#/!\ POST ABOUT SEMANTICS. POST ABOUT SEMANTICS ALERT. /!\

[meirimerens]

i know the Willow Mellow lore gets worse the longer you dig inside of it + it reflects even Worse on the writers when you put the actual words on her situation but let's not forget Darlings she is a child. she is 15 to 17yo depending on what piece of documentation we refer to, too young to consent to sex and therefore does not fit the category of "sex worker", and instead falls under the definitions of "sexually exploited youth", more specifically "sexually exploited child", as UNICEF, UNESCO, Convention for the Rights of the Child, [...] and general common sense all define "child" as "person under the age of 18".

she is the victim of kidnapping by her """adoptive father""" and of sexual exploitation by her (presumably adult) "clients" (as she does not appear to have a pimp, and is instead written saying she loves what she does and such giddy teehee fun. [powerful side-eye through someone in the writing team.] [she's not a Real Person I have to stress, so someone wrote her like this, wrote this kid like this.] [it is all part of a narrative in which she is struggling to shake off her "father's" exploitation, an inherently tragic one, but she still was written that way, and could have been written any other way, with any other "rebellious" act]). calling her a sex worker as a child who is basically the same age as P2 Capella or Grace is putting her in a Grown-Up category especially harmful considering we are supposed to read her as an indigenous girl, member of the Kin (even if her lore is Mysterious and Hazy) and indigenous women and girls are sexualized in racialized ways which often paint them as more ~~~naturally~~~ sexually liberated, or docile, or submissive, or [insert racist x sexist stereotype promoted by colonizers to excuse the mistreatment of indigenous women and girls].

tldr yes it's worse when you actually call her what she actually is, and worse tenfold when you read what the writers make her say about it [even as an inherently tragic situation that we can recognize and put words on (hence this post), she could have been written any other way, with any other rebellious act, but you know.] but you know x2 (SIDE-EYES SOMEONE ON THE WRITING TEAM VERY HARD TIL ME EYES POP OUT ME SKULL)

[yuk-tepat]

The Tepatic Anti-Claus

Lexember #24, Tsapay

Tsapay (Tepatic Romanization, capay [t͡sa:paj]) refers to a monster of folklore. It is spelled with two glyphs ca(p) pay. The first glyph uses the demon semantic determiner on the left side, and on the right side is the phonetic determiner, the glyph cap ‘wax,’ showing drops coming out of an ear. The second glyph is demon determiner + pay ‘wart’ - a previous Lexember word.

ABOVE: Tsapay in Tepatic glyphs

Like most ancient names, the etymology is uncertain, but it has nevertheless been folk-etymologized as due to the monster having warts and greasy skin.

The Tsapay is kind of like a reverse Santa Claus. To understand it is necessary to know a bit about Tepatic holidays.

In Tepat, the New Year is the biggest holiday of the year - in fact, 5 days long, consisting of the 5 days out of 365 that do not fit into a 30-day 12-month system. (The year also starts on the equivalent of our October 25th, but ignore that for now.) Despite being a big event, it is viewed and celebrated very differently from Earth. Tepatites believe that whatever you do on New Year sets the pattern for the year, so anything you do should be done perfectly. If you doze away lazily on the holiday, you are doomed to be an unproductive slob for a whole year with all the negative consequences that follow from that. No, in order to be sure you are a bright, alert, timely person all year, you should get up earlier than usual on New Year - at minimum, to see the sunrise. Hence, you should also go to bed as early as you can on New Year’s Eve. Before sunset is best, but you must absolutely not be up past midnight. Anything left undone by midnight, and your goals will remain unfinished for next year.

More about Tepatic New Year:

https://www.tumblr.com/yuk-tepat/131244433960/new-year-in-tepat?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/yuk-tepat/131308699272/new-year-in-tepat-ii?source=share

https://yuk-tepat.tumblr.com/post/154867637619/lexember

To keep them in line, adults tell children in Tepat that if they are out after dark on New Year’s Eve, they will stolen by the Tsapay. What began as a tale has gotten more elaborate, with patrols of large men wearing costumes slinking around at night to fool kids who may be peeking out the window. When boys get too old to be scared anymore, they are conscripted. After being kidnapped by Tsapay, they are revealed his imaginary nature. (Naturally, they are told the truth AFTER being kidnapped, so there is one last chance to make them pee their pants.) After this, they are trained to impersonate Tsapay for younger children. This is an important rite of passage. And the whole society conspires to keep it secret.

ABOVE: An artist's depiction of Tsapay

This Tsapay is typically identified with one of the ‘leftover’ demons of Tepatic mythology. After being defeated by mankind, the Demon King and his legions retreated to a mountain (which became a volcano), and were imprisoned in it - but not before taking captive one of the human leaders, who continues to fight an eternal battle against the monsters deep in the earth. At least one of the king’s legions, though, fled and survived in hiding on the surface of the earth.

Another connection has been made with the mythology of the pre-Tepatic Milim people. The Milimites feared a long-nosed monster that threatened to eat the world at the end of each year, before being defeated by the heavenly kings with the help of, you guessed it, blood sacrifices.

More about human sacrifice:

https://www.tumblr.com/yuk-tepat/678299852131729408/2021-lexember-31-sel?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/yuk-tepat/735912532678721536/lexember-6-8-tsaltep-kyeng-ngy%C3%BBp?source=share

This may be connected to the folk custom of leaving meat out to ‘make Tsapay go away’ (which is then actually eaten by dad).

Colloquially, anything used to keep people in line, particularly punitive measures of dubious effectiveness, or things that appear threatening but are not dangerous, are called Tsapay too.

[victoria-daydreams]

The Dressmaker

Part I

AN: I did not expect this story to do numbers like it’s doing now lol. I posted this thinking it would be a niche fic for my own enjoyment that I would come back to read whenever I wanted to, but I guess not. Trying to get the timeline right for this season with an OC was an absolute nightmare, but I did it (hopefully) and tried to make everything make sense. Didn’t think I would make this a series, but I’m willing to make a taglist if interested.

So, back by popular demand, I present to you Part II.

Word Count: 2.9k

Trigger warnings: dated (offensive) language, mentions of hate crime

The Dressmaker: Part II

The sound of Selina’s heeled shoes against the floor echoed in the corridor as she strode to Tommy’s office in his factory. With every step she took, the grip she had on her clutch grew tighter and tighter. In the most diplomatic way possible, Selina was going to tell her older brother what transpired on Christmas Eve. Of course, that’s easier said than done. She could already foresee Tommy’s piercing blue eyes looking any sign of an omitted detail. And possibly flying off the handle

Selina turned down another hall of the factory, her clacking footfalls reverberating loudly through the empty hall. With the ongoing strike at the factory, the place was practically a ghost town. As she grew closer to his office Selina spotted Niall, Tommy’s secretary, sitting at his desk. The sound of her heels alerted the man to her presence to which he stood up abruptly from his seat.

“Miss Shelby—”

Selina silenced him with one look. Niall was about to stop her from entering the office. Without speaking a word, he backed down and slowly lowered himself back into his seat. Selina moved a strand of hair from her face and marched right up to the door. She didn’t even bother to knock, she just entered into the room. And oh, how she wished Niall stopped her from walking into Tommy’s office.

Whatever Selina was going to say, died right on her lips as she  didn’t utter a word while standing in the doorway.

Two sets of eyes had landed on her, one was Tommy’s, who was doing a fantastic job of keeping his expression blank. When her eyes shifted to the other man, it made her do a subtle double take. He was dressed in a navy blue, buttoned down suit and slicked black hair, a toothpick lazily dangling from his lips.

“Oh, bloody fucking hell,”

Selina quickly concealed the stunned expression that briefly flashed on her face, conscious of the fact that her brother was without a doubt scrutinizing her like a hawk.

“Mr. Shelby, my apologies,” Selina said quickly. “I didn’t know you were with someone,” she continued, hoping no one caught the quaver in her voice.

“No apologies needed, Miss Clarke,” Tommy replied, his voice tight. “Mr. Changretta was just leaving,” he informed, his eyes drifting to the Italian.

“He’s right, Miss Clarke,” Luca agreed, walking towards her. Selina felt like her heart was in her throat. “It’s funny though,” he said, now towering over her. “I thought you said you didn’t know the Shelbys,” he recalled.

“That’s not what I said, Mr. Changretta,” Selina pointed out, trying to keep her breathing steady. “You asked me if I’ve heard them and I said yes,” she reminded. “You didn’t ask if I knew them,” she clarified, watching a half smirk grow on Luca’s face.

“Miss Clarke does love her semantics,” Tommy said, and she darted her eyes in his direction.

Luca only hummed looking Selina up and down with a smirk. And with that he turned to leave, but not before his heavily ringed hand reached out and took her own, lifting it up to his lips.

“Ciao, signorina,” Luca said before dropping her hand back to her side, and leaving the office.

Selina loudly let out the breath she had unconsciously been holding as she pushed the door close.

“Lina,” Tommy called, his voice was too calm for her liking. “You want to tell me what the fuck that was about?” he asked, pointing to the door.

“Er-that’s actually why I came down here to see you Tommy,” Selina explained, playing with her hands nervously. “But…it seems that Luca—I mean Mr. Changretta beat me to it,” she stammered.

“Oh, so he’s Luca to you, is he?” he questioned, venom laced behind the statement.

Tommy’s penetrating gaze went right through her soul, causing Selina’s body to tense up.

“No, he’s not. I—”

“You’ve been fucking fraternizing with the enemy! Knowing what he did to John and Michael!”

“He came to me on Christmas Eve!” Selina shouted back. “I just got back from Paris the day before myself. I didn’t know the family was at war with the New York fucking Mafia!” she exclaimed.

“You’ve gotten careless Selina! The girl I knew would’ve told me that information immediately!”

“And who’s fucking fault is that, Thomas?” Selina retorted, folding her arms against her chest. “Polly, shipped me off to Paris after Grace’s funeral for my protection with your blessing, and I had no say in the matter,” she stated, pointing her finger at him. “So forgive me if I got a little lackadaisical upon my return home.” she went on. “While living in Paris, I wasn’t constantly having to look over my shoulder, worried about getting mowed down! And it’s not like you all were telling me everything that was occurring here while I was away in your letters or calls,” she pointed out.

“Why did he pay you a visit?”

“He wanted information,”

“Fuck sakes Lina!”

“I didn’t tell him anything that can be used against us,” Selina reassured, moving towards the desk.

She watched as Tommy took a cigarette out of his case and lit it before taking a puff. He pinched his nose, pacing back and forth.

He pointed the cigarette at her, “You were here before Christmas Day and didn’t tell me?” he asked, raising his cigarette to his lips

“It was supposed to be a surprise Tommy,” Selina answered quietly. Momentarily, his face softened for the time throughout their argument. “Since you’ve alienated half the fucking family, I was going to surprise you at Christmas dinner,” she explained, plopping down into the chair in front his desk.

Immediately, her eyes landed on the bullets neatly lined up across the polished desk. Mentally, she counted one by one.

