#apparently I need to restate that

[todayisafridaynight]

SORRY in advance for the long ask pleeease take your time and take care, I hope you feel better + get to have a good time at the con or hanging out with your dad :( It means the world to me that you enjoy my stuff though! It did take me a while to notice you were even following me (hence. @ing you on a post you'd already seen gdjfshld) but we got there eventually...

Definitely definitely was expecting to see more of Infinite Wealth at the summit… since the tweets mentioned character introductions but didn't specify for which game, I was under the impression we'd at least be introduced to the as-yet-unidentified voices in the trailer. Gameplay would've been HUGE to include too 😩 I guess it makes enough sense though, since it's not The Upcoming Release...

I shall bide my time. I have no idea what to expect from fall summit (as intended). But if it's going to be a seasonal thing, I figure a potential "winter summit" is the latest it could be to show us gameplay for something that's suppsed to be an early 2024 release, if not just putting out trailers or other showcases and stuff independently.

LEGIT THOUGH IT JUST MAKES IT SOUND LIKE KIRYU IS LYING TO SOUND COOL GDJSKGLDS which is also Arakawa-esque… "maybe I felt like impressing an idiot kid"… If nothing else, I feel like I'll enjoy the dynamic they're going for with those two. Specifically casting Kiryu as a "big brother" figure rather than a father figure also makes me WEEP because the only "aniki" Ichi's ever had is Jo. So it's like... from Jo to Joryu...

Also I just really like the acting choices by the mocap actor for Kiryu, I feel like we've never really seen him move that… casually? His mannerisms also 100% make him look like he's lying lol like there are multiple "tells" it's so funny

I glossed over the proposal (because I expected that to be the main topic anyway, being the only dialogue scene we got) but I completely agree with everything that's been said, basically. Reverse chick magnet for life… but I do expect there's more to it than meets the eye because summit is pretty focused on "generating buzz," so the fact it feels so out of place is probably what they were banking on.

Because like, on top of everything mentioned, Ichiban is portrayed as an entirely passive participant in the romances in 7, and IIRC for Saeko and Eri he wasn't really even fully aware they were into him. So for him to not only be the one to propose but bomb so hard a seasoned hostess (as Kiryu points out in JP)--who'd rather be groped than subjected to Weird Shit--blew up at him and there was fallout from Adachi and Nanba is a huge deviation from how he's portrayed.

It's also kind of like, to me, the translation says something a little different than what was actually being said; Ichi's emphasis wasn't really on the fact she rejected him (implying he expected her to accept + placing more importance on his own feelings vs hers), but the fact she "chewed him out" (implying he should've known better in the first place than to ask).

Of course, he's apparently planning on trying again so he is hoping she'll accept eventually, and the general tone of the interaction suggests he should've known better regardless, but both say something slightly different about his characterization in this scene to me. There's also TL weirdness with Ichi saying Kiryu seems like a good dude rather than just… him explaining that he doesn't mean anything bad by saying he doesn't seem like a ladies' man, which is a bigger mistake but less consequential, I guess.

There's also Saeko's line from the original teaser, "You say that like you're proposing," so it would seem she's already caught off guard (i.e. not taking it seriously yet) and not too thrilled with the idea (provided it's the same convo). I don't really have much to go off of, but if they are in a relationship, I can only assume either she's made it clear she doesn't want to get married or his proposal method was just That Bad, or they're not in a relationship.

In the latter case all I have to pull from is other media with characters who are somewhat like Ichi, but it made me think of times I've seen characters propose for legal or financial reasons or etc. and get Totally Owned, and I'd honestly find that a believable Ichi Situation… Ichi thinking like 50 steps ahead and not explaining himself properly and just Making Saeko More Mad… I'm just musing, though.

Yokoyama and co. were--if I heard right--being pretty cagey about whether they ARE in a relationship in the first place though, which strikes me as odd compared to RGGS' openness about Kaito's ex in the Lost Judgment DLC. So… definitely not beating the red herring allegations just yet, at any rate. Especially when said DLC involves a fake-out on a proposal lmao

Putting all that aside since we can't make any definitive statements anyway, I AM going to make the definitive statement that literally every single design in Gaiden so far is indeed drippy as hell.

such is the cruel fate of being shadowbanned on this webbed site I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream etc etc ( ╯-╰ ; ) but we did get there! and i very much do enjoy what you post :]

if there's nothing for fall summit (though i'm going to hope a lil there will be since that's what. three months from now) then there'll definitely be something for winter summit. if the idea is that there's more of a focus on gaiden since its release date is sooner, then it's fair to assume- with that logic- the winter one'll have the bulk of LAD8 news and demos. either way, im excited for both to see what both of them bring us !

ignoring the elephant in the room of the proposal thing, i also really liked the vibe of it all (and ive also been trying reeaaally hard to make a joke connecting jo and joryu since that's also a bit i enjoy) (❁´◡`❁) i did like that lowkey feel and just the casualness of the atmosphere and the slight awkward/uncomfortable-but-not-overly-offended-and-even-minorly-comedic energy from kiryu lmao. cant ever go wrong with having a scene that's there to slow everythin down a bit, and it does help set up a kind of homely/familial vibe ♪(´▽｀)

i dont need to comment any more on the proposal thing either LMAO everything ima say i been repeating for the past. X asks 😩

and with that. yeah everyone looks FIRE as hell in gaiden (EXCEPT nishitani ima be 100%.... idk the loud primary colors aren't doing it for me.... points for the nails and hair though) 😩

[warriorcatsofficialfacts]

i have this ongoing headcanon that the animals in warrior cats (which to be perfectly apparent. aren't cats. they're a fantasy species which physically Resembles cats) don't have genetic heredity when it comes to Pelts but have highly genetic heredity when it comes to face and body structure. this explains why seemingly nobody noticed riverclan suddenly having two kits which visibly resemble bluestar in color. resembling someone in color is simply not very remarkable. meanwhile mapleshades kittens are identified as half clan because they are more physically suited to swimming than things their alleged father was good at. if i'm remembering correctly one kit is also specifically said to have a similar Structure to appledusk.

in this framework the warrior cats animals (which i feel the need to restate are not cats) pelt color would be completely or almost completely random, and if you had a similar coat to your parents it's just a fun coincidence. however in Structure there is a clear family resemblance.

this makes sense and you understand it

[gietterbug]

Spy x Family Code: White - Highlights

*This post contains spoilers. Scroll away if you still need to watch the movie. **Reposted because it didn't show in the tags.

Since the movie is out and has been circulating on the internet, I would like to talk one thing or two about it. I'm overjoyed about the release and have watched the movie numerous times. So here are some highlighted scenes, or at least the ones that have become my favorites and lingered in my mind for way too long.

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First off, this scene. It's just a small gesture of Loid because apparently he's worried about Yor's mouth due to the "irritating" lipstick she's wearing.

But tell me, what kind of man would give a woman such a pleasant little gift if he did NOT love her. It's not like, "You're nothing to me. Here's a new lipstick for you!"

Loid is not going to declare "I LOVE YOU" explicitly; the hell is he going to, but we have eyes, and we see. Your small gesture and little gift say everything I need to hear, and I won't take your for the mission excuse anymore, Loid Forger.

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I'm fully aware that the "Yor getting jealous" trope is becoming redundant nowadays. Some people say they're overdoing it and no longer find it interesting to talk about. But I beg to differ. I'm still on the Yor's jealousy bandwagon because it's become a crucial element in her and Loid's relationship. Yor does not necessarily have the right to get jealous and upset about the idea that there is someone else in Loid's heart. Heck, I dare say she can't pull out the "wifey" card because we know it's all fake.

But that's not that.

For me, to say that Yor is jealous there might be another woman in Loid's life is an understatement. It's not to say she is being greedy, but she does want Loid, and only him, not just because she's technically his wife—her genuine feelings for him are growing, and we can see that. She does not want to lose him, let alone to be out of the picture. It's Yor being true to herself. It's Yor fighting for her love and affection for Loid.

Extras:

Yor's heart is already shaken at the possibility of Loid cheating. And HE does not help by throwing such flattery and complimentary comments about his wife. This dense man…

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I liked what Anya did in this scene.

Afraid of her family falling apart, she tried everything she could to prevent that, and that is... through her parents' flirting 😏

She's still a little kiddo, but being the telepath that she is, she still wants her family to stay intact. Anya pushing Loid and Yor together to have some kissy-kissy time never gets old, to be honest. I always enjoy it every time she does that. Anya recollecting what Becky said about divorce and the "supposedly" bloodbath also added some comedic sense to the scene.

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This has got to be my #1 favorite.

The only physical intimacy in this scene is just Loid putting his hand on top of Yor's. Nothing more. Okay, we may have moved past that episode where LoidTwilight pulled a honeytrap on Yor, AND we can't dismiss the fact that maybe, there's a definite chance that he just used her.

But this time, he is determined to keep Yor around for real. He even restated his granade proposal to stick with each other—basically their wedding vows—and had no intention to break that promise. What's this smell? It's a whiff of peak romance.

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This scene made me feel warm and fuzzy.

What came to my mind when I was watching this scene was that although Twilight is the best and most renowned spy there is, he's still lacking some things. One of them is, for sure, parenting, which we saw from the earlier episodes of the series, he picked it up from books.

Yor always plays along with Anya to keep her entertained, and it's also one of her ways of parenting that some people may have dismissed. Yor arguably does better in this field than Twilight from her own experiences, the big chunks of which were from when she raised little Yuri. This should eliminate the questionable discourse of Yor "unfitting" for the mother role.

This scene got extended to when Yor told Loid that it was a family trip, that Anya was looking forward to this trip, and that they all should go together.

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This may be the last for now: the Forgers walking hand in hand at the end.

I couldn't imagine the hardships this family went through throughout this movie. (Ok, I know some were absurd, but let's move past them for the sake of this post.) Despite being a fake family, they still came as one and worked hard together to put things back in their place and resolve all the problems. Like... they didn't have to do that; their family is a pretend. But they did. They're complete, and it's so beautiful to see ❤

[flagellant]

I remember you once giving an EXCELLENT explanation of how magic “Doesn’t Exist but is Real” and how that kind of contradiction and reconciling it is so powerful?

Whenever you feel like answering this could you restate those concepts? I am working on actually thinking about my Practice and it’s Methods more lately and I feel that I highly agree with that sentiment you gave, but Tumblr’s search sucks.

