herortu

[tuliharja]

Rangiku is all dressed up to spend a night in the city~. While staying beautiful.

I wouldn’t be lying if I claimed this artwork wasn’t inspired by Bleach anime’s 23rd ending song. While Rangiku’s outfit isn’t the same as in the actual ending, the song inspired me greatly by what came to the general vibe of this artwork.

Artwork: @tuliharja

Note: I’m fine with reblogging, but ask me first for my permission, if you want to repost/otherwise use my artwork.

My links: DeviantArt I Pixiv

[toshiro-taichou]

Hello 👋 how have you been doing? I just wanted to say I enjoyed the new chapters for Ice Changes The Story. Hyourinmaru, Sojun, Yusuke, and Zombie Toshiro love their personalities. Zombie Toshiro was good unexpected twist. Great art of him love the details. I was wondering are you going to add the zanpakuto rebellion arc to this story? And will Toshiro meet Karin?

Hello!! I have been quite fine. I am glad you are loving the new chapter of my story. I try to be as accurate as possible with Hyorinmaru. As there isn't much about Sojun and we know nothing about Yoruichi's father, their personalities are quite fun to write. A friendship between a Shihouin, Kuchiki and a prodigy is very interesting and something that came out of nowhere, plus I thought it would be interesting if TT (Time Travel) Toshiro had some connections to Yoruichi, Byakuya and Yushiro.

A few people love the whole unexpected twist of Zombie Toshiro. I felt like it wasn't explained quite a lot after the whole Mayuri changes Toshiro, Rangiku, Kensei and Rose back to normal, so I wanted to dwelve into my own thoughts and projection. Plus with the battle between Kenpachi, Byakuya and Toshiro vs Gerard, some of Toshiro's skin had turned black and it was never explain as in the next shot of Toshiro, it disappeared.

I am planning on adding all side arcs and some movies and non cannon stuff, I want to make the book as a complete rewrite story of Bleach while having fun. Change on Side, Change the story was a massive inspiration for me and it changed my whole life. Without that book, Ice Changes the Story would not exist.

And yes, Toshiro will meet Karin.

I still have a lot planned for Ice Changes the Story and it has only just started.

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

Headcanon Fifth and Tenth Division Officers

So, after a chat with @alexiethymia, I got the urge to write up a list of every division officer I've ever made up for the sake of a story. There was a time where I wouldn't have ever bothered even naming an officer (just referring to them as 'officer' or by their rank), but that's changed over the years. So, for perhaps no one's enjoyment but my own, here are all the officers who I've made up in my fics.

Quick notes before we start: according to the BLEACH wiki and chapter 119, the ranks 11-20 can be occupied by more than one officer, so you might see me saying things like 'one of Fifth Division's twelfth seats' for instance.

Some of the info here is just things I was thinking of at the time I was writing fics these characters appear in, such as what their first names might be or their backgrounds.

Finally, I'll be including pictures and gifs of characters from other series just to give you can idea what these officers look like.

Tomoko Suzuki: Fifth Division's only seventeenth seat. She's appeared in Petrichor and As Months Go By, As Seasons Change:

She's a hard worker, responsible, observant, and unafraid to give her views on something or ask a question.

She's quick to follow orders and makes a decent leader, but can sometimes be a little too stubborn once she sets her mind to something and can be rash in battle when she has to protect someone.

She's from a lesser noble family comprised of just herself, her mother, and father.

She has a deep respect for Momo, and the two have known each other since Momo first became a seated officer, Although slow to come around to Shinji as her captain (having been scarred by Aizen's betrayal like everyone else in her division), she's come to greatly respect him too.

Her shikai, as seen in Petrichor, has the ability to numb whatever it cuts, causing the target to experience paresthesia (or 'pins-and-needles') and potentially paralysis through whichever nerves were struck. Depending on the size of the opponent, this can last from 10 seconds to 2 minutes. Her sword doesn't change much in appearance expect for the golden stripe that runs down the middle of the blade.

I imagined her as being a bit older than Momo, with dark green-grey hair kept in a long braid on her shoulder, dark grey eyes, and round-framed glasses (which she needs to see short-distance). She looks most like an older version of Mei Shijima from Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun.

Kobe Abiko: an unseated Fifth Division officer. He appears in the first part of As Months Go By, As Seasons Change and in Petrichor

At the time of writing him, I imagined him as someone who's nervous around authority and about proving why he's worthy of being a Shinigami.

He was one of the younger graduates in his year and has yet to achieve shikai.

Momo sympathizes with him for his nervousness.

In terms of appearance, he looks any background BLEACH character, so take your pick!

Katsuro Hoshino: Fifth Division's eighth seat. He appears in part 2 of As Months Go By, As Seasons Change and makes a cameo in For What the Future Holds. I actually went into a surprising amount of detail for him in that story:

He's from one of the lower districts and has no family or friends from there. Because of this, he rarely has any inclination to go visit where he used to live.

He's always looking to improve himself, so he often asks for feedback on his training, performance on team missions, or where he's lacking.

Because of this, he's a perfectionist. If he ever messes up, he insists on correcting his mistake. If he ever got praised for something, he’d ask how he could make it better.

Shinji suspects all of this stems from the fact he's from one of lower districts, as in his experiences people from those districts tend to be ambitious and need to provide for those back home.

In reality, Katsuro is just ambitious by nature, but his environment definitely made him want to live a better life than he did when he first arrived in the Soul Society.

I can see him being a fan of Izuru's haiku poems. I'd like to think he got to meet him in person thanks to Momo and he internally fanboys throughout the exchange.

In appearance, he has pale skin, light grey eyes, and platinum blond hair. I imagine him being an older version of Ojiro from Boku no Hero Academia, but taller, thinner, and with his hair slicked back

Fuyuka Hirose: one of Fifth Division's two twelfth seats. She's mentioned in For All That Was Lost and Momo comes to pay her respects at her grave in To Give You Shelter. She makes a brief appearance in Unwavering Light:

She first came to the Fifth division 32 years before the main story and rose up the ranks due to her excellent zanjutsu skills and for harnessing her shikai to almost it's full potential.

I haven't thought about what exactly her shikai would be, but if I had to take a guess, it'd be an earth-based zanpakuto with a power that involves the smell of flowers, with each smell having a different effect on the opponent - one makes them dizzy, another causes them to break out in sores, etc - but there would be one that can be crushed and used as a healing agent (kind of like Minazuki's stomach acids). It's main weakness is, of course, that once an opponent figures out it's the smell affecting them, they just have to cover their nose. Also, it has the potential to affect allies too.

She likes to wear earrings (like these ones) and used to wear a single long earring that was one of her most prized possessions in her right ear. However, after a mission where she almost lost her ear in battle because of it, she only wore the earring on special occasions from then on.

Her favourite fruit is nashi pears.

She loves gardening, and is often seen taking care of the Fifth Division's gardens in her free time. She asks Momo if she can gather a group together to do gardening every few months, and Momo will sometimes join in if she was free.

While on a posting in a seaside town, she heard about a flower festival the locals liked to go to in the countryside; she made it a goal to attend it whenever she is next on a mission in the World of the Living.

She dies in the TYBW arc during the first invasion.

Her gardening work is carried on by those who used to be part of her gardening groups.

I imagined her having short brown hair that varied in length over the years (it was never longer than above the shoulder) and lavender-coloured eyes. She has a birthmark on her left forearm that usually kept hidden by her shihakuso sleeve. I think the closest character to look like her is Meryl from Trigun, maybe a younger version of the character

Ohashi: one of Fifth Division's twelfth seats. They appear in It's Been a While:

They were originally a thirteenth seat but were promoted after the war.

I can't remember what gender I thought of them as being at the time, so I'll leave it up to you to decide.

Funai: one of Fifth Division's fifteenth seats. He's mentioned in For All That Was Lost and appearance in Unwavering Light:

I think at the time I thought his first name would be Tsunemi, which has a few spellings, but I went with the one with the characters 常見 (I think together the characters mean 'usual/ordinary, see').

He's a painter, and usually paints landscapes; his skills are so good a few of his artworks are on display in the Fifth Division and he's been encouraged by many officers to sell his works.

Momo offers him tips on how to draw human anatomy while he helps her improve her nature drawings.

He has a small crush on Hirose, and he's one of the first people she ropes into being a part of her gardening groups.

While on a mission in the World of the Living, he first saw a ferris wheel and decided the next time he visited he would ride one; Momo suspects this is because he wanted to get a good view of a landscape or cityscape for a painting.

He dies in the TYBW during the second invasion.

He's survived by a younger adoptive brother who is in another division. He has requested to be transferred to Fifth Division to carry on his brother's legacy, but Shinji is reluctant as he wants the brother to live out his own life and not the life of someone else.

In appearance, he has tanned skin, thick dark auburn hair, brown eyes, and wears a black corded necklace with an engraved silver pendant on the end (much like this; the engraving he has is of a kanji characters which translate to 'keep moving forward', a mantra he had while growing up in the Rukongai). Funnily enough, Kubo ended up drawing how I imagined him a little when he drew the OG Gotei 13; the closest character to his appearance is Danjiro, former captain of Fifth Division (maybe they're related?!)

Hoga and Domen: Fifth Division officers who both hold the rank of twentieth seat (they share it with 4 others). They are mentioned in For All That Was Lost:

Domen I saw as being a man with the first name Zenzo (spelt 全三, with the character together meaning 'all, three'), while Hoga has the first name Sakae (spelt 栄 and meaning 'prosperity') and I saw the character at first as also a man but at other times as a woman, so you decide.

Both want to go to a beach in the World of the Living as neither of them had seen the sea before. While there, they also want to go to the bars and see if the drinks taste any different from those in the Rukongai.

They are big drinkers, and it'd be unusual for them to not go drinking at least once a week.

They were rivals once, often competing against each other at the Academy. Their rivalry was often viewed negatively by others, but to both of them it was a show of respect, that they saw the other as being of equal footing and worthy of competing against.

After graduating, their rivalry started to flourish into a friendship. They went to different divisions, until they ended up in the Fifth Division with the same rank.

That doesn't mean they're not competitive with each other anymore. They often challenge each other to do things, much to the division's enjoyment and sometimes chagrin.

They both die in the TYBW arc during the first invasion. Those that knew them were glad to learn that it appears they died fighting together.

I don't really have much to say for their appearances, but I imagine they'd both be almost 6 feet tall and look like they're in their mid to late twenties. Domen has a thick, bleach-blonde mullet (he originally had black hair, but he chose to colour it because he thought it's make him look 'cool'), while Hoga has black hair tied back in a short ponytail with bangs on either side of his/her face. If I had to pick characters that they most look like, Domen looks like Onizuka Eikichi and and Hoga looks like Danma Ryuji (if a man) from Shonan Junai Gumi.

Higuchi: Fifth Division's seventh seat. He appears in A Matter of the Heart, Petrichor, It's Him, and Unwavering Light.

I never thought of a first name for him, but I think Katsuo (勝雄, the characters together meaning 'victory, hero/manly') would be a good fit.

In It's Him, he's one of zombie Hitsugaya's victims. If this were still the case in the canon story line, he'd live but have a scar on his body and struggle for a short time to look at Hitsugaya. In A Matter of the Heart, he gets pretty emotional and riled up when he brings up Momo is one of the detention cells. So, yeah, needless to say he has a bit of a tense view of Tenth Division's captain.

