#Ivan is just difficult to explain

[crustyfloor]

the rooftop and meteor shower scene paralleling eachother im going crazy… do you think that ivans resentment part makes sense now?

I see it (I think 🫩), those two scenes were showing the peak of Ivan’s emotions (and really how extremes can bring such complexity out of him), his visceral reaction to the feeling of fear at the threat of dying whilst looking at the stars and the happiness he felt while trying to lead Till to escape and then the subsequent rejection, the latter being the his most striking memory in that reaffirmed his passive mindset, “things just happen because that’s the way I am” attitude, it gets very interesting… Ivan’s decision to accept his passive “insignificant shadow” role in Till’s life comes from that very moment, even though he doesn’t easily outwardly portray it he is protective of what he hides, even though I can reiterate over and over that Ivan was most likely expecting what came of the meteor shower scene and doesn’t hold it against Till, his expression seeing Till run away is telling. This whole thing is just my interpretation, but I say it’s so impactful and it’s still such a reoccurring memory because Ivan was impacted and hurt by that event, Ivan isn’t an open person and he doesn’t allow himself to feel certain ways if only to maintain his own sense of control, only around Till does he slip, in the meteor shower scene, being so open and hopeful and happy and then reading Till’s actions as a rejection while he already avoids being foolish but wanted to be with Till yet believed he’s not worth anyone’s love and then that belief being confirmed through this in his head would’ve logically made him come to feel a certain way, then, resentment too, (and I’d think his obsession over Till’s presence and Ivan’s adoration and love for him even though from the way he sees it Till doesn’t reciprocate contributed to this feeling too, so he closes off from Till near completely after that point)

[ilikekidsshows]

I hoped that after some time I could be more forgiving for how Marinette acted in the Werepapas battle, but no, that episode still killed the love square for me.

Why on FUCK's earth should I ever want Adrien to be forever stick in a relationship with a person who literally decided that preventing from having to have a difficult/ uncomfortable conversation is more important to prevent than straight up KILLING him?? I don't think I've ever seen a piece of media make it literally it's job to use the "power of true love" to so viciously send every bad message possible to children that domestic abuse is fine as long as it's the girl doing it.

Can you imagine the absolute outrage if Maribug was treated by Adrichat the way she does him in both identities? The way the show literally NEVER asks anything of this girl when it comes to accountability in the love square? It actually feel VILE by now how much pride the show takes in writing Marinette to see no true value in Adrichat's human dignity and personhood the second hurting and using him is of more benefit to her. She's still doing all the same fucked up shit as always, she has no growth and has to literally be coddled and worshipped into having any kind of chill, but only after she is always validated and absolved of any real blame because her only true "flaw" is 'not having been coddled enough any second of her life' so it's fine that all she ever does is being a toxic / abusive deceiver and hypocrite, crying and screaming and raging until she gets what she wants because 'she's the one deciding this!!!', and very kindly teaching you that her hurting you is actually a sign of how pure hearted and loving she is ♡ isn't that literally what Ladynoir is? And now Adrinette too? Her being fine with killing Adrien to avoid an uncomfortable conversation, or just watching him in Ivans episode be excluded and blame himself for how things went with his father and doing nothing to release him from that twisted victim blaming because Adrien still thanked her for something and that's all she cares about in the end.

Marinette's writing in the love square since season 4 is simply VILE imo. How is this in a kids show? Much less a kids show that nonstop prides itself with being "feminist" and "progressive". Everything awful a main character can do to their love interest Marinette does without holding back and she not only is held to zero moral standards by the show beyond "making sure Adrichat and the viewer understands that actually I'm a pure hearted saint and have done nothing wrong ever beyond being misunderstood in how pure and right I am", she actually gets nonstop validated and rewarded for doing so.

Seriously, WHEN was Maribug ever held truly accountable for her behaviour and actions in the love square? Everything gets always swept under the rug, she hardly ever improves even a tiny bit and still does it, and it's always ADRICHAT who has to do all the effort in any of their dynamics because Maribug can't go unvalidated for 3 minutes.

Why should I possibly want Adrien to be stuck with her for the rest of his life? Every episode since s4 is going out of its way to explain to me why Adrien should stay away from her as far as humanly possible. Chat Noir still doesn't get to exist as a real person, still has nothing and no one while having to be the eternal scapegoat and tool to use however she pleases, and Marinette is the entire entire time putting her feelings first when it comes to Adrien's abuse and was literally cool with KILLING him as long as it meant not needing to face an uncomfortable situation where people could be upset with her.

What an absolute NIGHTMARE of a main character to be stuck with as love interest. Just kill him, it would be mercy when it think about what the show will have her do to him in the next 9 seasons...

---

The worst part of it all is how casually such an earth-shattering thing is treated. I’ve previously said that Marinette choosing killing Adrien as her Plan A makes it obvious she actually has no moral code, but it's more than just the only sign of her hesitation being her closing her eyes for a moment, unable to once again face the consequences of her actions head on. It's the fact that a hero having to make this kind of choice is normally presented as a hard choice and a huge deal. A hero having to choose between their personal moral code and saving the day is the stuff made for season finales. In fact, ‘Volpina’, what is basically the S1 finale, has this same exact scenario, except faked by the villain.

And yet, when it's for real, Marinette willingly chooses to pull the trigger herself, in a run of the mill episode. I feel like that's a huge part of how casually careless the treatment of Adrien's very life comes across, that the choice wasn't hard, the situation wasn't dire, and it was fucking episode 5 instead of an event episode of some form. No, introducing Adrien's grandparents doesn't count as an event, ‘Befana’ and ‘Bakerix’ weren't events either. Marinette committing the premeditated murder (I can't emphasize enough how low the stakes were and how much time she had to deliberate this decision) of her boyfriend is treated as small stakes, as just another Tuesday, that's what really enforces the feeling that Adrien is not safe with Marinette.

Even before this blatant disregard of Adrien's life, Adrien’s entire existence is such an existential nightmare at this point, there are points where I’ve felt like he’d be better off dead. He’s a remote control robot, part of a species of magical beings that can only exist with their freedom and free will being conditional. Like, there have been moments where I’ve thought he should just get to Cataclysm himself, he’s repeatedly shown he wants to do it, it's the only way he'll truly escape his nightmarish existence, and I just want him to rob Marinette of control over him, since she has been shown to control whether he lives or dies now. I just want him away from her, no matter what extreme methods he needs to use to accomplish that. I hate that this show makes me that miserable over having Adrien as my favorite character.

Preferably, though, I think he should kill Marinette instead. He should find out the truth and then assassinate the heck out of her. He should get to go full Anthy on his prince-coded love interest. Utena perpetuated a system of violence towards her princess and she got stabbed over it, and Marinette has done so much more, she has already killed him once with her own hands.

Utena got stabbed for less. Adrien should get to stab Marinette. As a treat.

[moody-alcoholic]

Cross My Heart

Chapter 3 - How to Infiltrate a Terror Cell

Summary: poly141 x reader. Enemies to lovers. WC:5k Original abridged version HERE

CW: violence, sexual remarks/touching, use of weapons, description of injuries, implied torture, blood, death.

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Enjoy <3

They’re wrong about you. You’re not doing this for your country's peace, you’re doing this to get out of here. You’re doing this for a new chance at life. You get to be selfish for once in your life, if that means helping the enemy then so be it. 

You look at the blade in your hand then back up at John. He’s still smiling, you’re not sure what to make of him. It has to be the adrenaline, there’s no way anyone in their right mind would readily hand the enemy a weapon. 

“Getting you into Russia is going to be difficult, especially with one injured.” You say. He nods and turns back over to the sofa, he’s unsteady on his feet and when he sits down he groans. 

“The base on the border, you said you know the guy who runs it?” John asks. 

“He’s my handaler - Ivan.” You say putting the scalpel down on the table. 

“What would you need to get in?” John asks. 

“What do you mean?” You frown crossing your arms. 

“We’re going to go back to Farah. We would like you to get Alex out.” John says. You laugh, you don’t mean to but it just comes out. 

“You want me to break out a high value POW for you? You know that if I do that I can never work for Konni or Al-Qatala again. They’ll put a bounty on my head.” You scoff, they don’t really seem to be concerned by that info. 

“If you can get him out alive, we can offer you protection. Get you to the UK or the US wherever you want to go.” Price says. You turn away from him and squeeze the bridge of your nose. You could get him out, if he’s in the prison wing. Calab would turn a blind eye, or at least you hope he would. You turn back to look at them. 

“Do any of you smoke?” You ask. No one moves or says anything for a second then you hear Ghost taking something out his pocket and handing you a packet of cigarettes. You take one out, putting it in your mouth and lighting it. You take a big suck in letting it calm you before handing the packet back to him. 

“I know the guy who works in the prison, he owes me a favour.” You say taking the cigarette out. “If he’s there and I can get him out of the base then what?” 

“We’ll meet you, we’ll get a car, agree on a rendezvous point and you bring him there.” Ghost says. You shake your head, there are so many guards on the base it will be next to impossible to get him out without being spotted. 

“So he’s what? SAS like you?” 

“American.” 

“Fuck me.” You say throwing your hands up and taking another long drag of your cigarette. 

“You said you were good.” Gaz says, you shoot him an angry glace.

“I usually charge extra for Americans.” You say. Soap chuckles. 

It's the worst idea you’ve ever heard. But here you are nodding at Price while he lays out more of the plan.

“First things first we need to confirm Konni have Alex. Then we focus on Makarov.” 

“Makarov will be harder. He's always surrounded by his best soldiers. I can probably find out what he's doing here but as for getting an audience with him or even getting near him it’s going to be next to impossible.” You explain. Price hums laying back on the sofa.

“Find out why he's here then get Alex out. Rendezvous with the ULF and make a plan from there.” Price says. Soap places a map on the coffee table and you move over to look. He opens it up and you can see the border, you follow it along until you spot the base. On this map it’s still marked as a college, you point at it.

“That's where Konni are. If Alex was caught on the border that's where he’ll be.” You explain, you see where the trees are on the Urzikstan side. You move your finger through it until you reach the opening and the dirt path turns to a paved one. 

“I can take him through the woods, the entrance of the base opens on that side.” You say. Price and Ghost lean forward and look as you trace the route again. 

“Okay, we’ll get a car, meet you on the road.” Price confirms. The woods will give you good cover if you’re chased. When you’re chased. 

“As soon as I spring Alex that's it. There's no way I will be getting back in there.” You say raising an eyebrow.

“That's why it's important you get as much Intel before getting him out.” You nod, you’re agreeing without even questioning him at this point. You really are going to do this, you’re about to betray everyone, the life you’ve been living for the past 2 years. When you do this that will be it, there’s no turning back. Is a new life in the UK or America really worth all that? 

“Here.” Gaz says coming over to you, he makes you jump, handing you a USB stick. You take and frown. 

“Plug it into any computer and it will copy all the files over.” He says, you nod at him, he lingers for longer then he needs to. Maybe he’s warming up to you too. 

“When you find Alex, tell him 141 sent you. He’ll know to trust you.”

“Are you sure?” You ask sceptical. You know if they’ve been trying to get info out of him it’s very unlikely he will trust you, or anyone for that matter of fact. You might have to resort to dragging him out.

“I’m sure.” You sigh looking out the window. The sun is coming up. You should leave sooner rather than later, it’s at least 20 kilometers back to the border, wait any longer and the story you’ve constructed might not make sense. You zip your jacket up.

“I should get going.” 

“We’ll be waiting at the rendezvous point. We’ll give you until sunset.” Price says. You nod looking around at them all one last time. You can’t believe you’re doing this, trusting the enemy. Maybe they won’t wish you luck. Maybe they don’t mind if you die, one less thing for them to worry about. You get to the door and press down on the handle, as soon as you’re through this door you have to make peace with whatever choice you’re making. 

