#She can start by wearing goggles when dealing with chemicals

[esveeviridae]

Day 24 - Chemistry

For Inktober this year I grabbed a bunch of Age of Empires 2 technologies as prompts and am drawing a Touhou character for each.

Patchouli - "...I told you to wear your PPE..."

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[regretsofaghost]

I Couldn't Give What It Cost Me

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58929406

Who would have thought following Casper High’s lab safety protocols would leave him in the same place as if he followed his parents’, just infinitely more spooky looking?

Hell, Danny had even pulled out the worn piece of paper from their first class, the one that listed all the PPE needed to deal with a high school level of science and beyond! Sure, the tidbits about the different levels of HAZMAT suits were probably just fun facts, but his parents never fought him or Jazz on wearing their HAZMAT suits in the lab, nevermind the gas masks and goggles. If his parents’ research had any chance of radiation or burning them, he was wearing the PPE.

Sam and Tucker complained about the stiff suits, brightly coloured and stiff, all too large as they were back ups for Danny’s mom and dad. When Danny had pulled out his own, he was on some level happy that his white one was nearly the proper size, if still too large. It was always better safe than sorry in his parents’ lab, one too many chemical burns from unknown substances proved that.

“Y’know Danny, we could totally take these and trick or treat in them, they’re just creepy enough that we can pass as Pestilence, a horsemen of the apocalypse,” Sam said, voice muffled as she adjusted her mask.

“Oh, for sure, just after we explain why Pestilence is wearing a bright orange HAZMAT suit,” Danny pulled on his gas mask, breathing slowly as he got used to the odd, wheezing sound. He looked around the lab, huffing, “man, dad must’ve updated my suit without telling me. I think he added a welding shield on it, I can’t see anything.”

“Oh, don’t worry Danny, it makes you look spookier, especially with the white suit!” Sam smiled, though Danny couldn’t see it. “How about you keep your mask off till we get to the portal, then put it on when we get the picture?”

“Wait, we’re getting a picture?”

It was pointless to argue, so after getting to the portal and showing the waste of space off, and after a lot of directing, both Sam and Tucker annoyed at the small steps Danny took inside the portal, he was ready. He didn’t go too far into the tunnel, he kept mostly in the middle, he even smiled for Sam’s picture, decked out in his full suit, completely safe.

It wasn’t enough.

There was an unexpected jolt of electricity, sparks falling from the top of the tunnel that was the portal, and well, Danny couldn’t really see anything, so the sudden light was a surprise. It started him, and no one really ever talked about how hard it was to move gracefully in a full HAZMAT suit, especially one that was a size or two too big. He stumbled back, and wires that littered the floor tripped him. Danny’s hand fell against the wall as he tried to catch himself, tried to not fall onto the floor and embarrass himself, he couldn’t see the bright buttons that said ON and OFF, inside of the portal.

It was just pain after that.

Pain that flooded him so completely, overwhelming every sense until all he knew as pain. Bright, shocking, both burning and freezing, it was overwhelming all his senses, but it wouldn’t stop.

Sam and Tucker said it was a haunting sight when he stepped out of the portal.

Neither told him of how long they stood frozen, just listening to their friend’s death throes.

Being Phantom was easy. It was easier than it should have been.

He struggled yes, he phased through silverware when he was, alive, breathing, human, he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the beakers in chemistry anymore, his parents’ machines all homed in on him when he stepped through the front door. That was all part of his new, life, unlife, death? Not death. Scrodinger’s cat, a box unopened, was he dead or alive?

Fighting ghosts was easy, fun even.

Danny, Phantom, got pummeled often. He threw shitty punches and was hit with thousands of pounds worth of force back, he struggled with his powers, new ones appearing everyday. The Lunch Lady was hard, at first. Skulker, Technus, Plasmius, Box Ghost, Spectra, Ghostwriter, all of them. They were all hard to beat, at first. They all treated Danny, Phantom, like he was an adult, that he should be able to withstand them, should be able to survive their attacks, and he proved that he could. It was the first time in years that it felt like he could try his best, and that he could, and would, succeed. The ghosts pouring through his parents’ portal saw Danny, saw Phantom, and sometimes, it seemed like they were expecting his best too. They saw something more than a Fenton Freak, a boy who dreamed of the starts that were always going to stay out of reach.

People feared him, but they saw him.

They saw his ghostly form, the pitch black HAZMAT suit that he wore to death, the gas mask covering his face completely, the hood that covered his hair. Phantom looked like a harbinger of doom, a horseman of the apocalypse, something solely and completely otherworldly.

The threats got bigger and bigger, the stakes climbing as Danny, as Phantom, was the only person, the only thing, standing between the ghosts of the realm his parents opened, and the small town of Amity Park. As the GIW showed up, as mom and dad became more and more obsessed with Phantom, everything pouring and spilling on top of one another.

Something was bound to break.

Of course they captured him.

Of course they let him go.

Of course, they left the mask on until they had already cut him open, until after they had removed his organs, taken samples of his skin, broken bones and stole them.

Maybe they wanted to save his brain for last.

Maybe they thought if they touched his brain, he would dissolve like the others before him.

The Fentons never did understand cores.

Maybe, the fear in their eyes was more for what they had done than what they had seen under Danny’s mask.

He wouldn’t know, he never looked.

He didn’t want to see what death left under his mask.

Sam, Tucker, Jazz, they all knew. They respected his death enough to not describe it to him.

Maybe what laid underneath would be what sent him over the edge.

Mom and Dad, Maddie and Jack, the Fentons, they let him go, somehow. They helped him hide his trail from the GIW, somehow, and with help from Sam and Tuck, he made it to Gotham. From there it was up to him, with the equipment his parents, the Fentons, shoved into a duffle bag, and cash that Sam had been saving for him. It had to be enough to make a new life.

Now, Danny just had to deal with the ghosts and nightmares.

It was mostly wishful thinking that he could put Phantom in the past.

It was mostly wishful thinking that Gotham was going to be fine with its knights of the night.

It was mostly wishful thinking that he wouldn’t have to deal with the Bats.

A mysterious new meta who seemed to only target ghosts? That same mysterious new meta suddenly, without provocation, killing a new rogue?

What can Danny, what can Phantom, say. He really, really, hated Freakshow. That tended to happen when you mind control someone, especially when you made that person kidnap a Robin and threaten to have him walk a tightrope, one that was bound to break if it was anything like last time.

Danny was struggling. He knew, logically, that he should just go with the Bats, to explain why he did what he did, they were probably used to people blaming mind control for their actions, they had to know when someone wasn’t lying.

Right?

Danny couldn’t take the risk. Couldn’t chance them leading the GIW right to him while his guard was down. They were already sniffing around Gotham, he just.

He couldn’t.

Danny watched in horror as Batman’s gas mask was cracked, as the Dark Knight threw the person off, only in appearances trying to walk off the powerful punch.

Danny knew better.

He could tell Batman was holding his breath as he felt along his utility belt for something, anything, to filter the fear gas that was being pumped onto the street.

He knew he would find nothing.

If you asked Danny afterwards, he didn’t know why he went ghost, why he walked up to Batman, the very person Danny had been dodging for months now, and removed the ghostly gas mask from his face. He tried not to look at Batman’s face when he shoved it over his cowl, unsure how the fear gas will work on him.

Was it best used as an aerosol, breathed in and absorbed through the lungs? It had to work through mucous channels, maybe just less effectively through the eyes and mouth? It didn’t matter, Danny was dead, alive, Scrodinger’s cat, he could stop his breathing for minutes on end but eventually he had to take a breath, and that mattered less if the gas worked through mucus channels.

��Take it, don’t argue,” Danny said, surprised at how, normal, his voice sounded. He hadn’t thought about how he never really spoke when his mask was off, how it betrayed how young he was. Only just under fifteen, so close to his anniversary.

He couldn’t see any part of Batman’s face, the upper half covered further by the cowl and the visor on his gas mask, the lower now covered by the gas mask’s main components.

“Do you know if the gas works through mucous channels?” He asked, trying to maintain eye contact with the older man, unsure if he is even succeeding. Batman has never been known to be chatty, but this is concerning, not even a grunt in response.

“How old are you?” His voice was muffled by the gas mask, maybe it was a good thing, Danny was pretty positive that Batman wasn’t putting on the deeper voice he usually did.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m dead, not dead. Ughhh, think of Scrodinger’s cat, both dead and alive till you open up the box,” he never wanted to open the box, if he is completely honest, “Keep the gas mask on, don’t know how long it took me to get it to stop being in welding mode and don’t want to know,” keep talking, distract, “does fear gas work through mucous membranes? Do I have to keep my mouth shut, eyes closed?”

It was pointless, somehow, he broke Batman. Danny could hear the Scarecrow laughing somewhere in the distance, people screaming in fear, people fighting against things only they could see and understand.

Danny froze as he caught sight of white suits, teal and orange HAZMATs, through the crowd.

He took a deep breath.

Phantom had already lived his worst nightmare.

[ectoentity]

Warped Mirror

Decided to write something based vaguely on the “Spork AU” idea. Instead of Episode 1 Danny meeting Episode 50+ Danny, though, I was curious about a Danny who never became Phantom meeting one who had. This first part is just establishing Human!Danny’s world.

I’ll post it to AO3 when I have the rest of it finished.

---

Three kids stood before a giant machine in the shape of a door. It should have been humming along and glowing green, with a great hole to another world in the middle. Instead, it was cold and silent. 

“They spent years working on it,” Danny explained, “and then nothing. Mom and Dad have been moping in their room all day.”

Tucker looked around at the portal and the hodgepodge of computer parts attached to it. “It’s probably a loose wire somewhere. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”

“In the meantime, this would make for an awesome picture,” Sam said with a smile. She held up her polaroid camera. 

“Oh no, you’re not getting me anywhere near that,” Tucker immediately walked away from the portal.

“Come on! When they get this thing working we’ll never be allowed near it. Besides, it’s not like it’s going to do anything right now.”

“Then why don’t you get over there and let one of us take the picture?” Tucker asked.

“Because neither of you know anything about lighting or framing a shot. Please?” When she saw that Tucker was not going to budge, she looked over at Danny with wide, pleading eyes. 

He looked anxiously at the portal. So far none of his parents’ inventions had really worked, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t dangerous. Still, Sam was right. It was pretty cool, and getting a picture with the thing could be a good way to keep a memory.

“Yeah, okay, let me put on a jumpsuit in case there’s a live wire or something.”

Ten minutes later he was suited up in the white-and-black safety jumpsuit his parents had made for him. It wasn’t really a hazardous materials outfit - there was no full hood or respirator, or even goggles. It was made of something that was supposed to repel ectoplasm and certain chemicals that his parents used and was insulated against minor shocks, so it would have to do. 

“Oh, no no. I’m not taking your picture while you’re wearing that,” Sam announced. Danny was about to argue, but she reached over and pulled the sticker of his dad’s face off of the suit. “Now you’re good.”

Danny laughed. “Good thinking, Sam. Wouldn’t want to be immortalized in your photos with that on me.” He walked up to the portal. It was a massive piece of machinery, nearly six feet in diameter and deep enough to fit a car. He paused at the entrance. It was hard to imagine it as anything other than a creepy machine in the basement. If it had worked, it would have opened into a whole other world. 

Tucker, meanwhile, was watching while anxiously tapping a foot. He had expected Danny to give in to Sam’s pleas. He was so predictable and utterly clueless. One of these days they would both realize that they were both desperately crushing on each other and they’d-

There was something plugged into the wall. Tucker wasn’t sure what it was, but he had a bad feeling about it. 

“Hold up!” he shouted. Tucker went over and unplugged the cord from the wall outlet, and checked around for more outlets just in case. When he didn’t find anything else, he called back, “Okay, I think it’s alright now.”

“Good thinking, Tuck,” Danny’s voice echoed in the portal. “Hey, Sam, is this good?”

Sam set up her shot. “Looks great! Just hold there a second.” She counted down before the flash went off. The camera whirred and produced a polaroid. “Lemme take a couple more,” she said before swiftly doing so from slightly different angles. “That should be good!”

Danny started to walk out of the portal. Something caught his foot. He tripped and fell backwards, flailing his arms wildly in hopes that he would catch something. His right hand hit the side of the portal. It stabilized him for a second, but then the wall clicked. Danny stared down at his hand, a chill lancing up his spine. He hadn’t hit the wall. His hand was resting on a button marked “ON.”

“Oh my god,” he blurted.

“Danny? Are you okay?” Sam called. He could hear them both scrambling toward the portal. 

“I’m good! I just tripped!” Danny got out of the portal as fast as he could. “My parents put the on/off buttons on the inside! If Tucker hadn’t unplugged it…” All three teens stared at the portal. Danny could have died, just for tripping over a stupid wire.

Finally Tucker gulped and broke the silence. “Want to see if your parents can get it to work now?”

Danny shook himself out of it. “Yeah! I’ll go ask if they forgot about that.”

They all but ran out of the lab.

---

The Fenton RV sped down the street, ghost alarms blaring. In the back, Danny got his weapons together as quickly as he could with all the jostling and swerving. They’d let Dad drive; time was of the essence.

“A level six!” Jack crowed from the driver’s seat. “Maybe even a seven! How long’s it been since we saw one like that?”

“About four months,” Danny grumbled. He still vividly remembered when the town had been drawn into the Ghost Zone and besieged with an army of skeleton constructs. He was not looking forward to a repeat of that hell. The Fenton Blaster in his hands whined as he attached the power source. 

“We’ll have to be careful, Jack,” Mom cautioned as she always did. “We don’t have the Ecto-Skeleton this time.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t call in the Guys in White?” Danny asked. They might not be the best ghost hunters, but they did have a lot more firepower.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Danny! I’m sure we can take care of this before they even notice something’s happening. Besides, your mom and I are still dealing with the paperwork from the last time they showed up.”

Danny shuddered. He was extremely glad that he didn’t have to deal with that aspect of ghost hunting. 

His dad pulled up to the mall with a loud honk of the horn and squealing tires. Danny and his mom ran out, blasters held at the ready. Dad backed them up with one of the Fenton Bazookas. 

The mall was already evacuated. Some people milled around outside, anxiously talking amongst themselves. In the year and a half since the ghosts had started attacking the town, people had gotten frustratingly complacent about them. The invasion a few months back had shown most people just how dangerous they could be, but a stubborn few always were more concerned with getting good pictures than their own safety. 

“Make way!” Mom shouted. “We’re here to take care of the ghost!” The crowd at least did part for them. A few people shouted at them. Some of it was words of support. A few tried to describe what they had seen - it was green, it was wearing all white, it was terrifying. Only a few made jokes or jeered at the Fentons as they passed. That was annoying, but it was a hell of a lot better than it had been a year ago. 

The deserted mall was an eerie sight. Everyone had left in a hurry, leaving lights on and store music still echoing through empty halls. The Fentons�� footsteps seemed far too loud. The weirdest part was that everything seemed intact. When the technology ghost raided the mall he usually left trails of rubble and discarded packaging everywhere. The box ghost would leave piles of everything that he dumped out of his beloved boxes. Various other ghosts had attacked the mall in the past, and they almost always left signs of their passing. Why was this one different?

“Come out, ghost!” Dad shouted, his voice easily carrying through the empty mall. “Let’s make this quick!”

“Curious.” The voice was quiet, but had the same unnatural echo of all ghosts. Danny held up his blaster, but he couldn’t tell where the voice had come from. Beside him, his mom turned on her miniature Fenton Finder. It beeped alarmingly quickly. 

“Two o’clock!” Mom shouted as she fired. Danny was only a moment slower, trying to fire a little ahead. The blasts didn’t connect with anything. 

“I mean no harm,” the ghost said. Its voice was way too close for comfort. Danny turned to his right and shot where he thought it was, but he still missed. 

“What do you want?” Danny asked. He didn’t really care. No matter what their obsessions were, ghosts only ever wanted to spread chaos and pain. Still, sometimes he could distract them by talking back. 

The ghost appeared in front of them. It was tall, with dark, green-tinged skin and a lighter beard. Its eyes glowed a soft yellow. A white robe and hood covered most of its body, rippling in a nonexistent breeze. 

A green beam from the Fenton Bazooka blasted towards the ghost. Its torso split apart to allow the beam to go through it. Danny grimaced. It was so gross when they did that. He followed his dad’s lead and started shooting the ghost. The ghost blocked all of his and Mom’s shots with a series of small green shields. 

“This is entirely unnecessary,” the ghost huffed. It had the audacity to look bored. 

“Then why not just go back to the Ghost Zone and leave us alone?” Danny shouted, annoyed. He ran off to the side, flanking the ghost. It finally started dodging the ectoblasts. If anything, though, the ghost just looked amused. 

“Oh, I shall. First, though…” The ghost flung its hand out towards Danny. He winced, anticipating the burn of ectoblasts. He took a step back and his foot sank. With a shout, he fell into the glowing green portal that had opened right behind him.

[starshine583]

New Girl on the Block (9)

(Happy New Years everybody!!! I know that was two days ago, but still! I hope all of you are doing well, and please enjoy this new chapter! also feel free to check out the mini series connected to this called Journal Entries!)

Ch.1 / Ch.8 / Ch.10

Chapter 9: Let’s Try That Again

“Claude, I’m not sure about this..” Marinette remarked, tentatively leaning over the brunette’s shoulder.

Claude waved off her concerns as he grabbed for the various chemicals on their shared desk. “Don’t worry! There’s no way I can mess this up twice.”

Marinette frowned. “Twice?”

He nodded and pulled out a plastic bag that they’d been given to hold the chemicals. “I took this class last year too, but I only got halfway through before they transferred me for being too disruptive.”

Marinette pulled her lip between her teeth, her concerns growing by the second. “Define ‘disruptive’.”

“Oh, you know,” Claude shrugged, carelessly throwing the chemicals into the plastic bag, “You try to listen as best you can, but there are so many chemicals to look at! It’s hard to pay attention. Anyway, one spill ends up in a gas explosion, and another shaking-instead-of-stirring ends up in acid all over the beaker and the desk, and after a while, Mlle Arquette decided that I might be able to pay more attention in Chemistry next year.”

“A-A gas explosion?” Marinette squeaked. She knew Claude could be chaotic from time to time, but she had hoped that his antics in the classroom wouldn’t range anywhere beyond ‘classic class clown’. 

“Yeah, but it wasn’t toxic,” Claude insisted, “Just thick. Besides, we have this lab gear to protect us! We’re fine.”

Marinette clutched the sides of her lab coat. Sure, they had lab gear, but exactly how much could it protect them?

“Claude-”

“Alright, it’s shaking time!” Claude announced. He held up the now-sealed bag with a grin and started shaking it as hard as he could. Marinette flinched back, covering her face despite already wearing goggles. She had a bad feeling about this.

The phenol red inside the bag quickly mixed in with the Sodium Bicarbonate and Calcium Chloride, but he didn’t stop shaking until the plastic bag was almost completely red. By that time, the chemicals had merged into a deep red color, and the plastic bag had inflated to its maximum capacity.

“Hey, check it out!” Claude said, holding up the bag. “It looks like it's starting to bubble up.”

