#I was debating on whether or not to give her a class but honestly she works best in my head as someone who isn't an adventurer

[lemon-drop-soda]

Alright uh so

Fractalis has a wife who he loves very much. She started as just a backstory detail for the dnd campaign he was a part of (before that fell apart), mainly as a reason for why he would want to escape from where he was adventuring.

Now she's an actual character lmao. This is Cirina! Read more about her below.

Cirina's upbringing is in a different category of strife compared to her husband's. She was born and raised in Arabel. Her merchant family was invested in the production and trade of the city's various exports, particularly the Arabel specialty of Bitter Black beer. As a child, she was often part of the caravans to other large cities where goods would regularly be sold and traded. She enjoyed the limited freedom those trips gave her. Even at a young age, the joy of seeing new things in new places was something she held onto for dear life. Familiarity and routine didn't bother her, but she much preferred to take in new information to learn how to adapt to a constantly changing social contract between fellow traders. Her curiosity for the new and exciting was fostered in her formative years in that she would hone her skill in picking other peoples brains and reading their intentions and needs as she grew up. She maintained a sprightly demeanor through her adolescence and into young adulthood, though that's not to say she was always optimistic. The way in which she would voice her frustration was wholehearted and honest, but it was often followed up by a diluted nihilism that kept her moving forward, causing her to push her frustration aside. While that technique helped to ease her momentary despair, reality would prove to test her resolve as time marched on.

Trade in Interior Faerun is highly competitive, and while being involved in the production of the staple drink of their home city was advantageous to an extent, Cirina's family experienced more valleys than peaks in their profits over time. They had to change their sales tactics, diversify their output, learn new trades, do something to provide a safety net when the keep they earned wasn't high enough to make ends meet. Cirina herself shaped up to be en excellent saleswoman every time a change in what was sold and who was being sold to took place. She could sell water to a fish if she knew enough about the fish from their first interaction, helped by her overall active and friendly personality. Despite her adaptability, the ceiling for how much her family could earn was lower than any of them would like to admit.

That is, earning the honest way.

Eventually, a client approached the family with a handsome proposition to ferry powerful magical contraband between Hilsfar and Westgate (with hired mercenaries as suitable protection). Though the journey back an forth was long and taxing, involving roughly 600 miles of land travel and 200 miles of sea travel in one direction, the client was willing and able to give tens of thousands in gold pieces per journey. They never asked what those objects were for, all the family knew is that if they followed through, they would be doing far better than their contemporary competitors. How could they possibly refuse? It didn't matter if the items were to be given to vampire lords or usurper kings in the end.

Cirina then became the face of this questionable operation, using her natural charm to dissuade guards at checkpoints from inspecting the precious cargo too closely. She often had to bite her tongue over the morals of committing to this trade agreement. She knew what she was doing was duplicitous, but compromising the trade meant losing everything, including the family's standing as reputable merchants should the agreement expire at any time. Nobody could know that they were complicit in facilitating potential magical arms dealings with the likes of those that do harm in the realm. Her conscience began collecting guilt with each lie and half-truth she told in the name of escorting the source of her pay. It couldn't be helped. She had a job to do, and she had to keep moving forward like always.

Yet the truth will always make itself known, no matter what.

One of the mercenaries charged with protecting the caravan ratted them out to a rival of their benefactor for profit. The rival confronted the family at a checkpoint on the way to Hilsfar, but rather than hand them over to the authorities to be hanged for their crimes, they gave them an ultimatum. They were to either cease all trade and fall into obscurity elsewhere, or be publicly executed to send a message to all traders operating with their prior wealthy partner.

The choice was obvious. Her family took the deal and ran into King's Forest, eventually settling in Mouth O' Gargoyles. They held onto their earned gold in secrecy, knowing full well that if their profits were discovered wherever they ended up, the source would be questioned. Holding onto the truth close to her chest ate away at Cirina more now than it did during the time she was the saleswoman for the operation. She had to do something with her now forcibly idle hands, if only to distract from the shame she was coated in. Why not woodcarving? Of the artisanal trades she'd already learned about out of curiosity, whittling and sculpting were not yet known to her, and she was now surrounded with enough material to last her a lifetime.

The locals were happy to direct her to the tiefling woodcutter for scraps to practice with.

This is how Cirina met her husband, Fractalis.

[skzhua]

Episode eight.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 3.8k

warnings: Swearing, that's it. This one is cute as hell, y'all.

summary: Transferring to KISS was the last thing you had asked for and, yet, a certain tall boy made it seem both worse and better than you expected.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

a/n: So I got productive and wrote this in under a few hours only... I hope you'll enjoy this!

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

You looked at your two friends in surprise. While Kitty was smiling widely as she held Dae's arm, the latter gave you looks of pleading. From that, it wasn't hard to get that he didn't want you to speak about the fact him and Yuri were fake. A shame, you were thinking that this would give you the chance to be free of lies.

"I'm happy for you two." you grinned and raised your coffee cup. "Long live Kitty and Dae."

"And not us?" Min Ho huffed as he sat next to you.

Us. A term with which you were still quite unfamiliar. It had only been a day since you and Min Ho started whatever that was happening. You weren't sure what you were or where it was going but you preferred it that way. Putting tags on it honestly frightened you.

"Us?" Kitty frowned. "Did I miss something?"

Min Ho put his hand on your thigh, squeezing it gently. "More or less."

Dae coughed. "Well, while you two do your thing, we'll go do ours. Kitty, let's go?"

He brought her along behind him, grabbing her purse for her in the way, and left the dorm. Q having gone to the Outdoors Club already, you and Min Ho finally had some time alone. Approaching you, he laid a quick kiss on your lips before stealing your mug.

"Dude, come on! I didn't finish it."

"You had one sip left." he said and then drank the rest of your beverage. "And now it's empty."

You shook your head in disapproval. "You're kind enough to make me coffee but evil enough to steal it away from me."

He walked to you and got you off your stool before wrapping his arms around your waist. "You'll have to admit, it kind of turns you on."

You held onto him by the neck and frowned. "Being both a gentleman and an asshole?" you asked and he nodded. "You're way too confident in yourself."

"You said I was a gentleman, I'll take it and ignore the rest." he laughed.

You exchanged a long-lasting kiss, and he positioned himself to help you up so he could hold you by the thighs. He was still kissing you as he walked to his room but the door just had to open at this exact moment. Min Ho dropped you as horror plastered on your face.

Widening his eyes, Q nearly screamed. "What is this? When?" he asked but stopped himself. "You know what? I don't want to know. I'll just grab my water bottle and let you finish your business."

He hurried to do so and slammed the door behind him. Looking back at each other, Min Ho let out an awkward chuckle.

"We can continue..."

You rolled your eyes. "Get ready, we have class in a few."

But class didn't seem so important as the days went by. Making out in the library, cute dates in Gangnam district, more kissing in his room with a disgusted Dae on the side (as if he wasn't any better with Kitty)... This thing you two had was going strong. You were hoping that he might not see it as a simple casual thing. Because you were falling, and deep. There wasn't going to have any turning back at that point.

Q packed some last minute items in his bag. At the same time, you were debating whether it was a good idea to bring cute outfits despite the fact you were going in the middle of nowhere for two days.

"Oh, that dress is dead gorgeous." Q commented as he checked up on you.

"Not this one, too revealing." you said and pushed it aside.

He took it and put it in your bag. "And that's exactly what we are aiming for."

"What? No, Q." you complained while letting him zip it all close.

"Min Ho is going to lose his mind over this."

You suddenly got shy. "Min Ho? Why would I dress for him? I don't need to do that, it's stupid."

He laughed. "You'll thank me later." He went to the kitchen and you followed him behind. "Okay, time to go. Bus leaves in twenty." he told the other couple.

Just then, Min Ho got out of his room and was bringing with him a huge ass luggage. Plus one of those luxury bags of his.

"Gosh." he mumbled to himself, struggling a little.

"Dude, the class trip is camping. In tents. In nature. For two days." Kitty told him, unimpressed.

"I know." he rolled his eyes. "That's why I packed light."

You laughed and walked up to him. "Right, you did. Let's go."

The five of you headed outside to where the bus was waiting for you. You stayed with Min Ho and he exchanged a few things about Kitty with Dae. And that made you rather uncomfortable.

"She wants to go over everything that happened with Yuri." Dae explained.

"Don't, it's a trap." Min Ho advised right away.

You shrugged. "I don't know. Honesty is always the key, don't you think so?"

Dae sent you a glare, visibly not wanting you to reveal you knew all about his fake relationship. Meanwhile, Min Ho shook his head in disapproval.

"You're right about honesty. But in this case, they say they want to know all the details to move on, but then they obsessed about them."

You let out a huff. "You really know women..."

"Is that how it is with her?" Dae asked Min Ho, nodding his head to your direction.

"Y/N?" he said before he slung his arm around your shoulders. "No, she's totally uncomplicated and chill."

You looked at him. "Really?"

He sent a smirk your way. "Really. You're quite great, actually."

Growing more embarrassed, you broke away from his grip as soon as you came closer to Yuri. She was already with her other friends but didn't seem to mind your presence. In fact, she seemed reassured.

"You've kept yourself busy this week." she said, referring to your few make-out sessions she had accidentally stumbled upon.

"And you have been moving on quite well from Dae."

Her face became serious. "Not a word, please."

The girls suddenly started to scream and Madison came closer to show you a video on her phone. There stood the famous actor Ocean Park. He was explaining how his grandmother's village had been ravaged by a flood and was thanking Madison and your school to come help them out. She squealed at the mention of her name, jumping up and down.

"He said your name!" Eunice exclaimed.

"I know! And we owe it all to Min Ho and his famous mom." she replied before running to him and giving him a hug, almost making him fall.

"Whoa..." he let out before breaking away from her.

Leaning on him, she went on to explain about how his mother had worked with Ocean Park before. Apparently, Principal Lim agreed to cancel a ski trip to go to the village instead. But you weren't listening, you could only focus on her arm that was on top of Min Ho's shoulder.

"Your mom is really good with pulling strings." Madison finished off with telling Yuri that.

"For evil, usually."

You choked out a laugh and Yuri followed. You, then, proceeded to get seated in the bus. Analyzing the places, Madison and the other girls had already took the back seats. Kitty surprisingly sat with Finnerty, leaving Dae stuck with another student. Florian and Q together, the others with their friends... That left you a two-seat spot that you could share with Min Ho. However, the image of Madison being glued to him from earlier still fresh in your memory, you hesitated.

"Hey." Yuri said. "Sit with me?"

You ended up agreeing and got yourself comfortable with your friend. So when Min Ho got on the bus, he was more than confused to see you seated with Yuri instead of keeping a spot for him next to you. He stopped where you were with a perplexed look on his face.

"What is this?"

You shot your head up as you heard his voice. "Hey. I'm sitting with Yuri if you don't mind. We'll see each other when we get there."

He seemed disappointed but acquiesced nonetheless. "It's okay."

You watched him getting to a solo seat and started to feel bad. At this point, though, who could blame you for being mad? First off, you had never brought up the subject of Madison in the last week and, second off, you were now wondering why the hell she went to hug him after telling everyone he helped her with organizing this trip.

After a while in the bus, you were growing tired more than you'd liked to be. Yuri had shared a ballad playlist with you and that only made you more sleepy. After some time, she shook you out of your daze and told you she was going to speak with Dae and that she'd switched places with the guy next to him. As she left her seat, Min Ho took the opportunity to go beside you, sending the other guy at the singular seat he was previously at. You let out a scoff at him.

"Excuse me but I believed we agreed last night that we would sit together." he justified himself.

You shrugged. "That was before I learnt you were still hooked on Miller."

He sighed. "Is it about this morning?"

"I don't know, Min Ho. You tell me." you answered, growing frustrated.

"Jealousy kind of looks good on you." he joked but you slapped him across the chest.

"I'm not jealous. I don't want to be in your collection of women, that's all."

"I have spent every second of my free time with you this last week. You would have known way sooner if I was seeing another girl at the same time."

"You hid your trip arrangements with her very well, though."

"Exactly. It was trip arrangements."

You plugged in your earphones again, not wanting to hear any more of his unclear answers. He did look at you for a bit afterwards but he ended up getting the message. That didn't stop him from taking your hand in his, and neither did it restrain you from liking it.

You arrived at the camping site soon after and joined Eunice outside. She and the others were still scrolling through social media as they wanted to see more pictures of Ocean Park. You weren't necessarily a fan, but you had to admit that the man was fine as hell.

After Professor Finnerty gathered everyone together, he asked you all about the rooming arrangements. You were taken aback when Yuri told him she'd be with Kitty. That wasn't even the best... What followed shook you even more.

"Y/N and I, sir!" Madison shouted.

Barely having any time to process what she had just said, Finnerty noted it down and she took your hand to head towards your tent. She started to talk about how excited she was and all about the whole trip, ignoring completely the elephant in the room.

"I'll take the left side and you can take the right. Does that work for you?"

"Yeah." you confirmed. "Why did you pick me?"

She hummed. "What?"

"For the room. We barely know each other."

"Ah." she smiled and invited you to sit with her. "I have noticed that I might be creating some tension between you and Min Ho. No hard feelings about him choosing you, by the way. I would've picked you too."

"Thanks..?"

She continued. "I want you to know I was only looking for a casual fling that night at his party. And he only kissed me back because he told me you went all out on him so he got sad."

