#MAL I AM SO IMPRESSED

[cloudedgalaxies]

I AM ACTUALLY SCREAMING RIGHT NOW OH MY GOODNESS

THIS ABSOLUTE BANGER OF A POST DROPPED ON HALLOWEEN NO LESS I'M ACTUALLY GOING RABID!?!??!?!? EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF ART IS STRAIGHT-UP FIRE. GIRL I AM BURNT TO A CRISP RN. LET ME CHAR AND ROAST IF IT MEANS I GET TO SEE GRACE AND THE HOUSEWARDENS!! THE FACEHOLDING I'M DEAD AAAAAAAA

𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚! 📸✨

Grace finally has a Magicam account, and what better use for it than immortalizing their friendships?

.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ.

🦐 yuur_grace

❤️ 630 🗨️ 43 🔄 22

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 I finally made an account!! First pic, tea party preparations with housewarden of Heartslabyul! 🌹🫖

❤️ 𝗮𝗰𝗲_𝗼𝗳𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 LMAO? HE'S SUCH A PRUDE LOLL

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬♠️ 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗲_𝗱𝗲𝘂𝗰𝗲 @ace_ofhearts dude you're aware that housewarden Rosehearts owns a magicam account right?

♦️ 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱_𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 totes adorbs!! but kinda bummed u didn't pick me for such a cute pic idea... (ㅠ‸ㅠ)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @diamond_mind Oh I'm so sorry!! I got so busy with preparations that it slipped my mind u_u; I'll save you a spot next time, promise!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

🦐 yuur_grace

❤️ 450.2k 🗨️ 130.1k 🔄 130k

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 ....okay so this MIGHT turn into a series. I pray to the Seven that Leona isn't active on magicam or else I'm migrating (he looks so peaceful tho, doesn't he?!)

🐺 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗹__ Grace.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @jackhowl__ Jack...... 5 replies

🐆 𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴_𝗯𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗶𝟯𝟵𝟳 you owe me a deluxe cutlet sandwich now btw 😇

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 I don't recall that being on our TOA?? 1 replies

🐰 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗮_𝗻𝗽𝗰 ????? LEONA KINGSCHOLAR???? ISN'T THAT THE PREFECT WHAT. 1435 replies

🦁 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗺_𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝟮𝟱𝟲𝟯𝟴𝟮𝟵𝟮𝟱𝟮 Sevens you narrow minded idiot.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬ 🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 is that literally fucking leona kingscholar 34572 replies

➻oh, except.... maybe they forgot one little detail...

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

🦐 yuur_grace

❤️ 23.2k 🗨️ 2.3k 🔄 442

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 Decided to pay our octobuddy a little visit at the @mostrolounge this afternoon 🐙🍹What a face! (also, wow where did all of you come from?? Was Leona's sleeping visage that baffling of a prospect? ùᴗu,, actually, I'm now realizing that I hadn't even set this account to private...oops.)

🐬 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀.𝗮.𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘆 ahahah!! oh man look at his face! little shrimpy's got guts~

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 thanks for being the cameraman buddy ùᴗu ͙͘͡★ 7 replies

❤️ 𝗮𝗰𝗲_𝗼𝗳𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 I'm surprised you didn't get ptsd just from walking into that room LMAO

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @ace_ofhearts hm okay how about you join me next time

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬❤️ 𝗮𝗰𝗲_𝗼𝗳𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 @yuur_grace no thank you <3

🐬 𝗷𝗮𝗱𝗲.𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵. hahah. how swift. perhaps i may join you one day to capture such riveting images. 3 replies

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 ok no I'm actually so invested we can't just move on from the fact that this guy showed up all of a sudden and just KNOWS Leona kingscholar personally?!?? 200 replies

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲

❤️ 530.5k 🗨️ 221k 🔄 138k

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 Another face cradled! And a dear friend hugged! Had a blast at this wonderful get-together in Scarabia dorm ☀️🏮🎇 I think I'm ready to sleep for a week though hahaha ^^;

☀️ 𝗸𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗺✪ I'm so glad you came! I don't think I've had that much fun with friends in a while! You're always welcome whenever you feel like visiting 😊✨

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬ 🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @kalimalasim always!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬ 🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME 1240 replies

🐍 𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹_𝘃 There's still some leftovers if you'd like to take some for Grim. Or yourself, really. 2 replies

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 oh okay so there's even MORE. why not. SURE. 212 replies

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲

❤️ 970.6k 🗨️ 596.3k 🔄 502k

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 Nothing better than a long evening spent with the beauty queen himself @vilshoenheit. And look, he reciprocated! How sweet~ 💜✨ A wonderful idol, an even better friend.

👑 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗶𝘁✪ How precious. Do take good care of that manicure.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬👑 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗶𝘁 Wait, Grace, is this a private post?

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 will do! 🤍 2304 replies

🍎 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗹_𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 man you're better than me, i can't stand a second doin any a this balderdash

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 your loss,, it's sooo relaxing 🙂‍↕️

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 YOU GUYS I CANT COPE ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEEEEE 784 replies

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 is this guy some sorta undercover cop or sum?? how's he got all these crazy ass ties??

🏹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸 oh, là là... quelle beauté, the calm before the storm~

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲

❤️ 60.3k 🗨️ 43.4k 🔄 22.5k

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 Seems like I've been graced with this nice little picture from @0r1h0_shr0ud2 during a visit to Idia's dorm! No face hold unfortunately, but it's quite cute!🩵🤍 Very rare, it seems Idia has yet to realize the photo being taken ^o^. Peep the adorable little PreMo gacha figure I got for him...? 👀

🩵 𝟬𝗿𝟭����𝟬_𝘀𝗵𝗿𝟬𝘂𝗱𝟮 I was so happy that you decided to stay and keep my brother company, Grace Alexander-san. Idia doesn't show it, but you really made his day!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @0r1h0_shr0ud2 awww! I'm always happy to spend time with you both! 🤍 3 replies

💙 𝗴𝗹𝟬𝟬𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗶 woah when was this?! you can't just spring such a rare event out of nowhere! delete, delete!!! 5 replies

♦️ 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱_𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 oh my Seven!! you both look so dope! truly inspiring— and can we talk about how *adorbs* you look with that biscuit hanging from ur mouth?? (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @diamond_mind brothaaaa keep this up and you'll be fighting off rumors for days LOL ùᴗu ahuahu

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬❤️ 𝗮𝗰𝗲_𝗼𝗳𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 @yuur_grace OH U WANNA HEAR ABOUT RUMORS??? HAHAH

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 Am I tweaking or is that like. *The* Idia Shroud from the family Shroud part of the largest technological pioneers in Twisted Wonderland. Or am I insane.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 this HAS to be a social experiment atp?? What in the world is this guy's power??? 467 replies

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎.𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲

❤️ 2.1m 🗨️ 740.3k 🔄 680k

𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 it felt almost special, leaving my vest off. Maybe it was the winter breeze. Tsunotaro helped me with his cape, though, despite my insistence. What a sweet personality! 💚🐉 We took a long walk through an abandoned woods, found some gorgeous gargoyles. To end my little series, I asked to hold him as well. He doesn't own a magicam account so I can't tag him... But at least he can keep the pictures :) Hurray! It ends! 🤍✨

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 THERE IS NOOOOO FUCKING WAY I REFUSE NO NO ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THIS IS AN EVIL PRANK WHAT WHAT WHATTTTATSYSYTHJDHJ WHO IS THIS GUYYYYYY 1204 replies

🌐 𝘁𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗽𝗰 OH YES DROP THE BOMB ON US WHY NOT. OKAY. THREE OTHER CELEBS WEREN'T ENOUGH I GUESS. 762 replies

🦇 𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗲 Grace, you must know I have never been so entertained in my long life. Why, Malleus himself sits beside me and stares down at the screen in bafflement!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 @vanrougee ???? Explain?? ToT

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬♦️ 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱_𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 @yuur_grace you sweet summer child 😭✋

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎¬ 🐊 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴.𝘇𝗶𝗴𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘁 @yuur_grace YOU ARE ENTIRELY UNCONNIVING. YOU PLACE MALLEUS UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY FROM THE MASSES AS WELL AS LADY MALEFICIA! YOU SHOULD BE MORE MINDFUL, HUMAN!!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ¬🦐 𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗿_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 OH my god.

HEHEHE I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS AS MUCH AS I DID THIS WAS SO EXHAUSTING BUT SO FUN TO MAKE !!! 🩷🤍🩷✨✨ Also pls don't look too hard at the numbers ik a lot of them are wrong I'm sleep deprived and high on 3 monster cans 🤍

[femme-foucault]

Fuck it, Emilia Perez is going to win Best Comedy/Musical, isn't it? Jeeezzzz.

I think Conclave is going to win for Drama and while that wasn't my prediction I really enjoyed that movie so I'm not complaining on that front.

[egophiliac]

I love the idea of teenage Malleus hating his new baby brother Silver but slowly falling for him

words cannot express how much I adore that Mal's reaction to seeing a human baby for the first time was "the fuck is this. why does it look like that. gross." (then he immediately got stuck on babysitting duty and the rest is history)

I am SUCH a sucker for that trope of "non-humans being fascinated by normal human behavior", so between that and all the delicious angst going on I was eating VERY well. >:) Malleus being so impressed that two-year-old Silver can walk, because it took him twenty years to stand on two legs! Lilia barging in on the Zigvolts at 2 AM being like "he won't stop crying what do I do"! Lilia trying to feed Silver rats and Malleus being like "...please just stick with what the books say to feed it"! it is all so. chef's kiss.

[caliburn-the-sword]

the main talking point of a lot of people that love eah but bash on descendants is that "eah was deep!! descendants was just a disney knockoff that meant nothing and was just a cashgrab" SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP (to be clear i am an eah lover). analytical thoughts to follow:

consider also, that auradon is portrayed as very technologically advanced in direct opposition to the isle being associated with magic (even with its ban) and a lot of of clearly second hand, worn and torn fridges and tvs and whatever

also, the fact that she felt PRESSURED to not only culturally assimilate into auradon culture, but alter her physical appearance to assimilate further. consider mal's costuming in the first movie. on the isle, we see her with (what i assume is her natural) purple hair, leather, etc. she is even, to a degree, gender nonconforming. pretty much the ONLY time we see her in skirts is when she's trying to impress ben for her plan to work

compare this with the hair costuming in descendants 2:

(i actually can't remember which scenes the third one was in but whatever) they have taken away her sparkle!! she's assimilated firstly into auradon fashion by dressing in pastels like them, and in SKIRTS which she textually only wore in the first movie when she wanted to impress ben. now with the added context of her wanting to impress auradon. and it really speaks a lot that she feels she has to conform to gender norms more in order to be accepted by auradon

and what about hair. she's felt the need to not only change the way she dresses, but change her hair to the eurocentric standard, so blonde that it's almost WHITE to conform to auradon's society (because let's be real, her mum's a fairy/dragon and her dad is a greek god. i'd be MORE surprised if she was DYING her hair purple than it being natural). changing your natural hair in order to to conform to and be accepted by the majority... where have i heard that one before??

shoutout to @soniccat

(to be clear. it is not a one for one analogy. "hey using a spell to force someone to forget what you did is an invasion" to me is like going "well actually people were right to fear mutants in x-men because some of them were walking weapons" IT'S A METAPHOR THAT IS ALSO A PLOT DEVICE)

('backwater' being used ironically, do not let my meaning be misconstrued here. a better way to word it is that immigrants are guilttripped into having to be 'grateful' for their oppression in a first world country because microaggressions or assimilation is considered better than the alternative, being back in your home country where living conditions may be considered poorer)

in the sense that for instance, jay put a VK spin on supporting feminism. like yes, he could've done it the rulefollowing, create a petition and gather signatures route, but INSTEAD he finds and exploits an existing loophole to let lonnie join the team. or evie shouting out dizzy's creations, uplifting her voice despite the fact she could've still taken the credit since she was the one that paired the outfit with the accessories. etc

are the descendants movies objectively bad movies?? yes. but this was to me, one of the most compelling analogies for immigrant struggles. take particular notice how almost ALL the main VKs are either racebent from the original disney movies (evie, carlos, uma) or were already based on an ethnic character (mal, jay)

but wait, mal is the whitest white girl to walk the planet. how is she already based on an ethnic character?

glad you asked. it is quite unclear in the descendants movie (basing its portrayal of maleficent on the disney sleeping beauty) is a fairy or a dragon. while the maleficent movie isn't canon to the descendants universe, i'm still going to use the fact that she's a fairy with the magical ability to turn herself into a dragon

a lot fairy folklore comes from ireland. the name maleficent itself, and i quote

shares similarities to the name millicent. millicent has irish (or scottish) roots (even a coat of arms) as in

thus one could argue that maleficent herself could potentially be irish coded

whether or not you agree with the idea that maleficent is irish coded, it is undeniable that mal is the daughter of hades, a greek god. it's a shame that that was a retcon in the third movie and not planned from the start, because the role could've gone to an actually greek actress (please google the ottoman empire and greek independence day if you still think it's not fitting for me to group mal with the others)

where was i going with this?? right. it's extremely telling that most of the main/side VKs, save for gil, are ethnic, in the story of a group of misfits finding themselves in an unfamiliar country with new social norms for them to learn as they try to fit in with and become accepted by their peers

[bones4thecats]

How Did They Meet Their Genie! S/O?

Type of Writing: #10 - Poll Result Characters: Rollo Flamme and Baul Zigvolt Name: How Did They Meet Their Genie! S/O? Original Poll Link: Here

A/N: I have rarely, if ever, written for these characters, so they may end up being slightly OOC. Sadly, I had no ideas for Fellow Honest- the guy is hard to write something like this for without it being severely OOC. I also could come up with no ideas for Kifaji, since I couldn't find much information on him, I'm sorry for that. But, do hope you enjoy this my lil bubbles🫧

P.S: The Reader is inspired by a mixture of the original story Genie, Aladdin's Genie, the Live-Action Genie and Jafar's Genie form

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

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⛪ Rollo was not amused when he learned some students from Night Raven were arriving at Noble Bell College for the yearly festival. And he was far from happy when he gained knowledge that their two strongest students were coming as well

⛪ That being the Prince, and future heir to the thrown, of Briar Valley, Malleus Draconia, and one of the most powerful fae magicians in the world, one considered to be a genie, Y/N L/N

⛪ He stood alongside his secretary and right-hand as the group of magic-users approached, and he caught sight of the supposed genie flying around and messing with a spikey green-haired boy

⛪ Grabbing his handkerchief, he pushed the piece of purple cloth in front of his frowning face, making the two faes cock eyebrows at his actions

⛪ But, it seemed the Prince brushed it off faster than the other fae, as they kept a close eye on him throughout their small tour of the grounds. They also seemed to stay close to a black-haired boy, which he later learned was named Jamil Viper

⛪ Now, normally Rollo did not go out of his way for these magic-users whenever they came by at his school, but for some reason he felt drawn to you more than anything

⛪ He had began to actually speak to you before he realized it. He had asked you about your time at NRC and what your relationship was with the magicless human, despite your fairly obvious hostility to him

" Y/N, I am not quite sure I understand why you are so tense around Sir Flamme. Could you explain the reasoning behind it? "

⛪ Looking at Malleus, you sighed and played with a small blue figurine that you had been gifted by your guardians long ago, and you just handed him a red one as he looked at you with questioning eyes

" I have been told this story for many years, Mal. And it goes like this; Long ago, a young boy fell for a beautiful princess. But, due to their differences in rankings, they could not be together, and seeing the opportunity to gain some better status and power, her father's helper had seen complete red when the man began using a special power to seduce the princess. " " What was this power? " " A magic user. Back then, they were very rare. And very sought-out by men and women alike. Now, once he had gotten a hold of the magic-user, he had begun to trick the princess that he was a prince, in order to win her heart. "

⛪ Rollo stood behind the pillar, wondering on what in Twisted Wonderland you were speaking about? Was this some story from the Scaling Sands that he had not read about?

