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iam-back · 23 days ago

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A Review of Vinny's Quality DOS Games 2

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I have to put a Content Label on this post because of one of the games in the video and therefore displayed on the thumbnail, front-and-center for all to see.

[ISR] MsiBamba ShelBamba | Much like Chex had Chex Quest and Skittles had Darkened Skye, everyone's favorite Isr43li (I have to censor out the name because filters aren't word-bound) peanut-Cheeto has a video game featuring its infantile mascot!

It's bad enough for a video game to only have one song in its "soundtrack", but Bamba: The Game is up there with Hong Kong 97 in terms of repetitious torture! Not helping is the wonky controls and everything, even the animals you're supposed to get to, hurting you. You want some good games where you play as a baby? Miracle Upa-World, Family Guy: Video Game! and Road to the Multiverse, Rugrats: Search for Reptar, Studio Tour, Gotta Go Party, etc...

And legend tells that this game can only be played once per bootup, otherwise subsequent playthroughs won't work properly or the game will flat-out refuse to load.

[Unknown - likely Asia] Hilarious Bowling | Whoa, okay! Only two games in and we're already going from a 0 to a 100! No wonder doktawhawee9870 said this feels like the sorta game they, their brother, and their friends would make drunk, and when they sobered up the next morning, they'd come to regret it!

In our roster we got a certain former painter-turned-historical monster, Madonna who has bowling pins on her stage presence, a mishmash of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, a guy who wears "Old-Year" on his big old hat and calls himself Napoleon, and Sherlock Holmes.

But then you play as some ordinary little ankle-biter pipsqueaks. Bowling for a Content Label. "You can... have a Napoleon v.s you-know-who in Dracula's castle, in this game."

Ooh, poor Napoleon. His Psychonauts appearance, this is not.

[SWI] BeerThe Last Eichhof | "You try my patience, make your choice!" Did you expect Galaxian but with beer bottles and the game studio's logo? No? Good, cuz that's what this is! You can buy beer bottles to extend your range (Vinny ends up passing up on Pony and buying Bunkel) and powerups (the speedup is called "I Want To Be Fast", which leads to the exact joke you've come to expect if you've spent any time on the Internet after, say, 2003).

Also, what are these sounds? Laughter when you die? "I am!" Cowbell? Exploding Pac-Man appears sometimes? A train that drops plates is a boss? Sneezing? What!? And it all leads to some dudebros yelling "RUCKSACK! RUCKSACK!", which of course Vinny mistakes as them saying "suck".

[CHN] Clearance/Bubu Bubu | What would you expect from a game Vinny calls "Bubboo/Bubba Chang Tang-Gan"? If you said Bomberman with space-octopodes, you're right! This one begins as an octopus spends his last gasp of moon-air sending a distress signal to another Death Star-like thing. Immediately after, you're off to the space-pyramids farting out black exploding newborns to defend yourself against the ladybugs, hermit crabs, and... things!

If you press other keys, you can shoot fireballs or leave trails of fire, but Vinny can't figure out how to do that before he moves on to...

[RUS] Crow II | I say "Russia" because look at this! The Wise Cat in the cup game, Pike v.s Ivan the Fool in the fighting section with Katyusha playing, chasing Baba Yaga's house on a horse-drawn carriage... Let's skip to the second go-round of the second section, because yee-yikes the crow is loud and woo-wee does that ominous laughter give you a chill.

After Vinny wins, he finds himself on carriage-back chasing what he at first believes to be menstruation or anal bleeding, but is actually, of course, Baba Yaga's house. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize his objective until it's too late and he's outpaced the house by kilometers.

I appreciate the semi-Mode-7 though.

[???] Cyber Marine | First Super Cop, now this! The gamedevs somehow went by without a lawsuit from Orion Pictures - that's clearly Robocop! These levels complete themselves, literally, and joystick-less movement is a galdurn MYSTERY! Did these bozos not know how to program A VIDEO GAME!?!?!?

[KOR] Dark Side Story | The feel-good hit of the summer: Dark Side Story! Starring Kevin James as a toaster, Jean Claude van Damme as an arm, Adam Sandler as a washed-up broad, and ET as a slimy space-penis! Alright!

...Nah just kidding. This one's from Sonnori (yes, "A Labyrinth Called School" Sonnori), and after two crashes and some bumbling around with commands he's off! After witnessing this poor gentleman get trapped inside a gachapon ball you're immediately thrust into a girl's living room, neither cutscene nor fanfare - she's our player character, whom I'll call Seonhwa, but Vinny says she's more like Tifa Lockhart.

All Vinny can do is run around, get lost, smack a guy around (by the way, the outside stuff is a beatmup), and be constantly preturbed by the D-note that goes on a bit long.

[KOR] Dino: Earth Rescue Operations | Are those Cheetos? Even the Hangeul says "Cheetos"! Anyway, in this arcade-esque game, you burn the dinosaurs and collect fattening junk foods like bananas, cherries, and yes, those sweet succulent Cheetos!

DESSERT P! Seouo is quite prolific on the leaderboard, aren't they?

[JAM] Ganja Farmer | Much like K(S)FH was a Simpsonized Rat Trap and BeerThe Last Eichhof was an alcoholic Galaxian, Ganja Farmer is a marijuana-scented Missile Command. NEXT!

[DEN] Guldkorn Express | To get that salty Bamba taste out of your mouth, have some sweet Guldkorn cereal! On a sentient train driven by a bear! Whoa, this old IBM DOS game has some good physics! Why does the dynamite sound like a Mozart? When will Vinny learn the key you need to press to drop the dynamites you've collected? And why does the death message sound like "high maintenance taint"???

Ah yes - I forgot about the thing I thought was a dragonfly, but on closer inspection is a bee!

[CHN] Jinyong Fighter | This fighter comes with the BEEFIEST bass this side of that one YTPMV of a swamp level. After a fight between Little Dragon Lady and what looks like Sammy Hagar who controls ice and lightning, we're introduced to 13 wacky characters! A red kung-fu guy, an old man who can become a frog at will, not-Sammy Hagar, a magic rocket-card guy, an electro-wizard, a ninja who got lost on the way to Edo, Little Dragon Lady, the red dancer, a monk who throws psychic projectiles, a clown who becomes a monster, a guy who has a dragon, and a fiery swordsman.

He plays as the frog-shifter v.s not-Sammy Hagar and loses both times. Handy-king-dude-guy wins. Twice.

[KOR] Kart Race | From the "developers" that brought you The Day saga and Icarus (which was shown in the last Quality DOS but skipped), and immediately after one of Vinny's trademark Super Show Bros Talk About episodes (presumably Mario Kart and how slapdash Korean bootleggers ripped them off or some doomsh--), here's essentially the Korean Skunny Kart/Miracle Design slapdash racers!

Our repertoire this time is Jyun, Ijin, Can, Chang, Tina (?), Elle, Tai, and Mog! Together they race in their dumb cars, pick up just one item to use it 8 times, and take victory ultra-seriously, as if Vinny places second the game will not let him proceed. Why is the hit-sound one of those fast-talking-on-phone sounds?

[ITA] Our Thing | Oh boy, more common games reskinned with a certain thingy in mind! This time it's Mafia Doom, complete with O Sole Mio droning on and on in the background! NEXT!!!

[KOR] Catch the Mole | Oh joy, 60 seconds of Whack-a-Mole excitement, now with Numpad requirements, packaged entirely as its own game for you to play at your rinky-dink home in the seedier side of Seoul. As an added bonus, the game messed up Vinny's mic quality, he thinks.

[KOR] Real Fighter | More like "Not Virtua Fighter"! The vanity plate runs faster than the game until Vinny increases the cycles. Also, in the menu graphic, Inoeru looks like Spy TF2. This one's quirk is that the CPU will always pick the first character you pick for this session, in this case Blood. Don't you think the music is a bit wrong for a fighter? Sounds too peaceful for such violence.

He always loses, even when switching to Inoeru, whereupon the game crashes when the word "PERPECT" shows up.

[KOR] Reon's Adventure | After a long intro sequence set in the grassy fields with a Kremlin castle, some come with mee-eeyalaboo, ducks, and Museum of Anything Goes, we finally come across the title screen where we meet Reon himself, who seems to be a rascally lion-scamp.

Gameplay consists of Reon swashbuckling his way through the levels in 200 seconds or less, but he can jump on the ones that aren't cacti as well. He can rake in the won coins as he adventures, and then at the end of the level he meets this merchant with shoes of steel walking on a bed of spikes! Metal.

Vinny then gives up when he puts the Ctrl key back in (it popped out and it happens to be the key you use to use a sword), killed by a Spindashing Squirrel.

[RUS] SABOR | Y'ever see a game with better music than art? This is that. The story is as follows: weapons are banned somehow, and scrolls for SABOR end up in a rural village where 5 guys find it and then they're off to save the world. Hefty task for a bunch of quintuplets, but okay.

The outcome of the first round determines that of the second - but because Vinny loses all five times the first round he has no choice but to watch the quintuplets get beaten to death. Then he goes to training mode, where the training dummy is not a sandbag, or a sack of meat, but an entire other guy! You punch its lights out, because the healthbar is candles - worst MS-DOS pun ever until 1994's SpaceKids came along and Zeedle rode on a literal horseshoe!

[KOR] Sybal's Monkey Adventure | This side-shooter refreshingly takes place in the open plain, as a monkey shooting bananas against evil jumping and flying monkeys. A lot of stuff is in 5s. 5 lives, 5 hits before death, enemies in waves of 5 at first...

[CHN] Violent Myth | True to its name, this one is a fighter with a mythical twist! You got these birds, soldiers, kings, Little Dragon Lady? This one's gimmick is that you can go reeeeeeeeaaaaaaally far away from each other. Vinny's first match, the opponent fires blue Blazing Torches. Then the AI craps its pants.

Second match, the opponent fires little castles and he complains about how apparently far away the controls are (S and D to move, Shift to kick, X to crouch? Seems close-knit to me!).

[KOR] Hello! Mr. President YS | Contrary to my initial wishes for this to be a dating sim where you talk to South Korea's president, this one is a political board game in an era where we really don't need any more of it.

#vinny vinesauce #ms dos #Youtube

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canyouhearthelight · 4 years ago

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The Miys, Ch. 139

Day Two of the Food Festival! This one has a specific request from @baelpenrose, which was fun to play with in the Low-Stim session (always on day 2).

To everyone who has reached out to tell me how much they are enjoying getting to see Sophia actually relax and just have fun for once.... Y’all are the best! It’s been fun writing it, too.

New reader shout outs go to @corvallis, @penguin--person, @amphibiousuprising, @chip5-0, and I think @lostsoul8822. I think that’s everyone... If I missed you, please DM me, and I’ll add you to the next chapter.

On with the show!

The first day of the Festival, Conor and I ended up staying through not only Maverick’s shift but the one after, just so we could drag him to our favorite spots. Day two, however, Conor was on deck as Support Personnel as well as Maverick, and neither were assigned to me - for the first half of day two, we were in the Low Stim Mode, so I was pretty sure I could brave it on my own with everyone else’s proximity alerts and my own personal hyper-alertness preventing accidental bumps.

For me, the most exciting part was the different foods offered, and the fact that I could focus on just the food. Not having to ignore the other stimuli was a completely relaxing experience. The visual of the mural, with everything present, was still completely different in the even, indirect lighting. The dual nature of it was toned down significantly, leading to the overall feel being softer and overall more pleasant without being distracting.

Halfway through a very good pad thai, I spotted Derek and Sam sitting with Ivan and poking at something that Sam was clearly excited about and Derek was equally doubtful of. I circled around so they could see me approaching, and made a point to wave. “What do you think?” I asked, trying to sign as I spoke but hampered by the food in my hands.

“It was a good try,” Derek confessed, cheeks stuffed with something that had previously been on a plate to his left as a backup plan.

Setting my food down, I grinned mischievously. “Doing my best,” I signed, leading to laughter on all sides.

“You just told him you do him the best,” Ivan murmured, my face immediately flooding red.

“That is NOT what I meant,” I tried to explain out loud, over-enunciating while I clenched my hands in embarrassment.

To his credit, Derek signed what he seemed to understand I meant, emphasizing each sign. It was clear that I had gotten several out of order and added one that changed everything overall.

After repeating the signs and getting confirmation, I shook my head and sighed dramatically. “I tried.”

Ivan was trembling with laughter. “You. You did,” he admitted. “But that was… wow.” His head dropped on his hands as he shook silently.

“Souffle pancakes?” I offered, finger spelling the word souffle since I had no freaking clue how to actually sign it.

“Egg pancake,” Derek explained, poking the one I offered and contemplating the jiggle.

“It’s cinnamon sugar, and not gooey,” I explained.

Apparently I got that one right, because Derek immediately stabbed a piece and shoved it in his mouth. The only judgement I needed was the fact that he dragged the entire remaining pancake onto his plate.

Sam watched his roommate before contemplating his own sample. Before he could even ask, I held up a cup full of macerated berries. “And fruit topping for you, sir.”

“Are those my berries?” he asked, skeptical.

I shook my head. “Bog standard, from the consoles. Your vegetables and fruits are being used in the other shifts. We didn’t want to give anyone here unexpected tastes.”

He nodded and dumped the entire cup of fruit over his pancake, digging in happily.

Ivan batted his eyes at me until I explained. “Sam’s produce has… unexpected pairings. Tomatoes that pair with cheesecake and wines, strawberries that really go well with steak…”

“The mango that goes with beer but not fish?”

“Yeah, that one. Von soil does strange things to produce, turns out.”

“Those matcha-edamame are amazing though.”

“For ice cream, yes. For tea, less so. They’re like… cooking matcha, almost.” I laughed. They actually worked better for ice cream than matcha did, oddly - reducing the sugar content but still giving the same flavor.

“One vendor on the last day is using nothing but my produce,” Sam announced happily. “They asked my permission.”

“That’s good!” I encouraged him. “They should always ask your permission to do things like that.”

“People ask with requisition forms,” he agreed. “Mona asked in person.”

Note to self: much more patronage at Mona’s normal spot, I swore in my head. She specialized in vegetarian dishes, and honestly made some of the best fried cabbage I’d had in my life. Knowing that she was so considerate of Sam cemented her as my new favorite takeaway place.

After a little more chat, I finally waved my goodbyes to everyone and strolled slowly to the next tempting stall. I wasn’t really in any hurry, and did more people-watching than I did eating. Latkes were infinitely more interesting when I could overhear people arguing over family recipes. A small bowl of udon was delicious, but not nearly as flavorful as the discussion around hot versus cold, what to top them with, egg or no egg… the only thing anyone seemed to agree on was that the smiling vendor ‘obviously’ ground their own flour, because the flour provided by the consoles was the wrong texture.

Another mental note: don’t learn to make udon. Despite what I had previously believed, it takes a lifetime to make it right, turns out.

Wandering further down, I was delighted by the discovery of something that was very clearly Hannah’s doing: demonstrations of older food prep techniques. Simon winked at me as he carried on a demonstration of - insanely - how to hand pull toffee. I didn’t know he could do that. Muna was demonstrating the correct way to make chapatis and handing them out as fast as she was making them. Clearly, she had been making them her whole life, because at no point did I actually see her look at them, but every single one was perfect.

Laughter erupted over my shoulder, and I whipped my head around to see the source. After wading through a crowd of smiling faces, I couldn’t help but join in. There, right in front of the entire Ark, was Maverick trying to flip takoyaki as fast as the person demonstrating, and ending up with just a mess of octopus and batter on his side. Both Maverick and the person guiding him were smiling, though, and in the end, the vendor handed Maverick four perfectly-round balls and quickly devoured all of the - less shapely, so to speak - ones on my partner’s side. With an exuberant cheer and extending his arms wide to the crowd, the man exclaimed “The first takoyaki of a new student are always my favorite! Nothing tastes better!”

After bowing to his sensei, Maverick turned and spotted me, face still flushed with laughter. He offered his food to a smaller man I did not recognize, who must have been the person Maverick was Supporting, before waving to me and continuing on. Despite the urge to crush him in a hug, I forced my feet to stay in place and reminded myself that he was working.

By the time I trusted myself not to race after him, I realized someone had been trying to get my attention and had resorted to messaging me rather than shouting. “Phee, I don’t know what la-la land you are lost in, but look 100 yards to your four.”

