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your-brilliant-lady-m · 4 years ago

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Part 2 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Kwami

Kwamis are a fun concept and one of the main draws of the series. They make sense story-wise because, firstly, our characters need some support system. And since a lot of conflicts are centred around secret identities, characters should be able to discuss their double life with someone. As magical beings they could also be used to expand the lore, introduce new concepts and drive forward both the plot and character development. It doesn't always happen but Kwamis are a good idea. Some people who write AU's think that Kwamis are redundant, but I have to disagree.

Origins and nature

Where do Kwamis come from? What are they? It's never explained. Oh wait, it was explained in a comic people can accidentally find. You decide to explain the origins and nature of magical beings who are one of the key elements in your magic system and worldbuilding IN A SIDE COMIC, which has zero effect on your main story. Sounds legit.

Here it is.

So, Kwamis are abstract creatures. They can become tangible and interact with the world because of the miraculous jewels. Essentially, each Miraculous acts as an anchor to the material world for Kwami. They existed since the beginning of time and were invisible observers of the universe. Until they settled on Earth and observed how humanity came to be. This is where things get interesting.

Kwamis are the embodiment of abstract concepts. But, some abstract concepts were created by people (like everything mentioned in the comic: beauty, math, love, etc).

Kwamis wanted to help humans. And then, a human, who couldn't see, hear or touch a Kwami creates miraculous jewels. And now these beings can interact with the world, use their powers and grant them to humans. Yet, they are completely under control of their holder. I'll discuss it later, but why did Kwamis accept this deal? They are practically enslaved. At the same time they care about people and generally love humanity.

According to the wiki Kwamis grant powers because of "the privilege of having the ability to be perceived by mortals". What? Did I read that right? Kwamis agreed to be enslaved and used as a power source, because they wanted to interact with material world. That's it, guys, end of the story.

We also know these things about nature and abilities of Kwamis from the show:

1) need food, but only to provide the power for the holder;

2) can't phase through precious metals (Chloe's bracelet in "Rogercop"), their own miraculous and humans;

3) they can control if they phase through things or not – meaning that if they want to, they can (this way Tikki can stay in Marinette’s purse without much trouble and Plagg sleeps on Adrien’s pillow);

4) they can perform magic without a holder but they don’t control it very well, there are certain types of things that they can’t do without a holder;

5) they are immortal but can get sick for some reason, a non-magical reason mind you;

6) technology can't detect them in any way, you can't film, photograph or record their voices (writers establish this many times, but promptly forget all about their own rules in "Optigami", where Marinette talks with Kwamis over the phone without any problems).

If I missed something important, then let me know.

Look, the questions related to origins and motivations of Kwamis might not be very prominent in your story right now, but you must answer them in case you might need to involve these facts in the plot down the line. It's important to avoid contradictions in the serialised story with liquid plot, that can't be set in stone. It's a made up world for the sake of everything sacred! You can make up explanations and rules, of course as long as they don't contradict common sense.

Plausible ideas for origins and nature of Kwamis:

1) Kwamis are immortal spirits, whom humans accidentally summoned and bound with spells to Miraculous stones. They remember their existence before this. This version doesn't really explain their desire to serve people and love for humanity, however. It would be more logical for Kwamis to resent people for enslaving them. It doesn't explain how humans could create those spells and Miraculous stones either.

2) Kwamis are physical manifestations of abstract concepts who existed simply as fragments of matter for a very long time without sentience, until they were accidentally summoned through the Miraculous stones and bound by humans to serve them. Kwamis do not remember their existence before Miraculous. In this version Kwamis serve humans and love them because they have never known a different kind of existence. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any explanation on the creation of Miraculous and spells.

3) Kwamis are gods, who created the universe with all its elements and concepts including humanity (similar to Valar and Maiar in Tolkien's Legendarium). They wanted to help their creations but discovered that their power was too wild and unpredictable for that. So, Kwamis decided to give up their free will and magical independence to help humanity. Together they created Miraculous stones for humans to use and sealed themselves inside. Kwamis as gods were abstract concepts, who didn't have a body. The act of sealing their power in the Miraculous gave them an opportunity to interact with outside world (an anchor) and each Kwami chose an small animal form (because humans easily formed bonds with animals, had animal companions (pets), small animals look non-threatening and familiar). Kwamis intentionally choose certain animal forms to suit the human symbolism. Humans later used magic that Kwamis discovered for them to place spells upon small gods (spells related to identity protection and so on). This version answers most questions, but if Kwamis are gods then powers they grant to people seem to be rather small.

Feel free to add more. I would be interested to hear your ideas.

Identity Protection

In "Origins" we learn that Wayzz can sense the aura of Butterfly Miraculous, a negative aura of activated Butterfly Miraculous, to be more precise. And yet, Tikki and Plagg are genuinely surprised to discover the identities of their holders in "Dark Owl". There are several things wrong with that.

Can Kwamis sense each other's presence? They shouldn't be able to do this to protect the identities of their holders. On the other hand, they are ancient spirits. So, their inability to sense each other seems weird. Unless it's the same situation as with the spell that does not allow them to speak the name of their holder aloud.

But if they can sense each other like Wayzz did, then it means that Plagg and Nooroo were living in the same house for over a year and nothing happened. I mean, Plagg could have just come upstairs, take off the brooch from Gabriel, while he is asleep and return it back to Fu.

This question lies right here, on the surface. And that's only one massive and very obvious plothole. How to fix it? Establish that Kwami can't sense each other for identity protection. In "Origins" Fu meditates on his balcony and Wayzz sees a charged Akuma flying by. That's how they discover that Butterfly is in Paris and the Miraculous is in the wrong hands. Perhaps, Gabriel akumatizes someone for the first time to survey the surroundings and general public is not aware of this. This works better in the narrative, giving Fu time to select holders for Ladybug and Black Cat. It also establishes whether Hawkmoth can remove the Akuma from someone without Ladybug and discharge it. Maybe it depends on the circumstances (sometimes he can, but if this person was akumatized many times or their emotions are too strong and their mind doesn't want to let Akuma go then Hawkmoth can't pull the butterfly out with his magic). This scenario allows for Volpina to happen on "Heroes' Day". Silly recurring Akumas like Gigantitan and Mr. Pigeon could still happen. In this case Gabriel didn't want to akumatize the guy more than 70 times on purpose. It just keeps happening against his better judgement because evil butterflies are automatically attracted to Mr. Ramier. This way repeated attacks of Mr. Pigeon annoy Hawkmoth just as much as they do the heroic duo of Paris (I did not sign up for this Nathalie!).

Let's come back to the spell mentioned earlier for a moment. Kwamis can't say the name of their current holder out loud, but apparently, they can exploit a loophole in the spell by confirming the identity of their holder in another way. The spell doesn't work with other holders. Kwami can say the names of other holders if they know their identity. That being said, can the holder order the Kwami to tell them the identities of other heroes if they know them?

Kwamis know how each Miraculous looks with or without camouflage. Can the holder order the Kwami to tell them how each Miraculous looks in disguise (I liked that Grimoire doesn't have pictures of camouflage for identity protection)? Guardians can recognise Miraculous in any mode (Su Han). Did Fu teach Marinette this? Does she know how each Miraculous looks like unactivated?

Oh! Since we are discussing camouflage, let's take a moment to appreciate the Mother Of All Plotholes. Plagg didn't recognise Peacock because of the plot.

Relationship with Holder

I absolutely loved the idea that Kwamis must obey their holder introduced in "Sandboy". This concept opens tons of plot opportunities. It's such a great idea that makes sense, has potential, can create conflict. Why, oh, why didn't writers develop it more?

Like, it was so good. It can be a great push for character development. This concept resolves so many existing inconsistencies within the plot. It's mind-blowing.

Why can't Nooroo simply leave Gabriel, so that he wouldn't be able to transform? Because Gabriel bound him with Miraculous to always stay near.

In "Sandboy" Tikki asks Marinette's permission before going to the meeting. Plagg lies to Adrien instead. This implies that usually Plagg's holders weren't kind to him or feared his power (Su Han's remark in "Furious Fu"). Perhaps, his holders were taught to keep the Kwami of destruction under constant control. So, Plagg in turn has learned not to ask, because if he doesn't ask permission then his holder can't deny him freedom with magic.

Can Kwami lie to their holder? Maybe they can't lie to their holder about their nature, origins and powers and other Miraculous (but Kwamis can't reveal the location of Miracle Box, Guardian's identity and can't confirm identities of other holders known to them in any way). Kwami would be forced to speak even if they don't want to. That's why Nooroo told Gabriel everything about the abilities of the Butterfly Miraculous and the wish secret of Ladybug and Black Cat.

But Kwamis can lie to their holder according to Plagg in "Sandboy". If Kwamis can lie about everything (including powers) then Nooroo didn't have any reason to be honest with Gabriel way back in "Origins".

Speaking of Gabriel and Nooroo. Can Kwamis harm their holder? Maybe doing so would harm the Kwami as well. Can they do it only when the holder is not wearing the Miraculous? Can Kwami take their Miraculous from their holder? Will they disappear if they try to do so? It seems like Kwami disappears only when the holder takes off the Miraculous with the intention of renouncing power, the words "I renounce you" are not necessary.

Other Kwamis can take the Miraculous from people if it's not their own (Wayzz in "Feast"). But what if it wasn't possible. Imagine what could happen if it's not possible to take the Miraculous by force from the transformed or untransformed hero. Just like Lady WiFi couldn't remove Ladybug's mask. A person has to willingly give up the Miraculous. Only in this case, it's possible to take it. For example, somewhere around the middle of season 3 Hawkmoth could have trapped Ladybug and Chat Noir and cut off any escape routes. His Akuma tries to take both Miraculous, but they don't budge. Then afterwards, every Akuma tries to manipulate the heroes using hostages, illusions or mind control. It's hard to say whether this version will be better than canon, but it's a fascinating theory.

You can use the idea of obedience to create more situations contrasting the relationship of Plagg and Adrien, Gabriel and Nooroo. I liked how canon created a storyline about Plagg learning to control his powers without a holder and Adrien helping him. However, why would you stop here? Give us some flashbacks about Plagg's previous holders, tell us what kind of people they were. Expand the lore and add some character development for Plagg and Adrien. The same thing goes for Marinette. What kind of battles did they have in the past? What kind of people past holders were? Did Ladybug and Black Cat heroes always get along well? Were they allies or enemies? Were they always lovers?

Give us more information about Butterfly and Peacock holders. Perhaps Nooroo has dreams about his past holders who were good people. Show us what kind of things a Butterfly holder with good intentions can do. Tell us more about Duusu and her past holders, sprinkle in a few bits of info about Emilie and Duusu's relationship, just a few vague hints to preserve the mystery. You have a lot of screentime each season and instead of doing filler episodes dedicated to love drama, you can use them for developing minor characters, relationships between them and lore.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous analysis #miraculous meta #ml meta #ml analysis #miraculous transformations #miraculous critical #miraculous ladybug critical #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #kwami #miraculous kwamis #miraculous holders

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lunarblazes · 4 years ago

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i made a desertduo playlist and then decided to be a nerd and write explanations for all the songs! like a nerd!

playlist link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZGylutQpyTbgX7MY7Lrzz?si=t8_kBwBHSYG5kxTvZoIrTQ&dl_branch=1

QUICK DISCLAIMER: i am aware that a lot of these songs may have or imply romantic connotation! i would really really like it if these were not read as though those romantic connotations carry over to scar and grian. even if we’re just talking about the third life characters, i would prefer not to ship them or imply romance between them on this post. thank you so much and keep reading if you’d like to see the playlist analysis!

and now that that’s out of the way, PLAYLIST TIME!

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passerine- the oh hellos

“you were the song that i’d always sing/you were the light that the fire would bring/but i can’t shake this feeling that i/was only pushing the spear into your side again”

this song really just... firstly, it’s one of my favorite songs, and the line i chose there pushes home the sort of terrified devotion i think the desert has. plus there’s a fun line about the cold wind blowing in from the north in the ending bits that i think very much fits their conflict with the red army, and a lot of legally obligated flight imagery that i need to have in every possible song because i’m a fuckin nerd.

•

no children- the mountain goats

“i hope that our few remaining friends/give up on trying to save us/i hope we come up with a failsafe plot to piss off the dumb few that forgave us”

i will admit that no children isn’t a perfect fit, but the general vibe of sort of defiant pessimism and betrayal fits very well with them! it’s very triumphant in its death, and i think that is very desertcore, because what’s more triumphantly dead than being the last duo left alive?

•

skulls- bastille

“when all of our friends are dead and just a memory/it’s always been just you and me/for all to see”

okay like this entire song is SO MUCH DESERT VIBES? LIKE SO MUCH. if i were to ever make an animatic for them i’d do it with this song. “a match is our only light, it’s day of the dead i’m indiana jones, yeah,” “i hope you can make me laugh six feet under when we’re bored of each other,” “i don’t want to rest in peace, i’d rather be the ghost that annoys you,” IT JUST KEEPS GOING. i think this song would work well with any third life duo, honestly, but these two in PARTICULAR just because of how it ended with them literally ‘buried’ next to each other, and again, the chaotic death vibes.

•

freaking out- mystery skulls

“i just keep out of my tongue/til all you want is done/and you just wanna leave me, oh yeah”

this song is a very third life grian song to me in particular! it could be my bias because of my little headcanon of grian burning on his red life, but seriously, this song is very reminiscent of the back and forth of loyalty that grian has with scar. the above line is sort of representative of the betrayal on red, and of course grian’s life debt.

•

night running- shin sakiura

(this song is in japanese! these lyrics are the rough english translation i found on google.) “someday we will stand at this place once again/for sure we will stand up again and again/we will watch it will the end/i want you to live freely”

this song is actually the ending theme for the anime bna, which i adore, and i just added it on a whim before looking at the translated lyrics. but um. holy hell the lyrics hurt me because they’re about running in search of someone, running for no reason, looking for something, and it just really hit, because the desert never really had a goal! they didn’t expect to survive, they were trying to survive, but what was their longterm goals? nothing. so that sort of endless search felt fitting for this. plus the song is a parallel for the two estranged best friends of the show so! perfect.