" What did the King's helper do about the swindler's treachery? " " The only thing he knew how to do; report it once found out. And, once he notified the Sultan, the man was found and handed about, though nobody knows for certain what happened to him. Most likely death. But, for his accomplishment in saving the princess, he was granted a magical lamp, and he used the powers to become Sultan. " " How impressive. Are these figures them? " " They're a form of the story. In there, the Sultan's helper was the enemy and had thrown the princess and Sultan into servitude like he was stuck in. And this blue one that I am holding was the 'good genie' who had been helping the swindler out. "

⛪ Gripping his handkerchief tighter inside his pocket, Rollo began to stroll away, not sparing any thought of you and the Prince of Briar Valley being outside past hours in the field speaking of nonsense

⛪ Once he reached his room, Rollo slammed the door shut as softly as he possibly could before looking around his room in a frenzy. Why did he want to pull that Dragon Fae away from you and escourt you to your room at that moment?

⛪ No matter, he needed to focus on his plan. And nothing, not even someone like you, would be able to change his mind...

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🐊 Ever since the war began, there have been many fae and humans alike falling to their shared enemy. Unfortunately, as of late, the humans have been gaining the upper-hand

🐊 This action was leading the Draconia family to improvise by sending in some fae from outside of Briar Valley, and there was a new group of them being added this week

🐊 And these fae were all from the Scaling Sands, a land inhabited by humans, though they chose no side during the war, due to being farther away and thriving on their own without any greed of land catching their minds

🐊 You had dressed in your get-go, that being a dragon's, and set your sights on collaborating your battalion's style of fighting with General Lilia's

🐊 Baul wasn't able to take a simple rest when he heard that you were going to be alone with their leader

🐊 He wanted to trust you, really he did, but you lived somewhere full of humans, you may end up betraying them if you caught sight of someone that you possibly knew

🐊 So, grabbing his mask and uniform, he slapped it on quickly before heading out and hiding behind a tree, concealing his presence from both you and Lilia

🐊 Once he reached where you both resided, he watched with a stink-eye similar to that of a sniper trying to take down one of the most dangerous people in history with one bullet left

" Commander Y/N, if I may ask, how have you lived alongside those humans, those mortals, for so long without an issue? " " It's quite simple, General Vanrouge. I have had many connections to the higher-ups in their society. One being a being from a long time ago, maybe hundreds of years? Huh, my memory of time seemingly has gone down, I apologize. "

🐊 Speaking so formally yet freely was something that Baul had never heard about happening with the General of the Fae army before, how remarkable

🐊 Wait- what was he thinking?! You were a possible enemy! He has to stay focused!

" Do you perhaps remember this being by any chance? " " Ah yes I do. Quite well, actually. I may not remember just how long ago it has been, but I do remember the man with precision. " " Would you mind telling me about this mystery man? " " Of course not. "

🐊 Taking a breath, Baul watched as your hand sputtered out some blue flickers, which forms into smokes and into small figures, one being teal, another being white, then red, blue, orange, purple, and a final resting light tan

" This one, is a woman, a princess from hundreds of years ago. And the small white one was her father, the Sultana and the Sultan. This blue character is a magic-user from way-back-when, our light tan in a swindler, and our red is our main character of this beloved legend and story mashup. Now, the young swindler had come across this magic-user, and he asked if they could put themselves to good use and help him try to sway the princess into a relationship. And, due to magic being a more rarity back then, nobody had suspected anything tricky taking place. Until the red one here, a man now known as the Sorcerer of the Sands, found out about the plot. "

🐊 Sitting up slightly as his shoulders sank down in a relaxed position, Baul found himself listening to the story with just as much attention as he gave to glaring at you from behind

" The Sorcerer of the Sands had eventually gotten enough information and turned the swindler in, leading in the arrest of the young man and eventual fate, one in which nobody knows, though, many believe he was executed for the crime of seducing the princess and plotting both overthrowing the Sultan, basically usurping the thrown, and treason. Now, while the swindler got punished for his actions, the respected-Sorcerer had stood proudly against the Sultan and was granted the object known as a 'magic lamp'. With this lamp, he made the wish to become Sultan. Now, while this story's final ending is shrouded in mystery, some suspect that the swindler broke out and stopped the Vizier from attempting to kill the royal family, while in some the Vizier married the princess and lived happily ever after, and in some others the Vizier had just ruled the land and kept it balanced until his death years later. "

🐊 Baul listened as Lilia sighed deeply, seemingly releasing some stress at hearing the story end fairly happily for the seemingly good-natured Vizier and the ill-intentioned swindler

🐊 Lilia turned to you and patted you on the shoulder as he stood up, shocking one of his right-hands with his words

" You are a good person, Y/N. I expect good things from you, yes? " " You shouldn't expect any less than that, General. " " Have a nice rest, Commander. Good night. " " I wish you the same, sir! "

🐊 Okay, you didn't seem so bad now. But just because you got Lilia to somewhat show trust in you, a Zigvolt is far harder to please, well, that's what he now tells your grand-children, but you get the point

[albert-kafka-camus]

Tagged by @sopheadraws 👑👑👑

(I love music games so much!!!)

I would like to inform you all that my playlist is 66 hours long and I have a diverse palette so I am not responsible if The Cast Of My Little Pony Equestrian Girls 2 covers a Frank Ocean song or something

1. Johnnie Taylor’s cover of Vienna (by Billy Joel)

Okey this is insane this would be so good it would be different but still preserve the original feeling (I need this actually)

2.Hadestown Broadway Original Cast’s cover of Rehab (by Amy Winehouse)

ANOTHER MASTERPIECE like the fates would kill those ‘no, no, no’ s. Like this would be a fates heavy song with others chiming in and I would be obsessed thank you very much 🙏🙏

3. Rachel Zegler’s cover of Alejandro (by Lady Gaga)

I have never heard her sing a song badly but this song won’t go well with her voice. I think an acoustic version with harmonies would be good tho. (The more I imagine a soft acoustic version more I want it)

4. Billie Eilish’s cover of Hound Dog (by Big Mama Thornton)

no

5.Robert Cray, The Robert Cray Band’s cover of No More Rain (In This Cloud) (by Angie Stone)

I think it would be good but I feel like he would make small changes to the instrumentals don’t know what else to say about it

6. Lana Del Rey’s cover of Dance With You Tonight (by Laufey)

I think it would be different definitely darker/moodier but I love the original too much so I kinda think she wouldn’t do it justice especially if it was live cause I feel like the way she sings and the playfulness in her voice is very integral to the songs whole identity

7. Beyoncé’s cover of Forgiveness (by Rina Sawayama)

weirdly a huge YES from me I think she would lower the sound of the instrumentals and focus on her vocals which she would destroy (of course)“Sometimes I blame you sometimes I don’t” especially could be very lemonade

8. Hozier’s cover of Diamonds and Rust (by Joan Baez)

amazing. no notes. perfection. hozier covers are my mental health treatment

9. (again!!) Hozier’s cover of WAP (by Cardi B, Megan Thee Stalion)

I am conflicted…. slay?

10. (again!!?!!) Hozier’s cover of Nothing You Can Take Away From Me (Boot-Stomping version) (by Rachel Zegler, The Covey Band)

I interpret this as Hozier’s formal apology after the WAP incident (Handsome Squidwardian event for sure) He would do justice to this song, (very him) I would go insane if this was real

+11. (doing another one because hozier took 3 spots jdkdkdkdjsj😤✊) The Cast Of Hamilton’s cover of Dumb & Poetic (by Sabrina Carpenter)

I regret my choice to do another one and I don’t listen to Hamilton often so only thing I can think of is Lin Mal Miranda impressions on tik tok that are then used to make unserious gay ship edits so obviously.. 10/10 this is what the industry is lacking thank you for coming to my conference 🙏🙏📈📈👆👆😘😘

@simplysummers @angelhummel @freddieslater @bansheeheart @inlovewith-icecream

Also @ anyone who sees this and wants to ✨

[hannahhook7744]

Random Thought I Had About Super Sinister 13th Birthdays;

Okay, so I don't know how canon this can be considered since Super Sinister Thirteen birthday parties are only mentioned once or twice in the books. 

But I recently found out the canon birthdays of three characters—Uma, Mal, and Evie—and am now struck with a couple of angsty thoughts. 

So, I personally get the impression that Super Sinister Thirteens on the isle are like Sweet Sixteens/a milestone birthday/right of passage—and they’re probably big on the isle, and something the isle kids themselves came up with. I mean, we know given how most of the villains are on top of the limited resources on the isle that a good portion of the isle kids probably never had birthdays/birthday parties. 

What if a Super Sinister Thirteen is something the older isle kids made up to throw themselves a birthday party at least once and it became a sort of right of passage among the isle kids? The day were you were finally considered a villain or something?

It’s the most important birthday on the isle and the only one a lot of the kids have—with some of them not even getting to have that—and all of the kids, and several of the adults know it. 

It’s canon in the books that more people showed up to Mal’s Super Sinister Thirteen than Uma’s. 

It’s canon that Uma and Mal both share a birthday—that they were born on December 31st. 

That alone is angst material. 

Arch enemies, former friends—sharing a birthday—and having more people show up to your enemies’ milestone birthday than yours whether out of fear or just because they genuinely think that your enemy is more evil/important/special than you and it’s better to be seen on their side than yours. 

But then we find out that Evie’s birthday is October 11th. Two months before Uma and Mal’s. 

Evie was still exiled when she was thirteen. 

Was alone with only her mother, her pet parrot Othello, and depending on when her doll was eaten by vultures/dogs (can’t remember which animal it was eaten by), her favorite doll—on what was supposed to be a milestone birthday. 

All because she didn’t invite Mal to her sixth birthday. 

Only that’s not exactly right, is it?

Because Evie was six. She wasn’t in charge of invitations. Her mother was. 

Her mother who probably wouldn’t have listened to her if she said she wanted Mal there or not. 

And in the descendants book ‘The Magic of Friendship’ we see the invitation Evie meant for Mal to have, despite Mal having never got it (correct me if I’m wrong. It’s shown on the wiki but it doesn’t really give context regarding the invitation). 

It doesn’t matter how the invitation didn’t get to Mal—whether it was because a six year old Evie misplaced it, a spiteful Evil Queen wanting to make a grab for power, a test from Maleficent, or something else. It doesn’t matter why the invitation didn’t get to Mal. What matters is that we the audience now know it existed 

That Evie knows it existed and that she made one. 

Which means Evie wasn’t slighting Mal and that she had no reason to expect her sixth birthday party to be ruined by Mal’s mom for ‘not inviting her’. Because as far as little six year old Evie knew she had invited her.

Whether she knows or doesn’t know that Mal didn’t get the invitation after the party is ruined is irrelevant. 

It doesn’t change the outcome. 

Evie is exiled for the next ten years with no companions other than a doll, a parrot, her abusive mom, and maybe goblin servants—including on her birthdays.

Her birthday is October 11th and she was exiled on her thirteenth birthday—on what would have been her milestone Super Sinister Thirteen. 

She’s exiled through no fault of her alone with no friends and no really caring family, and likely doesn’t know the full circumstances behind why because she did invite Mal, didn’t she? (Maybe she starts to question if she ever really did or if her mind just made that up). 

She’s alone on a day where other isle kids with the means to celebrate would be having fun with the rest of the isle kids and their friends. Alone and not allowed to leave her home that functions more as a prison on a day she knows is supposed to be special for isle kids—and then two months later, she gets to watch Mal’s Super Sinister Thirteen celebration (and maybe even Uma’s, depending on how many people showed up and how flashy she was able to make hers) knowing that she was forgotten and abandoned on hers intentionally for something she didn’t even really do. 

The pure angst material is glorious. 

(Don’t think Uma sitting with Gil and Harry almost completely alone in Ursula’s fish and chips on her  Super Sinister Thirteen, fighting back tears because she invited just as many people as Mal had and how she probably had to decorate herself and make everything because Morgana, Ursula, and whoever her father is couldn’t be half assed to help and how there is only so much a thirteen year old with or without the help of an adult, like her Aunt Uliana, can do. ).

(Don’t think of Evie sitting in her windowsill on her birthday, tearful face buried in a pillow as she hugs her doll all while Othello flies around the room squawking ‘unibrow’ and other things the Evil Queen has criticized Evie on or how longingly she must have watched Mal’s celebration from that same windowsill two months later while knowing that she hadn’t really done what she was accused of). 

(And certainly don’t imagine Mal on her thirteenth birthday, having all eyes on her—including that of her mother who punished her for helping a Goblin in the market—and being a nervous wreck or how she was likely thinking about how her father and brother weren’t there. Don’t think about how sharing a birthday with Uma once must have been a wonderful thing and was now a bitter one on that day for both of them—).

Again, I’m likely just overthinking it  but I just wanted to share. 

(Also don’t think about Celia, who’s birthday is October 31st, and how Evie might have also seen Celia’s eighth birthday celebration less than three weeks after her milestone birthday was ignored—given that Dr. Facilier would likely have the means to give Celia a decent one since he runs an arcade, school, and might even do some work on the side to get money. One that could likely be seen from the arcade). 

[bi-bard]

Impressive - Nikolai Lantsov Imagine [Shadow & Bone]

Title: Impressive

Pairing: Nikolai Lantsov X Reader

Word Count: 1,760 words

Warning(s): canon-typical violence

Summary: The four times Nikolai was desperate to impress (Y/n). And the one time that they could admit that he succeeded.

Author's Note: Kinda hate how much he grew on me so quickly.

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Number One:

I knew that one day I would have to cross the Fold again.

That did nothing to change how much I dreaded it. I was terrified of being stuck or killed. I could put on a brave enough face, but all I could think about when I thought of the Fold was all of the tragedy that accompanied it. The pain and death and misery. Not just my own, but the world around it.

That was enough to scare me to my core.

And then, Nikolai let us in on his method of getting across the fold.

Well, he didn't tell us anything. He showed us.

I watched as the ship shifted into a different machine that then separated from the rest of the ship. The sound of engines starting was accompanied by shaking and very little explanation.

"Oh, saints!" I wrapped an arm around the main pillar in the hopes of keeping myself steady. I looked over. I could see us moving upward. "Flying? Are you serious?"

"You sound impressed," Nikolai replied, lifting his arm so he could rest his elbow against the pillar next to me.

I glared at him for a moment. "Terrified."

"Oh, don't be," he waved off my worries. "We've made many improvements since the ones that crashed."

"Thank you," I said sarcastically. "The history of you crashing to the ground is unbelievably comforting."

He held his hand out to me. "Come here."

"I'm comfortable here-"

"(Y/n)," he pushed.

I took a deep breath and relented, placing my hand in his.

