#Might make a part 2 with the focus being on another different group of characters might not

[seysei]

To think that Mikado developed a habit of never finishing a simple chess game with his youngest son after having the little confidence he ever had in himself completely and entirely destroyed by his eldest, who was just five years old at that time.

To think that just like his daddy, (point and laugh yall) Mikuni also pushed misono around while playing chess when they were younger and ended the game very similarly to how his father did with misono, telling misono it's late and that he should go to bed.

To think that Mikuni quite literally planted a false and traumatic memory in Misono's head, the fact that misono was never there and witnessed what happened, the fact that it was such a cruel thing to do to your little brother who was just a child back then, yet somehow you knew that it was essential in order for him to find out the truth about his life that you knew your family was going to keep away from him. No matter how much they lied, that lie you planted was much stronger than theirs. (everytime misono was made to forget, told off or had his memories manipulated by lily, it would always be that one memory Mikuni planted in his mind that doesn't fully disappear, the one reason he needed to visit the east wing for, trying to fully remember, and its always because of that image that he once again tries to make it into the east wing regardless of how many times lily has stopped him)

To think that shuuhei resented the vampire that killed his father, while Mikuni willingly spends day and night with the vampire that killed his mother right in front of him.

To think that Jeje is accepting of Mikuni using him for his own benefit. To think that Jeje is accepting of Mikuni throwing him away once "he no longer has any use of him". (I will literally cry, and I almost did when Jeje thought of it and said "all that's left for me is to see things through, once I lose this name-" LIKE WDYM)

To think that Jeje has gone through many eves and continuesly had to see them lose themselves, become insane and engulf him & he had no control over it. ( and yet.. He still made a couple more contracts in hopes of that "maybe this time it will be different") (it never was)

To think that Jeje volunteered to be sealed away by C3 without even knowing when he will ever wake up again, "hopefully not" is what he most likely wished for, considering his character and how he was looking for a way to die to begin with. (yet something deep inside of him couldn't help but be a little.. Perhaps happy..? grateful? When Kiriko broke the seal on him)

To think that Mikado thought of and gave a sincere gift to the woman whom he was having an affair with, while neglecting his own wife who was one of the sweetest and greatest supports to him and his lack of abilities.

To think that abel is just that 'coincidence' of a gift that Mikado's wife (Kiriko) received from him, yet Mikuni still holds it dear to him as keepsake that once belonged to his mother, regardless of him knowing the disappointing truth behind it.

To think that you thought this post was going to end soon.

To think that Mikuni knew of his father's affair far before his mother even figured it out, (you do the math on how young he was then) Yet of course kept quiet, lived with it, decided to be mature about it, understanding that no good would come out of telling her, understanding that you cannot change what's already happened and that his mother was bound to find out soon enough anyway-..Because, according to him, his father wasn't that good at keeping it a secret. (even so, I feel like deep down mikuni felt very guilty, like he was betraying his mother by feigning ignorance to it and was no different from the others in the house who tuned a blind eye to his mother's heart & feelings)

To think that Mikuni grew up too fast & Misono grew up too slow due to one knowing too much for his own good (although he probably thinks that knowing too much is better than knowing too little, and perhaps he's right about that) while the other was kept in the dark so he doesn't meet the same fate as the one who knew too much.

To think that Mikuni wanted people to perceive him in a bad way/as the perpetrator/as a bad person, and according to himself & Jeje it will be for his own benefit... (perhaps because its easier to control or fool others when you know how they perceive you? Who knows. Furthermore, to be fair, he isn't far from a bad person if not one, undeniably a criminal with a variety of different crimes, makes Jeje do the dirty work so his own hands remain clean and pure)

To think that Mikuni burned down the east wing, the place that holds both good & bad memories for him. His diary, his books, his secrets and feelings, things that he never told, feelings that he left behind, equipment from his childhood such as the violin that his mother gave him for one of his birthdays along with the many music sheets spread all over the floor. The place where his mother died before him, the place where he first made his contract with Jeje, the place that holds so much importance to his story. It All burned to ashes, all possible pieces and traces of himself that remained in that place, for seven years after he left- its gone. Turned into dust.

To think that some still hold hope for the alicein family to become one piece once again after allat? I won't even blame Mikuni if he suddenly decided to burn the rest of the house. (/hj) (I'm not) (jk lol)

(I'm really not)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How would you go about writing in different languages? I struggle with a part where a group of characters are speaking in a language one of the mains does not know and the other one does, but i wish the reader knew what is being talked about. Another aspect is switching between languages when something is meant for the nonspeaker.

A expression in like of "switches to german" fills me with cringe and i feel like just wroting the part in german and adding translation is too confusing

Thanks for all the help with all the advice posted!

Writing Ideas: Using Different Languages in your Story

Keep both languages. Simply repeat the phrase. If you want your readers to understand the exact meanings of words from your source language, you can provide translations within the text. This strategy requires a lot of work for just a couple words, so it’s not practical to use it for large chunks of language. It works great if you only need to focus on a few crucial words.

Sprinkling of foreign language. Write in English, and use the foreign language as little as possible. If you can cut the foreign word out of the sentence without hurting anything, you’re probably fine. But if the meaning of the foreign word is key to understanding the sentence, then rework it.

Provide a glossary. The textbook method. The most comprehensive approach is to provide a glossary of non-English words used in your book. Nonfiction authors use glossaries much more often than fiction writers do. It might be an inappropriate solution if you are writing a lighter book. On the other hand, if your goal is complex cultural understanding, then this approach is by far the most thorough. Downside: The glossary approach requires significant reader buy-in. Not all readers will want to stop mid-paragraph to find a definition in a glossary.

Transliteration. Stick to one alphabet. Transliteration—the process of converting writing into a different alphabet—is a different issue than translation. Unless you have a specific, important reason to include words written in anything other than the Roman alphabet, transliteration is a more effective tactic. Things are more complicated when you are working with a language that does not share the Roman alphabet with English. Any English-reader can sound out Spanish words. The same isn’t true words written in Cyrillic or Hebrew text.

Don't fake it. Respect the language. Sometimes a project requires you to interact with a language you have no knowledge of. The simplest answer is to stick with the full translation method. This will allow you to bypass the problem altogether. However, if your project requires the actual inclusion of another language, you will have to do one of 2 things: (a) Consult a native speaker. (b) Study the language.

Play with language. In your first draft, you can let language run free. Write dialogue and narration in whatever way makes sense for your characters, your setting, and your own writing process. The collision of languages might lead you to unexpected and interesting places. You can—and will—worry about clarity problems when you get to the revision stage. Feedback from beta readers will help you determine what needs to be done for reader comprehension. If you find that you need to bring in any of the other strategies, you can do so at any point.

Full translation. Write it in English. Just because characters are speaking a language other than English does not necessarily mean that you need to actually write non-English words. Often, it is enough to simply indicate that a conversation is happening in another language. You can relate the speech through indirect dialogue. You can simply report the content of the speech, not delivering an exact quote. Because indirect dialogue is understood to be summary, it buys you leeway in how you render the translation. There is no expectation that you are capturing the actual words as spoken. But the full translation method can be used with direct dialogue as well. The 2 main types of translation: (a) Word-for-word translation is more literal, as it sticks to the strict meaning of source language words. (b) Sense-for-sense translation is looser, as it focuses on communicating ideas in the target language.

Narrative summary. Don't use this technique for crucial turning points in a scene. It's more of a shortcut so that you can get the point across quickly and then move on to the good stuff. But if all you need to do is get the point across quickly, then go ahead and summarize it. Sometimes, it's the most economical way to keep the story going, especially if your character doesn’t speak the language. What you lose in style you’ll gain in pace.

Untranslated. Some words are essentially untranslatable. Let it be. If you are depicting a language community where English and another language are routinely mixed together, you might leave some words untranslated. (This strategy can also apply when writing about a language community where people speak different forms of English.) The benefit of capturing the sound of speech can outweigh any reader confusion. Further, you might be writing for an audience who is used to hearing this mix of language.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Here are some tips from the sources linked above. You can also find some examples using these strategies in the original articles. Try some of them and choose which ones suit your story. All the best with your writing!

[wearebarca]

5. Captured // Alexia Putellas x Original character pt. 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

synopsis: Rosalie has never stayed too long at the same place. When the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself critical moment in her life, the photographer decides to once again leave behind what she knows and joins the staff of Europe's best football team.

Word count: 4,6k

18+ (eventually)

A/N: Spanish is from google translate so please be nice. French is my first language so all should be good on that part. Tell me what you think, be nice, enjoy.

The return to Barcelona wasn’t as smooth as their arrival trip. Rosalie had ended up with a seat next to Lucy, which was good because Lucy knew how to handle the younger brunette on a plane, but she couldn’t shake the slight disappointment she felt when she realized that she wouldn’t be sitting with the captain. Nonetheless she was still happy with her flight partner since she hadn’t seen much of the English woman during this trip.

Lucy had shown up at six at the photographer’s door, in full training gear and running shoes in her hand, and had forced the brunette to go out on a run with her to relax a little before the flight. They had ended up in a park with a track that circled a nice football pitch, and Lucy decided that it would be a great idea to challenge the runner on a race. Rosalie might be an experienced runner, but explosive speed was the older woman’s strength and an hour later, they were both lying on the field, panting like dogs, with Lucy undefeated. Running back was a completely different story for the defender who had used most of her energy on beating the younger woman in sprints. She was glad when she could see the hotel in front of us but groaned when the photographer lightly shoved her and yelled “ Race you there!”

At breakfast, Rosalie sat with her usual group, sandwiched between Keira and Ingrid, who made sure the brunette was occupied with conversation the whole time. Their goal was clear to the photographer who knew that they wanted her to focus on anything other than the plane trip ahead. Unbeknown to the pair, the task of keeping her distracted was already being fulfilled by the blonde sitting a few seats away from her.

Rosalie’s perception of the blonde had changed since their dinner the night before. Being able to spend some time with the captain without the pressure of work or football allowed Rosalie to see another side of the blonde that she hadn’t encountered before. Now, Alexia intrigued even more the photographer who wondered just how many sides the footballer keeps hidden.

Her daydreaming was interrupted by Keira who had been trying to get the French-Canadian's attention for the past minute. “ Hey, Frenchy are you still here with us?”

“ Oui, yes I’m sorry I was caught up in my own thoughts.” The brunette said, turning towards her friends.

“ It’s ok really, we just wanted to know if you were coming to team building night with us?” Ingrid said.

“ Isn’t that for players only?” the brunette said confused. Back with Arsenal, she never got invited to this sort of night, even if she was, or she thought, one of the player’s girlfriends.

“ Not necessarily no. It is just a normal night with friends and we’d like for you to come.” Keira said, smiling at the photographer.

“ I’d love to.” Rosalie said, turning towards Ingrid. “ When would that be?”

“ We were thinking about two weeks from now, after the game against Levante. I’m just trying to see how many we’re gonna be so I can make a reservation at the restaurant.” The Norwegian said, picking up her phone to look at options. The rest of the breakfast was spent organizing the supper, allowing the photographer to forget about their approaching departure. Unfortunately, her feeling of dread and anxiety came rushing back as soon as she picked up her luggage from the bus and walked towards the terminal. The flight went relatively well for the brunette, who stayed wide awake this time, leaning against Lucy while a bad comedy was playing on the small screen in front of them.

Alexia, who was a few seats behind the duo, could not help but wonder how the smaller woman was fairing and finally succumbed to her urge to make sure the photographer was alright by getting up and quickly trying to find something to say to justify her presence next to them. As she arrived at their seat, a small smile crept on her face at the sight of the brunette bundled up in her oversized hoodie, with her hood engulfing her head almost entirely. She crouched down next to her and took her hand in her own to give it a light squeeze. Without letting the photographer’s hand go, she turned her attention to the defender. “ Could you remind me again of yours and Keira’s departure dates for international break?” She asked the English woman who seemed surprised by the question.

“ Yeah sure mate,” she said, pulling out her phone to check her emails. “ Why do you need to know so soon? Isn’t it in almost two months?” she asked

“ Uhh, I’m just planning ahead.” She said, hoping that the older woman would not see through the real reason for her presence here. Meanwhile, the photographer had significantly relaxed since the captain had arrived next to her, and was putting all her focus on the way the blonde’s thumb was tracing soothing patterns on the back of her hand.

Too soon for the brunette’s liking, Lucy found the email with the dates she was looking for and gave them to Alexia, who had no more reason to stay with them. She gave one last squeeze to the photographer’s hand and walked back to her seat. Lucy, who was far from dumb, had a good idea of exactly why her captain had come to their row, and it surely wasn’t to know their departure’s dates. She sent a look to the younger woman, who simply answered with one that clearly said, : “Not now Luce.”

It was the middle of the afternoon when the brunette finally stepped in the comfort of her small apartment. She refused to let it show too much during their trip, but she was truly exhausted from the strain two plane rides in such a short amount of time had had on her, and as soon as her body hit the bed, she was gone and did not wake up until the morning after. The rest of her weekend was spent mostly working on the editing of the shots she had taken during their day off and training. She decided to go check out the Olympic pool near her place and swim a few laps to allow her body to recover from the week's intense running sessions.

For the players, the week after a match was always slower than their usual training, but for the rest of the staff, it was when their schedules would be the most hectic. Rosalie started her week by following a few players on a media appearance for a foundation that helps little girls persevere in sports, then it was media day which took by storm the whole training complex. Various interviews and fun videos were being filmed all over the facility and Rosalie’s job was to roam from station to station and capture the girls during their appearances. On top of that, the brunette had her usual training content to shoot and edit.

This week’s workload meant that coffee with her favourite couple wasn’t possible, which saddened them even though they understood why. Rosalie also postponed her night with the English couple who were very eager to bombard the Canadian with all the questions they had so nicely kept to themselves during the trip. It was a relief for the brunette, who knew that sooner or later, she would have to go through her best friend’s interrogation.

Weekend couldn't come soon enough for Rosalie. Friday would be a bittersweet day for the photographer who had to finish and send the media day content tonight at the latest for their release the next day, which most likely meant a late night at the office again. Her hunch turned out to be right as she checked the clock around four and realized that she wasn’t nearly done. The girls had already left and the training facility was dead silent when the photographer left her office. Rosalie almost jumped at the sound of her ringtone echoing in the empty car park. The name that lit up her screen made the brunette’s eyes roll as she picked up the call.

“ Non.”

“ Oui.”

“ Non, je viens de finir de travailler, Je suis complètement brûlée, pas ce soir.” Rosalie said in a whiny tone as she all but threw her bags in the backseat of her small sedan.

“Too late, we're already at your place darling.” Lucy said laughing. Rosalie could hear Keira whine in the background for her to come quickly because she was tired of waiting to eat. “ We brought your favourite, now get your arse here, we’ve got questions that need answering.” The defender didn’t even wait for the younger girl’s answer and hung up.

“Mais quel enfoiré.” Rosalie took all the detours humanly possible, just to annoy the older woman. At the sight of Lucy waiting by the stairs of her apartment, Rosalie felt like a child getting scolded by her mum. She took a deep breath and climbed the few stairs that were left between her and her apartment.

“ Took you long enough.”

“ Traffic, ya know”

“ Fuck off you cunt you did this just to fuck with us.” Lucy said as she followed the Canadian back in her flat.

“ Woah woah votre langage madame Bronze.”

“ You’re lucky we like you Frenchy.” She pulled out the bags of fish and chips she had brought while Rosalie pulled out beers for everyone. She eagerly took the plate that was handed to her and made a face at the first bite.

“ I know, it’s not like back home.” Keira said, stealing a few chips from Rosalie’s plate.

“ It doesn’t taste bad, it just does not deserve the title of fish and chips.” Rosalie said, bringing her plate and beer to the couch. The two women followed her, Keira beside her on the couch and Lucy on the ground, on the other side of the coffee table.

“ Ok I’m done waiting so now, what the hell is going on with you and Alexia.”Rosalie almost choked on her fish at the younger English woman’s question.

“ There’s nothing going on”

“ What do you mean? There’s nothing going on. She keeps staring at you!” Keira said in an animated tone.

“Rosalie, you fell asleep on her shoulder, in the goddamn plane.” Lucy added. The brunette was cornered, she could not lie to these girls, they were her family, they knew her too well.

“ She’s just.. she’s easy company you know. We get along nice.” She said, hoping that would be enough for them, but she knew it definitely would not be.

“ We all saw how you were looking at her on the last morning of the trip. You haven’t looked at anyone like that before, not even…”

“Don’t,” Rosalie quickly interrupted. She didn’t want to compare Alexia, even in the slightest bit, to the Irish defender. “ She’s just very intriguing, you know. I haven’t quite met anyone like her before.”

“ She’s a pure soul, that one,” Lucy said, staring at her best friend who was currently looking everywhere but at the two friends. “ She’s shy and closed off but once she opens up, she is truly one of the most authentic girls I’ve met.” She said with a fond smile playing on her lips.

“ Why are you guys telling me all this?” Rosalie asked. Sure, she understood that these women were her family and they simply wanted to know what was going on but this felt like more than the usual interrogation she would be subjected to. It almost felt like they were encouraging the photographer to pursue whatever was going on between the brunette and the blonde.

“ No reason in particular, we just want you to be happy.” Keira said, trapping the brunette in a hug.

“Ok you can let me go now, you’re crushing me” they stayed silent for a moment, contempt in eating their food and unwinding after their week, until Keira decided to break the silence.

“ She talks about you, you know? With Mapi and some of the Spanish players. They think I’m not good enough in Spanish to understand when they speak fast, but I’m better now, and I can understand some stuff.” Keira said, happily stealing more chips from the photographer’s plate, who was too stunt by the woman’s statement to react. Lucy on the other hand, could not hold back the laugh that came out when she saw the look on the younger woman’s face. A deep blush formed on her cheek as she got off the couch and walked to the kitchen to put away her plate.

“I’m sure it was probably something about the shoot or the most recent post.” Rosalie said, trying to occupy herself until her face would turn back to its original colour.

“ No, no I heard your name, than “guapa” was somewhere in there and then they all agreed.”

“ Kei seriously, that could be about anything.”

“ I’m telling you, they were talking about you.” Keira said with a wide teasing grin on her face. They went back and forth like that for a few minutes while Lucy was laughing at the interaction. The couple ended up staying over until past midnight before finally deciding to make their way home.

“ By the way, you’re coming to the beach tomorrow, I’ll send you the time and address!” Lucy said as she stepped out of the brunette’s apartment and closed the door behind her, not leaving time for her to give an actual answer.

The next day she woke up with a text from Lucy only containing a time and an address for a beach not too far from the city. Rosalie had no idea what to bring for this occasion so she assumed that since they were meeting up around lunch time, she should probably pack some food, a quick call to Keira confirmed her suspicion and allowed her to also add beer to the list of things to bring. She put on her favourite bikini with a pair of linen shorts and a swimsuit cover, grabbed her camera bag and her backpack and hopped in her car.

The Canadian had never gone through this part of the city and decided to go explore it on her next run. Her GPS led her to a small parking area in front of a path in the woods. She parked between Lucy’s Cupra and another car that looked similar to Lucy’s but wasn’t familiar to the brunette. On the other side of the car park, she spotted Mapi and Ingrid’s car as well as other nice vehicles that probably belonged to Barça players. When she arrived on the beach, Rosalie realized that this was more than just a hangout between a few friends. Lucy and Keira were here, along with Mapi and Ingrid, Patri, Pina, Vicky, Jana, Aitana, mariona and finally, Alexia.

Barking was heard along with the sound of rapid little steps coming her way. She was greeted with a small white dog she knew very well, along with a small pomeranian. Narla jumped around at Rosalie’s feet, too excited for the Canadian to pet her, but the small pomeranian kept scratching at her leg. The photographer bent down and picked up the small fluffy dog, who immediately licked her face.

A chorus of “Hola”’s and happy cheers was heard as the French-Canadian made her way towards the group, with the small dog still in her arms. “ Finally! We were starting to think you got lost on your way.” Mapi said, hugging her friend tightly and taking the bags in the brunette’s hands so she could greet the rest of the girls.

“ Blame Lucy, she told me to be here at twelve.”

“ I see you met Nala.” Ingrid said, approaching the photographer, hugging her gently to not crush the ball of fur who was getting comfortable in the brunette’s arms.

“ Oui, she’s a little angel,” She said, kissing the top of the dog’s head, “ Who’s the lucky owner? Gotta know who I need to fight in order to bring her home.” She said laughing.

“She’s Alexia’s.” Mapi said, with a cheeky smile, “ She usually takes a while to warm up to people.” Rosalie could feel the blush that was creeping up her cheeks.

“ Good to know…”

“ Ok, can we eat now? I’m starving.” Mapi said as she turned around, to make her way towards the coolers. Ingrid smiled at her girlfriend’s antics and beckoned the French-Canadian to follow her towards the rest of the group. She helped Ingrid and Aitana set up the little potluck while the rest of the girls were setting up some beach chairs and towels around. The sun was high in the sky and not a single cloud could be seen, the heat was quickly getting to the Canadian who decided that the swimsuit cover was not helping cooling her off. She got up and took off the shirt, her actions not missed by a certain blonde, who was in the middle of a game of touch. The action made Alexia completely miss, which made the little group snicker at their captain.

“Capitán, debería limpiarse la baba de las comisuras de la boca.!” Patri said, laughing at her captain 's flustered face.

“ Oy, callate idiota!” To be fair, Alexia was not the only one staring. The photographer had put on a dark green bikini that complemented perfectly her tanned skin and showed off her athletic figure.

“ Ella es muy caliente.” The comment came from Pina, who received a sharp slap to the back of her head.

“Behave”

“ Si Capitana.”

The food was finally set up and the group was called back by the rest of the girls to come eat. Rosalie mainly stayed with Ingrid and Aitana since she still wasn’t used to being with this many new people at once. She quickly found out that there was absolutely no reason to be shy around the girls. The atmosphere was very playful and the air was filled with laughter and bickering in broken English since they all knew that Rosalie and Keira weren’t completely comfortable in Spanish.

“ Rosie! If you want to make your Spanish better, I know someone who’s a very good teacher.” Patri said with a shit eating grin.

“ Si, si very patient, very good teacher. She would love to teach you, right Capitana?” Pina added, trying to hold back her laugh. The look the captain sent the girls would have scared anyone in their right mind, but the younger players were too busy laughing to notice their captain’s wrath coming their way. A sharp cry and a whine was heard when the football connected with the side of Pina’s head.

“Cállate, te lo merecías.” Alexia said as she pushed the younger girl towards the area they had been playing previously.

“ I don’t know if they were serious or not, but I kinda really do need help with Spanish. The online courses I’ve been taking are little to no help with understanding native speakers.” The brunette said as she set up her towel between Ingrid and another towel.

“I’m sure she would love to help.” Ingrid said with a knowing smile. The light sound of little paws hitting the sand caught the attention of the photographer who turned her head to see Nala strut her way. The little dog came over to the photographer to get a few pets then made a beeline to the towel next to her to pick up a little chew toy. Nalla then turned to make her way back to Rosalie to lay right in the middle of her towel. Rosalie laughed at the little dog’s antics while Ingrid smiled and turned to her friend.

“Now that your spot has been taken, you should go show these children how it’s done.” She said, motioning to the little group playing a game of touch. Mapi’s head shot up at her girlfriend’s words.

“ Yes, yes, let’s go, I want to see what you are capable of.” Rosalie let Mapi drag her up and to the group. She stood between Patri and Mapi and after a few passes, she was just as excited and hyped as the rest of the girls. They played for a while, working up a sweat with the sand sticking to their skin. Even though the brunette was focused on the game, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing at the blonde captain. She looked gorgeous in her light blue bikini, tanned skin glowing in the sunlight. She looked so carefree and genuinely happy. Their eyes met and both the women smiled wildly, until a particularly daring kick sent the ball straight to the ocean.

“ Rosie! You are a runner, si?” Patri said, lightly shoving the brunette to get her attention. “ The first to get to the ball gets to dunk the other one in the ocean!” She yelled, already taking off full speed towards the waves.

“ Hey! Non, that’s not fair!” She said laughing as she took off behind the midfielder who had too great of a head start for the Canadian to be able to catch up to her.

As soon as she reached the ball, she felt hands grab her by the waist and hoist her up only to launch her straight in the water. The photographer let out a loud shriek as she hit the cold refreshing waters. She could hear behind her the cheers of the rest of the girls who had made their way to Patri.

Rosalie walked out of the water, slicking her hair back with a sinister smile as she approached Patri, who was still caught in an uncontrollable laughter. She jumped on the player’s back and dragged her down in the water with her. Alexia saw this as an opportunity to get back at Pina for the teasing and grabbed the younger player, hoisting her on her shoulders and walking off in the water to dump her near the two other women who were busy splashing each other.

They all stay in the water for a while, teaming up against one another in a slashing battle. Patri and Rosalie against Claudia and Alexia. The footballers weren’t playing around and Rosalie quickly realized that she was in over her head. For the second time today, a pair of hands landed on her hips but this time, the touch sent shivers down the brunette’s back. She went still which allowed Alexia to swiftly pick her up as she carried the photographer away from the two other Spanish women, too busy bickering and slashing each other to notice the absence of their friends.

The midfielder set Rosalie down, but her hands on her hips stayed until she decided the woman was stable enough on her feet. “ I am sorry, I thought that you looked a little overwhelmed out there," she said, smiling at the smaller woman.

“They do play a little too rough for me.” she said, following Alexia as she started walking deeper in the sea. She was silent, only looking at the water stretching endlessly in front of her. Rosalie could see that something was bothering the blonde. Her beautiful smile had faded and her eyes held a worried look. “I can sense something is not right.” She said softly to the blonde who turned to look at the photographer.