Marinette peaked between her fingers, though she still couldn’t see what he was talking about from her angle. She did, however, notice that the bag looked like it was about to explode any second.

“Um, Claude?” She began cautiously. “I think you’re supposed to let some of the air out now.”

“Oh, yeah.” He pulled the bag back down, getting ready to pull it open. “I almost forgot about that.”

Marinette gasped and stepped forward. “Wait, you need to be care-”

The bag popped open, and the poor pair weren’t able to react as fast as the chemicals inside. Everything shot up within a matter of seconds, splattering chemicals all over the desk and the students. Thankfully, it didn’t burn, but Marinette deeply lamented the fact that they were only in third period. Was she supposed to go through the rest of the day as a mess?

“Claude Herolds!”

Marinette and Claude’s gazes snapped upwards to their Chemistry teacher, Mlle Arquette. She fixed them both with an equally cross and tired glare.

“How many times do I have to tell you to open the bag slowly?” 

Claude offered a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Mlle Arquette.. Would it help if I told you that it kind of popped open on its own?”

The teacher narrowed her eyes. “No, it most certainly would not. Because that means you didn’t mix it correctly, and the amount of chemicals on your clothing suggests that you put too much into the bag!”

“...I couldn’t remember which measuring spoons to use for the chemicals..” Claude admitted, reaching up to rub his upper arm.

Mlle Arquette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s why I gave you a list of instructions. Didn’t you read them?”

Marinette and Claude both tensed. In the heat of the moment, they may or may not have forgotten that they were given specific instructions on what to do. Well, Marinette remembered. It was just that Claude seemed so sure of himself that she forgot to check the instructions. 

The teacher took their silence as an answer and shook her head. “Claude, I don’t know how to get it through your head that you need to do what you’re told. So for now, I’ll give you detention and hope the extra time has you put more value on focus.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “D-Detention?”

She’d never gotten detention before, not at Rosemary anyway. Was it different from Dupont? Would it knock down her grades? Would she have to do extra homework on top of it?

“Not you, Marinette.” The teacher assured. “I’m letting you off with a warning since this is your first incident.”

Marinette blew out a sigh of relief, but Claude groaned.

“Awe, man! I’m gonna be in detention all by myself?”

Marinette gasped. “You want me to be in detention?”

“Oh, no!” Claude hastily amended. “No, it’s just so boring being in there by myself.”

“Maybe the lack of company will give you incentive to be more cautious during our next class session.” Mlle Arquette cut in. “Now use the sink to wash up.”

Marinette and Claude moved to the front of the classroom as told and took turns using the sink. Unfortunately, Phenol Red is not known for coming out easily. They used as much soap as possible, but their lab coats remained stained, along with their cheeks..

“Well,” Claude said as they walked back to their desk, “since our cheeks are stained anyway.. Wanna try again?”

Marinette pursed her lips. At the very least, it couldn’t get any worse, right?

“Okay, but this time I’ll mix the chemicals.”

“Deal!”

~~~~~~

Felix blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. When he went to get Marinette for their next shared class, he expected her to be the same way she was when he’d left her earlier that morning. What he found instead, however, was a couple of classmates that had both their hands and the lower halves of their faces covered in red, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to ask why.

“Hey, Felix!” Claude greeted casually, as though he and Marinette didn’t look like walking tomatoes. “You look a little surprised. Is it my new haircut?”

“Oh, you got a new haircut?” Marinette asked, genuinely curious.

The brunette nodded and reached up to touch the curled tips of his bangs. “Yeah, but I didn’t do much. They just trimmed me up.”

“I thought something looked different.” Marinette hummed. “It looks nice.”

“Why, thank you.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,” Felix finally cut in, “why, exactly, are you two covered in red?”

Claude pulled a sheepish smile, and Marinette chuckled nervously, neither of which gave Felix any clarity.

“I kind of.. made some chemicals explode again.” Claude admitted.

Felix’s eyes widened. “You what?”

“Okay, not really explode.” Claude said. “They more of splattered everywhere.”

Felix’s gaze darted to Marinette, briefly scanning over her figure for injuries. She didn’t appear to be in pain, but that didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t. What type of chemicals did they use? Were they toxic? Was anything ingested? The red on their faces didn’t look like burn marks.

“We’re fine.” Marinette assured, noticing his concern. “Mlle Arquette had us wash off right after it happened, so the only thing that affected us was the Phenol Red.”

Felix sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Phenol Red? No wonder their skin was dyed. “And what was Mlle Arquette's reaction to this?”

“Oh, she gave me detention,” Claude said point blank, “but I don’t blame her. I know I can be a bit much.”

Felix rose a brow. “Just you?”

The two nodded.

“She let me off with a warning.” Marinette explained.

Felix hummed. That sounded like Mlle Arquette. When he had to be Claude’s partner for Chemistry last year, the teacher had been extremely understanding then too. In hindsight, he probably should have warned Marinette about Claude’s tendencies in class. “Well, at least she was reasonable enough to know you weren’t at fault.”

Claude scoffed and crossed his arms. “You weren’t even there! How do you know she didn’t give me the wrong instructions?”

“Call it a hunch.” Felix replied flatly. He pulled a handkerchief out of his vest pocket and handed it to Marinette. “Here, use this to wipe off the chemicals.”

“Oh, no thank you.” Marinette politely declined. “I already washed it off as best I could.”

“Yes, but have you tried using a cloth yet?” He asked. When she shook her head, he continued, “Then some might still be able to come off. Rosemary holds their student’s presentability in high regard. I’d recommend trying.”

Marinette held up a hand insistently. “Thanks, but I really don’t need it. The dye’s already settled by now anyway, and I don’t want it to ruin your handkerchief if I get more off.”

Felix shrugged, tucking the handkerchief back into its respective pocket. “Mother’s gotten rid of worse, but I won’t force you.”

“I could use a handkerchief.” Claude spoke up.

Felix rolled his eyes. “Find your own.”

“But you were going to let Marinette use it!” Claude remarked, a grin growing on his lips despite his accusatory tone.

“She didn’t make the mess, did she?” Felix shot back.

Claude waved a hand at the remark. “Yeah, yeah. I can see how far our friendship goes.”

Marinette giggled, drawing the boys’ attention back to the ravenette.

“As fun as this is, I need to stop by the lockers before class.” She said with a smile. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“I’ll walk with you.” Felix replied, stepping forward. “I need to switch out a few books as well.”

“As if you wouldn’t walk her anyway..” Claude muttered under his breath behind him.

Felix glanced over his shoulder at the brunette. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Marinette asked, turning back as well.

“Oh, nothing.” Claude said, averting his gaze with a slight smile. “I’m gonna head to my next class too. See you guys later!”

Felix narrowed his eyes. He’d heard what Claude said. He just didn’t understand it. Or rather, he didn’t understand the tone. Felix walking Marinette to her classes was common knowledge at that point, yet Claude stated it as though it were some sort of secret. Why? It’s not as though the others didn’t walk her to classes as well. Claude himself would fight over whether he got to drive Marinette to different locations or not.

The class bell shook him from his thoughts, along with Marinette’s light call, and Felix moved to follow behind her. As they walked, she rambled on about the full story behind her red-colored cheeks, which allowed Felix to push Claude’s strange comment to the back of his mind. There was no reason for the brunette to have a hidden meaning in his speech anyway. So there was no point in overthinking it.

~~~~~~

Ah. The Cafe de Flore. Claude’s favorite place to eat. It had the best sandwiches, delicious pastries- tough not at good as Mlle Sabine’s -and wonderful, customer service. He’d always received a welcoming smile when he visited. 

He drew in a deep breath, relishing in the smell of chocolate and dough that wafted through the air. It made his mouth water and his stomach growl with anticipation. His food should be ready any minute now, and he could hardly wait.

A giggle brought his attention to the line behind him. Marinette was shuffled in with a few of the other customers, happily chatting with Felix, who’d gotten in line with her. 

Claude narrowed his eyes at the blond, remembering their talk at the aquarium. He’d been so insistent that he had no idea what Claude was referring to, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Felix never took the time to talk to people, never listened or sympathized or smiled the way he did with Marinette. Every action, every sentence, everything he did around her screamed that he liked her. Normally, Claude wouldn’t care, since everybody had one good friend, but Felix didn’t like anybody. Heck, they’d been with him for three years, and he still fought tooth and nail before he agreed to do anything with them. But the one time Marinette, the person he's only known for three weeks, decides to ask him to something, he agrees immediately. No fuss. No arguing. Nothing. His crush on her was so obvious that when he played dumb last weekend, Claude nearly tore his hair out in frustration. How stupid did Felix think they were?

“I’ve got a BLT for a Claude Herolds?” 

At the waitress’ call, Claude whirled around to grab his food with a ‘thank you’. He then moved back through the other customers to get to the group table, where Allegra and Allan were already seated. Marinette flashed him a smile and said ‘hey’ while he passed, but Felix merely rolled his eyes at Claude’s presence. 

Of course, that didn’t stop the blond from turning right back to Marinette, all traces of annoyance washing away in an instant.

Yeah, he definitely had a crush on her. 

“Tell me you’ve noticed.” Claude said to Allegra as he plopped down in the seat next to her. He couldn’t keep this to himself any longer, or he was going to explode like those chemicals in Chemistry class this morning. 

Allegra glanced up from her soup questioningly. “Noticed what?”

Claude scoffed. As if she didn’t already know. Allegra was twice as observant as he was. If he saw something interesting, she was bound to have already seen it at least ten minutes beforehand. 

“What else?” He replied impatiently. “Felix’s crush on Marinette.”

Allegra and Allan both gasped and shot up from the table, slapping their hands onto Claude’s mouth.

“Are you crazy?” She hissed at him. “Why would you say that out loud? What if they’d heard you?”

Claude pushed their hands away. “What does it matter? We all know.”

“Yeah, but they don’t.” Allan pointed out. “Even if they did, you can’t just say stuff like that without permission.”

Claude furrowed his eyebrows. “You expect me to believe that Felix doesn’t know about his own feelings towards Marinette?”

He could understand Marinette being oblivious. She hasn’t known Felix as long as they have, hasn’t heard the snide remarks and snaps and sarcastic comments that used to shoot from Felix’s mouth on a regular basis, hasn’t seen the constant glares they used to receive. (Emphasis on used to. They still get looks and snarky replies, but it's not nearly as venomous as it was before Marinette showed up.)

Claude didn’t blame Felix for liking Marinette- there was no doubt about her being a literal saint -but to say that Felix had no idea that he liked her was insane.

Allegra shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Felix clearly hasn’t had a crush before, and he’s extremely logical. He probably just thinks that she’s more fun to be around than we are.”

Claude tisked and crossed his arms. “He would think that, wouldn’t he?”

“To be fair, she doesn’t push his buttons as much as we do.” Allan commented.

“..Yeah, that’s true.” Claude admitted, a small smile coming to his lips. “She doesn’t push anyone’s buttons. She’s great like that.”

Allegra nodded in agreement. “Which is why we should try to figure out if she likes him too.”

Claude’s eyes widened. He.. hadn’t thought of that. How did Marinette feel about Felix? 

As if on queue, all three of them subtly turned to glance at the pair. They were at the front of the line now, helping each other pick their food. Felix held another small smile, causing Claude to grip the edge of his chair with slight scowl. Love can do strange things to a person, but after three years of friendship, one would think that Felix could be a tad nicer to them too.

Marinette smiled brightly up at the blond as she always did. She seemed to enjoy talking with him, but then again, she enjoyed talking to everyone. That could hardly be considered a sign of love or affection. The only thing that might be related to a crush was that time in the library when the two shared headphones. She got all flustered and embarrassed after getting really close to Felix, but in all honesty, Marinette tended to blush rather often. When embarrassed, when bashful, when caught off guard- It was just another quirky thing about her that they all loved.

“We wouldn’t want to force this on her.” Allan said, taking the words from Claude and Allegra’s mouths. Marinette was too kind and sweet to be put in such an uncomfortable position. 

“So how do we find out? Should we ask her?” Claude questioned, twisting back to face the table again.

“Yes, but we need to be subtle.” Allegra cautioned. “Crushes can be a sticky business, especially when someone isn’t quite aware of their feelings towards another.”

“In other words, Felix can’t know we asked,” Allan added, “and Marinette can’t know about Felix’s feelings. At least not until he knows that he has them, and we know that they’re requited.”

Claude nodded thoughtfully. “That still doesn’t tell me how we’re going to ask her.”

“Ask who what?” 

The trio jumped at the sound of Marinette’s voice, each snapping to look at her for a reaction. She couldn’t have been there long, right? How much had she heard? Where was Felix?

“Uh..” Claude gaped. “N-Nothing. I mean, we were-”

“We were going to ask my mom about a sleepover.” Allegra cut in. “Do you think you’d be up for it?”

Claude couldn’t help the smirk that curled onto his lips. Clever Allegra. Having a sleepover meant everyone would get together, but it also meant the boys and girls would be separated by the end of the evening. That would leave Marinette and Allegra alone for a good eight hours if they played their cards right. Plenty of time to ask about Marinette’s feelings towards Felix, and plenty of time to ask Felix about his feelings towards Marinette.

Clever, clever Allegra.

“Oh, a sleepover?” Marinette echoed, a spark of interest gathering in her eyes. “At your house?”

“Yeah!” Allegra smiled. “We’ve all been to your house. I want you to come to mine.”

Marinette returned her smile, but before she could respond, Felix spoke up behind her.

“You’re having another sleepover?”

Marinette flinched, just as Claude and the others had done moments prior, and Felix took a step back as a silent apology.

What a considerate thing to do, Claude thought. If only Felix were that considerate towards literally anyone else.

His bitter thoughts were pushed aside when Allegra nestled her chin in her palm, saying, “Don’t act like I have a sleepover every other day. Our last sleepover was on New Years Eve.”

“Yes, and that sleepover is exactly the reason why I won’t be attending another one.” Felix stated with a scowl. “That permanent marker didn’t come off of my face for a week.”

Claude stifled a laugh. That mustache and monocle drawing had easily been the best part of the evening.

Marinette full-on giggled at the remark and sat down in the chair between Claude and Allan, amusement and curiosity seeping through her tone as she asked, “You guys drew on his face?”

Felix’s scowl deepened- he hated being called out on embarrassing things -and his gaze shifted to the side. “While I slept. It was absolutely dreadful.” 

“Oh~ it was a joke.” Allegra cooed, waving off his bitterness. “You know you want to come.”

“Why would I?” Felix scoffed as he sat between Allegra and Allan. “The hours I’m forced to spend with you on a daily basis are torture enough.”

Claude smirked. Bold words for someone who was crushing hard on the newest member of their group.

“Because deep down in that cold, shriveled heart of yours, you know you love us.” He said, subtly wrapping an arm around Marinette’s shoulders as he said ‘us’. “Besides, we’re all going to be there. You don’t want to miss out, do you?”

Felix shot Claude daggers, but Claude only gave an innocent smile in response. He knew that he had the blond cornered. Marinette would be expecting him to go to the sleepover, the same way she’d expected him to go to the aquarium. Felix said yes to her then, and he would say yes to her now. Because he liked her.

Slowly, Felix’s gaze slid to Marinette, the spite in his eyes fading away as he glanced at her. Claude’s smile widened. He was thinking it over, contemplating whether it would be worth it to ‘suffer’ an extra night with them or not for Marinette’s sake. 

This was the moment. This was the moment where Felix’s true motives would be revealed, even though he was doing his best to hide them from everyone else, including himself.

“Fine.” The blond relented, just like Claude knew he would. “But I better not wake up with marker on my face again.”

Allan smirked. “Don’t worry, man. We promise there won’t be any markers for you this time.”

“Nope.” Claude Grinned. “Just some quality time between friends.”

Tag List:   @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182 @jaggedheart11 @marinahrasauce @i-need-blog-ideas @thewheezingbubbledragon @crazylittlemunchkin @unabashedbookworm @moonystars14 @sunflowers-and-mooncakes @2confused-2doanything @magnificentcrapposts @moonnette @nickristus-dreamer @vixen-uchiha @casual-darkness @luxmorningstarr @jjmjjktth​ @kaithehero  @itsme1598

[fanmoose12]

troubled youth

Sometimes kids fight. And it’s up to their parents to resolve the conflict. 

"I'm sorry, dear," Hange whispered soothingly, looking down at the mouse. She patted it once and then took scalpel in her hands. "But it's for the sake of science..."

Before she could make the first incision, her phone started ringing. Hange cursed, taking it out. Who the hell could call her right now? Anyone who knew her, also knew that she was not to be disturbed during work hours. Hange glanced at the screen and cursed again. Just one name, but already she felt the beginnings of a migraine.

"Good day, Mr. Shadis," she greeted. "I'm very busy, so let's skip the pleasantries. What horrible deed did my son do this time?"

"It's a serious matter, Doctor Zoe," he answered in a grave tone. "Your son got into a fight."

"A fight?" Hange gasped. "Is he hurt?"

"Just a few scratches. But you must come to my office. I want to talk with you about boy's behavior. And no," he added. "We can't do it over the phone. The other boy's father will come too."

"Fine," and just like that, Hange was brought back to her high school years. Shadis was her teacher too and used to scold her all the time. She was young and dumb then, and used to admire him. A lot. Thankfully, those days were long gone, and now she could see that Keith Shadis she respected so much was pretty incompetent at his job. He couldn't even handle her son, for crying out loud.  "I'll come as soon as I can," she promised and hung up.

"Moblit!" she called, taking off the protective goggles.

"Yes?" his sandy blond head appeared in the doorway almost immediately. "Do you need something?"

"I need to go," Hange sighed, staring longingly at the mouse. "Can you finish the dissection for me?"

"Sure," Moblit nodded. "Is everything alright? You never leave early."

Hange rubbed her temples, showing Moblit a tired smile. "Jean got into a fight. Now his teacher wants to talk with me."

"A fight?" Moblit's eyes widened. "Did he get hurt?"

"Shadis says it's nothing serious, but I still need to go. Can you cover for me?"

"Of course! I'll take care of everything, don't worry. Just make sure that Jean is alright."

"Thank you, Moblit," passing him by, Hange briefly squeezed his shoulder. "Text me, if you need anything."

*** "Erwin?" Levi knocked at the door to his boss' office. "Do you have a moment?"

Erwin looked up from his computer screen to stare at Levi. "Sure," he shrugged. "Something happened?"

"Eren got into another fight," Levi scowled, plucking his lips in disgust. "And now his idiotic teacher wants to have a talk with me."

"A fight?" Erwin frowned. "Is Eren doing fine?"

"Nothing too serious, but I need to go now. Can I leave earlier?"

"No problem," Erwin assured. "But Levi?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't scare the teacher too much," he said with a grin. “And don’t terrorise the other kid!”

Levi rolled his eyes. "Fuck off," he flipped Erwin off and then left the office.

  ***

Hange threw the school's door open, storming inside. She hurried up the stairs, furious and enraged. She would show Shadis and the parent of that kid why no one could ever mess with her and especially her—

Son.