He's a burly guy, definitely one of the bigger men in the Fifth Division, and often asked to lift things by Shinji as a result - such as new furniture to move in or supplies for the reconstruction efforts in the ten year time skip.

He's also a bit paternal, always looking out for the younger recruits and acting as a father figure to some fellow officers. He became protective of everyone in the division after Aizen's betrayal, including Momo. Needless to say, he was distrustful of Shinji at first, and was very slow to come around to him being his captain.

He was transferred from Ninth Division to Fifth when Aizen was still in charge. Given what happened with Aizen and Tosen, he wonders sometimes if the transfer was part of Aizen's plan.

While in Ninth Division, he was an editor for the Seireitei Communication. He sometimes misses the role and has tried multiple times to get a column in the magazine going, but his ideas are often derivative of other writers (such as Sui Feng's 'I'll Do Anything to Live' and Renji's 'Let's Do Shikai!!').

After the war, he finally tied to knot with 'his misses' (a resident in the Rukongai he's known since they met at a festival decades ago). Shinji was delighted when he said he wanted to host the after party at the Fifth Division, and it came as a much needed morale boost during the reconstruction efforts. To this day, he still gushes about her when he's drunk.

In appearance, Higuchi is muscular and tall (standing at over 6 feet) and he is a little older than Shinji. He has short dark hair, bushy eyebrows, and facial hair that he sometimes grows out but most keeps shaven. He looks a lot like the younger version of Tamiya Gantetsusai from Hell's Paradise.

Yumi Takagaki: one of Fifth Division's five thirteenth seats. She makes a cameo in Petrichor.

She's good friends with Narita from Tenth Division, who she met at the Academy. She's also good friends with Hirose and Hoga, the latter of whom she remembers from her district as a neighbour.

In appearance, she has light brown hair tied back in a bun with a beaded ribbon that's ends rest on her shoulders and dark green eyes.

Chiyoko Imai: Fifth Division's Tenth seat. She appears in An Unwavering Light:

She's one of the older members of the division, having been a Shinigami since before Shinji's tenure as captain. However, she wasn't transferred to Fifth Division until the second last year of Shinji's captaincy over 110 years ago, where she was one of Fifteenth seats.

She has been in various divisions, including Tenth, Third, and Seventh. Fifth Division has been her longest posting.

She's known to be elegant in the way she walks and gestures. Even something as simple as picking up a cup is done in a way that makes one think she is from a noble house. However, she came from one of the middle districts in the Rukongau, and has attributed her way of walking and doing things to her years as a dancer before she became a Shinigami.

She continues to dance by offering classes to the women of the division on occasion. She also goes performances at festivals and special division events.

She has mentored a several of the officers in the Fifth Division, notably Hoshino and Hirose, the latter of whom still comes to her for advice on training and life.

She also admired Aizen, though no where near to the degree Momo did, and was one of the few willing to welcome Shinji back when he returned to be captain of the division.

Due to her many years of experience, she has become proficient in zanjutsu and is know for having a fierce glare when in combat or training. It's so fierce some of the newer recruits are afraid to train with her.

Despite her prowess in combat, she has never had any great ambitions on becoming a seated officer. When the previous occupant of the Tenth seat retired, she was one of the candidates considered due to her control of her Shikai and high skills in zanjutsu. When she got the role, she was surprised and felt like an imposter for the first year of her tenure. She's been in the position for over fifty years.

In appearance, she has tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair with a grey streak that she alternates between keeping loosely tied back or out. When not on a mission or training, she wears makeup and has a penchant for bright eye shadows. The closest character she looks like would be a slightly older version of Ayuko Hayami from Golden Boy.

Takaya: before I knew about Genji, she was Fifth Division third seat in A Matter of the Heart. I have since gone back and edited her out, and she now one of their Fifteenth seats. She makes a cameo appearance in For What the Future Holds.

Minagawa: Tenth Divison's third seat. He makes a cameo in It's Been a While.

His first name is Yusuke, spelt 勇祐 and the characters together [I think based on what I searched] to mean 'courage, to help'.

He's an affable person who Toshiro and Rangiku know they can rely on to run the division if they ever need him to. He shares traits with each of his superiors, having the hardwork ethic and focus of his captain and is as observant about those around him as Rangiku.

He came to the Soul Society as a teenager and was sent to the Sakahone (East 76th) district. Like most residents, he worshiped Mimihagi.

He had anger issues and was prone to getting into fights with the teens and adults in the district when he first arrived. He still has a few scars from these fights.

Like most in the division, he has friends and family he will do anything to protect. He had a large adoptive family (3 sisters and 3 brothers) and was one of only three family members that had spiritual potential. They all took on the same surname to show they were a family.

The first member of his family he met was his youngest sister, who saved from being caught by the adults that were pursing him. He then met his two younger brothers when they helped him in a fight, his older sister after she was abandoned by her original caretakers, his second young sister when he helped her win a fight, and his older brother when he helped lead one of his younger brothers and youngest sister back to him.

Two of his brothers died during a Hollow attack, and his second sister passed away from illness not long after. These deaths made him vow to become strong enough to protect his family, and he prayed to Mimihagi every day to grant him the strength he needed to protect everyone he cherishes.

He was in Rangiku's year, but the two didn't really interact until they ended up in the same division.

He ended up in Thirteenth Division, where he learned to manage his anger issues and [under Jushiro and Kaien's leadership] adopted the philosophy that true strength comes from the bonds one makes rather than brute strength or talent. Until then, he basically thought 'What good are bonds if I don't the strength to protect them?' He'd been so focused on becoming stronger through fighting and harnessing his spiritual potential that he hadn't realised he'd been growing distant form his family.

He got transferred to Tenth Division upon Kaien's recommendation, as he thought he'd be a good for the division (in terms of personal goals and personality).

He's known Toshiro since the latter came to the Tenth Division. They've been on numerous missions together, and he saved his future captain during a battle against Huge Hollows. He has the scar on his bicep to prove it.

While working together as seated officers, Minagawa saw some of himself in Toshiro, but also saw the inverse of his own situation - rather than strive to obtain the power to protect those he cares about, Toshiro had immense power he needed to reign in in order to keep those he cared about safe.

When Toshiro became a captain, their relationship changed. Once Mingawa would treat him almost like a younger brother, but now it's more like friendly workmates. Every now and then he goes back to their 'old routine' though.

He actually doesn't have all that much to do most of the time, as Toshiro is too much of a hard worker. He's often tried to get his captain to let him complete some of the paperwork for him, fearing (like many in the division) he's overworking himself. For the most part, he checks in on subordinates, oversees training, and assigns Shinigami/patrols in the Rukongai and World of the Living. Rangiku convinces Mingawa to loosen up a little when he's working too hard and come drinking with her if she can't get the lieutenants or captains to go with her.

He has a pet parakeet who lives in his room named Taiyo. On his breaks and in his spare time, he takes Taiyo out and wonders around the division with him on his shoulder. He was a gift from Minagawa's family to congratulate him on becoming third seat.

He lost his left pinkie and ring fingers in the TYBW arc during the second invasion (the pinkie is completely gone, while he still has up to the second knuckle of his ring finger). Twelfth Division supplied him with a special glove that has prosthetic fingers within and ensures can still perform kido spells that require both hands.

I've written a lot for him here, and yet he's only made a cameo in one fic! XD I'll see if I can include him in my next one.

In appearance, he looks like his in his late twenties or early thirties and has slightly tanned skin, thick and wavy hair with a shortish fringe over one side of his face (in terms of colour, I've imagined him with black hair but also dark red hair, so who knows, maybe he got a dye job at one point), dark coloured eyes, and he wears a few things in his left wrist, include a woven bracelet his youngest sister made. He has several scars, all of which aren't visible when he wears his uniform except for one that runs from edge of his right eyebrow and angles to end near his ear (he got this from a Hollow and was lucky to survive).

In To know Love, Toshiro observes that he glances at an officer from the Thirteenth Division named Mako. Could this be love? ;D

He's actually shown up in the anime! Okay, well, not quite, but I got a shock when I rewatched the scene where Toshiro asks to be trained in zanjutsu and saw a background character that looks so much like how I imagined him.

Kenichi Hanae: Tenth Division's fourth seat. He appears in Petrichor.

He grew up in one of the higher districts and was adopted by a couple who run a restaurant. His family comprises of his mother, father, his grandfather, and an older brother.

Before he became a Shinigami, he worked with this parents in the restaurant and learned how to cook. Because of this, he's ended up as one of the divisions best cooks, though he rarely gets to show it off because his rank requires him to stay away from the kitchen.

He's taken many division members to his family's restaurant, including Toshiro and Rangiku.

In appearance, he appears to be in his late thirties with an olive skintone and looks like some BLEACH background characters, so keep picking!

Furakawa: Tenth Division's ninth seat. He appears in It's Been a While, where he may or may have not made a not-so-great lunch for his sick captain.

If I had to pick a given name for him, it'd be Atsuto, spelt 篤人 and together the characters supposedly meaning 'fervent/kind/serious/deliberate, person'.

He's an anxious and sensitive person, often startled when something suddenly happens.

He failed to get into the Academy four times, but managed to scrape in on his fifth attempt.

He has two childhood friends back in the Rukongai. He became a Shinigami so he could provide for them with the money he earns. He keeps in contact with them through writing and infrequent visits.

He, along with the majority of the division, notice the connection between his captain and Momo. He supports them for sure, but he gets more nervous than usually when he sees them together. One time he walked in on the two them having a chat, and he apologized profusely and rushed out of the room.

He's a not a good cook.

He looks like most BLEACH background character, so take hour pick again!

Narita: one of Tenth Division's eleventh seats. She makes a cameo in Petrichor.

Never thought of a first name for her, but I think Ageha would be a good fit (spelt 愛華羽 and [according to my searches] the characters together mean 'affection, flower/petal/splendor, feathers').

She's an empathetic soul, and her friends back in the Ruokngai feared she wouldn't be a good fit as a Shinigami due to the violence she'd have to experience. However, if it's to protect souls, she isn't afraid to fight.

She applied for Fourth Division, but ended up in Tenth due her kido skills not being up to Fourth Division's standards. She still hopes to be transferred to there one day, but in the meantime focuses on improving her kido.

She likes to play shogi and practices ikebana in her spare time. She gives finished bouquets to her friends or Rangiku has them displayed around the division.

She's good friends with Fifth Division's Yumi Takagaki, who she met at the Academy. She's actually pretty friendly with everyone in the division, no one has anything bad to say about her.

In appearance, she looks like she's in her early to mid twenties and has long, black, straight hair she keeps in a side ponytail on one shoulder and blue eyes. The closest character that comes to her in appearance is [an older looking] Momo Yaoyorozu from Boku No Hero Academia.

And that's all as far as I can remember! If you made it to the end of this post, thank you for taking the time to read it all the way through! i appreciate any and all thoughts on these characters of course, or if you have some of your own characters, I'd love to read about them! :D

[c-worldproductions]

The Silver Master meets the Lieutenant of the 10th Division.

⭐️ Riku: me

🧣 Rangiku Matsumoto: 1morer4l (IG)

📷 Photographer: I think Kai?

🗓️ Event: @otafest 2023

[intuitive-revelations]

FLUXES [Celestis: Engineered Participants / Technologies] Example: "DOCTOR, The"

[Image description, courtesy of @quailfence: a series of pictures of text, alternated with screencaps and gifs from Doctor Who.