“ It’s just that, the euros are getting nearer, national camp is in a few weeks and the girls are a little on edge with everything that has been going on lately.” The photographer was aware of the tensions in the national football scene in Spain. She knew that the players were fighting for better conditions and better treatment from the coaches, and she knew that this fight had cost some of the girls their chance to represent their country in some of the most important sports events. It was hard for the girls who had to stay behind . It was also hard for the ones who had decided to stay with the team but were enduring the poor treatment from the staff and management. Seeing these girls today, so happy and carefree, she could not fathom just how much pressure was resting on their shoulders.

“ Days like these are important, you know,” The photographer said, getting closer to the captain. “ They help unwind, allow you to forget about everything you know?”

“ I’m not very good at relaxing.” The blonde said, chuckling.

“ What do you like to do on your days off?”

“ I don’t know, I don’t get a lot of those.”

“ Ok, so what would a perfect day off be for La Reina?” The photographer said with a cheeky smile. Alexia gave the photographer a big eye roll before answering.

“ Probably going to get coffee, walk around the market. Maybe buy supplies to cook a nice supper and relax with a movie. Something simple I guess.” Alexia said with a distant look in her eyes. In this moment, Rosalie wished she could take all the pressure on the blonde’s shoulders and carry it for her for a little while, just so she could catch her breath. Unable to do such a thing, the brunette thought of the next best thing.

“ Tomorrow there’s no training right?”

“ Si, no training.”

“ And you don’t have anything planned?”

“ I was gonna train alone and work on some side projects, why?”

“ No you are not, because tomorrow, you are bringing me to your favourite coffee shop and to that market you talked about. Then you are coming back to my place and I’d like you to show me how to make Paella. I've always wanted to try making it but my cooking skills are horrendous.” Rosaie said in a tone that left no space for arguing. Alexia smiled at the smaller woman, she was surprised by the French-Canadian’s proposition but could not be happier with the turn this conversation took. She took the brunette’s hand and brought it to her lips. The action made Rosalie freeze on the spot as she felt the blonde’s lips graze the back of her hand, which sent a shock wave that traveled her whole body and made her breath hitch.

“ It is a date then.” Alexia said, letting the brunette’s hand go and walking back to the beach with a wide smile plastered on her face. Rosalie on the other hand, was still frozen at the same spot, trying to gather exactly what had happened between them. A deep blush had crept on her face and the woman felt hot all over. She lowered herself in the water, dunking her head to try and cool herself off, or wake up for this dream, but she emerged at the same spot, with the silhouette of the footballer walking in front of her, almost reaching the rest of the group, who was now sunbathing.

Walking back to her towel, she could see that Nala had moved to the top of Alexia's towel, near the blonde’s head. She was laying on her stomach, which allowed the photographer a clear view of the multitude of tattoos on the captain’s back. The photographer got comfortable on her back and shoved one airpod in her ear, leaving the other one free to hear the crash of the waves on the sand. She felt something fluffy brush against her hand and opened her eyes to see Nala had changed spots again, deciding to lay between the two women, making sure she was touching Alexia and Rosalie’s hand at once. With the soft music playing in her ear, the sound of the ocean and Alexia’s calming presence, Rosalies quickly surrendered to the week’s exhaustion and let herself drift to sleep.

[butterflydm]

WoT 3x06 Deep Dive (additional book spoilers)

spoilers through 3x06 of the show and A Memory of Light for the books (final book).

Everything that the show has been saying about the Dark Oaths that are sworn to the Dark One by regular people are, I'm pretty sure, a show-only situation. In the books, the Black Ajah swear oaths to the Dark One on the Oath Rod (replacing their old Oaths) and it's implied that part of the reason for that is so that they'll keep their 'ageless Aes Sedai' face. But regular old darkfriends are just stuck in it because of either their own character and choices, or good ol' sunk-cost fallacy. This change in the show does mean that it's much harder for a Darkfriend to choose to leave the Shadow, and that trapping a person into it young leaves them with few options.

It also makes it a stronger metaphor for extremist religious organizations which, since Rafe grew up in the Mormon church (as we learned on the 'making of' for s1&2 during the fan global event), I feel like was probably not a coincidence. "If you leave us, you lose your chance at eternal life" is a pretty big refrain in a lot of those high-control religions. We have three high-control groups in Wheel of Time -- darkfriends, the Whitecloaks, and the Seanchan. We've seen youth recruitment in both the darkfriends and the Whitecloaks; and the Seanchan system is embedded deeply into their culture.

The show choosing to have Elayne be the character to keep bringing the focus back to the danger that the collar poses to Rand feels like subconscious seed-planting on the part of the show. She mentions Rand to her mom ("I healed the Dragon Reborn") and now she keeps making sure that the danger to Rand is forefronted when they're talking about their mission here in Tanchico.

Tanchico also continues to feel like a mix of book!Ebou Dar and book!Tanchico, and we eat away at another Ebou Dar thing (Mat and Elayne are clearly getting along much better at the end of this episode than they were when they were trapped together on a boat during 3x05).

So, going over that list again, of the Ebou Dar things we have lost:

Renna is dead.

Seta is dead.

Suroth is dead.

Jaichaim Carridan is dead.

Aviendha and Elayne have already bonded over Aiel culture, which is their main arc together in Ebou Dar in the books.

Mat and Elayne have already bonded, with Mat realizing that actually she can be a lot of fun. Mat and Elayne having an enemies-to-friends arc was their main story in the Ebou Dar section of the plotline.

It feels like Egeanin's entrance from the books (where Elayne believes that she's being kidnapped for being the Daughter-Heir, though it's not a correct assumption in that case) was given to Thom's reintroduction here, with him stepping in to help Elayne out of a tight spot, so if they wanted to introduce Egeanin, it would need to be in a different way

Tanchico being given vibes similar to the Rahad area of Ebou Dar in the books

Now could they still do some of Ebou Dar with cutting all of this out? Yes. We still have Tylin (ugh), we could introduce Bethamin and give her all of Renna & Seta's stuff, we could do the Seanchan invasion with Tuon and Semirhage, and we could do the Bowl of the Winds. So this might be more about streamlining Ebou Dar into one or two episodes as opposed to cutting it out entirely. We will see! (if we get renewed for enough seasons)

In addition to doing some more Ebou Dar stuff, we also touch on Elayne's 'circus arc' from the books by how hard she embraces going undercover here, and we get a bit of the "gleeman's apprentice" stuff that Mat & Rand got to do with Thom in book 1, plus the idea of Thom having a female apprentice (though obviously with very different and a non-sexual context than the books had), plus the scene of Elayne singing on stage pulls at least one line from the books as well.

The show also has chosen to prioritize Min getting bonding time first with Mat, and now with Nynaeve, which I think is an indicator as to where they plan to take Min's character in the future. Bonding with Mat to improve their relationship for the Seanchan storyline at the very end. Bonding with Nynaeve improves the potential time in the future when the two of them are the ones watching Rand spiral down further into isolation and darkness, and trying to help him (basically taking what they're trying to do for Mat here, and applying it to Rand).

And so it continues to be interesting that we have not gotten any Min and Elayne bonding time. I do think that it makes sense to lean away from Min being in the polycule if they are still doing Min's Seanchan-ending from the books, because her being in the Seanchan empire while the others are all in Andor does kinda make it feel like she got the raw end of the deal after the epilogue ends (and I don't think the show will make Rand a deadbeat dad at the end, like the epilogue does - they've shown his affection for children and the desire for a simple life with his loved ones too strongly).

We might get some Min-Elayne bonding in 3x08, but it's pretty packed and I feel like we're more likely to get Min and Nynaeve helping Mat with his memories, while Elayne has a moment with Thom where she remembers him from her mother's court, so I feel like an Elayne-Thom and Mat-Min-Nynaeve split may be more likely for the events of 3x08. I think there might even be a shot of Elayne & Thom running from some trouble together in one of the trailers. Plus, we didn't get any initial reaction from Min when she was introduced to Elayne -- she basically just seemed willing to vibe along with whatever Mat's feelings about Elayne were.

We also get Min lying about one of her viewings in this scene! Very exciting for me! She never does this in the books and I kept wanting her to (especially after she hooks up with Tuon -- like, why are you so devoted to sharing every detail of every person's future with the empress of the Seanchan Empire? why don't you just LIE to her? well, this Min would just lie to Tuon and it makes me like her so much more).

So, Egwene's scene with the Wise Ones, where they call her out on lying to them: the way Egwene reacts here very much fits show!Egwene's behavior as a whole.

I saw people saying after 3x05 how good it was to see Egwene embracing Aiel culture and that is... not what I saw in her at all during 3x05, and this episode confirms that reading for me.

It's Rand who has embraced the Aiel culture much more than Egwene has. She has been interested in learning how to access her power through the Wise Ones' teaching so that she can stop what's happening to her in her dreams, so in this episode, it is Rand that we saw genuinely interacting with the concepts of ji and toh, while Egwene brushes off her lying to the Wise Ones as not important.

This does feel like a deliberate change that the show has made, but very much in line with also not having Egwene be all "the White Tower is my home" after only having been there a handful of months, the way that she is in the books. Show!Egwene considers herself loyal "to the Light" -- not to the Aes Sedai, not to the Wise Ones, not to Rand. And I do feel like that fits her overall story arc better, tbh.

It also makes sense to give the "acclimates to the Aiel culture" storyline to Rand instead of to Egwene, since it's more relevant to him and to his future. It's clear that the show is leaning more into Rand being curious and interested in his Aiel heritage, including having the walk through the columns affect him more deeply than it does in the books.

In 3x01, there were book fans who felt like the show needed to explain why Egwene didn't want to stay in the White Tower but show!Egwene never developed that fast affection & loyalty for the Tower that book!Egwene did, so no explanation was needed for me (and show-onlys were all expecting her to walk out on Siuan and were completely unsurprised by her attitude towards the Tower, from what I saw).

In retrospect, not developing Egwene and Aviendha's friendship feels like an early sign of this decision to make Egwene embracing the Wise Ones' teaching her as more of a pragmatic decision. It's Elayne and Rand, Aviendha's two future love interests, who are interested and invested in learning more about Aiel culture, while Egwene has her own separate path to focus on.

Given the limited time that the show has, it's a choice that makes sense, even if it does contribute to Egwene not having any friends in the Waste storyline (though that might have been a feature and not a bug for the plotting of the season -- much like how I feel like Mat was removed from Rand's plotline more to isolate Rand away from any of his close friends than for anything vital that Mat has needed to do in Tanchico, Egwene not being close friends with Aviendha might have been a narrative decision to help keep Egwene emotionally isolated while on this journey - now I personally think keeping Egwene so emotionally isolated hurt what the show was going for with the Randgwene break-up but... it is what it is).

And the show choosing to have the Wise Ones care more about Rand aligning with the Aiel than Egwene embracing their culture also makes sense.

(of course, they could also choose to have Egwene pivot and become "Aiel-hearted" later on, but as of what we've gotten so far, there isn't any groundwork laid for it yet, and since Egwene's storyline takes her away from the Aiel in the relative near future, I'm not sure that there's any long-term gain from them doing that storyline with her when it seems like there's a greater return in doing it with Rand)

Something I mentioned in the show spoilers only post is that we didn't get any breaks in Egwene's mask to show us the vulnerable woman underneath who is genuinely struggling with the idea that Rand might go mad -- and it reminded me of that being a major issue that I had with a book character. That's one of the reasons that Tuon falls so flat for me in the books -- her mask never falters, not even in her own PoV chapters. And that was kinda the issue that I've been having with Egwene re: her relationship with Rand this season.

Maybe this is them leaning on their "unbreakable" characterization of Egwene, but I feel like we really needed a moment of vulnerability from her earlier this season specifically on the topic of Rand and madness. Before we get her flat-out accusing him of having already gone mad in 3x06. We needed something before that. Or I did, anyway. As it was, she went from zero to a hundred real damn fast. I am hoping that we are finally let more into her emotional conflicts in 3x08, though I'm sure time will be tight.

During Rand and Moiraine's talk, when I closed my eyes and just listened, I'm pretty sure I hear a whispered "Ilyena" which was so exciting! I did not catch that on my first viewing at all. So if Rand is starting to have the beginnings of memories about Ilyena, that's another piece to throw into the pot of "things that were likely affecting Rand's behavior during the Randgwene break-up scene". Also -- the first whispers of Ilyena coming the day after he kisses Lanfear (the first time he kisses her knowing that she's Lanfear and having seen her as Mierin)... that is delicious. I don't think LTT approved of the kiss, you guys.

As for what the change in Faile's backstory does to Deira Bashere... similar to how I felt about the changes to Abell Cauthon, it literally doesn't matter to me. Minor characters exist to bring depth and flavor to more important characters. Deira needs to be a mother that is appropriate for show!Faile and how she interacts with the world, just like Abell and Natti needed to be the parents that were appropriate for show!Mat and how he interacts with the world. Bringing Faile to life and making her a good fit for Perrin is much more important than trying to stay true to book!Deira's characterization.

Theory about Melindhra: she is going to free Sammael from whatever captivity that Rand has placed him in during 3x08 (because I don't think Sammael is dead). It also seems likely that Sammael is the one who put the dragons on Couladin's arms, since he's working with the Shaido in this episode. This may mean that Asmodean is out entirely, or he may still be in but in a different kind of teaching role. We might get either Taimodean or Taimandred in s4. Could go either way! Depends on how long-term a baddie that Sammael is, possibly.

Relatively shorter post this time, since I was able to say most of what I needed to say in the show spoilers only post.

[my-soul-sings]

the champion's prize: ch 1

Fandom: Love and Deepspace Characters: Sylus/Reader

Summary: The Champion will marry the chief's daughter. That's how it's been traditionally, as least. And as the next Champion, you know how Sylus' story will end: one with no room for you, the daughter of a traitor, in it.

What you don't realise is that he's long had his sights set on a different prize altogether.

AU inspired by Sylus' Grassland Romance date.

ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

*See replies to this post for the AO3 link.

+++++++++++++

You should be ecstatic, overflowing with joy, and beaming with pride. At least, that’s how the rest of the village folk are, their wide eyes glued to the village chief and the newest batch of chosen warriors lined up in front of the village chief’s yurt. 

But as you stand at the back of the crowd, only half listening to the impassioned speech by the chief, you can’t bring yourself to even smile. Try as you might, you can’t shrug off the heavy weight sinking deep into your chest. All you can focus on among the line of warriors is the man standing at the end of it, his silver hair striking among the sea of black and brown. 

It feels strange seeing him standing at attention like that, his back straight, shoulders back and his hands behind him. You’re far more used to seeing him leaning his weight on one side while holding an item (usually something you wanted to keep hidden from him) out of reach, or seeing him laying on the grass on a lazy sunny afternoon.

You suppose now, you’ll have to get used to other things, the most pertinent one being his absence. After all, there’s been talk of the warriors setting off for another expedition in just about a week’s time. 

It’s not like you didn’t know this would happen when he decided to become a warrior and join the elite group tasked with setting out in search of a new place for the village to settle in. You had been a wandering settlement for some time ever since the monsters known as wanderers reduced your original village to rubble over three decades ago. Only the very best of the trained youth could join the ranks of the warriors, and it was a title that came with prestige and admiration, but not without cost: even a moment of weakness out there in the wilderness could easily cost a person his or her life. 

That was unfortunately how the story went with one of the early expeditions — one that your father had been part of, or so you’ve heard. You don’t remember any of it, given that you were maybe just two years old then. All of the warriors had apparently died in that expedition, with your father being the sole exception, as he had abandoned the group and fled back to the village on his own. 

Maybe you should be glad that he came back alive and well, but it really didn’t make much of a difference to you. The earliest memory you have was of being in the orphanage, where most kids ended up after their parents died in the line of duty. Your mother was one of the exceptions, having died at childbirth instead of in battle, so all you had was your father from the start.  

In the end, all you remember at the beginning of your life was that you were alone, and having every other kid at the orphanage mock you for being the daughter of a traitor. 

The sole exception to this was a peculiar boy who looked different than the rest, with his silvery white hair like that of an old man’s, and his irises the colour of blood. The other kids would often whisper about how he looked like a demon, with some being too scared to approach him, while others would try their luck and provoke him from a distance by throwing rocks or hurling insults from across the field. 

The latter group quickly learned never to mess with him, and rightly so; he had strength that rivalled even that of the oldest kids in the orphanage despite his young age. It only served to further solidify his reputation as a demon among them.  

You were perhaps the only one who didn’t share that sentiment. Compared to the rest, he was the only one who ever stood up for you. 

Ever since then, you kind of just stayed glued to his side. He didn’t like it much at first, but soon grew used to you, and now… the thought of saying goodbye for who knows how long has your heart constricting and your eyes welling up with tears. 

You shake your head, coming back to reality and mentally kicking yourself for getting all sentimental. Today’s a big day for Sylus; since he was young all he wanted was to become a warrior, and now he’s finally made it. You have to put on a big smile for him. Even if it’s fake and even if it hurts, you have to do it. 

You repeat it to yourself over and over in your head but to no avail, even until the end of the ceremony and the crowd disperses to prepare for the feast that night. You turn around the moment you notice Sylus turning to leave, and make a beeline straight for your yurt, hoping that he didn’t spot you. 

You’ll try again later. For now, you can only hope your eyes won’t look too swollen. 

+++++++++++++

There’s a range of weapons that the kids at the orphanage learn to use from a young age, just like everyone else. There’s swords and spears, but the one you chose was the bow, for a few reasons. For one, you loved the rush and thrill of hitting a target set before you. It was also the most useful and practical for hunting.

But the biggest reason of all was how calming it felt: drowning out all the bad thoughts and emotions, leaving nothing in your mind except for the target in your line of sight. 

Naturally, it’s also your form of escape when things get overwhelming, like now. 

You draw your bow back, the tension causing your sore arm to tremble slightly, but you will it to stay in place. After all, you can’t afford to miss this catch. 

The quail is settled by a thick tree a fair distance away from you, none the wiser as to its dangerous predicament. That said, one slip-up from you and it’ll get away all too easily.

Breathe, you tell yourself, and you steady your aim, waiting until you feel ready, before you release. 

But then an image of Sylus flashes in your mind at the last second, breaking your focus and the next thing you know, your arrow flies and lands in a pile of dead leaves, and the quail is gone.

Before you can bemoan your bad form today, you suddenly hear a voice behind you. 

“Looks like someone’s not able to focus.” 

Reflexively, you spin around while simultaneously grabbing an arrow from the pack behind you and swiftly aiming to shoot. 

Your target is a whole head taller than you, holding both of his hands up in surrender and wearing a teasing smirk on his face. 

“I didn’t think it would take you this long to notice you weren’t alone.”

You lower your bow immediately with a huff, arms falling to your sides. “I could have shot you, you know.” You point your index finger to his chest, and that’s when you notice the newly added woven gold braid hanging from his breastplate. It must have been from the ceremony earlier —  a badge of honour reserved only for the warriors in the village. 

Taking advantage of your momentary silence, Sylus takes your hand in his, prompting you to lift your chin and meet his gaze. 

“You wouldn’t have gotten the chance if I was serious about attacking you, sweetie. I was watching for a full five minutes, including your attempt at hunting that quail.” 

Sylus has the nerve to chuckle, and heat rushes to your cheeks with embarrassment. Unable to think of an adequate comeback, you pretend to storm off, only to be caught by the elbow and yanked back hard enough to have your face land right smack in his chest. 

“Ow! Hey!” 

“I thought someone would be there to congratulate me, but I only saw you scurrying away as soon as it was over.” 

Great, now you feel kind of bad. “Sorry… and congratulations. I was going to look for you later, actually.”

“After hunting the quail? I might have gone on that expedition already.”

You narrow your eyes at him. “I was going to make roast quail for you as a gift, but since you’re complaining—”

“Who said anything about complaining? I came to offer my assistance.” 

He takes you by the hand, motioning with a finger to his lips for you to be quiet, and you nod, following his lead. Carefully and quietly, you make your way a little deeper into the forest, and then Sylus comes to an abrupt stop. For the second time that day your nose finds its way into hard muscle and you wonder if it might become crooked at this rate. 

There’s no time to complain though; following the direction of Sylus’ pointed finger, you spot the same quail you were trying to hunt earlier. Immediately you raise your bow, pulling out an arrow and slotting it between your fingers. As you try to steady your aim, you feel him approaching you from behind, until he’s close enough that your back is almost pressing against his body. He then places a hand on your elbow, and the other over your hand that’s on the grip of the bow. 

It starts to feel warm, probably because of his body heat and the bits of sunlight filtering in through the tree leaves. Your eyes dart to the right just over your shoulder, and you realise his face is right next to yours. Your gaze inadvertently lingers for a tad too long and he catches you staring, to which you immediately turn back to your target, cheeks flaming in shame.

“Focus. You wouldn’t want it to escape again, would you? Or we might go hungry tonight.”

You scoff, trying to play it off. “The village is preparing a feast for tonight; you don’t have to worry about that.” 

“I’m a picky eater. And now that someone promised me my favourite roast quail, I don’t think I can stomach anything else tonight.” 

Way to put pressure on someone. You tighten your grip on the bow, but flinch when you suddenly hear his voice right by your ear in a low whisper.

“You’re too tense. Relax; I’ve got you.” 

You’re not too sure how you can relax in this situation. How can you concentrate, when the man you’ve had the biggest crush on for years is standing this close to you? 

You can’t remember when it was exactly that you fell in love with him. Maybe it was the day he stood up for you in front of your bullies, shielding you from the little stones being thrown at you. Or maybe it was the day he smiled when you presented to him a miserable attempt at a flower crown, when none of the other girls would make him one. Or, it could have been one of those perfectly normal, uneventful days, when you went out horse-riding with him and watched as the afternoon went by in the blink of an eye, with him by your side. 

All you know is that you’ve come to realise that you can no longer picture life in the grasslands, if he’s not in it with you.  

Unfortunately, you know his feelings aren’t reciprocated. After all, Sylus has made it clear that more than becoming a warrior, he intends to become champion; the man who will eventually become the village chief, after proving himself to be the strongest warrior of all. 

And, as tradition goes, the champion will marry the daughter of the presiding chief. For him, that would be Yvette, the only daughter to the chief. 

You don’t know her well, but from the stories you’ve heard, the villagers hold her in high regard. She’s kind, caring and also the most beautiful woman in the village. You know of many of the young men pining for her heart, and at least half of the warriors are hoping to make it as champion so they can eventually propose to her. It’s all quite romantic, really, and if this were a book, she’d be the perfect main character, and Sylus would make a fitting male lead in the story. 

As for you, well… there really isn’t a seat at the table for the daughter of a traitor, is there? 

The ache in your arms brings you back to the present moment, with Sylus right by your side and your arrow still poised and aimed at the quail in front of you. If not for his arms steadying you, you’re certain your arms would be trembling from fatigue by now. 

You take a deep breath, trying to clear your mind of all other unnecessary thoughts. It’s okay; there’s no need to be nervous. Just pretend Sylus is a tree, like all the big-ass trees around here. 

But just as you’re about to release your arrow, said tree’s lips brush against your ear. 

“Nervous?” 

You lose control, releasing the string a tad too early. But just as he promised, Sylus had your back. 

The arrow lands in its target and Sylus gracefully steps away to collect his prize, but not before throwing a knowing smirk over his shoulder at what must have been your flaming red face.

+++++++++++++

You can hear the bustling noise of the feast happening out in the central field, marked with the huge, blazing campfire in the middle. There’s the sound of drums, music, and chatter as people dance and sing under the cover of night.

Then there’s you, sitting outside your yurt on the outskirts of the village with a little fire as your companion, over which the roast quail is being prepared.

“You should be out there,” you chide, glancing over at the man who’s sitting across you, helping to flip the skewered meat over to cook the other side. “You’re part of the reason they’re throwing the feast, you know.”

He shrugs. “It’s for the warriors. With this many people there, they won’t notice I’m gone.”

“Of course they will. And Yvette’s there too.” 

He raises his brow at the mention of Yvette. “So?”

You’re not sure why he’s still keeping up this nonchalant act when his feelings are already so obvious. “So… don’t you think you should go? If you’re staying here just to keep me company, don’t. I don’t want to keep you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not.” Sylus gestures at the quail. “I’m staying for this.” 

You roll your eyes. “Sylus, be serious. I can always keep some for you later. Get out there and have some fun. There’s only so much time left before you go for your expedition.” 

Dropping your gaze to the grass beneath your feet, you add in a softer mumble, “And who knows how long that might take.”

“But you don’t want to spend what little time I have left here with you?” 

“No, I mean—” You struggle to think of the words, but then realise that he’s just teasing you again when you spot the mirth in his eyes. 

“You know what I meant,” you mutter, crossing your arms over your chest. 

In response, Sylus feigns ignorance, placing his fingers underneath his chin. “I know, but what I don’t understand is why we’re still having this conversation. I’ve made it clear that I’m not doing anything I don’t want to. And I’m here because I want to be.” 

“...Because of the quail. Right.”

“No, it’s because I want to be here, with you.”

His words catch you completely off guard, and you find yourself stammering some incoherent syllables in an attempt to form a reply — something, anything — that will keep you from giving away how your insides turned to mush from those simple words. 

While you continue to flounder and try to recall how to even speak, the man gets up and steps over to you, holding out his hand. It’s only when he moves his fingers in a come-hither motion that you decide the best way forward is to just shut up in case you make any further slip-ups. 

Placing your hand in his, you let him haul you up to your feet. Before you can ask why he made you get up when the quail isn’t done roasting yet, he takes your other hand and places it on his shoulder, before resting his hand on your waist, pulling you in closer.

“What… are we doing?” you ask.

Sylus stares at you as if you’ve grown two heads. “Dancing, obviously.” 

“Why?” 

“Because someone was worried about me missing out on the fun at the feast.” He glances over to the side, in the direction where the party is. “This way, we both get to enjoy it.”  

You can still hear the music playing in the distance albeit faintly, and before you can protest, Sylus starts moving, swaying to no beat or rhythm whatsoever. 

Despite not knowing what the hell you’re both doing, you find yourself following his lead anyway, mimicking his steps and swaying slowly to nothing but the melody of the wind and the rustling grass beneath your feet. 

“It feels weird dancing without music,” you say, breaking the silence. 

