#love them miss them would it kill them to come to virtual class (probably i get it stay safe kids)

[tracybirds]

It’s not 2am I refuse to accept that lol.... what started with me projecting onto Brains because I am very anti-vacuum cleaner and loud sudden noises, morphed into listen to me Brains and Jeff are FRIENDS, they’re BEST FRIENDS, he asked him to live on the ISLAND with his family (Brains is family)

So this is Brains having a problem with loud noises and Jeff helping him out

---------------------------

Brains shut the door firmly. He spent so much time in the depths of the volcano, underneath nearly three hundred metres of solid basalt, that he’d forgotten how loud the Tracy family really was. Forgotten their penchant for sudden bangs and explosive arguments when the mood took them.

He’d known them for years, first met Jeff and Lucille back before even Gordon was born. Without noticing, somehow his invitations to dinner and birthday parties grew and grew until he found himself folded into the line up as naturally as any other member. He might have once been surprised to find a place made for him on Tracy Island, his own opinions sought after and his wants and desires for his own space taken as seriously as anyone else’s, but upon reflection the transition had been the most seamless in his life.

He couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

But right now, between shaking hands and chattering teeth, he’d rather be anywhere but here.

His study was a place rarely frequented. He much preferred the cavernous space of his workshop, where he could jump between theory and practice and the only sound was that of muttered calculations echoed back to him with his own voice. But with Jeff back (and wasn’t he thrilled to be working with his old friend again), dreaming up new ideas for the dozen, it only made sense to temporarily relocate back to the room next door.

He winced as a chair scraped overhead again. Indistinct conversation filtered down and he glanced over to check the windows were shut fast. How Jeff was working, totally oblivious, as beyond him. Every sound tore into Brains’ skin.

He rummaged through the drawers, searching for the headphones that would provide even a moment of relief.

Above him, the floor creaked ominously and he could hear Virgil and Gordon’s scattered laughter.

The villa suddenly seemed very small.

A gentle whirring grabbed his attention, and Brains looked up to see MAX in front of him, headphones in his grip.

“Thank you, mm-MAX,” he said with a tight smile and lowered them over his ears.

He could hear his echoing heartbeat, beating wildly and amplified by the full coverage of his ears, and he grimaced at the sound.

But a choice between the unexpected screeches from above and the steady sound of living was no contest.

Brains steadied his breath and stared blankly at the blueprints he was working on. He could hardly remember what they were for. Some kind of energy dampener?

He placed his glasses down on the desk and rubbed at his eyes. The thumping was only getting louder and faster and the headphones themselves were becoming a problem – the synthetic cushioning sticky and hot against his skin.

He could still hear the boys above.

His fingers fumbled with software, searching for something tolerable to drown out the sound. Music burst through to his eardrums and instinctively he ripped their source away, and the sounds of Tracy villa fell in on him at full force.

Gritted teeth, eyes squeezed tight, hands drilling his ears into his skull as though they could be removed, and all because of noise that couldn’t be helped and that he couldn’t ask to be stopped.

Not fair, he thought, not fair to them and certainly not fair to him.

***

Brains’ door was shut. That pulled Jeff up short, his hand hovering over the door knob as he frowned at it as though it had closed itself of its own accord. Brains’ door was never shut.

Jeff could still remember the gentle welcome he’d given his sons when they first met, answering all their questions about his lab and what exactly his job was. How he’d taken one look at Jeff, overwhelmed with the care of only three children while his pregnant wife rushed home to care for her dying mother and invited him and his overly-excited children home for tea. Even back in Tracy Industries, Jeff had been given unrestricted access to Brains’ office and he liked to think it wasn’t simply because Brains couldn’t say no to his boss.

He knew very well how incorrect that statement was.

Jeff reached out and knocked on the door.

There was no reply.

Faintly, Jeff could hear the faint beeps of MAX inside and that only puzzled him more. MAX never seemed to leave Brains’ side in one form or another, but neither did he sound distressed. He thought. Jeff was still learning how to tell the moods of a robot apart.

Another loud whoop echoed down the stairs and he glanced up, partially amused but mostly exasperated. With some time off, Scott and Gordon had taken it upon themselves to teach Alan poker and if there was anything that Scott and Gordon knew how to do quietly – well, it wasn’t poker.

From the sounds of things, Alan had hit a streak of beginner’s luck and Scott, still swearing above him, was on the losing end.

He laughed to himself and lightly pushed open the door, poking his head to try and spot his friend.

His smile dropped almost instantly.

“Brains? Are you alright?”

A redundant question, immediately answered without a word as Jeff took in the clenched jaw and involuntary gasps for air.

“Okay, okay,” he muttered to himself, reluctant to startle Brains further or make whatever this was worse by touching him. Because this was surely something new. Or something hidden and private that he had no intention of revealing to the rest of his raucous family.

A chair fell with a loud bang above them and Jeff jumped. Brains seemed to curl even further in on himself and as the squabbling grew louder and louder above them, Jeff realised what the problem was.

“Brains, I’ll be right back,” he promised, before striding upstairs, worry turning what had been exasperation into real anger.

“Boys,” he growled, his voice cutting through the argument. Three startled pairs of eyes met his, and Jeff tried to cool the white-hot fury into mere annoyance.

“Outside. Or your rooms, I don’t care which.”

Gordon scoffed at him.

“You can’t send us to our rooms.”

Jeff whirled on him, the fire stoked in his glare.

“On second thoughts,” said Gordon cheerfully, tugging Alan in front of him. “I was just gonna go for a swim. What do you say, Alan?”

Jeff watched the two race away and turned to face Scott, his arms crossed and scowling openly.

“What was that for?” he demanded. “We were just playing cards, what’s the big idea?”

“You’re just being too damn loud,” Jeff said with a grunt, turning towards the stairwell.

Then again, he reflected, it wasn’t entirely their fault. Clearly, whatever was going on downstairs wasn’t something they’d known to be aware of.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” muttered Scott. “If you say so.”

Jeff ignored him, already halfway down the stairs with his main objective cleared.

He slipped back into the room, pleased to see Brains’ breathing was much less erratic.

“Brains?”

“Mmm, y-yes Jeff?”

He stepped forward and laid a hesitant hand on Brains’ shoulder.

“You’re still shaking,” he said quietly. “What was that?”

“Nn-nothing.”

Jeff snorted.

“At least look me in the eye when you lie to me, Brains. Come on, I know you better than that.”

Brains pursed his lips together, still avoiding Jeff’s gaze, and it suddenly struck Jeff that his friend might not want to tell him about his problems.

Eight years was a long gap in friendship.

“It’s okay,” he said at last, as the silence stretched out into uncomfortable awkwardness. “You really don’t have to say. I’ve just never seen you like that before.”

“Yes, you have.”

Jeff looked at him in surprise, unsure of the conviction in Brains’ eyes.

“Then I don’t remember,” he admitted slowly, casting his mind over fragile, faded memory.

“Help m-me over to that sss-sofa.”

Jeff followed his directions without protest, still watching him carefully until Brains was lying down on the sofa with a sigh.

He reached out and handed over the blue frames instinctively and pulled up a chair as Brains peered at him through them.

“Adrenaline crash,” he said, by way of explanation and gesturing at himself. Sss-sorry Jeff, it g-got a little out of hand.”

“What is ‘it’?”

Brains waved a dismissive hand.

“I hope you didn’t g-go up and yell at the b-boys,” he said. “It’s really not their ff-fault. I just have a hard time with too mm, m-much noise, or the wrongs kinds nowadays.”

“Why?” asked Jeff, trying not to feel too guilty over having done just that.

Brains smiled tiredly.

“T-t-turns out, it’s really rather traumatising to watch your ff-friend explode on a live-feed in f-front of you.”

Chills raced over Jeff’s skin, all seeming to find entry into his heart. His breath caught in his throat and he found it was his turn to be bent over with his friend’s guiding hand on his back.

“Sorry,” he gasped. “Worse for you than it was for me.”

“Yes, you’re right Jeff,” said Brains drily. “There are no lasting effects from the mm-moment that ripped your f-family from you and f-forced you to survive in the m-most hostile environment with no hope of return. Mm-my m-mistake.”

Jeff laughed weakly.

“You got me there,” he admitted, rubbing his chest to try ease some of the tension. “But at least we’re not alone on this one. I’ll tell the boys to check neither of us are working before they play anymore poker.”

“And next time, they could ask us to join,” said Brains with a grin. “I don’t think they know what a g-good team we m-made.”

“Good cheats, you mean.”

“Well, of course, what’s the difference?”

Jeff laughed, thumping on his shoulder.

“Get some rest, Brains. Strategise later.”

[ibijau]

Counterfeit AU pt6 / On AO3

Meng Yao makes himself useful after losing his job, and discovers something unexpected

Names are funny things, Meng Yao thinks as he stares at the sheet of paper in his hand. 

Funny things indeed.

-

After everything that went down in the Hanshi, it's Beastie that saves Meng Yao from himself.

Left to his own devices, he would have either wallowed in misery, or waste time proving to himself that everything that happened wasn't his fault, the way he knows he's done in other lives. But when he comes home after having his past lives thrown into his face and losing a job he loves, Beastie’s mother corners him just as he puts his key into his lock. Her daughter is on school holiday, she explains, and was supposed to be looked after by a friend with children of a similar age. But one of the children came down with something contagious, so the whole plan fell through, and the poor woman now desperately needs help finding someone to look after her daughter.

She’s not asking for Meng Yao to play the babysitter, but he knows so many people, he has so many connections, maybe he could pull a favour somewhere, help her out again.

“I can take care of her for a few days,” Meng Yao offers without thinking. “I’m jobless as of today.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! What happened?”

“My employer died,” Meng Yao replies, which is close enough to the truth. He doesn’t think Nie Huaisang will continue using his Shanzi alias after this, and they’ll never meet again. He might as well be dead. “I don’t plan on looking for a new job right away, so I can babysit for a while, it’s no big deal.”

She tries to insist that he doesn’t need to be doing that, but quickly agrees after some reassurance that Meng Yao doesn’t mind. She looks so relieved she could cry as she says she’ll drop Beastie in the morning. Meng Yao smiles, certain that his mother would be proud of him for doing what’s right.

Having Beastie around is definitely the best choice he could have made. She’s a good kid, but she’s also high energy and needs to be entertained, which means he doesn’t get to think too much about how much he misses Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen. 

They watch movies together, as they’ve always done when he picked her up after school. They go for walks to a nearby park, and once to a museum to look at old armours and swords. He buys Beastie a fake sword, though they agree to keep it at his place, since her mother already despairs that she so strongly favours boy’s toys. In fact, Meng Yao ends up just spoiling that little girl, the way he would have loved someone to do for him when he was her age. He even has Nie Huaisang’s console repaired so she can play on it, instead of selling it as he’d intended.

The video games are a big hit with her. She’s particularly in love with the same game Nie Huaisang spent too many hours on, that weird little terraforming thing which Meng Yao can’t see the appeal of. He liked that it made Nie Huaisang happy. He likes that it also makes Beastie happy, and that she’s very careful not to ruin the work previously put into it, focused instead on maintaining it and planting flowers

“It looks like home,” she explains when Meng Yao asks about that, and lifts the console for him to see.

It doesn’t look like a homely place, he thinks, and more like a military fortress right out of a wuxia drama. But Meng Yao doesn’t get to make that remark, because his phone vibrates, demanding his attention. Beastie, sitting crossed legs on some cushion on the floor, goes back to watering virtual flowers, while Meng Yao checks some news from his bank account. A lump sum has been sent to him, a good deal more than his usual salary, coming from an account registered under a name he doesn’t recognise.

It has been a week since he was fired.

Nie Huaisang kept his promise.

It really is over.

Not that Meng Yao really doubted it. Nie Huaisang has many faults but indecision has never been one, though he’s always been good at pretending otherwise. Once his choice is made he toys with expectations but rarely ever changes his mind.

Rarely, of course, isn’t never. Meng Yao, foolishly, hoped to be one of those few exceptions. 

Those new zeroes on his bank account feel like a divorce, and he never even got a honeymoon. 

That night, Meng Yao allows himself a few hours to wallow in misery, after Beastie went back to her mother. He is only human, and it does feel good to eat take-away in front of a cheesy romance. The film's hero doesn't get the girl, who was dead all along. Meng Yao cries, even though he's seen that movie before. 

By morning, he's in control again, and takes Beastie to the park so she can run around in the sun, and scare pigeons with her sword.

Those holidays are all great fun, until Beastie’s mother reminds them that she has homework to do.

Beastie is a clever kid, there’s no doubt about it, but she doesn’t much like doing her homework, least of all when she feels she could be playing. It takes all of Meng Yao’s negotiation skills to get her to even look at her school books, and he almost resorts to bribery to make her pick up a pencil. But she works hard once she starts, and Meng Yao, wanting to encourage her, sits with her at the kitchen table to update his resume. Beastie will go back to class soon, and inactivity just isn’t in his temper.

When Beastie is done with her work, she gets permission to put on whatever movie she likes while Meng Yao checks what she’s done in case it needs correcting.

But when he picks up the sheet of simple maths she’s expected to give her teacher on monday, all Meng Yao sees is her name.

It’s really funny. He knows her name of course, though he hasn’t heard it in a while. Even her mother took up to calling her Beastie after he nicknamed her that. It just fits her so well, that active little girl who prefers trousers over dresses because they're easier to move in and always wants to play at fighting. She’s a real little monster, and Meng Yao loves her like that. She’s just Beastie.

But according to the homework she’s spent the afternoon on, she’s also Nie Mingjue.

It could just be a coincidence. Names are funny like that, they pop up in unexpected places, they get forgotten and reused. Perhaps in another life, Meng Yao would have just dismissed it as a random incident.

In another life, he wouldn’t have been called Meng Yao.

It’s the first time this happens since that first life they all shared. He’s Meng Yao again, Lan Xichen bears his old name too, and now he’s found a Nie Mingjue, hiding right under his nose. A Nie Mingjue who likes fighting, and claims that her toy sword is actually a sabre, and who always insists a lot on things being fair, even when Meng Yao tries to give her the biggest share of a food she likes.

It can’t be a coincidence.

Meng Yao needs to tell someone.

He needs to tell Nie Huaisang.

He tries, of course, and without surprise his former employer’s number has been terminated. He has the same luck trying to send an email. Nie Huaisang might as well never have existed. Meng Yao feels helpless, torn between tears and laughter. After spending centuries looking for his brother, Nie Huaisang just might have lost his chance due to being so damn dramatic. Serves him right, Meng Yao thinks, still bitter about being discarded so easily, and never getting a chance to see if things might work better in this life.

Bitterness doesn’t last. Meng Yao cares about Nie Huaisang, more than he should if he were a little smarter, and he knows how important finding his brother again would be for him. And if Nie Huaisang can’t be directly contacted, there’s always indirect ways.

It’s not that Meng Yao misses Lan Xichen, he tells himself that night, when Beastie is back with his mother and he starts writing a long text message on his phone. Well, it’s not just that, anyway. He does miss Lan Xichen, sweet and funny and so eager when talking about art. But more importantly, Lan Xichen probably has access to Lan Wangji, who clearly must know how to contact Nie Huaisang. 

Texting Lan Xichen is a strategic choice. 

The way Meng Yao's heart jumps inside his chest when Lan Xichen immediately replies is… it's strategic too. He's just glad that his plan is working. 

How have you been? :)

I could have been worse. I've just realised something and I think it concerns you. I've told you about that kid I babysit, haven't I? 

Little Beastie? Is she okay? D:

She's Nie Mingjue. 

This time, the answer isn't immediate. Meng Yao stares nervously at his phone, wondering if Lan Xichen thinks he's lying, or planning something. Considering their first life, who could blame him? 

But after a few minutes, his phone vibrates again. 

Sorry, I dropped my phone and couldn't get it back from under the couch. Are you sure?? (⊙ˍ⊙)

It all fits. You could come meet her if you want. But it's him, I'm sure. 

Did you tell Nie Huaisang???

I can't contact him. Are you in touch with Lan Wangji? Maybe he can warn him. 

I have his number, I just texted him! I'll keep you updated! It's so wonderful if it's da-ge!! Can I really meet him? ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Her*?

I'll send you my address. If you can come tomorrow, she'll be there.

Are you sure? I don't think da-ge would still want me around. (≧﹏ ≦)

Meng Yao gives that question the consideration it deserves. It's not an unfair worry to have, and he'd be wondering the same if he hadn't known Beastie for so long. 

I literally killed him, and he killed me. If she had to hate anyone it'd be me, but we get along great. We're no longer the same people we used to be. It's the same for her. 

If you're sure, then I'll come! (❁´w`❁)

-

Meng Yao is very sure indeed. 

So Lan Xichen comes. 

It's odd to invite someone to his flat. It's a small place, a bit messy, full of trinkets and DVDs that Meng Yao would never admit to owning, not with the image he wants to create. He's always avoided guests. But having Lan Xichen over is as rewarding as it is terrifying. Lan Xichen brought some charming little cakes, as if he's visiting someone important, and he smiles at the sight of a movie poster on the wall, confessing he watched it so often as a teenager that the tape broke one day. 

"It's my favourite too!" Beastie exclaims. "Meng-ge has it, you know! Can we watch it now?" 

Normally, Meng Yao would point out that it's a little rude to ask that when they have a guest. But he can see that Lan Xichen is nervous and unsure how to act around Nie Mingjue, and maybe a movie will let them all relax. 

In the end, they spend a pleasant afternoon, the three of them. Once Lan Xichen stops worrying that the Nie Mingjue of old will appear and shout at him for getting him killed, he starts chatting with Beastie about her favourite movies, what she's learning in school, what she wants to be when she grows up. She's very happy to answer, and very impressed when he explains he's a teacher, even though she's finding it hard to accept that most of his students are fully adult.

And when Beastie is back with her mother, Lan Xichen lingers for a while, tempted by the offer of Meng Yao's favourite takeaway.

“It’s amazing how much like him she is,” Lan Xichen says as they sit on the sofa to wait for the food to arrive. “It’s the first time he reincarnates, you know. At least, Wangji told me they’d never found any trace of him before.”

Guilt shoots through Meng Yao. It’s his fault if Nie Mingjue’s soul was so fractured it took him this long to be reborn. Or at least, it’s the fault of someone he was, once, which is nearly the same, and yet completely different. Meng Yao has learned from living and dying several times, and he’s lucky enough to live in a kinder world than Jin Guangyao did. It helps.

“She’s also different from him, though,” Lan Xichen continues, moving just a little closer, until they’re almost touching.

“We’ll, for starters she’s a kid,” Meng Yao points out, wondering if he should take the other man’s hand. If this had happened before the Hanshi, he would have, but he’s not sure where they stand now.

“It’s not just that. In that first life, I knew da-ge as a child too and he was…” Lan Xichen sighs and makes a vague hand gesture. “He was a lot. Way too serious sometimes. We all were, I suppose, but him most of all. The Nie tended to grow fast, to compensate for dying young. I’m… I’m glad that he gets to properly be a child this time. That she gets to be a child.”

“The world has changed,” Meng Yao says, finding the courage at last to brush his fingers against Lan Xichen’s. “Things aren’t always easy but they’re… easier, I suppose.”

Lan Xichen’s returns that touch, gentle and careful as always. This, too, is easier now than it was back then. It’s not easy, but there’s less pressure to conform, less demands to be good dutiful sons, and just a little more space to be their own people, to make their own choices.

Maybe in their next life they’ll meet again and it’ll be even easier to be like this. But even now, Meng Yao is ready to take the chances that his past self wouldn’t have dared to dream of. He leans toward Lan Xichen, hoping to kiss him, but a knock on the door interrupts them and he jumps to his feet to go get their food. The delivery man looks at him a little funny, but makes no comment. If Meng Yao is half as red as Lan Xichen, he deserves those odd looks.

Nothing happens again that night. The moment has passed, and after eating, Lan Xichen has to go home because he has engagements the day after that he can’t cancel.

It's not a date that night, no more than any of their previous encounters were. 

It's not a date then, but next time, when Lan Xichen invites him to a restaurant, Meng Yao is informed in no unclear terms that this is, in fact, a date. They go see a movie after, and Meng Yao gets to kiss one of the two most handsome men in the world.

Life is good. 

Life is really good, and yet Meng Yao wants more. 

In spite of their efforts, Lan Xichen and him can't get in touch with Nie Huaisang to inform him that his brother has finally reincarnated. Even Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are getting worried. From what they told Lan Xichen they haven't had any contact with him since the day they picked him up at the Hanshi. 

"They say he's done that before," Lan Xichen tells him. "They think he'll return in a decade or two, maybe a little longer. Time is hard for immortals, they lose track easily." 

That's all very well for them, but Meng Yao doesn't have a few decades to waste, and neither does Nie Mingjue. They're not immortals. One bad illness, a reckless driver, just tripping in the stairs, and it's all over until they reincarnate again, and Meng Yao is done with missed chances. 

If he can't directly get in touch with Nie Huaisang, Meng Yao can make a few discreet calls to former buyers, and advise them to get their purchase asserted again, just in case. He makes sure to only contact people who bought legitimate artworks of course. He wants to make a wave, not get in trouble. If Meng Yao knows Nie Huaisang even half as well as he thinks he does, then even in hiding Nie Huaisang will be checking what’s happening in the world of art collectors, and he’ll hear about some of his buyers suddenly becoming fearful of fakes.

It’s a little mean perhaps, when Nie Huaisang is so proud of his counterfeits, but kindness has never been Meng Yao’s greatest quality.

Besides, it works.

One afternoon, when Meng Yao is alone at home, checking a job offer that he’s probably going to reject because he deserves better, there’s a knock on the door. Meng Yao considers ignoring it, but some of his elderly neighbours have been coming to ask for help with their phones or whatever new fancy blender their kids got them to make life easier. Usually, five minutes of easy work means free homemade food for his next meal, which is always a great deal.

When he opens the door, there’s a very old man waiting in the corridor alright, but free food is probably out of the question.

“Well, I’m here,” Nie Huaisang says. “Whatever is going on, it’d better be important.”

[hopeymchope]

How would you rank the 18 Class Trials from THH, DR2, and V3 from worst to best?

This is... virtually impossible for me, lol. Comparing the trials from each game to each other?

How about I just rank them within each game? That'll make it a little easier for me to deal with...

DR1

6) 5th. It's driven by lies and ultimately rushed to its end before the characters can draw any solid (pointless/meaningless) conclusions. So of course it's last for this game, and it’s probably last for the entire series as well. If there are any saving graces to this trial, it’s the surprise when your closest ally is willing to let our protagonist die... and that this trial contains the fake/bad ending route.

