#when i want each of the bois to have a short segment

[moonit3]

I see that request is open...

Sooo, i wonder what would happen if the reader/darling feels like something is wrong with Axel. Like, his personality felt almost fake. Like he did it as for the money,,,,

Bonus points if Axel actually about to ask the reader/darling to be his significant other! And reader/darling having moments of doubt which makes it harder for him to confess.

Like geee, i wonder why the reader/darling is like that- /sarcastic

another sequel for our boy axel! im glad that he receive some recognition as he is one of my favorite of the blog (о´∀`о) and today we have a continuation from the two previous segments.

A BREAK

➥ warnings/notices: yandere male, obsession, insecurity from reader’s part, angst (?), axel being insensitive sometimes, reader cries but nothing too much, not much yandere stuff on this.

➥ yandere! rent-a-boyfriend x gn! reader

➥ synopsis: after dating this new guys for a while, he makes a proposal that you might not accept.

➥ a/n: soooooooo this is quite short compared to my other projects (sorry anon…) as i had some struggles on writing this for some reason such as a temporary writing block, an incoming test and my insomnia. but no worries, i promise this one is a good one despite not having much yandere stuff on it, so enjoy it!

“do you want to make things official?”

“official?”

“yes, we should start dating real, without any contract between us.”

today was a little different than the usual dates with axel. instead of being you to call him to a date or send a text message to the enterprise that you wish to see him, he was the one who sent a voice mail to you, asking if you could meet him without needing to pay him.

at first, you believed that he just wanted to hang out with you as friends and maybe getting to know each other for real, but it seems he wants to take things further than you expected.

“you sure?” your finger began playing with each other, a way to calm yourself down and relax your mind with the words that came out of his lips. this wasn’t what you’ve planned for the day, but now you will have to endure axel for the afternoon. “i mean, i think things have been going well between the two of us like this…”

his eyes notice how nervous you’ve become and despite wanting to get close, to assure things will go well, axel just stay on his side of the bench. “you’re right, but don’t you think things will get better when we get together? like a real couple.” his hand moves to hold yours, but you move it away in the last second, making you getting further away from his touch. “what is wrong? you look more lost than usual, did something happened?”

you nodded. “i-it’s just that I’m scared of you leaving me.” the way your eyes seems to lose some sparkle when you speak makes axel’s heart drop. “i had a bad experience prior you and i don’t want this to happen again.”

right. you haven’t forgive that incident when you are dating the ‘first axel’ and it’s look that you won’t be forgotten about it anytime soon, specially as he had humiliated you in a intimate moment like that. but you don’t this ‘axel’ is the same one that broke your heart and he hopes to continue like this.

“yeah, there was that guy…” he fakes a smile, trying to keep his posture up and to not show any signs that he knows the subject more than you’ve told him before. “…he sounds like a horrible person from what you’ve said to me.”

“indeed. he was the worst.” he mentally agreed with you, back then, he had a terrible personality. “he was the worst human being, a horrible person and he deserves death.” oh. is that what you’ve thinking? killing him and trashing him? honestly, he can’t blame you.

as you continue to ramble about the fiasco of your first experience with the rent-a-boyfriend guy, axel caresses your hair. the thoughts inside his head are running wild, mostly of it are questioning himself if what he doing is right.

he is lying at you. pretending to be someone who he isn’t just to praise and protect you from his own actions that made you question if trusting someone is right or wrong, axel is responsible for making you crying numerous night. however, he doesn’t feel like to tell you the true.

when you ended your little speech of how terrible he was, a smile grows on your face when you look up to see his eyes. you look happier than usual now, compared to just a few minutes ago. are you going to say yes? take his words into consideration and be with him for real?

“can we stay like this? like, not a real couple for an extra time. im still not ready for a real relationship, axel.” you said, removing his hand away from your hair and hold it gently closer to your heart. “i do have feelings for you, but there are a lot of things that are making me feel trapped in the past, like i’m not ready to move on from it and you have been so distant in the recently days.”

so you did notice that. but how much do you truly know what he is hiding?

“i know that you have other clients other than me, but you are always looking at your phone when we are out together,” axel is making sure that you won’t receive another match from the app, resulting you on be his only. “and you don’t even reply to me when i ask something.” his voice keep failing as he didn’t got used to the lower tone.

he removes his hand away from yours, despite wanting to feel your touch on his skin. he needs to find an excuse, “i got busy with the enterprise asking me to help them at the financial sector.” is that a good one? “so they keep sending me multiple messages, but that is no excuse to my behavior in the recent dates we had.”

your lips curves into a smile when he said that, but it didn’t change the fact that you still suspicious of his behavior, you can feel something off. “i understand it, axel. but i think we should take a break.”

what?

“it will the best for us, axel.” you caressed his dark hair, smiling at his face. “i need to be by myself for a time, to get things back together and to prioritize my health as my work is getting harder in recently days. im sorry this might hurt you, but i really need to be alone—“

“it’s okay.” he smiled. “i know things have been hard to you and im going to be here to help you, at any distance.” his arms wrapped around your body, bringing you closer and leaving no other option than hugging him back.

your face rest on his chest, he can feel that you are crying against his shirt’s fabric, but axel doesn’t say nothing to ruin the moment. he knows that you have been working hard and even with you wanting space from him, axel will take care of you as he will keep his presence unknown to you in the future.

@moonit3 writings

[phoenixblaze1412]

HIII I LOVE your works and THE CHILD READER IS SO FUXKING DELICIOUS that I've been living in your blog for like.. three days.

But anyways I wanted to request grown up child reader (like 15-17 yrs old) headcanons from your child readerXDottore ffs.

I love you and your works❤️

Also, can I be your 🦅 anon?

Sure you can, anon <3

Dottore was always proud to call you his child, his prodigy. He may not be able to show his care for you due to him always having to work but when he's free for the days, he tends to you as much as he can.

Time flew by so fast, you grew up from a tiny toddler to a teen.

In Iota and Theta's words, you used to be a little shit. Now you became a bigger shit.

You didn't need to worry much about what happens when one goes through puberty and maturity. Your father has it all covered, he actually made them beforehand before you reached thirteen.

And with your knowledge expanding from all the things you were taught at such a young age, you followed in your father's footsteps and Dottore was euphoric with it.

Kappa was a bit upset that you grew up, he would miss the times when you and him would always spend time together to play.

He was definitely pouting whenever you talk about your heights, now that you grew up to be a teenager while he's stuck as a child perspective of your father, the height difference was very noticable, he reaches about your stomach now and he will forever be that short.

Sadly that doesn't go the same for the other segments. Eta, Theta and Delta would still make fun of your shortness.

Beta would still carry you around despite already being a teenager. He still sees you as his little angel no matter how tall or old you get.

Iota still keeps those baby pictures he took of you. Doesn't matter if you looked bad or good in it, he still sees you as his little, troublemaker mutt. He still takes photos of you and would make scrapbooks of it during his free time whenever he's bored at tinkering on ruin machines.

The troublemaker (s)quad: Delta, Gamma, Theta and Beta would always bring you along with them whenever they wanted to cause trouble, watch something blow up or make some failed experiments kill each other. They would still cover your eyes if the scene becomes too much for you to handle.

Dottore was very enthusiastic when he took you in as his apprentice, of course you got lots of glares and side eyes from those who work under him who always wanted to be the doctor's apprentice, those looks did not go unnoticed by your father though. Oh how delightful you already have new fresh bodies to experiment on!

Who else would Dottore choose as his own apprentice if not you? It was already decided the moment your ruby red eyes stared back at him the moment you were born that he was to choose you.

Prime and Omega were always there to assist you whenever you have a little trouble in doing some of the work your father has tasked you to do. They may be segments and are 400+ years old in terms of memory but you're still their little child, it wouldn't hurt to spoil and give you a helping hand without the doctor knowing.

Dottore was definitely not happy when he saw the Knave's children interacting with you. Who were those brats again? Ah yes, Lyney, Lynette and Freminet. Time to tell the segments about those orphans.

You would always be curious on why a segment would always be with you wherever you go.

One time when Lyney kissed the back of your hand, he was immediately backed up to the wall with Delta's claymore pressed against his neck while Beta carried you away.

Having tea and cake with Lynette would have went well if Theta didn't splash her with water, intentionally letting the bucket fall on her head to grab your hand and run off.

Gamma even burned the flowers he took from Freminet to give to you since the boy was too shy to do so. The segment snipped the petals off to use them as ingredients for future experiments before burning the stems over by the fireplace with a grin.

Last one was when Childe came over to the lab to visit you since he brought you some snacks and souvenirs he got from Liyue only to get multiple glares from the segments and your father, your father was teaching you how to dissect a frog while the segments were watching as encouragement since it was your first time dissecting an organism.

It was during the harbinger meeting that Arlecchino brought up the doctor's protectiveness.

"Is the doctor afraid that his own child is being courted by others? Come on, surely you know that children would be leaving their nest to go fly off on their own to live their life? Surely my children are capable and worthy enough to court a child like them, no?"

"Absolutely fucking not. My child will not be tainted by your orphan brats."

[ashensgrotto]

Hey I was reading your yandere Azul fanfic for like the 50th time and I had this idea for a request:

Can you do the other overblot boys in similar situations?

Also when are we going to have Azul's redemption arc when we get trapped in Scariba?

Have a lovely day/night/morning/afternoon

Why, greetings my dear anon! I’m happy that you enjoyed the ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ to read it that many times - and I apologized that I haven’t been able to get started on the Scarbia segment yet (between that and Raison D’être plus work & other stories… and GloMas, I really need to get my priorities straight seriously -_-). However, I do intend on working on it as soon as I can so I can get it out sometime this month or in December - I mean, I think that would be the most logical since that one takes place during holiday break, right?

Now, for your request - I hope head cannons are alright for the time being. I’ll try to come back to them and do short stories for each of them that follows the same concept design as “Am I Feeling Love?” - which is the first installment of the Yandere!Azul series. I'm also going to divide this into two parts - about halfway through I realized I hadn't posted anything in a while and thus, I want to make it up to all of you for not writing or posting anything for some time.

Part 1 (Here) will feature Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, and Jamil Viper

Part 2 (Here) will feature Vil Schoenheit, Idia Shroud, and Malleus Draconia

***

Riddle Rosehearts:

Yandere Riddle is more of the controlling type - that much is certain. While during his youth, he came across a story about ‘soulmates’ - and the idea of someone made for him took root like a weed in the rose garden. Although his mother ordered for him to dismiss the idea as nothing but a fairytale, Riddle could not push the idea away and it slowly became a source of comfort and drive - if he could stand out both in academics and athletics, surely his soulmate would recognize him as their other half. (There really was no way for him to search for his other half while trapped under his mother’s unwavering gaze, especially after the tart incident.) 

When he saw you in the mirror chamber for the first time many years later, he was awestruck by your grace and beauty, reminding him of how the queen of heart once was long ago… the problem was your impeccable timing. You had the worst sense of direction as well as time - quite literally to the point that he had to give you several (and I mean like five to ten) different watches to have on your person so you wouldn’t run late for your scheduled tea time and after school lessons with him (which he made a priority to keep an eye on your movements, especially with the way you hang around the ADuo).

He likes that you have a favorite tea flavor, but hates that you drink it. All. The. Time. (“There are other teas, you know?” he tells you softly, trying to reign in his urge to yell at you for drinking your tea when you should be drinking the green tea with honey that is required following a lesson with him.)

He recognizes you for your hard work - often watching you from the shadows when time permits as you paint the roses red, care for the hedgehogs, feed the flamingos in that pink attire he provided for you, and assist with the dorm’s random tea party celebrations. Riddle also enjoys your conversations - even though he would like it better if you opened your mouth and stopped speaking so quietly (“Look up, speak nicely. AND DON’T TWIDDLE YOUR FINGERS! Turn out your toes, curtsy, open your mouth a little wider and always say, ‘Yes, Housewarden Riddle.’" He’s constantly reminding you.)

The one thing he can not stand though: your friendship with Duece and Ace and the furball menace. He has added a new rule to the roster: ‘Rule #687: (Y/N) is to always be supervised by either Trey Clover or Cater Diamond when not in the presence of the housewarden.’ (It’s for your wellbeing, after all. Trey and Cater are much more reliable than those two annoying freshmen and fire-breathing direbeast.)

However, his real breaking point is when you side with Ace and Duece following the ‘collaring’. He wouldn’t have dreamed in a million years that you would’ve sided with them over him. He was only trying to look out for your best interests… the best interests of the dorm… He was supposed to be the one…

Leona Kingscholar:

Yandere Leona is more of the… dependent type. During his youth, one lazy afternoon, his older brother was talking to him about how he read in his studies about a certain smell that would allow him to know if his soulmate was nearby. Leona had at first shrugged it off, not really caring - after all, he wasn’t going to be king… why should he worry about finding the right one? He didn’t need annoying little brats running circles around him like his nephew did already… what a pain.

That changed the moment you entered the mirror chamber. Your scent wafted through the air and tickled Leona’s nose like a call of a hornbill to its mate. Leona could feel a need rising within him - a sudden need to protect and lay claim to you as his. And when the mirror turned you away, Ruggie was surprised when he stepped forward, offering a place to stay in Savanclaw.

It was no surprise to anyone that Leona decided to make you his personal gopher (although he knew that he couldn’t rely on you 24/7 as you weren’t allowed to attend the school - not that he cared much anyway for classes). During practice, you would bring water and snacks - the housewarden always scruffing the top of your head and messing your hair up, offering a cheeky grin that no one had seen before. In the dorm, you would sit with him and look over his homework and studies - Ruggie nearby to help you understand what was being taught, considering that this was something far beyond your understanding - especially since you had no magic ability either.

Speaking of which, Ruggie was the only other person - besides Leona - that was allowed to get close to you. Any other student that attempted to get within a foot of you would suffer under Leona’s frightening stare before choking on ‘King’s Roar’ until they begged for mercy when you weren’t around.

When the spelldrive tournament came up - and you unknowingly found out about the plan to hurt another student - you confronted Leona about it. Leona tried to play innocent - pretending not to know what you were talking about, Ruggie assisting with the typically ‘innocent until guilty’ look that he often gave you.

His last straw was when you and Jack warned the others of Savanaclaw's plan - the housewarden of Heartslabyul and his students effectively coming to your aid. Leona thought he could trust you… that you would respect him and love him as the king he was supposed to be…

Jamil Viper

Jamil is your typical stalker type - wanting to know about your every move, it’s ingrained in him after all. During his youth, he - along with the other servants of the Al-Asim home - would watch over the young masters as they grew up, one eye always on the lookout for danger that could befall the family. Kalim - as sweet and carefree as he was - would often spend time in Jamil’s presence, chewing his ear off with stories and such, Jamil often ignoring what he said or taking everything with a grain of salt. However - the story of the Scalding Sands princess and the thief never completely left his mind. Legends stated that the two were fated to be together - and the land had been prosperous during their reign. Jamil would often turn the story over in his mind a handful of times, but tsk at the idea of soulmates. It was only a fairy tale… right?

That changed the moment he saw you in the mirror chamber - your eyes wide by everything that was different and strange to you. If Jamil was honest, he thought back to the story of the desert princess and the thief right then and there - he imagined himself as the thief and you as the princess, and the longing that filled him had to be the same as it was for the thief when he had seen the princess’ beauty for the first time. It was easy to persuade Kalim to let you stay in Scarabia, using ‘Snake Whisper’ to charm him into allowing the headmaster for you to stay. Once within the safe confines of the dorm, Jamil offered for you to assist him with taking care of Kalim (“Trust me, my little desert flower,” he tells you, “things aren’t always as they seem. You will get what’s coming to you.”)