Stepping onto the needed floor, Hange's eyes instant locked onto a small boy. Jean was sitting on a bench beside the classroom, holding an ice pack to his face.

Looking at his miserable face, Hange's heart fell. She rushed to his side, falling to her knees in front of him.

"Jean?" she pressed him to her chest, rocking him slightly. "Jean, baby, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jean pushed her away. "It doesn't hurt, really."

Good thing, Hange noted mentally. If Jean was acting embarrassed of her affection, then he wasn't that badly hurt.

"Still," she insisted. "Let me see."

Carefully and gently, she took away the ice pack. Jean's cheek was swollen and slightly blue, but nothing serious.

"Does it look too ugly?" Jean whispered.

"Not at all," Hange smiled encouragingly. "You look like a real badass right now."

Jean grinned widely and Hange chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"Why the hell are you wearing a lab coat?" spoke a low, monotone voice.

Instinctively, Hange looked down at herself. And then shrieked, jumping back from Jean.

"Oh, god, I probably forgot to take it off when I was leaving the lab! Jean, honey, wait a second, you know I work with dangerous chemicals!"

Hange hastily shrugged off her jacket and then the lab coat, throwing it out in the nearest trash can.

"There!" she breathed out a sigh of relief, plopping down to sit next to Jean. "The crisis has been averted!"

"Will the kid be alright?" the man asked. Hange finally turned to look at him, the man was sitting on the other side of the hallway, next to another boy Jean's age. Hange squinted, getting a better look at the pair. The man was short, but well-build, his face could even be called handsome, if he wasn't scowling so much. Hange then shifted her gaze to a boy—and squealed in delight.

"Eren!" she approached the kid, clasping him on a shoulder. "So you're another troublemaker, huh?"

“I guess,” he shrugged. “I’m sorry for—” he awkwardly pointed at Jean. “You know.”

“It’s fine,” Hange waved him off. “I can see that Jean has left his mark, too,” she gestured at Eren’s red cheek.

“It isn’t a laughing matter, four-eyes,” Eren’s father glowered, glaring at her. “Your son punched mine.”

“Dad—” Eren whispered urgently, tugging at his sleeve. “Don’t.”

“They’re children,” Hange waved him off with a careless smile. “They don’t know better yet. A little fight is nothing.”

“Maybe, it is nothing,” he agreed, although his gaze remained cold. “For the reckless parents like you.”

“Reckless?!” Hange’s eye widened. “Just what are you implying—”

She was interrupted by the sound of the opened door.

“Doctor Zoe! Mr. Ackerman!” Shadis called. “Please, come to my office. Your children can wait outside.”

Hange sent a seething glare at Mr. Ackerman, and then returned to Jean, crouching down to pull him into another hug.

“It won’t take too long, okay?” she smiled softly at him. “And then I’ll treat you to an ice-cream, deal?”

“Deal!” Jean nodded, leaning in to peck her on the cheek. “Good luck.”

“Your teacher doesn’t scare me,” Hange chuckled. Her eyes went dark, as she saw that Eren’s father was already inside. “And neither does this shorty.”

  ***

When Hange sat down on the chair next to the annoying midget, she suddenly felt like she wasn't a grown-up and a parent. Instead she felt like a child, who was going to be scolded by a strict teacher.

"I'm sure you two know why I asked you to come here," Shadis put his hands on a table and looked at them with a serious face.

"Of course," the shorty answered. "We're here because her child," he pointed at Hange. "Doesn't know how to talk with his peers."

"My child doesn't know how to talk? It's your son, who punched mine!"

Eren was a nice kid, really, and Hange felt bad for putting the blame on him. After all, it wasn't his fault that his father was such a jerk, who got on her nerves so easily.

"We don't know if it was Eren who threw the first punch," the shorty said, his voice was still stoically calm. It pissed Hange even more.

"Actually, we do know who started the fight," Shadis interfered. "It was Eren."

Hange grinned victoriously. She barely resisted from pumping her fist in the air. Take that, shorty.

"However," Shadis raised a finger. "It was Jean who started taunting Eren."

The smile instantly slipped from her face.

"The boy is clearly a bully," the shorty scoffed. "Eren just fought back, so I don't quite understand the point of me being here. Eren did nothing wrong, her son is at fault here."

"Oi!" Hange raised her voice, glaring daggers at him. "My son is not a bully!" Sure, maybe, Jean was a bit too straightforward and outspoken sometimes. But he wasn't a bully! "It's your son who's got problems. He was the one who hit Jean! Even if Jean was making fun of him, why couldn't he resolve this with words?"

"Maybe," the shorty hissed, all of his careful composure gone. "Maybe, your son doesn't understand words. Just like you."

"And maybe your son is prone to violence!" Hange argued back. "Just like you!

"My son—"

"Enough!" Shadis slapped his hand onto the table. Hange was suddenly brought back to the time, when he used to chide her for smoking under the bleachers.

"I won't tolerate your petty squabbles in this room. For crying out loud," he rubbed tiredly at his face. "You're just as bad as your children. I don't care who was in the right, and who was in the wrong. I brought you here for another reason. It's not the first time your sons got into an argument. They're fighting constantly, sometimes during classes, and I cannot let it continue."

"Mr. Shadis?" Hange spoke quietly, feeling that she knew where this was going. "Just what are you trying to say?"

Shadis sighed. "I don't care what you do. Have a talk with them, explain why fighting is wrong, doesn't matter to me. But if I catch them arguing again, I'd have to expel them both."

"Mr. Shadis!" Hange rose from her seat. "You can't do that!"

"And I don't want to," he said sincerely. "But I have no choice. The rest is up to you. You may go now."

Walking out of the classroom, Hange ruffled her hair in frustration. Fuck, she couldn't do it right now. She was so busy with her work, she had no time to look for a new school. And Jean liked it so much here, he would be heartbroken to leave his friends behind. She should find a way to prevent this.

"Hey, four-eyes," the shorty called once they were back in the hallway.

"It's Hange," she corrected absentmindedly, trying to think of a way to tell Jean that they might need to start looking for a new school.

"I'm Levi," that got Hange's attention. She turned to look at him, curious as to what he wanted from her now. Was he going to criticize her parenting skills once again? Hange knew she wasn't the perfect parent, she worked too much and she was too soft on Jean, but she did what she could to make a good man out of him. And she wouldn’t let some stupid midget batter her for it.

"Listen, Hange," Levi started, somewhat reluctantly. "I think we've started off on the wrong foot."

Hange stared at him with wide eyes. Was he trying to apologize? She almost opened her mouth to tease him, but then changed her mind. Maybe, shorty was right. It was enough that their kids were fighting. They should act like adults.

"I shouldn't have—" he paused, clearing his throat. "I shouldn't have said all these things about you and your son. I shouldn't have called him a bully."

"I agree," Hange nodded, watching him warily. "And I shouldn't have talked about Eren so badly. He's a nice kid."

"He is," Levi agreed. "But you're right, he is a bit violent. I— I'm working on it."

"And Jean likes to make fun out of people," Hange hanged her head. "I'm also working on it."

"Maybe, we should work on it together?" Levi offered.

"Huh?" Hange frowned. "I don't quite understand."

"Well, we could," Levi turned his gaze away, deliberately avoiding her eyes. "We could get a coffee or something. Buy kids some ice-cream, take them to the park."

"Oh."

"I don't think it'd be that easy to make Eren understand that punching people is bad, he's not that good at controlling his emotions, and I can't afford to find another school right now, so," Levi adjusted his tie and then looked up at Hange, his expression open and earnest. For some reason, Hange found his nervousness endearing. Maybe, he wasn't that much of an asshole after all. "Maybe, we can make them become friends?"

"Let's try," Hange agreed, smiling at him. 

*** "It looks like they're starting to get along," Hange noted. She and Levi were sitting on a bench in the park, watching the kids chase each other around the playground.

"It's the ice-cream," Levi said. "The sugar makes them friendlier."          

“Huh,” Hange sat back on a bench, straightening her long legs. "I should invest in more candies then."

"Thank you," Levi blurted out. "F-for taking me up on my offer. I know I was an asshole to you—"

"Levi," Hange softly patted his arm. "You've apologized already. I wasn't on my best behavior either."

"Still," Levi pressed. "I— we've changed three schools already and I don't know if I can find another one right now. Eren is a good kid. He really is," he repeated, clenching his jaw. "But— like you've said. He's got some anger management issues."

"He's just a kid," Hange comforted him. "He'll grow out of it, don't worry."

"You think he will?"

"Well, I did."

Levi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Are you saying that—"

"I've been just like Eren before," she confirmed. "Too quick to anger and not knowing how to let it out. All teachers hated me," Hange chuckled. "The only one who could calm me down was Shadis."

"Shadis?" Levi's eyebrows went higher, well above his hairline. "That bald, constipated looking idiot, who teaches my son?"

"He was my teacher in high school. I guess he switched to elementary school since then. But he was quite fierce back in his days," Hange grinned. "had hair too!"

"Four-eyes, don't tell me..."

"I was young," she shrugged. "Easily impressed too."

Levi shook his head. "I can't believe you had a crush on Shadis."

Hange's eyes widened, as she saw a small smile on Levi's lips. Like that, he looked even more handsome. She quickly turned away, flustered.

"Getting back to Eren's problem," Hange kept her gaze fixated on Eren and Jean, who were climbing up the slide. "If you want, I can talk to him, give him some advice how to deal with his frustration or something."

"Thank you," Levi said softly, and, for some reason, Hange's pulse quickened. Just what was going on with her? "And, since you're such a busy person that you don't have the time to even take off your lab coat—"

"I was in a hurry!" Hange exclaimed with offended expression. Seeing a smirk on Levi's face, however, she couldn’t help but grin back at him.

"Well, if you ever need help, someone to look after Jean or something, you can always give me a call."

“Oh.” Hange’s treacherous heart skipped another beat. “It means a lot, thank you. But wouldn’t your—” she glanced down, looking at Levi’s left hand. There was nothing - not a spouse then. “Wouldn’t your partner mind?”

��My partner?” Levi frowned. “What are you talking about? Eren and I live alone.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine,” Levi sighed. “Eren’s adopted, I’ve been raising him on my own all this time, so stop fretting, you didn’t bring up bad memories or some shit.”

“Oh,” Hange wiped her forehead, relieved.

“And what about Jean’s—“ Levi made a vague gesture and paused, not knowing how to continue. “Does he have—”

“He only has me,” she smiled. “His father, um, let’s just say that he’s out of picture.”

“Oh good,” Levi breathed. A second later, he caught himself and stared at Hange with wide eyes. “I-I didn’t mean it like that! I was just—” he spurted, tripping over his words. Hange watched him with amused expression.

“I get it,” she chuckled. “Believe me, I’m glad about it too.”

“Raising the kid on your own, though…” Levi mused. “It gets hard sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Hange agreed. “But I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”

“I know the feeling,” he murmured. “Sometimes I get so frustrated, so exhausted, but one smile from Eren, and I know that it’s all worth it.”

“Aww,” Hange punched his arm, grinning widely. “You’re secretly a softie!”

“Shut up,” Levi scowled. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she raised her hands, placating him. “But today’s been nice. I don’t have any friends with kids, so it’s cool to talk to someone, who understands.”

“Are you saying we’re friends, four-eyes?”

“Well,” Hange tilted her head, smiling softly at Levi. “Our children are getting along already,” she pointed at Eren, who was pushing Jean on a swing. “Why shouldn’t we be friends too?”

“Huh,” Levi shifted his gaze, staring at the two boys fondly. “Your idea… doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Yay!” Hange pulled him for a quick hug. Surprisingly, Levi didn’t even protest.

  ***

"So," Hange asked after she and Jean had settled on a coach in front of TV for the evening episode of Doctor Who. "Did you like hanging out with Eren?"

"It was fine. When Eren's not screaming like an idiot, he's not so bad," Jean said with a rueful grin. A second later, though, his expression changed. He looked at Hange with unusual seriousness, nervously picking at his sleeve. "Mr. Shadis wants to expel me, right? For always getting into trouble?"

"Honey," Hange wrapped her hands around him. "No one will expel you."

"Then why did you come to school today? Why did you bring me out to play with Eren?"

Damn his perception, Hange thought bitterly. She desperately tried to come up with a sound explanation.

"I came to school because I was worried that you were hurt," well, that part was true. "And we visited park with Eren and his dad, because I wanted to get to know him better."

"Eugh," Jean made a face. "You like him?"

"You don't?"

"He's weird. And his face is scary."

"It's just a facade," Hange grinned, patting Jean's hair. "He's actually very kind."

"Eren said the same thing," Jean reluctantly agreed. "I guess I'll see it for myself soon. Since you want to spend more time with him."

"I don't—" Hange tried to defend herself, but then she noticed a smirk on Jean's face. He saw right through her. She shook her head. "Let's just watch TV."

  ***

"Hey," Jean called when the final credits started to play. "If you start dating Eren's father, does it mean that I'll become Eren’s brother?"

"Jean!" Hange chided sternly, mustering all of her seriousness. She couldn't let her son see just how embarrassed his words made her feel. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not going to date Eren's father."

"Ah," Jean yawned. "So you're saying I still have some time to become friends with Eren. That's good."

Hange stared at him helplessly, feeling a smile tug at her lips. It was hard to deal with Jean sometimes. She still loved him more than anything.

  ***

"Did you like playing with Jean today?" Levi inquired, while he was tucking Eren in. "Was he—"

"He was okay. Not as much of a jerk as he usually is. By the way," Eren's lips curved into a smile and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. Levi sighed ever so slightly, this expression couldn't mean anything good. "Did you like talking with Hange?"

"It was okay," he repeated his son's words, trying to keep a straight face. Truth be told, Hange was more than just okay. Levi couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun.

"Hange is awesome!" Eren exclaimed. "Remember the science fair? She was the one who taught us how to make slime!"

Levi closed his eyes, feeling a shiver run down his spine, as he remembered that horrific thing. So that's who was to blame. He needed to come up with a way to make four-eyes pay for this.

"Hange is alright, now go to sleep, Eren."

"A-ah," Eren stubbornly shook his head. "Hange isn't just alright! I saw you smile today!" he exclaimed, pointing at Levi's lips.

"You're wrong," Levi protested instantly.

"Nope. I saw it clear as day. I turned to look at you, but you weren't looking back. You were looking at Hange," Eren teased. "And there was a smile on your face."

"It was a face spasm."

"Don't deny it, dad," Eren's bright eyes bored into him. "You like Hange. I like Hange too," he mumbled sleepily, his eyes slowly closing. "If you like her so much, I'm even ready to tolerate Jean."

"Go to sleep," Levi whispered softly. He waited for Eren to close his eyes and then leaned in, kissing him on a forehead.

Maybe, his son was right. Raising a kid was hard as hell. Maybe, he should find someone to share that burden with.

[littlesailorinthesun]

is love nikki osha compliant?

Inspired by Brian David Gilbert's legendary Unraveled video "Smash Bros. owes millions of dollars in OSHA violations", I became curious how this would apply to Love Nikki suits. I looked through a few suits of choice to determine how OSHA-compliant they are.

First of all, I would like to say that while I have previously worked in a Health and Safety department, I apologize for any mistakes I make. This is not work (even if real Nikkis' lives are at stake here!)

For the Smash Bros. video, BDG looked primarily at the safety of various fighting arenas. Given that Love Nikki is a dress up game, I will of course be primarily looking at PPE (personal protective equipment) which falls under 1910 Subpart I; however, there are some instances where it is clear the environment is also unsafe.

The issue with determining what is proper PPE is mostly that it varies depends based on the environment you find yourself in. Given that *most* suits don't come with huge background props or backgrounds, I will just be extrapolating based on the item descriptions and the little context we have.

Heavy Machinery

One of my favorite suits, yet one of the worst offenders, Heavy Machinery actually calls out its own violation in the suit itself. If Miraland had OSHA, Heavy Machinery would unfortunately be breaking the rules.

According to OSHA's Nail Gun Safety Guide, people using nail guns should have the following PPE (in addition to the safety goggles): safety shoes (steel toed boots), hard hats, and hearing protection. Unfortunately, while maybe the shoes might have steel toes (though they don't look like they do), Heavy Machinery does not have a hard hat nor any hearing protection that I can see. This puts her in general violation of 1910.132(a).

One of the more frustrating parts is that she has eye protection, but she isn't actually using it! The item description for the goggles even says, "A mechanic can easily hurt his eyes, so it's good to wear goggles. Don't act cool and put them on your head!" Yet, she is doing just that, which causes her to violate 1910.133(a)(1). Please, don't follow her example and make sure to wear your goggles.

I will give her kudos for having the knee pad(?) but the rest of her clothing could probably do a better job. Unfortunately, Heavy Machinery is not OSHA-compliant.

The final comment I'd like to make on her is that if she is really wearing a battery on her back, I will have to give her kudos because those motherfuckers are heavy.

Adventurous Journey

A new environment! Actually, Adventurous Journey is adventuring throughout all of Miraland, and her item descriptions make mention of her visiting many several different places: an abandoned base, an old ruin, even a cave? 

Adventurous Journey is wearing some pretty practical clothing, and her hand and foot protection look more than adequate. Her hammer looks like it's in great shape and, like Heavy Machinery, she even has her hair tied back. Her headlight is also a great choice.

While entering unknown spaces like caves can be dangerous, they typically aren't considered confined spaces. Besides that, it sounds like Adventurous Journey only went inside the cave to take shelter from the sandstorm instead of to explore.

Overall, I believe Adventurous Journey is OSHA-compliant. Have fun on your adventures!

Glacier Treader

Ada just wanted to learn something about penguins, but unfortunately she may end up learning something about ice water if she keeps up these unsafe practices.

According to 1910.28(b)(3)(i), employees should be protected from falling in holes by guardrails, covers, or something similar. Unfortunately, there is a giant hole in front of Ada and she has nothing keeping her from falling inside. The straps on her coat aren't attached to anything and that thing looks like it's about to fly off anyways. There may be a penguin in the hole, but such matters do not excuse Ada's research group's lack of fall protection. 

On the bright side, the band-aids on Ada's face means that she has access to first aid and medical care!

Horn of Surprise

As fun as it would be to ride a giant candy train, it is unfortunately not OSHA-compliant.

As per 1910.21(b), a walking-working surface is any surface where an employee walks, works, or gains access to another work area. As the train conductor, Shebel is working on the top of the train, and thus it is subject to OSHA guidelines.

Unfortunately, the train is quite high off the ground - definitely more than 4 feet. Because of this, under 1910.28(b)(15), Shebel should have some sort of protection from falling to the ground below her, whether it be a guardrail, safety net, or another personal fall protection system.

She should probably also be wearing better PPE, too.

Ocean Lullaby

According to this suit's lore, Relly swims all the way to the deepest part of the ocean with only a narwhal. From the depiction of her and the fact that she apparently lost consciousness while at the bottom of the ocean, it seems pretty clear that Relly wasn't using proper PPE while swimming.

The most frustrating part about this suit is probably the fact that even the fish have PPE while Relly has nothing (though the efficacy of the snorkels is questionable). She should definitely have some air, and following the proper SCUBA diving procedures (1910.424) would be a great start.

