#so like.. neither of us watch the other's stuff but at least we can converse lol...

[angelasscribbles]

All That She Wants Chapter 10: Old Wounds

Series: All That She Wants

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings for this chapter: Drake x Olivia (past)

Word Count: 1,341

Rating: M

Warnings for this chapter: none

My other stuff: Master List.

“Coming!” Drake bellowed as he crossed the room to open the door. He pulled it open to find Olivia standing on the other side. “Liv! What are you doing here?”

The side of her mouth turned slightly downward. “Is that any way to greet an old friend?”

“Sorry. I’m just surprised to see you. I didn’t know you were in town, much less here.” He stepped back and swung the door wide. “Come on in!”

Olivia sauntered in like she owned the place, her eyes scanning the room surreptitiously. Not much had changed since the last time she’d been in it. The room was tidy, practically bare. She’d always told him he was a minimalist, and he had always told her that he just preferred simplicity.

The changes that existed were minimal, but they were there. Like the woman’s hairbrush lying on the bedside table.

Riley’s.

She shoved her annoyance down as she perched on the edge of his bed. Watching his face carefully, she confided, “Liam summoned me here.”

Drake’s brows furrowed. “Why?”

“To offer to divorce Riley and marry me.” She laser focused on his face, watching for any sign that the information troubled him.

If it did, he gave no indication of it. “Why don’t you just put the man out of his misery and say yes? Then he’ll have what he wants and let Riley go. Maybe then she can move on.”

“Is that what you want?” She asked more sharply than she intended. “For Riley to move on?”

He ignored her question. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him no.”

“Why?”

“Why?” She gave him a look that indicated he was stupid. “Because I don’t want him like that!”

“That’s not true, and you know it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you and Liam have been entangled in some sort of situationship since puberty.”

“Not continuously.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t on again, off again, but it’s on far more than it’s off. Come on, Liv. Name a period of at least six months where you haven’t been sleeping with him!”

“Is that why you broke things off?” She sniffed haughtily. “You were jealous of my relationship with Liam?”

An ironic laugh escaped him. “First of all, no. I was never jealous of you and Liam. I’ve known forever that the two of you are like fucking moths to a flame when it comes to each other. No matter what you say, no matter how many times you tell him to go to hell, sooner or later, the two of you end up in each other’s orbit again.”

“That sounds like jealously.” She gloated.

“Nope.” He shook his head. “Just stating facts. I always knew that whatever you and I had, it was temporary. We were never an actual couple, Liv.”

“Only because neither of us do relationships.” She protested. “You kept clothes at my home. We went on vacation together. I’m pretty sure you stopped sleeping around.”

“All those things are true.” He replied carefully. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that it felt like something more than just sleeping together. Things were going well. We never argued, never had a falling out, then you just ended it without an explanation or conversation.”

He was dumbfounded by the note of hurt in her voice. Had Olivia Nevrakis had actual feelings for him? He stared at her in shock for several long seconds, until it started to get awkward. “Oh. I…I didn’t realize you would care. I mean, yes, we had fun together, and yes, I kept clothes at your house because it was convenient to do so since we were spending every other weekend there, but I never thought you wanted more than that.”

“I didn’t say I did.”

“Okay.” He considered his next words carefully. “I stopped sleeping around at some point because I was satisfied with what we had. Did you?”

“I—”

He waved her away. “It’s fine. I know you didn’t. We weren’t in love, Liv. We were in lust, we were in like, we were a lot of things, but in love wasn’t one of them.”

Maybe he hadn’t been, but she had. She wasn’t about to tell him that, though. Still. She had to know. “Fine. But if you got bored, or met someone else, why not just tell me that? It was rude to just cut and run the way you did.”

It was beginning to sink in that he had hurt her when he ended things. He knew her well enough not to say that out loud to her. Instead, he tried his best to fix it. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I have no excuse other than I really didn’t think I was more than a blip on your radar, so my reasons weren’t important.”

“Alright. I’ll accept that. But just out of curiosity, why did you end it?” Drake Walker was the only man that had ever dumped her. She was usually the one who did the dumping.

Her pride still stung.

Drake sighed as he ran a hand across his face. He didn’t want to throw Liam under the bus, but he didn’t want to compound the hurt he had caused by lying to her about it. “Liam asked me to back off.”

Shock, anger, and indignation shot through her. “That son of a bitch!” She was furious, and she was outraged, but underneath that, there was a tiny sliver of satisfaction. “What gave him the right to interfere in my life?”

“Probably the fact that you were still sleeping with him, knowing he was in love with you.”

“That…are you judging me?”

“I’m just saying that if he’s truly your friend and you don’t return his feelings, then you should probably stop sleeping with him.”

Olivia scoffed. “Who asked you?”

“No one. But why can’t you just admit you have feelings for him?”

“Because I don’t!”

“Then why do you two keep ending up together?”

“Please. The sex is good. What more could there be?”

“Do you keep in touch with Jin?”

“What? No. What does that have to do with anything?”

Drake shrugged. “You told me the sex with Jin was phenomenal.”

“So?”

“So, if everything is just about bumping uglies, why don’t you keep in touch with him?”

“I—”

“Or that Italian guy? What was his name? Fransisco?”

“Oh, for the love of God, Drake!” she exploded. “Liam’s the king! I can’t just cut ties with him like I can some fucking second rate spy for hire or a foreign diplomate!”

“Right. But it’s not just budget meetings and galas, is it? It’s trips to Paris, skiing in the Alps, yachting in the Caribbean, sneaking away during—”

“Because we’re friends!”

“Okay. Keep telling yourself that.”

“Oh my God, you’re infuriating!”

“Infuriating and right.”

Olivia rolled her eyes with a scoff.

Drake shook his head. “Well, this has been fun, but I need to get to the gym for PT with my squad. I’m already late. See you at dinner tonight?”

“No, I’m leaving for Lythikos before dinner.”

“Alright. Well, see you next time, then.”

He was almost to the door when she asked, “What was the second thing?”

He stopped and turned back to her. “What?”

“Earlier, when I asked if you were jealous of my relationship with Liam, you said first of all….what was the second thing?”

Drake smirked as he responded, “Second of all, you called it a relationship. You asked if I was jealous of your relationship with Liam. Your words, Liv. Relationship. And you just did it a second time. I trust you can show yourself out?”

She watched him leave as fury, confusion, and dismay collided inside her.

Were her feelings for Liam more complex than she wanted to admit? Was all her pining over Drake just wounded pride because he dumped her?

She leaped to her feet, slammed out the door, and power walked back to her room to pack.

Because fuck if she was ready to confront any of that.

[memecucker]

Thinking about this time in college when I went to a start of year party at the dorm of my friend who also happened to become my neighbor that year and she had a roommate who I kinda like immediately clicked with like we shared similar interests and we kept returning to having conversations bc it felt like we were both interested in talking to the other and when I mentioned that I had a student membership at the Art Institute of Chicago and would study in the lounge she thought that was really cool and would like it if I could show her around it later on after she’s settled in. And I was thinking oh cool I got a date with a cool neighbor girl neat plus I’m friends with her roommate. So the next week my roommates and my friend and her roommates minus the one I was interested went out and I asked about her and my friend said she was busy and same thing next week and eventually my friend picked up that I liked her roommate and she got out that the girl I liked was trying to not sound rude and actually didn’t like going to clubs and holy shit neither did I I only came because I thought she would. So my friend said that next weekend the girl is gonna be out of town but after that she’ll try one more time to get her to come and if not she’ll throw a room party so the two of us can chat again and I can ask her out. Sweet

Anyway one of the ppl she invited was an old high school guy friend that showed up a day early (while the girl I was interested in was still out of town) to stay over and also this guy was a coke fiend that brought a lot of cocaine to share and he bragged about all the cocaine and he was bad enough of a coke fiend that he was picking it out of the carpet when the lines were finished which I thought it was funny bc it was pretty fucking shitty cocaine compared to what my ex-raver roommate had and also this guy was the son of the mayor of a Chicago suburb so he obviously has never faced consequences before type and also liked heavily quoting rap lyrics with the n word and also once left me in a room with my unconscious friend and closed the door behind him as if he was expecting me to do something and was giving a courtesy. Also got the vibe he may have invited himself over.

Anyway the next day at some point around noon the girl I was interested in came back and saw someone trashed in their living room and also broke into her room and trashed it and stole basically all the valuables and yes it was the scummy rich white boy coke fiend that somehow has coke that felt like it was cut with table salt son of Chicago suburb mayor that stole her stuff and somehow thought he’d get away with it which didn’t happen because his dad has no influence over Chicago PD or the girls family who happened to be lawyers.

So obviously she changed dorms and partially blames my friend for what happened for inviting or at least not kicking out/watching that guy and they then absolutely hated each other I won’t go into all the details.

Anyway that’s the story of how I accidentally influenced a chain of events that caused the the girl I was gonna ask out to get her room burglarized and incinerating the chances of actually getting a date bc what was I gonna say “hey remember me I’m the friend of the roommate that brought over a guy that robbed you? Wanna see the Andy Warhol exhibit?”

[wooahaes]

delayed flight

pairing: non-idol!dino x gn!reader

genre: fluff. established relationship.

word count: ~0.8k

warnings: travel stress.

daisy's notes: i miss flying :(

“They were out of the coffee you like, so I just got us two cups of tea…”

You’d been curled up by your bags when Chan found you, sleepily watching the other planes come in. The one thing you hated most about flying was when this happened: you (and Chan) were stranded while waiting for a delayed flight to come in. It wasn’t delayed enough that you’d be stuck overnight (so far), but you were just ready to get back to your apartment. His gaze softened when he saw you, and he made his way over, settling into the seat next to yours. His fingers brushed against your own when he passed you your cup, Chan’s lips pressing against your temple for a moment.

“I know this sucks,” he said, “but you can take a nap if you need to. I can watch our carry-on stuff.” 

You shook your head, leaning against him. “I’ll sleep on the plane. I just keep watching the planes come in and hoping that maybe one of them will end up being ours.” 

“It’ll be here soon,” he wrapped an arm around you. “It’ll be okay.” 

Chan was good at grounding you in moments like this. You were the kind of the traveler that would get badly stressed over things like delays or lost luggage or anything that went wrong—at least when it came to planes. Anything else you could handle better, but planes? Something about them managed to make you far more anxious than taking the train. At least with trains, once you were in your seat and your tickets were scanned, you were done. You could rest your head on Chan’s shoulder and sleep for a bit. Planes were less predictable until you were actually on them.

“It’s not so bad,” Chan said, voice soft enough that your conversation would be kept to yourselves. “I mean… This trip was nice, right?”

The ring on his finger gave away what he meant. He’d made you promise to let him buy you one that matched once you were back home. “It was great,” you said. “Just hate the ‘going back’ part.” 

“Well…” He leaned against you further. “We can celebrate once we get back. You know Seungkwan’s going to lose it when he sees the ring, right?”

It earned a quiet snort from you. “Vernon said he was betting that you’d propose first, so…” 

“Exactly,” Chan planted a chaste kiss against your neck, smiling against your skin. “I thought I was going to, actually. I hate that I didn’t buy a ring before now, but…”

“I had to put a note in my carry-on to not tell you, you know,” you said. “I’m glad you ran off to get us good seats when we were leaving. The lady checking luggage winked at me when she saw me getting my things.” 

Chan let out a blissful sigh. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming.”

“Neither can I,” you said with a soft laugh. “I mean… I felt like I was being pretty obvious. I’m just glad your family didn’t let anything slip before we left—”

“They knew?!” Chan jerked forward, turning to face you. “When did you—”

“Like… weeks ago,” you said with a shrug. “Remember when I told you I had a work trip that one weekend…?’

Chan blinked at you. “Wait, so… that was a lie? You went and saw my parents instead?”

Your face felt as though it was burning with embarrassment now: you weren’t going to tell him any of this until you were home. “I asked your mom if I could stop by while I was in the area. I was still there for work, just… I wasn’t honest with where the trip was.” 

