#i am always on the lookout for weird little bits of symbolism in things

[wackywatchdotcom]

just noticed that all of the characters doors are on one side of the hallway. except pomni. whos door is on the other side. which is the side kaufmos door was on

[zeelady2004]

Let's play Tears of The Kingdom! First playthrough. Part 14

Hello hello 🖐 Welcome back to more of me wandering around Hyrule like a drunk toddler getting easily distracted by random stuff.

Last where we left off, we got shot into the air to make a map. And then I talk to Purah so more about the new spot opening up and then the weird shit happening in the four corners of Hyrule.

Sooooo basically go meet the four races, be a miracle worker and awaken 'Zee Sages' I know of the sages. I just don't remember how many there are supposed to be. I think there's six in this game but I could have sworn there used to be seven. I'm not real sure.

But anyway, I go see Robbie for some reason. I don't remember if I saw a side quest symbol or if Purah told me he would look into my camera issue. Anyway, I officially get introduced this person.

And I guess she's gonna be the reason I go to The Depths. I remember a little bit about them when watching kiddo play and its super dark down there and there are these big plants you can activate to light up the place. Also the monsters glow red AND there were some weird zombie looking people down there. they remind of those ReDead....yea I don't want to go near those.

So anyway Josha wants us to take a picture of this thing.

Noooooooo if it's those ReDead then noooooooo. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

but I really want the camera to work again. Ugh....fiiiinnnnnnnaaaaaaahhhh

So I go back to Purah and talk to her again incase she had anything else to say, which she didn't so I turn around and I see someone I wasn't expecting to see as I fell off the railing.

Penn?!?!?!?! @askpennthereporter Dat you?

omgaaawwwwwd it IS you!

ok so before I started playing TOTK, I came across the Penn blog first so I wasn't sure what to expect when it came time to meet Penn in the game. It didn't occur to me that Penn had a habit of not always connecting the dots when meeting famous people. Which makes the blogger's representation of not realizing he's meeting The Revali ( @asktheritochampion ) even funnier. I'm looking forward to meeting Penn again.

But anyway, since now I know I can get launched super high in the air, I went straight to Hyrule Castle. I really REALLY wanted to find that mural. One of the first places I glide to is the Sanctum cuz let's be real, a lot of us wanted (or maybe it's just me) to explore that one room where we fought Ganon.

Oh come on!!!

goddammit nintendo...some of us would've liked to explore every nook and cranny! Whatever. Instead I decide to look to see if a korok was at the tippy top of the castle tower. WIth my basic stamina wheel, it took awhile to get up there and I did find one (yahaha!) but y'know what I also found?

Twilight Bow?!?!?!? which got renamed to a Dusk Bow...

ok??? again whatever, I still got a sweet bow.

Wtf are those???? I kept getting killed by those mofos so I had to run away. I looked everywhere I could in the castle to find a way in but I didn't see any hidden place. I did get to Zelda's study and found that the Silent Princess flower is still around :) After a fruitless search, I teleported back to Lookout Landing.

Before I went to find Robbie, I found myself in the Castle Town. I forgot why I went there specifically but remember that one chica talking about a monster wandering around in Castle Town? I ran into it. I forgot to take a screenshot because I began to panic and hauled ass away from the gloom hands

I am NOT ready to fight them if that is something I can do. They almost caught me but thankfully I got away. They went poof and left behind some gloom poop. Ew.

Finally I follow the quest marker to the giant red hole in the ground. Most likely the one I saw from Great Sky Island. I run into this guy and he's "omg don't scare me like that! What if I fell in?" Blah blah blah.

I take a leap of faith into the hole.

Whoa, that's a lot of ketchup. If Ganondorf is the source, then is he ketchup packet? I could say something worse. 🤔

Moving on. We are in Zee Depths! It dark...the guy down here said Robbie went off in a direction and kept going

Hah! Like the energizer bunny. I recognize the big plant and I know what to do. Pull the string.

Ooh look how it lit up the place. Very Purdy. I think this is how I would picture flora and fauna in the Underdark except with more bioluminescent stuff. Dude, imagine if the enemies down here were bioluminescent instead of being gloom covered. That would be super dope 👌 and terrifying af. I'd be down for that.

Aw shoot I hit my THIRTY image limit on the laptop. I'll brb.

[life-rewritten]

Manner of Death: A break down of Suspects

So it's finally here. The show I've been waiting for all year since it was announced. Manner of Death is here! So far it's excellent, I'm ready for the thrills and the ride, I'm prepared to be on this roller coaster of angst, emotions and stress. But warning I'm not good at mysteries. I know, right? Me who's always on the lookout for clues, symbols and foreshadowing devices? I never get the correct answer for mysteries because too much information is withheld, the hints don't add up to a big picture for me for some reason, and I stress out every time I could be overthinking or missing something. So yeh not a murder mystery person but I am so excited to analyse this show, hopefully, study dynamics (seems like there are interesting ones) and repressed feelings between our couple, the suspects and why they could be our murderer, the manner of death, and the victims and why they ended up in the situation they are in. I'm hoping we have something each episode to flesh out and notice, more plot twists but also more clues that help push us in the right direction. Without further or do here is my suspect list: analysis and first thoughts about the manner of death of Jane, and why no one should be trusted (you all already know this). 

The Death of Jane

Jane is our victim; she was murdered in a way that looked like suicide by hanging. However, she had similar symptoms to her previous student, who also died a week ago. Needle marks (suggesting drug use), bite marks (indicating assault/abuse) and signs of drug intake: diazepam for anxiety and depression. Hers was much lighter, and the bite marks were more on Natty than her. Also, before she died, she admitted to wanting to be responsible and do the right thing. The last people she spoke to was Bun (our main character and faux detective), Tan (her boyfriend), Pued (her ex? or acquaintance) and Pat (an intrusive reporter who she was going to give information to). So who is the suspects of this show so far and what is their motive/clues?

Ratings: From 1 to 5 (1 being least , 5 being most,) how suspicious are they? What the show is showing vs What I'm thinking:

Red herrings are one of the biggest reasons why mysteries are intricate for me because if you're a good mystery writer, you litter red herrings. You trick the audience into believing someone is guilty whilst overlooking the person who is. And this is why I'm on edge each time these characters show apparent hints that they are meant to be suspicious. For me because you've hinted at that, they're not the killer, what's the fun of going through these 14 episodes only to know who the killer is by episode 2? Like sure it's fun to find out why, but with these red herrings, it's pretty obvious why if they are the killers. So yeah I don't believe in these red herrings, but this probably is my downfall for this series because they probably are the killer. Anyhoo, Let's break them down.

We have:

PUED

Puedy; he's bad, handsome and suspicious. He's been a little bit of a problem; clearly had caused some chaos with Tan and Jane before she died, and is definitely up to something and also determined for her death to be silenced and the reason to be hidden. Thing is Pued obviously knows so much more than he's letting on, he probably connected to Jane's death with the way he tries to stop Bun from finding out more, the way he is a prosecutor but seems involved in a shady 'family' business, the way he was harassing Jane and causing Tan to lose it. But also the secret stare he shared with Tan as they walked past each other in episode 2. The way he played of their relationship. He definitely is a source of knowing more about this murder. So we need to think about his involvement, his relationship with Jane and his reason for why he'd want to get rid of her. 

So my theory is he's the one who's sending the stalker to Bun, to warn him off and make him stop trying to discover why Jane died. But I also think he's in it with Tan, does this make them murderers? No. Actually forced accomplices or pawns of the murderer. 

First Pued is just so evident as the murderer: like a secret love affair with Jane, she wanted to expose him, and then he lost it and killed her. I can see that. But I do think his reason for wanting to hide her manner of death is reputation and uncovering/destruction of higher places/ organisations that have the power. I think he's greedy, obsessed with wealth and status (from the watch that he and Tan share) and so the uncovering of Jane's death would cause him to lose all this not because he's the murderer but because he profits from them some way. 

So I think it's pretty obvious I'm thinking it's to do with the mafia and drug rings, and I think Pued's family is essential as well, they're higher-ups who may be the ones that are corrupt, manipulative and behind all the justice systems. I think Bun showed at the party how small the town was and he pointed out all the higher-ups, the judges, the police officers, the prosecutors, but I thought that was a clue, the justice system in this town is shady, they're doing things behind the scenes that they don't want to be uncovered. Jane tried to expose it, and thus she was killed. So yeh Pued is just a pawn, maybe she did die for love (little mermaid foreshadowing) for him but not because of him you get me? Like they may have had an affair, or she needed help with his prosecutor knowledge (for probably Natty's case), but he didn't want her to be successful, and he ended up snitching. Bam! She's dead. 

So yeh he's involved I just don't think he's the murder.

Ratings: 

The show: Right now 4/5- the most shadiest and predictable person for the suspect of the murder

Me: 2/5: A red herring/ pawn under the actual murderer 

TAN

Oh, Tan, you are so gorgeous it hurts. I mean no surprise being played by Max will do that, but I can't trust Tan. Obviously, I don't think he's the murderer, if he is, it was to help end her suffering, or she was shadier than we think. But I do think he's also a pawn/involved. I guess whatever organisation Pued is part of, he's part of it, might even be a lackey. He's shown moments of violence, and shadiness, he's expressionless, and emotionless when it comes to her death, he moves on and continues teaching like its nothing. Only when his students find out does he look worried like he doesn't want her manner of death to be exposed.  