The hell was Arthur doing here? He wasn’t scheduled to work this shift, as far as I was aware. Craning my neck over my shoulder, I turned to see… Apparently a hallucination. It had to be. There was no chance in any of the nine hells that Arthur Farro was dishing out spaghetti, much less smiling while doing it.

Almost dreamlike, I found myself drifting over to confirm that I was wrong, only to be startled when he shoved a plate with not only spaghetti but two gorgeous pieces of garlic bread under my nose. “Special plates, you can’t smell anything unless it’s on purpose.”

“You… Spaghetti?” I asked, eloquent as ever.

“Family recipe.”

“Leaning into the stereotype a bit, aren’t you?” I asked carefully before shoving as much of one thick, crusty piece of toast in my mouth as I could.

He shook his head. “Anyone who tells you their family is Italian and denies having a family recipe for anything is a damned liar.”

Skeptically, I took a bite. It was amazing. “Ah ee deh rehahee,” I tried to get out around the heap of pasta I was steadily shoving in my mouth.

“Maverick is a very bad influence on your table manners,” he observed drily, plating more portions and handing them out. “And no. Not happening.”

“You know I can cook.”

“Not the point. I also know that you will fiddle with it until it is unrecognizable, so there’s really no point in giving it to you.”

Defiantly, I took a smaller bite and chewed carefully. “Garlic, onions, obviously. Sausage and minced… Lamb? But that’s probably just for this session, knowing you it’s spicy sausage regularly. I’m not getting carrot, though, so no soffritto? Unexpected…. Is that thyme, I’m tasting?”

“Rosemary, you heathen. And you’re still wrong.”

I mumbled to myself. “What did I get wrong? It’s gotta be the lamb… maybe he does usually use the lamb? I’m certain it is lamb…”

“It is lamb, and no, I don’t usually use it. But you left several things out.”

I stared at the plate again, confused. “I didn’t think I needed to mention the tomatoes….”

“Basil… oregano….” he drawled.

“Duhhh?” I poked through the last bite on my plate, sniffing it, trying to figure out what I was missing. “Fine, you win, I’m lost.”

“Mushrooms, Sophia. There’s mushrooms. Jeezus. It was an easy one, too.” He showed me a bowl full of what looked like cooked and crumbled sausage, only for me to realize it was the tiniest diced mushrooms I had ever seen in my life.

“I am dying to know how you got them that small.”

“With a knife?” He arched an eyebrow at me as he turned to start another batch of sauce.

“Yeah, no shit, Arthur.”

“Correct, there is no shit in the spaghetti,” he confirmed cheekily as the vegetables started sizzling.

“Asshole,” I laughed, scraping the remaining sauce from my plate with the piece of bread I saved just for that purpose. Just as I was frowning at the sauce-less plate and remaining half-piece of bread, a scalding hot dollop of fresh sauce invaded my vision.

“You love me, because I won’t let you frown at your bread like that.”

Fiiiinnnne I sighed in my head as I shoved a piece of saucy, saucy bread into my cheeks and waggled my fingers to let him get back to work.

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#the miys #found family #humans are weird #science fiction #aliens #apocalypse #humans are space orcs #humans are space fae #earth is space australia #post apocalypse #post post apocalypse #original science fiction #original sci fi #original writing

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currentfandomkick · 5 years ago

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Miraculous Team and the Batboys

Longer update, wrote the ao3 version first this time. if you want to find me there, crazyjc.

Thankfully there weren’t any akuma attacks that day or that night. Marinette was glad to get some sleep for once. Her body, confused and used to a few hours a night, got her up early.

Marinette decided to help with the morning rush—quick to handle the register and make adjustments to some people’s orders (no extra charge for the exhausted high school and college students) when she managed to find someone as dead as she was after an akuma messed up her commission schedule and sleep was skipped for a week.

“Wow, you’re getting the ‘Please Don’t Let Me Die Again Yet’ special.” Marinette turned before the zombie could speak. “Maman, watch the register, someone looks worse than midterms and commissions me.”

Once Maman took the register again, Marinette worked on her disaster drink that only a few particular customers knew of from her personal menu--mainly the dead college and high school students insane enough to pull a weeks worth of all nighters like her. And baby parents that liked her parents bakery.

Gurarana beans instead for the extra caffeine with her special blend of licorice root, peppermint and green tea poured in--double the caffeine with less effort, glucose for the brain fuel, sweet and mint for wakeup and focus, and green tea for lasting energy boost.

“Here, this should keep you up and a bit more functional than usual.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“Oh my god, what got Finals Angel up this early?” One of the regulars almost yelled, staring at her with a look that screamed the universe was going to collapse in on itself, and they were now anticipating this outcome until they got their morning fix.

Marinette shrugged, moving to the next customer as the dead man took a seat and pulled out his laptop. She continued to help until it was getting close to class.

“Maman, the rest of that brew is under the cabinet for the laptop zombie, I’m taking my morning delivery now.”

Maman took over while Marinette made her way to school, passing out the usual deliveries as she moved about.

“Adrien, your insult to caffeinated monstrosities everywhere.”

“Thanks Marinette!” The blond held his (essentially) hot chocolate with one pump expresso, and five three shots of caramel on top of whip cream.

“Chloe, why you have me grab something this sweet this early is only further proof of your crimes against humanity.”

“You’re welcome Dupain-Cheng.” The girl nabbed her (in Marinette's opinion) low caffeine sugar water--licorice root with half a bottle of honey, and lots of ice with whip cream and honesy drizzled on top. She would never understand that order, but was too afraid to ask at this point. She might be taking the Bee thing too far.

“Alya, thank you for being a sane coffee person, Nino, we are having a talk about your scheduling.”

“Thanks gurl." Because close or not, Alya was an addict with a simple and reasonable coffee that restored Marinette's sanity while making it.

Nino groaned as he took his pastries and three cream, one expresso. “Not again, I still haven’t recovered from the last time.”

Marinette shrugged. “Your mistake, not mine.”

“Oh, did you get my cookies?” Sabrina asked.

Marinette rolled her eyes with a fond smile. She likes Sabrina when she isn't in full cling mode, and giving her boxes of pre-paid cookies put together on Marinette's whims? Very calming after dealing with Adrien and Chloe's offending orders. “Yes. You paid for a different set everyday.”

“Thanks!” Sabina examined her current mix, more obscure cookies since Marinette got them before the morning rush.

“Markov, please tell me Max got some sleep last night?” Marinette asked as she handed another of her special “Max needs a nap but is to stubborn to” order--which is essentially an energy drink blend with a few slow-release teas mixed in.

“Affirmative. He got the requested minimum of three hours. I will ensure he gets more once school is out.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” He was less prone to akumatazation with more sleep, and Hawkmoth does like using Max. Marinette likes knowing she can have her teammate in the field without wondering if he'll pass out.

Marinette took her seat by Alya. They weren’t as close anymore, but it did mean Lila was alone in the back and didn’t see the group document.

“Class, we have a new student today!”

Marinette frowned. She wasn’t informed of any newcomers. She looked over at Chloe who huffed. She didn’t know either then.

“Class, this is Damian Grayson from America. His father is here on business and will be joining us for the semester!”

Chloe and her shared a look. With Chloe as the current president and Marinette as the head of the welcome committee, this was very last minute for them not to be informed. Especially as Bustier had the time to since both were here early.

Alya shot her a look.

Marinette shook her head. She really didn’t know, and it bugged her.

Alya narrowed her eyes as the new boy came in. Black hair, stood too straight and Middle Eastern. She wondered what his first language was briefly--someone in school was bound to be fairly fluent. If it was related to Arabic, Rose would be a good translator. Her and Adrien both have Mandarin now, and her English was passable to Americans--not so much for the UK. Alya has Spanish while Nino has Portuguese covered. Chloe was good for UK English and so was Adrien, but those two weren't good for new kids... especially from the America. Mylene, Ivan, Nathaniel and Juleka were bad at talking most of the time, so they were no-gos...

And she still had to finish Ali's commission… This would be a headache if they were an old Chloe-type.

“Damian, why don’t you tell us about yourself.”

“No need to. I do not plan on making friends.”

And he was worse than an Old Chloe-type. There went her free period for commissions.

The entire class shared a look, and Marinette wanted to groan. This boy would be in for a rude awakening—there was no escaping friendship in Bustier’s class. And anyone difficult? They would sent Marinette as envoy--hopefully Alya didn't make easy.

“I presume my seat is in the back?”

“Actually,” Alya stood up with a grin, “I was going to sit back with Lila to help her catch up in our next class.”

Marinette froze as she realized what Alya was doing. Keeping the new kid from Lila was good, but she also needed to keep Alya from falling for Lila’s lies again. And she has no clue on his preferred languages and uh!

“Alya,” she hissed.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Alya moved to the back with ease before the boy could say a word.

Marinette hit her head. Why was her friend like this?

“I guess that means you’ll sit next to Marinette. Marinette, can you show Damian around during your free period?”

Marinette knew that tone. There was no refusing without a lecture on being a good role model and another reprimand for stepping down from class representative and student government when she got more commissions and needed more time.

“Of course Miss Buster.”

Damian took his seat without saying a word.

Marinette decided it was better to stay silent with this one--he didn't want friends, and would only be here briefly. She could respect that, even if she could feel the others scheming otherwise.

“What do you mean you know—“

“Oops,” Lila grinned. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

And that was what Marinette was hoping to avoid.

Damian twitched next to her. Marinette sighed, “One sec, I need to remind someone to check her sources before getting ahead of themselves… again.”

Nino shot Marinette a sympathetic look while Marinette linked three redacted articles that starred Lila as her main source.

“And done.”

Damian raised an eye brow at her. “You aren’t going to pester me, correct?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. Honestly? “You made your stance clear. I’m here as the actual head of the welcoming committee, and during free period I’ll just need to know your interests so we can avoid the parts of the school that aren’t relevant for you, and to make sure you have an idea how to handle akuma attacks since I’m going to guess they didn’t tell you about that before you applied.”

“tt,” Damian leveled her with a scowl. “Of course I know about them.”

Marinette didn’t bother to hide her surprise. “So you know where to go for shelter, the drills, the apps and news sources that are good for tracking, which hospitals are contactable during attacks and which ones go into lock down, oh and what actions are allowable and not as civilian aides to the miraculous team?”

The boy froze before her. He didn't then.

Her face slid into a more neutral one--keeping her gloating to herself.“That’s what I thought. I have a few flow charts in the committee room to grab since its an info dump and no one processes those well, and your learning style may benefit from it for all I know.” Marinette made sure not add ‘since some people can’t be bothered to tell me.’ The new boy clearly wasn’t interested in friendship, and despite what the class thinks, she is not friendship-nip.

“I…”

“Class, turn to page 67 of your textbook. Marinette, make sure to share with Damian.”

“Yes Miss Bustier,” Marinette moved the book between the two of them, ignoring Damian besides checking where his eyes were on the page before turning as they followed along.

Once their free period began, Adrien had a Chloe guarding him against the Lila octopus, with Sabrina flanking his other arm as backup.

“I take it those three are together?” Damian asked once they left.

“No, Chloe doesn’t share her friends well,” Marinette explained as they moved through the halls. “And it keeps away his fans, so no one stops it anymore.” Not unless they wanted the Mayor’s ire at least. It was very effective against Lila.

“I see…” He was watching her. She wasn’t sure if it was an American thing or just a tic of his. Possibly both.

“That’s where the teacher’s offices are for before and after school,” Marinette gestured to one wing. “All the doors are labeled, so its easy enough to find who you’re looking for as long as you have a name. You’ll find most of the school services there as well, minus the nurse who’s room is closer to the quad.”

Marinette smiled when they got to welcoming committee room. None of the other members were there at the moment, but the file cabinet was. She grabbed one of the ready-made packets and grabbed a spare Bustier Class packet too.

“Here’s the information for being new in Paris, everything from common places to eat, the good hole-in-the-wall places itemized by what you’re looking for, everything relating to akumas is on the red papers, and the yellow is the school’s map and procedures.” Marinette handed him the blue folder, then the orange. “This one is the Bustier-class specific one approved by Miss Bustier. It lists everything from class rules, what caused various akumatazations with the victim’s consent to disclose it, so not all are listed, and it has your schedule and the class outing dates plus who’s interested in what on the pink pages for possible friends, but you said you weren’t interested so we can skip that.”

Marinette watched him look over the papers for a moment, waiting until his attention was back to her. “Now, anything you have a vague interest in that you might have some random inclination to do at Dupont during your free periods, before or after school?”

Damian raised an eyebrow at her.

“Its you let me tailor the tour for you, or you have to go all over the school and talk to me the entire time, when we both know you’re really not interested.”

“Tt.”

Marinette shrugged. “Have it your way, now, on with the tour!”

Damian gawked at the core ciruculum including what he knew was more college level than high school level. Then there was the fact these students had access to multiple state of the art facilities tailored to current students interests on campus, with little issue getting them apparently.

“How does your school get all of this?”

The pigtail girl almost laughed at his question. “I guess they just sent you here since we have the most flexible curriculum routines then.” The girl shifted how she stood. “Dupont is an experimental school, everyone is given high expectations on entry but as long as you keep up with grades the school gets whatever any student requests—a few years ago we had one kid that was allowed to do rocket science as part of his program, he went to some German facility with a translator every other day. Alix has a blanket permit to do street art and installations on public property, as long as she gets her design approved and can give them her schedule as long as she helps other student with history classes. I get full access to any designing materials as part of my deal with the school in exchange for doing any school event costumes and tailoring jobs that I get a two week notice on.”

Damian nodded along, processing this new information. Suddenly, the high amount of akumas from graduates and current students of Dupont made sense. They were specialists, extremely skilled at their crafts and more likely to be knowledgeable than the general population on a variety of topics.

Marinette was glad for their hour-long lunch. “I’d ask if you wanted someone to eat with you, but you look like you need some time to process. I’ll check in before school ends.”

She ran home, noting that the man from that morning was still there but looked much less like he would keel over sometime soon. She knew that brew would help. She grabbed a croissant and ran upstairs to finish Prince Ali’s latest commission—a variant on his usual princely attire that was more maneuverable but still formal enough that no one would notice when he wore that one instead of the traditional one.

She had a feeling he was going to use it to sneak away from his guards.

She set an alarm and got to work.

She was quick to leave once the alarm sounded—she gave herself an extra five minutes this time.

“Hey, you’re the coffee angel, right?”

Marinette turned to see the man from that morning, now much more alive.

“I guess.” Marinette knew not to give out names to customers unless her parents deemed them not-stalker-y.

“Thanks, that thing actually worked. What’s in it?”

Marinette smiled at that. “Sorry, that’s a secret not even Maman and Papa get to know.”

“Huh,” the man processed her words. “Guess I’ll have to keep coming when I’m low then.”

Marinette nodded. “Guess so, good to see you’re no longer a zombie monsieur!”

She ran off at that, not sure what to think of them yet, other than if they needed that drink regularly, they might be worse than her. And she has heroing as an excuse. He doesn’t.

Holy shit was not expecting this response.

Thank you all so much, was not expecting this much positive response and i think my brain broke a bit, in the good way.

So, we have a new fan to Marinette's secret menu, and a Damian slowly realizing why the school is targetted who is also going with the 'I don't do friends' thing, again.

leaving this one as a poll: Damian calls out Lila by the end of the day for how Marinette and him end up as friends, or he puts together Marinette is doing a lot for the class by the end of the day and wants to figure out why, especially after reading the Ladyblog during lunch, or any other ideas.

Any ideas on how Marinette meets Dick and Jason for when she meets the next round of Batboys?

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @littleredrobinhoodlum @northernbluetongue @kceedraws @pirats-pizzacanninibles @theatreandcomicfreak @daminett4life @catthhay @weird-pale-blonde-person @amayakans @chocolatecatstheron

#maribat #daminette idea au #miraculous team and batboys #my writing

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waeziverse · 4 years ago

Text

Royal Punch (chapter 8)

“Okay…” Nora took off her glasses and cleaned them. “This is on me. I should have seen this coming and I didn’t warn you.”

Ivan looked at the plants that had ruined his windows and slowly retracted themselves, like some sort of snakes that returned to their cave. “Yeah, I would have liked to be prepared for this.”

“Honestly, I never thought this would happen. Dimi’s mother wasn’t a plantmancer, neither was her grandmother.”

“So, Dimi can create plants? Why is she attacking us.”