“Oh.” Chan’s face was rosy, and he relaxed against you again. “Okay. We should still go see them when we get back. You know… Share the good news.” 

“We will, baby,” you giggled, leaning over to press a kiss against his cheek. “I think we should tell half your friends you said no, and the other half that you said yes, just to see what they do. You’d have to tell Jeonghan we’re doing it, though, so he’ll play along.”

It earned another soft chuckle from him as he settled in, head resting on your shoulder. “We’ll talk about it on the plane.” 

You turned your face so you could press a kiss onto the top of his head. “I’ll workshop the idea, then,” you said. “I love you, you know? Maybe we’re kinda young, but… I think you’re it for me.” 

“Think?” His hand found yours, fingers intertwining. “I know.” 

You smiled to yourself, taking a long sip of your tea. Maybe traveling wouldn’t be so bad whenever you had Chan there beside you.

taglist: @twancingyunhao @wonuziex @synthetickitsune @staranghae @porridgesblog @weird-bookworm @bangchansbae @laylasbunbunny

[medicallymercury]

Tinderbox (30/12/23)

I did end up waking up super early (on accident) and watching this episode but I decided not to post my review until after it had been on TV. I've really got to start getting into writing my essays now cause I have less than two weeks even with the deadline extension but I can manage to spend 12 straight hours thinking about writing it (rotating Casualty in my microwave brain) and not even realise I've done it until my mum's alarm goes off.

Well, it was an episode, wasn't it? Sometimes Casualty gives us masterpieces of television (cough Switzerland) and sometimes Casualty gives us "what the fuck was that?" (cough Too Much, Too Young - that was a very mixed Saturday) and Tinderbox was, at least for me, pretty much in the middle. I guess I wasn't as invested as I could've been cause there wasn’t much of my faves, I'd probably be more positive if we had more of them.

Pretty busy and all over the place episode but that’s to be expected at the start of a miniseries, I guess.

Stevie my beloved, she was great in this one. Elinor Lawless is very talented!! This has got me looking forward to her own storyline even more.

I know Ryan was unpopular but I loved him as a problematic little bitch character. Shows like this sometimes need a Ryan to cause problems for everyone and he served his purpose. Like, he is terrible but it was amusing to have a terrible member of the predominantly very sweet baby nurse quartet. I’ll miss him, honestly. I don’t imagine he’ll come back since there’s a new new (I still think of the baby nurses as new) nurse joining next week.

I made this last night, he didn’t actually die but I still think it’s funny:

I really liked that final shot of Jodie, Rida and Cam together but, to quote my mum as it happened, “I feel like all three of them have wanted Ryan to get beaten up at least once before”.

I love a good family storyline, especially when the family has multiple members in the main cast cause I think it allows for more development of the relationship (gestures wildly at Jan and Teddy), and Max and Jodie were great today. Loved all their interactions. Especially loved their conversation about Max’s kidney failure and especially “I wouldn’t allow it, even if you wanted to.” “Which I don’t.” “Well at least we agree on one thing” and “I’m sorry I’m not what you expected” (!!!!!!!!!!). I think they’re more similar than either of them realises, and I love that kind of dynamic - in both my ‘main fandoms’ my favourite characters are girls whose relationships with their fathers could be described as “I’m nothing like my dad (I’m just acting exactly like him)”. There’s definitely examples of that in this episode but back in Driving Force I remember a scene where Dylan tells them that neither of them should be treating Max’s mum and they both stand there looking at him with the same expression.

I expected that knowing the Teddy infidelity arc will happen would affect how I watch the show and when Paige and Jodie were treating the same patient I was 👁️👁️ the whole time. Whatever, I’ll get over it (hhhhhhh).

Sah was in this but so barely that the credits didn’t actually include Arin, which is weird to me.

I will say I think Casualty has been on weird pacing recently. I’d blame the miniseries format but it feels like there has been some storylines that are too long-running without saying anything new (FAITH) and other ones that get dropped too quickly without enough time to actually go into the ideas they implied were happening.

I think it was a good start to the new series but I would’ve liked them to cut the Faith stuff and have something actually happening with the paramedics instead.

Yes, I know complaining about Faith is beating a dead horse. However, in continuing to write her and this storyline, the writers have invented a dead horse beating machine to keep beating the dead horse perpetually. It goes on endlessly and has absolutely nothing new to say. And while some storylines have been getting these rushed and incomplete conclusions, Casualty had an opportunity to give the Faith storyline a conclusion with her going to rehab and staying there and then they didn’t. Tired of it. Also, not to be mean to the presumably overwhelmed Holby HR department but why would they ask Faith of Drug Theft Fame to come back??? This is why your hospital is like this, your hiring practices are terrible.

[nat-seal-well]

Wip Wednesday :D

Kicking things off on my lunch break this morning (at 7 AM 😭)

Tagging @pinksparkl @evilbunnyking @serenpedac @ejunkiet @agentnatesewell and anyone else who has something they want to share!

The snippet under the cut is a little long, but it’s from the Halloween fic I’ve been working on :)

They bit their lip. “I’m afraid of dying.”

Nat felt like she had been staked through the heart.

Her reaction must have been obvious, despite the fact that she didn’t make a sound. When they opened their eyes, they offered her a smile of reassurance, when it really should have been the other way around.

“Marin…” she tried to say, but they cut her off.

“I know it’s dumb, because worrying about it doesn’t do any good. It isn’t like I can control it. But I’m still scared. Sometimes it’s easy to forget, but… but with everything lately, all the Agency stuff and the bounty and the trappers… and last week… it’s getting harder to ignore. Eventually it’ll go away again and get easier to deal with, because that’s always what happens. I just gotta get there first.”

Reaching out, Nat took their hand in both of her own and brought it up to her chest, over the heart between her ribs that felt like it was being strangled. “Mari, you know I will not let anything happen to you.”

“That’s the issue, though,” Marin said, sitting up so they could look her in the eye. “You can’t. Not really, I mean. It’ll happen someday, because that’s just how it works. I don’t know if it’ll be during a mission, or because of some sort of freak accident, or a health thing, or maybe I’ll just be really, really old. But it’s still gonna happen.”

Their words turned the blood in her veins to ice. She had thought about it too. Of course she had. Nat couldn’t keep them at her side, lovely and painfully mortal, and not think about it. She knew it slipped through her carefully-woven mask of self-control more times than it should have, no matter how hard she fought to keep it under her thumb. But not even that could be helped sometimes. Nat had been watching them more closely since the last mission, afraid that if she looked away even for a second she’d find them with a hole punched through their gut by a bullet, bleeding out and helpless on the floor.

…She also hadn’t been able to lock away the idea that kept creeping back into her mind.

It isn’t something they discussed yet. Neither of them had even danced around it. In fact, they hadn’t talked about it at all, in any capacity. Nat knew the avoidance couldn’t go on forever, though.

Not when it was her. Not when it was Marin. Not when it was the two of them, together. The conversation had to happen eventually, no matter how much she dreaded it. But ignoring what was right in her face didn’t make it go away. It was still there, no matter how often she kept throwing a sheet over it to keep it hidden. Marin was still aging, every single day, every single hour, every single second. Each breath and heartbeat drew them closer to the end, no matter how slowly it happened. She couldn’t pretend forever.

Sitting there on the blanket, under the cover of the night sky, she still didn’t think it was a discussion she was ready to have. That didn’t change the fact that it had to. Nat would never be ready for it.

So she inhaled to find the right words, and then—after a long, slow deliberation—she said, “Marin… I know we have yet to talk about it, but… we could take measures that would keep that from happening, in most ways. Barring a few limitations, of course. But you could—you would be with us. With me. Forever.”

The thought of it pained her as much as it brought her hope. Pain for what it would mean Marin would have to lose; Nat never mourned the loss of anything like she mourned the loss of her humanity, aside of course from her family. Marin would have to go through that, too, and she wouldn’t wish it on anyone, least of all them. But without that, she would risk losing them. No, not that. It wasn’t even a risk. It was an inevitability, something guaranteed to happen. And that hurt far, far worse.

She would have been willing to be the one to do it, if Marin asked. Nat would have volunteered to take care of the job herself when the time was right. All they had to do was ask. All they had to do was say yes.

Please, please, please. You have to say yes.

She wanted them to as much as it hurt her. She needed it.

But all Marin did was smile. They didn’t say anything for a long while, choosing instead to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear as they looked over the details of her face like they wanted to commit them to memory.

“I love you, Nat,” they began at last. And her heart broke even though they hadn’t given her an answer yet, because if that was how it was going to start, there was only one way it was going to end.

[livlepretre]

Ok so I’ve been wondering about a few things, when Elena and Klaus are in NOLA, she tell him she knows that he’s sleeping with Rebekah and Stefan, and to me he sounded like that that was information that he would have rather her not find out. Why? Wasn’t that before he fell in love with her?

Secondly, in chapter 10 or 11 when Elena sort of walks in on their threesome, how did Stefan and Klaus not notice she was there? Like even though they were preoccupied should’ve they have vampire-sensed it?

Thirdly, how did Stefan and Rebekah feel when Klaus stopped sleeping with them?

Fourthly, I’m dying to know where Stefan and Elena are going after their field trip!!!

I love this fic so much and I read it at 3am instead of studying for my college midterms 😅 So congratulations you have me hooked! This is so much better than TVD and I actually stopped watching after season 3 because in my opinion, it was awful. Seasons 1 and 2 was peak tv. I tried to pick it up again but then I stopped watching again after Nina left. The soul of the show was gone and that was the final nail in the coffin for me.

ehh I think it was part of his private life. He wasn't going to tell her about it straight out, but it wasn't that secret either. It literally just went over Elena's head to even notice a mxm relationship between her boyfriend (whom she assumed was het) and Klaus (whom she also assumed was het), let alone uhh sibling incest. but I don't think Klaus x Stefan was all that secret, she just misread A LOT of stuff as Klaus holding Stefan captive as opposed to like... being a vampiric lover. but yeah, this is all before Klaus was in love with Elena. He falls in love with her near the end of the first nola arc. Elena actually falls in love with him first. so in that scene where Elena says she knows, he's making her spell it out because he wants her to speak blatantly about his sex life. He knows she's typically shy about that topic and he wants to push her boundaries. If Elena sees it as him not liking her knowing, that's because she's unreliable as a narrator. Pretty much any observations other than the literal dialogue is subject to Elena being an Hilarious Unreliable Narrator.

In that sex scene-- think about the incalculable stimuli we process through our five senses at any given moment. Our brains have to actually filter out most of it in order for us to pay attention to whatever we're focused on; it skips things, makes assumptions, hallucinates, all sorts of weird and interesting things. Now think about vampires. They can see and hear and smell and taste (and feel?) so much more than us. What may as well be infinitely more. I'm sure they have to filter out things too-- probably a lot of it automatically. This is my explanation for why they are able to have private conversations in vampire abodes at all. Because in theory anyone could eavesdrop at any time, right? Unless there was loud music playing all the time? But we can assume that in order to eavesdrop from a distance, they typically have to be zeroing in, because otherwise it would just be more noise to filter out, just like they ignore the sound of the worms and ants and every other insect in the ground. So what I'm getting down to-- Stefan and Klaus were distracted. They were literally mid-fuck. I hope they're not paying attention to Elena in that context, whom they can probably hear all the time anyway, whether she is accidentally peaking in or not! (Actually, can we all headcanon that they are listening to Elena during? Because that's an interesting thought.) But even though neither of them looked up, we can assume that at least Stefan was aware. He came down to the kitchen to seek her out soon afterwards-- because he knew the cat was out of the bag. As for Klaus-- I think we can assume he noticed, as well. But really, if you were having GREAT sex and then you peripherally notice someone looking in who then gets embarrassed and flees, would you stop having sex, or would you shrug it off? Again, them being too wrapped up in each other to notice Elena at all is her observation, her perception-- she is upset to discover she has yet another romantic rival for Stefan and also it's rocked her assumptions to their foundations. She's also just found out that sibling incest is apparently a vampire thing. Girl is SO unreliable about what actually happened.