You smiled in guilt. "I did, yeah."

"And the day after, I thought he was still on with the casual dating but he obviously told me off and went to you instead."

You were still in doubt. "That does not change the fact he's Min Ho. He'll go after someone else in a week at most if I'm lucky."

She exhaled. "Well, you are more than lucky, then. He wants you, I can see it. And, by the way, the trip thing was because I begged him to do so. And the hug was just friendly, I swear."

"It's fine." you let out a laugh. "I appreciate you for telling me all this. I was barely getting anything out of him when I asked."

"Men are like this." she shrugged.

You could do it for an extra hour before curfew but nothing was going to make you like cleaning up. You did enjoy having a clean personal space and cleaning a village for a good cause was good too. Still, you were not having the most fun. You and Yuri being similar on that aspect, you helped each other as one raked the branches together and one put them away in a bag.

Min Ho watched you from afar. Considering you were still not acknowledging him, he took it as in Madison told you something that put you off. That was the last thing he wanted. The night before, he called his mom to tell her about you. He wanted to know her opinion on the situation and it made him realize a lot of things. One of them being that he wanted something more with you, something real. Not a close friend he'd kiss whenever he'd want to. No. He wanted to try and date you.

"You're looking at her again." Madison snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I know."

"She's not mad at you, I told you I cleared things off with her."

He scoffed. "Explain why she is still avoiding me, then."

"From what I got, she feels like a fling to you... which she is so-"

"Not." he corrected. "She's not."

"Then, show her."

"How?"

Madison had shifted her attention elsewhere by then. A car pulled over in front of the camping site and everyone – meaning every fangirl – rushed to see what was happening, Madison being the first. Min Ho followed lazily as Ocean Park stepped out of the car, greeting his fans.

You joined out of curiosity. It wasn't like he was a nobody; you were getting to meet a celebrity. You stood next to Min Ho. Not on purpose, it was only because he was close to the front. After Madison introduced herself, Min Ho did the same but with much less enthusiasm.

"Hi. My mother, Dami, says 'hello, Mr. Park.' "

Ocean looked up dreamily. "Ah, Dami... Your mother is an incredible woman. Did she ever tell you about the time I ran into her at Sundance?" Min Ho gave him a very clueless look. "She kept me warm on a very cold night."

Min Ho was baffled. "Excuse me?"

"And who are you?" Ocean smiled at you.

"Park Y/N." you bowed.

He held his hand up. "No need to be so formal. Are you with him?" he asked, pointing at the man next to you.

"Oh, we're not-"

"She is." Min Ho cut you off while bringing you closer to his body by your waist.

Ocean nodded his head at him in acknowledgement. "You got yourself someone as beautiful as your mother." Clasping his hands together, he then addressed the crowd. "Let's take a selfie."

You pushed yourself away from Min Ho while Ocean Park and his groupies went to a spot to take photos. "What is it with you?"

You walked off to continue your task. You didn't get why he acted all possessive when, clearly, Ocean was only being polite. Nor did you get why he felt the need to keep you so close to him. It made you feel things and you hated feeling things.

An hour was added to your time before curfew as a reward to the hard work you had done all day. Yuri had briefly told you what happened so far. You felt much better now that Kitty finally knew the truth and that Yuri didn't forget to tell her that she asked you to keep it shut for her. Kitty texted you later on to tell you she forgave you and understood that it was not your place to tell. Overall, a weight had come off your shoulders.

Exhausted from the day, you didn't plan on doing much other than watch some shows you downloaded before leaving and staying in bed in your pyjamas. You were going to have the tent to yourself since Madison was going to Ocean Park's grandmother's house for dinner. You were more than okay with finally getting some time for yourself. Well, for a few minutes at least.

Min Ho: Come to my tent.

Min Ho: I've got a bit of a surprise for you.

Y/N: No. :)

Min Ho: Do you want me to beg or something?

Y/N: Maybe...

Min Ho: Please, come to my tent, my sweet puppy?

Min Ho: Get all ready too, it's a formal occasion.

Y/N: I'm in my comfy fit, so it's still a no. I'm not coming out.

Min Ho: I have strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Y/N: Coming in ten.

Most people would tell you that this was a bad idea. And usually, you'd say that it was, indeed. But, hey. Strawberries and chocolate couldn't be a better bait for you. You loved food, he knew that and he got you just how he wanted. You honestly didn't care, as long as you had something to eat in the end.

You thanked Q mentally for forcing you to bring the tight off-the-shoulders dress. You picked it to go with some golden jewellery and did some waves for your hair. Once you determined you were all good – which was more than ten minutes after you told Min Ho that you were coming – you finally left your tent.

You weren't sure how to react when you saw him in a suit, standing in the middle of the room he had decorated with candles, petals and all. On the table were the strawberries with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne. You stepped closer, growing more confused.

"What is happening here?"

"Surprise." he said. "I was hoping this could help me for you to not be mad at me anymore."

You acquiesced slowly, still scanning the room. "I can't say that I am not impressed."

"Want some?" he offered you the treat and you happilly took them.

"I never thought I'd see you do something like this for anyone. Even less make a heart out of petals." you teased.

"Can you appreciate my effort instead of mocking me?"

You laughed. "Alright, I'm sorry. This is a very nice surprise, thank you."

"You're welcome, beautiful."

He came closer to you and wiped off the chocolate that smudged on your lips. With a single look down your lips, it was just enough to make you melt all over again and press your lips against his. He let out a gasp, startled by your move.

"I'll take it as we are good now?"

You nodded. "Yeah, we are. I'm sorry, by the way. I was overthinking things and you have the right to see anybody else because it's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything." you laughed nervously.

He bit his lip. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about with you."

And, of course, your little insecure self had to start thinking about all sorts of negative thoughts. Was he about to tell you this thing was over? Would he still want to be friends? Was he only playing with your heart?

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but..."

And it was coming, you knew you were going to get your heart broken.

"... I think I want more."

And just like that, everything stopped. Your brain short-circuited as you attempted you comprehend properly what he had just said.

"You, what?" you said in a whisper.

"I think I'm ready for a real relationship and, honestly, I don't see it happen with anyone else other than you."

You said nothing, you just couldn't physically speak. So you kissed him, slowly and passionately. In all the times you kissed, this felt like the most intimate you had ever been. It wasn't physical intimacy, it was emotional. Without even noticing, teardrops came out of your eyes. Just a couple as Min Ho brushed them off with his thumb.

"Are you okay?" he asked once he pulled away from your face, but still kept his forehead to yours.

"What... Why the change of heart?"

He sighed. "You really want me to tell you how special you are, don't you?"

"I actually do, yeah." you admitted without any shame.

But the evening went on like this. There was some friendly teasing, kissing here and there, talking for what felt like hours. You wanted to stay forever there with him.

"I could kiss you forever." he said softly after lifting your chin up to make you look at him.

You held onto him even closer. "Me too." And you kissed him again. "I should really go."

He shook his head and placed a couple of pecks all over your face. "Or you could stay."

"No." you laughed. "Curfew starts in five minutes."

He pouted but still help you up on your feet from the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, you will."

"On the bus, this time."

You sighed heavily. "Yes."

"Good. Then sleep well." he kissed you one last time for the night.

"Good night."

As soon as you got to your tent, Madison was already sleeping. You lost no time in dialing Kitty's number but she didn't answer. The next person in mind was Yuri but she did not respond either. Last person was Q who, thankfully, picked up.

"So? How was it?" he asked.

"It couldn't have been any better."

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[yolowritter]

In Defense of Chloe Bourgeois Part 1: Who is Chloe?

Well...shit, here we go again! Hello there everyone, welcome back to the source of my endless exasperation! Before any of you pick a side to the argument, I want to make it perfectly clear that this isn't a post about whether or not Chloe should have had a redemption arc. This is not my point, and any argument for either side have been repeated so many times by now that I can recite most by memory. So, let's begin by establishing why exactly I'm even writing this post!

Chloe Bourgeois is one of my favorite characters in Miraculous Ladybug. The...the fanon version, obviously. Canon can go keel over in an alleyway, it already has more holes in it than the average swiss cheese. I've been a part of this fandom for a good few years now, and at the time of watching Miracle Queen was understandably upset at the...direction, that her character was taken. It left a sour taste in my mouth because I honestly didn't see it coming, but I'll get more into that later. Point is, I was once a defender of Chloe's redemption arc. I am not stating if I am or not still one of those at present, because that's not what the point is. Regardless of what side of the fence you're on, we can all agree that her character was horribly mismanaged in the latter half of this show. Erratic, extreme and oftentimes illogical choices that sound stupider than Lila's average gaslighting scheme, and a character who previously had an arc going for her now being defined only by the sheer inconsistency that writhes every moment she's on-screen. I'll be honest, I no longer particularly care if Chloe "should" have been redeemed or not, because either avenue could have allowed for some brilliant (or at the very least pretty decent) storytelling.

This defense strives not to strip anyone of their arguments, nor to challenge anyone's headcanons, or make a point about what the "correct" way to handle Chloe's character should have been. Again, I lost interest in the debate a long time ago. I'm simply here to examine who Chloe is as a person, what drives her, what her life experiences have been like, and where all this could logically lead from both a writing and human perspective. I care about Chloe as a person, and about a character who if nothing else, at least acts consistently, in a way where the audience can watch them and understand why they're acting like this. I'll be trying to give context to some of her actions and fill in as many plot holes as I can, as well as giving a glimpse as to how a possible Redemption or Corruption Arc could have gone. So without any further ado, let's dive right in!

Firstly, let's start by laying out some common ground. After the Gabriel Agreste post, I think it's necessary to establish some clear lines as to what exactly we're talking about here. So before anything else, let's look at what we learn about Chloe in Season 1, yeah? Without going episode-by-episode, we generally don't get a good impression of her. Chloe is clearly spoiled by her father, used to always getting her way, and has no problem pressuring others into making that happen. She treats her classmates more like annoyances if not outright minions (Sabrina and on occasion Kim), has little consideration for other people's feelings, and likes appearing superior to everyone else. A pretty bad start, all things considered. She bosses Sabrina around, and we're explicitly told that Chloe often bribes her with her second-hand stuff, or whatever she wants to get rid of. Sabrina clearly doesn't know how to stand up for herself, and Chloe seems perfectly willing to take advantage of her doormat status. She also has the roots for a sweet sweet superiority complex firmly planted, considering how she rejects and humiliates Kim when he tries to confess his love to her. I'll be damned if I ever understand such bad taste, considering how Chloe is generally disliked by the rest of the class, but the point stands. She could have just told him no, even rudely if need be, and left it at that. Instead, she actively chose to humiliate the poor guy. Something similar happened with Nathaniel, whose feelings about Marinette she made public to everyone else for what seems to be entertainment value.

All in all, Season 1 Chloe has all the stereotypical makings of a popular girl from a 2010s American high school movie, including the narcissism, bullying, strong-arming school staff into not punishing these behaviors, inflated ego, and the complimentary minion! Except...Chloe isn't popular. With anyone, actually. Most of the class dislikes and barely puts up with her on a good day. They don't laugh along or jeer at whomever she's giving trouble to. Instead we have several instances where people actively try to either push the teachers into doing something or remove her from a situation where Chloe is causing problems. Think about the filming scenes in Horrificator for example. Chloe is acting like her usual self again, and refuses to allow Marinette to be the lead actress because she'll get to kiss Adrien. A tragedy, I know! Therefore, there's a whole plot to get her out of the room long enough for the scene to happen. People actively consider her at the very least a pain in the rear, and probably someone they just don't even want to talk to.

Obviously this isn't an excuse for anything she does. My point here is that from the perspective of the narrative, even while acting the part of a "Queen B", Chloe reaps none of the benefits, and in fact only serves to make people dislike her more with every episode that passes by. Even Adrien, who I'll circle back to in a second, her childhood friend who has a good opinion of her when he first comes to school, eventually stops trying to defend Chloe's behavior. There are, I think, a lot of reasons as to why she acts this way. Precisely none of them are an excuse or a "get out of jail" free card. Chloe still chooses to behave the way she does, regardless of the motivations.

About Adrien, we know that he and Chloe have known each other for a long while now. She was quite possibly his singular friend during his otherwise relatively isolating childhood, and she's very clearly attached to him. Chloe constantly clings to Adrien and drapes herself over him, and while he seems to find it annoying, there's still never a sense of disgust like with Lila in later Seasons. She's being suffocating, but there is never a connotation of romance here. Still, Chloe does everything she can to keep Adrien close to her, and (in Origins) "teach him how things are" in school. She's the one who got him signed up as a student in the first place, mind you, so she very clearly wants him to be around her. And while Chloe does brag about him being a famous model, she could just...do that without ever actually bringing Adrien out of the house? Clearly that's not the reason why she went through all the trouble to actually get him in the class, because bragging about it would probably go worse if she did it in front of him, or in an environment where Adrien could easily hear about and react to it. Chloe is very possessive of her "best friend" (and only friend, discounting Sabrina), and constantly belittles Marinette for trying to get close to him. Mind you, she doesn't find out about her feelings for Adrien until Season 3 I think. We never see Nino get bullied for befriending him, so what gives?