“Good luck.” Gaz calls. That you didn’t expect. You smile at him then walk through the door closing it behind you.

You let out a long breath and look up at the sky lit up with red and orange as the morning sun peaks over the horizon. They trust you, they’re letting you go. You don’t have to do anything for them. You’re pretty sure that if you told Ivan about them you would be rewarded just as much. Maybe not an all expenses paid trip to the UK or America but enough. 

You feel around your jacket for a cigarette before remembering you don’t have any. You should go back and ask Ghost for one, you’re sure he’ll give you one. He smokes a good brand too, American you think, clean and filtered not like the black market shit you’re used to. 

Instead you find yourself walking over to the shed where the bodies are piled up. By the looks of things they’re all head wounds, that's something at least, they didn’t suffer. You close your eyes and say a dua for them, you’re not that religious but it’s the least they deserve, besides it is partly your fault they’re dead. 

When you open your eyes again you reach down into one of their pockets and pull out the packet of half smoked cigarettes and the lighter. You heard once that smoking a dead man's smokes was bad luck. You think people just make that up so they can get first dibs. You take one out and put it in your mouth. 

You couldn’t end up with any more bad luck even if you tried. 

_____

“You said the ULF where moving north not fucking marines.” You snap at Ivan. He called for you as soon as you made it into the base. It’s almost midday, most people had gone to meet Makarov's entourage apparently, the place was running on a skeleton crew. 

Good, easier for you.

“The packages?” 

“Dead.”

“Shit, they were tech specialists, Al-Qatala needed them.” 

“Explains why they were shit lookouts.” You mutter under your breath. The other man in the room catches that and you look over at him. You still have no idea who he is, he’s barely said a word since you entered the room. Just looks at you now and then from over his laptop.

“Why did they let you live?” He asks, his accent is thicker, he’s not from round here. Maybe he’s not even Russian at all.

“I patched up one of their injured. They let me live.” 

“Which way did they go?”

“West.” You lie. Both the men look at each other then back down at the map.

“Sakhra?” Ivan asks.

“Makes sense If they have one injured they’ll want to head to a neutral hospital or a ULF. The Americans have been getting too close to the border for my liking.” The other man says shrugging. 

“How sure are you that they're heading west?” 

“I overheard them talking before they left.” You explain.

“Well, I have to deal with a very angry Al-Qatala contact. You better get yourself ready. Makarov will have jobs for you I'm sure.” Ivan says. 

“And you wouldn't want to mess them up.” The other man says, you can tell it’s a warning, you hold your ground though. You’re not going to let some stranger bother you. 

“What's he doing here? Makarov?” You ask as Ivan turns away. 

“Not really any of your business but let's just say he's planning a nice surprise for the ULF. And now we have an American who knows all their movements there's no way we miss.” The other man says. 

“Has he talked?” 

“Not yet, but he will. The Butchers on his way. A little gift from Al-Qatala.” Ivan says. Shit. You have to move quick if you’re going to get him out here it has to be now. You leave the room, closing the door behind you. Before you head to the prison wing you skip into Iavns office. He never locks it, he's going to regret that. 

You walk around the desk straight over to the PC and plug the USB in, a second later a loading bar pops up on the screen. You look round the desk, scanning over the papers for anything interesting. Your heart is hammering in your chest, you keep glancing up to the door hoping no one will come in.

You look back at the PC, it's only 50% done. You start to look through the drawers for anything, even if it is just to keep you busy. You see plans, plans for some kind of weapon. You take them out, folding them up and shove them into your pocket. 

The transfer is almost done. You hear a door close, you’re holding your breath, your hands run over the papers on the desk. You hear Ivan's voice, the bar is only at 90%. You panic, he’s probably coming to his office, you need to distract him. You go round to the other side of the desk leaning against it. You hear a beep on the computer, the USB must be done, you reach over pulling it out and shoving it in you pocket with the papers. 

You only just manage to compose yourself as he walks in. A smile grows on his face. He walks up to you, his hand resting on your hip.

“You’ve got me in a whole bunch of trouble. Least you could do is make it worth my while.” He says, you can smell the vodka on his breath as he leans in to kiss your neck. You don’t have time for this, one of his hands slips round to grab your ass. It’s like he wants to pick you up and put you on the desk.

“Ivan,” you breathe as his hand presses dangerously close to the other back pocket. He pulls his mouth off your neck. “I have stuff to do.” 

“Yeah you do.” He says with that stupid grin on his face before pressing his lips to yours. Normally you wouldn’t mind but you’re about to betray him this feels wrong. You push him off you. He huffs crossing his arms.

“I really have to get ready. Besides, don't you have to prepare for our special VIP?” You say, he tips his head to the side you can tell he’s not happy about this. He steps away walking round to the other side of his desk and you turn with him.

“Fuck Makarov, this whole plan is pointless. The American is not going to talk, he’s rushing into this too quickly.” 

“What does he want?” You ask, maybe now you’re alone he’ll give you some more answers. 

“He wants to take over the northern territories.” 

“Of Urzikstan?” Ivan nods. “He’s crazy, he’ll turn Al-Qatala against him.” 

“He wants to use it as a bargaining chip.” he says. 

“Not going to be much bargaining if he’s dead.” You scoff crossing your arms. That explains why he’s so nonchalant about upsetting Al-Qatala, when Makarov is done, lost techs will be the least of their worries. 

“On top of that he’s got us chasing some military unit helping Farah.” Your stomach sinks. 

“Military unit?” You ask, swallowing the nerves.

“Yeah 141 or something. Anyway, I’ve had people looking for them for weeks. We don’t even know if they’re still in the country.” He says going to type on his computer. 

‘I know where they are’ It would be so easy 5 little words to turn the tide. Ivan wouldn’t believe you at first, he’d want some kind of proof. You tell him about the safehouse, the injured captain. Their names; Ghost, Gaz, Soap and Price. Then he’d send out a search party, if you’re lucky he’d let you lead it. 

You push the thought away, you need to leave. Get Alex and leave. 

“Well, if I find them I’ll let you know.” You say heading for the door. He hums his focus switched from you to his computer. 

“Hey.” He calls as you’re about to close the door. “You’ll be back later right? I’ve missed you.” He hasn’t missed you, he’s missed sex. You smile and nod at him. 

…

“You look like shit.” Caleb says offering you the last of his cigarette. You take it sucking a deep breath in and letting it calm you. It didn’t take you long to walk over to the prison building, of course Caleb was already waiting for you, he waved at you when he saw you walk through the front gate.

“Heard you fucked your job.” He chuckles.

“Hear a lot with those massive ears of yours.” You say reaching up to flick him. He bats your hand away. “Thought you would be out with the others going to pick up Makarov?” 

“Fuck that.” He laughs, you smile, throwing the butt on the floor and stamping it out. You follow him back into the prison wing. It’s pretty much empty, whatever people were being held here yesterday have been moved, most likely to make room for Alex and his inevitable torture.  

“Heard you’ve got an American here?” You ask looking round at the shabby built cells. 

“Yeah.” He says pointing down the hall. There are at least two other guards. Hopefully you can get Caleb to turn a blind eye, then you only need to worry about them. And the guards on the gate, and the extra security that will come after you as soon as they know there’s been a break out. 

“Heard The Butchers coming to question him.” 

“Oof, unlucky guy.” He winces. You walk down a different hall with him. Other than the main door you just walked though there’s another door at the end of this hall, you’re pretty sure it leads into the staff room. The only other way out would be through one of the windows. 

One way in and one way out at least that's something. 

“Anyway, how did you manage to mess up your job?” Calab asks.

“Marines came in and caught me off guard. No one warned me there were Americans around.” You say sticking to the made up story, no need to get Calab into trouble.

“At least you’ve been out doing something. Ivan has the whole place on edge with this Makarov visit. Maybe it’s good you're back so soon maybe you can calm him down.” He jokes nudging you. You roll your eyes. Nudging him back. It’s just sex, mindless stupid sex. And yeah maybe Ivan looks away when you fuck up from time to time, like today. 

“What did he get bored of the cook house girl?” You tease back, Caleb laughs. You walk on a little further mustering up the confidence to ask him. You have to be careful, out of anyone you want Caleb to get hurt the least. You’re going to miss your chats with him and the free smokes. 

“I need a favor.” You say stopping him and gripping his arm. He frowns at you, he seems to sense the unease in your voice looking around before leaning in closer to you. 

“The American. I need to talk to him. 30 seconds alone.” You say trying your best not to sound nervous. 

“Are you crazy? Ivan’s got that shit locked down. No one is allowed to look in his direction let alone talk to him.” Caleb whispers gripping your arm hard. 

“I’ll deal with Ivan.” You say. “You owe me, remember?” He shakes his head. 

“Not this, they’ll kill me if anything happens to him.” 

“You owe me.” You say again this time gritting your teeth, you don’t exactly have time to negotiate. He sighs looking around. 

“30 seconds. No more.” He says. You smile reaching up and kiss his cheek. 

“Thank you.” He shakes his head and calls the other guards over. You move past them pretending to head for the exit before turning down the hall where Caleb pointed earlier. You take the key off the wall opening the door to the makshift cell. There’s a man sitting on the bed. He springs up as soon as you step in.

“I was sent by 141. Are you Alex?” You ask, holding your arms out to show him you don't have anything. He nods, frowning, as well as he can, his head is bruised and one of his eyes is almost swollen closed. The few clothes they’ve left him in are drenched through with what you assume is water and blood and he’s holding his other arm like it’s broken. He has a fake leg too, you’re surprised they let him keep it. He doesn’t look in the best shape, they haven’t really even patched his wounds up very well. He must have given them one hell of a fight. 

“I’m here to get you out. I don’t have time to explain, you just need to trust me.” You say leaving the room. He hesitates a second then follows you. You go over to the guards table and pick up a weapon, loading it and putting another mag in your pocket. 

“Can you walk?” You ask, trying to keep an eye on the door Caleb would have taken the guards through. As soon as they see you they’ll open fire and sound the alarm. You need to leave. You start to head towards the door, clicking the safety off your gun. You quickly look behind you to make sure Alex is following, he is but too slow for your liking, hobbling and reaching out for the wall to help guide him. You should really help him, throw his arm over your shoulder and let him lean on you.

Before you can even begin to move towards him the door at the end of the room opens. A guard looks at you, his eyes then flick to Alex who has finaly made it to you. You don’t have time to think you bring the weapon up and shoot him. 

Move! Your brain screams. The shot will have alerted people. You grip Alexe’s arm and drag him through the door out into the courtyard. You run pulling him along the building towards the main road. You can see the gate from here, it should be a straight sprint but Alex is slow and before you have a chance to make it to the home stretch shots ring past you. 

You pull Alex round the side of a building. You look back to see Caleb shouting orders as more guards run round. Alex is huffing next to you gripping his arm again. You panic, you can’t stay here for long. There’s no alarms going off yet but they know where you are so it won't take them long to reach you. 

You look over at the entrance of the base. It’s close but, it’s way too open to run down the main road. You could jump the wall and roll down the bank. It will give you cover but then the guards on the gate will have a great view of you. You pull the mag out of your gun, you only fired one shot. You basically have a full mag. You’re going to have to fight your way out of this. 

“We’re going to have to hop that wall. Think you can manage that?” You ask as you turn to Alex. He nods and opens his mouth but before he has a chance to say anything more shots ring out hitting the wall where you’re hiding behind.