How did Stefan and Rebekah feel: relieved. Stefan already felt like he was juggling too much and was one bad catch away from having his heart ripped out and Rebekah wanted to be free to pursue Stefan as her own, without her brother making her relationship difficult and about himself. But the other side of that is that Stefan was also worried about what this meant for Elena-- he had a dark premonition about it-- and Rebekah was a bit unnerved by her brother's unprecedented feelings development.

Oh, well, Stefan and Elena have to go to Chicago-- both because Klaus wants them to go, and because how could they fail to revisit the sight of their breakup?

and ooof! same feelings about tvd! it's so true!

[luvring]

Hi!!! If your still taking requests can I ask abt mhin (from touchstarved) with a siren s/o?

MHIN WITH A SIREN S/O

gn!reader | ok. some gender stuff i had to work around here. since i couldn't 100% confirm if sirens affected only men or Everyone (yknow. w women Not Being Sailors) i went w the assumption Everyone is affected. "First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them" is GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!

and tho sirens are usually half-women i still used gender neutral terms! found depictions of male sirens which disappeared around the 5th century bce so. yknow. mythology.

! a Little difficult to safely prove your problem (especially if you run with the idea that sirens die if someone survives hearing their song) to mhin unless you're capable of transforming into the usual mermaid appearance, or perhaps the half-person half-bird version, etc. in which case,, it's pretty easy to tell. lol. to be fair you point out that mhin transforming isn't exactly safe either.

^ if it's the half-bird version i think they would exhibit a Certain kind of Shock since their form is also some sort of bird creature. like okayyy twinning ?! you'd get to compare your forms and they're like ? there's some major differences between us but i see what you mean

it intrigues them about how good your voice could be, and they wonder how long they could listen or if there's some sort of work around. like would it affect them the same if They were in their monster form, and do either of you really want to test that theory

^ specifically a solution that doesn't involve others bc there Is already 2 solutions,, but neither of you are very excited by this experiment Or involving anyone else.

one big (good!) difference is the fact that you both know you aren't alone, if ykwim. like, it isn't being a siren that's important to mhin, it's that you guys can relate to each other's problems and can face them Together

there is definitely. a conversation you have about whether you enjoy being a siren or if you would try to get rid of that part of you if given the chance. how your thoughts compare to mhin's, and reassuring them that even if You didn't want a 'cure', you understand why they do and support them. or that you Would choose to be something else,, and mhin keeping that info in the back of their mind for later

anyway. on a more lighthearted note.

in general, mhin doesn't really treat you differently than they would if you weren't a siren. other than maybe making sure you aren't picked for karaoke and—depending on how often you sing while alone—making sure it's safe to come into your room, it doesn't affect day-to-day life very much!

being a siren doesn't stop any date ideas, walking around, physical affection, etc. What about a good singing voice means you can't tease them or help them clean up after a mission or trying new sweets together. LOVE WINS!

imagine if it was like,, you had to have the intent of luring someone in + you don't Die if your 'target' survives,, so you could hum or sing without someone being in danger. and Mhin knows that. but the others don't. Idk i think we should let them be a menace. support it, even. play along, if you will

^ ! if this was the case they would at least be very interested in hearing you sing while you're one-on-one. like as a siren Out of the water Not leading sailors into a rocky death,, if you're in a safe enough environment, there's really less risk of...death. and they trust you!

but seriously,, ais and vere say something irritating and mhin is shooting you a look. and you have to tell them No you will Not sing to fuck with them right now

mhin asking if there's specific songs you have to sing or if you could technically sing something dumb + silly. not because they secretly think it'd be amusing to watch someone fall under your control but solely because of curiosity /sarc

! being a siren could potentially pull off different jobs which means you can work as a Team :) no longer alone!

are you a siren with a mermaid form? if given the chance mhin would take you to...a lake...the ocean... a body of water so you can show them what you look like, and they're just. in awe. they understand how sailors would've fallen for you and others like you

Something to be said of how mhin wishes their curse was more like yours in this case (alluring, control over your power, not intrinsically horrific, etc) but Let's not think about that too much

[itburnslikeafire]

Okay so, now that we've watched Exaltation, I think that I understand much better now what's gonna happen in Transmission (Kwami's choice part 1)

Brief recap of the ending of Exaltation: Marinette ended up really hurt with the fact that she can't be with Chat Noir neither because it's just as dangerous as being with Adrien (according to her), because of her almost getting akumatized

And Adrien is also very conflicted at first because he's aware that he can't be with Marinette as Chat Noir because it wouldn't be right that he knows who she is but she doesn't, and he must also be aware of the fact that he knows her and he's her friend in his civilian form and he just doesn't want to fool her like that and take advantage of it (and adding the fact that now he knows Marinette used to be in love with him, as Adrien Agreste, meaning his civilian form is her ex-crush, as far as he's aware)

But his conversation with Plagg makes him think/realize that Marinette could end up falling in love with him again, as Adrien. So he'll surely try to win her love back, in his civilian form.

Now, talking about Transmission, we know he's gonna go to her house at least twice in this episode

I'm still not quite sure of the theory that Marinette was missing school (which would make sense due to how she's been feeling) and that's why he goes to her place, but it is certain that, whatever is the reason of his visit, he will take this opportunity to try to open up with her about his feelings and start trying to be with her, but as Adrien. So he goes to her place, but finds out she threw away pictures of him

Of course Adrien will find this painful, but he certainly won't give up and still goes and declares his feelings for Marinette, telling that he loves her just the way she is (I imagine they probably had a conversation before this, where Marinette tries to explain why them being together is a bad idea, and/or how she always screws everything up when she's around him, and that's why he tells her that)

And, for what we've seen on the trailer, Marinette answers him "I don't love you" (and probably a bunch of hurtful things)

Which, of course, we know it's a lie, she never stopped loving him, but she's so scared of making any more mistakes, and it is certain that her almost akumatization in Exaltation made her fear and her trauma get bigger. So she decides to push him away, and make sure he believes that they truly don't have any chance of being together. So surely Adrien will return home heartbroken, just as Marinette will also be heartbroken. Plagg and Tikki will then notice how painful the situation is for both of them, and how their superhero duties and all of the secret identities stuff are making them unhappy because it doesn't allow them to be together. And that's when they make the decision to take away from them their miraculous and look for other holders, so Adrien and Marinette can happily be together.

(i believe they won't feel much better after this because we're aware of how they feel about their kwamis and being superheroes, on the good side I mean, but anyways)

Then, the next day, Adrien goes to Marinette's place again (maybe she skipped classes again, or maybe he just wanted to solve things between them, who knows), and she's putting Adrien's pictures back on her wall, probably because now she knows there's a chance of her being able to be with Adrien without any problems

When he comes into her room, she apologizes for the things she told him the night before, telling him that she didn't mean it, she was just feeling very down

His answer makes me think that she probably did admitted to him at some point of their last conversation that she does have feelings for him, or used to have (I'm quite confused with this part, but oh well), and she says that it isn't that, and tries to tell him she is indeed in love with him (but as usual, she finds it hard to say it out loud to him). And I believe that they will have a heart-to-heart conversation where Adrien makes absolutely clear that he truly likes her a lot, that he wants to be in a relationship with her, and that even though she may not be perfect, he (again) loves her just the way she is, and doesn't expect her to be anything else, that their love doesn't truly do any harm. And Marinette probably will give in into this taking into account she isn't Ladybug anymore at this point, and that now her love for Adrien can't truly end up in something catastrophic like in Strike Back, due to her not having any superhero responsibilities anymore. So she agrees and let's herself love Adrien and be open to be in a relationship with him.

Now, I'm not quite certain if they'll start dating in this episode or not, because as far as we can be aware, surely in Deflagration (Kwami's choice part 2) or Perfection they'll return to be Ladybug and Chat Noir again, but I believe there is a high chance that they'll at least give it a go, specially Marinette, that will probably learn that she can't let her fear make her repress her own emotions and not allow her to be happy with the boy she loves, so she will try to make things work with Adrien despite the fact of her being Ladybug/Guardian and the whole Monarch situation. And if this is the case, I truly don't expect that the reveal is going to happen here. I believe that the reveal will happen at the end of the season. Marinette and Adrien will most likely start dating first (as their civilian forms) and get to know each other better (and see how that goes) without knowing each other's identities.

I'm excited to see how their relationship evolves and how they'll manage with the whole Monarch situation and secret identities thing still going on. But I expect lots of drama for sure hehe

[kitty8804]

My sibling and I just watched Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy and we came up with a bunch of sexuality and dating headcannons based on it. The conversation was very funny so I thought I would share our final consensus on this.

Sexualities

Tinker Bell : Pansexual

Get it? Because of Peter Pan. Tink just doesn’t really care. She has always done her own thing and that also applies to who she likes.

Silvermist: Bisexual

I originally thought of her as a lesbian, but her outfit in the Pirate Fairy was the Bi flag colors so she has to be Bi. I think she is a huge disaster bisexual, but is also denser than a brick. You could scream that you are in love with her and she will not get it.

Iridessa: Queer

She definitely isn’t straight. But neither of us can figure out what her sexuality is. We like to think that Iridessa identifies as queer because trying to commit to a single label gives her too much anxiety.

Fawn: Lesbian Asexual Gender Non Conforming

Look at this girl and tell me she doesn’t like girls! I dare you! I just can’t see her dating men at all. As for asexual we decided to use it as an umbrella term. I’m not sure where she lands on the spectrum. She definitely isn’t sex repulsed though. Also I think Fawn identifies as a girl but that doesn’t really mean anything to her. She sometimes uses they/them but very rarely.

Vidia: Lesbian

This girl gives mean lesbian vibes and we all know it. Also she has definitely kissed everyone in the main friend group at least once.

Rosetta: Bi-curious and Trans mtf

To my sibling she gives off huge trans girl vibes and I can definitely see it. I feel like it didn’t take long for her to transition after being born in Pixie Hallow. Maybe a couple months. A year tops. When she did come out everyone was like “Finally! She transitioned!” As for her being Bi-curious we think that she genuinely didn’t realize that girls were an option. It took two of the girls in the friend group dating for Rosetta to realize that she could date girls, and that she her completely normal thoughts about her friends were not as platonic as she thought. I like to think Fawn helped her figure some stuff out. But she does still like men and probably prefers them, even if only slightly. She is still with her boyfriend Sled.

Couples

So we came to the conclusion that Tink and Vidia dated for a bit, but broke up. No one really knows this because they kept it quiet since they have the same friend group and didn’t want things to be awkward if it didn’t work out. In the end the two are just not compatible romantically. Their tempers were the main reason. They joke about it now though.

We came to the conclusion that Tinker and Terence eventually do date. They are both polyamorous and are looking for a third, but no one seems interested.

Silvermist and Fawn are two dumbasses in a pod. They get into so much shit together. They love each other and have no shame.

Finally when watching the Pirate Fairy we noticed that Vidia was usually the one calming down Iridessa when she was having an anxiety attack and it was cute. I actually think they were the first of the friend group to start dating, but were very low key about it. When everyone found out Silvermist and Fawn started dating everyone said that they were the first of the friend group to start dating each other and Vidia just looked at everyone and stated that she and Iridessa had been dating for over a year. Everyone freaked out.

Extras:

Periwinkle: AroAce

Girl thinks she is Pansexual like her sister because she feels the same about everyone. But she doesn’t realize that the feeling is platonic and lack of romantic and sexual interest.

Bobble: Gay Trans ftm

According to my sibling this man is too much of a twink to not be trans. Also this man is totally married to Clank and you can’t tell me other wise.

Clank: Gay

Like I said he and Bobble are married and that’s that.

Queen Clarion: Bisexual

I don’t know. She gives off mom bisexual vibes. I actually think she might have a slight preference for girls. She is madly in love with her boyfriend though.

Fairy Mary: Lesbian

She totally had a huge crush on Queen Clarion, but never pursued it because she could tell that Queen Clarion was not mentally ready for a relationship even if she didn’t know why.

Zarina: Bisexual

This girl is definitely not straight. I feel like she might be interested in being the third that Tink and Terence are looking for idk.