1: Text: Fluxes: [Celestis: Engineered Participants/Technology] Individuals transposed backwards in time but not too far in space, using a very high chaotic limiter setting and tied to their home period by a thread of biodata

2: The Eleventh Doctor stands in the future corpse of his TARDIS, looking and a pulsing stream of light that has replaced the console. He says, "That is the scar tissue of my journey through the universe. My path through time and space."

3: Text: He raised a finger. 'Look. There.

Now she could just make out the thread in the moonlight. It was just a faint reflection, maybe a foot or two long, about a metre off the ground. A taut strand of spiderweb hanging in the air, not attached to anything.

'What is it?' Fitz asked.

'It's only partially rotated into three dimensions,' he said. He pushed his finger right through the glimmering line, without affecting it. 'That's why it looks one- or two-dimensional. The rest is still perpendicular to what we can see - woven into higher space, or the time vortex…'

'Yes,' said Fitz, 'but what is it?' 'It's what your friend mistook for a ley line.' The Doctor was scuttling around the silver thread, peering at it from every angle, getting more and more agitated. 'It's part of the fabric of space-time itself. What DNA is to your genetic code, this stuff is to biodata. And it's all just exposed here now. Personality, history, memory, perception, all vulnerable…'

'I'm going to have to ask you again, aren't I?' said Fitz.

The Doctor said, 'It's me.'

4: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth doctors in the TARDIS. 14: "But you're fine?" 15: "I'm fine, because you fixed yourself. We're Time Lords, we're doing rehab out of order."

5: Text: The subject is turned loose in his or her own history, and the limiter setting allows tiny actions taken by the future version to have considerable effects on the past version. The biodata link then transfers these changes to the future version, which alters it, and thus alters the changes made to the past version. Therefore, the individual's history is kept constantly in flux.

6: The Fugitive Doctor says, "Let me take it from the top: Hello, I'm the Doctor."

7: Text: Let me finish. Think back to that time when you went to see your previous selves.

8: Ten, Eleven, and War talk to each other. Ten: "You're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history?" Eleven: "We change history all the time. I'm suggesting far worse."

9: Text: 'Maybe there's no one home on Gallifrey,' said the boy softly. There was just the one of him.

The Doctor looked at him, cupping the small white cube in his hands. The boy said, Maybe they all left. Or maybe the whole planet's being destroyed, and undestroyed, and destroyed, and you just caught them at the wrong moment.

10: The TARDIS by the ruins of Gallifrey

11: Text: 'It's impossible,' said the Doctor. 'It's impossible for my people. Our past is unreachable. What's written can't be unwritten.'

'Who said your history can't change?'

Another boy answered, 'Someone from his history.'

And another: 'Maybe it's the second-biggest lie in Time Lord history.'

12: Dhawan!Master tells Thirteen, "You are the Timeless Child."

13: Thitreen stares at a ruined house. Swarm whispers in her ear and tells her, "All the memories you've lost, all the people you've been. It's all in there, contained within that house."

14: Text: And it was like the Doctor's home. As if his ship understood the loss of the House and had compensated to fill the emptiness. Shadowy corridors, alcoves and stairways, a secret at every turn. Like being in the Doctor's head. Like his life, for that matter, the details of which were strewn like flotsam across the floor.

15: Text: 'Sweet,' said the little boy. 'That's my favourite of your origin stories, too.'

The Doctor opened his eyes. He had been laughing, he realised, he felt that lightness in himself. The boys had all moved away, behind him, leaving him facing the empty dark of the warehouse.

'What do you mean?' he asked. His voice sounded very small.

'Is this the version where they banned all mention of his name, and yours, for consorting with aliens? Or the one where he got every record of himself deleted from the files?'

'Feel free to believe either of them,' snapped the Doctor, 'or both of them, or neither of them. If you're curious about my past, I want there to be as many wrong answers as possible.'

16: The Eighth Doctor tells someone, "I'm half human. On my mother's side."

17: Text: 'Well he's a hybrid, you know that. A Gallifreyan not born of Gallifreyan, the one who unites the two races and brings good old human niceness into their alien society. Aliens need that, y'know.'

'A human hybrid? She saw the contempt in his curling lip. 'Pseudoscientific nonsense. There's no evidence,' he repeated.

'He's allowed to be different. He's got a prophecy and everything.'

18: Lady Me says, "By your own reasoning, why couldn't the Hybrid be half Time Lord, half human?"

19: Text: Someone giggled. 'Let's play pin the tale on the donkey.'

'Maybe you didn't use to have a father.'

'Maybe you're living in the middle of a time war. Maybe there's an Enemy out there -'

The Doctor shouted, 'I'm not listening!'

'- who's rewriting you when you're not looking!'

'Maybe you weren't always half human.'

'But now you've become always half human.' 'Maybe you weren't always a Time Lord.'

But now you've always been a Time Lord.'

'Maybe you originally came from some planet in the forty-ninth century. Fleeing from the Enemy who'd overrun your home -'

'I said I'm not listening! Laa laa laa laa laa -'

'- and you've just been written and rewritten and overwritten, ever since.'

'Pin the tale!'

'How d'you know it's not true?'

'How could you know it's not true?'

The voices crowded in. 'How would you know, huh?'

'How would you know?'

'How would 'How would you 'How 'How would you know? you know? you know? know?'

'Why would I care?' shouted the Doctor.

The boy fell silent.

20: Lady Me asks, "Am I right? Is it true?" Twelve replies, "Does it matter?"

21: Text: However, the one group from the Homeworld which has excelled at flux-engineering is the Celestis.

22: Two asks the Time Lords, "Now then… what about me?"

23: Tecteun tells Thirteen, "Which is ehy we engineered the Fluyx: Shut the universe down and you within it."

24: Text: Even Mictlan itself can be considered a kind of enormous flux, an endlessly-shifting realm so cortosive to the rest of history that its heartland has to be kept on the outer skin of the universe

24: The Fourteenth Doctor tells Donna, "I invoked a supersition, at the edge of the universe, where the walls are thin and everything is possible."

25: The space station from Wild Blue Yonder

26: Text: There are suggestions of a stable middle-ground between the two fates, in which the physical matter of the flux is lost but the meaning of the subject/ victim is retained, a series of memetic connections with no flesh to support it. Yet this entity exists only on a purely theoretical level, relying on the perceptions of others to survive at all.

27: The Twelfth Doctor walks up to the TARDIS console. He says, "Can't wait to hear what I say." Glancing at the viewer, he adds, "I'm noting without an audience."

28: Text: You know what Sam represents. If a tree falls in a forest and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound? Stop me if I'm getting too abstract here, but if a Time Lord saves the world and nobody witnesses him doing it, does history care? She's your witness. The thing you need to make you whole.

29: The First Doctor looks at the viewer and says, "Incidentally, a Happy Christmas to all of you at home!" End description.]

[Plain text: Fluxes [Celestis: Engineered Participants / Technologies] Example: "Doctor, The". End plain text.]

@dw-described

[onmitsu-taicho]

@ryusxnka continued from here

With a wordless nod, as for the moment they had nothing further to say, Sui-Feng turned and walked off; the empty sleeve where their prosthetic arm should be fluttering slightly with their movements. Either the younger Captain would follow them from the balcony where they observed their troops' training and to their office, or he wouldn't, and the grey-eyed assassin didn't care which. Assuming Hitsugaya did follow them, however...

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho may be a skilled combatant," the taller swordsman sneered, "but there does not seem to be a single iota of sense in that pretty head of hers." Of course, only belatedly did Sui-Feng realize that — once again — their autism lack of filter had asserted itself. Mentally berating themself fr the slip, they clenched their jaw and gritted their teeth in an effort to keep silent. If they said nothing else, he would keep quiet, too.

Hopefully.

[crimsonstray]

Offers him a new headband. " For your birthday or whatever. " It was tiger-printed with red and black stripes; he had heard Rukia mention the style to Matsumoto weeks ago.

he honestly wasn't expecting this. a birthday gift from the smallest taichou. to be remembered on his birthday and given a gift to boot too. how very considerate of him. especially given that last time he played a trick on him. but renji was going to ignore that for now.

' thank you, hitsugaya-taichou! this is unexpected! '

[spikeisawesome456]

I had yet another amazing idea for a poll, so get ready for this super divisive question that WILL tear families and friendships apart.

[natalievoncatte]

1. Leaves

Lena was, in all honesty, having the time of her life. Since they’d arrived here, she had finally relaxed. Really relaxed. Lex was gone. Capital-G Gone. The last of Cadmus had been mopped up. The Conpany was no longer a problem- L-Corp was being sold off, from entire divisions down to sales of old office chairs. The Estate and nine-tenths of the family holdings were all being sold off, and the money quietly funneled into a holding company. Sam Arias would manage Lena’s wealth.

Lena had nothing to do anymore, and it was glorious. She’d done what she’d never done in her entire life: rest. She ate when was hungry, slept when she was tired. She stayed up late finishing a thriller novel she’d grabbed off one of Kara’s tables and slept it off the following day. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, so one day she said, “Let’s go watch the leaves change.”

“Not much of that in National City,” Kara had said, not looking up from her laptop.

Lena was flipping channels when she made the suggestion, another pedestrian activity that had been too far beneath her to ever indulge during her CEO days.

“I’m serious,” said Lena. “I’ll rent us a cabin, book a flight, and we’ll be there by tomorrow morning. Vermont, or maybe New Hampshire.”

Kara looked up. “I could just fly us.”

“Short distances only,” said Lena.

Kara weighed it for a moment. She looked at Lena for a drawn out instant, eyes darting this way and that. Lena knew she had a deadline; she had become privy to the details of Kara’s life ever since she started couch surfing at Kara’s place after dumping her chic penthouse on some petroleum heir from the Emirates.

She had been “crashing” at Kara’s place for three months and had her own key, but they weren’t talking about it. Lena had remained on the couch, falling asleep to YouTube videos of molten lava and cat purring sounds, while Kara puttered around the house.

There were moments of tension. Pauses during shared meals. Moments when they pressed closed on sofa, times when Kara got up to go to bed and Lena felt this yearning to follow that she never quite obeyed.

Kara was thinking. Hard.

“Rent a cabin?”

“Yeah, someplace remote. So you can take a break. You’ve been working harder than ever, Darling. It almost feels like you’re avoiding me.”

Kara swallowed. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll fly. The regular way.”

They did, arriving in Maine less than a day later. Lena rented a Land Rover (because they were on an Adventure) and did all the driving, three hours from the airport to the cabin.

Kara rode in silence, though Lena heard her gasp.

The trees were beautiful. They were alive with color, as if an impressionist master had made the world a canvas and run riot. It was more than a mass of reds and yellows and oranges. It was astonishing.

It was dark when they arrived at the cabin. Lena had chosen one with two bedrooms, though she hesitated when she did. It had a full kitchen with a gas stove and all the amenities but also a fire pit and picnic table and gazebo, and overlooked a private swath of a small lake. It was like something out of a Bob Ross painting.

They were both tired from the flight, or at least Lena was, and turned in right away. When she rose the next day, she cheerily told her cabin-mate she was headed into town to get some supplies.

Kara went out to chop wood. Lena, of course, watched a few swings before leaving. Kara didn’t really need an axe but Lena didn’t care; she was preoccupied watching the muscles of Kara’s shoulders and back as she swung the splitting maul.

