#it's like a vee when it should be a triangle

[awihog]

say it with me:

👏CLAUDIA👏WAS👏AS MUCH👏 LESTAT'S👏 DAUGHTER👏AS👏SHE👏WAS👏 LOUIS'👏

[squareallworthy]

It's Triangle Tuesday! A triangle, its centroid, a theorem, and two bonus triangles.

Greetings, seekers of triangle knowledge. Today I'm going to talk about the centroid.

Among triangle centers, the centroid is, at first glance, maybe a bit underwhelming. Take a triangle ABC. Let the midpoints of the sides be M_a, M_b, and M_c. Draw a line from each vertex to the opposite midpoint. The three lines cross at a point G. And that's the centroid.

Very simple. Simple almost to the point of banality. Don't get me wrong - the centroid is a great point. It's just not very flashy in its construction, and the fact that it exists doesn't seem at all deep. Later on, we can show how the centroid relates to other things, such as the symmedian point, the Euler line, and the nine-point circle. But for now, it's kind of hard to appreciate the centroid on it own. Let's do what we can do now, before getting into that other stuff, to see why the centroid is interesting.

It's not at all difficult to prove that the lines meet at one point, but the proofs I've looked at aren't all that enlightening. You draw a line and look at some parallel lines, and you say, "mmm, okay, that checks out, that's a proof all right," but it doesn't feel like you've learned much.

Even before proving that the lines are all coincident, it seems obvious that they should be. Each line cuts the triangle into two equal parts, and so when you draw two of them, the point where they cross is the middle of the triangle, measured two ways. So it just makes sense that the third line has to go through the same point, right?

Let's see if we can follow our intuition on this to get at something more fundamental. The lines that connect the vertices to the midpoints of the side are called medians. In general, lines like this that extend from a vertex to the opposite side of the triangle are called cevians (pronounced ˈtʃeviən, CHAY-vee-un). Are the medians really all that special among other cevians? What if instead of marking the midpoint of each side, dividing it into two segments in a 1:1 ratio, we mark a point that divides the side in a 1:3 ratio, going counterclockwise around the triangle? If we then draw the cevians, what do they look like?

Not surprisingly, the they aren't coincident. They outline a triangle (in red) that looks like the original triangle, but smaller and tilted counterclockwise. If we divided in a 1:3 ratio going clockwise, we would get a clockwise-twisted triangle. And if we move the marked points back and forth, sure enough, only when the points are halfway along the sides do the three cevians cross at one point.

And if we take the crossing point of two cevians, and then draw the third line through that point? Where does that hit the opposite side? Here I'll go back and draw that with a dashed line on the 1:3 ratio counterclockwise drawing:

It lands pretty close to the vertex. Somehow that point has to balance the 1:3 ratio we used to measure the other points, but it's not clear exactly how.

So how are coincident points connected to the place where we cut the sides? Let's get a bit more formal. Let's have a triangle ABC, and a point P that is not located on any of the sides of the triangle. We'll draw cevians from the vertices through P, and they will cross the sides of the triangle at D, E, and F.

So we would like to know where F, for instance, cuts line AB, and how it relates to the other points. Or, to put it another way, if we knew the ratio of the length of AF to FB, and the same for BD to DC, could we say what the ratio of CE to EA is? Conversely, if we have a triangle with three cevians cutting the sides at D, E, and F, and we knew all the ratios AF/FB, BD/DC, and CE/EA, could we say whether the cevians are coincident or not?

It's easy to get lost here with statements made up of long strings of segments. If you are like me, your eyes start to glaze over when you see that and you don't learn anything. So let's lay out a plan for figuring this out. We are looking for some information about ratios of line segments. To do that, it would be helpful to have some similar triangles, because similar triangles have all the same angles, and differ only in size and orientation. So if you know something about the ratio of two sides of a triangle, you know the same thing about the corresponding sides of a similar triangle.

And a good way to get some similar triangles is to arrange to have them meet vertex-to-vertex between parallel lines, like this:

With this arrangement and a little bit of Euclid (which I won't get into here), we can show that the pairs of angles marked with the same letters are equal. The two triangles with angles α, β, and γ are therefore similar, and we can say that the corresponding sides are in the same proportions -- that is, if we compare the red dashed segment to the blue dashed segment, it is the same ratio as the red solid segment to the blue solid segment. The four colored segments together make a Z-shaped figure, and it is this kind of arrangement of segments that we want to consider as we figure out what's going on with our cevians.

So with that in mind, let's go back to triangle ABC and add a line through A that is parallel to side BC. The new line meets two of our cevians at G and H.

And that creates sets of similar triangles:

AHF is similar to BCF (in red, below)

AEG is similar to BCE (green)

AGP is similar to BDP (blue)

AHP is similar to CDP (yellow)

From that, we can get these relationships:

AF/FB = AH/BC (from the red triangles)

CE/EA = BC/AG (green)

AG/BD = AP/DP (blue)

AH/DC = AP/DP (yellow)

We are interested in the ratios that the sides of ABC are divided into, that is, AF/FB and so on. We have two of them above, which I have bolded. We still need to get BD/DC and then shuffle things around to get all of those into one equation.

The two equations above from the blue and yellow triangles have the same right hand side, so we can say

AG/BD = AH/DC

and by reshuffling,

BD/DC = AG/AH.

There's the ratio for the third side. Now let's multiply that together with the equations we got from the red and green triangles:

AF/FB * CE/EA * BD/DC = AH/BC * BC/AG * AG/AH.

Everything on the right cancels out, so if we reorder the things on the left side to be alphabetically nice, we have

AF/FB * BD/DC * CE/EA = 1

which is the first half of what we wanted to know. If three cevians pass through the same point, then they cut the sides into ratios that multiply to 1. What a nice simple relationship to remember!

What about the converse? Can we prove that if three cevians cut the sides in ratios that multiply to 1, they all pass through the same point?

Let's suppose that we have divided the three sides of ABC with points C, D, and E in a way that AF/FB * CE/EA * BD/DC = 1. Then let's draw the cevians BE and CF and say that their crossing-point is called P.

Now, if we draw a cevian from A through P, does it land at D, as our equation says it should? Well, it has to land somewhere, and we'll call that point D'.

Can we prove that D' = D?

We were given that

AF/FB * BD/DC * CE/EA = 1.

And since we just drew three coincident cevians, we can conclude from what we just proved that

AF/FB * BD'/D'C * CE/EA = 1.

Combining those, we do a little algebraic manipulation:

BD/DC = BD'/D'C

BD/DC + 1 = BD'/D'C + 1

BD/DC + DC/DC = BD'/D'C + D'C/D'C

(BD+DC) / DC = (BD'+D'C) / D'C

But BD+DC is the whole side BC of the triangle, and the same with BD'+D'C. So

BC / DC = BC / D'C

and therefore D = D'. And that's our theorem:

In a triangle ABC, lines connecting the vertices to points on the opposite sides D, E, and F are concurrent if and only if AF/FB * BD/DC * CE/EA = 1

This is called Ceva's theorem, after the Italian mathematician Giovanni Ceva (ˈtʃeva, CHAY-va), who proved it in 1678. But as usual in mathematics the theorem is not named for the original discoverer. That was Abu Amir Yusuf ibn Ahmad ibn Hud, who proved it in the 11th century. (I got the above proof from this website, though I have cut some corners by ignoring signed distances and neglecting the case with an obtuse triangle.)

