#I got evitability manipulation

[impala124]

I feel like I gotta let you talk about why you like Vegas now bc I had so little to say!

Vegas belongs to the list of fictional men I would never introduce to someone new. Like, if they get him, it's well and good, and if they don't, that too is fine. So Shan, I get having very little to say about Vegas.

I also understand not being that into Kinnporsche. Other than the fact that it was beautifully shot, my only reasons for sticking around (initially) were my beloved Tankhun and the rivalry between Kinn and Vegas. Kinnporsche, for all its faults as a series, not having a coherent plot being one of them 🤷, gave us very interesting characters and inter-personal dynamics.

How I feel about this character

I love him. Don't get me wrong, he is not a good person, nor does he pretend to be one. He is not a reformed person who will only do good deeds post-canon.

My (not so healthy) reasons for liking Vegas boil down to

His self-loathing tendencies

His filial piety towards his father, however undeserved it might be

His competence at being the head of a mafia family

Thinking about post-canon Vegas is so interesting because everything he thought he wanted out of his life is gone—his father is dead, Porsche is now the head of the minor family, and he has Pete, a romantic partner in ways he never imagined he could/would.

So, his character arc isn't complete; he has to figure out who he is as a person outside of his rivalry with Kinn.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Only Pete!! I couldn't subject anyone else to be on the receiving end of my little manipulator's romantic affections, lol.

And people say that romance is dead!!! One of my reasons for shipping them together is the evitability of their relationship. It didn't happen because someone was pulling the strings behind a curtain or because one person had an agenda while pursuing the other. It's about seeing yourself in the other person and understanding them. In short, they match each other's freaks.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Let's be honest, all of us wondered where Vegas and Porsche would go after the bike ride scene.

Love Vegas and Macau's relationship. There is a lot of love there and an instinct to protect him from their father's abuse. Love me a good protective older sibling ❤️

My unpopular opinion about this character

I wasn't active on this site when the show was airing, so I don't know if these are unpopular opinions. But, I do see a lot of fics depicting Kinn and Vegas as being almost friendly towards each other post-canon, and I'm like, how? I don't know; I just can't see that happening in a million years. Also, Vegas as a father? I know that this happens in the books, which I haven't read and never plan on reading. He has a long way to go before even thinking about fatherhood, and I don't believe he is someone who aspires to be one. So, yeah, I can't reconcile the image of Vegas as a father with the Vegas in my head.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish we got to see him wearing more red, because he is a fucking vision.

I also wish we got more of Tankhun and Vegas. I could see them fighting over Pete a lot. Also, hours of footage of him just cooking, for my indulgence.

Give me a character ask game

[cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien]

Werecat Terry

Miss Frankie growled, knowing about the whole Korvo being an ogre thing. But she is still destined to get her next victims.

Miss Frankie: One down, three more to go. evil giggle*

Miss Frankie then traveled to Washington by the doing the same thing Korvo did, banning dinner parties. But it’s not banning dinner parties, it’s banning aliens from them. She manipulated the entire White House, had them make a new law and now the nightmare has just began for Terry.

Terry: spinning the newspaper Wee-hee-hee! stops spinning it What the? looks at the article and gasp in horror after seeing the part where aliens are banned from dinner parties Nnnnnnoooooo!

Korvo: Huh? Did something bad happened in one of your favorite shows? Terry shows him the article as Korvo gasp Frankie got us banned from every dinner party?! Assshole!

Terry: Wait, you don’t mind having dinner parties with humans now?

Korvo: Fuck yeah! But when we’re banned?! Fuck no! Nobody bans me and my family from parties!

Terry: Aaawww! Korvy! kisses him on the cheek five times

Korvo: Don’t worry, we’re gonna need a plan to do something about this whole being banned from parties thing. Because, I will not let my Life-Terry be like a banned outcast for the rest of his life. Kids, get in here! Group hug time!

Once the replicants and Pupa got in here, the aliens group hug each other as a family.

Korvo: Now, here is our plan!

Overnight, Korvo and Terry manage to use technology to outrun dinner party officers. The humans even enjoy some of their banquets and amazing sci-fi stuff they did to outrun the officers. Bu the next day, things are about to get real hairy for Terry.

Terry: Okay, this one has a sanctuary for cute cats and kittens so this is where we’ll outrun the party officers. Then, once use the technology that turns people into cats, the officers will leave and we’ll take the patty to the basement! Who’s with us?!

Partygoers: I am! Woo-hoo! Yeah! Fuck yeah! Hell yeah motherfucker! Let’s do this!

Miss Frankie: coming in the room Okay, I’ve been going easy on you fucking aliens. I’m warning you. You better cut this shit out, or else!

Terry: Do your worst, skank!

Terry licks a sticker and puts it on an envelope with the evites just to invoke rage in Miss Frankie. Korvo can help but blush at his Life-Terry making so much progress since the law of parties with no aliens began. But that night, Frankie did the unthinkable.

Miss Frankie: Think they can outrun me?! Not on my watch!

Frankie then damages the cat nose shaped device for Terry that is just like the one he used to outrun Korvo from the second season as it began to glitch.

Miss Frankie: Get ready shitheads!

The moon then shined on the glitching cat device as it began to changed the glitches’ color. That night, the officers came into the house where the party is at. The guests put on their cat devices and transforms into cute cats. But once Terry turns on his, it shock him painfully.

Terry: screams in pain What the fuck is wrong with mine?!! kneels down on the floor in pain as the full moon shines on him

Terry looks at the full moon and starts to scream in pain.

Officer #1: What the fuck! Hold your fire!

Terry’s body began to undergo some changes. His whole body develops green fur all over him, his body grows bigger and muscular, he develop cat ears on his head and a cat tail behind him, his nose turns into a cat nose and he develops claws on his hands and his feet turns into adult shlorpian-sized cat paws and then his teeth grew sharper that looks like a cat’s teeth.

Cat Partygoers: yowls and screeches in fear

Werecat Terry: Growls and Howls at the full moon

Officer: Holy fuck!

Terry then proceeds to kill the cops with his sharper teeth and claws as the partygoers turn back into their normal selves and quickly hid at the Whole Foods store where Korvo was getting stuff for the dinner party with the replicants and Pupa.

Nathan: Korvo! Korvo! You gotta get the fuck outta of here! There’s a werecat after us!

Korvo: Oh my god! What?! One of the cat devices must’ve been malfunctioned by someone! Quick everyone, disguise yourself in normal party scents so he won’t find you!

Werecat Terry continues to wreck havoc by attacking and killing citizens while accidentally spitting out a hairball, which disgusted some of the citizens.

Principal Cooke: Aaah! Run! Save yourselves!

Werecat Terry then turned but then gasp after seeing Whole Foods. Korvo, the Replicants, Pupa and the partygoers quickly smothered themselves in foods that always goes with normal parties, but without any clothes.

Korvo: smothering birthday cake all over himself Okay, I got my scent covered. What about you kids?

Yumyulack: trying to smother himself with pudding Quick Jesse before he catches me. I’m too young to be cat food! Oh my God, we’re all gonna-

Jesse: slaps Yumyulack on the face while smothering her own body with ice cream Get it together bro! Nobody is gonna die! You hear me?!

