#velocity-based training

[elainepaco]

Optimizing Training: Dose-Response Considerations for Enhanced Athletic Performance

In the world of sports science, understanding the dose-response relationship is crucial for optimizing training programs and maximizing athletic performance. Dose-response refers to the relationship between the "dose" of training (e.g., sets, reps, intensity) and the "response" (e.g., strength gains, power development). By applying research-backed dose-response considerations, coaches and athletes can tailor training programs to achieve specific goals and avoid overtraining.

Strength Training

To maximize muscle strength, research suggests implementing a resistance training regime that spans more than 23 weeks, with 5 sets per exercise, 6-8 repetitions per set, at an intensity of 80-89% of the 1 repetition maximum (1RM), and 3-4 minutes of rest between sets. This extended training period ensures consistent exposure to strength-building stimuli, fostering long-term athletic development. The specific combination of sets, repetitions, and rest intervals optimizes the balance between exertion and recovery, facilitating muscular adaptation and growth.   

Power Development

For enhancing lower-limb power, particularly in jumping and explosive movements, strength training lasting over eight weeks is recommended, with moderate intensity, three sets, and five repetitions appearing most effective.   

Balance Training

To optimize balance training, implement a regime that spans 11-12 weeks, with 3 sessions per week, 4 exercises per session, 2 sets per exercise, and each exercise lasting 21-40 seconds.   

Training Intensity vs. Volume

Focus on intensity rather than volume when designing training programs. Research indicates that the intensity of training has a greater impact on strength development than the volume of training.   

Specificity of Training

The training stimulus should be matched to the desired outcome. For example, heavy load training is more effective for developing maximum strength, while lighter loads are more effective for improving vertical jump performance.   

Velocity-Based Training

Velocity-based training (VBT) is a method that uses velocity to measure and regulate the intensity of training. Velocity loss (VL), the percentage decrease in velocity from the first repetition to the last repetition of a set, is a key parameter in VBT. A lower velocity loss may be more efficient for strength development, but a moderate loss (20-30%) might lead to greater overall gains.   

Use a velocity loss of 20-30% for maximizing strength adaptations.   

Use a lower velocity loss (0-10%) for maintaining strength with a lower training volume, particularly useful during competitive seasons when training time is limited.   

Monitoring Training Load and Stress

Keep daily training load (TL) and strain values within the optimal ranges to minimize stress and potential immune system suppression. For example, for elite female futsal players, the optimal daily TL range is between ~343 and ~419 Arbitrary units. Values above or below these ranges were associated with increased stress symptoms. Tracking stress symptoms through questionnaires like DALDA (Daily Analysis of Life Demands in Athletes) and monitoring SIgA (Salivary Secretory Immunoglobulin A) levels can provide valuable insights into an athlete's overall well-being.   

Training Cycle Length

Use shorter training cycles (8 weeks) for maximizing physiological improvements, ideally during the off-season or pre-season when competition demands are low.   

Individualized Approach

Importantly, age, level (major vs minor league), maturation, and general condition of the athlete influence training adaptations and should be considered in long-term athletic development.   

By understanding and applying dose-response considerations, coaches and athletes can optimize training programs, enhance performance, and reduce the risk of overtraining. Remember that individual factors play a significant role in training adaptations, and a personalized approach is often necessary to achieve optimal results.

PASS's Services:

Annual Guidebooks: PASS publishes annual guidebooks for various sports, summarizing the latest research and providing practical recommendations for training and performance optimization.

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Researcher Exchange: PASS facilitates workshops and Q&A sessions with leading sports scientists, allowing coaches and athletes to gain valuable insights and connect with experts in the field.

The potential of sports science to revolutionize training and performance is vast, but it remains largely untapped in many areas of athletics. By embracing research-backed principles and utilizing the services of organizations like PASS, coaches and athletes can unlock new levels of performance, reduce the risk of injuries, and achieve their full potential.

About PASS | Practical Application of Sport Science:

PASS helps top sports teams make better decisions using science. The teams ask questions like: “how to manage workload; how to improve decision-making; what is an optimal periodization program”. PASS takes a deep dive into all relevant research articles, figures out what's useful, and gives the teams specific advice they can immediately implement – only things that have been scientifically proven.

Explore the resources available at PASS (https://sportscience.pro/) and discover how sports science can transform your approach to training and performance.

[suzukiblu]

Day twenty-seven of “obligatory sugar baby Kon” behind the cut. prev: (( chrono || non-chrono ))

They spend a lot longer than Tim actually expects Kon to want to spend on that “couple things”, since obviously they can’t start with the exciting stuff and he just assumes Kon will get bored in about thirty seconds’ worth of Tim Drake’s awkward and over-detailed explanations of every little thing and also will experience immediate regret about admitting that he both doesn’t know how to do something and isn’t going to be immediately good at said something. Any time Kon’s not immediately good at something they’re doing in training he gets mad or pissy or at least frustrated and acts like a total asshole about it, but right now . . . 

Kon falls off the board and lands on his ass for the third time and for the third time just grins up at him sheepishly, and Tim feels very weird and not-normal and sort of just–smitten about it, really. 

“This is way different from surfing,” Kon says with a laugh, shaking his head, which is a little surprising to hear for some reason. If nothing else, Tim would’ve expected Kon to get even more frustrated, if he was assuming any apparent surfing experience might’ve helped him out here. He has heard it usually does, so maybe Kon’s just out of practice or his own standards are just, uh–a little too Bat, maybe. 

“Is it?” he asks, offering Kon a hand up again. Kon did it for him earlier, and anyway, it kinda makes him feel like carrying the other’s bags for him and being trusted with his weight feels. And Kon takes his hand, just like the last two times, and lets him help him up like there’s literally any reason he needs to bother to. “I’ve never tried surfing.” 

“It’s wicked,” Kon says, grinning at him again and giving his hands a quick squeeze before heading over to retrieve the board from where it skidded when he fell. He does not fall like a Bat, but he definitely does know how to. He’s just also clearly expecting his falls to be more of a “terminal velocity” situation than a “tripping off a skateboard” situation. Which, like–fair, yeah. “You gotta use your arms way more, though, and like, it just feels way more like you’re riding something, you know? Concrete just kinda sits there and there’s way less wind to worry about.” 

“Oh, yeah, I never really thought about the wind,” Tim says. Waves, definitely, but he didn’t follow the thought to its logical conclusion. “Pretty sure people based skateboarding on surfing to start, though, so is it really that different? Like, mechanically?” 

“I dunno,” Kon says with a shrug, tucking the board under his arm and trotting back over to him. “I mean, kinda? But also wheels are way harder to feel the ground through ‘cuz they’re spinning the whole time, so sometimes I get dizzy if I hold onto ‘em too much. And like, water moves a lot more than concrete, but the board’s totally flat against it, so like–easier to feel it, I guess? Just feels, like, more intense, kinda.” 

“. . . that’s really interesting, but are you seriously trying to use your TTK when you skate?” Tim asks, trying not to laugh at the idea even though he definitely should’ve expected it. “You’re such a cheater.” 

“Hey, I use TTK when I everything, thanks, and it’s not cheating!” Kon protests with another laugh, which is definitely not the way Superboy would’ve responded to Robin saying something like that. “You’re not cheating when you use your friggin’ ears and eyes, are you?” 

“Oh, blind skateboarding, that sounds terrifying,” Tim muses, and Kon laughs again. 

“I’d die! You’d die!” he says, sounding incredibly delighted about the prospect. 

“So I’m hearing we start with the low ramps, then,” Tim replies reasonably. 

“Oh my god, Tim,” Kon cackles, and then ducks in close to throw his free arm around his neck and kiss him again, his TTK wrapping around him for just a quick flash of pressure of its own. 

Tim feels–very weird, again. 

Specifically, he feels very weird hearing Kon’s voice saying his real name, especially right before kissing him. Kissing him, and also wrapping him up completely in the power he just identified as being as important and natural to him as his hearing and vision and, presumably, any other senses are. 

And again, Kon is clearly really, really tactile, so that’s hard not to be weird about too. 

Kon leans back, back to grinning at him, and Tim feels vaguely mortified and vaguely like eating him alive and also like this date has gone absolutely nothing like he planned, despite his best efforts. Kon brought him a present and he hasn’t bought Kon anything but an amount of grilled cheese sandwiches that can only be described as “inadvisable” and has in fact spent way more money on himself than he has on Kon, plus they’ve spent basically the whole date so far doing things he likes, not– 

“Um, just in case like a building collapses or a supervillain happens or whatever and I gotta run off early, um . . . thanks. For tonight, I mean,” Kon says, the grin he’s barely dropped briefly slipping into something a little shyer, and Tim stares blankly at him for a moment and feels like an insane person, or at least like he maybe just hallucinated that. “I’m really having fun.” 

Tim needs to check on the possibility of hallucinations, yeah. 

“You are?” he asks, fully bewildered by the idea, and Kon laughs again. 

“Obviously, you frickin’ nerd!” he says, then gives him a quick, sheepish smile and another peck on the cheek before turning that almost-inhuman shade of red again and pulling back, putting the board in front of himself and between them. Tim gently simmers to a boil and breaks down into a broth as every single ounce of meat in his body falls right off the bone. “I always have fun with you.” 

. . . Tim is maybe less a broth and now more, like, a stew that somebody left in the crockpot all day, or however Mrs. Mac used to do it. 

“Oh,” he says, desperately trying to remember how to string a functional sentence together that does not sound like a dropped typewriter. “Uh–good! Good. Um–I’m glad. Good. Me, uh–me too.” 

Kon blushes even darker and grins at him again, rocking back on his heels for a moment. 

“Cool,” he says. “Um–thanks, Tim. Again. Some more. I dunno.” 

Tim, again, feels very weird about hearing Kon say his real name, and some part of him kind of thinks, in an odd and distant way–did he just, like . . . forget how to just . . . not be Robin? Like–how to turn it off, and just feel the actually genuine things as Tim Drake, and not just the mask or the sidekick or the namesake? 

Well, that can’t be good. 

Kon keeps grinning at him, half-shadowed in the Gotham night and half-lit by electric Gotham streetlights and looking nothing like anything else Tim’s ever seen in Gotham, and Tim is definitely going to need to pencil in a couple hours on Sunday night to be an incoherent mess about him and also maybe, like . . . process some things, maybe. Think some stuff through. Adjust some– 

“So like, wanna go make out for a while in the full pipe?” Kon suggests hopefully, tipping his head towards it, and Tim forgets literally every single layer of other thoughts he was having. They are literally no longer relevant to anything and he does not care about a single one of them. 

“Yeah, okay,” he says, maybe a little too red himself now, and Kon grins. 

The full pipe helpfully informs them both that Tim can, in fact, give Kon a hickey if the other lets him, and helpfully informs Tim that he is never, ever going to be able to be in the same tri-state area as a mind-reader again. 

Well, he should probably be avoiding those for the next fifteen years anyway, so whatever.

[rottenpumpkin13]

angeal keeps finding food he didn't buy in his fridge whos doing it why how does he react

*Sephiroth is over at Angeal's apartment, Angeal opens the fridge and finds an entire rotisserie chicken in there*

Angeal: Okay, I don't mean to sound crazy or ungrateful, but free food has been appearing in my fridge all week.

Sephiroth: Alright, I confess. It's me.

Angeal: Why??

Sephiroth: Remember yesterday at lunch when I mindlessly forked a piece of your roast chicken without asking, and you told me it was rude to take food without permission? I've been feeling guilty ever since, so I bought you a whole chicken to... rebalance the scales.

*Angeal pulls out a giant unopened jar of pickles*

Angeal: I haven't eaten pickles in three months.

Sephiroth: That one's because I accidentally dropped a pickle slice from my own sandwich two days ago onto the ground.

Angeal: So let me get this straight. You feel bad for wasting food, so now you're compensating by secretly loading my fridge with random offerings out of penance.

Sephiroth: I'm proactive about my karmic debts.

*Angeal pulls out a giant sheet cake*

Sephiroth: Genesis dared me to steal a slice of cake that was in the executive lounge. Mid-slice, the guilt overwhelmed me. I panicked and left.

Angeal: You left mid-slice.

Sephiroth: I lacked the moral fortitude to finish the theft.

*Angeal pulls out a full watermelon with "For Angeal :)" written in marker across it*

Sephiroth: That one's because I thought about taking a bit of Zack's fruit salad at last week's training seminar. I didn't do it. But the intent was there, so.

Angeal: You're filling my entire kitchen with guilt-based groceries.

Sephiroth: Correct.

Angeal: You realize that by cramming my fridge full of food I can't possibly eat alone before they go bad, you're just creating more waste, right?

Sephiroth: *panic*

*Sephiroth starts cramming fistfuls of roast chicken into his mouth at terminal velocity*

Angeal: OH MY GOD

[koisuko]

Hello, I was wondering if you would write a romantic Smoke x female reader, about Smoke trains the reader self defense but they start to flirt and become handy with each other?

Yesss, more Tomas lovers!

Tw: handsy behavior, flirtation, may contain lewd suggestions, fem reader, no use of y/n

You are far from incapable of taking care of yourself, and Tomas knew that. But having a boyfriend who was both a ninja, and had ninja enemies, he was worried for your safety. Often times, his mind would run wild with ‘what if’ questions. ‘What if I’m not there to save her’ ‘what if something happens to her’ ‘what if she gets taken, or worse’ and many more. So, to set his mind at ease, you agreed to train with him and learn some basic self defense. It couldn’t hurt to learn something new, and maybe you’ll be able to fight along side him…someday.

Every morning, you two would wake up early to have the training grounds to yourselves. Tomas wanted to make sure that you felt comfortable, and wouldn’t be shy or embarrassed if you made a mistake in front of others. Plus, you two would have alone time to be yourselves without any on lookers giving awkward side-eyes.

Today, training was done a little bit earlier than usual. The moon hung high over the sky, bathing the courtyard in an almost ethereal glow. The calls of night life offered a backdrop to the sounds of grunts and exerted breaths. “Good, again.” Tomas repeated, repositioning himself opposite of you with a twirl of his Karambit. Blankets of heavy smoke swirled around his figure, moving to settle beside him on either side. You nod, careful to perfect your defensive stance. The role was simple, Tomas wouldn’t go easy on you, as promised, and you would work on your defense as if against a real enemy. “Remember,” he spoke, “don’t be afraid to hit me, okay?” You hesitated at first, but nod reluctantly. With the confirmation out of the way, he charged at you, running low with his karambit held at his side. You tried your best to keep your confidence, but seeing him run at you was intimidating, causing your stance to falter and allowing him an opening to attack. Before long, your back collided harshly against the ground. The sheer velocity nearly knocking the wind out of you. Tomas kept you beneath him with his thighs firmly closed around you, forcefully keeping your arms at your side. His arms caged either side of your head, and the close proximity of his lips to yours was making you blush. "Do not hesitate, be sure of your actions or you create an opening for attack." His words bounced off the skin of your cheek. The best part of this whole situation, he seemed oblivious to the effect he was having on you.

He paused in his movements, giving you a questioning look. His head tilted to the side as his eyes trail along the contours of your face. He was confused, concerned even, at the red hue swallowing your cheeks and your parting lips gasping for air. “What’s wrong?” Tomas asked, his brows knitted together. The only response you could give, was a pathetic squeak, squirming beneath him while turning your face away to provide at least some space between the two of you. To your surprise, he grasped the base of your jaw, turning your gaze to meet his once again. “Do you need a break?” He was still blissfully unaware, the stupid look of concern still written on his features. “I-I’m fine, Tomas,” you replied. Tomas loosened the pressure of his thighs on your body, giving you the prime opportunity to use your weight and strength to reverse the roles. With a thud and a grunt, he was now beneath you, your face still flush with embarrassment. Tomas was surprised, is eyes shot wide from the sudden turn of events. “V-very good, you did well!” He blushed at the sudden power you had, his stutter causing you to giggle in response. “I think I like you better from this angle,” you smirked, placing a hand on his chest. You pushed yourself up, reaching out to help him. You could feel the slick sweat of his palms between your clasped hands. He was nervous, in a good way of course. Tomas unknowingly had a love struck smile on his face, hearts nearly visible in his pupils. He cleared his throat awkwardly, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. Tomas took a deep breath to gather courage before approaching, gingerly placing a hand on your waist, “you did well today.” For a split second, he admired the shape of you, every bump and curve that created you. His eyes trailed back up to meet yours with a tender smile. “Let’s get some rest.”

[asweetsorroww]

Victory tour recs

I've always been a little too fixated on the victory tour, it seemed like such a peculiar time in Katniss and Peeta's life. Anyway here are some canon compliant fics to fill in those gaps.

let the flames begin petruchio

This is probably the most perfect and canon compliant fic you will find about the victory tour. I love how the author pays attention to almost every detail in the books and meticulously pours it into her writing. Any and all dialogue's or perceptions from the character's flowed like butter, I never read a line that made me think Collin's Katniss would never do this. Accurate would be an understatement.

Velocity 78bathsheba

Katniss has a nighmare and Peeta helps her out of it.

