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chief-of-restless-hearts · 3 years

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Chapter 2: Indentured

. . .

“HA,” Robin crowed, with one fist planted firmly on his hip while the other pointed down at his conquered foe. “HA HA HA!”

“Heh...” Joker whined from the floor, on his back, grinning blankly at the ceiling, “hh...”

Batman, tied onto the conveyor belt that would have fed him feet-first into the chomping jaws of a giant set of fake teeth, was staring with what Dick hoped was approval. Winning a laughing contest on a bet to save your partner wasn’t as effortless as he made it look.

“Robin the boy wonder, that laughing daredevil, reigns as champion! Y’see, pasty, a real clown mighta actually given me a run for my money, but y--” He broke off into a hacking cough and staggered over to untie Bruce. “Ack, B,” he wheezed, “'m done now.”

. . .

“You shoulda seen it Alfie, Joker was all like, ‘bet you can’t dodge bullets, boy blunder’, an’ then I went, ‘well I bet you can’t out-laugh me you pasty faker,’ and the--” he coughed, breaking off with a grimace. The cookie, warm butterscotch--one of his favorites, stuck dry in his raw throat. He choked it down anyway.

Bruce was still ignoring the tray Alfred had laid out by the batcomputer. Still ignoring both of them. Dick leaned closer to Alfred. “I think you should check B for a concussion,” he stage whispered. “I saved his neck using nothin’ but wit an’ derring-do and I’m still waitin’ on my thank you.”

“Perhaps he is tired, Master Dick, as you both should be at this unconscionably early hour.” Alfred directed a heated glance at Bruce’s still-turned back.

Dick rolled his eyes and wobbled toward the showers, letting the disappointment roll off his shoulders as he unclipped his cape.

“Dick. Listen to me.” Interrupted mid-yawn, Dick turned to see Bruce standing and taking a step closer; his unmasked face looked hard and stern. “Do not ever, under any circumstance, place your life on the line for mine again.”

Dick’s laugh came out as sharp and painful as the confused sting of hurt in his chest. “Gee, you’re welcome, B.”

“The same applies for any hostage,” Bruce continued, unfazed.

Dick’s brow furrowed incredulously. “But just last week you--”

“Listen!” Bruce barked. Dick blinked; Bruce never raised his voice at him--but Bruce’s expression, though strained and intense, didn’t even look angry. “Your life is not a bargaining chip,” he continued, his tone lower but still wire-tight. “In any crisis situation you are to get away as fast as possible, and if you can’t do that I want you to buy time for me to reach you.”

The finality and command ingrained in Bruce’s tone enraged him as rapidly as it always did.

“Wha--what are you even--” he broke off furiously. “Bruce, are you seriously asking me to walk away and leave you to die? Let anyone die?” His voice, high and hoarse and furious, cracked against his will; Bruce was approaching, about to shut him down, and Dick shook his head fiercely. “Cuz ‘m not gonna let you die. I’m not--”

His throat gave out, broke into coughing from deep in his chest, and he groaned, shaking his head again, not looking at Bruce. “...‘m not,” he choked.

Bruce was crouching before him, saying nothing. Dick couldn’t have said more if he’d wanted to.

“Alfred,” Bruce said quietly.

“I’ll prepare the young master some tea and honey,” Alfred replied, equally subdued. Dick had forgotten he was there.

Dick felt Bruce’s eyes lingering on him, studying, but Dick still couldn’t meet his gaze. “It’s late,” Bruce said at last. “Do you have homework, or...” He trailed off. Maybe his internal clock was kicking in too.

“School’s in like, three hours,” Dick mumbled, shrugging, and suddenly his eyes felt heavy. “Don’t think homework’s gonna be the issue.”

“This has been happening far too frequently of late,” Alfred said, with that disapproving tone in his voice again. “I am frankly shocked that his grades have not yet suffered.”

“I can handle it,” Dick croaked earnestly, “I can sleep later, it’s fine.”

“We will...discuss your patrol schedule,” Bruce said, haltingly, his expression pinched strangely as though he were hurt, but Dick had checked him over on the way back to the batmobile and he’d seemed fine-- “But not now,” he continued, and reached out to gently squeeze Dick’s shoulder. “You should get to bed.”

Swallowing the dread that was losing Robin, his only way of really doing anything worthwhile and the most time he ever got to spend with Bruce, Dick turned back to the showers. He’d have more fight in him later, but...just now he felt more tired than he’d ever been.

“Dick,” Bruce said. Dick didn’t turn this time. “I’ll meet you and Alfred upstairs in a minute. I could use some of that tea, too.”

Dick hesitated, but as he headed on to the showers the weight in his chest lightened just a little, and when at last he was upstairs on the sitting room couch with a hot mug cradled between his pajama clad legs and chest, Bruce was beside him, staring at yesterday’s half-finished chess game as though it held the answer to every question in the universe. The windows were pale, Dick still hadn’t slept, and he took another long hot sip of the drink and closed his eyes as it slid down his aching throat.

“I...need you to understand, Dick,” Bruce said, after some thirty minutes of honeyed tea silence. His tone, low and grave, told Dick what he was about to say. Dick raised his mug to disguise his scowl. Bruce cleared his throat, and now he was looking at him. “My life will never be worth the sacrifice of yours. And if...I ever allowed you to bring harm to yourself, I--” he broke off, covering his mouth, and as Dick saw the pinched look returning around Bruce’s eyes his anger slipped away. “You’re my responsibility,” Bruce said, his voice as rough as Dick’s. “If anything happened to you...”

You don’t get it, Dick didn’t say, what’s the point of me going out there to watch your back and make a difference if I can’t give it my all.

“Patrol’s gonna be a lot quieter without me,” he mumbled into his mug.

Bruce paused, and then his mug settled on the coffee table with a decisive clink. “Then we’ll work on making the upstairs louder. Starting tomorrow. You’ve earned a sick day or two--after all, it’s not every day that someone manages to take the Joker down without a single blow.”

A broad, toothy grin stretched across Dick’s face, and as Bruce met his gaze the barest hint of a smile formed on his face too. “If your teachers ask we’ll just say you have a frog in your throat.”

Dick laughed, quiet and sore but from deep in his stomach, and leaned into the sturdy warmth of Bruce’s arm. Golden light trickled in through the tall windows to join the light from the flickering hearth, and at last he let his eyes fall closed.

. . .

The clicking latch was enough. Dick snapped awake and had already flipped backward into a defensive stance on the bed when the door opened. He took in Deathstro--no, ‘Slade’s’ silhouette in the doorway, with his heart thumping in his ears.

Slade was in costume, but unmasked. “Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen down the hall,” he said.

And he left.

Dick stared blankly at the empty doorway for a moment before collapsing back on the bed with a groan. It was embarrassing to have fallen asleep and left himself vulnerable in enemy territory, but already his aching body told him that he hadn’t slept anywhere near long enough to recover from the day before.

He had spent most of the night staring at the camera built into the opposite wall. Slade hadn’t even bothered disguising it. The room was little more than a frigid cell with bare whitewashed halls, unfurnished beyond the camera and the bed he lay on--though there was a door that led to an even tinier adjoining bathroom.

The bathroom contained a shower stall, a toilet, and a sink. It was not equipped with a lock.

The door to the hall was equipped with one...from the outside. Slade hadn’t locked it.

Dick wouldn’t have expected that to make him feel less safe.

He couldn’t remember much of his nightmare, but he did remember Kory’s face, and the way she had looked at him when he--

Dick pressed his icy hands over his face and waited for his breathing to slow. He would...make it up to her. Just as soon as he got out.

He still owed her a movie night. It wasn’t going to be a date, just a movie--but she’d never been to one before, and after the whole Red X mess he had owed it to her--he had promised it to her, and...they would miss the showing if he didn’t get out soon. Of course that was assuming that she wouldn’t still hate him even after he explained everything. He wouldn’t blame her if she did--he couldn’t, not after what he’d done to her, both before and after what Slade had made him do, but...

it couldn’t end like this.

He wouldn’t let it.

Shrill beeping sent him jumping out of his skin again. It was coming from what looked like a comm build into the wall beside his bed--an alarm, then. It continued screeching into his ears as he, very bitterly, rolled out of bed.

. . .

He found Slade leaning against the kitchen counter, unmasked but still in costume with coffee in one hand and a clipboard in the other. Dick halted in the doorway and waited there stiffly until Slade’s gaze fixed on him.

“If you managed to get lost in a hall lined with locked doors, that is pretty impressive,” Slade said. He paused before taking a sip from his mug, and arched an eyebrow at him. “And in case you missed any, I did lock all of them.”

Dick only glared at him.

He had taken his time going down the hall, counting the cameras and defiantly staring into each of them as he tried every door in turn. And they had all been locked, including the unmarked door to the main room.

“Eat,” Slade said more brusquely, and tossed a small clipboard onto the counter island between them, beside the plate of food that Dick had been making a concentrated effort not to look at. “You’ll make up for the wasted time later.”

Eyeing the food hungrily but suspiciously, Dick didn’t even approach the table. Slade snorted impatiently. “If I wanted to drug you I wouldn’t use your food to do it. Eat now or go hungry.”

Dick hadn’t eaten since the previous morning, and was starved enough to risk taking Slade at his word. He held a distrustful eye on Slade as he gulped down the chokingly strong coffee and protein-rich but bland food that Slade apparently considered a breakfast.

Slade began describing the contents of the clipboard that Dick had yet to look at. Slade was outlining the day’s regimen of workouts and training down to the last minute of the day...and talked as though he were introducing Dick to the new norm, his new life.

Dick’s appetite dried up completely (but still, somehow, left his gnawing hunger completely intact).

But he had no reason to start thinking so fatalistically. Even if he didn’t find his own way out of this mess, the Titans or Batman would figure everything out before Slade took things too far. Not that Dick intended to wait around for them to clean up his mess.

Bruce didn’t need to hear about this.

If Dick was going to see him again--and now, suddenly and forcefully, he wanted to--he didn’t want to go through the humiliation of seeing Bruce proven right. What happened to Jay was...it wasn’t going to happen again. And he didn’t need Bruce to protect him.

He chewed robotically, kept his eye on Slade and maintained the appearance of listening, but his mind was already wandering the mental map of the base that he was trying to assemble. So far he had counted two possible escape routes. The front way (obviously), and the oversized fan he’d glimpsed stars through the night before during that little game of hide and seek with Slade on the gears. But his search wasn’t finished. A place this large had to have multiple vents leading to the surface. It was just a matter of finding them, and he had time, even if he did want nothing more than to get as far away from Slade as possible.

But he needed to do something first. He needed to undo all the damage he had done, all the ways that he had betrayed some of the best friends he’d ever had.

. . .

“I don’t know about you, but I am totally capable of subduing someone without crushing their windpipe.” Dick was still poised before the training dummy, gripping the staff with both sweat-slick palms and trying to ignore the fatigue tremors working their way through his body.

But he had made the grave error of turning his back on Slade, who was just behind his shoulder--and moving. Dick wheeled only for Slade to grab him by the shoulders and steer him toward the dummy again.

“For me that won’t be enough. Resume your position.”

Dick shifted his grip on the staff and stiffly resumed his stance.

“No,” Slade said curtly. He reached over Dick’s shoulder to grab his forearm. Dick jerked violently in the hold, which only tightened. “You are going to enter the proper offensive stance,” Slade said, his voice dripping condescension.

“I don’t need to--”

“Twelve point five million dollars...” Slade said slowly, deliberately. “That was the offer from the HIVE that I refused in favor of sparing the Titans, and that is what you owe me. I really am asking very little in return.” Slade’s hands moved to adjust Dick’s rigid grip on the staff. This time, Dick let him. “Now, this time complete the maneuver correctly.”

Cold spread from Dick’s heart to his fingertips.

The price placed on his friends’ lives was, somehow, at the same time too much and far too little.

He jabbed the end of his staff under the dummy’s chin in a sharp, sudden strike. The neck snapped in two, the detached head toppling to the floor with a single morbid bounce.

“Adequate,” Slade said, then added, “for a self-taught amateur.”

Dick went very still. Slade should have had no way of knowing that.

Slade was moving away, and Dick risked a look at his face while the blind side was facing him. But his expression appeared perfectly neutral, and in the few (but still too many) hours that Dick had known Slade he had grown no better at reading him.

“Now,” Slade continued, and he touched his own throat just above the armored plate. “Strike me here with that same maneuver. Just that one, no improvisation--but try to hit me.”

After an uncertain beat, Dick struck out. Slade edged sideways just before the staff would have touched him, but he was frowning. “Again,” he instructed, and Dick did. But something inside him twisted with every lunge. By the fourth time he realized what he was doing just as Slade grabbed the staff mid-strike.

“You’re faltering,” he snapped. “Try again, and this time try to hit me. Hold back again and I will show you what those attacks should look like firsthand.”

A flush spread across Dick’s face, but he moved again. Just as he had before, Slade evaded effortlessly--but by a much narrower margin. Dick hadn’t even realized that he had been tilting his strikes off-center at the last instant, and his cheeks stung with embarrassment. He had been holding back from hurting Deathstroke.

Deathstroke.

“Better,” Slade said, but had him continue anyway.

Again, and again, and again.

But Slade should not have known about that.

. . .

Dick couldn’t stop thinking about the attack on Wayne Tower.

Slade had known about his staff training, and he shouldn’t have, and if he knew about that, he hadn’t just been spying on Titans Tower where Robin had taken to keeping his mask on even around his new teammates. The possibilities were ugly. All of them.

His hands and knees were on the mat, one arm cradling his chest as he gasped for breath and tried uselessly to get his focus back. He was nowhere near in the headspace for combat training, but what only made it worse was that Slade was holding back. Those hits, if thrown with the full force that Slade had given him before, would have laid him out flat and likely crushed his ribs.

--But Dick had told Slade he already had a father and then Slade had sent him to sabotage Wayne Tower. Dick was supposed to be a detective. What was he supposed to deduce from that? And if he was right, if Slade knew, then even if Slade didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to take out his current most dangerous opponent he could just as easily destroy Batman’s crusade for good. That would prove a deathblow for Gotham, and if Dick knew Bruce--and he did--it would be one for him too.

And it would be all Dick’s fault.

A rod cracked against his ear. He reeled backward in shock, his head ringing from the blow, and his attention snapping back to Slade who was looming over him with staff in hand, masked, but there was no disguising his dark expression.

“Are you ignoring me, Renegade?”

Dick stared up at him blankly for a moment before it sank in that he had zoned out mid-sparring session. And...had Slade been speaking?

Slade continued staring down at him while Dick scrounged desperately for some kind of excuse that wasn’t an apology, when Slade exhaled and angled his head slightly. “You’ve been quiet.” he said at last.

Was that a question? As moments ticked by, Dick realized that it was. Hastily he hefted the staff that had been forgotten in his hand and resumed a defensive sparring position. He held it, swallowing anxiously as he waited.

At last Slade raised his own staff. “Very well,” he said, and lunged at him.

. . .

Slade straightened, reattached his staff to his belt, dismissed him, and the last training session of the night was over.

Dick turned away and braced himself to keep his weary shoulders squared and his posture straight until he reached the room he never would have expected to actually want to return to. But where else was there to go to escape Slade and the constriction around his throat and chest that only barely managed to trap every desperate question behind his teeth.

“Is there something on your mind?” Slade’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“No,” Dick said hastily, his eyes only darting to and away from Slade’s.

“Renegade.” The word had an edge to it. A warning.

Dick gritted his teeth and pretended to misunderstand its meaning. “No, ‘sir’.”

The word tasted like acid on his tongue.

. . .

The alarm woke him with all the subtlety of an electric jolt. Sluggishly, he winced. The noise was weirdly abrasive, and why did the air taste like metal and his bed feel so...

His fingers curled tight around the blanket that wasn’t his and reality slammed into his chest like a hammer.

He wasn’t in Titans Tower. Wasn’t in the manor. He was buried under layers of lead-lined asphalt in Deathstroke’s secret base, and yesterday was going to happen again and then keep happening, over and over and--

No.

No, it wouldn’t.

He made himself get up, wash, dress into the uniform again, and as he made his way down to the kitchen he tried his best not to think too deeply about the spirit gum that he had found conveniently left on the sink to use for his mask.

. . .

Dick pivoted midair and caught the bar again as he fell, letting the swing of his own weight carry him up into the air again.

The bars were icy in his grip, not too different from the bars he’d spent half his life practicing on. They helped enhance the illusion, if he closed his eyes and pretended that he was surrounded by the damp but comfortable recesses of the batcave.

Slade would still be watching him from below, but Dick wanted to close his eyes and forget that. He didn’t need to look to catch the next bar and then let it carry him up again into a double somersault.

“Are you planning to spend the day up there, Renegade?”

Dick flinched, his eyes flying open to see the bar racing up toward him. He grasped out quickly--only barely hooking his fingers around it, the grip too loose to do anything but slow his descent. He tucked and landed in a roll that jarred every bone in his body, but he was still aware enough to snap into alertness as Slade approached him where he was still crouched on the floor.

He scrambled to his feet, but he hadn’t even caught his breath.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you, since you were so clearly enjoying yourself, but that isn’t what you’re here for, is it?”

Dick just stared at Slade’s masked face. He couldn’t read him, not a single inch of him.

After a prolonged period of silence Slade crossed his arms. “Whatever’s distracting you, you need to be more careful. I wouldn’t have caught you this time.”

Dick scowled at the allusion to their fight the week before. Dick had gotten careless, Deathstroke had landed a blow to his gut that sent him toppling over the edge of the building--and then a hand had caught him by the wrist.

‘I’m not through with you.’

And now, of course, Dick knew what that meant.

Swallowing back another wave of dread at the reminder of how long Slade must have been planning for this, Dick turned and reached for the schedule he had left on the nearby desk.

“That’s it? Nothing?” The voice behind him almost sneered. Dick’s hand froze an inch away from the papers. “It used to be impossible to shut you up.”

This time expectancy hung stagnant in the air without any disguise of friendliness. And Dick couldn’t have held it in a single moment longer.

“Do you know who I am?” he burst out. Slade surveyed him for a moment, and Dick rephrased the question, this time trying to suppress the urgency in his tone. “Do you...know my civilian name.”

Slade laughed. Dick flinched at the short, harsh sound. “Kid, you have more than enough to worry about without wasting time worrying about your former mentor’s secrets.”

Dick nearly yelled the question at him again, and just barely bit it back. But the anger was working its way into his face. It was burning, twisting into something ugly, and he barely wheeled away in time to hide it.

“Renegade!” A heavy hand clapped over his shoulder and Slade’s voice dropped to a growl. “You do not walk away when I am speaking to you.”

Dick whirled and ripped Slade’s hand away. “You’re a monster, you know that?” he snarled at Slade’s face, and when the visible eye narrowed he didn’t stop. “You’re doing the same thing to the Titans that you always do, you do the same thing again and again and--you can’t just put price tags on people’s lives. You can’t!”

He stopped, and he was nearly shaking with rage. Slade’s face was still twisted under the mask, but the reaction Dick was braced for never came.

“Maybe not,” Slade said lowly, with steel backing each measured word. “But I’ll take what I can get.”

Dick was about to snap back, but Slade was looking at him. And then, suddenly, Slade’s meaning clicked in his mind. Dick remembered, and he went very still.

Slade turned away.

“Isn’t there somewhere you need to be?” His voice was deadly quiet. Dick stared at Slade’s back, hesitating, cold to the bone. “Go,” Slade hissed.

Finally, Dick turned to leave. Lunch break had been listed next on the schedule.

“Renegade.” Dick halted. Slade had spoken without turning, his voice flatter than before. “Remember that debt.”

. . .

A horrifically vivid image of Bruce collapsing, his skin pulsing with lethal nanotech, sliced viciously through Dick’s mind. He lurched to a stop halfway down the hall, leaning against the wall with still-tacky paint that peeled away in places all over the base to reveal plates of lead--lead, and if Slade knew enough to repel Superman, what did he have waiting for Batman--and breathe, and breathe.

He needed to move quickly. Because he couldn’t run and he couldn’t afford to wait for a rescue that might never come. Couldn’t count on them discovering the probes and saving themselves, because apparently he had some kind of stupid talent for endangering the lives of everyone he’d ever touched and he was not about to let Slade take Batman down too.