I think I’m just now understanding a lot of that much more than when it was first said so I’d like to compare when you’re able to restate it

Religion isn't unscientific at its core. I think that's how I might phrase the contradiction these days: the idea that religion is fundamentally not unscientific at its core. Whatever else you can say about it.

Religion is fundamentally magical thinking, though, or at least often incorporates magical thinking. Religion is a sort of magic, also, after all--organized or unorganized, it is belief in something else. Something unexplainable. The idea that there is something you cannot see or cannot understand, but that this something matters to you, to your world.

And looking back, we see religion form again and again, in vacuums and when cultures meet and share and intermingle or oppose. Studying history at the end of the day will always require at least a little bit of studying religion with it. It is omnipresent--for better and for worse--in the way that it affects us, changes how we think, influences how we behave, structures the societies we live in.

Humans are illogical creatures, made of emotions and subjective dread. Magical thinking is fundamentally illogical. It is an attempt to find and understand reason in darkness, to comprehend the things we only see in the peripheries of our visions--but not always. Only often.

Because just as much as religion is magical and illogical, it was often borne out of our craving for understanding, for logic or explanation. We see a rainbow in the sky and we do not know where it comes from, or why we can never seem to reach it, so we try and find a logical explanation for this apparent impossible thing. The answer is magic--fairies, gods, witches. Or perhaps we look at the catastrophe of a storm, look at the all-encompassing wreckage of our homes, and we need to find a reason why this could happen to us. This couldn't be an accident, it has to be by design, because if it happened for a reason, we can understand it; we can give ourselves, if only slightly, the illusion of control. We propitiate an angry god, or we find someone who we have decided isn't like us and blame them for it.

Because the thing is, as much as we are creatures of illogic, we are terrified of it. It becomes existential rather quickly--the idea that all of this is for nothing, for random accidents, that you or your community isn't special or noteworthy or safe? The idea that your pain is shapeless and your terror is aimed at nothing at all? That's hard to imagine, let alone to find comfort in. Gods give a shape to the suffering. The invention of them is one which lets us take the illogical thinking and turn it against illogical thinking. Yes, it is unreasonable. No, it doesn't make sense. It is emphatically unempirical and there will likely never be any concrete proof of any religion's magical thinking being definitively confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt as True.

But it isn't unscientific. It was borne out of the same reason as science, the desire to understand and comprehend. It went only in a different direction than scientific thought did.

The space between science and religion is the difference between what exists and what is real. We walk along paths of trying to understand the world around or within us, and the paths in between those two points is where magic can be found. Neither existing nor unreal.

[pokeberry5]

Did Tim “kill” King Snake and does Bruce know?

In Tim’s first solo min, he goes to Paris to learn martial arts and get that “edge” he thinks he needs to properly assume his role as Robin. He ends up on the tail of British Lord, Hong Kong-based heroine kingpin, leader of the Ghost Dragon gang, Sir Edmund Dorrance AKA King Snake (who is blind, which will be important later). Tim’s only companions on this world tour are Lady Shiva, who wants to defeat Dorrance to prove herself stronger, and ex-DEA agent Clyde Rawlins, who wants revenge against Dorrance for Dorrance’s reprisal killing of his family.

Robin I #4 --  the dream team, I love them

The trio catch up to Dorrance in Hong Kong, where he’s waiting for them in what seems to be the top suite of his skyscraper, 50 stories up.

In this final confrontation with Dorrance, Tim takes full advantage of a crucial moment of distraction to kick Dorrance out of the window. Dorrance ends up clinging to a ledge, hanging on for dear life.

Shiva then appears to order Tim to kill Dorrance, presumably by kicking him off the ledge. (It becomes clear then that this is how Shiva intends to prove herself stronger than Dorrance: she trained Tim and therefore Tim is her weapon and an extension of herself. If Tim defeats Snake, she defeats him by proxy).

Tim refuses and walks away. All we see is him listen  as Dorrance falls to what Tim explicitly assumes is his death, 50 stories down.

Robin I #5

So, while Tim isn't directly responsible for Dorrance's death, he was the one to put him in that position and then left him there to fall.

It’s unclear how Tim conceives of his actions here and how we are supposed to interpret them, especially in light of Tim’s refusal to kill in earlier chapters in this arc (and after).

Robin I #2

Robin I #4 -- I love Shiva

He stopped Rawlins from shooting and killing gang members, but then points to the danger Rawlins might have put them in by accidentally shooting crates containing plague (please read this arc it’s really fun despite suffering from uh. severe written in the 90s syndrome) and then explicitly restates his vow not to kill.

AND THEN, the plot thickens!!!

Dorrance did not actually fall to his death; he caught himself on a ledge below, where he believes Tim came down to taunt him. He came away from his fall with a fear of Tim and an obsession with killing him to purge himself of that fear. (anyway Sir Edmund Dorrance walked so Ra’s could run)

Batman (1940) #468

Batman (1940) #469

Dorrance moves to Gotham with the Ghost Dragons and takes over Chinatown (which. Who decided to put, a British lord, what boils down to an allegory of British colonialism in Hong Kong as the head of Chinatown? I have questions – anyway crimelord Lynx ftw)

In the course of his pursuit of Robin, it is revealed that Bruce believes “it was Lady Shiva that caused Dorrance to plunge to his death”—that Tim told him this.

Batman (1940) #469

This is clarified a bit more later, when Bruce confronts Dorrance.

#469

Dorrance explicitly accuses Tim of murder. He outlines the incident leading up to his fall—that Tim tricked him and attacked him from behind (he did, we saw this), that Dorrance was left dangling, and that Tim then caused him to fall.

Bruce refutes this accusation by claiming that it “wasn’t Robin who left you for dead. … Robin spared you. It was Lady Shiva who threw you to your death.”

From this, we can assume that in the moments after Tim refused Shiva and walked away, Shiva threw Dorrance down, which he didn’t realize because, as Bruce claims, he is blind and was likely traumatized by the incident. We can’t know this for sure, however—that Shiva threw him down—for exactly those reasons. Bruce is working off what Tim apparently told him, but we—and Tim—did not see this happen.

Bruce’s explanation of what actually happened also calls into question what exactly Tim told him about what happened.

It’s unclear what exactly he is refuting by: “It wasn’t Robin who left you for dead.” Does he not count Tim leaving Dorrance hanging as “leaving him for dead” or is the implication that Bruce thinks Shiva was the one who both threw Dorrance out the window and off the ledge? We never actually see what Tim told Bruce.

This leaves us with some possibilities:

that what Tim did by leaving Dorrance to dangle, by leaving him to Shiva, does not count against Batman’s no-killing rule.

Perhaps that Bruce does not feel that he could have expected or wanted Tim to step between Shiva and her target, Dorrance

that Bruce does not actually know what really happened—that Tim kicked Dorrance out the window, which in turn implies that either Tim may have stretched the truth or Bruce misinterpreted (purposefully?) what Tim told him

These all seem inconsistent, however, with incidents further down the line, with Cluemaster for example, and then when Tim rebukes Azbats for leaving Abattoir to die. A core tenet of Tim’s characterization is his sometimes frustrated but dedicated adherence to the no-kill rule (im beating anyone who cites the league bases at me away with a stick). So I don’t know what to do with this. Maybe it’s just comic inconsistency. Chuck Dixon, what are you doing?

If anyone has any thoughts about how to reconcile all this!! Please grant me peace

ADDENDA

i.e. stuff that I can’t possibly expect to be addressed in comics, but that I think about anyway

Related to this arc—a point is made a few issues later that Tim at this time doesn’t really have anyone to confide in. He can't really talk to Batman, isn’t close to Dick at this point, and while he is willing to work with Alfred and ask for help with Bat-related things, they’re not yet emotionally close. This isolation is poignantly demonstrated by him confessing his troubles to his still-comatose father.

Robin II #2

WHOM then would he have talked to about all that happened on his little “world tour”? No one? Besides whatever happened with Dorrance and brutal training and isolation, he also had to deal with the fact that Clyde Rawlins—whom he presumably developed some sort of camaraderie with (it’s tim ;-; he forms connections) was killed by Dorrance while working this mission with him.

We know that he had no one to talk to about all that. Did Tim linger on Rawlins????? On the fact that Shiva called him her weapon?? My boy is 13 ;-;

I also love that the whole buildup to Tim’s debut as Robin is Bruce agonizing about whether he should allow another boy to assume the position that cost him his son, and is then followed by plenty of moments after of Batman being overprotective.

Batman (1940) #468

And yet, when Tim is like “I need an edge to be Robin” presumably Bruce?? although this is never explicit connects him with a martial artist in Paris and sends him off on his own. It’s also possible that Tim is the one who comes up with this given that he agonizes a bit over whether he’s doing right by choosing his own path

Robin I #1

Either way, Tim goes to Paris Alone and essentially Unsupervised.

This lack of supervision is further emphasized by the fact that he goes to hunt down a king pin all the way to Hong Kong with Lady fucking Shiva and an ex DEA agent and no other back up. And Bruce presumably doesn’t find out until Tim runs into the hitman Henri Ducard in Hong Kong, who is apparently Batman’s acquaintance. (#5)

I have so many questions. I know that the actual reasoning is probably “oh we want to give this new character a little mini adventure arc on his own!!! To showcase how cool and independent the new robin is” but STILL

(also tim immediately getting himself a little team :’) I lub him)

[zaacataac]

I need to go to bed but I was struck with a Percy Reed headcanon and I need to write it down lest I go insane. (The post ended up being pretty long so I put it under a cut)

Percy's aromantic. He's not aware of this, and honestly, he probably would have trouble accepting it if he was. This can partially be attributed to the fact that he deeply craves romance. But also he grew up in an extremely amatonormative environment and generally believes, because of this, that the most prominent relationship that someone can have in their life is a significant other and eventually spouse. He wants to be someone else's most important person, and believes that in order for that to happen, that relationship, by default, has to be romantic. This also works in the inverse, so when someone is very very important to him, more so than the rest of his friends, that relationship by default has to be romantic. It's also pretty apparent that he didn't have any super meaningful (and healthy) relationships before he died.