Pupa: smothering himself with chips Yeah!

Korvo: What about the rest of you?! Are you ready now!

Partygoers: just finished putting on their party scents Ready!

Korvo: Okay, now quick! Take cover!

Terry shows up as soon as the Replicants and the partygoers hide, but Korvo was about to get to his hiding place once Terry pounced on him.

Korvo: gasps Holy bullocks! screams in horror as he cries in tears of fear

Werecat Terry: growling but then calms down Huh? K-Korvo?!

Korvo: What the? It can’t be! Is that…. Terry?

Terry starts to feel overwhelmed but Korvo gently touch his face.

Korvo: Terry, it’s me! Korvo! Your lifemate, your worker husband in crime, your life-Korvo.

Werecat Terry: B-but….

Korvo: You’ll always be my Terry.

The sun then rises the next morning as Terry suddenly sees smoke all over his body.

Werecat Terry: Aaah!

Korvo: T-Terry? Terry, speak to me!

Then a normal human-sized green twister appears around Terry as it swirls around him, but as it fades, it doesn’t show the werecat Shlorpian, it now shows Terry, back to his normal self but in the nude sadly.

Korvo: Sweeetie! pummels on Terry and kisses him affectionately on the lips

Terry: The sunrise worked! I’m me again! And now, where were we?

The two worker husbands in crime went back to kissing each other once Frankie and the officers came in.

Miss Frankie: Goucha! Huh?

To her shock and horror, she now sees the relived partygoers who woke up along with the Replicants and now they sees Terry, now smothered in single lonely person food, getting carried lovingly by his cake-covered Korvo as the two kiss.

Miss Frankie: What?! No! Noooo! You see the werecat, did you?

Person: Hooray, the sun scared him. Yay!

The crowd cheered as the food-covered Solar Opposites and the partygoers walked out of the store in victory and triumph.

Yumyulack: Come here you guys!

The messy Solar Opposites shared a group hug then thought about something.

Korvo: We can’t keep doing this forever! We must unbanned ourselves from dinner parties!

Darcy: the partygoers that was covered in wine I know how! shows them her plane

Terry: The Solar-Opposites are unbanning themselves dinner parties!

This morning was better for the team. They are no longer banned from dinner parties, but Terry and Korvo must now learn to control their new beast abilities. But, once trouble starts, they’ll be ready. However for Miss Frankie….

Miss Frankie: Think they can make me look crazy huh? Well, I’ll show them! Boys?! Two of her thugs showed up and show her a suitcase that contains a needle full of monstrous steroids You’re next kids! laughs evilly as she looks over the pictures of Yumyulack and Jesse on a billboard with photos of Korvo and Terry with X’s on them that shows her plans to get back at the aliens

[bewitched-bullet]

Hi bewitched-bullet,

I'm the "irreconcilable differences" anon. I read several times the dump mod statement you posted and I'd like to share my observation, especially regarding the following two paragraphs:

link to your post:

https://www.tumblr.com/bewitched-bullet/744622357061271552/hi-there-could-you-please-post-the-screenshots?source=share

"The person playing John has stated both publicly and privately to me that they will no longer be interacting with Sherlock’s blog. Privately, John has said that this was all planned and that Sherlock’s mod was aware of this.

Sherlock’s mod, who I have consistently informed I was “OOC”, did not seem to understand this. This got to a manipulative level, with Sherlock calling John a liar and to stay. Sherlock seemed determined to keep the roleplay going.'

I find dump's statement credible. I remember their participation. They were cheerful and passionate when they participated with their main blog as themselves and soon set up an account for rp purposes only. They didn't/don't have any stakes in this since they only joined on Feb 21. They posted way before the mess exploded and they don't want any attention. Dump mod's experience showed the following

John mod did communicate OOC as mod and there were discussions before the public announcement.

And I believe the discussion has already happened a while back as John told dump, because it could be easily debunked by Sherlock mod when dump mod talked to them. And their characters hadn't synchronized for a long time, so it made sense that it had been discussed.

Sherlock mod refused to communicate OOC. My guess is that Sherlock mod thought by refusing to talk as mod, they could delay the evitable separation. By "inevitable" I mean according to my own observations in the "irreconcilable differences" ask that they had been in different timelines for (at least) months.

Although the discussion happened for a while, the public announcement probably came as a shock to Sherlock mod.

With all that being said, this situation has been handled terribly. Whether in real life or in rping, when a separation is necessary, especially when one party doesn't want to, the best way is to cut ties as clean as possible. It hurts more for both parties in the long run by staying in touch. The moment John mod realized that the differences were irreconcilable and discussed it with Sherlock mod, they should have completely stopped rping with Sherlock mod on the blog. People make the same mistake in real life: they thought it would hurt less by staying in touch, but it ALWAYS the opposite.

Best Regards

"The person playing John has stated both publicly and privately to me that they will no longer be interacting with Sherlock’s blog.

--this is in person confirmation of information direct from the source and therefore is credible. Although, im not sure where "publicly" was as we, as the fans, see anything public about the break up on March 4th.

Privately, John has said that this was all planned and that Sherlock’s mod was aware of this.

--this is the John Mod telling Dump that Sherlock was informed and "in on the plan". John--not Sherlock saying this--John.

And if Dump believes a second hand account (John insisting that Sherlock knew, without sherlock themselves saying it), of course they are going to think that was manipulative with how Sherlock reacted.

And if everyone involved was well aware and informed, why weren’t they all talking about it together? At the same time?? Or even individually, WITH Dump?

I bet, if sherlock was informed about all this, they would have spoken OOC. Why would sherlock speak ooc, if they thought they were still rplaying?

(I do wonder if John told Sherlock that they weren’t allowed to speak ooc on a rp blog/rp blog messaging. But we won't know unless sherlock comes forward)

On your point 4: if it was discussed, it wouldnt have been a surprise. *headdesk*

And yes, John's plan was terribly executed, poorly thought out, and completely short sighted.

[giuliafc]

Betrayal -- Epilogue

<< 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 19 -- 20: Ao3 || FFN (end)

Betrayal Chapter 20 - Epilogue

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: @itsagrestebug and MyImaginationFlows

Summary: The story comes to an end. Thank you for reading! (810 words)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 31 — Forevermore/pound it. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Pound it!" called the superheroes as they all moved to bump their fists together.

Ladybug looked at her team. "Thank you so much everyone for your contribution. We wouldn't have succeeded without the intervention of each and every one of you!"

"I haven't helped much," said Thueban Jameel with a little sigh and a pout.

"You're joking right?" asked Ladybug. "If it weren't for you, Volpina would have succeeded in stealing Su-Han's staff. I owe you the safety of my identity, of my family and of all my friends."

Thueban Jameel blushed at the praise. "Thank you, Ladybug. But I couldn't help when my bro was sucked into the vacuum!"

Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder. "You did your best. Pigella and I arrived and attacked the akuma immediately after Chat Noir was sucked in, so it's understandable that you waited to see what would happen. It was actually a very good move. As the Snake, you need to force yourself to take a backseat. And even more so as the Peacock holder."