Given Ceva's theorem, we can trivially prove that the medians of a triangle are concurrent. The midpoints divide each side in the ratio 1/1, so

1/1 * 1/1 * 1/1 = 1

proves the existence of the centroid. There are much more direct ways to prove this, of course, but Ceva's theorem will come up over and over again in the study of triangles so it's worthwhile to get it down now.

Now since we've proved that the medians are coincident, here are some of the properties of the medians and centroid.

The medians divide the triangle into six triangles of equal area.

Each median divides the triangle into two triangles of equal area, because they have equal bases and heights. Therefore

T+U+V = X+Y+Z

but also

Z+T+U = V+X+Y

and subtracting the second from first gives

V-Z = Z-V

V = Z

and similarly for every pair of opposite triangles. But also, X and V have equal bases and heights, so X = V, similarly T = U, Y = Z. Putting that all together shows that all six areas are equal.

The centroid G divides the triangle ABC into three triangles ABG, BCG, and ACG of equal area.

This follows immediately from the previous result, and we can immediately follow that with

The centroid lies on each median at 2/3 of the distance from a vertex to a midpoint.

ABG has the same base as ABC, and 1/3 the area, so it must have 1/3 the height. Those two very straightforward facts give us this less obvious property:

A point X divides a triangle ABC into equal triangles ABX, BCX, and ACX only if X is the centroid.

For a triangle ABX to have 1/3 the area of ABC, it must have a height 1/3 that of ABC, so X must lie on the dotted line in the picture, which runs through G. Analogous lines for triangles BCX and ACX must also concur at G.

And, of course, the most famous properties of the centroid, and the reason G is traditionally used to name it, are that the centroid is the center of gravity of the vertices, and also of the area of the triangle. (If you are coming from a physics background, you might object that the centroid of an object is by definition its center of gravity, or center of mass -- that's simply what "centroid" means. To avoid any confusion, I am using a gemometric definition of centroid as the place where the medians cross, and proving that this point is also the center of gravity.)

The centroid is the center of gravity of the vertices.

If A and B represent equal masses M, they can be replaced by a single mass of 2M located at Z. The center of gravity of C and Z, then, is a point 1/3 of the way from Z to C, which is G.

The centroid is the center of gravity of the area of the triangle.

Every line parallel to AB can be replaced with a mass Z_1, Z_2, ... at the midpoint of the line. Each of these masses will be located on the median, and so the center of gravity of all these points must also lie on the median. By a similar argument, the center of mass must also line on the other medians, so it must lie at their crossing point. (Yes I admit this is rather handwavy, but a better proof requires integration and I am doing elementary geometry here, not calculus. I have an idea for a proof using purely geometrical methods but I haven't finished it.)

To be complete, I will note that the centroid is not the center of gravity of the perimeter of the triangle. That's a different triangle center, which we will perhaps consider on a different day.

Finally let me introduce two triangles related to the centroid and the medians. The medial triangle, shown in red, is the triangle formed by the midpoints of the sides. The antimedial triangle, shown in blue, formed by lines passing through the vertices A, B, and C and parallel to the opposite side, which meet at A', B', and C'. The anti- part comes from the fact that ABC is the medial triangle of A'B'C.

Both of these new triangles are similar to the reference triangle ABC and can be formed by reflecting ABC through a point and scaling up or down by a factor of 2. That point of reflection is, of course, the centroid.

If you found this interesting, please try drawing some of this stuff for yourself! You can use a compass and straightedge, or software such as Geogebra, which I used to make all my drawings. You can try it on the web here or download apps to run on your own computer here.

An index of all posts in this series is available here.

[littleragondin]

15 Day BL Challenge

The full challenge can be found here!

☆*:.｡. Day 8: The trope you hate except when it’s “this series” .｡.:*☆

Alright, I thought about this one long and hard because for every trope I hate I could think of at least one or two shows I really like that used it … I have the resolve of a wet towel. So, with the knowledge that I can be convinced of nearly anything if the writing and/or acting holds…

Bully romance and Utsukushii Kare. It’s a difficult trope for me to enjoy, the line after which I can’t believe in any kind of forgiveness (let alone romance) is very easily crossed - I made it an episode and a half through A Shoulder to Cry On – and I am not fond of a mean love interest. That is the reason it took me so long to give Utsukushii Kare a chance actually. But somehow, this one just works. It works because both of them have a kinda fucked up way of approaching their relationship, because the bullying stays light and because it never pretends to be anything other than what it is, somehow.

This one I usually see in het romances but I will still plug it in: a love triangle involving siblings, and You’re My Sky. I have something with siblings (in case I was not vocal enough about it around here), and while I have no problem with siblings hating each other or whatever, but this set up just… I don’t like it, and I generally feel like it’s not given the weight it should, one way or another. What I like in You’re My Sky is that it took its premise seriously. Vee and his sister love each other, and that is a fucked up situation to be in, and that is never brushed off. I find it handled really well, I love how they decided to conclude the story, and I did love the way Pan comes back to her brother about it.

… I guess mostly, more than hated tropes, it’s their mishandling that I hate?? makes it a little off-topic but I’ll do better for the next one (ง ื▿ ื)ว

[askblog-cvesocs]

General… // Fun Fact…

auggie likes running and going on walks. and he likes playing volleyball too.

one time at lunch, wilson and andy (two people in his pe class) were rambling on about how good auggie is at volleyball and how coach said he should be a volleyball coach and just totally praising him, telling all this to vee. vee obviously gets hyped up and super excited. then they go outside to the quad, and wilson and andy tell hille. — then they suggest that they should play volleyball in the quad. wilson and andy went to go ask coach if he could bring out a net so they could play.

auggie ends up being dragged into playing volleyball. (he enjoys it). everyone sees how cool he is n stuff. — vee mentions that auggie likes running and that he’s a good runner, and she tells auggie that he should race someone. reed volunteers to race auggie. — auggie wins.

cage asks auggie to race him. people around them gasp like “ooohhh, this is gonna be goooodd”. cage was on the track team last year (sophomore year). and he was well known for it. he’s a super fast runner.

auggie says okay, and they raced. they had to go in a triangle, there was vee and aiden who were their “checkpoints”, like they had to go to vee then aiden then back. the first to beat the other five times wins. so each lap, whoever won, they’d have a point. they kept going.

cage won the first two times. — cage started off fast, and auggie started off with a jog. — they kept going, and auggie won twice. cage won again. auggie sped up now time and won three more times. so auggie beat cage.

everyone was like “whaaattt”

cage asked auggie how he did so good and wasn’t as tired and worn out already. auggie told him that he paces himself. he also told him “stamina is better than speed. you started off fast, wasting your energy at the beginning. if you pace yourself, you can speed up when you’re ready. so next time, you should probably start off with a jog. or at least not bolting.”

auggie’s been told he should join the volleyball team or the track team. he says he doesn’t want to join any team. — he likes running for fun, not for competition. and he likes playing volleyball for fun, not for competition. plus, he feels like competing in volleyball is way less fun.