He pulled me over to the railing. He moved to grab my upper arms, holding me in place so I could look out at the view.

"What do you think," he asked.

"That I may vomit over the edge," I muttered.

"Lovely," he mumbled back before walking away. "Just don't lean too far over. I would hate for you to fall."

I looked at the distance below us before quickly stumbling away from the edge.

I heard a laugh behind me, causing me to glare at Nikolai again. He just smirked at me.

This time together was going to be far too long.

Number Two:

Finding out the truth about Nikolai and his family was a harsh shift for Alina, Mal, and myself.

I didn't get to confront him at first. Alina took that responsibility into her own hands by punching him.

With all of the people and information, I didn't get the chance to say anything until we were riding toward the Spinning Wheel.

"Were you ever going to tell us the truth," I asked as Nikolai moved to ride alongside me. "Or did you hope that it would never be a relevant conversation?"

He chuckled. "I will admit that I hadn't quite planned how I was going to tell you the truth."

I nodded.

"It was all in the hopes of doing good for the people I loved."

"Why would telling the three of us make any difference?"

"Would you have ever trusted me if I told you who my family was?"

"Do you honestly believe that I am inclined to trust you now?"

He paused. We each looked at each other for a few spare moments before I turned my attention back to the path before us.

"I will earn your trust," he said after a while.

"I will be very impressed if you manage that," I replied.

"Even more motivation to do so."

I turned to him again, but he had already started to look straight ahead with a smirk sitting on his lips.

I couldn't tell if I was irritated by his confidence or if I respected it.

Number Three:

Staying at the Spinning Wheel was an interesting experience.

There was no question of the tension in the air. After what the Darkling had done, the royal family and their soldiers weren't exactly supportive of Grisha's being among them.

Nikolai seemed insistent on making peace. Ever the diplomat.

Hence his proposal to Alina.

A move that admittedly caught me off-guard, but I had no comment about it. It wasn't my place to say anything about it.

I was standing off to the side of the feast, taking the time to allow my head to clear from all of the noise.

"I hope you aren't being scared away."

I looked over to see Nikolai walking over to me with a proud grin on his face.

"Not at all," I replied. "Basking in the pride of uniting two feuding people?"

"Oh, we both know Alina will have much more power in that endeavor," he looked down at his drink for a moment. "How are you? How is your stay treating you?"

"I am quite content," I explained. "May I ask why you were wondering? Surely, my comfort isn't at the top of your list of priorities."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken... shouldn't you be more focused on your engagement," I asked, looking over at Alina.

He chuckled. "I would, but I find you far more interesting."

I looked back at him in shock. I couldn't find a word to say in response to that. I just froze for a moment. No sarcastic remark or insult could find its way to my lips.

"Careful," he mumbled. "You'll catch flies with your mouth hanging open like that."

I quickly closed my mouth and looked away from him.

"Quite impressed that I have the ability to render you speechless."

"Have a good night, Nikolai."

"You too, (Y/n)."

I had never been so embarrassed at how someone saying my name made me feel.

The prince was beginning to feel like a distraction.

Number Four:

I had no real reason for staying with Nikolai when the others went into the Fold.

I had merely held onto the belief that they didn't need me as much as he and his men did.

I was right, but that didn't mean that I had any power that could stand against the shadow monsters that the Darkling had created.

It felt senseless. Over half a dozen fighting one monster and making no progress.

I would have called it hopeless if the creature had pinned Nikolai to one of the pillars. After that, all I could feel was anger. Anger and fear.

Once the monster faded, all I could do was get to him as fast as I could. I had never been susceptible to such tunnel vision, but with Nikolai, it was different.

"Nikolai!"

I helped hold him up, so he was leaning up against the pillar. He was panting, his eyes wide. I had never seen such clear panic written on one person's face.

I grabbed the sides of his face so he would look at me. It took him a moment to recognize me, but when he did, his hands reached up and touched mine, holding them in place.

"Saints, you're alive," I muttered, feeling tears building in my eyes. I leaned my forehead on his, not putting any thought into the action. "You're alive!"

"You sound impressed," he mumbled back, smirking at me.

"You want to make jokes now," I asked, leaning away from him.

He simply shrugged, hissing at the pain in his shoulder.

"Come on," I said. "We need to go find the others."

He nodded, allowing me to help him off the ground.

I caught Tamar giving me a knowing look as I did so. I ignored it.

I had much more important things to worry about than whatever was between Nikolai and me.

And the Time He Succeeded:

I grinned at myself in the mirror.

It had been ages since I had found confidence in my own reflection, but if there were a day to find it, then Nikolai's coronation day was not the worst.

I had been so focused on admiring myself that I barely heard the knock at the door. I called for the guest to come in before my brain had truly recognized the sound.

I turned around the footsteps cut through the silence of the room. Nikolai stood before me. He was dressed for his day. I smiled at him.

"Wow," he mumbled, a smile stretching across his face.

"What," I asked. I chuckled a bit. "Impressed?"

"I'm always impressed by you," he replied. I tilted my head a bit, my eyebrows furrowing for a moment. "Why do you think I spent so long hoping to be in your good graces?"

"I assumed it was a way to hold up your ego-"

"It was because from the moment that I saw you, I knew there was something different about you," he cut me off as he explained, stepping closer to me. "You caught my attention so easily that it was almost unfair. I had no choice but to get you to see me as I saw you."

When he stopped moving, I felt as though my heart were in my throat. He was so close. Too close. It would have been so easy to lean forward and close the pointless distance that separated us.

But I didn't.

Instead, I asked a question, "And how do you see me?"

"Brilliant," he immediately said. His voice was soft. It sounded distracted as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud. "And brave. And strong. And... lovely. And protective. And gentle, even though you don't let that show very often."

I would have chuckled at the final comment if I hadn't been so stunned.

I had been called brave before. I had been called strong before. I had never had someone associate my name with the words lovely or gentle or brilliant. Maybe I had simply never captured someone's attention for long enough for them to find those words.

"I could use a million words to describe you and I would never feel as if I had said enough," he whispered. His hand came up to cup the side of my face.

"Nikolai," I mumbled.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine before I could think of what I was going to say beyond his name.

I slowly kissed him back, suddenly becoming aware of just how little experience I had when it came to matters like this. I tried to ignore that nervous feeling in my stomach.

He made it much easier. As he leaned closer and held me just where I was, I found myself with little else to think of beyond him. No fears or simple worries could pull me away from this moment.

Yes, I was definitely impressed.

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[plantsandpies]

I guess I’m in a posting mood where I post crack posts, theories and takes. I have way more. But I’m talking about descendants right now.

I hate people that hate on mal. NOW, she did do a lot of fucked up stuff. Drugging someone and attempting to erase their memories is wrong. I’m not denying that nor am I excusing her actions.

However, Auradon doesn’t know how to handle mental health. All their people are happy and well adjusted. As far as we know, they all had good parents and happy childhoods.

The isle (at least in the books) had vicious child abuse. Carlos was locked in a room filled with bear traps and had to get furs. Evie obviously grew up with huge insecurities due to her mom’s thing on looks. I think Jay slept on the floor (though out of all of them I think he had the best parent. Not an award because you’re the best of the worst, but whatever). Mal’s mom was constantly manipulating her and controlling her. She created this narrative for mal. Love is evil and weak, people not inviting you is slighting you, you have to be the strongest on the isle, your mother’s daughter. The books went into more detail and it’s been a while since I read the book, so excuse my mis-remembering.

But the isle was not a fun place and aurdon is so, they don’t deal with mental health issues. So none of the vk kids have dealt with that.

So when we start at d2 it’s been six months and they just threw mal into that position. They gave her no time to adjust, put all their stuff on her (blonde hair vs. purple) and just expected her to be okay with it.

Now, a child with a parent that forces them to try and be the best and puts all their worth on impressing people for love (aka mal and her mom’s whole situation) is going to carry that even when realizing their mom sucks. So they put mal into a huge amount of responsibility maybe six months later without any sort of therapy or support system, because the isle kids are messed up and the aurodan kids aren’t so they don’t know how to help. So magic becomes her sort of safety net.

Her friends and Ben obviously love her. That’s true, but from what we’re shown in the beginning of the movie, they aren’t helping with the pressure. Evie is trying to have her give up magic and Ben is giving her gifts and helping the paparazzi but none of them are actually getting to the root cause. No one is helping lift the pressure she’s putting on herself. No one seems to even notice that that’s the problem.

Mal is trying so hard to be perfect and what everyone wants her to be, so she’s using spells to help her. She wants them to know she’s trying and she wants to love her. She might know they do, but it’s unconscious at this point. She was sixteen in the first movie. So she’s like seventeen. This is something in her mind, ingrained for sixteen years. They gave her less than six months to undo that herself.

Obviously her actions are not justified or right, but saying she’s evil and awful when what happened was a very traumatized teenager who was shoved into responsibility she wasn’t ready for, snapped, is also wrong. She’s not right, but her snapping was inevitable. This entire thing could’ve been solved had her friends and loved ones talked things out with her. If they could see the stress before it boiled over. Maybe it was because of it being a movie but her stress wasn’t really hidden. Maybe from Ben, but from Evie? This could’ve been solved had they intervened or had aurodan grew a brain and realized villain kids aren’t evil but they sure are messed up.

[chronologically-challenged]

2, 9, and 13 for the ask game? ^_^

Isat ask game link!!! Thank you for the ask!!!!

2. Least Favorite Character?

Oooh, my spicy take first.

...Mal du pays.

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN, I adore them in concept!!!!! I think mdp is a good emotional conclusion to the ghost arc and a good way to show Siffrin losing his resolve at the end of act 5. There was an amazing analysis post about mdp and Siffrin's relationship with their own homesickness as well. However. Ngl. I remember none of mdp's lines. Also, the "someone intimidating your loved ones yelling back they hate you" isn't my favorite trope either.

Idk, mdp did nothing for me. I'm much more of a "darkness parts of your mind sound like sweet nothings" sorta person rather than the intensity of mdp. I'm sorry little homesick fella. Love that you had the fucked up version of the death music though.

9. What would your wish at the Favor tree be?

I am. Limiting the range of this question because otherwise I'd be here all day. I am going to assume that we're in a similar circumstance as the party and we're about to go fight the King, and I'm just a little guy hoping for some favor tomorrow, and don't know the favor tree has actual major reality bending power.

In THAT circumstance, I'd probably wish that we all would survive the next day.

13. Favorite Line?

Don't make me choose between my darlings-

Tbh I could pick nearly any line from the Loop fight tbh. When looking for any one particular line, I nearly cried, so there's that. My darling Loop my beloved, I want to give you the world.

But if not for that, tbh both the act 3 and act 4 versions of Odile's quest just stick with me. In general, Odile's quest is just one of the most fascinating in the game, and provides such a depth to the world. But I REALLY like that quest in particular reveals about Siffrin. Particularly act 4, between the family quest and the sus quest, you get a lot of the reason WHY emotionally Siffrin sticks with the loops and doesn't tell their family what's going on.

(Is it any wonder you crave knowledge? Habits?!?) (If it all keeps happening the exact same way every time, you'll never lose anything, will you? You'll HAVE to remember it all, because you're living it!!!) (Forever living in memories you can't let go of!!!) (You're so pathetic.) (Telling the King to let go?) (You can't even do that. Can't let go of it.) (This perfect play.)

Also it's one of the few family quests where Siffrin thinks mean things about them while not in act 5 aslkdja .

(What a privilege, to be able to think your roots don't inform your identity.)

(chef's kiss) love that for you Sif. Go be a little mean in your head. it's unfair, but also the fact it took this long to be mean is impressive tbh. Also good set up for act 5 alskdjsa.

[euphoniumpets]

Shamelessly flirting | Nikolai Lantsov x reader

Summary: being the good friend you are for Alina and Mal while trying to take down the Fold together, you never thought that you would meet an annoyingly privaater, let alone getting feelings for someone who pretended to be a pirate, but only the prince of Ravka.

Warnings: the sexual tension in this one.

Requested? Yes: I have an idea for a Nikolai one. Maybe where the reader is super shy, but still an amazing fighter, and Nikolai just loves to tease them and see them blush. Bonus if the reader is Alina and Mal's friend.

A/N: can you tell that i adore to write enemies to lovers but with nikolai lantsov???

request rules | navi  | new masterlist

''No point in denying it, Miss Starkov, you are the Sun Summoner,'' The man replied and looked at Alina. Tolya had led you to the captain of the ship and as soon you entered in the office, you were surprised to find a young pirate.

Although, you had your assumtion that the most pirates would reek of alcohol and with their nasty habits. ''You're right,'' Alina stated next to you. She raised her hands as you saw her forming two sunlights in her hands. ''Impressive,'' The captain commented, shaking his head in approval before a smirk forming on his lips.

''And it's not often that I say that,'' He replied. ''I guess that not many people impress you,'' You replied and felt boldy at the moment. Sturmhond chuckled at your comment.

''Well, you are the one who impressed me tonight with your beauty,'' He remarked. You felt your cheeks warming and avoided his glance at you, which made you shrink from embaressment.

Sturmhond looked at you with a smug look on his face. ''Let us go or you'll be out 20 million Kruge and a ship,'' Alina reasoned. ''While I'm well aware you could consign us all to the watery deep, you should consider how far away the docks we are,'' Sturmhond replied and walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of alcohol.

''Besides, I'm not handing you over to the Fjerdans,'' He replied and looked at Alina. ''You're not?''

You raised an eyebrow and crossed your arms. ''Saints no, I wouldn't dream of it,'' Sturmhond replied. ''Sorry, is it offensive to say that in a presence of a living saint?'' He questioned and looked at Alina.

''So, what do you want with us then?'' You asked. ''With him? Nothing,'' Sturmhond replied and gestured toward Mal. You and Mal looked at each other with amusement. ''With you? You can keep me company, I wouldn't mind staring at you all day,'' Sturmhond commented.

You scoffed at his comment. ''But the sun summoner, well, you have to know you're quite valuable,''

''You just said you wouldn't turn her in for a bounty,'' Mal stated.

''Pirate,'' You added.

''Privateer,'' Sturmhond corrected. ''As if there's a difference?''

''There is,'' Sturmond said. ''And what I said was I wouldn't hand her over to the Fjerdans, I said nothing of the Kerch or Shu, I paid a small fortune to empty the dock and make sure you got into my ship, and frankly, I think the Fjerdans are severely undervaluing you,''

''Not much as I valuing your beauty,'' Sturmhond replied and looked at you. You, however, just glared at him in response.

‘’You’re right, they are because you’ll be able to ask the King of Ravka for twice as much,’’ You replied and leaned closer to the desk and you didn't miss the way his eyes trailed to your eyes and then to your lips, making you blush even further.

‘’You know the king?’’ He asked with a smirk. ‘’My friend is the Sun summoner,’’ You responded. ‘’By all the accounts, the First Army have now turned their sights on Grisha, thanks to what you and your conspirator did in the Fold-’’ Sturmhond replied before glancing back at Alina behind you.

‘’The Darkling and I were not partners,’’ Alina cut him off. ‘’You may believe otherwise, but once I tear down the Fold and reunite Ravka, the world will see I am not his ally,’’ Alina told him with a firm voice.

‘’Help us, and you will be rewarded,’’ You spoke, making him look at you again.