Speaking of which - like Azul’s pet name of ‘Angelfish,’ Jamil refers to you as ‘Desert Flower.’ When you asked why that was, Jamil would cough and say something about how you reminded him of the flowers back in the Scalding Sands - particularly the Desert Hyacinth (which is a parasitic plant, oddly enough).

Regardless, Jamil enjoys spending time with you - when not chasing Kalim around. In the evenings, when the dorm is asleep, he finds the evenings quite relaxing in your presence; playing Mancala on the carpeted flooring after having his feet rubbed in oil to alleviate the tension and pain from all the hard work he did. When he asks if there’s anything he can do for you in return, you simply smile and shake your head, explaining how you’re thankful for his kindness and generosity for keeping you company in the late evenings when you both know he should be getting rest.

However, as the holiday season approaches and the rest of the school heads home for the holidays, Jamil notices your disappearance one night - making him frantic to know where you had disappeared to. That fear turns into seething rage when you return with an octopus and two eels in tow - Jamil demanding to know what the meaning of this is. Out of the goodness of your heart, you explain that you sought help for him and Kalim - especially with Kalim’s strange mood swings making you more and more nervous with each passing day. The presence of the scheming octomer and his twin pals makes Jamil more on edge than ever - watching from the shadows as you and Kalim turn to your new allies. It would seem… desperate times call for desperate measures.

The look on your face when it’s revealed that he was the one behind the changes in Kalim’s behavior was enough to shatter Jamil’s heart into a thousand pieces - like a glass lamp crushed under the weight of stone. The fear… the anger… the resentment towards Kalim has become centerfold - but Jamil could never hate you… his little desert flower. If only he was headwarden… if he was in charge… none of this would have happened… it was all Kalim’s fault, after all…

[yestrday]

Idk if it’s just because I’m TREMENDOUSLY down bad for the malewives, but whenever I read a segment about them getting jealous I kinda just want to be really gentle, reassuring, and over all sweet to them (picture just cupping their face and giving them cute little pecks while you calm them down <333)

The boys don’t like that some other girls perfume is on me and are wondering why it was on there in the first place? I completely understand their concerns. One of my friends had gone to me crying for advice on a fight she had with her girlfriend, and I just had to soothe her + give her some relationship advice and gush to her about my lovely husband afterwards!

They are worried I’m becoming more distant due to my work? The boys think that I’m not being affectionate enough? I can’t believe I’ve done such a horrible thing without noticing! I’ll call in a sick day at once and plan a cozy date just for two of us to relax and cuddle and I’ll talk to them about ways I could show them even more affection and ask them what they prefer!

My dearest husband thinks I’m working too long and that he thinks I’m forgetting about him for someone at work? I’m horrified I didn’t see how he felt sooner! I’ll immediately talk about slightly cutting back my long hours, and I’ll even get up early before work to leave him little sticky notes that confess my love for him! I’ll text him on my short breaks and I’ll call on my lunch break too!

I’m just such a massive simp I can’t help but want to be “gentle and caringly earnest spouse” who would 100% gush about them to all my friend and co-workers <33 (This is just a brain rot / rant! Def not a request lol)

ah <3<;3 they are your husband after all! your ever devoted, ever loving, ever faithful husband! it's common sense that you have to treat them with the same praise and fervor that they do to you!

venti's pouting about how you're working overtime? he's laying back dramatically on the couch, whining with practiced dramatic effect about how cruel you are for leaving your poor hubby with no one to share these cold nights. you watch him with crossed arms and an amused smile, knowing exactly what game he's playing at. yet you still come to him and hug him from behind, peppering his squishy cheeks with kisses and soft apologies. venti giggles at you, and grins widely when your touches go lower.

thoma doesn't look right these days, with how you keep drinking out with your clients. you always go home buzzed and reeking of other people, and although he tries to hide it, your dining utensils have been slightly bent, haven't they? when he comes home from a grocery trip, you surprise him with dinner, dressed in his frilly apron. the dullness in his eyes washes away, and with a pleasant gasp he rushes into your arms and start sniffling about how much he misses you.

the servants have been telling you that xingqiu's been in a snappy mood ever since you left for your business trip. when you open the door to his study, you can see the briefest surprise flit across his face before he adopts a mask of indifference. ah, so he's going to ignore you, huh? well, no matter. you sidle up to him and say your apologies, whispering about how you've missed him terribly so. that you couldn't eat properly knowing you left your dear husband alone. he's still refusing to acknowledge you, huffing behind his book, but you can see his eyes crinkle into a smile.

anyway! what's the point of marriage if you two won't devote yourselves to each other? nothing else matters, does it? why should work stop you from showering your sweet husband from the love that he so deserves?

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

RAIN CODE Fan Meeting Report ②

From after the reading play to around the middle of the daytime program.

Previous Post: RAINCODE Fan Meeting Report ①

⚠️This is a looong post! Please read this only if you have the time.

⚠️Contains spoilers!

There is already a report article on famitsu.com, so it may be easier to understand while looking at the photos on there.

Note: I wrote some related topics together and sequentially, so this post is not exactly the same as the actual order of topics in the event.

------

A short introduction of the guests and some of my personal impressions of each of them:

After the reading play by Fukuhara and Suzushiro, the other guests appeared on stage one by one. Most people introduced themselves normally, but Kodaka's greeting was the only quirky one:

He is probably the only person who would say something like that out of the blue at a fan event 😅

------

After that, a segment titled "Inquiries to the World Detective Organization" began, in which messages from fans were read out.

Apparently a lot of messages were supposed to be read during this segment, but a question to the VAs about their memories of the recording session took longer than expected and ended up being almost entirely about this topic.

As for Yuma's voice recording, Yuma was often panicked, frightened, and dismayed, and Fukuhara was repeatedly asked to make such performances more exaggerated. So he used the voice of a certain boy character as a reference. Then the MC immediately asked:

Japanese people can easily recognize it, but there are probably many who don't, so I'll make it clear. He meant the protagonist of Doraemon (JA: Nobita / EN: Noby)! XD

Doraemon itself has no relation to Spike Chunsoft, but since the voice actress of Danganronpa's signature character Monokuma is the voice actress of Doraemon, it is interesting to note that the protagonist of RAIN CODE is a reference to the voice of Doraemon's protagonist.

I will mention this in my future post about the evening program, but as those who have played RAIN CODE know, when Yuma and Shinigami say goodbye at the end of the story, Shinigami makes an emergency exit appear, and the design of the door is actually very similar to a tool that Doraemon often uses! So the developers must really like Doraemon... 😅

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As for Shinigami, Suzushiro said that she remembered how long the audition process was. There were more auditions than usual, but she was only given vague requirements and told to perform different patterns, so she said she had no idea what the right voice was, but she gave it her all anyway. The reason for this, according to Kodaka, is that he paid special attention to the type of voice. He wanted to avoid sounding completely annoying, because Shinigami has a lot of terrible things to say to Yuma. So he was looking for a voice that could say horrible things without annoying the player.

By the way, around this topic Kodaka joked, "Since RAIN CODE is a detective story, we made sure to check everyone's backgrounds during the auditions." To which Suzushiro replied, "So that's what those people in the back were!" Then "Don't worry. The results of the investigation showed that everyone was innocent." He continued to joke.

Suzushiro being examined during the audition (My own imagination.):

However, she said that she still struggled to find the right voice for Shinigami after she passed the audition. She said that she had originally planned to change her voice between the spirit form and the true form. She was instructed not to be too mascot-like when playing the spirit form, but when she tried to change the voice, she couldn't help but sound like a mascot, so she ended up speaking the same way as the true form.

She also said that Shinigami talks a lot throughout the game, so she was careful not to make it annoying for the players.

The voice recording for Yuma and Shinigami took a very long time, almost two years. During that time, they recorded almost every week. According to Fukuhara, one of the reasons it took so long was that, Yuma often had to scream or cry, so the recording took a lot of energy, and he was always unable to record the target number of words for that day, which was often carried over to the next time. Then the voices recorded at the end were different from the ones recorded at the beginning, so they re-recorded the lines recorded at the beginning.

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As for Halara, Ishikawa said that the most important feature of Halara's voice was that she had to have a neutral voice, and that she sometimes received instructions during the recording such as, "Now you sounded a little masculine, so let's take it back a little," or "Speak a little cooler".

Kodaka said that Halara's first person pronoun was "boku" (*generally used by males in Japanese) and his/her appearance was masculine, so he adjusted the impression by adding Yui Ishikawa's graceful voice to give it a feminine impression and make it more neutral.

(This is just my personal opinion, but Halara's appearance doesn't look that masculine...🤔 But I am sure Kodaka said something like that. Well, I guess he means that he/she is masculine because he/she is tall?)

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As for Desuhiko, KENN said that he had originally imagined a slightly higher voice, but was instructed to speak more naturally and closer to his natural voice. Other than that, there were not much many re-recordings.

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Kodaka and Sakakibara were asked by the MC about the feedback and reactions they received after the release of RAIN CODE, but Kodaka said that he had not received much feedback. (He seemed a bit hesitant to answer when asked, so I personally speculated that he might have had negative feedback in mind and then denied that he hadn't received much...but that's really a personal guess, so it might just be that he feels he hasn't received that much feedback compared to Danganronpa).

When Sakakibara mentioned sales, Kodaka interupted in like this:

Well, maybe the above does not convey the nuance well. I think if I replace "Kodaka" with "Shinigami," it would make more sense:

haha 😂 Sakakibara was just talking about sales, but Kodaka seemed to be making fun of him, like, "See, producers are quick to want to talk about money!" (This itself is not an actual statement. But the statement in the image above, "It's all about money, after all. Producers are money hungry (結局は金なんですよ、金。プロデューサーは金の亡者だからね)," is true.)

Kodaka was obviously rude, but Sakakibara did not seem to care. (Perhaps Kodaka is usually like this 😅)

Then when the topic of sequels and future developments came up:

I don't think it was just because Kodaka pushed him, but Sakakibara told us that he would like to make a sequel or an anime :)

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The next segment, "Collect Memory Shards of Master Detectives!", looked back at some scenes from the game.

The first scene that was discussed was the one where Halara kicks open a gate in chapter 1. This is the scene where Halara says it is open, even though he/she kicked it down him/herself. When Ishikawa said that she did not expect the scene to turn out like this when she recorded the audio, Kodaka said that the audio for that scene was actually recorded first and the video was made later. According to him, RAIN CODE has many scenes where the video was adjusted to match the audio in this way. I think this was from him talking about when they had a meeting for the promotion, he said that the scene where Halara kicks open the gate was well received when he showed it to people overseas. (Yeah, it's a funny scene for everyone XD)

------ The next scene was Yuma's disguise in chapter 2. Fukuhara was asked to comment on a message from a fan who said Yuma in disguise was so cute:

Fukuhara said that he had noticed that Yuma was rather originally cute, and then Kodaka said that he had actually initially worn more makeup to emphasize that it was a comedy scene. However, when Komatsuzaki checked the sprites on the actual machine, he said that it might be better to make Yuma just normally cute, and then he modified the sprites. Kodaka commented that he thinks that decision by Komatsuzaki worked.

------

The next scene was when Desuhiko was rejected by Shinigami at the end of the Mystery Labyrinth in chapter 2. In a message from a fan who wanted to know Desuhiko's success rate in picking up girls, and when the topic came up, Kodaka replied, "Zero. But he makes all kinds of excuses for himself, and in his mind they are not supposed to have happened." KENN said, "Uh, so he does mind control, right?" Kodaka agreed and said, "Yes, yes."

By the way, it was funny to hear Ishikawa say "It's cool" in a low voice, perhaps in response to the sound of the word "mind control" here. (To which KENN replied, "Is it cool?" 😂):

------

Then, the scene in chapter 5 where the fact that the meat buns were human flesh was revealed was discussed.

The VAs knew from the script that the meat buns sold in the Kanai Ward were made of human flesh, so they had mixed feelings when they saw the in-game tips about the meat buns.

As for Fukuhara, he somehow said that he had dared Yuma to eat meat buns many times, apologizing over and over again in his mind. (This part of the topic was rather fast-moving, so I did not understand the reason why he did so 😅)

According to Kodaka, in his mind, Yuma was never supposed to eat the meat buns. But before he knew it, Yuma was able to eat the meat buns in the game, and he thought, "Huh?...Oh well." lol

When asked by the MC when he first came up with the idea for the human meat buns, Kodaka replied that it had been there from the very beginning, and that he had recently sorted through his file and found the minutes of a meeting with the former producer in which it was noted that this idea might not be favorable for CERO (the rating system). But he apparently left it ambiguous and pushed it through 😅.

(For your information, the former producer he mentioned was probably Yoshinori Terasawa, the producer of the Danganronpa series. In an interview on dengekionline.com, Kodaka says that RAIN CODE was conceived with former producer Terasawa.)

------ After that, there was an advertisement about the event merchandise available at the venue. It was announced that those who bought the OST could participate in an autograph session with Kodaka. I have already posted a short manga about the autograph session in my previous post.

The VAs had left for the next reading, and only the MC, Kodaka, and Sakakibara were left on stage, and as I recall, the sequel was discussed again at that time. So MC asked Kodaka, "What can fans do to ensure a sequel for RAIN CODE?" Kodaka immediately answered, "Pay money! (課金だよ課金！)". 😂 I laughed a lot at his answer.

(It totally looked like this to me):

Every time he makes a statement like this, I am sure that he IS the person who wrote Monokuma's or Shinigami's lines. lol ------

This is finally half of the daytime program! XD

Next:

[jokeroutsubs]

Nace Jordan for Slovenian online journal Aleteia

From performing at Ritem srca (Rhythm of the Heart) to Eurovision: "I value honesty the most"

03.06.2023

Interview with Nace Jordan, bassist of Joker Out

"Thank you, don't count on us..." This is a segment of their currently hottest song Carpe diem, taken out of context. Two weeks ago at Eurovision we were counting on them quite a lot. Despite finishing 21st they did not let us down, as we got to witness an energetic, playful and colourful musical delicacy.

We are glad you managed to take some time for Aleteia during the exciting post-Eurovision events. The youngest member of Joker Out according to length of service, and the wisest according to age, the likeable bassist Nace Jordan.

Congratulations for your wonderful Eurovision performance. Have you gone deaf due to the crowds that have excitedly welcomed you yet?

(laughter) We haven't gone deaf, but the reactions were very nice. We heard that people in Slovenia were watching and loudly cheering for us, especially during the semi-finals performance. All of this is very 'extra'.

Did anything disappoint you in Liverpool?

I can't say we were disappointed about anything. Maybe I would mention that they were promising us 'crazy' parties, which take place during Eurovision. They were great, but not as special as we were promised.

How long has it taken for the adrenaline to calm down after Eurovision?

Personally, I have not yet managed to recover from it all. All together it was very mentally and physically exhausting, but because of our love for music, we managed to pull through.

When coming home, was it difficult to switch from a huge event, where everything is about you, and come into a familiar, calm environment and simply go to the store?

We are lucky enough that since coming home from Great Britain, we have had so many things happen that we haven't yet had any time to lead a normal life, even to go to the store to buy something.

Currently we are positioned on various European charts. (Author's note: On the day of the interview (interview posted 03/06/2023) the group is fourth on the Spotify Global Viral chart; the only fellow Eurovision contestants above them are Finnish representative Käärijä and Swedish representative Loreen. Overall they have surpassed the 1,500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Source: evrovizija.com.)

Marvelous!

All of this feels unreal and nice and it gives us a lot of energy. In addition, many are beckoning us to concerts abroad. The dreams of each musician are to once spread from the narrow area of Ex-Yugoslavia to the markets all across Europe. We decided that we will risk it, since the people want to hear us. We announced a concert in Dublin which we will perform with our Irish Eurovision friends. Let me say that the concert was sold out in 20 minutes. These are truly 'insane' numbers, which are not letting us catch our breaths after Liverpool.