___

[insertdragonpun]

⚠️⚠️WARNING⚠️⚠️

This post is part of a monster apocalypse comic idea that is in the works. There will be graphic descriptions of violence and gore. If you are not okay with that, please skip this post and mute tag "apocalyptic comic idea"

There will also be mentioned attempted sexual assault in this post. Only this one and I will not be describing it. It will be framed by danger triangles.

There is also a lot of swearing in most of my post honestly, but I never and will never use slurs.

You have been warned

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Hoo boy, it's been a minute, huh?

Does it look like the quality in this is very different from the stuff I've been posting? Well it should because it has been two years since I've given you one of these character origins. I'm actually in the process of refining the characters for the first chapter, as well as attempting to make a prologue for this. Emphasis on attempting lmao

ANYWAYS, this is Violet, aka Vee! I love her so much just as much as I love her girlfriend (eventual). Vee was a famous singer in this not earth. She was known as the masked singer since she was always wearing somesort of mask over her face.

Now she never crossed paths with the panicking Dim. In fact, she was on a completely different side of the city, in the middle of a rehearsal for a performance with her little band of dancers. She was excited about this performance since it was meant to be the debut of her newest song. A little love note to her audience.

But in the middle of a break, the power went out. Vee and her dancers were looking at each other in confusion when one of the stage hands (they were running through their cues at the stage in the studio. Which was also kinda a refurnished opera house. Why? Asthetic.) Ran through the door with ⚠️⚠️ (its gore time. Skip to the next danger triangles if you can't read it.) Blood dripping from their limp arm, elbow bent in a way it should never bend, a couple of fingers missing as blood oozed from their stumps.⚠️⚠️

They stared at the group of dancers, no. They stared through the group of dancers, eyes empty and fading. All they could manage to say was "Run." Before they collapsed on their face into a puddle of their own gore.

Vee could only stare until she saw red eyes peering through the dark doorway.

A person(?) Leapt through the door and onto the nearest dancer like a lion pouncing on its prey. Biting into his neck with teeth that were much too sharp.

That's right. Vampires.

Vee was staring for only a second longer before she ran. She kept running through the dark halls. She had all but memorized the Floorplan of the studio, yet she still ran into walls. She tripped over *something*

She could feel it squish under her foot and refused to look down.

"Violet!" A slightly familiar voice called out. Who was it again? A new management member maybe?

A flashlight shined in her face, blinding her a bit from his face (this is a description for the comic, btw.) She took his outstretched hand as he led her into her own office (or whatever it's called. I've honestly been calling it her chilling room in my head)

Why was he in there?

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Okay, look. I'm not going to write out the next scene. I'm going to have to draw it eventually, but I am not writing this out. Long story short. He attempted to assault her. He was one of the scariest monsters in this story. A human.

He held her down, choking her. Her hands searched for a way to break free. She found a large shard of glass and stabbed him in the neck.

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

He was dead. He was dead, and she wasn't. He was dead, and she-- she killed him. Her hands were covered in blood. Her sweatpants were still hanging skewed of her hips, and her hands were covered in blood.

[Congratulations, player! You have completed the tutorial! Please wait while we develop your character based on your actions :) NOTE: YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO ATTACKS WHILE YOU WAIT. ANY ACTIONS AFTER THIS MESSAGE WILL NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR CHARACTER.]

A blue box taunted her from right above his body. The light that emanated from it reflected off of the glass still in him.

Vee was going to puke.

"Hello? Vee? Vee!"

There were hands near her, they were going to touch her. They were going to grab her. She couldn't-

The hands stopped. They never made contact. They hovered near her shoulders before moving back slowly in a telegraphed, easy to see way.

"Vee, can you hear me? It's [REDACTED]"

Vee nodded her head, it was held between her hands (when did that happen? Why was she curled up into a ball?)

The voice was calming. She definitely recognized it. But she just couldn't tell who it was.

"That's good. Do you-"

The voice was cut off by another blue box appearing in between them.

[Congratulations on surviving after the tutorial! All creatures you have destroyed will now be turned into skill points! NOTE: SKILL POINTS WILL ONLY BE ACCESSIBLE IN SHELTERS AND NEUTRAL ZONES. Your character has been decided! Welcome to the game, Succubus, Vee!]

"What the fu-" Vee's whole body exploded with pain. Her back, her head, her eyes, her limbs, everything hurt. Then everything went dark.

So.

Have I mentioned before that this game is extremely fucked up? Because it 100% is. It turned her into a succubus because the one she killed was someone she had "seduced." Vee is the first half of our "monster duo" in the main group. Because she didn't kill one of the game's monsters, she got a very different character than most. She is in the monster class (because you can go out and fight beings like her without it being player murder. By that, I mean if you kill Vee, it will still be player murder, but you can kill the generated succubi, and it would just be normal monster hunting.)

If it isn't obvious, I was pretty inspired by Lone Necromancer on Webtoon for this monster class. It's the only monster apocalypse story I've found that allows players to become these normally monstrous classes.

Anyways. That's the end of Vee's introduction. Why? Because to say anymore would be spoilers for another character.

[gakriele-lvs-blog]

Based on @imhumanguysiswear Latest POST Enjoy!

Meanwhile, Luz and King are lowkey horrified/jealous of Vee for taking away their cuddle time with the Owl Beast.

Luz, who is sitting next to King on the couch as they look at Vee: Vee, sister, sibling... we need to talk about your... How do I say this in the most gentle way-

King, who hasn't got any cuddle time with her mama for a whole week: This is an intervention! Stop hogging my mom, you greedy cold-blooded noddle!

Luz: King! That's no way to talk to your sister-

Vee, genuinely confused: Wait... I throught you guys wanted me to make her company. Luz, between school, your friends, and your occasional adventures you spent less time around here...

Luz: Oh yeah... By the time I get here, you are already sleeping or playing with her

Vee: Not only with the Owl Beast, but Eda is also surprisingly a great person to spend time with

King: Hey! what about me?!

Vee: she told she wanted to give some space... Since you are growing up and you have your own friend group

Luz: Friend group? Who exactly are we talking about here? You know what Eda said! You can only be near the bad influences Eda has to approve

King: Hey! You are one to talk to! Every single one of our friends tried to kill you directly or indirectly at least once! Besides, they are people you know, we have Steve, and everyone loves him no need to say more. Skara, who for some reason keeps staring at me weirdly. The Collector, their parents take away 95% of their powers before bringing them here, Tinella, She is surprisingly nice when you get to know her and... That eccentric triangle with an eye? he is the demon of the party I'm telling you!

Luz: ...Should I be concerned about the last one?

Vee: We are getting distracted! the point is... that she misses you, but feels like she is getting in your way of growing up. So... maybe you can spend more time here?

[And so, They spent the whole night cuddling together with the Owl Beast. They also make a schedule to make sure that that murderous bundle of feathers gets all the affection they deserve. The End]

[ichinisankaku]

Backstage Translation - BIRTHDAY VLOG: Misumi (Part 1)

Misumi: Work was fun today too~ I found some new triangles, so I'm gonna go home and show everyone.

...Hm? Over there...