“There’s one for each Shelby, minus the one that John fell victim to already,”

The realization sent a chill down her spine.

“How long were you keep it a secret that you met Changretta?”

Tommy’s voice snapped Selina from her thoughts.

“Like I said before, that’s why I’m here,” she said, looking up at him. “Would you have liked me to tell you when John’s body was lying on the morgue table? At the family meeting? Or perhaps, at his funeral which you used as goddamn bait for the Italians,” Selina listed off.

“You know he’s going to be watching you very closely now,” Tommy said, exhaling a puff of smoke. “You lied to him,” he continued. “Playing fucking semantics with a mafia leader, that takes some balls to do Lina,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’ll have a cover story ready as to why I came here,” Selina explained, and her brother nodded his head.

“I hope it’s a good one Lina, I really, really hope it’s a good one. Because if not you’ll be receiving a Black Hand in the post soon,” he told her. “And then one of these, with your name on it,” Tommy warned, gesturing to the desk.

Selina glanced down at the bullets again and swallowed thickly.

~~~x~~~

“I’m worried about you Lina,”

A sigh escaped Selina as she listened to Naveen’s concerned voice on the other end of the line.

“I want to tell you I’ll be fine Naveen, but I can’t guarantee that,” she admitted, pulling the fur collar of her coat tighter against her to shield from the frigid English winter air.

Selina thought that if she stood in the telephone box she would at least find some relief from the bitterly cold wind. She was utterly wrong.

“I’ll spare you the details for your safety, but there’s a plan in place. Unfortunately, it hinges on if I don’t get myself and my family killed,” she mentioned.

“Don’t talk like that, please,”

“I’m just trying to prepare you for the worse,” Selina explained, her eyes sweeping over her surroundings. “Look, it’s dark out and I need to get home,” she said, bouncing nervously on her feet. “I’ll call you later, yeah?” she assured.

“As soon as you get home, okay? Stay safe,”

“I’ll try,”

Selina hung up the receiver. Stepping out the booth, she pulled out her cigarette case and lit one up. To be walking alone at night, without any protection when there’s a hit out against her entire family, was an absolutely foolish thing to be doing. However, for the time being, Selina wasn’t a Shelby because Luca Changretta didn’t know she was a Shelby and that could be used to their advantage.

“Everyone received a Black Hand except Lina?” Ada asked curiously.

Selina’s brow quirked, “Did you want me to receive one in the post?”

“No, that not what I meant,” she quickly clarified. “I’m just trying to figure out why—”

“It’s because she’s coloured, Ada,” Tommy cut in, standing at the head of the table. “Their ignorance, that’s something we can capitalize on,” he stated

“I could go undercover,” Selina offered.

“You fuckin’ crazy Lina?” Arthur questioned. “Changretta is an animal, I don’t even want to think what he’ll do to you if he finds out your spying for us,”

“Perhaps, a woman’s touch is what is needed to tame a rabid dog,” Polly commented, a plume of smoke coming from her mouth. “Just long enough for him to be put down,” she suggested, taking another drag from her cigarette.

Suddenly, Selina felt a hand tightly grip her arm and her heart began to beat a mile a minute. A strangled cry escaped her throat which was immediately covered by a gloved hand. Her assailant swung her around and slammed her against the wall of an abandoned building, knocking the breath from her temporarily. Selina cursed herself for not having her gun with her or even her pocket knife. She’ll have to improvise. Without thinking, Selina sunk her teeth into the hand covering her mouth.

The man hissed in pain, letting out a string of curses that sounded an awful like Italian and raised his hand to strike her. Selina braced herself as the hand descended towards her and she closed her eyes. That’s when she heard a light thud in front of her.

“Hit her, and you’ll lose your fucking hand,” a familiar raspy voice stated.

Selina’s eyes snapped open. Looming over her and the Italian henchmen was Luca Changretta, restraining the man’s arm. The mafia leader’s face was dark in silent rage and the man cowered in fear.

“Get out of here! Go!” Luca ordered, shoving her assailant away.

The henchman stumbled away, running with his tail between his legs. Warily, Selina stared at Luca who was still watching the man run away into the night. Finally, he turned back to face her.

“I’m sorry—”

With lightning speed, a sharp slap to Luca’s cheek made his face jerk to the side. Selina’s hand began to throb with pain, she didn’t know her own strength.

“You were trying to have one of your men abduct me, and all you can say is ‘sorry’,” Selina said incredulously, as he slowly turned to look at her.

Her hand rose to strike him again when Luca darted out his hand to intercept, wrapping his fingers around her wrist.

“You were not supposed to be roughed up like that, for that I apologize,” he replied. “He was supposed escort you to my car so you and I can have a little chat,” he explained, as she yanked her wrist from his grasp.

“I don’t know why that is,” Selina responded. “I think we’ve said all we needed to say to each other,” she remarked.

“I don’t think we have,” Luca disagreed, a calm expression on his face as he stalked towards her. Selina slowly backpedaled until her back collided with the brick wall again. “You lied to me, Miss Clarke,”

“I did no such thing,”

“Right, because ‘know’ and ‘heard’, two different things,”

“Words have meaning, Mr. Changretta,” Selina retorted.

A muscle in Luca’s jaw clenched in response to her sarcasm. She was glad that she had the wall to support her, because otherwise she would’ve collapsed right to the grounds. Her legs had the consistency of jelly.

He shook his head, “If anyone else said that to me, they’d be dead,” Luca informed casually.

“Then why aren’t I?”

“You intrigue me,” he answered, pushing a strands of stray hair from her face. “And what intrigues me more, is your connection to the Shelbys” Luca added, gently tucking the hair back into place.

She pushed herself from off the wall, “If you must know, we run in the same circles, being a dressmaker, his clientele blurs with mine,” Selina explained, with a shrug. “Occasionally,” she remarked, and began to circle him. “Making dresses for men like The Shelby brothers and their associates to give their women dresses is a lucrative business,” she finished.

On the exterior, Selina still exuded an easy confidence, however, on the inside she felt like she was going to hurl. One wrong word, one wrong gesture and she could end up with a bullet to the head.

“And?”

“And what?”

Just as she was about to walk around him again, a large hand gripped her bicep. Selina’s reaction was subtle, her throat bobbing as she inhaled nervously.

“Why were you at Thomas Shelby’s office today?” Luca asked, the usual playful glint in his dark eyes gone.

His gaze was both hypnotic and bordering on intimidating. A familiar feeling began to creep within her body, spreading slowly like vines of a tree. It was fear, and the sudden gust of air blowing made Selina feel even more uneasy. The cold cut through her coat and seeped into her skin causing shivers up her spine.

“Answer me!” he demanded.

Selina assumed that Luca expected her expression to falter, to wilt beneath his gaze, but it just the opposite. Her expression was just as neutral, not giving anything away.

She exhaled deeply, “I pay the Shelbys for protection of my business,” she admitted, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Why?”

A scoff escaped her, “Why do you think?” Selina questioned back. “My shop was getting torched countless times with petrol bombs,” she stated, as he let go of her arm. “It’s not easy being a coloured businesswoman,” she added, wrapping her arms around herself.

“That’s good a sign, he believes what I’m saying,”

“So, there it is,” she went on, sticking her arm out briefly. “We had an appointment this afternoon. Today was Boxing Day, I made scarves from leftover material to give to the orphans at the Grace Shelby Institute,” Selina finished.

All Luca did was hum in response and that’s when her nerves started to get the best of her again. Selina wondered if she shared too much, and now her story didn’t sound that believable anymore. Her foot repeatedly tapped against the ground, a mix of impatience and anxiousness.

“I’m going to be blunt, I’m freezing my arse off out here,” Selina said, as another visible shiver went through her to emphasize her point. “So glad we could have this enlightening conversation. Good night, Mr. Changretta,” she wished, sarcasm laced in her voice as backed away from him.

“Don’t you think it’s past time to stop calling me, Mr. Changretta?” Luca asked, getting her to stop while he took steps closer to where she was. “Friends call me, Luca,” he pointed out, causing Selina’s lips twitch in a reluctant half smile.

“Is that what we are? Now that you vetted me?”

“I’d say we’re helluva lot more than friends after we did in your shop,”

“Or what you didn’t do,” Selina reminded, moving towards him. “So close to the holy grail and yet so far, Luca,” she teased.

“That pesky, pesky telephone call you had to answer,” he commented lowly.

“I do have a business to run. My customers don’t appreciate the feeling of being ignored,“

Raising his right hand, Luca gently cupped Selina’s cheek, stroking his thumb along her cheekbone. She couldn't help her heart fluttering and skipping a beat from such a simple gesture. Or the swirling of butterflies that was forming in her stomach. His fingers drifted to the corner of her mouth, thumb tracing the soft curves of her full lips.

“It’s a relief to know that you’re not a Shelby, or one of their lackeys. Your just a poor soul that has to pay their protection fee,” he murmured.

Her eyebrow quirked, “A coloured Shelby? Don’t be ridiculous,” she interjected, with an incredulous grin.

“Otherwise, I would have to kill you,” he remarked calmly.

She snickered, “Oh, quite a relief—”

Luca suddenly pulled her into a deep kiss, one Selina readily melted into, her eyes closing in sheer bliss at the embrace. A soft exhale escaped her as her lips meshed with his. She ran her hands up his chest, her fingers brushing against the fine wool of his coat. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Selina deepened the kiss as her fingers buried themselves in his hair. Luca let out a raspy groan against her mouth in response to the action.

He snaked his arm around her waist, drawing Selina closer to him. It wasn’t long before dizziness slowly filled her head as her lungs also began to beg for oxygen. Abruptly, Selina pulled away from Luca, leaving a few centimeters between them. Both were panting heavily and Selina leaned her forehead against his. Luca’s lips were red and slightly swollen and she was sure her lips mirrored his. Selina’s heavy breath mixed with his before she let out an airy laugh.

Their eyes met again, “It’s as the rumors says, you American men are awfully forward,” Selina said, still trying to catch her breath.

He smirked, “You say that as if that’s bad thing,” Luca remarked, his hand sliding up from her waist.

“Maybe it is,” she suggested. “My mother, god rest her soul, said men like you are trouble,” she mentioned, playfully bumping their noses together.

“Lies, all of it!” Luca exclaimed softly, causing to Selina giggle. “I’m only known for one kind of trouble,” he corrected.

“And what kind is that?”

“Good trouble,”

Luca tipped her chin up, bringing her in for another searing kiss that drew her lips against his once more.

Part III

[kijosakka]

Assistant Noah AU: How Alejandro would react to Assistant Noah trying to warn Owen about the Spanish Charmer, by calling the Charmer an 'eel dipped in grease'?... Would Alejandro be salty that he can't vote Assistant Noah off, since Noah isn't a contestant?... Would Alejandro charm + flirt harder with Assistant Noah? 😘

noah being an assistant here implies something very specific — being, he’d definitely know alejandro knows. this would mean more, except that noah is not here for the competition, he’s here for The Paycheck.

on noahs end at least i don’t think he would care much, but i do hesitate to say what alejandro specifically would think of the situation — because despite him being badmouthed (which. i will get to), it does imply favoritism that noah is telling owen, which he may assume to extend further to their team and potentially be an advantage point.

he is. wrong. noahs ‘favoritism’ extends to owen and not so much in challenges, but im sure there’s potential there for alejandro to try and make nice with owen to reap this favoritism (or at least cut down how much owen receives by being close, since noah doesn’t seem to like alejandro much) < but the turning point comes with that because noah just Does Not Care.

i’d imagine he’d be juuust as flagrant about his favoritism without it technically infringing on any rules, explicit or implicit (and the rest of the cast, sans maybe those like heather or courtney, would be aware that owen would never do anything underhanded or wildly unfair with those privileges so it’s not so major in that regard either)

