the above notation, this is a key selling point of this application. It provides both very high levels of security to be compliant with HIPAA regulations as well as the ethical norms of the profession while at the same time providing the maximum level of hardware and software flexibility. The physician can annotate the image with both voice and text notes of any length. This function will be fully integrated with the phone's voice-note and text systems. This will save the physician the time that s/he would otherwise have to expend in learning a new set of commands with which to communicate with the EMR technology. This might seem to be a relatively minor advantage since current software systems are generally highly user friendly. However, it should not be overlooked how having to learn a new software system can be a significant block to adopting a system. Physicians generally feel that they are already so overburdened with increased patient loads as well as the paperwork that accompanies modern medical practice that they are reasonably reluctant to take on the project of learning new software, no matter how little time this might actually take. Works with a wide range of camera types and settings. This reiterates the point made above. Because this is a software application that works with all smart-phones, there will be no instance in which a physician has to learn software specific to the application. (This is, of course, presuming that the physician has a smart phone. Certainly there are physicians who do not have smart phones. However, given how many individuals now have smart phones and given their ever-increasing popularity, this in and of itself does not seem as if it will be a major barrier to the wide-scale acceptance of the product. While all of the above facts are important in terms of providing value to physicians who adopt the system, the most important advantage that this application offers to physicians is that it is funneled through a phone rather than another form of hardware. EMR systems on the market now are based on hardware such as laptops or tablets. While these are certainly useful devices and portable in a way that could never have been imaginable to the first generation of computer users, they are not close to smart phones in terms of both portability and ease of use in terms of user familiarity with the devices. The company's application provides the optimal combination of simplicity, cost, and scalability. The state of EMR technology and practice at the moment is something of a Wild West arena, as has been the case with each new batch of software possibilities -- and even with any new batch of technological possibilities. There is currently no clear winner in terms of either hardware or software directions for the future of EMR. There is therefore a chance for Company X to establish itself as a major player. The importance of electronic medical records will continue to grow as healthcare reform takes effect and as the practice of medicine becomes increasingly technological. The market beckons, and Company X is there to answer the call. References Berman, K. & Knight, J. (2008). Finance intelligence for IT professionals. Boston: Harvard Business Press. Carr, N.G. (2005). Does IT matter? Information technology and the corrosion of competitive advantage. Cambridge: Harvard Business School. Chesbrough, H. (2003). Open innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Cambridge: Harvard Business School. Langer, A.M. (2011). It and organizational learning: Managing change through technology and education (2nd Ed.) New York: CRC Press. https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/hipaa-compliant-electronic-medical-record-52553#:~:text=Logout-,HIPAACompliantElectronicMedicalRecordCaptureManagementSystem,-Length10pages Lucas, H.C. (2005). Information technology: Strategic decision making for managers. New York: Wiley. Weill, P. & Ross, J.W. (2004). IT governance. Cambridge: Harvard Business School. For a system to be considered an "Electronic Medical Record," it must integrate information from multiple sources, capture data at the point of encounter and support caregiver's decision making process. Unfortunately many products on the market make use of Electronic Medical Records, EMR or EHR as only "buzz" words that would generate interest, without applying the above mentioned basic functions that merit it to be a true EMR Software System. A suitable Electronic Medical Records software is typically an application that is installed on a central server and connected to terminals such as PC's, laptops, Tablet PC's and PDA's via a network. The caregivers and the administrative staff can then access these terminals to input clinical, financial and administrative data. An EMR software usually integrates with the organization's existing billing software, and allows the caregiver to see the patients check in/check out routine, submit CPT/ICD information to the billing software, assist the caregiver in decision-making by suggesting treatment plan recommendations and generate reports. All EMR software can be tailored to fit a medical practice's needs and workflow settings Read the full article

[rainbowivf]

Best IVF Doctor in Agra: Your Guide to Parenthood

Starting a family is a dream for many couples. However, some may face challenges in conceiving naturally. If you are looking for the best IVF doctor in Agra, you are in the right place. Agra has some of the finest fertility specialists who offer advanced treatment with a personal touch.

