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diplexchimera · 3 years

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Hey people considering college-

I have some tips for you. Now, take into consideration that I am technically a college drop-out (didn't have enough money for a second semester).

- my college required Freshman to be in a campus dorm. We got to select whether we preferred someone quiet, someone loud, or someone in between. In my experience, someone loud = an extrovert who will have many people visit them, someone quiet = a person who prefers to keep their room more private, and someone in between = a person who wants their roommate to be okay with a noisy room & people over, but also wants to be able to say they need quiet time (or they aren't sure what they want, but want neither a silent room or a busy room).

- if you have to eat from the cafeteria, that's okay. They tend to have a wider selection anyway but! I would suggest memorizing the breakfast/lunch/dinner availability hours. Some schools are very strict, and will lock the doors which = a skipped meal for you.

-I would also suggest getting the app 'MyPlate Calorie Tracker'. College meals will most likely be different than what you've eaten at home and school. The MyPlate app is pretty simple, and can help you make sure you're getting the right amount of food into yourself, as opposed to too much or too little. If I remember correctly, it also keeps track of how much protein and stuff your food is supplying you.

- sugars, fats, calories, and carbs are not bad for you. Your body requires them. Your brain literally will not function if you cut out any one of those items. Remember, you don't need to avoid being fat, you need work today being healthy. Your body will sort itself out (over time dude, give it time) if you supply it with the necessary nutrients and such.

- dude, vitamins. They can be expensive, but if you have insurance, ask your doctor how much of every vitamin you should be having. They can tell you, give you a list, and they can ask your insurance if vitamins are covered. If you can't get to a doctor, try to do research. Here is one from Harvard that I think is good, but you should always cross check things. Getting all the vitamins and minerals you need is exceedingly important. They help you go to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up, help your brain and body to function and adjust, help keep you feeling healthy and happy. If you feel tired and depressed, it can be really difficult to accomplish tasks and enjoy/ appreciate being alive.

- I would not suggest starting your year by completing assignments before the start date of said assignments. For one, doing assignments as they come helps you get a feel for a natural schedule. Another reason is because it helps to be in the moment, instead of too far ahead to be able to keep track of what's going on and when. Wait until you have a hang of how and where to research, and a firm idea of how much you can hold onto mentally, so you don't fail tests. You'll also likely feel guilty later on when you begin to struggle to stay ahead as assignments get longer and more difficult.

- yo if you can get a used textbook that comes as a three ring binder instead of a hard or soft back, do it. It's cheaper, and so much easier to handle and copy. Heck, you can even take the pages out of the section you're using and put them in a folder -- boom, no more 40lb back pack. Also makes more room in any bag you use for the essentials, which I'll list next.

- here are some backpack essentials:

• earbuds, Bluetooth if possible. It's okay to have more than one type of listening device. "I prefer headphones!" You say. You can't hide over-the-ear headphones if you end up in a classroom which doesn't allow something like that. Sometimes you're just having a sucky day, sometimes you need extra stimulation to concentrate, sometimes you want to spend your time listening to a podcast that explains the current subject better than your teacher does. Sometimes you want to watch a movie casually. Earbuds also take up MUCH less space.

• an extra charging cable for every portable device you use. Roll them up, and secure each one individually with cable ties or bread bag twist ties. I say extra, as in, keep your original cords in your dorm room and Don't Take Them out. Get a secondary cable and charger for each device, and let them live in your backpack.

• 3 or 4 different colors of pen. Multiple colors, for whatever reason you want-- easily scanned notes, for different subjects, etc. These can serve a variety of purposes, and you never know when you need them.

• 3 regular pencils, and a good hand sharpener or silent mechanical sharpener. 3 in case the other two get broken lead or happen to suck. Regular pencils can be finicky.

• 2 mechanical pencils. 2 in case one of them fails, runs out of lead, or the lead breaks up.

• decoy pens and pencils! Get as cheap or expensive as you want. At some point, someone is likely to ask for one, and you don't want someone else using your favorites. You also may not get them back, or they get broken. I would suggest a couple of each, as it may happen in more than one class. You don't have to have decoys, but that way, at least you don't have to choose between either feeling guilty for not loaning out the items you like, or being uncomfortable that you did have to loan one. If you loan the decoys out, and don't get any back, and someone asks you for a utensil later that day, you have both a convenient reason you don't have an extra you're willing to share, and you already put the minimum effort towards being prepared.

• Water! You're going to get so dang dehydrated! You're going to have full days, much of the time, from trekking across campus, to class time, to meal times, to study time, to hang out time -- you need to have water with you, as opposed to having to track it down, and possibly have to pay for a bottle of water. Hydration is a main component in bodily functionality and brain processes. I would suggest a minimum of a 30-ish ounce container of any sort. A plastic water bottle you refill, a thermos, a sippy cup, a hydro flask, a camp flask, whatever works for you.

• I would say snacks. If you're eating meals throughout the day, I guess they aren't "technically" essential, but can confidently say, they are useful. Snacks can be an energy boost, a brain function boost, a hunger soother, a friend-maker, or just plain stimulation. Cut up some apple slices, maybe grab some peanut butter, or a portion of nuts, or a tangerine, crackers, pretzels, chips, the choice is yours. It helps if you can get ahold of some of those cheap reusable silicone ziplock baggies. You can wash them to be used again, and you don't have to deal with carrying plastic trash around with you.

• a pair of socks. I know that sounds weird, but it doesn't take up much space, and weird stuff happens. They get wet, or it's hot and your feet get sweaty and yucky, or food get spilled on your feet. Stuff happens.

• b12 tablets. They work with your system in a healthy way, as opposed to caffeine, and does the same trick. Just follow the directions on the bottle, and may I suggest, start with half the recommended dose. It affects different people more or less. My husband takes the recommended two, while I only need a half. We both have adhd, and are closely similar in body weight. If you need a wake up boost, don't slam your system with caffeine.

• baby wipes. You can get a small pack, and they can help clean up almost anything. Someone spill sticky tea? Got it. Fell and scraped a knee, and it has dirt all over it? Baby wipes and a little water. Need to blow your nose, and there are no tissues, or just feel like you need to rinse your face off in class? You're covered.

• chapstick is a very small item, but Lordy Lord if those classrooms aren't parched of all moisture in the air. You gone get cracked, chapped lips.

That's kinda it for now on backpack essentials. There is definitely more you could have, so supplement whatever helps you. You could add a hairbrush or comb, a hat and rain jacket for cold weather times, sunscreen during the hot times, hair ties and bobby pins, etc. It's all for you pal.

- keep in touch with your professors. Make yourself known to them. An occasional casual compliment is often helpful, and a good way to connect (you explained stuff really well today/your teaching style is helpful/I appreciated you taking time to answer my questions). They are people after all.

- if you have stuff going on, let your professors know. If your pet is sick at home and you're worried about them, give your professors a heads-up that you may seem less attentive that week, but that it isn't disinterest. If you figure out you have depression, and you're struggling to complete assignments/sleep/wake-up, tell them. Let them know you don't expect special treatment, you just wanted them to know that it isn't due to immaturity or lack of interest.

- always do studying and homework first. If you're able to accomplish these things while with friends, that's great, but if you can tell you're struggling, prioritize schoolwork. You'll have time for fun stuff later, usually later that evening.

- it's okay to drop a class. In fact, if you severely dislike a class, don't understand the coursework, or you realize you've taken on too much at once, it's better for your overall wellness and your grades if you drop it. If you have a professor suggest you drop a class in mean way, don't feel like you have to prove them wrong. This is your experience, and they can stuff it for being a rude brat. You don't need to prove yourself to them, and you cannot control their thoughts or actions.

- try to take classes that happen twice a week, which start later in the day than 8 am, at least for your first semester. There is a lot going on in college. A lot of changes to acclimate to. Take it a little easier at first, to give yourself time to work out what all is where, and how everything works.

Well, that's the end of 'dip's (college) tips' for now.

#dip shares stuff #stuff to know #dip's tips #college

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gallavictorious · 4 years

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I'll move on eventually, but for now, just hear me out: Mickey doesn’t hate being restrained, somewhat to his surprise (though not to Ian's).

Now, I'm not sure exactly what triggers it, but I imagine it's not entirely dissimilar to the wedding day situation, insofar that Mickey is determined to do something that might land him back in prison, and Ian is Having None Of It. Like, maybe he finds out that Mickey is in on a drug deal of some kind and about to head out to pick up the merchandise, or maybe someone's pissed Mickey off to the point where he wants to actually murder or at least maim them. It doesn't take all that much for Mickey to commit a crime, so it could be anything.

But yeah, Ian is not about to let his husband get his stupid ass incarcerated again, so he blocks the stairs, and blocks all of Mickeys' attempts to push past him: ”You'll get yourself thrown back in prison!” - ”Get out of my fucking way, Gallagher.” - ”You're not fucking doing this.”

There is a scuffle, and while Mickey isn't even close to feral, he's still Mickey, pissed off and stubborn as fuck and not exactly shy about expressing it. But Ian is just as stubborn, and stronger, and it ends as you might expect, with Mickey neatly cuffed to the iron headboard of the bed in their room. Mickey is raging, Ian strugling to remain calm but visibly really fucking annoyed.

”Keep an eye on him,” he tells Liam (who rolls his eyes, because this is the least impressed child ever and we must love him for it). ”I'll sort this out.”

And he does, and he comes back, and he closes the door to their room behind him when he enters. Mickey's calmed down a little by now, but he's still pretty pissed, glaring daggers at Ian.

Ian meets his stare levelly. ”It's taken care of. Ramirez is in police custody. You won't hear from him again.”

Mickey makes a rude noise, because police custody? That's a real pussy-ass move. Not much he can do about it now, though, so he just drawls: ”Well done, citizen. You’re a real upstanding law-abiding motherfucker, a real fucking pride to your goddamn country.” A beat. ”So, you gonna uncuff me or what?”

Ian might smile here, but it's tightlipped thing. ”Actually, I was thinking maybe you should just stay there for a while. Give you a chance to, you know, reflect on things.”

Mickey blinks. ”Reflect on – ! You putting me in a fucking time out?”

Ian offers a small shrug, tilts his head in that way that very clearly says yeah, that's absolutely what I'm doing, and Mickey gives a disbelieving laugh that is half a snarl: ”You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

But Ian isn't. Of course he fucking isn't.

And Mickey would rage and trash and threaten, really he would, but he knows – knows only all too well, from the determined look on Ian's face - that this won't accomplish a damn thing, other than make him look like an idiot.

Like hell he's giving Ian that satisfaction.

”Whatever, man,” he says. ”I don't give a fuck.” And he looks away, projecting – attempting to project – the most pointed disinterest possible.

Ian is completely unfazed. He shrugs out of his jacket, kicks off his shoes probably, and grabs the book he's been reading from the nightstand. Climbs onto the bed, and sits down with his back to the wall under the window, at an angle from Mickey. Puts his calves across Mickey's, absolutely casual, and begins to read.

Mickey would ask what the hell he thinks he is doing, but he's ignoring Ian, so he can't.

(And Mickey isn't stupid, so of course he gets that Ian is giving him space while at the same time staying close, keeping him company. He refuses to be touched by that. Refuses. Ian is being a fucking pain and an asshole.)

A minute passes. Ian reads. This is ridiculous. Mickey gives a huff. ”Can I at least get a fucking beer?”

Ian looks up at him, briefly. ”No,” he says before returning to his book, and there's nothing spiteful about it. A matter of fact, that's all.