“She is not. Well, not exactly, it’s a defense mechanism. It takes a toll on her body and drains her for energy as her body adjusts to her new power. And if she becomes TOO tired and even falls asleep, she will have a hard time waking up again. And as a defense mechanism she will unconsciously create plants to guard her.”

“Okay, but how do we stop this mechanism?” Ivan asked.

“First thing first, we need a way to be prepared for when the situation escalates. NO, Ivan, the situation hasn’t escalated just yet.” Ivan closed his mouth, he hated it when Nora answered his questions before he got to answer them. “Your house being the home of a plant octopus is small potatoes. Plant magic is rare, but it is also very powerful. One of Dimi’s ancestors, queen Dornröschen, spread terror and destruction-“

"What in tarnation happened here?!”

Nora and Ivan turned their attention toward the old satyr Sunmut who had picked the absolute worst day to drop by for a visit. The old goat looked as if he was about to have a stroke as he stared at the plant monster that had made its home in Ivan’s house.

“Um.” Ivan couldn’t say anything else as he tried to come up with an explanation that did not involve the words it, is or complicated. “Well, sir, you see-”

“A wizard did it.” Nora interrupted Ivan before he made a bad situation worse.

Sunmut looked at the house for a moment. Then he looked annoyed. “Those dang humans! You would think the orcs had done something about that cursed lot!” Then he looked at Nora. “Ah, no offence, young lady.”

“None taken.” Nora scratched the hat that hid her pointy ears and the fact that she was an elf. Once the old creature had left, she turned her attention toward Ivan. “As I was saying… Queen Dornröschen spread terror and destruction since no one stopped the defense mechanism in time. Her plants grew bigger and bigger and it became impossible to try and save the castle. But there is another problem: Dimi’s young body is not ready for magic of this size. It takes energy and stamina, part of why she falls asleep, and if it goes on for too long, she might actually die.”

“DIE?!”

“Yes, OR she will be stuck in there for at least fifty years. So we have more than one reason to do something quickly. The plants will grow and try to get out of your house. When they do, we must cut them down.”

“Alright.” Ivan pondered for a moment. “Then we need backup.”

“Ivan, no one can know who Dimi really is!”

“Don’t worry, I trust her with my life. I will be back as soon as possible, man the fort till I’m back.”

Nora wanted to protest as the minotaur ran for the so-called backup. The short elf looked at the chopping stump where an ax had been left on. She took the ax and looked at the house. “Don’t mess with me!” Nora yelled half-heartedly. The whole house creaked, making the elf take a step backward while tightening her grip on the ax.

***

Aura tied the griffin Hothoof with a rope to the fence. The big animal was displeased by this but accepted it since it respected the sphinx as it’s “pack leader”.

“I know you don’t like not being allowed to fly around as you please.” Aura stroke the giant half-bid-half-lion animal as one would stroke a cat. “But you can't fly properly with a damaged wing. But the nice faun doctor will come and have a look, then you will get back in the sky with the others in no time.” The griffin purred as Aura rubbed it on it’s beak.

Once Aura had made sure the rope was tied properly, she went to take a look at two of her other griffins that flew over her farm.

Magnificent animals, but difficult to raise. They needed freedom to fly, but you also had to make them respect you enough so they wouldn’t fly away. Only after you had made them understand who was in charge could you try and make them like you. The fact that Aura had three grown griffins that liked her said a thing or two about her abilities with animals. Then again, she had worked with them ever since she had left the army as a young girl and moved to the kingdom of Nesredna. She had worked from the bottom as stable-girl till five years ago where she could finally afford starting her own farm near the village of Jadedale.

She was quite happy that she had picked Jadedale for several reasons.

One of these reasons actually came, half an hour before he had promised to come.

“Ivan!“ Aura smiled as she waved at the minotaur who came running as if something was on fire. “Relax, you came way to earl-”

“Aura, I need help!” The giant bull-man looked terrified. “You have to come with me to my house! I will explain later.”

Aura did not hesitate and transformed to her beast form. “Hop on, I will fly you home.”

Ivan hopped on the back of the sphinx and the creature lept from the ground. She flew to Ivan’s home as she saw something that looked like a tentacles coming out of the doors, windows and holes that the thing had made in the house. And it moved it’s “arms” with red thorns left and right as if it was desperate to get out. She recognized Nora who looked like she tried to attack the things with a household ax. Nora looked up and noticed them. “FINALLY! I’m just about to get a heart attack here! Dimi has become worse.”

Aura looked at the insane scenario as she was about to land. She had just reacted on Ivan being terrified. Now she began to wonder what was going on as she saw the problem.

“Wait, I’m sorry, WHAT?!” Aura turned back to normal and looked baffled at Ivan. “Dimi is a what now?! What the hell is going on?””

Ivan sighed. “Okay, how do I explain this… You remember when the orcs conquered the kingdom?”

Aura shrugged. “Sure, that happened. And life went on.”

“Remember how we were told the human king Pater had gotten captured?”

“Um… yes?”

“And do you remember that the king had a daughter?”

“Ah, yes? Sure, her name was Dama-something-something.“

"Dimicatio.”

“Oh, right. Dimicatio. Kinda sounds like a fancy version of Dimi’s-” Aura paused herself as her eyes grew wide. “Dimi… Dimi…” The lion-lady pointed at the garden nightmare. "Dimi?”

“Yep.” Ivan groaned as he pointed once again at his plant-infested home. “Dimi. Long story short, now she does human magic without controlling it.”

Aura looked at the house. Then she looked at Ivan.

And then she punched him on his right arm.

“OUCH!?“ Ivan rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”

“You lying rat!” Aura growled at Ivan. “You told me she was your god-daughter!”

“She is my god-daughter!”

“What? HOW!?”

“It’s complicated.”

Aura made a terrifying and VERY angry face at the bull-man. “I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOU COMPLICATED BULLSH-”

“Ahem.”

Ivan and Aura turned their attention toward the short person who looked tired and sweaty who dropped the ax. “Sorry to interrupt.” Nora said. “But can this… thing wait till after we got Dimi out of that mess? Preferably before the townspeople arrive and start to ask questions.”

Aura sighed. “So is she even Dimi’s aunt?”

“I’m not even human.” Nora took off her hat, revealing her pointy ears. “Long story, can wait. What is important now is that I need time to figure out how to solve this mess. So we need to cut down as much of that plant as possible.”

“So you need me to do some gardening? Not a problem.” Aura stretched her arms as she rocked her head left and right. She gave Ivan a glare. “When this is over, I’m gonna have a word with you, Mr. Minotaur.”

Ivan sighed and shrugged. “That’s fair.”

The winged stout lion-woman went down on all four and was moments later replaced with the human-faced winged lion-monster that roared as it charged toward Ivan’s house. One of the vines tried to strike her as if it had been a gigantic whip, but Aura simply buried her razor-sharp teeth into it and shook it violently as if she were a dog pulling a rope. And she DID pull, she pulled the vine so hard that she ripped it off. As several smaller vines attacked her, Aura’s claws appeared on her massive paws as she went nuts on her botanic foe.

Nora was stunned as she watched from a distance. “She is bad-ass!“

Ivan smiled like a love-sick idiot. “I know… But what do we do about this? How do we… wake up Dimi? Would that be enough?”

“Indeed it would and the solution is somewhat simple yet almost impossible.” Nora put on her hat again and looked rather annoyed. “Dimi just needs a true love’s kiss.”

Ivan looked at Nora with disbelief written all over his face. “Sorry, what?”

“You heard me. As I said, the plants are a defense mechanism. She is tired and weak and feels very vulnerable. So a kiss from a loved one will make her feel safe and calm her down… And yes, it sounds odd, but that’s human magic for ya. It’s something that should not be a problem since a parent who loves their child can provide said kiss. But-”

“But Dimi’s father is in prison, COME ON!!!!” Ivan lifted his fists threatening toward the sky. “GIVE ME A BREAK!”

Yeah, and I doubt the orcs will let Pater out for a few hours if we ask them nicely. So, we have to get that kiss another way. So…” Nora coughed. “Do you know if Dimi is… dating anyone?”

“What? Ah… I don’t think so?” Ivan did not like the way this conversation was going. Then he took a look at the woman of his dreams fighting a losing battle against the vines from the house with her claws, fangs and guts. “I asked her once, but that annoyed her.”

Nora slapped her face. “You asked a teenager if she was dating anyone?! Ivan, COME ON! YOU SUCK!”

“I was curious.”

“You don’t ask a young girl questions like that. Dear lords, you suck!”

“Nora, that is not-”

“Never mind.” Nora sighed. “Look, I will go to Onyxville and pull some strings, hoping to find an alternative solution to this problem. You must go around town and hopefully find someone who loves Dimi. It doesn’t even have to be mutual.”

Ivan gave Nora a tired look. “Yeah! Big, tall bull-guy walking around and asking people if they love his protégée is a great idea.”

“We have no better options! I’m gonna get myself a horse or something.”

As Ivan watched the elf leave as fast as she could and then took a look at the violent creature that was the love of his life trying her best to fight the plants, he decided that the best place to start would be at Agate’s place.

***

The dwarf woman raised a thick eyebrow at the minotaur at her front-door.

“That’s… an interesting question, Ivan.”

Ivan felt ridicules. “Look, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency. Did she mention to you or your daughter anything about being romantically involved with anyone?”

“Why are you asking? Oh no, is Dimi preg-”

“NO, SHE IS NOT!” Ivan felt as if he was about to explode. “There is a problem, but it’s not… that. But it is important for me to know.”

Agate looked at Ivan. It was clear that it was of the greatest importance to him.

“Wait here, I will get Amethyst.

Moments later, the girl with the fluffy beard stood in front of Ivan and looked up at the tall minotaur.

“Amethyst, you HAVE to tell me, right now, if you know about anyone that Dimi loves. Don’t” Ivan stopped Amethyst from starting a teen girl rant. “I have to know. I can’t tell you why, but I have to know. Please.”

Amethyst groaned. “Mr. Ivan, Dimi is not in love with anyone. Actually, now that I think about it, she gets sort of defensive whenever I wanted to ask her. Not as if she was embarrassed, she just did not want to talk about it.”

“Dammit.” Ivan grabbed his own horns as if he wanted to rip them off his own head. “Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!”

“Right…” Amethyst gave Ivan a concerned look before closing the door. “Have a nice day, Mr. Ivan.”

***

Aura huffed and puffed as she reverted to her humanoid form. Dead plant parts were scattered everywhere as she had gone crazy on the damn thing that was growing out of Dimi. But the plant vines kept growing and the vines she had cut down or chewed off were quickly replaced with new one before a minute had passed. Aura licked the wounds on her arm as Ivan returned. He did not look happy as he grabbed his ax.

“How did it go?” Aura dried her forehead for sweat. “What is it that can… fix this?“

“It doesn’t matter.” Ivan cracked his neck. “I just have to cut down the whole thing to save Dimi.”

Ivan charged toward the thicket from hell before Aura could object. He chopped and slashed like a mad man as he got whipped and got scratches all over his forearms. Aura returned to her monster-form so she could bite Ivan’s collar and drag Ivan away like a mother-cat would drag away a kitten.

“Ivan, stop.” Aura dropped Ivan on the ground after getting far enough away from the house that was more like bricks and wood that somewhat still resembled the shape of a house. “You are gonna get yourself killed.” As Ivan was about to stand up, Aura placed one of her massive paws on his chest and pinned him to the ground.

“My little- I mean, Dimi is still inside. I have to save her!”

“Ivan, I mean it. Stop.” The face of the giant lion monster looked at the minotaur with pity and sympathy. “We wait for Nora, she MIGHT have a solution. I’m sorry, I know you care for that girl as if she were your own, but you can’t do anything besides maybe getting yourself killed.”

Ivan sighed as he stopped trying to get himself free. But then, his eyes widened as he realized something. “Wait… You are right. I really do, don’t I?!” Aura looked confused as Ivan began to laugh in relief. “Aura, you wonderful woman, I LOVE YOU BEYOND BELIEF!”

Aura lifted an eyebrow. “Ah… I love you as well, but what are you talking about?”

“I have a plan!” Ivan looked determined as he stood up from the dirt. “I need you to fly me across the roof. Trust me.”

Aura bent her forelegs so that Ivan could get up on her back while armed with his ax. As they flew above the roof, the plant-tentacles tried to reach for them like a hungry animal.

“Here. This is perfect.” Ivan looked at the roof as if he was aiming for something. “I’m getting off here. Wish me luck!” And then he jumped off of Aura’s back and landed on the roof. Then, he began making a hole in said roof.

“IVAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Aura roared as she landed on the roof as well. Plants began to reach for them and Aura did her best defending her beloved that had apparently lost it as he kept chopping the roof.

“YES! That’s it!” Ivan succeeded in making his hole to Dimi’s bedroom. He jumped down the hole and saw that Dimi still lied on the bed. Her body was covered by greenery the same way a child was covered by sand when they buried themselves with it on the beach. Only Dimi’s face was still free. A big branch was connected to Dimi that had crushed a hole in the wall that it then moved through. Ivan’s guess was that it was the root where everything else grew from.

But that did not matter. What mattered was whether or not his theory was right. “Please let this work.” Ivan whispered to himself as he took a step closer to the unconscious Dimi. “Please, please, please let this work.”

Then he screamed in pain as smaller vines appeared from Dimi’s “quilt” whipped him and then tied themselves around him. Ivan pulled his arms free as he took another step closer and now stood at the bedside.

Ivan took in a deep breath and then breather out as he slowly placed his lips on Dimi’s forehead.

***

Aura desperately clawed her way out of the vines that had covered her as if they were a cocoon. She growled as she saw a massive branch about to hit her.

And then, it just stopped moving.

Aura studied the thing that had been just about to try and kill her. Cautiously, she stepped closer, sniffing the damn thing. It was completely still.

“AURA!” Ivan yelled from his hole. “Aura, please come help me! It’s all over now!”

The lion-creature smashed the roof above Dimi’s bedroom so a hole big enough for her would appear. The floor creaked as she landed on it. Ivan held Dimi in his massive and bloody arms. The human girl looked as if she was half asleep and sea-sick.

“I feel awful…” Dimi coughed. “And I’m hungry.”

“It’s okay, girl.” Ivan smiled as if he repressed a laugh of joy. “I’m here, I’m taking care of you.” Ivan looked at Aura who looked relieved as she turned to her usual form. “Could you help me get her down to the kitchen?”

***

Dimi devoured the whole bread as if her life depended on it and then attacked the mushroom salad. Meanwhile, Aura and Ivan studied the house that had been ravaged. The ton of plants lied lifeless around. Ivan had removed enough of the green to open his front door. Outside, Nora stood and explained to a couple of the townspeople what she wanted them to think had happened.

“What a disaster!” Sunmut the old satyr looked at the blacksmith’s home with his old weak eyes. “What sort of wizard does such a thing?”

“The cheap kind that refuses to pay his bills.” Nora shrugged. “It makes me sad to speak about my species like that, but humans can be rather relentless as well as petty.”

The gathering of creatures all agreed that humans could be quite petty, especially now after the orc’s takeover.

“I’m so sorry.” Dimi had finished eating and had been told what had happened.

“Not your fault, girl.” Ivan patted Dimi on the head. “All that matters is that you get better, you need to rest as much as possible.”

“Yeah, I have to get ready for next week’s fight.”

“NO. Absolutely not. I won’t let you work for a week, AND I won’t let you fight before at least two have passed.”

“What?! But-”

“No buts. You are benched till I say something else. You could have gotten killed, I won’t let you do anything too energy require for a while and boxing as it is is not harmless even WHEN you are in shape.”

Dimi pouted. “Whatever mom.”

***

They all went to Aura’s farm.

Dimi had been sent to bed after she had to her great annoyance been kissed goodnight by Ivan who took no chances. She slept in Aura’s guest room. In the kitchen, Ivan had just finished explaining everything to Aura.

“And you honestly think it is a good idea to let Dimi get into a fist-fight with an orc?” Aura asked.

“Honestly? I don’t know at this point. She surprises me, she is extremely stubborn and she is actually a talented fighter. And besides, once she reaches the age of eighteen, I can’t tell her what to do. I might as well prepare her as best as I can.”

“That’s not the same as saying that you should encourage her.”

“It gives her hope. I don’t know how I would feel if it was MY dad who was in the slammer.” Ivan sighed. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. But I have been sworn to secrecy.”