•

summer nights- siames

“it’s summertime/singing al green in your car/heading to a party/and the night air feels alive”

okay again, i will admit this song is mainly on here because i absolutely love it, but i also do think it fits well. it’s also about healing/estranged friendships, with a very distinct feeling of nostalgia for a happier time. maybe for a time when this was all a game, when there was no blood or betrayals on their hands. little canon divergent, but it’s fun for me, so into the playlist it goes!

allies or enemies- the crane wives

“are we allies or enemies/this will be the death of me, this will be the death of me/all’s fair in love and war but i can’t fight with you anymore”

. i just. points to that lyric. it literally led to both of their deaths. are they allies or enemies? it also fits with scar still wanting grian to be his friend even after he’s no longer indebted with the line “what happens now? do we have another go, do we bow out?” another very good animatic song that i’ve considered heavily. i listen to this playlist a lot

•

burn him down- kitsch club

“you must destroy, oh you must destroy, beyond all recognition/you gotta burn him down, you gotta burn him down, beyond all recognition”

this song just has a lot of fire and arson and high energy vibes. my little war criminals look at them go

•

rose- the oh hellos

“what's true is like a sickle/it'll cut you to the middle/your rose is without a thorn/but no, my mouth don't taste of metal/from the pot here to the kettle/i think we got a lot we gotta learn”

this one is like the exact opposite vibe of burn him down. the oh hellos are so poetic and this song just... feels like the healing potions after a battle. many of the metaphors here fit, i think

•

lone digger- caravan palace

“hey, brother, what you thinking/that good ol' sound is ringing/they don't know what they're missing/(they call it lonely diggin')”

okay this song is straight up just a dance song. i added it because i like it and also for some reason it feels ominous to me? i’ve got no idea why, it’s seriously just a club song, but it’s a banger and it’s in this playlist because i said so

•

feed the machine- poor man’s poison (suggested by my friend argonaughtkeene!)

“somethin’s goin” on, just look around/fear is on the rise, and there’s blood all over the ground/let’s all just blindfold the poor, we all know what’s in store/ we got ‘em now, just break ‘em down a little bit more”

this song is a VIBE for both desertduo members. there’s parts for both of them. it’s ruthless, gritty, very maniacal, perfect. listen to it and you’ll immediately understand why i added it.

•

sweet tooth- scott helman

“i hold hands with cosmic entities/i’ll take this two-ride if i please/i got this sweet tooth baby, yeah i got this sweet tooth baby/i exploit my opportunities/some broken hearts, some cavities”

sweet tooth is super upbeat and bright with these strangely dark lyrics? like i’m pretty sure it’s about addiction. in any case, i thought the “i hold hands with cosmic entities” very funnily fitting for both of the desert boys. it’s a banger!

•

necromancin’ dancin’- bear ghost

“when i’m necromancin’, everyone’s dancin’/nobody can stop me, i dare you to try/the dead are infused with insatiable groove and they’re coming for you, there’s nowhere to hide”

necromancin’ dancin’ just. bastard vibes. there’s not much more to say it’s just huge villain song vibes. i adore it.

•

crazy = genius- panic! at the disco

“if crazy equals genius/then i’m a fucking arsonist/i’m a rocket scientist/if crazy equals genius/you can set yourself on fire/but you’re never gonna burn, burn, burn”

i. yeah. y. yeah. more bastard vibes. also shoutout to an artist i saw (i think it was strifesolution?) who made a desertduo piece to this song because i have not stopped thinking about it ever

•

sweet bod- lemon demon

“i’m diggin’ up your coffin/and pouring out the contents/your sexy, sweet solution/is ripe for distribution”

you know how i said freaking out was a grian song? this one is a scar song. it’s my favorite lemon demon song and also it has the total macabre capitalism vibe that third life scar NAILED. more bastard vibes good for him <3

•

drunk- the living tombstone

“feel so much better than usual/i feel indisputable, oh/but now i’m feeling so beautiful/don’t wake me up from this spell i’m under, if i’m still breathing/i know that i will be ugly when i feel like myself again, oh/but right now i’m feelin’ so beautiful”

the descent of this song, starting off with a polite gathering and ending with a gasping drunk in the parking lot gazing at the stars that he can barely see? yes. yeah. mhm. i used a line from this song for a fic, actually, it fit so well.

•

oh no!- marina

“one track mind, one track heart/if i fail, i’ll fall apart/maybe it is all a test/cos i feel like i’m the worst so i always act like i’m the best”

bubbly pop track about false confidence, the ruthlessness of the pop industry, and the influence of the media? you know why this is here. it vibes. it rocks.

•

do it all the time- i don’t know how but they found me

“we’re taking over the world/a little victimless crime/and when i’m taking your innocence/i’ll be corrupting your mind/no need to cry i’m only doing everything i want to do because i do it all the time”

EVEN MORE BASTARD VIBES! SOMEHOW THERE IS MORE! this playlist is half villain songs and half heart-wrenching ballads and that’s the real desert experience i think.

•

the phoenix- fall out boy

“i’m gonna change you/like a remix/then i’ll raise you/like the phoenix”

BATTLE SONG BATTLE SONG! i’ll be honest i partially chose this song because i am a huge sucker for phoenix grian imagery in particular, but it’s also just a very good war song for them. villain song no 18372948 except this one originally had a hero vibe and now it’s changed specifically for them?? wild. their power

•

the other side- the greatest showman

“right here, right now/i’ll put the offer out/i don’t wanna chase you down, i know you see it/you run with me/and i can cut you free/out of the treachery/and all you keep in”

scar and grian’s desert monopoly conversation went exactly like this canonically because i said so fuck you <3

•

icicles- the scary jokes (suggested by my friend demizorua!)

“icicles don’t soften when they die/so why should i, why should i?/oh, icicles don’t soften when they die/they sharpen into sabers and they stab you in the eye”

this song actually has specific parts for both grian and scar! my cool epic friend mx demizorua pointed both of them out to me and i adored it so much. it’s a very spiteful song, just like the desert boys. also it feels vaguely murderous. perfect

•

problems- mother mother (suggested by my friend demizorua!)

“i’m a loser, a disgrace/you’re a beauty, a luminary, in my face”

literally this entire song fits them. particularly their relationship with the flower husbands, to me, honestly— the whole “when we meet at the pearly gates/you’ll get the green light/and i’ll get the boot in the face” reminds me a lot of them hdksjdks

•

tongues and teeth- the crane wives

“i know that you mean so well/but i am not a vessel for your good intent/i will only break your pretty things/i will only wring you dry of everything”

h. yeah. this song is literally gaslight gatekeep girlboss and i attribute it to the desert for that reason alone. songs to commit murder to!

•

you’re nobody til somebody wants you dead- saint motel

“you’re nobody til somebody wants you dead/and the list, it grows, and grows, and grows/it grows, and grows, and grows/and grows, and grows, and grows/until it’s everyone you’ve ever known”

this one is very self-explanatory. enemies pogchamp

•

curses- the crane wives

“there’s a fire in my brain and i’m burning, love/oh my, oh my/keep running to the sink, but the well is dry/oh my, oh my/every word i say is kindling/but the smoke clears when you’re around”

okay again! this one has two very specific parts for both of them. grian’s the first verse, which is above, and scar’s the second verse!! i really do like my fire imagery for these two don’t i? well, i blame them for having a fuck ton of tnt on them at all times and literally burning their enemy’s banners as a final act of defiance.

#3rdlife #grian #goodtimeswithscar #3rd life smp #3rd life smp playlist #third life smp #desertduo #simply think that they <3 #Spotify

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igirisuhito · 4 years ago

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Title: Live for the Night Relationship(s): Komaeda Nagito/Hinata Hajime Rating: Explicit Summary: Hinata has been single for quite a long time. Wingman Souda seeks to change that by bringing him to his favourite nightclub and introducing him to his rave buddies. Hinata, however, has eyes for much less favourable company. Based on @devilcouldweep‘s Rave AU Trigger Warnings: Recreational drug use, alcohol, sex under the influence, Mentions of drug overdose, discussions of stabbings, Public sex. Disclaimer: Other old fic with some stuff I’m embarrassed about. Quality is lower.

[Ao3 Link]

♫♪.ılılıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llılılı.♫♪

"Souda…I look like a twink."

Hinata stared at himself in the mirror, reflecting on how long it had taken him to wrangle those fishnets that now clung to his chest and three quarters of the way down his arms. The elastic around his neck rubbed uncomfortably against his adam’s apple and every now and then the netting would catch on his nipples. The stockings had been much worse to put on, but weren’t uncomfortable in the same way the top was.

Over the fishnet top was a white crop top he had borrowed from Souda that sported a neon sunset and the words ‘Jabberwock.’ He recalled thinking ‘What the fuck is a Jabberwock?’ whilst slipping it on. To cover the fishnets on his lower half he wore a pair of ripped skinny jeans, less ripped and more gutted than anything. And to top it all off were these white platform sneakers he’d bought because they were ‘cool’ way before he realised they were platforms. Oh well, it’s not like he couldn’t use a few extra inches.

Hinata crossed his arms over his midsection, a pathetic attempt to hide the exposed skin. Souda simply laughed, joining his soul friend's side and slinging an arm over his shoulder. "That's the point man! We gotta reel you in some dick somehow!"

Hinata groaned as the boy cackled, threading his fingers under the fishnets adorning his hips. This was the first time he'd worn something like this, and no amount of shitty vodka cruisers were making him feel less insecure.

Souda himself was wearing these baggy pants with reflective stripes and numerous pockets and a pair of those popular light up shoes, the ones that change colour with every step. On the top half he wore a studded white leather harness that settled snugly just below his pecs and a sleeveless hoodie to make him look almost modest. His hair was it’s usual dyed neon pink and spiked as if he intended to use it as a weapon.

“Souda...you know I give more than I take, right?” Hinata muttered, almost offended that his ever-so-supportive friend had just assumed he was a bottom.

“Well lately you haven’t been doing either!” Souda grabbed his shoulders with both hands, practically shaking the poor boy. “C’mon man you look sooo good! If I was gay I’d fuck you!”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “I’ve never met a straight man who’d wear a harness.”

“Uh, what about, literally every dog ever?”

“You’re not a dog.”

“Whatever! Let’s just go!”

Hinata snorted. It seemed entertaining Souda in his shitty attempts to get him a boyfriend was going to pay off. “Yeah, okay.”

“Yeah!” Souda cheered, pumping his right fist in the air and slapping Hinata’s ass with his left hand simultaneously. He couldn’t even be embarrassed, not when it was from So-not-gay Souda.

The duo took a cab to their destination, despite Souda insisting that they should walk to save money. Hinata would pay anything to not be seen outside in this. Especially not by somebody he knew. They were headed to a rave club in a less favourable part of town, one Souda insisted ‘wasn’t as bad as it seems!’ It was definitely as bad as it seems, like, there had been 3 stabbings in that club. Twice it had been the same fucking guy, and Hinata wasn’t sure if he should chalk that up to bad luck or blatant idiocy. Who would go to a club where they had already been stabbed once, just to get stabbed again?

Souda seemed to notice that Hinata’s thoughts were quickly going in a poor direction, so he decided to distract him with idle chatter. “I think you’ll like some of my friends there.”

Hinata turned to the boy sitting to his left, wearing a rather curious expression. “You have friends?”

“Shut up, you’re awful!” Souda whined, trying to sound mad but failing miserably. “Anyway, there’s this guy named Tanaka, he works at a zoo, how fucking cool is that?! Though he refers to himself as ‘The Supreme Overlord of Ice.’ I think it’s meant to be some kind of stage name or something?”

Stage name? What fucking stage is he working on at a zoo?

“Sounds like quite the character, huh.” Hinata murmured.

“You’ll get it when you meet him!” Souda beamed, glancing out the window. “Oh hey, we're almost there!”

The nervousness Hinata was feeling finally overtook the embarrassment. Souda gave him a reassuring tap on the shoulder as the taxi pulled up outside of the club. He could already hear the muffled music blaring from inside.

Hinata paid the driver and the two of them stepped out. The first thing they noticed was how fucking cold that breeze was, espeically when neither of them had proper sleeves. They both rushed towards the entrance, the bouncer barely looking at them before allowing them in. Hinata added that to the list of 'things that make this place sketchy.'

Nothing could have prepared him for the absolute assault on his senses that occured the second he entered the building. Loud music with heavy bass blared throughout the venue, drowning out the sound of Souda excitedly chattering next to him. The air reeked of sweat, booze, and artificial smoke. The strobe lights dancing around the place were quite dizzying, something that forced Hinata to look down to avoid the nausea. Oh, his shirt is glowing, they must be using blue light.

Hinata took a moment to admire the neon on his shirt, beginning to understand exactly why Souda had lent him this one in particular. It looked much less tacky and actually kind of cool under the bright lights.

“Oi, Hinata!”

A voice close to his ear startled him. He jumped back, sighing with relief once he realised it was only Souda. He too was glowing under the nights, his neon pink hair shining like a beacon and the leather harness glowed a soft shade of blue. It was really aesthetically pleasing.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Hinata spoke loudly, trying to make himself heard above the music.

“I’m gonna go find Tanaka and Mioda, you wanna get started at the bar?”

“Yeah, alright.”

And in the blink of an eye Souda was gone. Hinata sighed, disappointed but not surprised that his friend had run off almost immediately. He stepped out onto the dancefloor, shoving his way through the numerous bustling bodies and making his way towards the glowing neon lights of the bar.

He finally made it out, breathing a sigh of relief as he leant his elbows onto the scarred wood of the bar. If the amount of people wasn’t already overwhelming, the atmosphere just strangled the breath from him. It felt as if eyes were boring into him from all directions, judging, enticing. Hinata shook off the feeling, drawing it up to just nerves and the sensation of his exposed skin.

“Can I get you anything?” A voice snapped him from his thoughts, Hinata looked up, seeing the bartender staring him down like an unwanted guest.

He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. “U-um, yeah...could I get a shot of Smirnoffs?