And so they sit, Ian reading, and Mickey doing nothing much at all. The sun falls in through the window; the light is golden, and the noises from the street and the rest of the house are blessedly muffled. Out there, life goes on; in here, there is quiet.

Unexpectedly, grudgingly, Mickey feels himself starting to relax. Whatever happens beyond this room, he can't do shit about it, and that's... strangely freeing.

Ian turns a page. His legs pressing down on Mickey's shins are heavy, warm. Grounding.

Mickey's thoughts drift, becoming slow and quiet. He feels kind of empty, but not in a bad way. A tension he didn't know he carried begins to ease. Somewhere far away, a woman laughs. The duvet is soft under his fingers.

Time passes, maybe an hour, and then Ian puts his book away, looks straight at Mickey. There's nothing strange on his face, no anger or annoyance, no condescension or concern. He just looks at Mickey, the way he always does. ”You wanna grab dinner?”

Maybe it takes Mickey a moment ot answer. Maybe he blinks a few times, shakes his head to clear it. Then: ”Yeah. Sure.” No anger in his voice either. He can't really remember ever feeling this... still.

Ian uncuffs him, does it unceremoniously and without comment. Once they are both on their feet, he pulls Mickey in for a long kiss that is nothing but soft, nothing but tender. His arms are wrapped around Mickey, his fist curling in Mickey's hair.

Then they grab their jackets and head downstairs, returning to the world, with Ian's arm slung around Mickey's shoulders.

(The sex is going to be absolutely glorious that night, but that's another story, for someone else to tell.)

#gallavich #somehow it becomes a thing after that #happening every now and then #perhaps there are no more attempts at murder #or covert drug deals #but there are moments when it all gets a bit too much #old habits kicking into high gear #old demons come to rear their heads #flight or flight tearing their way through Mickey's neural pathways like toddlers on acid #ian is there #as are the cuffs #and the iron headboard i invented for my own nefarious purposes #this is a headboard AU #ficlet #my stuff

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graphicabyss · 4 years

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Avalanche and the Fallout

So, last time I commented on Tegoshi’s tell-all book and now it’s released and the damage is done. Such an appropriate name seeing as avalanches are sudden and destroy everything in their path. As I read the book and the related news, I struggled with both the need to convey how I felt and stop giving him so much time and attention. Sure enough, I ended up with a long review/analysis/bitching post. It's rough and mean and very long so please read at your own risk.

Facts first. The book released on Aug 5 was originally supposed to run 10,000 copies but they reportedly increased it to 50,000 due to high demand. Tegoshi also held a press-conference to talk about it on release day. It ended up being one of the best-selling books on Amazon and top seller in Entertainment.

It’s hard to talk about the book briefly. It’s 270 pages long and I had absolutely no intention to read it all but still ended up reading a good deal and words just kept pouring out of me. I could not imagine how much this book would fuck me up. I knew it would be bad but honestly I was shocked about the publication because it’s both incredibly cruel to so many people and incredibly stupid as it’s going to severely damage his reputation and future career.

I won’t even try to pretend to be objective because there’s nothing objective about the book itself. It’s a book of unsolicited opinions. If there’s one word I’d to describe it it’s ‘delusional’. Every chapter reeks of vanity and a sense of superiority as he judges every single celebrity he came in contact with and gives plenty of advice. It's a mess of careless words hastily and haphazardly thrown together in an attempt to let the world know the Real Tegoshi.

Of course, that's not how he sees it. He mentions the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates saying their books give people motivation and inspiration and he wanted to do the same. Bitch, you haven't done anything to get you on that level yet.

There’s a video on his channel where he goes to the publisher to talk about the book and while he says about sending an inspirational message, the publisher only wants him to talk about Yukirin and other juicy gossip. And it’s not like poor Tegoshi was tricked into it, he readily agreed to it and he knew full well what he was doing. The book’s cover does not advertise life advice, it advertises celebrity gossip. Also nudes, which by the way, turned out to be mere topless shots. Add false advertising to the list of offenses. He really gave Bunsun a run for their money discussing half his scandals and even adding some extra. He keeps saying he only wants to clear up the rumours but somehow ends up saying things that make absolutely no difference or even make him look worse. It's like if Bunshun said "Tegoshi was partying with 5 younger women, ran around naked and then passed out drunk" and Tegoshi would be like "That's not true! There were 4 women!"

He also said he absolutely could not hide how he truly felt. And that seems to make sense except it’s one thing to just be honest and reveal some of your relevant thoughts in a carefully worded manner. But this is another thing entirely. It’s some kind of emotional exhibitionism, a compulsory desire to share his every thought and opinion on everything and everyone. Dear, there is middle ground between hiding how you really feel and giving your every single opinion. That doesn't make you honest. It makes you an asshole.

The book is divided into small chapters and most are about NEWS, past and present members and related topics, as well as most other JE artists. Some chapters are about the women he had or did not have relations with. Some are about the people he admires and his delusional plans for the future. Only a small number of chapters do not mention any names and talk about his personal experiences and thoughts.

At this point, I do not even have all the scans but I have more than enough to go off the parts I read. First off, I am now allergic to the word ‘positive’ and the phrase ‘as a man’. What the fuck does that even mean? Also, a lot of the stuff he says in the book is not new in any way and was either said before or known through other sources or rumours. There are hardly any shocking revelations anywhere, at least if you were following him as closely as I have. But hearing all these terrible opinions at once is sure a treat.

Actually, he himself described it as whining and that seems accurate because he does that for a good portion of the book, explaining how unfairly he (and other people) was treated by the industry and the press. There are many stories of hardship and resilience. There’s the good old "I suffered so much when I wasn’t the center of attention for the first time in my life”. There’s the classic “The media spreads lies about me” and other familiar narratives. Also a few tragic stories of unfulfilled love.

And not all of it is horrible. In fact, there are a few parts that I could relate to, such as the terrible way Koyama had been treated when he had to resign from ‘every’, the strange limitations for idols and how excessively strict the rules of Japanese showbiz are. But by telling those stories and complaining about JE and Japan’s entertainment industry, he is not going to make a change. All he accomplished is make things harder for himself. Bringing up the names of many artists, especially those he doesn’t even know personally, and discussing their problems is incredibly rude, intrusive and potentially damaging. Yes, the rules of Japanese entertainment suck but see how much you can achieve going against them.

And I don't like JE and not going to defend it but bitching about JE in particular is unwise for two reasons: One - not only does he owe everything to it, NEWS is still in it and what’s bad for JE is bad for NEWS. Two - JE is very powerful and has immense influence in the industry so making them your enemy when your career barely started may lead to it ending prematurely. In the end, Tegoshi Yuya’s biggest obstacle to fame isn’t JE or media. It’s Tegoshi Yuya.

It is not an autobiography book so it doesn't start with childhood. Which is a pity because I was hoping to get a glimpse of how we got to this point. There are a few clues though.

I can tell.

Perhaps the most important chapters are those connected to his leaving the band, his reasons and motivations and that shit made me livid. He basically says that one day he imagined how awesome his solo career would be and decided he was too good to be in NEWS and the world will fall at his feet at soon as he lets it. He literally says that when he had to stay home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he realized that God sent him a sign saying “Quickly, leave the agency!”. The pandemic is serendipity. Fuck me.

I honestly expected that the part about NEWS members at least would be nothing but praise but it also left me with very mixed feelings. First, there's a chapter "What I Told the NEWS Members" and it sounds so solemn and inspirational like "Are you sure you didn't copy that from some drama or anime? Because people do not talk like that, especially after being hit with such news." I'd love to hear their side of the story. There's also a chapter calling the members his comrades and expressing his eternal gratitude. But it's pretty clear that's not really for the members, it's to appease the fans.

There are several more chapters about the members specifically. Tegoshi has to be perfectly honest so there’s evaluation of every member, as he positions himself as the best performer by default and tells some stories that he apparently seems to think necessary to share.

For instance, there’s his story of choosing to stay in NEWS in 2011 as he told Koyashige they were miles behind Tegomass and needed to improve their singing and dancing to not drag the band down. Wait, since when can Tegoshi dance? Also the time Massu could not get a certain song right and got unresponsive as Tegoshi kept poking his mistake, so Tegoshi went berserk and thrashed Massu's things.

There is also a whole chapter about Shige and it's so weird as a former biggest Tegoshige shipper. Before I'd be happy for all the praise. Sadly, at this point if Tegoshi praises you too much it's almost a little suspicious. The whole thing is basically Tegoshi deciding that Shige is his top choice as... a man? deciding he makes the best leader and entrusting him the band. "Take care of my NEWS, Kato!" he says at the end. Fuck this shit!

Also, whatever happened to “Shige-chan?” He has made no effort to spend time with Shige out of work. And you know, they used to hang out and go on trips together when they were younger but not in recent years as Tegoshi got 'cooler' friends. I mean, his and Shige's friends probably have a 20+ difference in IQ level but still... He also only read a few of his books and unlike Massu, he does read. Mostly shitty 'how to succeed' types. All of that speaks of remarkable disinterest in Shige's actual life and thoughts.

There are several more chapters regarding NEWS as a band and what he thinks they should do and it makes me furious just talking about it. You lost any right to decide the band's future when you left them high and dry, asshole. He also claims he loves NEWS so so much and even wears the tour T-shirts (impressive!) and sings their songs in karaoke and cries! (poor thing!) On top of that he can't wait to see the STORY tour and go to see it and also broadcast it on his Youtube and do a review.......... I can't with this shit. Let's move on.

He also analyzed former members, basically calling Ryo spineless and saying he and Pi should have left sooner if they had no interest being in the band. And that’s coming from someone who tried to leave what? 4 times at least? Yes. It turns out he wanted to leave the band in 2017, in addition to 2011 and 2013. The way I see it now, 4nin NEWS was a hostage situation where Tegoshi constantly threatened to leave and other members trying to keep him happy and make him stay. He knew he was important and he got away with all kind of shit, both within the band and the agency.

In a similar manner, he takes each JE group and artist and evaluates them - what's good about it and what’s not, who’s popular and capable, what the group needs to do and so on. It’s amazingly condescending. There’s even a whole part about wanting to unite NEWS and KAT-TUN. What the fuck? Who asked you? Go film your ugly wardrobe or something.

I bet Tegoshi is so obsessed with popularity and rankings that he sees numbers over every person's and groups’ heads. Not everything in the world can be ranked and measured in numbers. He also says there are many celebrities who fucked up and acted like divas but are still popular. Way to go! Except it seems you have mistaken the order. You should succeed first, then be a dick. Also bitch, you're not Lady Gaga.

One of the biggest reasons for the anger of fans, at least the Western ones, was the way he talked about the mental issues of the former King & Prince member Iwahashi Genki and SEXY ZONE member Matsushima Sou both of whom had to step back from the industry because of their panic attacks. Even though he intended to encourage them, he expressed a fundamental misunderstanding of how panic attacks work suggesting they just had to cheer up and stay positive.

There's a whole section where he talks about a dozen female celebrities, mostly idols and actresses, dedicating a whole chapter to each. Of course, only to ‘set the record straight’. Because that’s exactly how the rumours work, you know. Particularly old ones. You tell the whole story and they go away. It's disgusting. Female artists' whole careers depend on their pure image and being associated with him can easily end it.