"Thank you, Ladybug," said Thueban Jameel, lowering his gaze.

As all temporary holders returned their Miraculous to Ladybug after detransforming, Chat Noir watched Pegabug bring Rose back to the Liberty and then come back to the alley they were hiding in to detransform. When Su-Han, Alya, Nino and Adrien met again the bluebell gaze of Marinette, the girl had the Miraculous of the Peacock and of the Turtle in her hand.

"Alya Césaire," she said, looking at her friend with a decisive frown, "this is the Miraculous of the Peacock. It provides the power of bringing emotions to life." She put the brooch in Alya's palm and smiled. "I'm giving it to you permanently; you will use it for the greater good and, one day, return it to me."

Alya gave her a grateful look. "Thank you, Marinette. I'm honoured to don such a prestigious and powerful Miraculous." She pinned the brooch to her white t-shirt, making sure that it would be hidden from the view by her orange shirt. Duusu appeared in a twirl of light.

"Hello, Mlle. Alya, it's a great pleasure to see you again!" said the indigo kwami, circling Alya excitedly and making her giggle.

"Okay, okay little fella. Jump in my pochette—" she opened her small orange side bag, signalling to Duusu to hide inside. "—We'll have a chat later and you'll tell me what you like."

Then, Marinette turned to Nino. "Nino Lahiffe," she said, handing the green bracelet to him, "this is the Miraculous of the Turtle. I'm asking you to become Carapace full time."

Nino's eyes lit up and his smile could have rivalled Adrien's in brightness. "Thank you, Ladybug. It's my honour to accept!" He fist-bumped with the turtle kwami who had appeared in a buzz of light. "And it's nice to have you permanently, little dude. We'll have fun together!"

"You're breaking about a dozen rules, Marinette," came Su-Han's voice from their right. Marinette frowned when she darted her gaze to the older guardian, but her frown disappeared when she noticed the smile on his face. "But I trust you," said the man. "You made unconventional choices in the past, and you've never failed to amaze me."

"Thank you, Master Su-Han."

Time passed, slowly but surely. Lila had left the Collège in a very suspicious haste, which confirmed to Marinette and the team of her involvement with the new Papillon.

Triggered by Ladybug and Chat Noir's suspicions, the Police started an investigation to discover what happened to her, but the cunning fox was too clever and was able to cover her traces very effectively. The only one who really paid the price of Lila's machinations was Jacques Vouche, who ended up being arrested for forging a fake contract between his diner boat company and Prince Ali. He claimed the involvement of Lila Rossi in it, but unfortunately, he was never able to prove it and Lila got away scot free.

As expected, Ladybug's and Chat Noir's testimony cleared Nathalie of all charges; the older woman took on the duty of looking after Adrien as his Legal Guardian, assisted by Gérard 'the Gorilla', until the boy turned 18.

Marinette and the team proceeded on their bumpy road towards adulthood, between akuma attacks getting more vicious and manipulating by the day, and new challenges in life and at school. But with the guidance and the mentorship of Su-Han, Marinette matured into a confident Guardian and a powerful leader.

She didn't know what the future would entail to her, or when and if they would manage to defeat the new Papillon. One thing she knew for sure though: Ladybug and Chat Noir would always be there to protect the citizens of Paris. Whatever the challenge, they would face it together, or die in the attempt.

Together, until the end of time.

Fin

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

Author's Note

That's the END! Yes… T_T even this one is over, i can't believe it I managed to evite a chapter every day for this snippet challenge! I'm super proud, I didn't think I had it in me! Now I'll need to catch up with A LOT of sleep, my coffee will miss me…

Scratch that, I have a few friends' birthdays to think about :DAnd the WIPs that I neglected… AND my beta work…

*ARGH*

Well… I love it anyway ^-^ wouldn't like it in any other way!

I hope you will like this epilogue and leave me a comment, either about the last chapters or about the story as a whole. I can't believe how much love this story has gotten: thank you so much everyone, over 200 comments, wow!

Now in August I'm going to publish a few stories for the birthday of friends (some will be NSFW, so sorry for those of you who still can't read them, there will be other stories for your eyes, worry not!), continue my neglected WIPs, AND try to publish a certain sequel that is way overdue. Sorry guys, unfortunately this challenge overtoom my life for a month!

Thank you all for following me during my mad writing marathon. I love you all!

Until next time, a big massive hug and… bug out!

[deep-sea-skiving]

Thoughts on the 90s sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

One of the biggest and most well-known comedies of the 1990s was the British Sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. The show was created and written by Jennifer Saunders, an incredibly popular comedian who had previous television successes with her comedy partner, Dawn French. Though French was mainly absent from the Absolutely Fabulous series apart from a few cameos, her cooperation was integral to the creation of the show. Absolutely Fabulous actually has its origins in another show which featured both French and Saunders this being of course the French and Saunders sketch show. The Sketch was called Modern Mother and Daughter and featured in episode six of the show’s sixth series. The Premise of what would later become Absolutely Fabulous was already established here so much so that the daughter already had the name of Saffron. The sketch portrayed the relationship between a middle-aged mother who acted more like a spoiled child and her daughter who was 18 going on 50. Absolutely Fabulous continued upon this premise and explored this dynamic wider adding a wider assortment of now infamous characters such as Patsy Stone played by Joanna Lumley. The show went on to have immense commercial success with five series, 39 episodes, 7 specials and one movie.

The series like the previously mentioned sketch follows the disaster life of Edina Monsoon otherwise known as Eddy, a middle age woman who though she has everything a person would want in life she is still completely miserable. Edina’s character is spoilt, she has never had to try to work for anything or to achieve anything. She is incredibly consumeristic and only believes that something is worthwhile if it has monetary value or can give her the social status that she desperately craves. She will blindly follow any fad craze or new diet which is popular in the moment. Due to her spoilt nature, Edina is egoistic and self-centred, her struggles are greater and more important than anything that anyone else may be going through. As such she is extremely insensitive and lacks the ability to sympathise with others. Edina has even on occasions manipulated and exploited her own family for her own gains such as when she took advantage of Saffy (without her own consent), her own daughter for the sake of getting the chance to be featured in the big cover piece of a fashion magazine. Though Edina has got nearly everything under the sun she is still immensely unhappy with her looks and her weight. This causes extensive anger about the issues such as looks which Eddy can’t fix with money or at a clinic which is normally taken out on her daughter who is apparently the reason why a of this occurred. Edina is often accompanied by Patsy Stone, who can only be described as a dried-up old alcoholic and substance abuser. It is clear from the start that Pasty absolutely detests Edina’s daughter, Saffron but the reasoning behind this is more ambiguous. It could be argued that it is due to Saffron being a “killjoy” on most occasions or that Saffron takes Eddy’s attention away from Patsy. Without Edina, Patsy is fully alone, she has no true friends and no family. Therefore, Saffron’s existence poses a huge threat to Patsy friendship to Edina, this is probably a good explanation why she in one episode sold Saffron into slavery in morocco! Both characters are disgusted by the inevitability of aging and will try anything to remain youthful and relevant. Though in this relationship, Patsy is always the one which influence Edina’s behaviour and actions, mainly for the worse. Saffron otherwise known as Saffy, is the neglected child of Edina due to this Saffy had to grow up quickly to look after herself. The character is rational and pragmatic but holds an enormous grudge against her mother. As such, Saffy goes out of her way to be the complete opposite of her mother and enjoys the disapproval it brings. Some other notable characters include Bubbles an effectively useless PA and Edina’s mother arguably the main cause of some of Edina’s Psychological trauma and issues.