5) 3rd. Although the main culprit is pretty obvious from the jump, it requires some surprising twists to explain how everything got to be the way it turned out. But did I always find those twists plausible? Errrrm... not really. 

4) 2nd. Pretty good trial that's hurt for me by the fact that there'd barely be any need for a trial at all if a certain third party didn't dick around with the evidence for no reason. Also, the dual nature of Toko is an incredibly predictable reveal. Without those two aspects dragging it down, though, this could easily go higher.

3) 1st. Sure, the major hint given and, subsequently, the eventual culprit are pretty obvious, but this one establishes so much about how the trials work and how much the details you observe will matter that it’s still pretty fun that first time around. The initial surprise of the first victim makes for a great way to keep you invested in the trial experience. This trial is damn near iconic now, so it feels almost mandatory to respect it.

2) 6th. DR1 still has the best "final trial,” easily. SO MANY great reveals, and they all totally work for me. Nothing rings false or disappointing, and it also features Makoto finally coming into his own and taking the lead. I nearly labeled this my top pick for DR1, but...

1) 4th. It's easily the most emotionally dramatic/satisfying for me, and there’s something weirdly inspirational for me about Hina’s incredibly harsh stance during it. This one GOT ME IN THE FEELS, and in part that was because I saw so little of it coming. After the more predictable elements of the first and third trials, this felt like the writing was firing on all cylinders. 

DR2

6) 2nd. You have to accept a couple leaps of logic to make this trial keep flowing, and the fact that trial is ultimately reliant on someone noticing a candy that’s very small and hard to see while the person is also in a stressful situation and they are groggy from being drugged/asleep and it necessitates the person retaining this seemingly useless detail inside their brain .... that’s always bugged me.  The “escape route” conversation even retroactively raises questions about the first trial. Oof. On the upside, the reveals it brought us about Fuyuhiko and Peko were incredibly important, satisfying, and legit surprising turns. And it’s pretty cool how it’s basically a two-for-one combo trial because you have to solve the Twilight Syndrome case before you solve the current case. 

5) 3rd. Other people have pointed out the leaps of logic and missing pieces of this trial, but at the same time, the candlelight hanging is so intense and the ultimate reveal of the culprit is such a brutal turn that I have to give it some props. The culprit’s primary plan is ultimately one of the most ingenious in the series, IMO, and definitely one of the most twisted/fucked-up, which earns it some points. 

4) 4th. This is probably the single murder case in the franchise that I understood the absolute least about when entering the trial, for better or worse. On the one hand, that made it really fun to see the mystery gradually unfurl, but on the other hand, it made it tough for me to provide the right answers at certain points in the trial, leaving me fumbling. A big part of those issues was how it was initially hard for me to wrap my head around the nature of the funhouse via the provided 2D graphics... but once I eventually got there, I had to respect the creativity that went into devising such a “weapon.” Also, it can be hard to tolerate Komaeda in this trial. He’s even more of a know-it-all-but-reveal-none-of-it jackass than ever before, and his turn towards overt cruelty towards the others (and Hajime in particular) left me raging. The culprit reveal is good, but the motive does beg the question of why he didn’t just come forward from the jump.

3) 6th. There are a lot of great reveals in the final trial that totally reframe how you see the characters, and some of them are deliciously twisted. There’s also a ton of great dialogue provided, and in retrospect, it’s actually sort of neat to have one endgame mastermind reveal in this franchise that doesn’t involve the “They were hiding among us this whole time” trope. All that plus the surprise return of our surviving heroes from the first game! However, this is also where they officially reveal a core element of DR2 and its setting that I've never liked. This knocks the trial down a few pegs for me. Of course, by the time you reach the trial, I'm sure 99% of players have already figured that particular "twist" out. There’s adequate evidence to predict it in the first freaking chapter, and I know this because I DID predict it in the first chapter of my initial playthrough... which further hurts the supposed “reveal” of the island’s true nature when it comes around. 

2) 1st. Probably my favorite of the “first trials,” there are lot of components that go into this one. There’s a combination of two premeditated killers plus one spur-of-the-moment accidental victim, there’s a satisfying (though admittedly maybe too easy) reveal of the killer being one of the most unpleasant people to be around during the first chapter, and I really dig how audio became a very important component of the mystery due to the total blackout. This is also the part of the game where we learn just how twisted Komaeda really is, which is HUGE both in terms of its immediate shock factor for a total newcomer and in terms of its impact on the game as a whole. Of course, since it’s a “first trial,” it can’t be too complicated... but they still manage to confuse so many of us with “MEAT ON THE BONE” :P

1) 5th. Again, I will almost always give the most emotionally intense one the top slot. The “traitor reveal” is obviously THAT MOMENT in DR2. I also love how this one used the strange internal logic established early in the game RE: Komaeda’s luck to develop the eventual solution. And forcing us to make use of evidence gathered in multiple locations outside of the immediate site of the body/murder? That more complexity of that type that I see relevant to a trial, the more I appreciate it, and this one has loads of that stuff. Although I guess the investigation isn’t technically part of the trial itself... but it’s still very relevant to it. 

DRV3

6) 4th. I found this whole trial to be just... extremely predictable. Maybe it’s because I was so far into the series that I’d gotten used to its tricks by this point, but this was the most predictable trial for me since the first one in the first game. The whole looping/rollover map setup of the VR? Obvious. The murder weapon? Obvious. Our culprit’s ongoing confusion at everything discussed? Obvious. There were only a couple of points I didn’t have already figured out when I walked into the trial room, and those turned out to be basically irrelevant (such as the bottle of poison). The eventual motive is at least a surprise, but I also found it hard to accept that this culprit would really kill people over it. Overall: Super lame. 

5) 3rd. Another double murder trial, and once again one murder overshadows the other. The séance murder is definitely clever. Sure, you know the culprit pretty early on, but the methodology is the good part. However, the real fascinating one for me is the art lab “locked room” murder. Going into the trial, I couldn’t fathom how they were going to explain that one, and I found the answer both smart and satisfying. It’s funny to imagine how many times the culprit had to try that stunt with the lock before it actually worked, heh. This is probably the best of the three “double murder” mysteries in the series, but the trial isn’t as emotionally affecting as the 3rd trial in DR2 to me. Moreover, the trial loses points for the most infuriating Hangman’s Gambit of the series and especially for the motive reveal. When the killer’s motive can be boiled down to “they’re basically just a psycho serial killer,” it’s not very interesting.

4) 6th. The first part of the trial, which deals with re-assessing the first case? It’s pretty damn on-point. That leads to the mastermind reveal, which... isn’t great, really. It’s not a terribly interesting character to make the mastermind, they have no interesting motives or characterization to unevil, and they’re ultimately just a pawn behind another, off-screen group of masterminds. But then things get uproariously funny to me. The metatextual stuff is just so goddamn ridiculous. It’s frustrating and annoying how much of our not-mastermind’s explanation is clearly full of lies and half-truths that we’ll never have complete answers on, but that’s also part of what makes it all fascinating. We get to swap protagonists like four times! There’s a fake-out Game Over! These are really cool things. But it all leads down the road of our protagonist arguing that fiction does affect reality (yes, good), that fictional people can still matter (definitely) and that... fictional lives are equal in value to real ones? Uhhhhh slow down there, champ. That only works for YOUR universe, where fictional people can be made out of living, breathing individuals. But in light of the metatextual stuff you’re surrounded by, you kinda sound silly AF right now?

3)  2nd. Look, this is still incredibly irritating to me. Also, if you go down the alternate “lying” route at one point, you are forced to accept that these piranhas were somehow trained to only eat dead things, which is just... so deeply dumb.  But what is good is the entire ropeway conceit (which is a very significant part of the trial!) and the idea of the partition inside the tank. This was a murder with an elaborate, intelligent plan that is very well-executed. And the motive reveal? It’s one of the best in the series! I respect that stuff. (If I had the right to toss the execution in as part of the soup, I’d say that it’s also one of the series’ best. Let’s call it the icing on the cake.)

2) 1st. The writing that made this trial work is undeniably clever. The way the narration told us exactly what was happening without really telling us what was happening? It was a masterstroke of both great writing and perfect localization coming together. When it becomes clear during the trial what is about to happen, it’s a huge shock. The transition to another protagonist with the lights flickering out and back on is beautiful. Even the core concept of a protagonist who was willing to step up and try to kill the mastermind immediately is just deeply interesting. And obviously this one made my emotions run high. HOWEVER! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Kaede Akamatsu was a more interesting, unique, and compelling protagonist than Shuichi Saihara ever was. Ultimately, the protagonist-swap, no matter how well-written, was a mistake because they shifted us from a unique character with an interesting new perspective to a character who is, in many ways, “Makoto Naegi with even less self-esteem.” Yes, I know he has aspects that make him distinct as his own person, but there’s still just too much there that feels like we’ve done it before, and he never fully escapes from that. It feels like a massive waste and a huge missed opportunity to ditch Kaede like this. Now, if they had just done the protagonist swap in reverse — making us start out with Shuichi before flipping things over to Kaede — we could’ve had ourselves something amazing here.

1) 5th. I know I decided that I couldn’t rank all among each other, but if I did do that, I feel confident that the 5th trial in DRV3 would rank very high indeed. You go into the trial unable to even determine who the victim was due to the fact that two people are missing and there was nothing left of the body that spoke to an identity. Going into it, you naturally figure that one of the two missing parties has to be the victim and the other one is probably the culprit. But even with just two friggin’ suspects, the amount of turnabouts in the case that made me rethink all my assumptions was insane. Sure, the explanation for how the person inside the Exisal can maintain “character” is pretty damn thin, but once you get past that, I don’t think there’s a single false note in the trial. It even breaks unprecedented ground by continuing into another Non-Stop Debate after everyone has already voted. And of course, it culminates with a lot of intense emotion. Even the execution is emotionally satisfying! ..... although I’m not sure if I should count the execution as part of the trial, but hey, still. As far as Dangan trials go, the fifth one in DRV3 is basically a masterpiece.

[floralseokjin]

The Zoom Halloween Party

⇢ and beyond timeline (after crystallised)

[saga index] [drabble index]

 kim seokjin x reader // slice of life, humour // 2,556 words  

a/n; thank you to all the anons who gave me ideas for this halloween drabble, it wouldn’t exist without you! 

“I have to say your costumes are pretty lame this year, you guys.”

“We’re having a Halloween party over fucking zoom, forgive us for not going all out.” 

Seokjin bit straight away, unable to help it. He and Namjoon were like cat and mouse at all times, but even you had to admit to being offended by your friend’s dismissal. 

Halloween was finally here, and while you couldn’t celebrate in person together, the marvels of technology were letting you celebrate virtually – although this was more like a Halloween hang out than a Halloween party. 

“I’m just saying,” Namjoon shrugged. “Hoseok went all out for his.” 

You looked over at Hoseok’s screen, watching him smile smugly. You had to admit he made a great Joker, but it was also the year 2020... He and his girlfriend, Nora were like two years behind with the whole Joker and Harley Quinn gimmick, it was old now. 

Seokjin rolled his eyes, willing to argue black and blue. “It’s only good because his mom helped him with the makeup.” 

“Oh shut up, you’re just jealous because me and Hoseok will win best dressed tonight!” Nora scoffed under Hoseok in her own little screen. 

Pouting like a baby, your boyfriend crossed his arms. “I’m not voting for you.” 

“If anything, I should win. I make a mighty fine Batman.” 

Attention back on Namjoon now, you all had to agree. But maybe that was because everyone was feeling sorry for him tonight. He was after all, the only single one amongst you. There was Jin and you, Lina and Jimin, Hoseok and Nora, and even though Sandeul was on his own tonight, he had Jess, who was working the night shift tonight. Two months ago there had also been Namjoon and Hana, but not anymore... Let’s just say Namjoon wasn’t having the best of time lately... Getting dumped during a pandemic wasn’t ideal. So he’d paired with Hobi and Nora tonight in some sort of DC-esque collab. He was definitely winning best dressed tonight, but maybe he’d see it as a pity vote… 

“You’re body looks amazing in that suit, Joon,” you complimented, hearing Lina hum in supportive agreement. 

“Hey!” Seokjin exclaimed, sounding mighty offended as he looked your way. You were smushed together on the couch, the takeout you’d ordered on your laps, but you were pretty full now, a belly full of wine already. 

“The devil and an angel though.” Jimin’s voice sounded awfully judgemental. “Come on guys, so basic.” 

“Well, who the hell did you to come as?” Seokjin was loud. 

“Zombie Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly,” Lina replied as if your boyfriend was dumb. 

“Lame,” Seokjin scoffed. “Half of these guys haven’t even watched The Office.” 

“It’s a way more original idea than yours.”

You scoffed. “Um, this is the epitome of everyone’s sexual fantasy, I’ll have you know.” 

“Whose?!” Lina roared, wrinkling her nose. She and Jimin were also squished together, but on his bed, the camera angle giving you an amazing shot of their chins... Not that you would tell your best friend that, of course. 

“We all know what they’re doing after this then,” Sanduel stated. He was dressed as some character from a game he and Seokjin played (a lot.) Nerds.  

“Stop,” Hoseok whined. “Does that mean you guys fucked as The Addams family couple last year?”

“Of course it does,” Namjoon replied matter-of-factly. 

“Jesus.” 

Ah yes, you two really had out done yourselves last year for Namjoon and Hoseok’s joint Halloween party. Thinking about it maybe your devil and angel costumes were quite lame this year…

“As if you didn’t guess,” Lina laughed. “They were reciting all those weird lines practically dry humping in the kitchen at one point.” 

That was your cue, slamming into action, although as luck would have it you had re-watched The Addams Family two nights ago. You gripped Seokjin’s face, yanking him to look at you. “Seokjin, last night you were unhinged.” You began dramatically. “You were like some desperate, howling demon. You frightened me.” A pause for effect. “Do it again!” 

Seokjin took your hand, in character immediately. He leaned down to kiss your knuckles. “Cara mia.” 

You opened your mouth, ready to purr out mon cher in your best French accent but you were interrupted by Namjoon’s gagging noises. “That’s it, I’m leaving.” 

Seokjin snapped his head around, unamused. “Bye.” 

Everyone laughed… just before Hoseok sighed. “Aw, this makes me so depressed. I miss last year, when things were simpler.” 

“This was the worst year to officially become an adult.” Nora joined in with a whine. 

They were 100% correct. There couldn’t have been a worse year to graduate… The past few months had been so stressful but thankfully you were now in a much more stable place. Granted, you hadn’t been able to start the post-graduate internship you’d bagged right before the pandemic hit yet but eventually it would happen, and in the meantime you still had your retail job – and your savings. 

Seokjin had truly lucked out, although his job at his father’s company had been set in stone since high school. He was working remotely until the end of the year (hopefully), rocking that business on top, casual down bottom fashion that he was so gleefully fond of – think a dress shirt and sweatpants ensemble – but you were so incredibly proud of him for adjusting so well after this shitfest of a year. He was your sexy, serious businessman. 

Your friends hadn’t been as lucky though – well, mainly Hoseok and Namjoon who had recently moved back home with their parents while they job hunted. (That’s why the former and Nora were on separate screens – she still lived close by for work.) Lina hated her new job and Jimin still had a year left at college, so maybe he was better off at the moment... Sanduel and Jess were okay too, and had recently moved in with one another, leaving you and Seokjin to… follow suit… 

It came as a surprise to you both, but it made more sense than the two of you living alone. You’d already grown used to it during those couple of months of lockdown at the start of the year and it felt weird after he’d left... It was a big step, but an easy one once you’d found the most perfect apartment to rent together. (You couldn’t officially live with one another in that shoebox of an old apartment, but it had been sad to leave it – you’d shared so many good times there.) It had only been about six weeks since you’d become official roomies, but you were loving every second of domestic bliss. Despite this crazy year, things were on the up, and you were very happy. 

“Now we’re freshly graduated bums.” Namjoon moaned, knocking back the last of his beer.

Seokjin laughed. “Speak for yourself.” 

“We can’t all have a CEO for a dad,” Namjoon shot. 

“That sounds like a you problem.” 

You pushed at your boyfriend’s shoulder, silently telling him to behave. Where was the sympathy for his heartbroken friend?

“At least you’re not stuck doing online classes.” Jimin piped up. 

“I’d actually kill to be back there,” Namjoon chuckled. “I’m sick of receiving rejection emails.” 

“Don’t give up hope, bro.” Hoseok told him. “I have an interview next week so fingers crossed.” 

Nora squealed. “I hope you get it, babe. You need to get your ass back here. I miss you.” 

You all missed him. And Namjoon. Even if you couldn’t all hang out like you were once able to, it was strange to think they were both living in different cities now. Last year seemed like an eternity ago, all you had were memories and even then they were murky. 

“Guys, please,” Namjoon wailed, forehead hitting the screen as he threw forward dramatically. “One of us is single here.” 

“Sorry.” 

In fact, you all felt the need to apologise, a string of them following for no real reason other than you felt really bad for the guy. You knew he’d find a job soon, that wasn’t the problem really – whatever the company they’d be a fool to turn him down – you were just concerned about his mood. Getting dumped had come out of the blue so he was still adjusting, all while his life turned upside down in other ways too. 

He hadn’t lost all sense of humour though, his trademark smirk growing across his face a few moments later. “So who will end up fucking on camera first?” 

Amongst the groans, Sanduel scoffed. “Probably Mr and Mrs. Devil.” 

“I’m an angel,” you corrected, a glass of wine back in your hand now. “Also, why would we fuck on camera? You guys don’t deserve the show.” 

“God, you’re so drunk,” Lina screeched. She wasn’t exactly sober herself. Beside her Jimin winced at the volume. 

“Of course I’m drunk, Lina, this is the first proper chance I’ve had in months.” Getting drunk alone was pretty miserable, now you had an excuse. 

“So it’s definitely them who’ll start fucking first…” Hoseok muttered. 

Seokjin heard him loud and clear though. He hooked his arm around your shoulders, pulling you against him. “Yeah if we leave randomly you know this angel got horny for some devil dick.” 

“Seokjin!” You exclaimed, pushing at his chest. He just laughed, reaching down to kiss you. 

He did look mighty fine dressed as a devil though. Yeah, the red cape was basic but so were your angel wings and halo, but with his dark hair pushed back above his forehead, two red devil horns visible and his eyeshadow off the scale (your doing), he made a very, very sexy Satan! 

Jimin pulled a face. “You’re actually going to fuck in those costumes, aren’t you?” 

“Of course we are.” Seokjin rolled his eyes. “That’s what Halloween’s all about.” 

“No, it’s not,” Nora laughed. 

“I don’t know why you’re all so surprised,” Sandeul sighed before shovelling down some candy corn. 

“You know them better than anyone,” Namjoon chuckled. 

“I was the first to know! Sworn to secrecy for weeks!”

“Yeah, and she didn’t tell me for so long,” Lina whined. Even though it was ages ago now you were still pretty sure she was salty about it. 

Hoseok snickered. “It was because she was embarrassed to be fucking him.” 

You scoffed, about to refute his claims but Sanduel had more to say apparently. “And then I had to deal with Jin moping around when she dumped him for that basketball player.” 

“She didn’t dump me,” Seokjin protested. “We won’t together then.” 

“Bro, you were still moping though.” 

“Awh, you guys,” you whined, running your fingers through the hair on the back of Seokjin’s head. “Stop teasing him.” You leaned in to kiss his cheek but he moved, stealing one from your lips instead. 

“Great Deul, you’ve started them off again.” Hoseok moaned. 

“I don’t care anyway. The amount of times I’ve heard them going at it has made me immune.” 

“Sanduel, we’re not that bad!” You complained, leaning forward to place your glass down on the coffee table. 

Seokjin had your back. “As if we haven’t heard you and Jess fuck before.” 

That however was not at all interesting to your friends though. They blatantly ignored it for a more interesting direction of topic.  

“Did you ever catch them?” Jimin asked, sounding weirdly excited. 

“No actually, which is baffling.” 

“You nearly did – multiple times,” Seokjin informed him, which instantly turned Sanduel grey. Not bothered, my ass. 

“Why are you guys so obsessed with our sex life?” You whined loudly. Was theirs that boring? 

“Ooo, let’s play a game!!” Lina exploded suddenly, sitting up, her head now cut off from the screen. “Who’s the freakiest!!!” 

Seokjin turned to you gleefully. “We got this in the bag, babe.” 

In your eyes, the questions were quite tame, so yes, you and Seokjin really were scoring first place left and right. Although you had a hunch Lina was holding back information. As her best friend you knew what she was like and she was being awfully quiet for someone who’d suggested the game… 

“Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever boned?” Nora asked, six questions in. 

Seokjin didn’t even need a second. “Namjoon’s bedroom.” Your eyes bulged immediately, surprised he’d gone there. 

“What?” Namjoon choked. 

“Sorry, man. It just kinda happened.” Seokjin glanced at you, deeply amused. Poor Namjoon didn’t need more bad news. 

“You guys have fucked in my bedroom?” 

“Well, technically it’s not your bedroom anymore, but yeah,” you shrugged.  

“When?” 

The third degree was real. “A while back.”  

“What the fuck you guys,” he groaned, his face a picture. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” 

“You don’t even know the half of it.” Lina couldn’t help but add. 

“You, be quiet!” You warned, although you knew she wouldn’t spill. Your secret was safe with her. 

Namjoon was looking more and more scared by the second. “What the fuck did you guys do in there?” Seokjin just laughed loudly. “Did you at least clean up?” He got no reply. He was deadly serious with his next question. “Did you make Ryan watch?” 

“Namjoon!” Seokjin cried, practically wiping tears from your eyes. Maybe he was more drunk than you… You hadn’t realised. “He’s a stuffed animal.” 

“That plush is all I have now.” 

“Pity, the guy’s recently been dumped. This is bullying,” Hoseok interrupted, sticking up for his friend. 

“It’s not,” your boyfriend insisted. 

“Aw, Namjoon, I’m sorry,” you apologised, feeling guilty now. How could you make it up to him? “When all this is over you can come over and fuck someone in our bedroom.” 

“What,” Seokjin protested. You ignored him. 

“Who though?” Namjoon asked, sounding sad. 

“You’ll meet someone new soon enough.” Lina reassured him. “You’re any girls dream guy.”  

He perked up at that. “You think so?”

“Legit, man,” Jimin joined in. 

“Wait,” Sandeul interrupted, seemingly realising something. “Is the costume roleplay exclusive to Halloween?” 

… Of course the conversation was back on you and Jin…

“Why?” You asked. 

