#i say theory but I’ll eat a hat if this isn’t true

[spicyicymeloncat]

Okay about the new rain world dlc news: the watcher is definitely a slugcat sent by Unparalleled Innocence to spy or “watch” Pebbles right? Like the rot in the lettering gives that away pretty clearly I think. Perhaps this is the return trip for it?

[kaija-rayne-author]

Ugh I can’t not theorize. I’ve been at it non stop. Once a story catches my interest my brain just going into hyper speed trying to figure out how the writers (if they do a good job) will bring all of their themes, hints, etc to fruition. All I’m missing is a cork board, pins, and miles of red string.

What’s super exciting this time is I’m actually dealing with a property where the writers are….good? I’m so used to being disappointed when fan theories (often my own) turn out to be much better than the canon, but I don’t see that happening here. Weekes is clearly a masterful writer and knows how to build up to a satisfying twist.

Because you just know another twist is coming. Solas, despite everything, is just too soft hearted to make a convincing final boss. It couldn’t be more obvious that being The Dreadwolf and putting aside his own conscience takes every ounce of energy he has. Eventually he’ll have his breaking point and that’s when we’ll find out who our true villain is.

It’s Mythal. I’ll eat my damn hat if it isn’t. She’s either not the person Solas remembers, or maybe she never was. In either case, there’s been plenty of clues both in DAI and in subsequent materials (specifically Tevinter Knights) to imply that there’s something else going on here.

We keep seeing imagery of the Dreadwolf as a mutant abomination that is part wolf and part dragon. It’s easy to point to the end credit scene of DAI and say “well yeah he fused with Mythal who is a dragon” and sure it looked that way…but is that actually what happened?

We saw Flemeth part with some form of magical energy before Solas arrived. We also know that she’d taken the soul of Uthemiel from Kieran. Uthemiel happens to be a dragon, or was until he was tainted and became an Archdemon.

Archdemons can control Darkspawn. And taking a Darkspawn army past the Veil to enact vengeance upon the Evanuris sees like something Flemeth would do. But that doesn’t seem like something Solas would want. His agenda has always been to fix his past mistakes and tear down the Veil for the greater good. He doesn’t seem that fond of Darkspawn, in fact he was pretty pissed at the Wardens for screwing around with them.

Where I’m going with this, is I think it’s entirely possible Solas is being used. He may have unwittingly fused himself with an Archdemon, assuming it was the essence of Mythal. The real plan, now that plan A failed, might be turning him into an Archdemon so Flemeth/Mythal can use him to start another blight and wield the darkspawn. Corypheus managed to mind control an Archdemon, so clearly it can be done.

And if that’s the case, then ooooooh boy.

Poor Solas.

OMG. I missed this one and I'm so glad I finally found it!

What a fascinating idea. Holy shitballs.

Okay, so I just restarted DAO, I'll be on the lookout through these playthroughs (I'm doing DA2 next, then probably DAI again, because I'm an utter sucker for lore) for hints about all that!

I thought the whole point of the dark ritual w/Morrigan was to purify Urthemiel's 'soul' through being born as an innocent child. But what if that didn't work?

But then, wouldn't Kieran have shown signs of taint? Hmmm. Maybe not, given it's just the soul?

I'm still not convinced that Flemythal parted with any kind of energy in that scene. BUT if she did... well, she's pulled the whole 'soul piece recovery schtick' before. So if it was energy or a soul, it could've been hers. Leaving just Urthemiel. Which would very possibly warp Solas into a dragon/wolf thing. And Mythal is very used to Solas going along with what she wants. So it feels like something she wouldn't think twice about. She uses Morrigan too, and Kieran, so it’s definitely something she's used to doing.

I have a strong feeling Solas is indeed being used. And has been since he was 'born' from the fade. There's a lot of hints to his resignation, nay, even belief that it's right that Mythal used him. (This is... common, in abuse survivors, FWIW.)

But I believe it's canon that his forehead scar came from when he burnt off Mythal's Vallaslin? I have to see if I can find that again. I can't remember where I read it.

I think Mythal will be rather unpleasantly surprised in the spine Solas has developed since her 'murder'. He doesn't seem at all likely to me to be all 'hey! My enslaver is back! Let me just get my slave brands again'. Now, if he were still truly alone, he might just cave into it because man, does Solas have some pretty massive Mythal issues. Not sure if he regards her as his mom or something else or a mix of things, urk.

BUT he's not actually truly alone anymore is he? No matter how hard he tries to be. A Romanced Lavellan can tell him "Var lath vir suledin" which translates sorta, into "Our - love - way/path - endure/strength to withstand loss."

So he knows he's not alone. That inky will absolutely go to the mat for him. He has actual friends, too. He said Bull has him, if you don't betray Bull w/the Chargers. Solas doesn't strike me as someone to say that lightly.

So, he also knows he has friends, too.

I think, if Mythal actually is the big bad (kinda hoping for this tbh) she's gonna have a rather rude awakening when it comes to Solas. Who, from all I can tell, has always willingly served her whims. Because she was 'the best of them' doesn't mean she was actually good.

I talked about how he's heavily neurodivergent coded before, and we're generally loyal to a fault, which Solas very much shows.

But we do also often, eventually, reach a 'no more' point. After which, we'll absolutely close all those doors we'd previously left open.

If Solas acts the way I suspect he might, he'd then use everything he knows about Mythal and the Evanuris to help the game protag (I still wish I could just carry my inky over) defeat the buggers.

But what would it take for him to finally reach that point with Mythal? Mommy issues are soooo hard to deal with in therapy because it's so damned easy to backslide.

Hurting Inky? Doing something that will destroy the fade (like marching a darkspawn army into it)? Making him betray all of his followers who truly believe in him and his goals of freeing enslaved elves?

Solas deeply believes that slavery is wrong. In a way that makes me think he was actually enslaved at one point. Obviously to Mythal.

Oh, fuck me. What an amazing story they could tell about the whole 'but there were good slave owners' bullshit nonsense some people like to spout.

Of course, I still really wish Bioware would tell a story with a disabled protag. Which the end of Inquisition really would set up nicely. But given their shit disability rep, I know not to hold my breath over that.

[rangerlink]

HKU Theory: Larcsunder

Helloooooo I am throwing my hat in the ring I’m going all in, this is my most beloved and strongly held hku theory and if it doesn’t turn out to be true I will eat One Dozen Hats

Now let’s talk about the Asunder Incident, can we talk about the Asunder Incident, I’m dying to talk about the Asunder Incident with you all day okay. Now listen, people theorized that Larc was the Yiga spy and he wasn’t. They theorized that Larc was the Wing Clipper and he wasn’t. This might discourage some people from further Larc Sus theories, but I say third time’s the charm! I have been on this bullshit since I first caught up with hku and since then there has been very little to dissuade me.

This theory is two-fold:

1. Larc is the one who did the original arm-chopping that would come to be known as the Asunder Incident, not Siv, and

2. Siv learning/remembering this was the “fourth tie”, the thing that finally made him go all in for Ganon

I’m actually gonna start with that second one though, so here’s the Game Plan:

1. Larc Was The Fourth Tie

2. The Fourth Tie Was Related To The Asunder Incident

3. Larc’s Behavior

4. Some Contradictory Evidence

5. Extracanonical Evidence

6. Baseless Speculation

Larc Was The Fourth Tie

This one I don’t think needs a whole lot of proving, Larc is Siv’s little brother who he took care of their whole childhood, the connection he’s had the longest.

There is evidence to support this, though! At the end of the Yiga hideout rescue, just before Siv slurpees all the malice out of Larc, he says this:

At this point, Siv already feels he’s been betrayed by the other 3 people he was closest to (Zavis, Link, and Mallory), and Larc is the only one he feels he can still trust. So if something were to break his trust in Larc as well... I think you can see where this is going.

Siv post-Fourth Tie also reacts very interestingly to Larc being brought up:

So, if Larc is the fourth tie, then what could he have done that would make Siv believe Larc had betrayed him? I think the most likely possibility is that it has something to do with-

The Asunder Incident

The incident that set Siv’s life off the rails and onto the path he’s on when we meet him. The BIG disaster. And there are A Lot of indications that it isn’t what it seems.

First of all, Siv doesn’t actually remember what happened. And yes, he was drunk at the time. But even though we haven’t been shown the actual incident, we have gotten little teases of it, in “lightning and gaslighting” and “oh brother. look who’s grounded”. Once before and once after the fourth tie, and both shown to Siv by ??? aka Calamity Ganon.

In fact, throughout the story, ??? really pushes the idea of a memory he can help Siv recover, something he claims people have lied to Siv about.

There’s this, which we’re given during the time-skip, but actually takes place in the “wood you tell me what you saw?” arc, which is (as far as we know) the first time Siv consciously uses the calamity’s power.

There’s also this conversation, which was in code (with the keyword “Asunder”), in the same arc, after Zelda’s birthday party:

This conversation doesn’t specify who “he” is, but given this is also the same arc where Siv confronts Larc about what happened in the Asunder Incident, I think it’s pretty likely the “he” is Larc.

These conversations are also very vague as to what this memory ??? is talking about is, but based on the point above, dialogue like “there’s no one to blame, it’s me”/“you were a good kid”, and one more thing I’ll get to, I’m positive they’re talking about the Asunder Incident.

That one more thing is this conversation from “lightning and gaslighting”:

The main point of interest here is that “supposedly”. That creates some room for doubt, and Astor also goes on to say that Ganon wants to show Siv “the truth” about the Asunder Incident, which strongly implies that what Siv has heard about the incident is not the truth.

So, Ganon is pushing Siv to look at this memory, the memory of the Asunder Incident, and Siv refuses for years. But post-fourth tie, we get this:

The wording here is also vague, but given everything else I think it’s a pretty safe bet to assume that he’s talking about the same thing as all those times before. The post that shows Siv actually waking up after remembering also reinforces this.

Now, ??? is a gaslight-y, untrustworthy bastard, so why should we even believe what he tells Siv about the Asunder Incident? Well, the really insidious thing about ??? is that he only lies just as much as he needs to. Zavis, Link, and Zelda were, in fact, keeping secrets from Siv. What ??? does lie about is the intent behind the secret-keeping, framing it as a personal attack against Siv, pushing Siv to believe that these things happened because none of these people really care about him. So if ??? says something is Up with the Asunder Incident, that it didn’t go down how we’ve heard, I do believe it up to that point.

So the fourth tie is Larc, and the fourth tie is the truth of the Asunder Incident. How are these two things related? Now let’s finally look at Larc himself.

Larc’s Behavior

The confrontation with Siv at Zelda’s birthday party has a lot in it. Larc delays answering Siv’s question about what really happened for as long as possible, and when he does answer, it seems very... stilted. Rehearsed, possibly. That’s just vibes of course. But also in this conversation we have some pretty ambiguous wording from Larc:

“It was never” what? And, me being me, I’m laser focused on the way Larc trips over his words in that last screenshot. “One thing that... you... I... just one night”. That could mean so many things, but if you read the beginning of this post you know which one I’ve chosen. And “guilt” is gonna come up a lot.

Then we actually return to the scene with the first screenshot in this post, because here’s Larc’s response to what Siv says:

Larc’s about to make a deathbed confession here, something specifically to do with Siv.

Then, after this incident, while Larc is resting, Launo goes and pokes Siv so he can see some of Larc’s painful memories. His explanation of what he saw has a lot of links in it to previous posts.

Specifically, all but one link to the “lark flies into the woods” arc. All but the link on the word “guilt”, which links to the party confrontation, the one that’s already come up twice in this post.

Then there’s the conversation in these two posts, while Larc, Link, and Mipha are heading to the garrison:

Again, Larc feels a lot of guilt with regard to Siv. And oh goody! More Ambiguous Wording! This could be something like “he never even” blamed me/complained/demanded an apology, which, looking at the scene we have of this event, it seems he didn’t. Orrrrrrr it could be something like “he never even” did what he was being blamed for. It’s ambiguous! But personally, I think that if it was the first option, Larc would’ve just said it. Never misses an opportunity to put himself down, especially not in this scene.

And finally, there’s the diary entry Ligero uses to frame Siv as the Wing Clipper:

This is kind of hard to parse, given Larc’s, uh, flowery language, and Ligero’s taking it out of context. But I don’t think Larc is talking about the Wing Clipper murders at all in this passage. He names the Asunder Incident at the beginning, and in the second paragraph he mentions “an incident”, singular, that he feels guilt around and wishes hadn’t happened.

This seems to suggest that Larc feels personally guilty for the Asunder Incident, which granted he probably would no matter how it went down. But he also talks specifically about “valuing perception and comfort over justice” as something he regrets. And this could be about Larc abandoning Siv to his fate and not contacting him for years, but that’s not a secret. That’s something Siv already knew happened, not whatever new thing Siv learned about this incident, and not something Larc would need to keep hidden away in a diary.

That being said.

Contradictory Evidence

Now I don’t have every single thing that could disprove this theory living in my head rent free like I do with the evidence for it, such is the nature of the brainrot, but there’s a couple things that I feel like I should at least try to deal with.

First up, this bit from right after we first learned about the Asunder Incident:

Siv’s drunken rambling is uhhhhhh. Weird. He seems pretty sure here what he was feeling at the time of the incident, and even says it was “funny”, which fits with the rumor that he was laughing during the incident, which he specifically asks Larc about in That Scene we’ve gone over a whole bunch. But it’s worth noting that later in this arc, Siv again says that he doesn’t remember the Asunder Incident so who even knows what he’s talking about. Definitely not him.

Then there’s actually the second tease of the incident, in “oh brother. look who’s grounded”. Specifically this bit of dialogue that seems to be from Larc:

I can’t really find a reason for Larc to be saying this if Siv didn’t do any arm-chopping, but this is so vague and out of context that it could be anything. It seems pretty likely that it’s Larc saying it, but nothing actually says outright that it is or even that this and the other dialogue are from the same moment.

So yeah, I don’t really know what to do with these two things, but the thing is that just about everything related to the Asunder Incident is super vague, and there’s a lot more vague things that suggest Siv at least wasn’t fully responsible, than ones that suggest he was.

So now it’s time for the fun stuff!

Extracanonical Evidence

This is stuff that isn’t actually a part of the story, like teasers and things Quill has said out of character. So I wanted to put this stuff at the end, because since it isn’t actually in the story yet, it’s less reliable. But also there’s some Juicy stuff here.

First off is a ratbox secret that I don’t actually have a screenshot of, unfortunately. But as far as I remember, this had to do with Ligero, and was something like “it’s not blackmail if it’s family”. Doesn’t say who is being blackmailed, but then someone asked for Larc’s darkest secret for an ask game, and Quill gave us a cipher that decoded to this:

Which could suggest that Larc is being blackmailed by Ligero. The connection between this and the Asunder Incident comes from the keyword used to decode the cipher:

“the fourth tie”. 20 years is also the time between the Asunder Incident and Larc getting Siv the orator job.

Then someone asked for Ligero’s darkest secret:

There’s nothing to really indicate this aside from proximity, but I think it’s possible that this is also related to the two blackmail secrets. That maybe this is talking about a specific favor Ligero did for Larc, at the expense of Siv.

I can also see a possible connection between this secret and some of Astor’s dialogue from this earlier conversation:

This is sandwiched right in between Astor talking about the Asunder Incident and Astor revealing his relation to the Hartells, so it could be related to either of those topics (or both of them).

Then there’s this little teaser, in response to the “send me a word and I’ll give you a sentence it appears in” ask game (this was actually my ask hehe):

This is what I consider to be my biggest smoking gun, which is another reason why I saved it for last. Assivus Asunder is a catchy name. It shouldn’t go to waste. Siv got this name for cutting off someone’s forearm in the Asunder Incident. But if it would go to waste if not for Siv doing something in this moment...

To me, that implies that he hasn’t actually “asundered” anyone before this point, but is about to try. And if he hasn’t asundered anyone, then someone else must have done the arm-chopping that fateful night as well. And given all these other suspicious little things, Larc’s guilt, the fourth tie being what it probably is, I’d say there’s no more likely suspect than Arcadius Hartell.

Which brings me to...

Baseless Speculation!

Well, not really, as it’s informed by all the evidence in this post, but I don’t have any new evidence to back up the specifics here.

So, apparently back when I first started yelling about this theory it was just a basic “Larc Sus” thing. But then I changed my mind. Whatever Larc did, I don’t think it was with any malice towards Siv, none of the four ties have been. Something I said before in tags was that maybe Siv got into a fight with the two knights, was badly losing, Larc jumped in to protect him and things got a bit... out of hand. That would parallel his reasons for keeping Link from his role as the hero, not out of a desire to hurt Hyrule, but in order to protect his son. Hyrule was just collateral damage.

So, Larc chops an arm. Then Ligero shows up. He still has hopes that Larc will turn out to be the hero, and in addition, Larc needs to keep up the reputation of House Hartell, cause Siv’s certainly not gonna do it. So nobody can know that Larc was responsible for this. Siv is the perfect scapegoat. I don’t know what Ligero could have used to make Larc go along with this plan, maybe it had something to do with Launo? But this is where the blackmail comes in.

So Siv is blamed, and Larc never stops feeling guilty about it.

Aaaaaand that’s all I got! So anyway, in conclusion,

[feanorianethicsdepartment]

time travel aus, amirite? since we’ve all decided to start talking about our ideas, i thought i’d throw my hat into the ring. i’ve actually had this idea for a while, i just wasn’t sure what to do with it because i barely have the patience for one-shots, let alone the continuous plotted longfic this would need

it’s not my idea, of course, i’m incapable of original thought. it’s based off this can-i-really-call-it-a-genre-if-it’s-two-fics-with-the-same-premise where some combination of maedhros, maglor, elros, and elrond land in the blessed realm before - even the unchaining, in my take, when the ambarussa are still children and the world is blissful. it’s more specifically my take on this fic, which takes elrond and elros from very early in their captivity and maedhros from just before the silmaril theft and maglor from several centuries into the second age. i just plugged my own characterisations into it, and, uh. the specific setup this not-genre uses is that maitimo and makalaurë *~mysteriously disappear,~* throwing their extended family into chaos, blah blah blah, and then a few decades later -

well. with my characterisations, we have a nightmare hellbeast who’s burned up everything he used to be in singular pursuit of an unreachable goal and has carved his very self into a weapon, a completely drained beaten-up husk barely cognisant of reality past the screaming in his mind who’s so utterly broken it’s debatable if he even counts as an elda, and two extremely young extremely traumatised children in a completely unfamiliar land- and skyscape whose only adult they can maybe-kind-of trust is currently bleeding from the eyes and shrieking wordless notes of utter despair

yeah, this au’s Fun. elrond and elros have maybe eight words of quenya between them, most of which are obscene, maedhros will act completely normal until he suddenly stabs himself in the arm because can’t this stupid hallucination end already, he has a character arc to tank, and maglor seems completely unaware he’s not still on the beach having the same cyclic arguments with the ghosts of the people he failed. the elves of valinor aren’t completely unprepared to deal with this, at least not the ones who remember cuiviénen, but it’s still a massive shock to see two of the children they came to the land of the gods to protect twisted and scarred like the worst victims of the dark. especially since noone can figure out why

so yeah. i have trouble finishing oneshot collections, so i doubt i’ll ever write this out in full, but i do have a lot of Scenes. fëanáro staring in utter horror at the oath, whispering ‘i made this.’ elros and elrond’s somewhat hole-filled explanation of their backstory devolving into a sindarin argument, and when the family asks tyelkormo what they’re talking about he freezes before saying ‘they’re arguing about whether maitimo killed their mother.’ the moment maglor finally managed to get through what happened after they got the silmarils to maedhros, who immediately switches from off-the-cuff self-harm to well-planned suicide attempts. the five-minute period the family hellspawn’s working theory was ‘they’re maitimo and makalaurë from an alternate universe where we’re evil’ (‘is there an evil version of me??? does he eat kids???????’ - tyelko) finwë going full bulldoze taniquetil in the background. fun times, might write some snippets in the future

but i like to think through the mechanics of this kind of time travel story too much, so i started wondering where maitimo and makalaurë, yanno, went. i quickly came to the conclusion that they probably swapped places with their evil future selves, giving me three time travel aus for the price of one! technically four but (a) i’m not sure if or with who the twins would swap and (b) if they did their alternate selves are probably having a really bad time and i don’t particularly want to think about it. the stories maitimo and makalaurë are in... they’re not necessarily any happier, but they are a lot more wtftastic

maitimo falls asleep under the light of the trees, on a relaxing retreat from the demands of court life and family-induced disasters. he wakes up in a world that’s almost completely dark, surrounded by plants he’s never seen before and wearing clothing designed for a much warmer climate, the scent of death in the air. now permanently separated from all his old problems, maitimo rapidly acquires several exciting new ones, including but not limited to:

everyone he ever loved being dead or worse

the lone possible exception, his last surviving little brother, being an almost unrecognisable blood-drenched kinslayer who hates everything in the universe especially himself

said blood-drenched kinslayer almost immediately imprinting on him like a grouchy murderous duckling

his future self having apparently wanted to kill even more people, why

getting dogpiled by like thirty dudes in full armour the instant they showed up at the army of the west’s camp to surrender

getting soul-scanned by eönw two minutes later. not fun

arafinwë pulling him into an enormous hug and then bursting into tears

the subsequent explanation as to just what happened to him and his brothers, which somehow got worse after he’d already thought they’d hit rock bottom like four separate times

proceeding to lose a staring contest with findaráto

the way everyone in camp looks at him like he’s an incredibly dangerous wild animal that might bite at any time

how if half of what arafinwë said is true he can’t even blame them, fuck, fuck

the twin half-elven(?????????????) princes he and his brother apparently kidnapped and held hostage for years, inflicting unimaginable cruelties as far as anyone knows

his first meeting with the kids happening when elrond broke into where they were holding maglor to scream at him in very loud very fast very angry sindarin for like half an hour

maglor just staring at him, eyes wide, ears pinned back, the whole time, and then trying to maul the first guard who mocked him for it

getting saddled with kinslayer containment duties in the aftermath of that whole incident

elrond punching him in the collarbone when he tried to apologise, shouting ‘you weren’t there, don’t you dare try to tell me what it was like’

elros’ visible half second of pure terror after the blow hit home

elros then using recognisable techniques from maitimo’s debate team circuit during a speech to the edain

like, clearly some shit did happen, but it’s obviously not what the local leadership’s afraid of

this sour-faced scar-covered warrior slipping out of the shadows in an unpopulated part of camp, kneeling before him, intoning ‘the swords of the host remain at your disposal my lord’ and then immediately vanishing

he didn’t recognise them until after they’d left but they were definitely one of his philosophy club friends, what even

just generally having woken up in a future a thousand times worse than his darkest nightmares

his natural instinct is to try and fix things, but how?? what’s even left to fix????

maglor sometimes goes into these unhinged desperate spiralling rambles directed at the older brother who exists in his head rather than the one in front of his eyes. whatever’s left of maitimo’s biggest little brother is clearly in so much pain

all the things he’s trying extremely hard not to think about because if he slows down enough to he’s pretty sure he’ll collapse

all the people he’s never met who hate him for pretty understandable reasons and whose social structure he now has to learn to have any hope of making it out of All This

the edain’s collective insistence on calling him pasthros

curufinwë isn’t even a hundred how does he have a kid

makalaurë, on the other hand, wakes up on a beach beneath a giant glowing orb. finding himself in a land so much barer than what he knows, among people whose souls don’t even work like his, his initial working theory is he’s been abducted by aliens

[sunriseseance]

please,,, even if you dont answer this publicly i wanna know your In Depth Thoughts on fanon klaus and the issues w him bc i also have issues w fanon klaus but i cant put it in words

This got SO LONG, so I hope you meant it when you said you wanted in depth! Holy shit I sorta lost my mind on this.