Homare: Taking a stroll at night is rather nice. Even the wind feels pleasant. I can feel a poem flowing forth.

Misumi: Alice~! What are you doing?

Homare: Ooh, if it isn't Misumi-kun. I'm filming a vlog right now.

Misumi: Vee-log?

Homare: It's a type of blog done on video, so to speak.

Filming it allows one to look over their nonchalant daily life, and find unexpectedly important things in it.

Misumi: Huh, that sounds fun!

Homare: However, though I've filmed quite a few things, I've yet to show off anything vital...

Misumi: I see~... when you've filmed a lot of things, you'll want to show them to lots of people.

Misumi: We're home~!

Homare: We have returned.

Sakuya: Ah, welcome home!

Kazunari: Welcome home~♪

Homare: Oh, you were in the middle of a leader meeting. Pardon us.

Izumi: It's alright. Welcome home, you two.

Tsumugi: Homare-san, that camera...... were you filming a vlog with that?

Homare: Indeed, it was a bit of a break from writing.

Kazunari: A vlog... that's it!

How about we each take a vlog of a place we want to film, and show it to the fans as thanks at the birthday events!?

Banri: Huh, that's pretty fresh. Sounds interesting.

Tenma: Agreed. That'll make everyone happy, won't it?

Misumi: Birthday events?

Kazunari: Yeye! Since the birthday bromides were a hit, I was wondering if we could do something for our birthdays again~ so everyone was thinking about it just now.

Tsumugi: We've been doing Inste Lives a lot recently, but there aren't many opportunities for fans to see us directly outside of plays.

Izumi: They were happy with the solo lives we did, but in the end, there are still people saying they want to see us in person.

That's why we started talking about birthday events.

Homare: Hm, I see.

Tenma: But for the fan event, wouldn't it be better to film something with meaning, rather than just something you want?

Banri: Well, having a theme or something might make it easier to film

Sakuya: Uum...

...Ah! I think an event where we spend time with fans will become a special day, so--

How about "A scene I want to show everyone"?

Tenma: A scene I want to show everyone, huh.

Sakuya: When I went travelling during the Mankai Performance, I saw lots of different sceneries that I wanted to show to everyone in the company, but...

Now I want to show them to all the fans who have been cheering us on, too.

Izumi: Definitely, it'd be nice to do something with the fans who have always been supporting us in mind.

Misumi: A scene I want to show all the fans...

Tsumugi: Yeah, I think it's a wonderful theme.

Kazunari: I think it's great too!

Tenma: Agreed.

Banri: Alright then, we've decided the theme is "A scene I want to show everyone".

Misumi: Sounds fun! Alice, you'll also be able to show something off like this!

Homare: Indeed. For my birthday event, even over 5 hours would be too little!

Izumi: No no, that's obviously too much!

Tsumugi: Ahahaha.

Izumi: Now that we've decided the theme... the first one up should be Misumi.

Misumi: Me~!?

Kazunari: You were first for the birthday bromides too, after all. Can you do it?

Misumi: Right, I've got it!

I've already thought of what I want to show everyone, so leave it to me!

Misumi: And at the birthday event, we'll all watch the vlog I made together!

Kumon: Wow! Going to film it and then watching with everyone sounds super fun!

Misumi: So this time, I'll be filming a scene I want to show everyone, but...

I was told it's best to have someone film the vlog for me.

So, will you come with me, Kumon?

Kumon: Eh! Are you fine with me!?

Misumi: Since we're going to that place, I thought it'd be nice if you came along, Kumon~

Kumon: Uwah~ that makes me super happy! Of course I'll go with you! I'll make sure to film it properly!

Misumi: Yay~ thank you!

Kumon: But, that place is...?

Misumi: Ehehe, you'll understand when we get there.

Other than you, Director-san is going to come along, and...

There's one more person I was thinking I'd like to go with.

Kumon: ???

Part 2 | Part 3

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

An Explanation of Why Louis and Violet are Both Terrific Love Interests [4/5]

+Why both romantic routes are not only amazing but better than other games I’ve personally played in the past.

+Why some people are idiots and get off on picking stupid fights.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

[catherine and unlikable love interests/love triangles]

I would rather hop onto a rocket and travel through outer space alone than date either of you- full offense.

Catherine is a game that... exists. 

Catherine came out in 2011 and follows Vincent Brooks, a man who is tormented by supernatural nightmares while torn between his longtime girlfriend Katherine and a girl who is the embodiment of his dream girl, Catherine.

That’s not confusing, right?

Basically, it’s a romantic-horror-puzzle game where you gotta beat sheep at puzzles in your dreams because if you die in the dream, you die in real life, and you also have to decide which K/Catherine you want while simultaneously cheating on both of them because you're actually dating them both in secret. 

Now, you might be wondering why I would add a game like this and how I could possibly compare it to TWDG. 

Well, there’s a simple answer to that, but first, let me introduce you to Vincent and both the K/Catherines.

Vincent is an idiot and not very likable. He makes dumb choices and does dumb things, and a lot of times, it’s hard to feel sorry for him. Of course, him being the playable character, you can make him better or worse than this, to which he does get a lot better [and yet somehow more infuriating] as the game goes on. 

Love Interest #1: Katherine

Katherine went to high school with Vincent and they eventually started dating later in life. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Vincent, and she really, really wants to get married. Like... that’s the whole thing with Katherine: She wants to marry Vincent. 

But, oh no, Vincent doesn’t want to marry her because he’s afraid of commitment and anything adult-related and this irritates her, and that’s fair. 

But then suddenly she’s pregnant and that does nothing but make Vincent freak the fuck out. But then suddenly she’s not pregnant...? I dunno, that part always confused me. 

Overall, Katherine’s alright, but honestly, she’s not my cup of tea. I don’t really remember much about her from when I played the game except that she’s really persistent about marriage even though Vincent obviously isn’t mature enough or committed to her. 

Then we’ve got Catherine who is.... oooof. 

Love Interest #2: Catherine

Catherine’s some girl that Vincent meets when he gets drunk at a bar and ends up having a longtime affair with her over the course of the game. This Catherine is everything that Vincent wants in a girl, and he even says so himself, however, he can’t remember the time that he spends with her because, spoiler alert, she’s actually a succubus sent to seduce him. 

She’s immature, giggly, seductive, and kind of annoying and a little crazy, not gonna lie. She’s also my least favorite of the two. 

Those are your choices.

Now, your endings based on who you go with...

If Vincent goes with Catherine’s route and ditches Katherine, he literally becomes the King of Hell. 

I’m not even kidding. 

If you get the good Katherine ending, Vincent and Katherine get married and everything’s sunshine and rainbows, but in the good Catherine ending, he overthrows the current King of Hell and takes the throne with Catherine as his queen. 

Those are your endings. 

Sure, why not?

Now that I’ve told you a little bit about each of the girls and the outcomes of dating them, let me give you my simple answer to the question you may or may not have asked: 

Both of them are unlikeable and I didn’t want to romance either of them. 

That is a big problem in a game that is centered around Vincent growing up and deciding which girl he wants to be with and how that’ll affect the rest of his life!

Another big problem with these two girls and the story is the trope that makes all our eyes roll: Love Triangle.