All of this combined is what led to his relationship with Diggory. He felt an attachment to them that felt deeper than how he'd felt with other friends in the past because it was actually substantial, so naturally assumed that his feelings for them were romantic. Additionally, he wanted to establish the relationship that he had with them as the most "important" relationship that they're in, because they were the only person that he felt truly saw him for who he was. In his eyes, he had to be their boyfriend because if he wasn't, they might develop a relationship with someone else that was closer than the one he had with them and then that would mean that the only person that he'd felt a deep connection with didn't actually care about him as much as he did about them, because they're his most important person, but he wouldn't have been theirs. Obviously, the best way to prevent this is by achieving boyfriend status.

Now, I'd like to restate that he's not aware of all this going on under the surface. He doesn't know that he thinks of relationships like this, it's pretty subconscious and he fully believes that his feelings for Diggory are romantic because he doesn't really have anything else to compare them to.

[dingochef]

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x You (OFC)

Warnings: Not much, being ill, talk of periods, Jake Seresin being too fucking perfect, fluff

Word Count: 2.8k

Summary: The double whammy of being on your period and having a cold puts a wrench in your plans to go out with Jake.  He surprises you in the best  way in showing how caring he can be.

I needed some Jake fluff after having to deal with finally getting COVID this past week.

Part of the Jake and Elsa Universe 

Masterlist

Closed for Renovations

Jake: Hey doll. When can I pick up your fine ass tonight? 

You: This fine ass has got to bail.  Double whammy of lady parts closed for renovations and I've got a cold. You probably don't want to hang around this mess.

Jake: Is closed for renovations a clever way of telling me you're on your period?

You: Yes

Jake: Let me restate the question, what time do I show up on your doorstep with Mama Seresin's famous chicken noodle soup, chocolate, and other reinforcements?

You: You're serious?

Jake: As a heart attack or in this case a period cramp

You chuckle as you read Jake's latest message.  You're surprised that Jake is all in on spending time with you while you're both sick and on your period.  Most of your past boyfriends gave you a wide berth when Shark Week was upon you, some finding it "gross" or "weird".  As annoying as it was, it was also an easy way to gauge the maturity and long term potential of any guy.  Right now Jake was pulling into a very clear first place.  

It's still early on in your relationship, a few weeks after the craziness that brought you together. New enough that you're still encountering a lot of firsts and navigating the intimate details of a blooming relationship.  Your period being one of them.

You: I stayed home sick today, any time is good for me.

Jake: I'll swing by after work with ingredients.

You: Sounds great.

Jake: You're great

You: 🙄❤️☺️💋

With that settled you turn back to your cup of tea and trashy reality TV.  Somewhere along the line you must have fallen asleep because you awake to a gentle knocking on your door and the TV screen asking if you're still watching. You sit up abruptly, realizing Jake is here and your house looks like a NyQuil commercial with tissues and every kind of tea imaginable strewn out on the counter.  

Resigning yourself to the mess you peel yourself off the couch to answer the door and let Jake into the house. When you open the door, Jake is holding two large grocery bags filled with food and has his phone pinched between his ear and his shoulder.

He mouths,

"Sorry," just before he speaks into the phone.

"Yes, Mom, I got the fresh thyme, although I think Elsa has some growing on her patio. Speaking of which, I'm at her house…"

He nods agreeing with his mom on something,

"Yes, she is…someday, yes, love you too, Mom.  Thanks for the help."

A small smile creeps on your face as you listen to the exchange between Jake and his mom, his love apparent for her. You reach out and take one of the bags from Jake so he can hang up the phone to come inside.  

"Talk to you later, Mom," he says as he follows you into the kitchen.

Just as you place the bag of groceries down, Jake comes up behind you and gives you a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"How ya feeling, El?"

"Okay," you respond, obviously congested. 

"How about I get you another cup of tea, and you can keep me company while I make my Mom's literal county fair winning chicken soup," Jake offers putting the kettle back on the stove.  You sit at the bar and watch Jake as he unpacks ingredients from the bags.

"County fair winning? That's still a thing in Texas?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

He laughs,

"Yes, it is and it's serious business. My grandma is still peeved at her neighbor for taking the 'good apples' from the tree that grew on both their ranches and winning in the apple pie category, 30 years ago." 

The kettle whistles and Jake holds up the box of lemon tea next to the stove in question.  You nod and he prepares a cup of tea and slides it across the counter.

"Thank you, so do I get to know the secret if you're making it in my kitchen?" you ask. 

He grins,

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you. But you can watch."

With all the soup ingredients on the counter Jake hauls two last items out of the bag.

"I didn't know if you were a milk chocolate or a dark chocolate fan, so I got some of each," he offers, holding up two giant chocolate bars.

"Oooh," you coo, "What if I said white chocolate was my favorite?" 

Jake grimaces slightly,

"Is it?"

"Haha, no. I don't consider it real chocolate and reserve it only for foofy lattes from Starbucks," you reply, his facial expressions easing.

"That's good, that could have been a deal breaker," he laughs.

"Gimme, please," you say, pointing to the dark chocolate bar.

"A woman of sophisticated tastes," he teases, handing you the bar. 

"Don't spoil your appetite," he admonishes, pulling a cutting board out of the cupboard.  He dons one of your aprons over his khakis. Jake prepares tidy rows of carrots, celery, and onion as he talks with you about his day.  

Soon, savory smells are wafting through your kitchen as Jake pours the rest of the chicken stock over the neatly chopped vegetables.  

"This is where it goes to the next level," Jake says, piquing your interest.

"Do you have flour, eggs, milk, salt, and a rolling pin?" he asks.

You nod and direct him around the kitchen.  

He takes the flour and scoops out some into a bowl following it with two eggs, a dash of salt, and some milk.  Using a fork, he stirs the ingredients into a shaggy dough. He sprinkles more flour on the counter and turns out the ball onto the counter. Flouring up his hands he kneads the ball for a few minutes. The way his strong hands and forearms push and pull at the dough sends your cold medicine addled, and apparently lust filled, mind in a different direction.  You've never wanted to be a ball of dough more in your life right now.

"That has to rest for a few minutes. More tea?" Jake asks, smirking, as he breaks you out of your naughty daydream.

"Yes,..umm, tea. Please," you stutter. 

"What are you making?" you finally ask as Jake heats up the kettle again.

"Homemade egg noodles for the soup," he answers, nonchalantly. 

"Homemade noodles? Wow."

"I said it was next level," he replies back.  

"That is next level. No one has ever gone to homemade pasta level for me before," you answer, in awe of this amazing man in your kitchen. Jake turns around from the stove and the kettle, a wistful look on his face. He walks across the kitchen and slides his hands around yours where they rest on the counter. He leans over to kiss your forehead sweetly.

"That is a travesty, because you are definitely worth the effort, you are homemade noodles worthy, El," he says, so earnestly it makes you tear up a little and laugh at the same time.  (Which you can only blame on the hormones of your period only partially.) 

"If I knew how to make homemade noodles I'd make them for you Jake Seresin," you say. 

"My nonna would be happy to teach you, but you'll just have to watch and learn for now," he breezily says, taking the rolling pin to the pile of dough. You tuck the mention of his Nonna and presumably meeting her and what all that means into the back of your brain to think about later. He pushes and pulls on the pin, flattening the dough out to a thin layer before he slices it up into skinny noodles. Jake grabs the mass and slides them into the boiling soup.

"Just a little bit longer," he says, working to clean up as you wait for the soup. You watch him contentedly as you sip your tea, enjoying his form and just how comfortable he is in your kitchen wearing a frilly floral apron.  A gift from Beth when one unremarkable boyfriend broke up with you because, 

"All he really wanted was a housewife, not someone more ambitious than him." Beth had written in the card, "Goodbye to the bastard, be your own trophy wife." You smile at the memory, a reminder of how much your relationship with Jake is better than anyone before him.

A few minutes later, Jake ladles out the steaming soup and slides a bowl over the counter to you. Inhaling the wonderful smelling steam in through your congested nose it almost feels magical the way it opens up your airways.

"This smells amazing," you gush, happy to be able to breathe again. He sits down on the stool next to you, his body turned towards yours so his legs can tangle with yours.  

You lift the spoon up, heaping with noodles, vegetables, and some chicken to gently blow on it, trying to cool it down.  Jake is watching you intently and hasn't taken a bite yet waiting for your reaction. Finally satisfied that you're not going to burn your tongue, you take the much anticipated first bite and it is perfect.

A fresh burst of herbs, the salty savory stock, and then the buttery smoothness of the noodles are all perfect. You close your eyes, it's that good.

"Wow, this is so good," you gush, enjoying the slight blush and sudden shyness on Jake's face.

"No wonder your mom won the county fair."

"I'm glad you like it, eat up. It's practically medicinal," he urges you.  You hum in agreement and savor the delicious soup, your appetite finally ignited for the day.  You and Jake sit in comfortable silence finishing your meal.  

You go to stand up to clear the bowls, trying to feel useful, when a familiar stab of pain shoots through your torso from back to front.

"Ahhh, shit," you groan, collapsing over your belly and crossing your arms. Jake stands up immediately, concern on his face,

"El, are you okay?"

You stand up, still grimacing, 

"Yeah, fine, just Aunt Flo being a bitch."

Jake smiles gently and rubs your back,

"You've got a lot of witticisms for being on your period. You need some painkillers or a heating pad?"

The mention of a heating pad makes you light up with hope and then immediately scowl when you remember that it broke last month and you haven't had a chance to replace it.

"I've got some ibuprofen in the bathroom, but I forgot to get a new heating pad," you inform Jake, glumly. Jake's face lights up,

"I've got just the thing then," he says, rubbing your back one last time before he steps away and grabs the last grocery bag. He holds up a box of heating pad patches.

"I wasn't sure you had a heating pad and I've used these for muscle strains before…," he trails off talking as he takes in your face.  You are definitely full-on crying, like maybe ugly crying, you can't believe this is your life.

"El, are you okay?" he asks, gently pulling you into his arms, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," you sniffle into his uniform shirt, trying to avoid the ribbons, thinking those would be a bitch to clean snot out of, 

"You," you add.

Jake laughs, his sense of confidence unfazed by your comment,

"Me, I'm what's wrong? What are you thinking sweetheart?" he asks, tightening his arms around you as he starts to slightly sway in a comforting way. Another gentle kiss to your temple makes you sob a little.

"How are you so amazing? You cooked for me, brought me two kinds of chocolate, and brought back up heating pads. I bet there's both Tylenol and Advil in the bag, too."