You hear somone call out their reloading. It’s now or never. You jump out from behind the building and sprint across to the wall. You hear Caleb call your name as you throw yourself over rolling down the embankment. You hear Alex cry out in pain as he rolls down the small incline behind you, he’s definitely got something broken.

You get to your knees watching him writhe in pain. You don’t have time for this. Alarms ring out. Now you really don’t have time for this. You look over to the entrance. The gates are being locked. Great now you’re going to need to get keys. 

At least that's easy to do if the person is dead. You reach over gripping Alex’s arm pulling him to his feet. He cries out in pain, you don’t have time to worry about it as more shots ring out. You can see Caleb running down the main road towards you, you pull Alex over the drain and up the opposite embankment. You let go of his arm to open fire on the guards in front of you. There’s only two of them, they’re surprisingly easy to take down- you’re a better shot then you thought. 

You take cover behind the inspection booth, Alex kneels down beside you. You hand him your gun.

“I need to get a key, cover me.” You say. You don’t know if you trust him, or if he’ll even be a good shot but he’s better than nothing. He nods, you crawl out over to one of the bodies. Shots ring out behind you. Well he’s not killed you yet. You fumble around the guards belt and pockets. Nothing.

“Shit!” you call crawling over to the other guard out in the open. More shots ring out, from in front and behind you. Alex must have picked up a weapon off the guard. You find the ring of keys clipped on the guards belt. Your hands are shaking from adrenaline as you try to unhook them.

“Watch out!” Alex shouts. You don’t get time to look up before someone kicks you in the back. You look over at Alex fumbling with a mag. A shot rings out and he ducks behind the booth just in time. 

“Fuck.” You say pulling yourself back up to your knees. You’re surprised the person lets you get up. Before you can get to your feet though a hot pain radiates through your side. It makes you dizzy, you scream balling your hands into fists. 

It’s worse than anything you’ve ever felt before. Have you been shot? You quickly use the adrenaline to force yourself to your feet. When you turn you see a guard. Before you have time to react his head explodes and he lands beside you. You look over at Alex, he’s still fumbling with the clip. 

You turn to see Caleb bringing his weapon down to his side, he looks sad, he’s your friend and you're betraying him. You reach down to touch where the pain is. Your head is swimming, your hands feel blood, then cold metal. There’s a knife, you’ve been stabbed.

“No!” you yell at Alex as he comes back from round the booth holding the weapon at Caleb. Caleb holds up the keys, you smile at him. He pushes past you, opening the gate. You stumble over, each step sending shooting pains through your body, you grit your teeth so you don’t cry out with each step. 

“You owe me!” Caleb says as he throws his arm around you. You lean up against him as he half drags you into the tree line.

“On the other side of the tree line. There’s a truck.” You say switching to English. 

“Rescue?” Caleb asks in English, you smile crying out in pain as you step over a fallen tree. 

“That's where 141 are waiting.” You say, it’s getting harder to focus, at least the sound of the alarm from the base isn’t ringing in your ears anymore. 

“141!” Caleb asks, shocked. “You know Makarov is looking for them.” 

“I know.” You say through gritted teath as the adrenaline starts to fade from your system. Each movement is excruciating, and you can feel a chill in the air making you shake. If it wasn’t for Caleb's support you don’t think you’d be able to walk. You can barely hear the alarm now, at least no one is shooting at you. Maybe they’re not going to follow you. 

“How do you know 141?” Alex asks as he watches round you, his weapon still drawn.

“It’s a long story.” You say breathless. You want to pull the knife out, it hurts so much. You know you shouldn't though. Not until you have something to pack the wound with. 

“Just keep going.” Caleb says, hitching you up tighter to him as you start to stumble. You can barely see what’s happening, the forest becoming a mix of blurry greens and browns. It feels like you’ve been walking for miles when you hear the engine of a truck. It makes your adrenaline spike, giving you a brief moment of clarity as you make it to the edge of the tree line.

“It’s them!” You hear the familiar Scottish accent. The sun blinds you as you make it through the trees. 

“Shit, what happened?” You hear someone ask, there are more hands on you now. Someone else's arm comes around you and Caleb's arm leaves. 

“Who are you?” A gun clicks.

“Caleb, friend.” You call out to them. You hear whoever is holding your curse under his breath, it's Soap you think. It’s getting harder to concentrate. 

“Gaz, give me a hand.” Soap says you cry out your hand flying to your side as you’re picked up. 

“What happened?” Price asks. You don’t hear the response, you’re trying to focus on not passing out as you’re pulled into the back of a truck. There’s banging and clattering. You don't have time to question how they got their hands on a military truck.

“Hey, lass, c’mon stay with us we’ll get you sorted.” It’s Soap. You groan as bandages are pressed around the knife, it makes black spots flash across your vision.

"Don't take it out." You say.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, this isn't my first rodeo." Soap says, it makes you smile and you look up out the back of the truck. You can see Price smiling with his hand on Alex’s shoulder, Gaz taking the weapon out Caleb's hand. Then you see it in the distance, a truck. 

Price notices it too. He helps Alex get in the truck next to you, closing the back.

“Ghost, let's move!” He shouts. Gaz has vanished, you hear a door slam. Price pulls himself in the truck holding his arm out for Caleb. It doesn’t matter though.

Shots ring out, they hit the truck, you see Price duck, then the flash of blood. Caleb's hit, his body goes limp and falls to the floor as the truck pulls away. 

You’re not sure what happens next. You scream as Caleb's body gets smaller covered in the dirt kicked up by the truck. Soap presses your sholders down. Suddenly Price is leaning over you, more shots ring out hitting the truck. You feel tears stream down your face. You got him killed, the only person you didn’t want to get hurt. 

“Alex! Cover fire!” You watch as Price hands him an AR, they both move down to the end of the truck returning fire. Your body is being flung from side to side as the truck drives out the forest and onto a road. 

You don’t care what happens now, you don’t care if you die. You did your job, you got Alex out. You close your eyes letting out a breath. 

“No, no, no! Eyes open c’mon!” It’s Soap again. Your eyes snap open as he shakes you. The gunfire dies down, maybe you’ve lost them. Maybe they won’t follow you out on a main road.

“Caleb.” You say. “His name was Caleb.” Soap frowns for a second then lets out a sigh. 

“Johnny.” He says. 

“Nice to meet you Johnny.” You smile. He smiles back. You can’t stay awake anymore. Your head is spinning, black spots fade into your vision. He calls out to you, shaking you but you just can’t stay awake. Your last thought is of Caleb as everything goes black.

next

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[sunflower567]

Callsign: Umbra Chapter 8: A Club to Remember

Masterlist

Word count: 2,678

Edited: ✅

Published: April 18th, 2025

Last update/change: June 7th, 2025

Previous Chapter

TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of domestic violence

Split, Croatia: 11:00 PM 

After finishing scouting the area, Task Force 141 returned to base. Using this as Imani’s final test, Price left planning solely up to Imani to test her planning and how well she executes it and adapts to the ever-changing situation. 

And just like he and Laswell figured, she’d be going in alone. Her plan was simple and had two options. Option one, get to Ivanou’s Private Office and find everything she needs, or option two, interrogate the man herself. 

Having a CIA agent get into the club’s CCTV system wasn’t all too difficult. Surprisingly so.

Now sitting in an unmarked van two blocks away, filled to the brim with screens on the inside of the club, were Price and Laswell, while Ghost, Gaz, and Soap were stationed on the same rooftop across the street of the club. 

“This is Watcher-1, we’re eyes on. Do you read Umbra?”

In the club, where the music was loud and people were surrounding the stage, dancers moved on the pole with bills seemingly falling from the sky. Walking around with a tray and wearing the female waitress uniform, a sheer mesh top with a bralette cutout, and a high-waisted leather mini skirt, Imani made her way through the drunk patrons.

“I read you Watcher-1,” Imani gritted her teeth. 

“You sound mad, what's the matter,” Laswell jokes, knowing what it was. 

“If I have one more drunk asshole grab my tit or ass, I may actually spaz the fuck out,” Imani answered as she fake smiled at some of the men who looked her up and down like meat.

“You're the one who wanted to sneak in during business hours,” Laswell said. 

“Because the club’s security will be focused on the meet-up, not me,” Imani said as she leaned down to deliver some drinks on her tray. 

“Have you seen Ivanou yet,” Price asked this time. 

“Negative,” Imani answered, “And the upstairs was a bust. No office, just a bunch of VIP lounges that overlook the floor. And of course, you're handful of drunks. Soap, got anything outside?”

“Negative,” Soap answered as he, Ghost, and Gaz scoured the area for anything out of place or suspicious. But they only saw the ridiculously long line with one bouncer and two seemingly armed guards at the door.

At that moment, a limo pulled up to the front of the club, and the same man he had seen before stepped outside from the club's front door. 

“Heads up,” Ghost called out to the two men. 

“We count five men stepping out of a limo,” Gaz called out. 

“We see them,” Price said as Laswell switched the camera feed to the front of the club. Watching the feed, they saw an older man with a black suit, a heavy black jacket, and a white scarf hanging from his neck. 

Running his face through facial recognition, Laswell got a hit on the Interpol most wanted list. “Carlos Loria. Former head of the Bealizan Mafia wanted in 20 different countries,” Laswell said over comms. 

“What’s he doing here,” Price wondered. 

“Supposedly, he was ousted from the family business by his nephew,” Laswell explained, “They found out he killed his brother, his nephew’s father, to take control. He’s been on the run from him ever since. Most likely here to request some sort of protection.”

“Lovely,” Price began, “Imani heads up. The client is heading in now. Watch out for Ivanou.”

“Rodger.” 

After getting more drinks, Imani watched the door intently from the bar as Carlos Loria started to walk in between Ivanou’s bodyguard. Keeping her distance, Imani watched as the group all walked towards the back of the club behind a curtain. But as she peeked through, she saw an armed guard standing by what looked to be a staircase. 

‘Fuck,’ she thought. Walking away so she didn’t look suspicious, Imani used her radio, “Laswell. There wasn’t a lower level in the floor plans right?”

“No. There are only two floors. Why? 

“Because those weren’t the real plans,” Imani answered, “There’s another floor, and that’s where Ivanou and his office are.”

“Guards,” Price asked. 

“Only one,” Imani answered, “But if I dispose of him, it would cause some suspicion.”

“Looks like you have to find another way down,” Gaz added in. 

“Seems like it,” Imani sighed. But as Imani was walking past the dressing room for the dancers, a heavy-set man came out and slammed right into Imani, causing her to lose the remaining drinks she had on his shirt. 

“THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU BITCH,” The man yelled as he grabbed Imani by the back of her hair. 

‘Oh this fucker,’ Imani thought as she took a few deep breathes to control her now racing heart, feeling her scalp cry in pain.

“I’m-I’m sorry, sir! I didn’t see you,” Imani pretended to stutter. 

“Bullshit,” he gritted his teeth, gripping her hair tighter and bringing their faces together. 

The man then noticed something in her eyes. He could see she was scared, but couldn’t pinpoint the other emotion. But little did he know, under that façade of fear lay a woman who was ready to take his insignificant life. 

But while Imani was picturing every possible way she could kill him and hide the body, an idea struck the man’s small mind. “Actually,” he chuckled as he looked down at her hourglass body that was complemented by the tight clothes she was wearing, “You’re perfect.”

Raising an eyebrow, Imani was about to ask what, but he let go of her hair and instead grabbed her arm and began to drag her towards that secret staircase. Taking a look at the man and at Imani, the guard simply stepped aside. 

‘Well I’ll be damn,’ Imani thought in surprise as she walked down the stars with the unknown man, ‘I found a way down.’