He also speaks of the first three girls he dated, which all sound like huge and tragic love stories as he said he loved them so much he considered marrying them but they all actually happened when he was about 16 to 20 years and after turning 20 he hasn't had a single woman that he loved that much.

And then some parts are only about himself and they are things that one should really, really keep to oneself. Nobody needs to know you drink so hard you can’t get it up. The chapter's called "I have no interest in sex" but it should really be called "I have a drinking problem". I couldn’t help but remember the scandalous article that came out in 2017 where one of his 'girl friends' sold the story of their relationship with all unsightly intimate details. I chose to defend him at the time but now I’m not even sure I can blame her. Perhaps it should be viewed as whistle-blower insider info as she warned others of what they may expect. The chapter "I have easily over a 1000 female friends" says he has this many girl contacts all over Japan and overseas but they aren't what you think they are. He only had 10 girls who he considered girlfriends, those he met 1 on 1 with. I guess the rest he just fucked so that doesn't count. Now that I think about it, I feel like 99% of all the Bunshun articles were mostly accurate.

Speaking of which... There's also a chapter where he explains why he cried during Neverland tour and he explains it by the photo with the two cons from 2011. We all know that was just a small part of it and the far bigger reason was people exposing his private messages and leaking intimate photos and stories. So much for the whole truth. Also, he whines about his reputation being hurt by the photo but has a whole chapter praising the man called Horiemon who was imprisoned for securities fraud.

There's another major revelation that shows his character. He mentions several cases where he had hissy fits in the dressing rooms, actually throwing chairs and things. Of course, for important reasons - being frustrated and angry at terrible injustices. Such as Koyama being fired from ‘every’ or him losing some parts in ChumChum after his scandal. Also the fight with Massu back in 2010 when he threw Massu’s things on the floor... It’s horrible as it is but for Massu, knowing he freaks out if you so much as breathe on his things... What a bitch.

There are also some chapters about his delusions of becoming a worldwide phenomenon but he doesn't seem to have a real plan how to achieve it. There are his ideas that are all over the place. There's the bold "Creating a new mold of entertainment" so that's producing. There's Youtube stuff. There's creating a "Tegoshi village" with ex-TOKIO Yamaguchi. He just had to pick the most problematic of his senpai. And there's an actual chapter called "Expanding to China and US Simultaneously”? Also English lessons? That all sounds very impressive, hon, but all you did so far was piggybacking on other people's fame and work. His book sold largely due to scandals and other people's names. He had a solo concert with just his NEWS solos and cover versions. And he just released a video that is an exact replica of his ItteQ segment.

One question is: how is he so confident he'll succeed fast? Well, apart form the usual delusions of grandeur. One reason for his excessive confidence is having friends in high places. At one point he's casually namedropping Abe Shinzo and the First Lady who was supposedly expected to come to the Story tour. Tegoshi said he would invite both of them to his solo concert. Yeah, I'm sure they'll come, nothing controversial about that.

I can’t imagine how it’s going to go from here but I don’t know how anyone would still want to work with him. He fucked over people he worked with for 18 years, people he claims to love, in a heartbeat so what can a new partner expect?

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As expected by literally everyone but Tegoshi, the book made an uproar and not in a good way, with fans and agencies enraged over his words about the artists. There were many articles calling this book 'exposé book', especially focusing on him using the real names of female celebrities. Some newspapers followed up with petty articles. My favourite is an article from Tokyo Sports that specifically dug up a story that was not in the book about the way he adamantly pursued a certain female idol trying to conquer her and culminating in doing a dogeza in front of her but she still rejected him saying "Zettai yada! I will be your girlfriend number what?". Her name is not revealed, which is unfortunate, I'd like to know who that queen is.

Not all feedback was bad, of course. According to this article, many men brought it and enjoyed it. I'm sure they did. Plenty of aspirational douchebags out there. Anyway. Many fans wrote to him long angry and very detailed letters. His social media accounts have been losing followers for the past several weeks.

Perhaps the strangest thing is that he seemed genuinely surprised that instead of praise for his courage and honesty he got anger and disapproval. It wouldn't happen if he got his head out of his ass and literally asked a single one of the people he wrote about what they thought of it.

The feedback must have been very focused as the very next day he wrote a few posts on his Twitter and Instagram indicating his concern over the feedback. On Twitter, he used the word “yacchimatta ka” as in “I messed up, didn’t I?” though stylistically I read it as “whoopsie”. Then there were two Insta stories.

2020/08/06 Ah, I'm a little tired. I'm also human. (sometimes I whine)

2020/08/06 I don't bother with those who criticize me in whatever they do. But I can't stand to see my fans, whom I treasure like my life, leave. I'm sorry. From now on, I won't whine anymore.

"I whine sometimes?" Really? that's what you call a 272 pages tell-all book? Also "I won't whine anymore"?? You think pulling off shit like that and then saying "whoopsie" is enough? It got quiet for a few days and on Aug 10 there was the apology video, which was named "This is my first and last whining". Doubt it. He uses the word ‘弱音’ which has a somewhat vague meaning, using it in an apology video in that context is confusing. Why not call apology as it is? That seems like another politician’s technique.

The apology was impressive in a way. At least it was not a blanket apology, he (or his employees) correctly identified what exactly people were mad about. He said he was really sorry for hurting his fans and causing trouble to people he wrote about. He said he understood that he doesn't have to reveal everything. He also said that he felt the love behind the anger, that fans wrote to him because they cared and were disappointed. Also said he realized that he was protected till now. It was all pretty good right until the very end when he gave a loud 'TEI!' effectively ruining the effect.

Of course, it was good that he did that but I still don't think it even began to make up for all the shit he wrote. The apology would be an adequate step after a shitty Tweet, not a fucking book. Also, I feel like more than anything he just got scared of losing his fans, maybe even sorry for hurting their feelings but not really sorry for what he did. He has no plans to change his behaviour. He wants to be at his 100% assholeness and still be adored.

Of course thousands of merciful women turned to his defence because he looked 'so sad' and even 'thinner'. That's right! He's the real victim here. Must be terrible to hear such hard criticism for the things you actually said and did.

By now I'm barely even angry anymore and a part of me feels sorry for Tegoshi. He's like a dumb spoiled child who wreaks havoc. But I have to remind myself I should not feel sorry. He is in fact an adult man of 32 who is so used he always gets his way that even a minor opposition is viewed by him as a violation of his freedom. And his charm is the very reason he always got away with all the shit he did in life up to this point. I bet he is getting a lot of hate mail and I hope his positivity prepared him for it. I remember him calling Koyama in the middle of the night to come and comfort him while he cried. Also calling Shige to come only to fall asleep in his lap. Now he's on his own. God, right now I just really wish Tegoshi would send himself to the corner and thought about what he's done. Just step aside and shut up for 5 minutes.

But he isn't gonna do it. Of course not. He had a solo concert today and is doing Youtube videos and moving even faster so that people forget about the book.

But fans never will. I can't even say if the book changed my perception or just unveiled what I knew was there all along. For years I've been discarding and questioning all the bad rumours and stories telling myself "He didn't mean it" or "That can't be true" but now it all comes together like pieces of a puzzle, and there's no need to guess anymore because he's shouting "Oh yes I fucking did and I'll do it again!"

All in all, the book paints a picture of a man who is anything but Prince Charming. It chips away any remaining illusions of a 'perfect idol' showing someone who is vain, petty, and chauvinistic. Someone who is obsessed with status and popularity so much that he is willing to sacrifice everything for it and thinks it doesn't matter how bad your reputation is as long as you succeed. Someone who is the very epitome of toxic masculinity, drinks himself to oblivion and treats women like toys. And yet, somehow, I still find myself having to fight the strong urge deep inside of me that makes me want to like him.

#Tegoshi Yuya #musings #it's nearly 4k fuck me #I'm exhausted but it had to be done

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classysassy9791 · 3 years

Text

Sometimes its the quieter moments that speak the loudest. A story of love, laughter, and friendship carried through the years during the most wonderful season of all. Full of fluff and Christmas cheer. Interconnecting One-shots.

Fandom: Inuyasha Genre: Romance/Friendship Pairings: InuKag, MirSan, SessKagu Ch. 1 l Ch. 2 l Ch. 3 l Ch. 4 l Ch. 5 l Ch. 6 l Ch. 7 l Ch. 8 l Ch. 9 l

Chapter 10: Silver Bells Word Count: 1700 Can also be found here

“What about this one?”

Inuyasha’s amber eyes stole themselves away from watching the crowded department store to the green, knit scarf Kagome held in her hands. “Sure.”

She frowned, her fingers working their way over the fabric delicately as she struggled with her decision. Finally, she sighed and dropped the scarf to continue her way through the store, seemingly unbothered by the throng of people pushing past her.

Inuyasha and Kagome had been weaving through crowds all day, holiday music telling them how joyous they were to be parting with savings it had taken them months to accrue. Inuyasha scoffed bitterly at the thought. Now who was getting his hard-earned money? Some fat CEO? If it was up to him, he would have canceled the present exchange part of Christmas, but he knew Kagome would’ve baulked at the idea.

She never minded the holiday rush or the amount of stress it caused. Inuyasha, however, despised shopping during this time of year. People were rude, children screamed, and prices were usually outrageous. He believed Christmas was the biggest con job of all time. Some slick marketing jocks told everyone that Christmas came in a box with a pretty ribbon and a prettier price tag . The higher the price, the more the love, right? The commercialization of it all made Inuyasha sick, and always put him in a foul mood.

“Why don’t we finish our shopping online?” he grumbled as he followed Kagome through another aisle of sweaters. At least online shopping meant he didn’t have to deal with the holiday crowds.

“That’s so impersonal,” she quipped, throwing him a look over her shoulder. “What if the fabric is itchy? Or the design isn’t as pretty as you had hoped?”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “Everyone will love anything you get them.” And his words rang true, because although Kagome didn’t know it, she had a knack for choosing gifts. During the rest of the year, she was frugal and spent her money wisely, but when it came to Christmas time, she always went all out.

“I don’t know,” she mused, fingering another sweater before moving on. “Some people are always so hard to shop for. Like, Miroku and Shippo.”

A heavy-set man shoved past Inuyasha, nearly causing him to fall into a display. “Hey, watch it!” he yelled out to him, only receiving a dirty look in return before the man hurried away. Annoyed, Inuyasha shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he followed Kagome out of the department store, both empty-handed. “Kagome, why do you even care about this stuff, anyway? Christmas ain’t about the presents.”

She smiled up at him with a thoughtful hum. “Well, you’re right. Christmas isn’t about the gifts.” He raised a brow when she didn’t offer a further explanation, and opened his mouth to question her, but was interrupted by-- “Oh, look! It’s Santa Claus!”

Inuyasha’s eyes followed to where Kagome was pointing to see the big man himself all dressed in red. Santa had two elves at his side as he sat on his big throne, a few “ho ho ho”’s being bellowed. A line of eager children and their parents weaved through the town square, the kids bright-eyed in amazement at the sight of Santa.

“Come on!” Kagome said, tugging on Inuyasha’s hand. “I want a picture with Santa.”

“No way,” he refused, pulling his hand out of her grasp. “No way am I getting a picture with some strange man in a red suit.”

Kagome pouted, looking up at him with the saddest eyes she could muster. “But, Inuyasha… I really want a picture. It’ll be a great memory!”

Inuyasha hated caroling. He hated crowds. He hated taking pictures with Santa, especially with him being an adult now. But, somehow, Kagome always managed to convince him to do things he otherwise wouldn’t, even more so during the holiday season.