He chuckles and you can feel him nodding in agreement.  You lean back and wipe your eyes,

"I'm just a little overwhelmed, no one's ever really taken care of me like this…wanted to more importantly. Like I don't deserve this. Oh my God, I'm so sorry for crying." Jake reads the panicked look on your face and pulls you back as you try to retreat, 

"Listen to me, El.  You are worth every bit of effort, every bit. You understand?" he asks, sincerely waiting for your response. You nod, not sure what to say.

"Not to disparage your past taste in men, but they sound like they fucking sucked. I can't complain that they didn't realize what a treasure you are, because I got the chance to show you." 

You sniff, taking a deep breath to get your emotions under control.  

"More importantly, you're the first woman that I've ever wanted to take care of, be there for you. Make you see your true worth. You make me want to be a better man, El. I love you," Jake says, earnestly his eyes imploring you to believe him. You meet his gaze and stare back into those intense green eyes for a few seconds before closing your own for a second to stem the tears. 

"Okay, Jake. I love you so much. So much it overwhelms me sometimes. God, I'm such a mess today, hormones and viruses are not being kind to me today," you say to Jake wiping away the tears.

"It's okay, El. You're my mess and that's what matters. I'll be here to take care of you when it gets messy, always," Jake reassures you, his arms still wrapped around you. You rest your head on his chest, letting his love envelop you. 

"How about this?" he asks as you look up, "Grab some Advil, wash your face, and I'll get one of those heating pads, some chocolate, and we can snuggle up on the couch and watch whatever cheesy rom com or trashy reality TV you want. I'm gonna change into some sweats, okay?"

"Sounds perfect, although you might regret giving me carte blanche over our viewing choices."

"Never."

The rest of the night is spent cuddled up on your couch with Jake watching Pride and Prejudice. Between the warmth of Jake's embrace, the Advil, and the cozy heating patches you fall asleep not too long into the movie. You're awoken by a quick succession of text notification sounds.  Jake puts his phone down when he sees you awake. 

"Let's head to bed, El," he whispers, kissing your temple.  You nod sleepily and he scoops you up bringing you to bed. The last thought you have before you fall asleep again with Jake wrapped around you is that for a day that started kind of terrible it has ended up kind of perfect. 

Bonus Content Jake's Text Convo with his Mom. 

@kmc1989

@starswholistenanddreamsanswered

@mayhemmanaged  

@callmemana  

@dempy  

@hangmanscoming  

@lanie-k 

@callsign-viper  

@senjoritanana  

@djs8891

@atarmychick007

@memoriesat30

@midnightmagpiemama

@mygyn

[orange-orchard-system]

Got a hate ask on my other blog (funnier-as-a-system) today. I'm not gonna respond to it directly, but I'm gonna go over it fully just as an example of why I don't take anti-endos or sysmeds seriously and find them to be just bullying assholes who don't know what they're talking about. Apologies for the rare discourse post, but I felt it would be useful to have a personal example I can point to if I ever get any more asks than I already have about why I block anti-endos and sysmeds and don't want them on my blogs.

[ID: A screenshot of an anonymous ask, which reads: ""Systems" aren't real. Please stop being ableist against people with DID and our struggles. Pretending to be one of us while simultaneously mocking us makes you look like a piece of shit. Also, DID isn't fucking funny, you're just cruel and ableist. Go see a psychiatrist, get your personality disorders and Munchausens taken care of, and stop pretending to have DID when you don't. We don't need you, our community is better off without teenagers faking DID as a meme. To be honest, I wish you and literally everyone like you were more likely to kill yourself as someone with a real mental illness, because you don't deserve to be alive if this is what you're doing with your life. You're just a delusional bully and neo-nazi" ./ end ID]

Starting from the top, apparently anyone with DID who's ever described themselves as a system is faking now. Nevermind that it's been a term in psychology and the community for decades now! All systems are fake!

I have DID. I've said as much many times. Not that I think this person would consider this a counterargument, but I feel it deserves restating considering a fair amount of my posts are specifically about my DID and managing the symptoms of it.

If I want to find humor in my own disorder, I'm going to. I'm not going to resign myself to misery and self-hate just to please some randos on the Internet. I crawled my way out of the pit of self-hate and am not just gonna jump in there again just to avoid a couple asks and assholes. And I'd make a point here about systems that don't come from trauma or aren't disordered, but what's the point of that when they think literally all systems are fake?

Ohoho! Disableism towards other mental disorders! Isn't the irony sweet?

Not to toot my own horn, but I just love the lack of awareness when it comes to "we don't need you." No, I guess you don't need me... but you'll be going without the work I've done both online and offline to teach people about dissociation and plurality. Not to mention the terms I've coined that make people feel seen, the experiences I've talked about that make people feel less alone, the building of spaces to let others talk about their own problems and experiences, and the general promotion I've done of plural representation in media. No, you don't need me, but I've been doing work to assist the DID and wider plural communities for years now. And what have you been doing? Sending hate asks to people with DID for being too happy?

I'm an adult. I've mentioned before that I go to university and have a job. Seems like even online, I can't escape the assumption that I'm a teenager, smh. Also, I'm much more worried about the teenagers you might be sending this to than any kind of unquantifiable harm a couple teenagers faking DID could do, considering how clearly you wish to do harm with your words. Especially considering the next few sentences...

Oh, so we're just moving onto blatant suicide baiting and admitting you want systems to die. Got it. Totally not a bigot, right.

Wait... "Real mental illnesses"? Didn't you just accuse me of having several earlier? Or do personality disorders and Munchausen Syndrome not count? (Also, do they think being suicidal is a requirement to be mentally ill? They know not all disorders or presentations of disorders involve suicidality, right?)

Well, you got the delusional part right (which, side note, do you think it's impossible for people to have both DID and psychosis? Big yikes even if no, but that's what these asks always seem to imply), but I think this post might be the closest anyone can call "bullying", considering I'm not giving you an opportunity to respond as I tear down your argument. But maybe the definition of peer abuse changed to *checks notes* running a blog talking about plurality in a positive manner since I last checked.

These people do know what a Neo-Nazi is, right? They know what a Nazi is? Because it feels like people just use it as a stand-in for "general asshole" when it means a specific sort of ideology and bigotry. Ironic that they'd be so pissed about "mockery" and treating serious topics "as a meme", but then they go and misuse a term for a very dangerous kind of ideology and person.

Alright, I think I got that out of my system. Please be careful out there, guys! It feels like the number of hate asks I've seen people get has been going up. I'm in a stable enough place to make a demonstration out of this, but don't push yourself to have a snappy comeback or write essays responding to these assholes if you don't think you're up for it. Hell, I rarely write things like this myself, I just chose this ask to respond to because it was such a clear example of how hypocritical and foolish this particular brand of assholes is that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to break it down.

[vsaintsin]

Writeblr Intro +

Ayo! I'm V. If you feel like wearing fancier pants, I'll take Vincent or Saintsin, but V really does just fine. I'm a he/him trans fellow who's a bit queer indeed. I'm disabled, which isn't much of a subject - I bring it up to note that odd spots of inactivity on my part are very possible. If you want to be mutuals, interact with this post and I'll check out your work/drop a follow! I'd love to meet more creatives!

What I write -

Science Fiction, mostly, with other genres influence

LGBT & Disabled characters

Sometimes really heavy crap, ngl, so mind those tws

What I know! What I love! What I want to read!

I have side-projects and future novels planned in high-fantasy settings, but no ETA on when I'll have the mind for them :/

What I'm planning to use my account for -

Snippets of my work that I think are neat, or random short-stories that don't make the cut for the novels for whatever reason (usually tone/pacing/context)

Extra, fun information about my characters / the story

Art I make - mostly of my OCs, possibly of settings?

Whatever music inspires me/playlists

Whatever I'm reading, maybe...

Who knows? If there's something you want to see, send a message or drop an ask. I'm open to suggestions.

Are we into D&D character shitposting here? Is that a thing?

What I like -

A little bit of everything - seriously. If you've written/created it, I'm probably interested.

The above, but restated for emphasis.

Art, writing, music... I'm a vacuum for human creation, I love it, I want to engage with and encourage it.

My goals -

Like so many others, to become a full-time writer (hence the monetary writing, I'm sorry...). Being disabled in The States isn't a great gig, particularly when I'm still working full-time in retail.

To be a part of a writing/artsy/creative/whatever kind of community of people who build each other up, and share experience and knowledge with each other.

I'm apparently a chronic over-writer, so I'm possibly blabbing a bit here. If any of the above tickles your pickle, drop me a follow or interact with this post, and I'll respond in kind!

Self-promo- I have one published work out. If you want to read a debut author's sci-fi novel about identity and autonomy (feat. morally grey Frenchman) and help support me getting my disabled ass out of retail, the eBook is only 4.99 on the kindle store (and you don't need a kindle to read it, just a smartphone and the app).

(Disclaimer: The opinions of the characters do not always reflect the opinions of the author...)

[starsurface]

Request round 4!! How about babyspace regressor fujin who needs diapers headcanons please! - @plankydreamingcorner

Round 4!! Fight!! >:D

^ Wait, stop, that evil face is so cute <3

A quick restate from my last Padded Request:

(Some strong languageuse) Before we get to the hcs, I want to say that there is nothing wrong with using or needing diapers. Some people use diapers use them for weird kink related things, but with age regression they are used for comfort and unfortunate inconvenience. Do not come to my blog because you wish to relate this with any kind of kink. Kindly fuck off and leave my blog alone, thank you.

^ This isn’t to bash regressors btw!!! This is me saying to fuck off if your a dd/lg or any type of blog like that. <3

 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Babyspace Regressor Fujin Who Needs Padding  Hcs

☁️ While Fujin mostly regresses to a bigger kid headspace, even Gods need baby days (a lot of baby days, let's be honest)

☁️ Especially Gods with Brothers always keeping them in check, making sure they're doing their ‘Godly Duties’ instead of being able to just dance in a flower field 🙄

☁️ Fujin first baby regressed around Raiden, so it wasn’t the scariest thing in the world, because Raiden has Babyspace watching experience, but it was a little scary being small like that for the first time

☁️ But he does really like baby regressing!! Especially after a really long, hard day of whatever duties he had to fulfill :(

☁️ Fujin found out about padding when Liu Kang started using it!

☁️ He could see how embarrassed and upset Liu was over it, so he made it his mission to do some research on his own to help him!!