The bartender nodded and grabbed a bottle from under the bar. She carefully poured him a shot of the cheap vodka, sliding it towards him before wandering off to serve other customers. She was quite a busty lady, definitely put in this kind of place as a means of encouraging more people to buy more overpriced liquor. She sounded cheery as she sparked up conversations with clubgoers, but Hinata could see those dark bags under her eyes, the way her smile dimmed as she listened to them. It was quite obvious she hated her job and was well aware that she was being exploited.

Hinata lifted the small glass to his lips, downing the shot quickly before setting the glass back down on the counter. He sighed off the burn and turned around, scanning the crowd to see if he could find Souda.

Instead of Souda, Hinata found his eye being caught by the boy to his left who was also leaning against the bar. He hadn’t been there a moment before, but Hinata was immediately intrigued by his glowing blue hair and odd getup, one not so different from his own.

His hair was a gravity defying mess, with the blue glow it reminded Hinata a bit of cotton candy. His chest was clad in a cropped fishnet quite similar to his own, though his arms were covered by a dark coloured coat decorated with glowing blue squares on the right shoulder. There was a pair of green and pink glow sticks fixed to his left sleeve just above the elbow, similar to how a student council member wore a red armband. Perhaps it symbolised something in a similar way?

Below his exposed waist was a pair of low riding jeans that were a bit lighter in colour, but not light enough to pick up the blue light. His belt was, however, along with the cuffs of his jeans resting just below the knee above his boots. Speaking of the boots, they were...eccentric. They were sharp with a pointed toe and a slight heel and somehow made Hinata feel a little less insecure about his own choice in dangerous footwear.

The boy must have noticed Hinata’s gawking because as his eyes wandered back up he found that stare being returned. His breath caught in his throat as he tried to mutter out an apology. The boy interrupted him before he could get it out, however.

“You’re new.” He smiled, leaning in close to make sure his voice was heard. “What’s your name?”

Hinata forced his hands into his pockets, trying to look as casual as possible as if he hadn’t been ogling the boy just a moment ago. “Hinata Hajime.”

“Hinata Hajime…” Komaeda practically rolled the words around on his tongue. “May I call you Hinata-kun?”

“Sure. What about you, what’s your name?” Hinata narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit frustrated that the alcohol wasn’t taking the edge off his anxiety.

“Ah, how rude of me. My name is Komaeda Nagito, you can call me whatever you please.” Komaeda smiled widely, as if exchanging names was further than he expected to get. “What brings you to Hope’s Summit?”

“Eh, I was peer pressured into coming by a friend.” Hinata muttered, a little embarrassed now that he had to explain his presence to a stranger. “I don’t usually come to places like this…”

Komaeda pursed his lips together, bringing his hand to his chin. “Hm, that makes sense. I’m quite the regular here, but mostly because I-”

“OI! HINATA!!”

Hinata snapped around, not listening to the end of Komaeda’s sentence. Souda was waving from the crowd, quickly approaching him with two other people trailing behind him.

“Oh, how awkward. I’m gonna head off. I hope to see you again, Hinata-kun.” Komaeda spoke softly, but just loud enough for only Hinata to hear.

Hinata turned back around to farewell Komaeda but he was already gone, likely he had already slipped into the crowd. He sighed, bringing his full attention back to the excited boy in front of him.

“Mioda, Tanaka, this is Hinata, my soul friend! Hinata, this is Mioda and Tanaka, my rave friends!” Souda beamed, hopping up and down and gesturing wildly.

“Hajime-chan!” A girl with black hair dyed with colourful streaks that had been styled up into horns practically squealed upon seeing Hinata, instantly rushing up to him and throwing her arms around the confused boy. “Kazuichi-chan never shuts up about you! So, are you into moshing? Raving? OOOOH you HAVE to listen to my songs!!”

The scene girl stared at Hinata with wide eyes that practically sparkled in the dark. He took a small step, only to bump straight into the other boy that Souda had introduced, Tanaka.

“Be cautious, mortal! It appears that despite only having entered this building mere moments ago, you have already encountered a cursed being…” He boomed in a gruff voice, grabbing hold of Hinata’s shoulders.

This only startled him further, leading Hinata to push Tanaka away from him. “Take a step back! Geez! What the fuck are you saying?”

“Guys I know you’re excited but give him room.” Souda stepped between Hinata and Mioda, encouraging the girl to exit his personal space. “Tanaka was just pointing out the fact you were talking to...what’s that guy’s name again?”

“Komaeda.” Hinata mumbled.

“Komaeda! Right.” Souda affirmed, smiling a little

“OOH! Creepy drug dealer Komaeda?” Mioda somehow sounded rather excited about that.

“Creepy drug dealer?” Hinata questioned.

Tanaka nodded. “That’s correct. That fiend uses this venue as a means of dispensing his poison.”

“Yeah, yeah! One of Ibuki’s friends O’Ded on a bunch of the pills he sold him! He’s no good! He doesn’t even dance!”

Hinata was a little confused. Yeah the guy was intimidating but not...creepy? Also, isn’t it the responsibility of whoever’s taking the drugs not to take too many? It’s not like Komaeda shoved them down his throat… Though admittedly the prospect of Komaeda being a drug dealer did put him off a little.

“He doesn’t seem that bad.” Hinata defended him, despite not really being sure why.

“You should probably stay away from him anyway, Hinata bro. C’mon, there’s plenty of other fish in the sea!” Souda cheered, slapping him hard on the back.

The other boy winced, feeling somewhat shaken by the events that were going down. Man he expected Souda’s friends to be eccentric but...they were fucking crazy. He almost wanted to go back to chatting with chill cotton candy boy. At least he respected boundaries.

“Right, sure. Hey, I’ve already had a few drinks so I’m gonna go take a piss. Feel free to get started without me.” Hinata flashed the group a forced smile, before dashing off into the crowd before any of them could object.

Once he felt thoroughly out of sight, he sighed loudly. It was weird that he felt more comfortable being surrounded by random people who weren’t talking to him than he did with that little bundle of freaks. That was until that comfortable mass of people suddenly reached out and grabbed ahold of his wrist. He froze in pure fear.

“Hinata-kun! How lucky it is that I get to see you again!”

His racing heart slowed a little as he recognised the voice along with that fluffy bundle of hair and much too exposed chest. It was just Komaeda, creepy drug dealer Komaeda.

“Jesus christ please don’t scare me like that!” He hissed, drawing in a little closer so he could properly hear the other boy.

Komaeda laughed cheekily, giving Hinata a big grin. “I’m going to assume your friends told you about the kind of person I am, huh?”

“Huh? Were you listening or something?”

“No, but it’s what most people who drag newcomers along do. I’m surprised they didn’t warn you earlier!”

“...Is that why you pounced on me at the bar?”

Komaeda bit his lip, averting his gaze a little. “Ah, I must have come on too strongly. I'm sorry, it’s not often people don’t outwardly reject me. Not that they aren’t right to do so, I’m quite worthless trash, after all.”

Hinata ignored the self deprecation, deciding to instead tackle the root of the problem. “So Komaeda, why do you come here then?”

“Socialisation, appreciation of the music, the fact the business doesn’t care if I deal here, I can dress like a male stripper without being judged. There’s a few reasons Hinata-kun, would you like to hear more?”

Hinata shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed by the fact Komaeda actually admitted the last one. “No no that’s enough. So uh, why do you deal drugs?”

“Hmm, why do you think I deal drugs, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata pressed a fist to his lips in thought. “Poor financial situation?”

Komaeda cackled as if it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard before shaking his head. “No, god, if anything it’s the opposite. I do it because it’s fun. I like giving people a new perspective on the world, a chance to enjoy themselves even more so than usual.”

“I see…” Hinata mumbled. “You aren’t dealing any like...hard drugs, are you?”

Komaeda waved his hands innocently. “No no not at all. I’ve tried heroin, that stuff is way too addictive for me to just be passing it around. I don’t deal any kinds of opioids at all, actually. Mostly just cannabis, MDMA, LSD occasionally. Oh! And ketamine, that’s been really popular recently.” He clapped his hands together in completion.

“Wow...so Mioda’s friend who overdosed-”

“Was an idiot, yes.” Komaeda sighed, rolling his eyes and crossing his over his chest. “I did tell him to slow down, but you know how people can be. Getting overzealous isn’t going to make you any higher.”

“I guess...” Hinata was feeling a little guilty for bringing up something that obviously frustrated Komaeda. “Is that kind of high really worth risking your health for?”

“Well, if you’re smart about it you’re usually fine. Especially with stuff like ecstasy, the serotonin drawback is easily managed and the high is…” Komaeda’s lips curved into an impossibly wide grin and his voice dipped a little. “It’s really worth it.”

“R-really? I have heard that ecstasy is one of the more enjoyable drugs you can do...”

“Mm? You wanna try some?” Komaeda smirked, reaching into his coat pocket before pulling his hand out to reveal a small baggie containing several hot pink coloured tablets.

Hinata’s brain instantly recoiled. Years of anti-drug and peer pressure campaigns told him he absolutely shouldn’t. He didn’t know this man, he didn’t know this drug. Smoking weed in Souda’s garage didn’t compare to doing ecstasy with a complete stranger.

And yet he was completely entranced as Komaeda plucked a pill from the bag between two fingers. He smirked, looking down at the other boy like a predator eyeing up it’s prey.

“The choice is yours, Hinata-kun.”

Komaeda poked out his tongue, carefully placing the neon tablet onto it. Hinata felt as if he was on fire, especially after hearing his name on those sultry lips. The pill glowed under the bluelight, beginning to dissolve from Komaeda’s saliva. The boy huffed, urging him to make the decision before it disappeared completely.

That was enough to send the blood straight from the decision making centre of his brain and straight to the teenage boy part of his brain that said ‘Fuck it; he’s really hot.’

Hinata grabbed the taller boy, wrapping his fingers in the little fishnet crop top he wore. He stuck his own tongue out, pulling Komaeda in closely until their tongues made contact and he could pull the pill onto his own. It tasted bitter and tarty, but that elated look on Komaeda’s face kept him from pulling away.

The other boy took over, pushing the pill further onto Hinata’s tongue until the kiss had returned to his mouth. He eyed Hinata’s throat closely, continuing to kiss him deeply whilst watching for that telltale bob of his throat which came moments later. He’d swallowed it.

Komaeda broke off the kiss, not missing the little whine that left Hinata’s throat as he pulled away. He took another pill from the baggie and placed it on his tongue again before shoving the rest in his pocket. “H-huh...you want me to take two? Is that even safe...?” Hinata stammered, eyeing the other boy cautiously.

Komaeda drew his tongue back into his mouth, dry swallowing the pill as if it was what he was born to do. “What? You thought you were the only one getting high? I can give you another if you’d like.”

“No no, I just assumed you were already high…” Hinata spoke at a normal volume, which made him quite difficult to hear.

Komaeda broke into a fit of laughter, startling Hinata. “Oh wow you really haven’t done this before have you? I’m not going to give you any more, one is more than enough.”

Logical thought was starting to return to Hinata; he was nervous now. “That’s fine...uh...what should I expect?”

“Oh, right. It takes about half an hour to an hour to kick in. You’ll probably feel nauseous first. If you need to hurl, just let it happen. You should start feeling the effects not long after that.” Komaeda took a hold of Hinata’s hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles reassuringly.

“Right. Cool. That’s exciting. Uh, say Komaeda…” Hinata trailed off for a few seconds, but jumped back in to the sentence before the other boy could question it. “You mentioned earlier that you like the music right? What kind of artists are you into?”

“Hmm, I’m into more obscure artists than anything. Uhhhh...Have you heard of EDEN?”

“Never. “

“That’s unfortunate. What about...Deadmau5?”

“Oh I know him! Classic. Not a big fan of his songs though. Have you heard of David Guetta?”

Komaeda clicked his tongue. “Of course. Generic, but he has some good songs.. Porter Robinson?”

“Ehh I’ve vaguely heard of him? What about Dillon Francis?”

“Also painfully generic. Krewella?”

“Don’t know 'em. Martin Garrix?”

“Appeals too much to the masses. Uhm surely you’ve heard of Daft Punk?”

“Duh, who hasn’t. Their music’s a little too mellow for me, though. Avicii?”

“GOD Avicii! His music is brilliant. All his songs are quite tragic to listen to now though.” Komaeda breathed a sigh of relief, thankful they could find common ground amongst Hinata’s painfully vanilla taste. “Such an unfortunate loss of somebody with such shining hope…”

Hinata nodded in agreement, also recalling how heartbreaking it was to lose such a talented artist. They chatted for a short while about their favourite songs by him, bonding over their attachment to the lyrics. As if on queue actually, one of his songs started playing loudly over the speakers littered throughout the venue. The Nights, specifically.

“Huh. Ironic.” He murmured.

“Is it? He was a very talented and popular DJ after all.”

“Whatever! Dance with me.”

Hinata hadn’t noticed Komaeda let go of his hand during their conversation, so naturally it was his duty to remedy that. He grabbed ahold of those skinny fingers, pulling Komaeda closer.

Komaeda was quite surprised by Hinata’s sudden burst of confidence, but most certainly welcomed it. It wasn’t before long that they were both belting out the lyrics as loudly as they could whilst clinging to one another and swaying. Hinata felt absolutely ecstatic, as if he was walking on air with the prettiest boy in this stupid place.

Until the nausea hit him like a sack of bricks.

He gagged against Komaeda’s shoulder, cupping his hand over his mouth aggressively. Komaeda wasn’t kidding when he said he was probably gonna throw up, geez…

“Ah, sorry Hinata-kun, I wasn’t paying attention.” Komaeda chuckled softly as he slid his hand up the other boy’s arm a little, pressing his thumb into the soft part of his wrist an inch or so below his palm. Almost immediately Hinata’s nausea began to ease off, leaving him feeling quite delirious.

“Wh-what kind of spell did you just cast on me, Komaeda?” Hinata stared at Komaeda as if he were a god among men.

“It’s a pressure point.” He smirked, drawing in a little closer to bask in Hinata’s loving gaze. “If you feel better than you’ll probably be fine, luck is on our side.”

Hinata giggled, using his free hand to place his hand on Komaeda’s face. “You’re pretty.”

Komaeda returned the gesture, despite being a little upset Hinata completely ignored his explanation. “You’re high.”

“We both are! Y’know what that means?”