Toy Carnival

What looks like an innocent, fun carnival game is actually an example of a potentially dangerous situation which requires a lot of work and planning. The crane machine is an example of a confined space, which is defined as a space that is large enough to do work, but has limited means for entry and exit, and isn't designed for continuous occupancy. Toy Carnival's crane machine appears to be a small space which doesn't have any immediately apparent way to get out.

There are no hazardous chemicals which would be present inside a claw machine. However, there is a physical hazard, which is the claw crane. Because of this, it is a permit-required confined space.

Toy Carnival is doing a lot of things right. She has an attendant outside (Momo), meaning she is compliant with 1910.146(d)(6). As long as Toy Carnival has a permit and followed all of the necessary procedures, she would be OSHA compliant if not for one thing: There is no visible sign designating the claw machine as a confined space. (1910.146(c)(2))

I will hold out hope that there is a sign on the back, because she was so close.

Explosion

We're going to ignore for the time being that Explosion takes place entirely inside a video game because well, it's all inside a video game one way or another, right? Anyways, you can tell a lot about Explosion just from the name.

Patrice is evidently in some kind of war-like environment. Not only are there guns and cannons going off everywhere, the "explosion" her suit is named for is the explosions of smoke grenades. She uses these to take cover and disguise herself.

While the gas mask is an excellent choice, unfortunately it's not enough. Due to the flying hazards (and probably the smoke too), Patrice needs to be wearing eye protection in order to be in compliance with 1910.133(a)(1), and head protection in order to be in compliance with 1910.135(a)(1).

Now onto another concern, no less pressing than the last: She's also apparently killing people. 1926.900 deals with explosives, and many of the standards mention avoiding the harm of other employees, which gives the impression that it generally isn't allowed. Not warning the others using warning signs, flags, or barricades before killing them with explosives is in direct violation of 1926.900(i).

I will commend Patrice on one thing, which is proper use of the buddy system as defined in 1910.120(a)(3) in the presence of unknown hazards. It sounds like she and Kuma work well together.

Honorable Mentions

Apocalyptic Angel, for her clothes and hair literally being on fire. I don’t know which OSHA violation that is, but it’s definitely something.

Crime Buster, for firing guns any which way without even looking. I don’t even want to touch that can of worms.

Space Fantasy, for not wearing gloves. In outer space.

Ingenious Trend, for allowing bats to carry needles. Again, not sure how that’s illegal, but it must be one way or another.

Appendix

1910.28(b)(3)(i) Each employee is protected from falling through any hole (including skylights) that is 4 feet (1.2 m) or more above a lower level by one or more of the following: 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(A) Covers; 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(B) Guardrail systems; 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(C) Travel restraint systems; or 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(D) Personal fall arrest systems.

(Glacier Treader)

1910.28(b)(15) Walking-working surfaces not otherwise addressed. Except as provided elsewhere in this section or by other subparts of this part, the employer must ensure each employee on a walkingworking surface 4 feet (1.2 m) or more above a lower level is protected from falling by: 1910.28(b)(15)(i) Guardrail systems; 1910.28(b)(15)(ii) Safety net systems; or 1910.28(b)(15)(iii) Personal fall protection systems, such as personal fall arrest, travel restraint, or positioning systems.

(Horn of Surprise)

1910.132(a) Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers, shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact.

(Heavy Machinery)

1910.133(a)(1) The employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.

(Heavy Machinery, Explosion)

1910.135(a)(1) The employer shall ensure that each affected employee wears a protective helmet when working in areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects.

(Explosion)

1910.146(c)(2) If the workplace contains permit spaces, the employer shall inform exposed employees, by posting danger signs or by any other equally effective means, of the existence and location of and the danger posed by the permit spaces. NOTE: A sign reading DANGER -- PERMIT-REQUIRED CONFINED SPACE, DO NOT ENTER or using other similar language would satisfy the requirement for a sign.

(Toy Carnival)

1910.146(d)(6) Provide at least one attendant outside the permit space into which entry is authorized for the duration of entry operations;

(Toy Carnival - compliant)

1926.900(i) Employees authorized to prepare explosive charges or conduct blasting operations shall use every reasonable precaution including, but not limited to, visual and audible warning signals, flags, or barricades, to ensure employee safety.

(Explosion)

[hournites]

Blackouts (1/2)

Part two

Hournite being cute? Okay. 

~.~

Beth looked down at the print out instructions of the lab, double-checking that her station had all the instruments that she’d need as she tied her apron on.

“Hey.” She turned to find Rick with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He dumped it onto the surface. “I can help you with that.” 

His hands were on her skin suddenly. Beth nearly jumped. The hairs stood at the back of her neck as he finished tying the apron for her. He stepped aside when he was done and flashed her one of his half-smiles. 

Somehow along the way of becoming team members for JSA, without any verbal agreement about the matter, Rick stood in as her permanent team partner for school assignments. It was as surprising as it was welcome, Beth had been accustomed to doing everything alone. Or even, everything separately next to Rick, but alone. Now they did everything together. 

“Hi,” she said as he threw on clear goggles of his own. “The experiment we’re supposed to complete is to prove Charles’s Law—” 

“Which states that the volume of gases equals a constant value, the pressure, multiplied by its temperature as measures by Kelvin,” he droned on after a second of a glance at the page. 

“Um,” she said after an awkward pause. “Wow. You really have been studying those chemistry textbooks.”

“Yeah,” he said, sounding a bit embarrassed about it. Beth wasn’t sure why. It was impressive. She had a perfect GPA, but she had to work hard at it. With that kind of memory, Beth wondered what else Rick could easily do. Rick shifted on his feet as if he could sense her scrutiny and it was making him uncomfortable. “Hey, Beth, listen. We don’t even need to do the experiment, I know all the answers to the questions for the lab report.”

He slid the worksheet from her side over the table, borrowing her pencil to answer the questions. Her eyes widened as she watched him speed through it all without even needing a calculator to transfer the Celsius to Kelvin. 

A minute later he dropped the pencil. “Done.”

Beth gaped. “Did you just—?”

The tips of his ears went red. “Yeah. Whatever. It’s not a big deal.”

“Then what are we going to do for the next fifty minutes?” Kids were still trickling into the lab. The bell hasn’t even rung yet for the class to officially start. 

Rick looked around, making sure they weren’t being overheard then leaned into Beth’s space. “Do you remember the badminton birdie that Sportsmaster threw at us?”

“You mean the smoke grenade he threw at us?” 

He nodded. 

“What about it?”

Rick pulled three vials from the pocket of his hoodie and flashed them to her. “You’re the most vulnerable member of the JSA so if we want to keep you safe while you run away, we’re gonna need to make you some of your own.”

Beth’s voice went shrill. “You want to make a bomb?”

He shushed her, putting his hand over her mouth to stop her from catching anyone’s attention. “Not with that volume!” 

He pulled his hand away super quickly, blushing and wiping it against the side of his jeans.

“Rick,” she hissed in dawning horror as she watched him pour dangerous-looking substances into a beaker. Beth tugged on his sleeve, looking back anxiously at their chemistry teacher, explaining Charles Law at the front of the room, oblivious. “Rick. Rick!” 

But he wasn’t listening, focusing on whatever poison he was about to concoct as something started to bubble up in the beaker into a black foam. “Rick! This isn’t safe! Do you know what you’re even doing!?” 

“Relax. I got this.” 

“We could get kicked out of class,” she told him. “We could get suspended. We could catch the room on fire. We could get expelled, Rick.” 

He bit his lip like he was trying to hide his amusement at her nervous ramblings, but he did pause to look at her. “You honestly think Mr. Hyacinth is paying attention to us right now?” He nodded to their teacher, who was busy engaging in some heated discussion with another student at the desk far away.

“....No,” she admitted begrudgingly. “But I don’t think this is a good idea! If we get caught—” 

Rick rolled his eyes. “We’re not going to get caught.” 

“You don’t know that!” 

“Do you want to be protected when we’re out on a mission or not?” 

She chewed on her bottom lip and stayed silent. He knew she knew that was rhetorical. Of course, she did. 

“Look,” he said, nudging her side and lowered his voice again. “I was thinking since you’re Dr. Mid-Nite, we could make you some type of ball that you can throw that will make everything go dark if you’re ever cornered by ISA or alone. And then, since Chuck can give you night vision, only you’d be able to run through that.” 

“...That’s pretty clever,” she allowed, not wanting to let him know it was actually genius. Or at least, it would be if they didn’t have to try to experiment that during fourth-period Chemistry. “How are you doing that?” Because she very much needed to know if he actually had any clue what he was doing or if he swiped any and every flask from under their teacher’s nose that looked potent. There were lab safety rules for a reason. They could accidentally create a lethal gas or worse, Rick could burn his hands off with acid. He wasn’t wearing any gloves. Beth liked Rick’s hands! He needed his hands to be Hourman! 

“Potassium nitrate,” he said, then asked her to pass the sugar from his bag. 

Beth heaved out a heavy sigh, then unzipped his bag to find a few packets of sugar she knew came from the school cafeteria as well as a firework fuse that she didn’t even want to think how he got his hands on. She passed them to him reluctantly, and sighed again, making her disapproval obviously known. 

“Thank you, Beth,” he singsonged in a smug tone that made it clear he knew exactly what she thought of this, and furthermore, knew she’d help him anyway. Beth scowled because it wasn’t fair. 

She watched as he poured ingredients into the mixture like they were baking a very dangerous cake, passing along different chemicals and utensils for the lab that he claimed he needed. 

Beth covered her mouth and held her breath when he lit up the bunsen burner flame to heat up what he was doing. Inside of the beaker now looked like molten lava, solidifying under the flame until it turned into a sickening brown molasses colour. 

It didn’t look normal. This was how they were going to die. This was how they were going to go to jail. 

“I feel like we should ask Chuck for help.” 

“I don’t think so. It’ll be a bigger distractor. Besides, I told you I got this.  I looked it up this morning.” 

Beth didn’t know what to do with that information. Had Rick really woken up today deciding he was going to make bombs for her? And why did the thought give her butterflies? That shouldn’t be so sweet! 

“Rick…” she wanted to ask why he cared so much. Even if it sounded stupid. They were friends. Great friends now. And they were members of the same crime-fighting team. Of course, he’d want to make sure she’s safe. Kids have died because of the ISA and she was at risk for not being good at fighting back against people. It’s just that something told her this wouldn’t be happening if she had partnered up with Yolanda or Courtney. 

And not just because they wouldn’t do something so recklessly stupid (because honestly maybe they wouldn’t do this but they all had their moments) or couldn’t come up with the same ideas. No, because Rick really cared about her, she realized. Like really, really. He went so far as to think up how these blackout bombs would be on theme for her name. Who has ever went out of their way to think about Beth like that? No one. 

She tried to study his face through the blurry smudged safety goggles, but the barrier made it hard to see his eyes. He was fiddling with the firework fuse, attaching it to the clump of mass. She put her hand back on his hoodie sleeve and tugged a bit. He turned as if her tug could do that. Make him stop and listen. Which was crazy, because Rick was big and honestly, she couldn’t stop him, not as Rick or as Hourman, so why did a gentle tug steer him toward her so easily? He looked at her with his undivided attention, waiting for what she had to say. 

Her mouth went inexplicably dry. Taking a breath, she started again. “Rick…” 

The beaker exploded. 

Beth screamed, startling into his side so bad she thought she had a heart attack. Rick held her against him, shielding her from the glass and smoke. Beth’s face was smushed against his black, old borrowed lab apron, his hand protectively against her back. Her heart jumped again, though this time it wasn’t because of the noise. It took a moment for her to realize she wasn’t the one shaking. She looked up to find his entire frame convulsing and her jaw went slack at the sight. 

Rick was laughing. 

Like, genuinely laughing. Beth found herself grinning, eyes growing bright at the scene. She’d never seen Rick laugh. A chuckle or a smirk here and there, yes, but he couldn’t even catch his breath now, he had tears in his eyes and he was holding his side and his face was now pressed against the tabletop to hide from the class staring at them because Rick Harris was laughing. 

At the nosey eyes, Beth took a step back, waving her hands to shoo away their classmates. She craned her neck to find that their teacher wasn’t even in the room. She let out a sigh of relief. “Nothing to see here!” she said, using her go-to spiel whenever one of them did something weird. “That was totally an accident. Our bad!”

She kept shooing until they grew bored, then turned back to assess the mess they made. 

“Oh my god, Rick!” she smacked at his shoulder as she tumbled into her own fit of giggles because his laugh was infectious and happy and the best thing Beth has ever heard in her life. “I told you!” 

But he couldn’t care less about their dangerous chemical exploits, and— She glanced back at the dark residue along the rim of the beaker—She realized she didn’t either. They may need to make some fine-tune adjustments, and maybe look at what they were doing when holding firework fuses in school, but it worked. 

Rick pulled the safety goggles up into his hair and went to find the paper towels and broom to sweep up the glass. When he returned, he stopped and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “What is it?” 

Beth took the broom, carefully guiding the broken glass into the bio-waste bin next to the sink. “Nothing,” she lied badly.  

“Beth…” 

She glanced at him with her pleased grin. “You’re smiling.” 

Rick’s hand dropped against the sink. “Oh.” 

He avoided her eyes, ears reddening again like they did when she was marvelling over his ease with the worksheet. She grabbed his hand and he sucked in a breath, chancing a look. 

“You’re smiling,” she repeated. “I love your laugh!” 

“Oh my god,” he mumbled under his breath, turning away. Beth tightened her hold. 

“You’re happy!” she squeezed his closed fist. His hand loosened in surrender, going flat against the table. Beth turned it over and slipped her hand in his, linking their fingers together. To her utter delight, Rick turned a whole other shade of pink. 

Rick moved their hands so they weren’t on full display over the table, but he squeezed back, and that was all Beth needed to know. 

[catlliecal]

Winx AU Drabble 1: How Stella of Solaria Got Herself Expelled.

Finally doing one of these things! This one is pretty Winx focused, and could probably fit into canon just fine if you ignore the ending. God, I love my baby Stella. I wanna give hr all the hugs. Word Count: 1.8K Rating: General Audiences

Stella, to put it bluntly, was bored.

Bored in potions class for good measure.

Her lab partner was busy recording down the teacher's instructions, but all Stella could think of was how she'd rather be anywhere but in class. Something bumped her shoulder, and she looked over and saw said lab partner nudging her to pay attention. What difference would it make? Stella wasn't the one taking notes. They were already taken care of in that department. Besides, Stella's notes were average at best. 

With a minor huff, she forced herself to pay attention to the teacher. The longer she looked at her, the more Stella's mind kept drifting away from the lesson and more onto what the teacher was wearing. She had a stunning pair of red cat eye glasses that Stella always meant to ask where they came from. However, the rest of her outfit wasn't as chic. Sure, she had a lovely pair of deep navy pumps, but you could barely see them most of the time. She wore a navy button up shirt featuring pearl buttons and pair of tight red pants that hugged her figure just right, yet those were covered up by a large white lab coat buttoned all the way up. A pair of lab goggles rested on top of her head. The outfit could be quite cute if she just exchanged the lab stuff for some cute accessories like a perfectly oversized coat and some cute hair pins to go with the hair bun. Alas. The price to pay for being a potions teacher. Why did potions have to require so much protection?

Stella's lab partner nudged her again. "Got any ideas for what you wanna do?"

"Huh?" 

"I should have known you wouldn't pay attention," the partner sighed. "It's a free lab today.”

"Aren't all labs free?" Stella chuckled. "Last I checked, we don't pay to enter this room.”

"Haha, very funny," her partner huffed. "You know I mean that we're allowed to show off our skills and create our own mixture to present."

"Does it have to be something we learned?" Stella groaned. "That's so boring."

"Actually, no. We can make original mixtures if we just write down what we use and explain what it does."

A lightbulb went off in Stella's head. Finally, this class could be good for something!

"Honey, take notes," Stella said. "I have a plan."

"Oh no."

"Don't give me that," Stella turned on the mini furnace before placing a large glass beaker on top. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"And that would be..."

"Pink!" Stella exclaimed. "We are gonna make a new shade of pink never seen before!" She poured some water into the beaker.

"One, that's such a stupid idea," her partner said. "Two, can you even do that? Make a new color?"

"Clearly you don't keep up with the design world," Stella said. "A couple years ago there was this huge scandal over a designer who was charging people ridiculous amounts of dough to use his special uber dark black. So a different designer created their own uber dark black and let everyone use it for free expect that first guy."

"Uh huh," her partner rolled her eyes. "You sure you don't have any better ideas?"

"This is a brilliant idea!" Stella said. "We'll be famous for inventing Stella Pink! Now take notes. Genius is about to happen right before your very eyes!"

Stella started pulling out ingredients from the drawers and the tables, adding as many pink things as she could. This thing needed to be big, bold, buzz worthy. It needed to blow everyone away with how awesome it would be. It needed to be as special as possible. 

As cliché as it was, Stella couldn't help but giggle the more and more she worked. A sprinkle of this, a dash of that. She only slowed down when she saw her lab partner struggling to write everything down.

Stella dropped in a fuzzy pink plant stem and the mixture began bubbling and sparking. 

"Stella..." her partner said, way too concerned for Stella's liking. "Please don't tell me you really added that..."

"What about it?" Stella asked. "It's pink, no?"

"Yes, but that plant produces and stores a reactive chemical in it, even long after it's been picked and shelved. It's especially sensitive to hydra oil..."

"Relax, I didn't add that."

"You did," her partner pointed to the ingredients sheet, which actually did include hydra oil. A lot of it.

Huh.

The potion began shaking the beaker, and Stella was yanked under the desk just before her creation exploded.

And oh boy did it explode.

The sound of the glass breaking was enough to make you cover your ears, even without the windows joining in. A strong shockwave burst through the whole room, leaving the now pink walls with several cracks in them. Stella slowly poked her head up to find that her whole desk was covered in scorch marks.

"Whoopsie..." she said, her voice cracking.

•••

Expelled. She was now expelled from the best magic school in the whole Dimension.

Okay maybe she hadn't been the greatest student there and didn't always follow the rules, but surely expelling her for a lab mishap was a bit overkill, right? Those windows and walls could be repaired and the pink could be washed away. Really, the worst part of this whole thing was that she didn't even make a new shade of pink.

And maybe that her dad was coming to see her at school.

Okay that was the worst part of this whole thing.

Stella waited outside the headmaster's office, pulling at her skirt and checking her nails over and over as she waited for him to come. She had her phone on her, but something told her that now wasn't the best time to be on it.

After what felt like forever, Stella heard footsteps in the hall. She looked up and saw her father, King Radius of Solaria, walking up.

"Daddy!" She jumped up and ran over to give him a hug.

"It's good to see you too, baby," he said. Eventually he placed her hands on her shoulders. "I am going to hear your side of the story, but the school wanted to talk to me first. I knew you had been getting in trouble, but I didn't think it be this much."

"I learned from the best," she said, before quickly biting her tongue and kicking herself. Not the best time to mention her father's party habits.