“I get it, I get it. Still…” Aura frowned. “You should know that you could have trusted me.”

Ivan nodded, looking ashamed. Then, he yawned. “I better get some sleep. I just lost my home, I have to figure out what to do tomorrow. The forge is still somehow intact, so I can still work… Can we live here? Just… for a few days?”

Aura did not answer right away. Then, she smiled. “You know… the two of you could just… live here. Period.”

Ivan blinked. “Oh?”

“Yes, but I have a condition.” Aura smiled as she stood up from the table. “You have to do it right. You have to get down on your knees and… Well, you can probably guess the rest.”

It took a moment before Ivan realized that Aura was serious. Ivan smiled from one ear to the other as he got down on his knees and grabbed Aura’s left hand and held it as he asked her the question.

#Royal Punch #RP #Ivan the Minotaur #Princess Dimi #Dimi #Dimicatio #Aurauaakarusaank #Aura the Sphinx #Aura #sphinx #minotaur #Nora the Elf #Nora #OC #waeziverse

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leovevo · 5 years ago

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featuring: @cindyeggers mentions of: @rhcdesx, @romanwalsh, @rileyyxkim, @marcodiangelo, @sureivan

the video starts with leo arranging the camera, before flopping on the couch. leo: "konnichiwassup, guys! welcome back to my channel! today, we'll be doing a q&a with a very special guest." he waggles his eyebrows at the camera before gesturing for cindy to seat on the spot next to him, "welcome, welcome!"

cindy: literally jumps onto the couch, throwing up double peace signs, "sup y'all! i'm arizona blues of... can i say it on your channel? i don't wanna get you demonetized." she makes a jerk-off motion instead, "this is the only clue you're gonna get."

leo: nodding, leo turned to the camera with a knowing look, "she is, like me, a content creator, and if you've been on other streaming websites besides youtube, then you definitely know her. so, before we get into the main course..." he grabs the makeup kit from the coffee table in front of them, "to make this q&a a wee more interesting, i'll be putting makeup on ari and make her look even prettier while we answer your questions!"

cindy: "hell yeah bro fuck me up," she says excitedly, turning towards leo as a good little canvas. "so what kind of look are we going for today?"

leo: "something glamorous, obviously. maybe a glittery, pink look?" he rummaged through the bag, face instantly scrunching up. "the fuck is this? where do i start?"

cindy: "you're asking the wrong person, broseph. good luck," she says as she grabs a random product and tries to figure out what it's supposed to do. at least it's shiny. "anyways, while leo mua here figures this shit out, should we just get into the first question - what's the number one thing you want to do at the resort?"

leo: "i'm sure we have to start with foundation. but your skin's clear enough, and i don't want to choose the wrong shade." he pulls out a brow pencil. "okay, we can start with your eyebrows." he scooted closer to cindy, uncapping the pencil and beginning to... well, thicken cindy's brows (rather roughly). "eat. eat loads. and just bask in the sunlight 'cause i don't get much of that anymore. how about you?"

cindy: “so what you’re saying is that my brows suck,” she teases, but she sits still and lets him do his thing. “i was gonna say troll people but honestly, i’m gonna tag along with you on that. food is the answer.”

leo: once he was finished, he pulls away to examine his work. alright, they looked fine. just... a little thicker than usual. "like, we're staying in bougie-ass houses, and we get to do whatever we want. it's the life." he tosses the brow pencil back in the bag, before pulling out a random palette and some brushes. "next question! do you see a future with anyone on the sloth?"

cindy: "it's the shit," she concurs, oblivious to her new thicc brows. "uh, this sounds like it's asking me if i want to like, get married and have babies with someone. which, nah i'm good. but i'm gonna take my bromance with ivan to the grave. and i'm also gonna harass kieran forever."

leo: "the question is too ambiguous, so i'm going to worm my way around it. i'd really like to grow old with roman, kieran, and riley." he silently motions for cindy to close her eyes, before experimentally skimming a hot pink shade across her lids. it was pigmented as fuck. leo grits his teeth. "d...don't know what i'd do without them."

cindy: "god you're such a coward," she tells him, her eyes closed while he undoubtedly stains her poor eyelids for life. still blissfully unaware. "that's cute though, i can respect that... why do you sound all weird though? are you gonna cry?" she blindly reaches out and starts touching his face to check.

leo: he gingerly attempts to tone down the colour with his thumb, only smudging it and making it worse. "yea, no, there was just, uh, fallout from the palette." inwardly panicking, leo dabs on a darker shade (red) to her eyelids. oh no. ohhhh no. she looked like a cirque du soleil cast member... only with... shitty makeup. "third!" deciding not to ruin the look any further, he sets the palette down, reaching for the eyeliner. maybe he can salvage it with a classic wing. "do you believe in forgiveness?"

cindy: "what kinda philosophy shit is this," she says with a confused huff, no longer able to ignore leo's frantic smudging, "what's going on? what are you doing to my face?"

leo: "you're not allowed to look until i'm finished!" he retorted, "i'll do your eyeliner now. come on. answer the question."

cindy: "that's like the least comforting thing i've ever heard," she replies, but she lets it go because... if nothing else, it's probably good for the views, "i guess i do believe in forgiveness? like, if we're being real i've needed it sometimes so, yeah? but i also think it's fair to just snip snip, cut people out of your life so. depends. i don't fucking know, leo."

leo: this was a difficult question, but he was so focused on trying to draw a good wing that he couldn't sugarcoat his answer. despite so, his hands were trembling. he hopes cindy doesn't snip snip, cut him out of her life for fucking her face up. "i think it's important." he whispered, eyes narrowing in concentration. "i just suck at forgiving."

cindy: "i get you," she nods in agreement, realizing too late what she's done. despite all of leo's efforts, her movement sends the eyeliner out of its path and up towards her forehead, "shit i'm sorry.”

leo: at the disruption, he lets out a scream, "NOOOOOOOO!" was it ideal to throw a tantrum in front of the camera? not exactly. but he had been doing SO well! "wwwwhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

cindy: "I'M SORRY," she yells, grabbing a concealer from the kit, "can't you just like... paint this over it? it's fine, look..." without grabbing a mirror (because the rules forbid it) and with absolutely no idea what she's doing, she starts applying concealer in arbitrary areas.

leo: "no! NO!" leo shrieked, taking the concealer away because now she was getting concealer in her eyebrows, which he had worked so hard on! "no, no. sit there and relax," he insisted, "it's fine. we're fine. you're fine. let's move on." all leo had to do was to slap some lipstick on cindy's face and finish the job before it could get any messier. he grabs a random shade—all of them looked similar and started to apply it on cindy's lips. "who is the one person you would kick out from the sloth? wait, we already answered this question in your video, which i am not allowed to link down below because... well, of reasons..."

cindy: tries to answer but because leo is putting lipstick on her, it's more of a series of sounds than words. when he finishes, she purses her lips, "i think we did but... fuck it, i'd also kick out that victoria girl just to see what she'd do about it."

leo: "she'd kill you, probably. i'd still kick marco out. we're almost done with the makeup," he laughs nervously. the lipstick looked clean enough, though. thank god. "i'm gonna finish it off with some o' these," he raised up a blusher, "and, uh, i'll..." he trailed off, smearing it slowly across her cheeks. cindy looked like a straight-up clown. "last question: you are about to get into a fight, what song comes on as your soundtrack?"

cindy: "i've never felt more beautiful," she says, but only because she's the only person who has no idea what he's done to her face. "shit this is the easiest one. it's clearly gotta be that one that goes like..." she starts singing horribly off-key, "i don't give a damn about my reputation. the one from the tournament scene in shrek 1."

leo: "okay, okay, that's valid," leo laughed out, putting all of the makeup back in the kit and stowing it away. "mine would be the walmart fight song." he could feel his palms getting sweaty, "okay. uh." he slid the mirror towards cindy. "feel free to... take a peek at your look of the day."

cindy: "also a valid choice," cindy agrees as she grabs the mirror and comes face to face with her new clown self, "how did you even achieve this look? i look like shit leo." she looks at leo, then at the camera with a mix of amusement and true horror. "by the way," she adds to the camera, "we didn't tell you guys but.... i said i'd wear this for the rest of the day."

leo: relieved that cindy took her spankin' new look rather well, he visibly relaxed. "you're still smokin' hot, don't worry," he pinched her cheek, accidentally getting some blush on his fingers. "shit. well!" he looks at the camera, giving a thumbs up. "aaaaand that wraps up our q&a, thank you for humouring me—us, miss ari! anything else to add before we head off to the mall?"

cindy: "uhh, like and subscribe or whatever," she mumbles as she grabs the eyeliner and meticulously sketches out a penis on leo's cheek, "50,000 likes and leo will eat a live octopus." leo: "arigathanks for watching, everyone," he said, staying still for cindy. "check out mtv's sloth in paradise—as well as my channel—for more content!" cindy: "yeah check us out or else," she throws another round of peace signs and gets off the couch, "later dickface."

#this shit got LONG #— tasks.#— au week 001.#THHIS IS A WHOLE ASS THREAD #bigbeartask2 #— hallo.....salut. ; ft. cindy.#— youtube.

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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

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Ladybug and Reine Nuit: Chapter 3

Origins III

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

I didn’t think I needed to change much about the battle side of Origins because the important stuff is in the character interactions rather than the fighting, especially since this is only episode 1 and I have to set up the changes for the rest of the story. But I do try and deviate in later battles.

I’m also going to try posting this without the AO3 link just to test if external links are messing with my reach somehow.

Part 2 | Part 4

“The stone beings are scattered all over Paris, and for the time being, they are showing no signs of movement!” reports Nadja Chamack from the television. Marinette’s frozen in place, her heart in her throat, wondering if she’s got enough time to make it to the bathroom before she’s sick. “Police have cordoned off the area.”

The TV flicks to display the mayor, André Bourgeois. “We won’t stop until we find a way to get these people to their normal selves! But for now…we’re not making much headway.”

Then it’s back to Nadja, this time with a picture of Ladybug and Reine Nuit. “Paris is relying on our new guardian angels, Ladybug and Reine Nuit, to save us all. Our lives depend on them!”

Okay. That…doesn’t make Marinette feel much better about her complete and utter failure yesterday in not capturing the akuma, allowing it to multiply and infect more innocent people. She’d known she’d mess up, she’d just known it, she’d tried to warn Tikki…and the tiny kwami’s faith in her has proven to be their downfall. How can clumsy, awkward Marinette possibly be a superhero? Sure, Reine Nuit had messed up, but at least she seems to have the confidence to carry her. She’d been the one to jump in and get stuff done, after all.

Marinette jumps when a large arm lands around her shoulders, snapping her out of her thoughts, but it just turns out to be her father.

“Listen, I know how upsetting and scary this is,” Tom says, clearly having misinterpreted Marinette’s look of dread. “But don’t worry, sweetie; we’ve got two superheroes looking out for Paris, and the best way of helping them is to show them that we’re not scared, because we trust them!”

Ordinarily, Tom’s exaggerated fist-shaking would have made Marinette laugh; instead, she just looks down in shame.

“But what if Ladybug fails?” she mumbles.

“Then I’d come and save you!” Tom hefts a long baguette as a sword. “Super Baker to the rescue!”

Marinette giggles and leans up to kiss her father on the cheek. “Thanks, Super Dad!” she says before darting up to her bedroom to grab her purse. She pauses, looking at the vanity where she’s stored the earrings, and she takes the box out of the drawer, chews her lip, then nods and stashes the box in her purse.

She’s made her decision. She’s giving the earrings to Alya; the superhero enthusiast will do a much better job at being a hero than Marinette ever could. Tikki might be disappointed, but she’ll soon see that it’s for the best.

“Ladybug is just so cool!” Alya gushes to Marinette, who just stares down glumly as they turn into the school’s street. How Alya has this much faith in her, Marinette has no clue. But that faith should serve her well as the new Ladybug. “I saw her yesterday! I was so close to her! Uh…hiding! At the stadium!”

“That’s cool…” Marinette says, handing Alya back her phone. Alya doesn’t seem to notice her mood. “But why do you trust Ladybug so much? All these stone beings…and what about Reine Nuit?”

“Oh, of course I love Reine Nuit too.” Alya swells when she says the cat superhero’s name. “But Ladybug’s just so amazing and – and just – aaaaah, I can’t even! A real live superhero! I think she’s totally my gay thing.”

“But what if she’s not really cut out to be a superhero even though everyone thinks she is?” Marinette argues.

“What are you talking about, girl?” Alya squints at Marinette, leans in close, then snaps her fingers. “Oh, wait. I know what this is about!”

Marinette gulps. Does Alya know? How can she know?

“You’re scared!” Alya nudges Marinette. “But don’t be! I just know that Ladybug is a true superheroine! She’s going to protect us all! I believe in her. And I believe in Reine Nuit.”

If Marinette needed any more proof that she’s made the right choice, this is it.

“Please, Nathalie!” pleads a familiar voice as Marinette and Alya draw level with the school gates. To Marinette’s surprise, Adrien is being cornered by a woman with a dark pantsuit and dark hair pulled back in a tight bun, along with a gorilla-like man who could rival Marinette’s father in size.

“Wow, what’s going on with Adrien?” Alya says.

“You had your fun yesterday,” the woman says calmly. “Your father is furious that you disobeyed him. Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“I just want to go to school like a normal kid! Is that too much to ask for?”

The woman sighs. “According to your father, yes. Come on, Adrien.”

Adrien’s dejected face is such a stark contrast to his wide-eyed, innocent hope from yesterday that something hot settles in Marinette’s belly. Before she knows what she’s doing, she’s storming over and planting herself in front of Adrien, hands on her hips, glaring at the woman and the thickset man.

“Listen here!” Marinette declares. “Adrien deserves to go to school just as much as anybody else! And if that makes his father mad then too bad!” She grabs Adrien’s wrist. “Come on, Adrien. You’re going to class and no one’s going to stop you.”

Adrien offers no resistance as Marinette tugs him inside the school, Alya rushing to catch up. Undoubtedly, the only reason that the woman and thickset man don’t come after them is due to the utter shock plastered across their faces, but Marinette still wants to make sure that they’re well within the school grounds so as not to tempt the two. Once they’re in the courtyard, she lets go of Adrien and jumps away.

“Sorry if I was out of line!” she says. Adrien just stares at her with an open mouth. “But it’s not fair that you shouldn’t be allowed to go to school just because you’re famous!”

“Oh – uh – no, apologise – don’t apologise!” Adrien’s cheeks pinken and he scratches the back of his head. “Actually…that’s the first time someone’s stood up for me. Thanks, Marinette. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Marinette beams at him. Next to her, Alya is smirking at Adrien, but Marinette can’t possibly begin to figure out why.

“Once a monster, always a monster!” Chloé’s annoying voice declares from the other side of the courtyard. Marinette turns just in time to see Ivan storming off. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”

Marinette and Alya exchange furious looks. Before they can confront Chloé, however, Adrien gets in first.

“Chloé!” He storms over, fists clenched, but Chloé’s whole demeanour changes and she immediately latches on to him like an octopus.

“Adrikins!” she squeals. Their other classmates don’t exactly look all that impressed with Adrien, but their faces shift when he detaches himself from Chloé and steps away.

“That was totally uncool,” he says, crossing his arms. “You should be nicer to people, Chloé.”

“Pfft,” Chloé scoffs. “We don’t need to be nice to these peasants. You need to learn how to command respect!” Her face falls when Adrien turns and storms off. “Wait! Adrikins!”

“I thought he was her bestie,” Alix comments as Marinette and Alya draw level with them.

“Only because she was never mean around him,” Marinette says. “I talked to him yesterday. He’s actually really nice once you get to know him.”

“Huh,” Juleka says. “Who would’ve thought?”

“Maybe I should be his friend,” Nino says. “If he’s gonna sit near Chloé, I reckon he’ll need me to keep him sane.”

Marinette grins at Alya. “That’s a great idea, Nino. You guys should get to class. I’m going to go and find Ivan.”

With a little searching, Marinette manages to track down Ivan in the locker room, listening to music. After saving him yesterday and realising that his akuma had been a teasing note from Kim about his feelings for Mylène, Marinette had realised that he just needed a little push to confess to her, and she intends to give that push now and prevent him from giving in to negative emotions and being akumatised again.

“I’m no good with words, though,” Ivan mumbles.

“Who needs words?” Marinette says. “You could draw her a picture, send her flowers…”

“I could…write her a song?” Ivan says. Marinette beams.