☁️ He tried, key word is tried, to use padding by himself, secretly, but Raiden apparently knows everyone's business, for some reason 🙄 (also Fujin was acting suspicious and he wanted to make sure his brother was okay)

☁️ Raiden did not mind at all, a little shocked sure, but that’s his baby brother

☁️ I think Fujin would either like normal padding, or maybe small clouds and such

☁️ (^ I also think it helped Liu Kang accept needing padding, because someone he looked up to used it as well)

☁️ Fujin doesn’t necessarily have accidents? Maybe a few during naptime, which he gets a little fussy about

☁️ He more wears padding for comfort and to help him regress that small, which was why he was nervous because he felt like he didn’t have a ‘good reason’

☁️ ^ He got scolded for those icky thoughts, what helps him helps him, period, he’s not harming anyone

☁️ Fujin isn’t necessarily embarrassed about using padding, especially since he has many people who’ll shut others up, but only a few select know

☁️ Baby Fujin needs watching, like, needs needs watching

☁️ Normally Fujin is a little bit independent while regressed, but also very cuddly

☁️ Baby Fujin? He doesn’t like being alone, it’s kinda scary :(

☁️ Baby Fujin, surprisingly, likes to run to Kung Lao when he’s feeling that small (I like their imaginary friendship)

☁️ Kung Lao can do pretty hair styles on him!! And he won’t mind when Fujin leans all over him!!

☁️ He also won’t mind pulling small pranks that Fujin can still do (like too much salt in coffee . . . Sonya got mad at them)

☁️ He also goes to Johnny!! (I recently found out of their friendship)

☁️ Johnny won’t let him watch any of his super cool big kid movies, but he’ll let Fujin play games on his computer!! :D

☁️ Or he’ll put on a movie, and they’ll snuggle up . . . And Fujin might fall asleep

☁️ A bit of a sleepy baby, ngl

☁️ He has so many nice, soft, fluffy blankies!! It’s too hard sometimes to keep his eyes open :(

☁️ Fujin’s more of a softer regressor in general, but he becomes very soft while in babyspace

☁️ He has a personal made paci, an activity he actually really ends up enjoying, and it’s so pretty!! Light blues and white designs!!

☁️ . . . Although he’s also a little bugger at times, and maaaay or may not decide that Nightwolf’s arm needed some loving (biting) <3

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

So sorry if he seems a bit out of character!!!

[lucky-clover-gazette]

captive prince book 1 highlights & annotations

chapter 11

indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!

also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!

i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.

this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.

‘Why not?’ Nicaise said. He looked past Damen towards Laurent’s chamber. ‘What happened? Is he all right?’

context: nicaise was coming to warn laurent.

More silence. There was obviously something on Nicaise’s mind, and he wouldn’t leave until he said it. Eventually: ‘Don’t tell him I came.’

context: ow

‘You can tell the Prince that,’ said Damen, ‘after you tell him you let through the Regent’s pet.’ That got a flicker of reaction. Invoking Laurent’s bad mood was like a magical key, unlocking the most forbidding doors.

pretty sure that’s invoking the regent, not laurent

He had somehow expected to see the quilted covering, darkened by sweat or blood—some sign of what had happened—but there was nothing. He looked up at the place where Laurent had stood and watched him.There was no reason to have laced Laurent’s drink with that particular drug if the intent had been only to incapacitate. Rape, therefore, was to have preceded murder.

even in the place where laurent tortured him, damen has a moment of concern for him. but still he goes, which i think is the right call, given the information damen currently has. laurent hasn’t yet proven himself trustworthy to damen or a first-time reader. and independent from laurent, damen has his own character arc that requires an escape attempt for its development. 

In a court like this, Laurent could simply summon a pet to help relieve him of his difficulties.

damen you know he wouldn’t. stop lying to yourself and own the fact that you’re abandoning him while he’s vulnerable

He was thankful that the men on the palace rooves were gone, and the patrols were not yet out. The patrols were out. What rankled the most was that Laurent had been right.

more than being recaptured? yeah that tracks

‘Move and die,’ said the soldier in charge. Which was an apt summary.

Jord said, ‘The Prince is before the Council. Your orders are an hour old. Kill the slave, and you’ll be the next one with your head on the block.’

context: laurent knew that he (as in laurent) was right, and that damen would get caught. he has everything to gain from throwing damen under the bus, using this escape attempt as a means to recapture the court’s favor. but despite what damen thinks, laurent has a personal code of honor—and perhaps even more pressingly, a strong resistance to owing his brother’s killer any favors.

‘If he doesn’t lie with you, what was he doing in your private space so late at night?’

can’t two friends just vibe

‘Taken advantage of my innocence,’ said Laurent.

fuck, the context of this being implied by the regent…

‘Yesterday I brutalised him. Today I am swooning into his arms. I would prefer the charges against me to be consistent. Pick one.’ ‘I don’t need to pick one, nephew, you have a full range of vices, and inconsistency is the cap.’ ‘Yes, apparently I have fucked my enemy, conspired against my future interests, and colluded in my own murder. I can’t wait to see what feats I will perform next.’ It was only by looking at the councillors that you could see that this interview had been going on a long time. Older men, dragged out of their beds, they were all showing signs of weariness.

vere, land of yapping. and patriarchy! 

‘This defence of the slave bothers me. It isn’t like you. It speaks to an uncharacteristic attachment.’

context: regent does not want laurent to have allies. also, it will discredit laurent in the eyes of veritians if he is perceived as attached to their enemy

‘No one,’ said Laurent, ‘has more reason to oppose Akielos than I have. If Kastor’s gift slave had attacked me, it would be grounds for war. I would be overjoyed. I stand here for one reason only: the truth. You have heard it. I will not argue further. The slave is innocent or he is guilty. Decide.’

reverse card: laurent’s protection of damen proves damen’s innocence and laurent’s integrity, because laurent has every reason to hate him.

‘I,’ said Laurent.

genuinely blindsided. he knows the campaign is a death sentence

‘There. It is done. Come,’ said the Regent to Laurent, extending his right hand. On the smallest finger was his ring of office, gold, capped with a red stone: ruby, or garnet. Laurent came forward, and knelt before him gracefully, a single kneecap to the floor. ‘Kiss it,’ said the Regent, and Laurent lowered his head in obedience to kiss his uncle’s signet ring. His body language was calm and respectful; the fall of his golden hair hid his expression. His lips touched the hard red kernel of the gem without haste, then parted from it. He did not rise. The Regent gazed down at him. After a moment, Damen saw the Regent’s hand lift again to rest in Laurent’s hair and stroke it with slow, familiar affection. Laurent remained quite still, head bowed, as strands of fine gold were pushed back from his face by the Regent’s heavy, ringed fingers. ‘Laurent. Why must you always defy me? I hate it when we are at odds, yet you force me to chastise you. You seem determined to wreck everything in your path. Blessed with gifts, you squander them. Given opportunities, you waste them. I hate to see you grown up like this,’ said the Regent, ‘when you were such a lovely boy.’

horrific parallel to some of laurent and damen’s earliest interactions—“come here,” the kneeling, “kiss it.” they’re both captive princes.

also, that last line. fuck. chills. this is where i knew about the regent’s abuse, for sure, although i had suspected before. 

[starsfic]

Imagine when Lilia comes to the boiling isles, it's cause she's running from a bus supposed to correct her while Marinette and Adrien are trying to get her on there

(Vee will still pose as Luz, Camilia's finance are stable again but she's deeply troubled by Lilia's self-centered personality

The battle against Shadowmoth had been long and hard.

But, at the end, good triumphed over evil.

Gabriel Agreste was arrested with his accomplices Nathalie Sancoeur, Chloé Bourgeois, and Lila Rossi. The latter was why Ladybug and Chat Noir found themselves in the police station with Gina Rossi, an Italian diplomat, and Alya. (Ladybug wasn’t sure how the latter got in here (based on her face, neither did she) but she was willing to let Alya get a look.)

“Based on her records, this seems…” Roger hissed through his teeth as he flipped through the file. “Not a surprise.” he finally settled on.

Gina looked ready to faint. “This isn’t new behavior?”

Roger looked up from the file with a raised brow. “Ma’am, did you not look at the record of the girl you were adopting?” Ladybug opened her mouth, only barely managing to get ahold of herself to clap her hands over Chat and Alya’s mouths before the questions could come out. She had no idea Lila had even been adopted. Poor Mrs. Rossi looked ready to faint already. “According to her file, starting at a young age, Lila has shown a history of lying.”

“That can’t- I didn’t-” Gina snatched the file and started scanning it, her face slowly getting more and more pale. “...this can’t…” Ladybug released her partner and her best friend’s mouths so they could step closer and peek over. Alya whistled.

Lila’s file was long.

The first recorded incident was when Lila was five. She accused a daycare worker of giving her food she was allergic to. The new manager had fired the poor girl on the spot, not even giving her a chance to explain until Lila’s bio mom, one Ms. Camila Noceda, had come to pick the twins up from daycare.

“Lila doesn’t have allergies.”

The daycare worker, as it turned out, had said no to Lila taking a doll from Luz. She had been restated with much higher pay soon after. The Nocedas had given her money for the lost wages.

The second had been aimed at a family friend of the Nocedas. Six-year-old Lila, with a new black eye, had accused the boy of hitting her at a party. The entire family had been outraged until they learned the boy wasn’t there…by him returning from his part time job. As it turned out, Lila had just tripped.

The pattern continued. Lila would lie, only to have her lie revealed. As time continued, the lies grew bigger and closer together. Soon, Lila was lying all the time. In the notes that Gina flipped through, Ladybug made a note.

Most of the lies were revealed by Lila’s twin, Luz, or the girl’s bio parents. Distance began to appear. The last incident happened…

Her blood ran cold.

There had been an accident on a family boating trip. Luz Noceda had fallen overboard while apparently not wearing her life vest. Lila had never been solidly accused, but it was noted that she was the last one to see Luz alive. The little girl’s body had never been found.

Now, Marinette knew Lila was bad. Who got a kick out of lying to people? But she was starting to learn, more and more, how evil she was.

Luz had been like her. A weird girl who still spoke the truth and disrupted Lila’s lies. Unlike her, she had been listened to. And for that, Lila had possibly killed her.

(For a second, she felt smug. Adrien could take the high road and shove it.)

“We actually called Camila Noceda in to ask her questions,” Roger said, wreaking the silence. “She’s on her way in now.”

“Does she need someone to pick her up?” Chat Noir asked.