“What does it mean, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata answered the question by planting his lips on Komaeda’s. Which wasn’t really an answer, but he leaned into the kiss regardless.

It took no time at all for Hinata’s innocent kiss to turn more intimate. Soft swipes of wet tongues had the two of them melting into each other. Hinata’s hands roamed higher, fingers wrapping in those messy blue curls as he revelled in the texture. Komaeda’s hands drifted lower, settling on the other boy’s exposed hips as he lightly brushed his fingers over the skin.

Hinata curled a small chunk of hair around his fingers and tugged harshly, pulling Komaeda’s face even closer as their teeth knocked together. A low moan left his throat, absolutely enthralled by the pain rippling through his skull. This only roused Hinata further; the boy suddenly grinding his hips into Komaeda’s.

In all honesty, Komaeda didn’t expect to get this far. Of course he was attracted to Hinata, especially the innocent way he assumed no ill in his intentions. And Hinata was quite obviously attracted to him, evident by the was he completely undressed Komaeda with his eyes upon their first encounter. Hinata shouldn’t have come back after learning he was unfavourable company. Hinata shouldn’t have so easily warmed up to him. Hinata most certainly shouldn’t have taken that pill right off his tongue. Komaeda just kept pushing and pushing, trying his luck even further and it just kept working.

It was wrong, dangerous, but he couldn’t stop. Especially not now that both of them had basically thrown away all fear and impulse control with just one little pill.

So Komaeda did the same thing he had been doing all night, acting on those shameful urges of his. His hands slid over Hinata’s hip bones, then down to squeeze his ass through his jeans. Hinata startled, squeaking as he pulled back to take a breath of air.

Both of them were left panting, the room feeling significantly warmer than before. Not once did they break eye contact whilst trying to regain their breath, as if each one was trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Surprisingly enough, it was Komaeda this time who decided to make his desires clear.

He leaned closer, down as close as he could get to Hinata’s ear before whispering out one word, “More.”

Hinata moaned loudly, despite all that was done to him was purely audial. Komaeda couldn’t help but laugh, bewildered by the odd reaction. He went to straighten back up, but Hinata’s grip in his hair tightened. “K-keep talking…”

“Hmm? What would you like to hear,” Komaeda’s voice dropped an octave as he dragged the name out, “Hi-na-ta-kun?”

A whimper was contained behind Hinata’s lips as he pressed his thighs together, a weak attempt to steady his building arousal. Komaeda smirked, knowing he’d hit the mark. The drug was making Hinata’s hearing sensitive, so every sound felt better than it was in reality. He couldn’t deny that he was feeling the same way, but right now there was only one sound he wanted to hear.

Komaeda kissed his temple, trailing light little kisses down Hinata’s jaw until he settled on a soft part of his neck, giving it a curious lick. The other boy writhed beneath him, practically begging Komaeda to do something. He sunk his teeth in, eliciting a high pitched whine from the other boy as he pushed himself even closer.

“Komaed-aaaaa!” Hinata squealed, hitching his leg around the other’s waist. Komaeda wrapped his arms around Hinata’s back, ensuring neither of them lost their balance in the process. He sucked at the irritated skin, occasionally grazing his teeth across the wound. Hinata seemed to be getting a lot of pleasure out of it, judging by the way he rubbed his crotch against the front of Komaeda’s jeans. Komaeda couldn’t deny that he was mimicking those motions himself.

“K-komaeda...I can’t- I can’t keep doing this…” Hinata huffed, seemingly out of breath.

Komaeda pulled away from the boy’s neck feeling a little disappointed. “Oh? Have you finally realised what worthless garbage I truly am?” He topped the sentence off with a little laugh, one that he intended to be dark but was just high and giggly.

“No! Not at all! You’re amazing Ko! You’re making me feel so,” Hinata gyrated his hips, moaning out the rest of his sentence, “ so good.”

Never did Komaeda expect that sentence to make him so flustered. He swallowed hard, attempting to regain his self-control so he didn't start fucking him right there on the dancefloor. “W-we should take this elsewhere…”

Hinata’s eyes lit up as if he were a little kid on Christmas. He slid his leg down off the other boy’s waist and let go of his hair before straightening up and tugging his fishnets back up his hips, acting all proper as if he hadn’t been dry-humping somebody moments ago. “Yes. That sounds...great.”

They shared a nod, then Komaeda wrapped his fingers around Hinata’s wrist and began to lead him through the crowd. Hinata could barely contain his excitement, grinning from ear to ear at the thought of spending more time with Komaeda, being touched, touching him. It all felt much too good. It would also be great to relieve the throbbing boner that was chafing against his underwear.

Komaeda pulled them from the dancefloor, more towards the back of the building. Hinata swore he saw a flash of pink hair as they passed the bar, but he concluded that it was probably just the strobe lights. Komaeda pushed open the door to the men’s restroom, and suddenly they were stood in a bright room trying to blink away the burn of the lights. Hinata whined and squeezed his eyes closed.

The taller boy pulled him into the very end stall, clicking the lock shut behind them. “Hinata-kun, c’mon, open your eyes…”

Hinata grumbled, slowly blinking and rubbing at his eyes as they adjusted to the foreign light. Despite still squinting he was able to actually get a good look at Komaeda now. He was paler than expected, and that cotton-candy coloured hair was actually a snow white. His eyes were a soft grey, well, what he could see past those blown pupils. Those thin lips were swollen and red from their passionate makeout. He was just as attractive without those neon lights.

Komaeda stared, shocked by what he was seeing before him. Not because Hinata looked different without the dark lights, or the large red hickey decorating his neck. He threaded his fingers into his own hair, making a wheezy little laughing sound.

He couldn’t believe it, Hinata’s pupils were quivering.

“Hmm? Do you like what you seeeee?” Hinata giggled, clearly appreciating the attention.

“Yes, it’s just, wow...we should do this before you get over your peak huh?”

“Peak?”

“Mhmm,” Komaeda leaned in close to Hinata’s ear, “right now your senses should be at their highest point.”

Ridiculously enough, Hinata’s knees immediately went weak upon hearing that seductive voice again. Komaeda took the opportunity to place his hands on Hinata’s hips and force his back into the wall, the cold tiles burning at his exposed waist.

They kissed again, but this time it was sloppy and desperate. Komaeda’s tongue in Hinata’s mouth, then Hinata’s tongue in Komaeda’s mouth. Drool dribbled down Komaeda’s chin when he lost focus for a moment whilst unbuttoning Hinata’s jeans.

Komaeda brought his hand to Hinata’s front and began to palm him slowly through his boxers. Hinata moaned into the kiss, leaning into Komaeda’s touch until he suddenly changed his mind. He brought his hand to the other boy’s wrist, pulling back.

“Wait wait wait...could you fuck me instead?” He whispered, voice low despite not possessing a hint of hesitation.

Komaeda chuckled. “Here? Seriously.”

Hinata was confused for a moment before he noted the lack of space in the toilet stall. Komaeda shifted slightly, drawing attention to the way his shoes kept sticking to the floor. On the stall door and walls graffiti told tales of unrequited love and scrawled phone numbers. Everything about this was so gross, so filthy, so obscene. But that only seemed to make it all the more appealing.

“Pleeeeease fuck me, Komaeda Nagito.”

Komaeda put up his hands in a defensive pose, desperately trying to keep a grip on things before both of them got too out of hand. “Hooooold on, do you even have a condom?”

“Uuuuuhhh…” Hinata patted his front pockets then his back pockets. Fortunately his wallet was still there, but- Wait, something crinkled in the other pocket.

He pulled out the offending object and held it between two fingers. It was a condom in shiny green packaging. He couldn’t help but giggle, of course Souda had planted it on him earlier. “How lucky.”

Komaeda smirked, almost as if he knew this was going to happen. “Well, since you asked so nicely and even have a condom, I guess I can’t say no can I?”

“Y-you can say no!” Hinata protested.

“I know, I’m just messing with you.” Komaeda winked, plucking the wrapper from Hinata’s hands and shoving in into his front pocket. “I’ve wanted this, wanted you, all night.”

If he wasn’t already feeling impossibly hot, Hinata would have gotten even hotter at those words. The sheer desperation dripping from his voice reminded him of his own poorly neglected erection. Komaeda wiggled his thumbs underneath the waistline of Hinata’s jeans and pulled them down, letting them sit about halfway down his thighs. He then looped his fingers into the elastic of the fishnets, pulling it back a little before letting it snap back against Hinata’s stomach.

Komaeda laughed at the way Hinata yelped. “God I would’ve loved to fuck you in just the stockings. Just look at the way they squeeze into your chubby little thighs! Soo cute, Hinata-kun…”

"You can fuck me in them next time, just pleeeeeeease hurry up!" Hinata whined, puffing his cheeks out to express his frustration.

"Next time? Well, that better be a promise." Komaeda smirked to himself as he pulled down the boy's stockings, leaving his underwear now completely exposed.

Komaeda crouched down to his knees, feeling a little performative with the way Hinata's eyes burned into him. He placed his hands on the boy's hips before bringing his mouth to the wet patch on the front his boxers. Perhaps he should warn Hinata that this was going to feel a lot better than he remembered…or not.

Hinata gasped, his fingers finding their way back into those curly white locks. This seemingly egged Komaeda on and he pressed his whole face against Hinata's crotch, taking in a deep breath.

"You smell really good…"

"Grooooss!! How perverted are you?" Hinata put on a chastising tone, but his intrigued expression was very much betraying him.

"Veeeeerry." Komaeda mumbled against Hinata's clothed cock, sending small vibrations along the skin.

He slid his hands back up, tugging down the waistband of Hinata’s boxers. The exposure of his hot dick against the cold air made a shiver go down his spine. Komaeda just gaped, in complete awe at how hard and wet he already was.

Komaeda stuck out his tongue and licked a long stripe from the base of Hinata’s cock to the trip, drawing out a long and high-pitched moan. Hinata couldn’t believe how fucking good it all felt. Komaedas breath hot on his dick, the texture of every single taste bud stimulating the sensitive skin, the fishnets digging into his thighs and the way Komaeda’s nails gently grazed over his hips. It was too much, especially now that the boy’s lips were teasing at the reddened head and sucking in such a lewd way.

“K-komaeda...I think I’m already going to come…” Hinata huffed, tugging at the hair of the boy below him.

Komaeda took his hands and mouth away. “C’mon Hinata-kun, at least try to keep it together.” He teased, despite wanting nothing more than for Hinata to completely lose his mind.

Hinata whined at the lack of contact, but he seemed to recover slightly as he panted and leaned further back against the wall. “It’s just...it’s really good.”

“It’s supposed to be. Ah, screw it, even I can’t wait. Turn around.” Komaeda murmured away to himself, beginning to undo the clasp of his belt. This action was followed by the undoing of the front of his jeans, then both his jeans and boxers being messily pushed down.

Oh! The carpet does match the drapes!

Unsurprisingly, Komaeda was just as hard as he was. Precome shimmered under the bright lights coating nearly the entire tip of his cock. He reached into his jeans pocket, pulling the condom packet out and tearing it open with ease. Carefully he pulled the object from the wrapper (which was swiftly shoved back into his pocket) and brought it to the head of his dick, pinching the little tip as he rolled the latex down the shaft. It was a translucent green colour…

Hinata didn’t realise he had been gawking until Komaeda let go of the tip and spun his finger in a little circle in the air, reminding him that he was asked to turn around. He nodded quickly and bit his lip, attempting to suppress the child-like excitement bubbling up in his chest as he pressed himself against the cool tiles.

Hinata stepped his lower half back a little from the wall, allowing his back to curve in a way Komaeda couldn't help but adore. To express this newfound adoration, he brought his hand down hard on Hinata's right ass cheek, relishing in both the debauched sound he made and the red handprint marring his skin.

“So meaaaan…” Hinata snivelled, sniffing away fake tears.

Komaeda giggled a little at the comment, tracing his index finger down between Hinata’s cheeks until he settled at his entrance. It was slightly lubed from what he had picked up off the condom, but definitely not well enough to cause Hinata no pain. He could only hope that the boy could handle it.

He pressed the finger in, finding there was little resistance. Somewhat relieved, Komeda added a second, an action that caused the Hinata to squeeze his eyes closed tightly and huff. “That burns…”

Komaeda planted his other hand on the wall and leaned in close to his shoulder, whispering as closely to his ear as he could. “It’s okay, you’re doing great.”

The next noise Hinata made was one of pleasure, likely from hearing Komaeda’s voice again. He took advantage of the opportunity and pushed his fingers deeper, separating them slowly as Hinata made another pained expression.

“You’re such a good boy, just open up for me please.”

Another moan, Komaeda spread his fingers fully, another cry of pain.

“Yes, yes, that’s it Hajime-kun.”

Hinata’s whole body shivered upon hearing his first name. He could see himself getting really addicted to this, but he wasn’t sure if he was referring to the MDMA pumping through his veins or the praise of the boy above him.

Komaeda’s fingers disappeared, leaving him feeling empty but not upset. It was a sign of more to come. Hinata felt his heart begin to race impossibly quick as the head of Komaeda’s cock rubbed up against him.

“T-this is going to hurt.” Komaeda murmured.

“Do it. Break me.”

The little self restraint Komaeda had left snapped immediately upon hearing those words. His hips jerked forward involuntarily, and with some guidance he was already pushing into the other boy much too quickly. Hinata keened, his voice breaking halfway through that loud cry and he was left making a quiet raspy sound.

His whole body was on fire. He could feel Komaeda’s cock throbbing inside him, so desperate to start moving. His heart was pounding in his ears, feeling as though it was matching the muffled 180bpm music blaring beyond the walls. Telling Komaeda to do that was clearly not the best decision he had made this evening...along with pretty much everything else.

“You’re so ridiculously hot Hinata-kun...I...I think I’m losing my mind…” Komaeda wheezed, laughing softly as his breath huffed hot against Hianta’s ear.

Hinata moaned again and rolled his hips back onto Komaeda, he was getting antsy, he needed more. The pain didn’t matter, not compared to the urgent need to be touched and burn off this excess energy. “I stand by what I said, please, don’t hold back. I need more, Nagito.”