anyway, alejandro sees what happens and tries to intercept on owen to reap some benefit or control over the situation, and it doesn’t work. where does he go from there? flirting!!

^ this has more to it than narrative, being mostly alejandro’s character and it’s existence, really. while in canon his charming is more consistently his ‘first option’ for his scheming, you can see it through his relationship through heather how it can be a failsafe instead — where he can’t explicitly scheme her away from the game like he could with team victory, he flirts with her to make her emotionally volatile.

(also something to be said about how it is, in a way, a manner of forcing himself control over at least a small part of it)

all my rambling to mean that since alejandro can do nothing about noah, he goes to reap control and petty enjoyment through trying to fluster him (and, back to what i said earlier, probably some vindication for being badmouthed). spoiler alert: it doesn’t work.

finally getting over to the being badmouthed thing, i would want it to mean something more exciting, but the kinda boring, semantical answer i can give is just that. noah would probably know because he has access to stuff like confessional footage.

don’t get me wrong there’s definitely potential for a misunderstanding-type situation where alejandro writes off his own intrigue in noah as ‘wanting to figure out how he knew’, and introduces the conflict when someone (likely noah himself) tells him that no, he just knows because he has footage access. that’s it.

^ it would theoretically kill alejandro’s interest, but retconned with that alejandro may reason (in a way to ignore his feelings. stupid man in Denial) that it would bother noah if he continues to flirt despite knowing this.

(and of course that like heather is the only person alejandro could drop pretenses around in canon, noah would be that to him here — because he could. noah knows, he knows noah knows, and there’s no explicit or immediate threat to his game by doing so < which might amp up post-owen elimination, after noah is soothed from his inevitable spite.)

which he would be kind of right about? i do mostly see noah as more pissed that it’s taking away from his job (probably more at chris’ insistence, as the viewers are eating it up) and there being a more definite pivotal point once owen is eventually eliminated.

(going more definitely two-sided, i’d imagine noahs own feelings developing as he needles for information through alejandro’s constant attempts at flirting and does genuinely appreciate the more genuine parts of himself.)

for an actual relationship between them though i do imagine it would have to come post-season — either route you take it, drama-bot or not.

[myheadsgonenumb]

Ch8: Wary of Werewolves

The November full moon fell on a Friday, which proved to be awkward for Remus as it meant that - not only did he have to suffer through a flying lesson while it felt like his bones were on fire - but that he would miss their Astronomy lesson at half past eleven. The whole year group would see he was missing - and they would be using their telescopes to peer straight up at a full frost moon for ninety minutes straight. ‘What if they notice - what if they realise?’ he fretted from the safety of their dorm on Thursday evening. ‘With what Malidictus said yesterday … they’ll all be hyper alert to it.’ 

‘They won’t realise,’ Sirius said. He gave his wand a look of longing (James had banned him from practising Aguamenti inside their room) but then tore his eyes away and fixed his gaze on Remus. ‘People are surprisingly short sighted - blinkered to anything that’s not about them… and if anyone does notice, I’ll hex them.’

‘Oh, that won’t draw more attention to it.’

‘Look - if I turn Sniv into a pink chicken, I can assure you everyone will be looking at the chicken and not at the full moon… I’ll make him lay eggs,’ he added as a gleeful afterthought.

‘You’ll have to turn him into a girl chicken.’ 

But Sirius waved a dismissive hand. ‘Semantics.’

⚡

Chapter 8 of fourth year of my Marauders' Era fic 'The Wolf's Tail' is now posted.

or read from the beginning here

[tagxdata22]

Insurance Claims: Data Annotation Types for Computer Vision

Machine learning is already being employed across multiple industries to automate the processes that are slowed down by manual, repetitive steps. With advanced algorithms, techniques, and frameworks under the hood, AI tools can accelerate the process of recognizing damaged vehicle parts, assessing damage, making predictions about what kind of repair is needed, and estimating how much it may cost.

Computer Vision for Vehicle Damage Assessment:

Computer vision, a technology that processes visual information and interprets data, can paint a fuller and more accurate picture of an auto accident, including the conditions, scene, and repairs needed.

When imagery is available, captured through cameras onboard vehicles or via street surveillance, computer vision technology can extract, analyze, and provide insights to aid and speed up the inspection process, benefiting both insurers and the insured. It can determine who is at fault based on precise measurement analysis, road, and traffic conditions. So drivers who aren’t at fault can breathe a sigh of relief.

Applying computer vision to vehicle imagery can also help assess damage post-accident. Algorithms trained on volumes of estimated data and photos can determine whether a car is repairable or a total loss and list the parts damaged and to what degree, speeding up the repair process and reducing the inconvenience for insureds. Soon, this capability will be able to generate an initial estimate to further expedite the claims process. Imagine how revolutionary this will be for drivers in accidents. Even before they return home or to the office, their insurer will have been alerted to the loss, approved the initial repair estimate, and booked it into the local auto repair center.

In the claims process, imagery using computer vision both before and during the accident provides tremendous visual data to analyze the weather, lighting, scene, speed, and traffic. These visuals contain many of the facts required to determine liability and feed into the adjudication of other issues, such as subrogation and injuries. In addition, computer vision can also help quickly decide the inspection path a vehicle should take and whether the claims process requires staff or third-party resources. Using technology to solve issues previously requiring someone else’s eyes also helps lower loss adjusting expenses.

Data Annotation Types for Insurance Claims:

Bounding Box for Car Damage and Body Parts Detection

The bounding box image annotation technique can be used to detect car body parts and damages for both minor and severe problems, such as scratches, dents, and so on.

Semantic Segmentation for Car Damage and Body Parts Detection

To train the machine learning-based AI model, the semantic segmentation image annotation technique is used to detect the depth and more insight about the damaged area in the body parts of motor vehicles. Annotators carefully annotate this section, which not only aids in detecting the affected area but also in identifying and classifying the object of interest in the images.

Vehicle Dent Detection

Cars or vehicles with dents caused by minor accidents can be detected using bounding box image annotation techniques. The affected area can be identified and captured using computer vision to make it recognizable to machines.

Damage Level Detection

AI is also capable of identifying the degree or severity of damage to various car types of bodies. And it is achievable if the AI model has been properly trained using annotated images to feed the computer algorithms that can learn from such detection and anticipate when employed in real-life situations.

Damaged Car Body Parts

Damaged car body parts such as headlights, bumpers, indicators, and bonnets can also be detected if image annotation techniques are used correctly.

Final Thoughts

Insurers need to reimagine their systems, operations, and partnerships to successfully adopt computer vision. It will involve collecting and processing vast amounts of data. Carriers must have the right systems to capture inspection data in the form of images, videos, and annotations, and the security in place to safely store, access, and share data among key stakeholders.

By working with partners to access AI, data engineering, and other digital tools, insurers can take advantage of these new technologies as they come to market without waiting for them to become fully plug-and-play. They need to ensure that their claims processes augment new technologies and decide who is going to execute the outcomes.

[indiaekarma]

SEO(SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)

What Is an SEO Article?

An SEO article is a piece of written content like a blog post that is featured on your website as a page with a unique URL. An SEO article educates, informs and/or entertains your target audience with expertise and quality

How Do You Write an SEO Article?

To write an SEO article, you need at least these two things:

A professional writer and a subject matter expert.

SEO tools that can provide the data you need to optimize the content.

The use of keywords for a SEO optimized article

In the past, SEO specialists recommended using one keyword, placed in the first part of the article and throughout the remainder of the text. Following certain misuses and exaggerations, algorithms were adjusted to give less importance to this factor.

However, an optimized article will use certain formulations repeatedly, placing them in strategic areas such as titles or anchor links (text items on which you can click towards an internal or external link). The most important aspect is to employ vocabulary that is precise and varied, whilst sticking to a semantic field that corresponds to the subject.

SEO Tools and Services

While an SEO introduction is a great starting point, as your marketing efforts progress, you may want to consider securing additional SEO tools and services. Often times, search engines themselves will provide these tools and services, such as Google’s Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Google AdWords Keywords Tool, Google Alerts, Google Trends, DoubleClick Ad Planner, Google Page Speed, Google Site Map, and more.

In addition to tools provided by Google, you can also explore other online tools, or even hire a company that specializes in SEO marketing to design your website and makes it SEO-friendly.

SEO is an important part of marketing in the online world and has many factors that can affect its success. In order to improve your website’s SEO, focus on creating great content, using relevant keywords, linking when appropriate, and always writing content that is creative and original. Additionally, remember that SEO is an on-going process, and doesn’t end as soon as you’ve posted content. Instead, keeping a website relevant and up-to-date by posting new, high-quality content frequently and consistently is equally important.

An SEO Introduction – More Important Factors

Keywords aren’t the only part of a successful SEO campaign, although they are certainly important. Other things to consider when developing an SEO strategy include links, titles, meta descriptions, headings, subheadings, originality of content, images and videos, and your audience. The most important thing to remember when reflecting on this SEO introduction is that one single factor will not determine SEO success; rather, SEO success is dependent upon your content as a whole.

When writing your content, spend an equal amount of time on trying to make your content sound as natural as possible, putting SEO at the back of your mind. Overusing keywords, creating weird or unnatural sentences with the hopes of improving SEO, or using unoriginal content can be more detrimental than beneficial to your SEO efforts. Content should always be interesting and engaging, be short and succinct, use keywords wisely, include optimized images with great titles, have headings that are appealing, be formatted in an easy-to-read way, and include relevant links. In fact, you may want to even consider participating in a link exchange, which refers to the process of exchanging links with other relevant websites in order to increase SEO.

Content greatly affects SEO. The more relevant your content, the more up-to-date the content is, and the more interesting your content is, the higher it will rank. Always plan your content in advance, have someone edit it before posting, utilize headings and subheadings, think about layout, and include pictures and or videos. Also, you should design your content and website so it’s easy to share via social media.

[bitcofun]