“Because Namjoon had a fancy dress party for his birthday last year…” 

Seokjin shrugged. “Any celebration.” 

Sanduel instantly looked disgusted. “So you guys fucked as The Incredibles couple?” 

You and Seokjin didn’t reply, but your faces said it all. 

Namjoon groaned loudly. “I want to scoop my brain out.” Then he thought of something. “Was it in my bedroom?” 

“Noooo!” 

“Yes.” 

You both replied at the same time and you pushed Seokjin. Now he was just purposely teasing his friend. 

“Who’s lying?” Namjoon demanded, but Sanduel was too busy going through it, distracting you all. 

“The Incredibles is my favourite childhood movie, man, now I feel gross. I can’t watch it ever again because I’ll imagine you two trying to superhero fuck.” 

Your friends were way too dramatic. It wasn’t even a big deal, they were making it out to be way kinkier than it was, and Seokjin wasn’t helping matters. You were literally just having normal sex dressed up. That’s all. 

“This game has taught me I’m best friends with a bunch of vanilla ice creams,” Seokjin tutted. “It’s called having fun. Something you guys can’t seem to do.” 

“You all suck!” You agreed. 

Hm, maybe you were just as guilty as your boyfriend… It was just too damn amusing goading your friends… 

[maxineswritingcenter]

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 26

 --------

Back at Castle McLeod, I was unpacking my bags once again. I hadn’t really planned on staying more than a couple months but knowing Beacon Hills... It could be a while. A soft knock made me look back towards the door. Lachlan was leaving against the thick wooden door, arms crossed over his chest. 

“You’re back early.” He said, walking into the room. 

“Yeah.” I shrugged, closing the top drawer of the dresser, “Scott talked me into coming back to keep me and little tyke safe.” I patted my stomach. 

“So... How’s Derek?” 

“Alive and well. Unfortunately, Derek was put under a spell. It seems like that woman really wanted to keep him distracted.” I put my hands on my hips, “Speaking of, why were you so supportive of me pulling a ‘Michael’?”

“I can hear you!” Michael shouted from the next room over. 

Lachlan chuckled, “I supported you because you have to at least have someone supporting you. And I knew you wouldn’t kill him. You love him too much.” 

“Why didn’t you try to stop me if you knew I wouldn’t?” 

“Because you need to make your own decisions. Your own choices.” He picked up the family photo album that I placed on the bed, smiling down at the crest that decorated the front, “Our parents made a choice for us, we need to make our own.” He made a good point. I guess it was easier to talk with Lachlan about my situation because he had been through the same thing. He lost a part of his life, he lost his partner. 

He set down the photo album, “I came because the other members have gathered in the main room to discuss their hunter situations. We were hoping, well, I was hoping that you would come in and share your tale.” 

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck, “I... I don’t know.” 

“There’s no judgement here.” Lachlan said, “I’ll be by your side every step of the way.” His eyes were kind and genuine. He seemed so wise but he was still so young. One could only imagine what he had been through. 

“Okay.” I nodded, “Let’s go.” 

-

After getting a little more gussied up, Lachlan led me down to what could have been a movie set for the knights of the round table since there was a large, wooden round table with chairs around it. Each chair had a tapestry draped over the back with what I was assuming were the crests from the different clans since the tapestry on the chair Lachlan pulled out for me was my family’s. They were at least five other werewolf clans there. They all started their story the same way, everything was fine. There were working well with the hunters in their area, a mishap here or there that was resolved. When it got to me though, that was the interesting part. 

“And finally, our last member (Y/N) of the (Y/L/N) clan.” Lachlan motioned to me to the whole group. Everyone was staring so intently. 

“Uh, hi.” I said awkwardly, “I’m (Y/N). And uh the hunter situation hasn’t been great.” I stood up, “You all knew my father’s deal with Chris Argent, weapons in exchange for safety. He became a friend to our family. But he was the only one who wanted that. After abusing my partner as a child, his sister, Kate, succeeded in murdering the majority of the Hale pack which prompted my parents to conduct the Wolf Eclipse spell on me. She didn’t stop there. Laura Hale had figured out who helped her start the fire. Unfortunately, Peter Hale then killed her and took matters into his own hands and started killing off her list. This scared Kate, so she returned to Beacon Hills to finish what she started. She tortured my partner and I, and led her niece down the same path as herself. A path where cruelty and death were right. After Kate’s death, their father Gerard came into the picture. That’s where I learned how bad Kate could be. Gerard is dead. Chris’ wife is dead after being bitten, and his daughter is on the brink of becoming just like her aunt. So... The situation isn’t great.” I sat back down, “I’m sure Chris will be fine working with us, but to say that things are fine is wrong.” There was silence. It almost seemed like the rest of the clans were uncomfortable with my statement. I’m glad they got to have  The meeting adjourned soon after. 

-

SIX MONTHS LATER

MICHAEL

“What do you mean you have no idea what you’re doing?!” (Y/N) roared, her eyes bright red. Michael had accompanied her to the mainland to do some shopping for last minute baby things when she had started to feel cramping. They had gotten a hotel room on the mainland since the ferry didn’t run this late. So now it was just Michael and (Y/N) in a hotel room and he probably wasn’t going to get his security deposit back. (Y/N) was leaning back against the bed, holding her large baby bump. 

“Do you know how many times I’ve been in this situation?! Zero! Zero times!” Michael tugged at his hair, trying to stay calm in this very not-calm situation. Michael really didn’t have too much training from the Lunar Circle as a bodyguard. He had been dead for a couple months so it was safe to say he missed the werewolf delivery class. He was screwed. 

“Well, you better do something before I rip your HEAD OFF!” Her roar was cut off by her whining in pain.

“Let’s just calm down, alright?! I’m doing the best I can!” Michael pulled his phone out of his pocket, calling into Lachlan’s office. 

 “Praetor McLeod speaking.” 

“Praetor, it’s Keaton, I have a bit of a situation here-” A loud crash made him look back at his guard. (Y/N) had thrown a lamp at the wall. Yeah, definitely not getting that deposit back. 

“What was that?”

“That’s the situation, sir. (Y/N)’s gone into labor.”

“What?!” He shouted, “How far apart are her contractions?”

“I don’t know...”

“Well, ask her!”    

Michael looked back at (Y/N), “Hey (Y/N/N)? How far apart are your contractions?” (Y/N) had fully shifted, her fangs looked ready to bite down into me. She roared loudly in response. 

“I’d say pretty close.” Michael squeaked out. 

Lachlan groaned in frustration, “Dammit! Looks like you’re going to have to deliver the baby.” There was shuffling around, “I’m gonna get on the next flight to the mainland.” 

“Wait-wait-wait, what? I can’t deliver a baby!”

“I’ll be there soon.” Lachlan hung up. Michael turned around slowly, dropping his phone on the ground. (Y/N) was on her hands and knees on the ground, screaming through her teeth. 

“Okay... I can do this.” Michael said confidently. The look in her red eyes made the confidence fly out of him like a bat out of hell. 

“I can’t do this.” 

-

They made it back to the castle in the early morning. Lachlan and Michael stood outside of the infirmary, waiting to get inside. 

“So how’d it go?” Lachlan asked, hands behind his back. He honestly looked stressed. When he had run into the hotel room, he looked disheveled with new parent panic, which was interesting. 

“Uh...” Michael looked down at his arm in a sling. During a contraction, (Y/N) had pulled and dislocated his shoulder, “All things considered?” He looked back at Praetor McLeod, “Pretty well.” The door in front of them opened, a nurse waved them inside. 

(Y/N) was on the bed, holding a tiny baby in her arms. She didn’t look at them when they walked in, refusing to take her eyes from the infant. She was smiling so bright, a twinkle in her tired eyes. The child was sleeping peacefully.

“Well, look at you.” Lachlan grinned, “Tiny little thing.” He went to her side, looking down at the baby with such adoration. 

It had been a while since Michael had seen a baby, and the feeling that overcame him when the baby was born... He could only compare it to being a father. 

Michael stepped forward, looking down at the little boy, “Look at all that hair.” He said in awe. Even as a newborn, his head was covered in thick dark hair. 

“Have you seen Derek?” She chuckled, sweeping some hair from the little boy’s forehead gently with her fingertips. 

“Excuse me, Miss (Y/L/N).” All of their heads were brought to look at the home nurse that had come from the local hospital, “We have all the paperwork ready for you to look at.” (Y/N) looked up at the nurse. 

“Oh yeah, sure.” 

The nurse clicked the pen, “Alright, what’s the wee lad’s name?” 

“Nicholas Noah Hale.” She said. Hale? She was really giving him his last name. After everything?

“Is it safe to give him Derek’s last name?” He asked, tapping his foot. She narrowed her eyes at him in confusion. 

“It’s fine.” She shook off his concern.

“And the father’s name?” The nurse asked. 

“Derek S. Hale.” Even hearing his name made his blood boil. 

-

(Y/N) 

The infirmary - mostly Lachlan- wanted me to stay in the infirmary overnight for observation. I guess being a werewolf certainly helped with the pain management. After calling Uncle Noah and Stiles, it was time to call Nicholas’ father. Although I’m sure he felt the pain I went through already. I had sent him a message that I was going to video call him, I just hoped that he was in a place where he could. 

I had the laptop set up on the table that was attached to the medical bed. I pressed his name then hit video call. I watched as the virtual call ang, praying that he could answer. Finally, it connected. The video feed opened, showing Derek. He was in the office of the depot, Peter was in the background, looking over his nephew’s shoulder. 

“Ugh.” My smile fell, “Why’s he here?” 

“It’s his laptop, I didn’t have a choice.” Derek grumbled. 

“Come on, show me my little great-nephew.” Peter whined, leaning in closer. 

Shaking my head, I bent the screen down to show Derek and Peter the sleeping baby in my arms. 

“Wow...” Derek said, grinning brightly, “I wish I could be there to-...” He blinked a few times, “I should be there.” 

“I wish you were here too.” I smiled sadly, “He looks just like you.” 

“Poor kid.” Peter mumbled. Derek looked over his shoulder. 

“Go.” Derek growled, “Now.”

“But-” 

“Now!” Peter quickly moved out of frame and out of the office. Derek looked back at me, shaking his head a little. 

Little cries brought attention to the little boy, “Somebody’s hungry.” I started to unclasp my hospital gown. I had breast fed him previously but it was still a weird feeling. 

“I’m in love.” Derek said softly, “I love you... So much. I love him so much.” He looked determined, “I’m gonna make Beacon Hills safe again. Safe for both of you.” 

“I know you will.” I said softly, stroking Nicholas’ cheek softly, “But please be careful.” 

“I’m always careful.” My glare changed his smug expression, “Okay, maybe I’m not. But I promise to be extra careful.” 

----------- 

Read part 27 here!

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[just-a-quirkless-loser]

New Beginnings

Part Four: This Is My Pack

Part 3, Part 5

The first month that Chiyo spent living with Aizawa’s pack was different for her. All these personalities mingling together with so many different perspectives. It was almost like another culture shock for her. She kept her distance as she watched her new “pack mates” (at least, that’s what Aizawa tells her to call them).

To the normal eye, it seemed like the class was split into three groups. One group was headed by Midoriya but the fool likes to be referred to as Deku. Deku’s group seemed to be the most optimistic with more gentle, upbeat personalities. It was nice for Chiyo to see how calm the group could be. It taught her how to listen and care for others; it was different seeing how they cared for each other and not just Aizawa. The small things like Iida helping Deku with school work or Todoroki cooling Asui’s drinks so they wouldn’t burn her frog tongue, those small gestures showed her what it was like to have friends that counted as family.

Another group was overseen by Bakugou. Even if he was brash and harsh, Chiyo could see the obvious love that he had for his friends. As the star student although that was a debatable fact seeing as Chiyo held higher scores, it was virtually nothing for his pack mates to come to him for tutoring. And, he was actually really helpful. Just as he could be helpful, he was also fiercely protective. Fact: Bakugou didn’t trust Chiyo. He watched her like a hawk. Every day, he’d threaten to kill her. Eventually, his hostility died down once he deemed her as safe.

And, the third group belonged to Tokoyami. As a calming personality to begin with, he handled the others with the same dignity. Shoji remained to be close to him and had the same effect on the group. But, Chiyo couldn’t really figure out how they were a pack. How can they be a pack if they are divided?

That question was answered the moment Chiyo looked further into the pack. She saw how each member didn’t just stick to one single group. Everyone shows each other care and everyone was protective of each other. Bakugou may say he hates Deku but, she can see the underlying love that he has for him.

There was just one thing; Chiyo clearly knew she wasn’t welcome in the pack. Perhaps it was the fact that she threatened Hitoshi, or it could be that she was just foreign to them but, they didn’t pack to mingle with her. Aizawa did try to push them to integrate and enjoy each other’s company but, that didn’t really do anything. They would have to accept her on their own accord.

“Chiyo, do you know the answer?” Chiyo blinked as her attention was drawn back to Present Mic as he taught them English. She scanned the board.

“The subject of the sentence is I,” she raised her eyebrow. As a student, she’s actually diligent. She’s managed to push her way through the ranks to become number one but, she doesn’t really tell people about that. Bakugou has been assuming that either Todoroki or Midoriya took his spot (let’s just say the tantrum Bakugou threw rivaled a two year old).

“CORREECT LISTENER,” she cringed a bit. She still hadn’t gotten used to Mic’s loud personality.

After the English lesson, the other students left to go do some quirk training. Chiyo sat on her desk, staring out at the courtyard. She wasn’t even supposed to be using her quirk so, what’s the point in training? Although, Chiyo did feel bad for some of the Class 1-B students. Why did she get to be in the hero course if she doesn’t even want to be a hero?

“What are you still doing in here?” Shinsou stood at his desk as he addressed her. She crooked her head at him, feigning the look of a confused dog. “I thought you’d eventually start training with us.”

“I’m not going to be a hero,” she shrugged her shoulders. “If the universe wanted me to be a hero, it would have made that clear.”

“Well, maybe the universe sent you Aizawa as a sign,” Chiyo shrunk into herself. This was the longest she’d talked to anyone in the pack and it almost felt like he was encouraging her to join them.

Shinsou walked out and soon lunch came around. Chiyo normally had lunch on top of the school (which was kinda not allowed but what people didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them) with her only friend; Togata Mirio. Mirio had caught her up there one day when he was practicing phasing through floors. He didn’t really like the idea of her up there alone. So, he would tell his friends that he was practicing while he was with her.

“I think Hitoshi is warming up to me,” Chiyo giggled as she ate out of her binto box that she assumed Aizawa had made her. “He initiated conversation.”

“That’s good. I’m sure the rest of your pack will come around soon,” Mirio smiled like he normally does. She wanted to correct him on the fact that they weren’t her pack but she refrained. Trying to tell Mirio something was like trying to tell a bull not to charge at the color red.

“Maybe so. Anyway, how’s the other Big Two?”

“They’re good,” he chuckled. “Amajiki found a really sweet beta that takes care of him. I’m happy for him.”

“That’s good for him. You found anyone yet?” the girl was oblivious to how the yellow haired alpha stared down at her. While she was focusing on friendship, he was feeling something else. Something more cozy and warm-feeling.

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. I don’t think she feels the same way though,” he scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, she must be something to catch your eye. She probably does feel the same,” Chiyo watched the sky as clouds passed by.

“Hmmm I’ll have to wait and see,” they sat with their legs hanging off of the edge of the building, hips almost touching. “Do you have anyone?”

“Nope,” she popped the ‘p’ on the word. “All I have is Aizawa and I think that’s good enough.”

“Well, I think maybe you should branch out and-“ Mirio was cut off by a loud commotion coming from underneath them. “We should probably check that out.”

Mirio and Chiyo ran down the stairs and to the lunchroom where the yelling got louder. They ran into her class being surrounded by the other students from the other classes. Chiyo fought her way to the crowd where Monoma from Class 1-B stood poking Bakugou in the chest.

“You guys think are so amazing, huh? What about us? What about everyone that’s impacted by you all? You’re not anything special!” Monoma said.

“If you were so great, you be with them you obsessive whining bitchy prick,” Chiyo stood in between the two of them. “Back the fuck off before I make you back off.”

Monoma recoiled a bit before he snarled and pushed Chiyo to the side by her face. Chiyo stood there, her face to the side as she clenched her fists. She was trying to contain herself from snapping but, there’s only so much a person can take.

“You need a girl to fight your battles?” that was as far as he could get before Chiyo grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back till she could hear the satisfying crack. He cried out, a few students moving to his aid but stopped when they saw the look on her face.

“I’ll kill you. Stay away from MY PACK; this is the only time I’ll warn you,” she stepped away and left the lunchroom. Leaving the 1-A pack in shock. The rest of the day was uneventful but everyone’s mind was filled with the purple haired omega with red eyes even though they all swore her eyes were purple.

Aizawa was waiting for her when she entered the dorm. He was proud of her display of courage and protection of their pack. He knew this would be what everyone needed to accept her.

“Your pack?” he teased her as she walked by the couch he sat on.

“Shut your face, old man. I’m going to my room.”

“Such a tsundere. Don’t forget to come down for dinner with your pack.”

“Leave me the fuck alone before I gouge your eyes,” she took the elevator up to her room. Recently, she’s been customizing the walls; it appears the omega had a love for painting. She’s already started a mural of cherry blossoms that cover two walls of the room. The only thing that’s missing is her nest but, she doesn’t know where she’s going to get the stuff for it. She could just ask her alpha but knowing Aizawa, he’d tease her.

‘One of these days, I’ll make him step on a lego,’ such a tsundere indeed. When it came time for dinner, Chiyo’s normal seat next to Aizawa was taken by Shinsou. She quirked her brow, contemplating if she should Superman kick him out of her chair.

“You’re in my seat,” she pushed his shoulder a bit to move him.

“You sit next to me,” he smiled at her. What was happening?

“But, I wanna sit next to the old man.”

“Well, you sit with me now. Now sit before I glue your ass to a chair,” her pack snickered.

“There will be no ass-touching if it’s not from me,” she laughed and pushed Mineta’s perverted hands away from her.

“No one’s touching my ass,” Chiyo sat down.

“Not yet.”

“Shut up, ball face.”

——————————————————————————

@sinclairsamess @sakurashortstack

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 264: You Either Die a Hero...

Previously on BnHA: The kids of 1-A sat around waiting for something exciting to happen, and then it did happen, and they were all “!!” Over on the front lines, the heroes charged the Ol’ Villain Hotel with poor Kaminari crying the entire time, but we’ll excuse him since he is only in the second grade. Tokoyami gave him some gentle encouragement by reminding him of how hard he can slappa da bass, while Midnight told him to think of his one true love in order to find his inner courage, so he immediately thought of Jirou and everyone was like WHOA DID THEY REALLY JUST, and yeah, they kind of did? Anyway so Cementoss ripped the building open and Kaminari got all Thor on us and started battling this other electric guy, and then we cut to Hawks and Twice, who were having a friendly conversation similar to the friendly conversation Hawks had with Best Jeanist on the very same day that Jeanist abruptly went missing and was never heard from again! Hey, wait a second. You guys don’t suppose...??

Today on BnHA: Re-Destro gathers in the basement with all his followers and they’re all like “Re-Destro!!” and he’s all “what??” and they’re all “the heroes are attacking!!” and he’s all “:) :) :) the fuck??!” Outside, the heroes continue to wreak havoc, and between Edgeshot, Midnight, Honenuki and Toadette, I’m pretty sure they have actually killed some of these guys. But that’s silly though because heroes would never actually kill someone. Speaking of heroes not killing someone, back in the hotel, Hawks is all “(Ò‸Ó)” and Twice is all “(இ‸இ)” and then Hawks is all “I’m gonna arrest you but I’ll help you get through this and get back on your feet again afterwards because you’re a good person” and Twice is all “WHAT THE FUCK NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN” and does the whole Sad Man Parade thing. And Hawks is all “I don’t want to fight you!” and Twice is all “TOO BAD” and meanwhile Dabi is running up the stairs all “time to start some shit” and then the chapter ends. So while I’m relieved on behalf of Hawks’s soul, I can’t help but be a little concerned on behalf of his, uh, life. Shit.

okay, so! I finally have time to read this damn thing. but before I start, a couple of holdover thoughts from the prior chapter!

firstly, I want to go on the record now and say that I’ve decided once again that Hawks, in spite of all appearances, is not a murderer. you hear that Hawks. I’m putting my neck on the line for you. gonna look like a real stooge if you go and murder Twice before going on to fight Dabi to the death while we cut to Noumu!Jeanist taunting Bakugou

but in all seriousness, I just can’t reconcile it with what we know of Hawks’s character. his behavior during the fight against Hood almost got him exposed because he couldn’t bear to let anyone get hurt or to let Endeavor get killed. I know the HPSC got their claws in him at a young age, but in spite of that I don’t think he’s harboring a dark side. to me he always just comes off as tired and struggling to do the right thing even though he never asked to be put into this kind of position. he’s smart enough to understand the whole “needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” thing, but he’s also young enough to still hold to a certain idealism, and juuust cocky enough to have faith in his own cleverness and convince himself that he can somehow achieve this mission without sacrificing anyone else’s life

so in short, I don’t buy the dark!Hawks theories. I just can’t. but I guess we’re about to see! and my guess is that Horikoshi will probably have Dabi interrupt before Hawks can reveal his hand either way, because Horikoshi is just like that. what a troll

(ETA: I forgot that sometimes Horikoshi also likes to troll by giving you exactly what you want but in the most painful way possible. shit.)

now, moving on, the other thing I wanted to quickly address is Viz’s translation of this very important line from last week! so as a reminder, here is readheroaca’s version

and here is Caleb’s

I’m actually really glad I’ve been reading the fan translations first, because it made me more aware of the potential nuances in this scene. so is KamiJirou actually being confirmed here, or not?? and I spent 20 whole minutes digging into this more the other day because I have no life, so here are my findings!

first, here is the actual Japanese panel

and while I don’t speak Japanese, I can read hiragana well enough that I was able to plug it into a couple of translators to basically figure out what was being said. so here’s the full dialogue:

どこかの誰かじゃ

難しいなら --

今一番大事なものを

心に据えな

so the part in bold there is the line in question -- 大事なもの (daijina mono). “daiji” means “precious” or “important”, but the thing is, “mono” for whatever reason is written in hiragana and not kanji. and the word mono (which can be singular or plural btw) can hilariously mean either of the following depending on the kanji used:

lmao. so basically the bottom line is that from what I can see here, Horikoshi purposely didn’t specify! now I could be completely wrong; maybe this is a common enough expression that Caleb felt comfortable deciding that he meant “person.” or maybe he just guessed based on the context. or maybe he just said “fuck it, you only live once” and just went there because why the heck not

anyway, so that was fun, and for me it reinforced the fact that I really do prefer to have at least two different translations to compare in order to get the most complete picture of what exactly is going on here in this stupid manga that I obsess over week after week! so now let’s finally get to reading this thing

oh my

I have so many thoughts whirling around in my head right now, such as “oh my god look at all these secret entrances/exits the villains apparently had” and “wow the heroes are so thorough” and such, but ngl, right now the biggest one is “why are they all entering so slowly??” seriously though. let’s just gradually meander on in single-file. no rush. meanwhile 800m northwest and 1 km east, Cementoss is literally tearing the building in half and the other heroes are charging full speed all “ARGGHHHHH.” and over in Jakku, Miruko kicked a door open so hard it killed a guy. but we’ve all got our own styles I guess??

at least this one guy 800m north of the hideout is doing some doorbusting. sheesh. be more exciting please

oh hey it’s this place

behold. the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf. well there’s an eye-opener and no mistake

LMAO THESE GUYS DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING YET OMG

oh my god. first of all wtf is that shirt. and second of all oh my fucking god, let me just shut up and read this is amazing

SDKLFJLSJK

LMAO

oh man. Re-Destro is one of the few characters whom I really want to see die. come on Horikoshi. don’t be a fucking coward. he’s had it coming ever since he killed that little mouse. and let’s not forget Giran. JUSTICE FOR GIRAN

oh we’re actually cutting back to this fight!