‘’To tear down the Fold?’’

‘’And how do you plan on doing that exactly?’’ He scoffed. ‘’By hunting down Morozova’s Sea Whip,’’ You revealed. ‘’Y/N,’’ Mal warned you, and you held your hand out to stop him. ‘’I suppose if the stag existed, the Sea Whip and the Firebird might as well,’’ He replied and looked at you in disbelief. ‘’You couldn’t do it with one amplifier, but two,’’ Sturmhond said and looked at Alina.

You leaned back on your chair.

‘’Unburdened by General Kirigan under my power,’’ Alina said. ‘’Will you help us or not?’’ You asked him with a frown. He stepped up from his desk with a thoughtful look on his face. ‘’There’s adventure, danger, money,’’ He spoke before he turned around with a grin on his face.

‘’Now you’re speaking my language!’’

[kalims]

⊹ SPEAK NOW | malleus draconia

premise. malleus has been planning something for a while now, first he decided quality was foremost. wouldn't you appreciate the things he love about you? well that failed. now he just has to settle with quality, the most grandest suprise of a confession just for you.

it's just a battle of will if his impatience clouds over the voices that won't even let him profess to you!

content. gender neutral reader, fluff, crack

wc. 4.2k words, I know it's a hassle to read long posts but give me a chance :')

note. thank you to paru who generously commissioned me again! <3 i hope you enjoy it and everyone else as well <3

written a total of 8k+ words for mal in the span of two works now whew wow

not even malleus' future coronation would hold the amount of planning as this.

"my, I'm very impressed." sat upon a velvet chair lilia chuckles with a clear look of amusement present on his face. "I did not expect you to learn how to create a powerpoint presentation." 

he watches malleus' lips curve into a small smile—no doubt feeling a sense of accomplishment by the former's words. he was always like this wasn't he? looking for praise when he was a child. fufu.. lilia muses, but his boy is all grown up now. malleus is no longer a child despite lilia having to say something about it.

no longer a child as in now a grown man attempting to get his 'approval' of his apparent chosen beloved.

when malleus stretched out an invitation to him for a serious talk (well. malleus didn't mention the serious part but the look on his face, is something lilia can easily discern.) he didn't think much of it. perhaps the boy just wanted to open up about something.

he's not sure if malleus already sensed his presence but lilia is sure that even though he's getting pretty old blending in with the shadows is a skill he hasn't slacked off upon.

lilia chose not to announce his presence and step out instead, who knows? maybe malleus will finally emit that startled face he's been looking for. though he seems used to the sight of lilia popping out of nowhere.. in everywhere to the point that it just doesn't bother him as much.

unsurprisingly malleus didn't bat an eye and just ushered him to sit down and that he did.

lilia merely watches in amused silence when malleus attempts to open the laptop, failing to click the right button for a few times before the black screen brightens up in light. before he knew it he could spot the microsoft powerpoint icon below the bar.

being curious was an understatement.

though he's certainly proud that the device; valid enough to call frail did not break under malleus' power. or, maybe he should just be proud that the boy did not lose his cool.

by the time lilia finished pondering about it, malleus had finally figured out how to fullscreen it. "are you ready?" politely questioned by the horned man, at least he still attained the manners taught by lilia.

the latter flashes him a fanged grin. "whenever you are."

the first screen is just an introduction. it looked familiar and lilia is fairly sure malleus just looked up a tutorial and copy-pasted it. 'why you should be my lover.' it read, and he already knew that this isn't meant for him. but meant to get his opinion.

not for me but for you. he muses. how adorable!

'1.) I am very influential. I will be king soon and I will get you whatever you ask.' true but he should get your opinion on that, whether you care about his status or not.

'2.) you told me you like my horns, so I shall banish everyone else who has it if it could deter you from loving me.' ah. that one is a bit extreme.. lilia has no doubts that the boy will actually do it.

malleus' face though, shifts into something serious when he spots the second slide. yep, he's not joking.

'3.) I find you very endearing and would like to wed you as soon as possible.' eh.. this one showcases his clear love for you but since humans and fae have varied degrees of love it might be a little too fast for you.

'4.) ramshackle has its charms but my castle is a much more comfortable living condition. if you'd be mine it will all be yours' romantic.

'5.) I will be with you forever. if there is ever a time when the world is against you, it will be us against it together. rest assured, you will not be alone because I will face it with you'

"how swe—oh." lilia blinks when malleus accidentally exits and with his keen eyes, was able to spot the amount of slides there are. goodness me. there are over a hundred. lilia chuckles.

lilia loves malleus. very much so, that boy is practically his son that he raised with his sweat and tears. there are no lengths he's not willing to cross for his beloved family but wow.. for once lilia is speechless once he realizes.

a bit much.. isn't it? though not mentioned, malleus took his sweet time going over each slide and pausing to further elaborate on the contents of the smile. and if there really are over a 100 slides it isn't gonna finish anytime soon.

plus cater invited lilia for another night out. isn't that nice? he can't simply bail on his.. young friend like that.

"I can see how much you see the prefect dear." lilia starts, watching malleus' face soften into something genuine. "if you want my honest opinion. a human will not receive much love in the valley." he says simply.

just like that his face crumbles into something heartbroken. like the truth was just slapped to his face and left there. lilia's heart clenches at the look so he continues, "but my opinion as your caretaker, love knows no bounds. if you truly love them then you should do so freely." 

just like that malleus looks up at him, peering and all. looking hopeful.

slowly but surely the light that had drained from his face gradually came back and lilia is taken back to the past once he compares his current expression to one when he was a kid receiving his first gift that's something other than an object made entirely out of riches.

a gift so priceless.

malleus smiles, the one where his eyes would crinkle and obscure his vision, and his pointy ears would twitch in joy. if he had a tail it would certainly be wagging right now. "thank you. shall I deliver it to them now?"

"you mean to send, honey?"

he blinks. "ah, yes."

_

in an equally concerning and interesting way. lately, sebek has been... more lenient? which is strange to a degree because he would never let you get away without scolding your ear off for literally referring to malleus as 'tsunotaro'. 

well. he did pause to give you a look but you get the point! the sebek does not only spare a look when it comes to the expense of malleus.

ace chatters away beside you, once again attempting to start an argument against deuce who's very intent on being a pacifist for some reason.

and grim? well. grim's probably robbing someone's lunch right now.

for once all you four have collectively set your eyes on something. you narrow your eyes. "he's acting weird." your hand flicks to a certain green-haired male while the other three nod in agreement.

"why don't we ask him right now?" ace suggests with a cheeky smile. before deuce could object and clamp his mouth shut he was already shouting; "sebek! why are you acting weird?"

said boy immediately hears. fae heritage you suppose. you can tell from the furrow of his brows but for an odd reason, you’re not sure of yourself his face shifts into something.. proud? sebek looks at the student he was conversing with before walking over.

and with a triumphant grin he says; “malleus-sama has finally taken notice of my devotion!” you raise your brows and share a look with the other three cause, seriously? that man can’t notice sebek if it meant his life.

though you can't deny the rush of curiosity flowing into your head. sure, it seemed wholly impossible and weird overall but it didn’t mean that you wouldn’t wanna find out.

it seemed like deuce wanted to know as well. “uh.. how exactly?”

“ha! are you planning to do the same?” huffed sebek.

deuce looked like a mixture of offended and concerned. “let’s go with that?”

“well, lilia-sama sent me a presentation and said it was from the master. It was about appreciating my one-of-a-kind existence!”

you look flabbergasted. “oh… wow, i didn’t know malleus was so caring about his.. subjects.”

sebek nods in agreement. to think about it, at the mention of lilia and the message in the same sentence flashes a series of memories back into your mind. earlier this day, didn't lilia send a heads up? something about malleus and.. message.

but that's just crazy right? there's no way it would be connected to this. you nod your head at sebek slowly, "good for you dude." his face scrunches up at your casual nickname but in favor of your genuine comment, he'll let it slide.

blinking, you ask; "where is malleus anyways?" at your question sebek's back straightens as he stands up straight and sort of, glowers at you.

a part of sebek knows that the most logical action to do right now was, of course, to withdraw that kind of information from you cause really, who are you? in comparison to the young master, not even the most noblest of nobles are being told his locations.

for a security measure sebek approves of.

but sebek has witnessed and watched malleus' glory himself. next to you, it's as though you’re blind to it which is immensely insulting—but, as he's on his way to run his mouth off at you he sees something in the young master's eyes.

something new and warm.

maybe that's what he needs. someone who will be blind to the glory accompanying him and just see the person behind it. that must be it! malleus feels like a person behind your eyes.

though most do not think so, you're good for him. and even as much as sebek would rather strangle himself to admit it, it's true.

so he makes up his mind and just tells you, sparing the other three (who are very interested in the conversation apparently.) a glance before leaning towards you so they won't hear. "I heard the young master was visiting the botanical garden."

huh. that's new.

before you could open your mouth to ask why he just shoves the face of his palm to your face. "and do not even think about sharing this to anyone!" he shouts. alerting everyone that you do have something to say.

seriously?

sebek just marches away, most probably going to haul silver out of his peaceful nap.

"what did he say?" asked ace.

you make a blank face. for the sake of your dignity, and probably his own you'll keep the promise sebek bestowed upon you. "absolutely nothing."

you ignore ace's grumbles and complaints, out of anticipation you suppose. there's nothing juicier than whatever he witnessed and since sebek practically announced it he wants to know whatever he told you.

again. you give the other two a farewell before walking off without another word to ace.

clearly, there's something freaky going on inside the garden. you wince, picking your leg out of an awfully strong grip of a plant that's very much alive. well, you knew they weren't dead but they didn't always try to just rip off your limbs.

also, it was literally raining in here, how is it raining?! the sun was literally out like a second ago before you entered.

if that wasn't supernatural then you don't know what is.

which makes you curious. whose ass would professor crewel and crowley alike hand back to them? something as strange as this wouldn't pass without notice.

you flinch. also, does no one see the lightning flashing from outside?!

okay so you know that malleus would definitely survive under this weather but your real question is; where the hell is he anyways? from the amount of time you crossed through the botanical garden gave you a vague understanding of the layout.

but that didn't mean you'd really enjoy spending a good amount of time wandering in search of a green man.

with horns.

he's pretty tall..

you blank. "malleus?" you try.

surprisingly unsurprising the man literally materializes next to you in the form of.. some kind of sparkle. and he displays a cool attitude even at the sight of you frowning at him out of confusion, probably also recovering from the jumpscare.

"oh.. you actually came." you deadpan. was it that easy all along?

a smile plays on his lips. "you called."

"is someone bothering you, child of man?" he asked seriously. stepping forward and you notice that he hesitates in taking your arms and checking them over but instead lets them hover over it uselessly.

you raise your brows but make no move to point him out. "uh.. no? but something is bothering me though."

maybe saying that was a mistake cause you suspect that malleus' fondness for you (if not too big of an assumption) surpasses all kinds of basic logic sometimes.

by sometimes you mean.. a long of times.

in a flash his concerned look shifts into something hilariously serious. "hm? there are.. what is it then? a cursed artifact?" your brows furrow and in a way you actually don't know what to say.

"what." you deadpan. "no?"

"perhaps lilia's guitar with electricity is bothering you?" tried again by malleus.

uh oh. now you gotta deny that one or else he'll actually destroy that and lilia is gonna be really cold when he does that. "heavens no!"

now he just looks confused. "what is it then? tell me. I will rid it for you."

you sweatdrop. "no I mean.. I heard you were supposed to be giving me a message or something from lilia. but you weren't anywhere so I asked where you were." you explained. gesturing wildly as malleus listens intently. 

finally, after a good solid 10 seconds of silence, a look of understanding washes over his face and you exhale a sigh of relief. "ah. that is correct."

"so where is it?"

"please, give me a second."

right in front of your eyes he just flat-out disappeared in the same particles he appeared with. so you just stand there awkwardly in silence, only realizing that the very stormy weather had disappeared and faded into something normal.

you shrug. weird things are normal here you guess.

before then malleus had already returned with a.. chest of.. crystals and he looks oddly bashful and shy when he just holds it out to you. (also proud? but you get the point!) "uh." you start, unsure.

"what's this?" you gesture to the bundle that would cost you a whole literal mansion to get.

he smiles at you. "I realized that perhaps the message from the electronic device would not match up the meaning I'd like to convey so I figured I'd do this instead." also you didn't even reply to him. of course you wouldn't! he'd feel insulted too if that's all he'd do to express his love and gratitude. 

malleus takes advantage of your confusion and carefully places the box in your arms. you nearly fall over from the weight cause what the hell are these things made of?

expensive minerals you suppose.

"these are traditional gifts in briar valley." he explained. but like, what? you mean over a thousand gems and whatnot in a box is a gift? all of a sudden you feel bad gifting him a rock as a joke because you didn't have anything on you.

I should really step up. you think grimly.

malleus seems to be thinking. "and.. a gift for cour—"

"malleus." seethed an eerily cold voice. both of you just freeze and malleus shuts up completely. is he actually looking tense and scared?!

you look at lilia with wide eyes, unblinking in fear that if you do blink he's just gonna teleport right at your face and next thing you know everything's black.

although malleus definitely looks less horrified than you, he looks way too scared for you to think that way. 

hesitantly, malleus replies quietly. "lilia." he places his arms behind his back like he's speaking to a war general or something but that's impossible haha..

"care to explain why my instrument suddenly caught on fire after it got struck by electricity?" lilia raises a brow. casting you a kind glance for a second before returning his sharp look at malleus.

the latter tips his head in shame and you feel like you should not be witnessing this.

but wait. malleus actually did that? you thought he was literally joking.

you did not see malleus after that.

to word it better he was not allowed to see you.

lilia had said, and you quote. 'he simply won't learn if I don't punish him' with a shrug so casual that you doubted if it was the same malleus he grounded that you were thinking about. 

the 'top 10 in ranking in terms of power' kind of malleus you were thinking.

if malleus actually listened to lilia then you doubt that he doesn't have some kind of comparable power.

while for some time you did think that lilia sent malleus to solitary confinement, unlikely but with him apparently not having met with anyone it's definitely possible.

well that theory was quickly thrown out the window when you find a letter right at the mat of your front door. signed in an eccentric manner by; m.d which could only belong to one person.

long story short, he wanted to meet you at the school cafeteria which was strange in itself cause you're almost sure that the students avoid malleus like the plague and if he's there surely it'd be wiped out right now.

which.. you're not exactly opposed to if it meant not having a huge line to the menu!

though you suppose the environment had made you used to it.

when you come close the doors magically open, and they were not given the privilege to close seeing as they still sensed you near.

well the reason why you won't let the doors just close is for the very fact that the tables of the cafeteria are absolutely gone. replaced with many eccentric tables filled with food, and drinks alike.

also, there's a literal disco ball so something was definitely going on. was there some kind of secret prom that no one told you about? if so then you're about to bolt out knowing full well you're in your regular uniform.

many people who you presume as students are all littered across the room with varying fancy degrees of clothing. either devouring the tables or just dancing.

overall it was very fancy and clearly you aren't even meant to be here.

you pause a little longer to take in the surroundings in hopes of satisfying your curiosity. unfortunately, all you had was a party you accidentally trespassed on (again. not your fault, no one told you!) so you just turned on your heel, and the doors literally shut in your face.