Comfort LarirenShadow

She knows that they have four Districts to go on their Victory Tour and she knows the whole train is talking about how he comes to her room every night.

Very sweet and fluffy.

Not proper MockingJayFlyingFree

A mortifying moment in the lives of the star-crossed lovers.

Let's just say Katniss' period stains the bed and Effie goes a little.....

do without you swishywillow

Katniss pulls Peeta out of a nightmare, fluffy.

Showers ForestFairy

On the train during the victory tour, Peeta takes care of himself, which makes things awkward.

Angsty.

Good morning oh_wellau

Set in Catching Fire, during the Victory Tour. Effie walks in on Katniss and Peeta sharing a bed.

This one was really cute, I love seeing everlark bond without the cameras.

Steadfast Waltz ohmakemeahercules

Katniss and Peeta are on the Victory Tour. Effie Trinket informs them President Snow has requested the couple dance a waltz at his annual ball. Katniss begrudingly agrees. She and Peeta were still on shaky ground since the last Games. Will they be ready by showtime?

A very nice insight on how dance lessons with Effie might have gone. fluffy.

Dance Lessons knottedenergy

Effie decides that Peeta and Katniss need dance lessons while on the Victory Tour. The lessons don't go as Effie planned, and soon she's learning some lessons of her own. Peeta / Katniss cute moments; Haymitch / Effie banter. One-shot story based on reader suggestion.

This one's so cute. loved it.

Catching fire: victory tour by orphan_account

While rereading the books I realized Collins brushed over a lot of Peeta and katniss' growth during CF, she sorta just states it and moves on, which obviously is necessary since the series in more was focused. I thought I'd use her descriptions and elaborate on their growth.

I have a bunch more, will do part 2 later.

[ogditdoodles]

uhhh if you saw me reblog a bunch of tf art from @autobots-in-training thats my other blog that is on a sorta kinda hiatus, but check it out anyways.

these are some humanformers i drew of some of the bots from the blog, Illusion is one of my OCs btw. its a little different from my normal style cause i was trying to make it look like something miko would draw, since in universe, miko draws them.

also since my writing is atrocious, here's the text under the cut stuff in parenthesis is stuff i wanted to add that isnt in the images

Illusion: -Child of Mirage and Hound -Autistic -EDS -Age: 5 -Mexican-Indian -(deadpan until Hot Rod coaches them into making baby eyes to get what they want) -(didnt talk until they were a lot older, past the time kids usually start talking, making Mirage and Hound very very worried, until they got to earth and Rung reassured them that its just how some kids are)

Hot Rod: -Child of Optimus and Megatron -ADHD(combined type) -Age: 6 -Black-Indigenous -(adores the older kids, but still likes messing with them) -(isnt allowed outside the base after he wandered off during a diplomatic meeting that Optimus brought him to, had the present autobots and humans panic as they were looking for a bright pink robot child that disappeared without anybody noticing, and was found half a mile away at a local park's pond trying to catch fish)

Sunny and Sides: -Ages: 20 -Orphans, dont know anything about their birth parents -Raised by Ironhide(they were never officially adopted by him, they dont use any parental terms, but they consider eachother family) -Eldest of the younglings on the ark(like, by a tecnicality, Velocity is an 'older youngling' but because shes old enough to take care of herself for the most part, she's not considered a youngling by the others) -Horrible Pranksters, no one is safe(pranked Illusion and Hot Rod once, have made the babies cry, got in a lot of trouble the first time, didnt stop them from doing it a second time) -Look up to Jazz and Blaster

[thequeenofthedisneyverse]

Finally! Meet my spidersona, SPIDERBEAT!

Here's Omari without the skirt

(Click for better quality)

Moodboard:

As always, feel free to ask questions about him. Likes, comments, reblogs are always appreciated! And yes, you can draw them if you wish

Special thanks to @cherryvampiro for the tutorial and for giving me anough inspiration/confidence to finally draw her!

P.S Omari was originally going to be a girl, but then I wanted her to be a boy, then I thought...why not both?

I'll be adding more to this post (or I might do separate posts) so stay tuned!

Text (In case it was hard to see):

Omari Jewel Octavious is from earth 222A is Spiderbeats - A beat dropping, bars spitting, melodic singing, dress making, y2k sensation.

She's super optimistic and friendly, maybe a little sassy and snarky. Just think Poppy from trolls, Charlotte from princess and the frog, Veruca from Willy Wonka, Darla Dimple from "Cat's don't dance", and Bugs bunny. 

 Omari also has the ability to sing in two different tones, masculine and feminine. He started practicing at nine just for fun and now he uses his two different voices for singing and rapping. She also uses these tones whenever he is feeling masc or fem. 

Omari's parents are Olivia Octavious and Maxwell Dillon. Olivia is a scientist and Maxwell own's an Electric company. Omari also has an older brother named Marcus (19) who is studying to be a lawyer, and two younger twin siblings, Olivia (girl) and Micha (boy), who are both eight.

Right before omari was about to perform on stage he got bitten by a radioactive Orb Weaver Spider. (A CIA experiment lab was training spiders to act based on certain sounds. Over time, with a little biological adjusting, they started making webs that created music. Each strand had a different note attached to it and the spider would make sounds similar to songs they would hear the scientists play.) 

What makes him different?

The spider venom caused his brain  to change how he hears things. Giving him a version of MES “Musical ear syndrome” if you will. His brain now creates music in various ways and types.

When it comes to people he knows like family or friends she’ll hear their “theme song”. Basically just sounds/beats his mind makes up corresponding to the person's vibe. But the theme songs are always the same when it comes to a specific person, never changing. 

The theme songs are at a low velocity in the back of her mind like how we hear music in our brains but just a smidge louder. Villains also have a theme song of their own in her brain. But they are very loud, almost overwhelming (it works as a constant spidey-sense until the battle is over). The reason for this is because he’s going through an intense and frustrating moment so the music will be intense and frustrating in his mind. 

He can still hear regular music and even change it to her liking. She can add lyrics, switch lyrics to different songs, switch beats as well as even add and control different instruments. He can even speed it up or slow it down. 

She can make it stop but only if he manages to calm down and focus. Or if that doesn't work she'll use her headset. 

Why the headset?

Sometimes the noise becomes too much for him so the headphones are just noise cancellers. But they can also be used to drown out other noise so his spidey senses are the only thing she can hear/focus on. 

[givemeyams]

Magic on the Lost Light - Part 5

Lost Light x (gn)reader

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | [Here] | End

Content: mtmte human oc insert, discontinued

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1.7k

Drift

"Good morning Ratchet, I can feel the industriousness of your aura today."

"That's one way of putting it. I only have a few more bots to clear before I can finally write off our post-launch failure for good."

"Then it may be a good thing we are so close to Delphi, where we can recruit more medics and you can have some much needed rest."

"I'll rest when I’m dead, besides even when we get to Delphi, I have no idea what state the facility is in now that the war ended, for all we know all the medics are needed."

"Then all the more reason to give time to yourself. You have done more than enough good in the past few orns already."

The waved him off, almost to dismiss the thought. "Enough about me, you're here for the human, aren't you? You're not usually up this early."

Drift shrugged. "Brainstorm is finished with their habitation suit and Ultra Magnus had requested to meet with them today to discuss their training as our future inter-species liaison. A bold choice of Rodimus."

"I know, I was there."

"What do you think of this human?"

"They are fine. Not as jumpy as one would expect when meeting Cybertronians for the first time. Their boldness definitely impressed Rodimus and Ultra Magnus."

"Not you?"

"They are a bit too feral for my liking. It's not like they are unpleasant. In fact I would rather take their company over half the bots I had to service in the past cycle. It's just that I've been off-world for far too long to recognize when cleverness can be dangerous. See for yourself." He said, pulling the monitor of his office. 

"What are they doing?"

"They constructed a sling to whip small projectiles with greater speed and velocity. The weapon is crude but there is undeniable skill In both its construction and of its use."

"What are they using as projectiles?"

"Their fragging nutrition packets.

"Impressive, and it looks like they are consistent in their accuracy. What do they call themselves."

"Cartographer, part time archeologists, and full time drifter; their words not mine. Other than that, we have no idea who this person is."

"I don't recall 'Buddy' as a common name among humans."

"You caught that too? Humans have weird naming conventions but you can't help but wonder…"

"If that is only an alias."

"What am I doing, rambling on about fuel tank theories? Talk to the kid yourself and you decide. I’ve got work to do."

Drift looked back at the human. The fact that the human decided to craft a weapon, no matter how primitive, gave him pause. He wanted to tell Ratchet to trust his feelings, because sometimes those feelings are based on something important. Even if it might not seem obvious at the moment. He shook away the thought, and entered Ratchet’s office. Buddy immediately looked up with a small tilt of the head. A part of him was relieved that they did not look upon him with fear, in the far recesses of his processor he could still picture the organics he used to terrorize as Deadlock. He pushed that memory aside.

"Hello, my name is Drift. I am the Third in Command to the Lost Light."

He was surprised, they gestured the universal greeting. Rodimus mentioned something about that. "It's nice to finally meet you Drift. Are you here to take me to see Ultra Magnus?"

"In a bit, first we are to visit the science lab to get you better accommodated for ship life. Then we will meet with the SiC. We will be gone for a few hours so I suggest preparing for such."

Good, they were understood enough to make efforts to purge their bowels and stockpile some liquid and sustenance. It was curious how they chose to bring their sling with them as well.

"I am ready, so what now?"

He held out a servo, "Let me carry you to the floor before I transform."

They looked at his servo and back into his optics. He could hear a fluctuation of their breathing and a rapid intake of their breath. They nodded, walking to his palm. Their eyes seemed to narrow with suspicion. "Okay, I am trusting you. My life is in your hands."

In an instant it wasn't just their weight that put pressure in his palms. A myriad of emotions swept through him. Guilt, pain, awe. He was holding a life, delicate, finite, and most importantly fragile.

Then he looked back at the same intense gaze that never left his frame. Drift understood why Ratchet seemed hesitant with this human. Those were the eyes of a trained predator.

He brought the human to his optics and nodded to them, matching their intensity. "A responsibility I do not take lightly."

They let out a breath with a small smile, their posture slackened immediately. Barely audible to his audial receptors, "That is good to hear."

Once he placed the human down, he folded into vehicle mode. They gingerly climbed into his cab.

The effect was immediate. Drift could feel their EM field. It was wild, chaotic and messy. He realized the increased heartbeat was not because they were scared. They were excited. Then he felt their touch glide across his dash.

"You are amazing," they said in reverence.

The bot had to suppress his shiver as his engines stuttered. Evidently, the human still noticed.

"Shit! Sorry, I didn't just grope you, did I? Fuck, I'm going to stop talking now."

He could not help but chuckle, feeling their field shift to embarrassment before any word was said. "You are fine. I must apologize, this is the first time carrying passenger in a while, so bear with me as I adjust."

They paused as if processing what he had said before they had laughed, "For you and me both. Seriously though, I didn't make you uncomfortable did I?"

"No more than what would arise from this situation." Confusion. "Let me explain, humans have an em field that is normally undetectable. When you're this close to my spark I can feel its wild fluctuations in full force. Combined with tactile data I received from your movements and multitude of sounds that your body emits leaves me with an overwhelming amount of data to process."

"Information overload. Got it. Do you need more time to adjust?"

"No need. It is done. I am more impressed as how you noticed my discomfort."

"Your fans kicked on and your engines stalled. Rung did the same thing when he was uncomfortable too."

"I am surprised you manage to pick up our body language so quickly."

"It's a human defense mechanism to seek out patterns. Besides, it's a good survival skill when dealing with strangers."

"You seem to have a lot of experience in that regard. I heard from Ratchet that you called yourself a drifter, what do you mean by that."

"Where do I begin? I fancy myself as a explorer of the unknown but really I am just a wandering vagrant.  I was displaced from my home when I was younger and have been on the move ever since."

"I am sorry to hear that. While I never had fond memories of life before the war, the conflict had made it impossible to settle down. I know the feeling of never being able to stay in one place."

"Then we have that in common. I am glad I get to be your roommate then. Us wayward vagabonds have to stick together, after all."

If Drift could smile, he would. There was so much energy from this small being that it was infectious. "Your aura is far clearer now than when we first met."

"My aura? Are you talking about my Electromagnetic field like before?"

"Not entirely. An EM field while biological, can be manipulated. An aura is your truest self. Spectralism is a belief presenting the most honest version of yourself through our aura and through colors."

"That's a lot to unpack. First, what do you mean by EM fields can be manipulated? How is my field different from yours?"

"For Cybertronians, it is how we can convey emotions. It is one of the most basic non-verbal forms of communication we have. That said, it is subject to many of our social stigmas. Due to such stigmas, it is no longer a completely honest expression of oneself.

He continued. "Your field is chaotic and untamed, yet to me it comes off as completely honest. It fluctuates with your emotions. In a very real sense, your field is what we spectralist strive to emulate with the colors we present ourselves with."

They chuckled. "So when you say that my aura is clear, it just means that I am less of an emotional wreck than I was when I first met you. And here I thought I had a good poker face."

"Don't take it as a slight. I am naturally better at sensing these things, and I would have not noticed if you hadn't stepped into my cab. Actually, why did you make a point about me holding your life?"

"A few reasons. First, it was to express the severity of the situation. I can't avoid jumping into your servos, especially with a ship this size, but I can definitely be dramatic about it."

"You certainly were. I admit being caught off guard by the comment. You wanted to see my reaction, didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged. For what it's worth, I believe you." He felt Buddy pat his dash. "That's why I feel so comfortable now. I know I am in good hands."

"I can see why Rodimus likes you. 

“I am glad that he does.” Drift could feel the human lean against his frame, no doubt watching the other crew outside. “He really is really something, though. Giving me the position of Liaison. Not that I am complaining. I thrive in situations like this. It’s just quite a leap of faith to place so much responsibility on a stranger."

"True, no more than say, putting your life in another servos."

They  laughed softly. "Clever bastard, using the same tactics then i.”

“Indeed, more than most give him credit for.” Drift said.

Next ->

[usafphantom2]

The SR-71 was safer than you thought it was. If this airframe was flying normally, it could not have been shot down by surface-to-air missiles or jet fighter interceptions.

The SR-71 was never in danger of being shot down by the Russians.

When the Russians realized this after a few tries of an attempt at a surface-to-air missile, they gave up. The other enemies were not so quickly deterred, Such as North Korea and Cuba, who continued to fire at the SR-71 without success over the years. They did not want the world to know this.

The propaganda machine that ran the Soviet Union (as it was known during that time)told the people that the Americans were lazy and could be easily defeated by the Russian people, but this was not true. The only way Russia thought it could destroy an SR-71 was with an interceptor. This proved to be untrue also as an opportunity to study the MiG 25 occurred

Soviet-Russian pilot Viktor Belenko defected to Japan on September 6, 1976, in a MiG-25. In his book MiG Pilot, he later wrote that The Russians had a master plan to intercept an SR-71 by positioning a MiG 25 in front of it and one below it. When the SR 71 passed, they would fire missiles..this never occurred. The Russian computers were very primitive. Victor continues by saying the MiG -25 cannot reach or catch it. Their missiles are useless above 27,000 m. The Russian missiles lack the velocity to overtake the SR 71.

In planned excursions, American planes found it nearly impossible for the F-14s and F-15s to lock on to the SR-71. They certainly tried. Eagle bait exercises were flown at Nellis Air Force Base training area in Nevada. Tomcat F 14 excursions occurred over the Pacific Ocean.

The SR 71 crews stacked the deck to make it easy for a simulated kill. The fighter pilots knew when, where, and how fast they would be going, and if that wasn’t enough, they turned off their DEF system ( electrical defense ). Then, we had the SR 71s painted with white stripes on the bottom of the fuselage. After all that, they told us not to exceed Mach 2.8. During this exercise, they could listen in on each other’s radios.

The Habu’s could hear the fighter pilots say, “Da%n t#7& too late again!”

As the daughter of a Habu, I am incredibly grateful that they could not shoot it down.

Written by Linda Sheffield

@Habubrats71 via X

[damn-stark]

Chapter 8 The worlds a little blurry

Chapter 8 of Sugar

A/N- I’m not saying to keep the training scene with Satoru in mind, but do it because it will come into play later?

Warning- Swearing, fluff, ANGST!!!, VIOLENCE, Blood and gore, death, spoilers, long chapter.

Pairing- Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader, Choso x Gojo!fem-reader

Episode- Half of 2x05

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*A YEAR LATER. 2007*

“Here we go!” Shoko exclaims before she and Suguru hurl school supplies at your brother. And of course, only the eraser hits his forehead, whilst the pencil Suguru threw stops because of Satoru’s infinity.

Which is ridiculous by the way, he’s much harder to torment with his infinity on all the time nowadays.

“Yeah, it’s working,” Satoru says as he grabs the floating pencil.

“Ugh,” Shoko groans. “What the heck was that?”

“Automatic selection of targets for your Jujutsu technique?” Suguru questions from behind you.