“That’s a great idea! What girl wouldn’t want a love song written especially for her? Go for it, Ivan, and stay positive!”

“Hey, Alya, wouldn’t you want to be a superhero and go out and fight monsters and villains?” Marinette says when she and Alya have taken their seats in class. Her heart deflates at Alya’s response.

“Eh, not really. I’m more of a Lois Lane than a Clark Kent, you know? Why?”

“Oh…no reason.” Marinette stares down at her purse. Who else can she give the earrings to? She was so sure that Alya would be the right choice!

“You can’t ignore me forever, Adrikins,” Chloé sings. In front of her, Adrien doesn’t react. “Don’t worry, you’ll come crawling back to me soon enough when you realise that the riff-raff here aren’t worth it.”

“Shut up, Chloé,” Adrien growls.

“Hmm…” Marinette once again looks at her purse. If Alya doesn’t want to be a superhero, well, Adrien might be a great second choice. But how to get the earrings into his bag? Before she can figure it out, however, Stoneheart comes crashing into the classroom and grabs Mylène and Chloé amidst the screams of the other students.

“Gotta go! Need a close-up!” Alya bolts out of the classroom like her pants are on fire. Marinette dives under the table and starts to shimmy towards Adrien’s bag so that she can hide the earrings inside, but she’s thwarted when he whoops and jumps to his feet.

“Come on, Nino!” Adrien exclaims, his eyes wide and glittering. “We should go after him!”

“Uh…are you crazy, dude?” Nino says.

“Following him – seeing Ladybug and Reine Nuit – I’ve never felt so alive! I nearly got crushed to death yesterday!”

“That’s…not a good thing…?”

“Whatever! I’m following Stoneheart!”

“Wait!” Marinette cries. “Come back! You need –”

Adrien’s gone before she can even finish her sentence. With a groan, Marinette takes off after him, not quite managing to keep up as he runs through the streets after Stoneheart but managing to keep him in sight. When she rounds the corner, Marinette instinctively takes in the situation: multiple stone monsters, one of which has Reine Nuit clutched tightly in its fist, while she screams curses at it that have Marinette wincing.

“Hey! Let her go!” Adrien jumps onto the monster from on top of a car and kicks its fist. Although he doesn’t manage to hurt it, his kick makes it reflexively let go of Reine Nuit, who falls to the road with a groan and bounds back to her feet. But she’s not quick enough to save Adrien from being snatched up by the stone monster, which then heads after Stoneheart with Adrien squirming and shouting in its grip.

“Adrien!” Marinette shrieks. Reine Nuit barely spares her a glance.

“Get to safety!” the superhero orders her, leaping off after the stone beings. “Ladybug, where are you?”

Marinette’s frozen to the spot. Reine Nuit is alone – Adrien’s in danger – there are three innocent people being held captive – her fault, her fault, her fault –

“Gah!” Marinette fumbles for the box in her purse and inserts the earrings as quickly as she can. Tikki once again appears in a swirl of red light, beaming. “I need Ladybug!”

“I knew you’d come around!” Tikki says. Marinette sighs.

“I’m still not sure I’m up for this, but Adrien’s in danger. I can’t sit back and do nothing. Tikki, spots on!”

“Finally!” Reine Nuit could cry tears of joy when a familiar red figure lands on the monster that’s got Adrien in its grip.

“Reine Nuit, your staff!” Ladybug calls. Reine Nuit immediately springs to join Ladybug, using her staff to pry open the monster’s fist while Ladybug yanks Adrien out. Then they’re off, jumping through the streets in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, Reine Nuit using her baton as aid while Ladybug swings with her yo-yo, Adrien in her arms.

“Wow! I got rescued by Ladybug!” Adrien pulls out his phone and starts recording the instant Ladybug sets him down on the ground.

“Damn, this kid has no survival instincts whatsoever,” Reine Nuit comments. Ladybug snorts.

“Stay safe,” she says to Adrien. “Now we need to rescue the other two and take down the source.”

“Do we have to rescue Chloé?” Reine Nuit complains. To her surprise, Ladybug giggles.

“Afraid so, kitty cat,” she says. “We have to save everyone, even the civilians who don’t deserve it.”

“You hate Chloé too?” Reine Nuit high-fives Ladybug. “Awesome!”

“Uh,” says Adrien, “as much as I’m angry at Chloé, I do still care about her.”

“Fine, fine, we’ll save her,” Reine Nuit says. “But only ‘cause you asked so nicely. Let’s go, Ladybug!”

They arrive at the base of the Eiffel Tower near André Bourgeois and the police just as Stoneheart hurls Chloé at the ground. Although it pains her to do so, Ladybug swings in and snatches Chloé out of the air before she can become a yellow stain on the stone ground.

“I didn’t promise!” Chloé wails. Ladybug blinks.

“Huh?”

Now that Chloé’s out of the way and safely in her father’s arms, any concern on the police’s part seems to vanish; Officer Roger orders them to attack despite Stoneheart still having another captive.

“I have a new plan, unlike you!” Roger says when Ladybug protests. “Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You’ve already failed once!”

Ladybug deflates and looks down. “…He’s right, you know. If I’d captured Stoneheart’s akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn’t the right one for this job…”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Reine Nuit storms over to Roger and jabs a finger at him. “If it wasn’t for Ladybug, Chloé would’ve splattered just then! And if it wasn’t for Ladybug, Stoneheart wouldn’t have been defeated the first time around! Where were you guys? Oh, that’s right, cowering while we took care of it and I nearly got my spine broken!”

“Reine Nuit!” Ladybug dashes to pull Reine Nuit away from Roger, whose eye is twitching.

“You know I’m right!” Reine Nuit says. “Like you haven’t ever made a mistake before!”

“Hey!” Ladybug grabs Reine Nuit by the shoulders. “I appreciate the support. Really, I do! But maybe we should focus on the akuma rather than antagonising the police?”

Reine Nuit huffs and crosses her arms. “Fine. Only for you.”

“People of Paris, listen carefully!” announces a deep voice. Ladybug and Reine Nuit whirl around to find a swarm of purple butterflies hovering above a prone Stoneheart, in the shape of a face. Reine Nuit is keenly aware of Adrien skidding to a stop behind them, and she notices him raise his phone at the akuma swam. “I am Hawkmoth.”

“Hawkmoth?” Ladybug and Reine Nuit repeat together. Reine Nuit gasps. This must be the supervillain behind turning Ivan into Stoneheart! Oooh, now she knows who the true mastermind is! Her final archnemesis!

“Ladybug, Reine Nuit, give me the ladybug earrings and the cat ring now,” Hawkmoth says. “You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people!”

“Nice try, Hawkmoth, but we know who the bad guy is,” Ladybug drawls, clapping slowly as she approaches the akuma cloud. “Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. Hawkmoth, no matter how long it takes, we will find you, and you will hand us your Miraculous!”

With a cry, Ladybug throws her yo-yo at the cloud again and again, capturing akuma after akuma until the Hawkmoth face screams and explodes into purple butterflies. There’s not another sound anywhere; everyone is dead silent, staring at Ladybug as she lands on the Eiffel Tower and turns to face the helicopters in the air and people on the ground.

“Let me make this promise to you,” she announces. “No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Reine Nuit will do everything in our power to keep you safe!” She opens her yo-yo and a cloud of pure white butterflies stream out, enveloping the Eiffel Tower before dissipating. All Reine Nuit can do is watch, her mouth wide open, her stomach twisting, her heart pounding, because this is so far from the timid Ladybug from yesterday and…wow. She’s always had a thing for strong girls who take no shit.

“I think I love her,” Reine Nuit murmurs.

“I think I’d love her if Marinette didn’t come along first,” Adrien adds, looking just as shocked as Reine Nuit feels.

All of a sudden, Stoneheart jumps to his feet. Reine Nuit jolts into action, leaping up to join Ladybug on the Eiffel Tower as Mylène screams for help, but Stoneheart just growls, “You’ll never take Mylène from me!” and starts climbing further up the Tower. Crashing sounds alert Reine Nuit and Ladybug to the fact that the other stone monsters are also climbing the Tower.

“We’re surrounded!” Reine Nuit announces. Her stomach churns at the sight of the monsters climbing on all sides, keeping her and her partner trapped where they are. “What do we do, Ladybug? If we attack him, he just grows bigger.”

“But we do know where his akuma is,” Ladybug points out.

“Yeah, in the fist with Mylène. He’s never gonna let her go.”

Ladybug frowns up at Stoneheart, then her face clears. “That’s it! If Stoneheart’s in love with Mylène, then we don’t separate them! We bring them closer together!”

“Uh…okay?” Reine Nuit says. “I mean, I don’t get it, but you sound like you know what you’re doing. I’ll just ruin whatever you tell me to ruin.” God, it’s only been a day and she’d follow this girl anywhere, and she proves this by bounding up the Tower with a swinging Ladybug to where Stoneheart and Mylène are.

Surrounded by stone monsters, with Stoneheart not letting Mylène or the akuma go any time soon and Reine Nuit getting slapped around from monster to monster like a game of volleyball, Ladybug finally ends up summoning her Lucky Charm.

“A parachute?” she exclaims. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Hurry up and figure it out!” Reine Nuit calls as another monster slams her into the cool metal of the Tower. “Owww…I’m gonna feel this in the morning…”

“His hand! Get ready!”

Reine Nuit rolls to dodge the next attack, then looks up in time to see Ladybug manipulate Stoneheart into kissing Mylène with her yo-yo like a puppeteer. In shock, Stoneheart drops Mylène, who screams and clings to his gigantic pinky finger, while Reine Nuit flings herself off the Tower to bat the little purple wad of paper up at Ladybug before using her baton to anchor herself against the Tower.

“Woo!” she cheers. “Forget drugs, this is the best rush I’ll ever need!” Maybe she should become an anti-drugs spokesperson on the side. Gotta use her powers for good, right?

However, this presents another problem: as soon as Ladybug frees the akuma, Stoneheart turns back into Ivan and both he and Mylène go plummeting towards the ground. At Ladybug’s order to save Ivan, Reine Nuit says, “Cataclysm!” and black sparks of power rush to her ring, fizzing, making her hand tingle with the same cold power as when she transforms from Alya into Reine Nuit. She uses her baton as a spring to leap up towards Ivan, slamming her hand against the Tower and gasping when the metal under her palm immediately rusts and ages.

Whoa. This is so cool.

A long shard of corroded metal splits and falls away to jut out into the air, giving Reine Nuit the perfect leverage to swing out and grab Ivan by the back of the shirt before he falls past her. A moment later, Ladybug’s yo-yo zips past her and back up to where they just were.

“Gotcha!” she hears Ladybug cry. Wow. She was totally right about Ladybug being so awesome. Okay, so she’s Reine Nuit and she’s a superhero, but – but Ladybug is Ladybug! Reine Nuit keeps hanging with Ivan, unsure of how exactly to get down, until Ladybug calls, “Miraculous Ladybug!” and a swarm of red and black ladybugs swirl around the Tower, righting everything that’s been wronged. One of these wrongs includes depositing Reine Nuit and Ivan on the ground and restoring Reine Nuit’s baton to its usual place at the small of her back, along with draining away all the aches and pains she’s accumulated over the course of the battle.

“Whoa,” an awestruck Adrien says from nearby, trying to get as much of the healing swarm on camera as he can. “Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Yeah!” Ladybug gasps. “It’s beautiful! And amazing! It’s – it’s miraculous!”

Although Marinette’s heart is pounding as she sits down in her usual seat with Alya rather than at the front, she can’t deny that it’s totally worth it to see the look of sheer apoplectic rage on Chloé’s face when she tells the blonde to get lost because she sure as hell isn’t moving and “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing”. Alya grins at her.

“Good job,” Alya says, fist-bumping her. Adrien enters the classroom at that moment, and his face lights up when he sees that Marinette and Alya are sitting behind him and Nino.

“You guys missed the best action!” he says, pulling his phone out. “I was there! So close to the action that I actually got grabbed trying to help Reine Nuit!”

“Dude,” Nino gasps. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Adrien’s grin widens. “But Ladybug saved me! Look!” He plays them the footage of the battle at the Eiffel Tower, and Marinette’s a little astounded at how clear the video is. Then again, it is a very good quality phone that Adrien has.

“I bet your father was happy that you went running after an akuma,” Alya smirks.

“Oh, he was furious,” Adrien says cheerfully. “But it was such an adrenaline rush! After years of being cooped up in my own house, it was like I was alive for the first time! Man, it would’ve been so cool to be a hero.” He pouts at his phone and says, “Guess I’ll have to settle for being Lois Lane. But I still don’t know what to even do with these videos.”

“Why not post them online?” Alya says. “People would kill to see that kind of footage.”

“True,” Adrien says. “Now I just need a catchy YouTube name.”

“And I can edit the videos for you if you need,” Nino says. “I love filmmaking, man.”

“Sweet!” Adrien high-fives Nino. “This is gonna be awesome!”

#miraculous ladybug #aotq fic #aotq: reine nuit au #chat!alya #marinette dupain-cheng #alya cesaire #adrien agreste #nino lahiffe #origins part 2 #stoneheart #whoops there goes adrien's heart #reverse crush #adrien getting caught by raging villains isn't a good thing #nino has some concerns

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mischiefmakingmuses · 6 years ago

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Tawagoto’s Gate: The Disappearance of Tokyo Ghetto

[Here is a fanfic I wrote for all you lovely people, I hope you have an enjoy.]

Chapter 1: The Adventures Of Mumu-chan

In a world where darkness and light intertwined heavily and lovingly, never fully separating from each other and always continuing through existence in their dance of love and death, lived a Girl by the name of Mumu, who was secretly the Moon in a previous life. When Link did not manage to save Termina from Majora's Wrath due to being distracted by a Massive Display of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, 2,400 Doughnuts All Shaped and Flavored Like Several Pokémon, Yokai, and Digimon (As Created For "The Great Mons Game War Against Pretentious Pokémon Fans Who Think Pokémon is the Only Mons Game When in Reality the Megami Tensei Series is the Literal Ur Example of All Mons Games"), all of Termina was banished to The Shadow Realm, but in the middle of The World of Light, and it was here that the Moon took her new form as Mumu-chan.

By Day she was a regular Schoolgirl, and By Night she became The World's Greatest Magical Girl. She was The Only One who could save the town's cats from falling prey to the Evil Tree Organization, who would often capture the poor cats and trap them up on high branches from which they could not leap down from. Every other night, she was visited by her Good Friend Tuxedo Mask...a month ago, Tuxedo Mask had begun to help out a Man from town named Mike Dawson, who was trying to find out what happened to his Totally Not Girlfriend, Rita Scanlon. Even one day, Mike Dawson interrogated Tuxedo Mask.

"Tuxedo Mask, what was YOUR relationship with Rita," asked Mike Dawson.

"My work here is done," Tuxedo Mask declared before being beamed up by his spaceship and transforming into A Whole Chicken In A Can.

It was when Things were beginning to fall apart. At One Point, Mumu-chan saw Nobita and Doraemon at a candy store!!! And she saw Kitaro and Nezumi-Otoko getting ramen at a ramen stall!!! What was going on?!

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

In this hard boiled world there is only one hard boiled detective named Gummie, who was a octopus bat alien thing given form on Jack Box's Drawful 2 one day when the Author wanted to be cute in a Twitch stream they frequented.

With a Large Pretzel Stick in their mouth, Gummie looked over the case files while her dear friend Star Sheep sat in the corner playing Splatoon 2 For The Nintendo Switch™, for the Salmonids were something Star Sheep became really obsessed with because they were Funny Fish and Very Interesting.

"Do you think this is a homicide case?" Gummie asked Star Sheep, pulling the Pretzel Stick out of his mouth and acting as if it were a cigar.

"Sorry, I'm Splet," Star Sheep replied.

"Hmm. That's true," Gummie mused, lifting up her hat to look outside the window. It was a Marvelous Night, but they had not been making much headway on the case so far. Perhaps it was time to get Reinforcements involved. "We don't even have a sus cuz the sec with a mo's got a perf al."

"Eko, You Don't Drink," Star Sheep commented wisely from the corner.

"Shut up, Maya, we're getting burgers," Gummie proclaimed loudly as he put the Pretzel Stick back in their mouth.

