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fly-pow-bye · 4 years ago

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What’s Airing On Cartoon Network? (July 2021)

While we’re in a rather empty spot for the network, Cartoon Network decided to add another show that was made for HBO Max to its television lineup: Looney Tunes Cartoons! Also, The Fungies continue their airing on television, and there’s new episodes of Total Dramarama and DC Super Hero Girls. More after the break.

Craig of the Creek

For completion’s sake, I’ll list the Craig of the Creek episodes here too.

June 28th:

Capture the Flag Part 1: The Candy - When mysterious circumstances cause issues at the Trading Tree, Craig tries to save the day! (10:00 AM)

June 29th:

Capture the Flag Part 2: The King - The Creek gets help from an unlikely friend. (10:00 AM)

June 30th:

Capture the Flag Part 3: The Legend - Craig goes in search of answers, and finds a legend. (10:00 AM)

July 1st:

Capture the Flag Part 4: The Plan - Craig puts a plan into motion to save the Creek. (10:00 AM)

July 2nd:

Capture the Flag Part 5: The Game - It all comes down to this, the fate of the Creek is at stake! (10:00 AM)

DC Super Hero Girls

July 4th:

#AngerManagement - When Jess coerces Kara into addressing her anger management issues, Supergirl's superhero abilities become seriously compromised! (8:00 AM)

#HappyBirthdayZee - Zatanna makes a birthday wish that forces her to confront the dark side of her magic. (8:15 AM)

July 11th:

#TheGreenRoom - When Jessica is faced with a Green Lantern Corps disciplinary hearing, Hal appoints himself to be her Peer Advocate. (8:00 AM)

#EnterNightSting - Karen is given a mission to prevent the apocalypse by DeathSting, a super-cool future version of herself. (8:15 AM)

July 18th:

#WorldsFinest - When PR whiz Max Lord tells Batgirl and Supergirl he can improve their image by doing publicity stunts, the two friends forget what being a hero is really about. (8:00 AM)

#WorkingStiff - After Babs hooks Karen up with a job at the Burrito Bucket, the two heroes encounter a new villain, the scourge of the fast-food underworld, the Condiment King! (8:15 AM)

July 25th:

#MultipliciZee - Zee magically duplicates herself so she can shirk work and watch TV. Things get out of hand when her copies start to make copies of themselves! (8:00 AM)

#TheMinus - Diana receives her first ever A-minus and becomes convinced that she needs to work harder, however, in order to do so, she resorts to rather drastic measures. (8:15 AM)

The Fungies

July 9th:

Sir Tree's Boy - Seth agrees to take care of Sir Tree's wooden boy, Boy Joy, but quickly pawns him off on Mertha. When Seth discovers that Sir Tree needs his boy back in order to survive, he must stage a heist to steal Boy Joy back before it's too late! (8:00 AM)

Commander Beefy - Seth, eager to explore the stars and find a fellow explorer, sends a signal to space. But the explorer who receives the message, Commander Beefy, has his own shady plans for Earth... (8:15 AM)

July 16th:

The Fanciest Fungie - Seth, frustrated that the Fancies are too caught up in the Fanciest Fancy pageant to listen to his warning about a fungus-eating bacteria, enters the pageant to get his message out. But when he gets sucked into the pageant, he'll have to face the consequences of getting distracted. (8:00 AM)

Snake It to the Limit - When Seth agrees to let an athletic snake replace his arm so he can finally be good at volleyball, he learns he doesn't need a fancy snake arm to make his teammates happy; he just needs to try. (8:15 AM)

July 23th:

Nevin's Cocoon - After a beautiful statue makes Nevin self-conscious about his own looks, Seth helps seal Nevin in a cocoon so that he may turn into a beautiful butterfly. (8:00 AM)

Cool Kids - When Pascal becomes obsessed with a group of cool kids, Seth promises to use his science skills to help Pascal become cool. But is coolness as cool as it seems? (8:15 AM)

July 30th:

Mermove Out - Seth is having a hard time sharing a room with messy Pascal and needs a change. But instead of being honest about the situation, Seth makes Pascal a mermaid tail so that his brother can finally move out-into the ocean! (8:00 AM)

Happy Birthday Nancy - Seth wants his mom to have the best birthday ever, so he creates his own currency in order to buy her an expensive gift. But he learns a little too late that counterfeiting is a crime, putting Nancy's birthday at risk of being ruined. (8:15 AM)

Looney Tunes Cartoons

July 5th:

Curse of the Monkeybird/Marvin Flag Gag: Deflating Planet/Harm Wrestling - Daffy Duck and Porky Pig search for hidden treasure. No one messes with arm-wrestling champ Yosemite Sam - until Bugs Bunny comes along. (9:00 AM)

Big League Beast/Hole Gag: Mini Elmer/Firehouse Frenzy -When Bugs overstays his welcome, an evil scientist unleashes Gossamer to get rid of him. Daffy Duck and Porky Pig make lousy firefighters. (9:15 AM)

July 6th:

Boo! Appetweet/Hole Gag: Plunger/Bubble Dum - Sweet victory turns into a nightmare when Sylvester fears he's haunted by Tweety's ghost. Daffy Duck faces off with a pesky piece of gum. (9:00 AM)

Pain in the Ice/Tunnel Vision/Pool Bunny - A hungry Sylvester sets his sights on Tweety, the ice skater. On a scorching hot day, Bugs Bunny makes himself at home in Elmer Fudd's pool. (9:15 AM)

July 7th:

Pest Coaster/Rhino Ya Don't - Bugs tries to ride a roller coaster, but Yosemite Sam is determined to stop him. At the zoo, Sylvester's lunch plans are foiled by a rhino. (9:00 AM)

Buzzard School/Marvin Flag Gag: Giant Alien Mouth/Wet Cement - Bugs Bunny enrolls Beaky Buzzard in Rabbit Hunting 101. Daffy wreaks havoc on Porky's wet cement. (9:15 AM)

July 8th:

Siberian Sam/Hole Gag: Fishing Pole/Fleece and Desist/Marvin Flag Gag: Mirror/Split Screen Marvin - In need of a new hat, Siberian Sam feasts his eyes on Bugs Bunny. Sam Sheepdog protects his herd from a hungry Ralph Wolf. (9:00 AM)

Grilled Rabbit/Cactus if You Can/Shower Shuffle - Elmer Fudd interrogates Bugs about a theft. Wile E. Coyote's plan to catch the Road Runner gets prickly. Daffy and Porky have shower troubles. (9:15 AM)

July 9th:

Overdue Duck/Hole Gag: Bees/Vincent Van Fudd - At the library, Porky Pig tries to silence a troublemaking Daffy Duck. Bugs Bunny interrupts Elmer Fudd's attempt to be a great artist. (9:00 AM)

Hare Restoration/TNT Trouble/Plumbers Quack - A self-interested Bugs gives Elmer Fudd dating advice. Wile E. Coyote runs into some dynamite problems. Elmer's leaky sink is no match for Daffy. (9:15 AM)

July 12th:

Daffuccino/Hole Gag: Moving Hole/Kitty Livin - Before his new coffee shop goes from grand opening to grand closing, Porky must impress an influential customer. Sylvester may have swallowed more than he can chew when he manages to trap Tweety... inside his stomach! (9:00 AM)

Chain Gangster/Telephone Pole Gag: Sylvester Car Jack Lift/Falling for It - Two bank robbers need Bugs' help to break out of jail. Daffy convinces Porky to go skydiving but forgets one important little thing... (9:15 AM)

July 13th:

Taziator/Marvin Flag Gag: Little Martian/Climate Control - Bugs faces off against Taz in a Roman coliseum. Wile E. Coyote orders a weather control kit, but his chances of catching the Road Runner remain cloudy. (9:00 AM)

Lepre-conned/Flag Won't Stay Straight/Brave New Home - Bugs is looking for Hawaii but finds Ireland and an angry leprechaun instead. Porky's new home has all the modern amenities anyone could hope for, including a computerized assistant - but the voice recognition software could use an update. (9:15 AM)

July 14th:

The Case of Porky's Pants/Fully Vetted - Detective Daffy takes on the case of Porky's missing pants. Tweety's trip to the veterinarian's office gives Sylvester the perfect opportunity for a lunchtime treat. (9:00 AM)

E-Rabbitcator/ Planet Split in 2/The Sales Duck - Bugs must outsmart a new technological foe. Elmer is ready for bed, but persistent salesman Daffy stands in the way of a good night's rest. (9:15 AM)