I'll talk about reasoning later down the line. For now, let's move onto Season 2. Amidst the beginnings of Ladybug handing out Miraculous jewels like candy to her best pals, seriously Season 4 overdid it, Chloe also exists. And during Despair Bear, Adrien finally puts his foot down about her behavior. He tells her that he can't be friends with someone who acts like a bully, and Chloe is genuinely hurt by this, to the point where she does her best to put on a good show and convince Adrien that is capable of not being an ass. Which is actually the case, believe it or not. She holds back the snides, does her best to make casual conversation with the people she considers to be inferior to her (I'll get to that, don't worry), and makes a real effort to keep at it for the sake of their friendship. The reason why she blows up here is made very obvious by the episode itself. Chloe is in unfamiliar territory and clearly reining herself in a lot, which Despair Bear pokes fun of in several back-to-back scenes. She doesn't want to do this, clearly has mutual dislike for the people she's forced to put up with every day and has made up her mind about a long time ago, for the sake of the one person she considers a genuine friend. And mind you, Chloe never uses Adrien for something. She brags about his job in Origins, and preens about their friendship often, but she never takes advantage of him like she does Sabrina. I will get to their toxic friendship in a minute, don't worry, but Chloe chooses not to try doing this with him. Adrien is...oblivious, to put it nicely, and she could easily try and play around that to serve her own goals, but she doesn't. Keep this in mind.

Anyway, she blows up because Armand (also c'mon, if you wanted to make the joke that Chloe doesn't know her butler's name, Jean "insert today's last name" was more than enough, Thomas) keeps lugging her teddy bear and playing pretend with her in a room full of people. I'm sorry, but that may be the most relatable Chloe moment in the whole show. Are you kidding me??? Of course she'd be embarrassed by this! I mean sure, her reaction to the situation is wrong, she shouldn't have screamed at him or threatened the man's job, but Chloe has serious anger management issues. That is obvious, because she acts like this every single day! Why would Armand do this??? She's already way out of her comfort zone by even hosting the party in the first place, surely there's easier ways of reminding Chloe not to be a bitch? Just tap her on the shoulder and say "miss, remember Adrien?" because that's the whole reason this is happening! The teddy bear is completely unecessary! Especially the voice acting! It made me laugh so hard when I first watched that episode but can you blame Chloe for being pissed? Again, she reacted poorly because her self control is comparable to Plagg's when there's camambert in his field of vision! So yeah, it's wrong to scream people's ears off like that, but she was also upset. And she's fourteen mind you!

Anyway, my actual point about Season 2 is that we get to see Chloe's character development. Thank Nooroo, finally a proper arc in this damn show! And we also get to see her family life. Side note, Andre Bourgeois is a spineless coward who I'll be bashing momentarily. But Chloe's mother is horrible! Audrey Bourgeois is blatantly neglectful, if not abusive to her daughter! She treats Chloe the same way Chloe treats everyone else! As disposable, expendable things that don't "deserve" her attention because they're not good enough. Like, if this doesn't give a six year old some hefty trauma along with an inferiority complex, what will??? And the situation becomes even worse as Chloe becomes incresingly desperate during Style Queen, trying again and again to please Audrey by copying her behavior (which she's been doing this whole time) even more intensly, and acting like the entitled, self-absorbed narcissist that her mother is! And this is where we see exactly why Chloe does what she does! Again, none of this excuses her actions, but it does help us understand the behavior. Audrey constantly puts Chloe down and belittles her the same way she does to Marinette...only to later pick the kid that Chloe is jealous of (I will explain this in a second!) to come with her to New York, where Audrey had presumably yeeted herself off to years ago and never bothered to come visit! We already know that she pressured her husband into giving up his love for film to stay with her, maybe even during her pregnancy or after Chloe's birth. Only to promptly vanish and leave him (a person who never grew a spine or managed to stand up to what is undoubtebly a toxic relationship) with her miniature copy. It's obvious that Chloe's barely ever seen Audrey, but she idolizes the woman because that's her mother! Heck, Adrien idolizes Emilie even if she was arguably not a great person (see here) and Chloe is always kicked to the curb for just doing the same!

Audrey is a horrible person and an even worse role model, but when you're five years old and she disappears from your life, is it any wonder that there's a steaming hot pile of mommy issues here? If Chloe has been told by Audrey from the moment she was old enough to understand words that she isn't "exceptional" enough to "deserve" her time, then isn't it obvious why Andre tries and fails to make up for this by always coddling his daughter and giving in to her every whim? He's trying to please her and give Chloe a sense of self-importance that Audrey made near-impossible to develop, and also makes up for his own absence by basically bribing his own child! Not that Andre is innocent in this! If anything, he's even more at fault than Audrey! Because while she flew off into the sunset to fire her twenty-seventh unpaid intern of the week, he was still in Paris with Chloe! Who grew up with him, mind you! And sure, he got elected into office and had a busy job as a single parent! You know what else he did? Crime! Almost everything he does in this damn show is completely illegal! Bribery, blackmail, undue termination of Roger's position as a police officer, who Andre doesn't even have juristiction over mind you (because Paris had the National Police until like 2021-ish if I recall correctly), he's just a corrupt, scummy politian whose ideas (see Megaleech) are harmful to the people he's supposed to be serving and outright motivated by greed! And also, we are explicitly told that he taught Chloe to do these same things! Andre Bourgeois is a total idiot who's probably been committing tax evasion for all we know, and Audrey is a self-absorbed diva who bullies her own child constantly, when she even bothers to go see her! Which is never, unless she needs to be in Paris for some other event related to her job!

Thomas, what the heck do you mean Chloe is evil? Lila is an accomplice to a domestic terrorist, and a psychopath against whom the only protection is the show's PG rating! If Lila could, she'd burn Marinette's house down for shits and giggles my good man! Audrey is everything I just mentioned, Andrey is a corrupt, spineless politician, Tomoe physically abuses her daughter with fucking katanas on the daily, Gabriel Agreste is that domestic terrorist who almost fired every nuclear warhear in the USA by the way! Because that was stupid of the NYC special to do! But he still did it! Plus the genocide in Shanghai! Accident or not, Hawkmoth is still responsible! And later on he also put his son in a room! A rubber room! Thankfully there weren't any rats, as if he needs another OSHA violation! Are you people insane when you say "I don't know why Chloe acts like this"? Have you lost your marbles??? Do you want me to have an aneurysm? Of course a child is going to act the way Chloe does if this is the shit she's been dealing with since Day 0 of her life! Does that make it okay? Absolutely not! But does it mean that she deserved what happened to her canonically? Also no! I'll talk about how the corruption arc could have worked at the end, because they tried and failed to do that, so let's circle back to the "jealous of Marinette" thing from a minute ago, kay?

Note: We're doing this in part 2 because this is closing in on 3k words already. The whole rant is done, no you don't want to know how long it is, I'm just splitting it because nobody will ever read 7.5k words worth of anything on Tumblr dot com.

< next post >

[grandpasauce]

Dreadwolf Companion Predictions

These are my personal predictions based off concept art, leaks, and other official media. Using this edited lineup of the alleged companions from reddit. The added text is mine tho.

Left to right:

Dress lady is one of the ones I'm pretty unsure of. The dress and jewelry give me Rivaini vibes for some reason, specifically a lord of fortune? Also the fact that a similar looking woman is seen in another concept art being used as a sort of decoy for the rest of the party to sneak up on a target, and the Lords of Fortune are sometimes adept at disguises and impressions. She gives me 'face of the party vibes'. Honestly, I equate her with mage simply cause the robes but i could be totally wrong lmao.

Next is qunari lady. Not much to say about her, other than some different concept art has her dual wielding daggers, so rogue seems a strong presumption. Probably tal vashoth, perhaps a member of the executors or some other faction?

This is Davrin. We've seen him voiced in that one trailer, the leaks heavily suggest he is a companion. Pretty easy to assume he will be a grey warden based on his one voiced line. His armor gives rogue vibes here, but I'm pretty confident he will be a warrior. But who knows. Leaks also suggest he may be an elf.

This being Calpernia would be my first guess, as no world state from Inquisition actually confirms Calpernia is DEAD dead by end game. Although Maevaris is also a strong guess, I feel Maevaris will be an important npc, not a companion, when/if she shows up in dreadwolf, since she is running a whole ass political party alongside Dorian. Other concept art shows a similar blonde woman casting magic, so this further bolsters my belief that at the very least, this is a mage companion. The armor looks hella tevinter style to me as well, so I'd not be surprised if whoever this is is part of the shadow dragon faction introduced in the missing comics.

This is Harding. It's Harding. Like, come on. Look that the other concept art. It's Harding. Obvs she will be a rogue.

This is definitely a crow assassin. Whether it's Lucanis or not is up for debate, but this is def gonna be a crow rogue companion.

Qunari dude is a warrior, assuming the other concept art is accurate, since he's wearing a full suit of heavy armor + a helmet in that illustration. No idea what his faction alliances may be. I'm really excited to have 2 qunari companions thoooo.

Ghost rider boy is probably Audric from Tevinter Nights, or another undead spirit sort of thing similar to Audric. Class wise, I would assume warrior, as I think bioware is more likely to give us an extra warrior character as opposed to an extra mage character. (There's only 8 companions in this lineup so the split would be 2 mages/3 warriors/3 rogues, which i feel is more likely than 3 mages/2 warriors/3 rogues). This makes me think he will be a warrior of some type.

Now they could leave it at 8. That would leave us short a mage. Specifically, a male mage. We also have a noticeable elf shortage with this cast compared to the other 2 previous games. Not saying there is a secret companion, but. Y'know. This does leave room for a certain ancient old elf man. Maybe.

Okay let me know what you guys think like do any of these predictions seem wildly out of the realm of possibility to you?

[dalliesque]

— ☆ Little Cute Letters

pairings: hs student!kyungmin × fem!reader

genre: high-school love, confession, fluff

warnings: cringy 💀 0% proofread

a/n: okay so I've been watching plot twist for a million times already, and kyungmin is so- I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT WITH HUMAN WORDS 😭😭

There is two things I hate about life,

- Every single human that falls into the category of 'bad' and 'mean'

and..

- Summer School.

What is the point of summer break when you'll spend it on summer school anyways?? That's the question I ask every single day of the summer.

Fortunately for me, there's always something or perhaps someone that makes my day 100 times better. Lee Kyungmin.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Well, there she was once again. Her hand supporting her head as she marveled at the joyous man. It was break time and she caught herself staring at the one and only Kyungmin, I mean how could she not? The way his light auburn hair match perfectly with his bright complexion, his radiant smile giving the perfect touch to his glowing face.

His visual is breathtaking, quite literally.

"hey! breathe!" your desk mate nudges you from the side.

Wakened up from your trench of thoughts, you slowly breath in deeply before replying back to her, "yeah, yeah thanks" you leaned back to your chair trying to pay your attention to something else.

"wah.. you like him don't you? honestly so sad to see you looking at him every week, you really are a hopeless romantic.." your desk mate shook her head in pity.

"tch. stop making fun of me, im trying okay?" you crossed your arms, giving her a side eye.

The girl scoffed back, mirroring your moves. "trying?? who are you kidding? why don't you actually start to do something."

You let out an exasperated sigh uncrossing your arms "im already doing something, you just don't know.."

"I'll have to do something, see you next period." you discretely pull something out of your backpack, slowly making your way towards the hallways.

With the letter in hand you walk fastly towards the locker, turning your head left and right making sure no one is around to see you execute your little plan.

You heaved a sigh slipping the letter through the creaks of the locker before heading back to class, your heartbeat increasing rapidly.

Since the start of summer school you've been leaving these little cute letters to your crush, Kyungmin. Obviously you can easily leave those letter in a normal school day but Kyungmin is your senior, it would be almost impossible to go to the senior's floor without being spotted so technically summer school is somewhat a blessing to you.

It's the last day of summer school, so it's your last chance to finally talk to him but ofcourse being the coward you are you obviously have to skip the chance and just write the usual little cute letter.

Walking through the hallways, you nervously fidgeted the straps of your backpack. The gates in sight, you sigh exiting the school grounds and walking towards the bus stop. You sit down increasing the volume of your headphones, slowly closing your eyes.

"hi! my name's Kyungmin!" a familiar voice chirped on your ears.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

You're currently fighting your inner demons, debating whether you should open your eyes and realize that those words that played inside your head was fake, or close your eyes and pretend you heard nothing to proceed embarrassing yourself to the realization that it was actually Kyungmin.

Finally making the choice, you slowly opened your eyes. Your jaw slightly dropped, stuck in your spot stunned at the beautiful view. 'Is it really him or is it my head playing with me??'

A masculine chuckle was heard, Kyungmin leaned closer and lightly touch your chin, "Wouldn't want a fly to enter right?"

"huh? oh.. oh yeah.." you mentally face-palmed, avoiding his gaze.

"you know, you're cute."

"huh? oh yeah you too.."

"what?!" hurriedly looking back, you meet his sweet gaze. a smug look plastered on his face.

"hmm what was that? you think I'm cute? so are you the little cute letter girl?" Kyungmin teases, the smirk on his face getting even more visible by the minute.

"wha.. what? i don't even know you" you mumbled nervously, looking anywhere but his eyes.

Through your peripheral you could see a small pout forming on his face before he take the seat right beside you.

"but.. i saw you putting the little cute letter on my locker?" he asks, his feet instinctively kicking the rocks around.

"i guess i wasn't being super discreet about it huh?" you breathed out.