Terence: Just Ken

He is either the straightest dude bro ally in history or he’s Bi. There is no in between.

[hereforanepilogue]

you're standing here beside me (i love the passing of time)

part one read on ao3

“Steve’s really stressed out,” Robin says over the phone. She kind of shouts it, actually, and Eddie worries a bit that she can hear the couple down the hall fighting again. She keeps telling him he has to move, but he likes the area.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried too, Rob,” Eddie says. 

“He’s - I’m not gonna say he’s changed, because he didn’t need to -”

“I know, Rob.”

“- but he’s more…secure, I guess. Especially outside of Hawkins.”

“He said he wasn’t planning on going back there longterm, ever.”

“Neither of us is,” she says. Eddie waits a second - strangely, living in Boston’s slowed Robin down. “I know he regrets not going with you, but he really couldn’t when the kids were still there.”

“I know. He wouldn’t be Steve if he could,” Eddie says.

“So we’re good? We’ll see you next week?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. No weirdness. And I think I’ve got a couple leads on places for you.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie says, and hangs up. 

~~~

A week later, Eddie’s sitting on his stoop with some of his neighbors while a handful of kids from his building draw with chalk on the sidewalk.

“Fucker!” someone shouts - Buckley, of course. Eddie peers through the cast iron railing. She’s got her arms raised like she can hug him from half a block away, and Steve is trudging behind her like a packhorse. 

“Language, Buckley!” Eddie says, grinning. He bounds down the stairs, grabbing ahold of the railing to swing himself towards her, and gets there just in time for them to crash into each other. He swings her around once, then plants her on the ground. “You’ll get me in trouble,” he says quietly, nodding his head back at the women on the stoop. 

“They’re all watching you,” she says. “Anyway, I would never get you in trouble - people here love me.”

“You just keep talking to them, don’t you?” he says. He gives her a once-over, sees her doing the same. She looks queerer than she ever has, and that’s saying something, but she also looks like she’s raided Steve’s WASPy wardrobe. 

“I’m being nice! I talk to people in Boston, too,” she says. Eddie waits for Steve to catch up, nods at him, and turns to lead them both into the building. He’s not doing their first in-person conversation in front of all his neighbors. They’ll have to listen through the walls like everyone else if they want to know what’s going on. 

“Just come on,” Eddie says, leading them up the stairs. “And maybe help Harrington out, I’m on the fifth floor.” Robin groans, and Eddie starts taking the stairs two at a time.

~~~

As soon as Eddie steps aside to let the two of them into his apartment - a one bedroom, amazingly, courtesy of a very kind raise when he got made assistant manager at the record store and a band successful enough to pay for itself. He steps into the kitchen area - still not its own room, but close enough - to let Robin and Steve snoop. Or put their bags down, at least.

He can imagine how he must look, how he must have looked when they walked up. He’s back to a version of himself that he never fully achieved in Hawkins, young as he was. His hair is grown out again, and he’s filled nearly an arm and a half (and a leg, not that they would know) with tattoos. His rings are the same, but he’s got his guitar pick hanging on a nice chain.

“Here - you guys are in my room, I’ll take the couch.” Eddie sees Steve furrow his brows out of the corner of his eye.

“We can’t do that,” Steve says, even as Robin is lugging her bags towards the bedroom.

“Look, man, it’s not a pullout, so either you two share or one of you shares with me,” Eddie says. He looks at Steve through his bangs and tries to do that thing with his eyes - the ‘consider your options’ thing, with his brows lifted.

“I guess,” Steve says. “I should get our stuff set up.” 

“It’s good to see you, Steve,” Eddie says.

Steve pauses at the bedroom door, and says, “You too, Eddie.”

~~~

Once they unpack, Robin demands that they go out to eat and, as she puts it, “see the sights.” Eddie tells her there aren’t any sights to see - at least not in the daylight - but lets her bully him into his favorite diner anyway.

He doesn’t realize until the end of the day that she’s working her ass off to keep him and Steve from ever being alone in private.

“I admire the hustle, Buck,” he starts. They’re strolling through a park, and Robin is acting like a Labrador - wandering away to look at things, then remembering that she’s trying to avoid leaving them alone and hustling back, then forgetting and wandering away again. “But you’ve gotta let us talk to each other sometime.”

Robin glances between them, and she and Steve do that eyebrow communication they’ve always done, and she sighs. “I was just trying to help,” she says. “You know we can’t afford a hotel the whole time we’re here.”

“Look, my buddy Sean and some of his buddies have a house, I’m sure they’ll put you up if I wreck things too badly,” Eddie says.

“You’re not gonna wreck things,” Steve says, but Robin nods seriously. 

“Just -” Eddie turns to Steve. “Here, or back at my place, or -?”

“I think your place?” Steve says, looking around. “I don’t -”

“I get it. Here,” Eddie pulls a notebook out of his pocket and writes down the address of the record store. “I think Cindy’s in today, she’ll get you hooked up with whatever the hell you’re listening to these days.”

~~~

They walk with Robin until they hit her turnoff - she refuses to trust the grid system, so Eddie spent their walk drawing her a map to the record shop.

“Just go straight until you hit your number, then take a right, it’s easy,” Eddie says, pushing her away. “There’s a bookstore across the street that you might like,too.”

And then he and Steve are alone, and Eddie is awkwardly shrugging and leading the way back to his building. 

“It’s, like, safe for her to be out by herself, isn’t it?” Steve says.

“Yeah, it’s fine. And Cin’s in the building too, they can walk back together.”

“You’re not trying to hook her up, are you?”

“I’m not not trying. Why, do you think it’ll work?” Eddie grins. Steve’s taking the stairs just as easily as Eddie is, so before he knows it he’s unlocking his door and stepping inside and a wave of awkwardness is descending.

“You, uh, look like you’re doing better,” Steve starts. “I mean, your hair, and everything.”

“I am,” Eddie says. He toes his shoes off and walks to the fridge. He starts rooting through it and says, “It’s not - I didn’t know how bad it was until it was too much, you know? By the time I realized it was too late to do anything but leave.”

Steve doesn’t answer, so Eddie just walks over to the couch.  He piled blankets and a pillow at one end of it before they arrived, so he shoves them onto the floor. Eddie puts one can of beer - unopened - on the coffee table for Steve, and walks over to the stereo.

Steve is standing at the line of hooks by the front door, one hand raised like he wants to touch Eddie’s jacket. It’s the same leather as he always had, but the vest is new. He’d retired the one he made to replace the one he lost to the Upside Down when he moved to Pennsylvania, couldn’t bear wearing it after Steve had helped him track down patches, sat with him while he sewed it together.

Eddie shuffles through his tapes and pulls out a Steve Miller album. “Threshold” starts up, and the sound jolts Steve out of his reverie. He turns away from the vest. Eddie sits on the couch, leaning against the back of it and facing Steve. He cracks his beer and clutches it between his two hands like it’s a soothing cup of tea. 

“I - uh - I was the same, I guess,” Steve says. He’s hovering, standing in the archway between the kitchen and living room like he doesn’t know if he can cross the threshold. If he thinks anything about Eddie playing Steve’s music instead of his own, he doesn’t say it.

“Come sit, Steve,” Eddie says, patting the couch in front of him. “I don’t bite.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Steve says.

“Well, not unless you ask me to,” Eddie says. It comes out stilted, but it seems to work - the tension on Steve’s face breaks, and he practically launches himself onto the couch. “Here, take that.” He gestures at the beer on the coffee table. Steve takes it, cracks it open, takes a sip.

“I mean it, though. I didn’t really understand why you left, back then. I thought -” he trails off.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Steve.”

“I want to. It’s just - I - it was something I thought everyone just did, you know? Pick the path of least resistance. And I didn’t understand how some people couldn’t, ‘cause I was so deep into it that I didn’t realize that I had a choice too, and that I was making a choice, you know?” He’s gesturing while he talks - something he must have picked up from Robin, Eddie thinks, and the beer sloshes out of the can and over his hand.

Eddie pulls a napkin off the pile in the middle of the table and hands it to him, but doesn’t say anything. Steve still looks determined, and Eddie won’t interrupt him if he isn’t done.

“I guess - I said you could make it easier for them, for the people who hated you, and I just didn’t realize that not everyone could do that? I mean, I didn’t realize that I was doing it too,” Steve says.

Eddie looks him over again. Here, in Eddie’s - lair, for lack of a better word, a place that’s Eddie all over, his childhood bedroom grown up and grown out - it’s suddenly clear that Steve is only the same as he used to be at the barest surface.

He’s still wearing crisp lines, but he’s leaned into the bright colors he always used as accents, and his clothes look worn, like he put on all his favorite things this morning. There’s an embroidered flower at his collar, where it probably ripped and he had Buckley fix it.

“I didn’t blame you, you know that, right?” Eddie says. He fiddles with the tab of his beer, stares at it, because he can’t bear to look at Steve. “For not being ready.”

“I mean, I’m glad, but that - you just shut down, that night.” Eddie has his feet on the couch, knees bent under his chin, but Steve - as always - sits straight up, facing him. Eddie lifts his gaze, but Steve has never been good at hiding his feelings, and looking at him is like looking into the sun, so Eddie’s eyes land on his shoulder.

“I mean, you know I’ve never been…good at feelings,” he starts. Steve furrows his eyebrows again. Eddie can’t stop twisting one ring around his finger, and the rest of them keep clinking lightly together. “And it was - a lot of things were building up, I guess.

“Nothing was getting better, and you saying that - about making it easier on people, and getting weird again, it made me realize that even if I could stand to try and fit in, it would never work there. And I’ve never been good at big realizations like that, even when I have time to think about them, and it felt like it was my fault. That I couldn’t be normal.” 

“I - Eddie, you quoted Boromir at me,” Steve says. Eddie gapes.

“You read Fellowship?”

“I mean, I listened to all of them.”

“Did you like them? I mean - sorry, not the time,” Eddie says. He’s starting to rock slightly, forward and back, still clutching the beer to his chest.

“I’m gay,” Steve says. Eddie freezes, and finally looks directly at his face. 

“Con…grats? I mean, thanks for  telling me?” 

“I loved Nancy, you know? And when we were together, I knew that it wasn’t the same. You and me, or me and her. So I just, like, clung to everything else that made me normal, because I wasn’t ready to see why being with you felt so different.”

“And you were good at it,” Eddie says wryly. 

“I was good at it, and I didn’t know how hard it was to be good at it once you’d stopped doing it, and I was scared. For me and for you.”

“I know. I’m - I didn’t mean for it to shake out that way. And you guys living here, I - can we be friends again?” Eddie asks. He can’t look at Steve anymore.

“Is that all you want?” Steve asks. “When we talked on the phone -”

“If you’re asking if I’m still hung up on you, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Eddie says. He can’t get the words out without twisting them up - a last line of defense. Steve doesn’t answer for a minute. He just gets his foot onto the couch and pushes it forward, until his socked foot is pressed against Eddie’s. Eddie presses back.