July 15th:

Pitcher Porky/Cherry Picker/Duck Duck Boom - Benchwarmer Porky finally gets his chance to shine on the pitching mound. With the game on the line, he needs all the help he can get - even if it's from Daffy. Elmer sets his sights on Daffy, but who's hunting whom? (9:00 AM)

Postal Geist/Anvil/Fudds Bunny - Porky and Daffy deliver packages to a haunted manor. Elmer's plan to disguise himself as a bunny to lure Bugs out of his hole doesn't quite go as planned. (9:15 AM)

July 16th:

Shoe Shine-nanigans/Multiply and Conquer/Parky Pig - Elmer visits Daffy for a quick shoeshine. Porky is running late for movie night but finding a parking spot is easier said than done. (9:00 AM)

Shell Shocked/Daffy Dentist - Bugs races against Cecil Turtle for the "fastest thing in New York City" title. The only thing more painful than Porky's sore tooth is a visit to dentist Daffy. (9:15 AM)

Total Dramarama

July 5th:

Breaking Bite - Beth becomes the big dog on campus after she bites Duncan, but being the big dog is a dangerous thing, especially when you didn't actually bite anybody! (5:00 PM)

July 6th:

I Dream of Meanie - When Cody keeps screaming in his sleep Gwen and Duncan take a trip into Cody's dreams to see what is scaring him. (5:00 PM)

July 7th:

Squirrels Squirrels Squirrels - Courtney's attempt to make Chef a better teacher fails when a squirrel gets his hands on her mind-control device. (5:00 PM)

July 8th:

Say Hello to my Little Friends - After telling the kids he will not miss them over the long weekend Chef locks himself into the school and finds out he was very, very wrong. (5:00 PM)

July 12th:

WaterHose-Five - The hottest day of the year and a broke air conditioner leads to a water battle of epic proportions to determine who controls the garden hose. (5:00 PM)

July 13th:

Cody the Barbarian - Cody is set to inherit a video game empire from his long-lost uncle, but only if he and his friends have what it takes to conquer a fantastical live-action video game. (5:00 PM)

July 14th:

TP2: Judgement Bidet - When the city experiences a toilet paper shortage Beth and Harold investigate and discover it's their old rival Sewer Mike who is the mastermind behind it all. (5:00 PM)

July 15th:

Dial B for Birder - Harold uncovers a secret plot that Chef's new parrot is hatching and tries to save his teacher only to discover that Sugar figured it out before him. Or did she? (5:00 PM)

July 19th:

A Hole Lot of Trouble - When rain derails an outside game of catch someone suggests they play it inside. This prompts Izzy to lead the group through her wildly imaginative worst-case scenario. It's an adventure so scary that the kids many never play again. (5:00 PM)

July 20th:

A Tell Tale - After Owen's BBF, Noah, goes through a growth spurt, Owen fears losing his friend and takes drastic action. (5:00 PM)

July 21st:

Chews Wisely - When the floor ends up covered in gum on the day of a big bubble blowing contest, Sugar decides she might help herself win by helping her friends get stuck to the floor. (5:00 PM)

July 22nd:

A Dingo Ate My Duncan - When all their classmates are replaced with well-behaved Australian doppelgangers in a school exchange program, Lightning and Cody start getting suspicious. (5:00 PM)

#fpb news #dc super hero girls #the fungies #looney tunes #looney tunes cartoons #cartoon network #total dramarama

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sylviareviar · 1 year ago

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"Gah!!" Just barely, Star managed to duck under her glittering shield just as Queen swung at her. The sound of her knuckles clanging against her weapon of choice reverberated throughout Mementos, and the force of the blow caused Star to skid back several feet as a result.

"Queen's been brainwashed!" Oracle's voice exclaimed through their heads. "Star, get out of there!"

As a fighter, generally, Star was much weaker than the other Thieves. Her smaller frame and weaker constitution made it so her hits did not hit as hard, so her swinging a sword around was mostly either for show or for emergencies. Her real strength was in her agility. Not that she was a fast runner, by any means-- Skull was the fastest Thief overall-- but Skull was no flyer.

Ordinarily, she would do as Oracle said. The smart decision right now would be to back away and take to the skies, to avoid Queen's rage. However, the only person who could chase her down even if she lifted into the sky would be Queen herself (Mementos didn't exactly have sprawling ceilings, after all). Before Star could consider a way to escape, Queen dove in swinging once more. Star had no choice but to duck and roll, leaving her in a vulnerable position.

Her golden-gloved hand flew to her face. "Peter Pan! Terazi!"

Her Persona, Peter Pan, was a boy covered in twigs, wood, leaves, and vines, sporting angel wings and a wooden pan flute strung around his neck. This was the result of Sylvia's hard work to establish boundaries and lean into her childish side that refused to die. With a jolly little jingle from the pan flute, Peter Pan summoned vines from the ground of Mementos beneath Queen's feet, snaking around her in an attempt to trap her.

There was one real problem when it came to fighting the more craftier shadows and that was when one used a Charm-related skill. It was even worse when the skill landed.

Makoto was not a fan of being brain washed so once she eventually came to her senses she would be in a foul mood. But her current plans were to pivot on her heel and take a hard swing at whoever was behind her.

#🌸 ~ persona 5 verse ~ 🌸#🌸 ~ in character ~ 🌸#🌸 ~ post-palace verse ~ 🌸#🌸 ~ Makoto Niijima (nijimx) ~ 🌸#i know we didn't discuss this or anything but i hope this is ok #i think maybe i just wanted a chance to use sylvia as a phantom thief

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teamjaco · 5 years ago

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A Case for Cadence

Running is more than just a controlled fall.

There are many factors that come into play when it comes to running well, running fast, and (perhaps most importantly) running injury-free. This is where cadence comes in. Most runners nowadays have likely heard of cadence. Until sometime in the 80s, the word was mostly uttered as no more than a casual aside held over soggy cups of warm Gatorade. But in recent years, the topic has been given much more study and consideration. Cadence is the speed or rate at which your feet hit the ground over a period of time. Another way to look at it is the number of steps you take per minute. While runners can often get bogged down in all of the ways they can track their run data now, this metric is one that is worth a second look. I will use my own tale of pain to illustrate why.

For the past year, I had been running injury free. I was training consistently and had run many miles at least five times a week, every week, for at least a year. Then a friend who I hadn't run with before asked me to go on a run with him. I don't normally run with other people, but I took him up on the invitation. We had 20 miles planned that day. While we were running on that ill-fated day, I realized his goal pace for that run was much slower than what I was used to running. At the time, I didn't think this would be a problem. The run went fine, but at the end of it I noticed a strange pain in my ankle. The next day, it was difficult to walk without a searing ache snaking through the inside of my ankle like some kind of dark convoy being led straight into a pain cave. All I could think was, "What happened?!"

As a physical therapist, I started analyzing the run to figure out what went wrong. I needed to figure out why walking was difficult when just a few weeks prior I had run my fastest marathon time ever.

In the end, it all came down to cadence.

Thinking about how I was running with my friend and looking at my run data from my watch, I realized I had changed the way I was running to better match his speed. Instead of just putting less power through my legs, I had slowed my cadence and was actively braking my speed with every step. This meant more force going through my legs. Over the course of 20 miles, this equated to a drastic increase in impact on my bones, and an injury that lasted for months. This is all something that I knew could happen. I often coach patients who are returning to running on the benefit of increasing their cadence rate. So here I am now - finally healed and offering you this article to help prevent the pain that I got to enjoy for a few months.

Studies show that increasing your cadence decreases the ground reaction force (think, impact) going through your legs. A great deal of elite-level runners run with a cadence of at least 180 steps per minute or more. In addition to lowering the impact on your knees and the rest of your legs, increasing cadence has other benefits as well. Often when working with runners in our clinic, I find that simply increasing their cadence can help correct a lot of other problems with their running form. Over-striding, or reaching too far forward with your legs while running, is one of the big problems increasing cadence helps to correct. Ideally, your feet should be landing more or less underneath your hips. By having quicker steps, you have less time to reach out with your legs, and so your footfall becomes more optimal in most cases. This can especially be of benefit when running on trails. In Hawaii, many of the trails are covered in roots, rocks and any number of fun things to trip over. By quickening your steps, you will become lighter on your feet and more adept at being able to change your angle or quickly step over a possible toe-smasher.