Kyungmin eyes sparkled, looking back at you. "i guess you could say it like that.." his giggles was heard before you nudge him in the sides feeling annoyed.

"okay! I'll stop." still wearing his smug smile, Kyungmin tone down his giggles locking his eyes with your eyes. your rosy cheeks available for him to see.

"so" Kyungmin started.

"how about saturday night?"

You tilted your head in confusion "what?"

Kyungmin sweetly smile "our date."

[illym]

I think Justice would be a huge novelty (atypically shaped or designed) cup fan.

Bonus group gifts from her kids:

Elphelt: handmade mug

Ramlethal: handmade coaster

Jack-O: homemade hot chocolate mix (that you shouldn't drink if you have a heart condition) and a bunch of candy canes.

ID for both images in alt texts.

Misc thoughts below:

I feel like Jack-O hardcore celebrates every single holiday even if she doesn't personally celebrate, to explain her tree neck thing and headband.

I honestly don't know if the Valentines would celebrate Christmas; I don't know whether Aria would celebrate (she was American in the 20xx's, and I imagine that people flocked to religion as a way to provide emotional support and answers after the technology collapse of 1998 or whichever year that happened. People might've left again after magic became huge, but... I dunno. I don't study human psychology, i just find it fun to think about.), and her closest human friends currently are Sylv and Bridget.

Sylv doesn't know what Christmas is, and... Actually, Bridget's accent core costume is vaguely (very vaguely) nun themed, so that implies that she knows Christianity well enough to stylize herself after it.

But on the other hand, we never see her experience Catholic guilt 🤔.

Okay, we've gotten off track and forgotten our original point... Let's go back.

I headcanon that Justice can't eat solid foods very well because her mouth doesn't open very wide and chewing is difficult for her, so most of her meals are smoothies and drinks and the like. It's why she started collecting cups; may as well have some fun with it. I don't know if she would think of it herself; maybe Sylv came up with the idea, and Justice enjoyed it far more than she thought.

Elphelt went to a pottery class and got absolutely obsessed for two weeks. Ramlethal joined her, but only really enjoyed carefully forming more solid (pre-baked pottery), as the wet and mushy stuff was too hellish as a sensation. Elphelt enjoyed going absolutely ham hitting it around and shaping it and squashing it flat again. She fell out of it after those couple weeks, but she goes to the big fancy studio in Illyria whenever someone she knows is headed to Illyria.

Jack-O wasn't around during that saga (I've started debating whether she's six months older than the Elphelt and Ramlethal, which would make her roughly emotionally 4-7 years older than them), so she never had a pottery moment. I think if she tried out physical crafts, she'd really like that thing where you smash glass and then build something pretty from it.

Justice .... Probably watercolors or something that doesn't require hardcore precision. But I don't think she'd ever initiate trying it out; someone would have to convince her to try it and stick with it through her "this isn't worth the effort of working around my hands" phase.

Bonus: Christmas gifts from the other people that Justice knows

Sylv: xe got her a thick stick with a soft rubber tip to make reading books easier (by making turning the pages easier) (she has difficulty with delicate things like paper because of her claws). Handmade since Sylv couldn't find one that was good for Justice's hand size.

Bridget: she ordered a custom Roger shaped cookie jar for herself, and went ahead and ordered some custom cups to go with it, giving one to Justice since (liking novelty cups) was the only personal gift able trait she could think of. Justice loved it.

Robo Ky: He piggybacked off of Sylv's gift the first year, since he was too self centered to get anyone else a gift. The first gift he got her was lightly scented armor polish, since Justice had complained that she was tired of her armor overpowering a lot of other sensations (the metallic smell being stronger than most other smells around). She was extremely grateful and flattered that he thought of that.

Sol: didn't get her anything. They have a really awkward, emotionally strained relationship so even if he'd thought of it in more than a passing thought

Can you tell I'm primarily a writer.

I can't copy paragraphs on my phone but this was too good to restrict to a Christmas gift

The first gift he actually gave her were some claw coverings, made from one of the few materials that was stronger than her claws and also not a major pain in the ass to use. They can connect magnetically to a bracelet Justice chose to wear around her elbow, so that taking them off for fights doesn't require her to find a place to put them.

[beehiveofblorbos]

happy birthday Kokichi! i took my crack at drawing him XD hopefully ill have done him justice

for what would be his 24th birthday, im gonna take some of my top kokichi quotes and break down why i love them so much and how they illustrate his best character traits and moments. Quotes will be above cut, explanation will be under cut, numbers will line up

1. “It's funny... Is your common sense really so similar to everyone else's common sense? Is what you believe to be right based on your common sense also right for everyone else?” To Kaede, at the end of their second Free Time Event.

2. "As soon as that thought entered your head, Monokuma had you right where he wanted. Because what mattered most to Monokuma is that the killing game started. Regardless of your reasons, the moment you felt the urge to kill, you had already lost. You agreed to be part of this killing game when you allowed murder to fill your heart." To Kaede, at the end of trial 1, after the vote and before the execution.

3. “If you keep saying all this uplifting stuff about working together and cooperating... ...then you can expect to receive some painful retaliation. Get it?" Ch2, during group discussion

4. "But I like playing on Mean difficulty. Also, I don't run from battles in RPGs, either! I wanna win this killing game! So I'm not gonna run from it, I'm gonna crush it! That'll be waaaay less boring, don'tcha think?" Ch2, another group discussion (iirc)

5. “If you’re planning to expose a liar, you have to corner them psychologically… only then will they reveal their true self as a liar, hiding beneath a layer of deceit!” Ch2 and ch4 trial, during the debate

okok honestly originally I was intending to do 24, but I am so tired and also really pushing it on time. I will reblog this later with additions till I get to 24, though, so stay tuned! Hope to finish by end of month

1. As y’all know, I really love Oumatsu whether it be romantic or platonic. They’re both leader figures, both willing to go to morally grey measures, both focused on directly confronting the mastermind and the killing game, both stubborn liars, both self-sacrificing till their self-sacrificial end. Across all my pondering about Kokichi’s plans and plots, I’ve never come to any conclusions suggesting that he’d been planning to take any significant action in ch1. I think that was the closest time he was to “cooperating” with the group. I think he really did want to survive with everyone else, just as she did. He is fully aware that very few to none agree with his common sense. But with his awareness of what other people’s common sense looks like (and the jokes + teasing comments he makes sounding people out)

2. This is the moment I started to sit up and pay attention to Kokichi. Kaede is prone to assumptions and charging ahead with what she thinks is best for the group. Once again, she’s charged ahead on her own, and this time the mistake was fatal. Still, even as he criticizes her (noting that she fell into Monokuma’s trap the minute she decided to kill, and Kaede takes this in stride), he offers her the highest compliment he seems to give (the one he wants to receive as well when his death approaches) - that she wasn’t boring. Not only that, he displays his own insight. Instead of only focusing on the tragedy before him, he looks ahead to the larger picture. He focused on the collective enemy, Monokuma, and how this case impacts the class’s position.

3. Again, he’s looking at the big picture. Up until this point, he tries to make suggestions to the group about how to act. However, this also doubles as a clear warning. He’s learned from paying attention to Monokuma’s actions in ch1, and he learns fast. He takes this killing game so seriously!!!

4. Kokichi is someone who looks for the most complete and thorough victory possible, to ensure he’s fully handled the situation. He also enjoys challenges and games; so of course he’d have fun creating small little rules for himself to keep things interesting. Applying this mindset to the killing game to remain flexible and openminded, while reducing fear, is an admirable moment of self manipulation and encouragement as well. And I’ll talk more about his definition of “winning” later.

5. For one, it’s a bookend quote! He says it both in this trial and the last trial he’s alive during. Secondly, it’s a clever tactic, especially for V3 where frankly? The evidence isn’t always enough to concretely convict a culprit. Kokichi has a fantastic sense for people, and his strategy of sounding someone out by provoking and annoying them repeatedly is really intriguing and endearing to me.

[raw-law]

In response to the other anon asking if you guys look for our identities, frankly i couldnt care less if you know who i am, its fairly easy to figure out. i just like reasons to relate myself to Deer. I did a self portrait once as a deer mount pouring blood. it was quite...something. definitely got a lot of responses to that one.

as for art being subjective vs objective:

i can see where each of you in coming from in that sense. some things ARE blatantly what they are and it would be kind of wild to say otherwise. like who am i to tell Da Vinci that the Mona Lisa is actually an space cat alien, not a woman. but i do still think its possible to get multiple interpretations out of her.

i will also be the first to say im not a fan of the genre of what is technically in the art world called a "ready-made". basically like what you said, taking an object that already exists, fastening it to something, setting up lighting for it, etc. ya know, MINOR changes and calling it art. im not a big fan. its lazy and unoriginal in my blunt opinion. it doesnt create new ideas and thoughts in my brain unless i BS them. like if i see an apple on a pedestal, im taking it at face value, because its simply an apple on a pedestal. it being placed on something doesnt make it any less or more to me. its just an apple. and according to your definition, it would not be art since it does not cause or create new ideas or conversation to flow. it furthers nothing.

unfortunately, in the art community, its hard to have this debate because the widely used definition is the "everything is art" one and some people cannot take criticism to save their life. if you tell suzy sue that her michael jackson x barack obama fanart is not visually compelling and offer her advice, she might cancel you on twitter. we all need to stop being wusses and also stop being rude in the art world. its important to give your fellow artists helpful and meaningful critique and feedback without being harsh or condescending. and it is of equal importance to learn to accept that feedback and use it to better yourself as an artist.

i think another big thing for me and whether something is actually art is the design itself. does it have an interesting composition? does it use an impactful color scheme? does it have a focal point? etc, etc. if these points can be argued for a piece, im more willing to call it art.

realism is also a point of contention because some will ask "whats the point if it just looks like a photo?" the skill, the effort, the time. the unique touch of human hands that gives it a slight charm even in the most hyper realistic pieces. that is the point.

have another piece as a treat. a drawing i did from life for class last semester, its a plant. about as opposite as you can get from the other piece i shared:

https://imgur.com/a/hkcqYKK

-🦌

Light:

Ooh, that's interesting. Why the choice of deer, though, so specifically? Is it for some reason, or just an instinctive decision?

And I agree with your point on what you've referred to as "ready-made". I guess, for art to be meaningful, it has to mean something in the first place, and an apple sure as hell doesn't mean anything to people. Honestly, it seems like lazy artwork to me, even though I'm not an artist. But I'd like to ask you: what exactly would you define as 'ready-made'? Would that mean, then, that photographers' work are technically also 'ready-made', as all they're doing is taking picture of something preexisting and hence not creating, in that sense? What's the boundaries between something that's art, and something that's 'ready-made'? Is it something that you can define at all?

There's this branch of art called 'Dadaism', and there are some works inside that may be considered 'ready-made' in a way. For example, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain and Bicycle Wheel are famous examples of that art movement. And Dadaism was actually made up of artists who wanted to use this nonsensical, crazy form of art to express horror and disgust of the bloodshed that occurred during World War 1. It was commonly known as the 'anti-art' movement, and its main purpose was to create art that would confuse, shock or even aggravate the public.

This ties in to what you'll see Ryuzaki discuss below. Perhaps the occurrences of this 'ready-made' art isn't really the art itself, but it's the thoughts and emotions the artist wanted to express when making the art. And, if this 'ready-made' art exists because of a true effect the artist intended to create on the general public, then it's arguable that it could be considered as art, because isn't art used to express your feelings in the first place? Even though I still don't really consider 'ready-made' pieces as art...it's still interesting food for thought.

And your piece is wonderfully drawn. I love how you rendered the leaves; it looks really beautiful. Kind of reminds me of Chinese bamboo paintings...I'd love to see more of your work, if you'd like to share!

Lastly, thanks for your ask. I love having these kinds of discussions, even though I unfortunately took a long time to get back to you..

L:

wow.. the plant piece is beautiful.. all of the strokes come out so nicely and eloquent. it really makes me want to see this deer self portrait now. that sounds even more intriguing. no pressure though, of course. i just think it's a really fascinating idea.

and as much as i despise "ready-made" pieces too, i honestly have a slight respect for them. i would still consider them art, because i do think it evokes a conversation, but specifically the kind of conversation that makes you question it's existence, if that makes sense.

for example, that duct-taped banana i mentioned in the last ask, that's actually what made me question the whole idea of art in the first place. if something so insignificant can be considered so valuable to people, then who am i to tell them that it's not really art? maybe it is. or maybe the questioning of what it is was the whole point. maybe, the conversation it was actually sparking was more-so like.. a rebellion. a taunt. almost as if it were saying: "you want art? i'll give you art. and you'll be forced to take it." if i remember correctly, there was actually another artist who did that exact thing. his name was richard mutt and he submitted a urinal with a signature of his name as an art piece. it was stupid, and absurd, and that was the point. he submitted it to prove that if he signed his name on it and paid the application fee, the group he submitted it to would've accepted it no matter how thoughtless. he made an art piece that was meant to depict what stupid art looks like, and it worked. so as much as i despise the pieces, i do still think they're art, at least to an extent.

it's things that are made with the intent of gaining either popularity, money, or whatever else there is that i don't consider art. i'd go into more detail about it, but there's already a video out there that depicts it really well, so i'll just link it here. it's by cj the x and he's known for being very chaotic, so it might be a difficult to listen to at first, but i personally really like it. their points always wrap together really nicely as the video continues and the humor is my style, so i swear it's worth a watch, hah.

anyways. i'll stop myself there so i don't annoy you too much, but i do also agree with your points on the design, process, and overall thought that gets put into art pieces. i really like this discussion overall, actually. i apologize if i sounded rude at all, i have no intention to. i enjoy being able to converse about these topics, haha. so thank you for letting me, truly.