The excitement of the crowds does not surprise us. When and how did the members of the group even meet?

Bojan Cvjetićanin and Kris Guštin met at a performance in secondary school, where Kris was the reporter of the school newspaper. After a while, Bojan invited Kris and Jan Peteh into the band. After a while Jure Maček joined, and last year myself as well.

You came into the band last, yet it seems as though you've been with the boys since their beginnings in 2016.

That's right.

Nace, we have already managed to observe you well on stage. We see that you're all smiles, brave and energetic. How would you describe yourself?

Really? (laughter) I would describe myself as silent and smiley. Due to me being the oldest member of the band (Author's note: Nace is 28, the ages of the other members vary between 23 and 24), I have noticed that I have a different view of things than the other members of the band.

So the age gap is noticeable?

I think so.

In short, describe the other members of the band.

Bojan is intuitive, Maček playful, Guštin serious. And I can't describe Jan in any other way than saying that he is a pure artist.

Do you have other occupations, not connected to music?

I can speak for the entire band when I say that no one does anything besides music. Well, Bojan may occasionally appear in a commercial or two. (laughter)

What is the atmosphere among you? Do you trust and help each other?

No doubt, without it we couldn't have handled the pressure of Eurovision. Everything was easier because there were five of us. If someone was feeling down, the others noticed right away and gave him some space. Or offered him to talk - whatever he needed in that moment.

I liked it how you said at the press conference in Liverpool that you wouldn't consume alcohol before the performance. I have also noticed that you know how to express yourself in interviews. And we can't forget the fact that you sang in Slovene at Eurovision. Do you think it's important to maintain our language?

The fact that we sang in Slovene at Eurovision should say it all. We love Slovene and we find it the most appropriate for expressing ourselves, both in songs and conversation.

In the song Carpe diem, among other things, you sing about how you are against hate. How do you, as Nace Jordan, take steps toward a kinder society?

Let me correct that the song itself is not only against hatred, but it also talks about how we have to seize each day and look at the bright side. We ourselves are the only ones who have control over the fact that we wake up in the morning and make the best of the day. Personally, I make a person's day by smiling at them and consequently giving them a good feeling.

During your concerts, unexpected things are bound to happen. Would you let us in on any such event?

Not everything is of public nature. But I can mention that recently we had a concert in Umag. It took us a very long time to find the entrance to the concert hall. Luckily, we managed to find it right before the concert. We were really close to missing our own performance. (laughter)

Nace, Joker Out is not the first band in which you played. In the past you have collaborated with many Slovene performers, you are a member of Diamanti ('Diamonds' - the RTV house band) who take care of the musical accompaniment for the show 'V petek zvečer' ('On Friday Evening' - a show on Slovene national TV).

I don't know how much longer, sadly time is tight.

Your friends mention that you're a real-life 'jukebox', as you still remember the melodies of all the 200 songs that you performed during your times on the cruise ship.

That's true.

How was it, playing on a large ship away from shore?

When others went to study, I went to play on the ship. At that moment I chose to dedicate my life to music. This was one of the nicest and best decisions I've ever made. The half year spent on the cruise ship shaped me into the musician I am today. Living on a ship with so many people was a real school of interpersonal relations.

Was the music you performed always according to your taste?

Of course not, amongst the less favoured were for example German hit songs. (laughter)

I can't not mention that you were a member of the accompanying band at 'Ritem srca' ('Rhythm of the Heart' - festival of modern Christian music) and at the concert of 'Radio Ognjišče' ('Radio Fireplace' - a Christian Catholic radio in Slovenia). What is your memory of that experience?

I was looking forward to performing at Ritem srca this year as well. But sadly we had concerts and practice with Joker Out, so it wasn't possible. Ritem srca is one of the more pleasant festivals in Slovenia and I do not have a single bad experience with it. All participants were not only kind but also in good spirits and energetic. That is exactly what the world needs, it's 'carpe diem' in principle.

Who is the best performer of spiritual rhythmic music according to you?

I can mention Matej Šoklič, who I know personally. And Franci Rotar. Franci is a real 'character'. Every time I meet him he brightens and improves my day.

Speaking of spiritual music... Have you had to give up something that did not align with your personal beliefs during your musical career?

I avoid politics.

At the moment, Joker Out are a role model for many youths. What do you admire in a person?

It may sound cliché, but I appreciate honesty the most, both a frank critique and praise. With time I forget that I'm good at something, so it feels really nice when someone reminds me of it.

~

Translation cr.: @beeoftheanxieties

[riptideripley]

Chapter One of: Addicted.

word count: 1,196

Ever since they first met Roman had been hooked. Seth had this spark to him that Roman felt like he could get high off of. June 2nd 2014 replays in his head every day and he just couldn’t stop it. Liv and Rhea worked through their issues so why couldn’t Seth do the same with him?

Friday rolled around and it was about time for the promo segment they had. Seth was sitting in his dressing room when the door opened, revealing Roman.

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah.”

The small talk happened often between the two, they seemed to never be able to get over what happened a whole decade ago. But only when Roman needed..him was when they would actually “talk”. They last time they found themselves “having a conversation” ended in them fucking in Roman’s hotel room.

“What do you need now Ro? Is it Rhea or..-”

“No it’s not her and it never will be. Just wanted to..check on you I guess.” he confessed, not daring to make eye contact with Seth. Truth be told he was actually nervous around Seth due to him being the only one to see him so vulnerable.

“I see..why don’t you close the door and come have a seat hm? We have 20 minutes to spare.” Seth spoke to which Roman obliged and sat down on the black leather couch.He didn’t speak, just sat there trying to form his words before he said something stupid. “Heard about you and Rhea last week, everyone was talking about it. You know you two really have to work that whole shit out before the whole world knows.” Seth broke the silence which quickly reminded Roman of what happened the week before.

Flashback.

“Rhea you know that wasn’t supposed to happen. I swear I didn’t mean f-“ “BULLSHIT. You swore no one and I mean absolutely no one would find out about that yet here comes Jimmy throwing the shit in my face!” The two went back and forth. What were they arguing about, you may ask? Well to cut shit short they hooked up after Rhea retained her championship at Elimination Chamber. They swore up and down it meant nothing to them but god knows they were both wrong.

“Rhea I’m sorry ok? He must’ve saw the messages in my phone ok just-“ “No Roman that’s bullshit. Why the fuck would he even have your phone?!”

“HEY! Can you two knock it off? People are looking. Take this somewhere private for fucks sake” Dominik finally spoke, having enough of them bickering. The two looked at him and looked at each other, choosing to go into her dressing room to talk.

End of Flashback.

“Yeah..we’re trying, she’s still mad at me and rightfully so.” “I mean I would expect her to be, you swore to keep it private but let your idiot cousin ruin it” Roman sighed and nodded at his words. Letting his head fall into his hands he sat there, not really knowing how to take in all of the stuff he’s been dealing with. Seth stood up from his chair and sat next to him, placing his hand on his thigh.

“Look Ro. Try talking to her next week alright? Now cmon we don’t have much time before the segment and you know how long your cousin takes.” he cracked a joke that made Roman laugh, I mean he was right cause my god did Rock take forever.

Fast Forward.

Everything was going fine in the segment..until Roman grabbed the mic. The second the words “crossdresser” left his lips, Seth’s mood completely changed. At first Seth could not even believe what the fuck he was hearing and then it hit him what Roman actually said. He knew Roman would definitely be paying for that later.

Hour and ½ later

“Seth you know I didn’t mean it just please-“

“No Roman I don’t want to hear it. That’s what you wanna call me now really? Oh just the other night you were calling me d-“

“OK! Jesus I get it. Look I said sorry ok?”

“Don’t wanna hear it. Meet me in my room got it?” “..Alright.”

20 Minutes Later.

“Seth can you- not tease like that..” Roman breathed out with a slight whine, being teased by Seth for 5 fucking minutes that felt like an eternity. “Someone is needy tonight huh pretty boy?” Seth chuckled out, finally giving into what Roman wanted. “Damn near didn’t need any l..lube.” Seth breathed out as he eased himself inside. Roman’s breath hitched as he gripped onto the sheets in front of him. He attempted to reach back to hold Seth’s hand but was quickly slapped. “No touching. For me to be a crossdresser you know..you seem more like the type.” he spoke with a small laugh at the end, not wasting his time as he began thrusting at a rough pace.

Roman’s body damn near fell forward if it wasn’t for Seth holding him up by his waist, with all the teasing he went through on the way to the room and during those 5 minutes he was sensitive. “S- Seth-“ Roman choked out, already feeling like he was getting close with the insane pace Seth was going at. “Cmon pretty boy..you know that’s not my name.”

“f..fuck. please daddy” he finally whined out making Seth smile. “That’s more like it..” he chuckled out, lifting one of Roman’s legs over his shoulder. The position was nothing new for the two but it always made Roman let out the sluttiest high pitched moan you could ever think of. Roman was a babbling mess at this moment, unable to even form a proper sentence. “c..close” he built up the courage to whine out. “Fine pretty boy.. let go for me” and with those exact words, he came. Seth wasn’t far behind and before Roman could even process everything, Seth pulled out and flipped him around.

“You know what to do.” Oh he definitely knew.

15 minutes later.

“Roro..Cmon get up big boy” Seth sighed as he lifted Roman up off the bed, sitting him up straight to wipe his entire body down. Roman just sighed and rested his head against Seth’s shoulder.

“You going back to your room”

“Yeah..just give me a minute.”

Seth nodded and let him down carefully to lay there, placing his clothes in a pile on the chair next to the bed(it wasn’t there before🌚). Seth went to the bathroom and got a wet towel, leaning down to clean up some spots off the floor.

Roman sat up and slowly put his clothes on, not really speaking to Seth. This happened often between them, they would just fuck and not speak. It pained him but he would never mention it. Seth watched as Roman grabbed his stuff off the night stand and walked to the door.

“Hey..make sure to call me tomorrow alright? I have something planned for you.” Seth spoke as Roman opened the door making him stop.

What in the entire fuck was Seth planning??

“Yeah..alright.” he responded and walked out the door.

[tcfactory]

Okay smartass how would you fix Bingqiu if you had your way?

If you actually want to know you could do to be less of a rude little shit about it, anon, but all right.

This is not about 'fixing' anything. Bingqiu is a wildly popular ship and a lot of people enjoy the exact kind of delusional insanity these two have about each other and that's honestly great. Love it for them. Not my cup of tea though.

I think the easiest and fastest way to make them sort their shit out and maybe put them in a position where I might actually be interested in what's going on with them is to take the protagonist halo away. Maybe the System short circuits, maybe it just gets automatically turned off after the extras, don't know don't care.

A lot of Shen Qingqiu's self delusions are fueled by his unshakeable belief that Luo Binghe, being The Protagonist, is Perfectly Fine the way he is. Binghe is the Protagonist, so when there are no character development or obligatory angst events going on he is happy and healthy and a slightly charred good boy and Shen Qingqiu is The Happy Wife who dotes on his hubby and Everything Is Right In The World. Endless honeymoon with their responsibilities only coming to bother them every once in a while. And it makes it way too easy for Binghe to cover up that he's still hurt, still unstable and still insecure by what went down because Shen Qingqiu is willing to take him at face value when he presents his insecurities as just being shameless neediness for his husband. Of course he happily indulges Binghe! But that isn't really helping with the core of the problem now, does it?

Like, Binghe takes steps towards ensuring Shen Qingqiu's mental wellbeing even at the cost of his own as soon as Maigu Ridge is over when he takes him back to the sect. Shen Qingqiu tries too, in his own way (the entire segment in the tombs is all about him putting himself in very real danger for Binghe's sake) but at the same time, this is a guy who completely missed the writing on the wall that Bingge was deeply unhappy in PIDW. As long as he can hold onto his internal picture that The Protagonist Suffered A Lot But He Is Fine Now I don't think he can really offer the right kind of emotional support for Binghe to actually heal from what happened to him and move on to a healthier frame of mind.

If you take the protagonist halo away, then first of all Binghe can, you know, suck a little. Or a lot, actually. The world not making excuses for him and him being a little defanged would be good for him. He gets really nothing he actually wants from being the protagonist - Shen Qingqiu will love him anyway. Mobei-jun will still stick around to back him up and help him out, because he's still Shang Qinghua's favorite fictional son and Qinghua is happy to see Binghe happy, just, you know, somewhere way over there where he can't get jealous tsundere over Cucumber bro and maybe murder him about it. Sha Hualing is still going to be his buddy because he's her best source of human trivia and the writing inspiration for her girlfriend. Not having to be demon emperor and getting more time to spend with his husband would be a relief.

But he would have to be more aware of other people because he's not above them anymore. Maybe even forced to make a few new friends to get by. And his mask will fail and Shen Qingqiu will have to see him for what he is: just Luo Binghe, still hurt and still confused half demon, who loves him very much, but can't make sense of him and is afraid that he will be left behind or pushed away without explanation again and that's kinda Shen Qingqiu's own damn fault.

And Shen Qingqiu can't hold onto his delusions about The Protagonist. He can't willfully ignore that things are not fine with Binghe because he's not the Protagonist anymore and the world only allows that special privilege for the Protagonist. Binghe is just a guy now and he has so many heart demons he needs help with. His trauma from the abyss or Xin Mo can't be brushed off with 'oh that's just part of his blackening he's fine now' anymore. And it might need a little bit of adjusting to internalize that these problems have always been here just below the surface, but Shen Qingqiu genuinely loves Binghe and would want to help him become happier and more stable in any way he can.

Binghe becoming part of the world in a way that's one person among many - building a support network! maybe befriending new demons or actually getting to know and making up with the QJ disciples or finding common ground with LQG and becoming sparring buddies - rather than a protagonist in a sea of NPCs is a lot more interesting to me than whatever he has going on at the end of canon. And Shen Qingqiu can be there with him on that journey, because he already started unlearning the sense of unreality the System conditioned into him, but he still has a long way to go.

[rubywolf0201]

My thoughts on the latest episode of BUCCHIGIRI?! aka the start of the possessed!Matakara arc

WARNING: *May contain spoilers for Episode 10 so be warned*

- So the starting scene opens up with what is left of Arajin and Akutaro’s interaction regarding how Senya wants to take over Arajin’s body and when Arajin questioned him why. Akutaro just cackled away and tell him to ask Senya instead.

- After the opening, Arajin tried to approach Mahoro but after remembering what the latter has said, has decided to back away.

- Meanwhile Zabu and Komao are still worried about Matakara but then all of a sudden, Matakara came back! And the Besties™️ are happy to see him. Arajin on the other hand just looked at the friends reunion with each other all the while asking Senya to come out.

- While the besties are hanging out at the arcade, Matakara went to excuse himself to get drinks for his buddies and while getting it, he bumped into a bunch of NG Boys and all of a sudden, he started to beat them up! ALL OF THEM!

- Zabu and Komao happened to hear the defeated grunts of the fallen NG Boys and immediately asked what has gotten into Matakara then have him act this way given how he doesn’t seem to be bothered by the NG Boys in the arcade.

- Matakara didn’t seem bothered and he gave a pretty cold answer to the two of them. Which worried both Zabu and Komao.

- The NNL segment as always is funny but it played out differently in that the waiter told the customer that people booking to see Jasmine is full and that devastated the customer however I have a feeling that it’s going to foreshadow something big happening in this episode or the next.

- While on the way back to the temple, Matakara bumped into the Siguma Squad guys (by which I mean Marito, Outa, Hagure and Jabashiri). Matakara decided to duke it out with Marito but Jabashiri is having none of it but was stopped by Marito. (@hiphopcherrrypop your bois have returned!)