Now, you might be wondering, “Well... CJ, aren’t all games that present two potential romances considered a love triangle?”

Great question. I believe that there are two types of love triangles: Tolerable and Insufferable. 

When I think of an insufferable love triangle, I think of Character A falling in love with both Character’s B and C, then proceeding to selfishly drag both along because they can’t decide which one they like better for the sake of adding conflict and drama to the plot. 

In Life is Strange, you can totally smooch both Chloe and Warren, but Warren is so forgettable that it feels like Max is just trying to see if she does actually like boys rather than “Oh man, do I like Chloe or Warren more? I can’t decide!” when she 100% decides on Chloe. This is tolerable because it doesn’t matter. 

In Persona 4, you can be a dingdong and date all of the girls [but not Yosuke because Atlus gets off on making me cry] in secret but then you get fucked over on Valentine’s day when you have to break each of the girls’ hearts because you can’t spend time with all of them without being found out as the world’s biggest cheater. That’s not a love triangle, that’s just the protagonist being a huge, cheating ho. 

In ANF, the love triangle is insufferable with David and Javi “fighting” for Kate’s affection and it sucks, as I’ve stated previously

In King’s Quest, they actually gave us a breath of fresh air: Regardless of who you choose, the other will be 100% supportive. If you romance Vee, Neese goes on to say how cute Vee and Graham are. There is no jealousy, there is no Graham being an idiot because he can’t decide which girl he likes better so he tries to romance them both. It’s more like he’s trying to get to know both of them and see which girl he connects with more. Tolerable love triangle. 

But in Catherine, that’s the story: Vincent can’t decide if he should stay with Katherine or pursue a new relationship with Catherine, so he continues to date both of them and be a big cheater. He eventually figures his shit out towards the end of the game based on your choices, but it’s still infuriating to watch him fuck things up more rather than coming clean to one of them and ending it. INSUFFERABLE. LOVE. TRIANGLE.

In TFS, this isn’t an issue because it’s tolerable. You can consider everything with Louis and Violet a love triangle because they both hold feelings for Clementine, but the difference is that Clementine can’t date both of them and then drag them through the mud with her stupid indecisiveness, which results in unnecessary drama and both of them being heartbroken. Alongside that, Louis and Violet won’t hate Clem or each other for her decision.

It’s similar to King’s Quest where Clementine takes the opportunities presented to her to get to know them both before pursuing the one she feels more fond of and wants to romance. 

Louis and Violet don’t get jealous, bitter, pouty, traitorous, or mean if you don’t pick them. I imagine they’re a little bummed because they really did like Clem, but it says a lot about their characters that they don’t lash out at Clementine and/or the one she’s dating. 

I mean, can you imagine?

When you break things off with Catherine, everything seems to go smooth until she runs to the bathrooms and then proceeds to beat the shit out of Vincent. 

Which yeah, he’s an idiot and you’re actually a succubus from Hell but damn! 

As for the other Katherine, she shows up and breaks up with Vincent like “Oh yeah btw I’m not actually pregnant so.... goodbye, have a nice life.”

So, at least she has a little more chill.

But I still don’t like her and that’s an issue! 

Do you want to know what my canon ending is for this game? The one where Vincent says fuck it and goes to outer space. He defeats the sheep dream demons, decides marriage isn’t for him, bets on a wrestling match, wins, and goes to fucking outer space. 

I decided that being alone in outer space was a better ending than being happily married to Katherine or becoming the King of Hell with Catherine. 

Because when it finally came for the game to end and I got one of the okay Katherine endings, I was so sick of both of them. I didn’t want to be with either of them, I wanted Vincent to be single. 

Can you IMAGINE feeling that way while playing TFS?

That was never an issue with Louis and Violet. 

I love them both, and I had no qualms with choosing an ending with Louis. 

Another thing that I do want to point out is, yes, I understand that the space ending is Vincent freeing himself and doing something he wants for once and that’s apart of his growth as a character. 

I also think that TFS did the whole “Main Protagonist doesn’t want romance so they don’t pursue it” perfectly and Louis and Violet are still amazing in that route, which I can’t really say the same for either of the K/Catherine’s. 

In conclusion: Louis and Violet are some of the most lovable love interests I’ve ever encountered in a game and while their respective endings weren’t perfect, they could’ve been a lot worse. 

Continued in Part 5

[fantasyfandommaiden]

Chloe’s Very Odd and Out of the Ordinary Week

Chloe’s week has been weird, and no she didn’t mean weird like magical terrorist weird but weird in a sense that she has been feeling… odd, and doing things out of the ordinary for her… Chloe recounts the week to the counsellor during their weekly session.

~~~~~~~~

It had all started three weeks after Hero’s Day. Chloe and Sabrina were walking around doing their usual Saturday window shopping session .Sabrina had introduce the concept to Chloe, who still found it weird that window shopping had less to do with shopping and more looking, but she didn’t complain much about it, it did give the two a chance to look at the stores they wouldn’t usually go into. 

As they walked by a series of stores, Sabrina talking about her latest competition that was coming up and how much she hoped that Chloe could attend again (Chloe would of course, she made a promise to herself to attend every single competition), when she felt an undeniable urge to stop and  look to the side.

It was some sort of new age store from the looks of it, the window display had some incense and tacky looking wooden boxes, as well as some rocks, nothing too spectacular but for some reason Chloe couldn’t bring herself to look away. 

Sabrina, having noticed her friend had suddenly stopped, looked at the store that she was looking at the sign with a raised brow “‘The Fae Circle’... do you want to go have a look?” she asked, looking at her friend with a big smile.

Chloe’s face scrunched up in a scowl, her go into some tacky new age store? She could already hear her mother belittle her and her father trying to appease both her and her mother and failing miserably. Besides, it was beneath her and so not her style… but she couldn’t bring herself to look away for some reason. 

“Why not.” she stated before she could stop herself, opening the door and walking in, Sabrina walking closely behind. 

The store smelled of strong incense, however wasn’t overly powerful. The shelves all had different nick nacks, as well as rocks and different other oddities. One of those oddities was the man behind the counter, who was reading a book, and only looked up when the bell over the door rang. 

He appeared to be in his early 30’s and had long brown hair that was done up with several braids that was pulled back into a half up half down hairstyle, and bushy eyebrows. Chloe noted that despite the bushy eyebrows, he had facial structure that almost reminded her of a fox, with a triangle face shape, ember colour eyes, and a slightly longer nose. He wore a vee-neck black shirt that had a pentagram on it, but the most noticeable thing about the man was his tattoos on both of his arms, depicting different symbols and circles. The man, who’s name tagged stated his name was Garrick, rose one eyebrow as he closed his book, looking at the two girls. 

“Welcome to the Fae Circle, can I help you two find anything?” he asked, his voice was very deep, and seemed to rumble through both girls souls. 

Chloe was the first to respond with a shake of her head “Just browsing.” she stated simply, looking around. Sabrina nodded enthusiastically, spying some books in the corner and went to have a look at those as Chloe continued to stand almost in the middle of the store, not knowing exactly where to go, or why she even felt like she needed to be in here. Not wanted, but needed. 

Garrick continued to look at Chloe with a raised brow, however quickly glanced over at Sabrina once in awhile as she looked at the books, probably making sure she wouldn’t try to steal any, before looking back at Chloe. She was probably not his usual clientele, but he hadn’t made a comment yet, so Chloe wasn’t about to either, even though she felt the urge to tell him to stop staring rise in her. When their eyes met again, she felt as if he was sending her a silent challenge to say something about it, instead however she just turned around and walked around the store.

She decided instead to let her feet guide her, walking around the store, not really looking at anything with any true interest, finding herself close to where Sabrina was, where some tarot cards, gemstones and something called ‘rune stones’ were displayed. Part of her kept looking at a yellow stones (the paper stated it was a citrine) because yellow WAS her colour afterall, but for some reason her eyes kept being drawn to the turquoise instead, which confused her. It wasn’t that she didn’t LIKE the stone, it was pretty after all, but she didn’t typically like blue unless it was her eye colour. 

She hadn’t even realised she had picked up the grape size stone and was looking at it more intentionally until Sabrina mentioned how pretty was. Chloe’s eyes widened as she placed it back on the shelf, but found herself still staring at it, placing it right beside a tiny black stone bead that was roughly the size of her pinkie nail. 

“You know.” a voice said suddenly behind them, causing both girls jumped and whirled around to see Garrick standing behind them, he still had a bored look on his face, however looked down at Chloe before back at the rock. “When a stone calls out to you, it means that it wants to help in some way.” 

Chloe looked at him with a skeptical expression “And let me guess, for the low price of three dollars it could be mine?”

Garrick acted as if he hadn’t heard the comment as he pointed back to the turquoise stone that Chloe had been examining “Turquoise is a powerhouse stone. It drives away malice thoughts and negativity, helping you think more clearly and productively.” he explained. “However, if your looking to keep malice away I would also recommend onyx, instead of driving it away it will absorb it and turns it into good energy.” he said, pointing to the small black bead that was beside the blue stone.

Chloe continued to look at him with a skeptical expression, having no doubt in her mind that he said this to every single customer who came in “Were just browsing.” Chloe stated again, turning around and walking away. 

They stayed in the store for a fairly long time, not even realising that nearly half an hour had passed. During the hour Chloe would sometimes glance back at Garrick, reading his book.

“We should get going soon.” Sabrina said, looking at her phone “Dad will want me home for dinner, which your invited to if you like!” 

“I’ll think about it���” Chloe said, as she glanced back at the shelf where the rock was… she didn’t know WHY she was tempted to buy it. It was a tiny rock, she could get bigger, more beautiful rocks from the internet, yet still… she glanced at Garrick who glanced up from his book with a raised brow. “... thank you.” she stated simply. 

Garrick gave them a nod of acknowledgement before looking back down at his book as they exited the store. 

