#but anyway she agrees to the trial not knowing what it is only knowing she can't release him

[fictionadventurer]

I know it's not technically a fairy tale, but do you happen to have any recs for retellings of Tam Lin?

--Siena

Unfortunately, no, since I haven't read any. However, I've heard good things about The Perilous Gard, which I believe draws from that fairy tale.

[the-thing-inside-your-closet]

GhostKing!Maddie

Reveal gone right. Good parents Jack and Maddie.

Danny tells his parents that he’s Phantom and they accept him with open arms and hearts and the willingness to change their views. With this they start their research on Ghost culture, because that’s a part of their baby’s life (afterlife?) now so of course they’re going to make sure they understand their son so as to avoid potential culture clashes in the future.

(Did you know ghosts fight as a form of bonding?! Fascinating!)

At some point in their research they learn that the method of succession for the title of King of the Infinite Realms if for the former king to be defeated in trial by combat.

They learn that Danny defeated the former king tyrant Pariah Dark.

Their little Dann-o is the new King.

But he’s just a baby! Their baby! Cry his parents.

Danny is only 14, going on 15. Even if he’s a teenager he’s still their baby boy, and he is far too young to be forced to deal with politics alongside school and all the other dramas that come with teenagerhood.

They were young once, the Fenton parents remember how major some things were for teenagers and how stressful it could be. And Danny had already been through so much with protecting the town. And they wanted to make up for what they put him through before they knew it was him. Danny says it alright, they didn’t know but they do now and that accept him and that’s what matters! And oh do their hearts ache at the memories of shooting at their son and all the terrible things they said about him while he was right there.

No, they wouldn’t allow their son to deal with everything in his own when they could help him. Somehow. How do they help with this?

Then, Maddie demands an audience with the council. There, declares herself the King.

The Observants argue that she can’t possibly be the King as she is not a ghost, nor did she defeat the previous king to take the title. And anything else that they could use to oppose the idea.

Maddie counters that as her son isn’t even legally old enough to drive yet (the age is 16 in American right?) he cannot take on such responsibilities until he is of a certain age. Jack is nodding along enthusiastically as Maddie verbally eviscerates these floating eyeballs.

Clockwork is smirking in the corner. He likes Phantom’s mother. And he agrees with the Drs Fenton. He backs her up, and says that young Daniel had other pressing matters to attend to and that yes, he is in fact too young for the full responsibilities that come with being the King of the Infinite Realms. He is so young, and still of the living being a halfa that he would require education of the Realms laws before he could officially take up the crown.

But what about Maddie? She’s fully human, how could she possibly be placed in that position then without the same training?

Clockwork smiles as Frosbite or maybe Pandora, one of Danny’s other allies, states that the council could handle things until then, and that they would have had to have waited regardless for Danny to be up to speed before he could feasibly take on the role of King and confidently make decisions without the guidance of the council at every turn. With Maddie as a placeholder she could still sign off on things or act as a figure head, at least until Phantom could take on his role as the fully realised King.

Anyway, Maddie becomes the Ghost King. Or at least temporarily while her baby boy finishes high school and can decide what he wants to do. At least this is one less thing he has to worry about.

This however results in instances of cults and all manner of people trying to summon the Ghost King for one reason or another. But instead they get one Dr Maddie Fenton.

Sometimes it’s some kids that were fooling around at a slumber party, and she warns them on the dangers of summoning unknown entities without doing proper throughout research before hand and ensuring they have the proper protective measures if something were to go wrong.

And then there are cults and magic users and everything in-between that are trying to summon the Ghost King for personal gain.

These individuals are more often than not met with the sight of a bazooka, pulled from seemingly thin air, aimed directly at them as the very ominous sound of the woman counting down echos in the air. The ones with half a brain would book it.

All of this while maintaining the midwestern politeness would be both hilarious and a little ominous.

Then one day the Justice League, or any of the other teams, are breaking up a cult ritual that they got wind of to summon a powerful being for the purpose of destroying something or someone. I’m not to fussed on their motives.

But just before they can stop it the summing is cast and the air is filled with such a heavy sense of forbidding that it makes the hairs on the back of one’s beck stand on end.

The room darkens, the shadows seemingly converging in the centre of the summoning circle. It feels hard to breathe, and there’s a hint of something other in the air around them that just keeps increasing in intensity. It feels like reality is being around them, and just as quickly as it all began a crack appears within the circle. And a toxic green (Lazarus green) glow seems out of it as it opens like the unhinging jaw of a predator. There’s a blinding flash of green and then there is a woman, judging by her build, in a teal spandex suit with goggles fastened on her face.

She scans the room in silence before her eyes falls on the heroes standing in defensive positions before her. The cultists are all tied up or knocked out, or just frozen in place because holy shit the summing worked.

It’s never worked before.

But who is this woman?

And where is the Ghost King?

The head cultist, whom was still yet to be detained, demands to know who she is and where is the Ghost King?!

Maddie smiles as she pulls out her Fenton bazooka and says, “Oh bless your heart, I am the Ghost King!”

Where this goes from here, I’m not sure. This was all I had when is tarted writing this and right now I’m too tired to think. I just hope someone likes it and if you do, feel free to add anything! And if you have any critiques feel free to tell me!

(My apologise if I leave out a chunk of information, I’m writing this in my pyjamas half asleep and just trying to get it all written down. Also I’m not from the US, and haven’t watched Danny Phantom in a hot minute, so if I got something wrong pls forgive me.)

[longlivechips]

A drabble on what if Arthur repealed the magic ban while Merlin wasn't there. I like the idea of Arthur thinking Merlin will be mad, he said magic has no place in Camelot afterall. And Merlin being like shit I'm gonna have to start telling the truth.

A fic where Merlin goes to visit his mother for a few weeks. It's Yule and he misses her.

While he is gone a child comes to trial. Hardly 12 and clearly terrified. She had been caught using magic.

She swears she didn't mean to, that it just started happening one day and she was so scared of what was happening to her.

The law says she is to burn.

But Arthur just can't seem to make the call. He can only think of the girl Morgana used to be when he looks at her.

He speaks to Gaius and Geoffrey about what Camelot was like before the ban. How people square magic. He learns, for the first time, more than his father had ever let him.

He's thinking of......well not reversing the magic ban. But this girl can't be evil surely.

He wishes Merlin were here, his advice is often quite sound. But Arthur is unsure if Merlin, who has been so outspoken against magic in the past, would agree with such loose laws.

But it comes down to this. Arthur cannot in good conscience kill that girl. And he can not have her as an exception. So he changes the law.

Merlin hasn't spent this long in Ealdor since before he left. He finds it quite lonely without Will to cause trouble with.

But he finds he is not ostracized like he was when he was a boy. In fact, more often than not he has to dodge mothers pushing their daughters onto him as prospects.

He is in his mother's house trying bundles of herbs to be dried and taken back to Camelot when his mother rushes in.

She stairs at him for a moment. Eyes wide, something clearly about to spill off her toung.

"Mother?" Merlin says moving closer, " What's wrong what happened? Has goodie meridan gone into labor?"

"Merlin. My boy. We just received news from Camelot. Gaius sent a letter. I....." Her face is flush. She doesn't look scared but Merlins heart drops anyway

"Arthur...." Merlin starts

"He's fine, he's fine" Hunith walks towards her son, cupping his face in her hands.

She laughs. Full belly and full of joy, her hands on his face strong, they almost hurt.

"He repealed the magic ban Merlin. Oh my boy by royal decree"

Merlins knees nearly give out.

"Surely you aren't serious....." Merlin gasps. "Do you have the letter?"

She hands it over and he reads frantically.

My good Hunith.

I write you instead of Merlin for reasons that will become obvious.

I also just request more of that dried lavender you sent last time, it does not smell the same from the north.

How is your neighbor Gregory fairing with his leg? My tonic recipe helped I hope, I would like to hear how it went.

There is news from Camelot. You might have heard, it will make fast news I'm sure.

A girl was brought to court for magic. Hardly 12 summers, she swears she did not train for magic, that it came naturally and she has no control.

Arthur was hesitant to burn her, despite the law, and tasked me with examining her.

I explained my findings, you know my friend how truly common it is to have magic as the girl does. Arthur listened well, and I sent the king off with what recommendations I could.

There are few books left on the subject but he spoke to Geoffrey. I assume he found some enlightened reading.

The next day, his verdict was as follows.

"The law of the land, as set by my Father King Uther, is that magic has no place in Camelot. I quite agree. Magic is dangerous, it has raveged my family.

But I can't help but think these laws might create more enemies. I cannot kill a girl for a crime she did not willingly commit. But I cannot banish her and create an enemy."

The council spoke on formal matters and specifics but Hunith, it is looking well. I feel hope I haven't had in decades.

Arthur has repealed the magic ban, in part. There are specifics to be worked out, and it is unclear if it would apply to Merlin. It certainly wouldn't apply to myself.

I will write again when I have more details.

I wish I could see the boy's face when he hears the news. Give him my love

Gaius

Merlin reads it. Than again. The third time he skims it he is tearing up. Looking desperately for any sign that Gaius tells a lie.

When he finds none, and there is no answer but that Gaius's words are true.

Merlin weeps. He falls to his knees and weeps.

Hunith cradles his head, spilling some tears of her own.

"oh my boy" she says. "What news. I knew Arthur would be a good king." She presses a kiss to her son's head.

Merlin cries, and wonders why he feels more scared than ever.

[deltaromeo3]

𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 & 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 ⋆ Lando Norris

pairing: Lando Norris x f!reader

summary: in which the reader joins Lando whilst he’s streaming with Max

warning(s): bad writing LMAO!! i wrote this during work🫠

requested by this ask

It was a normal Tuesday evening for you. Lando was in his gaming room streaming with Max.

You were in the kitchen making a snack for them (like you always do. that’s why Max loves having you around)

Laughter and giggling can be heard from the room. You smiled at the sound of Lando’s laugh; it sounds like he was enjoying himself.

You plated the food nicely, not forgetting to take the drinks from the fridge; they loved their soda cold.

You make your way over to the room with plates in hand.

“Hi,” You said as you stood at the entrance of the room.

“Hi,” They said in unison. “Come in,” Lando says, gesturing for you to enter.

“Snacks for the both of you,” You said as you placed the food on the table.

Their eyes lit up as soon as they saw the food on the table. Max thanks you and Lando does too- in a form of a kiss.

“You’re on live, Lan,” You whisper to him.

“I know,” He kisses you again.

“Ugh,” Max says. “Get a room!” He teases.

Lando pulls away, smacking him in the arm while you laugh in embarrassment.

You were about to walk off to continue watching Netflix in the living room when suddenly Lando tugs on your arm.

“Where you off to?” He asks.

“To leave…? I’ll be in the living room as usual,”

“Nuh uh,” He says, shaking his head. He tugs on your arm once more, “Join us,” He says, patting his lap.

You quickly shook your head, saying that you didn’t want to interrupt what the two of them were doing but Max quickly interjects.

“The fans are asking for you. They even asked you to join us. You’re not interrupting. Cmon y/n!”

“You sure?” You ask, just to make sure.

“We’re sure baby. C’mon,” He pushes his chair away from his desk to make space for you. You walked over to him and sat on his lap.

You waved to everyone on the stream and someone pointed out the hoodie you were wearing.

You laughed, “I just took it from Lando’s closet.”

Lando adds on, “Yeah, she loves to wear my clothes. I don’t mind though, looks better on her.”

You blushed.