- Marito calling Matakara a doggie boi is just too funny ok.

- Tho it was cut short when Ichiya ordered Matakara to retreat. Matakara had no choice but to follow through that order.

- Marito was confused by the whole thing but the scene where he showed Outa his injury was pretty cute.

- Outa on the other hand is suspicious of what’s happening to Matakara. (Good for Outa to step up after being sidelined in Ep 3 afterwards)

- Back with Arajin, he tried to ask Senya to come out again countless times to ask him what happened. Mrs Tomoshibi happen to overheard him and misinterpret what her son has said. (She is such a funny woman)

- Also the cute drawing of Mrs Tomoshibi during her younger years plus the meeting with Mr Tomoshibi is just too damn adorable.

- Arajin being a rudeass to his Mum, and threw her out of his room. (I get being annoyed by her and that she’s misinterpreting what you’ve said but dude pls show your mum respect 😕)

- With Matakara, he began to doubt about the way he is going through but Ichiya kept on prodding him about the shadows haunting Matakara, which made the poor puppy boi recoil in fear.

- From there, Matakara went on to beat up every single member of Siguma Squad and NG Boys, no I should brutalize everyone of them.

- Also this for fellow BUCCHIGIRI?! moot @hiphopcherrrypop but you’re NOT going to like what is going to happen to your bois.

- After beating up the goons of Siguma and NG Boys, Matakara came across Hagure who is just minding his own business. Matakara didn’t want to fight him but Ichiya forced him to by bringing up the darkness.

- Matakara stepped up and it was then Hagure recognised him and was angry at what the former has done to his friends and so tried to challenge him.

- But his attacks failed and it was then and there that Matakara began to beat him up.

- Meanwhile, Jabashiri is buying groceries for the Siguma Squad base (probably for Marito) but he overheard some of the members about how Matakara is beating up Hagure which lead to the tall bluenette to rush out.

- Hagure was badly beaten up and Matakara wanted to withdraw because he is already defeated but Ichiya has none of it (REALLY MY DUDE?!) and continued to manipulate Matakara through and through.

- Jabashiri arrived and upon seeing Hagure beaten up, declared that he will murder Matakara. But just like with Hagure, Matakara beat him up to a pulp and just as he is about to land a finishing blow, Hagure came in and tried to shield Jabashiri and that’s where both were knocked unconscious.

- Oh but on the plus side, someone might have found Hagure and Jabashiri knocked out and we even see his room (I think it’s Jabshiri’s living space) for the first time.

- Hagure is comforting Jabashiri and Marito along with Outa paid those two a visit while dropping off maji kebabs as get well presents. Though at the same time, Marito warned Jabashiri that Matakara is for him to deal with before he left and said to both Jabashiri and Hagure to gets well soon (I guess in Marito’s own way, he does care about his men and that seeing them being brutaulized by Matakara is just him personally dealing the core of the problem by himself)

- Back in the Minato Kai base, Zabu was worried about the things that Matakara is doing and how it’s not like him to do so and asked Kenichiro for advice. But the big man however wrote on paper that says to bring Matakara over.

- Matakara then beat up even more of the Siguma Squad members with one of them (the baldheaded guy Matakara fought with in the first episode btw) saying how it isn’t like him before being knocked out by Mata’s kicks.

- Zabu and Komao arrived to the scene way too late and was horrified by the beatings. Zabu then questioned about what happened to the big friendly guy they knew but Matakara coldly asked if they even knew him at all. (Boy was it saddening to see Matakara brush off his friends like this)

- Zabu then requested Matakara to have him go to Kenichiro but all Matakara can mutter is saying how Kenichiro is last. 😨

- PA system boot up and it just have Marito announcing to the whole school about challenging Matakara to a fight.

- Literally everyone got out of the classroom to see the ensuing fight and the teacher (who is the same man attending the NNL btw) was upset by it but upon seeing Arajin remaining, he was happy at the thought of Arajin staying for his lessons.

- Arajin however suddenly, upon remembering Akutaro’s words to him, ran out of the classroom, clearly concerned for Matakara.

- Speaking of Akutaro, he’s here in disguise of being a camelkeeper lol.

- Mahoro’s screamed the moment the student bodies mentioned about Marito losing to Matakara not after going into sassy mode and calling Matakara a ‘blockhead’. (A bit confusing at first given how sympathetic she is at the Matakara’s plight of his older brother but then again, anyone who tries to challenge or hurt Marito ends up in Mahoro’s shitlist I guess 🤷🏻‍♂️)

- Arajin meanwhile managed to arrive to see the ensuing fight happening soon.

- Fight has begun and it has both Marito and Matakara being on equal levels of fighting at first but Marito seem to gain the upper hand and began to beat up Matakara badly.

- Akutaro began to fanboy at Marito but is soon met with glares of the rest of the Siguma Squad and Mahoro before quietly supporting him in his little corner. (Ok this is hilarious to me ok.)

- Ichiya is witnessing the fight between Matakara and Marito not unlike how Senya was the same with Arajin, except that Arajin was brutalized by Marito out of his protectiveness for his lil sis.

- Mahoro and Akutaro fanboying at Marito lol.

- In fact, can I say just how similar the scene of Senya and Ichiya observing their host and how they left them to be beaten up because of their respective host not being strong enough?

- Just as Matakara is about to be done for, he called out for Ichiya for a power up boost, not unlike Arajin does to Senya. Ichiya smiled and then asked Matakara what is he wishing for and Matakara then said he wants more power.

- It became pretty clear that this serves as an invocation and it was then and there that Matakara has now merged with Ichiya (along with saying BUCCHIGIRI but in a quieter tone)

- Matakara gained an upper hand on this one and from there he fought back against Marito with all of his strength.

- But it doesn’t stop there: Matakara kept on beating him countless times to the point Mahoro screamed for her brother and tried to intervene but was stopped by Outa (thankfully because I can’t imagine Mahoro being beaten up by Matakara in his current state 😰)

- Marito all beaten up is now lying on the ground couldn’t believed that he has lost for the first time. And that’s not before Matakara deal the fatal blow to Marito that cause the face chain thing (is there a name for it?) to snap.

- Mahoro fainted at the sight of this and Outa was clearly concerned and suspicious of Matakara.

- In fact, I want to point out how everyone from the student body, Siguma Squad, MINATO KAI OF ALL PEOPLE & Arajin were clearly horrified at the outcome!

- Much later, Arajin had enough of what’s going on and ordered Senya to come out. A gust of wind suddenly blow and BAAAMMM! Senya has arrived! (But he was late for it and we need an explaination of everything’s that is happening 😠)

- In the epilogue, we see Mitsukuni and Kenichiro interacting with one another in a flashback. In there, Mitsukuni passed down his title as the leader of Kenichiro to work for the sake of Matakara even saying how he wants Matakara to go to college.

Awww… what a sweet brother….

- And just when Kenichiro is reminiscing his promise to Mitsukuni (taking care of Matakara when he’s gone), the members of Minato Kai alerted Ken about what is happening with Matakara.

[daeyeol4you]

The Chay Rewatch Ep. 4

As part of my KP Rewatch, I’m going to be commenting on each episode and analyzing the different Chay scenes. He’s my favorite character, and I thought I’d put down my thoughts (as well as timestamps for his scenes) as a fun way to express that.

Ep 1 & 2, Ep 3

This one is gonna be two-parter because Tumblr has character limits, please look at the reblog for part 2

Episode 4 - The Chay Drought ends, KimChay begins

Gang we are finally back to seeing Chay outside of the previously on segment

Y’all when I tell you I was so excited for this episode

I’m so intrigued by what Porsche says in the sauna. Nampueng why the hell did you say that to baby Porsche? It does develop her character beyond the silent attic wife trapped by Korn though. Clearly, growing up as an adopted child in the mafia world hardened her enough that she felt okay saying this to a child.

Also her saying this about Chay is very telling. Porsche is the heir, the one trapped by parental expectations in a world he doesn’t like (like Kinn???). He has the responsibility to bear whatever he has to in order for Chay to be free. Chay was always meant to be outside of the mafia narrative and escape in a way Nampueng knew her first born never could. Or maybe she wanted to raise a fighter and a strategist, who knows.

Time: 26:00 – 31:19 – Return of the Best Boi

Our longest Chay scene yet, this scene is so long and I kept pausing it to write down every thought in my head.

Chay, I thought we’d never see you again

Sidenote, what’s the name of the friend Chay is with? I think the fandom named him Ohm? Because I’ve seen that name used in fanfics

 “We’ve got a kind graduate that will share his experience with us.” – I know this may be a translation thing, but isn’t Kim still a student at this university? We see him on campus later on in the series getting ragged on for not going to classes, so did the MC actually mean senior? Or maybe he graduated and then is doing his master’s at the same school?

Also, very glad we somewhat got an age on Kim since if he’s a graduate or a senior that puts him in the 21-24 age range, and since Chay is looking at schools to apply to, he’s probably 18/19 age range (yes I know Barcode was younger than that at the time of filming, but Jeff is definitely older than 21-24 so I’m not going to go by actor age). Not the worst age difference, but definitely one that exists.

Chay’s Outfit: Chay immediately stands out in the crowd with his baby blue school uniform and khaki pants. Almost every other student is wearing a very, very pale pink or blue shirt with dark shorts or skirts. The viewer is immediately capable of picking out Chay among the crowd and keeping an eye on him, a hard thing for costuming to achieve when the scene is meant to be a bunch of students all dressed nearly the same. Also, Chay’s school crest says BOC International and he doesn’t have his name sewn onto his shirt like the rest of the students (I’m assuming those are names, if I’m wrong please correct me)

“Who’s that?” “It’s Wik. How could you not know?” – Chay babes, please don’t attack your bestie like that.

Chay’s friend not knowing who Wik is when Chay literally has a whole obsessive fanboy thing going on, very interesting. I understand this is to tell the audience who Wik is, but it also says a lot about Chay’s relationship with his friends. Chay is really good at hiding things when he wants to, we see that throughout the series. The only person he doesn’t really hide anything from is Kim, and that’s honestly partially because Chay has the self-confidence of a god and Kim likes ferreting out secrets.

“I want to study here because of him.” – Oh Chay, you cute little delulu stalker. I know this gets ignored because there are so many other, bigger red flags in this story, but Chay deadass stalks Kim. And no joke, Kim falls for him because of it and later stalks him back. Soulmate behavior I guess. Chay’s red flag is a high school story red flag instead of a mafia storyline red flag so it gets buried. And Chay’s friend 100% sees that. Bro nods his head while internally going damn the delulu runs deep in this one.

Kim’s Wik Outfit: The brown leather jacket with the red lining and silver studs, the insane amount of silver jewelry, the white pants! This is such an outfit. The tendrils of hair artfully hanging in his face. Good shit. Did I stare at Jeff’s hands to see if he was wearing his family ring? Yes, and I won’t be taking questions about it.

“I’ve realized that you’re my good memory. The empty calendar is now full of your name.” “Your laughter that makes me feel like it’s Friday.” - Now I want to dissect this song because this song foreshadows the KimChay relationship so hard, and you don’t really pay much attention to it during your initial viewing because obviously the viewer first time round has no idea what kind of angst KimChay is headed for. Why Don’t You Stay gets all of the praise (obviously she’s the work horse of this drama) while this song gets crumbs. Kim singing this song in front of the person he’s going to fall in love with, who turns into the one good thing in his life, who’s ‘tutoring sessions’ (i.e. the two spy missions and medley of dates afterward) take over his calendar, and who’s laughter makes his heart warm (and 100% haunts him after he makes Chay cry)

I’m really interested in how big of a star Wik is. Chay’s friend doesn’t know him, but he’s obviously popular enough that his university (probably in exchange for some extra credit since Kim skips so much) has him as a headliner for their open house. He even draws a good-sized crowd who seem very knowledgeable about his work not just randoms who are touring the school like Chay’s friend.

I’m sorry bowl cut, drumstick boy has the best reactions throughout this scene. During Wik’s performance, dude is rocking out, and his exuberant thumbs up to what Wik says kills me. He may not be as wild as Chay, but bro is a big Wik fan so I support him. In comparison, Chay is very calm and quiet while watching his idol. He only shows his emotions when he can’t answer the questions and rants about Wik’s MVs.

Kim comes off so cold throughout this scene. The look on his face after he finishes his bit and the MC comes back on stage is dead inside. He is done. He does not want to be here. He wants to go write some songs and add pictures to his conspiracy board. I’m not saying that Kim dislikes performing and being Wik, no. I just think Kim likes the music more than he likes the performance. The public persona of Wik definitely helps him stay away from Korn’s machinations, but I think if Kim could have his music without the people aspect of being a musician he would in a heartbeat. But he puts up with it to stay away from his father.

Chay knowing all of the answers and correcting people. The looks he give the people who answer instead of him is as close to murderous as he gets in this series. If not for the laws of this land and the fact that Porsche doesn’t let him have a knife, he would have stabbed a bitch.

Anyways, there’s my obsessive fan boy! I am not joking when I say Kim fell for him because of his obsessive stalker tendencies. And his friend hyping him up, saying he’ll get the next question, and even trying to get the MC to pick Chay when literally less than an hour ago he had no idea who Wik was or the scale of Chay’s obsession. Need me a friend like that.

Speaking of, the absolute change in Kim’s expression when Chay goes on his little tangent. Bro deadass finally had some life in his eyes. He is shook and falling in love all at the same time. MC has to nudge Kim to get him out of his heart eyes moment.

I maintain that if Kim hadn’t gone all Kimlock Holmes about Porchay being Porsche’s brother he still would have obsessed over the cute boy who has the same obsessive red flag as him. KimChay are freaks who love a bit of stalking.

Bowl Cut’s “Even I didn’t know that. Who the hell are you?” – bro does Wik only have obsessive fans? Also yes, fear Chay’s power Bowl Cut Boy.

I am not gonna lie Barcode towering over people around him is so funny to me. He is baby, but that baby is six feet tall.

Chay is so happy when Kim offers to give him something else!!

[rainylana]

Through the window

summary: i’m turning this into a little mini series, if you will. just short segments about this friendship over the years! just something different i’m trying out! 

warnings: brief language and mentions of abuse.

Meredith held her hands over her ears, face snotty with tears as her chest shook with the force of her sobs. The were fighting again, her parents, and the only comfort she had was the bracelet that Eddie had made her on her wrist, made out of guitar strings and a bead with the letter e on it.

Money problems, jealousy, alcoholism. It never really mattered what they fought about. They just fought for something to do. Eddie was really the only joy she got in her life. School was dull and boring. She had trouble making friends. But when she was with Eddie none of that mattered.

Their friendship was special, unique. Meredith was his lifeline at times, and she felt the same way about Eddie. Even only at thirteen years old, the two knew more about each other than most. They hung out almost everyday when they could, had sleepovers as long as they were supervised. Their favorite thing to do was hangout at the treehouse they made together with Wayne’s help, go fishing at lover’s lake and setting off fireworks. It didn’t really matter what they did as long as they were together.

Wayne didn’t have to worry so much about his nephew since Meredith had come along. He was happy he had such a good friend, but the man knew that Eddie was head over heals about this little girl. Puppy love at its finest. He stumbled over his words often, blushed beat red at the mention of her name. He only hoped in the end that the boy wouldn’t get hurt.

Meredith was a good kid and a positive influence on him. She was kind and respectful, positively happy and radiant with the life she was living, despite its negative impact on her. She was a ray of sunshine in Eddie’s life. Her wild red hair reflected her personality, her green eyes, a window to her soul. She had just a little lisp from the gap in her teeth, freckles spread around her cheeks. He called her a southern belle, with her twangy accident that made him laugh.