“Imani, we’re working on getting access to the cameras down there. So for now, you're on your own. Just sit tight,” Laswell called out on the radio. 

Knowing she can’t respond, Imani used that as a mental note. She’s all alone unless she calls for help on comms. 

As they arrived outside another door guarded by two men, the one on the left scoffed at seeing the man who still had an iron grip on me. 

“Another one,” he sighed. 

“Yeah, what about it,” he lashed out. 

“We wouldn’t have to say that if you didn’t keep beating the girls and having to constantly replace them,” the other one said. 

“Why the hell do you give a damn,” he raged. 

“Because you and I both know the boss doesn’t tolerate men like you,” the man on the left jumped back in. 

‘They must mean Ivanou,’ Imani thought. 

“These girls need discipline. And since the boss is never here, I gotta keep this place up and running!”

“That doesn’t mean beating them, Pavao,” the man on the right sneered. 

"And with the boss here tonight and with a client, he's not gonna like his best singer looking like anything but perfection."

Imani then saw what looked to be shock on his face. It looked like the man, Pavao, the club manager, didn't know the owner would be here tonight.

“Fuck off,” the man named Pavao raged, “Now open the fucking door!”

The men opened the door with a look of disgust. Dragging her in, Imani saw a completely different side. This bar, or whatever the hell it was, was more classy, more luxurious. The women were dressed in a more skimpy suit and tie, but it was like the current look. Based on the mannerisms and overall looks of all the male patrons here, these were men with something to lose if caught here.

“Hey,” Pavao said through gritted teeth, tightening his grip on her arm, “Stop looking at our customers unless you are willing to give them something.”

‘Fucking pig,’ Imani thought as she brought her eyes forward.

Looking over at the large stage, she saw a group of women performing a dance routine. For the setting of this venue, it was a little too provocative. This would be better for upstairs than down here. 

“Um, sir,” Imani began, giving her voice a bit of a stutter, "Where are we going?”

“I think you owe me since you spilled those drinks on me,” Pavao chuckled, “And it just so happened, I need someone with your….assets.”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what assets he was talking about. She heard all throughout basic training. Her ass, her boobs, she heard it all. And being surrounded by men who haven’t felt a woman’s touch in months or possibly ever with their behavior, and being so worked up on their hormones, she has had to put a few boys in their place. Having 34DD and a body like Meghan Thee Stallion did not do her any favors. 

‘Damn you mom,’ Imani cursed at her poor mother.

Before Imani knew it, Pavao dragged her into a bigger, more luxurious dressing room like the one upstairs. 

There, I saw an older woman comforting a woman who looked to be my age. The woman crying looked like she had just been put in a boxing ring. Her face was swollen, dried blood was on her face, and exposed skin on her body, while her clothes were ripped and dirty. 

‘What type of fucking animal did this,’ Imani asked in disgust. 

Hearing footsteps, the woman looked at Imani first in confusion. But once she saw the hand that gripped Imani’s arm, her face turned to rage.

“You,” she yelled, getting up from the floor and pointing her finger in her face, “How many times do I have to tell you to stop hurting my girls!”

“The bitch deserved it,” Pavao sneered, slapping the back of the injured woman’s head with his other hand. 

“HOW DO YOU EXPECT HER TO PERFORM TONIGHT LOOKING LIKE THIS,” the woman yelled. 

Letting go of Imani, the man gripped the older woman by her jaw and brought her closer, “I don't give a hell what you have to do! I didn't know he'd be here! But he is. And with a client no less! This bitch wouldn't listen and that's what happened! So don’t you go running your fucking mouth to me again!”

It took everything in Imani not to kill this man right where he stood. This isn’t new to her; she’s seen it more times than she can count when jumping between squads and their varying missions and types of crimes. But it never gets easy to see. 

“Besides,” Pavao seethed, flicking her face away from him. I found a perfect replacement.”

Pushing Imani forward, he told the older woman to prepare her for the show and have the band meet to discuss what she’d be performing. 

‘Performing,’ Imani questioned. Not wasting any time, Pavao began to leave the dressing room, saying he had to meet with the boss to ensure he and his guest were ready for the show. 

The older woman sighed, mumbling under her breath. “Stay here,” she said, “I’ll be back.”

As she left Imani and the still-crying woman, Imani kneeled in front of her. 

“Hey,” Imani called out softly, “Let me take a look at you.”

The woman just shook her head. Leaning forward gently, Imani placed her hands on top of hers, causing the woman to freeze. “I’m not gonna hurt you,” Imani began. I promise. Let me just see so I can help, okay?”

After a minute, the woman lowered her hands and showed a grizzly sight. A busted lip, scratches and bruises on her face, and worst of all, a black right eye. A beating would be putting it lightly.

“Hold on for one second,” Imani said gently, getting up from the floor. Looking around, Imani saw a first aid kit hanging on the wall.

Grabbing it, Imani began to use her first aid training on the woman. This was the first time in a while she had to do this, and first, she had to do it under these circumstances. She hated how she couldn’t help more, but she still had a mission to complete. Patching her up, Imani asked the usual questions: Do you have a headache, nausea, or dizziness? All of them were yes. 

‘He gave this girl a fucking concussion,’ Imani thought enraged.

“Okay,” Imani began, "You’re all cleaned up now. Make sure you change those bandages first thing in the morning and once a day until they heal. Now for that black eye, try to put ice on it for at least 20 minutes a day, then put on a warm cloth after two days, okay?”

All she got from that was a slight nod. “Ok,” Imani whispered with a smile as she began to pack all the first aid supplies. 

‘I swear to god, if I wasn’t on this mission, I’d kill him right now,’ Imani thought. But as she was lost in her murderous thoughts, she heard the woman say something under her breath.

“What did you say?”

“I said I wanted him gone,” she cried, "I can’t keep doing this! I just needed money to support myself so I could go to college. I didn’t sign up to be someone’s punching bag.”

Quietly listening, Imani held one of her hands and gave her a comforting squeeze to get her attention. When she looked up, Imani gave her a comforting smile. 

“What’s your name,” Imani questioned. 

“Irena Horvatić,” She answered. 

“Irena,” Imani repeated, “Believe me, men like him don't last long. He'll get his karma. Trust me.” 

At that moment, the door to the dressing room opened again. The older woman came in with a couple of other guys behind her. 

Looking at her, Imani noticed the woman was holding a bag that had a designer name on it. 

“Here she is. Make sure she-” the woman began. But seeing the bandages on Irena made her stop in her tracks. 

“Did you do this,” she asked, pointing to her. 

“I did,” Imani responded, “I didn’t wanna leave her like that.” 

Walking closer to Imani, the older woman had to look up a bit since she was shorter, no taller than 5’1". With a warm smile, she gave Imani a soft tap on her cheek. 

“You are a good girl,” she smiled, “I’ll keep introductions short. I’m Izabela Ranogajec, and I’m in charge of the showgirls here. What is your name, girl?”

“My name is Nika Baljak, ma’am,” Imani answered without missing a beat. 

“Well, thanks for your help, Nika. Come, so I can get you prepared for the show.”

“The show ma’am,” Imani questioned as she followed the woman.

“Yes, why is that so surprising?”

“Well, I just assumed that since the upstairs was a nightclub, it worked the same way down here.”

Izabela sighed with annoyance, saying something under her breath in Croatian, “I can see that incompetent pig told you nothing. He probably didn’t properly vet you like he should have before bringing you down here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize; it’s not your fault, my dear,” Izabela said, waving Imani off, "You are correct. Upstairs is a nightclub. But down here is different. Down here is a performance. A place where our boss can entertain his clients and put on a show that is eccentric and deep. This is like a burlesque show, and the girls here must follow a theme based on what the boss requested.”

‘You got to be fucking kidding me,’ Imani thought as she finally connected the dots. The stage. Talk about a performance. Replacement. Irena was supposed to be the main event for Ivanou and his client. But thanks to asshat over there, she can no longer perform. And because of Pavao, Imani was set to replace. But will undoubtedly be compromised. 

So when she saw many other girls bring in packs and packs of makeup, Imani internally groaned and cried. ‘You have got to be fucking kidding me,’ she thought again in dispair.

Next: Chapter 9

[nerdy-chocomallow]

Since I loved your review on Dark Owl… any chance of a imaginary penny for your thoughts at Zombizou? Aka, the root of the Bustier Salt?

Sorry for not answering the question and it taking too long, I had to finish my school work that was due before spring break and it took awhile to do it. But I’m here now and let’s begin.

Zombizou is a much better episode than Dark Owl when it comes to showing why we should like a character and sympathize with them. Though, just because it does it better doesn’t mean it’s that good. And fun fact, I had to rewatch the episode to get all of my opinions and thoughts on it. And let me tell you, I’m about to spit out some salt on not only Mrs.Bustier but on Chloé.

First, the positives, I love Zombizou’s design, it’s one of the best akuma designs out there! Her boots, the outfit having stitches and patches, the skirts, the knitting pins on her hair, the ripped tights and gloves, and her lipstick! A design with black lipstick just makes it ten times better, especially miraculous, it is just too good! I also think Mrs.Bustier’s tactics that are shown in the episode are really good ideas, the breathing exercises are very smart and helpful, I just wish it got used more. I’m not entirely sure about the compliment thing when she doesn’t reforce to say something nicer, I know you can’t make someone say nicer but Chloé just rose is less annoying that day, not much of an effort to be honest. But that’s just me I guess. Also, I don't know how to feel about forcing two people to hug each other when beforehand, they had an argument, isn’t the smartest idea to me. The gifts we see or hear about in the episode (not going to include Chloé’s since we don’t see it until season 5) do fit the classmates, even if they’re weird, looking at you, Mylene and the braid of hair. Seriously, that was weird right? This isn’t really a positive but I found Kim, Max, Ivan, Alya, Nino, Rose, and Alix getting affected by scenes very noble and kinda sad. It shows how they are worthy of being heroes despite not having powers and how bad this situation is compared to the ones beforehand.

Now, we move on with negatives, the thing most people are curious about. I’m one of those people, who very disagrees with Mme.Bustier and her methods on deali- I mean helping Chloé. Because, I get that we shouldn’t automatically think the worst of people especially if they are kids and there are worse people out there and forgive others but it is so hard when that person barely changes or does anything to make themselves look redeemable and worthy of forgiveness for anyone. Plus, Mme.Bustier doesn’t even try to get Chloé her attitude and help her be a better person, so it’s very difficult to have that mentality especially if she telling marinette that it should be her duty to set a good example for other kids, I don’t think that’s how it works especially if they’re in a middle school through high school. No teacher should expect of a student especially if that student has beef with the student and teacher barely does anything to stop it. And this is where I say that scene of nath hugging out with the person he was about to fight with, can’t always work especially if you tell them to do it. Just because it works at the moment, doesn’t mean the two are just not gonna fight later when you’re not looking, Mme.Bustier is lucky that it did. Sometimes, it doesn’t work especially for kids in the akuma class age group. Also can’t force anyone to change, Mme.Bustier?! You force Ivan to the principal's office despite him trying to explain the situation to you and you didn’t even hear him out and not send Kim as well! You force Marinette to go to the principal’s office if she doesn’t be quiet about finding out that her best friend was suspended and followed through with it anyway! You barely do anything to help your other students to change into better versions of themselves, especially Sabrina, who stuck with being Chloé’s servant at school until season 5! It’s why many people hate your guts. You don’t do anything to help any of your other students because if you did, I bet things would be much better. Like fandom, you have favorites, Mme.Bustier, it is clearly Chloé because you redemption story without putting in the work like most Chloé fans.