You were sat on his lap, quietly observing the both of them, reading the chat while Lando and Max plays a few rounds of whatever game they were playing.

You were laughing at the comments because all it consisted of was how cute you and Lando were and they didn’t realise that Lando was this clingy.

“They’re saying you’re clingy,” You said to Lando.

“Course I am. But only to her though,” He replies to the stream.

You weren’t sure what game they were playing but at one point the fans suggested that you play one round with Max. You hesitantly agreed because you didn’t feel like embarrassing yourself on live.. but you did it anyways, after much persuasion from Lando and Max.

You listened closely as Lando showed you the controls. He even let you play a trial round to get the hang of it.

“Got it?” He asks as he places his headset on your head.

“I think.” You unconfidently say as you mess around with the buttons. “But Lan, this is gonna for sure fuck up your K-D ratio,”

He laughs, “Babe that’s not important. Just have fun okay?”

You gulped, “I’ll try.”

“Okay Max, she’s ready!” He says to Max.

The loading screen appears shortly after.

Lando wrapped his arms around your waist and then places his head on the crook of your neck as he watches you play with Max.

“Oh my god there’s two here Max! Help!” You panicked.

“Baby go on and throw a smoke grenade,” He instructed, and you proceed to do so. “Now prone so they won’t see you,” You did as you were told.

“Good baby, that’s good.” He coos.

“They’re coming so be prepared to shoot okay?” He says as he rubs circles on your shoulder, trying to ease the pressure.

You were laser focused; your fingers were ready on the keyboard to click and when the enemies appear, you shot them down.

“Woo! Good job baby!”

You smiled at his remark but quickly turn your attention back on the game. You were so engrossed you didn’t even realise Lando was staring at you in absolute awe; like you just hung up the moon and stars. The viewers picked that up, teasing him in the chat.

Everytime you killed an enemy, he does these tiny little claps and giggles, even giving you little words of encouragement. Just that little action alone made you feel like you should try and give your best.

“You’re doing so good babe!”

“To your left! Shoot him!”

“There you go baby!”

He couldn’t believe it but he was kinda impressed at how good you were.

All throughout the game, his arms never left your waist and his head never left the crook of your neck. He would keep on praising you and would also keep on kissing your shoulder as a way to distract you.

Your eyes never left the screen, afraid you would die so all you could do was scold him.

“Lando! Stop! It’s ticklish! Oh god we’re gonna lose,”

He laughs at your reaction, but still continues to kiss you. But when the game ends, you and Max high fived each other because you ended up winning.

You were in absolute shock at how you managed to even last til’ the end because truth was, you were shit at gaming. Couldn’t make a career out of it even if your life depended on it.

“You’re not bad! We should play again sometime.” Max says, also in shock.

“Yeah! Maybe you can ask P to play with me. We’ll have like a… girlfriend stream or something.” You suggested.

“That’s a good idea baby, didn’t think of that.” Lando chimes in and Max agrees.

The fans seem to like seeing you play as the comments were just full of encouragement. Maybe a little hate but for the most part it was positive.

Lando then ends off the stream, bidding goodbye to the viewers and you did the same.

“I didn’t know you were a gamer?”

“I’m not just a trophy wife you know.”

“Of course you aren’t,” He plants a kiss on your shoulder once again.

[hinalatte]

An Attempt at Analyzing David Chiem’s Motivations

and a bunch of other stuff that got in there somehow

Ch2 Ep12 spoilers ahead! (And spoilers for the Literature Girl Insane MV picture if you haven’t seen it already)

So, Ch2 Ep12 changed some things about my perception of David. I was under the impression that the way he was acting in the trial was because of a self destructive breakdown, but the latest episode reveals that he’s making an attempt at altruism.

But I still think he’s having a self destructive breakdown. The end result is still the same—he dies, he ruins his public image. This is still, objectively, self destructive behavior. He just has a motivation to make it “worth it” now.

I believe David wants to be a good person. He just doesn’t know how to be one. He feels like he may never be one. Xander is that good person David wishes he was, so he’s dedicating himself to following what Xander would do. If Xander was good, he can also be good by following his example. (I made a theory about something like this a while back, go read my David Chiem and colors analysis if you’re curious)

So let’s return to that picture of David holding Xander’s jacket, with the context of this episode.

First of all, the “you” in these quotes is most definitely Xander.

1. I became a villain in pursuit of your dream.

We know what this means. David acted up during the trials to look guiltier so that the trial would end up with a misvote. He’s actively trying to end the lives of everyone there because of what Xander tried and failed to do in Chapter 1. But what I’m curious about is what Xander’s “dream” really was. He never said anything about wanting to end the killing game by dying. The only thing he tried to do was kill Teruko.

David pauses before stating that his motive was to end the killing game by eliminating the entertainment value. His expression is also pretty suspicious. It sounds like something he made up on the spot. And if he wanted to end the killing game by not being entertaining, why did he go against everyone’s plan of doing nothing and killing no one? Why did he fan the flames by telling everyone to admit their secrets? The conflict that stemmed from his actions was what made the second chapter entertaining to begin with. So I don’t think this truly was his motive for trying to get everyone killed. I think he was following in Xander’s footsteps. He’s trying to kill Teruko.

We all remember the secret David got, right?

I think most of us agree that him saying this was Xander’s secret was a lie. He waited until everyone was done talking so he could make sure no one had Xander’s actual secret, and then he pinned it on him. He also has an extremely high opinion of Xander and gets upset when people slander him, so I don’t think there’s any way he would admit to this being Xander’s secret unless it wasn’t actually Xander’s secret. I think he’s saying it’s Xander because he feels comfortable using his name for his goals, since they’re “partners in crime” in his mind. That secret is definitely Teruko’s.

I think when Xander initially attempted to kill Teruko, David was conflicted about how to feel. But once he got Teruko’s secret, it made sense. Xander was a hero and Teruko was a villain, and David had to do what Xander couldn’t. His ploy to get everyone killed is so Teruko has to be killed alongside them.

That’s my theory, anyway. I could be wrong, especially considering David could’ve tried to kill Teruko with his own hands if he really did want her dead. But it’s also possible he didn’t do that because he knew she would have survived it somehow.

2. I threw away my humanity for an ideal that I couldn’t understand.

What’s interesting to me here is the use of the word “couldn’t”. It’s not that he “didn’t” understand Xander’s ideals. It’s that he “couldn’t”, because he doesn’t understand Xander’s altruism. Every time he talks about his motivations in this episode, it’s about Xander. He even frames the moral dilemma of killing everyone there for the greater good from Xander’s perspective—16 lives, which was how many there were when Xander attempted murder, rather than 13, which is how many there are as David is saying this.

David doesn’t know how to be a good person. He believes Xander is the only good person he’s ever known, so he’s blindly following what “Xander would do” in hopes of doing something good.

This is especially interesting to me because becoming a good person has been a theme this whole chapter. Arei used Eden as a reference for what a good person looked like as well. But that’s an essay for another time!

3. But I don’t regret it. To “regret” is to imply that I could have done anything else.

I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping David going is Xander’s legacy. He doesn’t have much faith in himself as a person, so it’s either give up or give everything to the ideals of the man he believed in.

This line makes it pretty evident to me that even though he’s acting like he knows what he’s doing, he still feels lost. But at the same time, when you’re lost in a maze, the only thing you can do is follow the path ahead of you.

4. I never told you, but the truth is, I wasn’t capable of ever becoming human in the first place.

The idea of being human is present in a lot of things relating to David’s character. This 4th quote in particular seems to be a response to this line by Xander, from their “role models” conversation.

David is also associated with the book No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai through the Literature Girl Insane MV. No Longer Human is about a man that feels so detached from other people that it’s like he’s not even one of them. To fit in, he pretends to be what they expect him to be, but he never truly feels connected to them.

“Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.”

I think it’s safe to guess that David feels a similar way.

David is disoriented by normal human interaction. The ways in which he interacts with people are entirely based on their perception of him. He’s an upstanding role model when that’s what they expect, and a callous villain once they accuse him of murder. He acts that way to further his goals, sure, but it’s still isolating. As he says, his relationships are fake, because he himself is a fake person.

He feels like he fundamentally lacks what other humans have. This could mean a whole slew of things, but I think the most relevant one right now is ideals. David doesn’t have ideals of his own in the way Xander does. Xander believes in fighting for what’s right. David is so disconnected from other people that he doesn’t even know what “right” is.

The line where Xander calls David “human” is in the context that David isn’t a perfect role model. It’s interesting that he seems to be arguing against that. Not because he’s perfect. It seems to me like he’s saying “I am not, and never will be, like you.”

And of course, the “I never told you” is because Xander is dead. He never got to know David’s true self.

5. So in the end, you are always—

I genuinely have no idea what this means. If somebody has even the smallest clue…my ask box is open. Please.

Conclusion

Is killing the entire cast really something Xander would do? Who knows! But David sure seems to think so, and he’s apparently the one who knows Xander the best. Nevertheless, it’s leading to a lot of interesting conflict.

I also want to note that I might be making it sound like David has low self esteem. I don’t mean that. Very little has been confirmed about David’s inner psyche. But here’s my interpretation, for fun’s sake:

David has a low opinion of himself, but he also has an ego. When you think of yourself as fundamentally different from other people, that can lead to you developing a sense of superiority over it. Like you’re the only one in the world with some knowledge others don’t have. This is a mindset people with depression can easily develop. Teruko acts this way as well, a little bit. She literally calls herself a main character. David also calls himself a main character in his MV, alongside Xander.

He also doesn’t seem to respect Hu’s opinion, judging by this sprite. It’s like him and Xander are the only ones who know what has to be done, and everyone else just doesn’t understand.

But he still has low self esteem. He sees Xander as someone who is just better than him, and thinks he’s too bad of a person to improve. People can think they’re worse and better than others at the same time. It’s very interesting. But again, that’s just my interpretation, going off of vibes more than anything else.

I’ll also mention here that I think David knew Xander from news articles before the killing game started. Xander was an activist. David might’ve seen some of the things he did, like the Chariton case, on the news at some point. He might have admired him for it.

That’s all for today. They are very intriguing to me. I will be back later about non-Xanvid things.

[saphronethaleph]

Destined Trials

Link frowned, concentrating ferociously, and considered all the information he had available to him.

There had to be a weakness…

He glanced to his side, at Zelda, then glowered at Ganondorf… and, suddenly, he saw it.

Time slowed for a moment.

“What time did this take place?” Link asked.

“Oh, ah…” the Rito said, frowning to herself. “I suppose it was… yes, it was the day after the solstice. I remember I was very pleased with the balalaika my wife had got me. The window was closed when I went into my room, then I was playing the balalaika, and when I went into the room the next time it had been broken – I don’t know when.”

“The day after the solstice,” Link reiterated, looking up at Ganondorf. “And yet the previous witness said that my client was present for every meal during the solstice day celebrations, and for the three days afterwards. There simply wasn’t time for him to get all the way there and back during the time the crime was committed.”

“There are, of course, high speed connections between the cities,” Ganondorf said.

“Not during the day after the solstice,” Zelda spoke up. “That day is a nationwide public holiday and public transit is on a volunteer only basis. All long distance train travel on those dates is stop to stop only, which doesn’t leave enough time for the crime to be committed.”

Ganondorf glowered at them.

“Then who do you suggest was responsible?” he asked.

“That isn’t something we have to prove,” Link replied. “This is a trial of a person. It’s not a trial to punish someone, it’s a trial to determine if a specific person should be punished.”

Later, after the decision had been reached, Zelda approached Ganondorf with Link a pace behind.