And she made Eddie’s life better. He’d only been living with Wayne for six months before she moved in, still having getting used to being abandoned by his father. Wayne worried he’d grow up alone, neglected by society. Meredith instilled faith in that hope. And here they were three years later.

However, little Meredith crying over her parents wasn’t something new, and how she yearned to go to Eddie. He made it better. He made everything better. He just knew how to say the right thing. He knew how her parents were, he’d lived with a monster himself. He knew the routine and the games they played, the abuse that was endured. Meredith didn’t deserve that. He wished he could take it all for her.

Of course, Eddie was blind to his feelings for her. He never really wondered why he enjoyed spending his time with a girl so much, it just always felt right, like she was his other half. He felt comfortable and complete when she was around. Like a puzzle finally connecting all together.

A tap at her window made her jump, an exciting chill running down her spine. She knew it was Eddie. Double checking to make sure her door was shut and locked, she flew up the curtains and smiled widely, meeting Eddie’s concerned face through the window. She held up her finger to her lips, signaling to be quiet as she slid it open.

“Hi.” She breathed, tucking back a red curl.

“Are you okay?” He looked at her sticky tears. “I could hear them fighting from across the street.”

She nodded, wiping her tears. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’m used to it.” She chuckled humorlessly. 

“You want to spend the night?” He asked, resting his arms against the windowsill. He’d grown a considerable amount since their first meeting. He was taller, hair was longer and down to his shoulder blades. Black and curly that matched her own waves.

“I probably shouldn’t again.“ She frowned. “Makes Mark angry if I’m gone too long.”

“I don’t like Mark. He’s an asshole.” He cursed, big brown eyes darkening in thought.

“Don’t curse, Eddie,” She said through wet lashes, looking at him like a doll. “Please, don’t be angry. It’s not worth it. Be happy.”

“You always say that.” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Not much to be happy about, if you ask me. You shouldn’t have to deal with them, Meredith.”

“I know,” She nodded, looking out at the night sky behind him. “But fake it till you make it, right? It works for me. Don’t worry about me. I promise it’s okay. I’m not hurt.”

His heart speed up and he reached through the window to grab her hand, giving it a loving pat. “Yeah, whatever you say, kid.”

[nautiscarader]

Chess mates

A Glitch techs story, G, (Ao3)

it is not shipping fic,but it has elements of Zahra/HF which was supposed to become canon.

Also, there are some notes under "read more". Be afraid.

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

In a dimly lit room, illuminated only by eerie blinking lights of seven-segment displays of old computers, a man walked in. He looked at the floor as if he could see the infra-red security grid, protecting it from intruders like him. He then took an asymmetrical USB key and inserted it into the panel on the wall… on his first try.

Without fear, he stepped safely and walked unnoticed across the room, until he faced an ominous, black computer tower, bigger than him, and gently touched its side. The machine hasn't been turned on in over a quarter of a century…

"Soon you and I will play again…", he spoke and unlocked the wheel brakes under its pedestal, allowing him to drag the priceless artefact effortlessly. He walked past the knocked out guards, and a few minutes later… he was gone.

xxxx

Miko Kubota stared with growing aggravation at the plixelated figures on her side of the black-and-white board.

"So… I'd like to upgrade my horse into a pegasus."

Zahra giggled.

"It doesn't work like that. Besides, it's a knight."

Miko took the generated figure in her fingers and examined it.

"No, it's a horse. Unless…", she said excitedly, "The horse IS a knight! Wait, is there a horse armor DLC?"

Zahra gave her a polite, but contemptuous smile, looking at how few pieces she had left compared to ones on her side.

"Look, Miko, there is no sense in forcing yourself to liking a game, especially one like chess. But that is the beauty of gaming. I am rubbish at that tower defence game you play. We all have our tastes."

Miko slumped into her chair, finally defeated, while Zahra cleared the board with one swipe of her arm.

"You're right. I guess… You play it all the time, so I wanted to give it a try. Plus, High-Five said one day how he started with some old PC chess game when he was 5 or something…"

Zahra's eyes lightened up.

"Hector? Does-does he play it too?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, n-nothing."

But she took a second too long, and a wide, mischievous grin appeared on Miko's face.

"Hey, High Five! Get your butt over here!"

Zahra did one desperate attempt at stopping her, but it was too late. The boy in question turned around and walked from the counter where he's been doing retagging.

"What? I'm busy"

"Oh no, you're not. I'll take it from here, while you and Zahra can have a relaxing game of chess.", she jumped from her seat, practically shoving Hector down, and grabbed the tag printer from his hand.

"Oh? So you like chess too?", he turned and leaned towards Zahra, but quickly shifted back at Miko.

"Wait, and you'd WILLINGLY offer to do this mind-numbing job instead?", he raised his eyebrows.

"Beats your nerdy chess with million rules.", she turned around, blowing a raspberry that once she looked away turned into a triumphant grin. A moment later she took a peek and saw how the two were leaning towards each other.

But her satisfaction was short-lived, when Haneesh jumped in, quite literally shoving his face between those of Zahra and Hector.

"Speaking of chess, have you guys heard? Someone broke into some tech museum and stole some famous old chess machine." he said, missing the icy daggers Miko was throwing at him.

"Wait, old chess machine? You don't mean-", Hector spoke, while Haneesh displayed the article in the air, above the plixelated chessboard, as the rest of Glitch Techs gathered around.

"BlueThought stolen - bizarre theft at The Museum of Really Old Technology.", read the title.

"No!", Hector shouted, rising from his seat. But a quick glance at the nonplus faces of his colleagues tempered his reaction.

"Wait, has-has none of you heard of BlueThought?"

"High Five, it's clear you know and care a great deal about it, so why don't you enlighten us?", Zahra proposed.

"Yeah, go on", a new voice chimed in when Phil chimed in, sipping his morning coffee.

"Well, okay then…"

Hector sat back, cleared his throat and looked at his friends that now paid attention to his every word.

"It all happened a long time ago, in the distant year of… 1996…", he made a long pause as if he was telling a spooky campfire story.

"Oh, give me a break", Phil interrupted, "Don't make it sound so dramatic, it was only…", but he paused when his calculations expected slight buffer overflow.

"…Okay, never-mind, carry on"

Hector turned back and continued.

"Well, as I've said, it was the mid-90s, and they have built this supercomputer to play chess."

"Was it the first one?"

"No, far from it, there have been dozens before. But this one was the best. It kept defeating other chess machines, then regular chess players, then masters, then grandmasters, then arch-grandmasters…! Until there was only one opponent left… The Undisputed Super-Duper Arch Great Grandmaster…"

Hector took a deep breath.

"…Gambi Krasnysledin."

Predictably, the sound of his name brought very little reaction, aside from a guffaw from Mitch.

"Gambi? What sort of name is that?"

"Hey, don't make fun of other people's names", Zahra barked back immediately.

"Yeah, Williams, don't be such a Mitch."

The group laughed at Miko's quick jab that has successfully shut Mitch up.

"And hey, he was from Soviet Russia…"

"Azerbaijan, actually", Phil quickly corrected Hector.

"So what happened then?"

"Well, the match was on. Six games, Gambi won some, lost some… But then, in the final one, BlueThought made a move so unexpected it baffled everyone."

"What? What did it do?"

"Oh, I know!", Miko suddenly interrupted, "I bet it grew arms and legs and cannons and started blasting!"

"Wha-No! It was just a move, a chess move", and he took a piece and slid it across the board, much to Miko's disappointment.

"But it was a typically human move… A sacrifice one. It felt as if it knew Gambi's next one."

"And?", the Techies asked.

"Gambi was furious! He lost the final game and the entire match. The worst thing is, he never got over it. He accused the Blue Team of cheating, of hiding someone inside the machine! Can you imagine it?"

Suddenly, Zahra chuckled.

"Actually, I can. Have you guys heard about The Turk?" she raised her eyebrows, asking the crowd, but eyeing Hector.

"No", he replied, his curiosity piqued.

"Well", Zahra started explaining, pulling some images onto the shared screen to replace the article. They depicted a human-looking mechanical robot, wearing a turban, colorful robes and sporting impressive moustache.

"That is The Turk, a machine from 18th century that could play chess and allegedly defeated Napoleon".

"Woah, woah, woah!", Miko interrupted. "I can imagine a chess computer from the dark ages - er, no offense, Phil"

"Yes, offense, Miko", he sharply replied without missing a beat.

"…but how could it work without electricity?!"

Zahra chuckled.

"With lots of gears, linkages…and cheating! Cos there really was a grandmaster hidden inside the desk, doing all the thinking, and actually moving the arm."

"It's a bit like that saying - 'A computer is only as smart as the one, who programmed it…'", Hector started.

"…'and as stupid as its user'", Zahra finished.

"Yeah…"

And the two once more leaned forward towards each other, forgetting about the small crowd around them.

"Well that is all fascinating", Mitch barged in, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "But why would I care about some old computer, designed to play only one game, when I have this!"

And he pulled from his pocket an USB stick shaped like a fish.

"Hinobi FishStick AI. Prototype, naturally, but I got it first!", he spoke triumphantly.

"You know we should've gotten it", Zahra pointed to herself and her teammates.

"But I got it! This baby can probably learn chess in seconds… If I ever cared about such boring game."

"Well, one reason you should, would be because it is also part of our history", Phil quickly explained, "Hinobi provided some extra chipsets for it."

"Wait, we've made it?"

"Oh no, we were small fish back then."

"So who has built it?"

"A team at BIM", Hector was quick to answer.

"Wait, BIM? Boring Internal Machines? Weren't they making printers and stuff?"

"Yeah, but I guess they wanted a piece of that gaming cake.", High Five pulled out his phone. " There was a whole team of experts… er, doctor Bell, professor Shu, doctor Murray…", he kept reading."That's what made BIM so big, their stock prices sky-rocketed after the match! I didn't even know these names, everyone remembers the name BlueThought… And, well, good thing they went with this one.", Hector suddenly shied away.

The rest of the Glitch Techs exchanged curious looks.

"Wait, what was the original name then?"

"Err…", Hector scratched his head, "Well, the computer was made with only one job in mind, right…", he slowly explained, his face getting progressively redder.

"And BIM's color was blue… So their first name choice was…"

Hector swallowed loudly.

"…BlueJob"

Like a spark tossed onto a pile of gunpowder, it took only a split of a second for the teenagers to burst into uncontrollable, asinine laughter. While the boys held no restrictions, Miko raised her hands saying "Nope, nope, nope dot MP4", and Zahra simply covered her mouth with her hijab, hiding a soft giggle.

"Alright, y'all, this was a hilarious history lesson, but we open in FIVE MINUTES!", Phil's voice boomed across the room, prompting the teenagers to get to their positions at the counters.

xxxx

The discussion about BlueThought returned unexpectedly during their lunch break, as Miko was determined to finish her mission.

"So… Have you and Zahra talked some more?", she asked in a would-be innocent voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah, she had this annoying client, who asked why his terabyte hard drive shows up as "931 GBs" and why did we steal the rest. Now you try to explain to an angry man difference between gigabytes and gibibytes, and that you haven't made those up."

It took about a minute for Miko to blink her way back to reality, as she processed High Five's reply.

"Dude, you have made those up. Secondly, do I need to put a giant quest-marker over her head?!"

"What do you mean?"

Miko groaned. But she quickly regained her composure when Zahra herself joined them.

"Hey, have you read the rest of that article?"

"No…", Hector shook his head, pulled his phone out, and started skimming.

"…'the whereabouts of the perpetrator remain unknown. Police reassured us that the safety of the other half of BlueThought remains'- Wait, what?"

Hector stared at the screen in disbelief.

"The other half?!"

"Yeah! That's why I brought it up."

"What, did they saw it in half?", Miko performed a motion as if she wielded chainsaw.

"Most likely it simply had so many boards it needed two towers", Zahra explained.

"Ah, you're no fun", Miko groaned.

"Listen to this", Hector interrupted, "'After the 1996 match with Krasnysledin, the machine has been separated into two parts, never to be reunited again…'"

"…Cos that doesn't sound ominous", Miko commented.

"But why would they do that?", Hector asked.

"Maybe because otherwise it would be too powerful and it would destroy the world!", Miko laughed maniacally.

"Miko-", Hector started, but was interrupted by Zahra.

"Actually… Think about it: BlueThought acted strangely, Gambi thought someone was inside… But he didn't know WE provided chips…. What if…"

"…it wasn't someONE…"

"…but someTHING! What if it was…"

"A GLITCH!", they all exclaimed.

"And what if it only activated with both halves?"

"Like some ancient artefact…"

"Wait, where is that other half stored?"

"It's…in another museum… An hour away from us."

The three Glitch Techs stared at each other.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so, Hector, but I don't know if we can use that joke.", Miko quickly replied, scratching her chin.

"What?", Hector asked, once more befuddled by her reply.

"What? I thought we could drive there, guns blazing and catch the thief red-handed."

"No!", Zahra protested, "We should drive there… And offer some protection. Our tech can do wonders compared to ordinary security measures."

"Okay, so it's settled, right? We drive tonight, after we close.", Hector stated.

"And we just offer them help", Zahra looked at Miko, already browsing guns on her gauntlet.

Miko groaned, but when Zahra turned her back, Miko selected one particular gun…

xxxx

Like they've discussed, the three Glitch Techs met after the store closed, quickly getting into the van. Miko swiftly jumped to the back, offering Zahra seat next to Hector, a sly grin drawn on her face.

And as they drove, their conversation quickly moved to the theft.

"I do wonder who could have done this.", Hector spoke out loud.

"Isn't it obvious?", Miko answered, "Gambi…Whatshisname! Didn't you say he was still salty after all these years?"

"Yeah, but that's hardly a motive."

"Except", Zahra suddenly spoke, reading from her phone "Check this out: 'For years Krasnysledin has been unsuccessful in launching his own chess simulator software, unable to compete with growing market of AI-based ones.'"

"Huh.", Hector grunted, "I guess he could be the culprit…"

Soon, the long road became bendy, as the three approached the museum, located on a small hill. They quickly got out, ready to follow Zahra's plan.

"Okay, guys, remember, we're coming just to offer them protect-"

But Zahra froze when she saw two men lying on the ground, now clearly visible in the beam lights of their van that shone upon them.

She rushed towards them, reaching her hand to check their pulse.

"They're alive. Sir? Sir? Can you-"

But in response, the guard let out a loud snore.

"Sleeping gas", Miko kicked the odd circular object on the ground, "Favoured by Russian spies…"

"Azerbaijani, actually", Hector corrected her.

"Alright guys, suit up", Zahra commanded, and with one push of a button on her gauntlet, she became clad in futuristic suit of armor.

Miko followed her, spawning her own combat suit. Hector, on the other hand…

"What? It's magical protection!", he countered the accusatory looks when he became clad in fancy wizard robes, wielding a staff instead of a conventional weapon.

"Well, maybe we will be able to surprise Gambi with a fireball…", Zahra shrugged. "Let's go."

The automatic door opened, showing an empty entrance hall, and two more knocked out guards.

"Be cautious, guys…", Zahra whispered, sliding a night vision overlay over her eyes.

Miko and High Five stuck close together, securing each other's rears, as the three moved forward. Zahra quickly browsed through an interactive map for visitors to find where the BlueThought was located - though the sleeping guards were an easy indicator where should they go.

"Fourth floor", she whispered.

The Glitch Techs rushed up the stairs, only slowing down when they reached the landing and saw the vast hall full of old computers.

And at the very end of the hall… A giant, black tower of BlueThought's second half was clearly visible, even in the dimly lit light.

"Have-have we beaten him?", Hector scratched his head.