“If you’re still willing to pick up, I’d really like that. I - I loved you, then, and I think it would be really easy to love you again. Or still.”

~~~

“Look what I found,” Robin shouts when she barges in an hour later, looking smug. Eddie has to squint to see the cassette across the room - the j-card is a hand-drawn-and-photocopied black and white thing, which means it looks like about fifteen bands he could name off the top of his head. “Cindy said this is yours, Eddie. Why didn’t you tell us you had a tape out?”

“Oh my god I’m gonna kill her,” Eddie says. He covers his eyes, pressing down. “I shouldn’t’ve sent you there without me.”

“She wouldn’t let me listen to it there,” Robin says. Eddie can hear her shucking her coat and kicking off her shoes.

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s shit. She only keeps it ‘cause it would be a bad look if she didn’t, with me working there and shit.”

“I’m putting it o-” Robin is halfway to the tape deck when she cuts off, seemingly having noticed how Steve and Eddie are sitting. She puts one hand on her hip. “I take it the talk went well.”

“I - it did, yeah,” Steve says. Eddie nods along, until Steve adds, “now put on that tape - I want to hear.”

“Is it full of love songs? Were you pining?” Robin asks. The tape deck clicks shut, and she presses play.

“Only a little,” Eddie says. He meets Steve’s eyes and knows that Steve, if not Robin, knows how much of an understatement that is.“I am not taking the couch so you two can be grossly in love, I’m telling you that right now. If you want Eddie’s bed, find me and Steve an apartment faster,” Robin says.

[beanieman]

Hello! First off, love your blog. <3 I'm always excited to see your takes on stuff. Second of all, I have a theory! Sorry... this might get long. You know how Keiji and Sara discovered the footage of Joe and Kai talking in Miley's room? We still don't know what they were discussing. Well, I've seen some people suggest that they were talking about the Main Game cards and might have traded roles. I was wondering, do you think Shin could have given Kai the sacrifice and Kai traded with Joe?

Here's my reasoning for this: Shin wanted to save himself and the group by eliminating a dangerous person, like how he sent Sara the sacrifice card in 2-2 because he distrusted her and was convinced she was a threat. We know Shin had the sacrifice up to a certain point, and we know that he obtained access to Kai's laptop. There, he finds evidence that Kai is conspiring with the kidnappers and Sara (and possibly Joe) is somehow involved. Then, of course, he gets knocked out by a Nao equipped with Kai's frying pan. Rather than trying to explain himself to Shin/the group, Kai attacks him. If that doesn't seem like a clear admission of guilt, I don't know what does.

Shin is already paranoid and scared for his life at this point, so it would be a way to try to take control of the situation. Shin may not know what the card does exactly, but it has a skull on it so... Not a great sign. I doubt he handed it over to Kai or anything, but he might have strategically placed it somewhere so that Kai would be likely to pick it up.

As for why Kai and Joe would trade roles, Kai and Joe both share the common goal of wanting to protect Sara. Kai cares about Sara dearly, but at that point Sara didn't even know who Kai was (well, technically she knew that he was her stalker). On the other hand, Joe is Sara's best friend and she would be devestated if something were to happen to him.

So Kai decides that it's better for Joe to escape with Sara. He's content to remain her protector from the shadows, never to be acknowledged nor his kindness reciprocated. Assuming Kai has an inclination as to how the cards work and what they're for (no idea if he would or wouldn't - if he did, he probably would also know it's false that you'll die if somebody sees your card), he explains it to Joe and proposes that Joe use the sacrifice to escape with Sara. Joe would be shocked at his proposition, but would accept for two reasons:

If it works, he and Sara can escape (and honestly, who wouldn't be tempted by the idea of getting to leave that hell and return to life with your bestie?)

If it doesn't work, Joe will die instead of Kai. Of course Joe doesn't want to die, but Joe is a kind soul and doesn't want Kai to die either. He knows Kai has the sacrifice and will die if he isn't voted for, so if Joe can't escape with Sara at least he'll have saved Kai's life.

There's a lot of holes in this theory, though. It's questionable whether Kai would even pick up the sacrifice card in the first place and if he would know how the cards worked. And of course, Kai and Joe would need to come up with a plan for how to get people to vote for Joe. They didn't seem to be trying to steer the conversation one way or another during the Main Game, though... In fact, I'd say Joe and Kai were pretty passive up until a certain point and both had a "watch and see what happens" attitude. Neither of them stepped in to say anything until the attention was directed towards them. It is interesting that we don't know what happened to the sacrifice card after Shin had it, or how he lost possession of it. It's just as likely that he discarded it and Joe happened to pick it up.

Anyways, what do you think Kai and Joe were discussing in that video clip in Miley's room?

Another question related to this topic: how plausible do you think the "Kai is alive" theory is? Personally, I believe it's unlikely, but I think his interactions with the group would be very, very interesting. Of course he'd be shocked and distraught over the deaths that have occured since the first Main Game, such as the fact that Gashu is dead and that Reko/Alice and Nao have died. I think he'd be especially taken aback by what happened in the second Main Game.

If it were the Logic route, I think he'd be very surprised that Kanna was voted for and that the group kept Shin alive for his hacking abilities. I think he'd be troubled by the fact that Sara chose to send a little girl to her death. He'd probably be angry at the adults for not stepping in and taking action instead of making Sara shoulder all the burden, especially when she is clearly in a bad mental state. I think he'd also feel conflicted over the clearly changed Logic route Sara, who is less empathetic and more willing to manipulate others for her own gain.

I think he'd actually be semi-understanding of Shin's attitude towards the group when he finds out what happened to Kanna and how Shin begged to be killed instead. After all, he'd probably be furious if the group kept him alive instead of Sara simply because they wanted to exploit his hacking abilities. He knows what it's like to be alone and to experience abuse, and how life changing it was when he found acceptance and love. So, he would be able to relate to Shin somewhat.

On the other hand, Shin has made himself Sara's enemy and Kai will not allow any danger to befall Miss Sara. So he is at odds with Shin because he opposes Sara. I'm not sure that he'd get along all too well with Keiji either, seeing how he's the main instigator trying to get Sara to lead the group and make the big decisions... I picture them as a divorced couple fighting over custody of their kids in the Logic route.

The emotion route goes far better. Kanna and Kai would probably get along very well, seeing as their fondness events in Your Time to Shine are very sweet and touching. Kai would also be very protective of Gin, I'd imagine.

He would respect Shin for the choice he made to give up his life for Kanna and for pushing through his fear. He might feel bad for what he said after being voted for ("Sou Hiyori is a dangerous man") and for the whole "having Nao knock out Shin" thing. He never got the chance to reconcile with Shin or get to know him beneath his facade, so he might be bummed about that.

He would also admire Qtaro for his growth and for sacrificing himself for his allies. He feels bad when he hears that Qtaro blamed himself for Kai getting the sage card, and is touched when he learns that Qtaro wanted to find out just what kind of person Kai was and believed he was a good. It's kinda funny, because you know that part in 1-1 (I think) when Qtaro trades Kanna the laptop for tokens and Keiji rebukes Qtaro by bringing up Kai and how that was the final clue he gave them? I'm imagining a role reversal happening, where Keiji does something dumb because lOgIC and Kai is like, "How selfish of you. Does Qtaro's sacrifice mean nothing to you?" or something and Keiji experiences that stab of guilt.

Ironically though, I don't think Kai should come back because I feel like his appearance would get in the way of Keiji's growth. Kai seems like the type of person who would step up and protect the children because he doesn't want them to experience any more suffering. This is the direction Keiji's character development should go, where he's able to become the Mr. Policeman he's always wanted to be who helps children and is a protector and friend. Kai might usurp that role or otherwise detract focus from Keiji. I miss Kai so much, but I'm not sure what purpose he'd serve story wise.

Also, it doesn't make much sense for Kai to have somehow survived unless your "Miley is the ASUNARO traitor" theory is correct and she's keeping Kai alive in the medical room. If Mishima's head isn't with Safalin, then I'd expect Miley or Kai to have it/know where it is. In that case, maybe the group would be able to escape using Kai's hacking skills in the Emotion route. It would definitely be more complicated in the Logic route. Would Shin spare Kai, since he wasn't there for the second Main Game and can't be held responsible for Kanna's death? I'd think he'd be a lot more sympathetic to Kai if only Kai wasn't so close to Miss Sara. Since Kai would never allow Shin to harm Sara, he'd have to do something about Kai or he'd never get his revenge.

ALSO ALSO, why do you think Midori doesn't let you name him any of the participants/floor masters names, but will let you name him Kazumi/Mishima/Kazumi Mishima? Do you think this was just an oversight and Nankidai forgot to add him in? Or do you think it's a clue?

ALSO ALSO ALSO, we keep getting Mishima AIs in the game. Out of the people who died so far, 5 of them didn't make it past the first trial and didn't know anyone (the dummies), 3 of them didn't make it past the first trial and did have a relationship with a participant (Kugie, Megumi, and the real Hinako), 3 of them are non candidates, 4 of them are route specific deaths, and 2 are candidate, unavoidable deaths (Mishima and Qtaro). Since Mishima used to be the only candidate, someone-we-knew, unavoidable victim, now that we have another (Qtaro) do you think we'll see an AI of him? Now that we know who the dummies are, do you think we'll get an AI of them? Or maybe one of Megumi, another candidate?

Anyways, sorry this was so long! I'm curious to know your thoughts on these subjects! If you read all of this, big thanks to you! If you didn't, thanks for still putting up with me!

I'm actually super excited to get an ask this big! It's very cool! /gen

So starting with the Joe and Kai point, I actually really like your theory! I think it makes more sense for Shin to give the sacrifice to Kai rather then Joe, but you are right that their passive behavior does lead to a plot hole. Though it's one that could be semi filled if you take into consideration that Kai is usually laid back, but it still leaves Joe's behavior in question. (Maybe he agreed to the plan and then realized that he couldn't actively go through with it? Or maybe he had so much faith in Sara he thought she'd figure it out?)

As for what they were talking about in the security tape: Take this with a grain of salt because I can't find concert confirmation, but I've heard before that in the side Joe novel Kai did talk Joe into seeking out the sacrifice basically because of the reasons you listed. However like I said I'm not sure so be careful trusting me here. I could have misunderstood.

Assuming that I misunderstood, I think they could have been talking about their confrontation in Sara's house. Joe says during introductions that he saw Kai after Sara was attacked in her room and threw a punch at him. Which means he knew Kai was the stalker before Sara did.

Based off that, I'm going to assume that Joe didn't want to worry Sara, and therefore decided to talk to Kai alone. If that's true they likely talked about Sara or/and ASU-NARO.

For the Kai is alive theory: I actually think the idea of Kai not being dead is plausible! It's odd how he's the only participant in game who doesn't get a line saying "Kai has expired" Even Joe and Nao get a line confirming that they're dead...but not Kai. Interestingly...the game itself actually references this idea. In the war of words with Doll Reko in fact!

The idea is dismissed, but it is worth noting that it was brought up at all! Though this could easily be to tell players that Kai is dead and Nankidai just forgot to write that he expired.

However I do think Kai could do something in the story! With Meister likely being Mr. Chidouin their confrontation would be something interesting. If you think he'd be conflicted about logic route Sara then oh boy.

Midori not taking Mishima's name: I wish I had a really thoughtful answer to this, but I don't. It is weird, and I lean toward the idea of it being a clue to SOMETHING, but I just can't pinpoint what it could possibly be. I think something might be weird with Mishima for sure. He's the only morally good character in a game filled with morally grey people. That in itself raises questions with me.

The Mishima AI Question: I don't think Q-Taro will have an AI. Honestly I just don't see where in the story it would be needed. He's had more development then Mishima, and a missing head mystery isn't surrounding him. I could be wrong, but I don't think he needs to come back.

I did read everything you wrote because it was really interesting! I especially loved the section where you were talking about Kai's reaction to the current state of things if he came back! Thank you for your ask, and don't apologize for sending it!

[slashingdisneypasta]

Oooh another would you rather!

Level A:

1. Oh Yzma definitely. She wouldn't try to marry my kid, she has an awesome lab, and as long as I treat her justly I think we could get along.