I wasn’t sure if we would! shounen authors have this habit of showing the start of a really cool battle only to then cut away to a bunch of other stuff and leave us hanging for a dozen chapters, so yeah. of course, that may still happen. I’m just lucky that I’m invested in virtually every single thing that’s going on right now, so it’s a win-win for me no matter where we cut to next

(ETA: lmao there really wasn’t much more to this fight to speak of. but what do you want to bet Horikoshi will try to pull this shit with Dabi and Hawks next week though.)

holy shit

this looks like when I attempt to build a gingerbread house. that’s uncanny

lmao Kami

YOU’RE DOING GREAT BUDDY. KEEP IT UP CHAMP

(ETA: Kaminari’s ridiculous smiling face is the balm we all need in these troubled times. tempted to ask him if he wouldn’t mind heading up to that telenovela happening over in Twice’s room and telling them all to lighten the fuck up.)

Lefty is all “does he have an absorption quirk?” because apparently he’s one of the two people that never watched the U.A. Sports Festival? how does anyone in this day and age manage to come across one of the 1-A kids and not know what their quirks are. and you’re a fucking general or whatever too, aren’t you? god you suck

so now he’s all “I BET YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO HANDLE... A FEW MILLION VOLTS” jesus christ. I bet you he can! but still, that’s awfully murdery of you. and to think, he’s on your side!! Kaminari are you really sure you want these guys as your friends

YOOOOOOO FUCKING KAKASHI ALL UP IN HERE DOING HIS HUMAN YONDU ARROW THING WHAAAAT

straight up prepared to be massively disappointed in Viz when they inevitably translate the “Ninpo” part instead of leaving it alone and letting everyone bask in these sentimental Naruto vibes. and also ngl I prefer for Edge’s lines to be as close to the original as possible so I can better imagine them in my head. stupid sexy Edgeshot

holy shit “I’ve pierced a small hole in each of your lungs” !!? WELL ALL RIGHT THEN, YOU SADISTIC WARRIOR OF THE NIGHT. YOU HEARD HIM BOYS. I’M SORRY, BUT HE’S ALL OUT OF FUCKS TODAY

OH HEY Y’ALL, MIDNIGHT HEARD YOU WERE KICKING ASS AND DECIDED TO JOIN IN, HOPE THAT’S ALL RIGHT

and if it’s not all right, well. tough

can you imagine. you’re just a simple villain, chilling out in your Hilton Garden Inn HQ and minding your own business when all of a sudden the walls come to life and some fucking shinobu busts a small hole in your lungs, and then you just fall asleep. sometimes life comes at you hard

now Kamui Woods is doing his whole Lacquered Chain Prison thing, but we’ve already seen that one so I’m not gonna bother showing it! tough break Kamui!!

OH MY GOD IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS

HALF OF THESE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY UNCONSCIOUS WITH HOLES IN THEIR LUNGS, SO SURE, HONENUKI, LET’S GO AHEAD AND FUCKING DROWN THEM TOO LMAO

LOOOOOOL OH CHRIST

CLASS 1-B WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE!!!

LMAO AND NOW SHE’S STANDING WITH HER ARMS UP OVER HER HEAD ALL SMILING LIKE ERI AT THE FUCKING CONCERT. A COLD GOD IN AN UNCARING UNIVERSE. WHAT THE FUCK

oh shit everybody shut up we’re cutting back to Hawks!!

but you pulled it off because you’re so damn smart. so now let’s stand around and explain your plan to everyone. what the fuck, Hawks

(ETA: and the thing is, now I’m thinking that by “incredibly difficult” he doesn’t mean that it was the cipher part that was difficult lol. that part was child’s play. any simpleton could do that. no, the difficult part was betraying his new friend. anyway so how’s everyone doing? what a fun chapter!!)

hey everyone I still have unwavering faith that this man is not a killer just FYI

what does that say about me I wonder. let’s just completely ignore everything being presented on screen here. also what the heck happened to all this furniture? did he upend the entire room with his crazy feather attack, or is that damage from Cementoss’s shenanigans?

HAHA!! FUCK YEAH

I KNEW YOU WEREN’T A KILLER YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!!

fuck yeah. of course, I realize that by betraying Twice so harshly like this, Hawks has still found himself on lots of people’s shitlists. but I would just like to put out a friendly reminder that Twice, despite being the nicest and most loyal guy you will ever meet, is still a terrorist who was going to kill a lot of people because he’s friends with a guy who wants to destroy the entire world. so basically there’s just no clean way out of this and it’s all very tragic

but anyway if it’s any consolation, I fully expect Dabi to turn up in the very next panel and be all “BLARGH! IT’S ME!” before we commence with the single sexiest battle in this manga to date

lmao Horikoshi. “but before we get to the sexy battle let me just twist that knife up in there real good!” jesus

friendly reminder that despite all appearances, Hawks is still objectively the good guy in this scenario. anyways for real, how are we all doing this afternoon. how many death threats has my bird son gotten today. I’m afraid to check. poor Twice is so trusting and I really hate to see him cry like this, poor baby. but I’m sure it’s also tearing Hawks up inside as well but we’re just not seeing it

and here we have Hawks, about to unleash his Mangekyou Sharingan

“are you sure you don’t think this sinister maniac looming in the shadows with the deranged look in his eyes is a ruthless killer, makeste?? are you really sure?” Horikoshi asks while pouring every last inch of malice he can into a single chilling panel

and yes, you bastard. I am sure. fuck you, how long are you going to make me sit here looking like a complete ass. look, we get it!! either way, Hawks is clearly a compelling actor! but the question is, which one is really the false face? is it the smiling, easygoing Hawks who always seems to have a faint hint of sadness in his eyes? or is it this menacing figure stripped of all mercy? is it really so crazy to go ahead and say that it’s the latter? huh?? [pokes Horikoshi in the chest] huh?????

anyway so Twice seems to slowly be progressing his way from despair to anger, which is probably not good. heh. fuck

maybe I was wrong about Dabi showing up and saving Twice, maybe his arrival will actually save Hawks instead lmao

anyway Hawks is still being all cold and creepy, and he’s all “you have my thanks.” and Twice is still crying, so maybe he’s still more sad than angry. well this is starting to drag out now though so if a certain spicy flame boi wants to make his grand entrance now, he’s welcome to do so anytime

oh shit Hawks is throwing me a bone!!! yessssss

YOU SEE!! THE SAD LOOK. HE DOESN’T WANT TO DO THIS. HE’S A GOOD BOY. oh my god I just realized how tense I was. hahaha what is this chapter

FINALLY OMG

NOOOOO I THOUGHT IT WAS DABI SNEAKING UP BEHIND HIM. OH MY GOD I CAN’T. WAS THIS HORROR MOVIE SERIAL KILLER ANGLE REALLY NECESSARY THEN, HORIKOSHI. WHAT THE FUCK

TWICE SHUT UP YOU ARE DIGGING YOUR OWN GRAVE!!!

fuck!!! this is why I was so sure he was going to die! because he won’t go quietly; he’s not the type to ever betray his friends. to him the League are basically the only family he’s ever known, so of course he’s not going to just be all “okay sure I’ll go to prison and let you reform me”

so then what, Hawks?? you didn’t fucking think this through you stupid kind-hearted punk!

sob!!!!

is that one of Hawks’s feathers slicing open the mask. sing it with me guys. to the tune of Jingle Bells: fuck fuck fuck, fuck fuck fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuuuuck

OH MY GOD NOOOOO

I WEIRDLY WANT TO COVER MY EYES LOL OH GOD. I DON’T WANT THIS BUT I CAN’T LOOK AWAY HELPPPPP

FUCK ME, IT’S REALLY HAPPENING. HE COULDN’T BRING HIMSELF TO KILL HIM AND NOW HE’S SCREWED HIMSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE OVER, FUCK

FOR FUCK’S SAKE HAWKS YOU COULD HAVE JUST KNOCKED HIM OUT THEN!! YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND FUCKING TRY TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED IN DEIKA CITY, HAWKS. DO WE REALLY WANT A REPEAT OF THAT. SURE, WE’VE GOT CLASS 1-B OUT IN THE BACKYARD MORE THAN READY AND WILLING TO KILL ANY NUMBER OF BITCHES BECAUSE THAT’S HOW THEY DO, BUT STILL

oh shit!?!

lol excuse me are you really just going to end it there? fucking seriously. Dabi running up the stairs with the crazy eyes while Hawks regretfully thinks of himself and his side as “hero scum”?? fff

and that last part! holy shit! again, I don’t buy into any of the dark!Hawks theories, and that includes the theory that Hawks will turn on the heroes and end up siding with the villains (because, again, it has nothing to do with him liking the villains, or secretly resenting the HPSC; it’s strictly on account of the whole “the villains want to destroy the entire world” thing. like. unless you think Hawks is cool with all of that of course). so I have to admit this was very startling for me to read

but I do think this is probably just some of the inevitable self-loathing finally spilling over after being forced to play this role and do all these things for the sake of the greater good, rather than him hinting at a desire to turn against the so-called “hero scum.” but still, that’s probably as dark as we’re gonna get from him, and ngl, it’s some heavy stuff

goddammit. feel like we need to cut to some wholesome class 1-A antics or something after all of that. as always, angst is a double-edged sword that I always anticipate and love but am also destroyed by sigh

[korpuskat]

Kinktober Day 10 - Cybering - Tomura Shigaraki/Eijirou Kirishima

[Ao3 Mirror] Rating: Teen (series will be Explicit) Word Count: 2,732 Summary:  Running the League of Villains and being on the run without any resources is really stressful. Sometimes, Shigaraki just wants to relax, play a game, and virtually kill people.Kirishima feels the same way. Contains: Among Us shenanigans, future Kirishima/Shigaraki

I’ve been wanting to write this fic for a while and once again I can’t make it short enough to write in one day so here’s a like 2 or 3 part series.

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He's tired. Exhausted. More than anything in the world Tomura Shigaraki misses his bed- his room- his consoles and games from the time before. Before Kamino, before Sensei had gone and-

Tomura scowls, chases the thought from his mind. He's been over this a hundred times, been stewing in it even day for weeks, there's no point getting worked up again. So he does what little he can to relax, to lie back on the old, dingy mattress and the rotted, half-ripped sheets. His coat will act as a fine enough blanket tonight, but for now- now he's too tense, too angry to sleep. Normally, he'd invest some time in his latest game, a series he can drop an hour into until he's finally relaxed and ready to get the sleep that eludes him.

But then. He's lost that too, hasn't he? He's left with only his phone and a data plan on someone's bill somewhere that has yet to be traced to him. (At least he hopes; would be rather awkward if the heroes were aware of his late night search history).

There are few games he can play and enjoy, mindless things, but damn if there isn't one that keeps his attention. Tomura sets his name to Dust and loads into the first lobby he sees. As soon as he loads in he moves to the laptop to change his color to black. The chat explodes:

KingExplos (orange): you made it public dumbass KingExplos (orange): gtfo rando

Tomura sneers at the next one, considers finding another lobby.

AllMight (green): Welcome! Floaty (pink): hi!

The prospect of being imposter and killing him first makes Tomura stay.

RedRiot (red): Oops sparky (yellow): but we got 10 players now! RedRiot (red): Ignore orange, Dust Alienqueen (purple): He's cranky lol

They must all know each other, probably all in a Discord together. So long as they're not teaming, it doesn't matter, he can put up with their too-friendly chatter for now.

Dust (black): start RedRiot (red): Right!! Sorry!!

Tomura rolls his eyes, but settles back into his pillow as the timer counts down. The first round goes smoothly; he's a crewmate and works through his tasks with stunning precision, except for the damn card swipe that takes three attempts. He ends up doing the refueling task at the same time as red, the energetic little bean circling his own black avatar a few times in enthusiasm. Tomura scowls, considers the likelihood that red is an imposter all too happy to follow Tomura to the engines, but lets that worry fade- as halfway through the first refueling someone reports orange's body.

Alienqueen (purple): where Froppy (lime): where? Shouto (white): ?

Then, the location come in one by one, all except for the reporter:

AllMight (green): froppy and I were in admin! Froppy (lime): yep sparky (yellow): afk in caf lol Shouto (white): elec with alien

It takes a minute, and Tomura begins to suspect a self-report, until at last:

Ingen (blue): KingExplos's body was outside Navigation and I am sure I saw Floaty running away towards Oxygen! Therefore, pink is an imposter! Floaty (pink): what!! I was at up engine, blue's lying

Tomura grins, he does so love this part.

Dust (black): pink's lying. Dust (black): i was in up engine. RedRiot (red): Yeah!! RedRiot (red): Dust and I were doing refuel together! Floaty (pink): I was just outside, going to medbay Floaty (pink): Ingen don't lie to them!!

The banner pops up: Dust has voted. The rest of the group follows, ringing in one after another.

Froppy (lime): sorry floaty Floaty (pink): dang it Ingen!!

Sure enough, a little pink bean floats out into space followed by Floaty was an Imposter. Easy. Even if blue was slow on clarifying, it should be an easy game with only one dead and one imposter left.

The game resumes- and Red excitedly follows Tomura's avatar back to the upper engines to finish refueling. Tomura finishes first and- watching as Red's avatar remains stuck to the console- waits for Red to finish. It's logical, Tomura decides, to go in pairs and not get split up. Even if he wins, it still sucks to die. And when Red runs to him, circles him again, they pass by the reactor to go get more fuel to do lower engine.

There's no body interruption this time. Tomura only has one task left and it's trash. The bar's not far enough over yet for him to use his visual task- but Red circles him obnoxiously again and moves back and forth back towards storage. He has nothing better to do, Tomura decides, and follows him. Red leads him past storage, past comms, and up the corridor into weapons. He stops next to the console- and sure enough, the ship's lasers fire as Red does the asteroid game.

Well, at least Tomura knows he wasn't running around with the only other murderer on the ship. Red circles him again, excitedly following as Tomura wanders back into the cafeteria.

Just in time to watch green snap lime's neck.

Tomura blinks, then huffs a single amused half-laugh. But Red is the one to get there first, smashing the report button as green still just stands there over lime's bisected corpse.

RedRiot (red): DEKU!!!!!!!! RedRiot (red): WHY!!!!!! AllMight (green): I'm sorry! Alienqueen (purple): where RedRiot (red): YOU KILLED HER??? AllMight (green): I'm sorry, Froppy!!!! Shouto!! Chargebolt!!

Sure enough, the crewmate list shows not just lime dead, but white and yellow too. Impressive, actually. Tomura wonders where the bodies were, if only the one they witnessed is the one that got reported. Probably electrical. Red continues his caps ranting.

RedRiot (red): UNMANLY! Ingen (blue): Where was the body found, RedRiot? Dust (black): its green Alienqueen (purple): omg! all might's an imposter!

Tomura resists snorting. The votes come in fast- ending with green voting for himself. He spins off into space and Tomura is rewarded with the winner's screen. He's shocked to see everyone- everyone load back into the lobby. Not a single leaver? They're definitely in a group together.

KingExplos (orange): WHY THE FUCK DID YOU KILL ME FIRST?? Floaty (pink): gg lol sparky (yellow): killed by all might sparky (yellow): what a way to go AllMight (green): I said I'm sorry! Shouto (white): It's alright, that's how you win. Alienqueen (purple): no its alMIGHT KingExplos (orange): SHUT UP AND START

Tomura allows himself to laugh at that at least, orange's frustration more so than purple's joke. They're not terrible, no obvious cheaters thus far- and their ingroup dynamics keep the focus off him.

This time, the text pops up red. Imposter. Tomura grins- and notices the character off to the side of his avatar. Red. Well. So long as he isn't following him around like a lost dog, maybe Tomura can carry him to a win.

The game starts and Tomura immediately heads down to admin, stops in front of the wiring panel and waits, watches the other characters filter in and out- for a moment it is just him and green (an urge to kill All Might no matter who catches him is intense), but pink and purple both wander in and Tomura has to move on. He heads down to storage, finds nobody idling there (too close to admin anyway). Electrical is obvious, a great kill spot, but on a whim he heads right into communications- and finds orange by his lonesome.

He drops into the room, slits orange's throat, and is back out heading up past shields, nav, and weapons. On the way he passes Red, who stops to wiggle back and forth at him before continuing on down the way Tomura came from. Tomura makes it all the way into the cafeteria and presses up to the wiring panel next to blue. He waits for the kill cooldown to reset- is just about to tap the button when--

Body reported! Tomura scowls- and blinks at the megaphone under Red's name. Blinks at the second red X in the crew list, white also having been killed and not by Tomura.

RedRiot (red): Stop killing Explos first! I can hear him yelling up there!! Alienqueen (purple): where? RedRiot (red): Comms AllMight (green): oh no RedRiot (red): Came from nav and didn't see anybody

Tomura stares at the chat. He'd killed white and reported orange's body to look innocent, not a bad plan-

Ingen (blue): I was doing the trash removal in cafeteria with Dust who was doing wiring. Floaty (pink): was in the middle of reactor game :( Alienqueen (purple): f Alienqueen (purple): in medbay waiting on samples sparky (yellow): wait shoutos dead too Froppy (lime): deku is it you again? AllMight (green): what!! no!! RedRiot (red): You can't kill your way to being at the top of the class!!

Students. Ah. Makes sense how they all know each other now, the dynamics at play. Perfect.

sparky (yellow): all might sus lol AllMight (green): i'm not!! AllMight (green): i was in elec doing the spinny thing Dust (black): alone? AllMight (green): i think so sparky (yellow): sus lol Alienqueen (purple): yeahhh sparky (yellow): wait sparky (yellow): dust where were you???

Tomura rolls his eyes.

Froppy (lime): ingen said they were in cafe with him Dust (black): wires in cafe w blue sparky (yellow): oh Floaty (pink): read chat spark lmao sparky (yellow): sorry dust llo sparky (yellow): lol* Alienqueen (purple): youre so dumb omg Ingen (blue): Dust and I were in the cafeteria completing tasks. Froppy (lime): are we voting? sparky (yellow): green is sus for sure!! Floaty (pink): idk :( RedRiot (red): Elec is near comms and he was alone...

Tomura's finger hovers over the vote button. Too aggressive and he'll look suspicious... but voting someone off immediately would definitely help.

Alienqueen (purple): im skipping for now Alienqueen (purple): but ur on thin ice!!! AllMight (green): its not me!!!

The votes rolls in one by one. Red's appears in the list- and Tomura wishes he'd been more clear how he was voting. He plays it safe, skips. There's plenty of time to coax out that suspicion. The results tally up: pink, yellow, and sure enough Red had voted for green. If Tomura had voted the other way it would've been enough to eject him- damn. It's fine, he can work with it.

The game resumes and Tomura guides his avatar through rooms, pauses at task locations to seem genuine, to wait for a good opportunity. He finds the perfect one, at the bottom of storage blue leads him towards the trash chute. The grin that curls at his lips is cruel, but he can't help it. They're the perfect target, blue's precision could be a problem if Tomura needs to lie. Blue wiggles then stops to complete the task- trash explodes out from the side of the ship, proving blue's innocence. Tomura already knew that. Before blue can step away somewhere more visible, he taps the kill button and his black avatar skewers blue's.

He runs towards electrical, dips in and makes it all the way to the vent, stopping there- and waits for just a moment. It might be risky to leave electric so close to the body, so he jumps in the vent and slides his way over to security, popping out when he's sure no one is around. Easy. He stands by the cams but stares at the hallway, waiting for a potential victim as his timer ticks down. People probably aren't done, not concerned with using security yet- and just as Tomura is about to give up and seek out prey for himself, a little pink bean comes running by.

They turn into the reactor room and approach one of the tasks. Tomura sits at the other task, right next to each other- only seconds left, 5, 4, 3- he just needs them to be below average at the memory game- 2, 1-

He jams the button as they begin to run away and his avatar stabs theirs and- Body reported!

It's fine, it's fine. Nobody else was in reactor with him, he's sure.

Dust (black): where Alienqueen (purple): KIRI....... AllMight (green): where? sparky (yellow): ? RedRiot (red): uh Alienqueen (purple): KIRI KILLED TSU....

Shit.

sparky (yellow): riot!!! how is that manly!! Alienqueen (purple): RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME IN MEDBAY AllMight (green): omg Dust (black): lol

Tomura is definitely not laughing out loud, but if he doesn't respond he'll look suspicious.

RedRiot (red): Look!! RedRiot (red): You weren't supposed to come in!! sparky (yellow): hahaha ok vote kiri Alienqueen (purple): YOU KILLED TSU! RedRiot (red): You weren't supposed to see!!

That does make Tomura shake his head, perhaps a little amused at Red's explanation. No use trying to defend him. He taps the vote button and they come pouring in. Tomura can still win this, he's pulled it off with worse- so long as Red sticks around to pull out some sabotages for him, there's a good chance. The voting ends, green being the last hold out-- and Tomura's mouth drops open.

As one final parting gift, Red has voted for green.