Tl; dr: A typical obstacle with dispersed systems is how to guarantee that state stays integrated throughout systems. At Coinbase, this is an essential issue for us as numerous deals circulation through our microservices every day and we require to guarantee that these systems settle on an offered deal. In this post, we'll deep-dive into Overseer, the system Coinbase developed to supply us with the capability to carry out real-time reconciliation. By Cedric Cordenier, Senior Software Engineer Every day, deals are processed by Coinbase's payments facilities. Processing each of these deals effectively indicates finishing an intricate workflow including several microservices. These microservices vary from "front-office" services, such as the item frontend and backend, to "back-office" services such as our internal journal, to the systems accountable for communicating with our banking partners or performing the deal on chain. All of the systems associated with processing a deal shop some state connecting to it, and we require to guarantee that they settle on what occurred to the deal. To fix this coordination issue, we utilize orchestration engines like Cadence and strategies such as retries and idempotency to guarantee that the deals are ultimately performed properly. Despite this effort, the systems sometimes disagree on what occurred, avoiding the deal from finishing. The reasons for this clog are differed, varying from bugs to interruptions impacting the systems associated with processing. Historically, uncloging these deals has actually included considerable functional labor, and our facilities to tackle this issue has actually been imperfect. In specific, our systems have actually done not have an extensive and immutable record of all of the actions taken when processing a deal, consisting of actions taken throughout event removal, and been not able to validate the consistency of a deal holistically throughout the whole variety of systems associated with actual time. Our existing procedure counted on ETL pipelines which indicated hold-ups of as much as 24 hours to be able to gain access to current deal information. To fix this issue, we developed Overseer, a system to carry out near real-time reconciliation of dispersed systems. Overseer has actually been developed with the following in mind: Extensibility: Writing a brand-new check is as basic as composing a function, and including a brand-new information source refers setup in the typical case. This makes it simple for brand-new groups to onboard checks onto the platform that is Overseer. Scalability: As of today, our internal metrics reveal that Overseer can managing more than 30 k messages per second. Accuracy: Overseer journeys through time and smartly hold-ups running a look for a brief time to make up for hold-ups in getting information, therefore minimizing the variety of incorrect negatives. Near real-time: Overseer has a time to discover (TTD) of less than 1 minute usually. Architecture At a top-level, the architecture of Overseer includes the 3 services imagined above: The intake service is how any brand-new information gets in Overseer. The service is accountable for getting upgrade alerts from the databases which Overseer is subscribed, saving the upgrade in S3, and alerting the upstream processors runner service (PRS) of the upgrade. The information gain access to layer service (DAL) is how services access the information kept in S3. Each upgrade is kept as a single, immutable, item in S3 and the DAL is accountable for aggregating the updates into a canonical view of a record at a provided time. This likewise acts as the semantic layer on top of S3 by equating information from its at-rest representation-- that makes no presumptions about the schema or format of the information-- into protobufs, and by specifying the sign up with relationships required to sew several associated records into an information view. The processors runner service ( PRS) gets these notices and figures out which checks-- likewise called processors-- apply to the notice.

Prior to running the check, it calls the information gain access to layer service to bring the information view needed to carry out the check. The Ingestion Service A primary style objective of the intake service is to support any format of inbound information. As we aim to incorporate Overseer into all of Coinbase systems in the future, it is important that the platform is developed to quickly and effectively include brand-new information sources. Our normal pattern for getting occasions from upstream information sources is to tail its database's WAL (write-ahead log). We selected this method for a couple of factors: Coinbase has a little number of database innovations that are thought about "paved roadway", so by supporting the information format released by the WAL, we can make it simple to onboard most of our services. Tailing the WAL likewise guarantees a high level of information fidelity as we are duplicating straight what's in the database. This removes a class of mistakes which the option-- to have upstream information sources discharge modification occasions at the application level-- would expose us to. The intake service has the ability to support any information format due to how information is kept and later on got. When the intake service gets an upgrade, it produces 2 artifacts-- the upgrade file and the master file. The upgrade file includes the upgrade occasion precisely as we got it from the upstream source, in its initial format (protobuf bytes, JSON, BSON, and so on) and includes metadata such as the special identifier for the record being customized. The master file aggregates all of the referrals discovered in updates coming from a single database design. Together, these files function as an index Overseer can utilize to sign up with records together. When the consumption service gets an upgrade for a record, it draws out these referrals and either produces a master file with the referrals (if the occasion is an insert occasion), or updates a current master file with any brand-new referrals (if the occasion is an upgrade occasion). To put it simply, consuming a brand-new information format is simply a matter of saving the raw occasion and extracting its metadata, such as the record identifier, or any referrals it needs to other records. To attain this, the consumption service has the principle of a customer abstraction. Customers equate an offered input format into the 2 artifacts we pointed out above and can onboard brand-new information sources, through setup, to connect the information source to a customer to utilize at runtime. However, this is simply one part of the formula. The capability to keep approximate information is just beneficial if we can later on obtain it and offer it some semantic significance. This is where the Data Access Layer (DAL) works. DAL, Overseer's semantic layer To comprehend the function played by DAL, let's analyze a normal upgrade occasion from the point of view of a theoretical Toy design, which has actually the schema explained listed below: type Toy struct Type string Color string Id string We'll even more presume that our Toy design is hosted in a MongoDB collection, such that modification occasions will have the raw format explained here For our example Toy record, we've taped 2 occasions, particularly an occasion producing it, and a subsequent upgrade. The very first occasion looks roughly like this, with some unimportant information or field elided: "_ id": "22914 ec8-4687-4428 -8 cab-e0fd21 c6b3b6", "fullDocument": "type": "watergun", "color": "blue", , "clusterTime": 1658224073, And, the 2nd, like this: We pointed out previously that DAL works as the semantic layer on top of Overseer's storage. This suggests it carries out 3 functions with regard to this information: Time travel: obtaining the updates coming from a record as much as an offered timestamp. In our example, this might imply recovering either the very first or both of these updates.

Aggregation: changing the updates into a view of the record at a time, and serializing this into DAL's output format, protobufs. In our case, the updates above can be changed to explain the record at 2 times, particularly after the very first upgrade, and after the 2nd upgrade. If we had an interest in understanding what the record appeared like on production, we would change the updates by bring the very first upgrade's "fullDocument" field. This would lead to the following: proto.Toy Type: "watergun", Id: "22914 ec8-4687-4428 -8 cab-e0fd21 c6b3b6", Color: "blue", However, if we wished to know what the record would appear like after the 2nd upgrade, we would rather take the "fullDocument" of the preliminary upgrade and use the contents of the "updateDescription" field of subsequent updates. This would yield: proto.Toy This example consists of 2 essential insights: First, the algorithm needed to aggregate updates depends upon the input format of the information. Appropriately, DAL encapsulates the aggregation reasoning for each type of input information, and has actually aggregators (called "home builders") for all of the formats we support, such as Mongo or Postgres. Second, aggregating updates is a stateless procedure. In an earlier variation of Overseer, the consumption service was accountable for producing the current state of a design in addition to saving the raw upgrade occasion. This was performant however resulted in substantially lowered designer speed, given that any mistakes in our aggregators needed a pricey backfill to fix. Exposing information views Checks running in Overseer run on approximate information views. Depending upon the requirements of the check being carried out, these views can include a single record or several records collaborated. In the latter case, DAL offers the capability to recognize brother or sister records by querying the collection of master records developed by the consumption service. PRS, a platform for running checks As we pointed out formerly, Overseer was developed to be quickly extensible, and no place is this more vital than in the style of the PRS. From the start, our style objective was to make including a brand-new check as simple as composing a function, while keeping the versatility to deal with the range of usage cases Overseer was planned to serve. A check is any function which carries out the following 2 functions: It makes assertions when provided information. A check can state which information it requires by accepting an information view offered by DAL as a function argument. It defines an escalation policy: i.e. provided a stopping working assertion, it decides on how to continue. This might be as easy as giving off a log, or producing an event in PagerDuty, or carrying out any other action chosen by the owner of the check. Keeping checks this easy facilitates onboarding-- screening is especially simple as a check is simply a function which accepts some inputs and produces some negative effects-- however needs PRS to deal with a great deal of intricacy immediately. To comprehend this intricacy, it's valuable to get an introduction of the lifecycle of an upgrade notice inside Overseer. In the architecture summary at the start of this post, we saw how updates are saved by the consumption service in S3 and how the consumption service gives off an alert to PRS through an occasions subject. When a message has actually been gotten by PRS, it goes through the following circulation: Selection: PRS identifies which checks ought to be set off by the provided occasion. Scheduling: PRS identifies when and how a check needs to be set up. This occurs by means of what we call "execution techniques". These can be available in numerous types, however fundamental execution methods may carry out a check instantly (i.e. not do anything), or postpone a check by a repaired quantity of time, which can be beneficial for imposing SLAs. The default execution method is more complicated.

It drives down the rate of incorrect negatives by figuring out the relative freshness of the information sources that Overseer listens to, and might select to postpone a check-- hence compromising a bit of our TTD-- to permit delayed sources to capture up. Translation maps the occasion got to a particular information view needed by the check. Throughout this action, PRS queries the DAL to bring the records required to carry out the check. Finally, execution, which calls the check code. Checks are signed up with the structure through a light-weight domain-specific language (DSL). This DSL makes it possible to sign up a check in a single line of code, with practical defaults defining the habits in regards to what must activate a check (the choice phase), how to arrange a check, and what see it needs (the translation phase). For advanced usage cases, the DSL likewise functions as an escape hatch by enabling users to tailor the habits of their check at each of these phases. Today, Overseer processes more than 30,000 messages per 2nd, and supports 4 different usage cases in production, with an objective to include 2 more by the end of Q3. This is a considerable turning point for the task which has actually remained in incubation for more than a year, and needed getting rid of a variety of technical difficulties, and several modifications to Overseer's architecture. This job has actually been a real synergy, and would not have actually been possible without the assistance and assistance of the Financial Hub item and engineering management, and members of the Financial Hub Transfers and Transaction Intelligence groups. Read More

[cacodaemonia]

I wanted to thank someone who recently messaged me with information I had been unaware of regarding @leias-left-hair-bun having said some racist and transphobic things and then been dismissive and rude to those who tried to explain to her why those things were hurtful. To be clear, this is not a call-out post so people will go harass her (if she comes back online). Don't do that. But since I didn't know about it, I thought others might not as well, and I'm sure many of you would like to be aware of this kind of thing, as I wish I had been.