The series is incredibly enjoyable to watch, though some of the jokes nowadays may appear to be quite outdated and sometimes even a little be offensive. However, this is an evitability due to the main characters’ awful personalities and morals. What I find incredibly unique about the show is that Eddy and Patsy are incredibly unlikable characters and they are designed to be viewed like this. There are times where it may appear that Edina or Patsy has done something ‘caring’ or ‘good’, but this is always short-lived. There is nothing redeemable about these characters in the slightest which I think is rare in comedies which tend to have more lovable characters as their focus. The show very well portrays how the fashion industry is corrupted and controlled by those with a lot of economic and social status who themselves have atrocious morals and values. There is also the emphasis on the need to create profit and if individuals, animals or the environment get exploited in the search, then that’s just an unfortunate consequence. Though I think the portrayal of the lack of work which goes into the fashion industry is very misguided, this series does a good job at showing the inner workings of the fashion industry and the weird assortment of characters who operate in it. Absolutely Fabulous is available to watch in the UK on Netflix and if you have the chance you should check it out, though it’s not to everyone’s taste and some scenes are outdated there is still some enjoyment to be made.              

[polyvirnl]

In Memoriam

Petals In Ambivalence prologue

Inspired by Link Start - Lies Stopped! by DawnWave on ao3

So I found a couple DawnWave Sword Art meets Miraculous books and decided I needed more, so heres a short one while I write the actual story.

This Au is the Black Lotus AU ((and while I realize that makes it sound like Marinette is in a Red Player guild, or taking Kiritio's place in SAO, its not, its literally just bc her handle is Lotus ingame, and i wanted a some cool alias's for it.))

Also,,, its gonna be maribat of some sort probably

The somber grey sky cried as Marinette stumbled to school, something that was fitting on that day. Adorned with black button up and slacks, grey shoes and ribbons, and a single freying bracelet on her wrist, Marinette concentrated on her breathing, feeling the cold sink into her bones while her umbrella lay unused in her hand.

She sighed as she tucked it away in her bag, the school growing closer with it’s perilous stone staircases and manipulative foxes lying in wait.

Since Lila had joined the school again a month ago, she had been steadily gaining support in the school, swaying everyone with a wag of her tongue, despite the outrageous lies she boasted. Normally, Marinette was nearly late and Lila was in the classroom before her arrival-that is to say, everyone was present before her arrival.

But not today.

Today she framed her bruised eyes like battle scars, the more readily pronounced bags a testament to how she slept that night; not a wink.

She knew she wouldn't have slept well, knew the likelihood of waking up with an aching throat and haggard voice- so she simply worked and worked, schoolwork, designs, scrolling through monotonous posts online, anything to keep her mind and memories quiet, if not silent.

Marinette fiddled with her bracelet as she walked up the stairs and through the hallway, not surprised when the door she opened displayed a distinct lack of person in the room, something unheard of since she had caught up with school and rejoined.

Her things were placed in an orderly manner on her desk in the back, her notes from last night queued on her tablet, waiting for power to be turned on to be used. Her arms were crossed on the wooden surface, head turned to stare out the window with glassy, unseeing orbs.

She didn't know how early she was, or how long she waited there, alone, before her classmates started piling in, first the early birds, like Sabrina and Max, then the giggling pairs like Rose and Juleka. No one mentioned Marinette’s lackluster presence, and she had a distant thought about if they thought she was someone else, or if they didn't care anymore. Not that she was like this today for attention. She was like this in attention, in a walking memorial of those who were lost for years, a survivor who had been lost but had finally come home three years ago.

Lila and a small portion of her posse came in. Marinette didn't stirr, not moving her eyes from the dusty window pane with the sky's tears trickling down and pelting it as if to break through and steal her away, to leave a changeling in her place with none the wiser but herself.

In the reflection of the glass, she noticed faintly as Kim walked up to his desk, that Max beside him wore the same ensemble as her, black as the night except for his dark grey glasses.

Lila’s shrill voice was breaking her shield of inattention, forcing her to listen even as she subtly pressed her hands over sensitive ears until they burned. That is, until she heard a familiar name, and a pool of dread dripped over her heart with an unflinching fist.

“Of course- that was before he and Alice got together, I was the one who got them together by the way!”

Maybe I misheard, maybe she can be a decent person for once-

Adrien stumbled in, funeral clothes like two others, grey faced and tired. He greeted them all with a small, scratchy voice.

“ The game was honestly a blast, I don't know why so many people died ! It was soo easy, but maybe I'm just that good?”

Adrien stopped where he was placing his things, face growing more pale by the second, turning slowly to stare at her.

Lila flashed a devious smirk at the ground at his attention.

“What the hell are you talking about.” He almost whispered, and the class froze. Marinette raised her head and made to stand.

“Sword Art Online of course! I was telling them all about my adventures with Kirito and Alice and the other front liners, I was stuck in that death game for years you know. I'm pretty sure its been coming back up in the media recently too~”

Marinette’s fists trembled, and Adrien eyes went glassy as he lurched out of the room.

“Lila Rossi.”

Everyone whipped around to see Marinette standing with feirce eyes.

“What.”

“Are you aware of the reason SAO has been resurfacing in the media.”

Lila sputtered.

“Of course I do, Its to celebrate the newer games being released!”

A pencil snapped, and the class glanced at an ashen faced Max, his eyes widening.

“No Lila. It's for the memorial of the dead players on the third year marker of the trap being beaten and the living players released.” She took a breath, and addressed the class as they whispered to themselves. “If you would have paid attention. Three of your classmates, are wearing funeral colors, Max, would you like to tell them why?”

“Of course, Marinette. I would assume, from how Adrien ran out, and Marinette looks, that they either played the game, knew someone who was trapped in the game, knew someone who died in the game, were a beta tester but didn't play the game, had family in the game, or had family or otherwise close contact with someone that helped in the original manufacturing before Akihiko Kayaba's dangerous tampering. Therefore, they are in mourning colors to respect the 3,853 fallen players, as well as those 6,147 living, and may be attending the memorial service that will be conducted later this afternoon.”

“Thank you Max.”

Lila sneered, out of view from those under her control before widening her eyes and crying,” I ju-just didnt want t-to think about al-all my friends that died…”

“How could you two bring that up?” Alya snapped, hugging the ‘forlorn’ girl.

“What exactly is going on in here?” Ms. Mendeliev stood in the doorway, surveying the chaos.

“Marinette and Max brought up Lila’s friends from that game, and she got sad.”

“From that game?”