Lena got back before noon and carried the groceries inside, enough for her to use the fancy kitchen to prepare a mighty feast for her companion.

She didn’t hear the sobs until she had most of it put away. Lena bolted to the back door and stopped.

Kara was sitting on the picnic table, feet resting on the long board that acted as a seat. She was holding a single golden leaf on her hand, studying it and sobbing softly to herself.

“Kara?”

She looked up, soft blue eyes wet with tears. Lena felt a wave of grief but also panic, rushing to the table.

“Kara, what’s wrong?”

“I,” Kara started. “Lena, I’m scared.”

Lena swallowed hard. “Why?”

Kara looked at the leaf. “Another year past. The leaves turn colors and fall, school starts, things change.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Alex is married now. They’ve got a kid to raise. Nia and Brainy will probably get married soon. We hadn’t had a game night in two months.”

Lena swallowed. Kara was right. When Lena had first joined, then rejoined, this wonderful found family had been aggressively social, and now they forgot to text as often as not. They all spent more time at home or at their real jobs than at the Tower. The world had just started moving on. Kara didn’t even wear the cape every day anymore.

“I know,” said Lena, her voice thick. “But you’ve got me.”

Lena felt her pulse start to race. Kara had been so distant, she couldn’t help wonder if she was enough. If boring, retired Lena wasn’t enough. Oh God, what if Kara was thinking about going to Argo? Or the future?

“Not forever,” said Kara, her voice cracking like glass. She let the leaf drop from her fingers. “Eventually you’ll go. All of you. Brainy, Nia, Alex, Clark if he doesn’t come back from Argo. You.”

“Oh,” Lena said, softly. “Oh, Kara.”

“I think I might be immortal,” Kara whispered. “I don’t feel any aches or pains. Nothing about me changes. I don’t forget things like people do. My body just keeps repairing itself and it never makes any mistakes. What if I’m just like this forever? Or even a thousand years? What if everyone is gone and their kids are gone and no one knows who I am anymore?!” she was frantic now, the words coming too fast.

Lena reached out, tentatively. She put her hands on Kara’s shoulders and pulled herself in, wrapping her best friend in a hug.

Birds chirped, the waters of the lake made soft glug-glugs, and all around them was the soft tapping sound of the leaves, already letting go.

“I won’t leave you,” Lena whispered. “Kara, I won’t. If I have to live forever I will. I’ll find a way. Tech, magic, fifth dimensional imps. I’ll find a way.”

Kara sighed, arms firmly around her.

“Do you need space?” Lena asked. “I could leave you alone for a bit. Look for a place when we get back, so I’m not on the couch all the time.”

“I don’t want you to leave,” Kara blurted, almost cutting her off. “I know I’ve been distant, it’s just… I keep looking at you and thinking about all the time I’ve lost and all the mistakes I’ve made and how I’ll regret it forever. We have so little time and I’m so scared I’ll lose you.”

Lena pulled back to look at her. “We have a long time to make more memories. As many as we can.”

“I’ll lose you too,” said Kara. “I know you want more. A family, a partner. You’ll start to have less time for me. You’ll all just fall away and I’ll be stuck here alone.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“How can you say that?”

Kara started to pull away. Lena stopped her with a tug on her arms. It stunned her, sometimes, how she could overpower a god with her tiny human hands. How she could stun the other whirlwind or a touch.

“Kara,” said Lena. “I don’t want someone else. I want you.”

“Me?” Kara squeaked.

Lena cleared her throat. “I wanted to tell you at the wedding. I mean, I didn’t dress like that and go stag for the hell of it. I just lost my nerve and you seemed so overwhelmed.”

Kara blinked a few times.

“You want me?” said Kara.

Lena felt a cold rush of terror. She’d just blurted it out, artlessly, unplanned.

“Like want me want me? Like kissing want me?”

Lena licked her lips. “Yes. I’d like to kiss you right now, if you let me.”

Kara settled back into the table, leaning forward. Lena leaned in, pushing her back slightly, moving her hands from shoulders to hips, scoring the way Kara tensed and trembled. She was hardly inexperienced, Lena knew, but something about this felt like a first kiss, even for her. It tasted like one, too, down to the quivery way their lips met.

Kissing quickly became something more. Lena didn’t know if she was pulling or Kara pushing. It didn’t much matter; the path led to the bed in Kara’s room, marked by a trail of shed clothing.

Years of anticipation overwhelmed them both; dinner was forgotten, and they didn’t even emerge until the next day.

It was in the morning sun, the light turning Kara’s skin gold, that Lena saw it. Twisted within one of the curling locks of hair, splayed around Kara’s head on the pillow, was a faintly visible thread of purest silver, chased through the gold like an engraver’s masterpiece. Lena couldn’t help but twirl the errant strands around her finger.

As Kara slept, she looked up through the window and watched the wind as it caressed the leaves.

[gallusrostromegalus]

I must ask how my Most Favorite Boys, Jushiro Ukitake and Shinji Hirako, are doing in AEIWAM?

When Shinji returns to his post as Captain of the 5th after his exile, he is DETERMINED to not repeat his past mistakes and actually get to know the shinigami serving under him. He needs... Some kind of event, something people will voluntarily attend, where they'll tell him about themselves, and with a bit of structure because he is an awkward sod, and social interactions need RULES, DAMMIT-

"Now hang on-" says Shinji after staring at the blank office wall in silence for the last thirty minutes. "-that's not a bad idea!"

"...Is he okay?" Lieutenant Momo asks quietly.

"Oh yeah, he's always a little freak. Talks to himself and gets a lot out of the conversation." Also Lieutenant Hiyori nods. "You don't need to worry until he breaks out the craft supplies."

"He just pulled out a bunch of markers and construction paper." Momo pointed to their captain as he scribbled furiously on the paperwork he was ignoring.

"Aw. Fuck." Groaned Hiyori. "Well this is gonna be cringe as hell."

***

A few nights later, most of the fifth division assembled in the auditorium, slightly confused, but they had been promised there would be no additional work from this meeting, and there was an open bar, so they were in figurative and literal high spirits.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Fifth Division, welcome to TONIGHT'S GAME!" A cheerful and showman-like voice called out over the speakers, and the stage curtain rose to reveal a brightly colored game show stage where there had not been one before.

"Tonight's lovely contestants are- all the way from payroll, it's Fifth Division Tenth Seat Tenya Danshin!" The voice called out as the familiar face of their payroll and scheduling manager trotted out onstage and took his place behind the first of three podiums. There was some scattered and genuine, if confused applause from the audience.

"He's Big, he's Bad, he's just a little Bizarre, he's Josuke Araki!" The voice continued as a notably tall and muscular member took his place behind the middle podium with a wave and broad grin. There was more clapping and a few cheers this time.

"Currently being dragged onstage by my lovely assistant, it's my second favorite Lieutenant, Hiyori Sarugaki!" The voice continued as Hiyori was wrestled onstage and behind the third podium by Momo. The audience whooped and snickered at the spectacle.

"FUCK YOU, YOU FREAK!" Hiyori roared, flipping off the audience and the figure behind the final podium on the other side of the stage.

"I'm your host, ME! I've been here the whole time!" Grinned Shinji, dressed in a rather snappy three piece suit and holding a microphone. "WELCOME, all my lovely division members and Hiyori, to Tonight's Game! Now, you all know how to play, right?"

"Um. No. Sorry sir." Muttered Tenya as Josuke shook his head.

"You didn't tell us shit!" Hiyori growled.

"That's RIGHT!" Shinji's Cheshire Cat smile shined under the spotlights.

"You see, I wanted to get to know everyone in the 5th a little better, and there is nothing quite like a game show to get people to reveal some truly startling sides of themselves, but playing the same game over and over would be boring! So, every night we play Tonight's Game, the game is a different game than last time, and the contestants will all start with blank slates!" He explained, entirely too pleased with himself. "So- the only way to win is by learning, the only way to learn is by playing, and the only way to begin is by beginning, so without further ado- Momo, will you please bring out THE LIE DETECTOR."

The small curtains at the back of the stage opened, and Momo rolled out a cart with a strange device covered in dials and switches with a long antenna and a large lightbulb on top.

"Thank you Momo! Now, the clever bastards in the 12th whipped this up for me so I have absolutely no idea how it actually works, but I am assured this is the latest cutting-edge in Veracity Technology. Let's turn it on and try it out! Tenya-!"

"Yes, sir!" Tenya snapped to attention. "No need to be formal, I'm only your host, not your captain right now." Shinji waved. "Tell me Tenya- Do you have any children?"

"I- Um, my wife and I have three children, two little boys and our infant daughter?" He stammered, confused.

DING! The Device charmed, light bulb lighting up bright green.

"That is CORRECT!" Shinji grinned. "You get a point!"

There was another chime as the screen on the front of Tenya's Podium lit up and displayed a "1".

"Oh, I see!" Laughed Tenya.

"Josuke!" called Shinji.

"Capt- Host?" Josuke stopped mid-salute.

"Very good! Tell me Josuke, do you live in the barracks?" Shinji asked with genuine interest.

"Uh, no. I live with my Mom." Josuke shook his head.

DING! Said the device.

"That is Correct!" Shinji nodded approvingly. "You get a point as well!"

"Oh, so, every time we tell the truth, we get a point?" Asked Josuke.

"Very quick on the uptake my friend!" Shinji winked. "Of course, as the game goes on, the questions are going to get much harder to answer Truthfully..."

Oooooooh! Gasped the audience, invested now.

"What happens if we lie?" Wondered Tenya.

"Even if we did- how would he fucking know?" Hiyori rolled her eyes.

"You can try it and find out!" Shinji grinned with more than a hint of Menace. "Hiyori! It's your turn!"

"Ugh. What?" She groaned.

"Tell me, When is my birthday?" Asked Shinji.

"I don't know and I don't care." She smirked, sticking her tongue out at him.

BZZRK! The Device buzzed angrily, and the light flashed red. OHH! laughed the audience.

"What the FUCK?" Yelped Hiyori.

"Ooh!" Shinji winced, thoroughly enjoying himself. "I'm afraid that is INCORRECT! According to the screen back here, you spent the better part of THREE MONTHS tracking down a specific part to repair my sound system and traveled halfway across the planet to deliver it personally to me on my birthday. So not only do you know, you DO care, and for that I'm afraid I'm going to have to dock you two points."

Hiyori's screen lit up and displayed a "-2"

"WHAT THE HELL?" Hiyori wailed. "You didn't even see me when I gave you that Banana Plug or whatever-!"

"I did not!" Shinji grinned. "-but The Device knows, and is infallible!" "That's terrifying!" Tenya laughed nervously. "Alright contestants, the questions are going to get harder now, so consider your answers to them carefully." Shinji warned, a finger up to his lips. "Contestants- does any of your underwear have holes in it?"

"...Can we refuse to answer on the grounds it might get us in trouble?" asked Josuke.

"Yes! But you won't get any points for that round, and you may not win our Lovely Prize this week. Speaking of- Momo! Will you please show our contestants what they're playing for this week?"

Momo emerged from backstage with a large, blank sign, which she turned over and held over her head for all to see.

AN EXTRA WEEK OF PAID VACATION

OHHH! exclaimed the audience, with a few audible mutters of Damn, a whole week? and How do you get on this show?.

"ALL MY UNDERWEAR HAS GOT HOLES IN IT!" Shouted Josuke, now with heavily-motivated enthusiasm. Laughter exploded out of the audience, thoroughly entertained.