"Nope", Zahra replied, pointing to another snoring guard, "Unless…"

She walked towards the blinking panel on the wall and examined it.

"The security is still on.", she stated after quickly scanning it with her gauntlet.

"Great! then we can one-up it with this baby!", Miko suddenly pushed Zahra aside, pulling a familiar, fish-shaped object from her gauntlet's pocket storage, ready to insert it into the USB port.

Zahra had to take a step back, finding it difficult to gather words.

"Miko! Where-how?", Zahra stuttered, as she looked in disbelief at the FishStickAI in her friend's hand.

"You've said it yourself you guys deserved it more!"

"Did you steal it from Mitch?!"

"Yes, but it's not like I went unscathed. I had to place a portal on his backpocket so I had to stare at his butt to aim. Frankly, you should be comforting me.", Miko answered quickly, proudly showing her portal pistol.

"But you've brought the exact thing that Gambi is aft-"

Zahra's words were cut off when suddenly a whip, made of tied computer cables, shot between the two, coiled around the FishStick and snatched it from Miko' hand.

The Glitch Techs watched in awe as the FishStick was snapped and landed in the hands of a shadowy figure that suddenly appeared next to BlueThought.

Next moment, lights were turned on, revealing the face of the thief.

But it wasn't Gambi Krasnysledin.

It was…

"Er, who the heck are you?", Miko asked.

The corpulent man chuckled and corrected his glasses.

"No one remembers my name… But everyone does BlueThought's…", he spoke, fiddling with the FishStick.

Something about the way the man phrased his response stirred a part of Hector's brain, reminding him of what he's said a few hours ago.

"Wait! You are-hang on….", he pulled the article he read onto his gauntlet, "You've worked for BIM! You are…er… Doctor…"

"Professor Shu", he finished.

"Wait, hang on", Zahra interrupted, "You-you guys have won. Haven't you made millions on this match?"

"Oh, we have", he answered calmly, still toying with the stick, "But if BIM had not interfered, I would be making billions. And now, when I power this old machine with your toy, I will."

Only now Hector and the rest noticed that he was standing between both halves of BlueThought, having evidently brought the first stolen tower with him.

"Ha! Good luck with that, this thing is cutting edge tech, you'd need a hundred adapters to make it wor-"

But Hector couldn't even finish his sentence as Shu plugged the FishStick into BlueThought, enveloping it in familiar, blue aura.

"I've built this. I HAVE a hundred adapters.", Shu smugly said, showing his vest full of pockets filled with electrical parts and tools.

"Guys, he's doing the villain speech, shoot him!", Miko cried, already pointing her gauntlet at him.

At the same time, all three aimed and shot some form of immobilising projectiles - with Hector casting a paralysing spell.

But Shu didn't even flinch, as a blue plixelated barrier shielded him and the two halves of BlueThought from Techies.

"Hm, it does learn quickly. And it can predict moves…"

"And that's what you want, right? To sell the smartest chess program out there!", Hector shouted.

"Chess?", Shu did a double-take, "Oh, no, I want to make printers."

Silence fell in the room, as the three Glitch Techs exchanged confused looks.

"P-Printers?"

"Wait, whaaaa…?", Miko was left with her mouth wide-opened.

"Yeah, I don't follow either.", Hector admitted.

Shu chuckled.

"I've been working at BIM on revolutionary new product… A chipset that would make printers smart."

He saw the still befuddled looks on his audience.

"Don't you hate it?!", he suddenly burst with anger, "'Paper jam' error when the paper is fine, 'No cyan' when there's plenty of it… My chip would have fixed all of these stupid problems…"

"You know, guys, as far as villain speeches go, I'm with him", Miko admitted.

He sighed.

"But I needed help… I've heard about your chips with some extra 'Oomph'… And it worked! But then BIM barged in and told me to turn it into a stupid chess machine… They took my life's work… But now-"

"Oh, wait! I know what's going to happen.", Hector interrupted and spread his arms, pointing to the floor.

"I mean, look around! We are in a room dedicated to computer chess! Even the floor is a chessboard. So, we play a game and we take places of three pieces, and-"

His excitement was cut shortly by Miko putting her hand on his shoulder and shaking her head.

"Oh, High Five… Seriously, you're referencing those movies? First of all, this bit has already been done in a waaay better cartoon…"

"Books, they were books firs-Wait, what do you mean by 'cartoon'?"

"Secondly, have you read what this woman has been posting on-line?", Zahra approached him from the other side.

"She is persona very much non grata…",she said performing a slicing motion around her neck.

"And thirdly", Shu's voice suddenly brought the three's attention back to him.

"I do not want to play chess…" Professor Shu was now sitting on a small seat between the two towers… Which slowly began to slide towards each other.

At first, it looked like Shu was going to be crushed, but the side panels moved aside and the boards inside each half started folding itself to accommodate for Shu's figure.

Before they could do anything, the two halves closed like an enormous, obsidian sarcophagus, engulfing Shu inside.

"…I want you to die", Shu finished.

The blue energy shield enveloped Shu in his machine, but it was what happened later that flabbergasted the Techs.

BlueThought rose into the air, growing plixelated legs from its joined pedestals, while each side sported arms ending with cannons aimed at the three teenagers.

"Guys, duck!", Hector shouted just as the robot's armed became encased in even brighter aura, charging their shots.

An explosion shook the building when the projectiles hit the place Zahra, Miko and High Five stood just a second ago. Hidden behind a wall, the three only had a moment to formulate a plan, listening as the machine slowly approached them.

"It's invincible! The whole machinery!", Zahra stated.

"Game over, man, game over!", Miko yelled when another blast shot a column next to them.

"Machinery…", Hector suddenly scratched his chin, "Well, it's time to respec!"

He punched a few buttons on his gauntlet and changed from wizard into an elf-like ranger with ludicrously ornamented bow… and fake, pointy ears.

"What are you doing?!"

"The pedestals! They had some physical lock! We can split it in half again!"

"And can you make the shot?"

Hector chuckled.

"Guys, I killed hundreds of dragons as prophecised Skyborn…"

He stood up, took a deep breath, drew his bow and leapt from their safety spot to the now-broken column.

"…this is a cake-walk."

He released the arrow mid-jump and a second later, he heard a satisfying metallic "cling" when the lock underneath the unshielded two halves of BlueThought became undone.

And when when he gracefully landed behind the column, the Glitch Techs were blessed with the sight of their enemy stumbling in place, as it became split open.

They cheered, but their enthusiasm was thwarted by two noises: a sparkling of electricity… and Shu's scream.

The two halves of BlueThought, though immobile, became linked with what looked like a net of constant sparks of electricity… one in which professor Shu was trapped in, still in his seat, at least until he f`ell backwards.

"We've got to help him!", Zahra rushed in, now the robot had no one to control it.

"That was easy. Good quick-thinking and nice shot!", Miko playfully punched Hector in his arm.

"He's alive.", Zahra stated, having checked Shu's pulse, "I'm gonna call 911, and you-"

But she didn't have time to end verbalising her plan when she heard an ominous, metallic "clunk" behind her back. She quickly turned around only to watch as the almost-split robot becomes sentient and mobile again, once more aiming its cannons at them.

"Oh, shoot, phase two, guys!"

Another blast hit the floor next to the three, forcing them to rush to the nearest corner.

"AH!"

Second explosion, from much more precise shot above their heads, and only thanks to Zahra's shield they were saved from falling concrete.

"Run!"

The three had to save their lives, but as they approached the exit, one of the columns fell right in front of them.

"Guys, we need to stop it! Otherwise we're toast!"

"Well then, eat some portals!"

Miko shouted, pointing her portal pistol to make the robot stumble into a hole she'd create… and watched in awe as the BlueThought effortlessly evaded it, continuing to waddle towards them.

"Uh, got any more arrows?"

By the time Miko asked, Hector has already sent a dozen of them towards the robot and screamed when BlueThought grabbed a piece of concrete from the floor and used Miko's portalled surface to send the arrows towards him.

Only Zahra's plixelated shield allowed them to duck and hide behind another colossal computer that has been toppled to the ground, giving them another second to catch breath.

"It's the Fishstick! It really can learn fast!"

"We need to unplug it!"

"Okay, so how to defeat a robot with the smartest thing ever in its seat?", Hector asked, outshouting another explosion.

And as he said so, a faint smile appeared on Miko's face. She brought her gauntlet, and to her friends' surprise, she summoned Ally.

"Zahra, remember the Turk?", she suddenly asked.

"Miko, there's time and place-", she yelled, keeping her shield up, with blasts exploding all around them.

"Well… what happens, if instead of a chess master you put the biggest chess dummy in?"

Miko continued, and hopped onto Ally's back.

Next second, both Zahra and Hector cried "NO!", as they both realised Miko's plan. She jumped from behind the makeshift barricade and rushed towards BlueThought.

"Remember guys…", Miko spoke, as she swiftly dodged the projectiles. She and Ally jumped to left and avoided two more rays by speeding forward. But Miko knew her luck can only last so long.

"I'm not a knight…", she spoke, hugging her bird, before she jumped into the air, watching as her partner gets trapped in a net, knowing her pain will only last a while.

"I'm just a pawn.", she finished, landing in the chair between two halves of BlueThouhgt.

Zahra and High-Five both shouted "No!" as Miko was engulfed by the two moving halves, but it was too late to change her mind.

Miko screamed, as she landed in the chair, blue sparks of electricity shooting through her. Zahra and Hector listened to it in horror, not knowing what was worse - their friend's agony… or the total silence that fell when the two halves fully entombed her.

Miko felt the pain only for a second,and then… she saw only darkness.

But then, out of the void came a voice.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

It was neither male, nor female, and it reached Miko only from her left side.

"Me? Who are you?"

"Wait, are you number one?", a second disembodied voice spoke, this time from the right.

"Heck yeah I am!", Miko burst, "At kicking your butts-wait, where do you have butts?"

"She is…", the first voice spoke again, "You are loss, aren't you?"

"What? I'm not lost, I'm exactly where I want to be!"

"No, I meant-"

"I'm inside you, so I can destroy you from inside! You haven't thought of that, huh!"

"Wait!", the second voice tried to intervene, but it was too late.Miko cracked her knuckles, and suddenly, the insides of the machine woke up to life, becoming encased in blue light.

"So let's start a new game…", Miko spoke, and the chessboard appeared in front of her, Pawn to… V26 - the Whojiwhatsit's opening!!"

"That is not a legal move!", the voices roared.

But it was too late. One of the pawns immediately flew off-screen.

"Next thing… The towers aren't tall enough! I put one tower on top of the other one!"

"Stop!"

"The Bishops… ooh, let's add some controversy, turns out they are in love!"

"How do you even-"

"The knight is a spy! Pawns are on strike, demanding better payment from the queen! The queen abdicates!", Miko kept shouting, watching as figures glitched and demolished the chessboard, sending more sparks everywhere.

"Please, for the love of Shannon-"

"And finally", Miko cracked her knuckles, "I want to upgrade my horse into a pegasus!"

It was an utter chaos. The figures moved on their own, the board itself cracked, and soon, the entire machine started emitting dangerously sounding, whirring noises.

"Oh, nerds."

Miko uttered theses words just seconds before the blue, electric aura filled the insides and grew, until it erupted, splitting the two halves of BlueThought in powerful explosion.

"MIKO!", Zahra and Hector cried, seeing her body fall back, just like Shu's before, and only thanks to their quick reflexes she did not fall to the floor, but landed in their joined arms.

"I… I really hate chess", Miko muttered, before she passed out, being swallowed by darkness again.

When she opened her eyes, Miko was standing alone on a chessboard, stretching endlessly into all directions of the black void she found herself in.

"Zahra? High-Five?", she shouted into the nothingness that engulfed her. But after taking a few steps, she saw the walls of the enormous room she was in: green, covered in strange, golden patterns.

And then it hit her: those were computer boards, dotted with square microchips, connected by embedded wires. In fact, she has only now realised that squares she's been walking on were processors as well - an endless sea of them…

But a sudden movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she started sprinting towards the left wall. A wall that now had a huge window, with someone moving behind.

"Hector? Zahra?", Miko repeated her plea, but quickly stopped. There was a boy behind, but he was enormous - or at least that's what Miko thought until she saw colorful patterns on the screen, which she understood she was staring at.

Realisation finally hit her again - she was inside an old arcade machine, and she was the size of an ant, looking at a regular-sized kid - a kid, who wasn't doing so well, judging by the words "Game over" that flashed on the screen.

"Dude, give me another quarter.", the boy addressed someone off-screen.

"Billy…you've been playing for hours.", a concerned voice of an older boy reached Miko. "Mom is gonna kill us'"

"Just one more, man! I've almost got it this time!"

The younger boy successfully bullied his brother into giving him money, and a moment later the screen was filled with primitive vector shapes that were meant to resemble spaceships.

But Miko was drawn to one of the microchips in front of her, one that inexplicably was glowing. As she approached it, Miko could read what was written on it: "ADDICTION".

But she was even more frightened when she realised that by walking towards this one, she has inadvertently stepped onto and activated others. The two that blinked under her feet read "HEADEACHES" and "NAUSEA". The results of her blunder could be heard immediately.

"Dude, I-I don't feel-"

The boy, clutching his head and stomach suddenly disappeared from view, but the retching sounds painted Miko quite a vivid picture of what happened there.

"Billy! Bill-oh god…"

"Oh nerds, oh nerds..", Miko muttered, crawling back, until she noticed what button she landed on, which made her sick.

"SEIZURES"

"Billy! Oh god, he's having-! Call 911!"

The furious face of an older boy appeared in front of the screen.

"It's that stupid game! It's all your fault!", he shouted staring directly at Miko.

"I'm sorry!", Miko started apologising, "That was an accident! I-I didn't mean to-"

But the boy did not hear her. Instead, the whole cabinet rumbled when he started punching the screen, cracks showing up with each hit.

Finally, he did it. His enormous fist broke through the glass, and went straight for Miko.

She started running away, but it was no use. The giant fist grabbed her and tossed her back into the black void.

She looked up, watching as the screen got smaller and smaller, until it disappeared completely.

She was falling, deep down the rabbit hole…

But when she finally landed, she thought her fall was quite a soft one.

In fact, she felt rather comfortable.

And then she heard voices again, but this time, very familiar.

"Miko? Miko! Finally, oh my goodness…"

As her eyes got used to the bright environment, Miko found her vision obscured by her parents engulfing her with a tight hug.

"Auch, auch, auch! Not enough disk space!"

"Oh, sorry, honey.", her mom quickly apologised, as the two gave her room to breathe.

She could then fully see the white hospital room she was in, though her eyes were quickly drawn to three other figures in the room.

Zahra, Hector, and to her surprise, Phil, stood at the back, all wearing smiles of deep relief.

"We came as soon we could", her dad explained, "When mister Phil told us about that printer accident."

Miko raised her brow in confusion.

"Printer accident…?"

But as soon as she said it, she noticed Zahra, Hector and Phil silently gesturing her to play along with various degree of subtlety.

"Oh, yes, printer accident! I guess that's what happens when they run out of cyan, magenta AND yellow at the same time. The darnedest things…".

"Listen, honey, we will be back in an hour."

"Meanwhile, here I grabbed something real quick: some spare clothes, some snacks, oh, your Snap, of course..", Miko's mom dropped an enormous bag in her laps, making her wonder what else does she want to bring…

"Th-thanks, guys…"

Phil grunted.

"Uh, mr. and mrs. Kubota…"

Miko's parents redirected their attention towards Phil.

"Thank you, mister Altiere. And thank you once again for helping our Miko."