Red's body goes spinning off into space, the confirmation RedRiot was an Imposter appearing after

It doesn't always mean something, but maybe, maybe, the rest of the crew will think it was Red implicating green as his co-conspirator. The game resumes and Tomura wanders over towards medbay. They'll probably be grouping up soon, he needs to work fast to separate them- and the alarm makes his screen flash. Red's already at work.

Tomura crosses cafe to go to oxygen, stands at the console there- and yes. yes. purple comes running in from nav. The cooldown from the round starting is rough, but it's enough, it has to be- the sabotage ends (damn, if he could've killed her before that, he could've won immediately) just as it comes off the timer. The black avatar rips open to reveal a mouth and takes a chomp out of purple.

Tomura runs to the cafeteria- and watches as yellow slams the emergency button. He'll notice purple is dead, they were together, shit-

sparky (yellow): deku!!!!!!!!

and yellow. Yellow votes. Tomura full-on fucking laughs.

AllMight (green): what!! sparky (yellow): you been sus all game its you isnt it!!! AllMight (green): no!! it's you! accusing me to get the rando to vote me out and win! sparky (yellow): omg no! Dust (black): actually Dust (black): it's neither of you

and Tomura votes for green.

sparky (yellow): OMG sparky (yellow): R U FR AllMight (green): i told you!!!! sparky (yellow): how do u change ur vote???? Dust (black): you cant AllMight (green): that was too sneaky dust

Green accepts his fate, votes for himself. Tomura wishes he was actually All Might- that'd certainly be a novel way to kill him, to eject him into space. The winner's screen appears: Black's avatar and the ghost of RedRiot standing as menacingly as little bean creatures can.

He taps through the ad, loads back into the lobby.

RedRiot (red): Haha! We got y'all! KingExplos (orange): you fucking dick Alienqueen (purple): denki ur a moron LMAO Floaty (pink): that was amazing dust KingExplos (orange): fucking killing me first again Floaty (pink): but omg :( AllMight (green): i told you!! Floaty (pink): I just needed to do reactor :( RedRiot (red): Dust you were beast!!

Tomura blinks, feels sweat gather on his palms. A few of the players from the previous game didn't return.

Dust (black): thanks RedRiot (red): Do you have discord?? RedRiot (red): I have go to sleep but we made a great team! RedRiot (red): Should play again some time!!

He shouldn't. It's not like his discord is private or obviously him or anything, Tomura only uses it for the gaming servers, a quicker way to look for group before loading in- but he hasn't needed to do that in some time. He'd been swiping away any notifications, set himself on do not disturb and didn't open it to not make himself miss his consoles.

But he liked this. Red was good, good instincts, wasn't overly annoying or stupid, and more than anything, they had good synchronization. What harm could it be? At worst Tomura just blocks him, at best they play Among Us some more. He waits for two more people to leave the group, probably also headed off to sleep if they're all students before typing out his username.

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[muilkyu]

That’s Us

Genre: Angst with Fluff, Best Friends, Sick Reader

Member: Jihoon

Word Count: 1.3k Words

Requested by:  @stephaniewithan-ph​ 

Groaning I roll around in my bed. My whole body is screaming for me to not get up today. I shouldn't have gone to that party on campus last night. I must have caught someone's cold. 

Outstretching my arm I reach for my phone. Squinting as the phone lights up. I look at the time. It's 9 am, I've already missed my first class. I have a bunch of messages from last night. Most of them are from Jihoon, the others my family. 

The most recent message is from Jihoon with a simple. 'Where the hell are you?'. I know I should respond, but another hour of sleep won't kill me. Plus the pounding headache I currently have is not making my day any better. 

Eventually I end up falling back asleep. When I wake up again it's 6 pm. Forcing myself up from my bed I walk around to the bathroom. I manage to get a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror. My eyes are puffy and my hair is a hot mess. I'm still looking at my face when my phone dings again. Another text for. Jihoon, 'I'm coming over you missed all your classes'. 

I really don't want him over here. While asleep I got all sweaty so I probably smell not to mention I look like I'm on the verge of dying. I quickly shoot back a text of 'If you show up. I'm not letting you in'. With that I start looking for any type of pain killer. Korea is an amazing country, but the pain killers at the pharmacy you swear are nothing but bad tasting candies. Finding the bottle I let out a sigh of relief. Opening it however I'm disappointed to see that the bottle is empty. Great. 

Maybe I should ask Jihoon to get me some painkillers. He's already on his way over might as well use it to my advantage. I call him and he picks up immediately. 

"Where were you? You missed the information for our study guide for Chemistry." He demands. In the background I can hear the sound of the bus he is probably on. 

I was right, he is on his way, "I woke up not feeling well." 

"You could have at least told me this morning. I told you not to go to that party last night," he nags. 

"Yes dad. Thank you for yelling at me." I tease, voice a pitch higher than usual. Honestly I want to say more, but the sore throat I have tells me otherwise. 

"Stop that's weird." 

"You started it. Look, stop at the pharmacy and get me some painkillers. The strong ones," I make sure to tell him the right kind. 

"Okay. Anything else, your highness?" 

"Mhh. I also want ramen, oh and a banana milk please," I tell him. 

"I didn't actually mean that, but your wish is my command." 

With that Jihoon hangs up. I laugh to myself. I have him wrapped around my finger. Then again that's what friends are for. They have your back when you are feeling down, when you get into an argument and need backing up or even when you just need a shoulder to cry on. Friends have each other's backs. Although Jihoon and I sometimes feel like polar opposites we have a strong friendship. 

We met back when I first came to Seoul. It's been 3 years since then. It was my first day in Korea. I knew maybe 5 Korean words. Naver maps was my best friend at the time. I was just trying to find my way to campus and I ended up taking the wrong bus. I ended up somewhere in Hongdae instead of Shinson-dong. On the bus I was having a mental breakdown. That's when Jihoon approached me. He didn't know any English and my Korean was equivalent to a preschooler. We talked through a translator on his phone. He helped me to get to the campus. It was honestly kind of an embarrassing experience, but after he helped me out that day we exchanged Kakao ID's. Then the rest was history. 

As we got closer I learned that he was from Busan. He was only in Seoul to meet some friends, but had been thinking about transferring his campus to be in the city. So we talked and talked over Kakao. Eventually we started meeting up to do language exchange which helped me with my Korean on top of my regular language classes. Virtually we had the same personality which was a bonus. I was loud, spoke my mind and fought for what I was feeling. He was the same, maybe a little more shy around strangers, but still friendly. Our friendship was mainly bickering, but purely out of love. Jihoon has become my backbone for the past 3 years. 

--

By the time Jihoon arrives I've at least managed to put on a new pair of leggings and changed into a t-shirt. Which now that I think about it I think is one I stole from Jihoon. He confirms this when he walks into my apartment. 

"That's my shirt you thief!" 

"It's comfy," I yelled back, "Don't yell at me I'm sick." 

"I got you some ibuprofen," he tells you as he reaches in the bag for the pill bottle. 

I snatch the bottle from his hand, "Get me some water." 

He scowls at me, "Wow thank you my good friend of course this wasn't a hassle at all." 

I stop fiddling with the bottle to look up at him, "Get me some water. Please." I add in the please and a sweet smile to top it all off. 

A slow smile creeps onto his face, "See now was that so hard."

He then goes off into the kitchen to grab me bottled water. Getting open the medicine bottle I grab 3 pills. It's going to make me sleepy, but at least the headache will be gone. 

"Here," Jihoon says, handing me the bottle. I take it as soon as it's opened. I down the medicine not wanting to waste anytime. Jihoon gets comfortable on the couch next to me. 

"What did I miss in class?" I question. 

"The study guide. I told you that. We have a test in two days." 

I sigh, "Did you take notes for me?" 

"No I didn't. I was too busy so wondering if you had died or not," he says, nagging again. 

"Stop nagging. It's not a big deal. I caught a cold, it happens," I say, leaning my back down onto the back of the couch. 

"No it is a big deal. You went out and now you are sick," he sounds serious now.

We don't usually have serious conversations often. When a fight happens, we don't talk for 2 days and then we go get McDonald's. Best friends fight, it's only natural. 

"Okay I'll be more careful from now on," I reply. I don't say it with any type of attitude behind it. I really mean it. 

"Good. Now you forced me to bring you ramen you should eat." Jihoon says. 

I groan, "Uh, I don't feel like eating." 

"Too bad," he says then he is up to make me the ramen. 

I'm honestly not hungry, but if I keep complaining he is still going to make it anyways. That is what makes us good friends in the most of our bickering I also know he cares about me. If I was in his position right now I would be doing the same exact thing. We take care of each other. When I'm crying about missing home he's right by my side. When I want to randomly watch a movie at 1 in the morning he always picks up the phone. Jihoon is my backbone, but I'm his too. I really have found the one person I know I can depend on for the rest of my life. 

--

Thank you for reading~! 

My requests are opened for all including fics!

[steves-on-a-plane]

Like A Tree

Disney Quote Writing Challenge

Words: 1452 Cast of Characters: Dad!Tony Stark & Daughter!Reader Warning: Some Language but it’s PG 13 👍  Prompt: #17 “Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble.” -Mufasa, The Lion King, 1994 - Requested by Anon Summary: Reader is Tony Stark’s teenage daughter who gets suspended from school for starting a fight with one of the football players during lunch time. Tony confronts Reader when she gets home and gives her an important lesson in being a hero. 

You held your breath as you tip-toed into your father’s penthouse apartment. You kicked off your shoes and closed the front door slowly, trying to make a little noise as possible. It was the middle of the day and you were supposed to be at school, but you’d been sent home early. For fighting. You planned on telling your dad…eventually.

“It’s the middle of the day. He’s working.” you rationalized. “I’ll just sneak into my room and we’ll talk about it later. Or never.”

“Welcome home Miss Stark!” Your father’s artificially intelligent assistant greeted you loudly.

“JARVIS! Shhhh!” You hissed at the disembodied voice. “If dad finds out I’m not as school he’ll kill me. And if he kills me, I’ll have to come back as a ghost and unplug you.”

“Miss Stark, you know that I cannot be unplugged, I am fully integrated into…” JARVIS started to explain.

“I don’t know how to threaten a robot!” You quipped, “Just be quiet!”

“Miss Stark, I’m hardly a robot as I have no physical…” He once again began debating you.

“JARVIS! Stop talking. Pretend that I’m not here and don’t tell my dad that I’m home. Can you do that?” You asked.

“It’s a little late for that, Kiddo.” While you were busy arguing semantics with JARVIS your father had stepped out of his lab, the door to which was behind you.

“JARVIS you’re a snitch.” You mumbled to the floor since, as he pointed out, the A.I. didn’t have a physical body.

“Don’t blame JARVIS.” Your father told you as you turned to face him. “I asked him to let me know when you got home, after I got off the phone with your school.”

“They said they weren’t going to call you.” You said, biting your lower lip.

“They didn’t. I called them, after I saw this.” You closed your eyes as a video thumbnail appeared in the middle of the room. You didn’t know someone had recorded what happened. The title of the video was [Y/N] STARK FIST FIGHT. You father moved to stand behind you, he placed his hands on your shoulders. “Let’s watch it together shall we?”

“I don’t want to.” You mumbled to the floor.

“Oh, no we’re watching it. JARVIS play the video.” Tony insisted. The video started to play. It was in the cafeteria at school. A tall football player was talking to you and then you punched him in the jaw. It was a good punch and you didn’t even flinch. Natasha, who’d taught you how to punch properly, would have been proud. After you landed a solid hit on the football player his girlfriend jumped up from the table she’d been sitting at and started yelling at you. The two of you tossed a few punches back and forth and there was some hairpulling, until eventually a teacher broke up the fight. The video ended.

“That’s not fair!” You argued stepping away from your dad so you could turn to face him. “They only started filming after I punched that guy!”

“Help me understand what was going through your mind when you punched the school’s star quarterback and then proceeded to get in a fist fight with his girlfriend. Because I seem to remember Natasha telling you that she was only teaching you how to fight in self-defense.”

“But it was self-defense!” You argued. “Kyle Thurston’s an asshole!” You crossed your arms over your chest. “Before gym class every day, Kyle and his friend Trevor stand just outside of the girl’s locker room, they check out all the girls and then rank them from best ass to worst, their words not mine.” You added when he raised his eyebrows at you for swearing twice in a row. “All of the girls hate it and his girlfriend, Mia, doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with I; Mostly because she always gets ranked as best ass. When I told the principle that what Kyle and Trevor were doing was technically sexual harassment, she told me it was just ‘Boys being boys.’ That’s not okay dad.”

“So, you just took it upon yourself to punch him in the face in the middle of lunch. Makes perfect sense.” Tony agreed sarcastically.

“No, I told Kyle that I was going to come home and tell Uncle Steve what he was doing, and that Uncle Steve would punch him in the face. So, then Kyle said he would show me what real sexual harassment was and put his hands on my butt as I walk away. That’s when I turned around and told him never to touch me again, and he said he was the star quarterback and he could put his hands wherever he wanted. So, then I punched him in the face.”

“And you don’t see how you might have maybe handled that situation inappropriately?” Your father asked, his eyebrows practically rising up to his hairline. You straightened your back and took a deep breath trying to remember the speech you’d practiced on the walk home from school.

“Uncle Steve says,” You began, “That it’s our job to stand up for what we believe no matter what the odds or consequences. That when other people push you, your job is to plant yourself like a tree…”

“By the river of truth and tell the whole world, no, you move.” Tony finished impatiently. “I’ve read the plaque on the statue in Central Park, too. Look Kiddo, I get that you want to help protect other people and you want to be brave like your Uncle Steve and the rest of the team, but being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.”

“Dad, I didn’t!” You started to complain but he held a hand up to stop you.

“I get that I haven’t always been the best role model for you.” He sighed. “If your mother were alive right now, she’d be telling me that this is all my fault and you know what, she’d probably be right.”

“You’ve been a great dad…” You argued.

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He shook his head. “I messed up. I messed up a lot in my life, Kiddo. There’s been probably hundreds of newspaper headlines and trashy magazine articles about things I did before I met your mother. But newspapers headlines? Magazine articles? People forget about those. Print is dead, despite what Uncle Steve will tell you. You don’t have the luxury that I did growing up. The internet, kid? That shit’s forever. This video is going to follow you for the rest of your life. To job interviews, dates…you’re going to have to explain this video to your own kids someday. So, this,” He pointed to the video paused on the floating virtual screen. “Can’t ever happen again, am I clear?”

“Yeah.” You sighed knowing he was right.

“I know it’s not easy. Being a kid with a famous dad.” He told you. “Plus you know, your Uncle Steve, Uncle Bruce the list goes on. My old man didn’t get it.” Tony shook his head. “He never made it any easier on me, never tried to understand my side of things and I promised your mother I’d never do that to you.”

“Does that mean I’m not in trouble?” You asked hopefully.

“Oh no, you’re very much in trouble.” He assured you. “You’re not going anywhere but school and home for the next month. It’s solitary confinement for you, Kiddo. I’m just saying I wasn’t a perfect kid and I don’t expect you to be. And you gotta let me in, give me the chance to help before you go punching assholes like Kyle Thurston. Okay?”

“Okay.” You dared to laugh. Your dad had never intentionally sworn about someone in front of you before.

“I’ll call the school and give them some more insight into the situation. I’ll let them know that they need to handle kyle’s on going harassment, but I think the break from school will be good for you. Get some rest because tomorrow you’re working in the lab with me. I’ll call Steve too and have him stop by.” He decided.

“Why?” You asked.

“Because if he can teach you to start fights, he can teach you how to patch yourself up after one. Go grab an icepack for your eye while you wait for him to come up. JARVIS call the school.” He ordered.

“Hey Dad,” You called out to him as the line began to ring. “I didn’t do it because I wanted to be a hero like Uncle Steve, I want to be a hero like you. I love you.”

“Love you too, Kiddo.” He promised, pulling you into a tight hug.

[spooky-z]

CHP 2 - Funhouse

I've called the movers, called the maids We'll try to exorcise this place Drag my mattress to the yard Crumble, tumble, house of cards

P!NK – Funhouse

××××

« Previous • The Au • Next »

@ozmav​

××××

“Good afternoon, Master Fu.” Marinette greets and bows.

Her mother had raised her very well and thank you.

"Good afternoon, Marinette." The man smiles. "It's good to see you, although I don't think this is an informal visit."

"And you're right." She sits on the mat, Tikki takes the opportunity to escape from the bag.

“We have important information for you.” The kwami says.

Fu's smile becomes smarter.

“I think I'll make some tea to accompany this conversation.

××××

"Interesting." The man mutters, his hands scratching at the gray goatee.

"But you should have brought the book!" Wayzz exclaims.

Marinette knows she shouldn't be annoyed at such a powerful entity, but she can't stop the small fire burning in her chest.

She had already explained it twice. Twice. The reason for not taking Adrien's book and rushing to the Guardian with it, but the little green kwami didn't seem to want to understand.

Well, her parents said age wasn't the same as wisdom. She believed that was the proof of that.

“Wayzz, Marinette has already explained why she didn't do that. Are you even listening to what we're saying?!” Tikki scolds.

He looks at both of them, frowning firmly.

"For all I know, she may well be acting for selfish reasons." Says petulantly. "Not letting the boy she likes in a worse deal with his father."

Marinette's patience breaks.

“Wayzz-“ Master Fu tries, but she cuts the man.

 “I didn't do anything for the supposed boys I like.” Sharp as a scalpel “Have you ever stopped to think that if Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth, he might try to escape after discovering that the book is missing ?!” Growls through gritted teeth.

Wayzz seems skeptical at first, but soon his expression withers to regret.

"I-I"

“Alright, Wayzz. Everyone makes mistakes.” Fu intervenes. “But I really wish I could have seen this book. If it's the book I think of, then it's likely Gabriel also has the peacock's miraculous.” He sighs.

It seemed that things were getting more serious.

Marinette took her backpack off her back, opened it, and pulled out an obviously customized black tablet.

An insignia with two overlapping golden R's graced the cover.

“Here.” She reaches out to the man.

"Marinette thought of everything, Master!" Tikki says excitedly as she flies over their heads.

“And that would be?” The green kwami asks suspiciously.

"... The miraculous grimoire." Fu sighs in surprise as he flips through the virtual pages.

“How did you get this done in such a short time?” Asks to the girl.

"Tim." She says simple.

"Oh, the Red Robin boy." He turns off the tablet. "Tell him I really appreciate that."

Marinette smiles.

"Sure. Now I have to go. A friend of mine awaits me.” She gets up, Tikki goes back to hiding in her bag.

“See you, Master, Wayzz!” She squeaks.

“Marinette, Tikki.” Fu tilts his head in respect.

"Bye, bye." Wayzz.

“Bye guys.” Marinette nods and leaves the massage parlor.

Now she had to run or Kim would kill her.

××××

When she arrives at school, Kim is waiting for her at the entrance. He has two paper bags in his hand, the Dupain-Cheng bakery logo stamped on them.

“Sorry, Kimmy. Tim called me needing my help with something.” She says, her voice coming out slightly unsteady from running the streets of Paris to school.

Kim raises an eyebrow suspiciously. He knew Mari and the Waynes were hiding something from him, but he never forced Marinette to tell because he appreciated their friendship.

And he knew that one hour Marinette would tell him. Then Kim would be the best friend she needed and would wait patiently.

He extends one of the paper bags to the girl and softens the expression.

"All right. At least you arrived with plenty of time to eat.”

Marinette takes the bag, her guilty face melting into a huge smile.

“Thank you, Kimmy! You are the best."

Kim heaves his chest in pride.

"Of course, I am."

He waits until Marinette was by his side to throw his arm over her shoulder, a dangerous smile on his lips. A smile the brunette would recognize even in the dark.

A competitive smile.

"Let's go now. I bet you can't eat everything before the bell rings.”

She narrows her eyes, countering her friend's challenge.

"Well, I bet I can."

Tikki laughs from inside the bag.

She loved when her chosen acted according to her age.

××××

Mari wins the bet, but soon regrets. She can barely breathe under the weight of her stomach.

She almost throws up, but Kim is there to save the day.

Once again.

××××

"... And then Jagged Stone wrote a song in my honor." Lila tells.

She was surrounded by Ms. Bustier's class when Marinette and Kim entered the classroom.

Her nose high, haughty like royalty and the others excited about her story.

Marinette notices that Adrien is sitting in the back row of the right corner, alone. Probably wanting to keep as far away from Italian as possible.

She understands the blonde's behavior.

Lila's manner belied everything she claimed to be.

And as Bruce had once said ‘instinct never fails’.

Her instinct screamed, red everywhere, that the Italian was a problem.

Kim frowned at his best friend, who had frozen in the classroom door.

"MDC?" He whispers and pulls the brunette to their accents.

Marinette blinks, finally coming to herself.

"Sorry, Kimmy." She sighs. "It's just... I don't like her." She mumbles. "She makes goose bumps on the back of my neck."

The boy looks surprised at her. A vivid memory flashing in his mind.

“Really?” She nods and hides her face around his neck. "Wow."

Marinette has always had a kind of seventh sense for bad people. She was a kind child to everyone, but there were people she made a point of being rude to and it never seemed to make sense to her family.

Until one day Marinette had bitten the hand of a Dupain-Cheng neighbor. A nice gentleman who distributed sweets and played with the children in the street.

They were seven when the police showed up at his house dragging him arrested for pedophilia and the only thing Marinette said was "I said he was bad!" before drawing again.

Kim found out some time later (at 9) that the Dupain-Cheng had become suspicious of the man and along with the Wayne, had obtained evidence about him.

He caresses her friend's head. Arms over her shoulder, cuddled up.

“I understand, Mari.” Whispers “To tell the truth, it's kind of unrealistic that Jagged has made a song in her honor that we have never heard. Or her being Ladybug's friend if she has come to Paris recently.”

“Alya believed it. The class is believing it.” Marinette points out “I just hope she only tells fantasy fan stories and don't become a problem for us later.

“If she gets you in trouble, I'll have your back. As I always have.” Kim replies.

“Thank you, Kimmy. Same.” She smiles.

"MDC, I already said ‘Kimmy’ no!"

They did not notice certain Agreste listening to their conversation.

 “So she's a liar, huh.” He whispers to himself and turns his attention back to the class around Lila.

He had managed to return the book to his father's safe without Gabriel knowing about it.

Plagg hadn't been much help, focused on eating his smelly cheeses. The little god had not even tried to check the book to know what it was about.

After Marinette returned it to him, he was left with nothing good to think about Lila Rossi.

Adrien still couldn't believe what she had done and it didn't cross his mind for a second that Marinette was lying about it. As little as he knew the girl, she was fair and honest with everyone.