[insomniac-jay]

Super Rich Kids With Nothing But Fake Friends

Description: Hiroko Hitsugaya is rich, she knows it. But she's smart enough to know fakeness at its bare essentials.

Relationship(s): Hiroko Hitsugaya & the Hitsugaya family, Hiroko & (fake) friends

Rating: T

Warning(s): Swearing

Additional tags: Title taken from a Frank Ocean song, so Joou may or may not have imposed a don't trust anyone mentality over her daughter, Hiroko's such a bitch (affectionate)

A genius was what she was. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Hiroko Hitsugaya was destined for greatness from the very minute she was conceived. Destiny was written in the stars for her, but even that nothing couldn't save her from the pitfalls of her life.

"Hey Hitsugaya!"

A girl with auburn hair tied into a braid leaned over her chair, looking straight at the fellow student before her.

Hiroko's eyes did not leave the book held in her hands. In fact, it took her a few minutes to acknowledge that someone was even talking to her. Whether she made a conscious to decision to ignore the person or was just that focused on reading was not up for debate at the moment.

An exasperated "What?" left her mouth as she finally took her eyes from the pages.

"You clean up nice in the uniform." It didn't take Hiroko much to know that was a back handed compliment. She had only been at this school for a day and she was already getting them. So much for her plan of laying low.

"That's not the ugliest shirt I've seen," Hiroko replied, returning to her book. "You could clean up better, but that's out of your current skill set." She could already tell the girl had taken offense to the statement and stormed off in frustration. Not that Hiroko cared, that girl was annoying anyway.

Despite trying to resume her attempts at laying low throughout the day, she found herself at the center of more attention-- and fake friends-- than she asked for.

But that's what experience is for.

"You're better than I imagined, Hitsugaya!"

Great. Another one, Hiroko thought. All she was doing was stretching and now she had guys making back handed compliments as well.

"Why thank you." She reached over and grabbed her foot. "Though I like my exercise like how I like my phone: do not disturb."

It happened again as she walked the halls to her next class. "Fuck off." was her response to it. For a whole day she had to endure people bragging to her, giving her back handed compliments, and more. It was honestly getting tiring at best, headache inducing at worst.

An exhausted groan left her mouth as she collapsed onto the bed. She turned on her back and stared up at the ceiling. As much as she enjoyed her glamorous life, the fakeness of the people around her was beginning to wear on her.

"For once," she thought aloud. "I would like to go to a school where people don't know me or my family."

@floof-ghostie @calciumcryptid @s0ursop @opalofoctober @elflynns-horde-of-stuff @pizzolisnacks @peachyblkdemonslayer @afrolatinozuko

[demon-blood-youths]

Hi demon mun and Shdwkyz!

I'm curious, we heard about Vivi's bad past but what about you, Shdwkyz? What was your past like? Was it really bad? I'm curious to hear or know his back story please???

Of course, anon! But be warned, it's a long and sad story!

Shdwkyz sighs. "It's a long story."

-------- Years ago --------

Again.

When does it ever stop?

Another shooting near his school. It's someone he knows. Not a friend but a friendly acquaintance that he passes by. This time, he's an innocent passerby in a gang-related drive-by. He heard too many school announcements and conferences telling them about curfews as if that can work! It's not even normal yet everyone around him thinks it's okay. They tolerate this kind of living. It's normal. It is driving him insane.

Last week, it's an athlete. He sees him from time to time as he is shooting hoops. One time, a ball got out of his court and he help by passing the ball over to him without asking. He got a mere thank-you as the basketball player keeps on playing. He heard from an eatery that he is striving in becoming a star athlete as he wants to help his family. He is killed by a stray bullet.

Last month, it's just a girl who is hanging out with her friends. He knows her. She is part of his group project, helping out. Her friends were planning to go to the same college. She got caught up in a party that ends in a shooting.

Then a month before, people he know died from shootings and crimes because of gangs and other stupid things involving criminals. Honestly, it is starting to piss him off. He feels like anyone he encounters whether he knows them or not, ends up dead for no reason.

One day, they had a debate in English class focusing on how to articulate your points and how to make a persuading argument. Can criminals be rehabilitated? Is there such a thing as justice? Are prisons too brutal?

He decided to voice his opinion,

"I got three answers to that. No, no, and no." Sai answered which surprises the class. "I believe there is no justice because the criminals are getting too much of a light sentence sometimes. Not only that, it's hard for criminals to be rehabilitated especially murderers and gang members. Also, I think prison is a perfect environment for such people."

This got a few students paying attention. Then there is some points that are to make as the students want to throw their own cents.

"I agree there is no justice because of the system but there are some people who are charged with criminals they don't commit. Also, the system is really corrupted." Said one student.

No surprise there....

"Same here. But I think prisons are too brutal and some people made bad choices, mistakes.."

Yeah, life-altering mistakes.

"And? The criminals are worst and give the system a reason to." Sai said. He does not argue that. he knows the system is corrupted. The same system overlooks criminals, especially ones with rap sheets and victimizes the victims all over again. "I mean....three shootings happened last week."

"What's the big deal? Shootings happened every day, we can't prevent it and-." Said one careless idiot.

"And that's normal to you?!" Sai yelled. "You idiots want everything. You want guns off the street but you want cops not to get involved but at the same time, not wanting to let them do their job. We can agree we can't rely on the cops for everything but if you ask me. It all starts at home. Am I wrong?"

"But there's abuse in the prison!!"

"And? That's nothing compared to people who lost their lives and loved ones to crime." Sai retorted quickly with his arms crossed. "If they can commit the crime, they can do the time." He shrugs.

"You're saying that because you're not poor!"

"I am poor but I'm not an idiot! I don't shoot up the streets like an idiot!"

"Criminals are people too. I believe in second chances." Said another student. Sai huffs.

"Oh! I am aware. But these criminals are repeat offenders and the courts don't hand down the punishment. After all, I know people who say such things are related to criminals."

This got a few students startled and glaring at Sai while the rest are scared as they know full well who Sai is referring to. The teacher who is facilitating this debate, "Sai..." The teacher warns but there's little he can do to stop the intense situation.

"Fuck you, man I have a brother who is in prison! I think he should get a second chance too-" Sai glares down at a student. He knows him. A fellow student whose older brother committed manslaughter of the athlete. Fucking scum. Him and his family. He sees his social channel. Like him, he is bad as his brother!

"You mean the same one who shoot that basketball player? I don't think your brother deserves a chance!"

"What the hell?! It was an accident! It's a stray bullet He didn't mean to-"

"He shouldn't fire if he can't aim for crap! Especially in the streets.." Sai growled. "If you care so much, how about you should be put in prison with him if you're making excuses for him!"

"Screw you!" The criminal's brother stands up and walks over to him but the teacher stops him.

"And don't forget a drug addict who shoots up a block party because he is looking for that scum drug dealer!"

"HEY! That's my dad!" Said a girl. "He is just supporting us! That crackhead is the one shot up the party."

"Your dad is an idiot and he got a girl killed who has nothing to do with his damn business!!"

And with that, Sai shouts insults at the members of the family who are related to criminals. Nothing but scum like him who are making excuses and causing people around them to die. This got the class upset. And so the teacher tells him to leave the class to which he did.

Sai huffs as he leaves the school.

'Idiots. A lot of them...' Sai huffs.

----- The next week ----

Sai goes to get some coffee from the coffeehouse. He didn't come back to school because he is sick of everything. Sick of this community. The people. The pathetic community leaders and the police. All of them. So incompetent.

Of course, the gangs are worse. Claiming that they are here to protect their turf. More like fucking parasites.

"Hey Sai!"

Sai looks up to see his two friends. Allison and Derek. Two of his closest friends live on the same block. They go to the same school but are in different classes. The only thing they have in class together is math and history.

"Hi you guys, what's up?" Sai smiles at them.

"Nothing much. Tutoring a kid from the downtown." Allison smiles. Allison is a studious student, she wants to be a doctor like her mom.

"Just working on my art tech." Derek laughs. Derek is a friend who makes art and is part of an art program, he is about to leave for a summer program on a scholarship. Both are trying to escape this neighborhood and never look back. In his opinion, Sai sees these two as having the potential in becoming good people and living their best lives.

"Good to know." Sai smiles.

"What are you up to? I heard from the school that you caused some ?noise. Something about you dissing Carl and his brother who's in jail."

"Yeah...we were having this debate about criminals and whether they should get a second chance or not due to current events. I say no because of what's going on here and then after that, things get heated when I attack them on their personal lives."

"Yeah I feel you but ya gotta be careful, man. Carl and his friends are part of a gang, they might try to jump you or something."

"And how is that surprising? Sooner or later, he will end up at jail sooner than he and his goons coming after me." Shdwkyz scoffed. It's just a normal day at their usual hangout. Nothing much. Then suddenly, some delinquents came over. This time, they're not causing trouble. They're just here for the drinks. The frappes, obviously.

No idiot would try shooting up here, right?

The delinquents got their drinks as they laughs, talking about how they beat up some moron from another rival gang. It irks Sai but didn't say anything.

The delinquents left outside as they laugh amongst themselves. Now they standing outside the doorway just lotiering. Whatever. Sai shouldn't be bother. He needs to focus on his friends who are laughing as they are planning what to do for the weekend. Except their weekend will never come as a black car rolls up and then...gunfire ranged, shattering the window of the coffeehouse. People were screaming as they got down.

The gangbangers outside were shouting as they pull out their own guns and fire back. Gunfire ranged out for over five minutes. Soon, the gunfire stops.

Sai got down immediately when the glass shattered.

"Derek? Allison! Guys!" Allison screams and cries. "Allison?!" Sai said as he goes over to her and then he widens his eyes to see Derek coughing up blood as his hand is on his stomach. No. No. NO! "Someone call the ambulance!" Another cried.

"Oh my god!" The workers see one of their own shots in the chest. "No, no, no." Allison said while Sai went into action as he puts pressure. "Stay with me, Derek. Don't worry, help is on the way! You're going to be okay."

Derek isn't okay, he is soon dead after arriving to the hospital.

----- "But that wasn't the only moment.....that drove me on who I am..." Shdwkyz begins.

------ Wake -----

He sees Derek's family grieving while Allison is crying. He heard from Allison when the gunfire rang out. Derek got her out of the way and took the hit for her. That's what the police told them. They're going to get the ones responsible. The school mourned the lost of another prospective student in their community.

----- Time passes ---- It became weeks. Months. Then a year. Derek's killers weren't caught. Hell...even if the police said that the bullet wasn't meant for him but those damn gangbangers. That's what those scum are. And soon...people tried to move on. Allison did...but can't. She is scared of leaving the house now. She suggested taking online classes. And what are the police doing about it? Oh. Working on other cases but the cases is a dead end. But whenever he comes in, they just goofed around and act like they did something. No doubt it pisses him off. Also, the school went about as usual. The bastard, Carl decides to bully him for his money but he manages to evade him. He has enough. Is he sane? Or going freaking crazy. Why is this normal?!

When he was in the bathroom of school, he overheard a conversation. An ambush. A shooting. It was between Carl and some gangbanger. Fucker.

--------

"I was angry so much. It somehow attracts Senkai when I beat up that gangbanger who threatened me so much for asking some dumb change.

------- "Your soul. It seems you're so angry. So enraged. You feel like you're going insane, yes? You want the power to change things, yes?" The bat standing in the alleyway addressing Sai after he sees him beat a random gangbanger bloody and knocked out.

Sai spits out blood. "If I say yes, what are you going to give me." ------- "And the rest is history. I became Phantom Slasher. "

------ Past ----- "Who the hell are you?!" Carl cried as his gun is out of bullets. What approaches is a ghostly figure wearing a mask? "What the fuck are you?!" "Your nightmare..." Then Shdwkyz slashes him. ____

This is for @the-silver-peahen-residence if she's curious!

[hersterical]

People seriously overestimate how familiar with feminism and gender issues in general people are. I watched a YouTube video essay that claimed that pretty much all young people were experts on these topics but in my experience that is so far from the truth. More so than previous generations? Generally speaking yes, but that’s really not saying much if we’re being honest here. Especially for those of us who grew up in the post-feminist era.

I have this friend (we’re both in our mid-twenties) who was vocally anti-feminist which lead to to quite a few disagreements between the two of us (we are sadly unable to watch Legally Blonde together after a heated debate over whether or not it is a feminist movie) except any time I discussed feminist issues with her and replaced the word “feminism” with “girl power” she would agree with everything I said. When we were discussing the Barbie movie after watching it together she said something along the lines of how glad she was that it was hardly feminist at all (she specifically said that there was only one feminist scene and I was honestly too baffled by her statement to ask her which scene she meant. probably Gloria’s monologue but I’m really not sure). It took everything I had not to grab her by the shoulders, shake her with all my strength, and scream in her face that the whole entire movie was a feminism 101 class. I also had to explain to a different group of friends who were reluctant to watch it that no, the movie isn’t anti-men but actually shows how the patriarchy, that we do still live under, is harmful for everyone. I basically had to give them a crash course in the middle of the fast food place we were eating at. Again, these are all well educated, intelligent, and independent women who have been brainwashed their entire lives into thinking feminists were unreasonable man haters who like to make a big deal out of nothing just because things are better for women now than they were in the 80’s so what do women have to complain about? And beyond my personal experiences, I heard so many stories about women who realized how unfairly they were being treated by the men in their life (usually their boyfriends) and then took steps to change that after watching the Barbie movie.