In my early days as a bear-poker in this fandom, I described fanon!Klaus as that person who gets resurrected in a horror movie and comes back different. As an audience member, I can tell he's wrong, but nobody interacting with him directly seems to know this. I've also talked a little bit about Klaus and intelligence before, which plays into any discussion about fanon!Klaus, but I'll be more specific here. Before I get started, I wanna say that fandom is a fun space and I don't think anyone is *bad* for creating/enjoying fanon!Klaus, especially not for the third reason I lay out. I just think he's awful, and has some harmful roots that I doubt the people writing him even know about on a conscious level.

Okay, let's get into this. Because I'm me and Wittgenstein's early work that he later disagreed with has changed my entire way of interacting with the world, I'm gonna define my terms. Let's talk about what fanon!Klaus is LIKE before we talk about why I REALLY DON'T LIKE HIM. Fanon!Klaus is a happy, stupid, sweet, childish, bubbly, luminous free spirit. He wears bubblegum pink skirts and he cries when Diego eats his cookies. He doesn't know what numbers are, he can't count, he can't walk and chew gum, he thinks that Africa is a country, he forgets that homophobia exists, he doesn't know that drugs are bad for him, the list goes on (These are all real examples. Can you tell what part of fanon annoys me the most?). He cries at the drop of a hat, and doesn't understand his place in the family. He'd move heaven and earth to help the people around him, and he'd never be mean to anyone but Luther (and even then just barely) He constantly needs attention, supervision, etc. He makes jokes about modern memes and listens exclusively to pop music. He's really damaged but it's only because nobody Took Care Of Him and he needs someone to Rescue Him.

Canon Klaus is mean, and quick, and sharp, and miserable, and hiding, and funny because you're laughing WITH him, and an old soul, and a goth, and chronically apathetic, and selfish, and so fucking smart, and acutely aware of just how much he matters to other people. He makes rape jokes, he figures out how to get info on the eye while high out of his mind, he speaks like 10 languages, he listens to Nina Simone, he uses people's inherent fear of the dead to buy himself time, he finds the perfect story within the dead to cause a rift, he tells Luther TO HIS FACE that he doesn't care if the world ends. Klaus is a fascinating study in queer trauma, and robbing him of these traits is a complete disservice to yourself AND the character.

I say this often about fanon!Klaus, but WHO IS THIS??? Like…. Okay, if I gave you this list and you didn't know it was about Klaus, would you think it was? I think he's literally unrecognizable. He's not any of the things I know or love about Klaus. He's nobody to me, except a nuisance wearing the same skin suit and clogging the tags. He is also, weirdly, the most popular character in the entire fandom. I wanna think about why, and I have 3 theories that I think can all be true separately or simultaneously instance to instance.

First, fanon!Klaus exists because of internalized homophobia, classism, and anti-addict rhetoric. I think that on some level people don't believe addicts, feminine queer men, or homeless people are capable of intelligence. I think people see Klaus's canonical positive traits and they sort of throw them out the window because they don't make sense with their world view. A queer addict is a helpless tragedy, and he's someone that needs rescuing by Kind Strong Dave. A queer addict can't be smart, because then he wouldn't be an addict. A queer addict can't be wily, or interesting, because then he wouldn't be an addict. Fandom sees a feminine queer mlm and knows he should be in a sparkly bubblegum pink skirt, and saying "dahling" or "wig" or whatever else all the time. They know he should be bashful and submissive and always falling into the arms of Kind Strong Dave who protects him from Evil. They also know he should really, really like Britney Spears, and not give a shit about Nina Simone.

Second, fanon!Klaus exists because people want to excuse negative behavior in their favorite characters. Klaus is selfish and mean and apathetic. He just is. These are flaws that haunt him, and define a lot of his interactions. These are, also, pretty tough flaws to excuse (which… Hey…. I have a solution for that). I think that fanon Klaus, who just doesn't GET that he's being mean, and is too stupid not to become an addict (I don't think addiction is a flaw, but I do think that addiction plays into this), and is too out of touch and childish to understand that he shouldn't just fucking leave, comes from a place of wanting Klaus to be a good person who does good things. I'm sorry, but he isn't. Not always. I think the impulse to make him constantly sweet and constantly stupid comes from wanting Klaus's actions to be fundamentally excusable. He can't help it! He's just too much of a useless twink to know that it's bad to lie! (also, side note, fanon!Ben comes from this side of fanon!Klaus. In canon, Klaus is self destructing on purpose and Ben's presence helps…. Maybe, possibly, twice. In fanon, Klaus is just stupid and he needs a babysitter and that is Ben, the motiveless, endlessly loving but Exhausted braincell holder. This is fucked up on many levels. Ben is an asshole, and we all need to get used to that idea quick).

The third and final reason is that fanon!Klaus is… More fun, in the traditional sense of the word. Fanon!Klaus seems like he comes from a very emotional romcom or sitcom or something. He's like a barbie. He's fun to play dress-up with. He's fun to make incorrect quotes about. He's fun to write about, especially when it's about his siblings herding him or coddling him. Good ol' useless, loveable Klaus. I think this is partially because Klaus is a pretty fucking heavy character. He's a traumatized homeless queer drug addict, and that's sort of hard to make jokey fandom content about. Not impossible, I don't think, but not easy. This isn't to say that angsty fandom content isn't guilty of fanon!Klaus, though. It absolutely is. Often when Klaus willingly shares his feelings, or cries in front of someone, or asks for help for something more intense than tying him to a chair, it's fanon!Klaus. Hell, any time he GETS rescued it's teetering into that territory. He's still completely devoid of all of the grit and intrigue of canon, but he's fun to write about, and fun to project onto, and fun to rescue. He's also EASIER to write. People know that Klaus is a funny character, they know they laugh when he's on screen, but it is WAY harder to write a character you're laughing with than it is to write a character you're laughing at. It's WAY easier to write a character who moves your angst plot on by asking for help, or necessitating rescuing, than it is to work out how these things would happen without initiation. I get it, and in spite of the length of this, I don't think it's the end of the world.

I guess as I close this out, I would remind everyone that Klaus is smart, and mean, and over 30 years old. He's not a babe in the woods, or a damsel in distress, or a useless silly junkie twink. I promise that the real Klaus is worth the time and effort it takes to engage with him.

[poptod]

Hi I hope ur having a great day! I love ur writing so freaking much! This request is a little different than what I’m sure ur used to but hopefully ur comfortable enough with writing it. Could u write a one shot (or headcanons if it’s easier) where Snafu from the Pacific is crushing big time on the reader (like almost in love) and he’s always hitting on her but she never shown any interest toward him. Then a few days in when the nurses come Snafu walks in on the reader making out with one of the nurses. They see each other and he walks out all like CONFUSED and shook and the reader runs after him to swear him to secrecy. He’s still shook and admits his feelings and she comes out as a lesbian to him. He’s even more SHOOK but he’s rly understanding and accepting even tho he’s incredibly heartbroken. Sorry if it’s not what u usually write, as a bi I’m just always a sucker for “I’m dumb she’s a lesbian”

notes: anon i love you you're literally perfect WC: 1.9k

+

He was used to this sort of behavior when he first met girls – curt and rude, meant to pry his eyes off their figure. Eventually though, after time, he would win their affection through his shining personality (or, at least, that's what he thought happened). Usually it only took about a week or less; he was good at what he did. This was ridiculous, though – he was ranging on the sixth week of knowing you. That's one and a half months, far above his usual score.

But you're beautiful. Even if you won't share a genuine conversation with him, you 'let' him watch you, allowing yourself to become his only source of entertainment on the island. The shine in your hair – always neatly pulled back – is a fantastic distraction from the blisters on his palms and the heat of his sunburnt skin.

You're the last piece of humanity here. It makes sense he would never be able to win you.

Today you're tending to his wounds, an activity he thought he would never love as much as he does. Your fingers are still soft somehow, brushing against the exposed skin of his arms, sliding over the bandages to ensure they won't slip. The concentration evident in your sharp eyes is revealed in the way you bite your lip, gaze never leaving the bloody blisters on his hands.

"Not for nothin' babe, but," he began to speak, voice raspy and dry, "last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid."

You very slowly raise your head, reluctantly meeting his eye with a dead stare.

"Not today, Snafu," you say.

"Tomorrow then?"

You scoff, shake your head, almost laugh, but in the end you say nothing. Instead you return to your work, diligently cleaning the scabs and covering them up. He can't say he minds––whether or not you truly engaged with him, he heard your voice, and felt your touch. That would be enough. For now.

Surprisingly enough, they still get to have movie night sometimes. That doesn't mean the movies are good, but they're generally more entertaining than watching the shore birds. Every now and then, Snafu will even go and join his tent mates, ogling more at the nurses than paying attention to the actual movie. Those are always good nights, and the forest is close enough that it's not a problem if he gets too excited.

Tonight's movie is titled 'Godzilla Goes to College,' and upon hearing the name Snafu knew he would not be able to attend a full hour of it. Instead he wanders around the encampment, watching shadow silhouettes and the movement of the breeze on tent flaps. The sound of shuffling catches his ear, and when he turns, he's pleasantly surprised to find you beside him, drowning in an oversized jacket. He laughs, loud and probably impolite, but the juxtaposition of him being shirtless beside you truly tickles him.

"Evenin', doll," he says through his laughter, stopping you in the middle of the pathway. A soft groan leaves you as you turn to face him.

"And good night," you say in a too-cheery tone, your saccharine smile instantly falling into a dead stare as you go back to walking, a renewed vigor in your step.

"Hey, where y' goin' in such a hurry?" He asks, and begins to trail slowly after you. He allows a decent amount of space to grow between you before he continues with, "stay n' chat a minute, cher!"

You don't even bother to respond once you turn the corner, where Snafu loses his trail on you. He curses to himself, turns back around, and finds several of his mates coming back from the movie rather tipsy. How long have they been there?

"Reeaaaall lucky with the girls, aren't'ya, Snaf?" Burgie asks, and the four of them fall into teasing laughter.

"I'll get her, you'll see," he promises, turning back to see if he can glimpse you between all the tents. "One a' these days, she's mine."

Later that evening he sees you again, through the sheer fabric of your tent, where you've been burning a candle. It casts your shadow clearly against the wall, allowing him to see you perfectly.

Snafu likes to claim he isn't a pervert, but most who know him in any way know that's not really true. Sure, he can be a gentleman, but if no one's looking he doesn't especially care. No one but him will know, not even you. Even if he wasn't a pervert, he still wouldn't be able to tear himself away––you're undressing, peeling the clothes off your skin and he can see the whole of your body. In outline, of course, but there nonetheless.

Fucking creep, he tells himself, calls himself, but he doesn't cease his staring till you've put out your candle. At that point he can no longer see you, and he returns to his own tent with fantasies circling his head like vultures.

It's not that you're particularly rude to him. You just don't engage or indulge any of his bullshit, which is fair enough he thinks. He has a lot of bullshit coming out of his mouth 24/7. Everyone knows that. There's a theory he has, though––a theory he came up with just a little while ago, that you would treat him perfectly normal as long as he didn't come on to you in conversation. If he treated you just like he treated most others, then you might actually be nice to him. You're a good person. You're not going to be needlessly mean.

"Afternoon," he says to you, and he has to physically bite his tongue to stop himself from calling you cher. You quirk one of your brows.

"Afternoon," you repeat back. "Something ailing you?"

"Why'd ya think that?" He asks, slinking into one of the chairs in the aid tent.

"This is a medical tent," you say, and he wants to facepalm himself.

I'm just achin' with love for you, boo, he wants to say, and again, he has to bite his tongue to stop it from coming out. Damn it, he thinks, that's actually a good line.

"So why are you here then?" You ask.

"Better than tryin' ta find somethin' edible in my lunch," he grumbles out, leaning back against the chair and closing his eyes. He lets out a satisfied sigh.

You giggle, you actually laugh from something he did, and say, "understandable. You should still eat, though. Here."

You move from your spot at a nearly-fully stocked tray, instead digging through one of the numerous unlabelled boxes piled like towers in the aid tent. From there you pull out a granola bar, brand name, and throw it at Snafu's face. He nearly falls off balance, but catches it before he loses his cool.

"Thank ya kindly, ma'am," he says with a grin, tipping an imaginary hat your direction. Again you smile; there is nothing better than this, sitting across from you, and being the reason for your happiness.

Eventually he has to leave in order to make room for those who actually do require medical aid, but he leaves singing on a high note. You say good-bye to him this time, for the first time, and a smile tugs at his lips all day. Therein lies the secret to your affection––a blazingly obvious secret that all men should know––that he must treat you as an equal, not size you up to something he can win over, something he can buy with cheap words and undressing eyes.

He thinks it over all day, lets it mull over in his head how he should next approach you. Things get twisted in his mind if he doesn't speak them out loud, and by eveningtime he's convinced that he should meet you tonight, even if it's just him barging into your tent. Politely, of course. A polite barging in.

For a moment he stops, his hand poised above the handle of your tent flap. You're definitely in there––or someone is––as there's shuffling behind the material, a sound he can barely process over the rushing of his heart.

Fuck it, he finally says, and without giving himself a chance to doubt, he pulls open the flap.

You don't even notice him. To be fair, your eyes are closed. And you're a bit preoccupied. Your tongue is pretty far down that nurse's throat.

His mouth falls open as every muscle in his body freezes. It's the other nurse that actually sees him, and she taps you harshly with her wide eyes set on Snafu. You tear yourself away from her touch, turn to the marine, and all the air in the tent goes stagnant.

He leaves. Throws the flap back into place and all but sprints away, wide eyes burning in the cool night air. It's only a second or two of running before he hears the flap open and close again, followed by you yelling something, and ultimately your chasing footsteps.

You end up being surprisingly fast, and you easily catch up to him. Once you do you grab his wrist, tugging him back, and forcing him to face you. Both of your hearts are racing a hundred miles a minute, both of your eyes wide with shock.

"Merriel I am begging you, you cannot tell anyone about this, please, please, you can't, I’ll do anything," you beg him, and it's then he notices there's tears on the edge of your eyes. "Please do this for me, you can't tell anyone. Don't even think about it––just, pretend it never happened?"

He's panting, unable to formulate any response, only able to stare into your panic and sink in the fear pouring out of your desperate eyes.

"(Y/N), I'm––no, I won't," he says at last, and you practically collapse with relief, falling into him with your forehead on his shoulder. He continues in a murmur, awkwardly holding you, "I just... I'm.. I'm in love with you. I––I couldn't do that to you."

"Fuck, I know," you say in a breath, removing yourself to look him in the eye. "But I can't be with you."

You pause, and he waits a moment for you to continue, his brow quirked in curiosity.

"I'm a lesbian, Snafu."

"Oh," he says, but it doesn't process. Not for a minute, anyway. "Oh. Ohh. OHHHH."

"Yeah," you say with a vigorous nod.

"Okay, I thought – I thought I jus’ lost my touch, you're just.. a lesbian, okay," he says, sparking a laugh from you.

"You're not angry?"

"Shit cher, you can't control who you wanna get freaky with jus' as much as I can't," he says, smiling, and the tears in your eyes finally fall. They aren't sad, though––birthed from fear, yes, but falling from happiness.

"You're a lifesaver, Snaf."

As heartbroken as he truly is, none of it really shows in his face. At least now he knows it wasn't really his fault that you didn't show interest in him. Still, disappointment fills up his chest, until you tell him that he makes a good friend. It's then he realizes he can still keep you in his life, a version of modesty and stature and innocence that he can't achieve alone.

He won't ever be able to kiss you, which he does mourn––your lips are painfully soft, and every time he catches sight of them he yearns to press his own against them. Your statement on him works in reverse, though; you're a good friend, and that would be enough for Snafu. But Merriel hides within the bravado, within the suaveness of his voice and actions, and Merriel weeps childish tears that Snafu doesn't know how to wipe away and comfort. Snafu understands the reality of the world, but Merriel will always lament the unfairness of life.

You're the last piece of humanity here. It makes sense Merriel would never be able to win you.

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Sanders Swap AU

So, I’ve heard tale of a new AU circulating in this fandom. Basically, it’s an AU where the Sides swap jobs and powers with the other sides.

Here’s my take on who’d get what (this isn’t even a theory, just what I hope happens)

First off, it’s the same characters with the canon-verse history. However, Thomas decides that if they all swapped jobs and powers for a day, they might understand each other more and stop arguing 24/7

This may have been Emile Picani’s idea. I’ll figure it out (the sides need to go to Emile’s therapy sessions).

So!

Janus is Morality

-And he’s having fun with it

-”Why pursuing a false sense of morality is more detrimental than taking a singular self-care day: A 256 Slide Presentation”

-He only starts not liking it when he realizes how much responsibility Pat is really under

-He doesn’t know the answers to everything! He can’t deal with all of these emotions! HE ISN’T READY TO BE A FATHER

-It’s really easy to forget that Patton’s job is also dealing with all of Thomas’s emotions. Patton has practice at repressing everything, but it’s all hitting Jan like a truck

-There will be angst.

-Also now he has to kind of take care of all the light sides, including Virgil. So, more angst!

-Reactions Of The Other Sides

Roman: How Dare You Stand Where He Stood

Virgil: Nope. Nopity nope. NOPE.

Logan: It probably isn’t the mature, logical thing to do to laugh at Janus struggling with the FamILY. But he technically isn’t Logic at the moment, and it is kind of funny.

Of course, when Janus starts really struggling, that all stops.

Remus: Jan has to pretend to be the boring one! This is fun to watch!

Patton: He knows what it must be like for Janus at the moment. Trying to help him.

Patton is Dark Creativity

-Patton’s going through a crisis of conscience at the moment, so turning him into a dark side has Angst Potential

-He’s determined to fail at his job. Unfortunately, he’s quite good at the religious guilt part of Remus’s job.

-I think he’d like conjuring stuff though

-He’d try to conjure kittens, but since Remus’s powers work the way they do he’d conjure the ugliest sphinx cats you’ve ever seen in your life

-But Patton’s allergies are better around hairless cats! So he keeps the cats even after the drama is over and learns to love them

-He has no idea what to do with a morning-star or deodorant. Deodorant tastes like deodorant to him, and he doesn’t get why Remus eats it.

-Is this entire AU an excuse to have Dark Creativity be the one to say, “Language!”? Maybe so.

-Reactions Of The Other Sides: 

Roman + Virgil: They already have complicated feelings about both him and the dark sides. This is just a calzone of weird.

Logan: Not that much has changed, in his opinion.

Remus: The guy who thinks babies come from fucking STORKS is him?? NO.

Janus: So many thoughts and none of them intelligible. More like a long, drawn out scream.

Remus is Logic

-However much of a shitshow you think it’s going to be....it’s worse

-He goes full mad scientist. He eats his glasses. He knows the science of so many things he was curious about.

-He can justify anything with “It’s for science!”

“Why did you release goats into the living room?” “FOR SCIENCE!”

“Why did you draw all of these dorks on the ceiling??” “FOR SCIENCE!”

“WHY IS THE HOUSE ON FIRE???” “FOR SCIENCE!”

-Remus is Logic now, baby. And the world will burn.

-Reactions Of The Other Sides: 

Roman: Logan’s cool! Remus most definitely isn’t! He has no right to wear that tie.

Virgil: Terrified? He shouldn’t be in charge of anything!

Logan: Please. Could someone please get him to stop. THAT IS NOT PROPER LAB SAFETY-

Patton: Welp. That’s disturbing. Time to pretend this isn’t happening.

Janus: Entertained beyond belief. 

Logan is Anxiety

-Existential dread o’clock! Ever considered the true size of the universe when compared to you? Logan is the feeling of terror you get when you look at the sky and realize just how little it cares about you.

-Logan is a better Anxiety than Anxiety, because instead of being emo he’s informed (and potentially emo, since the concept of an emo Logan is quite a concept)

-And people listen to him more. He doesn’t even use the demon voice option. People just pay attention to him when he’s like this. God, no wonder Virgil acts the way he does!

-No but emo Logan consider it

-Him having to go back to being Logic after this would certainly do things to his character arc

-He still can never get into Evanescence, though.

-Reactions Of The Other Sides: 

Virgil: Why is he better at his job than the actual Anxiety? Is he even important to Thomas?