DING! chimed the device, and the score on Josuke's podium went up.

"Josuke taking an early and shameless lead!" Beamed Shinji, delighted that his plan was working. "Tenya?"

"I-ah, I don't think so?" Tenya blushed. "I bathe the kids and get them ready for bed while my wife does the laundry." He tried to explain.

BZZRK! The Device contested, red light flashing and the audience howled with laughter.

"Uh-oh, that's Not Correct!" Grinned Shinji. "According to the device, a significant amount of your clothes have holes in them, and you don't notice because you get dressed in the dark. You didn't outright lie though, so you will only not get a point instead of a deduction."

"WHAT?" Yelped Hiyori, outraged.

"Yeah, that's fair." Tenya winced. "Seriously though- where does this thing get it's information from?"

"...Hiyori?" Shinji leered playfully at his lieutenant.

"Yeah, it's all got holes. They come that way- Two for my legs and one for my torso." Hiyori snarled.

DING! agreed The Device.

"That is *technically* correct, which is the BEST kind of correct! You get a point!" Shinji cheered, and so did the audience.

"FINALLY!" She shouted, but her eyes narrowed with competitive enthusiasm.

---

The game continued for an hour, with a mix of group and solo questions, but equal chances to score points awarded to all contestants. Josuke was shameless but ill-informed, causing him to fail several rounds, Tenya was honest even as his face flushed red and he crumpled behind his Podium. Hiyori did her best to be only as honest as she had to be, and as the game continued, they came to a three-way tie.

"Before we begin the final round-" Shinji said, intoning a gentle sincerity. "Contestants, you've been so honest with me. Like. Alarmingly Honest with me. So I need to be honest with you- I do know how The Lie Detector works."

There was a scandalized gasp from all three contestants and the audience.

"Okay- I *sort of* know how The Device works." Shinji admitted. "I don't know what 'Wiffy' is-"

"YOU MEAN THE FUCKING WI-FI?" Howled Hiyori.

"Oh, like you know how it works!" Shinji glared.

"It's using a radio frequency to transmit Data instead of an electrical pulses like internet usually does." She scoffed. "-AND I KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE IT!"

Shinji glared. "...I should deduct a point from you for insubordination."

"You can't do that, you're the Host, not the Captain!" Said Josuke cheerfully.

"Yeah, unless Host is a Military rank, it's arguing, not insubordination."

DING! Agreed The Device.

"DON'T GANG UP ON ME!" Shinji wailed. "Fine, fine. Anyway, I might not know how Why-Figh works, but I *DO* know how the device knows if you're lying or not. Would my Lovely Assistants please come to the stage?"

Momo emerged from backstage, wearing a labcoat and holding another device with an antenna that matched the Lie Detector, followed by a middle aged woman holding a Baby, an older woman, and Mashiro Kuna.

"Akkiko?" Tenya yelped, and his wife laughed manically.

"MOM??" Wailed Josuke.

"MASHIRO??" Hiyori bellowed, jumping up onto her Podium. "YOU SOLD ME OUT?!"

"FOR A BAG OF CORN CHIPS!" Mashiro cackled.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN PAY HER?!" Hiyori howled at Shinji.

"She was gonna do it for free! I talked her UP to a bag of corn chips!" Shinji protested. "But YES! You've all been deceived! Hoodwinked!Bamboozled, even! Which brings us to our Final Question!"

The crowd roared with excitement.

"I started this game because I wanted to get to know everyone better- but I have to ask, how well do YOU know each other, and so I must ask you all if you know these people as well as they know you?"

There was a loud OOOH! of intrigue from the audience.

"Just to make it extra-exciting, all of these questions will be worth up to three points!" Shinji grinned, then slowly turned to the first Podium. "Tenya."

"Oh god." Tenya laughed nervously.

"Your lovely wife. You've been married for ten year now, so you theoretically know what she looks like, right?" Shinji teased. "So, for a potential three points and week of paid vacation- Do you know what color Akkiko's eyes are?"

Akkiko giggled, turning around as Tenya leaned as far forward on his Podium and squinted at her. With a deep sigh, he slumped over the podium in defeat.

"...I do not." He groaned and Akkiko cackled.

"That is CORRECT!" Shinji cheered.

"I'm not good with colors." Tenya tried to explain. "-this morning I actually asked her what color MY eyes are."

"YES! That's what I was waiting to hear!" Shinji shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "All three points!"

The audience cheered loudly.

Shinji turned to the next contestant. "Josuke."

"Oh no." Josuke giggled.

"What is your mother's favorite food?" Shinji asked.

Josuke stared blankly.

"SURELY you are not living in your mother's house and NOT COOKING FOR HER, are you?" Shinji asked with no small amount of menace.

"You're never going to get married if you can't cook!" Tenya nodded in agreement.

"I COOK!" Josuke protested. "...sometimes." he added, cringing.

"-So. What do you make for your beloved mother, who works so hard taking care of her adult son?" Shinji teased.

"LOTSA STUFF THAT'S WHY I DON'T KNOW!" Josuke wailed. "I COOK KATSUDON, I COOK RAMEN, I COOK CURRY, I COOK OMURICE- I EVEN LEARNED HOW TO COOK WESTERN FOODS LIKE LASAGNA AND CHILLI CHEESE DOG-! DING! Went the device, Josuke's mother holding the radio.

"Was your favorite in there Mrs. Akari?"

"Yes! I like Chili Cheese Dog." She smiled. "I always eat seconds!"

"YOU ALWAYS EAT SECONDS OF EVERYTHING I COOK I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE YOU LIKE THE MOST!" Josuke wailed.

"That is also true! He is a very good cook! And single!" She nodded up at Shinji.

"-And he's single!" Shinji grinned at the audience, some of whom whistled back. "Three points, for your culinary skills! Which means we have a Tie!"

The audience tittered with speculation and excitement.

"...Hiyori." Shinji grinned.

"You're a dead man as soon as you sign off on my vacation time." She glared.

"I mean, I can end the game right now." Shinji wagged his finger at her. "-But I can't resist the opportunity to humliate you. Now, You and Mashiro have been living under the same roof for longer than Josuke and Tenya have been alive, so to be fair to them, I'll ask you about someone you've met more recently but should still know pretty well-"

Hiyori squinted at him.

"-What is Momo's Favorite Animal?"

"What?" Hiyori laughed. "-Everyone knows it's Penguins!"

"Really?" asked Josuke. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, I didn't know that either and I've served under her for decades now!" Said Tenya.

"What? How do you guys NOT know that?" Demanded Hiyori. "Her phone background is a Rockhopper Penguin, she's got a Fairy penguin squeeze toy in her desk for really long phone calls and she's always talking about wanting to go to the Tokyo aquarium in the living world to see them in person! She's even got a HUGE collection of penguin plushies in her r-" DINGDINGDINGDINGSING!! rang the Machine as Momo furiously pressed the button, face red as a beet.

"Wow!" Shinji smiled. "I'm surprised! You seem to know Miss Hinamori really well!"

"Uh, duh? We're colleagues." Hiyori rolled her eyes.

Momo sighed with relief.

"Interesting! Follow-up question- What's Mashiro's surname?" Shinji asked.

Hiyori blinked. "...uhhhhhhhh..."

"You heard Kensei yell it at least six times a day for the last century you jackass!" Laughed Mashiro.

"UHHHHH..." Hiyori paled, and the audience roared with laughter.

"Hmm... I seem to remember you pretending you didn't care about my birthday, and yet, you do- For you to remember her favorite animal and in such detail, Momo must be VERY IMPORTANT to you!"

The audience giggled Momo turned scarlet again and slowly crumpled into a ball. Mashiro vibrated with excitement beside her.

"Yeah?" Hiyori glared at Shinji. "She's the smartest person in the whole damn division and does half your job for you? If I win, I'm giving the week off to her just to watch you flail around without her! No wait- I'll set up the webcam and we can split the week off, go to the aquarium AND watch Shinji squirm like a worm an a-! Uh? Momo? You okay there?" She asked, finally noticing Momo laying on the floor, borderline catatonic with embarrassment.

"This is FASCINATNG!" Shinji grinned. "You are apparently so immune to embarrassment that you have somehow made it bounce off you and target Momo!"

"What's to be embarrassed about? I like her okay?" Hiyori blinked. "She's great! I wanna work with her forever!"

Shinji leaned forward on his elbows, chin in his hands and stared at Hiyori, positively vibrating with excitement.

"What?" She glared.

"You are. SO CLOSE. To comprehending something." He said, wide-eyed and delighted. "It's fascinating to see someone on the precipice like this."

Hiyori stared blankly at him. clueless.

"So you like Momo. We've established that." Shinji said, attempting to throw her a bone. "H- how do you think Momo feels about you?" Hiyori slowly lowered her gaze to Momo. The entire audience watched in hushed fascination as Hiyori frowned at the situation, thinking hard-

"...Momo?" Hiyori's voice was suddenly nervous. "Do you- have I just been annoying you? Becuase I can stop-"

Momo Hinamori was abruptly on her feet, crouched atop the Podium, fists balled in the front of Hiyori's shushako, pulling the blonde's face up so it was mere inches from hers. "HIYORI SARUGAKI YOU ARE THE MOST INFURIATING WOMAN IN THE UNIVERSE!"

"Fuck!" Hiyori yelped. "I'm really sorry, I'll- I'll leave you alo-"

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO, MISSY!" Momo continued, grabbing Hiyori's face. "YOU'RE WINNING THIS GAME, YOU'RE SPLITTING THE WEEK OFF WITH ME, YOU ARE GETTING A HOTEL IN THE LIVING WORLD AND THEN *I* AM GOING TO-'

In the videotape of the game that mysteriously appeared in the ninth division later that week, the next forty-seven seconds of sound had been obscured by a single, loud, continuous "BLEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" sound, but Mashiro was visibly looking up some of the terms being shouted on her phone, Josuke's mother sprinted up to cover her son's ears to no avail, Akkiko was pointing between herself and Tenya with excitement, and Shinji's jaw fell so far open it looked like it had become unhinged from his skull.

"-AND IF EITHER OF US CAN WALK IN THE MORNING, THEN WE'RE GONNA GO SEE SOME PENGUINS!" Momo finished, staring Hiyori down with a terrifying blend of romantic fury and bloodthirsty lust.

Hiyori stared up, wide-eyed and expressionless, face clearly offline as she underwent several psychological and spiritual awakenings before her she slowly broke into a slow, stupefied grin "Oh you like-like me!"

"...Yes." Momo sighed, deeply pained and affectionate at once as the audience howled. "You're okay with... all that?"

Hiyori saluted Momo with an enthusiastic "-Yes, SIR!"

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M FUCKING TALKIN' ABOUT!" Shinji whooped with joy, jumping up and down, the audience on their feet with applause. "POINTS AND VACATIONS ALL AROUND, AND FOR BEING THE *MOST* HONEST, THE WINNER OF TONIGHT'S GAME IS MOMO HINAMORI!"

The audience cheered wildly as Momo scooped Hiyori up like a princess and carried her backstage.

"THAT'S IT FOR TONIGHT'S GAME!" called Shinji over the din. "GOODNIGHT EVERYONE, AND GOOD FUCKING LUCK!"

---

As for Jushiro Ukitake, he appears on a special guest episode of Tonight's Game with fellow Captains Soi Fon, Byakuya Kuchiki and Retsu Unohana to play "Never Have I Ever" and *that* episode is widely considered to be one of the most scandalous and unhinged of all the games on Tonight's Game.