"Just hold on a bit longer, okay?" He let go of her and made his way over to the headmaster's door. "We'll figure this out together."

For some reason, she didn't fully believe him.

•••

Stella had no idea time could move even slower than before, but her father's meeting dragged on and on. Not even eavesdropping made the time go by any faster. Eventually, after what had to be a year, Stella heard her father stand up and make his way to the door. She quickly sat back down to appear as innocent as possible.

He stepped out of the office and looked at her. "You have quite a record, huh?"

"I guess so."

"You probably heard, but I've agreed to pay for the damages and provide extra funding for any major renovations for the next three years."

"I wasn't listening," Stella said.

"You've been eavesdropping ever since you understood what words were," he said. "I'm afraid you inherited my interest in gossip."

"I just want to know what's going on," Stella twirled a piece of her hair. "Feels like no one ever tells me things."

"We don't tell you everything because you're not involved in everything," Radius said. "You could possibly spill something important."

"I can keep a secret!" Stella stood back up. "I haven't told anyone that I was the person who sneaked the geese into the castle back when you kept spending so much time making deals with Eraklyon when I was ten!"

"You just did."

"I–" She buried her face in her hands. “Me and my big mouth..."

He walked over and pulled her into a hug. "I know you mean well, but you aren't ready yet. When you are, I'll tell you more."

Stella didn't say anything.

"You know," Radius sighed. "This has been something your mother and I have been meaning to talk about..."

"About what?"

"Your recklessness," he paused. "Look, it's not bad to have so much energy like you do. But you don't think through things. You get so caught up in the heat of the moment that you end up creating a huge mess. Truth be told, I've had a lot of people back home tell me they don't think you can be a good leader…"

"They... they really think that?" Stella asked, going slow to avoid letting her voice shake too much.

"They think you're a great person, but they don't think that you have the skills needed to rule someday. They say that you're wild and crazy, that you don't know how to properly manage such a responsibility."

"I," Stella swallowed a large lump in her throat. "I see..."

"I can't help but view it as my fault," Radius said. "That I wasn't there enough for you and didn't teach you enough. Your mother feels the same."

"Mhm."

"We had actually been talking about bringing you back home," he continued, "to give you specialized lessons with tutors. Since you're now expelled..."

"Hold up," Stella pushed herself away from the hug. "Are you saying I'm not coming back?"

Radius didn't say anything, but Stella knew his answer.

"You're not even gonna try to get me back in. And without asking me. What happened to figuring this out together?"

"Stella–"

"I thought you were gonna fight with me," Stella interrupted. "You've always been so supportive. When I wanted to go to normal school as a kid, you were the one who helped to enroll me and create a fake identity. When I wanted to adopt that stray I found, you were the one who helped me to get it all those shots and bring it back to health. What changed?"

"Because it's bigger than that," Radius said. "You're no longer a kid, and you're no longer dealing with something as simple as a dog. You're dealing with your future, a future that involves taking care of the well being of millions of people. If something bad happened to you and you didn't know how to handle it, I don't think I'd ever forgive myself for letting you go so underprepared.”

Stella wanted to say something. She wanted to say something about how she could rule Solaria and take care of herself just fine. But every time she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Maybe deep down there was a part of her that believed what he said.

"Do you need help packing?" He asked.

"No, dad," Stella shook her head. "I can do it myself."

[uncomfortable-writers]

Red Death (Bucky x Reader)

(Gif credit to owner)

Fandom: Marvel

Character: Bucky Barnes

Persona: Female

Word Count: 1,701

Warning: Swearing, brief mentions of death and of course a little risque in places ;)

A/N - Might turn this into a multipart series idk yet, lemme know what you think!

Inspired by this song ---> https://youtu.be/1V18P7JkAuA

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Bucky sipped cooly on his dry martini, his stare calculating judging the party-goers. Although his stance was calm and collected, the gears in his brain were spinning faster than he could keep up; he’d lost his intended target for the mission and it was an important one. Bucky didn’t even want to be here. He’d much rather be tucked away in his room watching some shitty rom-com, (his guilty pleasure), warm and safe instead of being forced into a suit with a fake smile plastered across his face and his hair pulled back into a bun.

The target was so high-profiled, the event too guarded, that one of the Avengers would never of made it to the front door, but for someone else lesser known? Well it was the perfect opportunity. All he had to do was acquire the intel from the mob boss and leave. Bucky inaudibly sighed, he’d done worse more dangerous things. This should be a piece of cake. Damn Steve for talking him into this.

He was about to push up up from the bar when he noticed a figure appear beside him.

Bucky pretended not to acknowledge, downing the last of his martini he placed it onto the bar beside him before crossing his arms across his chest inadvertently making himself bigger. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when the target waltzed back into his line of vision. “Tough day?”, a voice sweeter than candy spoke, sounding even more wonderful than the music playing. He couldn’t resist looking down towards the source and once he did, he was ensnared. 

The woman’s blonde hair was pulled back delicately behind her ear, pinned back by a simple yet intricate silver hair pin. The rest of her locks were softly curled into beautiful waves that cascaded down her shoulders leading perfectly into her dress and once he drank in the sight of it, he had to suck in a breath. She was wearing a red satin dress which made her figure pop and even though the dress was plain, Bucky swore Jessica Rabbit herself would be envious of all the attention she was commanding. He had to swallow before he opened his mouth, suddenly feeling like he was on fire, “More like a tough week”, he gave a curt chuckle letting his eyes drop to the floor but as you laughed the melodious sound forced his vision back onto you, a sickly feeling of dejavu hit him in the gut:

“Mission report Soldat”, she laughed, smirking all the while at the Winter Soldier who loomed in the doorway. Still dressed in his mission attire he ripped the goggles from his face and then the mask, “You shouldn’t be in here”, he scowled back, placing the items on the table. The asset’s room was bare save for the few pieces of furniture and of course, her. 

She hopped up off his bed and sauntered her way over to him, her hips moving deliciously and soon he realised her game.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”, she purred coming to a halt in front of him, she could smell the strong scent of iron and the faint smell of gunpowder signalling his mission was a success. The soldier refused to look at her in an attempt to keep what little power he had, “You know what they’ll do if they find you in here”, he warned. You giggled and flitted past him, he kept straight-forward and you nudged his door closed, “Don’t tell me that the big, bad Winter Soldier”, you teased him placing your tiny hands onto his broad shoulders with your thumbs pressing into just the right places, “is afraid of having a little fun”. 

In a flash he had you pressed against the now closed door, one hand gripping your hip so hard it was already forming a bruise while the other forced your shoulder into the door. Your scent was tickling his nose, he could smell your arousal, (thanks to his super senses), and he’d barely touched you. His cold eyes bore into your own which sparkled with mischief and when you sucked your bottom lip into your mouth, he could’ve moaned. 

In a clash of teeth and a tangle of limbs you were hiked up into the air. Your legs wrapped around his waist mechanically as they had done so many times before while his hand made quick work of your tactical pants and....

“Ugh tell me about it, it’s always work work work”, you smiled graciously, and moved to copy Bucky’s stance, resting your petite figure against the bar, ripping him out of his hidden memory. Bucky felt dazed, like he shouldn’t be here and not because of the fact that he really shouldn’t be, but there was a nagging voice inside his head setting off red flags about you. There wasn’t something right with you. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it: was it your otherworldly beauty? The way you spoke like butter wouldn’t melt? Or was it that strange aura that danced around you, making Bucky feel like he was drawn to you. The Winter Soldier had to force himself to speak, “It never stops does it?”.

He risked another look at you taking in your whimsical expression, “No”, you sighed with a hint of agitation, you reached into your cleavage and pulled out a small tube of lipstick, “It really never does”. Your carefully applied it to your lips as you watched the room and had Bucky been more vigilant and less infatuated, he would’ve noticed your eyes were also trained on his target.

Loudly smacking your lips, you tucked the tube back into your cleavage. “How do I look?”, you asked Bucky, your hands on your hips and a wolfish grin graced your features. His eyebrows shot up, he let out a low whistle playing into the theatrics, “Like a million dollars. Who’s the lucky guy?”. This time Bucky didn’t miss the way your features seemed to turn darker, it sent a chill up his spine as you started to walk away, “You’ll see”. You chuckled internally at the expression on Bucky’s face which somehow mirrored that of a confused puppy. Even as you turned away from the brunette you could still feel his eyes burning holes into your back. In an instant Bucky’s expression soured as he watched the mob boss pull you into a hug. You’d played him like a fiddle and he’d allowed it, he could’ve kicked himself for being so stupid. Steve had warned him that there might be others who would’ve also tried to take initiative at this event. Bucky rapidly planned out the best way to deal with you but he fell up short. He was reduced to watching you sway around the room, the mob boss attached to your hip and when your eyes locked, Bucky had never felt more angry when you flashed him a toothy grin. Anger at his mission quickly becoming a failure or anger at the fact that some low life had his filthy hands roaming your body, he wasn’t quite sure.

A voice in your concealed earpiece urged you to hurry your mission up so with one last twirl, you kicked it up a notch. 

Bucky watched, unable to take his eyes off of the way you wrapped yourself around this mob boss. Your lips captured the target’s own in a long kiss that distracted the man. Your hands were quick and deft as you gently took the man’s phone, unbeknownst to him. You slipped it into a hidden pocket in your dress. Had Bucky not been a super assassin, trained to spot things like this, the action would’ve gone unnoticed. “I’ll be right back”, you said sweetly to the mob boss even pressing another chaste kiss against his lips for good measure.

As you turned on your heel, you grinned wickedly to yourself, “Mission success”, you mumbled to the earpiece. You were only a few paces away when a cold hand wrapped around your arm tugging you to a halt, “I think you have something of mine”, Bucky grumbled lowly, his friendly exterior completely dissolved. You feigned surprise, “Excuse me?”. you announced loudly. At the sound eyes drifted to the scene, instantly Bucky knew what you were doing, “Just give it to me then we can go our own ways”, he replied softly. His blue eyes serious despite the way your eyes sparkled playfully, “I don’t know what you’re on about let me go!”. Your display didn’t go unnoticed as the mob boss bounded over, his arm protectively snaking around your waist and pulling you into his side, “Everything okay here, (Y/N)?”.

Bucky was forced to let go of your arm as to not cause an even bigger scene. You nodded your head slowly, doe-eyes glistening with false tears. Bucky was impressed by your acting skills, “Go on”, the mob boss nudged you towards your previous destination, “I’ll take care of it”, then the mob boss turned his attention to Bucky as you skidded off towards the exit.

“Look man, she’s got something of yours”, Bucky showed his hands in a display of false submission, even though he was about to attack the man. Before he could, the mob boss opened his mouth and violently started to choke. He clutched at his neck as his face turned purple. Everything turned to shambles. Chaos ensued as the mob boss’s men jumped onto Bucky, trying to apprehend him for a crime he didn’t commit. In the madness of it all Bucky glanced to the doorway and sure as hell there you were; stood proudly like a cat that got the cream. A blonde wig in one hand, you shook out your real (H/C) locks. Your other hand tapped your lips allowing Bucky to guess that your lipstick wasn’t lipstick at all, but rather a chemical agent. With a cheeky wink and the blow of a kiss, you vanished around the corner leaving Bucky to clean up the mess and report his failure back to his team.

“(Y/N)”, he grunted viciously sucker punching another henchman, seering your name into his memory. It suddenly clicked. He was warned about you. 

[badlydrawndrawnings]

atwq book two thoughts

i know from a search online there’s a supplementary book (kind of?) published between the second and third book, and i saw the news netflix is like, probably developing an atwq series? i love reading supplementary material, but i currently have no way of reading it, and netflix for all i know, could adapt it and i can be ‘uh....what the hell is this?’. so i’m gonna take a break from reading the atwq series (idk how long) to figure out what i’m going to do. like, i may jump into the third book and save the supplementary book for last to make myself feel better about the possible bittersweet ending this series is gonna have. 

as a kid i did not take lemony’s warning into consideration, so the me now knows better and realistically readjust ending expectations. good thing too, considering this book reveal a lot more than i thought. i guess it’s a given due to the fact it’s a four-book series and not thirteen-book series like asoue.

more of the review under the cut. i also have some asoue rambling opinions -one is which related to some atwq/tua things in regards to lemony and his family, and some thoughts on the possible netflix!atwq series.

so before going to the plot, i want to talk about kit and lemony’s last conversation for the time being. actually, i want to talk about the snicket family in general. 

teen!kit took what is probably the biggest risk for their plan to steal...whatever they wanted to steal from vfd (so it’s important enough for kit to deciding to continue the job solo but not important enough for lemony deciding to not send in a replacement despite probably the one who came with the idea; will talk about that when i get to lemony). it’s a big risk on kit’s end, and it hurts lemony is more than willing cut short the conversation. i don’t blame him for it, not really. there’s the matter of people overhearing and hiding it from their chaperones.

but teen!kit getting caught by the police makes me think of the end with kit thinking both of her brothers are dead. obviously teen!kit will have her breaking out of their custody and meet lemony and jacques again because clearly she’s not in prison by asoue (unless she actually served time, but i doubt it; adult!kit broke taxi laws and safety and got away with it) or something akin to it. now, kit in some parts of tua knew lemony was alive. she did recommended the asoue books after all. but when was the last time they talk to each other? i presumed lemony was on the run for the last 15 years since olaf pinning lemony for crimes sort of corresponded with beatrice and bertrand getting married. in their what turn out to be their last conversation (probably right before it all went to crap for lemony or before lemony’s mistaken death), did lemony cut the conversation short? or was it kit who cut the conversation short?

like maybe kit could be comparing lemony’s situation to her and thought it would end the same way, only for her to proven wrong in the worse possible way.

while kit is the important snicket that is the protagonist of her own story told in the illustrations (adult!kit confirm to have worsen eyesight as an adult), it’s nice to see jacques get a name drop. i suspect he has no clue what his younger siblings are planning or does knows, but is too far away, even father than lemony and his resident in strain’d-by-the-sea (sbts) to help out (i’m thinking the latter like the way lemony wants kit to send his regards makes me think jacques has some idea the younger siblings are planning). with the last snicket sibling out of way, i need to talk about their family.

i think i should have mention this in my review of the first atwq book, but it’s more noticeable here. lemony seems to have some memories (the hike is what i want to talk about that’s the flag that made me go ‘uhhh’ out loud and got some glances; also my headcanon about e snicket enjoying camping and nature feels more sensible now) of his parents. but in tua, lemony most likely/confirm to be taken as a baby and still crawling. with lemony’s comment about his mother and father on the day he and his siblings got taken in the tua, i assumed that at least all three or one of the siblings were able to meet up with their parents again as teenagers/young adults before their death and told their grief on that day. 

yet in this book and the last book to some minor degree, lemony talks about his parents as if he reunited with them before atwq series started. i’m not going to lie, and i should have brought it up in my last review, but i went ‘wtf’ at the first chapter of the first book i almost bought the fake parents act and the fact s. theodora markson figured it out made me go ‘oh thank good so lemony haven’t reunited with his parents yet” (s. theodora markson looking past the act means she is more competent than she looks, so i’m wondering why she’s...that with the main case she’s working on). i also made a note in my last review kid!lemony uses his imagination for familiar comfort and joy from out of his loneliness, so i’m wondering that’s the case here. i think while mentions of his parents is lemony thinking of what he wants to think, the ones with more details are ‘real’, in a sense jacques and kit told lemony. like the hike.

jacques and kit could actually remember that day and told lemony because they remember most of the events even if some parts are fuzzy. i say this because i was five and ran into traffic and almost got ran over. the memory of the incident itself is fuzzy, but i remember most of it to where i know it really did happen.

with some sad feelings of the snicket family situation out of the way, i get to talk about the atwq characters. i only know jake hix and cleo knight for one book, but i love them and i hope they become high school sweethearts (like they exist and those who are devoted to one another have great happiness with one another).

jake is honestly that meme of that guy going ‘i’ll feed you all’. i don’t want to call jake team (food) mom yet because i have a semi-bad experience of another fandom with a male character who cooks and is call ‘team mom’ due to the early parts of the fandom going out of control with it (it chilled down now hence ‘semi-bad experience’). but seriously, jake is going to care for the kids and he’s gonna feed them all and no one can stop him. no one will also stop him when he learns cleo isn’t actually okay and got kidnapped (he’s so devoted to her and her goal this is why i say i hope they become high school sweethearts) to where he was willing to crash her car in the clinic but didn’t because the car is like, non-destructible. i thought with his character description he would have like, bangs. the illustration shows that’s not the case. his bowtie is very dapper.

cleo really only showed up close to the ending so i kind don’t have a good grip of of her character like jake. but my goodness, i love her illustration (the full one that has her looking menacingly not the poster of her face). cleo’s outfit screams rich kid vibe (granted she is one) + late 1970s clothing with the future flair (cleo being ‘modern’ as she can be is helping my headcanon the vibe of the asoue world is like, slowly rebuilding and getting dominated by the world in first 20th century due to rose tinted glasses). the black and white motif her family has going on screams ‘in theory, we could order a hit man but we choose not to’ and that’s because they decided to drain the sea instead. that’s how rich they are. anyway, i doubt cleo wants to kill a person. she has to create a formula and save sbts. i don’t want to call her team (chemistry) dad just yet, because i don’t have a good grip f her character. but i like how she help moxie with her injury, and how goal driven she is to save her town from her family’s mistake.

since cleo and ellington were able to make their plan work to a degree, ellington is probably older than lemony and not just taller than him (i know 12-13 years old can look older than their real age, but people i know those age when i was in middle school only got mistaken as a freshman). also, the kid friendly noir vibes are now getting stronger. ellington just pretended to be someone else and like, it’s raising the red flags in my mind and i’m the eye emoji now i am on my guard i may be under attack. however, i still have my heart on my sleeve for her and have hopes of her reuniting with her father, who I now really think he’s a good dad and was specifically targeted (like cleo) due to being a naturalist.

it helps hangfire really shows how terrible he is. he tried to pretend to be her father! i know his voice mimicry is basically akin to juni cortez’s mimicry, but this is just cruel had ellington been there.

whatever hangfire’s group is doing, i’m not seeing how this relates with the BB statue and the people he kidnapped. we got a chemist who does things with tubes and bunsen burners and dangerous chemicals that makes one wear goggles, and a man who likes the natural environment. the tadpoles that bites are confusing me more though. why would someone create tadpoles that bites? still, with more detail of what hangfire is part of and with parts of his plan known at last, the plot is picking up speed. i’m scared, intrigued, and excited to read what will happen next, especially since hangfire is like, now going to be active in his own plan + group. they’re clearly not giving a damn about human life given their name of the inhumane society. whatever they’re planning and with the people they kidnapped so far, it has to do with the BB creature itself. is this going into the supernatural realm? is this connected to possibly the great unknown? am i overthinking connections?