"???" you blink.

"apologies but if I let you leave malleus will be more upset." giggled a familiar voice, far less colder than you remember from your previous meeting. you snap your head to lilia who looks like he's resolved whatever with malleus.

you furrow your brows. "wait, this is his doing?" you cross your arms over your chest. unlike this very colorful room, in comparison to appealing dark malleus it was completely a contrast. a weird one.

lilia nods with a cheeky smile. he knows more than he tells you. "yes."

"but why exactly?"

"hm. you really don't know? shall I tell you?" he places a finger over his chin and looks up. "I shouldn't!"

is he really doing this right now?

at your frowning face lilia chuckles away. "I'm merely jesting, dear. you see malleus hasn't gotten time to properly convey his message to you."

well, that is true. you blank. even a few days ago since the adeuce duo was always following you around it was only in due time that their tongues would betray them when malleus asked to talk to you alone.

"you didn't even send the message that you said he had for me." you narrow your eyes at lilia who pauses. "oh, did I?"

"yes, you did."

he shrugs. "well that was an accident."

"like the time at the botanical garden?"

this time he looks more sheepish at your constant picking but quickly laughs it off. lilia appears behind you and guides you down the main area with a push. for such a small body he's doing it quite easily, no?

not that you'd ever say that out loud.

"I shouldn't keep my boy's special guest, off you go." he whisks you away to the crowd and pushes you there.

next thing you know you're face to face with a very happy malleus who obviously perks up at your presence and waves a finger.

suddenly there's some kind of big light shining down at you, in response you raise an arm over your eyes and think; what in the hell is going on?! why is everything going so fast?

you could hear everyone silence out and feel the embarrassment grow tenfold. why did you even come here again? "my child of man." malleus starts and by the volume of his voice you can tell that he's using a microphone. 

you freeze up. "what." you reply slowly.

"before I've met you my world was encased in grey and white."

is he like proposing or something?

"everyone was afraid of me, even those deemed as strong. so it made me wonder, why you? a powerless, ordinary human were not?" way to hurt a 'powerless, ordinary human's' feelings malleus

"perhaps I am a fool but I realized the reason why everything was so colorless. when I stared into your eyes for the first time I realized that everything was warm—colorful. the rest isn't my world, because it's—"

you were about to think that you were equally flattered and embarrassed but before he could finish his little speech the mic just gets straight up cut off. 

everyone looks behind malleus and you want to bolt out when you realize that those three are your friends. you facepalm. "oh for the love of.."

malleus reaches out to you. "wait—"

"hmph. I should have known this would have attracted trouble." vil.

"child of man?"

"how improper! draconia was speaking.. when I get my hands on them it's off with their head!" riddle.

"I apologize for the inconvenience i—"

"if you'd like them to have a suitable punishment I know just the thing." azul.

"stop speaking right now." seethed malleus.

"everyone keep talking." said leona smoothly. 

"oh my.. this will end in disaster." lilia.

"ace I told you to not go here!"

"shut up deuce!"

"you—"

a myriad of voices all start bypassing each other and it's honestly hard to hear who's speaking save from a few familiar voices.

you glance at everyone with a mixture of concern and irritation before your gaze lands over malleus, then down his hand which held a microphone who was long broken before.

somehow lightning strikes inside the cafeteria, just centimeters away from the trio who huddled together and shook in a group hug.

"ENOUGH." everyone does just that.

"as I was saying, you are my world (name) and I'd very much like it if I can be yours." malleus says quickly, looking away shyly before smiling at you like he didn’t just snap.

everyone's jaw drops, including yours but that's not the only thing that did because well. you did too! figuratively and literally. 

if the silence wasn't already prominent before then it certainly is because everyone just watched you on the floor after the thump, clearly unconscious and comically steaming from the ears.

then it's just a very panicky-chaotic scenario, a lot of screaming that just made more people start screaming too.

in a flash, malleus is hovering over your body. simultaneously looking you over for possible injuries that might have caused this and about to stare down anyone that actually dared to come in closer.

except lilia it seems.

the last person that tried to approach was grim and he got the searing glare from malleus.

malleus softens his look once he spares a glance at you and quickly leans over to lilia. "what's happened? have they been poisoned? cursed?"

lilia chuckles. "not at all. I'm afraid your confession had not only given everyone a shock but them as well."

"so I've done this?" malleus looks immensely saddened. lilia explains once again like he's done it over a hundred times. "it's not your fault my dear."

"you bring them to the infirmary, stay by their side. I'm sure they will be happy to see you there one they wake up." lilia said, malleus already being one step ahead and sliding you in his arms.

he's dreamt of doing this but definitely not this way!

"meanwhile I will deal with this mess of a party." lilia shakes his head. "go now."

an hour later you wake up disoriented and so confused as to why malleus is so suddenly affectionate with you. the bigger question is, why is everyone staring at you?!

"so you'll help me right, azul?"

the former laughs nervously at you and tips his hat in an apologetic motion. "I'm afraid I can't.. someone like me surely is not worth your time." he continues laughing, sneaking a gaze behind you and dipping it quickly once he sees the flash of green.

you just stare at him confused. why won't anyone talk with you normally?

note. OMG I just realized the title i picked is literally perfect!! if you know the song then you'll know the line 'horrified looks from everyone in the room' IT MATCHES RIGHT HELP

commision me!

[theungracefulpasterie]

Hey! How are you?

I saw that you were open for requests on BSD. Could you write something with Verlaine, or with Dazai? I was thinking of something like, the reader wants to throw a surprise party so they are keeping it a secret from Verlaine/Dazai. How would they react? Would they find out about the surprise, and if yes, would they pretend they didn't know, to let the reader happy? I don't know if it makes that much sense...

Also, another thing, I saw that you speak french so could I ask you to write it in french? It's just cuz I'll have to do a french exam, but sometimes I distract myself from the studies and read fanfics 😅. This way, if you can write it in french I can both read about BSD and train my french.

I'm sorry if it's stupid or doesn't make sense, you're free to ignore this if you'd like, but I would appreciate it if you wouldn't.

Have a nice day 🥰

A/N : Hi, thanks for the request ! Of course I can do it in French, it'll be helpful for both you and I tbh 😅 ! Sorry if I took time to publish as well, I am also held at gunpoint by the exams 😭. I'll write for Verlaine first if it doesn't bother you, then for Dazai in another post if you don't mind ! Anyways, hope you'll like it !

P.O.V : You throw a surprise party for him (Verlaine's part)(in French)

~Verlaine~

Remettons les choses dans leur contexte : Tu n'étais pas un haut gradé dans la Mafia Portuaire, mais tu en es quand même un membre puissant et précieux. C'est pourquoi tu as été affecté par Mori lui-même à superviser la surveillance de ceux que la Mafia gardait captifs, emprisonnés. Et c'est là que tu le rencontres : Paul Verlaine, emprisonné aux tréfonds de la Mafia après un gros incident avec Chuuya que tu n'arrivais toujours pas à comprendre malgré le nombre de fois que ce dernier t'a raconté.

Mais étrangement, quelque chose t'attirait sans cesse vers lui. Plus tu l'observais, plus tu te rendais compte qu'il était vraiment déprimé, comme si tout cet incident l'avait privé de toute joie de vivre. Il te faisait de la peine. À force de l'observer, il finit par te remarquer et parla.

"C'est mal élevé de fixer les gens comme ça", dit-il d'un air sec mais quelque peu humoristique. Son commentaire te surprena et tu te mis à rougir de honte.

"Désolé !! C'est pas ça mais... vous sembliez triste c'est tout...", tu répondis en essayant de fuir son regard. Il te regarda, confus.

"Je vous imaginais beaucoup moins sensible que ça pour quelqu'un qui a l'air si haut placé..."

"Je suis peut-être privilégié ici mais ça ne veut pas dire que je suis un monstre non plus.", tu lui répondis sérieusement. Tu ne sais pas pourquoi, mais t'avais l'impression que ta sincérité l'avait touché. Bon, c'est sûrement une fausse impression...

Après quelques minutes de silence il disa d'une voix douce.

"Ma tristesse se voyait tant que ça ?", tu hochas la tête et t'approchas de sa cellule pour lui faire face.

"Je... je ne peux pas faire partir la tristesse. Mais si ça vous soulage, même si c'est un peu bizarre que ce soit à moi que vous vous confiez, faites-le.", dis-tu comme si vous étiez de vieux amis. À cause de ça, Paul ne pouvait s'empêcher de penser que tu lui rappelais Rimbaud. C'est peut-être pour ça que, étonnement, il se confie à toi.

Et plus les jours, les semaines et les lois passèrent, il te parlait de ce qui l'accablait et le rendait triste. Et ces petites séances de psy se transformaient peu à peu en des discussions normales où vous parliez de tout et de rien, comme des amis. Ça vous rapprochait grandement. Vous aviez commencé à vous tutoyer. Mais vous sentiez tout les deux qu'il y avait une tension en plus. Étonnement, c'est Paul qui a fait le premier pas. Et c'est comme ça que, malgré les barreaux, vous aviez commencé à vous donner des surnoms affectifs et à vous tenir la main et carresser le visage. Vous rêviez que ces barreaux n'existent plus et d'enfin pouvoir vous sentir, l'un contre l'autre complètement.

Pour être honnête, votre rapprochement n'était pas très discret et Chuuya et Mori ont finit par être au courant. Tu avais clairement peur pour ta vie, mais à ta grande surprise, Chuuya te disa rien et Mori accepta même votre relation, à condition que tes sentiments ne contrôlent pas la qualité de ton travail. Et c'est là que tu proposas l'idée d'une fête surprise pour Paul, tellement tu étais content. Tu te rendas tout de suite compte que tu étais peut-être aller trop loin avec cette demande mais encore une fois, Mori accepta de libérer Paul de sa cellule !

Tu ne tenais plus en place ! Tu te mis directement à faire les préparatifs pour que la fête soit la meilleure qui soit, c'est que mérite ton bien-aimé après tout. Malheureusement, le temps que tu prenais pour préparer la fête empiétait sur le rendez-vous quotidien que tu avais avec Paul et il se sentait malheureux.

Tu avais enfin fini. Tu te rendas vite à sa cellule et voyait qu'il était pas aussi heureux de te voir et tu savais pourquoi.

"Chéri, je suis désolé vraiment...", il te faisait la sourde oreille.

"Mais je te jure que ça valait le coup !", tu pris tes clés et ouvrit sa cellule. Le retentissement des clés le fit rapidement relever sa tête, tout confus. Tu lui tendis la main.

"Viens, j'ai quelque chose pour toi !", dis-tu avec un énorme sourire et un peu de rougeur sur tes joues.

Avec des yeux écarquillés de confusion, il hésita quelques secondes avant de prendre ta main. Ça faisait bizarre de vous voir enfin sans quelque chose entre vous, vous aviez envie de vous enlacer pendant des heures, mais tu étais trop pressé de lui montrer sa surprise que tu te mis à courir toujours avec ta main serrée contre la sienne, ce qui lui prit de court car il allait t'entourer de ses bras.

"Est-ce que... est-ce qu'on a le droit de filer en douce comme ça ??", dit-il un peu inquiet de se faire prendre en flagrant délit.

"Oh chut ! Tais-toi et suis-moi ! Tu sais que je le ferais pas si je n'en avais pas le droit !", il réfléchit et hocha la tête en accord avec ce que tu dis. Après ce qui semblaient être des minutes interminables, vous arriviez enfin à une porte.

"Prêt ?!", tu lui demandas avec empressement.

"Je ne sais pas... je pense que oui, peu importe ce que c'est..", dit-il en retour. Tu ouvris donc la porte et tout le monde cria "Surprise !!". Il a eu peur au début et allait utiliser son pouvoir quand il vit une banderole où il était écrit "En l'honneur de Paul" avec un cœur un peu mal fait, malgré tout tes efforts. Il arrivait pas à en croire ses yeux, il avait du mal à former ses mots et te regarda et se perdit dans tes yeux.

"Alors ?", tu demandas, un peu effrayé de sa réponse.

"C'est... c'est vraiment pour moi ?", dit-il la voix tremblante, sentant des larmes se former dans ses yeux contre son gré.

Tu pris son visage entre tes mains et l'embrassa tendrement, pour la première fois, sur ses lèvres. Elles étaient si douces. Ce qui se passait en ce moment semblait irréel pour le manipulateur de gravité. Tu séparas tes lèvres des siennes et le regarda droit dans les yeux.

"Eh ouais... ce n'est pas un rêve mon amour."

Il t'enlaça très fort et te disa :

"Je t'aime.."

"Moi aussi, Paul. Je t'aime.."

Et c'est à ce moment que cette fête surprise symbolisa le départ d'une nouvelle vie pour Verlaine.

A/N : Finallyyy the end 😭. For a first fic, I am pretty happy with how it turned out even though I felt like I quite rushed things towards the end. Hope it is not too long and the buildup until the party isn't too slow for you too. And if I also hope this story will make you understand how French works a little bit more ! And for the others reading this, don't hesitate to translate it :). Next will be the same prompt but with Dazai !

[linilunilumi]

Schloss Einstein Staffel 26 Rewatch pt. III

Folge 1031, 1032 & 1033

Gleich zwei schlechte Omen für meine favourite best friends in dieser Folge: 1. "Nur, dass das hier das richtige Leben ist." - "Ich weiß!" - "Wirklich?" Spoiler: Julia wusste nicht, dass es das richtige Leben ist und träumt sich einen boyfriend herbei. Und fällt damit hart auf die Schnauze. 2. "Noah ist gefährlich!", "Spinnst du?! Am Ende sind wir die nächsten Opfer!", "Ich hab' dich jedenfalls gewarnt!" Spoiler: Colin wird Noahs nächstes Opfer und ihm wird das Herz gebrochen. Er hätte wohl besser auf Joels Warnung hören sollen... andererseits ist Joel auch der einzige Grund, weshalb Colin überhaupt mit in den Wald geht und sich in Noah verliebt. Schuldig oder nicht, das ist hier die Frage? dass Colin das ganze Gespräch lang durch die Gegend hüpft, macht alles aber noch so viel witziger ckxlnklfn und stuntman johnny in der nächsten szene verdient einen award, bin immer noch impressed von dem fall

Und wir beenden Folge 1031 mit Colins double take im Wald, der damals mein gaydar anschlagen lassen hat. Sein liebevoller Blick hätte zu dem Zeitpunkt noch Freddy gelten können (weil wenn wir mal ehrlich sind, ich hab auch schon bei anderen schloss einstein charakteren gay vibes gespürt, die dann nie da waren lol), aber dann kam die nächste Folge...

bro gay panicked an saw heaven at the same time (the ray of sunshine on his face is a paid actor actually)

Es ist klar, dass Noahs Antworten an Frau Holopainen ziemlich disrespectful sind (wenn auch iconic). ABER ich muss sagen, dass Noah sich mMn ursprünglich nicht allzu unhöflich verhalten hat: Er ist zu spät gekommen (kann passieren), kommt in den Raum rein (vielleicht etwas sehr laut aber okay) und setzt sich ohne etwas zu sagen hin. ALSO stört er Mikka und Casper bei deren Vortrag dadurch weniger als Frau Holopainen, die die beiden erstmal unterbricht. Sie hätte ja auch am Ende der Stunde nochmal mit Noah reden können, wenn ihr Pünktlichkeit so wichtig ist.