2. I don't like needles. Poison apple it is.

3. Honestly, I'll go with Frollo. I ain't gonna get blamed for Hades' plan working, and I will have the chance to make Frollo suffer for everything he's done. I can't be upfront or else he'll catch on, but I want to turn his whole world upside down.... And I have a better chance of befriending Quasimodo! :D

4. Oooooh neither option sounds good... I think I'll pick the favor. At least I only have to do it once... Hopefully...

5. Hm... I'll pick Scar. I have more confidence i can charm him into not attacking me. And besides, tigers are more deadly than lions.

6. Lock, Shock, and Barrel. I may regret it, but I'm curious. Besides, we can talk about spooky stuff.

Level B:

1. I think I'll take my chances with Kaa. I feel more confident being able to sneak around his coils, and not look into his eyes.

2. Now I'm going to go with Gaston here. Yes I'm terrified of the wedding night, but I'll get the reputation of being his oh so sweet little wife (and people will LEAVE ME ALONE-), meanwhile I can... Arrange an accident, or slip arsenic in his beer slowly. He's immune to salmonella, so it will take time, but once he's gone I'll be seen as his poor widow and get sympathy instead of judgment just because I want to read a book (ngl I've been thinking about this and the last frollo one for awhile. Like how the heroines could have offed the villains themselves).

3. Hmm... I'll go with Cruella. I don't want to go mining for diamonds or work with alligators.

4. .... *deep breathes* Silver and Scroop... Especially for Scroop... I'm not sorry...

5. Oh Toon Patrol, definitely. I like creepy things so maybe I can strike up a conversation with Psycho, Stupid and Wheezy look friendly/chill enough, I'd be doing my damndest to not get on Smartass' bad side, and I highly doubt I'm Greasy's type. Sure I'm being kidnapped, but maybe if I try to be friendly I'll be able to get off easy.

6. Dr. Facilier. He seems like he'd actually like me instead of just want to use me like Mother Gothel probably would. Besides, I would love to chat voodoo and magic with Facilier.

7. Oooooh I like both options... Can I have a contract with one now and the other later? XD um... I think I'll go with Clayton first. The wildlife views would be beautiful and familiar, unlike these whole new worlds that were thought to be fictional like Atlantis.

Yes, more would you rather's! ^^ They're all I have the energy for at the moment 😅

Omggg XD Starting off great here- 'she wouldn't try to marry my kid'. Right, you're so right. Well, I mean, unless they're a dumb beef cake in their mid-20's. She might try it, then 😅😅😅 Watch out!

3. Perfect!!! XDD That's a great fic idea, too, Frollo with a wife who secretly ruins his life XDD And yeah! You get to be friends with the sweet man too!

4. I'm curious what you have in mind for this favour 🤔🤔 (I'M NOT BEING DIRTY I SWEAR. though that stuff applies too)

~

2. ANOTHER GREAT CONCEPT!! I love this!! We have to talk more about Disney Villains S/O's and heroines taking them down from the inside. Also you're quite right at the start there- being Gaston's little mrs would for sure offer some immunity from town creeps. No one wants to fight him. Uh uh

4. You shouldn't be I get it XD

5. ... Why... do you highly doubt... that you would be Greasy's type?? This isn't self deprecation here is it???? =_O ... Apart from that- great answer!! ^^ I knew you would pick the weasels but I never get tired of talking about them! ^^

7. Yeah I get that ^^

Thank you so much for responding!!! I hope you enjoyed ^^

[alicebellphagoraalbrecht]

Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse and the problems Twitter wont allow you to critique

The Genshin fandom is unique to me. I have been in many fandoms and some of them were incredebly toxic. I watched Netflix´s Voltron and engaged with the fandom. What makes Genshins fandom so odd to me is how hellbend they are to defend Hoyoverse. Even against reasonable outrage. To the point they demand you echo chamber every single post of any kind and never breathe out a negative opinion ever. And I dont get it.

Now personally I have this quirk where I struggle to talk about the things I like in media I enjoy. I cant meaningfully vocalize why I enjoy something. I just do. I like the look, the feel or the plot and I do just because. But when it comes to things I dislike in the media I enjoy I can actually go much more in depths and when I talk to people I want to have something to say beyond "Heh this character looks neat." I want to have meaningful conversations. But this fandom doesnt let me do that. If you like something and enjoy it you can still dislike aspects of it and if its a game or product activly being rolled out you should voice these dislikes in hopes of making a change. That is how I feel. Of course I take part in surveys but I also post it online or under related posts, assuming people are willing to discuss.

Instead I get pushed back and told to silence myself or go into a lonely corner where I cant bother anyone and I dont understand why. What makes Hoyoverse so deserving of this kind of protection. Im just one random as hell person. They stock market wont crash when I say their character design after Yelan has become stale, uninspired and down right ugly in Tighnaris case. "I like him." Is not a good argument to disprove my points. Of course you can like him, Im not saying you shouldnt! Or you cant.

But what has Hoyoverse done to deserve the defensive fandom? -Shit on their fans -releasing bugged or broken characters (Xinyan is still not fixed) -41 out of 43 characters are pale with only 1 new tanned character in sight -6 body models they are stubbornly holding onto (Itto being shafted by the fans obsessing over Ayato who turned out 100 times more boring than Itto) -A weird fixation on keeping the toddler body type exlcusivly female (Lolicon bait) -The Anniversary debacle -Exploititive publicity stunts -They are stingy with rewards, at least compared to the other gacha games I play. (You get 150 primos for clearing Floor 12 in the Abyss, the worst and most difficult thing to do in this game and you do not get a single pull for it.) -They make the game a pain/impossible for new players

The laundry list could probably go on if we get really nitpicky. But I personally am mostly concerned about plot and character design. As well as Quality of life. I will rund down my issues.

Plot: Every big event, usually the big event of the new patch, has a very important plot detail put in it. Recently in the chasm we learned what happened to the lost Yaksha. But any new player joining will not have that information. They cannot experience said cutszenes themselves they need to outsource to you tube, external to Hoyoverse. You cant even rewatch regular cutszenes without going to random you tube channels.

Character Design: I think the biggest issue is quite obvious. The skin type diversity does not exist. Neither does body type. Character design is strictly bound to 6 models. Toddler, teenager x2, adult x2 and kinda slightly more buff man. And thats it. Despite enemy models having more unique shapes. So models exist that could be used? Granted Im not a game developer so maybe that would be difficult to pull off. We currently have 43 playable characters with 4 unique skin types. Pale, 1 character with a warmer pale skin tone and 1 character with grey skin and then 2 tanned characters. Since Im not allowed to argue about representation according to Twitter I will just say that seeing the same stuff over and over again is becoming quite stale. Even for me. A white lady. We now got the Fatui Harbingers revealed and that seems hype at first until you realize that on one hand they are generic anime villains you have all seen before. And on the other hand Hoyoverses strict 6 model concept made it obvious which of them will die for sure. Which really shouldnt happen. Dont get attatched to Igor but Genshin, tiny elderly man is not a viable playable model, he is dead meat. Sumeru in general has no theme to its designs, even excluding leaks (though the official art confirmed the leaks as accurate) while you could tell if a character was from Mondstadt, Inazuma or Liyue you seriously cant with Sumeru. Tighnari and Dori look so unlike each other I would believe you if you told me they were from different games.

Quality of Life: The most obvious issues is the Artifact RNG, I think its the one thing we can all agree on. But also why cant we safe artifact sets to quick switch between builds?

Most importantly though New Players. If you were to join now and pull Kujo Sara off the standard banner you would get stuck with a completely useless unit until you finish all of Mondstadt and Liyue and some long winding quests in Inazuma. By then you probably already invested in more accessable characters and no longer need a Kujo Sara or you no longer like her because of the hassle. And maybe you think its not that bad. But it wont get better over time. Imagine the last region comes out. And you see the cryo archon deciding thats the character you will start playing for… if you even get her you then have her in Mondstadt. If you´re lucky someone pointed out the test run so you can at least get her to lvl 40. But thats it. Until you do EVERYTHING to get to Sneznaya you will not be able to level her talents. Get her past lvl 40 etc. Making your Archon a brick you have to drag along. And this needs to be pointed out and complained about or it wont change and lets be real here! Hoyoverse doesnt read our surveys. Its just a front to make us feel heard. Customer Service is so bad you are lucky if you get a hacked account back, though even if you do they dont restore destroyed or wasted currency or items.

The fix isnt even that difficult. Put in a traveling merchant who sells materials like Kujo Saras flowers. Hell put a buying limit of ten each week in and cycle it out each day.

Make a dream solvent type item for regular bosses. So you can transform the loot from the cryo regisvine into that of the electro oceanid. Hoyoverse still forces you to farm for resin but you can level your character at least.

I sincerely like the game despite my rough tone on twitter, but I am frustrated and feel unseen and silenced by a fanbase that rather die on the hill of defending a BILLION dollar company than admit flaws with this game. I just want the game improve and not be milked and lef tin the dust for other games. Because thats what happening. Genshin is financing Star Rail and other Hoyoverse projects and they put in the bare minimum for their cash cow to stay marketable when New Players are truely the ones most fucked over.

[silvokrent]

Long Live the King - 3

In their defense, it was an accident.

Or: The kids are convinced that they killed Dedede and Escargoon. From there, everything goes downhill fast.

In the end, neither of them had the energy to do more than hole themselves in their room. By the time evening came, they made their excuses, and went to bed.

Sleep eluded her, and what little she managed to snatch left her even more drained than the day before. Judging by her brother’s disheveled appearance, he hadn’t fared much better.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, not helped in the least by their father’s absence. When asked if they were all right, Tiff insisted they were fine, just a bit under the weather. (When Fololo and Falala stopped by shortly after and asked to hang out, it was the same excuse she gave them, too.)

Predictably, the first search parties came back unsuccessful. Tiff couldn’t decide whether she was relieved, or disappointed.

The townsfolk, on the other hand, had no trouble making that distinction. If the kids had hoped Dedede’s and Escargoon’s disappearances would be downplayed, then they clearly weren’t giving the Cappies enough credit. It was the topic of gossip everywhere. The vast majority of conversations they overheard (when they finally relented, and left the castle do some reconnaissance) all seemed to agree with Chief Bookem: this was just another bid for attention. That, or they needed to get better at reading maps.

By the end of the second day, the next wave of search parties came back empty-handed, and the Cappies bid their neighbors goodnight as they turned in.

By the end of the third day, they were double-checking the locks on their doors.

It wasn’t so much concern for Dedede or Escargoon (“Good riddance,” Mabel had told a crowd of bar-goers) as it was the fear that whatever happened to them, would happen to the townsfolk next.

The panic was a palpable miasma, even from the castle.

Tiff sat on her bed, watching, as Tuff attempted for the fifth time to rearrange the contents of his rucksack. She’d given up on trying to dissuade him from “emergency packing.”

“I’m not saying we should,” she clarified, dejectedly swinging her legs back and forth over the side. “But if we’re going to start preparing for worst-case scenarios, then maybe we should consider who we can talk to—”

“Nuh-uh. Absolutely not.” He squinted between the glowsticks in one hand, the cannister of bug spray in the other, before throwing the bug spray over his shoulder. “The point is to avoid prison, not turn ourselves in.”

“We need advice from a neutral party. Someone we can trust.”

“What, like Kabu?” Tuff snorted. “Unless he’s got bail money stashed somewhere inside him, then I don’t think he’ll be of much help.”

She paused. “What about Meta—”

“If you even think about finishing that sentence, I’m throwing my dirty socks at you.” With a frustrated noise, he tipped the bag’s contents onto his bed. “You do remember he’s sworn his service to Dedede, right?”

Tiff glared at him, which he either didn’t notice, or was choosing to ignore. “He also goes out of his way to protect Kirby.”

“Yeah, Kirby. Not us,” he said. “I’m sorry, sis”—he began to sort his things into piles—“but I think this is one of those times where we don’t go to him. There’s a lot of stuff he puts up with, but I don’t think murder is one of them. For now, we need to keep preparing.” His hands slowed. “Just…just in case.”

She wanted to be angry at him, if only because it was easier than being angry at the fact he was right. Sighing, she lifted the book back to her lap, and flipped the page.

And hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The door swung open with slightly more force than necessary.