i don’t have too much to say for most of the other secondary characters. i hope qwerty deals with his moth problems (so if moth balls stop moths from eating clothing, can they work in libraries? can qwerty even afford some non killing month repellent with his sub-librarian salary?), pip and squeak need to stop working and go be kids (their dad must be close to death if he’s that sick and they have to work), and prosper lost can tone down the watching. also, i think the mitchum parents don’t really love each other or not as much as before and need a divorce or couple counseling (their bickering is making me concern), and stew...still can’t find any pity or anything to find him a character i love to hate.

in regards to moxie, she is honestly the best friend lemony needs. she’s sticking her life to helping lemony with his case and while having opinions at the end of the day she just wants to help her friend in need. she puts up with so much give her an award like she got ditched at the library and stay to give lemony a piece of her mind before going all ‘okay so what we gonna do next’. she also gave him a dumb haircut. that is best friend material and i want their friendship to go into their adult years (yes i still think she’s the kind editor).

also, LEMONY CANONICALLY HAD A BOWL CUT HAIRSTYLE. he now has reasons to wear a hat and hide his face for the time being.

i said most things in regard to lemony in the snicket family situations paragraphs at the beginning of this post, so talking about kid!lemony as a solo character is not going as wordy. in this book kid!lemony could have died several times, one time by hangfire’s hand! he’s a kid, and this is really something a 17 or 18 should be in (even then i don’t want a 17 and 18 year old, or anyone of any age, be in his situation). he’s risking so much of his life for sbts and the people living there, all without knowing his sister is also in trouble as well until the final chapter. with lemony learning what happen to kit, i can’t help but wonder his worry for family will affect his actions in the next two books. though now i am question is actions pre-atwq like lemony almost got thrown out of vfd?? shoot lemony, i didn’t think he like vfd a lot as an adult ‘active’ member of vfd  but he was still loyal, but this is new. i also don’t want to say he’s staging a coup but he and a whole other sbg members -kit is obvious- are clearly doing something that’s totally a coup? was being frames for crimes he didn’t commit, living on the run, and losing everything (fiancee, friends, and family) broke adult!lemony so much it made him  ‘passive’ (i don’t think it’s the right word but it’s the one i can think of now)?

my feelings on s. theodora markson are the same as before, but i think she may be smarter than she looks given a re-think of the last book. her current behavior makes me think she is ‘warming’ up to lemony, even in the last book. she took him off probation was being ‘nice’ and when teasing lemony about his not-crush on ellington (i legit don’t know if lemony has a crush on her or is really wanting to help her out). that’s something an adult does to a child who may or may not have a crush on someone. theodora still treats lemony like she did in the previous book, no doubt due to vfd rules and her upbringing in vfd. 

i only have read two books of atwq, so i probably don’t carry too much weight on my two cents of a netflix adaptation. but i am thinking of the changes netflix asoue made with hector and kit, and vfd as a freaking whole. hector is not part of vfd the organization anymore, but he can be replaced with larry-your-waiter (just got to rewrite the balloon stuff with something else). kit is giving me a headache because i still can’t figure out if she was retcon into the youngest snicket in netflix show, and excluding that netflix!kit’s change of personality/character makes me think netflix!kit would not have gotten caught and like, kit needs to get caught it’s important for her off screen story and kid!lemony story as a side thing. because it’s the books, vfd is still the ‘old. old as balls’ conspiracy secret organization, while netflix is the ‘hey let’s make our (book) club be something more to change the world’ secret agent organization made by ishmael. well, netflix good luck with the hole you dug that is possibly kit and vfd.

it’s now round two of asoue character cameos (kit doesn’t count she’s a protagonist of her own off-screen story), and widdershins is a surprise. before i get into his atwq cameo and my opinion of the character, i want to copy-paste something from my first atwq review: asoue was one of my first fandom i entered via me me and my sister. no one else read the books or weren’t fans of them, so we turn to each other to talk about them. i began lurking pre-atwq books, but gave up after several months due to being in more active fandoms and i had bad timing to join when it was basically dead, and i outgrew the target demographic when atwq came out and i had no chance to read the books. i only made the decision to re-lurk (sparingly i am still in more active fandoms) and make and share content in 2016 (and i’m too used to lurking for this fandom. i can reblog for fandoms, just not for this fandom and i’m trying to overcome whatever is making me not do it).

so, i’m a fandom hermit living in the woods away from fandom society and i suddenly decided to enter fandom society, and all of my opinions are free of influences and other fan opinions (sans my sister but we talk more about the plot and story than characters). my opinion of widdershins is a dislike-neutral-*thinking emoji*. i dislike him, but i don’t hate him. and if i have to make a tier list of all the important and semi-important  asoue characters from favorite to hated, widdershins would actually be lump in the middle with the other true-neutral characters i have.

disliking widdershins should be obvious. with a most likely vfd upbringing, he probably thinks his actions are acceptable and the norm but they blur a lot with his parenting to where his actions are just plain awful. the big one is him throwing fernald under the bus or allowing jacques to throw fernald under the bus when it came to the anwhistle aquatic fire (i’m not sure what happen here). don’t get me started with the talk of arranged marriages and willingness to send fiona and the baudelaires -which is basically two teens, a teen i call a kid, and a baby- into a life or death place (and sunny almost died) and left without instructions and maybe no note (with the reveal of violet’s fifteenth date i wonder if widdershins and phil were putting up decorations and when they had to leave, widdershins went ‘the balloons will do’ because they spell out vfd and somehow thought he was killing two birds with one stone; it’s still bad as no note).

the whole *thinking emoji* came from the happy family photo. it got me asking ‘what the heck is up with this guy’ and a fascination on trying to figure out how he ticks. with re-reads, i got the impression widdershins was a normal and calm person/vfd member as can be. fernald clearly liked widdershins before the anwhistle aquatic fire. widdershins being fernald and fiona’s stepfather is proof mrs. widdershins loved him -flaws and all- and accept his proposal in spite of the age gap that went over my head as a kid. the way he speaks of josephine, kit, and jacques means he has friends who like him. i sort of came to the idea his level of jerkass and awfulness gradually build up over time post anwhistle aquatic fire (being its worst by tgg), and i took his off-screen actions in the end based off the photo and my impressions of pre-fire widdershins that widdershins realized what he become -probably when he got the news fernald and fiona double cross olaf- and clean up his act to be with them again, even if it kills him. 

so i’m kind of please teen!widdershins (that tiny as hell illustration makes me think he’s a teen okay) is calm and normal? he’s not screaming ‘aye’ every other sentence. he’s more considerate to others. he’s nice as he can be to kid!lemony when breaking the news teen!kit got caught (widdershins breaking the news makes me think kit and him are friends). he even complimented kid!lemony for the not coup kid!lemony is planning (he’s probably going along with the not coup he’s clearly not stopping it; and i want to say their friendship ended when widdershins believed a certain daily punctilio story and showed it everyone- including beatrice- which lead to widdershins forgetting lemony’s name, yet lemony was part of the crew of two after jacques, so something else must have been the cause?). teen!widdershins has his philosophy of not hesitating, but it’s not consuming his life. from what i read, teen!widdershins is someone (kid and teen) fernald would and probably did got along with: it’s the older big brother (figure) who has cool stories to tell while also being sensible with kind words and advice when the younger sibling feels down and needs help and probably let said sibling do whatever they want. it perfectly lines up with my messed up widdershins-caliban theory headcanon holy ****

with the cameo now in mind, i can’t help but wonder if teen!widdershins would hesitate -or not hesitate- to punch his adult self for becoming radically different. 

[brittysaucefanfic]

Teachings of the Heart

Part 8

@shattbigbang @pastellipastels @oakskull

(First)(Previous)(Next)(Last)(AO3)(Art)

“So.” Matt says as he walks up behind Shiro. “Ready to start decorating partner?”

Shiro turns away from his papers for the game later on tonight and smiles at Matt. He looks ready for war if you ask Shiro. His long hair is pulled to the back of his neck with a hair tie, his glasses hooked into his hair. Maybe to keep them from falling off his face? Maybe to make a new fashion statement?

Honestly it could go either way with Matt. 

Matt is wearing a pair of jean overalls he only ever uses when doing messy experiments, so it’s got lots of chemical stains and suspicious looking holes and rips. He’s also wearing a pair of protective goggles around his neck, made in a steampunk style because why not? Matt smiles at Shiro and his heart practically stops beating.

Matt is too cute, too pure. 

“Earth to Shiro, come in Space Ranger, come in.” Matt says, making a sound like he’s calling in over the radios they used to have as kids before they got phones. Matt steps forward and pokes Shiro between the eyes on the bridge of his nose and Shiro can’t help but to start laughing. Shiro steps away from Matt and swats at his hand like a fly.

“Okay, okay. You can cut it out now. Where do we begin?” Shiro says. Matt purses his lips and hums as he looks around at the empty gym. Shiro’s eyes follow where Matt looks and he feels only slightly like they are in over their heads. 

“Should we wait for Allura?” Matt asks but Shiro shakes his head. 

“She texted me saying she’s held up with a school board meeting about something important. She’ll be a little late to decorating.” Shiro explains. Matt nods in understanding and looks back out into the gym. 

“So what first? Posters? Streamers? Balloons? Glitter?” Matt says, turning back to Shiro and grinning sweetly. Shiro cringes at the thought of having to deal with Matt and glitter and deadpans his expression. 

“No glitter.” Shiro says. Matt jerks back like he’s been shot in the chest with a hand clutching his overall strap over his heart. The offended face he makes is almost good enough to be passed off as real offense. Maybe to others anyways, but not Shiro. They know each other too well.

“Uh, yes glitter. It wouldn’t be a proper school dance without buckets of glitter.” Matt tries to argue. Shiro shakes his head no and crosses his arms. Matt copies him and Shiro feels like he’s not going to win this staredown. He tries anyways. 

“No glitter.” Shiro says. 

“Yes glitter.” Matt fires back.

The two of them lock eyes. Shiro stares into pretty amber eyes that threaten to make him come apart at the seams but he refuses to lose this time. Matt always seems to be able to coerce anything he wants out of Shiro, but not this time. Glitter is messy, hard to clean up, and far too much for a school dance. It takes a good minute or two before Matt’s shoulders drop and he starts pouting, which is the most adorable form of defeat Shiro could possibly imagine. 

“How about we get started on the posters.” Shiro suggests instead, throwing an arm over Matt’s shoulders to direct him towards the ‘art station’ as Matt has dubbed the pile of supplies. It comes complete with it’s own sign and a table to work on. The same table where Lance will end up being the dance DJ. It’s become clear over the years that Keith isn’t allowed to DJ because he isn’t ‘enthusiastic enough’, which he grumbles about quite often. 

Pidge is never allowed to DJ, because his music always ends up breaking school code with all the cussing in it. Shiro isn’t allowed to either because apparently he always gives ‘dad lectures’ about safety, which are completely necessary! Then Allura is always supervising, Hunk usually handles the food, Matt gets distracted too easily, and outsourcing is too costly. 

Which leaves Lance the people pleaser. 

Besides, the kids love it when he DJ’s.

“Okay.” Matt mumbles and pouts as Shiro drags him over to the table and grabs a roll of paper to be used for the posters. They set up on the floor with newspaper underneath the poster paper and sit across from each other on either side of the paper. It takes them five minutes to get started though because Matt has OCD and refused to start working without organizing everything. 

Oh well, Shiro enjoyed watching Matt.

The way Matt's long hair fell out of the hair tie and into his face as he leaned down. The peak of his tongue as he sticks it out in concentration. That cute little furrow of Matt's eyebrows when the markers kept rolling away from their designated place. And obviously the way his rolled up sleeves on his shirt frame the growing muscles of his arms. 

Absolutely precious. 

Shiro snaps out of his love struck staring when Matt leans away from his organizing, hands raised as if to tell a group of people to freeze and not move. Shiro looks at the organized items and tries to memorize it so he can put them back where they go when they aren't being used. 

"Ready now?" Shiro asks, straightening his back. Matt pursed his lips as he looks at the set up one last time, then nods slowly. 

"Yes. Let's get this show on the- wait!" Matt yells. Shiro freezes mid reach for a pencil and he watches as Matt adjusts their water cup to be perfectly centered in the midst of it all. "Okay now I'm ready."

Shiro ducks his head to hide the goofy grin on his lips. 

They take their sweet time outlining for the posters, all of them so they can all be painted right after the other. Matt fills the time with a rant about something to do with the robot being built in Pidge and Hunk's robotics club. All Shiro knows about what he's saying is that he's enthusiastic so it's all good things. 

Probably. 

Shiro concentrates on finishing the tracing of the school's mascot, the lion, as he listens to Matt ramble. It's a tracing because neither Shiro nor Matt know how to draw very well, but surprisingly, Keith is actually pretty good at it.

Hidden talents and all.

He's so focused on getting the lion's eyes right that he doesn't realize Matt's rambling has drifted off for a moment into silence. Shiro finishes his tracing and he leans back to check his work. He's pretty proud that he managed not to completely screw it up. Like, kind of embarrassingly proud. 

"Hey Takashi." Matt calls out, grabbing Shiro's attention from his (brother's) masterpiece. Shiro looks up and flinches as something cold and liquid-y is swiped across the bridge of his nose. Shiro's eyes refocus on Matt as he grins triumphantly. A paintbrush is in his hand, the bristles dripping with orange paint onto the newspaper. 

Shiro's eyes cross to look at his now orange nose. 

Shiro blinks, not once, not twice, but three times before he registers what happened. When he realizes he now has paint across his nose, slowly dripping to go down the crest of his lips, his eyes snap back up to Matt. Matt looks like he's about to explode from holding in his laughter. Face red as a tomato, pupils blown wide, hand clamped over his mouth to stay quiet. However, the moment Shiro looks back at him, he bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

Shiro's lips twitch into a small smirk as he reaches for a paintbrush. 

Next thing he knows his hand snaps forward with a mind of its own and then there's a purple streak right over Matt's left cheekbone. Matt's laughter cuts out in the next breath as he stares at Shiro like he's betrayed him. 

"Oh." Matt says softly. Shiro's hand slowly retreats with the paintbrush as he smirks a little bit bigger. "This. Means. War."

Shiro and Matt both freeze for a single moment and then they're both up. Shiro trying and failing to get away since Matt clamped a hand over his ankle. Matt cackling madly as he reaches for a can of paint. Shiro looks back, regret for training Matt to be strong sinking in, just in time to see Matt's hand disappear in the can of red paint. 

"No!" Shiro yells- squeals- as Matt smears a handprint of red down Shiro's neck. 

"What are you gonna do about it now 'Kashi! I've got you trapped!" Matt yells in between fits of evil cackling. Not laughter, cackling. Like an evil witch who just ensnared an unsuspecting innocent in her trap. Shiro sticks his hand in the green paint with his own little cackle. 

Matt has never launched away from something so quickly in the time Shiro's known him.

And Matt is afraid of spiders.

Shiro launches after Matt and takes him down in a tackle, somehow just barely missing all the open paint cans and posters. His green, paint covered hand smacks right in the center of Matt's face and smears downwards. Matt sputters as he tries not to ingest any paint, squirming like a snake on his stomach to get out from underneath Shiro's body. 

Shiro's cackling and Matt's squeals are interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. 

They both freeze and look at each other before scrambling away with red cheeks. Or technically more green for Matt's. Shiro uses his non-paint covered hand to dig into his back pocket for his phone. He cringes as Allura's face pops up. It's a selfie she took when she stole his phone one time. It's of her face squished into the clear glass of her back screen door. Her eyes are crossed, her cheeks puffed out, lips pursed in a 'duck face' and her nose flattened against the glass of the screen door.

Shiro clears his throat and answers the phone. 

"Hey Allura." Shiro says. Matt's eyes widen and he hides his face in his hands, peeking through his fingers. 

"Hey Shiro I just wanted to check up on your progress. How is everything going?" Allura says. There's a weird noise in the background and then Allura shushes someone. Shiro clears his throat a little. 

"How's everything going? It's going-" Shiro looks at Matt with a glare as he giggles at the high pitch in Shiro's voice. "Great. It's going great. Perfect. Perfectly fine. Perfectly-" Shiro coughs and finishes lamely. "Great."

"Right..." Allura says, drawing the word out a little. Another weird noise, like a laugh or something similar, sounds over the phone and then there's a sound like someone smacking a table. Matt leans his ear right up next to the phone to listen, leaning on Shiro's shoulder for support. 

"Anyways." Allura continues. "I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to make it to help out with the decorations. This, uh, board meeting is running a little long. So I'll be by before the dance to check on things before I head on over to the stadium to get things ready. I'll come back when the dance starts."

"Yeah! No! Sounds good. Matt and I have this covered. Don't you worry bout a thing! Everything is-" Shiro's voice breaks and he smacks Matt away from the phone when he giggles again. "Everything is fine!" 

"Are you sure?" Allura says, sounding beyond suspicious. 

"Yep." Shiro says through gritted teeth as he sees the mess they've made, both on each other and on the floor. Paint. Is. Everywhere. 

"Just dandy. Oh look. Matt needs help doing the-" He flounders for a second. "Thing. Over there. I need to go help him. Thanks for checking in gotta go bye!" Shiro says quickly before hanging up the phone. 

Matt starts sniggering at him and Shiro's cheeks flush as he hides his face in shame. 

"You are so bad at lying." Matt says. 

Shiro glares at him before they get back to work on the decorations. School let out at noon, and the dance starts at three thirty and ends at six thirty, giving them an hour before the game begins. Shiro checks his phone to see the time is a quarter after one. While Shiro cleans up the mess of paint on the floors, Matt finishes the posters. 

Then Shiro blows up balloons while Matt hangs up the streamers while the posters dry. 

"Hey 'Kashi?" Matt yells, slightly muffled, from the other side of the gym. Shiro looks up from blowing up the balloons to look at Matt. Or at least, what he thinks should be Matt. Pretty sure the Matt sized bundle of streamers wasn't there before. Shiro finishes off his balloon with a hidden smile he watches Matt from the corner of his eye. Matt hops around in circles, only making the streamers tangle on him even worse than before. 

Shiro looks over just in time to watch Matt’s form wobble and plop on the floor. 

Shiro winces in sympathy as Matt rolls around on the floor cursing and groaning as he tries to free himself. He stands up slowly, letting his knees pop before walking over to Matt’s struggling, streamer covered form. He really got tangled up good. How? Shiro can’t answer that.

Streamers wrap from the bottom of his feet, tying them together, up to his arms. One arm is pinned behind his back, the other right down the front of his body. There’s streamers around Matt’s face, pinning his goggles over his mouth in a slanted way, his glasses crooked on his face. Matt stares up at Shiro with pleading eyes as Shiro observes the mess that is Matt. 

“How did you even get so tangled up?” Shiro asks, crouching down beside Matt and resting his arms on his knees. He lifts up one arm to set his chin on his palm as watches Matt squirm. Matt stops wiggling around enough to glare at him, probably because Shiro is making no attempt to hide his amusement.

Matt says something, or tries to anyways, but the moment he opens his mouth his ends up gagging himself with his own goggles. 

Shiro chuckles as he watches Matt desperately try to free his mouth. Matt looks back up at him with puppy dog eyes, and Shiro’s face softens. He quirks a smile at Matt and reaches forward to pry the goggles out of his mouth. 