It didn’t help that Kagome’s teeth were sunk into her lower lip, a sensual pout making itself known as she pleaded with him. Inuyasha groaned in reluctance, a grumbled, “fine,” falling from his mouth as she practically skipped with joy to the back of the line.

They shuffled through the queue slowly as each child eagerly sat on Santa’s lap to indulge their Christmas wishes this year. The kid in front of them tugged on his mother’s jacket insistently, excited about the elves and feeling star-struck at meeting THE Santa Claus. Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the stupidity of it all.

“I’m excited to share Christmas with our kids someday,” Kagome off-handedly commented, catching Inuyasha completely off-guard.

He swung wide amber eyes in her direction, feeling a heated blush work its way up his neck and flush his cheeks. “Our-our kids?!”

A light pink tinged Kagome’s cheeks as she toyed with a lock of her hair. Her brown eyes quickly glanced up at him before averting away. “Well… yeah. I mean… Do you want kids someday?”

He cleared his throat awkwardly trying to look at anything but the blushing girl beside him. “I-I guess I never thought about it.”

“Well,” she said, grabbing his hand and holding it in hers, smiling up at him. “Think about it.”

They stayed silent during the rest of their trek through the line. Inuyasha’s mind had been shocked into a muddle of several thoughts, all of which he had a hard time focusing on. Kagome brought up kids and yet he could barely think of where they would be in a few months, let alone a few years. She had taken him completely by surprise.

Before he knew it, it was their turn to see Santa, and Kagome eagerly moved to stand beside the man in red, with Inuyasha standing on his other.

“Well, now,” Santa greeted, smiling up at them with a voice filled with cheer. “What’s your name, young lady?”

“Kagome,” she spoke, the blush from earlier now gone.

He turned to ask Inuyasha the same, but Inuyasha simply scowled at the man. Santa studied him for just a moment before turning his attention back to Kagome, obviously feeling Inuyasha’s disinterest in this little adventure. “And what would you like for Christmas this year, Kagome?” he asked her, eyes sparkling with amusement.

Kagome exchanged a brief glance with Inuyasha, before leaning down and whispering her answer into Santa’s ear . When she’d finished, Santa chuckled merrily before replying with, “I’ll see what I can do,” in a hushed tone.

Inuyasha didn’t have time to question the exchange before the photographer called for their attention and snapped a quick picture - after which, of course, Kagome purchased.

The pair continued their shopping around the town, a slow pile of bags of presents beginning to fill their arms as the hours ticked by. Finally, as the clock struck eight, Kagome had declared their shopping complete while she looked up at him with an accomplished smile.

The evening streets had thinned as stores began to close for the night. Inuyasha felt himself relax, the bustling of the shopping rush dwindling to no more than a few last-minute shoppers. He breathed in the crisp, evening air, listening to the stillness of the night. Allured by the scent of freshly baked cookies coming from a bakery, Inuyasha tore his gaze off of the enormous Christmas tree in the square, adorned with glistening ornaments and flowing fairy lights draped around it. The sky had turned beautiful, dark shades of blue while the amber light of street lamps spilled onto the stone-paved streets.

“Feeling better?” Kagome’s voice drew him back, his eyes meeting hers in the dim lighting of a decorated storefront.

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Never liked the crowds.”

“I know, but thank you for coming with me. I enjoyed your company.”

Inuyasha studied her as they paused in walking, her warm gaze meeting his own. Her smile shined like the stars in the sky, with no bright city lights to dim them. She had a touch of exhaustion to her, but she was beautiful all the same.

“Here,” he mumbled, pulling the shopping bags out of her hands before crouching down in front of her. “Get on.”

Kagome blushed and waved her hand dismissively. “Oh no, Inuyasha. I’m fine. I can walk.”

He shot her a look over his shoulder that clearly stated he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Come on, you’ve been running around all day.”

She looked around reluctantly before finally resigning to his request with a sigh. “I swear if you drop me, Inuyasha, there will be no hot chocolate for you.”

He chuckled with a shake of his head. “Whatever you say.”

Inuyasha felt her cautiously grab a hold of his shoulders before clasping her legs around his waist, and his hands folded together beneath her to make her feel secure. Once she was settled, he began walking again, closing the distance between the last few blocks to her home. She rested her head against his back as she relaxed against him.

They were quiet for a while, Inuyasha simply listening to her steady breath near his ear. The lights around them began to fade as the last few stores shuttered, leaving only the streetlamps and a few strands of Christmas lights decorating the walkway to light their way. Silver bells jingled as they passed by a man dressed in a Santa suit. He smiled at them, wishing them a “Merry Christmas!” as they passed.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome murmured, startling him out of his thoughts.

“What is it?”

“Christmas isn’t about the presents,” she said, repeating their conversation earlier.

“Yeah?”

She nodded against his back. “When you have so much, you can only really receive by giving.”

He raised a brow, glancing back at her questioningly.

“Love doesn’t come in a box. It can’t be bought or sold. But, the joy someone feels from receiving a gift, from knowing that you had been thinking of them… that feeling can’t be bought or sold either. It’s not about the money spent.”

The snow fell down softly, gently laying itself on the earth. Inuyasha smiled, his thoughts encompassed by a cold, winter night, a brightly lit Christmas tree, and the shining, brown eyes of a child who had silver hair.

“Daddy!”

#inuyasha #kagome #inukag #fanfiction #inuyasha fanfiction #inukag fanfiction #my fanfiction #sassy stays classy #a christmas story

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bigtimetired · 4 years

Text

Red ‘n Blue

another one-shot in a wider au- in which robin and superboy meet for the first time (set near the beginning of reign of the supermen, in this au not long after damian wayne meets his father)

Sunday 5th November 1989

[Palisades Avenue, Metropolis, DE]

Tim’s never been in Metropolis in person before, which is far from ideal.

Obviously, he’s looked at maps and pictures- he’s not an idiot- and he’s fairly confident that he could navigate the main streets. There are plenty of signs on the ground after all.

Unfortunately, Tim is neither on a main street nor on the ground.

He’s on a cold and miserable rooftop, somewhere rather far from where he stowed the bike he shouldn’t be riding between cities- between states- after dark, but hey, that’s just life.

It had been a spur of the moment idea, coming to Metropolis- an idea Tim had had (purely coincidentally) after a phone call from Bruce, reminding him that patrol tonight was cancelled.

(Tim hadn’t heard anything to suggest that he was there but had been fairly fucking certain that Damian had been smirking somewhere nearby.)

(Tim had also very carefully not thought about how this was the third time Bruce had either cancelled on him or brushed him off since his son had come to America. He had also very carefully ignored the burning feeling in his chest at the thought- such things didn’t bear further investigation.)

It had been a spur of the moment decision which Tim might be starting to regret, just a little bit.

One would have thought that there would be plenty of crime to stop here, considering what had happened to Superman a few weeks back. (Rest in peace, Big Blue.)

One would have been wrong though, because Metropolis has been cool and quiet and melancholic so far, and altogether very lacking in the crime department. That’s good obviously- great even- but if Tim doesn’t find an outlet soon he’s going to start fucking screaming.

He’s just a tiny bit on edge, recently.

He wonders why.

Tim makes the leap to another rooftop, peers down over the side with disinterest- a darkened movie theatre, shutters drawn, and doors locked. Just like every other building around here seems to be.

(Would Gotham do the same for Batman?)

“Nice costume, dumbass,” says a nearby voice, and Tim whirls, heart thumping and staff in hand.

There’s a boy- only about his own age- floating (actually floating) by the edge of the roof, arms crossed and face unimpressed.

Tim’s eyes skitter around, desperately trying to find some inspiration for a plan. His gaze catches on the bright insignia just visible under the boy’s leather jacket.

Tim blinks. Surely this isn’t…

“Superboy?”

The boy huffs, annoyed. “No, I’m the new Superman.”

Tim eyes the boy’s messy hair and very young face and snorts rather rudely.

Normally he would feel bad- Robin has faced similar disbelief in the past- but Tim hasn’t been in the best of moods lately.

“Sure thing, man. Whatever you say,” says Tim, and the boy’s face twists.

“Yeah, and who the fuck are you?”, he spits, and Tim scoffs, feeling like an absolute asshole and enjoying it.

(And if he’d much rather direct all this vitriol at a certain assassin-in-training rather than a complete stranger, then that’s no one’s business but his own.)

“Robin,” says Tim, as if it’s perfectly obvious.

“Uh-huh,” says Not-Superboy. “Don’t you have a gargoyle to be standing on or something?”

“Don’t you have kittens to be saving from trees or something?”

Not-Superboy floats closer, mouth opening in response.

And then there’s an explosion from down the street.

Tim stumbles badly, is saved from tipping off the roof by Not-Superboy himself, who looks more than slightly dazed.

“Thanks,” says Tim quickly, before taking off towards the smoking crater which used to be a building.

Finally, finally, something to do, to investigate, to-

After a moment Tim realises that he seems to have acquired a shadow.

He slants a hard look at Not-Superboy, who takes this as an opportunity to grab his arm and yank him to a halt.

“What the fuck man?”

Hot, simmering, rage is starting to build in Tim’s chest.

Not-Superboy frowns at him. “What are you doing?”

“My job? What’s it look like?”, Tim snaps, and Not-Superboy rolls his eyes in response.

“No, you’re gonna stay here, out of the way.”

“And why’s that?”

“‘cause you’re just a kid?”

Oh hell no.

“Oh yeah?”, Tim’s ears are burning, and he finds himself stretching up- because the bastard’s still floating like a complete dick- into Not-Superboy’s personal space. “You’re pretty fresh-faced yourself, bud.”

Not-Superboy throws his hands out from himself in frustration. “Yeah, but I’ve got superpowers. You’re just a civilian with a stick and a cape.”

Tim would very much like to smash said stick into someone’s face right now.

It’s at this point that the cause of the explosion decides to make itself known; a huge, spider-like, machine of gleaming silver trundles its way out of the wreckage and into the street, headed towards what Tim thinks is the city centre.

Not-Superboy lets out a harsh breath. “Fine. I don’t have time for this- if you get yourself killed, that’s on you.”

He shoots off after the machine, and leaves Tim standing there, fuming.

A civilian with a stick and a cape.

That’s a fucking challenge right there, in Tim’s book.

He unholsters his grapple gun and zips ahead of the metal spider-thing, mind already whirring with plans and ideas.

If he creates a blockade up here, that’ll hopefully limit collateral damage and buy him more time to shut this thing down before it gets to somewhere slightly livelier.

Tim squints at the scene behind him- the silver thing is still making its way towards him, seemingly undeterred by the colourful shape floating alongside and hammering dents into it.

Tim rolls his eyes, before snapping back into professionalism.

Assess the situation, Robin.

It’s got spidery leg things, that’s for sure, but the machine is actually trundling along on thick caterpillar treads, which gives Tim an idea.

Out of his belt he pulls the largest and hottest flares he owns, and chucks them at two faded patches of road, roughly around where the treads will run over them in several moments’ time.

Hopefully, the tar should start to melt around there and stick to the treads for a few minutes until Tim can stop this thing permanently.

Tim jumps from the roof, swings himself onto the back of the spider with his grapple and a well-placed girder, and starts poking around for a weak spot.

A vent, an escape hatch, any gap in the armour.

Tim narrows his eyes at a tiny space next to a panel of some sort and unceremoniously wedges the end of his staff into it.

