#so in a lot of ways i think that'll be the test for her

[pynkhues]

Thanks for answering my question. I agree with all your points. I have only seen one film with Lilly in it and I DEF see your perspective I do feel, though that she was good in scenes with Timothy it’s like you said how well actors work with others. Like succession for example. I felt like all around that cast is so solid and pretty much. Everybody has a chemistry with everyone.  I’m also impressed on how actors can really portray complex characters and how well you can feel how the  character is feeling even with so little dialogue . Which I feel like it’s kind of hard to do . in my opinion Christina and Manny in gg did that so well. Like such good face actors! there’s so many other examples and other shows, but that’s just a few that comes to mind. Thanks again !

(x)

You're very welcome, anon! Yeah, the Succession cast is pretty stellar across the board, but it does have it's weaker performers tbh (I thought Dasha Nekrasova was pretty bad even before I realised she was the same Dasha from Red Scare and I think Nicholas Braun plays gormless and vapid well, but I do sometimes wonder what a different actor might've done with Greg).

Christina Hendricks I do think is a wonderful actress, even though her choice in projects is often hit or miss, and I think Manny can be really great too and has more range than he seems to get cast on the basis of.

I actually think Manny is a really responsive actor, and one who rises to meet his scene partners which means when he's good he's really good, which he was opposite not just Christina, but Matthew Lillard and James Lesure too, who are also really great actors. It does mean though that I think when he's not getting a lot from a scene partner, or he's working with a weaker actor, he can fall a little flat sometimes. It's also why I can personally find him a bit hit or miss in scenes where he's on his own, but yes, when he's great, I think he's great.

[cherubshert]

Genre: fluff, brother's best friend

a/n: reader is Jay's adopted sister, and is younger than hee. I hope you enjoy and find me funny haha.

"Jay couldn't pick you up?" Heeseung asks, starting his car. "No, he has a girlfriend now, he's practically glued to her." you answer leaning over to turn on the ac, a relieved sigh leaving you at the rush of cool air. "So you called me instead?" He teased, chuckling to himself. "You're the only other person I know that drives."

"Riki got his license." he reminds and you shake your head tilting your head to look out the window. "Barely. have you ever been in a car with him? I'm still shocked he passed before me." he chuckles again, peeking at you "That's what you get for asking Jay to teach you." You frown, reminded of the short period of your brother's teachings.

"I'm waiting for Sunoo or Minjeong to get theirs, they're the only one's that I learn anything from. " Heeseung pauses, focusing on the road, his lips pursed. "I could teach you." he recommends, " don't you have finals?" you turn to look at him "after finals, I have nothing else going on and I'm a great driver and teacher. "

"hmm, ok then. Thank you." you lean the back of your head against the car window, raising your phone to your eyes.

"Maybe after, when you get your license I'll take you on a date." "What?" your ears perk up, your eyes raising to look at him. "You know, as a reward for passing your test." he shrugs "Do teachers usually do that?" You ask, moving to sit up straight. "I don't mean it like that. I mean as Heeseung and Y/n, like two people that like each other. " "What? is... is this a prank?"

He stops at a red light, turning to look into your eyes. "No I'm being really honest. I like you, a lot." He takes in your reaction, scrunching his face in thought. "I guess this is not the best way to confess. " "No, no it really isn't. " he laughs, raising his hand to cover his face. "Sunghoon said i needed the element of surprise." "This is too surprising, it feels fake, forced." he leans over his steering wheel, still laughing. you pout, crossing your hands.

"is this a prank?" "no, I'm being serious." he finally says seriously, starting to drive again as the traffic lights change. "You don't have to give me an answer, you can also forget i said that."

As you pull into your drive way, you take hint of your brother's car. "I think I'll have time two weeks from now to start the lessons. Is that ok ?" he says with a smile, turning his car off. He leans over you when you don't answer, concern plastered on his face, a worried hand on your knee. "Y/n?" "do you really like me?" you shyly ask, staring at the chain dangling around his neck.

"Yea." you hesitate, your hand timidly reaching for the chain around his neck before pulling away, Hee's eyes following the movement. "I'll go on a date with you then. " he smiles. "that'll be great."

[pinkyqil]

Step by step | a.Putellas x j.Hermoso

Hidden secrets series

Warning: a lil angst,comfort,acl mention not really but yea

It was around midnight when jenni had received alexia messages. the moments she saw pictures of the ultrasound and pregnancy test. she went through five stages of different emotions.

She and the blonde woman had been trying for ages but had recently taken a break from ivf and each other for a while now.

But right now jenni knew alexia needed her more than ever even though she would never admit to it.

Jenni found herself staring down on her phone to reply too alexia message wanting to know if she was alright.

mi amor 💕 : ale ¿Estás bien? ¿Está todo bien?

A while later that she had sent her messages to alexia stil wanting for the other woman's reply. panic started to fuel her body as it been a few long hours since she's sent her messages at that moment.

And that how she found herself booking a 10 hour flight from mexico to spain. She needed to know that alexia was alright especially when her plate seems too be filled with a lot of stuff going on for her at the moment. Once she booked her flight she started to pack stuff that'll she probably would need. has her flight was in a few hours.

Finally arriving at the airport she checked her phone one last time to see if alexia had reply but was met with nothing.

The flight from mexico to spain was very hectic but jenni was able to manage through it.

Alexia on the other hand hadn't seen jenni's messages yet,has she refused to look at her phone one bit. Her heart wouldn't be able to handle whatever jenni wrote she thought.

But what she hasn't expected would be the knock on her front door. alexia wasn't expecting anyone and if she was,she would have known plus her mom and sister had spare keys to her place. She wasn't in the mood to get up and open the door but definitely had no choice as the knocking became louder and aggressive.

Jenni who was on the other side of the door honestly had no idea why she infront of alexia place this late.

she could've headed to her hotel but her mind wonder differ.

The moment alexia opened the door it was closed faster than she could make a goal. Her mind was all over the place,it couldn't be her head just playing random games with her or it was the hormones. Jenni was definitely not outside her house she was living in mexico for heaven sake alexia thought to herself.

Jen on the other side started speaking."Alexia please open the door all I want to do is talk you haven't been answering my messages".

oh she was an idiot alexia thought to herself again why couldn't she answer her. now she had to deal with this jenni was always some who worried a lot and went beyond doing things.

After giving herself a moment she finally opened the door inviting jenni in. they both sat in awkward silence.

Before one of them spoke up getting interrupted by the other trying to also get a word out.

both women found themselves laughing at their situation.

This time it was alexia who finally spoke up." I'm sorry for not responding or calling and instead letting it all on you expecting you to figure it out yourself i just needed a moment to myself cause the day I found out would also be the day i had let you know it was all too much for me to handle".

"oh ale it all alright i don't think would probably be able to deal with all that in one day you are definitely one strong woman". jenni said embracing the other woman into a hug.

"So what are you doing all the way in spain aren't you meant to be somewhere in mexico". she asked with a grin on her face.

"Do you really think I would have your hothead deal with all this alone you had me very worried when you didn't answer and i did the most logical thing anyone could think of".

"So traveling all the way too spain is the most logically thing you could think of instead of calling me". Jenni gave the woman across her the most unamused face when she had finished her sentence.

"Matter of fact don't answer that". alexia said with a smile on her face.

The couple found themselves embracing each other for some sort of comfort. jenni found herself cuddling into alexia from waist down getting a warm buzzing feeling.

"So where having a baby" jenni asked while looking up at alexia.

Alexia could only nod her head at the other woman's word. Too busy to say anything else jenni and alexia found themselves looking each other in the eyes, before she knows it she felt another pair of lips on hers. pulling her into a deep kiss.

Finally done they both pulled away too busy blushing like those rom com movies.

"Wanna go for a drive and get some food you must be really hungry after your flight". alexia asked jenni who quickly nodded.

The couple once again found themselves in the car enjoying a Pa amb tomàquet sandwiches one of alexia favorite also something she had been craving for.

"So does anybody else know".jenni found herself asking alexia a question that been on her mind all day.

"Nope only mi mamí".alexia said before taking another bite out of her sandwich.jenni nodded understanding what alexia meant.

"You know that your always welcomed to stay at my place that if you want too".

"What made you think that I would leave your stubborn head alone". jenni said snickering at alexia before they both busted out laughing knowing jenni was right. She would never leave alexia nor let her get loose.

After finishing eating up the remaining of their food.they both found themselves entwine their hands together and letting in the moment before going home.

They were going to figure out everything together step by step or would they ?

A/n: chap 2 finally done hope you all enjoy it has much has I did writing it,honestly proud of this bit ale and jen have it all figure out or there's more to it all. and as always opinion ideas,asks or anything you would like to see happen in the serie are always welcome 🫶

[0809sysblings]

ok the more i go over it the more convinced i am that i may be right that the translation of Kotoko's interrogation answer is incorrect.

so now i want to give my take on what the translation could be.

here's what the question and answer is in Japanese:

Q: 「正義同盟」 を知っているか？

A: 何それ。 知らないけど徒党を組まなきゃ 正義を成せないなんてろくなもんじゃないね。

and my personal translation would be something like:

Q: Have you heard of the "Justice Alliance"?

A: What? No, I haven't. But, I mean, if we don't band together, we can't achieve justice, and that's unacceptable.

now i'll try my best to explain how i came to this translation.

何それ。

yep nothing to add really. "What's that?", or just "What?" if you want to sound more casual.

also "それは何？", the more textbook way of phrasing the same question has a different feeling than "何それ". "何それ" sounds a lot more curt. so "What?" or "What." just fits better than the full phrase of "What's that?".

知らないけど徒党を組まなきゃ

正義を成せないなんてろくなもんじゃないね。

"知らないけど" is just "I don't know, but...". so, so far this is the same as the translation by the unofficial eng milgram twitter.

"徒党を組まなきゃ" is where i start to deviate. なきゃ is a contraction of なければ. this is a negative conditional conjugation (one of them, at least. there's different ways to conjugate the conditional form of verbs in Japanese, but this isn't a Japanese lesson so i'm not gonna explain all that lol). this would make it "If (conditional) we don't (negative) [verb]..."