Now the thing with Tan is I think he's the suspicious/dangerous Dam that Sorowit was speaking about in episode 2, someone dressed in black which if you meet them you don't come back out okay, you get hurt. I think the person who we see the most in an all-black ensemble is Tan. So he's definitely connected to violence and secrecy. Does this make him the murderer?

To understand, we have to look at his relationship and story with Jane before she died. He's introduced as her boyfriend who's very protective and watchful of her, we also see him lose his mind at Pued and beat him up terribly, Pued pushes off as he was interested in Jane and it was for possessiveness and jealousy that Tan beat him up. I don't believe in anything Pued says, in fact, I find the whole fight suspicious. Also, Jane promises to tell Tan what's going on; she says he'll soon find out which means he even doesn't know everything about her manner of death. There's some stuff he's not part of like her murder. 

But with Tan, I have to question if he even loved Jane or cared for her. Because the way he's acting; moving on quickly, emotionless and just accepting her suicide was weird for me. It's like they're not dating but faking it. I could see that obviously if he was hired to keep an eye on her, or they both agreed to fake date to protect her from a particular organisation or danger. 

I also feel this is also something he could be doing with Bun now, being hired to keep an eye on him on the guise of wanting to find out what happened to her. Also bringing me back to did he even love Jane, we see he's pretty much attracted and flirty with Bun, he's not even trying to hide it, he flirts openly, and they both act like the kiss didn't happen. It's suspect, very, like he doesn't feel guilt, worry or angst about Bun and him having these weird feelings he's just like flirty and bold with it. 

Reasons why Tan, if he was dating Jane, is the murderer is because again the foreshadowing with little mermaid, Jane says the mermaid died because of love/ for love. And although I do believe this, I don't think its Tan she was in love with, but it is interesting if as her boyfriend he was the reason for why she died. Since he's one of the only love interests, we know so far that she had. 

Ratings

Show: 3/5 Very suspicious, very shady, very violent but he probably has connections, family (either them being in danger or their reputation also getting ruined if the truth comes out), threats or he was groomed into the life of being part of the organisation. If so, then he'd be forced to become emotionless and hide his feelings concerning death and hurt, so he doesn't seem vulnerable.

Me: 3/5 He definitely knows more, definitely was defeated at her death but he also didn't want her death to be found out or taken seriously. I don't think he's the killer, but he might be involved in the reason for why she got killed. 

PAT

Here is someone who I can't stand. But we're going to have to get used to him. Frustrates me so much every time this guy shows up, one because he has no respect for the dead, he also has no respect for privacy, and he just ends up being everywhere. I think he's important. Him being portrayed in a negative light screams red herring to me, definitely isn't the killer, maybe a snitch since she probably wanted to expose the truth to him. But I don't really see him as the suspect, I think he's important and will have information for the future secrets, he probably has been watching and keeping an eye on this case. Reporters have good intuition, and so he probably noticed, last whereabouts, conversations and hidden agendas that Jane had before she died. 

Yeh but I don't like him,  he is a red herring because he's one of the last people she spoke to. I don't see him as the murderer because the motive makes no sense when we think that the justice system, Mafia and other things are involved with this, where would he get the knowledge about the drugs and why would he kill and rape one of the girls and be so nonchalant and annoying? He just wouldn't be essential for me to to the final reveal unless he's hiding his agenda and identity and using being a reporter as a cover. Nah. There's more to it than that. But being a snitch with his personality after being maybe threatened? Yeh, I can see that. 

Ratings: 

Show: 3/5 He was one of the last ones in contact with her, she probably wanted to expose something because she wanted to be responsible and she felt guilty about hiding it. He could have snitched and caused her death. 

Me: 1/5 Probably helpful to uncovering the mystery. He doesn't seem that important, but he does have intuition and information that he probably knows about the case though. 

The suspects so far:

For me suspects are the people who are hidden and have shown reactions or facial gestures that piqued my interest. These are just theories I have to keep an eye on them for now, but it all revolves around this organisation not wanting their secrets to be exposed.

CAPTAIN

I mean you have to think the people part of the justice system is corrupt. Mostly because whatever the reason for Jane's death is, the killer doesn't want it to be found, the only reason for why that is: because of the chance of going to jail but even more the possibility of losing power and fame. If the black market/ mafia organisation is controlling this little town's justice system, then the higher-ups won't want anyone to know. Also, we're shown two police officers and Captain screams suspect just because he's quieter, the camera lingers on his facial expression sometimes and he'd be a shocking plot twist because he's meant to be good. Oh no! So this show has promised a lot of plot twists where we won't trust who's good or bad, we won't know what's right or wrong so Captain being the murderer is a great twist for the shock. That's all it is so far with him, so that's why I'm not sure what his role is here, all I know is if he is a killer its because he was threatened by her exposing his system. 

Ratings

Show: 1/5 No hints that he's the killer apart from facial expressions when Inspector M speaks, but he could just know more than he lets on. (as with everyone on this show)

Me: 3/5 Suspect will keep an eye on him to see if we get more camera time.

PUED’S FATHER

Okay so Pued might not be the killer so what about his father? Maybe it's his father Jane actually got to know when Pued thought she was with him or whatever. Like I said  I feel like Pued's family have a good reputation but are shady, so they're probably part of the group that trades the drugs or lures the girls. I won't be shocked.  I also think he's a higher-up who has enough influence to manipulate and want to hide secrets about his organisation, so his reputation isn't messed up. Won't be shocked if he's a r*pist, abuser, killer because he has traits of someone who's powerful and gets away with anything, seems like he has enough influence to control the justice system, to put his son as a prosecutor, to hire more people (maybe Captain) to be police officers.

 It makes sense to me; it's like what always happens whenever a girl is hurt and killed in a murder mystery you always distrust the elder/influential person. Also, I don't know if it was just me, but Pued seemed a bit scared of him? And he appeared defensive/ too curious about what happened with Pued and Tan. I also think the watch is a symbol of his organisation and so I guess Tan and Pued work with him in this organisation. 

Ratings

Show: 2/5 Yeh the show obviously shows him, but we don't really know enough to infer his relationships or his influence

Me: 4/5, Ding! Ding! Ding! Probably a massive chance of him being the higher up who messed around and now wants to hide his mistakes. 

DAM: GANG OR MAFIA?

Dam is part of the organisation. The control of drugs, the abuse, the shady businesses all screams to me Mafia. So if Tan isn't Dam and Dam is the killer, someone else is and they  did something to lure these women in to be drugged (still deciding if they're the ones who come willingly or if they're injected non-consentially repeatedly  I think it's the latter though why they got involved in drugs, I don't know), they also could have kidnapped and kept the girls hidden whilst abusing and hurting them and stabbing them with the needle. But that's a lot ( a sex trafficking ring? see why I hate mysteries my mind just goes everywhere without getting an answer).

 So whatever Dam is we know he’s violent, whoever gets to face them gets hurt and don't come back, they have a scary reputation and don't mess around. If Jane felt curious about Natty and then tried to find out what happened, they may have killed her to shut her up. But I don't think Dam is the killer (cause I think it's Tan), part of the organisation that traffics drugs probably, so far with this I think its do with family organisations, like Pued's family is one of the Mafia, Tan's family is one as well, and others right? Maybe the watch is a sign of membership. Hence why they both wore it? 

Ratings

Show: 4/5 this organisation or group or Dam is definitely connected to whatever Jane found out. Still wondering how the girls are roped into this, is it the need to run away from things so they take the drugs willingly but things go too far, and they regret their choices or did she find out about a kidnapping/capturing women ring, and she was going to expose it? 

Me: 3/5 Like I don't think Dam is an organisation I believe it's Tan, so it's probably involved, but it's not like the whole organisation that killed her. 

Non-suspects but still suspicious

Inspector M: Because he seems determined and not secretive to find out and actually understand what's going on. Not because he's trying to prevent information from happening but genuinely wanting to discover who murdered her. I trust him for now, if he does realise that his justice system is in jeopardy of being exposed as wrong he'd probably start to waver and stop being right, he'd probably want to keep his job, or he'd be 100% against Tan. 

Rungtiwa: It's her sister I'm not actually fully trusting her because she's the only person who's actually shown overreactions and emotions at Jane's death. Thing is she's her sister, so she's meant to be that way but if someone says "let me know what you find out as soon as possible" a bit shady, obviously she'd want to know more about her sister but like it could also be a so I know how much you know agenda, especially because after he told her about it being a murder he started to get threatened by a stalker. However, I can't figure out her motive, or how she did it and why she's connected to Natty, so she's innocent for now. 

Oat: How funny would it be if it's him? Like you know he knows information about drugs and what they're for, he's someone who is everywhere and readily available and trustworthy to the victims, but why would he kill her? Why would he be part of a drug ring or Mafia? Just the motives don't make sense. I don't think he's involved with Natty at all, so he's probably innocent too and only our comedy relief. 

Who are you guys thinking it is that’s the suspect? Did I miss someone? Let’s discuss and scream about this show! I think I’m definitely slowly becoming obsessed, even we get theories wrong it’s still fun to break down everything and throw out our own ideas and options. I like that. But can’t wait till we finally out why, who and what killed Jane and how it affects our love story building.