“Yeah from when she was stuck in SAO!” Rose helpfully explained with a reassuring squeeze of Lila's shoulder.

Ms. Mendeleiev’s eyebrow rose comically.

“Miss Rossi, you are aware that it is on record who was and was not in Sword Art, specifically so that we teachers and staff know to be careful of PTSD among other things?”

“...No.”

“Miss Dupain-Chèng, with your consent?”

“Why do you need Marinette’s permission?” Juleka murmered, confused.

“Its alright, go right ahead madame.”

“Class, and specifically you, Miss Rossi, this school hosts exactly two international players from the virtual death game MMO, Sword Art Online. These players include one male, and one female, also known as One Marinette Dupain-Chèng-.”

A still pale Adrien returned with a furious Chloe.

“Ah, Mr. Agreste, perfect timing, are you willing for me to tell your classmates about what we discussed in the hall?”

“Sure…”

“Very well. As I was saying, the two players in this school, are one Miss Marinette Dupain-Chèng, and one Mr. Adrien Agreste.”

The two stared at each other, looking over each other. Marinette stood strong under the class's bewildered gaze, nodding in acknowledgment to Adrien.

Tikki patted her from inside her purse as Lila started up again, clearly scrambling for excuses.

“M-My mother! My mother didnt write my name on the record because she thought that I would get bullied for it!”

“While that may have been possible in other cases, the players of Sword Art are public record, seperate from their alias ingame so as to not promote grudges lasting to the outside.”

Mendeleiev sighed, almost bored, and brushed the topic away as if the students were not edging away from Lila and shooting looks of disapointment, shock, and disbelief at her.

“Anyway, carrying on, as Caline has called in sick, I will be filling in for her. Open your books to page 208, and start annotating. Adrien, Marinette, and Max, if you need to step outside for a moment to calm down, do so.

Max shook his head, replacing his broken pencil with another, as Marinette and Adrien stepped mechanically towards the door.

Outside, it was quiet for a moment.

“Do you plan to go to the memorial today?”

“Father is still unsure If he will allow it. It will probably be crowded, and it does seem like it's going to be a pretty public event…”

“I could send you the e-vite to the online one, or videochat you from the one at the tower?”

“I would like that, please send me the evite, in case he doesn't allow me to go.”

“...What was your handle?”

“Luciole, yours?”

“Rōtasu.”

Notes:

*Luciole means firefly, *Rōtasu means Lotus

[vvirgils]

Merry Crisis-A Moxiety Fic for all your Christmas needs

Pairing: Virgil x Patton

Description:human AU also technically highschool AU but it’s break so who cares, Roman makes a cameo, fake dating, mutual pining, tooth-rotting fluff, excessive gayness, all that good stuff

Words: 2,817

Warnings: Deceit sneks his way in.

Summary: Virgil doesn’t like having a Christmas party at his house, especially when his ex is going to be there. But having Patton by his side, as a friend-or something more?-makes it better. 

This is my gift to @brighter-side, I hope you enjoy the moxiety and have a wonderful holiday season! Also, shout out to @syzyji for beta reading (i’ll be over soon). Shout out to me for putting like, way too many cliches in here. Someone stop me. @secretsanders @fandersfic-moxiety

“Patton, I need a major favor,” Virgil said, holding the phone to his ear. He checked around the corners of the hallway. No family in sight, and they wouldn’t think anything of him calling his best friend. They were going to be at the party too, and they couldn’t know.

“What is it?” Patton asked, “Is it something big? You’re calling really late.”

“You know Deceit,” Virgil said, looking up and down to make sure no one was up. He checked his watch. 11:00.

“Of course I know Dylan. He only broke your heart into a thousand little pieces and made you an emotional wreck for a week, and by week I mean month.”

“He’s going to be at the Christmas party my family is having. And I need him to think I’ve moved on or he’ll try to pull some more manipulative bullshit over on me, and I really can’t take that right now, Pat,” Virgil said, taking a deep breath. “Could you pretend to be my boyfriend for one night?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Patton said. “It’s tomorrow, at 4:00?”

“Uh-huh. Good night, Patton,” Virgil said.

“Good night.” Patton hung up first, for once in his life.

Ugh. Why did Virgil’s life have to be this complicated? Patton was the only person he trusted to be a fake date, but he also was the only person who Virgil wasn’t sure about in terms of feelings. As in, did he have a crush, or were they just really close friends?

Both of them were gay, too. Well, Virgil was “sexually ambiguous,” but he liked guys. Which Patton was aware of. There were so many possibilities for what could happen between them tomorrow night; Virgil didn’t get any sleep until one.

Patton tapped the red button and put his phone down. Was he actually doing this? Fake-dating his best friend, who he kind of had a few feelings for.

And by a few he meant all of the feelings. He’d had a crush on Virgil for years, but had never gotten it together enough to ask him out. Courage had never been Patton’s strong suit. No matter how much he wanted to be in a relationship, he was always too scared to initiate. Too terrified of getting his heart broken, of being toyed around with. Of someone not caring about him.

If anyone cared about him, Virgil did. Maybe fake dating wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. Fantasies were already swirling around his head, and Patton turned off his phone and shoved it under his pillow. He fell asleep almost immediately, thoughts of Virgil the last on his mind.

***

Virgil woke up in the morning to three texts from Patton.

Should I wear smth special?

Nvm checked the evite

Can I punch D? plz?

No, Virgil replied, I want to do that first. Just show up and be arm candy.

Lol i’m sweet that should be easy.

You’ll do great

He turned off his phone and actually got out of bed. It was...noonish, and he had to get ready for the party. Breakfast came first, but then Virgil was staring at his all-black wardrobe thinking What am I going to wear to a Christmas party?

There wasn’t a single ugly Christmas sweater, or even something red and green. He could get away with black jeans, but not a black t-shirt. Sighing, Virgil called Patton.

“Hey Pat,” he said. Thank goodness they were the same size.

“What’s up, Virgil?” Patton asked, “Is something wrong?” The concern in Patton’s voice was adorable, and Virgil really wished he could actually get the guts to ask him out one of his days.

“So, my wardrobe is um…not quite right for a Christmas party,” Virgil said, “As in, I should have gone shopping for something that is not black like, last week. Do you have a Christmas sweater or something that I could borrow?”

Patton laughed over the phone, and Virgil automatically smiled. The simple sound always cheered him up. “I was actually going to give it to you for Christmas next week, but now is as good a time as ever. It actually matches um, mine,” Patton said. He’d actually thought about taking cute couple pictures in matching ugly sweaters when buying them-but Virgil couldn’t know that. “Because it was a 2 for 1 deal. But it’ll really make Deceit pissed if he thinks they’re, you know, matching because we’re a couple.”

“Yeah, totally,” Virgil said. “Just bring it to the party, you know where I live. See you then.” If only they were actually wearing matching sweaters as a couple…but it wasn’t a possibility. Someone as wonderful as Patton couldn’t possibly like him in that way.

“Will do, see you. Love you,” Patton said. It was their standard goodbye, but he wondered if Virgil could hear what he really meant every time he said it.