“You knew the person you were prosecuting hadn’t done it,” she said, without preamble.

“That’s quite an accusation,” Ganondorf replied, urbanely. “If you intend to sue me over it, I can identify a very good prosecutor I suggest you use… of course, I’d need to be assigned a public defender team.”

He smirked. “And, besides, I’m a lawyer. My job is to argue in favour of my side. That’s it. When you’re defending someone, do you defend them any less well if you think they’re guilty?”

“It’s a lot harder to defend someone who’s guilty, but mostly because they did it,” Link contributed.

“Our job is to make sure that justice is served, and that means making sure you have to work for everyone who gets punished,” Zelda declared, then frowned slightly. “But… why are you a lawyer, exactly?”

She indicated the seven-and-a-half-foot, immensely strong man facing her. “I know it’s a bit off topic, but… you look like someone who should be a prize winning athlete.”

“Destined combat,” Ganondorf replied, blandly. “Make no mistake – you, and I, and the twink over there are destined to battle down the ages, again and again. The Princess, the Hero, and the Beast of Despair.”

Zelda and Link exchanged confused glances.

“But this time… I wasn’t feeling it,” Ganondorf continued. “Being slain is extremely painful, you know, and I didn’t much fancy being stabbed to death with eleven hundred arrows made of magic superlaser this time. I’d much rather do all the epic prophesied battle, then settle down to a retirement somewhere in the upper slopes of a mountain range overlooking Gerudopolis… and enjoy some wine, once in a while.”

“...so… you became a lawyer?” Zelda asked.

“Of course,” Ganondorf agreed. “Being stabbed to death with eleven hundred arrows made of magic superlaser is extremely rare in a courtroom, and I figured you two would end up following me anyway so being a prosecuting attorney seemed like the profession with the highest salary while involved in combat. Though do let me know what you think of the alternatives… I was wondering about archaeology, but that seemed to have entirely too high a risk of accidentally uncovering a magical artefact that would need to be destroyed and an epic non-metaphorical battle.”

His voice became distant. “Perhaps I should try a band, one of these lives. Ganon and the Dorfs. It might catch on…”

“Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Zelda whispered to Link. “Because if he’s trying to get me to question my life choices and why a royal princess is working in a public defender’s office, it’s kind of working.”

[salty-an-disco]

you know…… there's an argument to be made to getting Contrarian in Nightmare instead of Paranoid. Like– you go for a third option neither the narrator or princess want, but you double down on anyway. In the original Nightmare, that was because you couldn't trust neither princess or narrator, but what if you started doubling down specifically because neither of them agreed with you?

That was how I fell into the swap au trap, with something I'm calling 'A Shift in Perspective' (or 'SiP AU' for short), where the swaps are all decided by whether or not I can find a good argument to why you should get a different voice in the game's routes. Here's the conclusions I reached:

Nightmare – Contrarian: like I already said in the example above, neither princess nor Narrator liked your idea and so you decided to double down on it to the detriment of everyone involved. Princess still feels abandoned by you, but she's also angry to how flippantly you taking this ("You think this is game? OK, then, why don't we play.").

I want to lean more into Nightmare's playfulness here, with some jigsaw and carnival themes. The way to the basement is a jolly ride that take you down to her lair with cheery-creepy music as you pass through exaggerated smiling and crying faces. Contrarian is still trying to make light of the situation, though there's a noticeable undercurrent of fear in his tone. Nightmare doesn't shut down your organs here.

Spectre – Opportunist: You did the job exactly as asked specifically to get that reward, but it turned out it was a bust, so you kill yourself and come back to the cabin in hopes the princess has a better option for you. In this read of the route, you take more of a 'hitman' role, being more focused on what you can get out of this situation as opposed to the act of killing the princess. Spectre doesn't change much, though her cabin has a more sterile feeling to it as opposed to old and abandoned. She won't be happy to learn you killed her just to get a reward, but is willing to hear you out. Now you just gotta negotiate your way out of this situation and make sure not to accidentally get yourself killed by saying the wrong thing!! (don't have many clear visuals for this one, more just a Vibe)

Prisoner – Cold: You completely ignored all of Narrator's warnings and advice. It didn't sound right to you, anyway, so you went straight for the princess, and it immediately became clear who you were more willing to hear out. When she kills you, you accept it without complaint; it's only fair, there was no other way for her to defend herself. If Cold is a steel-weapon in the canon game, here, he is a shield; willing to take on any hit if it means getting his way, and making sure the princess stays alive. In the basement (a stone cold prison with clear, (and very breakable), chains around the princess' wrists and neck). Prisoner smiles when you appear, like she's in on a joke, but doesn't say much. Cold still won't urge you in any particular direction; suggesting you can explore, examine the place, talk to the princess all you want– but in the end, you still have to make a choice. And it's a easy, no?

Wanna lean into the fact Cold is prolly the closest voice to Quiet's true nature here, and the fact that despite lookin' the most human, Prisoner is still the one you can get free by simply letting change happen around her; neither of you may know why, but you two intrinsically trust each other

Damsel – Stubborn: You very insistently didn't get the knife, didn't abide by Narrator's advice to not talk to the princess, resisted when he tried to force your hand, and made sure she would be the one to kill you. (Imagine Narrator saying, "A stubborn bastard, aren't you?" right before you die). There's no doubt now. Narrator is a villain who, for some reason, wants to make sure the princess dies. You won't let that happen.

This is the one where we focus more on the 'distress' part of Damsel in Distress. There'll be lots of traps and trials trying to attack her once you save the princess from the chains, and it's your job to make sure she gets out of there unscathed. Something of a scourt mission. Stubborn's fighting instincts here are directed to the threats around the princess instead of her; much like Cold, he's more of a shield than a weapon in this version.

Beast – Broken: You got absolutely wrecked by the princess like you were no more than a mouse against a lion. What hope can you have to survive in this situation? It's simply nature; you should just lay down and let it take its course. The basement here is much more open, and with an arid feel to it; more of a savana than a jungle. The princess lies in plain view, a mighty Beast that you cannot hope to face against. You have to fight against your own Broken spirit as well as this apex predator to hope you can have any chance of survival.

Witch – Paranoid: The moment you saw the princess chew her own arm, you knew you made the wrong choice. She's clearly not someone that should be trusted, attacking was the only option you had!! The Princess attacks back in surprise, immediately hardening her stance once she realizes what you did. The two of you die, and the way she clawed and bit at you only cements in your head that she's a tricky monster who cannot be trusted.

There is more than one entrance to the basement this time, and no matter which one you take, you'll end up in a labyrinth of roots and vines full of tricks and traps the princess laid out for you. You never see her clearly, but her cackling laughter follows you all the way. Paranoid will warn you of any trap before you can fall for them, and listening to her is the best way to avoid getting caught; though some of the things she perceives as a trap might not actually be there– the roots almost seem to move imperceptibly, and you're sure there eyes following you. Are they really there, or are they imagined? You'll find Witch right at the center of the maze, where you can either fight her or try to talk things out. Though none of these choices will really help you escape. You're already trapped.

Wanna lean into the cyclical feel of both Witch and Nightmare here, with your distrust/fear is what keeps cementing this cycle of violence you're both stuck on.

Tower – Smitten: (women that can kill you by stepping on your throat are kinda ho– [gets shot]) Right before you die, you see the situation for what it is. You never should've wielded that knife against her, she's a light that can't be snuffed out, don't you see? With that understanding is that you die. There are bells echoing in the distance when you enter the cabin, a beautiful place with ornamented windows and mobilia; really leaning into that church symbolism here. Tower is sitting as she waits for you with a soft smile on her face. Her voice is honey, and what she offers you is benevelonce and a place at her side, all you have to do is pledge yourself to her.

Instead of an imposing and impossible figure, Tower is more of the 'benevelont god' figure here. Still very much wants you to be under her control, but won't rush or press that offer upon you (she knows you'll accept it one way or the other anyway). Smitten is the only one forcing control of your body here, wanting to rush to her and kneel at her feet; you can fight him, or you can let him steal all the choices from you.

Adversary – Hunted: You tried to go for a killing blow, but you gave her too much time to prepare herself and now you're also at the receiving ending of her blows. Well, kill or be killed; you're both just animals trying to survive. The cave you find yourself in once inside the cabin has more of a humid air to it, and at the bottom, you find the Princess; Adversary has more of a scaled lizard aesthetic to her, and is eager to fight for her life again with you.

Hunted isn't as excited about fighting as Stubborn is in canon, but is very much willing to prove you can overcome this obstacle. Doesn't matter how many tries it takes.

Stranger – Cheated: "What the fuck do you mean the universe itself will warp into itself to keep you from leaving?!? That's absolutely bullshit!!"

That's all the argument I have for this one. Stranger themselves doesn't change much, the main difference is Cheated's reaction and how he goes about treating a world where you're choices doesn't seem to matter anyway.

Razor – Skeptic: There must be a reason you couldn't kill her before, and if you find the answer, you can make sure you kill her for good. You see this mission as a puzzlebox that needs to be solved if you want to slay the princess. The cabin is basically a escape room from the moment you step in, and will not let you progress unless you solve it. Each wrong answer slices you in half and gets you a new voice. New perspectives to see this rubix cube from!!

At this point, you overcomplicated this whole thing so much, it's all just a tangle of webs and knots with no rhyme or reason, with you and the princess (who's at this point, just a mess of wires and steel) stuck right in the middle. The only way to escape is shutting down all your thoughts and cutting through the knots with her.

+ some doodles I did for this concept

[fayevalcntine]

The thing about Louis's relationship with Claudia is that, yes it's not on the same level of Armand and Lestat's, but you're making a mistake in even equating the latter two in some way. One is her maker, the man who was also her parent, who failed in parenting her and taking care of her emotionally (even when he severely rejected turning her before giving in), who abused her physically and emotionally, while the other is a coven master who never promised her any support or protection in the first place and took part in hazing a vampire who is the equivalent of a child to his age (and I don't say this to excuse his behavior).

Louis's relationship with Claudia also isn't just marred by parental neglect when he's also in the same line of men who put his hand around her neck. He physically abused her the same way Lestat first did, and for that he even threatened to tear Lestat's head off, yet in a moment of turmoil, didn't hesitate to replicate it. But even taking that aside, the parental neglect is severe on both his and Lestat's end. During the opening scene of 1.05, Louis makes no mention (in past scenes) of knowing she was self-harming, yet Lestat mentions she self-harmed for attention during the trial. So who exactly knew? Was it both of them? And even if Louis didn't know, it's pretty blatant within the symbolism itself in 1.05 that he takes part in this neglect until cops knock on their door over the dead bodies found as a result of Claudia's instability. They both avoid confronting the issue until they literally can't anymore, and even then, their argument turns from yelling at her to yelling at each other. Same thing that happens later in the ending fight scene: even in these horrible moments of conflict, she's never the center of it even if her wants and needs are in the beginning of it.

This is what she means when she tells Louis that she's been "a third, all my life". Even when Louis promises "it's you and me", it doesn't end that way. Even if he's conspiring with Armand to keep control of the coven for her, or trying to twist his relationship around into having more control for her, none of it ends up centering her and what she wants. This is true even when it comes down to her being turned: Louis drags her body around like a lifeless doll while dangling the promise of never leaving Lestat to him just so he can agree to turn her. Even if they considered the consequences of turning her, it didn't matter because Lestat ended up doing it anyway. In this, Claudia is angry at both of them because from her perspective, when exactly was she prioritized as the daughter? When Louis wanted her turned for the sake of dampening down his guilt? When Lestat turned her for the sake of keeping Louis close? When both of them ignored the glaring issue of her emotional instability and loneliness? When she nursed Louis back to health only for her abusive parent to still be let back in the house? When even in his supposed self-sacrifice, Louis hurls "go sit with your choices!" at her? And this doesn't even touch upon the diaries and Louis's need to editorialize them to alleviate his guilt, when they're the last remains of her existence.