With all good things comes a caveat, however. It's also important to consider this point: if it ain’t broke, don't fix it. If you have been running for years without injury and have a somewhat slower cadence - you keep doing you. There are professional runners out there who run below the "holy grail" number of 180. It is not a cure-all, and shouldn't be considered as such. Every athlete is different and this should be just one more tool in your toolbox to aid in injury prevention. I am not a big proponent of changing things just to change them. Altering cadence may be most beneficial for the runner who is perpetually injured (most studies show that well over half of all runners eventually sustain an injury.) By trying out a quicker cadence, you may be able to help yourself step off the injury train and start gliding down the road of pain-free running.

So how to get started? The easiest way is to use something you probably take with you on most runs: your phone. There are plenty of free metronome apps out there you can download. Get one of those, set the beat to 180, and start running. As you run, try to match your foot-fall with the sound of the metronome beat. At first it may seem like you are running like a cartoon character. Your feet will probably feel like they're going much faster than they want to. Also, be prepared to be a little more winded than usual - that's OK. After a few runs like this, your body will start to adapt and you will be able to settle into your new cadence. After a week or two of regular running with a faster cadence, you most likely will no longer need the metronome to keep your feet moving quickly.

We hope this guide helps lower your chances of getting injured while you are out there running. But if an injury does occur, you can see your physician for a physical therapy referral to Jaco Rehab.

Stay happy, healthy and strong!

Article by: August Kryger, PT, DPT

Photo by: August Kryger, PT, DPT

#cadence #running #choosept #physicaltherapist #dpt #run

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rajendrakumarsaini-blog · 8 years ago

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#snake #rat killer snake #saap #indian snak #tej daudne wala saap #Fastest runner snake #dangerous snake #longest snake

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pandjseetheworld · 3 years ago

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City Tour

We woke up with Jacks breakfast that was huge and delicious. A much needed breakfast for a big city tour day. We were going to see 4 different archeological sites around Cusco and hear about the history and culture.

Our first stop was a place called Saqsywaman pronounced “sexy woman” to the Westerner. The Ketchwan’s (this is name name of the Incan descendentes, not Incans, because there was only one Incan the King. The people speak the Ketchwan language so they are known as the Ketchwan people), believe the world I divided into three different layers. There is the Snake level, the Puma level, and the Condor level. The snake is the bottom level and is considered the underworld. The Puma level is the physical and material world we live in today and lastly is the Condor level the spiritual world. There is a lot of philosophy used within the culture that is used to be very ritually based around the elements. The reason I mention this is because the main landmarks around Cusco can be connected like stars in a constellation to form a Puma and our first stop at Saqsywaman is located at the head in the puma. Unfortunately, the majority of the places we visited today were just ruins because the Spaniards invaded Cusco way back when and destroyed the majority of their sacred areas. Saqsywaman is our out in a zig zag formation from an areal view and you can see all the destroyed stone walls and buildings. There is was a sun festival held here where a black llama would be sacrificed to the sun.

Our next stop was Tambomachay and is a Labrinth or Maze that led to cave where the Inca (the king) was mummified. On top of the can the Ketchwan’s carved out two knobs in the top large stone so when the summer solstice came around and shown down on the rock the two knobs formed the eyes of a puma in the shadows. These people were incredibly smart, it’s amazing to think of all their remarkable advancements and architecture, that us humans today would use massive machinery to create or even think of.

Our third stop was called Puka Pukara which means the color red in Ketchwan. This place was used as a pit stop for runners/messengers who would send messages to and from village to village. Our guide, William, told us that there is a race held in Cusco on the Incan Trail to see who can run it fastest. And the fastest time (of the 4 day trek were embarking on tomorrow) people can un in 3hrs and 45mins which blew all our minds! The porters who gentleman who carry visitors luggage along the trek are extremely fit, acclimated, and run it weekly so they are very well trained. He compared their running speed to the speed of the messengers way back when.

Next we visited the water temple. This is where the Ketchwan’s would get water, bath, and preform ritual ceremonies to clear their souls. The Ketchwan’s were extremely spiritual and believe highly in the Sun God, Moon God, and the elements of Earth.

Lastly, we headed to the Sun Temple. This was an updated museum that the Spanish didn’t destroy when they invaded because when they saw it they noticed in the morning the building was glowing. There’s a place where the sunshines through the building and reflects off some gold and makes the place glow. Even the Spaniards thought this place was magical and didn’t destroy it. It has been updated a bunch since then and now holds some very important pieces or artwork, a beautiful garden, and a detailed explanation and breakdown of how the Ketchwans were able to build such amazing structures.

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ask-the-friendly-ink-demon · 7 years ago

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Parasite Breeds [For The Event]

1-worms [[basically act like facehuggers kinda]] 2- Snakes [[act like chestbursters expect more vicious]] 3-drones [[the first and weakest breed of parasite besides being the size of a raptor]] 4- scouts [[the second breed, slightly more durable than drones but not as fast]] 5- runners [[like their name gives they are the fastest breed and slightly less durable than scouts and drones since they rely on their speed]] 6- flyers [[the fourth breed, they basically act like vampire bats and bees almost but more animalistic]] 7-Brutes [[the fifth breed, the more durable and the more aggressive of parasites, despite being the size of a rhindo they can go pretty fast when charging. they are also known to fight other parasites for food but they usually don't kill eachother thanks to the queen]] 8- Goons [[the sixth and more rarest of breeds, they are slightly more docile and tame towards anything sooo don't expect them to attack ya unless ya piss it off, they don't response to the queen as well too, plus they look more like dogs and tigers mixed into one with an xenomorph]] 9- Guardians [[the seventh and more humanoid looking breed of parasites, they are mainly but mostly females though but there more stronger than all the other breeds, on par almost with the ink demon]] 10- Elites [[the newest and most recent breed, these new parasite like species are more stronger, faster, smarter and bigger than the guardians and are mainly males as of now there are only three]] 11- The Queen [[READACTED]]

#Event: Return To Joey Drew's Studios #long post

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clownao · 7 years ago

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Okay how about the AssClass kids with miraculouses?

Nagisa- Snake miraculous. He’s symbolized by a snake. He’s also quick and deadly without being noticed by his enemy, so that’s like a snake.

Karma- Butterfly miraculous (?), like as in a “good” way not the “Hawkmoth” way. He’s good at identifying and using other people’s skills (as seen in the civil war arc), so he can use the butterfly miraculous to utilize everyone’s strengths via akumatization.

Kayano- Bunny miraculous. She’s symbolized by a bunny. She’s also sweet and friendly like a bunny.

Korosensei- Octopus miraculous. I believe this doesn’t need an explanation.

Karasuma- Crow miraculous. The first kanji of his surname is 烏 which means crow, and he’s drawn as a crow in an official drawing. And crows are black, like Karasuma’s hair (this is a crap point).

Bitch-sensei- Peacock miraculous. She kinda fits the aesthetic. Not to mention peacocks are seen as one of the most beautiful birds, which fits Bitch-sensei. And ooh she and Karasuma both have bird miraculouses.

Okay the main characters are down, so I’m going to try and fit the official miraculouses in the ML series to other AssClass kids.

Fox miraculous- Most likely to be Yada. She’s good at infiltration so she could be sly and deceive people.

Bee miraculous- Nakamura (trust me it’s not only because of the colour scheme). We don’t know much about bee miraculous’ symbolization, so because Chloé got it, I think it might have something to do with boldness because Chloé is a bold person. Nakamura also isn’t afraid to convey her opinions.

Turtle miraculous- Maybe Hara? I don’t know about this one. It means protection and stability, and I think (Mama) Hara has these. There’s also a theory that the turtle miraculous can heal, and that suits Hara too.

Cat miraculous- We know it means bad luck. So I was thinking maybe Okajima has bad luck because he got attacked by a ton of things when the class was making their way to the main campus for assembly. But… I don’t really favour the idea of him getting the cat miraculous. So I’ll give it to Hayami, because she likes cats/kittens and the black suit can blend in easily with the shadows, and she doesn’t like standing out. The cat miraculous also gives you night vision and I guess that could be a reference to Hayami having good vision to be one of the ace snipers.

Ladybug miraculous: Eh, maybe Kurahashi? She likes bugs. She’s also cheerful and has this aura around her (as noted by Hazama) that makes people happy. That could be a reference to the ladybug luck.