[justwinginglife]

No because your writing keeps me going in this Soshiro Hoshina AO3 drought!!!!!!!

What do we think about our Vice Captain getting in some trouble during a battle with a nasty Kaiju and his long time friend/crush who is a platoon leader in another division just so happens to be on her way to visit the 3rd division when the attack happens so she swoops in to save the day (and stitches him up after the whole ordeal ;))???

So glad I could provide sustenance! I am also keeping myself afloat with my writing trying to stay sane until season two comes out. I need more Hoshina screentime fr fr.

Crushing Hard

Soshiro Hoshina had dinner plans and he was late.

He cursed the kaiju for its poor timing. It was one thing to have to fight a kaiju on a Saturday - how inconsiderate of it to attack on his day off- and another to have to fight it before a date. At least he thought it was a date. He never knew with you. He hoped it was a date. He'd been pining after you for so long, it made his whole week (his whole month, really) that you'd texted him asking if you could swing by and have dinner this weekend.

He had just fixed his hair for the tenth time (he didn't know why he felt the need to fix it so much, it looked the same every time he fixed it), when he got the call that there was a kaiju wreaking havoc. And only a couple blocks away from where you were supposed to meet him for dinner, no less. He would really beat the shit out of the kaiju if it destroyed the restaurant he had planned to take you to.

So he quickly threw his combat suit on over his date clothes, hoping it would be a quick and easy mission, and he'd be ready to greet you at the door in no time at all. Yeah, that had been wishful thinking. This Honju really had it out for him.

In fact, the damn Honju had even sliced through part of his combat suit, tearing through the top he was wearing underneath.

"This was my favorite fucking shirt, damnit!" He curses at the Kaiju and runs at it again, swords at the ready.

The thing about this Honju was that it wasn't very big but it was very quick. Hoshina was exhausting himself just keeping up with it. It was almost like it was made to fight Hoshina, with its strengths lying in speed and close combat. And to make matters worse, without meaning to, Hoshina's mind kept wandering to his dinner with you, causing him to be slower to react than normal. He took a cut to the cheek and swore again. If he took anymore hits, he didn't know if his pride would let him show up to dinner looking like this.

"You know, I really didn't think you'd be treating me to dinner and a show, but you always were the overachiever."

Before he even had time to process who was talking, a large blast went off and the Honju suddenly has a gaping hole in its abdomen.

"Huh. Sturdy thing, aren't you? Let's try that again." Another blast and now its chest is missing.

Hoshina blinks, watching as you continue blasting the kaiju until it's nothing more than roadkill on the pavement. He should be helping you, he should be bandaging himself up, he should be getting food in the both of your stomachs. So many things to do, but all he wants to do is stare. You look so gorgeous with a gun. The way you wipe blood from your cheek, the way your ponytail lifts in the wind, the way that you smirk at the corpse, smug about your win. He wants to take in everything about you.

"You look like you need a drink." Now you were turning around, grinning at him. He thinks to himself that he could watch you forever.

"Soshiro?"

He shakes his head quickly. "Sorry. Must be the blood loss."

You laugh. "Well let's take care of that and then you owe me some dinner, as I recall." You start cleaning him up and he continues to watch you as you handle him with such care.

You pull the combat suit off of him, revealing his torn shirt underneath. "Ah damn. That was your favorite shirt. And mine too. Love when you wear this thing, I'll have to buy you a new one." You continue bandaging him like you haven't just said something that gets his heart racing.

"Mmm, I know, I have one of your shirts in my bag. You can change into that and then we can hit up that restaurant if you're still up for it?"

He nods, a little too quickly you notice. It's adorable.

Then he cocks his head to the side. "Wait, why do you have one of my shirts?"

Then it's your turn to blush. "Ahh that... well it just looked so comfy, can you really blame me for stealing it?"

His eyes widen. "Wait just a minute, how many of my shirts do you have??"

You cough. "Just the one- why do you ask?"

He crosses his arms at you and raises an eyebrow. "Because I was wondering why my closet was looking a little sparse lately. And I thought maybe the washer just ate them all."

"Haha... funny... uh, about that..." You scratch your head sheepishly.

He roll his eyes in mock annoyance but then he smiles. "I'm sure you look better in them than I do anyway. I suppose you can keep them. But you owe me some new shirts!"

You laugh, holding your hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. Will do. After you buy me dinner, I did just save your sorry ass." You tease.

And the two of you continue on like that the rest of the night, just joking, laughing, drinking, and slowly the line between friends and more than friends starts to blur. Hoshina thinks to himself, maybe he does have a chance in hell with you.

After all, who the fuck steals half of someone's closet?

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

"Sure I can't convince you to ditch Narumi and join my division instead? I make a mean omurice."

[talonabraxas]

When the alchemist speaks of Mercurius, on the face of it he means quicksilver (mercury), but inwardly he means the world-creating spirit concealed or imprisoned in matter. The dragon is probably the oldest pictoral symbol in alchemy of which we have documentary evidence. It appears as the Ouroboros, the tail-eater, in the Codex Marcianus, which dates from the tenth or eleventh century, together with the legend ‘the One, the All’. Time and again the alchemists reiterate that the opus proceeds from the one and leads back to the one, that it is a sort of circle like a dragon biting its own tail. For this reason the opus was often called circulare (circular) or else rota (the wheel). Mercurius stands at the beginning and end of the work: he is the prima materia, the caput corvi, the nigredo; as dragon he devours himself and as dragon he dies, to rise again in the lapis. He is the play of colours in the cauda pavonis and the division into the four elements. He is the hermaphrodite that was in the beginning, that splits into the classical brother-sister duality and is reunited in the coniunctio, to appear once again at the end in the radiant form of the lumen novum, the stone. He is metallic yet liquid, matter yet spirit, cold yet fiery, poison and yet healing draught - a symbol uniting all the opposites.” ― C.G. Jung, Psychology and Alchemy

Medieval Lindorm Dragon 15th century, from the alchemical scrolls of Sir George Ripley

The Ripley Scroll

Eighteen feet long when fully unrolled, the medieval Ripley Scroll presented here offers a seemingly endless series of alchemical enigmas. Attributed to fifteenth-century English monk George Ripley, the scroll is thought to describe the so-called black, white and red stages of the alchemist’s work, but any and all further details remain open to interpretation. Despite this mystery, or perhaps because of it, the scroll was so popular that at least twenty illuminated copies are known.

[gemsofgreece]

When the Varangians honoured the woman who killed her near-rapist

The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, Tághma tōn Varángōn) was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England. The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions.

The Byzantines had mixed feelings about them, on one hand considering them barbarians and brutes with too much love for alcohol, on the other hand admitting their fierce loyalty to the emperor and their military prowress. They never fled a battle and they would fight to their death. They were also considered fair traders in their transactions between the Byzantine Empire and their northern homelands.

One incident which took place in 1034 helped soldify a positive image of the Varangians to the Byzantines' eyes, so much that the Byzantine Greek chronicler Ioannis Skylitzis, described it in his works as "αξιαφήγητον" (axiaphíyiton, worthy of mentioning / narrating).

According to Skylitzis, a group of Varangians were transferred in the Thracesian Theme (Greek: θέμα Θρᾳκησίων, thema Thrakēsiōn), a military division that at the time encompassed west Asia Minor (not Thrace). One of them once encountered a local woman in an uncrowded place. The man approached the woman suggestively but she rejected his advances. The man attempted to rape her and she seized his sword and killed him. His death was instant as she pierced him through his heart.

Art in Skylitzis' manuscript where the woman is erroneously depicted to kill the man with a spear instead of a sword.

Once the incident became known in the area, the Varangians made a gathering in which they agreed to honour the woman for killing their companion. They offered her all the valuable belongings of the killed Varangian, whom they left unburied. According to Varangian law, the rapists of married women were punished with execution, therefore the Varangians reasoned that the woman simply implemented the law by killing their companion.

The manuscripts of Skylitzis are kept in the National Library of Madrid.

Sources:

ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ

www.in.gr

[emily-mooon]

Shit last night I came across that one Jonathan post that starts with “you are 16 years old” and I went through the tags and saw someone say that Jonathan’s only comfort was music while Will had him and it got me thinking: what if Chester was Jonathan’s only comfort?

What if when all the times his parents fought, he sat with the little puppy and sobbed, trying to block out the noise in his room? What if when he did find Joy Division and all the bands he loves, he pet Chester for comfort while the screaming and yelling were drowned out? What if when after he shot the rabbit on his tenth birthday he had Chester with him the entire time he cried? What if when the first time Will experienced the length of Lonnie’s abuse, Jonathan brought their pal Chester in?

What if when Chester died, he once again cried for week but silently for he knows he has to be strong for his mom and Will cause who else will?

[dreaming-medium]

Animals Without Direction

Chapter Thirty-Four: Ward

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Masterlist

Your entire life you always thought you preferred silence. 

Some of your favorite nights were spent solely by yourself underneath the stars. You craved the serenity that came with being by yourself. Sure, nights in the tavern surrounded by loud drunkards could be fun; but the specific, unique, quiet that met your ears when you stepped outside afterwards was special. 

The air somehow felt closer and even more sacred than normal quietness.

Even after you came to Miroh, you would always escape back to your quarters after dinner for some much needed alone time. The banter between Felix and Jisung could become a bit too rowdy at times, especially if Seungmin ushered a few well placed, snarky comments.

You would slither out of the grand hall back to your room, sit on the window seat, and crack open a book to escape your mind for a while. You’ll never understand how reading about someone else’s adventures would help calm your mind about your own.

But these days, for some reason, you cannot fathom being alone, not even for a single, solitary moment. If you’re left alone with your thoughts, every anxious scenario you could ponder up streams in like water tumbling over rock. 

The ‘what ifs’ are never ending when you’re by yourself. 

What if the plan doesn’t work? What if someone gets gravely injured? What if Jeongin’s legion doesn’t make it to Fort Mire in time? What if Hyunjin was wrong and the Mercy Division is stationed in the North? What if this? What if that? What if? What if?

It doesn’t stop. Not even when you close your eyes to sleep. All of your fears wrap around your neck like a snake and choke your consciousness.

Nothing takes your mind off of the upcoming battle.

But, you know you’re not alone. Your proof being the fire mage standing twenty feet away from you in the courtyard. The bonfire rages on as it always has. The Elf continues to hurl fireballs at the stone wall, leaving ash rings in their wake.

The smell of smoke wraps around you, it’ll sit in your hair until you next wash it. Which won't be until after the battle.

If you even make it out. 

Your tongue licks your lips nervously, your body shifts around.

In the last few days alone, your relationship with Hyunjin has taken a complete turn for the better. He’s a sort of elaborate painting that you’re finally starting to understand the brushstrokes. 

Perhaps it's because you’ve stood in front of him long enough to unravel the meanings. 

But even so, you still only know surface level things about him. 

Sometimes conversation will flow easily between the two of you, other times you will sit in that damned silence. Does it boil his blood the same way that it does yours?

He’s been helping you channel magic for the better part of every night at the sacrifice of his own training. Instead of bettering his own skills, he’s been helping improve your own. 

You decide to give him a break tonight on December the tenth, knowing that when you both part ways for the day, it will be December the eleventh, and there will be no more nights in front of this bonfire. 

He needs tonight to train more than you do. 