Levering a panel that doesn’t want to move is easier said than done- even more so when one is on the back of a trundling monstrosity and in danger of being flung into the street at the next sharp turn.

Tim glances up and catches Not-Superboy’s eye, who has stopped whatever it was he was trying to accomplish and is instead staring at Tim in askance.

Tim jerkily beckons him closer with his chin, not letting go of his bo staff for a second.

Not-Superboy drifts over and yanks the cover up with relative ease- that fucking show-off- and Tim slams the end of the staff into the revealed circuitry over and over until it sparks.

It’s inelegant, but it generally works.

Some of the spidery legs rise up and twist around on themselves in an admittedly very impressive display of dexterity before one of them shudders violently and pierces the shell of the machine with a horrible scraping sound.

The vehicle judders then- once again Tim nearly falls and has to be steadied by the floating dumbass- and slows its steady trundle forward.

Tim glances around and realises that they’ve driven over his melted asphalt and mentally pats himself on the back.

Not-Superboy has landed at long last and is currently stomping on the shell with one foot. Tim wants to ask him what the fuck he’s doing, but it becomes obvious as soon as one stomp makes a slightly different sound than the others.

He’s found another weakness.

This panel is also ripped off with sickening ease, though this time Not-Superboy goes, “Ha!” and reaches in.

Finally showing some sort of effort- see how it feels motherfucker? – Not-Superboy uses both hands and starts levitating again to pull out a full-grown, wriggling, man dressed in various shades of grey and not in the least bit pleased about the current state of affairs.

The man breaks free and takes a swing at Not-Superboy who dodges it, and Tim decides to delegate that particular task to him and instead focus on turning off the whatever-the-fuck’s engine, as the whatever-the-fuck is still slowly inching forward and may or may not have some form of explosive on board.

Tim drops down through the hatch and into the cabin. There are a whole load of monitors and wires and stupidly complicated-looking panels in here, so Tim takes a nice, deep, breath and compares it all to the most complex machine he can think of- the Batcomputer.

Tim knows how to turn the Batcomputer off- he pictures it in is head, the flickering lights, the hum and whirring of machine parts, the button sequence required to switch it all on and off.

And then he slices as many wires as he can with the side of a Batarang until all the lights go out and the ground stops shaking.

Never fails, that one.

Tim clambers up on the ladder back to the top and peeks his head out strategically.

Not-Superboy is still struggling with the man, taking a glancing blow to the arm and being knocked back surprisingly far.

Tim decides to not be an asshole about this and creeps up on the pair.

He kicks out the man’s legs and Not-Superboy takes advantage and socks him in the jaw with an audible cracking noise.

The man crumples, out cold.

For a moment, neither of them say anything, just catching their breath.

Then Tim says, “Do you wanna call the cops?”

“…yeah,” Not-Superboy decides. He hesitates then, “Do you have, I dunno, zip ties or something?”

Tim nods.

“Cool- back in a sec.”

Tim watches Not-Superboy dip down to ground-level, making a beeline for the nearest phone-booth.

Tim rolls the man over with some difficulty and cuffs him like Bruce taught him to. He predicts then and there that Bruce will have called him by midday tomorrow about this whole thing and a part of him lights up with a savage kind of pride.

Not-Superboy is back then, staring up from the ground with an unreadable expression.

Tim raises an eyebrow and nudges the man’s unconscious form with his boot. (Lightly, because he isn’t a complete ass and is feeling a great deal more vindicated than earlier, for some unknowable reason.)

“You gonna help me with this or not?”

Not-Superboy’s face crinkles. “Huh?”

“We’re not leaving him on top of this thing, dumbass,” says Tim, with significantly less venom in his voice than earlier.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Not-Superboy blinks, and Tim rolls his eyes, dragging the man to the edge by the armpits.

Not-Superboy takes him then and Tim hops down to the ground, surveying the scene. He decides that this is a victory for Robin on the collateral damage front and awards himself bonus points for managing it on someone else’s turf.

There are already police sirens in the distance, and Tim blinks.

“Huh. That was quick.”

“There’s a precinct a couple of blocks over,” says Not-Superboy matter-of-factly.

“Ah.”

Tim grabs his grapple again and decides that the top of the movie theatre looks promising.

“Wh-where are you going?”

Tim shrugs, cocks his head slightly. “I dunno how you do it over here, but back home we don’t tend to stick around for the cops too often. Vigilantism, and all.”

“Oh.” Not-Superboy seems to consider this for a moment. “Alright, I guess.”

Tim salutes him and zips up to the rooftops again.

He makes it all of ten seconds before a voice calls after him, “Wait a sec!”

Tim obligingly waits a sec and is only kinda exasperated to see Not-Superboy floating up to him. (Again.)

Not-Superboy rubs the back of his neck and doesn’t quite look at Tim when he says, “Thanks, I guess. I mean, I had it covered, but it was nice of you to stick around, so, uh, thanks.”

Tim nods, not quite willing to unbend yet.

“Am I still just a civilian with a stick and a cape?”

Not-Superboy winces. “Yeah-uh, that was maybe kinda shitty of me and, uh, I guess I was wrong. So sorry about that.”

It’s definitely not the best apology in the world, but Tim’ll take it.

He shrugs. “It’s okay- I was kinda a dick earlier, so we’re even.”

“Cool.”

“Where’re you going now?”, asks Not-Superboy.

Tim rolls his shoulders. “Home, I guess. Just gotta find my bike first.”

“Bike?”

“Yeah? I mean, I hardly walked here from Gotham, did I?”

“Guess not.”

There’s a beat of silence, before Not-Superboy glances around furtively.

“Is he here?”

Tim blinks. “Is who- oh, you mean Batman?”

Not-Superboy nods.

“No,” says Tim, and he decides not to elaborate on that.

“Alright,” Not-Superboy’s shoulders relax a little. “Where’s your bike?”

“In the alley next to some diner back that way,” Tim gestures vaguely behind them.

“Lou’s?”

Tim squints, tries to remember. “…maybe?”

“Oh my god.”

Not-Superboy’s rolling his eyes but his tone is light, so Tim doesn’t feel too offended. He drifts back a few feet, gestures that Tim should follow him.

“C’mon- I don’t think Gotham will ever forgive me if I leave Robin stranded over here.”

Tim snorts but follows anyway.

Tim’s bike is stowed neatly in the alley next to Mary-Anne’s diner, as it turns out. Not-Superboy stares at it for a few moments, eyes starry.

Tim grins. “Her name’s Redbird.”

“She’s gorgeous,” says Not-Superboy, sounding as if he means it.

Tim nods. “Yeah, she is.”

“You know your way back, right?”

Tim rolls his eyes. “Dude.”

Not-Superboy grins, honest and open. “Just checking, man.”

Tim swings his leg over Redbird, settles down and brings the engine to life.

He looks at Not-Superboy, who looks much friendlier than he did earlier.

“Thanks again,” says Tim, meaning it. “This was fun.”

Not-Superboy shrugs, but he’s still smiling. “Yeah, it was a lil bit. See you around?”

Tim nods. “See ya.”

He shoots off into the night then, feeling much lighter than he did on the trip in.

(He gets to school by lunchtime the next day, waves a forged doctor’s note at the necessary people and doodles in the margins of his notes until the final bell.

Bruce is either busy or getting old- he doesn’t call the house phone until 6pm. Tim lets it go to voicemail, grins a little as he listens to it over dinner, despite himself.

Bruce is disgusted, Tim is benched until the weekend, and somehow he’s not quite as upset as he thought he would be.

Funny, that.)

#dc #tim drake #kon-el #conner kent #robin #superboy #timkon #if you want #one-shot #first meetings #dgs #i can't write action scenes

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crossroadsimagine · 5 years

Text

☰ Match up for imgoingtohelllol

■ This match up is for @imgoingtohelllol as one of the winners from this event to celebrate 700 followers. Thank you very much! Hope you enjoy your match up. Other match ups for the other winners coming soon~!

☰ Matched with Neito Monoma

Monoma will show an interest in you from the moment the two of you first meet but doesn’t show much of a romantic interest right away, even though you’ll have caught his eye from when he first sees you. He makes an effort to get to know you and spend time around you, asking you questions and showing you, a lot of attention and he remembers a lot about you in a rather short amount of time. He does immediately come across as rather over confident and quite stubborn, however he is very intelligent and observant.

When the two of you begin dating, he is very loyal and honest with you and becomes very trusting of you pretty quickly and while he’ll want you to trust him and open up to him too, he won’t press it too much. Instead kind of just trusting that you will open up to him when you are ready, but can occasionally nudge you to open up more or encourage you to talk to him.

Though he only really nudges you when he notices that you seem upset or down, he’ll make sure you know that he’s there for you and you can talk to him if you need to. Which he can be a very good listener when he wants to be and will offer his thoughts and advice whether you asked for it or not, but he’ll want to help you however he can and won’t want to see you feeling down any longer than needed.

You tend to be a pretty reserved person and you don’t let people in easily but he can be patient with you, but can wonder if there’s a reason you aren’t opening up to him or fully trusting him, like maybe there’s something about him or somehow it’s his fault but won’t say anything to you about it.

You can be dramatic at times even over some smaller things at times and rather uncomfortable with leaving your comfort zone, but he won’t mind at all and can actually be pretty understanding and comforting. He also won’t force you out of your comfort zone but does encourage you to do things you want to do in life or things you want to try, he’s more of a doer than a talker and won’t like standing around talking about doing something but never doing it.

So, if you mention something you want to do or try or a place you want to go, he’ll make it happen, and he can plan a lot of trips and dates for the two of you. He does have a very good memory and will remember things you’ve said for date ideas or gift ideas, even if you said something a fairly long time ago. He shows a genuine interest in your artistic skills and things you are working on and will like seeing drawings, paintings and such that you have done.

He also compliments you pretty often and will ask about your art pieces, wanting to know what one is of, what inspired it and what your favorite things are to draw or paint. Even though he may not ask for it or suggest it he will actually really appreciate any art piece you create for him, whether for an actual gift for a special occasion or just because you felt like it, whatever you create for him with be very meaningful to him.

You have been motivated to fitness and while he does stay in relatively good shape, he can show a pretty keen disinterest in exercising especially for too long or too often, but that doesn’t mean he won’t go with you but he can lose motivation and interest in exercise pretty quickly into a work out. Won’t seem to care too much about your interest for psychology though he doesn’t mind that you are interested in it, but he won’t like feeling like you are trying to analyze him or figure him out through psychology. He’ll completely support your goal of becoming a psychiatrist but will get irritated if you try to use psychology terms or speak on him, you also dream of being a artist and though he will try not to blatantly support one dream over the other he can seem more interested in you becoming an artist.

But whatever makes you happy he’ll support 100% and encourage you to do whatever you want to do in life, he’ll also defend your dreams and goals from anyone who would even think about criticizing them. Monoma is a few inches taller than you and finds you beautiful and while he loves you for your personality, he also finds your appearance very attractive and your accent to be cute. He does enjoy being close and affectionate with you particularly when the two of you are alone, he can lean against you, hold your hand, play with your hair or your hands and hugging and cuddling with you.

Typically likes cuddling with you sitting between his legs with your back to his chest, he also has a habit of lying down next to you and resting his head on your lap. He usually hugs you with his arms around your waist/hips and has a tendency to kiss your hands and your forehead the most, especially when greeting you or saying good bye as well as any time he’s trying to comfort you.