(they’re all girls)

Other characters:

Maehara- Lion miraculous? It’s mainly because his LINE icon is a lion.

He’s also brave and his hair kinda reminds me of a lion’s mane…

Okano- Monkey miraculous. She’s athletic and flexible and her code name is “Amazing Ape” or something.

Kimura- Cheetah miraculous. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal in the world. Kimura is the quickest runner in 3-E.

Chiba- Eagle miraculous. It’s because eagles have good vision and Chiba has good vision too.

Hazama: Spider miraculous. I think she’s symbolized by a spider in the civil war. And people are usually afraid of spiders, like how they’re scared of Hazama.

Terasaka: Bear miraculous. Big and beefy.

Kanzaki: Swan miraculous. Beautiful and elegant.

Itona- White Tiger miraculous. Symbolizes strength. And Itona's colour scheme reminds me of white tigers. His eyes are a bit catlike.

Isogai- Goldfish miraculous. Goldfish symbolizes wealth and harmony, and while Isogai values harmony a lot, getting the goldfish miraculous might be referencing that he wants the be richer because he's poor.

Also is Gakuho going to have a centipede miraculous lol.

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panticwritten · 7 years ago

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Breaking Furnace - Solitary Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Rules Are Made to be Broken

Table of contents!

All of my writing!

After this, there is only one more chapter in Solitary! I’ve got a great line up for the In-Between Collection between this and Death Sentence. One of them will just be a series of snapshot scenes of Connor chilling in the In-Between with Virtuoso and the splinter.

(I’ve had to change quite a bit of formatting to post this on tumblr. If you want to read this chapter with its original formatting, you can do so HERE.)

Remember that this is a daydream taking place in the Escape From Furnace universe, so keep that in mind if you haven’t read EFF.

Word count: 3503

Content warnings for this chapter:

Amnesia

Self harm

Feel free to message me if I’m missing any.

The final chapter will be up on September 14th at 7pm PST.

~-S-~

I rewind the feed again in the hopes that how they got out might become clearer.

Every monitor turns to static, white noise obscures everything useful. I check before the glitch to find nothing out of the ordinary. After a four minute period without video, the three inmates duck into the infirmary to free two of their coconspiritors.

There’s no sign of anyone entering or leaving Cross’s office after we left to spar. They just stopped working for four minutes.

I let it play this time to track the five of them through the compound. They don’t explore or hesitate once, they run directly back to the cavern beyond the South Door. Back to where Cross found them.

They pause next to the cave wall.

And they’re gone.

I furrow my brows and roll it back to watch it again.

The feed’s too blurry to see exactly what it is, but there must be an opening in the wall here. They duck inside and seem to vanish altogether. They’ve disappeared into the tunnels again.

On my way out, I trigger my com.

“I know where the inmates are. I’m in pursuit.”

A response I don’t expect comes immediately.

“Stay where you are,” Cross demands. “They will be returning shortly.”

I stop at the fork in the hall that leads to either the infirmary or the southern door. I think about it. How can he be so sure? Not that they’ll get the punishment they deserve, but that they’ll be back?

I tap the com.

“I won’t be long.”

I rip the com from my collar and drop it on the ground before setting off toward the tunnels. I still hear the static, a tinny scream, but I don’t look back. I can ask forgiveness later. Whether it will be granted is questionable, but leaving the inmates out there isn’t something I can do.

Further down the hall, the echo of another com approaches. Cross’s voice snakes toward me, the apparent distance doing nothing to mute the fury in his voice.

“... south door, to be detained on sight. Do not let her leave the compound.”

I pause and glance at a doorway halfway between where I stand and the corner I’m approaching. I consider running for a split second. I could hide in the room, stay out of sight. The thought is infantile at best, and useless at worst. The voice acknowledging the order is much too close for me to hide from.

Instead, I continue down the hall with my head held high as the soldier rounds the corner.

He drags a rat’s carcass behind him and hesitates when he sees me. His free hand jerks toward his collar. Then his hand drops, a strange resolve in his eyes, and he stands aside to allow me by.

I hesitate. He’s ignoring a direct order from Cross. He jerks his head the way he came, signalling me to continue. I don’t need to be told twice.

As I pass, he flashes me a knowing grin. Something is off, it feels like I’m missing half of the exchange.

The moment passes and we go our separate ways. I can’t afford to puzzle over a soldier’s motives. I’ll be in hot water of my own when I return to the compound.

The broken door at the southern edge of the prison opens into a cavern still lit with spotlights. The walls, being carved from rough stone, aren’t smooth or uniform. Scars and clefts dot them on every side.

I don’t see the tunnel beyond until I duck underneath one of them. From far away, it looks like a normal shadow, but it leads into a smaller cave. It’s too dark to see in at first, but the nectar soon accommodates to turn the inky darkness into a hazy twilight.

I consider, for a moment, taking Cross up on his offer to alter my eyes.

The cramped cave almost feels like a dead end, but it can’t be. I peer behind a pile of boulders, run my hands along the walls, until I spot a ridge at the top of the sloped side of the chamber.

Divots and ridges pockmark the wall. I hardly consider it before I start the climb.

“Stop. Listen.”

Surprise at hearing the voice for the first time since I discovered the inmates missing halts me more than its quiet command. I do press myself close to the wall, though, and strain my ears. If I had continued, my focus on my grip, I might not have heard them coming.

“I don’t know why—”

♥️♥️♥️C♥️♥️♥️

“—you’re worried about them,” Simon grumbles. “If they catch us we’re dead, same as the warden.”

“I know,” I say, voice low. “But this means the game is different to Cross now. It certainly isn’t about stopping us.”

“Yeah, I get it, but what Cross wants isn’t important right now. Focus on getting out and we might be able to avoid him completely.” Stubbornness makes him sound childish, like he’s trying to convince himself.

“But if we get caught? Then it’s all that matters. Personally, I’m starting to think—”

“It don’t matter,” Kevin declares.

Several murmurings of agreement follow, and I shake my head. We stop at the edge of the ridge. No one makes a move to go down first.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have had Alex do it this time,” Zee frets. “He’s always the bait.”

“He lost,” I say drily.

“Still, it doesn’t seem—”

“What, fair? Nothing about this is fair,” I counter. “Let’s just go.”

I drop to my knees and ease myself down the angled wall. Something has me on edge, and it tastes different than garden variety fear. It’s not coming from me, not from my friends.

Am I close enough to feel what Sawyer’s feeling, even now that they’ve cut me off? But, then, why would they be afraid?

I pause and peer down at the crack in the wall. Shadows dip and sway, so I assume Cross has his search party out there for us. He’s waiting to tear us apart, but that doesn’t help me at all.

“Find her,” Cross barks.

I freeze.

“Wait!” Simon hisses above my head.

“The rest of the prison is secure, but this cavern will be full of rats in mere minutes.” Cross pauses, drumming footsteps begin. “She must be back in the compound by then.”

“Perry’s in the tunnels?” Kevin whispers.

“Who’s the fastest runner?” Donovan this time, his voice louder than I would prefer. We’re wasting time.

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll do it,” I say, eyes already closed.

I send my awareness directly through the rock. It doesn’t take long to find the Steeple, to find Alex on the outcropping with his flashlight pointed up.

“Come on, lazy pieces of shit, I’m ready to get out of this prison!” He bellows before I can stop him.

In the wake of his cry, the thick silence could kill me. I follow his flashlight. I hardly dare to breathe.

One pair of silver eyes appears above. Then another, a horde of rats descending from above.

I open my eyes back on the rock wall just as the others are beginning to retreat back into the tunnels. I can’t keep my grip on the wall, but I have enough control over my lungs to warn them.

“It’s too late!” I shriek, suspended in the air. “The rats!”

The scream of a rat in the distance chills my blood.

I hit the ground.

My head cracks against the solid rock. Lights pop in my vision, but I manage to roll onto my hands and knees. Everything hurts.

I look up to the crack in the wall to find Cross much too close for my liking. Fury twists his features, but he’s not looking at me.

The fear siphoning into my head shifts and Sawyer streaks out from behind the boulders I’m supposed to be hiding behind. I call out to them, beg them to wait, but they duck into the brightly lit cavern without looking back.

Hands seize me and drag me forward. The others must have made it down. I have to resist the urge to follow Sawyer when we press behind the boulders in a pile.