[inkribbon796]

The Deal Ch. 3

Chapter 3: A Spade’s a Spade

Summary: Nate and some of the Light Sides go to retrieve Logan’s camera.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3

Nate and Logan made up the lion’s share of the conversation as they took Logan’s car. He did his best to answer the logical Side’s questions. Roman and Patton occasionally chimed in with questions of their own.

“It’s a soul splitter but it doesn’t work,” Nate had initially explained. “Probably because it’s Wil’s. I’ve never heard of a soul splitter not making demons but apparently, with Wil’s magic, bullshit is always possible.”

“None of us are demons,” Roman reminded. “If I was a demon, I would know.”

“Exactly, you would know,” Nate agreed. “Or you’d at least pass the aura test and Marvin conducted one on Virgil months ago. Either you’re all the weirdest demons I’ve ever seen, or you’re just perfectly weird humans.”

“We’re obviously humans,” Logan summarized. He was driving, so he had to keep his eyes on the road.

“Yeah, so as long as we keep it away from the other demons in the city, that apparently don’t live in the base already — I can’t believe King had a kid — it should be more than alright to keep it in the base.”

“Lunky’s so adorable,” Patton smiled.

“They eat glass,” Logan reminded.

“Least I know why Mare didn’t want to get near the base, that kid eats demon aura, they freak Mare out,” Nate commented.

“Really, that’s fascinating,” Logan commented. “Is it an issue of territory?”

“No, Lunky is to Mare, what Bim is to us,” Nate answered. “Spawnlings eat their weight in aura. Mare will probably be leery of being alone with Lunky for another two months.”

Silence crashed down in the car.

Logan didn’t quiet have the words to voice his thoughts. When he did he said, “That . . . is that what he’s doing?”

“Bim?” Nate asked. “Yeah, different demons collect aura differently. Bim just decided his way of collecting aura was by physically eating it.”

Then they reached Nathan’s neighborhood and even before Logan pulled off to a stop, they knew something was wrong.

The door was wide open.

“Shit!” Nate jumped out of the car the instant he could. “My dog.”

Logan was slower to respond and Roman pulled out his sword.

The heroes carefully stepped into the house. Nate was relieved to find his dog in his kennel.

“Did anyone hurt you?” Nate asked as he looked the dog over.

“Was it the hunters?” Patton asked.

“Probably,” Nate said and looked in a drawer to find a stack of magic books. “Maybe?”

Then he went to a separate drawer and found all of his supplies still there, “No. They haven’t been here yet.”

Logan looked around and saw all of Nate’s musical equipment and game consoles still in the house and unmoved. “Who breaks in and takes nothing of value?”

Nate thought for a second and went up to his office to find that something had been taken. On a small table was a broken protection circle. He called back down the stairs, “The camera’s gone!”

“What?” Logan demanded.

Nate checked through the top floor again, “It’s the only thing taken.”

“You were targeted,” Logan realized. “My outburst outside the bar may have contributed to that.”

“The Host must have known,” Nate guessed. “I wouldn’t have come back home for another couple hours if he hadn’t said something.”

“Is there any way to track it?” Logan asked.

“I need time to get enough residual energy to pick up a trail, hopefully there’s enough of that left,” Nate said.

“Maybe that snake took it,” Roman suggested.

“Now kiddo, we shouldn’t just go around accusing people,” Patton replied.

“But we should rule him out,” Logan realized, recalling that Janus had threatened to steal and destroy it several times.

Patton sighed in disappointment, and they finished locking up and Nate fed his dog before they left. Nate gathered the materials to perform the spell as they drove over to the Sides’ home and Logan rushed into the house. He found Janus and Remus packing up their stuff into boxes.

“Ahhh, Logan,” Janus greeted. “Just in time for the good news. We found a nice place out on the outskirts of town. Tell Virgil I am taking my Chicago record player back. No, he can not debate me on this.”

Remus poked his head out from a large box with a smile on his face, “I’m going to get to go skinny dipping with the gators.”

Janus rolled his eyes, packing up the box with Remus inside of it, but not taping it shut. “Yes, yes, just make sure you do it at night.”

“That is amazing and we advocate you finding your own place,” Logan started. “But have you seen the camera?”

“Which camera?” Janus asked, his tone guarded.

“Thomas’s,” Logan qualified.

There was a disgusted groan that came from Janus, he already turned away to start packing something else, “Logan, I have not seen that wretched thing since you brought it to your base. And if I ever see it again, it will be too soon.”

“Swear to me that you have not seen it,” Logan demanded quietly.

Janus made a scoff but when he saw Logan’s face he paused and put down what he was working on to take off his right glove off of his more human hand and raise it up, looking Logan dead in the eye, “Logan, I swear on Thomas’s good name that I have not seen it. I did not take it.”

“Alright,” Logan nodded.

“Alright!” Remus burst out of the box, extending out his arms.

“If I help you find the blasted thing will you let the matter rest?” Janus offered.

“I was not expecting your assistance but that would be appreciated,” Logan said.

“Good, now let me finish up here and make sure Remus doesn’t eat any packing peanuts and I’ll help you look.” Janus dismissed.

“Too late, snack mamba,” Remus winked and immediately coughed up a packing peanut.

Janus rolled his eyes, “Go, I’ll be along shortly.”

Logan thanked him again and left with his group to start the search, on the lookout for any hunters.

By the time Janus got out of the house, he almost debated not going to even look for it. Hoping that Logan had already found it.

He was poking around and asking some of his contacts, using the cover that Remus wanted a new rare trinket to destroy. So far he wasn’t having any luck.

Then he got a text from Logan: “Meet me by Helyx Bridge. Urgent.”

Janus quickly left the dive bar and headed for the location. Thankfully it wasn’t that far away.

Close to the bridge was Logan, facing off against a couple hunters. One of them was already knocked out while two of them were encroaching on the logical Side.

“Logic!” Janus called out, running over to him, when he was close enough he whipped out his shepherd’s staff and struck one of the hunters in the head. The hunter dropped to the ground and Logan dispatched the third.

“How fortuitous,” Logan commented, taking a second or two to catch his breath. “Were you following me?”

“No, I was merely in the area,” Janus confessed, watching Logan turn around and pick something up.

It was the camera.

“You found it,” Janus studied the camera for a bit. It seemed to be in the same condition as the last time Janus saw it.

“Yes, you must have come to a deal with Dark because he simply gave it to me,” Logan told him.

“Oh?” Janus managed. Something about that statement seemed off, he didn’t know what it was, but there was something . . . false about that statement.

“Yes,” Logan started walking towards the hero’s base and Janus followed him. “We can finally be done with this mess. This never should have been left at the base but if we must keep it there at least it will be safe with the Host.”

The two decided to leave before more hunters showed up

Janus kept Logan talking, being put more at ease the longer he did so. This was Logan, so what if he wasn’t completely truthful with the manner he procured the camera? That was none of Janus’ business.

They stopped right outside the Sides’ home. Janus happy to be leaving the place if Logan was bringing the camera back in.

Logan reached into his pocket, and Janus noticed the new wrist communicator on the logical Side’s wrist. The screen was thin and in the shape of a black spade symbol.

“New tech?” Janus could help but ask.

“Oh yes,” Logan answered, a slight smile on his face.

. . . Lies . . .

“I see,” Janus could help but respond, “your design?”

“No, Bing’s,” Logan’s smile widened as he started to draw on the camera.

Lies.

“My old suit was having some problems so I decided to try something else,” Logan continued to explain.

L I E S

With that lie, Janus finally saw little holes in what he was fairly certain was in illusion. Or at least the illusion was dangerously strong or aided by something else because Janus couldn’t see through it.

Then Janus actually saw what Logan was doing with the camera, what he was drawing on it, and it was the final nail in the coffin.

Those were magical spells, he was laying a spell on that camera. Right where Janus could plainly see and with no attempt to keep him from seeing it.

Even if Logan knew what sigils to place and how to use them, they wouldn’t do anything without magic.

This wasn’t Logan! It wasn’t him! Logan couldn’t do magic, he was the only Side who couldn’t.

“Why don’t you let me hold it,” Janus offered, trying to sound as calm as possible. “We can head back to the others together.”

The imposter let out Logan’s throaty chuckle as he calmly capped the pen and looked at the deceitful Side. “You know Janus, everytime I leave you be, you never cease to amaze me. So, here’s how this is going to go—”

Logan was frustrated as they kept walking around. He was flanked on either side by Nate and Patton. Roman at the rear of the group to keep an eye out for hunters.

“We’ll find it,” Patton tried to offer confidently.

“It has been three hours,” Logan reminded morosely.

“I’ll have Mare keep an ear to the ground if someone tries to pawn it off,” Nate decided.

“That’s not the part that worries me,” Logan grumbled. “Nothing else was taken, whoever stole it wanted that camera for what it was, not what it was worth.”

Then Logan’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out to see it was a message from Janus: “I found the camera. Meet me outside of your base.”

“It’s Deceit, he found it,” Logan announced.

“Really?” Patton let out a sigh of relief. “That’s so good.”