Louis didn't orchestrate the trial or sit in as witness testifying against her, but he feels guilty over her destiny all the same, because he's directly responsible for when she was turned ("created") in the first place. It's not about the men he chose "over her" or even just how his own parenting mirrors that of his family's treatment of him. "Hey, it's not on you. You hear me? I carried her home. I made you turn her. And saved her from a fire… so a half century later she could…" - this line isn't him simply absolving Lestat from his guilt over her life/death, it's him expressing his own guilt and viewed culpability in how he failed her.

[theyapper0]

PART THREE OF "DISHONORED GUESTS"

Charlie's??? Super confused? But she goes with it, albeit a bit thrown off by the sudden subject change, “Uh… no. ‘Still just Angel”

Emily: Angel? There's an angel in Hell!? 

Charlie's like, oh no, LOL! I'm talking about Angel DUST, a really good friend of mine and our first patron at the hotel!!!! Angel Dust is just a performing name! You get it? Angel Dust? 

Emily does not get it.

Charlie: One of the things he's trying to work on is getting clean and Angel Dust started using that name a long time ago. It's a another word for-

Adam: Uh! Charlie! Umm… Emily, don't worry about that! 

Adam leans into Charlie and says how Sera doesn't like having Emily hear that kinda stuff

Charlie’s TOTALLY confused now, she just sorta stares at him like??

Emily sighs, more than used to this, and is like, “Okay….”

Charlie looks at Emily and then at Adam like, “Great! ‘Glad we got that outta the way! Okay, see you at the Trial, Adam!!! ^^”

Adam: Oh! Uh… Alright, you two..!

When they’re a little further away, Charlie asks Emily if she’d like to hear about Angel Dust and other stories from Hell. Not in like an evil way but in like a friendly way :)

Emily’s a grown woman and Charlie doesn’t understand why she would need permission from her sister to hear certain things, obviously he knows that Sera is sorta overbearing because she cares for Emily but at the same time, she knows it’s also stifling Emily a LOT

Emily OF COURSE agrees like OMG FOR REAL?? YES!!!!!!

Adam stared at them as they left.

He knew what was happening.

(Why doesn’t he ever act?)

Cut. The Sun is beginning to set, the Trial will be in a couple hours. 

Vaggie is walking around the Heavenly cathedral, looking for Sera. 

She needed to leave. She HAD to leave, if she doesn't, Lute will tell not just everyone, but CHARLIE, that she's a….

Vaggie knew that if she were to ask Sera that she wished to leave, the Seraphim would be MORE than happy to conjure up a portal back to Hell no questions asked. 

Charlie didn't TRULY need Vaggie here for the Trial, she only thought she did. If Vaggie were to leave, sure, Charlie would be sad, but she'll get so distracted from preparing for the Trial that she'll forget that her girlfriend had even come with her in the first place!! 

Charlie comes up from behind her, “Sera? Why're you looking for her?” 

Vaggie: AAHAATTOOoooo ask her… where you were! HAHAHA! I just knew you were having such a good time with Emily and I wanted to make sure you were okay!!!! 

Charlie's like you could've called me :( and Vaggie apologizes

Charlie: It's fine, no worries! I'm just glad you ended up coming out for some air! Speaking of, man, even the air feels better to breathe in! 

Vaggie tells her that it was because there was no air pollution in Heaven  

Charlie: How do they even power their factories? Magic? 

Vaggie: Probably

Charlie smiles at her and kisses her, “I missed you, Emily showed me all these amazing places! Did you know the parks here aren't constantly on fire? Or filled with garbage!!!

Vaggie: That probably helps with the lack of a pollution problem here 

Charlie laughs and tells her that she totally has a point. 

Charlie: Oh wait!! I got you something!! A little thank you for coming with me today!! I know you don't really dig Heaven but you came anyway… for me. I just want you to know how much it means to me. 

Charlie gives Vaggie a golden, handheld blade sharpener.

Vaggie is completely awestruck and she stares at it as Charlie speaks, “Me and Emily got stickers and we were gonna put them all over but we figured that since it's YOURS, you should get to pick where you want them… or if you want them on it in the first place!”

Vaggie looks at the handle, on the butt of it is a sticker. 

Charlie: Ok so I might've realized that AFTER I already put one on…

Vaggie smiles with a light laugh, she hugs Charlie, “Charlie, I love it. Thank you so much, babe”

Charlie: You don't need to thank me, Vaggie!! I love you”

They kiss (⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠♥

Charlie: We still have a few hours till the Trial, I'm gonna go over all our points! Feel free to join me whenever!! 

Vaggie stays where she stood, watching as Charlie turns around to walk away

Lute’s words- her threats, are clawing at the inside of her brain. If Vaggie showed up to that Trial, if she saw Lute, everything would be revealed…

Vaggie needed to leave. 

Vaggie: Wait, Charlie..!

Charlie turns around, “Hm? Yeah, Vaggie?”

Vaggie: I…

Vaggie: Do you really need me here for this..? I mean, you’re basically the one who thought of all our arguments for this Trial, I don't want to… hold you back”

Charlie: Vaggie… Everything we have, we built from the ground up TOGETHER. You're just as an integral part in this as I am, we're a team. 

Charlie: I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather have here with me than you- I WOULDN'T WANT anyone else with me here than you

Vaggie stared up at her. 

Shit….

How could she leave now? Not after such a confession like that. 

Charlie didn't NEED Vaggie here, she really didn't. Honestly, either one of them could have gone here to fight in this Trial and all would be fine, they both knew their material. 

But Charlie WANTED Vaggie to be here… with her. 

Vaggie: I uh….

Vaggie: I guess we can go over everything together…

Cut. Charlie and Vaggie are outside the grand doors of the Courtroom. 

Charlie is FREAKING OUT!!!! The Trial's just MINUTES from starting!!!! FUUUUUCK!!!!!!! 

Vaggie reassures her that everything's gonna be fine and to not stress so much 

While Vaggie's telling her this, she eyes Lute approaching them in the corner of her eye

Vaggie: How about you go set up and get organized inside, you'll feel better once you start doing something. I'm just gonna head to the bathroom real quick

Charlie's like, “Can I come?? 🥺”

Vaggie: Charlie…

Charlie: Okay, okay! You're right, I'm gonna go

They give each other a quick kiss before Charlie runs inside

As Charlie leaves, Lute finally reaches Vaggie. 

Lute: You're still here. 

Vaggie: Don't you have Adam to follow? 

Lute: I've extended my grace towards you because of our past, old protégé.

Lute: But you've completely disregarded that

Vaggie ignores Lute, trying to walk away and down the hall. 

Lute grabs her shoulder, “It would do you good to listen to the people above you”

Lute: I thought I taught you well… 

Lute: But I'll make sure you learn. 

Vaggie jerks her shoulder away, “Don't touch me!”

They tussle for a bit and eventually Lute roughly grabs hold of Vaggie's arm and shoves her into the Courtroom.

They both enter the Courtroom and it's quiet, there's only a couple murmurings here and there. 

Vaggie goes to Charlie and Lute to Adam.

Charlie and Emily are talking to each other. Adam was watching them from afar but then was completely thrown off once he saw Lute enter with Vaggie

This is the first time Adam is seeing Vaggie today and UMM???? WHAT?! SHE’S ALIVE?!?!?!?!!?!?

(In this rewrite/AU/thing, everyone thought Vaggie died by Lute once she was banished from Hell)

Adam looks at Lute and there’s no time to explain anything.

Sera: The Trial will now commence!

Sera: We are here to determine whether or not a mortal soul in Hell can be redeemed into the heavenly realm via means of this “Hazbin Hotel”

Sera: All mortal souls, in order to grant passage into eternal bliss, must follow the Ten Commandments. If they do not, they are sentenced to the fiery wrath of damnation.

Charlie speaks up, “Yes but a mortal’s life isn’t over when they die- so to speak!”

“They're still conscious and aware of their actions and consequences even IN the afterlife! If they are just as lucid as they were when they were alive, that means their principals and morals are continuously subject to change just like anyone else!”

Charlie: I believe our Hazbin Hotel has the potential to reform Sinners! 

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

[dark-frosted-heart]

Roger Barel Main Route - Blind Love Chapter 24

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this. I’m doing this for archiving purposes and you can probably find a better translation out there.

slight nsfw, minors dni

And so this case came to a close—

Time continued to pass until my month as Fairytale Keeper was up…

Ale: Woof.

Kate: Huh, Ale?! Didn’t you go back home?

While I blinked at Ale, who jumped into my arms, Ellis came running after.

Ellis: Roger’s father just came by. He asked us to look after him for a while again.

Roger: He’s doing his own thing again. But it’s more fun when it’s lively around here, isn’t it Kate?

Kate: Yes. Come here, Ale!

Ale: Arf arf.

It looked like Ale would be spending more time in Crown Castle.

--

Roger: …There’s a typo here. Also, the case would be easier to follow if you wrote it in chronological order.

Kate: Ugh…Can you please go easy on me?

Roger was proofreading my report…

--

Roger: Now then…

Ellis: What are we toasting?

Jude: Just say somethin’ that works.

Kate: Eh, me? Then, um… To another uneventful day. Cheers!

We went out to drink with Jude and the others…

The time left flew by.

But it was enough time to make some memories—At last, my month was up.

Yes, today was the last day…

And the day to reveal to Roger what I had been planning.

--

All members of Crown, minus Roger, and I gathered in the audience chamber.

(Roger still hasn’t mentioned what his final trial is)

(I’m almost certain he’s going to make me do the impossible and then let me go…)

And say something like “don’t do something stupid like putting up with someone with a shortened lifespan like myself.”

(That’s why I—)

While I reaffirmed the thoughts hidden in my heart, Roger entered the audience chamber.

Roger: What’s with suddenly summoning everyone here?

Victor: We’re all here now. Then let's hold a ceremony for Kate’s continuation as Fairytale Keeper.

Roger: …O_O

(This is what I decided on, Roger)

I cracked a smile at his surprised expression.

Victor: Kate, not only did you keep Crown’s secret for a whole month as promised, you have also become an essential part of us. I’d like to express my most sincere gratitude. Thank you. The other day, she had come to me to discuss her continuation as Fairytale Keeper. If there are no mistakes in the proposal, then sign this letter of agreement to continue as Fairytale Keeper.

I stepped forward and signed the letter of agreement, set the pen down, and walked up to Roger who looked at me in surprise.

Kate: I intend to continue being a Fairytale Keeper and record Crown’s evil. More importantly, I want to continue helping you fulfill your ambitions. You probably thought we’d be parting ways today. I can’t be leave you anymore!

Roger: …O_O

Roger’s eyes widened even more…

Roger: Leave? What’re you talking about?

Kate: Huh?

Roger: You sure you’re not misunderstanding something here?

(Misunderstanding?? Eh, but!)

Kate: But you!

I heard someone clear his throat and turned to see William wearing his usual refined smile.

William: Roger, Kate. Do keep in mind that we’re in the presence of Her Majesty. Save your lover’s quarrel for another place.