"Der braucht Zeit und mit Fremden ist er immer total misstrauisch. Dauert immer ewig, bis der überhaupt-" Sicher, dass wir hier über Freddy reden und nicht über Noah selbst?

Es wäre eine Schande, folgenden Moment nicht zu erwähnen:

Mein Held aus Folge 1033 (und insgesamt) <3 Insgesamt liebe ich aber alle Colin, Noah & Joel Szenen in Folge 1032 (oder jemals) einfach sehr i would talk about every single one of them if i could

[mangora]

So I haven’t been fulfilling my obligations as resident Scike enjoyer recently and I finally have a night with no coursework due, so here’s a meta analysis post about my interpretations of Scott and Mike’s characters, primarily as told through their relationship with one another. This isn’t necessarily accurate, some of these are definitely reaches or headcanons with little basis in reality, it’s not like a serious essay; this is just for fun since I find their relationship (or I guess, my idea of their relationship) fascinating 👍

So, naturally we start with episode one, where we’re introduced to Scott and Mike as well as the other generation two characters. Scott, off the bat, is unfriendly and untrusting; even before Jo says anything, he eyes her with malcontent. Scott looks at Mike with a seemingly annoyed expression when he’s introduced next. Mike, in contrast to Scott, is smiling and taking in the view. Scott notices immediately when Zoey nudges him and stares at her arm; I don’t think this demonstrates any sort of feelings for Mike on Scott’s part, yet at least, but rather it seems to display his social awareness. He’s already trying to gauge both Mike and Zoey’s personalities and dynamic— he could also be judging them, or a mix of that and the aforementioned gauging. Regardless, Scott’s already shown to be suspicious of others.

Meanwhile, Mike’s shown to form an attachment right away, specifically to Zoey. Their very minor interaction causes him to smile and espouse that the view is beautiful, though he’s obviously regarding her. This causes him to let his guard down, along with Zoey, which leaves both susceptible to being shoved out of the way by Lightning. Take note of this, as Mike’s desire to form stable relationships becomes a hallmark of his character. The dichotomy between Scott being untrusting when he should be and Mike being trusting when he shouldn’t be will become a running theme as well.

The next time we see them both is after the intro, when Scott refuses to help Cameron and calls him a “spaz”. This is contrasted with Mike being too kind with Zoey when they should be helping Staci out of the water, which causes him to be pulled underwater by her and could have led to them both drowning. This not only aligns with our theme of trust vs lack thereof, but also Mike’s goodwill vs Scott’s lack thereof again. It seems that what Scott needs, Mike supplies to a harmful excess; however, as we will touch on later, both of these incidents with Mike only occurred when there was another person there (Zoey) who he sought to impress or bond with. Right now all of these exist in an unjoined microcosm, but once again, scenes like this repeat throughout the season. 

Another scene worth noting is Mike’s confessional directly after. Mike’s already attached himself to Zoey, admiring her kindness and immediately jumping to the idea of a relationship with her. We’ve already established that Mike wants human connection, but here we also see the added element of insecurity; he already fears rejection for his “quirk”, which we will later discover is his DID (called “Multiple Personality Disorder” in the show; I am not fucking calling it that). He doesn’t state it to the audience yet, showing that maybe he’s not as trusting with people who he can’t directly connect with; even though he probably knows that he will inevitably be outed to them, for lack of a better term. Since he’s insecure about this, and because he says he hopes his “condition doesn’t ruin anything for [him] again”, we can draw the reasonable conclusion that Mike’s probably been rejected for his DID before, whether by potential romantic interests or by his peers more generally (with the added context of season five this could also be referring to how Mal got the system sent to jail, but honestly I’m not sure if the writers planned that far in advance so we’re not really gonna talk about it). It could also be possible that one of Mike’s motives for joining the show, besides the money, was to make friends or find a partner in a new group of people who didn’t know this detail of his life, and to do that by hiding his DID. Once again, this will seem like less of a reach as we continue to see this pattern unfold; it’s good to establish now the idea that Mike is heavily concerned with interpersonal relationships and self-image so we can continue compounding on that thesis as we go on. 

Next time we see either Mike or Scott is on the beach. Staci is talking about her family and Mike is obviously ignoring her in favor of looking at Zoey. This shows that while Mike is nice, he might not view everyone as an equal opportunity for human connection; he gets attached to Zoey instantly and regards her above everyone else, quick to establish a clear-cut and intense relationship in his mind with someone he barely knows. When Zoey even implies that they could become friends, he appears overjoyed. He’s so excited, and for what? Put a pin in this. 

Our focus shifts back to Scott briefly in the team formation scene before the first challenge. Scott and Lightning smile at each other (or maybe generally? It’s unclear if Scott’s looking at him) as they’re put on the same team. His smile fades when Brick shouts “Sir, yes sir!”, but rather than looking maybe annoyed or angry, he looks uncharacteristically concerned. His smile returns when B shoves Brick, then changes to annoyance when B’s put on his team. There are two major explanations for this. The first and most likely is that Scott’s scoping out his teammates and competition; he’s happy that Lightning’s on his team because he’s not very smart, then concerned and happy again when Brick’s put on the other team because he’s loyal and physically capable, and then he’s upset that B’s on his team because B’s intelligent and looks (is?) strong/fast. However, on the other hand, Scott’s expressions seem oddly earnest, especially considering how he behaves throughout the rest of the series. Maybe he’s secretly glad that Lightning’s here because he enjoys his company. Something that really caught my eye was Scott’s concern for Brick. Brick’s obviously military (likely due to family circumstances), and in season five, we learn that Scott’s dad is ex-military. Scott might be slightly worried because he knows what the military is like, or what military parents are like. We’ll talk more about Scott’s potential home situation later, but I dunno, something about him in this scene seems weirdly tame considering how he is normally; he seems oddly worried and not about the right people, like all things considered it would be best for his plan if his team was weak but he seems constantly annoyed by the additions of people like Dakota and Sam. 

Skipping over more of Scott being annoyed at people and Mike being anxious, when the teams get their names, Mike is the first to ask about the references to chemical waste. Though he’s very likely one of many to notice this, the fact he asked first and without hesitation shows that he’s both worried and quick to observe things. He continues to appear concerned by the growling of the “monster”, but seems to hold back from showing this, staying still with a worried expression. He might be trying to keep it cool to protect his image; or, maybe he’s trying to keep others from worrying as well, considering that Cameron’s already freaking out. When it gets closer, he holds Zoey in his arms. He has an urge to protect those he cares about, even if he has little reason to care about them yet. 

Later, during the actual challenge, while Jo and Anne Maria are outwardly annoyed by Brick, Mike tries to politely state that this isn’t working. This is the point at which Chester fronts; we learn later that Chester most commonly fronts to deal with frustrating situations. Mike himself cannot express frustration for whatever reason, likely because he’s afraid to. Meanwhile, Scott does his first confessional, where he states that he has a plan that’s sure to take down B (and implied to take down everyone else as well). Scott’s overly confident and expresses frustration with the gleeful notion that all will be handled eventually. Shortly after, Scott smiles as he and the other Toxic Rats overtake the Mutant Maggots; this is odd, as we will later find out that Scott wants his team to lose. This could be an example of him trying not to play his cards too early, but later it becomes apparent that Scott’s quick to snap when he’s upset. Was he perhaps earnestly excited to win as a team and had trouble masking that as well? Perchance (I can just say perchance, because it’s my meta post, and I do what I want). 

It’s worth mentioning now that we’ve covered episode one that Mike and Scott have somewhat inconsistent characterizations; as the series goes on, Mike is more prone to show annoyance or outbursts of fear, while Scott rarely shows genuine happiness when his plans aren’t working out. This could be a result of changing writers, a lack of ideas for one or both of them, or simply them changing and adapting to the game. Make of that what you will; I’ll try to explain things to the best of my ability and puzzle them together in a cohesive analysis, but shit’s a bit wonky. 

In episode two, we finally hear Scott’s plan: he’s intent on making his team lose the challenges to “lull the other team into a false sense of security, then pick them off one by one”. This is an interesting concept, considering how fucking stupid it is: if Scott loses most or all of his team and the Maggots continue working together, that security will become real, they will dominate him and any allies he might form (which he does not seem intent to do), and he will lose near immediately unless he’s already planning on how to split them up, assuming any of them would fall for his tricks. However, Scott himself is a little dumb, so this is fitting. He’s so unwilling to work with other people that he seems to have tricked himself into thinking that he can do anything by himself and manipulate people with no outside help. This is unrealistic, and gives the viewer a perfect insight into Scott’s antisocial and bleak worldview. He’s so unwilling to trust people that he hasn’t even figured out how to fake a relationship with any of them for his own benefit. 

In the scene where the teams are walking to the Bay of Dismay, Zoey and Mike have their first proper conversation, and it is approximately thirteen seconds long. Zoey brings up Total Warriors Two, and Mike is pleased that she knows about it. He states that if she likes kickboxing as well, he might have to marry her. First of all, film-enjoyer and kickboxer Mike real as fuck; but more importantly, this is another example of Mike attaching himself to Zoey incredibly quickly and incredibly closely. He’s desperate to be liked by her, desperate to be inseparable from her even. Unlike Scott who’s pushing everyone away without a plan, he’s seemingly nudging closer to someone without a plan or a concern for her actual, well, personality. I don’t think this is manipulative or weird at all, to be clear; and Zoey was likely trying to relate to him because he also clearly enjoys his company. It’s just endlessly intriguing how he’s already endeared herself to her. 

Once the game actually begins and the Maggots are asked which one of them wet their pants, Mike’s the one to pipe up with surprise, almost making fun of the person in question. Knowing that Mike’s afraid of his own secrets being revealed in this challenge, this clues us in that, while Mike might not have bad intentions, he does partake in judging (and depending on how you interpret his words, shaming) people for their own secrets. He might, to a degree, lack social knowledge (“this might make the person uncomfortable” etc.), empathy, or both. In this right, he’s somewhat selfish. Throughout the season, actually, he continues to show inklings of selfishness, even if they aren’t born out of malice. 

After this, the Rats are dunked into the water. Scott’s bitten and dragged out of the stands by Fang, and his team does nothing to rescue him. This upsets Scott, who then refuses to do the rest of the challenge. While this might be part of his plan to lose, it seems that Scott was genuinely upset and offended; he expected his team to help him when he would never do the same for them. More selfishness. Anne Maria seconds Scott, and Mike’s quick to join her since he’s worried about his own secrets being discovered— something that he insists to them isn’t true. I don’t have to explain this, I don’t think; Mike and Scott are alike in their selfish desires for preservation. The thing is that Mike backs down after Jo becomes upset with him, while Scott carries on. So Mike does care about avoiding conflict and being invulnerable to his whole team, but with Zoey specifically, he needs to be liked; not just regarded with neutrality, which appears to be his goal with other people; and he is afraid of being judged, or seen in a negative light.

During the challenge, Scott attempts sabotage for the first time, which fails. He tries to keep the rat from B, and is outwardly antagonistic towards him, which could have easily been used against him. This is another action that Scott seems to take strategically, but barely considers the consequences of. He just needs to be mean, apparently; he can’t control the urge to sabotage or insult, even when it would hurt him.

In the same challenge, Cameron catches Svetlana fronting, and asks Mike about it, which he denies entirely. The Maggots win, which Scott, again, seems genuinely upset about. This is where I’m laying out my theory officially that Scott takes these losses personally but is convincing himself that they’re sacrifices, rather than him genuinely not caring because it’s part of his plan. Maybe he knows that he could be on the chopping block every time and is bracing himself; maybe he enjoys winning each individual challenge for a sense of glory but won’t admit it to himself because it doesn’t work with this bullshit Lone Wolf plan he has. Either way, this brings us to episode three.

In episode three, Sam flings his breakfast into Scott’s face. Instead of pretending it’s okay, Scott throws a spoon at Sam. He then calls him a wimp for complaining about his food. Aside from this being another example of Scott being unable to mask his feelings for the greater good, this leads into the point of Scott’s home life. Total Drama as a series is full of bits that are normal in its cartoon universe, but are disturbing or terrifying taken in a real-world context; look no further than the season’s baseline concept of “we put teenagers on a nuclear island”. Scott living on a dirt farm is one of these things; having to eat dirt is bad in a literal context, and worse when adding the idea of it being a metaphor for not having food to eat. Scott is, quite literally, dirt poor; we’ll talk more about his audition tape later, but in it, we also see that Scott’s house is infested with rats and in a state of complete disarray. In season five, we learn that his father is ex-military and his mother’s a waitress; and since they own a farm, they did or do have two jobs. Scott’s also generally a country boy stereotype, and country folk aren’t exactly known for being well-off. We can almost guarantee that he grew up in a rough economic situation, and has ways of coping with or appreciating it while still working fervently to escape it. Take that for what you will.

Following this scene, Mike admits to the audience that he has DID with a shameful tone. He rushes to explain that he tries to control his alters, as if he needs to or should, but that they don’t listen to him. Mike not only lacks control, but is also attempting to control genuine other people, all for them inconveniencing him and making him worry about being judged. This is another point at which we must acknowledge that Mike is selfish, but also selfish with a sympathetic purpose; he doesn’t want to be judged, and doesn’t want to be alone. When confronted by Jo about Svetlana, he lies and says she’s a character, but fails to actually mimic Svetlana. He’s either a bad actor, doesn’t know Svetlana that well, or both. 

During the first half of the challenge, Scott shouts at Lightning to shut his mouth, once again showing how hard it is for him to hide his true feelings. Meanwhile, Mike helps Zoey up a ledge instead of helping himself, showing that he knows when to actually be selfless as long as it benefits someone he cares about. Once again, we go back to Scott as the Rats win the challenge; and Scott is visibly and audibly upset. He doesn’t bother hiding it now, so why would he before? Another point for the “Scott is genuinely excited to win/mad about losing” theory. When his team is mad at him for picking the bad snow fort, Scott acknowledges that this is bad, but rationalizes that it’s part of the plan. Dude, he has no fucking idea how this plan is going to work, does he?

Now we get to the point where Mike finally acknowledges Scott, and tells Zoey to watch out because Mike thinks he’s “psycho”. Mike is the first person to bring up how Scott’s acting irrationally or untrustworthy verbally; and considering they aren’t on the same team, that means Mike must have been, at some point, watching him. As we mentioned earlier, he’s observant, and will bring something up either if he feels it’ll be uncontroversial or if he’s very concerned. Before Scott’s other team caught onto him, Mike did, and before they became cautious or seriously concerned, Mike did. Why? Does Mike have experience picking out these types of people? Was Mike, for some reason, interested in Scott either out of fear or admiration, and therefore paid closer attention to him than anybody else? Mike’s not a very strategic person in the game, but he is a bit strategic and wary socially, especially if he’s afraid of the other person not liking him. Did Mike view Scott as a threat? Maybe something more? Why? Did he recognize Scott’s selfish or secretive behaviors, maybe in himself? These are all, certainly, questions. Perchance. 