“Shiro can you please free me?” Matt begs and Shiro looks at him with raised eyebrows.

“They’re streamers, which means they’re fragile. What’s the problem?” Shiro asks. Matt glares again when he struggles and can’t get free and Shiro takes another look at the streamers. His eyebrows lift even higher as he realizes these aren’t the usual paper streamers they usually get. Instead they’re like a stretchy plastic. There’s probably a name for them but Shiro couldn’t tell you off the top of his head what it could be.

Shiro clicks his tongue as he looks at Matt.

“Let me grab some scissors.” Shiro sighs and goes back to the art station to grab some scissors. 

He crouches back by Matt’s side, scissors in hand and starts at his feet. Those are simple enough, as are Matt’s calves. Shiro holds one hand on Matt’s leg to keep him still while he cuts, as to avoid hurting Matt. Shiro reaches to Matt’s thighs and only hesitates for a split second to place his hand on Matt’s thigh. The muscles beneath his fingertips jerk and Shiro’s face flushes. 

He refuses to look Matt in the face.

Shiro reaches to cut the next strap, but Matt’s leg jerks. Shiro retreats his hand fast enough to avoid injuring Matt, and cuts his eyes at Matt. The man’s face is as red as Shiro’s feels, and he’s not looking at Shiro. Matt has his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Shiro reaches down again, holding Matt’s thigh more firmly to keep him still.

Shiro ignores the sharp breath Matt takes in.

The gym is quiet, but Shiro’s heart is thumping so loudly he feels like people across the universe can hear it. And why wouldn’t his heart be racing? His crush is lying down in front of him, letting Shiro hold him in intimate places to untangle the streamers. Shiro can’t resist it when he squeezes just a little to feel the powerful muscles in Matt’s leg. Said muscles jump again and Shiro hurries to Matt’s hip to continue. Snip by snip, area by area on Matt’s body, the streamers begin to loosen enough for Matt to shift his arms. 

Matt sits up when they’re loose enough to slip over his head. 

Shiro coughs as he starts gathering the pieces of streamers to take to the trash. They collect the trash in silence and take it to the trash bin in much the same manner. They’re walking back inside, shivering slightly from the cold, when Matt speaks up.

“Um,” Matt stutters, ever eloquent. “Thanks for that- for me- for helping me I mean.”

“No problem.” Shiro says. It’s another minute of silence as they reach the doors to the gym before Shiro changes the subject. “The posters are probably done drying now.”

“Let’s get this finished with then. We only have an hour left and we still have to set up the food and drinks table, the tables for the kids, and the DJ table.” Matt says, getting down to business. Shiro looks over to catch Matt’s blinding smile before he skips off to the posters. 

This man will be the death of him, Shiro thinks to himself as he watches Matt take off with a love struck smile.

******

(First)(Previous)(Next)(Last)(AO3)(Art)

[izaswritings]

Title: the problem with politics

Synopsis: Rapunzel has been crowned Queen and Varian has finally been pardoned. Some people have objections to this. Or, as Cassandra would say, “Some people need a kick in the—”

Notes: I wrote this in an exhausted daze in the middle of the night during a very tiring vacation. In other words…. Please be gentle if it’s not up to snuff?? 😅

Also, disclaimer—  I know nothing about politics, I just wanted to try my hand at humor and happiness for once. Also, does this count as fluff?? I’m kind of counting this as fluff. It’s for Fluff week.

-

This fic a sequel to another fic of mine, which you read either here or here! You don’t have to read it to understand this fic, but it does set up some background.

AO3 Link for this fic is here.

-

“I just have a few concerns,” says the minister, meaning, I have issues with every choice you have ever made.

“I see,” says Rapunzel, meaning, I regret ever letting you enter my kingdom, you long-winded old coot.

The minister smiles, unsuspecting of her insult. Eugene, sitting beside Rapunzel and looking quite dashing in his crown and kingly outfit, coughs awkwardly into one hand to hide a smile. He always has known her too well.

Rapunzel does not react. She sits there and smiles as pretty as she can, just as her mother taught her, and resists the urge to jump out the window. She’s great at spontaneous dynamic exits, she’d catch herself no problem, and it would, quite honestly, be hilarious.

Across the room, Cassandra catches Rapunzel’s eye and slowly shakes her head. No jumping out of windows, Raps, that’s what that means. Rapunzel scowls back and reluctantly looks back at the minister. He’s one of many, a leader of some far-off country Rapunzel can’t even remember the name of, and she has been sitting here for hours in a meeting she thought would take only a few minutes.

“First,” says the minister, in what promises to be a very long list of everything this old man thinks Rapunzel is doing wrong, “there is the matter of your choice in… company.”

“Hmm,” says Rapunzel, slouching in her chair.

“Not that I would object to a Queen’s decision! But ah, there are some… concerns, Your Highness, on what would inspire you to pardon a known criminal?”

It’s rather hilarious how quickly the kingdom has forgotten Rapunzel’s roots. Her husband—and their Prince Consort, technically nearly a king—was once a thief, her royal baker and pianist and many others in her court are former thugs of the Snuggly Duckling pub, and Rapunzel herself caused quite a stir way back when with her absolute refusal to wear shoes. Really, they should have seen this coming.

Also, known criminal? Who is this man kidding? Half the reason Varian was such an effective informant was that the only people that still remembered his crimes were the guards. And the royal family, admittedly; but this man is neither of those things.

Varian, standing to the left of her, who thus far has been absently fiddling with a new vial of some green concoction, must be thinking something similar, because he snorts and nearly drops the vial on Rudiger. The raccoon chitters at him and jumps up to his shoulders, and the minister gives them a sharp look, before ignoring them entirely, not giving Varian or Rudiger a second glance.

…Which, now that Rapunzel thinks about it, is another mark against the minister. So much for ‘known criminal,’ has the man even realized the criminal in question is standing right across from him?

Seriously. Rapunzel’s been dealing with these people for weeks. She’s already given her long-winded explanations, her stories and her reasoning, and yet the number of complaining royals seems to have only increased. Why, why do they just keep coming? It’s not like Varian attacked their kingdom!

“Very concerning,” Rapunzel agrees pleasantly, trying not to sound too eager to leave. Her fingers tap restlessly against her leg. “I’ll take those suggestions under advisement. If there is nothing else…?”

Cassandra, familiar with the former King’s favorite phrase, chokes on her breath, nearly dropping her halberd. Behind her throne, Rapunzel can hear Varian snicker.

If they give her away, Rapunzel is banning them both from the castle. She has dealt with too many of these people. If they subject her to another hour of this… Well! Drastic measures must be taken.

However, thank the Sun and Moon, the minister seems unaware of their mockery. His smile is slimy but genuinely pleased, and Rapunzel resists the urge to wrinkle her nose at him.

“Well, if you insist,” says the minister, sounding… far too high-and-mighty, actually, oh dear. Rapunzel turns her attention back to him, feeling a bit desperate, her heart sinking. “I do have a few other recommendations for how your castle should be running. First of all—" And here, he looks pointedly at Pascal, perched on Rapunzel’s head, before eyeing Rudiger up on Varian’s shoulders. “—this isn’t exactly a zoo, Your Highness.”

Rapunzel goes absolutely still. Beside her, Eugene sighs openly, clasping a hand over his face. Varian clutches Rudiger to his chest and gives the man a dirty look. Even Cassandra looks offended, one hand rising to pat Owl on the head.

Pascal, turned yellow-white with shock at the audacity, gives a little gasp.

Rapunzel closes her eyes, inhaling deeply. Then she exhales slow and careful, and fixes the man with her best smile. “Quite right,” she says, her gaze boring into him. The minister starts to look at bit nervous. Rapunzel keeps on smiling. Her teeth are grit. “This is no zoo, it’s a castle. Therefore, sir, I implore you to treat these animals with respect, and assume they are here for a reason. Unlike yourself.”

The minister looks startled, and then offended, opening his mouth again. Eugene flies up to his feet before a word can pass through his lips. “Well!” he says loudly, grandly, one hand flung out to the sky. “That was positively riveting! Thank you, kind sir, for your marvelous advice. So helpful! But, alas, it is time for lunch. Can’t ignore the bell.” He grabs Rapunzel’s arm, smile wide and bright and a little desperate. “Ta-ta, see you later! Or never! Or whichever works, really! Come along dear, I think the steak is calling for me.”

He tugs into her into a half-way spin and drags her bodily down the hall and out of the throne room. As if following an unspoken cue, Cassandra and Varian tag along behind them. Cassandra is grinning. Varian is petting Rudiger and muttering under his breath.

Rapunzel closes her eyes and shakes her head, trying to reorient herself. Oh, darn it. She hadn't meant to lose her temper. Still... at least it got her out of that room, at any rate. She doesn't think she could've lasted another hour.

“So,” Rapunzel says dryly, once the throne room is out of sight, in lieu of thanks. “Steak can talk now?”

Eugene blinks down at her and then flashes a winning smile. His arm comes around and squeezes her shoulder. “Well, now, you never know! Maybe Varian used the kitchen for his alchemy.”

“Um, objection,” Varian says, jogging slightly to catch up to them, before slowing down to walk at their heels. He crosses his arms, chin tilted up in false offense. “That is sloppy. I am never sloppy.”

“Anymore,” says Cassandra, slyly.

“Do you know what flynnolium does to steak?” Varian asks her. “I mean, even for me— sloppy.”

Cassandra raises an eyebrow at that, looking curious. “What does flynnolium do to steak?”

Varian brightens, pushing back his goggles up further on his head and starting to grin. “Well—”

“I do not know,” Eugene says, speaking loudly over them. “I do not know, and I hope I never find out, because wow that is a terrifying thought.”

“Ah, spoilsport,” Varian mutters, but drops the subject without further prompting. Behind Eugene’s back, noticeable only in the corner of Rapunzel’s eye, Cassandra nudges at Varian's shoulder. She points between Varian and herself and then towards the direction of the royal kitchens, eyebrows raised in a silent question. Varian gives her an ok-sign back in return.

Rapunzel has a feeling she is going to receive a report on what happens when raw meat interacts with deadly chemical very, very soon, no matter what Eugene wishes. She hides a smile behind her hand and looks ahead, feigning innocence. If Cassandra and Varian want to make things go boom in the castle kitchens, Rapunzel isn’t going to stop them. She confesses to being bit curious herself, honestly.

Besides. Maybe it will give those old coots something else to gossip about. It’s been nearly a month, after all—they’ll have to move on from Varian’s pardon eventually. Maybe this is just the nudge they need.

Rapunzel loops her arm with Eugene’s, grinning outright at the idea, ignoring his concerned expression. “What was that you said back there? Lunch? Lunch sounds amazing.” She peers over her shoulder at a guilty-looking Cassandra and Varian and winks. “Shall we head for the kitchens?”

Cassandra grins back with all her teeth. Varian bounces once on his heels and mouths, Explosions. So many explosions, at her with an expression akin to a kid in a candy store.

Don’t get caught, Rapunzel mouths back, and Varian gives her a little salute.

When she turns back to Eugene, his face is downturned but his eyes are resigned. “For the love of—" He sighs, suddenly and loudly, and shakes his head. "Oh, well. It’s past time we had new gossip in here anyways. The pardon was getting pretty stale.”

There are no ministers here, no nobles or guards or anyone Rapunzel needs to pretend around. She is surrounded by her friends and family, surrounded by those she loves. Her greatest threat now is dealing with annoying dignitaries, rather than evil sorcerers, and Rapunzel—Rapunzel couldn’t be happier.

She takes Eugene’s hand, throws back her head, and laughs. “To the kitchens!”

[ms-demeanor]

I've learned so much from your cleaning posts--thank you! I'm now trying to make progress in my mother's house after she died, so the advice is all very useful, especially, just, like, getting started. I do wonder in particular if you have any dust advice? I am very allergic and when I clean a dusty area (so, this whole place, honestly), I get a 2-3 day headache. Dust mask/gloves help a *little* Thanks!

Try to keep a wet bandana over your face instead of using the mask; the wetbandana will help to make sure any particles get stuck in the way that a maskdoesn’t.

WEAR GOGGLES. Either swimming goggles or science goggles, but keep thedust away from your eyes to avoid worse reactions.

Use a wet/dry vac to suck upthe dust before you get to dusting - go over big surfaces or small cracks withthe special attachments and you can usually get a good-sized wet/dry vac forlike $30.

Dust with a damp cloth or a clingy swiffer so that less dust isreleased into the air.

For just getting started try this - clear off any big surfaces by takinglamps, or knick-knacks, or whatever outside. Don’t dust them inside, hit themwith a hairdryer outside of the house to get the dust off in an open area. (The wet/dry vac I linked above can also be converted to a blower)

Thengo over the large surfaces because if you can do it in big smooth strokes you’llkick up less dust than a lot of small strokes trying to get around stuff ontables. As a bonus you’ll have a dust-free area to look at when you’re feelingoverwhelmed.

As much as possible clean with the windows and doors open - you want good ventilation blowing this stuff out so that you don’t have to deal with a high concentration of airborne dust.

Use an air filtering fan as you clean. You can find a small one for about $40.

I know that seems like a lot of stuff to buy for a single cleaning job but if you’re someone who deals with hoarding or large mess issues these are going to be used again and again.

And wet/dry vacs are so fucking amazing cause it’s like, oh no, spilled four gallons of water into your carpet? Not a problem, just vacuum it out.

Also if your home accumulates dust because of an arid climate or pets or whatever an air filter fan is going to make your life a lot better.

And TBH I kind of think everyone should own eye protection as a general principle - you never know when you’re going to be faced with a pan full of splattering oil or a random dust storm or HAIL or have to clean up a spilled chemical. Protective goggles are so worth it - please buy safety goggles, they’re good for yard work and giving pets baths and cleaning and cooking and just get some, protect your vision.

[lonelyeyes707570-blog]

Frontline Pet Medication

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In a survey of 8th, 10th and 12th graders many reported using drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin without a prescription. Essential oils all have antibacterial properties, which is great for cleansing. When I heard about Miswak sticks for the first time, it was all new to me. Tamiflu prevents further spread of the virus in the body by effectively stopping the activity of viral neuraminidase enzyme. A board of pediatric and cardiac specialists has summarized a plan for regular screening of newborns to enhance identification of congenital heart illness. Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) and Eucalyptus. For your own safety, please wear the eye goggles!

[certifiedkaijugroupie]

Please tell me about your OCs.

You're in for a big storm honey.

Also warning I ignore cannon and make many of my OCs edgy beacuse I am an inner 13 year old. I'm posting this on mobile so I assume the formating will be awful. Also I am AWFUL at spelling so they will be errors. I'll start with my invader zim OCs since I have four since I know no moderation. I'll add my star wars OCs later since those are saved to my computer not phone.

Name: Evonii "syntax"

Species: irken

Designation: head imperial scientist

Description: green eyes or milky whitish green eyes, goggles tinted yellow. High collar with black coat with green insignia on the back, long coat tails, tall boots. The "shirt" section is green and black and resembles insect plates. Had a lisp.

Personality: nervous, fidgets with hands, quirky gets very excited when talking about what's he's passionate about. Likes dissecting things. Values life but can be cruel at times. Not much for politics.

Miscellaneous: On the short side but has become somewhat respected because of scientific achievements, but still not taken serious when in person by tallers. Often walks on pact legs. Has a modified S.I.R. used mostly as an advanced camera of sorts and a portable lab for taking samples. He uses holographic screens. His pak legs are more like flexible tubes make for holding things and such rather than the classic pak legs- however the trade off is that they are not combated based at all.

Past: set out with a research vessel to document planets outside of the irken empire- purpose was to decide what planets were necessary for the health of the empire to left mostly intake. Basically a form of conservation. He is also a chemical engineer, using information from planets and different elements and such to create biological weapons [plague virus, poison gas]. His real designation is evonii, but goes by syntax beacuse he would rather no be tied to his mistakes in the past- mainly being an experiment that went south and caused the deaths of the members of his research team, it was corrected but he still had to deal with the fallout. He was spared death because of his highly innovative nature. Hes in a semi-exil, forced onto the outer rim of irken space to chart planets and lifeforms, which he prefers anyways. The reason for his sparring mainly was that he helped create the control brain shell and interface prototype for Magenta and her pak. They still needed him in case something deviated from the plan.

Name: "Peach" yuko

Species: irken

Designation: idol- a mouthpiece for propaganda, mainly loyalty and devotion to the tallest and empire. Works with MyMii under the act "Peach and Plum"

Description: pink eyes and pale green skin, medium height. Outfit resembles a correct and mini shirt with many bows, main colors being pink and white. Overall very cutesy.

Personality: confident and outgoing, firmly believes in the glory of the empire. However, kind of laid back.

Miscellaneous: unlike most irkens, she prefers unprocessed foods. Her singing voice is in the higher range, very light however can get very intense. Mainly does pop songs. Popular among non-irkens as well. 

Past: before she was designated to be an idol, she was in classic soldier training. Her instructors noticed her natural ability to rally up the soldiers and her absolute devotion to the empire, even more than most irkens. Due to this she was pulled from training and designated as an idol, the first of her kind. She was given the stage name peach.

Name: "Plum" MyMii

Species: irken

Designation: idol- second of her kind. Works with yuko under the act "Peach and Plum".

Description: darker green skin with dark blue eyes, medium height- the same as Yuko. Her outfits are blue based and has bows to complement peach.

Personality: more shy than most irkens and very kind and caring for her fellow irken. Not outright hateful or derogatory towards other species which can get her into trouble. She tends to get anxious easily, which can interfere with her designation as an idol.

Miscellaneous: her singing voice is of the lower range, can get a little raspy. Suited best for soulful songs.

Past: she was in training to be a field medic before she was designated to be an idol. She was noticed by her kind and encouraging words for weaken irkens, raising their spirit. Because of this she was chosen to be a partner to yuko.

Name: Magenta

Species: irken

Designation: executive overseer of control brain operation

Description: a very tall irken with magenta eyes and paler skin. She wears a golden headpiece. Her outfit consists of a dress and a cape. The cape has the irken insignia on the back.

Personality: very serious, quiet. Not particularly found of other irkens.

Miscellaneous: she works directly with the control brains. She's tasked with both making decisions, carrying out the control brains' decision, and convincing the tallest that the control brains' decision are actually their ideas although openly she is the equivalent of royalty, with the prespection being that she has no real power. Her position accounts as training for her to eventually become a control brain. Because the general public views her as nothing more than a pretty accessory to the empire, she has no threat of assassination like the tallest do, which is exactly what the control brains want as she is more important to running the empire. She stays almost exclusive on her ship, the Mirror's Edge. She can function for a longer time without her pak. Her pak is technically more of a backup generation as when she is not with the tallest ot performing public duty she is hooked up to her ship and her control brain shell. Her cape hides the fact that she doesn't always have on a pak. Her pak "legs" are used only to assist with hooking her up to the control brain shell, otherwise they are useless.