I won't name names, but to the person who alerted me, thank you again! I spend very little time on Tumblr, block and filter a lot of usernames, and don't scroll, so I'm very grateful that this individual took the time to have a conversation with me rather than sending vague anon asks, like a couple I've gotten in the past few months and just went ??? at.

I also wanted to apologize for hurting anyone inadvertently with my lack of knowledge. I didn't intend to hurt anyone, but it doesn't matter that I didn't know—I should still apologize. And I realize that's probably worthless, but it's all I have to offer besides letting people know the basics of what happened.

@omiomicron, @leeleebee, @alamogirl80, and I approached LLHB (only one of us spoke with her so it wouldn't seem like we were ganging up) as people who have been friendly with her, though I know others have done the same to no effect. It was made clear that we wanted to help her understand why she had hurt people in order to prevent her from doing further harm, but also that we didn't think she had done harm intentionally. Harm is still harm, whether or not it was intentional, but in any case, she refused to accept any responsibility for the things she's said, and was more focused on semantics and her opinion on other people’s pain, rather than the pain itself.

I'm a firm believer that, when you know better, you should do better, so when LLHB simply insisted we would have to agree to disagree over some very serious, fundamental issues, we decided the conversation was over and blocked her.

As I said, this is not a call-out post, but I think the matter is serious enough that I had to point out who was involved or it would just be another useless vague post. Everyone is racist to some degree or another because of the society we live in, and that's not an indictment of anyone's character, but if you are given an opportunity to change your views and behavior, and don't take it, that's something that shouldn't be overlooked.

The specifics of this instance aside, I want to talk about why this situation occurred in the first place.

The individual who kindly contacted me also pointed out how things become very siloed on Tumblr, since people often have to block others for their own sanity. I, for example, block many usernames and filter those usernames from tags and post content so that I don't see their posts when people I follow reblog from them.

Related to this, a couple months ago a friend of mine pointed out something I hadn't realized: in TCW fandom there's a small group of very aggressive, vocal antis who lumped in "problematic" shippers with racists, pedophiles, TERFs, etc. We were constantly bombarded with vague but abusive messages made up only of buzz words meant to evoke moral panic over fictional writing. The messages were so abusively vague and hurtful that it was a matter of protecting one's mental health to ignore them. I want to make it clear that calling out racism is not harassment nor being abusive. However when antis conflate legitimate criticisms of racism with shipping discourse it is very hard to separate out which were genuine call outs of racism and which were harassment under the guise of performative action. Antis do use racism as a buzz word in their harmful repertoire but not all racist call outs are anti behavior.

It's really unfortunate, too, because I and many people I know started out supporting the unwhitewashTBB movement and those heading it. Most of us have the same anti-racist goals in RL, after all—though I choose not to participate in activism on Tumblr because I personally think it's one of the worst places for it. But when I saw how hateful and cruel many of the people in that movement were to others (including BIPOC with differing opinions on fandom issues), I stopped reblogging their stuff and eventually unfollowed and blocked them. My opinions on racism and whitewashing haven't changed, but because of that movement's obsession with policing others' opinions on fandom matters, and viciously attacking anyone who disagrees on fandom matters, I stopped supporting them.

To be clear, this is not an excuse for my own ignorance of LLHB's behavior, but more an observation of how unproductive it is to try and lump fandom discourse together with RL issues like racism. While fandom racism and racist media is a big issue and people should be educated on it, the problem is people are unable to separate fandom discourse from it. This is the package deal of being in fandom but a clear separation of fiction and reality would minimize incidents like this.

In any case, all this has made me realize that interacting on Tumblr in anything more than a cursory, fandom-only way is a waste of time for me and only opens the door to cause harm. I'll also admit to being pretty damn salty that, while I stood up to the antis to take the heat off others and try to make people less fearful of openly shipping clone characters together, only one person could be bothered to tell me I was associating with someone who had said nasty things and point me in the direction of evidence.

I'm in fandom to escape from the trash fire that is real life, as are many of my friends—BIPOC, white, queer, neurodivergent, etc.—and I recognize that my ability to nope out of this situation is a privilege that many people don't have. But I'm not going to sacrifice my own mental health to be involved in a community that is toxic and harmful towards anyone who has differing opinions on fandom issues. It's not just racism anymore but rather anything that doesn't fit into some groups' ever shifting moral goalpost. I am not on Tumblr 24/7, and I don't feel that anyone should be held accountable for missing out on the avalanche of posts related to fandom discourse and drama. Personally, I don't have the spoons for any of that bullshit.

I still don't condone racism but from now on I'll be filtering anything relating to discourse, RL issues, antis, fandom police, etc. and will probably not read or respond to comments on or reblogs of this post.

[bay-did-nothing-wrong]

Jinkies (Donatello x Female!Reader)

Synopsis: It Scooby-doobie-do be like that sometimes (purposefully unhelpful)

Genre: Crack, Fluff (around the edges), obvious flirting, misunderstandings

Word count: 2106

Warning: Bisexual Reader

Notes: I know I've got like 20+ request to do, but I'm running out of October and I gotta post this now!

"Hey, Angelcakes times two!" his younger brother's voice bounced off the concrete walls of their domain, as Donatello braced himself for one of the few social conventions they ever get to attend. And "attend" was hardly appropriate to say, they were hosting it, but he decided not to have a semantics debate with himself.

"Hey, Raphie! Look at you!" April's excitement was tangible through the air, she'd told them some days prior that she loved Halloween though she rarely got to celebrate it because of work, and didn't really get much trick or treating done as a kid since there was no one to be her chaperone.

'Okay, Donnie.' he encouraged, 'You can do this! It's just a party!'

'You're not good at those.' his inner cynic remarked.

'It's just your family. Aaand Casey.'

'And your ex-crush and your current one in a room with your brothers who have a knack for embarrassing you, and a shit ton of alcohol.'

'Not helping.' he scolded his inner saboteur.

"Donnie, you in there?" of course Leo had to break his pep sesh, and to be completely honest he was glad someone did, he was not doing a great job.

'Here we go.' he put his glasses back on after he'd gone to the bathroom to splash himself into full alert. And then he made the mistake to look up.

He couldn't tell if his attempt at a costume was hilarious or pathetic, but there was some overlap between those two, so maybe he fit in both.

Mikey had whined to him and his brothers for hours about actually putting in an effort this year since it was the first time 'we have chicks over, dude', and once Raph had tried to shoot the idea down, he had received one of the few but infamous Mikey glares. Even though, the 'chick' in that was their long-time friend and ally, April, and the new addition to their social circle, (Y/N).

And therein lies the issue. Would (Y/N) get the costume? Would she find it funny? Or cool? Does it even matter?

Sure, he hadn’t put THAT much effort into it but he’d gone through the trouble of gluing fake elf ears to his head, and some cutout eyebrows to the frame of his glasses, but what he was most proud of was the broach. He didn’t usually make things to be pretty, he made them to be practical, but the Starfleet insignia broach was something that was entire style, no substance and he was proud of it.

"Donnie!"

'Shit, Leo's still there...'

"Okay, okay!"

His eldest brother grumbled something as he left the restroom, though he lacked the bandwidth to discern his words. Didn't seem to matter anyway.

Out of the safety of the bathroom, he was forced to face the music. On his walk to the living room, the echo amplified the loud music and chatter, and along with them, his anxiety.

'Relax! You know her! You've talked, she's cool. She gets you! Why is this so difficult!'

Maybe it was the lack of his gadgets, his goggles his bo, all of the things that usually covered him up, apparently they served as emotional support as well.

"Hey, four eyes! Where you been?"

'Oh my stars, Raph, why are you like this? '

Raphael received no response however, as once Donnie lifted his gaze to the room he saw, what he considered, a dream.

There she was, aglow with the neon lights of Mikey's decorations, dressed as his childhood crush.

Velma.

As much as it felt wrong to admit it orange looked good on her, and so did those massive glasses, and short bob wig. Though he suspected that your skirt was a bit too short for Hanna-Barbera, but accuracy was not on his mind at that moment.

"Woah, Donnie!" she seemed to have noticed him too.

He looked down at the ground, trying to put together a response though he was abruptly cut off as something hit his chest and wrapped around his shoulders. He lifted his head again, just to find it right by yours.

Oh, yeah, he forgot (Y/N) was an aggressive hugger.

'Shit, she smells like coffee and cake....'

'Delicious... '

"I should've bet money you'd do Spock!"

Your enthusiasm was contagious as always, and he finally gathered the courage the return your hug.

“Of course, I don’t even struggle with the three finger salute.” his deadpan grumble somehow made her laugh, though she did have to let him go at a certain point, which was disappointing but understandable.

“Gotta say, crazy eyebrows look good on you.”

. . .

‘She complemented you, dunce, say something back!’

“And... large glasses suit you. I’m gonna miss them after today.” that made her giggle again, and he found his heart squeezing in his chest as his skin heated up.

“Those are real, I just prefer contacts. But I might wear them more often if I’ll get your eyes on me.” and with that she chuckled mischievously once more, turned and skipped towards the refreshments table.

There was something about the though of her in glasses and nothing else that made his brain short-circuit.

“Bro, get your jaw off the floor. You’re gettin’ obvious.” Mikey commented unhelpfully, though it did serve to remind him he was still in a social setting, gawking was simply inappropriate.

“Hey, Donnie.” the relaxed voice of April brought him back to reality, though he did wonder for a second how he was going to survive this gathering with this woman so close, and flirty, without being able to be alone with his thoughts for even a second.

He turned his head to her, and lo and behold, she had donned a purple dress, shoes and cravat and a curly ginger wig.

Oh, this was a setup. No doubt.

“So, you two are in cahoots, huh?”

This must be a setup.

“Oh, this?” she pulled at the bottom of her dress, and twirled a bit as if to show off the rest of her costume.

‘Yes, April. That.’

“It was actually (Y/N)’s idea. She knew somehow you liked Scooby Doo.” wink.

‘There it is! That’s a clear admission of guilt!’

Then April, the woman he had been infatuated with for years before (Y/N) showed up and took her place in his heart and mind, leaned in close as if to share a secret, and whispered, “Now’s the night, buddy.”

‘What do you know?’

April had, somehow, for years failed to see his crush on her but did instantaneously clock when his attention shifted to the new girl instead. Or did she fail?

“Don, movie’s about to start!” she hollered from the couch.

‘When did everyone move to the couch and how did I not notice?’

As he approached he saw her in between Leonardo and Raphael, with her feet out of those seemingly-practical shoes, the heels of her high stockings on the edge of the couch.

“Ah, nut! Forgot my drink.” she jumped, somewhat gracefully over the back of the couch and ran towards the kitchen.

“Rookie mistake!” April let out a menacing laugh as she got off her spot on a cushion on the floor and took the other girl’s place.

“Hey, that’s my spot!” she protested once she noticed she’d been robbed.

“Not anymore!”