~~~~

During the first day of school that week, Chloe was in a fowl mood. Her mother had attempted to ‘talk’ with Chloe and ended up just demeaning her more, and called her ‘Kara’. The expression on her face must have been clear because everyone in her path parted like the red sea as Chloe walked through the hallways. 

Chloe found herself in front of Mlle Regal’s office about to walk through the open door to complain to the woman about her shitty mother before she stopped herself at the sight of Mlle Regal sitting at her desk. She didn’t have her usual aura of calmness that always seemed present whenever you were around her, her face had a slight scowl to it, eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at her cellphone. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying…

Mlle Regal looked over, having spotted Chloe, giving a small tired smile. “Oh, good morning Chloe… is everything okay?” she asked softly, putting her cellphone down.

Chloe, as if on instinct, was about to go on a rant about how terrible her mother was and such but found herself stopping at the sight of the red haired woman’s expression. “Is everything okay with you?” Chloe asked, looking at the window as if expecting an akuma to appear. 

Mlle Regal blinked at the question, not used to hearing it come from Chloe before giving a small chuckle “Oh, its nothing. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” the counsellor said, placing the cellphone in her pocket.

“Why?” Chloe asked, persisting with her line of question. 

Mlle Regal paused for a moment, looking at Chloe before replying “My mother was admitted to the hospital last night.” she said “Nothing serious, it was just a kidney stone, but it was a bad one, so I was still fairly worried… I think I only got perhaps two hours of sleep last night…” 

Chloe looked at her in shock “Why didn’t you stay home than?! You cant function with that little sleep!” she exclaimed, striding in. She was going to force this woman to go home and sleep!

Mlle Regal gave her a small smile “Chloe, I once stayed up for 28 hours due to insomnia, I’ll be fine. I will just have to take a nap when I get home after work today.”

Chloe scowled at that comment, before walking straight past the woman to her tea shelf, looking at all of the tins of tea she had before she found the most caffeinated one, earl grey. Than Chloe grabbed the kettle, which had been at a full boil anyway, and began to make Mlle Regal her tea, the only goal in Chloe’s mind was ‘This had better keep her awake long enough until she gets home!’ repeating over and over again in her head.  Chloe handed Mlle Regal a large mug with the tea inside, giving the woman a stern look.

“You need to finish that, and keep having more until the end of the day, which you will go home when the bell rings” Chloe stated as Mlle Regal looked at her with an amused smile.

“Provided nothing happens today I plan to… is there something you want to talk about today Chloe?” she asked Chloe. The blonde remained silent, remembering the real reason she had come this morning. To complain about her mother, and she was about to, but then she saw the tired smile in Mlle Regal’s eyes and how her mother was in the hospital.

Chloe could be a down right bitch when she wanted to be, but she wasn’t going to be one to one of the few adults that Chloe respected, so she decided to think of something else.

“What do you know about rocks?” 

Carmine blinked at the question, looking at Chloe confused as she brought up her tea cup to take a sip of the tea “Sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous?” she asked, taking a sip of the tea only to stop and look down at the dark liquid with a confused expression on her face.

“Gemstones.” Chloe clarified. Mlle Regal still stared down at the tea, seeming lost in thought before looking at Chloe.

‘What kind of gemstone?” the counsellor asked, going to sit down at her desk as Chloe sat down as well. She had about ten minutes before she had to be in class.

“Turquoise.” 

Mlle Regal let out a soft hum, looking up to the ceiling as she thought “Well… it’s the birthstone of December, a beautiful blue colour, although I’ve heard it comes in yellow as well sometimes… why?”

“Some guy was trying to sell me on how they can ‘repel negativity’ or something like that.” Chloe said with an eye roll. 

The counsellor perked up slightly at that, smiling “Oh, it can. At least, that’s what it is believed to do.” Mlle Regal said smiling “It also promotes self-realisation, and assist with creative problem solving. I believe it also enhances the immune system and lungs, but I would have to double check one of my books to make sure.” she said smiling. 

Chloe just blinked, looking at the woman confused “... so wait, this is actually a thing?”

Mlle Regal continued to smile widely, standing up from her desk and walking to her book shelf “Oh yes, it most certainly is a ‘thing’. Each stone or gemstone is believed to have certain properties to assist with healing or purification.” she said, scanning the bookshelf with her finger as she looked at all the books “And I believe I have it… Here!” she pulled out a paperback book bringing it over to Chloe.

“This is ‘The Crystal Bible’, it has all of the stones that can be used for healing in it.” Mlle Regal said, flipping through several pages “Annnnd, yep! Turquoise is used to help with the lungs. See.” she turned the book around so Chloe could look at the page, which showed a turquoise stone and facts about it. 