“Hmm. I could sing if you’d like,” Sylus offers.

You catch yourself before you can vigorously shake your head in a vehement ‘no’. The last time he offered to sing you a lullaby was when you were kids, and the ordeal had ended with you bursting into tears because he had managed to effortlessly butcher your favourite song. 

After a moment, you manage a more tactful response. “I think we can do without music. It’s weird, but it’s actually kind of nice.” 

Sylus accepts the explanation, and continues to lead you in the dance. Despite having no song to guide your feet, he moves gracefully and effortlessly and it’s easy enough to follow suit. Maybe it’s because you’ve known each other for so long; the cues often go unsaid. Your steps are intuitive and somehow always aligned with his. 

Then he twirls you, once, twice, before pulling you in and dipping you downward, hand sliding from your waist to your back to support you. 

In that moment you find yourself utterly lost and helpless before his piercing gaze. His eyes dart downward briefly before returning to meet your gaze, face close enough that you can feel his breath fanning across your cheeks. 

“You’re right,” he tells you, eyes softening as a gentle smile plays on his lips, “this is nice.” 

It’s unfair; he always knows just what to say to have your chest constricting and heart fluttering like that. When your eyes fall to his lips for a brief moment, you’re consumed by the temptation to wrap your free hand around his neck and kiss him. It would be so easy to do that. 

Besides, it looks like Sylus is starting to lean in too… 

Wait. What?

You do a double-take when you realise it’s not your imagination; Sylus is starting to get closer, until the night sky and the stars are no longer within your line of sight and all you can see is him. 

You start to panic. There are only two things you can think is about to happen: the first being that Sylus is about to kiss you (which would be absurd and insane), and the second being Sylus is just teasing you again. 

There’s an equal chance that it’s either of those. Or rather, it’s more likely the latter, but the bigger part of you is hoping for the former.

Helpless and unable to move in this position without landing on your face and receiving a mouthful of grass, you squeeze your eyes shut, not able to bear looking on to witness your imminent fate.

All you hear next is a short chuckle from him, and then you feel him lifting you back up into standing position. It’s only then that you dare to open your eyes again, and you see Sylus frowning in the direction of your yurt.

“I smell something burning.” 

It takes a second for you to register what on earth could be burning, until you smell it too. You let out a sharp gasp. 

“The quail!” 

You sprint back immediately, a part of you grateful for the timely interruption, but the other part wistful as you wonder what Sylus was planning to do earlier. 

And the smallest, most hopeful, part of you wondered what it would have felt like to kiss him.

[areanoodles]

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite

Finally posting this. My rewrite for miraculous.

Ive been working on it for a while and just adding to it slowly. So, this is what I have for it so far. I'm deciding that I'm most likely going to make a second blog for just my rewrites (I currently have two I'm working on). So there will probably be a more polished version of this if I make the second blog.

Without further ado, here is my miraculous rewrite (so far..)

-

●Marinette and adrien are still both the main protagonist

●Adrien will actually have more of a focus, if not being more of the main character than Marinette

●Adrien's vocals will be added in the theme song as backing vocals (like in the full version of the theme song)

●Chloe will have a redemption arch

●Marinette and Adrien's romance will sort of be slow burn still, but will happen a lot faster in a way. Instead of dragging it on, they’ll start off having more of a friendship/some platonic banter, and as it progresses they’ll slowly start to realize their affection for one another

●In the umbrella scene (in origins pt. 2), we know marinette develops her crush on adrien from there, but, for this rewrite, marinette may question if she truly loves adrien. She may think she has a little affection for him, but, her crush for him will only slowly develop over time

●so, from the umbrella scene, she won’t actually have a huge crush on him

●adrien will actually be the same since the umbrella scene. He’ll consider Marinette a friend at first, but as time progresses, he’ll also develop a crush on her. He may not recognize it at first when he actually has feelings for her. Marinette will be more likely to detect her feelings for Adrien once she has feelings for him

●Zoe may be given a role in the show if I can properly give her development or any type of character

●not everyone of marinette’s classmates will be given a miraculous (such as Marc, Nathaniel, Ivan, Sabrina, max, Zoe, Kim, rose(?))

●Ladybug and Cat noir will still be the main super heroes. But if they develop a group over time, they’ll have queen bee (chloe), carapace (nino), and Rena Rouge (alya)

●temporary holders that will be recruited time from time will be, viperion (luka), ryuko (kagami)(?), purple tigress (juleka)

●bunnyx will always be a miraculous holders regardless since she has to deal with the timeline and time travel and her as a holder is a lot older (before current alix gets the bunny miraculous)

●Not sure how ill do lila’s (or cerise) character, but I want to figure out what I could do with her just like Zoe

● Gabriel (hawkmoth) won’t akumatize every single day. I think it would be better if he took time to pause from doing destruction, maybe trying to improve his powers during these times he’s not akumatizing, or just doing his job as a fashion designer, or any other lore that could be explored of the agreste family. I also feel like those episodes or times where he doesn’t akumatize anyone, could also give us time to know adrien and marinette better as main characters, can give them more exploration in their civilian lives

●Since I’m most likely keeping zoe in the Rewrite, I might have something that’ll make her more interesting(?)

●Chloe and Zoe don’t know about their existence before they actually meet

●Audrey purposely never told any one of them that they had a half sister in a complete different country

●Audrey was there for chloe, then left to new york

●I guess I’d like to go with the idea Audrey cheated on Andre (since it’s not really explained much in the show)

●Audrey has zoe in New York

●I think Audrey would’ve been flipping back and forth between going to new york and Paris for both of them (while also telling zoe and Chloe that she has to leave because of work and for fashion shows)

●zoe is more cold in this rewrite ●She holds a huge grudge towards audrey for leaving her all those years (and neglecting her for when she was there)

●Zoe for the most part cares less about Audrey. She feels there’s no need to care about something that hasn’t been there for her. Chloe on the other hand is pretty similar if not the same to her season 2 counterpart. She wishes for Audrey to praise her, to acknowledge her. She grieves the mother she wished she had.

●Audrey was more in zoe’s life, but even then, was still neglected by her. Audrey barely paid any attention to her, and didn’t take any time to spend with her

●Chloe also didn’t have a parent to spend time with. Andre was always busy with something and barely took time to hangout with her.

●When chloe and Zoe do meet, they are kind of distant to each other

●Chloe holds a slight grudge towards Zoe cause she feels like she got the better end of the stick (having a mother figure with her, especially since all chloe’s ever wanted was for her mother to be there with her and acknowledge her existence)

●Though, she’s totally oblivious to how much Audrey has affected Zoe too, and that Audrey isn’t as great as much as she gives her credit for

●Zoe really left her boarding school because of the homophobia that she got

●The main reason why cockroaches were eventually put in her locker

●Master Fu dying

●Sometimes characters need to die, and maybe mater Fu being that one character during the time of the show

●I think this will really effect marinette even more than just master Fu losing his memory

●Maybe by the time Master Fu dies, the superhero group would be a thing (ladybug, cat noir, carapace, Rena Rouge, and queen bee), and it'll all greatly affect them

●this will take a toll on them, but marinette especially. The one mentor, the only mentor she had, is now gone, and she’s going through another mental spiral

●she began off in the series with no guidance, finding Master Fu, finally have some sort of guidance, now doesn’t have guidance anymore

●Maybe even the celestial guardian can be introduced this way. With Fu now dead, he presumes the miracle box is still out there, and then figures out a teenager is in possession of it

●this is obviously still close to in show canon, so its not too different

●But, instead, the miracle box isn’t passed down to marinette at all. So marinette’s put in this weird position where she has to take charge and care for the miracle box

●I do want to do something where Marinette/ladybug isn’t the only one taking care of these things, but also has adrien/cat noir to help

●I’ve also been thinking that at some point Zoe will know Chloe is queen bee (as well as the rest of the teams identities)

●Kagami will definitely know some how

-

Thats it. That's what I have so far, this is a really long post.

When I said earlier in the post that adrien will have his vocals added to the theme song, I was in the thought process of if this rewrite were to be animated.

Question marks are put near certain names because I might be unsure of my idea for them for the rewrite

If anyone would like to see more, I can definitely make another post for this rewrite. I do have some more ideas but I will be adding them on slowly

Thats all

[leoruby-draws]

Decided to post some more random, mostly minor characters from the DC universe, mostly ones that seemed they would be fun to draw. I guess technically these drawings are all based in my TrWh au, as always. Here they are:

Wanted to draw heroes with wings, I draw Vanessa quite a bit so I had to learn wings and feathers. Still working on it, but its fun. You can see Vanessa there at the bottom middle, looking a little menacing.

The girl with red wings is called...Redwing aka Carrie Levine. I thought she was a sweet kid, so her ultimate fate was pretty sad. Wonder if she'll come back to continuity at some point.

The guy with the mohawk is Northwind aka Norda Cantrell, part of Infinity Inc the earth 2 version of a Teen Titans group. He honestly didn't get a whole lot of focus in Infinity Inc, like the writer didn't know what to do with him. Maybe they should've made him into the magic fighter of the group, almost felt like thats what they were going for him before they wrote him off.

The girl in yellow is Dawnstar, part of the Legion of Superheroes. I haven't read much of LoSH, mostly some 90's issues. But her design is soooo pretty I had to draw her, her costume here is a mix of her various outfits.

Lastly, here's Bluejay aka Jay Abrams again, part of Justice League Europe. Kinda thought JLE was a bit of a letdown, I mean the team's made up of mostly americans not europeans! I think Crimson Fox was the only european, I thought her set-up of being two people was cool.

Little extra Infinity doodle, here's Hector Hall (Silver Scarab) hating on poor Norda, with Lyta Trevor (Fury) looking on with confusion. Hector's just a hater (tho there's reasons for it ig), an archetype you see sometimes in some superhero groups, like Roy Harper or Guy Gardner. The plot-line of Hector's resentment of Norda was kinda interesting, but like with most things in Infinity it didn't get the focus it should've gotten. Speaking of Infinity, here's some more doodles:

There's Rex Tyler (Hourman 1) with little Rick Tyler (Hourman 2), enjoying some father-son time. Apparently Rick's first costume isn't well liked (so says reddit). I thought it seemed cute but maybe it works better as a kid's or sidekick's kinda costume?

In the middle is Jack Knight (Starman) suffering as he interacts with Sylvester Pemberton (Skyman, formerly the Star-Spangled Kid) and Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl, actually she should still be S-SK but whatever). In my au he actually joins Infinity Inc, since everyone becomes heroes earlier he's actually around when the team's still running. I suspect his dad (Ted Knight) forced him into it. Also Courtney doesn't respect Jack at all, he's so annoyed at this. Look at her mini-staff, I presume Ted made it for her.

Also there's Beth Chapel (Dr. Mid-Nite) and Jesse Chambers (Jesse Quick) looking cool. Jesse also joins Infinity Inc in my au, will there be a love triangle going on between Beth, Rick and Jesse? Don't think Rick's gonna survive that, aw well.

Look at baby Jade and Obsidian, Alan is overwhelmed by their antics.

In another post someone asked if I could draw more of the Relative Heroes, a super obscure hero group. So @draculaura1660, this one's for you. Here they are:

I kinda had a hard time drawing this group, cuz their costumes are so complicated! I wished there was a reference/concept art for them cuz it was a struggle trying to figure out the details, the comic art did not help matters at all. You might have noticed I changed details anyways, I tend to simplify costumes for my au both to make it easier to draw and also to signify their younger ages. It's just fun to play around with costume design ig.

Some more characters!

Jinx, who looks very different between her comic and cartoon self. I did like her pink hair, so decide to see how it would look on her comic self. There's Kole, who also has different designs in comic/cartoons. I think her comic costume is so cool, esp that color pallet! But I love her pink hair in the cartoon, so she's got pink hair here! Just like pink hair a lot lol.

The other pink haired girl is Laethwen, love interest of Ray Palmer in Sword of the Atom. I think I made her hair more pink to better differentiate her from Starfire, also, again I just like pink hair. I wished she and her little kingdom didn't die, in my au Ray saves them! Maybe he relocates them to his backyard or something?

Little Donna and Vanessa doodle, did you know they never once interacted on panel? The closest is when Donna brings her stepsister Cindy to talk to Vanessa instead. I wonder how they would even interact, I know Vanessa wanted to be wonder girl (and resented Cassie for 'taking' it from her). Did she look up to Donna, or wanted her out of the way? Funnily enough Donna wasn't even Diana's sidekick when post-crisis started, due to both their origins being reworked and contradicting each other's timelines. It's all very confusing.

Anyways, some bonus doodles:

Had fun making a new outfit for Laethwen, I imagine she took some inspiration from indigenous groups from the Amazon, seeing as that's where her people crashed into.

Kole's costume is just so beautiful but so complicated, maybe that's why she got killed off so soon in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Lastly, here's Bette bugging Dick with Barbara being super amused about it. I said in my post about her that I didn't really care about her crush on Robin, which is true, but I still wanted to doodle something making fun of it. Poor Dick is doesn't know how to get outta of this social situation.

Well that was a lot, hope you liked all that.

[ave-cave]

In Defense/Analysis of Mahiru and Hiyoko's Relationship

Criticisms leveled at Mahiru and Hiyoko's relationship are varied; engaging with the fanbase this long has led me to some pretty specific ones, many I’d never even thought about (and that’s saying something because I spend way too much time analyzing those two lmao.) In the interest of not making this post a novel, though, I’ll be focusing on the ones I see most often: “Mahiru never called Hiyoko out on her bullying,” “Mahiru standing up for Hiyoko in 2-2 was hypocritical” and “Mahiru and Hiyoko's relationship is wasted potential because Hiyoko dies in 2-3.”

As can probably be inferred from the title, this write-up aims to counter these criticisms – but if I’m being honest, it doubles as an attempt to explain why I like Mahiru and Hiyoko's dynamic as much as I do. They’re my favorites in the series bar none, so there’s no guarantee my points will be 100% free of bias, but I’ll do my best to consider each argument in good faith.

Cool? Cool.

Turning a Blind Eye:

First thing’s first, the aspect of Mahiru and Hiyoko's relationship that I assume most earns Mahiru the “hypocrite” title: her ignoring Hiyoko’s bullying.

At a glance, I can’t say this criticism rings false. During my first playthrough, I also found myself agitated (and frankly confused) by how Hiyoko’s ill treatment (of everyone, but of Mikan in particular) kept flying under the radar. That said, upon review, I wouldn’t consider it a glaring oversight on the part of the writers the way some fans seem to; I think her behavior is handled as such for a reason – albeit a frustrating one – and that this reason is key to understanding her relationship with Mahiru.

When it comes to the class as a whole, the most straightforward explanation for why Hiyoko's behavior is ignored is that it’s rendered trivial by the killing game. In the midst of life or death, a pipsqueak tossing around juvenile insults is lucky to register as any kind of concern, let alone an urgent one – this made all the more apparent when you comb through her insult scenes and realize that most of them follow the same formula: jab → target’s reaction → another character reroutes the conversation to focus on more pressing issues → rinse and repeat.

Something similar can be said for why Teruteru’s sexual harassment and Kazuichi’s overstepping of Sonia’s boundaries are disregarded in favor of continuing class-wide discussions (and on a more inoffensive note why comic relief moments, courtesy of Ibuki or Gundham, are so fleeting): the threat of the killing game overshadows all else. Only when a threat within the group becomes synonymous with the killing game is it addressed with nearly the same exigency (think Nagito post-chapter 1). Otherwise, it might as well be non-existent.

If insults were the long and short of it, Hiyoko's conduct would be essentially harmless; rude at best and borderline malicious at worst, but overall inconsequential. Except that’s not the case. Why? Because two characters in particular – Mikan and Kazuichi – lack the self-esteem to brush them off as childish drivel. Through this, they become prime targets, and general unpleasantness gives way to full-on bullying…

… whiiich brings us to pitfall #2: while the other characters aren’t oblivious to Mikan and Kazuichi’s sensitivity per se, they aren’t actively mindful of it, either. Hell, in most scenes where Mikan breaks down (pre-trial 3 anyway), Hajime’s inner monologue is something along the lines of, “She doesn’t need to cry and apologize so much” rather than, “Oh no, is she okay?” He’s concerned, just not enough to adjust his approach. The same goes for Kazuichi, particularly when his sensitivity causes him to freak out. Ironically, by choosing those two as her main targets, Hiyoko may be the only person who “acknowledges” their low self-esteem as anything worth treating them differently over (though that’s obviously not to her credit since it’s in the most twisted way possible.)

Of course, just off the top of my head, I can recall more instances of the pervert characters’ comments being called out than I can Hiyoko's, but I wouldn’t consider that an oversight, either. I’ve seen it argued that simply being childish is what gives Hiyoko a “pass” behavior-wise, and while I don’t think that's incorrect, I think it underestimates just how aware she is of the way she’s perceived, i.e., as younger (both physically and mentally) than her classmates. She doesn’t act the way she does and then expect her childlike image to compensate for it automatically; she’s in a constant, deliberate flip-flop between unapproachable and childish, because – while she is a paranoid individual who puts forth her assholish personality to avoid forming connections and facing betrayal – she’s also someone who likes to have her cake and eat it, too.

In Hiyoko's mind, so long as she can be simultaneously unlikable and unthreatening, she needn't fear going too far and making enemies (as opposed to just, y’know, not making friends), and to that end, she turns to her immature looks as a sort of “back-up” – a way of being avoided without being antagonized. This tactic, hinted at a few times in DR2 as well as other canon material, backfires, however, highlighting its fundamental flaw: sure, no one takes her seriously enough to get mad at her insults, but by the same token, no one takes her seriously in general – not even when she wants them to.

That’s not to say this concept is executed perfectly, mind you. As interesting as it may be on paper, even I have trouble suspending my disbelief in scenes where she’s downright cruel and yet no one bats an eye. I think there’s just enough (both in text and subtext) to justify her in-universe perception being what it is, so I can get past this, but I understand why some fans can’t – especially since Mikan and Kazuichi get the short end of the stick regardless.

Again, though, that’s the class as a whole. What about Mahiru specifically? From what I've seen, she’s frequently singled out by the fandom as the character most to blame for Hiyoko’s behavior going unchecked, and this can probably be attributed to a few things:

Her emphasis on good manners and civility

Her friendship with Hiyoko making her a more responsible party for correcting the latter’s behavior

The opening scene of 2-2 in which she defends Hiyoko (dubbed “the restaurant scene” by me because it takes place at the restaurant and I’m uncreative)

The second and third reasons go hand-in-hand, but I have a fair amount to say about the third, so I'll save it for the next section. The first and second I'll talk about here.

Hypocrisy is defined as not practicing what one preaches. One could argue that Mahiru employs hypocrisy when she preaches good manners and civility but a) doesn’t call Hiyoko out for being a bully, and b) ultimately becomes her friend. Does this argument hold water? In my opinion, yes and no. Let me explain.

First, how does Hiyoko’s in-universe perception carry over to her relationship with Mahiru? Well, Mahiru isn’t immune to it; like everyone else, she dismisses Hiyoko as too childish to take seriously. This might seem like a non-starter for their relationship, but I actually think it’s what allows said relationship to work at all.

In terms of personal values, Mahiru and Hiyoko are polar opposites. You don’t have to search far for evidence of this – it’s right there in their profiles, with Mahiru’s stating that she dislikes bad manners and Hiyoko’s that she dislikes being lectured. This contrast isn’t arbitrary. Far from it; it’s deliberate groundwork for a foil. Unlike most foil characters in the series, though, Mahiru and Hiyoko get along swimmingly. Why? Well, I’ll get more into the nitty-gritty of that later, but in short, it’s because – while Mahiru may not be immune to Hiyoko’s flip-flopping – her perception isn’t quite as limited by it as her peers’.

I've seen a few people claim that Hiyoko is “fawned over” by her classmates, but IMO that's not really true. Instances of the others offering Hiyoko comfort/sympathy are pretty much exclusive to the second trial (after her name is cleared; before that they're slinging accusations left and right) and the scene where they discover her shrine (after Chiaki sheds light on its true purpose; before that they're rallying to burn it.) In both, I think it's made fairly clear that they're doing it out of a sense of, “Wow, this killing game sucks and Hiyoko is kind of bearing the brunt of its terribleness right now,” not, “Wow, Hiyoko is so cute and precious.”

That's nothing particular to her; every character who loses a loved one to the killing game is treated with some amount of tenderness afterwards, regardless of who they are or whether the loss is a consequence of their own actions. Where her Mahiru-related suffering isn't concerned, though, Hiyoko’s classmates more or less just tolerate her existence. They go, “Hey, there's the rude little girl we for some reason share a grade with” and continue about the island.

Of course, it’s no one's responsibility to parent their peer, and Hiyoko's other classmates aren't wrong for taking her at face value. But Mahiru is different; she takes responsibility for those around her whether they want her to or not. Her desire to bring out the best in others is what allows her to perceive Hiyoko as a child not just in temperament, but in impressionability, too. In other words, she’s the only one who sees potential in Hiyoko – with a nudge in the right direction – to mature and improve as a person. This is demonstrated when Hiyoko admits the reason behind her smell at the start of 2-2. Here, Mahiru doesn't join her peers in asking why a high schooler can't do something as simple as bathe, nor does she slap a band-aid on the problem and offer to tie Hiyoko’s kimono for her; she offers to teach her how to do it herself.

If Hiyoko were a plain bully with zero (for lack of a better word) embellishments – if there was nothing to bridge the gap between her and Mahiru, like, say, a need for a role model – Mahiru would be more inclined to call her out, yes, but she’d also be less inclined to help her here. And in my opinion? This would hurt both of their characters in the long run. I’ll get to why in the last section.

Granted, this then begs the question: if Mahiru is the only one generous enough to believe Hiyoko can change for the better, why does she demonstrate this generosity only once – in a situation where Hiyoko is vulnerable rather than on the offense no less? Well, I don't think that's an arbitrary decision, either.

See, while it might not be a stretch to call Mahiru and Hiyoko “friends” from the vantage point of the entire Class 77B saga, in DR2 alone, it kind of is. Hiyoko’s quick and fervent attachment to Mahiru starting with the restaurant scene can make it easy to forget that, all told, their relationship on the island spanned only three days. Moreover, the attachment was one-sided; Mahiru was surprised and somewhat exasperated by Hiyoko's clinginess, and while she didn’t outright reject her affections, reciprocating them came very much second to unraveling the secrets of the island – especially once the second motive was introduced.

Hell, eliminate the restaurant scene altogether and only two interactions between them remain: first an optional dialogue in which Mahiru lets Hiyoko drag her to the supermarket but warns that she’s busy and can’t spend too much time with her, then the off-screen meeting that we piece together in 2-2’s Closing Argument. But even following the restaurant scene – arguably the only one in which Mahiru is focused exclusively on Hiyoko – she shows reluctance to help Hiyoko shower and redress right away, considering the upcoming investigation a bigger priority. The morning after, although Hiyoko is still clinging to her, Mahiru doesn't acknowledge her at any point, focused instead on forcing Nekomaru and Kazuichi to give up Nagito’s location. Starting to notice a pattern?

None of this is to diminish the ultimate impact of their relationship (I’m working up to that slowly if you couldn’t tell lol), but it is to say that calling them “friends” within the confines of DR2 is maybe pushing it. I may refer to them as such in write-ups (half for the sake of brevity and half because Danganronpa presents "friend" as a generic term for harmony within the group), but in fact, the only time Mahiru or Hiyoko is called the other’s friend is in 2-3, when Chiaki prompts Hiyoko to consider what Mahiru would say about Fuyuhiko’s seppuku.

Chiaki's observations about her classmates aren't off the mark per se, but they're sometimes lacking in nuance – likely by virtue of her being an AI with a limited framework for understanding people. We as players, on the other hand, can be a bit more discerning: there was a single scene in which Mahiru was focused on Hiyoko and Hiyoko only, and by the time it was over, her attention had already shifted back to the killing game. Two days later, she died. I’d be concerned if anyone besides Chiaki called that friendship.

Consider Fuyuhiko for a moment. The fact that Mahiru has basically double the interactions with him than she does Hiyoko, even prior to the events of the second case, is an immediate tip-off that Hiyoko isn't her #1 concern. She’s on positive terms with Hiyoko, whereas she and Fuyuhiko butt heads constantly, so it should be the other way around, right? Nope. Fuyuhiko represents a threat synonymous with the killing game due to his threats of continuing it (plus his overall lack of cooperation), and so reining him in is automatically higher on her list of priorities.

And that's the thing: despite being a grade-a cunt, Hiyoko is cooperative. She doesn’t create rifts within the group the way Fuyuhiko does pre-chapter 3, let alone entertain the idea of the killing game. She doesn’t try to play the "lone wolf," and while she might not be very useful in investigations, she doesn’t outright refuse to partake in them. Working against the killing game in any way – including just by cooperating – is an immediate incentive for Mahiru to go easier on anyone (yes, even boys). This, coupled with the aforementioned flip-flopping effect, makes it so Hiyoko only shows up on her radar when she starts crying over her kimono in 2-2. Fuyuhiko, meanwhile, shows up the moment he starts threatening to kill someone.

Due to her early death and the fact that – again – she shares so few scenes with Hiyoko to begin with, the number of times Mahiru witnesses the latter bullying Mikan is a comparatively small five: three times in the first trial (one of which is during a Nonstop Debate), once the morning after the trial and once while investigating the abandoned ruins. 

During the first trial, Mahiru is among the students most focused on solving the murder, and only when liabilities to the group’s cooperation (e.g., Fuyuhiko still threatening people, Kazuichi and Nekomaru embarrassing Peko and derailing the discussion about her alibi) become manifest does she feel the need to police anyone's behavior. Hiyoko is a complete and utter bitch to Mikan (and others) here, but given her remarks don't noticeably hamper the discussion, it's unfortunately not hard to see why everyone – Mahiru included – dismisses them as playground nonsense.