Because by this time tomorrow, everything will be in motion. Every soldier will be getting into position to be ready for the sunrise. You will say your goodbyes to some comrades, some for the last time.

Then the sun will rise over the hill. 

And you will stand inside this fort with your fellow soldiers and defend it with your last breath. All you can do is hope for a quick death as the green grass is painted red.

Perhaps the Mercy Division won't notice your pointed ears before introducing your neck to their blade. But then again, you stand with Miroh, your heritage doesn’t matter at this point to them. 

A friend of the enemy is an enemy. 

“If you keep wringing your hands like that, they will catch fire,” Hyunjin calls softly. Your hands immediately stop their movement.

Truthfully, didn’t even notice you were rubbing them together until he pointed it out. They move to your sides, resting on top of the log you’re sat upon. 

“Apologies, I did not realize.” You look back at the raging fire.

“Worry not.” He hesitates for a moment. “Troublesome thoughts?”

“Aye.” Your answer is quick but weak. Your nails curl into the wood.

By The Six, the anxiety is moving your body on its own. Once more, you shift on the log, shoving both hands under your thighs to sit on them and keep them still.

The light from the fire is searing into your eyes, but you can’t seem to tear your gaze away from it. 

“All about the battle.” A heavy sigh escapes your lips. “If I let my mind sit still for even a moment, it creates horrible scenarios inside my mind.”

Hyunjin says nothing for a moment, but you hear his boots shift in the dirt. “Like what?”

Rolling your eyes, you clench your jaw and swallow thickly. “Like what would happen if the Mercy Division got a hold of me.” You finally look up at him. “Of you. ”

His red eyes catch the light of the fire within them, they gleam like a cat. The shadows of his face make his features seem even more angular than they already are. 

Hyunjin swallows, his eyebrow twitches and he licks his lips. Tiny sparks fly from his fingertips. 

“They will not get a hold of me.”

“How are you so sure?”

“I will make certain of it.”

You scoff. “The Mercy Division is crafty, Hyunjin.”

“I am craftier.” He sneers and hurls a tense fireball at the wall. It explodes on impact and you don’t even flinch. 

Again, you roll your eyes and look back at the bonfire. 

“I think you do not grasp the seriousness of the army we are up against,” you snip at him. It comes out harsher than you intend. 

“Please remind yourself that I am an Elf as well, Y/N.”

His words are sharper than a dagger and hit your heart dead on. He continues. 

“I have heard only whispers of what the Mercy Division can do, but I have been facing the hatred that comes with this lineage longer than you can fathom.” When you look back up at Hyunjin, he’s staring through you into your soul. “The Mercy Division is not the first to be like this, and sadly, they will not be the last.”

You nod, unable to find any words to say back to him. 

He’s right. 

It’s the disgusting pattern that the world follows. No matter how much you try, you cannot stamp out the hate and bigotry ingrained deeply within people.

Today, the Mercy Division, tomorrow, who knows? How long until the same hatred bubbles up and forms another legion?

An owl hoots in the distance, it cuts through the sound of crickets and tree frogs.

You crack your knuckles.

When did your hands come out from under your legs?

“I understand you have dealt with them before?” Hyunjin asks in a softer tone. Once more, you only nod. 

A soft, cold wind funnels through the stone walls of the fort, its chill goes right into your bones. Just as quickly as it comes, the breeze goes and the fire warms you right back up.

“Make them pay,” Hyunjin states simply.

He doesn’t dwell on it, not even for a moment longer. His boots crunch in the dirt and he goes back to focusing on his spell. His mind immediately shifts gears and is right back where it started in training mode.

But you, however, are left with the empty rage that comes with your memories. 

The Mercy Division soldiers that fill your memories don’t even have faces, you never saw them. They’re simply entities with voices you will never forget. 

They’re phantoms. Poltergeists. Demons. 

How is it they’re the same level of human that someone like Seungmin or Minho are?

What words need to be uttered and for how long until it twists the soul of an innocent being into something nightmares are made of? But, to them, are you the demon?

“Y/N.”

Hyunjin snaps you out of your mind once more. You look over at him from across the courtyard. He motions for you to walk over to him.

You stand up from the log and walk closer. 

“There is one more thing I would like to teach you,” he says softly.

You cock an eyebrow. “Should you not use tonight to train?”

He shrugs and looks off to the side. “I would much rather teach you, it eases my mind.”

“Does it?” you ask with a teasing tone.

Hyunjin rolls his eyes and rolls his shoulders back. “Will you just–” he stops himself and looks back at you. “I want to teach you wards.”

With a smirk on your face, you nod and stop any more teasing from coming out of your mouth. 

Wards. Magical shields. Protection.

The same magical protection he used all those weeks ago when you angered Camus.

He moves around and stands about ten feet away from you, shoulders square. “Now, it uses the same concentration technique as any other spell. Instead of picturing a wound healing, focus on creating a wall in front of you.”

Hyunjin’s hands twitch at his sides– the movement is slight but you see it. What is he planning?

The air around you moves, blowing in his direction. 

“Put your hands up, Y/N, imaging a shield protecting you,” he commands firmly. Your eyes narrow.

You follow his direction anyway, lifting your hands up to shield in front of your body, palms facing out. 

“Basic level wards only shield you from magic, they cannot shield you from weapons such as swords or arrows– the stronger the ward, the more it can block.”

Nodding, you try to let your mind drift. Your eyes slide shut.

Protection, protection, protection. Picture a wall in front of you. A strong, brick wall. A wall that nothing can penetrate. 

A soft drum beat begins resonating from the stone walls, surrounding the two of you, it starts slow. If you weren’t paying attention to it, you might mistake it for your heartbeat thrumming in your ears. 

The more you focus on it, the louder and stronger it gets.

It’s stronger than you heard while healing, firmer. Other music notes begin streaming in from your surroundings. 

This song is entirely different from the last. There’s nothing calm and serene about it, it hammers through your soul and creates a stronger tune. It almost sounds like the drums of war. 

Your palms heat up and you can feel the energy extend from your fingertips up towards the sky and down to the dirt.

There’s a loud whoosh through the air, it completely disrupts the song flowing through the air. It sounds like a violin bow loudly and quickly is pulled along the strings. You physically wince from the sudden disruption. 

The wind shifts.

Your eyes fly open just in time to see a ball of flames being hurled at your face. 

The orchestra in your mind abruptly stops short and you drop down to the dirt, the flames soar above you and make a harsh impact with the stone.

It’s a wonder no soldiers come sprinting out of the fort wondering if they’re under attack.

Sharply, you look up and glare at the mage who so obviously attacked you. “By The Six, what is wrong with you?” you yell from the ground.

Hyunjin’s eyes narrow. “Why did you dodge?” 

Is he serious?

Your mouth drops open in disbelief. “Why did I–? Why did you attack me?”

“How else were you supposed to test your ward?” He asks like its common sense!

“Why did you not warn me?”

“Apologies, do all of your enemies call out their attacks before performing them?”

A loud, angry growl comes from your throat and you glare at him. 

A tiny smirk twitches at the corner of his lips. “Come now, Y/N. Stand up and try again. Get the dirt off your trousers.”

You huff and stand up from the ground, brushing the dirt from your pants. “Maybe do not take my head off this time around?”

“Your head will remain on your shoulders if you execute the ward well.” He shrugs.

Oh, he boils your blood sometimes.

Most times.

Basically, all the time.

After one more well-placed glare, you close your eyes and let the music begin again. Every object that surrounds you lifts their instrument and warms up at their own tempo until they begin to play the same tune.

Again, you feel energy come out of your palm and form a barrier in front of you.

That same, violent, sharp violin screech pierces through your ears but you don’t allow yourself to flinch, you focus even more and let the drumbeats become more powerful. 

You feel the air around you get hotter and hotter with a strong woosh until it feels like you have your hand up against a thick wall that someone punched the other side of. 

When you open your eyes, you see Hyunjin standing across the field from you, that same cocky smirk on his face. The ward produced by your hand discolors everything you see through it with a golden glow. It flickers a few times and finally falls as your concentration drops. 

Embers surround where you stand. A few of them float around in the air and drift down to the ground. 

“See?” Hyunjin teases with a chuckle. “Your head remains in the same place it was previously.”

You roll your eyes and look off to the side. Whatever.

“There is still one issue, mercenary,” he continues, not giving you a chance to retort. “How do you ever plan on defending yourself with your eyes closed?”

“I need to concentrate.”

“Again, how do you shield from something you cannot see? Do you close your eyes in battle and throw your sword around wildly?”

He has a point, you’re just too damn stubborn to admit it.

“It is hard to concentrate otherwise,” you grit your teeth. “I have only just begun learning.”

His eyes narrow. His eyebrows twitch. 

“Will you say that during battle? ‘Pardon me, soldier, give me a moment, I am still learning.’”

His snark is so pointed, it drives you insane. 

“Nay, but–”

The air moves, it sounds like the world takes a deep breath. Even the crickets stop chirping.

Hyunjin’s arm moves around and flames appear in a burst. In one fluid movement, he spins and hurls it right at you.

“The Mercy Division will not care that you are learning, they will take that to their advantage and gut you where you stand!”

On instinct, your body dodges to the side once more. You jump to your right and roll in the dirt. 

The flames fly over your head and explode on impact with the stone.

“Do not dodge, mercenary!” Hyunjin barks from across the field and moves his hand once more. He’s relentless.

You’re already on your feet when the next fireball is hurled at you. Again, you leap out of the way and let it soar past your body.

“You are insane!” you yell at him.

“Quit dodging and create a ward!”

Another fireball, another trip to the ground. 

“Give me a second to breathe!”

“Would you request a break in battle?”

Another fireball careens into the wall behind you.

Sweat drips down the side of your face from the heat and the exhaustion. Your boots dig into the dirt underneath your feet and a long exhale leaves your drying lips. 

“ Hyunjin !” you growl.

He doesn’t even look winded. 

“Ward!” 

The fire mage moves like water. Every motion flows into another as flames burst from his palm and soar towards you. 

Gritting your teeth, you raise your arms quickly and let magic consume the energy surrounding your body. In a great, outward force, you project it out of your hands and picture an energy shield before your very eyes.

Every instrument hits a powerful note at the same time.

Before the flames could make contact with your body, it makes an impact with the hastily produced ward before your body.

You feel the heat blast around you and fly outwards in every direction. The smell of burning embers begins to invade your senses.

The shimmering glow of your ward fades once you let out a deep breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

Hyunjin doesn’t stop, his body rolls and moves as he draws energy from the very world around you. 

In the back of your mind, you can hear that same violin bow sawing at the strings in time with his magic. Your own drums are beginning to go off tempo. 

“ Ward , mercenary!” he barks and reels back to hurl another fireball at you.

Sweat drips down your face from both the heat and the exertion.

Shit, shit, shit.

None of the instruments of your soul are in tune, they’re all wonky and distressed. Both of your hands fly up to create a ward. Shaky magic projects outward. It’s the thinnest ward you’ve put up so far.

Fire careens through the air straight at you.

The world takes a deep breath.

An explosion sounds on impact and you’re thrown backwards from the force.

All of the air in your lungs is knocked out of you when your back makes contact with the dirt. A loud grunt tears from your lips and you can’t catch your breath.

The very tips of your fingers tingle with tiny pinpricks, it shoots up your arms and through your shoulders to your chest.

Is every hair still on your head or were they singed off?