Yeah, you hear me! And this episode isn’t me rooting for Chloé being shown to be redeemable. Because what did she do to deserve it, other than save Ladybug when they’re the only ones left and Ladybug could just fix everything at the end. That isn't being redeemable, that just being smart and knowing the right decision because if she didn’t, the world would be doomed! Chloé is just lucky that this is a pg version of zombie apocalypse. Albeit, it is very gross and uncomfortable for others since kissing is involved and a way to get infected. Chloé couldn’t feel bad for anyone that isn’t her teacher, ladybug, and her dad. That isn’t really enough since it’s clear that Mme.Bustier would forgive her, she’s a teacher and ladybug is a superhero so, it would be pretty bad if she didn’t and Mayor bourgeois is her dad, so she would care if he did get infected. But everyone else, to Chloé, they could fuck off. She didn’t feel bad that Sabrina got infected first because of her, showed any sense of care that Adrien got infected too, and just showed annoyance or just shrugged when anyone else got infected, and that’s supposed to help me think she can be redeemed? I'm gonna need more than that and I’ll be honest if people say that this episode is a good start for redeemed Chloé then they’re not wrong but that’s due to potential and rewriting the story not the story we are shown in this episode. I’m not 100% percent against Chloé getting redeemed (I’m like 85% percent against the idea if I’m being honest), Despair Bear did a better job of showing me that but it is hard to get on board with the idea when this episode is brought up more. Also, why did they have to sacrifice themselves for Chloé… when ladybug and chat noir are good enough, if anything it would speed up the process of getting zombizou deakumatized if they just let her get Chloé as soon as possible. Honestly I was rooting for the class to drop her at any given moment because she doesn’t deserve to get a kissou, why should they put their wellbeing for her sake? Not like she is trying to act like she cares about any of them. Also, did no one even check that Nath got infected… or was there with them?

[hetafice]

Hi! Could I request the allies with an overworked s/o? Thanks!

hi! as usual reply is beneath the cut.

America:

It could go one of two ways with Alfred.

Alfred’s solution to the problem may just be to have you quit your job and find a new one.

As someone who gets paid to occasionally loaf off, he might not understand whatever incentivized you to stay at a job you weren’t completely in love with. In his eyes, if your job is too boring or too hard, just leave!

And should you try to explain that you do enjoy your job, just not the overbearing workload, he would be at even more of a loss. 

Another possibility is that you both end up being overworked together and forming a sort of late-night ritual where you work side by side. Sometimes talking, sometimes complaining, sometimes eating, sometimes sitting in comfortable silence as you both hustle to meet a deadline.

Although he is free by nature, Alfred is also keenly aware of just how constraining responsibility can be. To complete his duties to the fullest, he can also lose himself in pursuit of perfection. As someone who’s constantly moving the goalpost for himself, it’s sometimes difficult for him to slow down, to pace himself. As such instead of encouraging you to leave a situation that does not suit you, he might instead choose to remind you of your commitments and why you chose them in the first place.

He isn’t a complete robot, however. He understands the toll that hard work and sacrifice bring, so he’ll try and do something nice to take your mind off of things. It would likely involve one of his favourite coping mechanisms - food. Expect him to either drop food in front of you while you work at random increments or to be pushed into the car and accompany him to the closest fast food drive-in window.

Russia:

To Ivan, there is no such thing as success without a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears. While he may sympathize with you on some level, he believes that struggle is a necessary part of working hard and actualizing one’s dreams; and that to aid someone along the way is just to coddle them. 

On one level, you are someone he deeply cares for, and so he does not wish for you to suffer. However, he also knows from personal experience that without learning the lessons that come out of hard work, you are likely to take things for granted and make simple mistakes in the process of completing your goals. To help you at all would teach you that weakness can still beget success, which would not only then inspire weakness in your future endeavours and prime you for failure, but also place a massive target on your back.

In his eyes, weakness of any kind is ripe for exploitation and is to be avoided at all costs.

Besides, given his history, he knows that people can get pushed and pulled far beyond their limits before they break, so consider this a sort of litmus test. How far can you be pushed before you can’t take anymore? Where do your limits actually lie?

Canada:

Matthew has likely experienced the same things before and is naturally empathetic, so he is a great person to confide in in this scenario.

He would try his utmost best to ease your burdens in whatever capacity he could. If you were busy with work or school, he would compensate for that by doing most, if not all the work around the house. He would check up on you throughout the day to see if you need help with any tasks or even just a general morale boost.

He is more than happy to lend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. His advice is usually pretty sound, and he could help you think of ways to better organize your time and/or minimize your workload. If that isn’t an option he could offer various mindfulness and wellness tips to help you keep sane until your workload naturally tapers off.

China:

With his work ethic and general philosophy on life, Yao would push you to be stronger, go harder, and do more. 

In his eyes, hard work is a unanimously good thing. If you are feeling overworked it means you're just coming closer to another limitation that can be surpassed. You may be dealing with uncomfortable feelings, but this discomfort will teach you a lesson and lead to character growth. What bad has ever come of that?

To be completely honest, he may very well be the one overworking you. 

If you are enduring mistreatment in the workplace, or it looks like things may be too much for you, he may try to offer a few words of advice. He would propose that the knowledge this experience would give you was well worth all the struggle, that it would likely aid in cultivating your character, and that you shouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip through your fingers; or worse yet, quit right before the finish line.

Should your body start to take a toll from the overwork, he would offer reminders to take care of your health, but his general stance would not change. Yao is not the type to intervene when things like duty and honor are concerned.

France:

Francis would not understand why you would willingly put yourself through this.

If it’s getting to be too much, why not just leave your responsibilities behind? If your superiors are giving you too many assignments, why not raise hell about it? Meekly sitting in silence is doing nothing to help the problem, and only teaches others that they can walk all over you. Why not just take a few weeks of leave and lounge around with him?

If for some reason, the prospect of potentially missing out on opportunities in favour of spending uninterrupted time with this man is not your style (shocking, I know), he would support you in your endeavours and try his best to help you unwind at the end of every day. He would make sure you ate regularly and continued to sleep well, while also providing you with as much wine as you needed to get you through it.

England:

As he has matured, Arthur has gotten better at consoling people. With that being said, he’s still not the best at it.

Expect an awkward, albeit endearing pep talk coupled with a bit of well-intentioned advice.

He may not be the best with words, but he’s the most concerned when he sees signs of physical exhaustion in you. Despite finding it a bit awkward to voice his concern for you, he’s seemingly always nearby with a cup of tea for you and refuses to head to bed unless he knows you are right behind him.

He’s more than willing to accompany you on those restless nights. Sitting beside you, either reading a book or getting ahead on a few of his assignments. He still remembers his younger days when he frequently worked late into the night. At the time, he secretly wished for a companion, and so now he happily fulfills that same role for you. 

A part of him also feels less worried knowing that should things go on for too long, he can step in and stop you before you work yourself too hard.

[akashirl]

Tw: yapping ahead (sorry dude)

Dude, I've been listening to your misei playlist cuz I made one myself for ivbk and idk, I was doing like a vibe check... I'm shattered. I feel like I just saw the most heartbreaking romantic tragedy of history. I literally cried through 'Valentine' cuz what the hell is wrong with that song? 10 seconds in and it already punched me with the "we can live on the beach were it's always october cuz you'd give up the sun for me" then "all your friends hate me" and to make it worse "do you just want to be free of me?" Then 'glimpse of us', then 'once more to see you' (I stole that one cuz it unreasonably good), 'Sofia'... then there was 'style'- a breath from all the depression I was experiencing but then got back to tears with an instrumental Korean one that was really sad for me and the other several sad songs in there. Are you okey? Cuz I'm not. but well, at least you didn't heard me try to sing Fetiche Fonetico in a really low quality Portuguese. (I find it a little funny cuz I DID cried with yours, I'm not being dramatic, and then my playlist sounds like the soundtrack of a Disney Channel romcom) but yk, the saddest part for me was thinking of you and Sei relating to those songs, the amount of (probably unaccurate) movies I made in my head and some were so sad in a romantic way. Hits way harder than Romeo and Juliet, I can't *cries*

IVAN oh my god. our playlist is my little depression pit. i can't believe you cried while listening to the playlist, that's such an ivan thing to do honestly...but i'm flattered nonetheless. while most playlists have specific songs in which it can be from either person's perspective, i think most of the songs in my playlist can go either way.

i wrote some bits explaining some of the songs below !!

"casual" - miguel's perspective. this one was supposed to illustrate a fight that me and sei had a while ago, in which he started giving me the cold shoulder in public not to make things obvious between us. we got through it but it's still kind of difficult for him to accept it (i'm talking about bokusei specifically)...

"amor de ganga" - just a silly love song that fits us. it's from both perspectives.

"because i liked a boy" - sei's perspective. it's about how his reputation makes it difficult for him to accept that he is not straight at all...

"heather" - miguel's perspective, it's about my jealousy in general...

"wish you were gay" - it's pretty self-explanatory and it goes both ways.

"take me to church" - sei's perspective. it's about wanting to be free from the expectations of society and finally being public about our relationship...

"please never fall in love again" - miguel's perspective; while i adore the feeling of loving sei, i know that i am only making things more difficult for him. sei reassures me otherwise, but i can't help but wonder how life would be if he never met me.

"looking out for you" - sei's perspective. first and second year of high school weren't easy for me due to my disorder getting the best of me. i knew that i was the one who had to have the strength to move forward, but sei was worried sick about me; he couldn't stand losing yet another person to an illness.

"once more to see you" - «but with everybody watching us, our every move, we do have reputations.» i'd say it's pretty self-explanatory.

"your best american girl" - miguel's perspective. «your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me, but i do, i finally do» this was sort of a vent because of my tough relationship with my mother contrasting with how sei's mother was his only pilar...

"fetiche fonético" - this one is completely different, the song is about pronunciation and how the singer finds it attractive how this woman has a northern accent. i just added it because i'm european and sei is asian so there is a bit of a barrier. and i adore sei's accent.

"using you" - «someday we'll both be older, i wonder if we'll be together looking back on the past but i don't care if i don't live to see another day, oh, i love you in the worst way.»

"once upon a dream" - miguel's perspective. this one mirrors the feeling that i've had for a long time now -- a feeling only soulmates get, that your other half has been beside you your whole entire life and you could only feel their absence, not their presence. it's complicated but it's something spiritual.

"the one that got away" - «in another life, i would be your girl.» once again, self-explanatory.

"glimpse of us" - seijuro looking at me and seeing nijimura for a brief second. he is not in love with nijimura, but he sure misses him on the team, how he was one of the only people who understood the burden he has to carry and actually took care of him as a kouhai.

i can be a bit of a nerd at times. i meant to do all of the songs but there's 37 of them. whoops.

[paintedgrilledcheese]

The inspection

(Ivan has to deal with a OSHA inspector)

Everything was pure bliss. Ivan twirled around the slick floors with the mop, as he dance to the classical music on the gramophone. There was no better way to do chores than with the sound of strong violins colliding with the loud brass instruments. An graceful and elegant battle between the instruments. Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93: II. Allegro. One that Ivan has heard many times before. He could feel his left hand subconsciously move to the position of the cords as if he was playing his violin along.

The music was loud and fierce, Ivan couldn't hear anything else. That is until the faint sound of the company's phone range, snapping Ivan out of his blissful state. He spun on his toes to the phone, holding the mop in one hand and gracefully scooping up the phone in the other. His hair waterfalls down to his side as he tilted his head.

"This is the RITHOTD, Head chamberlain speaking. How may I assist you?" Ivan asked, having perfected that introduction hundreds of time. His voice was soft and elegant.