Blade glanced up from the map spread across the table. “How did the search go?”

“How do you think?” The metallic click of his sabatons followed Sword across the room, as he unsheathed the knife belted at his waist. “Another dead end.”

In a single, fluid motion, he stabbed the knife into the parchment. “Again.”

“If you would refrain from putting more holes in my furniture,” said Meta Knight, without looking up, “I would appreciate it.”

Though at this point, the request was mostly a formality. It was a bit difficult to argue with the fourteen other knives already lodged in the table, being used as map-markers. The first time, Blade couldn’t find a pen, and he’d improvised.

By the eighth time, Meta Knight seemed resigned to them using his table as a form of punitive stress relief.

“Well, that’s the southern peninsula off the list.” Blade flicked the pommel, watching as it vibrated. “We’re running out of places to search. If we missed something during the initial sweep, then we ought to consider retracing our steps.”

“Or we could expand our range,” Sword suggested, with no small amount of reluctance. He tapped at the outline of dense forest. “Any further north though and we risk leaving the jurisdiction of the kingdom.”

“If this is an abduction we’re dealing with, then we might not get much of a choice.”

“It isn’t.” With an audible clap, Meta Knight shut his book, and rose. The fabric hissed as his cape dragged over the floor. “Hostages are costly to keep alive. If they were abducted, we would have received the demand for a ransom by now.”

“Unless we’ve misunderstood their motives,” Sword replied uneasily. “A kidnapping by Nightmare could be retaliation for any unpaid debts.”

“At present, His Majesty had no outstanding balance with him,” said Meta Knight, at the same time Blade retorted, “Why would he abduct his best customers?”

Their collective frustration was a physical weight, and it was starting to crush them.

Meta Knight sighed. “Nightmare hasn’t been entirely ruled out,” he conceded, “but it’s unlikely. The transporter has been inactive for weeks. If this is the work of a monster, then I’m not sure where they would have acquired it.”

“On the off-chance it is a monster, is it one you recognize?” Blade asked.

“No.” His gaze slid toward the book perched on the armrest. “And I don’t have enough information to ID it.”

For lack of anything better to do, Sword began to pace.

“Perhaps we ought to shorten the list.” Blade’s fingers drummed against the map. “Let’s start by figuring out what we’re not dealing with.”

“Regicide?” Sword offered on his next pass.

“Doubtful.” Meta Knight inclined his head. “Cappies are fairly…pacifistic in nature.”

“If that’s what you want to call zero self-preservation instincts.”

Blade snorted. “Plenty of people here dislike the king,” he said, “but I can’t see that being enough of a motive. You’d have to profit off of his death somehow.”

“I suppose that makes Escargoon the first suspect, then,” said Sword, a little absently. “Advisors to the monarchy assume stewardship in the king’s absence.”

“It also makes him the last suspect, or did you forget his absence, too?”

Whatever Sword had been about to say in response, he didn’t get the chance before Meta Knight laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I think we can afford a break.” Though judging by his tone, it wasn’t a suggestion.

Sword lowered his head. Out of his periphery, Blade mirrored the gesture. “Yes, sir.”

The hand on his pauldron retreated as he turned toward the door. “I’ll be back shortly. Do as you wish in the meantime.”

The pair waited until it clicked shut before they let out a sigh. The restlessness that had longed for an outlet abruptly drained from him. Spent, Sword fell back into the armchair where Meta Knight had been, and tipped his head to stare at the ceiling.

“I hate this,” he said, the way someone might have commented on the weather.

“You and me both.” Blade hadn’t even bothered with a chair—he slumped forward over the table. “We’re going in circles. And for what?”

“Exercise, apparently.”

Blade made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, and they lapsed into companionable silence.

“Ebrum?” Sword asked, a little dryly.

The map crinkled as Blade lifted his head to stare at him, at the apparent non sequitur. It took a second before it clicked and startled a laugh out of him.

“That man has no political ambition. If anyone hates this more than us, it’s him.” With a soft grunt, Blade hauled himself upright, propping his chin on the back of his hands. “He already oversees the country in all but name. The last thing he wants is for someone to put a crown on his head.”

“Can’t do any worse. Might be an improvement, actually.”

“An unwilling ruler is no better than a vicious one.” Blade let out an amused huff. “Kirby is more likely to be the killer. At least he’d have a good reason to do it.”

“True.” Sword slunk back a little further into the armchair. “Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve seen him in a few days. You?”

“Can’t say I have. He’s usually with the kids, though, and I haven’t seen much of them either.”

“Oh?”

“Last I heard, they’ve been hanging out in the village.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I’d be celebrating too, if I were them.”

“You’d think,” Blade drawled, “but it looks like they’re actually taking things pretty hard. Bookem said that when he spoke to them, they looked like they hadn’t slept in a year.” He shrugged. “Then again, I guess I’d look like that too if I was up late every night.”

“What do you mean?”

He tipped his head to the side. “I saw a light on in the library when I was making the rounds yesterday. I figured it was a Waddle Dee at first.”

“I didn’t think they could read,” Sword admitted.

“Honestly, I have no idea.” Blade gave one of the knives another halfhearted flick. “Anyway, it turned out to be one of the kids. I can’t imagine what was so important that she’d be up in the dead of night…”

Sword let the words wash over him, mulling them over. There was a nagging something to them, like prodding at a loose tooth. A detail that wasn’t clicking.

“Blade.” At the sound of his name, the other knight perked up. “Remind me again what exactly Waddle Doo said when we spoke to him about the disappearances.”

If Blade found the request strange, he didn’t let that stop him from humoring it. A low whoosh of air echoed against the inside of the helmet. “It was just around six in the morning. He told us that he went to wake up the king, and he wasn’t in his quarters. Next place he checked was the dungeons, and then the kitchens. Once he ruled out all the usual spots, he had his guards sweep the armory, library, observatory, and battlements. Last place he searched was the courtyard, where—”

“—where he ran into the kids, who were coming back to the castle.” Sword sat a little straighter. “At the crack of dawn.”

The implication hit, and Blade pushed himself off the table. “You aren’t suggesting…”

“You’re right: Kirby would never willingly harm them.” Sword’s voice dropped. “But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t benefit from it.”

Blade lowered his head, retreating into his thoughts. “That’s a serious accusation," he said, half to himself.

“I know. But it can’t be a coincidence.”

“Do you really think the kids did something to get rid of them?”

“I think they know something they’re not telling us,” he answered, refusing to clarify. It wasn’t as if he found the idea any more palatable. “At the very least, we need to speak to them, find out what—”

The door eased open.

Meta Knight stood in the entryway, a tray balanced in his hands. Pale wisps of steam spiraled away from the kettle sitting atop it. The greeting in his posture died, as he registered the unspoken tension. His eyes flitted back and forth between them, assessing. “What’s wrong?”

The pair exchanged a look, before Sword stood up. “I think we overlooked something.”

—are typically presided over by tribunals. Despite the age of majority having been redefined multiple times throughout Cappy history, this feature has endured, in one form or another. Although rare, in the event of extreme offenses, a court may waive these protections and try the defendant as an adult. Sentencing under normal parameters —

Tiff yawned. Rubbing at her eyes, she turned the page.

—results in punishment which differs from that of their adult peers. Most legal systems advocate for reform rather than incarceration, and have adopted this model as the standard. Whether or not those standards are upheld, however, is contingent on multiple factors, including—

“Here.” With a soft thump, Tuff dropped his book on top of the growing stack. “This is the one you wanted, right?”

Her eyes darted up from the text and skimmed over the title—Courtal Combat: How to Win Your Case.

“That’s the one,” she said, without much enthusiasm. Research tended to hold less appeal when your future was staked on it. “There’s another I need you to find. I wrote down the ISBN here on this paper—”

“Again?” he asked, and Tiff nearly threw the book at him.

“Yes, again.” She massaged at her temples, forcing herself to lower her volume. At least here, in the castle library, their whispered conversation wouldn’t look out of place. “If things go south and we can’t run, then knowing our rights is the next best thing.”

Tuff leaned against the table. “I thought you said we weren’t running away?”

“We’re not,” she groused. “But if you’re going to prepare for hypothetical outcomes, then so am I. At least my plan doesn’t involve us becoming refugees.”

“My plan was for us to become hermits living in the middle of the wilderness.”

“Tuff, we don’t know the first thing about camping, let alone wilderness survival. We’d be dead in a week, tops.”

“I’d give it two.” Tuff shrugged. “It beats having to represent ourselves in court.” Idly, he picked up one of the several books fanned out around the table, and inspected it. “What’s a habeas corpus?”

Tiff snatched it back.

“I need to keep working,” she told him, not a little peevishly. “If you want to help, you can go get me that book I asked for.” For emphasis, she held out the note.

“Fine.” He accepted the paper, and his lips thinned. “But it’s going to take me a while. Some of the shelves are out of order, and I swear one of them was organized by color.”

He didn’t wait to see her reaction, instead trudging back into the recesses of the library and its labyrinth of shelves. Once his footsteps faded out of hearing, she slumped forward in her seat, and stared down at the book with an uncharacteristic apprehension.

It was one thing, to read about something that didn’t affect her. To turn each page, however, and consider all the ways in which each new fact applied to them…

—the form of government. In the instance of absolute monarchies, for example, the head of state has legal authority to intervene. Such cases—

The words weren’t some novel trivia. They weren’t impersonal any more.

Cupping a hand over her mouth, she stifled another yawn, and turned the page.

“I didn’t know you were interested in law.”

The chair legs scraped over the floor as Tiff jumped. With her back to the open room, and her focus elsewhere, it hadn’t occurred to her to keep tabs on the entrance. The sight of Blade and Sword standing across from her, looking over her assemblage of books, was the price of her inattentiveness. And she was paying for it.

When they glanced up at her with an air of expectation, Tiff realized she hadn’t answered them.

“I’m not. I mean, it’s interesting in general, but not for me, personally,” she explained. “I figured, with Dad filling in for Dedede and Escargoon, maybe I could read and learn something useful. To help him.”

In her defense, it had sounded a lot better in her head.

Scrambling for a change in topic, she asked, a little hastily, “What are you guys doing here?”

“Just passing through,” said Blade. And that should have been the end of that.

It did not mean that Blade was supposed to pull out a chair and sit across from her. Behind him, Sword began to peruse one of the bookcases.

“Forgive me if I’m being intrusive.” The red plume on his helm swept with the tilt of his head. “But you look ill. You’re not sick, are you?”

When Tiff had told Fololo and Falala that they were under the weather, that pill had been a bit harder to swallow. Now, though, after four days with minimal sleep, the dark rings under her eyes made the lie a little easier to sell. If only she didn’t feel as awful as she looked.

“I’m fine. I think it’s just a cold.” Maybe if she coughed for good measure, they’d leave.

Blade folded his hands neatly in his lap. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. Without an obvious visor, it was hard to tell where his gaze lingered. But in the window of silence, Tiff got the distinct impression he was examining her reading material.

Her very incriminating reading material.

In the background, Sword plucked a book off the shelf and flipped it open.

“So”—Tiff cleared her throat—“how’s the search going? You guys have been helping with it too, right?”

“We have. But it’s taking longer than we would like,” Blade admitted.

Thud. Sword closed the book in his hand, and exchanged it for another.

“Though it shouldn’t be long now before they’re located. Dream Land isn’t a large country by any means, and between us and the Waddles Dees, we’ve been able to cover a lot of ground. It’s a bit hard to hide when there are—” He paused. “Come to think of, I’m not sure how many there are. Sword?”

Thud. “Last I heard, the number was in the two thousands. And that was before Waddle Doo lost count.”

Blade shifted back around in his chair to face her. “I’d give it another day or two at most. By then we should have narrowed it down. Don’t worry; we’ll find them.”

It wasn’t a reassuring thought.

“But you guys must have contingency plans,” she pressed. “What’ll happen to the kingdom if you can’t find them?”

“That’s a question you’ll have to ask someone else," Blade said. "We’re not really involved in any of the political talks, so we don't know.”

“Not involved in the—? You’re Dedede's bodyguards,” Tiff pointed out, not without a hint of exasperation.

“And what fine bodyguards we are,” Sword drawled, “with no body to guard.” Thud.

“We may be sworn to His Majesty’s service,” said Blade, “but servants aren’t always privy to that sort of information. Best we can do is speculate.”