That was motivating enough for Komaeda, who moved his hips back before snapping them forwards. It didn’t hurt so much this time, in fact, it was actually starting to feel good. Komaeda nestled his head into the crook oh Hinata’s shoulder, smiling wide as he brushed his lips against his neck.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Hinata nodded, pressing his lips together tightly as he felt a drop of sweat roll down his forehead.

Komaeda thrust into the boy beneath him roughly, relishing in the whimpering sound he made along with the slap of skin on skin. “Whore.”

Hinata resented the way his dick twitched upon hearing that word. “Wh-whore…?”

“Hm? That’s what you are, aren’t you? You come to a club, you ditch your friends to go do drugs then get fucked by a random stranger. I’d say that’s some pretty whorish behaviour.”

Oh shit, Komaeda wasn’t wrong. He’d completely forgotten about Sou-

Komaeda thrust into him again, stealing the air from Hinata’s lungs. An intense pleasure shocked through his body and he gasped, shuddering with a moan upon the exhale. He swore his vision went black for a moment as all coherent thought was completely wiped from his brain. “H-holy shit…”

“Easy to please, too.” Komaeda grinned and he could hear it.

Komaeda placed a hand on his waist and finally started fucking him with an actual pace, something Hinata didn’t expect himself to be grateful for. He moaned unashamedly, fingers clawing at the tiles frantically for something to ground him; secure him in a hold that wasn’t just Komaeda’s. How did he even have this much control over his actions right now?!

“So pathetic. I bet you never thought things would end up like this, did you?” Komaeda whispered in that irresistible voice of his.

Hinata’s only response was to moan louder.

“Answer the question, Hajime.”

“N-ah! No! I-I di- hah- didn’t!”

A hand slid up his side, tickling the sensitive skin as he brushed over it. It felt as if fireworks burst under every spot Komaeda’s fingers touched, making him tremble all over. It was too much, too much, he’s so so hot. Even the tears on his cheeks weren’t helping at all to alleviate that heat in his face.

“It’s- hah- It’s so cute how worked up you are.” Komaeda’s composure dropped for a moment as he moaned right in Hinata’s ear. If Hinata could have broken right there, he would’ve.

Komaeda noticed the way Hinata’s muscles clenched around him upon hearing him moan. It was amusing and devastating all at once. Even if he tried to pretend it wasn’t, the ecstasy was still making his senses overwhelmingly strong. Instead of continuing to tease the boy, it would be better to let his actions push him over the edge. He quickened the pace of his hips, thrusting rather messily as he stopped suppressing the obscene sounds coming from his mouth.

Hinata’s brain was going haywire, soaking in everything at once to the point of overstimulation. The sensation of the smooth tiles against his hot cheek, the fingers lightly grazing his chest, the sweat dripping down his back, the loud moans of the boy in his ear, the hair tickling at his neck, the physical presence of Komaeda above him, the head of his cock grazing against Hinata’s prostate, the feeling of his balls hitting his taint with every thrust that signified he had taken the entirety of Komaeda’s-

Hinata screamed.

Komaeda wasn’t sure to be flattered or concerned. The other boy convulsed beneath him, making a sound somewhere between a sob and a moan. He was coming already after all that teasing? That's no fair.

Hinata’s knees gave out beneath him, which would have put both of them on the floor had Komaeda not wrapped his arms around the boy’s midsection. They were both wheezing and panting heavily, to the point that Komaeda didn’t even have the breath to tell him to snap out of it. He pressed Hinata harder into the wall to force him to stay up as he kept thrusting.

The boy beneath him near squealed as his overstimulated dick burned against the cold tiles Hinata couldn't tell if he was in pain because everything felt too good, much too good. His body only craved more of that stimulation, more touch more movement more sound. "M-more…"

If Komaeda was capable of coherent thought at this point, he would have definitely stopped to question it. But his thoughts were filled with one thing, Hinata, and how fucking good it felt being inside him. Either Kuzuryuu had supplied him pills cut with viagra, or Hinata was a fucking monster.

Hinata nodded, laughing a little as he looked down and realised he was still just as hard as before. "K-keep going…it hurts."

“Hinata-kun...hah- Hajime. ” Komaeda moaned, bringing both of his hands down to cling to Hinata’s hips and he pounded into him without abandon.

Hinata was completely pressed to the wall now, crying as his face was forced into the tiles. Every time Komaeda pushed back into him his body shuddered as pain and pleasure rippled through. There was no chance to push Komaeda away, he felt so light and weak, muscles completely surrendering as he whimpered against the tiles.

“I love you, I love you so much Hajime-kun!”

“I- hiii- I love you too, aha, Nagito…”

The logical part of his brain knew that that was wrong. How could he love somebody who he just met? But the logical part of his brain couldn't talk, and all he knew was that this kind of intimacy was loving, anybody who would touch Hinata was somebody he loved.

Komaeda giggled, his voice raising into a high pitched whine as he began to chant Hinata’s name. “You’re so good Hajime-kun! Hajime-kun Hajime-kuuuun!!!”

His thrusts became more erratic as he dug his nails into Hinata’s skin. He was so so so close he just needed a little bit more and he could-

“N-nagito!” Hinata wailed. “That hurts!!”

Koameda came with a loud cry, riding out his orgasm with slowed movements. Hinata was bawling now, snivelling and whimpering with small sounds that almost could’ve been Komaeda’s first name. The boy above him burned with shame as he realised he’d just come to Hinata crying his name and he liked it.

He pulled out of Hinata, then yanked up the boy’s underwear and sat him on the toilet seat, waiting for him to ride out the vertigo from his sensory overload. His tears had seemingly weaned off just from being sat down with nothing to touch him. Hinata stared with a blank expression, small sobs occasionally leaving his throat as Komaeda begun to clean himself up.

He pulled off the condom and tied it at the end, dropping it in the box designated for sharp waste, not that it was sharp waste, but rather it was convenient. Komaeda then tucked himself back into his boxers, pulling them and his jeans back up to where they sat on his hips previously before doing up the fly. Hinata made a whiny little noise, suddenly being brought back to earth. Komaeda knelt down in front of the toilet, bringing his hand up to the boy’s cheek. “Hey, are you okay?”

Hinata nodded. For some reason he was expecting the ecstasy to completely wear off once he came, but of course it didn’t. He still felt light and giggly, but even more so now that he was completely exhausted. “H-how can you still be moving…?”

“I’ve done this a few times before.” Komaeda smiled, before realising the implications of his words. “Ah, not having sex in a public bathroom, but MDMA.”

Hinata responded with a sound of acknowledgement.

Komaeda eyed his clothed erection. “I’m surprised you’re still hard after all of that. Would you like me to do something about it?”

Hinata shook his head. It was understandable, his nerves were probably on fire right now.

“Here, stand up so I can clean the cum off your stomach.” Komaeda stood up, extending an arm to the other boy.

He took it graciously, his knees stuttering a little as Komaeda hauled him to his feet. He flushed bright red upon remembering that they had been having very loud very public sex just moments ago. “That was....really good.”

Komaeda nodded, ripping some toilet paper off the roll, before bringing it to Hinata’s exposed belly. It tickled a bit, so he looked away to distract himself, only to stare directly at the white fluid that was dripping down the tiles now. God he was so disgusting.

“Oh, it got on your shirt too. Sorry…” Komaeda murmured, wiping that down as well.

“It’s f-fine, I’ll just wash it before g-giving it back to Souda.” Hinata stuttered out.

Komaeda snorted. “You sure Souda-kun’s gonna want it back?”

“Y-you’re a dick.” Hinata grumbled, punching the other boy’s shoulder lightly.

Komaeda seemed content with his job, kissing a soft reassuring kiss to Hinata’s cheek as he tossed the soiled paper into the toilet. He grabbed another bunch to clean up Hinata’s mess on the wall, which only made the boy feel more embarrassed.

“So what’s your plan now, Hinata-kun?” Komaeda asked the question without even turning to look at him. “Are you going to head back to the dancefloor or are you wiped?”

“I’m fucking wiped. But...I- I really want to keep going!” Hinata sighed, examining the damage to his shirt.

“In what sense?”

“Um, I wanna keep enjoying this...I guess? Going home alone to sleep just sounds like a waste…”

“Oh!” Komaeda spun around to look at Hinata. “I should’ve mentioned it earlier, but you’ll probably have a hard time getting to sleep.”

“Oh, great, that’s exciting!” Despite the remark being obviously sarcastic, the tone of Hinata’s voice didn’t quite express that. “Well, what do you plan to do?”

“Go home alone and try to go to sleep.”

“Oh.”

The silence between them stretched out for way too long, it was even more uncomfortable because Hinata couldn’t stop making these awkward giggly noises. Komaeda finished cleaning up and tossed the other bit of soiled paper into the toilet before flushing it.

Hinata suddenly broke the silence with a question. “Do you wanna come to my place and cuddle?”

Komaeda broke out into a loud cackle, one that made Hinata’s heart ache from the supposed rejection. “Oh Hinata-kun, please don’t toy with my feelings like that! We couldn’t do such a thing after I...defiled you in that way.”

“Huh?! What are you talking about?” Hinata pouted, grabbing his stockings and pulling them up. “C’mon it’s a good idea! Neither of us would have to be alone and we can still enjoy the high!”

Komaeda shook his head. “Why would you want to do something so intimate with somebody like me?”

“Because I like you! Is that not evident by the fact I let you fuck me in the ass?!” Hinata snapped in frustration.

A snort came from one of the other stalls. Hinata bit his tongue and pulled up his jeans, avoiding meeting the other’s gaze. Komaeda also looked incredibly sheepish as he did up his own belt. The two of them waited for whoever was in there to be done, wash their hands and leave before speaking again.

“What’s up with that scar on your abdomen?”

“Oh this?” Komaeda traced his finger over a small line near his navel. “Funny story actually, you remember that guy I mentioned earlier who overdosed?”

“Yeah?”

“I refused to pay his medical bills so he stabbed me!”

Hinata was shocked, but also not surprised as he laughed softly. “That’s terrible Komaeda!”

Komaeda seemed to find it even funnier than he did. “You’re telling me! That was the second time I’ve been stabbed here!”

The pieces clicked together in Hinata’s mind. Of course the guy who got stabbed twice at Hope’s Summit was the one he’d fallen for. It only made some stupid sense. He slapped his palm into his forehead and giggled. “Okay, you’re definitely coming home with me, I need to hear more about this.”

Komaeda sighed in defeat. “I’ll come home with you, sure. But you’re going to regret it.”

“I won’t.” Hinata reached up and ruffled Komaeda’s hair, eliciting a smile from the other boy as he pushed the stall door open.

Hinata blinked his bleary eyes open. He was hot, sweaty, and feeling incredibly heavy. A mess of white hair lay upon his chest, drooling onto his left pec. He groaned, slowly reaching over to the highstand on his left to grab his phone without waking the sleeping Komaeda.

5:19pm

29 / 4 / 2020

37 Missed calls from Souda Kazuichi

#Danganronpa #Ficgiri #Hinata Hajime #komahina #komaeda nagito

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losangelesvalorant · 5 years ago

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final thoughts on games today:

Tl;dr: london is going to have Issues with a capital I, paris is fine and will be better w hanbin, boston were okay and them losing just solidifies how fucking scary and well-oiled nyxl is rather than boston being terrible. Titans, like usual, have no respect for their opponents and could be even scarier /if/ they wanted to be, valiant pops off sometimes but cant do it consistently, shock looks rusty and dallas needs to pocket decay even harder than they already are to win games.

london: i see a lot of potential in them, but until they gain confidence they’re c tier for me. They seem overcoached and lost when they aren’t unable to go through with their set plays, of which they way too many for each map. When they were able to play their game, they cycled their ults well, but were easily forced out of their comfort zone. Bernar tried his best to carry, but jmac looked lost and wasn’t able to bait nicodgh’s walls at all, that might be a problem w coordination w sanguinar for speedboost tho. babel wasn’t quick enough to get his walls out in time, though they were great when he did. Glister and highly tried their best, sanguinar seems to play very individualistically which gave london chances, but fdgod just outplayed him mostly. Once teams figure out how to play vs them they’re fucked unless the coaches move away from set plays and unless the team builds more confidence. This team is going to suffer with hero pools if they don’t fix something quick. London honestly and truly has a TON of potential, but not the coordination or confidence or coaching to utilize it.

paris: they’re gonna be scary as they get more coordinated! Can’t wait til they can run at full strength w better tanks. They made good adaptations and looked good doing it. Nicodgh’s walls were sick, nosmite looked great, fdgod is a fragger, xzi clicked heads and greyy and hyp did good too. Benbest i didnt watch. I really like what i see with this team, but we haven’t seen them at full strength so i dont feel like i have much to say about them. Definitely a dark horse for me. They should thrive with hero pools.

nyxl: nyxl looks as dominant as ever. They’re coordinated, smart, aware, turn impossible situations around, and quickly shut down every win condition boston had before they could even execute it. Though whoru’s mei is def the weak link for me (his walls kinda suck. I think theyre just giving him stage experience here tbh. His genji slaps tho), him and sbb/nenne are a scary duo, everything that can be said abt jjonak and anamo has been said already (They are the best. They are the best. They are the best.), and mano and hotba are both doing excellently. I dont feel that this is their optimal meta, but nyxl has showed a lot of willingness to adapt to their opponents and make swaps, which i like. I’m not worried for them in hero pools, though they might stumble a bit. They’re solidly in S tier for me now

boston: This is gonna be controversial (and take this w a grain of salt cuz im plat.) but boston played better than i expected cuz im a pessimist and was expecting them to get completely rolled, and they at least showed some signs of life. They’ve clearly scrimmed a lot of different comps and looked at least vaguely competent in them, which is more than dallas valiant and london can say. They tried to go for a lot of clutches which never rly worked. they tried to adapt, but nyxl outmatched them and kinda drove them away. Axxiom and fusions were coordinated and i liked their dive, their double shield not so much. boston dps were holding their own, swimmer and myunbong were too, there’s not rly a carry on this team. axxiom i think is being slept on tho. They could definitely kite better and coordinate more, and make faster/smarter swaps, but they at least looked pretty synergized. They were clearly outmatched but they def looked better throughout the whole series than london did vs nyxl after the first 2 maps. Boston seems like a B- tier team to me, but they could be better and i do want to see them play more before im certain abt this. I’d call this a quality loss despite the scoreline

vancouver: Titans clearly didn’t prep much for this match and didn’t respect valiant as much as they should have. There’s no weak points on this team, just that all of them went for clutches they shouldn’t have and got punished for it bc they assumed valiant would be weaker than they were. Titans hate being methodical but are great when they are. When they subbed stitch in, they went for more dumb plays it seemed like, so i bet sms is the one keeping them chill. Fissure’s playing bumper style (taking space and dying for it) but quieter, which I like, bc it means they can pocket haksal harder and let twilight go for more plays. Good adaptations, great plays, great synergy, once titans got their feet under them and downloaded valiant it was over. Their dive was soooo clean. Nothing to be said about this roster that hasnt been said already (theyre the best). This is classic titans and im glad to see losing bumper hasnt completely stopped them from doing dumb shit, cuz even if it hurts me to watch its fun. They should be absolutely fine with hero pools, S tier.