He won’t mind that you are rather touch starved and can be handsy and touchy in private because he truly enjoys the attention and affection from you. He can like silly jokes especially things that make you laugh because just seeing you laugh can make him laugh at times no matter how silly or dumb the joke was. Monoma also doesn’t need you to constantly be doing something with him and can be comfortable just being in the same room as you, however he can get a little attention starved if quite some time has gone by and the two of you haven’t done anything together or you’ve been busy or spending time with others.

But not to the point of being possessive or clingy because he will give you space but if a few days have gone by and you really haven’t done much with him or shown him much affection or attention he can get jealous and irritable.

He truly does care a lot about you and your well being and will do anything he can to help you and keep you happy, even though he may not always know exactly what to do but does communicate with you and will always work things out with you. He is very dedicated to you and will do whatever it takes to make the relationship work and plan a future together because he’ll want to be with you forever.

☰ Headcanons between the two of you

■ Can sometimes be oblivious to other people’s feelings especially when it comes to people, he doesn’t really care for which can make him insult people pretty easily, even when he’s not really trying to be rude. It’s very rare that he’ll apologize unless it’s you that is but even than unless pushed or provoked to, he’ll avoid apologizing.

■ A little too over protective of you at times but this also means he’s quick to stand up for you and defend you in a physical fight or an argument. He will not allow anyone to speak down to you or take advantage of you, though this can also make him seem like he has very high standards for your friends or family. Which in a way he does because he won’t want to see you around people who are mean to you or use you.

■ Doesn’t argue with you much and tends to lighten up if you begin to get upset or angry in a situation because he won’t want you to be seriously angry with him. Though when arguments do occur, he doesn’t stay mad for very long with you and can get over a disagreement almost as soon as the argument is over.

■ He likes nicer places when it comes to dates which means he can spoil you a bit, because he does prefer nice/expensive restaurants or cafes. That doesn’t mean he’ll refuse to go somewhere you want to go because he will take you anywhere you want but he’ll also say what he thinks if he doesn’t like a restaurant or anywhere else for that matter.

■ Doesn’t mind PDA to some extent but also doesn’t like too much and won’t want you to smother him at least not in public, he’ll be perfectly fine with holding hands or even some hugs. When the two of you are alone, he won’t mind any affection you show him especially if you instigate it and will really like the attention and affection.

■ Does get jealous pretty easily whether it’s friends, family, classmates or coworkers. Simply complimenting someone else a little too much can make him jealous because he’ll want your attention. This also applies if you spend a lot of time with someone else because he’ll want to be the one spending time with you, and he won’t like feeling ignored.

☰ Other possible matches

◐ Eijiro Kirishima

He is very energetic, determined and caring he’ll go to great lengths to keep you safe and happy; he is very loyal and positive though he can be a little dim witted at times. He is very outgoing and while he is determined he can doubt himself at times and worry about disappointing himself or others, but despite this he doesn’t stay down or upset for long and encourages you to achieve your dreams and goals too. He can be a bit shy with PDA especially at the start of the relationship but can get use to hugs and holding hands in public but generally doesn’t think to instigate things but will always respond positively if you instigate things. He can be cocky at times though he’s also very humble depending on the situation. He will always be honest with you and always shows a really genuine interest in you and the things you’re passionate about.

◐ Mei Hatsume

She is incredibly confident, energetic and loud she will have no problem expressing her thoughts and feelings with you, this also means she won’t mind PDA one bit and can often hug you, cling to you and try to hold your hand. Though at the same time if she notices that she’s making you uncomfortable she can stop or hold herself back, but can be quite smothering and even a bit overbearing with affection when the two of you are alone. She’s confident in herself and will speak very highly of you as well even for small accomplishments or small skills or talents you have. Complimenting you often and really talking you up though she’s not intentionally trying to boost your self-esteem or anything like that, she can just get very excited and animated about things she finds cool or interesting about you.

◐ Katsuki Bakugo

He comes across as very argumentative, confident to an arrogant/cocky level and can be brutally honest, though he will come to show a more somewhat calmer and gentler side towards you and only you. Though he can still be quick tempered and easy to irritate which makes him very snippy but a majority of things he says shouldn’t be taken too seriously, and can show love towards you more in a tsundere kind of way. He is very opposed to PDA which is fine since you don’t care for PDA either, he can be easily angered if you try to show any kind of affection towards him in front of others physically or verbally. But that doesn’t mean he wants to keep the relationship secret because he will for sure want everyone to know that the two of you are together. Because he can be extremely over protective of you and quick to become jealous as well.

#My Hero academia #MHA #BNHA #boku no hero academia #monoma neito #Match up #Match ups #My hero academia match up #700 followers #thank you

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bffhreprise · 5 years

Text

Entry 264

“Enough of this. Quiet.” I commanded, examining my daughters. I couldn’t know which was which without asking, and I wouldn’t lower myself to speak with them. These two had been disappointments ever since they were stolen away, never working toward our family’s good fortune.

“I don’t believe the master of this house understands Japanese.” stated Lady Pendreigh, obviously suggesting that I was being rude by speaking in my native tongue.

“Actually, I do.” commented Mr. Somerset in perfect Japanese. Then, speaking in English, he said, “But I would prefer if we all were to stick with English while around my staff. I believe introductions are in order.”

I would speak in English till the day I died before upsetting that one. His strength was as certain as Lady Pendreigh’s, though she seemed surprised by his mastery of my language. Interesting.

Stepping over to a pretty blonde with exquisitely dyed hair, James said, “I believe you already know Mary Wilson. This is her daughter, Emma.”

The girl curtsied, so I nodded. Duncan had been most impressed with her. If his stories of her powers weren’t full of boasting, she would make a splendid addition to the family, assuming she would earn our trust.

“Emma tends to the grounds with her magic, and I can assure you that you’ll find our vegetables exemplary if you dine with us this evening.” explained Mr. Somerset. He went on to say, “I regret to say that the forest is off limits without first signing a contract. I’ve been informed trespassers meet an untimely demise, but feel free to negotiate with my secretary, Aaliyah T. Sypher, if you wish.”

I fought the wave of fear but felt some had still shown. No one spoke lightly of Death and lived, but this one employed her as a secretary. That much of my son’s report was now confirmed.

“That… will not be necessary.” I stated, not wanting to trust my safety to the whims of such creatures. I doubted the Great One would place my value over theirs. My eyes were drawn to a small point of light in the form of a tiny, winged woman. She flew over to James, gracefully dancing through the air, seeming to chastise him. My son had told me of her, but seeing her was something else.

Seeming to catch my gaze, Mr. Somerset said, “Ah. This little one’s a dear friend of mine. Unfortunately, she seems a bit perturbed, having been left behind in my office. Meeting the rest of the fey truly is an interesting experience, so please do consider the contract. Adelmar seemed to enjoy the experience.”

“Oh, my cousin most certainly would recommend the experience.” insisted Lady Pendreigh, smiling warmly.

I nearly bowed to her will, but restrained myself, knowing that I could not show such subservience at the moment. “I will certainly consider your suggestion.”

The fairy landed on Mr. Somerset’s shoulder, sitting and nuzzling against his neck. He didn’t seem to think anything of it. I knew of his magic well enough to know why, but my comparatively feeble arts were helping to dull the sensation slightly from what I had felt in the arena.

James moved onto a black-haired man, saying, “This is Marco Rossi, our phenomenal chef. I have yet to find a meal he doesn’t create exquisitely in a multitude of variations.”

“Too kind. Too kind.” claimed the chef, though he smiled proudly.

The brown-haired girl who came next had perfect posture and an heir of importance to her. “This lovely lady is named Cosette. She’s fairly new to my company, but she is showing tremendous promise.”

“Enough promise that she was offered France, though she has yet to accept.” added Lady Pendreigh lightly.

My head jerked to stare at the Lady, shocked that the Great One would praise this child that much.

“Well, I am just as happy to keep her here.” insisted Mr. Somerset, stepping over to a girl with hair as white as her skin. Signing as he spoke, he said, “Portentia has been with my company since September, and she has proven to be quite gifted as a best friend in my company.”

“Her skills with a staff and unarmed combat are very formidable. I can attest that you would be most impressed with a demonstration.” claimed Lady Pendreigh.

“This would interest me.” I replied, having heard a little of her from my son. I took note of the girl’s surprise that Mr. Somerset would know sign language, saying as much through it.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” agreed Mr. Somerset, while apologizing to the girl with his fingers.

She seemed disappointed that she wasn’t his teacher.

“My apologies. Portentia is deaf, so I was translating and grew distracted.” he claimed, unaware that I knew what he had said.

“No offense taken.” I assured him, knowing I wouldn’t admit offense if he threw a drink in my face and stomped on my foot, though I’d need to set the bones quickly. He was far too dangerous.

“Next is Brandon. He joined my company last June with his sister, but I believe she’s out on a job at the moment.” explained James as he motioned to the relatively tall boy with red hair.

“Sure is, boss. I’m pretty amazing too, by the way. Check this out!” exclaimed the boy, causing his arm to grow in size.

I knew from my son that Brandon would hardly pose a threat to my personal guard. His sister could at least use magic, though poorly.

“He and his sister have different talents, but they’re both valued friends here.” stated Mr. Somerset, making me worry if my disinterest had offended him. “Jarod has been my best friend practically since we met and joined my company soon after Aaliyah. She personally taught him how to fight, as Duncan surely mentioned, and he has great expertise in numerous fields. He easily could have retired already if he was a much lazier sort.”

“Thanks, man.” replied Jarod.

Jarod’s lack of upbringing was readily apparent, but he had very powerful allies. Still, I pointedly watched the fairy, knowing I couldn’t show the slightest approval yet. We were bargaining here.

“Allow me to introduce Mila.” stated Lady Pendreigh as she gestured to the maid. Though she could easily pass for my sister, you surely realize I’m an only child. Mila is quite possibly the most accomplished and capable maid you’ll ever find, Adelmar’s staff included. Being multiple places at once certainly has advantages.”

“Multiple places at once?” I questioned.

“I’m an artificial lifeform. Duncan’s description of me was quite inadequate, I’m sure, but I didn’t have this body when he was here.” explained Mila. Then her voice came from the walls as she said, “I am quite capable of running the house, cars, and numerous other devices without the slightest stress. In fact, my current hardware is sufficient to quite easily electronically isolate your country without the slightest lag in any of my duties, so you can imagine how difficult swatting a company is for me.”

The threat was obvious in her words, but I could do nothing against Death’s creation. Mr. Somerset had overwhelming power at his disposal.

“Thank you, Mila. I am certain she’s not exaggerating even slightly, Mrs. Drache, considering the things I’ve witnessed.” warned Lady Pendreigh, though she smiled. “We try to stay on Mila’s good side.”

“I would not have even known you were artificial.” I admitted. “Who constructed this android?”

Mr. Somerset motioned to his friend, Jarod.

“Mila and I did a large amount of the design and construction, but Aaliyah took care of her skin, eyes, and hair.” explained Jarod.

“You had some great insights for hair growth.” insisted Mila.

He shrugged, perfectly comfortable with his own brilliance. My son might not have been overestimating Jarod’s worth to us.

James then explained “Jarod has his own lab under the garage here, since he’s also kind enough to do some mechanic work for everyone. His engine design is absolutely incredible.”

“Yeah. The boss got Jarod to hook up my sis and me for our birthdays. Our cars are amazing!” added Brandon.