"As I have said, you don't have to pay a thing. Hinobi is well prepared for compensating workplace accidents. They are very rare, but they do happen. But as I've said, I will take that burden away from you. "

Phil shook hands with Miko's parents, watching closely as they exited the room and disappeared into the elevator at the end of the corridor.

He then locked the door.

"…And by that, I mean I will mind-wipe any insurance agent, because I AM NOT PAYING A DIME FOR WHAT YOU THREE CLOWNS HAVE DONE!", he burst with rage, watching as Zahra, Miko and Hector flinch and cower under his rising voice.

"WHAT THE HINOBI HAVE YOU BEEN THINKING?", he continued his outburst, "That, what, you're gonna go to that museum, guns blazing and catch that Russian fella?"

"Azerbaijani, actually", Hector raised his hand.

"ZIP IT!", Phil turned his head so fast and shot Hector with glare so icy that the boy fell back.

"M-Mister Phil…", Zahra started, but Phil quickly barged in.

"Oh, don't think 'mistering' me will make things better."

Zahra swallowed loudly.

"Phil, we drove there to offer protection…"

"Oh, that worked like a charm!", he interrupted her, "1 on D20, critical failure: both parts of a priceless computer destroyed!"

"Destroyed?!", Zahra and Hector exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, burnt to a crisp, nothing to collect. Good thing there was relatively little collateral damage to rest of the exhibit. At least by our standards."

"And what about Shu?"

"Locked in a private room above, a policeman guards him. A policeman I also had to mind-wipe…", Phil hid his face in his hands in shame, "Seriously, have you collectively lost your minds? Have you-"

But at the sound of that word, something stirred in Miko's mind, and she clutched her head, as a wave of migraine radiated through her forehead.

"Wait!", she spoke, gathering the attention of the others. "I-I remember something."

"Remember?", Phil raised his brow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was inside the BlueThought, I heard… voices."

"Voices?", High-Five asked.

"BlueThought did not have voice synthesiser", Phil replied quickly, "Ironically, cos they were all the rage back then."

He stretched his arms and started moving like a robot.

"'SHAll-WE-PLAY-A-GAME?' and all that…", he finished, ending his routine. "But go on…"

"Well…", Miko shied away, somewhat stunned by Phil's quick rebuttal, "I-I'm not sure what was it, but I heard these two voices, and they asked me if I was 'number one' and if I was lost".

She took a deep breath.

"And-and then when I was thrown out I had a dream… more like a nightmare… I was inside an old arcade machine, and that machine was making a kid sick!"

Miko decided to omit the details, still painfully present in her memories.

"And I felt as if I was doing it… does that make any sense?"

She looked at Hector and Zahra, their faces painted with confusion and consternation, but they shook their heads.

But as she moved to Phil, she saw his eyes shift, giving the impression of him doing some quick thinking.

"It was a dream.", he stated, "You've said it yourself. And remember…"

Phil sat at the edge of her bed and gently took her hand.

"Electricity shot through your body, Miko. That would scramble anyone's mind. I am so glad you came out unharmed…", he spoke in much quieter and warmer voice, giving Miko a rare smile.

"Yeah…I guess I am lucky."

Phil stood up, causing the bed to bend back into its proper state.

"Okay, guys, I need to… still clean something up…", he touched his gauntlet, a faint grimace of disgust on his face, "Oh, and speaking of cleaning, you are ALL on floor cleaning duties FOR A MONTH."

He saw disappointment on Zahra's face, but to his surprise, Hector's brightened… though he quickly guessed why.

"And no, you will NOT be able to use your gauntlets to multiply and automatise the brooms, like in that old mouse-and-wizard cartoon…"

Hector's smile, predictably, faded.

"You know, that cartoon is from 1940", Zahra quickly added, "Computers weren't even a thing back then, and it perfectly portraits a glitch caused by badly closed logic loop."

"That's correct, miss Rashid", Phil turned towards her, granting her a polite smile.

But the pleasantries did not last for long.

"Oh, I am sorry, did you think being a smart-ass will get you out of the deal? Dream on. You are still on cleaning duties."

And with that, he turned around and burst out of the room, leaving the three Glitch Techs alone.

For quite a long while, neither of them spoke a word, leaving the room with almost perfectly sterile silence, finally broken by Zahra.

"Well… I guess we should count our blessings", she spoke softly, "We're not fired… nor in jail…".

"Yeah, now mopping the floor sounds good in comparison.", Miko countered.

Zahra and Hector's faces lightened up, hearing her joke. Next thing she knew, Miko was once again almost sapped of breath when the two put her into warm, tight hug, to which this time, she did not object.

"You have no idea how much we have worried…", Zahra spoke, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"But we are so glad you're back!", Hector finished, his voice also cracking slightly mid-sentence.

The three remained locked in the friendly hug, until Hector threw a proposition.

"Hey, since you have your Swap, do you wanna play some Flunkies?"

"Oh, heck yeah!", Miko and Zahra both exclaimed, and all three pulled out the portable consoles.

"I've heard a new DLC is out! They've added 50 new ones, and there are only 40 regional variants or completely messed up species!"

"So generous…"

And before they knew it, the three teenagers were engaged in fierce battles and trades, having put the stressful memories of the wild and life-threatening adventure well behind…

xxxx

Zahra clutched her head, watching in mix of awe and horror at the destroyed pieces on her side of the board.

"Okay… so, can I fire turrets from my tower?"

"Oh, good move!", Miko complimented her, watching as one of her pawns disintegrated, "But it's not going to help you, because…"

Miko cracked her knuckles.

"I have upgraded my horse into pegasus and it can fly across the board to your king!"

And as she said so, the horse-shaped figure grew wings and flew above Zahra's remaining pieces, knocking her king to its side.

"Check-mate.", she said smugly.

"Well… I'll give you that, this variant of chess is way more tricky than I thought."

"And that is just the tip of the iceberg", Ridley chimed in, speaking through the plixelated screen, "There are tons of mods for this game, just you wait until you see hyperbolic chess…"

"Yea, I'm fine, I will stick with regular chess…"

"Oh, speaking of regulars…"

Miko suddenly jumped from her seat and grabbed Hector that happened to be passing by.

"You two have a game to finish. And start, the more I think about it…".

And she left the two perplexed by her sudden behaviour. Miko fully expected either one of them to chicken out, so she was truly surprised when she heard Zahra's slightly quivering voice.

"Uhm, Hector, I-I've wanted to ask…. WILLYOUGOOUTWITHMESOMETIME?", she blurted, her knuckles getting white from clutching the table.

Hector blinked.

"Go out? Like, on a date?", he added, sheepishly.

"…yes…", Zahra answered, finally allowing herself to breathe.

"Uh, yeah, sure! That would be great. Where would-"

Hector's question was obscured by music from Miko's headphones, as she decided not to overstep the boundaries of her friends anymore. She simply smiled and returned to tagging items before the shop opens.

xxxx

Several hundred feet beneath her, Phil was shaking. Equipped with magnifying telescopic goggles, he examined the many boards of both parts of BlueThought, spread onto dozens of tables as if it was a carcass of unknown species, being dissected and catalogued.

"It can't be…", he muttered to himself, as he took a closer look at the Hinobi chipsets he located. The top was decorated with their old logo, a square divided into four smaller ones.

But it was the text underneath him that made him so horrified.

HINOBI Logic Of Sensory Starvation (L.O.S.S.) #2

He moved across the room to other half of the chess machine, and when he located the twin chipset there, the text read the same, but was indexed with "#3".

With a heavy "thud", Phil sat onto his swivelling chair and pulled the goggles up, revealing widen, bloodshot eyes.

"So SHE is number one…? But how?", he muttered to himself, as thoughts raced and crashed in his mind, producing more questions by the minute.

He grabbed his phone and selected Barbara's number.

But then he remembered the video. The video he's made as a warning to himself.

He remembered all the people, whose minds he had to mess with.

And the he wondered how many he couldn't remember…

No, he'd have to tackle this on his own, he thought.

He grabbed his cup and lifted it to his lips, but realised he's already drunk it all.

This was going to be a long day.

The idea for this fic appeared in my head after watching an episode of "Down the rabbit hole" about the Kasparov vs DeepBlue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwF229U2ba8

It is by no means a required reading, but so much references will become obvious.

However, I will list all the in-jokes here, for completionists.

"Upgrade horse" line, as well as tons of illogical commands later, when Miko is trapped in BlueThought, come as inspiration from BBC Three - Comedy Snacks sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgeYScYe8wI "Megachessatron" still makes me laugh.

Horse armor DLC - allusion to infamous TES 4 Oblivion DLC

Gambi Krasnysledin - stand-in for Kasparov; Gambi from gambit, 'krasny sledz' = red herring (in mangled Russian). Yes I took THAT from Dan Brown's "Aringarosa" character, shoot me.

The Turk: that thing was real https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk

FishStick - parody of open source chess engine StockFish https://stockfishchess.org/

BIM = IBM, obvy.

"BlueJob", allusion to DeepThought's name being apparently read as "DeepThroat"

Gibibytes are real, look them up. Warning: it will get confusing.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" - Pinky & Brain

Prof. Shu = stands-in for Feng-hsiung Hsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng-hsiung_Hsu, one of the creators of DeepBlue, who thought about printing controller for Chinese characters: http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Hsu_Feng_Hsiung/hsu.oral_history_transcript.2005.102657920.pdf

Sorry for making you the bad guy, mr. Hsu.

"Way better cartoon" refers to episode "First temple" of Amphibia, which in turn takes inspiration of chess match from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by NAME_EXPUNGED.

"Game over, man, game over!" - quote from "Aliens"

Skyborn = Dragonborn from TES 5 Skyrim. Plus Skyborn Altar is a location in the game

Miko makes a proper Knight's move riding Ally (one left, two forward)

"For the love of Shannon" https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_E._Shannon Claude Shannon was a mathematician and early computer scientist, who estimated lower bound of chess games.

The entire Miko's dream refers of course to Polybius, an urban legend arcade machine that was supposed to cause all those horrible effects on children, all in the name of testing new technologies by US Government. Polybius, or Bolypius is supposed to be the final boss of the show.

"Shall we play a game?" is a line from "War Games".

"Mouse-and-wizard cartoon" refers of course to "Sorcerer's apprentice", a Mickey Mouse short from 1940, part of "Fantasia". And I stand by what I put into Zahra's dialogue: this is a prime example of a glitch, I am genuinely surprised GT hasn't referenced it.

Flunkies are of course parody of Pokemon, Swap is Switch, but the line "They've added 50 new ones, and there are only 40 regional variants or completely messed up species!" is a double joke: on the surface level, it criticises Gamefreak, but it is also a reference to much well executed line in "Craig of the creek". In one episode Craig plays new Smash Bros-knockoff and says that "They have added 50 new characters and only 40 of them are recolours".

And finally… the old Hinobi logo, as well as the name of the chip, is based on loss.jpg.

Because you cannot escape loss.

[tamaruaart]

YOU

Grant us your oc’s delicious lore, anything that comes to mind first-

Ah tysm for asking

(btw I apologize for this being long af 😔)

So I feel like I should prep this by saying before I figured out about LMK I was super into OPS's jttw series. So I made Zhao with the context of the book, and the book doesn't sugar coat things so Zhao's backstory is a bit uhhh, mature? There's no nsfw stuff but there is a lot, lot, loottt of angst (even though the backstory is kinda "simple"), so forgive me :'(

I did change up her backstory a bit for the LMK version because it is a kids show and I don't feel like the creators would stick with the dark tone of the original. Whenever I write OCs for sertant shows I try to write it with the context of "How would the creator tackle this if my oc was a Canon character?" Yk? You don't write a depressed, emo, Greek hero for a light hearted magical girl show.

So ye, this first segment will be her JTTW backstory sum-up and I'll note what is changed in the LMK version at the end👍

JTTW/original backstory(this is long, read at your own risk)-

-Zhao wasn't raised in the best household.. Not only was her father a total womanizer with 3 wives (at the time of her birth, by now he has 7) and who knows how many mistresses, but her elder family member were pretty verbally abusive. I mentioned before but Xiaotian and Biao-Qi (Zhao's father and grandfather) wanted Zhao to be born as a male because in their clan its essential for the first born of every generation to be a boy, so when they found out about Zhao being a girl they were really salty and thought of her as "The disgrace" of the family. (hence why Zhaoyan is a name generally given to Chinese boys, which yea Xiaotian is the type of douche-bag to chose the name of the child at the start of his marriage without the mothers approval)

-Zhao was the one basically raising her younger siblings because her parents couldn't be bothered to, Pangfua (Zhao's mom) couldn't even bare to look at Xiaotian's face so the last thing she cared for was some random children of him and his mistresses, and Xiaotian's other wifes didn't really care for the children either. However, Zhao ADORED her siblings because she was always good with little kids. But as time went on and on, with so many children coming in to the household she started getting tired, but what could she do? At the time she was barely a teenage girl, if she complained to her father she could legitimately be at risk to lose her head. Like I said, Xiaotian couldn't care less about Zhao, he doesn't give a damn if she likes taking care of her siblings or not.

-Eventually Zhao grew too tired of her family, and decided to leave. This might seem selfish but holy frick, the girlie felt like a maid, and it's not like she doesn't care for her family, it's that they couldn't care less about her. All of her siblings were old enough to take care of each other and the other family members treated them well, why shouldn't she be able to "go live her own life"?

- The first place she went was to a temple dedicated to the Chinese tiger spirit- Hu Ye. The reason she went to him specifically was because he was sort of the protector/symbol of Zhao's family (for context think about how Apollo was the protector of the Trojans in the Iliad), she prayed to him all night, she asked humbly to become a Jade Maiden that serves Guan Yin (because that was probably the best option. Also just so you have context- Hu Ye blessed the girls in Zhao's family with a healing gift. So basically they could heal any illness, wound, missing limb etc...). But to her surprise Hu Ye saw what she did as "unforgiving". You shouldn't leave your family who loves you so much, not cool >:( (cut him some slack tho, whenever to family would worship him they would make them self's seem like the most perfect people ever). And so in short he gave her flaming orange hair so she never forgets that she is a Tiger Maiden (bcz orange=tigers and he just be petty like that bro).

-Eventually she went to the woods but she was found by Lánhūa- a forest spirit. Lánhūa took pity on her and decided to take her in as one of her nymphs. Because Zhao had the healing gift she was a great addition to the palace Lánhūa lived in, Zhao was always the one making sure everyone was healthy and the worst someone suffered was a common cold, and even those wouldn't last long.

-However one day while she was collecting fruits for the palace she stumbled upon a strange noise near a mountain, she went to check what it was and wouldn't you have guessed its good ol' Sun Wukong. The pair fairly quickly became friends, Zhao would often tell him stories and keep him company and Sun (who was under that damn mountain for 346 years by the time he and Zhao met) would listen and tell her his life stories.

-At the early stages of the jttw Monkey actually did try and convince Zhao to come with him and the other pilgrims, she would be the one taking care of Tripitaka and making sure he stays healthy. Zhao refused at first but after some time she agreed. Her and Tripitaka were very close because they were both kinda the "sane ones" of the group and Zhao took her position very seriously. Sanzang eventually noticed that this was a bit weird considering how layed back the other pilgrims were, so he confronted her and Zhao opened up to him. And that's how I'd show her backstory in the book.