Remus: Likes Logan’s new aesthetic very much

Patton: Is happy that Logan seems happy, but knows that they’ll have to change back eventually. Worrying about all of his kiddos, honestly.

Janus: Was the first one to be hit with the Existential Dread. Freaks out.

Roman: Thank the gods that he isn’t the only one who doesn’t want to go back

Virgil is Creativity

-He hates everything about this.

-The imagination is confusing, Thomas’s hopes and dreams are worryingly fragile, and he is constantly suppressing the urge to sing Disney songs.

-The only thing he likes is the sword. The sword is awesome.

-Conjuring feels weird, like sticking your hand in a magician’s hat full of scorpions to do a trick. But he manages to conjure the darkest eye-shadow known to man, so there’s that.

-He wants out of this little experiment ASAP. He may not be the villain any more, but that doesn’t mean he was born to play hero.

Reactions Of The Other Sides:

Roman: Why is he so bad at this?? Thomas is going to need a creativity!

Logan: Worried that he’ll accidentally destroy all of Thomas’s hopes and dreams.

Remus: He prefers this to his insufferable brother, so

Patton: Swords are sharp DON’T STAB PEOPLE

Janus: He could have conjured a million dollars and given it all to his former best friend, but no. He went for the eye-shadow.

Roman is Deceit

-At first, he loathes it with every fiber of his being. Now he can’t even pretend to be a hero?

-But lying is just good storytelling, and he hasn’t been able to spin words like this in ages

-Plus, he gets to sing villain songs for once

-And he does love the shape-shifting. For once, he doesn’t have to be Roman Sanders, and it’s the best thing in the world

-After a while, he hasn’t looked like himself in the mirror for days. It’s much easier to tell you’re not the evil twin when you don’t resemble him at all.

-He isn’t going back.

-Reactions Of The Others: 

Virgil: Oblivious to the danger at hand, but would scream if he knew because he can’t be creativity forever.

Logan: Conflicted as heck. He knows that they both have to go back to their old jobs, but it’s harder to say it with conviction when Roman is encouraging him to stay.

Remus: Ugh. His brother is the one who gets Jan’s job? Typical.

Patton: Roman doesn’t seem okay. Why is everyone in his family not okay

Janus: AfraidTM

Just my thoughts!

Now I have 39 fics to write

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (43) Eating

Ao3 | FF.net

--

Bonus Scene from last Chapter:

Emilie reclined on the couch next to her husband. She had a glass of whiskey in her hand, her drink of choice. A silken robe covered her form as she rested against the plush cushions.

But she was not relaxed. Not in the slightest.

Gabriel had pulled up the Ladyblog on the smart TV and proceeded to go down the timeline of akumas. Thankfully, Alya had organized the blog to skip all the theories and fluff articles. Only the actions of the heroes and Hawkmoth were shown.

Emilie had scooted away from him when he said, “I was a terrorist.” But she stayed long enough to hear that none of his damage or casualties were permanent. And that he had some regret about his actions. He had been desperate to get her back, and admitted that he had crossed the line so many times.

So now he was admitting to all of his crimes. He was coming clean to her, so she could judge him fairly and for herself.

“I had no idea that Adrien was Chat Noir. I didn’t know until his identity was revealed.”

Emilie found this to be a lie, however, since he reached an Akuma in the timeline when he suspected Adrien to be Chat Noir.

Gorizilla, that was the name. The bodyguard Emilie had known forever was the poor victim. He had turned into a giant blue ape and had Adrien in his grasp.

And then...and then...

Emilie watched in horror as the Akuma dropped her son, her baby, off the side of the building.

“I had hoped that he would transform to save himself, but he very cleverly called my bluff—“

The glass of whiskey was now empty, as it’s contents were in his face.

Perhaps he had been too honest.

“My baby!! My precious little boy! My innocent sweet sunshine boy! You let him get thrown off of a roof on a hunch?!??”

“I wasn’t going to let him hit the bottom. Ladybug saved him.”

“WELL I’M GLAD SOMEONE WAS ON TOP OF IT!” She shouted. “I can’t believe you! Of all the low down, dirty, rotten, conniving tricks!”

“Emilie please—“

“I should throw you off the building and see how you like it!”

“Please calm down.”

“Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!” She found one of her heels she had kicked off earlier. “Gabriel Maurice Agreste! I’m going to murder you!”

He looked at her flatly. “We haven’t even gotten to the worst part.”

Emilie’s primal scream of rage made something click in his brain.

It was time to go.

--

To say that Tom, Sabine, and Gabriel were surprised would be an understatement.

There, standing at the top of the stairs, arm and arm, were Ladybug and Chat Noir. Not Adrien and Marinette, but the costumed heroes that everyone loved. With added hats and scarfs to protect from the December air.

Tom was the first to recover and gave them a disarming smile. “Hey kiddos! Where’s the fire?”

“No fire.” Said Ladybug. “Ice Cream.”

“Ice cream? In January?” Asked Gabriel. “If you want Ice Cream, you could have just asked.”

Ladybug shook her head. “Alya figured out where Andre’s Ice Cream cart is. We want to go.”

“Okay, well, we could drive you—“ started Sabine.

“No!” Ladybug shouted. “I need to get out of this house or I’m going to explode! I need to get away from the smothering! I need to feel the sun on my skin and the wind—“ she choked. “I need to get out there for just a little while.”

“Your suits will draw attention.” Gabriel said it as a thought to be considered, and not a warning.

“I know. But won’t it help? Isn’t everyone asking about us?”

Tom gave a little smile. “What’s the harm? Can you just text us when you get there?”

“I can do that.” Ladybug smiled.

Gabriel spoke up. “Did you make sure Adrien wanted to go?”

“It was his idea.” She said cooly.

“Well, I have been disarmed.” Gabriel shrugged. “Just please be careful.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Ladybug assured.

After they both left, Tom looked at his wife and Gabriel. “They amaze me. They are doing so well!”

“I agree. Especially Marinette,” said Gabriel. “For her to not be afraid to go out in their suits...”

“I think the suits are for strength.” Added Sabine. “For them to be able to walk that far, and for protection.”

“That makes sense.”

She frowned. “Actually, I think it’s the suits that are letting them do this well. I found them sleeping in them the other night.”

Tom winced. “That’s not a great sign.”

Gabriel screwed up his lips in thought.

—

Outside the mansion, Ladybug and Chat Noir descended the stairs and went out to the gate. It was at the point where the media no longer lingered outside the mansion. No one had gotten a glimpse of the heroes, and they weren’t likely to for a while still.

“Do you want to walk? Or take the roofs?”

“Walk. I’m still not strong enough for rooftops.”

“Okay. He’s not that far from here.”

They made their way, hand and hand, to the Ponts des arts.

As they walked, occasionally they were bugged by passerby. Mostly with handshakes and cheek kisses, occasional selfies. Thankfully, since it was January, there weren’t a lot of pedestrians.

Finally, they reached the bridge. Andre spotted them from the other side. “Ladybug! Chat Noir! Oh my favorite duo!”

Ladybug gave a soft smile to the man. “Hello Andre. One please.”

“Of course! On the house!” He prepared a cone, and started to scoop. “One scoop mint chip, for Chat Noir. One scoop cherry chip, for Ladybug, and one scoop cookies and creme, for true, pure love, riddled with trials and tribulations.” He stuck two spoons in the ice cream and handed it over. “Come see me whenever you like. You’re always welcome here!”

“Thank you. This looks delicious!”

It was unseasonably warm. Sitting on a bench looking out on the river, ice cream in hand, everything felt normal for a little while. A lovely ice cream date, something Marinette had always wanted to do with Adrien.

He let out a long sigh.

“Are you okay? Comfortable?”

“I’m fine.” He smiled at her. “My butt hurts a little, but I’ll survive.”

“We don’t have to stay long. We’ll just finish our ice cream.”

“No, you were right,” he breathed. “Just being outside for a while is nice.” A tear rolled down his cheek. “I can’t believe how much I missed this. It wasn’t that long but…”

“The sunlight.” Ladybug finished for him. “It’s nice. I can feel it.”

“And the wind. And hearing the birds. Hearing the water. It’s all nice.”

They ate in companionable silence for a while. Living in the moment with blank minds.

“Hey, you beat us!” Alya called as they approached.

“We decided to get out before school let out and everyone ruined our fun.” Said Ladybug.

Alya and Nino got their ice cream and joined them on the bench.

“So, how’s the dynamic duo today? Haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with you since we both moved back home.”

“Well, we have sweethearts ice cream. Not much to complain about.”

“Anybody give you trouble on the way out?”

“A couple people wanted pictures, and to express sympathy. It wasn’t bad.”

“It helps that it’s not tourist season, and it’s a weekday.”

“I’m sure. What kind of ice cream did you get?”

“Neapolitan. Or as Andre now calls it, Ninopolitan. Just for us.”

“That’s adorable.”

“I’m not usually a fan of strawberry ice cream either, but Andre’s is so good.”

“His chocolate is amazing.” Added Nino. “I want him to make my wedding cake out of it.”

“What, you don’t want my dad’s better-than-crack chocolate cake?”

“Half and half!” He protested. “I shouldn’t have to choose!”

Chat Noir smiled broadly, his shoulders shaking with mirth.

“Oh, before I forget. Did Chloe tell you about the Mayor’s ball a few weeks out?”

Ladybug groaned. “Yeah. The supposed ‘Hero’s Ball’ in honor of Chat and I? No thanks.”

“It can’t be too bad. A chance to get all gussied up, eat good food, and mingle with rich people.”

“Old Marinette would be excited, but...”

“You’ve got to stop referring to yourself like that, girl. You’ve changed, but you’re not a totally different person.”

She laughed. “I’m not?”

“A lot different, but there’s plenty of things I recognize. Right now, you seem to be doing really well. Besides the hair cut, you can hardly tell.”

“That’s good then.” Said Ladybug. “As long as someone recognizes me.”

“Are you designing a dress for the ball?”

“Gabriel and I are collaborating.” She stated it so plainly, like she didn’t even care. “He found a design he liked in my sketchbook, and he’s altering it. Same for Adrien. He’s designing a dress for my mom from scratch.”

“Oh that’s cool!”

“Poor man, he’s trying so hard to be a good father, but he’s so awful at it.”

Chat Noir snorted.

“He doesn’t get points for trying?”

“No. Not when he’s being awful when it matters. I’ve been yelled at for talking for Adrien, since he still isn’t ready to speak. Gabriel is impatient and bossy. He’s plenty generous, but he lacks understanding.”

“And it’s easy to be generous when you’re rich.” Added Nino.

Chat nodded in agreement.

“How are you today, bro?” Nino asked.

Chat shrugged, and pointed to his ice cream with his spoon.

“Gotcha.”

As they say, all good things must come to an end. And the simple peaceful outing turned into chaos when one person shouted. “There they are! It’s Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

From both ends of the bridge, people came running. Calling out for attention. Swarming.

“We didn’t even get to finish our ice cream,” Ladybug lamented.

Chat Noir, however, trembled at the noise and shifted closer to her, Alya, and Nino.

Alya stood, allowing Nino to wrap a protective arm around both of the heroes.

“Back!” Alya shouted at the crowd, raising her hands. “Back, you animals!”

The mob heeded her commands and stopped just a few feet away.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir are not ready for visitors! They aren’t doing autographs, and they aren’t doing hugs! They’re just out for ice cream and sunshine! So be on your merry way please!”

“Ladybug!” A little girl cried out. She weaseled her way through the crowd and ran at them, ignoring Alya completely to crash into Ladybug’s legs and nearly crawl into her lap.

“Hey!” Alya shouted. “What did I just say?”

“I’m so so sorry!” A woman called, catching up with the girl. “She’s just so excited! She loves Ladybug!”

“It’s alright.” Ladybug assured, petting the girl’s head. “How are you Eva?”

The girl beamed. “You remembered my name!”

“Of course I do. I’d remember any akuma that took six hours to beat.”

The girl giggled. “Sorry not sorry!”

Ladybug lifted the girl so she could properly sit on her lap, while the rest of the crowd stood back and listened.

“How are things at home? Did they ever get better?”

Eva gave a little shrug. “Mommy and daddy ended up getting divorced. But now that they don’t live in the same house, they get along a lot better. Sometimes we have dinner together. It still hurts, but at least they don’t yell anymore!”

“I’m really glad to hear that. I’m sorry that they divorced. That’s never an easy thing to go through, but I’m glad things worked out.”

“What about you? Are you feeling better?”

Ladybug swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m…I’m doing alright. Somedays are better than others. Today we felt good enough to go out and get some ice cream.”

“Ice cream makes everything better!”

She smiled. “It sure does.”

“What about you, Chat Noir? How are you?”

He nodded with a smile.

“He said he’s good.” Provided Ladybug.

“Oh yeah, his voice hurts. That happened to me last year. I coughed and coughed and then I sounded like a frog. Do you sound like a frog when you talk?”

He shook his head.

“No? Well that’s good! Wouldn’t sound much like a cat if you croaked!” She reached up and petted Chat Noir’s head like a real cat.

He couldn’t help but purr.

“Oops, you found his soft spot.” Ladybug snickered.

Eva giggled and scratched him again. “What kind of ice cream did you get?”

“Mint chip, cherry chip, and cookies and creme.”

“Cookies and creme is my favorite! Did you like it?”

“I did! Though, I don’t think there’s any bad ice cream.”

“I do! My dad likes pistachio ice cream! Bleh!”

“Oh but pistachio is good!”

“No it’s not! It tastes like butt!”

Ladybug laughed. “Why don’t you ask your mom for some ice cream?”

“Oh hey yeah! That’s a great idea!”

The woman with Eva came closer. “Can I get a picture with you together?”

“Sure.”

“Mom! Get Chat in the picture too!”

Chat Noir leaned in, as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

A click, and Eva was scampering off of her lap. “It was nice seeing you Ladybug! I’m going to get ice cream now!”

Ladybug smiled at her. “I’m glad we could talk, Eva. That was nice. See you later.”

“Later!”

Ladybug let out a blissful sigh. The crowd was still surrounding them, waiting to be prompted.

“I’m kinda tired.” She announced. “What about you, kitty?”

Chat nodded and yawned.

“They’re going to go home now folks! Go on, get!” Alya shooed them away. “Sorry your outing was interrupted.”

“Mmm, actually, that wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.”

—

Adrien awoke from his nap feeling only a little groggy. He was down to one nap a day now, though it still usually lasted over an hour.

Marinette laid in his arms, her back pressed against his chest. It looked like she was awake as well, as she scrolled through her phone.

Adrien nuzzled closer, pressing a kiss behind her ear. “Whatcha reading?” He asked softly.

“Ladynoir FanFiction.”

He chuckled softly. “I thought you hated our FanFiction.”

“I did. But not so much anymore. Alya said a lot of authors on the blog are going back and editing their stories, so that our names and backgrounds are right. It’s kind of fun to see what people assume about us. The innocent things, like what our favorite Pokémon is and what flavors of ice cream we like.”

“Hmm.” Adrien hummed in her ear, savoring that perfect level of comfort. “What is your favorite Pokémon, my lady?”

“According to fics, it’s Ledyba.”

He scoffed.

“But I think I like Spheal. He’s a spherical seal. He’s a good boy.”

“He is a good boy.” Adrien said sleepily. “Wanna guess mine?”

“Is it Arcanine?”

“...yeah, it’s Arcanine.”

She giggled, turning her phone off and turning to face him. “I’m afraid you’re an open book to me.”

“Only to you.” He promised, kissing her swiftly.

There came a knock at the door.

“Adrien? Are you awake?” Gabriel’s voice came from the hall.

“He’s awake,” Marinette answered for him.

They adjusted themselves to be a little more presentable as Gabriel entered. He actually looked nervous, and excited? It was hard to tell on a man so stoic. He rubbed his hands together. “So, Adrien, we have a guest joining us for dinner tonight, and I thought you might want to see her first.” He beckoned the guest at the door.

Seeing Aunt Amilie, even after all this time, made his heart squeeze. She looked just like his mother, right down to the side ponytail.

Wait.

Was this some sort of joke? Amilie was in white, and her hair was tied on the other side, just the way his mother used to—

“Hi Hunny Bunny.” Her voice was so soft, so gentle. Tears gathered in her eyes as her hands raised up for him. “Look at how much you’ve grown!”

All of a sudden, he wasn’t in his bedroom. He was in that cold dark room, where they had been kept in crude cages. He was looking at the corpse with his mother’s face on it.

Then it morphed into everything wrong. Mouths for eyes, snakes for teeth, dripping fingers, as she just continued to smile at him. “It’s me, Adrien…I’m home.”

Adrien shook his head frantically, trying to shake the vision. But it wouldn’t leave. It was acid, wasn’t it? LSD? That’s what Dr. Boucher said was in his system. That hallucinations he had down in the catacombs would continue to haunt him. They were as unpredictable as they were vivid.

“Adrien honey?” Her voice was too sweet. It was wrong. Why was she here?

Adrien scrambled off the bed, placing himself opposite of the mattress from her, and he watched her with careful eyes.

“Adrien,” Gabriel tried. “It’s alright, your mother is home now. She’s back.”

Between the horrible visions and twisting thoughts, he had half a mind to take offense. She was back? She was fine all this time? Where was she? Why did she leave him alone? He couldn’t find any joy in the utter wrongness of it all. It made no sense, and it felt like some sick twisted joke.

His eyes wandered over to the windows on the other side of the room. His reflection was so small, so disgustingly thin and dirty, bloody, and pale. And her reflection…

It wasn’t his mother.

Gabriel nervously bit his thumb, waiting for Adrien’s reaction. So far, he just sat there, staring at her with impossibly wide eyes. Then he scrambled out of the sheets, his eyes never leaving her face. But there was no smile, no disbelief, no awe. Just shock and fear.

“Adrien, it’s alright. Your mother is home now. She’s back.”

Adrien quaked in his spot, shaking like a leaf, ready to burst. His listless eyes turned and caught sight of something in the window.

Gabriel never did know what his son saw, but whatever it was, it was horribly upsetting.

Terrible enough to rip that scream from his throat. Frightening enough make him flail his fists around, at him, at Marinette, and his own mother.

“Hunny bunny?” she asked once more, pleading with him.

It didn’t work. It only further exasperated Adrien, so that he shouted at her, like if he yelled loud enough she was disappear in a puff of smoke.

That’s when Gabriel conceded that his plan had failed epically. He grabbed Emilie’s wrist and pulled her from the room, as Adrien continued to scream after her.

Sabine caught her in a hug just outside the door. “It’s alright, dear.”

Emilie clung to her. “He doesn’t know me!”

“Of course he does,” Sabine soothed. “He’s just confused right now.”

Gabriel had made sure to close the door as they left, but it did nothing to suppress the noise from the room. The banging, the crashing, the clattering of books and trophies being flung off the shelves.

And Marinette’s rational voice trying to reach him.

“I hate her!” He yelled, like an arrow to Emilie’s heart. “She’s a liar! That’s all she’s ever been! I hate her! I hate her!”

Gabriel pressed a kiss to his wife’s head. “He doesn’t, he loves you so much.”

“Where did so go?! Why did she leave me alone with—with him?!” He voice broke off into ugly sobbing.

“Oh my baby boy,” Emilie wept. “My poor baby…”

“Well, I really hate to be the one that told you so…” Plagg spoke, phasing through the door.

“Don’t sound so smug.” Gabriel bit.

“I’m not. I swear I’m not.” His ears hung sadly. “But’s like I said. He doesn’t know where she’s been. To him, she ran away without a word, and she’s only coming back now? Because of what? The fact that he was tortured on screen?”

Emilie covered a mouth to hold back a sob.

“That’s not what happened, and you know it!” Gabriel yelled back.

“Of course I know! But he doesn’t! And you’re going to have to explain all of it to him.”

“What do you mean, ‘all of it’?”

Plagg looked at him levelly. “If you want Adrien to accept his mother, you’ve got to tell him about being Hawkmoth.”

Gabriel looked at the door. “Do you think he’s ready? Either of them are ready?” Plagg shrugged. “His world is rocked either way. I think you’ve got to decide which parent he needs more. Because the way I see it, he’ll reject the other. Maybe both of you.”

Emilie and Gabriel shared a very meaningful look.

Finally, Emilie hugged Sabine. “You’ll go comfort him, right? He needs a mom right now.”

“Of course dear.” Sabine opened the bedroom door slightly and crept inside. Emilie watched from the crack as she approached Marinette and Adrien, who were huddled together in a corner. It didn’t take any convincing for both of them to accept her embrace.

“I’ve missed so much.” Emilie whispered, teary-eyed.

Tom squeezed her shoulder. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Gabriel sighed. “And hopefully, you won’t have to miss anything more. I’ll tell them tomorrow. Even if…even if Adrien hates me, he deserves my honesty. And…I haven’t been very good to him since this whole mess started. You’ll be better for him, I know.”

“Gabe…”

“It’s alright. I suppose this is my punishment. But as long as Adrien gets everything he needs, then it’s all worth it.”

[queerchoicesblog]

Broken Dreams

Hiya, folks! So, as previously announced, the wlw writing project continues after a break with a miniseries set back in the City of Lights - & Love - at the time of the Belle Epoque, at the turn of the century.

The story of Élodie and Léa continues a bit later than usual but here we are!

Next and final chapter of this story will be out next week: stay tuned for the finale!

Tagging: @scottishqueer​

Previous chapters: Paris, Paris ; One Night At The Moulin Rouge , The Handkerchief, The Cage of Fools,  La Vie Bohème

Hope you enjoy it: if you do, please consider spreading the word!