"徒党を組む", the unconjugated form of this verb/phrase, means "to form a faction/to band together". so now taking into account the negative conditional conjugation, we have "If we don't band together..."

using this specific conjugation is a very common way to phrase statements like "If we don't do x, there will be a negative outcome". the "there will be a negative outcome" part will depend on the context, obviously. "If we don't study for our test, we won't get a good grade", "If we don't sleep, we won't be in a good mood", etc.

this way of phrasing usually uses a double negative. so the conditional is conjugated in the negative and the possible outcome is conjugated in the negative. this double negative then makes the meaning 'positive'. which is why these phrases are usually translated as "We have to do x" or "We should do x". because that's the idea being conveyed. "If we don't do x, that'll be bad; so we must do it."

the 'outcome' in this sentence is "正義を成せない". unconjugated, this would be "正義を成す", meaning "to achieve justice". the conjugation being used here is the negative potential form. so taking into account the conjugation now, we have "We can't (potential, negative) achieve justice".

so if we now put "徒党を組まなきゃ" and "正義を成せない" together, that would give us something like "If we don't band together, we can't achieve justice".

now, this is all preceding "なんて". to keep it short, "なんて" in this sentence basically just acts as a ~spicy~ "は". "は" is a particle used to mark the topic of a sentence, so what the sentence is generally about.

this means the sentence is discussing the idea of 'not being able to achieve justice because we didn't band together for it'. the rest of the sentence is then 'about' this idea.

"ろくなもん" is made up of "ろくな", an adjective meaning "satisfactory/good/respectable/etc", and "もん", a contraction of "もの" which means... well it can translate to a lot of different things and also sometimes can't even be directly translated at all. i don't really think it's all that important to pinpoint how もん is specifically being used in this case. it's likely just being used in a sort of 'fluffy' manner to emphasize her point, so it likely has no direct translation and doesn't really impact the overall meaning of the sentence.

lastly we have "じゃない", which is making it so she's saying whatever she is talking about in this sentence (the main idea i stated a paragraph ago), isn't "ろくな", or "satisfactory/good/respectable/etc".

the "ね" at the very end is a sentence ending particle used when the speaker expects that the listener agrees with what they're saying (it also has other ways it's used, but, again, this is not a Japanese lesson lol). often this gets translated as ", right?" or ", isn't it?". but... personally i find that translating it as that can make it kinda clunky and less natural sounding depending on what's being said. so in this case, i've more or less ignored it.

if anyone disagrees with any of this or has any corrections (because i am definitely Not fluent and have lots to learn still!!), please feel free to say something! i do not want to be walking around in clown shoes honking my clown horn!

[quasarzt]

They are best friends to me. MLM WLW solidarity.

And while Zach looks grumpy, I like to think that's just his personality. He does genuinely enjoy Donita's company, and Donita knows that.

LONG NOTES AHEAD!!

I know it's OOC and my own personal headcanons, and just making a silly cartoon more serious than it needs to be. But I love slice of life stuff, especially when it comes to the villains. Like we only ever get to see them on screen when they're being evil, or otherwise involved with a villain plot. The only times I can remember that resembles just their regular work of sorts, or just living their life, is when Zach is casted as this extra of sorts. In the Draco episode, he's seen just being used as security for Donita, which the implication that she hired him for that job is very fun to play with. Because clearly the villains know each other and clearly interact when they're off screen. Another one is where Gourmand is inviting the others to meals, and that's just what it is, they're just out for dinner, even if it's illegal. But they're not doing anything villainous in their usual style, they're just living their lives.

I don't care if it's mundane or boring, but I love that. So my point is, basically, what if a little character study fic that's slightly OOC from the characters on screen, but it's just, Donita and Zach out for drinks. Zach is drinking black coffee, several shots of espresso, and he's quietly typing away on his Varmitech branded laptop (which suggests a few things of his character. that he's chronically tired, which explains his dark eye bags. But also because in business, the world never stops turning, and he has to keep up with whatever deal he's currently working on. And the other thing it suggests, that Zach very much produces other things in his line of work. That he's not just after animals to use them for animal testing, but rather, he has a main line of work that he uses for business, and perhaps that working with animals is just a personal side gig, or even something he does for clients he knows will pay well, no matter if the deal is dark or not).

Donita is drinking a chai, and every single time they ever go out just to chat or catch up, when they're not talking business, she loves to experiment with what she tries. Every single time, she tends to go for a chai, but the flavor is always different. She also dresses to the nines, but usually in sleeker and more comfortable fashion. Something that'll make her look great, but she's also got sunglasses on to hide her face a bit if the press comes by. I imagine she's rather famous, as she's a fashionista. The two of them rarely have time to meet up, and generally only go out for drinks when they're working together (suggested in the Draco episode that they do work together from time to time). But she's also just talking, about anything and everything, and Zach quietly listens and chimes in from time to time.

And sometimes he's extra with his flare, ever so flamboyant, but i think when he's just with donita he chills it down a tad, as if he can just be him. (also zach's technically famous too? but only in the same sense that's he just one of those rich guys. but he's got so much security and otherwise does a lot of stuff privately that you don't hear much about him. you know his name, but you don't know much about him at all. just like irl, only really hear what they tell you).

But i think of them as best friends ykno. That Zach and Donita are completely platonic, and at first were just clients and allies in their darker line of work. But over time, grew a certain respect for each other. Donita will usually use this time to make sure Zach is up to date in trends, referring him to several new colognes he can try out since the one he's using is So last season. She picks him apart in that sense, but never in a mean way.

She cares for him in the sense that she knows he prides himself on professionalism. So she keeps him up to date and looking fresh, even if he returns back to his usual turtleneck sweater.

But i love seeing them as friends, even if canonically the villains seem to despise Zach, and only have an interest in using him for their personal advantage, such as paying him to make them products, and seeing no other use for him because he's annoying. And i get that!! I love that!! But there's just something nice about Donita and Zach sharing quiet moments. or maybe Donita teasing Zach, maybe even prods at him about his dating life, asking him if he wants her to be a wingwoman, much to his dismay. To me, i love them just being confidants in each other. Sure Donita has Dabio, and i love the idea that Dabio is fond of Zach when they do get to interact, but when it's just Zach and Donita, she's there for him too. Because I imagine Donita is very good at reading people, minus when it comes to Martin of course, but her own personal bias seems to blind her in how she sees him. Because I think she sees Martin as like this perfect model, someone she could definitely use on the runway, but doesn't know him enough to actually know what his body language/social cues mean.

But the fashion industry is very competitive and fast paced, just like the business world. So they don't have a lot of time to meet up together, but I do think they have nice moments where they get to talk about other stuff besides business. Just, quiet times where they're just out for a drink. Talking about business, slowly delving into life stuff in general, then it turns into their mutual hatred yet respect for the wild kratts. Because i do think they respect the wild kratts, to a degree, but they also interfere with their business, which is why they reasonably hate them too, even if they're the ones in the wrong. I imagine Dabio joins them a lot, sometimes even Gourmand when he's in the mood to host, but for the most part, just Donita and Zach catching up. IDK I SEE THEM AS GOOD FRIENDS !!!!! I JUST THINK THAT IDEA IS NICE EVEN IF IT MIGHT SEEM FAR FETCHED!!!!! BUT I MADE A DRAWING FOR IT :)

[natsaffection]

Hey :) for the requests for my sweet baby could we get the time Natasha let R drive her car n maybe some smut in the car to plsssss thank you

MINORS DNI!!! (18+!)

warnings: oral (r receiving), use of sex toys, fingering (r receiving), begging, Mommy kink, sex on parking lot

Word count: 1231

pairing: Sugar!Mommy Natasha x Sugar!Baby Reader

‎

‎

One word to describe Natasha?

Possessive.

Not just over you, no. About her company, about her pens and... About her cars. She has thousands of them, and there are just eight of them in your garage. One night she showed you all of them in photos, scattered all over the world. Some people collect stamps, and Natasha collects cars. 

If you two ever don't get a ride, she drives. You had to beg to see her key box first. But driving? Forget it. She won't even let you ride her bike. She constantly gives you the excuse that she's afraid you might get hurt, yet you knew better. Only she. ONLY she is allowed to drive them. And at some point you just accepted it. 

Someday you'll get one too and then that'll be your new baby. Natasha can get in line. That's why you never, in your life, would have expected her to invite you to drive. 

As you were leaving the building from your exam and ready to celebrate, you looked in amazement at Natasha, who suddenly came to your passenger side and tossed you the keys, "Catch. You've mastered the exams, so I think you'll be fine with this too." 

You were in the wrong movie. Natasha's letting you drive her Audi?! "Y-you sure about this? What about-" She opens the passenger door and sits inside, "Sit your butt down now, or I'll change my mind." You didn't need to be told twice. 

You sprint over and hesitantly open the door. But when you see that nothing is happening, you sit down inside and put the key in, "Go wherever you want." You look over at her with a broad smile and step on the gas. Natasha jerkily held onto the door with one hand, "Don't push through too hard! Hey!" You could barely hear her over the engine and your laughter drowning her out. 

You think about it for a second and decide to get on the highway before you both go out to eat. Natasha said you could drive anywhere. So why not take advantage of it? "You're kidding..“

"You said anywhere..." Natasha looks from the road to you, "You really want to know, don't you?" Your grip around the steering rim tightens, "Hold on tight, Ms Romanoff and enjoy the ride!" 

And you're totally hammering away. Both of you were pressed lightly against the seat, so fast were you going now. You were being honked at from all sides, so annoyed were the others already. You however had the fun of your life, and Natasha again held on to her life. Sure, you pay attention to the traffic rules, but you wanted to test Natasha's annoyance and deliberately drive fast towards a speed camera. "Y/n. Dare you." And the flash came. You had to laugh so hard and you see in the corner of your eye Natasha looking at you. 

This went on for a while until Natasha saw an exit, "Pull out here." You had your fun and turn. "There, into the park place." You see it and turn perfectly into the park lie.

"WHERE did you learn to drive like that! What did the driving instructor do for a living?!" You buckle up, "Come on, that was fun!" Natasha will never admit it, but yes. She enjoyed it. "This is going to be an expensive one..you were going twice as fast as allowed, Y/n!" You look at her, a little worried, but then you remember you're in the car with the richest woman in La. And you knew a way to make her forget her frustration....

You bend over to her and start kissing her and playing with her pants at the same time, "You realize we're in a parking lot?" She was so turned on, to your confidence, that she could forget herself.

You sat right down on Natasha's knee, and she caught you in a kiss. However, you were a little nervous and Natasha could tell because your hips started to shake.

She tapped one of your thighs with her hand, and you understand what she wanted. So you lifted it up and Natasha filled you with her fingers. You also knew what she liked even more than your throbbing pussy. So you took off your shirt and Natasha started moaning right away. She ripped your bra off you and immediately put one of your nipples in her mouth. You tried to keep quiet, but then when Natasha hooked her finger, it was over, "A-Ah!"

"That's right..." She rams into you faster and faster, so you had to claw at the seat to follow her movements, "S-Shit..." Your head spins as Natasha now uses her thumb to put pressure on your clit,

"Let go backwards..." She drops her seat back, so you can get to the back seat faster and easier. Once in the back, Natasha doesn't spare a second and throws you in the back to fill you up again. „Please..“ That’s wasn’t enough for her, "So that's how smart girls like you ask?" You don't notice Natasha reach to the side and reach into a compartment to pull out a dildo. You don't realize it until it's already a little in your pussy.