She considered his words, turning them over in her head. A second thought had occurred to her, then, tethered to a sudden plummeting sensation in her stomach. “What’s going to happen to you two?”

Sword glanced over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“Meta Knight once told me that the only reason you pledged yourselves to Dedede is because it lets you keep an eye on Nightmare. It’s why you came to this planet in the first place.” It wasn’t a thread she had planned on pulling, but now, it unraveled against her will. “If you can’t find him, then that means he won’t be around to order monsters. What will you do then?”

Blade’s armor clicked as he shifted.

“Right now,” he said, and there was a measuring quality to his speech, “we lack the means to leave Popstar, so off-world travel isn’t in the foreseeable future. In the long-run, though, we would eventually need to seek out a new client of Nightmare’s. We’d have to first consult with Sir Meta Knight, but…”

Sword reshelved another book. This time, his arm remained outstretched. “If our lord wills it, we shall go.”

There was an unpleasant lurch in her gut. “Wait, what about Kirby?” she asked. “Meta Knight promised to train him. How is he going to do that when he’s halfway across the galaxy?”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem.” Blade leaned back in his seat. “We would take Kirby with us.”

If there was a word for the sucking void in her chest, she didn’t know it. But when she tried to speak, it stole the breath from her lungs.

“But—” In their haste to get out, the words tripped over each other. “You can’t—”

You can’t punish him for something that’s my fault.

“No one can call the Warp Star except me!” she snapped. “How am I going to help when you leave, and I'm still here?”

Silence.

Then, Blade sat forward. The expressionless metal of his helmet watched her. “When we leave,” he repeated, slowly.

Tiff blinked.

Sword moved to stand at his side. “Tiff,” he said, “we’re not leaving. We have no reason to. There's no proof that either one of them is dead.”

“Unless,” said Blade, “you know otherwise.”

Her eyes widened.

That seemed to be all the confirmation they needed. The two exchanged a meaningful look, before returning the combined intensity of it onto her. “I think,” Blade said, as he began to rise, “we need to go have a talk with Sir Meta Knight—”

The bookcase creaked.

It was all the warning they had before the wood, warping and groaning under its own weight, toppled forward, and they vanished beneath an avalanche of books.

Panting and shaking, Tuff stood where the shelf had been a moment before.

She could feel her knees threatening to give out underneath her. “What did you do?” It came out as a strangled noise.

“I don’t know!” He wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “I panicked!”

“I can't believe y—did we just kill two more people?” she asked—and immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. They met each other’s gaze in the stunned silence.

Tuff swallowed, and he regarded the pile warily. “Do you think they’re—”

A hand burst out of the wreckage.

“Run!”

The adrenaline hit like an electric shot. With her brother a step behind her, they fled.

[backtothestart02]

Final Curtain Call - 2/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: For @smileyscorner04's bday. :)

...

Synopsis: AU - Barry and Iris’ best friends set them up on a blind date.

...

Chapter 2 -

Cisco’s head popped up from behind the bushes bear the woods circling the pond. He blew out a handful of leaves that had gotten sucked into his mouth in the process. The he brought his walkie talkie to his mouth and pressed a button.

“Anything? Over.”

“Nothing,” Cynthia drawled from the other end. “This is still a dumb idea by the way, babe.”

“No. No, it is not. We have to make sure our plan is working.”

Some garbled muffling and then a new voice popped onto the line. Linda.

“Where’s Wally? I want to speak to him.”

Cisco sighed and handed the device to Wally who was still sitting on the ground, refusing to watch his sister on her non-date with Barry Allen, who he’d yet to accept as a good enough candidate for her, despite the fact that he knew in his gut they were made for each other.

“I’m here,” Wally said. “And missing you.”

“Aww, missing you too, baby. What do you want to do after this?”

Wally’s voice lowered an octave.

“Oh, you know what I wan-”

Cisco snatched the walkie talkie away.

“Not cool, Linda!” he spat.

“What?” She played dumb. “If we have to use these junk toys to talk into, we might as well get some use out of them. This is the most time Wally and I have been apart since we started dating.”

“It’s been 20 minutes!” Cisco cried.

“Quiet, children,” Clark said from his location with Lois. “You’ll alert our poor victims.”

Lois rolled her eyes and smiled.

“He’s right. Either go home or keep watch, Cisco, but lower your voice either way. You’re really not that far from them.”

Cisco sighed deeply.

“I just don’t understand what they could possibly have to talk about for this long. I mean, they talk so much already. And they’re holding hands! I think.”

“What?!” Wally snapped up and grabbed the binoculars Cisco had brought along for kicks. “Holy shit, they are. Maybe Allen is worthy.”

“Unless our girl here initiated,” Linda boasted proudly.

“’bout time if she did,” Cynthia commented.

“Agreed,” Lois chimed in. “It’s been long enough for those two. They’re basically a couple already, if they would just admit to each other how they felt, then-”

“Yes, dear,” Clark calmed her. “Hopefully they will today.”

“It is a beautiful day out for that type of confession,” Linda said.

“I heard it’s supposed to rain later,” Cynthia said dryly.

“What?! No way,” Linda panicked.

“Relax, babe,” Wally said into the walkie talkie. “They’re already holding hands. It’s just a matter of time until-”

“No, Linda is right,” Lois said. “If Iris’ hair gets wet, it’ll ruin the entire mood, and neither of them have an umbrella or a raincoat.”

“It’s mid-July,” Wally drawled.

“Or a poncho,” Linda said.

“Guys, guys,” Clark took hold of the conversation. “If the rain comes, it comes. This is just attempt one of getting these two rascals together through a mysterious blind date. Besides, it’s not supposed to rain for at least another hour or two.”

“Oh, look! Look!” Cisco proclaimed.

“No one can see them, but you two, babe,” Cynthia reminded him.

“Oh. Right.” He chuckled heartily.

“I can see them too.” Wally’s eyes narrowed. “And it looks like they’re moving.”

“Wait, really?” Linda perked up.

“Definitely,” Cisco confirmed. “Stay tuned, ladies and gents. We may be moving soon.”

…

Iris, sitting on the bench beside Barry, their fingers still intertwined, turned slightly in her seat and leaned her head back on his shoulder.

“How long has it been, do you think?”

Barry shrugged his other shoulder, trying to slow down his racing heart.

“Not sure.” He dug his phone out of his pocket. “Oh. Almost half-hour. Think we’ve been stood up?” He cracked a grin.

Iris frowned, though she was secretly overjoyed.

“Who would stand us up? We’re hot stuff.”

Barry chuckled.

“You, maybe. Me? Not so much.”

Iris scoffed and sat up, untangling their fingers so she could smack his chest.

“What? It’s true. I’ve been stood up plenty of times. How about you?”

She felt a little guilty now.

“Okay, this may be the first.”

Barry grinned.

“See.”

“Well, that’s just proof that those girls were not the right ones for you,” she pointed out.

“That’s true,” he allowed.

You’re the right one for me. He stared at her longingly until she met his gaze again.

“Wasn’t your last solid girlfriend a…” She stifled the disgust welling up in her voice. “A pretty blonde?”

“Ah, yes. Felicity. She was pretty.”

Iris stiffened and hoped he didn’t notice.

“Too bad she wasn’t over her ex.”

“Are you over her?” she wondered aloud.

“Oh, yeah,” he said instantly. “We only went on like three dates. Not enough time to get attached.”

“For some people it would be,” she said.

Me, for instance.

“Only if that person is the one,” he said. “Then you would just know.”

She almost asked if he’d ever experienced that before, but she was too afraid to know the answer. Especially if it wasn’t about her, which it obviously couldn’t be.

“Do you want to take a walk?” she suggested. “I mean, since I think we can confirm that our dates aren’t coming. Might as well make the most of it by exploring. And…” She stuck her foot up in the air. “I’m wearing wedges, so I think I can handle the concrete path through the park.”

Barry grinned.

“Sounds like a plan.”

The two stood up and headed away from the pond and the loud roaring of the waterfall to make their way to the path. It still circled the pond, just some distance away so as not to come too close to falling in the water, should one be slightly off-balance.

And also, so bikes could go by on it.

No longer holding hands, Iris slipped her arm through Barry’s, and they looped as they walked together amidst the greenery surrounding them in mid-summer.

“It’s not too hot today,” Barry noted.

“It’s perfect,” Iris said. “Perfect for a date.” Then she winced.

“I’m sorry you got stood up, Iris,” he said, though he wasn’t really sorry, just sorry if she was upset about it. He hated seeing her upset.

“Don’t be,” she said. “I’m not.”

He turned to look at her as they walked.

“But…you got all fancy.”

“For a date at the park.” She snorted. “Imagine the guy’s surprise when he would’ve showed up thinking we were going to a fancy dinner. Obviously, I haven’t been on a date in a while.”

“Me either,” Barry said. “Which you know of course, because I tell you everything.”

She chuckled.

“I like to hear everything, especially from you.”

“Oh, yeah?” He teased, leaning towards her. “Why’s that?”

Heat shot up into her cheeks.

“Oh, I, uh…” She cleared her throat. “You’re just the cutest nerd that I know,” she said, trying to detach herself from her feelings and failing.

“A nerd, huh?” He scrunched up his nose.

“It’s a compliment,” she encouraged. “I like a man who’s intelligent and physically attractive.”

Now his cheeks started to redden.

“You’re making me blush, Iris.” He looked away.

“Good.” She brushed her hip against his. “Then my plan is working.”

“What’s your plan?” He gawked. “To get me flustered?”

She shrugged helplessly, aware that she had no plan and words were just falling out of her mouth at this point.

“You’ll never know.”

He chuckled and shook his head, then tugged her closer. She went willingly, smiling all the way and thinking what a wonderful gift it was that they had both gotten stood up on this beautiful day in the park.

[cesium-sheep]

she went off to meditate right after mom finished her call and then she called him in to talk to him and then she came out to talk to me because she was really upset about feeling like she doesn't get a fair share of watching stuff for her not for sharing on the big tv and like she's not even wrong about that neither of them get to use the big tv for their own personal stuff as much as I do, but also she never fucking asks? like he'll ask to watch whatever sports is on or his car videos but she never really says anything. cuz she also doesn't feel like she can ask and honestly there's not a whole lot I can do about that other than Be Smaller which is not a solution.

but like we talked about it, and I tried my best to differentiate when I was upset at the situation and when it was Brain Soup because not none of it was Brain Soup, and to convey why "I don't think you'll like this" does not translate to "you can go do other stuff if you want" because she leaves if she wants without a word all the time and I hate when she does that and I do not want to do things I hate having done to me and I am used to the common space coming with an implicit obligation of participation which I did point out directly towards the end. (I wonder if that's something I'm supposed to keep or if she wants me to get rid of that but didn't want to ask.) and she stuck through the entire conversation even though she's tired and she has work tomorrow and it was her conversation to start with even though it got bogged down in Soup Overflow. even when she walked off she told me where she was going and that she would be back in a minute. (at least I think it only happened the time she communicated well about it? I can't remember for sure.)

and she is right that she deserves to feel like the common space is as much hers as anyone else's, but unfortunately the most accessible solution is "please for the love of christ communicate more directly with me" which I Do Not Control (altho I was able to present a couple bits of like "hey could part of it be a conflation between being assertive and being an asshole" that she was willing to hear me out on) and the totally inaccessible solution that wouldn't even be a problem in the first place if I wasn't this sick/the apartment wasn't this small is just "I shouldn't literally always be in the common area".

so it was. really miserable. cuz she was super mad and some of it was really triggering and I don't have a solution for her that doesn't require her working on her own shit. but hopefully it was still constructive to her. she didn't sound mad at me by the end, and she said when I checked that she felt like her frustration was understood even though we don't have a straightforward solution right now. I did acknowledge that I hadn't provided any comfort during the course of the conversation because I was upset, and that she deserves to feel comfortable and safe and I do want to facilitate that even though it seems like I can't. she held my hand and let me be sad for a bit even though it was her problem, which I need to remember to acknowledge to her directly too. I'll text her so I can't forget. she also said some nice stuff about how yeah she's tired but I'm important (implicitly why she sat through the tedious wrap up bits I have to do in order to put a conversation to rest).

and I know it's been the other way round plenty of times, where I had a problem and had to comfort the other person, but also I know that sucks, and it's important to acknowledge that even if I don't have the energy left to take it on the chin like I used to, even if she decides she's at peace with that.

I also woke him up to let him know we were done and things were okay, and he was nice about it. (he came out in the middle to grab his phone and say goodnight.)