valiant: Valiant only have one comp and theyre Very good at it, especially in the mirror, but theyre having trouble adapting to titans. They have very high highs and very low lows, they also try to clutch sometimes and fuck up. When the team pops off theyre sick, when they dont they… dont. Gig is a madlad. I do like that they prepped for the titan’s bap strat on lijiang and shut it down entirely, that was very good coaching, but they weren’t able to adapt to non-mirror matches after that. They might get fucked by hero pools bc they didn’t show anything successfully other than rein/dva variations, but we’ll see. I'm finding them fun to watch and I'm interested to see if they can consistently maintain their peak play. B tier, i think their weaknesses are more exploitable than boston’s but that boston would lose to them. Id compare them to hunters last year but if hunters played meta

shock: I didnt watch this match super close tbh. Shock looks strong as usual, but they stumbled far too much for my liking when they let doha and decay get value but otherwise incredibly dominant. Architect’s ana got sooooo much value as the series went on, beautiful sleeps beautiful nades beautiful nanos etc *chefs kiss.* i dont think shock prepped super hard for them, and they rly couldve adapted better on horizon and won that map, but it was overall dominant. They seemed pretty rusty honestly but theyre still good, but they should be pissed they got fullheld on horizon. I’m not going to draw any conclusions from this game when it comes to shock bc its one game and its their first game back. S tier, they’ll be fine with hero pools.

Dallas: Dallas looked way better than yesterday, when decay and doha were unleashed and it was less about taking space they were monsters. Tank play was better but not great, glad theyre not making note play rein anymore. Decay is a god and doha played around him really well and his walls were sick. When decay couldn’t play mccree and couldnt get support, there was nothing dallas could do. Gamsu… seemed a bit tilted and used ults he shouldnt have. There were also communication issues, it didnt seem like trill called some of his shatters which meant the team couldnt follow up. They weren’t able to adapt that well without set strats, and other teams will use that to their advantage. Once a team figures out how to shut down doha and decay the game is over. C tier, will struggle in hero pools

right now rankings for me go titans, nyxl shock in S tier, glads in A tier, toronto, paris, valiant, boston in B tier, dallas, london in C tier

#notes #again take my opinions w a grain of salt this is such plat chat shit its not even funny. i just like writing things down

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briangroth27 · 7 years ago

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Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom Review

I thought Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom was very good, even if it didn't live up to the original Jurassic Park. Of course, JP is my favorite movie ever, so I've long since given up on expecting a movie in this franchise to top it. That said, despite lacking some gravitas and wonder (though I think the lack of both is on purpose), I enjoyed Fallen Kingdom a lot!

Full spoilers…

J.A. Bayona's direction was masterful, creating beautiful imagery through the use of shadows and light. I loved the look of this movie all around and dinosaur reveals in particular were outstanding: whether illuminated by lightning strikes, dripping lava, or fiery smoke, the cinematography made them into majestic animals with an air of fantasy to them; fitting since they don’t belong in the world anymore. The way many of the dinosaurs were shot was gorgeous and the mix of CGI and puppetry was seamless. Moving the action to a remote manor complete with its own mad science labs as well as shots of the Indoraptor in front of the full moon achieved a classic, iconic Universal Monsters feel I absolutely loved! The mix of bright color and deep, truly dark black was a great change from modern blockbusters' reliance on washed-out looks and helped to build the tension perfectly when combined with Bayona’s filming style. Filmmaking choices like the (seemingly?) one-take sinking of a GeoSphere vehicle also brought a thrilling and breathless sensibility to the action sequences. The T-Rex blood extraction scene was another great sequence that achieved a perfect balance of tension and comedy. When Bayona incorporated physical comedy into the action scenes, like a tranquilized Owen (Chris Pratt) trying to evade lava or Blue knowing to dive out of a room about to explode, it added to the fun, classic adventure vibe of the movie rather than wrecking the tone. The movie is self-aware enough to play a scene with Blue as an action hero yet still takes the proceedings seriously enough to create a real sense of danger, and Bayona walked that extremely tough line very well. He also managed to pull genuine emotion out of the dinosaurs’ plight as Isla Nublar succumbed to the previously dormant volcano at its center. I didn’t want to watch so many dinosaurs die and it was heartbreaking to see them drowning, but nothing prepared me for the lonely death of a brachiosaurus on a dock. Watching the animal, obscured by smoke and unable to get to the boats that narrowly escaped the island even as lava crept up behind her, was without a doubt the saddest moment in the entire franchise. I didn’t walk into the movie expecting to feel so strongly about a random dinosaur, but Bayona absolutely nailed that scene and it left a definite impact.

I really liked what the movie did with Owen and Blue’s relationship. It was cool to see their earliest moments together via video of their first training session and I liked that their bond was strong enough to bring Owen back to Isla Nublar despite what he'd been through and the imminent volcanic eruption at the island's core. Their relationship was very well-explored here and even though it ended tragically because of a double cross—Blue came to associate Owen with getting shot and put in a cage—I’m glad to have seen this phase of their relationship and I'm excited to see where it goes next. It’s a little weird that Blue has taken the raptors from the scariest villains of the franchise into half of the films’ most iconic and heroic dino duo (the other half being Rexy), but it’s a testament to the writers of this film and Jurassic World, Pratt, and Blue’s puppeteers that it totally works and I completely buy that the bond between Blue and Owen overcomes Blue’s instinct to eat people. It was also nice to see Owen’s familiarity with the other dinosaurs come in handy when he tricked one of them into helping him and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) escape from their own cage. Owen’s general demeanor throughout the movie was very entertaining and I’m interested to see how living in a world overrun by dinosaurs changes him. He can’t just run off to his remote cabin now; he actually has to deal with these animals out in the world.

I like Claire, but I wish she'd gotten more to do in this movie. She does spearhead the Dino rescue mission and convinces Owen to come back, but outside of providing the inspirational drive of the movie, she doesn't get to be very active. This worked in Jurassic World, where her arc took her from relying on (and obsessing over) control to embracing chaos by opening the T-Rex cage and allowing life to finally find a way, but here her relative inaction left me wanting more. I am glad she didn't stay down after her leg was injured in the climax and that she at least tried to take down the Indoraptor, but she didn’t feel like she had as much of an arc here. I think it’s interesting that her big moment in this film was a reversal of her choice in JW: she doesn’t open the door this time and is willing to let the dinos die to keep them from getting loose. She's apparently OK with life being free as long as it's free elsewhere (humans come first), and I hope this sticks with her as we go into the third film. Hopefully it'll bring about a more active Claire, whether she’s trying to make up for her choice by peacefully rounding up the dinos or something completely different. I liked that the movie’s villains tried to paint Claire and Owen as complicit in exploiting and domesticating the animals via Jurassic World as theme park attractions, but I wish our heroes had given at least some thought to how right they might’ve been. That was a good counter-argument to her seemingly totally altruistic turn towards conservatism and I wanted to see her deal with it. I feel like the writers, Howard, and Pratt crafted a perfectly contentious-yet-caring relationship between Owen and Claire that makes total sense as to why they’re not together anymore and provides fun beats like him saying it would be her fault if he died on Isla Nublar, yet never feels like they hate each other or are out to hurt one another. It also falls into the franchise’s history of relatively chaste romantic entanglements. I don’t know that I need them to end up together; I wouldn’t mind if they do, but wouldn’t be disappointed if they didn’t. That might seem like I’m not engaged in their connection, but the fact is I can see it going either way and am up for either.

Claire’s assistants, Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) and Zia Rodriguez (Danielle Pineda) were really likable and I hope they return in the next film. Even though they kinda disappear for segments of the movie's third act, it's easy to imagine they were having their own adventures and didn't just cease to exist until the script called for them to appear again. Webb especially seems like he had a hilarious series of misadventures undercover in various roles on the villains' ship and later in the lab. I loved how in over his head he was and Webb freaking out at everything never got old to me. I liked that Zia was always cool under pressure, though I do think they could've made a bigger deal out of her being a paleo-veterinarian who had never seen a living dinosaur before. Yes, Dinos have existed in this world for 25 years so there are probably extensive resources for her to study, but anything she's learned would still have to be theoretical or second-hand to her and they could've used that to increase the stakes and tension if things didn't go as smoothly on the operating table as she hoped. It also could've been dealt with as simply as her saying treating a living dinosaur was different than she'd imagined. This was a minor thing to me though and didn't hurt my enjoyment of the film or her character. I liked that they gave her a good moment of wonder when she finally did get to see a dinosaur for the first time; fittingly, the only character to express pure wonder over these animals at this point is the one whose job involves healing them. I'd like to see how she grows into an expert in her field with the world the movie ushers in.

I was sure the Maisie (Isabella Sermon) secret was that she was Ellie Satler, Sarah Harding, or maybe even Mrs. Kirby's daughter, all of which seemed like ridiculous and unnecessary callbacks to the franchise's previous entries. So, I was very glad she turned out to be what she was instead; that was a very cool twist that felt like a natural growth of this world’s science. I wonder if she has some dino DNA in her, given her somewhat enhanced speed and strength, good balance, and the very cool shot of the Indoraptor's face reflected over hers in a pane of glass. And she sees the dinos as being more like herself than the people in the world… Either way, letting the dinos free because they were like her was a good moment. I hope that if she does have Dino DNA in her, though, that this is the extent of what we get and not the militarized dinosaur soldiers that have been rumored over the years and pitched in JW. The franchise tie-in they did give Maisie—that she's related to John Hammond's silent ex-partner—worked very well. James Cromwell felt like a natural choice for someone who would've been a contemporary and associate of Hammond's and I liked what their falling out entailed. However, I thought Maisie’s nanny Iris (Geraldine Chaplin) insisting that she speak with an English accent was a bizarre choice. I wonder if it’s meant to be a subtle example of people trying to impose their will on nature, but if that’s the case, I would’ve liked a moment of Maisie choosing to defy that and speak with her natural accent. Regardless, I’m interested to see what role she has in the new world this movie leaves us with.

The Indoraptor was a cool, creepy monster. They upped the ante of smart Dinos nicely in that hybrid, with creepy moments like the Indoraptor smiling and playing with its prey. I also enjoyed the appearances of the mosasaurus and the new tradition of Rexy smashing the skeleton of the previous movie's "villain" dinosaur. I’ve seen it suggested online that the opening sequence of stealing the I-Rex bone is pointless because Rexy destroys it before Wu (BD Wong) can use it, but I don’t think that a subplot having an end—even if it’s not what the characters intended—is pointless. I also don’t have a problem with Wu needing the sample even though he created the I-Rex, another complaint I've seen online. He obviously left Jurassic World in a hurry, so it’s reasonable to assume he didn’t get to grab everything he needed and that he needed the finished I-Rex product, not just his notes on it.

Humanity's willingness to screw with, try to control, and make a profit off of nature has always been the real enemy in these films so it doesn't hurt the movie for me that (Wu aside) the human antagonists are fairly thinly drawn (though the actors played their parts well and the characters served their purposes). I did appreciate that Ted Levine’s Ken Wheatley had such character to him, even if he was an absolute idiot. What a big man, stealing teeth from animals that had already been caged! I was glad to see him go, but then we are supposed to be. The rest of the villains were a means to an end, caught up in distortions of nature brought on by other foolish men and/or their own greed and couldn't help but be destroyed by them. I think that's perfect, because the franchise is playing into exactly what Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) said Jurassic Park's original creators were trying to do: break barriers in science by standing on the shoulders of other geniuses without consideration for the cost or respect for the power they had, just to patent it, package it, and sell it. Much like Jurassic World played with the idea that dinosaurs are passé nowadays and they’d have to be genetically toyed with to continue being entertaining (like reigniting an old, classic franchise), Fallen Kingdom takes the wonder out of these animals and becomes a monster movie where the dinosaurs are literally auctioned off. The people controlling dinosaurs' fate have lost the wonder and respect for the forces they're manipulating and only see them as profit generators, never once considering whether they should see the dinosaurs as more. The sequel trilogy's story has become an exploration of the effects of the loss of wonder and respect for both the animals and the science that brought them back. Now that we've seen humans completely lose control, we're about to see humanity face the full force of nature snapping back and I can’t wait! Dinosaurs don’t respect, fear, or have any reverent wonder for humans either… Perhaps the final chapter will see the surviving humans finally relearn that respect and reverence for nature; hopefully they’ll do it before we go extinct (or maybe Satler was right all along and women will inherit the Earth after the dinosaurs eat all these foolish, greedy men).