Bruce would be angry when he found out, but Dick had already gone and played himself as a bargaining chip and all those promises Bruce had Dick make all those years ago--that was just Bruce being an idiot. He always acted like his own life was expendable, like seeing him get hurt didn’t tear Dick apart. Maybe he had been Bruce’s responsibility once upon a time, but Batman was still Robin’s responsibility and he always would be. Maybe, someday, Bruce would understand. Dick knew Kory would understand--of all of them she would, because as much as none of them liked to talk about it, she understood what it was like to have your life traded away for the greater good. Willingly or not.

He could fix this in one go. He could act quickly, so suddenly that Slade wouldn’t reach him until it was already done, and then whatever happened next would be worth it. He’d try to run. He probably wouldn’t get far, and he didn’t especially want to die for anyone, but...there were worse things.

What he really wanted was a second chance. He didn’t even want to think about the serious possibility that he might have cried wolf one too many times. He had so much to make up for, to so many, and...there were some things he needed to tell Bruce, too. He’d meant what he told Slade earlier. He did have a father--a living one. And even if Bruce didn’t feel the same...Dick wanted a chance to tell him that.

And that meant that he couldn’t afford to wait on this any longer.

He just needed to reach the central computer.

. . .

The thundering in his chest drowned out the echoing clank of gears, measuring the precious seconds as they passed. Dick grabbed a fistful of wires under the computer console and slashed through them with the knife he’d managed to smuggle out of the training room in his boot to use as a lockpick.

The computers from the end of the main room overlaid with the massive display screens were wired directly into the device that triggered the probes. He just needed to penetrate the initial defense system to tap into the system’s inner workings and then he’d be on his own turf, doing a simple job that he’d done a hundred times before. He would short-circuit the devices, rendering them completely harmless just so long as he did this correctly, and carefully…

The screen flickered with static, and as soon as it cleared his eager fingers were racing across the keyboard.

It took an instant too long to notice that new images had flickered onto the screen. Familiar ones. Layouts that displayed his friends’ vascular systems flooded with the mechanical infection.

At the bottom of each screen pulsed a single word that made his heart drop like a stone into the pit of his stomach:

[[Activated]]

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Dick whirled to see Deathstroke standing in the doorway. His arms were crossed almost casually, but his gaze through the mask was hard as stone.

Dick glanced desperately at the screen again. At the flashing activation alerts.

“You seem to have made a mistake, Renegade.” Deathstroke’s eye narrowed to a slit. “Need any help?”

“You need to...stop it,” Dick faltered, eyes darting again between the screen and Deathstroke’s face, “I...it...”

Deathstroke didn’t budge an inch, not in his posture leaning against the doorframe, and not in his gaze that remained unshifting from Dick’s face.

Deathstroke had known. He had known everything, and suddenly it sank in that he must have expected him to try this from the very beginning. He’d wired the computers with a failsafe to kill the Titans, and now he was waiting for something and Dick had no idea what more he wanted.

“Please,” he forced out, the word high and desperate and painfully unnatural, “Just make it stop!”

For an excruciating moment Dick could almost feel his own flesh crawling with the same nanotech that could be eating away at his friends from the inside out while he just stood there doing nothing and it was all his fault he was so stupid--

Deathstroke was pushing away from the door to approach the computer.

“I suppose,” he said dryly, typing rapidly until the pulsing lights faded to blank screens, “that there are other ways to deal with you.”

Dick was hemmed into the dusty corner beside the computer, with only Deathstroke standing between him and the broad space where he would have a fighting chance at running.

The instant Deathstroke’s fingers stilled over the keyboard, he bolted.

Deathstroke whipped around, sweeping out a leg that grazed Dick’s shins as he leapt back out of range. The evasion forced him to give ground and then sheer survival instinct consigned his entire being to blocking, dodging, and evading even while knowing that he was being herded ever further back into the corner.

He needed more space to avoid those lightning-quick reflexes that kept pace with his speed in a way that Batman never had--space that he didn’t have--and his resistance, restricted to the defensive by Deathstroke’s rapid-fire attacks, bought him less than a minute. He fell for a feint and Deathstroke’s grip closed around his wrist, twisted, and threw him.

The wall slammed into his back. It might have forced his lungs up his throat for the way his chest constricted. He gaped uselessly for air he couldn’t take in until the tightness receded into all-encompassing burning in...his ribs...

“Honestly,” Deathstroke’s voice was saying, and approaching, “how far did you think you would get. This place is as rigged over as you are.”

He wheezed, and couldn’t breathe--and his spotty vision cleared only just in time to raise his arms to absorb the brunt of Deathstroke’s kick. He had barely managed his first fresh breath before the next blow came--a fist to the gut that knocked the air out all over again. He barely felt the blow to his jaw that followed.

A knee rammed into his middle, and that was it, he was gagging, on his side, his entire body convulsing helplessly. Blood coated his teeth, his tongue, bubbling over his lips, claws were digging into his chest and he couldn’t breathe.

“So, Renegade,” Deathstroke was bending down; Dick wanted to move, his fingers twitched instead, “you don’t want this apprenticeship?” Fingers curled over his chest, twisting around kevlar till it ripped, dragging him off the floor; his eyes cracked open and Deathstroke’s mask was an inch from his face, twisted with undisguisable fury. “Well,” he hissed, “I want my son back. So it sounds like neither of us are about to get what we want.”

Deathstroke was straightening. He was hauling Dick toward the open doorway, Dick’s feet were skidding uselessly under him, and his eyes widened with alarmed realization. Grabbing Deathstroke’s wrist with both hands he struggled against the clamped iron fingers--and then Deathstroke let go.

Dick’s back slammed into the floor. He gagged a desperate, garbled cough, blinking at new stars spotting the shadowed ceiling. And then Deathstroke was grabbing his ankle. Pulling. He was being dragged.

Just aware enough to be alarmed, he flailed weakly in an attempt to right himself. Deathstroke just gave his ankle a yank that sent him flopping back down again. Cement dragged against his ribs, left them screaming with searing pain; he tried twisting sideways off the floor. Dizzying exhaustion dropped him before Deathstroke could do it himself. Blinking through swimming vision, he barely recognized his own door before Deathstroke yanked him through the opening.

The vicious motion might as well have broken his ribs all over again from the way the breath stole out of him. His teeth were clenched so tightly he thought they might break too.

He turned his head slightly, just enough to glimpse Deathstroke’s silhouette towering in the doorway.

“Enjoy the quiet,” it said, and the slamming door’s impact against the doorframe echoed across the floor and his ribs. The room drowned in complete darkness, and a soft click told him that the room would remain in that state indefinitely.

Slowly, he rolled onto his side, gritting his teeth to hold back the keen building up in the back of his throat. He touched his mask to activate night vision, and let his arm slump back onto the floor.

For now, there was no point in moving. He could just...rest here. Close his eyes, and try to choke down the acidic cocktail of blood, bile, and shame that coated his throat and gripped it like a vise.

#here's the next one!#and the laughing contest is canon btw #bad company #dick grayson #bruce wayne #slade wilson #the apprentice #teen titans #batfam #batman #deathstroke #alfred #bat family #fanfic #fanfiction #batman fanfiction #bad company ch 2 #ta #my writing

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mollymauk-teafleak · 4 years

Text

baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle (chapter four)

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

Huge thanks to my beta readers, @spiky-lesbian and @minky-for-short! And a massive thanks for all your patience in me getting this chapter up, turns out teaching during a pandemic is uh time consuming

Please reblog and leave a comment on Ao3 if you’d like to support me!

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Peter sat and looked at the cursor blinking on the comms screen. It’s incessant, rapid blinking seemed to line up with his own guilty heartbeat.

His report had been due for half an hour. Another hour and Mag would terminate the entire mission, assuming he’d been compromised and their goal, their planet’s freedom, would be set back who knew how long. Peter knew that and still, he was sitting here, with no idea what to write.

He even came back to the apartment five minutes after the report should have been sent off though he hadn’t even realised until he was sitting on his cot, looking at the screen. Five minutes, five whole minutes, more time than he’d ever allowed himself to make such a mistake in his entire life. Five minutes that, a day ago, would have had him cursing himself for a failure. Not fit to walk in his father’s footsteps.

But tonight, he had just sat there and stared at the blinking display, feeling nothing. And now, with more precious seconds ticking away, he still hadn’t the first clue how he was going to explain himself. He just sat cross legged, feeling numb in the fingertips as the realisation sunk in that he’d left part of himself behind without even knowing it.

It would be so easy to blame Juno Steel. After school, he’d invited Peter to come along with them to the park, just to hang out, that was all, but the fact that it had been him doing the inviting rather than his brother had pulled the yes out of Peter’s mouth before any more sensible part of his brain could interject. It would be easy to blame him for how long he’d stayed too, far past what he’d originally intended. Because every time Peter had thought he should be making excuses, Juno had seemed to choose that moment to smile at him, or challenge him to climb the next tree, or take a drag on his cigarette and exhale long and low in that way that fascinated Peter so much. There had always been the way his eyes looked in the quickly gathering sunset, the way he leaned back against the tree trunks when they’d all made camp in the field that sat at the centre of Halcyon Park, his rasping, barking laugh when Ben would do or say something funny or Mick would be oblivious about something obvious. There had always been another reason to stay, another thing that had led to this hole in who he’d thought he’d been. A hole that was five minutes wide and had rendered him numb.

It would be so easy to blame Juno for tonight and every other day where Peter had been feeling this way, forgetting why he was here and forgetting his mission. But he knew the blame was on him.

Because he was the one who was falling in love.

Those words didn’t sit easily in his mind but there was no denying the truth of them now they were there. With changing his face, his name, his life so often, Peter always tried to know himself completely, mostly out of fear that he’d eventually lose what was really Peter Nureyev if he didn’t. And he knew that he was in love with Juno Steel.

As inconvenient as that was.

He would choose Brahma. Of course he would. He’d worked far too hard, suffered and lost far too much to let something like this derail him. What was this compared to what his father had died for, what Mag had been sacrificing?

What has his own silly heart compared to all that?

With that decided, Peter tapped out his report, going into a kind of autopilot as he gripped the guilty feeling with both hands and made himself feel it’s low, shameful burn, like grabbing barbed wire. Mission proceeding. Target will be accessible beginning next week. Holding steady until then. Apologies for the delay.

As if to hammer home how foolish he’d been, Mag’s reply came almost instantly, barely a minute after his own had disappeared from the screen to be scrambled, broken, reassembled hundreds of times over in the expanse of space so it couldn’t be traced.

Don’t scare me like that again. Look after yourself.

Peter winced and stuffed the comms back into his bag, turning onto his side to face the wall. Two more days. Then he could do his job, go back to Brahma with his broken heart in his chest and remember who he was.

And hopefully he would have at least learned something.

Peter tried to keep himself at a distance over the next two days which smacked of far too little far too late but at least he could tell his guilty heart that he was doing something. He didn’t participate in conversation as much as he had, he professed to having a lot of homework when they asked him to hang out with them after school, he told himself that the disappointment he saw hidden behind their expressions didn’t bother him.

But it was the change in Juno that made it almost too difficult to bear. Peter had never really felt anything like this before, let alone having it reciprocated so he didn’t know how much he was just flattering himself or letting his brain run away with its own fantasies. But there did seem to be something different in how Juno was when Peter was around.

He was still grumpy and surly, apparently that was his natural state of being, but he certainly wasn’t outwardly hostile since Peter had broken a nose for him. They were certainly friends now; he was part of The Oldtown Gang, as Mick seemed determined to dub them despite everyone in said gang refusing to go along with him. Juno sat next to him when they spent lunchtimes at their camp, he’d ask him if he needed any help in the classes that were supposed to be new to Ransom. Sometimes it felt like he didn’t really need to be sitting quite so close to Peter as they’d sit in their circle and trade jokes and insults back and forth. Sometimes Peter felt like Juno’s eyes were on him, like he was studying his face for something, but when Peter would look, Juno would just be staring at his class notes. Some smiles that Peter caught felt like maybe they’d been meant just for him.

But Peter told himself he was being a fool. Well, even more of a fool than he already was being by falling for Juno in the first place. But to imagine that he could actually be feeling anything similar was just a form of self torture. Even if there was a chance anything more than one sided could grow between them, wouldn’t he rather not know? It was already going to hurt enough as it was.

So Peter retreated inside himself a little, going through the motions of a normal day, barely paying attention as they lazed around in their makeshift hammocks and Ben talked excitedly about the overnight field trip they were apparently going on to Olympus City. At least until he felt everyone else’s eyes on him.

“Sorry, what?” he blinked, blushing a little under the look Ben was giving him, something knowing in it putting him on guard.

“I said it’s just going to be you and Juno over the weekend,” Benten hummed, swinging his legs, outwardly innocent but the teasing note was still in his voice, “You’ll have to promise to keep my brother out of trouble.”

“You’re not going?” Peter looked to Juno, who was giving his twin a warning look.

“Didn’t feel like spending more time than I had to with the assholes we call classmates,” he answered shortly, in the kind of way that suggested there had been another reason that he certainly wasn’t about to give up.

Peter didn’t need too much of his observation skills, after so long being friends with the Steel twins and knowing enough about the average situation of Hyperion High students, to guess that there had only been enough in their family’s funds to send one of them on the trip and that Juno had feigned disinterest so Benten could have it. He wondered how many times it had come down to that, how much Juno pretended not to care so his brother could afford to.

“Maybe you two could go to the movies or something,” Sasha said placidly, earning herself a scandalised ‘whose side are you on?’ glare from Juno, “Peter’s hardly seen any of Hyperion. And what he has seen isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement of the place.”

“If you can find me something that is, I’d love to hear it,” Juno scowled.

“Aw but sneaking into the movies is so fun! And Peter would be so good at it, they’d never catch him,” Mick agreed, prompting Ben to rest his head against his shoulder and regard Juno with a poorly concealed smugness.

“I’ve never been to the movies…” Peter said quietly, before mentally kicking himself. Do you want to be crying your way back to Brahma on Monday night?

Juno’s scowl deepened and his cheeks flushed, voice rising more than it needed to, “Look, I have plans with someone, alright? I’m busy. So maybe stop sticking your noses in for five seconds?”

There was an awkward silence as he sank back in his seat. Mick and Sasha sent quick pitying looks in Peter's direction, who pretended he didn’t see them as he stared at his hands like all of this wasn’t happening around him. He didn’t care. Why should he care? Benzaiten shrugged like that was the end of it but he was giving Juno a look that was impossible to read.

And Juno just looked everywhere but at Peter.

“Anyone catch the game last night?” Mick put in after a few agonising moments, his affable obliviousness always good for bulling past awkward situations, “‘Cos I didn’t, I realised ten minutes before the end that I was watching football rather than baseball, I was hoping one of you guys got the score…”

“Mick, it’s a completely different shape of ball, how the hell did you manage that…”

“Leave him alone, it’s hard to tell from a distance, right babe?”

First rule of thieving, Peter thought miserably, sinking deeper into himself while his friends continued on around him, bad decisions will always come back and bite you in the ass. So when one does, know you deserve it.

Peter sat in the middle of the bare, empty apartment and organised his roll of lock picking tools. Doing that always calmed him down and it had been a dull, frustrating Saturday otherwise. Just hours and hours of going through the same plans and schematics he’d memorised months ago, showing his path from the fence to one of the first story windows to the principal’s office to the server room to an entirely different window. In and out inside of fifteen minutes, enter with a flash drive full of malware, leave with it full of proof that New Kinshasa and a number of other corrupt outer world governments were laundering money through Martian construction contracts just like the one that had built this school. He’d done far more complex heists than this but with such lower stakes.

And with his back up slightly closer than across the galaxy.

First rule of thieving, there is no room for nervousness, if you can find some room then you should fill it with more planning.

With the outside world grey, cold and full of thin SimRain, there was little else to do. His takeout dinner arriving had been the only highlight in his day and now an equally dull night had settled in.

So he took out the thin silver lockpicks from their sewn in pockets and cleaned them fastidiously, one by one, making sure each type was in it’s exact place. They were a little bit of a novelty, in this age of bioprinting and retina scanners, but they were still called for on occasion and Mag had drilled it into him that no self respecting thief would be caught without the classics on hand. And besides, their comfortable, familiar weight strapped to his chest was reassuring. Like he could never fail as long as he had them close, precisely placed and polished until they shone.

The knock at the door was so unexpected, so sudden, that he slopped his cup of tea on the carpet, a few dark brown stains soaking in. Good thing he wouldn’t be trying to collect any security deposit.

He slid the plasma knife out of its sheath, pressing himself against the door with a cold, almost serene focus. He wasn’t expecting any visitors, his food had arrived hours ago. Which meant either the person outside his apartment right now was an innocent, mistaken bystander and would go after a few minutes of silence.

Or they weren’t. And more than tea would be getting spilled.

The knock came again and Peter tensed, his grip on the knife tightening. Had he made a mistake? Had one of his reports been traced despite their precautions? Had they found a flaw in his fake records? Either way, his breathing stayed shallow and steady as the seconds ticked by.

Another knock. And then a voice, rough and tired and very familiar.

“Ransom? You in there? Damn it, I was sure this was the right number…”

The knife disappeared quickly, “Juno?”

“Oh! Hi...um, hi Ransom...sorry, Ben gave me your address. Can I come in?”

Peter looked around his apartment, wincing. Explaining its state was going to be uncomfortable, it couldn’t look more like the hideout of a sleeper agent than if he’d hung a sign to that effect. But Juno sounded so lost…

He did what he could in the space of two seconds, emptying out his neatly packed suitcase and spreading the clothes around like he imagined most teenage boys did, hiding the papers under a half heartedly done homework sheet. The pile of unwashed mugs in the sink and takeout containers he hadn’t gotten around to throwing away yet helped.

“Yeah,” he called then, only just remembering to kick his tool roll out of sight, “Come in.”

Juno had a face to match his tone of voice. There were dark shadows under his eyes that had nothing to do with any eyeshadow, in fact he wasn’t wearing a smudge of makeup on him for the first time Peter had known. He wasn’t dressed in his usual way either, in an oversized t-shirt and pyjama pants with a loud cartoon pattern, the same little robot figure from the first shirt he’d seen him in. He just looked exhausted, wrung out and worn down, his lips turned down at the ends. He looked like someone who needed some comfort.

“Is...is everything okay?” Peter tried not to make Juno’s distress sound as obvious as it was.

It hadn’t been enough, Juno’s eyes were dark with shame as he stared down at his own sneakered feet and Peter’s slippered ones, “Look, I’m sorry I’m showing up like this. It’s not okay, especially since I...um...anyway, I’m sorry.”

Peter swallowed, “It’s okay. What’s wrong?”

“I had a big fight with Ma,” Juno admitted, a tremor running through his voice, “She...she kicked me out. And with everyone out of town, I don’t have anywhere else to go. You’ve got every right to tell me to fuck off but...can I stay here?”

Juno and Benten had never said much about their mother. All Peter had been able to surmise, from his observations, was that she was their only parent and there was a huge weight around both twin’s necks because of her. He hadn’t pressed on the nature of it, he had no right to, and it wasn’t going to be any different than it was for so many kids in Oldtown. And more than a fair few on Brahma.

“Of course, Juno,” Peter said gently, stepping to one side, “Of course, stay as long as you need to.”

Juno mumbled a thanks as he stepped past him. If he found the lack of couch, stream screen, any kitchen appliances aside from a kettle or sign that this place was lived in at all strange, then clearly he felt he owed Peter enough not to say anything.

“Want some tea?” Peter asked, relocking the door, “I already ate but we could go get you something…”

“No, it’s okay,” Juno said quickly, “I’m asking enough of you as it is.”

Peter sat on his cot and sighed, “Juno, you’re my friend. I’m not going to hold every nicety over your head and present you with a receipt when you leave. I want to help you so just...let me?”

After a pause, Juno chuckled, the sound rough and raw in his throat but it was real. He slumped down on the floor next to the cot, leaning back against it so his head rested close to Peter’s knee, and sighed heavily.

“You know, there’s three people on the whole planet who don’t take my bullshit. My ma, my brother and you. But you’re the only person I like hearing it from.”

Peter smiled, though the pace of his heartbeat had increased a little. Juno was so close he could smell the shampoo in his curls from the shower he must have been having that evening.

“Benzaiten did ask me to keep you out of trouble. Checking your bullshit falls under that, I think.”

Something in Juno’s expression grew thin and the exhaustion showed through from underneath. There was enough of a pause that Peter wasn’t sure he was going to speak but then he did.

“It’s never as bad when Ben’s there. Me and her, I mean. It’s like he’s a buffer, stops things getting so nasty. He shouldn’t have to do it, I hate that he’s had to, but… it’s damn effective. With him gone, things just...they got out of hand so fast.”