Satoru nods. “Yup. Though, to be precise I’m the target for the technique,” he explains, making you sigh out of boredom and lean back against Suguru’s legs.

Why does your brother want you here again? To watch him show off? It’s really annoying when he doesn’t explain things right off the bat.

“I’ve automated what I used to do manually,” he continues to say. “Now it can discern an object's danger level based on the strength of its cursed energy, its mass, its velocity, and its shape. I’d like to get it to discern poisons, too, but that’s still proving to be difficult. This will allow me to keep my Limitless technique active almost perpetually with minimal resources.”

“Having it perpetually active will fry your brain,” Shoko points out exactly what you worried about when he told you a couple days back.

“But I can also keep running the reverse cursed technique with the energy I generate on my own,” Satoru explains to her exactly what he told you. “So I’m constantly giving it a fresh brain to work with. I’d already been working on shortening my hand seals. That’s nailed now, too. So I can also activate multiple instances of Blue and Red simultaneously. The only remaining hurdles are Domain Expansion and teleportation over long distances. I should be able to get that down if we set up some courses without any obstacles in Jujutsu High. Shoko,” he calls out and leans forward. “Could you lend me some lab rats?”

“Uh…” she questions. “Well, you have y/n here.”

You furrow your eyebrows and throw your hands up slightly to retort. “Hey!”

Shoko snickers and you roll your eyes before you then shoot your brother a smirk. “What about my cursed technique? Will you learn to protect yourself against me?” You tease him. “With the right amount of power I could definitely break through your infinity.”

Satoru turns his head towards you and tilts his head down before he scoffs. “As if,” he counters smugly. “You’d never be able to hurt me.”

You don’t let that tear you down, you actually grow smug too. “I don’t know man, the air definitely can. I am getting stronger.”

So much so that just last week you got assigned to a mission with your brother, and Yaga says you’ll get assigned to more together because he says your techniques work well together. Which must mean something because the only way your brother and you get assigned to missions together is for the rare group missions you get assigned to.

You still are getting assigned with Nanami and Haibara because you are in the same class, and your teamwork is absurdly well. But it does seem like you’re finally growing strength wise.

It makes you wonder what your parents think about it?

“Well we’ll see won’t we?” Satoru counters your comment. “That’s actually why I asked you to be here,” he finally reveals. “I need you to hit me with your cursed technique.”

You pull your shades down and grin at him. “Oh? You should’ve said that from the beginning!” You exclaim and push yourself away from Suguru to summon air to your hand as you raise it to get ready to lash at him.

However, he throws the eraser at you as he interjects. “Not yet, idiot.”

You pout with disappointment and watch the eraser fall at your feet.

“Suguru,” Satoru calls out next. “Have you lost weight? You okay?”

Your smile fades at the sound of his comment, and when you peer back at your boyfriend you frown with pity. He looks exhausted—well you’ve noticed that he’s looked exhausted for a while now. Just like you’ve noticed that he’s lost weight too.

You like to think it’s just overwork, getting assigned to missions alone must be exhausting, but the truth is you’ve noticed that something has been wrong with Suguru a couple of months after Toji Fushiguro killed Riko; after you entered that damn non-sorcerer cult who cheered over the death of an innocent girl. At first it was subtle signs like sleepless nights, things that you told yourself not to worry about, stuff he told you not to worry about. But he then began to grow distant with your friends, with you. He often lacked motivation, he didn’t show affection, and if he did it almost felt forced, like it cost him a lot of energy.

Suguru also smiled a lot less, and his eyes…his dark eyes have begun to look dull. You try and try to make him feel better, you try to help him in any way you can without pressuring him, but he keeps pushing you away. He’s like a…fading light at the end of a tunnel, no matter how much you want it to reach it, the light grows smaller and smaller.

It hurts, it really does, but he’s not accepting help, so you’re respecting his choice and just trying your best to be there for him in the best way you can. You love him after all. You don’t want to give up on him.

“It’s just heat fatigue,” Suguru assures Satoru. “I’ll be fine.”

“Did you eat too much somen?” Satoru asks cluelessly. Which leads you to wonder if he’s finally noticed Suguru’s distance too. You have brought up your concern for Suguru, but Satoru brushed you off saying Suguru was just exhausted. You’ve never tried since. Especially because as of late Satoru is often busy. Being the strongest comes with a lot of responsibility after all.

You just hope Suguru will feel better soon, that he’ll let you help him at the very least.

“Anyway, y/n, hit me.” Satoru calls for your attention, but you let your eyes linger on Suguru.

He seems to notice and meets your gaze, so you offer him a soft smile. Suguru blinks in surprise before he gives you a faint half smile before he looks away again and loses his gaze on Satoru.

It makes you want to embrace him, give him a small peck, or pull him aside, but your brother steals your attention again. “Hit me with something small, something normal.”

You swallow back before you sigh and return your attention to your brother. “Define normal?” You pick on his comment since it makes no sense.

“Just hit me with your air whiplash,” he explains in annoyance. “Something not too strong, just something you use on, uh, low curses.”

You blow out air and effortlessly summon air to form on your palm, causing the dirt and dust on the ground to pick up softly.

“Okay,” you warn your brother. “Here it goes.” You then proceed to fling your wrist. And just as the orb leaves your hand you manage to maneuver it into a curved line that you lash out at him instead.

But of course the air doesn’t even touch him, it breaks apart around him and flutters away.

“See you can’t touch me,” Satoru rebuttals with a cocky smirk.

You scoff with discontent and stand up. “Okay, all powerful sorcerer, let me hit you with all I got,” you challenge him as you begin to summon more air to your palm.

Satoru snickers and lifts his chin. “Hit me with all you got sis.”

You shoot him a grin and make the still air turn to strong gusts of wind that make Shoko shield her head from the dirt you pick up. You then shift a foot back and draw in a deep breath as the orb in your hand grows.

Satoru places a hand on his hip and looks at you with nonchalance which gets you fired up.

“We are in a courtyard you two,” Shoko points out loudly so she can be heard over the howling wind. “Whatever you break you have to replace—then again it’s not like it’ll make a dent in your money.”

“Ready?” You ask Satoru.

Your brother nods, but just before you can hit him you get a message so you check that first and actually lose all concentration as you see that it's an old non-sorcerer friend.

“Oh my god!” You exclaim. “Satoru guess who just texted me?!” You run over to him and show him the name on the phone. “It’s Suki!” You face your friends and grin. “Suki is Satoru’s ex-girlfriend from our junior high days.”

“Oh right!” Your brother exclaims. “She was your best friend, I completely blanked.”

You roll your eyes and scoff. “Yeah, my best friend, I told you not to date.”

Shoko slouches as she snickers. “Please tell me you got him back for that.”

You flash her a grin and skip back to her. “Oh totally, I dated this rival he had, he was—”

“An asshole,” Satoru finishes for you, which you agree to.

“But,” you add. “He did have long dark red hair he’d dye all the time,” you say thoughtfully whilst you put your phone away.

“Long hair?” Shoko questions. “Oh so it’s like that?”

You blink in confusion and query. “What?”

Shoko glances back at Suguru and snickers. “Oh nothing. Just an observation.”

You look at Suguru, and he meets your gaze to share the same confusion. Albeit his confusion isn’t so prominent on his face.

“I don’t understand,” you mutter and glance back at Shoko. “Elaborate.”

“Well isn’t it obvious you have a thing for guys with…” before you can finish hearing what she had to say her voice trails off as you get startled by an arm thrown around your throat.

There’s only one person not accounted for in front of you; your fucking brother. So it isn’t hard to guess who it was.

“Get the fuck off me you psycho!” You grimace as you grip his arm to try and pull it off.

Your brother chuckles. “You said you wanted to train more. I have time, we’re training.”

You try to kick back, but he easily evades your kicks.

“Satoru,” Suguru finally breaks his silence.

Said man groans. “Don’t worry, Suguru, I'm just helping her because an enemy will never announce when they’re moving against you now will they—“ he comes to a sudden halt as you bite down on his arm after you realize his infinity is off.

It’s the only way his arm would actually touch you.

“What the hell?!” Satoru exclaims and lets go of you to walk back in disbelief. “Did you bite me?”

You do what he wanted this time and summon fast and strong gusts of air to your hand quicker than before. You then spin around without warning and lash it out at him.

You can’t tell if it hit him at all because you proceed to charge at him.

Just before you can reach him though you jump up high above the buildings that surround you. Satoru doesn’t hesitate to smirk before he steps back and jumps up too to try and meet you halfway in mid-air. However, before he can reach you, you counter him by spinning around in the air as you summon wind to your foot to lash out a sharp and strong curved line of air from your foot.

And it seems that some gusts of wind seem to travel through the infinity because he falters in the air.

Nevertheless, it’s not enough to knock him back to the ground or catch him completely off guard because just as you’re turning your body to face him again in the air, your brother grabs ahold of your ankle and quickly flips you around to throw you back to the ground.

And since he is a lot stronger and faster you fail at landing on your feet and land on your back.

The impact hurts, but you muster a playful smile before he lands over you and immediately grabs you by the collar of your jumpsuit to lift your head off the ground.

“Satoru,” Shoko calls out with worry while he raises his fist over you.

Neither of you try to assure her, you look into each other's eyes with no ill feeling, just playful undertones as you wait for him to land a finishing hit.

He doesn’t however, he hesitates, so you take advantage of this moment and gather air to your hand before you slam your hand on his throat, causing him to be thrown back whilst the air in his lungs is knocked out.

“Fuck,” you chuckle and push yourself up, seeing that your brother only landed a foot away from you since your techqinue isn’t strong, and well, he is strong.

“That was a rush. You like that move though?” You ask as you walk over to him. “I call it a knockout. As long as I can touch your throat I can use my cursed technique to throw you back and manipulate the air in your body to knock it out of your lungs.” You chuckle. “Of course, it only works if that person or thing has cursed energy. Otherwise, pft.” You stop and see your brother catching his breath.

“You hesitated,” you point out smugly before you offer him your hand.

Satoru sighs with defeat, but he doesn’t hesitate to slap his hand on yours to let you help him up.

Once he’s on his feet his frown breaks into a proud grin. “Are you okay?” He asks as he slaps his hands on your shoulders.

You nod. “Nothing RCT won’t fix,” you assure him, and instinctively put your hand back so he can give you a high-five.

“Nice work,” he compliments you. “Of course sloppy but good thinking. Plus some of that air did touch me.”

“Well,” you point out as you begin to walk back to your friends now standing on the stone steps. “Air travels fast. So I'm not surprised some gusts of air did touch you. I mean I know it’s not much, but it is some.”

“Keep working on that,” he adds. “And you’ll actually be able to knock me down.”

You smile and turn around to walk back and face him. “Don’t make yourself an easy target though,” you tell him. “It doesn’t matter if I’m your sister.”

Satoru laughs softly. “Trust me I won’t,” he rebuttals.

You reach the step below Suguru and spin around on your heels to face him. However, you notice that he’s on his phone so you wait to speak to him.

“I’ll just say this,” Shoko interjects. “I'm sure a lot of people would pay a lot of money to watch you two fight.”

You lean towards Suguru to press your cheek against his shoulder as you respond to Shoko. “If I were to win, would you quit smoking?” You tease her.

Shoko narrows her gaze on you for a moment while she thinks.

“If you lose, would you smoke?” She rebuttals.

You laugh. “You sound like an addict. Answer me first.” Because jokes on her, you've already smoked with Suguru. You didn’t like the smell it left on your fingers, but you didn’t feel as disgusted that time.

“Fine,” Shoko says with a sigh. “If you were to win I would quit smoking.”

You smile at her brightly. “Ah, good then I’ll make sure to win,” you assure her. Which probably is no comfort at all to her, but you still do so confidently.

“I’d like to see that,” Satoru taunts.

“You will,” you remark. “I’ll beat you. One day.”

Satoru laughs softly and nods. “All right I like the sound of that.”

You smile softly and then back up to look at Suguru.

He has his phone down now and looks at you this time around. Albeit there's something off about the way he looks at you right now that makes your heart jump with gut-wrenching worry.

“I have to leave for my mission now,” he announces to you and the others.

You sigh sadly. “It’s already time?” You complain.

Suguru hums in agreement softly and focuses solely on you now. “Can we talk before I leave?”

Your smile falters as you detect how much colder his voice is. “Yeah, sure,” you answer hesitantly.

Suguru nods softly before he takes your hand and begins pulling you away gently.

“Be careful, Suguru!” Saturo yells out. “Text me!”

Suguru throws back a wave to his friend and doesn’t bother to look back. He doesn't bother to make conversation with you either, and since you feel worry grow within you, you stay quiet too.

It’s only once you're in the tunnel exit that he finally stops walking and faces you with that same gloomy look. Albeit now he can’t even meet you in the eyes.

“Is everything okay?” You ask softly as you grab ahold of his bicep.

Suguru nods stiffly. “Yeah,” he mutters.

You don’t believe him, but you know you won’t get anything else, so you move on. “How long is your mission? You didn’t tell me. Maybe we can do something when you come back home?” You ask.

Suguru swallows thickly and shakes his head. “Y/N...I don’t think this going to work.”

You scoff softly. “I can go to your room, that’s fine. I can even have some food waiting for you. Hm?”

“No,” he counters softly and slowly lifts his gaze to look at you with a long frown and a sorrowful look. “I mean, we have to break up.”

The smile on your smile immediately falls, and your heart sinks. You know you heard him right, there’s nothing going around you to make you mishear him, but you still don’t want to believe those tragic words that just came out of his mouth. “I,” you gasp and let go of his arm. “I don’t understand.”

Tears fill your eyes, and your mind itself begins to race, leaving no room for coherent thoughts.

“D-did I do something wrong?” You ask as you fight the need to cry. “I know things haven’t been the same but Suguru I can help you, just let me help you, please.”

Suguru let’s out a deep breath and looks at the ground to shake his head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong, y/n

I need you to understand that,” he says and meets your gaze. “You were good, I just…I can’t do this anymore. You deserve better than me.”

Better than him? What does that even mean? He is good, he’s the best, he’s your world.

“No,” you argue and step forward to pull his hand out of his pockets. “I don’t want anyone else, I just want you. Suguru…please talk to me, I’m right here, please.”

Suguru steps back and sighs. “I can’t,” he continues to say. “I can’t drag you along with me anymore. I’m letting you go, y/n. It’s for you own good.”

Tears slip out of your eyes and frustration begins to grow within you over his vague explanations. “You’re being selfish,” you remark. “What do you know about what I need? You keep pushing me away. Everytime…every single time I-I try to get close you push me away. So you can’t tell me what I need.”

Due to your upbringing, it’s hard for you to express yourself in any way, anger, happiness, sadness. Satoru has kind of changed that because he lets you talk to him, but even then when you get frustrated expressing yourself is hard and usually turns to tears. So to express this kind of anger without breaking into a sobbing mess is truly significant. It even surprises you, but anger is all you can feel at this very moment as you face the man you love, as you try to progress the words he’s using to break your heart, as you look into his dark eyes that hide sorrow behind that hard serious expression.

“What I need,” you mutter and step forward with more tears. “Is for you to give me a good reason. We said we’d be honest, please be honest with me.” You clutch your chest and look at him helplessly and hurt. “Please, Suguru.”

Said man holds your gaze for a second before he averts his eyes and nods stiffly. “I did tell you the truth. That was it. I can’t be with you, and you can’t be with me. Not as I am, so please just let it go. For your own sake, y/n.”

You feel physically ill, like you’re going to throw up, or have some kind of attack with the way your heart is racing.

“So that’s it then? That shitty ass excuse?” You cry softly and step back. “Look at me,” you whisper as if you’re out of breath.

Suguru blinks and does as you ask.

“Is that it?” You ask whilst you begin to hear tires approach at the end of the tunnel.

Suguru doesn’t say anything, but you leave him space to explain himself, to give you something better than what you got. You deserve something better, no? All the love you have, the memories you share, the moments you lived need to mean something, no?

You express that all with your watery gaze and with your lips parted ready to fight back. And you know he knows that.

But even still, he leaves you just like that.

“Okay. I…” you try to find something to say but all your anger disappears now just as fast as it came. “I,” that’s all you can muster in your disbelief and growing ache.

“Y/N,” Suguru whispers.

You sniffle and look to see the manager pull up to take Suguru away to his mission, so you step back with your lips parted and your hands trembling.

Suguru steps forward to try and what? Assure you after he broke your heart?

Fuck him.

You turn around and storm away without letting him say anything else, without saying anything else yourself.

You just can’t think anymore, it all hurts, this pain like no other completely overwhelms you to the point you can’t even shed another tear.

You know he’s struggling with something he doesn’t want to say, but you thought he’d be someone who didn’t give up regardless. You thought he’d be someone to give you something more than some shitty excuse, but he wasn’t, he isn’t.

He ended it just like that, everything, a years worth of a relationship is over because of something you don’t even know about. Some selfish reason.