“Let’s get to the base before he breaks it,” Logan insisted, taking off in a sprint. “If he hasn’t already.”

When they got to the base, Janus was leaning against the closest street lamp to the base. In his hands was the camera. He spared them a quick glance. “I don’t know what’s worse: the sheer incompetence of how this thing disappeared or you leaving it in the storage room to begin with.”

Then he held it out and Logan accepted it quietly. He, mostly by luck rather than fate, noticed that the Side was wearing a wrist-communicator with a large blade spade-shaped screen.

“Now if my good deed for the day is done, I’ll be off,” Janus walked away, heading down the street and eventually turning out of view.

Logan waited an extra second, before holding it out to Nate, “Is this the same camera?”

Nate took it for a couple seconds, before passing it back, “Feels like it. I didn’t draw these symbols though.”

“What do they do?” Logan studied them.

“It’s a really high level containment spell, if anything was awake in there, it’s asleep now. The only thing that could probably wake it up is if we cracked the camera open.”

“I don’t understand,” Patton interjected. “Is there something wrong?”

“Something’s always wrong with him,” Roman added.

“I didn’t tell Deceit how exactly I had lost the camera. Only that it was taken by Nate in the base. Did you, Ro, or Virge tell him?”

“No,” Patton frowned. “At least, I didn’t.”

“I would never tell that jerk anything,” Roman defended. “And Virgil would never.”

“We should get this inside,” Nate interrupted.

Logan stopped, taking a deep calming breath, “You’re right, let’s go.”

The heroes rushed into the base to place the camera in lock up. Nate had one key, and Logan had the other so they could both access the camera anytime they needed or wanted to. Then the Light Sides, Virgil tagging along this time, rushed back to their home.

Only to find Janus, Remus, and all of the two Sides’ things gone from the apartment. Only a little bit of a mess, a couple flat boxes, and spare packing peanuts left in their wake.

And Logan failed to locate them for the rest of the day afterwards, realizing too late they didn’t even have the Dark Sides’ new address to track them down.

On the swampy outskirts of Gainesville stood a run down house that had been almost completely abandoned because it was said to be haunted.

Which was exactly why Deceit and the Duke had managed buy the property in the first place.

Deceit, or at least someone that looked like him, walked down the overgrown driveway with Janus’s shepherd’s crook in one hand and Remus’s octopus belt buckle in the other. He was humming a tune to himself. The instant he was through the front door and closed it, his wrist watch vibrated and instantly Deceit’s image blinked out of existence and there stood a figure in a full black suit, covered head to toe. A silvery-brass emblem of a spade on his chest.

The Spade walked past all the boxes of Janus and Remus’s belongings before he headed to a closet that led to a small elevator and took it down to a room a floor down. A workshop had been hastily assembled in the space and Spade placed the staff and the buckle in a magically warded case. The instant the case door was closed a force banged on the glass, as if trying to get out.

“Don’t worry, Janus, I won’t leave you in there forever, after all,” Spade smiled, his voice heavily distorted by a voice box, “we have work to do.”

[zoequeenz]

Plain Sight (Part 3)

A/N: okay okay biggest sorry ever for not posting last month. Started a new position at my job and then had to deal with some miscommunication that made me believe I was gonna lose that position. Thought I had COVID twice (no matter how safe you are you are always in danger) and that threw me through a loop. Then I started college and that was a whole crazy thing, so my August was anxiety filled and very demanding. So sorry, so I will be posting twice this month to finish this part.

MASTERLIST

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

We had Detective Martin round up all the other officers to listen to our profile. They all sat, ready with their pens and paper as Gideon began to talk.

“The Unsub brought his weapons with him. Tape, glue, wire. He did not leave them at the scene. He took them when he left. He has a kind of killing kit that he carries.” Gideon informs.

“Organized killers usually have a skilled job, likely technology related, which may involve the use of the hands. The crime scenes are far enough apart that he needs a vehicle. This will be well kept, obsessively clean, as will be his home. He’s diurnal, the attacks occurred during the day, so the vehicle may be related to his work, possibly a company car or truck.” Hotch continues.

“We believe he watches the victims for a time, learns the rhythm of the home, knows his time frame.” Derek adds on.

“You’re not gonna catch him accidentally.” Hotch says.

“He destroys symbols of wealth in the victims’ homes. He harbors envy of and hatred toward people of a higher social class.” Gideon says, walking towards the murder board.

“He feels invisible around them.”

“Class is the theme of the poem which he left at the various crime scenes. At one point in the poem, the woman attempts to bribe death, but he doesn’t accept it. He says this is the one moment when riches mean nothing. When death comes, the poor and the rich are exactly alike.” Spencer explains.

“So he’s poor.” A Detective asks.

“Probably middle class.” I answer.

“A decidedly lower class person would stick out in a highly patrolled neighborhood. This guy appears to belong there. He blends in.” Hotch elaborates.

“Why does he glue the eyes open?” Detective Martin asks.

“The Unsub is an exploitative rapist. Most rape victims close their eyes during the attack, turn their heads. For some rapists, this ruins the fantasy. For this type of rapist, the goal is more related to the victim watching him than the act itself.” Elle explains.

“He wants them to see him, he is often overlooked. The open eyes give him that satisfaction.” I add.

“The verses the staging, the aggressive language, “I am Death,” this is a guy who, while being in control at the crime scene, almost certainly feels inadequate in the rest of his life.” Hotch explains.

“That’s why he couldn’t wait for you to figure out what he’d done, why he needed to make sure all of his crimes were counted. His victims, they represent whatever it is that’s controlling him, and he wants that control back. He is under the thumb of a powerful woman who frightens him. And a final point. He is white.” Gideon clarifies.

“We have witnesses that identify him as a black male.” The same Detective argues.

“The attacker was black. He is not the Tommy Killer.” Gideon tells him.

“Mrs.Gordon’s husband came home at the same time that he always does. The Tommy Killer would’ve known that.” Hotch adds.

“And Mrs.Gordon’s attacker wore a ski mask. The Unsub knows when he walks into a house, he’s going to kill the woman who lives there. If you’re not leaving any witnesses, why wear a ski mask?” Elle asks rhetorically.

“And he wants the victim to see him anyway.” Derek adds.

“The attempted rapist is a garden variety disorganized young man.” Hotch explains.

“As the victim’s age goes up, generally, the attacker’s age goes down. Mrs.Gordon is about 60, which puts her rapist at about 20.” Elle informs.

“And it takes years to develop the level of calm and sophistication that Tommy displays at a crime scene, and the rapist is far too young for that.” Gideon says.

“Mrs.Gordon told me that there’s a young man who delivers groceries to their home. He fits a lot of what we’re describing here.” Elle adds.

“Great. So we’re back to zero on Tommy.” The Detective sighs.

“Not at all.” Hotch objects.

“May I see you in your office for a moment?”

They walk off.

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We had located Marcia’s rapist. Elle, Derek, and I were sent to go arrest him. He was walking back to get something from one of the trucks when Elle and I turned the corner.

“FBI. You���re under arrest.” Elle states, he then tries to run for it but Derek already knew he was gonna run and cut him off.

“You’re under arrest for the attempted rape of Marcia Gordon.” Derek tells him.

“What?!” He questions.

Though this was our rapist, he wasn’t out Tommy but this was the only way we were gonna get Tommy to contact us. We pull up as JJ is giving a press conference, just as planned. Morgan pulls him out while Elle and I follow through the crowd of reporters to get into the police station. Hotch meets us as we walk in and Elle tells him that he had already confessed. Our plan was moving accordingly. One bad guy off the street and so close to the other. We just had to wait. We were just waiting at this point. I was sitting across from Spencer and next to Derek, who had just angryily slammed his phone down.

“Chill, Derek. He will call.” I say calmly.

“I know Little One.” He sighs leaning back.

I knew better than to talk to him, and chose to listen to Elle and Spencer.

“God, I hate waiting like this.” She said.

“Do you think it’s weird that I knew that ballad?” He asks playing with a Rubix Cube.

“I don’t know how it is that you know half the things you know, but I’m glad you do.” She answers.

“Do you think it’s why I can’t get a date?” He asks again and my heart pangs. If only he knew how many women would kill to be with him.

“You ever ask anyone out?” She asks back.

“No.” He replies.

“That’s why you can’t get a date.” She says simply.

“I’m sure there is someone waiting for you to ask them anyway…”she winks.

What does she mean by that. Her? Does Elle like Spencer. No no no, Percy. She does not. Maybe she means JJ. God it is definitely JJ. I mean, they were totally flirting and he was checking her out at his birthday thing and ugh-

The phone rings.

“Detective Martin. Hey,hey” he says grabbing our attention.

“Line 6, Penelope. Line 6.” JJ says.

“You stupid incompetent sons of bitches! I don’t make mistakes! I am Death! You hear me?! I AM DEATH! You’ll see now. Tomorrow. Mark my words, you will see. And while I am taking her, I’m gonna be thinking of you.” Tommy shouts.

JJ asks Penny if she got anything, but sadly she got nothing. Confusion was all around. How could we miss him. We all sigh in defeat. My nerves begin to rise. He was so aggressive and his threat was so terrifying. I couldn’t breathe, luckily Spencer was there. I couldn’t really register it but I knew his hand was in mine. I breathe in and out for a bit, look at Spencer and I am okay.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was a very restless night for everyone. Elle and I could barely sleep so we occupied ourselves by watching whatever shitty movie was on the TV. I eventually got an hour or two of shut eye but it was all I really needed.