Peter nodded slowly. He and Mag had their fair share of blow out arguments too, not that it had ever escalated to him being kicked out. Mag would never do that, he knew what having no roof over his head would mean to his protege, but he certainly knew what it was like to have said things you didn’t know could come from your mouth in the heat of the moment.

“Has she done this before? Put you out?”

“Yeah...sometimes with a reason. Sometimes not.”

“There’s never a good reason to do that,” Peter’s voice was more leaden than he’d intended but it was the voice of someone who’d been a child, promised protection by the world, but left out in the cold, “She’s an adult and you aren’t.”

Juno looked at him, clearly curious but he let it go after a moment, picking at his own wound instead, “If I’m not back in her good books by Monday, it’ll be a whole thing with Ben, he’ll feel bad about going…”

“You do this a lot for him, don’t you?” Peter asked softly, “Protect him. Pretend to not care about things so he can afford to.”

Juno shrugged heavily, gnawing on one fingernail covered in chipped polish, “What else am I good for?”

There was so much Peter could have said in that moment, answers that came rushing up to the tip of his tongue, some that surprised even him. But they’d start a conversation he really didn’t want to have, with Juno and with himself. So instead he just murmured, “Lots of things.”

Juno looked at him, something genuinely fearful in his eyes, like he knew exactly what Peter was holding back.

“Um...I think I will have some tea. If it’s still alright with you. Damn cold outside.”

“Of course!” Peter scrambled up and practically fled to the kitchen. It was hard to say which boy was the more relieved.

Peter could cope without a lot of amenities when he went out on jobs. First rule of thieving, never care about more than what you can carry in your pockets. But the first thing he’d bought when he’d gone on one of his short, necessity driven runs to the grocery store (a different one every time of course and dodging the cameras so he couldn’t be traced) was a box of good, high quality tea. He didn’t like coffee much, hated the tremble it put in his hands that could cost him his life in some circumstances, but he’d gotten a taste for tea very early on in his time with Mag. In fact, it had been the first thing his mentor had done, when he’d brought the scrawny, skittish, terrified young boy back to his home. He’d put a steaming, sugar laced mug in his hands that it had made it so much easier to believe him when he’d said everything was going to be alright.

He couldn’t give Juno much to ease his pain right now but there was some pride to be found in gladly giving him one of his few little parcels of sweet smelling, caffeine laced comfort. That much he could do.

Juno thanked him, hugging the mug close to his chest and pulling his knees in. Nureyev sat back on the cot, folding his legs underneath him and pulling the blanket over his knees. It was getting cold, he’d been right about that.

After a few moments and a few sips, Juno sighed and said without much surprise, “You don’t have a dad, do you, Ransom?”

Immediately, his shoulders tensed, well aware that he had absolutely no evidence to refute that accusation. And absolutely no back up explanation to speak of.

“Well…” he began awkwardly, very unused to having no way out of a situation.

“It’s okay,” Juno chuckled dryly, taking another drink, “I pretty much figured you were taking care of yourself over here.”

Peter swallowed hard, hand itching around the knuckles. The plasma knife he’d hurriedly shoved back in the holster suddenly felt very heavy, not that he was even going to consider that. He was also not going to think about what Mag would do, what he would urge Peter to do, what rules he would use to make Juno’s life seem a small price to pay for the mission. The same rules he’d saved himself with.

“Honestly, it’s impressive.”

Peter froze, “I...what?”

Juno’s cheeks seemed to colour a little and he could have been smiling into his cup as he sipped, “You’re here trying to make something of yourself. Trying to get an education and switch up the shitty hand you got dealt. Granted, you picked a terrible place to do it but...you’re trying. And that’s more than I’ve ever seen anyone do.”

“Trying…” Peter tried to keep his voice steady, “Yes. I’ve often thought that’s all a person can do.”

Juno nodded slowly, leaning back. His head was now leaning against Peter’s knee, enough that he could feel the damp of his hair, the comforting weight of him. He seemed so relaxed, so casual about it all, but Peter felt as if electrical shocks were sparking between them. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so close to someone, had someone touch him in such a friendly way, such simple, easy contact. Only since he’d come to Mars. Only since he’d met Juno.

For some reason, he felt absurdly guilty. He should be relieved, his disguise had survived even under Juno’s scrutiny who, Peter was beginning to think, was one of the most annoyingly observant people he’d ever met. But in his stomach was just a yawning hollow, a sad kind of emptiness. Like he’d have actually been relieved if Juno had looked him straight in the eye and seen who he really was.

Like he was tired of lying to him.

“Hey,” Juno grunted, his voice sounding further away than it had, “There’s another party on Monday night when everyone’s back. You’re coming, right?”

Peter’s throat tightened. On Monday night, he’d be going back to Brahma, back under the glare of the lasers, back in the fight. Ransom would be gone, a few lines of information that winked out of existence as if they had never been, more than dead. That was the plan.

“Yeah,” he nodded, hand moving over to lightly stroke through Juno’s curls. He’d seen Ben do that on a few occasions and it seemed to comfort him, “That sounds good.”

Juno seemed to tense a little under the touch though only for an instant, as if he hadn’t expected it. But then it was gone and he was leaning into Peter’s hand gratefully, like it was everything he’d needed in that moment. His hair was so soft, winding through his fingers in tight curls that opened for him, parted like waves. The world shrank down to just the points where Peter’s skin met Juno’s, like that simple contact was all that held the universe in one piece. He didn’t feel the weight of a planet’s survival on his shoulders, he didn’t feel like a revolutionary before he’d even had the chance to feel like a person, he didn’t feel the questions he couldn’t ask like bitter metal resting on his tongue.

In that moment, this was all he had to do. He had to be there for someone else, just one other scared, sad kid like him.

“Thanks for letting me in, Ransom,” Juno murmured softly, his voice a contented rumble in his chest.

“I’d rather you call me Peter,” he replied, after a pause where he begged himself not to.

“Hm? Oh, sure. No problem, Peter.”

It wasn’t the name he wanted to hear from Juno’s lips but it was close enough. It wasn’t a lie, at least.

“You should sleep now,” he murmured, before his throat closed too tight to mask, “It’s late and you’ve had a long night.”

“Oh I can just stay down here,” Juno said quickly, opening one golden brown eye. Clearly he was seeing that there weren’t many other options. No couch, no chair, not even so much as a rug.

Just Peter’s cot, the one he was currently sat on. Well, if I’m destroying myself, I may as well do a thorough job.

“Don’t be an idiot,” he rolled his eyes like it was no big deal, holding out a hand to him, “Climb up.”

Juno blinked then shrugged, allowing himself to be tugged onto the hellishly uncomfortable little camping bed. It took a lot of awkward maneuvering to get both of them settled, there was barely enough room for one person, let alone two. By the time it was all done, they were nose to nose, limbs in a tangle.

Juno was the first to break, snorting, “God, I’m sorry, I feel like I’ve skipped about seven friendship levels…”

“Well, I did break someone’s nose for you,” Peter grunted, trying to shift so Juno’s knee was no longer pressing against his stomach, “Surely that grants me some higher access. Just pretend I’m one of the people you’re courting…”

Juno stared at him for a moment before breaking into helpless barks of laughter that threatened to upend their precarious little arrangement.

“What?” Peter demanded, flushing pink.

“Sorry, sorry, it's just...god, courting. I don’t think I’ve ever courted anyone in my damn life. Probably no one has since, like, the 1800s or whatever…” Juno cackled.

“I’ve changed my mind. You can go back on the floor.”

“Nuh uh!” Juno suddenly wrapped both his arms around Peter’s middle, holding them fast, “No take backs now!”

Peter was so glad he had something to blame the colour of his cheeks on, especially when Juno managed to get a hold of himself and chuckled, “God, you’re so cute…”

“Shut up and go to sleep,” he muttered quickly, trying to sound annoyed.

Juno did, apparently thinking it more comfortable to just stay with his arms around Peter, resting his head on his stomach. They were still for a few moments as their breath slowed and evened out, as the exhaustion clearly caught up with Juno as he realised he truly did have somewhere he could rest and know he was safe.

With whatever consciousness he had left, he mumbled, “I mean it, Peter. I really needed a friend tonight and you came through. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Peter whispered back but Juno was asleep before he was halfway through, his body getting heavier as his muscles relaxed and he gave himself over.

All we can do is try.

It wasn’t a rule but in that moment, as he lay in the darkness and listened to Juno Steel snore softly, it made more sense to Peter than anything he’d ever been told.

Before he could think, before he could realise what he was doing, he dug his comms out of his pocket and tapped out a message to the only number he’d ever used on this thing.

Plans have to be delayed. Security concerns. Tuesday instead. Apologies.

He sent it quickly, watching the text disappear, leaving him with a dark reflection of his own face on the empty screen. What have you done?

Before any reply could come through, he tossed the comms to the floor, rolling over as much as he could, enough to bury his face in Juno’s hair. He smelled of damp and clean shampoo, coconut and clean towels and night air. A honest, planetside scent.

He knew the guilt was coming, building up in his chest, ready to burn him from the inside out. But there was a whole night in between then, to cling to Juno and imagine a future he could never have, a morning where he would open his eyes and the first thing he’d see would be Juno Steel and remember that he’d done a good thing. He’d been there for someone when they’d needed him.

Like he said, if he was going to torture himself, Peter Nureyev was going to do it thoroughly. After all, what was he if he wasn’t good at his job?

#jupeter #juno steel #peter nureyev #high school au #tpp #penumbra podcast #the penumbra fanfic #please reblog and comment!#benzaiten steel #mick mercury #benmick

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princessselene126 · 4 years

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Kaider OTP Headcanons 2

So ya’ll know Kaider is my fave and when someone asked me to do all the otp asks for them... I just have to do it. I looked back at the first set I did too to make sure I’m keeping things somewhat consistent.

1) Who rocks the Ferris Wheel seat and who flips out and begs them to stop? Cinder rocks the ferris wheel. She’s a mechanic, she knows when things are stable and safe. On top of that she’s lot her ability to fear heights after jumping into Artemisia Lake. Kai however... begs her to stop because he doesn’t do well with heights.

2) Who is always horny and will have sex at any time, at any place and at any time? Cinder. I don’t know what by that was my first instinct, and I’m gonna roll with it.

3) Who is more into taking showers/baths together? Who tries to make it relaxing and who tries to make it sexy time? Kai likes taking baths/showers together because it gives them a specific time when they can’t be disturbed my anything. He’s also the one who tries to make it relaxing, and if I’m being consistent here that means Cinder is the one who tries to make it sexy time.

4) Who likes to walk around the house naked and who tells the other to go put some clothes on? Okay they live in a palace so neither of them can walk around naked just anywhere... but they can do it in their large private suite (which I honestly think is the size of a small house). And I’d say Cinder once again to connect back to 2 and 3.

5) Who sleeps on the couch when they get into a fight? One the rare occasion they get into an genuine fight, Cinder will go to the suite she lived in before they got married. But before the night is even over, Kai will come in and crawl into bed next to her saying he’s sorry. Cinder apologizes too. The next morning staff are concerned that the emperor and empress aren’t in their bed, but remember where else they can be found

6) Who takes photos of the other while they sleep? Cinder takes pictures of Kai and shows them to Torin when Kai isn’t around.

7) Who said “I love you” first? and who ends their arguments in a fight with “Because I love you”? Again, can’t remember who said it first in canon. But I want to say Kai ends arguments with “because I love you?” because it shocks Cinder into remembering that she is, in fact, loved, and that there’s no reason for them to be fighting about him being overly concerned that she forgot to eat lunch.

8) Who likes to wear the others sweatshirts? They share all the time because I feel like they’re about the same size. Cinder especially likes the gray hoodie he was wearing the day they met at her booth.

9) Who wakes the other up in the middle of the night to tell them a cool dream they had? Who has the most nightmares, and who sings them back to sleep after? Kai wakes Cinder up, much to her annoyance. Okay let’s be honest, she pretends she’s annoyed, but actually thinks it’s charming he wanted to tell her about it. They both have a lot of nightmares, living through a revolution and almost getting killed multiple times will do that to anyone. When Kai wakes up, Cinder sings him to sleep (after he finds out about her hidden talent). But when Cinder wakes up with a nightmare, she does everything she can to make sure she doesn’t wake Kai--she doesn’t want to bother him. But Kai’s a light sleeper and wakes up anyway. He holds Cinder until she falls back asleep.

10) Who is more likely to cheat? We’re going to pretend this isn’t about cheating on another person because neither of them would ever do that. They love each other too much. Instead we’re gonna say who cheats at games. And it’s Cinder. Definitely Cinder. She has a computer in her brain, remember?

11) Who makes fun of the other for having a crush on them, and who has to remind them that they are in a relationship? "Ohhhhh Cinder you had a crush on me? That’s so embarrassing.” “Kai... we’re married.”

12) Who starts a food fight in the kitchen? Neither. They don’t want to make a mess for the kitchen staff, that would be mean. Once in a while though, one of them will wipe sauce or whipped cream on the other’s cheek, making the other move over to wipe it on the culprit. Usually ends with the person licking it off and then a heavy make out session.

13) Who initiates duets? and who is the better singer? Kai initiates duets because he knows Cinder is a good singer. She begrudgingly joins in with “Kai, you’re not in the right key.”

14) Who starts the hand holding? Who grabs the others butt? Who slides their arm around their waist? Who likes to put their fingers in the belt loops? Initiating hand holding is pretty even between them. I wrote more about that on #13 on the other OTP asks post. Cinder grabs Kai’s butt. He slides his arm around her waist and also rests his chin on her shoulder. Cinder likes to grab Kai’s belt loops, especially to pull him in for a kiss.

15) Who likes writes the others name on their wrist? Kai. Let’s be honest, he’s so in love with Cinder that he acts like a middle school girl sometimes.

16) Who is more seductive when they are drunk? and who is louder in bed? Cinder may be dtf more often than Kai, but Kai is extremely seductive when he’s drunk. It makes Cinder wonder “where the hell did Kai go?” He’s also louder in bed because... yeah.

17) Who is more protective? Once again, equal. Kai is protective of Cinder when it seems like other world leaders or reporters are putting her down. He knows she’s fully capable of defending herself, but sometimes he puts is foot down and goes off. Okay I think I lied, Kai is more protective. Cinder used to be very protective over him, but once Levana was dead and they didn’t have much to worry about anymore, that went away.

18) Who talks to the other while they are sleeping? Kai talks to Cinder while she’s sleeping.

19) Who drives and who has the window seat? Once again, they’re royal so usually they have someone else doing that. But sometimes... sometimes they manage to sneak out and Cinder hotwires one of the hovers. She drives. Kai watches it all go by.

20) Who falls asleep in the others lap and who carries them to bed? They both fall asleep on each other at different times. When Cinder falls asleep on Kai, it’s usually during their down time when he’s reading to her. Kai doesn’t carry her to bed, he just keeps reading and runs his fingers through her hair. When Kai falls asleep on Cinder it’s usually when they’re already in bed and he was looking over documents so there isn’t a need to carry him (though I have said before that Cinder caries Kai). She turns the lights off and lets him stay on her though the night.

21) Who cuts the others hair? Neither. They’re royalty. They have hairdressers for that. There is one time though that thorne managed to get a piece of gum in Cinder’s hair and Kai had to cut it out. Iko and the stylists weren’t too happy about that.

22) Who is super bad at sexting? and who sends them encouraging messages throughout the day? Cinder may be good at being sexy in person, but she’s terrible at it through comms. Kai thinks it’s hilarious. They send each other encouraging messages throughout the day, especially when one knows the other has a busy day ahead.

23) Who thinks they are not good enough for the others love? and who’s more afraid of loosing the other? Who thinks they keep messing up, only for the other to tell them they don’t need to worry? Cinder is our major self doubting queen. She doesn’t think she’s good enough for him even after everything she’s done for Earth and Luna. Kai always tells her that she has nothing to worry about because he loves her with all his heart. Kai is more afraid of losing Cinder. Even though Cinder seems to have nine lives, he still worries. He knows it’s a bit of an irrational fear, he’s working on it. They both think they mess up all the time, it’s part of running a country/continent. But when one is worried they did something wrong, the other is always there to tell them it’s okay and that they can’t do everything right all the time.

24) Who starts random slow dancing with the other in the kitchen? Who holds the other just above the ground and kisses them? Kai starts random slow dancing, but it’s not specifically in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s their room. Sometimes it’s in one of their offices. Sometimes it’s in the empty ballroom. Cinder is stronger than Kai, therefore she’s the one who holds him above the ground and kisses him.

25) Who says shitty puns and sex jokes just to see the other giggle and blush? They both say shitty puns all the time, it’s kinda their thing: puns and snark. But I said in #24 of OTP asks that I think Kai says more “inappropriate things” in an attempt to get her to blush even though he knows she can’t.

26) Who kissed first? Cinder kissed Kai first at the Peace Ball in canon, so... we’re leaving it at that.

27) Who orders take out at two in a morning? and who wakes the other up at three in the morning to go downstairs with them to get a glass of water because it’s too dark? Neither of them orders take out (or call the chef to make them food) instead they head down to the kitchen together and find some leftovers to microwave. And neither asks the other. Kai knows the palace like the back of his hand, and Cinder has a map downloaded into her head just in case she takes a wrong turn.

28) Who writes poems/stories and love songs about the other? Do they sing the songs the write for them? I’ve said it three times now, and I’ll say it again: Cinder can sing. I think once in a while she subconsciously starts singing about Kai. Thankfully he hasn’t found out about that yet.... yet.

29) Who does some crazy stunt to try and impress the other and who ends up driving them to the emergency room after it backfires? Kai. He tries so hard even though he doesn’t have to (seriously, she’s yours and you’re hers, stop trying so hard). On the rare occasion he hurts himself doing something stupid--like slipping while ice skating and getting a concussion--then Cinder calls medical right away while telling him he’s an idiot.

30) Who is embarrassed when they have to wear their glasses and who thinks they look super cute? Kai is embarrassed when he has to wear glasses. He’s very tempted to get lasik, but Cinder says that she loves his glasses and that is enough to make him not.

Send me numbers and a ship

#kaider #linh cinder #cinder #kai #emperor kai #lunar chronicles #the lunar chronicles #otp asks #mine #my post

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aces-to-apples · 5 years

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DVD commentary meme! Whatever part of Family Before Honor you'd like to talk about, please!!

Alrighty, since there isn’t much of it posted and chapter two isn’t very long to start with, I’ll just do that then. Author’s commentary on chapter two of “Family Before Honor” beneath the cut:

Two Months

Domestic: 1) of or relating to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family. 2) no longer wild; tame.

I suppose the first thing to note is the pattern of the chapters and summaries—each chapter, and there’s only going to be three, is titled based on how long it’s been in the fic since Cut’s death and each summary is the theme on which the chapter is built. “Two Months” is more meant to bridge the gap between “Two Hours” and “Two Years” and is based around Rex making the transition from military life to civilian life. Settling into a rhythm with Suu and the kids that works for everyone.

Rebuilding the La’Cuane farm is an undertaking both larger and smaller than Rex had first estimated.

Ah, yes, “La’Cuane”. Because fuck Dave Filoni. Before I watched The Deserter, I was under the impression that Lawquane was most likely pronounced more like “lah-kayn” but, as is my custom, when I learned the “official” version I said “nah, fuck that” and came up with my own. So, “Lawquane” is a mistranslation as so many Basic Twi’lek names are. Because fuck you, Dave.

The first few days are an unending game of hurry-up-and-wait: for Republic forces to finish routing the Seps, for Jesse and the boys to come back to retrieve him when he didn’t answer their comms, for Suu to sniffle and stutter her way through the story they’d cooked up to explain his ‘death.’

I just don’t like “Seppies”, okay? I just don’t. “Covies” I’ll accept from Halo, because Marines, but “Seppies”, “tinnies”, and “shinies”? Mmm, how ‘bout the fuck not?

Then waiting for various scans of the remains to come up positive for Fett’s genetic material, for ‘his’ chip to come up too damaged to ping as more than simply present, for Kenobi—well, it turns out that Kenobi had a softer heart than Rex had ever thought. From what Rex spies, he looks damn near devastated for a few heartbeats after Suu tells him the news.