Chapter 3: Help Me Dr. Cox

The Next Day Gummie and Star Sheep left to find Reinforcements, first coming by Richard AKA Dr. Dick AKA Dr. Cox because the Author Wanted To Be Meta and The Real Dr. Dick knew Everything that they had planned for the week that had passed.

In front of a Dollar Tree, Gummie and Star Sheep awaited for Richard to show up, playing a bootleg version of Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego? For The Nintendo Switch™ which landed on their doorstep one day. The reality of the situation was that the game functioned almost entirely like the PC version except that The Baron wasn't called Baron Grinnit, but Baron Wasteland Because I Think That Makes More Sense.

"When my mom and I played this game, we really liked Ivan Idea," Gummie admitted.

"How are we even doing this?" Star Sheep asked, without the monotone tone that this fanfic is read in as it's being written Because It's Ironic. It was then that Gummie squinted their eyes at the screen, only for the screen to melt away and turn into The World Ends With You: Final Remix.

"Oh hey, look, it's Neku," Gummie murmured happily. "Y'know, I really love Neku?"

"Yeah, I know," Star Sheep replied. "Comfort character, right?"

"I'm inclined to believe so," Gummie answered as he attempted to play the song Calling which was her favorite song because he first heard it in the DS version in 2012 and it really stuck with them.

It was then that Richard had finally shown up. She looked around with shifty eyes, seeming a bit nervous and unsettled.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be here," Dr. Dick admitted.

"I'm vaguely getting that kind of idea too," Gummie commented. "Anyway, so I heard from my friends Smile, Urien, Netalina, Gambit, and Jizo that their friends Nobita and Doraemon have gone missing, and have no idea where to go to find them."

"Eko?" Star Sheep began, pulling on Gummie's wing. "I'm sorry, but...how do you know about the Yokai?"

Both Richard and Gummie looked at Star Sheep wide eyed, in Gummie's case you couldn't tell very well because they always made it a point to never reveal their eyes.

"Shit. Shit. SHIT. I don't know what's going on." Gummie grabbed the sides of his head in confusion, narrowing their eyes at the ground. "Something's extremely wrong here."

It was then that Kaite20 had suddenly shown up. Yes, her name is actually Kaite20 because she feels the need to constantly append the "20" to her name even when just "Kaite" would suffice.

"Hey, you guys, I found a portal somewhere and it kind of looks like one you might see in Puyo Puyo Puyo Puyo Puyo Puyo Land. Is that...supposed to be normal?"

Gummie stared at Kaite in shock.

"Like hell it is," they responded. "Guys, we're going to the portal. Don't be surprised if we end up having Adventures in Bootleg again."

Chapter 4: Peter Was Not Available So Phoebe And Plumule Are Here

Through the portal, they had reached the home of Mumu-chan, in a place between the Shadow Realm and the World of Light. It wasn't QUITE time to play Lifelight, though.

"This feels more like how in ChalkZone, half of the world was day and half of the world was night," Star Sheep commented. And she was right, as the town was split entirely between night day, right down the middle.

"...this is cool but complicated," stated Dr. Cox.

"Focus guys, I'm inclined to believe that Nobita and Doraemon are here somewhere. I dunno how the FUCK they ended up here, but I imagine that they HAVE to be here," Gummie commented.

"Do you think it's because of...HIM?" Kaite asked.

"Absolutely not, because if anything makes sense in this goddamn world we're trapped in, it's that They Above wouldn't fucking put him in this story. Then again, I have no idea who else it could be."

"You're getting KINDA too meta, now," said Richard. "Sounds like a fanfic."

"It IS a fanfic, Dr. Dick," Gummie responded. "So that means that we'll probably meet the Kitaro Family and Ittan-Momen will be really suave and shit despite not being a major character. Also we now have an autistic girl and her baby bird monster friend on the team because They Above asked a certain someone if they wanted some influence on the story."

"Actually, he's more or less my tulpa." And there was Phoebe, with Plumule right next to her. The tiny bird monster chirped in an affirmative manner.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's tulpas all the way down. ANYWAY, you guys, we need to find Nobita and Doraemon. The first step is finding Ittan-Momen flying around because like Hell he won't be here."

As if on cue, a dashing white cloth with beautiful blue eyes flew through the area and down the street.

"Fuckin' typical; OK, let's go." Gummie spread their arms...wings and took to the air, trying his best to keep up with the white cloth. Naturally, being part of the Kitaro Family and being Objectively The Best Kitaro Character In The Universe, at least according to the Author, Ittan-Momen was very fast and hard to keep up with. "Hey, sir, would you mind slowing down? I'll buy you some sweet potato sake if you do."

"Huh, what? Are ya talkin' to me?" Ittan-Momen flipped over in the air to look at Gummie, who wasn't keeping up very well. The cloth stopped and allowed the alien to catch up to him. "Do ya need me for somethin'?"

"First of all, very honored to meet you. Congrats on actually making it into a written work made by my Ghost Writer! They really like your voice and manner of speaking...down to the subtitles that Crunchyroll gives you."

"...Huh...? What...? I don't really understand," Ittan-Momen said. He was blushing though. "Anyway, what do ya need me for?"

"Gonna take a wild guess and say your friend Kitaro is somewhere in the area! Have either of you happened to see a boy in glasses, yellow shirt, black hair, kinda looks like a loser? Or his robot cat friend, no ears, bright smile, red collar with a bell, white belly, a pocket on said belly? I'm inclined to believe that we have a trickster afoot and that those two have been taken here for some reason...as well as you and Kitaro."

"Err..." Ittan-Momen tilted his head slightly to the side. "Yeah, I think so. I'm still not sure I really understand, though..."

"Don't worry about it!" Gummie piped up. "Just let my friends catch up with us and then you can take us to Kitaro, alright?"

"Cotton shochi!"

Chapter 5: When You're Too Afraid To Wake Up

At Ittan-Momen's introduction, the group found Nobita and Doraemon, who were actually having a conversation with GeGeGe no Kitaro himself. While presenting himself politely, it seemed like a lot of the futuristic aspects of Doraemon's existence had confused Kitaro quite a bit. He was just getting used to the fact that people had Smartphones, what was this about a 4th Dimensional Gadget Pocket...?

"Really glad to meet you, Kitaro! Yes, They Above is right, you are definitely Badass Adorable," Gummie gushed.

"Um...thank you," Kitaro replied quietly. "Ittan-Momen, who are...your friends?"

"Don't know. The purple one asked me to bring them to you."

"Sorry, Eko, I'm kindof tuning out here, hahaha. Everything I know about these guys is just what you've told me before..." Star Sheep laughed nervously.

"Trust me, if this got any more out of control, then fucking Ashens would've been mentioned. By the way, he gave the whole chicken in a can a negative review because it just looked like a melted chicken carcass.

"Anyway, Nobita, we've finally found you--and GeGeGe no Kitaro, to boot--at Urien and friends' request, so I'd consider this case closed..." Gummie adjusted her glasses. "...except that someone obviously was behind everyone's displacement, including ours and Kitaro's. So that means the case is still open...until we find the culprit!"

"I thought it was just Ekoro," Nobita replied.

"Ekoro?" Kitaro asked.

"Who's Ekoro?" Richard asked as well, despite the fact that The Real Dr. Dick knew very well who Ekoro was.

"I don't know any Ekoro," Phoebe replied bluntly. Plumule cheeped in agreement.

"I thought you said it couldn't be Ekoro," Kaite responded.

"I did," Gummie said. "So that means that it's someone we don't actually know. Kitaro, do you sense youkai activity?"

"Yes," Kitaro replied without skipping a beat. Gummie's sight wandered to the top of his head, where his ahoge was pointing straight up.

"Well, golly gee, that was fucking easy. Which Youkai of the Week do you think could've possibly done this?"

"I don't know," Kitaro responded. "It's not any youkai I've ever encountered."

"But they're a youkai? And they're close?"

"Yes."

"I wouldn't consider myself a youkai, per say..." came a voice. Everyone looked around, but to no avail. Suddenly, the world fell apart. The group panicked for a second, until the voice came back. "Give it a moment, I'll send you all back home in a second!"

They tried to focus on the source of the voice. It was coming from a definitive direction, but it still seemed like no one was there...

"I'm right here," came the voice again. Everyone looked downwards. In the middle of the group was...something. Almost exclusively what could be made out was a white mask with three heart-shaped holes in it and two horns. The rest of...whatever it was...was completely transparent. Its shaped was also inconceivable, almost as it was hardly there at all.

"The fuck are you, a Phanto?" Gummie asked in a sassy tone.

"Not...really. I'm not a youkai, either. Or a demon. Or really anything...I guess that means I'm...nothing?" It seemed to put a hand over where its chin would be. "It's kind of hard to be here, sorry."

"O...kay...so why did you bring everyone here?"

"Oh! I just wanted to have some fun and let you all construct a silly story in a world of my creation! I hope you enjoyed it! Happy April Fools'!" Nobody seemed impressed. "Aw, c'mon, I can't imagine it was that bad? I understand that all of you enjoy ridiculous humor like this! Not counting Kitaro and friends, of course, because they don't really represent anyone in The Other World, but surely the rest of you found parts of it funny!"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Dr. Dick asked.

"I don't really know! I would say I'm Nanashi but Kitaro and Ittan-Momen would get mad. But similarly to him, I have no name. No one's given me one, and I might never have one."

"Oh, I know you," Gummie responded, "you're the one They Above have been struggling with for a while; they call you Not Melon."

"Ah, but that's not actually my name. Similarly to how they've called other characters in progress 'Not Ekoro' and the like. I don't have a name yet. But, I do have a birthday! It's today! April 1st is my birthday!"

"I'm inclined to believe that's bullshit because your concept has been floating around for more than a fucking week," Gummie grumbled.

"Well, they didn't make Smile on May 18th, and yet that's his birthday, right? And Urien was conceived sometime in November or December, but his birthday is somewhere in June or July, but it's still not decided because they want a date that would perfectly reflect Urien's personality similar to how it seemed to happen with Smile, right?"

"Wait, Urien's birthday is in June or July?" Nobita asked. "It would've been great to know that last year!"

"Yeah, but the date's still up in the air. Plus, that plot thread was going to be explored with Ekoro, with Star Sheep's Ghost Writer taking the role of Ringo so she and They Above could roleplay some fluffy EkoRin stuff. And then they decided that they didn't want to do anymore, and ran out of time anyway."

"...I think that's beyond even my understanding, Mister...err...what did you say your name was again?" Doraemon asked, tilting his head.

"Ah, well...firstly, I'm not a mister...and secondly...I don't have one. However, my birthday being today was inspired by Subeta's Elwood's birthday being today, and that Elwood's Pizza is in between time and space, kinda like me! Ultimately They Above decided they actually wanted to go down this route for me!"

"...OK." Both Nobita and Doraemon had given up at this point.

"Actually!" they piped up, clapping their hands together...or something? They were so intangible it wasn't really clear. "They Above decided to plan all this out as a way to introduce me, even though I kind of don't fully exist yet! That's part of the reason why you can't really tell what I look like...the only thing confirmed is my mask, you see?

"Anyway, that means that you, I, and the Yokai might all meet up sometime soon, in another universe! Exciting right? I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Did you understand any of that, Kitaro-san?" Ittan-Momen asked.

"No," Kitaro answered bluntly.

"It's OK, you aren't really involved. They Above are just such a huge fan of you guys that they wanted to include you. Anyway...as much as I'd love to stay and chat with you all, it's time for you guys to go back, and for this story to come to a close.

"It was really nice meeting you all! Especially because...I don't really have any friends yet! But, again, I hope you all enjoyed your time here, and I'm looking forward to meeting you all again! I'm not sure when or where, but it'll definitely happen!"

And all will fade to black.

Chapter 6: Home At Last

Gummie awoke with a start. Apparently they had fallen asleep on their desk. Star Sheep was in the corner, playing Splatoon 2 For The Nintendo Switch™.

"Star Sheep, what the hell happened last night?"

"I'm not really sure, but I had a really crazy dream where we went to solve a case...something about two people going missing? And then Kitaro was there?"

"Kitaro? You mean like GeGeGe no Kitaro Kitaro?"

"Yeah. Also there was that guy, there was that guy you like."

"Ittan-Momen?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck yes. I had the same dream too. Ittan-Momen was fucking incredible." Star Sheep turned to her friend's general direction and gave him a warm smile.

"Glad you liked it."

At the end of the day, much fun was had...and also Nezumi-Otoko Is Still Underground.

Thank you to @astarrymusenight, @jellipuddi, @robocatandboy, @timeandspaceandmagic, and my Twitter friend Peter Puzzling for letting me use your characters/personas!

#fanfic

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haroldgross · 4 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/oscars-2021/

Oscars 2021

There wasn’t a chance I was going to try and prediction nominations this year given all the rules changes and expanded eligibility rules (no screen release necessary). Heck, even the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) didn’t bother to hold their annual trading on the nominations. But, now that they are in, I’m willing to try and predict winners.

While there were some odd gaps and snubs, there are some nicely competitive categories. The big question is how much Netflix-hate and politics will play into the results. With rare exception, there are few winners that could be selected that wouldn’t be worthy in the following lists, but when choosing “the best” things always get a little dicey.

And with that preamble, here are my first impressions and some thinking out loud. I’ll post a final call before the night as per tradition.

Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) Frances McDormand (Nomadland) Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

What a great range of talent and styles…which only makes prediction that much harder. However Frances McDormand has been buzzed about for months now. And while Davis and Day delivered amazing performances, Mulligan is still my favorite for the levels and tightrope. Only Day challenges it for me, but she had less of a plot to work with some ways. My guess is still McDormand.

Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Anthony Hopkins (The Father) Gary Oldman (Mank) Steven Yeun (Minari)

Boseman, regardless of performance, is likely to get this on the upswell of loss alone. For me, Oldman was the more complete and believable character and performance.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy) Olivia Colman (The Father) Amanda Seyfried (Mank) Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Yuh-Jung Youn stole Minari. And Seyfried was luminescent in Mank. I’d bet on Seyfried if Minari didn’t have such growing support and if we all didn’t need such a good laugh (which Youn delivers). Colman was wonderful, but her performance doesn’t quite gel without the rest of the ensemble, by design. And though Bakalova has been gathering accolades, she’s much younger than Youn and has “plenty of time” in the voter’s eyes to prove herself.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) Leslie Odom, Jr (One Night in Miami) Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah)

There is no good answer here. Cohen truly captured Hoffman in a way that deserves to walk away with the statuette. But Odom navigates a complex problem with savvy and Stanfield delivers an oily and complex man with conviction. As much as I’d like this to go to Cohen on the merits, I think Odom is the likely winner here.

Adapted Screenplay

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm The Father Nomadland One Night in Miami The White Tiger

There is no perfect choice in this group. All have their challenges. One Night in Miami is probably the front-runner, though there may be a surprise in here.

Original Screenplay

Judas and the Black Messiah Minari Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

Again a great list, but Promising Young Woman was the most impressive of this list for me, especially as a first feature. However, Trial may get this due to Sorkin love (and not undeservedly).

Directing

Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg Mank, David Fincher Minari, Lee Isaac Chung Nomadland, Chloé Zhao Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell

Best Picture

The Father Judas and the Black Messiah Mank Minari Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

There are times I’m glad it isn’t up to me. There is no question that Nomadland is the front-runner, whether it should be or not. For the record, I don’t think it should be in this list. Mank is by far the best crafted and fully complete vision delivered. Promising Young Woman is the most surprising and delicately crafted. The Father is unique and clever. Judas and Trial are incredible windows into events and people of the past. Sound of Metal and Minari are peeks into worlds you most likely aren’t familiar with. But Nomadland has somehow grabbed the attention. It may still fall to split votes or political tides, but of this list, it is among the weakest films in my opinion.

International Feature

Another Round (Denmark) Better Days (Hong Kong) Collective (Romania) The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia) Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Another Round is the most familiar title, but Collective and Skin are currently gaining recognition. I’m hoping to see them all before the day of reckoning, but for now I’m going with Another Round based solely on press and buzz.

Original Song

“Fight For You” (Judas and the Black Messiah) “Hear My Voice” (The Trial of the Chicago 7) “Husavik” (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) “Io Sì (Seen)” (The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)) “Speak Now” (One Night in Miami)

I honestly just don’t care enough to have an opinion yet. Suspect, though, that it will be Fight For You or Speak Now.