“Love you too.” Virgil ended the call and threw the phone at his bed. He did have to get dressed.

***

Like the overeager pining idiot that he was, Patton showed up early. It was three-thirty, he had no business being there, and Virgil was happy to see him.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Virgil said when he opened the door to see Patton. “I am officially sick of Christmas decorations. Glittery snowflakes are the worst.”

“They look really pretty, though,” Patton said, taking in the winter wonderland that Virgil’s living room had been transformed into. “Oh, here’s your sweater.” He handed Virgil the red and green bundle.

“Does this have Christmas lights on it?” Virgil asked, examining the sweater.

Patton pushed the button at the hem of his sweater to make the lights on his sweater turn on. “Yes. Aren’t they great?”

“Not exactly my style,” Virgil said, “but alright. Come on in.” Patton walked in, took off his coat, and put it away in the closet.

Virgil slipped the sweater on over his black t-shirt. “How do I look?” He flicked on the lights.

“You look, um, really good, Virgil.” Patton couldn’t believe how attractive Virgil looked. It fit him perfectly, and the tacky lights almost looked sophisticated on his lean frame. Virgil had done away with the dark eyeshadow today, probably at the request of his mother, and he looked incredibly cozy. Patton wanted to snuggle into his arms.

“Thanks, Pat. Care to give me a hand with stringing oversized Christmas lights across every surface in the house? It should be more bearable if we do it together,” Virgil said, trying to keep things as normal and platonic as possible before guests started showing up. Patton’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, and Virgil realized that he was going to have a hard time only pretending to be in love with Patton.

***

It didn’t take long after the party started for the house to fill up. People, people everywhere. If this party wasn’t at his house, Virgil would have stayed home. He kept up his job greeting people at the door and taking their coats, since it beat having to make actual conversation inside. Patton stuck around, although he had a better shot at talking to people at the party than Virgil did.

His parents had invited everyone that Virgil and his brother knew. Since Roman was involved in a gazillion extracurriculars, and had friends from every theatre program he’d ever done, most of the guest list was his friends. Virgil had invited one person: Patton, because he didn’t really know anyone else well enough to want them at his house.

Virgil wondered when people would stop showing up. The closet was getting full, and he wanted to sit down, but the doorbell kept ringing. He opened it again, expecting his father’s coworker, but instead.

Dylan. Great. “Hi, thank you for coming,” Virgil said, plastering a smile on his face as his ex stepped through the doorway.

“I’m happy to be here, V,” Dylan said, handing him a plate of cookies covered in saran wrap. “For you and your family.”

“Thank you very much.” He handed the cookies to Patton. “Hey babe, could you go put these with the rest of the desserts.” Chills darted down his spine as Patton’s face lit up at the words.

Patton gave him a peck on the cheek, and Virgil felt a patch of heat grow where Pat’s lips had been. “Sure thing, hon.” He disappeared into the kitchen.

“Can I take your coat?” Virgil asked Dylan, who was still standing there. He wasn’t sure if he had registered what had just happened between Patton and Virgil, but at this point Virgil didn’t really care.

“Sure thing.” Deceit shucked off his coat and deposited it in Virgil’s arms before walking past him. So he had noticed.

Ever the drama queen, Dylan turned around at the last second to face him. “You know, I didn’t think Patton was really your type.” He disappeared into the party, leaving Virgil grinding his teeth as he put Dylan’s coat away. What a nightmare.

Just then, Patton returned to a very grumpy Virgil. “Did he do something while I was gone?” Patton asked. When Virgil didn’t answer right away, Patton pressed, “Do I need to punch him?”

“No, absolutely not. He just…made a comment. You ready to make him incredibly jealous of how cute of a couple we are?” Virgil looped an arm around Patton’s shoulders.

“Yes,” Patton said, looking away as he blushed. Virgil was so warm, and they were so close. He really, really wanted to kiss him. “Snack table?”

Heat rushed to Virgil’s cheeks. “Snack table.” They walked over, saying hi to people as they passed. Several people took note of their closeness, and the way that Virgil was, er, pretending to look in love with Patton.

It was working, so that was great. They had a good time, eating food and holding hands, looking casually flirtatious enough that anyone would think they were together. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too awkward. Talking to each other felt normal, they were just…holding hands at the same time. Not bad. People bought it.

Most importantly, Deceit bought it. He spied them laughing and talking together from across the room. Virgil could feel his glare burning into the back of his neck, but he didn’t really care. Patton was laughing at a joke he had told.

Then, Dylan started to walk over.

***

“Hey Patton, you know that thing couples do where they stare into each others eyes and start walking off into the distance and everyone assumes they’re going to the bedroom to get it on,” Virgil half-asked, taking a quick glance at Deceit. Yep, he was still moving in this direction.

Patton looked startled by the statement. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Why do you mention…?” He trailed off, following Virgil’s line of sight. “Oh.”

“We should probably do that,” Virgil said. “I do not want to talk to him right now.”

“Ok.” Pat wrapped both his arms around Virgil’s shoulders and gave him a look that made Virgil’s legs turn into jelly. “I’m whispering something that only the two of us would understand and is probably um, PG-13,” he whispered.

“I’m replying something that’s a little closer to R-rated,” Virgil said, his voice dropping a few octaves. He rested his arms around Patton’s waist. Patton had no idea that Virge was such a good actor, must be a side effect of having Roman around. Still, he was blushing like crazy, and couldn’t stop himself from taking a gratuitous stare at Virgil’s lips.

They stood up, and just in time. Dylan was trying to get past a gaggle of gossiping middle-aged women.

“Is this, um, when we realize that there are other people and switch to holding hands and shooting each other covert stares as we move to a more private area?” Patton asked, his eyes sending a much more suggestive message. It took Virgil a moment to register what he had said.

“Sure, but not without giggling at an inside joke,” Virgil said, laughing a little as he took Patton’s hand. They half-jogged to Virgil’s bedroom, strategically staying as far away from Deceit as possible.

***

Virgil shut the door behind them. He could have sworn Deceit had followed them down the hallway.

“So, now that we’re far away from your snakelike ex, what’s next for the couple who needs some alone time?” Patton asked, still holding Virgil’s hand as he sat down on the bed.

“I guess the cliche would be a long makeout session and then fade to black,” Virgil said, only half-joking. He would really like to be kissing Patton right now.

“Is this your life or a Hallmark movie?” Patton asked, giving Virgil a look of mock confusion. “The Virgil I know would rather watch Coraline.”

“Maybe my tastes have changed, you know,” Virgil said, trying to look anywhere but Patton. So this was the end of their disappointing fake-dating charade.

“Really, because I have like, twenty movies I need you to see,” Patton said, enthusiasm building in his voice. He inched a bit closer to Virgil on the bed.

“Don’t subject me to the torture just yet,” Virgil said, “I’m just recovering from a certain liar who I do not want to get back together with.” At least Patton is holding my hand, he thought.