Chloe just stared, gently taking the book and finding herself flipping through several of the pages. She was so entranced by it that the sound of the bell spooked her, making her almost drop it. 

“I’ve got to go to class!” she said, standing up, but glanced at the book in her hands.

Mlle Regal smiled “You can borrow it, just make sure you return it when your done.” she said, to which Chloe nodded before bolting out the door.

Carmine smiled, shaking her head as she sipped her tea again, looking down at it with a confused expression. 

She silently wondered why she felt her ‘second wind’ come on so fast, and almost didn’t notice how for the rest of the day she didn’t need as much tea as usual, however those thoughts went out the window when the moment she entered her apartment she fell asleep instantly on her couch as if by magic. 

~~~~~~~

For the next two days Chloe read the book that Mlle Regal loaned her. It was written in English, and luckily Chloe could speak and read English fluently (yet another failed attempt to get her mother’s attention, but still a skill that proved useful.)

She found it fairly interesting, which was weird. Chloe rarely enjoyed reading anything that wasn’t a magazine or a romance novel, or (even more secretly) manga, so the fact that she was essentially reading the equivalent of a textbook/encyclopedia and enjoying it was bizarra. 

Chloe actually looked through her jewelry box before going to school that day, and found that she HAD some of these stones embedded into some jewelry. She had some rose quartz, citrine, moonstone, and the like, which surprised her. She also found a very simple rose gold ring that had a small amethyst in it, she believed it was a gift from some distant relatives from a year or two ago. It wasn’t quite Chloe’s style (she preferred pure gold or silver over rose gold), but it was still fairly nice. 

Looking in the book told her that amethyst were used for intuition and protection, and were especially good if you were having a bad day. Chloe thought for a moment that if these actually work how everyone in Paris should have amethyst on them than, and placed the ring into a small ring box she had with the intent to give it to Sabrina. 

Arriving at school Chloe found that Sabrina wasn’t there, and checking her text message found out that she had a dentist appointment and would probably be there just before second period, and could Chloe possibly take notes during first so she wouldn’t fall behind? Chloe rolled her eyes, texting back a simple thumbs up, walking up the stairs as she walked towards the locker room to drop off her stuff into her locker and go to class.

Like clockwork class started with Marinette barely making it into the class before her name was called, Chloe would usually ignore her but found that the dark haired girl seemed… off. Mlle Bustier must have noticed too, because she asked if she was fine, but Marinette insisted she was fine, walking to her sit.

Chloe looked at Marinette with a neutral expression before looking back to the front, taking notes but not taking in the information, her thoughts elsewhere. Besides for Adrien, Marinette was the only one in class to not get akumatized, which was a feat in it of itself considering how Chloe had been akumatized twice now, three times if you counted Hero’s Day with the Red Hawkmoth. 

She had a feeling, deep down, that IF Marinette was upset enough to get akumatized, she would be a tough one. Like Syren, Evillustrator or even Stormy Weather levels of tough, maybe even more powerful than Queen Wasp (although Chloe loathed to admit that). Marinette was smart and creative, she thought outside the box and could think twelve steps ahead of everyone; she of course would be no match for her idol Ladybug, but she could probably take out Chat Noir with ease…

If she could take out Chat Noir with ease than that meant Ladybug would need help again. She may need Queen bee. Chloe felt her grip on her pen tightened as this thought crossed her mind. 

‘She doesn’t pick me as often because she always says Queen Bee isn’t needed, but I KNOW Marinette personally, I would be a great ally, than after beating Dupain Cheng Ladybug would see how well I do and let me keep my Miraculous and Pollen! Than I could be a hero FULL TIME! That would be amazing!’ a wide smile spread across her face as she tried to think of how to push the poor girl over the edge to be akumatized but stopped herself, a feeling of disgust going through her. ‘... but if Ladybug found out I let this happen, she would hate me…’ 

Chloe looked over at Marinette, who still seemed down, she barely heard the whispered between her and Alya about some person making rude comments about Marinette’s instagram posts that were racist or something along those lines, and Chloe scowled slightly, glancing at her bag beside her, a thought occurred to her. She hated the thought, she really did, but if she was going to prove she was a ‘good’ person, she might as well do it. 

Once class ended Chloe stood up so abruptly that it caused everyone to pause, as if waiting for her to say something as Chloe walked straight up to Marinette, who looked at her with a tired expression. “Chloe, I’m really not in the mood-” 

“You have a neutral tone, good.” Chloe stated, digging into her bag and bringing out the ring box “I’m donating all of my unused jewelry to people to make room for my NEW collection coming next week. I planned to give this to Sabrina, but she doesn’t wear rings often so here.” Chloe stated, forcefully placing the ring box into Marinette’s hands. Marinette glared at Chloe and looked to be about to say something before Chloe cut her off with “I also hear that amethyst apparently helps keep negativity away and gives protection or something like that if you believe it. Last thing we need is YOU getting akumatized.” she said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder as she walked away.

Marinette could only stare at Chloe, before opening the box seeing the rose gold ring with the amethyst stone. It was a very simple, understated ring, very Marinette style.

If Chloe noticed that Marinette was wearing the ring on her index finger during second period, she didn’t say anything about it, and if Marinette found that her thoughts were clearer and that the negative comments on her Instagram didn’t bother her as much, she didn’t say anything either. 

~~~~~~~

That Thursday was the day where Chloe and Sabrina were going to go get a pedicure and manicure, and a hair appointment (both Chloe and Sabrina needed a trim, even though Chloe had stated that Sabrina would probably look AMAZING with some layers.) However their plans when cut short on the count of the fact that someone was following them, and it wasn’t one of Chloe’s bodyguards or her butler. 

She only caught them looking at the two of the because of the reflection on a store window, but she saw the intense way he stared at the two of them, and Chloe instantly felt a sense of danger at the sight. Chloe scowled slightly, linking arms with Sabrina and began to walk briskly down the street.

 “Were being followed.” she stated simply, and instantly Sabrina matched her stride as the walked down the fairly busy street. The man actually had the gule to follow them, Chloe was just letting her feet carried her down the street, trying to think of a plan. 

She knew that if they stayed to a busy street, the man wouldn’t try anything, but you could never be too careful. If she had the Bee Miraculous she would just sting them… or would that be an abuse of power? Chloe and Sabrina had to stop at a crosswalk as the light had turned red, causing Chloe to silently curse, noting now that not only was there a man following them but also a dark coloured car.

At times like this she really wished she could think as fast as Ladybug when coming up with plans, heck she almost wished she could think as fast as Marinette. Chloe bit her lip, looking at Sabrina as she gripped her arm, she needed a plan, a distraction, something!

The same feeling she had on Saturday occurred, the same odd, unexplainable feeling telling her to look to the side, so she did, and saw the figure of a man walking down the street away from them, with long hair half done in braids, and tattoos all over his arms. ‘Perfect.’ Chloe though as she pivoted on her feet, all but dragging Sabrina down the street with her. ‘What was his name again? Greg… Geralt… Garfield… Garry-’ the name finally occurred to her.