Likewise, during the second island investigation, Mahiru is fully immersed in the discussion about the ruins and pays no attention to anything besides it, not even Hiyoko mentioning that they bathed together (something she'd previously expressed embarrassment over). The morning after the trial is definitely the odd-one-out; Mahiru is distraught over the Imposter and Teruteru, but there’s nothing more pressing to attend to, and reprimanding Hiyoko would cost her little in the focus department. Like everyone else, she just doesn't take it seriously. Is her lack of intervention here unjustified? For sure. Is she more at fault for not stepping in than anyone else? I'd argue no.

Kazuichi is a similar case. Mahiru is there for four of the scenes in which he’s bullied: once before the Imposter’s first meeting, twice while investigating the park’s giant timer and once during the first trial. Everything I said about Mikan applies here as well, but there’s the added layer that Mahiru is harder on boys, and so when Hiyoko calls Kazuichi a coward for trying to run away or a loser for insulting others to gain Sonia’s favor, Mahiru may not agree with the form, but she might as well agree with the content. Again, does that make her silence right? No. Just explainable.

All in all, what I’m getting at is that Mahiru’s role modeling (in DR2’s main story anyway) isn’t supposed to extend beyond the restaurant scene. At no point in 2-2 is correcting Hiyoko’s behavior a consistent goal for her, and while I think it's 100% fair to argue that it should've been, I only half-agree – for reasons I'll get into soon. Since I’m not sure I can explain the purpose of Mahiru's guidance in DR2 without repeating myself in the third section, for now I’ll just highlight what it aims to achieve in other installments.

Granted, most spin-off interactions are one-on-one, meaning only the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case and DRS exist to show how Mahiru responds to Hiyoko’s bullying in a non-killing game setting. I’d argue that neither disappoints, however; she’s shown more than once to instruct Hiyoko on how to act in both. What I like about this portrayal is that Mahiru’s gentle approach stays the same; only the urgency with which she addresses Hiyoko’s behavior changes. As far as she's concerned, Hiyoko is still a child in need of teaching, but now – with the stakes that much lower – she’s also evidently a bully in need of reining in.

These scenes make Mahiru one of only a few characters to try to temper Hiyoko’s cruelty at any point in the series. You know who doesn’t ever try, not even outside of the killing game? Most of the DR2 cast, who witness far more frequent and targeted bullying than Mahiru does, simply by virtue of outliving her. These characters include:

the self-appointed leader of the group who either ignores Hiyoko’s comments or finds the ones directed at him funny

the protagonist of the game whose inner monologue consistently acknowledges how terrible Hiyoko’s behavior is, but who never calls it out

the Ultimate Team Manager (who also plays along with insults directed at him) and Princess, whose talents center around order and unity

the Observer AI whose #1 objective is ensuring that everyone gets along no matter what

Of course, how much incentive and/or know-how someone has for stopping a bully is unimportant when a simple “cut it out” from anyone would suffice. At the end of the day, the fact remains that everyone – Mahiru included – turned a blind eye to bullying during the killing game, and there’s no excuse for that. My aim in pointing this out is not to absolve Mahiru altogether, rather, to put into perspective why it may be unfair to saddle her with all, let alone most of the blame.

So at last, with all of that explanation out of the way, is Mahiru a hypocrite when it comes to her handling of Hiyoko vs. others? Well, sure. She’s hypocritical in the sense that she exercises a double standard, i.e., cuts Hiyoko more slack than she does the rest of the class. But is that double standard exclusive to her? Not really. If anything, by not dismissing her as a child through and through, she holds Hiyoko to a higher standard than most of her classmates do, and this gets its chance to shine outside of the killing game. Moreover, her double standard isn’t the product of favoritism; on the contrary, if Hiyoko took precedence over the killing game in her mind, their interactions wouldn’t be so few and far between. Calling Hiyoko out isn’t one of her priorities, but neither is being her friend.

In light of this, I think a better question is whether or not Mahiru’s hypocrisy is conscious. Conscious hypocrisy is when someone regards two or more things as being on the same level, but treats one differently anyway. That isn’t the case with Mahiru, who – alongside her peers – treats Hiyoko’s behavior differently (i.e., more leniently) because she regards it as nickel-and-dime. If you’d consider that unconscious hypocrisy, then fair enough. Again, I just don’t see any merit in singling her out.

Speaking of singling out…

The Restaurant Scene:

The opening scene of 2-2 wherein Mahiru and Hiyoko become “friends” is where I’ve noticed a lot of fans’ ire with their relationship comes from. It’s a fairly popular opinion (as far as I’m aware) to consider Mahiru’s defense of Hiyoko here hypocritical, and honestly? While I disagree, I don’t really blame people for seeing it that way; I had to give her actions some extra thought before they started making sense to me. Here’s my personal reading of the scene and why I’d consider it misunderstood.

Immediately upon entering the restaurant, the brooding atmosphere hits hard; everyone is in silent mourning of the Imposter and Teruteru, too overwhelmed by the events of the night prior to make conversation. Mahiru is no exception; she can hardly muster a “good morning” to Hajime… 

… everyone besides Hiyoko, that is. She starts badmouthing Teruteru, claiming he deserved to die for his crime and shouldn't be mourned. Cue record scratch.

How does Mahiru respond? She doesn't. But her silence isn’t for lack of caring – quite the opposite.

See, the crucial thing to understand about Mahiru (and probably her most glaring flaw) is that, despite her headstrong attitude and emphasis on “doing the right thing,” she doesn’t always know what the right thing is. She lacks the confidence necessary to support her levelheadedness, and so she agonizes and deliberates. This hesitation is the driving force behind most of her actions, and I think the restaurant scene serves to foreshadow its role in her final confrontation with Fuyuhiko.

Consider the things Mahiru jumps down her peers’ throats about: all relatively “simple” moral dilemmas concerning impropriety, threats, reckless decision-making, etc. Then compare all of that to the dilemma Hiyoko posits here. Do the ends justify the means when it comes to reuniting with family? Is trading the lives of 15 strangers for that of one important person right? Mahiru doesn’t know; she’s never had to think about it before. Even if she disagrees on principle, who is she to tell this girl she barely knows that she shouldn’t feel relief over the death of someone who tried to get them all executed? Only later, after giving it ample thought, does she come to terms with this dilemma – and in the meantime, Peko steps in, possibly also foreshadowing her familiarity with topics like execution.

Soon thereafter, Hiyoko is identified as the source of a bad smell, and while most of the comments that follow are born of genuine concern for her hygiene, Gundham and Kazuichi’s are a wee bit insensitive. Mahiru says as much, and here’s where I think some interpretations of the restaurant scene miss the point. Nowhere during this exchange does Mahiru accuse anyone of bullying Hiyoko. The reason she intervenes has everything to do with her flaw regarding moral dilemmas, and – up until her offer to help Hiyoko with her kimono – almost nothing to do with Hiyoko herself. “Is it rude to harp on a sensitive hygiene issue outside of one’s control” is already a dilemma far simpler than “should a murderer be mourned," but the added layer of disregarding a lecture and doing the same thing the next morning makes it a no-brainer. Mahiru doesn’t care that Hiyoko is the target of a few obtuse comments. She cares that the guys didn’t listen to her the night before – something she makes clear by opening her sentence with, “I’ve said it before, but…”

After this is when her intervention starts being about Hiyoko. She says she’ll teach Hiyoko a simple obi knot, to which Hiyoko is elated. Why? Well, the secret lies in her backstory.

Basically, a few in-game clues – combined with her FTEs and Island Mode – reveal that Hiyoko was forced at a young age to leave her parents’ home and move in with her grandmother, who put her to work studying the traditional dance for which the Saionji Clan is famous. Hiyoko's status as the next head of the family made her subject to great cruelty at the hands of jealous rivals, and as a result, she grew to resent it. Her grandmother became aware of this resentment, and to prevent Hiyoko from shirking her responsibilities, she spoiled her into total dependence, neglecting to teach her basic life skills – including though not limited to dressing herself – and ensuring that dance was her only area of proficiency. This led to Hiyoko forming an inferiority complex around her lack of self-sustainability.

Said inferiority complex contextualizes how Mahiru’s offer registers to Hiyoko. To anyone else, it would be a kind gesture and nothing more. To Hiyoko? It was a monumental kindness. Instead of offering to take care of it for her, Mahiru offered to teach her how to take care of it herself, and this meant that Hiyoko not only automatically trusted her, but had every reason to see her as a role model; as someone whose example could be followed. This childlike admiration becomes all the more relevant later.

Honestly, as much as I understand criticisms of the restaurant scene from a “Mahiru should have also defended Mikan/Kazuichi” standpoint, I can't say I do from a “she shouldn’t have helped Hiyoko” one. I've already outlined where I think her blindspots lie in terms of calling Hiyoko out (and how said blindspots aren't unique to her), but of the characters most consistently mindful of Mikan/Kazuichi otherwise, I’d argue she’s up there (although, again, no one is nearly as mindful of them as they should be.)

She’s the only one to insist on helping Mikan up after she falls for the first time; she expresses concern over the floorboards in the abandoned building being a tripping hazard for her; she refuses Ibuki’s suggestion of taking pictures after she falls for the second time; she reprimands Fuyuhiko for threatening to sell her to a whorehouse in the first trial; and when Monokuma pressures the class into playing the TSMC arcade game, she warns her against it. Granted, there aren't as many instances of her sticking up for Kazuichi, but it's worth noting that – despite her prior insistence that he needed to “man up” – she defends him when Fuyuhiko taunts him over his fear of the Monobeasts.

Don’t get me wrong, I do wish she did the additional service of holding Hiyoko accountable for her bullying, but the fact that she didn't doesn't render her intervention in this scene hypocritical IMO. Again, her defense of Hiyoko was prompted by frustration over the guys embarrassing her after they'd already done the same to Peko. In other words, it's something she would have defended any of the girls for, and as highlighted above, she arguably did defend Mikan on the embarrassment front both times she fell.

As for offering Hiyoko help, I don't see the issue with that, either. If the restaurant scene is indicative of anything, it's that Hiyoko – while a rotten bully – is still human at the end of the day. The fact that she's a little shit and the fact that she's so helpless she can't get dressed by herself can coexist. Offering her the bare minimum compassion for the latter isn't giving her free rein to continue being the former – it's just that: the bare minimum compassion. She needed help, and if Mahiru wouldn't give it to her, who would?

More than once in her screentime is Mahiru shown to extend compassion to someone who isn’t an unambiguously good person, something else that becomes all the more relevant later. She makes a genuine effort to sympathize with Teruteru’s motive despite not agreeing with his actions; she brings food to a tied-up Nagito (twice, for that matter) despite the chaos he’d sown the previous chapter; and she laments Natsumi’s murder despite knowing how badly the latter treated others, herself included. In view of this, helping a bully dress herself is not only in-character for Mahiru, but by far the least “extreme” of her acts of compassion. I’d also argue that it pays off in more ways than one.

Why I Think it Works:

So far, I’ve offered explanations for why nothing holds Mahiru and Hiyoko’s relationship back, but I’ve yet to explain what I think pushes it forward. Let me rectify that.

Following the second trial, Hiyoko’s hostility toward her classmates is amped up to 11. The third island investigation has her willfully manipulate Akane into exploring the motel on her behalf, and when Hajime talks to her, not only does she insult him right off the bat, she's openly classist toward him, mockingly comparing the rundown motel to his house. This is low, even for her, and given the events of the previous chapter, it’s not exactly a mystery why.

See, Mahiru's death sets itself apart from others in the series in that it isn't an immediate incentive for the person closest to her to change. Hiyoko doesn't get the tried and true “character loses a friend and is motivated to better themselves as a result” type arc – not toot sweet, anyway – because, unlike, say, Sakura for Aoi, Peko for Fuyuhiko or Tenko for Himiko, Mahiru had no last words, no last message of strength or wisdom for Hiyoko. Her murder was a source of conflict and animosity – nothing more, nothing less.

As is first established following Teruteru’s execution, Hiyoko has a retribution-oriented mindset – not too far off from Fuyuhiko’s “an eye for an eye.” She scoffs at the idea of redemption; she holds onto grudges indefinitely; and most significantly, she believes all killers deserve to die themselves. This mindset is yet another manifestation of her paranoia – of being conditioned to believe that everyone is out to get her. Unlike Fuyuhiko, whose terrible attitude was a mask he wore to compensate for his insecurities about leading his clan, Hiyoko’s is an extension of her paranoid worldview; an ingrained trait.

And honestly? That's why I only half-agree with the argument that Mahiru should have reprimanded her in DR2. Would it have worked to give Mikan/Kazuichi some peace of mind? Absolutely. But to change Hiyoko’s behavior in the long run? I doubt it. It would address the bullying in the moment, but it wouldn’t get to the root of the problem, i.e. the backwards defense mechanism from which it stems. The only reason Mahiru’s guidance outside of DR2 (as underscored earlier) has any effect is that Hiyoko is already in a safe environment with friends whom she trusts, far away from her family and their perilous traditions. Though her lizard brain instinct is still to be as nasty as possible, the proper groundwork is there for her to integrate Mahiru’s guidance and improve her behavior over time… groundwork that's practically non-existent in DR2’s killing game.

But anyway, back to 2-3. Speaking of Fuyuhiko, Hiyoko applies her rigid point of view to him in this chapter. The fact that she considers him an irredeemable killer who took Mahiru from her is only a sliver of the real issue; more relevant is that clear indications of his wanting to turn over a new leaf register to her as attempts to dodge responsibility. No matter how sincere in his resolve he may be, she sees only the worst in him. She sees only the worst in everyone, after all.

Hiyoko’s shrine, while testament to her love for Mahiru, is a kind of… development red herring so to speak. Setting aside her insecurities to perform a task outside her (forced) field of expertise is a feat for her – don't get me wrong – but it isn't really a change; she’d never before hesitated to show vulnerability when it came to Mahiru, whether by saying to her face that she loved her or expressing how much she missed her when she was gone.

It's only when she confronts Fuyuhiko about Mahiru and Peko’s deaths, and he responds by committing seppuku, that we see dynamics start to shift.

Here, Hiyoko is stunned into horrified silence, and that in and of itself speaks volumes. She believes strongly that all killers deserve to die, doesn't she? So then why does she go quiet? Why doesn't she take advantage of Fuyuhiko’s clear instability and get him to finish the job? It’s not because she doesn’t want to die herself; the last trial confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that only the person to deliver the killing blow is punished. It's because she realizes something: that isn't what Mahiru would want.

In contrast to both Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko, retribution was never Mahiru's MO. She wished zero harm upon anyone no matter what they'd done; she extended compassion to everyone, even killers; she disapproved of cruel and unusual punishment; and she showed particular distaste for acts of revenge. Of course, in keeping with her fatal flaw, she didn't always go about these ideals in the right way. She covered up a murder in a desperate bid to protect her friend from the yakuza’s twisted “justice,” and she scolded an enraged Fuyuhiko for enacting revenge while he was in the middle of interrogating her about his sister – both shortsighted actions that she paid the ultimate price for.

But by the same token, she kept thinking about Teruteru's actions after the restaurant scene and concluded that he didn’t, in fact, deserve to die for his crime. She forced Nekomaru and Kazuichi to give up Nagito’s location, chastised them for hogtying and starving him and brought him breakfast when nobody else would. She spent days deliberating over how best to make amends with Fuyuhiko, even though his threatening letter – combined with the knowledge of the game’s true ending – would have been more than enough to convince the others to restrain him like Kazuichi wanted (not to mention the most obvious thing to do for her own protection.) If she had thought more like Hiyoko and dismissed Fuyuhiko as an irredeemable murderer from the get-go, the opportunity to lure her to the beach house would have never existed.

The ideals driving these actions, made explicit in her final words to Fuyuhiko, contributed to a lasting legacy, and Hiyoko considering that legacy in order to forgive Fuyuhiko is what makes her arc so powerful to me.

Losing the only person on the island whom she trusted – hell, having that trust taken advantage of by the ones responsible – could have foreclosed on all progress right then and there. Mahiru's guidance was limited to a single act of compassion that had (seemingly) nothing to do with what she stood for. Being framed for her murder put Hiyoko in a vulnerable position from which she believed she could only recover by becoming meaner. And as the only one left still personally affected by Fuyuhiko’s actions, she lost her last resource: her footing within the group as the rude but cooperative one. But because Mahiru’s compassion reached her in a fundamental way – because she valued her enough to consider her unspoken ideals – she managed to defy the odds and change anyway. Not because Mahiru told her to, but because she wanted to.

And so at last, that's why I think the way their relationship was written – with a brief but meaningful role model dynamic, limited intervention on Mahiru's side and childlike admiration on Hiyoko's – ultimately worked in both of their favors. It allowed Mahiru's impact to carry on past 2-2 (more extensively anyway, as it would have played into Fuyuhiko’s arc regardless; his desire to make amends using the second chance Peko gave him was no coincidence), and it made it so the sincerity other arcs work hard to convey is there by default with Hiyoko’s – just by virtue of it happening at all. Do I still wish Mahiru called Hiyoko out on her bullying for Mikan and Kazuichi’s sakes? Yep. I just wouldn't change anything else.

As a side note, it’s also why I can’t get behind the idea that Mahiru ever “enabled” Hiyoko. An enabler is someone who, well, enables something – usually a behavior – right? Remove the enabler from the equation, and the enabled behavior should become harder to maintain. So what would become of Hiyoko if she never “befriended” Mahiru? Well… she’d smell worse. She’d like one fewer person. That’s about it. Not receiving Mahiru’s compassion wouldn’t have done much of anything, but receiving it made a world of difference.

Hell, even if we strip away Mahiru's primary impact on Hiyoko, i.e. jumpstarting her development in 2-3, I’d argue that what we’re left with in 2-2 is still unequivocally positive. Helping Hiyoko shower and tie her kimono were both good things that improved the lives of everyone on the island. Nobody had to deal with Hiyoko’s stench anymore, but on top of that, given the option, Hiyoko spent her time clinging to Mahiru instead of going around bullying others. Keep in mind, Hiyoko is someone who believes she doesn't need friends or close contacts. Before Mahiru, she reasoned that, so long as she could learn to be self-sustaining, she’d never have to rely on anyone who might betray her. She could eschew human connection and ensure her safety forevermore. But then Mahiru earned her trust in one fell swoop, and suddenly she was prioritizing the pursuit of friendship over the prevention of betrayal, if with just one person. I don't think that should be understated.

Sorry, I keep getting sidetracked. Back to 2-3.

True to the killing game, though, just because a character experiences a breakthrough doesn't mean it’s all sunshine and rainbows from that point forward. The objective of the first half of Hiyoko’s arc, i.e., forgiving Fuyuhiko, is complete. She’s already well on her way to vanquishing her paranoia – to having her worldview reformed by Mahiru’s ideals and doing away with her defense mechanism in the process. Nothing can stop her from improving further…

… is what we're led to believe. But then comes Nekomaru’s sacrifice. That’s where things take a nosedive.

Seeing the pinnacle of strength that is Nekomaru Nidai try to save his friend and get utterly demolished as a result makes up Hiyoko’s mind once and for all. It convinces her that teamwork, cooperation, friendship? At best, none of it matters. At worst, it all just leads to death. There's a certain irony in this takeaway. After all, if anyone should identify the most with Nekomaru's actions, it's her. She's a firm believer in protecting that which is near and dear. But that's exactly what makes his fate so devastating in her eyes. Mahiru was near and dear to her, but as much as she wanted to protect her, she couldn't. That's forgivable; she's weak. Nekomaru, on the other hand, is strong, and while he succeeded at protecting Akane, it was at the cost of his life. If a force of nature like Nekomaru can be brought to his knees as a direct consequence of protecting someone, then what hope does Hiyoko have of doing the same? How can she possibly protect the people she loves? She can't. Nekomaru is irrefutable proof of that now.

That’s reason number one behind her relapse. Reason number two is fear.

Hiyoko, at her core, has always been a person motivated by fear. Fear of vulnerability, fear of forming connections – fear of a sudden, violent death. That doesn’t mean fear has her completely in its grips; she came closer than ever before to vanquishing it thanks to Mahiru’s ideals. But it does mean that, when given reason to believe that something is synonymous with dying pointlessly – with being betrayed – she's going to disavow it. She started to change because Mahiru’s ideals allowed her to rethink her worldview – to explore the possibility that connections are worth forming. And yet here’s evidence of the contrary staring her right in the face.

Hiyoko’s relapse (and subsequent death) is why I assume her relationship with Mahiru is so often considered a waste. I may be something of an outlier in that I’ve never minded Hiyoko’s send-off from a writing standpoint and think only its incorporation into the case/deadly life is shoddy – but staying with the topic of this write-up, I’ll focus less on why I wouldn’t consider Hiyoko’s character as a whole wasted and more on why I wouldn’t consider her relationship with Mahiru wasted (even if the two go hand-in-hand to some degree).

The morning after Nekomaru's sacrifice, Hiyoko is seen mourning at Mahiru’s shrine. Choosing to talk to her triggers a rant about Nagito and how he pissed her off by lying about seeing Mahiru alive. She tearfully proclaims that she hates being lied to and won’t be satisfied until Nagito is brutalized as punishment, this clearly alluding to her heightened paranoia. It wouldn't even be the first time Nagito has lied to her, but comparing her reaction then vs. now, it becomes apparent just how badly she's spiraling.

After this, the Despair Disease motive is officially introduced by Monokuma, and the afflicted students are brought to the hospital. Those remaining (minus Mikan, who’s tending to the patients) convene in the hospital lobby to discuss a plan of action, and that's when Hiyoko begins to insist on a quarantine.

I was honestly kind of surprised by how satisfied this scene's handling of Hiyoko left me feeling, and the more I analyze why, the more it all ties back to Mahiru.

Perhaps most obvious is her behavior. While still not exactly a joy to be around, she's noticeably mellowed out. Upon review, I can count on one hand the number of times she says something rude:

When Gundham and Kazuichi debate the ethics of Mikan changing Nagito’s clothes (prompting this hilarious line), Hiyoko calls their conversation stupid and tells them to focus

When Hajime questions what she means by “isolate the patients,” she condescendingly asks why he doesn’t get it

When explaining the purpose of the quarantine, she remarks (to no one in particular) that “even a preschooler knows” the only option when a disease is incurable is to stop it from spreading

When Gundham insists that everyone who isn't staying at the hospital station at the motel, she acquiesces with a, “Jeez, how annoying…”

Her nastiest remark by far is “I want them [the patients] to at least have the decency to consider committing suicide before they start bothering us.” Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a hideous thing to say under any circumstances, and there's no excuse for it. It puts a bad taste in my mouth. That said, with how unusually tame the rest of her dialogue is (hell, she refers to Mikan twice without so much as an insult to boot), I don’t think such an extreme comment is included arbitrarily. I think it's part of a deliberate pattern.

The bulk of Hiyoko’s arc this chapter – both positive and negative – has operated on the principle of “show, don’t tell.” This made sense before, but it makes extra sense now: because she’s too afraid to showcase vulnerability outright, the story has to find roundabout ways to convey that she isn’t as heartless as she would prefer to be seen.

Exhibit A: she claimed to believe that all killers deserve death, but given the chance to coerce a killer into suicide, she faltered.

Exhibit B: she callously remarked that Fuyuhiko deserved his injuries, but given the chance not to attend his recovery party, she did anyway. She tried to pass it off as an interest in the party itself, but never before had she established herself as a party-lover – quite the opposite; she called the Imposter’s party in 2-1 “lame” – making this an obvious bluff. So obvious, in fact, that Hajime “I know Nagito has the Liar Disease but I’ll take his words literally” Hinata immediately sees through it.

Exhibit C: at the party, she stressed that Fuyuhiko wasn’t forgiven yet, promising that, if push came to shove, he’d bear the brunt of any dangerous situation. But given the chance to make good on this promise and force him to stay behind at the hospital, the idea didn’t even cross her mind. Instead, it was Fuyuhiko who rose to the occasion.

And finally, Exhibit D: she claims to wish the Despair Disease patients would kill themselves, but given the chance to ditch – to give into her paranoia right away – she takes on a de-facto leader role in the plan to keep the patients safe. She doesn’t just come up with the concept – she spearheads the whole thing, from assigning her classmates different roles to prompting Kazuichi to design a communication method between hospital and motel. The player can’t progress to the next scene without speaking specifically to her.

So then… how does this all tie back to Mahiru? Well, I like to think of it in terms of before vs. after Nekomaru's sacrifice.

Before Nekomaru's sacrifice, it was Mahiru’s ideal of restoration that allowed Hiyoko to forgive Fuyuhiko, thus doing away with some of her paranoia. After, it’s Mahiru’s ideal of teamwork that allows her to help combat the Despair Disease. Recall that, in the sacrifice's aftermath, Hiyoko claimed there was no value in working together and that she didn’t want to be involved in any team efforts. Then why, pray tell, does she collaborate with her peers in this scene? Because it’s a last-ditch effort at honoring Mahiru – at doing what Mahiru would’ve done.

I say “last-ditch" of course, because – no matter which way you slice it – the damage is already done. Hiyoko can work with her classmates to prevent another killing, but she can’t trust them – can’t get close to them. Mahiru’s ideals are strong, but in the face of overwhelming paranoia, they’re only enough for that final bow.

We're given the impression that Hiyoko's subsequent withdrawal from the group is just another act of selfishness – that she's just trying to avoid the Despair Disease – but that turns out to be only part of the reason. Flash-forward to the investigation, we learn that it was yet another last-ditch effort, this time to honor Mahiru by bathing and then tying her kimono the way she was taught. In her now empty motel room, Sonia expresses a regret: she didn’t understand what Hiyoko was going through – not really – and so she gave her some advice about a mirror and left her alone. It all comes together thematically from there.

Because of Hiyoko’s takeaway from Nekomaru’s sacrifice, she closed herself off from her peers (both literally and figuratively), and this furthered the divide between her and Fuyuhiko’s arcs. Nekomaru’s words caused Fuyuhiko to realize that this new life of his wasn’t a spare; it was precious. Nekomaru’s actions, on the other hand, caused Hiyoko to realize that her life was a fragile thing, and instead of becoming self-preserving like Fuyuhiko, she became self-isolating. She believed the only way to avoid a meaningless death was to go it alone, but going it alone – that is, isolating herself to the point where no one could understand her enough to help her – became her undoing.