It’s all over…

So what do you do now? You don’t know what to do. You can’t go back to where Satoru is, you’ll break and you don’t want to break and start drama. You can’t go on a mission today because you didn’t get assigned to one. You need to do something…

“Y/N!” You hear Shoko shout.

Shit, shit.

You stop just before you can reach the dorms and draw in a deep breath to try and hide your agony. You can’t cry, so it should be good. Right?

“Back already?” Your friend laughs as she catches up to you. “I’m surprised.”

You exhale and slap on a nonchalant look before you turn and face her with a tiny smile. “Yeah,” you breathe out. “I’m back.”

Shoko stops before you and meets your gaze with a smirk. You smile at her but as you look into your friends eyes your smile begins to tremble and those tears that dried up due to your disbelief come rushing back.

Shoko notices right away and her face falls with concern. “Whoa, is everything okay?” She asks right away and reaches her hand over to grab your arm.

You part your lips and fight your tears as you nod. Shoko scoffs and holds your gaze to try and read what has you on the brink of tears after you saw someone who never fails to make you smile.

She struggles a bit but she then understands what happened without needing you to explain. You wouldn't be crying otherwise.

“Oh,” she breathes out and doesn’t fail to throw her arms around you, causing you to finally break and sob—“he’s an asshole. He is.”

You try to speak, but nothing comes out but a soft whimper as you hug her back tightly.

“Come on,” she whispers and pulls back with her hand sliding down to grab yours. “Let’s go inside. I have all your favorite things in there.”

You’ve had girl friends before, you have cousins, but never one as important as Shoko. Out of everyone, she’s the only one who's touched your heart, the only one you’ve grown to love.

“Here,” Shoko mumbles and sits you down on her bed. “I'll bring the fuzzy socks and the cigarettes? No,” she scoffs to herself. “Alcohol? Fuck…” she trails off and walks to her drawer full of snacks and other things you both may need when you sync up on your periods.

“Ah, never mind, I found just the thing.” She pulls out a pack of your favorite snacks and throws them on the bed along with other things she has stored inside.

“I will take a beer,” you mumble as you put the fuzzy socks on your feet. “And maybe…”

Shoko swipes baggy shirts off her rack and throws them on the bed, making you smile softly over the fact that she already knew. It makes you grateful for her.

“So,” you interject as you put the baggy shirt on. “Have you decided to go on another date with that guy from Kyoto?” You ask her.

Shoko walks over to leave the beers on the bed while she also begins to change. “Yeah,” she mutters. “I decided I’ll go for it, I mean why not? He was a lot of fun.”

You sniffle and lay back on the bed with a pack of snacks and a cold beer in hand. “That’s good…dates are a lot of fun…” you trail off and feel tears fill your eyes all over again.

Now you try to hold yourself back, try to think of something else, but you can’t help the emotions from coming out like word vomit. “Do you think he stopped loving me?”

Shoko hops around to face you whilst she puts shorts on, and proceeds to sigh deeply before she responds with a reassuring tone. “No, I don’t think so. I just think there’s more going on with Suguru. But I don’t think he stopped loving you.” She finishes changing into her comforting clothes and jumps on the bed beside you with her beer and savory snacks.

“Maybe you were right,” you bring up as you drag yourself to sit up and lean your back against the wall. “Dating people you see everyday was a terrible idea. I’m going to have to see him all the time now…it’s going to be so awkward.”

Shoko sighs again and opens your beer can for you since your manicured nails get in the way. “Well,” she says. “I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t right.”

You take the beer and look over at her. “You were,” you correct her.

Shoko grabs her own beer and then meets your gaze. “Well, it depends, doesn't it?” She asks as she opens her own beer.

You sniffle and look at her puzzled. However, you don’t get to ask before she explains herself. “I just mean, Suguru looks like he’s going through something, you can’t blame him for that because some people like that just think it’s for the best.”

You blink in confusion. “People like what?” You probe. “Depressed?” It’s not hard to guess or identify on Suguru, it’s the only explanation for his sudden change.

“Yeah.” Shoko nods and takes a long swig from her beer before she continues on. “And knowing him he thinks he’s dragging you along, that he’s not, I don’t know, enough? I mean you met him when he was confident about his strength, now so many things are changing, and he’s taking that hard and doubting himself.”

With the way she acts so nonchalant and carefree you forget she’s studying to be a doctor, so she always impresses you when she behaves all doctor-like.

“I don’t care if he’s the weakest,” you say shakily so you take a drink of your beer before going on. “He’s enough for me in any way. So I don’t get it…he really hurt me.”

Shoko takes a long drink before she leans back against the wall and wraps her arm around your shoulders to pull you against her. “I know,” she whispers. “I'm sorry.”

A soft sob escapes past your lips, making Shoko hold onto you tighter.

“Look, I’m going to say this completely unbiased,” she interjects as she rests her head on yours. “Fight for him. I know it sounds super cheesy, but do it. You guys make each other happy, and you know fighting for someone doesn’t always have to mean the guy, you can fight too.”

You nod. “I know,” you whisper. “But what if I try and he gives up completely?”

Shoko exhales deeply. “Then you let him go. But I think you should try, and maybe try and reach him too. He doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Or me.” You sigh and pull back to take a sip of your beer. “I’m just…scared.”

Shoko nods. “I understand, but won’t trying at least satisfy you? If it doesn’t work at least you can say you tried—my parents,” she begins saying and averts her gaze. “They went through a rough patch when I was young, but they fought for each other and came back stronger. Now they’re all sappy and hardly ever apart.”

You laugh softly. “Are you comparing me to your parents?” You ask.

Shoko rolls her eyes. “I'm giving you an example,” she quips. “Fight, or don’t and you’ll find someone else with long hair.”

You tilt your head in confusion whilst you take a drink. “I don’t get it,” you mumble.

Shoko snickers. “You totally dig guys with long hair,” she points out.

Your ex had long hair, Suguru has long hair now and it was also longish before. And all your celebrity crushes—oh. You get it, maybe you do have a type.

“That’s so stupid,” you say breathlessly. “And who knew you’re such a sap, Shoko?” You giggle.

She shrugs nonchalantly and surprises you by downing the rest of her drink in one last go. When she’s done she throws her can to the ground and lays back on her bed.

“You tell anyone I’ll tear your closet,” she threatens, making you drink the rest of your drink so you can lay beside her.

“Besides,” she adds and slides her hand over to interlace her fingers with yours. “You're both my friends, and you’re my best friend. We live together, so I see more than you do, more than anyone, and I know that it’s worth fighting for. If it wasn’t, trust me I would tell you.”

Rather than smiling you frown as that fear that always accompanies you makes you think of the worst. “And if it doesn’t work?” You ask as if she actually knew that answer. After all it seems she had loving parents, it’s why she’s giving you this advice. But you? Your parents are the complete opposites from her parents, they never fought for each other, you never saw them being any kind of affectionate. So this doubt creeping inside you isn’t out of the blue, it's a real terrorizing fear you have experienced.

“If it doesn’t work?” Shoko responds and lifts her head to look at the same time you tilt your head down to look at her. “Then you let it go, plain and simple. I’m sure it’ll hurt, but you’ll get over it, plus I’ll be here, your brother is oddly good at comforting you. We’ll all be here.”

You let out a shaky breath and show her your thanks and appreciation by resting your head on her shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re here,” you tell her softly.

Shoko rests her head on yours and sighs softly. “I’m glad you’re here too.”

You rest your eyes and try to stop crying as you do feel some kind of reassurance, but those tears still come out since the wound didn’t actually heal. No matter what resolve you figured out, that doesn’t actually change what happened. Suguru and you still are broken up—

That’s so weird to think about. So weird to say in your mind. It’s…unbelievable, and painful.

But at least you have Shoko.

——

*A COUPLE DAYS LATER*

So much for the hope of it all. So much for more than anything. So much for it all. You tried so hard to date around your brother, you didn’t fight much but you fought against his protests. And just as he was barely getting around to fully accepting it, Suguru ruins it.

Now, you’ll have to live on awkwardly because what’s the point in trying? He broke up with you, he left you, he hurt you. Why should you try to fix things? Why risk getting your heart torn and stomped on again?

“Right?” You ask yourself while you cover the fireball you make with rocks and dirt you summon off the ground with your cursed technique.

You do miss him, and yes, he was rather distant for the past couple of months, but you still had each other. He still made your day complete even if there were days where you’d only see each other for a few minutes. He still listened and helped you when Satoru was busy. Suguru…was always there, and now even if you live in the same place he’s never with you.

It’s so fucking lonely. It’s so weird. Plus at night it’s even worse, you didn’t sleep together a lot because you’d get in trouble, but you’d sleep with his shirts or his sweaters and you’d be content with his scent that clung onto it. Now it’s just a cruel reminder that he broke your heart.

So it begs the question, should you fight?

Part of you wants to more than anything, but the other part is filled with anger, and fear that he won’t want to fight with you, that he’ll reject you. And yes, you know that if you don’t ask him you’ll never know, but telling him you loved him took so much time because of your stupid fear—or anxiety as Shoko likes to call it (you don’t believe that.) So now telling him to fight for another chance with you will only take even more time to express.

Fuck. Fuck…

You sigh and drop your head, realizing you’re still holding the dirt covered fireball without concentrating it.

At least that’s a plus. But regardless, you’ll keep torturing yourself by overthinking rather than going for it…

As of now though, you let the dirt fall and collect the fire back through your dragon mark before you stand up and exhale deeply.

No more thinking of Suguru. No more thinking of the anger you feel over this breakup. No more thinking of the building up stress you feel over an upcoming mission that you’ll have to travel far for.

Just focus on calming your breaths, on your leg as you slide it forward while you move the other one back. You focus on one arm as you stretch it out to use your cursed technique, and summon some water over to you to cover your arm in its wet body. You use your other hand to tap into your fire and have that begin to twirl around your body, along with the water you move off your arm.

You proceed to take another deep breath and listen for the wind. When you hear it howl by your ear you smile as it seems that it’s calling out to you specifically. You then easily gather some of it and make it twirl around your body along with the fire and water.

Now all that's left is earth, but that’s harder, rougher, and heavier than rest to manipulate, so you save it for later. Instead, you shift to different forms with a peaceful mindset, ending up balancing on the ground with one hand.

Once you're confident with your form you then try to pick some dirt off the ground to have it dance with the rest of the elements around your body, but it’s fucking hard. You can mix your cursed energy well with the dirt and the rocks, so it begins to falter as you lift it off the ground. It makes you lose focus on your calm breaths. And the strain to keep it up makes you open your eyes and causes your body to begin losing balance.

“Hey! Don’t think too much about it!” Someone you don’t recognize yells out, causing you to lose concentration and collapse on the ground.

“Sorry!” They yell out.

That’s so embarrassing. Tsk.

You slowly push yourself to your feet and dust the dirt off you first before you look up and see an impressively tall blond woman with the kindest brown eyes you’ve ever seen.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Y/N Gojo!” She exclaims with a smug smile when she reaches you by the pond.

Albeit you step back and look at her with confusion. “Uh, pleasure I'm sure, but who are you?” You quirk a brow and study her to check if it’s someone you’ve actually seen before. But no, she isn’t.

“Oh,” she breathes out with disappointment. “I’m Yuki Tsukumo.”

Your eyes widen with awe and a smile breaks on your face. You see her part her lips to add on but you cut her off excitedly, like a fan girl seeing their idol. “Oh my gosh, you’re her!”

Tsukumo’s lips pull to a wide smile and she grows smug again. “Oh, I like the sound of that,” she interjects.

You grin. “You’re the sorcerer who’s always out and defies the higher ups, it’s so cool to finally meet you. I’m a big fan.”

Tsukumo rests her hand on her hip and tilts her head down as she flashes you a sweet grin. “That’s so nice to hear. I didn’t know I was so well known amongst one of the Gojo’s. I’m flattered.”

You scoff. “You’re acting as if I’m royalty,” you quip.

“Well,” she sighs. “You kinda are.”

You roll your eyes and shake your head. “Far from it.” You step forward and continue to look at her with awe. “I need to ask…how did you do it?”

Tsukumo straightens out and looks at you with a confused look. “Do what?” She probes.

Your smile falters and a sigh escapes your lips. “Get strong,” you clarify. “I mean how did you do it all by yourself? You don’t come from one of the big three. I mean I know you came to school, but your reputation? You’re overall poweress? You did that all by yourself, so how? I have the privilege to be born a Gojo, to have a strong brother teaching me, but no matter what I do I continue to struggle.”

Tsukumo's smile turns soft, and her gaze falls on the ground for a moment before she lifts her eyes to meet your gaze with a soft look. “Little by little,” she shares, “I didn’t get strong overnight, I learned and learned. I exhausted myself, but I pushed myself to learn. I for sure as hell didn't listen to any of the old geezers who kept trying to make me hold back.”

You smile softly at that comment.

“But,” she exhales slowly and smirks at you. “I didn’t listen to my head, I trusted myself. I didn't get strong for anyone. I get strong for me. That’s the trick.”

You admire her for a moment before you smile at the ground and nod in comprehension. “I understand, thank you,” you mumble.

“You can be strong and still be a woman, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” she adds. “A lot of people, those old geezers included, only look at you one way. Not both. Prove them wrong every step of the way.”

You chuckle softly. “Oh, trust me I know.” You meet her gaze and shoot her a smirk. “Fuck the higher ups.”

Tsukumo grins. “That’s what I’m talking about! I like you!” She throws her fist out, so you gently tap it with your fist and cause her to shoot you wink that gets you all flustered.

“Hey, we should hang out,” she adds. “We’re both special grade and women at that, we’re a rare pair. So we should get to be friends, don’t you think?”

This is like a dream. This is so cool!

But you need to play it cool. Play it cool.

“Yeah I think so,” you hide your excitement. “That would be cool.”

Tsukumo hums softly before she whips her phone out and offers it to you, making you do the same to trade contacts.

“Anyway,” you bring up as you type in your number. “What brings you around here? Are you picking up a mission?”

“No,” she says. “I came back from a trip so I wanted to meet you and the other special grades.”

You hum before you add in, “well Satoru is on a mission, but,” you pause and exhale slowly. “Geto is here. Somewhere.”

This is the longest you’ve gone without thinking about him. It sounds pathetic but its true. And weird.

“I can…find out where he is so you can meet him,” you suggest hesitantly whilst you return your phones to each other.

“Yeah, that would be great, thank you!”

You hum quietly and look at your phone to go and click on his contact.

It’s been a while since you texted him—will he even answer?

You to Suguru: Where are you?

Your heart begins to race as you grow nervous.

“So,” you interject while you wait. “If you don’t mind me asking, Tsukumo, where were you before returning home?”

“Yuki,” she cuts in bluntly. “You don’t have to be formal with me, call me Yuki.”

You smile softly and nod. “Yuki,” you correct yourself. “Where were you before?”

“I was in Singapore.”

Your eyes widen and you can’t help but grin. “Really?” You probe. “I love Singapore.”

Yuki shows off a grin and nods slowly. “It’s beautiful, and the nightlife is great!”

You part your lips to fangirl over her but a message comes in so you keep quiet and feel your heart jump. When you check you inhale deeply.

Suguru: Hall B, why?

You exhale and leave him on read to offer Yuki a feigned and nervous smile. “Geto answered, I can take you to him.”

Without hesitation or wasting more time you walk her to where Suguru is. You’d prefer not to see him at the moment, it just won’t make things any easier, but…you also miss him. So this is just a small excuse.

“Hey,” Yuki interjects. “About your previous question about strength, does your brother train you?”

You sigh and shrug. “He does but he’s busy a lot now so not as much anymore. I have other friends who help me though, and school of course. But that’s about it.”

She hums and stays quiet for a moment. Once you reach Hall B, she stops before you can walk inside, making you stop along with her.

“In here,” you point to the door.

“Look,” she changes the subject. “I don’t stay in one place long, I like to travel, and I know that it’s not ideal for a lot of people. But if it’s something you’re okay with, then you should consider letting me help you.”

You blink in disbelief and can’t think of what to say through that shock that begins to grow.

“It can be once you’re out of school, or if you decide that being here isn’t for you then you can come along and I’ll help you train,” she adds and doesn’t help ease you whatsoever. “Whatever you decide, I want to help you. We girls have to stick together, especially us because we’re a rare pair.” She smirks.

“Yeah, I agree,” you muse. “Just,” you pause and think about your brother and your friends, they’re all here. Whatever happens with Suguru won’t change the fact that you like living with your friends and your brother.

But you also want to get strong for yourself, for your dream of helping other sorcerers, for those friends you cherish so deeply. So that’s where you get stuck, you can go with her, let her train you, and get strong a lot quicker. Or you can stay here with everyone and gain your strength a lot slower. Hm.

“…just give me time to decide,” you tell her. “I’m honored by your offer though. I really appreciate it.”

Yuki grins. “Don’t sweat it, the offer will be open for you. Until then we can still get to know each other.”

You sigh with relief and nod softly. “Yeah I like the sound of that. Thank you again.”