“I don’t want you to merely take our word on Jarod’s accomplishments, of course, so I’ve arranged a little demonstration for you if you’ll be kind enough to follow us into the east wing.” stated Lady Pendreigh, motioning down the hall to the East.

“I would not doubt your word, of course, but I will gladly accompany you.” I replied, feeling trapped. I didn’t need any more knowledge of the boy’s fighting than that a human was capable of beating my son in fair combat. Lady Pendreigh had me in her web.

“Marco, would you mind serving us tea there?” she questioned.

He winked and walked off to the West. I followed Lady Pendreigh at her side while considering how I might get out of this mess. She had known of my visit and made preparations. The staff here was obviously following some script of hers, but there was absolutely no way to win against the daughter of a Slayer in direct combat. I could hear one of my daughters idly chatting with Mila about wedding dresses behind me, another ally to them. My plan was in tatters, but not broken yet.

“What did you think of James’ latest fight?” questioned Lady Pendreigh.

“Impressive. I would not have thought to see a fight such as that.” I admitted.

“What’d ya do, boss?” asked Brandon. “You punch some guy’s face off?”

“What!? No. I didn’t strike him at all. There wasn’t really any fighting, precisely. Walis Shiqatafatu demonstrated his prowess at magic, and I suggested he surrender, which he did.” explained Mr. Somerset.

Brandon guffawed moronically before saying, “Oh man… I bet he was shocked.”

Glancing behind, Lady Pendreigh said, “Quite.” Then facing me, she added “I’m sure James would grant you a friendly sparring session if you get in the mood.”

“No.” I replied, too hastily. Forcing myself to be calm, I said, “Thank you, but I must decline.” I was on edge. Fighting Mr. Somerset would have absolutely no gain and a great deal of embarrassment on my part.

“James, you’re planning on expanding your company to Japan one day, aren’t you?” inquired Lady Pendreigh.

“I’m open to the possibility, yes.” he replied.

“If he and I were to wed, he’d have the right to challenge for his pick of land there. Do you think anyone would oppose him?” she questioned.

She knew the answer. Just as now, fighting Mr. Somerset would be an exercise in humiliation. Young as he was, James was far more powerful than my son had led me to believe, and Duncan had been very impressed by him.

“Please excuse me for a moment while I get changed.” stated Lady Pendreigh. “Emma, would you mind providing some seating for us while I’m away?” Without waiting for a reply, she blurred away with the speed of a Slayer.

“Oh… Well, I didn’t bring any seeds with me. Care if I ruin a bit of your varnish?” questioned Emma, looking to one of my daughters.

My daughter rolled her eyes while pulling chopsticks from her hair, which let her hair fall down. “Let’s see what you can do with bamboo.”

“Hmm... I’ve a few ideas.” claimed Emma, grinning brightly. The chopsticks lost their form, expanding into chairs and a table. Leaves of varying sizes came together to form cushions. “Should be cozy!” exclaimed Emma before hopping into a chair. “Don’t worry. I made super thick cuticles over the leaves, so nothing should stain your clothes.”

“Your thoughtfulness is appreciated. My son had spoke well of you, but seeing your gift in person is a delight.” I assured her, admiring the beauty of her work. The speed and control were remarkable, and I had been informed that she could control vast numbers of plants at once. My son should have worked harder to win her interest.

“These look quite comfortable. Thank you, Emma.” commented Lady Pendreigh, already dressed for combat. Smiling, she then looked to Jarod and asked “Shall we begin?”

#Best Friend For Hire Reprise #Best #Friend #For #Hire #Reprise #Jovial Times #Jovial #Times #Fantasy #Fiction #Story

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loli--dolly · 5 years

Text

Vanity - Death Note 1

Parties like these were not among Vanity’s interests, yet she always seemed to get roped into them. She guessed that was just the way it was when you were the Heiress to a multimillion company, but there were still other ways she’d rather spend her time. She was 19 after all, who could expect her to just stand around, drinking champagne with men twice her age and actually engage in business conversation? Well, besides her mother who had a habit of bribing her into these things.

It was another one of their famous deals with each other. If Vanity could behave and act like a proper Heiress until the merge with Yotsuba then she would allow her to stay in Japan to work at her cousin’s salon. While Vanity had already accepted her fate as the next CEO of her family’s company, she still had dreams to be a makeup artist and hair stylist. That’s where her passion was, and she wouldn’t pass up the chance to pursue it.

Her mother had already kept to her word, and bought Vanity a high end apartment to live in while she did her internship. So Vanity had to keep to her word and attend this stupid party. She sighed and tossed back her glass, just wishing the night would be over. It had only been hour, and she had at least another two to go. At least afterwards she could call her friends and talk about how lame the whole thing was.

She glanced over and saw her Mom charming some men, which wasn’t surprising. As much as she hated to admit it, her Mom was really attractive. Hell, if Vanity was older they could have almost been twins, excluding the icy blue eyes she inherited from her Father. Vanity had wished she had took more after her Dad than she did, but unfortunately she closer to her Mom than she would like.

It wasn’t like Vanity hated her Mom, but their relationship was extremely tense. She was sure that her Mom was ecstatic to leave her in Japan for a few years, she wouldn’t have to be ‘embarrassed’ by her anymore. Well that was fine with her, Vanity had no issues in not seeing her for years either. Still, there was something about the knowledge that she was being dumped here that was enough to make her skin crawl. She wanted revenge.

She glared at her Mom, who laughed lightly at something one of the men had said, and decided that she couldn’t stand to watch anymore of it. She sat her glass down on one of the nearby tables, and went out onto a nearby balcony for some air. The sounds of the party inside was muffled out, and she was grateful for it. As she leaned against the balcony, enjoying the light breeze in the air, Vanity wondered how exactly she could even get revenge.

The time window was short, so it wasn’t like she could do anything over the top. She could call her Dad and cry about how she felt abandoned, at least that way she could get them to argue. Her Dad was the only person beside her that could truly get under her Mom’s skin. She was still salty about the divorce, and was constantly trash talking her ex-husband, it was kind of funny. Yeah, maybe that would work, but Vanity still wished she could do something more. Something that would truly piss her Mom off, so much that she would shake with anger.

As she pondered this she failed to notice someone else had joined her, and jumped when they spoke,

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to bother you, but you don’t seem like you’re enjoying yourself.” Looking up she saw an older man beside her. He was probably around her Dad’s age, bald, and wore sunglasses. She recognized him as one of the heads of Yotsuba, but she couldn’t be bothered to remember which one. Disinterested she looked back out towards the city, admiring how pretty it actually looked at night,

“Hm, aren’t you observant. I guess you can say I’m not a fan of these types of parties.”

“I see. I can almost agree with you.I also don’t particularly enjoy these types of things, but they are necessary. You’ll learn that when you take over your parents’ company.” Vanity wrinkled her nose as she said this, not wanting to think about having to spend the rest of her life networking.

“Solo matame ahora.” She mumbled, not worried about her choice of words since she was sure he probably couldn’t understand Spanish. She kind of just wanted to be alone, but decided that maybe it would be good for her to play nice. After all it was part of the deal with her mom.

“What about you? Nothing better to do than to talk to me?” He seemed slightly amused by her question, but answered nonetheless,

“I’ve been watching you all night, and I suppose I was curious. Our companies are going to merge soon, and it’s rare to meet the next in line. Considering your mother’s age I would’ve assumed she wouldn’t have an heir until years from now.”

“She had me young,” Vanity shrugged, “And I’m not even the oldest in my family. My sister is older than me by 6 years, but she’s too much of a hot mess to take over anything. So it got dumped on me instead.”

“I take it you have no interest in it?”

“Nope,” she shook her head, not caring how bad it sounded, “I’m doing it purely out of obligation, and I’m pursuing a different career path right now anyway.”

She crossed her arms and leaned against the railing, wishing she had never been forced into this mess. She hated that she had been handed this company that she didn’t want, and she hated the fact she couldn’t drop it without her family going broke. It sucked!

“You said it yourself too, my mom isn’t very old. She can stay the CEO for at least another fifteen years, and by that time she’ll probably remarry and have another kid anyway. So this might not even end up my problem.” She realized this probably wasn’t a good thing to say to someone that she was about to merge with, but at least she was honest. She couldn’t pretend she was happy about being the next CEO, she was just accepting of it.

The man didn’t seem offended by it, however, and even chuckled a bit. Vanity was actually a little surprised and looked up at him with big blue eyes,

“You really are a fiery one, aren’t you? I don’t think your mother would be happy to hear any of that. She doesn’t seem like an easy person to deal with.” Vanity couldn’t help but crack a smile when he said that,

“Yeah, well, now you know why she’s divorced. And you’re right, she’d probably throw me off this building if she heard me say that. It makes me kind of glad I won’t see her for a few years.” Maybe it was because insulting her Mom was her favorite past time, but Vanity felt herself ease up a bit.

“Off to college?”

“Yeah, I’ll be going to To-Oh University in a few months. My cousin has a salon in town so I’ll be working there too.” Honestly it was the only thing she was looking forward to. She’d miss her friends, but she was charismatic enough to make new ones here. At least she hoped so. She had Bella to hang out with if anything else, so it’s not like she’ll get lonely.

“To-Oh University..that’s a pretty prestigious college. Congratulations on being accepted.”

“Is it? I just applied because it was close by.” It was the truth, and Vanity felt embarrassed when he started laughing. So much so that she raised her voice, “¿Qué? ¡No te rías! ¡Yo podría comprarte!”

That only seemed to humor him more, and in hindsight the sight of a small Hispanic girl yelling at a large Japanese man was pretty funny. Still she didn’t enjoy being laughed at, it was a pet peeve. To save herself the consequences of slapping him she turned to leave, deciding to spend the rest of her time sulking in the bathroom, but was stopped when he lightly grabbed her arm,

“My apologies, that rude. I wasn’t trying to offend you.” Vanity glared at him, firmly pulling her arm away.

“Well, you did. Don’t you know how to talk to women? They typically don’t enjoy being laughed at.”

“No, I guess they don’t. Please forgive me, it won’t happen again.” Vanity couldn’t help but pout a little bit, but she decided to give him some leeway. At least he admitted that what he did was insulting, and he apologized. Before she could say anything else, however, he said, “Allow me to make it up to you. There’s a nice restaurant downtown, we should go sometime. You’ll be in Japan awhile, and it will be good for you to get some understanding about what’s around.”

Vanity considered this, wondering if it was a good idea or not. On one hand, she loved free food, but on the other she barely knew this guy. He was more than twice her age, and if she fucked anything up then this merge would be a bust. Finally she shook her head,

“I’ll pass. For one I don’t want you to feel obligated to treat me. And for two, I doubt you want to spend your time with a teenager. Apparently we’re annoying and difficult to deal with.” The man shook his head,

“I disagree. You’re very mature for your age. You’re honest, clearly intelligent, and you have goals you want to accomplish. That’s more than a lot of people your age have nowadays. You’re also quite beautiful as well, I would be honored to spend more time with you.” Vanity flushed a bit. She was used to people complimenting her appearance, but never her personality. No one had ever called her mature, or even acknowledged she had her next five years planned out. It was...nice.

Still, going on a date with an older man..She had never done something like that before. She didn’t necessarily have Daddy issues, and she had never thought about dating someone over 26, so how was she supposed to date a guy who was probably in his forties? And if her Mom found out she’d be so pissed off who knew how badly she would tell Vanity off.