Departing from @norcumii’s version, “Dead Men Tell No Tales”, I decided that it’s too early in the war for Rex and Obi-Wan to have actually started a romantic relationship and kept it as more of a “what if” kind of thing for them to regret. More pining, that way ;)

Then the children march up to him and Jesse, carrying Rex’s armor in their undersized little arms, and Jek loudly proclaims that they want to keep Rex’s bucket. “He was like a, a superhero,” Jek says earnestly, and next to him Shaeeah nods vigorously. “He was so brave and he saved us from the monsters and we’ll take really good care of it.”

Listen, the La’Cuane kids are just insanely cute, okay? And according to Legends (I think?) they were aware enough that they had several million uncles out there in the universe that Shaeeah wrote a book about it, so they absolutely grew up with stars in their eyes about their extended family.

Suu makes a little scene of chastising them, calling it disrespectful, saying that his brothers should have his helmet, it was only right. Rex is dazed by the layers of manipulation they all go to just for him to keep his face; he’s even more dazed by how well it works.

Kenobi clearly melts at the display but looks to Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase for the final decision. Rex can read the silent conversation between them as clear as day. When Jesse crouches down to gaze intently into the visor of Rex’s helmet, he knows the children have won.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Jesse says decisively, and it’s settled. Quieter, he adds, “I think he’d like that…”

If Rex wasn’t so traumatized right now, he’d be absolutely indignant that Jess just blatantly lied like that. How dare you slander the good name of Captain Rex, good Lieutenant, by implying this small child whom he only knew for a few hours and “died” to protect should keep his face when Kenobi is standing over there trying not to cry. Come say that to his helmet, coward!

Rex doesn’t think about where Cut’s bucket had ended up.

I like throwing out lines that if you think about them for longer than it takes to read them then they might become incredibly depressing. What did happen to his helmet? What happened to his armor?

Jek clutches the helmet to his chest in victory and Shaeeah smiles sweetly and Suu has this fond, exasperated look on her face that Rex assumes comes standard with being eyn buir. The children magnanimously offer the rest of his armor to the men, stacked as neatly as they could manage. Rex stares as Kenobi helps pack it away with the supplies for safekeeping, subtly pocketing his left vambrace as he does.

I’m gonna be honest, at this point canon and fanon have merged so much for me that I don’t even know what’s true and what’s not. Just go with it.

Rex doesn’t think about maybes and what-ifs.

Then Kenobi turns back to Suu and his gaze goes past her to the ruined farmhouse and Rex gets the feeling that Kenobi’s about to do one of those terribly un-Jedi-like things he had never, ever admitted to sometimes doing. He pulls out a credit chip and Rex knows.

He has to turn away from the scene and take careful breaths. Kenobi wasn’t perfect—Cody has spent hours venting to Rex and Wolffe and whoever else managed to meet up at once about his hypocritical, sanctimonious Jedi—but just like Skywalker, just like Tano, just like Windu and Yoda and Secura and every other Jedi, he had his moments of breath-stealing goodness.

Listen, I love some Jedi characters to death, but I have—had, now that Tumblr filters out posts with words like “fuck” and “wank” in the tags when you search for them and pretends they don’t exist—a #fuck the jedi order tag for a reason. The narrative tends to frame both the Jedi Order and most Jedi characters as Righteous and Good, while also having them commit pretty heinous acts and tossing the audience horrific implications/pieces of information at the same time. I’ve said it somewhere before, but The Clone Wars wants to have its “deep, edgy, grimdark exploration of war” and eat its “fun, wacky space adventures” too and while we’ve all noticed the tonal whiplash that the show gives us, it plays hell with the narrative itself. Unspeakably bad shit happens in one arc, and nobody ever mentions it again. The Jedi control a slave army, and that’s Bad, but we’re told that they care about their troops and want to help them Later, which cancels out the Bad and keeps them Good Guys. In universe, it absolutely doesn’t work. We all know the Jedi pull some fuckshit every two weeks, so you bet your ass the clones know it too and routinely get sauced and rant about it to each other where no one can hear them. But they also can be extremely helpful and empathetic between three to five every other Thursday. Sorry, just mentioning #fuck the jedi order sends me off into a rant and I actually deleted a lot of other stuff from this part because Not Important.

Rex should’ve known his last act as a captain, and his first act as a free man, would be finally witnessing one of those moments.

And then Kenobi is gone, his brothers are gone, and the work begins.

- - -

It’s slow-going, and at times back-breaking, and it quickly becomes apparent that the nerve-damage Kix had warned about has set in good and proper. After the children have gone to bed, Rex and Suu go outside to have a rousing argument about what to do—the first of many on the horizon.

I know, I know, it’s common wisdom that disagreeing with your partner are normal but knockdown drag-out arguments Are Not and while I absolutely understand that, I come from a family with an absurdly large number of siblings that subscribe to the Taika Waititi School of Siblings and therefore it’s perfectly reasonable to shout yourself hoarse about some nonsense or other and get mad and stomp off and then two hours later throw a pillow at the other person’s head and say “hey dickhead come look at this funny post what’s for dinner later”. And as such that’s how every sibling relationship I ever write will function because I genuinely don’t understand siblings who don’t drag each other at every opportunity and then pop up around a corner like an awful gremlin to scare them at 2:30 in the morning just to fuck with them.

Suu demands they use part of Kenobi’s credits to pay for surgery to remove and replace the dead arm; Rex counters that he can function with only one arm, but none of them can function without a roof over their heads and walls to shield them from the elements. Suu says that they will contact a doctor she knows on the other side of the planet tomorrow and that’s final; Rex blinks, says understood, sir, and stands down.

The next morning, between frying eggs and waking the little ones, Suu apologizes for 'pulling rank’ on him. Rex can tell the words sit strangely in her civilian mouth. He accepts her apology and says nothing about how he hadn’t even noticed his own automatic reaction to her tone the night before, but. That was exactly how he’d reacted, wasn’t it?

When next they argue, about him ‘overdoing it’ and ‘exerting himself too much’, he’s ready for the gut-punching Commanding Officer Voice and shouts back when it’s his turn to talk. It works for them.

Listen, I don’t know about you, but when I hear certain tones of voice I automatically respond in certain ways. Like the vocal version of being full-named.

- - -

“White is death,” Rex explains once the final layer of base paint has settled on the plastoid. He runs his hand firmly down the prosthesis in its finalized form, from the ball of the synthetic shoulder to the tips of each finger. It’s as much to test that the molecules of paint bind properly as it is to get himself used to the difference. “White is the bones of those long gone. White is the snow that covers the fields in winter. It… stifles, and kills, but it’s also. Possibility, I suppose. White armor is shiny and new, but that just means it has yet to prove itself. You never know what you’re gonna get when you scratch beneath the surface.”

I had a lot more of @izzyovercoffee’s Mandalorian color theory stuff that I ended up cutting just because it didn’t really fit, but you should check them out because they’re suuuuuuper interesting. I love cultural worldbuiding shit like that.

Hanging on his every word, Jek and Shaeeah nod breathlessly. They watch as he picks up a foam brush and dips it into a small pot of 501st blue. He sets it to the very top of the arm and brings it down in a smooth, careful, practiced motion.

“Blue is reliability,” he continues. The unbroken line he draws down to the wrist is thinner than it was on his armor, but copying his armor isn’t the point; the point is to create something new out of its loss. “It’s faithfulness, and consistency. It’s the sky—the very air—and you can always in trust that.”

Listen, if you want subtlety, go read deadcat’s stuff. If you want to get bashed over the head with this shit, you’ve come to the right place.

Lastly, he picks up a fine detail brush and dips it into a second pot.

“This one is different,” he says eventually, gauging his little cadets’ avid expressions. “You use red to honor a parent and the word for ‘red’ in Mando’a is ge’tal—literally, ‘almost blood.’ It’s a complicated word, because to Mando’ade, your family isn’t always going to have the same blood as you. It might not be red at all—it might be green, or blue, or something else entirely. But with family, you’re always ready to spill others’ or your own in order to protect them; it’s about honor… and love.”

“Mom,” Shaeeah deduces, her voice quiet as a mouse as they all gaze at the sharp, cutting magenta that coats the brush.

Rex nods.

“Just so.” He twirls the brush around and offers it to them. “Now, what should we do with it?”

Listen, it’s very important to me that we cut that toxic masculinity shit out of Star Wars, stop linking pink to femininity, more important stop linking femininity to weakness, and ultimately I want to see more clones wearing pink. Pink flowers and curlicues mixed in with 501st blue on Rex’s sick robot arm? Sign me the fuck up.

—

Aaaaand that’s the Author’s Commentary on Chapter Two of Family Before Dishonor, hope you enjoyed!

#ask meme #dvd commentary meme #answered asks #by apples #norcumii #family before honor #star wars #the clone wars #captain rex #suu lawquane #sw fic

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maychorian · 6 years

Text

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #53

I am THIS close to actually and totally being caught up on reccing everything I want to rec. Two days behind now. Next week maybe I’ll actually be there.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

flambe by againstmygreeleaf Words: 2,527 Author’s Summary: Generally soup does not warrant a fruit’s presence, but this is a space fruit and it has a suitable savory tang. My Comments: What a great Hunk-centric sickfic. There just aren’t enough of them. Not even close.

Cookies are Best When Shared with Friends by Mikiri for MoonlitWaterSunnyRiver Words: 1,459 Author’s Summary: Hunk was used to dealing with Lance, and he was getting used to dealing with Keith. Either way, Hunk was just glad to have fun with his friends. My Comments: Daw, so adorable. I love these three becoming friends.

A Little Voice by ihaveacleverfandomurl Words: 1,983 Author’s Summary: Shiro’s hesitant to touch the kid, to scare him, but he’s even more hesitant to leave him here to shiver in his sleep, cuddled up with nothing next to long-dead blackened logs. So gently, he places a hand on the kid’s head. Not expecting a near-instantaneous squeak and jump and roll away, across the ground. The kid lands in a defensive posture, and his eyes are darting between the two men, now some feet away from his landing spot.Shiro and Matt find a kid on their camping trip to get away from the pressures of being seniors in high school. Keith may be twitchy and scared, but Shiro is ready to help him in any way he can. But Keith might not stick around forever. My Comments: Aw man, poor tiny Keith, but I love how Shiro and Matt just drop everything to help him and pour their hearts and souls into it.

I’m Only a Crack by Anonymous Words: 6,033 Author’s Summary: There’s not much he knows. He doesn’t know where he is, or who put him here. He doesn’t know how long he’s been here, or why he was put here at all. He doesn’t know who he is. He doesn’t even know his own name. The one thing that he does know is that he has to survive. And to do that he needs to escape, before it’s too late. My Comments: Poor Shiro, getting his mind almost completely wiped like that, but I adored how protective everyone was, and cuddly Hunk was so cute. The team protectiveness and eventual solution were great.

Get Down with the Sickness by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 10,856 Author’s Summary: Catching space colds is nothing new to Shiro. But this particular bug is nasty and especially contagious. The answer: Quarantine My Comments: So indulgent and satisfying, going through all the stages of the prototypical sickfic, from delirium to recovery. Reading this was like sinking into a hot bath.

Late Nights by Sohotthateveryonedied Words: 2,376 Author’s Summary: Shiro is awoken one night to find a bruised and bloodied Keith at his door after yet another fight. My Comments: Aw, poor kids. It would have been very frustrating to be Keith’s friend, I think. But he very much needs one. Good job Shiro for being there.

The Erebrean Period by Mira_Jade Words: 4,752 Author’s Summary: The Erebrean Period: A span of the cosmic timescale stretching from the formation of the proto-sun, to the emission of its first light. Or: A glimpse of a family, as it once was, long ago. My Comments: This is a gorgeous, lyrical fic, beautiful to read, but with an undercurrent of absolute dread and inevitability. It feels like the last step off a cliff. Highly recommended.

The (Not-So-)Necessary Rescue by A_Zap Words: 4,864 Author’s Summary: Lance has been captured by the Galra, and Shiro and the rest of the team rush to save him. Due to a bit of luck, they manage to get there to rescue him but… Well, it turns out that it may not have been as necessary as Shiro thought. In which Shiro learns that he has severely underestimated Lance and Lance is freaking awesome. My Comments: This was a fun break from all those angsty fics where Lance gets captured, much as I love those. Granted, he had a healthy dose of luck assisting him, but he has skills too. It was fun to see everyone’s reactions.

Wings of a Lion by Eastofthemoon Words: 6,120 Author’s Summary: Shiro wanted to strengthen his bond with the Black Lion, but he never dreamed it would go this far. My Comments: Really fun fic in which Shiro gets wings and everyone, including him, has to adjust.

Back in Black by ptw30 Words: 5,584 Author’s Summary: In honor of Shiro Week 2017 - here is a helping of gen fics to celebrate my favorite paladin, Shiro! All prompts, save day 7, are written sometime in season 5 after Shiro escapes his time in Galra captivity. All fics are gen.Day 1: Space/Time (both!) - “Burritos and What They Mean in Space" Day 2: Original - “The Greatest Gift" Day 3: Break/Mend (both!) - "Lullaby" Day 4: The Black Bayard - "The Black Bayard’s True Form" Day 5: Companion - "Things to Do in the Astral Plane When You’re Bored" Day 6: Duty - "A Paladin’s Sacred Duty" Day 7: Free Day/AU - Blade!Shiro Story - "Not Ready” My Comments: Great collection of Shiro-centric ficlets. I think day five is my favorite, but they’re all worth reading.

Mind Games by Rangergirl3 Words: 6,392 Author’s Summary: There’s more than one way to break a person. My Comments: Some really brutal torture scenes here, with Keith as victim. Great job to the rest of the team rallying around him, though.

Worthless by The_Angst_Chronicles for Tidalstep Words: 15,939 Author’s Summary: Lance breaks down after a mission, not knowing that his comm was on. The rest of the team overhears. My Comments: Hecks yeah, Lance having a breakdown and everyone else pulling him back together. I freaking love these fics, and this is a good one. Lots of good cuddling, lots of good reassurance. Maybe a wee bit over the top, but hey, sometimes I like that. I enjoyed this one thoroughly.

Like a Good Pair of Headphones by yet_intrepid for Agapostemon Words: 958 Author’s Summary: Hey,” says Matt, “are those my headphones?” Pidge looks up from flying the wacky green lion ship that she apparently flies, and frowns at him. “What?” “My headphones,” Matt repeats, waving them at her. They weren’t in her bag so much as on top of it, so he wasn’t prying. “Come on, Pidge. The limited edition ones I bought? There’s like fifty pair of these in the entire world, so don’t try and tell me this isn’t the one that was already in our house.” My Comments: This author is absolutely amazing with sibling relationships. They feel so perfectly realistic, antagonistic and comforting by turns, exactly like real life. Pidge and Matt have been through a lot, and they need to reconnect.

Drift Away by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 2,737 Author’s Summary: After a long series of missions and forming Voltron, the bond sticks as the team goes to bed. Shiro tries to stay awake. My Comments: This is so soft and peaceful and warm, despite the brief moments of fear. It just really made me feel good.

Be Ready and Be Brave by yet_intrepid Words: 4,370 Author’s Summary: “Yeah,” says Shiro. “Your mom seems chill.” “She’s really chill,” Hunk says. “She gets stressed a lot, though. Or she did. She was working two jobs before. But she’s great; I love her.” And then he looks at Shiro expectantly, like he’s expecting Shiro to praise his dad in turn. And Shiro wants to. He does. But he can’t get words out of his throat. My Comments: Mind the tags. This is an extremely tense and disturbing portrayal of an abusive situation, though no abuse in shown on screen, just for Shiro’s mindset and the undercurrent of fear in the fic. But it’s really, really good, I mean amazing, so if you don’t have triggers you should definitely read it. Background Shallura, Shatt, and Hance.

Afraid to Get Close by Cocopops1995 Words: 1,274 Author’s Summary: Keith’s pretty sure it started when his mother left him, but he thinks it was after the fourth or fifth foster family gave up on him he really stopped allowing people to get close to him. My Comments: Aw man, poor Keith. I’m so glad he finally got a good hug. He needs it.

And Still the Stars by Bubblekilt Words: 2,279 Author’s Summary: Shiro has a bad night. Black helps, in her way. Written for Shiro Week 2017, Day 1: Space. My Comments: Aww, Black is a good kitty mama. <3

If I Could Melt Your Heart by Cocopops1995 Words: 2,291 Author’s Summary: Keith is missing. Shiro and the team do their best to find him. My Comments: Alternate perspective on a previously recced fic. This version was even better for those achy hc feels. Love the protectiveness, as always.

What goes unseen by kafeicappuccino Words: 2,184 Author’s Summary: ‘They’re everywhere, Takashi.’ His grandfather had promised, a warm smile on his lips, as though he were sharing something precious. ‘No matter where you go, they’re there, but don’t worry. They’re not all bad.’ — He remembered those eyes from almost fifteen years ago, ones that belonged to a youthful and pale face, and that was exactly the problem.Neither hadn’t changed in the slightest. My Comments: What a cool little fantasy AU. I like the use of Japanese mythology, and Shiro’s POV both as a child and as an adult was completely believable. I would read more of this concept.

Home Is Far; Your Arms Are Here by seekingsquake Words: 1,162 Author’s Summary: Maybe… maybe if they have a sleepover, thinking about home won’t hurt so much. Maybe if Lance keeps him wrapped up, Hunk will have the courage to look out the window. My Comments: Aw, poor boys. Hunk and Lance are both homesick and hurting, but at least they have each other.

I’m Your Captain by EagleInFlight Words: 8,045 (3/?) Author’s Summary: **SEQUEL TO WORDS FAIL** Summary: It’d been four years since Lance has last been home. Four years of war, of pain, of home-sickness, of fighting. Today is the day he’ll see the shores of Varadero Beach, he’ll receive his mother’s bone-crushing hug, he’ll see his big family of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and he’ll see his brother who he left on bad terms with. Only…they can’t know he’s a Paladin of Voltron. This was not the family reunion Lance expected.But it was everything he needed. My Comments: Sequel to a previously recced fic, this is a bittersweet and heartwarming homecoming for Lance. I’m glad Keith is there for moral support, with all the complicated family issues going on. I’ll be following this one avidly.

Under the Weight of Belief by yet_intrepid Words: 3,801 Author’s Summary: Before all this, Shiro used to be somebody. One of the best pilots in the Rebel Alliance. He loved his x-wing and he trained new recruits and he flew missions, so many missions, until one went wrong. A Star Wars Original Trilogy AU for Shiro Week 2017! Day 1 - Time/Space and Day 2 - Original/Divergent. My Comments: Man, the beginning of this is so brutal, but the comfort at the end is so good. It really really hurts to see Shiro as a literal slave, but the rescue and the hug at the end almost made it worth it.

Pride And Joy by prettyshiroic (AnalystProductions) Words: 5,850 Author’s Summary: Keith wears the colour red with pride. Sometimes, he wears it with joy. My Comments: Daww, this is the CUTEST. Happy Keith is so sweet and adorable, and singing to mice? Man, I’ve been there.

Children of the Lion Goddess by RukiaG Words: 5,471 Author’s Summary: Altean mythology claims that the Lion Goddess created the Universe, and that her four children protect Altea of all evil. However, Altea and its solar system is long gone, its people hunted down and slaughtered by order of Emperor Zarkon, its culture eradicated and its gods forgotten. Forgotten, but not dead, and soon the Voltron Paladins will find out that some traces of Altea still remain. Or: Team Voltron finds an Altean temple and somehow Shiro is adopted by a magical space lioness. My Comments: I did not read the summary for this very carefully before I started reading, so at first I thought it was just a fun exploration fic, like an episode of Star Trek or Stargate. Partway through, though, it takes a turn for the AMAZING and ADORABLE. Try it out. I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.

Calls Me On and On by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 7,614 Author’s Summary: Shiro: Then and now My Comments: This fic is absolutely brilliant, one of bosstoaster’s best works ever, and she’s done some amazing, amazing stuff. I loved the way past and present were interwoven, and the contrast between Shiro then and now and how that eventually flipped on its head. A really, really good read, felt like a whole universe in a tiny fic.

i spy with my little eye, something beginning with squeak by prettyshiroic (AnalystProductions) Words: 5,694 Author’s Summary: “Look it doesn’t - it doesn’t matter just, it’s - what are you doing here?!” The mouse looks up at Keith. It understands what he’s saying, it absolutely does. But it’s purposefully choosing to ignore his question. The audacity. Keith grits his teeth, running a hand through his hair. It’s not like they can go all the way back to the castle now. The planning for the mission is underway and they’ll be taking off soon. Probably as soon as tomorrow, even. The war won’t wait for them. They have to keep going. Mice and all. “You can’t be here. It’s too dangerous it -” the mouse is tiny, comfortably fitting in his hand. “You’re a mouse?!” Keith exclaims, voice low. It’s ridiculous. This cannot be real, but it is. The yellow mouse flexes its arms with gusto, pulling all kinds of poses as if to say it’s strong and perfectly capable of fighting in this war. Keith seriously doubts that. —- Keith leaves for the Blade of Marmora, and soon discovers - in more ways than expected - he’s not alone… My Comments: This is SUPER sweet. Platt’s mannerisms felt very mouselike, and I loved the reason he was there. Keith also has a lovely roommate in a not-dead Regris, which is bonus.