“Fine, but after the party…” Patton sighed. Virgil’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

Hoping it wasn’t anything big, probably just an automatic message or something, Virgil opened it up. One message from Least Favorite Brother Named Roman

ur ex is about to barge into ur room in like 10 seconds bc hes a massive asshole i guess? Some bs like that

Virgil took one second to process the text before turning to Patton and kissing him full on the mouth. Both of them froze, shocked, but then they kept kissing. Virgil’s hand reached up to caress Patton’s cheek. Patton deepened the kiss, making it slower, softer, more passionate.

It was, without a doubt, the best kiss Virgil had ever had. Patton wasn’t forcing his tongue down Virgil’s mouth, he wasn’t even in a hurry to take his shirt off. There was just his soft lips and the gentle tug around Virgil’s waist as Patton pulled him closer. For a second, Virgil forgot the moment wasn’t real, and they were just kissing in case someone happened to barge in. He got lost in the faint taste of chocolate chip cookies and the smell of Patton’s shampoo.

His phone buzzed again. Virgil was just going to ignore it when Patton broke away from the embrace. “You should probably, um, check it,” Patton said.

Nvm he just left in a hissy fit

“I am going to kill my brother,” Virgil said, turning his phone off and flipping it over.

“That seems a little…harsh. What did he do?” Patton asked, still trying to sound normal. He didn’t feel normal. He felt anything but normal. Virgil had just kissed him, like, out of the blue, and it was an excellent kiss. Probably the best he’d ever had, and Patton wasn’t even sure if it was real. Or why Virgil had kissed him. His brain was still too muddled to figure it out.

“So, he texts me that Deceit is about to barge in here because he’s an asshole, blah blah, so I…” Kissed you, Virgil thought but didn’t say. “Then, he texts me that the snake has just left the party. I was really nervous and I thought something very bad was going to happen!”

“Well, it’s a good thing that it didn’t,” Patton said, trying to be the voice of reason here, even as his heart was slowly breaking into pieces. So it wasn’t real. “I mean, it wasn’t a bad kiss.”

“Yeah, that’s a good thing,” Virgil said. He took a deep breath to steady himself. Locking lips with Patton had really done something to him. Maybe he should like, tell Patton that it meant something to him, that he actually had an enormous crush on the dude.

So, Virgil opened his mouth to say, “I really like you and I’ve kind of wanted to date you for real for ages but now that I’ve kissed you I feel like I can’t not tell you.”

At the same time Patton said, “Virgil, I’m in love with you and I really hope that the kiss meant something to you because it did to me. I’ve liked you for a long time and I want to be more than friends.”

They both stopped, looking into each others eyes. “We’re idiots,” Virgil said. “Absolute idiots.”

“Maybe we should have skipped fake dating and gone straight to the real thing.” Patton smiled, and Virgil smiled back. It was real. All of it.

“Nothing about this is straight, and you know it,” Virgil said, pulling Patton in for another kiss. This was better than any Christmas present.

[earaercircular]

Munich International Motor Show : Now in eco mode

The International Motor Show in Munich has begun this Tuesday. Instead of models in front of sports cars, the providers are now presenting recycled cars and bicycles. This should underpin the change in the industry - but by far not everyone likes it.

If one last proof was needed that the German auto industry really wants to do everything completely different now, then it is this, well, airy demonstration. In the coming week, the International Motor Show, better known as the IAA[1], begins in Munich. And the Association of German Automobile Manufacturers, the VDA, [2] has invited the reporters to a preview - but not by bus or in an electric car convoy, but by zeppelin.

At a height of 500 meters you will glide gently over Munich and see how what how this probably most important German trade fair has changed. The IAA no longer only takes place in exhibition halls, but also right in the middle of the old town: at Königsplatz, for example, at Odeonsplatz, at Stachus or Marienplatz and also on the A 94 autobahn where people can try out futuristic vehicles.

In the past, the bigger the better

The change of perspective is necessary. Everything used to be clear, the rule of thumb was: the bigger, the better. Business is still running according to these rules - extremely well in fact, following current sales and profit figures. But in times of lightning-fast computers, threatening climate change and overcrowded cities, the managers in Wolfsburg, Munich and Stuttgart are increasingly discussing other things, sometimes with an anxious tone: Which robot car will come from the USA tomorrow? Which new competitor is behind the corner in China? What new forms of transportation are in demand? How green do you have to get? And yes, that too: How desirable are you actually?

When the industry gathered for the last time at the IAA, in autumn 2019, already a lot of certainties for so long in the automotive world had been shaken. And the car people hardly had any answers. This is one of the reasons why the IAA 2019 in Frankfurt turned out to be quite a disaster - which is not an exaggeration - that should not be repeated.

When Chancellor Angela Merkel visited, climate activists grimly climbed some cars and held up posters: "Climate killers". The BMW employees stood around their occupied cars, perplexed. The dented roofs were the smallest problem. The managers simply didn't know how to deal with this situation, for which there is probably no good solution. Halligalli [3] was also outside the gates: demonstrators blocked the driveway with bicycles. Which, by the way, was quite right for the mayor of Frankfurt, Peter Feldmann. The SPD man - after all, actually the host - was not allowed to speak at the opening. His speech was then of course known anyway: "Frankfurt needs more buses and trains, but not more SUVs," it said. And he also thanked the demonstrators - their fight for a better climate is important.

From then on, the disturbed car people only wanted to get away from Frankfurt. Eventually they agreed on Munich. Here, too, urban society does not embrace the auto industry. But it is probably the safest big city in the world, a main argument when looking for a new venue. "Here there are cavalry squadrons and, in case of doubt, a stable police cauldron," said someone from the industry who was involved in the decision-making process some time ago. But that alone is not enough to make the trade fair a success again.

Because the car itself has lost traction. In Frankfurt there were only a good 500,000 visitors. Half as many as a few years earlier. Even in this area of life, providers and consumers have migrated to the Internet. And the avant-garde is somewhere else anyway: Google, Apple and Tesla are leaders in robot functions and electromobility - and what are the Chinese actually building with massive state support? Hardly any of this could be seen in Frankfurt.

The big trade fairs were long regarded as high masses: the car show in Geneva or Paris, the motor show in Detroit - or the IAA in Frankfurt, that was glamor in all its facets. Whoever could went there. The others at least devoured the reports and photos about horsepower cars and the scarcely clothed young women that manufacturers like Ferrari put on hoods, which they thought was creative.

It was the time when car managers secretly hung around the competition's exhibition halls, sometimes more, sometimes less, to see what their colleagues were up to. When they met in the back rooms of the pavilions to make deals and start mergers. When men like the former Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche and the long-time Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn sat on the big stage, talking about cars, marriages and all sorts of other things and the audience wondered whether what took place was more of a cabaret . Ghosn later got into trouble with the Japanese judiciary and at some point fled to Lebanon in an instrument case. Behind the big cars was often also a perfectly staged drama.

The VW family owners made the managers act like gladiators in the Coliseum

In all these years, however, nobody had encouraged the knighting of the car more than Volkswagen. On the eve of the official car show openings, the Wolfsburg always invited people to a large hall, in Frankfurt, in Paris, in Geneva, regardless of the main thing: big. When every brand boss then presented his latest models in front of the big players, the music came off the tape at discotheque volume, when the bosses of Porsche, Audi and Skoda bowed to the powerful, the family owners Wolfgang Porsche and above all Ferdinand Piëch, then this copied Roman Coliseum-style events: Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant.