Original Score

Da 5 Bloods, Terence Blanchard Mank, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Minari, Emile Mosseri News of the World, James Newton Howard Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

Soul is the score to beat, no pun intended. All were solid, but Soul’s already snagging awards for its score and that is likely to continue, and is certainly worthy.

Documentary Feature

Collective Crip Camp The Mole Agent My Octopus Teacher Time

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Documentary Short Subject

Colette A Concerto Is a Conversation Do Not Split Hunger Ward A Love Song for Latasha

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Live Action Short Film

Feeling Through The Letter Room The Present Two Distant Strangers White Eye

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Animated Feature Film

Onward Over the Moon A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Soul Wolfwalkers

All entertaining, but Soul is the walkaway here. It is a full look at a difficult subject, done in an inventive and effective way.

Animated Short Film

Burrow Genius Loci If Anything Happens I Love You Opera Yes-People

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah, Sean Bobbitt Mank , Erik Messerschmidt News of the World, Dariusz Wolski Nomadland , Joshua James Richards The Trial of the Chicago 7, Phedon Papamichael

Judas, News, and Trial are all cut from the similar cloth of classic cinematography. Judas and Trial also have the added skill of mixing in historical or seemingly historical footage. All are done very well. But Nomadland and Mank are more stylistic and more characters within the story. Mank is, by far, the most impactful delivery of the group, and the most artistic, but I am not sure that it can overcome its stream-only origins. I can also see Judas walking with this as a consolation prize.

Film Editing

The Father Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Father and Promising Young Woman are neck and neck for me in this category. Nomadland was very harsh in its edits, causing the flow to falter rather than flow. Trial has some clever editing to tell the story, but it felt more driven by the necessities of the script than the editor. Father may get this if folks don’t want to give it Production Design. Nomadland is likely to take it as part of its potential tsunami.

Production Design

The Father Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank News of the World Tenet

You couldn’t have put together a list of more different films that relied on their production design, and all done excellently. Three are period pieces, but Mank is highly stylized, while Ma Rainey’s and News are more invisible. But The Father tells its story through the production design and Tenet creates an entire world and mythos. Honestly, The Father should get this, but Tenet may get this as one of its few opportunities for the gang of Nolan.

Costume Design

Emma Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank Mulan Pinocchio

Ma Rainey’s, hands down for me, for the range of economics and cultures it covered. As wonderful as Mank’s were, the Black and White aspect mutes the magic of what was done. Mulan was just a bit too forced, as was Emma, though that latter would typically win this category.

Visual Effects

Love and Monsters The Midnight Sky Mulan The One and Only Ivan Tenet

Yeah, Tenet. No question.

Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma Hillbilly Elegy Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank Pinocchio

Mank. Makeup and hair for black and white photography is a bear and this was done flawlessly and on a huge scale.

Sound

Greyhound Mank News of the World Soul Sound of Metal

As wonderful as Soul is, Sound of Metal uses sound (beyond just the music) as more of an essential character and story element. It also is one of its few chances this year, so think this may be where it gets its nod.

NOMINATIONS BY FILM

Provided just for reference, but certainly interesting to consider when considering who has the attention of the voters. Only films with 2 or more noms are listed.

Mank (Netflix) — 10 The Father (Sony Pictures Classics) — 6 Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.) — 6 Minari (A24) — 6 Nomadland (Searchlight) — 6 Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios) — 6 The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) — 6 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) — 5 Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) — 5 News of the World (Universal) — 4 One Night In Miami (Amazon Studios) — 3 Soul (Walt Disney) — 3 Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Films) — 2 Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios) — 2 Collective (Magnolia Pictures/Participant) — 2 Emma (Focus Features) — 2 Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix) — 2 Mulan (Walt Disney) — 2 Pinocchio (Roadside Attractions) — 2 Tenet (Warner Bros.) — 2

#Movie Review

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thenearsightedmonkey · 7 years ago

Photo

Dear Students,

It is getting closer. And closer. And soon we will begin our time together.

Before we meet, you’ll need to gather the following things and bring them with you on the first day of class, and you’ll also have to choose a class name for yourself. (There is information about that at the end of this document)

Our classroom, the Comics Room, is 6131 Humanities. If you don’t know where it is, you might want to give yourself some extra time to find it on the first day. The Humanities building can be confusing. The Comics Room is on the 6th floor. Find the elevator and turn right when you get off on six. Go all the way down the hall find the door with sparkling silver fringe hanging over the doorway. Dig it! You made it!

I look forward to seeing you in 3-D very soon.

Sincerely,

Professor Skeletor (AKA Lynda Barry)

PART 1: CLASS SUPPLIES

-One three ring binder, 2 to 3 inch spine – no smaller, no larger.

-100 heavy weight plastic sheet protectors, already loaded into the binder.

Please do not get economy weight and make sure the plastic sheets are already in the binder before you walk into our classroom. This binder will be where your work will be kept throughout the semester. The binder stays in the classroom.

- A roll of scotch tape – the kind used to wrap gifts.

- 12 Black Papermate Flair pens, medium point. Item number: PA8430152

Order a dozen of them. They are inexpensive, they have beautiful black ink, but they tend run out quickly so you’ll need a box. Just so you know, they can be difficult to find if you wait until at the last minute.

-12 Uniball Vision Stick Roller Ball Pens, Fine Point, Black ink Item #60126

Order a dozen. IMPORTANT Note: Get the one with the light gray body. That’s the Fine point. Don’t get the ‘Micro’ point – which has darker gray body. Don’t get the ‘Vision Elite’ which has a white body. These can also be difficult to find if you wait until the last minute.

-200 3x5 index cards, lined on one side, blank on the other

-200 4x6 index cards, lined on one side, blank on the other

-Three small glue sticks (like Elmers or UHU)

-8-pack Crayola Twistable crayons – not that hard to find and inexpensive but resist the urge to buy more than the 8 pack for now.

- BOOK: Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice

Ivan Brunetti

Yale University Press 2011

ISBN 9780300170993

Sometimes they have it used at the bookstore but don’t wait until the last minute to find out.

PART TWO : CHOOSE YOUR CLASS NAME

In our class we all go by class names of our choosing rather than our given names. We’ll use our class names for the entire semester. You are free to tell each other your given names of course, but in class we will call you by the name you’ve chosen.

You can pick the name of a character that exists in myth or fiction or even non-fiction, like Medusa or Shrek or Ruth Bader Ginsberg. You can choose to name yourself after an ‘entity’ of some sort, like NASA or Russian Dash Cam or Belvidere Plaza.

You can choose a character of any gender, from any point in time. Think of a name that you’d to hear said out loud a lot over the semester. For example, one semester I was Professor Chewbacca and I was so happy whenever anyone said my name. I’ve also been Professor Old Skull, Professor Sluggo, Professor Hebdo, Professor Drogo? Professor Squirrelhead, Professor SETI, Professor Yeti, and Professor Mario Andretti.

At the end of the semester your name will be retired. You’ll be able to use it again, but no other student will be able to use it in the future. On the attached sheet are all the names that are retired. If the name you want to use is already on this list, you’ll have to find a new one.

Please note: If you cannot decide on a class name, you’ll be given the name of an American president and will go by that name for the whole semester.

(I’m assigning them in order and George Washington and John Adams have been used, next up are Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. )

PS: Our classroom, the Comics Room, is 6131 Humanities. If you don’t know where it is, you might want to give yourself some extra time to find it on the first day. The Humanities building can be confusing. The Comics Room is on the 6th floor. Find the elevator and turn right when you get off on six. Go all the way down the hall find the door with sparkling silver fringe hanging over the doorway. Dig it! You made it!

RETIRED NAMES of FORMER CLASS MEMBERS

(drum roll, shot of Wild Turkey)

Akira

Altair Ibn La’ahad

Ambrose

Amethyst

Amygdala

Arabella

Arya Stark

Ash

Auntie Whispers

Avatar Roku

Baby Porkchop

Baubo

Beatrix Kiddo

Bees?

Ben BagBag

Bender

Bezdomny

Big Boss

Bjork

Bluto

Bootsy

Brain Stem

Bulma

Captain Haddock

Captain Underpants

Carmen San Diego

Cerebellum

Cerebral Cortex

Chef Boyardee

Chase Carver

Companion Cube

Count Chocula

Corpus Callosum

Charlie Hebdo

Chewbacca

Daddy Radish

Danger Mouse

Daria

Dick Grayson

Director Flossy

Dolomite

Dorothy Darlying

Dr.Bronner

Dr. Girlfriend

Dr. Hibbleton

Dr. Jones

Drogo

Eeyore

Eliza Thornberry

EVE(nings)

Falada

Fay AtoMz

Felicity Merriman

Fenrir

Free Willy

Freida Ca$hflow

Frontal Lobe

G.K.

Garlic Jr.

George Washington

Ginger

Gray

Green Puppy

Godzilla

Gorilla Grodd

Gort

Gravelord Nito

Grundy

Haiku

Hal 9000

Hallelujah Jones

Harper Row

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden

Hello Kitty

Hermione Granger

Hippo

Hippocamus

Homoerotic Subtext in Space

Honeybee

Huck Finn

Hunca Munca

Hydra

Hypatia

Hypothalamus

Invader Skoodge

Inspector Gadget

Istanbul

John Adams

Judee

Juju

Kal El

Kali Kugelman

Kitty Foreman

Kiwi Jean

Knuckles Hemingway

LMNOP

Lady Amalthea

Lapis Lazuli

Levi

Linus

Little Nemo

Little My

Lil Hot Stuff

Lireal

Live Harmless Reptiles

Lois Lane

Lore

Lord Zuko

Lucy Lou

Luna Lovegood

Lutra Lutra

Lymbic System

Mafalda

Mako

Martha Stewart

Mary Poppins

Maya the Bee

Meelo

Mighty Manfred

Mighty Mouse

Monkey King

Mordechai

Mr. Bumpy

Mr. November

Nala

Neko

Nikki Minaj

Noqi

NoraEphron

Nostalgia

Obelix

Octopus Carwash

Old Skull

Optimus Prime

Orange Marmelade

Party Peanut

Peanut

Percy

Pegasus

Pigpen

Pigwidgeon

Pippi Longstocking

Pons

Prefrontal Cortex

Princess Bubblegum

Princess Leia

Princess Lolly

Quailman

Raspberry Beret

Rattlesnake Master

Raven

Regina Phalange

Regular Sized Rudy

Robin Hood

Rose Quartz

Rosie the Riveter

Roz

Santa Claus

Scott Pilgrim

Scout

SELCO

Sharkbait

Sherlock Holmes

Skeeter

Skeletor

Smaug

Smiley Bone

Snoopy

Space Dandy

Spethjasu

Spinal Cord

Spinelli

Spot

Stevie Beach

Stevanni

Stoibenator

Storm

Stritchy

Stella Luna

Squid

Squilliam Fancison

Squirrelhead

Starfire

Super One Foods

Sweet JP

Taco John

Tank Girl

Temporal Lobe

Terra

Thalamus Wong

The Buffalo

The Girl

The Princess Anistasia

The Shmoo

The Spirit

Tigger

Toes

Trace Lactose

Twilight Sparkle

Vanth

Vicki Minaj

Vincent Brooks

Visual Cortex

Waldo

Wilder

Woodstock

Wyoming

Zef

Zenyatta

Zola

Zorba

#mc1 #making comics #UW-Madison #lynda barry #dear students

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snorkelblog · 6 years ago

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Grand Cayman Dec 2018

Hello!

Great information here; it was extremely useful. I just returned from 10 days where I stayed near Rum Point, at the Sea Lodges. While this guide is tremendous, I can update.

Unfortunately there was an unusual front that came through midway into our stay that messed up the winds and the chop. But I got enough diving and snorkeling in to make some additions.

First and foremost, the Rum Point area is possibly the best fringing reef left in the Caribbean. Bonaire in 2013 outpaced what we saw at Rum Point now, but I wonder if the decline in Bonaire parallels what the rest of the basin has experienced.

From Sea Lodges all the way to the second bouy at Rum Point (going east to west) the variety and health of the goegonians, sea whips, sea fans, and LPS like brain corals, was fabulous and continuous. Stony corals was more mixed. The Elkhorn forest is gone….all dead remnants. There are maybe 5-6 small patches of both Elkhorn and Staghorn left. Also isolated patches of various purple and plating montiporas.

Large boulder formations were thriving. Saw a wide array of sponges and tunicate, and even a few purple tipped anemones. There are turtles and rays all over (did not see any.spottes eagle rays though). Saw also octopus and squid and all the expected reef fish. The Rum Point area is fabulous.

Starfish Point is sadly, now, gross. Too many ships and people destroying the Starfish, removing from the water. One jerk busted open a large conch then tossed the snail, defenseless, back into the water. Loud music. Just unpleasant. But there are Starfish, and pearly jawfish, there in abundance.

Spotts Beach is much nicer, turtles and rays abound. Sadly the current was too rough but others report very large healthy fringing reef to the east, out from the first large point (facing the water it’s too the left), maybe 150 yds out from the point. But I couldn’t swim against the strong current from the west side and didn’t much want to brave the rocks on a straight out attempt.

There were zero other good spots on the south end of the island. And as for snorkeling, zero else accessible from land.

What once were Barefoot and Queens Monument - Connelly are gone. There is no remaining beach, there are warning signs and chains, and trash/branches everywhere. People go to look but nothing much to see. There’s no access. I am sure there is good fringing reef out there. Need a vessel to access.

There is absolutely no way now to snorkel out to the reef from either location or from Turtles Nest. This from both the dive shop I used and locals. Too dangerous. Too far. And this was not due to the weather. It’s too dangerous and too far. You can snorkel it. But have a boat at the mooring.

East end is worse. Zippo to snorkel.

The diving, that’s another matter. I think the dives I did with Ocean Frontiers surpassed Belize and Roatan, the only non-Pacific area that could compete is Bonaire and that is because Bonaire is mostly shore dives.

I plan to return and will recheck these areas. But if you want to snorkel healthy reef from the beach on GC, I would say it’s pretty much limited to Rum Point and perhaps Spotts.

———————————————————————

Testudo Responds:

Thanks so much for your comments! Glad you got to experieince some of what I think is the better snorkeling GC has to offer. Agree it is some of the best in the Caribbean. While I think Roatan is overall a better snorkeling destination (not been to Bonaire), you get so much variation in environments in GC from Staghorn Forests to Boulder Gardens to Stingrays and Turtles spots, it’s hard to top.

Not sure of the location of the Elkhorn forests you referenced, but the Staghorn Thickets are absolutely thriving off Rum Point. I got worried and went out today to make sure they were not in any decline. They have quardrupled in areas over the last 10 years! You must have missed them on your snorkels. All the more reason to make sure you do return. Elkhorn has never been established in any great mass off Rum Point, at least since Ivan.

Agree Starfish Beach has sadly become a commercialized clusterfuck - floating play grounds, hucksters selling food and more boats than one can imagine. Add the folks removing the starfish from the water and I’m shocked there’s still one or two of these unique creatures left within a quater mile of the point.

As for Queen’s Monument, while the Connolly’s Cove access may be gated, there is a public beach access pathway immediately adjacent to the property folks can use to get to the water. There's never been any meaningful beach there, just a pebble shore. Just now need to park along the roadside.

Barefoot Beach is and reamins a public beach access, just as listed in the guides. While the beach may have eroded from its former Robinson Caruso splender, the snorkeling reamins unchanged and is certainly worth a visit.

Access to the Bodden Town area reef is easily accessible from Governor Morris Public Beach, as outlined in the guides.

Not sure what the dive shop communicated these three areas are only accessible by boat, but is seems in error.

East End’s Charlie’s Shoal is a close to shore, hidden gem and the barrier reef and other dive/snorkle sites like Sunset Reef are accessible for strong swimmers. Plus if you want to see reef sharks, the East End is the place.

Again, none of the spots listed in my guides require boat access for a strong swimmer and experieinced snorkeler, so realy puzzeled by those dive shop comments.

Other areas around the island can be worth a visit. I am partial to Eden Rock in George Town and Cemetary Reef on Seven Mile Beach. Heck, I even enjoy the patch reef at Govenor’s Beach on Seven Mile for the sheer density of marine life on an otherwise desolate section of beach.

When you return, plan a day trip to Little Cayman to enjoy what is in my opinion some of the truly outstanding snorkeling remaining in the Caribbean. I think you’ll be pleased. FWIW, I find the summer months to present the conditions most conducive to a positive snorkeling experience.