A heavy sigh left the younger girl as she rolled her eyes, and with her drink in hand, walked towards the large cushions in front of the couch where the traitor had been mere seconds ago.

Donnie found himself giggling at these two, it seemed like they’d known each other for ages, and the way both of them fit snugly into the turtles’ mini society gave him an odd feeling of hope for the future.

Casey, who he’d been accidentally ignoring this whole time, was relegated to a bean bag on the side of the couch, so was Mikey, leaving the couch itself to Raph, April and Leo.

Bummer. Although, he could use the opportunity to sit down next to their new Velma! Yes, his back would hurt and his ass would, at a point, feel stiff, but those are minor sacrifices, compared to getting to sit down next to (Y/N) for an undisclosed amount of time, getting to study that intoxicating scent she’d chosen for the night.

For whatever reason Raph and Casey  were the two who got to choose a movie, and after a game of rock, paper, scissors, and Casey’s subsequent victory a film was chosen and it all began.

It was some weird, tacky horror movie about a video game ‘Stay Alive’ or whatever it was, generally dull, but Donnie could not be bothered to pay attention.

Because as soon as the most minimal kind of gore showed up on screen he heard a loud gasp, and something warm latched onto his arm.

‘No, this is not happening, it’s not happening, it is NOT happening!’

Her tiny (t him) hands wrapped around his bicep as much as they could and her forehead fell onto his shoulder as if to force herself to look away.

Meanwhile he was frozen. There it was again, that overwhelming need to breathe but also stay completely still. He could not tell how time was passing, and why it felt diferent, but he could feel her getting progressively closer, at first fully laying her head on his shoulder, then unwrapping one of her hands from his arm and putting it on his knee. He had no clue where she got all that courage from though, he was compelled to ask, because the whole time this was taking place, he was entirely paralyzed, afraid that if he moved a muscle, the moment would ripple away, and she would be gone.

“Well... that sucked!” she commented, going to get up off the cushion, and going to find her shoes.

“Yeah, I second that. Casey, you’re never picking movies again.” added April also getting up, to go where? He wasn’t certain.

“They got ya, Case, it was shit.”

“And what was that thing with he roses?” grumbled Raph and Mikey, as their resident police officer desperately tried to defend his movie of choice.

‘It’s over? But it just started?’

The girls returned from the kitchen, while Donnie was still trying to process how time had gotten away from him, and an orange skirt flared in his vision as (Y/N) sat back next to him.

“I say we watch the new Scooby Doo movie.”

‘Oh, very funny.’

“I second that!” said April again.

“Ya two gangin’ up on us?”

“Girls gotta stick together, Raph.”

“Besides, Velma is canonically a lesbian, so sticking with Daphne is hardly gonna be a problem.”

The two of you had the audacity to laugh!

What?!

Is that what this was?!

So it was a setup after all?!

The rest of the night passed relatively normally, with candy, and junk food and some alcohol being exchanged, and Donnie finally got to engage in some of it even after that episode. He was determined not to overthink just for the night, he’d have plenty of time to do that after you left.

“Hey.” a small warm hand landed onto his arm, and that intoxicating aroma again, “you’ve been distant tonight. Everything okay?”

No.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine.” she didn’t seem convinced, though, so he elaborated, “It’s just... You two with April...”

He didn’t know how to phrase his thoughts, or even what his thoughts were. And he was certain he did not have the social experience necessary to process what had transpired.

“Ha!” laughter again, and in the back of his mind he wondered whether he’d become a comedian overnight, “Donnie, that was a joke!”

Huh?

“So... you’re not.... together?”

Another giggle from her and if the moment hadn’t been so awkward, he would have found the sound delightful, though it seemed the day had drained his capacity to feel joy, at least temporarily.

“No!” her head fell back, and the wig nearly slipped as she laughed in earnest and a small smile started to creep onto his lips.

“Besides, I don’t mind switching my Daphne with a Spock sometimes. I swing both ways, you know.”

Wink.

This woman was gonna be the death of him.

.

Notes 2: Electric Boogaloo: I know this isn’t one of my finest works, it looks, and reads horribly, I hate the way it sounds, so honestly, if any of y’all wants to rewrite it PLEASE DO and tag me on it, I want to see it in it’s best form. Also, the sketch is rushed too but... tone consistency I guess... Hope you somewhat enjoyed!

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[em-dashes]

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Running and maintaining a taglist has been putting some kind of pressure on me, so I’ve decided to forgo it.

If you’re still interested in getting notifications about APHELION updates though, here’s what you can do!

> I’ll be posting future updates on my APHELION sideblog @project-aphelion. The sideblog will contain ONLY original content about APHELION.

> To get alerted whenever I update, simply turn on the notifications for that blog!

> This takes the pressure off of me to keep track of everyone who wants to be on the taglist, and allows you, the interested party, more control as to whether you want to be notified about updates.

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Hope that works for everyone! If there are any concerns let me know :^)

APHELION Taglist: @chayscribbles @stormharbors@v-snippets @kentwrites @gray-sometimes-writes @wildswrites @ljscrawls @peepos-prose @pimclementine @fictional-semantics @zielenbloesem @spacetimewraithwrites @jadeywrites @lumina-chronicles @strangerays  @ellierenae​

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Verboten 8 | (T)

ff.net | AO3

Fandom: Danny Phantom (DP)

Summary:   AU. When Danny was five years old, he went missing for 2 weeks. In the years that follow, his family tried to make sense of what happened, only for the truth to be discovered years later.

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, language. Be prepared for some very weird things

Chapter warning: some gets physically sick, discussions of death

Parings: Danny/Sam

Notes: originally uploaded to Ff.net. Cross-posted to AO3 and tumblr. This fic is very heavily inspired by folklore surrounding mysterious wilderness disappearances

Chapter 8

"Hey, is it just me, or is the floor moving?" Danny questioned as he stared at the moving stone.

"No, it's not just you," Sam confirmed as she glanced at her friend. Although he was sitting rod straight as he watched, his coloration was still flickering, and there now seemed to be a green tinge to his cheeks.

"Don't you think we should run?" Tucker's question nearly made Sam snort. With Danny getting worse, there was no way he'd be able to escape with them.

Before anyone had a change to respond, the stone completely lifted and shifted to the side, exposing a hole. Seconds later, a furry head popped out. They watched in silent horror as it flicked one of its ears as if hear them and turned to face them.

The face that greeted them was terrifying. If Sam had to describe it, the appearance was like an angry polar bear who happened to have icy horns. Maybe calling it a yeti would be more accurate, but she could argue with herself about the semantics once she was out of this mess.

They just stared at the thing in the floor until it smiled at them. Whatever spell its sudden appearance held over them was broken, and they yelled in terror. There where several seconds of confusion as the three of them tried to escape. Tucker was halfway to the door while Sam tried to help Danny, who had fallen off the table, when the thing spoke.

"Children, please do not be alarmed," it gently requested as it raised itself up from the floor. Its entire body was covered in that same white fur, save for its one arm, which appeared to be made from ice. In an almost bemused afterthought, Sam noted it wore a blue clothing article which may have been a kilt. "We don't have much time before Plasmius returns."

When they didn't respond of move, the creature continued to speak as it tried to look as non-threatening as possible. "I am call Frostbite, the leader of the Far Frozen. I am lucky to have found out about you when I did. Plasmius has killed many humans in his experiments. If you allow me, I will help you return to your home."

"Why should we trust you? How do we know you won't take us somewhere and eat us?" Tucker demanded as he inched closer to Danny and Sam.

It laughed heartily at Tucker's question. "Myself as well as my clan do not eat people. We have made it the goal of our afterlives to try to assist as many wayward humans as we possibly can." Frostbite's smile faded. "However, I acknowledge your concern. This is the first time we have met, and if Plasmius has been your first encounter with the those of us from this realm, then you most likely do not think highly of us." It, possibly he, glanced at Danny as his coloration cycled again. "You are ill, and if you do not leave this place soon, you may not be able to return to the land of the living."

There was a tense moment as Sam and the boys stared at Frostbite. It… no, he… seemed genuine. Although his face was frightening, his eyes were sincere and almost seemed to plead with them.

"Alright," Danny eventually stated as he slowly stood, "but, you have to swear you won't hurt them!"

"I swear it on my honor, young one."

"Psst, Danny, what are you doing?" Tucker angrily whispered as he tugged on Danny's sleeve. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Call me crazy, but I think it's much less risky to go with him then it is to stay here and wait for Plasmius," Danny responded as he tested his footing. "He's a lot more honest than Plasmius, that's for sure."

"You noticed it too?" Sam was impressed he picked up on it. Although, Danny was often clueless when it came to certain social cues, particularly flirting, he did have an amazing talent for picking up on whether someone was being honest.

Tucker looked at both of them for a disbelieving moment before he shook his head. "Alright. I'll follow your lead on this, but if we get eaten, I'm blaming you."

"Young one, do you require assistance?" Frostbite asked as he eyed Danny, who appeared to be somewhat lightheaded as he tried to walk.

"It's Danny, and no, I can handle it."

A frown crossed Frostbite's face for a moment before he scurried forward and scooped Danny into his arms. "I understand your desire to escape on your own, but you are not well, and time is of the essence." Frostbite then instructed Sam and Tucker to enter the hole in the floor first. Once they were safely inside which was revealed to be a tunnel, he handed Danny to them. He then entered the tunnel and carefully replaced the floor's stone.

There was little light in the tunnel save for the slight glow Frostbite and occasionally Danny produced. As if sensing their concern, Frostbite held up his hand (or was it more of a paw?) and created a soft blue light. "This way, children," he instructed as he began to walk. "I am sorry I cannot produce a better light source, but if I generate much more energy, Plasmius may discover our location."

"I was wondering why we were doing things so old school," Tucker whispered.

As Sam rolled her eyes at him. If it wasn't for the fact she and Tucker were both supporting Danny as they walked, she probably would have smacked him for being rude. But, his statement did bring up an interesting point. "So, you could have gotten us out in an easier way, but Plasmius would have caught us?"

"Correct. Most sentient ghosts can easily phase through walls, unless the object is something native to this world or is coated in something that disrupts our powers or repels us. Plasmius' palace is unusual as much of it is created from materials taken from the human realm, but his reputation and the barrier he uses is able to keep most ghosts away. He is very unkind to trespassers." Frostbite glanced back at them. "I know young Danny's name, but I have yet to learn yours."

As weird as it sounded, Sam was embarrassed by that lapse in courtesy. She quickly introduced herself, and Tucker followed suit.

"Sam and Tucker! Such fitting names!" The strange ghost seemed pleased, but after a moment, he stopped walking, so he could turn and look at them. "Please alert me immediately if you notice you are not feeling well or notice something strange about yourself." After they promised, Frostbite nodded and continued forward. "This world can do strange things to those who unintentionally enter it, and there are many ways the changes can occur."

"Can… can I ask a question?" Once Frostbite agreed, Danny continued, "I'm sorry if this is a bit rude, but were you human?"