As I bowed my head in a hurry, Ellis and Liam clapped…

Ellis: Anyway, congrats on your continuation as Fairytale Keeper, Kate.

Liam: I don’t know what’s going on, but if it means I can keep being with Kate, then I’m happy with it.

Harrison: I’m still curious about what Kate’s misunderstanding with Roger is. I’m confused.

Jude: I actually agree for once. Ya took up our time and now there’s a misunderstandin’. Are ya stupid?

Alfons: We’ll find out soon enough. In any case, we’ll have to deal with them making out in the castle. Ahh, so troublesome!

Elbert: Kate…I look forward to working with you more.

Victor: It seems everyone’s welcoming Kate’s continued role as Fairytale Keeper. I’m counting on you. Watch the light and darkness with your clear eyes together with Crown.

Kate: Victor, and everyone else…Thank you. 

William: Now then, let’s have a moment of peace before our next condemnation. We should hold a dinner party for Kate. Come. Our beautiful robin who’s chosen to live in the dark—

William slowly reached out toward me, and as his fingertips were about to touch mine…

Roger: I know you lot like her, but we need to have a talk first.

Roger took my hand, fixed his gaze on me, and then threw me over his shoulder—

Kate: Hey, Roger?!

Roger: Sorry, but I’m taking this one.

And so the two disappeared behind the door.

Victor: William, you provoked Roger on purpose, didn’t you? You naughty boy.

William: We have robin with us. I’m allowed this much of a blessing.

--

He set me down on his bed and was in front of me before I even had a chance to sit up.

Roger: —So, what’s your aim? Since it looks like you’re conspiring with Victor.

(It doesn’t sound like Roger’s happy with my decision to stay as Fairytale Keeper…)

Kate: …I was eavesdropping earlier. Jude said that you’ve been shortening your lifespan by testing on yourself.

Roger: I see. I thought it was weird how you didn’t come back right away.

Roger let out a deep sigh.

Roger: I’m not always listening out for things, so I didn’t notice.

Kate: …I’m sorry for eavesdropping and then pretending I didn’t know anything. I thought you were going to use your final trial as a chance to keep me away.

(If that happened, then I’d be at a loss)

That’s why I thought I had to find a way to stay by Roger’s side before it happened.

Roger: It’d suck to be with a man who’s lifespan’s been cut short. So you thought it’d be a farewell?

I nodded slowly.

Kate: …Is it not?

Roger sighed again.

Roger: Everything you heard was true. But what I had planned for your final trial was the exact opposite of whatever you deluded yourself into thinking.

(Huh?)

Roger: Since I’m the eldest son of the Barel family, this is the account where the property and assets are saved, and this is the deed to the Barel family’s land. And this—

I started panicking as he pulled one unexpected thing out of his pocket after another.

Kate: Eh, uh, wait. What are you…

Roger went to get something out of his desk drawer, leaving me on the bed, confused.

Roger: Here, this is the most important thing.

He draped a lab coat over my shoulders.

(The embroidery on the lab coat…it’s my name)

As I traced the embroidery, a large hand rested on my head.

Roger: I definitely can’t say that I’ll live long. Because of that, I’m giving you everything that’s mine. More importantly, you’ll never be bored when we’re together. I’ll love you thoroughly. Kate. Be my lover, or don’t. If you choose to, then kiss me.

Kate: Roger, is this…?

When I looked into his eyes for confirmation, he nodded.

Roger: This is the final trial I had in mind.

Kate: …

The moment he said that, I almost stopped breathing.

(He couldn’t have prepared the deed and other stuff in a day)

(Meaning Roger never intended on letting me go…)

Realizing that I had misunderstood everything, my cheeks heated up.

Kate: …Wha

Roger: …Wha?

Kate: W-what is this…You should’ve said something sooner…

Roger: Pfft, hahaha. You’re the one that came up with some wild delusion. You’re still too naive. Do I look like the nice sort of guy that’d pull back for another?

You don’t.

You’re nice, but not. +4 +4

I forgot you were like this.

Kate: You’re nice, but not. You’re an egoist that can be either.

Roger: You like that, don’t you?

This man that was like poison, was the greatest egoist. He was a villain who made whatever he wanted his.

(In the end, I was so stupid for forgetting that)

Roger: I’ve thought about it like most people would. If there was a way to let you go. But when you came to save me in jail and gave me that pep talk, I was convinced. …Yeah, can’t let this one go. I wanted to make her own life mine. Besides, I’ve already told you. “I will never betray you without a reason. Never.”

(Ah…)

~~ Flashback ~~

Roger: Kate, I’ve taken a liking to you so I’ll promise you this. I will never betray you without a reason. Never.

~~ End flashback ~~

The hand that was on my head slowly pulled me in.

Roger: I won’t betray your love. Let’s be together, Kate. I can’t promise that I won’t make you sad. However—You can’t be satisfied by anyone else but me, can you?

Roger gently touched his forehead to mine and gave me a wicked smile.

(T-t-this…)

(This man~~!)

(But, the moment I fell for a selfish man like him, I lost!)

I squeezed my eyes shut and kissed Roger on the lips.

Kate: Roger, please make me your lover.

Roger: Likewise.

Roger kissed me back, but it didn’t end there. His kisses went lower, down my neck and chest.

Kate: Roger…?

Roger: I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Let’s do something that feels good that we haven’t done in a while.

Now that we were lovers, I didn’t have a reason to reject him.

(I wonder if Roger and I will finally do that tonight…)

As I listened to my heart pound, my body suddenly relaxed.

Roger: I’d be a waste if we went straight to the main course. Let’s savor this thoroughly.

I felt my heart beat faster as my breath hitched. But then—

Roger: Whoops, I got an appointment with Jude. See ya, Kate.

Before I could chase after the warmth, the door shut…

Kate: ……What?

I was left all alone in the room, confused.

…However, there was a meaning to this baffling neglect.

It was to make me commit this pleasure to memory—in other words, training me.

--

Kate: Nn..haa…so deep, I can’t.

Roger: If you don’t like it, we’ll stop here.

Kate: …Eh?

Despite tormenting my core so much, he slipped his fingers out too soon…

--

Kate: Mnn, Roger, there…feels so good…more…haaaa.

Roger: Nope, that’s enough for today.

Kate: What do you mean that’s enough…?

Roger: We’re in the middle of a serious lesson on anatomy. We’ll study here later.

Roger was the one that touched me first, but he came up with an excuse to stop, leaving me aching…

Roger kept denying me every time.

--

…And tonight was no exception.

Roger: Haha, you get so wet, so fast.

Of course I did, because Roger kept denying me release. My body became sensitive to even the slightest bit of stimulation.

Roger: …What do you wanna do, Kate? Wanna go all the way tonight?

[mickeym4ndy]

ooooooh my god, would love to hear more about this milkovich sibling reunion fic idea! i always hoped they'd find their way back together.

Hi💗 Aw thank you! It’s something I’ve only thought of recently but I love the Milkovich fam too and would love if they got closer post canon, especially now that Terry’s dead.

This fic idea is kind of sad and intense ngl, but it would have a happy ending! (This ended up being sooo long I’m sorry, didn’t realize how much I’d actually thought about it lol).

I have the idea that it starts with Colin coming to Mickey asking for a job at the security company (he’s heard Sandy’s working there) because he found out his girlfriend is pregnant.

He had been living the Milkovich life (robberies, scams, dealing etc.) up until that point but a bunch of his “colleagues” (or I guess other family members) recently got caught for a big job they had going and are looking at 10+ years in prison.

Colin wasn’t there so he wasn’t caught, but he had been involved and realises how close he was to having to watch his kid grow up from behind prison glass so he’s had a bit of a wake up call.

Mickey agrees to take him on on a trial basis because he is family at the end of the day, but warns him that he needs to stay on the straight and narrow or he’s out.

And there are some growing pains in the beginning but he’s trying.

Mickey & Colin end up hanging out through work and they both sort of remember how much they like hanging out with each other.

Eventually Colin reveals to Mickey that he hasn’t seen Iggy much since he started at the company because Iggy’s got a pretty bad drug problem. Mickey goes to see him at the old house and really sees how bad it’s gotten.

Mickey feels guilty for letting his brother get that bad even though it wasn’t his fault.

They start trying to help Iggy get clean but Iggy’s not really interested because he thinks this is all that’s meant for him.

Ian & Mickey (mainly Ian) talk to Mandy a lot but Mickey doesn’t tell Mandy at first because she’s doing well and he doesn’t want to drag her down.

But then Iggy OD’s and nearly dies and Ian calls her and tells her because he knows she’d want to know. She shows up at the hospital then after she finds out.

Mickey, Colin, and Mandy convince Iggy to go to rehab. Mickey says he’ll pay for it too (because the company is doing well) and all 4 of them drive up to the rehab together to drop Iggy off, and they realize it’s the first time they’ve all been together in years. And it’s the first time they’re all together without Terry alive. It’s weird and hard for all of them. But also kind of nice in a weird way, because there’s elements of themselves that nobody understands but each other.

I think maybe even family therapy would be an element of Iggy’s rehab and NONE of them want to do it because talking and therapy are NOT Milkovich things, but they all want Iggy to get better, so they do it for him. They don’t say much in the first few sessions and it ends up being very difficult and rough, and eventually a lot of shit is revealed and confessed over time and it’s really, really hard. (Not really sure of the exact details of all that tbh, but I don’t think the boys know about what Terry did to Mandy and I don’t think anyone knows about what actually happened to Mickey and Svetlana).

But having to talk about it all does end up being good for them in the long run.

Anyway, it would be a long road and being around each other would bring up feelings that all of them had kept buried for so long, and it would be difficult and they’d all struggle in their own way. (I’ve read a bunch of fics where Mickey gets nightmares and panic attacks and I think that’s pretty accurate). (I think Colin having a kid would make him really realize how awful Terry was to him too). But at the same time, they realize they are actually happy to be together again.

And it would also be the first step on a healing journey for all of them. Both individually but also as a unit because they’re finally able to have a relationship with each other outside of Terry.

Mandy tells Mickey that she’s been seeing a therapist about everything for a while now, and tells him that he really should try it himself because it’s been really helpful. Eventually, after a particularly rough night, he agrees to see someone. (Ian is thrilled because he’s been trying to get Mickey to talk to someone for so long).

Mickey & Mandy also just start talking more in general, especially about their mom.

Iggy gets out of rehab they all help out and try to keep him clean and they all just end up hanging out and talking more, and try to heal together.

There would be a lot of Mickey trying to get Iggy to understand that they’re all better than Terry and that they don’t have to follow in his footsteps just because he’s their father, and that futures aren’t already decided for them just because they had rough pasts. They’re not actually “fucked for life.” (which I think would be interesting because I think it’s something that he still struggles to believe himself).

Eventually Iggy starts to believe him and see a future for himself.

Colin is terrified of becoming a dad because he’s so scared he’ll be like Terry, and it’s actually Iggy that convinces him that he could never be.

They all meet Colin’s gf and she’s great, and her & Ian become fast friends. Family BBQ’s and stuff start happening.

Not really sure of the exact details from there, more stuff would happen but idk exactly what (feel like Colin’s kids birth would be v dramatic and they’d all be at the hospital for it lol). But yea the idea is that even though the circumstances are tough, they grow back together and try to heal over time and actually get the chance to be a family again🩵

[vincord]

Borderline Kotoko and why.

(I'm not a psychiatrist, a specialist, or anyone else. Everything that follows is just my own vision of the character as a person with bpd. I like to headcanoning to my favorite characters what I have, especially if I see similarities with their feelings/behavior/relationships. I don't headcanon to the characters and my kins what I don't have myself and what I don't know much about. It's just a hedcanon and you may disagree with it, if you want.)