You didn't care who could hear you, "P-Put it in please!" You feel yourself how the urge became bigger and bigger, and you had absolutely no shyness to show it.

„Hey, be quit.."

Her movements stopped, and she came back up to you and kissed you. You gasped as you tasted yourself, and She looked back up at you smirking, "Surely you don't want anyone to hear us and get suspicious, Y/n-Fuck!“

Natasha groaned as she felt her action tighten your walls and literally pull her fingers inside, „This turns you on? That I’m taking you here on a fucking parking lot?“ She pushed the dildo even deeper.

„M-Mommy, don't stopppppp!!“

„Don't intend to.“

She started kneading your breasts at the same time, and the double simulation made you go crazy. Natasha couldn't take anymore, and quickly turned you around, so that your ass is in the air and in perfect view for her. You don't realize it until the rough underground made contact with your face, "Please..I want it...“ You were filled so fast your tongue was hanging out. You tried to hold on to something, but found yourself just sliding.

"Are you coming already?" She laughed.

"Please, please, please!" Your plea was immediately met as you could feel Her increasing her pace and penetrating deeper, "That's my girl, c'mon just a little more."

Natasha reached under you to bend you up a bit to get even deeper, "Oh my g-god!" you breathed. “You're doing so good, fuck...Say it. Who's making you feel this good?" She sped up, "Mommy! Mommy make me f-feel this gooddd!" you scream as you let your head fall back, "That's right. Only I can make you feel that, come on, show me." she whispers in your ear, and you feel the pressure start to burst.

"I'm cumming! I'm cumming!!! J-Just-," You come all over Natasha and wet the expensive seats,

"Look at the mess you're making, keep going..." She pushes slower to help you ride out the orgasm. When it was time, you fell forward and Natasha cleaned her hands, "I forgot about the speeding ticket..."

-

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TAGLIST: @natashaswife4125 @trans-wolf-boi @natssluttt @swaqcenix @peggycarter3  @snowdrop1026 @natlover69 @mocswift @mrscromanoff @fxckmiup @ripofflizzie @liidiaaag @scarlettromanof84 @its-just-geek @kksalexa @sayah13 @teenybean @karmasgxrl @xxsekhmet @s1ut4nat @cl-e @unlady-like-12-25-36 @florojas @natashaxwife @paaandiculations @thatkinkylesgirl1 @mymommawanda @inluvwithfictionalwomen​ @marvelwomen-simp​ @thesimpvlv​ @theofficialbugs​ @mmmmokdok​ @alianovnasposts​ @ashleeolsen​ @natsxwife​ 

[latin5mamii]

stay ready (what a life) -CA, JS

|warnings: none

|Summary: Be strong and forget about him!Is this so hard for you?

Maybe it's impossible to get over your past relationship, or maybe you just need to find someone that'll make you fall in love again.This should work, right?

Your next week is really going to test your patience and most importantly, your self control, but at the end of the day this is what life really is, and this really sucks.

After this ‘Roland Garros’ week, you don’t want anything to do with tennis again, even if he comes back (really improbable) but you don’t care about this,it’s better for you to leave the past behind.

You decided as well not to check the news about tennis or any kind of gossip on the internet, to reduce your pain, of course.The only good thing is that you’re finally going to Paris,the city of love, even if you’re not in love, but that’s fine, right? You have to convince yourself so.

By the way, you should think about packing your suitcase, or at least to get moving.

We don’t want to make the holiday worse than it already is.

—--------------------------------

Actually you start to think that the holiday is not that bad,the flight to Paris was great,and you were starting to chat with a lot of other celebrities, until you see Mia running towards you on her heels, almost bumping into someone to reach you,she pulls you by the arm and starts screaming softly.

“What happened?”

“You wouldn’t guess who i saw, thank god he didn’t recognise me”

You had a few ideas who this person would be,but you were denying it to yourself.

“Who is it?” You ask, almost not wanting to know who this is.

“Your ex-carrot boy”

Your heart almost skips a beat, but you also want to laugh at his brand new nickname.But you also want to cry and to leave, but you’re a grown woman and you can absolutely handle it by yourself.

“Is he with someone?” You hope for a negative answer, of course.

“Thank God no, or you would probably see me having a fight right now.

But look at the bright side, tonight there’s this cute party before Roland Garros starts and guess what? You’re coming with us wearing your sexiest and tightest dress you’ve ever worn.Sounds good? You’ll have to act as an independent woman as well.”

You weren’t that kind of person and you didn’t want to look immature, but you know what? Who says I can't wear a dress on a party night? Absolutely no one, so that’s your final decision

Of course you weren’t going to act slutty, God no, but at least you were going to look good.

Right now,of course, you’ll have to avoid him in the hallways or in any part of the hotel he would be in, it would be awkward and embarrassing, more for you probably than for him.

“By the way, other tennis players are going to stay here,Isn’t it great?”

“I wouldn’t say great, but it’s kinda interesting actually”

“If you want, i can do recherche about the most rich tennis player”

“Please don’t do that”

As you were talking to your friend, she gasps quietly and whispers ad “oh God” to you,almost wanting to hide.You’re even scared to turn around now.

“Oh god,what now?”

“Carrot boy talking to miss Anna a few meters from us”

You feel anxious, you don’t even want to make eye contact with him, it would probably be more dangerous than a freaking bomb.You might also want to throw yourself from the sixth floor as well.

“You just said that she wasn’t with him!”

“I might have told you a bullshit to make you feel more confident”

You whispere a “Fuck you” to your friend, who in this journey isn’t that much of a help for you.

And that’s all, you just turn around and here it is, you're not blonde like her, you don’t have blue eyes like her and you’re not even good at tennis like her.

You feel almost disgusted by yourself and all of that independent girl vibes that you had before, you see it disappear right in front of you.

Maybe he deserves someone like her and not like you,she’s prettier and maybe she’s even sweeter than you.

You remember some of the words that he told you when you were together.

He always told you that you were beautiful, that you were perfect for him and even that he could imagine starting a family with you.And that’s what you get now?You really believed in those words, you couldn’t see yourself with anyone but him, but it appears to be that he forgot you only 2 months after his ‘most important relationship ever’ and that made you sick.

You didn’t break up because of any cheating or arguments, you just broke up because he was busy and didn't have the time to be in a relationship.

Yes, you had your life and you were busy as well but you thought that anything could ever destroy your relationship, but apparently, you were wrong and now you’re suffering for it.

You just wish that everything could come back to a few months ago and avoid everything that happened after,but you can’t.

He probably even noticed that you are here and what would happen if you met him? You can’t avoid him forever, of course.

Now there are three options: 

Talk and clarify with him

Don’t go out of your room and avoid him forever

Go to that fucking party and let him see how you’re living your best life without him

The first option is clearly the best one, the only problem is that you don’t have the courage to go talk to him, and the second one is way dramatic and impossible, so the only one practicable and not boring is the third one.

You might enjoy yourself at that party tonight and maybe you could find a distraction, who knows?

-Author's note

Trust the process and wait because the next chapter is FIRE.💓

[doctorbunny]

MILGRAM T3 Wildcard predictions

Theories are fun but I'm also a daydreamer, so I invite you to see my wildest predictions I have Zero Concrete Evidence for, not all of these are good but they are things I've thought of:

Haruka's plan is going to immediately go wrong before it begins because he's going to try attacking Jackalope (since all the prisoner's think he's just Es' pet rabbit) and end up maimed/killed

Haruka and/or Muu will have apparently died at the start of T3, and all the prisoners are going to be pissed at Es for it, then about halfway through the season, Jackalope is going to drag them back to milgram, revealing that they discovered the MILGRAM exit (as teased at the end of the second novel) but escaping milgram isn't so simple (Kotoko may also know about the exit but was stopped before she could fake her death/use it and just stayed quiet since she doesn't like the others) Haruka and Muu's MV/interro will end up being later in the season than normal because of this

Bonus points if the milgram exit leads you to: An endlessly vast landscape that you can wander through forever lost without a Jackalope guide to show you the way; the moon; a replica of the Titanic's sister ship in the middle of the Nevada desert; MILGRAM HQ; or the college Yale

I've talked about it before but I think Kotoko is going to get attacked by Shidou, Mikoto's amnesia may be exploited to frame him for it (since attacking Kotoko in Mahiru's room seems to have lead him to mistakenly believing he's the reason Mahiru is so injured even though no one else has even brought up the possibility he attacked her) and it'll be a test of whether Kazui will tell the truth or keep the cover up going

I've got a few different Mahiru ones: 1) Shidou stops being able to give her care, but then that mysteriously causes her to recover more than when she was under his treatment 2) She is revealed to be pregnant or even gives birth. It is either the fault of Shidou or an immaculate conception (I'm sure weirder stuff has happened in milgram) Yuno helps take care of her/the baby and for better or worse it causes her a lot of complicated feelings

Bonus points if it turns out Es was also originally a milgram baby and got raised by jackalopes or something for the day they could be used in an experiment (Also cue the dramatic custody battle for this child)

Someone is going to try attacking Amane before she can attack Shidou and she'll narrowly escape, implied that it was only possible because she wasn't restricted by a second guilty vote

Either she or Fuuta will stop the attack by revealing a weapon hidden in her backpack (in T1 me and Gunsli speculated she could have a gun but based on her T2 MV it could be the purge march taser)

Especially if Fuuta is the one to defend her I think there's a chance of the attacker dying/being seriously injured and that'll be traumatic for them both but especially Fuuta since his murder was more hands off originally and now he's actually hurt someone

Es confronts the prisoners on their future plans: If they are spared what will Life After MILGRAM be for them?

Shidou makes moves to take in Es and/or Amane but neither of them want to live with him because he has no respect for them as human beings and not just Children™

[nanabansama]

Be Worried for Mitsuba

I've seen a frankly concerning number of people say they expect Mitsuba to be fine after what happened in Chapter 110, and as someone who isn't fully confident he will survive yet, it bothers me a bit! As such, I wanted to bring up a list of reasons why I think Mitsuba could be in danger, and why people might be in for a rude awakening depending on how things shape out.

First, I wanted to bring up something that I don't think a lot of people know about. It's the official tag line for Volume 20.

This is from the Square-Enix website. It says: 「最初でさいごの夜遊び。」

This translates as "Their first and last Night Out."

I don't know about you guys, but this gets my warning bells ringing. It's obviously talking about Kou and Mitsuba's date at the aquarium. So if that was their first and also last one, then...that doesn't sound very reassuring, does it?