“Garrick!” she called out to him. The man stopped, looking over his shoulder lazily, seeing the two girls all but run up to him. Chloe resisted the urge to scowl when she noted that the man was smoking a cigarette as he looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow “Were being followed.” Chloe stated to him, glancing behind her to see the man and the car still approaching. 

Garrick raised an eyebrow “... And?” he asked, flicking the ashes off the end of his cigarette. He didn’t seem impressed with the two of them, which made Chloe grow in frustration. In her mind she was still trying to figure out who the men were after, she knew most likely it was her, but Sabrina was the daughter of a police officer so she was likely too. 

Chloe glared at him, shoving Sabrina towards him “Just keep an eye on her will you!” she snapped, turning around as the man came up, trying to appear all kind and nice.

“Ah, Chloe! There you are! Your father asked me to come get you!” 

“Never seen you in my life. Leave.” Chloe snapped back, the man’s face noticeably twitching slightly. 

“Now, Chloe, there is no need for that. He asked me to get you and your friend back to the hotel-”

“And I said leave!” Chloe snapped back, but before a yelling match could occur the sound of a camera going off was heard, and both turned to see Garrick with his phone out, having taken a picture of what Chloe assumed was the man, still looking utterly bored.

“Sir, kindly don't take my picture”

“Shut up.” Garrick stated simply, his cigarette between his lips as he typed something into his phone “And sent.” 

The man seemed panicked slightly “W-Who did you send that to?!”

“My friend in the police department.” Garrick stated “Harrassing two teenage girls after being told repeatedly to fuck off is harassment you know.”

“I work with her father-”

“For crying out loud, I told you to shut the fuck up. Listen will you.” Garrick stated, stepping forward so that he stood in front of Chloe “Hey, you know this punk?” he asked Chloe as she scowled.

“Never seen him before in my life. I want him to leave me and Sabrina alone, and his freaky friend in the car too!” 

Garrick looked lazily over to said car that was waiting idely by about 20 feet away, letting out a groan “For fuck sake this is so fucking annoying.” he said, taking a long drag of his cigarette, muttering something about troublesome people who can just let things be. 

“Okay, here is what you are going to do-”

“I’m just trying to do my job”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Garrick stated, exhaling some smoke from his nose as he looked at the man “Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to go to your friends in that car, turn yourselves in for whatever nefarious plans you planned against these girls, and never, ever, try this again.” the man all but commanded as he took another long drag from his cigarette, before blowing the smoke into the mans face. “Got it?”

 Chloe must have been seeing things because she could have sworn that the smoke as well as the embers at the end of his cigarette seemed to be blue in colour, but that thought quickly went away as she saw the man’s face turned ghost white as he dashed back to the van, ripped open the door and got in.

The van then drove away from the group, Chloe and Sabrina could only stare in shock as Garrick flicked the ashes off the end of his cigarette. “Man, what a bunch of idiots, trying something like that in broad daylight? Fucking morons.” he muttered, looking at the two girls. “... So why did you come to me? For all you know I could have been apart of that ragtag group.”

Chloe puffed her chest up a bit, taking a step forward as she glared at him, trying to make herself look at intimidating as possibly, which was hard since he was easily two feet taller than her, and looked at her with a very unimpressed expression. “You were nowhere near the guys following us, you had no way of knowing I would even bother trying to get your help, and besides, I knew you wouldn’t do that.” 

Garrick looked at her with a raised brow, bringing the cigarette to his lips again “Oh really? How?”

Chloe was silent for a moment, before responding “I just did.” 

Garrick remained quiet for a moment, looking Chloe up and down, not in a perverted way but as if he was assessing her for something. Chloe wasn’t sure what he was looking for, or if he found it as he blew the smoke out of the side of his mouth, away from Chloe. She noted that although he was smoking, it didn’t smell like tobacco but instead of… green tea? “Interesting… okay. What are your plans now?” 

Chloe looked back at Sabrina, who seemed a little shaken up, before back at Garrick “Were going back to your store to wait for our parents to pick us up.” Sabrina gently elbowed Chloe’s side as the blonde haired girl tacked on a quick “If that’s alright.” 

Garrick gave an indifferent shrug, licking his index finger as before placing the still burning cigarette on it to extinguish it and tossing it in a trash can “Sure, why not.”

~~~~~

The last ‘odd’ thing that happened was on Friday, the day that Chloe would go see Mlle Regal for their weekly session. Adrien had brought in his new hamster, who was just hanging out on the desk with Adrien giving it a small head scratch with his finger as he spoke with Nino. It was so cute, that Chloe couldn’t help but take a picture!

She brought out her top of the line Sony camera (which she was now always seen with) and took a picture of it, the main focus being Adrien and his hamster. She would forever be jealous of how photogenic her best friend was, even when he didn’t know he was getting his picture taken.

She brought the camera away from her face to examine the picture on the screen but froze at what she saw. Behind Adrien was some sort of greenish purple mist with fleck of orange, and the mist seemed to form some sort of person… the mist was originating from the hamster. 

“Oh my goodness Chloe!” Sabria whispered spying the photo on the display  “That photo is so cute! Adrien looks so happy! Will you show him later?”

Chloe looked at her friend shocked “It… doesn’t look weird?” she asked uncertainty. Surely her friend saw the weird mist thing?

Sabrina blinked, looking at the photo again “No? I mean, the lightning is probably not ideal, but overall I think it looks good.” she said softly “... Why?”

Chloe gulped slightly, gently gripping her camera “... Its nothing.” she said simply as the final bell rang. Chloe shot up from her chair, grabbed her bag “I’ll talk to you later Sabrina! I’ve got to go!” she said, racing to the counsellors office, getting scolded by several teachers to slow down but she didn’t listen. 

She hurriedly knocked on Mlle Regal’s door, hurriedly opening it before the woman had a chance to even finish calling out that it was open. Chloe walked into the office, closing the door and locking it, looking at the red haired woman who looked back at her confused.

“Chloe, is everything alright?”

“No. No I don't think so. Please tell me what you see when you look at this picture!” Chloe said, handing the woman her camera, who took it gingerly and looked at the display picture first with a neutral expression. 

Chloe observed as Mlle Regal’s face from from neutral, to a confusion, than shock as she looked at Chloe with a look of utter bewilderment “... Did you take this picture?” 

Chloe could only nod, as Mlle Regal looked back down at the camera. “Has anyone else seen this picture?”

Chloe bit her bottom witch, feeling nervous by how calm Mlle Regal was being. Could she see it or not? Why wasn’t she freaking out? Or was she freaking out on the inside and Chloe couldn’t see it. “Sabrina did, but she didn’t seem to react to the… thing in the photo.” 

Mlle Regal nodded, leaning back in her chair, appearing deep in thought, her fingers drumming against her desk, the only sound in the room the gentle clicking of her nails against the wood. 

Finally the woman spoke “Chloe, could you give me a copy of the photo?” she asked, looking at the blonde haired girl, her expression unreadable. 

Chloe looked at her, slowly nodded “Of course, but what is it?”

“Well, I have a feeling I know what it is, but I need to show it to someone first for confirmation, if that is alright…” Mlle Regal took a deep breath “And if turns out my suspicions are correct, then we need to talk.”