Since her second MV has been released, I can finally put all my thoughts together and write this post. (thanks to my mutual who told me to post this here. Without her little support, I wouldn't have done it)

I would like to start by saying that it is obvious that Kotoko divides the world into black and white, good and evil, allies and enemies. This is one of the main themes that can be traced throughout Kotoko's narrative. There is no middle ground for her, It's either this or that. This hinders Kotoko in her relationships with others, it hinders her in her relationship with herself and the perception of everything that is happening around her.

A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes between idealization and devaluation.

During all this time, it has been shown how Kotoko is able to idealize people or just treat them well, but then push them away from her if they do or say something that undermines her trust in them. She takes a defensive position, because an opinion different from hers is equated with a threat and danger.

"Lucky"

Kotoko treats the rescued girl quite well only as long as she doesn't read the news.

_ Kazui

The 1st trial. Question 6.

"Who's the prisoner you have the most interest in?" Kotoko: It's hard to say. As of now, if it's about whose character I can't quite grasp, it'd be Kazui with his strong sense of intellectual curiosity.

The 2nd trial. Timeline (2022/08/05)

Kotoko: ……Mukuhara Kazui. Thanks to you, I wasn’t able to properly serve justice to those who did something unforgivable. I’m currently acting as an agent for our prison guard Es. Don’t get in my way next time. Kazui: Oi oi, don’t be silly, Yuzuriha-chan. There’s no way I could just look away from your outrageous display of violence. Anyway, even disregarding the fact violence against those voted guilty isn’t a part of Milgram’s system, what you’re doing is just acting recklessly based on a broad interpretation. As long as I’m free myself, I’ll stop you. Kotoko: ……what a pointless argument. Hmph. Since Es forgives you, I have no choice but to forgive you myself too. If you to keep to your words, then you’d best do what you can to keep being forgiven. If you’re not, then next time you’ll be one of my targets.

She is interested in him and communicating with him. They really have common topics to talk about and maybe they could even get along. But he does something that she doesn't like and is directed against her and her ideals. Kazui stands up for those whom Kotoko planned to punish, thereby turning her against himself, despite the small number of common themes that seemed to make her a little more loyal to him. This act alone is enough for her to instantly begin to see him as an enemy, not an ally. _

Es

Kotoko's idealization and disillusionment with people are best manifested in her relationship with Es. In the beginning, she offers them cooperation, seeing that Milgram is somewhat similar to what she adheres to, only to push them away when her opinion was not agreed.

The 1st trial. Voice drama.

Kotoko: Some scenes.. you can only see it in a cell. Because you and I are the same, always observing the other prisoners.

Es: Kotoko. A person like you.. What have you planned? Kotoko: Heh. Me, I want to be like you. There's no way I can tolerate sin.

Kotoko: To be honest, I don't know your true intentions. And I don't know whether you are a similar person with similar thoughts. Who knows, maybe it's just my delusion of wishful thinking.

The 2nd trial. Voice drama.

Es: Listen to me. You're wrong. Kotoko: What? We've decided to work together, so i've become your fangs.

Es: That's enough. We have different views on it. I'm not continuing to work with you.

Beginning. They make it clear to her that they disagree with her and consider her wrong.

Es: Kotoko. I will not do what you say. I will determine the way i see both sin and punishment as i want it. It may seem wrong from your point of view. And that's understandable. I'm pretty aware of it.

Kotoko: How ridiculous... It's always like this... All of you weaklings always act like this... All of you enjoy seeing someone getting hurt...

Kotoko: You keep asking for it, but as soon as it happens near you by your own choice, you all start complaining and evading your responsibility... You're always like this... Always such idiots!

Kotoko: You have no power, and yet you make no effort to gain it! You're talking about justice, but it just doesn't make sence! You're invested in people's disasters, yet you take a position of "i have nothing to do with it"! You can't even face your true selves!

Ending. After they disagree with Kotoko, she instantly forgets everything she said before. Now they are no longer similar people with similar interests. Now Es is the exact opposite of that. _

It is also worth recalling that since her birthday in 2022 to birthday in 2023, Kotoko has never contacted any of the other prisoners. She isolated herself from her surroundings for quite a long time, only to then offend them all. She didn't trust any of them before, but now, when she sees that no one agrees with her, she has done everything to build a barrier between them and herself.

Most people with BPD react sharply to rejection, disagreement with them, actions directed against them, and so on, which they can interpret as betrayal and something that threatens their own safety. Sometimes it doesn't matter what a person has done or said. The reaction to this can be strong and vivid. ___

Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.

Here I focus only on paranoia and stress. Kotoko doesn't trust anyone, she's always tense and wary. Even in simple conversations with prisoners, she may feel threatened and something directed against herself. Actually, there is already a post that would fit this point and which is a little more detailed. It says more about PTSD, but still.

The 1st trial. Timeline (2020/05/30)

Mahiru: Hey, Kotoko-chan. There’s something that’s really been bugging me, so do you mind if I ask? ……how do you style yourself so well? Have you always dressed like that? But it also looks like something you’d wear for training. Do you play sport? Ah, or maybe some kind of martial arts? Kotoko: ……you really are carefree. Everyone in here is a “murderer” right? Is this really the time to be asking questions like that? Mahiru: Hmm, I guess so. That’s what they said. But nobody here seems particularly scary or anything, right? If I had to pick someone, then maybe you’re the scariest! Ah, wait, do you do like yoga or something? Kotoko: ……I can’t tell if you’re making fun of me or are just an airhead.

The 1st trial. Timeline (2020/07/09)

Kotoko: Kazui, you do martial arts right. ……what type? Judo? Kazui: Ah, my main is…… judo, and kendo. I also know a little bit of karate. You must have some martial arts experience too, right, Yuzuriha-chan? I can tell by looking. Hmm… probably a combat type…… I’m guessing not karate…… is it Taekwondo? Kotoko: ……I’m not telling you. Stop ogling me like that. It’s gross. Kazui: I-isn’t that a bit unfair?

+ Literally this moment.

___

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) +

Emotional instability in reaction to day-to-day events

or

or

In both of her MVs, from time to time there is a sudden transition to wolves, the red moon and Kotoko's inner world, during which she gives free rein to her emotions. It's like emotional outbursts and outbursts of aggression, the appearance of which you cannot predict, which is why they cause damage both to the one who has them, and, perhaps, to those who are around.

Not that I can say anything about symbolism, I don't think i understand it. But since this is my post and my headcanon, I can interpret what is happening the way I want.

For all its secrecy and unsociability, most of Kotoko's outfits are quite open, compared to the outfit with the red jacket. When she's in this outfit, she's either in her inner world, or with an emotional outburst, or hurting someone. Wearing a hood is an attempt to protect yourself from the outside world and the people around you, to keep all your emotions to yourself, which are already suppressed. Kotoko, with her hood up, is cold and aloof from everyone. She builds a kind of wall between herself and the others. When she removes the hood from her head, she breaks down these walls, allowing a bunch of different emotions to break out and mix.

I would also like to mention how she sounds in her second voice drama and second song. She goes from emotion to emotion and pretty quickly. The way she quickly goes from laughter to intense anger, from intense anger to utter despair and is on the verge of tears, only to then return to anger again, and then suddenly quiet down. ___

Identity disturbance with markedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self +

Chronic feelings of emptiness

+

The 1st trial. Question 1

"Just who are you?" Kotoko: Yuzuriha Kotoko. Someone who plans to fight for your sake. Well, that depends on you too, though.

Kotoko doesn't perceive herself as a person, but rather as a tool to achieve a particular goal. Someone who will do the dirty work that others won't do. She has a first name, last name, age, and that's all. Her whole definition goes through her own ideals, which she desperately clings to and clings to. Kotoko's views are radical and in most cases don't imply compromises. She's either a hero or nobody, so she always needs a reason to follow her ideals and do everything according to them.

Otherwise, there will be nothing left of her. ___

What can I say at the end? Well, this is my headcannon and that's it. I could have forgotten something, made a mistake somewhere, or not completed it. It's hard for me to keep track of it.

Kotoko is one of my favorite characters and some of the things related to her evoke a strong response in me, even if these things show the negative side of the personality and cause a pang of guilt/dislike. It's like you're being shown those disadvantages of yours that you're trying to ignore.

I like to think that she crushes a lot of emotions inside herself, trying not to let them escape. I like to think that sometimes she's afraid of herself, and sometimes she's not. Her cooperation with someone is both a feeling of being needed, and avoiding loneliness, and a moment of socialization. But she can't stand it, because any little thing or the wrong word triggers a survival mode in her head, which is why she builds high walls between herself and the environment again.

I have a lot of thoughts about her. I just wanted to pour at least a small part of these thoughts out of my head into a relatively structured post and that's all. Thanks for reading it. I've been carrying it all in my head for quite a long time and I don't want to wait for the release of her answers to the questions, you know...

[fuyuu-chan]

Visiting Neuvillette In His Office

Pairing: Neuvillette x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Fuyuu-chan: I saw this man and I was like yup I gotta make a fanfic about him, He's so handsome 🥹💙

✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

As you enter the Palais Mermonia where Neuvillette's office were, you see Sedene guarding the place. As always you greet Sedene before entering Neuvillette's office.

"Hii Sedene! How are you?" You said while waving at her.

"I'm good (name), how about you?" Sedene said.

"I'm also good Sedene, as you can see I'm here to visit Neuvillette, is he busy right now?" you said as you smiled.

"Well alright then! Oh and Lady Furina is inside the office talking to Monsieur Neuvillette" Sedene said.

"Oh I see alright i'll wait for them to fin-" before you can finish what you gonna say you heard the office door open and hear Furina's voice.

You looked at Furina who was still talking while exiting Neuvillette's office.

"I'm telling you it's so boring" she said as she finally looked at you.

"Hi Furina" you said as you waved your hand at her.

"Well hello there (name) my favorite person, would you like to play cards with me again?" she said as she approached you excitedly.

"I would love to Furina but I will be spending time with Neuvi today, how 'bout we play tomorrow?" you said.

She only sighs but agreed anyway, you planned what time you would be playing with her and where.

"Alright! I'll see you tomorrow then (name) Toodle ~ooo" she said before she left the Palais Mermonia.

She has always been like this, Furina is like a "little" sister to you as she always acts a bit childish and a very chaotic person but she's a best friend of yours.

As you watch her leave, you wave at Sedene and walk over to the door at the office.

You then knock at Neuvillette's office and wait for his response, even though Neuvillette said that you don't have to knock and you're always welcome here anytime, you still wanted to knock as a sign of respect in his privacy and because you don't just wanna barge in his office.

"Come in" you heard him say inside his office. You then open the door gently and go in while closing the door slowly.

"Hii Neuvi" you said as you approached him.

He looked away from his papers and looked at you softly.

"Hello there sweetie, how are you?" He said as he got up from his chair and walked to you, as he wrapped his arms around your waist and hugged you.

"Hehehe I'm good love, just finished work early today and decided to visit you here, I hope you don't mind" you said as you also wrapped your arms around him to reciprocate his hug.

"I definitely don't mind, I actually love it when you visit me here" he said as he kissed your cheek.

"Well that's good to know, anyways, how are you Neuvi?" You said as you looked up at him.

"Good, the Trial earlier just finished and now I'm looking at some papers and documents to check some stuff" he said as he looked at you.