Roger shook his head. “You misunderstand. She’s walking into the building now.”

The door opened. “Right this way, madame,” an officer said in English. “Camila Noceda is here, sir.”

Camila Noceda was a woman with dark bags under her eyes and a soft frown. She wore a yellow sweater that seemed to have been hastily pulled over a medical uniform. She was a pretty older woman with grey starting to soften the dark curls in her hair. Ladybug couldn’t see any resemblance to Lila from just one look.

“What did she do?”

Roger blinked. “What?”

“Lila. What did she do this time?” Chat and Alya both winced at the harshness. Camila sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Sorry. It’s a surprise to get a call about your biological daughter so late in the evening.”

“It’s nothing to be offended about, madame,” Ladybug couldn’t help but take a step forward and grip Camila’s hand. Exhaustion lined the poor woman’s voice, and this whole experience, based on the last incident, must’ve been making her flashback. “I’m sorry to have to drag you in like this. We just have some questions about Lila Rossi’s lying habit.”

A warm smile bloomed to life. “Thank you, sweetheart,” Camila reached up and patted her cheek. Maternal warmth seemed to seep off her now. Ladybug couldn’t help but lean into the warm touch, suddenly reminded of her own mother. “I’m happy to answer any questions, but what did Lila do?”

Oh boy. Ladybug glanced around. Roger, Chat, and Alya didn’t meet her eyes. It seemed like-

“It was my fault.” Gina stood up straight, shoulders clenched. “I’m Gina Rossi, Lila’s m…” She paused and shook her head. “Lila’s adoptive mother. I think we spoke on the phone when I adopted her.”

Camila nodded. “We did. You were so excited to welcome Lila into your family.” Her smile turned sadder. “I hated giving up on Lila, but I couldn’t…” She sighed. “I couldn’t give her the help she needed.”

Gina nodded. “Neither could I,” she whispered. Camila cocked her head. “I didn’t look at her file closely. I didn’t read about all the incidents, the lying, everything. I let her manipulate me.” Gina reached up and rubbed her forehead. “She helped a terrorist attack Paris because I enabled her.”

Camila’s eyes went wide. “She did what?!”

“She also skipped over a year of school!” Gina’s voice choked into a sob. “She’s getting me in trouble with the embassy because she made up stories about traveling everywhere, she’s getting into legal trouble, and she almost ruined one poor girl’s life!”

Camila clearly flinched. “She did?”

“Yes!” Alya stepped forward. “My best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Ladybug blinked. “I…I also helped enable her. Without knowing! But I still helped her.” She presented the phone to Camila, who looked ready to faint. “I’m really sorry, Mrs. Noceda.”

Camila took the phone, allowing Ladybug to see that Alya had pulled up the Ladyblog. Specifically, on the video of Volpina helping Shadowmoth.

The woman was eerily quiet, staring at the screen. Her eyes were wide as the video first played. They narrowed as the video replayed a second time. A third time.

“...I…I can’t believe this.” Camila passed the phone back to Alya. Her hands were shaking, as though she was ready to throw the phone. “No. You know what? I can believe Lila would do that.”

Roger stepped forward. “Your answers will help us make sure, madame.”

“Ask away,” Camila said, taking a deep breath in and letting it out. “And then I want to talk to her. Luz has some questions of her own.” 

The door opened, revealing a girl. She was pretty, with golden hairclips pushing back hair to reveal golden eyes.

“Where’s my sister?”

[unhinged-comics-screaming]

Bravern Ep 9 thoughts! Oh my god this got so long I'm sorry

I think if I was more genre aware the transformation/level up shouldn't be a surprise. I am actually fine having to remake the decal because I had to lift it up to fix how I applied it so its already lifting lol.

I'm glad that the theories are right like, a plot twist that can be predicted via foreshadowing isn't bad plus it helps my "keep shows weekly" fight. I honestly think the ramp up of hint dropping is done well like "oh he has lewis vibes, oh he knows a thing about Lewis, oh here's a direct showcase that they have the same gunpla hobby" (btw I love that they got an actual gundam box artist to do the ones in the show, such commitment to the bit). The final nail in the coffin being the Lewis flashback where his favorite toy looks a whole lot like Bravern.

For how mysterious Deathdrives were for a while, I like that the limbo zone reinforces the kind of importance in passing on on their terms for them. Just like, restating that this is the core motivation for them. Like yeah this is Cunty's goal death but Lewis isn't satisfied yet so he's in their loading zone going like "hey no this isn't right for me". My only complaint is that I wanted whole ass. No glowy cowardice. Full naked and just enough to keep it aired on TV.

The like, entire thing that gets me though is that Isami is now living thinking that Smith is dead. And he like. Is. If we consider the overly uh horny parts of Bravern to be from Cunus then he's not 100% himself in the end. Like he sees himself as Smith but is it wholly him? Like Smith is happy he can protect and save the world and have Isami inside him. But especially with Bravern/Smith being all shady Isami is just going to have to mourn him.

I hope that this makes Lulu get closer to Isami and she ends up revealing it somehow. Ooooor Isami is on such a wavelength with Bravern he figures it out on his own. I just want him to know. Bravern has a mouth to be kissed after all.

I don't have any idea what Lulu is cooking but I wanna see it. I like that she's getting agency which, apparently to Deathdrives, is totally unheard of.

The alternate timeline theories slap. Everyone who is able to point out proper discrepancies between episodes I love you keep it up. I don't have the mental capacity for that. I kind of want to go with "world without Bravern" ED/promotional art stuff to be like, final loop maybe? I don't know what kind of time loop that needs to work but like, maybe he takes Lulu with so he doesn't need Isami and can defeat the Deathdrives really early on.

Which. Interesting thought. Before Cunus' proposal she yeets one of her Lulus but appears to have two spots. Lewis, also a two life form system yeets his Lulu so you'd think the resultant mech is a two life form mech, the Lulu from Cunus + Lewis himself makes it whole but he clearly isn't in top form unless he has Isami. Bravern is also more than a Deathdrive/Special TS so who knows how that maths out.

Ugh okay sorry this got so long congrats on getting this far. I like, clearly don't have anime friends to scream about this irl except my partner who watched me go through the spectrum of "gay sex wins" to crying for Isami.

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 03

You know, I hate to say it, but this show's been pretty friggin' boring so far. I mean, the animation's excellent, and the character designs are really top-notch, but there's these long stretches where nothing actually happens. The dull parts are probably intended to make the robot battles more exciting, but Shinji kind of sucks at fighting, and this whole show seems designed to make me feel guilty about his predicament, so it's hard to enjoy the action, you know?

This one opens with Shinji doing some target practice with his Eva. Ritsuko talks him through the drills, reviewing the technical details of the unit. For example, that cable coming out of its back is a power line, because their battery technology sucks in this world. If the cable gets cut, the Eva has 5 minutes of battery life before it shuts down.

Shinji just sort of exists through these drills like he's in a trance. Ritsuko observes that he seems to go through life just doing whatever he's told.

Misato got him a cell phone when he moved in with her, and she expected him to use it a lot when he started at his new school here in Tokyo-3, but she hasn't heard it ring even once, and she suspects that he has no friends.

The two women consider the Hedgehog's dilemma: the notion that hedgehogs have trouble socializing with one another, because the closer they get the more likely that they'll hurt each other with their quills. Pretty sure that's not actually how hedgehogs work, and I'm pretty sure that's not Shinji's problem.

So far, all I really know about Shinji is that he doesn't particularly like himself very much, and he's adapted to his life in such a way where he just passively accepts everything that happens to him. I'm pretty sure this has a lot to do with the way his dad just sort of glares at him instead of interacting with him like a normal human parent.

I suppose, in theory, Shinji could find some common ground with Rei Ayanami, the other Eva pilot, but he just stares at her while she stares out the window. This is what I mean when I say this show is getting boring. Everyone just sort of keeps restating the premise. The world's in danger from these Angels, the Evas are the only thing that can stop them, and Rei and Shinji are the only ones who can pilot the Evas, so they're desperately needed, but they're also completely distant and isolated from the rest of society. This seems like a really major problem that someone should try to solve, but we're on Episode 3 and everyone just keeps staring at this mess waiting for it to clean itself up.

Let's talk about Shinji's school, because apparently that's incredibly fascinating. Yes, I sure am interested in school. Just the other day I was thinking to myself that there aren't enough animes about schools. They should make... a thousand of them, all set in schools, and everyone could wear the same clothes, even the ones that take place in the future, when you'd expect them to have come up with new social customs. Argh, fuck this.

After the battle in episodes 1 and 2, a lot of people just moved out of Tokyo-3, so it looks like the classes are nearly deserted, except there's a packed house once the classes actually begin. The teacher just happens to give a lesson on the backstory of this world. In 1999 a meteor hit Antarctica, setting off disasters and climate changes that wiped out half the human population. He doesn't get into the Angels, although if I understand correctly, the last one showed up 15 years prior to the start of this show, and the second one showed up in Episode 1. So maybe there's not much to tell.

Anyway, Shinji gets a text message on his laptop asking him to respond to rumors about him being the Eva pilot who saved the city three weeks ago. He says he is the pilot, and the whole class starts asking him questions, ignoring the teacher completely. Everyone thinks Shinji is pretty cool, even though he can't actually tell them anything about his pilot work, and he just sort of murmurs all of his dialogue like a drugged kitten.

Well, one kid doesn't like Shinji, because his sister was crushed by falling debris during the attack, and she's been hospitalized ever since. He blames the Eva pilot for fighting the Angel inside the city, and now that he knows it's Shinji, he punches the shit out of him. Shinji mutters that he didn't pilot the Eva by choice, so the kid punches him again.

Then Rei stands over him like the spectre of death and informs him that they got an emergency call. She says she's going to report for duty, but this is the last time we see her this whole episode. I'm pretty sure Rei does something in this show, but I don't understand why it's taking this long to get to that.

It's another angel and... wow. This is a serious downgrade from the last one. NERV mobilizes the Eva, which seems kind of obvious since that's literally the only thing that works. Apparently this is the fourth Angel, so the third must have been the one from Episode 1 three weeks ago, and the second must have been the one they talked about from 2000.

Misato remarks that NERV's commander, Gendo Ikari, is away, but what difference does it make? All he did the last time was stare at the monitor and smirk occasionally. I think they can manage without him.