Now, a popular theory I've seen going around is that Mitsuba will turn Kou into his yorishiro. And while I think this is a delightful idea, I don't think it will happen.

While yorishiro can take human form, the two cases we've seen (Sumire and Tsukasa) were dead by the time it happened. We don't know if it's possible for it to happen to someone who is still alive!

I also want to direct your attention to the first Clock Keepers arc, when Kou got aged up to around Teru's age.

If you remember, Nene, unlike Kou, was unable to be aged up by Mirai because she had no lifespan left. This basically confirms that Kou will survive until he's in high school, less his fate is changed.

Note that he has no visible yorishiro seal, too.

Now...it's not like he still can't become one! But how likely is it, really? Do we even know if a yorishiro can age? And do we know if someone can stop being a yorishiro? We haven't found a way to get rid of a yorishiro outside of destroying it yet. Tell me, how cheap would it be for Kou to become Mitsuba's yorishiro while facing zero of the consequences?

Honestly, I feel the whole concept of a yorishiro cop-out is a bit cheap, anyway...not that I want Mitsuba to die, but it feels cheesy for him to overcome this by just realizing how important Kou is to him, doesn't it? Couldn't we have done that in the Aquarium arc instead of having this pointless, drawn-out segue?

It seems that for all Mitsuba has done, it just hasn't been enough, tragic as it is. I do believe Mitsuba has found something important to him, or is at least starting to...but it's all too little, too late.

Anyway, has anyone thought about a way for Mitsuba to get out of this situation besides getting a yorishiro? It's worth mentioning that Natsuhiko implied only a school mystery with a yorishiro could survive contact with his cursed blood, but I can't help wondering if there's another option.

Mitsuba's body has a unique constitution, after all. He's a Frankenstein amalgamation of several different weak supernaturals given an identity by the sense of reason taken from the previous Mitsuba.

He falls apart if he doesn't eat. When this happens, he can restore himself by eating supernaturals. He also craves human flesh, which also might be able to heal him, but that obviously hasn't been tested yet.

So here's my question: Could Mitsuba eat enough supernaturals or humans to cure his body of the cursed blood? Would he...try to? It's not like there aren't plenty around him right now...

And then what happens? Even if he only ate the plantlike supernaturals, those were humans. They could've been saved, as proven by when Teru defeated one and restored her back to her human form in Chapter 104. If he hurt any of them, then what would that mean for Mitsuba? And how would Kou react? Just something to think about...

Changing subjects, I think the fact that the original Mitsuba Sousuke's mother is present is interesting, too. I feel like she's incredibly important to the events happening to Mitsuba right now--she's here for a reason, that's for sure. Whether that's anything that'll change his fate or not is another thing.

And just to be clear, while his concern for the previous Mitsuba Sousuke's mother is pretty cute, I don't think it's enough to create a yorishiro out of. Heck, even if he was the first Mitsuba, I don't think his bond with his mother was strong enough to manifest as a yorishiro. (No shade, of course.)

I did point out in my Chapter 110 Spoilers post that she could just be here to watch her son die again, which is an idea I still kind of like. It's a bit poetic, no? Or maybe she will somehow be able to meet him one last time and get closure. I can't say for sure, but I feel like ignoring Mitsuba's mom in this discussion at all is a dangerous pitfall...

In any case, I hope this convinced some of you to start worrying for Mitsuba's life.

Huh? Which Mitsuba, you ask?

Who knows...

[cantstoplovingjude]

Underneath the Black Veil: Jude Jazza Ch.2

This is from Ikemen Villains EN, Cybird owns everything.

The followers escorted us to the room where we would stay.

Kate: "What in the world was that all about?!"

I hissed quietly to Jude so the others couldn't hear me.

Jude: "What? Dontcha think this is the best way?"

Jude: "Ya should be down on your knees thankin' me that we don't gotta do more!"

Kate: "Well, that is true... All right, thank you."

Jude: "Welcome. Now do your best to be a masochistic lil pervert. I know ya got it in ya."

(Well, I'm glad ONE of us seems to be enjoying this.)

Jude laughed when I reluctantly thanked him, then turned his cold gaze out the window.

Jude: "All this hogwash 'bout love 'n vows is creepin' me out. Just wanna get this damn mission over 'n done with."

I followed his gaze and saw a sunny courtyard out the window.

There were several couples out there, smiling adoringly at each other.

(They look so happy...)

Kate: "They've all come here because they want to find a love that can last forever."

Kate: "If he really did kill innocent people like that, I can't forgive him."

Jude: "Hah. Listen to that sense of integrity."

Jude: "Can't believe ya actually feel sorry for people who think someone else has the power to make their love eternal."

Kate: "I'm sure lots of people don't actually believe that their love will last forever just because they exchange vows and have a ceremony in a church."

Kate: "But what's important is that they tell each other they intend to keep those vows."

Kate: "And when they think they might break their vows, they'll remember that day when they swore to each other."

Kate: "And maybe that'll keep them going to try to find a solution."

Jude: "Tch. What a load of naive rubbish."

Jude: "People who break vows'll break 'em, and those who can keep 'em will keep 'em till the day they die."

Jude: "That's just how it is."

Just then, someone knocked on our door and two followers appeared.

Follower: "We're going to show you around the facility. Come on."

I followed Jude out into the hallway, when suddenly-

Kate: "Whoa!"

My foot caught on something, and I took a nasty fall.

Kate: "Oww..."

(It almost felt like something tripped me...)

I turned around and saw all the followers looking on in surprise.

Jude: "Damn, ya even like lickin' the ground? Nasty lil bird."

Kate: "That's..."

Follower: "Your fiancée tripped and you didn't even attempt to catch her, nor do you seem worried about her injury?"

Follower: "You must not love her at all."

Jude: "Like I said, she gets off on pain. Right?"

(He is a real piece of work...)

Jude: "Aw, look at that grumpy face. Lemme get a better look at it."

(Isn't it a bit unfair that he's the only one who doesn't have to act?)

I shot him a glare, which only made him grin more, so I just gave up and stood up.

(I wonder what my foot caught on, anyway? Wait a minute...)

(Did one of the followers trip me to make me fall on purpose?)

I slowly looked over at Jude.

Jude: "...Hm."

His amethyst eyes were coldly staring at a follower behind me.

And I just knew he was thinking the same thing.

(If they'll do something like this to test our love...)

(I'm sure they won't stop.)

==========

Kate: "Eeeek!"

And my prediction was correct.

The followers left and the two of us were eating alone.

However, the waiter's hands "slipped" and he ended up pouring water all over my head.

Waiter: "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Kate. Here's a towel."

Kate: "...Thank you."

(Ugh, my blouse is sticking to me. What a gross feeling.)

Jude: "Lookin' good over there."

Jude, who loved to "exploit me", was in high spirits.

(This cult and Jude are both the worst...)

I glared at him with pointed malice. But then-

Jude: "..."

Another waiter who was serving Jude stumbled.

And this time, he spilled the water on Jude.

(Uh-oh...)

Jude: "Hah..."

We both fell completely silent. The only sounds were that of the glass rolling on the floor and the water dripping from Jude's hair.

(That guy's got a lot of guts, spilling water on someone like Jude...)

Waiter: "O-oh, no! I'm terribly sorry!"

I held my breath to see if Jude was going to get angry from this forced apology.

However, he surprised me when he just smiled arrogantly.

Jude: "Not a problem. Ya didn't do it on purpose, didja?"

Jude: "Everyone makes mistakes."

Waiter: "Th-thank you...?"

The waiter was taken aback by Jude's eerie calmness and took a step backwards.

Jude: "What's your name?"

Waiter: "Pardon?"

Jude: "Your name. Don't wanna tell me? Eh, guess that's fine."

Jude:" Next time we meet, my hands might slip too. So you'll hafta forgive me then."

Waiter: "Eeeek! I'm so s-sorry!"

The waiter shrieked and apology and rushed out of the room.

(Poor thing.)

I clasped my hands in front of me and said a silent prayer for him.

(Anyway...)

Kate: "How are we supposed to prove our love like this?"

Both of us were soaking wet now. Jude looked at me and snorted.

Jude: "They're probably hopin' somethin' sexy happens."

Kate: "What?!"

I stared at him in disbelief.

Jude: "They wanna talk 'bout true love 'n all that rubbish, but in the end they got no choice but to see physical proof. Nasty lot."

The sight of Jude raking a hand through his dripping wet hair made my heart skip a beat for a moment.

(Wow, he looks... Wait-- what am I even thinking??)

Jude: "Hah. Damn, doesn't take much to get ya in the mood, does it?"

Kate: "N-no! It's because you brought it up...!"

My eyes darted around, because it was true that my heart was racing.

I quickly turned away, but he leaned in closer.

Jude: "I need ya to throw a fit 'cuz you're just so... damn...frustrated. Ya get what I mean, yeah?"

His breath tickled my ear, making my shoulders tremble.

He was so close that droplets dripped off his hair and soaked further into my wet shirt.

Jude: "...Ya really are the type who gets turned on by bein' bullied, aren't ya?"

Kate: "I am not!"

Jude: "Oh yeah? Then why're ya blushin' so much?"

He blew teasingly into my ear.

Shame, confusion, and some other hot feeling ran through me, sending shivers down my spine.

Jude: "Heh. Seems like ya got potential, princess."

Follower: "...Ahem!"

Kate: "O-ohh!"

I heard someone deliberately clearing their throat, and I realized some followers were standing in the doorway.

Follower: "Excuse me, but we'll be moving onto the final test now."

Kate: "Huh?"

Jude: "It's 'bout time."

(Does that mean we passed the preliminary test...?)

(... Is this what Jude was aiming tor the whole time?)

I glanced over at him and saw a cocky grin on his face.

Jude: "Now that was worth it, since I got to see that nasty lil look on your face."

Kate: "I-It was nothing of the sort!"

==========

Follower: "The final test is choosing the wedding dress."

(Wow...)

There were wedding dresses of all types and colors hanging up.

(They're all gorgeous...)

But what particularly caught my eye was a jet-black wedding dress.

It really stood out compared to the pure white dresses.

(And if Jude is the groom, I think black is the most fitting color.)

I imagined wearing that dress standing next to Jude at the altar, and once again felt my heart pounding.

(Wh-what, why...?)

My heart was racing so wildly it surprised me.

(Maybe I'm just getting nervous. After all, the wedding ceremony will be dangerous. That's it, I'm sure.)

Even though it wasn't a real wedding, I could vividly imagine getting married to Jude.

Just thinking about it, my pulse raced and another flush spread through my body.

Follower: "The bride should take the number of the dress she likes. Do not show it to anyone."

Kate: "All right."