_______________________________

The morning after, I arrive home early. When I left the apartment, Élodie was still sleeping, wrapped in a shawl. I enter my room like a ghost, I take off my favourite dress, so carefully picked last night, and let myself fall to the bed like a dead body, feeling empty and heavy at the same time. I close my eyes and doze off for an hour or two, I cannot tell. I am awaken by the voice of Marie in the other room. My friend is back. I sigh and stand, joining her and my roommates in the kitchen after putting on my robe. When she sees me, her smile is soon replaced by a concerned expression: I don't look well, am I feeling alright? No, actually not really, no. I feel sick and hurt and tired and I barely slept. A roommate dismisses her concerns, informing her that my night out is probably to blame. "Yes, I went out with some of the girls last night and I suppose I had a bit too much" I confirm: sometimes a white lie is easier than the truth. It is now,at least. "Girls...we believe she has a secret lover" the other says, handing Marie a glass of milk and a small plate of biscuits. Their words hurt more than they surely meant with their idle maliciousness: I wouldn't have given them much thought under normal circumstances, but they ring differently after Élodie's party and refusal.

My friend can't refrain a surprised gasp. "Is it true, Léa? You didn't tell me anything" "If she did, it would no longer be a secret affair" the first who spoke argues. "No, Marie, it's just a crazy theory of the ladies here" I sigh, taking a seat too. "How was your journey?" Luckily, my abrupt shift of topic works. Sipping her milk, Marie tells me of her stay in Argenteuil. Being back home after all that time has been nice and weird at the same time: so much has changed since the day she left. Her mother's hair is now turning grey and his little brother announced his engagement to the butcher's daughter, a shy gracious girl named Marguerite: they'll marry next year. Despite what the doctors feared, her Aunt is now recovering, slowly but steadily. The illness debilitated her quite a lot as she's still among the living, which is all that matters. Marie's mother is looking after her now: she's in good hands. Our conversation distracts me but less than usual. I try not to notice. I join the three of them for a late breakfast even if I have little appetite, out of inertia. Then, I go back to my room, Marie in tow. As she start unpacking her bag, I lay back on the bed, unsure of what to do. I wrap myself in the blankets, overcome by a sudden cold. "Why don't you get some rest? It helps with hungovers" she suggests, folding her clothes. I look at her, wondering if "hungover" is truly what makes me feel so wrecked. What last night truly was, a side effect of vie bohème. "Are you nursing me?" I smile weakly. "Of course, you're my friend!" she chuckles, throwing me a sympathetic look. "Close your eyes, I'll be as quiet as a little mouse" Too tired and heartbroken to protest, I do as she says. I slowly descend into a dreamless slumber, a sweet merciful oblivion I anchor to like the victim of a shipwreck holds on to a piece of wood floating in a dark stormy sea. Isn't a shipwreck a good metaphor for my condition? I dared too much and tumbled overboard... Over the weeks that follow, I do my best to blend in my old life as if nothing happened and it was all a dream, a gorgeous dream I had to wake up from sooner or later. I work twice as hard as I used to and my efforts don't go unnoticed, especially now that we have so many orders and so little time on our hands. One day our infamous supervisor gave me an appreciative look and a surprisingly polite smile: keep up the good job and a promotion might be in store in the new year, she said. Marie overheard and winked at me from her desk. As the year inexorably comes to an end, we don't get to see our friends as often as we used to before she left but we keep in touch somehow and make plans for the New Year's Eve celebrations. Something to look up to, right? Life goes back to the way it was and I am grateful. Yet I cannot fool myself, I know it too painfully well. I miss Élodie terribly, unbearably but I don't dare to try and see her again. I avoid crossing Pigalle and Montmartre, I keep my distance from the Moulin Rouge. After what she said, I think she wouldn't like to see me. I've waited weeks for a letter, a note, whatever sign from her but nothing came. It hurts, especially at night when at times sleep is slow to come and I am left all alone with my thoughts. I shut my eyes and she is there, laughing as we gallop down the corridor, whispering my name like a prayer, kissing my lips in the moonlight. Then she dissolves when morning comes, an hurtful remainder that she's gone. A week before Christmas, Marie reads me a letter from home: after hearing what I did for her while she was away, her family invites me to spend the festivities at Argenteuil. If I have no plans to travel back to Roscoff, they would be delighted to have me as a guest. Of course going back home is out of question, so I accept. They welcome me with the warmth everyone would reserve to a relative they don't see often but who hold a special place in their hearts and I must confess, it touches me. Marie and her brother show me around while her mother cook us one of the best meals I have ever had. Even Aunt Odette helps, despite Marie's concerns. Sitting at their table, listening stories and eating a delicious Galette Des Rois, I feel at home, for a moment. I wish I could have felt that way in Roscoff too but it never happened. We leave after an interminable series of hugs and wishes. Marie's father makes me promise to attend the wedding next year, I offer to help sewing the wedding dresses, the groom's and Marguerite's. They all keep waving at us until our carriage takes a turn and disappear from view. We arrive back in Paris just in time for the New Year's celebrations: we greet 1890 drinking cheap champagne and dancing by the river, barely acknowledging the sleet withening the streets of the City of Lights. On our way back home, we share our dreams and hopes for the new year before the mad routines of our lives sets back into motion. I must say that for once I am thankful to the routine I complained about at times through the years. There is something oddly comforting in it now that I am trying to be a whole again. Then one week later, something unexpected happens. I am at work, cutting fabric for a new dress when our supervisor storms in. At first, I fear I am in trouble because she makes a beeline for me. Luckily, I am not: she is just going hysterical because the secretary of a certain Monsieur Toussaint, a loyal costumer and 'a most respectable lawyer', is here to collect an order with urgency but she has no idea where the suit is: the girl who took care of - and made a mess with - the order is sick that day. She adds other anxious mumbling but I don't understand a word. It's clear though what she wants. I assure her I will go find it immediately: as I leave my desk, she squeals to hurry, faster, faster! Away from her hysterical pressure, I find it in no time and head to the hall downstairs after checking myself in the mirror: we must look put together when meeting costumers. Or costumers' secretaries, I suppose. When I reach the ground floor, I see her. A young woman is waiting, patiently looking out the window. The cloak looks oddly familiar: it must be pretty popular these days. I address her with the dignified politeness and affability we have been instructed to have with our costumers. When she turns, I stop mid-sentence: it's not just the cloak, even her face is familiar. "Oh hello, Amélie..." She blinks twice and for a moment a shade of pink colours our cheeks as if our being acquaintances and the circumstances of our meetings make us suddenly shy. She recovers quickly though, and offers me a hand to shake. We chat a little but we don't have much time: duty calls for both of us. She's already heading towards the main door when she suddenly stops. I'm about to ask her if she forgot something, her gloves maybe when she speaks again. "You...don't know what happened, then?" I freeze. A name immediately crosses my mind followed by a growing concern: Élodie. "What? What happened?" She winces and walks back to the counter. In a somber tone and keeping her voice low, she tells me that it was New Year's Eve. The Moulin hosted a huge party to celebrate the success of its opening. Élodie performed in la quadrille that night, as usual. The routine was running smoothly and the dancers lined up for the hat kick. Out of the blue, a visibly drunk spectator grabbed Élodie's foot and pulled her, probably in an attempt to take off her boot or whatever he was thinking. Two gentlemen nearby promptly intervened, pushing him back and freeing her from his clutches, but damage was already done. Élodie lost balance and took a bad fall to the ground. She stood again, helped to her feet by Laurent, and kept dancing till the end. But when she made it to the backstage, she collapsed again, in tears and great pain. "The doctor said that with an ankle in that conditions, it was a miracle she even managed to stand up again" Amélie explains. "Oh God...I knew nothing of it" I cover my mouth with my hand. "I thought so" she grimaces. "How...how is she now?" "Very depressed: she spends her days lying in bed and refusing to see anyone. I had to insist and almost force my way in her room to visit her" She takes a pause. "You see, the doctor told she cannot dance now. Maybe anymore. Not as she did, anyway" I cannot even fathom the effect those words must have had on Élodie: dancing is everything to her. It's like saying to a bird it will no longer fly because they will tie one of its wings. "It can't be..." I reach to the counter for support. No, it can't be... "I know....a tragedy" she agrees. "But you should go see her. I'm sure it will make her happy and maybe you can make her change her mind" Cold dread washes over me as she leaves but I have a new steely resolution now. The following day, after work, I am knocking at Élodie's apartment's door. I am greeted by a young man with a pair of blonde moustaches who introduces himself as 'Louis Renard, painter extraordinaire'. I explain him the reason of my visit and he nods sympathetically, letting me in. He and the other roomates are all worried for El, he says: she's refusing to eat and talk and they only hear her cry. They don't know what to do to help, but "maybe you can, maybe she will listen to her friends", he adds encouragely as we stop in front of her door. Luis clears his throat and knocks but no answer comes. "Él, sunshine? Guess what news I bring? You have a visitor...a friend here came to-" "Go away, I don't wanna see anyone" Luis shakes his head and throws me a pained look. Her voice is so different from the last time I heard it. "But she's here, she came for you. At least-" "I'm tired, I need to rest" Luis opens his mouth for one last attempt to reason with her but I raise my hand, gesturing him to let me try. "Élodie? It's me, Léa, remember? I've heard what happened and I just want to check in on you. If you're tired, I will let your rest and wait here until you wake up. But I will not leave without seeing you" No answer comes again, only silence on the other side. Luis and I hold our breath for a moment then I say: "I will let you sleep, I'm in the other room" Luis shows me the way and we walk down the corridor. I grimace: what was I expecting? Amélie said it all herself... I am taking a seat, bracing myself for a long painful wait when her voice resounds again behind the closed door. "Come in" Luis and I exchange a look then he smiles. He has to go now, he must deliver his latest painting, but I am welcome to stay. Keep an eye on El in the meantime, would you?, he asks. My heart is racing when I open her door: I have gone through what to say to her on my way here so many times but I can't remember a single word now. I take a deep breath to steady my nerves before stepping in. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work. Élodie is sprawled over the bed and props herself up when I enter the room. She offers a weak smile, wrapping her shawl around her shoulders before diverting her eyes. She looks tired, a shadow of her usual self. "Léa, what a surprise..." Her voice is feeble, a whisper; her hair askew fall on her face, hiding her visage. At the bottom end of the bed lay her legs, barely covered by wrinkled blankets, the same that once welcomed our passionate embrace. My heart aches at the memory of it and at the sight of her right ankle, wrapped up in tight bandages and held in place by wooden sticks on each sides. "I came as soon as I heard the news" I grimace. She nods somberly, always avoiding my gaze. "I-I should have known you would but you didn't have to after-" Before she can complete the sentence, her voice breaks and even if I can't see her face, I know she's crying. I don't even have to think: I run by her side and pull her into a tight hug, tight enough to hopefully offer her an anchor. She immediately wraps her arms around my waist and I feel her tremble against me as she succumbs to her grief. Her career is over, she says between sobs, she will lose everything and what will she do now? She always knew it wouldn't have lasted forever but now it's too soon, she's still young, too young to end it so soon. I caress her hair, calming, soothing. She buries her head against my side. It's a terrible thing to see: lovely mirthful Élodie shattered, defeated. The worst thing is I can do very little for her apart standing here by her side and holding her as she cries her heart out. I keep stroking her curls even when her sobs subside at last and she takes long breaths, grasping for air. "We'll figure something out" I say out of the blue. She parts and meets my gaze, her eyes puffy and red. "We'll figure something out" I repeat, brushing away a tear with my thumb. I have no idea how but there must be a way out of this, I don't know. In the meantime, I do the only reasonable thing I can think of: I take care of Élodie. I visit her almost every day and bring her food so she won't starve herself. She's a bit hard to convince at first: she keeps saying I don't have to do this but I am more stubborn than her. One day, she takes my hand into her and she apologises for disappearing on me: she regrets it dearly and missed me more than words can tell. Her voice trembles as she speaks and I believe mine does too when I smile to her and say I missed her too. Funny how a bunch of words, the words we need or hope to hear, can make the world around us a bit brighter and warmer even in the heart of winter. One evening, I head towards her apartment with my usual gifts. As I take off my coat and hand it to Luis, I hear her: Élodie is singing a doleful song I have never heard. A memory of her childhood maybe since she recalls the words so well. I hear her from the main room: her voice, albeit a little uncertain, is utterly beautiful. Melancholic, modulated, melodious. That kind of voice you would never get tired of listening, over and over again, like a lullaby. When I reach the threshold of her room, she's looking out of the window, absentmindedly, playing with a loose strand of her. She turns towards me and stops, offering me a smile instead. "What was that?" I ask, walking closer. "Oh, nothing, just an old tune" she shrugs. "I don't even know why it even crossed my mind after all this time" "I got you a book and a little treat" I hand her a cheap edition of a novel a colleague gifted me and a slice of cake I bought on the way there. Élodie's eyes bright up as if I brought her a shiny diamond rock. "You're spoiling me, little pearl" she smiles, unwrapping the sweet. "Here, have some!" I lean down to press a kiss on the top of her head. "No no, it's for you only" She takes a bite and scoots over so that I can take a seat beside her. "Charming" She reaches out and kisses my cheek. The crumbs on her lips tickle, making me chuckle. "What's the story of the book?" she asks, mouth half full. I pick it up and adjust at her side. "I'm not sure honestly...I think it's a romance. I thought it might keep you company" "Sweet" she comments. "....or spicy. Let's see! You're not leaving so soon, right?" I smile, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes. She leans into the touch, a sweet expectancy in her eyes. "No, I'll stay. We can read it together when you finish" She smiles again, nodding and checking the back of the book to get an idea of the plot. As I watch her eating and skimming the book I brought her, I cannot stop thinking of the little tune I caught her singing a moment ago. I look at her and she seems so blissfully unaware of the gracious beauty she filled the room with. When she takes the last bite, she hands me the book to read. "Sounds like a nice story. Shall we?" I take the book in my hands but I hesitate. "Sure, but first could you sing that song again?" I knew my request would surprise her. "Yes but...why?" she asks, sitting straighter. A smile crosses my lips as I place a hand over hers. "I have an idea"

[spaceinmyhead13]

Chapter 267: Flame

So there isn’t as much to break down in this chapter when compared to last chapter, but there are still a few things that I want to break down:

1: Hori is a fucking tease and I both hate him and love him at the same time. This IS the Todoroki Touya confirmation, or at least the beginning of it. Why the hell would he black out Dabi revealing his name to Hawks if it wasn’t? That plus Hawks’ reaction just makes it solid for me. That is the exact reaction one would have if they found out that the villain they had been interacting with for the last however many months was the son of the #1 hero and the hero that you had looked up to for your entire life. Hawks looks both surprised and then broken. Not even to mention Dabi’s rant about how he is “The ultimate manifestation of Stain’s will” And we know that Stain’s will is to “cleanse society of false heroes.” Something that Todorioki Touya would be a perfect poster child for, that is if all our theories are true. In the eyes of Stain, Endeavor is the most undeserving of being a hero and Dabi is the poster-child for it. 

2: I honestly still sympathize with Hawks. Yes, he was completely wrong to kill Twice (something I’ll go more into in my next point) but seeing him again in a flash back to when he was taken into the commission just makes my heart break for him. What kind of monster tells a child to “say goodbye to [your] name starting today”? They stripped him of a name and then stripped him of a life. He was a child who was taught to fight the moment his quirk was shown to be powerful. How just cruel is that? I have said it before and I’ll say it again: Hawks is a child solider. He never got to make his own decisions in life, they were all made for him without any input from him. And he went along with it because he thought that it was the right thing to do, that if he did the things he was told to do then he could become a great hero just like Endeavor. But here he is, burnt and bloodied, and it’s just been revealed to him that the man he looked up to for so long, actually was so horrible to his children that one went out to become one of the most feared Villains in Japan. His world is crumbling and he doesn’t know who he is anymore.

3: So, Twice is confirmed to be dead. That, hurts. A lot. But I guess it shows that in this world no one is safe, not even the villains that we all grow attached to. As sad as I am about his death, I have to think about the positives: He died proud of what he was doing and with people like Toga who genuinely cared and loved him. He died protecting what he believed in and knowing that he was a real person and that even Hawks who was there to kill him couldn’t take that away. I’m glad that Hori gave him semi proper closure, even though it still hurts like a bitch. However, as we see with Dabi, Twice’s death is going to hit the original League members hard. Poor Toga just lost her best friend, and if I don’t see her go off the walls with anger I’m gonna riot. 

Anyway, that’s all for this chapter. I’m still processing it all but luckily for me we have a week off! Yay! Next chapter will be in 2 weeks so we have time to digest this along with the Dabi fight in the anime. If Dabi isn’t properly revealed to be Touya imma eat my fucking hat I swear. 

Thanks for listening to my ramblings, see you tomorrow for screenshots from this weeks episode!

Chapter link

[witchesoz]

What we know of Oz: Book 1, the East

# Let’s talk a bit about the first Ozian region that Dorothy travels through: the land of the East, the Blue Land, the land of the Munchkins. This region’s “official” color is blue – well, official is maybe too much of a term. In the book it is merely referred to as the “favorite” color of the land’s inhabitants, like all the other “official” colors of Oz. However it doesn’t mean the whole land is blue – the flowers, the grass, the birds are said to be a diverse and vibrant palette of colors. Blue is rather found in man-made things: the Munchkins houses, farms, fences and doors are painted blue. The Munchkins also dye blue their bedsheets, their rugs and their clothes. In terms of clothes, we know that women and children wear blue but we don’t know exactly what they wear. However we have an exact description of the typical clothing worn by all the adult male Munchkins (and it seems that being an adult in the Munchkin population is being old enough to sport a beard) : a blue round hat that rises to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkle sweetly as they move, blue clothes the same shade as the hats, and well-polished boots with a deep roll of blue at the top. In terms of culture, we know that the Munchkins are by nature kind-hearted people, very emotional and very empathic – for example, when Dorothy starts crying, immediately the three grown-up Munchkin men around her also start crying. 

The narration adds says that the Munchkins are good farmers able to raise large crops – in fact, all the Munchkins houses we see are also farms of some sort, and most of the Munchkins are farmers, the only exception mentioned being a tinsmith and a family of woodchoppers. A typical Munchkin house is round, with a big dome for a roof, all painted blue. # The Munchkin country is “sometimes pleasant, sometimes dark and terrible”, as the Witch of the North puts it. Boq has a very similar warning: “the country is rich and pleasant, but to go to the Emerald City, one has to go through rough and dangerous places”. Indeed the Munchkin Country seems to be split in two areas – its most eastern area, which is a true Eden Garden, a rural Arcadia – and its western part, the closer to the Emerald City, that is basically one gloomy and creepy forest filled with dangers and monsters. Is it the natural disposition of the region? Or was it a natural tool the Wicked Witch used to isolate even more the Munchkins? Or maybe the whole country was peaceful and beautiful a long time ago but the Wicked Witch of the East made its border a world of doom and death? Who knows, all theories are possible.

To explore the Munchkin country, I will probably follow the Yellow Brick Road, the one that crosses the whole land. Note that in the book the Yellow Brick Road isn’t a sort of “historical landmark” or “main axis” in the Munchkin country. It is merely the only road that leads to the Emerald City, and in fact it isn’t cared for by anyone anymore, falling into ruin in the most isolated parts of the country. Most of the Munchkins never want to go to the Emerald City – Boq for example never went there, and the Tin Woodman explains that his father went once to the city, when he was a small boy, and that it already was “a long journey through a dangerous country”. (Take in note how there is a separation between the “dangerous country” and the one the Munchkins live in; I will talk about it later with the Quadling country). As for why the bricks are yellow, it is not explained in the book, even though a theory explains that the road is yellow merely because it goes towards the west, hence the yellow color (and it suggests that there are similar roads, a purple one for the north and a red one for the south).

The road starts in the best part of the country, with “neat fences of dainty blue color”, fields of grain and vegetable in abundance – it is also where is located the house of Boq. For those of you that don’t know of him, Boq is apparently “one of the richest Munchkins in the land”, his house being larger than a regular Munchkin house, and after the death of the Wicked Witch he hosts a party with a bunch of friends where they abandon themselves to the typical Munchkin pleasures – dancing, singing, playing the fiddle and eating feasts of fruits, nuts, pies and cakes. After this house follows the cornfield where the Scarecrow is first met. After that the road becomes rough, the yellow bricks said to be uneven, broken or missing. The farms are “not well-cared of”, there are fewer houses and fewer fruit trees, the country becomes “more dismal and lonesome”, until there are no more fences, and the land becomes rough and untilled. Clearly, the Munchkins avoid being too close to the western part of their country, or had to move away from it.

The road then enters into a forest – which seems to occupy the whole western part of the Munchkin country. The forest is said to be “great”, with trees “so big and so close” that their branches meet and unite, blocking the light of the sun, so that at night the forest is pitch-black and no human can even see what is going on around them. This is where the Tin Man’s house is located. The presence of the Tin Man is actually quite an interesting thing… you see the Tin Man is the only “human” inhabitant of this forest, and his cottage is the only house found in the forest. Since the Tin Man lived there (and then stayed rusted there) for a very long time, it is very possible that he lived in the woods at a time when the forest was still occupied by Munchkins lumberjacks and woodsmen, but that they ended up abandoning it, leaving only one wood chopper behind, the Tin Man. But again, the Tin Man’s cottage is quite close to the edge of the forest, so maybe even at the time when lumberjacks worked in it, they did not dare go into its depths. Further away, the trees and branches become so thick that if they aren’t chopped down, one can’t keep walking on the yellow brick road, clearly indicating that the road was abandoned and that nature grew wild around it. The road goes on in these “thick woods”, its yellow bricks covered with “dried branches and dead leaves”, with no birds around (because as the narration puts it, birds prefer open spaces and sunshine), but with deep growls in its depths, the growls of wild animals – in fact, it is in this part of the forest that we meet the Cowardly Lion. Then the road is split, yes, split, by a wide and deep ditch that divides the forest “as far as can see”, with jagged rocks at the bottom and sides too steep to climb – the Lion has to take his comrades on his back and jump over it to continue along the Yellow Brick Road. Later, our little team meets another gulf that breaks the road, but this one so broad and so deep not even the Lion can jump over it, and they have to cut down a tree to cross over. These gulfs are obviously quite “recent” given that they actually break the road in two – which makes one wonder when, exactly, the road was created. Either the ditches are recent, either the road is very ancient. (Interestingly, in the audio series “Chronicles of Oz”, the explanation given to these huge breaks in the road was that the Wicked Witch of the East broke the Yellow Brick Road to prevent the Wizard from invading her domain). It is also very interesting to note that these ditches actually act as the “borders” of a very specific part of the forest, said to be “thick and gloomy” – the territory of the Kalidahs. 