And on second thought, he doubted his Lady would be best friends with someone so dirty like Lila.

“Adrien!” Lila calls, rising from Adrien's (old) chair and climbing to where he was sitting now. The whole class dispersing around the room.

He noticed the quick glance Alya shot Marinette after seeing the two of them (Lila and Adrien) talking alone in the back of the room.

This was a behavior Adrien didn't understand coming from Alya and some of the people in the class. Every time he did something, they would glance at Marinette as if expecting some reaction or for her to say something.

“Adrien!” Lila calls again, waving her hands in the boy's face to attract his attention.

And what before he could not see clearly, now he could see crystal clear.

He lived with models, knew fake smiles and opportunistic people. Adrien himself was a model, he was in the middle. Even so, he needed Marinette's help to be able to recognize the mischievous tone of those eyes and the plastic smile on this face.

He felt his stomach turn, but forced a polite smile on his face. The same one he used with his most... aggressive fans. So to speak.

"Hello, Lila."

She takes this as permission to sit by his side and claw his arm like a leech.

"Hi! I wanted to end our conversation from before.” She bites her lip, her eyelashes fluttering in an attempt at charm.

He shudders, trying to create a distance between them, but Lila was strong. Adrien is sure that as soon as he took off his shirt to look, he would find purple spots on the inside of his arm.

“Yes?” Questions “I don't even remember what we were talking about anymore.” Forces a bland laugh.

Lila's smile becomes bigger and sharper.

“Oh, no problem! Before Marinette-" Say the girl's name as an insult "-appear, I would tell you that..." She lowers her tone of voice "I was the one who gave the earrings to Ladybug."

Adrien gathers all his acting knowledge to force a surprised expression.

"Re-really?!"

She looks away as if embarrassed.

"Yes. Actually, I have the power of Volpina myself. It is inherited by worthy women in my family.”

Adrien doesn't even have to pretend to choke. It seemed like there was nothing she wouldn't lie to get attention.

Lila kept talking and talking about how she was leading Ladybug and Chat Noir, how she became the heroine of the fox, the most powerful of heroes and blah blah.

Something pops inside him. His passivity, maybe.

“Lila.” Cut her out. “You can stop lying to me now.”

"W-What?"

“You don't have to lie to fit in with everyone.” He says. “Alya and I were the new ones too, so I know what it's like to be the new boy and be afraid of not being accepted by the class, but you can already drop the act. They are very kind and friendly.”

Lila's expression wavered for a moment before returning to the act.

"But I'm telling the truth." Her lips quiver and her eyes fill with water.

God, she was a terrible actress.

“Lila.” Adrien stiffens the expression. “I know you're lying.”

There is a change of behavior coming from Lila. The serious face, the manipulative eyes.

It reminded Adrien of his father.

“Well it can't be helped.” She lets go of his arm and tosses the hair off her shoulder. "Now how do you- Oh."

Adrien looks at her and follows her eyes in the direction she is staring.

Marinette and Kim, sitting behind Ivan and Mylene.

“It was then, wasn't it? What did she say?” The voice dripping with poison.

Adrien believes that if he were a real cat, he would have hissed in disgust.

“Nothing.” He replies. “Or rather… Enough.”

Lila lets out a tired breath at the boy's words.

“Look Adrien, people like us-”

“People like us? People like you, Lila. Only you. Don't put us in the same category.” Growls “Either you are honest with my friends or you can keep lying and forget me. You choose."

The Italian can barely keep herself from laughing at the ingenuity of the model.

“Oh, Adrien. Do you really think that would work for me?” Purrs “I’m really surprised by your ingenuity. The big ones only stay big by lying and cheating. Even if you're beautiful and rich, I don't think you're worth the effort.”

She slides her finger over Adrien's arm that was spread across the table. He retracts his arm away from her, annoyed.

"So, I think you should leave me alone."

She seems to finally give up on the blonde as she gets up, but before leaving him alone, she leans toward him. The malicious look never leaving her expression.

"Then try to keep out of my way or I'll have the pleasure of destroying you." And get out, as if she hasn’t just threatened someone.

Neither of them notices Marinette and Kim watching the interaction.

××××

Marinette had to insist to Kim go home to take a shower that day.

The boy had not left her for a second for the rest of the school day. He had even turned down a dispute with Alix (which had left half the class in shock) to stay with Mari.

She could only convince him to leave her (finally) alone when she said she wanted privacy in her feminine affairs and after that they could have dinner together while watching Law & Order.

Marinette came through the side door of the bakery, which was now closed for business.

When she gets home, the scent of Kung Pao Chicken attacks her pleasantly.

“Papa, Māma, I'm back!” She calls, opening the bag for Tikki fly freely around the house.

“Huānyíng huíjiā sweetie.” Sabine responds “Your father had to make a delivery, but he should be coming soon.” Says when Marinette arrives in the kitchen.

Marinette kisses the woman's cheek affectionately.

"All right. I need to do something at the bakery.”

Sabine turns around, her face abnormally serious for her daughter.

"Ladybug?"

"Ladybug."

"All right. I'll call when the food is ready and your dad arrives.” She smiles again. “If Tikki wants it, there's a little chocolate mousse left in the bowl. She can eat while I wash the dishes...”

The kwami ​​materializes in the kitchen, her eyes shining.

"YEA!"

"OK." Sabine laughs.

"I'll be right back." Mari says before leaving the house again and going down to the bakery kitchen.

There she pushes the heavy workbench, sliding across the floor until a metal trapdoor appears.

She rests her palm on the safety lock flashing red.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She says and the light is quickly replaced by green and the trapdoor opens softly.

It was the time of truth.

« Previous • The Au • Next »

 And I know that Adrien is very OOC, but calm down! There is a reason for this that will be shown soon.

[Tag list]

@constancetruggle @mystery-5-5 @captainmac6 @northernbluetongue @redscarlet95 @ki117h3dr4g0n @bluefiredemon @mochinek0 @7-sage-7 @lunar-wolf-warrior @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @xxmadamjinxx @vixen-uchiha @crazylittlemunchkin @spicybelladonna @justanothersepticeyefan

[arolla-pine]

I, Marinette - p.2

(2) – Physics

I left the Dupain-Cheng bakery in a hurry. Of course, I had to hug Tom who gave me some pastries for brunch. I thought he���d crushed all my bones while he hugged me but surprisingly I was OK. I suspected I was protected by one of the rules of this unreal universe.

Traffic lights stopped me for good, so I had to run as fast as I could to get the school on time. Somehow, I managed to enter the François Dupont courtyard at the moment of the school bell ringing.

“Here you are!” I heard somewhere around.

Alya.

Of course.

How could it be otherwise?

“Hi…” I breathed.

“We’d better hurry up, because I’d prefer not to be examined in physics.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s better not to be noticed…” I nodded and reminded myself to sit quiet and not to put Marinette into trouble.

Alya ran towards the class, and I followed her astonished with her red hair which was quite impressive. If we were to stage “Harry Potter, she should get Hermione’s part. Wait a minute! Had I just thought “if we were…”? It looked like I got into character too seriously…

When we entered the classroom, the teacher wasn’t there yet. Lucky me! I forgot to feel relief, because I was too shocked. Sweet mother! The Mrs. Mendeleiev classroom! A real laboratory – if you could use the word “real” in relation to a cartoon… I could see students sitting at desks – all Miraculous characters with Chloe Bourgeois in a front row. She was watching me with a wry smile on her face. What a masterpiece of pride and disgust! I felt like writing a story with her as a main character! I checked the rest of students and when I noticed lack of Lila Rossi, I sighed with relief. She was the only one that I would be afraid of.

I saw Nino and Adrien smiling. Right…

“Marinette…” Alya whispered significantly.

Oh, God! I was standing in the centre of the classroom and staring at people! What a blunder! I felt that my cheeks became red, so I lowered my head and rushed to my place. I couldn’t miss Chloe’s snort:

“Clumsy-Cheng…”

I should definitely write a story about Chloe. And that would be my first angst ever! With the main character’s death. That perspective helped me right away.

“I thought you wouldn’t make it!” Nino started, because Mrs. Mendeleiev hadn’t come yet.

“I was waiting for Marinette…” Alya explained. “You have to leave home earlier, girl! You’re always late!”

“I couldn’t get rid of my parents…” I muttered. “Too much hugs…”

Alya looked at me astonished, Nino cleared his throat uncomfortable. I kicked myself virtually. Marinette was never mocking, especially when it came to her parents!

“I think your parents are the best!” Adrien said, glancing at me with a smile.

So, here he was! A golden boy with green sparkles in his eyes. And with a loving smile for his “just a friend”… Riiight…

At first, I was surprised that I didn’t faint or something like that. Oh, come on! I was looking at the love interest of half of school. Forget a school! Of half of the city! And I felt nothing. Zero. Then I remembered that I’m older than them. And my heart was already taken for good. So, there was nothing weird in me not falling for him. Yet, I realised that if I stayed here for long I could unintentionally ruin Adrienette ship. Actually, I could ruin the whole LoveSquare…

“They’re the best!” I replied to Adrien, hoping that my friends would forget my previous comment. I had to be more careful!

The teacher finally entered the classroom, so we had to end our conversation. I felt relief and stress at the same time. On one hand, I could relax because pretending Marinette in front of her best friends wasn’t easy at all. On the other hand, I became anxious about the classes because I was unprepared.

“Today we’re going to talk about the Solar System!” Mrs. Mendeleiev announced.

I couldn’t believe how lucky I was! I always loved tv programmes about the space, I had some books about it at home. When I had been at school I took part in some contests. So, even if I was questioned I should be able to answer correctly and Marinette wouldn’t get a bad grade. I could relax…

Too early… The teacher began her lecture in so boring way, that after five minutes half of students fell asleep. How could she kill such an interesting topic?! I’d bet I’d be better! But I stayed quiet, because I remembered to stay invisible. I needed to be extra patient because Mendeleiev’s lecture frustrated me more and more…

Finally, the teacher realised that her students didn’t listen to her at all, so she changed the tactics. She decided to start asking questions to activate the students.

“Who knows which planet of the Solar System has a rotation in the opposite direction to the rest of planets?” she asked with a smile like she found some extra news for us.

“Venus…” I mumbled, knowing the answer before she finished her question.

“Very well, Miss Dupain-Cheng!” the teacher was impressed.

I caught Alya’s surprised glance and heard some whispers behind my back. I remembered that Marinette wasn’t good in physics. My bad… I liked this subject.

“Venus is a very interesting planet because Venusian year is shorter than Venusian day.” Ms. Mendeleiev continued.

I focused on staying quiet and on keeping my knowledge for myself. I still forgot that I was older than the rest of students (and a nerd by the way)… Thankfully, I heard Chloe’s snort that reminded me that fact:

“Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! A year shorter than a day?!”

‘Poor girl…’ I sighed to myself. ‘Do you have any idea what means a year or a day?’

“Who knows what means a year and a day for a planet?” Mrs. Mendeleiev asked.

Geez! I wanted to start chewing my desk! Suddenly, I understood why Hermione Granger had to answer every teachers’ question. ‘Please, let someone say something…” I prayed. I was too old for school!

“A day is time needed to rotate about its axis, and a year is time needed to orbit the Sun.” Adrien answered and I could relax.

“Perfect, Mr. Agreste!” the teacher was satisfied. “So, Venus rotates about its axis longer than it orbits the Sun. As you can see, this planet is unusual among the Solar System planets. Do you know how many planets we have in the Solar System?”

I thought I couldn’t be more frustrated, but I was wrong. I started drawing the Solar System in my tablet just to stay quiet. This lesson was like a nightmare!

“Eight.”

Adrien. Again. Thank goodness, this boy had some extra classes after school. The teacher had a partner for a discussion. And I didn’t eat myself…

“For many years the scientists believed that there were nine planets in the Solar System.” Mrs. Mendeleiev continued. “However, after some research they decided to exclude one from this list. Does anyone know…?”

“Pluto…” came out from me, before I realised. ‘That’s what happens when I’m frustrated…’

“Perfect!” The teacher didn’t try to hide her surprise, and I could congratulate myself on being an idiot.

At that moment we heard a school bell. No one stood up nor collected their belongings. Apparently, Mrs. Mendeleiev – not a school bell – announced the end of classes.

“For the next time all of you will prepare a paper about one of the Solar System planets. Miss Dupain-Cheng and Mr. Agreste don’t have to write anything because they proved their knowledge during the lesson. The class is dismissed!”

After this announcement everyone began gathering their tablets. I followed the example. By the way, I heard Chloe complaining to Sabrina:

“It’s not fair that Dupain-Cheng doesn’t have to write the paper! She didn’t answer any question only mumbled something under her breath. Besides, how did she know that? I’m sure she was cheating! Or Adrien told her! Why didn’t you prompt me, Adrikins?” she asked the boy.

“I didn’t prompt Marinette.” Adrien replied and turned to me: “I didn’t know you like astronomy.”

Damn it. I was sure that Marinette knew as much about the Solar System as about Cat Noir’s identity! Why hadn’t I sat quiet?! Come on, Lena! Say something! You’re intelligent, I heard…

“I don’t know… Recently I’ve seen a programme about the space. So, probably I remembered something…”

“That’s what I call being lucky!” Nino commented when we left the classroom. “You don’t have to write anything… Alya? Do you know what planet you want to write about?”

“I suggest Venus and Mars for you two.” I said, before I bit my tongue.

“Why those?” Alya asked surprised.

“W-well… it’s been said that women are from Venus and men are from Mars…” I stuttered.

“Who’s said that?”

“I don’t know… Some people?”

“I’m taking Mars!” Nino yelled. “Which one is it?”

Geez! What did they teach those kids?! I focused on being silent, because Marinette couldn’t become an expert in physics overnight.

“Maybe you should check in books?” I suggested.

“Google is faster.” Alya ignored my stupid comment. “The question is if Professor Mendeleiev will accept a paper about Venus. You know, we talked a lot about it today, so… Yeah… I should take something else. What planets are there?”

“Earth…” I mumbled.

The three friends froze and stared at me in amazement. I felt uncomfortable. I looked around and noticed that luckily there was no one next to us.

“I… I mean… You know… Earth is one of the Solar System planets, isn’t it?” I explained uneasy.

“You’re so right, Marinette!” Adrien laughed and broke the spell. “How’s it possible I didn’t thing about the same?!”

“But you don’t have to write a paper…” I reminded.

“Nevertheless… I’ve started thinking about which planet I would choose. And I didn’t think about Earth at all! Brilliant, Marinette!”

“Thanks…” I mumbled and smiled embarrassed.

Adrien’s words only made me aware how far from my plan of being invisible I was. Instead of sitting quiet I turned Marinette into a physics genius! I could sum up the first lesson as Miss Dupain-Cheng with one word: a failure.

—

I, Marinette - p.1  <-  Previous part  |  Next part ->  I, Marinette - p.3

[darlingpetao3]

Seducing the Gem (Nash Wells x Reader, Chapter 8/9)

Rating: M (Smut in Chapter 6 only)

Summary: When a mysterious package shows up at your front door, you (a famous Romance novelist) are hurtled from your virtually uneventful life and into one of danger and adventure. In a quest to save your captured friend Caitlin from impending harm, you run into a suave adventurer named Nash who helps you along the way. Or is the charming Nash simply after something in your possession…?

Tag List: @tardis-23​ @thecaptainsgingersnap​ @the-marvelatic​ @itsprongs​

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Walking (well, maybe more so stumbling) into the hotel feels surreal. You were meant to be here days ago. Poor Caitlin… You just hope she remains unharmed.

The woman at the front desk hands you the key to your room, which you are now thanking your lucky stars you reserved for multiple days just in case. The room itself is the most basic one the hotel has to offer and you have no qualms whatsoever. It’s a thousand times better than a broken down van.

Immediately, you locate the room’s phone and dig out the number Caitlin gave you to call. This is it. You’re getting your friend back.

“Good afternoon,” greets a smug male voice on the other end.

“Is she alright?” you ask desperately. “Have you hurt her?”

“So, you finally made it.” The voice deflects your question. “Took you long enough. Did you bring the GPS?”

“Yes, I brought it, but I want to speak with Caitlin.”

“I’m afraid I can’t arrange that until I get the goods,” the stranger counters. He sounds like a man with a constant smirk. The kind you would love to smack off his face for what he’s done. “Now, look out the window. You’ll see a barge. Meet me there in two hours. And make sure you’re alone, got it?”

You hang up without so much as an “okay.” You are a ball of stress, worry, and anger. Picking up the hotel phone again, you call the front desk downstairs.

“Hi, I’m just wondering if a man named Nash Wells has checked in at all today?” you ask tentatively.

“No, I’m sorry. No one with this name has checked in.”

Damn.

“Alright, thank you.”

You hang up and speedily clack your fingers on the desk as if that will help rid you of your anxiety. Great, only two hours to let myself go completely insane. Just what I needed.

~

Night has already begun to fall.

You clutch your bag that holds the holographic map in it a little tighter and wander closer towards the docks. You’re so on edge that any small movement or sound throws you off. The kidnapper didn’t give you any direct address, so it was down to your basic sense of direction at this point.

“Over here,” eventually comes a voice from the shadows - the one from the phone call.

You take a few careful steps forward. “Where are you?”

“Don’t move any closer,” they order you. “Show me the GPS.”

“Let me see Caitlin,” you counter.

At long last, you lay eyes on your friend - Caitlin moves out from around the corner looking unkempt, but unharmed. What a relief!

“(Y/N)!”

“Caitlin, it’s going to be okay!” you assure her. Cautiously, you begin to pull out the piece of tech and hold it out in front of you, despite still being unable to see where the man’s voice is coming from.

“Set it down and back away.”

You do as the stranger says. After a beat, he finally reveals himself - a tall man with a buzzcut wearing a trenchcoat. An odd choice of attire for freaking Africa. The man moves towards the device, picking it up to inspect it. He presses the power button, which brings up the illuminated hologram map. He studies it.

The man gives you a sideways smile, then shoves Caitlin into you.

“Better late than never, I guess.”

You hold onto Caitlin for dear life in a long-overdue hug.

“Cait,” you cradle the back of her head, then pull away to search her eyes. “They didn’t hurt you, did they? Because I swear-”

“No, I’m okay,” she assures you, “I promise.”

“Good, then let’s get out of here.” The pair of you probably only make it ten steps away from the drop when you stop in your tracks at the sight in front of you.

Nash appears under the warm light of the streetlamp on the corner.

Your breath is positively stolen from you.

“I missed you at the hotel,” Nash says. “I missed you in general.”

He did come for you.

It’s at this moment that armed men emerge from the shadows to force Nash forward with the tip of their guns. He’d been caught… Then, as if the icing on a grotesque cake, Wade steps into view.

“I should have known you’d be at the end of this wild goose chase, Snart,” Wade says, effectively ignoring you for the time being.

“Eiling? Dammit, you let the government follow you here!” Snart pins on you. Excuse me?

“Cool it, Ice Man. They already have the gemstone,” Wade informs the criminal. Shit. You were hoping to get away without this Snart fellow finding out. A series of growls grow louder as Mick Rory struggles while bound among a pair of additional army men.

“I had it in my hands, Len,” Mick tells his partner. “So beautiful. The colour of fire… And now I feel like a cookout-!”

The pyromaniac fires up his flame-gun but is instantly disarmed. Mick roars in frustration.

Amidst the chaos, Wade turns his narrowed eyes to you. It still feels as if this is all some insane dream or scene you’ve written while drunk on your hot chocolate.

“What is it, Missy?” he asks you. “Got something to share with the class? Where is it?”

Nash squints at you - a signal.

“What, the stone?” you play dumb. “We never found anything. The spot was empty.”

“Nice try. Why don’t we see if our little friend can shake the truth out of you?” Wade and his weapon-toting entourage lead you, Caitlin, Nash, and the Fire and Ice gang into one of the warehouses running parallel with the water. There’s a loud rustling in the darkness, followed by heavy breathing. It isn’t until someone switches on the shoddy lights in the room that you spot it - a cage holding an enormous gorilla and her baby.

The mother ape shakes the metal bars and screams, only to have Wade laugh at her failure. He taunts the poor creatures, and when you show the slightest bit of discomfort, the general pushes you closer and closer to the cage.

The ape roars in your face, or maybe it’s directed at Wade’s, so vehemently that her saliva ends up on your face.

Remain. Calm.

“Let her go, okay? Enough!” Nash raises his voice. “I have it. I have the stone.”

“Tell me where!” Wade demands, still clutching you forcefully.

“It’s in a safe place.”

“Out with it, Wells!”

The gorilla bellows in her cage once again at the commotion between the humans. Wade cues a gesture to one of his men, who proceeds to hit Nash in the nether region with the butt of his rifle. There’s a clunk sound.

You don’t remember him having a literal… ahem of steel.

Nash tries to recover, but something is off. He shakes his leg and wiggles around a bit as if he’s performing some bizarre dance. But soon enough, you all witness it - the gem falls out the leg of his pants and onto the ground.

The room goes silent.

“I promise I was still extremely happy to see you, Princess,” the adventurer jokes.

You snort loudly, despite the time and place.

And then, all hell breaks loose.

Nash kicks the stone over to an open space for you to launch after it, but Wade beats you to it. With the gleaming red beauty in his hand, all other sides in this battle seem to have lost. But suddenly, the mother gorilla violently grasps the general’s arm and yanks it around, causing him to drop his precious treasure.

Gunshots are everywhere, mostly used as a scare tactic, you decipher. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the baby gorilla manages to squeeze out through the cage’s bars and picks up the stone in his hands. It doesn’t take long for him to take off outside, and you know you can’t just let him get away.

“Nash, hold them off!” you tell your partner, who at once removes a gun tucked away behind him.

“As you wish, Princess!”

You make a break for it, following the ape with Caitlin in tow (she is not leaving your side ever again). He’s a quick little fella, even as he scuttles up the back stairs of the building leading to the roof. By the time you reach the top, you’re a smidge out of breath, but find the animal on the ledge opposite you.

Step by step, you slowly make your way towards him. His tiny black eyes watch you the whole time, that is, until you make it a foot away from him. In which case, they dart behind you. You turn warily, finding that damned bastard Wade, forcing Caitlin and now yourself even closer to the ledge than you’d intended.

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” he says pointing his gun at you.

“Or we can do it my way,” you counter as a bluff. Think fast.

Wade fires a shot into the air. A startled Caitlin slips on the edge in confusion.

“NO!” You let out as a horrified yell, watching her fall over the side. However, a speedy swoosh of flames flies downwards at an incredible speed. Caitlin’s screams stop, and you don’t want to look.