Back from the Edge by Emerald_Ashes Words: 2,603 (1/?) Author’s Summary: The paladins are still recuperating after the events that transpired between them and the Galra. Yet the war continues. They’ve been lucky to avoid battle for as long as they have, but soon enough they will be summoned into the fray once more. And while Lance is healing, he has to learn to deal with his new demons. My Comments: I am VERY excited for this sequel to one of my favorite hurt!Lance fics by one of my favorite hurt!Lance authors. It’s such a good aftermath, and already it’s pushing a lot of my buttons, like a LOT of them, with Lance feeling weak and tired and lonely in recovery and just needing attention but also feeling bad for needing attention. Like I just wanna coo at him and wrap him in blankets and give him tea and cookies. Fortunately he has a loving team to do that for me, but I can’t help the way I feel. Can’t wait for more.

Try to Try Hard by yet_intrepid Words: 4,874 Author’s Summary: “Shiro,” Keith says, and he tries to be calm. “Are you…okay?” Shiro lifts his head a little. Keith has never seen him so pale. The blood is still pumping out and Keith can’t stop staring at it. He should fix it. He should fix it. He doesn’t know how. [Shiro loses his hand, Aladdin AU edition. Written for Shiro Week Day 3: Break/Mend and Day 5: Isolation/Companion.] My Comments: The fic this is prequel to is mostly fluffy and cute, but this fic is very much not those things. It’s brutal and sad, but the second chapter has some very nice comforting and a very cute baby Lance to kinda sorta maybe make up a little bit for Shiro getting his hand chopped off with an axe. Somewhat.

Fear Itself by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 7,277 Author’s Summary: After an assassination attempt, Slav demands asks that the paladins come to protect him. With seven pilots, five lions, and one castle, they end up able to send along one person. Ryou volunteers himself. Kind of. He may not have thought this through very well. Shiro Week 2017, Day 2: Original/Divergent My Comments: I love this fic SO much. Ryou is wonderful, and the Slav characterization is perfect, somehow annoying and endearing at the same time, just like he is in the show. I love how hard Ryou worked to try to understand Slav and meet him on an emotional level, even while he had to hold back his irritation. He did a great job. I’m proud of him.

Through Adversity to the Stars by Sylindara Words: 8,225 Author’s Summary: Hunk bonds with his teammates and learns to fly. My Comments: This is soooo good, and feels so very canon. In fact I’m just gonna take it as canon. Something like this absolutely happened in between the scenes in the first season. I loved Hunk bonding with everyone, especially in the lessons with Shiro. Wonderful fic.

parallel by buttered_onions Words: 5,656 Author’s Summary: The failure of the Kerberos mission changes everything. Posted as a chaptered fill for vldplatonicweek: Day Two: Inside/Outside. Keith and his daemon…adjust. Day Three: Trick/Treat. Pidge and her daemon keep their promise. Day Five: Change/Growth. Keith and Tarryn learn to wait, and to react. Day Six: Distance/Proximity. Shiro returns home. My Comments: My only complaint about this is that it’s just too short. The worldbuilding is lovely and the characterization is spot on and the plot is fun. And I just want way, way more.

Care by bookwormgir1LH Words: 6,840 Author’s Summary: Five times Coran looked after his team when they were sick, and the one time they took care of him.Cuddle number 8: Reluctantly My Comments: This is so very sweet and hearfelt and genuine. I love Coran taking care of all his kids, and I love his kids taking care of him.

#voltron legendary defender #weekly voltron fic recs #fic rec #vldgen

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notessauvages · 4 years

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Premier texte. Citoyenneté, consommation et séduction

Avant-propos : Ce texte est celui qui m’a donné l’idée, et l’envie, d’entamer ce blog. Je l’ai posté initialement sur mon Facebook personnel, où je l’ai traduit en anglais à la demande d’un ami égyptien. Je l’aime beaucoup. Il n’est pas très ficelé, il est écrit comme ça, au flot de ma pensée, sans savoir où j’allais terminer.

Me balader un peu en Égypte m’a fait comprendre à quel point dans notre société, la maîtrise de l’ « adulteté », elle passe largement par la maîtrise de sa sexualité, de son corps et de sa capacité à susciter le désir en l’autre. On en avait déjà discuté de ça avec une amie, qui m’avait fait remarquer la sorte de transition puissante qui s’opère chez les gens après leur « première fois ». Et oui, quelque part, c’est parce que je me sens suffisamment confiante en ma sensualité, en ma capacité agir en sujet sexuel, que je me suis sentie capable d’argumenter fort face à des militaires cette année, bien que parfois je n’avais pas forcément des vues aussi précises qu’eux sur les situations qu’on a discutées. C’est parce que j’y vais à l’instinct. Parce que je ne joue pas à savoir plus fort, je joue à poser des questions. Je relisais l’article de Libération sur les tradis du lycée militaire : « Ils n’ont aucune vision complexe du monde, assène un de leurs anciens professeurs. La sensualité, la sexualité, ils ne connaissent pas. Pour certains, une fille c’est une sœur ou une maman.». Pourquoi c’est parce que je me sens capable de susciter le désir que je me sens capable de parler de politique ? Parce que c’est comme ça que je me sens humaine et que je me sens « connectable » à l’autre, et que je me sens capable de nous faire ressentir une commune humanité.  Je n’avais jamais vraiment bien compris le lien entre sexualité, corps et politique ; juste senti, un peu à l’instinct, ça aussi. Et c’est là que ma critique de l’Instagram du ministère des Armées pour le séminaire d’Analyse des politiques étrangères en M2 prend vraiment sens. J’avais voulu montrer comment on utilisait les outils de la séduction pour recruter : l’humour, l’esthétique, à grand renfort d’émoticônes, de questions pour lancer l’interaction, de photos d’action et de paysages grandioses… Contrairement au ministère des Sport, par exemple, qui utilise son Instragram pour présenter son action en publiant des indicateurs chiffrés et des tableaux. Chez les militaires en 2019, on ne joue plus le jeu de l’autoritaire pour recruter, on ne passe plus par de la conscription de classe d’âge mais on séduit. On séduit, on séduit… Comme les publicitaires du marketing, comme ceux qui veulent faire acheter, faire voter, faire aimer. D’où la critique du libidinal de Clouscard dans la société de consommation. Sauf que cette société de consommation elle est aussi étendue aux administrations publiques dans ce cas là.

L’idée de la sociologie là dessus ça doit être quoi, alors ? Montrer les transformations des régimes de pouvoir ? Oui, comme dit Deleuze, on passe des sociétés de souveraineté aux sociétés disciplinaires à des sociétés de contrôle. On contrôle, non plus par l’enfermement (en hôpital, en prison) mais par des contrôles à domicile, de la sous-traitance… Mais le marketing, c’est une autre forme du contrôle. Dans le néolibéral, il y a l’encadrement par la bureaucratie néolibérale de Béatrice Hibou mais pas seulement : il y a aussi la norme « soft », « molle », qui passe par de la séduction, de la publicité, du marketing. Alors, ça pourrait être un mode de pouvoir plus « cool » que la contrainte purement autoritaire, et formulée comme telle, ou même disciplinaire, parce qu’on aurait toujours le choix de « refuser » un choix de consommation… Mais comment le « choix de consommation » est-il une organisation du pouvoir qui est contraignante ? De ça, on n’en parle pas en science politique. En cinq ans à Paris 1, on ne l’a jamais abordé, même de loin. Est-ce qu’elle empêche de penser le collectif ? Pourtant, on peut boycotter, et jouer « l’exit » (Hirshmann), éventuellement le « voice » si on se construit en association de consommateurs, produire un discours sur son mode de consommation : dire qu’on achète ceci parce qu’on y croit. Mais est-ce qu’on peut penser le social à travers le choix de consommation ? Le citoyen-consommateur. Voilà un personnage qui est sous-étudié en science politique. Comment on pense son pouvoir? D'autant plus qu’il s’institutionnalise dans l’État aussi, ce n’est pas seulement des trucs qui se développent sur les réseaux sociaux ou dans les magazines. Comment cette figure s’articule au citoyen.ne-militant.e de parti ? Est-ce qu’il le remplace, est-ce qu’il l’entrave, est-ce qu’on peut conjuguer les deux ? Comment penser la citoyenneté dans une société néolibérale, qui fait passer par le marché toute solution politique ? Ça va avec aussi : comment on pense le citoyen.ne-entrepreneur.e ? Comment on pense la "responsabilité sociale et environnementale" des entreprises ?

- Article de Libération : https://www.liberation.fr/…/lycee-saint-cyr-une-machine-a-b… - Vidéo de Deleuze : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ybvyj_Pk7M - Bouquins de Clouscard : Néo-fascisme et idéologie du désir, 1973 (rééditions 1999, 2008) et Le Capitalisme de la séduction, Critique de la social-démocratie, Éditions sociales 1981 (réédition 2006) - Exit, Voice, and Loyalty d'Albert Hirshman, 1970 : « Exit » (sortie, quitter, rage-quitter), « voice » (crier, protester, dire qu’on n’est pas d’accord) et « loyalty » (prendre sur soi et accepter) : trois comportements face à une situation qui ne nous convient pas, par exemple un.e consommateur.e face à un produit qui aurait évolué. - Travaux de Béatrice Hibou : de l'économie politique, sur la diffusion dans les administrations, celles du public et celles du privé, de mêmes manières de faire et de penser (normes bureaucratiques telles que le feedback, le New Management, l'utilisation du chiffre pour rendre "techniques" des choix qui sont politiques, utilisation de formulaires à répétitions etc etc)

———

Wandering a bit in Egypt made me understand how much in our society, the mastering of « adult-ry » have strong relations with mastery of one’s sexuality, body and ability to creat desire in the other. We’ve already been talking about that with a friend, who made me notice the kind of very very powerful transition that you see in people after their « first time ». And yes, somehow, it is because i feel enough confident in my sensuality, my ability to act as a sexual subject, that i felt able to argue in front of militaries this year [because i have officers in my academic promotion], even if sometimes i didn’t have views as precise as they could have had on the situations we were discussing. It’s because i went with instinct. Because i dont play at knowing stronger, i play at asking question. I was re-reading the article of Libération [French newspaper, left-wing] on the « tradi » [for ‘traditionnal’ ; they are students with conservative thoughts and practices in military high school, using Catholic rethorics to justify antifeminism, racism, that they do physical and moral humiliations to the younger etc] in the military high school [which is actually located in the city i grew up in] : « They don’t have any complex vision of the world, tells one of their former professors. Sensuality, sexuality, they don’t know. For some of them, a girl is either a sister or a mum ». Why is it because i feel able to suscitate desire that i feel able to talk about politics ? Because that’s how i feel human and « connectable » to the other, and able to make us feel our common humanity.

I never really understood the relation between sexuality, body and politics ; just felt it, a bit through instinct, too. And that’s were my critics of the [French] Ministry of Army’s Instagram account for a seminary in Master 2 becomes meaningful. I wanted to show how they use tools of seduction in their communication aiming at recruitment [of soldiers] : humour, aesthetics, using emojis, questions to create interaction, action pictures, amazing landscapes… It is different from the account of the [French] Ministry of Sports, for example, which uses his Instagram account to present his action by publications with numbered indicators and tables. The [French] military in 2019 don’t play the game of authority to recruit, the don’t use obligatory conscription of a full age class anymore, but seduce. Seduce, seduce… Just like the marketing advertisers seduce, those who aim at make others buy, make others vote, make others love. From here we can jump to the critics of the libidinal by Michel Clouscard [French philosopher from the 80s, that no one reads anymore] in the society of consumption. Except that, in this case, the society of consumption can be extended to public administrations.

Then the discourse of sociology here, what should it be? Showing the transformations of power regimes ? Yes, as Deleuze says, we went from sovereignty societies to disciplinary societies to control societies. We control, no more through ‘enclosure’ [not really sure of the translation, but ‘fermer’ in French means ‘to close’… الانغلاق it works?] (in hospitals, in prison) but through controls at-home, subcontracting… But the marketing is another form of control. In the neoliberal, there is framing by the neoliberal bureaucracy showed by Béatrice Hibou [see notes at the bottom], but not only : there is also the « soft » norm, which passes through seduction, publicity, marketing. So it could be a mode of power « cooler » than the purely authoritarian constraint, or formulated in this manner, or even disciplinary, because we’d have the choice to « refuse » a consumption choice… But how is « choices of consomption » an organisation of power that is restrictive ? This we never talk about in political science. In five years in Paris 1 [university], we never addressed it. Does it prevent from thinking the collective ? Yet we can boycott, play « exit » (Hirshmann) ; maybe play « voice » if we associate ourselves in a consumer association ; produce a discourse on one’s consuming mode : saying that we buy this because we believe it [i didn’t write it, but masalan going to a genderly-mix gym because we believe in gender mixity…]. But can we think the social through a choice of consumption ? The citizen-consumer. Here is a character that is under-studied in political science. How do we think his/her power ? Moreover he’s getting institutionalised in the State too, it’s not only stuff that are developing on social network or in magazines. How does this figures articulates with the citizen-militant in a party ? Does he replace it, jeopardise it [not the exact translation but i like this word in English… and anyway, i don’t master the precise connotations], or could we conjugate both ? How can we think citizenship in a neoliberal society, that takes every political solution through the market lense ? And it goes along : how do you think the citizen-entrepreneur ? How do you think the « social and environnemental responsibility » of companies?

- Article by Libération : https://www.liberation.fr/…/lycee-saint-cyr-une-machine-a-b… - Video of a conference by Deleuze : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ybvyj_Pk7M - Books by Clouscard : Néo-fascisme et idéologie du désir (Neo-Fascism and Ideology of Desire), 1973 (rééditions 1999, 2008) et Le Capitalisme de la séduction, Critique de la social-démocratie (Capitalisme of Séduction, A critic of social-democracy), Éditions sociales 1981 (réédition 2006) - Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, by Albert Hirshman, 1970 : « Exit » (going out, quit), « voice » (shout, protesting, saying that we don’t agree) and « loyalty » (taking on yourself and accept) : three behaviours in front of a situation that does not convene us, for example a consumer facing a product whose quality went down. - Works by Béatrice Hibou : in political economy, on diffusion in administrations, in public and public spheres, of same manners to act and think (bureaucratic norms, such as feedback, New Public Management, use of numbers to make "technical" choices that are actually political, use of a growing multiplicity of forms etc etc)

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adultlearner3-blog · 4 years

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6.4 5 Additional Artifacts

2.1 Generational Differences:

3 things I learned:

Individuals from different generations learn differently and have different expectations about life and learning i.e. Generation Y vs Millennials.

Incidental learning occurred for over 50% more common within the relatively younger group

It can’t clearly be concluded that age differences result in differences in learning

2 things I found interesting:

Children are more likely to accept what they are told by educators or other figures of authority. I find this interesting because we are constantly told in school to think critically rather than just accept what we are told

Older readers were 3 times more likely to disagree with self-help authors. This may be because they have more life experiences than the younger generations.

1 question I still have:

I wish there was more information on why the younger generations are less goal oriented when attempting to learn something new. The article mentioned that several subjects did not expect to learn anything but ended up learning quite a bit. Is this because the learner wasn’t motivated to learn something new or because they truly thought they weren’t going to learn anything?

3.1 Teambuilding:

One ice breaker that I've played before and thought was effective is Diversity Bingo. Learners are all provided with the same bingo card and asked to go around the classroom and find people who match the objectives on the card and fill out their name. I think this is a great exercise because it encourages students to move around and meet new people. It also allows students to get to know their classmates on a deeper level and create meaningful relationships. It is up to the teacher to provide a prize to the first person to fill the card or a row. Teachers should also limit the amount the number of squares each person fills out on another persons card to either 1 or 2.

When playing this game I was able to discover some interesting facts from my peers. It also allowed for a diverse and inclusive classroom, one where diversity is encouraged. Opening up and sharing your experiences with other classmates allowed me to create lastly relationships with my classmates in a fun way.

3.4 Fostering Collaboration

When I was teaching Communications Technology is a high school in York Region I encouraged collaboration through a variety of methods.

The first method was by learning from my fellow teachers. During lunch and breaks I would reach out to the other Comm Tech teachers to see the kinds of assignments they were giving their students. We shared lesson plans and critiqued each other on what we thought could be improved and what was successful. We brainstormed new assessment techniques and created new units. Another way I fostered a collaborative environment was by asking the students what they wanted to learn. After hearing one student mention that they wanted to learn how to program, I devised a unit on html and css. I created assignments for them and taught them the basics. In doing so I created a safe environment, one where a student’s voice is heard and one that allowed them to be in charge of their learning. I also created games for them where we would assess different code packages to see what was wrong with the code (ie. Syntax errors, typos, etc). They would complete these exercises in small groups and then share with the class. As a team they built the confidence to speak up and as a result were able to learn from each other. If arguments were to arise we would come to a solution together while fostering mutual respect.

When researching this topic I found this article https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-strategies-deepen-student-collaboration-mary-burns which I thought was very helpful. Burns states that creating group work isn’t enough to create a collaborative environment. Students also need to feel challenged and engaged. There has to be enough work for all the students so that 1 student isn’t left doing all the work. Educators also have to prepare their students for group work, they can’t just be given an assignment and expect to succeed. They need to “establish expectations and norms for working together “ and be taught how to listen to one another.

4.2 RTI

The lesson I will be reviewing is from my lesson from the previous task. Students will be asked to research an industry hazard and explain the steps they can take to prevent this hazard in the form of a podcast or video. The lesson involves a video as well as oral lesson provided by the teacher. Students will be given access to the video and a summary to review on their own.

Tier 1: All the students will be taught in a standard classroom environment. Students will be taught using various forms ie, video, oral, class discussion and written. The lesson will incorporate UDL and DI teaching methods. They will discuss which videos and podcasts are successful and which aren’t. They are given a choice of creating a video or podcast to provide student choice. Students are given the opportunity to ask questions about anything they may find unclear. During this entire process the educator will be formatively assessing the students to see which ones are grasping the concept and which aren’t.

Tier 2: The students that were struggling to understand the concept are identified and placed in small groups with similar comprehension difficulties. They are given extra help and homework. They are also given different readings while their results are closely observed. Once they’ve successfully grasped the concept they are moved back to tier 1. In relation to my lesson, I would provide students with different videos and review the concepts in these smaller groups. I would allow for more discussion between the group to understand what exactly they are having trouble comprehending. Maybe creating a small group assignment would also allow students to teach each other and collaborate. The students that have then mastered the content would be placed back in tier 1 while the others who are still struggling would be placed in tier 3.

Tier 3: This tier requires more teaching time either in very small groups or individualized learning. Educators from outside the classroom are brought in to facilitate the learning. The content is taught outside of the classroom and individually catered to each student. At this point, students may be identified with an LD and given an IEP. It’s not clear whether the original educator is responsible for the learning materials or whether the external resource provides this content. I would provide the external resource with my observations as well as the teaching methods I have practiced in class / in the tier 2 setting. These students would also require additional accommodations based on learning style and LD.

5.3 Feedback for Metacognition

Be detailed with feedback – why they did that well, why they didn’t

Show students you want them to succeed

Build trust

Teach students how to give feedback to themselves

Allow for peer reviews

Provide feedback in a timely fashion

Provide feedback face to face

Ensure that feedback is clear

Provide feedback in different formats

Provide support for struggling students

Don’t

Control learners

Compare students

Try to make feedback as positive as possible

Rely heavily on tests and examinations

Give general feedback

Foster competition

Micro manage

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bolbianddolanhouse · 4 years

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BNHA self insert AU

Nani the heck is this? Read here!

Chapter 29: You Better Watch Out, You Better Watch Out, YOU BETTER WATCH OUT!

Weeks pass and nobody really notices just how close Shinso and I are growing close, which is a good thing because things school wise are getting serious.