With nothing else to add you continue to walk inside the building. And now your shock gets replaced with that nervousness all over again. You almost want to run away before you can lay your eyes on him, but that’d be immature. After all you do live with him which means you can’t hide from him forever. So now is better than later….

You repeat that to yourself as you approach the corridor. It’s all going to be fine, you assure yourself—no, you’re gonna be sick.

You lead the way past the vending machines and the first person you lay your eyes on is him. Your breath hitches as if this is the first time you’re seeing him. Your heart pounds faster as his dark eyes find your gaze. Your eyes widen slightly with awe as you see that his hair is down. And even through all the hurt he made you feel, relief is all you feel wash over you.

Does he feel it too? He sits up and you notice his Adam’s apple lift up before it slides down.

“Y/N!” Someone else exclaims.

You break from your stupor to notice that Haibara is next to Suguru. You didn't take note of that before.

“Hey Haibara!” You greet as if you hadn’t just seen the guy a couple hours ago.

“Is everything okay?” Suguru’s voice surprises you, causing you to look back at him with that surprise expressed on your face.

He’s acting as if nothing happened while you’re slowly dying inside, how is he so good at that?

Regardless, before you can answer, Yuki finally enters the corridor and steals the attention of both guys, letting you notice that Suguru’s eyebags have only deepened.

“Are you Geto?” Yuki interjects boldly. “What kind of woman is your type?”

What kind of question is that?

You can’t decide if it’s cool or weird upon a first interaction.

“Who are you?” Suguru avoids the question, leading you to wonder if he’ll actually answer it. He is single now so his answer may vary.

“I like girls who eat a lot!” Haibara exclaims, causing you to snap your eyes to him, and giggle.

“Oh?” Yuki probes, whilst Suguru scolds him softly.

“Haibara.”

“It’s okay,” said man brushes Suguru off. “She’s not a bad person. I’m a great judge of character!”

You smile wider at your friends comment.

“You say that while sitting next to me?” Suguru interjects, causing your smile to fall right away, and your concern to grow.

What does he mean by that?

“Yes!” Haibara agrees without hesitation.

Yuki laughs. “He was being sarcastic, you know,” she tells Haibara, but you know she’s wrong, you can see it in the way Suguru’s averting his gaze. So what does he mean? Why can’t he talk to you?

You want to know, you need to know. So that’s what you’ve decided, you’ll talk to him. You have to, if not for your relationship, then just for him. He looks like he’s in pain and you can’t just sit by and wait for him to come to you. You’ll just wait until after you come back from your mission.

You’d do it now, but Yuki did say she wanted to know him, so your talk will have to wait.

“Anway,” you interject and look at Yuki. “I’m off now, it was nice to finally meet you.”

Yuki pouts. “You’re leaving already? I thought we could hang out together a bit longer.”

You briefly glance at Suguru, and he looks at you, so you look away and then respond to her. “I’d love to but I am going on a mission far from here tomorrow, so I need to finish some work before I leave, or else my teacher will have my head.” You giggle. “But hey, when I come back and you’re still around we should go out to lunch or something, hm? I would love to know more about your trips.”

Yuki nods. “Absolutely! And think about my offer, I don’t give them to everyone.”

You flash her a smile and nod. “I will!” You look away from her and look at your friend. “Haibara you want to come help me with my work?”

Your friend pushes himself off his seat right away and nods. “Sure! But I won’t do it for you.”

You pout and watch him meet up with you. “That’s so mean,” you whine and throw your arm around him. “Not even a little?”

“Nope.”

You groan and roll your eyes. “Boo,” you whisper before you look over at Yuki and flash her an excited smile. “Bye Yuki!”

“Bye Y/N!” She gives you the same excited energy.

You lastly glance at Suguru and see that he was already looking at you, so you quickly avert your gaze and pull Haibara away with you.

“Excuse us!” Haibara exclaims as he pulls back to take one last glance at both Suguru and Yuki, making your hand slide off his shoulders.

Silence then follows and once your friend catches up to you down the hall, he immediately finds the chance to question your fading smile.

“Are you okay? You look upset—or actually you’ve looked upset for the past couple days, is everything okay?”

He knows you well, but you don’t want him or anyone else to know about Suguru and you breaking up yet. You do want to work things out so telling everyone, (escpaully Satoru) will create unnecessary tension you don’t need. So you’ll keep quiet for now and hide your anguish.

“I’m fine. Just…tired is all.”

Haibara opens the door for you, letting you walk out under the cloudy sky. “Are you okay?” You redirect while you spin on your heels to look at him.

Your friend nods. “Yep, just getting mentally prepared for tomorrow.”

You hum and sigh dramatically. “Yeah, that’s a real pain in the ass. But hey, after the mission, Nanami did promise that he’ll come with me to the shops, so I’m excited for that!”

“Really? Great, I'll come with!” He interjects.

You scoff softly, and happily hook your arm around his. “I didn’t expect it any other way,” you say with a growing smile.

——

*2 DAYS LATER*

Suguru: Be careful

Even if it’s just through text those words have been ringing inside your head since he sent it.

You hate it for one, he just sends you the message as if nothing, without even talking anything out first, it makes you mad. But two, you appreciate that he thought of you, it makes your heart flutter. Yet, third, you’ve been stuck between answering back or not. Should you be petty and not answer, or be nice and write back something super simple?

Something that can lead to ‘hey let’s talk when I get back.’—no. Not now. You should concentrate on the mission in hand. But…

No! No, you cant.

Actually he shouldn’t be sending you these messages. It’s so hard on your overthinking mind.

“Should we put a curtain?” You ask as you put your phone away.

“I doubt we’ll step outside,” Nanami says. “But let’s do it just in case.”

You both turn to look at Haibara, and he sighs before he steps forward and raises two fingers. “Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness,” he chants. “Purify that which is impure.”

Within seconds the cloudy sky is covered by a black growing veil that drops over the property you were sent to, adding ominsity to a rather easy mission; exorcizing a second-grade curse.

“If you want, y/n, you can go in alone, we'll wait for you here,” Nanami remarks as you walk past an arch.

You roll your eyes. “It doesn’t work like that Nanami. Special grade—”

“Means you have the power to take over countries,” he cuts you off. “That’s what you are, and it’s what you have the possibility of doing.”

You scoff. “Sure, it’s a possibility, but I can’t do that now, you know that,” you argue the same old fight. “I need to work to get myself strong. I…” you pause and hum in disappointment. “I’m not strong like that yet. I'm working to it.” You fist your hands eagerly and then look back at him with a smirk. “And when I am, don't start missing me, Nanamin.”

Said guy rolls his eyes, making you smile at him.

“Don’t worry y/n,” Haibara cuts in, drifting your eyes over to him. “Take your time, we like having you come with us. We’re a team after all! We work great together and Nanami knows it, he’s just giving you a hard time.”

You chuckle and walk back to fall beside Nanami and pat his shoulder. “Oh, I know. It’s all tough love.”

As you reach the entrance of the red-roof building you let Nanami go and frown. “Sense that?” You ask and come to a stop with them before you can climb up the red stairs.

“It’s not even trying to hide,” Haibara points out.

You crack your knuckles and let out a deep breath, while Nanami pulls his blade out, and Haibara rolls his shoulders back.

“It should be easy,” you try to assure them and yourself. “We go in as practiced.”

Nanami nods stiffly, and you let out one more deep breath before you take a step on a red stair and begin ascending them. When you’re on the porch, both guys hide behind the wall, while you open the door and slowly creep inside the softly lit parlor room.

Right away you notice the curse you’re after; it’s tall, built like a man with tightly toned muscles, but green and twisted. It notices you right away and turns around, showing off its one eye on its face, and the snake like tongue that it sticks out at you.

It’s gives you the creeps, but you ignore it and lift your chin to show it a smirk and show it that you’re not afraid.

You don’t think it actually senses that, nor do you think it has any emotions besides the instinct to cause terror, but almost as if you did hurt its ego, the curse wails out before it charges at you.

You don’t move though, you confidently stay where you are, and just before it can even reach you, Nanami and Haibara come out of hiding and run at it too. And since the curse is tall, you manipulate the air from outside to come to your hands, and then push it towards Nanami. And without the need to say a word, just like you have done dozens of times before, you use the air to give him a boast.

Nanami uses the boast to his advantage and flips in the air. The curse looks up and twists around to follow Nanami, it tries to reach out for him with its long arms, but Nanami swings his blade while in the air and manages to cut one of its arms off with a single swing. When he’s falling back down, he manages to kick the curse towards Haibara before he lands swiftly on the floor.

And since the curse is stronger it’s harder to take down, you need to use a lot more strength and power. So when Haibara punches its eye out with his cursed energy, the curse still stands up and comes stumbling towards you.

Now depending on the curse, you can land the finishing blow, but you see and sense this one is more durable. Thus you tap into your dragon mark wrapped around your arm and make flames bask your entire arm, causing your growing smirk to be brightened by your flame's hue.

The curse wails loudly at you, but you don’t flinch, instead you manipulate the air that lays outside on the courtyard behind the curse, and have it burst through the doors to shove the curse towards you. You then lunge forward as you pull back your fist covered in flames, and smash it through the curses gut so hard your fist burns through the other side.

Yet it still doesn’t get exorcized. The curse falls on its knees and bleeds out from its wound.

“You really are annoying,” you grumble before you raise your foot, and use the air to kick out a mighty blast that sends the curse flying out to the courtyard.

“Let’s end this,” you tell your friends coldy.

Haibara and Nanami both nod before the three of you walk out to the back porch. The curse finds strength to stand up so that motivates the three of you to continue on stronger.

So as Nanami runs to the curse head-on, Haibara jumps off the porch's railing and runs to its side. You step off the porch and watch as Nanami slides down and slices the curses legs off with his cursed technique, while Haibara hops on the curses arm to rip it out of its body, giving you your cue.

And so forth before the curse can continue to irritate you, you pull gusts of air to your palms and form it into a long and thin curved line. You then proceed to lash it out, and manage to cut the curses head clean off.

“Finally,” you pant and drop your shoulders as you let out an exhausted sigh. “Good job guys!”

“Right back at you, y/n,” Haibara redirects, making you smile at him softly.

“Uh, I hate to burst your bubbles but the veil hasn’t come down,” Nanami points out.

You snap your eyes up and see that the black veil still in fact remains intact. Is there another curse here?

Nevertheless, before you can ask your question out loud you hear thumping. When you look down you see the curse begin to convulse violently.

“Uh,” you breathe out in horror and step back.

The curse then suddenly stops, making you squint your eyes on the curse to wait with a racing heart. You then lift your head and at that moment see the curse regrow its limbs, including its head. Its already toned body grows larger, and with more muscles as if it had just pumped itself with fucking steroids. Two arms then grow to four, and from one neck grows out two more heads longer than the original.

This isn’t a second-grade curse, but it’s also something you can't run from, you’ll have to fight your own fear and give it your all.

“We got this,” Haibara uses words of encouragement.

You clench your fists and nod stiffly, whilst you also begin to feel regret for not texting Suguru back. After all, this has turned for the worst, what if you don’t make it out? And the last thing you told him was…a bunch of sputter.

You want to talk to him again, you do. You want to tell him you miss him, that he’s worth walking through fire for, that he’s enough for you. But most of all you want to tell him that you love him more than anything in this cursed world.

So to whatever divine being that is up there don’t let this be the end. Please.

“I’ll get rid of the arms,” Nanami says. “Haibara try and get his legs so y/n can try and exorize it.”

You nervously swallow back but nod in understanding, but you also look over at Nanami and can’t help your worry. He sees that and drops the hardened expression to offer you a soft smile to try and assure you.

You draw in a deep shaky breath and mirror his smile before you look ahead. Now before any more time can be wasted you summon air and blast out, Nanami sprints over and jumps, letting you use that same air to boast him.

You then follow by growing a raging fireball and throw it at the curse, causing it to shift back. Haibara uses this slight distraction and charges it, whilst Nanami flips down and tries to swing his blade.

However, this time the curse is more prepared, it twirls around and swerves Haibara's attack before it proceeds to swat Nanami away as if he were nothing but a fly.

“Nanami!” You cry out while his body slams into the wall behind him and goes unconscious.

The curse turns back around and wails out at Haibara and you, but you don’t cower, you dig your heels in the ground and glower at it.

“Cursed technique,” you seeth. “Fire dragon.”

The dragon mark on your arm begins to glow brightly, whilst the veins on your other arm begins to glow with the flames that travel down to your palms. Your hands then glow from the fires light before you throw your arms out and blast large flames from your palms. The fire quickly takes form into a large fire-made dragon that flies towards the curse.

This time your fire-made dragon is much larger than last years. Now it contains a lot more power.

Alas, just as you think you see the fire-made dragon grab the curse with its jaw, the fire-made dragon crashes through the wall, and what you see before you now are two curses in front of a building that begins to feed the fire that the fire-made dragon left behind.

Two bodies now join the fight. They’re the same build, they have the same green skin, but now both bodies just have two arms. One body even has two heads, while the other only contains one.

It split itself into two.

“Haibara!” You bellow and don’t take your eyes off the curse with the one head watching you, waiting to attack. “Get Nanami!”

You only catch a glimpse of Haibara running and the second curse running after him, so you try to blast fire out at it to try and distract it, but the curse that had been watching you like you were it’s meal, catches you off guard and slaps you down to your knees.

You quickly try to counter but it lunges at you to grab you by the throat and pick you off the ground with its strength.

You can’t let that stop you though, so you try to blast air at it by kicking your foot, but the curse hurls you back towards the parlor room.

When you hit the floor you yell out because of the pain, but you also try to quickly get up so you can counter. However, the curse is fast and catches up to you right away. It doesn’t let you catch your breath before it kicks you to your back and begins throwing punches over and over again on your face.

You try to move your arms to hurl air or fire, but each punch is like getting stabbed by sharp needles so the pain is agonizing and paralyzing.

It’s not the same as before, either because it was holding back or because it got stronger when its head got cut off, like the monster from Greek Mythology, The Hydra. Which would make sense with this curse being born from the Ubusunagami faith. One head falls and multiple are born in its place.

But why wasn’t this identified before? Why weren’t they more careful? This is a grade 1 case, you might be special grade but that’s only because no one knows how dangerous your technique can be, they based you off possibilities, if it wasn’t because of that you’d be a grade 2 just like the others. And they know that too, so why? Why weren’t they more careful?

Now you can’t even lift a finger, all your mind is filled with is pain. You try to think of some strategy to get out, to outsmart the curse, but you can’t even move. Every hit brings you closer to an eerie darkness.

Until there’s a voice.

“Y/N? Are you okay?”

It’s your brother's voice from a memory of the day you got the scar on your torso. You were only a little girl who was scared of many things, he had been gone all day because your parents wanted him away from you, so when he came back the trauma was already engraved and the scar was already stitched.

He came after the fact, but he was such a relief to see. He was a light in the sea of darkness.

“It hurts,” you complain with fresh tears in your eyes.

“I know,” he whispers. “I'm sorry.” He sighs and turns around to give you his back and crouch.

“Come,” he says. “I'll help you get to your room.”

Satoru was told many times not to spoil you the way he does, ‘it’ll only make her weaker.’ they’d say, but he never listened and they never corrected him because of who he was.

“We can watch a movie and give you something for the pain.” He adds.

You wipe your tears away and stand up to step towards him, but you stop and bring up your concern. “But mother said no.”

Satoru peers back and confidently counters. “I don’t care. Now come on, get on my back.”

You smile softly and don’t think twice about accepting his offer now. You get on his back and wrap your arms around his neck before you rest your head on his shoulder, and let him give you a piggyback ride to your room.

Now you don’t know why that certain memory came to mind, there are so many other ones where he was that light in the sea of darkness, so why this one? It's only a reminder of the pain your family made you endure.

So why now as this curse is beating you to a bloody pulp?

Why? You ask yourself as the curse hits you again and strikes your body with more pain.

Why?

But then, in that brief moment where it’s fist is off your face you know why, because you see a vision of brother appearing through the darkness. Not Suguru, not Shoko, or your other friends, but your brother. He’s the sudden burst of energy you need to regain your consciousness and find that strength to pull your leg back and direct a cluster of your cursed energy and fire to your foot.

The curse hits you again, but you don’t falter, you counter by kicking your foot out and blasting fire at it from your foot.

The curse gets flung back, but it doesn’t go far, instead it falls under the doorframe. You still get up though and fist your hands whilst you shift your feet into a fighting stance. The curse gets back up and immediately wails out at you.

“Fuck you,” you grimace and run at it with your arm getting basked in flames. Before you reach it you jump up to swing your fist down at its face, but the curse isn’t weakened by injuries like your bruised and blood-covered face, it’s stronger and manages to throw its arm out and capture you by your throat.

You try to kick, but the lack of air running to your lungs immobilizes you. All you can think about now is wanting to breathe. All that there is is fading consciousness until you hear a scream coming from the courtyard.

Nanami was unconscious, he could have woken up but it’s unlikely, so the person screaming was Haibara. He’s in trouble. He needs help!