The voice on the other end sounded high pitched and feminine. "Hello? This is Ms. Cheese. I work for OSHA. I uh... I been assigned to come inspect the RITHOTD work place. I don't know if I was supposed to come unannounced but I felt bad if I didn't give you guys a heads up about your appointment. So I'll be coming around at 3, be prepared." She spoke, unsure and unprofessional. As if this was her first day on the job.

She then hung up quickly, barely giving Ivan time to process what she just said. After a moment of realization, Ivan looked around to see what he needs to prepare and clean before inspection. He wasn't too worried. How could he be worried when he's in pure bliss 24/7? The music resumed, he glides over the wet floors as he continued to dance his way through his chores.

Soon it's 3 o'clock, perfect time for afternoon tea. No one else was at the base, at the moment. It was just Ivan and his music. Eventually the expected guest finally arrived. Upon opening the front door, Ivan found a small 4'11 women with big blue eyes and pink hair. She wore glasses and a orange vest with the words OSHA on the back. Ivan was a little taken aback to see he had to look down to make eye contact. Such small people.

"Alright it's OSHA INSPECTION TIME! You better be prepared!" She greeted a little loudly, his high pitched voice still prominent. This must be Ms. Cheese from over the phone. She tried to look serious but her big eyes were making it extremely difficult to seem intimidating.

"Prepared as always." Ivan replied with a hum and a smile, allowing Ms. Cheese in. Ms. Cheese has a glance around the entrance, carrying a sparkly blue gel pen with her and a notepad. She starts scribbling down some stuff. Actual words or not? Ivan doesn't know.

Ms. Cheese continued to scribble down her thoughts and observations. "Why are there firearms left out so haphazard for anyone to grab? This is dangerous for young children and workers. They should be locked away somewhere convenient and safe. Violation number one! Show me the kitchen." She scolded and demanded. Ivan felt some of his confidence shot down as they manged to already get a violation under 5 minutes.

"Ah- er- understood!" Now feeling awkward Ivan guided Ms. Cheese to the kitchen. She had a look around and smile in approval. Ivan took extra care and time working on the kitchen before inspection. He felt a little proud for his hard work.

"Hmmmm clean so far. You guys have a new fire extinguisher and the sprinklers aren't blocked.... but wait what is that?" Ms. Cheese turned her head towards something dead by the oven. Ivan's eyes widen, a rush of panic came over him as he saw the dead rat by the oven. "Can you explain to me why there's a dead rat here befor I give you a health violation?" Ms. Cheese demanded.

"..... Ah.... Must be one of master's-" Ivan cuts himself off, hoping the OSHA employee didn't hear him. The rat must have been one of Fyodor's. How it escaped it's cage, Ivan has no clue. He'll have to find a replacement from the sewers later. Ivan clears his throat. "Er, we were, filming! And we used that for... realism! No food is cooked without inspecting the area first." He lied.

It was such a obvious lie, anyone with two brain cells would have figured that out. But after staring at Ivan and back at the very dead rat, Ms. Cheese suddenly smiled. "Oh so it's just a prop! I see. Very well. This area has a clear pass." She goes back to scribbling on her notepad. She didn't even ask any further questions. It can't be that easy, right?!

Ivan blinked a few times in shock still, but who is he to complain when he just dodged a bullet back there. Ms. Cheese looked back at Ivan, after scribbling more, with a smile on her face. "May you please show me the bathroom as well? That area must be inspected as well." She politely asked, chewing on the tip of her pen.

Ivan though for a moment. The bathrooms were fairly clean, but he remembered that his bloody bandages were still hanging out the trashcan, since he forgot to change out the trash can. Ivan shakes his head, his hair long swaying side to side. "The bathroom is currently occupied! Would you like to inspect anywhere else, though?" He asked, trying to stall from showing her the bathroom.

Ms. Cheese chewed her pen more, tapping her fingers on her notepad. "Hmmm what does this company specialize in? I need to see the working conditions how the employees are being treated. You know, pay and wages, stuff like that." She answered with a shrug.

"Does terrorism count as a specialty?" Ivan muttered to himself before coughing purposely. "...Ch... Charity! We...- our leader- my master- is working to create a better world and also offers people a place to stay with better living conditions. His organisation is full of people he has helped. We work in return for food, clothes, etc. If we need to buy something, however, master is more than happy to hand us the money we need." Ivan explained.

He was trying so hard to not get this operation shut down or fired. He couldn't imagine being separated from Fyodor, all because of one little pink hair woman with half of a brain cell gave them a few violations. Then again she only gave one so far. But still, that's a lot of money already lost.

Ms. Cheese smiled, buying into Ivan's cover up stupid easily. "Oh how nice! I never heard of your charity work until now. It's so good to be provided for the unfortunate in a away that doesn't involve work place abuse." She goes back to scribbling on her notepad. Ivan had to restrain himself from laughing at the mention of non work place abuse.

Oh dear is she saw the true nature of this place for a second, they would have been shut down immediately. . The amount of times Ivan was allowed to whack his fellow coworkers with a metal tray was far to many. Not to mention the fact Fyodor was much worse when it came to his own men.

"Now may I ask you a few personal questions about the company? How do you get along with your coworkers?" Ms. Cheese asked curiously, still scribbling and chewing on her pen at the same time.

Ah yes, Ivan's coworkers. Most of them were tame and alright, though to add to the workplace abuse, he did kick a few down the stairs one time. Ivan smiles at the thought of his coworkers, all of them weren't bad. "I get along quite well! I often make them tea and things of the sort to bond with them." He answered with the same warm smile.

Ms. Cheese smiled in approval, continuing to ask more questions. "Great to here. Are your coworkers interesting in anyway? Any odd behaviors? I ran into one earlier. Though he's a little delusional and talks about birds a lot?"

Oh crap, she ran into Nikolai earlier?! When did this happened?! Ivan's smile became larger as he panicked internally, he would look like a mad man right now with his expression on his face. Stupid lobotomy, making him smile at the worst situations.

Odd behaviors? Hahaha that's so funny, Ivan thought to himself. If this place was anything it would be the jackpot of odd behaviors and suspicious activity. Heck Ms. Cheese is talking directly to the CEO of odd behavior.

"Oh, that's not our coworker, merely a friend of my master's. No odd behaviour here! We're all very sane people." Another lie he spewed, waving his hand dismissively. Ms. Cheese tilted her head to the side, pushing her glasses back up.

"Sane people huh? What about that Nathaniel guy who was pacing back and forth outside. He didn't look sane to me. Is

your boss providing any sort of therapy or

medication for this 'chairy'?" She assumed and asked suspiciously. She was actually starting to get suspicious. Looks like she has half a brain cell after all.

Ms. Cheese comment about Nathaniel made Ivan feel slightly upset. How dare she assume and offend one of his friends like that? Ivan frowned angrily. "It's very rude to assume he doesn't look sane, that's just how he is! >:(" Ivan defended.

Ivan then put a hand on his chest and proudly exclaimed, "And master does provide joy! I am actually one of the people master has made happy!" He said with pride. Glossing over the fact he had a lobotomy performed on him.

Ms. Cheese eyes widen and she held her palms up in a backing up motion. She didn't mean to offend Ivan or Nathaniel. "Oh my apologies. I was just concerned when saw his eyes. They seem hallowed and terror. It looked like he seen things." She starts to scribble on her notepad again, about to change topic. "So you said your master has made you happy? That is very good to see chairys like this can

provide resources and and joyful moods to the unfortunate without expensive medication or brain altering lobotomies."

She's so dumb! Ivan is crying on the inside. Girlie LOOK! Use your half of a brain cell and LOOK. How can she cleary not see the bandages around Ivan's head?! Is she blind?! That would explain the glasses she wears, but even those glasses can't even show her how oblivious she is!

It's so obvious! She quite LITERALLY look UP to have eye contact. The fact that she can't see his bandages just blows Ivan away from how dense this lady is!

Ivan starts to sweat at the mention of lobotomies and laughs nervously. "......Ahahah, of course not, that would be ABSURD. I mean-that's so silly, ahah wh- hah.-..imagine THAT." Ivan clasped his hands together and smiled. "Well! Are there any more questions?" He wanted to get this overwith quickly.

Ms. Cheese continued to chew her pen. "Two last things. I still haven't inspected the

bathrooms yet and I would like to meet your boss. Nothing to serious in meeting him. I just want to know what drives him to have such a wonderful charity like this :D But if he's not here or too busy that's alright." She was buying into all of it.

Oh thank God this inspection was almost over. Ivan has singlehandedly dodged 29492 bullets in less of a hour, he was quite impressed that he's managed to prevent the organization from being shut down so far. Fyodor better be proud of his hard work, if not at least Pushkin should.

"Unfortunately master is a very busy man, but his religious views drive him to be a good man! He believes people should not suffer from sin, and therefore he saves them." Ivan said with a smile, not mentioning that fact how Fyodor "frees" his victims from suffering and sin. "As for the bathrooms, right this way."

Ivan guides Ms. Cheese over to the bathroom, all sparkly clean from his chores earlier. Ivan stood in front of the trash can to hid his bloody used bandages from Cheese's sight while she gives the room a top down inspection.

Everything was looking good and she hum and approval. "Hmmm everything seems to be in fine and clean condition. All the cleaning products aren't so easily accessible and nothing seems to be broken. Oh but what's this?"

Out of EVERYTHING she could have spotted, of course she nitpick a tiny wet spot on the floor that wasn't dry yet from the mopping. "Tsk tsk tsk. No caution wet floor sign? Employees can easily slip and that wouldn't be good for the medical bill if they break their back. Tsk tsk tsk. Violation." She shook her head and scribbled down a violation on her not pad.

Ivan threw his hands up and huffed before collecting his cool and smiling again. "Oh, forgive me, I was rushing to prepare

everything for when you come along. I must have missed it, but I clean everything

thoroughly!" He defended.

"Hmmm well put a sign there next time." She replied before scribbling more for a long time. After a time of "deep thinking", even though there isn't a single thought behind those eyes, she turned back to Ivan.

"Alright, that concludes this company's 6 month OSHA inspection. So far this place seems to be standing well and only two violations, but nothing too bad to be shut down. I give this the stamp of approval." She torn off the page of her notepad and stamped it with a green approval stamp. She gave it to Ivan and who took it with curiosity.

It was all chicken scratch! He couldn't read any of this! But who was he to complain when they manged to pass. Ms. Cheese turned her heel to walk away, yelling out as she exits the building. "I shall be off! And next time I'll show up unexpectedly. Farewell, take care. Lock those fire arms away and buy some wet floor signs."

Just like that she was gone. "Farwell!" Ivan waved goodbye with a smile. But the moment that door closed her turned around and clutched his chest tightly, finally letting his guard drop and de-stressing. "How was that so easy?" He mumbled to himself before laying on the couch.

It's been less than a hour, but it felt like a whole day went by. He was exhausted. Perhaps he'll order take out for the men tonight.

The End.

[narusakufantastic]

Character Dynamics

Okay so let's begin this post we'll talk about the more important characters of the rewrite but I probably will need to split into two posts.

Adrien Agreste

Chloe is Adrien's closest friend from his childhood. He's constantly trying to get her to hang out with his new friends but the issue is he wasn't prepared for how she acts. As a child he knew that his mom and Audrey didn't get along but it wasn't until style queen and queen wasp that he understood what kind of person Audrey was. He sees how Audrey's behavior has shaped and changed Chloe which is why he stops Chloe from leaving with her mom. Episodes like Despair Bear is Adrien trying to convince Chloe that she might have more in common with his friends than she thinks. Adrien isn't a total pushover with Chloe when Adrien sees Chloe being mean to Ivan he calls her behavior out. We will see them growing closer again as Adrien starts fixing their fractured friendship.