And even if all younger people really were super well educated on gender studies, it’s still a good idea to try to educate older generations on these matters. They’re not a lost cause and they’re not beyond learning new things. My middle-aged dad took a huge step towards letting go of his homophobia after watching Bohemian Rhapsody (he’s never been hateful, just lacking in perspective. He’s already come so far and I’m really proud of his growth). Luckily my dad and brothers were all pretty much already on board with the messages the Barbie movie conveyed but it had never been presented to them so bluntly and simply to them before from anyone except for me, my sister-in-law, and my mom. I do think seeing these themes portrayed the way they were in the movie made it more real for them than just hearing us talk about it (not that they didn’t believe us, just that sometimes it’s helpful to actually be shown).

The Barbie movie is flawed, over-simplified, and largely lacking in nuance. All of this is true. But nobody ever said that this movie was going to actually fix the systemic issues it criticizes. There are plenty of people in the world who are in need of learning the basics and I think that this movie for a lot of people can work as a good gateway into learning even more about gender studies. Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I remember no one ever claimed the movie was even trying to accomplish that much. My understanding is that the primary purpose of the movie was to be fun and entertaining and it more than accomplished that goal for me. I can’t think of a single other blockbuster, mainstream movie that so bluntly, simply, and honestly discusses gender politics the way Barbie does and I personally love it, flaws, oversimplification and lacking in nuance and all.

“The Barbie movie is like basic gender studies 101. It’s like the bare minimum for feminism”

YEAH SOME PEOPLE HAVENT TAKEN GENDER STUDIES 101 AND WOULDNT YOU AGREE WE ARE CURRENTLY AT LESS THAN THE BARE MINIMUM FOR FEMINISM?

things do not need to be perfect to be good. You cannot teach someone intersectionality if that person has not heard of bare minimum feminism. You might be on step 100 but just because you started earlier does not mean that everyone can jump to your level. They have to climb the stairs too. And the people at the top yelling down to the people at the bottom that being at the bottom is bad, they need to be at the top, IT DOES NOT ENCOURAGE THEM TO CLIMB UP.

[moonfall666]

omg i just remembered a funny story from.high school

so in year 10 art class i normally sat at a table.with all the same people. they werent really my friends because i was very shy (selective mutism) but we got along.

a few months into this class, a girl from this table, who i had actually had multiple conversations with (big deal for me) randomly turns to me and asks for my name because she forgot.

now i'm really bad with names and faces so i wouldn't judge someone for forgetting, me, the quiet kid's name. but like, we sat at the same table every class and the teacher calls roll aloud literally,,, every class,,,,,, like if it were me, i would just wait and listen for the roll (in fact thats what i normally do). it was so bizarre honestly. but then i remembered im trans and go by a chosen name with close friends. so i thought maybe she heard a friend calling me another name and this was a polite cis ally way of asking for my new name.

i made a really long "ummmmm" sound as i was debating whether or not to come out, and after probably 30 seconds i ended up giving her my deadname.

this itself isnt that funny but it gets worse lol.

so the next year we're not in the same class and ive mostly forgotten about this incident.

until its time for some cohort ice breaking activities....

we get paired up and she introduces herself as if we never met before and asks my name. she showed no recollection when i introduced myself by my deadname. to this day i still have no idea if shes just *that* bad with names and faces or if she was trying to be a good ally......

[corvigae]

Heloooooo your Tav is a cutie (mine’s also a wizard, gotta love the Annoying class)! What’s your party? What’s her favourite person? What’s her background and backstory??? tell me everything

YEEAAAHHH WE LOVE THE NERD ASS CLASS!!

Thank you!! Lately my party's been Shadowheart, Astarion, and Karlach. At all times it's always Shadowheart and Astarion and then the third spot is more fluid for whoever provides the most utility/story at any given moment, but the way I have Karlach specced she's a fucking beast of a tank so I'm thinking I'm gonna be keeping her around for a solid while, lol.

Her favorite person is almost definitely Shadowheart, they clicked pretty quickly and somehow despite Lunarae being the most nosy bitch in the world and constantly asking her about herself and her past, Shadowheart didn't get annoyed with her prying and just. started opening up to her instead?? So they're absolute besties, and like I've said before, even thought the game only allows you to romance one origin character at a time, as far a I'm concerned they are also girlfriends, despite the fact that she's also romancing Astarion.

Speaking of which I have so many thoughts on Lunarae and Astarion but they're all kinda just swirling around in my head constantly and hard to exactly pin down. But basically when they first met Astarion thought Lunarae was a ridiculously naive, self-righteous idiot who wanted to be a hero and was going to get herself and everyone around her killed while doing so, and really did not like her much at all. Then as they started travelling together he was like "Okay so I guess she can actually handle herself in a fight alright. She's still self-righteous and naive and annoying as fuck, tho." But then as time goes on he sees a bit more past just the "wanting to help people and do The Right Thing all the time" aspect of her, and sees her be a little shit and tease people sometimes, be really level-headed and able to lie or talk her way out of situations, and her being a little goofy with her looting and hoarding compulsions and how incredibly vindicatedly happy she gets when she finds a good item in some random pot or some shit, and he starts to think of her as a whole person that he actually kind of likes and respects, especially after he finds himself on the receiving end of that unrelenting kindess of hers like when she lets him feed on her or when she gave him the Necromancy of Thay book. Not to mention they're both just unabashedly Down Bad for each other, honestly. He's still frequently frustrated with her unwillingness to indulge in the tadpole's power and her insistence on being the hero, though, and for Lunarae's part even though she really likes him and thinks he's interesting and silly and he makes her happy, his constant thirst for power and frustration with her annoys her in turn, and they're still often butting heads on issues of morality. This kind of plays into another aspect of them that I think is interesting though is how they kind of balance each other out? Because let's be real, at least some of Lunarae's approach to Astarion is "I can fix him," and maybe she can slowly coax him into giving at least a little bit of a shit about other people, but the thing about Lunarae is that she's so constantly giving? She never says no to someone who needs her help, she never stops trying to do her best for others, and she never stops giving, to the point where it can be a real detriment, actually. So she could really benefit from somebody who can teach her to be at least a little bit selfish and care about herself and her own needs sometimes, actually.

This is already a long-ass post so I'm gonna put the rest under a readmore, esp since her backstory isn't all that fully fleshed out, so it may be kind of cingey rip

As for her background she's a Sage bc of course her nerd ass is, and I debated on whether I wanted to actually give her a serious DnD Backstory™️ or if I wanted to just have her be the only normal, well-adjusted person in the party and just play that for laughs, but the more I think abt it the more I think the backstory I thought of for her helps make her determination to Do The Right Thing and constantly help people and also be hyper-aware and vigilant of Wizard Hubris make a lot more narrative sense. So her big backstory is basically that she was raised by a single mother who was a very powerful and respected wizard with a very high up and prestigious position in their city. Her mom was always thrilled to nurture Lunarae's innate curiousity and love of learning, and taught her how to study magic fairly young (She never really taught her spells directly though, she still had to learn them herself). Sometimes she had a tendency to treat her more like her apprentice than her daughter, but Lunarae was always eager to learn and didn't mind all too much. The thing about Lunarae's mom though was that she was an incredibly ambitious wizard, and treated power as a sort of commodity that one can hoard and should constantly be striving to obtain, and eventually she came up with a magic ritual that would significantly increase her pwoer and make her one of the most powerful mages in history. She of course excitedly told Lunarae about this ritual, and about all the good she could do in the world once she had all this power at her disposal, and Lunarae agreed to help her pull it off. She was getting ready to go on a trip to visit a friend at the time, though, and her mom agreed to wait until after she got back to attempt it. What Lunarae found when she returned, however, was just carnage and destrution. Her mom had apparently gotten impatient waiting for her to return and had decided to attempt the ritual herself, and whether she had done something wrong or the ritual itself was just too unstable, it had not only failed, but failed in such a catastrophic way that it had leveled her home and about 10 city blocks, with the only thing remaining just rubble and viscera streaked across the smoldering, broken buildings. In picking up her life after that, Lunarae briefly considered turning away from magic entirely, but she knew she couldn't do that - she loved it too much, and it was the only connection she had left to her mother. So she instead resolved to use her magic to help people as often as possible, to be a force for good in the world, and to also be cognizent of that fact that wanton lust for power, even with good intentions, can be deadly.

[bewitchingfanfiction]

Ghostbusters (2022/12/18)

Phoebe was convinced her life was over.

Honestly, she thought after battling ghosts and saving the world that she’d be prepared for whatever life through her way.

Not this.

Sometimes Phoebe was too smart for her own good. She wasn’t good at people or feelings, but she was awfully self-aware.

It was easy to see she wasn’t like the other kids at school.

Podcast was nice. He made her feel like she wasn’t so weird. But the other kids?

They were quick to give her all kinds of cheerful labels.

At first, Phoebe just figured everyone was teased. Everyone had their flaws and struggled, that’s just how it was.

She didn’t even think anything was wrong until the day the teacher scolded her for twisting her wrists every few moments.

“Phoebe, please keep still. It’s very distracting to the rest of the class.” The teacher had told her with a slight sigh of exasperation.

But Phoebe didn’t understand. What was distracting about her moving her hands around? And the thought of not doing so made her very uncomfortable.

So, Phoebe did what she did best, question things. “Why?”

She heard kids snickering at her, and noticed Podcast’s nervous look, like he was trying to silently tell her to let it go. She wouldn’t.

“I told you, it’s distracting.” Was the teacher’s short reply.

“But I can’t help it.” She really couldn’t.

“Yes you can. Don’t do it again, understand me?”

She didn’t. But she had stopped twisting her wrists and the general itchiness was coming back; the discomfort.

The teacher went back to her desk and Phoebe heard the laughter of the other kids.

“Haha, can’t expect a sped to understand.”

Phoebe’s eyebrows furrowed, she glanced over at Podcast who looked horrified at their words. “What’s a sped?”

Podcast hesitated, as if debating in his head whether or not he should tell her the truth or make something up.

Which was silly, because Phoebe would just look it up later in the library if she had to.

But Podcast seemed to decide it was ultimately better if he just told her. “It um, it means Special Education. They’re making fun of you for being…” He winced. “Different, in the head.”

Phoebe’s confusion must have been obvious, because Podcast just looked more distressed. “Which isn’t bad! Not to me, I mean. I like who you are, even if it’s not, you know…neurotypical.”

What? Neurotypical?

What the hell was he on about?

Podcast frowned. “Phoebe…you are Autistic, aren’t you?”