Past: chosen by the control brains to be trained specially, she was in gestation longer that a normal smeet. She never received any form of military training, instead was immediately trained in critical thinking, military tactics, and social economics. Because of her special position, she was always close to the current tallest and elites. The control brains intend to make her one of them when she is deemed fit and mentally capable to handle the transition.

[splattershotsundae]

Better Eight Than Never --- Chapter 30: Why I hacked the ink lab

Warning: Contains topics of ableism

“Is there room for one more?”

“Of course!”

Hachi folded her arms as she watched the quartet of squidlings hug. Such intimacy… physical affection… it felt so foreign to her. Many octolings didn’t have the time to dedicate to such displays, and nobody ever did it for her. She gripped the railing behind her with both hands. Was this really even so different from back home? She felt so alone up here, she’d still feel just as alone when she got back…

“’Ey! Limpy!” Hissed an all too familiar voice, which shook her from her thoughts.

She spun around, looking down off the ramp to see someone below her. He was wearing octoling armor, with the only change from the protocol being an inkling helmet slammed onto his head. It was Oz alright. One of his long, all too octoling tentacles slipped out just enough to gesture her to jump down, and then held up a containment tank to hide her in.

She hesitated, for much longer than she’d ever admit, before climbing over the railing and jumping down toward Oz, who lifted the tank toward her. She transformed, then slipped into the tank, clinging to the sides as Oz plunged the containment tank into his main tank and started moving. She watched the world pass by through the purple-tinted light, and sighed. What had she been thinking? The surface wasn’t that good, was it? Why had she hesitated? There was nothing for her up here. Besides, this place was filled with the people who’d wanted to kill all octolings. Her brow wrinkled slightly. Before she’d gotten stuck up here… would she have called Squidlings ‘people’? She wasn’t sure. She squeaked as Oz began to remove her tank, and transformed as soon as he tipped her out into a dank alley.

“Hah, ‘s‘bout time I came up an got ya.” Oz said, removing his helmet.

“What even took you so long?” Hachi scoffed, standing up and brushing off her legs. “And what was the deal with you abandoning me anyway!? I had my mask on! You could have told me the plan!”

Oz frowned, his tentacles beginning to coil in anger. “Tha was Orion’s call, ‘e didn’t tell me tha plan meant leavin’ ya.-” He started to walk past her, toward the kettle that they both knew was hidden here. “-If ‘e’d told me, I’da told ‘im ta leave me, an take ya.”

“As if.” She scoffed. “You’d never do that.”

Oz paused, one foot on the kettle’s grating. “… Olympiah… This ain’t even a real mission, an ya think I wouldn’t give somehin’ up fer ya? Do ya even know me at all? Or are ya jus jealous tha I got ta be an elite instead a ya?”

“… This… They didn’t even send you officially to come get me?” She growled. “They really were going to leave me?”

“Ya are a defect, jus in case ya ain’t forgotten. Those rambunctious tentacles ya got? If ya can’t control ‘em ya migh strangle someone someday! Tha allergy ya ‘ave? It costs people a lota time, an tha taste thin ya got? Yah can’t eat ‘alf tha food they give ya! An tha ain’t even gettin’ ta tha part where sometimes ya jus freeze up an go all quiet.” He replied, turning to face her. “If it was my call, I’da come back for ya righ away, but the ‘igher ups, includin’ Orion, ‘ave different priorities. Now are ya comin’ ‘ome or not?”

She grimaced, then looked away. “Fine… Let’s go already.”

He nodded briefly, then transformed and slipped into the kettle, which hissed and popped before sending him away. She stared after him for a moment before following suit.

Olypmiah shook off her tentacles as she popped out of the other end of the kettle, and then took a deep breath of the dank air. It was missing something compared to the world she’d just left, but it was familiar, and welcoming. She opened her eyes, then flinched and took a step back as she was met with a wall of troops, in the dead center of which was Orion.

“Oz, what did you do?” He growled, his cyboric eye flashing with rage.

“Oh, ya know, jus did wha I was ‘sposed ta.” Oz replied. “Not leave a member a tha pod stranded wit no ‘ope a rescue.”

Orion folded his arms, standing tall. “Your orders were to leave her. In her report, she claimed she was carrying some sort of flu! Do you even realize what that could do to the population?”

Oz frowned. “… Tha’s wha quarantine's for. Ya jus neva liked ‘er.”

Orion bared his beak. “I’ll have a word with you later, oversee the drills at the training camp until then.”

Oz saluted, his tentacles slightly swooping to convey his distaste, and then super jumped away.

With him out of the way, Orion’s attention was turned back toward her, causing her to swallow to keep her bubbling fear at bay. It was so hard to be angry at someone when they were right in front of you, and had biceps larger than your head. “You’re coming with me. You have some explaining to do.”

“Yes sir.” She mumbled, allowing soldiers to come to either side of her as she was escorted to the next kettle. In training they’d briefed her about quarantine, and it didn’t sound fun. It took forever, and if you did actually have a highly infectious disease, you could be in there for dozens of shifts… best to get this over with.

At first, it was much like she expected, saliva samples were taken, she was given a scorching chemical misting, then an ink bath, her clothes were taken and replaced with new itchy ones, her ink pressure was taken, and so on and so forth. It was increasingly grueling, but finally she was let into a room with a table, and two chairs. On the far side of the table, Orion sat, arms folded. “… What are you doing here?” She asked, her back tentacles looping together to keep from coiling into a threatening position.

“Sit down.” He said.

“Are… Are you debriefing me?” She asked.

“I said sit.” He repeated.

She winced, then sat down, clasping her hands in her lap.

They sat and stared at each other for a long while, though Olympiah felt exposed and vulnerable without her goggles.

“What did you learn about Yuri?” Orion asked finally.

“All I learned was that Yuri came into contact with the four individuals who’d held me captive.” She replied firmly.

“What did you know prior to this?” He asked.

“I knew that he was turned into water, a breakthrough for science.” She said. “We were unable to find and detain him.”

“Did your captors learn anything from you?”

“They learned that I knew about him.” She took a deep breath. “Are you interrogating me?”

Orion’s ears twitched, and he stood up. “Do you know any of our enemy’s plans?”

“They’re going to ‘splatfest’ next shift. They’ll be on ‘team waffle’.” She said, feeling a tingle run down her back. The fact that Orion hadn’t answered her question was all too telling. He thought she was an enemy. A traitor.

“What color ink will they be using?” Orion asked.

“… Purple, I think. That’s the color of the entire team.”

He smirked very slightly, as if this was good news. Well, it was good news for them, Squidlings and Octolings had a different ink structure, so even if the colors matched, they could still be splatted. Actually no, now she was even more confused, why would their ink color even matter?

“Do you know where the sirens will be?” He continued, walking around the table.

”I am not entirely certain, they may be still in that zapfish plaza.”

“You do remember that you are sworn to serve the MC until death?”

She swallowed. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“Squidlings have a habit of corrupting people’s brains. Making you forget that your own people matter first.” Orion said. “It’s something you should be keen you don’t succumb to.”

“Is that a threat?” She asked.

“A reminder-” He huffed, placing a hand on her shoulder. “-that if you break that oath, you will pay dire consequences.”

Just then, a door across from them slid open, and a doctor stepped in. “Alright Miss Olympiah Windsley… We’ve ran the samples we took, and it appears you’ve just got a case of the common cold.”

“I am well aware.” Orion said, beginning to make strides toward the door.

“You what?” Olypmiah demanded, hand gripping the arm of her chair. “You put me through all of that for nothing!?”

He turned a deaf ear to her, and simply left the room without a reply. That filthy son of a slime…

“Well, regardless Miss, you’re free to go, and you’ll find your belongings in the changing rooms, unless you’d like to stay and donate that defective tongue of yours so we can make bionic replacements.” The doctor said as they held out her mask.

“Yeah, no.” She huffed, standing up and snatching her mask before leaving to change. It wasn’t fair, she… she wasn’t defective. She grimaced, remembering that Bato had been the one to tell her that. She couldn’t let herself romanticize those memories. Maybe Orion was right… maybe Squidlings did change the way you thought. But… was it really wrong to want to be seen as normal? She knew deep down that could never happen, she was so different in so many ways down here… and up there, she was an octoling. There was nowhere for her to just… exist.

She pulled the laces on her boots tight, tugged to make sure the knot wouldn’t come loose, then she sat back and slouched for a moment. She was… actually tired from sitting so straight. The surface had no ‘proper posture’ it seemed, so they slouched all the time, and her back injury had made her do the same.  As she sat, everything that’d happened the past few shifts whirled around her head like an ink tornado. What even was the plan? She realized she had no idea. She’d never been told anything about how they’d take back the surface, except that it probably wouldn’t bode well for the squidlings. She supposed that was the point, get revenge for everything that had happened so long ago… Against the people who’d shoved them into this pit to die. If they tried to take the surface back by force, they’d all perish, wouldn’t they? They were outnumbered several to one. Something stank about this… The army was hiding something, she could feel it. They had to know how many people there were up there, they had to know what fucking rain was! She had to find out what was going on, she decided, her hands balling with conviction. But where should she go? It wasn’t like people would just give her the information… Where would data like this be kept? This was all tied to the ink, wasn’t it? Things only had started getting crazy down here after that whole Yuri incident… so this must be tied to the ink research and development labs. She wasn’t sure how much clearance she had, after all she was defective… But she knew about masks, and about computers, and she supposed… if she was going to be digging around anyway, hacking would have to be the way to go about it. She’d get some sleep first, it’d been so long since she was in her own bed… But she’d also have to get her rations, cook and eat them… maybe even sit around alone before falling asleep… Maybe she’d change her mind by then, after all, what she was thinking of doing was a felony, she assumed…

Was she really a traitor?

No, there was no way she’d actually do this.

As she stood outside the ink research and development lab, she wondered exactly how her life had gone this wrong. She took a deep breath, then stepped up to the doors, which slid open as her mask came within proximity. Apparently she had clearance to the sector. The walls inside were smooth and made of some sort of steel, giving the building a cold feel to it. She used her mask to check the map, and found that the building consisted greatly of intersecting passageways, most of which wrapped around square or rectangular rooms. To her left the rest of the building was blacked out, hiding the map from her. Knowing her luck, what she wanted was in there, but she was still going to search around here instead.

She’d been so focused on the map, she’d neglected to look where she’d been going, and ran into an elite who’d just turned the corner. She squeaked and saluted, not meeting their gaze.

“Olypmiah? What in the name of Octavio’s ghost are you doing here?”

Olypmiah murmured ‘may he rest in peace’ under her breath before looking up at the elite. It was Oana, her old childhood friend… What was she doing here? Her stern stance told her she wasn’t exactly happy to see her. “I… Um...”

“Don’t tell me you’re the new soldier that’s been assigned here...” Oana groaned, massaging her forehead.

“… It… i-it would be quite fortuitous, wouldn’t it?” She asked, realizing that this was just the lucky break she needed.

“Of course you are. It’s not like there’s anyone more competent left.” Oana said, causing Olypmiah to cringe. “Orion must want me to watch over you in light of your recent… excursion. Well, come on then, time to show you your patrol route.” She turned on her heel and began to walk through the maze of hallways.

Olympiah blinked and briskly walked after her. “What am I looking out for?” She asked.

“Anyone who shouldn’t be here, basically. Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. You also need to keep an eye out for escaped squidlings.” Oana said, turning to the right.

Olympiah had to walk a little faster to keep up with Oana’s longer strides. “Escaped squidlings? What would any squidlings be doing down here?”

“Ugh… you really are dense… every squidling we capture on the surface is brought down here for testing, and we’re about to get in a rush of them, so you’ll have your hands full. Make sure everyone in here is supposed to be here, if one squidling gets out, our entire facility could become compromised.”

She swallowed as she listened, wondering how Oana would react if she found out she was one of the people she should be looking out for…

“This room here is the processing lab.” Oana said, stopping in front of a door and opening it up so Olypmiah could see inside. “The squids are sent down the chute in containment tanks, and land in the trough. They are then taken, weighed, have a DNA sample taken, their weapons extracted and stored, and then they are tranquilized so they can be put into the safe. This is one of the rooms you must be most vigilant about.”

She nodded her understanding. “Right. I think I get it.”

“Think you get it, screens above...” Oana turned and kept walking until they reached another door. “This is the squid safe. You will have to enter here regularly to make sure that all the containment tanks are still properly secured and in position. There’s none in there at the moment, so you can check on your first unsupervised circuit.”

“Understood.” She replied, feeling a twinge of sadness. Oana used to care so much about her, it felt so weird having her treat her with such disdain… It’d been so long… was there any way to repair the friendship they once had? Probably not, considering she was just going to turn around and betray her… Sorry Oana…

She lead her onward again, pointing out several more doors, and how they should remain closed, then stopped by one final door. “This door leads to the computer records, you must peek in there to make sure that nobody is tampering with the computers, but you can’t set foot in the room otherwise, or you will be fired immediately.”

“Understood.” Olympiah replied, trying to stand firm. That was exactly the room she needed, her hearts all felt heavy with curiosity… or was that dread? Best to get it over with as soon as possible. “When do I begin patrolling on my own?”

“Four more escorted circuits.” Oana huffed, before turning to lead the way again.

Olypmiah cringed, her feet were already hurting after just one loop! The world really wanted to torture her… “Can I try on my own?” She asked suddenly. “I’ll send you a message if I need help. It’ll be just like old times.”

Oana froze and turned, light on her mask flickering as she thought. “… Fine. Don’t make me regret this.”

“I won’t.” Olypmiah promised. “I’m a fast learner, and a hard worker.”

The elite looked over her a little longer, then turned and got back to her own duties.

Olympiah sighed in relief, then began to patrol, it’d be less suspicious to complete one loop before stopping at the computer room. How was she going to look at that data without being caught anyway? They’d be able to tell she was in the room by her tracker… hell, she was already in considerable danger because of that damn thing… She wasn’t supposed to be here at all. It was really too late to turn back. She’d just have to work fast and hope for the best.

When she looped back to the computer room, she glanced over her shoulder before opening the door. It was brightly lit, neatly organized, and arranged so it would be incredibly hard to hide. She swallowed and checked behind herself one more time before briskly walking into the room, making sure that the door closed behind her before walking over to the terminal. She sat and synced up her mask, not surprised at all when it told her she was unauthorized to be there. All she had to do was open up her toolkit and run her password tool, the sort usually used for mask repair, and then feed the machine the correct password. Once that was done she routed the reply into a new tab, thus bypassing the authorization screen. Easy as using an inkrail. She flipped through the files, frowning in thought. What should she even be looking for? She ran a keyword search for Yuri, and narrowed down the results drastically. Many of these files were encrypted, and she was fairly sure she didn’t have time to break into them, but there were some other ones she could look at… but she was using up an awful lot of her time already, and the next patrol could be there any moment. With a grimace, she started to download all the files, telling herself she could read them while walking.

[Progress: 5% complete.] [Progress: 6% complete.]

How big were these? She glanced over her shoulder, beak bared. She couldn’t let herself be caught, not now! She set her mask to remain on, then took it off and slipped it behind one of the larger servers. Hopefully it wouldn’t get overheated back there. She then stood up straight and looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. She felt herself freeze up. What if she couldn’t hide well enough? What if she was caught? What if she was killed? Everywhere was within sight of the doorway, except.. the door itself, which slid into the wall when it was opened. Oh glorious kelp strands this had better work. She ran at the door and transformed, suctioning herself to the cold metal and flattening herself out as much as possible before screwing her eyes shut. Any second now…

Not more than a moment after she’d secured herself to the door, it slid open, squeezing her into the wall. She had to grit her beak to avoid squeaking in pain as one of her tentacles got caught in the door’s mechanisms. It would be alright, that was one of her head tentacles, it would grow back if it got ripped off. Though, that was something she didn’t want to think about… She swallowed and kept her grip firm, wondering what was taking so long. After what felt like an eternity, the door finally slid shut. She heaved a sigh of relief and let go of the wall, transforming and massaging her pinched tentacle, which was writhing around in pain. “I know, I know, I’m sorry.” She murmured, then went back over to her mask and slipped it back on.

[Progress: 99% complete.] [Progress: 100% complete.]

She sighed in relief. She wouldn’t have to do that again. Her tentacles were wriggling around to clean all the dust and cobwebs off of themselves, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if they revolted if she had to put them back in there. She crept over to the door and opened it, and when she saw nobody outside, she walked out and got back to the patrol. That was way too close. Now what had she learned? This had better be worth it…

[Incident Report 5661]

[Miss Vitrel, highly respected scientist, allegedly punched a guard after being told that her ink experiments will be canceled, as per the orders of DJ Octavio.]

Octavio? This had been going on that long? Why was this tagged with Yuri’s name?… And who was Miss Vitrel?

[Progress report 35667]

[Miss Vitrel’s ‘inking bullet’ technology has been used to change samples of octoling ink into other colors, a feat not achieved since the destruction of the great library. Spawner construction is currently halted due to the unstability of the mixture, and the death of her latest subject.]

[Progress report 35698]

[Miss Vitrel was allowed one more subject, who survived but later disappeared, and is now presumed dead. Steps may be taken to remove her from the labs.]

[Progress report 36006]

[Miss Vitrel was successful in altering the ink structure of a squidling on the surface, however he was unable to be captured. Miss Vitrel has been granted more test subjects, and the collection of squidlings shall begin immediately. This project has been dubbed ‘tidal wave’, and will be searching for a way to change individuals into water for the military.

Known abilities:

Highly resilient, able to heal at a greatly increased rate

Able to meld with the consciousness of another and take them as a host.

Unable to be splatted by water

Known weaknesses:

None

Goal:

Create super soldiers able to take the surface by force and sheer adaptability.]

[Progress report 36013] [Project Tidal Wave has been canceled and been succeeded by Project Moonlight. Details are confidential.]

Olypmiah swallowed. Yuri had been able to take over people’s bodies? No wonder they’d wanted to replicate those results… Imagine what they could do… She felt sick, having to stop and lean against the wall. What would they do with this if not make super soldiers? Control people, obviously. Control squidlings and use them to tear the surface asunder. And when that was done? What would stop them from turning this force against their own people? She tried to go to the next file, but they were all encrypted. She could try to crack it, but did she really have the time? They might kill her if they found out she had this… She took a deep breath, then began to delete all the files. She knew what she needed to anyway, that she didn’t agree with the course of action the military was taking. But what should she do now? If she tried to stop them, they could all die down here, they all knew the domes couldn’t last much longer. But if they carried out their plan… whatever it was, they’d all die on the surface. There really wasn’t a win for anyone…

“Out of the way!”

She yelped and pressed herself against the wall as a lab worker rolled a cart filled with dozens of containment tanks into the squid safe, each tank filled with a single unconscious purple blob. Oh no, they’d started collecting the squids they’d need. The ones she’d told them about. She ran to the doorway of the lab and looked inside, where the containment tanks were coming down the chute one by one and into the trough for processing. There had to be a hundred of them, all being labeled and prepared for storage, and somewhere in this mess was Bato.

That gave her an idea.

Bato is Knitter’s character

Hachi/Olypmiah, Oswald, Orion and Oana are Shuckle’s characters.

Splatoon belongs to Nintendo.

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