Juliet is Adrien's second friend he made at school. Adrien and her have a lot in common since both of them were homeschooled and currently live with one parent. They also share a love for superheros. They often feel like siblings with the way they act and joke around. Juliet is able to understand what Adrien's going through better than some of the others. That's not to say she can completely understand what Adrien's going through because she doesn't know what it's like to lose a parent both of her parents are alive and just divorced. Their similarities make her easy to approach when Adrien is having issues with his dad.

Marinette well we have the love square but Mari isn't as obsessed yes she has a crush on him but not stalking level like in the show. Mari has a crush on him and does some awkward things for example the voicemail thing still happens most of the other stuff like breaking into his house doesn't happen. Her and Adrien are friends with her crush on him sometimes getting the better of like Volpina. She does try to get over Adrien when she thinks he's not into her but failed. Adrien for his part actually started developing feelings for her in season 3 but pushed them aside since he already was dating someone and so was she. As Chat Noir and Ladybug their dynamic is mostly the same though they're on more equal footing.

Allegra is Adrien's other childhood friend she's a bit older than him already being in Lycées when we meet her. She is a student teacher in fencing. Adrien and Allegra are super happy to see each other again as Allegra had to move after her parents found out her grandmother was sick. The two reconnect as if it hadn't been years since they'd seen each other. She often acts like an older sister to Adrien. He normally brings out her more jokey side which her friend group is shocked by.

Nino is the first friend Adrien made at school. Nino quite fittingly since he has the turtle miraculous acts as a protective figure to Adrien especially considering Adrien is so new to public School. And honestly, I don't have too much to say just because it's much easier to watch it play out.

Valérie is an interesting one because she's the granddaughter of Wang Fu who's not only Adrien's mentor but his Mandarin tutor as well. Val is one of the few people who knows the identity of the original 3 early on. She can be a bit critical of all of them Chat Noir especially considering how destructive his miraculous is. She does relate to Adrien a bit with having an overprotective parental figure aka her Grandpa.

Gabriel is much different than his Canon counterpart. He doesn't threaten to pull Adrien out of school and actually does care about him. He just has a hard time expressing himself especially after his wife Emilie died. Again, he's another one that's difficult to explain without showing it.

Felix is Adrien's cousin the two of them used to be really close when they were kids but Gabriel and Colt had a falling out. Which led to Felix not seeing Adrien anymore. When we meet Felix in season 2, he is rather distant. He does love his cousin but he has a lot of trust issues thanks to Colt. And he is jealous of all the friends Adrien has how people seem to love him so much. As the series goes on, we see their relationship gradually improve and Felix make friends with some of Adrien's friends.

Luka is in all honestly probably going to be the last one I explain because in all honesty this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Luka is good friends with Adrien they first became friends through having a couple mutuals then Luka was looking for a keyboardist for the Kitty section. Luka often is the person Adrien will vent to because he doesn't want to bother the others. Luka tries to always be there when Adrien needs him. He also listens to Chat Noir vent when they're on patrol.

[crustyfloor]

Thinking back on Till's POV, the lack of it makes Till's personality difficult to articulate. But I like how multi-faced he is as a character, very flawed, and contradictory... (although endearing), sometimes he confuses me with his constant highs and lows. He's very malleable and sensitive and honestly doesn't try to suppress it. Yet he outwardly hides so much of himself and is majorly avoidant of confronting certain aspects of what he feels and spiraling. Because of all these factors, he's a very emotionally unstable (often escapist), immature character, and following this train of thought as his emotional arc progresses is interesting.

For instance, from the beginning. In his childhood, I always thought Till had a boyish personality, but I constantly think about the way Till goes back and forth between having an unrealistically romantic perspective, or he's a closed-off yet passionate character with a lot underneath

To acknowledge his flawed traits Till shows himself to be weak-minded, has a child-like arrogance, and short-sighted, and short-tempered (hence why he's prone to fighting with Ivan, a lot, when his buttons are pushed, in part an emotional response to his environment and as a result of Ivan's aggravating behavior) (this isn't to say he's an asshole sometimes on purpose honestly, seeing the way he's just as quick to treat others with kindness and politeness, but those traits are a part of his character...) whilst he is also a timid and kind-hearted and insecure person, even though he has a timidity about him and, as aforementioned, insecurity about his safety and self-assurance because it has otherwise been compromised over and over again by the constant and explicit abuse he suffers, he holds onto to a motivating and empowering factor about his natural talent for music and art- that because he's the best of the best at music among his peers, even if the world destroys him as long as he has music he can do anything and protect himself, and what he cares about, nothing else matters, so he absorbs himself into immersing in his inner world and his art&music. In a way that explains why he acts like a chuunibyou ("HAHA...WEAK PET HUMANS...I'LL BEAT YOU WITH THE BLOOD OF MUSIC RUNNING IN МY ВОDY! HEHE!"), When it comes to his music, he's very certain about his ability because he knows what the aliens think of him and how much they regard him (though that's also not very consistent; his confidence is secretly in the dumps)

TL: @/SegyeinArchive on twit

In his idealization and idealized self, he finds his function. Alongside this, he finds purpose in Mizi, a perfect, inspiring, and dreamy person in Till's perspective, which is why he's so attached to her, if not because of the relief she is to him by simply allowing him to play with her. That is why I describe him as an escapist, too, because that is what he does when the world is too much for him, that is what Mizi is to him in this environment where cruelty is a constant, feeling isolated and living in abuse makes a child seek out a safe and secure connection, and Till clings to that when he meets Mizi and she is often portrayed as Till's muse and his motivation, because of exactly what she means to him as someone he feels deep affection for and wants to protect

Then again, Till is simultaneously careless about his close friendships. He is, unfortunately, absent-minded/awkward, and is only meticulous about his music. Even though he could have a better situation, it's another area of life where he's fumbling. It's shown in how he deals with Ivan. He has a close bond with Ivan and seems to genuinely consider him close (But I already kinda talked about that).

source

They see each other, but cannot truly see eye to eye because he perceives Ivan as odd, and Ivan irritates him. They didn't know how to help themselves. It's highlighted in their story that they never learned how to approach each other. At that time, Till was completely oblivious to what Ivan truly thought about him, and he didn't need to know, in the case that he was probably actively shrugging it off, too distracted with other things in his life. Ivan wouldn't force him either way.

There is also his dynamic with Mizi, it's conveyed in many ways that he only has an idealized perception of Mizi, that simpler and lovable side. So insecure over the fact that he's not brave enough to confront her and too shy and closed off to make an effort to truly get close to her (so much so that even the ever-trusting and socially oblivious Mizi was thinking that he didn't really like her)

TL: @/SegyeinArchive on twit

His profile puts it way better: Till has a simple ignorance that is a double-edged sword. He can be content for a while, but under intense pressure, it becomes a weakness

There is a lot that correlates to why Till has the lowest rating of all characters in terms of emotional strength; he has too many weaknesses, relies too much on his dependency, and is reactive to stimuli and triggers in his environment. Even though Till has a resilient spirit, he can't see himself not leaning on Mizi or living without her. When Ivan dies, he's forced to confront so much of what he hadn't before, and it sends him spiraling while he's already dealing with the loss of Mizi. Even though he is a rebellious character, he lashes out at the aliens on pure instinct, not because he had a methodical form of rebellion in mind. And he gets treated like a rabid animal and beaten down for it. It's bound to get to him when all his defenses are destroyed. And he's unequipped to deal with the emotional turmoil he goes through as the story progresses. That is the arrow that comes back to stab him in the back.

In round 2, his foolishness and lack of tact are re-established. I believe this is the part where you can really describe Till as short-sighted (and impulsive for how quickly he killed his guitar, even if it worked in his favor) because here he passionately expresses his genuine confession of love for Mizi in hopes of at least her acknowledgement in a pretty inappropriate setting (no ill-will there, but definitely odd). In Round 5, a crucial moment for Till's character development is shown. Till's fearful dependence on Mizi's well-being keeps him wanting to stay by her side. But when she's gone, he's lost. The tension that prompts his character development reveals how truly emotionally unstable he was to begin, and in Round 6 and Round 7, it shows the full depth.

At this point in his character development, it's hard to grasp him because his volatility is sporadic. His emotions are visibly all over the place, but it makes sense. I believe Vivinos meant to paint the picture of a multi-faced trauma victim with continuous overlapping traumatic experiences, and what they made of him: a biting and cornered animal, truly something broken and grasping at straws, and his misery is raw, and when he circles back to how he was in the very beginning when he sees Mizi after so long without her, hopeless and afraid? Almost everything, including his impulsivity, escapism, and naive ignorance, was re-established. When looking into his character psychologically, he's so fun to research...

PLEASE LET ME HAVE HIS ACTUAL POV I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE

[honeybeetlejuice]

im bored and currently hyperfixated on both alnst and tma so why not assign the alien stage main cast fears they would be avatars of.

spoilers for alien stage up to round 7 + the magnus archives up to 111 (I am only on mag 192, please don't spoil the ending of tma for me i beg of you ;-;)

also I got this idea from looking through the yourfaveisanavatar blog so credits to them

Mizi is difficult but I believe she could be an avatar of the slaughter. I mean, she was driven by her mental state into attacking Luka in round 5. According to the wiki, the slaughter manifests as people driven mad by slaughter. Mizi kinda has been if you think about it. Idk, Mizi was hard.

Sua seems like an avatar of the lonely to me. She doesn't really speak with anyone except Mizi, social isolation i guess. I feel like I also remember hearing people say the lonely can come across as people who seem sorta... blank. Sua is like that in a way? Hard to explain. Idk, I'm struggling with Sua despite being a Sua fan just because we don't know a ton about her. ;-;

Ivan is an avatar of the corruption. I know, hear me out, because corruption is usually bugs and mold and stuff... but corruption can also manifest as unhealthy love and companionship. His unhealthy love and attachment to Till is a big part of Ivan's character, making me think he could be an avatar of the corruption.

Till is an avatar of the desolation to me. I know he hasn't particularly been portrayed with any fire, yeah, but the desolation also manifests as destruction of potential. Round two, anyone? I mean.. he quite literally destroyed the potential of his opponent, not allowing them a chance.

Luka is an avatar of the spiral and no one can change my mind. Luka has manipulated Mizi and Till, he messes with their head, making them question reality. See Sua and Ivan, the people they've lost. That's the whole point of the spiral, a mindfuck. Feeling like your mind is lying to you. Seeing shit. So I think Luka could easily be a spiral avatar.

Hyuna is an avatar of the hunt, maybe? I'm not too sure for her ngl. She doesn't really classify as any of the avatars.

Anyways thank you for coming to my autistic rant ted talk.

[karamazovposting]

On incommunicability

I saw a post that mentioned how Ivan is so radicalized by child abuse and yet hates Pavel so much and I want to talk about it because I genuinely think about it a lot (I clearly have issues), but I'm making my own post because I don't want to randomly come rambling into a stranger's notes.

I've said it before, but Ivan is a paradoxical (I mean, other characters refer to him as such multiple times) person and that's exactly what I love about him and the dynamic between him and Pavel. In theory he wants to help people and in some instances he does, such as the whole making Dmitri escape prison situation and his encounter with the peasant in the snow, but when he has to get emotionally close in order to do so, like he would have had to do with Pavel, he doesn't. Ivan was the only one who could have helped Pavel, except he couldn't because he has issues and can only interact with others and love at a distance.