As if hit with another burst of energy, you manage to slap your hands on the side of the curses head and instantly blast fire out of your palms,

The curse wails as the flames burst through its flesh and begin burning it from the inside out. It lets you go to try and escape, but you wrap your legs around it and dig your fingers in its head while you blast more fire in its head.

You cry out of anger and the curse stumbles back, it claws at you, but you use more of your cursed technique until the curse finally explodes and dies, causing you to fall on your ass and finally gasp for more air while you push yourself to your feet.

Haibara doesn’t scream again, but you still run out to the courtyard. And immediately as you do you see the curse holding Haibara several feet over the ground by his head. You gasp in horror as you see Haibara’s entrails hanging out of a long and deep gash.

“Haibara!” You cry out louder than you thought possible.

The curse snaps his head towards you, and you quickly lift your hands off your sides and begin gathering air into a orb in between your palms.

“Cursed technique,” your grimace with tears already forming in your eyes. “Air manipulation, lashing wind!”

You proceed to throw the orb made of air out. And while it’s flying towards the curse you form it into a curved line that slashes both of the curses heads off the moment it cuts through, causing it to let go of Haibara.

Before your friend can hit the ground you sprint over and manage to catch him in your arms. However, he’s heavy so when you catch him you collapse to the ground with him.

“It’s okay,” you mutter shakily. “It’s okay,” you assure him even as his eyes are rolled back. “You’ll be okay, Haibara.”

You don’t see his chest move anymore, and his blood is spilling out of his gash and staining your body, but you still refuse the truth and carefully put him down. You then rip the white skirt off your waist and carefully wrap it around his bleeding wound.

“It’s okay,” you tell him again. “You’ll feel a little bit of pressure, but Shoko and that first aid class told us to do this, remember?”

Haibara remains unresponsive, but you continue to tighten the white skirt over his wound so it could stop bleeding.

“You’ll be okay,” you whisper and look at his face. “Haibara? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just please hold on a while longer okay? I…I can call Shoko, she’ll know what to do.” You pull your phone out and desperately find your friends contact. As it rings you look back and see the curse is beginning to shake like last time.

“Shit, shit,” you grumble.

The phone rings a couple more times before you get sent to voicemail. “Damn it!” you exclaim.

You peer back and see that the curse grows four heads now and grows taller, bigger.

“I—I’ll call Suguru, he’ll know where she is,” you tell Haibara as he continues to lay still.

This time when you call Suguru, the phone rings only a few times before he thankfully answers. “Hello?”

You sigh shakily with relief, “Suguru.”

“Y/N, what's wrong?” He asks the moment he hears your shaky voice.

You look at your friend and hold your phone to your ear with your shoulder as you press your hands on Haibara's wound to help the bleeding stop.

“Suguru, where’s Shoko? She doesn’t answer her phone, I need her help, please.” You say quickly.

“Shoko isn’t home,” Suguru says. “What's wrong y/n, are you okay?”

You groan and look back to see Nanami up now and trying to distract the curse.

“It’s Haibara,” you say shakily. “I-I don’t know what to do, I’m trying to stop the bleeding, but the gash won’t stop bleeding. And he—Suguru…he’s not breathing. I need Shoko, please, I need her.”

“Y/N,” Suguru mutters through the phone. “Haibara’s gone. I need you and Nanami to get out of there—”

It’s not the solution you want so you hang up the phone and shove it back in your pocket to focus back on your friend and begin CPR.

“Come on, come on, COME ON!” You yell out in desperation.

Your attempts are futile though, he doesn’t wake up, he doesn’t gasp for air, he continues to lay still, adding to your anguish.

“Nanami!” You call out. “I need help! Please come help me…someone please help me…” you trail off and pick up Haibara again to cradle him in your arms. Your phone begins to ring but you ignore it and put all your attention on Haibara.

“You have to fight, okay? We still have so much to live for, and you—you have to become a teacher just like you wanted,” you tell him as you hear wailing in the back. “We have to graduate next year and do so much more, please Haibara. Please.”

“Y/N?”

You look up and see Nanami panting in front of you.

“Nanami—”

He cuts you off and grabs your arm to try and pull you off the ground. “We have to go!” He bellows out at you while his eyes are on Haibara’s body.

“No,” you argue and shove his arm back. “I’m not leaving him behind!”

Nanami glances past you before he crouches down and grabs your arm. “Y/N, Haibara is…” he pauses and lets out a shaky breath before he finishes breaking the truth to you. “He's gone. We have to go or we’ll die next.”

You look down at Haibara and finally notice how lifeless he looks, you finally notice how fatally deep his wound is. And as if slammed by a rough wave, you finally grasp the truth and feel a deep agonizing pain clench around your chest to the point you can’t breathe. You can’t think, or cry, all that there is, is the cruel truth and pain.

The phone's incessant ringing doesn’t tune in, Nanami’s desperate pleas to leave don’t register. Nothing snaps you from that stupor but the sudden wail of the damned curse.

Anger then follows after that sound, a raging anger that only tightens that grip around your chest. No matter how much you want to let it go and leave, you can’t, it doesn’t feel right or like it will let you breathe, so you put Haibara down and twist around as you remain on your knees.

“Y/N,” Nanami warns as the curse begins to storm over.

You ignore him though and narrow your glare in the curse. The ground then begins to shake beneath you as you focus on doing something new and without thinking. Cracks grow on the ground, and you lean down to press your palms on the surface.

The curse jumps off it’s feet and tries to tackle you, but in that moment you let out all the emotions that had been plaguing you, and finally breathe.

All your life you’ve been taught to control your emotions to work with your cursed energy, but you’ve never felt more in control over your emotions than at this very moment after Haibara’s death triggered something off inside you. Something so monumental that lets you blast out a tidal wave of fire from the cracks on the ground to slam the curse back.

Up until this moment, you’ve never felt that rush of excitement from a fight, Satoru always talks about it, but it’s something you could never relate to. The only excitement you felt was last year, but that was met with regret, and you never felt it again because missions and fights were always such a burden or terrifying, but right now? As you use Yuki’s advice about not giving it too much thought, all you feel is excitement. And it grows as you use your cursed technique to lift pieces of the earth around you to blast it out at the curse and everything that stood around you, like a second wave. Leaving nothing left standing, but dust. And proving Nanami right.

Now you would have taken this time to leave, but Nanami doesn’t even attempt to move after what he saw. You can’t move after you realize what you did.

That rush of power was new, that technique was new. All born from a change inside you that Haibara’s death brought.

Yet you know that it’s a power you haven’t fully tapped into, it was only a taste. But that’s enough to cause your eyes to flicker between the familiar color of your eyes, to a deep red color that Nanami notices when you turn back around to face him and Haibara’s body.

“It’s over,” Nanami says through heavy breaths.

You hum softly in agreement, and then gently wipe your fingers down Haibara’s face to close his eyes.

“It can be once you’re out of school, or if you decide that being here isn’t for you, then you can come along and I’ll help you train. Whatever you decide, I want to help you…”

You were unsure before about accepting Yuki’s offer and leaving, but after this happened. After you tapped into some depths of your power you didn’t know you had, your mind finally comes to a conclusion.

.

.

.

.

A/N- Will Suguru and you work things out? Are you really going to accept Yuki’s offer? Ahh! We have to wait for the next chapter to know.

Tagged- @deniseabad1928

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Hypermobility

Okay wait I have a prompt!!! If you wanna So I've been reading a lot of fics recently that are in space aus, with the whole humans are deathworlders concept (idk how this is common across my fandoms but it is so I'm binging them lol). And I had an idea based on recent irl events. – anon (long ask, cut for brevity)

inspired by my lovely @ghostofasecretary who has trained all of our friend group to look for hypermobility on account of our schlorpy joints :)

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: loosely implied analogical i guess, but as with most of my shit can be platonic or romantic you decide

Word Count; 1809

Remus glances up to see Virgil staring at Logan like his abdomen has spontaneously ruptured. He sees Roman out of the corner of his eye do the same. Virgil swallows heavily. "L," he says slowly, "what the fuck is wrong with your arms?" "Nothing is wrong with my arms, what are you talking about?" "Elbows don't bend like that!" Ah. So there was something wrong. Remus was right. Take that, human etiquette manual. Wait, shit, something's wrong with Logan.

Roman clicks at Remus as he comes onto the lab floor. Remus clicks back as he logs onto his station, sighing as he looks at the absolute mess someone's fucking made of the logs—seriously, it's only been one quarter cycle, how are they this fucked up already?—and Roman immediately leans over to see what he's sighing at.

"Wait, what's that?"

"Some xetron made an absolute fucking disaster out of the hadron logs."

Roman winces in sympathy and his carapace shifts. "Are you gonna do yours before you clean that up, or—?"

The last part of his question gest interrupted when Logan comes onto the floor, waving a brief hello with his fingers instead of his antenna—because humans don't have antennae, which was a pretty sharp learning curve for both of them when they'd been so confused as to why this human was refusing to talk to them or even show his feelings, they'd had a few apologetic shifts before Logan realized what was going on and explained everything—and raising an eyebrow when he noticed them clustered around Remus's station.

"Is there something wrong?"

"The shift before us messed up their hadron logs."

Logan rolls his eyes. "You'd think that for life forms insistent that their gravitational curves made them more naturally prepared for graviton scans, they'd have a better sense of how to record them properly."

"You're spellcasting on the acolytes, Logan."

Logan frowns, glancing at his tablet, before the equivalent phrase pings on the screen and he hums. "Ah, I see. Yes, well, if you'd like my help at any point, I only have the routine gamma sweeps to do this shift, so I should be amenable."

"Oh, I can do it, it's just a pain in my thorax."

Roman chuckles and heads back to his own station, probably to sneakily-not-so-sneakily ask some of the others on the shift who are fucking competent what the fuck happened. Remus gets himself ready to dive into the long and tedious work of redoing the spin increments and calculating the proper uncertainties for the right variables—honestly, do they even look at the readouts? It has the layout right there! And it's not like the other logs are invisible! Just look at the rows two microns above the empty one you're supposed to be filling out!—and manages to sink into a rhythm for the first half of the shift. Granted, he's absolutely muttering about how stupid it is that they aren't even calculating the basic momentum, let alone the angular velocity to account for the other celestial bodies in the middle of the waveforms, but it's fine, and Roman keeps up his running commentary of the molecular analysis machine that takes its sweet-ass time to do even the most basic of scans, and every so often he'll hear a small huff from Logan as he corrects their probe's trajectory, but for the most part, the lab is a quiet and serene place to be.

God, he can't wait until he gets rotated back to the engineering department full-time.

Like, yeah, he likes spending time with his brother, and the human's cool—he's really funny when he lets himself be, like his wit is drying than the mountain deserts on Cre-Ativa, and his facial expressions are fucking plat when their superiors are being xetrons, but there's only so much he can take of this quiet where not much happens. And he has to deal with the idiots who don't know how to format hadron logs correctly. This is the third time he's had to correct a typo that's rendered the rest of the calculations useless.

"I'm honestly about to recommend them for a review of the training course, that's how fucking serious this is."

"Maybe there's something wrong with how the keyboard is adapted for their limbs?"

"That would explain some of the typos, not all of them. And it definitely wouldn't explain why there's a massive formatting change about halfway through."

"Perhaps there's a shorthand they're using for some of the notes that we don't know about, and they're forgetting to correct them at the end of their shift."

"Yeah, but then they should tell us that, instead of—" Roman trails off and Remus looks up.

Logan is…stretching, yes, that's the right word. His limbs are extended over his head and his back is arched, but his upper limbs are…bending. Not like the way they normally bend, they're bending…too much? Not enough? The wrong way? Yeah, that's it. The wrong way.

Logan notices they've gone quiet and looks over. "Is there something wrong?"

"You're, uh," Remus stammers, "are you—okay?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine, what is it?"

"Nothing, nothing."

He and Roman exchange a look—the first rule in the human etiquette training manual was if they get weird, just roll with it for a reason—and get back to minding their own business. Admittedly, some of the errors do make more sense now that he's looking at it like it's some kind of shorthand he doesn't know yet, but that wouldn't explain why some of these variables are straight-up wrong and why they wouldn't bother to tell him what the shorthand is so that he's not trying to do the work of two shifts in the time of one.

Something he does appreciate is that the way the shifts in the lab are set up, opposed to engineering, is that sometimes there will be people whose shifts halfway overlap with theirs. So there's always at least one set of people that are staying in the lab while a changeover is happening and then there's not that risk that the equipment will be left unattended. Apparently they learned that lesson the hard way when the molecular exhibitor decided to go into overload in the five minutes where there wasn't anyone logged in, and nearly destroyed the matter wave projector on the station next to it. The justification was in the name of safety, but really everyone knows it's just so the higher-ups know exactly who to blame when shit goes awry.

Whatever the case may be, the door slides open to reveal the other human down here, Virgil, yawning as he makes his way over to his station.

"Hello, hello, everyone."

"Hi, Virgil!"

Virgil winces. "You are way too chipper this early in the morning."

"It's past the circadian half cycle, Virgil."

"Yeah, and?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to acclimate to your schedule on your own time," Logan says, stretching again, "even though I'm sure your caffeine tolerance has—what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Remus glances up to see Virgil staring at Logan like his abdomen has spontaneously ruptured. He sees Roman out of the corner of his eye do the same. Virgil swallows heavily.

"L," he says slowly, "what the fuck is wrong with your arms?"

"Nothing is wrong with my arms, what are you talking about?"

"Elbows don't bend like that!"

Ah. So there was something wrong. Remus was right. Take that, human etiquette manual.

Wait, shit, something's wrong with Logan.

"Logan? Do we need to take you to medbay?" Roman's already rushing out from behind his station. "There's a pack in the corner, I can—"

"Oh, for—relax, all of you, I'm fine."

"Uh-huh, yeah, fine, that's what I'd describe elbows that bend all schlorpy as, yeah," Virgil says, "what the—does that not hurt?"

"What? No, it doesn't hurt, look, your joints—"

"My joints suck ass but at least they're fucking bending the amount they're supposed to!"

Remus isn't quite sure how human joints are capable of such a surprising and invasive act, but never let it be said he's not curious. "Your joints are capable of performing anal suction?"

"What the fuck? No! It's a turn of phrase!"

"Oh. Disappointing."

"Ignore him," Roman says, "Logan, are you sure you're—"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, I'm just—oh," he mumbles, prodding at his tablet, "what's the word for this in Common?"

"There's no word for schlorpy elbows, Logan—"

"Yes, there is!" He pokes around for a few more seconds before he lets out a noise of triumph and says something that the translators don't translate.

"It's what?" Virgil just shakes his head when Logan tries again. "I don't know what that means, bud."

Logan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, let me try it this way. What's it called when you are in a state of heightened energy and it leads to outbursts of things like running around, or talking too loudly, or being high-strung?"

"Remus," Roman offers helpfully.

"No, Roman."

"Are you talking about being excitable?"

"No, there's a specific word for it. It also serves as a prefix for being too much of something, or an overabundance of something."

"Too much—do you mean the word hyper?"

"Yes! Yes, that's it. And then what's the name of the thing that some people hang over cribs that have little stars or animals?"

Virgil stares at Logan for another moment. "You mean a baby mobile?"

"Yes, but only the second word."

"Mobile?"

"Yes, that's it. Then put the two words together—"

"There were probably so many other ways you could've said you were hypermobile, L, I'm just gonna put that out there—"

"Well, it got you to guess it, didn't it?"

"It's too fucking early for this shit."

"Again, it is afternoon—"

"Shut up."

Roman looks back and forth between the two humans, still twitching as though he's going to be asked to sprint for the medbay at a moment's notice. "So…is Logan…are you alright?"

"Yes, for the fourth time, I'm fine. Virgil's just a little excitable, that's all."

"You try being normal when joints are doing unexpected things," Virgil mumbles, more to his caf than anything else, but he reaches behind himself to pat Roman's carapace. "He's fine, his body just does that."

"But you said it bends the wrong way, how is that fine?"

"There is a thing known as hypermobility," Logan says, "it…oh, dear, it basically means that certain joints will bend…more."

"He's not hurt, that's pretty much all I know."

Roman looks like he's about to protest but Remus just clicks at him. They exchange another look as the humans settle back to work.

Humans are weird, just gotta roll with it.

These hadron logs, on the other hand—

"I'm gonna punt these flimflobbers into the next star we see."

"Can I help? They fucked up the carbon dating program as well."

"How do you fuck that up?"

"Ask them, not me!"

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs @el-does-photography @princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl

[satoshi-mochida]

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road adds Xbox Series and Switch 2 versions, launches August 21 - Gematsu

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam on August 21 with cross-play and cross-save support, LEVEL-5 announced. The Xbox Series and Switch 2 versions are newly announced, and the iOS and Android versions are seemingly no longer planned. Pre-orders will begin today for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and PC. The game will support English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese language options.