Cross has fled already, though Sawyer stands stock still in the entrance to the prison. They watch a line of blacksuits, who salute them before turning their guns our way. That’s six of them, all in a line, loyal to us and our plans.

Six loyal blacksuits about to die.

Sawyer turns tail just as Alex dives behind the boulder with us. The rats follow in moments, a shot ringing out when the first of them barrels into the cavern.

~-S-~

The inmates were talking about me.

Cross leans against his desk, obviously waiting for me. His glare bores into me, but I merely shrug. He straightens up as I pass, as I ignore him, as I watch the screens in the security room.

I already know the inmates know me, but one went so far as to call after me.

The rats have decimated the soldiers in the cavern already. I stare at the crack in the wall, still barely visible on the black and white screen. Cross clears his throat, but I barely spare him a glance.

My fingers dig at an itch on my arm.

“When this is over—”

“Tear my throat out later,” I grumble. “We still have specimens in the tunnels.”

Arnold thought I would let him out of the infirmary.

“The situation was under control,” Cross volleys back. “I was a fool to think you had learned to follow orders.”

Cross knew the inmates would return. How?

A blurred group flashes from the crack, across the screen. I immediately turn to leave the room, but Cross catches my arm before I get very far. Still, I glare at the door instead of him.

“Let me go.”

I know he won’t. He’s already furious enough without me goading him.

“Listen to me.” His grip tightens, and I finally look him in the eyes.

Cold fire streaks through my blood, through the nectar. Flickering images, old memories of war torn fields and broken soldiers overlay my vision. I don’t look away until he jostles me.

“I will retrieve the escaped inmates,” He snarls. “You will wait in this office until I come back to deliver your punishment. Do you understand?”

Footsteps thunder past in the corridor outside. Every part of me screams to go after them, but I’m stuck here with Cross.

Even so, I nod. He doesn’t seem ready to take that as an answer. He tightens his grip further and a jolt of pain shoots up my arm. I wince.

“Yes. I understand.”

He shoves me back and lets go. I stumble back into the wall and watch him stalk from the room. I don’t know what he’s going to choose for my punishment, but it sure as hell isn’t going to be good.

So, I cross to the chair in front of Cross’s desk, take a seat, and wait.

Something is wrong here, but I can’t put my finger on it.

I scratch my arm and allow my eyes to wander.

I look up at the flag behind the desk, examining the insignia of Furnace Penitentiary. Three circles connected by a triangle, it’s supposed to be an honor to wear it. The longer I look at it, the more uneasy I become. I only look away when the headache I’ve come to associate with the voice in my head flares up.

“What are you doing?”

I nearly jump out of my skin. The panic of the presence to my left doesn’t help. I twist around, but there’s still nothing there. I don’t like that I’m feeling emotions from it now.

I face forward again and huff.

“What do you mean?”

“Your // arm.”

I have to strain my ears to hear it this time, but I look down on impulse when it registers. Nectar sticks under my fingernails. I lift my right hand and study the glittering violet and black until I realize what it means.

I pull my left sleeve up to reveal a black stain on my shirt and long tracks of claw marks up my forearm. Nectar clogs the scratches, fresh scabs dotting the skin like scales.

I didn’t even feel it.

“Keep your pants on,” I mutter. “Are you gonna yell at me, too?”

“No.”

“What is it, then?”

Only a faint residue of liquid nectar remains on my arm. I roll my sleeve back down and wipe my hand on my jacket while the voice struggles to piece together a sentence between bursts of static.

“You // deserve better than // Cross // hiding things.”

“How would you know if Cross is hiding anything from me?” I shoot back. I rub my temples, though I know the headache isn’t going anywhere.

“I know // more than // you do.”

I shoot a glare over my shoulder and hunch further down. I wish it would just leave. I’m in enough trouble without getting distracted.

“If you know so much, why do you sound like a broken radio?”

“I’m // breaking // the rules.”

Rules?

It doesn’t clarify at all. In fact, it stays completely silent

Rude.

Still, there have been some fishy things.

Cross had to have known about the first escape attempt. He had the inmate files ready so quickly. He didn’t seem upset in the least; in fact, he looked like he was having a great time.

He also didn’t seem very bothered that the inmates escaped the second time, only losing his temper when I didn’t listen to him. He sent the suits after me rather than the prisoners.

Not to mention, he knew the rats were going to attack!

“What do you remember from your time away?”

I straighten up and, for once, try to remember.

The last thing I remember before coming here was—what? Working in the prison? Fussing with the nectar in the lab? Nothing really jumps out as the last thing I did, just that these are things that happened.

I remember being scared, weak, out of control, but there isn’t anything actually attached to that. Just the dark, the pounding in my chest. I don’t know what was happening or where I was.

Then there’s the anger. The hate the nectar now feeds on when I think about—

“Tell me. Why do you hate Connor Sawyer?”

For a moment—one, terrifying moment—I don’t know.

I shake my head and the simpering nostalgia clears away. I need to go to the screening rooms. Maybe the voice will go away then.

The voice asks again.

This time, the anger sears my skin.

“He wants to ruin everything. The world will be a better place when we’re done, and he has this one chance to be a part of it. It’s not my fault if he throws it away.”

The voice sighs.

“I thought we were // making // progress.”

And it disappears.

I wait in silence.

#writing #madd #maddart #my writing #bf #bf writing and info #that feel when you literally cannot get the idiot in charge to remember theyre in charge #in the meantime v's like shrieking in frustration

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secretagentspydetectiveninja · 8 years ago

Text

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 44

I have a lot of new followers recently, so I guess I’ll reintroduce this fic - it’s basically a royalty AU where most of the characters are members of royalty or nobility and at a boarding school that teaches them how to rule.

So if you ever have a bit of spare time and want to read it so far, be prepared for 155k+ words of: Prince Kim being an idiot, Prince Max also being an idiot, lots of fluff, lots of angst, lots of crack, timey-wimey nonsense, geography lessons, assassination attempts, civil wars, a venomous snake that’s a surprisingly good lacrosse player, starcrossed Adrienette, too many unrequited crushes, Pharaoh Alix being the coolest person alive (but also an idiot), and the slowest burn Kimax you will ever read!!

Also on AO3 as always, where you can read the whole thing.

The new gym opened early the very next morning. Kim had made a pact to be the first one there, but he arrived only to look through the glass to see someone familiar already inside, little black pigtails tied up in red ribbons, tapping buttons on the panel of a treadmill–

“MARINETTE!” he yelled, bursting through the door.

“Kim?” She looked up at him, surprised, then smiled and waved. “I’m so glad you’re here too!”

He strode up to her and put his hands on his hips. “How dare you get here before me?!”

Her smile fell immediately. “I couldn’t sleep, and I needed some way to get my thoughts away from… well…”

Oh, of course. She was probably missing Adrien again.

“You were thinking about your pet cat, were you?” he asked. That was the code that people seemed to have been using for Adrien recently.

“Yeah, I was.” She looked around a little, but there were no guards nearby to overhear. She leaned in closer and whispered, “I think I might send him a letter later.”

“But won’t they check the mail?”

“I could just do it secretly. Write a letter to my parents asking them to give my regards to my pet cat Felix, something like that, I’m sure they’d understand what I mean…”

“Yeah, maybe that’ll work then…”

“Anyway!” she said more loudly now, standing back. “Ready for some exercise?”

Kim nodded. “Of course I am! Remember when we were little kids and we used to go for runs together?”

Marinette giggled. “How could I forget? Those were so fun. Our caretakers were always losing us in the woods and getting so stressed out.”

“And you were always getting so annoyed that I could run faster than you. Which is still true, by the way.”

Marinette stepped up onto the treadmill’s conveyer belt and pressed a few buttons. It started moving slowly, and she walked along on it. “Are you sure? Because I’ve been doing a lot of training these recent holidays, while you and Max were busy having loosely defined lacrosse matches and slow-dancing with each other at the Peace Ball.”

Kim felt the heat creeping up his face. “Did Alya tell you about that?”

“Yep. She and Nino told me about lots of things. Like you getting a new nickname thanks to a cheeky servant from Max’s kingdom. Emperor Palpatine, was it?”

“Everyone else has got tired of calling me that, so don’t you start now!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!” Marinette increased the speed on the treadmill slightly. “And I was told in lots of detail about the lacrosse match too. It sounded fun!”