“We have an undercover car for each of your teams, and the entire damn department out there, too.” The Chief said.

“Remember a truck. Maybe a work truck, in excellent condition.” Gideon says.

“Everyone knows.” The Chief says.

“All right, he might make a mistake today. He’s angry, and he probably hasn’t done the kind of surveillance he’d like.” Hotch informs us. We all nod.

“Yeah, well, neither have we.” Derek adds coming up next to Spencer and I.

“Let’s go Reid, Chase.” We follow him out.

Derek drives us to our lookout spot. It was mostly quiet and I was two seconds away from sleep. I thought those couple hours were enough but the warm air and the birds singing was lulling me to sleep. At least until Derek sighs.

“It’s 10:30 already.” He says.

“All he said was tomorrow. He didn’t specify morning.” Spencer says.

“For all we know, he could strike later in the day.” I add.

“This guy’s gotta spend a lot of time in that house. A lot. He needs it to be morning.” Derek says. Spencer looks around.

“Are we sure this is a good spot?” He asks.

“Three of the victims lived within a block of this street. It’s the main artery through the neighborhood.” Derek answers.

“True, but three victims in the same block could mean he’s done with the area.” Spencer suggests.

“Or that he’s just really familiar with it.” Derek charges back.

“And comfortable in it.” Spencer adds.

“But then, on the other hand, the other victims lived more than a mile in either direction.” Derek continues.

“Right.” Spencer says.

“God,” Derek says, hitting the wheel.

“I hate not having a plan. We’re looking for a needle in a haystack here.”

“Spencer would argue a needle in a pile of needles.” I say, Spencer looks back and smiles at me. I know him so well.

“What?” Derek asks.

“A needle would stand out in a haystack.” Spencer explains making Derek laugh.

“And we’re not looking for someone who stands out?” Derek starts.

“No. We’re looking for a particular needle in a pile of needles.” Spencer further explains grabbing his binoculars.

Derek looks back at me smirking. I roll my eyes and feel my face heat up. I punch him in the arm, lightly of course, as a way to tell him to shut it. He just laughs. I rest my head on Spencer’s seat causing him to look back and smile at me. I couldn’t take my eyes off his face. He did his little smile and went back to looking out. It may very well be a long day but I was with my favorite boys so it didn’t matter.

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TAGLIST

@thesailbells​

[hermannsthumb]

maria I am literally begging you to write newt and hermann being sent off to meet hannibal

(this prompt is re: my answer to this ask)

god i think this kind of au is so fucking fun....also i always wanted to do a post-newt’s-first-drift missing scene (eyes emoji)

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

Newt’s not sure what to say to Hermann after the Marshal leaves the lab. I told you so seems a little harsh, considering the circumstances--the fact that Hermann’s still deathly pale, that his legs are still trembling, that he collapsed into a chair the moment the door clicked shut and hasn’t been able to look at Newt since. He might start throwing things at Newt. Or crying. Newt’s not sure which is worse. Sorry you had to find me spasming to death on the floor. It’d be a lie; Newt’s sorry Hermann had to see him at an, uh, low point like that, but he’s not sorry he did it. Not after what it gave him. Thanks for saving me from spasming to death on the floor. Better.

“Hey,” Newt says. “Thanks, you know, for--”

“No,” Hermann says.

“...for saving my life,” Newt says. He forces a grin. “If I’d fried my brain out it would’ve been a total waste of time.”

“Newton,” Hermann says.

Newt scuffs his boot against the ground. Too soon. He hadn’t expected Hermann to be this--well, affected about it all. He thought the guy hated him. He thought the guy would’ve been glad to get rid of him. (Morbid, but whatever.) “Uh. Anyway. I gotta--get that brain. The kaiju brain.”

Hermann turns, sharply, blinking fast. “The kaiju brain,” he says.

“Yeah,” Newt says. Hermann’s being uncharacteristically slow on the uptake. Shock, maybe. Newt swipes the back of his sleeve across his still-bleeding nose--his button-up’s already stained beyond repair, not much more damage he can do to it--and snags his leather jacket from the back of his desk chair. “What Pentecost said? He needs me to do it again. I have to--”

“Yes,” Hermann says. He reaches one trembling hand for his cane and pushes himself to his feet. “The brain. I’ll be coming with you, of course.”

Newt’s jacket nearly slips from his grasp. He gapes at Hermann. “You’ll what?’

“I’ll be coming with you,” Hermann repeats. “You can’t really expect me to let you go alone.”

Newt does drop his jacket, this time, and immediately scrambles to pick it up, his face growing warm. “Hermann, that’s--” he stammers, “that’s really--” Here it is, what he’s been waiting for--some big, romantic confession, Hermann sweeping him into his arms, declaring it’s them against the rest of the world, that it was almost the end of his world when he found Newt bleeding and seizing, that he’d follow Newt to the ends of the Earth and beyond.

What Hermann actually says is “You wouldn’t last an hour without me.”

“Oh.” Newt deflates.

Hermann is already clacking out the door, his parka already--somehow--zipped up to his throat. It’s not even cold out. Totally unnecessary. “Do hurry up.”

Newt pulls on his jacket and scurries after him.

--

“If you’d walked faster,” Hermann says, glaring miserably at the night sky and the rain that pelts down from it, “we wouldn’t have missed the bus.”

“I’m pretty sure the buses aren’t fucking running, Hermann,” Newt says. “They haven’t been running in months. If you left your cave and socialized every once in a while, you might know that.”

“And if you hadn’t forgotten the umbrella--”

“I didn’t even ask you to come, you big baby!” Newt says. “You forced yourself on me!” Hermann scowls; Newt sighs, feeling a little guilty, and kicks at a bit of trash. He’s being an asshole and he knows it. Hermann might have perfectly legitimate reasons for not wanting to walk--his knee might be acting up, for one, like it sometimes does in the rain--and not to mention that Hermann did just save his life. “It’s, like, a mile. Do you want me to hail a cab? You’ll have to pay, since I’m kinda balling on a budget, man, but...” He’s not sure how much the brain is going to cost either. Or if it’ll cost anything at all. Maybe it’ll be like something from a spy movie--Newt flashes his PPDC badge, drops Pentecost’s name, and the Chau guy immediately wheels a brain out for him, no questions asked. What sort of favors does he owe Pentecost, anyway?

“No cab,” Hermann says. He flips up his hood with a great deal more sass than necessary. Newt has to admit the rain is kind of annoying; his hair is dripping, his glasses are impossible to see through, his jacket--and the clothing it’s supposed to be protecting--completely soaked. “I suppose I’ll have to make do.”

“Oh, how noble,” Newt says. He shines his black light on a nearby street sign, and the symbol from the card Pentecost gave him flashes into view, along with a little arrow. Very spy movie. Newt’s loving it. “Okay, it’s a right up ahead.”

The crowd doesn’t necessarily dissipate when they turn down the next street, but it does thin out, and Newt and Hermann are able to slip through a lot more easily. They’re also able to hear each other without shouting. “A mile?” Hermann says, squinting out at Newt from under his fuzzy hood.

“More or less,” Newt says. “Probably less. Be on the lookout for spooky guys in sunglasses.” He’s not sure if that’s what the dealers actually look like, but sunglasses seem appropriate. Fedoras, maybe. Black trenchcoats. Newt’s nose suddenly stings. “Ah. Shit!”

It’s started bleeding again; in a flash, Hermann is holding his handkerchief to it. “Pinch it,” he says, strangely gentle, “there we are, Newton.”

“Ugh. Thanks.” Newt screws his eyes up and tilts his head back, pinching as Hermann instructed. “I don’t know what I did.”

“Does it hurt?” Hermann says. One nervous, fluttering hand presses itself to Newt’s shoulder, to the side of his face, atop the handkerchief, then drops away, and Newt is reminded of how tightly Hermann’d gripped him when he dragged Newt out of his drift. “Or your head? Are you--?”

“Nah,” Newt says. “Just a fucking nuisance.” He draws the handkerchief--wet with rain, too, and stained a deep crimson--back, and sniffs and wrinkles his nose a few times. “Stopped again. For now. Do you mind if I hold onto this?” He waves the handkerchief around.

The corner of Hermann’s mouth twitches up. “Keep it. I don’t particularly want it back.”

Newt crams it into his pocket. He crams his hands into his pockets, too, fixes his eyes on the wet pavement, mostly to keep himself from doing something dumb like taking Hermann’s arm to feel one of those strong hands on him again. (Hermann never touches him; today, he has twice.) “Thanks, by the way,” Newt says. “I know I already said it, but--I owe you a lot.”

“Don’t be silly, Newton,” Hermann says. “It’s only a handkerchief.”

Newt glances up; Hermann’s faint smile has turn strained. “That’s not what I meant,” Newt says, but he has a feeling Hermann knows. He’s not surprised when Hermann says nothing. 

They hurry on. The rain picks up.

“How much longer now?” Hermann says.