Globally, including Japan, the game will be a digital-only release available in the following editions:

-Standard Edition ($69.99 / £57.99 / €69.99 / 8,910 yen) (TBA / 9,920 yen for Switch 2)

-Base game

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road

-Deluxe Edition ($79.99 / £65.99 / €79.99 / 10,010 yen)

-Base game

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road

-Fei Rune (character unlock item) – Use the legendary Fei Rune right from the get-go in both the Chronicle and Competition Modes!

-Football Clubroom (Bond Object) – Objects you can place in your Bond Town!

-Rai Rai Noodles (Bond Object) – Objects you can place in your Bond Town!

-Promise Pendant (equipment that boosts EXP gained) – Equipment that boosts EXP earned! (The Promise Pendant’s effect applies only to the character who has it equipped.)

-Victory Jump (Goal celebration) – Grants an exclusive goal celebration!

-Purchase bonuses

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Xbox Series – Early Access

Steam – Advanced Access

-Downloadable Content “Edition Upgrade” ($13.99 / 1,650 yen)

Fei Rune (character unlock item)

Football Clubroom (Bond Object)

Rai Rai Noodles (Bond Object)

Promise Pendant (equipment that boosts EXP gained)

Victory Jump (Goal celebration)

Users who purchase the PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 4 version of the game will receive the alternate PlayStation version free of charge. However, the Switch 2 version is will require a paid upgrade. Pricing for the west has yet to be announced, but the Switch 2 version will cost 9,210 yen in Japan—300 yen more than the other versions.

Pre-orders for all platforms include the downloadable content “Advanced Booster Bundle,” which contains the following content:

-Equipment Item: Bracelet of Victory – Equipment that boosts EXP earned! (The Bracelet of Victory’s effect applies only to the character who has it equipped.)

-Kit: Dark Emperors – Allows you to play while wearing the Dark Emperors’ kit.

-Character Training Item: Complete Set of Training Beans

Kick Strength Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Kick stat when used.

Acuity Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Control stat when used.

Finesse Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Technique stat when used.

Steadfast Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Pressure stat when used.

Velocity Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Agility stat when used.

Intellect Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Intelligence stat when used.

Toughness Bean (x5) – Increases a character’s Physical stat when used.

The following platform-specific bonuses will also be available:

-The platform you purchase on determines which rare characters will have increased appearance rates in Chronicle and Competition Mode! And that’s not all! If you use Cross-Save, the bonus effects from both platforms will apply! (This bonus only increases the appearance rate. All characters can be obtained on all platforms.)

--PlayStation 5 / PlayStation 4

Protocol Omega

Protocol Omega 2.0

Protocol Omega 3.0

--Xbox Series

Zeus

Little Gigantes

Dragon Link

--Switch / Switch 2

Prominence

Diamond Dust

Zanark’s Domain

--PC

Team Ogre

Eternal Light

Ancient Darkness

Finally, users who participated in the beta test demo will receive the following special bonuses based on their progress:

-Playing the Beta Test

Equipment Item: EXP Boots – Equipment that boosts EXP earned! (The EXP Boots’ effect applies only to the character who has it equipped.)

-Winning against the Alius Masters Bots in GODHOOD Rank

Bond Object: Royal Academy Armored Carriage – Object you can place in your Bond Town!

-Winning against the Alius Masters Bots in LEGENDARY HERO Rank

Bond Object: Inazuma Tower – Object you can place in your Bond Town!

-Reaching NATIONAL Rank in Ranked play

Spirit: Ray Dark – Ray Dark (Manager) can be used in the Chronicle and Competition Modes.

-Completing the Beta Test Story, Chapter 1

Bond Object: Soiled Ball – Object you can place in your Bond Town!

The following schedule of updates is planned ahead of release:

End of May 2025 – Making-of Trailer featuring cast interviews and behind-the-scenes footage

End of June 2025 – Story Trailer featuring ending theme and artist reveal

End of July 2025 – Final trailer

LEVEL-5 also shared the following post-launch roadmap:

August 19, 2025 – Early Access

August 22, 2025 – Game Release

September 21, 2025 Week – Chronicle Mode: Galaxy Route Unlocked

October 5, 2025 Week – Chronicle Mode: Ares Route Unlocked

October 19, 2025 Week – Chronicle Mode: Orion Route 1st Half Unlocked

November 2, 2025 Week – Chronicle Mode: Orion Route 2nd Half Unlocked

November 16, 2025 Week – Victory Road Beta Kickoff (FF)

January 18, 2026 Week – Victory Road Beta Finals (FF)

Here is an overview of the game, via LEVEL-5:

About

O smoldering clouds, let INAZUMA’s lightning split the sky! The newest title in the hyperdimensional football RPG series Inazuma Eleven is finally here! A new story featuring a new protagonist, over 5,200 characters to collect and train, as well as an intense competitive mode; there is no shortage of activities to enjoy!

Story Mode

This new story takes place 25 years after the first Inazuma Eleven. In search of a world without football, protagonist Destin Billows enrolls at South Cirrus Junior High. Meanwhile, within the prestigious Raimon Junior High—renowned as the top team in the nationals—rises a “football monster” named Harper Evans. When these two cross paths, a tale begins to unfold…

Chronicle Mode

A roster spanning over 5,200 characters from previous entries in the series! Relive past Inazuma Eleven matches with Victorio, the boy who came from the future. Take on various teams, collect and train characters, and build your ultimate dream team!

Next-Gen Football Systems

Play the game your way, taking direct control in “Manual Mode” or guiding the team strategically with “Commander Mode!” Commander Mode lets you direct players with a variety of tactical inputs, providing an easy way for anyone to enjoy a match! Find a style that suits you, jump into the action and unleash jaw-dropping Special Moves to secure victory!

Bond Station

Freely arrange nostalgic objects from the Inazuma Eleven series to create your own “Bond Town”! Customize your avatar, invite friends over and enjoy socializing and playing matches together! Your custom made avatar can also be used in matches!

The Ultimate Anime Experience Brought to Life by MAPPA

In-game anime cutscenes were made in cooperation with animation studio MAPPA! With the longest anime runtime in the series’ history, the story’s intensity will reach new heights.

The official website has also been updated with new information on the game’s Story Mode, Chronicle Mode, Competition Mode, Bond Station (Kizuna Station), and characters.

Watch a new set of trailers below.

Promotional Trailer

English

Japanese

Final Specs Reveal Trailer

English

Japanese

Heroes Showcase 2025: Release Date & Final Specs Presentation

English / Traditional Chinese

Japanese

[skellymom]

"SLIDE"

The Bad Batch Fan Fic x Non Gendered Reader

(My first ever TBB Fan Fic posted 7/31/23. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time putting the MATURE label on the bottom of the post would make Tumblr hide it's presence)

Background: Force Sensitive learns to grow their Force powers. This timeline is several months after leaving Crosshair on Kamino, near the end of working for Cid. The Batch is trying to figure a hook to be independent and possibly start actively rebelling against the Empire. This is set well before Mt Tantiss. 

Warnings: Canon and non-canon violence, swearing, momentary and possibly gruesome death of main characters (no worries, they don’t stay dead forever), Crosshair is an angry psychopathic killer with a vengeance (no hate, I love his problematic ass), mild Hunter fluff, touchy concerned Tech, Echo swears (of course).

Word count:  2.1 K

You hadn’t expected to be separated from the rest of the Batch, however, Omega had other ideas “to help” on this mission. The Batch infiltrated this Imperial base for intel and possible chain codes to steal. You volunteered to run after and bring her back.  Spotted by Imperial stormtroopers in a corridor, you and Omega try to lose them, but they are hot on your tail. Omega hears the Batch’s voices down a hallway and runs to them. 

You and Omega skid to a halt at the edge of a missing bridge while the rest of the Batchers are on the other side.  The precipice between is a several hundred story drop within the Imperial base. The group of stormtroopers rocked up behind you, guns lowered.  Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker looked on impotently across the chasm, weapons trained on the stormtroopers.  The Batch are poised, holding fire, trying to avoid any possibility of you and Omega getting caught in any crossfire. 

Unfortunately, you had not finished training with your Master. Your Master did not survive Order 66. You were SO CLOSE to obtaining Jedi status.  Now it was up to YOU to save yourself and Omega.  Being captured was not an option at this point.  Although, allowing the Empire to take you and Omega might allow time for the Batch to retreat safely to fight later.  That carried serious risks.  You were very limited in options as far as your Force abilities.  Master had not given you a light saber, remarking that the Force had a different path for you. 

The lead stormtrooper immediately grabbed you as a human shield, just as Wrecker let loose a shot from his blaster.  He intended to shoot the stormtrooper but hit you in the chest.  You slipped out of the stormtroopers grasp and off the edge of the bridge. You met Omega’s eyes as she called your name, while being dragged away by the same trooper.  As your body went into free fall down the chasm, you could hear your Batchmates scream, curse, and start blasting away.  

As consciousness slips from your body, you close your eyes.  The sense of falling disappears, but you expected that by eventually reaching terminal velocity from this height.  You open your eyes and are standing on an outstretched infinite path within an ever-expanding universe.  Before you is a HUGE hulking creature with glowing eyes. 

“What’s happening?  Where am I?”  You are simultaneously shocked, afraid, and unsure if this is all a dream. 

The creature stares down, sizing you up. 

“ In The World Between Worlds.” 

“Am I dead???” 

“No. It is not yet your time.  You are here to finish your training.” 

“My friends need my help!  I need to get back to them!!!” 

“You will return to help them; it is part of your training.” 

“Who are you?” 

“That matters not.  Only your path is of importance.  You cannot progress until your training is finished.  The lives within your care hang in the balance.  You and your group are linked together in that realm.  Your failure will be their failure…until you succeed.  Then you will be released from this realm to continue your path.” 

It feels like the creature is staring into your soul, “The point of entry is behind you.” 

You turn around to see…a doorway?  A dark threshold surrounded by cryptic symbols, suspended among stars.  

“Are you ready?” 

“No! I…” 

“Begin!” 

Your vision becomes a blur as you leave that place and return to where you were standing before falling off the platform.  The vertigo messes with your senses, and it all feels like you had a momentary hallucination.  Now back in this moment, you quickly spring into action. 

You yell “NO WRECKER” immediately and Wrecker stops in his tracks.  Hunter is sensing something, but unsure what it is.  The Stormtrooper grabs you as a shield.  A second trooper grabs Omega and drags her away.  Omega starts using swears that only Echo could come up with as she is taken.  The Batch stand with blasters trained on the stormtroopers in defense but not wanting to hit you in the crossfire.  The trooper violently puts a foot in your ass and kicks you off the platform, then commences to start firing on the Batch.  You free fall down the chasm and… 

…pass The World Between Worlds for a split second, and then appear back onto the platform.   

You try again. 

Omega is led away swearing up a storm while the stormtrooper is holding onto you.  Hunter calls to you, and in that moment, you sense the concern and love in his heart.  You also sense a dark presence in the Force, look up to the platform above and see Crosshair with his Firepuncher trained on you.  He was watching this exchange the whole time, waiting for the opportunity to shoot.  In his jealousy and anger, he fires, hitting you dead center between the eyes.  The very last thing you see is Cross grinning as he hears Hunter lose his shit. 

The fabric of the connected realms brushes past you. 

Again. 

You yank the stormtrooper into Crosshairs blaster bolt as his body is hit, he stumbles into Omega and both fall off the platform to their impending deaths.  The stormtrooper behind him, seeing the target they were looking to take is now gone, opens fire on you.  You fall off the platform. 

Again. 

Before the trooper can grab you, you grab Omega and jump off the platform into the chasm.  With any luck, you can use the force to stop yourselves before hitting bottom.  Unfortunately, you and Omega’s fall velocity was too much for your Force abilities.   

Again. 

You grab Omega but try to save only her.  As you fall past hundreds of platforms, you try to yeet her onto one as you fall.  You are falling too fast, and your throw was severely off.  You hear a sickening thud as she hits something. 

Again. 

You attempt to Force jump, and only make it just short of the other side.  You yeet Omega across the chasm towards the Batch, Hunter jumps for her from the other side, and she slips from his grasp.  You hear them both scream above you as you fall.  Fortunately, Tech and Wrecker send out their grappling cables and catch both.  Blaster fire starts from the stormtroopers.  Tech is hit, falls off the platform, and takes Omega with him since she is attached to his cable.   

Again. 

You Force jump again, Hunter jumps but misses Omega.  Knowing Wrecker will catch Hunter with his grappling hook, you send out a Force block in front of Tech. He is shielded from blaster fire, but Wrecker is hit by several bolts.  He falls off the platform taking Hunter with him.  You hear Wrecker’s insanely terrified scream as you all fall.  Hunter sends out his grappling cable and it catches.  His fall is stopped, but Wrecker’s weight wrenches Hunters body horribly.  He screams out in agony as he feels muscles tear.  They are hanging and safe momentarily…or so it seems.  A shot is heard from Firepuncher and Hunters cable is severed.  Both Batchers scream as they fall. 

You try to hold onto the edges of the realm as you pass through, but it evades your grasp. 

Again. 

You grab the lead stormtroopers gun while he is still holding onto it and keep pushing his finger onto the trigger, you shoot him and several other imps.  You fire several shots towards Crosshair, preventing him from shooting at you.  However, one hotshot trooper in the back squeezes off and hits you right in the back fatally.  

Again.   

Same scenario, but you spin the trooper around and use him as a human shield and the hotshot misses you.  However, Crosshair blasts you at the base of your skull.  The last thing you see is Omega’s terrified expression as you fall onto the platform next to your teeth his shot loosened in the blast. 

AGAIN?

You are getting sick of playing this fucked up reset game already.  In your anger, you quickly grab the stormtrooper and throw his ass off the platform.  The Batch and Omega watch shocked at your anger.  The other stormtroopers are taken by surprise, as you advance on them and grab another.  Crosshair is attempting to aim, but you are moving too much. The hotshot trooper aims his weapon. You and the trooper in your grasp struggle violently. The hotshot cannot get a good clear shot.  Finally, he squeezes one off and misses you. However, he didn’t consider where Omega is standing, and she takes a direct hit. You hear your Batchmates scream in outrage. You scream in outrage. The hotshot screams in frustration, then double taps you and the trooper in your grasp in the head simultaneously. 

AGAIN??

You grab the stormtroopers gun while still in his hand and shoot yourself in the head.  You just want this exhausting mess to be over. 

AGAIN???

You fall onto the platform in a crumpled pile crying.  Stormtroopers AND Crosshair shoot you at the same time, resulting in a horrible, charred mess. 

AGAIN???

You scream bloody murder and obscenities at Crosshair.  He shoots you between the eyes. 

AGAIN! 

You jump off the edge of the platform screaming obscenities like a crazy person. 

Before reset, you see the expression on the creatures face.  He looks disappointed and replies, “You aren’t even trying.  Reach out beyond the boundaries of your realm” As you angrily try to spout off to him, you are thrown violently into the next reset. 

AGAIN!!!

Standing on the platform, you take a deep breath and survey the scene.  You mull over the creatures words.  Time seems to slow down: You sense the stormtroopers behind you, looking into each of eyes of the Batch; Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, up to Crosshair, finally resting on Omega.  You mouth, “Trust me” to her and she nods. 

Time suddenly slams into overdrive, and you instantly pivot to bearhug Omega.  The trooper misses your shoulder and grabs open air.  The shot from Crosshair’s Firepuncher, originally meant for you, hits the trooper right between the eyes and he falls off the platform.  You reach deep within the Force, grab the thin tether of this realm and open it wide.  You then realize you were only meant to grasp it at the start of your actions, not at the end.  You “push” through with the Force, taking Omega with you.  As you “slide” from one location to another, you pass the creature.  He nods as you pass from the world you left only a millisecond ago, through the timeless World Between Worlds. 

“Congratulations, Jedi!  Your training is complete.” 

You part the curtain to your world again, entering behind the Batch.  Hunter, before his eyes even register your disappearance on the opposite platform, senses a presence behind them.  His head whips around to see you and Omega are now out of harm’s way.  His jaw drops inside his helmet.  Tech, seeing Hunters reaction, immediately spins around, his eyes are visibly dumbfounded “What?  How?”  Wrecker calmly looks behind him, seeing you and Omega there safely, doesn’t question.  He barks, “MUAHAHAHA!  YEAH!!!” and opens fire on all the befuddled stormtroopers standing on the opposite platform.   

With Wreckers cover fire, Hunter grabs Omega and runs down the hallway while yelling, “Let’s go!”  Tech runs past and grabs your hand.  He’s usually not touchy feely, but somewhere deep in his logical brain he understands that whatever happened saved your and Omega’s life.  All the quick calculations he was running in his brain logically ended in you both dying.  Wrecker is happily hopped up on blaster fire and the relief you are both safe.  He follows running behind. 

Crosshair is left on his sniper’s roost.  He hasn’t EVER missed a target.  This was his first time. You were there one second and gone next to his surprise.  Stares down at all the dead troopers laying on the platform below, gnawing hard on his toothpick.  He’s angry…but intrigued.  Maybe instead of killing you outright next time, he can land a stunning blow.  The Empire might be VERY interested if he brought you in alive.  Cross sprints away down a shortcut. 