But was that undoing meaningless? From an overarching narrative standpoint, maybe. Her death has no lasting impact on the rest of the story, and the way it’s tacked onto the mystery of case 3 is downright sloppy. But when it comes to her death by itself – to the individual story it tells – boy oh boy does it have meaning, and the character most to thank for that is undoubtedly Mahiru.

Mahiru is what allows Hiyoko’s death to feel like something built up to, something character-driven, as opposed to a shoehorned-in, hollow chapter 3 death. She makes it so Hiyoko’s “wrong place, wrong time” scenario – while unlucky – is anything but random. The reason Hiyoko finds herself in that wrong place at the wrong time isn't sporadic misfortune; it’s the result of her grief, paranoia, lack of self-sustainability – and even to some extent DR2’s theme of the burden of talent.

Mikan being the one to kill Hiyoko only works as well as it does because of Mahiru, too. She didn't do it out of spite, didn't hunt Hiyoko down or kidnap her. Hiyoko just happened to walk in on her killing Ibuki. But again, while this may be unlucky, it’s not at all random. Hiyoko heads to the music venue in the first place in a bid to prove her independence, yes, but it’s only because Mahiru has become so enmeshed with her idea of independence that this is the case. If being independent were the only thing driving her, she wouldn’t have found herself struggling with her kimono to begin with. She would have weathered the storm and gone without bathing until the Despair Disease passed. She’d done it before, after all. But she was desperate to honor Mahiru, to prove that Mahiru’s death wasn’t in vain because – hey, look – she’s self-sustaining now. Honoring Mahiru became her way of regaining control over not just her hygiene, but her life as well.

Speaking of control, bullying Mikan was one of the few things – squishing ants included – that served to give Hiyoko that sense of control over her life for which she longed. Even at Fuyuhiko's recovery party, she used Mikan as an emotional scapegoat, insulting her to distract from the fact that she’d just forgiven Mahiru’s killer. And yet, here, in her last-ditch effort to prove her independence – to prove her control – Mikan becomes that final, uncontrollable variable. She uses Hiyoko to regain control over things, and Hiyoko is helpless to stop it. This subtle role reversal is a refreshing instance of nuance in an otherwise heavy-handed case; I’d take it over a cliché revenge plotline anyday.

All in all, if a death symbolic of Hiyoko's lifelong demons is what her journey in 2-3 was building to from the start (which I firmly believe it was), then in order for Mahiru's impact to not be wasted, she just had to remain instrumental to that journey until the very end. In that sense, I'd say she succeeded.

Conclusion:

Hear that? That's the sound of my fingers dying.

Well then, it seems we’ve reached the end. Yay. :)

This took me over a month to complete, and I’m honestly happy with how it came out. Having posted this means I won’t be beating the “obsessed with Mahiru and Hiyoko” allegations anytime soon, of course, but I'm alright with that. Hopefully you found some of my points compelling and weren't too overwhelmed by the length.

Thanks for reading!

[beehiveofblorbos]

my predictions for season 3 plot beats for the main six. Under the cut because it’s LONG. My favorite part of it is the third bit, where I discuss why I think Remi is likely to kill someone next season. Predictions are numbered for ease of navigation.

1. The main cast will end up staying at Cameron’s home. This isn’t a bold one, but the three free groups of highly plot relevant characters are split up across different places. Leilah and Darren are in Neil’s territory to the north (which might include New Bostin considering it’s a low tier area and Sera kinda implies they’re not far), Remi Isen and Kuyo are staying at Grayson’s apartment, and John and Sera are with Cameron.

To be more specific, probably Leilah and Darren will end up linking up with Jera and Cameron first, then Kayden will follow, then Kuyo Remi Isen. I think Grayson’s apartment will get raided (it’s explicitly said to be temporary when they first use it, and Blyke’s capture means that it’s compromised) which will force Cameron to take them all in (he’ll need to have had some development by then).

I kinda think Grayson’s apartment raid will be a bit later in the season, if only because I imagine it as the trigger for Remi Isen and Kuyo to be much more impulsive about saving Blyke, as they understand the depth of the danger he’s in. Or maybe even (if im lucky) John will be impulsive about it, knowing from that that Blyke is dealing with Keon and that Blyke doesn’t deserve that.

2. Blyke and Rein will break out together, just as John Sera Remi Isen and Kuyo arrive to save him. Well, this one is pretty complex, let’s break it down into pieces.

I def think Blyke and Rein will link up, and Rein will get clued in as far as what’s going on with Arlo there, and Blyke will learn more about Spectre. Probably more angst as far as Arlo maybe being seen walking free around the facility or even sneaking away to visit them and get some answers after he begins to recover his memories.

Rein of course kinda needs to break out soon, because if she doesn’t she’ll die à la Terrence. If she did though that would be kind of boring and a waste of her character. Plus, as she was part of Orrin’s faction, perhaps she’ll have some more info to offer as far as his ability and what his greater plans are.

I can’t see John not being part of the rescue mission to save Blyke. This is in large parts because Blyke is being subjected to Keon, so they have yet another bond/similarity now. Plus, John’s even had a panel dedicated to him thinking about how Blyke Remi and Isen don’t deserve readjustment during the convo about what readjustment looks like with Arlo

And Remi and Isen coming for Blyke was never even in question. Even Kuyo’s initial connection to the vigilante trio was Blyke.

3. Remi will kill someone. Remi is the only member of the main cast who hasn’t had some sort of big mistake era to come back from, and I think hers will be nothing less than murder.

She’s always been extremely reckless and prone to losing control of her emotions, especially when it comes to facing EMBER. in the Main Cast v Authorities Ambush battle in the last episodes of season 2, we get this series of images:

So first, Remi’s the one who initiates this talk of murdering. After all, it’s been her focus the entire time. These are the people who killed her brother. Makes sense.

There’s some banter I’m not including because it’ll be in later images, then they fight. Once Arlo and Isen join them, they manage to knock Farrah out. And then she gets back up. And then we get this:

Arlo’s the one who brings it up. But ultimately; he can’t do it, when the moment calls for it. And as he’s joining the authorities at the top of season 3 more than likely, he won’t get another chance to revisit this choice soon.

Enter Remi. It’s her directly reacting to the suggestion of killing Farrah, it’s her who gets focused on during the flashback to Farrah’s little speech about why murder is valid morally. It’s Remi who essentially says that murder is an acceptable option if it’s a choice between the lives of her friends and the lives of her enemies.

And then this:

Remi, getting focused on AGAIN even though presumably all of the focus should be going to Arlo. It’s his scene after all… right? Or is it a surprise tool to help us later.

AND Remi’s arguably the one who suffered the greatest personal losses due to this ambush. Blyke is her presumptive love-interest as well as one of her best friends whom she personally dragged into this, and Arlo is her protector and even possibly brother figure (based on her saying Rei saw him as a brother, the implication to me is that she does too). AND on top of all that, Remi’s had a huge power boost, now on-level with Rei when he died.

If she does, I can totally see it either being an encounter with a new Spectre agent or during the mission to rescue Blyke from prison (doing it in front of Arlo, setting him back on his path to rejoining the other main six, is peak drama, peak angst, peak Uru).

4. Jane will reunite with John. This is kind of a lowball, but I think we’ll also get at least one fight with Jane if we’ve got her level. I definitely think she needs rescued first thing because it’s her blood both antagonist orgs are using to become bigger threats, and also Cameron needs to become a decent character in one season instead of being the terrible wine uncle who has about the same level of emotional maturity as a seventeen year old.

5. Kass will bring Arlo back to his senses/help him regain his memories. Additionally, Arlo will be hunting down Spectre. For normalcy reasons, I suspect that Arlo is gonna end up becoming a full time employee for the authorities, still working under Kass. He might get taken-in to the EMBER department, but I doubt it and here’s why:

Farrah herself comments on the issue. She later mentions Valerie “pulling some strings” (S2 finale ep) to save Arlo, which suggests to me that he won’t be getting a combat position. Instead, he’ll help hunt down Seraphina and John due to them being Spectre associates.

Kass will recognize the behavior change from when she and Arlo last spoke about EMBER and be able to help him snap out of it and prevent him from making any decisions he’ll regret.

6. The game of Unopoly John played with the Safe House will become relevant. This sort of isn’t directly related to the main cast, but idk I just wanna point out that John played a game of Unopoly with the Safe House members and games in this webcomic always become relevant/have a second meaning/foreshadow future events. I can’t find it no matter how I try, but I’d love to see it again as it’s the only game we currently have outstanding without a meaning to it.

[lostyesterday]

Star Trek Voyager B Plots Part 1

[Link to Part 2 of this project]

Many episodes of Voyager include “B Plots” – subplots that are distinct from the A Plot (the main plot) of the episode and that take up less of the episode’s runtime. Meanwhile, the term “C Plot” is often used to describe subplots that take up even less of a story’s runtime than the B Plot – sometimes consisting of a single scene.

In this project, I wanted to look extensively at Voyager’s B and C Plots, but in order to do so effectively, I had to narrow the definition to avoid ambiguity. Note that I make no distinction between B and C Plots for this project and from this point forward use only the term “B Plot” for simplicity’s sake.

Following are the criteria I used to define a “B Plot” for this project. Some of these points differ from typical definitions but were useful in making my selection process less ambiguous:

B Plots are fairly unconnected narratively from the A Plot of the episode. For example, if a group of characters is stranded on a planet and another group of characters is searching for them, neither storyline would count as a B Plot because both storylines are strongly narratively connected.

B Plots take up substantially less of an episode’s runtime than the A Plot. Any subplots that took up close to the runtime of the main plot were not counted due to ambiguity over which subplot would count as the B Plot and which would count as the A Plot.

B Plots are lower-stakes than the A Plot. They generally focus on things like relationships between characters rather than life-or-death problems.

B Plots can consist of anything from several scenes distributed throughout an episode’s runtime to a single substantial scene. Very short scenes with only a few lines of dialogue were not counted.

A single episode can feature multiple B Plots. Some episodes even feature four or five.

I went through each episode of Voyager and created a list of every B Plot I found. Overall, 68.13% of Voyager episodes contained at least one B Plot according to my definition. The following graph shows how this percentage differed by season:

Note that double episodes were counted as singular episodes since B Plots often stretched between parts 1 and 2. Double episodes that spanned two seasons were counted as being part of the first season (for example, Scorpion was counted as being part of season 3 rather than season 4).

A complete list of my results organized by season is below the cut. Keep in mind that my perceptions of what counts as a B Plot are subjective. A different person might have come up with a very different list. Constructive thoughts or feedback on any aspect of this project are welcome.

Season 1

Caretaker: Kim decides to become Paris’s friend despite others warning him against it, Janeway discusses her dog with her fiancé Mark

Parallax: The Doctor is slowly shrinking

Time and Again: Paris tries to convince Kim to go on a double date with him and the Delaney sisters

Phage: Neelix converts Janeway’s private dining room into a galley, Kes helps the Doctor begin to psychologically work through his unexpected new role on the ship and the Doctor asks her to train to become his assistant

The Cloud: Neelix tries to convince Janeway to try his coffee substitute, Chakotay and Janeway discuss “animal guides” and Chakotay helps Janeway find her own, Paris introduces Sandrine’s, Neelix is unhappy about the risks Voyager takes in the name of exploration or Starfleet morals and considers leaving

Eye of the Needle: Kes convinces Janeway and the Doctor himself to begin thinking of the Doctor as a member of the crew, Torres and Kim discuss their families back in the Alpha Quadrant

Ex Post Facto: The Doctor and Kes discuss the Doctor choosing a name for himself

Prime Factors: Torres Seska Kim and Paris discuss rumors and misconceptions about Kim and Paris’s double date with the Delaney sisters

State of Flux: Neelix introduces Chakotay to Leola Root

Cathexis: Janeway starts her Victorian gothic holonovel

Faces: Neelix makes Plomeek soup for Tuvok that’s too spicy for him

Jetrel: Paris watches Neelix and Tuvok play pool and Tuvok misses a difficult shot he claimed he could get

Learning Curve: Janeway plays her Victorian gothic holonovel

Season 2

Initiations: Neelix tells Janeway he feels underutilized as part of Voyager’s crew

Elogium: Janeway and Chakotay discuss how they should deal with crew members having romantic relationships and children

Twisted: The crew throw Kes a surprise party, Neelix is jealous over Kes’s relationship with Paris, Sandrine won’t leave the Doctor alone

Parturition: Paris listens to Kim practice the clarinet

Persistence of Vision: Janeway observes Torres and Kim’s attempt to transfer the Doctor to Engineering but he appears tiny

Tattoo: The Doctor tries out being sick when Kes suggests he should develop more understanding toward people in pain

Manuevers: Chakotay and Torres discuss playing hoverball

Alliances: Former Maquis member Jonas establishes secret communication with the Kazon

Threshold: Jonas speaks to the Kazon again

Meld: Paris runs a replicator ration gambling operation, Neelix irritates Tuvok by trying to find a fun Vulcan holiday

Dreadnought: The Doctor Kes and Samantha Wildman discuss possible names for both the Doctor and Wildman’s baby, Paris is supposedly having difficulty fitting into the Starfleet hierarchy on Voyager, Jonas talks to the Kazon again and tries to convince them to let him talk to Seska

Lifesigns: Paris and Chakotay argue about Paris’s recent unprofessional behavior, the Kazon try to get Jonas to sabotage Voyager but he refuses until he talks to Seska directly

Investigations: The Doctor tries to get his boring segments onto Neelix’s daily show

Deadlock: Neelix asks for Samantha Wildman’s help fixing equipment in his kitchen

The Thaw: Paris watches Kim practice the clarinet when Kim’s neighbor bangs on the wall to get him to stop

Tuvix: Neelix and Tuvok bicker on an away mission

Basics: Suder wants to contribute more to the Voyager crew from his imprisonment

Season 3

Flashback: Neelix tries to make Tuvok a breakfast he will like

The Swarm: Torres and Paris discuss a crewmember who has a crush on Torres

Future’s End: Tuvok walks in on Janeway practicing tennis, Paris has a little romance plotline with Rain Robinson, Neelix and Kes watch soap operas

Walord: Neelix shows everyone his Talaxian resort program

The Q and the Grey: The crew witness a supernova

Fair Trade: Neelix asks Tuvok to let him accompany him on security rounds

Macrocosm: Janeway and Neelix discuss a difficult negotiation they completed with an alien species

Alter Ego: Torres and Paris discuss clothing for the holodeck program they’re planning to visit

Coda: Neelix Janeway and Chakotay discuss a talent show that Neelix held

Real Life: Neelix and Paris discuss the fact that Neelix has made the same dish four days in a row, Paris finds Torres reading a Klingon romance novel and flirts with her about it

Distant Origin: Paris wins a bet and gets Torres to agree to do a Klingon martial arts holodeck program with him

Displaced: Torres and Paris argue after attempting to do a Klingon martial arts program together

Scorpion: Janeway runs her Da Vinci holodeck program

Season 4

Day of Honor: Seven has difficulty adjusting to life on Voyager

Revulsion: A party is held to celebrate Tuvok being promoted to Lieutenant Commander, Torres and Paris confirm that they both love each other and begin a relationship, Paris replaces Kes as the new assistant in sickbay, Kim and Seven work together and awkwardly navigate Kim having a crush on Seven

The Raven: Janeway tries to get Seven to participate in making a sculpture in the Da Vinci holodeck program, Neelix helps Seven eat for the first time

Scientific Method: Torres confronts Seven about rerouting power to Astrometrics without permission, Torres and Paris meet together secretly to make out

Year of Hell: A ceremony marks the opening of Astrometrics, Kim and Torres play a trivia game to pass the time while trapped in a turbolift before Seven finds them, Chakotay tries to give Janeway a watch for her birthday but she refuses, Tuvok and Seven discuss annoyances in working with other people, the senior staff all have a new drink that Neelix made

Random Thoughts: Neelix and Paris discuss a relationship Neelix is having with a woman from the planet they’re staying at, Seven argues with Janeway about Voyager’s philosophy of exploration putting the crew at unnecessary risk

Concerning Flight: Kim advises Seven that she might want to be more diplomatic in talking to other crew members and she ignores him, the Doctor tries to get Seven to tell him about a disagreement she had with Torres

Mortal Coil: Neelix encourages Seven to eat foods with stronger flavors, Neelix helps Naomi go to sleep, Janeway encourages Seven to socialize at a party

Waking Moments: Torres and Paris discuss holodeck date locations

Message in a Bottle: Torres and Chakotay discuss Torres’ difficulties in working with Seven, Paris and Neelix discuss a dish Neelix made that gave several crewmembers heartburn, Torres tells Seven that she should try being less rude, Paris tries to get Kim to create a replacement EMH

Hunters: The Doctor tells Seven she needs to regenerate more often, Torres teases Kim about his crush on Seven, Seven asks Tuvok if Janeway trusts her

Prey: The Doctor attempts to tutor Seven in how to behave in social situations

Vis a Vis: The Doctor tries to convince Paris to exit his grease monkey holodeck program and come to Sickbay for more training

The Omega Directive: Seven finds Kim and Tuvok playing Kal-toh

Unforgettable: Seven asks Kim to explain “courtship rituals”

Demon: Tuvok prevents Neelix from taking a large number of items with him to emergency sleeping accommodations, Paris and Kim discuss Kim being more assertive in senior staff meetings, Neelix and the Doctor have a battle of wills when Neelix and several other crew members attempt to sleep in sickbay

One: Seven attempts to engage with a holodeck program the Doctor created to improve her social skills

Hope and Fear: Seven and Janeway play velocity, Seven and Torres discuss what it would mean for both of them to return to the Alpha Quadrant

Season 5

Night: Kim and Paris are interrupted in the middle of playing the Captain Proton holodeck program by the Doctor, Torres and Paris play a game called Derada and argue, Seven finds Tuvok meditating in Astrometrics, Kim plays a clarinet piece he wrote to Tuvok, Paris tries to get Seven to play his Captain Proton program

Drone: Torres Paris and Seven discuss how small the shuttlecraft are and introduce the idea of building a larger one, Chakotay and Kim discuss Kim being in charge of the bridge during night shifts

Once Upon a Time: Naomi plays her Flotter holodeck program, the Doctor teaches Naomi about biology, Kim helps Neelix replicate a Flotter doll

Timeless: Seven accidentally gets drunk

Infinite Regress: Seven catches Naomi following her around

Nothing Human: Chakotay and Kim don’t rescue the rest of the crew from having to sit though the Doctor’s boring presentation despite promising to, Paris Torres and Neelix discuss the Doctor’s holophotographs

Thirty Days: Paris and Kim play the Captain Proton holodeck program with the Delaney sisters

Latent Image: Janeway Chakotay and Tuvok debate the results of a martial arts competition

Bride of Chaotica: Neelix and Janeway discuss the lack of functioning replicators and lavatories

Bliss: Seven and Paris take Naomi on an away mission with them

Course Oblivion: Alternate Paris and Torres get married, Neelix and Paris discuss holodeck programs for the honeymoon, Torres prepares Seven for being in charge of Engineering during the honeymoon

Think Tank: Seven finds Janeway attempted to solve a puzzle game

Juggernaut: Torres attempts to do Vulcan meditation exercises with Tuvok

Someone to Watch Over Me: Torres catches Seven studying her and Paris’s “mating behavior”

Relativity: Paris convinces Seven to play table tennis

Warhead: Paris asks Neelix for replicator rations to make Torres an anniversary gift

Equinox: Torres catches up with her ex-boyfriend

Season 6

Survival Instinct: Janeway Chakotay and Tuvok discuss issues surrounding the visitors to Voyager, Seven and Naomi have lunch together, Janeway reprimands Kim and Paris for getting into a fight

Alice: Paris and Kim try to get Tuvok to tell them how old he is

Riddles: Neelix tries to convince Tuvok to play a game with him

One Small Step: Chakotay confronts Seven about making changes to Voyager’s computer core without permission

The Voyager Conspiracy: Janeway and Chakotay have dinner together and discuss rumors on the ship

Fair Haven: Tuvok is feeling sick and Paris and Kim make it worse

Memorial: Kim Paris Chakotay and Neelix come back from an away mission, Torres makes a television set for Paris

Tsunkatse: Torres encourages Chakotay to give his work to someone else so he can watch a Tsunkatse match, Neelix gets sunburned, Paris finds Seven packing for her trip, the Doctor asks Seven to visit museums with him, Chakotay Torres Kim and Paris banter about sports

Collective: Paris Kim Chakotay and Neelix play a card game

Ashes to Ashes: Seven has difficulty with the Borg children

Child’s Play: Janeway Seven and Torres observe the Voyager children’s science fair

Good Sheppherd: Seven presents an efficiency analysis of Voyager’s departments to the senior staff

Live Fast and Prosper: Tuvok confronts Paris and Kim about altering his Holodeck program, Neelix and Paris try to con the Doctor

Fury: Janeway discovers Tuvok’s birthday

Life Line: Janeway and Chakotay discuss communication from Starfleet

Unimatrix Zero: Paris gets promoted back to Lieutenant

Season 7

Imperfection: Seven and Icheb say goodbye to the Borg children

Repression: Paris creates a movie theater holodeck program

Body and Soul: Seven, Kim, and the Doctor are on an away mission, Paris tries to help Tuvok with his Pon-Farr

Nightingale: Icheb thinks that Torres is romantically interested in him

Flesh and Blood: The Doctor tries to convince Chakotay to let him go to a conference

Shattered: Chakotay retrieves a secret bottle of alcohol to share with Janeway

Prophecy: Neelix and Tuvok are temporary bunkmates, one of the Klingons is interested in Kim

The Void: Seven prepares a meal for several crew members, Neelix serves Paris and Torres a meal

Workforce: Kim feels sick after Neelix encouraged him to try an alien drink, Kim and the Doctor argue about who’s in command

Q2: Janeway conducts Icheb’s Starfleet history exam

Author Author: Kim tries to talk to his parents, Torres talks to her father

Natural Law: Paris has to take piloting safety lessons when he accidentally breaks a law

Homestead: Neelix throws a First Contact Day party, Neelix tries to convince Tuvok to dance

Renaissance Man: The Doctor wakes Janeway up with his singing on an away mission, Paris tries to set up an impromptu date with Torres

Endgame: Janeway and Chakotay discuss who will replace Neelix in the Mess Hall, Torres has her baby, Seven and Chakotay are secretly dating, Icheb wins a game of Kal-Toh against Tuvok, Seven and Neelix play Kadis-kot

[i-cant-stop-fandoming-help]

SDRA2 Alt; Rei Route

Of course, it must begin with chapter two; So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the read.

Some of the characters might be OOC since i am more dra-centric and i do not pay as much focus to SDRA2

I'm going to try to limit each chapter to four parts.

Alternative AO3 Link

--

Chapter 2, Part 1

Rei was drowsy when she awoke. The first thing she noticed was the binding of her hands and feet, the second was the duct tape over her mouth and the fact that her glasses were gone.

With a grunt, she managed to rock herself onto her side. Great, she thought to herself sarcastically, mission accomplished.

It was too dark to make out even the most blurred of things, adding onto her frustrations. So she was left to wriggle and squirm in hopes of finding a solution to escape her binds.

That solution came in the form of the bastard wizard appearing.

"Hello, hello!~☆" Mikado chirped, the red of his mask glowing in the darkness, "How's my favorite guest doing?~☆"

Rei grunted and glared at him, hoping he could feel the hatred in her gaze.

His mask morphed into a pout as he got closer. "So meaan! And here I wanted to let you go and meet everyone!"

She squinted at him and did her best to wriggle until she was right-side-up. For a moment, she tried to open her mouth to respond-- only to be reminded of the tape on her face. What a bother.

He snapped his fingers and her binds came undone-- the duct tape did not go with them, however, much to her disappointment. Then, he paused and stared at her. "Was that a smart move...? Eh, who cares, I can just knock you out."

As if on cue, Rei became light-headed. And then she fell back and her head hit the floor.

--

When she awoke, she was sat in front of a group of strangers; her glasses were messily perched on her face, her hair had flyaways, and the duct tape was gone. Her wrists were still sore from being bound, but not sore enough that couldn't lift them or her hands whatsoever.

Carefully, she adjusted her glasses and patted her hair down. Then, she focused on those in front of her; A woman with hair sharing the color with Kinji's, a woman with hair a softer shade than Kizuna's, and...

She froze and stared at Yuki-- at least, someone resembling Yuki. things about him were wrong. He had a cowlick, his skin was paler, his eyes were more vibrant. For a moment, she'd forgotten all about what she'd known of Utsuro, just to focus on the fact that this could not really be Yuki.

But, deep down, she already knew that it was.

"Finally awake?" Another voice dryly spoke-- it came from a greasy-haired man nearby, and it was followed by a puff of smoke. Gross.

Rei took a moment to gather her thoughts; eventually, however, she managed to rise to her feet and dust herself off. "Yes. I am. My apologies that you had to see me in such a state."

The pink-haired woman scoffed and looked off to the side. "it was Sannoji's fault, anyways..."

A brunette with a tablet piped up as she tapped at the screen of her device. "Can you tell us your name."

Rei's ginger curls bounced as she flicked them away with her hand. "Rei Mekaru, former ultimate professor. You are?"

The brunette looked up blankly before offering her hand out awkwardly. "Kokoro Mitsume. Ultimate psychologist."

The professor nodded her head in acknowledgement and shook the other's hand before focusing on the others. "Where did that damned wizard go. I'd like to give him a piece of my mind."

The white-haired woman in front of her glanced around before focusing her brown eyes on Rei. Something about her felt so... familiar. In a sense that it made Rei's head hurt. Those brown eyes were warm, full of care, and the same cocoa color as...

She winced and brought a hand to her head, much to the other's visible confusion. "Are you okay?" Her voice... it, too, was only a bit different.