Newt shines the black light at a cluster of nearby street signs. He shines the light at some a few feet ahead. He pushes across the street (no cars, down this way) and shines at some more there. Hermann is waiting for him when he pushes back, hood down, full brunt of his glare focused on Newt. “Uh,” Newt says. “We may have taken a wrong turn.”

Hermann bitches at him for the entirety of the time it takes to turn back, shine the light around some more, and find the right street to go down, which is a whole of ten minutes, hardly anything, but Hermann’s acting like Newt set them back, like, a whole fucking hour. “You didn’t have to come,” Newt reminds him, after Hermann finishes a tirade about Newt’s irresponsibility. “You really, really, really didn’t--”

“Of course I did!”

“I never asked you,” Newt says. “Pentecost never asked you. I wanted--”

“I wanted to keep an eye on you and make sure you didn’t get yourself killed!” Hermann says. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t do something even stupider than drift with a kaiju brain, since you obviously can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for some--”

Newt snorts. “Why do you give a shit if I get myself killed?”

Hermann comes to a staggering halt; he clutches, desperately, at Newt’s arm. “Because I care about you, you moron!” he shouts.

A few passersbys give Hermann a Look--the weird Brit yelling at the American in the middle of a crowded sidewalk--and, coloring fast, reeling away from Newt, he shrinks in on himself in embarrassment. Newt does, too, but for a different reason entirely. “You care about me?” Newt squeaks. (Here it comes, Newt’s sure of it: the confession, the sweeping Newt into his arms, the kissing him, even.)

“Of course I do,” Hermann says. He’s deceptively calm, in a way that means he might start shouting again very soon if Newt doesn’t play it cool. Kissing’s probably out of the question. “I care very much about you, Newton.” He works his jaw. “Finding you was--upsetting.”

“Oh,” Newt says.

“The thought of having not found you, of not reaching you in time, was even more upsetting,” Hermann says. “I was not eager to relive it.”

“Oh,” Newt repeats.

"You mean--to me--Newton, you and I--” Hermann swallows heavily a few times, sighs, rubs his hand across his face. His blush hasn’t faded. “It’s of no import at the moment. A conversation for another time, perhaps. We need--we need to, ah, get you your kaiju brain.”

“Right,” Newt says, though every bone in his body screams for him to beg Hermann to finish his fucking sentence. (What does Newt mean to him, exactly?) “I think it’s a left down here.”

--

Chau pulls a knife on Newt; Hermann smacks it out of his hand with his cane.

Newt almost swoons.

--

"Hey,” Newt says, as the kaiju shelter trembles overhead, as he trembles in Hermann’s arms, “there’s, like, a ninety percent chance we’re about to die, and I just want to say it was really hot when you--”

“Shut up,” Hermann says, and kisses Newt.

--

They don’t die. Newt gets his kaiju brain. Win-win.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 210: Put-Downs, Poltergeists, and Plot Twists

Previously on BnHA: Bakugou’s team defeated class B in record time. Everyone praised them for their flawless performance, and All Might told Bakugou he got chills watching him and Bakugou got super embarrassed and mumbled something and walked off and it was in my Top 10 Cutest BnHA Moments and I love it. Then Deku came along to shower some more praise on him and the two of them went back and forth all “I’m gonna surpass you!” “no, I’m gonna surpass you!” for a little bit and that was really cute as well. Monoma took Tokage’s loss in stride and hashed out a strategy with his team that mostly consists of “take out Deku no matter what.” Deku, meanwhile, was all fired up after his talk with Kacchan, and confidently told his team they would definitely win, and this boy is looking more and more like a hero with each passing day, no joke. Round 5 started up, and All Might got a call from Gran Torino, and then we cut to Tartarus, where the guards were bitching about how dangerous All for One is, and the man in question was sitting in his cell grinning because apparently he can “hear [his] little brother’s voice.” Uh, what the fuck.

Today on BnHA: Gran is all “oh yeah now that you mention it, Nana totally did tell me about some freaky OFA dream bullshit a while back.” Apparently in the dream, a mysterious man shrouded in fog told Nana that it wasn’t “that time. not yet.” Meanwhile Deku full cowls his way through the stage on the lookout for Shinsou. Instead he finds Monoma, who activates his secondary quirk, Antagonize no Jutsu, presumably in hopes of getting Deku to respond so that he can ensnare him with the brainwashing quirk. But Deku is a smart cookie and keeps his mouth shut, even when he hears a scream that sounds like it might have come from Ochako. It didn’t, of course, but in fairness Ochako, Mina, and Mineta are being attacked by Yanagi, Kodai, and Shouda, who have combined their quirks to fling heavy objects at them all. But anyways, so Monoma is all “btw can we talk about how Bakugou destroyed the Symbol of Peace, though,” which, wow, and that does piss Deku off enough to fire an Air Gun attack at him! Or at least that’s what he intends to do. Instead what happens is... well. Something different. Seems like it might finally be That Time, now.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 224, so any ETAs will reflect that.) 

so we’re opening with All Might standing off to the side and trying to tell Gran to call him back later because he’s in the middle of class

but Gran is just immediately launching into conversation about how Shimura did in fact once tell him something about “a One for All dream” omg

and All Might is all “and you’re only just telling me this now!?”

and Gran says he didn’t remember until All Might asked him about it

his excuse is that he’s old. whatever, Gran!

“so listen up, but don’t expect much”

listen mister, I’ll expect as much as I damn well please. my plot-spoiled self knows full well that in this case there is a hell of a lot to expect! and I for one am fucking excited about it!

so now we’re cutting back to Team Deku and our boy is sprinting along while the flashback dialogue bubbles recount his strategy

oh shit hold up

...so it occurs to me again that that’s exactly what triggered his first One for All: Avatar State experience to begin with though, way back when. Shinsou brainwashed him and then the Ghosts of One for Alls Past appeared for the first time and activated OFA without him being aware of it -- very much like what happened the night right before this training exercise

and now here he is fresh from that weird dream and possibly about to be brainwashed for a second time. is this really a coincidence? seeing as I’m reading a fucking manga, I’m gonna go ahead and say hell no

shit now I’m even more excited

so Iida is observing that Team Deku’s formation looks similar to Team Bakugou’s, and Sero says that’s not a surprise since they’re similarly balanced. true that

but he’s pointing out that they don’t have a Jirou -- someone who can pinpoint the enemy’s location -- so they need to be more careful

yeah, especially since unlike Team Kacchan, they’re up against Shinsou who can take out their most powerful player in a second if he hits them unawares

anyways don’t mind me I’m just gonna post this part here

so Bakugou watching Deku without that characteristic over-the-top seething rage is still such a novel thing, though. him feeling threatened by Deku’s growth was really the key thing holding that relationship back. now that that’s no longer an issue, he’s observing this match with a surprisingly keen intensity

and what I love about this is that it’s exactly what he said he was gonna do back in chapter 121. he vowed that he would observe and absorb what he sees from others in the same way that Deku does in order to become stronger. he’s watching this match so intently because he wants to learn from Deku. do I even need to say how big of a deal that is and how far he’s come? just, wow

so Deku’s coming to a halt on one of the pipes and he’s silently pointing to something

okay so he’s putting his plan of “I’ll be a decoy” into action

seems like this is his way of compensating for his team not having a Jirou. if they can’t pinpoint class B’s location, they’ll just draw them out instead

now an oil drum is tumbling out from somewhere and it seems like it’s caught his attention

who’s Yanagi. lol I guess we’re about to see, what with the HERE IT COMES

OH SHIT

DEKU IF YOU THINK FOR A SECOND THAT’S HER... COME ON MAN, YOU’RE SMARTER THAN THIS

so he’s turning around and Monoma is there

don’t you dare fucking respond you little green bean. just kick him in the head and knock his ass out. this is a training exercise, you know Ochako’s not at any actual risk. and she can handle herself. these guys are gonna be banking on your heroic instincts in the same way the previous team was counting on Kacchan to be the same self-centered asshole he always was before. you guys are so fucking strong the only way they can beat you is by exploiting your mental weaknesses

oh snap Monoma’s holding up his pocketwatches. way back when his costume was first revealed I speculated that he might use them to time his quirk, so I guess we’ll see if that’s the case? I suppose they could also be support items and have some unexpected tricks to them

anyway he’s talking a lot, as usual

a clever person would also think “I’d better not respond to his baiting here since that’s obviously what he wants”

having said that, Monoma’s not wrong. that would be a good strategy for them to actually have. but I don’t think it’s their real strategy lol

ahh, good, Deku is being clever and cautious and knows better than to respond to him

lol so Deku just go KO him already! why are you keeping your distance?? you once said back at Kamino that you could make it from where you were standing to where Kacchan was in under a second with one leap using OFA. that’s fucking fast. you’re faster than the kid who basically fucking teleported in between Kamakiri and Jirou a couple chapters ago. just zoom over to Monoma and kick him in the head. come on. do it

jesus christ Monoma knows what his strengths are doesn’t he

he knows how to fuck with his opponent, I’ll give him that

so now Deku is finally leaping toward him like I said! about time

not sure if that’s actually the case, but he’s probably not too far off the mark, and I think he’s making the best possible move here given what he knows

uh oh

what is he doing

OH FUCK ME

OH FUCK NO MONOMA. YOU DID NOT JUST

WHAT THE HELL DUDE. IS YOUR SPECIALTY BELOW-THE-BELT ATTACKS OR WHAT?? COME ON OVER AND SAY THAT TO BAKUGOU’S FUCKING FACE WHY DON’T YOU. JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS LOW AS FUCK

and obviously he’s just trying to provoke Deku into responding still! but man, what a way to do it! you’ll resort to anything, huh??