That’s when it clicked; Vanity’s perfect revenge. After her Mom left for America Vanity could do whatever she wanted. Her end of the deal would be fulfilled, so it’s not like her Mom could say she was breaking any rules. She would just be embarrassed by her daughter being able to date her own coworkers. It was as funny as it was pathetic, and it would surely be enough to make her Mom squirm.

With that thought in mind Vanity pushed back some hair over her ear, and smiled a little bit, “Ok then, Mr...”

“Call me Ooi.”

“Ooi...Just tell me when.”

#death note #personal fic #self indulgence #oc

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thecarlonethatalsowrites · 7 years

Text

Day 3 Nerd Sisters

Day three of Danvers Sisters Week for @queercapwriting . I know this is behind, but I’m a little swamped at college right now, so this is happening. May or may not get around to writing day 4, we’ll see. read on ao3

Alex absolutely loathes to admit it, but she’s a total nerd. She had more titles ending with -ist than Kara can even count, can probably list every single Star Trek episode in order , and delights in new scientific challenges- even though she can never say so because often they are a direct result of extraterrestrial or Cadmus activity.

Kara is pretty sure all this and more qualify her as a nerd, and that means she’s without a doubt the best person to go to with this. Because, yes, Kara technically qualifies as a nerd as well, what with the way she can calculate crazy complex equations on the regular in her head and being a Trekkie along with Alex, but she probably doesn't qualify for this .

“Hey, Alex,” she says sweetly, flouncing up to her sister when she spies her on the main floor of the DEO. “You look amazing today.” Alex looks down at her black uniform, the same one she wears every day.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the compliment, but what do you need?” She asks. Rats Kara curses silently to herself, but her attempt at flattery was a long shot anyway. Alex knows her too well to be fooled by any sneakiness she may attempt (and, yes, she can be sneaky...sometimes.)

“Okay, so I kind of need something that requires you give up your Saturday afternoon next week,” she says. “Will you help me?”

“Depends. What is it?” Ok, Alex is suspicious. Maybe that wasn’t the best opener.

“Well, Lena is hosting a science fair at L-Corp for teenage girls who have interest in pursuing scientific careers or hobbies, and she kind of asked me to ask Supergirl to make an appearance. You know, to promote science and everything. And I totally want to, but I’m not exactly up to date on Earth’s sciences, so I thought you could come along and talk about some stuff.”

It’s a good plan. Over the past few months, Lena has worked with the DEO on multiple occasions and witnessed Alex’s work up close. She agreed immediately when Supergirl asked if she could bring in an expert, especially when she told her it would be Alex. The hard part was actually convincing Alex to do it.

Which might be harder than Kara thought it would be if Alex’s incredulous look is anything to go by.

“You want me to go talk to a bunch of teenagers who don’t have a clue that the organization we work for even exists about...stuff?” She talks slowly as if giving Kara the opportunity to realize how ridiculous this all was.

“Teenage girls,” Kara clarifies, determined not to be shut down on this. “Who could really be helped by talking to a woman with a crazy amount of scientific credentials.” Alex narrows her eyes, but Kara can see that she’s got her convinced.

“Fine.” She says, confirming her agreement which Kara saw seconds before she spoke. “Tell Lena I’ll be there.”

“Yes!” Kara does a small fist pump before rushing over to the balcony. “Thank you for not making me do this alone! I’ll text you the details when I get them!” She launches herself out of the DEO, excited to tell Lena the news.

***

Alex expected a lot of things about this fair, but what she did not expect was to be standing awkwardly next to Lena Luthor at the head of a gigantic conference room in the LCorp building while Lena introduces her to almost a hundred girls ages twelve to nineteen. With Kara nowhere in sight.At least she’s only doing an hour long panel, rather than the all day fair Kara had promised.

“It’s my pleasure to introduce Dr. Alexandra Danvers, an accomplished bio-engineer, neuroscientist, and xenobiologist. Much of her recent work has been to increase our understanding of alien life, and she agreed to come in today to answer some of your questions. So without further ado, Dr. Danvers, everyone.” Lena looks to her and Alex takes a deep breath. The alien mention in Lena’s speech was fought tooth and nail against J’onn, who only approved because it didn’t mention exactly what Alex did. However, that wasn’t the part that made Alex uncomfortable.

“At the risk of sounding like a cliche, Dr. Danvers is my mother. Just call me Alex,” she says quietly. Lena shoots her a look because most of Alex’s words have been directed at Lena rather than the girls before them. Alex forces herself to look out over the crowd. “Or, Dr. Alex, if you wish.”

Why is this so damn hard? Alex addressed a hundred people on every given day, many of them high ranking government officials. Hell, she’s even spoken directly to the President. More than once. So why is speaking to 80 teenage girls so much more difficult?”

“As Ms. Luthor said, I mainly study biological components of alien life. I earned my Ph.D. at 24, not much older than some of you.” This is more information about herself than she’s told anyone in years, but the girls before her are looking at her so expectantly she has to give them something. “So, um, it’s reasonable to believe that some of you may complete similar programs in the next few years.” That’s what she’s here for, isn’t she? To encourage these girls to pursue their interest in science.

Thankfully, Lena interrupts before she has to say anything else. “Speaking of aliens, there’s one more person who’s supposed to be here for this panel.” Lena walks over to the window and places a hand on the latch. “Supposedly any minute…” It’s incredibly cheesy, but Lena somehow makes the words sound more than that. And, well, when Kara floats into view awe overwhelms any perception of cheapness.

Lena opens the window and Kara flies in with a wave and such incredible heart eyes towards Lena that Alex sends up a silent prayer that she’ll keep it in her pants. She lands next to Alex in her smiling hero pose and there are literal gasps from the crowd.

“Hey, ladies, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation here. Now, I’m no scientist myself, but I definitely appreciate the discipline.” As enthralled as the girls look at the appearance of Supergirl, her words bring them right back to cheesy and make them almost disinterested. “Also, I’m here to help Dr. Alex blow some stuff up.” The girls cheer loudly at that, and Alex is glad Lena reserved one of the downstairs labs for the last fifteen minutes of the panel.

“On a more serious note, there are more important aspects of science than explosions, believe it or not. I was shocked to find out.” She elicits a short laugh from the crowd. “On my planet, I was supposed to be a scientist. But instead, Krypton died and I ended up on Earth, and that’s because the very few people who were scientists didn’t share what they knew about our world dying.

“I’m here in this room to prevent another disaster like that from happening because it’s you all who are going to save the Earth. Science is our most important tool to combat dangers to this world, both from outer space and right here on the surface of the planet. It’s one that Dr. Alex and I use every day.” Kara looks to Alex to let her know it’s her turn, but Alex is dumbstruck.

Luckily, so is the audience. Kara probably overshared about Alex’s part in her adventures, but she sure could give a speech. Alex was not expecting her to share so much of her story, and apparently neither were her listeners. She can see several girls who look visibly affected by Kara’s words. Alex is nowhere near as good with words, but she feels obligated to follow up in some way.

“The three of us, yes, Ms. Luthor too, are here to talk to you about different areas of science and the kinds of fields you can go into should you pursue a career, and to answer any questions you may have to the best of our ability. And who knows? Maybe you’ll ask some questions we can’t answer, but that will be answered in the future by one of you.” And with that, the questions started flowing.

Most are directed at Kars, but Alex is pleased that several girls ask her about her accelerated Ph.D. program and studies in biology. Lena answers a few inquiries about Earth’s current level of technology compared to other known planets, and somehow everyone avoids talking about threats from other worlds, too caught up in their passion for science.

Their time is almost up when Alex notices a girl in the back frantically waving her hand. She stands out from the crowd, many of whom are sporting various college or college preparatory wear to represent their varied schools, in her highly fashionable outfit and professional looking makeup. In fact, Alex doesn’t think she’s been called on once, even though this can’t be the first time she’s raised her hand.

“How about you in the back?” She says when Kara finishes answering a question and almost everyone’s hands fly up, including the girl Alex noticed and called on. The room quiets as the girl stands.

“Hello, my name is Desha Ramone, I’m a high school senior and I’ve been studying material sciences, particularly how they can be applied to fashion and clothing.” There are a few groans and Alex is impressed that Desha is not cowed. “My question is about Supergirl’s suit; mainly, how does it stay intact under major stress, yet still be comfortable enough to wear for extended periods of time?”

Kara looks like she’s been presented with a box of potstickers. She’s incredibly proud of Winn and his work and launches into a detailed explanation about interwoven fibers and fire resistant fabric. Desha soaks in her words, writing everything down in a little notebook with a fuzzy pink pen. It’s when Kara’s explanation starts to wind down that Alex speaks up.

“You said mainly,” she says and Desha knows exactly what she’s talking about.

“That’s right.” She nods. “I don’t mean to be rude, but have you ever considered something more practical?” The room gasps and Desha rushes to explain herself. “I mean, I wear skirts all the time, and you can’t do anything in them. And I’m totally for wearing whatever the hell you want, but even light armor would be an asset in your line of work, even if you are practically invincible.”

“You know, you have a point. I have friends in the media, do you know how many times they’ve warned me about upskirt pictures? I wear shorts under this for a reason, so yes I’ve considered practicality,” Kara says. There are sympathetic chuckles and groans from the crowd.

“Superman wears a chin to toe suit,” someone shouts, and there are mutters about equality and “the damn patriarchy,” which Alex can’t help but agree with. She continues to watch Desha, who seems proud to have facilitated the discussion, and Alex can’t help to think she’s not through yet.

“I have a question,” she says over the noise. The room quiets down and she continues. “Desha, what would you do differently?”

“Me?” She asks shocked. Alex is glad she’s confident enough despite her initial reaction to continue. “Well, probably something that offers more mobility and protection. Like, the same kind of durable fabric, but maybe with plating around the heart or…” she trails off, unsure of what else, but someone picks up the slack.

“Femoral artery!”

“Spine support!”

“Protect the kidneys!”

Suggestion after suggestion is shouted out, and they’re all so good that Lena rolls in a whiteboard. She offers the marker up between Kara and Alex. Kara is the better artist, so she accepts it and draws out three human figures from the front, back, and side. Lena takes point in organizing suggestions and mediating disputes, and Alex takes it upon herself to add what she knows of Kryptonian physiology to hash out where Kara needs the most protection (not that there are many places, but this is her sister.)

They’re having so much fun designing suits and debating the merits of each that they forget all about the set aside lab time and promised explosions. By the time the discussion has died down, Kara has drawn almost a dozen ideas for a new suit that range from extremely practical to completely unreasonable, yet totally badass, and they’ve run twenty minutes over their allotted panel time.

When the ideas stop flowing Lena deftly takes control of the room again, leaving it open for closing remarks. Alex is blunt, Kara is inspiring, and then all the girls are filing out of the room behind Lena, shouting their thank yous behind them. Kara and Alex are left alone with the sketches and each other, and Alex thinks it all ended too quickly for her taste.

“So what do you think? Not that bad, huh?” Kara says when they’re finally alone. Alex runs a critical eye over the whiteboard drawings. Kara has done a remarkable job on them.

“I want to get Winn on this. I bet he could make a lot of improvements to your suit,” she says, turning away from Kara and pulling out her phone to call him.

“But you liked the panel, right? Right, Alex?” With her back to Kara, Alex lets herself smile. Yeah, she liked the panel. The nerdy panel full of nerdy people.

Huh.

Guess that makes her a nerd too.

#DanversSistersWeek #day 3 #supergirl #the danvers sisters #kara danvers #alex danvers #my writing

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