"That I was." The ghost didn't appear bothered by the question. "While many of my human memories have faded over time, I do remember that I was once an explorer. As for how I came this this realm, I am uncertain, but I do know that by the time I once again found a way back to the world of the living, I appeared much how you see me now. Many of my clan seem were also explorers or those who spent a great deal of time in the woods or mountains. We are not sure why we have taken this form, but we use it to our advantage. We often patrol areas where portal formation is common and try to scare humans away from them. However, more recently we have been finding more and more humans who seem to be looking for us." He seemed absolutely puzzled by the concept.

Sam shared a look with her friends. Did that mean that he and his clan were what people considered Bigfoot? Maybe she was reading too much into it, but that's what it seemed like.

"So, does that happen to everyone who dies? Cuz I don't know if I can handle the fact I might not keep these good looks when I die," Tucker whined.

The soft blue light flickered as Frostbite chuckled. "I don't believe you have to worry. While it is possible, you are unlikely to become a ghost if you expire outside of this realm. However, I am no expert regarding the mysteries of life and death."

"But what happens if you die here?" It was Sam's turn to ask a question.

"It seems to vary. Some die, but their souls do not remain here. For others, their body and soul mingle and change, creating a ghost."

"That almost sounds like a zombie," Sam mumbled to herself.

Frostbite chuckled again. "I understand why you would think as such. However, zombies can only exist in your world. They are corpses reanimated, often through magic, but lack a soul. For us, our earthly bodies are somehow a catalyst for the new form our soul takes, but even though I have seen it happen, I do not understand the process."

His explanation somewhat made sense, Sam mused. It also lined up with what Plasmius mentioned about how his experiments didn't always work. Although, it posed a more troubling question. What exactly would happen to Danny? If he really did die and become a ghost, did that mean there would be no body for his family to bury? It was a troubling thought that wouldn't go away no matter how much Sam tried to think of something else.

However, something Sam also noted was that Danny was avoiding asking questions regarding what was happening to him. Other than when his hands flickered in and out of visibility in the lab, he hadn't brought up the subject. It was possible he was focusing on escaping. However, with the new knowledge Frostbite had given them, he was probably in some sort of denial. She wasn't certain if she'd be able to be as calm if she was the one affected.

What seemed like an hour later, although her sense of time could have been altered due to the darkness, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. It wasn't a moment too soon as Danny had fainted when they had first caught sight of the exit. Once outside, she and Tucker carefully sat Danny down, so they could take a quick break. Once she was certain Danny was settled, she took the chance to look around.

In front of them was a think yet somewhat dead looking forest, like what they first found themselves in when they fled from the first ghost. Behind her was the tunnel which had been cut into what appeared to be a rock outcropping. If it wasn't for the strange coloration, it could have looked like something found in the forests back home.

She started when Frostbite gave a quick whistle. Moments later, four more ghosts who had similar appearances to Frostbite appeared from within the forest. They had to be part of the clan the ghost had mentioned while they were escaping. The group exchanged a few words before Frostbite beckoned to the humans behind him.

"Children, do not be alarmed. These are members of my clan, and they will be assisting us in your escape. However, we need to stop at our realm first as we have an object that will help us locate when and where a portal will open. I would also like to assess Danny's health." The ghost frowned at the form of the unconscious teenager. "You have probably guessed this realm has a grip on him, but he is resisting the change more intensely than I have ever seen."

"That means he'll be able to come home with us, right?" Tucker's question was full of a wary hope.

"I am… uncertain. We may have to seek the wisdom of an older entity to know for sure."

…

The world wouldn't stop spinning when Danny finally came to. After rolling over and relieving the contents of his stomach, he finally was able to think clearly enough to take stock of his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be some type of medical room. Although the walls appeared to be made of ice, there was a light and almost friendly atmosphere about the place.

A sound caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see white creature duck out of the room. Puzzled at the reaction, it wasn't until it returned to the room with Frostbite that he realized it was simply retrieving the other ghost.

"You've wakened, young one!" Frostbite seemed exuberant as he examined him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got spun around in one of those centrifuges at space camp way too many times," Danny replied as he rubbed his head. Although the dizziness had subsided, he still felt somewhat ill. "Where are Sam and Tucker?"

"They are resting in another room. They've been eagerly waiting for news of your awakening."

Danny sighed in relief at the news. "Will I be able to see them?"

"Absolutely, but first I would like to discuss something with you," Frostbite sat down at a chair near the bed Danny was using. Somewhat unnerved by how serious Frostbite seemed to be, he carefully sat up and gestured for him to continue. "Your circumstance is nothing like what any of us have ever seen before."

"My circumstance?" That didn't sound good. Did it have to do with something Plasmius did to him?

"Yes. Before I explain, I need to ask if you've eaten anything while you were here?"

Danny shook his head. "Unless Plasmius fed me something when I was unconscious, then no. Wait," he paused for a moment as he tried to remember what Plasmius had told him, "maybe? Plasmius said something about taking care of me when I got lost when I was six."

"How odd, but as you must have returned home afterwards, it might have something to do with the unexpected results. Did Plasmius explain what he wanted from you?"

"He wanted me as his heir? I think?" Before he or Frostbite could say anything else, Danny felt something clench in his navel. Immediately afterwards, what seemed to be a flash of light momentarily blinded him. Terrified, he yelped and tried to move away. "What-what just happened?"

"This is what I have need to discuss with you." The ghost then rose and picked Danny off the bed before carefully setting him down in front of a mirror at the far end of the room.

It was the first time since he had come to this world that he had a chance to take stock of himself. However, the image looking back at him wasn't what he was expecting. His eyes weren't his usual blue but were instead an unnatural green. His skin had tanned, but the color somehow seemed unhealthy. His hair was now a silvery white instead of his black, and if he wasn't imaging it, he was admitting a slight glow. "What's wrong with me?" he asked in a horrified whisper.

Before he could get his answer, he felt the clench in his navel again. When the light subsided, he was greeted with the reflection of how he originally looked. Uncertain if his mind was playing tricks on him, he checked his hands and what he could of his bangs. Everything appeared normal.

"Usually," Frostbite started, which caused Danny to pause his examination and look at the ghost," when this world claims someone, they can no longer return to their human form. If they do, they often end up dead. You are somehow able to keep your human form, yet you produce a ghost form. In all my years, I have never seen such a thing."

"What exactly does that mean? What am I?"

"Unfortunately, I do no know. From what our tests showed, you have both a functioning human heart and a ghostly core, which is our equivalent of a heart. You've been switching back and forth between forms for some time."

======================================

Notes:

1) So… the Bigfoot mention. This is something that I've heard before. There are 2 major lines of thought regarding the famous cryptid. 1) Bigfoot is a flesh and blood creature, and 2) Bigfoot is an interdimensional, extraterrestrial, or spiritual entity (I seriously had a professor who believed Bigfoot could travel through dimensions. He even wrote papers about it). For this story, I'm going with the concept that people are catching brief glimpses of Frostbite and his people as they patrol areas known for spontaneous portal openings.

Interdimensional aspects are popping up more and more when it comes to paranormal topics, and they're a major theory when it comes to unexplained disappearances and weird creatures. Personally, I find the concept intriguing, but it's not something that can currently be proven. Though… there are a lot of rumors about how CERN is trying to do that. I know that group is just supposed to be studying particles and quantum physics, but there are sooooo many weird rumors about CERN.

2) For this story, I'm borrowing the type of idea where a ghost can't be created unless its former vessel (body) is used as a medium. You see things like this for Revenants, Strigoi Mort (Romanian ghost/zombie/vampire thing), and Gjenganger (Scandinavian ghost/zombie thing similar to a Dragur), and others. For those stories, the only way to get rid of them is to damage/destroy the body in specific ways which vary from region to region.

3) human centrifuges are real things. They are used by to help test the effects of G-forces on people, and astronauts receive training to handle said forces in them. They do, at least used to have, a version of it at space camp.

[purrincess-chat]

Kill Em With Kindness CH2

Thank you all so much for 3.5k (and growing)! You are all so wonderful, and I’m glad that you all enjoy my content enough to stick around and follow. I have a lot of plans for the future, and I just hope that you all will like them! Here is part two of this next spite filled adventure.

The opening scene and really this whole fic were inspired by lenore’s post from forever ago after Chameleon came out so shouts out! Also, I know several of you wanted me to tag you when I updated this, and I will do my best to get everyone, but I suggest getting an AO3 account and subscribing to the fic there instead. You’ll get an email whenever I update, and I always post on AO3 first before tumblr. 

Read on AO3

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Chapter 2

“You know, when you made these plans with Adrien, I thought you meant to be nice,” Tikki said chidingly in the bathroom as Marinette washed her hands several days later.

“I am being nice,” Marinette said with an innocent pout.

“You put a ‘Coping with loss’ book on Lila’s desk yesterday.”

“She said her hamster died.”

“And the safety glasses by the napkins in the cafeteria?” Tikki cocked a brow.

“Max was worried about losing an eye.”

“You did your science presentation on tinnitus.”

“Well, after the music festival with Juleka’s mom, I was worried about our hearing.” Marinette snatched a paper towel from the dispenser and dried her hands.

“Your history report on the greatest liars and cheats in history?”

“I became fascinated with P.T. Barnum’s life after that movie and finishing with a comparison of Volpina and Rena Rouge was just a modern-day example everyone could identify with.” Tikki gave her a look. “I got a standing ovation for that presentation.”

“What about the fact-checking robot you petitioned Max to make?”

“For Alya for her birthday! I’m just trying to help her become a better journalist because I’m a good friend.” Marinette placed her hands on her hips haughtily.

“Speaking of Alya, you’ve been telling her to just hang out with Nino lately.”

“She said she wanted to spend more time with him. I’m just being supportive of their relationship,” she shrugged.

“Marinette,” Tikki sighed.

“What? We can’t expose Lila, so we’re just playing along until she inevitably exposes herself which I will watch probably with popcorn,” Marinette said with a laugh. “It’s called kill em with kindness.”

“It’s called being petty.”

“Semantics,” Marinette waved it away, but Tikki was unamused. “Look, I can’t beat Lila at lies. She just makes more, so I’ve come up with another plan that doesn’t harm anyone and keeps everyone from getting mad at me for calling her out. I mean, you saw what happened the other day when she got me expelled. Scarlet Moth almost made a comeback, and I was on the frontlines.”

“I guess we can’t let that happen again…” Tikki reasoned, tapping her chin.

“Exactly. Lila wants everyone to believe those things, so I’m just gonna let her keep falling down the rabbit hole until she eventually hits the bottom,” Marinette said with a twisted grin. “If I happen to push her a little deeper along the way then so be it.”

“That’s very underhanded of you, Marinette.”

“I don’t like it when people use my friends and threaten me.” Marinette clenched her fists. “She almost got me akumatized multiple times now, and we can’t ever let that happen.”

“You’re right. Just be careful,” Tikki advised.