"Hmmm alrighty, I can see from your desk that you have a lot of papers, do you need help to sort them out?" You said as you glance at his desk and see a lot of papers.

"Well I did put a lot of papers earlier in my desk to find the one that I've been looking for, but yeah I guess I would need a little help" he said as he also turned to look at his desk.

"Okay! Then we better get moving!" You said as you pulled away at his hug.

When you pull away, you go in front of his desk. Neuvillette also follows you.

You asked him what papers his reading at the moment so you won't be able to mix things up, so he gathered the papers that he's currently reading and you started to gather the papers that are left and ready to sort them out.

Neuvillette told you to seat at one of the chairs in front of him and there you started to sort the papers while chatting with him about what happened to your day and including your plans for tomorrow with Furina and as he also told you what happened at the trial earlier and as he listens and talk to you he continued on what his doing before you come to the office, after you finished sorting them out, you put all the papers in the respective shelves.

"Thank you for sorting them out, love" he said as he smiled at you and looked at you softly.

"No problem! Just so you know I'm always here whenever you need some help!" You said as you smiled proudly. He chuckled.

"Anyways, what else are you doing?" You said as you looked at the papers and some book that was on his table.

"Oh this, I just need to read this and make some notes" he said as he took a glance at the papers and book.

"Oh okay, I'll just sit at the couch there and read my book, if you need me just call me" you said as you started to walk to the couch and grab your book from the little table beside the couch.

"Alright, wait, is that a new book?" He said as he watched you.

"Yes I bought it from a store, I found it interesting" you said as you plopped yourself on the couch and opened your book.

"I see, well I hope you enjoy reading it" he said as he smiled at you and started to do what he's doing.

"Thanks Neuvi" you said as you started to read.

After a while you start to feel that your eyes is getting heavy and you started to feel sleepy, you tried to blink it away but you just yawn, after a few minutes you started to drift off and your head fell on your side, and your book fall on your lap and you eventually fell asleep.

When Neuvillette didn't hear another flip of a page coming from you, he looked away on his table and looked at where you are, and there he saw you asleep on the couch and the book on your lap.

He gets up from his chair and grab a blanket on one of his drawers that he keep, that blanket that you buy the other day from the near store because you saw him fall asleep in his desk after work hours, the same blanket that you put on top of him while you wait for him to wake up.

Neuvillette then approached your sleeping form, he grabbed the book from your lap and put a bookmark on the open page and closed the book and put it back to the little table, he then slowly move your body so you could lay on the couch then he put the blanket on top of you.

"Sweet dreams (name)" he said as he kissed your forehead, and looked at you for a few minutes with a smile on his face.

Neuvillette then goes back to his desk and starts to continue where he left off, while also looking at you every once in a while.

After some time passed, you slowly woke up from your sleep and found yourself lying at the couch and saw a familiar blanket wrapped around you. You slowly got up and sat at the couch and rubbed your eyes.

"Did you have a good sleep?" he said as he saw you sitting back at the couch.

"Mhmm I did" you said as you stood up and stretched.

"That's good to know, well are you hungry now love?" he said as he got up from his chair with papers and a book in his hands, then he put them in the drawers and the book on the shelf.

"A bit yea, wait, what time is it?" you said as you looked at him.

"It's dinner time, it's good that you are awake now, since we have a reservation later, it's best that we leave in a few minutes so we can arrive there in time" he said as he approached you.

"Oh right" you said.

"Anyways, I put a bookmark where the page is open in your book" he said as he grabbed your book at the little table beside the couch and handed it to you.

"Thank you Neuvi" you said as you beamed at him and take the book from his hand.

"No problem dear, do you want water before we go?" he asked.

"Sure" you said.

He hands you a water that was on the little table beside your book earlier, looks like Neuvillette is prepared that you would want water after taking a nap (or rather a sleep).

You thanked him and drank the water.

"Are you finished with your work for today?" you asked as you put the glass on the table.

"Yes" he said as he grabbed the blanket that was on the couch.

You watch Neuvillette as he does this and your gaze follows him as he walks over to the drawers and opens one of them and puts the blanket in it.

"I didn't know that you kept the blanket here" you said as you looked at him.

"Well I would like to keep it here in case I would feel sleepy, so I can have a blanket, and now for you as well as you fell asleep here maybe in the future you can use it again" he smiled to you as he said this.

“That’s true” you said as you scratched the back of your neck.

He chuckled and then go to where you were standing.

"Would you like to go now to the Restaurant or you still want to stay here for a while?" He said.

"Hmmm let's go now, I'm hungry anyways" you said as you hold his hands.

"Hahaha alright" he said as he also holds your hand gently and intertwine with your fingers.

And off you both go walking hand in hand, you and Neuvillette exits his office and Palais Mermonia after you say goodbye to Sedene who is outside. You both walk to the Restaurant and eat dinner there as you and Neuvillette chat under the moonlight.

ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ

Please do not Copy, Translate, Repost to any other social media platfroms

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for blackmailing someone and then snitching to the feds anyway? Okay, so I work for a contract medical research lab generating quantitative image data, working closely with veterinary pathologists who provide the qualitative data. Together, we put together a report like "okay, here's what the medicine/medical device did and here's why we think it happened", and that report usually gets sent to the FDA if it looks promising enough that the sponsor wants to push for clinical trials and eventual market release. So we get a study in and we've got (fake numbers here) 400 sections, but the quote says they only want 300 measurements done. I'm confused and go "wait, which 300 out of the 400? which 100 should I ignore?" and go to the pathologist. She also thinks it's weird and reaches out to the client, hoping it's a typo and we're about to get paid for the bonus 100. Nope! He pressures us for it to be a phone call (no paper trail) and then not-so-subtly hints that he wants the... uglier-looking sections dropped. In other words, he wants to cherry-pick data that makes him look good. This is not only dangerous but The Most Illegal Shit. People's lives hang in the balance and they have to be able to trust the research that tells them medicines and medical devices are safe. We take that responsibility seriously. So the pathologist gathers data and emails him like "I'm taking a REPRESENTATIVE 300 samples for analysis, my report will include scoring of the ones that make you look bad, and if I find out you doctored the reports behind my back, I'm sending everything I have directly to the FDA." (this is not how data is normally submitted in the industry. normally the report is commissioned, and then all dealings with the FDA are done by the client) He grouses, but agrees. And then says "if the FDA reaches out to you, don't respond." .....What? But that's already industry standard? Why would he say that? Why would he expect the FDA to reach out to us? Anyway the pathologist and I discuss it, and both assume he's definitely about to doctor these reports behind our back once it's submitted. So at my suggestion... the pathologist sends the communications to the FDA anyway. Here's the thing: we don't actually know that this guy meant to do some ethics violations. We just assumed he was suspicious without real proof. Even unproven accusations in this industry can get you blacklisted for life, if not facing criminal charges. Did we risk destroying some random guy's life over bad vibes and nothing else?

What are these acronyms?

[cakerybakery]

“Oh no.” Charlie opened the window to see better.

The acid rain clouds in the sky above rumbled. They were so thick that only as lightening flashed did you see they were tinged red.

A blast of lightning hit a tree near by and she slammed the window shut. Up the stairs she ran as fast as her long legs would go up to her father’s suite.

There was a crash beyond the door and she could hear her father and Adam screaming at each other.

Months ago, when Adam died, Sera had come down herself. She convinced Lucifer to help her put Adam’s soul back together.

Reluctantly, Lucifer had agreed but Adam’s soul would need a keeper. A surrogate of sorts to live off, to keep Adam’s soul knitted together as it healed. They assumed it would be Sera as Adam would revive as an angel. He did not.

When they summoned the reapers, Cain and Abel, to gather the bits of their father’s soul they found too much of it had been tainted by Adam’s time in heaven as head of the exterminators.

He was bound to Lucifer as a sinner.

They needed to be together or Adam would come apart. Which unfortunately meant a lot of fights.

“Dad!? What’s wrong now?” Charlie knocked and let herself in.

“He won’t stay on his side of the bed!” Adam yelled.

“It’s all my side! It’s my bed! If I had a choice your side would be in HEAVEN!” Lucifer yelled back and lightning cracked across the sky.

“Okay let’s just tone it down. Maybe this fight is about something more than whose side is who’s. Why are you even getting into bed? It’s barely nine o’clock.”

Adam flushed and Charlie wondered if maybe they were going to do something else besides sleeping. This wasn’t some sort of lover’s tiff, was it? Oh no. She did not want to think about her father and fucking Adam fu- making love.

“We finally agreed on a movie to watch as we held hands for his recharge for the night.” Lucifer grumbled. “Apparently our legs touching is a big fucking deal-“

“It’s bad enough we have to have skin contact! Stay on your side of the fucking bed!” Adam was trembling and his breath was becoming laboured.

Lucifer caught him just before his knees gave out. “Adam! I keep telling you.” He spoke softly, “You can’t go so long before recharges.” Lucifer pressed their cheeks together and Charlie felt like she was intruding on a private moment and needed to leave before she saw something she would regret.

Charlie left and Adam turned into Lucifer now that they were alone.

He pressed their lips together and let the warmth of Lucifer’s soul heal the cracks in his soul.

Handholding was slow, fine for when he had time. But the more skin pressed together, the faster the recharge. And through trial and error they found the best charge was intimacy.

Lucifer kissed back. Hands slid under pyjamas tops and down bottoms. They moaned together as they wrapped their hands around each other. Adam could feel his soul finish mending as they came. He kissed Lucifer again anyway. This is why he didn’t want their legs to touch. This is why he avoided recharging.

No one needed to know about his crush. Especially not Lucifer.

[thinkin-bout-milgram]

Deep Cover: Initial Thoughts

Okay, this one is a lot to look at , especially given how relatively little is actually said. Still, I think I'm starting to make sense of it, so here's my analysis that I've figured out so far.

I'll be using @/oehale on Twitter's translation of Kotoko's voice drama Yonah. As usual, I'll be bolding my general topics/thoughts and moving forwards with that. Let's get started!

Kotoko sees herself as the new warden.

The most obvious comparison here is the mimicking of UNDERCOVER. Kotoko, like the original UNDERCOVER, has lyrics that start with "UNDER" and are followed by talking about the other prisoners. She also basically says as much to Es; they're working together now. They should work together to make the "right" Milgram.

It's pretty obvious that our little innocent deal with Kotoko has gone straight to her head. She now sees herself as part of the authority of the prison, and believes it's her role to give out the proper punishment for guilty verdicts. However...

Kotoko believes everyone in the prison (other than her) should be guilty.

This is pretty obvious based on those previously mentioned "UNDER" lines. They're all very critical. Notably, the ones that most clearly indicate this-- towards the end of the song-- only include the innocent prisoners, but she's made it pretty clear that she agrees the earlier guilties should have also been guilty.

“UNDER” Doltish “001 Parasite” “UNDER” Obscene “002 Slut” “UNDER” Incessant “004 Phony Queen” “UNDER” Doomed “005 Dissection Pawn” “UNDER” Concealing “007 Deceiver” “UNDER” Inept “011 Guard”

Even Es, the "inept guard," gets to face Kotoko's judgment! That line is interesting in conversation with the audio drama, which focuses on Kotoko calling Es weak because they've grown to like and have sympathy for the prisoners. Kotoko has come to view Es, someone who is willing to forgive the guilty (in her perception) prisoners, as being guilty as well for not condemning them.

(Also, 011? Are you implying that something will happen after the tenth? Am I right about a Trial 4 in which we'll vote on Es??)