The difference between Dmitri's situation and Pavel's is that when it comes to the former, Ivan can still act at a safe distance and even through Katya and Alyosha, so it's not an emotional ordeal. There are a lot of feelings at play in this kind of situations and feelings are not something Ivan is good with, and I think it makes sense for him to feel such rage towards Pavel simply because that's what Ivan turns any feeling he doesn't know how deal with into, so I wouldn't exactly call Ivan a hypocrite as I think it's more complicated than that; pushing away people is all he does and it's coherent of him to do so with Pavel too. To me it also makes sense for him to fail to see the suffering children that the adults around him once were, as absurd that may seem. It's all about rage and the blindness that comes with it.

It's important to highlight that it's explicitly stated that even Ivan himself doesn't know why he feels so angry towards Pavel; I've always wondered about the background of Ivan's change of attitude towards him, considering they used to have a civil relationship and it's mentioned that they used to have intellectual conversations as well, and honestly I think it's because of Ivan and his comfort zone: when things become too much, he distances himself. It's obvious that he knows what his brothers' childhoods were like, he even brings up the suffering of children at lunch with Alyosha, he knows that it ties them all together and that knowledge, on top of the abuse, has impacted him deeply. Having Pavel keep trying to get closer angers him even more and, personal opinion here, it reminds me of the way Fyodor tries to get Ivan to talk to him in some passages of the book. On the other hand, Pavel tells Ivan he's just like their father because to him Ivan is in fact just like their father: another person who discarded him. And it all stems from a deep mutual misunderstanding.

I can't really condemn Ivan, just like I can't really condemn Pavel (or Dmitri); they're a product of their environment and to me The Brothers Karamazov is also a book about misunderstanding and incommunicability: sometimes there's just some sort of invisible barrier between family members that nobody can really do anything about, and sometimes you find yourself in something that is so messed up, so tangled and so much bigger than you that you just don't know where to start to fix it (you can't, not alone at least) and I hope you get what I'm trying to say as it's difficult to explain the very specific and complicated mechanisms and feelings in such dysfunctional family dynamics.

I've said before that I don't consider Ivan's character and story tragic and while I still stand by that, this is to me the tragic thing about him: he, who has empathy for and wants to help those who've been abused, could've done something to actually help a (now grown) abused child close to him, in his own family, but couldn't even try due to being emotionally neglected (and therefore a now grown abused child) himself. In the end his inability to break the cycle, which is itself part of the cycle, digs his own grave and that's incredibly fucking sad.

[mystycalypso]

...Wtf is wtrb youtube?

I don't mean the show itself I mean the fandom. The theories.

I got recommended a video bringing up a continuity error and I was genuinely curious.

You wanna know what the "error" was, tumblr?

"The games and books take place in the 90s! But Trinity (who he doesn't mention by name, just calls her "one of the main characters") has a phone! This must be an error!"

...

*INHALE*

The worst part?

Everyone in the comments is treating this as theory fodder.

INCLUDING "this is actually about Nicky's kid, so it's Nicky Jr." As well as "They aged everyone down two years, so Nicky is 11"

W H A T ? ! N O ? !

A. Nicky Jr??? No??? Stop just- I'm not even justifying that with a rant.

B. Just wrong! They're in Ravenbrooks Middle school. Now you could argue, "but 11 years old is middle school" however, Maritza and Ivan still seem to be younger than Nicky (Enzo, Trinity and Nicky are the same grade and Maritza is still Enzo's younger sister) now, if he is the MINIMUM age/grade for middle school, why is she there? Exactly. Theory debunked.

In general, that video's theory and 90% of the comments can be explained so easily like- guys- it's not difficult. Tiny build literally just decided to bump this series forward in time. Why? Who cares!

Also, to call this an error makes it seem like ONLY Trinity has a phone, but like- the realtor has one, Maritza has one, etc. Also

MARITZA USES GEN Z SLANG GUYS

This is as bad as the people who look at- Nicky's eye colour change and are like- still calling it an animation error? Like guys- animation errors like this don't go on for a whole episode and teasers.

Just- how does the youtube side of this fandom stretch so hard for nothing then shut down the actual theory fodder? I don't understand

Kaydin looked at the comments more than I had the strength to, so they're gonna rant about it too <3

(Live footage of me entering discord dms with Kaydin when this came up [the autism makes it painful to hear people be so wrong about the hyperfixation])

(Live footage of Kaydin reading the comments [this is a transition])

Operating under the assumption that everything is canon to a singular timeline restricts the creativity of the Dynamic Pixels team as well. It's very clear they're very passionate about their franchise, despite its very obvious mechanical problems. It's very story-driven, whether one likes it or not, so timeline shifts aren't a concern of mine because they don't affect the story. Planting a story in a certain period can lead to some interesting plot points due to what is 'canon' to real life (ie., Theodore being a mechanical genius in his prime between (presumably) the 70s and 90s), but just because it's important in other media like the books do NOT mean it's important to the show. The games could have been set in 2145 for all I care and still had its current aesthetic. I would have been a *little* confused, but it would have been obvious in that instance that the time didn't matter. The story did. Hyperfixating on details like the type of phone or slang being out of place in a media you don't actually know the time period of for certain is ignorant at best and misinformative at worst. Because we do have those details included in the show, though, proves that we can assume it's at a point that we have cell phones as well as the term 'sus' being used by 11-13-year-olds. As in, it's taking place in the modern day, based on the details we have.

In fact, Theodore's technological prowess hasn't even been *mentioned* as of Season 1's release, we just know his house if fucking crazy.

[runefactorynonsense]

what changes would you like to see in a rf1 remake?

rf2?

Hello, hello!♡

I want to preface a question like this with how I view video game mechanics and criticism; I don't like talking about things I dislike. I don't like comparing things that aren't as good. I dislike being negative. So as I answer, I answer with musing thoughts and hope! These are positive remarks about things that could be so helpful!

This is a hard question because of just how old those games are. RF3 got off easy as it already had a significant number of "quality of life" changes that had carried into 4.... Though 2 does have the advantage of already having the request system and the start of interactions between villagers. As much as I love it, 1 is lacking and archaic. It still has a world, plot, tone and art syle charm that I adore, but. I have to be honest. Both games will basically need to be entirely redone, but I think if they do 2, they HAVE to do 1- 1 will have so many tie-ins to 4 that people will be curious. Or, so I hope.

Aside from things like the modern stacking, inventory organizing, etc;

2 -- More villagers referencing/interacting with one another, more emphasis on the rival relationships, more consequences from the earthquakes, and I hope they would leave the temple as difficult as it was.

Don't shorten it's time or change the rarity of items to get in there. Don't remove the 2 gen system. I would also love to see a scene where Kyle confronts Fiersome and maybe a battle the player is scripted to lose before the generation switch! Why do we only get to talk to Venti and Aquaticus? (I don't mind not knowing who Kyle is, despite being told he got his memories back, as I have loudly said my personal headcanons, but. That'd be a cool tidbit and I love lore!)

1 -- A request system, my gosh. I could see it playing into the LP of characters like Melody, Tabatha and Felicity, along with being something else to do in a day. As always, addition of villager interactions, who actually knows who?? We never see anyone together. More of a hint that Kardia is supposed to be this important trade crossroads? Some lore hints at this, while the game makes Kardia feel like a lost, isolated little place, a paradigm I struggle to get out of my head at times.

They should NOT shorten the game, keep its number of dungeons, keep Misty Bloom unable to be gotten to until the 1st winter. (Maybe after that, magic or a bridge could get there during a non-winter season. But. Keep that early limit.) More use of characters like Sharron and Ivan?? Please? Explain (at least to the viewer) who they are, what they know. And, for the love of every dragon, don't lighten the tone; that would mess up the story. I said very recently to people that 1 has a gravity to it that gets lost in later games-- the way it uses the Empire/Norad struggle, and makes the amnesia not just a convenient plot device but a defining moment for those involved... Don't take that away. Especially when the game can now hint to things to come in 4! (And yes, I want to talk to Terrable after we calm him down, too. Ivan can talk to him, why not Raguna?)

And. Postgame. Actual family interactions. Why have 2 candidates that the story must be finished to wed, with no other reward? And if they wish to be so clever, cement that Frontier is supposed to happen after this game with some cute hint or something.

And lasty- I still beg and plead for a world map.

[shimshilla]

❗️❗️❗️VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ABUSE❗️❗️❗️

Returning to the 1st frame and Raikov's bruised face. He was treated very harshly in prison, he was subjected to physical and very frequent sexual violence. The cruelty of the other prisoners towards him was difficult to explain, they just liked to mock and dominate him. A lot of people recognized him as handsome, and this is also one of the reasons for sexual violence.

The guards didn't stay away either. There was only one defender in prison who felt sorry for Ivan, but could not protect him from everyone. Later, they will meet again at the Mother Base. For 6 years, Ivan was raped and beaten, which is why by the day the Americans released him, Ivan's mental health and fighting spirit were broken and crumbled into small pieces. When Ivan survived death from organ transplantation already in Moscow, his mental health "reset", but some memories still haunted him. He had a long and serious job ahead of him to accept his past.

This was also reflected in the behavior of the second personality.

[aquadestinyswriting]

@druidx and @blind-the-winds, I hope you're both happy with yourselves. Our little discussion about Selene's role in the found family that rebuilt Toreguarde made this little section of chapter 2 of To Heal A Broken Soul even more heart-breaking than it already was (under a cut to save everyones' dashes):

Selene watched Edwin deflate in front of her. While her own temper had guttered out, the old wound of discovering that Alexis had left without saying anything to her, stung anew, ripped open by the letter she’d just received from Ivan. Finding out now that Edwin knew what had happened, and didn’t say anything either, was simply adding salt to it. It had become increasingly clear that no one truly trusted her, not even those she had considered her closest friends, Edwin now included. Oh, sure, Edwin had told her why, but that was simply an excuse to hide the truth. The wizard huffed out a sigh and stood up, too dejected to notice the sting in her arms at the movement, “Well, thank you for finally telling me the truth, Father Goodwin.” she stated flatly, “If you don’t mind, I need to have some time to myself.” 

Here's what I told Dru:

Sel was kind of estranged from her biological family and then Yastromo, Greydown and Chrackle were the only family she had for a long time after that. Then the adventure happens, she gets close to everyone that's left, half of those that lived leave for one reason or another, and the last few she now has too little time to spend with.

By the time The Wizard's Tale starts, I'm not sure Selene even knows what a family is supposed to be any more. All she knows is that she feels like she's fighting a losing battle to maintain those relationships she cares so much about, so she can't decide whether to retreat further into her work or try to cling to what little is left. It certainly explains her mercurial moods with regards to her relationship with Elowyn.

As far as her fellow wizards, Selene can't bring herself to get too close to them. She's their boss and needs to maintain a certain distance to ensure a professional relationship with them. This is fine as far as Thazaar and Thaddeus are concerned, it's a lot more difficult with Dwena. Despite all her best efforts, Selene can't help but trust the gnome and is closer to her than the other two members of her little Council. Even then, she refuses to consider Dwena as a part of her family until two thirds of the way through the Destiny's New Servants campaign, because she's so afraid that Dwena will end up leaving or dying on her and Selene knows she wouldn't be able to stand that.

By the time we get to the above conversation with Edwin, Selene honestly feels like he's the last member of that original adventuring family that she can truly rely on and trust. Now Edwin's gone and shattered even that. Is it any wonder, then, that she walks away and doesn't want to hear anything he has to say after that?

I know for a fact that Sel did not take Alexis' disappearance well at all at the time, and probably decided that it was for the best to never mention Alexis unless someone else broached the topic first, simply because talking about it hurt too much (It also makes for a handy excuse as to why Selene never mentioned or asked anyone about her when she visited Fangthane to ask about the God Clay).

Now I'm feeling compelled to write a story of Selene's perspective of family, though what point in the timeline that will be set, I'm not entirely sure...