I took the number thirteen from the basket.

Follower: "Now, it's the groom's turn to guess which dress the bride chose."

(Oh, now I see how this is a test.)

Follower: "You may not look at the card or send any signals to each other."

Follower: "If you truly are in love, the groom should know what his bride wants."

(Oh, no...)

A cold sweat ran down my spine.

(There's no way Jude will be able to know this!)

Jude: "This one."

(...Wow.)

He pointed to the jet-black dress without hesitation.

Follower: "Bride, please reveal your card."

I turned over the card that had the number thirteen written on it.

Kate: "How did you know..."

Jude :"Ya know, power of love 'n all that."

His smile was dripping with sarcasm.

(He must've seen me staring at it or read my facial expressions or something.)

I tried to reason with myself before I got any strange ideas in my head.

Jude: "So? Did we pass or what?"

Follower: "You have passed. You will take a vow of eternal love in front of the leader."

Follower: "Would you like to have the ceremony tomorrow, or..."

Jude: "Tonight."

Jude: "That's fine, right? Tonight."

Jude: "She won't be able to hold out till the morning."

End ch.2

[cerastes]

Arknights God, how do I use Reed the Flame Shadow? I got her and I've leveled her but I think I'm missing something, because it doesn't seem like I'm doing the damage she's supposed to be doing.

So step one is that we need to stop with the Arknights God thing because I'm flattered that you and others have a high opinion of my gameplay advice but it also makes me look like a narcissistic jackass. I appreciate the compliment and I'm happy my advice helps, but to everyone not familiar with the whole "I like to play a heel clown character on my blog for funsies with my friends" will think I'm actually addicted to the scent of my flatulence and the rhythm of my own words. It makes answering these a tad awkward.

Step two is understanding that Reed' skill selection, and which skill is the correct answer to any given issue, has a lot of factors going for it, more than the majority of Operators. If you use Cantabile, for example, you know that both of her skills are bangers, and while they have their respective jobs, they are not hard-slotted into these. Reed's S2 and S3 are similar in this regard. You'll be ignoring S1.

Before we get into that, though, here's some fundamentals about the Flame Shadow: You position them differently from other Medics and most other units. A good Reed tile is one where she has both enemies and allies in her range, so, if you placing her at a front, you'll want her to be a bit behind, but not fully behind, your line of engagement. She needs to be able to attack in order to heal, and her allies need to be in her range in order to get healed. This may sound obvious, but it needs to be taken into account. She's not a Marksman or a Medic, she's her own beast. Another thing that needs to be taken into account is that her healing comes specifically from dealing HP damage to enemies, not barriers. Greytails and the Rat King, for example, have shields that must be broken with Arts damage before exposing the succulent flesh within, right? Well, until the shield breaks, Reed is not giving anyone any succor and they might in fact just explode because while she's dealing damage to their shields, it doesn't count as valid damage for her healing. Keep this in mind so you don't run out of sustain while fighting shielded enemies, since shielded enemies tend to also have high attack. The Final Reed Essential regards her Cinders (AKA Firebrand), which she always has a chance to apply with her attacks and skills (with S3 guaranteeing it): The way it works is that, if an attack would apply Cinder, it applies it before the attack resolves, meaning, the Arts Fragility will be in effect and that attack will already be dealing 30%(32% with Potentials) extra damage off rip. Or, in other words, you don't have to apply Cinder and then start capitalizing on it on the next attack. Arts Fragility, by the way, stacks multiplicatively with Fragile, and they count as different debuffs, despite the similarity in name.

You made it past the tutorial, now let's tackle 1-1:

S2, or as Harvard scholars call it, the Spitroast, is a damn strong skill. For the purposes of this post, I'll be using the M3 versions of the skills. Spitroast grants two allies, with Melee tile priority, 3 fireballs that'll deal 240% of Reed's Attack as damage to enemies they touch every 1.5 seconds, with this 1.5 second timer applying only for each unique target. The fireballs do in fact have a hitbox, so if there's enemies on either side of the fireball unit, you'll trigger two fireballs at once, one for the enemy on one side, and another for the other. Each fireball then takes 1.5 seconds to refresh (they'll look darkened around the Operator) and once they are a vibrant orange again, it means they are ready to explode again. Each time these fireballs deal damage, they'll heal their Operators as per Reed's trait (so 120% of her Attack), and each fireball has a chance to inflict Cinder as per any of Reed's attacks. You can test this yourself by putting fireballs on Operators so they hit enemies outside her attack range, and you'll see that they do in fact also have a chance to inflict Cinder. Be mindful that the fireball's instance of damage counts as a Reed instance of damage! This means that for the purposes of Counter effects, it is Reed that's the source of the damage, so for Spike Chests, Reed WILL receive the reflected damage, and for The Last Knight, Reed WILL freeze if the fireballs hit him, etc etc. The lane-holding application of this skill is that you can grant your cornerstone immense Arts damage and healing independent of everything else they have going for themselves, including through Status effects like Freeze or Stun, as the fireballs are independent entities separate from the Operator. So if Mudrock gets stunned by Nervous Impairment and has sweet dreams of beautiful rocks that go on adventures with her, she's not completely helpless, as the fireballs will keep shredding enemies while she's in dreamland. This actually leads us to the next point: Fireballs cannot be placed on Summons, so if you had dreams of making the sickest Stainless turret surrounded by industrial flames or picturesque mindblasts about Ling's Great Thunderer's surrounded by godly plumes of cleansing conflagration, well, stop being silly and come back to reality, also rent and student debts are due. Fireballs can be placed on 'Enmity' Operators, such as Musha (ie. Akafuyu) and Juggernauts (ie. Mudrock), but they won't receive the healing from each of their hits, as the healing is mechanically counted as direct healing, thus, they may not benefit from it. Well, at least they can always take a whiff of Lena's wonderful fragrances instead. With all this in mind, we get to the Spitroast part of the Spitroast: If you jail an enemy (sandwiching them between two Operators) and use Reed's S2 to give them her mighty balls, now that enemy is getting assblasted by both sets of balls, so a whooping 480% of Reed's attack as damage, which in turn is very likely to diagnose them with Cinder due to how many times they'll be taking Reed damage, so that final damage is now also increased by another fat 30%, in addition to being inflicted with Cinder's ATK -20%, so your engager is safer as well, on top of being healed a lot. So, in practice, let's say your trusted Specter the Unchained is currently blocking Yamcha Jesselton, and as they are engaged in mortal combat, you then deploy Skadi S2 on top of Jesselton as well. But this is all within Reed's range, so you use her S2 and now the shark and the orca also have fireballs around them that further obliterate Jesselton, and he can't even damage Specter in a way that matters because 1) she leveled HP and 2) she's getting an absolutely unholy amount of healing from Reed's hot balls, so, in short, he'll never have another birthday. This MELTS bosses, but obviously, it's a rather expensive endeavor, necessitating 3 deployment slots dedicated to the bit. But no one said being funny was cheap, and end of the day, it's funny seeing bosses melting down to nothing under what's practically two fire buzzsaws.

Ideal Operators for these strats involve your prim and proper engager, someone tough that can take a hit and also hit hard, like either Specter or Skadi S3, but you can also make this engager a dedicated tough slab of meat like Hoshiguma, and your drop-in assassin with huge damage, like Texas the Omertosa, Surtr S3 (two girls that will appreciate the Arts Fragility Reed can inflict!), Skadi S2, Nearl the Radiant Knight S2, et al. 'Enmity' Operators work as well but you'll not be received the healing, just keep that in mind, but they work splendid as well. Once again, Arts Fragility stacks multiplicatively with Fragile, so break out the ol' Suzuran S3 or, if the boss can be Frozen, Gnosis S3 for some more immensely violent peacekeeping.

That was a lot, but trust me, it becomes second nature once you see it in action once, it just clicks and now you know exactly how to roast that spit.

Woah, look at all the progress we made, it's time to start 8-12:

So, S3, the big flashy and fun explosions that scream "I'm a healer, but," in big red flaming text. This skill does a fair amount of things, actually! First of all, Reed will have multitarget attacks, two per attack, and her attacks during S3 will always 100% of the time inflict Cinder, so that +60% ATK buff she's getting is actually bigger than that, given that she'll always have her final damage increased by 30% Arts Fragility on top of that. What's more, Cinder's CANNOT expire for as long as the skill is active, and now have the additional effect of inflicting a Damage Over Time effect that deals 60% of Reed's Attack as Arts damage (so, again, amplified by Arts Fragility). And, of course, as we all know and love, if an enemy dies while having the Cinder's effect during the skill duration, they explode for 140% damage in a 1.7 tile radius, and enemies damaged by these explosions, you guessed it, also become inflicted with Cinder.

That's a lot going on, but it's also pretty self-explanatory once you lay it out like that. Ace detectives might have gleaned something from this river of letters: Cinder is a very strong effect. Cinder lets you deal more damage, take less damage, and receive more healing, since Reed's healing is based on damage dealt. S3 takes Cinder to the next level: Guaranteed proc, now with a DoT, and will never expire until the end of the skill. Not only that, but the multitarget makes it easier to inflict more and more enemies with Cinder, it's truly a fire gone out of control, for the enemy, anyways. S3 lends itself to mob control and killing large crowds of enemies with the power of friendship, but do not neglect its utility in engaging with troublesome elites and bosses! While S2 is her premiere boss-killing tool, it required set-up, deployment slots and tiles you might not necessarily have in high-end content, and in these situations where the boss isn't the only issue, but you also have to deal with an overall dangerous map that's threatening as a whole, S3 may just be the perfect tool to have a more balanced and yet still very potent approach.

This is what makes the Flame Shadow such a fun unit! Your skills are not really locked by circumstance, and they can be used with several different objectives and goals in mind, depending on what the rest of your team is and who your enemy or what the challenge of the map is. With her incredible adaptability and wide array of applications, Reed the Flame Shadow absolutely shines and can be a core part of any team.

[catboybiologist]

ur dad is bzzt wrongo and 1 year is not a lot of HRT time. have some patience

(and increase the dose if necessary, remember that endocrinologists lie to you about the right dosage)

So yeah, I know 1 year is nothing in the whole grand scheme of things. The only reason that became a goal is because it works out very well with my plan for this year, and cleanly fits into my personal life as a point to come out and socially transition. I guess I got it in my head that socially transitioning will be easier if I pass. I don't think it matters much, though. Most of all, boymoding is just killing me, and dysphoria does too.

I know I'll never "fully" pass, and will always be clockable, but you can still be clocky while registering as femme overall. I'm okay with that long term.

My big, BIG hope is that I'll be able to go at least partially stealth by the time I graduate from my PhD and move locations, resetting the people around me. That'll be sometime between 2027 and 2029 most likely, 4-6 years on HRT. That's the big one.