Kalidahs are one of the threats of Munchkin land, “monstrous beasts with bodies of bears and heads like tigers” the Lion says, with claws so long and sharp they could cut him in two. I’ll talk of the “mind” of the Kalidahs later, but I will already mention here that the mention of the Kalidahs as “monstrous”, especially when it is done by the Lion, himself a beast, seems to indicate that the Kalidahs are seen as monsters or abominations by the other beasts of Munchkinland. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt – it may also just be the Lion’s cowardliness speaking. Immediately after crossing the great gulf, the trees become thinner and start to bear fruits (peaches and plums mostly, in the forest the only fruits available were nuts), until the Yellow Brick Road stops at a broad river. This broad river seems to act as the border between the Eastern lands and the central region of the Emerald City, so I’ll stop my description here. However, note that to go from where she landed to the Emerald City, Dorothy had to walk around five or six days – four or five in Munchkin land, roughly one day to go from the river to the Emerald City. Some of you may like to calculate the amount of miles or kilometers she crossed in this time based on complex calculations… I remember someone once calculated the rough dimension of Oz… It must be still on DeviantArt somewhere

[anxiety-trademark]

The week in review:

Raw 12/14 NXT 12/16 NXT UK 12/17 Smackdown 12/18 TLC 12/20 + Main Event 12/17

Raw:

“This Sunday at tlc, it’s gonna be you and me against Nia and Shayna,” Lana says to Asuka, as a quiet ‘woo’ can be heard in the distance.

Lana facing her fears and fighting Nia Jax makes her the bravest person Asuka knows. Rolling. Fucking Asuka. ASUKA. wwe, stop.

Why isn’t Asuka accompanying Lana to the ring?

I like Lana’s gear.

Joe just compared Lana to a mosquito, goodbye.

Oh snap look how fast Lana did that headscissors takedown. We’re witnessing her progression, ladies and gents.

You know, I knew Lana would win this match, I knew exactly how she would win this match, but jfc what a treat watching it myself. 

Nia’s face lmfao.

Shayna wrecking Asuka so she can’t save Lana from her inevitable fate. Still curious on whether or not this beatdown injured her, if she was injured going into the match, or if it was all really just a storyline.

Yikes this is sad.

Man that leg drop onto Lana’s ankle actually looked kinda wicked, ngl.

*distant woo intensifies*

Wow we got real tears from Lana. Points.

Becky and Charlotte have been gone, Alexa hasn’t been on tv, the Raw women’s championship has become a meaningless prop... what a dead period for this roster.

Hi why is this match happening?

I will never not be impressed by Dana’s entrance.

Is Mandy actually hurt? Why did they take her off tv for so long? Is Shayna the resident kayfabe shelver? “Hey this girl is actually injured, have her written off by Shayna” ?? Cuz I know they’re not splitting Dana and Mandy up, and Dana has been on tv every week since Mandy left. Must be genuine.

These 2 are running roughshod over the entire division at this point.

OH SHIT MANDY’S BACK WITH A KENDO STICK

Lmfao the babyfaces are fucking done with Nia and Shayna. Honestly that’s great, I love it when babyfaces band together to stand up to dominant duos. This has been going on long enough. They took out Mandy, took out Lana, were about to take out Dana. Totally fair.

Highlight: Lana getting a clean win over Nia & being taken out so my queen can return

---

NXT:

It’s a funny thing with Toni and Rhea. Toni says she’s the reason Rhea came to nxt, but she’s also the reason I became such a huge fan of Rhea’s. Heard they were having some big TakeOver match and everyone was always praising Toni. So I checked into Blackpool solely to see what the Toni Storm fuss was about, and I left that ppv solely impressed by Rhea Ripley. Then I took particular notice of Rhea in the Royal Rumble a few weeks later, and I’ve been watching NXT UK for her ever since (til she moved). To see her growth has been tremendous, and she’s so young. Such a bright future.

The music to this is great.

Toni says she isn’t scared of Rhea, as if Rhea’s mere theme music didn’t scare the absolute shit out of Toni the week prior lol.

Toni’s not even a terrible promo, but the timing of her blinks could not be worse. Yes, it matters.

I can’t stop laughing at how fucking intensely Shotzi started this interview.

She does pissed off interviews well. I can feel her annoyance.

Really don’t want to see a Candice/Shotzi feud tbh but okay, I’ll try.

aaand there’s the howl. Awful.

Lmfao Rhea called Toni a piece of trash. This is gonna be interesting to see with the alignments reversed.

I don’t remember who won this match, but I’m betting it was Toni. Which is fair tbh. Rhea is probably on the “put some peeps over before moving up to the main roster” path that everyone in the women’s division walks on. They always eat at least one monumental, or a couple meaningful, loss(es).

Oh man that is fucked up. To not only be forced to continue punching/kicking a human (fun fact: the person on the offense takes quite the damage doing so) but to have the defenseless victim bleed out and beg for you to stop. That’s rough.

This was shot really well. That music holy shit, I’m creeped out. It’s like a horror movie.

I see the point. Numbs him to pain and breaks his will, while numbing her to mercy. Ruthless stuff.

Oh are we finally done with Indi’s neck brace? Cool.

I can’t believe wwe invested in this upgraded tank. I still don’t think it’d work on the MR, but points to the boss for shelling out the cash.

Wtf was that stumble and “fall” by Indi lmao.

If Candice was a real bully, she’d distract Shotzi by fucking with her tank at ringside.

Indi does need a mentor, she’s a hell of a lot greener than my mutuals have made it sound. oof.

Shotzi looks like she has no idea how to work with Indi, and Indi looks gassed, confused, and slow as hell.

All Indi knows it going from spot to spot while Shotzi waits around for her to get there.

Lol Indi failed at getting a dirty win. I don’t really care if this is a part of her The Way storyline, what a mess.

The only redeeming part of this piss poor segment was Theory shaking the troll’s head at Shotzi.

I’ll give wwe an extra $9.99 if they let this match have a clean ending.

“[Rhea] was at one point the biggest superstar in the world,” that isn’t even close to being true because Becky Lynch exists, but I’ll let it slide and pretend you said “in nxt”.

Their paths will be so similar to Becky and Charlotte in the future.

Wow what a sequence. That would’ve received an applause on the MR. Traded headlocks for restholds, threw around their strength, then went into a battle of pinfall reversals. Instead of following that with some stalemate, they didn’t take a breath and proceeded to dance with each other and showcase some chemistry before rolling back into a battle of pinfall reversals. The sequence started with a kick by Toni to Rhea’s midsection, and it ends with a kick by Rhea to Toni’s midsection. Peep that match production, good stuff.

My, my, those slaps to Toni’s back. Whew.

Yeah actually it’s really fucking cool that these 2 get to main event nxt together, come to think of it.

They sell well for each other.

Rhea has the best dropkicks, lesbireal.

Holy shit Toni’s headbutts make my own head hurt. God I wish she wouldn’t. Most people put their hands between the heads so no contact can be made, but Toni’s just like “lol fuck it”

This is a great match. This duo works a lot better with these specific alignments. Watching face Toni try to chop down Rhea is not as good as heel Toni being impossibly hard for Rhea to put away.

Women’s matches and never having a clean ending. Name a more iconic duo. Winter of overbooked women’s matches continues.

Like I had guessed Toni was gonna win anyway, but fucking come on.

*Bonus* online exclusive: Toni says playing by the rules got her diddly and squat, but like... she was a champion lol. “It ain’t even Toni time right now, it’s party time.” Alright.

Highlight: Rhea vs Toni minus the ending

---

NXT UK:

I don’t know why we’re getting Isla Dawn vs KLR but anytime I get to see KLR fight, I’m here for it.

Hell even Isla’s song never kicks it out of first gear. Song has so much potential but it never goes to the next level.

Ahhhh my Scottish queen is here.

No, don’t compare Sasha’s basement meteora to the double knees Isla did. That was pitiful.

Anyway, KLR vs any of the 4hw would be fantastic, take my money. Sasha, Bayley, Charlotte, or the woman KLR wanted to face at TO Dublin, Dublin native Becky Lynch.

That back body drop is horrendous as a finisher. It’s like when Becky won her debut match the exploder suplex. Awful lmao. Imagine if KLR lost to a back body drop ffs.

You don’t get to be this frustrated for not being able to beat the champion when you’ve only been fighting for like 3 mins.

Isla’s pisspoor speed going in the corner, and her pisspoor roll off of KLR’s tornado ddt. Shame.

Such a clean transition from a failed pinfall attempt into a submission by KLR, whew.

This whole match was just a flex by KLR lmao.

There was a time where we had Becky Lynch, Bayley, Rhea Ripley and KLR as our champions. Wow, take me back plz.

The background music of this stupid recording is so unnecessarily dramatic, wow.

All for the delivery of a chair. Of a fucking chair. Piper... shut up and handle your shit.

For someone so much larger than the little man, Piper is insanely unintimidating.

Highlight: I got to see KLR wrestle

---

Smackdown:

Bayley does run her mouth a lot. She’s kind of the EST at saying dumb shit that gets her into trouble lmao.

Bianca is so friggin good at interviews and in backstage segments. She hasn’t received much of a chance to do promos in the ring, let alone obviously to a live crowd, but I hope she shines there, too.

Has Liv reverted back to being a dumb blonde, or is it drugs? Stop letting her speak.

Love Riott Squad’s everchanging gear. Wonder who makes it for them.

Billie Kay claims that she’s a ‘seasoned’ ring announcer, and somehow that would not surprise me.

Tamina “get the fuck out of my face until I get a nap and a vat of coffee” Snuka, everyone.

Lmfaooo Tamina fucking chucked Liv across the damn ring. What a good job by Liv.

Ruby is exceptional at running the ropes. She gets a good spring off of it.

Tamina’s hair is always so beautiful, she gets points there.

Dropkick into a faceplant. Billie Kay gets pinned rofl. She’s so bad at wrestling and yet here I am ridiculously entertained.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Carmella’s current persona, but man I wish she’d come out in a cut off tank top, camo pants, high tops and a printed hat.

I mean people are at home cuz covid, but go off.

Aye putting over Sasha. Good heel Mella.

Sasha has held the title for like a whopping 2 months and we’re already marking calendars. Sad.

In kf, Sasha is kind of mentally weak, so I’ll give Mella that. I’m not sure what it’s gonna take to shake that perception, either.

“Who is Sasha Banks if she’s not the Boss? Who is Sasha Banks if she’s not the best? It’s sad because that’s a question that not even Sasha Banks knows the answer too.” So I get that wwe are trying to help Sasha develop and fight off her past demons, but man these women are ripping her a new one. Sasha’s only 29 so she can grow and develop however she wants, but jeeze. Salt, meet the dagger Bayley stuck in Sasha’s back.

I like Mella cuz she knows how to hype her opponent’s accolades and strengths while cutting an immaculate heel promo where she hits them RIGHT where it hurts. She’s a pro. Heels should take notes.

This music is like the Jazz Vibes playlist I always listen to.

She just called Sasha cheap and frantic lmaoooo

Oh damn Sasha be out here looking like MONEY. That girl has style, even if it doesn’t always hit with me, she got style.

oof the crack of that slap to Reggie.

OOF the crack of the bottle shattering over Sasha’s poor back. rip.

Match at TLC should’ve been a champagne match. That entails whatever your mind comes up with; pouring alcohol on your opponent, dumping their head in a bucket of ice, breaking bottles over spines. It don’t matter.

“You don’t see me going around here bragging about how damn good I am,” lmao WHAT. Bayley is equal parts delusional and obnoxiously annoying.

One size heel does not fit all, but I think her version suits her beautifully.

If I were her I’d pick your brain too, but I’d also want a match, cuz people leave matches with you looking as good as humanly possible. Equal parts selfless as well.

She didn’t lie, this was absolutely her putting Bianca on the map on the main roster.

wwe: wants to strap a rocket to Bianca and make her a star. Also fucking wwe: “lol no we’re not gonna show you her full entrance, cry more scrub.” 

Bayley still looks weird without a title.

Bayley mocks Bianca’s entrance and then gets swept onto the apron lmao. Idiot.

Bianca is a lot of flash and showboating, which is great from an entertainment standpoint, but she needs to do a little... less.

Fantastic snap of the hand against the led board. Bayley wrecking Bianca’s arm gonna hinder the flips.

“I’m the ER. I’m BET-TER. haha.” lmao Bayley is such a fucking dork. Got sent into the ring steps for her bravado. Love that there’s always immediate repercussions for Bayley’s arrogance.

Bayley turned midway going down onto Bianca’s knee for that backbreaker, there. Hope she doesn’t have a massive bruise. Looked like it’d leave a massive bruise.

3 things I’ll apparently never get to see again: Bianca’s hair whip, Bianca’s full entrance, and Bianca’s 450 splash. I’m tired.

These stupid fucking squats while Bianca is dangling off the top rope rofl I swear Bayley is something else. Girl knows how to entertain. “Bayley got a bit cute and Bianca made her pay,” story of Bayley’s life.

Beautiful spinebuster by Bianca. At least SOMEONE in the women’s division will use it.

Bit of a miscommunication there it seems. Bayley goes for a B2B, Bianca tries to block it, Bayley drops down to dodge and go for a cradle. She rolls Bianca all the way back, stands up and hesitates before running at Bianca with an elbow - even though Bianca is not in position to receive it - which Bianca counters by rolling Bayley up, but it was super obvious Bianca was just scouting the next spot. Bianca goes to pick her up for a powerbomb but Bayley has to kick out twice to prevent herself from being pinned while Bianca tries to lift her. That entire sequence was super messy.

Then Bianca nearly drops her lifting her all the way up lol. Yikes. Gotta be pretty fluent to pull that off. Not to plug my fav (but I’m totally gonna plug my fav); it’s a move Charlotte does in almost every match against Asuka or Becky, and you gotta be not only built to pull it off, but you need to have impeccable timing to make the transition look smooth. Extra points if you lift them off the mat RIGHT before a 3 (which Charlotte usually does)

Anyway, good match with a messy last 2 sequences. Bayley did what Bayley does best.

Highlight: Bayley vs Bianca

---

TLC:

They really took Eva Marie and Sasha Banks’ characters and meshed them together while keeping Carmella’s obsession for animal print lol.

Really don’t like that gear. That’s a miss, Mikaze.

Beautiful arm drag. Sasha taking the idea of wrestling like a Lucha more seriously? Cuz she should, ain’t nobody else in the MR doing it.

Commentators say the trash talk is continuing, I say Sasha is quietly leading this match with a grimace. Peeped that “hit me”.

Carmella goes to suicide dive through the ropes just for Reggie to catch her, cept she got caught up and started turning in midair. Would’ve hit her neck and shoulder HARD had he not been there. Great catch indeed.

Sasha “rip my back” Banks.

Not to be douchey, but if you have to adjust your gear in the middle of a match and it’s not just to fill time or be used as character work, then you need to redesign your gear.

Sasha’s a great babyface once that bell rings man. I wish she could carry that energy everywhere.

Holy fuck that facebuster. SPIKED her head, oh my god. I have never seen anyone make a facebuster look so impactful. Points if intentional.

Oh the timing of Sasha blocking that superkick from legit connecting. God she’s good.

You know how I know this is a good match? I’m watching some of these near pinfalls and submissions knowing damn well Sasha’s gonna win, yet my anxiety is still spiking thinking Carmella might walk out with the title. I KNOW she doesn’t though lmao. Good sequences, believable offense, great near pinfalls. They work well together (I’m not surprised, Mella and Sasha both work well with almost anyone)

What a fantastic transition into the bank statement. Points.

That match should’ve ended by dq the second Reggie pulled Mella out. 

Sasha could’ve sold that double superkick pinfall attempt a little bit more.

Carmella having a breakdown. What does that mean? That means she’s about to lose this match lmao. There it is, not even 10 seconds later hahaha.

Sasha sells pain so damn well. Good for her. Good defense of her title. Points to Sasha, she’s phenomenal every time she has an actual match. Post-match and she’s already annoyed me though lol. Ugh. Maybe she’ll get it soon enough.

Nice “replay” wwe. Billion dollar company btw.

Billie, drawing a horizontal line is not how you write ‘clairvoyant’. 

“proficient in Japanese” aw Asuka was so excited for a split second lmao.

Oh no, she made a mask to match Asuka’s with a paper plate. Oh no no no. Travesty. 

Ugh I’m so excited. I’ve already seen this and yet I’m excited. Here we are, the whole damn reason I started catching up on everything I basically refused to watch since June 22.

SHE LOOKS LIKE MONEY, WHEW. The queen IS back. She’s so fucking beautiful man.

Love how annoyed Nia looks. This is your comeuppance tbh. Could’ve just faced a measly Lana, but no, you had to play too much.

Really Charlotte shouldn’t be in the tag division, and really she shouldn’t give half of a fuck about Asuka, but we’ll get to that more in the future since this is already nearly 2 months old.

Nia’s doing a great job selling Charlotte’s return, and she’s not even active in the match rn. She does good work.

Bad camera angle on Asuka hitting the ring post.

Asuka getting wrecked lol.

I really despise that the Raw women’s championship was tied up in all of these storylines that have nothing to do with the Raw women’s championship. The Lana crap, the Charlotte crap, the tag teaming in general crap.

In hindsight, I now find it curious that Ric Flair was in the back for this match. Very curious. I swear, if the past 2 real time months weren’t a part of some master plan the Flairs came up with together, I will be SHOCKED.

Charlotte’s fucking crazy for doing those moonsaults to the outside though, for real. I know she was a gymnast and an exceptional cheerleader, but MAN you could not pay me to do fucking blind back flips that high up. Crazy.

She should’ve given us a spear in this match. I wanna go rewatch her work just to see some spears.

Good match. They needed to not focus on destroying Asuka for as long as they did, pacing was off for a little bit there.

Love how Charlotte sticks her tongue out when she bridges up into the figure 8. She’s such an asshole lmao.

If I could’ve changed one thing about that finish, I would’ve had Charlotte bounce off the ropes before hitting Natural Selection. Other than that, it was great.

Charlotte looks good with a title, idk *shrug*

The way Charlotte looked over at Asuka though. I really don’t trust her in hindsight lol.

Like how this Firefly Funhouse is setting the spotlight on Alexa before Bray takes his leave of absence, only wish she hadn’t missed 2-3 wks of tv.

What a fun way of running a video package.

Inferno matches are insane and I’m not sure why anyone would participate in such.

Think it’s smart they’re both leaving their jackets on tbh.

Alright that was cool. The way Fiend called up the flames was fucking cool. It looks amazing aesthetically. They could’ve never done the set quite like this if there had been fans.

WE HAVE STRAPS?! IS FIRE NOT ENOUGH?!? Man. Randy is a fucking trooper.

Guys. Guys excuse me, that strap is on fire, can... can we not, please??

Man is swinging a god damn pick axe at Randy Orton, I--

I hope that wasn’t actually flammable liquid cuz otherwise Randy is now soaked in it, and that’s insanely dangerous. Oh that’s great editing. So it was flammable, but Randy was out of the chair before the fire rushed at him. Also covered the chair in blood. That was cool.

Orton just pull the damn string out of the jacket real quick lol.

Caught Orton’s attempt at an rko with a mandable claw. Points.

Can someone... put him out? Editing trick? Were the flames real? Am I real??

Shouldn’t the bell ring? Match is over, right??

The dummy was kind of obvious ngl. Not to sound like an asshole, but they should’ve made it a bit thicker and more solid lol. Doesn’t really take me out of it though, cuz even though I’m sure it was a stunt double that got lit on fire by the ramp, someone was on fucking fire, and that’s intimidating in itself.

Also the dummy is melting. I’d say they should’ve used pig meat, but I’m sure vegans and animal rights activists would’ve had a field day writing to Snickers about that.

Was a good match, for what it was. I was entertained.

---

*BONUS*

Main Event:

“Nasty Nikki” lol okay.

“The only reason people even know you exist is because you were Alexa Bliss’ best friend,” ouch. Truth is pain.

Ahahahah Lacey has hand sanitizer again. 

Love that submission Lacey jumped into through the ropes, plus an eye rake. Fantastic.

That’s curious. Lacey and Peyton are arguing over the hand sanitizer as Lacey wants to squirt it on Nikki, while Peyton is claiming it’ll get her DQd. Now I’m on Peyton’s side in the sense that it should absolutely be illegal, but Lacey’s done it in a match against Nikki before, sooo ???

I like how Nikki fell trying to get back into the ring before the 10 count. Adds credibility.

Haha Nikki gets the pinfall over Lacey because Peyton was being a nuisance on the outside. Lacey big mad. That’s great.

---

*Smackdown easily shined the brightest in what was a great week of wrestling. Utilized 8 women in 3 different storylines, couldn’t possibly complain about that.

[void-knights]

Hygge : Chapter One

Pairing: Loki / Original Character,

Chapter Rating: Teen

Tags: Slow Burn, Romance, LGBT Themes, Oc has ADHD, injury mention, Standard Tragic past, Mentions of Loki's past toture, Mentions of past child abuse (OC), Sickness, Near Death, Body Dysphoria, Gender Dysphoria, Prosthesis, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Extremis 616, Starboost Armour, Strangers to Friends, Friends to Lovers, Loki cooks, Loki teaches,

A/N: Right hello! I need to WARN YOU.

This fiction deals with an OFC that eventually realises that they is Genderfluid, using all the pronouns, but is assigned female at birth (AFAB). There will be mentions of body AND gender dysphoria due to a tragic childhood™  under the care of her biological mother/grandparents that occurred before she was in the care of Tony Stark. I do not go into graphic detail with the abuse, but it is mentioned.

This is a slow burn fic planned out to be a LONG story so the OC and Loki will not get together until a little into the story. Instead, I wanted to focus on building their friendship at first. Eventually (if all goes to plan) I intend to have the OC identify as Genderfluid, but unlike Loki the OC won't have magic and therefore will always be female in terms of physical sex.