“Don’t worry, Tikki. Coming up with solutions is my superpower.” She winked as her phone buzzed in her pocket with an akuma alert. “Speaking of, we have a city to save. Tikki, transform me!”

***

“Ladybug!” Alya waved her down after the battle, brandishing her cell phone. “Do you have time for a quick interview?”

“A little,” she said with a shrug. “Make it quick.”

“Okay, okay, many of my viewers want to know what advice you have to help people stay positive to avoid being akumatized,” Alya began, pressing record.

“Well, I would recommend changing your perspective a little. Instead of being bummed out about failing a test, maybe commit to studying harder next time. If you get into a fight with your friends, just take a deep breath and remember that if they’re your real friends, they’ll forgive you.” Ladybug replied, placing her hands on her hips. “And if you do get akumatized, don’t make a big deal out of it. Chat Noir and I will always be there to save you. Negative emotions are a part of life just like positive ones, and everyone can have a bad day, even me.”

“Next question, with the passing of Hero’s Day, my viewers want to know what they can do to help you and Chat Noir.”

“Just do your best every day. Lift each other up instead of tearing each other down and do your best to help others who need it,” she said with a smile.

“My friend Marinette is like that, always helping others and helping us stay positive,” Alya remarked, and Ladybug bit back a smirk.

“I think I’ve met her a few times. She’s alerted me of a few akumas here and there.” She tapped her chin with a coy smile. “Not everyone has superpowers like me and Chat Noir, but there are a lot of ways to help out in your school, in your community, or even in your own home just like your friend. I think that everyone should strive to be a Marinette.”

She pressed a hand to her earrings as they beeped and palmed her yoyo, flashing Alya a peace sign. “Gotta go before I change back.”

“Thank you for your time, Ladybug!” Alya bounced on her heels, clutching her phone to her chest as Ladybug tossed her yoyo over the roof.

“Bug out!”

***

When Lila walked through the doors of the library that afternoon, she stopped short when her eyes locked with Marinette’s sitting at the table with Max. They held that same taunting innocence that made Lila’s blood boil, and she knew this was another one of her “nice” schemes.

“Oh, Lila, there you are,” she greeted with a smile, and Lila did her best to suppress an eye roll. “You haven’t been doing so well in class, so I’ve asked everyone to pitch in helping you catch up. Max is here to help you with your maths and science, Rose has agreed to help you with Literature, Sabrina can help you out with history, and then Nathaniel said he would be more than happy to help you with the art project we have due next week.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. Adrien agreed to help me,” Lila said, waving it away. “He should be here any minute.”

“Actually, he had a pop-up fencing lesson with Kagami this afternoon. She insisted because her mother is so hard on her to improve her technique, and Adrien is the only opponent who challenges her enough, so he just couldn’t say no,” Marinette explained.

“Adrien does score well across the board on all of his exams; however, his schedule guarantees an 87.96% chance that you won’t get sufficient help in order to pull your grades up in time, so Marinette reached out to the rest of us to step in on his behalf so you don’t fail the semester,” Max stated, and Marinette smiled sweetly beside him.

“As class representative, I’m just looking out for the needs of everyone,” she said, standing up. “Thanks again for your help, Max.”

“No problem, Marinette.” Max waved it away. “Oh, and I will have prototype designs for that software you asked me for later this week.”

“Awesome! You’re the best, Max!” Marinette clasped her hands together cheerfully. “Good luck, Lila, and let me know if you need any more help.”

Lila offered her a forced smile before her face fell into a scowl.

“Have fun at movie night!” Max called, waving as she left.

“Movie night?” Lila quirked a brow.

“Yes, many of our classmates are convening to watch movies at Kim’s house this evening, but seeing as it’s a movie I’ve already seen, I agreed to help you catch up on your studies tonight instead,” Max explained, pulling out his textbooks. “I’ve assembled 100 maths problems for us to work covering each section of material that you missed while you were traveling then I have a PowerPoint reviewing over our particle physics unit from last term-”

Lila glared at the door Marinette had gone through, gripping her pencil with white knuckles. She wasn’t quite sure what game Marinette was playing with her, but she was definitely up to something. No matter, she wasn’t about to be defeated so easily. After all, she had Gabriel Agreste on her side.

***

“How did Lila react to Max?” Adrien asked as Marinette grabbed a juice from the snack table.

“She looked half ready to strangle me,” Marinette replied, popping the tab and taking a sip.

“There isn’t going to be a lot I can do if my father decides to use her in photoshoots again, but I’ll help you in any way that I can outside of that,” he said, grabbing a cookie.

“What are you two whispering about?” Alya asked with a smirk, and they both stiffened.

“Uh, I was just asking Marinette if she wanted to sit with me during the movie,” Adrien said, nudging Marinette with his elbow.

“Y-Yeah, I- of course. You don’t mind, do you, Alya?” Marinette fumbled, and her friend gave a proud beam.

“Not at all. I was actually on my way to tell you that I want to sit with Nino.” She winked.

“Great. Then it’s settled.” Adrien waved as they moved to their bean bags.

“How did she sneak past your father anyway? I thought he was some impenetrable wall?” She asked, and Adrien threw his head back with a sigh.

“Your guess is as good as mine. Is it wrong I kind of wish she’d teach me?” He chuckled, popping a popcorn kernel into his mouth.

“Your dad let you come to this, didn’t he?” Marinette pointed out, but Adrien averted his gaze guiltily.

“I’m technically supposed to be meeting with my Chinese tutor right now, but I may have told him I lost my voice while also telling Gorilla that this was his address,” Adrien admitted, tapping his chin with an impish grin.

“Sneaky,” Marinette complimented, but he curled his shoulders.

“I feel kind of bad disobeying him, but all I want to do is see my friends. What’s so wrong with that?” He shrugged, and Marinette offered him a smile.

“Nothing, and I’m sure your dad will come around eventually,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Marinette. I really hope so.” He smiled weakly, his gaze softening on her. “You really are the kindest girl at school. Lila won’t know what hit her.”

Marinette bit back a smile, cheeks pink and heart pounding.

“Ya know, Adrien, maybe if your dad ever allows it we could-”

“Lila, Max, you made it!” Kim called, and Marinette felt her blood run cold.

“I’m a really fast learner,” Lila said, shooting Marinette a pointed glare, and her jaw clenched as Nathalie entered through the doorway beside her. “Oh, Adrien, I ran into Nathalie on the way over. She was worried about where you were, so I told her we could check here for you.”

“Adrien, you’re supposed to be at Chinese right now,” Nathalie scolded, and Adrien stiffened, face falling. “If you come now, I won’t tell your father about this.”

“Yes, Nathalie,” he said glumly, shooting Marinette an apologetic wince. “I’ll see you at school.”

“I’m sorry, Adrien. I didn’t realize you’d get in trouble.” Lila winced, pressing a hand to her lips in an ‘oops’ manner. “Nathalie said your father was worried.”

“It’s okay, Lila. It’s my fault,” Adrien said as he passed, head hung low as he made his way out with Nathalie.

When the door closed behind them, Lila curled her shoulders and turned to everyone with a pout.

“I’m sorry. I feel like I ruined everything. I didn’t realize that Adrien was here without permission,” she said, covering her face.

“Don’t sweat it, Lila. You didn’t know,” Nino assured her, and she peeked over her hands.

“I hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble,” she fretted, but Nino waved it away.

“Nah, Nathalie totally sticks up for him. If she says she won’t tell, then she won’t,” he said, and Lila relaxed a little.

“That’s a relief,” she sighed.

“Well, since Adrien had to bounce, why don’t you take his seat next to Marinette? You two have been getting along so great lately,” Alya suggested, pointing to the empty beanbag beside Marinette, and Lila flicked her gaze to meet Marinette’s with a grin.

“Do you mind, Marinette?” She asked, a challenging glint in her eye as if to say, ‘your move.’

“Not at all.” Marinette smiled sweetly as Lila paced over to sit down, and her phone buzzed in her pocket with a text from Adrien.

Well, looks like we have our work cut out for us.

Marinette glanced at Lila out of the corner of her eye, chatting with Rose about Kitty Section before typing a quick reply.

So it would seem.

*sigh here we go*

Tagging: @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @sam-spectra @posyfoot @captain-rice @aloeveraspeaks @somethingelsefine @crazylittlemunchkin @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @rlv29 @kaleigh-girlonfire @kokoa-vb @fanwarrior-at-your-service @liebredavinci @starberry-mina @dalandana @rose-sparks13 @foreverblindedbystars @a-6-yearold-inside @redheadeddemon16 @deerestaurelia @graduatedmelon @janaikam @zatanni @shamefulllove @lunar-wolf-warrior @french-dog-joke @magnitude101999 @pinkittwice @musicallylara @summersprit-sims @timelinegodabandoned @patronusxcharms @azureocean33 @zazzlejazzle 

[kyoupann]

Okay, actually, do you have anymore headcanons? I really enjoyed reading the writing and language headcanons, and if you have anymore I'd love to see them.

Sorry for taking so long to answer, this week was particularly busy orz

Hello, Silver <3 thank you again for the ask!!

Well, I don’t have more headcanons as detailed as the ones in the other posts, but I do have a pronunciation headcanon for best bros Twilight and Wind and one language headcanon for Wind.

SH/CH sounds and voice projection

It’s common to see Twi written with a Southern US accent to represent that he’s a farmer/from a rural area. And it’s a good detail when not overly exaggerated. My only problem with this is that uh… that there are more accents to show that. There are many languages and I’m sure they all have something they associate with farmers.

So here’s where my addition to this headcanon comes in: my state is considered to be in the ‘rural’ or ‘farmer’ area of my country and one of our speech details is that we tend to change the ‘sh’ sounds in words with ‘ch’ and vice versa. So, instead of saying ‘sushi’ sometimes we say ‘suchi’; instead of saying ‘chalk” we say “shalk”. It’s mostly unconscious, but it doesn’t happen all the time. It’s more like a… thing that happens ™ I can say both sushi and suchi in one sentence. So… uh, yeah Twi’s got that, ksksks. Normally, that type of changes doesn’t affect the meaning of a word. However, I do see how that could lead to some misunderstandings in English because these sounds do have a semantic effect in it (If Twi were to say choose, he could ‘slip-up’ and say shoose, which sounds like ‘shoes’). GOOD thing he speaks Hylian and not English, tho.

Another detail, also retrieved from my own accent, is that he talks loudly (: Not in a ‘I’ll shout every sentence I say to your face’ way, but in a he just talks a bit louder than the rest of the boys; boy’s got some nice voice projection and he doesn’t realise he’s doing it until someone asks him not to shout, lol. Also he’s very direct, if he doesn’t think about it too much he can just say stuff like “so, you want this or not?” which makes him sound angry and rude, but he is not ): that’s just the way he talks.

Tl;dr: twi says suchi rights and sounds angry most of the time.

As for Wind, he does the same thing with his ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ sounds Which is weird to the rest of the gang because he’s not a farmer? he’s a sailor. But this is just my attempt at trying to show that no speech detail is exclusive to one group of speakers :3c So you have two characters from different backgrounds, but share the same detail, how did that came to be? who knows! Language is unpredictable and that’s what makes it so much fun!

Another interesting headcanon I’ve been thinking about, but I have yet to do more research on it, is that Wind knows a bit of a whistled language. And it’s exactly what it sounds like, you communicate using whistles and imitating the tone of the spoken language. This language is good for communicating over long distances and it’s more efficient than shouting. I like to think of the whistled language from Outset to be more of a practical language used to alert the village of pirates/storms approaching, and used by the fishermen while out fishing rather than using it casually, which is still possible and some people might do it to mess with outsiders (:

thank you for asking, Silver! <3<3

(If you’re interested in my other headcanons you can check them here:

Language disorders / Handwriting / 4Sword boys’ handwriting / Semilingual Time   ) Also, feel free to reblog this with your own headcanons or drop an ask with them in my inbox. I’m always happy to discuss them <3