In his scene with Dawn in the snow fort, Scott argues with her about how he’s not going to listen to the snowball, and says he’s full of negative energy; this causes a snowball to explode in his face. Scott’s unwilling to listen to others, even if it spells his own downfall. After this, Dawn claims that Scott wasn’t held enough as a child, which he stops to think about and is shown to be greatly uncomfortable with in the confessional. Dawn has previously been accurate about the home lives of other players (Zoey and Dakota), so we can assume she’s right. In which case, this is “Scott has a bad home life: part two”. Scott’s parents, at some point, did not meet his emotional needs; whether this was just in early childhood or whether it stayed consistent is unclear, but it’s likely that some of his behavioral issues would have been addressed earlier if his parents were attentive following his most formative years. Because his parents didn’t show him enough affection, he likely turned to either methods of garnering attention elsewhere or through other means, diverted that attention towards desiring victory and/or control for his own self satisfaction divorced from the opinions of other people, and/or a mix of both. We can also reasonably assume that Scott’s poor home life could go beyond simply emotional unfulfillment, since Scott seems worried at the notion of her knowing that, and likely wouldn’t be as concerned if he had nothing else to hide. 

Dawn later seems to compliment Scott, calling him a “beetle whisperer”. He turns up his nose and leaves. This could be because he finds the notion of beetle whispering ridiculous, but I just like to think that Scott’s not used to getting compliments and doesn’t know how to react. Just because that’s kinda more wholesome and Dott’s kinda baller. 

At this point, B melts the Maggots’ fort, and Jo asks Mike to do the “Svetlana thing”. Under pressure, Mike begins to panic a bit, unsure of how to escape the lie he’s found himself in, almost confessing; Cameron helps Svetlana front, saving him from this situation, and Jo regards Svetlana positively. This is just important to me divorced from Scike because not enough of you talk about Jolana. Moving on, Scott notices B melting the Maggots’ fort and momentarily panics, before melting the Rats’ fort instead and blaming B; while Scott has committed sabotage and swayed the team vote before, this is the first time his sabotage has actively caused the team to lose. You’d figure he’d be celebrating, but we don’t see that. After the loss, Mike goes to the confessional and worries about Vito showing up; we can assume that Vito is the hardest to control and/or would lend the most to affecting Mike’s social life, hence why he states that the situation has gotten worse and seems so on-edge. Scott’s finally gaining control in the game, while Mike appears to be losing it. Scott convinces his team to vote for B, and lies without a problem; Scott, it seems, is good at lying through his words, but has a hard time controlling how he emotes physically. Mike is the same; when he lies or hides information, his voice and face/actions don’t seem to mirror the stories he puts together on the fly. Mike’s not a malicious liar, he in fact has every reason to lie about his condition, if you consider lies of omission to be lies at all; but if you do, he is, in fact, a liar, and it takes one to know one. My Mutual Understanding clownery is all coming together. 

In episode four, we mostly see extra examples of previous behavior from Scott: annoyance at his teammates (mainly Sam), selfishness and a lack of consideration for others (not helping Sam up and not caring when his teammates go missing), and being oddly happy over success when he shouldn’t be (excited to find the key). At this point, I began considering the possibility that Scott only likes losing when he’s in control of the loss. To fail when he’s trying to succeed obviously frustrates him, but to fail when he’s trying to fail is a success at failing. In less words, it's the need for power and control, again. Maybe he likes to win sometimes for entertainment, or a sense of accomplishment; he might just do it because he can sometimes. In which case, Scott’s a bit more unpredictable than first thought; he does things largely with one goal in mind, but can push that goal off or come up with other shorter term objectives whenever he feels like it. He’s consistently driven, but the thing he’s driving towards is subject to fluctuate when he gets bored or competitive or wants to feel in control.

On the Maggot side, Mike and company are obviously unhappy with and wary of Jo, but none of them say anything. Mike does, however, tell Cameron that he did a good job. It’s possible that after the last episode, when the two worked together along with Zoey to get up the hill, Mike has started seeing Cameron as another potential friend, as he rarely interacted with Cameron before, and we know they will continue to interact more in future episodes. Zoey says he’s “always encouraging Cameron”, implying that he does this off-screen as well, since (correct me if I’m wrong) this is the first time Mike has directly encouraged Cameron specifically. Mike says that Zoey’s all he thinks about when he’s in control, then laughs nervously, as if he’s afraid this joke is too personal or unrelatable or odd. When Zoey goes missing, Mike notices immediately, and begins to panic; the person he’s most attached to here, his only real friend right now, has just left him alone, and the anxiety is all-consuming. He’s worried about her, and probably also scared of being left alone with the rest of the team, who he’s not as close to. I’m going to draw the line here and say that I think Mike might have social anxiety, just in my personal opinion as someone who also has social anxiety. He’s hyper-aware, afraid of what others think of him, and heavily attached with one or two people. He’s also, apparently, very loyal and protective. He abandons the rest of the group to find Zoey despite the challenge, and is relentless when looking for her in a way that no one else in the challenge has been or will be later.

When Brick goes missing, Mike is concerned for him, as are Cameron and Anne Maria; it’s unclear whether this is because they care for him, they’re scared of missing as well, or a mixture of the two. When Anne Maria stands up to Jo for having a bad attitude, Mike also finds the courage to join her. Having someone who’ll agree with him or make the first move once again gives him a sense of confidence to voice his opinion and, assuming he had Brick in mind like Anne Maria, defend the people he (possibly) cares about without as much fear. Shortly after, he injures himself looking for Zoey; once again, he puts those he cares about above himself, but himself over the layman. 

After Vito fronts for a while, Mike suddenly takes over when he hears Zoey cry out for help and attempts to save her instead of winning. His care for others (Zoey specifically but he could generally be concerned for everyone considering the state of affairs [big spider]) triumphs his need for victory, which again lends credence to the theory that he’s on Total Drama for social reasons more so than monetary ones. In the meantime, Scott’s unabashedly upset about winning the challenge, but again, appears concerned for Brick when he begins crying. When Brick’s switched to the Toxic Rats, Mike, Cameron, and Anne Maria are visibly shocked and upset, showing that they probably did genuinely care for him, making it more possible that loyalty to Brick factored into him standing up to Jo earlier.

In episode five, we start with Scott having a nightmare about a shark (Fang). He’s soon woken up by Brick’s alarm clock, though he’s not grateful for this; in fact, he begins punching the alarm clock as a demonstration of what he’s going to do to Brick later. Is it possible, then, that Scott would rather live in a nightmare, a place of strife and fear, than in a reality where he’s experienced a harmless transgression? Per freaking chance. Shortly after, Scott begins stealing from other players to frame Brick. It’s unclear whether this is because he’s mad at Brick for the alarm clock incident, or whether he recognizes Brick as a weak link on the team. Either way, this is probably the most premeditation we’ve seen from Scott, as his plan continues to develop throughout the episode, versus how he normally takes an action right after coming up with it to immediate success or failure. 

During the challenge, Scott tells Brick to prove his loyalty to the team. There are many reasons he might have done this. One is because it’s simply fun to him; he might like seeing Brick squirm. Another is to gauge his actual loyalty and scope out his strengths/weaknesses to exploit them later. Once again, this could be a combination of the two; Scott doesn’t think highly of Brick, but he seems amused by him being a “doofus”. And after this, we see another instance of Scott ragging on someone (Sam) for being bad at the game despite that working to his advantage. It’s probably another instance of hubris: something along the lines of “I could do better than that; I won’t, but I could”. 

Back to Mike, we see an example of him outright lying. Once again, I don’t blame him or necessarily think this makes him a bad person, but he is outwardly dishonest with Zoey when he claims that he just “gets so deep into character that he [doesn’t] know what [he’s doing]”. He promises to stop playing characters if Zoey wants him to, even though he can’t do that, and tells her she’s the most amazing girl in the world. His love for Zoey triumphs over his logic and planning for the future. He’s so desperate to be loved by her that he doesn’t even consider how to make that happen. This is similar to how Scott’s hatred for people or situations trumps his ability to consider consequences, as seen in episode three especially but also throughout the series. Both of them, despite trying to remain calculated and in control, are often so blinded by their emotions that they act or speak on a whim. 

It’s at this point that I must inform you that I forgot that Scott accused Brick of stealing while he was underwater, making that his motivation for sending Brick down there. However, I do stand by the point that Scott’s also a bit of a sadistic little freak and just likes being mean, because he is. Sailing along, I also find it interesting how Scott has to whittle when he starts getting bored; another addition to the point that he’s impulsive at times. And returning to Mike, Dawn claims that Mike “likes her a lot” and “it’s all over his aura”. And now it’s at this point that I am becoming increasingly aware that Mike’s kind of just Zoey’s plus-one in terms of characterization and this post is pointless in that right, but I’ll be damned if I don’t stretch his actions thin enough to give him an actual personality, and then do the same for Scott, and then make them yaoi out. Mike’s a person that cares so deeply for people that it permeates his aura, the very essence of his being; his priority is to love people (Zoey) and be loved by people (Zoey). 

When Scott finds out that his team got the better boat, despite wanting to lose, he doesn’t miss the opportunity to call them “suckers”. Once again, Scott’s goal is glossed over in favor of being a huge bitch to others. This reminded me of how, similar to how Mike’s a lover and wants to be loved, Scott’s a hater, and I think he might want to be hated. When you think about it, Scott hasn’t done a single kind thing to anyone on the island. He’s never upset when people dislike him, and takes every opportunity to be mean or sarcastic. When he does display a positive emotion, he never tells anyone or joins them in expressing it. Scott seemingly detests having positive relationships, perhaps because he’s simply annoyed and inconvenienced by them, but also perhaps because he’s afraid of losing them or feeling like he’s at the whims of another person’s emotions and wills. And in the end, as we know, Scott’s negative relationships will be his downfall, just like how Mike’s unwillingness to break his positive relationships will be his (as well as, y’know, Scott meddling). While it’s probably unintentional, they’re pretty decent foils for one another. 

We get another Scott lore drop when he says that he’s been shooting kitchen rats with his Pappy since he was six. I’m not sure what to make of this really, I just think it’s kind of fucked up to have your kid shoot rats but like I also didn’t grow up in a hunting area so maybe that’s normal and not psychologically damaging. Later, Dawn tells Scott not to fire anymore goals, and he does anyways, to her annoyance. Scott has to know Dawn is suspicious of him, but he can’t resist pissing her off. See, he needs to make people mad; maybe he does this often, maybe he just wants to be on someone’s mind even if it's negative. He eventually tries to get smart about it and he does get her voted off later, but like, hello. This fucking guy. Even though Scott dislikes Dawn, however, he stops Jo and Anne Maria from hurting her after he frames her for stealing. Either he revels in her misery, or he secretly cares about her a bit; this is supported by the fact that she was the only person he didn’t talk about voting off his team in episode four. Anyways, back to Scott being stupid, he openly brags about his knock-off idols as well, when that’s super suspicious; like he really needed to rub salt in the wound that badly. Dawn even refers to him as soulless and sociopathic, and she’s not wrong. He’s so unconcerned with the wellbeing of others, as well as himself. It seems that nothing truly matters to him in the long term, so long as he continues meeting his short term victories in pursuit of what I believe to be an excuse rather than an actual reason. I think that rather than calculating his actions beforehand, Scott acts and creates a justification later, or a justification he can routinely add to. It seems that Scott might’ve picked the Rats because they were close and therefore easy targets. It would make more sense than his actual “plan”. He hurts people and tries to convince himself that he knows why when he probably doesn’t, which is awful but also somewhat tragic. He might not have a real sense of priorities or identity, but tricks himself into thinking otherwise to, once again, give himself more control. Does this make sense? Whatever, we’re like 5763 words in, it doesn't matter anymore. 

Back to party sciking, in episode six, we see the formation of Team Men with Scott, Brick, and Lightning (and later, Sam). Scott’s finally making allies, and he doesn’t seem too upset about it. I think this might clue us into the idea that Scott does want positive relationships, but maybe doesn’t consciously understand that. He doesn’t fight Brick or Lightning on this when he normally would. Later, before the challenge, Mike tries to compliment Zoey, and in the confessional, she tells him to pick a side. And I feel like if you twist that enough we can get into bisexual territory, but I digress. Mike’s upset at his alters for ruining his relationship with Zoey, and while that’s true, he totally forgets to take into account that his alters are also people who also deserve access to the body. It’s more important to Mike that he gets what he wants rather than his alters get what they want, and above all, it's important that he maintains a firm grasp on his life with little to no interference. But he doesn’t seem aware of the fact that his alters are people. It’s almost like the personhood of someone can be diminished in service of his goals, and that he can cognitively distance himself from his actions if they become too (for lack of a better word) scary for him. This might sound familiar because it’s kind of what Scott does as well. They both hurt people in order to get what they want, it’s just that Mike’s unaware that he hurts people but aware of what he wants while Scott’s aware that he hurts people but unaware of exactly what he wants. 

Zoey talks to Mike again, excited to dress a model, and despite the fact that he’s never shown an interest in fashion, Mike smiles. This is because Zoey’s giving him positive attention again. Mf is a bit of a lapdog to be honest. Scott would probably like someone like that, who’s loyal to a fault. The vision is visioning. Anyways, Mike catches a frog, not much to add but he does do that. Fang tries to catch Scott, and Scott notices and catches him with his own trap. He’s observant. Like Mike. They observe each other. Gay style. Scott also grins when Brick proposes a plan and creates an explosive. While Scott’s probably excited to see it blow up in his face, I like to think Scott also admires him a bit, adding to the idea that he secretly likes some aspects of his peers and just won’t express it. Mike tells Anne Maria that the maggot looks bad, which is slightly uncharacteristic of him but okay. He and Anne Maria were friendly before; maybe he’s trying to pull back in service of making Zoey feel better. He’s kind of destroying this sort-of friendship because he likes Zoey so much. Adding to this, he appears excited when Zoey says she wants to dress the maggot. He appears nervous when Jo argues with Anne Maria as well; whether this is because he still cares about Anne Maria despite everything or because he’s afraid of conflict/Jo is unclear. 

It’s at this point that Scott begins manipulating Zoey. Just put a pin in that. Scott and Mike stand next to each other, if that’s anything? They also move similarly, like they’re subconsciously mimicking each other. Do you understand how difficult it is to write about Scike when it's episode six and the most they’ve actually interacted is standing near each other and looking in the same direction? Scott’s impressed by Sam, which is nice; he actually admires something about someone. I think being around people who he subconsciously wants to be friends with is making him slightly more willing to play the game and be nice to people in his own way. He even looks concerned when the yeti throws Sam, and again when the Maggots lose, like he doesn’t want to vote anyone out. 

IT’S FREAKING TEAM SWAP TIME BABY THEY’RE ON THE SAME TEAM WAHOO!! Mike is immediately concerned, the most concerned out of the maggots. This is in part due to him approaching Zoey, but don’t forget, Mike thinks Scott’s off, he notices the things that he does and the way he behaves. Oh BABY he needs to save his friends from this guy, I smell a hero complex brewing. 

In episode seven, the teams go into the mines. About eight minutes in, Mike finds a hat and excitedly explains that he’s always wanted one, to which Scott makes fun of him for being a “hat loving loser”. This is an uncharacteristically lame insult, which makes me think that Scott already has a distaste for Mike and is looking for any reason to insult him; this is probably because he knows that Mike’s onto him, and he doesn’t enjoy the mortifying ideal of being known. And it’ll ruin his plan or whatever. Later in the challenge, when Manitoba and Cameron are separated from Anne Maria, Zoey, and Scott, Scott tries to pin the split on Mike to get him booted. We can assume that Scott sees Mike as the biggest threat on his new team. 