do they have sound on those viewscreens, or just visual? I feel like it’s both, though I’m not gonna stop and go back and check right this second. anyways I’m just wondering if Kacchan heard that, since we know all too well he does feel personally responsible, and now here’s Monoma trying to poke at this recently-healed wound and reopen it again. and Dad Might is probably still on the phone with Gran. damn it Monoma you better not have sent him spiraling again. I will send you the therapy bills

(ETA: so yeah, they absolutely do have audio, it was confirmed in chapter 197. so Kacchan did indeed get to hear that, and everyone else heard it too, and it was probably super awkward, and probably would have been even more so had Deku’s arm not fucking exploded with his goth red vines quirk mere seconds later causing everyone to pretty much forget about anything else.

and by the way, can we just quickly touch on the fact that Hellboy later explains to Deku that “if you wield your power in anger, the power will respond accordingly”? in other words, Monoma pissed him off so much here that he went and activated a quirk he didn’t even know he had and it proceeded to go on a roaring rampage of revenge. so what have we learned today, kids? don’t insult the boyfriend, is what.)

anyway the good thing is Deku’s aiming his air gun at him and still isn’t responding, although he does look fucking furious and no wonder

now we’re cutting back to Team Float/Melt/Stick

and we’re confirming that the “kyaah” was indeed Shinsou which of course it fucking was. Ochako doesn’t KYAA, she ain’t no fucking damsel in distress

lol now I want to see it too

so Ochako’s reminding the others to look at each other’s faces when they talk

what have you been up to Mineta

holy shit a whole fucking lot got stuck to it. what the hell is this anyway

Mina’s protecting them all with a veil of acid, which is fucking badass. Mina I love you

and now we’re cutting to Shouda for a second and he’s watching them and says “they vanished”...?

ah!!!

IS THIS A TELEKINESIS QUIRK!? AT LONG LAST???

HOLY SHIT

THAT’S LIKE FUCKING COMPRESS’S QUIRK. WE’RE GOING FULL ANT-MAN UP IN THIS BITCH. HOLY SHIT CLASS B, IT’S JUST BADASS QUIRKS ALL THE WAY DOWN WITH YOU GUYS HUH

holy shit. I love both of these, but the size quirk especially. that’s so fucking good. I wish she was in class A now, ngl. so many potential applications of this

and how many quirks can Monoma handle at once? he had three pocket watches so I’m gonna go with three. so I’m assuming he took both of theirs along with Shinsou’s, since he was also floating small objects earlier

Ochako’s a good person to have against a quirk like this, though!

and now just smack them away again! take that

NOW WHAT

what the hell

sob omg

I would just like to point out that this was a WAAGH and not a KYAA though. for the record. even when they’re being attacked by rampaging thooming metal objects, class A does not KYAA. we die like men

so here are the deets!

telekinesis quirk confirmed yessssss. this is like a way upgraded version of Inko’s quirk. so glad we finally get to see a hero do this shit too

Kodai’s quirk is so badass and I love it. though it’s too bad she can’t shrink people too. lots of hijinks potential there. ah well

and Shouda’s quirk too!

ngl, I read this and I was like ‘what.’ I had to reread it several times and then go look him up in the wiki just to make sure I got it. this is one of those cases where a “for example” would have really come in handy. but anyways I think what this means is if someone hit a baseball, then he could recreate that impact in the same spot a second time, and not only that but the second impact would be stronger by several orders of magnitude. idk it’s weird and confusing

(ETA: seeing it in action later helped me understand the concept better, but I still for the life of me can’t explain it in words lol. super cool quirk though.)

anyway so even though all this crazy stuff is going on, neither team has actually come face to face with the other yet and they’re all still attacking each other from a distance, except for Deku and Monoma. so now Ochako’s wondering what happened to Deku

and now back to All Might! damn, Horikoshi, you sure know how to cut away from something just when it was getting good

so Gran says it’s probably not what All Might was looking for, but right around when Shimura first inherited One for All, he and her had a casual conversation whilst on patrol

NO, DEKU!!

WHY DID YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH DAMMIT

WHAT’S GOING ON OH MY GOD. ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL OF MY FAVES LOOK SHOCKED

oh I know this. “plaaaaay the best song in the world. or I’ll eat your souls.” so we played the first thing that came to our heads and it just so happened to be the best song in the world. it was the best song in the world

lol okay so let’s see why they all seem so shocked. IS IT THE SPOILER!?!?

IT’S NOT? OKAY? WHO ARE YOU??

(ETA: this is just the continuation of Gran’s story from the previous page, doy.)

WHAT THE FUCK

okay then! lol. well that explains the “wtf” expressions

so what exactly was Deku about to do that OFA took over and was like DEKU NO. were you going to fucking kill Monoma over insulting your boyfriend. is there some reason OFA lost its fucking shit and activated one of his secondary quirks for the very first (or second, I guess) time, right here and right now? or is the “it’s not that time” what the old man said in Shimura’s dream, and now with Deku it finally is that time?

oh my god. even knowing a little about what’s going on, I still really have no clue and I fucking love it. this is insanely cool and tbh the Joint Training arc is like #4 on my list now and will possibly be #3 by the time all is said and done. IMO this twist is cool and unexpected and will make future battles much less boring (because let’s be honest, Deku’s last couple of fights were really not all that dynamic. this is definitely going to help vary things up a bit), and I can’t wait to see how All Might and Kacchan react too omg

just. thumbs up from me

[cyberphuck]

Urban Artist

(Reposting since I can’t reblog: Ashley and Adrian do some street art. Written over a year ago in response to a prompt about a graffiti artist spraypainting a rune and then accidentally summoning something.) “It kind of looks like a jellyfish.”

Adrian opened his mouth to snap back, then paused, looking down at the book, the handful of cardboard in his hands, then up at me. “What? No it doesn’t.”

“No, it kind of does,” I insisted, sitting down on the edge of a charming little wall made of concrete breeze-blocks and wincing as it rasps against the backs of my thighs. I probably wouldn’t have worn these shorts if I’d have known there wouldn’t be adequate seating. “But like, looking from the top down. It’s got radial symmetry. That’s when stuff sort of looks like a kaleidoscope, all shooting out from the middle of–”

“Took the same ‘Intro to Art’ class as you did, Ash, but thanks,” Adrian said, propping the book up against a brick wall and then standing back, hands on his hips. “Do you think this is big enough?”

“Probably. Didn’t you think to measure it before you dragged me out here?”

“This is about spontaneity, Ash. Impermanence. Here one day and gone the next. I’ve got to put it up while I can, before someone else claims the space. Then it’ll only be up for a few hours at most before the city paints it over again. A-reath-real. Poof.”

“Ethereal,” I drawl, shifting to protect my ass from being scraped raw.

“Whatever. Also I don’t really want to be the dumbass who gets arrested for Measuring With Intent to Vandalize,” Adrian said. “I thought you were going to help me.”

“I am helping. I’m the lookout.”

“Help me tape these stencils up.”

“I’m not tall enough.”

“Help me tape these stencils up or–” Adrian stopped, frustrated. “–I’ll hex you.”

I snorted. “I’ve seen you try to hex people, Adrian. I can’t say I’m terrified by the thought of you burning a handful of weeds in my direction.”

“All that negative energy builds up, you know!” He sighed, then tried a different tactic, skinny shoulders slumping. “Please? You’re the only one I trust to help me with something like this.”

“I’m the only one willing to climb up on the roof of a condemned building at two AM on a Wednesday, you mean.” I slid down from the wall, grunting as I’m scraped in sensitive places. “All right, let’s do this. But afterwards, we are going to Whitecastle and you are buying me a fucking milkshake.”

Adrian tilted the book so that it caught the light from a streetlamp, and I saw the design again: a knot of twisting, twining lines, extending outwards from a central point that did look awfully like the bulbous top of a jellyfish’s bell. And those strokes of ink would be tentacles, here frilled, there spined, with a multitude of little rune-fish trapped in between them, caught in the throes of agony.

“Ugh,” I muttered, turning away from it.

“It’s fine, the sections are numbered, just put them up against the wall and tape them,” Adrian said, tossing me a roll of masking tape.

“Not 'ugh, this is hard,’ I meant 'ugh, that thing is weird looking,’” I said as I bit off a strip of tape and lined two pieces of stencil up. “What happened to just writing your name, or 'so-and-so sucks dicks’ or something?”

“Because that is graffiti,” Adrian said, lifting his chin, “and this is art. It’s making a statement. Witches live here in Bowling Green, they’re a part of the community and their work is important and valid.” He smirked at me. “Plus look at that thing, it’s rad.”

“You checked to make sure it isn’t anything, like, offensive or anything before you went pulling it out of your mom’s spell book, right?”

“Yeah, I checked the Latin through Google. It’s just a fertility symbol. Witches are all about fertility. It’s sort of like, 'may good things grow out of you,’ or something.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it’s fine. Regular people will see it and know we’re here, and witches’ll see it and know there’s someone willing to be their voice.”