I loved the debate over saving or letting the dinos die on Isla Nublar and it makes total sense Malcolm came down on the side that he has since the first film: the dinos shouldn’t be here and if nature is going to take them out again so be it. I wish we’d seen more of Malcolm, but this was a great use of his character. I’d love it if the next movie brought back not just Goldblum in an expanded role, but reunited several of the previous characters now that the world is completely different. Alan Grant, Ellie Satler, and Sarah Harding are all specialists that could find new lives in a Jurassic World. Maybe the resourceful kids we’ve seen over the course of the franchise—Lex, Tim, Kelly, and Eric—have grown up to become dinosaur experts themselves. Lex and Tim could become the true heirs of Hammond’s legacy; I liked that this film remembered that Hammond developed into a conservationist in The Lost World after the first Jurassic World only focused on his earlier “spared no expense” philosophy, and Lex & Tim could be instrumental in embodying that development. Of course there’s one character who’s persisted since the first film—Dr. Wu—and I can’t wait to see where the end of this trilogy takes him. He works for me as a modern mad scientist and if he does just want to see what he can do (while blaming his employers when things go wrong) that’s fine by me, but I wouldn’t be opposed to learning more of his story (as I’ve seen others requesting online). Whatever they do with Wu, I don’t think he should get eaten by a dinosaur, at least not until he’s had a final confrontation with Ian. They butted heads in the first film and it would be especially fitting if out of all the characters, Malcolm was the one to face him down again. Seeing the two of them face off one last time would be a very cool culmination of the saga and close to the franchise (or at least this chapter of it).

I like that the Jurassic franchise is old-fashioned in that it hasn’t tried to build an expansive universe that’s building to some enormous and unwieldy climax, but has hit on the same themes of family, scientific and environmental responsibility, nature vs. science, and chaos vs. control in different scenarios. It’s true that there have been some repeated themes—a park with dinosaurs, a fight to save the dinosaurs, a horror show trying to survive the dinosaurs—but I have liked all the movies to varying degrees and this was no exception. I thought the callbacks to earlier films were well-placed without feeling repetitive or overdone. While the first World captured nostalgia for the first film via the idea of the theme park and this one did feel similar to The Lost World, I greatly preferred this one's mainland events to the previous film's. I never disliked the T-Rex getting loose in San Diego and still think it's a fun sequence, but the turn towards horror in this film is better IMO. Additionally, the ending is very promising. With the dinosaurs finally free and roaming the world, it seems like the franchise is headed in a truly original and fresh direction that I’m very excited to see! How humanity interacts with these animals is a fascinating prospect and I’m thrilled to see the movies going there. I’m really excited to see the world this movie has set up! Even if this generation of free dinos is captured or naturally dies out, the science is finally out there and there will be no stopping the various shadowy organizations from producing further dinos…or doing something totally original. Plus, they can always go to Isla Sorna and pick up the Site B dinos if they need to bring more adults onto the mainland; that island was mentioned here, but it seemed unclear as to whether Nublar’s volcano was going to destroy both islands or not. Either way, seeing dinosaurs interacting with modern civilization wasn’t anything new (even just in terms of this franchise), but it still left me anticipating the possibilities of what the world will look like when we revisit it in Jurassic World 3 (they totally could’ve included the post-credit scene in the ending montage, though; why save it?). The idea of using dinosaurs for the military is kinda silly in this day and age IMO, so I’m glad we still haven’t seen it happen and I hope we don’t. Dinos implemented by private loons and organizations for defense might be something worth touching on, but even these animals seem so low-tech compared to modern warfare that it has never seemed worth the trouble. I'd much rather see dinosaurs presented as an invasive species no one can contain.

Fallen Kingdom is a thrilling, fun monster movie that sends this franchise into completely new territory by the end! I think it’s an improvement on Jurassic World and definitely worth seeing. It’ll be on home video in a couple of weeks and I've already pre-ordered it. Check it out!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

#jurassic world #fallen kingdom #chris pratt #bryce dallas howard #owen #claire #justice smith #zia #franklin #jurassic park #ian malcolm #jeff goldblum #danielle pineda #blue #rexy #indoraptor #dr. wu #bd wong #dinosaurs

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superleeleehipster · 8 years ago

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I’ve been thinking recently about what the future holds for Carol and Daryl and what might happen during season 8 (what else is new), and I decided to share my thoughts on what season7b/8 could bring.

Sort of spoilers at the beginning before pure speculation for the rest of it. Enjoy!

First of all, 7x10 was absolute magic, and it only solidified my belief that they will be canon soon. I mean, holy crap, the amount of love that was radiating from that scene, and that’s not even counting what we could feel if Daryl wasn’t so reserved, it was breathtaking. The chemistry that rolls off those two is out of this world, and feeling that love between the two characters only shows where they are heading.

Because with the amount of love they have for each other, it would be impossible to keep it inside, and it’s only a matter of time before they have no choice but to let it all out.

But let’s go back to the speculation. So according to the spoilers we have gotten so far, it doesn’t sound like there’ll be a Caryl canon moment during the season finale. Some people are even debating there’s nothing Caryl related at all. Now I know there’s still time for new spoilers to come out and we need to be patient (not like we’ve heard that before). But to me, I don’t think they will go canon during 7x16. Of course I want a cheesy, romantic, bodies colliding type of reunion scene but this is Millhouse... so unfortunately it most likely won’t happen.

But again, you never know till it airs.

I am aware of the Lennie James’ interview where he talks about a scene that is so lovely and “sexy”, but according to the spoiler sites, he was most likely talking about either Shiva or the Kingdom arriving, which was a bummer to some Caryl fans. But the Kingdom arriving to save the day would of course be sexy if you got a good shot of Melissa McPerfection on horseback.... just saying.

However, I do think they will show us ‘something’ during the finale. It doesn’t have to be big, it can be very subtle, but I don’t think they’ll leave off Caryl completely because you want fans to come back to the show, which means pleasing certain groups of the general audience.

Like so: As the survivors are listening to Zeke and Rick’s speeches, we can have an angle shot where they show someone shyly take another person’s hand. The camera moves upwards to show Carol looking down and then back up to the culprit, which happens to be a somewhat freaked out but also relieved Daryl next to her. She gives him a reassuring smile and interlaces their fingers before looking back to Rick and Zeke... THE END

See? Very subtle. Doesn’t have to be a big scene between them to give us a little something to hold onto.

HOWEVER...

This brings me to my main point, and that is I still very firmly believe that Caryl will go canon in 8x01. There are wayyyyy too many hints that we’ve caught during this season that would make it simply coincidental (Who’s the Boss, numbers on mailbox, 100th episode, etc). Honestly, why in the hell would they even bother putting the numbers ‘8 1′ on the mailbox if it wasn’t meant to be significant? And I sure as hell haven’t found another reason for those particular numbers being on the mailbox that just so happens to belong to the house that Carol’s staying at.

Anyways, the writers know that 8x01 needs to be big, not just b/c to keep the audience from getting bored, but that it’s the 100th episode of the walking dead. I’ll reiterate the statement that has been repeated over and over again. What better card to play on one of the biggest milestone in the series is to have a different ‘milestone’ happen with the characters... aka. a Caryl kiss.

It could happen where they both have a talk, where Daryl apologizes for lying to her (which she’ll understand of course) and maybe she’ll delve into how she’s feeling emotionally with all that has happened... and maybe if the walking dead writers suddenly became nice, we could have a moment where Daryl admits that he “couldn’t lose her... he wouldn’t survive,” and Carol would kiss him in response... *squeals then faints*

So, we get a kiss during 8x01... what happens during the rest of season 8?

Knowing AMC and Millhouse, they’re going to try and drag the relationship a little bit, which in some ways I’m okay with. Caryl is not one of those relationships where the first kiss very quickly leads to the bedroom b/c they both have traumas and insecurities to work through first. But I am a little nervous at the pace that they will set up.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the writers decided to go the route where one or both (probably Daryl) is very nervous at the idea of Negan finding out about each other. They might even set some ground rules where no one can know about them until the war is over, or even go as far as being hesitant on even starting an intimate relationship b/c they want to get rid of Negan first...

Personally I think having one of them not wanting to start a relationship b/c of the threat of Negan is bad writing b/c it’s another ploy to separate them... But then again, these writers have written BS before in keeping our duo from being with each other. So who knows.

Despite that possibility, I don’t think it’d last long, and I feel like we will see their relationship slowly blossom as the season goes on. I’m sure one or both will be injured during the course of the season but it’ll just be a new opportunity to see their feelings for each other out in the open as they nurture the other back to health. However, their consummation of their relationship would most likely be when they both feel at their safest, which is when the war is over.

Now some people are debating whether or not Daryl/Carol will make it through the war b/c it’s a nasty section in the comics, and a lot of people die. Like they would show them having their first time during the mid season finale then killing one of them off towards the end (NOPE NOPE NOPE AND NOPE!) However, with how popular Caryl is to the general audience (whether they ship it or not) AMC would want to exploit it and milk it for as long as possible. So setting aside my biased hopes of our couple making it past season 8, money and popularity wise, I don’t see them killing off either one even during All Out War. Think about it, finally making two original characters canon and kill one or both off that same season is a recipe for disaster when it comes to ratings.

But back to the consummation bit. I think we’ll most likely see that happen during 8x16. I don’t say 8x08 b/c again, they’ll want to draw it out and milk it for all it’s worth. But going through an entire season of war and horror and tragedy will make the audience want something that was worth it in the end. They want to see all of team family happy and relieved that they had won and that the fight was over...

So I could see them have a semi flash forward section towards the end of 8x16, where we check up on the recovery process with team family and the other communities. Maybe we could even get a celebration within the joined groups and maybe, we’ll get to see Daryl and Carol finally make some noise in the bedroom... Cause let’s be honest here, parties and crowds were never their cup of tea, and knowing that they would have nothing else to worry about in the near future, they will be more than happy to take advantage of it!!

So these are my predictions on what would happen within the next season. Feel free to comment and add things in, I love hearing from you guys!

Caryl on!

#caryl #carol peletier #daryl #twd #caryl positivity #twd spoilers

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baneismydragon · 8 years ago

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Akuma-Chais Pt. 1

Ok. Here it is. The beginning of the crackiest of crack fics I have written since “the exploits of the FABULOUS Draco Malfoy”

Quick summary- In a highly unlikely future in which a new foe has lead to a truce between our heroes and their arch nemisis Hawkmoth, our semi- reformed villain has agreed to a community service rehabilitation work program.

Enjoy.... if you can... ( @gabriel-fucking-agreste this is dedicated to you. as it is your fault)

This might have been the most insufferable press conference he had ever participated in, and that was certainly saying something.

The press had turned up in droves of course, anxious to see the first public display of the city’s notorious ex-villain. A decent sized crowd of civilians had chosen to attend as well, though, unsurprisingly, many had chosen instead to watch the televised rendition from the relative safety of their homes.

The meticulously rehearsed apology speech had gone well enough, with enough verbal groveling and implied tragic backstory to ensure a good reception. The proposed “rehabilitation initiative” they had been pushing for the last several weeks also seemed to be winning over the public, if the crowd reactions thus far were any indication.

He had not, however, counted on Andre Bourgeois inserting his own lengthy speech into the mix.

The insipid man had been droning on for the last hour about the “tireless effort” that he and his associates had made to bring about this reconciliation.

As if the grossly incompetent politician and his police squad of bread eating layabouts had contributed to anything in the past 2 years.

The only reason he was here was because he had voluntarily chosen to ally with the teen heroes in light of current circumstances.

God knows the pair of super powered vigilantes had more to do with the reduced crime rate in the city than anything Andre’s stooges had ever done.

Hell the two children had even managed to pull of a more eloquent press conference speech than the narcissistic mayor when they had originally announced the arranged truce last month.

Not to mention that the entire rehabilitation initiative, as anyone who could read could tell you, was spearheaded and largely funded by the influential business mogul Gabriel Agreste.

Unfortunately, as Gabriel Agreste was unavoidably detained and unable to be present for this historic occasion, Andre had apparently taken it upon himself to try to steal the spotlight.

It was an election year after all.

Thankfully Hawkmoth could entertain himself by imagining the incredibly uncomfortable phone call that the insufferable twit would be receiving later that week from his less than amused campaign contributor.

At least this exercise in political mastrabation was finally drawing to a close.

Andre had finally introduced Ms. Nathalie Sancoeur- the overseer of the project- which meant this tedious event could finally move into its final stage.

Thank God Nathalie had never been one to waste time with needless exposition.

She stepped in from of the podium addressed him as well as the crowd.

“Good afternoon Ladies and Gentleman, as Mayor Bourgeois has said I am Nathalie Sancoeur, the primary coordinator and manager of the rehabilitation and restitution initiative. As I am sure you have been informed Mssr Hawkmoth, it is my job to ensure that you have paid off your debt to society through public service. In addition, all the proceeds from the establishment, which my employer has so generously founded for this program-“ he could hear the sarcasm dripping from Nathalie’s voice, though he doubted any of the other onlookers save perhaps one would catch the subtle difference in her cadence, “-will be donated towards the foundation for Akuma related trama and emotional destress you yourself will be expected to put in a required number of hours as a good faith gesture.”

He tried not to roll his eyes as Nathalie continued to list off the various details of his servitude to him, as the surrounding crowd of politicians and law enforcement officials nodded along encouragingly.

It was hardly as though he needed to pay that much attention, the entire concept had been his idea after all. A grand public gesture to keep Andre and the others feeling like they had some semblance of control in a world where magically enhanced heroes waged war on otherworldly beings.

More importantly, it was an attempt to display a sense of contrition for his previous exploits. The proposal had given him a tentative foot in the door in regards to making amends with the teenage hero duo. It had been hard enough to convince them to join forces even in light of their more threatening foe, and if he was going to continue to ensure that they didn’t attempt to rob him of his miraculous he needed to make some concessions.

All in all, a handful of hours of community service every week and the start-up capital for a local business establishment was a small price to pay.

Beside, at least Adrien had finally started speaking to him again when he proposed the scheme. That alone was worth the inconvenience.

“Now, if everyone would kindly follow me,” Nathalie said concluding her statement and pulling him out of his reverie, “I believe it is time to introduce you to our new business.”

He followed behind Nathalie as she descended the steps from the capitol building the rest of the committee trailing along from a safe distance and eagerly tailed by the substantial crowd that had turned up to attend the press conference.

For the first time he realized that he had never bother to actually check with Nathalie as to exactly what sort of plebeian work he was about to be subjected to. He had simply left the details entirely in her control. However, that also meant that he had no real idea what sort of business she had set up for this little charity project, and it certainly wouldn’t be anything that could risk exposing his true identity. He felt a brief shudder of dread as he caught sight of Ladybug and Chat Noir comfortably perched atop a small shop, holding a cloth banner over the entry display so as to ensure a grand reveal.