As for doses, my gender care nurse has actively encouraged me to fuck around with doses, and treats her role mostly as an advisor and the person who writes prescriptions. She writes me basically whatever prescription I want, and now that I'm on injections, I'm fucking around a lot with doses. Also I'm kind of responding to the "diy is literally better" person in my inbox, cuz my provider is awesome and straight up encourages me to experiment and understand how to diy if I want to.

After a while on 6mg/day sublingual, I switched to injections. My initial prescribed injection dose was 4mg/week EV, which, based on the transfemme HRT simulator (I know, I know, I don't like it, it gives only vauge approximations and shouldn't be taken as a rule, but its good to think about the ballpark sometimes) should have put me at ~200pg/mL at midpoint, when I was last measured, and ~100pg/mL or higher at trough. Instead, I was at ~120 at midpoint.

In response, my provider said that I could experiment if I was willing to put myself through it. I said yes. I went from 4mg/week to an 8mg injection. That is way over any standard SubQ EV dose. I physically felt it being too high, and I had a few side effects at peak (headache, irritability, cramps, bloat, and stomach problems), so I went down to 7mg, which seems to be fine. I'm going to go down to 6, which is where my provider probably said I'm at, because I know my baseline is increasing at the same time, and I'll be tested again next week. If 6 turns out too low, I'll bump back up to 7 and probably stay there.

I think my body has a weird aversion to hormones of any kind. My T tanked almost instantly, even on low dose sublingual monotherapy, but I've struggled to raise my E even with that. Maybe I just have a very vigilant liver, or shit, I also could be intersex. Whatever it is, my dosages are something I'm very aware of and experimenting with.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Look After You

could you do a peter parker hurt/comfort fic where he hides an injury? i really liked family web and i’ve been missing your peter parker fics. no worries if it’s a no <3 – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: passing out from blood loss, hiding an injury

Pairings: gen

Word Count: 3470

"Spider-Man? Status."

Peter grits his teeth and puts a hand to his comm. He doesn't have to—Karen would transmit whatever he said anyway, but the movement does momentarily distract him from the gaping hole in his side, so he's got that going for him.

"I'm okay. I'm, uh, I'm at the corner of the collapsed building. Is everything okay?"

"We're still clearing away the stragglers. Can you keep lookout from there?"

"Uh—" he glances around. There's a toppled semi that would give him a high enough vantage point without straining his injury too much. "I think so. How, uh, how many are left?"

"Only a few. Stay sharp, kid."

"Aye aye, Captain." He hears a snort of laughter from Mr. Stark and a less-subtle dig at the fossil from Ms. Romanoff as he clambers shakily to the top of the wrecked shipping container. For better or for worse, the impact from one of the projectiles warped the metal so that there's almost a curve for him to lean against. The good news is the sharp part is not where he could sit and rest.

The bad news is that it faces the opposite way of where he's supposed to keep watch.

"Spider-Man? Anything?"

"Uh—negative, negative, Falcon, I don't—I don't see any of them."

"You sound winded. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just—" he hisses through his teeth as a bit of shrapnel digs itself further into his side— "tired out."

"You should go on more runs with Steve, that'll get your endurance up," comes Sergeant Barnes's voice along with a screech of metal.

"You say like you don't run laps around him on purpose sometimes."

"He's actually pretty decent when it comes to pace matching," Ms. Romanoff says, and there's the distant sound of her firing at something, "unlike someone."

"I resent that implication." Mr. Barton muffles a grunt. "Just because I don't do all the aerial silk stuff with you anymore—"

"I'm sorry, back up: Barton did aerial silks? And this is the first time I'm finding out about this?"

"What can I say, Tony, you can take the kid out of the circus…"

"And I thought we shared things with each other." There's the telltale whine of the repulsor. "You taught the kid any of your tricks?"

"You think I can teach that kid anything he won't figure out on his own?" The whizz of arrows. They're all fighting. They're all doing things. They're all being useful. Peter's just sitting here. By himself. Not even doing the one thing he's supposed to be. "I'd be surprised if I came down and he already knew exactly what to do."

"We should put that to the test, huh, Baby Spider?"

Baby Spider. That's him. He should respond to that. Moving is hard. Why was he trying to move?

The world starts to get fuzzy. His eyes are closing—no, the world's just getting darker. And thinner. And flatter. And his head hurts. Why does his head hurt? He didn't get hit in the head. There's something wet on his side. And his hand. And the chair. Why is the chair so bumpy? He doesn't like bumpy chairs. He should've sat on a nicer chair. Maybe he should go do that. It's better to sit on a nice not-bumpy chair that isn't wet than a bumpy wet chair.

He blinks again. He's really blinking slowly. He could've sworn the world was upright a second ago. What happened to the flat black thing that was erasing his view? Maybe that was something from his suit. Mr. Stark did say he put a lot of stuff into it, so maybe it was something he just hadn't discovered yet. It wasn't like he could go into it now, he was…he was…what was he doing?

Chair. Right. He'd been sitting on a bumpy wet chair. He didn't like sitting on wet things. That just made his skin feel all itchy. Itchy and prickly and not fun. His whole side feels wet now, did he lie down on the wet chair? But that doesn't make sense. If he lay down on the wet thing, then the side under him should be wet, not the side facing up. But the side facing up feels wet. So does his arm. So does his hand. His mouth feels like it's filling with something. Is he drinking? He's wearing a mask.

He coughs. Something metallic splatters over the inside of his mask. His breathing feels thick. There's something stuck in his teeth. There's something in his mouth still. He tries to breathe. It's hard. It tastes wrong. Breathing shouldn't taste like anything, it should just be breathing. But breathing tastes bad. That's bad. He should say something. He's supposed to tell them when he thinks something's wrong.

But they're busy right now. They're fighting.

What're they fighting?

What's he supposed to do now?

Why is moving hard?

There's something crackling in his ear. He tries to reach up and paw at it. Something makes it really, really hard to move his arm. So he doesn't. He turns his head slightly like that'll make the thing crackle louder. He blinks. Was he blinking? Were his eyes closed? It's dark. It's really dark. Maybe it's night time. Maybe this is all a bad dream. Is it bad? What makes it bad? He's in pain, but that's not new. Maybe this dream is just about being in pain. He's had those before. They aren't any fun. Sometimes he gets them when he's just in the tower, because then when he's there it feels weird.

He knows it's not supposed to feel weird. He's supposed to talk to them when he feels weird, not have them be the cause of him feeling weird. But the nightmares—bad dreams, dreams, the things he has when he's not in his head properly, they all tell him that they don't have anything to worry about because he's Peter, and he's supposed to be fine, and so he doesn't tell them when he feels weird because that's not helpful.

Helpful…helpful…he was supposed to do something. He's supposed to be doing something right now.

What was it again?

There are teeth in his throat and a claw piercing his ribs by the time he manages to scrape together enough brain cells to manage the word lookout.

***

"No, you got my Baby Spider hurt, you go away."

"He was my Baby Spider first, now let me—"

"No! You've done all the necessary things to make sure he's not dying, he has been transferred to the bed to sleep and heal, which means that it's time for me to tell you off for not taking care of our Baby Spider."

"Exactly, our Baby Spider! Let me see him, he's gonna wake up all confused—"

"And I will tell him what's going on. Now shoo. You know the rules, out, out, out!"

"…you'll tell me if anything's—"

"If anything is wrong, yes, yes, of course I will, now get out."

Peter's swimming through a haze of voices. There's something cottony in his mouth. Everything hurts. Does it hurt? It hurts but like it's on the other side of a glass wall, like he can see the hurt and feel the glass moving from the impact of it but it's just not quite getting to him.

"Hey, hey, Baby Spider, shh, it's alright. You're safe now, do not worry, Aunt Spider is right here."

The soft rolling words flood his ears just as the pain shatters through the glass. A high-pitched whine reaches his ears and he only realizes it's him when the voice shushes him again with all the tenderness to make him cry.

"Shh, shh, Baby Spider, you're okay. Don't cry, don't cry—they have you on the good pain medication for a reason, you're going to be alright. And if you're not, I'll go out there and kick all of their asses for letting you get hurt so badly."

Something soft and warm touches his head. It moves over his cheek again and again, before something else touches his forehead. It feels softer and…wetter? That's bad. He doesn't like wet things. Wet things are bad right now.

"Open your eyes, Baby Spider, come on, look at me."

Oh. That's why it's so dark. His eyes are closed. He blinks and immediately whimpers in pain. It's too bright. Bright is bad. He wants to go back.

"Shit—okay, there, lights are off now, come on, that's it, look at me, Baby Spider. Let me see you."

Peter cracks his eyes open, blinking muzzily up at the blur in front of him. After a few seconds the blur wobbles and something wet drips down the side of his face. He doesn't like that, but he does like the soft thing that brushes his cheek afterwards.

"There you are," the soft voice says again as a face begins to emerge out of the blurry darkness, "there's my Baby Spider. You scared everyone pretty badly."

"Y-Yelena?"

Yelena pouts. "Not Aunt Spider?"

"Aunt Spider?" His voice cracks and suddenly he's a baby again, crying when he wakes up from a nightmare and he doesn't know what to do except hide away forever. "A-aunt Spider, I'm—I don't—"

"Shh, shh, it's okay." She pets his cheeks and hair, leaning closer so he can see her better. "It's okay, Baby Spider, you're going to be okay. Are you scared, is that it?"

"What's—what happened?"

Yelena's expression darkens. "You were out on a mission. There were these gross little crawly things that got loose from some lab and they were attacking people. You got hurt by one of them when a building collapsed and then didn't tell anyone."

The wetness…the blood…he must've bled out on top of the truck. Bits and pieces come back to him; the scrabbling yelps and gross weird not-flesh leaving chunks of viscera on the sidewalk.

"One of them got to you. It messed you up pretty badly. For a while, we weren't sure if you were going to make it." She places her hand very gently on the side that hurts a little less, the sensation dulled even further through the thick swaddle of bandages. "You got hurt really bad, Baby Spider."

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, no, you don't apologize for being hurt, that's not your fault. You apologize for not telling people that you're hurt so they can look after you."

He doesn't have the blood to spare for shame to rush to his face, but he feels it burn all the same. He's never been very good at getting scolded, not even when he's at his best. In some ways, he's happy it's happening now, when he's already in pain and crying in a hospital bed—can he count on looking pathetic and regretful enough to escape the worst of it?

Probably not. It's only Yelena here. He's going to get dressed down by everybody else later, they're most likely waiting until he's not in the bed as a favor to him but really he just wants them to get it over with now. Lick his wounds all at the same time, and all that.