That was the moment that made Phoebe only hear static for the rest of the day.

~~~

After that came the obsessive researching. Phoebe must’ve read every single book on Autism in the library.

It was frustrating just how many of them were centered around boys with Autism, as oppose to girls, but from the few books on the subject Phoebe could tell the symptoms were immensely different.

And she also realized how much she lined up them.

The specific interests, like reserved attitude, difficulty with emotions, trying to fit in with the crowd but not really getting it…

And a million more.

Phoebe wanted to bring it up to her mother, see if she could get an official diagnosis, but Phoebe wasn’t stupid and looked into how that worked as well.

And that cost money. A lot of money. Money they didn’t have.

Then again, she obviously didn’t need the label, everyone considered her a freak of nature already.

“Whoa, you look like someone spit in your cereal.” Trevor teased when he came into the kitchen to grab a snack and found Phoebe poking at her cereal with the spoon instead of eating it.

Phoebe’s frown deepened. “You could tell?”

Trevor paused his movements, keeping his back turned to her. He snatched an apple from the counter. “’Course I could.”

When Phoebe didn’t say anything, Trevor sighed and turned to her, leaning against the table and smiling at her. “Alright, what’s up? Why are you eating soggy cereal at midnight like a weirdo?”

Phoebe couldn’t help flinching at the weirdo comment, making Trevor’s eyebrows furrow. “Seriously, what’s up?”

“…I’m not like other kids.” Phoebe confessed, eyes focused on the cereal.

Trevor blinked. “You mean cause you’re really smart?”

She shook her head.

“Because you still feel like the new kid?”

Another shake.

Trevor huffed. “Okay, work with me Pheebs. I’m not a mind reader here.”

Phoebe swallowed hard. “I have Autism.”

A heavy silence fell over the sibling, and for a terrifying moment Phoebe swore Trevor was going to laugh at her or insist there was no way.

But he didn’t do either of those things.

“I…kind of figured.” Phoebe’s eyes shot up to meet his own in disbelief.

“What!?”

Trevor gave her a lopsided smile. “When you were little you never smiled at mom, or laughed. She was so freaked out, thought you hated her.”

Phoebe frowned at this, confusion painting her face.

He continued. “And you wouldn’t eat when mom tried to spoon feed you something. You’d turn your nose up no matter what it was like some kind of snob.” He laughed at the memory. “But then I tried, with my left hand, and to complied without a problem.”

“You’re not left handed.” Phoebe protested.

“Nope, but I was desperate so I started trying things that didn’t make sense. When I used my other hand you had no problem, and it was the same for everything. If one of us tried to hold your hand with our right, you hated it, but if it was our left then it was fine.” Trevor explained with a shrug.

Phoebe’s eyes widened. “That’s so bizarre.”

He chuckled. “Maybe, but it’s just how it was.” He smirked. “And the first time you ever laughed? That was when you were about…four. Mom tried to tickle you to make you laugh but you just cried and cried. Something about the touch was too overwhelming-“

“Sensory overload.” Phoebe breathed. He nodded.

“Yeah, exactly. Well, I decided to try for myself, but instead of normal tickling, I went like this.” Trevor gently reached out one finger poked Phoebe’s shoulder a few times, making her giggle.

He grinned. “And just like that, you laughed. You weren’t an unhappy kid, and you didn’t hate us. We just had to figure out how to do things differently for you.”

Phoebe looked down. “Mom must’ve felt really bad.”

“Maybe, but I think she was mostly just confused. Once we figured out what do it, it got better.”

Phoebe hummed softly.

“My point is Pheebs, is that yes, you’re different from other kids, but that doesn’t- it doesn’t make you bad. And maybe my opinion doesn’t count since I’m just your totally lame big brother,” He teased which made her smile. “But I think you’re pretty great.”

This had her smiling wider. “Thanks Trevor.”

Trevor came around the table and for a second Phoebe thought he was gonna hug her and she was ready to protest because she really wasn’t a hugger-

But of course, he knew that, she shouldn’t be surprised. He set a gentle hand on the top of her head and pressed his forehead to her, eyes closed in content. Phoebe followed suit and decided this was much better than a hug.

“Now get to bed, mom’s gonna flip if she realizes you’re awake.”

Phoebe complied, and realized being different didn’t feel so scary. At least not anymore.

[lostinwoods]

Sakura and princess syndrome!

Sasuke’s view point about Sakura really changes throughout the series. I personally feel that he had actually been moved by her a fair number of times but that had failed because of well...Sakura. I am obviously not speaking without proof.

I for a long time had debated whether Sasuke was gay or not and whether he had a deeper emotional bond towards Sakura, so I rewatched Naruto from a SS shipper pov. I am very guilty because I raved at any SNS moment, but that did not negate the fact that I tried to put on SS shipper goggles. And somehow things became clearer to me.

For example this scene, it was very obvious that she was orphan shaming Naruto and in extension Sasuke. It was an obvious fact that he got angry. And this panel had nothing exclusive to do with Naruto and yet Sakura fails magnificently. The point over here was when the entire fucking class was whispering ‘The Uchiha clan is fucking dead and he is the only survivor’, Sakura was perhaps doing her nails. Like what on earth? This is not only orphan shaming which in itself is a pretty mean thing to do, but she is ignorant as well. For someone who claims to ‘love’ Sasuke she surely does not know even the most common knowledge about him. And people think she is good for Sasuke? How bitch?

This next panel when Sasuke was leaving the village and Sakura ‘coincidentally’ came upon him (she was definitely not stalking him), she goes on and on about how much she desires Sasuke to stay and all. Sasuke actually stops. And before I go deeper into this, I want to mention than after the forest of death thing where Sakura was there beside Sasuke when he was going through the pain of the curse mark, Sasuke’s closeness towards Sakura had increased quite a bit. He very much of his own free will took her help. So he stops in this panel, when Sakura asks him to not leave. But the pink haired troll fails again when she opens her big mouth and goes, ‘I love you so much, do you feel nothing in return, stay for me....blah...blah...blah.’

That was the reason why Sasuke thought of her to be annoying and left.

But in the same context when Sasuke asks Naruto to give him a reason to stay, Naruto in all his adorable glory goes, ‘You are my friend, the first bond I ever made, Orochimaru will kill you...I will never give you up to Orochimaru.’ The rawness of his emotions, the connection Sasuke feels through their shared loneliness and the bond resonance that they have was such a beautiful concept to view. Throughout the series really. And over here the damned desire of Naruto to save Sasuke was so deep and so opposite to Sakura’s lame and incredibly selfish ‘Stay with me, I love you.’ That it was very obvious how Sakura was being used as a comaprision scale. Sasuke did compare, alright.

Because the next thing he said to Naruto was, ‘You are late, you are damned late Naruto.’ This line sticks to me so much, like it translates as ‘if it was you who came to stop me before I would have left everything and came to be with you.’ So beautiful. Does make you feel that Sakura holds no light to Naruto.

And obviously once again the ‘I love you, if you feel even a little something, please come back to me.’ Like damn girl, you be the dumbest bitch on the face of earth. Sasuke is trying to destroy the world and she is like ‘love me’. Something is truly and incredibly wrong with her. Ya and Sasuke’s ‘damn annoying’ felt really damn good this time. Because then he Genjustus her.

Once again the white and black comparison is there, Naruto’s ‘it hurts so much that I could not leave it alone’ is I swear the most romantic and cheesy line I have ever heard. Sasuke’s face says so too. It was fun how once again Kishi went and made Naruto’s answer to Sasuke’s same question completely different from Sakura’s answer.

Honestly after seeing all these scenes and reading these panels I came to only one condition that Sakura is a naive, childish, ridiculously delusional, muddleheaded and probably the most selfish character in the manga, and did I miss the fact that she has a ridiculous case of the ‘princess syndrome’ where she feels the world revolves around her.

And Sasuke despite of being truly pulled towards Sakura once or twice absolutely felt disgusted by her selfish nature. Because here is a news for all of you blind and delusional ones out there, SASUKE HATES SELFISH PEOPLE. That is very obvious because he loved the kind and selfless brother in Itachi and hated the Itachi which killed the clan ‘to test his powers’. And those who do not understand this, never really understood Sasuke,

Now I ask again, who would Sasuke choose. Obviously Naruto. He is literally the kindest and the most selfless soul in the world.

What is really fun is that Sasuke thought of the entire team 7 as his family and yet saw only Naruto as his true bond. I will speak of Kakashi in another post.

Sasuke never did and if his head remains where it was, he will never love Sakura. Because her personality is never changing.

Because yeah, Sakura was used as a background black board to make Naruto shine, it is ridiculous to do such things with your own character but Kishi is obstinate like that.🤧

Like how Hinata is being used as a foil for Sasuke. But that is for another post, another day.

Lol, I will truly post again, I am not like Sasuke.

[nowoyas]

Edible Arrangements: Twenty-Fourth Bite: The Halloween Episode

First - Prev - Next - M.list - Ao3

A/N: Happy Halloween!

I'mma be real, a decent part of this chapter is me, the author, being in love with steak. It matters for the, uh, plot. Yeah.

Chapter Summary: You force yourself through the rest of your meeting with Neito and lay out ground rules. After that, a dinner date for the best Halloween of your life.

Warnings: food/eating mentions, mentions of murder/death, abuse mentions, shitty cheating exes

Word Count: ~4200 words

It's an awkward while with Neito after that. You spend the time glancing at your phone, where Mina and Tsuyu (and more rarely, Tenya, Hitoshi, and Izuku) have been making sure to check in with you constantly to ensure you're safe and mentally okay. Honestly, you're questioning the latter, given how much of the conversation is you giving advice to the exact guy who tried to kill one of your best friends like, last week, but, you know, sometimes that's just what life is like.

It's after some time—maybe half an hour, though you're not paying dire attention to the time passing, more concerned about the vampire-hunter-turned-vampire beside you—that you manage to work up to the main point of this whole conversation. "So, here's the thing. You missed sign ups for the semester project in Dr. Aizawa's class."

He's baffled, finally taking his hands out of his hair to look at you in confusion. "Huh? What's that got to do with… I don't know, anything?"

"You were out, recovering from being turned."

He looks at you dumbly, eyes still red from his earlier crying. "…yeah?"

"I also missed it while I was out, recovering from being assaulted."

His face goes pale as the dots finally connect. "Oh. Right."

"Yeah, get the problem now?"

Neito nods, lips pressed into a thin line. "I understand if you'd rather not work with me."

"Well, I mean, the entire point of this whole thing was to figure out whether I was willing to work with you. So here's the rules. We meet in public spaces only. I bring a friend along to all meetings. You can bring along one, but not uh… what was her name? The thorn girl whose quirk practically shredded my skin?"

"Ibara," he answers.

"Anyone but Ibara. I don't trust her."

"She's… changed," Neito says weakly. "Been enthralled."

Your phone nearly slips from your grasp. You save it, barely, by a quick adjustment of your hand. It would be best that Neito doesn’t know how much you already know about the situation, so you put yourself to acting cool about it. "By who?"

He shrugs. "I've no clue. She thinks vampires are… just like everyone else, now. That it's not her place to decide who lives and dies."

"Uh…" You tilt your head. "How is that any different from just being a better person?"

"What makes you think you get to decide what makes someone a better or worse person?"

You pinch the bridge of your nose. "Look, I'm not fucking debating you on whether attempting murder makes you a bad person or not. I'm just… not doing that."

He chuckles dryly. "You know I don't believe half the shit I debate in class, right?"

"Well, you could've fooled me."

Neito rolls his eyes. As if he has the right. "Do go on."

"Any friend but Ibara. I don't care that she's been enthralled, I only trust you on an individual level. Your other friend, the redhead, she's fine."

"You mean Itsuka."

"Yeah. I'll have my own backup. We'll meet exclusively in public spaces, and don't you dare be late to group meetings. Give me your number so we can plan meeting times."

Reluctantly, he takes your passed-over phone and enters in a new contact. You text him to get him your own number, and, satisfied, nod. "We can organize more at a later date. Also, I get the final say on the topic for the project."

"You're asking a lot. I take it you usually like to be in charge?"

You shoot him a glare. "It's for my safety and sanity. Consider this part of your redemption arc from trying to kill me and my friend."

"I didn't try to kill you."

"Well, that little fact's not gonna unfuck my arm, so tough shit."

He sighs. "Alright. We can sort out meeting times and topic later."

"Send me your topic ideas later on today. I'll be busy, so no rush."

There's a rustle coming from the path into the clearing. Your eyes dart to it, finding a shock of red hair. "That being said, I'd better go. As healthy as sitting here comforting and giving advice to the guy who assaulted me is, I actually have a date to get to, so now that all that's sorted, I'm gonna leave you to your friend here."

You suppose she… Itsuka, you mean, came looking for Neito. Either way, you're quick to attempt your escape, although…

Your neck itches.

You stop and make eye contact with her, raising an eyebrow. "You too?"

"Huh?"

"No, nevermind." You shake your head, slipping your bag over your shoulder and brushing past her. As you walk away and begin to make your way to where your car's parked, you hear her ask Neito: "what was that all about?"

Whatever he answers is beyond you now. You unlock your phone and call Izuku.

~

It's a quick and easy drive back home, and then an arduous, arduous hour obsessing over your appearance. You're a little glad for the distraction—with so much energy being expended on making sure you look immaculate and the outfit you bought with Izuku over the weekend is being worn just right, you don't have to think too hard about the situation with Neito, your upcoming presentation with Hitoshi, or the semester project you need to bang out before November ends. Not to mention exams, or extra assignments, or keeping up with readings for class, or or or—

Inhale. Exhale. Fix your hair.

All of that can wait.

The steak, and Izuku, come first.

There's no sense ruining a good night when you've got a perfectly good bottle to seal your emotions in for now.

Once you're all dolled up, and there's nothing more you can do to aid your appearance, only hurt it with too many layers or too many reworks, you slip out of your room and stride down the steps, feeling a little uneasy in the fancy clothes you've donned.

Izuku has his back to you, eyes fixed firmly out the window. His hair is as unruly as ever, although you can tell he at least tried to tame it, and he's in a fitted, black suit, from what you can tell.

"Looking sharp," you comment with a small smile on your lips, hoping the heat in your cheeks doesn't come across as obvious at the sight of him.

He turns to face you now, and as good as he looks, you can help but let out a stifled giggle at the sight of him. The poor guy has apparently never tied a tie in his life. He looks you over, speechless, as you close the distance and instantly begin to fuss with his tie.

"Almost sharp," you correct, a gentle chiding in your tone as you grin. When his tie is at least in an acceptable state, you meet his eyes, hands still on the strip of fabric. "There you go, now you're ready to eat some world-class steak!"