While this might seem like a bit of a spoiler I like to forewarn people about these things as they can be potential triggers!

Anyway I got the idea of a character in Iron-Man style armour, and then I thought it would be fun to just have a Stark OC. I've got the timeline lined up so the ages to allign with canon. Masterlist | AO3 Link |

The avengers weren’t sure what they should do with Loki, Odin in his infinite wisdom had ‘bestowed’ his younger son upon them in a long-winded speech that left Barton spacing out, Tony disinterested and distracted and Bruce trying to work out how such an old man seemed so strong.

Only Natasha and Steve were paying attention by the end, the TL; DR was that Odin didn’t want to deal with Loki, so now he was the avenger's problem.

Nick Fury suggested locking him up, only to retract the idea a few minutes later, Loki was dammed persuasive, he could seduce any guard sent to keep him under lock and key. They did not know the full extent of his magical abilities and while he was bound (somehow, Odin didn’t bother explaining what they had done to Loki and merely assumed the Avengers wouldn’t care to know the finer points) they didn’t know the limits of the binding.

Thor claimed his brother could shapeshift, so a prison would need to be airtight otherwise a snake or spider could happily slip out. Then there was the issue that he was a god with god strength and probably the second smartest person in the room, or maybe the smartest, but Tony wasn’t about to admit that to the god.

All in all Odin had left them with a mess and the only support came in the form of a confused, angry and betrayed Thor. Which was never good.

This was compounded by the inescapable feeling that they only had half the story, why did Loki invade Earth? Tony had theories, theories that would make Clint punch him, but he couldn’t shake a feeling that something was off about the god of mischief.

Thor would agree, or not. Their relationship was never explained, it turned out communication was not a gift the gods of Asgard possessed much to the chagrin of the Avengers.

So this was the plan, Loki was to stay locked up in the tower, well only on certain floors. He would share a floor with Thor, where he would have his own bedroom with en-suite bathroom, but Fury was rather insistent that Loki shouldn’t be made too comfortable.

Tony was starting to wish he had never gotten involved he would make a poor jailer. He wasn’t responsible enough, Jarvis as amazing as he was would be worse, Loki had tricks, he could trick Jarvis.

It was a fucking mess, made much worse by not having the facts nor support to keep Loki. What were they supposed to do with the god? He was going to outlive them all, did Odin expect them to pass Loki off to other people? To keep him locked away for the rest of his life?

He would rather face the Chitauri again, or Vanko and Hammer or even Stane. Loki was more dangerous than all of them combined and what made it worse was the fact that Soleil was also living in the tower now.

He shouldn’t have suggested she live here, Fuck, he needed a drink or a whole bottle. The billionaire found Natasha and Bruce already at the bar, her with Vodka and Bruce with something fruity looking.

Tony settled for whisky and wondered what the fuck he was supposed to do now.

Loki was still chained up when Soleil walked onto the floor, the god recognised the human mortal from his research leading up to the invasion. He had gathered information on mortals who may pose a threat to his plans and worked to see them brought together (in brief moments of clarity before once again the mind stone seized control of him), Stark’s life was short as it was (by Asgardian standards) was quite fascinating.

Naturally Loki looked into every aspect of the potential avengers lives seeking weaknesses that would bring the avengers to him. The easiest targets were family, friends, loved ones who could be exploited as they had few or no protections. Soleil quite literally was the weakest link in the Stark equation.

Though he had come to realise she could have been a great asset to him should he have had need of an engineer with a deep and vested interest in space. Rather odd that SHIELD would have such detailed files on Soleil, almost as if they had been considering her as an alternative to her father and Iron-Man. Though what use such a fragile human would be was beyond the god.

She hadn’t noticed him, to busy tapping away on a screen and wrinkling her brow at something that vexed her. He watched her as she grabbed herself a bottle of water, she was halfway back to the elevator when she finally paused and turned to him.

“You look like shit,” she said after a moments pause looking him up and down as he remained trapped and bound.

He’d be offended if he had the energy, he felt like shit, months, years? Trapped in the clutches of Thanos and his black order, leading the invasion, not resting or sleeping in weeks, months, his meals just enough to keep him alive but never satisfied, he could not even recall if the paste he had been given (and reluctantly eaten after too long starving) had even had a taste to it.

“As you mortals say, that is pot calling the kettle black,” he attempted to sound above her, casual to the point of nonchalance.

“Yeah but I have an excuse for looking like shit, what’s your excuse?” she asked him sipping her water, he tried not to look hopeful that she might share something with him. Even lukewarm tap water would be bliss compared to whatever liquids the Black Order had supplied him with.

“The beast you call Hulk,” Which was partly true.

“Ooo, that explains the hole in the floor,” she cringed, “How the fuck are you still in one piece?”

“I am a god,” he reminded her.

“I had just assumed that was all a lie, you know psychological tactics?” She paused thinking it over, “Make us believe the gods are real, and you’re one of them, so you can claim dominion over us.”

“That would be a fair assumption to make,” he said leaning his forearms on his knees, “But I can assure you that I am in fact one of your gods.”

“Well you’re not my god, I don’t worship you or any gods,” she shrugged.

“We had noticed the loss of faith from mortals,” Loki nodded.

“Blame the Abrahamic religions, as soon as they went mainstream you pagan lot were more or less kicked to the curb,” she answered, before he could ask what she meant she asked, “So are you hungry? You look like you’re hungry.”

“I am in no risk of starving Stark,” he insisted.

“How’d you know I was a Stark?” she asked him suspicion finally creeping in, for someone who was supposed to be one of Midgard’s greatest minds she was rather stupid.

“SHIELD have files on you,” he said her lack of surprise told him all he needed to know, “That and you resemble your father.”

She brought a gloved hand to her jaw, “It’s the chin isn’t it?” she asked taking a couple of steps towards him, a glass and metal table separated them as she set her glass bottle down upon his surface.

“The general area yes, and you share his eyes,” he confirmed now that he could see her up close he could see the partial heterochromia, showing chocolate-brown flecks in each soft brown eye. She shared his jaw, lip and chin shape and brow colour, her hair was tucked up inside a hat, and he thought that her ears might resemble her father as well.

“But that doesn’t answer my question, never mind I’ll assume you’re hungry, what do gods eat?” she asked.

“You would feed your enemy?” he asked surprised by this, Asgard had a policy of giving their prisoners food, but basic food, food that would keep their enemies alive and nothing more. He was able to empathise with those trapped forever in those dungeons now.

“Yes because I have basic human decency,” she said shifting her weight mostly onto her left leg, “So food, what do you eat? Can you eat earth food being an alien and all that?”

“Of course I can,” now that she had brought the matter up he wondered if he could, there were some things that an Asgardian was told to avoid eating on Vanaheim and Alfheim, not that he was biologically Asgardian.

“Well if you die of an allergic reaction please don’t haunt me,” she said pulling out another device, a phone, a smartphone he recalled one of the scientists under his command using a similar device.

While she typed out whatever it was she needed Loki observed her. She was atypical in her physical body, her clothes hung from her, not because they were ill-fitting but because of sudden loss of weight. They were designed for a woman larger than what she was now, despite her rather cheerful demeanour she looked quite exhausted. She looked how he felt.

The leather right sleeve to her jacket shifted in a most bizarre manner, he watched as a small(ish) serpent poked its head out resting contently on the back of her hand. It flicked it’s slick tongue out at the air scenting Loki, she could taste him, she knew he was there.

“I think it’s safe to just get a range of food,” She said slipping her phone back into her pocket she rose her fist to her eye level, “You doin’ okay?” she asked the snake who slid back into the sleeve. “She’s shy,” she said to Loki who had not asked.

“You carry a snake on your person?” he asked curios, he could not imagine anyone in Asgard doing that. Snakes were dangerous creatures, not pets. Humans however seemed to ignore that rule quite often.

“Yeah she’s my ESA, but I make sure she’s some place warm, otherwise she’ll get ill,” Soleil explained.

“ESA?” he asked.

“Emotional support animal,” Soleil said which did not really answer Loki’s question, she needed the support of an animal for her emotional state? “They are animals to help calm and relax people. I wanted a cat, but dad says a dog would have required to much training and looking after, so he got me Macbeth.”

“How does a snake provide emotional support?” he had to ask, the concept baffled him.

“She’s a reassuring presence when the world is overwhelming,” Soleil answered.

To the god it was still a strange concept, but his curiosity got the better of him, “May I see her then?” he asked.

“Um, sure?” Soleil gently shook her arm, Macbeth got the message, as loathed as she was to leave the warmth of the jacket she was all too happy to slither her way around Soleil’s shoulders until she was hanging lazily.

Gently lifting the snake off her shoulders she set the snake down on the sofa, wise to keep a distance from the god of mischief who remained shackled and bound. Macbeth lifted herself up fascinated by this new thing, this god in her home, she stared at Loki curious to know why he was here.

⸢You are not human⸥ said the snake curios to know what he was, he smelled familiar, like kin yet was clearly more than that, more human, more than human.

⸢No I am not⸥ he answered utterly amused when the snake did a double take, stunned that the god would be capable of speaking her language. He detected the barest hint of offence on her next words.

⸢Then you are a lie, a false thing, I do not like false things⸥ the snake replied studying him closely, ⸢You are a danger to my human⸥

⸢I am a great danger to many a human, yours however has done nothing to earn my anger⸥ Loki replied, the smart little snake thought on this for a while.

⸢You claim that now. But my human has a way of frustrating the surrounding humans, they are so easily brought to anger⸥ came the serpent's response as she finally slithered her way over to him.

⸢There are many creatures brought to anger easily⸥ Loki responded lifting the snake up into the air to prove his point the snake hissed angrily.

⸢Unhand me liar, I shall not be handled by the likes of you!⸥ the snake protested with a rather loud hiss.

Up close, she was a rather pretty thing a mixture of soft pastel colours with the blackest eyes he had seen on a snake. A thick uneven stripe of orange and lavender ran the length of her spine and top of her head. Her belly was an off-white, her most dominate colour a rather fetching shade of yellow. She was indeed a strange patterned creature but lovely to look at.

⸢But you are so pretty, I think I may keep you⸥ he teased the snake who managed to throw him such a filthy look that it took him by surprise.

⸢You, are unworthy of me liar⸥ she snapped back.

⸢I am a good little serpent, far beyond your mortal caregiver⸥ he pointed out.

⸢Indeed? You must be the god of pomposity to say such things⸥ the snake complained turning her head away from Loki, ⸢My human is good and kind even as the sickness weakness her, you cannot compare to such a charitable and loving being⸥

⸢For something so small you certainly have a rather inflated sense of ego⸥ he said lifting her up to eye level, she turned her head away from him.

⸢Says the creature that wreaks of despair, I might be small, god of pomposity but at least I know happiness⸥ he’d never been tempted to toss a snake out of a window before tonight.

Soleil shifted on her feet confused, “Are you talking to her?”

“Of course, I am a god,” he answered petting the snake who recoiled deeply offended by his touch.

⸢How dare you touch me!!⸥ she hissed in discontent before slipping herself free from Loki’s hands and slithering back to Soleil who collected her up into her arms. ⸢You are unworthy pomposity, be gone!⸥

“That is a rather charming pet you have mortal,” Loki answered deigning to ignore the snake and her uppity attitude, “Though she might be pretty she has a rather terrible attitude.”

Soleil looked at Macbeth who looked at her, “Riiight she has the terrible attitude,” smugly the snake turned back to him beaming brightly.

⸢See my mortal understands, she shall not be easily swayed by a false serpent⸥ the snake happily slithered her way back up Soleil's sleeve.

“I have never before laid my eyes on a serpent with such markings and colours, is that typical of Midgardian serpents?” Loki asked leaning back on the sofa which had become uncomfortable thanks to being pinned down in one fixed spot.

“Uh, well ball pythons are kinda common I suppose, they are docile in nature,” Loki did not believe that for a second, “So they’ve been bred as pets for a while, some breeders try to create unique colour and pattern styles. Morphs. Macbeth is a Banana Cinnamon Blade Clown Ball Python for instance.”

Loki knew what each of those words meant individually but strung together like that they may as well have been pure nonsense.

His disbelief or confusion must have been evident on his face because she instantly launched into the details of snake breeding, how morphs came about, what each word meant and the genetic factors that went into selecting the right snakes to breed together to create the perfect offspring.

Trust humans to meddle in things that needed no intervention, he thought as she went into detail to explain a subject he had long since lost any interest in. She was passionate about her pet, about snakes in general, and so she babbled making her obsession quite evident.

It was no wonder her dammed pet was so smug, she probably praised it at every opportunity, it’s inflated sense of self coming from an overindulgence of love and flattery.

“Bee,” Jarvis cut her off saving Loki the indignity of having to amuse her babbling for longer, “The food has been placed in the elevator, do you require assistance in moving it?”

“I’m not that weak, Jarv,” she grumbled half stomping her way across the floor towards the elevator. Loki could feel the AI’s eye roll somehow.

It took her some time to set out the food given the ridiculous quantity that she had purchased. He did not recognise half of what was laid out but to Loki none of that mattered, all he could do was feel his mouth water at the prospect of finally having food that did not taste of grit and nothing.

“So we got Korean, Indian, Italian, Greek, American, Japanese, Ethiopian, Thai, Arabic, Mexican, Balkan, Caribbean, Chinese and Jamaican,”

“Bee,” Jarvis said.

“Yeah I over ordered,” she grumbled slipping her phone back into her pocket, but she hadn’t known what a god might like to eat.

It didn’t seem to matter, Loki was already tucking into a container of whatever was nearest to him.

He almost wept in pure bliss as he devoured the Tokushima ramen without haste, even the strangeness of a raw egg in a soup alongside pork belly and noodles (which he had never had in life) did not slow him down. The god did not slow down even as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Thor walked onto the floor slightly confused.

Jarvis had alerted them there would be food and that Soleil was apparently friendly with Loki. Jarvis had been somewhat right, Soleil was keeping a great distance between herself and the god, but she had ordered him a lot of food. Enough food to feed an army in fact.

“I don’t know what gods eat,” she immediately said as defence before her dad could ask, she did the same thing whenever he caught her doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. “So I got whatever, if he dies of an allergic reaction you’re not allowed to blame me.”

“You’d be doing us a favour Bee,” her dad joked, she grinned a little unsure while Loki finally slowed down. That was good, just watching him devour container after container was giving her indigestion.

“We do not suffer the aliments of mortals little Stark-”

“Little stark?” Soleil whispered at Steve and Tony both of them grinned sympathetically.

“-This is quite the feast,” Thor beamed at her and all of a sudden she could see what Jane Foster might see in the glorious blonde bastard, though if she had to go for a blonde she’d still choose Captain America.

The avengers and Soleil watched as Thor easily sat himself down beside Loki acting as though nothing was wrong, even Loki was a little on edge about that, Steve and Tony shared a look™ one that suggested they were in on something. Something Soleil was not allowed to be part of.

Thor without hesitation (must be a god thing) dug into the food complimenting Soleil as though she had laboured over the meals, she hadn’t.

“What is this?” Thor asked as the others finally settled, Tony made sure Soleil was one super solider and a father apart from the god of mischief.

“Curried goat,” Soleil answered taking the carton of Tom Kha soup for herself.

The look of betrayal startled her as he was torn between heaving his stomach into the nearest container or eating what was a delicious meal. Loki being the sympathetic brother he was grinned from ear to ear watching Thor have an internal meltdown.

They did not eat goats on Asgard due to Thor’s love of them, they were scared in some strange way. Loki suspected interest in eating them was already so minimal that Odin had no issue outlawing their slaughter and consumption.

“Are you okay Thor?” Steve had to ask as Thor gingerly put the container down.

“Yes Captain, I… find I cannot in good conscience eat a goat,” Thor said picking up another container and studying it.

“That’s chicken,” Tony reassured him passing a box that contained a triple cheeseburger with plenty of onions, “Try this it might suit you.” Thor immediately approved of the burger, it wasn’t easy to go wrong with a good burger.

Though the company was unwanted Loki found a sense of comfort in the noise and activity, listening in as Thor and Steve asked questions about the food for the Starks to answer. If the Starks did not know then Jarvis would provide information, Loki cared not about the province of food or what it contained, food was food and this was the best food he had tasted in a dreadfully long time.

He listened into the varying conversations, Soleil debated baseball with Steve, apparently he took offence at the LA Dodgers, none of this made sense to Loki, what made even less sense was Hockey, even the Captain did not seem to understand her love of Hockey.

The older Stark chimed in once in a while or talked at length to Thor about various things, places the god should see since he would be spending time on Midgard and perhaps the acquisition of a phone – communication device. Loki knew how that would end, Thor had never been great at keeping in touch.

The four talked at length about everything and anything, Loki was more fascinated by the Korean barbecue than what was considered the best dessert.

According to Steve Rogers you could not beat a good apple pie with a dollop of thick cream or ice cream. The older Stark insisted on Tiramisu which combined alcohol and coffee. Whereas the younger Stark insisted that New York style cheesecake was the best dessert, though ice cream (of any type) was a close second.

He noticed that Rogers was rather experimental with his choice of food, wishing to try everything at least once. Thor ate whatever had the most meat, Stark knew what he liked and stuck to that while his daughter seemed filled by the small tub of soup she had half-eaten.

“Jane has mentioned you little Stark,” Soleil did not appreciate Thor’s new nickname for her.

“Okay?”

“You are an engineer?” Thor asked.

“Yup, my main focus is space, aerospace engineering if you will, but I am not confined to one area of study,” She said setting her half-eaten carton down.

“Jane had mentioned that you are attempting to colonise your moon?”

“Me personally no, but I wanna find a way to make the moon liveable, so we can continue our research,” she said taking a long sip of water.

The floodgates were opened up and Thor could only sit uncomfortably as she prattled on about her designs on space, how they might once again reach the moon and this time stay there. She had ideas with regard to terraforming, to establishing a liveable base, not just on the moon but Mars as well. They would be the first destinations in this new space race she dreamt up.

Loki recognised the blank look on Thor’s face, he had long since lost interest and Soleil quickly realised. Twiddling her fingers she fell silent, ashamed even, this made Loki frown. Her father wrapped an arm around her whispering something, she perked up a little.

Thor turned to Steve to start an entirely new conversation, which made Soleil wince. Tony reassured her all was well and rubbed her arm, only to annoy Macbeth who popped her head out to see who it was that was rubbing her.

“Sorry my scaly grandbaby,” Tony grinned at the indignant snake.

⸢Oh another one, what is this one the god of the farm?⸥ the snake complained looking a surprised Thor over.

⸢I am the god of thunder, serpent⸥

⸢I stand corrected oh great and powerful goat fucker⸥

“I do not recommend getting into an argument with it, it thinks anything other than the younger Stark is beneath it,” Loki said trying a slice of pizza, he found the combination sweeter than expected.

“So they’re both Dolittle’s?” Tony asked Soleil who shrugged she didn’t get it either, but apparently they could understand Macbeth in some way. She certainly reacted to whatever they said back to her.

“I don’t get it either,” she admitted.

“So she doesn't like me?” Tony asked Loki while Thor continued to glare at Macbeth, the snake in return glared back at Thor (somehow).

⸢You may tell him that I enjoy his company, the red machine is most comfortable for resting on and he is a delight for a human being!⸥

“She thinks your armour makes the perfect place to rest,” Loki translated.

“Well it’s good to know I’m useful for something,” Tony grinned rubbing the snakes chin as she leaned up to him.

⸢You did not tell him that I enjoy his company nor that he is a delight tell him, tell him!⸥ Macbeth snapped at Loki

⸢It must have slipped my mind dull scales⸥ Loki grinned.

⸢Pompous false serpent⸥ she complained slithering her way onto Tony’s shoulder, Steve wasn’t as sure about the snake, but Tony was used to her by now.

“She’s tame and a pest if you let her loose in a workshop but tame,” Tony assured Steve who still wasn’t sure meanwhile Macbeth curled herself up on top of Tony’s head, she liked to feel tall.

“She’s inquisitive not a pest,” Soleil insisted gently cooing at Macbeth wondering how it was that the gods communicated with her.

“She likes to nap in places she shouldn’t,” Macbeth was not pleased by this, it wasn’t her fault she found nice warm places to rest in his workshop. She slithered her way back to Soleil deeply offended, Tony rolled his eyes.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t leave your workshop unlocked,” Soleil argued as the serpent coiled herself around her right arm once again.

“Dum-E likes to roam the house, you know this Bee,” Tony argued, yes she did know, she had spent a childhood learning to know when Dum-E was out and about. She loved him, she really did but Dum-E was not built to handle fragile things, especially fragile children.

“Yes but should he be trusted to roam the house?” Soleil asked grinning when he failed to find a suitable answer. Everyone knew it wasn’t a good idea, Dum-E lived up to his name and while he was adorable he vastly overestimated his own skill and abilities.

Tony blinked several times, nope a reasonable argument still failed him, there was no good reason why Dum-E should be unleashed within the house, “So Point Break, what’s this about coffee and pop tarts?”

Thor lit up with a glorious and adorable smile, “My lady Jane introduced me to such wonderful refreshments.”

“And you were worried about feeding them actual food,” Tony whispered to Soleil who grinned to herself, “Well Point Break we do have coffee-”

“-Dad you can’t feed Thor your coffee,” Soleil protested as her dad made his way over to the coffee machine.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Tony joked.

“It comes with a health warning!”

“It’s not that bad,”

“By buying it you accept all the dangers that coffee presents, you have to sign legally binding documents on the website, you can’t give it to an alien!” Tony wasn’t seeing the issue, those aliens were gods, “It literally killed three people last year.”

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Loki muttered at the exact same time Thor lit up, “Let me test this coffee!”

Soleil buried her face in her hands, Steve offered her a spring roll in consolation, she took it, to exhausted to care that she was full up. Trust her dad to find the one alien that would enable his terrible habits. Fuck this was going to be a long year.