"—by Spider, Baby Spider, shh, shh, hey, stay with me, look at me, come on."

"S-sorry," he wheezes out, "'m sorry, I know I did it wrong, I can—"

"Hey. Hey. None of that, you don't do that right now." The hands hold his face firmly. "You look at me, okay? That's all you do right now, you look at me."

"Yelena? I mean—Aunt Spider?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm right here, okay? I'm not leaving." Thumbs move across his cheeks—his wet cheeks—he's still crying, that's not good. "Shh, hey, it's okay. We'll worry about all that later, hm? Right now you just—"

"No!"

Yelena stops and blinks. Confusion flickers across her face. "'No' what?"

"We—we can do it now," he manages, "I know—I know I messed up, you can tell me it now, I can—I can take it, it's better that way—"

"I'm not going to yell at you while you're in a hospital bed, Peter—" Peter, not Baby Spider, he's making this worse— "you need to rest."

"No, 'm good, I'm good." He bites his lip hard and tries to take a deep breath, raising his chin. "I messed up, I'm sorry."

Something complicated works its way into Yelena's expression. The hands on his face don't soften, but the next pass of her thumb is less practical, more affectionate. "What's going on, Baby Spider? You look so scared. I'm not going to hurt you."

"No, I know, I know that."

"Then why do you look like I'm about to?"

He swallows heavily. His mouth still tastes like blood. "I-I just meant that it makes sense that—well, I'm awake now, so we can—so…"

She looks at him expectantly when he doesn't finish. He swallows again.

"I don't want to inconvenience everybody else," he decides on finally, "so if they're waiting to talk to me, then they can…they can do it now and then they don't have to worry about it anymore."

"And what is it that you think they'll say?"

"…you know, what I did wrong and what not to do next time."

"And once they've told you this, they'll leave you alone?"

"Y-yeah? I mean, I think so."

"And—what? Just let you be in pain by yourself?"

He frowns. "What?"

"You are severely injured, emotionally unstable, and quite possibly the most vulnerable I've ever seen you, and you think this is the right time to be, what, reprimanded and left alone?"

This is a trap, his body screams, this is a trap, this is a trap, this is a trap.

He doesn't say anything. Yelena looks at him hard for another few moments before she's pulling away. He bites his lip to stifle a whimper at the loss of contact and choke down the wave of dread that courses through him. She's probably going to get the others. This is good.

This is good, he tries to convince himself, get it over with now, heal all at the same time without the dread of it coming later, this is good, this is—

He's so scared. He's really scared and he's going to cry and that's not going to make it any better because he has to at least seem like he's worthy of being here.

"Drink."

—what?

"Drink," Yelena repeats, holding a straw to his mouth, "you need water."

He opens trembling lips and lets her feed the straw into his mouth. The few sips of water he's able to take rinse the worst of the blood from his tongue. She doesn't look at him as she watches the level of fluid in the cup go down, pulling away when he's had almost half. It comes to rest on the side table with a clunk. She folds her hands in her lap and stares at him.

"I do not abandon people to suffer in silence. I will not leave you to endure your pain on your own," she says firmly, "that is not the kind of person I want to be anymore."

"…okay?"

"You think they will be angry at you? You think they will yell at you?" He nods. "Then I will sit here with you while it happens, and afterwards, when you are still hurting, I will be here with you."

"Aunt Spider—"

"If it makes any difference, I don't think they're going to yell at you, but if you are scared of it, then I will stay with you." She puts her hand over his. "You want them to come and do it now, right, so that you won't worry about it happening later?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I will let them know they can come see you." She reaches for her phone and types something. A moment later, she puts it away again. "They are on their way."

"Thank you."

"Mm."

The dread billows and pulses in his chest and throat. He still doesn't have blood to spare for his face, but he can gnaw on his tongue. There are footsteps and shadows outside. He suddenly squeezes Yelena's hand hard and she squeezes back.

The door opens—

"Oh, Peter—"

"Shit, kid—"

"Pete—"

"All of you move, that's my Baby Spider." Ms. Romanoff shoves her way to the front of the group and glares at Yelena, before her face softens and she's reaching out to cup his face. "Hey, Baby Spider, you doing okay?"

He manages a nod, still holding the dread in his mouth like a frog.

"You need more painkillers?" He shakes his head. She taps him lightly under the chin. "What's this face for, then?"

His eyes look to Mr. Stark, who immediately turns to the nearby screen and starts scanning it. "Readouts look good, vitals are stable. You're due for another round of meds in…about fifteen minutes."

He looks over the edge of his glasses at Peter.

"You need more now."

"N-no, Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Stark," he huffs, looking away, "you're killing me here, kid."

"Wh-what was I supposed to say?"

"Peter," Captain Rogers says with his voice all soft and low from the foot of the bed, and when he turns to look he sees that really gentle expression he sees aimed at Mr. Stark when he's not sleeping or Sergeant Barnes when they're talking about something, "we're worried about you."

"I'm sorry, Cap—Captain."

Captain Rogers comes closer, stepping around Yelena—he squeezes her hand again and she squeezes back—and sitting near his head. He reaches out and brushes some hair back from his face. "What's going on in your head right now?"

"I—I—"

Out of desperation, he makes eye contact with Yelena. She sighs. "He believes you are all angry with him and would prefer if he were to be reprimanded now, so that when you leave he can be in pain by himself and heal from it without having to worry about more pain later."

…more explicit than he would've gone with, but true.

"Oh, kid," he hears Captain Rogers murmur—and that can't be right, but there are still fingers carding gently through his hair, "we were never going to yell at you. We're not mad at you, sweetheart, we were scared, that's all. You got hurt on our watch, Peter, that's what we're worried about—we just want to make sure you're okay."

"Barton and Barnes didn't come up 'cause they didn't want to see you so hurt," Mr. Stark says, "'cause they're still pissed at themselves for letting it happen. Wilson's off with Aunt May getting your stuff so you can stay here for the next few weeks."

"B-but—"

He cuts himself off with a truly pitiful sound when Ms. Romanoff leans in and kisses his forehead. He distantly registers the sound of winces and muffled curses but he's too busy not being able to think.

"I will never be mad at you for being scared, Baby Spider," she whispers, "and I won't leave you in pain. You're my Baby Spider, Peter."

"You're not—you're not mad?"

"No, Peter."

"You won't yell at me?"

"We won't yell at you," Captain Rogers murmurs, ruffling his hair, "you're safe, sweetheart."

"And we're not just gonna let you be in pain." Mr. Stark presses a button and Peter's body sags in relief as something floods his system. "We don't leave people behind."

"See, Baby Spider?" Yelena squeezes his hand again. "You're not going to be abandoned to pain here. If you're hurt, you tell us, and then we take care of you."

"That's right."

…well, now he feels like an idiot for assuming and making them feel bad that he assumed. And now he's definitely going to start crying because he doesn't know what to do now and crying sounds like a good idea.

"Shh," he hears a gentle voice murmur as a warm hand rests lightly on his injured stomach, "shh, sweetheart, it's okay, let it out."

"Move over, sit down. There, that's better. We're not leaving, kid, you're gonna be okay. FRIDAY, can you—?"

"Already on it, boss."

Another kiss—at least he thinks that's what it is. "Shh, Baby Spider, we're right here. You're safe."

Everything hurts. Everything hurts and that's…that's okay. Because there's a warm hand in his hair and a gentle voice in his ear. There's a kiss on his forehead and a whisper against his temple. There's a shadow on the bed and a watchful eye on the machines keeping him stable. There's a hand in his and a promise filling the room.

You will not be abandoned to pain. We will take care of you.

[hedgiwithapen]

Prompt: Artemis’s planning process for the homicide with malice aforethought of Icicle

(It changed as I was writing it but i hope it scratches the itch)

Artemis finds Rick in the hall before third period. 

"Hey," she says. He nods in acknowledgement and waits for her to say why she's blocking his locker. 

"Why are you blocking my locker?" he asks after a long moment. 

"You know stuff about Chemistry. Your dad was some kind of genius, right?" 

Rick blinks. He wasn't aware Artemis had even thought about the old JSA. 

"I know some," he says. "Not as much as my dad. You should probably ask Cindy."

"No. I can't ask Cindy."

"Why not?"

"Because she'll make this about her. She's not exactly a team player. You are."

Rick rolls his neck. " Right, I'm going to assume that's a compliment. Now, I need my textbook."

"Of course it's a compliment. So. Will you help me?"

"With what?" Rick asks, glancing down the hall. It's busy, but everyone's wrapped up in their own nonsense. 

"I have a lot of my... my dad's stuff. For his pucks. Explosives, compounds, but I need to make sure I've got it right. I need something that'll burn on water."

"Oh," Rick says, with dawning clarity. He takes a deep breath, thinking about what Beth would say. What Courtney would think. He dismisses it. "Yeah. Okay. I'll pick you up after your practice."

"I can walk," Artemis says.

"We can't plan this in the Pitstop," Rick counters.  "I've got space. no one will even notice a few practice explosions."

"Oh, right." Artemis nods. She holds out her hand. Rick shakes it.

"See you then."

~

It takes some effort to get the compound right. Rick's father's book has some of his notes on chemistry, but mostly how it relate to the Hourglass. Still, they make it work through trial and error. A lot of error. The farm field is littered with tiny craters, but it's not like there are any neighbors to worry about.  They test mixture after mixture on frosted over mornings, until they have something that will work. 

For the first time in two months, Artemis smiles. Rick shovels dirt, the hourglass glowing around his neck. Slowly, the smoke dissipates.

They can't find Icicle alone. 

Rick's the one who asks Beth for help.

She takes a long look at him, and at Artemis, and bites her lip before making a choice. 

"I don't want to know why you need the weather tracked. I don't want you to tell me. Okay?"

"Okay," Rick agrees for them both. 

"And promise me you'll be safe."

Rick nods. "Cross my heart," he says. 

Icicle is in Denmark. Not Norway, which was their first thought, not back in Southern California, not Siberia. Denmark. Half a world away, Jordan Mahkent has no idea that he's going to die, soon. 

Artemis reaches out to Cindy, who doesn't buy plane tickets on her phone on the spot. Instead she texts for a moment, and looks up. "Private plane. Out of Oakville, tomorrow night. Well, out of a field in Oakville. No customs or bag check that way."

"Good, Artemis says, shivering. December's dark comes on fast in Nebraska.

"I could come with you," Cindy offers, uncharacteristically lowkey about it. "For backup." She recognizes the hard look in Artemis's eyes. "He's your kill. I wouldn't step in unless--"

"He's our kill," Artemis says, gesturing to the duffle bag at her feet. "But thanks. It's something I need to do personally."

"Suit yourself," Cindy says. 