Shinji wonders why he's still doing this when his dad's not around to see it. I get that characters don't always understand their own motivations. They're not always honest with themselves, or they act impulsively, or whatever. But I feel like if you put on a leotard to sit in the cockpit of a robot about to do battle against a giant monster, you ought to have some vague idea of why you're doing it.

Anyway, Tokyo-3 goes into battle-station mode, and Shinji engages the Angel, and... immediately goes to pieces. The Angel kicks his ass and severs his power cable, so now he's only got five minutes left before the Eva shuts off completely.

Shinji continues to take a beating, and eventually falls near his two classmates, who snuck out of the bomb shelter to see the battle. The one of the left is fascinated by this Angel/NERV conflict, and the one of the right is the kid who beat Shinji up earlier. Seeing them makes Shinji freeze up, which is impressive because I thought he was already freezing up earlier in the battle. What, is he double-freezed up now? How much does this Angel suck that it still hasn't managed to kill him?

I guess he sort of pulls it together long enough to keep the monster busy while Misato orders the hatch open so the other kids can get inside the robot with him for safety. Ritsuko objects to this, but Misato seems to be in charge, so she gets her way.

Apparently just having passengers on board the Eva can screw up its delicate interaction with the pilot, so this further disrupts Shinji's ability to defend himself. I thought he was already incapacitated from his initial fear, and then again from worrying about his classmates, and now this. Next some guy is gonna show up and stab Shinji in the throat just to make this extra difficult.

But then Shinji goes berserk just like he did in Episode 2, and he manages to kill the Angel before his battery runs out of power. So it all works out.

Three days later... Rei's still staring out that window. Thanks for coming out tonight, Rei.

Shinji hasn't been back to class since the battle, and the kid who beat him up before feels bad about it, now that he understands what Shinji's job is really like. His pal gives him Shinji's phone number to call him and apologize.

And he goes to a phone, but I'm pretty sure he chickens out for some reason. Or maybe Shinji doesn't answer. Whatever.

And that's it. Wow, that sucked. Business will probably pick up later, but I hope it doesn't take too long, because this really isn't doing it for me.

Misato does the next-episode preview segments and she promises "lots of fan service" in Episode 4. Yeesh.

[invidiatechdemo]

Meandering thoughts about Pecharunt/possible ecology Stuff(tm) for the specific one in Mochi Mayhem + more general ideas for if you treat them as a species, since a surprising amount of mythical+legendary pokemon are explicitely /not/ single specimen species, just very rare (Shaymin being mentioned as migrating, Latios and Latias entries mentioning flocks, etc)

Pleeease note I'm going to write a post about this with illustrations/partially in-universe perspective in a bit, but I did want to throw out my initial thoughts!!!

Also, with the exception of the first thing I say, I really encourage people to consider Pecharunt from an ecology perspective in their works alongside like. an individual pokemon with its own backstory, because I think that allows for richer more interesting stories! I think if you like Pecharunt and want to attack me with rocks for saying what I'm about to say, please feel free to write your own meta/opinions in your own post, because I also really like Pecharunt and would like to see more stuff written about it as an inidividual animal and also as a theoretical species. I think it's very cute. ^_^

Also I will note that this is steam of conscious style stuff; I may restate my points multiple times, sorry about that!

With that out of the way, let's look at the scarlet and violet website's entry.

The one that has people fighting about this thing's malice or lack thereof.

'Uses Its Cunning To Survive' is a very evocative phrasing.

That line being so carefully combined with Pecharunt being described as 'sly' and doing actions such as pretending to be a baby Pokemon a la Happiny to gain sympathy, and possibly specifically mimicking /human/ kids in vocalization/etc depending on the tone you read it in... that is a very specific sort of evolutionary strategy that this calls to mind.

The information provided on this page, combined with the fact it apparently was living with an old couple, and the fact that in the story of Momotaro, the couple found the child in a peach floating down the river, and decided to raise the child as their own...

...Game Freak accidentally made a Mythical that is a brood parasite.

This probably sounds like I'm jumping to conclusions, but there's a couple other things that make me think that this is a reasonable conclusion about how a young instance of Pecharunt works.

To explain why, let's look at Pecharunt's movelist, and specifically its egg moves! Also, a quick review of what 'Brood Parasite' means.

Brood parasitism as an evolutionary strategy comes about since raising young takes a lot of time and effort; in the more standard usecases, like in birds, this tends towards an egg being placed in the nest, and the hatching animal outcompeting the host bird's actual young by crying louder and more consistently, or pushing them out of the nest to obtain more resources/attention.

Much like Pecharunt, this may seem baffling at first (in cuckoo bird's case, because of the size disparity, and in Pecharunt's case, the Base Stat Total disparity)

This is not always the case, mind; Asian Koels tend to not push other young out the nest (though they still do it Sometimes), and the Black-headed duck is notable for having an extremely extended incubation time in which after that point the duck hatches and wanders off.

'But Pecharunt is a mythical, does it really need that much protection?' Well, lets look at a couple facts you may or may not already know. Here are Pecharunt's egg moves:

Pecharunt at level one has extremely weak moves, and to make matters worse, Pecharunt is in one of the slowest exp gain groupings. Even worse, it learns new moves every eight levels when a lot of pokemon are getting new stuff to learn every four, and does not get a lot of good coverage moves at that!

To put it in even further context, Pecharunt learns Malignant Chain, its signature move and the one that specifically utilizes binding mochi in a more aggressive fashion than the firing mochi/serving mochi seen in game events and youtube video stuff, at level 48.

With that in mind, its growth rate seems to be in a similar range as something like the dragons.

A lot of Dark types, one of the things that Pecharunt is weak to, specifically exist in packs, which would leave smaller less experienced instances profoundly vulnerable. To add on this this, the areas I've been suspecting for original range + what in birdwatching stuff is termed as vagrancy (animal appearing way way outside of normal range) all don't just have Dark types, but in many cases /multiple/ species of Dark types. Poochyena, Houndour, Bisharp... all of these are dark types that live in packs or large groups. Even more notably, Poochyena and Mightyena in the wild have a chance of carrying Pecha Berries, which cure poison. Isn't that something.

These same evolutionary pressures could very reasonably result in Pecharunt's comically high defense! Mightyena and Poochyena are physical attackers, and a lot of the Dark moves Houndour and Doom learn by level up are physical.

On that note: Special Defense notably is /not/ Pecharunt's strong suit, and the weakness to Psychic means that any sufficiently nasty special attacker could rip through the lower hp pool hiding behind the physical defense like wet tissue paper. I'm going to specifically point at Beldum and Metagross and then smile serenely. Steel types in general would be a problem if in a sitation where its unable to utilize mochi properly. Which is where the 'subjugation pokemon' aspect, and its ecological strategy after its lengthy maturation would come about.

So, if Pecharunt were a species, they'd need a lot of extra care and protection to reach anywhere near maturity/full potential, and specifically that sort of care and protection from something or someone that can handle the things it can't whether that's via a more varied movepool/different typing, or the structures and technology of human beings in the pokemon setting (though in another post I mmmaay get into some thoughts about how if Pecharunt is a species, it probably is in decline in the modern Poke-setting. Stay tuned.)

A limited movepool makes sense if ecology-wise, Pecharunt is a parasite, even if one that is significantly more free-living than the ones these sort of things usually apply to; trait loss is pretty common with parasites as stuff gets delegated to hosts/host species. This is a Pokemon that doesn't need to have type coverage because its own ecology is based around commanding other Pokémon that do have the correct type coverage to defend it.

And since that's covered with Binding Mochi, all that it needs to be good at is the things that its movepool is geared towards; manipulating people and Pokémon to protect itself, giving pause and sympathy without the use of poison when it can't directly manipulate something, running away when /that/ fails utilizing Astonish to make a target flinch when alone and Parting Shot when with a retainer/bodyguard, and then finally as a last resort when an old enough/high enough level, the arsenal of extremely powerful non-mochi poison type moves, Malignant Chain, and Shadow Ball... so, the exact sort of actions that Pecharunt one for one takes in Mochi Mayhem.

It even specifically attempts to flee after Arven and Penny are defeated, which lines up nicely with the possible usecase for Parting Shot!

Prior to learning Shadow Ball and Malignant Chain, It has a TON of moves that specifically take it out of the fight and put another Pokemon into the fight with advantages, like Memento and Parting Shot. This, in my opinion, gives credence to this being the in-universe reasoning for the movepool being what it is.

Memento in /particular/ being a move that goes so far as to risk fainting is uh. Interesting, especially since it's one of the moves learned at level 1!

Oh and speaking about its level one/egg moves: on the topic of Astonish!

I think that move reflects something really fun about the peach pit motif. Which is that I think the glowing interiors of the shell serve similar purposes to the false eyes on irl moths + also the pokemon Masquerain (who also learns astonish famously!) Imo, the false eye flashing analogue feels like a really easy pull to make.

A less move-oriented view of this is also kind of established in the scene with Arven and Penny!

This Pokemon tends to keep the shell closed outside of battle and certain interactions, and the scene specifically uses the kind of duller, slow moving animations for the closed form and then has them launch into the mochi thing, utilizing startle response/reflexive action to advantage, comedic as it is.

The mochi throwing also works really well as a two birds one stone defense measure for Pecharunt ecology-wise, as similar 'throw food that was being eaten in hopes predatory animals will give up chase to eat that' is actually pretty common, and hell, Legends Arceus has shown that bean cakes and muffins work very well against many pokemon.

You may ask, 'Invi, does that mean the shell being fully open for the entire mythical encounter fight mean they're puffing themself out like a cat as an agonistic display for the entire duration of the fight?'

And to that I say...Quite possibly! Other instances of Pecharunt in the story showing itself probably land more into deimatic displays/startle displays like those used by butterflies and stick insects, but the fight instance probably specifically is agonistic, considering it starts making aggressive hissing 'chhhrah' noises, especially in contact with the Loyal Three.

As for the Binding Mochi from an ecology perspective/real life analogue... there's no completely direct analogue irl, but it serves two purposes that are very much common strategies!

What Pecharunt did by making the Loyal Three retainers + what it did to Mossui Town is a pretty open and shut example of bodyguard manipulation.

This is something more commonly seen in parasitoid species, but essentially, this is a subsection of behavior altering in parasites where you get your host to do stuff for you to keep you safe. Examples in our real world include wasp species that get caterpillars thrash if potential predators get too close.