The avengers (well Tony, Steve and Thor) discussed what they should do with Loki, the god of mischief had no say and Odin had decided to leave it in their hands. The obvious answer would be to lock him up, lock him away where he could cause no harm.

There was no place suitable on Midgard that the avengers were aware of, Loki knew of several places but would rather not assist any further attempts at incarceration. He watched them struggle amongst themselves to come up with the ideal solution.

“I can’t keep him here,” Tony protested to Thor who insisted this was the best place, “I have staff and my kid to consider.”

“You have a goat here?” Thor asked.

“Soo, allspeak translates things literally?” Tony asked perplexed, Loki rolled his eyes, no it didn’t, Thor had simply mistaken the context of the word which would have supplied the answer.

“Kid is slang for child, he’s talking about his daughter Soleil,” Steve told Thor who stood there just realising what Soleil was to Tony, “You didn’t know?”

“The big fella showed up in the middle of this mess, I don’t think he got the briefings,” Tony reasoned, “Sol’s my kid, child, offspring whatever you wanna say, point is while Bumblebee’s here I’m not hosting Loki.”

“Loki shall not harm your daughter Stark,” Thor half lied, in truth he might harm Soleil, Loki had done a lot worse in his past though usually that was for the sake of Asgard or the protection of his family.

“Look all you have to do is sneeze at my kid and boom, in hospital,” Tony argued.

“Your daughter is that fragile?” Thor wondered if it were an age thing, Darcy looked to be of a similar age and seemed hale.

“Yep kid’s a medical wonder, impossibility even, so unless I have proof that Loki can’t hurt my kid you’ll have to have him live somewhere else,”

“Why not call SHIELD?” Steve offered, Thor considered this, but Tony had the most peculiar expression one that made Loki take note.

Tony shuffled on his feet, “I’m not saying that… look Loki took out quite a few SHIELD agents, Phil included, everyone loved Phil. I’m not sayin’ he’d approve out loud, but I’m sure Fury would be willing to turn a blind eye if anyone… took advantage of Loki’s situation.”

To Tony’s surprise Steve agreed, “What other options do we have? Thor are there any other territories, realms or worlds that would take Loki?”

“The majority of the nine realms are overseen by Asgard, they would not be willing to risk Odin’s ire by inviting Loki – even as a captive – amongst their numbers,” Thor reasoned.

“Why do I get the feeling when you say overseen what you really mean is-” Steve elbowed Tony in the ribs to get him to shut up.

“Can’t you build a containment around a single floor in the tower?” Steve proposed.

“Yeah and then what happens, he tricks Jarvis or someone else to let him out. Hell Bee would let him out if meant she could learn some weird alien shit, or fuck, she’d let him out to… you said Puente Antiguo?” he turned to Thor.

“Yes?” the god of thunder blinked confused. “I landed there, it so happened that Jane Foster and Agent Phil were also there.”

“Riiiight, well fuck,” Tony ran a hand through his hair, “If he stays here… how much do you two know about engineering?”

“The sciences were Loki’s subjects not mine,” Thor answered.

“We can’t keep him here,” Tony insisted to Steve who was just as confused as everyone else.

“Tony the tower is the best option-” Steve was about to argue, but Tony was adamant against the idea.

“-No it’s not because if Bee finds out-”

“-If Bee finds out what?” Soleil asked, Tony jumped curing Natasha (back when she was Natalie) for teaching Soleil how to be sneaky.

“I do not see why Puente Antiguo is so important to my brothers confinement,” Thor frowned not understanding what was going on at all.

“Did you say Puente Antiguo?” Soleil rounded on a surprised Thor, he did not understand.

“Is this some mythical town I should visit?” Steve asked it had been mentioned a lot in five minuted.

“No, no Bee he didn’t, he said-” Tony tried to correct not realising Thor did not like to be called a liar.

“-Do not make me a liar Stark,” Thor threatened.

“Yeah Dad how dare you make the most venerable god of thunder out to be a liar, honestly have you no shame?” Soleil said placing her hands on her hips, Thor nodded in complete agreement.

Loki rolled his eyes at how quickly Thor soaked up the praise and attention, it was honestly embarrassing how easily the fool could be manipulated and it had taken a mortal one afternoon to discover this weakness.

“Puente Antiguo was where I met my Lady Jane, Darcy, Selvig and your beloved Agent Son of Coul,”

“You mean Coulson, he’s American, we don’t use Patronymic or Matronymic surnames. At least not in the way you’re probably thinking of them,” Soleil corrected, “He was just Coulson, His father was probably not named Coul. Like how I am Stark and not Anthonysdóttir.”

“I see,” Thor muttered, “That explains the oddity of Jane’s family name.”

“Yep so if you and Jane married on Earth, and she decided to take your name, just as an example off the top of my head-” Tony and Steve finally caught on, she was buttering up the god of Thunder, and he was eating it up, “-She would be Jane Odinson, which I suppose would be awkward in Asgard but normal here.”

“That does seem odd?” Thor admitted hating how it sounded, it made her sound his like his sister.

“So you met in Puente Antiguo, I once read it’s romantic to get married where you met your love, but a desert town seems… inappropriate for a wedding to a god, especially with it still in need of repair.”

“Yes, the destroyer created so much damage when it walked through the town,” Thor turned to Loki who sat back utterly amused that Thor had so easily fallen into Soleil’s trap, of course Thor read his amusement wrong.

“The destroyer?” Soleil asked.

“Yes, The Destroyer Automaton is a weapon and guardian of Asgard, it was sent by Loki to kill me,” Thor glared at Loki again, “I wonder if it is still where we left it?”

“You really think SHIELD would have left something called the destroyer alone after what we saw with the tesseract?” Steve asked not understanding Soleil’s interest.

“How dangerous is this thing?” Tony asked.

“It levelled a town Tony, it’s dangerous,” Steve reasoned.

“Hush that’s not important, so the destroyer was sent by Loki to what attack you? Did you defeat it battle then?” She asked.

“Yes, with my godhood and power restored I used my strength and lightning to best the destroyer in combat,” Thor proudly announced.

“That’s sooo amazing,” Loki rolled his eyes the falseness wet unnoticed by Thor, “So like, it’s no longer functioning?”

“No, I knew I could not best it if I attacked the body, so I attacked it’s core it’s power source, rendering it inoperable,” Thor answered.

“Amazing,” Soleil continued, “So, any random idiot can command it?”

Thor laughed at the jab at Loki, Loki just sat deeply disappointed in his brother who allowed his ego to be bolstered like this, “No, it can only be commanded by the king of Asgard.”

“Loki was king?” Tony asked.

“What Asgard’s never had a queen?” Soleil asked.

“How do you go from being King to invader?” Steve asked.

“Expansion of the empire?” Tony proposed, “One land beneath the Asgardian sun and all that.”

“So what, you get named ruler of Asgard, and you’re in automatic control of its weapons? How does that work?”

“Through the Odinforce, Gungier acts as a tool to harness this power and through the Odinforce any ruler can command the destroyer,” Thor answered wondering why she was asking this, “Why do you ask little stark?”

“But I imagine Steel or iron would easily break under the strength of Mjölnir right? So how did the destroyer withstand your combined might?”

It was hilarious how quickly Thor turned from suspicious to eager to explain just how incredible he was.

“The metal from which the destroyer and my Mjölnir is forged is known as Uru, it can only be forged in the megastructure that surrounds Nidavellir. The dwarves harness the power of their sun Nidavellir to forge Uru, they are the only race capable of such a feat,”

“Only because they guard their secrets like paranoid dragons,” Loki muttered.

“Dwarves?” Steve asked.

“Did he say megastructure surrounding a sun?” Tony asked

Soleil vibrated, actually vibrated.

“Soo how does someone get into Nidavellir?” Soleil asked.

“With charm and plenty of gold,” Loki answered

“I can get gold,” Soleil whispered loudly, “How much gold do you-”

“-Bumblebee I know all this is very exciting,” Her dad began to steer her away from the gods, “But this can wait until tomorrow when you’ve had your ten hours now go, sleep.”

“Ugh fine, oh,” She pulled out a piece of paper from her jacket pocket and read out loud, “Pepper says pick up the fucking phone, or she’s leaving you for a man called Seamus.”

“Shit,” he’d forgotten to call Pepper to reassure her he wasn’t dead, he still made sure to push Soleil out toward the Elevator, “Stick him on your floor for now Point Break.”

“My Floor?” Thor asked.

“Oh, oh right, you all have your own floor Jarvis will send you to the correct ones,” that was that. The Starks were gone.

“Why do I feel manipulated?” Thor asked.

“You are catching on much faster these days' brother,” Loki grinned.

Steve sighed, he wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with this bullshit.

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

addiction, m | myg, ksj | 1

pairing(s): yoongi x reader, seokjin x reader, ??? x reader

summary: Kim Seokjin reveals his true colors. Min Yoongi freeloads off his roommate (just a little). Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook make an appearance.

warnings: non-idol!AU; in which everyone makes bad choices; slow burn; rated M (18+) for language, mentions of drug use, violence, mentions of depression, abusive relationship

See prologue for notes. I am not condoning any of this behavior, in case that wasn’t abundantly clear.

--

“I’m telling you; the public is changing. They want accessibility.”

“They want to get high, Seokjin.”

He grinned. He was alone this time, standing next to the window in his expensive suit. He honestly didn’t need to be in a suit, but he wore it because he knew he looked good in it.

“They still don’t want to get caught.”

She snorted, an inelegant sound that made Seokjin frown. She couldn’t say more so she just looked away from him. He moved away from the window and stepped towards her, taking note of the bucket hat and loose jeans. Brown belt, big loose black sweater.

“You could have at least dressed up for me.”

He saw her lips twist into a pout and she looked up at him with those black holes, viewing him from under the hat.

“Does it matter?” she replied sharply.

He smiled at her.

“Is the problem money? Do you need me to gift you some pretty dresses?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t need money and you know that.”

He leaned down just a bit and felt her stiffen at his closeness. “Then why are you here?” His eyes flickered up to hers but she wasn’t watching. She was purposefully looking away from him.

“Just give me the fucking pills then,” she mumbled.

“That’s a good girl.”

And he pulled his gun away from her stomach before turning around and giving her the package in a reusable grocery bag.

-

She sat slumped in the train seat, bucket hat over her eyes. It was like she wasn’t even there – people passed by her without giving a second glance. That was the point. She always kept her dark hair and her clothes plain, a forgettable existence to anyone who could be watching.

She didn’t believe Seokjin was an evil person. Not really. Maybe in a different parallel timeline, he was a cheerful person who brought happiness and joy to everyone he met. But not this Kim Seokjin. No, this Kim Seokjin was her drug supplier and it wasn’t a cheerful profession, if one could even call it that.

She doubted Seokjin would actually shoot her. After all, if he wanted to fuck like he claimed, it would be hard with a bloody hole in her stomach.

It wasn’t a theory she was willing to test in the moment though.

She had argued with him because she didn’t want to deal different substances. Quite frankly, she didn’t think she could do this anymore. As if on cue, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a notification on her lock screen. She bit her lip.

She had thought about changing her lock screen many times but each time she saw his smile, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

You’re so pathetic, she thought to herself.

She put in her password and looked at her texts. It was simply labelled, Guide. That’s what Seokjin was named on her phone.

Miss you, Moon.

She shoved her phone back into her pocket and tried not to think about it.

-

Yoongi let out a groan and pressed his forehead onto the front door. He barely made rent this month. It was due in three days and he barely had enough in his account to pay rent and have one meal. One meal. He didn’t know how he was going to survive at this rate. The plastic bag with his one convenience store meal banged against the door and he jumped.

Sighing at his own plight, he punched in the code and entered the apartment. He staggered back, immediately hit by the delicious smell of…

Beef.

Grilled beef.

He blinked, looking around the apartment.

There was his roommate, standing next to the stove. Loose grey sweatshirt and matching sweatpants with a cream apron cinching in her waist. Hips swinging to the beat that was playing in her Bluetooth headphones as she turned over the strips of beef, oil popping and sizzling. The smoke was drifting out of the open window but the smell pervaded throughout.

Words couldn’t describe how jealous he was right now.

He looked down and closed the door, staring at his pathetic little boxed lunch through the plastic. Frustration and annoyance threatened to overwhelm him. He wanted to hurl it at the wall. Why couldn’t he have her life? Not a care in the world, dancing away as she cooked that delicious-smelling beef while he was stuck in his shitshow of a–

“Oh, Yoongi.”

His head snapped up at his name. She was staring at him with the headphones around her neck. Black holes staring at him. He felt suddenly exposed, as if she could read his thoughts.

She gestured with her tongs. “You want some beef?”

He raised a hand, chuckling slightly as he shook his head. “No… No, it’s fine. It’s your food.”

And then his stomach growled so loudly that he himself looked down to stare at it. It was even louder than the sizzling beef. He had never been so betrayed by his bodily functions in his life. And his dick had chosen in some weird girls in his time.

She laughed, the first time he had ever heard her laugh. It made her eyes crinkle up and her shoulders shake, a laugh that made those dead eyes disappear for just a second. She tilted her head just a bit and grinned, shaking her head.

“I’ll prepare another bowl for you.”

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, disturbing his beanie. “I’ll do the dishes then.”

“Sounds like a deal.”

He placed his boxed lunch in the fridge – a bit further in the back – and sat awkwardly at one of the stools at the counter. She placed a bowl of rice in front of him and handed him a plate of four thick slices of beef. He could feel himself drooling at the sight. She leaned forward just a bit and he realized she must have noticed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand hastily.

“Hmm.” She was smiling at him.

Shit.

She placed a fifth piece of meat on his rice and shook her head, still chuckling. There was a plate of kimchi on the table too. He looked at it and she noticed that too.

“Go ahead. Store bought.”

He took a bite of the beef first. He swore his eyes rolled back into his head. Seasoned, cooked with some pink in the middle. It was like a flavor explosion in his mouth. Maybe it wasn’t actually that good, but he hadn’t had freshly cooked meat in so long that he had forgotten what it tasted like.

He chewed gratefully, slowly opening his eyes. He was going to say something but she was staring at her phone, looking troubled. She was picking meat off the pan, chewing hurriedly.

“It’s… really good.”

She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows. “Hm? Oh. It’s just marinated beef. There’s some left in the fridge if you want it for dinner.”

Please, oh God, yes. “No, no, I couldn’t eat your food,” he said awkwardly, not really believing in his own words.

She shrugged. “You should cook it. I probably won’t be home until late.” She looked back at her phone; eyes fixated on the screen. She seemed to be concentrating on something. Then she abruptly put her phone down. “You do know how to cook, right?”

He nodded quickly. “Uh, yeah. My brother is a chef. He taught me the basics.”

“Oh.” She looked a bit embarrassed at her own question. “Good. I won’t come to a burned down apartment then.”

It was then they realized they knew very little about each other. She looked awkward and shoved her phone in her pocket before she continued eating. He stared back down at his rice and continued chewing. Fuck. It tasted really good.

“I noticed you’ve been eating a lot of convenience store food.”

He winced. “Yeah…”

She poked the end of her chopsticks at him. “You should make more food at home. All that packaging is bad for the environment,” she said sternly.

“Ah… yeah.”

She finished the last bit of her rice and set the pan and bowl in the sink, running water over them with a bit of soap.

“I have to go.”

He nodded awkwardly. She left the kitchen to go to her room. He let out an exasperated sigh after she closed the door. He wasn’t really sure why he couldn’t talk to her that well. It wasn’t like he was weird around girls. Maybe it was that unapproachable feeling surrounding her.

Or maybe it was because he knew he had to pay her soon.

She came back out dressed in the same sweatpants and an open black hoodie. His eyes widened when he noticed she was wearing a white crop top underneath. She slung a small duffel bag against her shoulder. It was actually a very attractive look on her.

She turned and he saw she was fresh faced, with minimal makeup. She walked over to him, staring straight at him. No, not him.

She plucked the grey beanie off his head.

“I’m gonna borrow this.”

-

“Jimin, I am not upping your order.”

Those perfectly plump lips curved into a pout. “Moonie, pleaaaase? Pretty please?”

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “No. I brought your current order with me and I didn’t bring extra. I told you before–”

“I know, I know… A dead customer isn’t a paying customer.”

Well, actually my saying is a dead addict isn’t a paying addict. They were standing at the edge of the dance studio. It was already closed, so the windows were dark and no one was around. The particular corner they stood at couldn’t be seen by the windows. She tapped her sneaker against the hardwood. Park Jimin, dance choreographer and current customer, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and handed her a cheap blue plastic water bottle. She was wearing her black gloves but had no problem screwing the lid open. She looked inside, satisfied to see the correct amount. She was good at that. She tucked it away in her duffel bag and handed him the small brown paper bag in response, pills tucked in a believable prescription bottle.

“Thanks, Moon. I really needed this.”

Her brows furrowed as he opened the bottle hastily and took one right there in front of her. His orange hair stuck to his forehead, probably due to sweat, but it made him look desperate.

“Jimin, if you need them that bad, you should go see a doctor.”

He winced as he chugged down a gulp of water. “I know. I know… It’s just… award season is coming soon. I need to stay busy.”

She wanted to punch him. You fucking idiot, you’re going to kill yourself.

“Hey, um… I was wondering if you still take on customers? I know a guy…”

She rolled her eyes. “Jimin, please keep your trap shut for your safety and mine. Do you want to get arrested?”

“Are you the one doing the arresting?”

A new, deep voice penetrated the room. A cocky smile and an all-black shadow drifted into the room. The black sweatshirt was so huge it might as well have been a blanket. Dark brown eyes and dark brown hair, slightly long and damp.

She shoved her hands in her black hoodie and glared at Jimin. “You best believe the Guide will hear about this.”

Fear flashed in Jimin’s eyes. “No, wait. Wait, Jungkook–”

“Is this her? Your dealer?” His eyes raked down her frame, briefly fixating on her white crop top. She only wore it because she knew Jimin wasn’t going to mess with her – Seokjin made sure of that – but she hadn’t counted on someone else appearing. “She’s a cute little thing, isn’t she?”

Jimin smacked his chest, trying to push him back. “Stop. You can’t flirt with her,” he warned.

A muscle in her leg tensed. She thought about running but it was better to diffuse the situation.

“Why not?” The one named Jungkook grinned. “Hey, can you hook me up with some of the fun stuff? Not like what Jimin-ssi has here… You know. The fun shit.”

You little– “If you want the fun shit, you have to pay fun shit prices.”

He smiled at her. She did not like it. Not one bit.

“Yeah?”

He took a step towards her. And another. He was trying to back her against the wall, but she stood her ground. Every muscle in her body was tensed. She knew enough to avoid getting her ass kicked by the regular guy. Maybe a little more. He looked down at her, lips curled into a sly smirk. He had a jawline that could cut by itself. He was wearing a gentle cologne and, to be honest, he was attractive, which would be a shame if she had to break that nose.

“Maybe we can strike a deal?”

“Jungkook, I swear, if you even so much as put a finger on her,” Jimin said sternly. She could hear the warning in the shorter male’s voice. It was pretty frightening considering Jimin was one of her more cheerful customers.

Jungkook grinned and backed off. “I’m just kidding.”

She looked away from him and glowered at Jimin. He shook his head.

“Please don’t tell him,” he pleaded.

She looked back at Jungkook, who seemed quite smug about it all. Without warning, she swiftly kicked the back of his knees, making him stumble and cry out.

“Moon, please–”

Another swift chop straight to the sternum and Jungkook was on his knees, gasping for air. She held her fist centimeters from Jungkook’s face, making him freeze. Jimin hovered around, concerned, but it seemed like he was more concerned about her then Jungkook. And within those seconds of exchange, she realized two things.

One, Jungkook was fit. Really fit. And two, if she didn’t have surprise, then she probably would have bitten off more than she could chew. And that would mean…

She clutched her duffel bag and sent Jungkook her most scorching glare.

“Don’t get yourself involved in shit way over your head, kid.”

And, of course, instead of being apologetic or even angry, Jungkook smiled, licking his lips.

“Okay, noona.”

Later, when she was sitting in her room, she really wished she had just punched him.

-

“Are you coming to my party?” The phone quality didn’t hide the honey in Seokjin’s voice.

“No.”

She could almost hear his pout. “You never come anymore. We used to have such fun. You, me, and–”

She cut him off. “Did you talk to Jimin?”

His tone instantly darkened. “I did. He was very apologetic.”

She made a noise of disapproval.

“I didn’t break anything this time.”

“This time,” she echoed. “What about the brat?”

Seokjin brightened. “We had a little discussion. He’ll be a new customer soon.”

She wanted to strangle him. “Seokjin, I told you–”

“You only serve a few customers and you complain about one? One rowdy little thing?”

“This rowdy little thing is going to be trouble,” she warned.

“Don’t worry, my darling,” Seokjin cooed. “I made it very clear you’re mine.”

“I’m n–” And of course he hung up before she could say anything else. She glared at her phone and growled. She didn’t throw it, but she wanted to.

“Bastard,” she muttered to herself.

-

2.

--

masterpost

[tangerinenotions95]

Seeing Green Part 4 - Draco Malfoy X Y/N

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

This past summer had been an eventful one that was for sure. From the dementor attacks on Harry and Dudley to Harry's hearing for the use of underage magic outside of school grounds it definitely wasn't a boring summer, but it was time to return to Hogwarts.

Going back to Hogwarts was always something Harry and I looked forward to, it was our home more than anywhere else in the world but this year tensions were high. After the events over the summer we knew the Ministry would be keeping an eye on Harry. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling weird about seeing Malfoy again, our last encounter has played on my mind at least once a day since.

I' sitting in the Hogwarts express in a complete daydream not paying attention to Harry, Ginny, Neville or Luna who are chatting around me. The door of the compartment opens as Hermione and Ron return from picking up their prefect badges.

"Can you believe they made Draco Malfoy a prefect?" Hermione mutters in disgust. Just the sheer mention of his name is enough to bring me back to reality.