“Yeah, it was.” Kim hopped onto a nearby treadmill himself and pressed a few of the buttons, not really knowing how to work these machines. It started up with a jolt, knocking him off balance slightly, though he quickly righted himself and began walking. “I’m so good at lacrosse now.”

“Indeed. I’m sure Max thinks so, anyway.”

Kim didn’t say anything. He looked away and hoped Marinette would assume that his red face was from the exercise – despite the fact that the treadmill was still only going at walking pace and he didn’t know how to change it.

“Apparently you also did some responsible royalty things, like going to International Alliance meetings and making allies with some of the most powerful countries in the world.”

“Yeah, I totally did that,” Kim said, running a hand through his hair and ignoring that most of the International Alliance members seemed to be have been treating him like some lost little kid that they were taking pity on, rather than a future leader who needed their assistance.

“Good! Hopefully with their help, things will be sorted out soon. And then… Adrien…”

She didn’t finish, but she didn’t need to. If the Agreste Empire lost power somehow, or Emperor Gabriel calmed down somewhat, then Adrien might be able to return to school freely without fear of house arrest. And Kim would be able to go home too.

“How do you make this thing go faster?” Kim asked, changing the subject. He pressed a few buttons but all it did was increase the incline of the slope slightly.

“Here,” Marinette said, leaning over and showing him.

“Ah, thanks…”

He pressed the button again and again until the machine was going fast enough for him to need to jog. There, that was better!

“I also heard about you getting stuck in that lift with Alix for several hours,” Marinette continued. “Even Alya says she doesn’t know exactly what happened there.”

“It’s a secret,” Kim said, trying not to laugh. “No one will ever guess. But you’re welcome to try.”

“Hmm… fist fight?”

“Nope.”

“A, um, repeat of the winter party incident?”

“Still nope.”

“Did you tell her about your crush on Max then?”

“Pfffff, she already knew about that, I told her ages ago…”

“So you DO have a crush on Max!” Marinette yelled, far too loud.

“What?! I – NO, I mean… I never said anything about… I…”

“You just admitted it!”

“No I didn’t!” Kim said quickly, silently cursing himself.

“I knew it, I knew it! I figured it out even quicker than Alya did–”

“Well don’t tell anyone!” Kim quickly looked around but luckily there still wasn’t anyone else in here. Of course he had guessed that Marinette already knew, but at least she hadn’t properly said anything about it. Until now, anyway.

“I won’t tell a soul, don’t worry,” she said, laughing a little, “though to be honest, it’s obvious enough that I don’t need to tell anyone.”

Kim just didn’t say anything. If that was the case, then did Max himself know? Or would he be the last person to figure it out? And why was that always the case with people Kim had crushes on?!

Marinette turned her treadmill up faster, to the point where she was running at a slightly higher speed than Kim. He could have sworn she had the tiniest of smirks on her face. The kind that she would do on purpose a lot when they were much younger, when she won tennis matches against him in the scorching summer heat, or pulled off a particularly successful prank. He remembered how annoyingly charming he had always found it, though he had never quite fallen for her in a way other than friendship. Then again, he was fairly certain that Chloé’s haughty smirk at a certain birthday banquet several years ago was what managed to capture his heart back then, and he knew for a fact that Alix’s competitive smirks were at least 90% of the reason he had ever been interested in her.

Huh… maybe he had a type when it came to girls?

But for now, there was no girl who he was into. Imagining Max cheering him on, he put on his own smirk and turned the treadmill up so that he was running faster than Marinette again.

“I can still run faster,” he muttered.

Rather than saying anything, she just raised her eyebrows and increased the speed of her treadmill again, overtaking him. Well, Kim certainly wasn’t having that. He turned his speed up by several notches. She turned hers up even more, looking like she was starting to tire out a little. Good! Kim carried on increasing his speed, wondering how fast these machines could even go.

They carried on trying to outdo each other for the next few minutes, Marinette now huffing and puffing as she tried her best to keep up despite her much shorter strides. Kim couldn’t help chuckling a little. There was no way she would ever be able to beat him, no matter what! Alright, she was very determined, he could admit that much. But it was no real challenge.

“Just give up and slow down before you fall over,” Kim said, grinning, tiring out himself somewhat now – though surely nowhere near as much as Marinette.

“Never!” she managed to gasp out, before turning up the speed to the point where she was practically sprinting.

“Hah, you’ll never beat me!” Kim taunted, increasing his speed well beyond hers, knowing she would never be able to catch up. “I’m the fastest runner for my age group in my entire kingdom, and probably faster than anyone at this school, I bet I could even outrun a panther, that’s how fast I–”

His foot slipped. The next thing he knew, he had been flung backwards off the treadmill and was lying on the floor.

“Kim! Are you okay?”

Marinette pressed a button that slowed her treadmill to a stop, then jumped off and ran over to him, still sounding so tired out that she could hardly speak. Kim sat up, rubbing the back of his head. It didn’t even hurt that much – he was just embarrassed.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” he said, standing back up and trying to look casual. “I’ve decided I don’t like treadmills.”

Marinette managed to let out a little laugh through her heavy breaths. “Because you fell off?”

“No, psshhh, I just prefer running outdoors on actual real life ground. Yeah. And I’m still faster than you. And don’t even think about telling anyone what just happened.”

“Of course I won’t.”

“Thanks, Mari.”

Maybe it was a better idea to try out some of the other equipment instead, and perhaps this time not accidentally get into a competition with Marinette. Thank goodness Alix wasn’t here, since she was probably the one person who would make Kim feel even more competitive than that. And thank goodness Max wasn’t here either – what if he had seen Kim fall off the treadmill like some kind of idiot? That would just be the worst thing ever. But Max hadn’t wanted to come to the gym, preferring to get ahead with some homework in peace during these early hours of the day. Phew.

Kim turned around to see someone tapping on the glass outside the gym, holding up a water bottle–

Not just anyone! Max!

Kim quickly wheeled back around, holding his hand up to the side of his face to shield it from view. “Marinette… please tell me that’s not Max standing outside…”

“That’s Max,” Marinette sighed.

“Do you think he saw me just now?”

She shrugged. “Ask him.”

He heard the door of the gym opening, followed by Max’s voice.

“Kim? You forgot your water bottle! I don’t want you to get dehydrated, so I brought it to you – make sure your fluid intake is adequate, alright? Oh hello Marinette, good to see you too…”

Kim took a deep breath, then went over to Max to take the water bottle. He was still in his pyjamas, his springy hair somewhat scruffy, a sleepy grin on his face. It was so oddly… cute. And when Max stifled a yawn, and pushed a few fingers under his glasses to rub the sleep dust out of his scrunched-up eyes, Kim had to hold back a gasp. How was Max just so… so effortlessly… perfect?

“I’m assuming you aren’t injured?” Max asked.

“Ahahaha, w-why would I be injured?” Kim asked, taking a quick sip from the water bottle.

“It looked like you had a bit of an accident with the treadmill.”

“You saw that?” Kim was sure he was blushing, so he looked away and hoped the bright yellow lights in here would make it less noticeable. He would fight that stupid treadmill if he could.

Max put a hand on Kim’s shoulder. “It didn’t look very serious, and such accidents are very common with treadmills, so I’m not worried. But if you notice any unusual pain or differences in movement then make sure you go to the medical centre and get it checked up, just in case.”

How was Max such a sweet person? It was unfair, that was what it was. Unfair that it made Kim’s heart beat so much faster than any exercise ever could.

“I will, thanks Max,” he said. “And thanks for bringing me my water bottle.”

“It’s no problem. Keep up the exercise, both of you – you’re doing an amazing job! Anyway, I’ve got work to be getting back to, so I’ll leave you now…”

Flashing them another precious smile, Max waved and walked off out of the room again. Kim immediately put down the water bottle and pulled the top of his shirt up so far it was covering his entire face, feeling too flustered to function. Max was just so cute, so sweet, so wonderful, so amazing – Kim was going to go crazy if he didn’t do something about it soon!!!

“You are a mess,” he heard Marinette saying.

“Like you were with Adrien?” he mumbled, still hiding his face in his shirt.

“I was probably worse, I couldn’t even talk to Adrien. But Kim – I want you to remember something.”

He felt her pulling the shirt back down from his face to reveal her looking at him somewhat more seriously than before.

“Max is your best friend,” she said. “Don’t let this crush on him change that. Yeah, you were embarrassed about falling off a treadmill in front of him, I would be the same with Adrien! But would you have been so embarrassed about it before you fell in love with Max? Or would you have not minded, since he’s your best friend and you know he won’t judge you for things like that?”