But that couldn't be possible, because Akane Taira was dead. This was not Akane Taira.

"Nevermind that." Rei murmured, forcing her vision to focus on the other. "Who are you?"

Yuki-- or who Rei perceived to be Yuki-- stared at her with a rather nervous expression before glancing to the albino. It was like a silent question; We don't know if we can trust her, are you really going to introduce yourself?

The white-haired woman shrugged and sheepishly smiled. "Sora."

Rei waved her hand for the other to continue, but she didn't; so Rei used her words. "Sora.... what? What's your talent? Your full name?"

The pinkette piped up before Sora could answer. "She's got amnesia. She doesn't remember either."

"Sora's probably not even my actual name." The albino piped up, the sheepish grin still on her face, "it's just the only thing I remembered when I woke up."

Rei's could feel her expression soften briefly before she forced it to harden agan.

"I see. That is... good to know, I suppose." her gaze fell over the rest, examining each cautiously; one famous face, Emma Magorobi, while the rest were unfamiliar; ranging from a short brunette to a tall red-head, the hairstyles and haircolors were all different from each other. It'd take a while to get introduced to all of them-- and she didn't have that time to spare.

"...Um..." Yuki finally spoke, his voice softer than she'd remembered it being. "...Your companion......"

The pinkette next to Sora shot him a look, but he pressed on.

"...I'm sorry about what happened to him?"

Rei froze and stared at him, her palms beginning to shake. "Teruya?" Her voice strained out, "What do you mean? What happened to him?"

Kokoro tapped at her tablet again, adjusted her circular glasses, and stared at the ginger with a blank expression. "Sannoji set him on fire. The only thing that remained were ashes, when it went out."

A breath caught in Rei's throat, forcing her to stumbled back and sit down. "I..."

Her voice was strangled and painful. Without a second thought about how embarrassing and shameful it was, she removed her glasses from her face and covered her eyes with a hand. "...Please give me some space."

Thankfully, the entire group shuffled out; allowing Rei to weep softly. She was never all that close with Teruya. She didn't even know if they were "friends."

But they'd survived a twisted game together, alongside Tsurugi. The three of them only had each other. And he was the only person who dared to prevent the foundation from crumbling.

Rei Mekaru must truly be cursed; everything important around her wilted, withered, and died. Just like everything else wrong in her life, this was her fault, because she was just as incompetent as everyone else.

Teruya was dead and cremated, and it was all her fault.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.162 thoughts

[Dad of the Year]

Think I spoke too soon with the “it makes you look stupid” comment last week, not because this chapter proves me wrong, but actually because it proves me so so right

There’s really no dignified way to say the word diaper, I think, and admitting that the he put his all into being a good dad specifically to keep up his end of the deal with Fuuko really does make him look like a bit of a fool. And it’s great

In the previous loop, Feng’s single-minded obsession with being the strongest pushing him to make decisions that actively hurt others made him a bit of a flat character. Not a bad or boring one, mind you, just kind of...one note. It was only when Shen posed the question of whether or not Feng saw him and his sister as family that some real nuance began to arise, as I mentioned in another post last week

Now we see pretty much immediately that, yes, they definitively are a family, albeit a dysfunctional and likely toxic one, with Feng openly resenting Shen and Mei for their part in preventing him from living the life he wants to. However, just like he came back to help Shen at the end of Loop 100, it’s pretty easy to guess that Feng’s arc will end with the realization that raising Shen actually not only benefited him in the long run, but was also emotionally fulfilling

The most important lesson for Feng to learn in this arc is that his view on individual strength is wrong, which we know not only because he’s a villain, but because that’s literally what Undead Unluck is about. With very few exceptions, every fight in Undead Unluck has been either one vs. 2+ or team vs. team, the most notable one-on-one’s being Andy vs. Billy or Fuuko vs. Void. Even Fuuko vs. Feng wasn’t really one-on-one, as her Unluck brought UMA Heat into the mix. Fuuko and Shen working together to stop the attack that killed him in the previous loop perfectly demonstrates exactly this concept, further setting up this arc’s theme of teamwork and interpersonal growth

Interestingly, Feng has never had a proper one-on-one on screen, and likely didn’t learn his lesson about the strength of the group vs. the individual because he was defeated by a group; “weaklings banding together,” one might say. To him, the fact that he lost doesn’t mean his philosophy was wrong, just that he hadn’t trained enough to be capable of defeating a group. To prove that individual strength isn’t everything, Feng ironically and counterintuitively likely needs to be beaten in a one-on-one match

If I’m right, this is the entire point of Fuuko’s statement at the end of the chapter: that with her help, Shen is going to gain the individual strength to overcome Feng. Shen and Feng’s final battle will be one-on-one and prove that Shen is stronger, but Shen will have attained that individual strength not through training in isolation, but by learning lessons from experiences with others. Feng can still value his own strength, but the method through which he will strive to improve his strength will be changed by what he sees in this tournament

I also said last week that this tournament won’t just be a showcase of Negators beating down non-Negators and that the tournament itself would be truncated in some way to focus on the Negators specifically. I’m now seeing how Tozuka likely plans to handle that: Shen is almost certainly going to face each of the participating Union members sequentially, learning something new from facing each of them, possibly with some kind of sage advice from Fuuko in the interim. Imagine Vegeta vs. Cabba from Dragon Ball Super, but without the immediate beatdown to show the vast power difference

I am really hoping that Shen won’t steal too much of the spotlight from Yusai, though, cus this definitely seems like a good opportunity for us to see more of her character. I imagine it will go something like Fuuko giving Yusai advice on how to fight Shen in a way that will help him grow by the end without actually throwing the fight, and either she’ll be pushed further than expected and feel like she’s not going to be able to give him a helpful experience OR she’ll trounce him and worry that she’s a bad teacher unable to fulfill Fuuko’s request; either way, she’ll likely draw inspiration from some of her father’s teachings, using them to keep up with Shen or inspire him to take a new approach

Void and Billy will likely do something along the same line, though probably more along the line of overwhelming Shen. I’m particularly excited to see Shen vs. Void specifically, as it will create a very interesting parallel to their initial introduction as partners in back in ch.2! They didn’t have much development at the time, of course, but the contrast will certainly make for a fun chapter or two!

As for Shen’s motivations here, we can all agree it’s for Mui, right? We know they’re poor, so he almost definitely wants the money to help take care of her and her brother; maybe we’ll actually learn the brother’s name this time!

Naturally, I could be wrong and we might actually see Fuuko fight Billy or Yusai herself here, which would certainly be interesting, I just don’t think it would contribute to Shen’s development much, which is definitely the focus of this arc. Whatever happens next chapter will most likely establish the flow of the arc going forward

See y’all next week!

[muffindaddystyles]

DENTIST THE BAD BOI

Word count: 7k

A/N: Heavily inspired from 90's rom-coms, so if your heart swoons out of loneliness it's not on me sistas -- doctor Harry my fav.

Summary: Harry's a med-student and Y/N's an art student, being neighbours with Y/N was already a living hell for Harry but when she fusses over his cat getting her cat pregnant -- he mighty looses it.

Pairing: Dentist Harry × Artist reader, Frenemies to bestfriends to lovers, platonic affection and loads of bestie fluff.

MASTERLIST, REQUEST FOR BLURBS FROM THIS FIC ARE OPEN || PART 2

“Harryyyyy!!!!” Y/N screamed at the top of her lungs staring at the small picture of ultrasound, blinking at it several times to vision herself back into reality because the more she does the more she becomes grumpy and fussy – cursing the beast of a neighbour who got her little innocent cat pregnant.

She pulled the strings of her pyjama shorts to tighten it around her and hastily towed her feet into fuzzy slippers, giving a stink of an eye to her cat “don't act so surprised you little ragamuffin!” She mouthed at her with venom (as if trippers her cat cares), stomping her way out and writes a whole book of judgements in her rattling brain upon hearing the loud music weeping through walls.

She knocks. Huffs when it goes unnoticed and this time pounds at the door, crossing her forearms infront of her chest. Not unaware and very accustomed; of happy chatter whirling around whenever she’s trying to focus how a certain recipe goes by, his mates chanting his name from outside when he’s too occupied in whatever he's sorting out inside for their arrival, clanking of beer bottles knowing they and her have a long time to go, the music dimming in the wee of night as the door closes after every fifteen minutes and it dawns at that time –-- she always get left with one option and that’s to curse him till she sleeps.

It’s every Friday and Saturday’s story.

“Max stop that before Ni asks fo’ a dummy —-,” His neck's craned to where his friends are sitting on one of the cosy spots. His jaw popping, dimples chasmic from the smirk he’s holding and Y/N gulps then arches her brow when his attention drops down at her, “Oh .... hi, could help ya?” His cocky grin irks her – bubbling a fire in her pit and an urge to twinge his ear and drag him to her apartment, to show him what he did.

“Could you help me!?” She laughs ironically, chases her frowning gaze from the ripped patches of his jeans towards where his curls are brushing his earlobes and it kind of makes her gasp which she traps in fortunately because – he’s always wearing a hoodie, beanie or his hair up in a little fountain like bun rushing through the lobby with his thick books and laptop clutched in his arms, “Yes please .. y’could help me by transferring expenses of your cat's babies every month to me —-...um could simply have them in your apartment too if the first deal’s too bad.” She shrugs. Taking a glimpse from his shoulder of his friends bunched over eachother and he toys with his bottom wet lip, brows stringing into confusion and his bicep flexes making her flutter her eyes away as he grips the knob of the door and closes it behind him.

“What d'ya mean?”

“You’re doing it on purpose right? ‘cos there’s no way —--” He cuts her groans with a snap and runs a palm down his face, “I seriously don’t know what you’re talkin' ‘bout, Y/N.” His lips tinned into a flat line, his posture now resembling her's and she slaps her forehead with the heel of her palm.

“Then you should keep tabs of your beasty minx of a cat who got my cat pregnant!” She exclaims disbelievingly to which his eyes turns saucer and he throws his sinewy arms in between them, mimics her expressions comically, “Is that my fault? Did I get your cat prego?” She blinks up at him rapidly --- he’s such a nerve puller.

“Yes it is! You didn’t get your cat desexed —-,” She stuffs her pointer against his chest and twist it with a grit, “Now he’ll have babies left and right – like a catwhore he is!!” She aerials her hands in different directions rapidly and he takes a step closer kissing his teeth together to seethe his words.

“He’s not a catwhore!”

“Kay then take the responsibility of what he did.” She mutters tapping her foot onto the carpeted floor and guppies at him like a fish when he bursts into taunting cackles, leaning to catch the door-frame before he mushes her under his weight. ”

“Ye -‐..- you’re —- you aren’t serious are ya?” His rosy eyelids snib tightly forming crinkles to where his temples meet his cheeks and she almost pouts, how much she doesn’t want to she could never cascade her expressions.

“Oh my — .... Bambi eyed wouldn’t I’ave had free him of his ball’s heaviness –-- if I’d ‘ave enough money down me pocket?” He scrunches his nose to take a breather from laughing hard.

“Don’t call me that!” She bites at him.

“You’re cute when you’re angry.” He smirks gingerly – drums his fingers against his folded bicep and presses his back to the wall tipping his chin high.

Her blush eager to creep up her neck embarrasses her further more and she hides the softness in her voice, muttering gruffly, “Shut up.” Then turns to walk back into her apartment and to slam the door at his face -- but -- his whistle for her halts her in tracks.

“Hey – Bambi, we could sign the custody of kitties if that what ye'want.”

..

Three weeks after. There was another knock on Harry’s door, Niall's head perks up and bangs against the bookshelf –- he was trying to keep the furry cat in his lap, for a good warmer but its more enamoured with the ‘clucks' of his daddy’s boots than the soft flesh of Niall’s thigh as Harry chucks his wallet in the back-pocket of his jeans (he was about to go outside and bring some food) and opens the door slightly to see through the trapping chain, “who’s it?”

“Harry ‘s me ....” The voice mousey and worried. Niall recognizes it in a hot-second, frowns and tries to gain snowy’s attention, “What did y'do again? Did ya get the pretty neighbour's cat prego twice, you fat farts.” He chuckles when snowy meows at him innocently and Harry's brows skews together into a scowl.

“Call him fat farts another time —- I dare you —--,” He howls. Throwing angry upset glares towards Niall – their bickering gets interrupted when Y/N slips her hand from the crack of door, pinches Harry’s knuckles and he squeaks, “Ow —- what the fuck!”

“Harry.” Her tone threatening.

Harry puffs out a huge sigh and reveals himself infront of her, he's not in mood to fight with her over their cats, or the parcel Harry forgot to give her which got delivered to him on accident like one of the thousand times (he never found anything freakish until now .. not that he goes through what’s inside, but the labels tell they’re mostly her art supplies), or why he’s been showering for an hour because she now isn’t left with any warm water —- because he just came back from UNI and is dust bones from having two exams in a row.

“Y/N —-,” His face reeks with exhaustion. His curls drowsy, escaping from his knit beanie and his eyes glazed with sea-foam. She kinda feels bad for disturbing him -- but – it’s an emergency and she doesn’t know where to go, except him.

His weary vision falls upon trippers tucked beneath Y/N’s arm, “Is she alright?” He scratches behind her ear and trippers gives out a pained yowl.

“No –-.. that’s why ‘m here. She’s spotting blood everywhere and –-- and I don’t have enough money ...,” She’s embarrassed to say least. Not meeting Harry’s eyes and he gazes her sincerely –- belly doing weirdly funny somersaults. He clears his throat, grogs out gathering all the information in his head from the anatomy of humans and animals he studied till now.

“It’s okay for spotting in pregnancies – but ‐-.. she looks very much in pain s' we shouldn’t risk it. I’ve a friend. She’s practicing vet -- we could take her there.” He offers. Rubbing the back of his neck and Y/N bobs her head vigorously, anything to save her trippers baby.

“Fine –-- yeah, Iemme just wear my shoes ... then we're good to go.” She mumbles. Harry hasn’t seen her demeanour flatter like this ever before, whenever she’s banging and barging through his flat it’s always taut and cold banter.

He has never seen her this defenceless.

He drops his gaze down at her feet and finds that she’s wearing cute pizza slices socksies.

..

“Is this a clinic, or weed doing zone for animals?” She didn’t try to be mean. It just happened as she takes in the wearbouts of garage, stuffed with drums and musical instruments, spray paint on walls. Harry seems unfazed though, he could be shabbier than her if he wants to –- much fouler that could make her cry.

“Told you. She’s practicing not a vet yet.” She doesn’t question him further. Grateful enough for his help. She might not admit but he isn’t that bad of guy as she once imagined him in her head.

Y/N stifles a snort when a girl with mullet shag, having a stud in her brow and the corner of her lip, attired in all black greets Harry with a hip-check, “Vas’up booger.” She grins and Harry grumbles ruffling her hair with his knuckles.

It leaves Y/N in awe. This’s what group of friends look like -- so fun and annoying, she wanted to have this since when she’s small. Sadly, it’s just her and trippers in her friend group.

“Hi there!” She waves to Y/N trying to battle Harry’s tickles away. Takes trippers from Y/N's arms and coos up at her, “hiyaa baby .. oh, she’s having lil buns inside her.” She laughs and Y/N already likes her so much. As if, she’s the main character of any vintage styled movie.

“Rori here.” She introduces herself as Harry strolls inside her kitchen to rummage through her fridge, “Y/N.” Y/N smiles –-- eyeing Harry who’s whistling and tearing the crate of orange juice open.

When Trippers purrs from a cramp, Rori snuggles her closer to herself – “Her spotting is nothing to worry about –-- maybe she’s ready to give birth. If not I’ll take her to my hospital.”

“So Harry said...” Y/N nods.

“Oohh.” Rori exclaims, wiggling her brows curiously at Harry who’s gulping down juice hungrily, “Booger got normal friends too? Thought, those were all white lies.” He almost chokes at it – downing it cautiously and blinks vividly.

“No. Just neighbours.” Yeah, there’s nothing friendly between them –-- but how it’d be like to befriend Harry. The thought makes Y/N feel snoozy and warm.

“I see.”

“Okay then! ‘m gonna keep Trippers with me for two days –-- figure out what I could do to help her and if she heals I’ll drop her by, how that sounds?”

“Sounds good!” Both, Harry and Y/N chimes together heating their cheeks up. Harry wavers his gaze away, sulking a pouty mouth and turns all stoic again.

He doesn’t want to like, Y/N. Nope. Not at all. In any case.

She’s his bedevilling, bothersome and galling neighbour who just screams at him too much for his likening.

..

“Would you like something to eat?” She asks him while walking back home and he shakes his head, so she nudges him in ribs, “oh c'mon let it be a thank you, grumpy pants.”

“’M not –-,” He was about to snap at her. Instead, he groped her wrist tightly and tugged her to his side –-- she squeals into his chest as a car passes by them swiftly, honking at them in anger.

Her hair wisps from the friction of Harry’s hoodie as she pushes herself away from him, surprisingly he smells incredibly sweet – that of vanilla and citrus musk, something very cosy and like a morning breeze.

A jolt buzzes through her spine at the fact she was about to get crushed under a vehicle but she grins up at him awkwardly, “Tofu then?” His peepers widen in shock and he slaps his forehead.

“You’re mad, know that.”

..

Harry and Y/N. Sky and earth . She sprouts buds of irises and peonies when she speaks, her touch that shines away even an intimidating person as if they're mimosa plants, those eyes --- those eyes are itself sepia of grounds on which the tiny creatures celebrates by and Harry's well ... he’s the floss of clouds hidden behind sunshine, his rains would turn her into loam and his uppish thunder would make her loathe him.

Then some gods decided to break the needles and fix it in some other clock that rotates anti-clock wise.

Now, when she’s unable to nourish her flowers he's always there to rain and stroke a tender breeze against her that makes her lush grass snuggle the roots of who she’s.

They were enemies once. Opposite to eachother in many ways but couldn’t live without eachother despite of their distances. Just like sky's a hollow sheet of nothingness without it’s dear earth.

..

What blossomed their friendship was Y/N's date with this cute boy that is in her ceramic class, (not a date if you’d ask so –-- more like a meetup at this coffee house near her UNI).

Turns out he isn’t that cute. His blunt hands wandered up Y/N’s thigh without her consent and before she could know that, he was groping at it –-- making her gasp and hit her knee against the table. She struggles to writhe out of the chair but he stitches his nails in her skin, “I’m not liking it – you better stop.” She hisses, palms sweaty and slipping trying to remove his grip from around her.

“Don’t act all stupid .. you were hitting at me for hours, you want it but wouldn’t admit.” He groans, rolling his eyes and she feels like crying –-- teeth clanking letting out a shuddering breath.

“I’ll scream.” She warns him.

“You’re not that innocent, you act like.” He smirks, sliding his hand down her insides and before he could reach further Y/N sneaked a fork from the table and stabbed it in his knuckles.

“Fuck.” He shrieks, “Bitch.” He almost screams but stops when everyone stares at him as Y/N’s chair fell against the floor and she stumbles inside the bathroom.

Locking it behind her. Her chest burns with tears. Her vision spins and her fingers shakes as she dials one number she could reach for anytime, it rings then goes to voicemail so her bitten lip wobbles and eyes turn glossy.

She again dials it. There’re noises behind, that of someone instructing and Harry was in his lecture hall when she called .. his heart drops because all he could hear is quivering breath ... it shudders to tight painful gasps and he’s collecting his stuff leaving his seat immediately the doctor who's teaching them Apiceoctomy stares Harry while speaking.

Once he’s out in hallway, “Hey? Y/n are y’there? You okay? What happened?” She bolt her eyes close pressing her head to cold tiled wall and yawps outta fear when someone pounds at the door. Harry runs towards the exist, “Y/N where are you!? ‘m coming .. whatever it’s just --.. just ...” He gripes at his curls pushing them back – his heart beating loud, “ – just stay where you’re ‘n don’t panic .. yeah? It’s okay.” He mutters. Voice soft and assuring.

Her breathing patterns back to calmness – something about him so consoling, so warm and she nods. After some minutes she’s telling him the address and gladly it’s not that far away from Harry.

When he reaches. There are several people waiting at the bathrooms door and he’s knocking on it lightly, pressing his ear to it and grabs the knob (in case he’d have to break it).

When there’s no-response from inside he gets it something’s peculiar, “Bambi. ‘s me Harry.” It clicks and unlocks and he’s tumbling inside while the others groans and disperses knowing it’s invain waiting.

He’s dishevelled. His curls in moppy condition and his eyes full of concern and worry –-- she feels awful for doing this to him.

“Were you crying? Did somethin' happen?” He frowns. Ducking a bit to meet her gaze level and she clears the clump in her throat, “Can we just leave .. please?” He couldn’t believe it’s her voice – the bubbliness and chirpiness of it died to frightened meekness.

Harry takes her hand and walks them outside, Y/N sucks in squeak when the same guy rushes to confront them and when Harry sees his injured hand -- everything pieces together and fury spikes through his veins.

His brows pinches together into a frown, his lips lifting into a scowl and his eyes darkens pitch coal like.

He grips her dainty fingers and moves her behind him protectively and his chest buffs out as he takes a step forward towering the guy – “What d'ya want?” He kisses his teeth together to grit vehemence and that guy lift his trembling hand infront of Harry.

“Look what this bitch —-,” Ah –-- he really pushed Harry’s bad button didn’t he?

Harry grabs him from collar and Y/N squeals rubbing his wrist to pull him back, no-use.

“Badmouth her or anyone —-" Harry sneers and if he'd be a cartoon character – fume would have been coming out of his ears and nose.

“Else what!?” Harry’s more of a practical person -- so he did what he's been learning for years now and breaks his nose with such force it almost knocks him out.

Y/N's still in shock. Walking behind him on jelly toes and a shiver spirals in her bone marrow when her sweat dries from the wind that’s blowing and hitting them in faces.

They wait at bus shelter, sitting side by side –-- thighs brushing now and then flustering Y/N, Moreso when he apologizes everytime.

There’s silence. Harry’s irritated groan breaks it –- he clenches and unclenches his knuckles .. the thin skin a bit bruised.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry –-- .. ‘s my fault.” She rambles. Taking his hand to inspect it, “I shouldn’t have called you at ---..” He frowns confused and pokes her in knee conveying her to stop worrying. Because if anyone needs to be taken care of is her and wish he could just hug her and tell her that it’s not her fault – not even a tad.

“Y/n...” He gains her attention and his gaze flickers from her snotty nose towards her soaky cheeks, “Shut up.” She chuckles at that putting his palm gently back on his thigh.

“Would you like to have, noodles? I know this incredible chinese place ...” He shakes his head. His smile small and kooky, nose scrunched up as he sniffs the air – predicting a rain coming soon.

“D'we have to eat after every tragedy that happens t’you?”

“Yup, tragedies makes me hungry.” It’s her coping mechanism if she'll be honest and that’s what she’s been doing for ages.

“Who are you, Y/N?

She jumps up. Wiggling her fingers for him to take and beams sweetly, “Bambi next door?”

..

“From when did ya become s' rich?” He giggles. He finds her fucking adorable as she drags him along herself excitedly – she halts infront of the expensive restaurant –- where people dressed in all kind of luxuries and bright pearls are dinning in and she arches her brow sceptically, “Did you really think –- I’ll be able to take us here?” He shoves his hands in his jeans pocket, elevates his shoulders and smiles bashfully.

“Maybe one day, who knows?” They walk towards the chinese take out and Y/N trots backwards –-- facing him all while and rolls her eyes, “’M an artist whose half of paintings goes to trash.” Harry’s eyeballs springs out of his sockets hearing her statement and he really wants to knock some senses into this silly girl.

“Oh my --.. jeez .. those paintings are ‘s good y'divvy. They're hanging onto my walls, been enjoying them fo' free —- what the actual fuck .. really your hands are magical.” He feels annoyed and sad that she felt a need to dump them, because those were some beautiful art pieces.

(“Hmm. It has some hidden meaning beneath it, H. I’m tellin' ya.” Ni would always say. Standing infront of it for hours and hours staring at it.

“Looks like a pussy to me.” Max would quip sipping his bevy and Harry would smack him in head, “Guys how ‘bout we just see it like a fuckin' painting.” He'd grumble focusing back on his books.)

“Really?” She asks shyly and he bobs his head, “Guess you could just keep them then ...” She grins up at him taking the boxes from the cashier.

“Where are we going?”

“You’d see yourself.” She sing-songs galloping over the muddy potholes and Harry looks funny doing it with his spider long legs. Their footsteps echoes in the empty warehouse and Harry didn’t expect her to be the person – that loves finding weird places and spend time there.

“Careful there.” He murmurs. Pressing a hand to her waist when she wobbles on her feet climbing the metal stairs and Harry thinks if she was this clumsy all along or it’s from what happened at the coffee house.

“Holy shit!” He cups a hand around his mouth as the traffic bustles down on the street, “You afraid of heights?” She glances back at him from where she’s standing on the cemented edge.

“Matters. If we're about to act silly and jump, then yes.”

Warmth worms up at his chest and his adam apple bobs, he barks out a laugh when she giggles demanding him to come closer to her, “Come here then you dentist the bad boi.” He tugs the fabric of his jeans from his crotch and hikes his one knee up sitting beside her, other leg swinging in air.

He listens to her hums and happy sounds as she slurps the long noodle inside her mouth, “What you’re afraid of then Harry?” Her question catches him off-guard. Nobody has ever asked what his fears are and he might be famous for an intimidating personality just because he speaks less and owns a roaring bullet –-- he’s still very nice to talk to, but he'd rather spend his time with snowy than waste his time on orgy parties.

“Snowy’s funky farts -- they're ‘orrible!! have to leave the flat fo’ a minute.” He grins when Y/N’s head lulls back and she laughs gleefully, rolling into his side to support herself, “Oh no!” She whines when her chopsticks falls and drops onto the road poorly.

“We can share mine.” He hands her his chopsticks and she thanks him timidly, “What d'you fear?” They pass it back and forth –- his lips wrapping around them as he takes a chunky bite.