Within seconds, an amused mage appears above you with a cocky, little smirk on his face. His blonde hair is tied back and that red streak sticks out so prominently. 

You want to be angry at him, you do. This damned fire mage just threw you across the yard after you begged him to stop.

Anger should be bubbling so deep down within you that you could produce your own fireball.

So, why do you feel laughter boiling in your chest?

It travels through your throat and past your lips. Tiny giggles coming out of your mouth while Hyunjin’s smirk grows.

Both of your eyes shut and you allow the laughter to take over. 

Truly, the situation is hilarious. 

Deep, hearty chuckles emit from his own chest. 

“By The Six, Hyunjin,” you say between wheezes. “You could not have gone a tad bit easy on me?”

“Nay,” he replies back, the teasing tilt is in his tone again. “You do not learn by taking the easy route.”

“I will not even be able to fight in the battle with your training,” you poke fun at him.

“Worry not, mercenary, you will be in tip top shape to fight for your life.”

You hum with a smile. 

“I do not think I need to worry about any mages hurling fireballs at me during this battle.” You open your eyes and peer up at him. “No Elves, no magic.”

He thinks for a moment, his head moving side to side as he weighs your words.

“Perhaps,” he agrees. He holds out a hand and you take it.

As Hyunjin hauls you to your feet, you’re finally able to catch your breath, but the smile remains on your face. 

“I will make sure to ask our enemies for a small break in between attacks,” you jest, squeezing his hand once before letting go.

Hyunjin offers you one more chuckle before licking his lips, and then pulling them between his teeth. If you didn’t know any better, you might even say he was nervous.

His jaw clenches, his boots shift in the dirt. 

Suddenly, he can’t meet your eyes.

“Are you quite certain you want to be part of the legion inside Fort Mire when the Mercy Division attacks?” His question is meek.

You hesitate.

The word ‘yes’ sits on the tip of your tongue but for some reason, it won’t come out. 

Yes, you are sure. 

You’re completely sure.

Aren’t you?

Hyunjin’s eyes look up and stare right through you, waiting for an answer.

“Aye,” you finally push out. “Aye, I am certain. Are you?”

He looks down at the dirt for a moment. One deep breath is taken in through his nose. 

“Nay,” he replies weakly. It comes out like an exhale.

What happened to his never-ending confidence? Seeing him suddenly deflate like this rattles you more than you’d like to admit. His entire demeanor shifted in no matter than three seconds. 

You hesitate again. “If you do not wish to be in the fort when the Mercy Division attacks, you need not be.”

Hyunjin shakes his head. “I have made my decision and I intend to stick by it.”

“But if you are scared—”

“I am not scared,” he cuts you off firmly. “I am only… hesitant. But I do not know why.” A humorless huff comes from Hyunjin’s nose and he looks up at the stars. “I am always ready to give my life for Miroh, more importantly, for Elves. But I cannot help but feel this sense of incompletion, like I am meant for more. And if I meet my end during this battle, how will I ever accomplish that?”

“What happened to them not being able to lay a hand on you?”

“Do we not all lie to ourselves for comfort?” His eyes come down to meet yours. “I can only hope they do not decide to torture me.”

In a distant part of your mind, you hear your mother’s screams and your father’s pleas. They rattle your soul.

Thickly, you swallow and look away to avoid Hyunjin’s eyes.

“Perhaps they will have no time for evil in the midst of battle.”

He nods stiffly.

There’s a long moment of silence between the two of you. You don’t need to be a mind reader to know you both were thinking about the same thing.

The “what if’s” are back.

What if they get to Hyunjin? What if they target him? What if they go out of their way to torture him? 

“I will stand by you inside Fort Mire.” Hyunjin tells you firmly, yet softly at the same time. 

You grin weakly at him. “I cannot lie, it eases my anxiety to know you will be in there with me, Hyunjin.”

He huffs and looks away towards the bonfire roaring about twenty feet away. “I return the sentiment, Y/N. I will watch your back if you watch mine.”

“Aye, I will, mage.” You hold out your hand towards him. Hyunjin looks down at your outstretched hand. The grin on his face gets a bit wider.

He clasps his hand around your forearm in a warrior’s grip. Yours comes around his at the same time.

Your eyes meet. His are so sharp they seem to stare right through you. How is his skin so flawless? 

“We Elves need to stick together,” he whispers.

A tiny flame ignites in the pit of your stomach. His words rousing such raw confidence within you with their simplicity.

“I know you are not used to it, Y/N, but I will defend your life as if it is my own.”

Your heart stutters a bit and your eyes widen. 

“I am slowly getting accustomed to it,” you mumble back. “But it has taken some time.”

He smiles down at you. Not one of his sly smirks, but a real, genuine, smile. “We are one unit. We are Miroh’s court.  Your life, my life, Changbin’s life, Minho’s life– they are one in the same in my eyes.”

“Until the end,” you reply back to him. “I have your back.”

Strange. Only a few weeks ago you would’ve loved nothing more than to stab your sword through his back each time he looked at you with that smug smirk on his face. His expression always reads ‘I am one step ahead of you at all times’.

It used to piss you off. But now, it eases a small portion of your mind. 

Hyunjin holds his stare for another few moments. His eyes flit all around your face.

Slowly, his hand releases your arm as he takes a step back. Immediately, you miss his warmth.

“Get some rest, mercenary,” he laughs humorlessly. “You are going to need it.”

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Milunka Savić, the Most Decorated Female Combatant in History: Savić disguised herself as a man in order to join the Serbian army during the Balkan Wars, then served again during WWI, earning medals from Serbia, France, Russia & Britain; she also provided medical support to anti-fascists during WWII and spent 10 months in a Nazi concentration camp

This is a total rewrite of a post that I did last year, with much more detailed information, more photos, and some additional sources.

Milunka Savić is regarded as the most decorated female combatant in history. She fought for the Serbian Army during both of the Balkan Wars, before returning to the battlefield again during WWI. Savić was wounded in battle on 9 separate occasions and survived the Serbian Great Retreat, making the perilous journey across the mountains of Montenegro and Albania through the dead of winter with a serious head injury.

Her military career began during the First Balkan War in 1912, when her younger brother was called up to serve in the Serbian army, and she decided that she would covertly take his place. She cut her hair, wore men's clothing, and presented herself as her brother.

The First Balkan War, 1912: Milunka Savić as a young soldier during the First Balkan War, shortly after joining the Serbian army

She was able to hide her true identity for quite some time. Her skills as a soldier quickly became evident as the war progressed, and she earned her first medal/promotion during the Battle of Bregalnica in 1913. Unfortunately, she was hit by shrapnel from a Bulgarian grenade during her tenth deployment, causing injuries to her chest and abdomen, and those wounds (along with the subsequent medical treatment) ultimately led to the discovery that she had lied about her identity.

In recognition of her accomplishments on the battlefield, her commanding officer decided not to punish her for the initial deception, but informed her that she would not be allowed to return to combat -- as a woman, she could only be transferred to the nursing division instead.

As the story goes:

Savić was called before her commanding officer. They didn't want to punish her, because she had proven a valuable and highly competent soldier, and the military deployment that had resulted in her [sex] being revealed had been her tenth; but neither was it suitable for a young woman to serve in combat. She was offered a transfer to the Nursing division. Savić stood at attention and insisted that she only wanted to fight for her country as a combatant.

The officer said he'd think it over and give her his answer the next day. Still standing at attention, Savić responded, "I will wait." It is said he only made her stand an hour before agreeing to send her back to the infantry.

Savić was able to serve in a combat role throughout the remainder of the Balkan Wars.

The Second Balkan War finally came to an end in 1913, but that peace was short-lived, as World War I erupted just a year later. Savić returned to the military once more, serving in the elite "Iron Regiment" of the Serbian army.

World War I, c.1915-1916: Savić was no longer forced to hide her identity when she returned to battle during WWI, and these images show her posing in uniform with her hair grown out

Savić received the Serbian Karađorđe Star with Swords medal on two separate occasions during WWI; the second medal was given to her after the Battle of Crna Bend in 1916, where she was credited with single-handedly capturing 23 Bulgarian soldiers. She received several other medals throughout the course of her career, including the French Legion of Honor (twice), the French Croix de Guerre, the Russian Cross of St. George, the British Medal of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael, and the Serbian Miloš Obilić.

WWI, c.1915-1916: Milunka Savić as a Corporal in the Iron Regiment

She suffered a serious head injury while fighting along the Macedonian front, and she was still gravely wounded when Austro-Hungarian, German, and Bulgarian forces gained control of Serbia in the winter of 1915. The Serbian army was then ordered to make a full retreat from Serbia; Savić and her fellow soldiers, along with the Serbian government and more than 200,000 civilians, were all forced to flee through the mountains of Montenegro and Albania in the dead of winter, hoping to reach Allied forces along the Adriatic Coast -- a perilous journey that would later be known as the Serbian Great Retreat (or the Albanian Golgotha). Roughly 400,000 people embarked on this journey, and less than 180,000 of them survived, eventually reaching the Allied ships along the Adriatic coast.

Despite her injuries, Milunka Savić was among the survivors. She was sent to an infirmary, where she spent several months recovering from her injuries, before she returned to the battlefield alongside Allied forces.

At the end of the war, the French government offered to provide Savić with a full pension and living accommodations in France, in recognition of her actions while serving alongside the French military during WWI. She ultimately declined the offer and chose to retire back in Serbia instead, where she and her husband settled down to raise their daughter and three other girls that Milunka had adopted. The couple would later separate, however, and Milunka was left to raise her children as a single mother, working at a local bank to make ends meet.

In 1941, Serbia (which was then part of Yugoslavia) fell under Nazi occupation. During this period, Savić was involved in providing medical support to local partisans and anti-fascists who had resisted the Nazi occupation. She was eventually arrested by German officers; there are differing accounts of the events leading up to her arrest, with some sources suggesting that she was arrested as a result of her involvement with the local partisans and other anti-fascist elements, while other sources claim that she was arrested after she offended several Nazi officials by openly refusing to attend a formal banquet that was being held in honor of the German military campaign. In any case, she was imprisoned at the infamous Baljinca Concentration Camp for ten months before finally being released.

She faced other forms of hardship in the aftermath of WWII, as she struggled to support herself and her children. She worked several low-paying jobs over the years, while living in a dilapidated, decaying house in Belgrade. Her name (and her long list of accomplishments) had largely faded into obscurity by then.

Serbia, 1972: Milunka Savić proudly displaying some of her medals in 1972, when her story became more widely known

It wasn't until the early 1970s that her involvement with the military finally began to receive more widespread attention, both in Serbia and abroad. Following the 1972 publication of an article that told her story, her local community in Belgrade quickly rallied to provide her with newer, more suitable living arrangements.

Sadly, she passed away within just a year of the article's publication.

In 2013, Milunka Savić's remains were relocated from the small mausoleum where they had been interred since 1973, and she was reburied in Belgrade's "Alley of the Greats," where some of the most well-known and most widely respected Serbians are laid to rest.

Sources & More Info:

Research Gate: Milunka Savić: the Forgotten Heroine of Serbia

Girl Museum: Milunka Savić

Law and Politics: The Position of Women in the Serbian Army

Medium: The Fearless Woman-Bomber Who Died Proud, Broke, and Forgotten

Wikipedia: Milunka Savić

Mental Floss: The Serbian "Great Retreat" Begins (WWI Centennial)