She was right. Or at least… kind of.

“I think it’s just when other people are around,” he admitted. “Not that I’m annoyed that you were here, or anything! It’s just… when I’m with him, and it’s just the two of us, it’s so comforting, and I don’t feel like an idiot. But when there are other people around, that’s when I get… kinda… self-conscious, I guess…”

He hated saying this kind of thing, being introspective, all of that stuff. But this was Marinette. He’d known her longer than anyone else, even longer than Max. If there was anyone he could tell absolutely anything, it was her. (Except for what happened in that lift, of course.)

“Fair enough,” she said. “Hey, are you going to give him a Cupid sticker on the Cupid Festival day?”

He looked at her sudden bright, excited smile. Everyone seemed so keen to get the two of them together. It was so nice to know how supportive people were.

“Probably,” he said, shrugging. “I’ll do something, at least. I have to tell him.”

“Yes, you so do! I’m sure it’ll go really well! I’m rooting for you!”

Kim gave the top of her hair a quick ruffle. “Thanks, Mari. You’re the best. Well, except at sports, because I’m the best, and I’m gonna prove it. What’s next?”

Marinette looked around. “We could go for the spinning cycles next, but don’t fall off this time!”

Kim laughed. “I won’t, I promise you!”

The two of them headed over to the other side of the room and continued their gym session, as a few more student began to trickle in now that it was slightly later in the morning.

14th February was not too far away now. Not far away at all. The month of February had already started, and time was running out to make preparations in order to ensure that Operation: Kimax would be a success. Alix had sort of been procrastinating on it. She knew she had to do it without Alya’s help, but who else to ask? Sure, she had other friends in the class, but still. It was pretty obvious that most of these “friends” found her a bit intimidating, despite her best efforts not to be.

Oh well, there wasn’t enough time left to wait any longer. She had to get going now.

“Mylène!” she called from the library entrance, waving, earning her glares and shushes from the rest of the students in here who were trying to work – at least until they saw that it was Pharaoh Alix, and they quickly looked back down without complaining further.

Mylène looked up and saw her, returning the wave along with a sweet smile. Thank goodness Mylène was nice and friendly. She would definitely help.

Alix went over and sat beside her, taking her pet snake off her neck and putting it down on the table to wander around freely. Mylène wasn’t afraid of it anymore, it was fine. “I need your help with something.”

“Of course!” Mylène said. “What is it?”

Now how to put this? Technically speaking, she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about Kim and Max both being stupidly head-over-heels for each other. She really hadn’t thought this through.

“I need to set someone up on the day of the Cupid Festival,” she said.

“Kim and Max?”

“Uhhh… maybe. Anyway, I don’t know what to do. I’m guessing they’ll go to that one fountain in the school grounds, you know the one, so I was thinking… I might decorate it or something? Is that a sufficiently romantic thing to do?”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Okay… so how do I do that? Put flower petals in it or something? I don’t even know where to get those from, I can’t just go picking them off flowers in the school grounds, or Mendeleiev’s gonna give me a detention…”

Mylène began writing something on a scrap of paper. “I have some ideas, but it’s going to involve getting help from some of the others too for things that aren’t my area of expertise.”

“I guess I’ll try,” Alix said, feeling her heart sinking at the prospect of having to talk to the others too. Hopefully those “diplomacy” lessons she’d been forced to attend when younger would help her now. “Oh, and by the way, how’s your kingdom doing? At the conferences in the holidays I heard there were landslides and stuff, so…”

“Not great,” Mylène said, still writing. “I wanted to stay back and help with the relief efforts, but my father told me I’d be better off at school. But things are improving.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“And thank you for asking. You and Ivan are the only ones who did.”

Really? Well… maybe most of the others didn’t know. Mylène’s kingdom was small and comparatively insignificant with many other countries.

“Here you go,” Mylène said, giving the piece of paper to Alix. “Some suggestions about who to go to for help with setting up these people who are probably Kim and Max.”

Alix looked down at the list.

-Rose and Juleka: which flowers/decorations to get -Chloé and Sabrina: nearby flower vendors -Nath: sketch out best arrangements -Ivan: tall enough to reach top of fountain -Nino: distract Kim and Max -Marinette: keep Aurore and Mireille in a good mood!

“Thanks,” she said, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt about having to speak to all these people.

“Not a problem! Let me know if you need any more help.”

“I will.”

Alix picked up the snake and took the piece of paper with her as she left the library. Right. Rose and Juleka were first on the list – they would know what sort of flowers to use. Where would they be? Hmm, it was a Saturday morning, right? Rose worked in the gardens. She would be there. Maybe with Juleka, too. It didn’t matter, as long as one of them was around.

Sure enough, going into the school grounds, Alix spotted Rose and Juleka giggling and spilling bits of water over each other with their watering cans. It was cold out here, with their breaths swirling into mist, and the plants were mostly barren, but they didn’t care. Those two were the most romantic kids in the class. If anyone would be able to get Kim and Max together, it was those two. But then again, that wasn’t their job. It was Alix’s.

“Uh… hi,” she said, feeling awkward about interrupting them.

“Hi!” Rose said, smiling so very cheerfully at her. “What’s up?”

“I need your help with something. I’m decorating the fountain for my friends on the Cupid Festival and I don’t know which flowers and stuff to use.”

“Use black roses,” Juleka said. “They look cool. And they also symbolize death, which is even cooler.”

“Um…”

“No death? Okay, sorry. Use red roses then. They symbolize love.”

“Red roses,” Alix repeated, wishing she had a pen to write it down with. She turned to her snake. “You got that? Red roses.”

The snake nodded. Juleka stepped forwards and gave it a little stroke on the hood. “I hear this little guy won a lacrosse match in the holidays. That is so cool.”

“Actually, we lost the lacrosse match.”

“Even cooler. I want a lacrosse snake too now.”

“Carnations!” Rose said. “Those symbolize love too, which would be perfect for the Cupid Festival! Red and white carnations especially. I learnt that in my flower arrangement class back home once. Oh Juleka, I should take you there sometime, you’d love it!”

“Flowers are rad,” Juleka said.

“They are, they really are! Oh, and don’t forget red chrysanthemums. Those mean love too. Lots of flowers mean love!”

Love, sure… but what kind of love? This was why Alix always hated the Cupid Festival. Didn’t friendship count as love too? Because this was the one day of the year when apparently, it didn’t. Or was inferior to romance somehow. No one ever gave any value to the yellow friendship stickers – no, if it wasn’t a red, heart-shaped Cupid sticker then no one cared. As if friendship meant nothing.

“I don’t think they’ll care what the flowers mean as long as they look nice,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound bitter.

“In that case the roses and carnations would be the best,” Rose said. “And I’m not just suggesting the roses because of my name, I promise!”

“Thanks,” Alix said. “That’s all, I guess. Gotta go do some other stuff.”

“Already? Alright, well have fun! And I hope our suggestions were helpful!”

“Bye snake,” Juleka said, blowing a kiss at the little reptile.

Alix took another look at the piece of paper as she left those two alone to carry on flirting or whatever they were doing.

-Chloé and Sabrina: nearby flower vendors

Right, apparently these two would know exactly where to buy flowers. The market in the merchant square had grown so much over the past year (except for the quarantine period, of course) that it would be impossible for her to find what she was looking for quickly, especially since she never really went there and wouldn’t know her way around. At least Chloé and Sabrina, who were constantly shopping, would know where to get things from. And she had managed to make fairly good friends with Chloé while they were both protecting Adrien several months ago. It wouldn’t be too bad.

It took quite a while of searching and interrogating random passing nobles before she managed to track them down. Chloé was getting her hair done at the school saloon while Sabrina sat in the corner with a magazine.

“Hello, Your Majesty, would you like an appointment?” one of the staff members said as soon as she came in.

“No thanks,” Alix replied, feeling rather protective of her messy pink hair all of a sudden. “I just wanted to talk to Chloé.”

“Did I hear someone say my name?” Chloé called, turning around in her chair. “Alix! Lovely to see you! What are you doing here? Finally decided to turn that dreadful hair into something respectable?”

Ignoring that entirely, she said, “Where in the merchant square can I buy flowers?”

“Flowers? Oh, I know the best place! Why, were you thinking of giving some to someone during the Cupid Festival? Because no offence darling, but something like that would seem very fake coming from a person like you.”