-Comm and Strats class, Saturday at an undisclosed training ground-

“Hey Palma-san” Mina asks me curiously “did you get a uniform redesign? I don’t remember your boots going up your calves.”

“Hm? OH yea I did” I was confused at first but I laughed it off “I tested the limits of my getup with a stamina test a while back and when I banged up my legs plus ripped the jumpsuit,” I gave a quick twirl to show everyone in the girls locker room “they redesigned everything to accommodate my extremes while carrying all my weaponry.”

“I love the sleeker design!” Momo commented “it makes your butt look really good instead of that poofy, diaper design.”

“Right! I was really happy that they rid me of diaper ass” I responded as I put my visor on “now we better get going before Tenya blows that stupid whistle.”

Everyone in our class gathered to the meeting spot to await instructions, Aizawa walks in with the look of stress in his eyes.

“Alright class, we have special training in store” he clicks his pen “objective is to go in groups of 3 to the keypoint, all 3 have unique keys to unlock the machine. So all 3 of you have to somehow work together to get the keys at the endpoint.” He scans the class “any questions?”

“Yes I have a question” I raise my hand “whats the catch?”

“Oh you caught me Miss Palma” Aizawa smiles “there’s a team of snipers in training all around the area that fire at will, though not lethal, it will hurt and once hit” he makes a hand gesture “that person is out of the race.”

That really up’d the stakes and strategies were made. We lined up to get into our groups, each of us were given a number and we’re supposed to team up with those with the same number. “Oh geez” I groaned as I saw Iida and Kirishima on my team “you two? I’d rather get a bullet in my butthole.”

“Aww don’t be like that Miss Agent” Kirishima puts his arm around me and Iida “we’re the top dogs of the class! And together we’ll succeed, it’ll be manly as hell!”

“Yes, well, he has a point Ita” Iida says as he fixes his glasses “you’re our biggest asset because of strategy, I’m the agility and Kirishima is the defense.”

“I guess” I sigh as I get handed my key “just please, if I say to take cover, do it for the love of Ru Paul Charles because you can’t escape a hail of projectiles.”

“Will do!” the two boys affirm with me. We get released into the area and I get on high alert because I doubt that the others will survive snipers, regardless of how good they are. “Ita let me carry you across the-”

“I can do it myself thank you Tenya” I say confidently as I walk across the log bridge first “all clear, watch out for moss.”

“Why do you do that Iida-kun?” asked Kirishima as they crossed “she said to not waste our energy on that unless we got injured.”

“I know but” he sighs “it’s like she’s been avoiding me and I just want to help her out as much as possible” he jumped down once he reached the other side “I’m trying to alleviate the stress.”

“She doesn’t need much help” Kirishima said as he followed behind “look at her leadership and confidence, it’s a lot better than when we first met her” he puts his hand on Iida’s shoulder “maybe lay off her? I know you like her but I don’t think this is the right place to-”

“SHHHH! guys” she demanded as she grouched down on the ground “we’re in the last leg of the race, high probability of getting shot now” she turns to the other two “Tenya, put your face plate down and Kirishima, activate your quirk on full body hardening” she puts her visor down “lets not risk ourselves by giving them any type of opening.”

“What makes you so sure?” asked Iida.

“Look, down here” they look where she pointed “tranquilizer darts, one will paralyze you, two will sedate you, three of them and it’s bedtime” she stands up “this whole area is littered with them, proceed with caution.” We pick up speed as we moved toward the goal, passing some paralyzed classmates.

“Sheesh they got Midoriya” Kirishima cringed as we passed Midoriya’s paralyzed body on a large rock.

“It hurts! They shot me on my butt” whimpered Midoriya “please save yourselves! Everyone else in my team and Kacchan’s team are down for the count.”

“SHUT UP YOU DAMN DEKU! I’M NOT OUT YET!” yelled Bakugo from a distance, crawling like he was paralyzed from the waist down.

“BAKUGO! I’ll help you up man” Kirishima ran toward Bakugo, defenses down.

“KIRISHIMA NO!” I yelled chasing after him, but he was faster “leave him be! it’s a-” suddenly the whistle of multiple fast moving objects pierced the air “TAKE COVER!” I managed to duck in time and hover a large enough piece of debris to shelter Kirishima and Bakugo from the hail of darts. “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” I said once the hail stopped “you’re lucky I caught on to the situation!” I put the debris on the side “why the hell do they have 2 top students still able to talk? To distract us and try to paralyze us too!”

“Oh, my bad hehe” Kirishima said as he picked up Bakugo “what should we do then? If we can’t take them with us?”

“The best thing is to put them in shelter so they can’t get shot at again until they get rescued.”

“FUCK YOU I DON’T NEED RESCUING!”

“Shut up! How the hell are you going to make it to the key point without the other 2 keys of your group?!” I scolded “you’re both 2 more shots away from lights out! If this was out in the real world, you’d be dead in one shot” Kirishima and Iida bring the two in a sheltered space between some rocks and a fallen log “now stay put until the rescue group comes for you!” I turn to the other two “Kirishima, reactivate full body hardening and Tenya, please keep your helmet on! No more distractions, we need to keep moving!”

“But what if we find more of our fallen classmates?” Iida argued back “are we just to leave them to get shot again?!”

“The most we can do is move them to some shelter and tell them to stay put” I turn and point to the goal “we might be the last ones to the goal, lets get a move on.”

“But that’s not fair! We must help them in more than just-”

“I said lets get a move on Tenya” I firmly stated without looking back “we aren’t the rescue team and I don’t have the capacity to deal with your un-necessary heroics!”

Iida was about to open his mouth to retort back but Kirishima stopped him “Hey okay thats enough Iida-kun, she’s right, we have to keep going.”

“Fine” Iida sighed in defeat as they caught up to her. Not 5 minutes later, another hail of darts rains down but this time Iida thought covering me with his body was a good idea.

“What is wrong with you?!” I yelped as I fought myself out of his grip “do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself and me in?!”

“How? My uniform is made of light amor and we’re okay!” He chops to drive his point, dropping me and knocking my visor off center.

“Not all of your uniform! Kirishima can get away with doing that but not you” I was getting to my limit of stupidity “thanks for the save but that was risky and counter intuitive if it went wrong” I dusted myself off “now, we’re wasting time, on to-” I was cut off by the sound of a dart piercing my thigh “fuck they got me” I felt my legs give out and fell “please, just leave me here and keep going”

“NO I CAN’T!” Iida yelled as he lunged forward to help me up but Kirishima stopped him “we can’t leave you behind!”

“SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR DAMN LIFE!” I yelled to make him shut up “take my key, nothing says that you can’t take my key for me.” I took the key out of my breast pocket and get shot on the shoulder “-nrgh! please, keep moving and don’t look back” my hand goes limp in his hand “I’ll get scooped up later, go! quickly!”

“Iida-kun lets go!” Kirishima starts panicking “they’ve been targeting her this whole time.”

“Right, we’re off” he squeezed my hand “I’ll see you later.”

“LEAVE!”

They run off and barely made it to the keypoint, as her prediction, their team was the last team to make it to the keypoint if not already defeated.

“Good job on finally listening to Miss Palma’s advice” Aizawa said as he scribbled on his clipboard “kinda dropped the ball there when she got shot though.”

“Will she be-”

“She’s getting transported here as we speak.” Aizawa assured them, then a portal appeared with other agents carrying in paralyzed classmates.

“No way, our own agents were the snipers?” Kirishima said in awe “did Palma-san know?”

“Nope, but that’s what makes the training that much more realistic.” Aizawa chuckled as he accounted everyone.

“...our fallen Queen herself, number 19″ Mimi announced as she walked out of the portal with Ita in her arms “make room for the Queen!”

All the hero class saw as the agents move and kneel as Mimi walked through. Jin then walks behind with a touch pad “Okay and that’s everyone that needed rescuing, good job class 1A and B! Class 2A will compile your individual stats and comments for Monday’s review session.”

“Wait, the snipers were first years?” Kaminari blurted as he was getting set down on the bench “and we were just free game to shoot at?”

“Well, you needed the situational training” Hansai explained as he typed on his touch pad “and the 1st years needed practice, so the school allowed us to do combination training” he tucked his touch pad under his arm “cool huh?”

“Not that cool when you’re the one that got shot anyways” I spoke up from Mimi’s arms, swaddled like a baby “but it was kinda cool what you did when you let the top students suffer to distract the others to ambush.”

“Thanks number 19!” chimed a 1st year in a football helmet “those lessons with number 20 really helped.”

“You did good!” I said as Mimi got my limp arm to pat the top of the 1st year’s helmet “keep it up and the showcase will be amazing.”

“Oh right, it’s almost that time of year again” Sero stopped his sip of water “can’t believe it’s been a year since the dance and meeting your family Palma-san.”

“You’ve all met her family?” Shinso whispered in response, confused as to how.

“Yeah, Palma-san’s family showed up to her showcase” Iida explained “it’s like their sports festival because they also get scouted for internships at major branches.”

“Interesting, wish I could’ve met them” he said as he turned to make eye contact with me “bet they’re just a lovely as Palma-san.”

“Her sister is kinda scary, not gonna lie” Mineta whimpered “and her mom is something else! We all saw her level her children with one look, not even sensei could do that.”

“Yes, that woman is quite the powerhouse” Aizawa recalls that day “Mr. Palma is a lucky and brave man to tame and love her.”

“It runs in the family” I giggled and it made everyone else laugh too.

-Later that night, on the roof of the hero dorms-

“Did I ever tell you that you’re the only person at the school that doesn’t annoy me?” Shinso tried to be suave but it was apparent that the affects of the weed were hitting him hard.

“No but I would’ve assumed” I said before taking a hit “you don’t associate with everyone else like you do with me.”

“Nah, it’s because you’re cool” the raspiness of his voice was pleasant to listen to “I can’t think of anyone that’s cool enough to have what we have.”

“Oh yea?” I got bold and made the ‘come hither’ motion “then why are you sitting across from me when you could be on top of me?” Shinso froze in place like he was in disbelief, I get out a breathy laugh “what’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

“You don’t play fair kitty” Shinso starts crawling toward me “I’m nearly faded and you hit me with your flirty words” his hand runs up my leg “not that I don’t mind, I wanna play pretty kitty.”

“Play with me then” I say as I unbutton my loose fit flannel to invite his touch “I’ve been needy of your petting.” It makes me feel powerful that I have these boys that I get intimate on different levels with and with no strings attached. Shinso put it upon himself to be somebody I get high and touchy-feely with and it’s been great since I haven’t had much attention from Monoma lately. Still, I’m catching feelings for Shinso like dry grass to an ember. He’s honestly convincing me that there’s a such thing as soulmates.

“Mhmm, kitty” he moaned as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear “I love it when you come braless” he gently fondles my breast from under my spaghetti strap shirt “you leave little to the imagination, it leaves me inspired when I’m touching myself.”

“You imagine me?” I found that a little hard to believe but he nodded yes.

“Yeah, I think about you” he pulls my flannel slightly off my shoulders “just like this, with smoke lingering in the air and you’re laying pretty on my bed as you draw me in with your eyes” his voice turns heavy and damp with every word in my ear, it quickens my heartbeat “you might not believe it but you’re sexy, being allowed to touch your body makes it that much more...delicious.” He slides his hands in opposite directions on my body, one toward my shoulder and one on my hip bone. The moonlight beamed to show my partly exposed body clearly, at first I was hot and lustful but then his smile disappeared as he gazed down at my upper naval. Then I remembered about my scar, fuck.

“Umm hehe” I slowly pulled down my shirt “at least take me to dinner first before you lift my shirt Hitoshi.”

“What happened here?” he put his hand on my scar, preventing me from covering up “does this have to do with you being sent here?” I nod in response, diverting my gaze from his. But without being asked, he pulled my shirt back down and fixed my flannel back on my shoulders “I’m sorry I did that, I shouldn’t have gone so far with my touching.”

“You did nothing wrong” I responded “I forget time to time that I even have that scar” I look at him and he’s struggling to find the right words to say “but I have to say” I leaned into his ear “you really turned me on.”

He perked up “Really? I mean urm” he cleared his throat to not sound too excited “yeah but you know I did go too far tonight” his face read remorse “maybe on a night where it’s colder and we can take things to my dorm.”

“Ooooh look at you” I said playfully “all suave and shit” I giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek “you’re such a gentleman.” I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his chin on my head in response. Rest of the night we sat together and watched the city lights until the sun came up. We didn’t need to say anything to understand that we didn’t need to talk about my past if I didn’t feel ready to share. And it brought ease of mind, something I haven’t felt with someone in so long...maybe Shinso really is the one.

-Fast forward 2 weeks, off site training with the hero class, Saturday-

“Okay everyone, are your earpieces in?” I asked the class “if they’re in, click the tiny button on the earpiece to send out a ding to me.” I await the dings on the touch pad and give the thumbs up to Aizawa “all earpieces ready, awaiting your instruction sensei.”

“Very good Miss Palma” Aizawa praised before starting the training “as you know, today’s training will need all of your efforts” he gestures toward Palma “Miss Agent here will be your communication hub director, listen to her instruction as she’ll be monitoring your vitals and movement across the area. If you don’t comply with her requests, it’s automatic failure for this training.” He scans the room “any questions?”

“If we need assistance, will we need to contact her first or one of our classmates, kero?” asked Asui.

“Depends, if there’s someone nearby, ask them but otherwise contact her and they’ll send over help.” Aizawa clarified “now go off to the area and await her command.”

I sit at my hub chair, excited to be the one commanding “Howdy yall! Now, first task is to find and retrieve a pink sticky note, on those notes are another instruction to follow.”

“YES MA’AM!” they chant in unison before scattering. They find their next task and start doing them with little interference by me. Almost half an hour into the task, we hit a snag. I notice that Bakugo is wandering a little too far.

“Hub to Bakugo, you’re wandering too far, head back.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” responded Bakugo.

“Bakugo! Just come back, it’s just a-” Ojiro started to say but got cut off.

“NO! I saw something strange over here!” Bakugo snarled back.

“Don’t get closer, I’ll take a look on the cameras” I warned as I zoomed in to the area where Bakugo was heading. There was something or someone coming in toward everyone but still at a distance as all the buildings and city obstacles stood in the way of seeing who’s where. “What the hell is that?” I whispered to myself as I enhanced the footage, to my worse fears, it was the League of Villains. “Oh fuck no” I said to myself in a slight panic “No-nonono nope!” I hit the communicate to all button on my dashboard “ATTENTION ALL HERO CLASS A! PLEASE REPORT BACK TO THE HUB IMMEDIATELY! CODE RED”

“Code Red? Isn’t that danger within the vicinity?” Uraraka turns to Momo “wonder what they found?”

“Lets hurry back, I don’t like the tone Palma-san spoke in” Sato said worriedly as he picked up the pace back to the hub.

“Kirishima to Bakugo, please come back bro” Kirishima called out on the earpiece as he ran to the hub “don’t argue with me on this.”

“Fuck what she had to say!” Bakugo responded “I’m going to see what this danger is, don’t convince me otherwise.”

The map panel flashed =K.Bakugo has gone offline= “Fucker turned off his earpiece!” I screamed as I took my headpiece off to find Aizawa. “SENSEI!”

“Yes, I got the message what is going on?” he rushed over as I swung open the door.

“It’s the League of Villains, they’ve infiltrated the grounds!” I panted “worst of all, Bakugo turned off his earpiece just after disobeying my request to not get closer and retreat.”

“Fuck, the bastards really tried it this time” he said to himself, he turned to me “what’s the next course of action? We can’t get the other heroes out here in time.”

“I’m going in sensei” I zipped my jumpsuit all the way up “I’m going to retrieve Bakugo before anything else happens” I look at the main floor where everyone was running in “I need you to keep everyone calm and level headed, I don’t want another repeat of the first Bakugo rescue mission.”

“Right! Thank you for keeping things together, be careful” he assured me before doing a head count on everyone. I go back to the dashboard and see that Bakugo managed to hurt himself and nearly gave away his position to the villains. This made things way more difficult, so I contacted Jin to portal over the Pros to our location ASAP as I was about to go do a rescue. As I pry off the UA buckle off my holsters and grab my visor, Iida runs in the communications panel room.

“Ita! Are you okay? What’s going on?!”

“Please go back with the others Tenya” I put my visor on “I’m going to take care of things.”

“Why won’t you tell me?” he pleaded but I refuse to answer “ANSWER ME!”

“Please go back to the others Tenya” I stopped asking politely, my tone was demanding “don’t disobey me.”

“Why don’t you trust me?!” he blocked my path “So you’re going to go take care of the danger out there?! What’s out there? And why can’t I go with you?!”

He grips my arms as I tried to push my way past him “Let go Tenya!” I struggled to break free “I have a job to do and you’re in my way!” he grips tighter “when will it click in that thick skull of yours that I don’t need your heroics!”

“Because you’re important and I promised I was going to protect you!” he cried out with pain in his eyes. His words echoed and melded with the ones said by the boyfriend I had at the time of the incident “...I don’t want to lose you.”

I sigh and relaxed my body, in turn, he loosened his grip “I’m sorry” I meekly said as I hugged him and he hugged back “sorry for what I’m about to do” I teleported us to the main floor where I handcuffed him to a steel railing “Fell for the oldest trick in the book.” I scan the room and lock eyes with Shinso “Hitoshi! Come with me.”

“Why me?” he questioned me as he was doubting his ability to help me.

“I need your ability to help me halt the problem” I held my hand out “please, won’t you help me? You’re the only one I trust with this.” He took my hand and we ran out to the training area. “Okay so lets building hop and I’ll explain” we climbed up and I start going off on the situation.

“Oh fuck, what do you need me to do?” Shinso asked as he was now also shaken up.

“I need you to brainwash them in place until the pros arrive” I track Bakugo’s vital pings on my visor’s digital panel “I’ll go down there, distract them enough to seem like a hero was already on the premise, thats when you impersonate All Might to get them to answer your question for the brainwash, I get Bakugo then we all teleport back in one piece.” I lower my volume as we approach the area “Okay, I’ll be floating down now.” I switch on my voice changer to do my Black Phantom gig.

“You sure this is the grounds Shiggy?” Toga huffed as she twirled her knife “I wanna stabby stab!”

“Will you shut up Toga!” Spinner yelled “I can’t fucking stand you or fire edge-lord over here!”

“Excuse me for being paranoid!” Dabi responded bitterly “I don’t want to encounter that Phantom person” he shivered in fear “they’re so intimidating and just edges me with fear of them killing me.”

“I doubt they’ll be here” Toga sat on a crate “this is a school owned ground, they couldn’t possibly-” just then the knife in her hand started to move on it’s own just like the last time “fuck! let go of my knifey!”

“AH! It’s them! I know it’s them!” Dabi screamed in fear “see what you did Toga?! You jinked it again.”

“Oh what’s this?” I come out of the shadows “my! it’s you again my raven haired beauty~” I turn to see the other villains “and these other bitches, didn’t I tell you to get out of my turf Hand Man?!”

“This isn’t your turf! What are YOU doing in this school owned training ground?!” Shigaraki questioned “mighty suspicious to find you here.”

“Oh you caught me! I got some intel from one of your own” I let out a maniacal giggle “you’re here for those twinks aren’t you?!” I pull out my gun “well that aggressive one has a bounty bigger than my ass for him alive” I cock my gun “so do me a favor a fuck off before we all get caught by the pros.”

“Okay which one of you told them about the plan?!” Shigaraki turned to his group with his hands on his hips.

“Its the one that laid the pipe down really good one me 2 nights ago” I moaned to buy more time for Shinso “don’t worry baby, I’m not gonna shoot you, I’ll come by later for more~”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about but you do look mighty fine from this angle” said Compress, oogling at my ass “I envy the man that got a piece of that ass.”

“I knew I couldn’t trust you!” Shigaraki turned to Compress which then turned into a full blown blame game among the villains. That was Shinso’s cue to do his thing.

“VILLAINS BEWARE! FOR I AM HERE!” a voice broke through, stopping the arguing. Right on time too “LOOK UP AT YOUR BEACON OF HOPE!” the villains looked up and got frozen in place, Shinso did his part.

“Good job!” I said before turning off my voice changer “now to get our boy.”

“Hurry! That girl with the knife is looking at me weird.”

I get a ping from Jin “21 to 19, we have landed in the outskirts of the grounds.”

“Copy that 21, I’m retrieving the student and the villains have been gathered and frozen in place.”

“Copy that 19, See you back at the hub.”