With the right guidance, you can take a step closer to parenthood. In this blog, we will discuss the best IVF doctors, hospitals, and treatment options in Agra. Let’s begin!

Best Sperm Injection IVF in Agra

For couples facing male infertility issues, sperm injection IVF is an effective solution. It involves injecting a single sperm directly into the egg for fertilization. Many hospitals in Agra offer this advanced treatment with high success rates.

Some key points about sperm injection IVF:

It helps couples with low sperm count or poor sperm mobility.

It increases the chances of successful fertilization.

The procedure is safe and widely practiced in leading IVF centers.

If you are looking for the best sperm injection IVF in Agra, consult a reputed fertility clinic with experienced doctors.

IVF Hospital in Agra

Choosing the right hospital is crucial for successful IVF treatment. The best IVF hospital in Agra will have advanced technology, skilled doctors, and high success rates.

Things to look for in an IVF hospital:

Experienced fertility specialists.

Latest technology and lab facilities.

Positive patient reviews and success stories.

Supportive staff and patient-friendly approach.

Several hospitals in Agra provide world-class fertility treatments. One such hospital is Rainbow IVF, known for its experienced doctors and high success rates. Visit the hospital, consult with the doctors, and choose the best one for your journey.

IVF Treatment in Agra

IVF treatment in Agra has helped many couples fulfill their dream of having a baby. The process includes several steps, from ovarian stimulation to embryo transfer. With medical advancements, IVF has become more successful and accessible.

Some benefits of IVF treatment:

Helps couples with infertility issues.

Offers hope for women with blocked tubes or ovulation problems.

Suitable for couples with unexplained infertility.

Provides a chance to use donor eggs or sperm if needed.

If you are considering IVF, consult a doctor to understand the process, cost, and success rates.

FAQs: Tips & Most Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the cost of IVF treatment in Agra?

If you are looking for the cost of IVF treatment in agra varies depending on the hospital, doctor, and procedure. On average, it ranges from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2.5 lakh per cycle.

2. Who is the best IVF doctor in Agra?

Many experienced IVF specialists practice in Agra. Look for doctors with high success rates, good patient reviews, and years of experience.

3. How successful is IVF treatment in Agra?

Success rates depend on factors like age, health conditions, and hospital facilities. Most clinics in Agra have success rates between 50-70%.

4. Is sperm injection IVF safe?

Yes, it is a safe and effective method for treating male infertility issues. It increases the chances of fertilization and successful pregnancy.

5. How to choose the best IVF hospital in Agra?

Check hospital reviews, success rates, doctor experience, and treatment options before making a decision. Rainbow IVF is one of the trusted names in Agra, offering quality fertility care.

6. What lifestyle changes can improve IVF success?

Eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, avoid smoking and alcohol, and manage stress for better results.

7. Can IVF help after multiple miscarriages?

Yes, IVF can help in cases of recurrent miscarriages by selecting healthy embryos for implantation.

8. Is IVF painful?

The process involves mild discomfort, but it is generally not painful. Doctors ensure that patients feel comfortable throughout the treatment.

9. How long does IVF treatment take?

One cycle of IVF usually takes around 4-6 weeks, depending on the individual case.

10. What are the chances of twins with IVF?

IVF increases the chances of twins or multiple pregnancies, depending on the number of embryos transferred.

Conclusion

Finding the best IVF doctor in Agra or IVF hospital in Agra is the first step towards your parenthood journey. With advanced medical facilities and experienced doctors, Agra offers excellent IVF treatment options. Whether you need sperm injection IVF, a reliable hospital, or expert consultation, you have plenty of choices.

Take your time, do thorough research, and choose the best doctor and hospital that meet your needs. Parenthood is a beautiful journey, and with the right medical support, your dream can come true!