What was that?!

You aren’t able to question it too long, though, because Wade has you in his terrifying grasp once more.

“Let go of me,” you growl, trying to wrench your arm free. There’s a screech, and the next thing you know, the young gorilla scrambles up your captor’s leg and chomps on his hand.

“Aaarrrghh!” Wade recoils and backs off a safe distance, clutching his wound. “You little shit.” The creature laughs and climbs to sit on your shoulder in a protective action.

A bright glow illuminates from behind - and you scrunch up your eyes to get a better look at what seems to be hovering with Caitlin in its arms. It looks like… a man? A burning man?

This phenomenal being releases your friend with a familiar gentleness. Oh my God, it can’t be...

“I thought I killed you!” Wade shouts at the burning man.

“You thought wrong,” he replies.

“I won’t make the same mistake.” He raises his gun, and you can see his finger begin to press the trigger, but a bulldozer of black fur barrels in his direction from the rooftop entrance. Mama Gorilla, in all her loud ferocity, jumps on and disarms Wade. The wild animal shakes him around like a G.I. Joe action figure, and ultimately jumps across to the next building’s roof. And the next. And the next, until eventually they’re both out of sight.

Everyone remains speechless.

The one to break the silence is Nash, who now sprints up the stairs onto the roof, bolting towards you. His hands find your arm and waist.

“Are you okay?” he checks.

“I’m okay. You?”

Nash exhales. “Still here.”

You maybe only have a brief moment to collect your thoughts and relax before Caitlin shrieks, setting you to red alert again. You whip your head in her direction to find the man who was previously in flames splitting into two people.

“Ronnie!” Caitlin exclaims, throwing her arms around her fiancé’s neck. It really is him…?

“Ronnie? How are you alive?” you ask, dumbfounded.

“Martin?” Nash says warily to the other bespectacled, white-haired man who has seemingly appeared out of thin air. The two hug it out happily.

“It’s all thanks to Professor Stein,” Ronnie explains. “Remember that highly classified internship I took, Cait?” Your friend nods slowly in response, also obviously stunned by this nearly impossible scene. “It was an experiment-

“-Fusion, Ignition, Research Experiment and Science of Transmutation Originating RNA and Molecular Structures,” Martin Stein clarifies for you all.

“And I was a match.”

“But why did you send me the GPS?” you ask him the question that had been eating away at you since the beginning of this whole crazed debacle.

“Because Professor Stein needed to hide it, and the government was already hot on our trail with the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. experiment, which wasn’t exactly given the go-ahead. But I mean, can you imagine the US military getting their hands on the means to locate highly dangerous gemstones with mystical powers?”

You file that premise away in your mind for potential novel material.

“It hasn’t been the first time the government has stolen my work from me,” Martin adds bitterly.

“But I knew it would be safe with you, (Y/N),” Ronnie continues. “We couldn’t have it falling into the wrong hands.” It’s wild to believe that one piece of mail could change your life forever.

“But Ronnie,” Caitlin speaks up, still verging on joyful tears, “I thought you were dead. They told me you were dead.”

“We had to make it seem that way, Caity. I’m so, so sorry.” The couple shares another tender embrace.

“In the meantime, however,” Martin says, turning to Nash, “as we assumed our false demise, Ronald and I nearly finished the Trans-Dimensional Navigation System.”

“You’re… you’re serious?” Nash laughs like he can’t believe his ears. Truly ecstatic. You wonder what this means.

“Yes. We just need the final elemental piece of dark matter found within the gem’s ore for the project to be fully operational. Did you find what you were looking for out here?”

“I found more,” Nash says, turning to you. You blush fiercely. The roof falls quiet.

“Alright… well, we’re all here, we’re all okay,” you confirm. “So- wait. Where’s the little guy? He had the gem last. Where’d he go?”

As if he heard you, the baby gorilla calls out from down below. Each one of you rushes to the building’s edge to peer down - the ape bounces up and down on a boat motoring away. A flash red reflects off the moonlit water. Two sets of men’s laughter fade into the night.

“Quick, go inside him and fly over there!” you tell the fiery duo.

“Oh, Princess, you had to have heard that one,” Nash bumps playfully into your side. The two men attempt their merge, but nothing happens. Ronnie and Martin glance at each other, then try again.

Nothing.

“Why isn’t this working?” Ronnie wonders aloud.

“I’m embarrassed to say I can’t think of a probable theory as to why…” Martin replies. He doesn’t strike you as a man who is often confused. The more time they take to keep attempting to merge, the further the gorilla sails away on the getaway boat.

“I can’t see the boat anymore,” you note at the solid blackness of the water.

“I’ll find him,” Nash announces. He takes you by the waist so suddenly, your hand presses to his chest to steady yourself. “I’ll find him and the stone, and I’ll come back for you.” Your breath is momentarily caught in your throat.

“How can I be sure you will?” You bite your lip, trying not to tie all your hopes to this wild man.

“Because our adventures together are far from over.”

Despite his words, Nash kisses you like it’s the last time he’ll ever see you again. Deep, firm, and lingering. You wish it would linger forever on your lips.

As he unholsters his grappling hook gun, he gives you one last brush of his fingers against your cheek. You want to tell him something bubbling up inside you, but before you can decide whether or not you should, Nash shoots you a wink and zip lines down to the ground to commandeer a stray boat.

You stay on that roof until after your adventurer is no longer in sight.

You stay on that roof until after the sound of the motor is gone.

You stay on that roof until you admit to yourself that you’ve fallen head over heels in love with an extraordinary, fearless, flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants man.

This kind of love doesn’t just happen in the pages of your novels anymore.

You’re living it.

[youarejesting]

BTS365 Prompts.week 28

[Full Masterlist] [Prompt Masterlist] Beta: @jung-hoseok-s-airplane

Please tag me in your work if you use my prompts. I want to see your work. Ever your Jester.

Tell me your birthday and I will tag you on your special day!

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         July 9th - 15th

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Kim Seokjin - Kissing

“Kim Seokjin what do you mean you have never had a first kiss?” You shouted in the middle of the party.

“Shush, what if someone hears you?” You raised an eyebrow as the music was practically deafening and dragged him to an unoccupied bedroom. It was too early for couples to be doing anything naughty just yet. Everyone was only one or two drinks in, so it was easy to find refuge in one of the bedrooms, where you could talk together in peace.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly as I stated, I can’t dance with that girl because what if she wants to kiss, I have never kissed anyone before,” he clearly was overthinking things but you understood his nerves and shivered, remembering how your first kiss was a horrid memory cause you had no clue what you were doing.

“Okay sit down, I think I can teach you?” You pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed because he was taller than you and stepped between his legs so you were closer to him. 

He looked nervous. “Don’t worry, I am nothing more than an acquaintance who speaks to you at parties, we don’t hang out or see each other much so nothing will change. I will just teach you how to kiss so you don’t make a fool out of yourself.”

You took him through the different types of kisses explaining how to tilt his head and how to initiate different levels of the kiss. After explaining certain aspects you showed him with a kiss. Finally, you explained where he could put his hands and something clicked this beautiful specimen was kissing you while holding you in his arms making your heart flutter. 

Min Yoongi - Truth

Min Yoongi never lied, he was blunt and saw no reason to. He watched you though a swindler, you could bluff like the best of them and he knew exactly when you would lie. Of course, he would after watching you work your magic on the passersby out the front of his building. He had no idea you would appear before him asking for his help. You were being blamed for the murder of a young woman and he could tell by your expression you were telling the truth.

Jung Hoseok - Video Games (I want to write this)

You were the best of the best, theû big leagues coming together for the new video game of the century. A breakthrough and something people would kill for. You were given an invitation to participate with nine others, all elite gamers. Unlike a regular virtual reality game, this was a full submersion of the subconscious into the digital realm where your bodies would be semi-paralyzed and brains wired into the system. 

While you couldn’t move physically you were strapped into a machine that moved you the same way as you moved in the game. If you were running you were running on the spot, if you sat danced or anything the machine would simulate this and you had your original limits of flexibility and more. 

It was the first time this was being conducted after years of research and safety testing. The whole game process was said to take at least a year and you would be filmed in the game to show the audience your progress within the game and promote the game style. 

None of you had ever met in person until you were asleep, you all logged in and created your characters.

You met them all one by one but Hoseok caught your eye first. He was an extremely famous strategy game player, ranked number one. You, however, were a master at all types of puzzle games, there was a kid who was a pro at first-person shooters. 

You were going to spend a year together in the game. The only problem was you could feel everything the system tapped into your nerve endings and every artificial breeze every movement was felt. Your vital signs were being monitored so you already had to explain to your team that the spikes in your heart rate were because of Hoseok’s character's tight pants and how he smiled at you.

Kim Namjoon - Math 2.0

“Thank you for coming, she is in her room, I really appreciate this,” your mother’s voice came through the house, to whatever middle-aged tutor she had pulled last minute, “I have the money here please she needs to pass this class otherwise she will have to repeat.”

“No worries Ms. y/l/n,” the voice was kind of deep and raspy. Definitely a smoker probably thirty to forty and aged decently. 

Imagine your surprise when Kim Namjoon the nerdy class president and your nemesis steps into your bedroom talking to your mother. “I will make sure she can pass the class, do not worry ma’am I have been tutoring for a few years now and I have a knack for it.”

Your mother turned to him and you flipped him the middle finger and he smiled back taking your mother’s shoulder and explaining how he planned to have you a model student in a few short weeks. 

His style of teaching was unlike anything you had ever experienced but once you fell in love you looked forward to your tutor sessions. 

Park Jimin - Sugar Cookie (I want to continue this one so bad.)

“Hello welcome to candy land I will be your waiter for this evening can I get you something to drink?”

“Hi, Ms. uh,” A tall man grinned standing and leaning to read the tag on your left breast. “Sugar Cookie, I want you to take this young man here and give him a dance equivalent to this price.” 

“Of course,” you allowed him to offer you a large wad of cash, taking the blushing man's hand. You smiled softly noticing he was very handsome, a real rare gem compared to some customers. “Sweetheart, would you like to come sit with me and we can chat and have some drinks.”

You handed him a drink and headed into the private room sitting beside him, “come sit down, you don’t need to be afraid, I can do anything you ask within these guidelines. No violence, no touching in a sexual nature. You and I have the right to leave if we ever feel unsafe.”

He sat down and you mirrored his posture, “you don’t seem as happy as your friends, is there an Occasion?”

“Yeah I am getting married tomorrow” he sounded sad, his eyes full of despair. 

“Tell me what’s got you sad?”

“I have never met her, it is arranged by our parents.” 

“Well you have some choices,” you smiled standing up, “you live your last night as a single man to the fullest and marry a woman you have never met or you could do everything in your power tonight to prevent the wedding, like fake your own death, or perhaps find someone to marry before tomorrow and then you might be free, I mean your very handsome it should be easy.” 

His eyes lit up and you bit your lip nervous. “Would you marry me?” He said “I could pay and it’s only on paper we don’t have to do anything, we might need pictures though miss um...” he said  gesticulating while trailing off.

“Y/n and I mean I have no plans I can end my shift and sign a document with you.” 

He grabbed your hand and raced to his friends, “change of plans I am getting married tonight let’s go!”

“Hell yeah, let’s go guys Jimin’s gonna marry a stripper!” 

Kim Taehyung - Teddy Bears Picnic

“Hey, little man, what are you doing all the way over here don’t you want to join the picnic with all the other kids?” You asked the Kim boy, he was unique from the other children. Originally from Korea, sometimes it was hard to understand the young child's customs and way of life but you tried your best. He was an adorable little boy who had big round ears which made him look endearing.

“My dad isn’t here yet, he said he would be here?” He said looking out towards the parking lot.

“Theodore is it because you haven’t got a Teddy bear?” You questioned using the boy's English name as it was easier for you. “I have many teddy bears you could borrow, come have some lunch?”

“Teddy!” a voice called and you turned to see a very handsome young man appear.

“Don’t worry, miss this is my bear right here,” the boy grinned up at his dad who scooped him up into a hug.

Jeon Jungkook - Poem

“Poetry slam, Taehyung it’s not my scene?” Jungkook complained for the fifth time but followed his friend with the promise of free pizza. 

“Just be quiet I like poetry, please don’t laugh”

“I will try,” Jungkook sighed, sitting down, he was bored and lost in the dull words from the uninteresting people. 

“Next we have y/n,” the host called and Taehyung clapped enthusiastically. Jungkook sat up hoping this was going to be good. 

She started speaking and painting a picture in his mind with words that felt so romantic, he caught a double meaning to her words and felt his ears and neck turn red at the thought this woman could weave such sultry tales. 

[rebelwith0utacause]

re: triggers. I don’t think most people expect to live in a bubble but instead to curate a space on here. If people do tag triggers, they know it’s at least a bit safer for them to follow that blog. For me, it’s really dependent on the day, some days it’s an uncomfortable thing to look at triggers but other days it’s the difference between a panic attack. I’ve always viewed them as a courtesy, regardless of effectivity, the time used to tag is negligible to me but invaluable for someone else

I’m adding everything below the line because I think some people aren’t ready to read this but also don’t want to add tws because there are others who need to have the option to see it.

So I read your ask and decided to take a shower and get my thoughts somewhat together in order to get the best response out. Instead, my mind went a mile a minute in all directions, but that’s nothing new.

Let me preface this by saying I understand that not every trauma is the same, same as how not every person reacts or copes with trauma the same. This isn’t me trying to say that not everyone’s struggle isn’t valid, it’s just my way of reaching out, giving a helping hand and a bit of food for thought for coping.

I keep saying I was raised differently because it’s the truth, might be European but I definitely don’t share the same values as most Europeans (or the image the world has about Europe, which is basically the UK and France). Here things are done differently, tws are almost nonexistent, to an extent you’re considered a lesser human being if you have (so many) triggers, and I’m not saying that this is good. Compassion is rare and understanding even rarer, more often than not, we’re left to our own devices and we can either sink or swim.

But then you have western civilization that comes labeled and prepackaged, where everything is written in fine print, everything is valid, everything is marketed so well that you have no other choice but to believe the seller. I’ve also had the opportunity to experience this, so I know a fair share of how this machinery works too.

I’m always trying to find a balance between the two, because it’s not the Dark Ages, but life also isn’t meant to be so sterile (or portrayed as sterile but I’ll get to that later). And this is where trigger warnings come into play.

We’ve all experienced trauma, either small or big. I won’t bore you with mine, but I can tell you that I’m not immune to triggers. It’s true that I seemingly don’t have them, and if you asked me a couple of hours ago I would’ve said that I don’t have them at all, but upon reflection, mine are just emotional and circumstantial. I don’t get a panic attack from words or images, but I might spiral down from a feeling that a situation might cause (like, say, a sudden right turn in a vehicle or as was the case a few days ago, feeling like my support system is being dismantled, I like my balance, alright?). These are all things I can’t help but fear, but I can learn to cope with them and lessen my reaction to them over time.

But enough about me, the whole reason I started questioning the tws in the first place was because of the overwhelming reaction people on the internet had of the prospect of Ashton’s video/song coming out. I’m talking people literally screaming ‘NO’ but also not wanting to be left out. And this makes me so sad, not because of Ashton or because his work might flop, but because they are missing the whole point of his song. Yes, it’s definitely his way of coping (I don’t buy that bs that it’s only about Harry, like... entering the industry at the fragile age of 18 can cause all sorts of trauma), but it’s also his way of helping other people cope, telling them that their struggle is valid but it can get better if you only allow yourself to get better. By putting a tw on it, it’s not reaching the people it’s supposed to reach, but also, the prospect of knowing that there’s a song about BD but not really hearing it is only leading your brain into thinking about BD, but without the educational guidance the song would provide. I hope I’m making sense here, like you’ll just overthink and reopen old wounds, which will lead you to feel worse about yourself. You can’t unlearn this information, same as how you can’t put a tw on the news that Ashton is releasing a new song.  

I made the parallel between the civilizations because my brain went on a different tangent that may or may not be related to coping mechanisms. Whenever I’m made aware of the difference between both worlds I can’t help but think of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. Definitely a good read (if you haven’t read it already), but my focus was on the Eloi as a concept. It’s alarming how it translates to modern-day society. For reference, the Eloi were descendants of humans, a species that evolved from (what I gathered as) first-world society, and to fit my narrative, I’m gonna say Western civilization. They had access to everything because of their wealth, from education to food to leisure activities, but they always chose the shorter path or should I say the easier path. They chose to be sheltered from the growingly disproportionate world around them, to the point where they were living under the illusion that everything is alright and they could roam free as long as the sun was shining. They were also scared shitless of the dark because that’s when the Morlocks came out of their tunnels and preyed upon them. Morlocks were another descendant of humans, evolving from the working class and the poor which were pushed to live in the tunnels to cater to the needs of the Eloi.

Now take my short recap as the Eloi being people with trauma and the Morlocks being the trauma itself. Is living in constant fear of the dark really what you want? Or is that something society tells you is okay because there’s nothing you can do about it, so you should stay that way? And what exactly does society get out of telling you that trauma is irreparable? 

This is what I meant by the world being portrayed as too sterile. It just can’t be, we’re not the ones who decide what’s gonna happen, so we shouldn’t be disillusioned that it’s up to us. Tws are there to help you in the moment, but they aren’t a coping mechanism. They’re just a veil we put over things to make them look blurry and to give them a less scary filter so that we can forget they exist. 

And this is what I meant when I said that not every trauma is the same. It comes in different degrees, but it also comes from different irritants. Not everything is because the world was mean to us, sometimes we were mean to ourselves, and we need to learn to love ourselves in order to cope. This is where, in my opinion, tws are counterproductive. Turning a blind eye on what we do to ourselves and romanticizing trauma and martyrdom is only gonna make it worse. 

Before people say I’ve gone crazy in saying this, let me just remind you that I lived through emo szn (I only caught the ends of it, it was mostly the era of ppl born in the late 80s) where self-harm was the norm and trendy and as a person with too many issues with the image of me in my head, I found it appalling that people thought that having scars was helping them. Like... reading fanfics back then, they were FILLED with mentions of self-harm. Say what you will but pop-punk/emo as a genre helped kids feel more understood, but it also popularised physical pain as a way of dealing with trauma, no matter the degree or the outcome.

There’s a prevalent theme in every generation, I think there might be a science behind it all, but it’s almost like there’s depression lurking in the background, but there’s a trend every 5-10 years or so in how we choose to manifest it; self-harm, EDs, drugs, alcohol, adrenaline, violence. Understanding this might help us understand that there’s a root to our trauma, and if we manage to kill it off, we might defeat it. But by adding tws, we’ll never get to this conclusion. We’ll just let society run us over and let us feel like shit.

Did any of this make any sense? Probably not. I’ve been writing this for a few hours now. 

My main advice is to get to know ourselves, to learn what really makes us tick. Introspection can help in finding out which trauma we can deal with, and which one needs to be left on the back burner for a bit. The lesser ones we can cope with one step at a time, until we’re out of the prangs of fear, and we can look back and say “I used to be scared of you, but I no longer am. You hurt me, but you no longer do.” 

Please think twice before relying on a tw. 

As for my blog, I don’t think I’ll tag too many tws, not because I don’t care about your wellbeing, but because I am not an organized person no matter how much I try to be. I also try to steer clear from things that might generally be considered triggering, but you’ll have to believe in my judgment of what’s acceptable or not. If that’s not something you can do, I totally understand if you unfollow me. 

Last piece of advice coming from a person that was just another cog in the marketing industry: Don’t fall for everything that’s been sold to you. You don’t have to do anything online. Something you saw on a blog makes you feel bad? Unfollow it. An event you read about in the news is triggering? Shut your computer down. A social media platform is making you feel like shit because the users are shit? Deactivate asap. Remember that information comes to you in binary code, and at the end of the day, that’s how you should treat everything that you consume online, even tho I might be a person on my side of the screen. Life is much more spicier and colorful when you’re out there in the real world, don’t let the overload of information coming from the virtual world stop you from feeling alive. 

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 4.16

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, we finally finished up the trial proper of trial 4 (trial 4!!!!!!), which took so many posts because I had about a million things to say about all the best parts. Kaito’s faith was truly blind for once, his desperation to deny the truth produced the best deduction he’d ever come up with (which was still completely wrong), Shuichi tried to reach out to him and help, which only made Kaito push him further away, and Kaito literally, provably still could not accept the truth in the end.

Now it’s the post-trial conclusion, in which Everyone Is Suffering.

Monokuma:  “Well, look at that! You voted correctly!”

Well, most of them did. It’d be kind of fun if Monokuma straight-up called Kaito out for voting wrong, but I do enjoy how Kaito refusing to accept the truth in the end is so relatively understated, like so much is with him.

Kaito:  “Dammit… why!?”

Kaito finally speaks again… and of course it’s to desperately wonder why.

Monokuma:  “Hey, Kokichi… You said this would liven things up. What gives, huh?”

I… don’t see what your problem is, Monokuma. Look at all this delicious despair you’re surrounded by right now, all thanks to Kokichi.

Kokichi:  “Ah-haha, that was juuust a lie.”

…It wasn’t, though? You did liven things up, a lot.

Shuichi:  “Are you satisfied, Kokichi? I want you to tell us. What is the outside world? Is it the motive you gave Gonta?”

So despite his justification of Gonta’s motive in the Closing Argument being the consciousness error, it seems like Shuichi’s also thinking of the possibility that there was an actual proper motive too. Kokichi never mentioned during the trial that the motive might have had anything to do with the outside world, but apparently Shuichi figured out that possibility anyway.

Here’s Alter Ego Gonta! Of all the deliberately gratuitous Danganronpa gen wun references in this game, this one is probably my favourite, because Alter Ego was a good.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Huh? What this? What happening?”

This must be so weird for him. The last thing he’d remember is trying to log out, and then this. How is he even experiencing this? Is he just, like, in some dark void where he can see a screen that’s showing him what the laptop’s camera sees? Probably something like that.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “G-Gonta not understand… Who this ‘Alter Ego’ person?”

Of course he’d be confused about all this talk of him being a computer simulation and not understand that he’s technically not the real thing. Gonta is Gonta, right? How can Gonta not be the real Gonta?

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Kill Miu…? Why does other Gonta know about—”

It’s actually kind of surprising that Alter Ego Gonta wasn’t expecting another version of himself to know about this. Wouldn’t he imagine the other Gonta would have the same memories as him? I guess he’s thinking of this as a Gonta from an entirely different world that didn’t have a reason to do any of this in the first place.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Then… Gonta no could save everyone?”