“Should I be concerned,” he whispered at his guide.

She turned towards him with hint of amusement in her eyes.

“I assume you Mssr Hawkmoth a great amount of thought and attention has gone into this project, and everything has been handled with the utmost consideration to your assorted skills and talents.”

Uh oh.

He looked up nervously and locked eyes with the manically grinning Chat Noir.

No this was definitely not good.

“Ladies and Gentleman,” Nathalie called out to the eagerly waiting crowd, “May I present to you, our newest café.”

Oh god… oh no…

He looked up in horror as the two heroes pulled away the cloth to reveal the gleaming storefront logo.

AKUMA-CHAIS café and lounge.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he hissed turning to glare at Nathalie.

“Is something wrong Mssr?” she asked coolly, the corners of her mouth twisting into the slightest hint of a smile.

He opened his mouth to argue but the words died in his throat as Nathalie lifted a single eyebrow knowingly.

He couldn’t say anything. Not here, not now. Hawkmoth had absolutely no grounds upon which to object, and it would make no sense for the recluse villain to suddenly begin snapping at his “project supervisor” whom he had only officially met once before a few weeks earlier. And she knew it too.

“So,” he choked out as calmly as he could manage, “I’m going to be working… here?”

“That is correct,” Nathalie said the lightest tinge of humor coloring her voice. “You see my employer, who as you know provided the funds for this establishment, and came up with this rehabilitation program-“

“I am well aware of that fact Ms. Sancoeur.”

“Well his wife used to work as a barista before they married.”

“You don’t say.”

“So when it was suggested that we could establish a café as our enterprise everyone thought it seemed like an appropriate choice.”

“I could have sworn I heard a rumor that your employer despises coffee, and in fact finds the smell rather revolting.”

“You know I do believe you might be right,” Nathalie said, still managing to maintain her impeccable faced of nonchalance, “but his son was the one who proposed the idea and My employer does so value the happiness of his family.”

This is why it was never a good idea to make ones employees indispensable. They became far to pretentious.

“I suppose he came up with the name as well?”

“Oh no,” Nathalie said unable to hide the slight smirk she had been holding back up to this point, “That was Chat Noir’s idea.”

“Very funny.”

#miraculous ladybug #my fanfiction #Hawkmoth #eventual hawknath #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #adrien agreste #what is this nonsense I wrote #yes gabriel is hawkmoth

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aaronsniderus · 7 years ago

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Tips to Secure Your Information Online

This is certainly up for debate, but an argument could be made that the internet is perhaps the greatest invention of mankind since electricity. We are able to connect to friends and family, find information at the touch of a button and order pizza with a click or even your fingerprint.

However, when you’re surfing the information superhighway, it’s important to be safe. Everything I’ve just described involves a certain amount of your personal information. You don’t want someone getting grandma’s top-secret cookie recipe, finding out what health conditions you have by looking at your Google searches or getting your credit card number when you order a large supreme.

While all of these things could happen if you’re not careful, it’s no reason to turn off your computer and smash it to bits before going to live in a homemade bunker under 6 feet of cement. The internet is too great a utility for that. What we can do is practice a few safe browsing habits.

For the last 15 years, October has been celebrated as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Let’s take a look at some ways to protect yourself online.

Keep Computers and Devices Up-To-Date

The biggest thing you can do to protect against flaws in operating systems for computers and mobile devices is to run the latest updates you can when they come out. Apple, Microsoft, Google and other device manufacturers put feature upgrades in these updates, but they also take the opportunity to push important security patches to you.

Criminal hackers then analyze these updates to figure out what the software engineers fixed and work to exploit the flaws in unpatched systems, so it’s crucial to install updates as soon as you get them, especially if they’re labeled as having a security focus.

If you have an older device that can’t be updated to the absolute latest version of the operating system, make sure you’re on the latest version your device can run. You should be able to check for updates within your device settings (often under the general, about or help menus.) If you’re unsure where to check for updates, Google your computer or device. If automatic updates are an option, it’s a good idea to turn them on.

Even if you’re on an older device, check for updates periodically. When features aren’t being updated, sometimes you’ll still get security patches for a period of time beyond when you would receive feature upgrades. Sometimes manufacturers will also release patches for unsupported, older devices if the flaw is considered very serious as well.

Account Security

There are three great ways to make sure your account is secure: biometrics, long and strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Let’s briefly go over these.

Biometrics

Whenever possible, if your device offers biometric authentication, take advantage of it. Biometric authentication relies on a person’s characteristics to verify who they are. Someone would generally have to go to great lengths to get a copy of your fingerprint and transfer it to a medium that will mimic skin enough in terms of heat and texture to fool your phone or computer. These scanners have come a long way. The same applies to facial or iris recognition systems.

It may have once been possible to form these things with a picture, but now device manufacturers like Apple and others are taking advantage of faster processors and a variety of sensor and light techniques in order to get an accurate map of your face in seconds.

Strong Passwords

Having a biometric option available to you will make it easier to have a long, strong password to get into your computer or phone if you only need to type it in every once in a while. Passwords that are 12 characters or higher are harder to crack because it takes longer for even supercomputers to brute force those. Also, you should try to use passwords that you’re going to remember, but that aren’t based on words in the dictionary. It’s pretty well established that “Monkey123” isn’t a great password, but “Chimpanzee123” isn’t much better.

You should also try to use passwords with numbers, symbols and a combination of upper and lowercase letters. If you’re in a work environment where you have to change passwords often, but you want to be able to remember them, it helps to come up with a strategy.

You’ll find one that works for you, but here’s an example that works for me. Just in case you were wondering, I won’t be using an actual password. But this will give you a flavor for something you might try. I happen to be a big Beatles fan.

So, a long but memorable passphrase might be something like:

Beatles+yellow-Strawberry

I used my favorite band and references to a couple of their big songs. If I wanted to get a numeral in there, I might replace the S with a 5.

Passwords should also be unique, so that if one is compromised, not all of your accounts are accessible. Will all of these unique passwords, things could get obnoxious. I recommend using a password manager like LastPass or 1Password.

The way these password managers work is that you remember one strong password that serves as your master password to get into your password vault. From then on, every time you log into a site, it will save the passwords for you. Better yet, because you don’t have to remember the logins, you can have it generate a longer password (say between 16 – 64 characters depending on what the site allows) that is complete random gobbledygook. Then reset your password. This really protects you against brute force attacks.

This article has more information on creating strong passwords.

Two-Factor Authentication

Another excellent way to protect the security of your account is to use two-factor authentication to protect yourself in case your password gets out. When you do this, there’s a two-step process to get into your accounts. Let’s break it down.

The first factor is something you know (e.g. password) or something you are (biometric identification such as face or fingerprint scan). After you’ve given the first factor, there’s a second step that takes place.

The second factor is based on something you have, so typically a phone or tablet device. If you have a mobile app for that particular website, you often get a push notification asking you to confirm login through that app.

Alternatively, there are two-factor authenticator apps like Google Authenticator and Duo Mobile. When you go through the process of setting up two-factor on websites, there will be a QR code (those funny-looking things that look like new age barcodes). You open your two-factor app of choice and scan this with your phone or tablet camera. From then on, it will generate a new random numerical string every 30 to 60 seconds. When you log into websites, you’ll be asked to supply this code.

Another way to get codes on your phone is via text message or even phone call. This works if the website you’re logging into offers no other option, but you should always use apps to log in when it’s available. If someone were to call up and socially engineer the cell phone company to send your text messages or calls to a different SIM card, you would be in trouble.

If you don’t want to enter a code on your phone all the time, a physical device that you simply have in your possession can also work. Consider a YubiKey.

Look for HTTPS

When you provide your credit or debit card information to sites or even simply put in your password, make sure that your information is being passed through in a secure manner. How do you know that?

Different browsers may have slightly different icons, but there will be a green padlock on the left-hand side of the address bar with a green “https” as opposed to the regular “http.” The S stands for secure. You may also see the word secure in the address bar. If you click on this icon, you can get more info on the security certificate itself, who it was issued to and how long it’s good for.

Modern browsers are doing a really good job of clearly marking when sites are not secure and, in many cases, it won’t even let you go to a page with an expired security certificate unless you explicitly allow it, but you should still check for the “https” just in case.

Watch Out for Scams

There are things you can do to protect yourself from being compromised on the net. Here are a couple of tips to help you remain vigilant.

Don’t Fall for Phishing

Be really careful what you click in emails and on the web. A good rule is that if you didn’t ask for it and you don’t recognize it, it’s probably not real. Occasionally, a site will reach out to you and ask you to change your password if they’ve been breached. To check the veracity of these emails, follow these steps.

You’re looking for email addresses that are slightly mistyped in order to mislead (e.g. [email protected]).

Very generic terminology in the email (just talking about your account without giving any identifying details such as the last four digits or having “Dear Sir/Madam,” etc.).

Similarly, if you notice terminology that’s different from the way the business or brand normally talks, that’s a red flag. If the company normally says team members and you see employees, that would be worrisome.

Spelling mistakes are a problem.

If the email displays a sense of urgency and says to input your password or anything else in the next 24 hours, look up the company’s customer service line and call to see if there’s an actual problem with your account. People who phish for personal details are hoping you’ll act without thinking in a moment of worry.

If you are suspicious of any email asking you to log in, it’s best to call a customer service number and verify.

Check the links in an email by hovering over the link to see what pages it actually takes you to. Avoid destinations that don’t seem right.

If the email has an attachment, that can be a way to get viruses and other nasty things onto your computer. You shouldn’t download attachments you don’t expect.

If anything in the mail sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Be Careful What You Click On

Going along with what’s above, you should also be careful what you click or tap on web pages and in email. If it doesn’t make sense, or is too good to be true, don’t click.

Let’s run through a couple of common schemes.

If you get a pop-up on a website that says you have a virus that they can remove from your computer if you only pay $50, don’t click. You likely don’t have anything if you run even the built-in security software in Windows on its default setting. Android, Mac and iOS also have built-in security measures of their own.

You can also be pretty sure that you didn’t win a sweepstakes or contest that you don’t remember entering. Don’t fall for these ploys to get your personal information.

Protect Your Connection

In addition to vigilant browsing, there are actions you should take to protect your internet connection and browsing history from prying eyes.

Make Sure Your Wi-Fi Is Secure

If you’re on a wireless connection – and in this age of laptops and tablets, who isn’t? – you should make sure that your connection is secure.

The first thing you should do on your personal Wi-Fi is to change the default password for getting onto the Wi-Fi itself. That way no one can guess your password just by working on the side of the router or in the manual.

While you’re at it, you should absolutely change the default administrator password for your router so that no one can go in and mess with the settings to send your traffic through weird places. You should be able to change this in the same place you changed the password to get on the Wi-Fi itself. This is important because sometimes internet service providers (ISPs) value convenience over security to the point where someone could easily get in and mess with your settings. My ISP shall remain nameless, but I was horrified to discover that the username for the router was “admin” and the password was “password.” Yeah, not great.

Tips While Out and About

If you’re out in public, be careful logging into public Wi-Fi, especially if it’s unsecured. If there are no security measures in place, a skilled hacker can insert themselves between you and the website you’re visiting in order to snoop on what you’re doing.

In order to protect yourself, the easiest way is to use your cell phone data connection when you’re out in public. Many laptops and tablets now have the ability to connect to a data network as well. Cell phone providers often have agreements with certain services like Netflix or Spotify so that certain activities don’t count against any potential monthly data cap you may have, but most activity will count. That’s the downside. On the other hand, you’re secure.

In addition to Wi-Fi concerns, be careful using any public charging ports. Ideally, you can bring your own charger to plug into the wall. Don’t use someone else’s cable. Some cables and public charging ports can be compromised so that someone can see the data being transmitted to your phone and potentially send unwanted viruses and other malware back into your phone leaving it permanently compromised. This is called juice jacking.

Make Sure to Download Trusted Apps

You should only download apps and programs you trust because these can be used as vehicles to get viruses and programs that will spy on your activity (spyware) on your system.

On Windows or Mac, you should either download things from the Windows or Mac App Store or directly from the website of the software provider. Amazon is also a big retailer of both Windows and Mac digital downloads. If you’re looking for video games, Steam or Origin are big retailers of PC games.

On mobile, there’s the App Store on iOS and the Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore on Android. Things do occasionally slip through the cracks, but apps on these stores are somewhat vetted. If you have doubts about any particular app or program before downloading it, you should Google it and also check out the reviews.

Be Careful About Publishing Personal Information Online

If you’ve ever signed in to a website for the first time from a new computer or even called the bank about a problem with your account, they’ll do certain things to try to make sure that you’re you.

They’ll ask you security questions. Popular ones might include mother’s maiden name or father’s middle name, but it could also ask about your favorite book or your dream car.

Someone might be able to find records of your family and figure out the name questions, and if you’re like me, your obsession with Harry Potter is well-documented.

If you have accounts that you are concerned about people compromising, maybe you switch up the answers when you’re setting them up online. If you’re using a password manager like those recommended earlier, there is often a place to store secure notes. If you save the answers with the passwords, you’ll have them when you need to access the account, so maybe your mother’s maiden name is actually listed as Windows 95 or a completely random string of characters.

In addition, be careful about listing or giving out things like your phone number, address, Social Security number (SSN) and other sensitive information online. If someone needs to know, make sure you trust the person and message them directly.

Remove Data Before Donating Computers or Devices

If you have a computer or device you’re looking to donate, follow the manufacturer’s instructions to delete your data and reset it to factory settings.

The exact instructions for doing this will vary depending on your device, but you want to make sure this gets done. Manufacturers and makers of all the major operating systems will have documentation on what you need to do. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, you can always contact a friend who’s good with technology to help you out.

Our devices are lasting longer and longer, so it makes complete sense to give a device you’re no longer using to someone who will make good use of it, but you’ll just want to make sure that all of the data is cleared off to protect yourself and make sure it’s ready for the other person.

Hopefully this has helped you think about practical steps you can take to increase your level of cyber security. If you’re looking for more, it’s not a bad idea to also take a look at your backup strategy in order to make sure you have copies of that data you can’t afford to lose.

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from Updates About Loans https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/tips-secure-information-online

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