I flip over the dumpster Bakugo was trapped under and he was out cold. I teleported him to where Shinso was and we teleported back together. “He’s just unconscious, get him to Recovery Girl for a full exam” I said as I handed him off to Shoji “Shinso, good work out there! high five!” I had my hand out and he grabbed it and kissed the back of it before walking off to the others. That tender moment was ruined by the tackle Tenya slammed onto me.

“Ita! You are the most reckless, cold-hearted shooter and stubborn person I’ve ever met!” he brought me in for a tight hug “don’t do that ever again! I was worried sick.”

“I’m just trying to protect yall” I hugged back “Glad you and the others are safe and accounted for.”

“Okay, everyone in the portal!” Jin screamed “this will take you back to the dorms and our agents will escort you in.”

“Oh this is serious” I muttered to myself “go to the portal, I’ll catch up with you later.”

I get up and ran to the control panel room, I was greeted by Nezu and Aizawa “What’s going on?” I panted.

“The villains escaped right before a Pro hero got to them” Nezu turns to me “you did your best Miss Palma and we are thankful to have everyone back in one piece.”

“Go with everyone back to the dorms, we’ll handle things here.” Aizawa dismissed me and I comply. Back at the dorms, all the agents are at their highest alert. Escorts, perimeter guards, snipers and inter-working ground agents at all levels were working the scene.

“Look it’s 19!” cried out some agents from class 1A “what happened? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, thank you” I politely say to not give away that I’m scared “where’s 20?”

“Oh she’s in the tower” one of the agents pointed to where Mimi is “her orders on this formation.”

“Thank you, you are free to resume your duties” I ran as soon as I finished saying that to the tower. Mimi was on the brink of a panic attack when I popped in.

“Thank you father! You made sure she came back safe” she sighed in relief then broke down in tears “I was so scared you got hurt or captured!”

“Don’t cry, I’m here now” I cradled her head in my arms, drying her tears “not going to lie Mimi, those twinks really rekt’d me and my perfect day.”

“What are you going to do now?” Mimi asked as I tend to configure things after tough situations.

“I’m going to try to gain more intel” the sound of Hansai barking commands from below disrupts my thoughts “I feel like we’re missing a point somewhere in all this.”

-The Morning After-

“...Okay, thank you Jinko” I tiredly wrapped things up on the phone “I’ll be in contact with you for anything else, bye bye.” Intel gathering in the early morning isn’t the most fun, especially if you didn’t sleep well. It didn’t matter, it was done and I was ready to tackle on other matters.

“Hey, are you good to handle some guests?” in walks Jin with a pot of coffee “Red and Mad are here to see you.”

“Oh shit, yea bring them in” I worriedly said as Jin poured me some more coffee, I check the time, it was 11am.

“Hey Palma-san” Kirishima popped his head in my room “so many layers of security just to see you!”

“Hrng it’s annoying” muttered Bakugo “what makes you so special that you have all these agents bending over backwards for you?!”

“Yes it’s annoying but my squadron and I are the number 1 team in the program” I take a sip of coffee and motion them to sit “if we say anything, everyone will fall into place. I for one don’t bark orders, I do the intel gathering and safety. It’s Mimi and Jin that do the barking” I read the room and see that this isn’t a normal visit “so what can I do for you boys?”

“Bakugo here wanted to tell you something” Kirishima nudged.

“Yea, I came here to thank you for saving me” he sighed “and I really should’ve listened to you so none of this would’ve happened.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true” I put my cup down “like, I’m happy to hear that you learned your lesson but regardless of you retreating or getting rescued, we’d still have to do a full scale agent formation.”

“No way” Kirishima said in awe “why though?”

“The villains keep popping up because of this aggressive twink and the green twink” I groan as I slumped in my chair “in my time with Best Jeanist, I gained intel on why by pure chance” I cleared my throat “Bakugo, your public displays of aggression paints you in a bad light and these villains are drawn to it because it only takes some sort of convincing in order to get you to turn on us and assist the league in capturing Midoriya” I make hand motions to go with my explanation “because they know Midoriya is in possession of One for All, the heir of All Might. In their logic, if you take out the lineage, no more symbol of peace BUT it’s flawed logic. Who’s to say that the second best can’t be the next symbol?”

“Wait, it’s true?! About being the heir?” Bakugo stood up in surprise “how is that possible?”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out” I giggled “Midoriya has a weak and suppressed quirk already, and my copy doesn’t pick up his ‘inherited’ quirk but I read his brain and nervous system vitals and they function like how a power quirk would” I catch my breath “in my prediction, that boy got All Might’s quirk DNA via consuming any part of All Might’s body and just started doing the thing where he breaks his bones.”

“Eww” Kirishima shudders at the thought “but I see what you’re saying, so there’s nothing we can do to prevent these attacks?”

“I’m afraid not” I sat up straight “we would have to wait until they either disband, die, get arrested and/or one of you two targets dies or loses their quirks. Honestly though, the villains getting arrested and dying are more probable than the latter.”

“Oh” Bakugo sits back down on the bed and holds Kirishima’s hand “I really am the bad one and put everyone in danger” tears well up in his eyes “I’m so fucking useless and I should just die.”

“Now wait a minute Bakugo” I firmly spoke “I didn’t give you an option to do that, not if I can help it!” I stood up “you don’t have to be ripped away from your loved ones to protect them nor die trying, I will do everything in my power to keep you and your loved ones safe. Because dammit! I’m not going to have a repeat of my incident.”

“Your incident?-OH! I get it now” Kirishima gasped “why you’re here and so far away from home. You were ripped away from everyone to protect them.”

“I was and I miss my home and simple life” I turn to the picture frame on my night stand “but it’s such an awful feeling to be ripped away with no promise of returning home” I turn to the boys “I’ve made it my purpose to prevent such things, please understand that I do it out of the goodness of my heart.”

“I trust you completely Palma-san” Kirishima bows “thank you for your efforts, we feel safer knowing things are in your hands.” Bakugo bows too, a bit out of character for him but I knew it was genuine.

“You’re very welcome boys” I bow back “I won’t speak of what happened here to anyone else.” They leave my room and back to their dorms, I made sure they got back with watchful eyes. Once out of my sight, I head to the kitchen to find Mimi washing dishes.

“Got another one for ya” I handed her my cup and leaned on the counter “did you sleep at all last night?”

“I got 3 hours in” she rinsed my cup “that’s more than usual on days of emergency, at least I didn’t have to suit up or anything.”

“True, it was nice of everyone to let us rest until we get word on security later today” I yawned and rubbed my eyes “I got some sleep in too before I had to make a phone call.”

“So what’s the main problem?” Mimi shut off the faucet and turned to me “is it multi-layered?”

“I wish it was” I groaned and stomped a bit out of frustration “literally, those twinks are the target, the villains doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone else but them AND even then” I put my face in my hands stressfully “their plan is just to kill or take the quirk of the green one by having the angry one beat the shit out of the green one for their lunch money.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” she slams down the kitchen towel “all this for those two?!” Mimi starts to panic pace the kitchen “this shit ain’t even worth it! Shiiit I’d end them for free and make it look like Putin did it right now!” she huffed and quickened her pace “this is really cutting into our training time for the labyrinth exam NOT TO MENTION finals in a few weeks!”

“I KNOW! UGH!” I groaned stressfully “but literally everything is hanging in the balance of them acting out or the villains getting another attack in” I hop up to sit on the counter “good news though, I managed to get us only 2 days of this formation, then it’s back to our things BUT who knows what’s going to happen now that these villains are getting bolder.”

Those two are not aware of the targets painted on them as they live their normal lives in the other dorm. It’s not fair how we got roped into all this, but these last few weeks of school will rope in more than ourselves...

-Chapter 29 End-

#bnha #mha #self insert au #chapter 29 #not canon #updates every 2 weeks #ask me anything #henlo reader! just taking the time to say thanks for reading and understanding of this new update schedule #school is nearly over tho plus I have a new job! V excited for what's coming next! Next chapter is a sort of milestone chapter #an FAQ and teaser for upcoming chapters will accompany the next one! I waited until a focal point in the plot to post one :3 #keep the asks coming! so I can compile a bigger list :) ships accepted too I love reading them

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bookwyrmling · 7 years

Text

Tenipuri Space AU

Okay, so this is going to be pretty garbled cuz i’m tired and trying to get this all from a tumblr chat @solosorca and I have been having for the past 2 hours minimum, BUT IT’S ALSO AMAZING.

(below a cut for length)

Seishun - battle class ship Captain - Tezuka Kunimitsu Pilot/Second-in-command - Oishi Syuichiro Communications Specialist - Fuji Syuusuke Radar? Fighter pilot? - Momoshiro Takeshi (still up for grabs) Fighter Pilot - Echizen Ryoma Fighter Pilot - Tachibana An Fighter Pilot - Kikumaru Eiji Lead Scientist - Inui Sadaharu Science Officer - Sakuno Ryuzaki Med-Bay - Osakada Tomoka Engineer - Kaidoh Kaoru Engineer - Kawamura Takashi Ensign (Med-Bay) - Kachirou Katou Ensign (Engineering) - Katsuo Mizuno Ensign (Security) - Horio Satoshi

Hyotei Empire Aliens with a very strong holding of multiple galaxies Atobe Keigo is the crown prince Currently out traveling to create treaties and see about expanding Hyotei’s holdings Oshitari Yuushi is Communications specialist Oshitari and Fuji do not get along at all, but share all the ship’s gossip with each other Will also share misinformation with each other mixed into the gossip. It is both a game and a test to see if they can pick out what is and is not true. Atobe had heard tales of Tezuka in his early years as a fighter pilot and was very excited to come across his ship during travels. So excited, in fact, that he drew the Seishun into a battle to test Tezuka’s command capabilities. Now they are begrudging allies.

Rokkaku - Deep Space Exploration No one is sure if these guys are actually crazy or immune to the insanity deep space tends to drive humans to, but either way these guys spend most of their time exploring the unknown, unmapped parts of dark space -- the edges of the known universe or the long gaps of empty space between galaxies that were left untouched for fear of being forever lost in (think how ships in earlier times kept to parts of the sea where they could still see land, that’s how most ships travel in space, but NOT ROKKAKU!!!) Spending a lot of time out there with only infrequent returns to the civilized universe to pass on any new discoveries or map expansions, they tend to do their own ad hoc ship repairs or adjustments, so their ship looks like a mess and like it should be falling apart but it is in super amazing shape and perfect for what they need it for. Captain - Aoi Kentarou +took the position cuz he thought it’d make him seem super attractive to girls +mostly girls are concerned he’s crazy so avoid him Most positions on deep space exploration ships are filled by people who are cross-trained, because they are too far for any sort of response from other ships in emergency situations. For example, Kurobane and Davide are both fighter pilots, but Kurobane is also a mechanic while Davide fills the role of ship counselor (a necessity on expeditions like this because the solitariness of deep space has led to...incidents. Icchan is Med-Bay doc and scientist. Saeki is communications and second-in-command, helping Aoi with battle tactics when required. Ryo is pilot and radar (his set-up is insane and nobody else really gets how he does it)...I honestly don’t know what to do with Shudoh yet... Anyway, whenever Rokkaku comes back on the map, they always have the coolest stuff to share, but everyone’s afraid to make first contact, because what if they ahve gone off the deep end this time....

--Deep Space/Incidents/Character history-- Deep space is very solitary. Like, there is usually nothing out there except when a new galaxy is found or they come across intergalactic stars/planets, etc. So sometimes, when people have been out there too long, they way they think gets warped and suddenly ships don’t come back or they do but they’re pirates or cause extreme destruction. There are rules in place that require a counselor on board all deep space exploration ships and any time a ship begins to show signs of mental instability amongst its crew, they have direct overarching orders to return to the nearest base for reassignment. Most deep space crews are regularly shuffled around so no one is out there too long. Rokkaku makes people nervous because of how long the crew has been together and in deep space. Fuji and Saeki were once both on a deep space exploration ship as ensigns and were the only two to make it back. They will not talk about what happened, so it’s a complete mystery, but they both did manage to pass their psych evals and get reassigned. Fuji requested and was granted assignment as Comms specialist to Combat/Defense ships and was placed on Seishun, a new ship that Ryuzaki Sumire was working with captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu, to staff. Saeki, much to everyone’s surprise (and some concern), requested to return to deep space exploration and was placed with Rokkaku by Oji. Every once in a while, Fuji and Saeki both seem a bit different, scarier, with an odd light in their eye or tilt to their smile, but before anyone can really begin to catch onto it, it disappears behind their usual smiles.

Higa - space pirates

Rikkai Collective - attempting to conquer and expand influence over the known universe. They have lost their home solar system to their star dying, but colonized many of the ones they have taken over. Because of this, they are not one alien species, but a blend of many, with some cross-species existing, as well. Are known to be particularly cruel in battle and conscript all healthy civilians of where they take over into direct military service or the military industrial complex as a whole (i.e.: building ships, arms development, etc)

Fudoumine - battle class Home defense An originally started off here under her brother’s captaincy but transferred to Seishun because they tend to have more time spent traveling outside of the solar system and galaxy and she wanted the chance to grow. Everyone cried when An left.

Further notes 1. Women are a definite minority in the fighter pilot class and female fighter pilots have a tendency to be looked down upon by male peers. An works, like, 120% harder to prove herself as just as good if not better than any man and is really blazing a path for future female fighter pilots, as well. 2. She and Ryoma don’t get along too well at first because Ryoma’s a cocky snot who will definitely be the best so how is this girl managing to keep up with him??? But they become friends because they both work insanely hard to prove themselves (Ryoma because of his famous father and An because of her gender) and don’t take shit from anybody. They work really well together as a team once they do become friends, mostly because An is really good at figuring out what Ryoma is trying to do while fighting and can back him up or fill in the gaps. 3. An becomes a definite mentor for the younger members 4. Anytime one comes up to Ryoma for training because they judge An based on her gender not her results as a pilot, Ryoma runs them through the same drill An is running at the time so she can kick their ass at it. 5. Sakuno gets a lot of flack, too, because it’s her grandmother who helped Tezuka put the crew together. She can be on the quiet side and not one to really stand up for herself, so some of the crew will talk about her like she’s only there because of her grandmother. When that happens, Sakuno gets angry and hurt and rants to her friend Tomoka when it gets to be too much, but instead of confronting anyone, she just focuses more on her research and is actually an indispensable member of the team. When Inui’s unsanctioned experiments with alien flora/fauna/minerals/etc get out of control or start causing problems, she’s the only other person with the capacity to figure out what Inui was doing and how to stop the chaos. 6. All Comms personnel are horrible gossips. 7. Tomoka is the second biggest gossip on Seishun and she and Fuji often get together to share watercooler talk. 8. Kawamura enjoys trading culinary tips and tricks and menus with individuals from alien species he meets. He cooks in his spare time and practices a lot of what he learns to make really interesting fusion dishes that are greatly appreciated. 9. Inui’s similar attempts at nutritional supplements are not near so looked forward to. 10. Earth’s space agency is called ISEF. Ryuzaki Sumire and Oji are both high up in its management. The agency takes from all countries with affiliated schooling systems, but the systems are under the control of the country and ISEF only has objectives and educational requirements that have to be met before they will accept students for testing and, upon passing the tests, placement. Although Ryoma is the same age as the three ensigns on Seishun, he is actually a semi-experienced fighter pilot because the US starts its combat training at an earlier age and, thanks to training from his father, Ryoma was allowed to do a sort of accelerated program due to how advanced he was.

Extras because we ship it 1. Sakuno definitely does not have a crush on the super amazing female fighter pilot, An, who won’t take shit from anyone and stands up for herself, she doesn’t know what you’re talking about. NO TOMOKA, DON’T SAY THAT!!! 2. An definitely does not have a crush on the cute, quiet and super intelligent female science officer who is really kind and amazing and *sigh*...I mean, what??? 3. Pillar Pair. It exists. They have to keep it a secret, though because of the power discrepancy. Protocol would normally demand they work on separate ships, but then they’d never be able to see each other which is stupid. Fuji and An are the first to find out about it. So much teasing occurs.

#tenipuri #tenipuri space au #space au #seigaku #rokkaku #hyotei #fudoumine #rikkai and higa mentioned #we didn't talk about st rudolph yet #or yamabuki #or shitenhouji

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olivereliott · 4 years

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Road Tested: Icon 1000 and Knox upgrade their bestsellers

This week, we’re looking at new and improved versions of two hugely popular pieces of gear: Icon 1000’s new Variant Pro helmet, and Knox’s updated Urbane Pro armored shirt. The originals are mainstays of many riders’ gear closets, but are the new versions better than before?

Let’s find out…

Icon 1000 Variant Pro helmet Icon 1000’s original Variant helmet took cues from the popular ‘adventure’ helmet style, and blended it with Icon’s own brand of hooliganism. And it ultimately became a hallmark piece for the Portland-based company.

So for its sequel, the Variant Pro, Icon 1000 have kept the basic recipe, but tweaked it. The general layout stays the same; a deep jaw area, wide eye port and MX-style peak. But the look is even more sculpted and aggressive than before.

It’s easily the most menacing helmet on my shelf, especially since I picked the black ‘Rubatone’ colorway—Icon’s proprietary matte finish that feels almost rubbery to the touch. The vibe is extremely covert, especially when paired with a dark smoke visor.

You can also get the Variant Pro in a black and white ‘Construct’ finish—a design that shows off the weave of the underlying materials. And if you dig into Icon’s broader catalogue (the ‘1000’ range has a very specific aesthetic), there are some wild liveries on offer too.

The shell itself made from a mix of fiberglass, Dyneema and carbon fiber, with an EPS foam liner inside. The result is a respectable weight of 1700 grams for my XL-sized unit.

Icon’s design department clearly went all-out on the Variant Pro. The chunky mouthpiece and sharp peak look well thought-out, and round the back of the helmet there’s a slightly raised cutaway at the neck, filled in by a hard plastic section that doesn’t seem to serve any other purpose than to look cool. Ditto for the two sharp cutouts on either side of the helmet. They seem like frivolous additions, but view the helmet from various angles, and you’ll notice how the various contours and details complement each other.

The helmet’s cinched down by a tried-and-true D-ring system, but even this has some slick details on it. The D-rings have been anodized red, and the press stud for stowing the excess strap length has Icon’s logo embossed on it.

My first experience with the Variant Pro, was to swap out the stock clear visor for a tinted one that Icon had sent me. It’s a really simple process: release the peak via a button on top of the helmet, rotate it forward, and pull the sides to free it from its mounting points. Then you can access the visor, which is equally easy to remove. The only trick is getting the angles just right, and knowing how much force to apply.

The process does reveal one caveat of the Variant Pro: unlike most adventure-type helmets, you can’t run it without the peak or visor, or with goggles.

Popping the Variant Pro on, it was super comfortable from the word go. Icon run three different shells throughout their size range, with an intermediate oval shape that suits my head well. (Their size chart is dependable too, so I was able to order my helmet blind.)

Icon use their own HydraDry liner inside the Variant Pro—which is both moisture wicking and super plush to the touch. There were no hot spots on my helmet and no need to break it in, and even though I’ve worn it on some hot days, it still smells factory fresh inside. The liner’s also removable, and there are even cutouts in the EPS section to mount Bluetooth comms speakers in.

Ventilation on the Variant Pro is pretty sweet too. You get three vents across the top that, even though they sit under the peak, are easy enough to open and close. And there’s a vent at the mouthpiece too—but its mechanism is a little less logical. To open and close it you need to reach into the jaw to slide it up or down. Personally, I think Icon missed an opportunity to give the Variant Pro a massive, externally operable vent on the mouthpiece. And the internal slider also means that the helmet’s chin curtain is curved up inside to make space for it. It’s not bad… it’s just weird.

Still, the ventilation system works well enough, aided by a couple of exhaust vents around the back. And the Variant Pro’s visor is fog-free as well.

Visibility is good too, thanks to a nice wide eye-port. You’d think that the visor’s bulbous design would create some optic distortion, but it doesn’t. And it has a real positive feel when opening and closing it, clicking into place solidly without the need for any sort of fixture.

Adding a peak to a helmet primarily designed for street use always raises questions about aerodynamics and lift, but Icon have done well here. If you grab the Variant Pro’s peak with your hand and shake it, there is a little bit of a jiggle—but while riding, there are enough air channels directing flow that there’s no vibration or lift.