Thanks again for your contribution and hope you found the guides to be helpful.

Cheers,

Testudo

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lapzoli · 8 years ago

Text

history repeats itself: I

//screams because I finally finished chapter one

Summary: In which some people end up with an unwanted roommate.

ao3

It had been a perfect trip planned in the spur of the moment.

Or perhaps on the whims of a teenager’s obsessive fanatics.

Either way, upon hearing there was a museum dedicated solely to Ladybug (and Chat Noir), Chloé had instantly demanded her father fund a trip for her to go.

The mayor, however, saw it as an opportunity to gain favor with the voters and the heroes as their third anniversary approached. The way he saw it, if the heroes saw how much he appreciated them, they would help his campaign, and once the people saw the heroes favoring him, they would too.

Simple.

So he compromised with his daughter; an exclusive, all-expenses-paid field trip for her class to see the museum in London, where they would roam the city and be able to learn the history of the two heroes before returning to Paris in time for the anniversary banquet he would hold on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s actual anniversary (since becoming heroes, that is).

It was perfect, and it certainly got the rest of the class up in a frenzy.

Alya, in particular, was bouncing with joy. She was almost excited enough to copy Marinette’s infamous butt wiggle.

Almost.

“Girl, can you believe this?” Alya gripped her phone, grinning ear-to-ear. “We’re going to learn all about Ladybug and Chat Noir! Where they came from, what they did...agh, I can hardly wait!”

Nino turned in his seat, unable to not hear his girlfriend’s excited squeals, and leaned close to remark, “Yeah, I’m pumped too. And, not that I’d ever tell her, but I’m glad Chloe’s dad is funding this trip. No way my family would have been able to afford it.”

Alya sighed at that. “Yeah, same here. I hate the idea of having to thank her though.”

“Don’t worry. She’s gloating enough to let us know she knows we’re thankful,”remarked Marinette, rolling her eyes. “It’s a miracle she hasn’t shoved in directly in our faces yet.”

“Well, I think the real miracle is that Adrien’s old man let him go,” said Nino, playfully nudging the blond next to him. “How did you do it?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. It was amazing how at seventeen, he still had the same innocent smile he did three years ago.

“Well, Chloe can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be,” he said as an explanation. “And...I had a good argument myself to go.”

Alya leaned in. “Really? And you won?” She grimaced. “Not to sound...impressed or anything, but your dad’s one hard nut to crack.”

Adrien sighed. “Believe me, I know. But yeah...I had a pretty solid argument for why I should be able to go. Aside from it being paid for and all that. Nathalie already rearranged my schedule and everything, so he can’t change his mind at the last minute.”

He sunk down in his seat a bit.

“And I happen to know he’s pretty good at backing out at the last minute.”

Marinette clicked her tongue, reaching across to rub his shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting manner. While it was true she still had feelings for him, she was proud of herself for reeling in her emotions. If she hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have been able to grow closer to him the last three years.

(Though not all of the posters had come down off her wall yet…most! But not all.)

“Hey, if your argument is as solid as you say, no way he’d have a reason to suddenly back out,” she reasoned.

Adrien smiled a bit and put his hand over hers, squeezing her fingers lightly.

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said. “So everyone in the class is going?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” said Nino. “Who’d turn down a free trip? My parents are thrilled about it. But maybe that's cuz my mom is probably planning to deep clean my room while I'm gone.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “I've been in your room; I don't blame her.”

The aspiring DJ grinned as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Hey, not all of us can magically keep our room clean - despite having two tiny tornadoes you call sisters,” he said. “How do you even do it?”

“Easy. I tell them there's a giant octopus monster in my closet that tickles little girls all day long, so unless they want to be tickled, they have to stay out of my room,” explained Alya. “It's...pretty effective.”

“Would work on me,” said Adrien, grinning at the two. “You think they won’t go in your room while you’re gone though?”

“Who’s gonna save them from the giant octopus monster if I’m not there?” Alya remarked, snorting. “They won’t be going in there, trust me.”

“But they may try to convince your dad to let loose one of the animals at the zoo and eat the octopus monster,” pointed out Marinette. “Wait, why are we even discussing an imaginary octopus monster?”

Nino shrugged. “Why not?”

Adrien chuckled and looked at the aspiring fashion designer.

“He’s got you there,” he said.

Marinette rolled her eyes, slumping her shoulders. “He does, doesn’t he? So is your mom really going to deep clean your room while you’re gone, Nino?”

He laughed. “Probably, but it’s all good. Nothing really worrying for her to find that she doesn’t already know about.”

“That poor woman,” said Alya, her voice oozing with sympathy. “What horrors has she seen?”

“Er, an empty turtle tank I use to store random stuff?” Nino remarked. “That’s about the oddest thing in my room.”

“And why do you have an empty turtle tank in the first place?” Adrien had to ask. “You don’t have a turtle.”

“That’s why it’s empty, duh,” teased Nino. “Eh, I wanted one when I was a kid. My neighbor had a tank he didn’t need anymore so he gave it to me, and I just never got a turtle.” He laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get one later. It’s a good tank, huge and full of space, so it’d be a shame that a little turtle dude didn’t get to use it.”

“It’d be like having a bunch of catnip and no cat to play with it,” remarked Marinette, thinking of the plants on her balcony.

“A shame,” said Adrien, shaking his head gravely. “No catnip should be neglected.”

“Well, it’s gonna be, unless you have a cat you’d love to lend for a few hours,” replied Marinette, resting her chin on her hands. “Maybe I’ll just ask a stray cat I know…” She chuckled suddenly, as if remembering an old joke. “Mm, maybe I’ll do that.”

“Okay…” Alya shrugged off her best friend’s kookiness; she was used to it at this point. Though she was never any closer to figuring out what Marinette was so amused by. “Well, back to the trip, at least we know we’ll be comfortable. Chloe would never forgive her father for putting her in a cheap hotel, and since he can’t show favoritism - more than he already does, clearly - he’d put us in pretty decent rooms.”

“That’s true...hey,” said Nino. “You think we’ll get to choose who we room with?”

“Mm, I don’t know.” Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “We should, right? As long as we’re not inappropriate,” he said as if scandalized by the word alone.

“Can’t be any worse than what some people do in the hallways,” said Alya. “Then again…”

Marinette snorted. “Not everyone has, as Adrien said, inappropriate intentions.”

“Not everyone,” agreed Alya. “But a bunch of teenagers? Wouldn’t be surprised. But I hope they don’t randomly assign us rooms. Ugh, imagine getting roomed with Chloe.”

“She’s not that bad, really,” said Adrien, quick to defend his childhood friend despite their faults.

“Yeah, you saying you want to room with her for two weeks?” Marinette cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’ll go tell her now.”

“Don’t, please,” said Adrien, making a face. “I...alright, fine. But I mean, aside from Chloe - and Lila - everyone gets along with each other fine; what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Can...Can you repeat that, Madame Bustier?” Rose squeaked as she and her classmates stared at their English teacher in shock. “I don’t think we heard you right…”

The red-haired woman hummed, mindful of the bright screens above their heads, each one depicting the flight times.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir were presumingly thrown into a new situation and forced to adjust, despite - we assume - being strangers,” she said. “You all will face a similar situation, by your room partners. This was decided by a random generator, and this means anyone can be your partner. Now, there’s an uneven number of you so one of you will have a room to yourself. And no trading is allowed.”

“Is this even...allowed? The school allowed this?” Mylene asked quietly, blinking up to see if anyone would answer her.

Madame Bustier didn’t hear her as she pulled out a sheet of paper.

“Since there are chaperones waiting for you in London, I will not be attending this trip with you. Therefore, I’ll be reading you your partners’ names now,” she said, a hint of tiredness - and, was that amusement? - in her voice. “I do not want to hear any of you complaining - or trading. Your chaperones have already been told of this, so they will know if you switched.”

She cleared her throat.

“First, Rose.” The blonde-haired girl squeaked a little. “You’ll be sharing a room with Juleka.”

“Wicked,” said Juleka, smiling at her best friend. She nudged Rose a little, allowing the smaller girl to sigh in relief.

Everyone else shifted anxiously. Even Chloe was eyeing their teacher, silently hoping to be paired with at least Sabrina if not Adrien. She wouldn’t be able to stand anyone else.

“Ivan, you’ll be rooming with Max,” continued Madame Bustier.

Ivan and Max glanced at each other, both clearly skeptical but also fairly relieved. This was good; the random pairing wasn’t that bad. And no one had been paired with a member of the other-

“Kim and Alix.”

Spoke too soon.

Alix stared openly at her teacher before she gaped at her rival, who did the same.

“Oh, no,” she muttered.

“Please don’t kill each other,” said Madame Bustier simply before she looked back down at her list. “Next, Mylene and Sabrina.”

The two girls eyed each other suspiciously; they weren’t exactly friends, after all. Not enemies either, but not friends. Nowhere near friends. That was fine; there were plenty of roommates who weren’t friends but managed anyways, right?

Madame Bustier eyed Nino and Alya for a moment before she said, “Nino, Alya. I know you two are dating, but no funny business, please.”

The two of them had the decency to look abashed, though didn’t hide their excitement at being paired together.

Chloe had moved closer to Adrien at this point; since Sabrina was taken, she was confident she’d be paired off with him. It’d be better than being forced to share with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, of all people! Hell, she’d even take that lying fox or the lovesick artist-

“Nathanael, you’ll be with Chloe.”

“Wha-?” The redhead looked as if she had just told him his death date as his eyes darted between the teacher and Chloe, who was gaping at Madame Bustier just the same.

“What? No,” shrieked Chloe. She looked between Adrien, Marinette, and Lila, the latter of which looked all too smug. Just like she had before she was assigned with the boy who couldn’t even accessorize properly!

“No trading,” said Madame Bustier firmly. “Now, to the three of you left.” She stopped as an announcement came on, telling them it was time to board the flight. “Alright, alright. Hurry, hurry. We don’t want you to miss your flight, do you?”

She ushered the kids towards the boarding area, ignoring their surprised cries as they picked up their suitcases.

“Wait, Madame Bustier,” protested Marinette before her teacher could push her into the plane, mindful of the poor flight attendant nearby. “Who are we-”

“You’re with Adrien,” said Madame Bustier quickly. “Lila, you have your own room. Now go and find your seats.”

She smiled at the teenagers, waving them goodbye.

“And have fun!”

Marinette gaped at her teacher even as Alya dragged her along.

“What?!”

#myupload #history repeats itself #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #ladynoir #marichat #ladrien #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #djwifi #my fanfiction

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thebiggaylion · 7 years ago

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Dash Berlin @ EDC Orlando 2014

Good afternoon, everyone! We’re inside 100 days until EDC Orlando 2017! My friends are all starting to freak out about it, asking me when--in my vast and detailed knowledge of EDC Orlando’s past (haha)--when we’re going to get an artist announcement. Give it time! We’ve got about 100 days, there’s plenty of time to get excited. We all can’t be cranked to 11 for the next three months, and THEN get MORE excited when the announcements come in... we’ll all have heart attacks!

100 Days till the magic blossoms in #EDCOrlando. 🌼✨🌴 Join us the Under the Electric Sky Nov 10 & 11 at Tinker Field!➼https://t.co/iFA3QfYegX pic.twitter.com/Fh92pV6Z6r

So who's up for this week’s #ThrowbackThursday? While flipping through The Big Gay Archives (a term I coined earlier today! Fun, huh?), it seemed time for another 2014 post, and now’s as good of a time as any to revisit one of my favorite sets I’ve ever seen in person: Dash Berlin, from my birthday! I actually found the set, posted by an official channel (not some broadcast rip), so if you wanna listen to the audio from this performance, click here!

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YouTube | Facebook | Instagram The performance from W&W came just before this performance, and this video of the interstitial is the one that came just before Dash Berlin’s set. Love the visuals, love the music. I can’t tell if they’re testing lighting on the fixed areas of the stage, or if they just can’t decide whether or not to have them on haha. When you watch the video, you’ll know what I mean! Also, a bit of trivia for ya’ll with this video. I was trying to figure out why I saw reference to Interscope AND Insomniac Records when looking for a SoundCloud link to this song. Turns out Interscope and Insomniac are working together for Insomniac Records. This was back in 2014. Also, this song was their first release! No wonder they used it in the Opening Ceremony (as well as the as-far-as-I-can-tell unnamed interstitial in this video!). Neat, huh? Arty feat. Angel Taylor - Up All Night https://soundcloud.com/interscope/arty-up-all-night-feat-angel-taylor

Some exciting stuff happened after stopping the video, so I took stills of those moments instead. Or, at least tried to haha. Remember, this was my first experience with EDC, so I was still figuring out the best way to capture everything!

Download High Res (15 MB) | Download Low Res (2.1 MB) That wireframe Night Owl animation I was gawking at all night long had been remapped in this cool texture, so I grabbed a set of Burst Photos of it. I wanted to make sure I got the water effect too, as well as the cool visuals from the artist. The Owl was just bobbing back and forth looking rather majestic, but I didn’t catch him facing forward. So:

I took a still photo of that pose, instead of trying to get another set of Burst Photos. All the other effects are off--except Dash Berlin’s visuals--but I think that puts the focus right where it needs to be!

Download High Res (9.2 MB) | Download Low Res (1.4 MB) I don’t believe this is the first sighting of “(heavy breathing)” cat, but it’s definitely my most-recent GIF of it that I’ve posted to Tumblr! That’s something, right? :3

Download High Res (78.2 MB) | Download Low Res (12.1 MB) I love a great color combo, and who doesn’t love Mardi Gras? There was a really cool animation of what looked like some of the seeds from James Cameron’s Avatar just before this light pattern, but due GIF limitations explained at the bottom of this post over here that part of the visuals didn’t make it into the thumbnail above. Make sure you click the “Download” links to see the whole loop and witness it all!

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YouTube | Facebook | Instagram Most of this show was amazing, but when the song played is hotter than most, it’s time to bring out the fire. There’s not an abundance of content from this set, because (again) this was my first experience, and taking it all in is really intoxicating (and ultimately distracting to the producer/photographer/videographer in me!). Tove Lo - Habits (Stay High) https://soundcloud.com/tovelo/habits Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl feat. Christine Hoberg - Hear Me (BYNON Remix) https://soundcloud.com/bynonofficial/ivan-gough-feenixpawl-hear-me-bynon-remix-preview

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YouTube | Facebook | Instagram Now this was a real treat. I had seen the Octopus in videos and photos and such, but to see it in person was one of those “wow, I’m REALLY here!” moments I’ll never forget. Thankfully I had the wherewithal to turn that moment into a “manual” 180° video giving you an idea of the all-around nature that EDC gives us. Sure, the stage is most of it, but if you keep your eyes forward the whole time, you’re gonna miss something! They snuck in from behind us, and eventually the first Octopus got right up front. Not exactly on the rail, but pretty close! Dash Berlin & Jay Cosmic feat. Collin McLoughlin - Here Tonight https://soundcloud.com/dashberlin/dash-berlin-jay-cosmic-ft-collin-mcloughlin-here-tonight-official-previewout-july-4thweare

Download High Res (9.8 MB) | Download Low Res (1.5 MB) This might not be my best set of Burst Photos turned animated GIF that I’ve ever done, but it’s one of my favorites. Yeah, my hands weren’t perfectly steady. No, I didn’t take a lot of frames. Sure, all the visuals and such are poppin’ off, but none of that’s it. Check out the performers on stage, and no I don’t mean Dash Berlin. There are some girls up there in skimpy outfits (of which I approve, given my penchant for dressing in skimpy clothing!), but the fuzzy aliens are what make this golden for me. I can’t remember their names, but check out the pink one to the right of the frame. Head back, eyes to the sky, doing a double-fist pump to the beat. That one is absolutely LIVING! If you ever wanted a visual representation of what being at EDC feels like, look at that beautiful soul in sensory overload right there. THAT’S what EDC feels like.

Every time I go back and listen to Dash Berlin’s set from that year, I’m always surprised at just how amazing it was. The days are counting down, folks, and we’re finally in double-digits. It’ll only be a matter of time before we get to have yet another family reunion at EDC Orlando! Oh, also, did you see Insomniac’s e-mail sharing their #TBT of the EDC Orlando 2014 trailer (content from EDC Orlando 2013?). I guess I’m not the only rave-lover that’s thinking of 2014 today~! Love ya’ll, see ya next time! 🏳️‍🌈🦁❤

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