"Great, he's going to enjoy rubbing that one in my face" Harry sighs. The train eventually pulls in and we start to gather our things. My brother, Ron and Hermione are off quicker than us. As Ginny and I depart we can already hear the insults being thrown around.

"Well, that didn't take long" Ginny whispers to me as we walk off the train over to where my brother and his friends were facing off with Malfoy and his gang of gullible idiots.

I notice the closer we get to them, the faster my heart beat becomes.

'Get a grip of yourself woman' I think annoyingly to myself.

The second we join them Draco's eyes immediately dart over to mine, I notice his look me up and down as the smirk disappears from his face . He turns on his heel and strides off to his carriage in true Malfoy fashion leaving me rolling my eyes.

We walk over to the carriages too and I immediately head to pat down the strange horses that are leading them.

"They're beautiful" I comment in awe, I turn and everyone with the exception of Harry and and Luna look at me with a confused expression.

"Y/N, there is nothing there" Ginny says to me looking worried that I've lost it. I just smile at my friends and give the large Thestral in front of my one last pat down before getting into the carriage. Now was not the time to explain why some of us can see them and others cannot.

When we arrive at school we all fall into the great hall and take our seats at the Gryffindor table. The sorting hat ceremony happens and we get a few new students in our house.

"That woman up there was present at my hearing" Harry informs us referring to the woman covered from head to to in pink. We all glance up at her, she sits there with a smug look on her face.

Before we can come up with any theories Dumbledore stands up and gives his usual beginning of year speech. He announces the the toad looking woman in pink is Dolores Umbridge from the Ministry of magic and also our new defense against the dark arts professor.

My mouth falls open in shock at this, she definitely didn't look like our usual DADA professors. Umbridge cuts off Dumbledore to make a speech of her own but it's typical ministry drabble, it would put you to sleep. Murmurs began around the great hall but is soon silences by one look from the headmaster.

The speeches end and we finally get to eat. I can feel eyes boring into the back of my head through the whole meal but I don't dare look.

**

So according to Hermione their first DADA class was a disaster. Not only did Harry argue with Umbridge that Voldemort was indeed back but he also disagreed with her teaching methods, which are apparently completely theory based, no use of practical magic whatsoever. Harry ended up getting a weeks detention with her.

This year is not off to a great start, with Umbridge watching our every move, no one believing Harry about Voldemorts return and the fact that Hagrid is still missing.

I sigh as I sit down next to my friends at the Gryffindor table for dinner.

"What's wrong?" Harry asks.

"Care of magical creatures just isn't the same without Hagrid" I say slumping in my seat.

"It's a lot safer though" Ron quips from behind his plate full of food. "Ronald Weasley" I scold him, he gulps nervously, "I didn't mean it like that Y/N" He defends. I just roll my eyes at him.

"Idiot" Ginny mutters under her breath. We finish eating and then leave to head for our dorms, the five of us were walking down the hall.

"The schools better without that big oaf of a gamekeeper roaming around anyway" I hear him before I see him. The comment is followed by snickers.

I'm furious, I stalk around the corner quickly before Harry can stop me, he knows Hagrid is my favourite professor.

"Listen here you little worm, say one bad thing about Hagrid again and I'll make sure to rearrange that pretty little face of yours" I say, my voice seething with anger. Draco looks at me in shock at first then it turns into a smirk, "Did you just call me pretty, Potter?" He raises an eyebrow at me curiously and I want to mentally slap myself for opening my mouth.

"I mean it Malfoy" I growl and him and walk off in a rage before he or anyone else can see my cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

I march through the common room earning some weird looks, up the stairs to the girls dorms, flinging myself onto my bed in the dorm that I share with Ginny.

I scream into my pillow letting out all the pent up frustration that only can be caused by Draco Malfoy.

[lynneshobbydomain]

Vengeance Chapter Five

(I hope no one minds the early update, but due to a paper that I have to get done on Saturday, I thought it was best to post this now as I won’t have time to write until Sunday. As always thank you @sinfulwonders for your beta-reading and thank you sunflower_8 (do you even have a tumblr, where are you?) for helping me as well. You two are so lovely and I’m so grateful. Thank you thank you. Thank you for reading, for reblogging, and for liking my chapters as well. You’re all so kind.)

Rated: NSFW (Danganronpa I’m sorry)

Summary:  Amateur Detective Shuichi Saihara knew that searching for the “Usual 16” wasn’t going to get him anywhere. The disappearances weren’t being tracked in any news outlet, and very few families even tried to come forward to ask for help, let alone to report them missing. Yet, Shuichi can’t shake off the feeling that there’s a reason behind the disappearances, and he’s close to the answer.He just didn’t realize that the answer was going to hit close to home, in more ways than one.

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You can read this below the cut or at AO3

“That’s a face."

Shuichi startled as he looked over to see Kokichi peering at him from underneath the hat. His expression was mischievous and teasing, but the violets of his eyes spoke volumes of worry and concern. He didn’t hear Kokichi approach the school’s gate. He supposed he was a little out of it. Staking out places and trying not to get caught, added to the excitement that they won a tournament, he was starting to feel socially drained. He was surprised he didn’t fall asleep during class. He knew that the circles under his eyes were going to make Kokichi force him into another “skip class for a day” situation if he didn’t find a way to get sleep tonight. “I’m sorry.” Shuichi murmured as he tugged his hat down. “It’s been...it’s been a week.”

Kokichi flicked the hat’s brim up a little. “Looks like you’re about to get turned into a ghost or a corpse at this rate.” The joke was a little off, but Shuichi didn’t blame him for it. “I thought we agreed that sleeping was a good thing, Shuichi-chan. Good dreams! Do I need to break into your house again?” They started walking away from the school and headed down towards the street.

“You’re going to break into the house no matter what I say. I’m surprised you haven’t lately.” Shuichi paused and he looked at Kokichi, who suddenly started biting his thumb. “Are...are Deuce and Trick okay?” They were the ones everyone was most concerned about, considering their home life. It wouldn’t surprise Shuichi at all if Kokichi was trying to stay out with them to prevent them from going home, or at the very least trying to find ways to shelter them.

“They’re fine.” Kokichi replied, waving off the concern expertly. “We’re just trying to think about the place of attack. The hospital was a hit. Did you see the newspapers?! They still haven’t figured us out yet!”

“I did. My uncle nearly had an aneurysm over the phone when he called me.” Shuichi smiled lightly. “He knew immediately that it was you. Deuce-kun needs to change his signature.”

“Ugh, of course he’d give us away.” Kokichi groaned as he rolled his eyes. He brought his arms up over his head and leaned into the casual posture. “But you know, maybe we should keep the signature. You know, just in case someone else wants to try their hand at mystery solving. It isn’t fun if the Saihara’s are always on the case.”

“Oh believe me, we have our rivals.” Shuichi accepted the teasing. “I just don’t think we care too much.”

“You wouldn’t, which is either a testament to how good you are or how uncaring you are. I on the other hand adore my rivals.” Kokichi let his arms down and he immediately grabbed onto Shuichi’s arm, holding him close to him. “After all if that’s how I met you then maybe someone in my group will fall for their own rival. Then our group can get bigger. We could rule all of Japan. With you by my side. What do you say?”

“You’re insane and I love you.” Shuichi offered.

“Boring.”

“I love you or that you’re insane?” Shuichi raised an eyebrow.

“The love you part, duh. I already know Shuichi-chan loves me. He loves me so much, he did all that dirty work for me without too much of a hassle. He did ask too many questions though.” The grip on his arm only tightened, and Shuichi knew that Kokichi was lying. Well, he was lying about thinking the “love” part was boring. He was pretty certain everything else he was saying was true.

As they walked, Shuichi noticed a black car turning a corner and his eyebrow lifted slightly. Remembering the conversation that he had with Aki the other night made him concerned. Considering that he didn’t see whether or not they had a plate on them or not, he decided to give the benefit of the doubt for now. Kokichi cleared his throat and he realized that he must have spaced again.

“I’m coming home with you.” Kokichi proclaimed.

“Ah, what?” Shuichi blinked.

“I’m coming home with you. You’re acting weird and I don’t think you’d get on the right train without me.” Kokichi carefully dislodged himself from his arm and slipped his hand down into Shuichi’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “You’d be all discombobulated if you got off at the wrong station.”

“Are you sure you’re talking about me and not about Shuffle-chan?”

“She’d like the adventure too much and she’d call us if she got really, really lost. Shuichi-chan isn’t all that bright. You’d try to solve the mystery before you called us to tell us you got lost.” Kokichi pouted. “And leave me and Aki-chan to worry.”

“You’d worry. I think Aki-chan would just laugh at you for being scared.”

“Waah!” Kokichi let him go as he burst into tears. “You’re so mean to me! I’m just worried about you and you’re laughing at me!”

“Ah, I’m sorry Kokichi-kun. I’m sorry!” Shuichi’s neck turned hot as he could feel the gaze of the crowd lingering on them. He wanted to hide and he wanted Kokichi to stop making a scene. “Please stop crying, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m glad you’re worried about me. Honest.”

“Nishishi.” Kokichi’s tears immediately dried as though he hadn’t been crying in the first place. Shuichi still was trying to figure out how he could do that on command. Not even his mother could cry on demand, which was saying something considering she was a talented actress of her time.

Shuichi wanted off of that train of thought as fast as he possibly could. “You really are acting out of it. Did a certain someone try to contact you?”

“Ah no, I think that hasn’t happened in some time.” Shuichi shook his head. “Just a lot of thoughts. I’m sorry.”

“Well. No need to fret anymore. I’ll make all those worries and thoughts disappear when we get home.” Kokichi clung onto his arm again. “It’s the least you can do for making me cry, and maybe if you got some sleep.”

Shuichi sighed loudly.

                                                           X

Aki wasn’t home yet. Shuichi had put that thought away as he was busy trying to keep Kokichi from doing anything too insane. That meant being subjected to game after game, and trying to keep up with any riddles that the D.I.C.E. leader could find either on the internet or something that he made up on the spot. Right now, they had just finished building a blanket fort and both of them were snuggling, practically lying on top of each other.

“Hmm, it’s almost eight. Should we order takeout?” Kokichi mused. “I haven’t heard the door open, and Aki-chan isn’t back yet I don’t think.”

“Eight?” Shuichi glanced over sleepily to see that Kokichi was holding his phone in his hand, staring at the home screen. “Can you send her a message asking if she went to your hide out or something? See if she wants something or if she’s eating with friends.”

Kokichi nodded and Shuichi listened to the obnoxious beeping sounds of the buttons being pressed. He knew that Kokichi could change that in his settings, but for whatever reason, Kokichi wanted the most annoying thing he could find. He was just grateful that it was no longer the duck sounds.

Of course that theory went out the window as the phone blasted a horn sound through its speakers. Shuichi startled, staring at the phone and then back up to Kokichi. Kokichi nonchalantly flicked his thumb against the screen. He could hear his own phone going off in his school bag, but Shuichi felt too comfortable to move away from Kokichi or the fort that they had built. The bluish light tinted Kokichi's face and casted a shadow of concern and worry on his eyes.

“Kokichi-kun?” Shuichi watched as Kokichi moved so that he was sitting up right, legs immediately crossed as he leaned forward, his phone practically pressed up against his face. The concern only turned Shuichi’s blood cold and he quickly scrambled out of the fort to go to his backpack, ripping it open to dive for his phone that was somewhere deep in the abyss. He hated that his backpack could consume anything that was small. He was certain that he had a good assortment of blue and purple pens somewhere down there at the bottom, but he couldn’t find them, nor did he ever put in the effort of actually turning his back upside down.

He felt the vibration before he could feel his phone. He snatched towards the phone’s  direction and yanked it out, ignoring the many papers that flew out with it. He saw that there were several notifications on his screen from the D.I.C.E chat, but also Discord was surprisingly blowing up too around the same time. There was also an email that he received. He only glanced at Danganronpa, before deciding to ignore it for now. It was probably spam or some type of advertisement, and he wasn’t about to get into that when he was too concerned about why Kokcihi was suddenly on alert.

Shuichi quickly got on to the D.I.C.E’s chat and saw with a sinking heart why Kokichi had turned so pale.

[ Widow: Masashi-kun and Touru-kun are the hospital, so there’s no one at the hideout. If Saihara-san really did come by to visit us, she would have probably left as soon as she saw the lights were off. ]

[ March: Do I need to be down there. ]

[ Widow: No. We have it under control. We’re getting them out of that house. ]

[ Solo: Ouma-kun is more than welcome to stay here. I know Saihara-kun will undoubtedly want him at his place too. I’m concerned about Saihara-san. That’s abnormal. Wouldn’t she be home? ]

[ March: Shuichi-chan’s worried. He’s also reading this chat. ]

[ Matador: I’m sorry to hear about Masashi-kun and Touru-kun. If we need to be there, we can be there. I just have to find a way to let Aki-chan know that we’re there. I’m worried. She would have responded to the chat by now. ]

[ Shuffle: (,,꒪꒫꒪,,) But I thought Chi-chan was home. ]

[ March: Explain. ]

[ Shuffle: (ó﹏ò｡) Aki-chan didn’t walk with me to school today. ]

Both Kokichi and Shuichi looked up at each other at the same time. Shuichi felt his heart drop into his stomach. It was nearing twelve hours then. He knew that the first few hours would’ve been critical if someone was going to be saved. Reporting it now would be a shot in the dark, but at least a chance.

Shuichi let Kokichi handle the D.I.C.E chat. Meanwhile he sent a text to his uncle, his thumbs hitting the wrong keys as his hands shook. He didn’t realize the screen was getting blurry until he felt something warm drip down his cheeks. She told him. Just a few nights ago, she told him that she was worried. She told him that she was afraid that there was someone following her.

Shuichi hadn’t done a thing. He should have encouraged her to report it. He should have told her that she needed to call their guardian. She could have been saved. Aki could have been saved. If he just had…

[ Uncle: Breathe, kid, I already texted Keiko. I’m going to swing by the police department and file a report. Best to do it and be wrong, than to be right and never have a chance. Chances are, Aki forgot to tell us that she had somewhere to be. ]

Shuichi really hoped that was the case, but he wasn’t sure about that. Trying to distract himself, he decided to go back towards the D.I.C.E chat, and saw that Kokichi already ordered them to stay where they were, and to take care of Deuce and Trick. Shuichi didn’t have any energy to feel angry for them. He really hated that the system had let them down like it had, and he really hoped that they were okay. He really hoped that his Uncle was right and that Aki was okay. That she just was late. That she did just forget.

He also knew that if she had been, Aki would’ve texted. He also knew that if she was anywhere near her phone, that entire conversation would have had her concern in it too. She probably would have echoed the same offer Shuichi gave full heartedly about needing to be there, if they had to be there.

“Shuichi-chan?” Kokichi said quietly and Shuichi looked up to see that Kokichi had crawled out of the blanket fort and was sitting next to him. His hand was hovering between them, as though he wasn't sure if he could grab onto Shuichi or not. Shuichi bowed his head and Kokichi immediately opened his arms towards him, dragging him to lean against his body.

“What happened to Masashi-kun and Touru-kun? Did anyone specify?” The lump burned at his throat as he attempted to speak around it. His stomach was twisted into so many knots, Shuichi wasn’t sure how to start untangling them. He could feel Kokichi tremble underneath him, or maybe it was just him shaking like a leaf and unable to get a hold of himself.

“To put it mildly, parents suck.” Kokichi answered as he flicked his thumb against the screen.

Shuichi nodded, understanding. He tried to think about what they needed to do. What could they do? There was absolutely nothing either one of them could do. Kokichi could go to the hospital. Kokichi was their leader, but Shuichi also knew that trying to tell Kokichi to leave while he was like this wasn't going to happen. Kokichi knew how to be stubborn.

“What about Aki-chan?” Kokichi decided to press softly. “What did we decide to do?”

It shouldn’t warm his heart to hear Kokichi refer to himself as family, but Shuichi needed the support. “Uncle Koji’s coming home. Aunt Keiko’s already been informed. We’re…” He swallowed thickly, feeling a renewed burning in his eyes as tears threatened to spill. “We’re reporting her missing.”

Kokichi nodded solemnly as he pulled away from him and started brushing away at his tears. “We’ll find her.” He said after a moment. “She’s one of us. She’s easy to find.”

“Yeah?”

“Pfft, you really doubt me don’t you?” Kokichi’s voice raised a little. He held his finger out, pointing at Shuichi. “Did you forget that we’re a team of ten thousand strong?!”

“N-no.” There were only eleven members. “Then why don’t I ever see them at the meetings?”

“How the hell am I going to stuff that many people in our house? Jeez, Shuichi-chan, it’s called Discord. You should know it by now.” Kokichi huffed and Shuichi faintly laughed. “Honestly the audacity you have to doubt your own boyfriend, let alone your own leader .”

“Sorry.” Shuichi quickly bowed his head, and he could feel Kokichi shift. “So. You think that she’ll be found?”

“No doubt about it. So come on Shuichi, let’s go back into the fort yeah? I’m sure Koji-chan and Keiko-chan will prefer it if you didn’t worry over stupid things.” Kokichi gently took Shuichi’s hand. “Besides, what can you do right now? All we have is people telling us that she’s gone. Nothing to say where. Nothing to say who. Until we get that information, what can we start doing? It’s the city, not the wilderness.”

Shuichi couldn’t deny that Kokichi was right. There really was no way to figure out where she was at the time. He felt his phone buzz next to him and he reached for it automatically. Another email from Danganronpa.

Frowning, he decided to open the email app. He could mark it a spam so that he could focus on more important things. Just as he reached the inbox, he saw the complete subject box. The first email that was sent had the subject line of: Thank you for your tribute and your impending participation. Which felt as ominous as it sounded. The second email had the line of: Are you ready for a game of thrills, chills and kills?

“What’s wrong?” Kokichi asked and Shuichi angled his phone towards his boyfriend’s direction. “Um...what?”

“That’s my impression too. I don’t…”

Kokichi yanked the phone out of Shuichi’s hand. “If I reply to the spam email, do you think I’ll be as famous as that English comedian back in the U.K?”

“No? They’re probably going to think that you’re doing this to be like him to begin with.” Shuichi wouldn’t mind it if Kokichi tried to send a prank back at them. Maybe if he did that, he’d be left alone.

“Thank you for your tribute and participation,” Kokichi suddenly read aloud, causing Shuichi to look at him. “As you know, this game only happens once a year and with the best choices that were picked from judges. We had over thirty auditions this year, and it was hard to narrow down the choices to just sixteen.” He paused and Shuichi felt all color drain from his face. Sixteen. Kokichi glanced at him before continuing. “We hope that you will continue to participate in the game as you have done in the previous years. If this is your first time getting this email, congratulations on being a part of the Danganronpa family. We hope you enjoy your stay.”

“What.” Shuichi replied, staring at him like he just grew another head.

Kokichi quickly deleted that email and went to the next one. “Dear Danganronpa Fanatics. Welcome back to the fifty-second game! The rules have changed slightly due to audiences wishing to take more of a role in our games. We are so excited to share what we have in store for you. As you are aware, we have opened our doors to allow family members who are close to the contestants to have a special invite so that they can watch and participate too. Isn’t that exciting? Bear in mind that the audience and the family members are going to be anonymous, meaning that you will not know who is who during this time to make the voting fair. Yes, that’s right! Voting time! You will not be voting during the class trials unfortunately, as that is for the contestants to deal with. Instead, you will be voting anywhere from favorite colors to motive videos.”

“Motive videos?” Shuichi asked weakly. “Game? What do they mean by class trials?!”

“I don’t know.” Kokichi bit his thumb as he stared at the email. “It goes on to talk about that the voting is majority rules, and that you can only influence the game so much. You may get a chance to do a video talking directly to the contestant, but you have to be aware that the motive videos may be switched among the players, so you may want to choose words carefully. Jeez, for a spam email, they sure decided to go the dark route, didn’t they?”

“I no longer think that’s spam.” But what else could it be? Shuichi never heard of Danganronpa before. He doubted that his cousin would have even known about it either. They didn’t go around looking for things like that, at least he didn’t think she would. Then again, missing people always had secrets. He glanced at the wall that his computer desk was pushed up against. The very same wall that he could hear her guitar. Missing people always had secrets that even the closest relatives didn’t know about.

He never thought that there would be a day he would have to investigate his own cousin. He never thought that he would have to dig out her secrets. He looked at the phone that was resting in Kokichi’s hand, seeing the words that were printed on the screen. He doubted about the auditions. He doubted that there was such a thing.

Takahashi said it best, didn’t he? That if he was going to kidnap, he would scout out his potential targets. That was what those black cars were for.

“The Usual Sixteen.” Shuichi murmured quietly.

“Please tell me you’re not thinking about trying to use a case to distract you. I’m right here.” Kokichi pouted, but the mood didn’t match. He was trying, and Shuichi appreciated it.

“No, that’s wrong.” Shuichi shook his head. “I was thinking...Danganronpa specifically mentioned that sixteen were selected out of the thirty that they scouted.”

“Yes…” Kokichi agreed slowly. “You think that…”

“The Usual Sixteen were in Danganronpa. But why? If it’s a game, shouldn’t they have returned home?” Shuichi pursed his lips together. “That’s what bothers me about it.”

“There’s a link in the email.” Kokichi glanced down at the email. “We could...turn it on...confirm our suspicions.”

“...I think I’d like my uncle to take a look at it first.” Shuichi determined. “I’d rather have him know that I got these emails and see what his professional opinion is. Chances are, we may not have a choice but to hand over my phone as evidence, because of the links that are on it. They may be able to trace something.”

“If that’s what you want, beloved. I won’t stop you.” Kokichi sighed as he handed the phone back to Shuichi. “But can you send me those emails to my phone regardless?”

“Why?” Shuichi’s brows furrowed.

“I want Solo-kun to see if he can’t trace it.”

“I mean…” He trailed off. The police were sometimes too slow and if Aki was a part of it, then they needed to know now before something happened. “I guess.”

“Cool! Thank you babe!”

“Oh god please no.”

“Baby~”

“No.”

“Bambino.”

“Kokichi-kun, no.”