“I’m not giving flowers to anyone, ew. This is for something else. So where do I get them?”

“I’m a little busy right now but Sabrina could show you on the map.”

“Cool, thanks.”

Alix went over to where Sabrina was sitting. She had already got a map of the school out of her bag and was opening it up.

“It’s here in the north-east quadrant of the merchant square,” Sabrina said, pointing at an area of the map. “You can’t miss it once you’re nearby. If you want flowers for the Cupid Festival, I would suggest going there the previous day so that they’re not out-of-stock. Don’t worry about reserving an order in advance – you’re the highest ranked student at this school, so they won’t refuse you service.”

“Thank you.”

“If I may ask – what do you need flowers for if you’re not going to give them to anyone?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Chloé said. “She’s making some sort of plan to help Kim and Max get together. You should have seen those two at the dance the other night. They’re certainly going to be a couple sooner or later.”

“I’m just gonna leave now,” Alix said quickly. How was everyone figuring it out? Maybe Kim and Max really were just that obvious. But then why didn’t they notice themselves?!

Anyway, the flowers could be ordered later once she was sure exactly how many she needed. Next up on the list: Prince Nathaniel.

Drat. She had never even spoken to him once in her life, she was sure. He went out of his way to avoid people. Would he even answer if she knocked on his door?

Well, she had to at least try. She left the saloon, went back to the dorms, then knocked on the door to his room. Surprisingly enough, he did open it.

“I need your help with something,” she said.

“Um.. okay… come in…”

He wasn’t even looking at her, he was looking at the snake and seeming slightly terrified. Was he afraid of snakes? So many people here seemed to be. In any case, she entered the room to see that it was even messier than her own, with scrunched up pieces of paper and piles of laundry everywhere.

“You know that fountain in the school grounds?” she said. “I have to decorate it for the Cupid Festival, don’t ask. The decorations are probably gonna be flowers and stuff. Mylène suggested I ask you to sketch out some possible arrangements, because I have no idea what I’m doing.”

He looked a little more at ease. “What kind of flowers?”

Alix tried to remember. “Red roses… white and red carnations… yeah, those.”

“Those flowers symbolize love. And that fountain is the one that Kim and Max always hang out at. So you’re trying to set them up.”

His voice was quiet, but his tone and words so matter-of-fact. He almost looked slightly smug.

“Whether that’s true or not is none of your business,” she said.

“So it’s true. Okay. I’ll sketch something.”

He opened up a sketchbook lying on the desk and grabbed a pencil out of many that were lying around, then he sat there and began drawing. It was honestly a marvel that he could see through his hair, considering it covered most of his face, but he really was a very good artist. Even the tiniest of lines, the quickest of sketches, managed to convey senses of details and shadows. Everyone always said that his kingdom produced the greatest artists and sculptors. But Alix had always assumed that was just a stereotype or something. Apparently in Nath’s case, it was actually true.

“You’re nervous,” he said, quiet as ever.

“What?”

“Nervous.” He was still drawing, not having even lifted his head to look at her. “Because if your friends get together, they might stop paying attention to you.”

It was like a sudden punch to the gut.

“I said it’s none of your business,” she snapped.

“Sorry, just an observation. Though for the record, I’m sure they wouldn’t stop hanging out with you just because they got together.”

For a few seconds she held her tongue, refusing to say anything, before her emotions were too strong and she gave way.

“What if they do?” she said.

“They wouldn’t. They care about you.”

Her fists were already clenched without her realizing. “Platonically. Which seems to matter to people less. And these days all they ever talk to me about is each other.”

“How does this look?” Nath said suddenly, holding up the sketchbook. There was a ring of roses around the top of the fountain, and the carnations were in bunches lower down.

“Looks nice,” Alix said.

“Good. I’ll colour it too, and then you can keep it for reference.”

“Thanks.”

“Anyway,” Nath continued, pulling a box of imported markers out of a drawer, “I get the feeling you’re worried about your friends abandoning you. I know what it’s like to not be good at making friends, or being a loner. But Kim and Max won’t abandon you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just a gut feeling.”

Gut feelings were certainly not good enough to go on. Anyway, Nath didn’t even know anything about her. He was just some random kid in their class. None of this even mattered to him – he was probably just trying to amuse himself.

“Have a little faith in your friends,” he said. “They care about you. I can tell.”

“Why are you even talking to me about all this?”

He shrugged. “On the off-chance that I’m wrong, you’ll probably want a back-up friend to actually be there for you.”

“You… want to be my friend?”

Nath just nodded, carrying on the colouring.

“Jeez, and all this time I thought you were shy…”

“Being shy and being quiet isn’t the same thing. Though, uh, yeah. I am shy.” He lowered his head a little further towards the desk, practically hunched over his sketchbook.

“Well sure you can be my friend. But you’ve got to stop… you know… doing that thing.”

“What thing?”

How could she describe it? Somehow figuring out my inner thoughts and fears and talking about them as if they’re nothing?

“Stop acting like a therapist or something,” she said finally.

“Why? I want to help.”

“Well you can’t help, okay?! Just trust me. Cupid Festival is the worst. People are the worst. Once they get a significant other they throw everyone else away. I see it happen all the time, and I don’t want it to happen to me, because I can hardly ever make friends anyway and I can’t lose the ones I have. But I will! And I know I will! And I’ll be helping them do it, because they’re my friends, and I want them to be happy!”

“Not everyone’s like that though, you don’t know if–”

“But I do know!”

For quite a while now Alix had been refusing to think about the stupid, cursed, other timelines – especially since she was the only one of them still left at school, so it didn’t matter anyway. But now she just couldn’t help it.

“I know because it’s happened before,” she said. “Kind of. Other timelines. You know, that power thing Fu told me about, you must have heard about it by now. Because in the other timelines, in those stupid spring holidays last year, when Kim got together with m– uh, someone, he was such an obsessive hopeless romantic he didn’t care about anything or anyone else, just casting everything else aside like it didn’t even matter! And Max actually likes him back, so if they get together now they’ll just – no one else will matter to them–”

“Spring holidays, you say?” Nath’s tone hadn’t even changed at all. “That was a long time ago.”

“Less than a year, actually.”

“But so much has happened since then. Quarantine, the stuff with Adrien, Kim’s grandfather dying, all those things. If you’d have asked me last year during the spring holidays, I would have said that someone like Kim was not ready for a relationship. Even with Max. But now? He’s grown up a fair amount. Everything is different.”

Was that true? Was Kim more sensible now? And would that make a difference?

Well… maybe it would. Hopefully it would.

“So you think this time he’s going to be more sensible about things,” she said.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Okay. I’m… I’m gonna believe you. So you’d better not be wrong.”

Through his hair, she saw him smile. “I’m sure I won’t be.” Then he quickly sat up and tore the page out of the sketchbook, handing it to her. “Done!”

She took a look at it. How had he done something so detailed so fast? It really was very good.

“This is awesome,” she said. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’ll see you in class, I guess.”

“Yep. See you. Oh wait – one last thing! What happened in that lift?”

Seriously, did everyone know about the lift thing? And why did they care?

“I’m not telling you,” she said.

“Alright, but quick question. Was it anything stupid?”

“Surprisingly, no.”

Nath smiled again. “In that case, Kim definitely has grown up a lot since last year. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Huh, I guess you’re right.” Alix couldn’t help but smile a little too. Nath was way smarter than she had realized. Maybe being so quiet had given him ample opportunity to observe everyone until he knew them all really well. Having him as a friend would probably actually be a good idea.

And best of all, he wasn’t afraid of her. The shyest, quietest classmate, the one who never spoke to anyone at all – and he wasn’t afraid of her. Thank goodness.

Leaving the room, she took another look at Mylène’s list.

-Ivan: tall enough to reach top of fountain -Nino: distract Kim and Max -Marinette: keep Aurore and Mireille in a good mood!

Right. Those three would have to be sorted out on the day before the Cupid Festival, 13th February, as well as actually going and buying the flowers. She still had a while. At least for today, she had done a good job. Phew! Operation: Kimax was going well.

#i can't believe i'm still going with this #miraculous ladybug #le chien kim #max kante #kimax #hmm who else is in this chapter #marinette dupain cheng #alix kubdel #and Emo McTomato makes his debut finally #nathaniel kurtzberg #royalty au #random stuff #the misadventures of prince kim #aish writes

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