In the Pokemon world, the go-to example would be Nihilego, whose venom has some similarities to Binding Mochi, but is noted as specifically messing with someone's preexisting abilities and impulses, while Pecharunt's alterations of its retainers tend to fall in line with their desires/wishes.

As for the fact it's a food item that gets other things to defend it, that's also common! Aphids and scale insects commonly produce honeydew, and get ants to defend them from predators in return for such.

As for it being mochi? The concept of something along those lines being produced as a starchy thing is also not that far out, as a number of psyllid bugs produce Lerps, which consist of sugars and starches. In the case of the bell lerp, which actually utilizes a bird, the Bell Miner, to avoid being attacked by other fauna and flora in return for continued consumption of aforementioned lerps!

I've focused on the brood parasite section, but overall I will say that after hitting Malignant Chain, it likely becomes a social parasite a la certain types of cuckoo bees, and these would essentially intergrade nicely (can start more actively controlling pokemon/people it's with already, move around more freely than the initially probably very nest-centralized movement to keep itself safe until its defenses can develop more properly).

Misc additional notes:

Interestingly enough, while Pecharunt has the 'no eggs discovered' thing, it does have a set amount of time to hatch in game data and it is specifically way shorter than most other Legendaries/Mythicals minus a couple notable exceptions like Terapagos and the guardian deities; Pecharunt's starts at 20, which is the same as eggs for starters like Bulbasaur and etc.

Like for context, most of the other guys have egg cycles of 80-120. This would match up to a really common phenomenon in brood parasites where the eggs actively hatch faster than the host animal's to get a leg up on resources and etc.

... I actually have even more thoughts specifically about what Pecharunt's habitat/original home was, and also a couple different theories about what it eats, as well as more granular things about like, physical stuff about this guy's body instead of a life cycle overview, but I'm going to save those for later because this is already ungodly long. Uhhh closing thoughts:

Hold Pecharunt like hamburger, and give it one of every food and drink. It's safe to do this.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

New Start

Summary: No One Knows AU Part 12, Danny and Valerie get to know each other.

...

So Valerie was absolutely right not to want sidekicks.  Apparently what being on the same team actually means is “as soon as you get hurt one of us is going to give you some comment about how maybe you need more practice too and fly off, and then the other one is going to give you an apology for what the first one did because she couldn’t be bothered, then fly off after her to tell her off instead of checking on you.”

Let her restate: she could do without.

She’d pulled herself up and managed to check herself over fairly well like usual, and thankfully the only sign that she was hurt was a bad bruise on her leg.  It ached slightly to put weight on it, but in terms of ghost fights, it could have been a lot worse.

Still, the so-called sidekicks she’d gone out of her way to help could have stayed to check on her at least.

Valerie shakes her irritation off with a sigh, and refocuses her gaze on the Fenton kid walking next to her.  She probably shouldn’t spend the whole time thinking about Thing 1 and Thing 2 being jerks.  It’s not like that’s his fault.

She is a little curious why the idea of going back to school made him look physically ill, but he hasn’t asked why she ditched (which she appreciates), so she’s not going to ask what’s going on with him either.

Instead, they’re both wandering through the mall, neither saying much.  Which Valerie does get.  It’s not like they’re friends.  They kind of just ended up in the same place at the same time, and now they’re here.  Still, they can’t spend the whole time in silence.

“You want to get some food first?” Valerie asks, and Danny glances over at her.  “Did you miss lunch?”

She hadn’t, but ghost fights aren’t exactly known for being light work.

After a second, Danny nods.  “Yeah.  Yeah, let’s get some food.”

So they head over to the food court, and Valerie looks around at her options.  She doesn’t have a ton of money, but she has enough left over from her last paycheck to get her something small.  Then she can go window shopping.

Danny gets a burger and fries, and Valerie tries not to eye it with jealousy when she gets a small thing of fries for herself and follows him back to a table.

As soon as they sit down, though, Danny looks at what she’s gotten and then back up at her face.  “Do you want me to buy you a burger?”

Valerie blinks.  “What?”

“I can get you a burger if you want one.”

Valerie blinks again, then processes what he’s asking.  “Oh, no,” she says instantly, waving her hands.  “No, that’s okay.”

“You sure?  I have the money.”

“No thank you,” Valerie says, looking down at her fries.  “I couldn’t pay you back.”

“You don’t have to,” Danny says, but Valerie shakes her head again.  She doesn’t like handouts, and she doesn’t really know Danny.

Thankfully, Danny drops it, though Valerie does notice he eats his food much slower than she does, and they finish about the same time.  Valerie looks at him strangely for a minute as they both do, trying to figure him out.

“What?” Danny asks eventually, turning to look back at her.

“I don’t know,” Valerie says with a shrug.

“You were looking at me.”

“Why’d you agree to come here?”

Danny shrugs back.  “It sounded way better than going back to school.”

Again, Valerie wants to ask why.  But she can tell Danny doesn’t want to say, so she leaves it.

They stand together, and head for the exit of the food court.

“I think I’m probably just gonna do some window shopping today,” Valerie says, praying Danny won’t ask why, even though they both probably know after what she got at the food court.  “So we can go wherever’s interesting for you.”

Danny looks around for a second, seems to consider, and then says, “You know what, I’d rather go to the park.”

Valerie blinks.  “Uh.  You sure?”

“Yep,” Danny says.  “I’m glad we got some food, but I don’t know if I’m really in the mood for shopping today.  Plus, this is probably the first place people would check for ditching students.”

He does have a point there.  So after a second, Valerie shrugs, says “Alright,” and they both head back out of the mall.

The park thankfully isn’t too far of a walk, and it’s a nice day.  She still feels the slight tension from being with someone she doesn’t know, but the weather and Danny’s lack of questions don’t hurt.

Eventually, as they walk around a corner and spy the park in the distance, Danny nudges her in the side.  “Hey.  Look at that.”

Valerie follows his gaze and sees a man with a ridiculously big cowboy hat on.

“Woah,” Valerie says.  She gives a short laugh.  “You think he’s hiding something under that thing?”

“Oh absolutely,” Danny says with a smile of his own.  “What do you think it is?”

Valerie takes one more look at the guy and thinks for a minute.  “A safe with thousands of dollars in it,” she says.  “He’s on his way home from a bank robbery.”

Danny gives a startled laugh.  “And he’s balancing a metal safe on his head the whole way?”

“What, how hard could it be?” Valerie asks, which succeeds in making Danny grin again.

“Personally,” he says as they keep walking.  “I think he’s hiding a pet bird.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.  He’s going to a restaurant where they don’t allow pets.  He’s going to keep sneaking food up near his hat like in Ratatouille.”

 Valerie laughs again, grinning back at him.  “I didn’t realize you had jokes, Fenton.”

“See that was your first mistake,” Danny says.

“What?”

“Assuming I’m not funny.”

Valerie snorts, and turns to face the park as they reach it.  “Alright,” she says.  “Go again.  What’s…” she looks around for a minute, then points at a guy walking a dog while wearing an “I Hate Dogs” t-shirt.  “That guy’s story?”

“Hey no, you came up with the first story last time,” Danny says.

“Taking turns is fair,” Valerie says.  She narrows her eyes teasingly.  “Unless you think you’re not up for the challenge after all?”

Danny sticks his tongue out at her for a second, then turns to look back at the guy as they both start walking a safe distance behind him on one of the trails.  “He’s got a partner who picks all his outfits, and he trusts them implicitly, so he put that shirt on without looking.”

“Picks all his outfits in a ‘he’s helpless’ way or picks all his outfits in a ‘they’re controlling’ way?”

“Picks all his outfits in a ‘he works night shifts and is dead on his feet every morning and also his partner has an appreciation for comedy’ way.”

Valerie considers this, then nods.  “I’ll take it.”

“Alright, your turn,” Danny says.  He looks around for a minute, then nods subtly towards the woman on the bench they’re passing.

Valerie waits until they’re out of earshot and then says, “She looks totally normal.”

“Hard mode,” Danny says with a smirk.

Valerie rolls her eyes, but her smile is fond.  “Alright then.  She… is deep undercover from the New York mafia.  So deep undercover she moved to Illinois and is forced to dress like the most boring person alive.”

Danny grins at her.  “I’ll take it,” he repeats from her.  “That was pretty good.”

“Yes I know,” Valerie says, tossing her hair over her shoulder in a stereotypical display of ego.  “Alright, new hard mode.”  She nods at the guy in front of them again, still out of earshot.  “What’s the dog’s story?”

Danny looks at the dog for a minute, and as they both watch the dog pulls the man forward, barking and running with clear intent to chase after a squirrel.

“Ultra-intelligent super dog,” Danny says.  “That squirrel is its arch enemy, and that dog is the last thing standing between that squirrel and world domination.”

Valerie nods solemnly, going along with the bit.  “We owe him a debt of gratitude.”

“Tragically, the world will never know of his heroics,” Danny says, shaking his head.

“But Danny, he deserves to be acknowledged!”

“Knowing the world’s citizens are safe is reward enough,” Danny says, putting a hand to his heart.

Valerie wipes an imaginary tear from her eye.  “He’s such an inspiration.”

They both turn to look at each other for a minute, and then burst into giggles, which overtake them for a couple seconds.

Finally, Valerie rises to face Danny with a bright smile.  “Alright, you’ve convinced me, Fenton.”

Danny blinks.  “Convinced you of what?”

“That I want to hang out with you again,” Valerie says.  “I work tomorrow.  How’s your Saturday?”

Danny seems to take a minute to process what she says, but then he smiles, looking surprised but not unhappy.  “It’s good,” he says.  “I’m still working on rebuilding a regular social life after being grounded for months.”

Valerie snorts and crosses her arms.  “You had a regular social life before?”

“Not really,” Danny admits.  “Does the Saturday question mean we’re done today?”

“Unfortunately I have to work today too,” Valerie says.  “But uh, seriously, thanks.  This was fun.”

“It was,” Danny says with a nod of agreement and a smile of his own.  He tips his head curiously.  “Can I walk you to work maybe?”

“No,” Valerie says instantly.  “I mean, uh— nah, that’s okay.  It’s a long walk.  And I’ll see you tomorrow at school, right?”

Danny nods, seeming unbothered.  “See you then,” he agrees, and then they split off at the exit to the park.

She definitely doesn’t want Danny to know her job.  Like she’d ever live down that embarrassment.

But if she has a little smile on her way home to grab her mascot suit, well.  Danny doesn’t have to know about that either.