It was loud on those evenings in the VW Coliseum, very loud. Sometimes the Pet Shop Boys performed, sometimes the French film diva Catherine Deneuve, sometimes rope artists and dancers. Each act was kind of out of place in its own way. But these evenings weren't about the total work of art being convincing. The names were important. The celebrities. And the volume. When the twelve cylinders of the Lamborghini Aventador also cracked to the pounding techno music, to light shows and artificial fog, then you wondered how - for example - Mr Piëch, who was already older at the time, could stand it. Mostly he sat there, stoic, immobile, absent.

As soon as the show was over and the gladiators bowed to him, the emperor stood up and left the stands. Walked slowly down the stairs into the arena. Pretended to be inspecting cars, but the truth was he wanted to speak to the people, and so he did. Often only a few minutes, but that provided a topic of conversation for days. For example, when he said between half sentences that he would like to buy the Fiat subsidiary Alfa Romeo. Just like that, maybe also to drive the then Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne to white heat. Incidentally, the latter took revenge a few years later. When the Germans sank into the diesel scandal and Fiat was accused of having also manipulated diesel engines, the Italian said: "Anyone who compares us with the German company has smoked something illegal."

The "i Vision Circular" should consist of almost 100 percent recycled material

Perhaps the diesel scandal was the beginning of the end of the big trade fairs, in any case it accelerated change. As a result of the crisis, the evitably oversized cars were trimmed down to normal. At the same time, new competitors with new technologies pushed into the industry. Then Piëch and his top managers disappeared from the scene. And the new managers also break the existing professional rules. At the IAA 2019 VW boss Herbert Diess tried out the embrace technique with the demonstrators, he went almost completely out to the people, discussed with an activist of the "Sand im Getriebe"[4] initiative. That was a bit obnoxious on his part, but at least he had tried it.

Nowadays even in Munich, they want to appear more modern here and everything should run more smoothly, the industry hopes. And other content has been agreed. In particular, visitors can see electric cars, such as a stretchable sedan from Audi. And BMW wants to talk about the circular economy in its "Joytopia": How can mobility function in a resource-saving and low-CO₂ manner? The company wants to present the "i Vision Circular", a vision vehicle that consists of almost 100 percent recycled material - and is designed in such a way that it can be easily recycled. VW, in turn, would like to introduce the "New Auto", the robot driven car of the day after tomorrow. "Mobility is a basic human need - and fulfilling it in all its facets is an ever greater challenge for our society, which business and politics have to face," says VDA President Hildegard Müller and is certain that the "new IAA " will show ways how these mobility tasks can be combined:" efficiently, economically, socially and ecologically ".

It should be possible to experience it in the literal sense of the word, which is why the IAA no longer takes place in noisy, stuffy exhibition halls for the most part. But outside in the squares. Because that's where the industry wants to get into conversation with critics, at least in theory - as long as they don't trample on the roofs of cars.

A pleasant approach. The corona epidemic could destroy some of it. The incidence is rising again, now fences have to be put up around the scenes in the city. So this time there is an inside and outside, which will lead to conflicts, especially since a number of initiative-takers have announced protests and rather do not want to debate in the chair, from the anonymous alliance "Smash-IAA"[5], whose posters are hanging all over the city, to the Greens Youth[6]. Many criticize the car industry for promoting its event as a green mobility fair.

The critics are not entirely wrong. Because there are also those in industry who are unfamiliar with the new IAA concept, which wants to unite everything that rolls. We are car manufacturers and should just display our cars nicely instead of having to take buses, trains and car sharing as well, they say behind closed doors. These orthodox do not think much of the fact that bicycles are now also exhibited at the "new IAA", although some car manufacturers now offer them themselves. They can't do much with expert panels on "Smart Cities", instead they complain that the IAA is not international enough, which is probably due to the Corona epidemic. In fact, even VW is not represented with all brands, Peugeot, Opel, Fiat, Volvo, Honda and Toyota completely save themselves the appearance, even expensive super sports cars will not be on display, not even the US company Tesla, which will soon have a plant in Germany opened. The German competition is afraid of the Americans, but they also know that Tesla would attract people, potential customers for everyone.

Or should bigger things be negotiated after all, the transport turnaround, climate protection? It depends on who you ask. The car people are not in agreement. The IAA 2021 is a very exciting large-scale experiment in an industry that is currently having to find itself anew. And which sometimes relies on the tried and tested. On Sunday - after the Zeppelin flight - there is a VW break in the Isarpost[7]. A large hall, there is probably loud music, and of course wine and beer, Corona or not. As always. Because as exciting as everything is right now - it would be more convenient if everything stayed the same.

Source

Thomas Fromm & Max Hägler: Jetzt mal im Öko- Modus, in: Süd-Deutsche Zeitung, 3-09-2021 https://sz.de/1.5400871

[1]die Internationale Automobilausstellung [2] The Verband der Automobilindustrie e. V.(German Association of the Automotive Industry) is a German interest group of the German automobile industry, both automobile manufactures and automobile component suppliers. It is member of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The VDA represents carmakers including BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler but also counts foreign suppliers and foreign-owned carmakers like Opel among its members. The group is located in Berlin, Germany. [3] Halli Galli is a crowd awareness game for two to eight players. [4] Sand in the Gears; https://sand-im-getriebe.mobi/ Sand in the gears is an action alliance made up of various climate, transport and globalization-critical groups and was founded in early 2019. It sees itselve as part of the global movement for climate justice. [5] https://smashiaa.noblogs.org/ The International Motor Show (IAA for short) will take place in Munich from September 6 to 12, 2021. In the midst of the climate crisis, the large automobile companies want to celebrate private transport and hide what we all actually know under a green cloak: that they fuel the climate crisis for their profits. We don't want to leave that unchallenged. That is why we call for direct campaigns during the fair! [6] https://gruene-jugend.de/ [7] https://isarpost-eventlocation.de/

[aguidetotheexistential-blog]

New theory writing my thoughts (very high)

I think that once the primates decided to walk on two legs and upright, they became able to think for themselves, as their brains got so much bigger because it became more stimulated from a higher point of view. Once theyre on their toes and arms outstreched and manage to lose their extra appendages ie. tails, fins, fur, etc. and have a body that resembles a homosapien in stretched position straight up in the air, they will be able to have the same experience in growing as a collective into a society ie. racial/gender barriers, trans and bio manipulating acceptance and understanding, and achieveing nirvana. Once peak potential has been reached, the species has reached enlightenment to believe that we as creatures have to come together to make one being. Once we realize that there is this pattern of how things will probably work with the next group that is a rank above the previous, we realize that we need to become this all-inclusive thing that is just a ball of life energy that is refining more and more each second to just pure bliss. A combination of everything, evitibly making it nothing because there’s with nothing there but it. Nothing and something at the same time. Contradictory but still a weirdly-wonderful wording holding all that needs to be known inside of it.