Notably, for Kotoko, wanting everyone to be voted guilty basically means that she wants everyone else to die. In the intro to the second Trial, Kotoko said that she wouldn't go as easy next time, and Mahiru already nearly died this time around.

So ridiculous, isn’t it ridiculous They’re still here, still here, it grates me

This also definitely seems pretty "get everyone else out of here (kill them)" to me, especially given that it's shown after Kotoko smashes all the pieces representing the innocent prisoners as well.

The guilty ones were already broken earlier into the MV:

Futa's and Mahiru's were broken first; they've already been "broken" in the sense that they've been attacked. The other guilty prisoners go next, as they're Kotoko's next targets. Then, finally, the rest of the originally innocent prisoners, who Kotoko hopes will be voted guilty sooner rather than later.

This is also a small note, but I find it interesting that the line "I want a reason for judgment execution, I want it" was initially translated as "I need a good reason to give justice" in the Trial 2 Song Preview. The specific reference to execution was added/wasn't emphasized in the original version. I don't know what the "correct" direct translation is, but I always stand by the fact that if the translators chose to translate something in a certain way, it's intentional.

(Side note, but I wonder if UNDERCOVER's change in official lyrics to include all of the prisoners' Trial 1 song titles happened when they decided to mimic it in Deep Cover, which also includes the Trial 1 song titles. Could be a reason for the change in translation.)

And, uh... that's all I got. That I'm confident about, anyways. I still have other thoughts, though, so rather than me having bolded claims as section titles, I'm just gonna have, like... categories.

The Girl

You.

We've seen her before, in HARROW:

So, she's the one Kotoko rescued from this guy, right? That's what this seems to be telling us. However, there are a couple of important details to consider.

Where's her hat?

What about the girl in the white dress?

What about the girl in the pink shirt?

I'll get back to 1 in a bit.

The girl with the white dress in question only appears shortly in HARROW, and as far as I can tell, not at all in Deep Cover:

It could technically be the same girl, I guess, given that we can't see her face. However, then there's the pink shirt girl:

There's also still this thing from HARROW:

In my original HARROW theory, I theorized that the guy abducted Kotoko (the girl in the pink shirt), but the girl in the white dress distracted him/sacrificed herself long enough for Kotoko to get away. The memorial/potentially a police notification?/whatever the sign with the flowers is belongs to the white dress girl. Kotoko then later tracks down the guy who did it, when he's abducting the girl in orange. Kotoko then kills him.

Honestly, I think that this still tracks. We didn't really get anything else about the memorial, the girl in white or the girl in pink in this MV-- or the guy she killed, for that matter-- so there aren't any conflicts. I'll be moving forward assuming that that's true.

So, then, back to the orange girl. She isn't wearing the hat Kotoko gave her when we see her getting dragged off. What does that mean?

Establishing the Timeline

It seems most likely to me that most of Deep Cover happens after HARROW's murder. That's not just because the opening shot of Deep Cover looks like the end of HARROW. There's a lot more going into that.

First off, there's the girl. I initially thought that she might be Kotoko's sister, given the apparent familiarity Kotoko seems to show to her, rubbing her head in the park scene. However, once I remembered my initial theory, there are only really two possible interpretations I can think of for her involvement with the man Kotoko kills.

Either

She isn't at all related to Kotoko, and they "met" when Kotoko rescued her by killing the man, OR

She IS Kotoko's sister, in which case Kotoko probably used her as bait to lure out the guy in order to follow him back to his warehouse and kill him.

The second one was my initial read, but after looking at it longer, I think the first one makes more sense on the whole. If I'm right that the first thing that happens in the Deep Cover MV is the murder, that means that the park scene happens after it.

This isn't hard evidence or anything, but notably, the hat the girl has says "LUCKY" on it. If she's lucky, it probably means that she's lucky that she survived the situation with the man. It wouldn't be luck if she was planted there by Kotoko; it would only be luck if she happened to be the victim who's abduction lined up with Kotoko's rescue mission.

The park scene is still a little confusing to me if they were strangers, though. After all, Kotoko pretty pointedly ignores the girl at 2:06 to 2:19ish, and as far as I can tell, nothing major happened between the park and then.

There are three main explanations I can think of.

The first one is that the girl tried to stop her. Like, maybe she thought it was really cool when Kotoko rescued her, but when she realized Kotoko went to go threaten/possibly kill someone who, like, stole something from a business or something, she thought that was too much. This is pretty much entirely based upon the fact that the "Tell me why you tell me stop" lyric lines up suspiciously well with the change in the girl's expression from happiness to surprise, and then eventually what looks like fear.

The second one is that Kotoko is distracted at that point. In the park, we see Kotoko still looking at her phone, presumably looking for more wrongdoers. She spends time with the girl while simultaneously working, so it's no bother to her to spend time with the girl. However, when the girl tries to greet her later, she's in work mode. After passing the girl, we see Kotoko marching on forward with smoke (?) around her. It's very dramatic and she looks very threatening. It's even possible that she's doing a werewolf transformation type of thing there. If Kotoko has her sights set on a target, she might be more unwilling to waste time talking to the girl. This would signify that the people she rescues are irrelevant to her; her focus is on punishing wrongdoers, not checking in on saved would-be-victims.

The third one is that the park actually happened after the thing on the street, but given that she's already wearing the hat on the street scene, which she first wears in the park, that doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think the second option makes the most sense, so it's what I'll be going with.

So, the timeline looks like this:

Kotoko, as a child, is abducted by that one guy. She wears a pink shirt in the flashback. The girl in the white dress intercepts and allows Kotoko to escape. Years later, after becoming a vigilante, Kotoko tracks down the same guy and kills him, rescuing the orange outfit girl in the process.

The orange outfit girl finds Kotoko in the park and either receives or shows Kotoko the hat she got. Kotoko, while still looking at information for her next target, entertains her because she isn't actively busy.

The girl tries to approach Kotoko on the street. However, Kotoko is heading after her next target, and there's no time to lose. The expression of intensity and general coldness Kotoko gives off intimidates the girl, and Kotoko proceeds with her plans.

So, that's how Kotoko's murder works, right? There's absolutely nothing else related to time that could drive me insane!

...

Becoming a Lunatic (The Moon Phases)

Okay, Kotoko's a werewolf, she attacks on the full moon, we all get it. Except... goddamn it, there's more moon than just the full moon.

As far as I can tell, there are three moon phases that are shown across HARROW and Deep Cover. The first one I'm talking about is the full moon.

The Full Moon

The wolf zone occurrence of the full moon in HARROW lines up with when she kills the guy, which makes sense. In Deep Cover, it's preceding the time where she smashes all of the remaining innocent prisoners. That hasn't happened yet.

Because moon cycles happen repeatedly, I think it's okay to say that the full moon happened in the past, when Kotoko killed the guy, and in the future, where Kotoko hopes to kill the other prisoners. It's even possible there's a full moon we didn't see when Kotoko attacked Mahiru and Futa.

Like, that's probably just a spotlight, but it definitely COULD be moonlight. Either way, we don't see the sky, so it at least isn't conclusively NOT a full moon then.

So, full moon = violence. What else?

The Waning Crescent

Disclaimer I know nothing about moons. I am working off of this chart from timeanddate.com. If it's wrong blame them, I can't find a better chart anywhere on the internet.

Notably, the waning crescent is what the moon is for pretty much all of HARROW, except the quick appearance of the full moon at the end. There are clearly visible shots of it around 1 minute and 2 minutes in.

I don't really know what specifically waning crescent is supposed to mean here. Google says that it's about change and reflection, but spoilers, that's what it also told me about the third moon phase that shows up, so I don't know how much stock to really put into that.

I think the most obvious (?) symbolism of it is that it's right before the new moon, when the light isn't shining at all. If I had to take a stab at what the new moon represented, I'd say it's times in which Kotoko is powerless. She's powerless when she's looking for information before the first murder, she's powerless when looking at her crossed out board (more on that later), and she's powerless now-- when we're going to vote. She can't give out justice without our help. This is the last part before we give our verdict on her, so as she's looking around at the other prisoners, innocent and guilty alike, she's preparing to be able to do nothing. She hopes she'll get back to that full moon and exact justice on the other prisoners, but that's only hypothetical for now.

Let's talk about that board really quickly. This is how it looks in the middle of Deep Cover, when the crescent shows up:

This is how it looks at both the beginning and end of HARROW:

This is another reason to believe that Deep Cover happens after the end of HARROW. After all, it'd be hard to un-black out the papers, and given that they're hanging in basically the same positions, it'd be surprising if they were replaced papers. So, that means that Kotoko blacks out her information sometime after she successfully kills the guy.

The scene with the blacked out board is immediately followed by the final moon phase, and then by the girl in orange in the park.

The Third Quarter Moon

The crescent moon on top of the board directly fades into this third quarter moon. This made sense to me until I saw the arrow on the moon phase chart telling me to read it counterclockwise. Then I was confused.

Because the third quarter moon happens immediately before the waning crescent, I think that this moon shift is meant to serve as a time rewind. The scene with the girl in the park (and therefore also, the girl on the street) happens before the scene with the blacked out board. This supports the idea that Kotoko ignored the girl because she was taking out a target; after that scene, all her targets are gone, so Kotoko can cross out the information about them on her wall.

This also checks out with the stuff with the girl in the park and on the street happening after Kotoko kills the guy, given that the third quarter moon comes a little bit after the full moon.

There's no occurrence of the third quarter moon in HARROW. However, it does actually show up one other time in Deep Cover.

At 2:28, the moon shows up in third quarter again, then transitioning to a pink full moon. I'd assume that this shift backwards in the moon cycle, as it did earlier, signifies turning back in time. However, the pink full moon refers to Kotoko killing all of the remaining Milgram prisoners, an event that's already in the future. What happens after the hypothetical future scenario of Kotoko killing everyone?

The answer is, Kotoko collapsing in the wreckage of the destruction she caused. She's in her warden outfit, so it's consistent. The scratch marks probably indicate that this is immediately after she turns back from being a werewolf, in the hypothetical pink full moon.

This indicates that, somewhere in her mind, Kotoko realizes that she might suffer from killing everyone else, collapsing under the weight. It does seem like Kotoko understands that being the one true savior is difficult.

K: I know it well. It's so hard to hold the responsibility of a guard all alone. I've also felt this way. You are such a kind person. You can't stand the prison changing with the power of your choices. So you need someone to be with. Leave all of the dirty work to me.

Even if she wants to present herself as someone who's crushed her own weakness, she still has to worry. The lyrics of the chorus are begging Es to give her her next target. If she doesn't have people to target, she doesn't have purpose. Her board is all blacked out; the guilty prisoners will be crushed. Once all that's said and done... what else is she going to do?

Conclusion

Anyways, that's my best shot at understanding this MV. It is... confusing. The main things I still don't understand across the two MVs are the many wolves with purple glowing eyes in HARROW and what the hell the pieces that represent the other prisoners in Deep Cover are. If they're not chess, then what are they???

oh wait lmao i forgot

VERDICT: GUILTY

We already knew this one.

I can't tell Kotoko that it's right to kill the rest of the prisoners, and she really needs to be restrained. I don't know exactly what the damage is gonna be to Kotoko's mental state, but for the safety of everyone else, I kinda have to. She makes fair points about us verbally torturing prisoners not being that different from physically harming them, but... we're at the very least not shooting to kill?? Like, if you kill them, there's no hope at redeeming them. That's what we're trying to do, even if the tactics Milgram gives us are less than ideal.

Anyways, tell me your thoughts and if any of this made sense! Happy end of Trial 2!