Your group reaches the end of the hallway and bursts out into the ship hangar bay.  A large battalion of stormtroopers meet you there, with guns aimed.  You all stop, out of breath, and possibly out of luck.  Echo swoops in with the Marauder hovering and laying down suppressive cannon fire.  Unfortunately, there are too many imps for him to dispatch while also landing successfully.  Hunter and Tech are furiously looking for a way out.   

You reach out with the Force and envelope Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Omega.  Before opening the fabric of this realm, you feel eyes on you.  Looking to a ledge several stories up, Crosshair meets your gaze.  You both stare intensely into each other.  Without even realizing it, you reach out and speak with the Force: 

“Why???” 

“Because…” Slight shock registering on Crosshair’s face “…I can.” 

“You’ll regret this someday…when you’re all alone.” 

“I already am.”  He’s angry and hurt.  There is nothing more you can say. 

You slide through, taking all the Batchers with you and suddenly appearing within the Marauder.   

Wrecker: “WHOA!” 

Tech: Speechless, wide eyed…and STILL holding your hand. 

Omega: Dizzy and winded. 

Hunter: Rips helmet off his head. His expression is wild eyed and looks like he saw some serious shit.  “What was that place? Who was that creature?” 

Echo:  Spins around in the pilot’s chair, eyes wide “WHAT THE FUCK!!!” 

You grin.  And watch the Batch trying to piece together their sudden location movement and glimpse of the creature between worlds. 

Giving the order to Echo you bark, “Let’s go, soldier!” 

He’s still sitting there with a shocked expression, then laser blasts pepper the ship, and he regains composure.  Echo flies the Marauder out of the Imperial facility, off the planet, scrambles the ships jump signature, and punches it into hyperspace. 

PLEASE like, comment, and/or REBLOG!

IF YOU WISH TO BE ADDED OR DROPPED FROM MY TAG LIST, PLEASE MESSAGE ME! Don't just comment as I might miss it. Thanks!!! <3

[igetis-number1simp]

Lore of the Enforcement. Part 1

The Enforcement is a powerful army with countless of clone super soldiers wearing AX-1 Power armor, and with a goal to take over the Multiverse. They are extremist that uses brutal methods. They despise corruption and love fighting.

The Enforcers are similar to the Space Marines from Warhammer 40K, except they aren't from Warhammer 40k and does not fight for mankind or an "emperor". They fight to keep the Multiverse balanced. Enforcers LOVE war and fighting, every enforcers normally charge into the battlefield with gun blazing since they do not fear death thanks to the indestructible AX Power armor they wear. Every Enforcers do not give names to themselves and instead goes by their given number. "XT-233," "XT-5000." Enforcer-Zealots are known as "ZT-3237". Enforcers never take off their power armor or even their own helmet, for as they identity with their armor. The Enforcers can live up for thousands of years. (They cannot die from aging) Every Enforcers loadout are equip with almost every weapons. Holstering a Energy Revolver by their ankle, carrying a chainsword by their waist, carrying a Core ShotGun and a heavy assault rifle by their back, etc, etc. The power armor worn by Enforcers are extremely powerful. Nothing can pierce it's armor, not a single being or weapon in the entire multiverse can damage or pierce it. The power armor is so strong that an Enforcer can survive a nuclear blast or an orbital strike with minor injuries. The armor is design to adapt against everything; hot climate, cold climate, distortion, acid, etc. The Power Armor is also made out of Anperfysium (yay rozital lore reference).

Paladin Destroyers are armed with a very wide variety of weapons mounted in front of and beneath the bridge. Visible weapons forward of the bridge include a one or two large cannons, two large self-loading rocket pods, and two large Gatling guns; 2 large triple-barreled naval guns are also visible mounted on the hull beneath the bridge. The only named weapon is the ATLAS Cannon, which fires the Precision Strike. The Paladin Destroyer is capable of firing a it's precision ATLAS Cannon, Gatling gun, 120mm and 380mm Artillery, specialized Gas, EMS, and Airburst shells, a high intensity Laser, and a high velocity Railcannon.

The Omega Destroyer is a one of a kind ship that is the size of a planet. It is the leading ship in the main Enforcement fleet. The ship is the icon of the Enforcement and the Sentinel council is onboard. The Omega Destroyer can pack a powerful attack that could destroy an entire planet.

The Enforcer Imperialium is a very special rank that is rarely given by the Sentinel Council, any Enforcers chosen by the Imperialium will have to go through a very advanced and specialized training. This training transform any Enforcers into an warrior that is skilled in the most advanced combat and tactical skills, as well as a heightened understanding of the Enforcement's beliefs and ideologies.

The Enforcers have special Legions that have their own unique Enforcers and weapons. The Drillmaster Legion are a chapter of Enforcers that rely on weaponized mining equipment and use them for combat or constructions of outposts, they like to ambush from underground by digging straight to the surface where the enemy least expected. Their power armor have waists blades or a drill attached, and they carry more explosive based weapons. The Drillmaster Legion is led by Imperialium XT-266. The Drillmaster Legion are known to be the crazy ones, they're known to fight like beasts in combat and they make mining equipment look like a deadly weapon of war. If you asked anyone about them, they'll tell you that they are the toughest and the most brutal of all the Enforcement divisions, and are known to be savages in combat. They also have the most brutal torture method to "dig up" information out of the enemy. The Heavy Legion specialize in maxing out the armor of their Enforcers to act as walking shields for the other Enforcers. They have a gatling gun attached to their right arms and a big heavy shield on the other. The Heavy Legion is led by XT-1059.

The Firefly Legion is the most recent division formed by the newest Imperialium, XT-63. The Firefly Division specializes in using fire based weaponry and jetpacks to rain down fire upon their enemy from the sky. They use flamethrowers, incinerators, and ballistic weapons that fire 5000 degree bolts at their enemies. They are the most feared Special Division next to the Drillmaster Division. They wear their power armor that has painted a nice hot-rod design, with a mix of red, black and gold yellow. The red signify bravery while black shows death to their enemies and gold represent the pride of the Enforcers Firefly's

XT-1059 is an Imperialium who is in charge of the Heavy Division. He is the most serious and strongest Enforcer. He has his own custom power armor which is fittingly named the "Juggernaut"

XT-266 is an Imperialium who is in charge of the Drillmaster Division. He is the most unpredictable and funniest, and always like to joke around. He is the least serious than XT-1059, and love to have a "Sibling rivalry" between his division and the heavy division. XT-63 is the most recent Enforcer to become an Imperialium. He was an Enforcer Ultra serving his Force Captain's company on a mission to recapture the planet "Nova". After leading his platoon with interesting concept, his force captain propose to the Sentinel Council which put XT-63 through the test to see if he is up for the task. XT-63 proven himself and was promoted to an Imperialium. He is best pal with XT-266 and XT-1059.

Enforcer-Zealots (or ZT-Insert number) are highly trained specialized Enforcers that wears a white custom X0-2 power armor. Some of them are bred to be at this rank, while others has to be promoted to take training from the honorable Sangheili warriors or the Adaptus Master himself that will train these Zealots wannabes

The Adaptus Legion is a legion of specialized elite Enforcers trained as harden, stealthy warriors. They are led by ZT-001, AKA Adaptus Master. The Zealots rely one weapon and one weapon only; an energy blade. The Zealots are disciplined warriors and are used as guards for the Sentinel Council.

Spartan-berry is a liquid that the Enforcers love to drink in celebration, it is the only drink they rather drink than alcohol, a drink which they hate.

Enforcer Ranks:

The Enforcers ranks are color coded, their ranks are represented by the numbers and the color of the stripes on their right arm. One yellow stripe = Minor, the lowest rank of the Enforcer. Two yellow stripes = Major. Three yellow stripes = Ultra, the rank that give you a squad of lower ranks to lead. One red stripe = Captain, they take charge of platoons. Two red stripes = Commander, they command a company of enforcers. Three red stripes = Force captain, they command a battalion (over a hundred enforcers) and wear an AX-2 power armor. One blue stripes = Field master, they lead a brigade of Enforcers and are in charge of the security and transporting supplies of Enforcement controlled territory. One blue and Red stripes = Lieutenant, These serve as the right hand to their Company Shipmaster, typically commanding one of the Company's two demi-companies. Two blue and one red stripe = ShipMaster, they command their very own paladin destroyer, commanding a large portion of Enforcers. Two Blue and Two red stripes = Fleet Master, they command their fleet of paladin destroyers and command enforcers. They also act as second in command and advisors to the Chapter Master that they served. Three Red and Two blue stripes = Chapter Master — The highest attainable rank of Enforcers, commanding their fleet of ships and invasion forces under their command. The Chapter Master only answer to the Imperialium and the Sentinel Council.

[civilotterneer]

I'm curious about your Starfinder campaign! Would you be willing to tell me more about it? :D

So it depends, we've gotten a few in now. I'll give you the universe we've made and the most recent campaign we just finished.

The Rishi Sector

In the Rishi Sector, there exist a limited selection of races and nations:

Orcs - The Orcish Triumviratelive - in a 3 habitable world system, with each one drawing from a For Honor faction, using UNSC style ships

Elves - The Elvin Technocracy - from a destroyed homeworld and of a capped population but of technilogical prowess, using Star Wars Naboo style vessels

Draconians - The Scaled Empire - the most populous and powerful race of large, krogan-like draconid people, use Star Wars CIS ships

Dwarves - Deep Rock Galactic - a capitalistic empire of industrious and wealthy people, use Star Wars Republic style ships

Pixies - Deep Rock Galactic - living on the moon of the dwarven homeworld and as a subsidiary of DRG, one of the rarest races, no ships

Amurrans - The United Fiefdom - a cat like unisex race of strange genetic capabilities, using Star Trek Federation style ships

Gnomes - Deep Rock Galactic - Gnomes are actually fired dwarves, being as you can't leave DRG in good terms as a dwarf, dwarves are administered a genetic untreatable disease turning them into a gnome

Solari and Lunari - The Stellar Conjugate - the newest member of the Rishi Sector, this twin race comes from a tidally locked world where it's still kind of the Wild West, custom designed ships that look like trains and steam vessels

Automatons - Unkown Government - Prolific wanderers of the Sector, their only known homewolrds are large ships housing a super intelligence. Begin life as an android and slowly remove biological parts to become a full automaton. Use Star Wars Mon Cala style ships.

A common threat in the sector are Saurians, dinosaur-like raiders from a fallen empire using old, dying technology. They refuse to work with any of the Rishi Sector races. They use Halo Covenant style vessels and weapons, and even have a subrace of Elites in them.

Lastly, a new threat appears! The Empire of Man has been making scouting runs into the Rishi Sector, hellbent on spreading the word of their unholy, unknowable god. They are based on The Empire from Star Wars and use their ships.

Totally-Not-A-Suicide-Squad

Our most recent campaign involved our characters being prisoners, with long sentences based on your races average lifespan. We were being sent by the Elvin Intelligence Agency (EIA) as a multi-racial scouting mission to a newly discovered anomaly.

This anomaly turned out to be human in origin, which until now, were completely undiscovered. While our goal was to just find useful items to lessen our sentences, we discovered that this base will be used by an invasion fleet to travel to the sector, since a large, untraversable nebula separates the Rishi Sector from where the Humans are coming from.

Our party explored what remains of the abandoned base (all the previous humans were slowly picked off by the local dinosaurs until only 1 vampire human remained in the most secure base). Many characters died, a grand total of 5 character deaths occurred over the course of this 5-shot campaign.

My character was actually one of the only people to start the campaign and end alive still. Morandro'goth, an orc from the Asiatic planet, was a shaman who may have accidentally offed several financial advisors on commands of 'The Spirits'. He was a Psycic class, and had a whole thing about communing with local spirits to find information. In combat, he used very-strong telekinetic magic to throw items with incredible velocity at enemies. He would also summon some spirits to fight with him.

Some other characters included:

A swashbuckler bat-like sprite (Deceased to literal demonic beetles)

An ammuran kineticist (Deceased from a fall, irony)

An automaton monk (Deceased twice, first to an orc known as "The Throngler", second to kamikaze-ing a Tie fighter with the last human vampire in it)

An elvin oracle who was actually a thrall to the vampire and backstabbed us (Deceased as he failed his master's mission to collect an orc)

Morandro'goth and a Lunari ranger were successfully able to escape with plenty of items to undo their sentences and live as free men afterwards.

This campaign, run by a friend, is actually supposed to be a prologue to a future campaign I will run, which will include the Empire of Man invading the sector and the party having to stop them.

What the Future Holds

We're about to start a long-term campaign, where we're all adventurers on a newly-colonized and wild planet. There'll be a lot less direct sci-fi from cities and whatnot, but plenty of interactions from characters who might use plasma weaponry against nature.

I'll be playing a Solari Divine witch, with the background of being a nun and working to further her religions teachings, but also to study how old gods may 'die' and how the living things they make are derived from said gods. Her familiar, a form of otter-dog creature (A Damibwa) from the Lunari part of her homeworld, is also how her paton speaks to her, giving her divine orders.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Turning Pages

Start of Claude in Husbandry AU!

Past – Next

Tagged: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

Author’s note: Start of Claude in Husbandry AU! Claude is now in the Husbandry AU! OG goes to Kit-williams. She’s amazing, so are all the other people who write/make art/writing in the Husbandry tag. Seriously!

Summary: Claude wakes up, still almost dead on a forest floor on a planet he for sure was not on.

Warnings: Pain, wounds, injuries. Uh… let me know if I need to add any in the tags please.

Claude wakes up with a painful gasp and is more than a little surprised that he’s alive. He had thought as the Xeno scum fell out of the sky that it would crush him to death. He opens his eyes and tries to assess how he’s feeling. Pain- pain, is good and bad, pain is good, which means he can feel that his wounded. Pain is bad, he’s wounded badly enough to feel it. As he slowly looks around with a frown and furrowing of his eyebrows, he doesn’t recognize the flora and fauna of the forest that he’s in. The last thing that he recalls, he was in an open battle field that didn’t have much in the way of forests and bushes, at least the part of the world that he and his squad was fighting in. He starts by cautiously wriggling his fingers and opens, they move easily and without much pain.

His armor, from the alerts he’s getting is broken, wrenched in places from the claws of the Xeno-scum that he had been fighting. Also, his body is badly wounded from the fighting, and getting almost crushed by a falling giant flying Tyranid that had fallen… not at terminal velocity, but it was a giant beast of a Xeno-filth. While he, his brothers, and chapter are taught stealth, they’d been pulled to help another chapter when the Tyranids had attacked, and the losses he’d heard of his vox device for the wounded and fallen of his brothers had him knowing that direct, confrontational battle isn’t what he and his chapter are trained for. He’s covered in blood and gore, his own, and the Xeno’s he’s killed. He sends out a vox call for help, and as he tries to send a message his voice crackles and croaks and he coughs. He wheezes, unfortunately, he must have had his lungs semi-crushed. He’s thankful to be a Primaris Astartes, after all, his healing factor is better than a first born, and he’s still alive.  

He closes his eyes and he knows for certainty even if panic is starting to flicker into his hearts. He doesn’t want to die. Not like this, alone, and out of battle. If he’s to die, he wants to die saving base line humans, or his brothers, or in Glorious Combat. Not choking on his own blood with nary an ally or enemy in sight. The cackling and giggling hasn’t started up, usually when his emotions start to slip his hard fought control they become louder and the voices cackle and jabber lies and false honey promises. He’s no apothecary, but he’d been taught basic first aid, as a stealth operative, getting help, even from squad mates was unlikely to happen, at best they wouldn’t be close enough to help, at worst they would ignore his calls for help in order to complete the mission. He slowly shifts himself onto his hands and knees, slowly, carefully as he crawls over to a tree to lean against.

It’s slow going and his vision fades in and out as dark spots speckle across his vision as he wheezes and coughs. He knows what it feels like to be badly wounded, had been trained how to push through the pain and persevere. The Mechanicus was very through in their training of the Primaris Marines, and his Elder Brothers, among the First born have specialized his training and ensured him and his brothers would be even more fit for their holy mandates as Angels of the Imperium. He takes the few medical supplies that he has on him, and to his dismay nearly all of them are broken or busted in such a way that using them would be more dangerous than useful at this point in time. He leans against the tree tries to take slow deep breaths as he closes his eyes and reaches out, it’s harder, much hard than it should be as his spirit fades from his body and he tries to find a mind that he knows, that is familiar.

To his dismay so many are baseline human and the Elder brothers are all strange, as his spirit walks and wanders before his hearts soar with hope as he recognizes one of the minds as a friend. As someone who he helped and helped him in training back on Holy Mars. Cedric.

[Cedric. Please. Help me.] He calls out to Cedric.

It’s never certain if his brothers can actually hear him or not when his soul is out of his body. He reaches and touches one of Cedrics arms and notices Cedric twitch.

[Brother-cousin please, I’m bleeding out in the forest three hours south of here. I… I don’t want to die ingloriously. Cedric please]. He calls out to the young Apothecary.