Rick drives her. He's got the cover story ready to recite, that she's looking at housing for college. It's a silent drive, punctuated only by concerned intakes of breath when they hit a bump. The chemicals are stable before they're mixed, but the worry still sets in.  His car spits back grit from the gravel road as he slows by the field. A plane waits. 

"Thanks," Artemis says. "For helping me."

"How'd you know I would?" Rick asks the question he's been sleeping on like a lumpy mattress for weeks. "Cindy would have agreed in a heartbeat. How'd you know--"

"Because he killed your parents too," Artemis says, resolutely. "Stargirl'd never get that. Midnite either. But you get it. I knew you would."

Rick nods. The memory of the rage he'd felt for the tree they'd hit, then for Grundy, had sat in his heart, such a steady drip of poison he'd gotten used to it. They hadn't been to blame, but Icicle was. The weight had gotten lighter the closer he and Artemis got to a plan, and now it felt hardly like a burden at all. "You'll get him for them, too?"

"For every orphan he's made," Artemis says, and slams the car door behind her.

[angel-blitz]

Petals and Slim meeting for the first time yaaaayyyyy

The hallways of the ship were usually empty, today however they were full of new recruits scrambling to get to their assigned posts on their first day. Except for two klownettes, one with red hair and one with blue, who stood in the corner.

"So, you'll do your shift in the nursery, and then you'll come to the lounge with me and the other gals, okay?" Rosebud stated, chuckling at how some klowns bumped into each other while trying to get to their own shifts.

"Oh, okay! Do we all sleep there?" Petals asked, looking around and observing this new area she was in.

She had just joined the invasion force, and after a lengthy meeting with Jumbo and the other recruits, she had been assigned to the nursery. She'd be the only one working there, not everyone liked dealing with the babies and how rowdy they were. But Petals didn't mind, it was her job back on their planet after all.

"Sometimes, we usually share sleeping quarters. But the lounge is nice, I think you'll like it! That way, you can meet the other girls" Rosebud smiled, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

Petals blushed, admiring her fellow klownette. She was very pretty, and she realized she should probably stop staring before-

"Stare all you want, sweetheart. I don't mind, all the girls here are very laid back" Rosebud grinned at Petals, reaching out and tilting her chin up.

Petals couldn't stop the smile that creeped its way onto her face, her hands meeting each other as she nervously twiddled her thumbs. "A-ah, okay! Thank you!"

Once the hallway finally calmed down, Rosebud took Petals by her hand and lead her to a nearby room. Once entering, Petals could tell it was the nursery room.

Looking around, Petals checked to make sure it had everything she needed; cribs, incubators, play pens, etc.

"Oh, also, don't hesitate to ask for more stuff to be added here. Jumbo told me to tell you that he'd be more than happy to help you with that" Rosebud watched with a smirk as Petals walked around the large room.

"Oh, that's nice! I didn't get to personally talk to him much, the meeting was so busy. Is there any way I'll be able to talk with him myself?" Petals sits down on the nearby couch, testing how comfortable it feels.

Rosebud shrugs. "Maybe, he's a busy guy. But when it comes to us girls, he always makes sure we have what we need. I'll put in a word for you, he might be able to talk to you later"

Petals smiles, sitting politely as she glanced around the room one last time. "Okay! Thank you, Rosebud. It means a lot!"

Rosebud hums, hanging out in the doorway. "Anytime, hun. Oh, and, one more thing-"

The red haired klownettes tone shifted to a more serious one as she walked over to the couch, handing Petals a spray can.

"Some of the guys on the ship are...rowdy. Weird. I'm not saying they'd do anything to hurt you, but they can be pretty annoying and loud. Use this if they don't buzz off, okay?"

Petals raised an eyebrow, looking down at the object in her hands. Silly string. A klowns worst nightmare if they got sprayed in the face.

"Thank you, Rosebud! Hopefully I won't have to use this..."

Rosebud chuckles, patting Petals on her head. "If they know what's good for them, they won't. I'm gonna head back to the lounge, I think Jumbo said he was gonna send one of the higher ups to help you move the babies here"

Petals nods, before hearing footsteps outside in the hallway. Quite heavy ones, actually.

Rosebud looks over at the doorway, sighing when she sees the familiar tall klown enter the room.

"Hey, you. No funny business, alright? Let the girl settle in first" Rosebud says sternly, glaring up at the taller klown.

Slim raises his hands up playfully, as if he was surrendering. "Easy, Rosey. Just came to help the new dame move the babies, that's all"

Rosebud rolls her eyes, leaving before she says something too smart that'll have her in trouble. Once she does, Slim wastes no time walking over to the couch, sitting down next to Petals without a care in the world.

"Don't mind me, just checking out what I'm working with~" Slim said, his eyes scanning Petals up and down.

Petals stares at the klown, her cheeks a bit redder than before. She sets the can of silly string aside, giving a small wave.

"Bit of a shy one, hm? I get it, first days can be crazy. Rosebud should really have more trust in me, but I know she's just looking out for her girls" Slim shrugs, leaning back against the couch cushions.

Petals grins, her eyes locked on Slims face. "She's nice...um, I'm Petals!" She extends her manicured hand out, shaking Slims.

Slim snorts, amused at how easily he's got the pretty new girl in his hands like putty. "Slim. You ready to meet the little ones, pretty thing?"

Petals nods and blushes, standing up as Slim does as well. She follows him through the halls, where the two eventually reach the cotton candy storage room.

[obsidiancreates]

Double Donnie

"So, fellow Donatello. I have a query for you."

"Sure." Donnie drops a bit of the "ooze", as they call mutagen in this dimension, into the chemical compound.

"Why bio-chemistry as your science of choice?" Donald leans hazardously close to Donnie's project. "Because I noticed that it holds you back from making some truly incredible tech otherwise by dividing your time and practice, and I can't figure out why anyone would ever do that to themselves."

"You do chemistry too, I've seen it."

"Yeah, as a side-science. Tech and machinery are clearly superior."

"Mm-hmm, sure. Now, back away, would you? There's a good chance this'll explode."

"I am used to explosions."

"This is a chemical explosion."

"Yes, so there will be the lack of my usual shards of metal, and, running screaming from flying pieces of shrapnel!"

"At least we relate on that experience." Donnie adds one more drop of ooze. The mixture bubbles, turns pink, turns red...

POP!

Donnie groans and thunks his head against the worktable.

"There there." One of the robotic arms of Donald's battle shell pats Donnie on the head. "This is simply what happens when you mess with an inferior branch of science."

Donnie lifts his head to scowl at Donald, one of those strange red representations of a bulging vein overlaying itself on his forehead and giving off a faint heartbeat sound. "You're telling me you're a mutant of combined turtle and human DNA made from a mysterious substance, and you didn't want to figure out how all of that worked?!"

"Never had the strong urge, no! Why would I, when I had robots to build!" Donald throws his arms out, and his various pieces of tech surround him in a blink! He smirks at Donnie.

"And I had DNA to test and compounds to make! Our passions went in opposite directions, that's all there is to it! ... Actually, thinking about it, it's very possible this was the multiverses way of balancing the universes, directing us into situations that fostered different passions in different fields. Not that I don't love robotics, of course, but I find myself in a lot more situations where my bio-chemistry comes in handy."

"And I, my beautiful beautiful tech."

"Fascinating. Even though our interests are nurtured from the time we're too young to know what situations we'd deal with, we both ended up with our interests perfectly suited to what we'd need most when we became heroes. This implies some level of existence of Fate, which, come to think of it, if further supported by the many consistencies across universes-"

"Sorry, the many?"

"There's a version of us that lives in the year 1987. We don't need to talk about them right now. Their Raph sounded a lot like me and I still don't know how I feel about that."

"You have a lot of feelings, so I'm not surprised that they become hard to differentiate from each other."

"Yeah, well, a complex mind breeds complex emotions."

"That is not the case."

"Anyway, if I wasn't passionate about bio-chemistry, I would never have been able to make retromutagen and stop the Kr- uh, the... other guys. If you didn't have your passion for tech, well, same story! Sort of."

"Let's not talk about that ever again actually."

"Sorry."

"Wait, is that what you're doing there? Creating a reversing agent to the oozequitos?"

"I'm hoping to. I just, feel bad for some of the people your Mikey told me about. Plus, it's pretty nice when the people who want to kill you aren't incredibly strong mutants."

"I don't know how much that'll matter here, honestly. Also, this seems dangerous to have around us. I'd rather not suddenly turn back into a regular turtle."

"Relax, it doesn't even work yet. I'm really having trouble adjusting to the laws of this universe. Did you know that your April took me to her high school the other day? No-one batted an eye!"

"Ah yes, your humans are much more likely to scream, and point, and shout about 'Oh no, horrible hideous monsters!'."

"Thank you for the reminder," Donnie grumbles. "That's another reason I pursued bio-chemistry. When I was young I hoped I could possibly find a way to turn my brothers and I human as well."

Donald tenses up, his face twisting into disgusted horror. "You... want to be human?!"

Donnie scoffs. "Um, yeah? Like I said, our dimension is a lot less friendly to us. We can't even go out in the daytime unless there's something bigger going on, like millions of rats swarming."

"... Has that happened to you?"

"More than once."

"Your dimension sounds like the worst place to ever exist. But aside from that, explain why you want to be human other than wanting life-essential sunlight and vitamin D intake."

"Well, to go to school sounds nice. Connecting with other scientists. Meeting people besides my brothers and humans we know because of kidnappings and their attempted vigilante careers. Generally having the same opportunities that a human does?"

"I see, I see. But you're stronger than a human in your dimension, right?"

"Yeah."

"And faster?"

"I suppose..."

"So what's the problem?"

"Wh- what's your problem?! You don't feel like a freak?!"

"Not really, no."

"How- we- we have shells! And our hands only have three fingers! And we're green!"

"I don't understand, now you're just pointing out the obvious. Ooooh, wait, you're listing things that make us different from humans."

"Yes!"

"I don't know if I'm equipped to handle this, actually, because I find your train of thought very hard to follow here. May I direct you to Mikey, or perhaps the cloaking brooch shop?"

"... The what?"

"Cloaking brooch. They're used by Yokai to disguise as humans and live amo-"

"YOU HAVE A WAY TO MAKE ME LOOK HUMAN?!" Donnie bolts out of the room.

Donald blinks after him, and then taps his forearm screen. "Angelo, I think Other Donnie may need one of your Doctor personas to pay him a visit. Yeah, yeah apparently he deeply hates himself for being a mutant. I know, I don't get it either. Anyway I think he's tearing the lair apart trying to find a cloaking brooch. No, I don't know if he's touching your kiiiii- oh, no, he is, he's going through the kitchen cupboards. Try not to kill him."