Like any helmet with a peak, it works best in clean air (on a naked bike) or with a really generous fairing. If you’re riding something with a short screen up front that pushes air straight to your brow, you’ll feel it. And while the Variant Pro is a lot quieter than old-school dirt bike helmets like the Shoei EX-Zero or Bell Moto 3, there’s a bit more wind noise than you’d get from racier street bike helmets.

There’s really not much else to nitpick here. Summed up; the Variant Pro looks radical, works well and is one of the most comfortable helmets I’ve owned.

Price: USD 350 (Rubatone), USD 375 (Construct black or white) | Safety: DOT and ECE certified | Buy

Knox Urbane Pro armored shirt The British company Knox makes some of the best protective gear in the industry. Their armored shirts offer two big advantages over regular motorcycle jackets: the armor covers more surface area, and the skin-tight fit keeps it exactly where it needs to be in a crash.

Knox have traditionally designed these to be worn under an abrasion-resistant outer layer—but their new Urbane Pro shirt adds an extra twist. By using the right materials, they’ve managed to land it CE approval for not only impact, but abrasion resistance too. So it’s fully protective on its own, with no need to layer up.

Knox have also outfitted the Urbane Pro with their proprietary Micro-Lock armor, with CE Level 1 elbow and shoulder protectors, and a CE Level 2 back protector. It’s pretty malleable stuff that hardens on impact, so the shirt doesn’t feel overtly bulky. (There’s also the option of adding a chest pad, that attaches to a velcro strip just inside the jacket.)

The chassis is a combination of tough stretch nylon and ‘arrowmesh’ panels, with additional stretch mesh panels in between. So it’s designed to be form-fitting, but also flexible—and it lets all of the air through too, making it ideal for summer.

As for sizing, Knox’s guide is in the ballpark, but if you’re at the upper end of any particular size range, consider sizing up. I speak from experience; I’m on the cusp of two sizes and would have been happier one size bigger. But since the Urbane Pro is stretchy in multiple places, it’s not the biggest of deals—I can still squeeze into it, and it’s breaking in more with each ride.

(As an aside, our friends at Urban Rider have a habit of writing their own size guides, and their Urbane Pro one is right on the money.)

On the bike, the Urbane Pro feels snug, but not bulky. It is a different vibe from wearing a bigger, more traditional moto jacket though. Sliding into it sometimes involves quickly adjusting the shoulders and elbows to sit just right, and yanking your arms out the sleeves again takes a minute. But Knox have nailed the Micro-Lock armor design, and despite the size of the protectors, they’re not the least bit cumbersome.

Elasticated thumb loops at the cuffs keep the sleeves from riding up too; handy when slipping an extra layer over, or in a crash where there’s a risk of the sleeve (and therefore armor) moving.

The Urbane Pro also has belt loops on the inside bottom edge to cinch them down to your pants, but the system is far too fussy to be practical. You need to weave your belt alternately between your pants’ belt loops and the shirt’s, which is neither a quick nor easy process. A simple elastic loop with a press stud would have done the trick with less hassle. On the up side, Knox have cut the shirt longer in the back, so there’s enough coverage anyway.

Since the Urbane Pro is designed as a standalone garment, Knox have paid a little more attention to details than with past iterations. The YKK zippers have a really slick gunmetal finish, and there are small, tasteful Knox logos sprinkled throughout. You get two pockets too—a chest pocket that fits a smartphone (and nothing else), and a bigger stash pocket at the lower back.

I also own the Urbane Pro’s predecessor (the ‘Urbane’), and the Pro is a solid step forward. The details and heavier-duty fabrics are nice, but that built-in abrasion resistance is the real game changer.

Admittedly, with my, uhm, ‘fuller’ frame, I’m not ever going to wear something as form fitting as the Urbane Pro by itself. And for other riders, the mesh-with-armor look might not be their thing. But the real kicker is that if you do want to layer up, you can wear literally anything you want over it, whether it’s bike-specific or not.

Since the Urbane Pro has great airflow, on hotter days, I’m likely to throw a MX jersey or thin sweatshirt over it and stay cool. And when it gets colder, I can toss something thicker on. With the shirt itself being tough enough to protect me in a crash, my outer layer doesn’t need to be—and that makes it an extremely versatile piece of kit.

Colors: Black, black / denim, black / grey, black / grey / denim | Price: c.GBP 189.98 / USD 210.20 | Buy

Worn with the Knox Jacob base layer (GBP 54.99) Knox doesn’t just make armor—they make outer and inner layers too. So they sent me their Jacob base layer to try with the Urbane Pro. It’s a high-tech garment that uses a fabric called MerinoPerform Advantage. It’s a blend of ultra-soft Merino wool and synthetic fibers, designed to wick moisture and keep you cool on hot days, and warm on cool days.

And it works, too. The Urbane Pro’s tight chassis means that even though the mesh bits flow air, it can get sweaty under the non-mesh bits on really hot days. The Jacob base layer pulls that sweat away from your body, keeping you cool.

It has a really soft feel to it too, which makes it a comfortable way to layer up, and a neutral grey marl finish, which helps it look casual. And since it’s not a completely skin-tight fit, you don’t look like a track day bro when you strip down to it.

Images by Devin Paisley

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hubspotexamanswers · 6 years

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Fedora VS Ubuntu: How are they different?

New distributions of Linux continue and continue to appear, and for some users it is becoming tedious to try to keep up. Maybe you have even been asked to explain the differences between two Linux distributions. These questions may seem strange to you, among other things because Fedora and Ubuntu have been around for too long. But if the interested person is a beginner, these questions do begin to make sense.

Although neither of the two distributions are new, both release versions continuously. The last one of Ubuntu was version 17.10, which came out in October of last year and Fedora released version 27 in November of 2017. If you want, you can check here more things about the latest versions of Ubuntu .

In a previous article we explained the differences between Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If you have already read it, you will see that between the two distributions that we will see in this article, the differences are more marked.

1. History and development

The history of Ubuntu is much better known than that of Fedora. To summarize, we can say that Ubuntu was born from an unstable branch of Debian, in October 2004. Fedora was born before, in November 2003 and its development history is a bit more tangled. That first version of Fedora was called Fedora Core 1, and was based on Red Hat Linux 9. Which officially sold out on April 30, 2004.

Fedora then emerged as a community-oriented alternative to Red Hat and had two main repositories. One of them was the Core , which was maintained by the developers of Red Hat, and the other was called Extras , which was maintained by the community.

However, in late 2003, Red Hat Linux merged with Fedora to become a single community distribution, called Red Hat Enterprise Linux, as its equivalent with commercial support.

Until 2007, Core was part of the Fedora name, but as of Fedora 7, the Core and Extra repositories joined. Since then the distribution is called simply Fedora.

The biggest difference so far is that the original Red Hat Linux was essentially divided into Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, while Debian remains a complete and separate entity from Ubuntu, which imports packages from one of the Debian branches.

Although many think that Fedora is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), nothing is further from reality. On the contrary, the new versions of RHEL are Fedora forks that are thoroughly tested for quality and stability before launch.

For example, RHEL 7 is based on Fedora repositories 19 and 20. The Fedora community also provides additional packages for RHEL in a repository called Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux), whose abbreviation is EPEL.

Other groups include the Board of Forums, the IRC Board and the Membership Board of Developers. Users can apply for Ubuntu membership and volunteer as collaborators on various teams organized by the community.

2. Release and support cycle

Ubuntu releases a new version every six months, one in April and the other in October. Each fourth version is considered as long-term support (LTS). Therefore, Ubuntu releases an LTS version every two years. Each of them receives official support and updates for the next five years.

The regular versions used to have a support of 18 months, but as of 2013, the support period was shortened to 9 months.

Fedora does not have strict periods to launch new versions. They usually happen every 6 months, and have support for 13 months. That is why now the support period is greater than that of Ubuntu. Fedora, unlike Ubuntu, does not release LTS versions in the long term.

3. How is your name composed?

If you know the rules that apply Ubuntu to assign the names to their versions, you will know that the versions are composed of two numbers, the first of which means the year and the second the month of the release of that version. In this way, you can deduce exactly the launch date of each version, in addition to knowing when you will have a new one at your fingertips. For example, the last version of Ubuntu is version 17.10, which was released in October 2017.

Fedora maintains a simpler system and uses whole numbers, starting with 1 for the first version, and currently it reached version 27.

The nomenclature of the Ubuntu versions consists of two words that start with the same letter. The first word is an adjective and the second is an animal, which is usually a weird one. These versions are announced by Mark Shuttleworth, with a brief introduction or anecdote related to the name. The name of the last stable version is Artful Aardvark, which has been a supposed anteater pig

Fedora 20 Heisenbug 2013 was the latest version of Fedora that has a code name. All subsequent versions are simply called “Fedora X”, where X represents the number that follows the previous version. Before that, anyone in the community could suggest a name, which could qualify for approval if it complied with a set of rules. The approval was in charge of the Fedora council.

If the choice of the Ubuntu code name seemed extravagant to you, look how they chose the name of the Fedora versions. A possible name of a new version had to keep a certain relationship with the previous one, the more unusual or novel the better.

They should not be names of living people or trademarked terms. The relationship between the names of Fedora X and Fedora X + 1 must match the formula “is a”, so that the following is true: X is a Y, and so is X + 1. To put a little light in this confusion, Fedora 14 was called Laughlin, and Fedora 15 Lovelock. Both Lovelock and Laughlin are cities in Nevada. However, the ratio of Fedora X and Fedora X + 2 should not be the same.

Now perhaps the reason why the developers have decided to stop assigning names to the new versions is clearer.

4. Editions and desktop environments

Fedora has three main editions: Cloud (Atomik), for servers (Server) and for workstations (Workstation). The names of the first two are very illustrative, and the edition for work stations is actually the edition that most people use, that of desktop and laptop computers (32 or 64 bits). The Fedora community also provides separate images of the three editions for ARM-based devices. There is also Fedora Rawhide, a continuously updated development version of Fedora that contains the latest compilations of all Fedora packages. Rawhide is a testing field for new packages, so it is not 100% stable.

Currently, Ubuntu outperforms Fedora in terms of quantity. Along with the standard desktop edition, Ubuntu offers separate products called Cloud, Server, Core and Ubuntu Touch, for mobile devices. The desktop edition supports 32-bit and 64-bit systems, and server images are available for different infrastructures (ARM, LinuxON and POWER8). There is also Ubuntu Kylin, a special edition of Ubuntu for Chinese users, which came out in 2010 as “Ubuntu Chinese Edition”, and which was renamed as an official subproject in 2013.

In terms of desktop environments, the main edition of Fedora 27 uses Gnome 3.6 with Gnome Shell. The default Ubuntu Desktop Environment (DE) is Unity, and other options are provided through “Ubuntu flavors”, which are variants of Ubuntu with different desktop environments. There is Kubuntu (with KDE), Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu MATE, Xubuntu (with Xfce) and Lubuntu (with LXDE). In the latest versions of Ubuntu, specifically from 17.10, it was said goodbye to Unity and was incorporated by default GNOME, accompanied also by a new graphic server called Wayland.

The equivalent to Ubuntu flavors in Fedora are the Spins or “alternative desktops” . There are Spins with KDE, Xfce, LXDE, MATE and Cinnamon desktop environments, and a special Spin called Sugar on a Stick with a simplified learning environment. This project is designed for children and schools, particularly in developing countries.

Fedora also has labs, or “functional software packages . ” They are collections of software for specific functions that can be installed in an existing Fedora system or as an independent Linux distribution. The functional software packages available include Design Suite, Games, Robotics Suite, Security Lab and Scientific. Ubuntu provides something similar in the form of Edubuntu, Mythbuntu and Ubuntu Studio, subprojects with specialized applications for education, home entertainment systems and multimedia production, respectively.

5. Packages and repositories

The most notorious differences between these two distributions are found in this section. As for the package management system, Fedora uses .rpm format packages , while Ubuntu uses packages with .deb format . Therefore, they are not compatible by default, with each other, you have to convert them with tools such as Alien , for example. Ubuntu has also presented Snappy packages, which are much safer and easier to maintain.

With the exception of some binary firmware, Fedora does not include any proprietary software in its official repositories. This applies to graphics drivers, codecs and any other software restricted by patents and legal issues. The direct consequence of this is that Ubuntu has more packages in its repositories than Fedora.

One of the main objectives of Fedora is to provide only open source software, free and free. The community encourages users to find alternatives for their non-free applications. If you want to listen to MP3 music or play DVDs in Fedora, you will not find support for that in the official repositories. However, there are third-party repositories like RPMFusion that contain a lot of free and non-free software that you can install in Fedora.

Ubuntu aims to comply with the Debian Free Software Guidelines, but still makes many concessions. Unlike Fedora, Ubuntu includes proprietary drivers in its restricted branch of official repositories.

There is also a partner repository that contains software owned by Canonical’s associated providers: Skype and Adobe Flash Player, for example. It is possible to buy commercial applications from the Ubuntu Software Center and enable compatibility for DVD, MP3 and other popular codecs by simply installing a single package called “ubuntu-restricted-extras” from the repository.

Copr of Fedora’s Copr is a platform similar to the Ubuntu Personal Packet Files (PPA): they allow anyone to upload packages and create their own repository. The difference here is the same as with the general approach of software licenses. It is assumed that packets containing non-free components or anything else that is explicitly prohibited by the Fedora Project Board should not be loaded.

6. Public and Objectives

Copr, from Fedora, is a package distribution system that has focused on three things: innovation, community and freedom. It offers and promotes exclusively free and open source software, and emphasizes the importance of each member of the community. It has been developed by the community, and users are actively encouraged to participate in the project, not only as developers, but also as writers, translators, designers and public speakers (Fedora Ambassadors). There is a special project that helps women who want to contribute. The objective is to participate in the fight against prejudice and gender segregation in technology and free software circles.

In addition, Fedora is often the first, or one of the first distributions to adopt and show new technologies and applications. It was one of the first distributions to integrate with SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) , includes the Gnome 3 desktop interface, uses Plymouth as the bootsplash application, adopts systemd as the default init system and uses Wayland instead of Xorg as the graph server predetermined.

Fedora developers collaborate with other distributions and upstream projects, to share their updates and contributions with the rest of the Linux ecosystem. Due to this constant experimentation and innovation, Fedora is often mislabeled as an unstable, next-generation distribution that is not suitable for beginners and everyday use. This is one of the most widespread Fedora myths, and the Fedora community is working hard to change this perception. Although developers and advanced users who want to try the latest features are part of the main target audience of Fedora, it can be used by anyone, just like Ubuntu.

Speaking of Ubuntu, some of the objectives of this distribution overlap with Fedora. Ubuntu also strives to innovate, but choose a much more user-friendly approach. By providing an operating system for mobile devices, Ubuntu tried to gain a foothold in the market and simultaneously boost its main project, although that dream was impossible.

Ubuntu is often proclaimed as the most popular Linux distribution, thanks to its strategy of being easy to use and simple enough for beginners and former Windows users. However, Fedora has an ace up its sleeve: Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, uses Fedora on his computers.

With all these points exposed, you can make the best decision for you and your computer.

The post Fedora VS Ubuntu: How are they different? appeared first on News Bodha.

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creativeenterprisewellington · 7 years

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Initial contact with Sports Wellington

Thank you for this Kirsten, it'll be a big help and a great starting point for us all!

All five reps are happy to come together. I believe it was Emma who got into contact with you about meeting on Thursday, what ever time suits you for that day will work for us.

Have a great weekend,

Grace.

On Fri, Aug 4, 2017 at 4:23 PM, Kirsten Kilmister <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Grace

I’m meeting with the representative from another group next Thursday (time being confirmed for some stage between 9.30-11.00am). Are you able to attend at the same time as the other group or do we need to meet with you separately?

In answer to your questions:

First of all, our main understanding is that Sport Wellington has trouble with telling their story. What do you find are the most common things that people don't know about Sport Wellington, and what are the main points about the organisation that you are wanting us to share? People assume that we’re ‘just sport’ – involved with sport and clubs and coaching (which we are) and that we run sporting events, but we actually only organise the Round the Bays fun run.

We’re not deliverers of events or sports because we don’t have the resources but also because our role is:

· Partnering – identifying organisations and work with them to achieve shared outcomes

· Knowledge sharing – share this expertise effectively through strong networks

· Expertise – recognition as the subject matter experts in relevant areas of sport and active recreation

· Influence – advocate, mentor and bring positive change to the Wellington region.

Most people don’t know that we have a Healthy Lifestyles Team who are responsible for the delivery of the Green Prescription programmes (google this).

They also don’t realise how involved we are with Governance (better boards lead to better governance, creating better organisations) and our involvement with the 8 councils developing the regional recreation strategy “Living Well” and “Spaces and Places”.

I’ve attached a couple of documents which you should find useful.

We have also noticed that on the last slide of the presentation, it said that your goal is that " Stakeholders understand what we do, who we work with and why". Who are your stakeholders, and who is your target audience? How are you successfully reaching and informing them currently? Our stakeholders are:

· The 8 councils plus Greater Wellington Regional Council

· Sports – in particular: Football, netball, hockey, swimming, athletics, rugby, rugby league, tennis, gymsports, bowls, golf, cricket, basketball, cycling, triathlon, canoe racing, fencing

· Schools

· Sponsors

· Funders (gaming trusts etc)

· Health (DHB’s, GPS etc)

· Sport New Zealand

· Other RSTs

We have monthly newsletters:

· Sport Connector – goes to clubs, sporting organisations, coaches etc

· Active Download – goes to schools, pre-schools etc

· Green Prescription – goes to GPs etc

Our main form of contact with our stakeholders is through email, meetings, workshops and events. We are trying to do this in a coordinated approach and so that all staff in the business know who is talking to whom and about what, but this is definitely a work in progress!

What is Sport Wellington currently doing to successfully tell parts of their story, and why is this method successful? The attached strategic plan document has been very successful as people like the look of it and how concise it is.

We like using videos, photos and case studies.

Check out this video on our ‘About Us’ page http://www.sportwellington.org.nz/about-us/

This one about Green Prescription is a favourite http://www.sportwellington.org.nz/green-prescription/ along with this one http://www.sportwellington.org.nz/activefamilies/

We’re planning on re-doing our website (the Board has approved this) so we’re really open to ideas around using our website as a more effective platform and any digital initiatives/apps that you might think of!

Have you conducted any research on what the current public understanding is of Sport Wellington? If so may we have access to it, and if not are you willing to allow us to do some research? We’ve recently participated in the Sport NZ run survey of RST stakeholders. A summary of our key results are attached.

I’m happy to give you more information as required, but hopefully this is enough to get you started!

You’ll see in the attached comm’s summary mention of how we don’t have a tag line. There is one that was quickly pulled together last year when we were pitching for the DHB contracts, but not all of the staff like it so it has only been used on the cars and hasn’t been allowed to be rolled out.

Because we can’t change our name, I personally think that having a tag line that succinctly describes what we do would be beneficial.

Our website is hated by most staff and we can’t wait to redevelop and up-date it as this is probably the best and most effective way to tell our story! But we don’t want to just rely on one tool and we need to make sure that we get people visiting it (which would require a campaign to relaunch it).

Cheers

Kirsten

Kirsten Kilmister

Commercial Development Manager | 04 380 2070 ext. 230 | 027 284 8291 | Latest newsletter

cid:[email protected]

From: grace potter [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, 2 August 2017 5:05 p.m. To: Kirsten Kilmister Subject: Re: Massey University Sport Wellington Designers

Perfect!

Thank sounds great Kirsten

Thanks, Grace.

On Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 5:04 PM, Kirsten Kilmister <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Grace

Thank you for your email, I'm pretty tied up until Friday so won't be able to meet up this week but I'll respond to your questions on Friday and set up a meeting date for next week.

Thanks Kirsten

Sent from my iPhone

On 2/08/2017, at 5:00 PM, grace potter <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Kirsten!

Grace Potter here. I'm emailing on behalf of the communications team that is made up of five people who represent every group that is designing for you.

We are all really excited to work with you and get our projects underway, we have a few questions for you and your team, and would love to meet up in person at some stage soon to discussion the kind of story that Sport Wellington wants to share.

What is Sport Wellington currently doing to successfully tell parts of their story, and why is this method successful?

Have you conducted any research on what the current public understanding is of Sport Wellington? If so may we have access to it, and if not are you willing to allow us to do some research?

the five of us would love you meet with you at some stage this coming week to discuss things further, but if these questions could be answered before then it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much for your time, we are all really looking forward to working with you and helping Sport Wellington as much as we can.

Kind regards,

Grace Potter.

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