Later, Mike carries Cameron on his back to safety, and says that he hopes Zoey’s okay, despite him also being exposed to radiation. He thanks Cameron for coming back from him and calls him a friend. He’s just, so loyal to them, I don’t think I can say that enough. His friends mean so much to him. And I think Scott could see that and relate to it a bit, because instead of continuing to badger him, he suggests they lose the packs and find Anne Maria. The two of them, along with Zoey and Cameron, all look annoyed at Chris for not helping them, and Scott follows Mike as he leads the team to Anne Maria. I think it’s interesting that Scott stays with them even as the situation becomes life-threatening, and he even shares their surprise when the other team grabs their statue. The two of them run together to grab the statue and they both look happy to find it, even though Scott supposedly wants to lose. Maybe in this life threatening situation, they found an odd sort of comfort in and appreciation for one another, just for a brief moment. And despite knowing what Scott’s like, Mike trusts him with the statue as he runs off to save Zoey and Cameron, putting his own life in danger. This was obviously a mistake, as Scott throws it out, but for a second, it seemed like Scott was happy for him, when it was just him and Mike. 

So Mike starts literally fucking dying defending his friends. Away from Scike, back to Mike prime, he’s about to be killed by the moles, has every chance to run for himself, and his radiation poisoning is getting worse by the second. But he still stayed behind to defend them. The situation got so dangerous that he even tried to tell Zoey about his DID, before Brick saved them. And that’s just??? SO fucking bananas holy shit. He cares about them so much, I dunno what to say. That’s his defining character trait and his fatal flaw, defending others; and it works even better juxtaposed with Scott, who’s defining trait and fatal flaw is only caring about himself. Foaming at the freaking MOUTH dude. He’s got issues, sure, but man he’s so sweet, love him. After this he’s the first person to confront Chris about this not being about the statues, but rather the mine; he’s more than likely upset that Chris put his friends in danger, especially for these ulterior motives. He’s so upset on their behalf, not even his own, that he stands up to the man who almost got him killed.

After this ordeal, Cameron confronts Mike about having DID. In his fear, Mike’s quick to ask who told him that. He’s afraid, first and foremost, that other people know and are talking about him; afraid that this has made him somehow unlikable or unlovable. At the mention of being able to control it, he’s overjoyed, and immediately agrees to help get rid of Scott. Scott’s the first person outside of Mike’s system who he’s been willing to genuinely disadvantage for his own goals. So Mike does not like Scott. But I feel like it’s an oddly intimate dislike. He dislikes him so personally, understands him so thoroughly with such disdain, for such little personal transgressions, that he’s willing to throw him under the bus to regain control over his situation. That’s special in a way, Scott’s the only person Mike would do that to. And considering how Scott treats everyone with hate as a way to cover his actual wants for human connection, and he hates Mike more than anyone else on the team, I feel like it’s safe to say they have strong mutual negative feelings in a way neither of them have experienced before. In a weird way, right now, with Mike having a sway over the team, he’s kind of more in control than he’s ever been. I can’t explain it, but the way they hurt each other goes beyond average contempt to me. In real life, yes, you shouldn’t hate someone that you have romantic feelings for; but I think something like this in fiction blurs the lines with intensity in regard for one another. It’s a blending of concepts. Lois it insists upon itself, but in a fun and intriguing way. I love when characters hate each other with the intensity and obsession that other characters love each other with. 

It’s 2:40 AM and I just hit my pen so I could really lock in for these last two episodes before Mike’s eliminated but idk if it’s going to work. 

In episode eight, we start off with the teams on the rafts. Scott comes up looking anxious about getting eaten by a shark, and Mike returns the expression, and says that the shark will never find them. This could be Mike comforting himself or comforting Zoey and Cameron, but do you know what it could also be? Comforting Scott. The person he’s responding to. Mike and Scott don’t like each other, but Scott still came to Mike first, and Mike still had it in him not to shame or ignore him. Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Absolutely. 

At this point, Cameron explains to the audience what causes each of Mike’s alters to front: Vito fronts when the body is shirtless, Svetlana fronts when there’s a physical challenge, Chester fronts when frustrated, and Manitoba fronts when the body’s wearing a hat. I’m not sure what to make of Manitoba’s trigger(?), but the others make it apparent that Mike isn’t able to handle or is rarely able to handle physical challenges, frustration, or being shirtless by himself. And this is where I should talk about Mike’s trauma, probably. I’m not going to get too into things here because I’m not an expert on DID and also it could be mildly upsetting, but DID develops due to repeated early childhood trauma and different alters may be better equipped to handle certain feelings, tasks, relationships, or memories than others. Mike had to have experienced this repeated trauma and it likely had some sort of physical component, considering Vito’s triggered by the removal of the shirt and he mentions in his character bio that he doesn’t have any good childhood memories besides maybe riding his bike. This, as well as the rejection we discussed earlier, explains a lot about Mike’s personality unfortunately. He’s used to being hurt, and seeks control, stability, and love for that reason. He’s loyal and quick to form attachments because he probably didn’t/doesn’t have any at home. And he’s self-preserving and protective and aware of his surroundings because of this as well, because he has to be. We don’t know exactly what happened in Mike’s life, though there is an “Uncle Vinny” in his character bio (mentioned by Vito) and it is possible that Chester is an introject of an older relative. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. I would like to return to Scott for a moment, and renew the topic of his home life. We’ve discussed how Scott’s family probably isn’t well off, doesn’t show him enough affection, and likely never disciplined him in a way that stuck considering how he behaves. And his father encouraging him to kill rats for him doesn’t sound great either. Like Mike, it would make sense for Scott to have an unstable/unhealthy home life, and for that to translate in his characters. He also needs power over other people, he pushes away people and refuses to make friends, he has patterns of violence, and he’s fast to learn what makes people tick. 

Back to the scene, Zoey starts by complimenting Mike, which he’s excited about (need for approval, ok). However, he becomes nervous when she says it feels like he’s hiding from her. Then when Dakota starts mutating, Mike is the first to diffuse the situation by stating that her hair is growing back. He also leads the charge in pulling the sign out of the raft. After Dakota throws out the sign, Mike also says that they have to get in the water instead. When Scott reminds him about the shark and tries to refuse, Mike shoves him into the water, annoyed. It’s sort of fascinating how much more dominating Mike is in this episode compared to others. Maybe almost dying (or rather, almost losing his friends) in the mine changed him. Or maybe he has more confidence now that he’s the strongest person in his friend group and he doesn’t care what Scott thinks of him, evident by him forcing Scott into the water when he never would’ve done that to someone else. Mike, again, tells the team to stay quiet to avoid provoking the kraken. Man is going off this episode. He’s instantly annoyed when Scott starts freaking out over the shark, he’s so done dealing with this man that he can’t handle it and Chester takes over. Dude they’re soooo in hate. <3 After this, Scott is irate over his team winning, more than he’s ever been before. His feelings are so strong that he’s focusing extra hard on this faux-goal to destroy his own team. Mike’s also upset because the challenge is dangerous, “even by [Chris’] standards”, probably because the last challenge was also ridiculously dangerous and he’s worried about a repeat.

While Mike and Cameron go ahead to win the challenge at Mike’s behest, Scott talks to Zoey. He knows that Mike has a secret just by watching them, and lets Zoey in on this to manipulate her. After this, Mike and Cameron tell Zoey that Scott’s bad news in return, and she claims that he still has a heart. Mike is saddened by the fact that Zoey trusts Scott more than him, and I just think that’s such a…thing to happen. In trying to keep Zoey close by hiding his DID, he just pushed her away more, towards someone who’s so similar to him yet so different as well. We find out from Cameron that Mike fronts when Zoey’s in danger, because he cares about her that much. Scott also steals the team’s compass from Mike and frames him for losing it, blaming him if they come in last, but he fails when Dakota clears the forest of thorns. Scott keeps losing to someone who should be so easy to beat and who represents everything that he hates: kindness, loyalty, and people who stand up to him. Meanwhile, Mike’s alters are becoming increasingly hard to control, and he’s still unwilling to admit to having DID, afraid this will dissolve the relationship that’s already crumbling due to him not revealing it; he’s stuck in an Ouroboros of fear. Scott, immediately after this, seems to be mocking Mike, loudly saying to Zoey, “Would I lie to you?” Scott just knows how to push this guy’s buttons in the perfect way to piss him off. 

When Scott loses the challenge for them, Mike’s probably the most upset we’ve ever heard him, at least in my opinion. He doesn’t hesitate to let Scott know that he fucked up and that Mike thinks he’s full of shit. Mike tries to get Zoey to vote for Scott, done with this charade; Scott feels the same about playing around like this, and gets Cameron to admit that Mike has DID— but he doesn’t want Mike out yet, he wants to toy with him some more. You can see the horror in his face when Scott pulls out the idol. In order for Dakota to go home, it couldn’t have just been Zoey to vote for her, and Mike and Cameron voted for Scott, and Dakota probably didn’t vote for herself. Scott had to have either voted with her, or voted for himself for fun; but irregardless, he didn’t vote for Mike, even though he’s clearly Scott’s biggest target. He doesn’t just want Mike out, but wants to use him first, something we haven’t seen before. And yes, this is because Scott’s a bad person, and taking advantage of his weaknesses; but having his weaknesses known and used by someone would be a sort of ideal scenario for Mike, despite also being his literal nightmare. He doesn’t have to hide from Scott at all, Scott’s probably the only person that Mike can fully be mad at and confront about that anger. Which is very fucked up, but also oddly close, I guess. It’s a unique relationship, it’s interesting to me. The mortifying yet somewhat comforting ideal of being known going both ways. Toxic yaoi. Hate as an allegory for love. Y’know, the usual. 

The toxic yaoi continues in episode nine baby, we freaking made it. The first line that catches my eye (or ear I guess) is “Multiple Mike thinks he’s a ladies man, what a loser”. First of all, reeks of gay thoughts and unaware jealousy; but second of all, notice how Scott and Mike continuously get more and more openly aggressive with one another. They’re falling into a routine with it, almost. 

This is where Scott introduces the deal— AKA, starts blackmailing Mike to help him win the challenge. Mike’s incredibly upset, and even considers telling Zoey about his DID, but is ultimately still too afraid. He’d rather be used than be abandoned. During the challenge, Mike tries to quip back at Scott for telling him to look in the broom closet, but retracts it when Scott threatens to tell Zoey. He tries to look tough to Scott, but fails. And when Zoey’s in trouble, Scott refuses to let him help her, in favor of making him go through the trash. Like with everyone, Scott likes to see Mike squirm, but I think he’s best at it with Mike, and the most enthusiastic about it too. 

I’d also like to mention here that Mike just kind of gives up and lets Scott pick him up and carry him. Just saying idk you know when you just pick up some guy who you hate instead of making him actually fight for you or run in front of you or whatever. Mike also snarks Scott when his car doesn’t work, which, ok, go off King. Mike finally stands up for himself to help Zoey, the desire to protect her stronger than his fear, but Scott remembers how to trigger Vito to front and uses this to his advantage. 

So, at this point, Vito gets clobbered and Mike has the fight with his alters, and it’s soooo bad, it’s so bad dude. They’re all fighting for control as if the moral isn’t that they should work together, it’s ridiculous, but I guess it also makes sense for Mike to be pushed to this considering everything? Glossing over this, anyways, Mike finally comes clean to Zoey and explains that he didn’t want Zoey to think badly of him. And I know everyone hates this scene, I hate this scene, “multiples just means there’s more Mike to��—” yeah yeah yeah yeah fuck off idc that’s not how it works. But at least I think it does help draw a final parallel between Mike’s relationships with Zoey and Scott along with Scott eliminating him. Mike’s able to pursue his loving relationship with Zoey through her finding out about his closest secret, and Mike and Scott similarly are able to freely insult each other and develop this toxic almost-codependent-but-Scott’s-way-worse relationship because they also know each other, they know they’re hiding something and they’re familiar with each other’s personalities because hate drives them to look so deeply into each other. Mike gains Zoey and loses his dynamic with Scott, and vice versa, back and forth. These relationships can’t coexist, both because they’re so polarizing but also so similar in their intensity. 

I didn’t watch the entirety of episodes ten through thirteen because it’s 4 AM and this is a Scike post, a 9274 word Scike post. But I did scrub through them and I would like to throw out there the Icarus imagery in episode ten when Zoey burns Scott for what he did to Mike, like Scott got too close to the sun or too in over his head, and Mike was his ultimate downfall. I’m also just going to skitter on past the “Mike makes fun of Scott while he’s in the trauma chair” because what the fuck. What was that.

The relationship between Mike and Scott in canon is, admittedly, less significant in canon than it is in my head, and less well-written and intriguing than I pretend it is, and it’s not healthy, and no matter how I spin it they never actually made up or understood each other in a major tangible way. But I think they should have. I think having them be characters who begrudgingly understand each other and care for each other in a way they don’t acknowledge or even recognize would give them some much-needed depth and maybe consistency. Scott in canon has no close relationships, and the two that Mike has weren’t necessarily great throughout the season even though I like to think that they are. It would be good for them. Adding a few more layers to each of them would explain a lot about their goals, their mannerisms, the contradictions in their personalities; it would make them both more sympathetic and relatable, into some maladjusted teenagers looking for an outlet rather than just a good guy and a bad guy who hate each other. 

In conclusion, this post didn’t make much sense, and it was kind of a waste of time. But it was fun to think about these guys, and I could fix them, and also they’re more toxic in canon than first thought but I’m not necessarily complaining, because what’s a character without conflict and what’s a story without a theme? I didn’t edit or organize it, this was more or less my notes from rewatching the first nine episodes of ROTI. I’m aware it was super repetitive and rambly but I don’t have the time or energy to clean it up so, make of them what you will. Maybe this gave you a new perspective on Mike and Scott, maybe it didn’t, I dunno, I’m indifferent now, perchance. Like and subscribe for more Party Sciking. I need them to hold hands and wear the get along shirt and go to therapy. This ended up being more or less 9,738 words. Hope everything’s right in this, let me know your thoughts but please don’t tell me if you hate it. Goodnight Miami. 

[mood2you]

One thing that's remarkable about A Little Life is when Jackson does his impression of Jude JB says to himself that it isn't even close, and then when JB does it at Jude, Jude is like that's exactly how I look. Hunching over in the mirror, that's how I look to people. But then, Jude quotes Harold to Wilhem, "Such a waste," because he, like, repeats it to himself all the time, and Wilhem lets it go. So I guess it was a good impression. I mean the difference is, Jude is just using it as evidence in conversation, not mean or something. It's probably not even "in Harold's voice" it's probably the same voice Mal would use for his dad, it's not Harold it's yer dad.

And then of course the way JB sees Jude is the way he paints Jude, and the way the world sees Wilhem is just that Tweet about sitting in a dark room seeing people huge. And Mal I guess, uh, he says it seems depressing to marry another architect I think that much be something about being seen.

(Sees you're still listening and starts trying to stretch the moment) And then! Right after that, Wilhem is like, I am used to only been looked at by people that want to sleep with me, and powerful men wondering if I was worth the price. That's a way to be seen, that's why he doesn't notice he's famous.