Harry tries to down the food that got stuck in his throat when she said nonchalantly, “Dying alone I guess?” He chews the veggies, grimaces and shakes his head -- puts his hand over her knee squeezing it kind-heartedly.

“You’ll not.” She feels like every tulip of light around her’s sparkling – the buzz of having his company tingling her in good way, “Promise?” She asks and Harry lifts his pinky in between them encouraging her to bring her's.

She wasn’t serious about the promise thing it was more onto sarcastic side than to sincerity.

“Promise.” His dimples caters deep and his eyes crinkles when different golden lights dances against her skin making her look prettier than she’s.

He’s gonna fulfill his promise.

..

Y/N could be sentimental given on occasions and how bad the situation’s – but she bottles it up for good amount until later, it all crushes her completely and she’s unable to stand back.

Now, when there’s eerie quietness in the bus and the world infront of her fades behind in weird shapes and forms in her head because of the speed of vehicle – her mind thought it’d be best time to remorse over what happened to her and her eyes well up at that.

Harry plucks his headphones down upon hearing her soft sniffles and turns her towards him with her shoulder, “Y/N hey ....” His voice tender and dewy as he slides his palm under her jaw and cups her cheek to wipe out her tears with the mild stroke of his thumb.

His gentleness rakes out an agonising sob from inside her and she feels like her organs are clashing together.

“Shh. Bambi you’re okay now, ‘s alright you’re here with me -- shh, ‘m so sorry love —- but it’s over now, yeah? We're going home and I’ll make you chamomile tea, could ‘ve both snowy and trippers cuddle with you while I’ll get you all warm and nice inside this new fluffy blanket I just bought! – how does that sound?” He pets her hair. Brings her closer to his chest and she keeps her nose tucked against his clavicles to stop from crying and make a show.

When she nods, suckling a wet breath he swipes a loose errand of her hair behind, “Sounds good yeah?” She just hums snuggling into him.

Her arms slowly loops around his love-handles and he stows her head under his chin -- rubs her back in circles to soothe the stiff muscles, covers her ears with the headphones he was wearing before – plays acoustic version of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac and simpers when she hiccups his name, but doesn’t respond when he answers – his ears turns pink from fond and his belly overglows with butterflies as she babbles his name till she drops into peaceful sleep.

Y/N found herself in his bed with snowy and trippers ontop of her and Harry snoring on the couch – his gangly limbs not fitting at all.

She really wanted to call him and sleep on his bed, but she drowses back to slumber.

..

“Grumpy jerk and an actual ray of sunshine. Sorry, couldn’t process it – too much.” Rori teased Harry the last time they gathered and Y/N was there too! though the true statement was claimed after her departure.

Harry’s friends couldn’t believe that he stepped out of his comfort zone and made a new cute friend, now after one year of their friendship it doesn’t feel like they’re neighbours anymore –-- it's just one big home with an alleyway in between.

“What're y'doin', moppet?” Harry chuckles picking up the half eaten packet of crisps, chewy sour candies, wrappers of oreos and the romcom CDs they were playing before.

Y/N's sprawled on her tummy. Feetsie in air and her chin secured in her palm as she looks like she’s seriously about to take an admission in med school –-- she’s concentrating real hard on the thick book under her, eyes fixated on the diagrams of teeth – it makes Harry laugh like a maniac.

“Aish. Your books, gives me an ache.” She massages her forehead, shakes her head as if she tasted something icky and pushes his book away. Harry laughs harder at her antics wrappers flying away from his grasp and he flops onto couch –-- thighs spreading wide and back sinking into the cushions.

“Where?” His lips rumbles as he tries to hold back another fits of laughter when she gets his dirty joke and pouts, lips fluttering into a smile until she bursts into giggles joining him.

“Nope. My cookie doesn’t throb like it used to sneaking on reproduction chapters in biology.” Harry roars out a cackle at that and Y/N grins fiddling with the frizz of her socks, “Heyyyy it’s not funny –- very much sad.”

He suckles a breath in, their grins achy and big, “Stuff your cookie with some jam ‘n you'll be alright.”

“You’re gross!” She fake gags. Hunches over to exaggerate the severity and scares the shit out of Harry when she gasps loudly slapping his knee, “Harry! Harry! Oh my gosh.....ahhhh!” She gallops like a bunny towards the window and gazes up at the sky with glinting eyes, “Harry look! It’s snowing.” He trots behind her with a roll of eyes knowing what’s about to come next.

When she turns around with sparkly grin, hands clasped atop her chest and tippy-toes to beg him, Harry shuts his lids, “No Muffy.” Y/N loves eating chocolate muffins –-- eating them whenever she could possibly ... and that’s how the pet name Harry decided to call her was muffy.

“Please, it would be so fun .. we could have hot chocolate afterwards.” She mumbles tugging at the hem of his chunky yarn sweater.

“Nothing’s fun about snow angles, Muffyyyy!!” He whines. Squinting down at her with one eye and finds her all slumpy, head falling downwards.

“Okie then. ‘m going to sleep.” She mutters in a meek voice pushing past him –-- but he wraps his hand around her wrist and pulls her back to himself, chuckling with wide eyes, “You’re very dramatic and annoyin’ y’know that?”

Instead, she grins bobbing her head shamelessly, pats his chest and dashes to wear his warm jacket, “Biscuits on you -- hot chocolate on me.” She tells him slipping into her shoes with the support of doorframe.

He comes closer to her and her heart thuds into her tiny ribs as he zips his jacket she’s wearing up till her neck and warns her while pulling out her hair, “If I get sick – ‘m gettin'y sick too.”

..

Harry’s waiting outside the candy shop Y/N just barged in moments ago. He refused to step inside – knowing she’ll use him as a taste tester and at the end of the day his tongue would have a mountain sugar atop his taste buds.

The spring breeze flowery and warm. He shakes his head, smiles softly watching her switch aisles and guffaws loudly catching attention of an old couple siting on the bench behind -- at her eagerness when she started chomping onto the long chewy candy right after getting it from the cashier.

“That’s g'na rot your teeth even before your forties.” He tells her taking the small bag from her and walks beside her, “Your kids are gonna hate you ...” She tells him –- stretching out the candy with her teeth.

“You sure, y'were allowed colas and candies in childhood?” He teases her prodding her side so she throws it at his chest making him laugh and he bends down to pick it up and dump it in bin.

“You’ve got a cute bum.” She whistles and Harry’s cheeks bashes with blush – turns around and wiggles herself, “How's mine?” She hums glancing back at him with cheeky grin.

“Ten by two, I guess?” He bites down a smirk when she spins to face him a bit gobsmacked, “Not even five?” She grumps chin doubling as she tries to see her bum herself.

“Six then?” He giggles enjoying how she’s getting riled up out of nowhere and she stomps away from him so he jogs to catch her, “Bambi. Was kiddin'.”

“You owe me two muffins with the amount of insults you’ve caused my poor bum.” He knuckles at her hair and she slaps him away like a feisty kitten, “I take it back –-- you’re really ten by two.”

“Oi!!!” Now, she’s running behind him. His curls blowing away and his coat ruffling with the zephyr, his head falling back with the belly-ache laughter that bounces against the bricked walls of shops.

..

It’s Friday night. Y/N is doing her laundry. Plucking out Harry’s socks from Trippers furry ear, her kitties sleeping in bassinet. Harry and Y/N have named them Tum, Tug and Truggers –-- she sits back on her heels upon hearing her door closing and hikes the small basket on her hip trudging outside —-- she didn’t had any clothes that could make her feel warm during these days – even her socks were all soggy -- so was Harry’s, now all she’s gonna do is make a blanket fort and hide in it for hours.

She knuckles at her eyes, blinking the tiredness away to see properly who’s standing in the middle of room, “Harry?” He's wearing a graduation gown and tips his hat with a sheepish smile then waves his degree infront of her, “Guess who's a proper dentist now!?” She’s frozen to her spot –- jaw slacked and eyes blown away in surprise.

“Your bad boi!” The basket falls from her hip onto the floor scaring Trippers and she whispers an, “Oh my goodness.” Before, stumbling towards him and crashes in his arms giving him a tight loving hug. He slinks his forearms around her and squishes his face into the crook of her neck, lips tickling her skin and if it was possible for him to freeze the time and cherish it for some more he'd.

“I’m so proud of you.” She mumbles into him with a grin. He feels so worthy and every hardship he faced now feels like nothing, this's how life supposed be throughout –- but best things always bores fruit for the right time.

“How about we celebrate? Just you and me.” Just you and me. It feels nice to just her and him. Makes her heart swoon. Makes her feel like skies outside are wet and pink, “Umm .. can we celebrate here? It’s okay .... “ She shifts on her feet and he furrows his brows in confusion, lips ticked up as if he’s scrutinizing her.

“You and not goin' nutters for an outing .. seems odd —-,” Then his eyes falls over the surrounding, a heating pad beside his feet – aloe fused socks hanging to get dry, a tray of chocolate muffins, kettle on the coffee table so he puts one and one together himself.

“Oh muffy —-... pizza and cuddles then?” If he wouldn’t be aware of how first few days of her period are hell for her then who would? He’s always making her pot meals and curry rice – feeds her and gets all strict when she refuses to eat anything. She looses her appetite and transforms into something ‘if zombie had a baby with vampire -- it sure looked like you’ he'd always scold her.

Even bribe her with candies. Once they were awfully painful and Y/N really didn’t want to be all dramatic not when their friends were having a good time, she doesn’t like to be a party pooper.

But, when a stinging cramp cut through her pelvis and thighs she was hunching forward with a jolt -- all teary eyes and wobbly lips. Harry left everything and rushed towards her, sitting on his knees on the floor and cupped her throat to make her look at him when she refused to, “Y/N ‘m serious -- you rather tell me what’s happening with ye’ or ‘m throwin' you at my shoulder and takin’ you hospital —... cause fuck look at you been like this since morning ....” He was rambling and Y/N felt like drilling a hole into floor and hide herself there forever.

She was mortified and embarrassed, a terrible combination.

She wasn’t able to tell him infront of all of their friends even though it’s something very normal, so everyone stared and nodded when they left they for Harry’s room.

“Bambi are you okay? I’m not even kidding something’s not —-..” She wipes her nose and tugs at his wrist trying to shush him, when he doesn’t pushes a fingers against his lips.

“Don’t worry. ‘m good --- just —-... umm I’m on my periods.” She rubs her one feet on another and his mouth fall into an ‘o' when realization hit him and his brows clinches together sternly.

He sighs running his fingers through his hair, something he does when frustrated and whumpy.

“Should’ve told me. We could have done this later ... do you want anything? I’ve got pain —--,” His words swells on his tongue when her head bumps against his chest and her hands locks around his neck, hugging him with all her gentle will because nobody has ever cared for her –-- him being so tentative to her makes her want to sob into his chest.

He warms her in all the right places.

..

“How’re you feeling on scale of one to ten?” He speaks while chewing onto the stuffed crust of pizza. They’re cosied up on the sofa while Mama Mia plays on the telly and she’s cuddled up into him, he's holding her heat pad with the grip of his forearm and she lifts her head mousey-ly from his bicep and whispers – “Eightish...? Now, you’re Dr.Styles.” He giggles at her and pushes her head back against him with his finger.

“What does my being dentist has a connection to your periods?” He dips the pads of his fingers into her pudgy love handles and squeezes them -- she giggles thinking about the joke she’s about to crack.

“You pull teeth, it’s blood and I pull out tampon so it’s —...” Harry chuckles gruntly at her and tickles her more, “Oh no. I know where it’s goin'....”

“You asked for it!” She pouts at him and he squishes her lips together as if she’s a duck toy.

Then they flump back into their cuddling position and Harry rubs her tummy in tender soothing circles, it helps her relax and his breath syncs with her and she really tries not to pay attention to her bratty screaming hormones heating her skin up – her thighs experiencing a quiver and she squeaks down a huffy whimper.

“You okay?” Harry asks. When she squirms against him and she gulps -- they don’t hide stuff from eachother so she tells him honestly, “You’re really turning me on.” Harry’s heart hiccups at that and his palms still over her thighs.

“Is that so?”

He pets her hair and tries to make her stand, “Just go to washroom and jizz one out.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t? Why?”

“Promise me you wouldn’t make fun....” He frowns and nods bringing his pinky to make the deal.

She clutches her sweater down to her knees, cheeks rosy and mutters out in one breath – “I’ve specific days for that....” Harry really tires to. He locks up his laughs in his lungs and it aches his chest, his cheeks balloons up but at last he rolls onto floor and guffaws into his elbow.

“You said you wouldn’t make fun!!!” She whines kicking his side lightly and he grabs her ankle, “This means all those times you’d be all locked up –- oh my god, you were playing with yourself.” She folds her arms. Her nostrils flares with irritation and she doesn’t even spare him a glance.

“Pet, waiting so long .. it’s a torture to yourself.” He tells her genuinely sitting up with crossed legs and she mumbles knuckling at her eyes, “just some reasons ... horny is bad.” Now, Harry feels kind of terrible pushy person and he really wants to help her out but he’s walking on egg shells here. So, he stops asking anything.

“Rori's girlfriend is a sex therapist —-“ She becomes all fidgety at that and Harry takes in her nervousness, “It’s totally fine if you don’t want to.” He exclaims waving his hands and she gulps giving him a small nod.

“Night time fo' some grumpy muffy!” He coos, brings the blanket to her chin and his pupils dilate adorningly when she asks him, “Could I snuggle you?”

“Ofcourse.” He pecks her temple and tells her to budge over before sandwiching her between him and the sofa.

That whole night all his mind could think was why horny is bad for her?

..

Y/N was feeling overly warm and heated, a tad achy between her thighs. She vigorously tries to focus on something else but her chest is heaving at this point, even opens the windows and let the cool air hit her but no use –- so she does what have to be done in order to get rid of the throb.

She cosies herself on the bed, switches onto hentai and throws her legs in air to shimmy her sheer white panty down.

“Oh ...” Whimpers teeny-ly when her fingers brushing up her soaking pussyfolds provides her a bit relief – her soft hands wanders beneath her flimsy shirt and touches her skin in the most arousing way possible –-- tweaks her nipples and jerks up, oozing more wetness.

“Ah! Fuck.” She moans easing in two fingers at once and cramps down at them watching the hentai porn –- but it’s not enough, she’s been pushing her fingers in and out for ten minutes now—she’s unable to get to climax.

So she groans sits up and switches to domineering audios, listens to it while fingering herself hard and she has no idea from where her mind gathered these images from -- but -- soon she’s thinking about Harry’s husky rasp, his sea-foam beautiful eyes and those rosy knuckles ring clad hands —-- imagining him holding her down into mattress and pounding into her at a brutal pace, making her sit on his cock and not letting her move –-- his fingers down her petty throat —-- him spanking her ass if she let’s out any voice out and he'd roar at her beg as she'd be lurking at her tenth orgasm –---- every plausible dirty stuff with him.

She was so engulfed into making herself feel good, lost in her own headspace and imaginations that she didn’t hear footsteps approaching and it’s like she manifested him as he stands at the door-frame with blown away pupils –-- guppy mouth and she’s squealing feeling dizzy upon sitting up this quick.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck —-... sorry sorry ... “ He covers his eyes and turns to walk away but bumps his head with a thud into doorframe.

She gasps, knees up and almost shouts, “No!” making him halt mid-track and she’s on the verge of tears, red face and shaky fingers.

“Please ....”

“Stay.”

Harry’s eyes turns soft at that and he walks towards bed, licks his lips wet and brushes the loose tress of her hair away.

“You want me to stay, muffy?” He asks to make sure – she isn’t in haze and all fog minded.

“Yes. I want you to stay.” She doesn’t hesitate this time. Her words honest and full of plead, she needs him, she wants him, she wants to have him.

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E123 (Feb. 2, 2021)

After last week’s thoroughly relaxing and brief episode, tonight’s guests are Sam Riegel and Liam O’Brien!

Brian, to Sam: “You look like Tim Curry moved to Nantucket to become a sommelier.”

How did Caleb and Veth approach the ally-ship with the Tombtakers? Sam: “I mean, we got some information, and I think we got a little closer to Lucien and knowing whether he has any of Mollymauk inside of him, which is I think the most important knowledge that we’re seeking right now. Is there someone to be saved inside there? We got glimpses, and we got a little hint that Mollymauk is maybe still in there? Maybe? And we got a little more insight into their plans, so that was useful.” Liam: “We know why we were having that fucking dream.” Sam: “But other than that, it was just a road trip with assholes.” Liam: “All our plans have been ripped in a new direction, and it’s just been improvisation.” Sam notes that it feels like we’re always about to rip into Caleb’s backstory, but haven’t yet followed that thread all the way through. Liam: “It’s partially frustrating, to be sure, but also I like the idea that-- his whole shit has been selfish, it’s been dealing with the trauma that he’s been through and not the greater world, and that’s been shifting somewhat.”

Does Caleb think the book was worth it, and is he still interested in reading more? Sam: “How do you ask Caleb not to read a book?” Liam: “Caleb has spent enough time with the Nein to know you shouldn’t put a hand on a hot stove. After what happened with the book, he knows it’s a terrible idea. But maybe. But it’s a really bad idea. But reserve judgment, but it’s a really terrible idea. I think that Caleb is very aware that mages and people like him very easily fall prey to their curiosity and it can lead to bad places. But there is still that amount of scientific endeavor where you think there is value in knowing and learning, and maybe we can ride that line. He was True Neutral at the start of the campaign, and maybe he’s Chaotic Good now, but part of him is hubris, even if it’s a little bit, still.”

What about Otis has drawn Veth’s focus? Sam: “I mean, he’s a little shit. She was curious about Otis because he’s a small like she is, and in talking to him, he seemed to be real creepy, but he was just creepy and distant and didn’t value his past or family or anything like that. She sees someone who’s like her, but so not like her, and maybe that scares her a little bit more.”

How does Caleb feel about Beau being on this ride with him? Liam: “The dream is another example of how Caleb had very narrow vision of the things he wanted to do. It used to seem so massive to him, but now... To have Beauregard involved feels right. If anyone in the group is going to stop him from grabbing something he shouldn’t, it is probably Beauregard. She’ll punch him in the fucking face to stop him, which I think he needs, to a certain extent. They’re two different kinds of nerds, and I kind of like that, that this group of nine philosophers, they’ve reached out and somehow grabbed the two nerds in the party.”

How do Caleb and Veth see the Somnovum? Sam: “I mean, they seem real bad. Anything that’s a quorum of powerful entities heading towards your planet to unleash an energy of any kind, typically bad? I assume they’re bad, or at least the Tombtakers wish them to do ill.” Liam: “I think they want the kind of peace that comes from snapping your fingers and turning people to dust. Caleb sees them as a cautionary tale; they’re the worst-case scenario for arcane inquisitiveness.” He sees Allura Vysoren as the antidote to that.

Why the staunch refusal to use Halfling Luck? Sam: “I don’t like Luck! I just don’t like Luck. I think it’s cheap, I think it’s a cheat, I think it’s stupid. It just feels like a do-over.” Liam: “I am your antithesis! If I ever voice a halfling, I am going to hammer that feature!” Sam: “What I love about D&D is that you don’t know what’s going to happen. If you roll bad, okay, that’s it. If you roll well, it makes the success more enjoyable to know that it’s a pure success and don’t one where you’re like well actually... it’s so stupid. If someone was about to die, I would probably use the fuckin’ Luck feature. Well. It depends who. If it was Travis, yeah, no, he’s fucked, sorry.”

Liam drops that he’s picked Sam’s character class and race again for a hypothetical campaign three. Sam: “It’s not what I was thinking for future characters, but I’m excited to explore.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Mollymauk by KatofValkyrie!

What was it like to bring the Tombtakers into the tower? Liam: “It is complicated, because he does not like him. Lucien’s just a fucking dick. But Caleb also knows that Molly’s in there somewhere. That tower’s only for the M9, and Lucien’s not in the M9. Their situation with these people is shitty, it’s terrible. Caleb doesn’t feel like they have the upper hand. He doesn’t like that they’re even going on this journey per se, because life is bigger than his bullshit. He feels like they’ve been losing over and over again, so it was a gamble to try to get on equal footing.

What spurred Veth into making sure she and Yasha have some one-on-one time? Sam: “Yasha hasn’t been getting a lot of moments to shine. Now that she’s back, I just got the impression that Yasha feels out of place sometimes, or timid, or unsure of herself. When Veth was Nott, Nott certainly had her share of those moments. I think she sees a kindred spirit and wants to make sure that she’s been giving all the opportunity she can to flourish and thrive. Dani, you’re just laughing at my mustache, aren’t you?” Dani: “Yes, that’s the only thing I’m laughing at through this whole bullshit.” Sam denies all knowledge of trolling, but eventually admits, on the topic of Yasha and Beau getting together: “They’ve made me wait this long... I’m going to make them wait a little bit longer!”

What was it like to show his friends the upper floors? Liam: “I kinda expected somebody to sneak up there before that. That being part of the tower is not even a conscious choice of his, it just is. The reason Caduceus has creeped Caleb out for a long time is because he talks about how-- Caduceus is a really kind person and wants Caleb to let go of the past. And in a really simplistic way, turn that frown upside-down. And that’s just not who Caleb is, and it’s not who everybody is. There is something to be said for trying to stay open and positivity, but thinking you can shut out the past, especially a traumatic one, is just not true. When things happen to us, we carry them. But to candy-coat it and say, ah, I’m free, or everything is good, or I’ve turned the corner... life is way messier than that. It’s not flipping a switch, it’s not bad-to-good, it is such a work in progress. Even when you make strides and start to get to a better place, you can backslide a lot. So the tower is who he is, and the tower is 7/9ths love for his friends, and 1/9th hope, but there’s still a percentage of him that carries everything from the past, and knows that he should, and knows that he should not go back to where he was. And the way to do that is not to say everything is rainbows, but to remember it. The tower is just like an extension of who he is. He’s never going to forget the past, and he’s never going to be like, I’m good, or I’ve turned a corner. He should remember the past, and he should do better, always.”

Does Veth still believe it’s possible to get Molly back? Sam: “Well, she was a person trapped in another body for many years, so has some experience there, and definitely believes that the spirit and soul of Molly is in there and just needs to be unlocked somehow.”

Fan Art of the Week: an amazing group shot by HarpySN!

How are Caleb and Veth dealing with their guilt and fear about being in the middle of this? Sam: “It definitely was a deep conversation that might have repercussions going forward. The problem with all of what we’re doing now is that we don’t have time to deal with our petty problems anymore. It’s all high tension all the time!” Liam: “It’s true; they’re not in control of their situation at all anymore.” Sam: “It’s good to have these check-ins, but it’s not like we can do anything about them. We’re reactive right now.” Liam: “He’s not happy with where they are, but they wouldn’t even be this far if the goblin hadn’t pulled him out of the mud. So part of it is, you saved me from where I was and got me on my feet again, and now it’s disconcerting to see it all just get knocked sideways by something he never could’ve predicted. I think Caleb felt nostalgic for when things were simpler, in a way, for them, when we’re both troubled drifters.”

What was it like to see Gelidon’s return? Liam: “I am the least superstitious person at the table. Ashley’s dice suck.” Sam: “It was fun fighting a dragon!” Liam: “Two massive battles in one episode, neither of which came away with a victory. I guess surviving is a victory.” Sam: “I’d forgotten about the dragon, honestly.” Liam: “I loved it. I was so upset at the idea that we were going to stealth and not get into it.”Sam: “Mercer doesn’t keep a live dragon around and not do something with it. That dragon’s coming back.”

How do Caleb and Veth feel about going to see Essek? Sam: “He can be very helpful, I believe, but as Sam Riegel, a player of D&D, I’m super suspicious. What the fuck is Essek doing up there, so close, now? I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. And I can throw him pretty far because he floats.” Liam: “I 100% agree with you. I do not understand what Essek could bring to what we are going through. I know the audience loves him, I love him too. He’s a really cool character. But he’s fucking toxic. He out of curiosity caused a war between two nations. And Caleb has been changed for the good by the M9 from months of travel with them. Essek has had none of that. Caleb has changed for the good, but not because of people like Essek. Essek is where Caleb came from. We kept the lid on the pot during the whole treaty at sea and it almost all went fucking sideways, and only because we pressed him into a corner. I hope that guy finds some sort of balance and peace for himself, but I do not see how his input here would be helpful. There’s other heavy hitters that I would try to pull in.”

Liam notes that the Cloven Crystal is in the Bag of Holding. Sam: “Do I have Fluffernutter, or is Fluffernutter gone?” Liam: “Nope. 300 pounds of fireworks? Gone. A dead mage, a threshold crest, and fireworks.” Dani: “Your basic essentials.”

[acerace]

...you have opened my eyes to a vast universe of VintageBeef lore that I was unaware of. I knew about the New Hermit Order, of course, and the UHC invention, and I've watched a few of his CTM things but -- I will take all the info and lore you feel like giving out because Beef is amazing and my knowledge is so small.

Vintagebeef my beloved <3

So the thing is, right, until about 2016 I only watched two (2) youtubers- Vintagebeef for Minecraft and aDrive for Pokemon (and funnily enough both of them are named Dan irl). So I've watched most of Beef's videos over the years and have a general knowledge of most of his stuff, except because it's been like a decade I don't remember where most of the lore comes from XD

The thing with him is that he doesn't do Lore tm the way other mcyters often do lore- he doesn't have an extensive RP series to draw from like Grian, doesn't have a solo world with steadily increasing amounts of lore like Etho or Zisteau, and while he's played on SMPs and been involved in storylines before it's not really the focus of his episodes unlike with Evo or Legacy or Empires

So where does that leave us?

IRL, Beef always has multiple series running at the same time. Often he's playing on an smp while doing a singleplayer, often modded, series as well as a CTM or modpack with a group of friends. For example, right now he's playing on Hermitcraft, doing weekly Pixelmon and Building a Zoo episodes, and a CTM map with Slip. And to me, this translates to one thing: Beef is an adventurer. He travels frequently- he explores a world and when he decides he's done, he leaves for the next one. That's the basis of my personal interpretation of his series and his character for my writing.