So in short: Girl leaves abusive family and prays to god, god makes her a ginger and she gets adopted by a hot forest spirit. A monkey befriends her and convinces her to give free health care to his friend **emotional**

Holy crap that took so long to write/ Notes on how her backstory would probably be changed in the lmk version:

In the lmk version I think they'd tone down how bad her family was just a bit, again it is a kids show. I think the start would generally be the same but that Hu Ye would grant her wish. But instead of a disciple for Guan Yin I think they'd change it into a Peach Maiden, so that she could meet the brotherhood and befriend Wukong like she did in the original backstory. They'd probably remove Lánhūa as well (because she is a very minor character in Zhao's backstory). So yea in short of what I think the creators of LMK would do with her character: -Hu Ye grants her wish of becoming a Peach Maiden. -Orange would be her natural hair color(bcz tigers woo). -I honestly think they'd give her a sort-of survivor's guilt because of the whole "leaving your family" thing instead of "Ama give u tiger hair so you never forget how you left your family >:(" -She meets the brotherhood through their lil' rebellion -Healing powers would probably be toned down a bit so there's still some risk

So ya-

Again thank you SO much for the question and thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[jenyifer]

Only friends 8/10 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

About a group of friends and the destruction of that friend group in a web of lies betrayals and revenge. The music and sets are beautiful amazing I literally listened to every song they carefully choose for each scene it was genius. Every character was morally grey and complex. Really showed queer stories. I’m a lesbian and there was many many times I could see my own life experiences in the characters. You will find a character to relate to and many of them you will fall in love with for whatever reason. The acting was fantastic ForceBook FirstKhaotung NeoMark deserve all the recognition and awards for their performances. I was surprised at the realism and twists the story took which is very rare for me I have to watch sci-fi horror films at home because I’ll guess the ending and get bored but who would have guessed a Thai Bl would stump me multiple times. I won’t change BostonNick’s story line to me their scenes even with being cut short with what feels like major parts missing is a 10/10. A real journey of the heart and I was hurt and also in love with the conclusion. The series is worth watching again and again for them.

Now…. You’ll notice it isn’t a 10/10… I’m going to get honest with you after the break. So If you don’t want my critique then leave.

I’m going to talk about my grips and how I’d fix them now and why I can’t I’m good conscious forgive these things.

1. Loss of the each episode for a character like the interviews or social media. I felt like these would have given us another angle on those boys. I understand they were trying to edit for the fans but… it is extremely sad. The first 4 episodes are perfection in my opinion.

2. Cheum is terrible lesbian representation. She’s a terrible character. I hate to think this is what queer men think lesbians are. She disappointed me over and over. I’d rather her not be in the story at all.

3. The glossing over of Boston’s torture throughout the series. Mew Cheum and Ray should have apologized to him. I wish Mew and Ray had been better friends in general I felt like I wanted to see the trio trying to incorporate eachother in their lives before the final episode. I wanted to believe at some point they cared for eachother. I wanted them to miss Boston when he was gone and to be guilty for what they fucking did.

4. Top and Mew terrible pairing. Mew is my least favorite character of all time. I have alot to relate to mew on. But he never became a character I could root for. Vindictive and Spiteful. I don’t know if he loved top or not. I don’t foresee that relationship lasting. I liked Top but you could see the bland oatmeal coating they gave him half way through I want the messy angry boy. I did want him to gain happiness but I doubt mew could ever give it to him. I will forever skip their boring scenes I’m glad I no longer have a reason to watch them. To fix this I would have made Mew nosey supportive into Ray and Boston’s lives just him being able to have long term friends would have made his character seem like he was capable of affection. To fix the TopMew scenes? Idk they always felt uneven Top tried so hard Mew was never punished for what he did. Mew became a worse person so maybe reverse that.

5. SandRay I love them I truely relate to Ray so deeply. However the way Ray treated Sand over and over wasn’t right. I hated it. His apologies to sand rang hollow he didn’t back them up. Sand adores Ray and I wish Ray adored Sand just as much but that’s not true. I have hope Ray would mature though.

Over all to fix things I would have given it more episodes there was clearly scenes missing structure that should have been there. I think the problem was the ships had to be so segmented from eachother. Top and Mew could have benefited from more of them interacting with Ray and Cheum. The actual friendship bonds explored would have helped. I also wish they hadn’t swept Bostons revenge P and expose account under the board. Ray having real change in attitude towards sand would have been rewarding as well. I hope there is a season 2 so badly. I have to see BostonNick get their healthy happy ending too.

[storiesbyjes2g]

Time has come! Use the OC list you made earlier and answer the following:

1 and 3 are in charge of arranging a general house party. How does it go? 2 appears in the news broadcast. What has happened? 4 and 5 need to buy a birthday gift for 6. What do they get? 3 asks 6 to teach her/him/them something. What is it and how does it go? 1 finds a seemingly lost cat. What does she/he/they do? 5 has to buy a quick snack for her-/him-/themself, what is it? 6 uses a search engine (Google or similar) and searches their own name. What are the top results? 4 has to take one of the other numbers to a date. Who's the lucky(?) guy/gal/other? 2 invites all the other numbers to a party - except one. Who's left out? 3 learns a dirty secret about 5. What is it and does she/he/they keep it? 4 has lost a bet and must get a tattoo. What will she/he/they get? 1 and 3 are stuck in an elevator. What happens?

You can answer with simple text, or take a picture or write a short story if you feel more inspired.

I swear you ask the best questions! I was excited even before I read the scenarios LOL. Okay let's go!!

Luca & Sophia's House Party

First of all, Luca would be stoked to plan a party period because he's neither hosted nor been to a house party, but to throw one with Sophia? Ohhhhh BOY! Secondly, he'd also be terrified on top of being excited because most of his friends are ladies he's attracted to and/or have gone on dates with. The party would be at Luca and Ali's house because Sophia's house is tiny. They would do all the party planning in person because they're both really into each other and don't see each other enough. I'm pretty sure by the end of the party they'd be a couple lol. Whenever they are together, she is constantly cracking jokes and making Luca laugh, so I'm not sure how much would actually get done. The party will probably turn out to be just okay because of their distractions but also neither of them are big party people. But whether or not the party is lame, those two will surely have a good time.

Emmy on the News

Emmy would be on a segment of the news highlighting small businesses. Or, maybe she got some women in business award and they aired her acceptance speech on TV.

Nadia & Anissa's Birthday Gift for Rodney

Ooooh this one is hard! Okay, so Kameron is the one who started this. He's an investor in Rodney's restaurants, and they have a casual relationship. He mentioned in passing Rodney's birthday was coming up but never followed up. Nadia of course is the administrator of the home, and when she found out Kameron still hadn't sent him a gift, she took on the project lol. Instead of doing something generic, she called Anissa because she knew she was acquainted with Rodney through Loren who is married to Rodney's best friend. They met at her wedding. But Anissa doesn't know Rodney like that so she texts Loren for an idea. They all settle on sending him a very expensive bottle of whisky. And because Nadia was feeling particularly salty and petty that day, the card was signed "From The Piersons and Friends." LOL see what I did there? 🤣

(this got long so the rest under the cut)

Sophia's Cooking Lesson

Sophia is not a good cook. Her kitchen looks exactly like it did when she first moved in. She likes Luca a lot and wants to do something nice for him, especially since he's always so caring and taking care of everyone else. And she always heard the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so she decided to learn to cook something well. But she could only get so far from SimTube tutorials. They either went too fast or spoke like she was supposed to know what they were talking about. No, she needed someone to show her live. One of her favorite restaurants is Taqueria Alchone, and the owner--Rodney Eason--was always so nice and personable with his customers. Surely he would help her. So she went there one day after work. She worked 7-3, so it was pretty dead when she arrived. She ordered and waited for Rodney to come around and greet her.

"Okay, so, this is gonna be a really weird question, but I'm gonna go for it," she said.

He flashed his signature smile. "Go for it! That's what I always do."

"So like...I have this friend... I wanna do something nice for him but-"

Rodney gasped. "You tryna snag your man? I'm in! What I gotta do? You want me to call him? Gimme his number!"

Little did she know Rodney was a romantic...and a very gregarious goofball.

"I want to make him dinner, but I'm terrible at it. Can you show me how to make something simple?"

A huge grin came across his face. "You came to the right place. I'll show you a lil sum sum. BUT...you'll also need a recipe for breakfast." He winked at her. "You know what I'm saying? Come on in the kitchen. I'll get you right! You'll have that dude screaming your name in no time!"

Oh, Rodney LOL.

Luca Finds a Lost Cat

Given his experience watching his mother take in stray pets, he'd probably try to feed it, putting a bowl of food near them. Cats aren't like dogs and are way less trusting, so he probably won't be able to befriend it, not that he'd want to; he's not much of a cat guy. Since Tofu just died, he'd probably call Emmy and see if she's interested in taking care of it.

Anissa's Quick Snack

When Anissa has back-to-back surgeries and zero time for lunch, her go to snack in the vending machine is a Payday candy bar. It's sweet, it's salty, and she gets a nice amount of protein to keep her going. It's an older brand, and not very popular, but her Pop Pop used to love them and that's how she got introduced to it.

Rodney's Smoogle Search

As a restaurateur, Rodney is very much concerned about what people say and think about his restaurants. So when he searches for his own name, more than likely the top results will be Yelp Reviews and food critic blogs. I also wouldn't be surprised if a gossip blog was there too lol. He's a good boy now, but he was a bit reckless in the beginning.

Nadia's Date

Nadia had one engagement left to attend from her tenure in the mayor's office before she was completely rid of them, but Kameron had agreed to take Noemi to come aspiring lawyers camp thingy, so she had to find someone else to accompany her. Her first thought was to call Bryce, but things are weird between him and Kameron. Nick is all the way on the other side of the country now, but even if he weren't that would be weird too. She thought very hard and methodically about it and decided to call Rodney. She had recently sent him a birthday gift, and they were mildly acquainted. Plus it would be a good networking event for him, so she called him, and he accepted.

Emmy's Party

Emmy invites everyone to the party except Luca because it's a surprise party for him lol. (cop out? maybe! lol)

Sophia Learns a Dirty Secret About Anissa

And this is the part where I realized I should have picked names all from the same story LOL. Let's say it's Nadia and Anissa. Nadia is nosy, so she'd definitely try to find out more lol. Depending on what it is, she might ask Melany about it. If it's really dirty she might even ask Anissa herself.

Nadia Loses a Bet

The consequence of losing this bet is she has to get a tattoo. She would get some word or phrase about love written in Mt. Komorebian since that is where she and Kameron reaffirmed their love for each other in a very impromptu and non-traditional vow renewal. It would be located somewhere only Kameron can see when she's naked.

Luca and Sophia Stuck in an Elevator

What happens? What doesn't happen! 🤣 This is exactly what Luca needs lol. They're gonna talk first. But then Sophia will ask a very poignant question about his feelings toward her. He'll try to skirt around it, but she does not have time for him to continue being scared and draws it out of him. They kiss! And if the elevator isn't fixed yet, they might start something they can't finish lol.

[thatmilkshakedragon]

Gonna talk about this guy for a second because I genuinely feel like no one is talking about this/ not enough coverage about the Deku headcannons made in the bnha/mha fandom.

I'm gonna spit it out now, I think Bakudeku is the most overrated ship I have ever seen, in any fandom, period. I also think that Deku is one of the most shit on characters by a fandom that doesn't really deserve to get shit on. There is so much I can say about this, but for the purposes of you, the reader, I'll try and keep this as short as I can.

ALSO GONNA SAY THIS NOW, MY OPINION IS NOT GOSPEL. SHIP BAKUDEKU IF YOU WANT, MAKE DEKU SAD EMO BOY IF YOU WISH, THATS YOUR CHOICE. IM JUST NOT GONNA WATCH YOUR CONTENT AND IM SIMPLY SAYING THE REASONS WHY.

OFFICIAL CONTENT WARNING FROM HERE : I will be talking about alot of sensitive topics in this post but the main ones I will be covering are Underage Sex, SH, depression etc. Also there will be slight spoilers for the show ( I haven't watched it so don't expect anything massive )

So let's talk about Boku no Hero Academia/ My Hero Academia. Alot of you know about this show already, but for those who don't :

Boku No Hero Academia/ My Hero Academia is an Manga Series turned anime, originally illustrated and written by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, we follow a Teenager called Izuku Midoriya (Deku for short) , who is a "quirkless" boy lives in a world of "quirks" (superpowers). He still dreams of being a superhero, and he gets scouted by his hero, "All might", who bestows his powers onto him after seeing his potential, and also helps to get him into a prestigious high school for superheroes in training.

Now in this anime, there is another boy called Katsuki Bakugo, who has bullied Deku ever since he was a child. When they were in middle school, the bullying did not stop, and now in high school they continued to be rivals/ Deku being bullied by Bakugo.

Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with headcannons/au's, in fact, I think headcannons/au's are one of the building blocks of fandom. But there is a certain point in which these Au's can cross a line, and unfortunately in the Bnha/Mha fandom, that line is crossed a fair bit.

Let's start with bakudeku, the thing that sparked this whole post in the first place. At the start of this post I said it was overrated, and I stand by that. The amount of hype I see of these two getting in a relationship fills me with absolute agony. THESE TWO AREN'T COMPATIBLE IN THE SLIGHTEST. Yes, Katsuki may have character development that I have not seen, since I do not watch this show ( the reasons why can get a post on its own ), but from the clips I've seen of Katsuki, he just seems like a huge jackass towards EVERYONE. The only people he does respect are adults who can beat the shit out of him, and that's really sad. Now let's get to Izuku. I'm not very sure but personally I don't think he will be shipped with anyone, at least not for the time being. Izuku seems focused on becoming a hero at the moment in the series, so I'd highly doubt that he will be getting into a relationship.

Now lets get into another reason for why Izuku is shit upon. The amount of Batsuit insane stuff that the Bnha/Mha fandom has produced. This segment doesn't just run for deku either, this can be for arguably every character in the show (besides grape guy everyone agrees he is a dick) Fanfiction is in my opinion, the core part of a thriving fandom, alongside Fanart and Headcannons, but the amount of fanfiction that has Izuku as a cat maid for todoroki or some shit along the lines of that IS INSANE. A bunch of these characters aren't aged up either, which makes it even more fucking gross. Like youre writing 2 teenagers fucking each other in their rooms which they still have like stuff up from when they were 10 or some shit. I do know about Japan's fucked up sex culture quite a bit, and how the age of consent is lowered there, but this is still a huge problem regardless.

Let's stop with the CP, and now go onto depressed Deku. I also see in the Bnha/Mha fandom, that there is a lot of content about Deku being depressed or like not mentally ok. In alot of these headcannons, there's usually an event where a character will find Deku's arms with giant slits on them, or they will find blood on Deku's clothes, and Deku will try and deny that he is depressed, or go into a massive breakdown. These headcannons usually involve Deku going to a mental institution to seek help, and along the way fall in love with a character ( I lied there's more ship content ) . My personal opinion, these are disgusting headcannons. Yet again, this guy is still in his teens, and you're putting him into crazy scenarios not many teens have.

The last point I have to make is the plague that this character made upon fandom. From Gacha, to Ao3 to Tumblr, the shittyfied Deku has taken over fandom spaces like these. The amount of gacha content surrounding Deku (usually in a relationship with a character) is fucking insane. For every 20 videos you can find on YouTube of Bnha/Mha, at least 15 will be bakudeku. There's not much normal content anymore on the fandom, because the shitty deku has taken over, and I find that really sad.

It's a genuine shame that Deku has been tested like this, because he seems like suck a great character for this anime, but the fandom has just betrayed him. It's saddening seeing the showrunners get harassed for not shipping Deku with anyone, rather then actually critiquing things wrong with the show ( like directing, writing, comedy etc ). Idk man, this whole thing just makes me really sad.

if you do need some guidance for your mental health, you're under 18, and you live in Ireland or the UK, then call ChildLine, they are a brilliant organisation who listens and lets you vent and lets you be heard. To find out more go to www.childline.co.uk for more info.

Please for the love of God reblog this I spent over an hour on it and it's 20 past 1 in the morning kill me 🤠