He just wanted to save everyone. Like every other selfless murderer in this game. I love all these selfless murderers.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Gonta think he gotta do it, cuz everyone else not want to. So… Gonta kill Miu.”

Kaito:  “What do you mean by that? I… I don’t get it at all!”

This is the first thing of substance Kaito has said in quite a while, and just like his brief line earlier, it’s about wanting to understand. Kaito has always made a point about wanting to understand the killer’s reasons after every single trial (even with Kiyo), and this time more than ever he needs to do so otherwise he’s never going to be able to deal with this. He must have been hoping that hearing from the Gonta who actually did this would help him understand and accept this, but right now this still doesn’t make any sense at all.

(Which is fair, because Alter Ego Gonta’s explanation is currently missing out the rather important detail of why he considered killing Miu to be a necessary evil that no-one else would have wanted to do.)

Maki:  “The secret of the outside world in the Virtual World was about the Flashback Light?”

Kokichi:  “And, if it was the Flashback Light… it would mean the secret of the outside world is part of our forgotten memories.”

So, in other words, if Kokichi hadn’t figured out when he first saw the outside world that Flashback Lights can contain fake memories, he definitely has now.  At this point, he remembers the world’s complete annihilation, yet he also knows it cannot possibly be the truth.

Kokichi:  “This might be a trap, y’know? Shouldn’t you check if I’m lying first? I mean… you wanna protect everyone, right? This is the perfect time to do it.”

Gonta:  “P-Protect everyone…?”

[Gonta rushes to use the Flashback Light]

Of course that would be how Kokichi made sure Gonta viewed the Flashback Light there while they were alone – by manipulating his desire to protect everyone yet again.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “But that… just confuse Gonta more about what to do… What can Gonta do to save everyone…? Gonta no could think of anything…”

Kokichi:  “So I told him. If he wants to save everyone, he should put everyone out of their misery. In other words… a mercy kill.”

Note how Gonta was not the one who came up with the mercy kill idea. That was suggested to him by Kokichi. So yes, okay, Gonta did choose of his own volition to commit murder given the situation he was in – but had he been on his own, the option of doing this would probably never have even occurred to him. He’s just too kind for something like that to cross his mind even when in that desperate state of mind.

A mercy kill is not the only way to deal with such a horrible truth, either. A more risky but less murdery way of trying to save everyone would have been to do essentially what Angie was trying to do: make everyone happy inside the academy and stop them from wanting to leave, in which case they’d never kill each other and never find out about the outside world. If Gonta had realised that was also an option, it’s entirely likely that he would have chosen to try and do that instead since it wouldn’t involve hurting anyone. But Gonta has always been confused as to what the right thing to do is such that neither of these options occurred to him, so when Kokichi presented the mercy kill like it was the only option, he felt like he had to do it.

Gonta:  “Was Gonta… tricked!?”

Alter Ego Gonta:  “No, you not tricked. Cuz, when Gonta remember secret of outside world, Gonta think… it would be easier… to die.”

I do like that the writing stresses this contrast between what Gonta assumes and what Alter Ego Gonta insists. Throughout the trial, first-time-me had been convinced that Gonta was genuinely just tricked and manipulated into this, so it’s nice that actually he had more of his own agency that one might expect and that he made the choice to do this awful thing knowing full well how awful it was.

That said, he still was tricked. Kokichi knew that the secret of the outside world was one big fat lie by the gamemakers, and yet he showed it to Gonta anyway while letting him think it was the truth. Then he acted like a mercy killing was the only possible option so that of course Gonta would choose to do that, given the kind of person he is.

Remember that one time Kokichi tried to insist that lies are what gives the world free will, and I argued that actually lies give people less free will if anything? Yeeeaaaahhh, that’s especially applicable here. Gonta believed he was choosing this of his own free will, when really he was manipulated into thinking it was his only reasonable option by the combination of something Kokichi knew was an outright lie (the outside world being in ruins) and a smaller white lie (acting like the mercy kill was the only reasonable way to deal with this).

It’s a lot like how Kirumi was manipulated into thinking she had to escape in order to save everyone outside by the Flashback-Light-induced lie in her motive video. Except this time, the gamemakers weren’t the only ones using the lie; Kokichi used it too.

Kokichi:  “Gonta took on the dirty work for us. If he had survived the class trial, he would’ve lived in this hell alone… Gonta took on that role for us! Shouldn’t we appreciate him more!?”

Literally everybody here already appreciated Gonta plenty, you dick. The only person who didn’t properly appreciate him is the person who took advantage of his self-sacrificial nature in order to push him to do this when they knew it wasn’t necessary, and got him killed for it. Someone’s deflecting, as usual.

Kaito:  “Wait a minute! I still don’t get what’s happening!”

I love how panicked Kaito is by the fact that he still doesn’t get it. He needs to understand this. He has to.

This should be enough to explain it by now, but I suppose with Kaito’s unshakeable optimism, he would find it hard to comprehend how anything could be so awful that it would make Gonta believe that killing everyone is the only way out. But Gonta is still the person you believe in, Kaito, and that’s the important part! He’s just… not quite as strong as you’d hoped he was. Just like Kaede.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Sorry! Gonta no can tell you!”

Shuichi:  “Can’t tell us!? Why!?”

Alter Ego Gonta:  “B-Because… if Gonta tell you, then… everyone will end up like Gonta… Everyone… despair.”

Of course Gonta can’t tell them. Of course he doesn’t want anyone else to suffer the way he’s suffering. He wanted to protect them from that so badly that he was willing to kill them all rather than let them find out. Anyone who genuinely cared so much that they were willing to go to such extremes for that outcome would never give up on it no matter what happened.

(They’d never turn around and stop fighting for the mercy kill halfway through the trial, and they certainly wouldn’t suddenly up and outright show everyone the outside world a couple of days later either, is my point. Have I mentioned that it is simply not possible that Kokichi could have ever wanted this.)

Keebo:  “Despair!?”

Whoops, that word set off all the mindless Danganronpa fans inside Keebo’s head. I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve heard that word all game! Which is definitely deliberate.

Kokichi:  “I… know it… A despair that makes you want to die… A despair that makes you want to put everyone out of their misery…”

No, you don’t, because you never believed that despair was the truth in the first place.

I’m not saying Kokichi doesn’t essentially know a kind of despair, namely the despair of being stuck in this awful killing game that he hates and sees no escape from, which he’s felt from the very beginning. But that’s not the despair he’s talking about here, and he certainly doesn’t give two fucks about how anybody else is being affected by the kind of despair he’s feeling either.

Miu:  “I-I’m sorry, but… you should just give up. This is… my only chance. I have no choice but to do this… My inventions will change the world… They’ll make the world a better place! It’s my duty as a genius inventor! S-So, I can’t afford to die here—”

I really enjoy this! Miu was trying to do this simply because she was terrified of being murdered and selfishly wanted to survive at everyone else’s expense. Yet she knew she was being selfish and doing an awful thing, so she couldn’t bring herself to do it without desperately trying to justify to herself that it’s not selfish and she needs to survive because she’s important and this is about the whole world. Her issues this entire time (which I’ve never been willing to talk about because they’ve been smothered in her awful unnecessary sexual references) have been about her feeling horribly inferior and covering it up with desperate, obnoxious, obviously-fake insistence that she’s the best and everyone should love her, so it’s great that that also ties in with her paranoia-driven decision to become a selfish murderer here. Miu really could have been an interesting character! She is, sometimes! I just absolutely despise what the writers did with her the other like 80% of the time and aaargh.

And if Miu hadn’t hesitated like this and taken so long psyching herself up for it with this big justifying speech, she might have been able to actually kill Kokichi – because Gonta didn’t jump to attack her the first opportunity he got, since he was almost certainly also desperately trying to psyche himself up for it during that time.

[Gonta begins strangling Miu]

Gonta:  “S-Sorry…! Gonta so sorry…!”

[Kokichi heads for the rooftop door and unlocks it]

Kokichi:  “Don’t be sorry, Gonta. She was trying to kill me too. She said it was for the world or whatever, but that was just a poor excuse. We’re doing this to stop the vicious cycle of misery! So you don’t need to apologize.”

[Miu’s avatar collapses, and Gonta falls to his knees]

Gonta:  “B-But… but…! Ergh… nrgh…! Gonta sorry! Gonta so sorry, Miu!”

Kokichi:  “I already said you don’t need to apologize. We had to do this for everyone’s sake.”

This is another of the bits which make me believe that a part of Kokichi does feel bad about this: the way he insistently tells Gonta not to apologise here.

Even using Kaito’s principles regarding apologies, Gonta probably still has every reason to be apologising for this. Yes, he believes it’s for an end goal that’s worth it, but he is still deliberately choosing to hurt someone in aid of that end goal. That hurt deserves to be apologised for, because, you know, taking responsibility for your actions and the pain you cause. Kokichi, on the other hand, has his own very different “principles” that go approximately “nothing I do is ever bad so I don’t need to apologise for anything, but if anyone else does anything that’s bad for me then how dare they”.

So the only reason he tells Gonta not to apologise is that Gonta being this emotionally tormented by what he’s done is… apparently actually getting to Kokichi somewhat. Gonta is making it so obvious that murder is bad and you should feel bad if you murder someone and that he in particular feels awful for it, and haha nope Kokichi’s not having any of that, not the fact that he also murdered Miu and should feel bad about it, nor the fact that he’s making Gonta suffer this much for no reason. Kokichi’s animations seem impatient and angry as he’s telling Gonta not to apologise, making it clear that he’s not doing it because he selflessly cares about how Gonta’s feeling and wants to limit his suffering, but because he’s annoyed that Gonta’s apologising is making him feel bad about all this, how dare he, stop making Kokichi regret this obviously terrible decision that he can’t take back any more.

He claims it’s for everyone’s sake, but it was never about that, because he knows that’s all a lie anyway. It’s ironically very similar to the way Miu was just insisting to herself that she needs to do this, using things she knew were only an excuse, to try and stop herself from feeling bad about becoming a murderer. Kokichi could tell that’s what Miu was doing, but of course he’s not doing exactly the same thing, right?

Also of note is Kokichi moving around to the door almost as soon as Gonta starts strangling Miu so that he can’t even see her face (or Gonta’s) as she dies. Shuichi pictured Kokichi continuing to stand in front of Miu, if still not facing her directly, but it turns out he was being even more avoidant about it than that.

Kokichi:  “You should know that it was Gonta’s idea to slide the body to the chapel wall.”

Gonta:  “What? Gonta’s idea?”

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Before Gonta went to the roof, he happened to see… Miu walk through the wall. Gonta tell Kokichi, and he think of everything else…”

So, not Gonta’s idea at all then. Gonta accidentally happened across information that allowed Kokichi to come up with that idea, that’s all.

Kokichi:  “I like to think… we make a pretty good team.”

Only if “one person comes up with literally the entire murder plan, and the other shoulders literally all the moral responsibility of killing someone” counts as being a “team”.

Kaito:  “Well, I mean, hearing that story, it sounds like you were tricked by Kokichi.”

Kaito’s right, but… definitely more by luck than judgement. Without knowing the “truth” of the outside world, he can’t comprehend how something could be so awful that it could push Gonta this far, so he’s assuming there was trickery involved, in order to make himself able to accept this. There was, but not in the way Kaito’s thinking.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Gonta not save anyone… Gonta just make everyone suffer more… Gonta… is stupid! So stupid! How can Gonta call himself gentleman!?”

Because you tried, Gonta! You tried as hard as you could to save everyone in the situation you were presented with, and it’s not for lack of you trying that it failed! (And it most certainly isn’t your fault that doing this actually wasn’t the appropriate way to save everyone because you couldn’t possibly have known that you’d been lied to.) A gentleman shouldn’t have to be someone who always succeeds at everything, just someone who always tries to!

(The same could be said about heroes, by the way.)

Kokichi:  “But… you reached for the truth. And Gonta’s plan failed. All of you could have been saved if you died without knowing anything…”

No, Kokichi. You told them the truth. All of them could have potentially been “saved” if you hadn’t said anything. He is conveniently forgetting to mention that right now.

Kokichi:  “Gonta even killed Miu for that sake, y’know?”

Kaito:  “Enough of your shit! You made him kill her!”

Kaito is still a little off in his assumptions about the kind of trickery involved, but even so, and even if you take this at the face value that’s being claimed, Kokichi is still partially responsible for Miu’s death. Kaito does not appreciate the way he’s refusing to acknowledge that and pushing all the responsibility onto Gonta.

Gonta:  “Sorry! Gonta is sorry he fail everyone… Gonta is sorry for being stupid! Gonta is sorry he make everyone suffer! Gonta is so sorry!”

Gonta’s whole arc throughout the entire game and especially this chapter has been focused on him desperately trying to help everyone in whatever way he can… but in the end he’s going to die feeling like he failed everyone in the worst possible way and it’s heartbreaking. Especially for this Gonta, who technically didn’t even do anything wrong if we go by the argument that memories make a person who they are, which is an argument we can’t not go with in this story.

(You might note that Kaito is not trying to tell Gonta not to apologise even though he’s just making himself feel even worse without deserving it.)

Kokichi:  “You’re probably all thinking that I should’ve taken on the dirty work and not Gonta, right? Everyone… hates me… so the role of villain is perfect for me…”

Everyone hates you because you’re constantly being a villain. It’s not the other way around.

Like, okay, granted, maybe in his past he was persecuted and hated without having done anything to deserve it and that’s why he started acting like a villain the whole time to protect himself from that. (Though it sure would be easier to sympathise with that if we knew literally anything about it!) But even if that’s true, at this point it’s just become a self-perpetuating cycle and now he’s bringing it upon himself. Nobody here has treated Kokichi in a way that he didn’t already thoroughly deserve based on how he’d been acting.

Kokichi:  “Yeah, I know already! It should have been my responsibility!”

If you really were willing to accept responsibility for killing Miu, then why don’t you do so right now, Kokichi? After all, you still did kill Miu, just not directly.

Kokichi:  “That’s why I had to ask Gonta! I would have done it myself if I could!”

Yeah, no. Hypothetically, if this was about the mercy kill, and if Miu hadn’t had some failsafe to protect herself from Kokichi, I’m still not remotely convinced Kokichi would have done it himself, based on the fact that he’s not even capable of accepting his actual responsibility in Miu’s death here. If ever any of his plans gave him the choice between murdering someone directly or indirectly, he would always choose the indirect option, to allow him to tell himself he’s not really killing anyone. This here is just another excuse, deflecting the deflection, so that he can insist he’s not wilfully running away from any responsibility at all.

Kaito:  “Okay, but… You didn’t need to push everything onto Gonta to—”

Kaito is so good. He seems to be willing to buy Kokichi’s story that he genuinely cared about this! (Which is fair, since the story is plausible as long as you’ve forgotten that Kokichi threw Gonta under the bus in the trial, something he’s conveniently not reminding them of, and he does sound reasonably genuinely emotional about it, because it’s rooted in part in genuine emotion that he’s telling himself is all a lie like a lot of Kokichi’s displays are.) Despite everything Kokichi’s putting them though, Kaito would still rather take the interpretation that Kokichi is a vaguely decent person if that interpretation can be made to make sense, because Kaito wants to believe the best in everyone if he can!

But, even accepting that story, Kaito still can’t stand the way that Kokichi is pushing literally all the responsibility onto Gonta for Miu’s death. What Kaito’s trying to tell Kokichi here is exactly what I was just saying – to take some of the responsibility for Miu’s death himself, because some of it is rightfully his, whether he killed her directly or not.

Gonta:  “Stop! It’s okay! Everyone, please… Don’t… blame Kokichi anymore…”

Of course Gonta would say this, though. He doesn’t understand the situation well enough to appreciate that it’s partly Kokichi’s fault – all he knows is that he did an awful thing, and he’s hating himself for it so much that he feels that he’s the only one who deserves to suffer for it no matter what the rest of the situation is.

Kokichi:  “Gonta… you…!”

Don’t act so surprised, Kokichi, you knew full well Gonta is the kind of person who would take the responsibility all upon himself, and that’s probably part of the reason you chose him to be your pawn here.

See, despite how genuine Kokichi’s expression looks here, he’s still mostly acting. If he truly wanted to take some of the responsibility for himself and was moved by Gonta saying he didn’t have to, then the correct response would be to insist that no, he should take some of the blame, Gonta shouldn’t be heaping absolutely all of it onto himself.

Gonta:  “Someone as stupid as Gonta could never be a gentleman—”

Being a gentleman was never about being smart, Gonta! You are the best gentleman.

Kokichi:  “Wait! If you’re gonna punish him, then please… punish me too.”

Shuichi:  “Kokichi…?”

Kokichi:  “I’m prepared for it! If you’re gonna execute Gonta, then I—”

Nope. Kokichi knows perfectly well that Gonta is the kind of person who wouldn’t let him do this – he literally just took all of the moral responsibility upon himself, so of course he would also take all of the physical punishment upon himself too. Kokichi would know that making this move is completely safe and won’t get him killed.

And okay, maybe that tiny part of him that actually does hate what he did to Gonta is having a bit more of a say than normal and kind of does hate himself enough to want to die for it. But the rest of Kokichi that stubbornly wants to “win” the killing game no matter what and refuses to acknowledge any kind of responsibility for anything ever is still mostly in the driving seat right now and isn’t going to let himself die just yet. He’s able to let that suppressed part of him seem like it’s in control while having no conscious intent to get himself killed. This is just a very elaborate, for-once-not-overexaggerated example of all those times he displayed something based in his genuine emotions while telling himself it was totally all a lie.

Gonta:  “Just promise Gonta… that everyone forgive each other and be friends. Okay?”

It’s going to be very hard to forgive Kokichi for killing you, Gonta! Especially considering that he is never going to show the slightest shred of remorse for it. I know that Gonta just wants to be reassured that everyone is going to be okay once he’s gone, but it’s hard to be able to promise that when someone who would throw two people’s lives away as pawns in his own selfish plan is still among us.

Kokichi:  “…Alright, I promise.”

No, you don’t. Since Kokichi’s the one who did something wrong, his part in this promise would be to become someone who deserves to be forgiven, meaning he’d need to acknowledge that he did an awful thing and start trying to make amends for it. Fat chance of that.

Kokichi:  “W-Wait, please! I don’t want this! Don’t go, Gonta!”

Oh, now you don’t want this? Well, maybe you should have realised that before you made it happen. It is way too fucking late to be saying this now. You did this, very consciously and deliberately. Now deal with it.

For once, I’m putting the part of Kokichi that actually does care about this down to a little bit more than just basic human decency. While he’s never shown any indication of caring about anyone else’s pain, the signs I’ve pointed out indicate that Kokichi was at least somewhat affected by Gonta’s emotional suffering and not just the fact that he’s about to die now. Which means that on some level Kokichi did care about Gonta as a person, at least a little bit. It makes sense that Gonta would be the one person Kokichi might feel some level of attachment to, since Gonta never stopped thinking of Kokichi as a friend and a decent person and openly cared about him despite how little he’d done to deserve it. Kokichi is always terrified that people will betray him, but if anyone is going to be so obviously genuine and trustworthy that even Kokichi might realise they really wouldn’t stab him in the back, it’d be Gonta… so maybe Kokichi did start to believe that just a little bit. (That might be why it seemed to get to him so much in the trial when he thought Gonta was still lying about not knowing anything: because with Gonta being apparently more of a liar than Kokichi expected, it felt like he was being betrayed?)

Kokichi makes such a big deal about being a liar partly so that nobody will ever want to trust him, which gives him an excuse not to trust or get attached to anybody else in turn, so that he doesn’t have to worry about being betrayed. But that protective shell of his was never going to work on Gonta, simply because it’s Gonta. It’s ironic that the exact blind faith Kokichi kept insisting was clearly the idiotic way to see things, the kind of naïve belief that everyone is always good rather than Kokichi’s naïve belief that everyone is always bad, was exactly what it took from Gonta to make Kokichi start to somewhat care about and maybe even ever-so-slightly trust someone. Gonta got through to that vague semblance of a decent person inside Kokichi more than anyone else ever did, even Kaito.

…But it still clearly wasn’t enough, since Kokichi repaid Gonta’s kindness and trust by taking advantage of it and getting him killed. Every single bit of the pain he’s feeling at what happens to Gonta here is entirely his fault and entirely deserved. Ideally he should learn from this and try to become a better person. He’s not going to.

Gonta:  “Gonta’s… really not scared… B-But… Gonta upset! Gonta upset… he no could protect everyone!”

Oh, Gonta. Of course he wouldn’t be scared to sacrifice himself for everyone’s sake when protecting everyone is what he’s desperately wanted to do this whole time. He’s just sad that he couldn’t have done it in a better way that isn’t this much of a tragic failure.

Gonta:  “Gonta love you all!”

These are real-Gonta’s final words, and god, platonic “I love you”s melt my heart every time. Gonta is so pure and precious and of course he loves everyone here. They love you too, Gonta. (Even Kokichi kind of somewhat did, and that’s saying a hell of a lot coming from him.) You were the best and truest gentleman.

Alter Ego Gonta:  “Gonta is so sorry… for being stupid!”

You’re not stupid! You’re the Gonta who remembers what Kaito said to you about how people who are stupid aren’t constantly thinking of how to save everyone else! That makes you one of the smartest people here!

So… I am extremely Not Okay with Gonta’s execution. I can still watch the thing, because I’ve become desensitised enough to these executions by now, but that doesn’t mean I remotely approve. Remember what I said back in chapter 1 about how some executions bother me because the character stops being a character and just becomes an object for this horrifying deathtrap? Yeah, exactly this. There’s no sense that the Gonta in the execution is still Gonta, our precious friend and gentleman who tried so hard, and not just a Gonta-shaped object. He said just moments ago how upset he felt that he’d failed everyone, but there’s no indication of that in this scene.

I do get that the writers made it so brutal because they wanted to emphasise how much this is making everybody else suffer to have to watch it, but they could still have done that while having Gonta still be a character, and honestly that’d probably have had more impact.

(Narrative purpose of the brutality aside, Gonta deserved to go to fluffy bug heaven, much like another DR character who was executed in a chapter 4. You know he did.)

Also, the execution music has lyrics? Which means that apparently the composer hasn’t forgotten about execution music lyrics and isn’t averse to putting them in the execution tracks in this game. These lyrics are something about the bottom of the ocean, which sure has literally nothing to do with anything that’s happening. Maybe there’s some secret law that states execution lyrics are only allowed when they’re completely irrelevant to the execution itself or something.

(I’m totally not mentioning this for a specific reason, of course.)

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