"You look gorgeous," he replies softly.

He isn't glowing.

Mentally, you reboot.

"I, uh, thank you!" you squeak. "You look gorgeous too."

The sweetest smile rests on his lips as you nervously smooth his tie down one last time. You're sure you're both equally flustered right now, the experience of seeing each other so dressed up bringing heat to both your cheeks.

You shift awkwardly, rocking on your heels as you think of a wait out of feeling so damn awkward. "Well," you clear your throat, "are you ready to go?"

He nods, swallowing thickly. "Yeah, uh, let me make sure I have my wallet, and all that…"

"It's on the end table."

"Right! Yeah!" Izuku laughs, a nervous bark that leaves him vibrating in place. "Haha, yeah, let's… let's head out."

You giggle, following him out and checking the door on your way.

The car ride starts off tense, but as you gently hum to the music of the radio, you feel your shoulders begin to drop. The sun's beginning to set, Halloween is starting properly, and the city lights are beginning to flick on, one by one. With them, a little lightbulb of an idea turns on in your head.

"Hey, after dinner, how do you feel about movies? I know you said you don't like to watch 'em, but if you did, we could maybe watch something together? Some Halloween movie! I'll even let you pick which one!"

He has a soft smile on his lips, though there's a little tension in his eyes as he drives. "Well, I… I can try! It's been a while, and I'd love to watch something with you."

"Great! We can pick the movie later. And remember, if you're uncomfortable at any time, please say so. I don't wanna push you into something you're not ready for."

His smile relaxes a little, less strained. "Right. Thank you."

"Otherwise, I'll ask you, and then you get to either lie to me and get found out, or tell me the truth and get found out."

After that, conversation comes easy, and the silence is peace, rather than awkwardness.

Alexander's is stifling even from the parking lot. You're surprised it has a parking lot, all things considered. Still, you get out of the car and enter with Izuku to an overly refined atmosphere and a quiet, near-empty restaurant. And as Izuku tells the hostess about your reservation, it hits you—there's steak here. Not just any steak, but world-class, bucket list-level steak. And you're going to eat it.

You're ushered to a nice, private table in one of the back sections. Izuku's shaking hand comes to rest around your waist, and you try not to acknowledge the way the hostess looks over your heavily bandaged arm in distaste.

You sit across from Izuku, carefully masking your excitement.

"I know it's no Brazilian steakhouse," Izuku says nervously, "but I hope you'll like the food."

You nod with a grin. "It's Alexander's, 'Zuku. They have the specific variety of steak that I literally have on my list of things to eat before I die. You're fulfilling one of my life goals today."

He chuckles, picking up a menu. "If you say so."

You grab your own menu, looking over with interest.

Once you've made your decision, you try your best to glance around without looking horrifically obvious or out of place. The tables are, of course, the highest class—some sturdy polished wood, finely carved, and with all details hidden by a pure tablecloth without even the slightest blemish anywhere. A gentle mood lighting, music wafting through the room…

You feel a stark contrast to the room, and yet you and Izuku are alone, so you smile and make conversation.

At least, until your waiter comes. "Good evening. How may I—"

Your eyes meet dark ones. The menu slips out of your fingers and onto the table, and the color drains starkly from your face. Oh, he recognizes you. Oh, tonight is gonna suck.

Your ex stands before you in full uniform, notepad and pen at the ready as Yo stands before you with wide eyes.

You think you might hate Halloween.

~

You and Izuku place the orders you want. Your heart is racing in a way that makes you feel almost motion-sick, mind utterly done with this situation. You can't feel anything towards this man, your waiter, aside from sheer exasperation. If only he would leave you two alone to talk, or maybe he'd get the idea that this is awkward because of him and swap sections with a coworker…

You shift nervously in your seat, fiddling with the bandages that still decorate your arm.

"[name]? Is everything alright?" Izuku asks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You yelp, turning your attention to your date… to him, you mean. You're sure this isn't intended to be a proper date. "Y-yeah! I'm alright; sorry for spacing."

He looks you over with a sympathetic smile. "To be honest, places like this make me nervous, too. I always tried to get used to it because Da—because Toshinori said expensive places like this were where he was kind of expected to eat, money and all, but I don't think even he was used to it." His sympathy ebbs away, replaced with something in his smile more nostalgic. Izuku lets out a chuckle, eyes far away. "Y'know, he had a much thinner, smaller form when he wasn't using his quirk, so he used to sneak out with me to go get McDonald's late at night while not using his quirk so we wouldn't be caught by paparazzi."

You giggle, pausing to take a sip of your drink. "That sounds like so much fun. My parents would never have let me do anything like that, let alone have done it with me."

His eyes spark with interest at the mention of your parents. "You don't really talk about your parents much. Did they use to be pretty strict?"

You nod, feeling the awkwardness and the exasperation of seeing your ex slip away as you prepare your answer. The moment the words touch your lips, though…

"Complimentary bread. Please enjoy," he says, placing a basket between the two of you. Yo meets your eyes directly, as if to challenge you, and every bit of exasperation comes flooding back. Honestly, if you'd already gotten your steak and couldn't miss out on it from acting up, you've half a mind to just… punch the smarmy look off his face.

Still, you can't turn down good bread, so you bid him a begrudging 'thank you' and reach for a slice from the basket.

"Is there anything I can do to better serve the two of you tonight?" he asks. He knows damn well what he's doing.

You wave your hand politely, forcing a smile onto your lips. "No, no, that's quite alright, thank you. We're enjoying the quiet ambiance of the restaurant."

"Well, your meals will be ready soon. Thank you both for waiting patiently."

"Of course!" You tilt your head, finding it hard to keep up the smile. Yo looks you over; you're sure that he's intentionally waiting around just long enough to make things awkward before he turns and brushes away, leaving his back towards you.

Izuku's eyes dart between Yo's back and your face as you heave a sigh. "…do you two know each other?"

"It's nothing important," you lie. "He's probably just bored, since there's almost no customers around tonight."

He nods, frowning. "Right… So, um, what were we talking about?"

"Parents," you answer quickly. "You asked about mine, since I never really talk about them. The truth is… Well…" Your eyes dart down to the basket of bread. Instinctively, you reach for another slice. "They're strict, yeah. Hyper strict. Like, "required approval of each of my friends before I could keep talking to them" strict. I used to have to sneak around to talk with Mina, and she had to get really good at acting so that when they did meet her, they wouldn't find any flaws in her to pick out as reasons why I couldn't be around her." You frown, gripping the bread in your hand tightly. "Of course, that wasn't enough, so long as she had a visible quirk."

"I see… So they tried to ban you from talking to Mina?"

You nod. "They have a whole laundry list of what makes a person "acceptable". The person must have a quirk, but it can't be one that's potentially harmful or that changes someone's appearance in any way that they consider too "drastic". So, acid production, black eyes, pink skin, and horns? It didn't matter how perfect Mina seemed as a person. They didn't like her quirk, so I had to start sneaking around."

"Really?" He has a sad look about him. "That sounds awful. So, you don't talk to them anymore?"

You shake your head. "I moved out before I even graduated high school. Couldn't take it anymore, and then I…" You furrow your brow. Try as you might, you don't remember how you ended up leaving home, or even where you went at the time. "I got emancipated, which was a whole thing, but… I don't remember… How…"

He tilts his head. "You don't remember?"

Frustrated, you grab for yet another slice of bread. "I'm sure it wasn't important. Just know that I left home when I was 17, and that thanks to all that, we aren't exactly on speaking terms anymore."

"I see… This isn't something I really want to press on right now, but are you sure it's just something you can't remember because it wasn't important?"

"What do you mean?"

"We know you're enthralled. And we don't know exactly what it did. Is it possible that your memory of that time has been erased?"

"I… I guess, I dunno." A twinge of pain spikes through your head, the beginnings of a headache. "Yeah, uh, can we not talk about this right now? It's not important."

"Right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you with it."

"It's okay, just… I dunno, this whole thing just slips off my brain anyway, and it's starting to make my head hurt."

He furrows his brow, a frown etched on his lips. "I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to hurt you. How about you take a minute to breathe and let the headache pass while I run to the restroom?"

You nod, waving him off. He makes his retreat, and you move to pull out your phone, taking slow, measured breaths as you check your messages.

Alien Queen to Real Housewives of Ossenfelder at 6:46PM

Alien Queen: [name] my LOVE

Alien Queen: how's the totally Not a Date going?

Little Mx. Polygraph: code black

Frog King: oh shit

Frog King: who?

Little Mx. Polygraph: yo is our waiter

Alien Queen: oh hell no

Alien Queen: give me ten minutes and I'll make him disappear

You suppress a giggle at the message.

Little Mx. Polygraph: I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not

Little Mx. Polygraph: he's just a waiter, and I haven't mentioned it to Izuku yet

Little Mx. Polygraph: he definitely recognizes me and is acting a bit weird, but how much can one waiter hang around during a meal?

Frog King: That depends.

Frog King: is it a busy night for Alexander's?

Little Mx. Polygraph: kinda empty tbh

Little Mx. Polygraph: I guess no one wants high-class dining on Halloween

Alien Queen: well shit

Alien Queen: he's probably got ample opportunity to date-crash then

Alien Queen: alright, planning time

Frog King: why not tell Izuku about him?

Little Mx. Polygraph: I… I dunno, it feels like…

Little Mx. Polygraph: you know

Alien Queen: you're worried because anyone with eyes could put two and two together with them in the same room?

Little Mx. Polygraph: maybe!

Little Mx. Polygraph: it's embarrassing to admit

Little Mx. Polygraph: like yo is Izuku's asshole twin or something

Little Mx. Polygraph: ugh

Little Mx. Polygraph: speaking of which, gotta go

Little Mx. Polygraph: talk soon

Now again comes your waiter, man of the hour, smiling as he refills your drinks. Seeing Izuku gone, he looks to you. "Didn't expect to see you here, [name]," he says. "Let alone on our slowest day of the year."

You sigh. "Please, Yo. I already have a headache."

"I mean, you've missed me, right?" he asks sweetly. You wonder how you ever thought he was a genuine person—in hindsight, the way he speaks to you is just so…

Fake.

"After all, you went and found a guy who looks pretty similar to me. It's a little uncanny, honestly."

"It's none of your damn business. I'm really not up for causing a scene, so please just… do your job and leave me alone. We don't know each other, we've never met, we have no history. You're a waiter and I'm a paying customer, and that's it."

Izuku slides into his seat effortlessly, a glare fixed on Yo. "Is everything alright, [name]?"

"Yeah. Nothing to worry about, okay 'Zuku?"

"…okay…"

It's clear he doesn't believe you, but he has the mercy to wait until Yo leaves before he asks. "That waiter…?"

You drop your head into your hands. "My ex."

Izuku looks surprised for a moment, eyes flicking between you and the spot Yo had been standing in. "Oh. Your ex."

"Yeah. He was petty and awful and cheated on me and to this day I don't know how he got around my quirk for so long."

His eyes light up in interest, chin coming to rest in his palm. "He actually managed to get around it? While lying to your face?"

You nod. "It was the weirdest thing. Sometimes I thought he might have been lying to me, but he just… didn't glow. He slipped up once and Tenya saw him and told me and it all just came crashing down." Man, this is the worst date conversation topic. Right up there with the stabbing or your shitty parents or the (pseudo?) quirk's hold over your ability to remember things. "I think he must have taken my quirk as some kind of challenge. If you can lie to the lie detector and get away with it, you can do anything."

"I see… That must have been awful. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

You pause, take a long sip of your drink. "I mean, it's okay. It sucked, yeah, it sucked a lot, but… I've had worse, you know? And as much as it hurt, it was an important lesson. I'd gone my whole life thinking it was impossible to lie to me. He taught me that it wasn't."

"Still… Will you be okay? Do you want me to ask that we get a different waiter?"

You shake your head. "That won't be necessary. So long as he behaves." You set your cup down, maybe a little too hard. "I'm sorry about all this. Tonight's supposed to be nice, and it feels like we're just focusing on all my past problems and shit. It's not like you're my therapist."

"Oh! Speaking of which…"

You tilt your head to the side. Did he go looking for a therapist for you that was on his insurance? Does he even need insurance? "What's up? Oh, wait, before you go any further—hold this."

You hold your closed fist out over the table. Curious, he reaches his hand out for you to drop "this" into. As nervous as you are, you slip your hand into his and let it rest on the table.

His reaction is so worth it. The poor man goes red, the flush burning up his ears and down his neck. "I—guh—um—"

You smile and squeeze his hand gently, tilting your head sweetly. With a quick motion, you subtly gesture towards the other side of the room, where Yo is sweeping in with your plates of food. "Just go with it," you whisper.

He nods dumbly, babbling something you don't catch and slipping into a cute smile. "I—I was thinking about getting a—"

"Got your food here," Yo says. He's got to be interrupting deliberately at this point, but you make a show of letting go of Izuku's hand and looking shocked at him anyways. "For the lovely lady, our dry-aged ribeye from Sanuki, Japan, served with a chanterelle sauce and a side of Australian truffle mashed potatoes. And for you, sir, the Chilean sea bass. Please enjoy."

As he speaks, he sets out the plates in front of you, and you have to suppress the urge to cry at the sight. The perfect, beautiful, wonderful slab of meat, still slightly hot, wafting up at you…

You ignore Yo as he leaves. Your brain slips away from conversation as you slowly, carefully cut into the meat. Your knife glides through it like butter, and you begin to choke up at the perfectly cooked cross-section.

When the meat enters your mouth, it's a transcendent experience. You've forgone the sauce on the side, merely tasting the steak as it melts on your tongue and sends your body melting with it.

The world stops. For the longest moment, it's you, and the sensation of the perfect steak in your mouth. Nothing reaches your ear, you're floating on air, your mind is perfectly, blissfully, blank.

And then, a hand on yours.

You blink, and swallow, and you realize Izuku has reached over the table to your knife hand, gently shaking you out of your out-of-body experience. "You're crying," he observes quietly.

Your cheeks are wet, upon observation. You can't bring yourself to care at the moment. You simply nod and go in for another bite.

After a moment of watching you, Izuku smiles, and returns to his own food. He's happy to privately watch you have one of the best experiences of your life, and he's happy to know that this was possible because of him. There's something bittersweet about the whole thing, and for a moment, the silliness of sitting down and pretending to be human for a night strikes him.

It doesn't quite stick. Like water, it rolls off, and the two of you enjoy your dinner, tucked away in a quiet corner of a quiet restaurant.

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