“Through misdemeanor vandalism.” I taped up another section of stencil. “Rad, ethereal fertility statements. Adrian, you are a treasure.”

“Aren’t I? Okay, it’s done, stand back while I paint it in and then we can pull the stencils down and get out of here.”

I obliged, retreating to the wall again while Adrian madly shook a can of spray paint, holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth while he filled the spaces of the stencil with a deep red that stood out starkly against the graying brick.

I lit a cigarette, bored, and peered over the edge of the wall, down into the deserted street. I didn’t believe most of what Adrian said about 'making his people’s voices heard’ by spray-painting the side of a building, but I’d helped him do weirder things, and besides, a witch’s son always knew where to get the kind of mushrooms that turned an okay party into a legendary one.

Anyway, Adrian’s mom was actually an extremely nice lady, helped people without health insurance, and had always been cool with Adrian and me smoking weed in her basement as long as we didn’t get into any trouble. If Adrian’s little stunt really did end up helping her and the other local witches in some way, then I was all for it. I mean, I’d been all for it as soon as Adrian had called me and asked me if I’d wanted to do something illegal, but now I was double all for it, breaking the law in the name of the greater good. I was like Batman. Adrian could be Robin.

“Done,” Adrian panted, tossing the last spray can off to one side and then stepping forward to start pulling pieces of stencil away from the wall. “Come on, let’s get these off and go, I thought I heard a car down in the parking–”

I vaguely remember grabbing him by the back of his shirt and dragging him away from the wall. I definitely remember the breath going out of me as I tripped and we fell backwards, skidding across loose bits of gravel and broken glass. The world turned red, pulsing and full of branching, bloody tentacles, and I’d screamed twice before I realized that I’d shut my eyes and the red was a bright light shining through my eyelids. Beside me, Adrian was yelling something articulate along the lines of “Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!” and I had to grab him again and shove him down hard as the light pulsed brighter, burning, hot enough to make my hair curl and my skin blister.

Then it was gone.

I lay there for several minutes, still sprawled on top of Adrian, listening to the crack and pop of the brick wall cooling and his continued whimpers of “oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck” which had changed tone from 'That thing is going to kill me’ to 'My mom is going to kill me.’ When I finally lifted my head, all that was left of Adrian’s art project was an ugly scorch mark and a smear of red paint that led over the side of the roof and down into the street. The spell book, somehow, wasn’t even singed.

I got slowly, painfully to my feet. My legs were pink on one side and white on the other from the flash of light; my hair was crunchy, over-cooked strands of it breaking off in my hand. I made my way over to the spell book and kicked it shut, just to be safe, then picked it up and tucked it under one arm. Then I returned to where Adrian was just beginning to look around with huge eyes and, with my free hand, grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet.

“You owe me,” I snarled, “a fucking milkshake.”

[cyberphuck]

Street artist tags a building with a design they looked up in a book and accidentally summons something?

"It kind of looks like ajellyfish."

Adrian opened his mouth to snap back,then paused, looking down at the book, the handful of cardboard inhis hands, then up at me. "What? No it doesn't."

"No, it kind of does," Iinsisted, sitting down on the edge of a charming little wall made ofconcrete breeze-blocks and wincing as it rasps against the backs ofmy thighs. I probably wouldn't have worn these shorts if I'd haveknown there wouldn't be adequate seating. "But like, lookingfrom the top down. It's got radial symmetry. That's when stuff sortof looks like a kaleidoscope, all shooting out from the middle of--"

"Took the same 'Intro to Art'class as you did, Ash, but thanks," Adrian said, propping thebook up against a brick wall and then standing back, hands on hiships. "Do you think this is big enough?"

"Probably. Didn't you think tomeasure it before you dragged me out here?"

"This is about spontaneity, Ash.Impermanence. Here one day and gone the next. I've got to put it upwhile I can, before someone else claims the space. Then it'll only beup for a few hours at most before the city paints it over again.A-reath-real. Poof."

"Ethereal," I drawl, shiftingto protect my ass from being scraped raw.

"Whatever. Also I don't reallywant to be the dumbass who gets arrested for Measuring With Intent toVandalize," Adrian said. "I thought you were going to helpme."

"I am helping. I'm thelookout."

"Help me tape these stencils up."

"I'm not tall enough."

"Help me tape these stencils upor--" Adrian stopped, frustrated. "--I'll hex you."

I snorted. "I've seen you try tohex people, Adrian. I can't say I'm terrified by the thought of youburning a handful of weeds in my direction."

"All that negative energy buildsup, you know!" He sighed, then tried a different tactic, skinnyshoulders slumping. "Please? You're the only one I trust to helpme with something like this."

"I'm the only one willing to climbup on the roof of a condemned building at two AM on a Wednesday, youmean." I slid down from the wall, grunting as I'm scraped insensitive places. "All right, let's do this. But afterwards, weare going to Whitecastle and you are buying me a fucking milkshake."

Adrian tilted the book so that itcaught the light from a streetlamp, and I saw the design again: aknot of twisting, twining lines, extending outwards from a centralpoint that did look awfully like the bulbous top of ajellyfish's bell. And those strokes of ink would be tentacles, herefrilled, there spined, with a multitude of little rune-fish trappedin between them, caught in the throes of agony.

"Ugh," I muttered, turningaway from it.

"It's fine, the sections arenumbered, just put them up against the wall and tape them,"Adrian said, tossing me a roll of masking tape.

"Not 'ugh, this is hard,' I meant'ugh, that thing is weird looking,'" I said as I bit off a stripof tape and lined two pieces of stencil up. "What happened tojust writing your name, or 'so-and-so sucks dicks' or something?"

"Because that is graffiti,"Adrian said, lifting his chin, "and this is art. It's making astatement. Witches live here in Bowling Green, they're a part of thecommunity and their work is important and valid." He smirked atme. "Plus look at that thing, it's rad."

"You checked to make sure it isn'tanything, like, offensive or anything before you went pulling it outof your mom's spell book, right?"

"Yeah, I checked the Latin throughGoogle. It's just a fertility symbol. Witches are all aboutfertility. It's sort of like, 'may good things grow out of you,' orsomething." He shrugged. "Anyway, it's fine. Regular peoplewill see it and know we're here, and witches'll see it and knowthere's someone willing to be their voice."

"Through misdemeanor vandalism."I taped up another section of stencil. "Rad, ethereal fertilitystatements. Adrian, you are a treasure."

"Aren't I? Okay, it's done, standback while I paint it in and then we can pull the stencils down andget out of here."

I obliged, retreating to the wall againwhile Adrian madly shook a can of spray paint, holding a handkerchiefover his nose and mouth while he filled the spaces of the stencilwith a deep red that stood out starkly against the graying brick.

I lit a cigarette, bored, and peeredover the edge of the wall, down into the deserted street. I didn'tbelieve most of what Adrian said about 'making his people's voicesheard' by spray-painting the side of a building, but I'd helped himdo weirder things, and besides, a witch's son always knew where toget the kind of mushrooms that turned an okay party into a legendaryone.

Anyway, Adrian's mom was actually anextremely nice lady, helped people without health insurance, and hadalways been cool with Adrian and me smoking weed in her basement aslong as we didn't get into any trouble. If Adrian's little stuntreally did end up helping her and the other local witches in someway, then I was all for it. I mean, I'd been all for it as soon asAdrian had called me and asked me if I'd wanted to do somethingillegal, but now I was double all for it, breaking the law in thename of the greater good. I was like Batman. Adrian could be Robin.

"Done," Adrian panted,tossing the last spray can off to one side and then stepping forwardto start pulling pieces of stencil away from the wall. "Come on,let's get these off and go, I thought I heard a car down in theparking--"

I vaguely remember grabbing him by theback of his shirt and dragging him away from the wall. I definitelyremember the breath going out of me as I tripped and we fellbackwards, skidding across loose bits of gravel and broken glass. Theworld turned red, pulsing and full of branching, bloody tentacles,and I'd screamed twice before I realized that I'd shut my eyes andthe red was a bright light shining through my eyelids. Beside me,Adrian was yelling something articulate along the lines of "Ohfuck oh fuck oh fuck!" and I had to grab him again andshove him down hard as the light pulsed brighter, burning, hot enoughto make my hair curl and my skin blister.

Then it was gone.

I lay there for several minutes, stillsprawled on top of Adrian, listening to the crack and pop of thebrick wall cooling and his continued whimpers of "oh fuck ohfuck oh fuck" which had changed tone from 'That thing is goingto kill me' to 'My mom is going to kill me.' When I finally lifted myhead, all that was left of Adrian's art project was an ugly scorchmark and a smear of red paint that led over the side of the roof anddown into the street. The spell book, somehow, wasn't even singed.

I got slowly, painfully to my feet. Mylegs were pink on one side and white on the other from the flash oflight; my hair was crunchy, over-cooked strands of it breaking off inmy hand. I made my way over to the spell book and kicked it shut,just to be safe, then picked it up and tucked it under one arm. ThenI returned to where Adrian was just beginning to look around withhuge eyes and, with my free hand, grabbed the front of his shirt andhauled him to his feet.

"You owe me," I snarled, "afucking milkshake."