Ok so reading this back, this got extremely long and didn't explain much in the way of lore, somehow? If anyone has any additions to add please do so, I am very definitely leaving out a lot and would love to see what other lore people remember and are using for Beef! I didn’t include the Hermitcraft stuff since my memory of season 4 is blurry (his base was themed after the Martian, that much I know, and he and Iskall were buddies :D) and most of the s5 NHO lore is best watched from Bdub’s perspective from what I remember, and the only s6 stuff is a single line in Hermitgang and then the Area 77 arc with its possibility of an NHO reunion which we did not get rip. And s7 of course had the cloning machine and also the Podzol Party as the main lore. So all the original rambling is still below the cut though it is very long, and I'm gonna bullet point the main stuff here instead:

Actual canonical things:

Invented UHC and was the only survivor of the first ever uhc (Mindcrack UHC s1)

Married to an ender dragon (one of the UHCs I think), later father to a different dragon (Mindcrack season 3? I think?)

Might not have legs if you choose to take that joke as canon (Mindcrack s2)

Was a wizard (RAD)

is a zookeeper (Building a Zoo) 

Had a wife and kids (Sims in Minecraft)

Part of the Trial of the B Team court case (Mindcrack)

NHO founder, founder of the Podzol Party (Hermitcraft)

Created a cloning machine that sort of works (Hermitcraft)

Played the Forest which is I believe the first time he and Keralis played together (look up the trigger warnings for this one, it's a horror game)

Was the creator/owner of Sourceblock SMP (featuring some familiar faces if you know Legacy, Empires, or MCC) and there is literal magic from a mysterious sourceblock of water that teleports people and summons mobs and probably more stuff that I haven't seen yet since I'm still watching it myself

Things you can infer:

Good with animals (Life in the Woods, Pixelmon, Ark)

Is a car nerd (irl and all of the car games he's played)

Is a highly experienced adventurer who has traveled through dozens of worlds both vanilla and modded, across multiple dimensions (Twilight Forest, the Aether, the Betweenlands, Limbo), completed dozens of monuments, fought in blood sports, survived apocalypse after apocalypse, tamed dinosaurs, and played a lot of prop hunt and golf with your friends

If you're looking for what to watch for lore purposes, I'd say the Mindcrack UHCs and Team Canada's RAD series are pretty good, definitely Sourceblock and HC s5, plus the Diversity CTM maps and Ruins of the Mindcrackers maybe? And Mindcrack Prank Wars for the chaos and the origin of Team Canada. And if you can handle horror than the Forest is fun and if you don't do horror you can watch the Pojkband play golf or prop hunt they're hilarious I love them sm I want a Pojkband reunion So Bad 

Beef's first series was a singleplayer series in beta 1.4_01 though he had played the game extensively before that, and was a big fan of Guude, having watched his own Minecraft videos. The series was functionally a hardcore one where if he died Beef would delete the world and start again! I haven't actually Watched this series so idk if he died or how often lmao. When Guude made Mindcrack, which was btw one of the very first Minecraft SMPs, he also hosted a competition for people to join, and Beef submitted a video (which is still viewable on his channel I believe!) and won, and was added to Mindcrack in season 2 :D (fun fact, Guude said that even if Beef hadn’t won he would have added him anyway) 

Two running jokes emerged from Mindcrack- pulling a Vintagebeef and Beef doesn't have legs. The first is a reference to Beef dying of fall damage (I believe the exact instance was him trying to jump into his swimming pool and failing spectacularly) and after the incident, every time someone died of fall damage they were pulling a Vintagebeef. The second joke comes from Guude, who joked that the reason Beef wasn't going to a convention was because he didn't have legs, and then he pranked Beef's base by building a giant pair of legs at the entrance to his castle so you had to walk between them to get into the base. This joke has long since died and both Beef and Guude feel pretty bad about it iirc because there were people who genuinely thought Beef was disabled and were emailing him supportive messages and stuff oops. So if you go looking on the Salad or find old Mindcrack fics, you might see references to Beef having prosthetic legs!

Mindcrack also brought about the creation of several Player groups- Team Nancy Drew, Team Canada, and GOB to name a few relevant to Beef. Team Nancy Drew consists of Beef, Pauseunpause, Guude, and Baj, who formed to investigate a prank on one of the members but I forget who. They're named Nancy Drew after the detective! Team Canada also formed in retaliation to pranks, with it consisting of Beef, Etho, and Pause, the three Canadian members on the server (not including Adlington who moved to Canada but never joined the group). There was also a Team America who pranked them with American flags everywhere. GOB is Guude, OMGChad, and Beef, who played stuff like the Ragecraft, Pantheon, and Monstrosity ctms together but that's way down the line lol

Team Nancy Drew is also notable for inventing UHC. It was Beef's brainchild but it was the four of them who first played it! The first UHC had the four of them working to kill the dragon with no natural regen, with everyone dying but Beef, who "won" the UHC. The second uhc was still dragon focused and iirc is where Beef married the dragon? Memories are hazy but they do kill the dragon in this one I think. UHC was then revamped as a pvp event and became a regular Mindcrack game every few months, featuring most of the Mindcrackers and several special guests, including Dinnerbone, who as we know Thanos-snapped Doc's arm out of existence as a result of Doc killing him in one of them

In one of the seasons of Mindcrack, Beef invited swedish Mindcracker and good friend Anderzel to go caving with him and invented ABBA Rules caving, where the winner takes it all. ABBA Rules is a game where each ore (and also dungeon loot like nametags) is assigned a point value and the person with the most points at the end wins and gets to keep all the stuff collected from the game.

In Mindcrack season 3?, Beef punched the ender dragon in an... awkward area, so when the dragon died and left the egg behind, Guude said Beef was the father of the egg XD I don't remember if I watched s3 so I have no idea if anything Happened with this concept but *history of the world voice* you could make lore out of this!

So Team Canada has played a Lot of CTM maps (which fun fact were pretty much invented by another Mindcrack member, Vechs, with his Super Hostile series! Super Hostile has a bunch of things called "Zistonian", which are references to another Mindcrack member Zisteau, who has a very wild singleplayer series with even wilder lore but I digress). In Ruins of the Mindcrackers, they had a running joke that Beef was Etho and Pause's mom, which is a joke we can leave in the past actually /lh. They also played all the Diversity maps, Sky Factory, Terra Restore, Uncharted Territory uhhh and a couple more ctms and adventure maps! Each map kinda has its own story so in Diversity 3 for example they were trapped in a simulation? I think? Team Canada also recently played the Roguelike Adventures and Dungeons modpack, aka RAD, in which Beef was a wizard with a magic staff that could do anything from summon lightning to control hostile mobs.

Sourceblock SMP is a vanilla survival 1.14 series that ran for one season and the series starts with each of the Players being drawn to a strange sparkling water source that, once they touch it, brings them to the Sourceblock world. It also summons a giant zombie at one point. There's probably more lore for this series but like I said I haven't watched it all the way through yet 

He has a Patreon server called VintageCraft and has done a series or two on there as well, and played a few UHCs with them, so lore that how you will! 

Beef also played a few popular mods, notably Pixelmon, Life in the Woods, and Feed the Beast, with LitW being singleplayer and the other multiplayer. He's also recently played the Zoo and Wild Animals mod a lot. He did a short series with the Minecraft Comes Alive mod where he married one of the villagers and had two children, so that's canon now :D he’s played a Lot of Pixelmon starting when the mod first came out iirc (he chose Turtwig in his first series and built a Grass gym, then made a Normal gym in another series in uhh 2016) and he still plays to this day. Quite a few Hermits played on his Pixelmon servers with him, like Wels, Etho, Iskall, Stress, Slip, Zueljin, and also Guude and Phedran (a Mindcrack adjacent player and creator of the LitW modpack) and a few Mindcrackers on the older servers 

Mindcrack and friends played a lot of other games too- 7 Days to Die, Ark Survival Evolved, Unturned, to name a few, so you can pull a lot of lore out of these as well. Speaking of friends and non-Minecraft games, Beef teamed up with Pause, Keralis, and Slip (a former Hermit) to play the horror game the Forest, which saw them stuck on an island trying to survive against terrifying mutated human... things. They played it a few times as the game updated but as afaik it's the first time Beef played with Keralis and possibly Slip and since the game starts with the Player's airplane crashing, that could totally be how Beef first met them in-universe 

I... think? that’s everything I mentioned in the tags? There is probably way more stuff I’ve forgotten that stems from inside jokes and things that happen within each series, but I hope that was a) helpful and b) at least somewhat comprehensible lmao 

[ameliterature]

Neil and Todd Jealousy POV (Yes, there's more)

Charlie POV | Cameron POV

Neil was an only child and this obviously came with minor character flaws. Not only was he given all of the attention by his parent (even if it was the bad kind) Neil never really had to share anything.

Not that he didn't want to share. He just never had many opportunities to, with the lack of siblings and all. The closest he had to a sibling was Charlie. Unlike Neil, Charlie would share everything with him because he had so much to give. Was it the fact that Charlie's family was rich and that he has at least 3 of each item? Maybe, but Charlie was sure to share what he had with his best friend.

Another thing Neil "the Welton Golden boy" Perry had as a flaw was that he simultaneously wore his heart on his sleeve and yet always tried to hide his feelings. Case in point: when Charlie made a move on Todd.

Now, it's only been roughly 2 semesters since they've known Todd Anderson. Neil had the gracious chance to be his roommate, so in some way, it was like having another best friend aside from Charlie. But what he felt for Todd was vastly different from his friendship with Charlie. Something about the way Todd smiled at him, something about the way he makes sarcastic remarks, something about the way they shared glances between each other every now and then.

Neil was completely enthralled by Todd. Some might say to the point of being possessive. Neil would say protective because Todd was the kind of person who needed to be kept safe. Todd wasn't good at standing up for himself, he wasn't good at speaking the same way he wrote poems. Neil took it upon himself to be the one to make Todd feel the included. He had to be included, he had to be where Neil was.

Thankfully the whole Dead Poet Society thing worked out well, Neil was surprised how well Todd was integrated into the group. They even spent Christmas break as a group with Todd. Things were going great between him and Todd, Neil couldn't ask for more than to share his experiences with Todd.

But one night, a regular ole Study group session, something caught Neil's eyes. Todd was helping Knox out with some love poem, obviously meant for Chris, and he could hear the contents of the poem.

"Hymns from above casted when you're near

Heaven's light shine atop a golden-haired angel

My heart's full of whims and vivid dreams

but in your presence they're obligations I hold close

Be mine and I'll keep your heart guarded

Because mine is with yours, unthwarted."

Neil hears Todd recite their draft poem, hearing it as if it were meant for him to hear. His own golden-haired angel was biting the end of his pencil as Knox was scribbling the rest of the poem. Neil catches himself staring just before Todd looks up at him so he brings his attention back to the trigonometry problem he was answering with Cameron.

He couldn't concentrate on sine, cosine, and tangents at the moment, not when Todd's hand is in his peripheral view; all perfect with it's blemishes and tapping to an imaginary beat. Every so often, he'd steal a glance at Todd's eyes, darting back and forth from his paper to Knox's. He'd be jealous of any pupil Todd would eventually have if he became an English teacher. To be consulted with his sweet voice, to be seated by him as he explains anything, to be taught how to express feelings he wasn't sure how to jot down.

Oh have Todd's untampered attention.

"Hey Todd," Charlie's voice resonates across their small table. Neil accidentally shot his eyes to his friend's direction without skipping a beat. "Mind helping me out with a poem too?"

Since when did Charlie ever ask for help from Todd? Not that he wasn't allowed to or anything, Todd was the right person for this task but-- Something about it wasn't sitting right with Neil.

What wasn't a surprise was Todd's hesitant acceptance. He watched as Todd moved over to Charlie's right hand side and Neil felt his back become warm. It wasn't just his back, his guts turned into an unrested sea, and his eyebrows twitched, trying to avoid a scowl.

"What do you wanna write about?"

"I wanna write about Love." Neil saw Charlie lean forward to look Todd deep into his eyes; for a moment, he thought he saw Todd blush. Neil didn't like Todd showing that expression to someone else, or at least someone like Charlie.

"S-So... We'll use cosine to get X--" Cameron muttered, snapping Neil back to his assignment. He looked at the blurred numbers and symbols, trying to remember what the other problem was.

"Right, cosine-"

Just before dinner, Neil catches up with Todd to walk with him to the dining hall.

"So," Neil started, not exactly sure where to lead the conversation to. "I guess it's spaghetti and meatballs again, huh?"

Todd pushed out a chuckle in response. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Neil had Todd to himself for a tiny moment, for a stupid one-liner too, but it felt like he was in Cloud nine. Todd's calm expression was all he could ask for, paired with his blue eyes looking back at him.

When they reached their table, they assumed their usual spots, Neil being on the left side of the table and Todd on the other. However, Charlie decided to change up the seating arrangement and sat beside Todd instead of him.

There's that funny feeling again. Neil's stomach was nothing but a pit that resembled a deep well without a bucket, nothing to retrieve and remove the sludge that was forming in it. He hated how Todd was so responsive to Charlie's words, how Charlie was so capable of making Todd blush, he hated the sight of Todd rubbing elbows with Charlie as they ate. Neil wasn't sure why he was feeling this way, why he even thought something innocent between Charlie and Todd could make him so agitated. It could all be his imagination.

When Todd left for the bathroom, Neil decided to interrogate his best friend.

"Hey Charlie, why the sudden change of seating arrangement? Thought I was your cute best friend." He tried to sound like his usual self.

"Well, I'm trying to get closer to Todd."

"W-what? Why?" Neil felt his voice crack, much like his confidence.

"I dunno, he's pretty cute. Don't you agree?"

"I--" Neil felt his whole body stiffen, his hand tightened it's pressure on his spoon like a clamp.

"I'm thinking of asking him out soon. No one else seems interested." Neil saw it, he saw Charlie smirk. Neil's emotions became unreasonably irrational, they became unhinged and even if he tried to hide it, they were all bubbling to the surface. Charlie had everything already, he and Neil shared everything before this, but for some reason, Neil couldn't share Todd with someone like Charlie.

"Oh hi, Todd! Welcome back" Neil glares at Charlie while he greets Todd.

"What did I miss?" Todd asks innocently, still taking his seat beside Charlie.

As Charlie began his sentence, Neil cuts him off. "Nothing-" Todd shifts his eyes to share eye contact with Neil. "By the way, we should head back to our room, I need help with my poems." Neil's last attempt of gaining the upper hand on Charlie failed when Charlie brought up his and Todd's prior arrangement.

Neil didn't get it. What did Charlie have that he didn't? Or better yet, what does Charlie not possess yet that he would try to make the moves on Todd?? Neil hated this feeling- this vicious vine-like feeling trapping him. Was it... Jealousy?

Neil's never had much of a reason to be jealous about someone before. He's only been jealous of people who were freer than him-- people like Charlie. Was he jealous of Charlie in that regard? That he could proudly express what he felt for Todd and Neil couldn't? He guessed that was the difference. Charlie did have everything; down to the personality that could make Todd fall for him.

Neil was in Meeks' dorm room, resigning himself in defeat like a pathetic loser he thought he was.

All Neil could do was blankly stare into the shine of the wires that coiled around parts of their machine. A brief knock on their door broke his trance- It was Cameron.

“Do you guys mind if I hang out here? I’m just gonna do my reviewers for a bit.”

“Sure, no problem.” Meeks nods, still measuring out some amount of wires.

“Wait, how come you’re not studying in your room?” Neil questioned,

Cameron took a moment to respond. “Charlie… he wanted to focus on his homework with Todd… Alone.”

This was the last straw for Neil, the final push that made him stand up for once. He couldn't bury his jealousy anymore, he had to confront Charlie.

He left his friends to march his way to Charlie's room. He wasted no time when asking Charlie about his motives.

"Well hello, Perry! What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Quit it-" Neil cuts him off. "Are you serious about Todd?"

"... What?"

"I- I'm asking if you're really interested in Todd?"

Maybe this was all a trick, maybe Neil was just being jealous, maybe Charlie was playing a cruel joke on Neil and he had to shake it out of him.

"Yes." Charlie's expression was ripe with confidence.

With that, Neil felt his world shatter. What was he doing? Was he gonna fight his friend over his feelings for Todd? Was he gonna deny Todd of someone as fun and as romantic as Charlie? Charlie's given so much to Neil and the way he was acting was nothing short of being selfish.

If Charlie really liked Todd, then Todd would be lucky. If Todd would return those feelings, Charlie would be the luckiest man to ever live.

Neil had nothing to offer to Todd that Charlie couldn't top. Neil felt his bitter feelings turn into catharsis, accepting that Todd's better off sharing his moments with Charlie than him.

"T-then... Please take care of him, okay?" Neil buckled his shoulders.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"If you ever hurt Todd-- You're a dead man, got it?" Neil's eyes were like daggers, piercing right at Charlie's own brown eyes.

"R-right..."

Neil figured he had to leave, he couldn't bear to see Todd and Charlie exchanging looks. But this of course wasn't the case. A knock echoed in the room.

When he opened the door, Todd was right there, his beautiful eyes staring up at Neil will a quizzical expression.

Neil assumed that Charlie would most likely profess his love to those eyes, and that knowledge broke Neil's heart.

"Sorry Todd, looks like I'm gonna have to move our study session for now. I think Neil needs your help more. Right, Neil?" Charlie spoke, catching Neil's bewildered expression.

"I'm sure he's got something more important than mine anyway."

Neil looks at Charlie and Todd, bouncing a confused face between them. He sees Charlie's wink before Todd guides Neil out of the room.

Todd sighs as he returns to his room with Neil, his sweaty hands in the midst of sticking to his papers.

How did he end up in this situation?

How could he explain the entire day?

It all started when he told Charlie about his crush on Neil in private. All he wanted was advice from the best friend of his crush and nothing more.

"Glad you came to me, Toddsie!" Charlie pats him on the back excitedly.

Todd didn't like how enthusiastic Charlie was being in this situation, though he was grateful Charlie immediately accepted him for coming out.

"I know exactly how to make him fall in love with you!"

"L-look Charlie, I'm not trying to get Neil to like me! I just-- I just wanted to know how to deal with all these feelings I'm having."

All these feelings- Todd's had these "feelings" ever since Neil shook his hand for the first time in the courtyard. He's never met someone as perfect as Neil. Yeah, he had Father Issues, impulsive actions, even the tendency to make weird noises (but he found those the cutest) and yet Neil made Todd's world move.

Neil's laughter, Neil's smile, the stolen glances he catches Neil casting his direction-- It was all Todd sought after in his recent days at Welton.

"Oh please, Todd, those 'feelings' are straight up love from what I hear. We just have to know if Neil feels the same way!"

"We don't even know if he's interested in men! Charlie- What am I supposed to do?" Todd buried his face into his hands.

"Don't worry, I'll find out a way to not only check if he swings that way, but I can guarantee I can get him to return your feelings."

"That-- That doesn't make any sense, Charlie." Todd wasn't able to question his friend any longer as they dashed into the study hall.

The Study group went on as usual, Todd assisting Knox with his poem for Chris, Meeks and Pitts building a contraption he was sure was the Radio Mark II, and Neil, Cameron and Charlie trying to answer some trigonometry homework.

What didn't help was Neil being directly in front of him. Todd could see Neil in his glasses, unabashedly handsome and very distracting. Todd would try his best to help Knox with his poem but Todd's eyes would linger onto Neil's perfectly "framed" face.

He then hears Charlie call him over. At first, Todd didn't think much of it, but he soon regrets ever telling Charlie of his crush on Neil.

The whole evening, Charlie tried to make Neil jealous without planning it out with Todd first. If Todd had at least known, he wouldn't have been trying picture Neil in Charlie's place as some sort of "method acting" to go along with this scheme. When dinner began, Charlie took Cameron's spot for 'maximum efficiency'. It didn't help when Charlie called him "cute" in front of Neil. Would Neil agree? Would Neil even describe a guy to be cute? Would Todd be able to enjoy his spaghetti and meatballs without Charlie's arm around him?

Todd decided that he should excuse himself to the bathroom for compose himself. (And to evade the plethora of compliments Charlie showered him with.)

When it came from Charlie, it felt like a joke, like a friendly description, really, than an actual compliment. Then Todd thinks if they came from Neil... then those words would make him swoon.

Would Neil even fall for this type of trick? Was it even right to trick Neil like this? Would Neil be even okay with the idea of Todd being in a relationship in with a man? He wasn't even sure if Neil would accept Todd's feelings, let alone feel jealous of Charlie.

As Todd approached their table, he's immediately greeted by Charlie.

"What did I miss?"

"Well Todd--" "Nothing." Neil cuts of Charlie with a serious tone.

Oh no... did Neil find out? Did Charlie rat him out already?

"By the way, we should head back to our room, I need help with my poems." Neil looks up at Todd with an expression that is both deadpan and attractive to him, Todd had no other choice but to accept.

"What? Todd, I thought you'd help me out?" Charlie pouts. "I did ask first." Todd didn't want to miss his opportunity to be with Neil, especially not when he looks at him like that. But Todd looks back at Charlie, raising his eyebrows as if to say "Just go along with it."

Todd was reluctant, of course, he didn't want to perpetuate fooling Neil in any way, but he wasn't sure if Neil had anything to return at all. They were always alone after all, nothing would be stripped away if he spent one evening in Charlie's room to make Neil jealous.

"Right, sorry, Neil. I'll go back to our room after I help out Charlie." Todd replied with a pained expression hidden behind his face.

That evening, when he approached Charlie's room, he hears Neil's voice muffling through. Todd wished had the will to listen in but he assumed it wouldn't be his business if it was said behind closed doors. He took another moment before knocking on Charlie's door.

Neil opens the door for Todd, their eyes meeting briefly, like a celestial occurrence that Todd took note of. Have they always been this brown?

"Hi Todd!" Charlie greets him, breaking him from Neil's gaze.

"Hey Charlie, Hi Neil."

He was expecting Charlie to pull another stunt to make Neil's brown eyes angry, but instead both his and Neil's eyes lifted in surprise when Charlie told him Neil needed his help more.

Did they come to some agreement?

And Todd could've sworn Charlie was winking at Neil... or was it at him?

All these questions didn't matter when they were alone in their room.

Their chests rattled like cages, their hearts ready to jump out at any moment.

Neil bit his lip as Todd took a seat by his desk.

"S-so Neil..." Todd muttered, "Can I ask you something? B-before I help you with your poem..."

"Oh- Yeah, sure."

"What do you think of... of men dating each other?"

Neil lets out a tiny cough. "W- Excuse me?"

"Do you think... it's ok? For two guys to like each other?"

Neil wasn't sure how to respond, was Todd telling him that he liked Charlie? Was Neil too late? Did he miss his chance to tell Todd what he really felt?

"I-- I guess it's alright," Neil answered, slumping his shoulders down in defeat. If he was gonna lose Todd to Charlie, he might as well be supportive. "But- you have to make sure it's the right person." Neil wasn't going down without a fight though.

Todd's face brightened with Neil's response. So 1 part of his query is answered; Neil is ok with the idea of men liking each other. Now it's the question of Neil's feelings for Todd.

"I-If someone, a guy, liked you, how would you feel?" Todd stood up, turning to face Neil. Both of them were by their desks, like two sturdy posts defending their base. Todd awaited Neil’s response with the anticipation akin to a war officer in a meeting room.

"I... would really only prefer it from one guy." Neil took a step forward, with the courage of a powerful Chesspiece during an endgame.

Todd took note of this, mimicking his step, this time walking a bit closer to Neil with his hands in his pockets. "Y-yeah? Who?"

Neil noted this feeling being similar to a spelling bee, like spelling out a complicated word letter by letter, taking a breath to make sure the next thing he was about to say was exactly what the world wanted him to say.

"You, Todd. It's always going to be you."

Todd looks up at Neil, who's now inches away from him from, fully realizing their slight height difference. "I'd say the same for you."

"I hope... I'm not... taking you away from Charlie-" Neil slowly brings his hand to sweep Todd’s hair aside to see his eyes better.

Todd snickers slightly, catching Neil by surprise. "Neil... You don't have to worry about Charlie. I don't have any feelings for him."

"But-" Neil looks concerned, feeling like he betrayed Charlie. "He... He likes you. Todd, I--"

"Is that what he told you? Neil... I hope you won't be angry when I tell you he's been pulling your leg."

Neil jerks his head backwards. "What?"

"I.. Just promise you won't be angry okay?" Todd had to come clean, he couldn’t handle Neil thinking badly of him if he never admitted Charlie's plan. Neil nods before Todd reveals Charlie’s idiotic scheme to get them together by means of tomfoolery.

Neil sighs with a smile, leaning forward to rest on Todd's shoulder. Todd was still getting used to the fact Neil's VERY close right now.

"Well, you guys did a pretty good job of making me extremely jealous." Neil laughs a bit. He was in relief that he didn't need to compete with Charlie.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, Neil. I told him I just wanted advice." Todd looks down with embarrassment.

Neil tilts Todd’s chin up with his hand, bringing his face up to look at him. "You're gonna have to make up for it, y'know?"

Todd’s face simmered under Neil's touch. "I know."

Todd learned that Neil was a Jealous type of guy, not the type to be possessive, but definitely the type to mope around rather than steal someone else's love interest.

Luckily for Neil, he already had Todd’s heart to begin with.

Neil wasn’t used to sharing, but he and Todd shared their first kiss that night. That's a compromise he was willing to do.

Bonus:

Knox, Meeks and Pitts POV:

4 of their friends (the roommates) getting paired up in one night made them:

Thanks again to @sweettodd for that one post that spawn all these POVs haha

Taglist: @anderperrytheplatypus @she-nuwanda @andersonsdeskset @sweetnessbythesea @maisietheweltoncow [tell me if u wanna be added/removed next time]